Changing weather patterns
Too important to ignore for an agriculture-driven economy, like ours For the last 4-5 years Pakistan has been seeing significant changes in weather almost every year and in every season. The rains…
Education and careers
Will private education really be the panacea that is being talked about? Majid, in his late 40s, has two kids in school going age. He works as an administrative coordinator in an…
Policy debates
The first thing needed to grow up politically The good thing is that PTI has announced its key policy areas of concern and key policy interventions in the public and well in…
Reform implementation
A must do come next elections Expecting elections in early 2013 political parties have started work on their manifestoes, agendas and policy papers/positions. Some have even started announcing bits and pieces of…
Teacher career paths?
Mired in a multitude of problems Teachers in low-fee private sector are sometimes paid a salary as low as Rs 1,000 or Rs 1,200 a month. This is not only true of…
Suicide at 14?
Where should the responsibility lie? There were small reports, barely noticeable, on the city pages of a couple of national dailies a few days back. And almost no follow up since. Tanvir,…
Systems and flaws
Institutional design for deepening democracy A recent article in a national daily talked of making voting compulsory in Pakistan, as one way of deepening democracy and ensuring participation in the democratic process.…
Our labour market
The efficiency and equity factors Quite a few journalist friends mention, almost casually, and far too often, that they or some fellow journalists, often full time employees of spected media houses, have…
Sustainability or bust
Enough will eventually be enough Can China and India have the per capita incomes that the North American and Western European countries enjoy today? What will the world be like if that…
Negotiating better
The YDA-government faceoff could’ve/should’ve been avoided Young Doctors have been on a strike for almost two weeks now and many outpatient wings of public hospitals have not been functional or fully functional.…
The emperor of all maladies
A plea for cancer awareness In 2010, about six hundred thousand Americans, and more than 7 million humans around the world, will die of cancer. In the United States, one in three…
Learning to learn
A school is not a conveyor belt A number of times in recent past when I have tried to discuss, with children of my friends and across 8-16 age group, what they…
Health rights?
Time for a deeper debate on the topic Some time back a doctor friend, who works at a large public hospital, called us to ask if we could spare some money for…
Post-budget blues
What a non-event the budget has become now. Till a few decades back, people would wait for it knowing that it could have major impact on their economic well-being. It was also…
The Deep State
Grand narrative and its perpetuation There is a grand narrative of Pakistan that the ‘deep state’ has constructed over the last 65 odd years. It is a narrative that is nationalistic but…
Market matters
They have the power to shape our society Should apples be sold for a price in a market? Most of us would say yes and would also think it is a silly…
Should children have mobiles?
It is not needed till it is really needed A nephew, who was turning six, was asked as to what he wanted for his birthday. “A Blackberry would be great.” It was…