Tag: Pakistan

  • Control room established in Lahore to monitor smog

    Control room established in Lahore to monitor smog

    The Ministry of Climate Change has set up a smog control room in Lahore to regularly monitor smog that causes health problems to people in different areas of the province during the winters.

    The other objective of the Control Room was to have a constant check on smog Air Quality Index (AQI) in the province during coming days.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said the process to fight smog has begun.

    He said there would be a regular check on crop burning, transport and industrial emissions, brick kilns and cross-border emissions which are the main sources of smog production.

    Malik Amin said that farmers have been provided with much-needed technology to help them avoid burning of crop residue and instead convert the residue into organic fertilizer to enhance the fertility of their farmlands.

    He said technology is also being introduced across the country under the government’s project for Mechanized Management of Rice Crop Residue for which thirty billion rupees are being spent for payment of 50,000 units of rice straw shredder.

  • Maulana Tariq Jamil breaks silence on what he took to officiate ‘Pakistan’s most expensive wedding’

    Maulana Tariq Jamil breaks silence on what he took to officiate ‘Pakistan’s most expensive wedding’

    Renowned preacher Maulana Tariq Jamil has rubbished claims that he received a hefty amount to officiate what is being dubbed as “Pakistan’s most expensive wedding ceremony”.

    The Master Tiles-Jalal Sons wedding from earlier this month has been making headlines for its extravagant style and featuring several Pakistani celebrities in addition to a troupe of foreign gymnasts.

    “By the tawfīq of Allah, I have traveled around 6 continents to preach the message of Allah and I have been preaching the life of our Prophet ﷺ to the Ummah for a very long time. The hurdle in our advancement is our moral decline,” Jamil said in a Facebook post.

    “My message for those who accused me of taking money for performing Nikāh is that in the journey of preaching the message of Allah I have performed Nikāh of thousands of boys and girls for the sake of Allah,” he added.

    Jamil went on to say that Sheikh Mahmood of Master Tiles was an old friend of his. “How can I take money for performing Nikāh of his daughter on his invitation? May Allah protect us all from distrust and false accusations.”

    Earlier, it was reported that the preacher was paid Rs1 million rupees (Rs10 lacs) for his services.

    The claim had come as owner of Master Tiles landed on the Federal Board Revenue (FBR) radar for spending Rs2 billion on the wedding ceremony.

    A probe was conducted by the FBR into the “service providers involved in the lavish arrangements” to detect possible tax evasion. The document shared by the FBR said that Rosa Blanca Country Club, the venue of baraat located on Raiwind Road in Lahore, was paid Rs150 million for the premises.

    It, however, was just the tip of the iceberg.

  • Karachi wedding hall owners reject new COVID-19 SOPs

    Karachi wedding hall owners reject new COVID-19 SOPs

    Karachi’s wedding, banquet and lawn owners have rejected the new COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) rolled out by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) after a sharp surge in cases.

    The Karachi Marriage Hall, Lawn, Banquet Owners Association held a press conference at the press club on Saturday to denounce the government’s decision to ban indoor weddings.  

    The association said thousands of employees and other businesses linked with weddings will be affected due to more restrictions and bans. 

    The president of the association said that wedding hall owners and their thousands of employees had already faced severe financial problems when all the halls were closed between March 13 and September 15 during the lockdown period.

    The association members said that when halls reopened after September 15, they did not get business as most people prefer not to get married during Muharram and Safar, which took place after the halls were reopened. 

    The association said that there are around 800 wedding halls only in Karachi and that the living of 50,000 people and their families are linked to these halls. 

    “Around 70 to 80% of our employees work on daily wages,” he said, adding that the earning of such employees depended on daily wedding events.

    The association pointed out that there are roughly 13,000 wedding halls in the entire country, with which 650,000 labourers’ livelihoods are directly linked. Fifty percent of the city’s industries, the association highlighted, were directly and the rest of the 50% were indirectly linked to wedding halls. 

    “With the closure of the wedding halls due the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of labourers will be directly or indirectly affected,” said the association’s president. 

    The government had itself failed to limit the number of people attending its political gatherings and implement the SOPs, stated the association.

    “We want to bring this into your knowledge that wedding halls is the only industry which didn’t get any relief from the government since the lockdown of March 13,” said Raees. 

    He requested Prime Minister Imran Khan, the chief justice of Pakistan and army chief to look into the miseries of the wedding hall owners and their employees.

    “We demand SOPs be drafted for wedding ceremonies after taking us on board,” he said.

  • New wave of COVID-19 in Pakistan

    New wave of COVID-19 in Pakistan

    Pakistan is seeing another wave of COVID-19 in the country. On Saturday, the country saw over 2,000 cases reported for the second consecutive day, which means more than a 20 per cent increase in cases. These numbers are the highest since July. Seventeen people lost their lives to the coronavirus on Saturday as per the data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). Geo’s Arshad Waheed Chaudhry also lost his battle against COVID-19 on Saturday.

    After successfully controlling the pandemic, Pakistan’s new cases also point to the fact that people have become complacent in following the SOPs necessary till a vaccine comes out and is readily available across the country. From less than 6,000 active cases in September, we now have 24,938 active cases. While the NCOC has imposed a ban on indoor weddings in major cities with “high positivity and higher disease spread potential”, marriage hall owners are refusing to follow the government’s guidelines. They say that the new SOPs would not just lead to financial problems for the marriage hall owners but thousands of employees and businesses associated with the wedding industry would also suffer economic marginalisation.

    Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood tweeted yesterday: “We have convened an important meeting of provincial education ministers on Monday at 11 am to discuss the latest coronavirus situation in the country. As stated before health of students is our no one priority.” Most schools across the country have reopened. Punjab’s Education Minister Dr Murad Raas also tweeted that there is a meeting of all provincial education ministers tomorrow to discuss the prevailing condition of COVID-19. “In my opinion, we should focus on a Smart Lockdown rather than an across the board shutdown of Schools,” tweeted Raas. NCOC has decided to close cinemas, theatres and shrines.

    The government will now have to decide what measures to take next. The new wave is turning out to be quite dangerous. The opposition parties are taking out rallies across the country while the government, too, has held some jalsas recently. Not many were seen following the SOPs, i.e. wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, etc.

    Such large gatherings apart from social gatherings will lead to more increase in the number of corona cases. It is time that all political parties as well as the people of Pakistan show responsibility before this new wave turns into a nightmare. Some organisations in the country have started implementing work from home again. Others may have to follow in case there is an increase in cases.

    There have also been some instances of faulty test results in recent months. Some people who have tested positive have had their tests done the next day from a different laboratory only to find out they were negative. The government also needs to increase testing across the country. We hope that this time around, the people will follow proper SOPs so that the new wave can be curtailed as soon as possible.

  • Bakhtawar Bhutto to get engaged this month

    Bakhtawar Bhutto to get engaged this month

    Bakhawar Bhutto-Zardari, daughter of former president Asif Ali Zardari and late prime minister (PM) Benazir Bhutto, is getting engaged to the son of a United States (US) based businessman on November 27.

    According to reports, the engagement ceremony of Bakhtawar and Mahmood Choudhry, son of Younas Choudhary, will be held on November 27 at Bilawal House Karachi.

    The organisers have requested all guests to get tested for COVID-19 and send the results via e-mail.

    “All attendees are requested to please email a scanned copy of their negative COVID-19 PCR test result 24 hours prior to attendance. This is a mandatory requirement for security clearance,” the invitation reads.

    The guests have also been asked not to bring mobile phones with them due to security purposes.

    “Please note — no photography or mobile phones will be permitted inside the venue and photographs will be available for all guests through our official photographer.”

    “We thank you in advance for adhering to our safety protocols to keep you and your loved ones safe, and enable us all to enjoy the occasion,” it added.

    While Bakhtawar is getting engaged, her elder brother and incumbent Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, still seems to be looking for his ideal life partner.

    View his exclusive interview with The Current to find out more:

  • Meet this Pakistani caregiver of visually impaired, paralysed Indian friend

    Meet this Pakistani caregiver of visually impaired, paralysed Indian friend

    United Arab Emirates (UAE) based Pakistani Muhammad Asad has been playing the role of a caregiver to an Indian, namely Tomichan Puthuparambil Thomas, who is visually impaired and partially paralysed.

    According to Khaleej Times, Thomas has been in the UAE for the past eight years and the two have been roommates for almost four years now.

    After facing heavy losses in his small scale business and getting entangled in a civil case, Thomas, who is from Kerala, suffered two strokes that left him not only partially paralysed but visually impaired too.

    “I came to Dubai eight years ago, after working for thirty years in Saudi Arabia where I had some small businesses,” Thomas told the media outlet.

    “Initially, I took up a job in a company but since they were not paying salary on time, I started some business which also didn’t do well and since I was unable to pay the rent for my shop, I got entangled in some legal case and even went to jail for six months.”

    “This was the most stressful time for me and I suffered two strokes and was completely bed-ridden. I could not even go to the toilet on my own. And this is when Asad came to my rescue as my guardian angel,” he added.

    In the beginning, Thomas would not share his pain or problems with Asad but the latter started helping him with his bathroom trips besides offering him food.

    Asad addresses Thomas as “uncle”.

    “While others in the room would be busy chatting on phone or cracking jokes, I would notice uncle sitting silently on his bunk bed and crying at times. I tried asking him his issues but he wouldn’t open up so I started helping him with his daily chores,” Asad said.

    “Also, uncle somehow reminds me of my father, who passed away a few years back, and my heart ached to see him suffer. It is basic humanity to help people around you and my parents always taught me to help anyone and everyone.”

    Asad works as a crane operator and has night shifts. But he takes care of all the arrangements to make sure that Thomas is comfortable even in his absence.

  • PM claims to have intelligence on Nawaz’s ‘treason’

    PM claims to have intelligence on Nawaz’s ‘treason’

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed to have intelligence on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, alleging that former ambassador to the United States (US) Hussain Haqqani was “running Nawaz’s communication strategy”.

    Speaking to a private media outlet on Thursday, the premier was referring to the former PM’s recent speeches in public meetings of his party and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) during which he had accused the army establishment of orchestrating his ouster.

    Nawaz had gone on to name the Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chiefs and said that there was “a state above the state”.

    Reacting to his political rival’s statements, Imran on Thursday accused Nawaz of trying to create rifts within the armed forces by encouraging army personnel to “rebel against” the military leadership.

    “When they say that the [military leadership] is bad and the rest of the army is good; is army a democratic party that would move a no-confidence motion? You [Nawaz] are telling the army to launch a coup, to rebel [against the leadership]. Can there be a bigger [form of] treason?”

    When asked if the government would take up a treason case against Nawaz, the premier did not give a clear answer and said, “Treason cases are hard to prove.”

    He said that he had information on Nawaz’s activities but added that “court cases cannot be filed on agencies’ reports”.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “A person who is sitting outside in a Mayfair luxury flat bought with stolen money is telling the army [personnel] to rebel. He is also trying to drive a wedge in the judiciary by taking the name of one judge saying he is good while another, who was a chief justice and gave the Panama judgement against him, was a bad judge.”

    “Imran Khan is a Bollywood villain but Nawaz is a democrat. The person who grew up in Ziaul Haq’s lap is a democrat today, while Imran Khan who started his party from scratch, who mobilised people to come to power is an army puppet!”

    “Nawaz Sharif suits India, not Imran Khan.”

  • Younger adults more vulnerable to COVID-19

    The second wave of COVID-19 has arrived in Pakistan with full force taking the total number of infections to 352,296 .

    As per details, 108,822 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Punjab so far. In a related development, the Punjab government has compiled a study, which shows the people belonging to the 31-45 age group are more vulnerable to the infection, followed by the 16-30 age group, contradicting earlier reports that the younger generations are less vulnerable to the virus.

    One of the reasons given for younger generations to get infected more is due to their outdoor activities/movement. A senior official of the health department says most of the people of these age groups attend educational institutions, do jobs or run businesses and many of them interact with people at their workplaces or educational institutions without preventive measures.

    Being asymptomatic patients, they transmit virus to their elderly family members or multiply the positive cases by interacting with other people. The members of these two age groups need extraordinary care by wearing masks and reducing their outdoor activities, stated the official.

    As per reports, statistics show that out of the total confirmed cases in Punjab, 32,060 people of 31-45 age group and 29,849 of other age groups have tested positive for the virus so far.

    The data further shows the health professionals attending COVID-19 patients in health facilities are also most vulnerable to the coronavirus due to their exposure to it.

  • Rs15 crores for venue, Rs1 crore for singers, Rs20 lacs on makeup: Details of ‘elite wedding’ expenditure

    The owner of Master Tiles is on the Federal Board Revenue (FBR) radar for spending Rs2 billion on the wedding ceremony of his son.

    The wedding ceremony that had attracted media attention for its extravagant style also featured several Pakistani celebrities in addition to a troupe of foreign gymnasts.

    Subsequently, a probe was conducted by the FBR into the “service providers involved in the lavish arrangements” to detect possible tax evasion. The document shared by the FBR said that Rosa Blanca Country Club, the venue of baraat located on Raiwind Road in Lahore, was paid Rs150 million for the premises.

    The FBR inquiry said that the private company doesn’t have an NTN (national tax number) at all, adding that there’s a strong reason to suspect that the entity was not paying taxes at all.

    The wedding organisers supposedly paid Rs5.5m to singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, while singers Atif Aslam was paid Rs5m for gracing the mehndi night. Cleric Moulana Tariq Jameel was reportedly paid Rs1m for solemnising the marriage ceremony.

    K-5 Concepts — event manager that managed baraat decor– was paid Rs15-20m as per FBR. It was also accused of tax evasion along with Rosa Blanca. Qasim Yar Tiwana, the event manager, was paid Rs15-20m for the decor of the baraat. According to FBR, Tiwana declared Rs216,743 as income from business in the tax year 2019.

    Whimsica I Parties and United Events and Services were paid Rs10m each for decor, whereas Ahsan Habib also received Rs10m in payments for walima decorations.

    Photographers and videographers also provided their services for hefty amounts. Irfan Ahsan was paid approx Rs3m, Mobeen Studios charged Rs2m, Osman Pervaiz received Rs3-3.5m, while Ahmad Fayyaz charged Rs1m for photography at mehndi and baraat.

    Shazray Khalid and Winc by Nadia charged Rs1m each for makeup services.

    CHECK OUT THE FULL REPORT HERE:

    November 13, 2020
  • PM approves funds for purchase of COVID-19 vaccine

    PM approves funds for purchase of COVID-19 vaccine

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has approved funding for the advance purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a statement released by the Ministry of National Health Services Regulation on Thursday.

    The Health Ministry said that the prime minister has shown special interest in ensuring quality vaccines at the earliest and has approved funding in this regard. The ministry said the government has developed a COVID-19 vaccine strategy in response to global best practices.

    According to the statement, under this strategy, the government has prioritised the groups most likely to be the initial recipients of a potential vaccine. It said an expert committee on the COVID-19 vaccine has been working on technical oversight and review of safety and efficacy data coming in from trials.

    Earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan confirmed that the PM has approved funds to purchase the possible vaccines of COVID-19 in advance. The funds were approved after the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination had written a letter to PM Imran Khan for advance booking of coronavirus vaccines.

    Earlier on November 4, it was learnt that the health ministry has recommended purchases of potential coronavirus vaccines under last-stage trials and allocation of $100 million funds for its advance booking.

    The ministry recommended allocation of $100 million in funds for the purchases of vaccines on an emergency basis for around 10 million nationals. In its first phase, the vaccines will be made available for elderly citizens and health workers.