The world has seen QAnon before. It was called Nazism.

[ISS] Somalia's upcoming seat on the UN Security Council should allow it to shape international maritime security policies.

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Thousands masquerade as Carnival season starts with festivals across Germany

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The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted in 1995 during the Fourth World Conference on Women, remains a cornerstone in the global pursuit of gender equality and women’s empowerment. With the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review fast approaching, now is the time to reflect on the progress made and the challenges that […]

Wonka is based on Roald Dahl’s book 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'Timothée Chalamet starrer, Wonka, which turned out to be a commercial success in 2023, will now be getting a sequel.Director Paul King confirmed the new entry of the family-musical in an interview, where he also...

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A sovereign exposure exchange is a cost-effective risk management tool used by multilateral development banks (MDBs) to reduce sovereign portfolio concentration risks. It provides capital relief for MDBs by exchanging loan guarantees on credit exposure from borrowing countries where an MDB is highly concentrated for exposure to countries where the MBD’s exposure is lower or nonexistent.

The Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific, or IF-CAP, is a multi-donor financing partnership facility with the goal of scaling-up finance for accelerated action against climate change in Asia and the Pacific.

ADB recently launched the Georgia Public–Private Partnership (PPP) Monitor. Helen Steward, Principal Markets Development Advisory Specialist in ADB’s Office of Markets Development and Public–Private Partnerships, explains what the PPP Monitor is all about.

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Overcoming poor market depth and liquidity is crucial for Asia's capital markets to grow and remain attractive to investors. A coordinated approach addressing regulatory frameworks, market infrastructure, and risk management is essential for building resilient, diverse, and efficient markets.

The government of Punjab on Tuesday — expanding on its previous order — closed all the educational institutions up to the higher secondary level in the province from tomorrow until the end of the week, shifting them to an online mode, as the province tackles the hazardous smog situation prevalent for the past few weeks.

The recent smog situation was declared a “calamity” in Punjab last month. Schools have been closed in the province’s main divisions — Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Multan — until November 17 in a bid to lower children’s exposure to pollution.

Separately, the public has been barred from entering public parks, zoos, playgrounds, and museums until November 17 to reduce public exposure to smog.

A day ago, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) representative in Pakistan called for urgent and greater efforts to reduce air pollution, noting that over 11 million children under five years of age were exposed to smog in the worst affected districts of Punjab.

The province’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a notification issued today, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com that “All the educational institutions […] up to higher secondary level shall remain closed and will shift to online mode with effect from Nov 13 within […] DG Khan, Bahawalpur, Sahiwal, Sargodha and Rawalpindi divisions […] till Nov 17.”

Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat also announced the closure of schools during a press conference today, saying that the “decision was made in light of the complaints received from the district.”

“This drastic decision had to be taken to protect children from the deadly effects,” he said, “There is a sense of educational loss, but the decision to close educational institutions is being taken out of compulsion.

“In view of the difficulties in online teaching, an alternative strategy is being quickly brought in,” the minister added.

He also appealed to the public to cooperate and do what was in their capacity to help the government deal with this issue.

50pc of govt offices to work online

Separately, all government offices were ordered to shift half of their workforce to online mode to reduce traffic load on roads to prevent the worsening of the smog situation due to vehicular emissions.

“The physical presence of human resource(s) of offices in your jurisdiction may kindly be reduced to 50pc by shifting them to online mode/work from home,” the EPA said in a separate notification issued today.

In the order issued on Tuesday, which is seen by Dawn.com, the Punjab EPA directed all the administrative secretaries, as well as heads of attached departments and semi-government/autonomous bodies, to reduce the physical presence of human resources by 50 per cent.

According to the notification, the situation was likely to prevail for a few weeks, adding that local pollution contributing factors, especially vehicular emissions, may further exacerbate the conditions.

“Hence, the situation warrants to specify safeguards to reduce the number of vehicles on roads in order to control air pollution, through preparation and implementation of contingency plans,” the notification said.

The EPA also called for inter-departmental meetings to be convened in an online mode unless the physical presence of participants was “extremely necessary”.

Bad-quality air aggravating pulmonary diseases: doctor

Speaking to Dawn.com, a pulmonologist at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital, Dr Nasir Javed, said that asthmatic patients, who were earlier stable, are now facing chronic health conditions due to the smog.

“[Due to the smog], asthma patients would start feeling inflation in their airways and it would become difficult for them to breathe smoothly,” he said. “Even medicines have stopped working properly to cure the problem.”

He further added that asthmatics and chronic smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were at greater risk and were visiting the hospitals with exacerbation of their diseases.

“Air-Quality Index is directly proportional to the symptoms/ severity which one can suffer,” he said.

“Limited outdoor activity and hydration are the mainstays to avoiding respiratory issues as antibiotics were of no use.”

Smog to persist in major cities as weather conditions worsen: NDMA

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in an advisory issued today, said that the smog situation was expected to persist across the urban centres in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa throughout November and December due to high humidity, low wind speeds, and upper atmospheric pressure.

According to the advisory, as reported by the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) the cities most likely to be affected by the worsening smog situation include Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Peshawar, Mardan, and Nowshera.

“The advisory highlights the rising smog levels in the affected areas, driven by the current weather conditions, and advises residents to avoid prolonged outdoor exposure and adopt protective measures to safeguard their health,” the *APP report said.

“[…] The National Emergency Operation Centre has been monitoring the current smog situation in Pakistan and surrounding regions.

According to the advisory, the team has access to advanced ground-based and space-based monitoring tools, enabling the analysis and projection of pollution emissions from various sources, including industry, transportation, and agriculture.

Precautionary measures

The NDMA advisory recommended the public adopt several measures to mitigate the effects of smog, such as avoiding unnecessary outdoor exposure during peak smog hours, especially in the morning, and wearing masks during outdoor activities, according to the APP.

“Staying hydrated, using dehumidifiers and air purifiers to improve indoor air quality, and adopting efficient transportation methods—like carpooling and eco-friendly driving, along with using COx and NOx filters—are also advised,” it said.

Tremors were felt in various cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as Islamabad on Wednesday after a quake jolted Afghanistan’s Badakhshan region.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake had a magnitude of 5.1, while the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) reported it as having a 5.3 magnitude.

The USGS said the quake’s centre was located 37 kilometres west-southwest of Afghanistan’s Ishkashim town and had a 220.7km depth.

The earthquake struck at 10:13am (Pakistan time), both the USGS and PMD confirmed.

No casualties have been reported so far.

DawnNewsTV reported that the tremors were felt in Peshawar and its adjoining areas, as well as Islamabad.

Speaking to DawnNewsTV, two correspondents based in the cities said the quake caused people to evacuate buildings.

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