Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif addressing the 6th CICA Summit 2022 in Astana
Chinese team to jointly work with Pakistani experts, share experience in floods management
BEIJING, Oct 13 (APP):The Chinese Government and people attached great sympathies and concern to the suffering people in wake of the unforeseen catastrophic floods in Pakistan, Xu Xianbiao, Department of Flood Control and Drought Relief, Ministry of Emergency Management of China.
Xu Xianbiao, a member of Chinese expert team on disaster management, said that the Chinese Government has dispatched the delegation to work fast and accurately with experts from Pakistan to tackle the challenges.
“By working together with Pakistani brothers and sisters, we will make sure that our advices will be based on the national factors, conditions of the affected places and the local development situation, so that the advices could be applied in short terms.”
“We will be working together with Pakistani brothers, understanding their traditions and their habits in this mutual learning occasion, he added.
The 11-member delegation of Chinese experts arrived in Pakistan to share their technical knowledge and experience with the country regarding flood management analysis based on meteorological, hydrological, hydraulic, geospatial, and damages and losses datasets, CEN reported.
The delegation, comprising mid to senior-level experts, during its stay has been holding meetings with line departments, field experts and will conduct field surveys of flood-affected areas.
On the first day of the visit, the delegation was briefed by minister for planning, development and special Institutive, and officials from the National Flood Response Coordination Centre (NFRCC), NDMA, SUPARCO, and Meteorological Department at NFRCC on flood damages and the whole response to the calamity from the government and humanitarian organizations.
The expert delegation came from the Ministry of Emergency Management of China, the Ministry of Water Resources of China, and the Meteorological Administration of China.
The ministries have nominated leading engineers with experience in floods and droughts to forge this delegation. The delegation has established a cooperation mechanism with Pakistani experts and authorities concerned even before its arrival in Pakistan. Every member of the delegation has been supported by an experienced team in Beijing.
APP/asg
China make new progress in COVID-19 research, development
BEIJING, Oct 13 (APP)::China has made new progress in the research and development (R&D) of COVID-19 vaccines with multiple technological innovations, said the vaccine research team with the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council (JPCMSC) on Wednesday.
The country has three monovalent inactivated vaccines against Omicron variants that are undergoing clinical sequential trials in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said the research team. The three vaccines are also tried in United Arab Emirates, they said, adding that the trials have all been going well so far, CGTN reported on Thursday.
Facing the complex epidemic situation, experts from the JPCMSC said that vaccination is still an effective measure of active immunization.
Nine multivalent vaccines against COVID-19 variants have entered clinical trials in China, with some in phase III clinical trials. The country is also actively deploying and promoting the R&D of the broad-spectrum COVID-19 vaccines.
In addition, an adenovirus vector vaccine for inhalation and a recombinant protein vaccine have also been approved recently. The two can be used for emergency sequential booster immunization in specified populations six months after they receive two doses of inactivated vaccines.
So far, China has a total of 46 COVID-19 vaccines that have entered clinical trials, and 21 vaccines have been approved for phase III clinical trials overseas.
Moreover, nine China-made COVID-19 vaccines, including an inactivated vaccine, adenovirus vector vaccine and recombinant protein vaccine, have been approved for the market or emergency use with conditions, and three vaccines are on the emergency use list of the World Health Organization.
APP/asg
Court grants bails to Imran Khan in two FIRs
ISLAMABAD, Oct 13 (APP): A local court of Islamabad on Thursday accepted the bails of PTI’s chairman Imran Khan in cases pertaining to threatening remarks about a female judge and vandalizing the public property during long march.
District and Session Judge Kamran Basharrat Mufti heard the bail cases filed by former prime minister Imran Khan who appeared before the court.
At the outset of hearing, the prosecutor adopted the stance that Kohsar Police Station had registered FIR against Imran Khan under Section-505 for provoking speech. The crime was non bailable, he said.
The court, however, granted perpetual bail to Imran Khan after listening the arguments.
Later, Dr. Baber Awan gave arguments in case pertaining to threatening remarks about female judge Zeba Chaudhry. He said that the high court had removed the clauses of ATA from the FIR. Imran Khan had given statement to take legal action against IGP and the said judge, he clarified.
Prosecutor Wajid Munir said that Imran Khan had given threats to government officials. The court noted that there were bailable sections included in the said FIR. The court also approved the bail of Imran Khan in this case.
Senate sub-committee set up to review BODs of power distribution, generation companies
ISLAMABAD, Oct 13 (APP): The Senate’s Standing Committee on Power while expressing deep concern over the appointment criteria of the members of boards of directors (BoDs) of various power distribution and generation companies, on Thursday constituted a sub-committee to review the matter in detail.
The committee, which met with Saifullah Abro in the chair, reviewed implementation status of its recommendations given in previous meetings, appointment procedure and expenditures of BoDs, total generation, consumption of electricity in Balochistan and illegal connections.
It was apprised that the matter of constitution of BoDs of Distribution Companies (DISCOs) was governed under the Companies Act, 2017 and the Public Sector (Corporate Governance Rules), 2013.
The committee was informed that under the rules, the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) had recently reconstituted BoDs of four DISCOs (MEPCO, GEPCO, SEPCO and HESCO) after approval from the Federal Cabinet.
It reviewed in detail the appointment procedure and expenditures of the BoDs, and also scrutinized the resumes of BoD members.
The committee observed conflict of interes, in case of many members. It was asserted that strict action against officers involved in the selection process must be taken.
It directed the ministry that the reconstitution of all BODs must be pended till completion of the inquiry.
While discussing total generation and consumption of electricity in Balochistan, the committee inquired the details of illegal connections and the process of recovery in hardened areas of the province.
The committee was informed of the number of illegal tube-well in these areas. It was observed that 33 percent load factor compensation of tube-wells resulted in 1500 MW demand. The matter had been taken up by the newly constituted sub-committee.
Discussing the matter of promotions of XEN in Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), the committee was informed that according to rules, promotions can only be awarded on preordained seats.
An internal inquiry would be conducted in this regard and the matter would be discussed minutely in its next meeting.
The meeting was attended by Senators Sana Jamali, Fida Muhammad, Prince Ahmed Umar Ahmedzai and Zeeshan Khanzada, besides senior officers of the Ministry of Energy (Power Division), and National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) along with all the concerned.