Sindh governor lambasts KE chief over unannounced load shedding

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on Monday expressed anger over the "continued unannounced load shedding" in the metropolis and directed the K-Electric CEO Moonis Alvi to immediately resolve the issue.

The governor had summoned the chief of KE — the utility company responsible for power supply in the city — following reports of increasing outages in the city. During the meeting, Ismail directed the KE CEO to "personally supervise" matters related to load shedding in Karachi and "immediately resolve the "complaints of citizens, a statement issued by the Governor's House said.

During the meeting, Ismail also phoned Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar and stressed the need to improve the load shedding situation in the metropolis and ensure better functioning of the K-Electric.

Azhar issued directions to the KE CEO during the call as well, the statement said.

Earlier this month, several areas in Karachi faced prolonged power outages after a high-tension transmission line of 220KV tripped, affecting the supply of electricity to the associated grids.

The power supply was restored by the evening.

Citizens from different areas of the metropolis have been complaining of several hours of load shedding every day as the weather remains hot and humid.

KE has around 2.5 million consumers and hundreds of thousands of them face load shedding on a daily basis. But a spokesperson for KE had earlier told Dawn that the company's load shedding policy was a "well-thought-out and considerate strategy for the citizens of Karachi".

He said: "K-Electric’s Segmented Load Shed (SLS) policy divides feeders based on their loss profile, which is determined by the T&D [transmission and distribution] losses and recovery ratios in any particular area."

In February, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had warned KE of "consequences" if people of Karachi suffered loadshedding in summer.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3wMYKnO

Sindh governor lambasts KE chief over unannounced load shedding

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on Monday expressed anger over the "continued unannounced load shedding" in the metropolis and directed the K-Electric CEO Moonis Alvi to immediately resolve the issue.

The governor had summoned the chief of KE — the utility company responsible for power supply in the city — following reports of increasing outages in the city. During the meeting, Ismail directed the KE CEO to "personally supervise" matters related to load shedding in Karachi and "immediately resolve the "complaints of citizens, a statement issued by the Governor's House said.

During the meeting, Ismail also phoned Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar and stressed the need to improve the load shedding situation in the metropolis and ensure better functioning of the K-Electric.

Azhar issued directions to the KE CEO during the call as well, the statement said.

Earlier this month, several areas in Karachi faced prolonged power outages after a high-tension transmission line of 220KV tripped, affecting the supply of electricity to the associated grids.

The power supply was restored by the evening.

Citizens from different areas of the metropolis have been complaining of several hours of load shedding every day as the weather remains hot and humid.

KE has around 2.5 million consumers and hundreds of thousands of them face load shedding on a daily basis. But a spokesperson for KE had earlier told Dawn that the company's load shedding policy was a "well-thought-out and considerate strategy for the citizens of Karachi".

He said: "K-Electric’s Segmented Load Shed (SLS) policy divides feeders based on their loss profile, which is determined by the T&D [transmission and distribution] losses and recovery ratios in any particular area."

In February, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had warned KE of "consequences" if people of Karachi suffered loadshedding in summer.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/34z6ZI8

Federal govt to launch major campaign for coronavirus vaccination: Asad

The head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar said that the government will launch a major campaign to make sure that the coronavirus vaccine reaches the entire population.

Umar spoke about the government's plan to launch the campaign while addressing a press conference in Islamabad after attending a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan that reviewed the coronavirus situation in the country.

The federal minister for planning said that the restrictions introduced by the government before Eid had paid dividends as the positivity rate was declining.

He explained that the restrictions were a "defensive action" and affects the livelihood of the people, adding that the only way out of the current situation was to get vaccinated.

Umar said that the government is hoping to get enough people vaccinated by Eid-ul-Azha so that there is no need to impose restrictions as they did on Eid-ul-Fitr.

To that end, the minister said that the government is shifting from the "whole of government approach" to a “whole of nation approach”.

Umar said that under the whole of government approach "all departments, be it federal or provincial, are working together" against COVID-19.

"The next stage that we are going to is called the whole of nation approach," said Umar. He added that this means that the "whole nation has to work together" for the vaccination drive.

"To make sure that the vaccine reaches everyone, we are launching a major campaign," said Umar.

The minister said that as the first step, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) will hold a meeting with media owners and anchors tomorrow.

"We will take [media's] help first in the campaign. Media played a positive role when coronavirus was first reported. Like this, we want a big vaccination campaign focusing on why vaccination is necessary," said the NCOC chief.

Umar said that the day after tomorrow, the NCOC will invite Pakistan's leading business forums and ask them to join the government's work.

"We will tell them how we want their help. We do not want their money, we will give them vaccines and through them, we will try to vaccinate their employees and their families," said the NCOC chief.

He also added that after reaching out to their people, the government will use their hospitals and mobile teams to reach the common man.

In the next step of the campaign, the minister said that the government will reach out to the religious scholars of the country.

"We have requested President Arif Alvi to call a meeting of religious scholars and make sure the message reaches every Pakistani, that taking care of your health is in your religion," said Umar. He also shared that the government will reach out to the bar councils and journalist organisations as well.

"In today’s meeting NCC approved this strategy of ours but this strategy will be successful not because of the NCC but when everyone, as a Pakistani, plays their part," said Umar.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3fT4zcq

Sindh govt to set up coronavirus vaccine centres in public, private institutions

The Sindh government has decided to set up coronavirus vaccine centres in public and private institutions.

In line with the decision, a coronavirus vaccine centre was set up by the Sindh Health Department in a shopping mall in the Clifton area of ​​Karachi. Sindh Health Secretary Kazim Jatoi inaugurated the centre.

The health secretary said that the shopping mall administration has been provided with a single dose of the PakVac vaccine.

Jatoi said that in the first phase, the management will vaccinate its employees, and in the second phase, the families of the employees will be inoculated. Meanwhile, and in the third phase, customers coming to the shopping mall will be vaccinated.

According to the health secretary, the Sindh government has also set up a vaccine centre at a shopping mall on Rashid Minhas Road, while vaccinations are being carried out at the Sindh Secretariat, Karachi Press Club, Arts Council, the Bank of Punjab, the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), and other places.

"Getting the coronavirus vaccine jab is essential for everyone to conduct business activities safely, therefore, all industrialists should vaccinate their staff," Jatoi said.

On the other hand, the Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah attended the meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) and said that the province is following the vaccination policy of the federation.

"At present, 70,000 vaccines are being administered daily in Sindh but we want to meet the target of 200,000 vaccines per day," Jatoi said.

"We plan to administer 100,000 vaccines daily during the mobile vaccination campaign."

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3fXkwhQ

DRAP gives emergency approval for Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan on Monday gave emergency approval for Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine — and now the local population can be inoculated with it.

The DRAP Registration Board approved the vaccine's use for children above 12 years of age, thus becoming the first vaccine that can be administered to children in Pakistan.

"This vaccine will be administered to people with low immunity, including, pregnant women and aspiring pilgrims (hajjis) who are above 40,".

More than 100,000 doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine had arrived in Pakistan through the COVAX facility, United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Pakistan had said on Friday.

The doses had reached Islamabad Friday morning with the help of UNICEF, it said in a statement on Facebook.

UNICEF had said that a consignment containing diluents as well as syringes is expected in the next two days.

DRAP officials said influential people have started seeking inoculations for Pfizer's vaccine, adding the administration of the vaccine would now be closely monitored.

The officials said steps were being taken to avoid a situation where undeserving people could get the jab.

It is pertinent to mention here that so far, DRAP has approved emergency use of three Chinese, one British, and one Russian vaccine.

Meanwhile, the federal government has decided to buy one million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus mRNA vaccine.

A bilateral agreement has been made between Pfizer and the National Disaster Management Authority to procure the vaccines, an official of the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination confirmed.

Officials said Pakistan would receive 1 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine in July or August, while 23 ultra-cold chain freezers have been purchased to store the vaccine.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan also confirmed that they were in talks with Pfizer to procure the vaccine through a bilateral agreement but added that the deal was not final yet.

The Pfizer vaccine will be given to immunocompromised people and those travelling abroad under the age of 40.

Pakistan received the first shipment comprising 106,000 doses of Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine through COVAX on Friday, officials at the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in Islamabad confirmed and said shipments of diluents and syringes also reached Islamabad.

On the other hand, Pfizer officials also confirmed that they were in negotiations with Pakistan for the provision of mRNA vaccine through a bilateral agreement, adding Pakistan initially wants one million doses of the vaccine, which can be delivered to Islamabad in June or July 2021.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3uB3sDx

Govt is trying to delay the AJK polls to temper the voters’ list: Pervez Ashraf

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has announced to raise voice for timely election in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) at every forum, reported on Monday.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad,  Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said the Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) government is working against its claims.

He claimed that the PTI government after seeing their expected defeat in the elections is trying to delay the polls to temper the voters’ list.

There is no provision in the constitution to delay general elections in the AJK, he added. Ashraf vowed to raise the issue at every forum and added that the PPP will ensure timely elections in the region.

Amid COVID trend, the National Command Operation Center (NCOC), last week had recommended the federal government to defer polls in Azad Kashmir for two months and continue Covid-led restrictions intact.

The times ahead of polls are very eventful and there are political campaignings and rallies which may mean spreaders of Covid due to crowds that follow, NCOC had said.

Even in the past, NCOC said, Covid trend rose in the region and to hold the elections in July may again pose Covid threats there.

from Latest Pakistan News - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3fyTmyD

Govt is trying to delay the AJK polls to temper the voters’ list: Pervez Ashraf

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has announced to raise voice for timely election in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) at every forum, reported on Monday.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad,  Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said the Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) government is working against its claims.

He claimed that the PTI government after seeing their expected defeat in the elections is trying to delay the polls to temper the voters’ list.

There is no provision in the constitution to delay general elections in the AJK, he added. Ashraf vowed to raise the issue at every forum and added that the PPP will ensure timely elections in the region.

Amid COVID trend, the National Command Operation Center (NCOC), last week had recommended the federal government to defer polls in Azad Kashmir for two months and continue Covid-led restrictions intact.

The times ahead of polls are very eventful and there are political campaignings and rallies which may mean spreaders of Covid due to crowds that follow, NCOC had said.

Even in the past, NCOC said, Covid trend rose in the region and to hold the elections in July may again pose Covid threats there.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3fyTmyD