Gilani on Asian unity
PRIME Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s plea for Asian unity, which he made at the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia in China on April 2, has gone almost unnoticed. But it merits serious reflection.

Of May madness, misread messages
MOST Pakistanis will remember the month just past for some of the worst power cuts ever, but this last May reminded me of darkness of a different kind.

How low can we go?
FOR years, others and I have been writing about Pakistan’s low standing in the community of nations.

Monarchy: a bonding ritual
SIT back, relax and enjoy it. The cost is minimal and the show will be good. That is what monarchy is about, a really good show. To will a British republic on the day of the Queen’s diamond jubilee is like

It’s all about neighbourhood
TINY, landlocked Laos is not often in the headlines. But as host and chair of the next Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) summit in November, policymakers in the capital, Vientiane, are gearing up for

‘Innocent’ fraud
THE fifth consecutive budget of this government, to be presented to parliament later today, is more than likely to be yet another timid fiscal policy statement.

Grasping the nettle
FAMILIAR trends have tied Pakistan’s economy into a low-growth continuum. To engineer a change, the government will have to first show its policy hand and then progressively demonstrate the capacity to

The real economy
HIS voice is likely to be drowned out by the (symbolic) protests of the opposition, but the federal minister for finance will nevertheless present the budget today in the National Assembly.

Time to recast economic policy
THE European economy is in the doldrums. The countries on the periphery are already threatened by sky-high youth unemployment, stricken banking systems and economic stagnation — all before a

Women and faith
LAST year, I had gone to Afghanistan for a series of lectures on women’s rights. I also spoke on this subject in a gathering of distinguished ulema and one of the issues which came up for discussion was

An unnecessary row
THE squabble over the selection of a new chief election commissioner (CEC) reveals a peculiar feature of Pakistan’s political culture that impedes the growth of democratic conventions.

Covering the budget
IT’S budget time and the channels are abuzz with activity. For the next three days this will be all there is on air, an annual ritual that comes with a flurry and disappears just as quickly.

The Sherpa syndrome
THERE are several ways to glean facts from a news story that can put an entirely new focus on a narrative.

Gas rebranded as green energy
ENERGY from gas power stations has been rebranded as a green, low-carbon source of power by an €80bn European Union programme, in a triumph of the deep-pocketed fossil fuel industry lobby over

The uninterruptible spokesman
WHENEVER Mani Shankar Aiyar begins to speak on Indo-Pak relations, he opens his mouth and reveals, like Krishna, a universe of limitless possibilities.

The language conundrum
PAKISTAN has failed to educate its children. This is shameful and now we have the proverbial insult added to injury.

Points of contention
THE sentencing of Dr. Shakil Afridi by an assistant political agent under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), and the Pakistani demand that a transit fee be paid for the movement of Nato trucks, have provoked near hysteria in some quarters.

The case for sorry
OVER six months since the Nato attack on the Salala check-post, and years since the initiation of drone attacks on Pakistani territory, relations between Pakistan and the United States stand paralysed on the issue of an apology.

Egypt: the revolution betrayed?
IT is not particularly surprising that thousands of Egyptians took to the streets yet again at the weekend in the wake of final tabulations from last week’s presidential election and the announcement that the run-off poll on June 16-17 would be a contest between a pair of conservatives, albeit of different stripes.

Why Russia changed tack
RUSSIA’S support for Sunday night’s UN security council statement condemning the Houla killings is the first positive news to come out of the Syrian crisis for months.

Where’s Kashmir in the new order?
GLOBAL security and the world order are in the process of being re-jigged. The 2012 Chicago summit is one reflection and indication of this.

The divide in Chicago
IF there was any hope of Pakistan’s fractured relations with the US getting back on track soon, it came crashing down in Chicago.

Big party’s big burden
TO say the biggest political party in the country is going the way of the erstwhile American Whigs may sound preposterous.

Balochistan: bad blood, worse ballot
BALOCHISTAN has listed fewer voters today than it had 15 years ago. Those left out are not missing from their homes nor have they opted to forego their basic political right.

Europe’s real family values
IT’S a weird dislocation. We Brits know — or at least we’re relentlessly told — that bankrupt, stubborn, austerity-crazed continental Europe is in a terrible mess.

The shrew tamed at the Globe
NO Shakespearean play sets feminist teeth on edge as much as The Taming of the Shrew. Not surprisingly, this is…

Media for peace
IT is a shame that Pakistan declined at the last minute to sign a pact on a new liberalised visa regime with India. Although the governments agreed in principle to ease restrictions on business travellers,

Changing the narrative
PAKISTAN is seething with anti-Americanism. This public sentiment is constraining the state’s ability to find sensible options to work out the US-Pakistan relationship.

The law on citizenship
ON May 25, the Supreme Court of Pakistan suspended Farahnaz Ispahani’s membership to parliament.

Food for thought
AS recently as about two generations ago, most women in the West baked a cake or cooked a pancake from the basic eggs, butter and flour recipe.