LAHORE (Dna) – Markets across Lahore will remain closed for three days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and to strictly enforce the lockdown the Punjab government has closed several routes by placing containers on Thursday.

According to sources, containers have been placed outside Data Darbar, Civil Secretariat and Urdu Bazaar, while containers have also been placed and roads have been closed on the occasion of Youm-e-Ali.

Meanwhile, the Punjab CM chaired an important meeting where he was apprised of important issues. The chief minister has ordered to close markets found violating SOPs from Monday.

On the occasion, CM Bazdar directed the concerned officers that violation of government orders and SOPs would not be tolerated under any circumstances. Markets and bazaars in Punjab should be kept closed for three days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Earlier, the provincial government had warned of strict lockdown and action in case of violation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat said that the government had decided to strictly implement the SOPs of lockdown and it would also be ensured that the orders for shutdown of shops for three days a week were also complied with by the public and the business community.

The minister expressed his apprehensions that the SOPs were not being followed properly in several markets during relaxation in lockdown during the last three days.

Open violation of the SOPs and heavy rush of people had been witnessed in the markets during the lockdown relaxation hours, he added.

He said that it was a responsibility of shopkeepers to ensure strict implementation of the SOPs for lockdown in the markets. He said that shops would remain closed on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (three days) and shopkeepers would have to follow the rules, adding that no one would be facilitated during these three days.

52 shops sealed over violation of SOPs

Earlier today, the district administration sealed 45 shops in Shah Alam Market and seven shops in Chungi Amar Sadhu for not maintaining social distancing protocols enforced to contain spread of coronavirus.

Customers and shopkeepers were found flouting the social distancing rule, nor were they wearing face masks and gloves. As a result, the authorities sealed the shops.

Meanwhile, in view of Youm-e-Ali, authorities sealed and closed entry and exit points of all markets of Walled City including Shah Alam market, Akbari Mandi and Circular Road.

Markets across the country were seen teeming after opening up on Monday for the first time in over a month as the nationwide lockdown was eased despite a steep rise in the number of Covid-19 infections.

Businessmen have criticized abrupt sealing of the markets and said that administration should have informed him beforehand so that they could have made necessary arrangements.

Earlier, Karachi’s district administration sealed three markets over violation of SOPs and ignoring precautionary measures imposed by provincial government in order to contain the spread of novel coronavirus pandemic.

The district administration was of the view that the shopkeepers did not comply with the condition of the sanitizer and were not wearing masks and gloves.

According to the SOPs issued by the Sindh home department, shopkeepers were not to cater to any customers without face masks, while also ensuring that a distance of at least six feet was maintained between each person.

The regulations also prohibited physical contact, such as handshakes and other greetings, between workers and customers. This, too, was ignored.

ISLAMABAD, May 14 (DNA):The Senate on Thursday passed a resolution unanimously by expressing its deep appreciation to the Chinese government and people for their unflinching role and timely assistance to Pakistan in the current coronavirus crisis.

“The Senate of Pakistan, taking note of China’s strong support and timely assistance to Pakistan during the current Coronavirus Crisis, expresses its deep appreciation to the Chinese government and people for their unflinching role as ‘all weather friends’ of Pakistan,” said the resolution moved by the leader of the opposition Raja Zafarul Haq on behalf of all parties in the house.

The resolution said China’s support to Pakistan has helped combat COVID-19 by protecting our people and saving lives as well as providing our health workers with testing kits, protective gear and ventilators at a time when these were badly needed plus sending medical teams.

“The Senate of Pakistan also commends the government and people of China, led by President Xi Jinping, who showed leadership in this crisis through clarity of vision by taking decisive and timely measures to combat the Coronavirus effectively in China. As ‘Iron Brothers’, both Pakistan and China are collectively confronting this ‘common enemy’, the coronavirus, which is a threat to humanity, irrespective of country, race or religion.”

In this context, the Senate of Pakistan rejects the baseless propaganda against China from certain quarters, which stems from geopolitical rivalry and is more an attempt to divert attention from their own internal failings as it has no factual basis.

“The Senate feels that this resolution,  just prior to May 21, which marks the 69th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China on May 21, 1951, is an auspicious occasion to celebrate the resilience of our time-tested friendship, which is evident from China’s consistent support to Pakistan on Kashmir, on CPEC and now on COVID-19,” the resolution further said.  

DNA

ISLAMABAD, May 14 (():  A major Chinese Media House, the China Economic Net will host a seminar on Pakistan-China joint efforts to control locust.

Pakistan has once again been plagued with the problem of locusts, which inflicted substantial damage to farmlands thus threatening food security of the country and prompting the government to seek help from Chinese experts to tackle the issue.

In this regard, the China Economic Net has organised a China-Pakistan trade Hotline Cloud Salon with the theme of ‘Joint Efforts in Locust Control’ on May 20, as Pakistan’s agriculture sector is now suffering from the worst desert locust infestation in 27 years.

The seminar is aimed at stressing the urgency of joint efforts to combat locusts and strengthen regular thinking and forward-looking planning.

Earlier in March, President Arif Alvi and Chinese President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of an agreement on strengthening plant disease and insect pest control in Beijing. 

To assist in dealing with this outbreak, China sent aid of 300,000 litres of pesticides and 50 sets of equipment to Pakistan.

The Chinese government delivered the pesticide sprays to the government of Pakistan which it promised late last in April to combat locusts in the country, which are now emerging as a threat to food security.

Beijing had promised to provide malathion (insecticide) along with high-efficiency remote sprayers and other equipment to Pakistan in a bid to control the locusts which are affecting a huge area of land in the country. 

In addition to the sprays, plant protection drones, also included in the assistance package, were sent to the country.

FARUKH SHAHZAD

ISLAMABAD: May 14, 2020: Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman NAB has said that NAB is absolutely committed to root out corruption with iron hands in an atmosphere of renewed energy and dynamism, where fight against corruption is being taken as a national duty.

 He said these remarks while chairing a meeting via video link at NAB Headquarters by maintaining social distancing and ensuring all precautionary measures and said that our Father of the Nation Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan had termed “One of the biggest curses… is corruption and bribery. That really is a poison. We must put it down with an iron hand”.

Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman NAB said that National Accountability Bureau was established to eradicate corruption in a holistic and integrated manner.

This is the backdrop against with NAB is striving to accomplish its mission i.e. to rid the nation from corruption and corrupt practices.

He said that NAB’s operational methodology has set three stages for proceeding of cases complaint verification, inquiry and investigation. NAB’s officers/officials need to follow Anti Corruption Strategy by Adopting “Accountability for All” policy against eradication of corruption. He said that the hard work, commitment, transparency and merit being put in by NAB officers are being appreciated by national and international reputed organizations. He said that NAB officers should doubling their efforts in nabbing corrupts elements and recovered from them hard earned looted money of the innocent citizen of Pakistan.

He said that through detailed introspection and analysis of organizational weaknesses, overhaul of procedures, all pillars of the organization i.e. Operations, Prosecution, Human Resource Development and Awareness and Prevention. 

He said that to close the possibility of any single NAB officer/official influencing the discharge of official business, the new concept of a “Combined Investigation Team” (CIT) was introduced where two investigation officers and a legal consultant, financial expert under the supervision of Additional Director/Case and concerned Director are working as a team for a fair, transparent and unbiased, inquiry/ investigations. He said that the quality of inquiry and investigation of NAB must have further improve due to establishment of NAB’s first Forensic Science Lab (FSL) in Islamabad which has all facilities of Digital Forensics, Questioned Documents and Fingerprint Analysis which will help is lending quality and solid evidence in conduct of inquiries and investigations. He said that NAB has devised Monitoring & Evaluation System (MES) in order to monitor NAB performance of NAB and all Regional Bureaus in qualitative and quantitative term which has proved very helpful in evaluation of overall performance of NAB. He said that NAB is the only Organization with whom China has signed MoU to oversee projects being undertaken under CEPC.

He said that NAB is absolutely committed to nab corrupt elements.  He said that NAB Ordinance 1999’s preamble emphasizes to nab corrupt and recover looted money. Due to this reason, NAB has recovered Rs. 328 billion since its inception and its overall conviction ration is about 70% in Accountability Courts. He said that NAB hopes that joint efforts of all stakeholders can collaborate to check corruption before happening with the help of all stakeholders.