ISLAMABAD, MAR 28 – The National Command and Operation Centre banned all indoor and outdoor wedding across the country given the rising coronavirus metrics.

The new restrictions will come into place from April 5 and last throughout Ramazan, Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar said on Sunday.

He said that a decision to tighten restrictions has been taken given the rising number of critical coronavirus patients at hospitals in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad.

In the last 24 hours, Pakistan reported 4,767 coronavirus cases and 57 deaths. Umar said that the coronavirus situation in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad was bad because of the UK strain.

Punjab to arrest people without face masks: Firdous

“Punjab has decided that anyone seen not wearing a mask in public will be fined and sent to jail for up to six months,” Special Assistant to Punjab CM Firdous Ashiq Awan pointed out.

She said that the NCOC has highlighted the coronavirus SOP violations at shops and markets in the province. “In Ramazan, it will get more difficult to ensure the implementation of precautionary measures.”

Chief Minister Usman Buzdar will announce the new protocols and restrictions for markets in the meeting on Monday as well.

“One of the most important things we are doing is reducing 50% seat occupancy in inter-city travel,” the special assistant revealed. “We are looking forward to transport associations helping us with this.”

ISLAMABAD, MAR 28 – PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman have suspended their political activities for some days due to their health, the spokespersons of their respective parties said on Sunday.

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that Maryam has “high fever and throat pain”. The PML-N vice president has been advised by doctors to rest, added Aurangzeb.

Her test result for the novel coronavirus, however, was negative, said her political secretary Zeeshan Malik.

“Maryam Nawaz went to the Lahore High Court (LHC) despite being unwell,” Aurangzeb said in a statement shared by the party’s Twitter account.

Maryam has cancelled her political activities for the next four days.

Maryam had appeared at the LHC on Wednesday for the hearing of her petition seeking pre-arrest bail in an illegal land acquisition case. She had been granted bail and directed to appear before the investigating officer of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

However, the bureau postponed Maryam’s appearance at its Lahore office on March 26, citing the spread of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the JUI-F said that Rehman has had fever for the last two days. He has also been advised to rest by doctors and is currently at his home in Dera Ismail Khan, the spokesperson shared.

“Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s corona test report is negative. He has cancelled his political activities because he is unwell,” he added.

Maryam and Fazl have been at the forefront of the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which recently suffered a setback after differences appeared amid the alliance, particularly with the PPP over the Senate opposition leader.

Following the declaration of PPP Senator Yousuf Raza Gilani as the opposition leader of the upper house of parliament, Maryam alleged that PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari had offered a deal to the PML-N in a meeting of the PDM, purportedly backed by the establishment, of regime change in Punjab.

On the other hand, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said PML-N should not have expected PPP members to vote for its “controversial” candidate, Azam Nazeer Tarar.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Imran Khan and first lady Bushra Bibi tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Asfandyar Wali Khan, whose Awami National Party (ANP) is part of the 10-party opposition alliance, too tested positive for Covid-19. The ANP chief quarantined himself at Wali Bagh Charsadda while scheduled meetings of the party were postponed.

ISLAMABAD, Mar 28 : The Panagah or Shelter Homes a much praised initiative of Prime Minister Imran Khan has revived the centuries old traditions of Mughal Empire that introduced the concept of sarai or resting place, modern day shelter homes, extending food and shelter to travelers and destitute people alike with dignity and comfort.

The Prime Minister Imran Khan introduced this programme with the vision to provide livable shelter for poor, impoverished masses including labourers, daily waged workers and homeless people spending their nights under open skies living a pathetic and miserable life. The Panagah is not only a living place rather two times quality meal in an excellent manner.

The idea of shelter homes for poor and needy masses by the incumbent government has appeared to be successful and becoming eminent among the labour class and well-off people alike coming to the Capital from different regions of the country including Rawalpindi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The majority of people taking shelters in Panagahs are daily waged laborers, poor class and homeless persons.

Muhammad Farooq Butt, a UK based overseas national hailing from Lahore told that during his visa renewal issue during the second wave of the pandemic getting a hotel for one night was becoming difficult for a person with limited resources. “An average hotel is simply offering a room for one night stay at Rs3,000 to Rs5,000 minimum which appears not to be too dear but it gets difficult for a person facing job layoff and no livelihood source due to pandemic-forced closures to afford while travelling to other cities especially the Capital,” he added.

Butt said it was quite astonishing to see such a wonderful arrangement at the Panagah of the Capital as there were neat and clean beds, charpoys and also quality food for its dwellers.

“I reached the Capital at night and entered a Panagah just to see the arrangements if it was livable as I did not want to go to a hotel to stay for a night because there was limited amount of money I had in hand and also had to manage my return in it,” he said with contended smile and expression of satisfaction. He added that there could be thousands of differences with the present government’s policies and decisions but the Panagah initiative was the well conceived and implemented project of the Prime Minister.

The PTI government had established five shelter homes in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and in KP to provide a secure place for homeless people who used to sleep on roads or footpaths and to help them spending night in freezing temperatures during Winter season.

An official in the district administration Masood Shah told  that such homes will protect the people from extreme weather conditions and chilling temperatures and so far, this project is functioning in Islamabad, Punjab, and KP.

He said that there are 105 beds in every shelter home and it remains full every day and some NGO’s are helping to provide food on daily basis.

When asked about the maintenance or any issue being reported, he replied that the guests were usually seen happy with the environment and had no complaints.

He added that to provide shelter and basic amenities to the poor, needy and working class in a dignified manner at shelter homes , the scope of Islamabad’s model shelters would gradually be extended to other  provinces soon.

Lauding the all-out efforts made by the government for the most vulnerable and marginalized sections of the society, he said the program will bring a positive change to the people of marginalized community of Pakistan as it is in line with the global model for reducing poverty.

The initiative would help the poor, deserving, and daily wagers to save their hard-earned money to fulfill the needs of their children and families instead of spending it on rents in their meager earnings, he stated.

A daily wager Gunbat Khan said this shelter home project  is a blessing for people like us adding that this was never done by any government before.

He told that this home provides us food and shelter and we people are very thankful to the government for this favour and facility.

He further said that he spent night at the nearest shelter home for past few weeks. He mentioned that his spending had decreased and savings increased at the cost of rent travelling and food being spared.

ISLAMABAD, Mar 28  : Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday wished the Hindu community a very happy Holi. In a tweet he said, “Wishing all our Hindu community a very happy Holi, the festival of colours.”

The Diwali Festival is being celebrated by the Hindu community on March 28-29.

The festival is celebrated in several parts of the country especially in educational institutions.

The hindu community is important part of our society and their religious festivals are respected across the country. Pakistani nation congratulates the Hindu community on the festival of colours “Holi”.

Islamic teachings and sayings of Quaid-I-Azam give us lesson of inter-faith harmony.

After the independence, Quaid-i-Azam gave clear vision that every citizen of Pakistan would have the liberty to

practice their religion.

Pakistan came into being because equal rights were not provided to Muslims of sub-continent.

At present, equal rights are not provided to religious minorities in so-called secular India. Rather, controversial laws like Citizenship Amendment Act were introduced to further the Hindutva ideology. Besides, low caste Hindus like Dalits are suppressed and maltreated.

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz is not feeling well and has canceled all her scheduled political activities, spokesperson of the party said on Sunday.

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, in a statement, said that Maryam Nawaz is having fever and sore throat. The PML-N leader has also been tested for the coronavirus, the spokesperson said and added that despite health issues, Maryam appeared before the Lahore High Court.

Doctors have advised Maryam Nawaz to take rest, Aurangzeb added.

On March 25, the National Accountability Bureau postponed Maryam’s hearing over coronavirus concerns.

After a surge in coronavirus cases in Punjab, the provincial government has registered first case in Lahore over violation of coronavirus-related standard operating procedures (SOPS).

A resident, named Muhammad Javed, was booked at PS Islampura for not wearing facemask, which has been declared mandatory by the government after the COVID surge.

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser met with Burak Özçivit, the lead actor from popular TV series “Kurulus: Osman” in Turkey.

Taking to Twitter, he shared a picture of himself posing beside the Turkish actor.

“It was a pleasure to met with @burakozcivit from #KurulusOsman,” the speaker wrote on his official Twitter handle. “I throughly enjoy watching period pieces in the little time I get. Hoping Kurulus: Osman to be another memorable watch.”

Burak Özçivit is essaying the role of Osman Bey in “Kurulus: Osman”, which is a sequel to “Dirilis:Ertugrul”.

Qaiser visited Turkey to attend the 4th Conference of Speakers of Parliaments on “Countering Terrorism & Strengthening Regional Connectivity” in Antalya. Earlier, he met Isparta Governor Vahdettin Ozkan.