High Asia Herald Report Islamabad: The office-bearers of the Pakistan Optometry and Vision Sciences Association (POVSA) and Pakistan Optometric Society (POS) have demanded a separate regulatory body for the profession to deal with this cadre. They have proposed the nomenclature of the proposed body as Pakistan Optometry and Vision Sciences Council. In a joint statement the POS Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa President Hanifur …

by Dr Aziz Baig The Coronavirus, perhaps, the deadliest in the last century that surfaced in Wuhan city of China in November 2019, has now spread to about 188 countries affecting over 27 million people and claiming over 0.8 million lives. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared it pandemic on March 11, 2020. In Pakistan, the first two cases of COVID-19 were reported on …

Gilgit-Baltistan students are struggling to remain connected with the digital world By Ramish Khan There seems to be no one to understand the traumatic situation the students like me have been passing through for the last three months. If I start to jot down the stressful moments I have been through and how badly I have lost my mental peace, …

Covid-19 has exposed the myth of the neoliberal free-market economic model   Herald Report The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world is at breaking point, and the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the free market and deep divisions in society, calling for a new global deal to combat climate change, forced migration, diseases, patriarchy and racism. Inequality, …

News Desk Shirin Nazirmadova, a doctor from southern Tajikistan, has been saving for years to afford the hajj pilgrimage that all able Muslims are required to make once in their lives. But like millions of others, Nazirmadova’s dream journey of a lifetime was shattered when Saudi Arabia decided last month to bar international visitors from making the pilgrimage this year …

By Wajidul Islam The National Finance Commission (NFC) is a resource-sharing mechanism between the federal government and federating units. It was constituted under Article 160(1) of the 1973 Constitution. It is mandatory to constitute and hold the NFC meeting every five consecutive years. The purpose of the award is to review the collection of revenues by the Centre from provinces …

YDA demands protection from hooligans and corona and provision of facilities at hospitals Herald Report GILGIT: Doctors and paramedical staff have threatened to suspend emergency services at the Provincial Headquarters (PHQ) Hospital in protest against rising incidents of violence against health workers as well as lack of facilities in hospitals. We will not resume emergency services until and unless our …

Naba Basar discovers the secrets of healthy, organic and innovative mountain cuisine from Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. She shares her experiences of the mountain regions adventure, hospitality, social customs, lifestyle in a series of features for The High Asia Herald readers. Tzamik potato, Karimabad, Hunza Chilpindok – large chapattis spread with pai, homemade yogurt and qurut dried yugart and butter/apricot oil, …

Naba Basar discovers the secrets of healthy, organic and innovative mountain cuisine from Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. She shares her experiences of the mountain regions adventure, hospitality, social customs, lifestyle in a series of features for The High Asia Herald readers. Soups Don’t expect to find the Chinese soups you are accustomed to in cities. You may or may not find …

Agricultural village in Badakhshan, Afghanistan. Photo by Christopher Wilton-Steer/UCA Herald Report In Pamir mountains of High Asia region with limited agricultural lands, rugged topography, and large gradients, the preservation of agrobiodiversity and an appreciation of traditional knowledge about food systems are essential ingredients of a sustainable future. Hence the University of Central Asia’s Mountain Societies Research Institute (MSRI) has begun …

All 18 samples collected from Jutial and Barmus Water Supply Complexes were found highly contaminated unfit for human consumption, says report   Herald Report As the temperatures rise in the summer season in Gilgit city, so does the level of turbidity and bacteria thus spreading typhoid and other water-borne diseases, says a report. The citizens of Gilgit city are consuming …

Dr Fatima Sana in her 20s loses the battle against covid-19. Two doctors each die in Lahore and Quetta, one each in Gujranwala and Hangu. Nurse dies in Kohat    Herald Report Islamabad: Eight frontline worriers have lost their lives while treating coronavirus patients in Pakistan during the last 24 hours. They were identified Dr Zubair Ahmad and Dr Saleem …

Doctors, paramedics and patients complain about the lack of facilities and apathy of the health officials     By Mehtabur Rehman GILGIT: While the Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman and his media team are busy in propagating his achievements in the fight against coronavirus in Gilgit-Baltistan, the doctors and paramedics who are fighting on the frontline, as well as patients, are …

The main hospital in Gilgit ransacked, medical staff manhandled by relatives of a corona patient who died at the hospital    Bureau Report GILGIT: The doctors and paramedical staff have demanded stern action against the persons who attacked the of Provincial Headquarter Hospital in the capital city of GB, ransacked the main health facility and damaged ambulance and other vehicles …

Six members of a family who travelled from Karachi to Hunza have been quarantined   Herald Report Hunza: One more person has tested positive for coronavirus in Hunza District. So far two persons have been affected by the virus in the district. A man belonging to Hini (Nasirabad) lower Hunza has tested positive for the virus, sources in the district …