News Desk QUETTA: Journalists, political parties and lawyers have expressed their resolve to fight for the freedom of the press, expression and speech guaranteed in the Constitution. They vowed to take every possible measure including a long march for safeguarding these fundamental rights next month from Quetta. These and other demands were made on the concluding day of a seminar …

A research paper published recently by Mountain Societies Research Institute (MSRI), University of Central Asia, highlights social, economic, and environmental impacts of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which follows ancient Silk Road corridors. Even short-term economic benefits promised by China carry huge risks of debt dependency, forfeiture of mining and land rights, natural resource exploitation, disruption of traditional …

 by Naveed Toshi The handsome and smart woke up late in the evening to meet the producer of Diriliş: Ertuğrul, the popular Turkish television series on the glory of the Ottoman Empire. IK was reportedly full of praise for the drama because it has depicted how Turkish Muslims made history by creating an empire fighting Mongols, Christian Byzantines and the …

Local people say they will not vacate their ancestral land without a settlement plan or resettlement by Punjab government; They demand increase in compensation rate for their land. Rawalpindi: Affected people of Dadhocha dam organised a public meeting and peaceful protest march here on Sunday against forced displacement without rehabilitation, seeking a substantial increase in compensation rate for their lands …

More than 73 years since its independence, Gilgit-Baltistan remains subject to barely disguised colonial rule to await genuine enfranchisement. While many of Pakistan’s ethnic peripheries harbour deep grievances against the authoritarian and extractive logics of the country’s statecraft, GB is arguably the only region that remains explicitly deprived of even basic democratic, constitutional and human rights. It was only in …

GB students are struggling to remain connected with digital world By Ramish KhanThere seems to be no one to understand the traumatic situation the students like me have been passing through for the last three months. If I start to jot down the stressful moments I have been through and how badly I have lost my mental peace, it will …

Covid-19 has exposed the myth of neoliberal free-market economic model Herald Report The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world is at breaking point, and the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the free market and deep divisions in society, calling for a new global deal to combat climate change, forced migration, diseases, patriarchy and racism. Inequality, an issue …

By Wajidul Islam   The National Finance Commission (NFC) is a resource-sharing mechanism between the federal government and federating units. It was constituted under Article 160(1) of the 1973 Constitution. It is mandatory to constitute and hold the NFC meeting in every five consecutive years. The purpose of the award is to review the collection of revenues by the Centre …

The renowned physicist took the decision after the FCC administration termed his contract ‘non-renewable’ After an eight-year-long association, Professor Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, an internationally renowned nuclear physicist, human rights and peace activist, on Friday resigned as Distinguished Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Forman Christian College (FCC), Lahore after the administration termed his contract “non-renewable”. He said that the resignation would take …

News Desk The internet and new digital tools are being manipulated as never before to infringe on people’s right to free assembly, the UN’s top rights official says in a call for a moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology during peaceful demonstrations. GENEVA: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has called on states and businesses to …

Feminism is not adequately perceived in Central Asian societies, writes Lolisanam Ulugova in the online magazine ‘The Voices on Central Asia’. Some consider it as a threat to the existing traditions of the patriarchal foundation, when a woman (responsible for too many things in the family) can get out of control, damaging the nation in its demographic development. Some believe …

In this essay, Amir Hussain critiques the so-called Green Revolution, its myths of rural transformation in the Global South with Pakistan as a case study. This is the first piece of a series of essays, summarising literature survey that he did for the forthcoming book on rural transformation published in The News today.   Amir Hussain   Rural transformation can …

Migrant workers in India, Pakistan and Nepal are crushed by poverty as earnings come to an abrupt halt in the lockdown forced by the Covid-19 pandemic, says a report compiled by Joydeep Gupta, Zofeen T Ebrahim, Ramesh Bhushal, published in thethirdpole.net online magazine. News Desk Across South Asia, the impact of the Covid-19 on livelihoods has been extreme. Despite being an outlier …

News Desk Disabled women in Afghanistan have complained of widespread discrimination they suffer in their country, which has one of the highest proportions of disabled people in the world. Their accounts come as Human Rights Watch reports that many also face sexual harassment from government officials. https://www.rferl.org/a/denied-treatment-education-and-jobs-afghanistan-s-disabled-women/30581580.html?ltflags=mailer Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Afghan women and girls with disabilities are being confronted …

Political, social, human rights activists condemn Maulana Tariq Jameel for insulting 220m people, women and media   High Asia Herald Report ISLAMABAD: Political, social and rights activists condemn Maulana Tariq Jameel for his misogynistic and hateful comments linking “women’s immodesty” to coronavirus spread in Pakistan. They sought an unconditional apology from the preacher for his controversial remarks on a TV …