The number game on October 29, 2016It is a staggering number by any count. To be 143rd of 144 countries in the World Gender Gap index is a tragic story. A story of mishaps, mismanagement, missed priorities and missed opportunities. The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2016 is an annual benchmarking exercise that measures progress towards parity between […]
Leaks: Season X on October 22, 2016X-ray was a big invention. It could pass through opaque materials and bring to light the invisible. Leaks have become the political x-ray in this tech-savvy world. Hacking is the unauthorised access to data that is hidden under secret codes. The fact that they are secret is the fascination; the fact that they are hidden […]
Lying with integrity on October 15, 2016When you admit that you have lied you are being honest. When you confess to dishonesty that is integrity. When you take a position and then contradict it, this is flexibility. When you abuse somebody in one instance and praise him or her in another instance that is maturity. Politics, they say, is the art […]
From vision to destruction on October 8, 2016The verdict is out. While we may have become a stock market of Asia we are a market that is ranked in the bottom 16 on nearly all other counts that count. This ranking, of course, is not done by the government of Pakistan or opposing political parties or controversial NGOs but the credible World […]
Mortgaging the country on October 1, 2016Loans, funds, bonds and bills are the ‘creative’ financial engineering strategies being adopted by the government to foot its ever-inflating accounts payable. After declaring an economic victory by saying that the country is now ending its loan cycle from the IMF, the government has resorted to another expensive source of borrowing in the form of […]
Mortgaging the country on October 1, 2016Loans, funds, bonds and bills are the ‘creative’ financial engineering strategies being adopted by the government to foot its ever-inflating accounts payable. After declaring an economic victory by saying that the country is now ending its loan cycle from the IMF, the government has resorted to another expensive source of borrowing in the form of […]
When laws become irrelevant on September 24, 2016Outlaws and in-laws are both handle-with-care areas. Those below the law or above the law are bound to be pursued. That is the job of law enforcement agencies. But if law enforcement agencies become politicised, chaos and crime flourish. What happened in Karachi when SSP Rao Anwar Ahmed apprehended Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Khawaja […]
Jobless and helpless on September 17, 2016For the poor and less skilled the dream of going overseas has an irresistible attraction. With an economy that has failed to produce enough jobs for even the educated and skilled it is too much to ask to provide employment to those who are not educated and not ‘connected’. Thus the best option for the […]
A slip of the pen on September 10, 2016Smart accounting. Numbers are just numbers. Statistics are just averages. Facts are a dual-edged sword. These are the contentious statements that we use to justify official figures and our defence of the same by interpreting them in a certain manner. In this world of knowledge-based era we are drowning in information of all types, and […]
The king and the courtiers on September 3, 2016Poor are born to serve the rich. These pearls of wisdom by ‘His Excellency’ Senator Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan Nasar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were bestowed upon the nation during a Senate functional committee on devolution. These are the famous last words that make any debate on democracy, welfare state, equality, equity and […]