Nazir Siyal

KARACHI: Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has called another meeting of the anti-government alliance in Islamabad on September 8.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will also, according to the sources, attend this meeting via video link.

The alliance will consult on speeding up its anti-government movement, the sources said, adding that the long march will also come under discussion. A schedule of public rallies and the road caravan routes will be finalised at the PDM meeting, the sources said.

This will be PDM’s second meeting in two weeks as the Opposition alliance gears up to revive its anti-government campaign that had stalled over the past couple of months.

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to curb crimes in the country and ensure a timely action against the criminals, the government is all set to launch Universal Pakistan Emergency Helpline (PEHEL) -911 in the first week of October 2021.

Presiding over a meeting on the establishment of Universal Pakistan Emergency Helpline (PEHEL) -911, PM Imran directed the authorities concerned to remove all obstacles in the commencement of service as soon as possible to curb crime in the country, according to the Prime Minister Office.

The meeting was attended by Home Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, SAPM Dr Shahbaz Gill, Home Secretary, Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Chairman Nadra, Chief Commissioner Islamabad, DG National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), DG National Information Technology Board (NITB) and other officers concerned attended.

During the meeting, the prime minister was apprised of the update on the establishment of PEHEL -911. The prime minister was informed that all necessary work including inter-provincial liaison has been completed and the helpline will be ready for regular opening by the first week of October 2021.

PM Imran stressed that the protection of life and property of the people is the primary responsibility of the government. 

He hoped that the launch of this helpline would help ensure peace and security in the country as it would enable timely action against crime.

Earlier on August 25, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said it “pained” him to see the Minar-e-Pakistan incident in which hundreds of men assaulted a woman on Independence Day, and called it a source of “shame” for the country.

“The Minar-e-Pakistan incident, when I saw it, I was ashamed, it pained me to see it,” he said.

“No one could have imagined such an incident taking place [in Pakistan] when I was growing up,” PM Imran Khan had said, during an event in Lahore, where he stressed on educating the country’s youth in line with Islamic teachings.

“The downfall that we are witnessing is because our children are not being educated in the right manner. This is not a part of our culture and neither of our religion,” he had said, referring to the behaviour that was displayed by the mob, at the Greater Iqbal Park in Lahore on August 14.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 31 :The deadline for registration to appear in the Undergraduate Studies Assessment Test (USAT), conducted by Education Testing Council (ETC), has been extended till September 1, 2021.

Keeping in view the problems faced by students while registering and considering the tremendous interest garnered by USAT, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Tuesday announced to extend the deadline.

According to HEC, the test will tentatively be conducted, as announced earlier, on September 12, 2021.

The universities may freely choose to accept the USAT result cards as valid for their respective admissions by announcing it for their prospective undergraduate candidates.

Being a universal test gauging the ability of a student, it can be used by all universities if they so desire. The test is however not intended for the candidates applying for MBBS/ BDS programmes.

The standardised admission test USAT offered by ETC is a competitive product that intends to carve out its own niche based on quality tests.

USAT is developed from a standardised question bank with quality, equity, reliability, and validity of the product, as well as the integrity of the processes involved, ensured at all levels of development, administration, grading, and result reporting. Its validity will hold for a year.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 31:Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Tuesday released 219677 cusecs water from various rim stations with an inflow of 233903 cusecs.

According to the data released by IRSA, the water level in the Indus River at Tarbela Dam was 1548.88  feet, which was 156.88 feet higher than its dead level of 1392 feet.

Water inflow and outflow in the dam were recorded as 155700 and 120300 cusecs respectively.

The water level in the Jhelum River at Mangla Dam was 1198.70 feet, which was 148.07 feet higher than its dead level of 1050.00 feet whereas the inflow and outflow of water were recorded as 13826 and 35000 cusecs respectively.

The release of water at Kalabagh, Taunsa, and Sukkur was recorded as 159577, 170999, and 67035 cusecs respectively. Similarly, from the Kabul River, a total of  21500 cusecs of water was released at Nowshera and 42877 cusecs released from the Chenab River at Marala.