Buddhism was founded by Gautama Buddha (6th-5th century BC), but this faith could hardly receive popular recognition and could truly spread in the lifetime of its founder beyond the boundaries of Magadha and Benaris or the eastern India, where he preached his doctrine for decades. Buddha is a historical personage, who lived between ca. 563 and 483/478 BC or thereabout. Dharmarajika Stupa, Taxila Valley Accurate information about Siddhartha Gautama Sakyamuni, the Sakya prince in the Nepalese Terai is shrouded by the legends recorded by his followers after centuries of his demis. He attained enlightenment to become Buddha (the enlightened one) and discovered a way to salvation, which he taught to his followers. Bhamala S...
December 15, 2021 at 7:09 am | Economic Affairs
Pakistan has a long history of close relations with China. The relations have been cemented rock solid with the passage of time, especially with the start of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Pakistan has a long history of close relations with China. The relations have been cemented rock solid with the passage of time, especially with the start of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The Pakistan’s friendship with China is usually boasted as higher than mountains and deeper than oceans and it has been proved as such in the 70 years of historical relations. One of the big push boosting our relations, besides CPEC, has been trade pact with China popularly called as Pak-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which has gained a h...
December 14, 2021 at 4:51 pm | Economic Affairs
Diabetes mellitus has appeared to be one of the main public health challenges to high, middle, and low-income economies. In 2019 DM care market reached 69.7 billion and likely to increase by 4.5% by 2025. Assessing the situation in global setting, North America and Asia-Pacific region are the two-region accounted for major market share for the DM care products. Two main countries in Asia-Pacific region i.e. China and India are observed an increasing demand for diabetes drugs. The number of diabetic patients in China has passed 110 million and the nation with highest number of diabetic patients. Addressing the situation in Pakistani setting which is in the neighbors of China and being the partner of the one road one belt initi...
December 14, 2021 at 4:39 pm | Economic Affairs
The increasing threat of bioterrorism or mutated/evolved, highly contagious and transmissible germs (viruses, bacteria, fungi or protozoans) in the world, has caused many countries to start diverting research funds to tackle this new world scenario. By Nasir Jalal (Ph.D.) With the COVID-19 outbreak, an existential threat has been realized and thus awareness and preparedness for containing or tackling highly infectious agents (biohazardous agents) is now forming a cornerstone of national defense of many Countries. Preparedness to deal with such future threats, requires research investment into specialized technologies which should remove dependence on technologies stemming from developed Countries. The reason for this argument is t...
December 14, 2021 at 4:31 pm | Economic Affairs
The Board of Directors of MCB Bank Limited in its meeting under the Chairmanship of Mian Mohammad Mansha, on October 27, 2021, reviewed the performance of the Bank and approved the condensed interim financial statements for the nine months period ended September 30, 2021. The Board of Directors has declared 3rd interim cash dividend of Rs. 4.5 per share i.e. 45% bringing the total cash dividend for the year ending 2021 to 140%, continuing with its highest dividend payout trend. During the nine months period ended September 30, 2021, MCB Bank Limited reported Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 38.27 billion and Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs. 22.56 billion. Earnings’ Per Share (EPS) stood at Rs. 19.03 against an EPS of Rs. 19.35 reported in ...
December 14, 2021 at 4:23 pm | Economic Affairs
The UN aggregates that approximately one billion people do not get enough to eat on a regular basis. About 16.6% of the world’s population is undernourished and almost 1 in 10 people in the world falls ill as a result of eating contaminated food and 500,000 die every year. By Ambassador Naghmana Hashmi In this age of technology and space exploration when some nations are spending billions and reaching for the Moon, the Mars and the vast unknown beyond in search of places habitable for humans, millions of humans are dying of food shortage on the only known habitable planet that we know of to date, our mother earth. The UN aggregates that approximately one billion people do not get enough to eat on a regular basis. The world produ...
December 14, 2021 at 4:20 pm | Economic Affairs
China has contributed to international affairs, and global issues, especially raising voices for weaker and naïve nations. China stood for oppressed and condemned the aggressors, and opposes hegemony of any country or nation. By Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan People of Pakistan congratulate our Chinese brothers and sisters on the occasion of marking the 50 years of China joining the United Nations (UN). Recognizing the importance of China and the role of China in the UN, we praise and admire the contribution of China to the UN. China has contributed to international affairs, and global issues, especially raising voices for weaker and naïve nations. China stood for oppressed and condemned the aggressors, and opposes hegemony of any...
December 14, 2021 at 4:11 pm | Economic Affairs
There have been many knowledge streams such as Taoism that have added to the development of philosophical thoughts in China, but Confucian thinking with its emphasis upon public service and self-discipline continues to guide the official and individual behavior. By Ahmad Farooq Lord Curzon once said “China is a university from where scholar doesn’t get a degree,” but is enlightened with knowledge and wisdom gathered over thousands of years. Homosapiens, since their very genesis who remained in a continuous struggle for splendour and sublimity, have contested with the intimidating forces of nature and starting from cave-dwellings and hand-made clay and wooden instruments, have carved out great civilizations and cultures. ...
December 14, 2021 at 4:01 pm | Economic Affairs
By HE M Khalid Jamali“Pehlay Bata phir School”, generations of Pakistanis; including myself, have grown up with Bata Shoes. In 1938 Bata Shoe Company established a shoe factory near Lahore marking the establishment of a long-standing bond of friendship, diplomatic and economic relations between Pakistan and the Czech Republic. Czech Republic; then Czechoslovakia, was one of the first Central European countries to have established diplomatic relations with Pakistan in September 1950. While this marked the start of a formal relationship, the public interaction between the peoples of the two countries started as early as 1920’s. Professor Vincenc Lesny delivered lectures at the Government College Lahore, the works of Karel Capek tran...
October 28, 2021 at 12:32 pm | Economic Affairs
The 2018 inter-Korean summit is planned to take place on April 27, 2018, on the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area, between President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and Kim Jong-un of North Korea. If it goes ahead, it will be the third inter-Korean summit and the first in eleven years. It will also be the first time since the Korean War that a North Korean leader enters South Korean territory.The summit is planned to focus on the North Korean nuclear weapons program and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Below are some questions and answers that explains the purpose and objectives of the summit. QUESTION 1: What is the significance of exchanges of special envoys between South and North Korea and the arrangement of an inte...
April 18, 2018 at 3:09 pm | News Desk
Farhan Bokhari High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Pakistan could have the world’s third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons after the US and Russia within a decade if it continues to build up to 20 nuclear warheads annually, a new report warns. The report, written by two respected US analysts and published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, concluded that Pakistan is outpacing India, with its neighbour and rival appearing to produce just five warheads annually. High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this articl...
August 29, 2015 at 12:06 pm | News Desk
Hatf IX (Nasr) is a Pakistani ballistic missile which can deliver a sub-kiloton nuclear warhead over a range of 60 km, or 37.3 miles. It is supposed to have entered service in 2013 and is believed to be fully integrated into Pakistan’s C3I (command, control, communications and intelligence). Its purported role is as a low-yield battlefield deterrent against mechanised columns. Should India – and the world – take Nasr seriously? The development and deployment of Nasr by Pakistan was inevitable and the impact of this tactical nuclear weapon (tac nuke) on the emerging India-Pakistan deterrence relationship is inherently destabilising. Defining Tactical Nuclear Weapons: The Pakistani Context There are four different yardst...
August 21, 2015 at 6:46 pm | News Desk
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted before the Supreme Court a report containing details of 150 mega corruption cases against prominent parliamentarians, politicians, bureaucrats and industrialists. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, former president Asif Ali Zardari, former prime ministers Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, PML-Q chief Shujaat Hussain, former Balochistan chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, QaumiWatan Party chief AftabSherpao, former ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani are some of the prominent people on the list. The document lists 50 cases each of monetary irregularities, misuse of powers and land scandals. Among the monetary irregul...
August 21, 2015 at 6:14 pm | News Desk
Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing a very dangerous game. On July 4, while Americans celebrated Independence Day, a cinematic, tension-filled drama unfolded along America's western skies. In two separate incidents, U.S. fighter jets were scrambled to intercept Russian bombers approaching the country's airspace; first near the California coast, then just outside U.S. airspace over Alaska. [caption id="attachment_6360" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Russia's President Vladimir Putin gestures as he chairs a government meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, June 25, 2014. The Russian parliament on Wednesday revoked the right it had granted Putin in March to order a military intervention in Ukraine, where...
August 21, 2015 at 6:05 pm | News Desk
An unnamed American diplomat told the Sunday Times in Britain that President Barack Obama “believes a peaceful Iran could be a bulwark against ISIS in the Middle East and the key to peace there.” The Iranian people and government strongly oppose ISIS, no doubt about it. They are predominantly Shias while ISIS is the most deranged Sunni Islamist terrorist organization in the world. Its attitude toward the Shia is outright genocidal. It’s easy, then, to see why a powerful Shia bloc might act as a “bulwark.” The problem here is that the Iranian- led Resistance Bloc—which includes the Assad regime in Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and a smorgasbord of Iraqi Shia militias—is the primary instigator of ISIS. Look: ISIS is jus...
August 21, 2015 at 5:59 pm | News Desk
When the US sneezes, an old saying goes, the world catches a cold. That’s been nowhere more true than in Asia. But as China’s coughing fit grows louder, countries in the region are wondering whether their neighbor’s illness will also prove contagious. Since Wall Street’s crash in 2008, Asia has been pivoting to China. The $16.8 trillion US economy is still 1.8 times bigger and its per capita income dwarfs China’s. But China is Asia’s biggest trading partner and, increasingly, its benefactor. Flush with $3.7tr of currency reserves and its new $100 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China has used checkbook diplomacy to make friends across the region. Asia’s social media accounts are now pulsating with talk of h...
August 21, 2015 at 5:40 pm | News Desk
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate