Here’s what’s happening across the border: Weapons and ammunition seized from a raid in Quetta, and shortened spring due to climate change a challenge for farmers
PIA invites newly weds Prince Harry & Meghan Markle to Pakistan
Pakistan International Airlines, the flag carrier of Pakistan extended an invitation to the newly wedded royal couple, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to come and visit the northern areas of Pakistan.
PIA’s official twitter handle tweeted about the time Harry’s mother Diana took a trip to Pakistan, and encouraged the couple to explore the northern splendour of the country as well.
“We watched the royal wedding & remembered Princess Diana & her trip to the northern areas of Pakistan, & we thought how wonderful it would be for the newlyweds to visit our northern splendours as well! So Prince Harry & Princess Meghan, we are ready, just let us know when!” the tweet read.
The northern parts of Pakistan have many famous tourists spots like the the Hunza, Chitral Valley, and the meadows of Gilgit Baltistan. The regions are also known for ancient architecture and old fortresses.
Many appreciated the gesture offered by the PIA to the prince and the princess.
Large cache of weapons & ammunition recovered from raid in Quetta
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) unearthed a large stack of weapons, explosives and suicide jackets during a raid conducted in collaboration with the law enforcement agencies in the Kili Barat area of Quetta.
The CTD spokesperson told Geo News that the raid was conducted after they received a tip-off from arrested terrorists from a banned outfit. No arrests were made during this operation.
This raid comes a week after the security forces shot down five suicide bombers in Quetta, disrupting a terrorist attack at the city’s Frontier Corps Help Centre. Four Frontier Corps personnel had also suffered bullet wounds during the attack, but had survived.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police station appoints first woman FIR registrar
In a move to promote gender equality in the department, the Kohat police department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa appointed Zobia Musarrat as the first female Muharrar (registrar) of the province.
Musarrat joined the police force in 2009, and holds a bachelor’s degree. She will now be incharge of managing all complaints that come to the police department.
District police chief Abbas Majeed Marwat told The Express Tribune that Zobia Musarrat was appointed to this post on the basis of merit and her overall performance. “Officers who were interested were called and were tested on their knowledge of the law,” he said.
Farmers struggle with harvests due to climate change
Pakistan’s climate change crisis is hitting the farmers of the country the hardest. Due to the change in weather patterns, the fruit trees are flowering as early as in the month of March, before the bees even arrive to pollinate them.
The fruits and vegetables ripening at unusual times are leading to bad harvests. In Islamabad, farmers of beets and tomatoes are facing heavy losses due to this, The Express Tribune reported.
The farmers are also witnessing problems due to and shortening springtime, which is getting hotter by the year, and arriving earlier. “We are clearly noticing that springs are not cool anymore and are increasingly becoming warmer, which is not good for our seasonal vegetable crops,” told Adil Khan, a farmer from Islamabad to The Express Tribune.
“We have clearly observed through our weather monitoring stations all through Pakistan that springtime has not only warmed by more than 3 degrees Celsius in recent years but also shrunk from 45 days to less than 10 days over last two decades,” said Ghulam Rasul, director general of the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
At the same time, the imports of fruits and vegetables from China, India, Afghanistan, Thailand and New Zealand are also leading to a decline in domestic production. Due to this, many farmers are adapting to this change by cutting down crop production and taking up poultry.