World in Focus

National July 16: World Health Organisation (WHO), during a meeting with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza, recommended patient safety standards for Pakistan. July 16: Pakistan fully reopened its airspace for all civilian traffic, following months of restrictions imposed in the wake of a standoff with India in February. July 16: The State Bank of ... Read More »

National June 16: Pakistan Army announced postings and transfers of three-star officers, appointing Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed as new Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). June 16: Pakistan’s former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif was granted first extension in his service as Commander of 39-country Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC). June 16: Eminent poet Zehra ... Read More »

Power Play in the Indian Ocean The Great Game Moves to Sea Magazine Desk India, China and the United States, the three major powers, which together account for nearly half of the global economy, are vying for influence in the Indian Ocean arena. All three of them view the region through their own geostrategic frameworks, ensuring intense jostling at best ... Read More »

The Federal Budget 2019-20 Rarely if ever, except perhaps during the initial years after our independence in 1947, has Pakistan faced such dire economic straits as those that confront it today. Consequently, the template of the federal budget was cast by the IMF programme terms that the country recently agreed with the Fund at the staff-level and has duly complied ... Read More »

   European Elections Young people chose Europe! The European Parliament elections are over, with the liberal wing sighing with relief, while the right wingers can smugly point to the increase to 25% of representation in the world’s second largest democratically-elected parliament. The good news is that the elections gained something of a new momentum. Since its first-ever direct elections in ... Read More »

Second Belt and Road Forum Key Takeaways Magazine Desk The second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing from April 25 to 27 under the theme “Belt and Road Cooperation: Shaping a Brighter Shared Future”. The forum consisted of the opening ceremony, the Leaders’ Roundtable, the high-level meeting, 12 thematic forums and a CEO conference. 40 ... Read More »

National Feb 16: Sarah Mahboob easily won the SN Ladies National Tennis, beating Sara Mansoor in final. Feb 16: Members of the Balochistan Assembly unanimously nominated Akhtar Hussain Langove of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) as chairman of the provincial Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Feb 17: In the aftermath of the Pulwama incident, India raised the customs duty to 200% ... Read More »

NATIONAL Jan 16: PM Imran Khan constituted an 8-member ministerial committee to negotiate a long-term Strategic Economic Framework arrangement with Turkey. Jan 16: The Supreme Court held the system of jirgas and panchayats in violation of Pakistan’s international commitments under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Convention on the Elimination of All ... Read More »

NATIONAL Dec 16: Pakistan was elected as the Vice President and the Rapporteur of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, at COP24 in Katowice, Poland. Dec 17: The opposition unanimously named JUI-F leader Advocate Malik Sikandar as the leader of opposition in the Balochistan Assembly. Dec 17: Chief of the Army Staff ... Read More »

NATIONAL Nov 16: Pakistan’s first Austro Turf cricket stadium was inaugurated in Balochistan’s Chaman city. Nov 16: CPEC media forum, organised by the China Economic Net and Pakistan-China Institute, was held in Beijing. During the forum, lawmakers and opinion-makers from China and Pakistan called for joint efforts to highlight cooperation between the two countries and counter propaganda against the CPEC ... Read More »