For all those wondering if the Packers will trade for wide receiver Deebo Samuel after passing on first-round targets, Aaron Rodgers has an update.
Rodgers went on the Pat McAfee show live to give his opinion on the Packers’ NFL Draft plans. While Green Bay didn’t select a wideout as Rodgers would’ve hoped, if he’s learned anything over the last few years, it’s to trust the vision Brian Gutekunst and the front office have laid out.
No. 12 didn’t want to steal the moment of two Georgia stars — Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt — who went 22nd and 28th overall, respectively.
“I’m sure Packer nation will be wondering why we didn’t take a receiver or trade up but at this point, you’ve just got to have some faith in the organization…we’re going to find a way in Matt’s offense to be successful like we always have,” Rodgers said.
Packers: Aaron Rodgers gives Deebo Samuel update
While the Packers didn’t select a wide receiver early, could they swing a trade for one of the top wideouts in the NFL?
Rodgers did admit that Green Bay was at one point in on Samuel, but also said that the 49ers don’t seem willing to trade him.
While Rodgers later said he was surprised by the Davante Adams trade given his decision to come back, he understands the front office’s predicament.
“I thought based on the number we offered Davante and being able to play with me for a few more years would definitely make a difference, but in the end he was ready to move on,” Rodgers said.
As the years have gone by, Rodgers has become more patient with the organization that drafted him, if only because they started including him in big decisions. While he’s not directly involved in the NFL Draft process, the future Hall of Famer doesn’t sound surprised by what’s transpired so far.
PlayStation has quietly announced a delay to it’s cat game Stray with a release now expected this summer.
The release window was previously set as spring 2022, but in a tweet (below) advertising indie games coming soon spotted by Eurogamer, PlayStation sneakily confirmed the delay.
Stray’s launch on PS5, PS4, and PC will mark two years since it was first shown at the PS5 reveal event, when it was originally expected to be a 2021 release.
Developer BlueTwelve’s objective is simple: “Our goal is to create a unique experience playing as a cat,” they said at the time.
But this isn’t your average house cat, as the players controls the kitty as it explores a robotic cybercity and tries to return home with the help of a drone called B-12.
BlueTwelve has been pretty quiet since the original reveal, only really sharing more information about the game in July last year when the postponement to spring 2022 was announced.
Several games from the original PS5 reveal, which took place in September 2020, have suffered from delays, with the COVID-19 pandemic doing game development no favours.
Gran Turismo 7, Horizon: Forbidden West, Deathloop, were among the biggest games to see delays, but Stray, alongside Goodbye Volcano High and Forspoken, remain the only games to remain unreleased.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
If you aren’t sure about “keeping up with” these klips, check out some of the 5-star Amazon reviews.
A shopper shared, “I bought these to initially do a makeup tutorial on instagram and everyone was just interested in the clips. They literally do not leave any dents. They’re perfect!”
A hair stylist said, “I have used these a couple of times on bridal parties that have their hair styled already and the colors are great as well when the photography snaps some pictures.. It’s very useful for keeping hair out of their face without leaving that awkward crimp on their hair. Small but very useful product.”
An Amazon customer wrote, “Absolutely love these hair clips! Such an underrated necessity when getting ready. I would always just deal with getting my makeup in my hair because I didn’t think hair clips would really make a difference but I was wrong! I’ve always turned away the idea of ANY clip holding back any of my hair since I was born with 3x the normal amount of hair; no clip ever worked…but these do! They’re sturdy enough to keep my hair out of my face, and do not move a bit once in!”
A fan of the clips shared, “I wanted something to help hold straightened hair that doesn’t like to stay straight. These do the trick! They are not super tight fitting, so they don’t add a crimp to my flat ironed section of hair, but hold it straight until cooled. The results are nice, straight sections of hair!”
“Lovely little clips that don’t bend your hair while you do your makeup,” a fan of the product shared.
Someone else said, “Super great product for when applying makeup. I use mine everyday that I am rushing and don’t want my hair in the way.”
Mobile Legends: Adventure (MLA) is the sequel to the addictive MOBA, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB). Unlike most mobile RPGs, MLA is an idle RPG that doesn’t demand hours of grinding as your heroes are always collecting resources for you, even when you are offline. You can pick it up for just a few fun minutes, and use the options to skip battles or enable auto-battling, to just kick back and watch the action.
Coming in May is New Era, a new annual event that will introduce a ton of updates such as new events, new heroes, and limited-time game modes with plenty of rewards. With this event you can gain a huge amount of rewards that will help you get your pick from over 100 heroes that you need to build your dream team.
1. Golden Wishes will be giving away a High Star-Level Hero
Beginning April 29th, if you complete tasks for 28 days you can permanently unlock a hero of your choice. By completing these tasks you will also be able to rack up thousands of diamonds and lots of upgrade materials. This high Star-Level hero is not only great for veterans looking for a huge power increase, but also for new players wanting to quickly beat the early stages.
2. A Tinted Mirage event will feature the release of the new hero Pharsa
The new Epic Hero, Pharsa, will be free to get during this Tinted Mirage event, and more Epic Pharsa cards and resources will be obtainable if you clear more stages. The new Tinted Mirage also comes with an interesting storyline about Pharsa’s revenge and Selena’s betrayal.
3. Call of the Crows, the new PvE card game mode, will be available for a limited time
MLA’s New Era is also introducing a new PvE card game mode, Call of the Crows. In Call of the Crows, you strategically select Hero Cards to craft a deck and then start a game. You will then tactically drag the cards onto the battlefield to defend the base, known as the Energy Core, and fight the enemies spawning on the right side. If you manage to win all levels you will collect all the extra rewards!
4. Four new hero skins will be available
Mobile Legends: Adventure has over 100 heroes with different skills and animations. During the New Era event, the Skin Store will feature four new hero skins for that limited time, each with diverse backgrounds and unique stories. Make sure to grab them while they’re available!
The 2022 New Era event will be available starting on April 29th and ending on June 2nd. Download Mobile Legends: Adventure for Android and iOS now and get in on this event before it’s too late.
Recent Hollywood blockbusters have got me considering options in alternate universes—Peter Parker-type ones, where I can see the Spidey meme lived out in real life. I’m not talking about the Metaverse, I’m talking about a temporary escape to the places on TV and movie screens that look more liveable than here. Where everyone is happy and I have secret superpowers that solve problems. All of them.
But before I decide where to call home, there’s something else to think about: How and where could SLAM exist in another dimension? That question has been answered, a few times over.
The biggest world, a universe really, where SLAM has a presence is the Marvel Universe. Luke Cage series creator Cheo Hodari Coker—who also wrote SLAM 24’s cover story on Kobe Bryant—showed some love to his SLAM Fam by including a fictional excerpt of the PUNKS column (our former HS section, now called The Come Up) in the first episode of the Netflix show. Fast forward to a scene in Pop’s Barbershop, and some of the article’s finer details can be seen in the freeze frame. I strained my eyes to read more about “RUN-DSC…”
You’ll also find SLAM in the world of comedy, thanks to Shea Serrano and Arturo Torres, the bestselling writer and illustrator of a ton of New York Times’ hits like Basketball and Other Things, who immortalized fictional Sixers fan Jim Halpert from The Office on a cover that I’d happily buy multiple copies of. There’s also a rumor going around the SLAM Dome that the publication’s fine literature can be found in STARZ’ Survivor’s Remorse. Any world with a character played by Mike Epps could be fun.
Back in 1998, two universes almost intertwined for real, for real. Filmmaker Spike Lee was working on his next masterpiece, He Got Game, and the film’s lead character, Jesus Shuttlesworth, was (at the time) about to be an even bigger deal than Ray Allen. By then, SLAM was kind of a big deal too. Spike shared SLAM’s love for the Knicks, the playful hate of Reggie Miller and understood that the magazine’s readers were his viewers. Our mutual audience would be flooding movie theaters to watch Denzel Washington rock a pair of Jordan XIIIs and battle Ray one-on-one. He also understood that (in the basketball world of the late ’90s) a SLAM cover was as big of a promo as anyone could get. SLAM Ed. Tony Gervino also saw it as a chance to pull just about any stunt necessary.
A plan was formed. Spike wanted a Jesus Shuttlesworth cover and SLAM was the only mag who could legitimately pull it off. The movie was in production, yet no one knew about it or Allen’s involvement, so the idea was to drop the Jesus cover as the ultimate April Fool’s prank in the spring of 1998. It would make history as the first SLAM cover featuring a fictional character. But it didn’t happen. An irritating leak meant that the element of surprise was gone and the concept was void.
While the Shuttlesworth cover may not have entered our galaxy, fans of Spike’s classic movie will have observed that “Coney Island Jesus” did in fact get a cover. It sits in pride of place above the TV of Jesus’ humble abode…and in Spike Lee’s office in Brooklyn.
Before emails and comment sections in social media, SLAM’s Trash Talk section was made up of physical letters. Not only would fans complain to the editors about stories, yell at readers who made up the previous issue’s Trash Talk and vent about their team’s losing streak, some would also submit carefully crafted pieces of art. Sometimes it was a sketch of an older cover, sometimes their favorite player, sometimes just their own version of the SLAM logo. One such submission came from a storyboard/design team based in L.A. who happened to be huge fans of SLAM. In writing, they requested back issues, t-shirts and even offered content suggestions. Those letters were from the team who worked on a little up and coming animated series called South Park.
The crew at South Park sent SLAM a few letters in the early days, but the one that really caught the staff’s attention was a reworked SLAM cover sent in the form of a greeting card. It featured Kobe’s Issue 24 joint, only with Kenny’s head replacing the Spalding ball under Bryant’s arm. They wanted to work it into a story that would be aired, but (in true South Park style) would take it a step further, with Kobe holding an AK-47.
World events in the spring of ’99 led to this cover never happening—it’s probably better that it didn’t—but we’ll always remember when Kobe was hanging out in South Park.
Seeing the magazine immortalized in animated form is wild. It was Christmas 2020 when we were once again reminded of that feeling. The pandemic had me, my wife and our 1-year-old daughter stuck in our tiny flat in London on Christmas Day. It wasn’t all bad. We bought some fancy food and drinks, didn’t need to travel anywhere and Pixar was premiering a movie called Soul that gave us something to look forward to. We loved the film and appreciated the finer details of the world that the lead character, Joe Gardner, called home.
One such detail was something I’d missed completely. It sat—of course—in the barbershop scene, on the table by the lollipops. A copy of SLAM. It was instantly recognizable as a rework of Issue 106, LeBron’s logo cover, with a fictional baller from the Pixar universe. No one at SLAM knew about it ahead of time, but everyone thought it was dope.
The movie was the work of Kemp Powers, a writer from Brooklyn who understood the cultural importance of SLAM. Soul’s release capped off a year marred with tension, yet Pixar’s world felt like a place of solitude.
These SLAM covers may be fictional, but they provided a hint of familiarity and were a nod of appreciation from the designers of alternate universes. For those of us who need to escape, even for a moment, they’re as real as it gets.
Malik Willis, rumored first-round draft prospect and former Liberty QB, can’t believe he wasn’t taken on Day 1.
Willis was a rumored fit for the Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers, for starters, but all three of those teams passed over him in favor of other players. The Steelers even drafted a different quarterback in Pitt’s Kenny Pickett.
While the Liberty product understands the NFL is a cold business, falling all the way to the second round was surprising for a QB who thought he could go as high as sixth to Carolina.
It’s been argued that Willis has the most potential out of any quarterback in this year’s class. While the QB class is one of the weaker ones in recent memory, in a quarterback-driven league, non-contenders are always just a capable signal-caller away.
NFL Draft: How far will Malik Willis fall?
There aren’t too many QB-needy teams at the top of the second round. The Bucs hold the first selection, and while they could take the heir-apparent to the recently-retired Tom Brady, Willis would be deemed a surprise considering they’re trying to contend now.
Houston has the fifth pick in the second round, but they’ve already committed to Davis Mills. The Seahawks, who hold both the ninth and tenth selections of the round, might be the best bet to take a flier on a player like Willis.
Seattle has the likes of Geno Smith and Drew Lock holding down the QB position, with Baker Mayfield potentially on the way. Willis would have time to develop in practice and in the film room before stepping in any real, competitive action in the regular season.
While going in the first round would’ve been a preferred outcome, Willis might come out of this in a decent spot anyway.
Of the 2021 total, 1,924 people were reported to have died or gone missing on the Central and Western Mediterranean routes, while an additional 1,153 perished or went missing on the Northwest African maritime route to the Canary Islands, according to UNHCR’s newly published report: Protection, saving lives, & solutions for refugees in dangerous Journeys.
Fatalities for 2020, stood at 1,776 for the three routes – reflecting an increase of 478 people since the beginning of this year.
“Most of the sea crossings took place in packed, unseaworthy, inflatable boats – many of which capsized or were deflated leading to the loss of life,” UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told journalists at a regular press briefing in Geneva.
Thousands of people are perishing at sea, attempting to reach Europe, crossing the western and central Med and the Atlantic. Last year’s tragic toll was 3,000 – almost double the year before.https://t.co/iCL5ifkWAc
The sea journey from West African coastal states, such as Senegal and Mauritania to the Canary Islands, is long and perilous and can take up to 10 days.
“Many boats drifted off course or otherwise went missing without trace in these waters,” she said.
Land routes also continue to be highly dangerous, where even greater numbers may have died on journeys through the Sahara Desert and remote border areas, in detention centres, or while being held by smugglers or traffickers.
Extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced labour and marriage are just some of the abuses reported by people traveling these routes.
Other challenges
COVID-related border closures impacted movements towards North Africa and European coastal countries, with many desperate refugees and migrants turning to smugglers.
“Continued political instability and conflicts, deteriorating socioeconomic conditions as well as the impact of climate change may increase displacement and dangerous onward movements,” Ms. Mantoo warned.
Plea for help
In launching an updated protection and solutions strategy for refugees on dangerous journeys along routes towards Europe across the Central and Western Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic, UNHCR is appealing for support in providing meaningful alternatives to these dangerous journeys and prevent people from becoming victims of traffickers.
The approach calls for increased humanitarian assistance, support and solutions for people in need of international protection and survivors of gross human rights abuses.
It covers some 25 countries across four regions connected by the same land and sea routes used by migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and includes countries of origin, departure, first asylum, transit and destination.
Much-needed actions
To address protection and solution challenges, UNHCR is also urging States to strengthen humanitarian, development, and peace action.
Additionally, it is calling on regional States in both Africa and Europe to enhance legal frameworks and operational capacities at land and sea borders and in urban centres while also guaranteeing inclusion, youth programming and local community-based development as credible alternatives to dangerous journeys.
“States must ensure unimpeded humanitarian access for the delivery of essential services to people on the move or stranded en route, intercepted at sea, or held in detention centres, and to determine whether they have international protection needs,” the UNHCR spokesperson said.
Treacherous alternative
If these important measures are not carried out, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people and others will continue to move onwards in dangerous journeys in search of safety and protection.
Other people, including migrants, will move in search of a better life, hoping to find work or educational opportunities elsewhere in the absence of sufficient seasonal or longer-term legal pathways for safe and orderly migration.
Rural women are often targeted by human traffickers and taken across borders in Africa and forced to become sex workers. Credit: Aimable Twahirwa/IPS
by Aimable Twahirwa (kigali)
Inter Press Service
KIGALI, Apr 29 (IPS) – Desperate to escape the rural area where she was engaged in the informal economy in Kayonza, a district in Eastern Rwanda, Sharon* made a long and arduous journey to Kenya in the hope of a well-paid job.
An unidentified individual contacted her, paid for her ticket, and gave her a modest amount of pocket money to travel to Kenya by road. The person told the 19-year-old she was traveling to take up an “employment opportunity”.
However, Sharon found herself in sexual servitude at a karaoke bar on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Sharon’s job was to bow elegantly to all customers at the door and usher them inside the bar.
“I was also hired as a nightclub dancer and sometimes forced by my employer to engage in sexual intercourse with clients to earn a living,” the high school graduate told IPS in an interview.
Like Sharon, activists say the number of young women from rural areas trafficked into the sex trade across many East African countries is growing. The young women are lured with the promise of good jobs or marriage. Instead, they are sold into prostitution in cities such as Nairobi (Kenya) and Kampala (Uganda).
Both activists and lawmakers warn that people with hidden agendas could target young women from Rwanda.
The process of trafficking most of these young women into neighboring countries is complex. It involves false promises to their families and victims in which they are promised a “better life”, activists say.
In many cases, traffickers lure young women from rural villages to neighboring countries with the promise of well-paid work. Then, victims are transferred to people who become their enslavers – especially in dubious hotels and karaoke bars.
While Rwanda has tried to combat human trafficking, law enforcement agencies stress that the main challenge revolves around the financial and other assistance for repatriated victims. Limited budgets of the institutions in charge of investigation and rehabilitation of the victims have meant that these programmes are not working optimally.
The chairperson of the East African Legislative Assembly’s Committee on Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution, Fatuma Ndangiza, warned that if no urgent measures are undertaken, the problem is likely to worsen.
“Most of these young women without employment were victims of a well-established human trafficking ring operating under the guise of employment agencies in the region,” Ndangiza told IPS.
The latest figures by Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) indicate that 119 cases of human trafficking, illegal migration, and smuggling of migrants in the region were investigated in the last three years.
These involved 215 victims, among whom 165 were females and 59 males.
Driven by the demand for cheap labor and commercial sex, trafficking rings across the East African region capitalize primarily on economic and social vulnerabilities to exploit their victims, experts said.
But estimates by the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) show that the lack of relevant legislation and needed administrative institutions across the East African region have continued to give traffickers and smugglers an undue advantage to carry on their activities.
To prevent human trafficking, Rwanda has adopted several measures, including passing a new law in 2018.
Under the current legislation, offenders face up to 15 years of imprisonment, but activists say this measure is not enough deterrent.
Although law enforcement officers were trained in combatting human trafficking, Evariste Murwanashyaka, a fervent defender of human rights who is based in Kigali, told IPS that enforcing laws is a challenge, mainly because it is hard to detect women who are engaged in sex work or other forms of sexual exploitation in neighboring countries.
“Young women are still more likely to become targets of trafficking due to the growing demand for sexual slavery across the region, ” he said.
Now with the COVID-19 pandemic, activists say there is not only a lack of awareness but people, especially youth, who are unaware they are victims of a human trafficking offense.
“Most informal job offers from abroad for these young people are associated with illicit businesses, such as human trafficking, mainly of women, and their sexual and labor exploitation,” Murwanashyaka told IPS
According to the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, the increasing unemployment rates, malnourishment, and school closures have increased human trafficking.
Meanwhile, RIB spokesperson, Dr Thierry Murangira is convinced that human trafficking is a transnational organized crime.
“Being transnational organized crimes, “this requires the involvement of more than one jurisdiction and regional cooperation to investigate and prosecute the crime,” he said.
This article is part of a series of features from across the globe on human trafficking. IPS coverage is supported by the Airways Aviation Group.
The Global Sustainability Network ( GSN ) is pursuing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 8 with a special emphasis on Goal 8.7, which “takes immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labor in all its forms”.
The origins of the GSN come from the endeavors of the Joint Declaration of Religious Leaders signed on 2 December 2014. Religious leaders of various faiths gathered to work together “to defend the dignity and freedom of the human being against the extreme forms of the globalization of indifference, such as exploitation, forced labor, prostitution, human trafficking”.
India’s smartphone shipments are down by 1 percent year-on-year (YoY) in the January-March quarter of FY22. Owing to the shortage of components and a sharp decline in demand, smartphone shipments hit 38 million units in Q1 2022. The data has been revealed in the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service, which reflects the effects of COVID-19 on the smartphone market in India. The third wave of the pandemic, which hit the country in January this year, resulted in a slow start to the quarter, which gained some speed in the last few weeks of March quarter.
As per a report by Counterpoint Research, despite the decline, Chinese brands dominated with over 74 percent market share in Q1 2022. Just like the first quarter of last year, Xiaomi remained at the top position in India’s smartphone market with 23 percent share. However, its YoY market share came down by 13 percent year-on-year. Counterpoint’s shipments figures for Xiaomi include the Poco brand. The Chinese smartphone maker managed to lead the market even in the presence of intense competition, component shortages and inflation. The brand has also won the second spot in 5G shipments for the first time in the Indian market.
Xiaomi was followed by South Korean smartphone brand Samsung, which has driven the consumer demand with the introduction of the Galaxy A series. Interestingly, the company retained the top position as the top-selling 5G smartphone brand in India for the second consecutive quarter. With a 1 percent YoY decline in Q1 2022, Samsung held 20 percent market share in smartphone shipment.
Next in the list is Realme, the only brand among the top five to see a YoY growth of 40 percent in Q1 2022. Realme’s market share stands at 16 percent, up from 11 percent share last year in Q1. The shipments for Realme models saw a quick pick after the festive season. Other factors that worked in Realme’s favour are use of Unisoc chipsets, targeted product portfolio, and aggressive channel strategy.
Vivo and Oppo captured fourth and fifth position, respectively. While Vivo faced an 8 percent YoY decline, Oppo’s shipments declined 18 percent YoY in Q1 2022. However, Vivo’s market share for smartphone shipment stands at 15 percent, while Oppo captured a 9 percent share. Counterpoint’s figures for Oppo do not include the OnePlus brand.
Apple registered 5 percent YoY growth in Q1 2022, being the top-selling brand in the premium segment, the report.
India’s overall handset market shares Photo Credit: Counterpoint Research
As for the overall India handset market (feature phones + smartphones), Counterpoint reports shipments 16 percent YoY, and the feature phone market specifically saw a 39 percent YoY decline in shipments. Itel lead the feature phone market, with a 21 percent share. When combining all the Transsion Group brands – Itel, Infinix, Tecno – the company took the fourth spot in the overall handset market. Meanwhile, OnePlus grew 347 percent YoY in Q1 2022, credited to the success to OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G and OnePlus 9RT shipments. OnePlus also captured third position in premium segment.
Out of the total smartphone shipment share, 5G handsets contributed more than 28 percent, along with 314 percent YoY growth. The share is expected to cross 40 percent in coming quarters.
The extreme heat is impacting hundreds of millions of people in one of the most densely populated parts of the world, threatening to damage whole ecosystems.
Working closely with health and disaster management agencies, the national meteorological and hydrological departments in both countries, plan to roll out heat health action plans, which have been successful in saving lives in the past few years, said the UN weather agency in a statement.
Cascading impacts
Extreme heat has multiple and cascading impacts not just on human health, but also on ecosystems, agriculture, water and energy supplies and key sectors of the economy.
WMO reiterated its commitment to “ensuring that multi-hazard early warning services reach the most vulnerable”.
Heat Health Action Plans
Both India and Pakistan have successful heat-health early warning systems and action plans already in place, including those specially tailored for urban areas.
They reduce heat mortality and lessen the social impacts of extreme heat, including lost work productivity.
Important lessons have been learned from the past and these are now being shared among all partners of the WMO co-sponsored Global Heat Health Information Network, to enhance capacity in the hard-hit region, WMO advanced.
Intense heat to continue
The India Meteorological Department said that maximum temperatures reached 43-46°C in widespread areas, on 28 April, and that this intense heat will continue until 2 May.
Similar temperatures have also been seen in Pakistan, with daytime temperatures likely to be between 5°C and 8°C above normal in large swathes of the country, said the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
They also warned that in the mountainous regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkwa, the unusual heat levels would accelerate snow and ice melt, with the possibility of triggering glacial lake floods – or flash floods in vulnerable areas.
Air quality has also deteriorated, and large swathes of land are at risk of fire outbreaks.
Consistent with ‘changing climate’
According to WMO, “it is premature to attribute the extreme heat in India and Pakistan solely to climate change”, however, the agency continues “it is consistent with what we expect in a changing climate”.
Furthermore, heatwaves are more frequent and more intense and starting earlier than in the past.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its recent Sixth Assessment Report, also said that heatwaves and humid heat stress would be more intense and frequent in South Asia this century.
The current heatwave was triggered by a high-pressure system and follows an extended period of above average temperatures.
India recorded its warmest March on record, with an average maximum temperature of 33.1 ºC, or 1.86 °C above the long-term average.
Pakistan also recorded its warmest March for at least the past 60 years, with a number of stations breaking March records.
In the pre-monsoon period, both India and Pakistan regularly experience excessively high temperatures, especially during May.
Action Plans
India has established a national framework for heat action plans through the National Disaster Management Authority which coordinates a network of state disaster response agencies and city leaders, to prepare for soaring temperatures and ensure that everyone is aware of heatwave protocols.
The city of Ahmedabad in India was the first South Asian city to develop and implement a city-wide heat health adaptation, in 2013, after experiencing a devastating heatwave in 2010. This successful approach has then been expanded to 23 heatwave-prone states and serves to protect more than 130 cities and districts.
UNDP/Hira Hashmey
In Sindh province, Pakistan, a mother tries to shield her four-year-old daughter from scorching heat.
Pakistan has also made strides towards protecting public health from heat. In the summer of 2015, a heatwave engulfed much of central and northwest India and eastern Pakistan and was directly or indirectly responsible for several thousand deaths.
The event acted as a wake-up call and led to the development and implementation of the Heat Action Plan in Karachi and other parts of Pakistan.
Typical plans make sure the targeted intervention is a right fit and designed for the heat vulnerable population of a city.
It first identifies the heat hotspots of the city, locates the vulnerable populations in these pockets, and assesses the nature and status of their vulnerability to extreme heat.
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