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PM Imran Khan’s Article on Kashmir in New York Times [Complete Text]

PM Imran Khan's Article on Kashmir in New York Times [Complete Text]

The World Can’t Ignore Kashmir. We Are All in Danger

If the world does nothing to stop the Indian assault on Kashmir and its people, two nuclear-armed states will get ever closer to a direct military confrontation.

After I was elected prime minister of Pakistan last August, one of my foremost priorities was to work for lasting and just peace in South Asia. India and Pakistan, despite our difficult history, confront similar challenges of poverty, unemployment and climate change, especially the threat of melting glaciers and scarcity of water for hundreds of millions of our citizens.

I wanted to normalize relations with India through trade and by settling the Kashmir dispute, the foremost impediment to the normalization of relations between us.

On July 26, 2018, in my first televised address to Pakistan after winning the elections, I stated we wanted peace with India and if it took one step forward, we would take two steps. After that, a meeting between our two foreign ministers was arranged on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in September 2018, but India canceled the meeting. That September I also wrote my first of three letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for dialogue and peace.

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Articles Current Affairs Pakistani Newspapers

Kashmir and Indian identity (By: Abrahim Shah, 3rd in CSS 2018)

Kashmir and Indian identity (By Abrahim Shah, 3rd in CSS 20118)

The Modi-led BJP government’s decision to alter Kashmir’s status is merely the culmination of India’s drive towards fascism and the embracing of a national image highly exclusive in nature. This exclusion is not limited to the BJP’s tenure, but is in fact a product of India’s struggles with its own identity and response to colonialism. The Kashmir crisis must, therefore, be seen in a larger historical and political context which places Indian nationalism at the very heart of this crisis.

Kashmir was always the cornerstone of India’s nationalist discourse. India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, viewed Kashmir’s inclusion in India as validation of his secular project. Modi, in turn, imagines Kashmir as his ultimate triumph, the acme of his ambition to impose Hindutva on India. Both these movements are predicated on and have been successful because of the extreme levels of violence the Indian state unleashed against the Kashmiri people.

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Articles General

The Top 10 Best Paying Jobs in Pakistan 2019

Top 10 Best Paying Jobs in Pakistan 2019

By: Salman Malik

Are you a fresh graduate and looking for a best paying jobs in Pakistan in 2019? If yes, here is the list of highest paying jobs in Pakistan which may be helpful for you to find your desired job.

Every year thousands of students graduate from public and private universities of Pakistan and induct in the job market but most of them face difficulties for the best job match that may earn them a handsome livelihood. Most of the fresh graduates look for a job which is in accordance with their skills and qualifications but they have to wait for a long time from the employers’ response which is quite embarrassing.

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Articles Current Affairs Pakistani Newspapers

US vs China (By: Dr Farrukh Saleem)

US vs China (By: Dr Farrukh Saleem)

The war between the US and China is getting hotter. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the new weapon of war. In the US corner are: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, IBM and Apple. In the Chinese corner are: Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. According to Amy Webb’s ‘The big nine: How the tech titans and their thinking machines could warp humanity’, the war is “aimed toward control and global domination” and “AI will determine who emerges the victor”.

In the simplest of terms, AI “refers to any computer grogram or system that can perform tasks that resemble acts of human intelligence.” There are three types of AI: Artificial narrow intelligence (ANI), artificial general intelligence (AGI) and artificial super intelligence (ASI). ANI is a computer programme or system that outperforms humans in some very narrowly defined task (examples: Siri, chess, smart personal assistants, voice to text features, automated responders, self-driven cars etc).

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Articles Current Affairs Pakistani Newspapers

Explainer: What India’s Change to Occupied Kashmir’s Status Means

What India's Change to Occupied Kashmir's Status Means

India’s government has revoked the special constitutional status of Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), amid a heavy security crackdown in the disputed region.

The constitutional provision forbids Indians from outside the region from buying land or permanently settling in the Muslim-majority territory.

What is happening?

The Hindu nationalist-led government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday proposed revoking Article 370 of India’s constitution, which confers special rights to permanent residents of IoK.

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Flying & Fighting in the JF-17 Thunder: Interview with Pakistan Air Force fighter pilot

Interview with Pakistan Air Force fighter pilot

The JF-17 Thunder is one of the rarest and least known fighter aircraft in the world. Operated solely by the Pakistan Air Force*, it is a capable fighter in the same class as the F-16. On conditions of anonymity, we spoke to one JF-17 pilot to learn more. 

The views expressed are not the official positions of the PAF.

What is the best and worst thing about the JF-17?

“Best thing: Continuous upgrades of indigenous and Chinese weapons/electronic counter-measures suites, standoff capabilities of exceptional range i.e REK/IREK,CM-400,C-802AK etc. Worst : limited BVR load-out.”

What advice would you give to new pilots on the type?

“Know your books and more importantly know the adversaries books. The modern jets are complex fighting machines so you must be at ease with all the systems in order to employ your jet with confidence

For all new pilots: you have be a perfect blend of nerdiness and madness.. Fighter flying is nothing without study and passion.”

How would you rate the aircraft in terms of A. sustained turn rates B. instantaneous turn C. High alpha D. Acceleration ?

“In A-A config the aircraft is a treat to fly.. turns and rolls like a beauty..2/3 Tank config it becomes a little tricky to manoeuvre above 30,000..below 30,000 it’s superb..”

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Articles Pakistani Newspapers

Will CPEC survive the IMF bailout? (By: Afshan Subohi)

Will CPEC survive the IMF bailout

By: Afshan Subohi

The staff report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week must have provided some measure of comfort to the champions of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as well as China that chose Pakistan to be the first key destination for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to sustain its economic triumph and realise future ambitions.

If this is just a coincidence, it is intriguing. After a long lull, there is light blipping again on the CPEC drawing board. Last Friday, a 55-member Chinese delegation of business executives met Prime Minister Imran Khan and reportedly committed to ploughing $5 billion investment over the next five years. “Probably the interaction with the Chinese delegations was already planned, but the fact that it did materialise as soon as details of the IMF deal were made public kindled new hope for the future,” commented a top leader of the government’s economic team.

In its staff report following the approval of a three-year $6bn bailout programme, the IMF mentions the repayment of $14.68bn due for $21.8bn bilateral and commercial loans that Pakistan owes to China. This is almost 24pc of the country’s total $85.8bn external debt and liabilities. The document states that the Chinese commercial debt will be fully retired by the end of the programme in 2022 while the bilateral debt ($15.5bn) will be almost half of what the country owes at this point to $7.9bn.

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Articles Pakistani Newspapers

The CSS Syllabus: A Blueprint for Change (By: Abrahim Shah | 3rd in CSS 2018)

The CSS Syllabus

The Central Superior Services (CSS) examination continues to remain one of the most prestigious, and indeed, one of the most daunting examinations in Pakistan. In reality, however, despite the substantial reforms that took place in the exam’s syllabus in 2016, the exam’s curriculum still requires drastic change and reform.

This change is necessary both to pick the most competent candidates for Pakistan’s civil service, and for the mental well-being of candidates themselves. This is so because the CSS exam and its nearly endless syllabus drains aspirants and imposes significant mental strain on students. In any drive towards reforming the syllabus, therefore, it is crucial to analyse the impact any reform will have on students and on the recruitment process.

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Articles Pakistani Newspapers

My observations on Pakistan’s economy (By Tang Tianru)

My observations on Pakistan’s economy (By Tang Tianru)
Tang Tianru
Tang Tianru | The writer is the Managing Director of an Islamabad-based Chinese company

Pakistan’s current fiscal and taxation policies are characterised by increasing tariffs, expanding the proportion of taxes, raising all kinds of living, production and material rates, resulting in a sharp rise in the production costs of enterprises and an increase in the burden of business operation. At the same time, the exchange rate of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar has depreciated sharply recently. The consumption cost of the people has risen sharply in a short period of time. As a result, the market demand becomes weaker, and the inflation rate is higher. At the time of rising production costs, enterprises have encountered the double challenge of shrinking market demand, adding to their difficulties and worrying conditions. Some enterprises have stopped production or sought to withdraw from the Pakistani market to seek overseas development, thus increasing the unemployment rate in Pakistan.

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Articles Pakistani Newspapers

An overview of Pakistan’s economy (by: Maham Fatiama)

An overview of Pakistan’s economy (by: Maham Fatiama)

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The industrial sector of the country contributes to 20 percent of GDP. In 2018 it recorded a growth of 5.80% as compared to the growth of 5.43% last year

Pakistan is facing a financial crisis since its independence in 1947. There are many reasons but political crisis has always been a major one.

Currently, we are facing trade deficit and that is because of wrong financial policies of the past governments. That is also because certain experiments were done with the economy in the past which didn’t prove fruitful. For example, before 1970s Pakistan’s private sector was booming and companies were making profit hence making jobs vacancies. But, during the regime of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani companies were nationalized and they came under the direct control of the government of Pakistan. Therefore many of the companies and businessmen shifted to other lands in the search of a level playing field.

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