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2010

How it feels to be a Pakistani in North America

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There is a well-built view that Pakistani identity is troublesome in western countries. It is more serious for Pakistanis than Indians; Bollywood stigma is not more precarious than someone perceived to be representing an extreme view of life. It is true that after 9/11, we are looked down as religious and repellent to western culture and values. The regular barrage of negative reports about Pakistan in media has tarnished the image of those who come from that part of the world. It hurts to know that those who respected Pakistani community and considered our people as intelligent and hardworking found us possibly dangerous or least against their values and customs. The truth is that most Pakistanis living in western countries still live in the old world, dominated by their religious fervor. From seventies to nineties, we never observed veil on Pakistani Read More »How it feels to be a Pakistani in North America

21st century ‘Great Game’

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Ikram Sehgal

Rudyard Kipling’s 19th-century “Great Game” encompassed mostly the region mow comprising Pakistan and Afghanistan and adjacent areas. It remained an area of turmoil in the 20th century. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the subsequent events that led to the ouster of Soviet forces and the emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan in the last decade of the past century brought things to a head.
Robert D Kaplan’s 13th book, Monsoon, expands the area of “the Great Game” in the 21st century and examines the role of the US in the Indian Ocean. The interested powers include China, Russia, India and the emerging countries at the rim of the Indian Ocean. The search for energy and its denial thereof are what drove Japan to battle in the Second World War. The 21st century “Great Game” still has oil and gas as objectives, but the primary riches are greater (and now definable), the untold wealth buried in the triangle where the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan meet with Iran’s.Read More »21st century ‘Great Game’

UK to cut skilled non-EU immigrants by 13 pc: BBC

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* Non-EU skilled visas to be cut to 43,000 a year

* Issue divisive for Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition

LONDON: Britain is to cap the number of skilled workers entering the country from outside the European Union at 43,000 a year, down 13 percent from 2009, but at the higher end of recent proposals, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

Additionally, staff transferred by companies from another country would be exempt from the cap if they earned more than 40,000 pounds a year, the broadcaster said. The BBC gave no source for its report, and officials were not immediately available for comment. Read More »UK to cut skilled non-EU immigrants by 13 pc: BBC

MORAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INDIAN NATION

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ALI SUKHANVER

“Go India! Go back! We want freedom!” the charismatically enchanting valley of    Srinagar was resonating with the ear-piercing slogans raised by the hundreds of protesters who had gathered there after the Eid prayers. The Indian security forces started firing shots in the air and used teargas to disperse the violent crowd but all in vain. The protesters transformed into a procession and proceeded towards the main city and ultimately started hurling stones at the police. So many injured, so many arrested .That is how the people of Indian held Kashmir celebrated their one of the most sacred religious festivals The Eid-ul-Azha on 17th of November 2010. The most pathetic event of the day was that the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq were disallowed to lead Eid-ul-Azha prayers. These leaders condemned the action of the Indian government as a ‘blatant infringement of people’s religious rights’. The International Herald Tribune reports, ‘Authorities deployed thousands of troops in Srinagar to prevent a repeat of massive protests that hit the city two months ago on Eid-ul- Fitr.The commercial Lal Chowk area, where protesters hoisted Islamic and Pakistani flags during the last holiday, was sealed with barbed wire.’Read More »MORAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INDIAN NATION

Pakistan: a forgotten economy

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Dr Ashfaque H Khan

Until 2007, Pakistan was regarded as one of the four fastest growing economies in Asia, the others being China, India and Vietnam. Goldman Sachs, an international investment bank, included Pakistan, along with Mexico, South Korea and Vietnam, in the club of the “Next Eleven” (N-11), on the basis of their potentials to emerge as major economic powers.
But in just three years, the Pakistani economy has ceased to be of interest to international forums.
At the recently concluded G20 Summit in Seoul, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific set up an experts’ group to present the Asia-Pacific perspective on the current global economic challenges,. I was one of the members of the group assigned the responsibility to prepare the views of the Asia-Pacific region. The group discussed the economies of countries including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Pakistan’s economy never made it to this particular discussion agenda. Read More »Pakistan: a forgotten economy

ISLAMABAD: SBP reforms to eliminate role of institutional investors in National Saving Schemes

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* Containing inflationary pressure major objective of monetary policy

* Current account deficit expected to widen during FY11

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reforms are aimed at phasing out role of institutional investors in National Saving Schemes, review of the Export Finance Scheme (EFS) and Long-Term Financing Facility (LTFF), so as to ensure removal of distortions by narrowing the difference of interest rates on subsidised schemes with the market interest rates and making them more focused to achieve objectives for which they are created.Read More »ISLAMABAD: SBP reforms to eliminate role of institutional investors in National Saving Schemes