Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif visits Free Flour Distribution Points
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif visits Free Flour Distribution Points
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif visits Free Flour Distribution Points
CJP summons JCP meeting on Thursday
ISLAMABAD, Apr 11 (APP): Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial has summoned a meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Thursday (April 13) to consider the confirmation of Justice Musarrat Hilali as regular Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court.
Justice Hilali has been performing the duties of acting Chief Justice of the PHC since April 1, 2023.
The JCP, headed by the CJP and comprising four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, a former judge, federal law minister, the Attorney General for Pakistan and a senior advocate nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council, besides one representative of the provincial and Islamabad bar councils, after confirmation, will propose her name to the Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of Judges in Superior Courts.
51 new Corona cases reported in last 24 hours: NIH
ISLAMABAD, Apr 11 (APP): Health officials on Tuesday said that 51 new Coronavirus cases were reported during the last 24 hours across the country.
As per the data shared by the National Institute of Health (NIH), the case positivity ratio was 1.55 percent while 10 patients were in critical condition.
No death was reported from the Coronavirus in the last 24 hours while 3,283 Covid-19 tests were conducted.
Meanwhile, Minister for National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination, Abdul Qadir Patel said the government has strengthened the role of Border and Health Services in Pakistan to deal with any sub-variant of Covid-19.
The minister said there was a surveillance system at all entry points of the country including airports. There will be rapid tests and screening of passengers at all airports, he added.
He added 90 percent of the country’s population already got the Covid-19 vaccine. “An efficient system with a proper management team is fully functional in the country to remain vigilant and is ready to make an emergency plan to deal with any sub-variant of Covid-19,” the minister added.
He said the Border and Health Services Pakistan was ensuring the implementation of international health regulations.
He said that in case of any untoward situation, the health system was fully prepared to deal with any sub-variant of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 including BF.7 in the country.
Second phase of Polio vaccination drive concludes
ISLAMABAD, Apr 11 (APP): The second phase of the Polio vaccination drive concluded in 12 districts of Balochistan and 26 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
During the five-day campaign, more than 4.12 million children were vaccinated in both provinces.
Federal Minister for Health Abdul Qadir Patel said that the focus was to ensure the vaccination of every child so that they remain protected from poliovirus, which has been found circulating in environmental samples.
“The presence of wild polio in the environment shows that the virus is circulating in our communities and posing a serious risk to our children,” the minister said.
“With Ramazan around the corner, population movements can increase the risk of further spread, therefore, it is critical that parents and caregivers vaccinate their children in every campaign,” he said.
“We have specifically designed this March campaign to reach areas where population movement is not just frequent but also expected during Ramazan and Eid festival,” said Dr Shahzad Baig, National Emergency Operations Center.
“It is essential that we reach as many children as possible with the vaccine now to curb polio transmission,” he added.
No human case has been reported in Pakistan since September 2022 when a polio outbreak paralyzed 20 children – all of them in southern KP districts. Wild poliovirus was detected for the first time this year in sewage samples collected from two separate sites in Lahore in January, he said.
Two more samples have since then tested positive for polio – wild polio has been detected in a sample collected from D.I. Khan and variant poliovirus has been detected from Ghotki.
The polio programme has taken all efforts to ensure the vaccination of children to keep them safe from this highly infectious disease in the context of positive environmental samples detected in some places, he said.
Pakistan, Bulgaria resolve to cement multi-sphere ties including politics, agriculture
ISLAMABAD, Apr 11 (APP): Pakistan and Bulgaria on Tuesday reiterated the mutual resolve to cement bilateral relations in the fields of political, economic, trade, investment, higher education, agriculture, ICT and people-to-people contacts.
The bilateral ties were discussed in the Fifth Round of Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC) between Pakistan and Bulgaria held in Sofia, a Foreign Office press release said.
The Pakistani side was led by Additional Foreign Secretary (Europe) Muhammad Saleem while the Bulgarian delegation was headed by Petar Kraytchev, Director General (Bilateral Relations), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria.
The two sides reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and discussed ways and means to further enhance them in diverse fields.
The two sides agreed on the importance of early convening of the next session of the Pakistan-Bulgaria Intergovernmental Commission, and active linkages between the private sectors of the two countries.
The possibilities to enhance the Pakistani workforce to address the existing labor shortage in Bulgaria were also discussed.
Pakistani delegation thanked Bulgaria for playing a supportive role in Pakistan’s active engagement with the EU, especially in the context of GSP+ status.
Regional and global issues of mutual interest were also discussed including peace and security, counter-terrorism and climate change.
The two sides also underscored their keen interest in maintaining close cooperation at the multilateral platforms, especially the United Nations.
NA Speaker stresses importance of involving intelligentsia, youth, academia in research-based legislation
ISLAMABAD, Apr 11 (APP): National Assembly Speaker, Raja Pervez Ashraf on Tuesday highlighted the importance of involving the intelligentsia, youth, and academia in enacting research-based legislation.
He made these remarks while awarding completion certificates to Research Associates who had completed their six-month program with TADVEEN-Legislative Drafting & Research Clinic, working at the National Assembly of Pakistan in Islamabad.
The Speaker emphasized that the primary objective of parliament is to legislate in the best interest of the common people, and he welcomed everyone to participate in this process.
The TADVEEN initiative was introduced in the National Assembly to provide quality inputs for research-based lawmaking. The Speaker encouraged the Associates to continue playing their role in the development of the country in whatever capacity possible.
National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf emphasized that the parliament is the house of the people and welcomed everyone to participate in the legislative process.
NCC playing key role in ensuring new curriculum: Education Minister
ISLAMABAD, Apr 11 (APP): Federal Education Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain has said that the National Curriculum Council of Pakistan is playing an important role in ensuring equal, effective and high quality education for every child of the country.
The National Curriculum Council (NCC) strives to design comprehensive, up-to-date and relevant curriculum to provide high quality education to students so that they are prepared to face the challenges of the modern world.
He expressed these views while making a sudden visit to the National Curriculum Council Secretariat, where an inter-provincial workshop is going on regarding completion of the educational curriculum from grade nine to Twelve standard.
Education Minister said that the content consisting of Constitution of Pakistan and coding has also been included in the curriculum drfat from 9th to 12th grade based on the principles of inclusion and innovation in the modern age.
Rana Tanveer Hussain met the subject experts present in the workshop and gave instructions regarding completion of the syllabus.
He was accompanied by Federal Secretary for Education and Professional Development Wasim Ajmal Chaudhry, Director National Curriculum Council Secretariat Dr. Maryam Chughtai.
On the occasion, Maryam Chaghtai said that in order to develop a common vision for curriculum reforms, the NCC Secretariat has organized several meetings to get opinions from across the country.
It also included the organization of inter-provincial curriculum workshops at the NCC Secretariat, in which the provincial representatives from all over Pakistan were gathered to review the syllabus of the 9th to 12th grade.
PM gets an emotional gesture by elderly woman: Marriyum
ISLAMABAD, Apr 11 (APP): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Tuesday said an elderly woman expressed motherly sentiments for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif once she received free flour bag from him in Faisalabad.
The minister shared a video clip of those sentimental moments on her Twitter handle and wrote : “An elderly woman gave a pat on his (PM) head with compassion and offered lot of prayers for him.”
She said there was definitely no substitute for such gesture and affection in the world and added The Almighty would steer a person out of problems when the poor had full prayers for him.