PM admits misquoting Iqbal after social media ridicule
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Saturday added to his list of gaffes, including wrong facts, attributions and geographical misinformation by misquoting national poet and philosopher Allama Iqbal which he later corrected but not before social media users noticed. Taking to micro-blogging website Twitter earlier today, the prime minister shared an apparent WhatsApp forward image to his nearly 12 million followers. pic.twitter.com/oyxkTlMrdc — Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 6, 2020“This poem by Iqbal reflects how I try to lead my life. Sad that the Prime Minister of Pakistan does not even have a staffer who knows his supposedly favorite poet’s work. PM tweets an imposter’s poem as Sir Dr Mohammad Iqbal’s poem.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 18:22 UTC
Moot stresses ‘better training facilities’ for bankers
KARACHI: More resources and efforts need to be allocated on training bankers, according to former Standard Chartered Pakistan (SCBPL) CEO and president Shahzad Dada. He also noted that different banks had their own training centres, which meant economies of scale could not be achieved. Bajwa reiterated that while foreign banks had initially stood out in terms of creating talent, recent efforts to reduce costs had adversely affected training budgets. He also said it was imperative to discourage the emphasis on dual nationalities, when it came to attracting talent, particularly for public sector banks. This meant that there was no incentive to build new lines of businesses, reducing the need for training.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 17:48 UTC
Green Stimulus Package to ensure nature’s protection as economy revives: PM’s Adviser
The adviser stated this in a video-link a roundtable discussion hosted by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) to mark World Environment Day 2020, according to a news release. The World Bank has allowed the repurposing of $180 million of its funding in Pakistan while recognising the country’s environmental recovery process. He said that PM would soon launch an initiative to conserve protected natural areas and national parks across the country. National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) former director general (DG) Dr Shahid Amjad stressed the need to conserve mangrove forests for protection of the marine ecosystem of the country. Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency Director General (PEPA) Farzana Altaf said that the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act-1997 envisaged imprisonment up to two years for anyone causing harm to the environment but such harsh measures against environmental degradation were seldom used.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 17:26 UTC
Covid-19 claims 19 more lives as 1,475 new cases detected in Sindh
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday revealed that coronavirus claimed 19 more lives while 1,475 new cases emerged within the last 24 hours, raising the provincial death toll and total cases to 634 and 36, 364 respectively. In a statement issued here from the CM House, the CM said that the death toll now constituted 1.7 per cent of the total patients, adding that 1,475 new cases emerged when 7,030 tests were conducted. “We have 36,364 cases in Sindh against 222,890 tests conducted so far,” he explained. Giving district-wise break-up of the cases, the chief minister said that out of 1,475 cases of the province, 990 were detected in Karachi. The Sindh chief minister urged the people of Sindh to be cautious of the virus and adopt SOPs as a part of life.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 17:25 UTC
Bilawal accuses Centre of sabotaging Sindh govt’s Covid-19 measures
Addressing reporters here, Bilawal criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan for creating confusion among the masses regarding the coronavirus. While indirectly referring to a Supreme Court (SC) order in which the authorities were directed to adopt a uniformed approach towards coronavirus, Bilawal said the court’s directives limited province’s freedom to take independent decisions. He [prime minister] never addressed concerns of those at the frontlines or those labour union leaders, Bilawal said. “How can they lay off these labourers when the Sindh government has imposed a ban on firing employees?”The Sindh government won’t let this happen, Bilawal said. “Sindh chief minister has taken up the issue but has received no response,” he said.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 16:41 UTC
Info extracted from devices of PIA crashed flight, Airbus says
ISLAMABAD: Airbus, the airplane manufacturing company, on Saturday said that important information about Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane crash has been extracted from the data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. Chief Product Safety Officer of Airbus, Yannick Malinge wrote a letter to all the airlines operating its A320 model in flights. In the letter, the company’s safety officer said that investigation is underway regarding the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) crash. The company said that the doomed flight’s data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been heard and analysed. According to the statement by BEA, the Pakistan investigation board “will publish at a later date a preliminary statement on the event based on downloaded data”.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 15:44 UTC
KP govt to fire over 3,000 contractual employees
The employees are serving in different departments, such as livestock, agriculture, health, planning and development, minerals and the FATA Development Authority since 2001. The government has compiled lists of employees working in projects in various departments of the tribal districts. Moreover, other employees who will be laid off belong to the irrigation department, local government department, mineral department, home department, FATA development authority, zakat department, energy department and the sports department are being terminated. An employee working on the health department project told Pakistan Today that the current government had promised to create five million jobs before the elections. According to sources, all these projects were run on federally administered funds before the integration of the tribal districts in the province.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 14:59 UTC
CDWP approves $7.2bn ML-1 project
ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Lt General (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa on Saturday said that the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved the Railway Mainline (ML-1) project that would cost $7.2 billion. “The CDWP has approved and recommended ML-1 project to Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) with cost US$7.2bn,” he said. In his tweet, Bajwa, who also heads China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (CPECA), said the project scope included dualisation and up-gradation of 1872 km track from Peshawar to Karachi. While, under the project, Walton Academy would also be up-graded besides building a dry port in Havelian. In 2018, the Ministry of Railways and the National Railway Administration of China (NRAC) had undertaken initial work for working on Pakistan Railways’ Mainline 1 (ML-1).
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 13:41 UTC
Pakistan’s delicate health system braces for Covid-19 peak
LAHORE: With hospitals overwhelmed and a sharp rise in the number of deaths, Pakistan’s delicate health system is bracing for an imminent peak of novel coronavirus cases. Government officials claim the situation is “under control,” but health authorities believe the already stretched health system is unable to handle the lurking influx of Covid-19 patients. In the country’s two most populous cities of Karachi and Lahore, hospitals are already struggling because of a sharp increase in Covid-19 patients in recent weeks. Just 539 beds and 200 ventilators are available for coronavirus patients in Lahore, according to Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid. “Dozens of [Covid-19] patients are contacting us on a daily basis seeking admission to the hospitals.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 12:00 UTC
‘Pakistan sponsored jihadi tiddis were circumcised,’ reveals Arnab Goswami after sting operation
MUMBAI – With the locust swarms causing havoc in India, Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami has revealed that the insect attack is actually the latest jihadi insurgency sponsored by Pakistan. Condemning Pakistan, Goswami confirmed that it had sent “terrorist” locusts into India. “The Pakistan sponsored jihadi tiddis were circumcised. Ladies and gentlemen, the Pakistan sponsored jihadi tiddis were circumcised. I must repeat, the Pakistan sponsored jihadi tiddis were circumcised.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 10:07 UTC
Are you a pandemic disease? Here are 5 Pakistani tourist spots you must visit in 2020
Several of our coolest tourist spots to visit in Pakistan are bouncing back after disasters that hit their economies hard, including, of course, you. You can do some good for yourself, while relaxing this summer, as you push your tourist destinations into a viral slump. Dear pandemic disease, whether you want to spread, infect or kill – or all three – there’s a destination in Pakistan for you. Enjoy the scenic beauty as you learn about the region increasingly abandoned by the federal government to facilitate your visit. Kirthar MountainsThe range will take you from Sindh to Balochistan, with the region known for its beauty and rich history.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 09:22 UTC
US blogger accuses top PPP leaders of molesting, manhandling
In a live Facebook session on Friday, Ritchie accused PPP stalwart and then federal minister for interior Rehman Malik of raping her in Islamabad in 2011. “In 2011, I was raped by the former interior minister Rehman Malik. I was raped by the then interior minister Rehman Malik,” Ritchie said in the live video on her Facebook page. The blogger alleged that she has endured harassment “primarily from the PPP” for a number of years now. The former premier further alleged that the blogger had come to Pakistan as part of a campaign to malign politicians.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 07:30 UTC
US gears for weekend protests amid anger at new police abuses
WASHINGTON D.C.: The United States braced Friday for massive weekend protests against racism and police brutality, as outrage soared over the latest law enforcement abuses against demonstrators that were caught on camera. With protests over last week’s police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, surging into a second weekend, President Donald Trump sparked fresh controversy by saying it was a “great day” for Floyd. Nevertheless, Trump added, “Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing for our country.”“This is a great day for him. It’s a great day for everybody,” he said. Several thousand marched in Brooklyn on Friday afternoon as activists sought to keep up the movement’s momentum into the weekend.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 06, 2020 03:22 UTC
Little work on FCTC implementation in Pakistan
Soon after coming into power in 2018, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government announced “sin tax” as the lethal tobacco control measure but the progress on that front has been largely disappointing. The official said that the ministry has yet to enforce sin tax and increase pictorial warning on tobacco packs by up to 70 per cent. Sources said that instead of working on the implementation of the levy on tobacco products, the ministry itself lowered the pace, thus defying its commitments to FCTC. In 2019, the NHS suggested enforcing health tax on tobacco products and in 2018, it asked the FBR to enhance levy on the same to spend the revenue on the health sector. In 2020, sources added, the ministry did not even push for increasing taxes on tobacco products.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 05, 2020 18:45 UTC
Joining hands to fight a common enemy
Equally important is to settle mutual differencesStill reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, another severe crisis is staring Pakistan in the eyes. Heavy rains in Yemen and Saudi Arabia prompted the spread of locusts into Iran and then into Pakistan in March 2019. There is a need for Pakistan and India to join hands to wipe out common threats, destroying the locust being just one. The current differences over water sharing can be reduced through mutual negotiations and by both sides following water conservation policies. Pakistan and India have no doubt several disputes that continue to embitter their relations.
Source:Pakistan Today
June 05, 2020 18:00 UTC