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Digital windows and old backdoors

The notification of the fresh public procurement rules by the public procurement regulatory authority is hailed by optimistic proponents as a monumental leap into the digital age. Yet when one strips away the glossy rhetoric surrounding electronic portals and examines the structural architecture of these new regulations, one discovers the very same archaic flaws wrapped in modern algorithmic cellophane. It is an instructive exercise to look beneath the surface of administrative documents and inquire whether these fresh statutes genuinely alter the distribution of economic power or merely provide a polished façade for the same old machinery. To understand what is emerging in public procurement one must look past the technological veneer and confront the political economy of the state. The national economy is perpetually shackled by stabilization programs and fiscal deficits and structural benchmarks dictated by international lenders. The new rules emerge primarily as a ...

merɪ dʒəwɑːnɪ ke sətrɑː sɑːl lutɑː do

غزل گردشِ وقت سے اب اور نہ پامال کرو میری جوانی کے سترہ سال لوٹا دو لوٹ آئیں گے مرے خواب، مری خوشیاں بھی اک دفعہ پھر وہ عروج اور کمال لوٹا دو لے لو یہ دنیا کی رونق، یہ آسودگی سب مجھ کو بس میرا وہ معصوم خیال لوٹا دو تھک گیا ہوں میں تمنّاؤں کے بوجھ تلے مجھ کو ماضی کا وہ بے فکری کا حال لوٹا دو اب تو ہر سانس ہے اک بارِ گراں زخمِ جگر درد مٹ جائے گا، تم وہ مہ و سال لوٹا دو نہ کوئی چاہ، نہ حسرت، نہ کوئی شکوہ رہے مری آنکھوں کا وہ کھویا ہوا جلال لوٹا دو زیست سے اب تو کوئی بھی تقاضا نہ رہا جو بھی چھینا تھا، وہ جواب و سوال لوٹا دو دل میں امید کے اب بھی ہیں دیئے روشن سب میری جوانی کے سترہ سال لوٹا دو घज़ल गर्दिशे-वक़्त से अब और न पामाल करो मेरी जवानी के सत्रह साल लुटा दो लूट आएंगे मेरे ख़्वाब, मरी ख़ुशियाँ भी अक दफ़ा फिर वह उरूज और कमाल लुटा दो ले लो ये दुनिया की रौनक़, ये आसूदगी सब मुझ को बस मेरा वह मासूम ख़्याल लुटा दो थक गया हूँ मैं तम्नाओं के बोझ तले मुझ को माज़ी क...

The calcified republic of Pakistan

The problem confronting Pakistan runs far deeper than a standard emerging market downturn or a corporate sector stuck in a rut. The country is paralyzed because entire systems across every major sector have frozen in place simultaneously. From the informal neighborhood enterprises that employ the vast majority of the population to the high profile tech startups that briefly captured global venture capital, a profound resistance to structural change has become the defining national characteristic. The current economic stagnation is not just a temporary phase of the business cycle. It is the natural consequence of a society where leadership across public and private domains has systematically chosen institutional inertia over modernization, resulting in a severe drought of viable jobs and a massive flight of young talent. In the informal sector, which consists of small traders, artisans and family owned shops, businesses operate on a primal level of survival. These entrepreneurs practice...

Fueling Pakistan's Economic Sovereignty

In 2018, I wrote an article in Express, In which I argued that the Thar coalfields represented a strategic opportunity for Pakistan. At that time, the debate around Thar coal was largely economic. The country was importing expensive energy, while sitting on a massive domestic resource. Eight years later, the argument has become far more urgent. The earlier article can still be read here . Since then, the global energy environment has changed dramatically. Energy is no longer just a question of cost or development. It is now deeply connected with geopolitics, supply chains and national security. The recent escalation of tensions between Iran and Israel has once again highlighted how fragile global energy routes can be. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, carries a significant share of the world's oil shipments. Any disruption in this corridor immediately affects global oil markets. For Pakistan, such disruptions are not distant...

Survival of the fittest

The plight of AI trainers is a quiet evolution inside a Darwinian marketplace where adaptation often means compromise. Trainers navigate supply shocks and unpredictable client seeding that create feast-or-famine rhythms. When tasks vanish or surge suddenly, the burden falls on human contributors to scramble by accepting lower pay, odd hours, or poor conditions just to stay afloat. Platforms that emphasize speed over care force many to choose between meeting throughput targets and preserving the thoughtfulness required for high-quality work. Quality control becomes a moral and operational battleground. Instant alerts and race-to-claim notifications can trigger impulsive task grabbing rather than considered selection. While claiming quickly matters, the cognitive work of assessing nuance and complexity needs mental space. Rushing erodes depth and accuracy and turns skilled judgment into a volume game. Trainers who insist on careful review risk losing tasks to those willing to work faster...

Neographic Urdu

What if Urdu could look like it was written on another planet? Urdu has always flowed like poetry, shaped by Persian elegance. Its letters curve and whisper stories, familiar, yet centuries old. But I asked a different question this time. What if Urdu could become something entirely alien? What if its letters were no longer bound by familiarity or readability and instead looked like they had fallen from another world. This is neography, inventing new ways of writing. My latest experiment, the Shehroz Urdu Font, is a neographic journey into the unknown. The glyphs are not familiar nor readable. They twist, stretch and connect in ways that feel Martian, otherworldly, unrecognizable yet strangely alive. This font is not meant to replace Nastaʿlīq or Naskh. It is a playground of possibilities, a space where Urdu can dream in shapes it has never worn before. Every stroke challenges expectations, every glyph invites imagination. Take a peek, type or simply look a...

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