Thar tragedy and misplaced priorities on March 16, 2014The Chief Minister (CM) of Sindh has made some prompt decisions with regard to the Thar tragedy. First, he admitted neglect on the part of the local administration. Second, he transferred and suspended many bureaucrats, including the Deputy Commissioner Tharparkar and Sindh relief minister, both the sons of powerful Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Makhdoom […]
Time to admit on March 9, 2014Our rulers are accustomed to underestimating the worst of conditions and are habitual in not admitting an alarming situation. This reminds me of the novel Plague by Albert Camus. In the novel, a fatal disease, the plague outbreak begins. This disease first kills a young man. Soon, hundreds of people die of this disease. The […]
The effects of climate change on Pakistan on March 6, 2014The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UNIPCC) report on climate impacts has jointly been prepared by 300 world scientists and 66 expert authors taking onboard 271 officials from 115 countries and 57 observers. It is the first comprehensive UN report on climate impacts, which has taken around seven years to come into definitive […]
Lack of will on March 2, 2014Pakistan suffers from the apathy of its rulers. Political interests are superior to national interests. Politicians are stronger in rhetoric but weak in action. Pakistan is mired in multiple problems such as tax evasion, the energy crisis, terrorism and many others but worst is the lack of will to engage with all of them. An […]
Terrorism and a tale of two cities on February 23, 2014February 2014 has been unfolding as the month of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Imran Khan, the PTI chairman, recently made a startling revelation that an ex-army chief had told him that there were less than 40 percent chances of success of any operation against the banned outfits. The then army chief, however, categorically denied the attributed […]
Peace talks: a disastrous experiment on February 16, 2014The first round of talks between the government formed committee and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) committee, and the latter’s meeting with TTP representative Khalid Sheikh have finished. The TTP committee has told the media that the talks went well but the increase in suicide attacks and the target killings of civilians and security personnel paint […]
Are our rulers helpless? on February 2, 2014The Prime Minister (PM) of Pakistan, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, appeared in the National Assembly after six months on January 29, 2013 and announced the formation of a four-member committee to give talks another chance. The PM made his first attempt for talks with the terrorists by convening an All Parties Conference (APC) in September […]
Sindh Festival: synonym for renaissance on January 26, 2014Pakistan has a 95 percent strong Muslim population, with the same religion of Islam and the same revealed book, the Quran. Despite the same religion and the same holy book, there are many sects. These sects interpret Islam and the holy book in their own, different ways to their followers. What Pakistan has developed into […]
Teachers in search of a saviour on January 20, 2014The World Bank has approved over $ 300 million for the Sindh education department to finalise the teachers’ recruitment process by March 31, 2014. The way the slow pace of the hiring process runs, it appears very hard to meet the World Bank’s deadline. The Sindh education department advertised 18,282 posts for high school teachers […]
Energy sector in the doldrums on January 12, 2014The president of Pakistan has approved an ordinance to curb power theft. It prescribes a fine of Rs one million to 10 million and/or two to seven years imprisonment for an individual found responsible for electricity theft. It is extremely outlandish that the punishment and the fines are only for power theft individuals — the […]