Qudrat Ali and Saad Munawar traverse 665km through Himalays, Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges in 23 days     Abdullah Bai Islamabad July 18: Two Pakistani climbers have set a new world record by completing traverse of three mountain ranges in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. Qudrat Ali, a famous climber from Shimshal valley in upper Hunza and Saad Munawar, a student from …

    Pakistan has been facing a vulnerability of losing its rare artifacts since long as the government has no record of antiquities stolen or smuggled out of the country, experts and officials have warned. The country is situated in a region that had been home to the centuries-old civilisations like Mehrgarh, Indus Valley, and Gandhara. Pakistan hosts scores of …

ISLAMABAD: Hopes dimmed for two European climbers who went missing on Nanga Parbat as helicopters failed to spot signs of the mountaineers Monday, increasing fears that they may have perished. Pakistani army helicopters that had earlier been grounded by foul weather scoured the peaks of Nanga Parbat for signs of Italian Daniele Nardi and Scotsman Tom Ballard, who have been missing …

Herald Report Hopes of tracing two climbers on Nanga Parbat dimming as the rescuers did not find any clue of the duo who went missing Sunday last on the second highest mountain peak in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan army helicopters have scuppered the mountainside for Italian climber Daniele Nardi, 42, and his British partner Tom Ballard, 30, though inclement weather and tensions …

How India’s prime minister uses Hindu nationalism When the world’s biggest electorate handed Narendra Modi a thumping victory five years ago, India seemed poised for far-reaching change. His party had won an outright majority of seats in the national parliament, a rare feat in India’s fractious politics. This was not only punishment for tarnished incumbents or reward for Mr Modi’s hard-working, …

Tom Ballard, 30, was trying to reach the summit of the ‘killer mountain’ with a friend, Daniele Nardi, 42. HAH Report A British climber and his Italian friend have been reported missing on Nanga Parbat, dubbed as the “Killer Mountain”  in the Himalayan Range of Gilgit-Baltistan, according to media reports. Tom Ballard, 30,  and his Italian climbing partner, Daniele Nardi, 42, set out their journey …

Authors Margarett Atwood and Arundati Roy sign letter saying US-Taliban talks exclude broad sections of Afghan society Arundhati Roy and Margaret Atwood are among a group of international writers and activists backing claims that US peace talks with the Taliban are excluding Afghan women’s voices and risk pushing back the rights of women in the country. In an open letter published in the Guardian, Atwood, …

HAH Report New publications on Central Asia have appeared in genres ranging from history—The Rise and Fall of Khokand, 1709-1876 by Scott Levy, and Laboratory of Socialist Development by Artemy Kalinovsky—to security studies—Critical Approaches to Security in Central Asia, a compilation republishing the main articles discussing the concept of security in the region (edited by Edward Lemon), and Kemel Toktomushev’s …

By Zameer Abbas Although divisions among the world’s population along class, income group, culture, race, religion, language, region, sect, political party, ideology and the ilk have been apparent a long time now, these have widened in recent past. This is evident from the recent political events in the world and the shifting patterns of public opinion. In most cases, mass …

Fida Ali Shah & Qasim Shah An attack on a polio vaccination team in the Ghizer District of Gilgit-Baltistan has set an alarming bell ringing as the Gilgit-Baltistan is reeling from the extremist attacks on schools and a police check-post in Diamer District and Gilgit last month. The authorities are groping in the dark or seem helpless in arresting the …

HAH Report GILGIT Three police personnel were killed and two others injured in yet another brazen terrorist attack on a checkpoint, the second violent incident this month in the relatively peaceful region of Gilgit-Baltistan, police said. The mountainous area has been comparatively free of the deadly militancy that has plagued other parts of Pakistan for years. Last week unknown militants torched …

By Catriona Luke Once again the Diamer-Bhasha dam, 40 kilometers downstream of Chilas, is on the agenda for development. It would be a catastrophe for the region, which could include the loss of 30,000 historic petroglyphs on 5,000 stones and 22 villages in the area. More than 170 kilometers from Islamabad as the crow flies, over some of the most …

HAH Correspondent GILGIT: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed separate references against the officials of Gilgit-Baltistan Forest Department for violating the timber policy and inflicting Rs156 million losses to the national kitty. The bureau’s spokesperson stated that NAB Rawalpindi’s sub-office in Gilgit has filed the references in the accountability court of the GB against the former Gilgit conservator Muhammad Ismail Zafar, …

F. Ali The second International Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Forum concluded in Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, last week (Aug 25) with a renewed commitment to intensify efforts for the protection of the endangered animal and their ecosystems. The participating countries approved the ‘Bishkek Declaration 2017’ that reflects their determination to preserve snow leopard population and to ensure the cultural, …

Sectarian differences were politicised in Gilgit-Baltistan for the first time in the election of the erstwhile Northern Areas Council in 1988. The election in 1988 in the constituency of Gilgit-1 was contested between Wajahat Hassan Khan and Sumbul Shah. The former was a Shia and son of Colonel Mirza Hassan Khan – one of the heroes of the war for …