Current Final

Category: Lifestyle

  • Another earthquake of 6.3 magnitude hits Afghanistan

    Another earthquake of 6.3 magnitude hits Afghanistan

    As per the United States Geological Survey, yet another earthquake occurred in Afghanistan at a shallow depth at around 5:10 am local time on Wednesday, with its epicenter about 29 kilometres north of the city of Herat.

    No casualties have been reported till now.

    According to the Associated Press, Ministry of Information spokesperson Abdul Wahid Rayan has said that at least 80 people have been injured and a landslide has blocked the main Herat-Torghundi highway.

    This is the second deadliest aftershock in the region after Saturday’s earthquake which destroyed 11 villages and has devastated 12,000 people. The death toll has exceeded 2,400 fatalities. Afghanistan is frequently hit by deadly earthquakes, but this weekend’s disaster was the worst to strike the war-ravaged country in more than 25 years.

    Rescue efforts are being hampered by poor infrastructure and lack of resources.

  • Author Arundhati Roy to be prosecuted in India for 2010 speech

    Author Arundhati Roy to be prosecuted in India for 2010 speech

    Prolific writer Arundhati Roy, the only non-expatriate Booker prize winning author of The God of Small Things, is one of the most high-profile critics of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a voice for the voiceless in her country.

    Amidst the dire situation of press freedom in India, the author may face prosecution for a speech she delivered in 2010 about Kashmir, as per media reports. A top-official in New Delhi, VK Saxena, has given approval for the case to proceed before the courts. According to Saxena’s directive, Roy and her co-defendants were allegedly advocating for the secession of Kashmir from India at a public function and that is enough evidence for a legal case.

    Under the Modi Government, sedition laws are often used to curb the freedom of expression and journalism, raising a question over the so-called biggest democracy’s principles. Added to that are PSA laws exclusive to Jammu and Kashmir which allow detention of individuals “preventively” for up to two years, without a trial or warrant. In IOK, a number of journalists have been held in detention.

    The revocation of Article 370 ensuring the special status of Kashmir on August 6, 2019, has caused voices like Roy to become more loud. “In Kashmir when we wake up and say, ‘Good Morning’ what we really mean is ‘Good Mourning,’” exclaimed one of the characters from her novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Her house was besieged when the speech became public and the complaint that lodged against her has now proceeded after 13 years.

    Roy, now 61, has always been fearless in her expression and is known for her work as a journalist, activist and a novelist. Her work is a scribbled protest whereas her speeches and the articles she reads in conferences is vocal dissent in the face of oppressors. In one of her famous speeches, she voices out the basic facts of Kashmir’s reality that “it is not an integral part of India and even the Indian Government has accepted this years back in the UN.” Her latest book Azadi Freedom, Fascism, Fiction is an honest account of the situation of minorities, Dalits and activists in India.

  • Stockholm to ban petrol, diesel cars in city centre from 2025

    Stockholm to ban petrol, diesel cars in city centre from 2025

    The capital of Sweden, Stockholm, will ban the presence of petrol and diesel cars by 2025 in a central 20-block area of the city in order to achieve better air quality.

    The city’s vice-mayor for transport and urban environment, Lars Stromgren, said in a statement, “Nowadays the air in Stockholm causes babies to have sick lungs and the elderly to die prematurely. It is a completely unacceptable situation,”
    He added that there is a need to “limit the harmful exhaust gases from petrol and diesel cars,”

    The 20-block area of the city is a bustling part of Stockholm with a shopping district, office buildings, and eateries. And according to Stromgren, this area “has a lot of pedestrians and cyclists, where the air quality needs to be better,”

    “This is also a part of the city where we see that there is a lot of interest in a faster electrification, with actors that can spearhead the transition,” he added.

    The ban will come into effect on December 31, 2024. However, police cars, ambulances and other security services will be exempted.

  • Peshawar students to campaign against use of drugs in educational institutions

    Peshawar students to campaign against use of drugs in educational institutions

    The students of the University of Agriculture in Peshawar have decided on starting a mission to prevent use of drugs in educational institutions.

    According to reports, the administration has become active to protect the students of the University of Agriculture from drugs. The Anti-Drug Awareness Committee held a meeting at the campus.

    According to experts present at the meeting, drugs give temporary relief by increasing hormones, but later they cause permanent destruction; adding that the addict becomes a burden on his family and society.

    The students have decided to join hands with the government and social organisations to play an active role in the anti-drug campaign.

    According to the report of a non-governmental organisation, 7.6 million people use drugs in Pakistan, including 78% men and 22% women.

  • Malala issues statement on the Israel-Palestine war

    Malala issues statement on the Israel-Palestine war

    Nobel Prize winner and education activist Malala Yousafzai has issued a statement on Israel’s war on Palestine.

    In her letter, she called for both sides to hold a ceasefire and prevent innocent lives from being lost, writing that it is cruel how Palestine and Israel children have been caught in the middle.

    The Nobel Prize winner reflected on her own upbringing during a wave of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkha, writing “We woke up to the sounds of mortar shells, saw our schools and mosques destroyed by bombs. Peace became something we could only dream about.”

    “War never spares children,” Malala further wrote. “Not those kidnapped from their homes in Israel, not those hiding from airstrikes or without food and water in Gaza.”

  • Fact-check: Is Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen dead or alive?

    Fact-check: Is Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen dead or alive?

    News about veteran Indian economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen’s death started circulating on social media today.

    A social media post about Sen’s death that the Indian media was quoting was from Claudia Goldin’s X (formerly Twitter) account, which turned out to be a fake account.

    Claudia Goldin is an American economic historian and has been announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize Economics for this year.

    Sen’s daughter took to X and tweeted:

    “Friends, thanks for your concern but it’s fake news: Baba is totally fine. We just spent a wonderful week together w/ family in Cambridge—his hug as strong as always last night when we said bye! He is teaching 2 courses a week at Harvard, working on his gender book—busy as ever!”

    Seema Chishti, Editor The Wire, corrected the misinformation, clarifying that Sen is very much alive.

    Other accounts also corrected the misinformation being spread about Sen’s death.

  • Climate Change causing bird populations to deplete in Pakistan

    Climate Change causing bird populations to deplete in Pakistan

    In the tragic saga of climate change in Pakistan, it is not just humans but birds too that are affected.

    While the avian population has nothing to contribute to the phenomenon of climate change, they are paying the price for it with their lives. According to a State of the World’s Birds report, nearly half of all bird species are in decline with more than one in eight at risk of extinction.

    The situation is not any better in Pakistan. Not just the indigenous species are at risk but the ones migrating to the plains of Pakistan are severely decreasing as well. The research by wildlife expert Dr Azhar has come out at a time when the world is fighting with a challenge as magnanimous as global warming. Scientists have warned that if the temperature increases 3.5 degrees above the current one by 2100, almost 600-900 species would be killed off.

    A significant decrease in the number of birds in tropical regions has been noticed, including the endangered northern snowbird. Even the number of common sparrows is plummeting as declared by the International Convention for Conservation of Nature. For instance, a loss of three billion birds in North America alone posing a threat to biodiversity. Simultaneously, sparrows are being put on a ‘Red List’ in Greater London after a loss of 70 per cent of sparrows was recorded between 1994 and 2001.

    The reason it has not been done in Pakistan, as expressed by renowned ornithologist Mahmood Akhtar Cheema, is because nobody has actually attempted to count the number of these birds at present, implying that they are surely less than before. He warned that it is going to be even worse in the future because of the scarcity of food, changes in habitat, earlier egg-laying time, higher rate of disease transmission and frequent season changes.

    It is explicitly clear that birds’ populace is an indicator of the environmental health around us. The staggering decrease is alarming on many levels. It also demands extensive research and policy making to protect biodiversity. The areas may include the changing weather patterns disturbing the timing of migration to egg-laying and sizes and controlling extreme urbanization to provide for their natural habitats.

  • Jemima Goldsmith, Talha Anjum statements on Palestine-Israel war trigger intense backlash, debate

    Jemima Goldsmith, Talha Anjum statements on Palestine-Israel war trigger intense backlash, debate

    As the Palestine-Israel conflict rages on in the Middle East, several celebrities have come forward in favor of the Palestine struggle or against it.

    Rapper Talha Anjum took to Twitter to share how social media users should not encourage the war, as it might further aggravate the oppression Palestinians were already suffering from, leaving users divided.

    “An average Pakistani knows how to post praises for Hamas for killing hundreds of Israeli soldiers/citizens but isn’t smart enough to realise what’s stored in for Palestinians in coming days. 600 already dead. Stop glorifying wars. Grow the f*** up!!”

    Many users sided with the ‘Gumaan’ rapper, as one user wrote: “I tend to agree to this to some extent. These praises aren’t for Hamas, these praises are for the fightback. but yeah, things were already bad and are about to get worse for Palestinians. Prayers for Palestine.”

    While other user’s felt that Talha’s statement was extremely problematic as a user wrote: “No one knows this better than the Palestinians. Imagine the desperation of them to fight like this as a last resort! If peace talks ever worked they would have done it a long time ago. Each and every time Israel has broken their contract. They would never be liberated w/o war”

    Another user wrote: “Bhai rebellion against oppression..which the people of Palestine have been facing since years now isn’t w@r and Hamas doens’t even have the resources to compete with Israel atm ..what are you even saying ..the only ones suffering were and are suffering now are Palestinians.”

    Talha Anjum’s take alone did not trigger a debate about the conflict. Screenwriter and ex-wife of former prime minister Imran Khan, Jemima, shared on Twitter that she was standing in favour of innocent human beings who were killed in this war.

    “I stand with the innocent human beings on both sides of this conflict, especially the children. Condemn both.”

    Many users felt her take was justified

    While others accused the ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ filmmaker of playing on both sides and refusing to take a solid stance against Israel’s senseless massacre of countless Palestinian civilians. On another post where Jemima shared a quote saying “I stand with international law and human rights. There is no humanity in political tribalism”, most of the comments from Pakistanis were overwhelmingly negative.

  • Husband kills wife for demanding divorce

    Husband kills wife for demanding divorce

    A man shot and killed his wife at his in-law’s house in Lahore after she asked for a divorce. Closed-circuit cameras recorded him opening fire and killing the woman.

    The incident took place in the area of Hanjarwal. Nasreen, who had been upset with her husband, Yusuf, and was staying at her parent’s house, had asked for a divorce a few days ago. The husband, in response, had refused.
    He then went to his in-laws house from Faisalabad, called his wife outside and then shot her dead.
    Relatives reveal that Nasreen was a mother of three children.

    Police have registered a case and started an investigation.

    SP Investigation Aqeela Naqvi says that the suspect is absconding since the incident but he will be arrested soon.

  • Claudia Goldin wins Nobel economics prize for work on women’s pay

    Claudia Goldin wins Nobel economics prize for work on women’s pay

    An economic historian and Harvard professor, Claudia Goldin, has been awarded with the Nobel Prize in economics for her work examining the gender pay gap.

    Goldin’s unprecedented research highlights the fact that women, despite their higher academic qualifications, are paid less than men; and that mostly this difference arises after childbirth.

    “This year’s Laureate in the Economic Sciences, Claudia Goldin, provided the first comprehensive account of women’s earnings and labour market participation through the centuries,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on Monday.

    “Her research reveals the causes of change, as well as the main sources of the remaining gender gap.”

    After Elinor Ostrom in 2009 and Esther Duflo in 2019, Goldin is the third woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in economics — a category with the lowest number of female laureates.

    Goldin’s research examines data tracing 200 years of women’s participation in the workforce in the United States.

    As per her research, a woman’s role in the job market and her pay are, in part, decided by individual decisions, including educational choices, as well as broad social and economic changes.

    The prize committee highlights that while much of the earnings gap historically could be explained by differences in education and occupational choices, Goldin “has shown that the bulk of this earnings difference is now between men and women in the same occupation, and that it largely arises with the birth of the first child”.