Study Kit

The 2018 annual meeting of the Group of 7 was held in Canada at a resort near Quebec City. The two-day meeting concluded on June 9, with President Trump departing early to begin his journey to Singapore where he was scheduled to meet Kin Jung Un, the North Korean president. Before he took the flight, it was announced that the ... Read More »

ENOUGH tears have been shed, egos and emotions shaken and obituaries written about the transatlantic relationship. Enough headlines and commentaries drafted about US President Donald Trump and his volatile ways. And enough pictures taken of the dysfunctional and dying G7 and the love-in between Trump and North Korea’s “rocket man-turned-peacenik” Kim Jong-un. Now it’s time to move on. It’s time ... Read More »

Keeping democratic institutions strong Pakistan has faced major challenges in its socioeconomic situation over past seventy years. However, not all problems have been overcome. The key problems of today include: water scarcity; the lack of sustainable development projects; an increasingly unemployed youth population; the lack of focus on human development projects; a continuous reduction in the foreign exchange reserves; the ... Read More »

Myth or reality? Ever since the industrial revolution, human ingenuity has allowed water, the elixir of human life, to flow even in the most arid landscapes. Ever since the 19th century, water was no longer a mystical force to be worshipped but a commodity to be exploited. The United Nations (UN) Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights declared that ... Read More »

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s water crisis has become increasingly visible in recent months: levels in the largest dams are low; parched irrigation canals mean farmers in the south planted less cotton; and the commercial capital Karachi has long queues at hydrants. So there was little surprise when, on June 6, during a spell of unseasonably high temperatures, the Pakistan Meteorological Department issued ... Read More »

It is estimated that Pakistan will start facing water scarcity within the next five years, and a large number of deaths due to food shortage caused by non-availability of water will become a norm within a decade. By 2025, the country will face tens of thousands of deaths annually due to food shortage caused by country-wide failure to grow crops, ... Read More »

It was four years ago that Narendra Modi rose to power on the bandwagon of Hindutva and populist slogans like ‘development for all’. While the BJP government under Modi has failed to deliver on the lofty promises of economic betterment, they have succeeded in dividing the world’s second most populous nation along communal lines. Many believe that the party will ... Read More »

Politics is not only driven by regional and international outreach but also by economics The world is moving away from a system of hegemony (with one state influencing the international landscape) and a bipolar world. We saw this for decades during the era of Cold War where nations preferred to operate through negotiations than fight major wars. The Warsaw Pact ... Read More »

National 1. On Apr 16, the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, declared Pakistan the world’s largest host of refugees with their number reaching ______. (a) 1.25 million        (b) 1.45 million (c) 2.32 million        (d) 3.29 million 2. The current Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir is ______. (a) Raja Farooq Haider Khan (b) ... Read More »

NATIONAL Apr 16: The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) declared Pakistan the largest country in the world to provide shelter to refugees. As per the UNHCR report, Pakistan continued to host the largest number of refugees in the world (1.45 million), nearly all from Afghanistan. Apr 16: The eight new members of AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider ... Read More »