Weekly News Round-Up ( 30th May – 6th June)
This week in the news, Pakistan faces inflationary pressures, a Pakistani receives two of the highest awards in the UK, find out the latest about the world’s first revolutionary attempt in regards to human liver transplants, how macro-plastics are harming us and more! Read on to find out all the news you’ve missed this week.
Pakistan Amongst List Of Countries For Saudi Arabia’s Initiative ‘Road to Makkah’
Pakistan to operate 42 flights to transport 14,007 Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia under the Road to Makkah initiative this year || #Hajj2022 https://t.co/FMAYOM24aN
— Arab News Pakistan (@arabnewspk) June 4, 2022
The Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia has launched the ‘Road to Makkah’ initiative for the year 2022 to facilitate Hajj pilgrims belonging to Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco and Bangladesh. The Saudi ministry said that the initiative aims to receive the pilgrims and complete their procedures from their countries with ease. The initiative starts with issuing the visa electronically and taking the vital characteristics, followed by passport procedures at the airport of the country of departure after the verification of the health requirements. The procedure includes coding and sorting the luggage to send to their place of residency in the kingdom. Upon their arrival, the pilgrims will move directly to buses to take them to their places of residence in Makkah and Madina with designated paths while the service authorities deliver their luggage to their places of residency.
According To The CPI Pakistan’s Inflation Is At An All-Time High Of 13.76%
Today, I accurately measure inflation in Pakistan at 38.17%, nearly 3x the bogus official inflation rate of 13.76%/yr. To kill inflation, Pakistan has to mothball the State Bank and install a currency board. pic.twitter.com/u57LmgJEuK
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) June 2, 2022
Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to a nearly two-and-a-half-year-high at 13.76 per cent in May, on the back of increasing transport and food prices, according to data shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Wednesday the 1st of June. Inflation accelerated from 13.37pc year-on-year (YoY) in April, marking a 0.44pc month-on-month (MoM) rise in May. This is the highest CPI inflation since January 2020 when it was 14.6pc. According to the PBS, inflation increased by 12.36pc in urban areas and 15.88pc in rural areas.
Macro-Plastics In The River Indus Threaten Pakistan’s Environmental Sustainability
The River #Indus delivers around 10,000 tonnes of macro-plastics to the Arabian Sea each year: World Bank survey pic.twitter.com/u2RK1tLaBQ
— Syedih (@SyedIHusain) June 5, 2022
On Saturday the 4th of June, the World Bank’s survey titled ‘Plastic Waste: A Journey Down the Indus River Basin in Pakistan’, stated that the River Indus delivers around 10,000 tonnes of macro-plastics to the Arabian Sea each year. The survey is a first-of-its-kind field study undertaken along the Indus river basin to quantify the amount of waste, particularly plastics, leaking into the river system and warns that the perennial presence of plastic waste in the Indus and its tributaries is a recent addition to the already extensive list of threats to water quality, ecological health, and environmental sustainability in Pakistan. However, the survey also clarifies that the Indus is not the only source of plastic litter pollution in the Arabian Sea. The Malir and Lyari rivers, passing through the city of Karachi and draining into the Arabian Sea, also carry significant macro-plastic loads leading out into the sea from the coastline. (Source: World Bank)
Google In News Headlines As It Launches Suicide Hotline In Pakistan
Google has launched a suicide hotline onebox for Pakistan in cooperation with Umang. This feature enables users to connect quickly with a suicide helpline at the top of the Search results page whenever they search for a suicide related query. pic.twitter.com/Tk2YJTEKRN
— Pakscience (@paksciencepk) June 4, 2022
To tackle the rising number of suicidal cases as well as mental health issues, Google has launched a suicide hotline for Pakistan on Thursday the 2nd of June in collaboration with ‘Umang Pakistan’ enabling users to get quick help at the top of the search result page as they browse anything related to suicide. Recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), ‘Umang’ is a mental health helpline that offers support to vulnerable Pakistanis ideating or planning suicide.
Revolutionary Leap In Human Liver Transplants
Excited to share our work in @NatureBiotech showing that our Liver4Life perfusion device can repair discarded livers for transplant: https://t.co/ueErh7wSY4 The extended time (3 days) was critical to repair the liver, assess its viability, and allow this life-saving therapy. 1/6
— Mark Tibbitt (@mtibbitt) May 31, 2022
The multidisciplinary Zurich research team ‘Liver4Life’ has succeeded in doing the unthinkable- treating an originally damaged human liver in a machine for three days outside a body and then implanting the recovered organ into a cancer patient. One year later, the patient is doing well. The Liver4Life research team owes this success to its perfusion machine, which was developed in house, making it possible to implant a human organ into a patient after a storage period of three days outside a body. The machine mimics the human body as accurately as possible, in order to provide ideal conditions for the human livers. The article on the first transplantation of a liver preserved for several days on a perfusion machine was published in one of the most renowned scientific journals, Nature Biotechnology, on May 31, 2022. “The interdisciplinary approach to solving complex biomedical challenges embodied in this project is the future of medicine. This will allow us to use new findings even more quickly for treating patients,” states Prof. Mark Tibbitt, Professor of Macromolecular Engineering at ETH Zurich. (Source: IDW)
Rafael Nadal Claims His 22nd Grand Slam
Breaking his own records 💪@RafaelNadal – now the owner of 14 #RolandGarros titles and 22 Grand Slam titles 🏆 pic.twitter.com/jbliQ0Md7v
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 5, 2022
On Sunday the 5th of June, Rafael Nadal had a straight-set win on Court Philippe Chatrier and claimed his 22nd Grand Slam and 14th French Open, putting him two ahead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the all-time list. Nadal stated that his victory was against all odds after he made the revelation about his foot injury. “If I didn’t believe, I probably wouldn’t be here…It was a big surprise [to be here], unexpected and as everyone knows in the world of tennis, the preparation was not ideal,” said Nadal on Eurosport.
Pakistani Receives Double Honours At The Queen’s Jubilee Celebrations
I'm delighted & humbled to receive MBE by the Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II on the Platinum Jubilee for my business & philanthropic work. Alhamdulillah 🙏. An incredible journey & achievement for a migrant who came to this country with just £50 in his pocket 22 years ago.1/1
— Suleman Raza (@iamsulemanraza) June 2, 2022
Raja Suleman Raza, Chief Executive of the ‘Spice Village’, received the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) on the occasion of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Raza’s not-for-profit initiative ‘Uplyft’, based in Croydon, won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services (QAVS) with the following citation, “Feeds the homeless and vulnerable, uplifts communities through diversity and inclusion initiatives.” It is highly unusual that a recipient of the Queen’s honours received them twice for services in different sectors. The QAVS is the highest award given to UK volunteer groups, being equivalent to the MBE. It recognises the exceptional work done by volunteer groups in their communities. The foodpreneur was instrumental in the One Million Meals campaign that served hundreds of thousands of meals to doctors, nurses, paramedics, and key workers across the UK during the first lockdown from March to the end of June 2020. Upon receiving the honours, he said, “As a Pakistani, I am absolutely delighted to receive an MBE and a QAVS on Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. It is incredible having two honours in a week…While Spice Village is a Pakistani cuisine and catering company, Uplyft is entirely a humanitarian initiative led by volunteers. We have provided food to the homeless and vulnerable people since 2015.”
June Will Welcome Ms Marvel In Pakistani Cinemas
Ms Marvel has been in global news and local news headlines thanks to its phenomenal cast and captivating trailers that have us anticipating its release in Pakistan. Since Disney+ is not available in Pakistan, HKC Entertainment, Disney and Marvel are bringing the series to cinemas as three movies, as a Pakistan exclusive. While the show debuts on June 8th on Disney+, Pakistani audiences will see the movies in local cinemas on June 16th, in a cine-compilation of episodes 1 and 2, followed by episodes 3 and 4 on June 30th, and 5 and 6 on July 14th!
