Tag: national

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(National): Quaid-e-Awam Varsity staff protests against injustice

Larkana:The employees and students of Quaid-e-Awam Engineering University Larkana took out a rally from Airport Road to Jinnah Bagh here on Wednesday for acceptance of their demands.

Speaking on the occasion, University’s Joint Action Committee office-bearers, including Asadullah Khuhawar, Siraj Bhutto, Sajad Khoso and Shakil Ghangro and leaders of All Sindh Universities Employees Federation said that it was beyond their understanding that Vice Chancellors across the province were running the universities like their personal properties while students, employees and professors were suffering from their incompetence and highhandedness.

They said it was a pity that 300 employees were not being paid their salaries on time. They said that registration of the Campus had not yet been made with Pakistan Engineering Council due to which those students who had passed and obtained degrees from here were facing serious hardships and their future career was at stake.

They demanded full-fledged status of Larkana Campus, timely payment of monthly salaries, removal of VC, registration with PEC or else, they warned, they will launch massive struggle throughout the province for acceptance of their just demands.

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(National): COVID situation: six more died, 146 infected, says CM

Karachi:Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said Wednesday that six more coronavirus patients lost their lives in Sind province, raising the death toll to 2, 436 since the outbreak of the disease in February.

This he informed in a statement issued from CM House. Shah said that the virus death ratio in the province had been recorded at 1.9 percent. He added that 168 had patients recovered while the number of patients recovered so far had reached 126,603 that came to a 97 percent recovery rate.

The CM said that 9,292 samples were tested which detected 146 new cases that constituted two percent detection rate. So far 1082,367 samples have been tested which diagnosed 131,115 cases all over Sindh that came to 12 percent overall detection rate.

According to Shah, currently, 2076 patients are under treatment, of them 1767 in home isolation, six at isolation centers and 303 at different hospitals. The condition of 152 patients was stated to be critical, including 20 shifted on ventilators, he said.

Shah said that out of 146 new cases of coronavirus, 62 had been detected from Karachi, of them 32 from Korangi, nine Malir, six each from Central and East and three West. He added that Thatta has 15 cases, Hyderabad seven, Ghotki six, Larkana five, Umerkot and Badin three each, Dadu, Shaheed Benazirabad and Sukkur two each.

The chief minister urged people of the province to stay safe by wearing masks, washing hands, using sanitizer and observing social distancing.

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(National): PTCL hosts FM for tree plantation drive

Karachi:Syed Amin Ul Haque, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT), along with Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Federal Secretary for Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication visited PTCL HQ in Islamabad where they participated in a tree plantation activity to endorse Prime Minister Imran Khan’s 10 Billion tree plantation tsunami drive.

Along with that, they also had a presentation and meeting on PTCL progress and development with Rashid Khan, President and CEO, PTCL and top management. All participants followed the safety guidelines and kept social distancing throughout the activity.

On this occasion, Syed Amin Ul Haque, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication said, “We are glad to see PTCL playing a key role in providing connectivity across the country and is paving the way towards a Digital Pakistan. Being a national company, PTCL is also contributing to environmental preservation that is line with the Prime Minister’s vision of a clean and green Pakistan.”

Talking at the ceremony, Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Secretary IT and Telecom and Chairman Board of Director, PTCL, said, “It is an honor to be here at PTCL to create awareness regarding low forest cover and pollution in the country. He further said, I am proud that the national carrier is taking a special interest in Prime Minister’s vision for a Digital Pakistan to ensure country’s economic growth and support the tree plantation tsunami movement for a green Pakistan.”

Speaking at the event, Rashid Khan, President and CEO, PTCL, said, “We are honored to have the Federal Minister and Secretary visit PTCL HQ and take part in our plantation drive. PTCL is a great supporter of Prime Minister’s 10 Billion tree plantation tsunami movement that will help in mitigating the effects of global warming and increase forest cover throughout Pakistan.”

PTCL has always participated actively in climate and environment related initiatives and its HQ is amongst the few Green Offices certified by WWF in Pakistan.

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(National): Emirates refunds US$1.4bn to customers

Karachi:Emirates revealed Wednesday that it had returned over AED 5 billion (US$ 1.4 billion) in COVID-19 related travel refunds to date, making strong and steady progress on its commitment to customers to complete pending refunds.

More than 1.4 million refunds requests have been completed since March, representing 90% of the airline’s backlog. This includes all requests received from customers around the world up until the end of June, save for a few cases which require further manual review.

Since the pandemic hit, Emirates has invested additional resources to ramp up its processing capability. The airline also continues to work with industry partners to facilitate refunds for those who have booked their Emirates flights through travel agents, this includes enabling direct refunds processing via global booking systems (GDS).

Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline said: “We understand that from our customers’ standpoint, each pending refund request is one too many. We are committed to honouring refunds and are trying our utmost to clear the massive and unprecedented backlog that was caused by the pandemic. Most cases are straightforward, and these we will process quickly. But there are cases which will take a bit more time for our customer teams to manually review and complete. We are grateful to our customers for their patience and understanding.”

As global travel markets slowly re-open, Emirates has gradually restarted its passenger operations around the world, always ensuring that it provides customers with a safe and smooth travel experience.

The airline has introduced a series of industry-leading initiatives to provide customers with additional reassurance and confidence when they travel – from bio-safety measures at every step of their journey, to free COVID-19 medical cover, and flexible booking policies.

Emirates currently offers flights to over 80 cities. Customers can stop over or travel to Dubai as the city has re-opened for international business and leisure visitors. Ensuring the safety of travellers, visitors, and the community, COVID-19 PCR tests are mandatory for all inbound and transit passengers arriving to Dubai (and the UAE), including UAE citizens, residents and tourists, irrespective of the country they are coming from.

Destination Dubai: From sun-soaked beaches and heritage activities to world class hospitality and leisure facilities, Dubai is one of the most popular global destinations. In 2019, the city welcomed 16.7 million visitors and hosted over hundreds of global meetings and exhibitions, as well as sports and entertainment events. Dubai was one of the world’s first cities to obtain the Safe Travels stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) – which endorses Dubai’s comprehensive and effective measures to ensure guest health and safety.

Flexibility and assurance: Emirates’ booking policies offer customers flexibility and confidence to plan their travel. Customers who purchase an Emirates ticket by 30 September 2020 for travel on or before 30 November 2020,?can enjoy generous rebooking terms and options, if they have to change their travel plans due to unexpected flight or travel restrictions relating to COVID-19, or when they book a Flex or Flex plus fare. More information here.

Free, global cover for COVID-19 related costs: Customers can now travel with confidence, as Emirates has committed to cover COVID-19 related medical expenses, free of cost, should they be diagnosed with COVID-19 during their travel while they are away from home. This cover is immediately effective for customers flying on Emirates until 31 October 2020 (first flight to be completed on or before 31 October 2020), and is valid for 31 days from the moment they fly the first sector of their journey. This means Emirates customers can continue to benefit from the added assurance of this cover, even if they travel onwards to another city after arriving at their Emirates destination. For more details: www.emirates.com/COVID19assistance.

Health and safety: Emirates has implemented a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the customer journey to ensure the safety of its customers and employees on the ground and in the air, including the distribution of complimentary hygiene kits containing masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes to all customers. For more information on these measures and the services available on each flight, visit: www.emirates.com/yoursafety.

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(NATIONAL): FPCCI seeks removal of backlog of 6 to 9 days at Port Qasim

KARACHI:Shabbir Mansha Churra, Convener of central standing committee on Customs of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), who is also the Founder Chairman of Pakistan Artificial Leather Imports and Merchants Association (PALIMA), Wednesday strongly protested against the continuous delay tactics in grounding of containers for examination at Port Qasim by terminal operators and requested the Collector Customs to take notice and strictly issue the directives to the terminal operators to ground the imported containers as soon as possible so that importers can be saved from heavy financial losses in term of Demurrage and Detention Charges.

By drawing immediate attention towards the issue regarding delay in grounding of containers at terminal, he said they had been informed by their member association that traders were facing unnecessary delays in clearance of their consignments especially at KICTL and QICTL due to delay in grounding of containers marked for the examination.

“It has been observed that after a month or two, traders are facing backlog trouble at container terminals and nowadays a huge backlog of the containers is started which is increasing day by day and still there is a backlog of 6 to 9 days”, Mansha pointed out.

Mansha further said: “If the situation remains unresolved, there is no doubt that the terminal will be choked due to this reason the trade is affecting very badly and is also bearing heavy financial losses in shape of container detention charged by the shipping companies, which is an average of US$ 80 to US$100 of a day per container.”

Convener FPCCI added that on the other hand, the commercial importer local and manufacturers were unable to fulfill their market commitment due to increase in customs clearance time of imported goods including raw material, which ultimately creates a gap in demand and supply and is also increasing the cost of doing business.

Churra requested to Collector of Customs (A-South) to look into this matter on priority basis and immediate action may kindly be taken in order to make necessary arrangements for timely grounding of containers and till the clearance of all backlog the terminal operators should compensate the amount of shipping container rent which is no doubt occurring due to fault of terminal.

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(National): COVID-19 claims one more life, infects 188: CM

Karachi:As many as 188 new cases of Coronavirus emerged when 8999 samples were tested lifting the tally to 130,671 while one more patient lost his life overnight lifting the death toll to 2432. This was stated by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in a statement issued here on Sunday.

Shah said that 8999 tests were conducted which detected 188 new cases which constituted two percent current detection rate. So far 1,055,050 samples have been tested which diagnosed 130,671 cases that came to 12 percent overall detection rate.

The CM said that one more patient lost his life lifting the death toll to 2423 that constituted 1.9 percent death rate. He added that currently 2035 patients were under treatment, of them 1700 in home isolation, seven at Isolation Centers and 328 in different hospitals.

According to CM the condition of 154 patients is stated to be critical, of them 15 have been shifted to ventilators. Overnight 49 patients recovered. The number of patients recovered so far has reached 126,213 that constituted 97 percent recovery rate.

Shah sharing district-wise data said, out of 188 new cases, 115 belonged to Karachi. They include 60 South, 24 East, 13 Korangi, eight Central, six west, and four Malir. He added that Thatta has 12 cases, Badin nine, Khairpur eight, Hyderabad and Tando Mohammad Khan four each, Kashmore, Tando Allahyar three each, Sukkur, Kambar, Larkana , Sanghar and Ghotki two each, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Jamshoro, Matiari, Shaheed Benazirabad and Shikarpur one each.

The CM urged people of Sindh to observe SOPs, use masks while going out and wash hands or use sanitizer and avoid handshaking.

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(National): Defence Day of Pakistan celebrated with reverence

Karachi:Pakistan Navy celebrated 55th anniversary of Defence Day of Pakistan with reverence and effervescent spirit. The day was observed to commemorate supreme sacrifices of our Armed Forces, Shuhada, Ghazis and national heroes who stood against the enemy with unparalleled display of unity and tenacity during 1965 Indo-Pak War.

In his message on the occasion, Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi paid homage to the Shuhada and Ghazis who remained undeterred by the size of the enemy and foiled its nefarious designs with grit, courage and honour.

On this day, nation acknowledges sacrifices of its gallant and resilient soldiers, sailors and airmen who defended the ideological and geographical frontiers of their motherland. The Naval Chief reiterated that Pakistan Navy is fully capable and prepared to give a befitting response to any misadventure by the enemy across the entire spectrum of maritime threat.

The Admiral urged that this day being a symbol of courage, resolve, sacrifice and national integrity demands a pledge to work selflessly and to adhere resolutely to the Quaid’s great principles by anchoring strong faith in Allah SWT.

The day dawned with special prayers offered in all naval mosques for preservation of integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan. Quran Khawani were held for interminable peace of Shuhada of the 1965 war. Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi laid floral wreath at Shuhada’s Monument at Naval Headquarters Islamabad, interacted with the families of Shuhada and offered Fateha. Wreath laying ceremonies and Fateha Khawani were also held at Shuhada’s memorials at Field Command Headquarters.

Flag hoisting ceremonies were held at all naval units and establishments wherein Commanding Officers of all units and establishments addressed special gatherings of officers and men and highlighted significance of the day. All ships and establishments were decorated and illuminated in accordance with naval traditions. Other activities of the day included various colorful sports activities and Defence Day Fishing Boats Rallies/ Races at Gwadar and Creeks area.