What causes the sound of thunder ?

Thunder is caused by the rapid expansion of the air surrounding the path of a lightning bolt.
From the clouds to a nearby tree or roof , a lightning bolt takes a only a few thousandths of a second to split through the air . The loud thunder that follows the lightning bolt is commonly said to come from the bolt itself. However, the grumbles and growls we hear in thunderstorms actually come from the rapid expansion of the air surrounding the lightning bolt.

As lightning connects to the ground from the clouds, a second stroke of lightning will return from the ground to the clouds, following the same channel as the first strike . the lightning takes so little time to go from point A to point B, the heated air has no time to expand. The heated air is compressed, raising the air from 10 to 100 times the normal atmospheric pressure. The compressed air explodes outward from the channel, forming a shock wave of compressed  particles in every direction. Like an explosion, the rapidly expanding waves of compressed air create a loud, booming burst of noise.
 Because the electricity follows the shortest route, most lightning bolts are close to vertical .
The shock waves nearer to the ground reach your ear first, followed by the crashing of the shock waves from higher up . Vertical lightning is often heard in one long rumble. However, if a lightning bolt is forked, the sounds change. The shock waves from the different forks of lightning bounce off each other,the low hanging clouds , and nearby hills to create a series of lower , continuous grumbles of thunder .
Thunder fun facts :

*To judge how close lightning is , count the seconds between the flash and  the thunderclaps . Each second represents about 300 meter (984.25 feet )

* Thunder is not only heard during thunderstorms. It is uncommon , but not rare , to hear thunder when it is snowing . 
*Lightning does not always create thunder .

Opium Production has set record in Afghanistan

 Afghan men work on a poppy field in Jalalabad province.

 

 

 

Afghanistan's area under opium-poppy cultivation has increased 63% since 2016 , rising to 810505 acres, while its potential opium production increased 87% to an estimated 9,000 tons — both records for the country despite years of anti-narcotics efforts.

There is no single reason behind the increases , according to the UN office on drug and crime.

Among the main factors driving the increase are corruption, lack of government control and security, and challenges to the rule of law, like political instability . Local issues , like a lack of job opportunities , low- quality education, and limited access to markets and financial services, also compels farmers toward opium cultivation.

The Afghan government has shifted its focus to combating anti-government elements in densely populated areas at the expense of rural areas, which may have also allowed cultivation to increase, according to the UNODC .

The UNODC recorded strong increases  in all of Afghanistan's major poppy cultivating provinces. Helmand alone saw a 79% increase and accounted for just under of half the country's total increase. About 60% of Afghanistan's opium cultivation takes place in the southern region, and all the provinces there saw significant increases .

Opium produced in Afghanistan is typically exported in raw form, or as heroine or morphine. Helmand, home to an estimated 80% of Afghaistan opium poppies , is called " big drug factory".



 

No Nuclear Arms . North and South Korea agree for A final Peace .

North korean leader Kim Jong- Un and South Korean president Moon Jae-in

Seoul,South Korea : The leaders of North and South Korea agreed on 27th April to work to remove all nuclear weapons from Korean Peninsula and, within the year, pursue talks with the United States to declare an official end to Korean War which ravaged the Peninsula from 1950 to 1953.

At a historic summit meeting , the first time a North Korean leader had ever set foot in the South,  the both leaders vowed to negotiate a treaty to replace a truce that has kept an uneasy peace on the divided Korean Peninsula for more that 60 years .A peace treaty has been one of the incentives North Korea has demanded in return for dismantling its Nuclear Program .

“South and North Korea confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete demilitarization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula,” read a statement signed by North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and the South’s president, Moon Jae-in, after their meeting at the border village of Panmunjom .

Former cricketer Imran khan's third marriage with Bushra Maneka could soon end in divorce .

Former Pakistan cricketer Imran Khan's third wife Bushra Maneka whom he had married couple of months ago , has reportedly returned back to her maternal home following a domestic feud concerning Imran's pet dogs .

Pakistan Thereek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan had secretly married his spiritual mentor Bushra Maneka , a divorcee who has 3 daughters and 2 sons from her ex husband .

According to a report of Times of Islamabad, Maneka had ordered the expulsion of Imran's pet dogs from his palatial house since they were interfering with her religious practices.


Another report has claimed that Imran also  had a skirmish with Maneka over the fact that her son with former  husband has been staying at Imran's Bani Gala residence, though it had been agreed before marriage that no one from Bushra Maneka's family would stay for a longer period of time at Bani Gala.

Brides and Brothels: The Rohingya Trade

Thousands of Rohingya girls continue to face sexual exploitation , forced marriage and trafficking in refugee camps .

They have survived rape and the slaughter of their families . Hundreds of thousands Rohingya girls and women fled Myanmar in order to escape a military crackdown .

In Bangladesh's refugee camps they thought they would be safe. But inside the tents that house almost a million Rohingya refugees, women and girls are being bought,sold and given away.

Girls are being forced into marriage because relatives can't afford to feed them, or are being lured to brothels with the promise of good jobs and good  future .

Heatwave in Karachi similar to 2015 expected this year .

People are trying to find relief from heatwave in Karachi in Pakistan.

The director of Karachi health office has issued an  alert to the hospitals for heatwave, saying the situation will be similar to 2015 this year in which more than hundreds of people lost their lives due to escalating temperatures .

The general notice was issued to the executive director of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and medical superintendents of Civil Hospital and general hospitals in Korangi, Ibrahim Hyderi, Saudabad and Liaquatabad, Qatar Hospital in Orangi Town, children’s hospital North Nazimabad and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital among others.

The alert directed hospitals to keep their departments ready to cope with such a situation arise . They are also directed to establish heatstroke treatment  and stabilization centers to provide emergency medical treatment .

Syrian President Assad can still gas attack despite US lead airstrikes .

A Syrian girl holds an oxygen mask over the face of an infant .

Western air strikes have done little to degrade President  Assad's arsenal and his regime has the capabilities of inflicting major damages .

Brigadier-General Zaher al-Sakat, who served as head of chemical warfare in the powerful 5th Division of the military until he defected in 2013, said the most strategic sites were not hit in Saturday's strikes .

The Pentagon said that it believed the raids " attacked the heart of the Syrian chemical weapon program " significantly hampering the government's ability to use gas weapon again . 

Facebook says the number of users affected by Cambridge Analytica data leak is 87 million

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook said on 4th April wednesday the number of users whose information was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica is 87 million .

Facebook issued the number in a lengthy post by CTO Mike Schroepfer about its privacy changes, which include restricting third-party app access and deleting phone call and text information that's over a year old.

 Cambridge Analytica was accused of improperly gaining access to personal information of Facebook users, spurring legal probes and changes to Facebook's privacy policies.

Mark Zuckerberg CEO of social media giant, refused to rule out legal action against the British company and insisted that he remained the best man to lead the tech firm, flatly denying he had been asked to resign.

Malala Yousafzai returns to pakistan after 6 years .

March 29 : Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai returned to her native Pakistan on Thursday after  six years she was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen  for campaigning for female education in 2012.

She is expected to hold a meeting with Pak Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi .

At age 17, Yousafzai became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her education advocacy, becoming a global icon and education champion.

The trip is expected to last four days and she arrived with officials from her Malala fund .

Aussie captain and vice captain Suspended for ball tampering . Australia admit ball tampering in third test against South Africa .

Capetown South Africa : Australian opener Cameron Bancroft has been charged for ball tampering after being caught red handed using a sand paper to alter the state of ball before attempting to hide the evidence .

In further bad news for Cricket Australia, captain Steve Smith confessed to being complicit in the tampering in an explosive post-match press conference that he fronted alongside the embattled opener.
Bancroft was shown rubbing his hands over the ball with a yellow colored sand paper  shortly before tea on Saturday.
Smith said it was a "big mistake" but added he would not stand down.

Later Australia cricket board suspended captain Steve Smith and vice captain David Warner today.

Aussie wicket keeper Tim Paine leading Australia  in fourth days of Capetown test .

Mark Zuckerberg apologises over Cambridge Analytica data scandal

Thursday 22 March 2018 : Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has apologised  for mistake his company made in how it handled data belonging to 50 million of its users and promised tougher steps to restrict developer's access to such information.

The Facebook CEO broke his five days silence on the scandal that has enveloped his company this week .

The world's largest social media network is facing growing government scrutiny in Europe and the United States about a whistleblower's allegations that London-based political consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed user information to build profiles on American voters that were later used to help elect U.S. President Donald Trump in 2016.

Zuckerberg  said the social network  planned to conduct an investigation of thousands of apps that have used Facebook's platform .