ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani high court on Monday ordered authorities in Punjab to close schools and colleges on Saturdays and implement a two-day work-from-home policy to curb high levels of smog in the province, local media widely reported.
The caretaker government in Punjab imposed a “smog emergency” on Nov. 1 after the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered authorities to take measures to curb high levels of pollution in the province, especially Lahore. The city, Pakistan’s second-largest by population, suffers from high levels of air pollution and ranks regularly at the top of IQAir AirVisual’s live pollution rankings of major global cities.
The smog season peaks between October and February every year due to the common practice of burning crop residue, particularly in Indian Punjab, to prepare the soil for the upcoming planting season. This smoke significantly contributes to the presence of hazardous particles in the air and causes smog on the Pakistani side of the Punjab region, especially Lahore.
While hearing a case related to the smog situation in Punjab, LHC’s Justice Shahid Karim held the provincial government responsible for pollution in the province.
“All schools and colleges will remain closed on Saturdays … Work-from-home policy should be followed twice a week,” Pakistani news website Dawn.com quoted Justice Karim as saying.
The judge ordered the district commissioners of Jhang, Hafizabad, Khanewal, Nankana Sahib, Bahawalnagar and Sheikhupura cities in Punjab to be replaced immediately, adding that videos of crop residue burning were upsetting to watch.
“Chief Secretary Punjab should issue notification to transfer these officers,” the judge said, according to Dawn.com. He also advised the government to provide electric motorcycles for their local staff to reduce emissions from vehicles which contribute to pollution.
Not only does smog disrupt life in Punjab, it also causes serious health problems and accidents in Lahore and other areas of the province, where people complain of difficulty in breathing and having sore eyes. Authorities often restrict road travel via motorways due to near-zero visibility as smog prevails.
Pakistani court orders authorities to close schools on Saturdays in smog-hit Punjab
https://arab.news/bxcwt
Pakistani court orders authorities to close schools on Saturdays in smog-hit Punjab
- Lahore High Court judge directs government to implement work-from-home policy for two days a week
- Smog in many cities of Punjab, particularly Lahore, causes serious health problems and accidents
At UN climate talks, nations like Pakistan get chance to bear witness to climate change
- World’s biggest polluters and strongest economies, China and US, didn’t send their No. 1s, nor did India and Indonesia
- Main focus of this year’s talks is climate finance or wealthier nations compensating poor countries for damages from climate change effects
BAKU, Azerbaijan: When more than two dozen world leaders deliver remarks at the United Nations’ annual climate conference on Wednesday, many are likely to detail their nations’ firsthand experience with the catastrophic weather that has come with climate change.
That could include Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose nation has seen deadly flooding this year from monsoon rains that scientists say have become heavier with climate change. Just two years ago, more than 1,700 people died in widespread flooding. Pakistan has also suffered from dangerous heat, with thousands of people hospitalized with heatstroke this spring as temperatures soared to 47 degrees Celsius (117 Fahrenheit).
Also on the list of speakers Wednesday is Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Edward Davis. Like many other countries in the Global South, the Bahamas has piled up debt from warming-connected weather disasters it did little to cause, including Hurricanes Dorian in 2019 and Matthew in 2016. Leaders have been seeking help and money from the Global North and oil companies.
Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is also on the list. Along with the rest of southern Europe, his nation this summer was hammered by successive heat waves after three years of below-average rainfall. In Greece, the misery included water shortages, dried-up lakes and the death of wild horses.
Leaders from Italy, Tuvalu, Russia, Morocco, Congo, and the secretary of state of the Holy See — the government of the Catholic Church — are among others scheduled to speak.
Plenty of big names and powerful countries are noticeably absent from COP29 this year. That includes the 13 largest carbon dioxide-polluting countries — a group responsible for more than than 70 percent of the heat-trapping gases emitted last year — were missing. The world’s biggest polluters and strongest economies — China and the United States — didn’t send their No. 1s. Neither did India and Indonesia.
But UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was there, and he announced an 81 percent emissions reduction target on 1990 levels by 2035, in line with the Paris Agreement goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. That’s up from the 78 percent the UK had already pledged.
The main focus of this year’s talks is climate finance — wealthier nations compensating poor countries for damages from climate change’s weather extremes, helping them pay to transition their economies away from fossil fuels and helping them with adaptation.
Wednesday’s agenda also includes an update on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, an idea modeled on predecessor treaty movements that sought to build international support for controls on nuclear weapons, plastic pollution and chemical weapons. Supporters say the treaty could help stop the expansion of climate-causing fossil fuel production, create a plan to fairly phase out oil, gas and coal and accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
The idea has been endorsed by countries and groups including Fiji, Colombia, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, Indigenous nations in Peru, the World Health Organization and the European Parliament.
Religious affairs ministry signs Hajj flights agreement with PIA
- 179,210 Pakistani pilgrims to perform Hajj under government and private schemes next year
- Religious affairs minister has announced instalment plan for pilgrims to pay Hajj fees this year
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Pakistan’s national carrier PIA have signed an agreement on Hajj flights, a spokesperson for the ministry said on Wednesday.
The Pakistani government approved the new Hajj policy earlier this month under which 179,210 Pakistanis would perform the pilgrimage next year under the government and private schemes.
“The national airline will provide travel facilities to 35,000 official pilgrims,” the spokesperson for the religious affairs ministry said in a statement.
“Agreements with Saudi Airlines and other local airlines will also be finalized soon,” the statement added, as PIA CEO Air Vice Marshal Aamir Hayat reiterated his commitment to provide the best facilities to Hajj pilgrims.
On Monday, Religious Affairs Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain announced an instalment plan for pilgrims to pay Hajj fees.
The cost of next year’s Hajj under the government scheme is expected to range between Rs1,075,000 to Rs1,175,000, while an additional cost for the sacrifice of animals during the pilgrimage will be Rs55,000, according to the religious affairs minister.
The first installment of Hajj dues, amounting to Rs200,000, have to be deposited at the time of the application, while the second installment of Rs400,000 will be paid within ten days of the balloting and if your name is picked in the lucky draw.
The remaining amount can be paid by Feb. 10 next year.
Meet Major Sania Safdar, Pakistani peacekeeper recognized by UN for gender advocacy
- Safdar from Pakistan is first peacekeeper from UNFICYP to receive 2023 Certificate of Recognition for gender advocacy
- In Cyprus, Safdar, who has an engineering degree, served as Mission’s Force Signal Officer as well as gender focal person
RAWALPINDI: When Major Sania Safdar was posted with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) last year, she never expected that her service would lead her to becoming the first peacekeeper from the mission to receive the 2023 Certificate of Recognition for gender advocacy.
Safdar, 36, was presented the certificate in August this year by the New York-based UN Department of Peace Operations for advocating gender equality as a member of the UNFICYP. She served from July 2023 to November 2024 as the mission’s Force Signal Officer and one of its military gender focal points.
“I am the first [Pakistani] peacekeeper from that mission who received this certificate of recognition for gender advocacy, and I am very happy and proud,” Safdar told Arab News in an interview this week.
She said her work involved promoting equal representation of women in all activities, organizing initiatives for them and ensuring their participation in planning, exercises, and operations throughout the mission. Since her deployment to the mission last year, she proactively took charge of several initiatives “by focusing on integrating the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda into military components of the Mission’s work,” the UN said.
Getting the certificate of recognition is not the soldier’s only memorable achievement as a member of the UNFICYP.
After she left the peacekeeping force in Cyprus, the chief of the mission wrote a letter of appreciation to Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir, recognizing Safdar’s efforts as a staff officer.
“I am really happy and really proud to have two certificates with me when I finish my UN mission,” she said.
Safdar was also nominated for the 2023 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award that “recognizes a military peacekeeper who has best integrated a gender perspective into peacekeeping activities.”
While the award went to Major Radhika Sen, an Indian peacekeeper deployed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Safdar said being nominated was achievement enough.
“Because of all my performance, I was nominated for this award,” she said.
“DREAM JOB”
Safdar hails from a small village in Pakistan’s Gujur Khan district and has a background in engineering.
“It was not very common in our village for the ladies to go outside and to live in the hostels for higher education,” Safdar said.
But her father, a retired teacher, encouraged her to join a post-graduate college in the city of Rawalpindi, from where she completed her Faculty of Science degree.
“When I came to know that now there is an opportunity for ladies from the engineering department to join the army, so it was my dream job,” Safdar said.
“Even after my BS [Bachelor of Science degree], I got the scholarship for my MS [Master of Science] education and it was a very good scholarship from abroad but I rejected that scholarship and I joined the military [in 2012].”
But life has not always been easy for Safdar, who is married to an army officer and has two sons under the age of ten. Indeed, while she described her service in Cyprus as a “wonderful experience,” living thousands of miles away from her young family came with its own set of challenges:
“In the middle of the mission, my elder son was facing some medical problem … and I was so much worried and so much concerned that my family responsibilities were being compromised.”
At one point, the major considered quitting the mission but her husband and family motivated her to continue serving.
It has all worked out for the best, as she said her family and especially her children were proud of her.
“When I visit their school they tell their class fellows, ‘Look, my mother is serving, my mother is in uniform,’ and sometimes they request me to, ‘Please come to our school and mama, please come in uniform’,” she said with a smile.
“This is, I think, the most proud moment for me that my kids, my parents, and my husband, they are proud of me.”
In the future, Safdar hopes other young women will learn from her example and follow their passions with “determination and faith.”
“If you really want to do something just go for it,” she said, “take the initiative and Allah Almighty will never, ever waste your efforts.”
Pakistani PM says 7 million at risk from flooding in glacial lakes
- Pakistan boasts over 7,000 glaciers, one of the highest totals for any country in the world
- 2022 floods killed 1,700 people and affected more than 33 million, with economic losses over $30 billion
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday over 3,000 lakes had been formed in Pakistan due to accelerated glacial melt, posing an increased risk of flooding and putting the lives of over seven million people at risk.
Sharif was addressing a ceremony in connection with steps taken for the protection of glaciers in Baku where leaders of nearly 200 nations have gathered for COP29 climate talks this week.
“Accelerated glacial melt has led to the formation of more than 3,000 glacial lakes in the northern part of Pakistan, beautiful though but at the same time posing great threat,” Sharif said in a speech.
“It is estimated that out of these, 33 are at high risk of outburst flooding, putting at risk the lives of over 7 million people. This is a very grave situation and demands urgent action and now.”
The UN defines Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) as sudden events that can occur when glaciers melt and release millions of cubic meters of water and debris. In Pakistan, GLOFs can be a threat to the lives and livelihoods of people living in remote mountain areas, especially in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and northern Gilgit-Baltistan region.
Outside the polar region, Pakistan is the country with the highest number of glaciers in the world at over 7,000. However, a combination of climate change and air pollution, including from neighboring countries like India and China, has significantly contributed to the rapid melting of these glaciers, causing devastating floods that have affected Pakistan’s people, livelihoods and the economy.
In 2022, the country experienced an unprecedented deluge and unexpected monsoon rainfall. It resulted in one-third of the nation being submerged and claiming the lives of 1,700 people.
Pakistan estimates the floods affected more than 33 million people, mainly in the Sindh and Baluchistan provinces, and caused economic losses that exceeded $30 billion.
IMF delegation in Pakistan, discusses ‘key benchmarks’ of $7 billion loan program — official
- IMF has said Porter’s visit is not part of the first review of loan program
- First review not scheduled to take place before the first quarter of 2025
ISLAMABAD: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation is in Islamabad this week and will hold discussions with top Pakistani officials on the “key benchmarks” of a $7 billion loan program approved in September, a finance ministry official said on Tuesday.
The IMF delegation led by Pakistan mission chief Nathan Porter arrived in Islamabad on Monday on an unplanned visit. The team is expected to hold meetings until Friday with top officials from ministries such as finance and energy and the Federal Board of Revenue, the main tax collection agency, to collect data on “loan program performance to date,” a finance ministry official told Arab News, seeking anonymity.
The IMF has said Porter’s visit is not part of the first review of the loan program, which is not scheduled to take place before the first quarter of 2025.
“Some key benchmarks of the loan program will come under discussion during the meetings, as Islamabad faces some revenue shortfall and a recent botched attempt to privatize the Pakistan International Airlines,” the finance ministry official said.
“Matters like external financing gap and reforms in the energy sector are also expected to be discussed with the IMF delegation.”
The IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan in July for a 37-month $7 billion bailout package, which the Fund’s Executive Board approved in September. This was the 25th loan program that Pakistan has obtained since 1958.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the ministry of finance said a delegation led by Porter had an “initial meeting” with finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.
Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervez Malik, Governor State Bank Jameel Ahmed, Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial and senior finance ministry officials were also present in the meeting, the ministry said.
Islamabad secured the bailout loan, critical to keeping its $350 billion fragile economy afloat, after taking painful measures such as hiking fuel and food prices and implementing reforms to broaden the country’s tax base and privatize state-owned entities.
“INTERIM CHECKS”
Pakistan’s macroeconomic conditions and investor sentiment have improved in recent months, which analysts say has led to a bullish trend in the country’s stock market.
Syed Atif Zafar, the chief economist at Topline Securities, said the IMF delegation’s meetings with Pakistani officials were part of “interim checks” to ensure a successful review of the loan facility next year.
“The government failed to achieve the tax revenue target in the first quarter that has perhaps necessitated this IMF visit, but still the authorities have multiple options and time to overcome this gap,” he told Arab News.
“The good thing at this point is that all structural and quantitative benchmarks of the loan program are on track.”
Tahir Abbas, a senior economist and head of research at Arif Habib Limited, said Pakistan last month requested the IMF for a $1 billion climate financing facility to mitigate climate risk, which would be discussed during the ongoing IMF visit.
“Pakistan’s revenue shortfall of around Rs200 billion ($720 million) in the first quarter has mainly necessitated this IMF visit,” he told Arab News.
“The finance ministry will now inform the IMF delegation about the possible revenue measures to overcome the shortfall and cut the expenditures.”
