LAHORE: Punjab Food Minister Abdul Aleem Khan on Tuesday has ruled out any shortage of wheat flour in the province.

In his statement, Aleem Khan said supply of flour across the province is being done at a controlled rate and added that there are sufficient stocks of wheat available with shopkeepers and there is no shortage.

“Food department teams and district administration are alert in every district of the province.”

Abdul Aleem Khan said Sindh has not yet started supply of wheat to flour mills at a subsidized rate and underlined the need for a unified flour rate in the provinces.
Earlier on July 6, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed the authorities to ensure the availability of wheat at a reasonable price across the country.

Presiding over a high-level meeting, PM Imran had directed to ensure wheat’s obstacle free inter-province movement and had added that unhindered availability of the commodity was the top priority of the government.

LAHORE: After Punjab government lifted the Coronavirus lockdown restrictions, the local administration has decided to resume Metro Bus service in twin cities from tomorrow (Wednesday) with prescribed Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs).

The local administration has informed all operators about the resumption of bus service in this regard.

The bus service will resume from Wednesday while the administration will issue the Standard Operating Procedures today.The operations of Metro Bus service was suspended in March after the government imposed lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.

It is pertinent to mention here that Punjab had lifted the lockdown yesterday, allowing all sectors except marriage halls and educational institutes to operate under safety measures outlined by the government.

The Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department issued a notification following the decisions made in the August 6 meeting of the National Coordination Committee wherein it was decided to lift the restrictions on all sectors on August 10 and resume educational activities from Sept 15.

Earlier today, Punjab reported 109 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the province’s total number of confirmed infections to 94,586.

KARACHI : Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed slammed K-Electric on Monday, saying that its chief executive officer’s name should be placed on the no-fly list and murder cases should be registered against the company for the deaths that had taken place in Karachi due to electrocution.

The apex court, under Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, resumed hearing the case pertaining to deaths by electrocution and unscheduled loadshedding.

The Supreme Court warned the power distribution company of dire consequences over its poor performance, which the apex court said led to loss of lives during the recent rains in Karachi.

KE CEO Moonis Alvi and National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Chairman Tauseef H Farooqi were also present for the hearing today.

“The name of the KE CEO should be put on the ECL,” said the CJP, adding that a detailed audit of the company should be conducted. The chief justice said that KE should be ready to face every kind of accountability by the authorities.

“KE should give complete details (on its performance), (and tell) how many wires it has installed,” stressed the Justice Gulzar.

The chief justice lamented that the company had “done nothing” for Karachi, adding that it should be fined for causing problems for people through power outages.

The chief justice accused KE of disbanding all earth wires from the city. On the issue of power outages, the SC asked NEPRA to take notice immediately if the power supply in any area of the city, is cut off for even a minute.

The judge noted that for the entire night on Monday, there was power outage in the Shahra-e-Faisal neighbourhood and people were forced to come out of their homes to sit outside.

The CJP, in his remarks, cited the example of India, saying that he read that in such instances (poor performance) a board takes over a company. “They (India) have changed the entire infrastructure,” he said.

The judge also interjected when the KE CEO tried to speak up, saying: “Do not deliver a speech here, work instead. Did the entire nation trust you for this reason?”

The CEO of the electricity company managed a response, saying that in 2010, the line losses were 42% but now they have been reduced to 26%.

To which, the CJP once again indignantly warned the power supplier’s top official against unscheduled loadshedding in the metropolis.

In a similar hearing on Monday, the apex court then lambasted the sole power supplier of the city, saying that it will issue an order against KE.

The CJP said that a case should be registered against KE and its entire administration should be placed on the ECL.

He added that the directors of the power supplier should be arrested and sent to jail.

“Daily 8 to 10 people die due to electrocution,” said the CJP, adding that KE has meanwhile collected billions and trillions in its coffers.

ISLAMABAD : Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar credited the people of Pakistan on Tuesday for the decline in COVID-19 cases, saying that they were the “real heroes” whose cooperation with the government had led to the drastic reduction in the infection.

“Whatever the steps taken by the state and the government could not have been effective if the public had not cooperated with us,” he said. ” A large part of the society helped the government. I would like to thank the media as well for sending our message to the public on what to do [to ward off the coronavirus],” he added.

The minister said that the government and the people had taken the right decisions and actions when it came to tackling the pandemic. He praised the smart lockdown initiative, stating that developed countries could also not shut down the economy for a longer period of time.

‘We cannot say coronavirus has ended’

The federal minister warned people not to take the coronavirus situation lightly, adding that he had heard people saying the COVID-19 pandemic had been eliminated.

“Ever since this announcement [lifting lockdown restrictions] was made, I have been hearing from people that coronavirus has been ended. I wish coronavirus would have been eliminated,” he said. “However, unfortunately, the situation is not like that at the moment. We can’t say at this moment that coronavirus has been eliminated,” added the minister.

Referring to a study by the Imperial College London about the coronavirus referring to the large number of deaths by the coronavirus in the country, he said that only 15 people died from the infection on Monday as opposed to the thousands predicted by college.

He said that the provinces, Centre, the armed forces and other institutions collaborated to come up with a comprehensive strategy to deal with the virus in April.

“Due to it [contact tracing strategy] we were able to reach people who were at most risk of catching the infection,” he said. “Through this contract tracing system, we were able to trace 1.1mn contacts out of which 1mn tests were conducted and 10.5% was the positivity ratio of those who were tested,” Umar explained.

The minister said that the government reached out to more than 100,000 positive cases through the contact tracing system and were able to let them know that they were infected with the virus.

He said that not only did the tracing system led to a decline in the number of COVID-19 deaths but it also made people isolate themselves, leading to a decline in the spread of the infection.

LAHORE: Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Usman Buzdar on Tuesday put WASA and district administration on alert due to heavy downpour in Punjab.

In his statement, CM Buzdar asked all concerned departments to keep machinery and staffers on standby as the Meteorological department had predicted heavy rains.

“The people of the province should be saved from miseries during rains,” he said. He asked the officials concerned to immediately start the draining process and ensure the smooth flow of the traffic.

Heavy but scattered rain wreaked havoc in most of the province. The Met office predicted more rain during the next 24 hours.
WASA officials said that the highest rain 107mm was recorded at Tajpura, 105mm at Johar Town, 101mm at Pani Wala Talab, 98mm at Nishter Town, 87mm at Farrukhabad, 82.8mm rain at airport, 81mm each at Lakshmi Chowk and Upper Mall, 76mm at Samanabad, 73.5mm at Gulshan-e-Ravi, 65mm at Chowk Nakhuda, 60mm at Iqbal Town, 58mm at Punjab University and 50mm rain at Jail Road.

Several areas of Lahore were inundated with rainwater, which caused difficulties to the citizens.

CHAMAN: The First Information Report (FIR) of the Chaman blast has been filed at a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station.

The case was lodged on the complaint of the SHO City under terrorism charges.

At least six people were killed and 21 others sustained wounds when a blast ripped through the Chaman’s Mall Road area on Monday.

According to police, the bomb was planted in a motorbike and detonated by remote control. Police inspector Muhammad Mohsin said that the explosion targeted a vehicle of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).
“8 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast,” said police.

A medical officer said that out of the 21 injured, 12 of them are in a critical condition. “We have shifted the seriously wounded to Quetta due to closure of operation theatre in Chaman amid coronavirus pandemic,” he said.

Furthermore, the evidence gathered from the scene has been sent to the forensic lab.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had strongly condemned the Chaman blast and expressed grief over the loss of lives. He prayed for the early recovery of those injured.

Following the incident, the Balochistan Chief Minister, Jam Kamal Khan, also condemned the attack and directed authorities concerned to leave no stone unturned in providing the best healthcare facilities to the injured.