Economic Affairs & National Development

Multiple-Central Bank Digital Currency Platforms : An Alternative to the Dollar-Based Payment System?

The United States Dollar (USD) has long enjoyed the ‘exorbitant privilege’ of being at the centre of the international financial and trade system, serving as the dominant currency for holding financial assets and facilitating cross-border payments. The dollar-based international payment system has three major components:

86 views

Read More »
Emerging technologies

Shifting Dynamics: Brain Chips as the Next Battlefield  

Composed of 86 billion neurons, the human brain is nothing short of an absolute marvel. This composite cobweb is slowly but surely becoming a technological hotspot, with massive funds poured to detect and record its activity and synergise it with smart devices, a phenomenon called Brain-Chip Interface (BCI).

167 views

Read More »
India

Half a Decade of Amplified Suppression in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir

Fifth August 2024 marks half a decade since India annexed the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and denied the disputed territory’s right to statehood through a rushed presidential decree. Months after winning the second term in the Lok Sabha polls 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government revoked

68 views

Read More »
Economic Affairs & National Development

The Stock Market is not the Economy

The ebbs and flows of business cycles provide ample evidence that a stock market, by itself, is not representative of an economy as a whole. Even in recent memory, one may think of how governments around the world poured in unprecedented amounts of stimulus during COVID-19, much of which poured

93 views

Read More »
Aerospace

Trusting Autonomy in Military Aviation

The imagination of military aviation enthusiasts has remained captivated by the idea of self-flying fighter aircraft for decades. Hollywood tried to cash in on this back in 2005 with the release of Stealth which depicted an AI-controlled Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) slated to replace human pilots in the future.

129 views

Read More »
Emerging technologies

Beyond Autopilot: Unmanned Systems and their Dual Use Potential

Unmanned systems, driven by rapid technological advancements, have become pivotal not only in the military domain but in civilian arenas also because of their dual nature. So far, most of the available literature looks at the military utility of unmanned systems only. However, this article sheds light on the usefulness of

110 views

Read More »
Cyber Security

How Vulnerable is the Aviation Industry to Cybersecurity Risks?

The aviation industry has embraced widespread digitalisation over the past decade to improve passenger experience and operational efficiency. However, according to the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), this advancement has exposed the industry to increasing cyber-attacks. Notably, a major cyber-attack against a global IT supplier in February 2021 underscored

129 views

Read More »
Economic Affairs & National Development

Why is this a Ripe Time to Promote Solarisation?

A shift towards solar power use has been taking place across Pakistan recently, as declining prices of solar panels, coupled with frequent hikes in electricity tariffs, have galvanised end-consumers to embrace solar solutions. However, this rapid pace of solarisation has sparked concerns within some policy-making circles. Speculations regarding policy changes affecting solar photovoltaic (PV) participants

94 views

Read More »
Emerging technologies

Share Wisely: Protecting Data in the Digital Age

From the moment an individual  wakes up in the morning to the time s/he sets the alarm for the following day – and even while sleeping, one’s life is now being captured in a continuous loop of digital surveillance via tech gadgets. Individual actions, interactions, preferences, and nearly every aspect of the  digital life  is being monitored and converted into data points. This surveillance extends to personal data from sources such as search history, social media platforms, web page views

69 views

Read More »