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Wednesday, April 8, 2020

KPT sprays disinfectant in more areas

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) has continued its efforts of spraying of disinfectant in the different areas of Karachi in its efforts to control the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). 

Having earlier sent trucks to spray the chlorinated water in and around the Keamari Road and Mehran Town in Korangi, the KPT arranged for similar action in a couple of more localities of the metropolis. 

A spokesman of the KPT informed PNFS on April 7 that a couple of fire tender trucks were used for the purpose of spraying chlorinated water in the areas of Shershah and Nazimabad to make them safe and free from virus.

Pressure mounts on government to relax lockdown despite rising COVID-19 cases

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The pressure has been mounting on the Government of Sindh for a review in the lockdown decision despite the continued rise in the number of cases being infected by coronavirus (COVID-19).

The medical experts are advising the Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, for extension in the lockdown period but he was also looking up to the April 8 meeting of the National Coordination Committee, which had imposed restrictions as precautionary measures up to April 14. 

He has indicated that Sindh may take its own decision too after reviewing the disease situation and other relevant developments. 

During a meeting with the heads of private hospitals, he stated that their expertise and support was needed while the government was fighting against the corona epidemic in the province. He also urged them to ensure extra beds at their respective facility for coronavirus infected patients as government’s resources were limited. 

In his interaction with media during the day, he maintained that the government was making all efforts to increase the capacity for testing the corona suspected cases across the province. 

Meanwhile there have concerns in recent days that the long prevailing lockdown in Sindh, particularly in Karachi, has taken a toll on small traders and livelihood of daily wagers. 

The small and medium enterprises as well as the industries have requested the government to ease the lockdown situation in Karachi and the Chief Minister too has hinted that some standard operating procedures (SOPs) for industries and businesses were being devised for the post lockdown era. 

Various associations of trade and industry, among others, wanted the government to allow partial operations of all the industrial units in the city, while different market association, including those of mobile marketers, restaurants and bakers, also demanded opening of markets while promising to observe precautionary measures while dealing the customers. 

At a press conference on April 7, Sharjeel Goplani, speaking on behalf of timber traders, said that the coronavirus outbreak has caused enormous financial losses to the traders. 

“The Sindh government should provide loans on easy terms to timber traders and allow them to reopen their business as they are ready to comply with the governments’ health safety measures and corona related actions” the timber dealers stressed.

Chinese doctors suggest extended lockdown

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

A delegation of Chinese doctors and paramedical professionals, during its meeting with the Sindh Health Minister, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, suggested that the government should extend the duration of the ongoing lockdown to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19). 

The visiting Chinese delegation reminded that it was the lockdown of over eight weeks in some parts of their country which had helped in getting the desired results against coronavirus, saying Sindh also needed to increase its capacity for testing. 

The delegation also agreed to train doctors and health professionals treating Covid-19 patients in Sindh, according to a health department communication.

Coronavirus Update: Sindh confirms 54 new cases

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)


The Sindh Health department, on April 7, confirmed new coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in another 54 people in Karachi, Tando Mohammmad Khan, Hyderabad and Shaheed Benazirabad. 

According to the latest data released by the provincial health department, the detection of new coronavirus patients took the tally of overall infected people in the province to 986, with 18 deaths, against a national total of 4,005, with 54 deaths. 

The overall rate of coronavirus infection in Sindh came as 9.63%. The health providers collectively tested 10,233 people, including expatriates and pilgrims and those contracted the virus locally since February 26. 

The overall district wise tally of positive corona patients in Sindh on April 7 was Karachi (508), Sukkur (274), Hyderabad (159), Larkana (13), Tando Muhammad Khan (12), Shaheed Benazirabad (7), Naushehro Feroze (4), Ghotki (2), Jamshoro (2), Dadu (1), Badin (1), Sujawal (1), Sanghar (1) and Jacoababad (1).

Naeem Qureshi appointed FPCCI environment convener

Pakistan News & Features Services

The President of National Forum for Environment and Health, (NFEH), Naeem Qureshi, has been appointed as the Convener of the Central Standing Committee of FPCCI on Environment for the year 2020. 

According to a notification, the appointment was made by Mian Anjum Nisar, President, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), in recognition of the services of Naeem Qureshi to further the cause of environmental protection in the country. 

The committee will make recommendations to get maximum input of the fraternities of industrialists and businessmen for improving environmental situation in the country. 

The committee will comprise of environmental experts, researchers, scientists and practitioners from all over the country to get their input on environmental issues of Pakistan. 

Naeem Qureshi also happens to be the Chairman of the CSR Club Pakistan and a trustee of thee Helpline Trust.

Coronavirus crisis may have a silver lining for Pakistan: Nisar Memon

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Senator Nisar Memon has the gut feeling that since every crisis has a silver lining, this proverbial statement could true for us in Pakistan.

“If we analyze, comprehend, articulate the crisis and respond unitedly in a befitting manner. Coronavirus crisis has brought in open the inequalities between haves and have-nots, privileged and nonprivileged, urban and peri-urban, rural and urban,” he wrote in a recent newspaper article 

“The responses to crisis vary from educated to uneducated, disciplined to undisciplined, selfless to selfish, individualist to collectivist, socialist to capitalist. It is these times, the leaders fall or new leaders emerge. Irrespective of where one is in this global crisis, some common requirements emerge,” he thought. 

“The first is the public health system which requires medical supplies and equipment for millions, at the same time. The locked-down of cities disrupting way of life and confinement to homes, requiring availability of food and daily use supplies for millions, with transport system closed, and supply chain disrupted almost coming to standstill,” the Senator explained 

“Life is changed and will change after this crisis; we have to brace the changes. As we have been left behind in our development, this is an opportunity to leapfrog in progress by not waiting for changes to confront us but take the lead to bring the changes,” he reckoned. 

“Break the begging bowl and be the proud citizens of a sovereign country. This requires us to be self-respecting by being self-reliant in our requirements. Post Coronavirus; we have to look inward and examine all public health system requirements, as well as food and daily use supplies with objective of manufacturing them in the country,” the former federal minister suggested. 

“Basically it is supporting the existing industries to upgrade for producing competitive products for import substitution. In addition, encourage new industries to maximize domestic manufacturing to fill other gaps. The small scale home-based industries need to be part of policy towards self-sufficiency and job creation, and not part of political rhetoric. Hand in hand, the agriculture and agro-based industries will have to be focused,” he continued. 

“The existing education system also has to be aligned. The current engineering, agriculture and business universities are natural allies in these policies to support not only education but research and technology in support of policies. Information technology and artificial intelligence are the vehicles for leapfrogging,” he opined. 

“The leadership must understand, brick and mortar policies alone are not the solution. Industrial model like Sialkot is the living example of what private sector is capable of doing, even without much of government support. Industries like surgical goods, sports and women-only industries coupled with airport and airline make us proud as sovereign country. We must build on these models to accelerate much needed export. Let us not be overtaken by emotions or fear while preparing our coming budget. Status quo mindset of balancing the budget to meet IMF loan repayments must be replaced with major effort of import substitution as the key driver. This will help save billions of dollars for our conventional and non-conventional security,” Senator Nisar Memon explained.

Pakistani community in China contributes for COVID-19

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Pakistani community including, students, teachers, businessmen and bankers living in China have contributed as per their capacity for their compatriots combating life threatening coronavirus (COVID-19) in homeland. 

There are around as many as 30,000 Pakistani students across China studying undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the fields of business administration, agriculture, science and technology. 

Besides, availing the Chinese government scholarships, many of Pakistani students are studying on self-finance and most of them have contributed from their pocket money in fundraising. 

Perturbed with reports of coronavirus struck all over Pakistan, the students started collecting donations in cash and anti-virus gadgets that mostly including N 95 mask from all over China. 

Prominent among those who hold the banner firmly for collecting donations includes Dr Sajjid Khurshid, a professor, Sabir Jan Tipu, a businessman, Sami Iqbal from Southeast China University besides other bankers, educationists, restaurant owners and members of Pak-China Chambers.

When contacted by PNFS, Dr Sajjad Khurshid, who has been living in China for the past two and half decades, revealed that the Pakistani community has donated face masks N95 and other equipments worth around 35,000 Chinese Yuan. 

Dr Sajjad Khurshid, after having done Phd there, has been associated with teaching profession. After having worked at the Pakistan Embassy College, Beijing, he is presently employed at an international school in the same city.

Besides a prominent educationist, having fluency in Mandarin language, Dr Sajjad Khurshid is a regular guest speaker in Chinese media, engaged in highlighting the Pakistan-China relationship and cooperation in the field of education, benefits and win-win for both sides from the China Pakistani Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s dram of One Belt One Road. 

It was informed that the members of Pak-China Chamber, particularly Sabar Jan Tipu, a prominent businessman living in China since his childhood, also actively took part in donation collections. 

Besides, donations from the Pakistani community, the Chinese government and people of China also donated in cash and kind for Pakistan. “It is great satisfaction for me to tell you that donated items have a value of RMB 25 million and it is very huge contribution made by the Chinese friends,” Pakistan’s Ambassador in China, Naghmana Alamgir Hashmi, declared in a TV interview in Beijing.

About medical supplies recently airlifted to Pakistan to help combat COVID-19, she said that this was a combination of some crucial equipments procured and purchased by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan but overwhelming tonnage of the equipment and supplies consisted of donations made by the Chinese companies and friends. 

Referring to China-Pakistan all weather friendship, she pointed out that President Dr Arif Alvi in his recent visit to China expressed solidarity and showed to the world that both the countries were standing by each other in difficulties and challenges.  
“At a time, when there was a lot of politics being played on the new coronavirus and there were very determined efforts by some countries to isolate China, we stood by China. Pakistan did not evacuate its people and we donated our entire stocks of medical supplies to China,” she added. 

Terming the current outbreak huge challenge, Ambassador Hashmi said that Pakistan was a developing country and there were large areas in the cities and villages where poverty still existed while the population was not 100 percent literate. 

“Under the prevailing circumstances, the government had so far done quite well. It had allowed local business under strict regulations to open up for certain number of hours every. The government also announced economic package to support the small and medium enterprises besides directly supporting the families and individuals who depend on daily wages,” the Pakistan Ambassador pointed out.