CHILD BRIDES

 The Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013 has determined the lawful marriageable age at 18 years and treats the violation as a severe criminal offence but the law remains silent about the validity of the nikah of the underage brides and grooms.

Such a marriage can only be dissolved through proper divorce and khula proceedings as under normal circumstances and proceedings.

The Sindh Marriage Restraint Act 2013 is a step forward of the Child Marriage Act of 1929 as the recent law has set the minimum age of marriage for both boys and girls at 18 years. There is contradiction about the laws that where on one hand a sexual intercourse with a child below the age of 18 is considered rape while, on the other, the marriage remains legal even when this crime is addressed. This issue must be addressed by the legislature at the earliest to remove this contradiction because in such a scenario the marriage is still considered lawful where divorce and khula have to be obtained under normal proceedings..

Read: Marital matters: Underage marriage [Nikkah] not un-Islamic: CII

The law not only makes this offence a non-bailable one but also non-compoundable which means that the issue cannot be compromised and solved within concerned parties. Furthermore in the case of child marriages, section 365 (b) for kidnapping a girl is also applied. Issues like these used to be brought to family courts but this law is dealt with by the judicial magistrate of every locality.The law allows the court to review its own proceedings and the perpetrators can be left with no means to escape. As for as the determination of age is concerned it can be done with the help of registration number at the time of birth, NADRA B-Form and CNIC of the spouses.

Child marriages are criticized by the civil society due to the reasons that it does not only deteriorates the health of the girls and their children but also have social, economic and severe psychological problems for the underage girls, many of whom also are subjected to violence and abuse.

APPLE WATCH

Apple aims  at its first new product category since 2010 with its wearable technology smart watch with a strong emphasis on health and fitness of the users.

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has revealed little about the sophisticated the watch but  said that he can’t live without it.Apple intends to start shipping in April. 

Apple has entered a market that already has a number of players Samsung, LG, Sony, Pebble ,Motorola and Huawei introduced its version at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month.

Analysts expect Apple to lift the market by integrating the watch with the iPhone and its software ecosystem, and its range of apps and sensors for health and fitness.How Apple creates a cohesive value proposition integrating hardware with software and services is as always the key says one analyst.The three main areas of wellness data and services, Apple Pay and creating an intelligent and differentiated relationship between the watch and the smartphone must be the foundations of the Apple Watch proposition.

Apple intends the introductory price would be $349 in the US with two different sizes would be available in three collections, including the “Apple Watch Edition,” featuring 18-karat gold cases in yellow or rose, sapphire crystal and finely crafted bands and closures.

The watch is also expected to include map software that guides people to destinations with gentle “taps” on the wrist.

Fitness apps on the Apple Watch and its rivals could create trouble for manufacturers of fitness bands.

One researcher Jan Dawson at  said Apple must find a fine balance for the new device — giving people alerts and notifications when they need them without bombarding them.

“One of the criticisms of some of the other watches out there is that notifications are something of an all-or-nothing phenomenon: either you get utterly bombarded with notifications or you get none, but its been tough to get granular control,” Dawson has said.

Apple reportedly had to scale back health tracking features on the watch after some of the sensors were found not properly responding to the challenge.

POVERTY IN PAKISTAN

According to the World Bank’s Poverty Head Count Analysis for 2014, if income per adult in Pakistan is taken as $1.25 per day, then 21 % of the population lives below the poverty line (according to year 2008 population estimates) but if the poverty line is raised to $2 per day in line with international standards for middle income countries, then 60 % of the population falls below the poverty line.

PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF PAKISTAN STEEL MILLS

The production of Pakistan Steel Mills had been increased from 1.40% of the capacity in April 2014 to 30% in December 2014 with the help of the financial restructuring package of Rs. 18.50 billion by the government.

With the current package, the production capacity will reach 77% and in order to sustain and boost the production to 100%, which is 1.10 million tons, an additional amount of Rs13 billion has been requested from the government

STUDY IN AUSTRALIA

A large number of students from Pakistan wishing to pursue higher education overseas attended an expo at a local hotel participated by 15 Australian universities and colleges.

The expo is part of the Australian Education Roadshow organised by the Australian Education Office (AEO) Pakistan, which has planned to move along  06 cities of which Lahore and Islamabad have been visited, while Karachi, Multan, Peshawar and Faisalabad are the remaining destinations.

The Islamabad expo on Wednesday was the second  of the visits.

Representatives from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), University of Melbourne, University of Technology Sydney, Griffith University, Curtin University, Canberra Institute of Technology, La Trobe, Deakin University and University of Wollongong were present at the event.

Majority of students were interested to seek information about universities that offer scholarships or funded programmes. “I have visited desks of several institutes but options offering scholarships are almost close to none,” said Adeel Atif, a business administration student from Bahria University.

Hammad, a representative at the UNSW desk, explained that the Australian government did not offer funded programmes for course work (graduate, undergraduate) but for research programmes (PhD). He said that most students inquired about programmes such as engineering, management sciences and business administration.

Haripur, Quetta, Nowshera students barred

Misbah Urooj, representative from University of Canberra, said the Australian government had officially disallowed admission to students from areas such as Haripur, Quetta and Nowshera.

CEO and Resident Director of AEO Pakistan Saad Mahmood elaborated that the Australian government and universities encouraged students who wanted to study only and not get involved in other businesses.

“People from the certain areas have been prohibited as they were found  indulging in activities other than the purpose of study in Australia,” he said, adding students were required to sit in a Genuine Temporary Entrant assessment which helped ensure they were serious to pursue their studies.

Zahid Saleem, a student from National University of Science and Technology, said the expo provided an opportunity to meet officials of various universities face-to-face that helped answered question and clear confusions which could not be sorted out online. “That is why I am here,” he remarked.

Time scheduled for Karachi is January 31 at the Marriot, Multan  January 31 as well at Ramada Hotel, Faisalabad on February 1 at Hotel One and lastly to Peshawar at PC Hotel on of February 1 too.

ELECTRICITY COST OF PRODUCTION

PAKISTAN MERI JAN
During December, 2014, power generation through furnace oil cost Rs 12.38 per unit, high-speed diesel cost Rs 19.00 per unit, coal Rs 4.49 per unit, gas Rs 3.57 per unit and nuclear power Rs 1.18 per unit. Imported electricity from Iran came at Rs 10.20 per unit.