Discarded newborns

Earlier this month, a newborn baby was found abandoned in a garbage bin in Lahore’s Allama Iqbal Town. Police have been informed and legal proceedings are expected, though the baby’s condition remains undisclosed. For a society that claims reverence for life, the image of a newborn discarded among refuse should have triggered outrage. Instead, it […]

Beyond budgets: structural crisis in Pakistan’s universities

Universities across Pakistan are under sustained stress but the fault lines are perhaps most visible in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. When the University of Peshawar, the province’s premier public institution, struggles to pay salaries and survives on emergency government grants and borrowing, it is tempting to frame the problem as a temporary financial shortfall. That framing is misleading. […]

Romancing Trump

It’s a risky move. But Pakistan has gone ahead and done it. Will it pay off? The optics at Davos were heartening. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif all smiles with US President Donald Trump on the stage as they lean towards each other and exchange hushed words. Then the PM points forward with a smile. Trump […]

Basant returns under strict safety SOPs: Azma Bukhari

Punjab Minister for Information and Culture Azma Bukhari on Saturday unveiled the approved standard operating procedures (SOPs) for Basant celebrations in Lahore scheduled from February 6 to 8, reiterating that public safety and order would remain the top priority for the festival’s return. The minister confirmed that celebrations would take place across the city under a regulated […]