Sunday, 16 January, 2022 | KARACHI
NEWS
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tourists alloWed Conditional entry to Murree a WeeK aFter Blizzard tragedy RAwALPINDI
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NewS DeSk
week after the Murree blizzard tragedy that claimed 23 lives, the district administration on Saturday lifted a ban on tourists’ entry into the hill station. According to a notification issued by the District Disaster Management Authority, up to 8,000 vehicles will be allowed to enter into the Murree from all entry points for a limited time and under normal weather conditions. It said no entry will be allowed between 5pm and 5am except for emergency services
and vehicles carrying food items and fuel. However, the restrictions will not be applicable to the residents of Murree, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and officials including Pakistan Army vehicles. The chief traffic police officer of Rawalpindi will also devise a system to ensure that the traffic does not exceed the prescribed limit and provide timely information about the number of vehicles to the authorities concerned. “XEN Mechanical Machinery and Chief Traffic Police Office shall have effective coordination with Pakistan Meteorological Department to set up, maintain, review and upgrade mechanism for early warning to
regulate traffic,” read the communiqué. It further said that the police personnel will be deployed for accurate count of incoming/outgoing vehicles and maintain a database of the net traffic count. Last week, the nation was left stunned when the news of 23 deaths owing to a deadly blizzard in Murree hit the mainstream and social media. The deaths of the tourists, including women and children who had flocked to the scenic spot to witness the snowfall, were nothing short of the tragedy. The visitors ‘froze to death’ in their vehicles, amidst tonnes of snow in the surroundings as a snowstorm gripped the valley.
Free kidney, liver transplant on the cards for K-P patients PesHAwAR NewS DeSk
Patients from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are set to receive free-of-cost liver and kidney transplantion services after a memorandum of understanding was signed between the provincial government, State Life Insurance and Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Centre (PKLI&RC) on Saturday. According to the official statement, the service will be available under the provincial government’s Sehat Insaf Card scheme. It said the provincial government would bear the expense of Rs5 million for liver transplant and Rs1.4 million for
new coronavirus cases top 4,000 per day for first time since august
kidney transplant per patient. Chief Minister Mahmood Khan termed the move a “gift for the people of the province”, adding that treatment of cancer would also be covered under the health card scheme soon. He further said that OPD services would also be provided to the people under the banner of the health card scheme soon. The ‘Sehat Sahulat Programme’ is the flagship project of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, launched on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The programme envisaged support to the people in case of catastrophic healthcare expenditure.
Rs50bn business loans for youth under KJP: Dar IsLAMABAD app
IsLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
Pakistan registered more than 4,000 new confirmed coronavirus infections on Wednesday for the first time since August 25 as the fifth wave of the pandemic picked up speed. According to the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), the nation added 4,286 new cases over the past 24 hours, compared to 3,567 it registered Thursday. Meanwhile, the contagion rate also surged to 8.16 percent, the highest since August 11, when 52,522 tests were conducted. The total caseload of the infected climbed to 1.32 million across the country, said the NCOC, the department leading the campaign against the pandemic. Sindh has been the worst hit, with a total of 497,153 cases, followed by Punjab where the virus was detected in 451,408 people. The positivity rate in Karachi reached 35.3 percent, prompting Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to convene a meeting of the provincial task force. Sharing a report on the Covid-19 situation in the province, Shah Friday said 23 of 24 samples tested in Karachi for the Omicron variant were infected by the latest mutant. The samples were analysed through Next Genome Sequencing and Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) at Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) and Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH). Shah said that so far, 430 infections of the latest coronavirus variant have been detected in Karachi. Citing officials from the Ministry of National Health Services, Geo News reported the contagion rate in the port city might hit 50 percent, further burdening the fragile provincial healthcare apparatus. Meanwhile, a total of 29,003 people died of Covid-19, including four who lost their lives to the virus over the last 24 hours, the NCOC said. Over the last 24 hours, 2,598 patients have recovered from Covid-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1.26 million, said the NCOC. BAN ON INFLIGHT MEALS AND SNACKS: Meanwhile, the NCOC imposed a complete ban on serving snacks and meals in flights from January 17, directing the Civil Aviation Authority to ensure wearing of masks during flights and implement Covid-19 standard operating procedures at all airports. The ban on snacks and meals will also apply on public transport from Monday. UNIVERSAL VACCINE DISTRIBUTION ONLY WAY TO END COVID: The production and universal distribution of vaccines are the only response to the mutating coronavirus amid the health crisis, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday. Pakistan assumed chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China, a coalition of more than 130 developing nations, for the year 2022 on Friday.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar on Saturday said 2022 would be celebrated as a year dedicated to youth in which Kamyab Jawan Programme (KJP) targets would be achieved to make them self-reliant. He said steps were being taken to support youth in becoming financially sound as well as to help stand them on their own two feet. He lauded Prime Minister Imran Khan for initiating Kamyab Jawan Programme as it would bring prosperity to the country. He said Rs50 billion would be disbursed under various business loans schemes this year. Addressing a press conference, he said that in 2021, Rs30 billion was disbursed among 22,000 people across the country. He said KJP was providing equal opportunities to the youth for empowerment and running different projects including employment, education and engagement. Commenting on the achievements of the KP, Dar said over 50,000 direct and hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs were created in 2021 in a massive boost to the economy. Through this programme, the government increased the number of technology-based courses which he declared were introduced for the first time in the history of the country. He said the government was taking more steps to provide technical education and training to the
unemployed youth and create employment opportunities for them. Dar said that FIFA-certified international football coaches will arrive on January 17 to assist KJP in the football talent hunt drive. He said projects worth Rs4 billion for youth have been kicked off in collaboration with Higher Education Commission. The government was planning to launch a talent hunt programme in various sectors including sports, green youth movement, innovation league and establishment of KJP point in all public universities, he said. The official underlined that 100,000 skillbased scholarships worth Rs3.5 billion have been awarded in phases 1 and 2 and some Rs10 billion for skilled for all projects under KJP. In the next phase, over 60,000 scholarships are being introduced on January 16 having a worth of Rs2 billion, he said. Dar said that around Rs5 billion have been given in Sindh among 3,000 youth.
President approves mini-budget IsLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
President Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday granted approval to the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2022, under Article 75 of the Constitution. The so-called mini-budget that will end exemptions on sales tax as part of fiscal tightening and a law to grant the central bank greater autonomy to win funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was adopted by the National Assembly on January 13. The IMF approval is crucial for the country struggling with external and current account deficits, a depreciating currency, struggling foreign reserves and rising inflation. Ending the tax exemptions would raise Rs343
billion ($1.93 billion), Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said in proceedings of the House after parliamentarians from the ruling party and his allies voted in favour of the finance bill.
Punjab govt has made record increase in health budget: Buzdar LAHORe app
Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Friday said the provincial government has made a record increase in health budget. In a statement, the CM said the health budget in 2013-18 was only Rs169 billion while the incumbent government has increased it from Rs369 billion to Rs399 billion in the current financial year. He said work is underway on health projects worth Rs36.65 billion in the Lahore division, adding that the state-of-the-art mother and child block is being constructed at Ganga Ram Hospital for Rs7 billion. A 1,000-bed hospital will be constructed on Ferozepur Road at a total cost of Rs8 billion, he said, adding that in the first phase, a 100-bed hospital will be made functional. He said the emergency and trauma centres will be built at Jinnah Hospital and Services Hospital while Child Health Sciences University will be constructed for Rs4 billion. Alongside, the up-gradation of various wards of Lady Willington Hospital will cost Rs35.5 billion, he noted. He said the hospital management information system is being brought in collaboration with Punjab Information Technology Board to bring government hospitals in a paperless era. The reforms would ensure the best health facilities for the citizens, he added. The CM said that dental colleges are also being set up in Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur, adding that a total of 8 mother and child hospitals are under construction in Punjab. In three years, the government has set up 78 new health facilities and 91 new health projects have also been included in the district development package, he said, adding that a total of Rs37.25 billion has been allocated for free medicines at hospitals across the province.
