Tag: Punjab

  • Punjab govt gives 25-acre army land to 47 civilian officials

    Punjab govt gives 25-acre army land to 47 civilian officials

    An approval has been given for the allotment of up to 25 acres of state land, which was meant for the families of the martyred soldiers and war veterans under the Army Welfare Scheme (AWS), to 47 civilian government officials instead.

    According to Dawn, the Punjab government has made the allotments without legal sanction on the orders of former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf in contravention of merit and law. The report also quoted two officials at the Chief Minister’s (CM) Secretariat also confirming this on the condition of anonymity.

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had cancelled the allotment, which had been ordered by the former dictator during January 2004 and May 2008 in alleged violation of the Colonisation of Government Land (Punjab) Act 1912 and the allotment policy framed in 1962 under it for the AWS.

    After the cancellation order, the PML-N government had also rejected multiple summaries put up to former CM Shehbaz Sharif for ratification. The land branch of General Headquarters (GHQ) had first approached the Punjab government in April 2009 to not revoke the allotments. The military was of the opinion that the “allotments made to the civil officials may be treated as closed chapter” and offered to work out allotment modalities for the future in consultation with the provincial government and the provincial Board of Revenue (BoR). However, Shehbaz had not obliged.

    CM Secretariat reportedly said that around 837 acres of the AWS land had been allotted to civilian officials without consulting the provincial government. The land had been allotted in districts of Bahawalpur, Pakpattan, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan and Sadiqabad.

    The former CM rejected another summary prepared by the BoR in February 2012, as the then Punjab chief secretary noted that it didn’t augur well for the civil service and the overall good governance.

    According to the fresh summary approved by the Usman Buzdar government to restore and validate the allotments, the Shehbaz government had cancelled the allotments and retrieved the allotted land from the beneficiary officials in 2010, because the land was actually allotted to the military for a specific purpose under the law.

    Those who had sold the land allotted to them were told by the Shehbaz administration to deposit the sale proceeds to the provincial treasury. The provincial officials who had benefited from the GHQ’s decision were suspended while the matter of the three DMG officers who got the land was sent to the Establishment Division. Apparently, the Establishment Division did not take any action against them.

    The prominent beneficiaries include DMG officers – Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera (currently the federal cabinet division secretary), Dr Faisal Zahoor and Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah. Ex-PCS officials who will benefit from the government decision include Mohammad Zahid Ikram, Sikandar Ali Bokhari, Syed Najaf Abbas Bokhari, Malik Mohammad Ramzan, Mohammad Ashraf Yousufi, Abdul Ghafoor Virk, Dur Mohammad Khan, Irshad Mohyuddin, Syed Zahid Hussain Jilani, Mohammad Ashfaq, Mohammad Akram Bhatti, Amir Karim Khan (currently PSO to CM Buzdar), Mushtaq Ahmed Anjum and Mohammad Azam Khan. The remaining officials mostly included district revenue officials.

    Eight beneficiary officers then filed a petition with the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the cancellation order of the Punjab government. In June 2013, the court directed the BoR member (colonies) to set aside the cancellation order and decide the matter afresh in accordance with the law after considering all the legal and factual submissions made by the parties and after following the due process as per law.

    The GHQ then cancelled the allotments in October 2013 in its papers.

    Officials at the CM Secretariat said as long as Shehbaz was there, no one dared to bring the matter up again.

    Later in November 2019, the DG Lands at GHQ wrote to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government led by Usman Buzdar for the restoration of the allotments, stating that “all the orders of president/chief executive of Pakistan were subsequently given constitutional protection and also upheld by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the Tikka Iqbal case”.

    Strangely enough the DG Lands did not mention that the said judgement was overturned by a 14-member bench in July 2009 in the PCO Judges case.

    Two days after the receipt of the DG Lands’ letter, the BoR member (colonies) initiated a fresh summary for the Punjab CM, requesting Buzdar to “take an explicit decision whether to withdraw the order cancelling the impugned allotments”. The CM referred the matter to the standing committee of the cabinet on legislative business that in February endorsed the viewpoint of the DG Lands, GHQ.

    The CM later approved the allotments “as recommended by the standing committee subject to ratification by the cabinet” given last week.

  • ‘We cannot afford this anymore’: Traders in Sindh, KP, Balochistan to reopen businesses from today

    Traders across the country have said that they would resume operations from today (April 15), however, the business community in Punjab has urged the government to permit activities for a limited time.

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, in his address to the nation on Tuesday, extended the lockdown till April 30, saying that some industries such as construction would be allowed to operate from Wednesday.

    The business community in Karachi said that they would resume operations from April 15 and that the traders would follow preventive measures. “We cannot afford the imposed restrictions anymore,” said a representative of Karachi’s trader community while addressing a press conference.

    “The businessmen have paid their employees a month’s salary but we will be unable to do so if the lockdown extends,” he said, adding that they would hand over the keys to their shops to the officials at the Chief Minister (CM) House and protest outside the provincial chief executive’s office if they are kept from resuming business activities.

    Voicing the traders in Sindh, Balochistan’s business community said that they would also resume operations from April 15. They said that the traders could no longer bear the lockdown restrictions, adding that activities would be conducted and precautionary measures would be followed. “The provincial government has been informed regarding the decision to resume operations.”

    Furthermore, the traders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) said that they could not afford the lockdown further and that they would open shops from April 15 as well.

    United Business Group President Ilyas Bilour said that small scale traders were forced into starvation due to the lockdown, and lamented that labourers were severely affected due to the closure of business centres.

  • Punjab is offering a free online course on coronavirus control

    Punjab is offering a free online course on coronavirus control

    A short online course on prevention and control of coronavirus has been launched in Pakistan by the Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) in collaboration with the online microlearning platform Gnowbe.

    The duration of the course is 30 minutes and it is open to the general public. It is free of cost and those who complete the course will receive an international certification from the School of Health Sciences at Singapore’s leading university Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

    An Urdu version of the course is also available so that a larger number of people can access it.

    Termed “Stay Protected with Infection Control and Prevention 101 Program” the online course will teach the nature and transmission of the virus.

    The course will consist of informative videos, tutorials and quizzes. There are two main topics: Infection Transmission, which details the chain of infection and transmission of diseases, and Infection Prevention, which includes sessions on prevention by hand hygiene and wearing personal protective equipment.

    It will be very helpful for those working on the frontline like the Prime Minister’s Tiger Force, field volunteers providing food and critical services, bank employees and law enforcement officers where the infection has the highest chances of spreading.

    In Singapore, Gnowbe has already been using its e-learning platform to provide the free course to the general public in eight. The partnership with PSDF will add Urdu to the menu as well.

    If you are interested in taking the course, use the following links to access it.

    For English: https://learn.gnowbe.com/infection-prevention-control-101

    For Urdu: https://be.gnowbe.com/signup/bundle/seykj3?gdid=ng9vvdz36rr6ob7womle

  • Punjab makes travel permission for recovered coronavirus patients compulsory

    Punjab makes travel permission for recovered coronavirus patients compulsory

    The Punjab government has introduced a new rule for controlling the spread of the pandemic: authorities have made it compulsory for recovered patients to get a permission letter before travelling in and outside the province.

    As per reports, the home department announced that the recovered patients of coronavirus will now need a special permission letter for travelling including those belonging to parts of the country and willing to enter into Punjab.

    The citizens of Punjab, who have recovered from the virus, will need a permission letter from the concerned authorities to travel to other provinces. The patients discharged from the quarantine centres in other provinces will also need a permission letter to enter into Punjab.

    According to the home department, the recovered people could get permission from deputy commissioners from their districts. The home department issued the directives to the chief secretaries and police chiefs of the provinces.

  • ‘Disgruntled’ Aleem Khan to befriend PML-N, turn tables on PTI in Punjab?

    ‘Disgruntled’ Aleem Khan to befriend PML-N, turn tables on PTI in Punjab?

    Senior member of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Punjab minister Aleem Khan, who according to reports is “disgruntled” ever since a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigation was launched into his assets, has telephoned rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah to discuss with him the fast-changing political scenario, especially in Punjab, The News reported.

    According to reports, Aleem contacted the PML-N stalwart and told him that he wanted to discuss “some important issues in the context of the fast-changing political scenario”, which Sanaullah immediately brought to the attention of party chief Shehbaz Sharif.

    “PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah immediately informed PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif about this political development. He [Sanaullah] was told to wait until he gives him directives in this regard,” the report quoted sources as saying.

    They said the PML-N leadership would assess all political options but is likely to keep a safe distance from “segments of PTI allegedly involved in the wheat or sugar crises” and are being accused of making billions through government subsidies and price hike, the report stated.

    “Aleem Khan had also approached Rana Sanaullah in the past when he was practically sidelined due to his growing differences with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan over the state of affairs in Punjab,” sources told The News and added that when Sanaullah was arrested in the controversial narcotics case, the PTI member had back then also sent him text messages, saying he hoped that the PML-N leader comes out clean.

    When contacted, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah confirmed that he had a detailed telephonic conversation with Aleem and the two discussed the current political situation in the country.

    To a question, he said it was too early to say if the PML-N and the disgruntled PTI group led by Aleem would put in any efforts to bring in-house changes in Punjab because his party had a principled stance in this respect.

    “First we want electoral reforms and then we seek fresh general elections but there can be an interim arrangement till the completion of these goals,” Sanaullah said, adding that if someone said that Aleem had the support of only 20 to 25 PTI lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly, they would be underestimating him. “I personally know his real strength among the ranks of the PTI.”

    To another question, he said some PTI members from Punjab had contacted the PML-N in the past as well but the leadership had decided that it would be useless to participate in power politics without having any people-oriented political agenda.

  • VIDEO: CM Buzdar wants Punjab to beat the world in introducing coronavirus vaccine

    VIDEO: CM Buzdar wants Punjab to beat the world in introducing coronavirus vaccine

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar has said that the province is doing “groundbreaking research” as the global coronavirus pandemic continues to spread and he wants Pakistan to become the first country in the world to introduce vaccination for COVID-19.

    Even the most effective containment strategies have only slowed the spread of the respiratory disease while some 35 companies and academic institutions around the world are racing to create a vaccine that can prevent people from getting sick as COVID-19 leaves around 940,000 people infected globally with at least 47,000 fatalities.

    While the number of confirmed cases in Pakistan stands at 2,252 with at least 32 deaths and 107 recoveries, Buzdar’s Punjab is the worst-hit with 845 infections and Sindh is trailing behind at 709.

    “Pakistan could become the first country to prepare a vaccine for coronavirus with Punjab taking the lead in this regard,” the provincial chief executive said during a press conference in Lahore on Tuesday. “I will assure them [experts] that I will exhaust all available resources for the research.”

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Earlier, the Punjab CM had directed experts to accelerate research activities for the eradication of coronavirus.

    A meeting chaired by the provincial chief executive told that four study groups had been formed and research had been started under the supervision of the University of Health Sciences (UHS).

    CM Buzdar directed the experts to make fruitful efforts to deal with coronavirus as soon as possible. He was informed that a BSL-3 Lab had started working at Jinnah Hospital and Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI).

    The experts briefed the meeting that COVID-19 found in Pakistan was quite different from the coronavirus found in Wuhan and Iran.

  • Two Punjab doctors treating coronavirus patients get infected

    Two more Pakistani doctors have been confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus while treating patients, Geo reported.

    Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Health Care Department said on Friday that two doctors involved in the fight against coronavirus had tested positive for the disease.

    The spokesperson for the department stated that the doctors had been performing their duties at a quarantine centre in Dera Ghazi Khan when they started showing symptoms associated with COVID-19.

    Both doctors have since been confined to an isolation ward and are out of danger, added the statement.

    Earlier, a doctor had lost his life in Gilgit-Baltistan while performing his duties at one of the quarantine centres in the region.

    Meanwhile, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 1,257 on Friday after more people tested positive in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Islamabad.

    The country also recorded its ninth death due to the virus while at least 24,000 deaths have been recorded globally, more than 15,500 of which are in Europe since the virus first emerged in December.

    More than 532,000 declared virus cases have been registered in 199 countries and territories of which at least 268,191 are in Europe, the worst-hit continent.

    The countries with the most deaths include Italy with 8,165 deaths out of 80,539 declared infections, Spain with 4,089 deaths out of 56,188 cases, mainland China with 3,287 deaths out of 81,285 cases, Iran with 2,234 deaths out of 29,406 cases, and France with 1,696 fatalities out of 29,155 cases.

  • PICTURES: Social distancing in Pakistan

    After the outbreak of coronavirus, health experts have urged people to stay at home and practice social distancing. Social distancing involves “remaining out of mass settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance” whenever possible to limit the ability of the virus to spread.

    Section 144 has also been imposed in Pakistan under which more than four people cannot gather together in an area.

    Considering essential activities cannot completely be closed, here’s how Pakistanis are maintaining social distance at grocery stores, banks and police stations:

    Social distancing in Hangu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
    A police station in Lahore
    Mithi, Sindh.

  • VIDEO: Watch Usman Buzdar protect himself from coronavirus

    Chief Minister Buzdar has recently been tweeting about the pandemic and what Punjab is doing to control its spread. The largest province has eerily been silent on the issue, confirming only six cases compared to Sindh’s 155 cases and the CM has faced much criticism for keeping quiet on the issue. The government has yet to confirm whether a suspected coronavirus case has died this morning in Mayo hospital.

    READ MORE: VIDEO: Suspected coronavirus patient at Lahore’s Mayo Hospital passes away

    Admist the confusion, CM Buzdar was recently seen protecting himself from the virus by getting his temperature checked and also using hand sanitizer to promote safety.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    CM Buzdar getting his temperature checked and using hand sanitizer

    RELATED: All the coronavirus updates you need to know

    Punjab has yet to reveal how they are controlling the spread of the pandemic or how they have managed to control it since only six cases have emerged in the province.

  • Quiz: Which provincial identity suits your personality the most?

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