Category: Blog
-
25 August 2022: Rain disaster
TO say that the 2022 monsoon season has been exceptionally challenging for Pakistan would be an understatement. The relentless wet weather has pummelled the country, wreaking havoc on infrastructure in rural areas as well as the cities. A statement from the minister for climate change a few weeks ago said that the 30-year average for…
-
25 August 2022: Politics in times of calamity
NOTHING could be more surreal than watching political leaders engaged in a sordid game of thrones while a large part of the country is devastated by torrential rains. Villages have been wiped out by flash floods. Hundreds of people including young children have been swept away by the raging waters. There are horrific scenes; the…
-
25 August 2022: High electricity prices
ALREADY frustrated with the rapidly rising cost of living that is the result of runaway inflation, residential electricity consumers are outraged at their puffed-up power bills. The latter are the outcome of the country’s largest-ever fuel price adjustment charges and the size of the various taxes being collected by the government on them. Thus, it…
-
25 August 2022: Misplaced priorities
AS a natural calamity engulfs Pakistan, many members of the political class remain preoccupied with their power struggles. Almost the entire nation has been affected by record-breaking monsoon rainfall, flooding and the attendant human misery, with Balochistan, Sindh and southern Punjab the worst-hit. But the focus of the government, the opposition and parts of the…
-
25 August 2022: Mexican stand-off
A STRANGE madness appears to be afflicting our political leaders. Knives out, they are chasing after each other in the hopes of landing a killing blow, not realising the damage they are doing to their own future prospects with the harmful precedents they are setting that ‘others’ can easily exploit. Consider the developments over the…
-
Ukraine live briefing: U.N. chief arrives in Ukraine to review month-old grain export deal
The U.N. chief arrived in Ukraine on Wednesday ahead of a summit to review the breakthrough agreement signed nearly one month ago that allowed for the export of Ukrainian grain and offered a sign of hope during a global food crisis. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish…
Z H Softs 