The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has come to promising to focus on the country’s human resources to develop a ‘new’ Pakistan. Because women constitute almost half of the Pakistani population, their development is pivotal to Pakistan being able to achieve its true potential as a nation-state. The importance of this empowerment is demonstrated by the fact that a 2016 International Monetary Fund paper estimates that closing the gender gapin economic participation … [Read more...]
Articles
Frank blogs regularly for the Huffington Post and writes occasional columns and articles for publications such as the International Business Times and The Economic Times of India.
Frank writes on a wide variety of topics that are critical to shaping the future of America and the American dream and to making the United States and the world a better place. These include: Business; education; poverty and inequality; politics and public policy; immigration; manufacturing; innovation; leadership; citizenship; and social commentary.
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Searching for spiritual unity
“Recent events in India have damaged the country’s image as a vibrant, plural and successful democracy.” That is the opening line of former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran’s recent article in which he expresses his “growing concern over the rising polarisation and communalism of our social and political discourse”. Saran pointed out: “We pride ourselves in being the most tolerant of people, celebrating our diversity of faith, culture and tradition, ways of life and language. Diversity … [Read more...]
Second Amendment Rights. Second Amendment Wrongs
On March 24, students and citizens from across this great nation will gather in Washington DC for the March for Our Lives. They are not saying it this way, but they will be exercising their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and assembly; protecting valid Second Amendment rights; and protesting what have become Second Amendment wrongs. If one were to believe the rhetoric of the NRA and gun activists, the Second Amendment to the Constitution grants virtually unrestricted gun rights to … [Read more...]
Kachchrapur to Safaipur: The magical transformation of a historic Delhi neighbourhood
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Ten-year-old Chandni, living in the predominantly Muslim settlement of Hazrat Nizamuddin that grew around a venerated Sufi shrine, excitedly talks about the makeover of her once filthy neighbourhood that used to be disparagingly called "Kachrapur" (Garbageville) by outsiders. Along the southern edge of the slum quarters, with their tumbledown, uncemented brick houses, there was an open drain called Barapullah Nallah, originally a tributary of the Yamuna, that ran … [Read more...]
Our Fatal American Obsession With Guns
In the world of international affairs, a classic trade-off question is guns or butter. In domestic affairs in the United States of America today, there is no question: the answer is more guns and more butter. In the period from 2003 to 2013, consumption of butter in the U.S. increased by 25 percent. That’s a significant growth rate until it is compared to the growth rate of guns. Between 1994 and 2015, the number of guns grew by more than 70 million to a total of … [Read more...]
Indian Muslims should embrace triple talaq verdict
On August 22, the Supreme Court ruled that triple talaq -- the practice which allows a man to divorce his wife instantly by saying the word talaq thrice -- is unconstitutional. Predictably, the ruling was denounced by a number of Muslim leaders and organisations. Some interpreted it as an attack on their religion and way of life. Others saw a conspiracy angle in the importance given to an issue. This perspective is desperate and distorted. This perspective is not only wrong but also … [Read more...]
Flying The Unfriendly Skies Of United Airlines
There is an airline cone of silence relegating the customer to a captive state of information deprivation. Back in the days when air travel used to be fun and an experience to be looked forward to rather than dreaded, United Airlines advertising was wrapped around the slogan “Fly the Friendly Skies.” United discontinued its friendly skies promotion in 1996 but revived it again in September of 2013. The friendly skies ads may be back for United but the reality of a pleasurable … [Read more...]
Indian-American led NPO to fund fellowship for Indian scribes
A non-profit organisation in the US founded by an Indian-American IT entrepreneur and his wife will partner with a prominent media organisation to fund a fellowship for a mid-career journalist from India in 2017 for six months. The Frank Islam & Debbie Driesman Foundation started by Indian-Ameican Frank Islam and his wife, Debbie Driesman, will partner with Alfred Friendly Press Partners (AFPP) to fund the fellowship. The fellowship will be administered by AFPP, which has so far trained … [Read more...]
Article by Radiance on getting Ross Masood Award
Let’s Make Black Friday Thankful Friday
Over the past several years, Black Friday has become more important for some than Thanksgiving. Commercial interests and retailers have appropriated and transformed this once sleepy day after Thanksgiving into 24 hours of shopping gone wild. Stores open early, crowds queue up in line and on-line in search of bargains, and merchants measure much of their success for the holiday season by the sales racked up in this single day. One might say that's the American way. That could be. But, we … [Read more...]