Monday, 12 October, 2020 I 23 Safar, 1442 I Rs 25.00 I Vol XI No 103 I 52 Pages I Karachi Edition
Govt urGes precaution as covid positivity rate inches up g
asad Umar says sUccess is impossible withoUt pUblic cooperation ISLAMABAD
t
staff report
he country’s coronavirus positivity ratio has gone above 2 per cent for the first time in six weeks, said minister for planning, development and special initiatives asad Umar on sunday, emphasising the need to follow precautions against the virus. a day earlier, the national command and operation centre (ncoc) warned about the increasing risks of covid-19 spread. similarly, education minister shafqat mehmood cautioned the public to follow the standard operating procedures, especially regarding large gatherings. “large public gatherings must not take place. these alone can unleash the second wave,” the minister cautioned. however, shafqat had on thursday said that the federal government would not close educational institutions again. “20 million children are out of schools, it is a big challenge to bring them to school, we would utilise all of our resources to educate these children,” he had said during an address to students at batrasi cadet college in mansehra. the district health department in islamabad had recommended that the government impose a “smart” lockdown in areas where coronavirus cases are increasing, a notification showed, and these focused lockdowns are to target street number 38, 44, 45, 46, 47, and 48 and on sawan road adjacent to street 48, in sector g-10/4. in sector i-8/2, street number 25 and 29 have been sealed, while in sector g-9/4, two streets number 85
and 89 have been sealed after coronavirus cases surfaced in the area. the district health authorities had recommended imposing a micro lockdown in these areas in view of the increasing cases of the disease. similarly, from the start of october, the sindh government imposed minilockdowns in different parts of Karachi, including manghopir, creek vista apartment in phase viii of dha and sub-division of saddar. this approach is also being followed in azad Jammu and Kashmir (aJK), particularly in muzaffarabad and rawalakot district, and officials have been directed to come up with comprehensive and effective suggestions within two days, according to an official handout. “mini smart lockdowns have been imposed in Karachi, islamabad and azad Jammu and Kashmir. instructions have been issued to administra-
more inside
AJK premier says he was ‘hurt’ by sedition charges STORY ON PAGE 03
citizens urged to take precautions against upcoming heat wave in Karachi STORY ON PAGE 02
Nagorno-Karabakh truce under severe strain as both sides allege violations STORY ON BACK PAGE in today’s issue
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tions across the country to ensure that precautionary measures are followed. but like in the past, success is impossible without the cooperation of the people,” asad tweeted. Furthermore, federal ministers, including Fawad chaudhry, sheikh rasheed and asad on saturday had issued advisories to the opposition regarding a delay in the pakistan democratic movement (pdm) rallies due to rising covid-19 cases. “i believe political parties should give proof of responsibility and postpone rallies and processions for the next three months. the opposition should also postpone its movement till next year and respect life,” Fawad said in a tweet. the appeals from ministers cane after punjab confirmed 203 new covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours — the first time since august 15 that the province has recorded more
than 200 cases — taking its total infections to 100,687. previously, the highest number was recorded at 187 on september 26. to tackle another form of public gatherings, the ncoc had introduced new rules for marriage halls which limit weddings to two hours, a curfew of 10 pm, and a maximum of 300 and 500 guests for indoor and outdoor weddings respectively. according to the ncoc statement, “public gatherings are banned due to coronavirus pandemic around the world and the organisation of crowded events could endanger the national success against the virus.” according to the latest data released by the ncoc, as many as 28,893 samples were tested during this period, out of which 666 detected positive. the overall number of covid-19 cases across the country has reached 318,932 with the addition of the new cases. there are 8,904 active covid-19 cases as 303,458 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 483 patients are in critical condition. more than 3.8 million tests have been conducted in the country so far. sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by punjab, Khyber pakhtunkhwa (Kp) and islamabad. till now 140,131 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in sindh, 100,687 in punjab, 38,329 in Kp, 17,296 in islamabad, 15,520 in balochistan, 3,045 in aJK and 3,924 in gilgit-baltistan (gb). Furthermore, 2,549 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in sindh, 2,257 in punjab, 1,263 in Kp, 146 in balochistan, 188 in islamabad, 89 in gb and 78 in aJK.
coronavirus in
pakistan
CONFIRMED CASES:
318,932
LAST UPDATED AT 7:44 AM ON OCTOBER 11, 2020
DAY'S DEATH TOLL:
12
RECOVERED:
NEW CASES:
666
DEATHS:
303,458 6,570 SINDH:
PUNJAB:
140,131
100,687
KP:
BALOCHISTAN:
AJK/GB:
ISLAMABAD:
38,329
15,460
2,937/3,886 17,009
Maulana Adil's killing: PM says India triggering sectarianism in Pakistan g
sindh govt bans pillion riding to maintain law and order
g
KARACHI staff report
renowned religious scholar, maulana dr adil Khan, and his driver, were shot dead on saturday in Karachi’s shah Faisal area in a suspected targeted attack by armed pillion riders, and various public figures have condemned the act, while the sindh government has banned pillion riding for a month to maintain law and order. prime minister imran Khan described it as “an attempt by india to create sectarian conflict across the country”. the premier, while strongly condemning the targeted killing of maulana adil of Jamia Farooqia in Karachi, said that india is attempting to target religious scholars to fan sectarian rift in the country. in a series of tweets on sunday, he stressed upon the religious scholars from all sects to ensure that people do not fall prey to nefarious indian designs to destabilise pakistan by fuelling a sectarian conflict. “we have prevented a number of such attempts pre-emptively in the last few months. our intelligence organizations and law enforcement agencies will nab culprits of this murder also,” he said. similarly, president arif alvi said that “enemies of the country will not succeed in their nefarious designs against pakistan and the killers will soon be brought to justice”, adding that the government has said for months that india is targeting “aalims […] to create sectarian conflict across the country”. chief of army staff (coas) general qamar
Javed bajwa firmly condemned the assassination, and called it “an attempt to foment unrest by pakistan’s enemies”. the inter-services public relations (ispr) director general expressed grief over the killing, and offered full support to the civil administration to catch the culprits. according to police, the scholar had been in a parked toyota vigo outside shama shopping centre when suspects on motorcycles came up to him and shot him. a third person, Umair, had also been accompanying maulana adil, policed added, and he survived the incident as he had gone inside the shopping centre to buy sweets.
Jamia Farooqia head laid to rest in Karachi “the motorcyclists targeted him. it seems that he was being followed by terrorists,” said police officials. in reaction to this assassination, a month-long ban has been imposed on pillion riding by the sindh government “in order to maintain law and order”, as per the suggestion of the city’s police chief. an official notification stated that Karachi police believe “miscreants and disgruntled elements may disturb the peace and create law and order problem in Karachi by carrying out target(ed) killings”. women, children under the age of 12, elderly people, law enforcement personnel in uniform, essential services workers and journalists carrying their press card will be exempted from the ban. in case of violation of the ban, station house officers have been given the authority to register complaints and take legal action. earlier on sunday, maulana adil’s funeral prayers were offered at the Jamia Farooqia, hub river road phase ii by his brother maulana obaidullah Khalid. besides scholars and other religious figures, a large number of attendees included students and devotees of the late scholar. well-known religious scholars including mufti muhammad taqi Usmani, mufti muhammad rafi Usmani, maulana hanif Jalandhari, senator abdul ghafoor haideri, maulana rashid soomro, Jamia banuria mufti noman and hafiz naeem-urrehman were in attendance. maulana adil was buried at Farooqia University next to his father maulana saleemullah Khan.
