Category: National

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  • Five million births in nine months in Pakistan since pandemic started

    Five million births in nine months in Pakistan since pandemic started

    Ahead of Mother’s Day, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for the world’s governments to maintain life-saving services for pregnant women and newborns that are under increasing threat from strained health services and supply chains as a result of coronavirus’ outbreak.

    The UN agency estimates that 116 million babies have been born since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Pakistan grouped among the countries that have the highest numbers of forecast births.

    It said that new mothers and their babies are facing systems in crisis, including overwhelmed health centres; supply and equipment shortages; and a lack of skilled birth attendants, including midwives.

    “Millions of mothers all over the world embarked on a journey of parenthood in the world as it was,” Henrietta H. Fore, UNICEF executive director, said in a statement.

    “They now must prepare to bring a life into the world, as it has become – a world where expecting mothers are afraid to go to health centres for fear of getting infected, or missing out on emergency care due to strained health services and lockdowns”.

    Mother’s Day, which will be celebrated on Sunday, is recognised by more than 128 countries.

    In her remarks, the UNICEF Chief warned: “This is a particularly poignant Mother’s Day, as many families have been forced apart during the coronavirus pandemic…It is hard to imagine how much the pandemic has recast motherhood”.

    In the nine months span dating from when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the countries with the highest numbers of forecast births are expected to be India (20.1 million), China (13.5 million), Nigeria (6.4 million), Pakistan (5 million) and Indonesia (4 million). Most of these nations had high neonatal mortality rates even before the global health crisis.

    And wealthier countries are also being seriously impacted, as trust and supplies run low. The sixth highest country for expected births, the United States, is projected to see in excess of 3.3 million babies born between 11 March and 16 December.

    In New York City, authorities are looking into alternative birthing centres as many women are worried about delivering their babies in hospitals, due to the risk of infection.

    UNICEF warns that although evidence suggests that pregnant mothers are not at greater risk of serious illness due to COVID-19 than other groups, countries still need to ensure they have access to antenatal, delivery and postnatal services.

    Likewise, sick newborns need emergency services and new mothers require breastfeeding support, as well as medicines, vaccines and nutrition to keep their babies healthy.

    While it is not yet known whether the coronavirus can be transmitted from a mother to her unborn baby, UNICEF recommends that all pregnant women protect themselves from the virus, closely monitor themselves for COVID-19 indications and seek medical advice if they have concerns or experience symptoms.

    They are advised to also practice physical distancing, use online health services and seek early medical care if they live in at-risk areas and have fever, cough or difficulty breathing.

    And they should speak to their midwife or doctor about the safest place to give birth along with making a birth plan to reduce anxiety.

    Mothers with COVID-19 should wear a mask when feeding their baby, wash hands before and after touching the child, routinely clean and disinfect surfaces and continue to hold their newborn.

    Henrietta H. Fore said, ” We are living in time for unity, a time to bring everyone together in solidarity”.

    “We can help save lives by making sure that every pregnant mother receives the support she needs to give birth safely in the months to come”, the UNICEF chief added.

  • ‘U-Turn’: Ahmadis excluded from National Commission for Minorities

    ‘U-Turn’: Ahmadis excluded from National Commission for Minorities

    In what netizens are calling “another U-Turn by the ruling party”, the federal government has reportedly withdrawn its decision of including Ahmadis to the National Commission for Minorities.

    According to reports, following recommendations from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the government on Tuesday withdrew its earlier decision to give representation to the Ahmadi community in the minorities commission.

    They said that the decision was reconsidered after the move sparked fierce criticism from the religious right on mainstream and social media.

    Meanwhile, the federal cabinet has approved the reconstitution of the commission.

    A Hindu community member from Sindh, Chela Ram Kewlani has been named as chairman of the commission while Maulana Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad and Mufti Gulzar Ahmed Naeemi will represent the Muslim community.

    Three members each have been selected from the Hindu and Christian communities, while two members have been named from the Sikh community and one member each will represent Kelash and Parsi communities in the commission. The chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) will be the commission’s ex-officio member while the religious affairs secretary will also act as the commission’s secretary.

    The federal cabinet on April 15 had decided in principle that the Ahmadi community, being a minority in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan, should also be represented in the commission.

    The Ahmadi community of Pakistan was to be included in the commission for the first time since 1974, when they were declared non-Muslim by the then Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government.

  • PM Imran approves special CSS exam to fill 188 vacancies

    PM Imran approves special CSS exam to fill 188 vacancies

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has approved the special Central Superior Service (CSS) exam to fill 188 vacancies.

    “Balochistan 49, Rural Sind 41, Urban Sind 19, KP 22, ex Fata/GB 16 & AJK 2. We truly believe in giving equal opportunities to all federating units [sic],” tweeted Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Establishment Shehzad Arbab.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, Arbab said the exam is likely to be conducted by year-end.

    Annual CSS examinations are held to recruit candidates to the permanent elite bureaucratic authority, and the civil service that is responsible for running the civilian bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of Pakistan. The premier is the final authority on all matters regarding the civil service.

  • The Current wins Google’s innovation challenge, becomes only organisation from Pakistan to secure funding

    The Current wins Google’s innovation challenge, becomes only organisation from Pakistan to secure funding

    Pakistan’s fastest-growing digital media start-up, The Current, has won the Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge, becoming the only media organisation in the country to have secured the coveted spot and that too within just a year of its launch.

    Under the challenge, Google received applications from over 255 news organisations and technology companies from across the Asia Pacific, including media giants like Japan’s Nippon Television Network, out of which 18 were selected to receive $2.3 million in funding.

    The first round of the challenge focused on diversifying revenue and saw dozens of examples of creative new approaches. The applicants were asked for proposals to increase reader engagement, which ultimately leads to greater loyalty and willingness to pay for content.

    The 255 strong submissions revolved around topics like user-generated content, community management, fact-checking and the use of technologies such as machine learning to tackle business challenges.

    As part of the project, The Current will develop a membership model that will be the first of its kind in Pakistan — with three levels of membership provided for its most avid followers. The plan is to provide content and training that members want, and also test a viable alternate stream of revenue for digital news startups.

    The challenge had been won by Jang Media Group in Pakistan last year. As part of the project, the media organisation developed state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) platforms for digitising its historical news archives. The project was similar in scale and ambition to the New York Times collaboration with Google in transforming its archives.

    Here’s what you should know about the selected projects from 2020 and the previous years.

  • Resting the food panic amid COVID-19

    Resting the food panic amid COVID-19

    The global coronavirus pandemic has resulted in either a partial or full closure of most industries, wreaking havoc on the country’s economy. Though food scarcity is not a problem yet, during Ramzan, the closures can spell misery for people despite the government’s assurance of consistent supply. In order to simmer down the current food panic and hoarding of goods, it is to be ensured that the production and availability of essential goods are not halted by the arrival of COVID-19 in Pakistan.

    There are two sources of concern in this situation.

    First, despite growth in livestock, which contributes to almost 2/3 of the agricultural output in Pakistan and accelerated slightly to 4.0% in fiscal year (FY) 2019; agricultural production as a whole expanded by only 0.8%. Second, with COVID-19 escalating, Pakistan has recently suspended its trade and closed its borders, leaving many distressed and worrying about the shortage of essential Iftar items.

    In order to address the first concern, it is imperative to note that an overall decline in all sectors was already being witnessed before COVID-19. The slowdown in the agriculture industry was exacerbated by weaker demand and higher costs until the disease arrived. As for the shortage of essentials food items, Punjab alone is a mass producer of many food essentials that will be easily available during Ramzan. An analysis by the Urban Unit states the availability of most essential items from April to June 2020:

    • Tomatoes: Punjab’s production was recorded 1,38,397 tons during 2018-19
    • Potatoes: Punjab has 96.94% share in the total domestic production of potato and the total arrival in local wholesale markets was recorded at 510 to 515 trucks/day on an average
    • Garlic: Domestic production was recorded at 72,598 tons in 2018/2019.
    • Chilies: Production of chilies in Punjab is 11,698 tons
    • Onions: 20% in total domestic production
    • In addition to these, all forms of meat and dairy will be available as 3.7 million litres of milk are supplied per day and the daily supply of beef and mutton is 518,861 tonnes and 130,000 tonnes per day, respectively.

    Under essential items, rice is the only commodity that is expected to suffer a blow by the pandemic, but it is harvested in September. All vegetables and fruits such as capsicum, cabbage, cauliflower, bittergourd, cucumber, turnip, guava, melons and strawberries will be available in an abundant amount.

    While no serious panic has been witnessed in consumer behavior in Pakistan unlike in Europe or the United States (US), the government must exercise extreme vigilance on supply-demand trends during Ramzan. There should be no hoarding, and a robust price control mechanism must be put in place at the grass-root level by respective provincial and district administrations.

    For example, the Food Department of the Punjab government has taken effective and strict measures and warned of a crackdown on unnecessary stock holdings.

    So far, collective efforts by the Food Department along with the Deputy Commissioner’s Office and the Industries Department have led to the collection of fines worth Rs2,883.71 million from accumulators of food items, out of which Rs882.03 million was collected within just 40 days i.e. from March 1 to April 9.

    In an attempt to reduce the current wheat prices, the department is further identifying and disqualifying ghost mills from the official quota and borders are also being sealed, barring wheat transportation outside the province and ensuring food security.

  • PM Imran’s Ehsaas Telethon collects Rs550 million

    PM Imran’s Ehsaas Telethon collects Rs550 million

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday raised Rs550 million through his Ehsaas Telethon bid for coronavirus affectees, a private media outlet reported.

    The telethon was held at Prime Minister House with journalists Mohammad Malick, Mansoor Ali Khan, Hamid Mir, Nadeem Malik, and Kashif Abbasi in attendance. Shiffa Yousafzai and Muniba Mazari were the hosts of the transmission.

    PM Imran urged people to adopt safety precautions against the coronavirus. “The virus spreads at a very fast rate,” he said. “There have been viruses and people have been infected with the flu before. But this is unprecedented,” he added. 

    Former cricketing greats, including Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis also called in the telethon to express their views and wished best of luck to the country and prime minister.

    Speaking about COVID-19, PM Imran said that “No single government can battle the pandemic. The entire nation needs to join hands to fight this virus, keeping in mind the times that are ahead.”

    Speaking on the occasion, PM Imran said, “I always tell this to my children and to others as well; whenever you spend in the way of Allah, it brings you a lot of other rewards, such as the feeling of contentment. He further added “one’s bank balance should not be the measure of his wealth. True wealth is what you feel inside.”

    Speaking about the lockdown, PM Imran said that the country will have to move towards a “smart lockdown.” The prime minister made it clear that an indefinite lockdown was not an option and any decision on a smart lockdown should be for all Pakistanis and not just the elite.

    On the conference of doctors from yesterday, he said that their concern for complete lockdown is valid but it is not sustainable in the long-term.

    The transmission was concluded with the special prayer by Maulana Taiq Jameel, who also advised the people to recite supplications like Ayat Kareema to seek Allah Almighty’s forgiveness and blessings in the distressing situation. 

  • Fact Check: Authorities break silence on claims regarding top judge ‘contracting coronavirus’

    Fact Check: Authorities break silence on claims regarding top judge ‘contracting coronavirus’

    Claim: Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed has contracted COVID-19

    Fact: CJP Gulzar Ahmed has not tested positive for COVID-19

    Authorities have rubbished claims regarding Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed contracting coronavirus, which had surfaced after an employee reportedly from the top judge’s chamber at the Supreme Court (SC) tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.

    According to Dawn, the apex court, in a statement, has said that the CJP, his family and his secretary have all tested negative for the coronavirus.

    The statement added that the top judge’s tests were conducted after an employee of the court developed symptoms of Covid-19, following which he was put under quarantine as a suspected coronavirus patient.

    The employee, a Naib Qasid at the apex court, had first tested negative for the virus, but the result was “doubtful” and another test was conducted which turned out to be positive, the statement read.

    The employee has now been isolated at a polyclinic in Islamabad.

    Earlier in the day, reports circulated on local media that an employee in the CJP’s chamber had tested positive. However, the statement did not clarify whether the coronavirus-positive employee worked in the chief justice’s chamber but merely referred to him as an “employee of the Supreme Court”.

    The reports had led to claims that the top judge had also tested positive for COVID-19.

    VERDICT: FALSE

  • Another army training aircraft crash claims two lives

    Another army training aircraft crash claims two lives

    A Pakistan Army aircraft on Monday crashed near Gujrat during a routine training mission, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported.

    According to the military’s media wing, an instructor pilot, Major Umer, and his student Lieutenant Faizan were martyred in the crash.

    “Major Umer, a resident of Gujrat, and Lieutenant Fiazan, a resident of Kalar Kahar, Chakwal, embraced shahadat,” the ISPR statement said.

    Major Umer is survived by a wife, the statement added.

    The ill-fated aircraft was a PAC MFI-17 Mushaq — a license-built fixed-gear basic trainer aircraft used by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force (PAF). An improved version of the Saab Safari, the MFI-17 is manufactured in Kamra by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.

    Earlier this year, a PAF F-16 aircraft had crashed near Shakarparian in Islamabad during rehearsals for the Pakistan Day Parade. Wing Commander Nauman Akram was martyred in the crash.

    Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had paid tribute to the martyr and said, “Laying one’s life is the ultimate sacrifice one can make for defence of the motherland. May his soul rest in peace. My thoughts and sincere prayers for the bereaved family.”

    In April, a PAF aircraft crashed while on a routine operational training mission near Mianwali.

    Both pilots, Squadron Leader Haris bin Khalid and Flying Officer Ibaadur Rehman, aboard the PAF FT-7 aircraft had lost their lives in the crash.

    A board of inquiry had been ordered by the Air Headquarters to determine the cause of the accident that had followed the last trainer plane crash in October 2019 when a Mushaq trainer aircraft belonging to the Army Aviation crash-landed in a paddy field near Wazirabad in Gujranwala district. Both pilots aboard the plane had remained safe.

  • ‘Shoot them dead’: President Duterte warns against violating coronavirus lockdown

    ‘Shoot them dead’: President Duterte warns against violating coronavirus lockdown

    Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has warned he would order the country’s police and military to shoot dead anyone “who creates trouble” during a month-long lockdown of the island of Luzon enforced to halt the spread of the coronavirus, France 24 reported.

    “Let this be a warning to all. Follow the government at this time because it is critical that we have order,” he said in a late-night televised national address on Wednesday.

    “And do not harm the health workers, the doctors … because that is a serious crime. My orders to the police and the military, if anyone creates trouble, and their lives are in danger: shoot them dead.”

    “Do not intimidate the government. Do not challenge the government. You will lose,” he added in Filipino and English.

    Duterte’s warning came after residents of a slum in Manila’s Quezon City staged a protest along a highway near their shanty houses, claiming they had not received any food packs and other relief supplies since the lockdown began more than two weeks ago.

    Village security officers and police urged the residents to go back to their homes, but they refused, a police report said.

    Police broke up the protest and arrested 20 people, the report added.

    Health authorities in the Philippines have recorded 2,311 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus as of Wednesday. At least 96 people have died.

  • Coronavirus recession? The Citizens Archive of Pakistan fires 13 citing ‘financial constraints’

    Coronavirus recession? The Citizens Archive of Pakistan fires 13 citing ‘financial constraints’

    As the country observes a lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP), a non-governmental organisation, has fired 13 employees without prior notice, citing financial constraints.

    In a series of tweets, Raza Gillani, a former employee lashed out at the organisation for what he termed as a move to profit from a pandemic.

    He said that that the organisation had fired him along with 13 other employees without a prior notice until the coronavirus situation subsides. He added that while the government funds one project of the organisation, the employees were still working on the other project remotely. “Where is that money going?” he asked.

    In a veiled reference to two-time Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy who runs the organisation, he said that she makes films depicting the most vulnerable segments of the society but her own organisation was abandoning its most vulnerable employees who have families to sustain in this time of crisis.

    “If downsizing had become so important, why were the directors and those who actually take a hefty salary not fired? Why is it always the most vulnerable employees who are considered a liability at the time of a crisis, if saving money is so important to sustain the organisation?” he asked.

    Later, Raza also posted updates on Twitter stating that the human resource department had assured them that they would be given their notice periods and an additional one-month salary as well. He added that while CAP runs the National History Museum, it was also true that the Punjab government has not paid the salaries of the museum employees for the past six months.

    Following his tweets, CAP, in a statement, said that the organisation relies on the support and funding of donors both private and public to support its core projects.

    They mentioned that they have been struggling for the last several months as they have not received six months of payments. Also, their existing grants have been put on hold as well.

    “Now that the museum is closed for an indefinite period of time due to the government lockdown for COVID-19 pandemic, as a small non-government organisation we are finding it difficult to sustain a large workforce and have had to make some difficult decisions to let some members of our organisation go whilst also having to revisit current employees’ remuneration,” the statement added.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-WpS58ndzn/

    CAP also stated that the terminated employees “will receive their salaries for the month of March 2020 along with an additional month of pay for April 2020 to be paid after their four-week notice in accordance with their contracts”.

    The organisation also claimed that should they be back on their feet after the pandemic is over, “employees who have been terminated will be the first we contact in regards to a return to their position”.