Day: November 3, 2022

ISLAMABAD:Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) personnel on Thursday recovered 1,560 grams of cocaine from a Brazilian citizen at Islamabad International Airport. Details indicate that the accused was detained during search operation after boarding flight QR-632 bound to Doha from Lahore.

While the operations of ANF’s anti-narcotics are ongoing, 180 drug pills were seized from the possession of a suspect, resident of Quetta, near Karachi Northern Bypass. Similarly, 900 grams of opium was recovered from a parcel that was being delivered to London from a courier office in Lahore. The seized opium was concealed in the books. The accused were arrested and separate cases were registered against them under the Anti-Narcotics Act and the investigation was started.

 

ISLAMABAD:Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan has said the prospects of Pakistan-US relations are bright and our ties are poised to grow in the future. He was speaking at a two-day conference organized by the US top think tank Atlantic Council, John Hopkins’s University, University of Lahore and Engro Corporation on ‘Future of Pakistan-US relations’ in Washington DC.

He said Pakistan-US relations now have been de-hyphenated from India and Afghanistan. He said Pakistan and the United States are developing a singular trajectory with responsibilities towards the broader region. The envoy said Pakistan and the US understand each other’s strategic calculus and imperative. While Pakistan has strong ties with China, it wants to have very robust ties with the United States in all fields.

Masood Khan said that in the past 75 years, Pakistan and the United States have evolved a legacy of cooperation in diverse fields. He said Pakistan benefitted economically and militarily from the US support and together they made the world safer through collaboration during the Cold War, by fighting terrorism, by contributing to UN peacekeeping and jointly conducting counter-piracy operations. The envoy said Pakistan has helped the US in massive evacuations from Afghanistan, whereas the US has delivered 79 million vaccine doses to help Pakistan fight the Covid-19 pandemic, making it the top donor to Pakistan.

He expressed the confidence that a harmonious strategic alignment between Pakistan and the United States will create a salutary environment for scaling up bilateral ties in the economic, technological and educational domains. Masood Khan cautioned that it would be a fatal mistake to ignore our obligations in South Asia in regard to conflict management and conflict resolution, regional deterrence, response mechanisms and strategic stability. He also called for reviving bilateral and multilateral diplomacy on Kashmir. He said in the security realm, the US and Pakistan are pursuing their shared interests to stabilize Afghanistan, counter terrorism and foster regional security.

ISLAMABAD:Schools for more than 02-million children in Pakistan remain completely inaccessible after the most severe flooding in the country’s history destroyed or damaged nearly 27,000 schools in the country. “Almost overnight, millions of Pakistan’s children lost family members, homes, safety, and their education, under the most traumatic circumstances,” said UNICEF’s Global Director of Education Robert Jenkins, upon returning from flood-affected areas in Pakistan, says a press statement issued by the UNICEF here on Thursday.

“Now, faced with the uncertainty of when they’ll be able to return to school, and having already endured some of the world’s longest school closures due to the pandemic, they are experiencing yet another threat to their future,” Robert Jenkins added. More than two months since the devastating floods engulfed large areas of Pakistan, the tops of school buildings are only just becoming visible in some of the flood-hit areas. It is estimated that it will be weeks, even months before the flood waters completely subside.

In addition to places of learning, schools are critical in providing children with access to healthcare, psychosocial support, and immunization. The longer schools remain closed, the greater the risk of children dropping out altogether, increasing their likelihood of being forced into child labor and child marriage, and exposure to other forms of exploitation and abuse. Many of the hardest-hit districts were already among the most vulnerable communities in Pakistan. Before the current emergency, one-third of boys and girls in flood-affected areas were already out of school and 50 per cent of children suffered from stunting. These deprivations may be further exacerbated by prolonged school closures.

During the height of the pandemic, schools across Pakistan were fully or partially closed for 64 weeks between March 2020 and March 2022 – some of the worlds longest school closures. Less than six months on, the destruction caused by the extreme floods means schoolchildren are once again locked out of learning. Excessive damage to infrastructure including electricity and internet connectivity has left remote learning largely inaccessible. UNICEF has established more than 500 temporary learning centers in the worst-affected districts and supported teachers and children with education supplies.

To support children’s mental and physical health, UNICEF is training teachers on psychosocial care and health screenings and is preparing for back-to-school and enrolment activities for those schools that have been cleaned and rehabilitated. “For some children, who had never been enrolled in school before, these learning centers are their very first experience of education. We need to do all that we can to ensure they continue learning when they return to their homes,” said Jenkins.

PESHAWAR:The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police has banned the use of smartphones by officers while on duty across all jails, it emerged on Thursday. A communiqué sent to all KP police officers on behalf of the KP IGP stated that it had been observed that police officials were using mobile phones while on duty even though “clear directions in this regard have already been conveyed to all field formations”.

The police department further warned that disciplinary action will be taken against those found violating the orders. Furthermore, the police department has also barred officials from going home in uniform after completing duties amid rising targeted attacks against police cops. Back in 2018, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government had banned the use of smartphones, tablets and similar electronic devices in public hospitals and medical facilities.

KARACHI:With contributions by filmmakers from Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Nepal, the 10-episode second season of the environmental documentary series Voices from the Roof of the World (VRW) features the climate crisis in the mountains of Asia. A joint initiative by agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) including Aga Khan University, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, Aga Khan Foundation and University of Central Asia, the series will be premiered on TV and online on November 6.

“The people worst affected by climate change today are least responsible for its causes and too often left to bear this burden alone,” said Prince Hussain Aga Khan. “We must give these vulnerable communities a voice and all take responsibility to help them cope with this global crisis. Across all our activities the AKDN works with communities, governments, civil society, and the private sector to invest in locally-led climate action and build resilience.”

“The new season takes us from the Thar desert to high mountain communities whose traditions and very survival is threatened by fast melting glaciers and unpredictable snow and rain,” commented Andrew Tkach, eight Emmy-winning Executive Producer of the series, who has been collaborating with local talent to produce the films.

The series will document the threats faced by such iconic species as snow leopards and griffon vultures. The stories capture the struggle of people and natural habitats that are the least responsible for global warming but already shouldering its catastrophic impacts. Combining local knowledge and innovation, they are finding ways to adapt and fighting to save diverse ecosystems and precious water sources.

Last year, record temperatures provoked a series of glacial lake outburst floods in northern Pakistan, sweeping away bridges in valleys below the Shisper Glacier in Hunza. Higher up the mountains, semi-nomadic people called the Wakhi were leading their yaks to summer pastures. Their traditional lifestyle has also been heavily impacted by climate change. Filmmaker Karim Shallwanee has profiled both the scientists and the villagers on this global warming frontline.

Filmmaker Tazeen Bari has documented the annual harvest festival in the Kalash Valleys, which this summer was followed by the devastating floods that inundated much of Pakistan. “Due to climate change and human encroachment, the habitat of snow leopards is quickly shrinking in the Karakoram in Gilgit-Baltistan. With less natural prey to eat, snow leopards have increasingly attacked domesticated livestock,” said filmmaker Abdullah Khan, who followed one angry herder who lost more than a hundred animals to snow leopards.