Flooded roads and traffic jams as torrential rain hits parts of Karachi

Heavy monsoon rain lashed parts of Karachi yet again on Thursday, leaving roads flooded, cars submerged and commuters struggling to reach their destinations.

No casualties were immediately reported in the latest spell that began in the afternoon and disrupted life across the city in a matter of a few hours.

Videos and pictures shared on social media showed numerous areas, especially in the city's Central district, inundated with rainwater and vehicles submerged up to their wheels. A large truck could be seen lying on its side near Nagan Chowrangi as residents waded through the water with their motorcycles and cars.

According to Karachi police, traffic flow was affected due to accumulated rainwater from Liaquatabad to Teen Hatti, Jinnah Bridge Turning to ICI, and Jahangir road to Gurumandir, at Gurumandir Chowk, Karsaz to Pir Bukhari, FTC to Avari, PIB in front of Central Jail, Murshid Bazar, Tibet to Regal, Tibet Chowk, Patel Para, Lasbela Chowk, Denso Hall, Regent Plaza to FTC, Anklesaria Chowk, Shaheed-e-Millat turning, Nagan Chowrangi, Club Chowk, and Aiwan-i-Saddar road.

Police advised residents to tune into SPFM 88.6 for traffic updates and call 1915 (021-99216356-58) to seek assistance.

The highest amount of rainfall was recorded by 2pm in Surjani Town at 70 millimetres. It was followed by PAF Base Faisal (36mm), Nazimabad (18mm), Airport Old Area (14.2mm), Jinnah Terminal (10.2mm), Saadi Town (7.2mm), Quaidabad (5.5mm) and University Road (5.2mm).

While out on a post-rain tour of the city, Karachi Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab said areas such as North Nazimabad, New Karachi and North Karachi saw flooding because of problems with the Green Line bus project infrastructure where two small pipes were unable to carry all the water.

He said while one side of the Nagan Chowrangi road was "completely clear", the other side was inundated because rainwater had been blocked by the Green Line structure. The flow of water started after work was done to clear the pipeline, Wahab added.

Responding to criticism directed at the Sindh government in the aftermath of today's rain, the PPP leader said, "Those railing against the Sindh government were saying [only] 10 days ago that rainwater did not accumulate in Karachi because the federal government had cleared the city's nullahs. Where are these people now who were taking the credit?"

K-Electric, meanwhile, said its staff were working to restore electricity in the areas where rain caused blackouts. It said power supply was continuing through more than 1,850 feeders.

The power utility urged residents to exercise caution to prevent electrocution incidents.

On Tuesday, the Met department had forecast rain/thunderstorms in Sindh from September 22 till Sept 25, saying monsoon currents were expected to penetrate into the province.

“Under the influence of this system, rain-thunderstorms with isolated heavy falls and occasional gusty winds are likely in Tharparkar, Umerkot, Sanghar and Badin districts during Sept 22-25,” the department’s advisory stated.

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Pakistan will have to take difficult decisions in future due to IMF: SBP governor

Pakistan will have to take tough decisions in future due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, says State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Reza Baqir.

He made this remark during his speech at a conference on business leaders Wednesday.

The SBP governor said Pakistan had overcome the threat of COVID-19 and the positivity rate of the infection is now "much lower than the global rate", The News reported.

The Pakistan government, he said, made sure of quick disbursement of financial assistance during the coronavirus pandemic. Loans of Rs2 trillion were given to business persons, Rs430 billion were spent on new investment and Rs240 billion were allocated for loans on easy conditions, the publication reported.

Baqir said the income of people has increased as the growth rate has increased from a minus level to 4%.

Foreign remittances, too, increased by 27% during the last fiscal year and the trend continues this year as well, he explained.

The SBP governor also met Prime Minister Imran Khan and briefed him over the progress being made with the Roshan Digital Accounts.

During a briefing on a Roshan Digital Account programme, he said that as many as 204,000 accounts have so far been opened by overseas Pakistanis and that a 1,000 accounts are being opened on a daily basis. He said that so far, they have received $2.3 billion in the accounts.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said that increase in the number of accounts under the programme is a sign of confidence from overseas Pakistanis in the incumbent government.

On August 18, it was reported that the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) programme has crossed a major milestone and hit the $2 billion mark as overseas Pakistanis continued to pose trust in the central bank’s initiative that was launched in September last year.

Last month, the SBP received $2.75 billion from the IMF as part of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation announced by the fund recently.

“SBP has received US$2.75 billion from the IMF, as part of SDR allocation announced by IMF recently,” the central bank had tweeted.

Pakistan was due to receive the amount on August 23 from IMF's general allocations of $650 billion that had been approved to boost global liquidity amid the coronavirus pandemic across the globe.

The amount was directly transferred to the SBP, which has further improved the country’s foreign exchange reserves and is expected to have good impact on the economy.

The Board of Governors of the IMF had approved a general allocation of SDRs equivalent to $650 billion on August 2, 2021 — to boost global liquidity.

According to the IMF statement, the allocation would benefit all members, address the long-term global need for reserves, build confidence, and foster the resilience and stability of the global economy.

It would particularly help the most vulnerable countries struggling to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

 

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Chinese FM says economic sanctions on Afghanistan must end

China's State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the various unilateral sanctions or restrictions on Afghanistan should be lifted as soon as possible.

Economic sanctions on Afghanistan must end, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement, citing Wang at a virtual G20 foreign ministers' meeting on Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Afghanistan's foreign exchange reserves are national assets that should belong to the country's people and be used by its own people, and not be used as a bargaining chip to exert political pressure on Afghanistan, he said.

While most of the countries have adopted a wait-and-see approach to engagement with the Taliban, China has said it is ready to deepen “friendly and cooperative” relations with the Taliban following their takeover. It has also expressed willingness to maintain communication with the leaders of the new Taliban government in Afghanistan, calling its establishment a "necessary step" in reconstruction.

Last month, Hua Chunying, a spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, had said, "The Taliban have repeatedly expressed their hope to develop good relations with China, and that they look forward to China's participation in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan."

“We welcome this. China respects the right of the Afghan people to independently determine their own destiny and is willing to continue to develop ... friendly and cooperative relations with Afghanistan,” she had added.

That followed Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen saying China had played a constructive role in promoting peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and was welcome to contribute to the rebuilding of the country.

"China is a big country with a huge economy and capacity — I think they can play a very big role in the rebuilding, rehabilitation, reconstruction of Afghanistan," Shaheen had told CGTN television in an interview.

Moreover, a Taliban spokesperson was quoted by the media as saying that they wanted to have Afghanistan incorporated in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

China, along with Pakistan, the US and Russia, is a member of the ‘Extended Troika’ that has been working for peace in Afghanistan.

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Asad Umar stresses need to ramp up security as Chinese investment in Pakistan rises

Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar stressed on Thursday the need to increase security for projects backed by the Chinese, as the country's investment in Pakistan rises.

"The investment through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is increasing. Chinese investors are investing in [projects] besides special economic zones," the federal minister said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad after a meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) on the CPEC.

The federal minister noted that the need for ramping up security had increased after the Dasu incident, where at least 12 people, including nine Chinese nationals working on the hydel project, were killed when a bus carrying them fell into a ravine following an explosion.

In a press conference in August, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) were involved in the Dasu incident.

Umar, shedding light on the government's steps taken in this regard, said that the Centre has devised a strategy to ramp up security for China-backed projects.

The federal minister said China had also stressed on ramping up security on projects backed by investors from their country.

Umair noted that neighbouring countries were envious of the CPEC.

"Pakistan and China remain committed to the CPEC," he said, adding that the Ministry of Interior had set up a special cell for monitoring the security situation in the country.

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Chinese FM says economic sanctions on Afghanistan must end

China's State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the various unilateral sanctions or restrictions on Afghanistan should be lifted as soon as possible.

Economic sanctions on Afghanistan must end, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement, citing Wang at a virtual G20 foreign ministers' meeting on Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Afghanistan's foreign exchange reserves are national assets that should belong to the country's people and be used by its own people, and not be used as a bargaining chip to exert political pressure on Afghanistan, he said.

While most of the countries have adopted a wait-and-see approach to engagement with the Taliban, China has said it is ready to deepen “friendly and cooperative” relations with the Taliban following their takeover. It has also expressed willingness to maintain communication with the leaders of the new Taliban government in Afghanistan, calling its establishment a "necessary step" in reconstruction.

Last month, Hua Chunying, a spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, had said, "The Taliban have repeatedly expressed their hope to develop good relations with China, and that they look forward to China's participation in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan."

“We welcome this. China respects the right of the Afghan people to independently determine their own destiny and is willing to continue to develop ... friendly and cooperative relations with Afghanistan,” she had added.

That followed Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen saying China had played a constructive role in promoting peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and was welcome to contribute to the rebuilding of the country.

"China is a big country with a huge economy and capacity — I think they can play a very big role in the rebuilding, rehabilitation, reconstruction of Afghanistan," Shaheen had told CGTN television in an interview.

Moreover, a Taliban spokesperson was quoted by the media as saying that they wanted to have Afghanistan incorporated in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

China, along with Pakistan, the US and Russia, is a member of the ‘Extended Troika’ that has been working for peace in Afghanistan.

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Asad Umar stresses need to ramp up security as Chinese investment in Pakistan rises

Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar stressed on Thursday the need to increase security for projects backed by the Chinese, as the country's investment in Pakistan rises.

"The investment through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is increasing. Chinese investors are investing in [projects] besides special economic zones," the federal minister said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad after a meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) on the CPEC.

The federal minister noted that the need for ramping up security had increased after the Dasu incident, where at least 12 people, including nine Chinese nationals working on the hydel project, were killed when a bus carrying them fell into a ravine following an explosion.

In a press conference in August, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) were involved in the Dasu incident.

Umar, shedding light on the government's steps taken in this regard, said that the Centre has devised a strategy to ramp up security for China-backed projects.

The federal minister said China had also stressed on ramping up security on projects backed by investors from their country.

Umair noted that neighbouring countries were envious of the CPEC.

"Pakistan and China remain committed to the CPEC," he said, adding that the Ministry of Interior had set up a special cell for monitoring the security situation in the country.

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Pakistan records 58 more corona deaths, 2,357 fresh infections

Pakistan has registered 58 more COVID-19-related deaths across the country during the past 24 hours,  on Thursday.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the nationwide death toll rose to 27,432 after 58 patients succumbed to the deadly virus.
A total of 48,151 samples were tested during this period, out of which 2,357 turned out to be positive, showing a national positivity rate of 4.89 per cent as compared to yesterday’s 4.56 per cent.

The NCOC data showed that there are a total of 4,561 active cases in the country. So far 1,143,605 people have regained their health back from the pandemic.

Yesterday, England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty had said that children were currently driving transmission of COVID-19 at the moment, and that without vaccination, almost all 12- to 15-year-olds would get infected at some point.

“There is definitely substantial transmission happening in this age group. In fact, the age group we’re talking about is the one in which the highest rate of transmission is currently occurring, as far as we can tell,” Whitty told lawmakers at a session about the decision to offer COVID-19 vaccines to children aged 12-15.

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