Day: July 1, 2022

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PTI challenges LHC’s decision of Punjab CM election vote recount

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday filed an appeal in the Supreme Court (SC) against the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision of recounting the MPAs’ votes in Punjab Assembly for the election of Punjab chief minister by excluding the votes of 25 dissident PTI MPAs.

The PTI pleaded with the apex court to accept its appeal against the LHC’s decision. “The PTI assembly members must be given adequate time to attend the assembly session,” it demanded. “Hamza Shehbaz should be removed from the office so that a clean and transparent election could be held. The election of Punjab Chief Minister should be stopped till decision on the petition [appeal],” it added.

“Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz Sharif’s notification of success should be suspended. The election of Chief Minister in Punjab Assembly should be suspended immediately,” it demanded further.

“A suitable time should be given to convene the assembly session by changing the decision of the high court. The parties in the case have the constitutional right to clean and transparent elections,” it added.

It is to be noted here that the appeal had been filed by the PTI lawyers – Faisal Chaudhry and Imtiaz Siddiqui, who prayed to court to take up their appeal today.

Earlier on Thursday, the LHC had declared the oath of Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz as illegal and ordered recounting of votes for the election of Punjab’s chief minister held on April 16, directing that the votes of 25 dissident PTI MPAs be excluded from the recounting process. While commenting on the LHC’s decision, Fawad Chaudhry, a leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said that the decision had amplified the political crisis in Punjab.

“Hamza’s government is gone, but this verdict will not end the crisis,” he had said in a tweet. “There are many flaws in the decision. A meeting of the party’s legal meeting has been called. We will approach the Supreme Court regarding flaws in the high court’s decision,” he had added.

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Govt striving to enhance power generation: Khurram

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Energy Engineer Khurram Dastagir has said the government is working to enhance the power generation and add around 5000 megawatt electricity in the national grid by next year.

Talking to a private news channel, he said load-shedding will be reduced significantly by November as the government is striving to initiate new power plants to provide uninterrupted power supply to the masses. The Minister for Energy said the government will establish five to ten thousand megawatt solar power plant to bring an end the energy crisis in the country by next summer season.

He said there is 6000 megawatt gap in supply and demand as generation is 24000 megawatt against peak demand of 30000 megawatt. The minister said the refilling of 1100 megawatt nuclear power plant is in progress and will be completed soon. This will add 1100 megawatt electricity to the national grid. He further said the government will import coal from Afghanistan in the coming days to ensure low-cost power generation and save its precious foreign exchange reserves.

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Permission for PTI rally at Parade Ground linked to GHQ nod

ISLAMABAD: The district administration of Islamabad on Thursday night gave permission to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to hold a public gathering at Islamabad’s Parade Ground tomorrow (Saturday, July 2, 2022) on the condition that the GHQ should also not object to it, according to a report on Friday.

The deputy commissioner (DC) of Islamabad said that if the GHQ’s Staff Duties Directorate allowed the party’s rally at the Parade Ground, the no objection certificate (NOC) issued by him would be valid because it was the GHQ, and not the district administration, that was authorized to allow the use of Parade Ground for the purpose.

On the other hand, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) disposed of the PTI’s petition, seeking permission for its political event in the federal capital’s Red Zone area after learning that the district administration had already given its permission.

Babar Awan, counsel for the PTI, told the court that the administration had allowed the party’s public gathering on the condition that the GHQ should also have no objection to it. “We are trying to get in touch with the people at the GHQ,” he informed. Justice Aamer Farooq remarked that holding a peaceful rally was the PTI’s right.

Later talking to the media, Babar Awan said that it was not easy for other political parties to fill in the Parade Ground. “But it is exactly the opposite in the case of PTI as whenever there is a party’s rally at the same venue, it is filled in no time,” he added.

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Pakistan HC felicitates Canadian people on Canada Day

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Canada Zaheer Janjua has felicitated Canadian government and people on the Canada Day.

In his tweet today (Friday), the High Commissioner said both Pakistan and Canada are making 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship between them. He said the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and Canada is based on mutual trust, cooperation and commonality of interests.

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1100 students awarded degrees at LUMS convocation

LAHORE: Around 1100 graduate and undergraduate students from all five schools at LUMS were awarded degrees at the convocation.

The University’s senior leadership including Pro Chancellor, Abdul Razzak Dawood, Rector, Shahid Hussain, Vice Chancellor, Dr Arshad Ahmad, Members of the LUMS Board of Trustees, Deans, faculty and staff members celebrated the momentous occasion with the graduates and their families, according to a statement on Friday.

Registrar, Ms Zara Fateh Qizilbash delivered the welcome address, following which, the Pro Chancellor, Abdul Razzak Dawood formally inaugurated the 34th convocation of LUMS.

Vice Chancellor, Dr. Arshad Ahmad congratulated the graduating class and wished them well for their future. He recognized the convocation as a defining moment for all students. While referring to the ongoing political uncertainty and economic challenges, he called upon all graduating students to discover their individual roles and serve a greater purpose. He also emphasized strengthening a collective hope for a better and stronger Pakistan. Towards the end, he advised all students to embrace their full potential and move forward, following in the footsteps of their predecessors while adhering to the timeless qualities of integrity, punctuality, respect, patience, and empathy.

The keynote address at this year’s commencement was delivered by the inspiring, Justice (Retd.) Nasira Iqbal. Recipient of the prestigious, Sitara-i-Imtiaz 2021, Justice Iqbal was one of the first five women to be appointed to the Lahore High Court, where she served as a justice from 1994 to 2002. A Harvard Law School graduate, she is sought after as a legal scholar, has lectured around the world and has represented Pakistan at various international forums. She lauded the efforts of the LUMS community to enable and empower Pakistani youth by providing high-quality and impactful education and training.

In her address, she wished the graduating class success and expressed the hope that they will contribute to the development of the country and create shared value for the people around them. She also urged the graduates to pursue inclusiveness as a way of tackling intolerance in society. Justice Iqbal appreciated the gender equality ratio at LUMS and quoted her own example, “There should be no age barrier to acquiring higher education and students should pursue it as the only means of achieving progress and prosperity.”

Alina Anjum, this year’s valedictorian, inspired her fellow students by sharing her experiences at LUMS and her ideals of pursuing self-belief and strengthening mutual bonds. One of the winners of this year’s Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence, Dr. Haniya Azam, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, shared her thoughts about the enabling environment at LUMS that facilitates learning, growth and success. She also encouraged the graduates to never settle for less and strive for excellence.

Dr. Azam’s address was followed by the awarding of degrees to all graduating students, the robing of PhD graduates, and the presentation of the National Management Foundation awards and corporate medals to high-performing students.

Late Aqsa Fatima, a LUMS student who passed away in April and was to graduate this year, was awarded a posthumous MBA degree to honour her memory. Rector, Shahid Hussain, presented the degree to the parents of late Aqsa Fatima. A recorded broadcast of the ceremony can be viewed at the LUMS Facebook page.

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Covid cases ratio in Karachi rises to 20pc, tells CM

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Friday that the COVID cases during the last week of June have shown an upward trend and it needs to be controlled before the advent of major events such as of Eid ul Azha, local government elections and Muharram, otherwise, the government would have no option but to take some tough decisions.

“This situation can easily be controlled through adopting COVID SOPs such as wearing masks, avoiding handshake, ensuring social distancing and washing hands voluntarily,” he said while presiding over a Coronavirus Task Force meeting here at CM House to take stock of the situation.

The meeting was attended by Provincial Ministers, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Nasir Shah, Sharjeel Memon (on video link); Advisor Law Murtaza Wahab, Parliamentary Secretary on Health Qasim Soomro, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, IG Police Ghulam Nabi Memon, PSCM Fayaz Jatoi, Home Secretary Saeed Mangnijo, Commissioner Karachi Iqbal Memon, Dr Bari, Dr Qaiser Sajjad, Dr Sara Khan of World Bank, VC Dow University Dr Saeed Qureshi, Deputy DG Rangers Brig Rauf Shahzad, representatives of Corps Headquarter and Intelligences.

The chief minister was told that on June 17, the province had only 38 cases with a 3.6 percent detection ratio and on the next day, June 18, the number of cases jumped to 122. In this way, the cases went on increasing from 377, 531 and 465 reported on June 30. At this, the chief minister said that the situation was not alarming, but it was worrisome. “We need to control it through mass awareness,” he said.

The data of the last one week (June 24-30, 2022) shows that Karachi has the highest ratio of 19.76 percent cases on June 30, 19.09 percent on June 29, 19.24 percent on June 28, 9.21 percent on June 27, 22.65 percent on June 26, 21.71 percent on June 25, and 19.65 percent on June 24.

During the corresponding period, Hyderabad had 11.54 percent cases on June 24, 8.51 percent on June 25, 0.32 percent on June 26, 0.29 percent on June 27, 1.09 percent on June 28, 0.15 percent on June 29 and 0.39 percent on June 30. At this the chief minister said that the ratio of cases in Karachi showed an upward trend between 19 to 21 percent during the said week while trend of the cases showed decline in Hyderabad.

The weekly average of COVID cases in Karachi has been recorded at 17.47 percent, 1.01 percent in Hyderabad and 1.05 percent in the rest of the province. In this way, the provincial average ratio during the said week remained at 7.66 percent. The chief minister was told that during the last 30 days, six deaths were reported, of them five on ventilators and one off vent at hospitals. In May, the province had four deaths, April 10 and March 25.

Minister Health Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho told the chief minister that currently, out of 4,122 patients, only 63 were in hospitals, of them 47 were in critical condition. She added that only four patients had been shifted to ventilators. At this, the chief minister said that it meant the hospitals were not under pressure.

On the advice of the experts and members of the task force, the chief minister urged people of the province to get vaccinated, and if they were already vaccinated they would get booster shots. “I would urge you (people of the province) to wear masks, ensure social distancing and keep washing or sanitizing your hands and avoid handshakes,” he said and added if these SOPs were adopted voluntarily the provincial government would be able to control the situational.

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PM inaugurates Innovation Hub Program in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif formally inaugurated Innovation Hub Program in Islamabad on Friday.

The objective of the programme is participation of public in national policies. The establishment of the Innovation Hub will also play an important role in harmonizing policy making with the needs of the country. The Prime Minister’s vision will give importance to country’s youth further.

Addressing the participants on the occasion, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed the commitment to promote this program personally. He said that under the program, special cells will be created in all Ministries where young talent can share their ideas for improving respective Ministry’s performance.

The Prime Minister was briefed that under the program, suitable ideas will be scrutinized through a National TV programme and later on the best idea will be implemented in policy making by Strategic Reforms Unit. The participants, on the occasion, shared their brief ideas with the Prime Minister about public policy.