SMEDA partners with global universities

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has launched a major research initiative under its Research, Regulatory Insight & Advocacy Assistance (RRI&A) project, in collaboration with the Lahore School of Economics (LSE) and the University of Chicago. The study, titled “SME Finance and Lending in Pakistan,” seeks to understand why Pakistani SMEs remain underrepresented […]

China, Pakistan form agri-tech group

The fourth meeting of the China-Pakistan Joint Working Group on Agriculture was convened in Beijing earlier this week. The meeting was co-chaired by senior officials from the Department of International Cooperation of China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the federal secretary of Pakistan’s Ministry of National Food Security and Research. The meeting primarily […]

Stay Belvedere faces heat over £700m asylum deal amid Labour-Tory blame game

A major hotel firm, Stay Belvedere Hotels Ltd, has sparked controversy after reports revealed it received £700 million annually in taxpayer funds to house asylum seekers across 51 sites in the UK. Critics have likened the accommodation — including the Ibis Budget in Bishop’s Stortford — to “all-inclusive resorts,” offering free meals, fitness classes, guitar […]

Conscious or unconscious?

Will it surprise you to know that this piece is not about the ongoing India-Pakistan tensions? It will? Well, for an average Pakistani, this should have become something of a background hum by now. For my regular readers, this crisis — like the ones that may arise in the future — is merely the culmination of what […]

TB’s alarming surge

Pakistan’s longstanding battle with tuberculosis (TB) has taken a dire turn, with the country now ranking fifth globally in the number of TB cases and fourth in drug-resistant TB. In Sindh, the situation is becoming increasingly grim, with Baldia Town in Karachi emerging as a critical hotspot. What makes this crisis even more tragic is […]