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.
Doctors minting money
Doctors in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country are just minting money. Even if you have viral fever with no signs of Omicron or Covid-19, they forcibly make you to do the Covid test. What are they up to? The licence of these doctors should be cancelled. Or is it because of government orders?
—JUBEL D’CRUZ,
Mumbai, India
Demonstrating accountability
One of the purposes of prisons is deterrence. Demonstrating accountability against crime and punishment against the criminal is essential to curbing further criminal activity in society. However, if the accountability against the criminal looks like luxury, and some prisoners are enjoying the benefit of a better lifestyle on no legitimate basis, then the whole purpose of deterrence against crime is wasted. Recent case of Shahrukh Jatoi, convicted in a murder case in December 2012 in Karachi, who was supposed to be serving a life sentence at the Central Jail Karachi, has allegedly been living a “luxurious life” at a private hospital for the last seven months. This is no small crime that Jatoi was convicted for. He had been handed a death sentence by the Anti-Terrorism Court in 2013. The death sentence was converted into life imprisonment by the Sindh High Court. The recent report of Jatoi getting access to luxuries and private services inside jail too shows the darker reality that just a conviction was not enough to set a precedent against this heinous VIP culture and elite criminals being given an easier hand. There is a shameful behaviour of concerned jail officials which reveals a clear disparity of treatment between the convicted prisoners belonging to the elite, and those from less advantaged backgrounds. Medical reasons always allow for a visit to the hospital, but why are some prisoners being afforded a private hospital rather than a public one? This incident must be taken as a sign for the government to look into this system of two laws that have developed, that have become a menace in our justice system.
QAZI JAMASHED ALAM SIDDIQUI
Lahore
Listeriosis in bovine
The Livestock sector contributed 60.1% to the agriculture value addition and 11.5% to the GDP during FY2021. More than 8 million rural families are engaged in livestock production and derive more than 35-40% of their income from this source. Gross value addition of livestock increased to Rs 1,505b (2020-21) from Rs 1,461b (2019-20), an increase of 3.0%. The government has renewed its focus on the livestock sector for economic growth, food security and poverty alleviation. Food-borne zoonotic diseases are a public health concern. One of the important foods borne disease is listeriosis. Listeriosis is caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, which is highly pathogenic. Listeriosis is a neglected emerging bacterial disease of animals and humans around the world. The cattle and buffaloes remained asymptomatic due to its intermittent nature and continuously shed the organisms in raw milk that is very dangerous for consumers. It spreads directly through contamination in raw milk, and polluted farm environment by infection of dairy cattle and buffaloes. Listeria monocytogenes causes a disease locally named as Circling, which is hazardous and leads to economic losses in dairy animals. This study was designed to investigate the clinical cases of listeriosis in dairy cattle and buffaloes in 3 different agro-ecological zones of Punjab. The milk and fecal samples of cattle and buffaloes were collected from dairy farms. These were inspected by culture methods and PCR assay targeting major virulence-associated gene hlyA. The identification of different virulence-associated genes of Listeria monocytogenes were carried out in the past few years. In this study, the main virulence factor (Listeriolysin O) of L. monocytogenes was identified by molecular technique. The sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed the resemblance of the isolate from Pakistan L. monocytogenes with isolates from India and the USA. The risk factors were statistically found out and showed a significant association of poor quality silage feeding to cattle and buffaloes with listeriosis.
DR ZUBAIR MUNIR
Lahore
Dearth of libraries in Sindh
Public libraries play an important role in developing and enhancing reading habits of dwellers of an area. They also provide a quiet, serene and concentrated environment to that particular section of the society which goes there for the preparation for any particular examination or assignment related to medicine, engineering, civil services(CSS, PCS), banking, etc.
Sindh has been an unfortunate province in the sense that it has been facing a dearth of quality public libraries for quite a long time. Because of such a situation, the local dwellers find it really hard to have a “food for thought” for them by going through various good and interesting books as per their aptitude. Besides, due to the dearth of quality public libraries in the towns and districts of Sindh, dwellers remain deprived of updating themselves with the happenings taking place both at the national and the international level by reading major national newspapers and magazines of the country.
The government of Sindh is, therefore, requested to look into this vital aspect of social development. The scope of quality public libraries be increased in the province so that its citizens can engage themselves in the constructive habit of reading and assimilation of different materials as per their needs and interest. Their such habit will enrich their mental capacities of thoughts and actions and will enable them to become useful members of a society.
ABDUL SAMAD SAMO
Karachi
