We, the Leaders of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa, met on 4 September 2017 in Xiamen, China, at the Ninth BRICS Summit. Under the theme “BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future”, we endeavor to build on our achievements already made with …

XIAMEN, (China), Sept 4:  The leaders of the five emerging market powers have for the first time named Pakistan-based militant groups as a regional security concern and called for their patrons to be held to account. The 43-page ‘Xiamen Declaration’, adopted at the end of the five-nation BRICS plenary, expressed “concern” over the security situation in the region and the …

Fakhra Muneeb   Climate change has become the biggest challenge for the world. But the populated South Asia countries such as Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, are the worst-hit by climate change effects. Scientists and researchers have warned that if greenhouse gases keep increasing, temperatures will exceed habitable levels by the end of this century. According to researchers, 4% of the population …

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, …

News Desk About 50 million people are at risk of arsenic poisoning from contaminated groundwater in Pakistan’s Indus Valley, far more than previously thought, according to a new study. Pakistan is aware of the growing problem, with arsenic levels rising in some areas as people increasingly and indiscriminately draw from the country’s underground aquifers, said Lubna Bukhari, who heads the …

F. Ali Cultural, environmental and civil society activists, researchers and development experts are worried about the impact of globalization on indigenous people, their culture and ecology, particularly the second wave of changes that is taking place in the shape of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) after opening of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) about three decades ago. However, they also …

News Desk Globalization, particularly the second wave of changes that are taking place in the shape of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) after the opening of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) about three decades ago will have an immense impact on indigenous people, their culture and ecology. There is a need for political will, research-based information to understand the dynamics …

Amir Hussain Terms such as ‘the environment’ and ‘climate change’ are used interchangeably in development parlance and policy discourses in Pakistan. However, both terms denote entirely different concepts, not only as subject matters of scientific inquiry but also in terms of their implications as development challenges and as components of the social policy. Climate change is about anthropogenic or human-induced …

No country in the world is more reliant on remittances than Nepal, where it makes up 32 percent of the GDP. Each day, thousands of Nepalis fly out of Kathmandu for work. They serve in restaurants in Europe and farm plantations in East Asia, but an increasingly large percentage are employed in menial jobs in the Gulf states, where work visas are easy to …

For thousands of years, Central Asia has served as a nexus between the world’s great powers. Goods and ideas have flowed across the region since ancient times, connecting China, Europe and the Middle East and giving rise to countless trade hubs, from Samarkand in modern-day Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan’s Almaty. In the 19th century, the British and Russian empires vied for …

Herald Report   The two climbers who had gone missing on Nanga Parbat, the most treacherous peak in Gilgit-Baltistan, are now presumed dead and the rescue operation has been called off, officials said Saturday. Alberto Zerain, a Spanish alpinist, and Mariano Galvan, an Argentinean climber, went missing last Friday while attempting to summit the 8,125-meter peak. “The search and rescue …

Herald Report   KATHMANDU, June 29: Counting for the second phase of the Nepal local election has begun with Nepali Congress leading in 36 constituencies followed by Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) with 23 seats and Maoist Kendra 14 seats. The voting for the local government elections concluded peacefully on Wednesday in four provinces for the first time in …

Kathmandu, June 24:  Nepal has been ranked 91st among 128 countries in the world in social progress. The Social Progress Index-2017 published by Social Progress Imperative, a non-profit organisation based in Washington, classifies Nepal as one of the ‘Lower Middle Social Progress’ countries with a score of 60.08 on a scale of 100 on SPI. Nepal has made marginal improvement …

Nepal: The Nepalese government has undertaken the tedious task of re-measuring the height of Mount Everest, the tallest peak in the world. Several geographical and climatic changes are suspected to have an effect on the height, such as the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, loss of snow cover due to global warming, and shifting continental plates. The height of Everest was …

News Desk SKARDU: A nine-member international expedition team, including three women, left for Askoli from Skardu on Monday to attempt K2 and Broad Peak, mountaineering sources told The High Asia Herald. It was the first expedition team leaving for Baltoro for climbing in this season which is a good start. The joint expedition is comprised of climbers from Scotland, China, …