An Open Letter to CCPO Karachi, regarding Illegal License Plates
Dear CCPO Karachi, Greatly appreciate your newspaper initiative of asking citizens to report crime and send pictures of suspicious looking persons and activities. ([email protected] and mms 0333-222-8080). It would provide citizens a good opportunity and a good feeling to be a part of the crime fighting process of the Sindh Police. You will appreciate that [...]
Pakistan’s Power Politics
Center for Reserach and Security Studies has recently published a weekly pager last week on the precarious power politics in Pakistan the write up can be downloaded from CRSS as well In 1985, Xenel Corporation of Saudi Arabia conceived the setting up of a mega-power plant in Pakistan’s private sector. The sponsors of Hub Power [...]
Shumaila Rana Resigns but what about the Bigger Crooks
Shumaila Rana has resigned from her Parliamentary seat amidst a short bit of drama after she was caught using a stolen Credit Card for approximately Rs. 60,000. To be honest its great to see her cough up her seat, but one wonders that in comparison to her colleagues which are bigger looters and plunders she [...]
‘Judicial Coup’ Democracy in Pakistan is under threat
Long term military dictatorships, shorter civilian rules, where accountability of politicians takes place on the name of corruption with the nexus of judges with civil & military establishment, is the destiny of Pakistan’. Thanks to our rulers as this notion is well supported by their inefficiencies. People came whenever the true leadership called. They came [...]
Cyber Crime Bill to be used against Anti-Govt emails & SMS
Minister of Interior Rehman Malik has taken action to prevent people from spreading malicious and concocted stories against the civilian leadership of the country through emails and text messages. He warned that offenders will be apprehended within 48 hours and be punishable upto 14 years in Jail. It was surprising to note that the Government [...]
Bhagwandas Report – Oil companies given free-hand to fix Oil Prices
Many in Pakistan may have already glanced through this front page story in Dawn, I feel this is a very valuable piece of information to keep in mind when we try to understand the oil-scam in Pakistan. In 2001 an Oil Companies Advisory Commission comprising of all oil companies in Pakistan under the watchful eye [...]
The Myth of Independence – Economic Imperialism
“The notion that Pakistan controls the reigns to the economic resources of the country is incorrect—she doesn’t. The G-7 does. They are the ones who make all the economic decisions for us, for our country, through their institutions like IMF, World Bank, and WTO through the policies of SAP, TRIPS, and TRIMS. The idea is [...]
MPA Shumaila Rana caught red-handed in Credit Card Fraud
An MPA Shumaila Rana who has been a member of the Punjab Assembly on a chosen reserved seat for women has recently been caught red handed using a stolen credit card and making two separate purchases to the tune of Rs. 80,000 [~$1000]. The owner of the credit card Zaira Malik when she reported them [...]
The Carbon Tax Fiasco
Cyril Almeida a columnist in Dawn has penned an excellent article on the recent controversy regarding the petroleum carbon tax. It is a fact that in March 2009 the government had imposed a Petroleum Developmental Levy which resulted in an increase in the price of petroleum goods by a few rupees. The then, newly restored [...]
Sindh Assembly honors Michael Jackson with a Minute of Silence
As I write this blog post I have been at a loss of words, I was shocked to read at the PKKH website that today [Saturday 27th June] the Sindh Assembly kicked off its session with a minutes silence in honor of Michael Jackson, yes you read that one correct ‘the moonwalking maestro – Jacko’ [...]
Zardari throws out Quaid-e-Azam from the Presidency
I was alerted of this development earlier in the afternoon courtesy of blogger Farhan where he wrote a blog post The Terrible Blunder at Presidency. Caught up in work, I made a mental note to check it out in detail, but at 9pm Geo reportedly carried a news item along the same lines showing picture [...]
IDP Crisis, More transparency, please
Voices of reason and critique are often drowned in the sounds of gunfire and heavy artillery shelling. This current operation ‘Rah-e-Rast’, or what is being termed as a ‘War for Pakistan’s survival’, has resulted in an exodus of almost 3 million people which might just be another number for those who are at the helm [...]
NADRA charging Rs 50 for ID Card Verification from IDP’s in Swat
Translated by Noman Qadir courtesy of the Video posted on PakistanIDP NADRA is charging Rs.50 for folks who lost/misplaced or had their cards destroyed in the process of fleeing their homes. The provincial government, district government, civil society and individual citizens are doing all they can to feed, house and clothe these IDPs. The federal [...]
AKU succumbs to Urban Militants
Guest post by Naeem Sadiq AKU was once perceived as a disciplined, professional and caring hospital. It followed rules, provided excellent health care services and even operated a good patient welfare scheme. We were proud of the great hospital built by Prince Karim Aga Khan in the middle of the town. The AKU has gradually [...]
The Writ of Government
It’s the most popular mantra of the Ruling Elite & its intelligentsia to justify military operation to counter the existing wave of terrorism. Here are some of the examples from Pakistani Ruling Elite that fall under the writ of Government according to them. If a minister marries her sisters to The Quran by taking Ruling [...]
