ISLAMABAD: Pakistan was the world’s second most polluted country after Bangladesh, IQAir, a Swiss group that measures air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5, said on Wednesday.
South Asia is the most polluted region in the world with Bangladesh, India and Pakistan sharing 42 of the 50 most polluted cities worldwide, IQAir said in its 2020 World Air Quality Report, with data gathered from 106 countries.
“The most polluted countries in the region have numerous cities that average US AQI measurements of “Unhealthy” (> 55.5 μg/m3) or worse,” the report said. “Bangladesh: 80% of cities; Pakistan: 67% of cities; India: 32% of cities.”
The report said key drivers of air pollution in Pakistan included urbanization, rapid economic development, and industrialization.
“Major sources of Pakistan’s air pollution include road transport emissions (both vehicle exhausts and road dust), domestic biomass burning, and industrial activity,” IQAir said. “Pakistan also experiences air pollution from agricultural burning and shares transboundary pollution from this activity with India.”
Alarmingly, the report noted that more than 20% of deaths in Pakistan were “attributable to the negative health impacts of air pollution exposure.”
IQAir also ranked Lahore as the world’s 18th most polluted city during 2020 and second most polluted megacity, after New Delhi, exposing its over 11 million residents to hazardous PM2.5 levels.
“There is no public access to data from the government network, but the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency has implemented some measures to mitigate industrial emissions and plans to implement a monitoring network,” IQAir said. “It is not yet clear whether data from the monitoring network will be made public in real-time.”
Pakistan ranked world’s second most polluted country — IQAir study
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Pakistan ranked world’s second most polluted country — IQAir study
- Bangladesh ranks first among polluted nations, India third in IQAir’s 2020 World Air Quality Report
- 20% of deaths in Pakistan “attributable to negative health impacts of air pollution exposure”
OIC body, Pakistani university launch fellowship program for Bangladeshi students and scholars
- Program open for Bangladeshi nationals aged 22-45 residing anywhere, says state media
- Covers tuition fee waiver, airfare, honorarium and free accommodation for students, scholars
ISLAMABAD: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation and Pakistan’s University of Lahore have joined hands to launch a fellowship program for Bangladeshi students and scholars, state-run media reported on Sunday.
The program is open for Bangladeshi nationals aged 22 to 45, residing in any country of the world, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said. It said Bangladeshi nationals must have outstanding academic achievements and a demonstrated commitment to contributing to their communities for the fellowship.
The program covers tuition fee waiver, round-trip airfare, honorarium and free accommodation, it added.
“This fellowship program is a testament to our commitment to bridging gaps in education and research across the Muslim world,” Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, COMSTECH’s coordinator general said.
“By investing in Bangladeshi scholars and students, we aim to cultivate a generation of innovators and leaders who will address the challenges of our time.”
Eligible candidates can apply through the official websites of COMSTECH and the University of Lahore, APP said, adding that applications are open until Mar. 1, 2025.
The development takes place amid a renewed push from both Bangladesh and Pakistan to improve their ties after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster from office in August last year.
Established together as one independent nation in 1947, Bangladesh won liberation from then-West Pakistan in 1971. Relations between the two countries continued to deteriorate during Hasina’s administration, which prosecuted several members of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party for war crimes relating to the 1971 conflict.
However, Islamabad’s ties with Dhaka have improved as Bangladesh’s relations with India, where Hasina has sought refuge, have deteriorated.
Pakistani province orders arrest of suspects involved in shooting at Kurram aid convoy
- Unidentified men on Saturday fired at aid convoy traveling toward Kurram district rocked by sectarian and tribal clashes
- Participants of high-level meeting chaired by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister vow not to show militants any mercy
PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has ordered the immediate arrest of suspects involved in the recent shooting at an aid convoy en route to the northwestern Kurram district, which has been rocked by sectarian and tribal clashes in recent weeks, a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office said on Sunday.
Saturday’s gun attack was carried out by unidentified men near Bagan, a tense locality in the district’s center, as Deputy Commissioner (DC) Javedullah Mehsud and other officials led an aid convoy to Kurram, leaving the top officials and four security men injured.
Kurram, a northwestern district of around 600,000 people in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has been rocked by tribal and sectarian clashes since Nov. 21 when gunmen attacked a convoy of Shia passengers, killing 52.
The attack sparked further violence and blockade of a main road connecting Kurram’s main town of Parachinar with the provincial capital of Peshawar, causing medicine, food and fuel shortages in the area, as casualties surged to 136.
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur held a meeting with senior provincial officials on Saturday night to take stock of the situation in Kurram after the incident, the CM Office said in a statement.
“People involved in the firing should be handed over to the law,” the statement said. “A first information report against all suspects involved in the shooting should be registered after which they should be immediately arrested.”
The statement said that after a peace agreement between the warring factions in Kurram, the responsibility for its violation falls on the people of the area. Participants of the meeting also decided to fix bounties on militants’ heads to eliminate them.
“No mercy will be shown to any terrorist nor will those who aid them be spared,” it added.
KP government spokesperson Muhammad Ali Saif said on Saturday that Mehsud’s condition was out of danger. The official was leading a convoy of 17 trucks, which were carrying tents, blankets, medical kits, tarpaulins, solar lamps and sleeping bags when the attack occurred.
Kurram police spokesman Riaz Khan told Arab News that the attack injured DC Mehsud, his police guard and three members of the Frontier Corps (FC) paramilitary force.
Saturday’s gun attack came days after a grand jirga, or council of political and tribal elders formed by the KP provincial government, brokered a peace agreement between the warring Shia and Sunni tribes, following weeks of efforts.
Under the peace agreement signed on Wednesday, both sides had agreed on the demolition of bunkers and the handover of heavy weapons to the authorities within two weeks, but the attack on the aid convoy has once again cast a cloud on peace in the restive district.
According to the peace agreement, any party that launches an attack after the signing of the deal will be considered a “terrorist” and action will be taken against it. Another point of the agreement says that a fine of Rs10 million ($35,933) will be imposed on those who violate the terms of the deal by using weapons against each other.
Land disputes in the volatile district will be settled on a priority basis with the cooperation of local tribes and the district administration, according to the peace agreement. Opening of banned outfits’ offices will be prohibited in the district, while social media accounts spreading hate will be discouraged via collective efforts backed by the government.
India issues visas to 100 Pakistani pilgrims for Sufi saint’s death anniversary
- Pakistani pilgrims to depart for Ajmer in India today to partake in religious festivities
- India issued visas “significantly below” allowed quota of 500 pilgrims, says state media
ISLAMABAD: India has issued visas to 100 Pakistani pilgrims to attend events related to the annual death anniversary of revered Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, state media reported this week, saying that the number was “significantly below” the allowed quota of 500 pilgrims.
Pakistan and India regularly issue visas to residents of each other’s countries to attend birth and death anniversaries of religious personalities. The 1974 Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines agreement allows devotees from both countries to visit sacred sites, including Hindu temples in Pakistan and Islamic shrines in India.
However, political tensions between the two nations have at times disrupted these exchanges, with instances where visas were denied to religious pilgrims.
“The Indian authorities have issued visas to only 100 Pakistani pilgrims for the annual Urs of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer Sharif, India, significantly below the allotted quota of 500,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said on Saturday.
Pakistan’s religion ministry spokesperson Umer Butt said India has denied visas to a potential 400 Pakistani pilgrims this year to attend Chishti’s death anniversary.
“Despite the restrictions, he said 100 Pakistani pilgrims are set to leave for Ajmer Sharif on Sunday via the Wagah border,” APP reported.
He said these pilgrims will participate in various religious ceremonies at Chishti’s shrine, widely known as Gharib Nawaz, at Ajmer in India’s Rajasthan.
Despite the tensions between the two countries, Pakistan has actively promoted religious tourism in recent years, welcoming Buddhist monks as well as Hindu and Sikh pilgrims from India and across the globe.
The inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor in 2019, which allows visa-free travel for Indian Sikhs to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, is a significant milestone in these efforts.
Each year, a large number of Indian Sikhs also travel to Pakistan to pay homage at sacred sites, including Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Samadhi in Lahore, the last resting place of the founder of the Sikh Empire, and Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, revered for its connection to Guru Nanak.
Pakistan demands UN take meaningful measures for free plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir
- Pakistan marks Jan. 5 every year to commemorate day UN recognized right to self-determination for people of Kashmir in 1949
- PM Shehbaz Sharif urges world to call for immediate cessation of human rights violations, release of political prisoners
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the international community and the United Nations on Sunday to ensure a free, fair and transparent plebiscite for the people of Indian-administered Kashmir, criticizing New Delhi for taking steps to “consolidate its occupation” of the disputed valley.
Pakistan marks ‘Right to Self-Determination Day’ for the people of Indian-administered Kashmir every year on Jan. 5, which commemorates the United Nations Security Council’s resolution passed on Jan. 5, 1949. In it, the UN supported the right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to decide their future through a free and fair plebiscite under UN supervision.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir has been divided between Pakistan and India since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both countries govern parts of the territory but claim it in full, having fought two of their three wars over the disputed region.
“It is time for the international community, including the United Nations, to live up to their promises and take meaningful measures, enabling the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination,” Sharif said in his statement.
Sharif noted that every year the UN expresses unequivocal support for the realization of the right to self-determination for peoples under foreign occupation.
“Regrettably, the Kashmiri people have not been able to exercise this inalienable right for over seven decades,” he said.
“The international community must also call for immediate cessation of human rights violations, release of political prisoners, and restoration of fundamental rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people.”
In 2019, India repealed Article 370, which granted special autonomous status to the part of Kashmir controlled by New Delhi, and the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan was over, India Today reported.
The move triggered a sharp reaction from Pakistan, which suspended trade with India and downgraded its ties with the country.
“Through a series of illegal and unilateral actions taken since 5 August 2019, India is trying to alter the demographic and political structure of the disputed territory, aimed at transforming the majority Kashmiri people into a disempowered minority community, in their own homeland,” Sharif said.
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s “strong resolve” to continue extending its moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir to pursue their right to self-determination.
Pakistan government warns of ‘hurdles’ to talks if Imran Khan’s party doesn’t submit demands
- Second round of talks between Khan’s party, government ended inconclusively this week after PTI did not submit demands in writing
- Khan’s party has publicly stated two demands: release of political prisoners and setting up of judicial commissions to probe protests
ISLAMABAD: A leading government spokesperson this week warned that negotiations with former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party may face “serious hurdles” if the party fails to submit its demands in writing in the next meeting.
The PTI and the government’s second round of talks on Jan. 2 ended inconclusively after Khan’s party demanded more time to meet and consult the jailed former premier before submitting their demands in writing to the government.
The two sides kicked off negotiations last month to end the political deadlock in the country. Khan’s party has publicly stated two demands: the release of political prisoners and the establishment of judicial commissions to investigate protests on May 9, 2023, and Nov. 26, 2024, which the government says involved his party supporters, accusing them of attacking military installations and government buildings.
“In an interview with a private television channel, he [Senator Irfan Siddiqui] said that if PTI does not submit its demands in writing as promised, the negotiation process may face serious hurdles,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
“He said even after 12 days, no significant progress has been made.”
Siddiqui, who is the parliamentary leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz ()PML-N) in the Senate and a member of the government’s negotiation committee, said the government had facilitated Khan’s party by arranging its meetings with the former prime minister in jail.
However, he said the PTI remained “indecisive” about formalizing their demands despite written assurances made in joint declarations.
“However, if the written demands are not presented in the third meeting, the negotiations could face significant setbacks,” Radio Pakistan quoted Siddiqui as saying.
He said the date for the third meeting between the two sides would be decided by the PTI.
Khan’s ouster in a parliamentary no-trust vote in 2022 has plunged Pakistan into a political crisis, particularly since the PTI founder was jailed in August last year on corruption and other charges and remains behind bars. His party and supporters have regularly held protests calling for his release, with many of the demonstrations turning violent.
The talks between the two sides opened days after Khan threatened a civil disobedience movement, and amid growing concerns he may face trial by a military court for allegedly inciting attacks on sensitive security installations during the May 9, 2023 protests.
