Adil Najam

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Pakola.

If you are not Pakistani you are asking ‘What is Pakola?’ If you are you probably know that it is Pakistan’s first branded bottled soft drink, and one that has been a remarkably resilient brand. Well, the fact that it is celebrating its 60th birthday proves just how resilient.

Faisal Kapadia

The FIFA Football World Cup is underway and Pakistanis are enthusiastically watching matches, cheering for their favorite teams, and organizing football get togethers. Football is everyman’s game and requires not much other than a ball which we are adept at producing in the millions in Sialkot. It is simple to understand, easy to follow, and can be spectacular to watch. So it is no surprise that Pakistanis are getting as excited about the Football World Cup as fans anywhere else in the world.

But our sports sensibilities are still defined by cricket. We look at the whole world – from international politics to local scandals – through the lens and metaphors of cricket. So, why should football be any different. So, as a Pakistani guide to understanding what the commentators on TV are screaming about, I thought I should produce an interpretation to the key teams playing in the FIFA Football World Cup as explained in the context of our own Pakistani cricket stars. Earlier versions of this have been published on my own blog, Deadpan Thoughts, and on the Dawn Blog. I hope ATP readers can add more to the guide, and maybe suggest some more novel comparisons.

Adil Najam

For a number of days reports have been trickling in that suggest that a major operation against extremist militants in the Punjab is in the offing. Meetings, statements, movements all suggest that there may actually be something to all of this.

Now there is news, although still not officially confirmed, that the operation has begun, or at least been authorized by the Punjab government.