by admin | Aug 23, 2025 | community, culture, tourist attractions, tourists, Travel
Featuring ancient windmills and sloped-roof wooden homes situated along a winding river, the picturesque and widely popular spot known as Zaanse Schans is essential to visit for anyone exploring the Netherlands.
However, the village with its historic structures close to Amsterdam has been labeled “a national emblem of over-tourism” by local officials, who currently aim to implement a controversial entry fee.
The intense discussion regarding the proposed 17.50-euro ($20) ticket for next year occurs amid worldwide opposition to overcrowded tourism, with popular destinations such as Venice imposing fees for daily visits.
On a magnificent summer day during AFP’s visit, lengthy lines for the renowned windmills stretched outside the entrance, with groups moving across bridges, patiently awaiting photo opportunities showcasing the picturesque landscape.
Buses release hundreds of sightseeing visitors throughout the day, filling up a modestly sized space that remains open and accessible without charge — at least temporarily.
The local authority in neighboring Zaanstad claims the charge is essential for maintaining historic structures, which are facing “intense strain” due to large visitor volumes.
“Over the past few years, the Zaanse Schans has become a national emblem of over-tourism,” stated councilor Wessel Breunesse.
Approximately 2.6 million visitors came in the previous year, according to the council, with projections indicating an increase to three million in future years unless action is taken.
A ticket charge might lower the yearly number to approximately 1.8 million visitors and generate millions of euros for maintaining these historical structures.
“Not taking action is not feasible. With insufficient funds for proper upkeep, the heritage will disappear within a few years,” stated the council in a message delivered to AFP.
Tourism-dependent economy
Many visitors remain unaware until their arrival that although numerous structures originate from the 16th century, the location itself is a modern and constructed anomaly.
Following World War II, conventional wooden building techniques faced the risk of being completely lost.
Enthusiastic about safeguarding this piece of history, local Mayor Joris in ‘t Veld proposed a solution: he intended to move the homes and place them at a newly secured location.
In 1955, the first mill came into existence, followed by the first home a few years afterward. In time, the “Zaanse Schans” location became renowned enough to be formally inaugurated by Queen Juliana in 1972.
“Zaanse Schans was not originally intended to be the global attraction it has become, drawing millions of tourists from around the globe,” said councilor Breunesse.
However, for local resident and entrepreneur Ingrid Kraakman, the proposal to impose an entry fee would be catastrophic, not only as a community member but also for the dairy store where she is employed.
“A local living here doesn’t wish to reside behind a barrier… that’s unacceptable,” said the 62-year-old person, speaking to AFP from her 17th-century house located in the center of Zaanse Schans.
Kraakman and her husband Ko have resided in this region for 33 years and feel that implementing an entry charge would severely harm the local economy and employment opportunities.
“She mentioned there is significant fear,” she noted, adding that approximately 80 percent of the regional economy relies on tourism.
Her dairy store is full of visitors drawn in by complimentary tastings and mementos, yet she mentioned that the charge would significantly hinder their expenditure.
A household of four would already be spending approximately 80 euros including parking, which cuts into their funds for in-venue shopping, she pointed out.
“They do not purchase cheese. They do not buy clocks. Instead, they opt for a keepsake or perhaps the tiniest piece of cheese available,” she said to AFP.
Referendum demand
The Kraakmans have gathered over 2,000 signatures for a vote on this matter, yet their efforts have not been heeded at the municipal office.
Knowing about certain local opposition, the council has promised that the location will remain accessible to residents and that there won’t be any barrier surrounding the space.
Even though the plans are set for next year, an adjustment has been proposed to account for potential postponements. Currently, 2026 appears as an overly ambitious target — referred to by a local authority figure under confidentiality as a “moonshot.”
Many visitors believed the journey was worthwhile despite having to cover the costs.
Spanish tourist Robert Duque said to AFP: “It’s a beautiful location, although at times it gets very busy and you can’t fully appreciate the experience.”
A 35-year-old operations manager stated that he would be open to paying an entry fee to reduce tourism numbers.
“I believe it’s beneficial; thus, we can space out the arrival of visitors and make better use of the amenities,” stated Duque.
by admin | Aug 22, 2025 | celebrations, culture, events and festivals, festivals, social issues
August 19, Nepal – In 2018, Rishikesh Pandey released a compelling study in Quest titled “Religion, Rainfall and Rice: A Social and Ecological Analysis of Festivals in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.” Among his key discoveries was that the Newar community in Kathmandu faces challenges maintaining their age-old traditions because of factors such as “transformations in the agricultural ecosystem.” How can they perform prayers and offerings in their rice paddies anymore, with these areas now replaced by sprawling urban structures? I think it’s time for us to reconsider how we celebrate major national events like Dashain. My view is that although our festivals should remain intact, their observances and customs require updating—due to both financial and societal considerations.
Excitement under the clouds
The monsoon is still in full swing. Many people continue to live in the mortal fear of terrible landslides and flash floods. And yet, the festive season has begun in earnest.
Most of our festivities fall in autumn. They are much more enjoyable once the monsoon rains have stopped, seasonal flowers blossom and the paddy fields turn golden with the ripening crop. This year’s Dashain, which is about a month and half away, is going to be wet and muddy.
Notwithstanding, everyone is looking forward to the start of the great festivals. Many people living and working abroad are already planning to return to their country for Dashain. Town residents are planning to visit their ancestral homes, which are rapidly emptying. No doubt, festivals are a great source of personal happiness and social connection. Yet they are also a source of angst for many.
Too costly
Our celebrations are impressive in various aspects, yet they often become excessively costly. Many expenditures arise due to the frequent occurrence of numerous festivals. Next week marks Teej, and certain women may try their best to purchase new saris, ideally accompanied by pricey golden jewelry.
Dashain presents an even greater concern, featuring numerous days filled with lavish meals, travel, new clothing, and jewelry. Likewise, many individuals offer goats and chickens as sacrifices to well-known gods. How can those who earn a modest salary through honest labor afford these costs?
The festival of Tihar follows Dashain almost immediately, which tends to be quite expensive too. A similar situation exists in Tarai, with Chhath right after Dashain. The Newars too have many festivals of their own, each involving lots of expenses.
Drain on foreign income
I think these successive festivals around the harvest season were crucial to bring agrarian communities together in the past. Almost every house grew its own crop and livestock hence, the expenses weren’t such an issue. They probably didn’t think about buying expensive jewellery and foreign clothes at the time.
Continuing the practice of long feasts and social events, along with displaying wealth through gold, silver, clothing, or even costly vehicles and residences, appears difficult. This is particularly true in modern capitalist societies, where farming communities are quickly diminishing, leaving large areas of farmland unused and many rural populations declining.
These traditional types of festive celebrations in an era of market economy have been a huge drain on the remittance economy. Our economy is surviving because hundreds of thousands of our young men and women toil in Malaysia, Arab countries, Korea, Japan and send money home. Much of that money remitted from abroad goes into family expenses, mainly in celebrating increasingly expensive festivals.
What this has done is prevent the productive use of the remittance. It would be much better for the concerned families, to the local and national economy, if much of the remittance was invested in small businesses, in innovative projects. That would also provide employment opportunities and, in the longer term, increase the rate of pay within our own country-requiring less citizens to go for unskilled labour overseas.
Promoting social inequality
Our religious festivals seem out of place or outdated in the performance of at least some of their rituals and customs. As a result, the festivals have not only hurt the national economy, but also social harmony. Isn’t it time to rethink the rituals that openly promote social inequality?
I ponder why we continue to observe Janai Purnima, for example. It definitely does not warrant being a public holiday. This is because it is a highly polarizing celebration. The so-called higher or purer castes replace their sacred thread—janai—on this day. Meanwhile, the rest of us, including Dalits, indigenous communities, and women, are denied the opportunity to partake in the same thread or ceremony.
The concept of sacred thread has been used since the Puranic period to distinguish the higher castes from the lower ones. So, it deserves to be either wiped off our annual calendar for good-or reformed massively.
Numerous other celebrations, such as the Grand Dashain, clearly reinforce and support the traditional concept of ceremonial cleanliness and impurity. The spiritual idea of ritual purity and contamination (thoroughly examined by Luis Dumont in his renowned work “Homohierarchicus”) serves as the fundamental belief system underlying social stratification and prejudice. We have permitted places of worship to engage in this practice without restraint.
During the nine-day period of pre-Tika pujas, Damai drummers perform their musical rituals at nearly every temple dedicated to goddesses and old fortresses. However, they are not allowed inside the temple to offer prayers like other worshippers, and instead receive tika placed on a leaf. Even more distressing, they face additional humiliation by being given the leftover parts of sacrificial animals such as goats and bulls.
The same thing happens in state-sponsored and historic temples such as Gorakh Kali and Nuwakot Bhagawati and Palanchowk Bhagawati. Why are we allowing such practices to continue even in a secular republic? We’ve dumped Hindu monarchy for good-it’s also time to dump old and divisive rituals and customs.
To conclude, rain or shine-let’s celebrate our festivals. One doesn’t even need to be a Hindu to enjoy them, to have fun, to reconnect with our social circles. However, let’s also start a serious debate about reforming the ancient methods of celebrating our festivals-keeping in mind economic and social concerns. So that festivals bring more fun and less angst amongst the masses.
by admin | Aug 22, 2025 | economics, financial services, fiscal policy, politics and government, tax policy and law
Posted on, Aug. 19 – August 19, 2025 at 7:24 AM
The “tax policy office” in Pakistan will cease to fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), according to an announcement made by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday. Instead, this department will now operate under the authority of the Ministry of Finance. As a result, the FBR will no longer have the key responsibility of drafting the annual budget.
“Tax policy office is now moved into the Finance Division. FBR has nothing to do with the policy. The next year’s budget to be presented in 2026 (for FY27) will be led by the finance and tax policy office and not by FBR,” Senator Aurangzeb said while speaking at a workshop titled ‘Unlocking Capital Market Potential for Banks’, organized by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Pakistan Banks Association (PBA).
Industrial strategy: He further mentioned that the government has been steadily developing an industrial plan set for release shortly, aimed at creating favorable conditions and boosting manufacturing growth within the nation.
“Haroon Akhtar (Special Assistant to Prime Minister) is working day and night to get that (industrial policy) through the cabinet and make an announcement. This is an important element of how we are going to move from stability to sustainable growth, because these underline pillars are going to be quite critical,” he said, adding that over the past couple of months the government has already announced policies for tarrifs, electric vehicles, creating a cashless economy and the digital sector.
Tariff Reforms: Delivering a speech on tariff reforms for businesses—especially those involved in exports—Aurangzeb stated that the government needs to lower customs taxes, extra customs charges, and administrative fees to a specific extent within the coming four to five years.
“This is essential to improve export competitiveness and also to take away the protection that we have provided certain industries for the longest time.”
In terms of the reforms, he said many institutions helped the government, including the World Bank.
“I just want to be very clear the IMF has nothing to do with it. Tariff reforms is very much a home-grown agenda of the government and this administration to make our industry more competitive as we go forward.” He said finance and FBR believe reducing tariffs will hurt the collection of revenue. “They say our revenue (collection) will fade away if we keep reducing duties.” However, “we have to get out of this short-term thinking and see what is the right thing to do for the country over the next four to five years if we are going to grow and move towards supporting competitiveness.”
Missing players: He noted that the corporate sector was largely missing from the workshop, even though they are key players in the development of the capital markets – as they are the one who mobilize funds (debt/equity) through the capital markets.
The minister proposed that the workshop coordinators establish a capital market advancement committee aimed at mobilizing resources for projects via local financial systems such as the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). Key members of the committee might consist of the SECP, the State Bank of Pakistan, PBA, companies, banking institutions, and other relevant entities, along with input from different provinces—since significant implementation authority currently resides within them.
by admin | Aug 22, 2025 | disaster management, disasters, emergency management, news, search and rescue
Released on, Aug. 19 — August 19, 2025 at 3:49 PM
The Federal Information Minister, Atta Tarar, stated that Pakistan has initiated a synchronized nationwide approach involving all provinces, pertinent organizations, and the military to address the extreme floods resulting from monsoon rainfall. The administration has implemented an integrated plan to handle the crisis effectively and safeguard people.
At a media conference held in Islamabad, NDMA Chief Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik and DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry stated that search and rescue crews have successfully rescued approximately 25,000 individuals up to now. Updates are being continuously provided to all relevant parties to ensure efficient coordination of aid efforts.
The head of the NDMA mentioned that their official website regularly updates information regarding rainfalls, flood damages, and losses. To date, monsoon-related storms, sudden downpours, landfills, and flooding in northern regions have resulted in almost 670 deaths, with approximately 1,000 people wounded nationwide.
General Inam Haider mentioned that some of the people who were once unaccounted for have now been located, although regrettably, many did not make it. Ongoing rescue efforts involve the military and emergency personnel collaborating to conduct thorough searches and recoveries in the impacted regions.
Assistance initiatives involve supplying food, medical aid, and necessary items to those who have been forced to leave their homes. More than half of the destroyed infrastructure has been fixed, with key roads and expressways currently under repair and scheduled to be completely open again next week.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry stated that the military has sent eight groups to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan as part of relief efforts. To date, more than 6,300 individuals have been treated at nine health centers, while food supplies and assistance are being provided in isolated areas with help from the PTA and army construction teams.
Authorities stated that assessments to determine the total extent of damage will start shortly, with findings made available to the public. They advised residents to adhere to safety protocols as search and recovery efforts proceed in regions affected by flooding.
by admin | Aug 22, 2025 | controversies, crime, military, police and law enforcement, politics
Released on, Aug. 19 — August 19, 2025 at 6:58 AM
The people of Balochistan have endured prolonged treachery. On Monday, Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti announced the capture of a suicide attacker and claimed the scheme originated from a university professor, Dr Muhammad Usman Qazi.
It is alarming that an instructor responsible for molding young intellects was found to be associated with extremists and connected to the November 2024 Quetta railway station attack, representing a troubling and hazardous development.
If accurate, this breakdown goes further than one individual explosion. Parents shouldn’t be left questioning whether educators are equipping pupils for tests, or for shelters.
However, the arrest occurs within a broader, more violent context. Violence in Balochistan has increased significantly over the last two years, with militant attacks increasing by over 80 percent in 2024 alone. Quetta, Khuzdar, Kalat—each has suffered from destructive assaults.
The BLA’s “Herof” operation last summer resulted in over 70 deaths, including deliberate strikes against Punjabis. The current year began with the seizure of the Jaffar Express, as hundreds of civilians and military staff have perished within the last 18 months.
Beyond standard definitions, what is occurring in Balochistan seems to be an uprising that has evolved—combining messaging with armed conflict and taking advantage of gaps within institutions, including those found in academic settings.
Therefore, the state’s reaction should be realistic. If the proof regarding Dr. Qazi is valid, it needs to be examined in public court, rather than remaining just within media statements. Meanwhile, although monitoring is important, blaming whole organizations could lead to increased feelings of being disconnected.
Balochistan must not face yet another round of railway station explosions and assaults on school buses. Similarly, Pakistan cannot tolerate educational institutions turning into channels for terrorism. The sole means to end the province’s prolonged, continuous pattern of conflict is through justice—justice that is open, trustworthy, and conclusive. *
