Dear Readers, The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in ways not seen since the 1918-1920 Spanish Flu. Unfortunately, disinformation campaigns targeting health crisis communication during this pandemic seek to cripple the medical response to the novel coronavirus and instrumentalize the pandemic for political purposes. Vaccination from COVID-19 remains one of the key targets of…
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 to…
Dear Readers, Some believe the judiciary has come of age, others think it had independent status in the near past while many disagree and feel the judiciary is still under some influence. Since the lawyers’ movement in 2007, the judiciary has charted many independent postures, the movement culminated two years later in the restoration of…
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….
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…
Dear Readers, It is unfortunate that after more than seven decades, Pakistan still strives to provide equal and timely justice or ensure justice for the tens of millions of Pakistanis who can be forgiven for believing ‘justice’ is just a word without meaning, at best, the title of an important person. Pakistan inherited its legal…
One of the oldest and foremost proponents of telling lies and spreading misinformation as a tool of politics (and economics) is the 24 centuries old “Arthashastra”. A complete course handbook on how to run a state, it also details devious means to accomplish one’s ends. An extensive manual for conducting subversion, Arthashastra is the earliest known exponent…
An attempt at ‘revolutionary’ farming by the enacting of commensurate laws by the Modi govt last autumn has evoked widespread farmer protests in India. Centered 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…
A 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”…
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…
