While some parts of the world are facing extreme drought conditions, others are ravaged by unprecedented floods. So is the story of Pakistan where recent monsoon rains and floods have wreaked havoc in the country causing loss of life and property. Millions of people have been affected by the heavy rainfall. Close to a thousand people and hundreds of thousands of cattle have died (as … Continue reading Recent floods and climate change – Pakistan
Outlet Shopping centre on the outskirts of Bicester, a town in Oxfordshire, England. Continue reading Bicester Village
By now, you all have heard of the infamous virus that has brought life to a halt throughout the world. Your own life has been impacted by it. The rhythm of your daily life has been broken. You are either confined in the bounds of your home, or you are going out less frequently than you would normally, or the places you would have otherwise … Continue reading The What, How and Why of Coronavirus
There are two main approaches to fight a pandemic. First is the mainstream one – called containment – taken by countries like China and Italy to fight the spread of coronavirus. Containment is effective in the short term. It is not the ideal approach though, but still less risky in the short term. The other approach which the UK has been contemplating is herd immunity. … Continue reading Herd Immunity and COVID-19
Coronavirus has spread globally. Despite China being the country hit hardest by this epidemic, the number of international cases continue to increase with the tick of the clock. The total number of recorded cases stand at around 50,000 people as of Feb 12, 2020. In just under 1.5 months, it has spread to around 30 countries as reported. The number of cases have begun to … Continue reading Virus Out Of Hands
The spread of coronavirus begs opening up a philosophical debate around freedom and choice. You are free to choose what you wear as long as it is not affecting the lives of others. You can choose the god you want to worship as long as your veneration does not affect the lives of those who pick to pray to another god, or hold no god … Continue reading Freedom of food choice
Your individual life, per se, has no purpose. It’s a meaningless, purposeless venture. As much as it should be a relief, it comes out to be a scary news. This can make you and me depressed. We don’t want to feel isolated, neglected and above all: useless. We find solance in being associated with something bigger than ourselves – a group, a tribe, a race, … Continue reading What is the purpose of your life?
A divine landscape of scenic peaks, lush green meadows, and breath-taking rivers, lakes, and glaciers: Kashmir. Pashtuns, Mughals, Sikhs, Buddhists, British; they have all dominated this region one time or another. The prevailing Muslim Kashmir, as we know it today, is less than two hundred years old development. This nirvana on earth has been a hotly contested region for centuries. The latest and the deadliest … Continue reading The Kashmir Puzzle
A set of 17 goals and 169 targets to usher the world on to a path of sustainable development in the next fifteen years came into force on 1st January 2016. UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development forms the basis for these goals. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – centered around the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental – stimulate action in … Continue reading Role of transport in achieving SDGs
Climate change is one of the greatest threats our planet today faces. Despite its unanimous scientific understanding, we are still not able to do what is needed. There are a number of reasons for it which I will highlight below before moving to steps we can take to fight climate change. You almost could not design a problem that is a worse fit with our … Continue reading What can you do about climate change?
As per a safe estimate, a total of 1100 plants/trees were planted under the banner of this initiative (of course with the help of the collaborations). One Sunday evening in early June 2018, I sat pondering over the current climate change, upcoming Independence Day of Pakistan (Aug 14) and past childhood memories of buying flags for the day. It was this occasion when it occurred … Continue reading Tree Plantation Initiative
No. Flooded streets are not the real issue. Nor is the erupted sinkhole in front of GPO on Mall Road, Lahore. Water had to infiltrate. What’s wrong if it found a spot on Mall Road out of all the roads when the built drainage capacity overshoots? (How quick and effectively is the sink now reconstructed should be asked though). The flooding, by definition, remains worse … Continue reading Floods, Pakistan and August
Organisms have certain optimal functioning conditions. Often they get sick, get healed. But after a certain threshold, the self-healing does not occur. Neither do then any interventions be of any help to reverse the blight. Human bodies function best at a certain body temperature range. Cross the extremes and it no longer lives. So is the case with our only habitable planet, to date, Earth. … Continue reading Boundaries of Earth
Eraas Haider 