Beautifully situated on the shores of the Bosphorus straits connecting the Marmara Sea to the Black Sea and regarded as the border between Europe and Asia. Istanbul is one of the most important cities of Eurasia, a transcontinental metropolis of 15 million today. Founded around 660 BC as “Byzantine”, it was renamed in 330 AD…

The corona pandemic and the new social movements created by it has stirred up apart from racism – another critical topic: “colonialism” and how to deal with colonial history. With pandemics isolation fostering frustration, the dispute has turned violent in many places. Protesters rallied in Columbia to demand the confederate flag’s removal from South Carolina’s…

Dear Readers, under the Ehsaas program the government took the bold initiative to support citizens in need during the COVID-19 pandemic which is responsible for a global economic slowdown. the Ehsaas program has distributed PKR 153 billion to over 12.5 million beneficiaries. Despite introducing innovative measures like the so called “smart lockdown” to curb the…

Despite the ongoing pandemic hitting India more than China, India has been engaging in blunders like anti Muslim policies and the Kashmir settlement laws in the disputed area of Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) in utter disregard to UN Resolutions and international laws and norms. Force multiplying their problems Modi and his BJP Govt is now…

History teaches us that the falling apart of empires not only creates many successor states but the relation between those states and their neighbours are often marred by conflicts, conflicts that include quarrels about who is the rightful successor of the previous empire and multiple border conflicts. Furthermore, the successor states have to find for…

With apologies to Ian Fleming for paraphrasing the title, terrorism is back again in Karachi. The attack by the banned BLA at the PSX by four heavily armed terrorists has cost the lives of four people: one police officer and three guards have been martyred. Due to the decisive response of the police and the…

For Pakistan credit and debit cards alone are not enough, mobile phone devices probably will become the primary tool for payments. A young demography and increasingly tech-savvy generations ensures a unique role for mobile payment services. ‘Fintech’ short for financial technology-refers to technology-led innovation in financial services aiming to exploit the gaps in coverage and…

Within a very short period the COVID-19 pandemic has broken up economic, social and also intellectual traditions existing for decades and were thought to be unchangeable. The way we look at ourselves intellectually and the rest of the world has started changing the past, present and future. The renewed scathing critique of racism that started…

Transparency and learning lessons from mistakes once made is no virtue of most countries. Even when after a disaster a commission is installed to find out what went wrong and who was responsible there is a glaring lack of consequences for the people who made the mistakes and for the structures that lead up to…

Delaying of decisions to defy needed change is fatal any country. A well known proverb says ‘Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.’ The ongoing pandemic has put severe problems in front of our country, its economy, the state institutions, etc. and decision making is part of this. Many problems had already…