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Pakistan looks ‘like a sea’ after floods, PM Shehbaz says, as 18 more die

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2 years ago

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  • Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visits flood-hit areas in Sindh.
  • You won’t believe scale of destruction there, PM tells journalists.
  • 33 million of a population of 220 million have been affected so far.

SEHWAN: Parts of Pakistan seemed “like a sea”, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday, after visiting some of the flood-hit areas that cover as much as a third of the South Asian nation, where 18 more deaths took the toll from days of rain to 1,343.

As many as 33 million of a population of 220 million have been affected in a disaster blamed on climate change that has left hundreds of thousands homeless and caused losses of at least $10 billion, officials estimate.

“You wouldn’t believe the scale of destruction there,” PM Shehbaz told media after a visit to the southern province of Sindh. “It is water everywhere as far as you could see. It is just like a sea.”

The government, which has boosted cash handouts for flood victims to 70 billion Pakistani rupees ($313.90 million), will buy 200,000 tents to house displaced families, he added.

Receding waters threaten a new challenge in the form of water-borne infectious diseases, PM Shehbaz said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addresses journalists in Sindh after visiting flood-hit areas, on September 7, 2022. — Reuters
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addresses journalists in Sindh after visiting flood-hit areas, on September 7, 2022. — Reuters

“We will need trillions of rupees to cope with this calamity.”

The United Nations has called for $160 million in aid to help the flood victims.

Many of those affected are from Sindh, where Pakistan’s largest freshwater lake is dangerously close to bursting its banks, even after having been breached in an operation that displaced 100,000 people.

National disaster officials said eight children were among the dead in the last 24 hours. The floods were brought by record monsoon rains and glacier melt in Pakistan’s northern mountains.

With more rain expected in the coming month, the situation could worsen further, a top official of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned.

Already, the World Health Organization has said more than 6.4 million people need humanitarian support in the flooded areas.

Residents use boats as they travel amid flood water, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Bajara village, at the banks of Manchar lake, in Sehwan, Pakistan September 6, 2022. — Reuters
Residents use boats as they travel amid flood water, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Bajara village, at the banks of Manchar lake, in Sehwan, Pakistan September 6, 2022. — Reuters

The raging waters have swept away 1.6 million houses, 5,735 km (3,564 miles) of transport links, 750,000 head of livestock, and swamped more than 2 million acres (809,370 hectares) of farmland.

Pakistan has received nearly 190% more rain than the 30-year average in July and August, totalling 391 mm (15.4 inches), with Sindh getting 466% more rain than the average.

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Indicating Pakistan’s Dedication to the SCO Agenda: Jam Kamal

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4 days ago

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Pakistan is dedicated to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Agenda, according to the Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan, who stated that the SCO is playing a significant role in regional cooperation.

Jam Kamal, while speaking at the World Trade Organization (SCO) Trade Ministerial gathering in Islamabad, stated that Pakistan is an important member of the SCO and that it is a pleasure for us to host its gathering.

We are aggressively trying to modernize our infrastructure, improve regulatory frameworks, and establish an atmosphere that is suitable to business, as he stated that the SCO Region has a significant potential for both commercial and economic exchange.

According to him, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Region is home to a big amount of the world’s population as well as some of the world’s economies that are expanding at the fastest rates. This region also hosts a significant portion of the world’s people.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) 23rd Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Foreign Economic and Trade Activities is now being held in Pakistan.

In the course of the Council of Heads of Government Meeting, which is slated to take place in Islamabad on October 15-16, 2024, the conclusions of this meeting will be discussed.

Sunil Bharatwal, who is India’s Deputy Minister of Commerce, gave a short speech at the conference.

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The president approves the addition of thirty PHC judges, up from the previous twenty.

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A sizeable increase in the number of judges to be appointed to the Peshawar High Court has been sanctioned by President Asif Ali Zardari.

The number of judges has been increased from twenty to thirty and this change was made in order to address the growing backlog of cases and to improve the efficiency of the judicial system.

Regarding this matter, the notification from the Presidency has been distributed.

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Relations Between Pakistan and Belarus: An Eastern European Country Issues A Formal Invitation To Students In Pakistan

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The country in eastern Europe has formally invited Pakistani students to pursue higher education at its esteemed universities, marking a significant breakthrough in efforts to fortify educational connections between Pakistan and Belarus.

Students from Pakistan should have more options to study economics, medicine, and other subjects in Belarus thanks to this outreach.

Hamid Mahmood and Khakan Mahmood, the directors of *Legal and General Consultants, paid a recent visit to Minsk, the capital of Belarus. The *Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Higher Education Commission of Belarus were among the officials with whom they met productively during their tour.

Facilitating admissions to Belarusian universities for Pakistani students, especially in the medical and economics domains, was the main goal of these talks.

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