The year 2025 brought both pain and gain in the energy sector during which the Shehbaz Sharif-led government made efforts to address the emerging and longstanding challenges. A major problem plaguing the energy sector for decades has been the chronic circular debt, which has impacted the entire chain. The current government inked a Rs1.225 trillion […]
Shining India has lost its lustre under Modi mania which grips India today. Unfortunately, the Nehruvian secularism has been totally eclipsed by the RSS-driven Hundutva Manusmriti. The Laws of Manu consecrating human indignity have engulfed Indian state as well as public imagination. As a perfect exemplar of the “Theory of Radicalization” of Crenshaw, the Indian […]
Nothing that is morally wrong can be politically right. — William Gladstone The recent confrontation between the Lahore High Court (LHC) and the Punjab government has brought into sharp focus a perennial dilemma of governance in Pakistan: how to balance speedy relief for citizens with the constitutional guarantees of due process and judicial oversight. At […]
For years, Pakistan’s digital governance architecture has been held hostage by a stubborn over-reliance on a single, fallible biometric marker on the other. The federal government’s decision to amend the National Identity Card Rules to legally recognise facial and iris scans — alongside fingerprints — marks a long-overdue correction to this imbalance. This is a major structural […]
According to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, Pakistan has now officially become the world’s fifth most populous country. In almost eight decades, its population has risen from a meagre 33.7 million to a Herculean 255 million, divided between four provinces: Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, along with the federally administered Islamabad Capital Territory. The […]
The Power Division has released its annual performance report for 2025, highlighting ‘historic reforms, improved financial discipline, significant consumer relief and major strides towards sustainable development’ in the energy sector. According to the report, the government, through prudent policies and effective decision-making, achieved notable progress in addressing long-standing challenges facing the power sector. It said […]
Small traders have declared 2025 as the ‘worst year’ in the country’s history in terms of business activity, investment, unemployment and inflation. They said that overall commercial activity remained below 60% throughout the year due to political instability and economic uncertainty. According to a report compiled by President of the All Karachi Traders Alliance (AKTA) […]
A powerful grenade explosion near Chainak Chowk in Sibi, Balochistan, on Thursday killed one person and injured five others, officials said. The blast sparked panic in the area, with residents fleeing the scene in confusion. Rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the site, and the victims were quickly taken to Teaching Hospital Sibi. Hospital authorities […]
At a time when Lahore ranks among the world’s most polluted cities and public health is at a serious risk, the underground parking project at Nasir Bagh has been temporarily halted following objections from civil society and environmental activists. Imrana Tiwana, President of the Lahore Conservation Society, criticized the project on the grounds that it […]