Very Important

 Thermal Inequilities 

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15-2-2023

 This was not lost on the politicians on the ground but for those of us watching from afar, the larger game of machinations made us oblivious to the people on the ground.

The story of rosy health and ill health in urban settings is the story of unequal access to healthcare in a city’s rich and poor areas.

exacerbate

aggravates

derailed

His invective against the security establishment is more out of dejection than based on principle

. His angst did not come as a surprise when Gen Bajwa decided to play ‘neutral’.

It was expedient

One can understand the scorn of a dejected leader losing the establishment’s patronage

His penchant for holding forth on all issues, ranging from economic and foreign affairs to domestic policy issues at frequent addresses to the media and other professional bodies, certainly had a purpose.

the rug was pulled from under his feet

haywire

penchant

hiatus

incensed

kernel of truth

While justifying his tacit role in Khan’s fall from grace, the former army chief called his estranged protégé “dangerous for the country”

All that sounds like a dark comedy — an illustration of the sordid power game that characterises our politics.

But things have not evolved according to script this time, with a maverick actor refusing to bow out. The plot seems to have gone completely haywire with the new actors failing to perform. That has rendered the endgame perilously uncertain.

mellowing

polemical war

farce

piggybacking

pawn

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Vocabulary 2-6-2023

 While the economy teeters on the brink and a new surge of militant violence threatens the country’s security, the political situation descends into more chaos.

Two, the searing political divide and polarisation portends a troubled outlook for what might happen before, during and after general elections, whenever they are called.

Time is scarce, money is scant, and the everyday grind of life can be isolating. There is then partial truth to the common adage that the ‘masses are numb’

Pakistan is too big to fail. Its geostrategic location, its burgeoning population, its nuclear arsenal. For almost two decades these have been wielded as a threat to the neoliberal order: allow us to fail and witness the mayhem that would be unleashed.

It is the most perverse kind of complacency.

inkling

frisk

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Vocabulary 2-5-2023

 something the PTA can also partake in.

One possibility that could have traction on both sides is to revisit the four-point formula that was successfully negotiated in 2007

sought applications from aspiring candidates to vie for the NA seats

Only when the recent uptick in terrorism revealed the TTP’s agenda and real intention

when the state rescinded its policy, foreseeing the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan.

religious scholars had taken more than a decade to issue an unambiguous decree against terrorism

Political parties also resort to bickering as the government and opposition blame each other for the upsurge in terrorist incidents in the country

Few contours of such an approach have already been discussed on these pages

recuperating

        One can’t even begin to imagine the burden of debt increased by the PTI or the unfunded subsidies it doled out when faced with the spectre of a no-confidence vote

The cumulative effect of all this dithering, coupled with global factors well beyond Pakistan’s control,

Many do agree in principle, however, that a prolonged communication gap with Pakistan will not be cost-free for India

the two countries would not only help overcome mutual mistrust but also make South Asia a bastion of peace and development.

Even the recent peace initiatives that Pakistan took elicited little reciprocity from India:

The larger concern for Pakistan is that effo­rts are afoot to chan­­ge the demography of occupied Kashmir through new domicile rules and opening of voter lists to non-Kashmiri residents.

One possibility that could have traction on both sides is to revisit the four-point formula that was successfully negotiated in 2007

huddle

took stock of the overall political situation

Meanwhile, if the establishment continues to wield its influence over the civilian infrastructure,

factionalised

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Vocabulary 2-4-2023

 A POPULAR refrain of policymakers, many TV anchors and most public commentators in Pakistan is to vilify the IMF and to blame it for the country’s myriad economic woes ranging from the rupee ‘devaluation’ to inflation.

To what extent is the IMF responsible for our predicament

remnant, armtwist, unwavering, colossal challenge 

But today’s incessant media manufactures information, indignation, outrage and hate which obliterate the possibilities for rational discourse and compromise, without which challenges will not even be addressed, let alone overcome.

The IMF descends upon Pakistan when it is faced with economic calamity and its political leaders happily waste time in litigation and mutual imprecations. They will gladly accept the IMF’s “tough love” as long as it requires neither

A POPULAR refrain of policymakers, many TV anchors and most public commentators in Pakistan is to vilify the IMF and to blame it for the country’s myriad economic woes ranging from the rupee ‘devaluation’ to inflation

The foregoing evidence should close the chapter on whether the IFIs, in particular the two Bretton Woods ‘sisters’, are aligned with US foreign policy objectives and whether their policy advice can be agenda-driven.

Where the IFIs fit into the US-constructed global “rules-based order”, meant to exert and assert its influence in the world,

The foregoing evidence should close the chapter on whether the IFIs, in particular the two Bretton Woods ‘sisters’, are aligned with US foreign policy objectives and whether their policy advice can be agenda-driven.

It is designed to avoid introspection, or to accept culpability and responsibility for poor policy choices over a protracted period, and instead shift the blame entirely to external agents and exogenous shocks.

A corollary to the conventional wisdom in the country regarding the BWIs is that the loans taken by Pakistan over the decades from these institutions are ‘odious’, since they were ‘forced’ onto the country.This is completely disingenuous as project loans from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank etc have helped finance the construction

Here we discuss Pakistan’s blue economy, including its underutilisation. How can decision-makers and key players tap this economy’s potential for a self-sufficient and sustainable Pakistan,

fledgling 

has ennobled and honoured mankind with special rights

Though human beings have been given a modicum of soul-related knowledge, they are considered to be the crown of creation

The body is material, limited in time, space and subject to the vicissitudes of life.

. The poor and other helpless and vulnerable people are treated cruelly and their rights are usurped; thus we still hear painful stories of servitude, forced and compulsory labour, human trafficking etc. The violation of human rights seems rampant; those who possess power — material or physical — often suppress and oppress the powerless.

But the prejudices and inequities that have plagued humanity in the past continue to exist and are responsible for untold suffering

Since primitive times, human history is replete with events mentioning the violation of human rights on the basis of religion, caste, creed, colour etc

factionalised

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