Category: Uncategorized

1. Did you know that suicide risk is highest on Mondays around the globe? A research study led by Yoonhee Kim, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo, has connected the beginning of the workweek to an increase in cases.

15-18% of worldwide suicides have been recorded on a Monday — a pattern observed in many countries across North America, Asia, and Europe.

The analysis, which examined data from 740 locations in 26 countries over nearly 50 years, reveals that weekends generally have lower suicide rates in most regions.

However, in Central and South America, Finland, and South Africa, the chances of suicide increase over the weekend, indicating the cultural and societal factors that influence mental health trends across the globe.

2. Google is developing an AI technology called “Project Jarvis” that can control computers and do tasks like research and shopping through a web browser, particularly Chrome.

It will carry out online tasks by interpreting screenshots and interacting with web pages.

The AI will be publically shared in December along with the Gemini language model, but this timeline isn’t certain. Google may first test Jarvis with a small group to fix any issues.

3. According to Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi, about 45,000 to 50,000 passport applications are being received by the ministry on daily — a number that exceeds the production capacity and is consequently creating a backlog.

The Machine Readable Passport (MRP) system was established in 2004 for 30 regional offices and 10 missions abroad, which has not been upgraded despite the number of offices increasing to 223 and missions to 93.

Now, the production facility can only manage 20,000 to 22,000 applications per day, which has caused long delays. To tackle the issue, the government has made the production facility operational 24/7 in three shifts.

The move has been made after reports of citizens facing delays of up to two months, affecting patients in need of urgent medical treatment, students applying to foreign universities, and those seeking work visas.

4. Pakistan’s opener, Fakhar Zaman, is reportedly considering retirement after being dropped from the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) central contract, according to Urdupoint.

The batter has been asked to undergo another fitness test in January, revealing double standards. Usman Khan stopped during the third round of the 2-kilometre run but not only received a contract but also made it into the squad.

5. People in Karachi have recently been actively protesting various issues. This week began with a Climate March, where participants carried placards and banners against climate change, highlighting anti-environmental policies.

Participants also held the Palestinian flag.

Speakers at the Friar Hall Climate March addressed issues such as deforestation, rising sea levels, and melting glaciers in a heatwave-wrapped world.

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1. Teachers in Punjab have boycotted the Training Need Assessment (TNA) test — an examination which evaluates their training needs in the School Education Department (SED).

The government created the TNA App to help in efficient online testing using multiple-choice questions to assess key teaching skills, and helping to identify areas for professional growth.

With 720 centres set up for the test, and 60 teachers expected at each location, around 43,000 primary school teachers (PSTs) were supposed to take the test over the weekend but only 80 showed up.

2. The Swat River has been diverted for the Mohmand Dam project, confirmed by Asim Rauf Khan, Project Director and General Manager of WAPDA, and Chief Engineer Fasih Ullah.

About 35% of the dam is built, and 98% of the tunnel work is done. When finished, the dam is expected to generate 800 megawatts of electricity each year, with completion set for 2027.

It will store 1.29 million acre-feet of water, manage floods, produce low-cost electricity, and deliver 300 million gallons of drinking water to Peshawar every day.

3. With on-going tensions in the middle east and Iran being one of Israeli targets, Pakistan is now closely monitoring air traffic entering its airspace. Pakistani air traffic control is now reviewing all incoming flights from the west to ensure safety.

And now that Iran has closed its airspace, flights passing through Iran are now redirected through Muscat which is affecting a number of international routes and has resulted in increased security checks for planes coming from the west.

4. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officially announced Mohammad Rizwan as the new captain for the ODI and T20 teams, with Salman Ali Agha as the vice-captain. This decision comes after former captain Babar Azam stepped down from his role earlier this month. Rizwan will lead the team in the upcoming limited-overs tours of Australia and Zimbabwe.

Apart from this PCB has finalized the central contract list for the 2024-25 season, which will be effective from July 1, 2024.

Notably, Fakhar Zaman has not been awarded a central contract this time around. His exclusion is speculated to be due to his dissent towards PCB regarding the dropping of Babar Azam from the squad and his failure in fitness tests.

5. Manufacturers of essential foreign goods in Pakistan have not seen a major declines. In comparison, sales of foreign soft drinks, bottled water, and fast food have dropped amid consumer boycotts of Israeli products.

Dawn highlighted that sales for Nestlé Pakistan were Rs 149.2 billion for the nine months ending September 30 —- a slight drop of 1.3% from Rs151 billion the previous year.

1. In general, people believe that the more secluded and mildly populated a place is, the less polluted and corrupted it would be. But it seems like that is not always the case because surprisingly, all water samples collected from the beautiful region of Gilgit have been found to be 100 per cent contaminated, making the water unsuitable for drinking.

Similarly, samples from the Sindh cities of Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad are also deemed completely unsafe for human consumption.

Details presented by the Ministry of Water Resources in the National Assembly reveal that 94% of drinking water in Multan, 93% in Karachi, and 92% in Badin is contaminated.

In Bahawalpur, 76% of the water is polluted, while Sargodha has 83% unsafe water, and Faisalabad and Sheikhupura report 59% and 60%, respectively, of their water being unfit for drinking.

In Abbottabad and Khuzdar, 55% of the water is contaminated, with Loralai and Quetta showing 59%. Meanwhile, 80% of drinking water in Hyderabad, 67% in Sukkur, and 70% in Muzaffar is also unsafe.

Following the 18th Amendment, the responsibility for ensuring safe drinking water and enhancing its quality now lies with the provincial governments.

2. According to the World Justice Project’s (WJP) Rule of Law Index for 2024, Pakistan has ~ slightly ~ improved, climbing one spot to rank 129th out of (wait for it…) 142 countries evaluated.

In the global category of order and security, Pakistan ranks 140th i.e. the third worst in the world.

Regionally, Pakistan is fifth out of six South Asian countries evaluated and while an overall score indicates decline from 2019 to 2023, the 2024 report shows a change in this trend after five years of decline.

3. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that Pakistan’s inflation rate, which has decreased from 29% to 12.6% this year, will further fall to 10.6% by 2025, according to Jihad Azour, the IMF’s Director for the Middle East and Central Asia.

In a recent statement regarding Pakistan’s economic outlook, Azour noted that the country’s economy is anticipated to grow at a rate of 3.2% in the 2024-25 fiscal year, indicating a positive sign of economic recovery.

4. New Zealand defeated India in the second Test to take a decisive lead of 2-0 in the three-match series.

In the match played in Pune, New Zealand defeated India by 113 runs.

Chasing New Zealand’s 359 runs on the third day of play, the Indian team was bowled out for 245 runs.

After 12 years, India has lost a Test series at home.

5. According to the recent data by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the local manufacturing sector maintained its upward trend in September 2024, with domestic companies producing or assembling 2.15 million units.

22.59 million locally manufactured or assembled mobile phones were sold in nine months which marks a 74% year-on-year increase.