Engr Asim Murtaza installed as Rotary President

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Engineer Asim Murtaza Khan, one of the bigwigs of Pakistan’s oil and gas sector, was formally installed as the President of the Rotary Club of Karachi Darakhshan for the year 2020-21. 

The honours were performed by the Governor of the Rotary International, District 3271 (Pakistan), Prof Dr Farhan Essa, in a ceremony held in Karachi on July 31. He decorated Engr Asim Murtaza with the Presidential sash. 

Jahangir Moghul, the Charter President of Rotary Club of Karachi Darakhshan and the only District Governor to be produced by the club, was also present on the occasion. 

Engr Asim Murtaza has been working as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), in an honorary capacity, at the Petroleum Institute of Pakistan (PIP), a think tank of the petroleum industry, since November 2015. 

Previously he had worked at the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) for over 32 years, having served on key operations and general management senior positions. He was appointed MD/CEO of the PPL in May 2011 and headed the organization until his superannuation in February 2015. 

He was chiefly responsible for establishing Bolan Mining Enterprises, joint venture of the PPL and the Government of Balochistan for mining of barites, iron ore and lead- zinc besides being one of the founder Directors of PPL’s overseas subsidiary companies, PPL Europe E&P Ltd and PPL Asia E&P BV. 

A brilliant student from the outset, he had earned his Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, followed by a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), UK, and is an alumnus of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, USA. 

Engr Asim Murtaza is a Fellow and Central Council Member of the Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP), Chair of the Petroleum Engineering Advisory Board and Member of the Academic Council of NED University, Member of a key Committee of the Pakistan Engineering Council, and is the Founder President of the NED International Alumni Association registered under the Societies Act.

Coronavirus Update: Relaxed situation at Karachi hospitals

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

All the designated COVID-19 hospitals in Karachi witnessed a relaxed situation in term of their intensive care unit (ICU) beds’ occupancy on July 31 when authorities confirmed 11 more related fatalities in the province, against 20 reported on July 30, with 489 new infections during the last 24 hours. 

Karachi reported 244 (50%) of the total new cases in Sindh on July 31, against its daily infection rate of 52% on July 30.

Of the 409 ICU beds reserved for COVID-19 patients in Karachi, only 147 (35%) were occupied by patients including 63 those put on ventilators.

However, the only child care exclusive hospital, National Institute of Child Health (NICH) continued working under pressure as its all the four ICU beds were in use on July 31 too.

On the other hand, as of July 31, all testing laboratories, except LUMHS, Essa Lab, Advanced Lab, Al Khidmat Laboratory and Bahria Town Lab and the government run laboratory in Larkana, conducted COVID-19 tests below their sanctioned capacity. 

Against the collective capacity of 14,920 tests, 11,555 samples were taken up, out of which 839 tested positive. On July 31, the new infection rate was one percent less than 5% on July 30.

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his routine coronavirus status statement, said that the overall number of fatalities had reached to 2,220. However, no district wise breakdown of new fatalities was given in the statement issued by his secretariat.

In the meantime, an official report updated on July 31 said that in all 20 people died during the last 24 hours in Sindh with Karachi (17), Sujawal (1), Hyderabad (1) and Ghotki (1).

In all 110,738 COVID-19 patients have recovered, while there were 8,081 active patients in Sindh on July 31, including 476 at hospitals, out of which 320 were stated to be in critical condition.

Apart from Karachi’s 244 new infections, Sukkur registered 23 cases, followed by Ghotki (20), Hyderabad (15), Tando Allahyar (15), Naushero Feroze (15), Umerkot (15), Badin (12), Kambar Shahdadkot (9), Matiari (10), Shikarpur (6), Shaheed Benazirabad (5), Tando Mohammad Khan (5), Mirpurkhas (3), Sanghar (3), Jacobabad (3) and Jamshoro (3).

Surprisingly, the federal government portal was not updated on August 1 morning. The last time the dashboard numbers were updated at 9.35 am on July 31, and as such any consolidated COVID-19 status and authenticated tests results released by provinces on July 31 were not available there.

Ambassador Moin-ul-Haque assumes charge at Beijing

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The newly appointed Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin-ul-Haque has arrived in Beijing and assumed his responsibility on July 31. 

"A great honour indeed,” the Ambassador Moin-ul-Haq observed in his twitter message. 

"Pakistan and China are iron brothers. Looking forward to contributing further strengthening Pak-China special ties along with my wonderful team at the embassy,” he further stated. 

A distinguished career diplomat, Ambassador Moin-ul-Haque had served in Belgium, Canada, France, Sri Lankan, Turkey and USA before assuming his responsibility in China.