Featured Post

Elon Musk may be on the brink of achieving the impossible: Salvaging his $44 billion investment in X

-
Image
New York  I n October 2022, Elon Musk paid $44 billion to buy Twitter — almost certainly an overpayment — and he promptly made significant changes that plunged the company into chaos and sent its ad business and valuation into a tailspin. Two and a half years later, Musk appears close to pulling off a minor miracle: The company, now called X, may once again be worth about what he paid for it. Bloomberg  on Wednesday reported that X is in talks to raise money that would value the company at $44 billion. The anonymous sources Bloomberg cited acknowledged that the ongoing talks could break down, and it’s not clear whether X will actually fetch that valuation. But the report coincides with a sudden turn in fortunes for X. Big advertisers, who had largely abandoned X after hate speech surged on the platform and ads were seen running alongside pro-Nazi content, have begun to return. (X made several pro-Nazi accounts ineligible for ads following advertiser departures.) Am...
Post a Comment

Pakistan tops annual smoking death toll in South Asia: report

-


Pakistan’s annual death toll from smoking is the highest in South Asia and higher than the global average, according to Gallup Pakistan’s analysis of the Global Burden of Disease 2024 report.

According to the Global Burden of Disease 2024, Pakistan reported an annual death rate from smoking of 91.1 per 100,000 people, notably higher than the averages for South Asia (78.1) and the rest of the world (72.6), according to Gallup Pakistan, which is not affiliated with Gallup, the multinational analytics and advisory firm based in Washington DC.

“Between 1990 and 2021, Pakistan experienced a 35 per cent relative decrease in smoking-related death rates, which is lower than the reductions achieved by India (37pc), South Asia (38pc), and the global average (42pc),” Gallup Pakistan said in a report published on Tuesday.

According to the World Health Organisation, purchasing 100 packs of the most-sold cigarette brand in Pakistan requires 3.7pc of the GDP per capita. This figure is considerably lower than India’s 9.8pc and Bangladesh’s 4.2pc, it went on to say.

From 2012 to 2022, the share of GDP per capita required to purchase 100 packs in Pakistan has increased by 38pc, reflecting rising cigarette prices.

According to a Gallup Pakistan opinion poll conducted in 2022, an overwhelming 80pc of smokers expressed a desire to quit smoking.

In November, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department was urged to swiftly enact the eagerly awaited “KP Prohibition of Tobacco and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Bill” by the Provincial Alliance for Sustainable Tobacco Control. The bill has been pending since the Law Department reviewed it in 2016.

In June, a study discovered the presence of second-hand smoke in an alarming 95pc of children in Pakistan and Bangladesh, putting them at an increased risk of respiratory tract infections and, in cases of babies with hereditary disorders, death.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Combative Trump blames diversity policies after air tragedy

-
Image
Donald Trump stood before the White House press room cameras on Thursday to perform a traditional presidential duty – consoler-in-chief during a time of tragedy. He said the country was in mourning, shared his condolences during "an hour of anguish" and paid tribute to first responders and the victims. Then he sharply pivoted - providing yet another reminder of how his new presidency is going to be very different. It will be combative. It will be unscripted. And it will be quick to point the finger of blame. We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas," he said. He then speculated, without giving evidence, that lowered standards of hiring for air traffic controllers in the Federal Aviation Administration during the Joe Biden and Barack Obama presidencies may have been a factor in the disaster. Trump and his fellow Republicans have regularly attacked "diversity, equity and inclusion" programmes in the federal governme...
Read more

THESE new WhatsApp features will definitely enhance your user experience

-
Image
  As we entered 2025, we were excited about new features coming to WhatsApp. By the end of January, some long awaited beta features were released to everyone, and a few fresh changes were introduced. Here’s a quick roundup of the WhatsApp features added in January 2025. New WhatsApp features for all users These features are now available to all WhatsApp users, whether you’re using Android, iPhone, or the desktop version. If you haven’t received them yet, make sure to update your app to the latest version. WhatsApp has introduced an AI Studio feature for both Android and iPhone users. It allows you to chat with various AI personalities, ranging from cultural icons to pop-culture characters. It’s perfect when you’re looking for something fun to chat about, like asking a talking dog for advice. For iPhone users, a built-in dial pad is now available. This allows you to directly dial a number from the Calls tab without saving it to your contacts first, making it easier to make calls. ...
Read more

Ripple Releases 1B XRP Tokens from Escrow, XRP Price Drops

-
Image
In January, for instance, Ripple stashed away roughly 300 million XRP for distribution . Ripple released a significant 1 billion XRP tokens from its escrow accounts, valued at around $3.10 billion at current prices, by its monthly release policy. According to recent reports, these tokens have never been released from accounts categorized as Ripple (26) and ‘Ripple (27). Ripple has unlocked 500 million XRP tokens from Ripple (27) and another 500 million XRP from Ripple (26) in two separate transactions of 400 million and 100 million. As is customary with these unlocks, the company is not flooding the market with all of the tokens all at once. Ripple instead intends to set aside only 20-25% of the unlocked XRP for market sales, strategic partnerships, and transactions with institutional purchasers and to re-lock the remainder back in escrow to be used in the future. This release has garnered the market’s immediate attention. In the last 24 hours, XRP price was down by more th...
Read more