Rotary Darakhshan review designated months plan

 By Abdul Qadir Qureshi

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Rotary Club of Karachi Darakhshan, in its weekly meeting on September 16, held at Food Inn, housed in the famous food street of the Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society (SMCHS), reviewed its plan to hold programmes in accordance with the designated months of Rotary International. 

The meeting was chaired by the club President, Engr Asim Murtaza Khan, and it was attended by the former Presidents, Jahangir Moghul, Syed Khalid Mahmood, Barrister Sarah Asim Khan and Waqas Moghul besides other office-bearers and members of Rotary Darakhshan. 

Having held the installation ceremony with great fanfare in July, despite the threats of COVID-19, they had participated actively in the membership and new club development month in August.

As part of the current month being highlighted for basic education and literacy, Rotary Darakhshan has approved holding a seminar with the collaboration of one of the librarian bodies in the end of September. 

Next month they will be engaged in an activity in relation with economic and community development besides celebrating World Polio Day by organizing a free medical camp on October 24. 

Rotary Darakhshan will take part in the Rotary Foundation Month as well as the World Interact Week in November while they have also chalked out plans for disease prevention and treatment month. 

The Board of Directors of Rotary Darakhshan will be getting in touch with the relevant authorities and departments to finalize their projects for the period from January to June 2021.

IBA suspends classes; campuses remain open

 By Abdul Qadir Qureshi 

(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

The Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, taking into account the COVID-19 related concerns, has suspended its academic activities for a couple of days, starting from September 17.

The main campus, housed in the premises of the University of Karachi, as well as the city campus, located in the Garden area, will remain open for operational matters throughout this period, however. They will continue providing the normal facilities.

The IBA Academic Board has decided that all classes for the various undergraduate degree programs would be based on flexible learning system for the time being. 

“Flexible learning system is where the classes would be conducted online while all IBA facilities would remain open and available to the undergraduate students including the classrooms. However, the Graduate programs students will attend the classes on campus,” it was announced. 

As part of the Flexible Learning System, it was also decided that attendance policy would be relaxed for the time being and situation would be monitored and policies may evolve over time. The hostel residents would be recommended to stay since assessments including the final examinations would be held physically. 

It was also decided to further increase the COVID-19 testing of the students, staff and faculty and enhance our SOPs to ensure the well-being and safety of the IBA community. 

The IBA, in coordination with District Health Office, has carried out hundreds of COVID-19 PCR tests for students, staff and faculty since September 14. Before the commencement of the session, detailed guidelines under the government directives were formulated and disseminated to students, staff and faculty. 

As a precautionary measure, isolation rooms at both the campuses and boys and girls hostels have been designated for individuals exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.

Chinese brands invited to target Pakistan tea market

 By Masood Sattar Khan 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Inviting Chinese popular tea brands to explore Pakistan’s tea market, Dr Sajid Khursheed, a doctorate from Beijing, has reckoned that the Pakistanis, especially youths, were very fond of drinking tea. 

“There is big potential for Chinese investors in Pakistan’s tea market,” he declared while participating in a TV talk show of CPEC Face to Face at the China Economic Network Television on the subject of China's milk tea craze. 

"Pakistan people love tea and have a long history of tea culture", Dr Sajid Khursheed, a teacher at the Canadian International School in Beijing, remarked. 

He pointed out that Pakistani population comprised a majority of youths having huge potential for Chinese in the tea consumer market. 

Explaining how the different ways black tea mixed with milk was prepared in Pakistan, he urged the Chinese milk tea brands to avail this opportunity of targeting the market.

Pakistan to start producing solar panels, lithium battery

 By Masood Sattar Khan

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Pakistan will start manufacturing solar panels and lithium batteries of busses locally. The solar panel indigenous production is expected to start within 18 months. 

According to the information shared by the Federal Minister for Science & Technology, Fawad Chaudhary, the buses to be run on batteries will also be made in Pakistan. 

The Chinese companies are all set to establish solar panel manufacturing plants in Pakistan and another major Chinese battery maker will set up a lithium battery manufacturer in Pakistan.

Coronavirus Update: Sindh continues to have lion’s share in fatalities, infection

 By Mukhtar Alam

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Sindh registered yet another 227 cases of COVID-19 infection, with three related fatalities during the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally of infection to 132,818 for the province on September 16.

According to the national dashboard on COVID-19, Sindh reported 42% of the total of 545 new cases across the country on September 16, while Sindh added three of the four to the overall daily tally in Pakistan. 

The COVID laboratories in the province collectively tested 13,314 samples, against Pakistan’s 31,808, during the last 24 hours ending September 16 morning. 

An official report said that the LUMHS laboratory at Hyderabad tested the maximum 8,155 samples, out of which 55 were positive for coronavirus, including 47 new infections, followed by Indus hospital laboratory at Karachi, which examined 1,589 samples and found 41 positive. 

The report revealed that among the targeted areas, shopping malls presented the highest rate of COVID-19 infection during a period from August 12 to September 16 being 2.1% cases out of 3,773 samples. 

About COVID-19 fatalities, it was said that three of the patients who lost their lives in the province belonged to Karachi’s East and South districts and Thatta. 

Karachi East has in all reported 683 deaths, against Karachi South (340) and Thatta (10). Earlier, the three persons who were reported dead due to COVID-19 on September 15 included a patient who lost his life at home. 

Over 96% of the COVID-19 patients were recorded as having recovered the diseases while about two percent could not survive the disease, as of September 16, according to official data. 

On the other hand, there were 2,554 (1.9%) active patients, as of September 16, including 2,276 in home-isolation, four in isolation centres, 274 in hospitals, including 149 declared critically ill, while 23 were put on ventilators. 

The new COVID-19 infections were registered at Karachi (106), followed by Jamshoro (16), Sanghar (8), Shaheed Benazirabad (6), Kashmore (6), Hyderabad (6), Matiari (5), Tando Allahyar (4), Umerkot (4), Badin (3), Naushero Feroze (3), Thatta (3), Tando Mohammad Khan (2), Mirpurkhas (2), Ghotki (2), Dadu (2), Jacobabad (1), Shikarpur (1) and others.