Due to recent calm weather, the Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued a warning that pollution levels in Pakistan’s major cities could rise alarmingly.

The PMD spokeswoman said that rising smog levels can affect the health of vulnerable groups because of the dangerous pollutants in the air and interfere with outdoor activities because of decreased visibility.

Smoke and fog combine to form smog, which occurs between November and mid-December.

According to the advice, traffic emissions, industrial pollution, and favorable weather patterns might all contribute to a rise in air pollution in the days ahead, endangering both the environment and human health.

Harmful pollutants will be building up in the atmosphere as a result of stable weather, especially in the fall and winter months.

Thick layers of haze can linger over cities like Lahore, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, and Faisalabad due to the lack of wind movement, lower temperatures, and humidity.

According to the advice, the effects of rising smog levels include a surge in occurrences of asthma, respiratory ailments, and other health issues linked to pollution.

Pakistan is beginning discussions with the IMF for Climate Resiliency Funding, and the Finance Minister has stated that reprofiled talks with China are positive as the country attempts to extend payment times.

China has responded positively to Pakistan’s request to extend the maturities of debt related to the Belt and Road program, the Finance Minister stated in a Bloomberg interview.

The nation wants to “create enough space” to reduce electricity, according to Muhammad Aurangzeb, by lengthening the maturities of debt taken out for power plants.

“These are the early stages of those negotiations,” he stated. The former banker for JPMorgan Chase & Co. visited China in July and spoke with Chinese officials about debt.

To avoid having to borrow from the IMF again, he said, the nation must continue to exercise self-control in order to raise the tax-to-GDP ratio from below 10% to 13.5%.

With 25 IMF programs, he said, Pakistan is one of the most frequent borrowers. While the Pakistani delegation is attending the conference in Washington, the government hopes to start talking about asking the IMF for more funding through its Climate Resiliency Fund.

Pakistan would target industries like retail and agriculture that have resisted past taxation initiatives in order to achieve its objective, he added. By January, the provinces of the country will begin working on agriculture-related laws, with the goal of beginning collection by July.

The central bank of Pakistan has lowered its benchmark interest rate by 450 basis points, from a record 22% to 17.5%, for three consecutive meetings, he added. The policy rate may be lowered by the Central Bank during its upcoming meeting on November 4.

Users will still be able to access all of their contacts stored in WhatsApp’s safe cloud storage thanks to this improvement, even if they misplace their phone or connect a new device to their primary number.

In the past, WhatsApp managed connections exclusively by using users’ phone contact books. Only local data would be saved on the user’s device when a new contact messaged them. With the option to sync contacts to their mobile devices, the soon-to-be functionality will let users save contacts that are accessible on any device, including Windows and online versions of WhatsApp.

After allowing users to access two WhatsApp accounts on a single device last year, this update gives users the option to have distinct contact lists for their personal and professional lives.

By enabling users to keep their contact details secret, it also accommodates people who share smartphones with others.

In order to provide safe contact storage, WhatsApp created a new encrypted storage system called Identity Proof Linked Storage (IPLS), which generates an encryption key on the user’s device. By signing any modifications made to the user’s directory, the app also works with Cloudflare to ensure the accuracy of the contact information.

To give an additional degree of anonymity, WhatsApp is also working on allowing users to save contacts by username. Similar to capabilities provided by competitors like Signal and Telegram, this implies that users can communicate without disclosing their phone numbers.

With this new feature, WhatsApp hopes to improve user convenience and privacy while reaffirming its dedication to changing in the highly competitive messaging market.