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.
SAS accountants
The Subordinate Accounts Studies (SAS) cadre was introduced by British Government around one hundred years ago in India to cope with the situation arisen due to the outbreak of the World War-I. To manage the accounts of army men spread over different parts of the subcontinent the department of Military Accounts was refurbished.
After the independence of Pakistan Military Accounts Department organized and conducted SAS examination for opening a vent for staff cadre employees to qualify and step up as an officer. These SAS Accountants remained the backbone of various Accounts departments where they moved on deputation from their parent department (PMAD). To acknowledge their qualification, the government announced qualification pay for them that has been standstill at Rs.1200 per month for a long time.
Interestingly, most of these Accountants are at the verge of retirement. It would be a great benefit for these employees, if the government enhances their qualification pay from Rs.1200 to Rs.5000 in the wake of current wave of inflation and price hike. It is hoped that the request will catch the attention of authorities and will not fall flat on deaf ears.
IFTIKHAR MIRZA
Islamabad
Outstanding dues payment
Some days ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations, the Federal Cabinet had reviewed the somewhat burning issue of outstanding dues of the media. Federal Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz had presented a report in this regard. Prime Minister Imran Khan while presiding over the Cabinet meeting had directed that the outstanding dues of media should be paid before Eid-ul-Fitr in order to allay the financial problems of the media and to ensure that the services of the journalists and workers are not terminated due to financial crisis.
This was good thinking and appreciable goodwill gesture towards the print and electronic media by the Premier. However, most unfortunately, the issue of outstanding dues payment of the freelance journalists and others including this scribe who had been highlighting the achievements and the good work of the federal governments during last couple of years on being commissioned to do so by Principal Information Officers (PIOs) of the Press Information Department. PIOs have been coming and going, this issue is being raised from time to time but their outstanding dues payment has not been made.
They have not been paid what to say about being given new assignments to supplement their meagre incomes. This issue also did not come up before the federal cabinet as nobody seemed to be concerned about it. Cutting long bitter story short, the Prime Minister, the Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister and the incumbent lady PIO are emphatically requested to look into the issue of outstanding dues payment of freelance journalists and others for their contribution and order for early payment. While the media dues ran into billions of rupees, their outstanding dues are only few lakhs.
M Z RIFAT
Lahore
Online frauds
Most of online shopping scams are essentially ordering a product and never receiving the product, so you’ve paid money and you’ve received nothing in return. Some customers usually complain they never received their orders even though their credit cards had been charged. Those who dared to complain or ask for a refund found themselves on the receiving end of exorbitant ‘restocking’ or ‘cancellation’ fee. And if they objected, things got even worse. That percentage has nearly doubled in just the last few years. But even as we become more and more comfortable with the process, experts warn the internet is still fraught with risks.
Explosive growth in online shopping fraud, hundreds of cases have been investigated by CrimeTech & Media in every month. In some cases, common people had made replicas of the websites used by reputable shops in an effort to steal cash, the paper said. In others, they bought up existing domain names which they then use to set up in business for a short period. Consumers who use the fake websites either never see the goods they have ordered or are sent counterfeit items.
In some cases, the conmen use credit card information from their victims to steal more money. In total, police received over 38,300 reports of online shopping fraud last year although in 5,500 cases the complaint was withdrawn after the ordered goods arrived late.
I would like to urge the concerned authorities to ensure the credibility of online shopping stores operating in Pakistan. Also some suggestions for common people to be sure to protect your banking and credit card information when purchasing online and never enter credit card information on a website that does not have the letters “https” at the start of its URL or address.
SAEED ANWAR
Sargodha
Women’s rights in Pakistan
Pakistan is one of the Islamic countries of the world. In Islam women and men enjoy equal rights but, unfortunately, in Pakistan women have no value. They are treated just as wives of houses but their emotions, feelings and happiness are not understood. Women should be allowed to make their own decisions but generally families deem it fit to make most decisions for females. The women in Pakistan have been constantly complaining of having being isolated from mainstream society.
Women feel disillusioned on being maltreated by the male-oriented set-up in Pakistan. Experience shows that if they are given a chance, they can contribute more positively towards the development of all social aspects. However, Pakistani society usually adopts a hostile attitude towards the women. Their development in society is hindered due to many factors. Particularly the rural woman has to tolerate unbearable dominance by the other sections of society. Doesn’t Islam allow her to move? Is this the way to behave with women? Don’t they have emotions, feelings and happiness?
Don’t they want to enjoy their lives? Are they not equal to men? Yes, they are equal to men and we need to understand their emotions. However, women are thought to be nothing. Until women and men are working together, shoulder to shoulder, this country wouldn’t develop or progress. Women were not accorded with such legal status in other cultures until centuries later. According to Professor William Montgomery Watt, when seen in such historical context, the Last Prophet (PBUH) “can be seen as a figure who testified on behalf of women’s rights.”
AROOJ NAEEM
Rawalpindi
Black lives matter in Zimbabwe
The death of George Floyd in America sparked riots and worldwide demonstrations. This is a lesson to other nations like Zimbabwe that the world rejects any form of brutality. The human rights violations in Zimbabwe are perpetrated by government supporters as well as law enforcement agencies, and include assaults, torture, death threats, kidnappings and unlawful arrests and detentions.
The law enforcement agencies are a major source of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. President Mnangagwa should be reminded that the world is angry about what happened in America and any form of brutality in Zimbabwe will also spark worldwide attention and demonstrations to show that black lives matter in Zimbabwe despite having no racism involved.
TAPIWA MUSKWE
United Kingdom
Mobile app
Mobile App sector has grown multifold in recent years and so has the demand for them. Studies reveal that almost 50 billion app downloads jump from 149 billion in 2016 to 197 billion in 2017. There are four superstars that rule the market, React Native, Native Script, Xamarin and Ionic. These four are called hybrid technologies, and they are the most popular because they are fast and give “that native feel”.
Hybrid applications use web technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript. In other words, they are built just like web applications, but they are “wrapped” in code, enabling them to show native UIs, such as native buttons or menus. But, because of the technologies they are based on, hybrids cannot communicate directly with native Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). So, developers need to create custom APIs that mimic these native UI elements. Hence the name hybrid. Native apps are based on native languages, such as Java and C++. Naturally, this type of apps use native APIs built specifically by Android and Apple developers for each platform. As expected, Android native apps look and feel different from IOS ones, even though they share the same functionalities.
Differences are easy to spot. While Android focuses more on design and minimalistic UI, iOS focuses on simplicity in UX and functionality. For example, on an Android phone the “send” button for email functions or social media apps is usually a little stylish arrow. On iOS it is an actual string of text saying “Send”. The same goes for the “back/cancel” buttons, as well as the rest of the layout.
HAIDER ALI
Murree
