Empowering Diamer youth: bridging the digital divide
Arshad initiated the groundbreaking “Digital Diamer” project. This ambitious initiative aims to empower local youth through comprehensive training in marketing and web development.
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Gilgit-Baltistan
Hyper-tourism: Skardu residents’ predicament
The recent surge in tourism — often referred to as “hyper-tourism” — has cast a shadow over Skardu once-idyllic haven. The influx of vehicles has overwhelmed the city’s already fragile ecology and poor infrastructure, creating significant challenges for the local population.To ensure that tourism remains a blessing rather than a problem in the region, a multi-layered approach is needed to ameliorate the situation.
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Putting people and ecology at the core: fostering ecotourism in G-B
Gilgit-Baltistan government’s recent decision to lease out 37 properties, including motels, guesthouses, and nurseries, along with lands owned collectively by local communities, to a newly established ‘green tourism company,’ has sparked significant controversy and debate both in the public sphere and on social media platforms. By prioritising community involvement in decision-making processes and honouring their rights, the GB government can pave the way for responsible tourism
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Is a bully-free educational environment achievable?
Bullying, whether traditional or cyber, inflicts intentional harm due to power imbalances. Victims, often from diverse backgrounds, suffer social, emotional, and psychological consequences, including prolonged low self-esteem and confidence issues.
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Police action against G-B activists denounced
Islamabad Police detained over a dozen activists who had gathered outside National Press Club for a protest against leasing out 37 guest houses and tourist sites to a private tourism company.
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Falak Noor case: a clarion call for justice and protection
The case of Falak Noor has revealed significant differences between medical assessments, legal interpretations, and the protection of minors’ rights.
It appears that both the medical board and the two-judge bench of the Chief Court were not sensitive enough or failed to fully consider the implications of child marriage and the legal definition of minors.
The core issue at hand revolves around a fundamental question: How can we, as a society, tolerate such ambiguity when it comes to establishing the age of a minor? The court disregarded the official Form B of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the birth certificate issued by the hospital where the child was born, for reasons unspecified.
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Falak Noor case: women’s rights bodies rubbish G-B govt stance
News Desk The recent surge in gender-based crime against women and young girls in Gilgit-Baltistan has sparked widespread outrage and
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Rise and fall in the age of social media
Shiraz is a kid and he deserves to live a good life indeed but a good life of a kid- not a parrot tied to a camera or the other way around until he keeps on making money for the machine.
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Beyond wheat: a cry for justice in Gilgit-Baltistan
The 15-point charter of demands reflect a multifaceted approach to addressing the economic, social, and political challenges facing Gilgit-Baltistan. They highlight the aspirations of the people for greater autonomy, representation, and economic development within the region.
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KKH: a wonder or woe for travellers?
The Karakoram Highway (KKH), often referred to as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’, stands as a testament to human ingenuity and an engineering marvel connecting Pakistan and China. The 1,300-km highway meanders through some of the world’s most stunning landscapes and cultures and mountain ranges, including the Karakoram, Himalayas, and Hindu Kush. The KKH offers travelers a unique and awe-inspiring journey through lush valleys, waterfalls, and picturesque villages.
However, travelers must also be prepared for the challenges it presents, including safety concerns, remote conditions, and infrastructural limitations. A trail of tragic accidents and the loss of hundreds of precious lives annually on the highway reveals a darker reality that must be addressed urgently.
Climate change effects on Gilgit-Baltistan
Climate change, neoliberal development, resource capture by the elite and the powerful as well as unbridled mass tourism have posed potential threats to the inhabitants, their society, culture, health, and the fragile ecology of Gilgit-Baltistan.
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Samina, 33 others summit ‘killer mountain’
The 10-member Karakorum Expeditions Pakistan-international joint expedition team, led by Samina Baig, made it to the summit of the 8,126m (26,660 feet) peak on Sunday
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20 climbers summit Nanga Parbat
The summit group was larger than expected thanks to a few last-minute additions, namely, Kristin Harila and her sherpa team
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The neoliberal environmentalism-I
Corporate giants use clever tactics to quickly make massive profits, but they don’t realize the climate crisis is caused by their rapacious exploitation of land use, water use, and fossil fuel, and their endless quest for profiteering is seizing our ability to breathe clean air.
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Economic growth in G-B
promoting real estate business in mountain regions should be discouraged as it may result in disfiguring mountain landscape, create ecological and civic problems, as well as mass scale displacement and migration of people
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