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Disputes in the South China Sea: Historical background, Current situation, and Solutions.

2020-09-14T11:29:00.006+05:00

Disputes in the South China Sea, Freedom of navigation operations, Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands

Disputes in the South China Sea involve maritime as well as island claims among various states within this region including People's Republic of China, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Philippines. The US is also a competing party as an extra-regional state. The involvement of these states shows the importance of the South China Sea which is rich in energy sources, fisheries, and strategic transport routes.

According to an estimate, global trade of over 3.37 trillion dollars is carried out through the routes that pass through this region. This volume accounts for about one-third of the total global maritime trade. Moreover, 80% of Chinese energy imports and about 40% of the total trade of China passes through the South China Sea (ChinaPower, 2020). Thus, the South China Sea is of great importance for China as well as other claimants. The disputes in the Sea involve reefs, islands, banks, and other features such as Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands, Scarborough Shoal, and many other boundary regions in Gulf of Tonkin (Keck, 2014).

Historical accounts refer to the French control on some features of the South China Sea regions during the 1930s. Japan also used many islands in the South China Sea during World War II and asserted that it got control of them when no one had claimed them. Japan had to withdraw its control after the Treaty of San Francisco in 1951. But, this treaty could not specify the islands' new status. Meanwhile, the People's Republic of China got control of many of these regions by making claims during negotiations of 1951 treaty and "First Taiwan Strait Crisis" in 1958 (Morley & Nishihara, 1997).

Beijing’s position on South China Sea regions is that the banks, islands, shoals, and surrounding waters of Nansha, Xisha, Zongsha, as well as Dongsha archipelagos are the indisputable parts of Chinese historical territory. Whereas, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Philippines also have overlapping claims in this region. But, China considers all these claims invalid. China believes that all these territorial features are historical and ancestral properties of China passed down by previous generations. China argues that its activities in the South China Sea started about 2000 years ago.

Moreover, China claims that it was the first country to discover, name, and explore the resources of the South China Sea. China also claims that maps of these islands were even published in Qing and Ming dynasties. Chinese authorities also argue that territorial claims of other claimants did not include the marine features in the dashed-line region until the 1970s. Thus, China considers the claims of other countries recent and politically motivated (Institute for Security and Development Policy, 2016).

Whereas, the US, as an extra-regional state in the region, also has eyes on the trade routes and resources of the South China Sea. US insists to implement the centrality of international law to address this issue. The official stance of the US demands all the claimants to stop the use of force in order to resolve the sovereignty disputes. The US also believes in freedom of navigation that allows unimpeded navigation for private, commercial, and military aircraft and vessel within the area. Moreover, the US also emphasizes that all maritime entitlements to the South China Sea's waters should be on the basis of international law (McDevitt, 2014).

China disagrees with the opinion of the US regarding "high seas freedom" that involve peaceful military and commercial movements in the exclusive economic zone of coastal regions. These disagreements have resulted in many serious incidents including mid-air collision between US surveillance aircraft (EP-3) and Chinese navy intercepting fighter in 2001. Recently, a close intercept of P-8 maritime patrol aircraft of the US navy also caused another diplomatic issue.

Since 2013, China resorted to the building of island in Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands region. These actions were condemned at the international level (McDevitt, 2014). After 2015, the US and other countries including France and the UK started conducting freedom of navigation operations in these regions. Moreover, Arbitration tribunal under UNCLOS ("United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) also ruled against the claims of China in the Philippines vs China case. China and Taiwan refused to recognize the tribunal and insisted to resolve the matter through bilateral dialogue.

Furthermore, China showed its lead in the sovereignty dispute by entering non-military ships into the waters where other countries have claims. This allowed China to flex its muscle without diplomatic losses. But, pushbacks from the Philippines and Malaysia kept China from extending its control on the whole South China Sea. Moreover, most of the Southeast Asian states still expect that the US will keep Beijing in check, if needed, by moving its military ships into the sea.

China and10-member South East Asian Nations' association (including 4 maritime claimants of the region) are due to restart the dialogue process in order to conclude some code of conduct that can help avert any mishap in future. The chances of the clash between two world powers i.e. the US and China will also decrease if the claimants sign some code of conduct with the consent of China.

Moreover, China may work with claimants economically to ease the tensions. For example, China has already been financing in the field of infrastructure construction in the Philippines. Philippines' administration also agreed to work on joint oil and gas development projects in the region. China is also willing to develop such relations with other regional claimants in the South China Sea region. Thus, if the regional powers agree to a common point, it can help reduce the interference of extra-regional forces in the South China Sea region.

Sources

ChinaPower. (2020). How Much Trade Transits the South China Sea?. Retrieved 12 September 2020, from https://chinapower.csis.org/much-trade-transits-south-china-sea/

Institute for Security and Development Policy. (2016). Understanding China’s Position on the South China Sea Disputes. Retrieved 12 September 2020, from https://isdp.eu/publication/understanding-chinas-position-south-china-sea-disputes/

Keck, Z. (2014). China’s Newest Maritime Dispute. Retrieved 12 September 2020, from https://thediplomat.com/2014/03/chinas-newest-maritime-dispute/

McDevitt, M. (2014). The South China Sea: Assessing US Policy and Options for the Future. CNA Occasional Paper, 1-92.

Morley, J. W., & Nishihara, M. (Eds.). (1997). Vietnam joins the world. ME Sharpe.

Capabilities of Dassault Rafale Aircraft: Can Rafale fighter jet tackle Pakistan’s F-16 Fighting Falcon? | Military Equipment

2020-09-10T15:23:00.005+05:00

Capabilities of Dassault Rafale aircraft , Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, Military Equipment

Capabilities of Dassault Rafale aircraft and “Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon” bring these jets among the top fighter jets of the modern era. The comparison of these two fighter jets becomes important in the scenario of rivalry between two Asian nuclear powers i.e. Pakistan and India. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has been using F-16 fighter jets for the last two or three decades. These F-16s have helped PAF dominate Indian Air Force at various occasions during these times. The most recent clash between two countries occurred in February 2019, where PAF reportedly shot down at least one of the Indian fighter jets during a dogfight.

Indian top military leadership also felt the importance of having the latest fighter jets that could manage the threat of PAF as well as the Chinese Air Force. This situation raised the importance of India’s deal with France regarding the acquisition of Dassault Rafale jets that are believed to challenge Pakistan’s F-16s. India is likely to receive 36 Rafale jets under this deal and 4 of them have already been delivered to India. This article is aimed at comparing the capabilities of F-16 and Rafale jets in order to have an idea that how Rafale jets can provide India with air superiority in future.

Dassault Rafale Fighter Jet

Dassault Rafale is a twin-engine multirole aircraft that can perform aerial reconnaissance, air supremacy, in-depth strike, ground support, nuclear deterrence, and anti-ship strike missions. Two Snecmo M88 engines of Rafale provide it with up to 50 kN of dry thrust and 75 kN thrust with afterburners. The engines are also capable of reducing infrared and radar signals (Dassault Aviation, 2020).

Rafale has a length of 15.30 meters and height of 5.30 meters. Its wingspan is 10.90 meters. The overall empty weight of the fighter jet is 10 tons, while the maximum take-off weight is 24.5 tons. The fighter jet has a maximum speed of 1.8 Mach and the range of about 3700 km. The service ceiling of Rafale is 5000 ft (Dassault Aviation, 2019). Rafale’s rate of climb is 18288 meters/min and it is capable of detecting 40 targets simultaneously. Rafale can carry 4.7 and 6.7 tons of fuel internally and externally respectively (Ramdas, 2020).

Rafale is not completely a stealth aircraft but, its design supports reduced radar cross-section (RCS). Reduced size of the tail fin, reshaped fuselage, use of composite materials, and repositioned air inlets of the engine (underneath wings) are some of the design factors that support the reduction of RCS. The RBE2 AA AESA radar provides the jet with a detection range of 200 km, and improves the overall reliability of Rafale.

Rafale contains a glass cockpit where the pilot can have simpler control and command through the function of a central computer that prioritises and select the necessary information. Right-handed stick and left-handed throttle are the major flight controls. G-force tolerance is improved by using a seat inclined at an angle of 29 degrees (Collins, 2009).

IMA or integrated modular avionics system is among the core avionics components of Rafale that hosts major functions including fire control, data fusion, flight management, and the man-machine interface. An integrated defensive-aids system is used o protect the jet against ground and airborne threats. Moreover, a variety of decoying, detection, and jamming methods have incorporated into the Rafale to ensure the overall efficiency of the jet.

The OSF or Optronique Secteur Frontal system is integrated into the aircraft that can operate in infrared and visible wavelengths. This system is immune to jamming and can provide long-range surveillance. The Rafale jet can carry EM and Mica IR air-to-air missiles, AASM air-to-surface missile, and SCALP EG cruise missiles (for ground missions). Moreover, the AM 39 missiles can be used to carry out anti-ship missions. Furthermore, the aircraft can carry ASMP-A missiles for nuclear strikes (Dassault Aviation, 2017).

Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon

The F-16 Fighting Falcon, on the other hand, is a supersonic multirole fighter jet that works on a single-engine. This fighter jet was originally developed for US Air Force. But, many other countries including Pakistan have also been using F-16 fighter jets for decades. Pakistan Air Force reportedly has over 75 F-16 fighter jets in service. F-16 Jets used by PAF are usually powered by F-100 series engine that can provide a thrust of about 129 kN.

F-16 is 15.02 meters long with a height of about 5.090 meters. The maximum speed of F-16 is 2.0 Mach as compared to 1.8 Mach of Rafale. But the empty weight (9.2 tons) and Maximum take-off weight (21.7 tons) of F-16 are lower than Rafale jet. F-16 can carry 3.1 tons of fuel internally and 1.38 tons of fuel externally with a climb rate of about 15240 meters/min (Ramdas, 2020).

The range of F-16 Fighting Falcon is slightly over 4000 km with a service ceiling of around 5000 feet (Global Security, 2020). F-16 fighter jet uses AN/APG-68 radar that provides it with long-range detection of over 250 Km against aerial targets. This radar uses a programmable signal processor to employ VHSIC (very high speed integrated circuit) technology. AN/APG-68 Radar is equipped with (SAR) Synthetic aperture radar capability that further improves F-16’s reliability against other fighter jets (F16.net, 2020).

As far as the cockpit of F-16 is concerned, an exceptional field of view provided in the cockpit is the key feature of this fighter jet. The single-piece canopy provides a pilot with 360^ovisibility. But, this canopy lacks forward bow frame that may resist the pilot's forward vision during some occasions. The ejection seat is tilted back at an angle of 30^o as compared to 13 to 15 degrees in competitor jets. This tilted seat provides the plane with more g-force tolerance, and can accommodate taller pilots as well.

F-16 jets can be armed with six AIM-9 short-range air-to-air missiles, and medium-range AIM-7 Sparrow (radar guided) missiles, Moreover, F-16 Fighting Falcon can also carry various air-to-air, air-to-ground, rockets, bombs, electronic countermeasures, and fuel tanks. F-16 also contains 20mm M61A1 Vulcan cannon that provides it superiority during close-range aerial combats. F-16 is also capable of carrying missiles to carry out nuclear strikes at any level (Lockheed Martin, 2020).

How Pakistan controlled COVID-19 spread? Successful Covid-19 Management Approaches used by Pakistan government | Achievements of PTI government

2020-09-10T00:39:00.014+05:00

How Pakistan controlled COVID-19 spread successfully, Achievements of PTI government

Pakistan controlled COVID-19 spread successfully despite its weak healthcare system. Pakistan is among those countries that spend lesser portions of their GDPs in healthcare systems. Even before the COVID-19, most of the public hospitals were overcrowded and understaffed in Pakistan. Although hotter weather in the region may also be a contributing factor, the spread of the virus in other countries of the region indicate that there is definitely something that Pakistan implemented differently. This article is aimed at discussing some of the approaches, used by PTI government, that are probably the reason for successful management of coronavirus spread in Pakistan.

1. Smart Lockdown Approach

The smart lockdown strategy of Pakistan government has been acknowledged at many world forums including WHO. This approach focussed at maintaining a balance between livelihood and lives of people. This strategy allowed economic activities by ensuring standard operating procedures. The basic purpose of introducing such a strategy was to protect the people, especially the daily wagers, from the worst economic consequences of coronavirus in a country where millions of people are already living below the poverty line.

Although people suffered economic losses during the pandemic, this approach helped avoid the disastrous economic impacts. Moreover, the virus spread was also limited by the successful implementation of this strategy. It is also evident from the data where over 6800 coronavirus cases were reported out of 29,500 tested people on 13^th of June 2020 (the highest score in the country). Whereas, the number of new cases on a particular day reduced to 426 out of 23000 tested people on the 9^th of September 2020 (Government of Pakistan) .

This strategy also followed partial lockdowns where densely populated city Lahore saw partial restrictions rather than imposing restrictions in the whole city. Similarly, hotspots were identified in cities like Peshawar and Karachi. These spots were isolated with renewed social-distancing measures. The city of Islamabad also adopted similar measures after the identification of hotspots. Security agencies ensured the isolation of hotspots, and implementation of SOPs in the other areas where level of restrictions was lower.

Smart lockdown strategy benefited the local businesses. The government also announced packages for effected businesses, provided relief in payment of utility bills, and released refunds to support local industry. Economic package, particularly for the export and construction sector, helped boost the economic activities in the country despite the presence of coronavirus.

2. Micro-smart Lockdown approach

Another approach used by the Punjab government was the introduction of micro-smart lockdown in different areas of the province to prevent the resurgence of coronavirus. Under this approach, even smaller localities like a single building with various units or smaller neighbourhoods were sealed. This approach was implemented at the level of streets as per the instructions of the federal government.

3. Managing congregational prayers and other gatherings.

Another issue faced by the government was to control public gatherings including congregational prayers. Public places like parks and big shopping malls were already closed. Government of Pakistan turned to Egypt for the sake of Islamic ruling or Fatwa on managing congregational prayers. These rulings helped manage the pressure of religious segments. As per this ruling, a limited number of attendants were allowed in the mosques. Secondly, it was also permitted, by considering the teachings of Islam under specific conditions, to follow social distancing measures even during congregational prayers.

These strategies have helped Pakistan control the spread of the virus at large scale. But, coronavirus is still not eliminated completely from the country. The second wave of coronavirus is also expected in the coming winter season. Although only a few thousand active cases are left in Pakistan, complete elimination of virus from the country depends on the consistency of government policies and attitude of the general public towards the SOPs implemented by the government.

Ladakh conflict: Is Indian Stance on Ladakh valid? | Sino-Indian Relations | Asian Defense matters

2020-09-07T19:48:00.009+05:00

Ladakh Conflict, Indian Stance on Ladakh, Aksai Chin, Sino-Indian Relations, Sino-Indian Military tensions

Ladakh conflict finds its roots in the partition of India in 1947. Pakistan and India had been contesting for Ladakh since the end of British rule in India. Kashmir has been a disputed region between India and Pakistan since then. But, under the cease-fire agreement in 1949, the southeastern part of Ladakh remained with India and Pakistan got the remaining parts.

Surprisingly, China became part of this conflict and gained control of northeastern parts of Ladakh from the Indian side in the 1960s. Sikh empire had annexed Ladakh into Jammu state in 1834. After the Sikhs were defeated in 1846, British commissioners tried to discuss the border matter with China. Both parties sufficiently agreed to recognize a border but, borders were not demarcated. Although the boundaries of Karakoram Pass and Pangong Lake were well defined, the areas of Aksai Chin remained undefined.

Thus, India claimed Aksai Chin to be the easternmost portion of the Indian union territory of Ladakh. But, China considers Aksai Chin as the autonomous region of Chinese Tibet and Xinjiang, after it gained control of this region. Aksai Chin or Pinyin (as named by China) is the part of the Kashmir at the northernmost side of the Indian subcontinent in Asia (south-central). It includes almost all the area of Chinese-administered part of Kashmir that is considered the Ladakh part of Kashmir by Indian authorities.

So, Ladakh is believed to be a part of a larger Kashmir. The largely undefined area of Ladakh, especially after partition in 1947, became the root cause of the problem. That may support the Indian stance, as Kashmir dispute is between India and Pakistan. Thus, Ladakh should have belonged to either Pakistan or India.

The recent tensions in Ladakh started when Chinese troops reportedly entered Indian Territory of "Galwan Valley" and resisted the efforts of road construction by Indian authorities. As per Indian stance, the road was being constructed in the undisputed Indian Territory. Military tensions between India and China in the eastern part of Ladakh increased further when Indian Army resisted the attempt of alteration of LAC by People’s Liberation Army of China in Pangong Lake’s southern bank that is already undisputed area.

So, as per Indian claims, it seems like China has been creating problems in the undisputed area under India's control. Over 20 Indian soldiers including an officer were killed in a border area. These deadly tensions between two nuclear powers demand an appropriate solution to the situation that may be acceptable to both the parties. China and India need to agree to a common point, and clearly define the border area in order to resolve this matter. World powers may also have to play their role and mediate to avoid any clash in this part of the world.

Visit also: Indian Maritime Strategy 2015

Sukhoi Su-57 vs Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor: A comparison between two 5th Generation Stealth fighter jets | Military Equipment

2020-07-30T23:05:00.003+05:00

Sukhoi Su-57, Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, Military Equipment, Fifth-Generation Aircraft

Sukhoi Su-57 and Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor are the crucial components of Russian and American military industries respectively. Both fighter jets are well known for their stealth, performance, and combat capabilities. The current article provides a comparison of both jets in order to provide in-depth insight into the key military equipment of both countries.

Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor

F-22 Raptor is a twin-engine and single-seat stealth fighter developed for US Airforce. This air superiority fighter has capabilities like electronic warfare, ground attack, and signal intelligence. The last fighter jet was delivered in 2012 after the program was limited to 186 operational production aircraft. The unit cost of a fighter jet is believed to be 150 million USD. F-22 Raptor is 18.92 meters long and has a wingspan of about 13.56 meters. It uses high-speed trapezoidal wing having wing area of about 78m². F-22 has a loaded weight of about 29410 kg and an empty weight of 19700 kg (Lockheed Martin, 2020).

F-22 Raptor is powered by 2 Pratt and Whitney turbofan engines (F119-PW-100). These engines can produce 156 KN and 116 KN thrust, with and without afterburner respectively. The range of F-22 is over 2960 km. The maximum speed of this fighter jet is 2410 km/h and its supercruise speed is 1960 km/h. The combat radius of F-22 is 852 km. The fighter jet has a ferry range of about 3220 km and flying altitude of the aircraft is above 65000 feet. High altitude and a cruise speed of F-22 increase the effectiveness of weapons and sensors systems, and enhance the fighter's survivability against ground defences like surface-to-air-missiles (Jeyan, 2016).

F-22 contains tricycle landing gear (retractable), 4 empennage surfaces, and delta wings having a reverse trailing edge. Flight control surface contains leading-edge flaps, rudders on the vertical stabilizers, ailerons, flaperons, and horizontal tails for ailerons deflect up, speed brake function, flaperons down, and rudders outwards for enhancing drag (Rainey & Kohn, 2017).

The ability of jet to sustain supersonic flights without the use of afterburners, makes it intercept target which subsonic jets may not pursue due to lack of speed. The utilization of internal bays allows the jet to maintain higher performance as compared to other combat-configured fighters because of lack of parasitic drag from any external source. High strength materials like titanium alloys and composites are used in the structure to withstand heat and stress of supersonic flight.

Glass cockpit of F-22 contains all-digital flight equipment. Wide field of view is offered by the monochrome head-up display. Information is displayed on six colour LCD panels. Pair of throttles and force-sensitive side-stick controller act as primary flight controls. Integrated avionics combine and filter sensor fusion, external systems, radar data, and other sensors into a common view that in turn enhances the situational awareness of pilot. AN/ALR-94 electronic warfare setup, AN/AAR-56 ultraviolet and infrared Missile Launch Detector, TRW Communication/Navigations/Identification suite, and AN/APG-77 AESA Radar are the main strengths of F-22. The radar has a range of between 200 and 240 kilometres (Lockheed Martin, 2020).

Moreover, the fighter jet contains ALR-94 system that is a passive radar detector having thirty antennas blended into fuselage and wings for RWR (Radar Warning Receiver) coverage. Its range is 250+ nautical miles that can confine radar emissions to narrow beam of 2^oin order to enhance the stealth of a fighter jet. The narrow beam radar has a range of about 400 kilometres.

The F-22 fighter jet has one main bay at the bottom of the fuselage, and 2 small bays on fuselage’s sides. The main bay is capable of accommodating 6 LAU-142/A launchers which can launch beyond-visual-range missiles. The side bays can contain LAU-141/A launcher to launch short-range missiles. Internal accommodation of armaments can minimize the additional drag and improves the stealth capability of aircraft. The F-22 is also capable of carrying air-to-surface bombs having JDAM guidance and Small Diameter Bombs (Fleeman, 2000).

Sukhoi Su-57

SU-57 is a Russian fifth-generation aircraft that fulfils air-to-ground and anti-air roles. SU-57 is a first stealth aircraft of Russia that has a combination of stealth, advanced sensors and weapons, and improved speed (Mizokami, 2020).

Sukhoi Su-57 is a twin-engine and single-seat aircraft that has been under development since 2002. The estimated cost of the fighter jet is 42 million USD (Russian Aviation, 2019). Russia is likely to produce 13 Su-57s (other than prototypes) by 2020. The mass production of this fighter jet may start from the year 2021 onwards where at least 76 fighter jets are likely to be produced (McDermott, 2020).

Height of Su-57 is 5.45 meters and its length is about 22 meters. The wingspan of the fighter jet is 14.8 meters. The maximum take-off weight of the jet is 35,480 kg and it can carry a payload of up to 1000 kg. The manoeuvring load factor of the plane is 9g. Saturn izdeliye 30 twin engines generate thrust between 105 and 155 Kn. But, the first batch of Su-57s is likely to be powered by the AL-41F1 afterburning turbofan engine that can produce a thrust of up to 290 kN (Mizokami, 2020).

Top speed of Su-57 is 2600 km/h. Supercruise speed of the Su-57 is 2222 km/h as compared to 1960 km/h of F-22. Su-57 has a radius of operation of about 1750 km, a maximum range of 3500 km, and a ferry range of 5500 km (Deagel, 2020).

The glass cockpit of Su-57 contains two main LCD multi-functional displays. Three other small control panel displays are also placed around the cockpit. Wide-angle (30^o x 20^o) HUD (head-up-display) is provided in the cockpit. Pair of throttles and joystick are the primary control points of the fighter jet (Trimble, 2010). The special coating on canopy contributes to the stealth capability of the fighter jet.

Sh-121 MIRES (multifunctional integrated radio-electronic system) and 101KS electro-optical system are among the major avionics systems in the fighter jet. Sh-121 contains L402 Himalayas electronic countermeasure setup and N036 Byelka radar setup. Su-57 can track 60 aerial targets and can engage 16 targets simultaneously. The two main internal weapon bays of Su-57 are arranged in tandem and each bay carries four K-77M radar-guided missiles (beyond visual range) and two K-74M2 infrared-guided missiles (short-range) (Mizokami, 2020).

Aerodynamics of Su-57 allow it to achieve speed up to 2 Mach. The design of Su-57 takes care of things to avoid limitations reported in American F-22. For example, F-22 is unable to utilize thrust directing to cause roll and yaw moments. Su-57 also manages stall recovery in a better way, if thrust directing fails, as compared to F-22 (Sweetman, 2013). But, the airframe of Su-57 incorporates the alignment of planform edge to decrease its radar cross-section in a similar fashion as in F-22. The trailing and leading edges of control surfaces and wings are angled in a way to decrease the number of directions in which waves of radar may be reflected.

Weapons are held internally within the weapon bays. The inlet ducts of the engine are coated with radar absorption material and the remaining exposed face of the engine is masked using radar blocker that also contributes to the overall stealth capability of the fighter jet (Martin, 2020).

Conclusions

It can be believed, on the basis of above-discussed details, that F-22 emphasizes more on stealth and manoeuvrability as compared to Su-57 which focusses more on manoeuvrability and speed. The blended design of wings in Su-57 helps increase the internal volume for fuel, weapons, and avionics. Su-57 has higher range, combat radius, and maximum take-off load value. Better stealth capabilities of F-22 may help it gain the initial advantage before it comes within the visual range of its adversary. But, the better speed of Su-57 with more than acceptable stealth capabilities can be helpful during a dogfight. Moreover, the unit price of Su-57 is another advantage that provides a cost-effective solution to the requirement of stealth capabilities within any fighter jet.

Sources

Deagel. (2020). Combat Aircraft: Su-57. Retrieved 30 July 2020, from http://www.deagel.com/Combat-Aircraft/Su-57_a000333002.aspx

Fleeman, E. (2000). Technologies for Future Precision Strike Missile Systems - Missile/Aircraft Integration. Retrieved 29 July 2020, from https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/p010403.pdf

Jeyan, M. (2016). Comparative study of F-22 Raptor and Chengdu J-20. Instrumentation Science & Technology, 2(1), 121-124.

Lockheed Martin. (2020). F-22 Raptor. Retrieved 29 July 2020, from https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/f-22.html

Martin, G. (2020). Fifth-generation fighter options. Defence Review Asia, 14(2), 12.

McDermott, R. (2020). Moscow Plans Additional Modifications to Its Fifth-Generation Su-57 Fighter. Retrieved 30 July 2020, from https://jamestown.org/program/moscow-plans-additional-modifications-to-its-fifth-generation-su-57-fighter/

Mizokami, K. (2020). Russia’s Su-57 Stealth Fighter Could Soon Have a Robot in the Cockpit. Retrieved 30 July 2020, from https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a32587169/su-57-unmanned/

Mizokami, K. (2020). Stealth Death Match: Russia's Su-57 vs. F-22 Raptor (Who Dies?). Retrieved 30 July 2020, from https://news.yahoo.com/stealth-death-match-russias-su-190000330.html

Rainey, S., & Kohn, A. (2017). F-22 FLIGHT TEST PROGRAM UPDATE. Retrieved 29 July 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20140717014716/http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/docs/f-22-emd-paper.htm

Russian Aviation. (2019). NATO assigns new reporting name for Su-57 5th generation jet fighter. Retrieved 30 July 2020, from https://www.ruaviation.com/news/2019/11/1/14330/?h

Sweetman, B. (2013)." New Moves. Aviation Week & Space Technology, 43-44.

Trimble, S. (2010). Sukhoi reveals T-50 cockpit layout and (maybe) static airframe. Retrieved 30 July 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20131215084254/http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2010/03/sukhoi-reveals-t-50-cockpit-la/

Latest Job Openings: Top Online Job Portals in Pakistan

2020-07-25T17:25:00.001+05:00

Latest Job Openings, Online Jobs, Online Jobs in Pakistan, Online Job Portals, Online Job Applications

Latest Job openings can be found on many online job portals that provide an easy platform to search for Jobs. Best job portals have "easy to use" and quick tools that help people search for jobs based on their criteria, location, and types of jobs. Some of the top online job portals are discussed below.

1. HomerworkMarket (Home-based tasks)

HomeworkMarket is an online platform that provides its users with opportunities like freelancing and home-based jobs. Students are connected with online teachers and tutors. People (job seekers) can make the teacher's account and communicate with students who are available through the student's account. Tutors can then take the desired task through real-time conversation with students. Students have to submit their money to this website that can be transferred to the teacher's account after the completion of the job. Tutor is paid for each task separately. HomeworkMarket is a reliable and tested platform that ensures a trustable verification method in order to avoid any payment issue.

Engineering Tasks, BusinessAdministration Jobs, HR Management, Teaching Jobs, Business & FinanceAssignments, Nursing tasks, Biology, Mathematics, English, Statistics, Calculus,Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Sociology, Criminology, Data Entry, and other HomeBased Jobs.

Click Here to Register

2. Rozee

Rozee is believed to be the most credible online site of Pakistan that connects potential pool of talent with employers. It is an employment website that was founded in 2007. Rozee is mainly used to search for job opportunities for lower and mid-level employment. According to an estimate, over 65000 organizations post jobs on this website. About 6 million unique applicants visit this website on a daily basis. Rozee categorizes Jobs on the basis of the location of the applicants. People are required to sign up in order to become members. After uploading their CVs and other details, members can get notifications about the matching jobs. Members can then apply for the job online. Rozee has the highest percentage of response rate from the employers where thousands of applicants are contacted by the employers on a daily basis.

Click Here to Apply

Engineering Jobs, Management Jobs, Nursing and MedicalStaff, Office Based Jobs, Teaching Jobs, Industrial Jobs, Non-technical Jobs, and HR Jobs.

3. Mustakbil

Mustakbil is another reliable online job portal where employers advertise thousands of jobs on a daily basis. People are required to sign up and upload their CVs and other details. Mustakbil filters the information and notifies the related jobs on the basis of the proposed keywords and cities. This platform has a user-friendly interface where members can simply apply for any of the notified jobs after logging in to the users’ account.

Engineering Jobs, Management Jobs, Nursing and MedicalStaff, Office Based Jobs, Teaching Jobs, Industrial Jobs, Non-technical Jobs,and HR Jobs.

4. Indeed

“Indeed” is online job site providing millions of job openings from job boards, company career sites, and newspaper classifieds. Users create an account and upload their CVs and receive personalized CV links to share with potential employers. “Indeed” classifies jobs on the basis of cities, job trends, keywords, and salary limits. Indeed also sets up job alerts and users can apply for related jobs after logging in to their accounts. Users may also achieve first-hand insight into the dynamics of employment through the extensive company reviews provided by job seekers and employees.

Indian Maritime Strategy 2015 and Future Indian Ocean Plans: Possible Options for Pakistan | War Strategy

2020-05-20T07:06:00.000+05:00

Indian Maritime strategy 2015, Ensuring Secure Seas: Indian Maritime Strategy 2015, Options for Pakistan, War Strategy

Indian Maritime Strategy 2015: The Indian navy is aimed at adopting a concept that tends to make it a focussed, committed, and a conscious force. Indian navy plays an important role in supporting the foreign policy of India. The Indian navy has a role to strengthen the pivotal position of India in the Indian Ocean. India is an important link between Indian Ocean’s various maritime zones including Malacca straits, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Central Indian Ocean, and other extended regions of Gulf and Red Sea (Nizamani, 2014).

Indian Navy aims at becoming a blue-water force and enhancing its capabilities by adding submarines, reconnaissance aircraft, aircraft carriers, and landing platforms to its fleet. The events in 2008, and in the following years made the Indian Navy define its short-term and long-term objectives (Pant, 2016). The strategic community of India had been planning to acquire some expansive naval doctrine since the start of the previous decade. One such strategy was adopted in 2015 that was named "Ensuring Secure Seas: Indian Maritime Strategy 2015." The basic aim of this naval doctrine was to enable India to dominate the region of the Indian Ocean through naval expansions.

Firstly, the Indian Maritime Strategy of 2015 developed the idea of the region “Indo-Pacific.” This particular region constituted the Indian Ocean Region and the Western Pacific. The changing views of the world regarding the relocation of international economic and military balance towards Asia, and transformation from Euro-Atlantic discourse to Indo-Pacific concept created prominent economic, political, and social alterations in the Indian Ocean Region by influencing India’s maritime environment. Moreover, the emerging Indo-Pacific concept legitimized the Indian role in coupling as well as protecting the Indian and Pacific areas together.

Secondly, the Indian Maritime Strategy of 2015 tended to redesign and expand the regions of the Indian Navy's interest. In addition to the Indian coastline, some regions such as the Red Sea were considered the primary regions of Indian interest in previous doctrines. Indian Maritime Strategy expanded the scope of primary interests of the Indian Navy by considering the additional regions like “Southeast Indian Ocean” (routes to the Pacific Ocean and the littoral region, Mediterranean Sea, as well as the Western Coast of Africa). Similarly, the naval strategy of 2015 also expanded the scope of secondary areas to the Western Pacific as well as the East China Sea. The expansion in the primary and secondary regions of interest for the Indian Navy reflected the intent and willingness of India to effectively enhance the role of the Indian Navy in these waters.

Thirdly, the Indian Maritime strategy recognized the Indian role as the net security provider in these regions. This naval strategy or policy has not defined the extreme regional limit to which India would be providing the security. Thus, providing India with unlimited legitimacy in these regions. So, the basic concept of this strategy has been the enhancement of military capabilities by acquiring unlimited roles in the Indian Ocean Region and beyond (Hanif, 2017).

In addition to the Indian Maritime strategy of 2015, India has many other future plans, for its navy, as well. The recent collection of evidence also suggested that the Indian Navy has even bigger plans as India implemented another 20-year program. This 20-year program involved increasing the legitimacy of the Indian Navy by allowing it to spread across the entire Indian Ocean Region, the Arabian Gulf, and four corners of Asia.

Indian Navy is the world's fifth-largest naval force and possesses over 220 aircraft, 15 submarines, and about 132 ships. In order to meet the objectives of Indian Maritime strategy and other future plans, Indian Navy has approved a future program to enhance its capabilities and strengths by increasing its fleet size to 200 ships, 25 fighter submarines, and about 500 aircraft by the year 2050 (The Economic Times, 2019).

In order to support the likely role of the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean Region in the future, India has been considering the induction of credible air defense setup and long-range anti-missile defense systems for the Indian Ocean. Indian Navy also plans to improve or acquire new capabilities regarding anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine warfare, amphibious assault, airborne early warning system, mine countermeasures, airborne maritime reconnaissance, ship-borne support system and logistics, and special services corps. Indian Navy is believed to possess two nuclear-capable submarines, and is likely to enhance the number of nuclear-capable submarines in the near future (Hundley, 2018).

Options for Pakistan to manage Advancement of the Indian Navy

Long-standing Indo-Pak tensions and conflicts have increased the anxiety of Pakistan as India has already been increasing its influence in the Indian Ocean Region. Pakistan believes that India can use its naval build-up to show aggression in strategic waters that touch the Pakistani boundaries. Moreover, the ever-increasing piracy, terrorism, and varying geo-security dynamics in the Indian Ocean and surrounding regions made Pakistan Navy focus on concentrated modernization strategy to upgrade as well as acquire new assets. Thus, Pakistan Navy is aimed at developing the latest capabilities to effectively operate in blue waters at the end of this decade.

Pakistan possesses a smaller coastline as compared to India. Defense of Pakistani coastline is the responsibility of the Pakistan Navy (PN). Pakistan Navy is the highly professional naval force that has been effectively playing its role in the overall defense of Pakistan. As per the latest statistics, Pakistan Navy possesses 9 frigates, 8 submarines, 17 patrol and coastal vessels, and 8 combat-capable aircraft (Dhaka Tribune, 2019). Keeping in view the advancements of the Indian Navy, Pakistan Navy (PN) also plans to equip its 3 submarines with cruise missiles having nuclear capabilities. Pakistan has made an agreement with China to buy 8 more submarines that will be delivered by 2028. These submarines will be having the capability to support the deployment of nuclear weapons, if required (Hundley, 2018).

Moreover, the strength of PN has been improving consistently and is likely to increase further after the acquisition of 4 advanced warships that are under development in China in the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard. Warships to be acquired by Pakistan include "Type 054A/JiangkaiI II-Class" frigates. These warships are capable of performing multiple roles including the duties of anti-ships and anti-submarines. These warships are also capable of supporting the air defense operations of the naval force.

Chinese Type 054A can help launch anti-ship cruise missile and land attack, hence equipping PN with new generation vessels. The range of these frigates is 8000 nautical miles, and their units can operate at twice the range of existing F-22P Zulfiqar-Class frigate of Pakistan Navy. Pakistan has also been focussing on building partnerships with many countries like China, the US, and various European countries to acquire the latest technology in order to improve the competitiveness of its navy (khan, 2018).

The size of Type 054A warships is not much larger than Talwar-Class Frigate of the Indian Navy. But, the latest version of Type 054A warships is more agile in combat. The updated versions of Type 054A are equipped with HQ-16 medium-range missiles (surface to air). These missiles have multiple fire capacities with a range of 50 km and speed of over 3 Mach. In addition to Type 054A warships, Pakistan also plans to acquire 8 Hangor class submarines (to be provided by China), and 4 of these submarines are to be manufactured in Pakistan.

Keeping in view the advancements of the Indian Navy, Pakistan has been replacing and modernizing its current assets. Pakistan plans the overhauling and up-gradation of its Agosta 90B submarines in Turkey. Turkish company STM will equip these Agosta 90Bs with unique and state of the art capabilities. The capability of these submarines will be enhanced by adding Torpedo countermeasure systems and updated acoustic measurement sensors (Raza, 2019).

Along with the up-gradation of the existing technology and acquisition of new technology, Pakistan Navy also aims at improving its operational capabilities. Pakistan Navy focusses more on professionalism to effectively respond to possible threats (Romaniuk and Burgers, 2019). Depending on the relatively smaller coastline, Pakistan aims to have minimal naval capabilities in order to ensure the security of its essential interests in the region. Pakistan Navy has also been developing the minimal nuclear capability, in order to bring the balance of power, that will overcome the disparities in conventional fleet size of two countries. The achievement of these targets will provide Pakistan Navy with second-strike capability in order to secure the integrity of nuclear deterrent (Jalil, 2016).

Sources

Dhaka Tribune, 2019. India Vs Pakistan: Military Strength And Arsenal. [online] Dhaka Tribune. Available at: <https://www.dhakatribune.com/world/south-asia/2019/02/28/india-vs-pakistan-military-strength-and-arsenal> [Accessed 19 May 2020].

Hanif, S., 2017. Indian Maritime Doctrine: Implications for Pakistan’s Security. NDU Journal, [online] Available at: <https://www.ndu.edu.pk/issra/issra_pub/articles/ndu-journal/NDU-Journal-2017/6-Indian-Maritime-Doctrine.pdf> [Accessed 19 May 2020].

Hundley, T., 2018. India And Pakistan Are Building Nuclear-Armed Submarines. [online] Vox. Available at: <https://www.vox.com/2018/4/2/17096566/pakistan-india-nuclear-war-submarine-enemies> [Accessed 19 May 2020].

Jalil, G., 2016. Analysis Of Indian Naval Capabilities: Implications For Pakistan. [online] Issi.org.pk. Available at: <http://issi.org.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Final-Issue-brief-Ghazala_dated_14-10-2016.pdf> [Accessed 19 May 2020].

Khan, B., 2018. Steel Cut For The Second Of Pakistan’S Four Type 054A/P Frigates. [online] Quwa. Available at: <https://quwa.org/2018/12/20/steel-cut-for-the-second-of-pakistans-four-type-054a-p-frigates/> [Accessed 19 May 2020].

Nizamani, S., 2014. India’s Emerging Indian Ocean Strategy. IPRI Journal XIV, (1), pp.66-80.

Pant, H.V. ed., 2016. The rise of the Indian Navy: internal vulnerabilities, external challenges. Routledge.

Raza, S., 2019. Pakistan Navy’S Blue Water Ambitions - Global Village Space. [online] Global Village Space. Available at: <https://www.globalvillagespace.com/pakistan-navys-blue-water-ambitions/> [Accessed 19 May 2020].

Romaniuk, S., and Burgers, T., 2019. Pakistan’S New Generation Of Chinese Warships. [online] Thediplomat.com. Available at: <https://thediplomat.com/2019/01/pakistans-new-generation-of-chinese-warships/> [Accessed 19 May 2020].

The Economic Times, 2019. Significant Steps Towards Modernization Of Armed Forces, But Challenges Remain. [online] The Economic Times. Available at: <https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/significant-steps-towards-modernization-of-armed-forces-but-challenges-remain/articleshow/67405882.cms> [Accessed 19 May 2020].

Chinese J-20 and American F-35 Lightning: Comparing advanced Military Equipment

2020-05-15T04:00:00.001+05:00

Chinese Chengdu J-20, American Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning, Military Equipment

Chinese J-20 and American F-35 Lightning are among the most sophisticated fighter jets ever made. The stealth technology of these fifth-generation fighter jets provides the respective Air Forces with the capability to conduct both defensive and offensive operations. This article makes a comparison between Chinese J-20 and American F-35 Lightning fighter jets by considering their specifications and capabilities.

Chengdu J-20

J-20 is a fifth-generation fighter jet developed by China. It is a stealth aircraft having twin engines. The aircraft is developed in Chengdu Aerospace Corporation with an estimated cost of 110 million USD per unit. China formed the first combat unit of J-20s in 2018, and over 20 J-20s are reportedly in service. J-20 shows critical efforts made by China to develop an advanced aircraft in order to improve the capabilities of its regional power projection and strengthen its abilities to target regional facilities and airbases of its adversary.

J-20 contains "subsystems" and "field signature" reducing technology that equip the fighter jet with stealth capability, and meet the internationally-accepted definition of fifth-generation aircraft. Fifth-generation aircraft refers to the fighter jets meeting the general criteria of stealth technology, highly integrated avionics, and supersonic cruising speed (China Power, 2020).

Chengdu J-20 fighter jet contains wide and long fuselage. It also contains a chiseled nose section having a frameless canopy. J-20 allows only one crew member. The air intake of the jet is located just behind the cockpit. Moreover, it has a delta wing having a forward-swept trailing edge.

A canard design provides the jet with transonic turn performance, excellent supersonic capabilities, and enhanced short-field landing performances as compared to the traditional design of the delta wing. The maximum speed of J-20 is 1.7 Mach or 2100 km/h with a cruising speed of 1802 km/h. J-20 is 20 meters long jet having a wingspan of 13 meters. The height of the plane is 4.45 meters. The plane has 19,391 kg of empty weight and 32,092 kg of loaded weight. Whereas, the take-off weight of the jet is about 36,290 kg. J-20 is supported by 2 Shenyang WS-10G afterburning turbofan engines. 76.18 kN dry thrust is produced along with 180 kN of thrust with afterburner (Jeyan, 2016).

As far as armaments are concerned, the J-20 fighter jet has two lateral bays to contain smaller air-to-air missiles and a bigger bay below the fuselage to contain various “surface attack weapons” and missiles. J-20 also contains various advanced electronic systems. These systems include electronically scanned array, passive electro-optical detection setup (for spherical coverage of 360^oaround the aircraft), and chin-mounted infrared track and search sensor (China Power, 2020).

The distributed Aperture system constitutes 6 electro-optic sensors that are similar to EODAS and provides the pilot with 360-degree coverage through sensor fusion system. This setup combines IR image and radar signals to enable improved situational awareness. Moreover, the combination of passive-optic tracking setup with integrated targeting pod is believed to be similar in design with F-35’s avionic suite. On the basis of the nose cross-section of J-20, and utilizing the known information regarding J-16 AESA radar’s single transmit or receive module surface, it is believed that J-20 can have space to contain radar that can fit 2000-2200 transmit/receive modules (Sina, 2016).

Chengdu J-20 possesses a glass cockpit. Two large LCD touchscreens are located side by side. In addition, 3 small auxiliary displays along with wide-angle HUD (holographic head-up display) are also present in the cockpit (Reed, 2012). J-20’s initial production models were containing AL-31 Russian engines. China aims to upgrade the current J-20 engine with the Chinese WS-15 engine in the coming years. These upgradations can provide this fighter jet with improved supersonic travel (supercruise) (China Power, 2020).

Lockheed Martin F-35

F-35 Lightning is a single-engine, single-seat stealth combat aircraft that can sustain extreme weather. It is supposed to perform strike and air superiority missions along with providing intelligence, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and surveillance capabilities. Lockheed Martin F-35 is the second fifth-generation aircraft to enter the service in US Air Force and costs between 95 million USD and 120 million USD (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2020).

The US military reportedly has over 450 F-35 including variants F-35 A, B, and C. F-35A is a standard model that is used by the American Air Force and provided to Air Forces of some friendly countries. F-35B is the vertical take-off variant that is designed for the Marine Corps. F-35C aircraft, on the other hand, is mostly used for carrier-based missions (Lopez, 2019).

The empty weight of F-35 is 15785 kg or 34,800 lb. F-35 has a height of about 4.48 meters, length of about 15.7 meters, and a wingspan of 13.1 meters. F-35 can have a maximum weight of 31751 kg or 70,000 lb. The supported weapons payload is 8160 kg. F-35 has a maximum "g" rating of 7.5, and a maximum speed of up to 1.6 Mach. The standard load of internal weapons constitutes two air-to-air missiles (AIM-120C/D) and two 2000 pound guided bombs (GBU-31 JDAM) (Lockheed Martin, 2020).

The single-engine fighter jet (F-35) is powered by low-bypass augmented turbofan (Pratt and Whitney F135) with a thrust of 191 kN. F135 has a higher bypass ratio (that improves subsonic fuel efficiency) and a bigger fan as compared to F119. The engine of F-35 also contributes to its stealth capabilities through low-observable augmenter which embodies fuel injectors into curved vanes. Ceramic radar absorbents are used to cover the vanes that in turn mask the turbine (JSF, 2020).

Radar cross-section or RCS of the F-35 is minimized by using radar-absorbent materials and proper shaping of the overall airframe. Alignment of edges, masking of the engine’s turbine and face, and skin panels’ serration help reduce the RCS. In addition, the DSI (diverter-less supersonic inlet) of F-35 makes use of forward-swept cowl and compression bump to eliminate the diverter cavity that in turn reduces the radar signature further (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2020).

For the preservation of stealth shaping, 2 internal weapon bays having four weapon stations are provided in F-35 aircraft. Two of those stations are outboard weapon stations that are supposed to contain ordnance up to 1100 kg or 680 kg. Whereas, the other two stations are inboard weapon stations that contain air-to-air missiles. Outboard station’s air-to-surface weapons include JDAM (“Joint Direct Attack Munition”), JSOW (Joint Standoff Weapon), paveway bomb series, and “wind connected munitions dispenser.” Wingtip pylons can carry AIM 132 or AIM 9X ASRAAMS (Robert, 2008). Wingtip pylons are canted outwards in order to decrease the radar cross-section. Additionally, the aircraft can also utilize 6 external weapons stations during operations that do not require stealth.

Moreover, advanced EW (electronic warfare) characteristics of F-35 enable pilots to track enemy jets, disrupt attacks, and jam radars effectively. The advanced avionics system of the plane provides pilots with real-time battlespace data with 360^ocoverage. The Electro-Optical Target System of F-35 is the sensor that combines IRST (“infrared search and track) functionality with FLIR ("forward-looking infrared"). The light-weight, high performance, and multifunction system improves the situational awareness of the pilot and provides him with precise air-to-surface and air-to-air targeting capabilities.

Similarly, the “Helmet Mounted Display System” of F-35 provides pilot complete information including altitude, airspeed, heading, warnings, and targeting information. The system is projected on the visor of the helmet (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2020).

Concluding Remarks

The comparison of F-35 and J-20 aircraft reveals that both the fighter planes are highly sophisticated planes having stealth capabilities. F-35 is a single-engine fighter jet as compared to J-20 which is a twin-engine jet. F-35 is lighter in weight as compared to J-20. Whereas, J-20 has a slightly higher speed of 1.7 Mach as compared to 1.6 Mach of F-35. The production cost of J-20 is relatively lower as compared to F-35 (depending on F-35's variants). Both fighter jets provide pilots with 360-degree vision coverage and are quite capable of both offensive and defensive attacks. J-20 is China’s first fifth-generation aircraft whereas, F-35 is 2^nd fifth-generation aircraft of the US after F-22, as per “Circa” 1990-present standards. Chinese criterion is different and they consider J-20 a fourth-generation aircraft despite the fact that J-20 fulfills all the requirements of fifth-generation jets, and is as capable as F-35. Chinese standards categorize all the jets with respect to the deployment period, and all the jets deployed during the 2010s are considered fourth-generation aircraft.

America has an edge in stealth technology jets because of previous experience with F-22 and they have deployed F-35s at a large scale where over 450 jets are reported to be deployed. The F-35B was deployed by the U.S in 2015 with Marine, followed by Air Force’s F-35A in 2016 and the Navy’s F-35C in the year 2019. China, on the other hand, is still bringing more improvements in the J-20 despite its comparable capabilities with F-35. That is why China has yet not deployed J-20 at large scale and only a few fighter jets are in service with Air Force.

Sources

China Power. (2020). Does China’s J-20 rival other stealth fighters?. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from https://chinapower.csis.org/china-chengdu-j-20/

Jeyan, M. (2016). Comparative study of F-22 Raptor and Chengdu J-20. Instrumentation Sciences And Technology, 2(1), 121-124. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324448571_Comparative_study_of_F-22_Raptor_and_Chengdu_J-20

JSF. (2020). Frequently asked questions. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from https://www.jsf.mil/contact/con_faqs.htm

Lockheed Martin Corporation. (2020). F-35 Capabilities | F-35 Lightning II. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from https://www.f35.com/about/capabilities

Lockheed Martin. (2020). F-35 Lightning II Program Status and Fast Facts. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from https://www.f35.com/assets/uploads/documents/F35FastFacts5_2020.pdf

Lopez, T. (2019). DOD Finalizes Purchase Plan for F-35 Aircraft. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2002585/dod-finalizes-purchase-plan-for-f-35-aircraft/

Reed, J. (2012). Pic of the Week: China's J-20 Stealth Fighter Head-On - Defensetech. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from http://www.defensetech.org/2012/06/01/pic-of-the-week-the-j-20s-hud/

Robert, H. (2008). UK changes JSF configuration for ASRAAM. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from http://www.janes.com/products/janes/defence-security-report.aspx?ID=1065928225

Sina. (2016). Depth: The J-20 radar has a breakthrough power that is 50% higher than the F22, and the detection range is farther. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/jssd/2016-05-31/doc-ifxsqxxs8035282.shtml

موبائل فون اور سوشل میڈیا کے منفی اثرات

2020-05-03T20:47:00.000+05:00

سوشل میڈیا ذاتی خیا لات, معلومات, اور دیگر معاملات کے اظہار خیال کا بہترین طریقہ کار ہے. سوشل میڈیا صارفین مختلف گروپس اور کمیو نیٹیز کے ذرئعیے اپنے دوستوں اور عزیزوں کے ساتھ رابطے میں رہتے ہیں. جہاں سوشل میڈیا تفریح کے اسباب فراہم کرتا ہے وہیں بچے اور طلبہ اپنی تعلیمی سرگرمیوں کے لیے اس کا استمعال کرسکتے ہیں.
جدید سمارٹ فونز کی آمد سے جہاں سوشل میڈیا کا استمعال بڑھ گیا ہے وہیں مزید اپپس متعارف ہوئین جن میں واٹس اپپ سر فہرست ہے . جدید  سمارٹ فونز کی آمد نے جہاں سوشل میڈیا  اور دوسرے پلیٹ فارمز کی مدد سے رابطے بڑھا نے میں کردار ادا کیا وہیں بہت سے نقصانات کو بھی جنم دیا ہے. ماہرین کے مطابق ایک دن میں موبائل فون, سوشل میڈیا اور واٹس اپپ کا 4 گھنٹے سے زائد استمعال خطرناک ثابت ہوسکتا ہے.
موبائل فون اپپس اور سوشل میڈیا کا غیر ضروری استمعال بہت سی جسمانی ذہنی بیماریوں کو جنم دے سکتا ہے . ایک تحقیق کے مطابق سوشل میڈیا کا زائد استمعال ذہنی دباو, تھکاوٹ , اور نفسیاتی مشکلات پیدا کرتا ہے . یہ مسائل زیادہ  تر 16 سے 26 سال کے نوجوانوں میں پاے جاتے ہیں . ایک اور تحقیق کے مطابق سوشل میڈیا کا زائد استمعال کرنے والے لوگوں میں سر درد , قمر درد , اور آنکھوں کے مسائل زیادہ تعداد میں رپورٹ ہوتے ہیں. اور موبائل اپپس کا زائد استمعال کرنے والوں میں سے 25 فیصد ایسے افراد ہیں جو ہائی بلڈ پریشر جیسے امراض کا شکار ہوجاتے ہیں. ماہرین ان امراض کی وجہ موبائل فون اپپس کی تھری-ڈی سکرینز کو بتاتے ہیں.

ایک اور تحقیق کے مطابق موبائل فونز اور سوشل میڈیا اپپس کا زیادہ استمعال طلبہ کی تعلیمی سرگرمیوں کو بھی متاثر کرتا ہے. ان ٹیکنولیجیز کا بے تحاشا استمعال نوجوانوں کو کاھل بنا سکتا ہے جس سے ان کی سوچنے  سمجھنے کی صلاحیت متاثر ہوسکتی ہے جو ان کی تعلیم پر اثر انداز ہوتا ہے .. علاوہ از یں ان اپپس کا زیادہ استمعال وقت بھی برباد کرتا ہے جس سے روز مرہ کے کام متاثر ہوتے ہیں . ان اپپس کا استمعال کرنے والے سوشل میڈیا کے استمعال میں اس قدر مگن ہوتے ہیں کے وہ دور دراز لوگوں کے ساتھ رابطے میں رہتے ہیں لیکن اپنے آس پاس کے لوگوں سے لا تعلق ہوجاتے ہیں.
سوشل میڈیا کا مناسب استمعال جہاں سود مند واقعہ ہوتا ہے وہیں اس کا زیادہ استمعال  بہت سے منفی رویوں کو بھی جنم دیتا ہے. سوشل میڈیا کسی حد تک ایک غیر حقیقی دنیا بن چکا ہے . اور جب نوجوان اس غیر حقیقی دنیا سے اپنا مو از نہ کرتے ہیں تو وہ احساس کمتری کا شکار ہوجاتے ہیں . دوسروں کا چکا چو ند طرز زندگی اور کسی حد تک ترمیم شدہ جسمانی شبیہ نوجوانوں میں حسد جیسے منفی رو یوں کو جنم دے سکتا ہے.
لحاظہ سوشل میڈیا کا مناسب حد تک ہی استمعال کرنا چاہے  اور غیر ضروری لوگوں سے رابطے سے پرہیز  کرنا چاہے . والد ین کی بھی ذمّہ داری بنتی ہے کے اپنے بچوں کو موبائل فون کے مناسب استمعال کا سبق دیں. اس کے علاوہ تعلیمی ادا روں کا بھی فرض بنتا ہے کے وہ مختلف سیمینارز  اور پروگرام ترتیب دیں جن میں سوشل میڈیا کے بے تحاشا استمعال کے منفی اثرات کو با ور کروا یا جاے اور اس کے مناسب استمعال کی ترغیب دی جاے.

Negative Effects of Social Media Addiction

2020-04-23T01:24:00.000+05:00

Social media addiction, Negative effects of social media addiction

1. Introduction

Negative effects of social media addiction have been under discussion for the last few years. Social media can be seen as the interactive computer-mediated platforms that help create and share ideas, information, career interests, or other types of expressions through virtual networks and communities. Content generated by social media including text posts, videos, digital photos, comments, and other data created through online interaction is social media’s lifeblood. Such platforms facilitate the creation of online social communities and connect the users’ profile with that of other groups or individuals (Obar & Wildman, 2015).

Facebook, Renren, Google+, Twitter, Snapchat, WhatsApp, YouTube, and flick, etc. are a few examples of social media platforms. Social media is a useful tool that has provided communities with enhanced connectivity. People can connect with each other in all parts of the world. Businesses have got more opportunities to understand consumer needs. Students have more chances to share their knowledge as social media enables them to exchange their ideas and learn new things.

But the excess of everything can be dangerous. One of the experimental studies observed that social media overuse among the youth, of the age group of 16 years to 25 years, has increased. About 55% of the enhanced addiction cases were found in the youngsters of the age group of 16 years to 20 years (Singh, Amiri & Sabbarwal, 2017). This article argues that despite the positive aspects of social media, its overuse can be very harmful and can have many harmful effects.

2. Discussion

As social media are technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of ideas online, these must be used for communication in a balanced way. People can use social media platforms to keep in touch with their friends, family members, or colleagues across the globe. But, the overuse of these technologies can have many social and health problems. Some of the impacts of the overuse of social media are discussed below.

2.1 Negative Impacts

2.1.1 Productivity Loss and Real-Life Disturbances

Many experts have indicated that using social media platforms for more than 29 hours a week can be referred to as addictive behaviour (Singh, Amiri & Sabbarwal, 2017). It has been observed that youngsters are focusing more on social media websites to spend most of their time. The addictive behavior of these websites often signifies maladaptive use.

One of the studies analyzed the impacts of the overuse of social media on the educational performance of students in India. It was found that social media websites proved to be harmful and non-productive, and could extinct the youth’s future. The overuse of social media impacted the school grades of students negatively. The researchers concluded that over-utilization of social media platforms decreased the users’ productive capacity because of continuous surfing that in turn affected their grades (Bhargava & Rani, 2015).

The addictive element of social media platforms is harmful. The overutilization of these websites makes people unenthusiastic and sluggish to have real-life interactions with people, especially their families. Although these websites connect people online through virtual networks, their real-life is ruined when the use of social media exceeds a certain limit. When someone gets involved extensively, he or she eventually cuts off from their surroundings and society. It also results in a time wastage that can otherwise be utilized for productive activities and tasks (Jain, 2019).

2.1.2 Mental and Physical Health Issues

Social media addiction can have disastrous impacts on the physical and mental health of the users as well. These impacts can include strain, anxiety, mental fatigue, and panic-stricken, etc. One of the surveys indicated that people who overuse social media have high levels of anxiety and they may become panic-stricken if they stop using social media (Singh, Amiri & Sabbarwal, 2017). The majority of the victims are youngsters and they can often have problems like back pain, headache, hand corns, and eye strain. It was also found that 25% of the people who overuse social media face high blood pressure problems due to 3D and 2D monitors of various social media apps.

The usage of these applications for longer periods makes people watch the screen for longer periods. This affects their physical health. 21% of the people who abnormally use social media apps face problems related to stomach and digestion due to lack of adequate sleep and the body's physical movement.

2.1.3 Distorted Body Image

Social media presents people as a perfect figure. People often use Photoshop to glorify themselves. These edited and enhanced images are found everywhere on social media, and can result in a distorted body image among youngsters. Bulimia and Anorexia can be seen as a fall out of these body image crisis situations (Akram & Kumar, 2017).

2.1.4 Cyber Harassing and Bullying

As per the report of PewCenter, many youngsters have faced digital bullying in the past few years. Anyone can make an account with an anonymous identity and do anything without being traced. Terrorizing messages, dangers, and gossips can be shared with many people to create uproar and inconvenience among the general public. People who overuse social media, and join unknown groups and get connected with unknown people may have to come across intimidation messages, racial slurs, and rumors. These aspects of social media can create chaos and discomfort in society (Jain, 2019).

2.1.5 Reduced Intellectual Level

The people having more exposure to social media are more likely to absorb unauthenticated information. The learning level of youngsters also gets reduced as they rely mostly on the non-academic information and non-intellectual debates that only guide and inform them in general. Plenty of general level discussions may reduce the focus and concentration on learning as well as retaining information. Consistently checking social media sites while studying or doing any other work reduces the ability to concentrate on a particular task due to distractions (Jain, 2019).

3. Conclusions and Suggestions

The normal use of social media is beneficial in many ways as it connects people in all parts of the world. But, the overuse of social media can result in wastage of productive time, mental and physical health issues, cyberbullying, distortion of body image, and reduced intellectual level of learners. So, it is necessary to keep check and balance on your own exposure as well as the exposure of your dears to social media. Parents should regularly check the activities of their teenage children on social media to keep them from using these websites unnecessarily. If the activities of children are observed on the internet, it can be helpful for the educational performance and learning purpose of their children (Akram & Kumar, 2017).

Concerned competitive authorities and internet service providers should also analyze the negative impacts of social media and provide a better and controlled environment to youngsters. Schools, colleges, and communities should arrange awareness programs regarding the appropriate use of social media. These training programs should focus on creating awareness regarding the negative impacts of social media addiction and encouraging children and adults to get involved in other healthy activities in order to avoid the unnecessary use of social media.

Sources

Akram, W., & Kumar, R. (2017). A study on the positive and negative effects of social media on society. International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering, 5(1), 351-354.

Bhargava, A., & Rani, M. (2015). The influence of social media on Indian teenagers. International Journal of Science, Technology & Management, 4(1), 246-252.

Jain, A. R. D. V. (2019). POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON ADOLESCENTS. Journal Current Science, 20(5).

Obar, J. A., & Wildman, S. S. (2015). Social media definition and the governance challenge-an introduction to the special issue. Obar, JA, and Wildman, S.(2015). Social media definition and the governance challenge: An introduction to the special issue. Telecommunications policy, 39(9), 745-750.

Singh, M. M., Amiri, M., & Sabbarwal, S. (2017). Social Media Usage Positive and Negative Effects on the LifeStyle of Indian Youth. Iranian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research, 5(3).

Managing stress during Pandemic: 9 Ways to cope with stresses related to fear and social distancing

2020-04-08T20:43:00.001+05:00

Managing stress during pandemic, How to manage stress and anxiety while working from home?

Managing stress during Pandemic: Coronavirus outbreak was first reported to the WHO by Chinese authorities on the 31^st of December 2019. The outbreak initiated from Wuhan city. Almost all the countries in the world have been affected by this outbreak. After struggling for a few months, China has somehow controlled the further spread of the virus. Whereas, other countries are still finding ways to control the spread of the virus. Various efforts are being made to develop an appropriate vaccine for the COVID-19 disease.

The spread of COVID-19 disease has made people, in almost all parts of the world, stay at their homes. This situation can be stressful at times and may cause anxiety and fear. Coping with this stress in an appropriate way can make the community stronger. Social distancing can have its risks as human beings are considered social animals. Loneliness and isolation may exacerbate depression and anxiety that in turn can impact the physical health of people. Working from home may not be much stressful in normal conditions. But, knowing the fact that the current lockdown may go on indefinitely may stress people.

Experts believe that feeling stressed under these circumstances is quite normal. But, maintaining your psychological health and mental well-being is as crucial as taking care of your physical health (WHO, 2020). Managing stress during a pandemic is a critical issue. People of different ages may react to stressful situations differently. Stresses during a pandemic may include worry and fear about one’s own health or the health of loved ones, depression, difficulty in concentrating, and changes in eating and sleeping patterns, etc. (CDC, 2020).

People need to take care of themselves by ensuring sufficient rest and healthy food and healthy activities. Some of the ways, as suggested by doctors, WHO experts, and psychologists, of managing stress during a pandemic are discussed below.

1. Develop a Healthy Schedule

The normal routine of most of the people in the world is disrupted because of the coronavirus outbreak. One should set a schedule even during holidays or off time. So, you can make a schedule of eating as well as other activities in order to keep lives in order. Organized activities help bring balance in routine matters that in turn reduces the overall stress level of body (WHO, 2020).

2. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness can be thought of as a form of mediation in which one focusses on being fully aware of what he or she is feeling and sensing at a particular moment without any interruption. Practicing mindfulness can involve guided imagery, breathing methods, and other activities that relax the mind and body to reduce stress (Merkes, 2010). One of the mindfulness exercises is sitting mediation. It includes sitting comfortably with a straight back. Your hands should be in the lap and feet should be flat on the floor. Now breathe through your nose while focussing on the breath moving in and then out of the body. No physical sensation or thought should interrupt you in order to have peace of mind. You can repeat this exercise twice or even thrice a day.

3. Label your Emotions

Labeling emotions is another way to manage your stress. Researchers at UCLA found that giving a name to a particular emotion or feeling reduces its intensity. You should take a minute several times each day and concentrate on your feelings. Are you feeling anxious, frustrated, overwhelmed, confused or sad in the current situation? You need to acknowledge your feeling rather than fighting it. This will help you in reducing your stress level (Science Daily, 2007)

4. Take a Break

It is believed that disease can be held in someone's body by thoughts. If you feel unwell, don’t talk about it as it can add energy to illness. If someone talks about the current situation, you may shift the conversation towards good things. Constant updates keep your mind alert all the time that may become distressing. Media distancing is as important as social distancing. You should find the right balance of your exposure to news. Try to stick only to trustworthy sources like WHO and CDC etc. Continuous exposure to news can cause a fear of disease. This fear is dangerous. Psychologists believe that the fear can prepare your body organs to possibly catch the disease that in turn may even influence your immunity. So, you should shift your concentration to other activities rather than just updating yourself with the current situation.

5. Connect with Others

Connecting with others is extremely important during times of fear and uncertainty. Doctors believe that isolation and fear can cause anxiety and depression. So, people should make a point in order to regularly connect with others. You can dedicate a specific time of a day to reach out to your friends, colleagues, and family members regularly via text, phone, or social media platforms (CDC, 2020).

6. Gratitude

People often focus on the negative thoughts while they are stressed. One should handle this situation by thinking about the things one is grateful for. One can start his or her day by noting down three good things one has experienced. Reliving the good experiences can make people feel happier and relaxed.

7. Focus on Controllable Things

In the crisis situation, there can be many things that are out of one's control. For example, no one has control over how long this pandemic lasts, what will happen next in our communities, and how other people will behave. Many people overthink these things and keep searching these things on the internet and news channels. As long as you focus on these questions having unknown answers, this will take you to nowhere. This can make you feel anxious, drained, and overwhelmed.

So, you should focus on what is in your control i.e. be careful and follow all the precautionary measures. Wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds with soap or sanitizer. Avoid touching your face. Stay at home even if you don't have symptoms of a disease. Avoid non-essential travel and shopping, and avoid gatherings of more than ten people.

8. Community Work help Manage Stress levels

The people who help and support others in need, especially during a crisis, are more likely to be happier and healthier. Taking care of others can improve your well-being and mental health. Rodlescia, a social and health psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Carnegie Mellon, stated that volunteer work can help reduce the stress that in turn results in positive health outcomes (Watson, 2013). Much of the suffering accompanying the pandemic originates from feeling powerless. Doing helpful and kind acts may help us regain a feeling of control over our own life. You can reach out to the elderly and disabled who are isolated. You may leave food packages on their doorsteps. You can also donate money or food items to food banks.

9. Learn New Things

Learning new things can also be helpful in managing stress during pandemic related isolation. One thing excessively available in isolation is time. You may spend your time while feeling angry and worried. Or alternatively, you can utilize this time to develop a new interest or skill. Learning can build confidence and develop a feeling of self-worth. New skills can be cooking in a kitchen, gardening, gaining new qualifications, or improving writing and reading skills etc. Keeping oneself busy in learning new things can take someone away from his or her current surroundings that in turn can positively impact mental health.

Sources

CDC. (2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Retrieved 8 April 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html

Merkes, M. (2010). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for people with chronic diseases. Australian journal of primary health, 16(3), 200-210.

Science Daily. (2007). Putting Feelings Into Words Produces Therapeutic Effects In The Brain. Retrieved 8 April 2020, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070622090727.htm

Watson, S. (2013). Volunteering may be good for body and mind. Harvard Health Publishing. Retrieved October, 17, 2018.

WHO. (2020). Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak. Retrieved 8 April 2020, from https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/mental-health-considerations.pdf

Coronavirus Pandemic Conspiracy Theories: Was it the US, or China itself? | War Strategies

2020-03-26T18:29:00.003+05:00

Coronavirus Pandemic Conspiracy, Coronavirus outbreak, Coronavirus disease 2019, War Strategies

Coronavirus pandemic conspiracy theories are not the new concept anymore. Some segments of society including some politicians in China and the US believe that the virus causing this pandemic may be a modified version of previous coronaviruses that was prepared using level-4 bio-safety lab. Both countries blame each other for the spread of the virus. Leaders of some other countries have also raised questions about the current coronavirus outbreak. The current coronavirus outbreak has caused over 14000 deaths across the world with the highest number of deaths in Italy, Spain, China, and Iran. Almost the whole world is partially locked down with limited economic activities.

A new leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard core (IRGC) also claimed that the coronavirus outbreak is actually biological warfare used by China. Iranian leader stated that everyone knew that this virus came from China and has affected the Iranian regime much harder. This seemed to be a bizarre statement as China itself is hit hard and suffered a lot due to coronavirus (Young, 2020). But, the interesting point to be noted here is that why would Iran blame China for all this? Iran needs China to buy Iranian Oil in black. Moreover, Iran also needs Chinese cooperation and technology in many other sectors as well. Still, Iran has held China responsible for this outbreak. In this scenario, Iranian allegations over China raise serious questions.

The official stance of the Chinese government on the current coronavirus outbreak is that the coronavirus initiated from a seafood market in Wuhan. It is important to note that animals including rats, snakes, foxes, koalas, peacocks, wolf, and salamanders do not interact ordinarily with each other in this market. This stance becomes a bit confusing because of one of the studies on the current outbreak.

A study conducted by Huang et al. showed that the first 3 infections of coronavirus reported in early December could not find any link to the food market in Wuhan. Similarly, the 11 cases among the next 41 cases analyzed were also not connected to the Wuhan food market. These findings indicate that the true reason for virus spread may be different than officially reported. It looks like the strain that infected human beings across the world emerged earlier than it was officially reported (Huang et al., 2020). Some of the most relevant theories regarding virus spread are discussed below.

Theory-1 (China is allegedly responsible)

The first theory holds China responsible for the release of the coronavirus. The virus was carried to china from Canada in a mysterious ship. Canada's NML Winnipeg facility received the virus from Dutch lab in 2013 in order to grow the stocks of this virus for assessing the diagnostic tests. The transfer of viruses to China resulted in a major scandal where Bio-warfare researchers showed their concerns regarding the transfer of lethal virus to China.

The investigation of the event identified Chinese agents working for the NML laboratory. The group of Chinese virologists was forcibly dispatched from the Canadian NML laboratory. Xiangguo Qiu was a scientist at the NML laboratory and worked there with her husband who was also a biologist. These scientists (husband and wife) along with another agent were dispatched after these allegations (GreatGameIndia, 2020).

Qiu worked at the NML laboratory as the head of the vaccine development team. Chinese Biological warfare laboratories allegedly collaborated with Dr. Qiu. Qiu made about five trips to Wuhan National Biosafety Lab of the Academy of sciences between 2017 and 2018. Interestingly, this laboratory is situated just 20 miles away from the seafood market from where the coronavirus spread initiated. This shows the interest of the Chinese military in biological weapons as the emerging domain of warfare. This theory strongly believes that the current virus is manmade. China stole it from the Canadian laboratory to use it in biological weapons. But, unfortunately, the virus was accidentally released, before it could be used as a weapon, because of security lapse in the laboratory (Mosher, 2020).

Theory 2

The second prevailing conspiracy theory holds the dominant Western powers responsible for the current coronavirus outbreak. According to this opinion, the US and its allies are trying to pressurize China to contain its increasing influence and power. These concerns have been expressed by the spokesman of the foreign ministry of China. Zhao Lijian, in his tweet, shared his concerns by blaming the US army for introducing the coronavirus in China. He further said that 300 athletes of the US army participated in 7^th Military world games in October that were held in Wuhan. The foreign ministry of China claimed that infected athletes were deliberately sent to China to let the virus spread in Wuhan (Li, 2020).

Mr. Zhao indicated that disease may have initiated in the US. He claimed that patient zero might have been found in the US. However, he could not identify the name of the hospital or the number of patients who were infected in the US (Myers, 2020). If these claims are believed to be right, then the possibility of US soldiers bringing the virus to China may have some weight. It is also a fact that genetic engineering of coronavirus has been happening in military and medical labs for decades. The US also has 13 bio-safety level-4 labs that research and work on easily transmitted pathogens causing fatal diseases. The operations of these laboratories also support the idea of unnatural production of coronavirus.

Moreover, the research scientists believe that such types of viruses rarely jump species barrier without any external assistance like human involvement. Thus, the chances of this virus being a natural viral element are extremely low. The investigation has also shown the zero association of subsequent cases with the seafood market in Wuhan. This also reduces the chances of accidental release of this virus from the Chinese laboratory (Pakistan Defence Forum, 2020). Some previous incidents also indicate the possibility of human involvement in such mysterious situations. For example, the collapse of China’s pig farm industry in 2019 was propagated through drones where these drones sprayed the pigs with flu (Metallicman, 2020).

Russian biochemists also believe that the current coronavirus outbreak is a result of human involvement. It is allegedly believed that this act was aimed at isolating China from the rest of the world. But, this went wrong at some stage, and virus spread across the world. Some incidents were also reported in China where some Americans were caught collecting Chinese DNA samples (Metallicman, 2020). These facts indicate that America may be waging a biological war with China. But, this time it is really serious. It may be far worse than even WWI and WWII. This time it is done without any of Act of War or Congressional approval.

Conclusions

Keeping in view the facts and incidents that have happened during the last three or four months, it can be believed that there can be three possible reasons behind the spread of the current coronavirus. The first possibility is that the current outbreak was natural that initiated from the seafood market in Wuhan. But, some studies have challenged this fact as they found no association of subsequent cases with this market. So, the other theory that originates is that it was an accidental release from the Chinese Biosafety laboratory situated near the Wuhan seafood market. But, as it is believed that such types of viruses rarely jump species barrier, it may be believed that the claims of China are true regarding the alleged involvement of the US troops in spreading this virus.

Both theories may be given importance for an instance. Although various incidents indicate some sort of conspiracy, some of the supporting links are still missing that could validate these theories. And if it is true, this reflects that the bilateral economic dispute between two strong countries has put the safety of the whole world at stake. But, irrespective of the factors behind this outbreak, the situation has gone out of control and the world powers have been unable to manage it so far. Even the world super powers have no answer to this deadly virus despite having facilities of testing and experimenting these types of viruses. Now, various efforts are being made to develop some vaccine, in order to manage the possible consequences of this disease, that may take months.

Sources

GreatGameIndia, 2020. Coronavirus Bioweapon - How China Stole Coronavirus From Canada And Weaponized It | Greatgameindia. [online] GreatGameIndia. Available at: <https://greatgameindia.com/coronavirus-bioweapon/> [Accessed 25 March 2020].

Huang, C., Wang, Y., Li, X., Ren, L., Zhao, J., Hu, Y., Zhang, L., Fan, G., Xu, J., Gu, X. and Cheng, Z., 2020. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. The Lancet, 395(10223), pp.497-506.

Li, J., 2020. A Conspiracy Theory Linking The US Army To The Coronavirus Now Has Official Chinese Endorsement. [online] Quartz. Available at: <https://qz.com/1817736/china-fuels-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-blaming-us-army/> [Accessed 25 March 2020].

Metallicman, 2020. Was The 2020 Wuhan Coronavirus An Engineered Biological Attack On China By America For Geopolitical Advantage?. [online] The Unz Review. Available at: <https://www.unz.com/article/was-the-2020-wuhan-coronavirus-an-engineered-biological-attack-on-china-by-america-for-geopolitical-advantage/#swine-flu-was-propagated-by-drones> [Accessed 26 March 2020].

Mosher, S., 2020. Don’T Buy China’S Story: The Coronavirus May Have Leaked From A Lab. [online] Nypost.com. Available at: <https://nypost.com/2020/02/22/dont-buy-chinas-story-the-coronavirus-may-have-leaked-from-a-lab/> [Accessed 25 March 2020].

Myers, S., 2020. China Spins Tale That The U.S. Army Started The Coronavirus Epidemic. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/world/asia/coronavirus-china-conspiracy-theory.html> [Accessed 25 March 2020].

Pakistan Defence Forum, 2020. Was Coronavirus An Engineered Biological Attack On China By America. [online] Pakistan Defense. Available at: <https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/was-coronavirus-an-engineered-biological-attack-on-china-by-america.653718/> [Accessed 26 March 2020].

Young, J., 2020. An Iranian Leader Says That The Coronavirus Is A Chinese Biological Weapon Of Mass Destruction. [online] VCY America. Available at: <https://www.vcyamerica.org/prophecy-today/2020/03/12/an-iranian-leader-says-that-the-coronavirus-is-a-chinese-biological-weapon-of-mass-destruction-2/> [Accessed 25 March 2020].

(Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19 | کورونا وائرس اور عوامی غیر ذمہ داری

2020-03-19T22:30:00.002+05:00

کورونہ وائرس، جو کے چین کے شہر ووہان سے پھیلا،  اب تک نو ہزار سے اوپر زندگیاں نگل چکا ہے۔ انتہائی سلیقے سے کیے گئے انتظامات کے باوجود چین مے کافی تعداد مے اموات ہویں ۔ چین کے بعد سب سے زیادہ اموات اٹلی اور ایران میں رپورٹ ہوئیں ۔ دنیا کے دوسرے ممالک بشمول امریکا، برطانیہ، شمالی کوریا، جنوبی کوریا،  اور آسٹریلیا وغیرہ میں بھی کورونا وائرس نے تباہی مچائی ہے۔ 

جہاں دنیا کے دوسرے ممالک اس وبا سے متاثر ھوئے ہیں وہیں پاکستان بھی کورونا وائرس کے اثرات سے محفوظ نہیں رہ سکا۔ پاکستان میں کورونا وائرس مبینہ طور پے ایران کے راستے سے داخل ہوا جہاں مختلف زائرین واپسی پر یہ وائرس پاکستان لا ے ۔ مناسب انتظامات اور بروقت کاروائی نا ہونے کی وجہ سے یہ وائرس ملک میں مزید پھیلتا گیا۔ 

حکومت نے مزید پھیلاؤ روکنے کے لیے ملک بھر کے تعلیمی اداروں میں چھٹیوں کا اعلان کردیا۔  لیکن عوام نے بجاے احتیاط برتنے کے ان چھٹیوں کو تفریح کا ذریعہ بنا لیا جس سے کورونا وائرس مزید پھیل گیا ۔ اس چیز کے مدنظر حکومت نے ٹرین اور انٹر سٹی ٹرانسپورٹ پر پابندی کا اعلان کردیا۔ 

اب تک پاکستان میں کورونا وائرس کے 300 سے اوپر کیس رپورٹ ہوچکے ہیں اور 3 افراد اپنی جان گنوا چکے ہیں۔  اس چیز کے پیش نذر حکومت کو مزید سخت انتظامات کرنے کی ضرورت ہے تا کہ لوگوں کو گھروں تک محدود کیا جا سکے۔  حکومت نے اب تک ذمہ داری کا مظاہرہ کیا ہے لیکن اس وبا پر قابو پانے کے لئے مزید اقدامات کی ضرورت ہے۔ 

حکومت کو چاہئے کے عوام میں کورونا وائرس سے مطلق آگہی پیدا کی جاے۔  عوام الناس کو چاہے کے عوامی اجتماعات مے جانے سے گریز کریں اور غیر ضروری گھروں سے باہر نا نکلیں ۔ باتھروم استعمال کرنے کے بعد ہاتھ اچھے طریقے سے دھویں اور وقفے وقفے سے ہاتھ منہ کسی معیاری ہینڈ واش سے دھویں۔ ضروری کام ک سلسلے میں گھر سے باہر نکلنا ہو تو ماسک کا استعمال لازمی کریں۔ ۔۔کھانسی،  زکام،  اور بخار کی صورت میں فوری ڈاکٹر سے رابطہ کریں۔

اس کے علاوہ علما کرام کی خدمات بھی لیجائیں تا کہ عوام مے شعور پیدا کیا جا سکے۔ زندگی اور موت بلا شبہ اللہ کے ہاتھ میں ہے لیکن اللہ احتیاط اور زندگی کی حفاظت کا بھی حکم دیتا ہے۔  نماز بلا شبہ فرض عمل ہے لیکن نماز اور دیگر مذھبی معاملات کی ادائیگی کے دوران احتیاط کو ملحوظ خاطر رکھنے میں کوئی حرج نہیں۔  علاوہ ازیں ہمیں اللہ کے حضور التجا کرنی چاہے کے ہمیں ایسی تمام بیماریوں سے محفوظ رکھے ۔

High Temperatures counter Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) spread: A research-based article

2020-03-15T23:24:00.004+05:00

Coronavirus outbreak, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Impact of higher temperatures on coronavirus

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which began in Wuhan in December 2019, has become a global concern. WHO has declared it a pandemic. COVID-19, an illness caused by novel coronavirus, has caused over 6000 deaths across the globe (Worldometer, 2020). The threatening consequences of novel coronavirus have pushed researchers and epidemiologists to learn more about involved pathogens on an urgent basis.

Some meteorologists and medical specialists are searching for a seasonal approach to coronavirus. Keeping in view the similarities of COVID-19 disease with flu, scientists are expecting this disease to have a distinct winter peak in the cold areas because viruses associated with cold and flu are also more likely to spread during winter. The intensity of the disease is expected to decrease during the spring and summer season. But, the presence of the viruses may not completely be eliminated during summer (Harvard Medical School, 2020).

Scientists are interested in understanding the dependency of 2019-nCoV (novel coronavirus) virus on temperature because the 2019-nCoV virus belongs to the family of SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). SARS-CoV was transmitted from cats to humans in China in 2002. Researchers have already investigated the SARS-CoV virus and found that this virus is less likely to spread at higher temperatures. The current 2019-nCoV is believed to be caused by snakes or rabbits and can cause respiratory disease on the same pattern as SARS-CoV does. These respiratory diseases can be transmitted from one person to another person (CDC, 2020).

The experimental study conducted by Chan et al. concluded that higher temperatures at higher relative humidity can have a synergistic impact on the inactivation of SARS-CoV capabilities. Whereas, lower temperatures and lower humidity cause the prolonged existence of viruses on a contaminated surface. The environmental conditions having higher temperatures and higher humidity levels are therefore not likely to support the spread of the virus. Moreover, the excess use of air-conditioning can reduce the humidity and in turn promotes the spread of the virus. The researchers have also found that the threat of enhanced chance of SARS-CoV was 18.8-folds greater in days having lower air temperature than the days having higher temperatures in Hong-Kong (Chan et al., 2011).

Another study conducted by Casanova et al. assessed the risk posed by SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) on environmental surfaces under different environmental variables. This study also reported similar results as found by Chan et al. The researchers found that survival of the virus increased at lower air temperatures. A similar relation was found between air temperatures and inactivation for viruses enveloped in aerosols and liquids. Overall, lower humidity improves the chances of virus survival. But, the study found that relative humidity plays a lesser role at temperatures of 40^oC and above. At 40^oC, all three humidity levels (20%, 50%, 80%) caused rapid inactivation of SARS coronavirus. The study has also suggested that the relationship between air temperature, relative humidity, and virus inactivation can vary depending on types of viruses (Casanova et al., 2010).

Another group of experts has explained the relation between virus spread and hot weather in a different way. They argued that during the summer season people are less likely to gather outside in hot weather. Increased air circulation within buildings and enhanced UV light from the sunshine can help reduce the transmission of viruses in hotter weather.

Moreover, the pattern of spread of virus so far also suggests that the outbreak has mostly hit the areas with colder climates. The head of RTIICS (“RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences”) Souren Panja, in an interview with Times of India, briefed that weather can definitely be a deterrent for the attack of coronavirus in hotter areas.

RTIICS head further explained that the spread of nCoV is critical in countries with colder temperatures. For example, maximum cases have been reported in Wuhan where sub-zero minimum temperature was reported during January and February. Another case is Seoul in South Korea where a sharp increase in cases of coronavirus was found. The temperature found there was also mostly below or close to 0^oC in February. Similarly, the temperatures in countries like Italy, the US, and Iran etc. were below 10^oC in February and during the early days of March that supported the virus activation.

On the other hand, coronavirus entered India and Pakistan when the winter was almost over. At present, the moderate temperatures in India and Pakistan, combined with the precautionary measures taken by respective governments have somehow restricted the outbreak at large scale. So, if we take into consideration the patterns of coronavirus spread, findings of existing research works, hypotheses of scientists, and the family terms between 2019-nCoV and SARS-CoV, it can be believed that spread of coronavirus at large scale is less likely to take place if the temperature rises above 35^oC. The situation is believed to become better as the temperature rises further. Experts have also recommended to avoid air-conditioning and visiting low humidity surroundings and low-temperature areas in order to lower the chances of getting exposed to coronavirus.

Sources

Casanova, L. M., Jeon, S., Rutala, W. A., Weber, D. J., & Sobsey, M. D. (2010). Effects of air temperature and relative humidity on coronavirus survival on surfaces. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 76(9), 2712-2717.

CDC. (2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Retrieved 15 March 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html

Chan, K. H., Peiris, J. S., Lam, S. Y., Poon, L. L. M., Yuen, K. Y., & Seto, W. H. (2011). The effects of temperature and relative humidity on the viability of the SARS coronavirus. Advances in virology, 2011.

Harvard Medical School. (2020). Coronavirus Resource Center - As coronavirus spreads, many questions and some answers. Retrieved 15 March 2020, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center

Worldometer. (2020). COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK. Retrieved 15 March 2020, from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Coronavirus Outbreak: Is it ethical to kill Patient Zero to avoid further spread of disease?

2020-03-15T00:10:00.000+05:00

Coronavirus outbreak, coronavirus pandemic, coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

Coronavirus outbreak was first reported to the WHO by Chinese authorities on 31^st December 2019. The first case of coronavirus pandemic was reported in Wuhan city. The virus is now spread in over 106 countries. According to the latest statistics, over 144,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported across the world. About 5400 people have died across the globe and most of the deaths have been reported in China. According to the statistics, over 70,000 people have recovered after showing symptoms of the disease (Worldometer, 2020). World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus a pandemic after it affected over 100 countries of the world and caused thousands of deaths.

All the countries are taking precautionary measures and responding to the disease on priority bases. Healthcare systems across the world have provided patients with isolation wards to avoid further spread of the disease. Among all these efforts, a strange case appeared in North Korea where a patient having coronavirus was shot dead (Jamie, 2020).

According to reports, the patient was an official who returned from China and was kept in the isolation ward. He was later shot dead to completely eliminate the traces of the virus in the country. Further investigation is underway but, North Korean authorities have been denying these allegations.

This case has started a new debate regarding the ethical, legal, and religious implications of killing someone having an epidemic disease. The question arises in one’s mind that is this appropriate to kill anyone in order to avoid the further spread of epidemic disease? This article overviews some of the ethical and religious perspectives on killing any patient for the good of others.

1. Ethical and legal perspectives

In many countries of the world, killing a patient having a serious medical condition is prohibited due to the intrinsic disvalue of killing anyone. Hypocritical perspective also considers it wrong to kill seriously ill patients with or without the patient’s consent. These types of killings can put the relationship between patient and health care system at stake. The professional dignity of the medical field also acknowledges the right to objection to killing seriously ill patients. Medical ethics also recognize the right to object the killing of a patient in any form, either it is euthanasia or some other way of killing (Nunes & Rego, 2016).

2. Religious perspectives

As discussed above, most of the countries disallow euthanasia in any of its forms. But, some sections of society favor these types of acts in rare cases. But, even if these types of killings are in accordance with laws in some parts of the world, religious values of doctors may provide them with the right to object these practices. So let’s analyze this issue from religious perspectives in order to have better insight into the problem.

2.1 Islamic Perspective

All Muslims strongly believe in human life's sanctity. As per Islamic beliefs, the end of one's life is already fixed by God Who is the actual Creator and the Owner of one’s sacred life. Muslims believe that the life of human beings should end in a natural way as ordained by Allah Almighty. Islam does not allow any interference in the death of any human being through personal decisions or the assistance of the doctors (Godlee, 2015).

The religion Islam teaches that God has given life and the absolute authority of taking this life back also lies with God. Al-Quran (16:61) guides that time period for any one's life is fixed and no one can add or deduce a moment from this period. The Holy Quran further enhanced the sanctity of human life by instructing that one should not take the sacred life of human beings, other than to provide justice. (Al-Quran 17:33).

So, it can be believed that as per Islamic beliefs physicians or healthcare systems would be considered to have committed an illegal and immoral act if they involve themselves in killing any patient directly or indirectly at any stage. Islam forbids to deliberately end or hasten anyone’s life. In addition, Islam teaches to accept illness and suffering, and guides to be tolerant and patient in difficult times. Muslims believe that these sufferings can take away all their previous sins (Godlee, 2015).

2.2 Christianity

Christianity, in general, is also against the killing of innocent human beings. The medical conditions and severity of illness are irrelevant when it is about taking someone’s life. So voluntary and forced death is not supported in Christianity as well.

The stance of the Catholic Church

As per the beliefs of the Catholic Church, nothing and nobody can allow the killing of human beings in any way. Irrespective of the age or stage of life, no one is allowed to kill human beings whether they are infants, adults, old persons, or people suffering from an incurable disease. Moreover, human beings are not allowed to even ask for an act of killing for themselves or for others. According to the core beliefs of Christianity, killing someone for the good of others is a violation of the divine laws. Killing is considered a crime against life, offense against human beings, and an attack on humanity as a whole (Institute of Clinical Bioethics, 2011).

Protestant Denominations’ Position

Various protestant denominations often issue statements on killing seriously ill patients. Groups with conservative faiths mostly show their opposition against these acts. While liberal denominations are usually in favor of euthanasia. They believe that a person can decide to end his or her life if the pain is unbearable or if the circumstances are critical. Mixed thoughts are found on the non-voluntary or forced deaths of the patients if they are seriously ill or dangerous for others.

2.3 Jewish Perspective

Jewish laws also strongly condemn the acts of shortening anyone's life. The Jewish laws consider it murder if someone is killed even after the doctors declare that someone will die in any event. Thus, the Jewish beliefs acknowledge the sanctity of human life and do not support any act of killing some patients either in his or her own interest or in the interest of others (Institute of Clinical Bioethics, 2011).

Conclusions

Thus, on the basis of the ethical and various religious standards, it can be concluded the act of killing any person, who is suffering even from an incurable disease, cannot be justified. Only a few schools of thought support a voluntary death. Forced death is opposed by almost all of the religions and ethical standards. Thus, it can be concluded from all this discussion that it is unjust, illegal, and immoral to kill any patient who is seriously ill. In the scenario of the current coronavirus outbreak, patients may be kept in isolation wards if there is a possibility of the spread of the disease. They may also be confined to particular areas. But, all the patients must be provided with all the medical facilities unless they die with God’s will. Any act of killing someone to avoid further spread of the disease is unjust and illegal and must be condemned if it occurs in any part of the world.

Sources

Godlee, F. (2015). Assisted dying—time for a full and fair debate. Retrieved 14 March 2020, from https://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4517

Institute of Clinical Bioethics. (2011). Religious Perspectives On Euthanasia - Institute of Clinical Bioethics. Retrieved 14 March 2020, from https://sites.sju.edu/icb/religious-perspectives-on-euthanasia/

Jamie, P. (2020). Could This Be the Deadliest Country For Anyone Suspected With Coronavirus?. Retrieved 14 March 2020, from https://www.techtimes.com/articles/247610/20200226/north-korean-man-shot-dead-after-being-suspected-with-coronavirus.htm

Nunes, R., & Rego, G. (2016). Euthanasia: A Challenge to Medical Ethics.

Worldometer. (2020). COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK. Retrieved 14 March 2020, from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Delhi Riots 2020, a preplanned conspiracy? Current situation, facts, root causes, and aftermaths.

2020-03-12T23:07:00.000+05:00

Delhi Riots 2020, Root causes of Delhi riots and aftermaths, Delhi Riots Facts, Gujrat Riots

Delhi riots 2020 included various incidents involving religiously driven bloodshed, rioting, and property destruction in the North-Eastern part of Delhi. Indian Home Minister declared these riots a preplanned conspiracy against Indian unity. This bloodshed began on 23^rd February at night and caused the deaths of over 55 people. Most of the victims were Muslims who were shot, set afire, or cut using irregular blows (Slater, J., & Masih, 2020). Different pictures and videos emerged showing the scenes where wounded Muslims were beaten and forced to recite and memorize the national anthem in order to prove their loyalty.

Facts

The Muslim population in India is 200 million that is 14% of the total population. The local administration failed to protect the rights of this prominent minority in Delhi. According to an independent survey, over 120 houses, 320 shops, at least 2 schools, 3 factories, 4 mosques, and 300 vehicles were burnt or damaged during the riots. These properties mostly belonged to Muslims. In addition to that, thousands of people left their houses in order to save their lives (Express, 2020).

Despite the failure of the Delhi police, many Hindu families reportedly helped their Muslim neighbors. Many areas between Maujpur and Jaffrabad, that have a mixed population of Muslims and Hindus, guarded one another by barricading the neighborhood in order to prevent mobs from entering their areas. There were many other cases as well where both communities maintained communal harmony in their surroundings (Alavi & Jain, 2020).

The alarming thing regarding these riots is that the Delhi police department is facing accusations from witnesses, victims, opposition politicians, human rights organizations, and Muslim leaders that Delhi police could not protect minorities, and in certain situations, even incited violent attacks on Muslims. UN high commissioner for human rights also expressed his concerns over these killings. Similarly, the “US Commission on International Religious Freedom” also showed concerns over allegations of targeting and potentially disenfranchising Muslims in India (USCIRF, 2020).

Possible Causes of Delhi Riots

Many experts and analysts have proposed various theories to analyze the Delhi Riots in 2020. One prevailing opinion is that the Indian central government supported these riots to disperse the Protestants across India. In December 2019, protests started across India in response to the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) that allowed fast-tracked naturalization for all the immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. CAA is believed to be discriminatory to a Muslim community living in India (The Hindu, 2020).

CAA threatens Muslims’ existence when it gets combined with anticipated NRC (National Register of Citizens). BJP leaders, in an effort to disperse protesters, issued threats to Delhi Police and gave a deadline to clear the protest sites within a week. Top officials of Delhi police were warned to face the consequences if they failed to clear the areas. So, it is strongly believed that the Delhi police incited these riots under the pressure of the central government (Serhan, 2020).

Another opinion is that the Delhi riots were the reflection of "Gujrat Riots 2002," where more than 1000 people were killed. The majority of victims of the Gujarat riots were also Muslims. Riots initiated after 60 Hindu pilgrims got killed in a train fire. The coincidence is that Mr. Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat at that time and police were also accused of supporting mob. This fact indicates the direct or indirect involvement of the BJP government in the Delhi riots.

Hindutva ideology can be considered the root cause of violent riots in Delhi. The organizations like RSS have been the followers of this poisonous Hindutva philosophy. So, blood on the streets of New Delhi may not simply be the religious conflict but also a political conflict among two visions of India. One vision assumes India to be the secular state whereas, the other vision wants to make India a Hindu nationalist country. It was believed in even previous decades that BJP’s stance on Hindutva philosophy and conversion policy coincides with ever-increasing violent attacks on religious minorities in India (Marshall, 2004).

So, Delhi riots can somehow be related to Hindutva thinking. RSS and its allies are dreaming of a new brand of aggressive Hindutva that won’t provide space to other religious minorities in India. Many Hindus in India and across the world have also stood against this prevailing Hindutva culture in Indian society. The recent example is the protest by a progressive activist group based in the US. The group comprising Indian students strongly condemned the Delhi riots during President Trump’s maiden visit to India. The participants opposed the Hindutva ideology and claimed that most parts of the riots were allegedly carried out by right-wing Hindu extremists against Muslims (Kapur, 2020).

Therefore, the evidence suggests that the Delhi riots were not a conspiracy. Rather, these riots were incited by the prevailing extremism in the Indian culture. Some elements like protests against CAA and NRC can only be considered minor factors that caused this bloodshed. Delhi Police has been denying all the allegations and claiming to arrest over 1000 people who were allegedly involved in spreading the violence. The silence of the central BJP government over Delhi riots during earlier days, and the allegations on PM Modi regarding Gujrat riots may also be the coincidence. But, the current situation of Muslims in India raises serious questions regarding the safety of religious minorities in India in the years to come.

Sources

Alavi, M., & Jain, S. (2020). At Epicentre Of Delhi Riots, How A Mohalla Of Hindus And Muslims Kept Peace. Retrieved 9 March 2020, from https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/delhi-violence-at-epicentre-of-delhi-riots-how-a-mohalla-of-hindus-and-muslims-kept-peace-2186047

Express. (2020).Thousands of extremists brought to Delhi. Muslims attacked. Investigating commission. Retrieved 12 March 2020, from https://www.express.pk/story/2015020/10/?fbclid=IwAR24DH3SMbNDVo_zxFzJqPm5CSmBxnq43oKwNNxexA2J_xDp0HDMQILV2LE

Kapur, M. (2020). A black & white “Holi Against Hindutva” for Indian students in the US protesting Delhi riots. Retrieved 9 March 2020, from https://qz.com/india/1811015/yale-harvard-princetons-indian-students-to-protest-delhi-riots/

Marshall, P. (2004). Hinduism and Terror. Retrieved 9 March 2020, from https://www.hudson.org/research/4575-hinduism-and-terror

Serhan, Y. (2020). India Failed Delhi. Retrieved 12 March 2020, from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/03/india-modi-hindu-muslim-delhi-riots/607315/

Slater, J., & Masih, N. (2020). In Delhi’s worst violence in decades, a man watched his brother burn. Retrieved 9 March 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-delhis-worst-violence-in-decades-a-man-watched-his-brother-burn/2020/03/05/892dbb12-5e45-11ea-ac50-18701e14e06d_story.html

The Hindu, H. (2020). Shaheen Bagh residents brave the cold as anti-CAA stir enters Day 15. Retrieved 9 March 2020, from https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/shaheen-bagh-residents-brave-the-cold-as-anti-caa-stir-enters-day-15/article30422794.ece

USCIRF. (2020). USCIRF Condemns Violence in India’s Capital City. Retrieved 9 March 2020, from https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/press-releases-statements/uscirf-condemns-violence-in-india-s-capital-city

کورونا واایئرس اور ماسک مافیا | Coronavirus and Mask Mafia

2020-03-04T01:22:00.000+05:00

کورونا وایئر س ، جو کے 2019 کے آخر میں ایک مہلک وبا کی طور پہ

سامنے آیا اب تک 3200 سے اوپر جانین نگل چکا ہے جن میں زیادہ تَر تعداد چین سے ہے . 31 دسمبر کو پہلی دفعہ چینی حکام کی جانب سے وا یئر س رپورٹ کیا گیا . حالیہ ماہ کی پہلے ہفتے تک کورونا وائریس دنیا کی 76 ممالک بشمول چین ، امریکہ ، برطانیہ ، فرانس ، اور افغانستان میں پھیل چکا ہے . ماہرین کے مطابق 2008 مالی بُحْران کے بَعْد دنیا کی اسٹاک مارکیٹس میں پہلی دفعہ اتنی مندی کا رجحان دیکھا گیا ہے . چینی آ کانومی حاالیا کورونا وائریس سے 42 فیصد تک متاثر ہونے کی پیش گوئی کی گئی ہے . حالیہ وایئر س سے بینولاقوامی ایئرلائن انڈسڑی کو بھی 29 بلین ڈالر کا نقصان پہنچا ہے .

آنے والے وقتوں میں ماحرین عالمی سطح پر مزید نقصان کی پیش گوئی کر رہے ہیں . مختلف ملٹی نیشنل کمپنیون نے بھی اپنے احداف کا اَز سرے نو جائزہ لینا شروع کردیا ہے . جہاں پوری دنیا اِس وایئرس کے خوف میں مبتلا ہے ، پچھلے دنوں پاکستان میں بھی کورونا وائریس کا پہلا کیس رپورٹ ہوا . وزارات صحت کے مطابق وا یئر س ایران سے واپس لوٹنے والے شخص میں پاایا گیا . ایران میں ، جہاں یہ وبا پہلے ہی کافی حد تک پھیل چکا ہے ، 60 کے قریب لوگ اپنی زندگی سے ہاتھ دھو بیٹھے ہیں .

پاکستان میں 4 افراد میں کورونا وا ایئر س کی تصدیق ہوئی ہے اور ان افراد کا تعلق کراچی اور اسلام آباد سے بتایا جاتا ہے . ان افراد کو انتہائی نگھیدااشت کی وارڈ میں رکھا گیا ہے تاکہ وایئرس کے پھیلاؤ کو روکا جا سکے . کورونا وایئرس کی پاکستان میں انٹری کے ساتھ ہی خوف و ہراس کی فضا قائم ہوگئی اور ایسے میں مختلف افواہیں گردش میں رہیں . لوگوں میں سرجیکل ماسک کی استعمال کا رجحان بھی بڑھ گیا . بڑھتی ہوئی ڈیمانڈ کے پیش نظر ماسک کی قیمت میں ہوش ربا اضافہ دیکھنے میں ایا . 180 روپے میں فروخت ہونے والے ماسک کی قیمت 1800 روپے تک پہنچ گئی . وقت گزرنے کے ساتھ مختلف سرجیکل اور میڈیکل اسٹورز کی چاندی ہوگئی اور انہوں نے ایک مافیا کا روپ اختیار کرلیا .

عوام ابھی چینی کے بحران سے باہر نہیں نکال پائے تھے کے ایک اور مصیبت نے اُنہیں آ لیا . اِس افرا تفری کے عالم میں کچھ فرشتہ صفت افراد اور دوکااندارو نے ملک کی مختلف علاقوں میں مفت سرجیکل ماسک بھی تقسییم کیے . لیکن بہت سی جگہوں پر لوٹ مار کا بازار گرم ہوا اور اس پر قابو پانے کے لیے حکومت کی طرف سے ایکشن بھی لیا گیا اور دکانداروں کو جرمانے کیے گئے . ایک رپورٹ کے مطابق کراچی کے ایک گودام میں رینجرز نے چھا پا مار کر وافر مقدار میں ذخیرہ کیے گئی ماسک بھی بر آمد کیے . بلوچستان میں بھی اے سی کی زیر نگرانی ایک اسٹور پر چھا پا مارا گیا اور ماسک بر آمد کیے گئے .

سرجیکل ماسک کی قییمتون میں حالیہ اضافہ جہاں ہماری اخلاقیات پہ سوالیا نشان ہے ، ادھر یہ بحران موجودہ حکامرانون سے اِس چیز کا تقاضہ کرتا ہے کی مہنگائی میں پسی عوام کو مختلف مافیاز کے رحم و کرم پہ نا چھوڑا جائے بلکہ سخت سے سخت ایکشن لے کر ان مافیاز کو کنٹرول کیا جائے تا کے کورونا و

.ایئرس کی خطرناک پھیلااو کو بروقت کنٹرول کیا جیسا کہ ، اور عوام کو ان خطرات سے بچایا جا سکے

India’s Land Warfare Doctrine 2018: Implications for Pakistan | War Strategies

2020-02-29T02:00:00.000+05:00

Key words: India’s Land Warfare Doctrine 2018, Pakistan's tactical nuclear weapons, MIRV, PAF, War Strategies

India’s Land Warfare Doctrine 2018 is the latest version of Indian warfare doctrines in the 21^st century. Land warfare doctrine (LWD) is a follow up to the previous JDIAF (Joint Doctrine of the Indian Armed Forces) that was released in 2017. Indian authorities have allocated billions of dollars under LWD in order to enhance the capabilities of armed forces in electronic and network-centric warfare (Hadi, 2019).

The Indian Army is focussed on creating IBGs (Integrated Battlegroups), expanding its capabilities in cyber warfare, inducting systems based on artificial intelligence, and introducing energy-directed weaponry to handle multiple security threats through Land Warfare Doctrine. LWD considers multi-front scenario including external collusive threats from China and Pakistan coupled with hybrid and proxy war.

LWD’s two-front warfare endorses the strategy of managing the primary front i.e. Pakistan with available options, and managing the second front i.e. China by maintaining a defensive approach (Pandit, 2018). The concept of managing Pakistan under LWD meant to somehow punish Pakistan by launching swift operations and deep strikes to attain spatial objectives. Recent claims of surgical strikes inside Pakistan in 2019 can possibly be seen as the outcome of LWD. However, analysis of satellite data by different institutions like European Space Imaging, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and Planet Labs Inc. denied the evidence of any damage to the target or any nearby area (Great Game India, 2019).

LWD further foresees improving the capacity and capabilities of Indian armed forces to prepare them for cyber, information, and space warfare. It recommended the adoption of modern technologies like Quantum computing, nanotechnology, and Artificial Intelligence to augment the armed services of India. LWD has promoted the idea of equipping the Indian military with disruptive skills and technologies. These technologies may include Micro Satellites, Lethal Autonomous Weapons, and Directed Energy Weapons (Bibi, 2019).

Under LWD, India has invested more to gain an advantageous status in non-contact warfare. Land Warfare Doctrine 2018 is believed to have all the essential elements required to trigger nuclear conflict and to further accelerate the arms race. So, it can be said that Pakistan has been pushed into a scenario where it has to face security challenges from the neighborhood. As a result, it would compel Pakistani authorities to utilize the available resources to improve military strength in terms of a conventional as well as the strategic build-up.

So, the important thing to understand here is that what options Pakistan can have to counter the consequences of LWD. LWD is an aggressive doctrine. Pakistan may respond to different elements of this doctrine differently. Pakistan is already having a professional military that has proved its worth against India throughout history. But, in order to manage the threats of possible surgical strikes in the future, Pakistan needs to further improve the capabilities of Special Response Force. Pakistan should continuously improve its air power readiness as well.

Pakistan has been working to overcome all the gaps in deterrence at all strategic levels. It is evident from the previous standoff between Pakistan and India. PAF’s quick response denied IAF jets to carry out any sort of damage except dropping their payloads, and forced them out of Pakistan’s air space. Cyber command is also an important dimension of military force. Pakistan needs to develop an additional and absolute cyber command for military involving CERTs (computer emergency response teams). Similarly, for improving cyber-space capabilities to manage the threats posed by LWD, Pakistan can cooperate more with China to enhance its capabilities in this sector (Bibi, 2019).

India designed LWD in a way that it can hurt Pakistan by keeping itself below the nuclear threshold of Pakistan. But, Pakistan has worked on its tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs) in recent years to deter any aggression of such modern warfare doctrines. TNWs are not as effective as traditional nuclear weapons in terms of destruction capacity. Pakistan tends to use these weapons in case its solidarity is challenged by India. The unique thing about these weapons is that these weapons have a modest operational value that can avoid large scale destruction as in the case of traditional nuclear weapons possessed by Pakistan. Moreover, the risk of deploying these weapons is also considerable that can provide Pakistan with an option to counter the elements of Indian LWD, if required.

As Pakistan is focussed on utilizing its conventional weapons as well as low yield and short-range TNWs, it has recently tested a surface-to-surface nuclear-capable missile Nasr on 24^th January. This missile launch was aimed at delivering a message against the proactive strategy of offensive Indian military strategies. Pakistan should also think of investing in space assets including spy satellites in order to receive real-time information on adversary's deployment pattern, position, strategic sites, and troops' movement, etc. (Hussain, 2019).

In addition to the above-mentioned tactics and already existing capabilities of Pakistani armed forces, Pakistan will have to invest more in anti-weapons, MIRVs, and air defense systems in order to manage the aerial threats posed by LWD (in form of deep strikes) through UAVs and various types of cruise or ballistic missiles (Khattak, 2019).

But, in all this scenario, the important question that has remained unanswered is how a nuclear escalation can be avoided if aggressive strategies under Indian LWD cross the nuclear threshold of Pakistan. Both countries have the capability to fight a full-scale nuclear war and have the capability of the second strike. Thus, the consequences of the full-scale nuclear war between India and Pakistan can go beyond the imagination of the two countries.

References

Bibi, G. (2019). Deterrence Adrift: Dissecting Indian Coercive Military Doctrines 2017- 18. JSSA, 5(1). Retrieved from https://thesvi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/JSSA-Vol-5-No.1-Final-31-48.pdf

Great Game India. (2019). Balakot Airstrike – Forensic Satellite Imagery Analysis. Retrieved 27 February 2020, from https://www.voltairenet.org/article204302.html

Hadi, S. (2019). Electronic Warfare Capabilities: China, India and Pakistan. Retrieved 27 February 2020, from https://cscr.pk/explore/themes/defense-security/electronic-warfare-capabilities-china-india-and-pakistan/

Hussain, Y. (2019). India’s Pakistan-Specific Land Warfare Doctrine: An Overview. Retrieved 28 February 2020, from https://southasianvoices.org/indias-pakistan-specific-land-warfare-doctrine-an-overview/

Khattak, M. U. R. (2019). Indian Military Modernisation. Strategic Studies, 39(1), 20-40.

Pandit, R. (2018). Artificial intelligence, robotics part of hi-tech Army warfare strategy | India News - Times of India. Retrieved 27 February 2020, from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/artificial-intelligence-robotics-part-of-hi-tech-army-warfare-strategy/articleshow/67153564.cms

5 Unique Qualities of a Good writer

2020-02-20T23:35:00.001+05:00

Key Points: Unique Qualities of a good Writer

Writing is an art. Differentiated qualities of a good writer can make this art presentable. Writing can also be seen as an important medium of communication that represents any language with symbols and signs. Some of the motivations for writing may include dissemination of ideas, imaginative narratives, business or personal correspondence, writing life experiences, and improvised additional capability for the shortcomings of human memory (Barbot et al., 2012). A good writer needs to possess a set of unique qualities in order to create an impressive piece of writing. This article is going to present some of the essential characteristics of a good writer.

1. Cognition and General Knowledge

Cognition and general knowledge factors are essential for developing writing skills. A quality writer must be aware of these factors, and should continuously strive to adopt these elements. These elements include verbal intelligence, topic knowledge, working memory (for recalling knowledge and information in a workable shape), inferencing based on evidence, and ability of a writer to draw logical information from factual details (Kellogg, 2008).

2. Discipline

To be a good writer, one must be capable of managing a frustration that is often caused during the process of required edits, re-writes, and improvements. Writers should develop a disciplined approach to writing to manage these issues. Great writers devote themselves to re-evaluate their work constantly, no matter how small their task is.

Good and credible writers focus on the craft and consistently work to get a better version of their own work through intense discipline (Badley, 2019). One should stick to his or her commitment and treat writing task as something extremely important. Writer’s first draft may not be that organized. So, a writer should take a break and get some space from the first draft before going for the edits. This habit can definitely bring improvements in the writing.

3. Motivational and Conative Elements

Many linguistic and literary experts have argued that intrinsic motivation is among the major conative aspects involved in developing creativity in quality writers. Intrinsic motivation is the element that represents the personal desire of a writer to express his or her thoughts and knowledge on specific subject through compositional activities.

Along with intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation is also a useful element in the writing process. Extrinsic motivation helps writers get through tough writing tasks. For example, motivators like the acknowledgement of someone’s writing, recognition of one’s work, and rewards (for example, best writing awards etc.) are among the extrinsic motivators. A good writer is the one who makes use of intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivators to come up with an impressive writing draft (Magnifico, 2010).

4. Organized Thoughts

Executive qualities like planning and organization of ideas and thoughts are central to the process of writing. The quality writers must have the ability to sequence their ideas in order to present their narrative in a structured manner. Concentration is another quality that is required to be a good writer. Concentration focusses the attention of a writer on understanding the writing environment and managing constraints inherent to the writing tasks.

5. Literacy and Linguistic factors

Linguistic elements refer to the language skills at a basic level that help assemble words into a meaningful sequence. For meaningful writing, the writer must be capable of transforming ideas into a written form that requires linguistic skills of lower and higher level. The writer should use such words which may arouse the imagination and visualization of the reader through imagery.

Moreover, a good writer should ensure the usage of such vocabulary which develops creative expression in a written form. Thus a robust and strong vocabulary can be considered an asset to a quality writer (McKeough et al., 2007). In addition to that, a good writer should also possess the attributes of basic reading comprehension. Reading comprehension can be considered a receptive dimension of writing that is highly related to producing a creative piece of writing.

Sources

Badley, G.F. (2019). Post-academic writing: Human writing for human readers. Qualitative Inquiry, 25(2), pp.180-191.

Barbot, B., Tan, M., Randi, J., Santa-Donato, G. and Grigorenko, E.L. (2012). Essential skills for creative writing: Integrating multiple domain-specific perspectives. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 7(3), pp.209-223.

Kellogg, R.T. (2008). Training writing skills: A cognitive-developmental perspective. Journal of writing research, 1(1).

Magnifico, A.M. (2010). Writing for whom? Cognition, motivation, and a writer's audience. Educational psychologist, 45(3), pp.167-184.

McKeough, A., Palmer, J., Jarvey, M. and Bird, S. (2007). Best narrative writing practices when teaching from a developmental framework. Best practices in writing instruction, pp.50-73.

The Economic Impact of Brexit on Asian Countries: A Research Based Study

2020-02-17T21:26:00.002+05:00

Key Points: What is Brexit, Why Brexit Happened, The Economic Impact of Brexit on Asian Countries

1. Introduction

The Economic Impact of Brexit can be felt across the world even in Asian countries. Brexit is a word that reflects an exit of the UK from the EU. The combination of words “exit” and “Britain” resulted in a term Brexit. It was believed that the EU had taken too many powers from the government of the UK, and the regulations of the EU proved costly to the British economy that made the UK think of leaving the EU. The supporters of Brexit argue that the UK will be free to independently sign trade deals with growing economies of the world after Brexit (Tahir et al., 2018).

The UK has left the European Union on the 31^st of January 2020 and entered the transition period of 11 months. Brexit will dissolve the relationship of EU with the UK that lasted for decades. Brexit will also overthrow the established political order in Europe. The event of Brexit will have a substantial effect not only on European integration but also on the world economy and politics. That is why the world community including Asian countries were closely following the Brexit negotiations. This study is aimed at discussing the economic impact of Brexit on Asian economies.

2. Discussions

From an Asian point of view, the countries in the region have great concerns regarding the incident of Brexit. Countries including Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Cambodia, Myanmar, Turkey, China, and Lao PDR have disproportionate trade disruption threats. These countries have significant concerns about their current preferential trade deals with the UK (Graham et al., 2017). The economic impact of Brexit on some of the Asian countries is discussed below.

2.1 Singapore

Singapore apparently seems to be unharmed from the Brexit because of its limited trade and investment exposure in Britain. Trade of Singapore with Britain constituted only 2.1% of its overall imports, and 1% of its overall imports in 2018. Singapore can either negotiate new trade deals with the United Kingdom or may turn to markets in the EU in future (Ruiz Estrada et al., 2019).

2.2 Japan

Numerous Japanese organizations functioning in Europe have generated nearly 44,000 job opportunities. A significant number of these businesses are based in the UK. About half of the direct investment of Japan intended for the European Union in 2015 moved to the United Kingdom. Moreover, the UK was among the major destinations for investment stocks of Japan within the EU by the end of 2018.

As Europe including the United Kingdom has been a major trading partner of Japan, it is in Japan's common interest that it continues to have access to Europe's free markets including the UK (Mofa, 2019). For example, Toyota exports about 90 per cent of the cars it produces in the United Kingdom. Three-quarters of these exports go to the EU. After Brexit, Japanese companies operating in the UK, in order to have access to European markets, will have to reassess their access to Europe. For example, Japanese electronics company Hitachi is now rethinking its operations in the UK after the event of Brexit.

2.3 China

After Brexit, potential restrictions might be imposed on real property and foreign ownership that may affect politico-economic elites of China who have investments and interests in the UK (Le Corre and Pollack, 2017). Brexit's impact on the status of London as a financial hub may result in a reduction of the city's international representation. This situation may materialize in the decrease of business sales with consequences on the trading ties with China.

Experts have been tracking the consequences of Brexit since this concept came into being. China’s objectives of gaining MES (market economy status) is impacted by Brexit, as the UK was one of the strongest advocates of China in this matter. Complete market access to the EU is of utmost importance to China in order to have sustained development as it can help China manage its excessive industrial capacity. But, in case the UK leaves the European Union, the plans of Chinese investors, to reach 500 million consumers in Europe through the UK, will be lost (Morales and Andreosso-O’Callaghan, 2018).

2.4 India

The first impact of Brexit on Indian economy can be that it will weaken the Indian Rupee by causing the Indian equity market to suffer. Commodity prices’ value has been disturbed from the base value after the idea of Brexit originated. This situation has laid down all the processes into deep certainty of pessimism. Indian Bond market may not be affected much because of the strong monetary facility of India and RBI’s quick actions regarding rate reductions. However, the IT sector of India is the one that is expected to suffer more because of its higher levels of settlement in the UK. Whereas, the pharmaceutical sector of India is not expected to suffer much (Singh, 2019).

Many of the Indian organizations are operating in Europe through the UK. Most of the firms have offices in London or other places in the UK. Some of the prominent names include Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata industries. These industries along with many other software industries will have to reassess their reach to Europe that might affect the overall trades of India (Kaur, 2018).

2.5 Bangladesh

The UK has been a major partner in the export scenario of Bangladesh. Britain accounted for about 11% of Bangladesh’s overall global exports, and 18.7% of the exports destined for the market in the EU in the fiscal year 2017-2018. Exports of Bangladesh to EU enjoyed duty-free quota-free (DF-QF) access to markets for all exports except arms. The significant part of exports of Bangladesh to the UK is consumer items. The demand for these items is often price-elastic. Thus duty-free access of these items used to have considerable positive impacts on both competitive strength and demand of these exports to the UK.

It is believed that UK importers would have to pay 366.2 million USD as duties if there had not been any preferential access to markets under the EBA. This means that UK imports will have to face MFN tariffs in absence of EBA. Besides that, many importers in the EU prefer to import through the United Kingdom for onward shipment towards other countries in the EU. These importers take benefit of the EU-wide free trade zone (Duty-free access market under the European Union Customs Union). These exports are expected to be impacted at different levels depending on the final Brexit terms (Rahman et al., 2018).

2.6 Pakistan

The Brexit can have immense implications for all Asian countries including Pakistan. Pakistani community in the UK is of utmost importance for the economy of Pakistan. About 2.7 billion USD remittances are sent from the UK to Pakistan on an annual basis that s 13% of the overall country remittances. These remittances are an essential source of FDI as well. Brexit can reduce the remittances of workers from Europe and the UK. Moreover, if the economy of the UK slows down, it can, in turn, result in unemployment that may also reduce the inflow of annual remittances to Pakistan. Brexit can also have an acute influence on the trade of Pakistan with the UK. Economic growth loss will reduce consumer demand in the UK.

Also, if the British Pound’s exchange rate gets declined, Pakistani goods may become more expensive that can further impact the demand for these goods in the UK. This scenario can bring down Pakistani exports to the UK. Moreover, by negatively affecting Euro and Sterling, Brexit can cause more expensive imports for the UK and EU that can also impact the trade of Pakistan. Another effect will be on the Generalized System Preference (GSP-Plus) status of Pakistan. The UK has been the strongest advocate of Pakistan regarding GSP-Plus status in Brussels. Pakistan will have to do robust lobbying in order to retain this status once the UK leaves EU (Tahir et al., 2018).

3. Conclusions

Brexit is a word that reflects an exit of the UK from the EU. The event of Brexit is expected to have a substantial effect not only on European integration but also on the world economy, especially the economies of Asian countries. The countries like Japan, China, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Siri Lanka have significant concerns about their current preferential trade deals with the UK. On the other hand, Asian countries like Singapore may not be impacted significantly because of their limited trade and investment exposure in Britain.

Certainly, Asian businesses are having a close eye on the process of how the United Kingdom transitions out of the European Union. Asian countries are now planning to develop ways that help them manage political risks and economic uncertainties related to Brexit. They are thinking of reassessing their approaches in order to have a sustainable reach to EU market once again.

Sources

Graham, L.O.U.I.S., Jacob, A.R.U.N. and Moller, A.K. (2017). Implications of Brexit to the Asia-Pacific region: with a focus on least developed countries. United Nations ESCAP Trade Insight, 20(3), pp.1-14.

Kaur, S., 2018. Brexit and India: Analyzing the Implications. New Delhi Publishers.

Le Corre, P. and Pollack, J. (2017). China’s rise: what about a transatlantic dialogue?. Asia Europe Journal, 15(2), pp.147-160.

Mofa. (2019). Japan’s Message to the United Kingdom and the European Union. [online] Mofa.go.jp. Available at: https://www.mofa.go.jp/files/000185466.pdf [Accessed 17 Feb. 2020].

Morales, L. and Andreosso-O’Callaghan, B. (2018). The impact of Brexit on the stock markets of the greater China region. International Journal of Financial Studies, 6(2), p.51.

Rahman, M., Khan, T.I. and Farin, S.M. (2018). BREXIT and Bangladesh: An Exploratory Study on Likely Economic Implications.

Ruiz Estrada, M.A., Koutronas, E. and Park, D. (2019). The Economic Gordian Knot of Brexit: An East Asian Perspective. Available at SSRN 3357253.

Singh, A. (2019). Brexit and it's Economic Manifestations for India. Journal of the Gujarat Research Society, 21(9), pp.68-73.

Tahir, M., Siddique, K. and Qadeer, I. (2018). Study Report on BRITAIN SEPARATION FROM EUROPEAN UNION BREXIT. [online] Fcci.com.pk. Available at: http://www.fcci.com.pk/rte/File/BREXIT.pdf [Accessed 17 Feb. 2020].

India's S-400 Deal: Can Pakistan defenses cope with India's S-400 Missile System? | Military Equipment

2020-02-14T00:22:00.000+05:00

India's S-400 deal, S-400 Missile System, Pakistan's options against S-400 Missile System, Military Equipment

India-Russia S-400 deal of 5.43 billion USD was signed in 2018 for five S-400 missile systems. The first S-400 system is expected to be delivered to India by the end of 2020. The term of complete implementation of the contract is well known by the year 2023. S-400 is a new generation long-range (surface-air) air-defence missile system. S-400 Missile Defence System is crucial for India as it will fill in critical gaps in robust Multi-Layered Air Defence. Warfare spectrum of 21^st century requires to have GBADWS (Ground Based Air Defence Weapon Systems) that can engage various aerial threats depending on their altitude and nature (Unnithan, 2019).

S-400, anti-missile equipment, is developed as an evolution and up-gradation of S-300MU (SA-10) family. This latest weapon developed by "Almaz Central Design Bureau, is supposed to identify and destroy airborne targets from the distance of over 400 km that is 2.5 times more than the former S-300MU weapon. S-400 is believed to be the most advanced air-defence missile weapon that is capable of detecting even low signature targets using highly accurate radars (FAS, 2020).

S-400 system was first used in Russia in 2007, and was intended to target air threats as well as ground installations. The S-400 mobile multichannel ADMS (Air Defence Missile System) is capable of engaging the current and future air threats faced by India including early-warning and direction aircraft, aircraft jammers, aircraft carrying missiles, reconnaissance aircraft, tactical ballistic and cruise missiles, and other vehicles used in air attack under heavy ECM environments.

The Triumph S-400 contains 30K6E battle management system, ammunition load constituting 48N6E3 and (or) 48N6E2 missiles (surface-to-air), six 98ZH6E SAM systems, and maintenance facilities like 30Ts6E. The crown jewel of S-400 is its electronically-steered phased array 92N6E radar. This radar is capable of tracking over 300 targets from a distance of 600 km (ROSOBORONEXPORT, 2020).

Each S-400 weapon has four types of missiles based on the range and threat level. The ranges of these missile types are 40 km, 100km, 200km, and 400 km making nearly an impenetrable grid of missiles. S-400 can fire a number of missiles from any of these 4 types (ranges) depending upon the situation. The entire system can be integrated to detect and destroy targets in a matter of a few minutes.

The system can engage 36 targets simultaneously. The range of engagement for a ballistic target is 5 to 60 km, and for the aerodynamic targets is 3 to 250 km. The maximum target speed for the system is 4800 m/s at the altitude of as low as 100 feet to as high as 40,000 feet. The system can perform in extreme conditions ranging from -50 degree Celsius to +50 degree Celsius. The mobility of the S-400 system is extremely high. All missiles, launchers, and radars are accurately mounted on 8x8 cross country truck that makes them harder to be detected and destroyed (ROSOBORONEXPORT, 2020).

Options for Pakistan

Nuclear Warheads build-up

The acquisition of S-400 by India may adversely affect the striking capabilities of Pakistani strategic forces. At present, there seems very little possibility that Pakistan would go for acquiring S-400 or any equivalent system in the near future because of the high cost of the system. But, Pakistan is supposed to take a number of measures in order to maintain the balance of power in the South Asian region. One possible option for Pakistan is to enhance the production of nuclear warheads in order to exceed the protection limit of S-400.

MIRV and HGV Technologies

In addition to nuclear warheads build-up, Pakistan also needs to invest in offensive and disruptive technologies like HGV (Hypersonic Glide Vehicle) and MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles) rather than investing huge amounts for purchasing Missile Defence system. Pakistan has already tested its MIRV capable Ballistic missile Ababeel in 2017.

MIRV capable missiles like Ababeel can fire a greater number of warheads at multiple ranges. Each MIRV can allow separately targeted warheads to be fired on independent ways once the main propulsion stages of the launch have shut down. The warheads can be fired at different speeds and on various trajectories that may make it challenging for Air defence systems like S-400 to predict the varying ranges and trajectories (Keck, 2018).

In MIRV-enabled missiles, the main rocket motor is used to push the compartment containing warhead into a suborbital flight path. At the end of the boost phase, the compartment uses an inertial guidance setup to maintain flight accuracy.

Ababeel can carry both the nuclear and conventional warheads up to the range of 2200 km (Missile Threat, 2020). So, as an option, HGV and MIRV technologies in combination with multi-layered DEAD (Destruction of Enemy Air Defences), and improved intelligence-gathering network are capable of ensuring the delivery of Pakistan’s nuclear warheads to the intended targets inside India.

According to experts, S-400 can literally make a “No-Fly-Zone for existing Pakistani fighter jets. However, in the case of Pakistan's MIRV ballistic missiles, S-400 may not be able to eliminate all MIRV warheads. The S-400 kill rate is certainly very high, but, exceptional quality of this system may be overcome by latest MIRV technology that is only held by few nations in the world including USA, Russia, China, Pakistan, and France (The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, 2020).

Air Defence System LY-80
In addition to the MIRV and HGV, Pakistan can also rely on its already existing Air defence system LY-80. LY-80 is certainly not comparable to S-400. But, it should be kept in mind that Russia developed S-400 keeping in view the technological advancements of the USA. So, S-400 is far better than LY-80. But, interestingly, even if LY-80 is not as advanced as S-400, its capabilities are sufficient to tackle threats posed by moderately advanced Indian Air Force.

At present, Pakistan's threats are mostly India oriented. So, LY-80 does not have to manage the advanced air forces in the world including the US, China, and Russia etc. because of the friendly relations with these nations. So, LY-80 can provide Pakistan with sufficient air defence against the Indian Air force which is not as advanced as US or China, and it may not have modernized weaponry and jets like F-35 for which S-400 was originally designed.

Moving to the details of LY-80 technology, one must know that LY-80 is an air defence system made in China. It is a comprehensive, layered, and integrated system with increased lethality. LY-80 is Low-to-Medium altitude defence system that can hit fighter jets, drones, and cruise missiles. The system can engage six targets simultaneously from the range of 40 km at the altitude between 40,000 and 50,000. The range of the search radar is 150 km. whereas, the range of the guidance radar is over 100 km.

The primary components of LY-80 include command vehicles, firing vehicles, support and electronic vehicle, missile transport vehicle, and power supply vehicle. One LY-80 battery can defend the area of about 8000 sq.km. LY-80 is ready to fire system that can engage the targets in a matter of few minutes (Khattak, 2019).

So, Pakistan can use the combination of the technologies discussed above in order to manage the capabilities of the latest air defence system S-400 to some extent. But, Pakistan will have to further modernize its MIRV and HVG technology in order to challenge or completely counterbalance the new generation air defence systems like S-400 in a better way.

Sources

FAS (2020). S-400 SA-20 Triumf - Russia / Soviet Nuclear Forces. [online] Fas.org. Available at: https://fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/airdef/s-400.htm [Accessed 11 Feb. 2020].

Keck, Z. (2018). Pakistan Has Just Tested the Ultimate Nuclear Missile. [online] The National Interest. Available at: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/pakistan-has-just-tested-the-ultimate-nuclear-missile-24834 [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].

Khattak, M.U.R. and Kundi, M.A. (2019). Conventional Asymmetries between India and Pakistan: A threat to the Deterrence Stability of South Asia. Journal of Political Studies, 26(1).

Missile Threat. (2020). Ababeel | Missile Threat. [online] Missile Threat. Available at: https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/ababeel/ [Accessed 12 Feb. 2020].

ROSOBORONEXPORT. (2020). Air defence missile system S-400 Triumph | Catalog Rosoboronexport. [online] Roe.ru. Available at: http://roe.ru/eng/catalog/air-defence-systems/air-defense-systems-and-mounts/s-400-triumf/ [Accessed 11 Feb. 2020].

The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. (2020). Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV). [online] Armscontrolcenter.org. Available at: https://armscontrolcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MIRV-Factsheet.pdf [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].

Unnithan, S. (2019). Why the IAF wants the S-400 missile. [online] India Today. Available at: https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/why-the-iaf-wants-the-s-400-missile-1569823-2019-07-16 [Accessed 12 Feb. 2020].

Coronavirus Vaccine and treatment: Have researchers made a breakthrough?

2020-02-10T01:41:00.000+05:00

Key points: Coronavirus Vaccine, Coronavirus Treatment

Numerous efforts for preparing Coronavirus vaccine are being made after the recent outbreak in China. Various drug makers and pharmaceutical companies across the world are racing to come up with vaccine in order to halt the deadly novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV. But, is this as simple as it seems to be? Let’s analyse the worldwide efforts made by scientists and researchers to manage this situation.

Groups of scientists in Thailand treated an affected woman using a cocktail of anti-virals used for treating HIV and Flu. According to the Health Ministry of Thailand, the lab results showing positive on coronavirus became negative within 48 hours. The woman was exhausted before treatment, but she became able to sit up in her bed after the treatment. The doctors actually combined HIV antiviral (lopinavir and ritonavir) with anti-flu medicine (oseltamivir). The Health ministry has been awaiting further research to scientifically prove the findings (CTV, 2020).

Before this progress in Thailand, Chinese scientists have also been utilizing HIV drugs to manage the coronavirus. According to China’s National Health Commission, Koletra (a combination of lopinavir and ritonavir) seemed to be effective for restricting activities of coronavirus. Zhang Dingyu, president of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, believed that Koletra could be helpful in early stages of coronavirus where it might prevent the infection from becoming fatal (Lee and Hsueh, 2020). But, the addition of the flu drugs in HIV drugs (Kaletra) by scientists in Thailand seemed to have produced even better results.

The research studies on coronaviruses have revealed that these viruses seem like knobby balls covered in protrusions which widen at the tips. These spike proteins are able to accommodate in a receptor present in the lung membrane called ACE-2, which enables the virus to enter into the body. The group of researchers at NIH (National Institute of Health) in Maryland is believed to prepare an altered version of a crucial section of coronavirus in order to encourage the body to develop antibodies against this disease (Beaumont, 2020). So, the antibody defence is expected to prevent the coronavirus from entering the body.

In spite of having these early achievements, the proper vaccine of coronavirus may require years for the testing and development before it can be used at large scale. This means that the vaccines proposed currently are likely to have a limited role in the current coronavirus outbreak in China. Researchers need more time to fully test the vaccine before confidently applying it to humans (Dr Gregory Poland, the director at the Vaccine Research group, the Mayo Clinic). So, to be more practical, the claims regarding the development of coronavirus vaccines can be thought of as misleading.

Sources

Beaumont, P. (2020). Researchers make strides in race to create coronavirus vaccine. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/01/researchers-make-strides-in-race-to-create-coronavirus-vaccine [Accessed 9 Feb. 2020].

CTV. (2020). Thailand sees apparent success treating coronavirus with a drug cocktail. [online] CTVNews. Available at: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/thailand-sees-apparent-success-treating-coronavirus-with-drug-cocktail-1.4794001 [Accessed 9 Feb. 2020].

Lee, P.I. and Hsueh, P.R. (2020). Emerging threats from zoonotic coronaviruses-from SARS and MERS to 2019-nCoV. Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection.

China Coronavirus Outbreak and Worldwide Impact: Facts, Updates, and Latest Statistics.

2020-02-08T17:29:00.000+05:00

Key points: China Coronavirus Outbreak, Coronavirus updates and statistics

Coronavirus outbreak in China was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019. The virus was reported in a Wuhan city located in Hubei Province of China. Wuhan is a population of 11 million people. Initially, the cases cantered around the city’s seafood market (Huanan South China).

As per the local health officials, the infected people were mainly purchasers and business staff in the market where traders sell the seafood as well as the animals including birds and rabbits. According to the World Health Organization, the seafood, animals, and birds are most likely to be the source of novel coronavirus (n-CoV).

According to China Central Television, The new virus n-CoV was reported to be discovered by January 9, 2020. On January 11, the genetic sequence of this virus was shared by Chinese scientists. Chinese officials confirmed the human-to-human transmission of the virus by January 20. Later, on January 23, (WHO) also confirmed the “fourth-generation” spread of the coronavirus in Wuhan city. This meant that individuals spread it to the second group of individuals who spread it further to the third group. The third group of individuals was believed to transmit the virus to another fourth group.

A modelling study conducted by (Wu et al., 2020) revealed that about 5993 cases of n-CoV infections have been confirmed in mainland China by January 29, 2020. These figures included 132 deaths. About 78 cases were exported from Wuhan city to the regions situated outside mainland China.

But, according to the National Health Commission, about 6057 people got infected by the virus across the world as of January 29. About 5970 patients were from mainland China. Among these, 3554 patients were from Hubei province which is home to Wuhan city. The remaining cases within China were from different cities and provinces including Guangdong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong (National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, 2020). The majority of the Chinese cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, and Guangzhou) are the global transport hubs with many outbound and inbound passengers that further worsened the situation.

The most critical situation is that the coronavirus has spread out of China as well. India, the neighbouring country, has also reported its first confirmed case on January 30 in the state of Kerala. The affected person had a travel history from the city of Wuhan. Two more clinically stable cases were also reported in Kerala state. According to Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, some other countries including US, Japan, Thailand, Canada, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, France, Nepal, Vietnam, Australia, Korea, and Germany have also confirmed the presence of the virus in some people having travelling history to China.

The latest news coming from China is not satisfactory where the reported deaths by coronavirus have reached 425 out of the total 427 global deaths till 5^th February 2020. The 2 other deaths were reported in the Philippines and Thailand. China’s Health commission reported 64 deaths on 3^rd February that is the largest number in a single day since the detection of the virus.

China has accepted the difficulties and shortcomings under the worsened situation where over 20,471 people are reported to be affected by the virus as of February 5^th. China has taken phenomenal steps including the construction of new hospitals, improved treatment, isolation of infected areas, and creation of awareness among people (Roberts, 2020). World community also needs to step forward in order to help China in this critical situation so that the worldwide threats of this latest outbreak may be managed timely.

Sources

National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China (2020). Epidemic Prevention and control dynamics. [online] Available at: http://www.nhc.gov.cn/wjw/index.shtml [Accessed 7 Feb. 2020].

Roberts K. (2020). China coronavirus outbreak: All the latest updates. [online] Aljazeera.com. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/china-admits-shortcomings-coronavirus-death-toll-hits-425-200203234036932.html [Accessed 7 Feb. 2020].

Wu, J.T., Leung, K. and Leung, G.M. (2020). Nowcasting and forecasting the potential domestic and international spread of the 2019-nCoV outbreak originating in Wuhan, China: a modelling study. The Lancet

Coronavirus: What Must we Know? Reasons, Implications, and Recommendations.

2020-02-07T18:08:00.000+05:00

Key points: Coronavirus, Coronavirus symptoms, Recommendations

Alarming news regarding the recent outbreak of Coronavirus in China has called for the declaration of the emergency situation worldwide. But, before that, it is important to create awareness regarding some of the basics of this virus.
Coronavirus is a family of viruses that may be found both in humans and animals. The virus can cause illnesses ranging from the simple “cold” to more serious diseases like MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) and SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

But, the recent outbreak in Wuhan, China is related to novel coronavirus (n-CoV) that seems to be a new strain of coronaviruses that have not been identified in humans before.

According to “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” the 2019-nCoV virus belongs to the family of SARS-CoV but, it is not exactly the same virus (CDC, 2019).

Symptoms

The infection caused by 2019-nCoV can result in mild symptoms including a sore throat, running nose, fever, and cough. In some cases, it may be more serious and lead to breathing difficulties or pneumonia that may ultimately lead to death.

Who is more Vulnerable to the Virus?

Older persons and people having pre-existing medical conditions (including heart diseases and diabetes) seem to be more vulnerable to getting infected by the virus.

Who must be considered a suspect??

Any person should be considered a suspect who meets: 1^st) 3 clinical criteria, or 2^nd) 2 clinical criteria and a single epidemiological criterion. Fever, acute respiratory distress syndrome, radiographic proofs of pneumonia, low lymphocyte count, and low white blood cell count are among the clinical criteria. Whereas, epidemiological criteria include living in Wuhan city or travel history to the same city within fourteen days before the beginning of symptoms (Wu et al., 2020).

Virus Sources

Investigations regarding previous viruses revealed that SARS-CoV in China was transmitted to humans from cats in 2002. Similarly, Camels were considered the source of MERS-CoV transmission in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The investigations for the animal source of 2019-nCoV have not concluded any specific source yet. But, sources reflect that the snakes or the rabbits can be the reason behind the current outbreak. It is likely that some live animal markets in China may have caused first reported infections in humans. Once, a person is infected, the 2019-nCoV can cause respiratory disease that may be transmitted from humans to other humans probably after having close contact with the affected person (World Health Organization, 2020).

How to avoid the transmission of Virus?

One should avoid unprotected and direct contact with animals and surfaces that are in contact with live animals. One should avoid contact with the person having symptoms of respiratory illness like sneezing and coughing.

Recommendations

People living in the surrounding areas of affected regions should take extra care to be on the safer side. Hands and other exposed body parts should be washed regularly using soap and water or some alcohol-based hand rub. This will keep removing the traces of the virus from body parts if there are any. One should also cover the nose and mouth while sneezing and coughing (Wu et al., 2020).

Meat and eggs should be thoroughly cooked and the consumption of undercooked and raw animal products must be avoided. Raw milk, meat, and animal organs must be handled carefully before cooking in order to avoid any type of cross-contamination (World Health Organization, 2020).

References

CDC. (2019). About Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) | CDC. [online] Cdc.gov. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html [Accessed 7 Feb. 2020].

World Health Organization. (2020). Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). [online] Who.int. Available at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 [Accessed 7 Feb. 2020].

JF-17 Block III: How does this fighter jet keep Pakistan in Air Race? | Military Equipment

2020-02-06T22:24:00.001+05:00

Key Points: JF-17 Block III Technical Specifications, Capabilities of JF-17 Block III, Military Equipment

JF-17 Thunder, a Pakistani fighter jet plane, is no more a new name in the category of modern world fighter jets. JF-17 gained popularity after it outclassed Indian Air Force in a deadly dogfight on 27^th of February 2019 where at least one of Indian MIG-21s was shot down by this fighter jet and Indian pilot was captured by Pakistan (Lalwani and Tallo, 2019).

JF-17 flew for the first time in 2007 during a Pakistan day parade. Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) had manufactured 70 Block 1 and 33 Block II JF-17s by 2016. After that PAC went for technologically advanced and sophisticated block III version. The first prototype of block III made its maiden flight recently in December 2019. The latest variant of JF-17 i.e. Block III is a lightweight fighter jet having a single engine that can manage and perform complex air manoeuvres. Its abilities are the same as the most advanced fighter jets in the world. It can intercept planes, strike air-to-air, and air-to-ground.

The variant Block III contains a new AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar which has a higher resolution. This radar is more discrete and jam-resistant than its preceding class. PAC has also been evaluating KLJ-7A radar for Block-III variant. KLJ-7A has a better detection range of 124 miles and a broader angle search field. So, Radars of JF-17 Block III have a combat range of over 170 kilometres that is comparable to the level of radars used in the most advanced F-35 fighter jets (Guowei, 2016). These technologies enable the Block III variant to track 15 targets while engaging 4 targets simultaneously (Khan, 2016).

Interestingly, JF-17 can have various ammunition including air-to-air (AAMs especially PL-5EII) missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and twin-barrel autocannon (23mm) etc. The most noticeable change in JF-17 block III is the introduction of holographic head-up display of wider angle that is similar to fifth-generation aircraft J-20 used by China. Block III variant has also introduced a system of helmet-mounted display that can allow more flexibility in targeting of short-range ammunition during close dogfights.

IIR (Imaging Infrared) based missile approach system of warning is another interesting addition to the new variant. The sensors of this system are situated behind the air intakes as well as on vertical tail fin’s top just like Chinese j-10C fighter. In addition, jet intakes are widened for improving the air-flow. Russian engine RD-93 may be replaced by Chinese WS-13 turbofan. The additional thrust of this variant, along with lightweight composite material has improved the speed and range of the plane. These additions will allow the JF-17 to reach a speed of 2.0 Mach and even more in future, that may enable JF-17 III to compete with the most advanced fighter planes in the world (Nikolov, 2020).

References

Guowei, Z. (2016). F-35 Lu launches new airborne radar. [online] 中時電子報. Available at: https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20161102000736-260301?chdtv [Accessed 6 Feb. 2020].

Khan, B. (2016). KLJ-7A: Proposed AESA radar for the JF-17 Block-III. [online] Quwa. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20170507114147/http://quwa.org/2016/10/31/klj-7a-proposed-aesa-radar-jf-17-block-iii/ [Accessed 6 Feb. 2020].

Lalwani, S. and Tallo, E. (2019). Did India shoot down a Pakistani F-16 in February? This just became a big deal. [online] The Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/17/did-india-shoot-down-pakistani-f-back-february-this-just-became-big-deal/ [Accessed 6 Feb. 2020].

Nikolov, B. (2020). JF-17 Block 3 fighter jet is important for Pakistan and can change the regional power (video). [online] Bulgarian Military Industry Review. Available at: https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2020/01/02/jf-17-block-3-fighter-jet-is-important-for-pakistan-and-can-change-the-regional-power-video/ [Accessed 6 Feb. 2020].