Debate of the week

While the striking young doctors in Punjab argue that they aren’t protesting for more money, the Punjab government maintains that the ‘service structure’ they seek adds Rs23bn to the provincial health budget. The government also says it has already given the young doctors raises worth Rs4.5bn. However, the young doctors have been continuing their strike with dozens of them also being arrested. Although the representatives of the Young Doctors...

With politicians already terming the Election Commission of Pakistan’s code of conduct for the next general election ‘unrealistic’, what are the chances of its successful implementation for the upcoming elections? Is there a possibility that the code could just end up being disregarded if it doesn’t reflect the experiences of those involved in campaigning itself? Perhaps then the ECP could incorporate objective advice that from politicians...

At least six security personnel were killed in an attack by militants who had crossed over into Upper Dir from the Afghan border late yesterday. The attack came as a security team visited an area close to the border following reports of their presence. In an another incident last week, seven security personnel were beheaded by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the South Waziristan tribal region. These incidents follow reports of the Taliban’s...

In wake of the Supreme Court’s verdict, was accepting the judgment on Yousuf Raza Gilani without a confrontation a prudent decision on the government’s part? Were having Gilani to step down quickly and calling a National Assembly session for Friday the right steps for the ruling coalition to take? Do you see the Supreme Court giving the new prime minister a chance or will the matter of the letter to Swiss authorities once again create...

Yousuf Raza Gilani’s tenure as prime minister of Pakistan came to an end on Tuesday, June 19, following the Supreme Court’s verdict disqualifying him as head of the government. While it remains to be seen how the ruling coalition and Pakistan People Party (PPP) will react to the SC decision, one of the possible scenarios is for the president to call for an early election (on the advice of the prime minister). Would a decision to call for an early...

The electricity crisis gripping the country has worsened over the last few weeks as the electricity shortfall hit 8,500 megawatts. Over half a dozen power plants have stopped producing power citing a lack of oil, according to recent reports. Apart from the every-day troubles, the shortfall has also hit the economy as some of the worst affected cities are the industrial centres of the country, including Faisalabad, Sialkot and Lahore. The provincial...

Ghazal maestro Mehdi Hassan, passed away at a local hospital in Karachi on Wednesday. Before illness ended his career he was already hailed as the king of ghazal, and a man who had revolutionized the art form forever. His life and work marked an era of traditional ghazal style that many say, has ended with his demise. He was plagued by lung, chest and urinary tract disorder for over a decade, and the illnesses had taken away his voice and career,...

Dawn.com has been reaching thousands of people across the globe on a 24/7 basis, providing them with the latest news, features and analysis from the South Aian region and beyond. To enhance our reach and diversity, we now introduce an Urdu version of Dawn.com. Bridging the language divide, now our news and features are also available in Urdu on http://urdu.dawn.com/. We would appreciate any views we can get from you regarding the site and whether...

On Monday, Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik became the latest casualty in the dual-citizenship case and his membership of the Senate was revoked by the Supreme Court, two weeks after the same happened to former parliamentarian Farahnaz Ispahani. While the 14 elected members of the parliament and the provincial assemblies have been issued notices by the apex court, they have until June 13 to submit documents showing their singular citizenship...

While National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza’s ruling on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s conviction in the contempt of court case was not unexpected, the reaction it drew from opposition parties, especially the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was not entirely surprising either. PTI, as well as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have decided to challenge the speaker’s decision in the Supreme Court, and leaders of both parties have been...