Writing on the Wall

Transport and logistics being important component of supply chain management play a vital role in the modern economy but in Pakistan, this sector has been facing severe challenges owing to the lack of innovative policies and vision of the government.   Pakistan has kicked off the China Pakistan Economic Corridor but, unfortunately, it considered that a mere road construction across the country will solve all the issues related to the logistics sector.  On the other hand, the developed countries mainly focused its policies on the logistics industry and gave it a proper status and their progress is visibly playing a vital role in the modern economy.  Pakistan’s logistics and transport sector depend upon railways, roads, ports, and air cargo. Railway – despite its growth at snail’s pace – is the single major mode of transport for the public sector. Recently it was discovered in a news story that as many as 141 out of a total 474 diesel-electric locomotives of Pakistan Railways are not in

Indus delta is also known as the vertebra of Pakistan’s ecosystem and economy, Indus delta is 5 th largest in the world and home to the 7 th largest mangrove forest. It forms where the mighty Indus River flows into the Arabian Sea, creating a complex system of swamps, streams and mangrove forests. A triangular piece of fertile land is created when the fast-flowing river deposits rich sediment as it empties into the sea. However, dam construction and mismanagement of water by the government have significantly reduced river flows, causing the delta to shrink, and threatening both human life and its ecology. The absence of flowing freshwater allows seawater into the delta, destroying the soil and the aquifers, making it unfit for humans, animals, or crops. Last year, The Third Pole reported that around 1.2 million people from the delta have already migrated to Karachi. For years, the communities in the delta have reported the loss of livelihood, an increase in disease, and forced migrat

The entire world is fighting against coronavirus while we the people of Pakistan are still trying to overwhelm the bedlam which has been widely observed in the country. The situation looks very grave as the total number of cases has reached up to 43158 with 923 deaths.   So far, the only death cases media news channel reports are related to the novel coronavirus and this has literally pissed the people off. They are being forced to question/ponder as if nothing else is happening in Pakistan; no accidents, no robberies, no murders , or general cardiac-related deaths, suddenly everything just vanished. Meanwhile, the government claims that we are dangerously heading towards an emergency but instead of taking stringent measures it has removed the lockdown which is very disturbing for the people. On the other side, people are alleging of being cheated regarding their coronavirus tests. Several videos have surfaced on the social media in which people can be seen claiming that private

Meetings of clerics on two different occasions have announced that they will resist the imposition of further restrictions on prayer congregations, the statement came following clear instructions by the government to observe the lockdown in mosques. The government has already vowed to bring clerics and all religious groups on-board before reaching a final decision on April 18 and after that such a decision looks quite confusing. The scholars have promised to take necessary measures for congregations, it is difficult to perceive how they will manage mandatory distancing at each and every mosque at all times, with the rising number of people wanting to participate in congregational prayer. It is duty of the citizens, religious scholars to abide by rules laid down by the government against the corona virus pandemic. The government is responsible for protecting all citizens, which includes clerics. Through their unilateral decision-making, the clerics are putting themselves an

Inspector General National Highways & Motorways Police (NH&MP), Zulfiqar Cheema is reputedly one of the finest officers. Recently he came up with the idea of establishing ‘wake-up points’ for the drivers on motorways. Unfortunately, NH&MP need to wake up its operational staff more than ‘wake up points’ for the drivers. Some negligent incidents have been taking place right under the nose of the NH&MP officials, which could have been resulted into a total devastation. On October 31 I was traveling in a local bus with the registration number Peshawar C-9543 from Rawalpindi to Lahore. This vehicle was all set to hit the road with its pathetic traveling conditions. As the bus checked in from the Rawalpindi toll plaza, it was reverted back due to another major problem: the bus was traveling without any route permit. The driver had previous experience of ditching the NH&MP staff, so he decided to take another route. The bus thus checked in from the Turnol entry