PAKISTANIS have become so accustomed to terrorist attacks that they are almost incapable of shock when fresh horror strikes. But the attempted massacre of the Sri Lankan cricket team penetrated even the thickest skin, and brought home to us yet again what a murderous place Pakistan has become. However, despite the familiar nature of the […]
The weak link in global supply chains A report by Reuters (Hong Kong) Analyst Susan Fenton highlights the threat that bankruptcies among China’s small and medium-sized manufacturers pose to global supply chains. Chinese export manufacturers have been hit particularly hard by the global drop in demand, with a large numbers of them facing bankruptcy. A […]
Many situations have jinxed Pakistan since its birth nearly 62 years ago. Yet the forbearance and endurance of its people is admirable. Neither decades of military rule nor obsequious politicians have disheartened the nation. It has faced a long ordeal with very little respite. Still the people’s eyes remain fixed on a democratic setup which […]
No new stimulus package, but gobs of optimism In his annual speech to China’s National People’s Congress Premier Wen Jiabao said he was confident that China could reach its 8 percent GDP growth target this year. This indicates that China will not announce a new stimulus package beyond the 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) package […]
Additional stimulus expected in China Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is expected to announce additional economic stimulus measures at the opening session of the National People’s Congress on Thursday. The new stimulus would add to the 4 trillion Yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package announced in November last year. According to government insiders the new stimulus measures […]
Yesterday’s terrorist attacks do not mean that Pakistan is a failed state. But it has a failed President. Asif Zardari, a disastrous replacement for his assassinated wife, Benazir Bhutto, is compounding his country’s problems by his pursuit of personal survival at the expense of its Constitution, the rule of law and agreement between the main […]
Requests for disclosure of stimulus package Yan Yiming, a Shanghai based lawyer, filed a second request with the National Development and Reform Commission to disclose details of the governments 4 trillion Yuan ($585.5 billion) stimulus package. The request marks an unprecedented test of transparency for the Chinese government’s economic stimulus program. Details as to which […]
Asia’s concerns about the drop in Chinese imports Asian economies are suffering under a sharp drop in Chinese imports as a result of the economic slowdown. Taiwanese and South Korean exports to China fell 50 and 33 percent year-on-year respectively. Most Asian countries became heavily dependent on Chinese imports for their economic growth and a […]
Pakistan’s Swat valley is quiet once again. Often compared to Switzerland for its stunning landscape of mountains and meadows, Swat became a war zone over the past two years as Taliban fighters waged fierce battles against Army troops. No longer, but only because the Pakistani government has agreed to some of the militants’ key demands, […]
WASHINGTON: US drone attacks continue to inflame Pakistani animosity against the United States and undermine both the government and the Pakistani military, says a recent report by a major US think-tank, the Atlantic Council. While reviewing the current political and economic problems confronting Pakistan, the council warns: ‘It is our estimate that the Pakistan […]
NEW YORK: ‘Between the threats from extremists, an unraveling economy, battling civilian leaders and tensions with its nuclear rival India, Pakistan is edging ever closer to the abyss,’ the New York Times said Saturday. In a lead editorial the newspaper asks President Asif Ali Zardari and the leader of Pakistan Muslim League (N) Nawaz Sharif […]
INAYAT KILLAY: Troops guarded the remnants of a war zone as a military convoy crunched past shops blown to pieces and an electricity pylon collapsed on rubble near the Afghan border. “Any human being who sees this destruction will cry. There was bombing, there was shelling, we have never seen such fighting,” Haroon Ahmed told […]
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The intensifying political battle between the pro-American president and the main opposition leader is shaping up as a potential crisis for the Obama administration as it tries to focus the government on fighting the Qaeda and Taliban insurgency here. The domestic struggle will almost certainly deflect attention from that fight as President […]
Pakistan’s ex Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification came as a shock to everyone. It is especially sad that he was disqualified during democratic transitional time in Pakistan. However, what followed was even more disgusting then the news of Sharif’s disqualification. As soon as the information of Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif’s disqualification […]
ISLAMABAD: The chief of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will visit Pakistan next week to discuss the probe into last year’s Mumbai terrorist attacks, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday. “We understand that they have helped India in their ongoing investigations and we hope they will assist us by way of providing […]
