Tag: Pakistan

  • India struggles to breathe

    India struggles to breathe

    A video has been making rounds on social media, where a person can be seen begging and crying for an oxygen cylinder. Like him, millions of Indians are struggling to find oxygen for their loved ones amid a devastating second wave of coronavirus.

    According to report, the second-largest populated country in the world has had 3,498 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

    The BBC has documented the breaking points of Indian hospitals and crematorium, which has left hospitals in India overwhelmed. Donations have been pouring in to India from all over the world and in different cities, the Indian Army is setting up temporary hospitals and making its medical staff available to fight the deadly Covid 19.

    While talking to CNN, Narendra Taneja, a spokesman for the ruling Indian Party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that, “We are in power, we are the government in India so of course responsibility is first and foremost ours, good or bad, whatever it is. It is our responsibility and we’re trying our very level best.” The BJP came under fire when despite the several warnings, large mass rallies held between March and April ahead of state elections.

    Earlier this week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked US President Joe Biden and President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, for their help and support.

    From Pakistan, in a letter to Indian PM Modi, Managing Trustee of Edhi Foundation Faisal Edhi offered to arrange all the necessary supplies. He stated,” As a neighboring friend, we sympathize with you greatly and during this strenuous time, we would like to extends our help in the form of a fleet of 50 ambulances along with our services to assist you in addressing, and further circumventing the health conditions.”

    The Indian government has advised all its citizens to get vaccinated as soon as possible. According to experts, a double mutant variant is adding fuel to India’s crisis as there are 243 cases every minute.

  • Vaccination registration for ages 40-49 to start from April 27

    Vaccination registration for ages 40-49 to start from April 27

    Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has announced that Pakistan will commence COVID-19 vaccination registrations for ages 40-49 from April 27.

    The minister also said that the National Command and Operations Centre has decided to start walk-in vaccinations for all registered citizens aged 50 and above.

    “In today’s NCOC meeting decided to open up registration of 40 plus age citizens starting tomorrow. Also, decision taken to allow walk-in vaccination of all registered citizens of 50 plus age group,” said Umar, urging all eligible persons to register for the vaccine.

    Pakistan is currently vaccinating citizens who are 50 plus and healthcare workers with Chinese vaccines including Sinopharm. According to the NCOC, over 1.8 million people have been vaccinated in the country so far.

    Meanwhile, more than one billion doses have been administered worldwide, according to a tally by AFP. More than half, or 58 percent, have been given in three countries: the United States with 225.6 million doses, China with 216.1 million doses and India with 138.4 million.

    In terms of the proportion of the population who have been vaccinated, Israel is in the lead, with nearly six out of every 10 Israelis fully inoculated. That is followed by the United Arab Emirates with more than 51 percent of the population has received at least one jab, Britain with 49 percent, the US with 42 percent, Chile with 41 percent, Bahrain with 38 percent and Uruguay with 32 percent.

    WATCH – Canadian man celebrates COVID-19 vaccination with bhangra

    Pakistan is currently battling against the third wave of COVID-19 with a total of 800,452 cases. The country has reported 4,825 cases and 70 deaths in the last 24 hours.

  • Karachi woman buys 208 burgers using 26 bank cards

    Karachi woman buys 208 burgers using 26 bank cards

    A woman in Karachi availed a Ramzan offer and bought 208 burgers using 26 bank cards from a well-known international food chain.

    As per details, the  international food chain had introduced a special Ramzan offer for Karachi customers having a certain bank’s card. The deal offered four burgers for Rs550, and the deal can be availed twice within 24 hours for each debit/credit card.

    When the woman got to know about the offer, she rushed to the franchise’s outlet located on Khayaban-e-Shahbaz with 26 bank cards.

    Read more – Delivery boy robbed of burgers in Gujranwala

    Talking to the media, the food chain manager said: “We had no choice but to entertain the lady’s request because the company had introduced the deal.”

    “What’s more interesting, is that she either remembered the PIN codes of all the cards or must have had them saved on her phone because not one code was wrong,” he added.

    The manager said that the lady was handed a bill of Rs28,600 and walked away with a whopping 208 burgers.

  • The deadly COVID-19 third wave

    The deadly COVID-19 third wave

    On Sunday, 5,611 people tested positive for COVID-19. The third wave of coronavirus seems to be spreading quite fast. On Saturday, 157 people died due to coronavirus in Pakistan. This was the highest number ever recorded since the pandemic broke out in the country. Last year the highest number of deaths was 153 in June. 
    On the other hand, people are not following basic SOPs like wearing masks or sanitising hands or maintaining social distancing. The interior ministry has notified army deployment for the implementation of COVID-19 SOPs. Hopefully, people will now follow SOPs. 

    In the wake of the third coronavirus wave, the government has started walk-in vaccination for those between the age of 60 to 64. But the problem is that the vaccination process in Pakistan is quite slow. According to a report in Dawn, if Pakistan continues its vaccination drive at this rate, “it will take more than three years to cover 20 per cent of the country’s population”. Even the private vaccines are not much in numbers. Unless and until we accelerate our vaccination drive, it will be very difficult to deal with this pandemic.
    We have seen how horrible the situation is in neighbouring India. Prime Minister Imran Khan and several cabinet ministers as well as many Pakistanis expressed their solidarity with India. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted: “As a gesture of solidarity with the people of India in the wake of the current wave of COVID-19, Pakistan has officially offered relief and support to India, including ventilators, Bi PAP, digital X-ray machines, PPEs and other related items.” Qureshi added that Pakistan believes in a policy of humanity first. 
    We should not take the situation in India lightly. No hospital beds and acute oxygen shortage in India is scary. Unfortunately, the hospital capacity in Pakistan as well as oxygen supply is  also reaching its capacity. Some hospitals in cities like Islamabad are full. ICU beds were more than 90 per cent full a few days ago in Lahore. Oxygen supply ended in two hospitals in Quetta. This is all frightening but real. 
    We need to be more careful and follow SOPs strictly while the government needs to focus more on the vaccination process.

  • Canada bans flights from Pakistan, India for 30 days

    Canada bans flights from Pakistan, India for 30 days

    Due to an increasing number of COVID-19 cases, Canadian authorities have banned all passenger flights from Pakistan and India for 30 days.

    Canadian transportation Minister Omar Alghabra announced that “given the higher number of cases of Covid-19 detected in air passengers arriving in Canada from India and Pakistan, I am suspending all commercial and private passenger flights arriving in Canada from India and Pakistan for 30 days.”

    “This is a temporary measure, while we assess the evolving situation and determine appropriate measures going forward,” he added.

    The ban will not be imposed on the cargo flights to ensure the supply of vaccinations, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other essential goods in the time of crises.

    Almost 20 per cent of the travellers coming to Canada are Indians with half of them testing positive, said the report.

    The transportation minister further added that epidemiologists and researchers are trying to make sense of the new variants. Meanwhile, halting travel activities is imperative to curb the trajectory of the cases.

    According to data available with the Canadian health authorities, almost 18 flights from Dehli and two from Lahore that arrived in Toronto and Vancouver in the past month have had at least one passenger on board who tested positive for COVID-19.

    Besides, Canada last December briefly suspended flights from Britain over concerns about outbreaks of a Covid variant.

    Moreover, on Thursday, parliament voted unanimously to urge the government to ban non-essential flights from Covid hotspots where variants have surged, including India and Brazil.

    Several dozen cases of Indian variant have already been identified in Canada, say health authorities in Canada.

    Some countries have taken similar steps to prevent worsening the outbreaks due to this variant: the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that they will suspend all flights from India.

    All travellers to Canada are already subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine. They must also present a negative COVID test before boarding an international flight, and another upon arrival in Canada.

  • Sindh appoints first-ever Hindu female Deputy Superintendent

    Sindh appoints first-ever Hindu female Deputy Superintendent

    A Hindu woman hailing from Jacobabad District, Sindh has become the country’s first Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) after clearing the Sindh Public Service Commission exam.

    Manisha Rupita, while talking to the media about her feat, said: “After the death of my father in 2007, we faced hardships but my mother refused to compromise on our education.”

    Manisha credited her success to the support of her family especially her mother who did not let her give up on her dream. The 26-year old funded her education by giving private tuitions.

    Read more – 1,300-year-old Hindu temple discovered in KP

    Manisha believes her success will encourage the girls of rural Sindh to break cultural barriers.

    “I don’t look upon myself as a representative of Hindu women alone, rather I think I represent the rural women of Sindh,” said Manisha. “Conventionally and culturally, rural women whether Muslim or the Hindu are expected to stay at home and refrain from going out to realise their dreams.”

    “My message to them is to break these barriers and try their luck in the world that is full of promise.”

  • WHO praises Pakistan’s COVID-19 vaccination arrangements

    WHO praises Pakistan’s COVID-19 vaccination arrangements

    World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Pakistan Dr Palitha Mahipala on Wednesday praised Pakistan’s efforts for coronavirus vaccination.

    “I appreciate efforts of the Government of Pakistan for rolling out COVID-19 vaccination including vaccination of foreigners in the National Vaccine Deployment Plan and making excellent arrangements at the vaccination centres across Pakistan, with COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place.”

    Pakistan started the COVID-19 vaccination drive of people in the age group 50-59 today (April 21). Registrations for those 50 and above commenced on March 30. Those who haven’t registered can send their CNIC number to 1166 to register or can register online.

    Read more – Here’s where you can find COVID-19 vaccine in Karachi, Lahore

    Pakistan is likely to receive two million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from China by April 24.

    As per reports, the country will receive the vaccination batch on April 21 (today) and out of those two million doses, 1.5 million would be purchased from China while 500,000 doses would be gifted to Pakistan from the neighbouring country.

  • Students develop app for guided tours of Lahore’s Walled City

    Students develop app for guided tours of Lahore’s Walled City

    Students of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) have developed a mobile application ‘Lahori Khoji’ that offers guided tours of the Walled City of Lahore.

    LUMS professor and historian Dr Ali Usman Qasmi, while sharing details of the app on social media, said that “students designed the app and researched its content as part of a course offered at LUMS.”

    The app, which is available to download from Play Store, was launched as part of World Heritage Day (April 18) celebrations.

    VIDEO: Secrets of Lahore | Gali Surjan Singh

    Dr Qasmi said that students did thorough research to design and develop the mobile application.

    “The students not only read the classical texts but also made several trips to the Walled City,” said Professor Qasmi.

    Also Read: Punjab archaeology department to restore 400-year-old fort in Sheikhupura

    Lahore-based historian Faizan Abbas Naqvi also helped the students in designing the app.

    The group of students is open to suggestions to improve the application as “app is a product of research carried out by undergraduate students who are not professional historians.”

  • Meesha Shafi, Samina Peerzada mourn Gunga Saain’s demise

    Gunga Saain, a specially-abled dhol player, passed away in Lahore, after suffering from a heart attack, Hum News has reported.

    Saain was famous across the country for his spiritual dance on the beats of dhol. The famed musician used to dance and perform while playing the dhol himself. He used to perform on Thursdays on the shrine of Baba Shah Jamal in Icchra. He had also performed in various national and international festivals.

    IN PICTURES: Queen Elizabeth bids goodbye to Prince Philip

    Saain’s death left many fans heartbroken.

    https://twitter.com/KuchBhiNahin/status/1383986862834929664

  • PM Imran to address the nation today at 4:30pm

    PM Imran to address the nation today at 4:30pm

    Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the nation at 4:30 pm today. During his speech, PM Imran will take the nation into confidence over the security situation in the country due to violent protests by the recently banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

    Eleven policemen and five other security officials who were taken hostage on Sunday were released by TLP Monday morning after a successful round of talks with the Punjab government.

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said that the PM will deliver a historic speech today.

    Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony for the Margalla Highway in Islamabad, PM Imran said that it was unfortunate how political and religious parties in the country misuse Islam and damage their own country. PM said that he was saddened that many times our love [for the Holy Prophet (PBUH)] is misused. He said we all love our Prophet (PBUH).

    “I haven’t seen as much affection and respect for the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in any country other than Pakistan,” remarked the premier.

    Religious parties and traders have called for a countrywide strike today in support of the banned TLP.