Hafeez Shaikh removed from post due to rising inflation in country: Shibli

Senator Shibli Faraz said on Monday that former finance minister Hafeez Shaikh was removed from the post after Prime Minister Imran Khan was “unhappy with his performance due to rising inflation” in the country.

Speaking in the ARY News program the reporters, former information minister Shibli Faraz said that PM Khan was unsatisfied with the performance of the finance team over rising inflation in the country.

“PM Khan was unhappy due to inflation in the country and decided to bring in a new finance team,” he said, adding that the premier has expressed confidence over the performance of Hammad Azhar and appointed him new finance minister.

“Abdul Hafeez Shaikh’s future is unknown,” he added.

He further said that Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to attend a federal cabinet meeting on Thursday as he will undergo a second coronavirus test on Tuesday.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government today removed Hafeez Shaikh as finance minister.

Sources privy to this development say Prime Minister Imran Khan will also reshuffle the portfolios of several other federal ministers in the coming days.

Hammad Azhar, who is currently serving as Federal Minister for Industries and Production, has been given an additional portfolio of the finance ministry.

Former information minister Shibli Faraz will be given the portfolio of the petroleum ministry, while the information ministry will be separated into two divisions, according to sources.

Adviser on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was made the finance minister back in December 2020.

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Hafeez Shaikh removed as finance minister

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led federal government on Monday removed Hafeez Shaikh as finance minister.

Sources privy to this development say Prime Minister Imran Khan will also reshuffle the portfolios of several other federal ministers in the coming days.

Hammad Azhar, who is currently serving as Federal Minister for Industries and Production, has been given an additional portfolio of finance.

 Former information minister Shibli Faraz is likely to be given the portfolio of the petroleum ministry, while the information ministry will be separated into two divisions, according to sources.

The government has also decided to appoint two state ministers for the information ministry.

Adviser on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was made the finance minister back in December 2020.

He was sworn in as the federal minister in the wake of the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) December 7 ruling that held that unelected advisers and special assistants could not head government’s committees. The court had set aside a notification regarding the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) headed by Dr Shaikh.

Though mostly elected representatives i.e. members of the National Assembly or Senate can be appointed as federal ministers, a clause in the Constitution provides for a short-term appointment of non-elected ministers.

“A Minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the National Assembly shall, at the expiration of that period, cease to be a Minister and shall not before the dissolution of that Assembly be again appointed a Minister unless he is elected a member of that Assembly,” reads the clause nine of Article 91 of the Constitution.

The ruling party fielded Hafeez Shaikh from Islamabad for Senate seat but had suffered a setback when Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh lost a seat to a joint candidate of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani.

It is pertinent to mention here that the federal cabinet is expected to undergo a reshuffle in the ongoing week. According to sources, the premier after recovering from COVID-19 will reshuffle the cabinet on the basis of performance.

In December 2020, during the last reshuffle, PM Imran Khan changed the portfolios of cabinet members and appointed Sheikh Rasheed as the interior minister.

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President Arif Alvi tests positive for coronavirus

President Arif Alvi took to Twitter on Monday to announce he has tested positive for coronavirus.

The president announced on Twitter he tested positive for the virus after getting the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, adding that he was due for a second one.

وازا مرضت فھوا یشفین

اور جب میں بیمار ہوتا ہوں تو وہی شفا دیتا ہے

I have tested positive for Covid-19. May Allah have mercy on all Covid affectees. Had 1st dose of vaccine، but antibodies start developing after 2nd dose that was due in a week. Please continue to be careful.

— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) March 29, 2021

"I have tested positive for Covid-19. May Allah have mercy on all Covid affectees. Had 1st dose of vaccine، but antibodies start developing after 2nd dose that was due in a week. Please continue to be careful," he tweeted.

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Punjab reports 2309 fresh corona cases, positivity ratio hikes up to 8 percent

Punjab has new cases of COVID-19 and 17 deaths in last 24 hours, provincial health department said in a statement on Monday.

“In a day 17 more patients of the disease have died by coronavirus in the province,” Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department stated.

The tally of total deaths by Covid-19 in the province has reached to 6244, the health department stated.

“Lahore has reported 1478 new cases of the virus in a single day,” according to the health department.

In the third wave of Covid-19, steep surge of infections being reported in Pakistan’s largest province causing serious concerns across the country.

Test positivity ratio in 26 districts of the country, including 14 districts of Punjab, has reached to eight percent or above amid raging third wave of the coronavirus cases.

Keeping in view the surge in coronavirus cases in Punjab, the provincial government was considering imposing a complete lockdown in Lahore.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar will especially attend the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) meeting today, which will take final decision about the lockdown in Lahore.

Test positivity ratio of coronavirus in Lahore has reached to alarming 17 percent and 15 percent in Rawalpindi and Faisalabad.

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Punjab reports 2309 fresh corona cases, positivity ratio hikes up to 8 percent

Punjab has new cases of COVID-19 and 17 deaths in last 24 hours, provincial health department said in a statement on Monday.

“In a day 17 more patients of the disease have died by coronavirus in the province,” Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department stated.

The tally of total deaths by Covid-19 in the province has reached to 6244, the health department stated.

“Lahore has reported 1478 new cases of the virus in a single day,” according to the health department.

In the third wave of Covid-19, steep surge of infections being reported in Pakistan’s largest province causing serious concerns across the country.

Test positivity ratio in 26 districts of the country, including 14 districts of Punjab, has reached to eight percent or above amid raging third wave of the coronavirus cases.

Keeping in view the surge in coronavirus cases in Punjab, the provincial government was considering imposing a complete lockdown in Lahore.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar will especially attend the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) meeting today, which will take final decision about the lockdown in Lahore.

Test positivity ratio of coronavirus in Lahore has reached to alarming 17 percent and 15 percent in Rawalpindi and Faisalabad.

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Islamabad records 16.20 per cent Covid-19 positivity ratio

Islamabad recorded 16.20 per cent Covid-19 positivity ratio during the previous 24 hours, its highest ever since the pandemic began, with 856 new infections.

According to the District Health Officer (DHO), 856 new cases of the coronavirus were reported, taking the total number of infections in the federal capital to 56,450 whereas two people succumbed to the disease overnight.
The death toll from the infection has reached 561 with the addition of the latest fatalities, Dr Zaeem Zia said.

He said 64 per cent of the total ventilators earmarked for critical Covid-19 patients are in use.

Earlier, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said the coronavirus claimed 41 more lives in Pakistan during the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 14,256.

4,525 fresh infections were reported during this period, while the positivity rate was recorded at 11.2 per cent. A total of 40,369 samples were tested, out of which 4,525 turned out to positive.

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’50 billion trees’: Prince Salman discusses Green Initiative with Arab leaders

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called the leaders of Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, and Sudan to discuss a massive regional tree-planting project, state news agency (SPA) reported early on Monday.

“The Middle East Green Initiative aims, in partnership with the countries of the region, to plant 50 billion trees as the largest reforestation program in the world,” SPA said.

The crown prince unveiled the ambitious campaign on Saturday that sees Saudi Arabia planting 10 billion trees in coming decades and working with other Arab states to plant another 40 billion trees, to reduce carbon emissions and combat pollution and land degradation.

SPA added that initiative also aims “to enhance the efficiency of oil production and increase the contribution of renewable energy, in addition to multiple efforts to preserve the marine and coastal environment, and increase the percentage of natural reserves.”

The Saudi Green Initiative is part of the prince’s Vision 2030 plan to reduce its reliance on oil revenues and improve quality of life.

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