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.
Vultures guarding Lahore Fort
Pity the nation that cannot protect its heritage and buildings of historical importance and appoints controversial men to protect and preserve them. Why of all places should Lahore Fort be the place where it is allowed to hold corporate events, when everybody knows that this loophole will be exploited by bureaucrats, blinded with greed, for whom making profits alone is the sole criteria. Expertise of retired bureaucrats, who were famous for creating food streets, horticulture etc does not qualify them to head an organization tasked to protect heritage.
Nobody should be authorized to allow public events to be held at places like Lahore Fort, Jehangir’s/Nurjehan’s Tomb, Peshawar Fort, Mohenjo-Daro etc. Permission for such exceptions should be solely given by PM or CM in writing, after careful evaluation and assessment by Archaeology Department.
Weddings parties have been taking place at Lahore Fort, since the days when former military dictator, the self-appointed champion of enlightened moderation, decided to hold a musical event there. This event was reminiscent more of what has been happening in neighbourhood for decades in what was known as Diamond Market, than the rich culture of subcontinent. There already exists in Lahore numerous culture centres, specifically where cultural events can be held, like Alhamra Centre. Strict exemplary action should be taken against top officials, including the DG, instead of making a scapegoat.
GULL ZAMAN
Peshawar
Water pollution
What is water pollution? The introduction of harmful substances into rivers, oceans, lakes and ponds that change the physical, chemical or biological condition of water is called water pollution. The polluted water lacks oxygen and therefore the organisms die. Causes of water pollution: Water pollution is when waste chemicals or other particles cause a body of water (i.e. rivers, ocean, lakes) to become harmful to the fish and animals that need the water to survive. Sometimes water pollution can occur through natural causes like volcanoes algae blooms, animal waste and floods.
Type of water pollutants: There are many sources of water pollution. Here are a few of the major causes: • Sewage – Even today sewage is flushed directly into streams and rivers in many areas around the world. Sewage can introduce harmful bacteria that can make people and animals very sick. Farm animal waste – Waste from large herds of farm animals such as pigs and cows can get into the water supply from the runoff of rain and large storms.
Effects on the environment: Water pollution can have disastrous effects on the environment. Pollution in water can reach a point where there isn’t enough oxygen in water for the fish to breathe. The fish can actually suffocate. Sometimes pollution affects the entire food chain. Sewage can also cause major problems in rivers. Bacteria in the water will use oxygen to break down the sewage. What can you do to help? Save water – Fresh and clean water is a precious resource. Don’t waste it! Take shorter showers, ask your parents not to water the lawn. Don’t use weed killer – Ask your parents if you can pull the weeds in the yard so they don’t need to use weed killer (an herbicide).
KAINAT NAEEM
Via email
US-Iran relations
The nation has heaved a sigh of relief by knowing that Pakistan will not be a part of US-Iran war, since we are already being seen with suspicion — the secular voices are overshadowed by a few frivolous voices when it comes to the image of our nation. In fact, war is a phenomenon of which the military’s part is very small; the ultimate losers are civilians who are non-combatants. It is the civilians who pay the cost of war in terms of lives, homes and hearths; everyday our participation in the war on terror haunts every citizen.
Pakistanis everywhere are seen with suspicion, mainly because of our association with the US in the Afghan war, which cost Pakistan a lot of collateral damage. Besides, our image has been tarnished and it has taken us a long time to come out of this quagmire because of one strategic blunder.
KAMRAN KHAN
Islamabad
Tooth sensors for bacterial detection
The increasing pace of life in Pakistan has contributed to the increase of takeaways and fast foods that are easy to consume and also save up on a lot of time involved in cooking meals at home. This increase in consumption of fast food and takeaways has encouraged more and more food-based businesses to open up, competing against one another to provide quantity and quality for lesser prices. But it must also be noted that in most of these restaurants, hygiene is neglected at large.
Bio-integrated devices such as electronics and sensors have been a subject of interest for decades. Graphene, which is a nanomaterial and an allotrope of carbon, holds properties many unique properties; some of which are optical transparency and imperviousness. This means that not a single material can pass through a graphite sheet without getting detected. These make Graphene an extremely fascinating and useful substance for ultrasonic sensors. This material, when combined with electric and electromagnetic sensors could provide a breakthrough in the world of health technology.
Graphene based electric sensors, when attached to the back of a tooth, could help indicate any malignity or presence of harmful bacteria in the food being consumed and also the saliva of the person wearing the chip. The tooth sensor could be extremely useful for agencies and institutes like the Punjab Food Authority, provide massive technological revolution for hygiene and health-related development and also pave the way for further modification in the idea to suit individual needs.
MIRAL KHALID
Islamabad
Impact of social media on youth
Some of the common and widely used social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Snapchat. Despite the fact that almost everyone in the community is connected to at least one social media platform, the youth and teenagers are the leading and most fanatic of these social platforms to the point that they even use social network while in class or even mosques. These social sites impact the life of our youth to a great deal in terms of moral, behaviour and even education-wise.
Social media reduces the number of face-to-face interactions amongst the youths. Social isolation can cause a number of effects such as physical, emotional, mental and psychological in the youth. This can in turn lead to depression, anxiety and many other problems. This has a high negative impact on students because it affects their language capability directly and this leads to poor grades in languages.
And this has a number of risks to the youth as their personal information can get stolen. Social platforms also encourage the spread of wrong information and news majorly aimed at tainting other peoples’ names or other groups of interest such as political or religious groups. Although using social media has many benefits in our lives, addiction to social media is not good. It will have awful influence on our studies, make us live way from reality and have bad effects on health. In order to avoid being addicted to social media, young people should spend more time playing sports, studying and taking part in activities in schools.
HAFSA NADEEM
Islamabad
