Primary school students, parents saddened in Punjab

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The school students of primary classes and particularly their parents were jolted on August 18 when the Punjab government announced that even if schools are to be reopened next month then only the students from class six and above would be allowed. 

"This year students of class one to five will not be allowed to go to schools, the provincial Minister, Murad Raas, declared. The schools, besides other educational institutions, have remained shut since the pandemic of coronavirus (COVID-19) broke out earlier this year. 

He went on to state that if the schools are reopened from September15, only the students from class six to 10 would be allowed to attend. 

The announcement has saddened the primary students who eagerly awaited taking classes in the environment of their schools rather than undergoing the torture of online classes locked in their homes, which they have generally found boring and mindless. 

The parents of the primary school students in particular have been vocal in condemning the school management for engaging their kids in online classes and activities which were proving counterproductive besides inconveniencing all family members at home.

China grants first patent for COVID-19 vaccine

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

In a big breakthrough on fight against pandemic, China's National Intellectual Property Administration has granted its first patent for a COVID-19 vaccine. 

The patent was jointly applied for by a research team with the Academy of Military Sciences and CanSino Biologics Inc, a Chinese high-tech biopharmaceutical company, People's Daily reported. 

The team led by Chen Wei, a researcher at the Institute of Military Medicine under the academy, has developed the recombinant COVID-19 vaccine, with the modified defective adenovirus as the vector. 

As per findings the vaccine can induce strong cellular and humoral immune response in a short period of time. It can be produced quickly on a large scale to cope with a COVID-19 outbreak. The vaccine has now finished phase-1 and phase-2 clinical trials, which have verified its safety and immunogenicity, the newspaper report added.

Green bus service may start in Karachi next year

By Masood Sattar Khan 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

In rather tense and difficult political environment, good news has emerged for Karachiites that the Green bus service may be operationalized from next year. 

MPA Khurram Sher Zaman, in a television interview on August 18, disclosed that he had a meeting with the President of Pakistan, Dr Arif Alvi, in which he briefed him about the problems being faced by the populace of the mega city. 

He shared having highlighted to the President, who also hails from the same city of Karachi, that public transport, power, water and sanitation issues needed to be addressed on priority. 

Dr Arif Alvi, a longtime resident of Karachi, had also won the National Assembly seat from the city in the 2018 general election. Therefore he’s thought to be well conversant of the civic problems of Karachi in particular and Sindh as whole.

Pakistan to procure armed drones

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Iron brother China is helping Pakistan to boost its firepower by supplying it with state-of-the-art defence items, including armed drones, even as it is engaged with India at the borders in Ladakh. 

Pakistan is procuring medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Cai Hong-4 (CH-4), from China in bulk, according to a media report. 

The CH-4 has a take-off mass between 1,200-1,300 kilograms depending on the variant. It can also carry a wide range of payloads. The UAV is now in service with military forces including the Iraqi Army and the Royal Jordanian Air Force. 

To cope with routing skirmishes from India, Pakistan plans to deploy these UAVs at the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir.