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
Lockdown
So the Coronavirus-forced lockdown is now getting to the nerves of innumerable people of privileged class — claiming to have feelings of depression! At least the privileged are safe in their own homes with spouse, children and pets in tow! Basic essentials procured at doorstep by many of them through a mere click in relevant apps! Can upload their act of relaxing sleeping exercising cooking on social media to garner “likes”! Can indulge in video conferencing and have hearty conversations with dear ones! Having roof upon their head and bed below, food in kitchen and internet banking service at the tip of their fingers in contrast to the plight of the stranded migrant labourers and predicament of their families back home many of whom might be starving due to stoppage of remittance! What about wage earners losing their livelihood! And of course the dreaded C has not yet caught hold of us! Still so much depression for a development undertaken for our survival only! Amidst loss of human lives throughout the world, those who are fit today should appreciate the real essence of life which is infinite times larger than silly mallsmultiplex-parties-night clubs-restaurants. What matters at the end is sheer lives — own life, lives of near-dear ones, neighbours and that of the whole humanity in collective; survival of which is wholly inter-connected with each other (proved by the might of the virus which is absolutely non-discriminatory irrespective of demography and geography). So the locked-down phase should be utilised for introspection and realising that remaining healthy itself is the greatest gift of life and we need to be indebted for it. Instead of lamenting the lockdown, we should inculcate within us a sense of compassion for all by transcending all silly barriers of race, language, religion, caste, colour, nationality, gender, politics or economy. KAJAL CHATTERJEE Kolkata, India
Natural disasters
A natural disaster is a deleterious event that is caused by natural processes of the Earth. Natural disasters include volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and other geologic processes. Our country, Pakistan is an under developing country and due to its geographical significance, it has suffered from these disasters several times. Take the 2005 earthquake for instance. It occurred on 8 October and left our country with an inconvertible damage. Pakistan has also suffered from floods since 2010 when heavy monsoon rainfall begins all over the country and affected the Indus River basin. So far, our country has faced more than 1700 deaths by flooding in different areas. Drought is another form of natural disasters that have attacked Pakistan. Chiefly the drought of 1998-2002 is known to be the most calamitous one. Balochistan is mostly affected province by drought. According to a recent report by WHO, more than four million people have become victim of this disaster with death toll rising day by day. But the government over the years is taking measures to prevent these natural disasters and keeping our country safe. Different packages have been introduced to help the ones affected by these disasters. Also, during the 2005 earthquake, quick rescue was provided and Rangers took part in the rescue mission as well. Over the passage of time, rescue departments have improved a lot and are always equipped to help in case of any natural disaster. IQRA RATHORE Islamabad
Digitisation in Pakistan
More than 25000 students graduate every year in Pakistan but only 1500-2500 of them are employed. The problem unfortunately is of quality and standard that our universities lack. The government of Pakistan launched two mega digital platforms in 2018: PIAIC, DigiSkills. It is worth stating that these initiatives are substantial in reshaping Pakistan by revolutionizing education, research and businesses through introducing latest cutting-edge technologies with standardized content. It aims to make Pakistan a global hub for artificial intelligence, data science, cloud native computing, edge computing, block-chain, augmented reality, creative writ ing, graphic designing, search engine optimization, freelancing, digital literacy and other market demanded courses. These large scale training programs dedicated to advancing technology by conducting online classes, afford opportunities to everyone especially females – who are tech enthusiast, can acquire fundamental skills of advance technologies easily via these platforms by staying home. If such mega initiatives continue, Pakistan is likely to be included in the comity of technically advanced and developed countries as rich pool of talent is available in our country, but the problem is that they didn’t get any platform to hone and showcase their skills. I think COVID-19 lockdown could be taken as opportunity in disguise which ought to be used to benefit from these platforms for university enrolled students and office workers to enhance their technical abilities. I further request the government to immediately formulate a plan to capitalise such mega projects. Hopefully, one day Pakistan would turn into an IT hub of the world. ZARA ADALAT RAJA Islamabad
Slow immigration on airports
I am writing this letter with concern regarding the very slow immigration and customs procedures on Pakistani airports. If there are more than one flights at a time, passengers have to wait for hours for customs and immigration procedures. My dad came to Pakistan on the death of my grandfather but due to the time delay at airport he couldn’t attend the funeral. This urged me to highlight this issue to higher authorities. Authorities should schedule flights in such a manner; there should be no time delay in flights. There should be more screening booths for the convenience of passengers. SIDRA SHAMIM Islamabad
Forester effect
Bullwhip effect is also known as Forester Effect. It is a supply chain phenomenon that describes how small changing in demand at the retailer point can cause large fluctuations in demand at the wholesale, distributor, manufacturer and raw material supplier levels. Bullwhip does not occur when all the orders exactly meet the demand. There are five main causes of the bullwhip effect which are used for demand forecasting, supply shortage, lead times, batch ordering and price fluctuations. Overall efficiency is improved by reducing the bullwhip effect, using different strategies. Better collaboration with customers and suppliers improves the effectiveness of supply chain. When different companies work with customers to understand their plans and forecasts, they build promotions and seasonality into the forecast and they provide more insights to their suppliers to help prevent the buildup of unnecessary inventory due to bullwhip effect. It is a known fact that most forecasts are not correct so when actual demand materializes it is almost certain to differ from forecast quantities. This causes companies to place emergency orders on suppliers. Without effective communication, those suppliers will overreact, setting off a chain reaction of excess inventory that increases cost and slows velocity. Demand driven supply network is very responsive. If companies fully understand the main cause of bullwhip effect, the company can reduce the chances of the effect happening to their supply chain. This company could also implement strategies such as allowing the downstream site and upstream site work together with the same data. The company can implement information sharing and inventory planning to counteract the bullwhip effect. It is learned that the causes of the bullwhip effect can lead to unstable supply chains in a company. MWAIS CHEEMA Islamabad
Modi’s empty promises
PM Narendra Modi had promised free ration to the people of India for three months during the lockdown period. But like the Rs 15 lakh which he had promised us before winning the election in 2014, he has not fulfilled his promise for this one too. Shame on him! It’s time he kept his promise and made every citizen of India happy. JUBEL D’CRUZ Mumbai, India
