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.
Feel our pain!
The whole world has become aware that the education institutionsin India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IoK) have been closed for the last eight months. The education system in the vale has deteriorated. Children are locked in homes and the institutions are closed. The future of the children is being ruined. They all know the foundation of the whole nation is youth. If the children’s could not goto school by person,they would get education fromtheinternet, but it has also been for the closed last eight months.The parents here are worried about what will happento their children’s future,The doctors are also worried in the hospitals, they cannot see the patients well in the backdrop of lockdown. The virus whichis unseen (we can only see it through microscope) has put the whole world down on their knees including those whotill yesterday claimthey were superpowers. The big countries all over the world are thinking about how we can get out of this virus and how to protect our lives but India has no such intentions how to save the citizens of the occupied territory. They are busy in giving this pandemic a communal colour. How long these people be oppressed, how long will these wrongdoers remain unquestioned for their activities and actions. Now for heavens sake do just with us and resolve our issue so thatAlmighty may have mercy on you and first step towards that is to restore our internet. AAMIR REYAZ SHIEIKH ShabnamAhad
More dams
Pakistan has a unique Indus river water system that is recharged by the seasonal monsoon rains and summer melting of snow. But due to climate change the snow has startedmelting quicker, and reducing the time it can provide water to Indus river. Therefore Pakistan needs to increase water storage. Dams are important but Pakistan also needs to considerincreasinglarge underground storage and household water storage. In many countries, large cities construct underground storage for drinking water needs. Pakistan should also consider similar projects to store some of the water during the Summer months when snow melts quicker. Another way to increase water storage is to help companies and households also construct underground and above ground water storage facilitiesthrough alease scheme, that can also provide jobs tothousands of construction workers. The Government should provide specifications and ask retailers to offer sets of equipment needed for construction. Similarly private companies can also be asked to construct water storage for factories. In fact many bottling companies would prefer to use Pakistan’s water for their products. If these companies can construct water storage for 6 months of their use, than they would have yearlong production, while Pakistan would save and use the Summer River run water that would normally be wasted. Wiproper management of filling up water storages during Summers, Pakistan can also reduce high flood in Indus River. SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER P.ENGR. Peshawar, Pakistan
Online education system
Online education has grown significantly over the past few years. That’s because it tends to offer cheaper and flexible study options compared to the traditional education system. You can actually study online and get a viable degree certificate upon completing your course. Online educationis simplythe perfect way to strike a balance between work, family and studies. Online education usually provides an opportunity for lecturers and students to interact with one another through an online portal or video conferencing software. Studying online offers flexibility to students, particularly those who are already committed to work and/or family. With onlinebased courses, you cantake classes at your own free time, without being forced to attend lessons at specific times. Online-based courses and programstendto offer cheaper options to learning, it means enrolling for a course online offers students the opportunity to save more tuition fees and boot camps while enjoying greater flexibility. More and more students are warming up to the idea of pursuing online education. FATIMAH KHAN Wah Cant
In the face of Covid-19
No one could imagine a few months ago that the whole world would be at standstill. Economic and political practices across the world have come to a halt. Deserted streets depictthe horrendous time of the darkest hour .Exceptional scientific progress, mighty armies, modern health facilities have altogether succumbed to a tiny, invisible enemy. The strongest power, the hardest hit. American PresidentTrump, at one instance, referred it to be a “ CHINAVIRUS, now seem baffled in the face of rampant pandemic with more than 4,00,000 infected people till 9 April , far worse than the second most. In Europe, premiers did not paythe required heed to this tiny, but devastating virus inflicting casualties and terrible economicLosses;nevertheless, afflicting the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, ending up in the ICU. This is more or less the situation of all the nations. One says ,how vulnerable humans are to unforeseen pandemics ; well said , indeed , we ourselves are responsible a bit. No reverence for humanity, seems like the poor are meant to serve the profit motive of rich, aligned withthelatesttechnology, perhaps, to amplify the Luxuries of selected few‘. Developed countries are floundering against the pandemic , reason why they never opted to spend more onhuman development, in fact ,tempted to add up to their militarily might, evident from American supersonic missile test, a few days before the outbreak of the deadliest virus, lagging terribly in offering public health care. In stark contrast to overwhelming majority of the under privileged, a few are available with the affluent health facilities. Remainingis destinedto be chosen by doctors either to live or die due to over stretched health facilities. Our future is dreadful until the paradigms are shifted from aggrandizing few to serving humanity in general . This is essentiallytheinevitable requirement for the PODT COVID -19 world. LUQMANKHAN HAIDER, Abbotabad
Farmers of South Punjab
The recent spell of unseaonal rains has damaged wheat and mango crops in parts of South Punjab. At least 14 districts across Southern Punjab, the wheat and cotton belt ofthe country have seenlarge scale damage to standing crops due to hailstorms and gale force winds recently. After excessive rain and thunderstorms harmed the winter crops, farmers now face the daunting task of gathering their harvest and taking the produce to market without any labourers to help them.And now the peak harvesting season has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with farmers unable to reap whatever had managed to survive because they can’t find either labourers to do the harvesting or transport to take the produce to market. The pandemic-induced lockdown that started on March 14 has forced almost all labourers to stay at home or in quarantine centres. Pakistan government has decided to extend the lockdown till April 14.Apart from being unable to take their products to market, farmers cannot get their harvesting machinery repaired because most ofthe repair shops are closed. Therefore, the government is requested to facilitate the farmers of the area so that they can brace themselves for next crops. SEHRISH KHAN Islamabad.
Combating Covid-19
Amidst coronavirus’ strong hold all over the world, the clouds of fear and anxiety hover over heads. No doubt, we are experiencing darkest days of our life. World is experiencing large-scale coronavirus infections. In addition, Europe seems to be the most hardest hit continent that registered more than 70,000 fatalities as of 11th of April. Now USA appears to be the mere country that has highest death toll globally which stands at 18,870.Considering the current grim situation, many people lost hope and continue to lose hope. They think that this is the end of their life. To be frank, it is the time to combat the invisible enemy (Covid-19).It is the time not to fear but to stand firmly. Bad times never last and this time of trial shall pass too. We, the Muslim Ummah, must gather ample courage to combat the Covid-19 with firm faith in Almighty Allah and responsibly act upon confinement measures and instructions given by government. It is, thus, imperative for Muslim Ummahto pin high hopes on Almighty Allah but by adopting preventive measures, we can save a lot of precious human lives. QASIM JAN Turbat, Balochistan
Impact of Covid-19 on Higher Education
Due to Covid-19 pandemic, Higher Education Commission (HEC) has directed all universities and accredited institutions with sufficient resources to start online classes for all bachelors, masters and PhD enrolled students; which is no doubt, a good initiative to keep the classes going on and empowering e-learning. But contrary to this the one who are going to suffer the most with this virtual learning system, not only in terms of the learning but also grades, are the students who are currently enrolledintheir final year. Final year students are directedto submittheir projects that must be efficient and flawless and going to have a good industrial value. My query is that how do one expect to produce a good and scalable product in this situation where everyone is facing mental stress due to the pandemic chaotic.Moreover, we students are facing internet service issues and ongoing study pressure. We have huge communication gaps with our project members. Some of the project members are in remote areas, where 3G services aren’t even available and those who are in urban areas, are also facing internet problems due to heavy network traffic. Those who are at home are also spending their time through internet surfing or watching series or online news channels and reports. With this network congestion it’s very cumbersome for the Final year students to work on a product together via internet. We students are unable to gain full guidance from our supervisors and other faculty through this remote education system. We are even facing difficulty in gaining reviews from our peers as everyone is just worried about his/her own project. I request HEC and our University Management to take notice of this issue and request our teachers to reduce burden of final year students either by extending final year project time duration or postponing it till summer or by any other mean. ZARAADALAT RAJA Islamabad
