ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s provincial government of Punjab said on Thursday it has vaccinated 23 million people in the last one month through a mass vaccination drive as Pakistan reports a surge in coronavirus cases driven by the omicron variant.
Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, has reported 360 new infections in the last 24 hours, pushing the country’s overall positivity above 2 percent. Official data available with Arab News shows the province has so far reported 217 cases of the omicron variant, while 53 percent of eligible 81 million individuals in Punjab have been fully vaccinated.
The provincial health department started a “Reach Every Door” mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign across Punjab in October last year alongside its routine vaccination campaign. At least 14 million individuals were vaccinated during the drive.
The second phase of the mass campaign began in December and concluded this week, with authorities reporting that they administered doses to over 23 million individuals.
“These mass vaccination drives have helped us bring down the coronavirus infections, hospitalization and deaths of the patients in the province,” Hammad Raza Bukhari, a spokesperson for the Punjab Health Department, told Arab News on Thursday.
“Number of infections have been increasing for past some days, but so far there is no pressure on our health facilities,” Bukhari said.
He said the Punjab government was given a task by the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), a federal body that leads Pakistan’s response against the pandemic, to vaccinate a total of 81 million people, saying that authorities have fully jabbed 53 percent of the target.
He added that the partial vaccination of 72 percent eligible persons had been completed.
“Our ‘Reach Every Door’ campaign has played a vital role in this success,” Imran Sikandar Baloch, Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Punjab, said in a statement on Thursday.
While the mass vaccination drive has so far only been adopted by the Punjab government, the National Institute of Health plans to carry out a countrywide vaccination campaign in March this year.
Official data shows Punjab had reported 446,401 coronavirus positive cases till Wednesday while the number of active cases in the province was 3,935.
In the last 24 hours, the city of Lahore reported 320 positive cases, Rawalpindi 14, Multan nine and Faisalabad four cases.
Lahore has recorded a positivity ratio of 4 percent, Rawalpindi and Multan 2 percent, while Faisalabad reported a one percent positivity ratio over the last 24 hours.
“We can stop the spread of the virus only through vaccination and precautionary measures,” Baloch added.
Pakistan reported over 1,000 coronavirus infections in a single day on Thursday, the first time since October 14 last year that the daily cases count broke the thousand cases barrier.
The NCOC has said the country was not considering a lockdown but would ramp up vaccinations and impose further restrictions on the unvaccinated.
Punjab vaccinates 23 million people in a month in mass inoculation drive
https://arab.news/2zvjv
Punjab vaccinates 23 million people in a month in mass inoculation drive
- Provincial authorities have recorded 217 omicron positive cases so far
- Authorities have fully vaccinated 53 percent of 81 million eligible individuals in the province
Pakistan, US agree to schedule key talks on trade and investment ‘soon’
- Trade and Investment Framework Agreement serves as platform for both countries to resolve issues related to bilateral trade
- Commerce minister says US remains Pakistan’s” top” trading destination, calls for strengthening bilateral trade relations
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal and US Trade Representative Katherine Tae on Thursday held talks focused on enhancing bilateral trade relations between the once close allies, with both sides agreeing to schedule the key Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks “soon.”
TIFA serves as a platform for Pakistan and the US to improve market access, promote bilateral trade and investment, resolve disputes, and work on trade-related issues between the two countries.
Pakistan and the US took part in high-level trade talks in Feb. 2023 when both countries participated in the 9th Pakistan-United States Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council meeting. That meeting took place after seven years.
Khan held a virtual meeting with Tai during which he said America remains Pakistan’s “top trading destination, expressing his country’s desire to further expand this partnership.
“During the meeting, it was confirmed that the next Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) meeting would be scheduled soon, along with discussions on agriculture, textiles, women’s empowerment, IT and E-commerce,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.
Khan highlighted Pakistan’s “strong performance” in the agriculture sector, particularly in mangoes and dates, the ministry said, adding that he also spoke about the potential for growth in value-added agro-services.
Tai acknowledged Pakistan’s contributions, particularly its agricultural exports, and praised the quality of Pakistani mangoes, the statement said.
“Minister Jam Kamal invited Tai to attend Pakistan’s TEXPO in October,” the commerce ministry said. It said Tai was grateful for the invitation and expressed interest in attending the event.
In return, Tai invited Kamal to visit Washington to further explore trade opportunities between the two countries.
Pakistan PM says Islamabad keen to expand trade, security cooperation with Russia
- Visiting Russian deputy PM calls on Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad to discuss bilateral relations
- Islamabad has recently sought to strengthen ties with Moscow to address its economic woes
Islamabad: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said Islamabad was keen to expand its trade, energy, connectivity and security cooperation with Moscow during his meeting with visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk.
Overchuk arrived in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Wednesday on a two-day official visit with a high-level delegation. He has held talks with Deputy PM Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s army chief and leading officials in Islamabad to bolster trade, investment, security and energy cooperation with Pakistan.
Islamabad has recently sought to strengthen ties with Moscow, including requests for discounted crude oil to address its balance of payments crisis and high energy import bill, as part of a broader strategy to diversify its international partnerships and economic dependencies.
“The Prime Minister stated that Pakistan is keen to expand trade, economic, energy, connectivity and security cooperation with Russia,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.
Sharif told Overchuk that Pakistan considers strengthening relations with Russia as an important priority of Pakistan’s foreign policy, the PMO said.
Overchuk thanked the Pakistani premier for giving him a warm welcome and reiterated Moscow’s resolve to deepen relations with Islamabad, the PMO said.
“He characterized Pakistan-Russia relations as constructive and mutually beneficial,” it added.
Sharif also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries to further strengthen mutually advantageous cooperation in all areas of shared interest, especially trade, investment, energy, IT, agriculture, science & technology and education.
Pakistani blockbuster ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ to release in India on Oct 2
- Film is a reboot of a hyper-masculine Punjabi film from four decades ago
- Political tensions between India and Pakistan result in minimum cultural exchanges
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani blockbuster movie “The Legend of Maula Jatt” starring superstars Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan and Hamza Ali Abbasi is set to be released in Indian theaters on Oct 2, the film’s director Bilal Lashari confirmed on Wednesday.
Released in October 2022, the movie is a reboot of a hyper-masculine Punjabi film that enchanted viewers four decades ago. It has not only won critical acclaim but also done incredibly well in domestic and international markets.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since gaining independence in 1947, two of them over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir. Political tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors still dominate their relations, resulting in minimum cultural exchanges.
“Releasing in India, Punjab on Wednesday 2nd Oct! Two years in, and still house full on weekends in Pakistan!” Lashari said in a social media post on Instagram.
“Now, I can’t wait for our Punjabi audience in India to experience the magic of this labor of love!”
The film’s official Instagram page wrote that the official list of cinemas that would screen the movie would be revealed soon.
Upon its release in October 2022, the film broke all previous local cinema records by grossing an impressive Rs1.5 billion – or over $6.78 million at the time – since its release in Pakistan and the rest of the world.
Speaker tells Pakistan election body to ‘honor’ parliament’s laws amid tensions with judiciary
- Pakistan’s top court in July ruled that ex-PM Khan’s party is entitled to reserved seats in parliament for women and minorities
- Sharif’s government last month amended country’s election law that restricts allottment of reserved seats to ex-PM Khan’s party
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Thursday told the country’s electoral body that amendments made to Pakistan’s election laws last month would supersede a prior ruling of the top court related to reserved seats in parliament, raising fears of a standoff with the Supreme Court.
Sadiq’s letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) came after the Supreme Court censured the election regulatory authority last week for what it said were “dilatory tactics” to avoid implementing a judgment on reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial legislatures that favored the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
In a verdict on July 12, a 13-member bench of the court declared the PTI of Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan eligible for reserved seats after the ECP forced the party’s candidates to contest the February 8 polls as independents. After the election, the PTI-backed candidates were forced to join Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) party to claim a share of the reserved seats as independents are not eligible for the extra seats.
The Supreme Court overturned the ECP’s decision, saying it had misconstrued an earlier verdict related to the party’s election symbol by depriving the PTI of the reserved seats. The verdict was a blow to the ruling coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz, which could lose its two-thirds majority if the verdict is implemented.
In August, Pakistan’s parliament passed the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024, which restricted granting the reserved seats in parliament to the PTI. The bill says that if a candidate does not submit a declaration of his affiliation with a political party to the returning officer before seeking the allotment of an election symbol, he or she shall be “deemed to be considered as an independent candidate and not a candidate of any political party.”
“As the judgment of the SC was rendered based on the law prior to the enactment of the amendment, the said judgment is now incapable of implementation,” Sadiq wrote in a letter to the ECP.
“Instead, it is the Amended Election Act that shall prevail and supersede the prior ruling.”
He pointed out that the consistent jurisprudence of the Supreme Court also held the view that the parliamentary law was superior to the court’s order.
“It is also brought to your kind notice that the Amended Election Act is in the field, therefore, it is the statutory obligation of the ECP to honor the laws made by Parliament and uphold the principles of democracy and parliamentary supremacy,” the letter said.
He warned that actions perceived to be undermining parliament’s sovereignty can “erode public trust and confidence in our institutions.”
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
The development takes place at a time when Sharif’s coalition government is planning to get a constitutional amendment passed from parliament to allegedly give an extended term to the country’s top judge.
The amendment requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament, though the coalition can lose a portion of its existing number of seats after the Supreme Court’s July 12 ruling on reserved seats gets implemented.
The package of reforms, widely believed to include as many as 22 amendments to the constitution, is expected to increase the retirement age of superior judges by three years and change the process by which the Supreme Court chief justice is appointed.
The amendments have raised widespread concerns among opposition parties and legal experts who say the moves are aimed at increasing the government’s power in making key judicial appointments and dealing with the defection of lawmakers during house votes.
Pakistani blasphemy suspect’s family forgives police officer accused of killing him
- Abdul Ali, 52, was shot dead last week in a heavily fortified police station in Quetta
- Killer was a police office who had accessed facility by pretending to be Ali's relative
QUETTA: The family of a blasphemy suspect killed in custody in southwestern Pakistan has forgiven the police officer accused of killing him, saying they would not press charges “in the name of God.”
Abdul Ali, 52, also known as Sakhi Lala, was shot dead last week in a heavily fortified police station in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, by police officer Saayd Mohammad Sarhadi, who had accessed the facility by pretending to be Ali’s relative, police said.
“We will not fight the case,” Ali’s son Muhammad Usman told a press conference late on Wednesday, sitting with another brother and some elders from his tribal clan. “We have forgiven the police officer in the name of God.”
One of the elders, Faizullah Noorzai, said the tribe would disown Ali. “We and our families are the kind of people who would sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Prophet Muhammad and his respect.”
Blasphemy is punishable by death in predominantly Muslim Pakistan. No one has been executed by the state for the crime, but dozens of those accused have been lynched by mobs before trial.
Such killings are often glorified. The father of Ali’s alleged killer, Hajji Daad Muhammad, has been receiving visitors paying their respects at his house since last week’s killing.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom says the South Asian country is one of the world’s strictest and most frequent enforcers of blasphemy laws.
Blasphemy accusations fueled mobs that attacked Christian neighborhoods in the eastern province of Punjab, burning several churches and displacing hundreds of people last year.
A court will consider the plea by Ali’s family for a pardon and decide whether to proceed with charging the officer, said a senior police officer who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Ali’s alleged blasphemy centered on an argument he had had about politics and the Prophet Muhammad, according to a police investigator. He had been moved to the more secure police station after hundreds gathered outside the facility where he was initially detained, chanting that they wanted to kill him publicly.
