Tag: Northern Areas

  • Daren Sammy spotted enjoying ‘Pakistan’s beauty’ in Swat

    Daren Sammy spotted enjoying ‘Pakistan’s beauty’ in Swat

    After playing tape-ball cricket with fans on the streets of Lahore, West Indian cricketer Daren Sammy was spotted soaking in the snow-capped peaks of Swat and Northern Pakistan.

    Sharing a picture of himself in the mountains, the Peshawar Zalmi coach expressed his gratitude towards exploring Pakistan as a tourist.

    “I was disappointed that the Pakistan Super League (PSL) got postponed but I’m super grateful I got to discover the beauty of Pakistan outside of cricket,” said Sammy.

    Meanwhile, Kamran Akmal also shared a video of Sammy and himself enjoying his the first ever Zip Line experience on Twitter, he wrote: “First ever Zip line Experience #MalamJabba and it was just great…MaShaAllah Pakistan is so beautiful.”

    “Thanks @PeshawarZalmi for arranging a family trip to MalamJabba it’s been a beautiful trip.Thanks to Local management for your hospitality Pakistan Flag of Pakistan Zindabad,” he added.

    PSL’s sixth edition — which started on February 20 — was postponed on March 4 due to rising COVID-19 cases among players and officials involved in the tournament.

    While several foreign players departed for their respective countries after the tournament was suspended, Hashim Amla and Sammy had prolonged their stay in the country due to some professional commitments.

    During their tour of Pakistan’s norther areas, Amla, Sammy, Kamran Akmal and other players from the Peshawar Zalmi were also spotted socialising with fans.

  • British vlogger loves Pakistani food, people, doesn’t want to leave

    British vlogger Jay Palfrey is in Pakistan these days and he is absolutely in love with the country, its people and the food. 

     During his visit, he visited various beautiful northern areas of the country including Skardu, Hunza, and Gilgit-Baltistan.

    He shared many pictures on his social media accounts. Taking to Instagram, he expressed, I used to run to chase my dreams, now I’m living them, cannot begin to tell you how HAPPY I am to be exploring the raw beauty of Hunza.”

    Jay has been posting videos on his YouTube channel for a year now and earlier he had revealed that he has converted to Islam. 

    He also visited Lahore and Islamabad and wore the shalwar kameez to blend in with the Pakistani culture. 

    He has documented his trip in his vlog titled Pakistan, The Land of Wonder.

  • Pakistani project wins award for protecting villages from natural disasters

    Pakistani project wins award for protecting villages from natural disasters

    A project that combines satellite images, mapping technologies and the local knowledge of villagers to help build climate-proof settlements in disaster-prone areas of Pakistan won an international award on Thursday.

    According to details, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) Pakistan project won a  gold prize winner at the World Habitat Awards that are organised in collaboration with the United Nations housing agency (UN-Habitat). The project has helped more than 1 million people.

    AKAH has trained about 50,000 locals to protect their villages from natural disasters in the mountainous northern areas which are vulnerable to earthquakes, floods and environmental degradation and are home to some of the poorest communities.

    “It’s not just responding to the effects of the climate emergency but being proactive in protecting people from its effects, using technology and the knowledge of communities,” said the chief executive of World Habitat David Ireland in a statement.

    “It provides communities with the knowledge of where and how to live in safety in a changing world. The potential for this approach to be adapted and used in similar areas in Pakistan and elsewhere is absolutely huge,” he added.

    According to the World Bank, more than 2 million people have been killed by natural disasters since 1980. Worsening climate change conditions threaten to push an additional 100 million people into extreme poverty within the next decade.

    Pakistan is among the most disaster-prone countries in South Asia, according to the World Bank.

    Launched in 2006, the AKAH project includes mapping and monitoring hazards using satellite images and drones and forming disaster risk management plans with the involvement of locals.

    It enables people to build in safer areas and to prepare  and respond to disasters in a better way.

    By combining local knowledge, community involvement and technology, the project develops “resilient, sustainable communities capable of living in dignity” amidst the threat of climate-induced disasters, said Leilani Farha, a former UN expert on housing, and one of the judges for the award.

    The main focus of  AKAH Pakistan is the participation of women, who make up about half the volunteers trained for disaster response and who also contribute in weather monitoring and mapping of high risk areas.

    “Women who had been conventionally viewed as vulnerable victims of disasters and emergencies, are now empowered individuals who can actively respond to disasters and serve the communities,” said Samra Siraj, a program coordinator at AKAH.

  • Earlier missing SECP official Sajid Gondal says was vacationing in northern areas

    Earlier missing SECP official Sajid Gondal says was vacationing in northern areas

    Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Joint Director Sajid Gondal, who had gone missing from Islamabad last week, returned home on Tuesday night and said was vacationing in northern areas.

    Gondal, after confirmation by his family and friends, himself also took to Twitter to announce his return, saying he was back and safe, and thankful to all those who were worried.

    Meanwhile, a report quoted him as saying that he had gone to the northern areas for recreation.

    Police sources involved in the investigation of his disappearance told Dawn that the abductors had set him free.

    He was released near Rawat, a suburb of the federal capital. Upon being freed, he contacted his family members through a phone call and informed them that he was arriving home shortly, sources added.

    Gondal had gone missing on Thursday night and his car was found from Park Road in the capital the next morning.

    His wife had submitted a complaint of the incident at the Shahzad Town police station, expressing suspicion that her husband had been “kidnapped by unidentified persons”. She had urged the police to ensure his return, adding that the family “did not have any enmity”.

    The Shahzad Town police had registered a case over the official’s disappearance under Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint lodged by his wife.

    The FIR stated that Gondal left his house on Thursday at around 7:30 pm in his official car but did not return. Later his car was found parked at Chak Shahzad Town road near the National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) but he was missing from there, the FIR stated, adding that his mobile phone was found switched off since then.

    The issue of Gondal’s disappearance was taken up by the federal cabinet on Tuesday, with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan expressing “serious concern” over such an incident taking place in the capital.

    On Monday, Chief Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also expressed serious concern over the rising number of enforced disappearances in the federal capital and directed the interior secretary to take up the issue with the PM in order to devise a policy for the protection of fundamental rights of citizens.

  • Hotels in Naran, Kaghan and Shogran sealed after fresh cases of COVID-19

    The Mansehra district administration has sealed all hotels in Shogran, Naran and Kaghan after fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported among staff working at different hotels.

    According to Dawn, Mansehra Additional Deputy Commissioner Maqbool Hussain said that the district health department had reported 47 cases of coronavirus at private hotels located in these spots. As a result, authorities decided to close down all hotels in the area to curb the spread of the virus. It has not yet been specified when the hotels will reopen but Hussain said that they would only be allowed to operate till the situation is brought under control.

    Hussain further revealed that 48 hotels, including 22 main businesses and their respective branches, had been sealed at all three tourist spots and the infected patients had been quarantined at the hotels. He added that the local health department and officials were in the process of tracing and testing those who had come into contact with the patients.

    Read more – Dr Yasmin Rashid expresses satisfaction over decreasing COVID-19 cases in Punjab

    On the other hand, ARY News reported that only five hotels in Naran and Kaghan have been sealed after some of the hotels’ staff tested positive for COVID-19. The report added that no ban has been placed on tourists wishing to visit the areas as some hotels have been reopened after disinfection.

    Meanwhile, the Kaghan Development Authority (KDA) on Sunday recommended the Mansehra deputy commissioner to impose a ‘smart lockdown’ in Naran.

    “It is proposed that a ‘smart lockdown’ [be imposed] on the hotels/restaurants to avoid the spread of COVID-19,” read the letter addressed to the DC.

    After the government reopened businesses and allowed tourism in the areas, there has been a surge in cases of COVID-19 cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forcing local authorities to start large-scale random testing of tourists.

    “We have started conducting random testing of both tourists and hotel workers,” Raza Ali Habib, director general of the Galiyat development Authority (GDA) said, adding that 1000 tourists were tested during the last one week out of which only 25 tested positive.

    According to a report by the KP tourism department, approximately 627,000 tourists entered Hazara and Malakand divisions after the government lifted COVID-19 restrictions. The reports further revealed that tourists’ inflow to Abbottabad and Galiyat was high as compared to other areas as more than 356,000 entered the areas in the first 12 days.

    The government has been actively requesting people to take the necessary precautions and follow SOPs strictly to prevent the spread of the disease.