High Asia Herald Report There are certain food taboos in some Asian and African communities and tribes that are prohibited for women. Especially pregnant women are prohibited from taking in essential food and drinks. It is transferred from generation to generation and has a negative effect on pregnant mothers’ health.  In Ethiopia’s eastern district pregnant women avoid linseed, coffee, tea, …

High Asia offers a great prospect for building a safer world for billions of people and needs trans-boundary solutions engaging India, Pakistan, Afghanistan China, Nepal, and the Central Asian States by declaring the region an ecological state and its population as ecology citizens, writes Amir Hussain.  Five hundred years ago, in the days of big empires, one would look like a …

  by Gul Nayab Shah   Protesters end sit-in at Yasin on Monday after negotiations with the district administration. High officials from the Ghizer District administration, water and power department and police assured uninterrupted and high voltage power supply to the people and steps for ending loadshedding in Yasin. The representatives met district administration officials, including the deputy commissioner, power …

By Gul Hamaad Farooqi CHITRAL: Reshman has a dream. She wants to be the first girl from Kalash Valley of Chitral to become a television newscaster wearing her traditional Kalasha dress. “It is my childhood dream to appear on TV and read news about my valley and the world,” says Reshman, from Anish village of Kalash Valley. Despite the fact …

Kailasha men and women dance on the concluding day of Chomos festival. Photo: Gul Hammad Kalash annual festival concludes with a spectacular display of Kailash valley culture, rituals By Gul Hamaad Farooqi CHITRAL: The annual Chomos festival concluded after display of the spectacular and unique colours of the Kailash tribe last week. A large number of tourists from all over Pakistan …

Researchers have ranked the world’s most important, most threatened mountain water towers, provide new insight on mountain glacier–derived water resource systems, impacting up to 1.9 billion people globally

The cryosphere thinning results in the loss of rare species and their habitats, changes in infrastructure, food, and water: Dr Sitara Parveen Herald Report The thinning of the cryosphere is a major threat to the livelihoods of the mountain communities in north-western Himalaya, Trans-Himalaya, the Karakoram, and Hindu Kush mountain ranges. There is a need for adaptive strategies to cope …

Bank of Karomber Lake. — Photo by author “My Love!I am the receding sunshine on the mountains,the running wind on the lake,the fading chant of the shepherd.I’m the story that’s overDon’t call me or recall me for I’m gone now once and for all.”(Translated from a Wakhi song) As the blue waters of Karomber Lake bathe in the sun’s golden …

Two young auto-workers at work vulnerable to hazards. Photo by the writer. Gul Hammad Farooqi CHITRAL: The child labour in extreme unsafe environment has become a norm in Chitral as young mechanics, often of tender ages, are forced to work in auto-repair shops without safety gears. The practice has rendered a large number of children prone to hazards related to …

    Herald Report Conservationists, ecologists, and environmentalists have called for enhanced efforts and awareness about the impact of climate change on snow leopard and its habitat. The impact of climate change, unmanaged tourism, and human development have affected the snow leopard and its fragile ecosystem, they noted while speaking at different events organized by the Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) …