KARACHI: The provincial government has consumed over Rs3 billion of the Coronavirus Emergency Fund (CEF) that had been set up by the Sindh government in March this year and it is now left with no more finances to deal with the second wave of the pandemic, officials and sources said. They said that the CEF was established by the Sindh …

RAWALPINDI: Officials at Islamabad International Airport (IIA) and the Airport Security Force (ASF) have been directed to make arrangements in accordance with the standard operating procedures (SOP) for the smooth transportation of Kaavan to the airport from the Marghzar Zoo. Kaavan, the lone elephant of Islamabad, is scheduled to be airlifted to Cambodia by a chartered flight at 10am on …

GILGIT: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday nominated Khalid Khurshid as Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s candidate for the post of chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan. PTI chief organiser Saifullah Khan Nyazee made this announcement through a tweet. According to sources, Mr Nyazee and federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur met Mr Khan in Islamabad on Friday to finalise the …

LAHORE: Hundreds of activists and students from various educational institutes of the city participated in a ‘Student Solidarity March’ on Friday to demand free education and restoration of student unions in the country. The march organised by the Student Action Committee (SAC) turned into a rally at Charing Cross on The Mall in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. After …

The mother of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif will be laid to rest in Lahore today. In a statement, the party said that funeral prayers for Begum Shamim Akhtar will be offered after Zuhr at the Sharif Medical City in Raiwind. She will be buried next to the grave of her husband, …

ISLAMABAD: As the second wave of coronavirus continues to gain momentum in the country, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) was informed on Friday that more than 3,000 cases were recorded for the third consecutive day, with the highest rate of positive cases reported in Peshawar. Meanwhile, in a bid to contain panic in the country, the electronic media …

MULTAN: With the aim to stop the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) from holding its public gathering scheduled for Nov 30 here, containers have been placed around the venue, Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh, and police deployed outside, while the PPP announced that Aseefa Bhutto Zardari will attend the event. The police and district administration have placed 30 containers around the stadium …

LONDON: Britain on Friday asked its medicine regulator to assess Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate for temporary supply, a step towards beginning a roll-out before the end of the year. AstraZeneca expects 4 million doses to be available in Britain by the end of next month, and health minister Hancock is targeting the roll-out to begin before Christmas. …

QUETTA: Balochistan has recorded 66 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours. According to a report released by the Balochistan Health Department, at least 66 more persons were tested positive for coronavirus in Balochistan, bringing the total number of infected patients to 17,008 in the province. During the period of the last 24 hours, 12 new COVID-19 cases were …

LAHORE: The Punjab government has completed preparations for launching a five-day anti-polio vaccination drive commencing from November 30, Monday to December 4. 48,000 teams have been constituted and their training sessions were also concluded following the upcoming anti-polio vaccination drive for administering polio drops to more than 20 million children. According to the Polio Eradication Programme, the concerned authorities have …