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Sunday, 16 January, 2022 | KARACHI
NEWS
Five years on, restoration oF Wazir Khan Mosque reMains a distant dreaM LAHORe
omicron fears compel PCaa to ban in-flight meals IsLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) banned from January 17 (Monday) on-board meal services in domestic flights to stem the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus. The directive is in line with the recommendations of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). “Amid rising Omicron cases across the country, the NCOC bans serving meals/snacks onboard domestic flights and public transport effective from January 17,” the authority said on Twitter. As mounting numbers of cases are detected and evidence suggests the Omicron variant transmits faster than Delta, over three dozen nations have imposed travel restrictions.
sindh to keep schools open despite omicron surge
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Shahab omeR
HE restoration work of the 17th century historical monument Wazir Khan Mosque could not be completed by the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) while discrepancies in funds for the restoration of the mosque have also been revealed, Pakistan Today has learnt. According to the details, despite the passage of five years, the dangerous crack in the facade of the mosque could not be repaired and procurement of various items could not be done. According to further details, the responsibility of restoration work of Wazir Khan Mosque was given to WCLA five years ago so that this historical monument can be made useful for future generations. However, in this regard, the project ‘Preservation and Restoration of Wazir Khan Mosque Lahore’ was approved by the Local Government & Community Development Department, Punjab at on April 2017 and the PC-I cost of the project was RS 550 million whereas the completion period of the project was five years [April 2022]. A sub-agency of the Punjab Planning and Development Board made severe observations on the project and the agency revealed in its report that despite the passage of five years, only 30 percent of the physical work on the project has been completed. According to the documents, the rehabilitation of surrounding historic houses of Mosque was also to be done and
completed within amount of RS 68.37 million, while conservation of monument [Wazir Khan Mosque], conservation of internal Hujras in Mosque, conservation & restoration of Façades of Mosque and Restoration of Calligrapher`s Bazaar was to be completed in RS 183.37 million but WCLA could spent only RS 70.03. Similarly, acquisition of properties encroaching on the monument or into public space of Chowk Wazir Khan was done in RS 16.66 by utilizing only 6.5 percent of the given amount whereas the cost of RS 3.75 million was spent on the consultancy for infrastructure. Moreover, there was no work carried out in terms of procurement, publication and capacity building showing 0 percent progress, the documents explained. The documents also mentioned that
total project cost was RS 555 million while the actual expenditure was RS 159.000 million and the financial progress was 28.7 percent and overall Physical Progress was 30 percent. The documents stated, “The project was approved for PCI amount of RS 555 million on 24-04-2017 with planned gestation period of 5 years ending on 23-04-2022. However, the work progress was slow at the project site and can lead to delay in project completion”. The document stated the scheme was behind the schedule. During Fiscal year 2018-19, RS 29.310 million was released against allocated amount of RS 20 million, which is a discrepancy. “The rehabilitation works of prayer chamber were remaining and executing agency reported that the work was pending because of seepage issues from
China-Pakistan strategic partnership ensures regional, global development: President Alvi IsLAMABAD app
kARACHI Staff RepoRt
A meeting of the task force on coronavirus Saturday decided to keep schools across Sindh open despite a surge of new cases driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant. The meeting of the body, held under the chair of Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, also decided to conduct a survey in the hospitals — both government and private — to gauge their capacity of handling the growing number of new infections and what else these facilities needed to keep doing so. The body declared wearing of facemasks in public places mandatory, adding it was also binding on wedding halls attendants, markets goers and those operating in public places. It was also directed that the guests at wedding halls should be served food in boxes. Only vaccinated people will be allowed to enter the markets. The district administrations ensure to check the vaccination cards of the visitors, the body added. Chief Minister Shah warned that civil servants who did not cover their faces would be penalised. It was proposed the fine could be equal to the violator’s one day’s salary. The government also decided to accelerate the vaccination campaign through the province since the surge in new cases, as the chief minister said, was due to ignoring the standard operating procedures (SoPs). Shah expressed the hope the government would also overcome this wave if the public extended its support and cooperation. The meeting participants also decided that restaurants will be monitored and action be taken against those that did not comply with health guidelines. Another session of the task force will be held after a few days, with the chief minister adding that further decisions will be taken on a review of the situation then. The megacity of Karachi was experiencing an explosion of infections driven by the Omicron variant as within days the positivity ratio has crossed 35 percent. Only in 24 hours, there was an increase of 6.5 percent in positivity rate. Confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Sindh have climbed to 497,153. It reported 3,089 new infections on Saturday after conducting 15,719 tests, receiving a positivity ratio of 19.6 percent. The province reported no deaths and 2,339 recoveries, leaving 7,693 deaths and 471,845 recovered. Sindh now has 17,615 active cases of the coronavirus.
President Dr Arif Alvi Saturday said that all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China envisioned a prosperous region with the establishment of economic and trade linkages through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship of Chinese One Belt, One Road initiative. During an interaction with the Chinese media, the president said Pakistan and China enjoyed excellent relations which were based upon allweather strategic cooperative partnership. Dilating upon the long history of ties between the Iron Brothers, the president said both the countries had been cooperating in diverse fields through China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The leadership of the both countries had been consistently improving upon the historic relationship, he said, adding the ties were based upon people-topeople linkages. President Alvi said both countries had faced testing times. The world is in the flux, facing different challenges and issues like illegal occupation of Kashmir (IIOJK) by India. He said Pakistan and China have been continuously talking about peace in the world and pushing for a durable peace across the world. The president cited both countries’ efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan. Pakistan and China had a long history of friendship and they were continuously improving upon these ties which had started during 50s and tremendously grew up during 60s, he added. China’s link with the world was established through Pakistan, he said. To a question, the president said that the new global order was emerging. On different issues, Pakistan and China think alike. In the face of these changes, the president stressed that any global changes should be based upon principles rather than hegemony. The president further stressed that these changes should not be of any kind of interference in each other’s affairs. The last seventy years ties between Pakistan and China had been a good example for the world to show how countries could be friendly and forged relations based upon principles and mutual understanding, he added. About the CPEC, the president said it is unique form of cooperation. CPEC completed projects stood around worth $28 billion whereas another $24 billion projects were under the completion. The president said the entire portfolio of CPEC projects was over $62 in the short term. “I think the CPEC has a tremendous impact upon the economy of Pakistan,” he opined. Rejecting certain propaganda launched against CEPC, he said huge cooperation was going on between China and Pakistan. He said the a very low mark-up over this investment reflected the mutual cooperation rather
than exploitation as projected by those opposing the project. The president further said that under CPEC, the initial projects were energy-based as Pakistan had been facing serious shortage of energy, subsequently, in the second phase, there were huge areas of cooperation in food, health agriculture and poverty alleviation. The president reiterated that through these multidimensional projects, people in Pakistan would find more job opportunities and would come out of poverty. He observed that poverty could be alleviated through the strengthening of health and education infrastructure over which Pakistan was fully focusing with different initiatives like Ehsaas programme. To another query, he replied that China had adopted a zero-Covid policy but Pakistan handled it in a very different manner. The government in Pakistan opted for partial lockdown as its economy could not sustain complete lockdown. There were maximum 6,800 covid cases in Pakistan during the months of June and July, he added. Highlighting the importance of Gwadar port, the president said fast progress was being achieved. It was one of the largest ports in the region close to the Gulf and would serve as a major deep-sea port. The president shared that it would link western areas of China proving as a big advantage for it. He said Gwadar port was also strategically very important from other aspects as well including fishery. The president urged the governments of the both countries to make further efforts for ensuring movement of goods from China to Gwadar and from Gwadar to China. Gwadar would be the shortest trade route for Afghanistan and to the Central Asian Republics (CARs), he said, adding the more linkages were established, the more progress and development would take place in the region and beyond. Gwadar port would ensure peace and development for the whole region, he expressed the confidence. About the cooperation in IT sector, the president underlined that cyber security and the human resources were needed to be developed. He maintained that tomorrow’s world would not be based upon brick and mortar. China and Pakistan required to be firewalled against hacking, the ability of the non-state actors to launch cyberattacks; for example, to affect their banking and financial institutions and utilities as everything was available on internet, the president added. The president said that they would be looking forward for the Chinese cooperation in developing the chips and cited development of JF17 Thunder, a good example of cooperation between the two countries. The president said the IT sector across the globe was witnessing an exponential growth for which the world needs trained manpower and stressed that both countries could bring their people into this sector for the economic prosperity.
the adjacent houses. A crack was observed in the façade of the mosque, which needs to be properly investigated whether it is not expanding with time,” it said. “The component of acquisition of land needs special attention as this activity is much behind the planned schedule. Encroachments are depicted. The procurement process including furniture, vehicle and equipment purchase was not started yet by the client department till the time of project site visit. An amount of 15.000 million was allocated for survey of the monuments; however, no survey was conducted there”. When contacted, Director Conservation and Planning of Walled City of Lahore Authority Najam Us Saqib, said that it will take another three years to complete the project. “Basework of the frescos and other elements has been completed and now implementation will pick up speed. This is the main hard task and we have completed it, now the speed will be picked up,” he said. “When we have requirements we shift funds from one project to another through proper channels by a summary through the Local Government Department and that is within the law. For procurement there were some approvals from the austerity committee and very soon we will complete this. Hujras were handed over to WCLA a week ago and now we will move on to purchase the furniture and fixture,” he added. About the crack in the main façade of the Mosque, Najam said that it will be filled during the conservation work.
Punjab govt forms medical board to examine Nawaz’s medical reports News Desk The Punjab government on Friday formed a special medical board to examine the medical reports of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who had travelled to London in 2019 for medical treatment. Taking to Twitter, Punjab government spokesperson Hasaan Khawar said: “The Punjab government has constituted a nine-member special medical board, comprising senior professors, to examine the medical reports of Nawaz Sharif and give its opinion regarding his fitness for travel back to the country.” “The board will submit its report within five days,” he said, sharing a notification in this regard. Earlier, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan had written a letter to the provincial government, asking it to form a medical board to examine the former premier’s medical reports. The federal cabinet had instructed the AGP to initiate proceedings for “apparent violation of the undertakings” given before the Lahore High Court (LHC) to enable the PML-N supremo to travel abroad. “In pursuance of the decision of the federal cabinet, taken in its meeting held on January 11, 2022, as communicated by the office of the Attorney General of Pakistan and conveyed vide Home Department’s letter dated January 12, 2022, the competent authority is pleased to constitute a Special Medical Board (SMB) comprising the following ‘to examine the documents submitted as medical reports’ and render ‘expert medical opinion regarding the physical condition of Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and his ability to travel back to Pakistan’,” the notification read. Dr Muhammad Arif Nadeem has been appointed as the convener of the board that comprises of Professor Ghias un Nabi Tayyab, Professor Dr Saqib Saeed, Professor Shahid Hameed, Professor Bilal.S. Mohydin, Professor Ambareen Hamid, Professor Shafiq ur Rehman, Professor Moona Aziz, and Professor Khadija Irfan Khawaja.
Bilawal briefed on political situation of Gilgit-Baltistan IsLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari chaired a meeting of Gilgit-Baltistan executives held here on Saturday during which he was briefed by PPP officials of Gilgit-Baltistan on the political situation in the region. A meeting of Gilgit-Baltistan executives chaired by Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was held at Zardari House Islamabad on Saturday. Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was briefed by PPP officials of Gilgit-Baltistan on the political situation in the region. The meeting ratified the decisions of the Central Executive Committee and Federal Council of the PPP. Chairman PPP was briefed by PPP Gilgit-Baltistan officials on preparations for the long march. Speaking on the occasion, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that this long march is the voice of the common man of the country.
