PESHAWAR
A labourer roasting peanuts in a traditional way at his workplace in Fridous Market
PESHAWAR
A vendor displaying coconut to attract the customers at his roadside setup
SIALKOT
Peshawar Football League Season-6 begins
PESHAWAR, Dec 06 (APP):Peshawar Football League started at Tahamas Khan Football Stadium and in the opening matches Shinwari Club defeated Hazara Club by 4-0 while the match between Atash Club Tank and Ideal Football Club Chitral played a 1-1 draw on Wednesday.
Head of the Brain Education System and known education Zafar Ullah Khan was the chief guest on this occasion and formally inaugurated a crowd opening ceremony with the top eight teams, divided into two groups, taking part.
Shinwari Football Club defeated Miraj Club Hazara 4-0 in the opening match, while the second match between Atash Tank and Ideal Chitral Football Club was a 1-1 draw. Regional Sports Officer Zakirullah, District Sports Officer Miss Gul Rukh, Match Commissioner former Pakistan team captain Gohar Zaman, Chief Organizer Chairman Youth Glam Welfare Organization Gul Haider, and other personalities were present.
The official opening of Peshawar Football League Season 6 started at Tahamas Khan Football Stadium in Peshawar. Eight different teams including Islamabad, Lahore, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are participating in the Championship. The opening match was played between Shinwari Football Club and Hazara Football Club.
Main Shinwari Club won by 4-0, on behalf of Shinwari Club Mansoor scored two goals, Asad and Muhammad Ali scored one goal each. In the second match, Atash Club Tank and Ideal Club Chitral Club played 1-1 wherein Atash took the lead in the 53rd minute through Rahmanullah while on the other Sheraz tied the tally in the 58th minute through a field attempt. It was a nice goal as he travelled past three defenders during his attack on the rival goalpost and netted it nicely for a timely equalizer.
Besides teams from Islamabad and Lahore, eight teams are taking part from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wherein Group A includes Shinwari Football Club, Hazara Football Club, Popo Club, and Ace Garden, while Group B consists of Shaheen Football Club, Atash Tank FC, Ideal Chitral Football Club and Mamson Football Club.
The Championship will be held on a League basis for a week. Organizing Secretary Gul Haider said that the League is being organized for the sixth time in a row, in which opportunities are being provided to the youth to express their talents. In the match, Anwar Khan, Ehsanullah, Ikram and Zahid performed the duties of match referees.
District administration sealed 18 brick kilns, imposed over 6.7m fine over zigzag violation
MULTAN, Dec 06 (APP):The district administration raided and sealed 18 brick kilns and imposed over Rs 6.7 million fine on owners over zig-zag technology violation during last month ongoing anti-smog drive across the district.
Deputy Director Environment, Muhammad Idrees, while talking to APP here on Wednesday said that there were 479 brick kilns across the district and over 200 brick kilns had been shifted on zigzag technology.
Zigzag technology was a unique human friendly technology in which black smoke emission controlled through process.
He said that more than 50 percent brick kilns were closed due to less demand of bricks in construction sector.
He said that the teams inspected 393 brick kilns and lodged FIRs against 30 brick kiln owners during November 1 to December 5.
He said that they had also injected water into five brick kilns with the help of Rescue 1122 causing smog as provincial government has declared smog emergency in province.
He said that the raids against smoke emitting commercial vehicles and crop residues burning were also underway to avert smog.
Mr Idrees said that there were no instruments to measure Air Quality Index (AQI) in this region. He, however maintained that AQI was under control in this area due to timely precautionary measures.
He said that there was prediction of heavy frost on December 16,17,18 in South Punjab which could affect potato and other crops.
World soil day observed; creating awareness stressed to preserve soil
PESHAWAR, Dec 06 (APP):University of Agriculture Peshawar in collaboration with Directorate General Soil and Conservation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday organized a seminar “Soil and Water a Source of Life” in world soil day.
Vice Chancellor University of Agriculture Peshawar Prof Dr Jahan Bakht was the chief guest while former Dean Prof. (Rtd) Dr. Riaz Khattak was the guest of honour.
Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Jahan Bakht said, “it is a matter of great joy that we are celebrating World Soil Day today, this day has great importance because it guarantees food security, human needs are from soil. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the first province to make a food security policy.”
He said that the climate change is affecting the earth badly, the fertility of the earth is decreasing day by day, the land is becoming barren due to lack of timely rains, the cause of flood rails.
Since soil erosion is increasing and the land is turning into deserts, our houses and streets are being paved, rainwater is being lost in drains instead of being absorbed into the ground, he added.
The VC said that due to the construction of residential colonies on agricultural lands, there is a decrease in productivity, measures and collective efforts are needed to prevent all these problems, adding that that creating awareness among the common people is also important.
He underlined the need of planting more and more trees so that environmental pollution can be reduced and the land can be protected from erosion, saying that about 60 to 70 percent of Pakistan’s population is dependent on agriculture, so we must do our best to preserve the soil, experts must think about factors to improve soil health and prevent threats to food security.
He met former Dean Professor (retd) Dr Riaz Khattak, Chairman of the Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Peshawar Prof. Dr. Muhammad Sharif, Prof. Dr. Dost Muhammad, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Tariq, Dr. Khadim Dawar, Dr. Maria Musrat, Deputy Director of Directorate of Soil and Water Conservation, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ms. Shagufta, Pakistan.
He congratulated the Soil Science Society and the students for organizing the successful World Soil Day.
Professor Dr. Riaz Khattak, Deputy Director Soil and Water Conservation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ms. Shagufta and District Officer Soil and Water Conservation Department Buner Dr. Farmanullah highlighted the importance of soil.
In the end, the participants of the seminar conducted an awareness walk about the importance of soil and water under the leadership of Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Jahan Bakht and cut a cake.
District administration Gilgit demolishes encroachments
Gilgit, Dec 06 (APP):Reacting to a viral video on social media showing an injured elderly man pleading for justice, the Gilgit district administration on Wednesday sprang into action and demolished encroachments on his land.
Acting upon the instructions of Deputy Commissioner Amir Azam, a team of district officials demolished encroachments on an elderly man’s land and also arrested people accused on assaulting and injuring the elderly citizen.
The DC said that the land mafia and their backers would not be spared.
Rupee gains 23 paisa against Dollar
ISLAMABAD, Dec 6 (APP): Pakistani Rupee on Wednesday witnessed an appreciation of 23 paisa against US Dollar in the interbank trading and closed at Rs284.14 against the previous day’s closing at Rs284.37.
However, according to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling rates of the Dollar in the open market stood at Rs283.3 and Rs286 respectively.
The price of the Euro decreased by Rs1.05 to close at Rs306.50 against the last day’s closing of Rs307.55, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
The Japanese Yen remained unchanged and closed at Rs1.93; whereas a decrease of 86 paisa was witnessed in the exchange rate of the British Pound, which traded at Rs358.10 compared to the last closing of Rs358.96.
The exchange rates of the Emirates Dirham and the Saudi Riyal came down by 07 and 06 paisa to close at Rs77.37 and Rs75.75 respectively.
92 power pilferers netted across the MEPCO region
MULTAN, Dec 06 (APP):Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) teams have raided and caught 92 more power pilferers in a day during ongoing operation across the region on Wednesday.
The task force teams have raided at various places and got registered cases against 79 power pilferers and caught three power pilferers with red handed.
Over Rs 5.1 million fine was imposed on power pilferers.
PAJCCI expresses concern over closure of Pak-Afghan border for trade at Torkhem
PESHAWAR, Dec 06 (APP):Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) has expressed concern over closure of Pak-Afghan border at Torkhem for trade for the last almost 24 hours.
In a press statement issued here on Wednesday, Coordinator PAJCCI, Zia ul Haq Sarhadi said the border crossing at Torkham has been closed for goods laden trucks at around 4:00 p.m of Tuesday.
Regarding reason behind closure, Zia shared that the decision of closing border has been taken after erection of a signboard at zero point inscribed with wording of `Goodbye Pakistan’.
He also informed that pedestrian crossing is open, but trucks are not allowed to cross border from both the sides.
Coordinator PAJCCI said it is very concerning for business community because closure of border inflicts heavy losses on business community of both the countries.
He said a lot of trucks are carrying perishable goods which can be rotten if delayed for a couple of days, burdening businessmen with huge losses.
Zia said already the volume of Pak-Afghan trade has shrank by around 70 percent after restriction over import of a number of items for transit trade, shifting large portion to Bandar Abbas port.
He said in the prevailing scenario closing of border for trade is very detrimental for promotion of commerce in the region and between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He urged the concerned authorities to take up the issue with Afghan government for resolution of the problem and opening of border trade at the earliest.
Zia said queue of trucks has been started to appear on international crossing and if it became long, would take a lot of time in clearance and passage.
Experts underscore rising human migration for survival amid unveiling new UN Convention on Deltas at COP28
DUBAI, Dec 6 (APP): The experts on Wednesday along with the stakeholders at the 28th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) unveiled a new United Nations Convention on Conserving River Deltas (UNCCRD) while highlighting the rising human migration in river deltas for survival due to spiking up environmental degradation.
The convention when fully operationalized will provide the urgently needed international platform to protect our disappearing delta across the globe due to climate change, for example increasing flood incidences, sea level rise, droughts and excessive rainfall are causing forced migration in native areas, a news release said.
“Migration is a matter of survival now and not just movement from rural to urban areas is leading to more conflicts and largely contribute to global insecurity”, said Freeman Elohor Oluowo, The Founder and Centre Coordinator – for African Centre for Climate Actions and Rural Development Initiative (ACCARD) and the Focal Person UNCCRD and DeltasUNite Initiative at the session on DeltasUNite: Urgent Call for Climate Action with a UN convention on Conserving River Deltas (UNCCRD). According to him “the United Nations Convention on Conserving River Deltas (UNCCRD) is proposed bottom-up structured solution that allows citizen’s participation to challenges of the global deltas, not just financial solution because global climate finance is limited, calls a more proactive than reactive actions.”
“You have been negotiating all my life, you can’t tell me you need more time. Deltas don’t have more time because the problems are accumulating and getting worse. We are paying for the wrong decisions made decades ago, sadly our children are going to pay more for these ill-informed decisions”, said Professor Michael Glantz from Centre for Capacity Building, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA. “The science on deltas is endorsing the UNCCRD”, he added.
Prof Asim Zia, Co-founder TWIN and Professor of Public Policy and Computer Science & Director, Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security (IEDS), UVM said that by the end of the century, approximately 1 billion people will be displaced. He called out the fossil fuel companies as climate criminals and advocated more support for the UNCCRD to address the complex actions leading to the global security crisis and UNCCRD can address these complex issues, he added.
“The Government of Bayelsa State will continue to prioritize activities and programs of the deltas unite”, said Ambassador Godknows Igali and urged more nations to endorse UNCCRD.
Senator Nisar Memon, Chairperson of Water Environment Forum said, “Human migration isn’t only affecting the Indus River delta, but pulls in social, cultural, economic, as well as environmental aspects”. He believes that UNCCRD will bring all stakeholders together on a common platform to create global to local awareness, with a good public and private sector partnership. He encourages everybody to join in this regard and leave it to the government alone.
“A global cooperation is the need to cope as well as avert climate change challenges. Welcomed the timely initiative of a United Nations Convention on Conserving River Deltas (UNCCRD). Hoping that this initiative will promote inclusive governance of water resources and to give local communities more voice. And look forward to sharing best practices under the guidance of this convention according to Senator Seemee Ezdi, Chairperson of Senate Climate Change Committee Pakistan. Senator Nuzhat Sadiq and Asim Khan Goraya, Additional Secretary, Senate Secretariat also supported the new Convention at the session.
Prof. Arukwe Augustine from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Grace Ananda from Habitat for Humanity International, Wakedei Davidson from the Nigerian Bayelsa State and Susan Sgorbati, Co-founder TWIN and Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College, USA also spoke at the event.
The event was organized, at United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 happening in Dubai from November 29 to December 12 by African Centre for Climate Actions and Rural Development (ACCARD), Nigeria’s Bayelsa State Government, Transboundary Water In-Corporation Network (TWIN), Consortium for Capacity Building (CCB) USA, Water Environment Forum Pakistan, The University of Vermont, Bennington College, Institute of Environment Diplomacy and Security (IEDS), Terra Global, Centre for Environment and Sustainable Livelihood, Niger Delta Development Commission, Environmental Peace Building, Akassa Development Foundation, Living Deltas, Nha Trang University in Vietnam, and Dawson College.