Dr Qaisar Rashid

On May 7, 2015, the campaign for the promotion of education, Alif Ailaan, in partnership with the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), produced the ‘District education rankings, 2015’ at the Marriot Hotel, Islamabad. The purpose of the yearly district rankings was to offer civil society, bureaucrats and politicians an idea as to where a district […]

On September 18, 2014, Scots voted no to the independence of Scotland from the UK in a historic referendum but under the assurance that more powers would be devolved to the Scottish parliament within the UK. On November 27, 2014, there appeared a report of the Smith Commission having recommendations for the devolution of powers […]

Since the end of the Cold War in 1991, Pakistan has been boasting its geostrategic location in South Asia, claiming to be a gateway to Central Asia. We thought that the world needed to access the markets of the Central Asian Republics through Pakistan. Unfortunately, that dream remained unfulfilled because of the perpetual unrest in […]

In February, the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) conducted the examination of the Central Superior Services (CSS) for the year 2015 to recruit future bureaucrats. Reportedly, more than 8,000 candidates from across the country participated. The knowledge of the CSS candidates on current affairs was tested on February 15. An outsider to the system thinks that […]

Some events leave a lasting impact on a country. For instance, the massacre that took place at the Army Public School (APS), Peshawar, on December 16, 2014, devouring the lives of more than 100 innocent young students, transformed both the internal and external policies of Pakistan. Internally, the street agitation being staged by the PTI […]

A debate is being bandied about on the functional future of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) at the Centre vis-à-vis that in the provinces. It is pertinent to view the debate in light of certain facts. For instance, the 18th Constitutional Amendment, 2010, brought about several changes to the Constitution of Pakistan. The 18th Amendment […]

In the context of Pak-India relations, the year 1999 can be called one of the most significant years of the post-Cold War phase starting in 1991. There took place sequentially three correlated events of immense significance. First, the then Prime Minister (PM) of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, visited Pakistan in February 1999 and tried to […]

Afghanistan has now entered the post-2014 phase of withdrawal of foreign forces from its land, though a residual US combat force (around 10,000 soldiers) will stay behind to oversee security and defence of the country against the Taliban insurgents and al Qaeda operatives, as per the US-Afghanistan security pact. With the month of March approaching, […]

It is getting apparent that the attitude of the world has changed towards Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks of 2008. Though the change cannot be called an about-face, it falls squarely in the context of one drifting away from the other. Perhaps Pakistan has yet to acknowledge the drift, the omens of which are now […]

It is not known when the ongoing war on terror will be over. However, it is known that whenever it is finished, Pakistan may be subjected to certain sanctions related to its nuclear programme. Furthermore, as the delivery system is part of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence strategy, sanctions can also be imposed on Pakistan’s missile testing […]