Current Final

Author: News Desk

  • Pakistan has yet to place final order for vaccine procurement: report

    Pakistan has yet to place final order for vaccine procurement: report

    Even though the government has promised Pakistanis a vaccine in the first quarter of this year, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has failed to place a final order to acquire the much-needed vaccine to inoculate at least 100 million people.

    According to a media outlet, the country was striving to get its first batch of the vaccine doses, as not a single pharma company has accepted Pakistan’s request to deliver the order.

    PM’s aide on health Dr Faisal Sultan was quoted by The News saying that Pakistan has yet to place a final order and strike a deal with a manufacturer.

    “Although, we are striving hard to get the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine at the earliest for our frontline workers and others the final order has not yet been placed and accepted (by any vaccine manufacturer),” he reportedly said.

    China’s Sinopharm, whose vaccine is apparently 50 per cent effective, has submitted its data with the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and the health authorities are still in the process of reaching an agreement with the company, it added.

    Pakistan is also interested in Russian vaccine Sputnik V, Dr Sultan said, adding that negotiations are underway with Astrazeneca’s manufacturer. “We are trying to get AstraZeneca vaccine both through the Covax facility and through direct procurement,” he added.

    Earlier this month, Russia approached Pakistan with a vaccine offer. It wrote a letter to Pakistan asking for details of the process of vaccine registration as well as the demand in the country for the batch of dozes.

    In the letter addressed to Special Assistant to Prime Minister Dr Faisal Sultan, the Russian Direct Investment Fund’s (RDIF) Head, Kirill Dmitriev has said that the Sputnik-V had an emergency use certificate and it was 91.4% effective.

    On Dec 31, it was reported that the government had decided to purchase 1.2million doses of a Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm, amid a worsening coronavirus outbreak across the world.

    Pakistan has planned to vaccinate its population in three phases: in the first phase, frontline health workers will be inoculated; the second phase will be focused on the elderly; the third phase will be for the general populace.

    According to DW, it can take several years to develop an effective and safe vaccine. On average, it takes between 10 and 12 years, but it can take longer. The search for a vaccine against HIV has been going since the early 1980s — so far without success.

    In the case of COVID-19, researchers are racing to shorten the time it usually takes because of the ongoing pandemic. Despite the pressure that that brings, vaccine developers, manufacturers and the World Health Organization (WHO) say there will be no compromises on safety.

  • ‘Bushra Bibi is more than a mother to me’, says Noor Bukhari

    ‘Bushra Bibi is more than a mother to me’, says Noor Bukhari

    Noor Bukhari has said that Bushra Bibi is more than a mother to her.

    In a recent Q&A session on Instagram, when a follower asked the former actress about her relation to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, Bukhari said: “She’s more than a mother to me.”

    Earlier in June 2018, Bukhari had shared a picture of herself and Bushra Bibi in Saudi Arabia, where the two had gone to perform pilgrimage. Bukhari had captioned the picture with the hashtag ‘My spiritual Teacher’.

    Bukhari, who turned to the religious path to seek contentment after her fourth divorce has used social media to share her religious experiences.

    In January 2020, she reportedly remarried ex-husband and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Awn Chaudhry. The couple has two daughters together.

  • No pension for new hirings at KP universities in ‘Naya Pakistan’: report

    In what appears to greatly contradict claims of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for ‘Naya Pakistan [new Pakistan]’, Higher Education, Archives and Libraries Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has issued a notification to the public sector universities directing it to implement “no pension liability” for all future initial recruitments in addition to other strict measures to overcome the rising deficit.

    According to a report by Express Tribune, the department has also directed delinking of the pay scales from the basic pay scale scheme and university pay scale, while further stating in a notification that government grant and other resources meant for higher education shall not be expended on meeting the shortfall of the schools run by the universities.

    “These schools should have separate Board of Governors (BoG),” it reportedly read.

    Furthermore, house subsidy and requisition should be paid to the employees on the provincial government rates.

    All medical allowances in their current form have been abolished and shall be paid at the provincial government rates, says the notification, adding that the maintenance cost including repair, security and other facilities’ costs should be fully recovered from the employees provided with accommodation by the universities.

    “The universities will be assisted in the process of exploring new avenues of financial resources, including renting out academic blocks to other institutions,” says the notification.

    The report also quoted a university official as saying that in the presence of the University Act 2012, amended in 2016, all the incentives provided to the employees by the universities had completely been protected and in the presence of an act, no notification could change it including abolishing of the pension, house rents and medical allowances.

  • HEC reportedly revises policy for PhD admissions

    HEC reportedly revises policy for PhD admissions

    The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has reportedly revised its policy for PhD admissions on January 1, 2021.

    According to reports, under the revised policy, students can also apply for PhD directly after four-year BS programs. The policy states that the minimum duration of a PhD degree will be three years while the maximum duration of the degree will be eight years.

    It has also abolished the requirement of having a previous qualification in the same discipline in order to apply for a specific PhD program.

    In case of non-implementation or violation of the policy, HEC would take action against universities ranging from warnings, suspension or revocation of NOC for admissions, and non-verification of credentials.

    Meanwhile, the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) has expressed serious concerns and rejected the revised policy by the HEC.

    It is pertinent to add that the HEC has not yet officially announced the new policy.

  • Foreign couple ‘mysteriously’ living in a car in Lahore for 6 months

    Foreign couple ‘mysteriously’ living in a car in Lahore for 6 months

    A foreign couple, who is apparently from Australia or Germany, has been residing outside the Customs House in Lahore for the past six months without permission, Daily Pakistan has reported.

    According to locals, they had come to Lahore six months ago and had stayed for a few days at a hotel near Anarkali Bazaar.

    However, the couple started living in a car, parked on a road after they ran out of money. They have set up a tent on the car’s roof.

    They also have a pet puppy and a small cylinder to cook food.

    According to locals, the couple wanted to travel the world on their car and were supposed to cross the Wahga border to reach India, but got stranded in Lahore due to COVID-19.

    Since then, they have been living in a car where they also order food deliveries.

    Locals said they sometimes distribute soup and rice to the workers in the area.

  • Duchess of York’s debut novel to be an ‘immersive historical saga’

    Duchess of York’s debut novel to be an ‘immersive historical saga’

    Looks like we’re geared up for another romantic saga! The Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson has landed a book deal with romantic fiction publisher Mills & Boon.

    According to a report in The Guardian, Ferguson’s debut novel, Her Heart for a Compass, will hit shelves in August and tells a fictional account of the life and love story of her great-great-aunt, Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott. The Duchess revealed that she “drew on many parallels from my life” for the historical tale.

    On the other hand, Mills & Boon has described the novel as an “immersive historical saga” that “sweeps the reader from the drawing rooms of Victoria’s court and the grand country houses of Scotland and Ireland to the slums of London and the mercantile bustle of 1870s New York”.

    It follows Margaret, “who desires to break the mould, follow her internal compass – her heart – and discover her raison d’être – falling in love along the way”.

    Sarah shared that she came across Margaret after researching her ancestry and became fascinated with her because Margaret is her middle name.

    The Duchess has spoken of how she took inspiration from her own experiences when writing the novel. She was pictured in a Victorian-style floor-length outfit, complete with a high-necked blouse, jacket and gloves, sitting on a stone bench gazing at a compass she held out in front of her, to promote the work.

    She said: “Although her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, were close friends with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, I was unable to discover much about my namesake’s early life, and so was born the idea which became Her Heart for a Compass.

    “With real historical events and facts to hand, my imagination took over. I invented a history for her that incorporated real people and events, including some of my other ancestors.

    “I created a friendship between my heroine and Princess Louise, Queen Victoria’s sixth child, and I drew on many parallels from my life for Lady Margaret’s journey.”

    For the unacquainted, Ferguson is the Duke of York’s Prince Andrew’s former wife and the Queen’s former daughter-in-law. She was cast out from the royals amid her “toe-sucking” scandal in the 1990s, and fell deeply into debt, owing millions.

    Read more – Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter Princess Beatrice is in Pakistan for a ski trip

    She once confessed: “I was hopeless from the start … they could never make me the perfect princess.”

    The Duchess, who has previously written her memoirs, is the author of numerous children’s books including the Little Red and Budgie the Little Helicopter series.

    She has been reading children’s books throughout the pandemic on her YouTube channel, Storytime with Fergie and Friends.

    Sarah added: “I have long held a passion for historical research and telling the stories of strong women in history through film and television. I am proud to bring my personal brand of historical fiction to the publishing world.”

    Mills & Boon, the UK’s leading publisher of romantic fiction, was established in 1908. Its books are written by women for women and range from historical romance to rom-com and erotica, and one is sold every 10 seconds in the UK.

  • Farhan Saeed lauds polio workers

    Farhan Saeed lauds polio workers

    Farhan Saeed has lauded polio workers for their dedication and hard work.

    Sharing a video of female polio workers walking in blankets of snow to deliver the vaccine to the children of Azad Kashmir, Saeed said: “All heroes don’t wear capes, some wear yellow vest[s].”

    Agreeing with the Suno Chanda star, his followers couldn’t stop praising the efforts of these women.

    Read more – Farhan Saeed, Urwa Hocane lash out at opposition for holding jalsas amid a pandemic

    Pakistan’s first polio vaccination campaign for 2021 started on Monday, January 11. The national polio immunization drive will last for five days and aims to vaccinate over 40 million children under the age of five across Pakistan.

  • Agent in US responsible for any illegal funding, PTI tells ECP

    Agent in US responsible for any illegal funding, PTI tells ECP

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has blamed its agents managing its two limited liability companies (LLCs), saying the responsibility lies with the agents in case of any illegal funding from the United States.

    The Election Commission of Pakistan had started fresh scrutiny of the PTI accounts — a process going on since March 2018. The foreign funding against the ruling party case was filed by its founding member Akbar S Babar in 2014.

    In a response to the petition in the foreign funding case, the PTI, that had denied any links to the foreign funding, said that if the two LLC registered after the written instructions of party chief Imran Khan were involved in the illegal act, it would be due to its agents who were managing them in the US.

    The PTI said in its reply submitted to the ECP said that “any contribution that has been collected by the agent which may be questionable would be beyond the scope of the work/responsibility/instructions given by the principal (respondent)”. Therefore, the “principal will not be liable under Section 228 and not admit/certify such content”.

    Dawn reported that the ECP committee also refused to hand over the PTI’s financial documents to the petitioner’s lawyer due to the concerns expressed by the PTI.

    “The documents include 23 PTI bank statements received on instructions from the State Bank that were mostly concealed from the ECP,” it reported. However, the counsel of Akbar S Babar will be allowed to inspect the documents during the next hearing.

    The petitioner’s counsel Ahmad Hassan Shah said the refusal to share the documents was in contrast to the ECP order of May 2018.

    In a decision, the ECP had killed the PTI’s request to keep these documents and the scrutiny process secret.

    The body’s chairman acknowledged that the PTI’s bank statements and other documents were not being shared with the petitioner on the concerns of PTI.

    At this, the petitioner questioned the transparency of the inquiry, saying how could there be an independent probe if the proceedings were steered by the accused party.

  • Babar Azam summoned by FIA over claims by ‘ex-girlfriend’

    Babar Azam summoned by FIA over claims by ‘ex-girlfriend’

    Cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has summoned Pakistan cricket team skipper Babar Azam over sexual and financial abuse accusations by the woman who claims to be his ex-girlfriend. 

    Babar, 26, was summoned on Thursday but excused from visiting the officials due to some engagements.

    The star batsman requested the FIA to reschedule the summons, after which he has been asked to appear before the agency next week.

    On Wednesday, he started net practice at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) after missing out all the matches of Pakistan against New Zealand owing to thumb injury. Babar’s thumb was injured during net practice in Queens Town on December 12.

    Despite missing out on all the matches, Babar remained with the team in New Zealand.

    The New Zealand series was Babar’s first as Test captain and now he has to lead Pakistan in the home series against South Africa starting from January 26 with the first Test scheduled to be played in Karachi. The second Test is scheduled to be played in Rawalpindi from February 4 following which the two teams will play three T20Is in Lahore from February 11 to 14.

    CASE AGAINST BABAR:

    In December 2020, police had given a clean chit to Babar in the harassment case against him.

    According to reports, Additional Sessions Judge Nauman Naeem had taken up the petition of a woman, namely Hameeza Mukhtar, against the Pakistani skipper.

    The hearing had come after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Director of Media and Communications Samiul Hassan said that the sexual violence allegations against skipper Babar were a personal matter and the board could not comment on it.

    According to Jang, the board’s spokesperson was responding to a question posed by the Urdu daily after a damning press conference by one Hamiza of Lahore, who claims to be Babar’s schoolfellow and neighbour.

    Addressing the presser, the woman had claimed that the young cricketer tricked her into love and marriage.

    “When I asked him to marry me, he tortured me,” she said.

    Hamiza said that she had financially supported Babar when he was struggling with his career, adding that she spent millions of rupees on him.

    “When I called the PCB to lodge a complaint, they said that it was a personal matter,” she continued.

    During the proceedings in the sessions court, the counsel of the petitioner sought time to submit documents in the court and said that the entire case was based on medical reports.

    Azam’s counsel, Barrister Harris Azmat, while requesting the court to reject the petitioner’s plea, said that Azam was a national cricketer and hero, adding that Hameeza had started blackmailing the national cricket team captain in 2016 whereas the police had cleared him in an investigation.

    Police also submitted an investigation report in the court, as per which the national cricketer was found innocent and the woman was leveling baseless allegations.

    “The court should reject the petitioner’s plea,” he had said.

    Barrister Azmat said that Azam’s case was being covered by Indian media and the woman may have targeted the national cricketer once again at the behest of someone.

  • VIDEO: 50 rare Himalayan ibex spotted in Hunza valley

    As many as 50 rare Himalayan ibex, including females with their young ones, were spotted by officials of the World Wide Fund (WWF) near Khyber village in Hunza Valley.

    According to WWF, the Himalayan Ibex is found at an average altitude of 3,660 meters and they usually come down the mountain due to snow and in search of food in the winter season.

    Elaborating further, the animal rights body said: “The population faces numerous threats across its range in Pakistan, from habitat loss to illegal hunting, climate change, and lack of awareness about the species.”

    “Despite these challenges, a significant increase has been recorded in their population as a result of continued and concerted efforts of the local community, Gilgit-Baltistan Wildlife Department and WWF,” it added.

    A survey conducted in 2019 by the government and local communities revealed that almost 1500 ibex were sighted in Ghulkin catchments in recent years.

    “The sighting of such a large herd is a welcome indicator of the conservation success of WWF in its fiftieth year in Pakistan,” expressed WWF-Pakistan Senior Director Programmes Rab Nawaz.

    VIDEO: Man in Chitral jumps into river to save baby Markhor from drowning

    The photographs of the ibex have been captured by photographers Nyal Mueenuddin and Imtiaz Ahmed.