Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Sunday announced that Pakistan has successfully inoculated 25 million people against the novel coronavirus.

Taking to Twitter, the minister — who is also the chief of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) —  announced that aside from inoculating 25 million people (2.5 crores), the government is employing measures to vaccinate more people in the coming month.

“Further acceleration [is] being planned for August. By [the] end of August, all major cities’ target is to have at least 40% of the eligible population vaccinated,” Umar wrote.

Meanwhile, 45 more people lost their lives to the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking Pakistan’s nationwide death toll past 23,000, figures issued by the NCOC showed on Sunday.

According to the NCOC, 44,579 coronavirus tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, out of which 2,819 turned out to be positive. The result meant that Pakistan’s coronavirus positivity ratio stands at 6.3%.On the other hand, the 45 new deaths mean that the nationwide death toll stands at 23,016.

The total number of recovered patients in Pakistan stands at 925,958 and the number of active cases is at 55,720.

KARACHI, July 24 (DNA): President Dr. Arif Alvi on Saturday expressed grave concern over violations of COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) throughout the country and said that the compliance of the guidelines was immensely important to prevent the fourth wave of the coronavirus and reduce its negative effects.

The President said while chairing a meeting on the COVID-19 situation and development projects in Sindh province, at Sindh Governor’s House here.

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar were also attended the meeting.

President Dr. Arif Alvi said that the guidelines of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) were not followed on the occasion of Namaz-e-Eid at Faisal mosque Islamabad and the COVID-19 SOPs were being ignored.

He also advised the people that they should vaccinate themselves against coronavirus as soon as possible and also strictly observe the NCOC guidelines to stop further spread of coronavirus.

The President urged for the need to play a role by the people in these testing times and take precautionary measures against coronavirus during their gatherings.

He said that Sindh Governor Imran Ismail should convene a meeting of Ulema and scholars before the holy month of Muharram-ul-Haram to ensure observance of COVID-19 SOPs during gatherings including religious congregations.

President Dr. Arif Alvi said that the Federal Government is pursuing a sustainable development agenda for Sindh.

The President also stressed the need to ensure the participation of the people of Sindh for achieving the goals of social development and sustainable management of resources for poverty alleviation.

The President highly appreciated the efforts of the Federal Government for development schemes for Karachi and other districts of Sindh province.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development and Special Initiatives Asad Omar also gave a detailed briefing on the situation of the fourth wave of coronavirus in the country. Asad Omar said that there are clear signs of the beginning of the fourth wave of coronavirus in the country.

The Federal Minister said that the number of coronavirus cases is on the rise due to poor compliance of COVID-19 SOPs and also the arrival of Delta variant of the coronavirus in the country.

He said that the government is pursuing a two-pronged strategy to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

He said that the NCOC guidelines to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 will be strictly enforced in big cities, especially at the tourists’ destinations.

People are being encouraged to wear face masks, avoid crowded places, and get vaccinated against the coronavirus, Asad Omar said.

ISLAMABAD (DNA): Special arrangements are being made in the city of Islamabad on a priority basis to avoid the problems caused by heavy rains during the monsoon and to solve them in a timely manner.

In this regard, on the special directions of the CDA Management, the M&RM and MPO departments have been tasked to take steps to clean up the rain gutters and remove the obstructions in the drainage system keeping in view the flood hazards during the monsoon. The pace of construction and repair work of drains has been further accelerated, so that water does not accumulate on the roadsides and alleys, and does not obstruct the flow of water, which causes difficulties to the citizens of Islamabad.

In addition, the CDA administration has formed special city wise monitoring teams during the monsoon rains, which will carry out their duties to deal with an any emergency situation

In addition, the CDA Management has issued orders to the concerned departments to expedite the preparations for the contingencies  posed by the monsoon rains. DNA

ISLAMABAD, JUL 24 /DNA/ – Condemning Noor Mukadam’s barbaric and gruesome murder, Pakistan People’s Party Vice President and Chair Foreign Affairs Senate Standing Committee, Senator Sherry Rehman said, “There can be no two ways about it or any explanation for it. Unfortunately, this is not a one-off case and there must be justice for Noor and all other girls who have been violated or wronged, let alone killed”.

“In a span of two weeks, there have been multiple cases of violence against women. With such incidents happening on a daily basis, it is important for us to discuss why the domestic violence bill is needed in Pakistan. This bill seeks to protect women, children, and other vulnerable groups from domestic violence. It also provides relief and rehabilitation to all victims of domestic violence,” she added.

Discussing Khadija Siddiqi’s case, she said, “It is shocking that the man who stabbed her 23 times has been granted remission on the account of donating blood and on payment of the requisite fines of Arsh and Daman. He did not even get to complete his 5-year jail sentence. This is not the example that we should be setting. On the other hand, Usman Mirza who assaulted a couple is still on physical remand. There needs to be swift justice in such cases”.

“Pakistan ranks at the 151st position out of 153 countries at the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum. There are countless cases which do not get reported or make it to social media but one can’t deny the femicide happening in Pakistan. Someone needs to take the responsibility for Quratulain who was murdered by her husband within her home, or for the women who were beaten up by the men of their family. We can no longer ignore the suffering of our women,” she added.

Highlighting the importance of the domestic violence bill, she said, “This landmark legislation is long over due and most certainly, the need of the hour. It’s high time that we outlaw practices which are a threat to the safety and wellbeing of our women. Instead of blaming women for sexual violence, it is important that we work towards changing our culture of sexism and misogyny”.

“I had moved this bill in 2004 when I was an MNA. After that, devolution allowed provinces to make laws to protect women. Sindh’s law is still the model law but why is the Federal government unable to accept either my law moved in 2020 in the Senate or the Human Rights Ministry’s?” she questioned.

Parliamentary leader of the Pakistan People’s Party in Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman concluded by saying, “The government needs to do more than just act in sporadic cases. They need to institutionally have a response mechanism and an environment that enables women to be safe and empowered in public and private spaces. It is also the government’s responsibility to ensure that women feel safe to speak up against the injustice happening to them”.=DNA

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ISLAMABAD, JUL 24 – Prime Minister Imran Khan has planted trees at Nathia as part of monsoon tree plantation campaign.

On this occasion PM Imran said that I want our whole nation to participate in the greening of Pakistan.