close
Thursday December 05, 2024
M Saeed Khalid
M Saeed Khalid

  • February 29, 2024

    Civilization under threat?

    The image is cover page of Masood Kizilbash’s book ‘Human Conflict with Nature’. — The News FileMasood Kizilbash’s book ‘Human Conflict...

  • January 16, 2024

    The legacy of Sartaj Aziz

    A man of great intellect and integrity a visionary economist a high-caliber statesman these are some of expressions used to describe Sartaj Aziz

  • September 22, 2023

    Uncertainty is the enemy

    There are times when it can be helpful to look back at things of the past. For example, if we were to go back to the summer of 1958, we would...

  • July 26, 2023

    Countdown to elections

    The murky political and economic scenario of the last fifteen months is beginning to clear up with two major developments. First came the $3 billion...

  • May 23, 2023

    How Erdogan is standing tall

    The Western media which leads the world in dissemination of news has gone quiet after their projections of President Erdogan's defeat in the Turkish...

  • April 04, 2023

    A murky scenario

    Pakistan’s political and economic flux shows no sign of improvement as seen in some recent developments. Imran Khan continues to oppose the ruling...

  • February 03, 2023

    A state of flux

    Consumers are in a state of shock over the latest jump in petrol prices. However, there are some who will be satisfied with the raise. First, the...

  • December 27, 2022

    Whither Pakistan?

    The din of our fledgling democracy has crossed the limits allowed by reason and decency, but there is no sign of de-escalation in the persistent...

  • November 23, 2022

    Choices in a power struggle

    Former PM Imran Khan will be in Rawalpindi on November 26, where he hopes to reignite the protest movement till fresh elections are announced. The...

  • September 13, 2022

    The longest year

    There was great temptation to write about August 29 as ‘the longest day’ on account of the IMF’s anxiously awaited decision on its Extended...

  • July 09, 2022

    The battle for Punjab

    Three months after the dramatic change of government in Islamabad, Pakistan’s political and economic turmoil is far from over. What was carried...

  • April 21, 2022

    Democratic disorder

    On day four of leaving the PM’s Office, Imran Khan was working a massive rally of his supporters in Peshawar, riling them up against America and...

  • February 04, 2022

    Diplomatic footprints

    Barack Obama's eight years in the White House were marked by more downs than ups in Pak-US relations. The year 2011, in particular, saw the lowest...

  • December 22, 2021

    State of inertia

    While Bangladesh was celebrating 50 years of independence, I became more conscious of its relics in Islamabad, not difficult to spot if you are...

  • May 25, 2021

    The paradox of the Superior Services

    It is that time of the year when around two hundred ambitious young men and women, as well as their families, celebrate their success in the Central...

  • January 09, 2021

    Goodbye, Brussels

    The British managed to say adios to the Brussels leviathan known as the European Union and the multi-layered bureaucracy that runs it, just in time...

  • October 18, 2020

    Dr Ishrat’s reform package

    The country's civil service structure is finally undergoing some changes and you can get a measure of their significance while staying safely at...

  • September 24, 2020

    Reform now

    There are mixed signals about the direction our state and society appear to be taking. Both have scored a victory in limiting the ravages of...

  • August 13, 2020

    What Mufti saw

    Masud Mufti, writer, thinker and administrator was among those teenagers who marched in the streets of Lahore for the creation of Pakistan. He...

  • June 25, 2020

    The year of corona

    The Chinese new year predates the Christ Era calendar by nearly 2700 years. To be precise, the Chinese new year 4718 began on January 25, 2020 and...

  • May 20, 2020

    Service reforms

    Adviser for Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Husain has at last lifted the curtain from his much-awaited reform package for the country's civil...

  • April 20, 2020

    The post-Covid economy

    Over two million infected and more than 150,000 dead world-wide. That is the toll the new coronavirus has caused at the time of writing these...

  • March 15, 2020

    A bug in humanity’s system

    It’s about China. The world witnessed year after year, the phenomenal rise of China, with mixed feelings of awe and envy. The world’s most...

  • February 12, 2020

    Modi’s war bluff

    February 8, 2020 may go down as the day Delhi spun out of the BJP’s orbit, again. The make-believe mantra of an imminent war with Pakistan does...

  • January 14, 2020

    The year 2020 AD

    If a year ever started with a bang, it’s your cutely named Twenty20. Barely a week into the new year, Australia had been hit by a near cataclysm...

  • December 10, 2019

    Nato lives on

    We are fast approaching the day when Donald Trump’s name will be added to the list of American presidents who had to face impeachment.On balance,...

  • October 27, 2019

    Breakdown of institutions

    In a column titled ‘Breakdown of morality’ published in these pages on September 18 this year, I had drawn attention to the tendency of some...

  • October 09, 2019

    Challenges ahead

    The US Senate has decided to also urge the BJP government to ease its draconian restrictions on the people of Indian-held Kashmir.India is not yet...

  • September 18, 2019

    Breakdown of morality

    The ongoing crisis in Indian-held Kashmir has three distinct but interconnected dimensions: geopolitical, humanitarian and legal.The Modi government...

  • September 03, 2019

    Paradise in flames

    It has been nearly a month that the champions of Hindu raj ran amok in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Parts of the disputed territory now resemble a...

  • August 16, 2019

    Modi’s fatal attractions

    What Modi decides, Modi does, say the Indian premier’s diehard supporters. That is not reassuring as his actions can be extremely dangerous, like...

  • August 06, 2019

    The peace process

    Donald Trump’s special envoy on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad has undertaken another round of consultations in Kabul and Islamabad before his next...

  • July 28, 2019

    Incredible Pakistan

    There could be nothing as exalting for the rulers as travelling abroad. Agreed that Imran Khan’s visit to Washington was not a lot of pomp and...

  • July 21, 2019

    A new chapter in Pak-US ties

    The first thing that strikes observers of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump is the two men's shared rise...

  • July 14, 2019

    Peace prospects in Afghanistan

    It was only a few days back that I shared my pessimism with a friend about the open-ended conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria. He was interested to...

  • July 09, 2019

    Signs of a turnaround?

    On the surface, Imran Khan completed his best week as prime minister. Budget 2019-20 was approved by parliament. The PTI’s amnesty scheme for...

  • July 01, 2019

    It’s the people

    Ten months into office and PM Khan seems to have settled in the role of the nation’s chief instructor. One wonders if he will have success as a...

  • June 23, 2019

    Zero-sum games

    Prime minister Imran Khan has come down again, like a proverbial tonne of bricks, on the hoarders of black money. Sceptics were, however, quick to...

  • June 13, 2019

    Morality as state policy

    An elementary rule of life is that things can be kept simple or rendered complex, depending on whether you pay attention to detail or not. When the...

  • June 08, 2019

    Time for Hindutva lite?

    The Indian general election 2019 could prove to be highly consequential in some ways. The BJP’s clear victory shows that it pays to play on the...

  • May 30, 2019

    Waiting for a turnaround

    Not very good news for the opposition’s stalwarts and their heir-lings preparing to launch a protest movement against the government. A free run...

  • May 22, 2019

    Trump’s warrior diplomacy

    War is a serious and deadly business. Yet, speculation is rife in Washington about a possible war with Iran without any mention of the horrendous...

  • May 15, 2019

    Statistics and home truths

    Old habits die hard. If you are addicted to living on borrowed money, there is every chance of a relapse no matter the finance wizard’s claim of...

  • May 08, 2019

    The crunch

    Looking at the evolving politico-economic scenario in Islamabad, the PTI’s ‘tabdeeli’ squad is not alone in being hit by changes in the...

  • May 02, 2019

    Passport blues

    Have children, will travel. This appears to be the credo of underprivileged people across the world and through the ages. World history is...

  • April 25, 2019

    The words they speak

    The cabinet reshuffle has receded as a news story but remains a hot topic, good enough to cause a bout of histrionics by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The...

  • April 17, 2019

    Time is a bird

    It’s the economy after all. Let’s begin with the finance minister’s announcement that from now onwards, things will start moving. And that...

  • April 11, 2019

    The great retreat

    Consider. The formidable Anglo-American alliance that was forged a hundred years ago, and went on to dominate the world for decades, is finally on...

  • April 04, 2019

    State of happiness

    The PTI government may soon be facing a new challenge, that of maintaining Pakistan’s ranking in the World Happiness Index. Pakistanis may be...