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Met dept sounds alarm about water stress

By Our Correspondent
December 16, 2018

Islamabad : The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has warned the authorities of water stress in some areas of the country due to scanty rainfall.

Water stress is a situation which happens when the demand for water exceeds its available supply during a certain period of time or when poor quality restricts its use.

According to PMD National Drought Monitoring Centre director Ikramuddin, many districts of Sindh and Balochistan provinces are facing moderate to severe droughts. Nineteen of them are in Sindh and 11 in Balochistan. Sindh's districts include Badin, Larkana, Sanghar, Dadu, Mityari, Shaheed Benzairabad, Hyderabad, Mohenjodaro, Tharparkar, Jacobabad, Padidan, Thatta, Jamshoro, Qambar Shadadkot, Umerkot, Karachi, Rohri, Khairpur and Sajwal, while Balochistan's districts are Awaran, Kech, Panjgur, Bolan, Kharan, Quetta, Chagi, Noushki, Washuk, Gawadar and Mastung.

He said currently, Tarbela and Mangla dams was half filled with water, the lowest water availability during the last nine years, while water storage in small dams of Potohar region was satisfactory.

"Keeping in view the climatology, water situation in dams and current seasonal forecast, drought conditions may exacerbate and thus, adversely affecting the agriculture and livestock in these districts," he warned.

The official said the situation could spread to other districts, too. "Dry conditions will cause water stress in the cultivated lands/areas of the country due to the limited supply of irrigation water for Rabi crops," he warned.

Ikramuddin said below normal rainfall was recorded in most of the southern parts of the country from June to November 2018 as forecast by the PMD. "Major rainfall deficit was experienced over the provinces of Sindh (-71.9 per cent), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (-46.9 per cent) and Balochistan (-44.2 per cent) during the June-November period," he said.

The official asked all stakeholders to take pre-emptive measures for disaster-prone districts and said farmers and agriculturists should keep themselves updated about water availability by contacting the PMD.

FBISE awards: The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) has selected 160 students for meritorious scholarships at the Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) level.

The students will get Rs50,000 annually under an initiative meant to encourage them for further studies. Every year, the FBISE gives away 160 scholarships at HSSC and SSC levels each to the schools, whose examinations are conducted by it.

According to an official, the scholarship on the basis of SSC results is normally awarded for a period of two years (24 months) to the candidate who has taken admission to HSSC or equivalent classes. However, in case the student takes admission to three years course or more, the scholarship is for the complete duration of that course.

The continuation of a scholarship is subject to satisfactory exam results and good conduct of the candidate during the course of studies. The official said all scholarships were given away on the basis of the annual examination results only. "No scholarship award is permissible on the result of supplementary/special examinations. They are given away on merit determined on the basis of exam marks obtained by the candidates," he said.

The official said the amount of the scholarship was paid annually and was more in case the recipient was a boarder.

DNA adds: Indonesian Embassy in collaboration with COTHM Islamabad organised a lively culinary workshop that brought an exclusive stirring Indonesian culinary experience to learn and enjoy scrumptious, signature and authentic Indonesian food recipes.

Welcoming the participants, Indonesian Ambassador Iwan S. Amri said that the workshop was essentially built around at familiarising the participants with the Indonesian culture and cuisine. He said that the food tells you a lot about the history, traditions, climate, culture and the evolution of the communities, nations and the regions.

He informed the participants that Indonesian cuisine was diverse, encompassing influences from more than 6,000 inhabited islands of the world’s largest Indonesian archipelago of sprawling 18,000 islands.

There was such a rich variety in the Indonesian cuisine that one should sample specialties in each area, he added.

Among the most common in Indonesia nationwide ‘Sate’ (Skewered Grilled Meat with peanut sauce), and ‘Nasi Goreng’ which is famous Indonesian fried rice recipes were taught at the workshop.