CONTENTS

1) Agriculture’s woes beyond packages – Agriculture (TRIBUNE)

2) Water mismanagement in Pakistan – Water Crisis (TRIBUNE)
3) De-hyphenating Civ-Mil equation – Civil Military (TRIBUNE)
4) Engagement Returns – Pak-Relations (DAWN)
5) Climate Change and Health – Climate Change (DAWN)
6) Race to COP27 – Climate Change (DAWN)

1) Agriculture’s woes beyond packages – Agriculture (TRIBUNE)

→ investment in agriculture revives growth quickly.
→ Kissan package → 1.8 trillion rupees; two main concerns of the farmers had been addressed.
These are the high cost of electricity and fertilizers.
→ Time lag in the import of old tractors does not help the present agricultural emergency.
→ The most important measure is the access to interest-free loans to shift the tubewells to
solar power.
→ Banks’ credit to the government was 14.85 trillion rupees. The corresponding figure for the
private sector was 8.37 trillion rupees, with agriculture sector trailing far behind at 327
billion rupees.
→ Suasion (noun): persuasion as opposed to force or compulsion.
→ Askance (adverb): with an attitude or look of suspicion or disapproval.
→ Agriculture is too serious a business to be left to ad hoc packages. It requires an integrated
approach covering the issues of food security, poverty, climate change, water scarcity,
productivity and innovation.
2) Water mismanagement in Pakistan – Water Crisis (TRIBUNE)
→ UN General Secretary stated that Pakistan is confronting “a monsoon on steroids”.
→ Water governance issues played a major role in triggering the current flood catastrophe.
→ Pakistan’s rivers are badly polluted, and its aquifers are severely stressed due to the
unregulated and reckless use of groundwater for irrigation purposes.
→ Agriculture which takes up well over 90% of all available water in the country is inefficient
and wasteful.
→ Irrigational channels are also poorly maintained, causing immense water loss.
→ Colonial and post-colonial irrigational paradigm effectively curbed the natural cycle of high
frequency-low intensity flood events which were vital for the natural ecology of this region.
→ Cognizance (noun): knowledge or awareness
→ Pakistan had formulated a National Water Policy in 2018 to take cognizance of the
emergent water crisis and provide a framework for sustainable management of the
country’s water resources.
→ The former PTI government placed a lot of emphasis on reforestation. We also saw the
formulation of other creative initiatives like Recharge Pakistan which envisioned reduction
of flood risk and increase water storage and recharge through wetlands, floodplains, and
hill-torrents management.
→ A stitch in time saves nine (phrase): The phrase basically means it's better to solve a problem
right away, to stop it becoming a much bigger one.
 → Stagnant water in turn has caused a spike in diarrhea, dysentery, dengue fever and malaria.
3) De-hyphenating Civ-Mil Equation – Civil Military (TRIBUNE)
→ Obfuscate (verb): confuse/jumble
→ Our political parties and their internal mechanisms are the farthest from any democratic
tradition. The leaders are self-appointed and mostly dynastic.
→ Heretical (adjective): holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted.
→ Laws, processes and statutes are lain by the wayside if ever their person is questioned.
→ What we get instead is neither of the people nor for the people.
→ Regurgitate (verb): repeat (information) without analyzing or comprehending it.
→ The military has ruled for over three decades in our over seven decades existence and in
critical times of long duration when significant initiatives in foreign policy were entered in to.
→ Democracy found its roots and turned into a resilient reliable system of governance which
has held India through all difficult and not-so-difficult times. (Nehru ruled for 17yrs)
→ If not all, the PTI government found significant support by the military following elections to
form a government.
→ Hindsight (noun): understanding of a situation or event only after it has happened or
developed.
4) Engagement Return – Pak-Relations (DAWN)
→ US-Pakistan relationship has been almost like a marriage where the couple can neither do
without each other nor live together.
→ Their public perceptions of each other have darkened over the years, especially in Pakistan
which now finds itself in the grip of anti-Americanism.
→ In the 21st century, world has become an arena for great power competition.
→ Bajwa doctrine; Pakistan, given its economic vulnerabilities, political instability and the
realization that China cannot be the answer to all its challenges, needs to lower
temperatures in its relations with India, and reach out to Washington.
→ Country after country has been telling Washington that forcing them to choose between the
US and China is bad policy. Now America is walking back from this policy and trying to join
the competition with China. It has started with ASEAN and has now come to Pakistan.
→ Pakistan is at the confluence of many US interests relating to security concerns, geopolitics
and global governance: China, Russia, Taliban, counterterrorism, non-proliferation, the
security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets and climate change.
→ For Washington, Pakistan’s economic woes, especially after the floods, have been an
opportunity to provide visible help.
→ Many areas of potential cooperation including energy technology, agriculture and IT are
being discussed.
→ At least Pakistan will try not to undermine Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy just as
America won’t try to confront Pakistan’s strategic ties with China.
5) Climate Change and Health – Climate Change (DAWN)
→ The nature of various manifestations of climate change in the form of frequent extreme
weather events — heavy and prolonged rains, cloudbursts, flash floods, heatwaves,
wildfires, catastrophic storms, tsunamis, cyclones, droughts — make the future highly
unpredictable.
 → In 2015, the historic Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 world leaders with the aim of
containing the increase in the average global temperature to below two degrees Celsius,
above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C
above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and
impacts of climate change (Article 2).
→ Climate change pushes animals to new habitats as natural habitats disappear, which leads to
new interactions between animals and humans, giving rise to the spread of zoonotic
diseases, for example, rabies. Ebola, Lassa fever, Rift Valley fever and monkeypox are
examples which are known to spread more and widely under the effect of rising
temperatures.
→ Climate change effects such as rising sea levels, collapsing ice shelves, and greater volcanic
activity are linked to the increased threat of tsunamis. The 2004 tsunami alone caused
227,000 deaths and unfathomable misery.
→ Pradhan and others (2017) have concluded that the approximately 14 per cent and 30pc
decline in under-five and adult mortality between 1970 and 2010 resulted from
improvements in education levels, and that female education is far more important than
male education for reducing both adult and child mortality.
→ Water is another critical determinant of health. The WHO estimates that almost one-tenth
of the global burden of disease could be prevented by improving water, sanitation and
hygiene.
→ The WHO rightly calls climate change the single biggest health threat facing humanity. Like
always, the most vulnerable are the most affected.
6) Race to COP27 – Climate Change (DAWN)
→ The need for climate diplomacy will be the most important piece in solving the climate
puzzle.
→ The element of distrust will intensify the divide if talks don’t move towards reaching
agreement on some issues that have routinely become a bone of contention at the annual
climate meet.
→ COP27 expects actionable steps towards implementation of the Paris Agreement.
→ COP27 will look to agree on new ways of collaboration at the UNFCCC to enhance delivery of
emissions reduction, scale up climate finance, support adaptation and address loss and
damage.
→ The world cannot afford destabilization on three fronts (political, economic and
environmental) simultaneously and have no agency that provides space for dialogue and
resolution of contesting issues.
→ Pakistan will champion the need for a new global deal on nature and showcase the ‘Living
Indus’ as its flagship ecosystem restoration project for conserving the rights of nature.
→ Pakistan’s political narrative will be built on seeking investment on climate cooperation as a
solution to energy, economic, food and biodiversity loss.
→ The minister for climate change says that Pakistan’s message will be articulated loud and
clear to let the world know that what happened here will not remain confined to Pakistan.