Coronavirus Update: Sindh still threatened

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Sindh still remained threatened by COVID-19 with its maximum of 300 new infections, among the provinces, on August 8 when the authorities confirmed testing of 10,001 samples across the province during the last 24 hours.

According to official data, Sindh was followed, in term of number of tests, by Punjab (7,114 tests with 137 positive cases), KPK (2314 with 96 new cases) and Balochistan (697 with 49 cases). Pakistan overall had 634 new cases on August 8. 

In Sindh, surprisingly, the LUMHS laboratory at Hyderabad performed as many as 5,262 samples during the last 24 hours ending on August 8 afternoon but did not find any positive case while other laboratories operating in the interior districts of the province gave 3 to 14% positive results for COVID-19, according to an official data. 

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his daily COVId-19 statement, remarked that as many as 450 patients had recovered from the diseases during the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cured patients to 114,515 for the province. 

He further said that as of August 8, there were 5,869 active patients of COVID-19 in the province, including 5,489 at homes, six at isolation centres and 374 at hospitals.

A total of 254 patients were told undergoing there critical phase of their illness, while 44 of them were put on ventilators.

Without giving any details about hospitalization, age, gender and districts of the deceased patients, the statement mentioned that three more COVID-19 fatalities had taken across the province, taking the total of deaths to 2,262.

In the meantime, Karachi witnessed an increase of 22% in its daily new cases, in comparison to August 7 numbers.

A total of 4,415 samples were taken up by 14 testing establishment in the city during the last 24 hours, out of which 335 were found positive for COVID-19, including 277 new infections.

Karachi, in terms of new cases, was followed by Hyderabad (9), Thatta (8), Badin (7), Dadu (7), Larkana (6), Jamshoro (4), Shikarpur (3), Sukkur (3), Umerkot (2) and Shaheed Benazirabad (2) while Mirpurkhas and Sanghar reported one cases each, among other districts.

Sindh’s overall infection rate was 15% compared to Pakistan’s 13% on August 8.

Mistakes, errors in books not unusual: Javed Jabbar

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Reacting to the debatable decision of the Punjab Curriculum & Textbook Board (PCTB) to ban nearly 100 textbooks in the province without serving notices to the publishers, Javed Jabbar, a former federal minister and author of quite a few books, has made it clear that errors or mistakes were part and parcel of book industry which got generally corrected in the subsequent editions. 

“I endorse the views of the publishers that the PCTB should not have acted in such a manner even if they had found some factual errors or other mistakes in those books,” he observed in a talk show on a news channel. 

“The reputable publishers and authors work hand in hand for printing books which are authentic with accurate information. But despite every conceivable professional efforts we still find odd mistakes in various books,” Javed Jabbar explained. 

“Let me quote a couple of famous examples. A famous California-based scholar had incorrectly mentioned the religion of Pakistan’s first-ever President, Major General Iskander Mirza, as Zoroastrian which he was not. Another scholar of USA had described Field Marshal Ayub Khan as the President at the time of dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971, instead of General Yahya Khan,” he recalled. 

Javed Jabbar, currently also the honorary advisor of the National Curriculum Council, emphasized that mistakes could still be committed even though the manuscripts are sent to subject experts and historians for checking and relevance. 

Aziz Khalid, Chairman, Pakistan Publishers & Booksellers Association (PPBA) and Iqbal Saleh Muhammad, Managing Director, Paramount Books, during the television talk show, also resented the moves aimed at victimizing the publishers.

Shahbaz Sharif lauds China's fight against COVID-19

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Former Chief Minister of Punjab and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, has lauded Chinese government's fight against COVID-19. He recorded his appreciation when he met the Chinese Ambassador, Yao Jin, in Islamabad on August 8.

He thanked China for its vigorous help to Pakistan in fighting the pandemic and expressed the confidence that the time-tested China and Pakistan friendship would continue to strengthen in future. 

Shahbaz Sharif remarked that China happened to be Pakistan’s most trusted and iron brother and his party fully supported the further development of China-Pakistan relations. 

He observed that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has brought historical development opportunities to Pakistan and it will lead to the restoration of Pakistan's economy and regional connectivity in the post-epidemic era. 

He stated that his party, Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), will continue to support the construction of the economic corridor. 

Shahbaz Sharif highly praised the great achievements of the Chinese Communist Party in governance and looked forward to strengthening exchanges between the two parties and jointly promote the continuous development of the Pakistan-China all-weather strategic partnership. 

Ambassador Yao praised Mian Shahbaz Sharif for its long-term emphasis on China-Pakistan relations and support for the construction of the CPEC, assuring that China and Pakistan will help each other, join hands to fight the epidemic, and build a China-Pakistan community with a shared future.

Sri Lankan PM expresses gratitude to Imran Khan

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The newly elected Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has expressed gratitude to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan for congratulating him on his victory. 

“Many thanks to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for your phone call and warm wishes,” the Sri Lankan Prime Minister tweeted on August 8. 

"I look forward for mutual high level visits between our two countries to strengthen our friendly bilateral ties,” he added.

ML-1 tender to be issued on Aug 31

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

The Federal Railways Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, has announced that the tender for ML- 1 railway project, a part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), will be issued on August 31. 

"I am going to meet the Prime Minister (Imran Khan) in next week and request him to invite the Chinese President (Xi Jinping) to be the chief guest on the launching of the all-important CPEC project", the Railways Minister told a press conference in Lahore on August 8. 

“I met the Chinese Ambassador, Yao Jin, on August 7 and congratulated him on the approval of the project by ECNEC and requested him to complete it in three years instead of five years,” the Minister disclosed.

Sheikh Rashid said that Ambassador Yao Jin had assured him that he would convey his observation to the Chinese side. Briefing the salient features of ML-1, the Minister said that there would be no railway crossing on the track in order to avoid accidents.

He said that Pakistan would pay 10 percent of the total amount while China had agreed to pay for the remaining 90 percent.

Bridge realigned after house owner resists

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The local authorities in Guangdong province of China were compelled to realign construction of an overhead bridge as the lady owner of the house built enroute the bridge refused neither to accept the alternative flat the local administration offered nor the money. 

Heated debate has ensued among the Chinese netizens both in favour of the lady owner as well as the local administration. 

One blogger termed the lady as greedy while another, defending her, claimed that the offered compensation amount was less considering the location of the flat, situated nearby the morgue. 

However, the local administration remained confident that it would succeed in resolving the issue amicably. Meanwhile the bridge has now become a place of attraction and people from far and across the city have been regularly visiting and enjoying there.

Iqbal Saleh Muhammad welcomes textbook regulatory authority; opposes conflict of interest

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Iqbal Saleh Muhammad, an eminent publisher and bookseller, has welcomed the idea of forming an authority to regulate the contents of textbooks but at the same time he has strongly opposed a possible conflict of interest.

“It’s fine to have a regulatory body to monitor the contents of textbooks but the same body should not be mandated to publish these books because it will lead to conflict of interest which must be avoided in the larger national interest,” the Managing Director of Paramount Books pointed out during a television talk show aired recently. 

“In the past there used to be an organization by the name of National Book Council. Founded in early 1960s, it was being headed by the great Ibne Insha for many years. After acquiring the skill set from developed countries like England and Japan, they facilitated and trained the publishers and booksellers. It was a golden era for publishing and bookselling in the country,” he recalled. 

He didn’t mince words in stating that publishing books was not the cup of tea for every Tom, Dick or Harry, adding that only those having the understanding, experience and expertise of the profession could deliver the goods. 

“Everyone cannot publish high quality books just by assembling a group of authors and engaging some illustrators. Publishing is a thinking job. Only experienced and talented publishers can be expected to produce quality books,” he explained.

Iqbal Saleh Muhammad, whose company Paramount Books has been in business for the past 72 years, regretted that they have had to engage raw hands who needed on-job training in the absence of institutions who could teach editing or book production.

He dispelled the impression that professional publishers committed far too many errors or mistakes in their books.

“Professional publishers have a system of self-regulation. They treat the manuscript submitted by the authors and subject specialists with utmost respect and care. A full process, in which a number of meetings and discussions take place, is in place before any book comes out. Obviously it’s humanly not possible to bring out a book which is completely error-free but they are just minor errors which are removed in revised editions,” he clarified.

The same talk show, hosted by senior journalist Aamir Zia, was also participated by Aziz Khalid, Chairman, Pakistan Publishers & Booksellers Association (PPBA), and Javed Jabbar, a former federal minister and advisor of National Curriculum Council, who bitterly criticized the recent decision of the Punjab Curriculum & Textbook Board (PCTB) to have banned around 100 textbooks in the province without serving notices to the publishers.

Significance of Diamer-Bhasha dam highlighted

By Masood Sattar Khan

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Pakistan's newly posted Ambassador to China, Moin-ul-Haq has highlighted the importance of construction of the Diamer-Bhasha dam which is expected to bring about across the board benefits in socio-economic sectors of the country. 

The Ambassador in his twitter account highlighted the significance of the project apparently following the publication of an article in ‘The Global Times’ acclaimed as one of the most popular English newspapers in China. 

"The key project is yet another concrete example of close Pak-China Friendship" the Ambassador reckoned. 

The newspaper article titled ‘China aids construction of Pakistan’s ‘Three Gorges Dam’ despite pandemic’ had pointed out that despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, China and Pakistan were stepping up efforts on committed projects focusing on cooperation in industrial development, agriculture and the improvement of people's livelihoods. 

The Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Power Project, also referred to as the ‘Three Gorges Project’ joined a long list of bilateral cooperation efforts between the two countries. 

“As a country with an agricultural population accounting for about 60 percent of its total population and agriculture accounting for more than 20 percent of its GDP, the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam remained of great strategic significance for improving Pakistan's water security and sustainable development and it has therefore been supported by successive governments,” Wang Zhihua, economic and commercial minister counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, told the Global Times. 

"The Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Power Project, being the third largest dam in Pakistan, will achieve multipurpose objectives. It will increase the water storage capacity of Pakistan from 30 to 48 days. The people of Pakistan are grateful to China, which has once again decided to help Pakistan secure and ensure its strategic water security in the 21st century," Syed Hasan Javed, director of the Chinese Studies Center of Excellence at the National University of Science and Technology in Islamabad (NUST), remarked. 

The dam is scheduled to be completed by 2029. During the construction 16,500 jobs will be directly created.

ML-1 project’s approval lauded

By Masood Sattar Khan

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing, held a meeting with the Federal Minister for Railways, Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, and exchanged views on the implementation of the ML-1 upgrading project. 

Yao expressed appreciation to the Pakistani government for attaching great importance to the China-Pakistan relations and the implementation of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). 

He also lauded the Pakistani government's approval of the ML-1 upgrade project according to a communication of the Chinese Embassy, released in Islamabad on August 7. 

“The CPEC project is based on the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and has been reached on the basis of full consultation and expert scientific demonstration by the relevant departments of the two countries,” he reckoned.

 Ambassador Yao Jing assured that China will continue to support Pakistan in the spirit of win-win cooperation and ultimate success of the project. 

The minister pointed out that the ML-1 upgradation was one of the most important projects in the history of the CPEC.

“Passing through the severe test of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Pakistani government fully supports the construction of various projects under the auspices of the CPEC,” Shaikh Rashid remarked 

“The ML-1 project will bring about system reforms and upgrades Pakistan's railway network, provide around 150,000 local jobs besides bringing huge social and economic improvement. The Pakistani side will actively cooperate with the Chinese team and strive to cooperate and implement the project to ensure the timely completion,” he added.

Coronavirus Update: Static infection rate in Sindh

By Mukhtar Alam

(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

Sindh witnessing a gradual increase in its number of daily COVID-19 tests in recent days, with an almost static infection rate, reported 386 new cases on August 6, with five new related fatalities.

The designated COVID-19 laboratories tested 8,723 samples during the last 24 hours ending August 6 afternoon, in comparison to 4,536 of August 5, 3,922 of August 4, 4,484 of August 3 and 5,272 on August 2. 

Taking the doubling in the number of tests on August 6 as a good development, keen observers reckoned that the increase was expected following the Eid holidays. 

The encouraging thing is that Sindh’s daily infection rate remained consistent, ranging from 4 to 5% during the last couple of days, like that in other provinces, said an observer adding it will relatively be a phase of relief both for the health managers and the public in the province, if the trend of infection and deaths continued passively. 

Sindh’s COVID-19 fatality tally, meanwhile, has increased to 2,250 (1.8%) on August 6 but there are signs that it will fall down in the coming days.

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his diseases related daily statement, shared that as many as 795,549 samples were tested since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the province, with a positivity rate of 15%. 

He disclosed that 5,991 patients were still receiving treatment at homes (5,653 patients), isolation centres (nine), and hospitals (329). The condition of 250 patients was stated to be critical, while 49 were put on ventilators as on August 6. 

The district-wise breakdown of new infection came as: Karachi (226), Umerkot (20), Sanghar (16), Badin (10), Shikarpur (10), Thatta (10), Hyderabad (7), Tando Mohammad Khan (7), Ghotki (6), Khairpur (6), Jamshoro (5), Mirpurkhas (4), Kambar Shahdadkot (4), Sujawal (4), Sukkur (4), Tando Allahyar (4), Shaheed Benazirabad (3) and Dadu (2). 

Of the 8,723 tests performed during the last 24 hours, 760 were found positive for COVID-19, including 386 new infections across the province. As many as nine laboratories did not perform any test. 

An official report said that 414 patients occupied the intensive care unit beds at different hospitals across the province on August 6. 

In the meantime, another report said that as of August 5, 71% of the patients (6,035), having died of COVID-19 in the country, had co-morbidity.

The co-morbidities death distribution remained as: Diabetes mellitus-23.9% (935), Hypertension-22.2% (866), both Diabetes mellitus and Hypertension-23% (896), Cardiovascular disease-9.93% (387), Malignancies-1.3% (51) and other diseases-19.6% (763).