A Schengen travel insurance certificate may show substantial medical coverage while still excluding treatment linked to diabetes, hypertension or existing heart disease. Travellers with pre-existing conditions should read the exclusions before buying a policy. My Schengen policy carried €30,000 of medical cover. Then I read what it did not cover. The Adamjee certificate had travelled to Germany with me before. I would slide it into the same folder as my passport and visa, notice the €30,000 medical figure, and move on. On my last review, I stopped at the exclusions. I have diabetes. I also have high blood pressure, and I have previously had a coronary stent. My Adamjee Schengen Active wording excluded medical treatment related to pre-existing conditions, which immediately changed the meaning of the €30,000 figure printed prominently on the certificate. The policy was genuine. Adamjee is a major Pakistani insurer, and its Schengen product serves a legitimate purpose. The uncomfort...
Pakistan moved significant political and fiscal authority from Islamabad to the provinces, but local governments remain comparatively weak. The deeper question behind the new-provinces debate is whether creating more provincial capitals will bring power closer to citizens or simply create new centres of authority. Pakistan transferred enormous authority from Islamabad to the provinces after 2010. It never completed the second journey, from provincial capitals to elected cities and districts. Creating more provinces may reduce administrative distance, but without deeper local devolution it could simply produce more centres of power. I Look at This Debate From Karachi A broken road in Karachi can become a lesson in Pakistani federalism surprisingly quickly. I have often watched people complain about a municipal problem and then struggle with the next question: which institution actually controls it? The elected local government may be visible, but provincial departments, speciali...