PESHAWAR: Adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on information Ajmal Wazir said on Saturday that shops will open four days a week and all businesses will be closed at 4 pm, ARY News reported.
Addressing a press conference, he said that all shops will remain closed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and businesses will close by 4 pm.
“It will be the responsibility of traders to implement the SOPs issued for opening of shops in the province,” he said, adding that govt will further ease lockdown if people cooperate with them [govt] by adopting the safety measures.
Earlier today, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Health Taimur Jhagra has said that while the country’s death rate is stable at the moment, the number of coronavirus cases will continue to rise.
The KP health minister said that the government is trying its best to ease the lockdown while containing the risk of virus spread.
Earlier on Friday, Ajmal Wazir said shops will open for five days a week and remain closed on Saturday and Sunday and added industries and constructions sector will also be opened in phases.
Ajmal Wazir said the provincial government will follow the federal government’s instructions with regard to reopening of education institutes. “The KP government will implement whatever decisions are made under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he avowed.
He said the government has been holding talks with stakeholders on resumption of inter-city transport.
In what appeared to be a major development in fight against coronavirus, scientists have claimed to discover an antibody that blocks infection by coronavirus within the body.
It is pertinent to mention here that overall 3.53 million people have been affected from coronavirus globally including 248,000 who died while fighting out against the infection.
According to a researchers at Utrecht University, the antibody, known as 47D11, targets the deadly virus’s infamous ‘spike protein’, which it uses to hook onto cells and insert its genetic material.
Tests in mice cells showed that 47D11 binds to this protein and prevents it from hooking on – effectively neutralising it.
Researchers said the antibody, if injected into humans, could alter the ‘course of infection’ or protect an uninfected person exposed to someone with the virus.
The European research team identified the antibody from 51 cell lines from mice that had been engineered to carry human genes.
The antibody targets the novel coronavirus that caused the 2003 SARS outbreak, known as SARS-CoV-1.
However, scientists claim that it can also neutralise SARS-CoV-2, which is from the same family of coronaviruses as SARS-CoV-1.
‘This research builds on the work our groups have done in the past on antibodies targeting the SARS-CoV that emerged in 2002/2003,’ said co-lead author Professor Berend-Jan Bosch at Utrecht University.
‘Using this collection of SARS-CoV antibodies, we identified an antibody that also neutralises infection of SARS-CoV-2 in cultured cells.
‘Such a neutralising antibody has potential to alter the course of infection in the infected host, support virus clearance or protect an uninfected individual that is exposed to the virus.’
Dr Bosch added that the antibody’s ability to neutralise both strains of SARS-CoV suggests that it may have potential in mitigation of diseases caused by future emerging coronaviruses.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said that many decisions will be taken in a phase-wise manner to ease ongoing lockdown to stem coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan, ARY News reported on Monday.
Asad Umar, while giving an exclusive interview to ARY News programme ‘Power Play’ at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), said that a session of National Coordination Committee (NCC) will be held under the chair of Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday where further decisions to be made for lift the lockdown in different phases.
“More decisions are likely to be made regarding lockdown after May 9. Our resources to run the healthcare system are insufficient while a major reduction is also recorded in the education budget. On the other hand, the unemployment rate is increasing day by day, giving negative impacts on the national economy.”
Umar said that the economic experts have estimated for 18 million people to become jobless in the current scenario amid coronavirus crisis. The unemployment rate is directly linked with the duration of lockdown, he added.
“In NCOC, we make decisions in view of the impacts on human life but not only focusing on healthcare arrangements.”
The federal minister emphasised on making unified decisions to get more benefits in the ongoing fight against coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier in the day, PM Imran Khan, addressing volunteers of the Corona Relief Tigers Forces, said the government will gradually ease lockdown enforced to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
He said the lockdown restrictions took a serious toll on daily-wage earners and weak segments of society, adding there is a need to lift the lockdown to mitigate its economic impact on the masses.
“We need to ease the lockdown so the people can get back their jobs,” the prime minister said, cautioning that if the people didn’t adhere to standard operating procedures (SOPs) and gather at public places, coronavirus cases may spike, compelling the government to enforce the lockdown again.
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) has summoned a senior Indian diplomat summoned today to convey Pakistan’s rejection of India’s baseless and fallacious contention regarding the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s verdict in a matter pertaining to Gilgit Baltistan (GB).
The FO spokesperson said in a statement that it was clearly conveyed that the Indian claim over the occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir as an “integral part” of India had no legal basis whatsoever.
She said, “The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is a “disputed” territory and is recognized as such by the international community. The dispute, which is the longest outstanding item on the agenda of the UNSC [United States Security Council], stemmed from India’s forcible and illegal occupation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 in complete violation of international law and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“No subsequent illegal and unilateral Indian actions could or have altered the status of Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory.”
It was underscored that the only resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was faithful implementation of the relevant UNSC Resolutions that recognize the Kashmiris’ inalienable right to self-determination through the democratic method of free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices.
Pending the resolution of the dispute, any unilateral Indian actions in IOJ&K were illegal.
In this regard, it was reiterated the Indian unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 and subsequent attempts to alter the demographic structure of Jammu and Kashmir, in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention, were illegal and in clear violation of the UNSC Resolutions, the statement read.
It was also emphasized that the baseless Indian contention about Gilgit-Baltistan could neither cover up the atrocities being perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces against innocent, unarmed Kashmiris in IOK, nor could they succeed in diverting the attention of the international community from the Indian state terrorism and aggravating human rights situation in IOJ&K.
The Government of India was called upon to immediately reverse all of its illegal actions in IOJ&K, including ending illegal occupation of the territory, and let the people of Jammu and Kashmir exercise their right to self-determination as enshrined in the UNSC Resolutions.
Reiterating Pakistan’s condemnation of the continuing grave human rights violations by Indian occupation forces in IOJ&K, India was called upon to lift restrictions and communication blackout, release illegally detained Kashmiri youth and incarcerated Kashmiri leadership, and withdraw draconian laws such as Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Public safety Act (PSA) in IOJ&K, it concluded.
The provincial government of Gilgit-Baltistan has also rejected the Indian propaganda regarding GB. The GB information minister Shams Mir said in a statement that Gilgit-Baltistan is an integral part of Pakistan and the nationals loved their country.
“India cannot divert the attention of the United Nations (UN) from the occupied Jammu and Kashmir nor it can suppress the struggle for independence of Kashmiris,” said the GB information minister.
MOGADISHU: A plane carrying aid supplies for use in the fight against the coronavirus crashed in Somalia’s southern Bay region on Monday, killing seven people on board, a security official and the state-run news agency said.
State-run Somalia News Agency said the plane belonged to African Express Airways and was ferrying supplies for use in the fight against the novel coronavirus. It said there were six crew members on board.
“An African (Express) Airways plane from Mogadishu flew to Baidoa and then continued its flight to Bardale town where it crashed,” the news agency said on its website.
“The plane crashed near Bardale airport. It was carrying medicine to prevent COVID-19. It is not clear why it crashed.”
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday hinted at further easing lockdown restrictions across the country in order to provide more relief to people amid the coronavirus pandemic, ARY News reported.
Talking to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers here in Islamabad, the prime minister said that the government will take important decisions in coming days after considering taking the ground reality and economic situation.
“Government will further ease restrictions in order to provide relief to daily wagers and labourers who are most affected by coronavirus lockdown,” he said and added that incumbent govt has formulated all Standard operating procedures (SOPs) in this regard.
He urged the elected representatives to play an active role for implementing on the social distancing SOPs.
The Prime Minister said the government is striving to provide every possible relief to the masses amidst the challenge posed by coronavirus. “Despite a difficult situation, the government has given an economic package worth Rs1. 25 trillion”.
It must be noted that the lockdown is scheduled to be over after May 9 across the country.
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said on Sunday the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Coronavirus would decide about the future course of lockdown after analysis and observations to be presented by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
Asad Umar explained the country has been witnessing a daily average of 22 deaths from the infection for the past few weeks and if it remains the same for a month, it will multiply to about 720 deaths a month.
Relatively, he added, over 4,000 people die in traffic accidents across the country every month yet the traffic is not banned.
KARACHI: The Sindh government on Monday decided to forward the case of alleged theft of wheat worth Rs7 billions from its warehouses in the province to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate it thoroughly, ARY News reported.
The decision came during a meeting presided over by the Sindh chief secretary. Officials of the food department, the anti-corruption establishment and other relevant departments were in attendance in the meeting.
About 168,000 metric tonnes of wheat went missing from the government warehouses in the province.
The wheat worth Rs7 billion was stolen in the month of February, according to a report.
Another wheat bags worth Rs450 million had gone missing last year in November, the report said.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday telephoned his Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed Ali to discuss matters of mutual interest and the global coronavirus pandemic, ARY News reported.
The prime minister conveyed Pakistan’s solidarity with the government and people of Ethiopia and commended their effective measures to control the spread of COVID-19.
The two also leaders agreed on the importance of working together to evolve a comprehensive plan for debt relief issues. He underscored that developing countries faced the twin challenge of containing the Covid-19 disease and staving off hunger due to loss of livelihoods.
PM Imran Khan also emphasized the importance of closer bilateral ties with Ethiopia. He also reiterated his felicitations to Abiy Ahmed Ali on winning the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
Prime Minister Imran Khan also invited his Ethiopian Counterpart Abiy Ahmed Ali to visit Pakistan at the earliest convenience.
Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Imran Khan telephoned his Canadian counterpart, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and discussed matters of mutual interest.
Prime Minister Imran Khan thanked the Canadian Prime Minister for his support shown towards Pakistan’s call for debt relief at the G20.
PM Imran Khan also apprised Justin Trudeau on the current situation of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
A vaccine for the novel coronavirus could be manufactured in Australia by the end of this year or early next year, Australian Science Minister Karen Andrews said on Monday, reiterating a Covid-19 vaccine is the country’s only ticket to a return to pre-virus life.
“It’s entirely possible that by the end of this year or early next year we will have a vaccine for COVID-19,” she said.
“It’s possible we (will) have a vaccine in the next 10-15 months.”
Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is testing separate vaccines from the United States and the United Kingdom.
“Testing is expected to take about three months,” a CSIRO spokesperson said.
“CSIRO is testing the COVID-19 vaccine candidates for efficacy, but also evaluating the best way to give the vaccine for better protection, including an intra-muscular injection and innovative approaches like a nasal spray.”
“CSIRO is carefully balancing operating at speed with the critical need for safety in response to this global public health emergency.”
Researchers at the University of Queensland are also looking for a third vaccine with the “incredibly ambitious” goal of having a working prototype by September.
Project leader Trent Munro said the September goal was a realistic possibility, but that there were many more hurdles their drug had to jump through before it was available to the Australian public, and that it would not be available for widespread use until 2021.
CSIRO director of health and biosecurity Rob Grenfell said it was important to make sure the vaccine did not make the disease worse, as was found when working with SARS.
“So it’s very important particularly in the context of this disease that we examine our animal model very carefully for this effect, and its all to do with an overreaction of certain arms of the immune system,” he said.
“It’s a separate immune system, if you like, which isn’t easily accessible by vaccine technology … It’s a bit like trying to get a vaccine to kill a virus on the surface of your skin,” said University of Queensland Professor Ian Frazer, who helped develop the human papilloma virus vaccine.
Science Minister Karen Andrews said Australia was collaborating with international partners to find a working vaccine as quickly as possible.
“The scientific community right across the world is united as one to make sure that there is a vaccine discovered, developed, tested as soon as there possibly can,” she said.
Minister Andrews said the quick development of a vaccine was vital to easing restrictions.
“Quite frankly, until such time as we have a vaccine, life is not going to return to normal,” she said.
“So whilst we have seen some easing of restrictions, particularly over the last weekend, we still have a long way to go and it’s very important that we all take baby steps.”
ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking protective bail in an illegal appointment case, ARY News reported.
The Islamabad High Court, on March 31, had granted four-week protective bail to former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former secretary petroleum Arshad Mirza in a reference pertaining to the illegal appointment of managing director Pakistan State Oil (PSO).
Barrister Zafarullah Khan has filed the petition on Abbasi’s behalf.
In his plea, Shahid Khaqan stated that NAB Karachi had issued arrest warrants for him, while he is in Islamabad and cannot appear before the accountability court, Karachi, due to lockdown.
Khaqan in his plea has requested IHC to grant him pre-arrest bail in NAB case till May 12.
The Accountability Court, Karachi had issued non-bailable warrants for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in a reference pertaining to illegal appointment of managing director PSO.
The anti-graft watchdog filed second reference against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the illegal appoint of Imran-ul-Haq as PSO managing director in a Karachi accountability court.
NAB in December last year filed a reference in the accountability court against Mr Abbasi, Mr Ismail, former managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Sheikh Imranul Haq, former chairman of Ogra Saeed Ahmed Khan, Ogra chairperson Uzma Adil Khan, Engro group chairman Hussain Dawood, former chairman of the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) Agha Jan Akhtar, former member of Ogra Aamir Naseem, another former managing director of PSO Shahid M. Islam and PSO official Abdul Sammad.
Mr Abbasi was arrested in connection with the case in July. He is accused of awarding a 15-year contract for an LNG terminal allegedly when he was petroleum minister in former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had granted bail to Abbasi in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) reference on February 25.
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday said around 700 companies have forwarded applications for the cheaper loans under central bank’s policy to save employees being sacked from their jobs amid coronavirus lockdown, ARY News reported.
The central bank said that so far, the commercial banks have deferred loans of Rs236 billion for a year, in line with the SBP’s guidelines due to suspension of economic activities in the country.
According to the SBP, till April 24, 303000 people have benefited from the loan deferment scheme and the last date to get enrolled in the scheme is June 30.
Currently the banks are reviewing 5,126 applications of the loans deferment, the State Bank of Pakistan said.
The State Bank of Pakistan on April 11 launched a refinancing scheme to save hundreds and thousands of jobs in the private sector by providing cheaper loans to businesses at 4 to 5 per cent for payment of wages and salaries.
The SBP said the scheme has been designed to benefit small- and medium- sized enterprises. “Businesses with a three-month wage and salary expense of up to Rs200 million will be able to avail the full amount of their expense in financing while those with a three-month wage and salary expenses of greater than Rs500m will be able to avail up to 50pc of expense,” said the State Bank of Pakistan.
LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif on Monday has appeared before National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in money laundering cases.
According to details, a joint investigation team of the anti-corruption watchdog interrogated the PML-N leader for two hours.
The PML-N president skipped the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) appearance for the last two times and submitted his response on both occasions through his counsel. However, NAB had termed the response submitted by PML-N president as unsatisfactory.
It is pertinent to mention here that other than Shehbaz, his sons Hamza Shehbaz and Suleman Shehbaz are also nominated in the money laundering case.
Hamza Shehbaz is already imprisoned in the case while properties of former chief minister were confiscated on the court order.
Shehbaz denies striking any deal to return to Pakistan
Shehbaz Sharif had said that he neither left the country under a deal nor he came back after striking any sort of a deal.
“I did not only leave my brother instead I had to left him while he was being treated there,” said Shehbaz Sharif.
The PML-N leader had said that it was due to his brother’s illness that he accompanied him to London and had to return to Pakistan in urgency after coming to know of the flights’ suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Reddit has removed a new chat feature in the wake of complaints from the site’s moderators.
The feature called “start chatting” that allowed users to create small random chat rooms on the platform within the site’s various subreddits was removed just a day after its release.
The social media platform said the feature was designed to give more options to connect with each other during isolation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. However, moderators who oversee the site’s subreddits said it made the process of monitoring content and behaviour more opaque.
“Reddit’s users, moderators and communities are at the core of every product decision we make, and our intention in rolling out ‘Start Chatting’ was to give Redditors a new avenue to connect with each other during these difficult times,” said Reddit in a statement.
“Given the issues and concerns expressed by our users and moderators throughout the last 24 hours, we’ve made the decision to disable Start Chatting so we can reassess our rollout plan and evolve the product to meet the needs of our community.”
“We are committed to transparent and direct communication with our users, and will use this opportunity to seek community input, collect additional feedback, and build an experience that adds value and supports our communities,” Reddit said in a statement.
Issues with “start chatting” mostly concerned transparency into user behavior, according to statements posted by moderators from some of Reddit’s most popular subreddits.
“At this time, r/science would prefer to have this feature disabled in our subreddit because it undermines our goal of having serious, strongly-moderated discussions,” one moderator wrote in a comment on Reddit.
Other moderators of r/personalfinance and r/debt also said the chat rooms could lead to a greater likelihood of scams and abuse on their subreddits.
KARACHI: Another group of 40 stranded Pakistanis have returned home via Sri Lankan Airlines flight here on Monday, ARY News reported.
Second Secretary (Political), Ms. Ayesha Abubakar Fahad was present on behalf of the High Commissioner to see off the departing Pakistanis at Bandaranaike International Airport(BIA), Colombo.
The returning Pakistanis acknowledged efforts of Pakistani High Commission for providing all possible support and assistance during their stay in Sri Lanka during these difficult times.
A flight of the Sri Lankan Airlines with 40 stranded Pakistanis on board landed at the Karachi International airport. The passengers were disinfected by the staff of the Civil Aviation Authority upon landing.
The passengers were screened and later were sent to the quarantine facility as a precautionary measure amid coronavirus outbreak.
A group of 50 stranded Pakistanis had also been flown back from Sri Lanka on April 28.
It must be noted that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Saturday allowed Sri Lanka to operate special flights to the country.
In a NOTAM, the CAA said, “The request of the Sri Lankan High Commission to operate the cargo/repatriation flight on Colombo-Karachi-Lahore-Colombo sector on April 21 through Sri Lankan Airlines while uplifting 113 Sri Lankan nationals has been approved by the competent authority.”
The permissions was subjected to the condition that no disembarkation of flight crew will be permitted from the aircraft upon arrival at the airports in Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday slammed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government for "muzzling independent voices" of the media and journalists reporting from occupied Kashmir, where a media blackout has continued for months, harassment of reporters is on the rise, and those who speak up face intimidation.
In a statement issued Sunday, the World Press Freedom Day 2020, the foreign ministry said it condemned the Indian government-sanctioned repression, noting that "while saluting their exceptional courage, we also honour the sacrifice of those Kashmiri journalists who have laid down their lives in the line of duty".
"The latest among those martyrs was Shujaat Bukhari in June 2018," the statement added. "It is commendable that Kashmiri journalists continue to work with conviction and professionalism, despite the heavy handedness of Indian occupation forces acting with impunity under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA), Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
"Global media watchdogs, Indian and international human rights groups, and civil society organizations have expressed deep concerns over unprecedented restrictions imposed on the media, the widespread intimidation of Kashmiri journalists, and the precarious state of their work environment," it noted further.
Situation 'more alarming'
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government — led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and inspired by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — was bent on "hiding its blatant human rights violations in [India-occupied Kashmir] and is bent on muzzling independent voices of the media and journalists", the foreign ministry said.
"The situation has become more alarming after India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019," when it scrapped occupied Kashmir's special status under the constitution and imposed a curfew.
"Pakistan condemns this Indian campaign of harassment and intimidation and calls upon India to immediately lift all communication restrictions in IOJ&K; withdraw frivolous cases filed against Kashmiri journalists; and restore all fundamental freedoms of the Kashmiri people," the statement added further.
Violation of Fourth Geneva Convention
Late last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said Modi's government was committing war crimes in occupied Kashmir under the cover of the virus pandemic and that New Delhi was violating the Fourth Geneva Convention by continuing the genocide of Kashmiris.
"Under cover of COVID19 global pandemic, the Modi Govt with its fascist Hindutva Supremacist RSS-driven ideology continues its war crimes in IOJK," PM Imran had said on Twitter.
the demography in Occupied Jammu & Kashmir - a territory recognised as disputed by UN. The international community has a responsibility to take note of & act against these war crimes by India in violations of 4th Geneva Convention & int humanitarian laws. https://twitter.com/brutindia/status/1255361166513188865?s=12 …
The premier had added that the United Nations recognised occupied Kashmir as a disputed territory and that the international community had a responsibility to take note of India's war crimes there.
Reporting from Kashmir 'virtually impossible'
In an April report, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had said it had become "virtually impossible” for journalists to report from occupied Kashmir, pushing India two spots down from last year to 142.
The RSF report had also noted that India’s score was heavily affected by the situation in occupied Kashmir. The group called the region a “vast open prison” due to shutting down of fixed line and mobile Internet connections by the Modi-led government.
The RSF had also stated that there were constant press freedom violations in the country, including police violence against journalists, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials.
'Particularly virulent' campaigns
“Ever since the general elections in the spring of 2019, won overwhelmingly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, pressure on the media to toe the Hindu nationalist government’s line has increased,” said the report.
The coordinated hate campaigns launched on social media against journalists who speak or write about subjects that annoy Hindutva followers were alarming, it added, noting that the campaigns also called for the concerned journalists to be murdered.
“The campaigns are particularly virulent when the targets are women," the report had noted. "Criminal prosecutions are meanwhile often used to gag journalists critical of the authorities, with some prosecutors invoking Section 124a of the penal code, under which 'sedition' is punishable by life imprisonment."
