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.
Don’t create problems
The recent controversy involving India, Pakistan and the US over Kashmir issue is unfortunate. Actually, numerous hard rules and scores of draconian regimes worldwide had stopped many interesting things from happening in world. This having been the fact, the situation still remains the same at world stage. As a student, I remember studying in literature and world history many curious instances of ancient mediators resolving issues between countries through great efforts and unflinching understanding.
Mediation is not a [that] bad word in the world. At the same time, sovereignty, freedom and basic rights cannot be taken for granted. Yet, seeking help from others, that too in times of crises will only create great understanding before resolving the core issue.
P. SENTHIL S DURAI
Maharashtra, India
New bus service to GB
Gilgit-Baltistan’s journey from Islamabad/Rawalpindi is long and dangerous. Although several bus services and rental cars render their services on daily basis yet comfort level in this long exhausting journey is at the lowest. It is laudable that a private bus service Faisal Movers has decided to launch a bus service from Islamabad/Rawalpindi to Naran, Babusar, Gilgit, and Hunza.
It is a great initiative in a bid to boost up tourism, for GB is a famous tourism destination; uncomfortable journey has always been an obstacle for tourists who travel via road. Such initiative will not only ensure a safe, comfortable journey but also help more and more visitors to visit these places who otherwise tend to abstain long journey to GB just because of inadequate transport services.
ZAHID ALI ZOHRI
Gilgit-Baltistan
Local seeds vs hybrid seeds
Agriculture in the province of Sindh is under serious threat as some influential elements are working hard to introduce hybrid seeds instead of our own seeds. Hybrid seeds coming from foreign countries are going to greatly affect our agriculture. A local expert of agriculture in our area also said that hybrid seeds are being introduced and promoted in whole of Sindh and Pakistan, which will endanger our system.
No doubt new agriculture practises and more per acre yield producing varieties should be introduced but all this be done by our local experts and techniques duly approved by our own institutes. Country seeds must be given importance so that originality and purity of our own seeds remain intact. Growth of organic foods, fruits, vegetables and meat etc should be encouraged instead of those grown by artificial means as they are very dangerous for human health and responsible for many deadly diseases. My appeal to agriculture experts is that Sindhi and hereditary seeds must be given importance and introduced in market so that we can get real benefits.
ALI AZMAT JOKHIO
Larkana, Sindh
Power of technology
The power of modern technology is advancing day by day. But when there is a power failure, the television is not working and the refrigerator is proving to be useless. And what if phone battery is dead and there is no light to recharge it. Which brings me to the question to imagine a world without technology?
I can’t even recall the last time I went a day without looking at the cell phone at all. Technology has made life so convenient for us that it’s almost scary to think of what would happen if we had to go without our favourite gadget for an extended period of time.
A coin has two sides and so does technology. The good and the bad go hand in hand. If Charles Babbage had not invented computers, we would still be sitting in the libraries and searching for information. Today, technology has become an indispensable part of our lives.
The World Wide Web (www) has become the biggest source of information in the 21st century. Any and all the information is available to us at the touch of a finger. Technology is a good thing for people anywhere and everywhere. No matter how old or young you are, it helps us in every aspect of our lives, and it is a thing that cannot be lived without. Technology has many levels, from cell phones to Internet and even for medical purposes. Cell phones and Internet have taken main role in changing our society. Programmes designed such as Facebook make finding an old childhood friend extremely easy, all you have to do is type in their name. Today, a cell phone has features just like a computer. It can also be used as a tourist map too.
For a student, the good part about technology is asking Google to find an answer to their question. We cannot lie about the fact that we have all Googled something that we did not know the answer to.
According to Google “how to boil water” gets over 40,000 searches per month. Advances in technology have and will always be a good thing that will always benefit us. After the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War, it revealed a side of technology that can be used for mass destruction. It made us realise that technology could also be used for bad purposes.
Another negative effect of technology is that people are becoming highly dependent on gadgets. Even though we have the ability to think, yet we are become handicapped at the hands of technology. Some people are even unable to perform certain functions without the help of gadgets or machines. Though we say that with technology we are becoming more socialised, but we are not. Somewhere down the lane we are losing that personal touch. We have become so monotonous about technology that we cannot stay a day without using a single gadget. In olden days when technology had no influence on our lives we used to hang around the fence thinking what to play. But today, when we start looking at the PS4 or laptop, we realise that we can have just as much fun staying indoors than going out to play or even for a walk.
However, ideas will keep flowing as time moves on. The technology will keep getting only better and better with each passing day getting more advanced for coming generations. I request government to establish modern technology centres in different cities of Pakistan because this is the basic need of every student.
MUHAMMAD HAIDER
Karachi.
Thanks to CM, Punjab
Mutual cooperation between four provinces of Pakistan plays a vital role and can make huge difference to make our country a welfare state.
The efforts of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar are appreciable regarding cooperation with other provinces. Last week CM Punjab visited Balochistan and announced, while talking to Governor of Balochistan, to build a modern Cardiac hospital in Quetta. Punjab government is already constructing a Cardiac hospital in DG Khan at a cost of Rs4 billion while mother and child hospital is being constructed in Rajanpur where people from Balochistan will also be benefited.
I appreciate Punjab CM efforts and his great love for Balochistan and under developed areas of South Punjab. It is hoped that all provinces will work together for betterment and prosperity of Pakistan.
WAQAR MOOSA
Kech, Balochistan
Pakistan ODI captain
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will hand over team captaincy to either one of the all-rounders in their next meeting on August 02 at National cricket academy, Lahore.
The nominated names are Muhammad Hafeez, Imad Wasim and Babar Azam. On the other hand, Sarfaraz Ahmed will still lead the side in other formats i-e Test matches and T20. The decision has been taken because Pakistan could not qualify for the semi-finals in the recent ICC Cricket World Cup. In my opinion, although Pakistan could not qualify for the semi-finals, but we are glad that our team won matches against finalists News Zealand and England in the group matches. If we talk about captaincy of Sarfaraz, Pakistan team has won a lot of matches under his captaincy and who can forgot the ICC cricket champions trophy in 2017 when we defeated the Indian team by a huge margin.
Thus, I believe that only Sarfaraz should not be blamed only for poor performance of the team, as it is all teamwork involved. I request PCB to also consider Sarfaraz as Captain of all formats.
HAMMAL NAEEM
Via email
