ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) has nullified the notification of 200 percent increase in property taxes in federal capital.
The high court directed the authorities to collect tax at previous level and also clarified that tax collection is duty of Metropolitan Corporation of Islamabad (MCI) instead of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
Earlier in last year, the court had suspended the notification after hearing a plea against the hike. The petition argued that MCI had made a 200 percent increase in the property tax in Islamabad while misusing its powers and asked the court to set aside the decision of the MCI regarding increase in the property tax.
The MCI approved the increase in property tax, making it applicable from July 1, 2019, but tensions between the MCI and CDA over who would control the revenue directorate responsible for collecting property tax meant that the distribution of property tax bills was delayed.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the national flag carrier, has finalized the plan to shift its headquarters from Karachi to Islamabad by the end of next month.
As part of the restructuring plan of the airlines the shifting process will start as flight services division, commercial department and human resource divisions, will be moved to federal capital.
Other department, including flights scheduling and medical division, corporate development department, works division and supply chain management will be shifted to the federal capital by the end of February, internal audit, corporate secretariat and finance departments by the end of March and engineering department by the end of June 2021.
The human resource cost of the airline is Rs24.8 billion a year which will be reduced under the restructuring plan.
The PIA management is also considering introducing “Sehat Card” for the employees by discontinuing the present model of medical facility which, it believes, is a huge financial burden on the airline. It said that if the “Sehat Card” option could not be materialised, then either government hospitals would be taken on panels instead of expensive private hospitals or nominal medical encashment would be made part of salaries.
The air tickets scheme (passage facility) is being rationalised to extend the same facility to all cadres of employees. The number of tickets authorised to the employees is being reduced as these contribute to indirect expenses in terms of fuel cost.
PIA had on Dec 7 launched a Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) to get rid of 3,500 employees and achieve the 1:250 (250 per aircraft employees) ratio and set a deadline of Dec 22 for the scheme. The deadline for the Mandatory Separation Scheme (MSS), which is based on performance and discipline, is January 2021.
The deadline for separating non-core functions and fast track across-the-board accountability has been set for March 2021. The fast track accountability includes initial/completion of departmental investigations and inquiries, aggressive perusal of legal cases in court and speeding up investigations at the National Accountability Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency.
Efforts are being made to let the employees get separated in a dignified way with a good financial package.
According to the restructuring plan, if the separation of the required number of 3,500 employees was not met through the VSS, then the MSS will be launched soon after the former. All departments/categories of PIA employees will be rationalised to achieve the required number of 3,500 employees.
According to plan, the excess employees will be mandatorily retired based on performance, discipline and value addition. The mandatorily retired employees will not be offered VSS financial packages as well as medical/passage facilities post retirement.
PIA Officers Association general secretary Safdar Anjum alleged that the airline management had leaked the restructuring plan with an intention to create panic and fear among the employees so that they avail the VSS. “Since the VSS scheme had been introduced, only 650 employees have applied so far,” he tweeted.
Safdar Anjum said all the employees who had been transferred from Karachi to Islamabad were facing difficulties in getting accommodations and other facilities.
ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan on Thursday said that COVID vaccine will be available in Pakistan in February or March 2021.
Speaking to a private TV channel morning program, Dr Faisal Sultan said that coronavirus vaccine would be available in Pakistan next year in February or March and it will be free for all the citizens.
He said COVID-19 is rapidly spreading in the densely populated areas of the country and the positivity ratio in Karachi is highest.
Dr Faisal Sultan said that coronavirus vaccine would be available in Pakistan next year in February or March and it will be free for all the citizens
The SAPM said that the pandemic can only be controlled by adhering to SOPs until the availability of the vaccine.
Yesterday, Dr Faisal Sultan had confirmed that the Covid-19 vaccine to be procured by the government would be vaccinated free of cost to the Pakistani public.
In a media briefing in Islamabad, he had assured that the vaccine will be procured keeping in view its safety, efficacy and effectiveness.
Faisal Sultan further had said that said the virus positivity ratio has reached 7 to eight percent and its intensity has increased in big cities.
He once again asked the people to fully comply with the SOPs to avoid the spread of the deadly virus.
ISLAMABAD: The national COVID-19 positivity ratio on Wednesday was recorded 7.2 percent where 2,510 coronavirus patients were in critical condition across the country with the number of critical patients rising at a fast pace.
The highest positivity ratio was observed in Karachi which was 18.76 percent followed by Hyderabad 16.56 percent and Peshawar 15.99 percent, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC).
The positivity ratio in various federating units was as in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) was 5 percent, Balochistan 4.9 percent, Gilgit Baltistan (GB) 1.6 percent, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 2.9 percent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 11.3 percent, Punjab 3.2 percent and Sindh had 14.8 percent.
It also mentioned the province wise COVID-19 positivity ratio breakdown that indicated in Punjab, Lahore had 6.04 percent, Rawalpindi had maximum of 6.15 percent, Faisalabad 2.67 percent and Multan 2.71 percent and Gujranwala had 0.77 percent.
prevailing pandemic outbreak as a total of 9,010 deaths were recorded with prevailing fatality rate of 2.02 percent against the global death rate of 2.22 percent
In Sindh, Karachi had 18.76 percent, Hyderabad 16.56 percent, in KP, Peshawar had 15.99 percent, Abbotabad 3.80 percent and Swat had 3.46 percent, in Balochistan, Quetta had 5.08 percent, in ICT 2.94 percent positivity ratio was prevailing.
In AJK, Mirpur had 5.31 percent positivity ratio and Muzaffarabad 1.8 percent and GB had 1.45 percent.
The update also showed mortality analysis during the prevailing pandemic outbreak as a total of 9,010 deaths were recorded with prevailing fatality rate of 2.02 percent against the global death rate of 2.22 percent.
It added that as per the gender analysis of the deceased around 70 percent were males with 77.5 percent over the age of 50-year with age median of 61-year.
As many as 73 percent of the perished COVID-19 patients had chronic comorbidities (affected with another disease prior to contracting Coronavirus).
Out of the total died COVID patients 91 percent of the deceased remained hospitalised whereas 58 percent of the hospitalised patients remained on ventilator, it added.
ISLAMABAD: According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC)Punjab has recorded 57 deaths due to the COVID-19 in the last 24 hours on Tuesday.
It is to be mentioned here that overall 73 deaths and 2,459 new cases of coronavirus reported across the country in 24 hours. Overall death toll by the novel coronavirus reached to 8,905.
Punjab has reported above 1,28,000 cases of the disease, while 3,365 deaths, well ahead of Sindh’s 3,158, which has a caseload of above 196,000.
The total count of active cases in country is 48,008, whereas, overall 386,033 people have recovered from the deadly disease so far.
In the second wave of the coronavirus cases, the occupancy ratio of ventilators and oxygen beds in hospitals has increased
According to the (NCOC) , the occupancy ratio of available ventilators in Multan hospitals has reached to 54 percent.
The occupancy ratio of ventilators in Islamabad has been 42 pct, Lahore 33 pct and Peshawar 26 percent.
In Islamabad 36 percent oxygenated beds, allocated for coronavirus patients,have been occupied, while occupancy ratio of oxygen beds in Multan has been 50 pct, Peshawar 60 pct and Karachi 39 pct, according to the NCOC.
According to a report federal capital Islamabad is well ahead of the provicnes in conducting Covid-19 tests. While the countrywide tests per million population (PMP) have been recorded at 28,428, Islamabad has conducted 370,266 tests.
According to the data of the NCOC, Islamabad followed by Sindh with 44,862 and Gilgit-Baltistan 39,941 tests PMP.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has commended the efforts of Pakistan Navy for the defense of country’s sea frontiers and provision of security to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project including Gwadar Port.
He made the remarks during his visit to Naval Headquarters in Islamabad on Monday where he was given a detailed briefing about Pakistan Navy’s initiatives for the development of maritime sector.
The Prime Minister assured to continue to provide all possible cooperation to the naval force.
Imran Khan said declaring 2020 as the year of blue economy manifests the government’s emphasis to maritime economy
He said given its importance for economic development, the government is trying to promote the maritime sector.
Imran Khan said declaring 2020 as the year of blue economy manifests the government’s emphasis to maritime economy.
Naval Chief Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi on the occasion said Pakistan Navy is fully prepared to protect the maritime interests and sea frontiers of the country.
Federal Ministers Pervez Khattak, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Syed Ali Haider Zaidi and Special Assistant on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf were also present on the occasion.
ISLAMABAD: Woman reportedly beat her six-year-old son to death for insisting on going to his uncle’s house in Islamabad, the Federal Capital.
The police stated the mother grew angry when the boy insisted he wanted to go to his maternal uncle’s house and began to beat him. The child died of his injuries.
A case has been registered at the Ramna police station on the complaint of the boy’s father and the woman has been taken into custody.
The boy’s father Ghafraz said he gave the boy, whose name was Muzzamil Abbas, to his childless brother. “My son lived with his uncle for five years. Last year, his mother brought him back,” he said.
He said the boy wanted to go to his uncle’s house and his mother used to beat him up over it. This morning she beat him up and he was severely injured, said Ghafraz, adding that the boy died at the hospital.
ISLAMABAD: On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the Uks Research, Resource & Publication Center Islamabad and WACC Global jointly organized a webinar on the topic of ‘Will the media start reporting rape?.
Having renowned journalists, media practitioners and human rights activists on the platform, the purpose of the webinar was to have a debate on the mismatch of media’s reporting on rape cases and the actual rape incidents happening.
Anchoring the webinar Executive Director of Uks research Ms. Tasneem Ahmar drew a quick comparison between the cases of rape reported in the media and the statistics compiled by Uks. She also shared with the audience the way these cases are reported and the language used while reporting them.
Editor Daily Dawn Zaffar Abbas acknowledged that improvement has been seen and there is still room for improvement regarding reporting of rape cases. He also admitted that it is hard to report all the cases with current rate of rape incidents, and recommended that there has to be a mechanism to monitor, collecting data and publication of statistics.
Zarrar Khuhro – a TV show host questioned the content of reported rape incidents and stated that it was more important to note what is actually being said than whether or not it’s being reported.
Huma Amir Shah, famous morning show host, touched upon the dilemma of insensitive and unethical projection of rape cases on social media. Referring to the Kashmore Child Rape case, she shed light on another aspect that the media uses words with the wrong connotation like “ziyadti” saying that the equivalent for the word rape doesn’t exist in Urdu.
Political talk show host Asma Shirazi agreed that certain cases gain more attention and others don’t. Similarly other beats always gain special attention even though rape is an equally important issue but there are only certain slots that cover rape.
She said it is worth appreciating that media persons are more sensitive about right to privacy of a victim now.
Chairperson of HRCP Zohra Yusuf said cases of rape of woman and girls are highlighted more than that of boys in madrassas. She believed that reporting comes with a huge spotlight initially but later on media outlets hardly do any follow-ups.
Drama writer Bee Gul expressed sorrow over the fact that people rather entertain themselves with rape cases. She said that it is important to change the mindsets of people who suppress rape cases but ensuring safe portrayal is important.
Riaz Sohail a journalist associated with BBC Urdu elaborated few ethical codes regarding the reporting of rape with respect to protecting the survivors’ identity.
A versed female reporter Fauzia Shahid expressed her dismay and frustration over the mentality of Urdu newspapers as they still appear to be very conservative.
Journalist Zafar Baloch stated that reporting does take place in Baluchistan and the media tries its best to get to the victims of harassment and rape victims space but the victims refrain from coming on media and open up.
Bureau Chief Aaj News Peshawar Farzana Ali shared that the survivor always finds it hard to open up about this discussion as there are certain aspects that affect their confidence including their own family.
Executive Director Uks Ms. Tasneem Ahmar concluded the discussion by saying that the word rape should be used both in English and Urdu media, instead of word ‘ziadti’ which does not convey intensity of the gruesome crime.
ISLAMABAD: The leadership of the 11-party opposition alliance, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), will meet in Islamabad today (Tuesday) to devise strategy for second phase of anti-government movement.
Important decisions are likely to be taken for the second phase of the anti-government movement during today’s meeting of thePakistan Democratic Movement which is headed by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders, while terming the incumbent government as a fascist regime, have on Monday affirmed that Lahore rally will be held at all costs.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah held a news conference in Lahore along with Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Qamar Zaman Kaira.
Rana Sanaullah said, “PDM’s Multan rally was held despite government’s efforts to stop it and same thing will happen in Lahore. People from Punjab and across Pakistan will participate and express no-confidence in the ineligible group.
“The practice of giving orders, which has been ongoing for seventy years, will not continue anymore. PDM will provide the masses an opportunity to express their opinion peacefully on December 13.”
Qamar Zaman Kaira said people are fed up of the government and PDM leaders are ready to give resignations on appropriate time. Lahore rally will be historic, he stressed.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz on Monday said that the government know that the rally of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will be held at all cost.
Addressing the charged crowed in Lahore during her campaign to invite people for PDM’s rally at Minar-e-Pakistan on December 13, she said when the prime minister Imran Khan said hurldes won’t be created in PDM’s Lahore rally, he knew the rally would be held at all cost.
The PML-N vice president said that she came to personally invite people for PDM’s Dec 13 Lahore rally but seeing the passion of party workers, it looks the rally has started today. The party workers doesn’t need chairs to sit in the rally, she said.
Maryam Nawaz went on to say that the PM Imran Khan’s days are numbered.
“People in Multan held rally on road after not being allowed to hold rally on selected venue,” she said.
While pinning high hopes with Lahore for a massive turn out at Lahore rally, the PML-N vice president said, “Whole Pakistan speaks when Lahore speaks.”
“The Dec 13 rally of the PDM will be a decisive one.” On December 13, it will be do or die,” she said. “The Lahore jalsa will show that this fake government’s days are numbered.”
ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Monday said that the positivity rate of coronavirus cases in Pakistan has reached 9.71 percent.
Officials participated in the NCOC meeting through video link and told that most COVID-19 cases are reported in Karachi with positivity rate is 21.31 percent.
According to the NCOC , steps are being taken for implementation over the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs) as the positivity ratio in second wave is increasing rapidly.
Around 40,000 tests have been conducted on daily basis in the past two weeks, out of which 40 percent were carried out through contact tracing. 81 percent cases have been reported from urban areas.
Smart lockdown has been enforced in 4,503 areas across the country and heavy fines have been imposed over violation of SOPs in different provinces.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has reported 37 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 420,294.
The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 8,398 and 3,795 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours
Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad. Punjab has overtaken Sindh in most number of casualties.
Till now 184,486 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 123,762 in Punjab, 49,676 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 32,816 in Islamabad, 17,466 in Balochistan, 7,356 in Azad Kashmir and 4,732 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Furthermore 3,177 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 3,019 in Sindh, 1,413 in KP, 341 in Islamabad, 181 in Azad Kashmir, 169 in Balochistan, and 98 in GB.
Pakistan has so far conducted 5,794,242 coronavirus tests and 39,076 in the last 24 hours. 356,542 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 2,539 patients are in critical condition.
