Ikram Sehgal

Covid-19 has struck Pakistan with a third wave and has the country head-locked in a vice-like grip. This has come as a shock to many. For unlike Europe and the rest of the world, including neighbouring India, where the virus had been hurtling along at accelerated speed, Pakistan had so far been doing quite well. […]

India, South Asia’s largest country, stretches from the top of the Himalayan North right to down to Kanyakumari on the southern tip. Globally, it is the second-most populous country after China and, by landmass, the seventh-largest. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh are distinct from their neighbour, despite sharing a common history, culture and languages. To a […]

The 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 […]

The 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 […]

As 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 […]

Pakistan’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 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, […]

Pakistan 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 […]

The 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 […]

In 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 […]