Dal is a humble meal. Be it the big boss man opting for a light meal in his air-conditioned office or his guard sweating in boots with a gun on his back, dal is ubiquitous across the country. Repeated calls for imported substitution and increased localisation of mobiles and cars seem to overlook that almost every bite consumed by any Pakistani is made of imported goods. Whether pulses, palm oil
In Greek mythology, Procrustes was a unique character known for his obsession of making his guests fit perfectly in his iron bed. His methodology, however, was disturbingly brutal. He altered his guests, not the bed. If a guest was too tall, he’d cut their legs off. If they were too short, he’d stretch them until they occupied the bed entirely. As peculiar as his method was, Procrustes achieved hi
In the absence of an approved policy, the federal government has allowed Sindh to earn $200-220 million (about Rs57-63 billion) of carbon credits over the next two decades for its efforts to expand mangrove forests under Pakistan’s commitments for unconditional contribution to a global drive for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In 2021, the Ministry of Climate Change submitted the national
After much dilly-dallying, Pakistan has made its first purchase of Russian crude oil — at a “discounted” price. With Russia looking for new outlets for its crude oils and Pakistan looking for cheaper crude to overcome its acute balance of payments crisis, the deal serves both countries well. With a multipolar world in the making, and Pakistan’s traditional allies from China, Iran, Türkiye and e
Forex-starved Pakistan earned $2.6 billion last fiscal year through exports of information and communication technology (ICT) services. And within ten months of this year, ICT exports fetched $2.1bn, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Every dollar counts for Pakistan. ICT exports that are part of overall services exports are an important source of forex earnings. They can potentiall