Hybrid warfare, pandemic style on April 9, 2021The Corona pandemic that the world is struggling with for the second year now has brought home to us some important lessons about ourselves. The first thing to realize might be that in a thoroughly interconnected world not only people, goods and ideas travel but so do viruses using people and goods to hitchhike around […]
Afghanistan Peace still a far cry on April 2, 2021The new US Administration’s starting position bodes ill for the US-Taliban “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan,” concluded in Qatar’s capital Doha about a year ago while not many are surprised that it has not ended the four decades plus long war so far, it is becoming increasingly questionable that it ever will. The major […]
An independent State Bank on March 26, 2021As early as July 1, 1948 the Governor General of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah issued an order for the establishment of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to regulate the issue of bank notes and keeping of reserve for seeking monetary stability in Pakistan. Generally to cooperate currency and credit system of the country […]
Democracy doesn’t happen easily on March 19, 2021Pakistan’s democracy has been shaken again by the Senate elections. A majority is important for the ruling government coalition because laws passed by the National Assembly (NA) have to be approved by the Senate as well. Controlled by the opposition till now the Senate was preventing this, severely impairing the political effectiveness of the govt. […]
The making of a criminal state (Part II) on March 13, 2021The role of the ECP has been questionable, they miserably failed to implement the recommendations given by the 5-member larger bench of the Supreme Court (SC) headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmad relating to the Senate elections. While it directed that polls would be held through secret ballot according to Article 226 of the Constitution, […]
The making of a criminal state (Part I) on March 12, 2021Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM’s) Yusuf Raza Gilani bagged 169 votes against Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh’s 164in the Senate Elections held on March 3, 2021 with one vote not being cast. At least 7 votes were rejected being wrongly marked, a clear indication that some ruling party lawmakers changed their loyalty. PTI’s Fauzia Arshad who contested […]
Coping with a no-win situation on March 6, 2021The row between the government and Justice Isa started in June 2019 when the government filed a Presidential Reference in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against Justice Isa for owning foreign assets, unfortunately it has now become a “hate triangle” involving the Supreme Court (SC) as a third party. Justice Isa was accused of misconduct […]
Senate Elections 2021 on February 26, 2021In the Upper House of Parliament in Pakistan, the Senate discusses proposed laws and votes on them just like MNAs do in the Lower House, the National Assembly (NA). Among the tasks of the Senate is to scrutinize the work of the Government with regard to legislation, introduce and debate laws and make recommendations on […]
South Asian agriculture revolution? on February 19, 2021An attempt at ‘revolutionary’ farming by the enacting of commensurate laws by the Modi govt last autumn has evoked widespread farmer protests in India. Centred around mostly India’s breadbasket of Punjab, Haryana and UP this important problem is certainly not only Indian specific, many initiatives all over the world have aimed at making agriculture more […]
Farmer protests in India on February 12, 2021A nationwide general strike on 26 November 2020 that involved an estimated 250 million people was staged in support of the farmer unions in India. Approximately 200,000 to 300,000 farmers on tractors converged on 30 November at various border points on the way to Delhi. From nearby Punjab known as the “bread basket of India” […]