Daud Khan

I t is of primary importance to properly document and quantify the damage caused by the 2022 floods. These estimates are necessary to guide the immediate relief effort, particularly in terms of its sectoral and geographic focus. They are also critical to guide the subsequent rehabilitation and reconstruction work; ensure synergies between the humanitarian and recovery efforts; and enhance resilience ...

The immediate cause of the current floods is the same as for the previous massive flood in 2010 — unusually heavy summer rains, including in arid areas that have little vegetation and limited water retention capacity. The initial fast runoff of rainwater into local streams, gullies and nullahs turned them into raging torrents in a matter of hours. Later, as ...

In a previous article (https://tribune.com.pk/story/2370062/the-need-to-prioritise-agricultural-development) I had pointed out that Pakistan has failed to build up a dynamic, export oriented manufacturing and services sector. A consequence of this has been a failure to move people out of agriculture. The proportion of the labour force working in agriculture has dropped by only 7 percentage points in three decades as compared to ...

Western governments and mainstream media have characterised the conflict in Ukraine as a battle of good against evil; as a clash between a mad, power-drunk dictator (Putin) and a popular national hero (Zelenskyy); and, above all, as a war between two systems — repression and autocracy on the one hand and freedom and democracy on the other. The narrative goes ...