Siasat Wala Blog

LONDON: AstraZeneca started late-stage trials on Saturday of an experimental long-acting monoclonal antibody combination drug it hopes could be used as a so-called prophylactic to prevent COVID-19 infection in at-risk people for up to 12 months. The Phase III international clinical trial will recruit a total of 5,000 people across countries in Europe and the United States to assess the safety and effectiveness of the antibody cocktail, known as AZD7442. The prophylactic treatment differs from a vaccine in that it introduces antibodies, rather than prompting the body’s immune system to make them. It may prove useful in people whose immune systems are weaker or compromised, and who don’t respond to vaccination. Separately, AstraZeneca is developing a COVID-19 vaccine in conjunction with researchers at Oxford University. In Britain, where the trials of the monoclonal antibody combination kicked off on Saturday, 1,000 participants will be recruited at nine sites, researchers leading th...

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to bring an ordinance for pronouncing strict punishments to the rape convicts, ARY News reported on Saturday. The decision was taken in a session of the government’s legal team which was chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan where he was given a briefing over the legal procedures to pronounce penalties to the rapists and regulations for the protection of witnesses. While addressing the session, PM Imran Khan said that the authorities will have to bring up a plan for curbing rape incidents and any delay in its legislation will be disastrous for the country. Sources told ARY News that PM Khan refused to give more time to the legal team for the lawmaking. He directed the legal team to work day and night to finalise the legislation. Read: Government to establish sex offenders’ database: PM Imran Khan The premier said that justice must be provided to the victims through the speedy trial of rape cases. The meeting was attended by Federal Mi...

NAWABSHAH: Police in a raid at an alleged private jail recovered 32 peasants languishing in detention camp, ARY News reported on Saturday. Nawabshah’s B-Section and Baluja police station contingent conducted raid at an alleged private jail of an influential landlord, according to police officials. The peasants recovered from the private detention camp were produced in the sessions court, which ordered the police to release the recovered persons, police officials said. In previous month police had conducted raid at another private detention camp in Matiari district, which was constructed over a brick kiln in the area where the suspects had reportedly detained 15 persons forcefully. The suspects behind the private make-shift jail construction and the capture of 15 individuals were fled from the scene, the police said. Reports about bonded-labourers camps frequently surface in media in the past. Bonded labour has been outlawed in Pakistan and most other affected countries in line wi...

Elderly women of a coastal village in Karachi have taken it upon themselves to conserve mangroves along the coastline, a step that can be essential in saving Karachi from the perils of rising sea-levels. Mangroves are popularly referred to as the ‘lungs’ of Karachi, a city that thrives along a coastline that is rapidly being damaged thanks to land reclamation. The shrub-like forests have long shielded Karachi from tidal floods and provided shoreline stability while also serving as a breeding ground for a variety of marine life. They have also provided villagers with firewood and fodder for livestock. However, the mangrove spread is rapidly declining; in the 1950s they covered an estimated area of 350,000 hectares and by the 1990s they covered just about 86,000 hectares. Now, the women of the nearby village of Kakapir are stepping up to the task. Talking to Hina Deedar for ARY News, 72-year-old Sughrana Haji shared how she has been working hard with other women of the village to con...

MUZAFFARABAD: Complete lockdown will be enforced across Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) from midnight tonight for fifteen days to curtail the spread of the COVID-19, ARY News reported on Saturday.  This decision came during a meeting of the AJK cabinet that met on Tuesday with Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider in the chair. The meeting was briefed that the coronavirus situation in the valley has worsened as Covid-19 positivity rate has gone up to 19 per cent. Traders in Mirpur staged a protest against the decision of the administration. They said that they incurred many losses during the initial lockdown, adding that they cannot afford to close their shops again. They said that they should be allowed to open their shops and ensure the implementation of all SOPs. Read more: Two AJK ministers tested positive with spike in COVID-19 cases There would be a complete lockdown in all AJK districts with a ban on weddings and other gatherings. All schools and businesses will remain shut d...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly condemned the rocket attacks at Kabul city which resulted in the loss of precious lives and injuries to many, ARY News reported on Saturday. The Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson said in a statement, “We convey our heartfelt condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives and pray for the early and complete recovery of the injured.” “At a time when international community’s efforts towards Afghan peace process are moving forward it is important to be vigilant against the spoilers who are working to undermine the peace efforts.” Pakistan reiterates its condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We express our full solidarity and support for Afghanistan and its fraternal people, added the FO spokesperson. Earlier in the day, police officials said that several rockets hit residential areas in the early rush hour in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, killing at least three civilians and wounding a dozen more. The e...

LAHORE: A banking court has issued arrest warrant of Nawaz Sharif’s cousins in the case related to defaulting on bank loans worth Rs700 million, ARY News reported on Saturday. The court ordered authorities to produce the accused including Shahid Shafi, Tariq Shafi, Javed Shafi, Ali Pervaiz and Ibrahim Tariq in the next hearing on November 27. The arrest warrant was issued by the court over their continuous absence in the hearings. Earlier on November 6, the banking court had summoned cousins of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on November 20 for indicting them, however, they did not show up. On September 24, a banking court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants to the accused of not complying with the orders in cases against them for allegedly defaulting on bank loans. Tariq Shafi, Javed Shafi and others had been nominated in the petition filed by the banks. It stated that the loans were not being cleared by the accused persons for many years. It sought orders for initiating l...

LAHORE: The funeral prayers of Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi have been offered today (Saturday) at Greater  Iqbal Park, ARY News reported. A large number of people belonging to various walks of life attended the funeral of TLP chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi. The funeral prayers were led by Saad Hussain Rizvi, the son of Khadim Rizvi. Strict security arrangements were ensured to deter any untoward incident.  TLP chief Khadim Rizvi breathed his list on Thursday at the age of 54. According to the family sources, he had been suffering from longstanding ailments. Rizvi reportedly had a high fever and was admitted to Lahore’s Shaikh Zayed Hospital, confirmed the family. Read more: TLP chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi passes away After Rizvi’s health deteriorated, he was taken to Sheikh Zayed Hospital where he was pronounced expired. Rizvi was born in Attock district on June 22, 1966. For his early education, he studied Hifz and Tajweed from a madre...

KABUL: Several rockets hit residential areas in the early rush hour in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, killing at least three civilians and wounding a dozen more, police officials said. The explosions, close to the diplomatic enclave, sent warning sirens blaring from embassies and it comes two days before a major donor conference for Afghanistan in Geneva. Tariq Arian, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said three civilians had been killed in the attack and 11 wounded. But a health ministry official said five bodies and 21 injured were taken to the hospital from the incident. Arian said the attackers mounted the rockets in a small truck and set them off, adding that the investigation is going on to find out how the vehicle came inside the city. Some residents filmed when the rockets were firing and posted them on social media. Several pictures circulating on Facebook showed damaged cars and a hole in the side of a building. Afghan Taliban denied involvement in the atta...

LAHORE: The police on Saturday pasted proclamation notice outside former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s residence over his perpetual absence from trial proceedings in an illegal land allotment case. An accountability court had issued a proclamation against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in an illegal land allotment case, last month. The DIG Operations Lahore said that Nawaz has been declared proclaimed offender by the court and the notice has been posted outside his house on the orders of the NAB court. He said that the police will present its report before the court on November 26. Read more: Non-bailable arrest warrants issued for Nawaz Sharif in land allotment case Sharif is facing accusations of illegal allotment of land as the then Punjab CM to Mir Shakilur Rehman. On March 12, the National Accountability Bureau had apprehended Mir Shakilur Rahman in a case pertaining to the illegal exemption of 54 plots in Lahore. It is pertinent to mention here that Nawaz is currentl...

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has said that the progress has been made on all four projects of the federal government including Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) under Karachi package, ARY News reported on Saturday. Asad Umar, while addressing a press conference along with Sindh Governor Imran Ismail today, said that the progress details of Karachi package will be presented before Prime Minister Imran Khan soon.  “We want to find out a permanent solution for maintaining the cleanliness of the main nullahs [of Karachi]. It is important to remove encroachments from nullah besides providing an alternative plan. The work for removing encroachments from nullah is continued in Karachi’s Mehmoodabad.” Asad Umar said that the Sindh government is taking part in the anti-encroachment operation. He said that the provincial government had announced the allocation of Rs700 billion funds for the metropolis. He questioned the government for not spending the funds...

ISLAMABAD: The United States (US)  has expressed pleasure over Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to Afghanistan. The US State Department in its statement said it is pleasing to see Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Kabul to underscore Pakistan’s commitment to peace and to further cooperation with Afghanistan on security, refugees, trade, and regional connectivity. The statement further said that Pakistan-Afghanistan cooperation contributes to the entire region’s stability. On the other hand, the European Union has also welcomed the Pakistani premier’s visit to Kabul and said that Islamabad can play its pivotal role in the solution of the Afghan conflict. Read more: US appreciates Pakistan’s role in Afghan peace process On November 19, PM Khan visited Kabul at the invitation of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and discussed matters related to mutual affairs. Prime Minister Imran Khan had assured that Pakistan would fully support to end violence and establish durable p...

LAHORE: With an aim to further improve the law and order situation in the province, the Punjab government has decided to recruit 10,300 policemen, ARY News reports. The recruitment would be done in Punjab police and Baloch Levies, for which Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar has given approval. Vowing to recruit the policemen on merit, CM Buzdar said that 10,300 constables would be recruited in the Punjab police and 378 in Baloch Levies. The provincial government is taking every possible step to ensure law and order in Punjab, he said and added that the recruitment will help in improving the law and order situation in tribal areas of Rajanpur and DG Khan. Read more: Punjab govt lifts ban on recruitment in police Earlier this year, the Punjab government had lifted the ban on recruitments in the police department. According to details, the provincial govt had decided to recruit 300 policemen in the first phase. The move comes after Punjab Standing Committee on Finance approved a s...

KARACHI: Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast first spell of winter rainfall in Karachi, ARY News reported on Saturday. The met office has predicted light rain or drizzle in the port city between November 23 to 25 after a westerly weather system will enter in Karachi on Sunday (Nov 22). Under the influence of this weather system the outskirts of Karachi will likely to receive light rainfall, according to the weather forecast. The westerly wave likely to bring drizzle for other areas, the met office said. The met office in a weather report predicted mostly cold and dry weather in most parts of the country on Saturday (today) and intense cold weather in mountainous regions while, fog is likely in few plain areas of Punjab during morning hours. Moreover, apart of cloudy weather in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir, light rainfall and snowfall is expected at few places. The PMD recorded minimum temperature at Kalam and Leh with minus 12 Celsius,...

KARACHI: An accountability court on Saturday framed charges against former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal and other accused in illegal land allotment reference, ARY News reported. Former Director-General of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) Iftikhar Qaimkhani, Fazalur Rehman, Mumtaz Haider, Nazir Zardari, Syed Nishat Ali, Mohammad Dawood, Mohammad Rafique, Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Yaqoob are among the co-accused in the case. All accused pleaded not guilty and said in the court that they will contest the charges against them in the reference. The court issued notices to the witnesses of the accountability reference, and adjourned further hearing of the case till December 05. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), in the reference charged Mustafa Kamal and others of illegally allotting 137 plots on 5,500 acres of land near Sea View. He even gave permission to a private construction firm to construct a multi-storey building in the area, the bureau said in its chargesheet...

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has expressed happiness over the start of construction work at the site of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) Karachi. In a tweet on Saturday, PM Imran said that SKMT Karachi will be the biggest cancer hospital in the country and it would be equipped with the latest machines. I have this great feeling watching construction start on SKMT Karachi. InshaAllah, it will be the biggest cancer hospital in Pakistan as well as being equipped with the latest machines. pic.twitter.com/e5TY3eF8aa — Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 21, 2020 The Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust is acting as a model institution to alleviate the suffering of patients with cancer through the application of modern methods of curative and palliative therapy irrespective of their ability to pay, the education of health care professionals and the public and perform research into the causes and treatment of cancer. The post SKMT Karachi will be country’s biggest cancer ho...

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar has criticised the major opposition parties, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), for insisting on holding a Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally in Peshawar amid COVID-19 threat, ARY News reported on Saturday. In his Twitter messages, Asad Umar said that PML-N led government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) announced two-week complete lockdown, whereas, PPP-led Sindh government imposed smart lockdown in four districts of Karachi. The federal minister added that both parties showed duplicity by insisting on holding a public gathering in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), despite observing the threats of the second wave of novel coronavirus across the country. مسلم لیگ نواز کی حکومت نے آزاد کشمیر میں 2 ہفتوں کے لئے، مکمل لوک ڈاؤن اعلان کر دیا. پیپلزپارٹی سندھ حکومت نے کراچی کے چار اضلاع میں سمارٹ لوک ڈاؤن کر دیا. لیکن دونوں جماعتوں کا اصرار کے پشاور جلسہ ضرور ہو گا. دوغلے پن کی ا...

ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation for the combined group during the current week recorded an increase of 0.24 per cent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). During this week, prices of 13 items were increased, 18 items recorded decrease and prices of 20 items remained constant. A report compiled by the PBS stated that prices of potatoes, tomatoes, eggs, chicken were increased during the current week, while items such as onion, sugar, pulses, flour, and petrol were decreased. Last week, the weekly inflation across the country recorded a decrease of 0.07 per cent due to a decline in prices of essential food items. Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had rejected the opposition’s propaganda over inflation during a meeting of the political committee. Read more: PM Imran Khan rejects opposition’s propaganda over inflation According to sources, the prime minister had directed the members of the economic team to highlight the successes achieved by the government on media. “A...

The residents of a Chinese village in Sanyuan county of Shaanxi province left baffled over a ‘mutant’ cow born with five legs as its extra limb grew on its back. The footage showed the mutant cow, now eight months old, standing in a farmer, Mr Zhao’s house who has confessed that he was troubled by the birth of the mutant animal after some neighbours deeming it ‘unlucky’. According to the report, the cow weighed around 10 kilograms (22 pounds) when it was born and it now weighs around 100 kilograms (220 pounds) under the meticulous care of the owner. Mr Zhao told the reporter that the cow’s fifth leg had grown with the animal and could even move when he touched it. He said he was worried because more and more neighbours had heard about his cow and thought that it spelt back luck. Liu Beizhan, a local animal husbandry expert, urged the villagers not to panic and explained that the cow had a deformity called polymelia. Polymelia – in other words, extra limbs – is an extremely unco...

KARACHI: In yet another shocking incident, a security guard in Karachi lost his life while making a video for the highly popular video-sharing social networking platform TikTok, ARY News reported on Saturday. The TikTok craze has overtaken youth in the country and they are not even hesitating in risking their lives for the videos. The incident was reported in Karachi’s area of Gulistan-e-Jauhar, where a security guard accidentally shot himself dead when he was making a TikTok video while pointing out a pistol over his head. Separately, a girl allegedly set the house on fire after elders prevented her from making TikTok videos. Read more: Beggar arrested by police turns out to be a TikTok star The Father of the girl, Aziz Ahmed Khilji, had lodged the first information report with the local police alleging his daughter set their house alight after he tried and stopped her from making videos for the short video sharing platform TikTok. The FIR on father’s complaint reads that upon ...