Public-sector corruption is a big problem in many developing countries, but in Pakistan it has completely diffused through into the very bones of the country’s economic, social and political systems. For such deep-rooted corruption, Prof Michael Johnston of Colgate University uses the term ‘systemic corruption’.Systemic corruption creates an inexorable feedback loop in which malfeasance at the higher levels of governance intensifies incidence of...
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
The colour of identity
The sight of small children, both girls and boys, placing hands and arms close together to compare skin colour is not an unusual one. While the practice is possibly more common among girls, today boys and young men too are increasingly conscious of their skin colour.‘Fairness products’, in the form or creams, lotions, soaps and other cosmetic items sell everywhere and even in the larger stores in all cities it is sometimes difficult to find an item...
What happens after a ‘no deal’ Brexit?
Bluff was a central feature of British power even when the British empire covered a large part of the globe. A story illustrating this tells of a royal navy captain who was sent with a small ship to the Far East to force a defiant local ruler to obey some orders issued by the British authorities.“What do I do if he refuses to do what I tell him?” the captain asked his superiors before departing. “We don’t have any more ships available, so you’ll...
When corruption kills
Public-sector corruption is a big problem in many developing countries, but in Pakistan it has completely diffused through into the very bones of the country’s economic, social and political systems. For such deep-rooted corruption, Prof Michael Johnston of Colgate University uses the term ‘systemic corruption’.Systemic corruption creates an inexorable feedback loop in which malfeasance at the higher levels of governance intensifies incidence of...
After the exit
Yet another historic turn is about to take place in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban are set to declare their victory in 18 years of war as the US is about to sign an accord with them to withdraw coalition forces from Afghanistan in exchange for a commitment not to let Afghan territory be used again for international terrorism. What lies ahead – after the US exit from Afghanistan?In politico-military terms, the Afghan Taliban have played their cards...
Living without hope
A tragedy is bad, and a preventable tragedy is worse. And the unwillingness to take preventions against an avoidable tragedy is the worst. Nothing demoralizes citizens more than this display of unwillingness by the people who are supposed to be in charge.Naheed, a single mother and a doctor in Lahore, went through this recently. She was returning home after a long day at work. After mazing through the busy traffic, she reached her gated society....
The inequality crisis
Should we care how much wealth our wealthiest are grabbing? The flacks who seek deep-pocket favor have a ready response. Of course not, they tell us.Kvetching about the wealth of the wealthy just distracts us from the more important work we all ought to be doing – like growing our economic pie and getting everybody bigger pieces.The folks at Oxfam, the global charitable network, would beg to disagree, and they’ve just released still another compelling...
Draining the monsoon
I wish to draw the attention of the concern authorities towards the problem of water logging in Karachi every monsoon season. It is concerning that many streets and roads in Karachi become waterlogged after just a few hours of intermittent rains. This shows a major problem in the drainage system of the city. Karachi gets rains like this only for two or three days a year but even then the city cannot cope with it. The situation was especially bad...
Air safety
Pakistan does not have a good reputation regarding air safety regulations. Occasionally, we face such accidents that take human lives. We lag behind in having common facilities like such disaster management systems.We desperately require improvement in a proper surveillance system to avoid accidents in the future.Iftikhar MirzaIslamabad
from The News International - Newspost https://ift.tt/3353X...
Appropriate speeches
This refers to the letter ‘Name and shame’ (July 31) by Arshad M Khawaja. I had defended our PM Imran Khan in response to the letters published earlier blaming him for not speaking on important issues in his speech in Washington. I justified his input on corruption and money laundering. Pakistanis all over the world already know who plundered their wealth. Our PM has reiterated it enough that everyone knows by now.However, the tone used by our leaders...
Fixing taxes
This refers to the letter ‘Dark days’ (July 30) by Amina Bijar. I agree with the writer that in this modern era the world is developing but our country seems to be regressing into darkness. Taxes keep rising yet we see no improvements in our country like other nations have.If the new government has used these taxes honestly for the country then we should be prospering. Everyone knows that these taxes only increase the bank balance of our politicians...
Honest NSC
I went to an NSC branch in Islamabad on July 29 in connection with my investments there. As luck would have it, when I took my CNIC out from my wallet, I accidentally dropped my wallet in the NSC premises. In the evening I realized that my wallet was missing. Luckily I had the phone contact of the NSC cashier and called him asking if anyone had found my wallet. I explained to him where I had sat and asked him to check in the area. Thankfully, he...
PSL in Balochistan
The PCB has announced that some of the matches of the next season of the PSL will be played in Pakistan for those Pakistanis who cannot afford to attend the matches in Dubai. Why was no match declared to be played in Balochistan? Are we not Pakistanis? Don’t we have the right to watch matches live in the stadium like everyone else? Our Baloch cricketers are not part of the national team or given chances in the PSL. They have been awaiting the chance...
Repairs required
Heavy rain in the Kirthar range area of Sindh washed away the road from the Gorakh hill station to Johi in the Dadu district on July 27. This is not the first time that heavy rain caused the road to collapse and this happens in almost happens in almost every monsoon season.The citizens of Wahi Pandhi as well as well as those visiting the Gorakh hill station helplessly wait many weeks for the restoration of the road. However, the more feasible and...
No credit for MSMEs
Pakistan has had a longstanding relationship with the IMF, to the point where it has availed a total of 21 IMF bailout programmes. The IMF provides loans to countries as a stop-gap measure to implement fiscal and monetary policies needed to restore conditions for a stable economy and sustainable growth as compared to any abrupt shift in policies. But historically, these programmes have proven to hurt Pakistan’s economy in the long term rather than...
Dental project
The Fatima Jinnah Institute of Dental Sciences in Lahore was launched by the PML-Q government in 2005. Sadly it fell prey to ‘politics’ and the FJIDS project was abandoned after spending millions of rupees, depriving people of a crucial health facility. The FJIDS project was a proposed extension of the De Montmorency College of Dentistry which is the only public-sector dental institute in the provincial metropolis. The government of that time instead...
Players union says football calendar is harming star players
PARIS: Top players are being put at risk by an increasingly crowded international calendar that gives them no chance to recover from matches and travel, said their union, FIFPRO, in a report published Thursday.‘At the Limit,’ a glossy 40-page document, builds on demands the union has long expressed. It wants players to have five-day breaks between matches, extra recovery time after long international flights, a two-week winter break and a summer...
YouTube star Grant Thompson killed in paragliding accident
LOS ANGELES: YouTube star Grant Thompson, who rose to fame as host of the popular channel "The King of Random," has died in a paragliding accident, his family announced.Authorities said the 38-year-old, who had 11 million subscribers on his channel and billions of views, was reported missing after he didn’t return on Monday from a paragliding trip in Utah.A GPS device that he had on him was used to locate his body late Tuesday.The Washington County...
Heer Maan Ja unveils music video for ‘Kuch Toh Hua Hai’
After co-producing and starring in Janaan (2016) and Parchi (2018), Hareem Farooq, returns as co-producer and one of the protagonists with Ali Rehman Khan for a third time in the upcoming Heer Maan Ja.But unlike the preceding films, this is the first film in which Ali and Hareem will share some romance, as is palpable in the music video of Kuch Toh Hua Hai’.While the complete music of the film had been released earlier, the music video for the song,...
Ali Azmat embarks on a massive Euro trip via motorcycle
It isn’t a secret that Ali Azmat loves to ride motorcycles. In a series of videos on YouTube, singer-songwriter, producer and actor, Ali Azmat – who we last saw on Coke Studio 11 – admitted that this year is no different.“Every year I do some crazy s*** and this year it’s going to be a European trip on a motorcycle, starting from London, England to first off, France (by train some journey – the Euro tunnel) and we will stop at a place called Nancy,...
Celebrating 5 fearless, female filmmakers
It is a known fact that the film industry, all around the globe, is dominated by men. When it comes to female filmmakers, they don’t get the same recognition or opportunities that male directors do.However, Pakistani women filmmakers, though less in number as compared to their male counterparts, are just as talented and have been making waves for quite some time. With some critically acclaimed projects to their credit, female directors have made...
Andy Murray reunites with brother Jamie for doubles win
WASHINGTON: Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray moved closer to a singles comeback six months after hip surgery, joining brother Jamie for a doubles victory Wednesday at the ATP Washington Open.The Murrays, partnered for the first time since the 2016 Rio Olympics, downed Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 10-5 in a first-round match at the US Open tuneup event.The British duo trailed 5-2 in the decisive super-tiebreaker...
US has intel that Osama bin Laden´s son is dead: report
WASHINGTON: US intelligence has received information that Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden´s son Hamza has died, NBC News reported Wednesday.NBC said three US officials had confirmed they had information of Hamza bin Laden´s death, but gave no details of the date or place, and did not indicate if they had confirmed the information.Questioned by reporters in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump did not confirm or deny the report."I don´t want to...
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
ME country ruler’s wife seeks protection from British court
LONDON: The wife of a Middle Eastern country ruler has applied for a “forced marriage protection order” in England’s High Court in relation to one of her two children.She has also applied for a “non-molestation order,” which protects from harassment or threats. It was not clear who this order was in relation to. At the High Court of England and Wales, she also applied for wardship, which means a child is placed in the hands of the court for major...
‘Afghan soldier killed two US troops’
KABUL: An Afghan soldier was responsible for the killing of two American troops a day earlier, an official said Tuesday, in what appears to be the latest example of an insider attack.The US military on Monday said two of its troops had been killed in action in Afghanistan, but did not provide any additional details, pending notification of next of kin.Mohammad Qasam, a deputy police chief in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, said the attack...
Federal minister’s car stolen
KARACHI: The Federal Minister for Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication and a leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, was deprived of his official car on Tuesday. The incident took place when Maqbool'sToyota Vigo was parked outside the MQM-P Bahadurabad office located within the limits of the New Town police station.It was purchased recently and registered in the name of Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation....
Cabinet orders reversal of roti, naan price
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday chaired a meeting on gas tariff for tandoors and prices of roti and naan, expressing displeasure over the increase in their rates. He directed reverting the prices of roti and naan at the previous level.Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said Prime Minister Imran Khan took strict notice of the increase in the price of bread and directed raising...
Shrine land allotment case: ACE grills Nawaz in jail
LAHORE: An Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) team interrogated former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Kot Lakhpat jail on Tuesday in Pakpattan shrine land illegal allotment case.According to the case, Nawaz, as the chief minister Punjab at that time, had allegedly allotted a property attached to the shrine of Baba Fariduddin Ganj Shakar in Pakpattan, illegally. The ACE team grilled Nawaz Sharif for about half an hour and placed old record and official...
Shrine land allotment case: ACE grills Nawaz in jail
LAHORE: An Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) team interrogated former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Kot Lakhpat jail on Tuesday in Pakpattan shrine land illegal allotment case.According to the case, Nawaz, as the chief minister Punjab at that time, had allegedly allotted a property attached to the shrine of Baba Fariduddin Ganj Shakar in Pakpattan, illegally. The ACE team grilled Nawaz Sharif for about half an hour and placed old record and official...
Most corrupt govt of last 19 years excluded from PTI govt’s probe
ISLAMABAD: Last 19 years annual reports of the Berlin-based global watchdog — Transparency International — show corruption at its peak in Pakistan during General Musharraf’s tenure but the PTI government’s probe into past governments spending excludes the dictator’s rule and only focuses on the last 10 years of PPP and PML-N regimes.The Transparency International, which publishes annual Global Corruption Barometer and Corruption Perception Index...
19 martyred in plane crash laid to rest
ISLAMABAD: The Namaz-e-Janaza of martyred pilots and crew members who embraced Shahadat in a plane crash near Mora Kalu was offered on Tuesday at Chaklala Garrison.Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, serving and retired military personnel and relatives of Shahuada attended the funeral. At least 19 people, including five military personnel and 13 civilians, were martyred when a military aircraft crashed in Mohra Kalu locality near...
Cultured speech
There is a trend nowadays to use promotional messages to flood inboxes which is quite annoying when you have not signed up for such blatant spam. However, what is entirely unacceptable is the slang they use. Since when did we leave our manners behind? The messages are quite rude and address you by your first name and are a jumble of poorly written slang words. Kha lo, Loot lo, Mauj utha lo, Bhook mitao.Frankly speaking, neither I nor anyone in my...
Just a number?
Firdous Jamal has been a highly respected TV and film actor for a very long time. However, his popularity has fallen greatly following his negative comments about Mahira Khan, an internationally recognized artist in a morning show. The 65-year-old veteran actor said that Mahira was too old to play a heroine and should play a mother as a 34-year-old woman because that was more appropriate.If Mr Jamal has issues with the age of other artists, it is...
Protecting investment schemes
This refers to the letter ‘Left destitute’ (July 30) by NAK Lodhi. Pensioners, widows and senior citizens 60 years of age and above can make deposits in BSC/PBA National Savings worth ten million rupees at max without falling into the tax bracket. It is also pertinent to mention that the rates of interest in these schemes are very high in comparison to other National Savings Schemes.Deposits worth more than this should fall under the tax bracket...
Road to friendship
A significant achievement for our current government has been the strengthening of Pak-US relations. The recently concluded tour of the PM has been a great success for us. The US’s friendship with India and growing tensions with us had been worrying to say the least. We are grateful for the new ties but should remain cautious of exploitation.Now the US wishes to withdraw peacefully from Afghanistan so we should serve as a medium between these opposing...
Promises to keep
This refers to the article ‘Realistic ambitions’ (July 28) by Rahimullah Yusufzai. Whilst deconstructing our PM’s recent visit to the US, the writer very presciently asserts that the basic purpose of inviting our PM to the US is because the superpower is in need of his help to persuade the Taliban to basically allow a dignified exit to the US forces in Afghanistan. Our army chief went to the US as well to emphasize on the gravity of the situation...
Name and shame
This refers to the letter ‘Accountability’ (July 30) by Dr Najeeb A Khan about our PM’s discourse to the Pakistani community in Washington during his visit to the US. The writer suggests that the PM avoid mentioning the names of those involved in scams when he says ‘However, I agree that descending to the personal level was not expected from an executive head of state’. Certain politicians have tarnished the image of this country by their unsatiated...
Water safety
Recently a tragic boat accident took place at the Tarbela Dam Lake. A number of such accidents have taken place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where people have gone out in boats for picnic and drowned in the river. There have also been reports regarding people swimming in dams and drowning. It is a very sad thing to learn of such accidents which can be prevented if the local authorities/government enforced strict measures to safeguard the lives of people...
Rain wrath
Once again, Karachi looks like Venice with the flooded streets and alleyways filled with murky and filthy gutter water. Rain beautifies other countries and other areas, but for Karachi it only brings difficulties. Several areas experienced prolonged power outages and it has become an increasingly frustrating phenomenon. You can expect the lights to go out when the rain comes down. More saddening to hear was that the heavy downpour claimed eight lives,...
