The bitter pill of truth need must first dissolve in the sweet solvent of our beliefs before it can be absorbed into the bloodstream of our reality; otherwise it is thrown up in an involuntary spasm
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Sep 242008
Sep 242008
* Credit ratings firm concerned about arrears on sovereign debts, missed repayments
* Any delays in assistance from offshore sources ‘will be damaging’
HONG KONG: Credit ratings firm Moody’s cut its ratings outlook for Pakistan’s government bonds to negative from stable because of the country’s depleting foreign currency reserves as economic reforms are hit by political mayhem.
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Sep 242008
Shireen M Mazari
The Marriott devastation has traumatised Islamabad as never before, despite having seen violence and terrorism with regularity over the last few years – especially since last year. Perhaps it was the widespread damage far beyond the Marriott, which in itself was as tragic as it was horrific, or perhaps it was the live television coverage that took the horror to everyone’s home. Anger, rage, condemnation, fear and helplessness are certainly some of the emotions that have been brought to the fore. Continue reading »
Sep 242008
Nasim Zehra
I had just ended a telephone conversation when the unmistakable sound of a blast pierced the dull post-iftari atmosphere. Soon I landed with my 14-year Mustapha who lives only some meters away from the Marriott. He and his mother were visibly shaken since it appeared a close call. Glass from shattered windows had flown all over. God was kind, Mustapha and his mother were safe. But we were not ok. Many Pakistanis had been killed and injured. As we climbed the rooftop a disturbed Mustapha reported that Marriott now looked like a bar-b-q. Fire and human flesh had mixed. Continue reading »
Sep 242008
Presence of undercover FBI/CIA agents, US Marines suspected
By Shakeel Anjum
The intelligence agencies probing the Marriott blast suspect the presence of under cover FBI/CIA agents in the hotel a few days before it was reduced to rubble by the most horrific terrorist attack in the capital’s history.
The authorities are trying to ascertain the reason for the terrorist attack at the Marriott, Islamabad and whether it has any connection with the stay of American Marines and CIA/FBI agents there.
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Sep 242008
Four US Predators violated Pak airspace
By Mushtaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: Pakistani security forces and Wazir tribesmen Tuesday shot down a CIA-operated US Predator plane near Angoor Adda, in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) but AFP reported that the plane crashed.
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Sep 232008
By Nadeem Syed
The city is ablaze with Iftar parties these days. But the two Iftars that drew most attention were those arranged by the rival Leagues, PML (N) and PML (Q). In fact they were not simple or ordinary Iftars, but do-or die political shows put up to demonstrate their respective parliamentary strength in the largest province which means a lot to every political party, let alone PPP and PML (N) who are destined to compete with each other in days to come, more so at the time of next election. Continue reading »
Sep 232008
Eradicating this phenomenon altogether clearly requires much better on-ground coordination to help victims, prosecute perpetrators, create awareness, and take preventive measures
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Sep 232008
We must go beyond the cyclic repetition of what ails our society, and think of solutions that are pragmatic and rational, regardless of their political costs
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Sep 232008
by Dr Meekal Aziz Ahmed
This is with regards to the government’s new economic stabilisation programme. It is difficult to make a definitive judgment of how good or bad it is because it conceals more than it reveals. Perhaps that is deliberate.
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Sep 232008
I have a dream for Pakistan. My dream is to free this great country from the shackles of poverty, hunger, terrorism and disunity
(President Asif Ali Zaradari, September 20, 2008)
Today they meet. Asif Ali Zardari and George W Bush – president to president. How our president handles his new job is yet to be tested. Can he jettison the negative image he piled up as the First Gentleman? Here are some rare glimpses from an interview conducted 12 years ago. Continue reading »
Sep 232008
ONE really radical and somewhat ambitious way of dealing with the enormous problem created by the growing electricity demand-supply gap is to bring in the provinces into the energy sector.
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Sep 232008
Pakistan rupee further declined on 22nd september. Following are the exchange rates against major currencies. Continue reading »
Sep 222008
AYESHA CHUNDRIGAR
ARTICLE (September 22 2008): As globalisation makes a head-on collision with greed, we strive harder and harder to incorporate First-World mechanisms to meet our Third World desires. We try to build ourselves little First World prototypes in the spaces of our homes and jobs.
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Sep 222008
Pakistan has to implement wide-ranging structural, institutional and governance reforms
to strengthen the economy of the country and thus boost the long-term economic prospects
By Zafar-ul-Hassan Almas
Pakistan’s economic landscape has undergone a complete change in the last two years. Now, the economy seemed more vulnerable against extraordinary shocks of high intensity both from domestic and external factors. Exchange rates is falling freely has already depreciated by 18 per cent in the last Continue reading »