Running only on fast-moving water, the pumps are cheap and easy to maintain, enabling farmers to grow fruit and vegetables By Syed Muhammad Abubakar GOJAL VALLEY: Shovel in hand, Naila Shah regularly walks two miles from her home to a newly planted apple orchard, high in the mountains of Khyber village in northern Pakistan. Only two years ago, it would …

Herald Report   The worldwide spread of coronavirus that has devastated the global economy has also hit hard the tourism and hospitality industry with major tourist destinations seeing limited visitors while several airlines have suspended or limited their operations. The World Tourism Organisation of the United Nations, (UNWTO) in response to the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, has cancelled immediately, all its …

The AWP leader’s sister has written an open letter to the CM about a ban on family members’ visit to jail and violation of prisoner’s rights   Herald Special Correspondent   Family members of Baba Jan, a political prisoner serving a life term at Damas jail in Ghizer District of Gilgit-Baltistan, have complained against new restrictions on the prisoner, drawing …

From the National Geographic archives, a look back at the Citroën-Haardt Trans-Asiatic Expedition. By BILL JONES   GEORGES-MARIE HAARDT was one of those latter-day explorers who completed the first journey on wheels across Central Asia. Covering 8,000 miles, the trip’s purpose was to open up the Silk Road to cars. “Across desert wastes and windswept plateaus, over snow-clad mountain passes, …

by Peter Deneen. Less than one percent of the world’s glaciers are characterized as “surge-type” glaciers. The Karakoram in High Asia – the world’s second-highest mountain range – has one of the planet’s densest concentration of surging glaciers, where the Shishpar Glacier in northern Pakistan is moving at a rate of five to seven meters per day and is threatening …

File photo of the confluence of Khurdopin and Yokshin Glacier and blockade of Verjherav glacio-fluvial stream. Credit: MIMCP HAH Report Assessing and monitoring hazards as well as surveying the damage and collecting data during emergencies in hard-to-reach mountain areas poses many difficulties. At higher altitudes, satellite data does not come in high enough resolution to create accurate hazard maps, and …

Polish climbers team terminate expedition even before reaching the base camp   Ali Qurban Mughani   PASSU: The Polish climbers have called off their winter expedition to summit Batura 1 through the challenging route in the westernmost sub-range of the Karakoram Range in Gojal, Hunza District. The eight-member team, led by noted climber Rafael Fronia, and comprised of 22 local …

High Asia Herald Report LAHORE: A protest was held at Lahore Press Club on Sunday (19 Jan 2020) to demand the release of 14 political prisoners of Gilgit-Baltistan, sentenced to life imprisonment in the Hunza Riots Case of 2011.  The protest will be held every two weeks. The protest was organised by students and youth activists from GB on the …

Death toll surges to 110 in recent devastating snow and weather-related incidents

Singers, musicians from GB, Sindh spellbind audience at a mystical musical concert at PNCA   By Shafqat Aziz ISLAMABAD: An event featuring speeches and mystical music was held in the federal capital on Saturday to remember Allama Naseeruddin Naseer Hunzai, one of the leading poets of Burushaski language. Singers and musicians presented distinctive flavours of music from Gilgit-Baltistan and Sindh and …