Later, senior PTI leader Senator Faisal Javed Khan said that PM Khan is “experiencing mild symptoms” and “will continue to work from home over video calls”.
Prime Minister Imran Khan tests positive for coronavirus, is experiencing 'mild symptoms'. He will self-quarantine at home however will continue to work from home over video con. Lots of prayers 🙏 for everyone. Stay Safe
PM Khan had received the first dose of his COVID-19 vaccine on March 18. Interacting with the media after receiving his shot, PM had urged everyone to get vaccinated for the virus. It is pertinent to add here that PM Imran is yet to receive the second dose of the vaccine, which will be administered to him after a month.
The Ministry of National Health Services also clarified that PM Khan was “not fully vaccinated when he contracted the virus”.
“He only got the first dose and merely two days ago which is too soon for any vaccine to become effective,” asserted the minister, adding: “Anti-bodies develop 2-3 weeks after the second dose of COVID vaccines.”
Prime Minister Imran Khan was not fully vaccinated when he contracted the virus. He only got the 1st dose and merely 2 days ago which is too soon for ANY vaccine to become effective. Anti-bodies develop 2-3 weeks after 2nd dose of 2-dose COVID vaccines. #VaccinesWork
— Ministry of National Health Services, Pakistan (@nhsrcofficial) March 20, 2021
وزیراعظم عمران خان کا کورونا مثبت آنے کا مطلب یہ نہیں ہے کہ ویکسین غیر موثر تھی۔ ویکسین سے اینٹی باڈیز بننے میں 14 دن لگتے ہیں لہذا تمام امکانات میں ویکسی نیشن کے وقت وزیر اعظم پہلے ہی کورونا کا شکار ہو چکے تھے- شکوک و شبہات پیدا کرنے سے اجتناب کرنا ہوگا سبکو ویکسین لگانی چاہئے
Meanwhile, several PTI leaders including Sheikh Rasheed, Usman Buzdar and Hammad Azhar have wished the premier a swift recovery.
Prayers for quick recovery of Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI.
Recent spike in #COVID19 cases and positivity rate is alarming and we all need to be extra careful and strictly follow safety protocols!! https://t.co/ip6ccCQQzR
Wishing @ImranKhanPTI a speedy recovery & complete shifa from #COVID19. This is a reminder to us all that the virus can hit any of our homes; practise social distancing, wear your masks & #StaySafe
A barber from Lahore Ali Abbas has gone viral on social media for his unique method of styling and cutting hair. He uses different tools such as broken glass, hammer and butcher’s knife to cut his customer’s hair. Abbas sometimes also uses fire to style the customer’s hair.
Talking about his unique way of styling hair, Abbas told ARY News that he wants to invent unusual techniques in his profession.
“Meri koshish hoti hai ki har din main kuch naya se naya try karun. Today, I cut his hair with glass and styled it in layers. Kaam dil se karein toh kaamyaabi milegi zaroor (I try to do something new every day. Today, I styled his hair in layers with cut glass).”
For one of his female customers, Ali used a butcher’s knife and she was happy with the styling.
“I am really satisfied. During the process, I was slightly scared but it’s really good,” said the woman.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against a resident of Karachi’s Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Falcon Complex for stabbing and injuring fashion designer Moazzam Khan and his two sons over a parking dispute.
According to reports, the incident took place on Tuesday night when Moazzam was embroiled in an argument over a parking issue with the suspect identified as Ibrahim Durrani.
In the video clips, which have gone viral on social media, a man can be heard and seen exchanging hot words with Durrani over the way he reversed the car. As the argument grew intense, Ibrahim stabbed Moazzam and his two sons – Fahad Moazzam and Ata Moazzam – with a Swiss knife and fled the scene.
In the FIR, Moazzam also said that he took his injured sons to the Aga Khan University Hospital himself despite being injured.
“My wife informed me that Ibrahim Durrani also resorted to aerial firing,” Moazzam said in the FIR, adding that the assailant had also threatened them with “dire consequences” if the matter was reported to the police.
Later, the Shahrah-e-Faisal Police registered a case against Durrani under Sections 324 [attempt to murder] and 337-H(II) [Whoever does any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of other, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both] read with 34 [Criminal acts by several persons in furtherance of common intention] of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Ibrahim and his father Khalid Durrani, an official of the Pakistan Air Force, have been booked in the case and the Investigation Police has been assigned the case’s probe. However, no arrests have been made so far.
According to reports, Shahrah-e-Faisal investigation officer Israr Afridi, the police had raided the suspects’ house but they were not found there. He said the police later confronted Khalid, who was sick.
Afridi maintained that Khalid was neither seen in the CCTV footage of the incident, nor any evidence was found against him, which was why the police did not arrest him. However, another report has said that Khalid instigated his son to “attack them more”.
He said Ibrahim’s mobile had been powered off and suspected that he had deliberately switched off the phone to avoid arrest.
Efforts are underway to trace him using his mobile phone’s location and call detail record, Afridi said, adding that he believes Durrani’s mental condition is not stable.
A picture of a crew member of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) calming a restless baby during a flight recently went viral on social media.
Fakhr-e-Alam shared a picture of the head purser on an Islamabad-Karachi flight holding a baby in his arms.
The singer shared that the PIA official had come to help an exhausted mother and soothe the crying baby to give her a break.
“A friend onboard [a] PIA Islamabad to Karachi early morning flight yesterday shared this. A baby was crying non-stop, the mother was exhausted and stressed, she couldn’t comfort the child,” shared Alam.
“So the head purser Mr Tauheed helped the child sleep. Now that truly is GREAT people to fly with,” added the singer.
A friend onboard @Official_PIA ISD to KHI early morning flt yesterday shared this. A baby was crying non stop, the mother was exhausted & stressed, she couldn’t comfort the child. So the head pursur Mr.Tauheed helped the child sleep. Now that truly is GREAT people to fly with. 👍🏼 pic.twitter.com/yM4aynPA1i
Soon after the singer’s post, social media users started praising the act of kindness.
We all should encourage these type act of kindness and avoid bad comments. We all know that the previous governments did nig damage to pia but hopefully now the pia is on track…
I had been in PIA with my son of 6 months & he started crying when the flight took off , the air hostess came and tried to console him , helped me by telling me to cover his ears and even held him for some time too … I wish I could have taken the pic too of that sweet lady
Later, in an interview with ARY’s Morning Show Bakhabar Sawera, the officer, Tauheed said that he had no idea he would go viral.
“I had no idea someone is recording me. I don’t know who took my pictures or made me viral,” said Tauheed, adding: “It is a part of our duty to take care of our passengers. It is a part of our training to ensure their safety on a flight, and take care of their needs.”
Reports indicate that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are fighting over the slot of leader of opposition in the Senate. On March 8, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Information Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain told the media that it has been decided that the candidate for deputy chairman Senate would be from JUI-F and leader of the opposition in the upper House would be from the PML-N. Yousaf Raza Gillani was the PDM’s joint candidate for Senate chairman.
Sources say the PPP is now vying for this position as they have reservations over the nomination of newly elected Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar by the PML-N. Tarar is a senior lawyer and is representing two accused police officers in the Benazir Bhutto murder case. When he was asked about these reservations in Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’, Tarar said that he has his own professional commitments [as a lawyer] and he was representing the two police officers who were being tried for negligence in BB murder case. “These two have no role in the assassination but are being tried for negligence related to washing the crime scene.”
مسلم لیگ ن اور پیپلز پارٹی کا ایک اختلاف یہ بھی ہے کہ ن لیگ اعظم نذیر تارڑ کو سینیٹ میں لیڈر آف اپوزیشن بناناچاہتی ہے پیپلز پارٹی کا کہنا ہے کہ تارڑ صاحب بینظیر قتل کیس میں دو ملزمان کے وکیل ہیں اس لئے وہ ہمیں لیڈر آف اپوزیشن کے طور پر قبول نہیں pic.twitter.com/L0p5qm8JgU
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has decided to restart flights to Swat, Skardu and Gilgit in order to promote tourism in these areas.
As per details, Pakistan’s national carrier will resume flight operations to the country’s scenic Swat valley after nearly 17 years from next week, a spokesperson for the airline said on Thursday.
According to reports, ever since Taliban militants took over Swat, tourism in the picturesque valley was badly affected with flight operations suspended. Army operations to clear out militant safe havens and improved security in recent years have allowed tourism to re-emerge on the Hindu Kush mountain range.
“PIA is going to resume flight operations to Saidu Sharif, Swat, after 17 years,” said PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan while talking to a local media outlet. The spokesperson added that Swat’s only airport, equipped to handle small ATR-70 aircraft, has been closed since 2004.
The purpose of resuming the flights now, Khan said, was “to encourage tourism in the region,” adding that “there is huge potential.”
Khan further said that two weekly flights will also operate from Lahore, with a 15 minute stopover in Islamabad.
In January 2019, Pakistan loosened travel restrictions in the hope of reviving tourism by offering visas on arrival to visitors from 50 countries and electronic visas to 175 nationalities.
Pakistan was last a prominent tourist destination in the 1970s when the “hippie trail” brought Western travellers through the apricot and walnut orchards of the Swat Valley and Kashmir on their way to India and Nepal.
Since then, deteriorating security conditions have prevented tourists and travellers from visiting the country.
A 2019 Gallup report said tourist traffic at cultural sites in Pakistan had seen an increase of 317 per cent over five years. Prince William and Kate Middleton’s five-day visit to Pakistan in October 2019 also boosted interest in the country as a tourist spot.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday said unresolved disputes in South Asia were dragging the entire region into debt and poverty, in a veiled reference to the Kashmir issue.
Addressing a gathering on the final day of the Islamabad Security Dialogue, COAS Bajwa said the national security encompassed more than just matters and affairs related to strengthening the country’s security forces.
“It included development and human security as well,” he said.
“We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward,” he said, adding that the onus for meaningful dialogue rested with India.
“Our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in occupied Kashmir.”
— Islamabad Security Dialogue (@IsbDialogue) March 18, 2021
“The world has seen the ravages of the world wars and the Cold War, wherein polarisation and neglect of virtues blighted the future and brought catastrophic consequences for humanity,” he said.
“Today the leading drivers of change in the world are demography, economy and technology. However, one issue that remains central to this concept is economic security and cooperation. Frayed relations between various powers centres of the globe and boomeranging of competing alliances can bring nothing but another stint of Cold War.”
Congratulating the National Security Division on organising the dialogue, Gen Bajwa stated that the contemporary concept of national security was not just about protecting countries from an external and internal threat.
It is also about providing a conducive environment for ensuring human security, national progress and development, he said.
“We are trying, but India would have to take the first step and unless it does that we cannot move ahead,” the prime minister had said while inaugurating the Islamabad Security Dialogue.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has directed the party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chapter to continue preparations for the March 26 long march to Islamabad, reports said Thursday.
A letter was written to the party’s KP leadership on Fazl’s directives, directing the leaders not to slow down the preparations. The letter said the long march has only been postponed until Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) makes its decision on the march.
Nine of the 11 component parties of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) are ready to participate in the long march while PPP has sought time to make a final decision concerning en masse resignations, the letter said.
The development comes two days after the opposition alliance announced to postpone the long march after PPP linked its resignations from the legislative assemblies with deposed prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif’s return — a condition PML-N termed out of the question.
“Nine parties [of PDM] were in favour of resignations along with the long march but PPP had expressed some reservations,” Fazl told reporters on Tuesday, adding the PPP would discuss the matter during its upcoming central executive committee (CEC) meeting.
A day earlier, Fazl held a telephonic conversation with Nawaz and urged him to return to Pakistan, saying with top PML-N leadership living abroad in self-exile, it was difficult to execute decisions taken by the opposition alliance.
After spending a year in prison, Nawaz, 71, secured a conditional bail in November 2019 to travel to London on the pretext of medical treatment and has since refused to return.
His party insists that despite being summoned by the courts, which declared him a proclaimed offender in multiple corruption trials, the former premier will only return after the completion of his medical treatment.
Minister for Planning and Development and National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) chairperson Asad Umar has said the country has witnessed a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, warning that if the standard operation procedures (SOPs) are not followed, the government will be forced to take stricter measures.
“Sharp spike in COVID positivity,” wrote Umar in a tweet. “Hospital daily admissions and people in critical care rising fast.”
“If SOP compliance does not improve, we will be forced to place stronger restrictions on activities,” warned the minister, adding: “The new strain spreads faster and is more deadly.”
Sharp spike in covid positivity. Hospital daily admissions & people in critical care rising fast. If sop compliance does not improve, we will be forced to place stronger restrictions on activities. Please be very very careful. The new strain spreads faster and is more deadly.
“The NCOC was apprised on implementation of various health guidelines as already issued to all federating units. NCOC was apprised that implementation on those guidelines needs comprehensive review. NCOC showed serious concern on rising disease trend and mortality rate,” read the statement.
“The forum was briefed that a sharply rising trend in disease is visible and positivity has crossed 7.5 percent. Almost all major cities have crossed 5% positivity,” it said further. “Provincial administrations have been asked to take immediate actions for strict implementation of SOPs.”
The NCOC added that “serious concern was shown on general disregard of SOPs by masses. Mass violations of SOPs and disrespect of orders including not wearing of mask, disregard of social distancing are widely reported.”
It appealed to the citizens “to display good example of social behavior and follow the SOPs in letter and spirit, otherwise, strict measures will have to be taken which may result into closure of business and restrictions on economic and social activities.”
The NCOC further said that COVID vaccination centers across the country will remain closed on Sundays and national holidays.
Later, Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar also urged businesses and corporations to strictly implement COVID protocols to avoid inconvenience.
تمام صنعت اور کاروبار اپنے SOP سختی سے لاگو کریں۔ کورونا کی تیسری لہر کا آغاز ہو چکا ہے اور SOPs پر عمل پیرا کرنے سے زندگی اور روزگار دونوں کی حفاظت ممکن ہے۔ https://t.co/47DMua5Qy7
According to the latest statistics, Pakistan has reported a total of 3,495 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of daily cases recorded since 3,795 cases on December 6, 2020.
A total of 61 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the national positivity rate has risen to 7.8 per cent as the country battles a third wave of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Umar on Wednesday also announced that over 41 thousand people were vaccinated the previous day marking the highest daily vaccination rate. Vaccinations for those aged 60 and above commenced on March 10.
Highest daily vaccination rate of over 41 thousand vaccinations achieved yesterday. Of these 28, 424 vaccinations were carried out of senior citizens. Please encourage everyone who is 70 plus to register to get vaccinated.
The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has allegedly denied international veterinarians and animal experts access to Karachi Zoo and Safari Park elephants Malika, Sonu, Noor Jahan and Madhubala, preventing them from receiving medical treatment.
In a detailed post on social media, the Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), which identifies itself as a body “promoting compassion towards all sentient beings,” detailed the ordeal faced by the elephants and alleged that the KMC has barred international animal experts from assessing the health of the elephants and treating them accordingly.
The animal welfare society also said that Malika’s health is in “dire straits” and requires “urgent veterinary care”.
“Her cracked tusks, broken nails, swollen legs and urine burnt feet are a testimony to the abuse she [has] suffered,” said PAWS, adding that one of Malaika’s legs is four times the size of her other legs and she appears to be unable to properly bear weight on any of her legs.
“When she walks, she hobbles along very slowly. The pads of her feet are cracked and have deep pits, which the Safari park management and elephant keeper claim to be ‘winter dryness’.”
Her plight, along with Sonu’s, Noor Jehan’s and Madhubala’s, the three other elephants in Karachi, caught the attention of the international elephant network PREN that issued a report about their captive behaviour and housing conditions. https://t.co/d9EAUHlxAx
— Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) (@pawspakistan) March 11, 2021
PAWS said that UK-based animal rights organisation Free The Wild (FTW) offered to help the elephants and send experts to Karachi to assess the animals’ health and devise a strategy with the authorities on how to treat them. They have also been running an online donation campaign for them so that the government does not have to bear the expenses. The campaign aims to raise $30,000 and $17,637.55 were raised till the last update i.e. March 10.
According to PAWS, KMC management gave its verbal permission to Free the Wild and Dr Frank Goëritz and Dr Thomas Hildebrandt, two renowned elephant specialists to come and assess the animals’ health. They were scheduled to arrive in Karachi on February 23. However, the city government changed its decision last minute, denying them access.
On seeing Malika’s ailing health, Free The Wild @ftwglobal, a charity based in UK, offered @kmcpakistan free veterinary assessment for all 4 elephants along with capacity building and training for the keepers with no financial burden on the city government https://t.co/GkShsMVQX2
— Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) (@pawspakistan) March 11, 2021
But the weekend before, @kmcpakistan changed their mind, saw it as an attack on their writ and made it into an issue of pride and egos.
— Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) (@pawspakistan) March 11, 2021
PAWS said that they had several rounds of meetings with KMC officials hoping to work out a solution to ease the elephants’ plight but the city government “raised objections against fundraising” claiming “that it brings a bad name to Pakistan”. PAWS also told The Current that neither the Sindh Government nor government officials have made any efforts to help the elephants and keep shutting out the animal rights body saying that “the elephants are the ‘property’ of KMC”.
We were aghast, but not surprised, at KMC’s reaction, for they are the gatekeepers singlehandedly responsible for the cruelty meted to the elephants over the last 12 years. Still, we continued to engage with their officials to work out a solution for the welfare of the elephants.
— Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) (@pawspakistan) March 11, 2021
PAWS urged the federal and provincial governments as well as Prime Minister Imran Khan to help the elephants and ease their plight.
— Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) (@pawspakistan) March 11, 2021
In a statement issued by FTW, all four elephants – reportedly smuggled from Tanzania in 2009 – are held captive in small cement enclosures and chained at the feet for 15 hours a day. The wild animals are suffering from broken nails and lacerated feet due to cemented floors, cracked tusks and swollen legs from standing all day and not having any movement.
“All four elephants are showing visible signs of psychological and physical pain and urgently need our help,” reads the statement.
FTW further said that just as their vets were “preparing to leave Germany – with visas arranged, international flights booked, local accommodation reserved and, very importantly, medication purchased – KMC suddenly withheld their permission for the Free The Wild vets to enter the zoo and safari park.”
"We have arranged for Dr. Frank Goëritz and Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt – two of the world's most renowned elephant experts and arguably amongst the most qualified specialists in regards to elephant behaviour and wellbeing, to meet Dr. Isma Gheewala in Karachi on 22 February 2021." pic.twitter.com/TKwGWLW7gU
— Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) (@pawspakistan) March 17, 2021
Co-founder of FTW Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, while expressing her disappointment, said: “Words just cannot express how disappointed we are by the sudden lack of support. The trip was planned and even medications purchased. This is not only a major setback for the health of the elephants but also has wasted very valuable funds as the medications will expire and cannot be returned. I fail to understand why anyone bites a helping hand. This was at no cost at all to the KMC and not only would have helped these animals but also provided training for locals moving forward. I hope the petition will overcome these odd bureaucratic obstacles.”
The animal welfare body added that “we are not going to just walk away. We [will] petition Karachi courts and requesting an urgent ruling to ensure the wellbeing of these animals.”
Advocate Owais Awan, who was part of Kaavan’s legal team and helped him gain freedom while speaking to The Current said that they have no choice but to file a petition before the Honourable Sindh High Court (SHC). He asserted that the animals are suffering and need immediate medical care, which can only be provided by experts.
“I was shocked to see the state of the elephants,” said Advocate Awan. “Their enclosures and conditions were even worse than Kaavan’s. He at least had some space to walk. These elephants are kept chained all day in tiny enclosures.”
Advocate Awan explained that all four elephants are African elephants and that Pakistani vets do not have the necessary expertise to deal with their problems, adding that the team of international experts coming were not only going to check the animals but were also going to train vets and caretakers to take better care of the elephants.
KMC responds
Meanwhile, speaking exclusively to The Current, KMC spokesperson Ali Hassan Sajid trashed PAWS claims and said that the animals were doing fine.
“We have a team of vets looking after them and all the elephants are being cared for,” said Hassan. This scribe requested Hassan to share pictures of the elephants. However, they were not received till the filing of this report.
When asked about using vaseline to treat cracks in the skin – a matter which stirred outrage online – Hassan said that vaseline is applied to the animals’ toes and skin because it tends to crack up in the winters just like human skin. He said that the ointment was used to heal the dryness and proved to be very effective.
The spokesperson also launched a tirade against the animal rights body, saying that they are using the elephants to raise donations and collect money.
“Chanda akhata kar rahe hain yeh log sirf,” said Hassan, alleging that the body has raised $30,000 by deceiving people.
Sajid further said that PAWS was bringing a bad name to Pakistan with its fundraising campaign and giving out a message to the world that Pakistan cannot care for its animals.
The official also said that KMC’s legal department is working towards launching an official complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against PAWS for bringing a bad name to Pakistan.
Earlier, in December 2020, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had ordered KMC and Karachi Zoo administration to shift the 20-year-old Syrian brown bear Rano from her 25-foot wide Victorian ‘grotto’ pit to another open cage, 500 times bigger than her current enclosure. During the hearings, the court had also instructed KMC to present the zoo’s budget and had expressed anger over the fact that there was only one doctor for all animals at the zoo.
Zoos in Pakistan have long drawn international condemnation for their mistreatment of animals. Last year, on December 16, Islamabad’s Marghazar Zoo was shut down after the Islamabad High Court ordered for Kaavan, the elephant and two brown bears Babloo and Suzie to be relocated to sanctuaries abroad.
