Archive for November, 2012

By Syed Irfan Ashraf – Malala was a shy girl to engage small talk with but was transformed when she went on camera. Her fearlessness was striking Malala Yousafzai is sitting with her father Ziauddin in a pensive mood at her hometown Mingora, Swat, taking me off guard. “I hate my name Malala — meaning […]

By Noorilhuda – For once, the Taliban’s apologists have been hushed indefinitely and they have to provide nervous justifications themselves The Taliban always have the last word. Whether bombing civilians in markets, roadsides or public gatherings, displaying heads of shot soldiers or airing views via spokesperson Ihsanullah Ihsan, they know the effect they have, the […]

By Wajahat Ali – After a grueling campaign, voters are primed to reelect Obama or send Romney to the White House U.S. presidential elections have always attracted tremendous international attention. This is because the race for the White House can have major implications for every nation, thanks to Washington’s ever-increasing influence around the world. U.S. […]

By Ejaz Haider – The year 2012 is unromantic, hardnosed and pragmatic. So what does it portend for Pakistan and the rest of the world? The world’s mushy 2008 romance with Barack Obama is over. That Tuesday on November 4 when he spoke at Chicago’s Grant Park lies buried in the heap of history; the […]

By Kamran Yousaf –  The last-minute cancellation of Putin’s visit to Pakistan with India and U.S. throwing a spanner was a setback but it’s still game on In international diplomacy as in politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies. This perhaps, reflects the nature of relationship between Pakistan and Russia. For decades, they remained […]

By Waqqas Mir – The verdict on the Asghar Khan petition is a significant episode in the country’s delicate inter-institutional ecosystem. The legality of the issue itself was a no-brainer The history of judicial review of executive and legislative actions, right from the days of Marbury v Madison, is also the history of the politics […]

By A Rahim Khan –  Karachi’s musical acts aren’t making a penny even though they produce work that outsiders think the world of but local media remains indifferent to The drum beat of censure, the twang of malaise, the lute of consistency and the snare of rote. That is what Pakistani music has become, an […]

By Sohail K. Shahzad –  There’s a certain old world charm about railway stations as old as Rawalpindi’s. Sadly, there’s nothing charming about old, rotten ways of those who run the show. For the last many years, derailment has come to signify what was once a busy track. From the rusting minds to bogus bogeys […]

By Anum Yousaf –  Yes, the bankers are idiots – A review of Boomerang by Michael Lewis Stranger than fiction – all reviews and discussions on this book will include these three words. Cliched but true. Boomerang by Michael Lewis – one of the best non-fiction authors out there and much more in the spotlight […]

By A Rahim Khan –  Not everyone is meant to write. But this hasn’t stopped Facebookers from turning out the ‘ejecta’ of the pseudo Sodom was smote in a hail of fire and brimstone, the world was made clean in the Great Flood, the Israelites were made to wonder the desert and the Tower of […]