Pakistan

50,000 flood affectees arrive in Karachi, housed in relief camps

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

50,000 Sindh flood affectees reach Karachi.
Tens of thousands more flood affectees may arrive in provincial capital.
Exact number of people affected by province’s rains and floods is still not known.

Around 50,000 Sindh residents who were displaced due to heavy rains and floods have arrived in Karachi and are being housed at various relief camps, according to Labour and Human Resources Minister Saeed Ghani.

Tens of thousands more flood affectees may arrive in the provincial capital in the coming days, Ghani said at a meeting he presided over as president of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Karachi chapter.

The minister stated that no exercise has yet been conducted to determine the exact number of people affected by the province’s rains and floods. He estimated that the number of flood victims could number in the millions. He emphasised that the people who left their homes to travel to Karachi did so voluntarily.

He also pointed out during the meeting that the PPP’s Karachi chapter has set up more than 65 relief camps to help the people affected by floods, The News reported. PPP Sindh General Secretary Waqar Mehdi told the meeting that medical teams will be stationed at every relief camp for treating the ailing or injured victims of floods.

Mehdi said the camps established by the PPP are not accepting cash donations, adding that all monetary contributions by the public are to be deposited in the bank account of the provincial government’s flood relief fund.

He said the PPP will ensure strict supervision of the development works to be carried out across the city for repairing the roads damaged during the monsoon rains. Sindh Women Development Minister Shehla Raza said that special arrangements have to be made for the food and nutritional needs of the displaced children. Shehla said the provincial government has been taking care of the special health needs of the women and children among the affected people.

PPP Karachi General Secretary Jawed Nagori said that proper data on the flood victims arriving in different districts of the city needs to be collected. Nagori said the people who have been rendered homeless due to floods and want to reach Karachi for temporary shelter should be given maximum facilitation.

Sindh Social Welfare Minister Sajid Jokhio said that 25,000 flood-affected people have reached District Malir of Karachi, adding that the district has been receiving 3,000 to 4,000 victims on a daily basis.

Jokhio suggested establishing a tent city near the Northern Bypass for designating a central location for housing the flood victims instead of housing them at different camps. He said the proposed tent city should have the best medical treatment facilities.

The meeting also adopted a resolution to condemn the alleged audio clip of a conversation between PTI Senator Shaukat Tareen and the Punjab finance minister, observing that its contents are against the interests of the country. The resolution called upon the federal government to invoke Article 6 of the constitution for taking lawful action against the PTI leaders who have made remarks against the interests of Pakistan.

Pakistan

Sindh schools winter vacations from Dec 22

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Thursday announced the winter vacation schedule for public and private educational institutions across the province.

According to a notification issued by the Sindh School, Education, and Literacy Department, the educational institutions in the province will observe winter vacation from December 22 to 31.

“In pursuance of decisions taken in the steering committee meeting, all public and private educational institutions under the administrative control of School Education and Literacy Department Government of Sindh shall remain closed w.e.f 22-12,023 to 31-12,023 for Winter Vacation.”

Sindh schools winter vacations from Dec 22

After the winter break, the educational institutions will reopen on Friday (January 1, 2024).

Meanwhile, the new academic year in the public and private schools across Sindh will commence on April 15, 2024, and August 1, 2024, in the colleges.

The matriculation and intermediate exams will be started from the last week of May 2024, while the results will be announced on July 31 and the second week of August, respectively.

Pakistan

COAS Gen Asim Munir meets Kuwaiti crown prince

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

PM Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar to meet Kuwaiti crown prince today.
Both army chief and PM are in Kuwait on official visit.
PM Office says multiple MoUs expected to be signed during visit.

Army chief General Asim Munir on Tuesday met Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as part of his official visit to the gulf country, reported Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

The meeting was also attended by Caretaker Law Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam, Pakistan Ambassador to Kuwait Malik Mohammad Farooq and other members of the delegation.

Meanwhile, PM Kakar has also arrived in Kuwait City after concluding the UAE visit and is expected to meet the crown prince today, the PM Office said on Wednesday.

The premier will also meet his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Ahmed Al-Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

The PM office said that a number of memorandum of understanding (MoUs) will be signed for mutual cooperation in various sectors including manpower, information technology, minerals and mining, food security, energy and defence.

In UAE, Pakistan signed several MoUs worth multi-billion dollars in a range of areas on Monday to boost economic and strategic cooperation between the two countries, PM Kakar said.

The prime minister said with the signing of the MoUs, the bilateral economic and strategic relations had entered into a new era of bilateral cooperation.

Congratulating the people of Pakistan and the UAE, he said the foundation of friendship with Pakistan which was laid by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in the 1970s, had been taken forward by his son Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to a new era.

PM Kakar expressed the hope that the MoUs that were signed by the two countries would turn into tangible projects very soon.

Pakistan

Haj 2024: Pakistanis to get ‘free SIMs with internet’

Published

4 days ago

Farwa

Caretaker Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony Aneeq Ahmed said Tuesday that the government would provide free-of-cost mobile SIMs with roaming internet packages to Pakistanis performing Haj in 2024.

In conversation with a private news channel, the caretaker minister said abayas would also be given to female pilgrims, having a Pakistani flag on the backside, and 13kg suitcases would be given to all.

The minister called the reduction of around Rs100,000 in the Haj cost a “historic step” taken by the caretaker government, noting that a further Rs50,000 would be slashed and the amount would be refunded to the people in their accounts.

He said a new mobile application has been designed to assist pilgrims, which will provide navigation support and enable constant communication between pilgrims and relevant officials.

Initially available in English and Urdu, the application will later incorporate various regional languages, he said, adding, that the app would also provide digital training programmes to every pilgrim.

The minister also disclosed a project that Haj ministry, with the collaboration of the education ministry, has planned to convert city mosques into schools to enroll out-of-school children where the mosques’ imams would play a leading role.

The minister said that mosques will play their role as community centers in every city areas, adding that imams will resolve community issues as well after offering prayers.

He said that haj ministry is taking all four provinces on board and enhancing the connectivity of mosques.

While describing another project, the minister said that his ministry with the collaboration of the health ministry has another project in the works, in which medical clinics will also be part of mosques.