CONTENTS

1) When politics breaks down – Politics (DAWN)

2) The Diabetes burden – Health (DAWN)
3) Eight billion people; one humanity – Population (TRIBUNE)

1) When politics breaks down – Politics (DAWN)

→ Forlorn (adjective): hopeless/useless
→ It is the lack of communication between the coalition government and the
opposition — except through bitter and inflammatory exchanges on television —
that rules out political resolution of their differences.
→ When politics fails and searing divides make it impossible for the political impasse to
be overcome, democracy cannot function. The shell of democracy remains but it is
then shorn of substance.
→ The raging political crisis has brought institutions under unprecedented pressure.
This is turning the courts into arbiters of politics, rather than arbiters of law, which is
their fundamental role.
→ In the cross hairs → in focus or under attention
→ In essence, Khan’s criticism of the establishment isn’t that it wields too much
political influence but that it is no longer willing to back him.
→ A recent survey by the Institute of Public Opinion Research showed that a large
majority of respondents, 63 per cent, support immediate elections and only 29pc
want the present assemblies and the coalition government to complete their term.
2) The Diabetes Burden – Health (DAWN)
→ Non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
→ The physical and mental health of any individual is key in ascertaining their
productivity and longevity.
→ The World Bank suggests that better health conditions in developed countries can
make them up to 50 per cent more fiscally productive than developing economies
that usually have weaker healthcare systems.
→ Asia remains one of the top contributors to the world’s GDP with prospects of
driving as much as 60pc of global growth by 2030.
→ South Asia bears one of the highest socioeconomic costs of the non-communicable
disease burden. Around 8.5 million people die each year in South Asia from NCDs.
→ One of the diseases that affects a large fraction of the South Asian population is type
2 diabetes, or diabetes mellitus, where the body’s response to the blood-sugar-
regulating hormone — insulin — is compromised.
→ The country most affected by and at risk from diabetes in South Asia is Pakistan,
where according to a recent study published in The Lancet, 33m people suffer from
type 2 diabetes.
 → Diabetes mellitus is the most common form of diabetes across the world. More than
95pc of worldwide diabetes cases are said to be of type 2 variant, states WHO.
→ Its (diabetes) major risk factors include physical inactivity, poor eating habits, stress,
and obesity among others.
→ Diabetes increases the body’s susceptibility to other serious illnesses, including renal
failure, heart disease, and increased susceptibility to outside infections such as
Covid-19.
→ World Diabetes Day is observed today (Nov 14) every year to spread awareness and
educate people about this disease.
→ Adopting policies more conducive for a healthier lifestyle, such as increasing the tax
on tobacco products, soft drinks and other sugar-based products consumed widely
and across socioeconomic divides.
→ Diabetes mellitus is to an extent preventable, and if diagnosed, largely manageable
by improving physical activity, eating a balanced diet and reducing stress.
3) Eight billion people; one humanity – Population (TRIBUNE)
→ The world’s population will reach 8 billion in the middle of November, 2022.
→ Unless we bridge the yawning chasm between the global haves and have-nots, we
are setting ourselves up for an 8-billion-strong world filled with tensions and
mistrust, crisis and conflict.
→ The top one percent globally pocket one fifth of the world’s income, while people in
the richest countries can expect to live up to 30 years longer than those in the
poorest.
→ Many countries in the Global South face huge debts, increasing poverty and hunger,
and the growing impacts of the climate crisis. They have little chance of investing in a
sustainable recovery from the pandemic, the transition to renewable energy, or
education and training for the digital age.
→ COP27 will see a historic Climate Solidarity Pact under which developed and
emerging economies unite around a common strategy and combine their capacities
and resources for the benefit of humankind.
→ Mahatma Gandhi: “The world has enough for everyone’s need — but not
everyone’s greed.”