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Three years, three uprisings

THE last three years have seen three separate regimes in our region fall like dominoes before a popular uprising. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s regime in Sri Lanka fell in July 2022, when mobs enraged by the severity of the crisis brought on by sovereign default a few months earlier stormed the presidential palace, forcing the president and his ministers to flee the country. Sheikh Hasina Wajed’s gov

Rains halt Karachi’s industrial activities

The industrial sector in Karachi was significantly impacted on Wednesday as heavy rains and flooding paralysed key industrial areas. According to industry leaders, industrial output remained subdued as workers failed to report for duty due to safety concerns and transportation issues. Faisal Moiz Khan, President of the North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry (NKATI), stated that near

‘China Inside’: How Chinese EV tech is reshaping global auto design

When Audi executives first saw the Zeekr 001 in 2021, a long-range electric vehicle with European aesthetics, it was a wake-up call for the premium German auto brand — if it wanted to compete with the Chinese, it needed their technology. “The Zeekr 001 back then shocked quite everyone,” said Stefan Poetzl, president of SAIC Audi Sales and Marketing. “We needed to do something about it.” To b

Pakistan ‘better off’ than last floods, but fiscally bound

Pakistan has ente­red this year’s flood season with more substantial economic buffers than it had before the 2022-23 floods, but the country’s improved macroeconomic situation comes with new constraints, according to a `targeted analysis’ carried out by the Famine Early Warning Systems (FEWS) Network. The analysis expects that the 2025 floods will primarily drive short-term, localised, food ins

Senate panel seeks govt control over SBP, SECP salaries

Senators on Wednesday called for the abolition of ‘conflict of interest’ clauses in the laws regulating the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), which allow their top brass to set their own salaries and benefits without government approval. At a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, chaired by Saleem Mandviwalla,