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By Dr. Nazia Sher Pakistan’s fisheries sector sits at the intersection of law, livelihood and export ambition, yet the architecture that is meant to govern it remains strikingly fragmented. What emerges is not a single system of management but a layered accumulation of statutes, institutions and port authorities that operate in parallel rather than in coordination. The result is a governance structure that is extensive on paper but disjointed in practice, particularly at the point where it matters most: the landing of fish and its journey into formal markets. At its foundation lies a patchwork of legal instruments. Inland waters…

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By Khpalwak Mohmand. The prospect of a ceasefire and structured negotiations between Iran and the United States marks a rare moment of cautious optimism in a region long shaped by cycles of confrontation and uneasy pauses. After years in which diplomacy appeared to recede behind escalating rhetoric, proxy tensions and episodic violence, the tentative movement towards a negotiated framework suggests that even entrenched geopolitical disputes can, under certain conditions, be brought back into the realm of dialogue. If this process is carried through to completion, its implications would extend far beyond the immediate bilateral relationship. The Middle East, already burdened…

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In international politics, moments that are presented as breakthroughs often arrive wrapped in ceremony, carefully managed language and an abundance of optimism. The latest diplomatic narrative emerging from Islamabad appears to follow that familiar pattern, though with an unusual twist: the suggestion that Pakistan has helped facilitate an understanding between the United States and Iran, two states whose relationship has been defined for decades more by confrontation than cooperation. According to official accounts, an arrangement described as an Islamabad understanding was formally endorsed through electronic signatures by Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian, with Pakistan’s prime minister acting as mediator. The…

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By Dr. Zawwar Hussain In many countries, the language of reform has increasingly shifted away from bricks-and-mortar infrastructure towards something less visible but far more consequential: data. Across advanced and emerging economies alike, information has become the quiet engine of policy, shaping how governments plan, how markets react, and how citizens experience the state. What oil once represented in the twentieth century, data now represents in the twenty-first — a resource that is not merely extracted but refined, interpreted, and governed. It is in this wider global context that the recent step taken by Pakistan’s energy authorities carries significance beyond…

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By Abdul Wahab Munshi The controversy surrounding Hyderabad’s police administration has once again highlighted a recurring fault line in Pakistan’s law enforcement landscape: the uneasy tension between institutional procedure on the one hand and public narrative on the other. What might have remained an internal personnel dispute has instead expanded into a broader contest of claims, counterclaims, and reputational positioning, now circulating well beyond official disciplinary channels and into the public imagination. At the centre of the unfolding debate is the account set out by columnist and lawyer Abdul Wahab Munshi, whose framing is notable less for its certainty than…

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By Syeda Sonia Manawwar The recent cases involving violence against women in Pakistan, including the reported incident concerning 17-year-old Eshal Fatima from Jhang and the acid attack on Dr. Maham Noor Nasir, have once again brought into sharp focus a crisis that is no longer episodic but structural. These are not isolated tragedies that can be dismissed as exceptions; they are symptoms of a deeper social disorder in which vulnerability, impunity and institutional delay intersect in dangerous ways. According to reports, Eshal Fatima, a minor, was allegedly abducted, subjected to sexual violence, and later abandoned in a critical condition near…

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The formal signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran has been presented as a diplomatic breakthrough at a time when international politics appears increasingly dominated by conflict, mistrust and strategic rivalry. Whether the agreement ultimately delivers on its promise remains uncertain, but its conclusion has already altered the political landscape surrounding one of the most consequential disputes of the modern era. After decades of hostility, recurring crises and repeated failures to establish sustainable channels of dialogue, the decision by Washington and Tehran to formally endorse an agreement offers a rare moment of optimism in…

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By Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal As June arrives each year, Pakistan’s parliamentary calendar takes on a different weight. The routine churn of legislation and political exchange gives way to a far more consequential exercise: the federal budget. In constitutional terms, it is a fiscal statement of revenues and expenditures. In political reality, it is something broader and more revealing — a snapshot of how the state understands its economy, its priorities, and the limits of its own ambition. Budget-making in Pakistan is not a recent democratic ritual. Since 1947, more than seventy federal budgets have been presented before Parliament, beginning with…

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By Wasim Jamal The rapid advance of technology in the contemporary era has fundamentally reshaped traditional notions of employment, giving rise to an expanding informal economy commonly referred to as the gig economy. Across Pakistan and much of the world, millions of young people are now engaged with digital platforms such as ride-hailing and delivery services, or working independently as freelancers. In global terminology, they are increasingly described as “digital platform workers” — individuals who spend long hours navigating public roads in harsh conditions or working behind screens to sustain the momentum of modern economies. Despite their growing contribution to…

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