Pakistan

Over the last 50-plus years, I have sat through numerous presentations on government, NGO, masters and PhD students’ development projects, in various countries, both in what is now known as the global North and global South. In addition, international financial institutions (IFIs), such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, have also sought my assistance. I have also been a member of various United Nations committees on physical and social development, and a consultant to them. As the chief adviser and the chairperson of the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) and the Urban Resource Centre (URC), I have challenged the structure of thinking of many such projects and documented my concerns regularly. The most important thing I have learned in the process is that most of these projects have a very strong anti-poor bias and are primarily concerned with brick and mortar aspects of problems. ANTI-POOR BIAS As far as academia is concerned, almost all teachers and supervisors bring their class prejudices with them...

DIVERSITY is central to the human spirit. The International Day for Tolerance, which is being observed today, is a reminder that acceptance and appreciation bind us, and that the divergence of opinions, cultures, behaviour, heritage and beliefs close the loopholes in our social fabric. Ancient societies were rife with intolerance. Sadly, despite education and scientific advancements, we are witnessing a global regression towards earlier patterns due to misplaced superiority. Power, in all its manifestations, seeks to control the vulnerable. In Pakistan’s turbulent societal setting, governments weaponise fear, which creates insularity and animosity. We need a greater sense of security for more harmony among our people. Some have different faiths, others different politics, ethnicity, aspirations and practices. All these should translate into collective growth. The path to prosperity lies in valuing differences. A firm stand against intolerance of any kind hinges on how committed the state, citizens and the cle...

Islamabad, Amman reject Palestinian displacement; PM, Jordan's king vow to enhance relations

5 terrorists liquidated in K-P operation

The federal government on Saturday kept the price of petrol unchanged, but increased the price of high-speed diesel by Rs6 per litre for the next fortnight. According to a notification from the Finance Division, the new HSD price is Rs284.44 per litre. The prices will come into effect on November 16. “The government has revised the prices of the petroleum products following input from the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and the relevant ministries.” Most of the transport sec­tor runs on HSD and its price is considered inflationary as it is mostly used in heavy transport vehicles, trains and agricultural engines like trucks, buses, tractors, tube-wells and threshers and particularly adds to the prices of vegetables and other eatables. Petrol is primarily used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws, and two-wheelers, and directly impacts the budgets of the middle and lower-middle classes. The government charges about Rs99 per litre on both petrol and diesel. Although the general sales tax (GST) i...

ISLAMABAD - Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday visited Cadet College Wana, where security forces recently thwarted a militant attack aimed at targeting students and staff.

LAHORE - Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar on Saturday lashed out at PTI founder Imran Khan, accusing him of doing politics of falsehoods and hypocrisy.

LAHORE - A wide ranging report by The Economist lays out how Bushra Bibi, the third wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, became one of the most influential figures in his personal and political life, shaping key decisions inside the Prime Minister’s Office and altering the power dynamics within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

ISLAMABAD - The importance of ‘numbers game’ in the Parliament can never be denied as it always held significance in the ruling clique and the opposition.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that the positive trends due to tariff reforms and the government’s steps to modernize and improve the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) transparently were solid evidence of the correctness of the measures.

King Abdullah II arrives in Islamabad on first state visit in 21 years PM Shehbaz, King Abdullah agree to enhance coordination among Arab, Islamic countries on Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan Pakistan, Jordan ink four MoUs on culture, media, education.

Sector, worth $20b, needs specialised skills to unlock thousands of jobs

Tells COP-30 dialogue Pakistan's survival hinges on climate action, not pledges

Facility vital for supporting pharmaceutical SMEs, creating conducive environment

Food ministry requests creation of special purpose vehicle to manage commodity's stocks

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Study urges shift from price-based fixes to innovation, high-income markets

Ahsan Iqbal says Balochistan's uplift, Pakistan Post's automation key to govt's inclusive growth agenda

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed on Saturday that they had seized an oil tanker in the Gulf as it sailed away from a UAE port, a day after security companies determined they were likely responsible. “Yesterday morning at 7:30, after a judicial authority ordered the seizure of the cargo of an oil tanker with the trade name Talara and the flag of the Marshall Islands, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) rapid reaction units of the naval forces monitored its movements and intercepted and seized it,” said the IRGC. “The tanker was found to be in violation of the law by carrying unauthorised cargo,” the statement continued, adding it “was carrying 30,000 tonnes of petrochemical cargo and was heading to Singapore”. The Iranian news agency Fars said that action was not taken as a measure against any other nation, but was a purely local matter. The seized cargo, the report said, was made up of Iranian-produced petrochemicals being illegally exported and “the main culprit was an Iranian individual or bus...

Ethiopia has confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the south of the country, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Saturday. The Marburg virus is one of the deadliest known pathogens. Like Ebola, it causes severe bleeding, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea and has a 21-day incubation period. Also like Ebola, it is transmitted via contact with bodily fluids and has a fatality rate of between 25 and 80 percent. The head of the World Health Organization, Ethiopia’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed on Friday that at least nine cases had been detected in southern Ethiopia, two days after Africa CDC was alerted to a suspected haemorrhagic virus in the region. “Marburg virus disease (MVD) has been confirmed by the National Reference Laboratory (in Ethiopia),” Africa CDC said. “Further epidemiological investigations and laboratory analyses are underway and the virus strain detected shows similarities to those previously identified in East Africa.” It said Ethiopian...