Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Protecting CPEC
This is apropos the news item ‘CPEC to push Pakistan deeper into debt burden, cautions US’ (23 Nov ). Pakistan should preserve, protect and complete the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project as it is in our national interest. Additionally, we must also continue to develop better, broader and deeper economic and trading ties with the US.
We must diversify and broaden our interests and ties with all important regions i.e. the US, the West, the Arab-Islamic world, China and its allies, and, of course, Russia and Central Asia. This strategy is perhaps what India has been following all along. The greater the variety in our ties, the greater will be our standing in the world trade. The more we are globally involved, the more we will be better understood and, consequently, the more input we could put in to discuss and resolve pending and emerging issues in the Middle East, South and Central Asia and Asia as a whole.
We are already one of the prized contributors of peacekeepers to the UN effort the world over. Our think tanks and the establishment should carefully assess this international relations philosophy so that we do not become a part of ‘a specific alignment’.
RAO NAUMAN
Islamabad
College is not for everyone
Not all parents who pay tuition are civil – some are indeed as “awake” as their children. But for those parents who hold on to their outdated civic values and beliefs, this Thanksgiving dinner may be more of a shock this year than in recent years. For many years, parents have endured the “vigilance”, political correctness, and “social justice” of their children of school age just to falsehood of the hope that good “credentials” – without proper education on which they are based – will help their children move forward in life.
According to this retired faculty member who really enjoyed excellent education in my youth – which is nowhere available today – I encourage all parents to listen carefully to their returning school-age children and to wonder: do I really help my children by sending them; if parents are honest with themselves and look critically, not only at their children, but also at what previous generations of graduates have done society, I believe the answer will be no. Stop spending good money after bad, get your children out of higher education, think outside the box and don’t look for alternative ways for your children only to survive but also to thrive.
FASIH IQBAL
Rawalpindi
Demagogue
Demagogue means a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational arguments. Modi also gained popularity in a democracy by exploiting emotions, prejudice and using Hindu religious sentiments. The Indian Parliament has passed the most controversial bill viz. Citizen Amendment Bill (CAB) into law. Protests spread all over India against this law which states that the minorities from neighbouring countries: Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan can have Indian citizenship except Muslims.
This is clear a plan of ethnic cleansing of Muslims from India. The Muslims living in India have to prove their citizenship through National Registers of Citizens (NRC). Indian government used brutal force to suppress the protesters in which at least 26 were killed, 1000s injured and many thousands arrested. Noted human rights activists from India like Arundatti Roy and Rana Ayub have indexed deep concern about the CAA and NRC. It is the fourth time since Modi-Shah regime came to power for 2nd time, has passed controversial bills in parliament: the abolishing of Triple Talaq, Babri Masjid Verdict, unilaterally scarping Article 370 of the Indian constitution which acted as a bridge between India and Kashmir.
The Nazi minded Indian government has planned to extend its boundaries which they call Akhand Bharat (Greater India). The recent statement of Home Minister of India Amit Shah has called to take Azad Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan which is very serious concern for Pakistan. If not stopped, the Indian policies will prove very dangerous for entire South Asia. UN, US State Department, Amnesty International have already condemned the passing of this bill in Indian parliament.
M UMAR BHAT
Islamabad
Influence of electromagnetic fields
One of the side effects of each electrical device work is the electromagnetic field generated near its workplace. Therefore, it is important to accurately determine the effects of an electromagnetic field on the physiological and pathological processes occurring in cells, tissues, and organs. Numerous epidemiological and experimental data suggest that the extremely low frequency magnetic field generated by electrical transmission lines and electrically powered devices and the high frequencies electromagnetic radiation emitted by electronic devices have a potentially negative impact on the circadian system.
On the other hand, several studies have found no influence of these fields on chronobiological parameters. According to the current state of knowledge, some previously proposed hypotheses, including one concerning the key role of melatonin secretion disruption in pathogenesis of electromagnetic field induced diseases. Two major markers of the circadian system as well as on sleep. It also provides the basic information about the nature, classification, parameters, and sources of these fields.
SAOOD ABBAS
Via email
AIDS epidemic
Approximately, 869 people have been reported as carrier of AIDS in four districts of Sargodha Division during the last 10 years, seeking the government’s attention towards this area. In Kot Imrana village of Sargodha, illegal doctor Allah Ditta, alias Haji, uses used syringes on multiple patients leaving 37 infected with the disease in Kot Imrana and other surrounding villages.
Earlier, 21 people from village Kot Imrana were registered with the Centre of AIDS. In October last year, a centre team got samples of over 300 villagers out of which 16 people were tested positive for AIDS. Now more than 250 people of Kot Imrana have been tested positive for AIDS in the last one and a half years.
The main cause of the disease is 5,000 quacks who are still working in Sargodha and using syringes on multiple patients while barbers use a single razor on more than one customer. Unless these quacks, barbers and dentists are arrested in all parts of the division, the number of the carriers would continue to increase. The government should provide proper counselling about the disease and motivate people to get their blood tested.
(Note: The Editor agrees with the writer hundred percent because he himself tested positive for Hepatitis-C after getting treatment from a dentist in Bohar Bazar, Rawalpindi).
KHURAM JAMIL
Islamabad
Magnetic field
Magnetic fields are produced by moving electric charges and the intrinsic magnetic moments of elementary particles associated with a fundamental quantum property, their spin. Magnetic fields and electric fields are interrelated, and are both components of the electromagnetic force, one of the four fundamental forces of nature.
Magnetic fields are widely used throughout modern technology. Rotating magnetic fields are used in both electric motors and generators. The interaction of magnetic fields in electric devices such as transformers is studied in the discipline of magnetic circuits. Magnetic forces give information about the charge carriers in a material through the Hall effect. The Earth produces its own magnetic field, which shields the Earth’s ozone layer from the solar wind and is important in navigation using a compass.
The term “magnetic field” is used for two distinct but closely related fields denoted by the symbols B and H. In the International System of Units, H, magnetic field strength, is measured in the SI base units of ampere per meter. B, magnetic flux density, is measured in tesla (in SI base units: kilogram per second2 per ampere), which is equivalent to newton per meter per ampere. H and B differ in how they account for magnetization.
FAHAD NAEEM BABAR
Via email
