Pakistan, China discuss cooperation in judiciary

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

China appreciated the Pakistan superior Court’s active commitment to China-Pakistan friendly cooperation, expressing its willing to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning in the judicial field with Pakistan to make more efforts for the development of bilateral relations.

These sentiments were expressed by the Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan, Yao Jing, during his meeting with the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Gulzar Ahmed, at Islamabad. 

 Ambassador Yao highlighted China-Pakistan anti-epidemic cooperation and the latest developments in the bilateral relations, emphasizing that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners. 

“China has always attached great importance to relations with Pakistan and is willing to continue work with Pakistan to jointly cope with the challenges of the epidemic and actively promote the construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),” the Chinese diplomat stated. 

He emphasized on cooperation in the areas of society and people's livelihood, and work together to maintain regional peace and stability. 

According to the information shared by the Chinese embassy in Islamabad, CJP Mr. Justice Gulzar Ahmed reciprocated similar sentiments, having remarked that China and Pakistan were traditional friendly neighbours and the relationship between the two countries had stood the test of time.

It was pointed out that the successive governments of Pakistan have firmly promoted cooperation with China, and friendship with China remained deeply rooted in the hearts of the Pakistani people. 

“The Supreme Court of Pakistan actively supports the development of China-Pakistan relations, and is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the judicial field with China to jointly make due contributions to China-Pakistan relations and the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),” the CJP was quoted as saying.

Coronavirus Update: Highest single-day death toll in Sindh

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Karachi’s intensive care hospital beds were reported filled with critically ill COVID-19 patients on June 5, as the provincial health authorities registered yet another 1,353 new cases, with 40 related deaths, an all days’ highest toll, across the province. Earlier, Sindh had reported a maximum of 38 deaths on May 30. 

Officially on June 5, it was learnt that as many as 129 patients, including 81 off ventilator patients, were under treatment at 10 public and private health facilities in Karachi, in addition to 196 those who were occupying beds in high dependency beds at 11 hospitals, out of a total 374 reserved for COVID-19 patients.

ICU beds were vacant at the Aga Khan University Hospital (6 beds), National Institute of Child Health (2) and Ziauddin Hospital North Nazimabad (one). 

Literally, two of the hospitals reserved for COVID-19 patients in Karachi conceded on June 5 that they were not in a position to accept new coronavirus patients as they had run short of beds. 

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his routine daily message related to COVID-19, shared that at present 370 patients were in critical condition, including 62 on ventilators. 

According to Sindh health department summary released on June 5, the latest 40 deaths pushed the COVID-19 tally to 615, which constituted about 33% of the total deaths (1,878) having occurred in the country. Sindh’s case fatality rate came as 1.7%.

As many as 30 patients lost their lives in Karachi, including one out of Karachi resident, while two persons each perished at Shikarpur, Khairpur, Kashmore and Jacobabad. Hyderabad and Kambar Shahdadkot reported a death each. 

However, the COVID-19 daily summary did not mention ages of people succumbing to the lethal virus, in contrary to its norms. 

To many media persons covering coronavirus authorities’ long prevailing practice of not disclosing the names of hospitals, where the patients died, remained a matter of concern also. 

The new infections, according to health department, were reported from Karachi (1,089), Hyderabad (63), Ghotki (42), Khairpur (28), Sukkur (27), Jacobabad (17), Larkana (13), Mirpurkhas (12), Sanghar (11), Umerkot (6), Tando Mohammad Khan (6), Kashmore (6), Umerkot (6), Naushero Feroze (3), Dadu (3), Shikarpur (2), Jamshoro (2), Shaheed Benazirabad (1), Thatta (1), Sujawal (1) and Tando Allahyar (1). 

According to official sources, overall 15 testing centres conducted a total of 7,377 tests, against a cumulative capacity of 8,650 tests. 

All the laboratories with the exception of Hashmanis, DUHS Ojha and Ziuddin Hospital conducted tests below their respective determined capacities. 

The sources further revealed that 20 patients whose deaths were confirmed on June 4 included three patients dying off ventilators; two died at home, while another one was not clinically indicated or advised by doctors. Sindh tested 215,860 samples so far, out of which 34,889 were found positive for COVID-19.

In the meantime, it was learnt that of the 615 deaths Sindh reported over 110 died at homes. As many as 69 patients have died at JPMC, 67 at DUHS, 60 at SIUT, 57 at AKUH, 51 at Indus Hospital, 48 at CHK, 36 at Ziauddin Hospital, 15 at PNS Shifa, 14 at LUMHS Hyderabad and Lyari General Hospital (10). 

Meanwhile, a team from Islamabad including Dr Faisal Sultan, Prime Minister’s focal person on COVID-19 and Brig Ali Adil, Chief of Staff of National Command and Operation Centre, visited the Civil Hospital Karachi on June 4 to obtain first hand insight of Karachi’s healthcare capacity and fostering enhanced cooperation and coordination with NCOC. 

Senior officers led by Medical Superintendent, Dr Khadim H Quraishi, apprised the team about the coronavirus treatment related intensive care facilities available at the hospital, a source informed.

Chinese youngster promoting rice research in Pakistan

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

A Chinese young man, Dai Yingnan, has devoted three years to promoting rice production in Pakistan. 

Dai Yingnan, in a media talk, disclosed that his aim was introducing high-yield hybrid rice and advanced agriculture technology. 

“These efforts of mine will definitely improve rice production as well as alleviate the financial sufferings of farmers,” he reckoned. 

Born in a village of Liaoning Province in northeast China, the post-90s young man had personal experience of growing corn and rice with his parents when he was a kid and therefore had a deep understanding of the hardship of farmers. 

“I chose to learn agronomy at Hunan Agriculture University at the advice of my teacher. After graduation in 2017, I got an offer from Yuan Longping High-tech Agriculture Company and was later assigned to Pakistan to promote hybrid rice,” he revealed. 

“Carrying out research and promoting the plantation of hybrid rice in Pakistan is never an easy job. I had to select one type of seed that is most suitable for the local environment out of thousands of seeds,” he added. 

The temperature in Pakistan during summer can touch down to even 50 degrees centigrade and it’s accompanied with fierce sunlight and strong dust. While walking in rice fields, anyone could be sweating and uncomfortable. 

Since April 2018, Dai began to make short videos to record his life and work in Pakistan and posted them on Chinese websites.

In October, the harvest month every year, the yield of hybrid rice is apparently higher than the locally grown rice, and even twice in some places by comparison.

“I used to invite local farmers to share the joy of harvest when we reap the hybrid rice because I have a feeling of accomplishment when I see smiles on their faces,” a beaming Dai observed.

Bald men more prone to COVID-19: Study

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

Bald men may be at higher risk of suffering from severe COVID-19 symptoms, emerging evidence has suggested. 

The link is so strong that some researchers are suggesting baldness should be considered a risk factor called the ‘Gabrin sign’ after the first US physician to die of Covid-19 in the United States, Dr Frank Gabrin, who was bald, The Telegraph reported.

"We really think that baldness is a perfect predictor of severity," the lead author of the key study professor Carlos Wambier of Brown University, told the newspaper. 

The data since the beginning of the outbreak in Wuhan, China, in January has shown that men are more likely to die after getting coronavirus. 

In the UK, a report this week from Public Health England found that working-age males were twice as likely as females to die after being diagnosed with COVID-19. 

In a study, 79 percent of the men suffering with COVID-19 in three Madrid hospitals were bald. The study of 122 patients, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, followed an earlier piece of work among 41 patients in Spanish hospitals, which found 71 percent were bald. 

The background rate of baldness in white men of a similar age to the patients studied was between 31-53 percent. Other scientists said that more work needed to be done but were excited by the potential link.

Dr Imran Ali Shah demands COVID-19 tests for 24 hours, residence for doctors near hospital

Pakistan News & Features Services

Legislator Dr Syed Imran Ali Shah has advised the government of Sindh to establish mobile testing units and a hospital, designated for COVID-19 patients, in every district of the province. 

One of the leading orthopedic surgeons of the country, he has demanded the COVID-19 tests to be conducted round the clock all over the province instead of doing it during specific times of 8 am to 8 pm. 

Speaking during the session of the Sindh Assembly, Dr Imran Ali Shah regretted that 250 doctors, working in different shifts at the Dr Ruth K.M. Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, have had to return to their respective homes after treating COVID-19 patience in the absence of having no separate accommodation. 

The parliamentarian from Karachi urged the provincial government to arrange accommodation for the doctors in the vicinity of the hospital so that their families were not unnecessarily exposed to the virus.