Nawaz Sharif calls PM Narendra Modi, appreciates India’s rescue efforts in Nepal

NEW DELHI: Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif on Thursday called up PM Narendra Modi and expressed his condolences on loss of lives in India due to earthquake.

“Got a call from PM Nawaz Sharif. He expressed condolences on the loss of lives in various parts of India due to the earthquake,” PM Modi said in a tweet on Thursday.

The PM added that Sharif appreciated India’s efforts in the rescue operations in Nepal.

“I thank him for his kind words,” Modi said.

Modi said that he suggested to Sharif that “SAARC nations should conduct regular joint exercises on disaster relief and rescue”.

“SAARC nations can come together and hold annual exercises of rescue teams, doctors etc on how we can minimise damage during natural disasters,” he added.

News courtesy: The Times of India
Read more » http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Nawaz-Sharif-calls-PM-Narendra-Modi-appreciates-Indias-rescue-efforts-in-Nepal/articleshow/47105811.cms

– – – – – –

Got a call from PM Nawaz Sharif. He expressed condolences on the loss of lives in various parts of India due to the Earthquake.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 30, 2015

I suggested to PM Sharif that SAARC nations should conduct regular joint exercises on disaster relief & rescue.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 30, 2015

SAARC Nations can come together & hold annual exercises of rescue teams, doctors etc on how we can minimise damage during natural disasters.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 30, 2015

More details » BBC urdu
Read more » http://www.bbc.com/urdu/pakistan/2015/04/150430_nawaz_calls_modi_rwa

PM Sharif appreciated this idea & told me that we should take up such an initiative.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 30, 2015

Stunting, wasting and micronutrient malnutrition endemic in Pakistan

The National Nutrition Survey 2011 released here has indicated that stunting, wasting and micronutrient malnutrition are endemic in Pakistan. The report said the increasing rate of chronic and acute malnutrition is primarily due to poverty, high illiteracy rates among mothers and food insecurity.

The survey was conducted by the Aga Khan University’s Division of women and child health, Pakistan’s Ministry of Health and UNICEF. The last such survey was conducted in 2001-2002, according to federal planning minister Ahsan Iqbal who said task forces must be formed to address the situation.

The survey found widespread micronutrient deficiencies among women especially in those pregnant — 51 per cent surveyed were anaemic; 46 per cent had vitamin A deficiency; 47.6 per cent had zinc deficiency; and 68.9 per cent had vitamin D deficiency. Anaemia was high at 50.4 per cent in other women too.

Among children under five, 43.7 per cent were stunted in 2011 as compared to 41.6 per cent in the 2001 National Nutrition Survey. Children under five also suffered from: anaemia-61.9 per cent; iron deficiency-43.8 per cent; vitamin-A deficiency- 54 per cent; and zinc deficiency 39.2 per cent. In the Saarc, Pakistan has the second highest stunting rate for children under five years- 43.7 per cent. About 32 per cent of the children were underweight. The elderly population too was not spared with over 53.9 per cent not having normal weight.

Read more » http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/stunting-wasting-and-micronutrient-malnutrition-endemic-in-pakistan/article5147173.ece

Haleem Brohi: The non-conformist

By Amar Sindhu

As a result, none of his work was taken seriously by local critics except for Fahmida Riaz who cited his novel Odah (Inferno) in her book Pakistan: Literature and Society as a landmark in Pakistani literature. This novel was based on the Freudian concepts of male sexuality. “We have this fantastic short Sindhi novel Odah/ Orrah by Haleem Brohi,” Riaz wrote. “It is a minor classic about male sexuality and about the sexual act turning into a terrible mental torture. It has unforgettable sentences such as, ‘I am walking, endlessly, in this thick white marsh, under a mercilessly blazing sun.’” Riaz also mentioned this novel in her recent interview with Herald magazine.

Indo-Pak : Violent neighbourhood

Editorial- Violent neighbourhood

– Sabrang

Hinduism is said to be a non-violent religion, Buddhism is supposed to be synonymous with ahinsa and Islam, they say, means peace. Yet the followers of these faiths inhabiting the countries of South Asia have been perpetrators and victims of violence as perhaps no other region of the world in the last two decades.

In the early ’80s we thought that, like others in the world, it was time we too came together as good neighbours and worked out a pact of mutual cooperation and collective welfare. Thus in 1983 the Declaration on South Asian Regional Cooperation was adopted by the foreign ministers of seven countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – in New Delhi. Two years later the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was formally established. On India’s initiative, Afghanistan was welcomed to the SAARC club in 2005 as its eighth member.

The objectives of SAARC as defined in its Charter are noble:

SAARC nations : South Asian University

Quietly, a unique SAARC varsity takes shape

by: Anubhuti Vishnoi

Courtesy: IndianExpress, Jan 15, 2010

New Delhi:To reverse brain drain, provide an academic opportunity in the subcontinent and promote a sense of South Asian community, a plan first mooted in 2005 is finally and quietly taking shape — in the form of the first truly international university being set up by eight nations.

Tax-free dollar salaries for an international faculty, a variety of multi-disciplinary courses focused on research, a multinational exam for admission, an academic environment free of directions from Commissions, and a think tank to ponder over the shared problems of the subcontinent — these will be the key features of the South Asian University (SAU) being set up by SAARC nations.