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.
Confidence in electoral system
Local government elections were underway in Balochistan on Sunday. Although Independents secured the highest number of seats but political parties also found their share in these elections. Despite the prevailing law and order situation in recent times, overall, the elections were held smoothly and the people of Balochistan participated in large numbers. The exercise of voting itself holds a lot of meaning in the context of Balochistan, given how it has been a victim of chaos and instability for a myriad of reasons.
Therefore, to partake in this exercise in such numbers, despite the threat of violence, sends a clear message of rejection to anti-state elements. It is important to remember that local body elections are being held in Balochistan after almost 10 years, yet still the voter turnout was estimated at 60 percent, the highest since the 1988 election. The credit for making these elections a success goes to the brave people of Balochistan, the administration and security forces who put their lives on the line.
Now, it is the turn of the local government to respect the mandate of the people and address the longstanding list of grievances that have been neglected over the years due to constant political shuffling and instability. Balochistan faces a severe shortage of food and water. People are starving as crop cultivation has almost become impossible due to dry weather, land barrenness and water scarcity. Children are most affected by the situation and their lives are at risk because of hunger and malnutrition.
Water shortage has left thousands jobless across the province due to the adverse impact of climate change on the agricultural and livestock sectors. These are serious issues affecting the day-to-day survival of the people of Balochistan who have been deprived of basic necessities and infrastructure for far too long. Both the centre and local government will have to roll up their sleeves and get to work so that the confidence of the people is reinforced in the electoral system and the state.
MUNAWAR SIDDIQUI
Lahore
Innovation
in finance
Financial innovation is the process of creating new financial products, services, or processes. Financial innovation is the act of creating new financial instruments and new financial technologies, institutions and markets. Technology has transformed the whole world and it also revolutionized the finance industry. The digitalization in the field of finance has made much ease for the users. Recent financial innovations have included crowd-funding, mobile banking technology, and remittance technology.
Remittances are becoming more advanced. Digital banking/mobile banking is advancing rapidly and there is no need to go to banks. Transactions are made even on one click and touch. Different types of digital currency, bitcoin, blockchain technology are the innovation in the finance. It has many advantages and disadvantages as well. As the whole currency is digitalized the identity theft, scamming, hacker attacks, data transfer and data theft, data loss is the main concern of the finance. There is much advancement in the field of technology and there are many innovations in all the fields but with advantages and benefits come disadvantages as well. Mobile banking is very useful for the customers. Many banks have special mobile apps with options to deposit checks, pay for merchandise, transfer money to a friend, or find an ATM instantly.
It is still important for customers to establish a secure connection before logging into a mobile banking app in order to avoid their personal information being compromised and prevent from identity and data theft. Banks have also introduced mobile wallets. A mobile wallet is a virtual wallet that stores payment card information on a mobile device. All the finances and money is stored in the mobile wallet and transactions are made through mobile wallet.
Muhammad Usman
Islamabad
IMF and subsidies
Pakistan since 1972 has been IMF’s premier client. IMF has financially rescued us more than 20 times over the last 50 years. Every time we have ardently fulfilled the conditions precedent for release of first instalment, after receipt of which every time we deviated from the principles of the agreement under one pretext or the other. We know if we would have followed the essence of IMF support in letter and spirit, we could have possibly been out of this recurring economic crisis.
IMF current stand on removing subsidies, particularly on fuel and electricity, is rational so this bitter pill cannot and should not be avoided. For government, it is a humungous challenge and they are virtually struggling to lessen its economic impact on the poor. Before withdrawing any further fuel and electricity subsidies, the government should immediately withdraw all the fuel and power subsidies across the board it gives to the bureaucracy, the elite, the ruling class, the Ministers, WAPDA staff, judiciary and all other premier institutions.
GHAZALA MALIK
US
Muslims are good people
I don’t know why some Hindus disrespect Muslims. Muslims are very good people. It’s high time Hindus and Muslims lived side by side, especially in India where there is a lot of communal disharmony.
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
