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It is generally believed that a stagnant society begins to degenerate much the same way as we see happening around us. This stagnation may pertain to multiple factors including, but not limited to, intellectual contortions, social disorders, growth deprivations, ethnic and societal disparities and generally an inordinate refusal to learn. Not only that we seem to be stuck with these gross and debilitating symptoms, we are wholesomely consumed with them. Concurrently, showing

It seems that the extended family of a VVIP has the privileges that even the Queen of England is denied. Just ask the passengers of a PIA flight that took off from Karachi to Lahore last week. We hear that the passengers of this regular flight were informed, after checking in, that there would be a delay of half an hour due to "unavoidable reasons." Half an hour later, the "unavoidable reason" walked in and as it turned out she was the first "samdhan' of the first VVIP. She had been

The hapless people of Pakistan are facing the full brunt of the country's perennial economic downturn. Prime Minister Gilani however wants more time and more money to fix the problem. Our traditional international donors, on the other hand are becoming increasingly impatient with the snail pace of our reforms, poor governance and lack of transparency at the state level.
At the recently concluded Pakistan Development Forum (PDF), Gilani said, "The government believed in leading

Today's headline reads that Pakistan has asked donors to write off $50 billion plus worth of loans. Last week's headline was that the Supreme Court thinks all people who have had loans written off are crooks. Does that make us a nation of crooks? Or does that mean the Supreme Court is barking up the wrong tree?
To understand the Supreme Court's apparent position regarding loan write-offs, one needs to go back in history. In 1974, the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto nationalised

Disclaimer: This article is not anti-Pakistan. It is anti-Pakistani. There is a difference. Also, the writer may have fabricated evevnts to suit his narrative and the reader is warned not to quote this article as a reliable source for information of any kind.
For the last few centuries, the people of the subcontinent have been ruled by an interesting bunch of people. After the sun set on the Mughal empire, the Dutch, British and Portuguese staked their claims in various parts at

The Sixteenth Asian Games officially known as the XVI Asiad opened in China's southern city of Guangzhou on November 12 with spectacular ceremonies marking the occasion. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao inaugurated the Games amidst a colourful display of fireworks. Unlike all previous opening ceremonies, the 2010 Asiad opening ceremony was held not in a stadium but at an open venue in Haixinsha Island on the legendry Pearl River.
The water-themed fantasy-opening was marked by a little

How many words will India get in Barack Obama's autobiography, Faith, Hope and Miscarriage, due in 2013?
Going by the law of proportions, it should be between 100 to 104 if the complete book is around 200,000 words, roughly the length expected in a multi-million dollar advance. According to a fine story by my friend K.P. Nayar in the Telegraph, George Bush, Dr Manmohan Singh's "best friend", devoted exactly 208 words out of 195,456 to India in his memoir Decision Points. "Even

How many words will India get in Barack Obama's autobiography, Faith, Hope and Miscarriage, due in 2013?
Going by the law of proportions, it should be between 100 to 104 if the complete book is around 200,000 words, roughly the length expected in a multi-million dollar advance. According to a fine story by my friend K.P. Nayar in the Telegraph, George Bush, Dr Manmohan Singh's "best friend", devoted exactly 208 words out of 195,456 to India in his memoir Decision Points. "Even

Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has a few peculiarities. One is, he has a penchant for good governance; another is, he doesn't know how to go about it. Speaking at a function in Lahore the other day, he launched a diatribe against the PPP government for patronising corruption and doing nothing to mitigate the sufferings of the masses caused by the spiralling price hike. Indulging in intense finger-pointing at President Asif Zardari and expressing his concern over the way the

What a silly storm in a small Indian teacup. We should be looking at the Chinese teacup. Obama goes to India to get something, flatters to sell by saying what the Indians wish to hear and the sated go ape. The wretched of the earth could not give a fig. They want food. Flattery is marketing, my dear compatriots, it's all marketing. Those who fall for it soon come a cropper. There's no gainsaying that the Indians fell for such crass K&F - kowtowing and flattery.
Obama went to

Once again, the man in the street is in the grip of a sugar crisis. What is more, he finds himself in a helpless condition. This time the courts did not interfere as the fixing of the sugar price by the Lahore High Court last year had led to the commodity disappearing from the market altogether. There have been no raids on those holding back stocks either for similar reasons. After threats from PSMA last year to close down industry if coercive methods were used to lower the price,

On trial for sedition in 1922, Mahatama Gandhi told a court in Ahmadabad, Gujrat: "I have no desire whatsoever to conceal from this court that to preach sedition towards the existing system of government has become a passion with me." Sedition "in law is a deliberate crime", he admitted, but "it appears to me to be the highest duty of a citizen".
Under the circumstances that prevail in Pakistan today, nothing could be more appropriate. We have a government that has lost all legal

Mian Sahib, we think, has become a visionary and with that has come a sea change in how he views the media. One proactive, two-track journalists' association, whose members rankled with him in his "heavy mandate" days, is now the apple of his eyes. NS recently played host to the group at least twice in quick succession, once at his Raiwind residence and again on a recent visit to Islamabad. Apparently the admiration is mutual. NS has picked up the agenda of democracy and peace with

Both for his supporters and detractors, PML(N) chief Mian Nawaz Sharif's present politics are an enigma. On one side he has started espousing radical views, anathema to the rank and file of the party he heads. While on the other, he seems quite unsure of how to play his role as the leading opposition figure.
He has written to President Zardari to end corruption and cronyism, urging him to present a consensus accountability bill in the current session of the parliament. He has

Sitting there, two reasonable performances under the belt providing the inspiration to finally watch, expecting a possible and much needed turn of fortunes and suddenly the mood is blown apart. Someone rushes in to the room saying the wicket-keeper has run off!!
Disbelief, 'don't joke', followed by expletives. Then the strip on the media channels confirmed the disaster. Realization that the inevitable stroke of bad luck has struck and this endless saga of horrors is far from the

To sup at the top table, to secure pride of place in the global hierarchy has been India's enduring ambition since its independence. And this deep rooted desire received a huge boost when US President Barack Obama obliged it with a pledge to support India's bid for a permanent seat at the UN's Security Council.
The buoyant optimism in India is understandable but the endorsement is kind of post-dated for it is contingent upon United Nations' reform. And that definitely will

Question 1: what would happen if Ijaz Butt were run into a wall at 10 miles an hour? Answer: the wall would have to be repaired. What happens if an average human being is run into a wall at that speed? He will have to be taken for major repairs.
Question 2: who should then be the PCB chairman - Ijaz Butt or an average human being? Correct answer: Ijaz Butt, thank you and Allah be praised.
This is of course bull. But what the heck, what is Pakistan cricket now if not bull,