DNA

Karachi, 31 Aug – Pakistan Navy’s relief operation continued in rain-hit areas of Karachi and Sindh. Pakistan Navy teams, besides rescue operation, provided cooked food, necessary ration items and established medical care centers for assistance of distressed populous.

Pakistan Navy has augmented relief and rescue activities in Karachi and Badin, Sindh. Pakistan Navy assisted repairing of LBOD overflow/ leakage in coordination with civil administration at District Badin. Different areas were also de-flooded.  Relief and rescue efforts were launched at various parts of Karachi and citizens were shifted to safer places. Hundreds of cooked food packets were distributed amongst the traumatized families in rain-hit area of Younis Abad & Kakka Pir, Nazimabad and Surjani Town. Additionally, thousands of bags containing necessary food items were also distributed in Surjani Town, Yaro khan Goth, Yousaf Goth, khamesso Goth covering diverse localities at Karachi and relief camps at District Badin.

Medical Camps established at Badin were reinforced with additional doctors and medics of Pakistan Navy.  Mobile medical teams visited various localities and provided treatment and medicines to over 1000 patients. Medical assistance was also extended to residents, forced to remain confined at their homes due widespread flooding in Defence and Clifton areas.

Pakistan Navy’s rescue & relief operation continues in Karachi and Sindh, to extend all out support in rain-hit areas.

ISLAMABAD : Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated on Monday that the federal government will play a vigorous role in resolving the problems faced by the people of Karachi and developing the metropolis.

Chairing a high-level meeting to deliberated on Karachi Transformation Plan, he said: “We cannot shut our eyes to the hardships of public.”

PM Imran Khan maintained he is well aware of Karachi’s perennial public issues that remain unresolved, emphasising that the development of the country is linked to the city’s uplift.

He issued directives for finalising the Karachi Transformation Plan in consultation with all stakeholders this week so that it can be approved and work towards its implementation could begin at the earliest.

The meeting was attended by Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Ziadi, and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal among others.

The issues concerning the city’s sewerage system, supply of clean drinking water, cleaning of stormwater drains, solid waste management, and public transport were discussed during the meeting at length.

ISLAMABAD, AUG 31 (DNA) – Corruption is a curse and is the only solution to eradicate menace of corruption is surgery as the corrupt elements inflicted multiple losses to the country. Corruption is inflicting irreparable losses to country.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was established in 1999. The main aim of establishing NAB was to recover the looted money from the corrupt and put them to justice as per law.

NAB has fulfilled its duties perfectly and deposited a sum of Rs 466 billion in the national exchequer after recovering from the corrupt elements since its inception which is record achievement.

Honorable Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman NAB had devised an effective anti corruption strategy immediately after taking over the responsibilities of Chairman in 2017. Chairman NAB’s strategy has been acknowledged by various reputed organizations.

The visionary Chairman NAB has also introduced various reforms in the bureau for taking action against the corrupt without any discrimination.  NAB’s Headquarter is Islamabad and it has eight regional offices located at Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Sukkur, Multan and Gilgit-Baltistan are working hard with best of their abilities to eradicate corruption and recover looted money from corrupt elements in order to deposit in the national exchequer. NAB during the tenure of Honorable Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman NAB has recovered Rs. 363 billion during last two years which is ample evidence of NAB’s commitment to the cause of eradication of corruption and to make corruption free Pakistan.

Chairman NAB firmly believes in taking action across the board by adopting “Accountability for All” policy without considering their status or position in government or opposition. Some 59 percent people of the country have expressed their satisfaction over the performance of NAB as manifested in surveys conducted by Transparency International, World Economic Forum, PILDAT and Mashal Pakistan. This has indeed rejuvenated NAB. NAB is the Chairman of SAARC anti corruption forum and is focal institution of the country as per anti corruption convention of United Nations (UNCAC), which is honor for the country due to NAB’s efforts. NAB has distinction of inking MoU with China for combating corruption and sharing each other’s experiences regarding elimination of corruption.

NAB has registered a total of 53,643 complaints during the year 2019. Of which 42,760 were addressed as per law. NAB had authorized 2,166 complaint verifications and concluded 1,308 complaint verifications. NAB okayed 1,686 inquiries in the year 2019 and forwarded 747 inquiries for further action. NAB had approved 609 investigations and processed 269 investigations. Out of 179 mega corruption cases, 11 inquiries and 14 investigations are near completion. Under the leadership of Justice Javed, the bureau has recovered record Rs 363
billion directly or indirectly from the corrupt elements and deposited  in the national exchequer. NAB has revisited the workings of its investigation officers and set up the mechanism of Combined Investigation Team (CIT) aimed at benefitting from the experiences of two investigation officers and senior supervisory officers as Case officer/Additional Director, Legal Consultant, Forensic Expert, Financial Expert and Director under the supervision of concerned DG NAB. This has increased the quality of workings, besides eliminating the chances of influence on the cases. NAB has also fixed 10 months period for completing the various stages of registering complaints to filing reference, which is proof of NAB’s sincere efforts of taking the cases to logical conclusion.

NAB’s Regional offices are playing vital role in overall performance of NAB. NAB have established Complaint Cells in all its respective Regional offices excluding Complaint Cell in NAB Headquarters, Islamabad in order to address complaints of people related to corruption and corrupt practices on the directions of Justice Javed Iqbal. Chairman himself listen the complaints of the citizen on every last Thursday of every months by holding ‘Khuli Ketchery’ at his office. Chairman NAB has also set up a special cell to register grievance of the business community at NAB Headquarters. Same Cells have also been established at regional offices of NAB to facilitate business community. A consultative committee has also been constituted to resolve the issues of business community. The business community has lauded the efforts of chairman in resolving their issues.

Chairman has directed all DGs to honor the self esteem of all visiting accused persons as NAB is a human friendly organization which strongly believe in self respect of every person come in NAB. A grading system has also been initiated to assess the performance of NAB officers as well as offices. An effective monitoring and evaluation system was also in place to help assessing the standard of investigation of cases. It is producing positive results.  NAB is committed for logical conclusion of mega corruption investigations, housing societies/cooperative housing societies and modarba scandals and recovered billions of hard earned money from illegal housing /cooperative housing societies which were looted through cheated people at large. All affectees thanked Chairman NAB for recovery of their life earned money. NAB has asked the people to only invest in legal housing societies in order to avoid complications. NAB has also asked LDA, QDA, KDA, MDA, CDA, SBC, PDA and ICT, etc to play their role in checking the illegal housing societies and saving peoples hard earned money. NAB has also established a forensic laboratory in Islamabad for detecting criminal elements and eliminating corruption with the help of modern facilities. The lab has also helped in enhancing standard of investigations. The elimination of corruption is collective responsibility of the society and all and sundry such as media, civil society and others could play important role in this regard. Chairman NAB is committed in teamwork and strongly believe that all investigation officers and prosecutors should pursue NAB cases in accordance with law on the basis of solid evidence on merit. NAB officers consider elimination of corruption as their national responsibility. NAB under the dynamic leadership of Honorable Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman NAB is strictly adhering to its goal of corruption free Pakistan.

Actor Momal Sheikh, the daughter of Javed Sheikh, and her husband Nader Nawaz have been blessed with a baby girl. Sheikh, Nawaz and their son Ibrahim welcomed their new bundle of joy on August 20.

I am proud to announce an addition to the Nawaz/Sheikh family! Please welcome my baby sister, Alyeha Nader Nawaz, born on 20.08.20 Please keep my family in your prayers,” reads the post on Sheikh’s Instagram by newborn’s proud and super excited brother Ibrahim.

Saba Faisal, Sunita Marshall, Mansha Pasha, Sarwat Gillani, Sanam Jung, Ushna Shah and Mahira Khan all congratulated Sheikh on the new arrival by commenting on her post.

Sheikh tied the knot with Nawaz in 2012.

Residents of DHA and Cantonment Board Clifton office gathered at its offices in Karachi to protest against the lack of services, master planning, storm water drains that function and the authority’s response during the monsoon flooding crisis that destroyed property.

“We won’t pay any more taxes,” chant the protesters. “Get Ahmed Chinoy out!” This is the biggest protest this office has seen in years.

Ahmed Chinoy is not the CEO of the CBC, Saleem Hassan Wattoo is. He was appointed two weeks ago.

The CEO arrived at the CBC office at around 2:10pm but left without speaking. Three protesters have been asked to come inside the office to speak to the CEO.

They said that they were angry that the authority had not created or maintained a proper civic infrastructure for residents, despite collecting taxes. They want an audit of current and past accounts of the CBC and transparent disclosure to residents. They also pressed for accountability on the money spent on “a totally non-functioning drainage system made in the middle of the roads”.

DHA’s storm water drains were designed in 2004-05 and constructed at a cost of Rs3 billion, by digging up a strip of the road and covering it with concrete slabs with slits. This solution was more like an afterthought for one of Karachi’s largest, most expensive real estate tracts. The concrete crumbles and create an uneven surface for vehicles. These drains are supposed to channel rain water to the sea, but their network is not extensive enough to handle a monsoon.

After DHA constructed these box drains, they were handed over for maintenance to the Cantonment Board Clifton in 2008. “The Rs3 billion was spend on proper channelization of 60% of storm water drains and the DHA administration decided to complete the remaining work at a later stage,” said an officer, who could not be named as they are not permitted to speak to the media.

The monsoon flooding led to devastation in DHA. The residents have demanded damages be awarded to those residents who have been affected by the clogged drains and gutter lines. They want the broken roads, drainage and sewerage lines to be immediately fixed and adequate water supplies to be provided.

In the meantime, DHA started tweeting. “DHA Storm Water Drain – Myth and Reality: DHA Storm water drain was constructed in 2007 with planning consideration of last 100 years precipitation record of Karachi (207 mm rain in 24 hrs 1977).”

It went on to add: “Much before the onset of ongoing monsoon season complete desilting and cleaning of drain was carried out. Perhaps nature had greater challenge for us, as against our sustenance capacity of 207 mm rain in 24 hrs the current spell was 235 mm in 12 hrs (more than double).”

However, environmentalist Saquib Ejaz Hussain pointed out: “The storm water drainage system was designed for 207mm rainfall in 24 hours whereas the August 27 rain was 235mm in 12 hours, more than double the design capacity. It is high time that our planners consider the extremes in weather patterns and implement climate resilient Infrastructure for Karachi.”

Architect Arif Belgaumi additionally pointed out another point that DHA got wrong about desilting: “This is factually incorrect. The drains were not desilted in time. They were already full of water. In many cases the drains cannot discharge because the outfall drain has a higher level. That’s what’s happening now, we are waiting for the water level to go down.”

Hotels such as the Avari Towers and Beach Luxury are full after the spell of rains. One resident of DHA told SAMAA Digital that he moved to the Pearl Continental because there was no gas, electricity or clean water at his house. Rainwater entered the water tank, contaminating the water.

The history of DHA

DHA started out as the Pakistan Defence Officers’ Cooperative Housing Society (PDOCHS). The PDOCHS started as a normal cooperative housing society that was registered under the 1860 Societies Act, and was part of the welfare received by retired army officers.

At the end of the 1970s development was slow and the society’s financial situation was deteriorating. In order to avert a crisis, the then military dictator Zia-ul-Haq, dissolved PDOCHS through an order and formed DHA as an autonomous new authority with extensive development rights. The Clifton Cantonment was also established as part of this process, with the express purpose and mandate of looking after and maintaining the DHA, according to a research paper by Arif Hasan, Noman Ahmed, Mansoor Raza, Asiya Sadiq, Saeed Ud Din Ahmed and Moizza B Sarwar for the IIED.

The city’s newest cantonment was established with very different objectives from those set up by the British, and has evolved from a civilian-controlled organisation to an army-controlled authority whose administration is headed by a serving brigadier. DHA has its own development plans, strategies and by-laws, and is not bound to follow decisions made by the city administration. Like other cantonments, it can share, consult with and receive advice from city government but is not bound to follow its advice.

DHA is one of the largest land stakeholders in Karachi, not only because it holds 5% of all the land in the city, but because this land is located in prime sites.

It recently acquired an additional 5,080 hectares to develop DHA City. Through the power of the army, the DHA and its affiliated cantonments have become major players in land politics, leading to land and property speculation for and by the elite, according to the paper.

RAWALPINDI, AUG 31 (DNA) – Asia’s biggest children eye hospital is scheduled to be functional by January 2021 with a capacity of treating one hundred and fifty thousand children annually, a leading eye trust announced Monday.

The Rs one billion project is in final stage at the premises of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Rawalpindi which will have a capacity to cater for the needs of 500 OPD patients per day, said President Al-Shifa Trust Maj. Gen. (Retd) Rehmat Khan.

Talking to the media men here, he said that our data regarding school screening shows that 20 percent of children bears some sort of eye problems while 5 percent of them have severe eye disorders.

He said that trust is constructing first children eye hospital in the country with a capacity of 500 OPDs and fifty complicated surgeries would be performed in a day.

This will be the biggest hospital in Asia as far as the capacity is concerned for which we are thankful to the philanthropists and the donors, he added.

Gen Rehmat Khan said that we have 13 eye specialist doctors while the required strength is 16 total. All the necessary equipment has been purchased and the children’s hospital has been linked with the operation rooms of the main hospital.

He said that eye screening for the children should be mandatory as lack of awareness create a lot of problems in the children as they grow.

Babies should be able to see in terms of focusing ability, colour vision and depth perception by 6 months of age therefore they should have their first comprehensive eye exam at 6 months of age, then their eyes should be examined at age 3 and just before they enter the school as our future is linked to children, he said.

Premature babies should be examined soon after birth so that timely action could be taken to prevent any problem.

He informed that school-aged children should have an eye exam at least every two years if no vision correction is required. Children who need eyeglasses should be examined annually or as recommended by the eye doctor.

So far we have been able to treat more than six million patients in the OPDs and more than 600,000 surgeries have been performed in the hospitals run by the trust at Rawalpindi, Kohat, Sukkar and Muzafarabad, he said. DNA

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