ADB asks Pakistan to adopt Indian plan on education
Islamabad (PTI): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has advised Pakistan to adopt India's scheme ULLAS to fix its dysfunctional education system and impart quality training to its citizens, according to a media report.
The Manila-based lender's recommendation came in response to Pakistan's request for financial support to improve its education system and impart education to all out-of-school children, The Express Tribune newspaper said.
The Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society (ULLAS) was launched by the Government of India in July last year to help non-literates and adults who missed out on formal schooling.
The ADB recommends that the government adopt a strategic and multi-stakeholder consultative approach, drawing on international best practices, such as the government of India's new centrally sponsored scheme "ULLAS", according to the lender.
The ADB emphasised that the ULLAS scheme emphasises the need for both federal and provincial governments to collaborate urgently to enhance access to quality education and can offer insightful lessons of success and challenges when considering a similar vertical scheme in Pakistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the new centrally-sponsored scheme ULLAS for the five-year period to cover all the aspects of "Education for All".
The objective of the Indian scheme is to impart not only foundational literacy and numeracy but also to cover other components which are necessary for a citizen of the 21st century such as critical life skills including financial literacy, digital literacy, commercial skills, health care and awareness, child care and education and family welfare.
The ADB's recommendation came just days before a scheduled visit of ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa to Pakistan. The ADB president will meet with Pakistani stakeholders on Monday.
A Planning Commission's report revealed that Pakistan's education delivery system had become dysfunctional and all the 134 districts, barring Islamabad, were lagging on indicators ranging from learning outcomes to public financing.
The findings of the Planning Commission's District Education Performance Index Report 2023 underscored the human resource crisis in Pakistan where people are entering into job markets either with no or low education.
Pakistan last week declared an education emergency on International Literacy Day to educate around 26 million out-of-school children in the country.
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Trump urges US allies to send warships to Strait of ?Hormuz as Iran vows to retaliate
Cairo (AP): US President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to secure the vital Strait of ?Hormuz while Iran urged people to evacuate three ports in the United Arab Emirates as its war with the United States and Israel showed no signs of ending.
Iran's call to evacuate the Middle East's busiest port and two other UAE ports marked the first time it had openly threatened a neighboring country's non-U.S. assets.
Tehran said the U.S. had used “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran's oil exports, without providing evidence. It urged people to leave areas where it said U.S. forces were sheltering.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's humanitarian crisis deepened, with over 800 people killed and 850,000 displaced as Israel launched waves of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Iran says the US attacked from close to Dubai
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Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the US attacked Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island from two locations in the UAE, Ras Al-Khaimah and a place “very close to Dubai,” calling that dangerous and saying Iran “will try to be careful not to attack any populated area” there.
US Central Command said it had no response to Iran's claim. A diplomatic adviser to the UAE's president, Anwar Gargash, said on social media the country has the right to defend itself but “still prioritises reason and logic, and continues exercising restraint.”
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbours during the war, but it has said it was targeting US assets, even as hits or attempts were reported on civilian ones such as airports and oil fields.
Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz was closed only to “those who are attacking us and their allies.”
Trump urges allies to send warships to Strait of Hormuz
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As global anxiety soars over oil prices and supplies, Trump said Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK and others send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open and safe.” Britain in response said it was discussing with allies a “range of options” to secure shipping.
Araghchi, in a social media post, urged neighbours to “expel foreign aggressors” and described Trump's call as “begging.”
On Saturday, Iran's joint military command reiterated its threat to attack U.S.-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” in the region if the Islamic Republic's oil infrastructure is hit.
Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency said the Kharg Island strikes caused no damage to oil infrastructure. It said they targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, the airport control tower and an offshore oil company's helicopter hangar.
US identifies 6 killed in military aircraft crash
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The US Department of Defense on Saturday identified six service members who died when the military refueling aircraft they were aboard crashed Thursday while supporting operations against Iran.
The service members were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, according to U.S. officials.
The crash in western Iraq followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safety.
