According to a Taliban official, at least 78 individuals have died in Afghanistan’s frigid temperatures during the past nine days.
According to Shafiullah Rahimi, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Disaster Management, over 77,000 animals have also perished in recent days after temperatures fell to record lows.
The frigid weather has turned into the country’s coldest winter in 15 years, with temperatures dipping as low as -34 degrees Celsius (-29.2 degrees Fahrenheit), Reuters has reported.
“The weather will get colder in the next few days, therefore it is necessary to consider humanitarian aid for affected people,” said Abdullah Ahmadi, the head of the operations centre for emergency conditions at the Ministry of Disaster Management has said.
Health professionals noted a substantial rise in the number of small children with severe pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses even in the early days of winter. Rising poverty that prevents people from adequately heating their homes is partly to blame for the illnesses.
466 people die daily in Pakistan due to tobacco use related diseases, Dr Ziauddin Islam, a former technical leader of the Health Ministry’s Tobacco Control Cell, has disclosed during a discussion hosted by SPARC, Ikram Junaidi has reported for Dawn.
He also said that the number of smokers in Pakistan has reached 31 million people. Dr. Ziauddin also revealed that every day, 1,200 Pakistani kids between the ages of six and fifteen begin smoking.
The Tobacco Health Levy Bill, which has been on hold since 2019, needs to be approved right away in order to stop the loss of life and healthcare resources, he added. “Evidence suggests that higher cigarette taxes deter smoking initiation, reduce cigarette consumption, and even lead smokers to quit. Last year, Pakistan raised tobacco taxes for the first time since 2019 however we are still far off from the 30pc increase suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO),” said Country head of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) Malik Imran Ahmed.
The National Highway and Motorway Police (NHMP) has announced a new initiative to facilitate travellers by issuing daily journey planners that would help drivers navigate the highway more efficiently.
The spokesperson of NHMP said that the project of journey planners has been initiated at the direction of Inspector General NHMP, Khalid Mahmood.
He stated that in addition to any planned construction or maintenance that may affect travel times, the planners would also take into account information such as traffic updates, road closures, weather updates, and accident reports.
By informing drivers of any potential risks or delays, the Motorway Police hope that this new service will assist in shortening travel times and increasing safety on the highways, the official said, adding that the planners would be accessible online through the website and social media channels. The trip planner has received a great deal of appreciation, and the NHMP is dedicated to giving its consumers helpful information. It also continues to receive excellent feedback.
Travelers reported that the trip planners have shortened their travel distances and increased road safety. Adnan Jameel, a motorist on the M-1 motorway, told APP that the planner had made it easier for him to organise his trip and prevent any unwelcome shocks along the route.
Researchers have identified the four abilities that are most in demand in evolving workplaces by analysing hundreds of millions of recent job listings in the US. The report How Skills are Disrupting Work was developed in collaboration with the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF), education publisher Wiley, and the Burning Glass Institute.
One of these skill sets was included as a necessity in one out of every eight job listings, according to the researchers. The report states that, “AI/ML, Cloud Computing, Product Management, and Social Media together exemplify skills disruption and serve as a laboratory for understanding the broader trend. The five-year growth rate for these four skill sets was 122% in 2021, compared with a 10% growth rate for the average skill over the same period.”
A mureed (follower) has murdered a Pir (spiritual healer) in Faisalabad after the amulet he was given failed in reconciliation with his wife.
Muhammad Hassan had been given an amulet by Pir Sajjad to help reconcile his relationship with his estranged wife. However, the amulet failed to do what had been promised to Hassan, leading to his marriage ending in a divorce.
The angry mureed then murdered the Pir.
Police have arrested Muhammad Hasan and said that he kidnapped Pir Sajid 10 days ago. After killing the Pir, Hasan threw his body into a nearby canal.
Muhammad Hasan told the police that he donated a lot of money to the Pir for the patch-up with his wife but all the donations and amulet did not work and instead he got divorced.
Sajid’s brother Sabir informed the police when his follower’s in-laws took his wife’s belongings from his house. “He came to our place and took Sajid with him,” the brother reportedly said.
Local police are conducting raids to find the people who helped Hasan in the killing.
The oldest person in the world, French nun Lucile Randon, has died at the age of 118.
Randon, who took the name of Sister Andre when she became a nun in 1944, died in her sleep on January 17 at the nursing home where she lived.
According to BBC, Randon was born on February 11, 1904, and was the world’s oldest living person according to the Gerontology Research Group’s (GRG) World Supercentenarian Rankings List.
Long recognised as the oldest person in Europe, she became the world’s oldest following the death of Japan’s Kane Tanaka at 119 in 2022. Guinness World Records officially acknowledged her status.
“There is great sadness but … it was her desire to join her beloved brother. For her, it’s a liberation,” spokesperson David Tavella, of the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in the southern French town of Toulon, told the AFP news agency.
Randon was born in the year New York opened its first subway, and World War I was still a decade away.
She grew up in a Protestant family as the only girl among three brothers, living in the southern town of Ales, France.
One of her fondest memories was the return of two of her brothers at the end of the war in 1918, she told AFP in an interview on her 116th birthday.
“It was rare, in families, there were usually two dead rather than two alive. They both came back,” she said.
The federal government on Tuesday declared 20 bottled water brands unfit for human consumption, Jamal Shahid reports for Dawn.
The Pakistani government had asked the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) to evaluate bottled and mineral water brands every quarter and to report the findings to raise public health awareness.
Twenty-two cities provided 168 samples of mineral/bottled water brands for the quarter from October to December of the year 2022.
Twenty brands were found to be dangerous for human consumption due to microbiological, chemical, or both types of contamination when test results were compared to the bottled water quality criteria of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).
Here are the bottled water brands
Best Natural Klear Pinar Neno Ice Drop Premium Safa Orwell Indus Minwa Kashaf Barsay Nayab Pure Life Excellent Natural
Aqua One Alfa Premium Isberg Aqua pack Sip up Ever pure Noble Asha
Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg was detained by the German police on Tuesday for participating in a coal mine protest in a village in Lutzerath. Thunberg was participating in the protest to stop authorities from demolishing the village for the coal mine’s expansion. Police representative Christof Huls while speaking to CNN, said that Thunberg was part of a large group of protesters who had broken through the police barrier and had settled around a coal pit. Huls further elaborated that police were concerned that the mass of protesters could set the ground in motion after it had been softened by rainfall in the last few days, leading to the detention of the protestors.
‘We knew who she was, but she did not get VIP treatment,’ Huls said.
Police also said that the activists detained would be released later in the day.
Thunberg had joined thousands of climate activists in Germany against the demolishing of a village in order to make way for the Garzweiler lignite coal mine, which is owned by the European multi-national corporation RWE. Climate activists had argued that the expansion of the coal mine will increase planet-warming emissions and violate the Paris Climate Agreement’s promise to bring the global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Thunberg had addressed the activists on Saturday, saying that their fight to save the planet was not over as long as people keep prioritizing short term economic growth and corporate greed. “We need to stop the current destruction of our planet and sacrificing people to benefit the short-term economic growth and corporate greed,” she said.
Climate strike week 230. We are currently in Lützerath, a German village threatened to be demolished for an expansion of a coal mine. People have been resisting for years. Join us here at 12 or a local protest tomorrow to demand that #LützerathBleibt !#ClimateStrikepic.twitter.com/hGrCK6ZQew
Thousands of people participated in a march on Monday in Strasbourg, France, to show support for the Iranian opposition movement in favour of women’s rights.
The famous Eiffel Tower became part of the demonstration as well as the landmark was illuminated with pro-Iranian demonstrators and pro-women activists’ messages.
“Woman. Life. Freedom” and “StopExecutionsInIran,” were displayed on the tower.
The protests in Iran were triggered after Mahsa Amini, died on September 16, 2022, while being held by the morality police for allegedly breaking a rigorously adhered-to Islamic clothing code. This incident served as the impetus for the protests in Iran. Despite widespread criticism, Iran has arrested many people for crimes connected to the uprising started by Mahsa Amini’s killing..
By Anum Hanif, Lubna Jerar Naqvi, Shreya Pareek, Zeba Warsi
Sara Zafar Mir, a social media entrepreneur from Karachi, Pakistan, is busy making her own money. She specializes in premium baby products and Facebook is her social media platform of choice. Every day, she reaches more than 150,000 followers who are all potential buyers, bringing to them customized baby clothes and postpartum care packages at the click of a button. She leads this while also raising two young pre-teens.
Mir said: “I am blessed to have a supportive husband and in-laws, who go out of their way to help me in my work. Both my kids help me in my business. It is great to be able to lean on family when needed.”
Nearly 500 miles away, in Jaipur, India, thirty-one-year-old Kriti Gupta has a busy morning ahead. She needs to get her daughter ready for school while her toddler demands her attention. Amid this hustle, Gupta’s phone chimes. It’s an Instagram notification. One of her clients has left a thank-you message for the timely delivery and premium quality of soap she sold on the social networking app. Like Mir, Gupta is also a social media entrepreneur who has built a credible brand of customized soaps and toiletries.
Both Mir and Gupta may be separated by the India-Pakistan border, but their similarities far outweigh their differences. They both belong to a new generation of South Asian boss ladies who are taking social media by storm. They’re creating unique online businesses. They use Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook, not just to post selfies, or share pictures of their baby showers and family dinners but to earn a livelihood, chase their dreams, and be financially independent.
Over 4.26 billion people use social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to almost six billion in 2027. That’s where a new, dynamic market is emerging, and South Asian women entrepreneurs are here to reach that whole new world of consumers. They are breaking stereotypes and patriarchal norms which had long been dominant in South Asian communities.
Mir, a Kashmiri, was married off at a very young age, moving to Karachi with her new husband. As a young mother in Karachi in 2013, Mir found herself searching for premium baby products and felt that there was a void to be filled. That led her to start Mummy and MiniMe, which is almost like her third baby.
Mir was a teacher before she got married. She left her job when she moved to Karachi. After her son was born, she was ready to start something but didn’t quite know what and how.
“At the time my son was young, so I would always be looking for baby clothes, shoes and products,” Mir said, “so I had some experiences (laughs). I realized that Karachi has some very good quality products which you don’t find in other cities.”
She explored the internet and found that there were not a lot of people in Pakistan who offered quality products at affordable prices. “We began with PKR 25,000 at the time, which is not a lot of investment,” she added. And so, Mother and MiniMe was born on Facebook and then expanded to Instagram. After the launch of her business, Mir was joined by her sister-in-law Nauwarah, who was studying at the time. Mummy and MiniMe currently has 157,673 people following on Facebook and 4,782 followers on Instagram.
“My goal as a young mother was to provide affordability and uniqueness. When I used to shop for my son, I realized there were so many options and I thought to help mothers to get quality stuff in one place,” Sara said. Apart from baby products she also began curating wooden toys. With time, the online space started becoming saturated. Many new businesses popped up online and the online market became competitive.
“In 2017, I realized that we need a new strategy. So, we began offering baby gift baskets for new-borns. This is now a favorite among our customers. Mostly grandmothers, aunts, and friends are ordering these.” Mir then started collaborating with bloggers on social media to promote her products.
“I sent a basket with panjeeri (nutritious mixture) to this blogger who had lost her mother and had just had a baby. When I sent her a PR basket, she called me crying saying that my mother used to send her this,” Mir said.
On the other side of the border, Gupta is running her own little online empire with the support of her family.
Gupta said: “My Insta-shop never shuts down. It is open 24×7. Living in a joint family I have realized that everything is manageable if you have a good mother-in-law. And I am blessed in that department,” Gupta said. Living in a three-storey home in Jaipur in northwestern India, she cradles her toddler in one arm, while updating her Instagram business account with the other. The festive season is upon her, she has an order of more than 50 exclusive bath hampers in the pipeline. But she knows she can make it with the support of her family.
Born and brought up in Bangkok, Gupta was 21 years old when she moved to India to get married. Initially, it was a culture shock to settle down in a rich but conservative Marwari (an Indian ethnic group from Rajasthan) family. She dropped out of journalism school to have her dream wedding. Soon, she had her first child, and her career took a back seat. It was on her daughter’s fifth birthday in 2020 that she kickstarted her entrepreneurial journey by starting Bath and Bubble Co, a brand that sells handmade, natural, artisan soaps and bath products.
The business model
In Pakistan, Mir’s business has now reached a stage where she earns a decent living since she first began in 2013. The revenue spikes during Eid but even otherwise her business is consistent and is doing good. She receives around 10-15 queries a week. And a good 80 percent of those convert to sales.
Since it takes time to build trust among customers online, many first-time buyers pay through cash on delivery but the majority of her customers make online payments. Due to her regular and direct engagement with customers online, Mir’s business rarely sees any returns or exchanges.
“It is hard work. You have to be consistent and patient. With time, we can get an idea who is going to continue ordering products and who is there just to window shop, just like a regular retail shop,” Mir said.
There are thousands of such women who use social media exclusively as their main marketplace, especially in South Asian countries.
In India, Gupta exclusively uses Instagram to sell her products. Despite her humble 760 followers on Instagram, she has already found some dedicated and returning customers. Gupta offers over 25 varieties of exclusive, natural soaps. Currently shipping across India, Gupta’s products are favorite among children due to their quirky and colorful designs. Her personalized hampers are a huge hit and are often ordered in bulk through Instagram and WhatsApp for special occasions. Since creating a website or an offline store would require a huge investment of money and time, she decided to stick to Instagram in the beginning.
Gupta manages to get four-to-five queries each day through Instagram. A majority of her buyers use Instagram DMs and WhatsApp to place orders and use online modes of payments like Google Pay or PayTm. Gupta also mentioned how using the right hashtags and trending reels has helped her reach her target audience. The visual format on Instagram has helped business owners like Gupta to connect with her customers in a better way. She claims it is easier to track her customers on a real-time basis on social media and immediately find out what is working for them. Instagram trends also help in boosting the sales.
“You never know what clicks. You have to constantly keep thinking of new ideas. I am currently manufacturing the soaps myself at home after I send my daughter off to school. I soon plan to set up a separate space for my business. The first person I plan to hire is someone who can handle our social media,” she said.
The rise and rise of social media
Economies worldwide have been disrupted by the pandemic, but it has also created new opportunities to do business through social media. Women-owned businesses have received a big boost in recent years. And with a second income coming in, the standard of living of most families has improved. This means the women are not only being empowered financially, but are also getting family support and acceptance for their role as working women.
Nighat Dad from Lahore, Pakistan, a lawyer, internet activist and founder and executive director of Digital Rights Foundation has closely tracked the trend of women using social media for their growing businesses in recent years. “I have so many examples of women who started online businesses and they have grown over the years. They started to have an online presence. A couple of years back, women were really not confident about using these platforms (social media) for their businesses not only in terms of what to do and how to use these platforms but also not having knowledge of financial gains and opportunities,” Dad said.
In Pakistan, Instagram has gradually become the preferred choice to run businesses replacing Facebook as the most popular platform. In 2019, Facebook signed a Memorandum of Understanding of its #SheMeansBusiness with Lahore Chamber of Commerce and industry to provide support in hands on training, skills enhancement and resources to women. This was a major step towards empowering women to become entrepreneurs. It is estimated that women’s earnings in Pakistan have increased by four percent compared to previous year. One of the reasons is start-ups owned by women, and social media has played a pivotal role in helping them grow their businesses.
In India, Sairee Chahal, founder of “Sheroes”, India’s first women-only social media network, has also looked into the changing trends of how women are using social media.
Chahal said: “When I started Sheroes, there were maybe 10 million women online in India. Today, there are 350 million women who are online, who have tasted the internet at least once and there’s an increasing number of women who are using this to their advantage.”
Chahal, who started her first company in 1999 as a first-generation entrepreneur shares her insights on how digital platforms have helped many women entrepreneurs grow: “The mobile phone in a very patriarchal society is a personal device, it has your name on it. And once you have it, there’s no looking back.”
For women in a patriarchal setup, running a business requires much more than entrepreneurial skills. There are many family dynamics that women are expected to navigate and balance.
“Women are invisible in their societal setups, whether it’s families or the work that they do both at home and outside. It’s this recognition that is driving women online. Look on the internet, everybody’s somebody you know. You’re the handler, you are handling your content. So, this recognition more than other things is what makes a difference,” Chahal said. She also said that only 9 percent of women are in the formal workforce. That means that most women are left to fend for themselves.
Thanks to social media, women are now getting a fair chance to establish their businesses and sustain a balanced personal and professional life.
Not all’s well in the digital universe
Although social media has played a pivotal role in helping women become financially independent, it also has its share of challenges. The major issue that entrepreneurs like Gupta and Mir face is developing a sense of trust among customers since it is difficult to showcase the quality of products through just pictures and videos. Another concern shared by various women was the easy imitation of handcrafted products at lower prices. This makes it difficult for micro-entrepreneurs to compete in the vast market.
The digital world can also be intimidating for some entrepreneurs who belong to a different generation. So, while it is a blessing for some women who have grown up with technology, it might not work for others who are still trying to get used to it.
“Social media can be very demanding and takes a toll on one’s life. We have to constantly think of the next reel, next trend, and next viral post,” Gupta said. At the same time, there is a serious threat to cyber security. Several entrepreneurs have found their accounts to be hacked causing them not just financial but also immense emotional loss.
“Sometimes I feel it is easier to make soaps as compared to making an Instagram reel,” Gupta said.
Dad from Pakistan believes there are serious challenges and risks associated with online entrepreneurship.
“All kinds of challenges these women face in terms of harassment, finances, and stumbling upon bad actors online and trusting them. In offline spaces, sometimes they are earning but sometimes they don’t own what they are earning due to having a patriarchal society. Even if you are earning, you really don’t have ownership of your income,” she added.
She also emphasized how women who work online should be aware of their rights. “How safe their devices are, how safe their platforms are, how much women know about digital security, and how strong are their passwords,” she added. Dad’s foundation has a toll-free number on its website to help women entrepreneurs in need.
While Dad is providing much-needed help to the women entrepreneurs of Pakistan, Chahal is filling this gap in India. She uses her platform ‘Sheroes not only provide livelihood and financial support to women but also the offer crucial mental support to them. Over three million women have benefited from Sheroes’ counseling services. During the pandemic, Sheroes launched a digital bank called Mahila Money. The platform exclusively serves women who are not served by microfinance. Sheroes also acts as a marketplace for women where they can sell a range of items online.
Is this the beginning of a new revolution?
This rise of women entrepreneurs on social media is not just restricted to South Asia. It is a global phenomenon attracting millions of dollars of investment.
In 2020 Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg announced that the social media giant is investing $100 million to help 30,000 small businesses in over 30 countries. According to the latest statistics, there are 252 million female business owners in the world.
In 2021, Instamojo saw a 14.83 per cent spike in new female users in comparison to a five per cent drop in male new users. This shows that women are more eager to start their own businesses now and want to go online. Social media has enabled women to connect across boundaries, cultures, genders and has shown a positive trend where many women are comfortable establishing their businesses in a male-dominated society.
“I never got a chance to look back and see how far I have come. I can’t believe that something which was just an idea or a dream is now a fully functional business. It has not just made me financially independent but has also given my life a new purpose,” Gupta said.
Mir, who started her business with a small investment of 25000 Pakistani rupees, is always looking for innovative ideas to continually grow her business.
