Money doesn’t mean compassion

Having more money doesn’t necessarily make you more grateful or compassionate and greater wealth may not contribute to building a more caring and tolerant society, according to a study by the American Psychological Association (APA). Researchers analysed data from more than 1.6m people in 162 countries and found that high-income earners tend to feel more confident and prideful than low-income earners, but are not necessarily more compassionate or loving. High earners were also less afraid and more determined than low earners, who showed more examples of anxiety, fear and shame. In essence, it found replicable evidence that income correlates positively with emotions such as pride and confidence, and correlates negatively with emotions such as sadness and worry. However, there was no replicable evidence that income correlates reliably with emotions such as gratitude and compassion. The findings were similar in both high-income countries and developing countries, the study said.

(Adapted from “High Earners Aren’t Necessarily More Grateful Or Compassionate: New Study,” By Jade Scipioni, published on Mar 8, 2021, by CNBC)

A companion for the road

It can get lonely out on the road, so, for company, truckers often take along dogs, cats, birds, pigs — or even a hedgehog. “We’re away from our families a lot of the time,” said Rebecca Washington, a long-distance trucker who is sometimes away from home for months on end. “Animals are good companions.” Long-haul trucking companies mostly don’t complain about on-the-road pets, and some even encourage them, because happier drivers are more likely to stick around. The nationwide driver shortage in the US is acute, and the coronavirus only made matters worse. Carrying pets is “pretty common” for truckers, said Avery Vise, vice president for trucking at FTR Transportation Intelligence. FleetOwner magazine reported in 2013 that over 60pc were pet owners — with 40pc of them taking their pets on the road with them. For example, Jenniffer Hancock of Madisonville, Kentucky, travels with a kitty, an orange tabby named Sheldon. “His nickname is Mudflap because when we take him out on a harness at the drop yards he’ll have to sniff all the trailer mudflaps,” she said. “In the terminal, all the dispatchers know him.”

(Adapted from “The Traveling Zoo’: Life on the Road, With Pets at Their Side,” By Jim Motavalli, published on April 29, 2021, by The New York Times)

Why are India’s hospitals catching fire?

It’s not just shortages of beds and oxygen that India’s hospitals have to contend with as they now face another battle — fire — even as crematoria and graveyards run out of space for conducting funerals of Covid-19 victims, as bodies pile up. The latest incident of fire was reported at Gujarat’s Bharuch Welfare Hospital that claimed 18 lives. During a surging Covid-19 pandemic and oxygen shortage, fires are fast becoming an added hazard, with the Bharuch incident being the ninth such incident this year and the 18th incident since the March 25 lockdown last year. The total loss of lives? 102. A 10-year study on hospital fires in India that was published last year found that 78pc of all hospital fires were caused by an electrical short circuit, with air conditioning being the most common source of origin for the short circuit. Another possible reason why hospitals may be a sitting duck for fires is the oxygen-enriched environment, especially inside intensive care units.

(Adapted from “Why are India’s hospitals catching fire?” published on May 4, 2021, by the Times of India)

Poor education and vocational standards

Pakistan currently stands far from achieving the goal of universal primary and secondary education — in the context that the lack of basic education compromises the ability of the labour force to effectively acquire the needed vocational and technical skills. Though steady progress has been noticed over the past decades, educational indicators of Pakistan, in general, remain weak. Importantly, around one-fourth of primary-school-age children are out-of-school, with the overall literacy rate hovering around 60pc (age 10+). Here, much of the responsibility falls on the government, as public spending on education has consistently remained on the lower side; the current level also falls significantly short of the prescribed level laid out in the Sustainable Development Goal’s Education 2030 Framework for Action.

(Adapted from “State Of Pakistan’s Economy – Third Quarterly Report 2019-2020,” published by the State Bank of Pakistan)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, May 10th, 2021