VICTIMIZED JOURNALISTS

Journalists are the brave beings among us who are not afraid to expose the truth, may it be a matter concerning national interest or some intelligence info leak. They tend to work their lives off in service of the public but what return do they get? Death. Journalism has evolved manifolds due to contribution of technology and most of all internet, they were not scared to post the truth in the local newspaper or a blog, unfortunately the case is reversed so one might wonder about the relativity of Freedom of Speech in modern era. Muslim countries that exist in the South of Asia are the target of religious extremism where intolerance has long since prevailed. Journalists are victimized when they support nonreligious beliefs, raise voice against Muslim extremists or try to change the corrupt system through media. Journalist's duties are concerned to display the motives of certain actions but it is unjustifiable to end their lives for a mere exposure. Though some journalists are also a target of terrorist attacks but the majority are a scapegoat in the prevalent social ill of criticizing journalists and then taking hardcore measures.

• International Federation of Journalists has reported, since 1990 at least 2297 journalists and media workers have been killed.
• Iraq is ranked at the top with 309 killings followed by the Philippines 146, Mexico 120, Pakistan 115, Russian Federation 109, Algeria 106, India 95, Somalia 75, Syria 67 and Brazil 62.
• The IFJ further said that journalists lost their lives in targeted killings, bomb attacks, in the cross-fire and kidnappings in wars and armed conflicts across the globe while others were killed by organised crime barons and corrupt officials.
• Some 112 journalists and media professionals were killed last year alone, although the peak year was 155 killings in 2006.

As it is clear as glass that some journalists were killed because of some ulterior motive which is absolutely unacceptable in this day and age. The journalist safety must be a priority and media should protest any such act.

Solution:
With just one out of 10 killings investigated in the past, the future is a bleak one for journalists. The UN urges to end the impunity for killings and other attacks on media professionals because failure in this regard only fuels the violence against them. These deaths of journalists are not only confined to passing away but they also represented our tribute for their courage and the ultimate sacrifice paid by journalists in massive numbers, who lost their lives fulfilling the role to inform and empower the public. Many journalists are deprived of law in their respective countries for their safety. Security and military officers and others who deal with them must respect their independence for ensuring their safety in the first phase and governments should comply with their international obligations by investigating journalists' killings and bringing those responsible to justice, thus deterring future violence. Lastly, journalists have to refrain from activities which are perilous for them to avoid any unnecessary fuss unless the matter is of utmost importance.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty is a government sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes and capital offences. Capital punishment has often been debated in favor of opposition, the activity is described as inhumane whereas those who support this idea put out the point of  'some crimes require death to implant fear in others to not repeat the sin'. The latter accuse the former of exonerating the criminals off the right judgement which they deserve.

• Fifty eight countries retain capital punishment, 102 countries have completely abolished it for all crimes, six have abolished it for ordinary crimes (while maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes), and 32 are abolitionist in practice (meaning that they have not executed anyone during the last 10 years).
• Over 60% of the world population resides in countries where capital punishment is retained such as United States of America, India, China and Indonesia. The countries that oppose capital punishment are Australia, European Union and Canada etc.

Capital Punishments are considered viable for different and various kinds of crimes which may also vary from country to country. Though some are common such as

1. Homicide guilty may be awarded life imprisonment but genocide guilty suffers the fate of death.
2. Drug trafficking is also considered a death punishable crime though this is the case in Asia mostly. China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Singapore are among those countries.
3. Other crimes may include treason, rape, and in many Muslim countries, adultery and blasphemy etc.

China gave death sentences to more than a 1000 prisoners in 2015. Similarly Iran 977 and Pakistan who removed the barrier of no executions after Peshawar Attack executed 326 criminals. The methods used to carry out this practice are as follows with top being the most used:

1. Hanging
2. Shooting
3. Lethal Injection
4. Gas inhalation
5. Beheading (Saudi Arab Only)

Solution:

"The death penalty has no place in 21st century" UN secretary General Ban ki Moon is quoted as saying. The UN has manifested their argument by displaying the statistics of criminal activities as having no relationship whatsoever with the Capital Punishment. This argument is generally supported but the connection is present. The human rights activists criticize Saudi Arab's method of executions especially Stoning to death, which Iran also practices in certain cases. The crime rates do show variation, crime rate of Saudi Arab is 25.52 whereas crime rate of Italy is 45. Though some countries may differ from this theory but majority do abide by this reality even though still supporting the 'no execution' rally. It is respective countries own choice to whether execute the deserving guilty  but historically, when executions were carried out rightfully influenced by the law and justice, it always paved way for betterment. The culpable individuals may not be awarded death sentence but what the seed of fear bowed in the hearts of innocent would do is far more worse for the future.

GUN CONTROL- AMERICA

USA has always been prone to Gun related issues especially violence from this medium. Gun is very common to own, though there are restrictions up to a certain limit in some states but majority of the states suffer from relentless use of 'Guns'. It has been estimated that US civilians own 270 million to 310 million firearms, and that 37% to 42% of the households in the country have at least one gun is a disturbing fact for a harmless citizen. The long history of USA concerning weaponry is a bright one in such a dark matter, ironically. According to Time magazine USA is the number 1 exporter of weapons in the world as well controlling more than a 50% market and the orders in 2014 jumped 35% i.e $10 billion to a whopping $36.2 billion. Anyways, the gun control laws are a little sluggish in implementation due to which this matter is getting out of hand, the Supreme Court allows the right to own a weapon for self defence but due to lack of monitoring, the Americans feel 'free' and own as much weapons as they want to satisfy their wants.

1. Gun laws are more stringent in California and in the northeast. States are ranked there on the restrictiveness of their gun laws. The States Of Arizona, Alaska and Mississippi have the weakest laws against Guns. 
2. Gun ownership is higher where gun laws are weaker (Montana and Alaska etc). About half of owners proclaim they own guns for protection , followed by hunting 32%. The states with lowest ownership of weapons per household are Delaware, Nebraska and above all California.
3. Gun-Related Deaths are more prevalent in the Southern States. More than 60% are suicides astonishingly, while about a third are homicides. Gun death rate per 100,000 People is up till 19%, which exists mainly in the surroundings of Los Angeles, Montana and Alaska where as the least deaths are in, not so surprising, states of California and Hawaii.

The dumb founding fact is that while the gun sales are alarmingly ticking up, the U.S homicide rate is behaving otherwise. From 10 Homicides per 100,000 people in 1990, now it is down to 5.4 Homicides. Even after that, more people die from guns than from car accidents. In 2016 there have been 1,622 accidental shootings, and sadly 515 children have been shot due to mere irresponsibility. 

Solution:
The debate of gun ownership has been part of the History of America since 1990. Those in favor produce the argument of self defence and hunting whereas those in opposition put forward the fact sheet of violence especially when concept of "Jihad"  is misused to kill thousands of people. So as the time of this article coincides with that of presidential race, let's overview what Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have to say to fix this crisis.

"DONALD TRUMP calls for concealed-carry permits in all 50 states; he supports stricter sentences for felons caught with firearms"

"HILLARY CLINTON supports a ban on assault weapons and the expansion of background checks to mental-health outpatients and domestic abusers"

The solution is simple as proposed by the respective candidates. Gun laws need to be amended for safety and that every state has to understand the fact that the rate of violence in a particular state is directly proportional the gun ownership of that state.

 

 

SAUDI ARABIAN LED-INTERVENTION IN YEMEN

From now onwards the crisis would be specific to the country.
Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, running unopposed for president of Yemen, won 2012 Yemeni elections. The Houthis, a Zaidi Shia movement and militant group thought to be backed by Iran, took control of the Yemeni government. Saudi Arab and other countries denounced this as unconstitutional coup d'etat. By September 2014, Houthi fighter captured Sana'a, toppling the government but soon after the peace deal was achieved between the government and Houthis but neither party honoured their obligations. Due to this the government sought the support of Saudi Arabia and hence the formation of 34 state coalition to target to subjugate Yemen from the militants. According to the Saudi news outlet Al Arabia, Saudi Arabia contributed 100 warplanes and 150,000 soldiers to the military operation. Other Arab states also contributed their share of warplanes and soldiers to support the president's claim for government. USA and UK took part in Saudi's advisory board and they also were responsible for refuelling jets . The civilians fell victim to this campaign in humongous numbers forcing UN to accuse this campaign for neglecting and violating the Laws of War. Some are stated below:

• UN reported, From 26 March-23 April 2015 209 civilians were killed in Sana'a by air strikes.
• As reported by ICRC, Air strikes on 20th April 2015 on Fajj Atan military base, Sana'a. 90 civilians were put to death.
• On 27th May 2015, Reuters reported that 100 people were laid to rest due to air strikes.
• On 28th September 2015, 135 civilians were killed in alleged coalition airstrike on Yemen wedding.
• And Finally, On 8th October 2016, More than 140 people were killed and more than 525 wounded when air strikes hit a funeral ceremony in Yemen, a UN official reported.
• More than 2,500,000 people had been internally displaced as of 10 December 2015.

The Saudi led-coalition is in breach of international law as they are blocking aid as well as food supplies in the country which is threatening millions of powerless citizens to either choose their death by hunger or air strike.

Solution:
The war has received widespread criticism and had a dramatic worsening effect on the humanitarian situation, that reached the level of a "humanitarian Catastrophe". Until the humanitarian rights are not observed in Yemen and the Saudi defence minister stops this insanity no viable solution will be brought forward in near future. The Houthi Militants and the government needs to make peace, may it be in form of a deal or a temporary agreement to help the civilians. These kinds of operations are heavily dependent on intelligence information which USA is not very efficient in. Saudi Arab is economically in a depressed state as a budget deficit of 13.7% of GDP was reported so they should not let insanity prevail and must halt their campaign and rethink their strategies. Lastly, other than Coalition's nefarious war crimes, Yemen's internally disrupted systems have to be set right with the help of UN and donors. To sum it up, "The demented King's imbecile son has got them in a pickle".

DRUGS

"Afghan Opium production up 43 Percent: Survey". The facts are hard to ignore when they are this serious. Drug trafficking has posted yet another crisis for the world and UN to deal with. To put in simple terms drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation , manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. At current levels, world heroine consumption and seizures represent an annual flow of 430-450 tonnes of heroin into the global heroin market, Afghan opium is the winner, being the highest producer of heroin. The market of heroin is of an enormous amount of $43 billion with Europe having the biggest share. Second most consumed drug is cocaine. In 2007 and 2008, cocaine was used by some 16-17 million people worldwide, similar to the number of global opiate users but the fact that was stupefying was that the estimated market for cocaine consumption is $88 billion. Columbia is the main culprit in cocaine production with maximum share of European Market. Time to mention various drugs, its side effects and amount of consumers.

• Heroin was a strong painkiller used to treat chronic pain and physical trauma. However, it was made illegal due to misuse which had destroyed many families. The major side effects include inflammation of gums, cold sweat and weak immune system. As aforementioned, some 16-17 million addicts have threatened their own lives.
• Cocaine has got a similar number of users. Cocaine had attracted higher prices due to rarity but the rise of this epidemic lowered its rate and made it more easily accessible. Liver, kidney and lung damage are some well known cocaine inspired side effects.
• Krokodil is known to be Russia's secret addiction. It is believed the over one million Russians are addicted to the drug. It is considered more dangerous than heroin because it is often homemade. This drug causes gangrene, and eventually rotting of the flesh. 
• Lastly, Crystal Meth is not just famous because of Walter H White (Breaking Bad), but also because it is one of the most destructive drugs in the world. World War II was the golden period for it because it was used to stay awake. Hence sleep deprivation and brain damage is the drug's point of target.

Solution:
A great mind is definitely not needed to comprehend what drug trafficking is leading the world towards. The effective action is required in every aspect but what specifically needs to be done is the question asked?. First of all, this issue takes root when the medicines are abnormally misused so one has to refrain from acts of uncontrolled and unprescribed medicine intake. Secondly, the drugs are never to be tried, the more you want to try the harder it will be to leave. Thirdly, the drug addicts should not be frowned upon rather they should be subject to rehabilitation. Addictions are very hard to overcome because once tried they are overwhelmingly satisfying. Lastly, drug traffickers (this includes all from producers to providers) deserve a capital punishment because they tend to escape from right judgement. In this regard Saudi Arab is the most famous country for awarding death to the provider of any kind of banned drug. What Philippines is doing to erase drug traffickers may be harsh or debatable but frustration due to persistence of traffickers has led to severe measures.

AEROSPACE CRISIS

Aeroplanes have conquered the travelling of this time and age.The long hours wasted in the historic eras due to ships and travelling on land was immediately eradicated when the genius Wright brothers unveiled their almighty invention. This was the modernization of the travelling experience and to this day the world is heavily dependent on this mode of transport for especially long distances. The air planes exist to provide fast and efficient experience to avoid the hassle that once was a part of life but, everything comes at a cost. This source of travelling is nonetheless the most effective but the crisis that this specific sector faces has much more troublesome consequences than discussed in the previous article on 'automotive crisis'. The internal problem that plague this transportation facility is STRUCTURAL FAILURE which is caused by mere but ever so perilous THREE of the CAUSES:

1. Faulty Design
2. Faulty Maintenance
3. Manufacturing Flaws

The ultimate hazards of these faulty characteristics are severe thus fatalities are very common in this part. The Crisis mentioned below are as astonishing as it can get.

• In 1974, Turkish Airlines flight 981 was going from Istanbul to London with a intermediate stopover in Paris. The flight crashed into the Ermenonville forest outside Paris KILLING ALL 346 passengers. The crash was caused when an improperly secured cargo door at the rear of the plane broke off, causing an explosive decompression which severed cables necessary to control the aircraft.
• On May 25th 1979, American Airlines flight 191 from Chicago to Los Angeles crashed moments after taking off. ALL 258 passengers and 13 crew on board were killed. As the aircraft was rotating after take off, the engine of the left wing broke off subsequently resulting in a crash. The engine separation was attributed to damage to the pylon rigging structure holding the engine to the wing. Faulty maintenance procedures were the reason of this tragedy.
• On Monday, August 12 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic flight from Tokyo to Osaka. The Boeing suffered an explosive decompression and crashed into two ridges of a Mountain. The casualties were massive, 15 CREW MEMBERS AND 505 PASSENGERS. A doubler plate on the rear bulkhead of the plane was improperly repaired, compromising the plane's airworthiness. The explosive decompression ripped of large portion of the tail, making crash inevitable.

Solution:
The cases aforementioned are only handpicked from the lengthy list of deadly BLOODBATH DISASTERS. The reason is the flaw of design or maintenance that prompted THOUSANDS of people to suffer. The solution is not complex or superficial, though the investigation has shown a simple picture of the cause but it is hidden until found by the fate of accidents hence fixing it is just a regret afterwards. The engineers working in this industry are well aware of their tasks value and significance because of the grave consequences otherwise.What has to be done is, the faulty design has to be avoided at all costs and secondly, the maintenance staff needs to realize the importance of their vigilance and utter concentration. In majority of the cases the lack of maintenance lets the flaw emerge to be a disaster. The disasters happen for people to learn and improve but history has painted a picture of REPETITION.

AUTOMOBILE CRISIS

Automobile industry is one of the biggest and heavy industry sector in the world generating billions of dollars in revenues and similarly employing millions of workforce. This sector of cars specifically will be discussed in today's articles. Modernization of this industry happened a century ago and since then this industry's growth has prevailed. Toyota, Volkswagen and General Motors are the market leaders, though small firms entered and exited the market, these three giants managed sustainability.
As reported by Toyota, they sold massive 12000000 cars in 2015, almost completely influencing the third world market. This industry is economically preferred by every country but the company's thirst for profit forced them to take some unethical and immoral measures in the past and in recent times. The article would mention the history's automotive scandals worth knowing:

• In 1971, the ford pinto was designed to take the share of local market from importers and it was a resounding success. The setback came soon, if the rear end of the car collided, the fuel would spray all over in the car and raising the threat of ignition. As many as NINE HUNDRED PEOPLE DIED and Ford had to recall 1.5 million vehicles.
• In 1990, the Ford Explorer was a super hit SUV. This proved to be very beneficial for Ford but it faced a conspiracy of blowing tyres. The doubt when investigated, manifested to be right and Ford's tyre provider 'Firestone' was blamed. It caused 100 deaths and 13 million tyres had to be recalled.
• Between 2000 and 2008, Takata airbags scandal was truly the most  famous one. Takata issued airbags that, if were rupture would release chemical and metal sheets inflicting FATAL INJURIES. This failure inspired the recall of 30 million cars worldwide.
• In 2010, Chevy Cobalt was hit by a severe crisis, the car would shut down while in operation. This led to the deaths of 90 and a $10 billion fine, making bankruptcy inevitable for General Motors. The company was restructured but is still blamed for their irresponsible attitude.
• And the most recent, On September 17, 2015, VolksWagen was the largest auto maker and the very next day came crashing down. Their diesel powered cars had a very positive reputation but the company  had installed software to pass the carbon emission test wonderfully and then returning to its normal state. This meant, the damage done by Volkswagen to the environment was far more than allowed forcing the US alone to Fine the company a whopping $13 billion but time will tell what the full repercussions will be. 

Solution:
The crisis stated may show a grubby picture of automotive industry but the silver lining is, nothing poses a threat due to availability of solution for future. This means the automotive industry's lackluster and irresponsible attitude towards the serious issues endangering lives is amendable. The means of the crisis is generally known by the company, hence disasters are avoidable in 80% of the cases but then the LUST FOR PROFIT kicks in to play its part. Governmental departments for scrutinizing every car to make sure it is up to the mark have the biggest role so they need to be effective and efficient at the same time. Secondly, severe prosecutions against the guilty has to be carried out such as imposing humongous fines but the problem won't end there, the measures have to be more extensive, according to the defect found. Lastly, people have to be vigilant and must be learned enough about the safety measures, awareness programs would be the best guide to accommodate the driver.