Sindh CM inaugurated long-awaited Rescue 1122 service in the province

Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday inaugurated the long-awaited Rescue 1122 service in the province, a collaboration between the provincial government and the World Bank, and handed over 50 ambulances to authorities.

The service would be a "complete package of rescue, relief and rehabilitation" and would be connected to fire brigades and trauma centres across the province, he said while addressing the inauguration ceremony at the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) Sports Complex.

The ceremony was also attended by World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine, provincial ministers Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Saeed Ghani, Bari Pitafi, Shehla Raza, Advisers Murtaza Wahab and Haji Rasool Bux, Special Assistants Waqar Mehdi and Qasim Siraj Soomro and Director General Provincial Disaster Management Authority Salman Shah.

Shah said that the government aimed to procure 230 ambulances, of which 50 are being put to service in Karachi from today.

He added that the ambulance service would be expanded to other divisions and districts of the province later.

"I believe, by October, the fleet of 230 ambulances will be completed," Shah said, adding that the service will add 40 new ambulances to its fleet every month.

The ambulances were the first step towards establishing a full-fledged Rescue 1122 service in Sindh, the chief minister said.

He added that the service was needed because of "unprecedented trends of urban expansion and recurring natural as well as human-induced disasters experienced by the province in the last decade, especially the Covid-19 pandemic".

According to a press release from the Chief Minister House, Shah said it was the government's responsibility to ensure public safety and healthcare by addressing different emergencies.

"My government's top priority is to provide an emergency rescue, relief and rehabilitation service to the people whenever any disaster strikes ... a service which provides aid efficiently and as quickly as possible, a service which deals with the catastrophe as the first responder and tries to mitigate the consequences of it."

A central command and control centre would be set up in the project's next phase, while work was also being done to make divisional headquarters operational, the chief minister said.

In addition, the provincial government was holding negotiations with the World Bank to improve rescue centres across the province, he added.

Shah thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his support in launching the rescue service with technical help from Punjab.

Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, while addressing the ceremony, said 85 ambulances were already in use in Thatta, Sajawal and Karachi while the 50 new ones being added to the fleet would have advanced trauma, cardiac and obstetric life support facilities.

The ambulances would have drivers and paramedics who would both be trained, she added.

"Aside from the ambulance services, there will also be rapid response centres from Mirpur Mathelo to Gambat, Moro, Hyderabad, Nooriabad and Malir in Karachi. These rapid response centres will be satellites of the Shaheed Benazirabad Trauma Centre. There will also be a rescue centre every 50 kilometres along the highway so as to respond as quickly as possible to any roadside emergencies."

Khalid Khurshid appointed as president PTI Gilgit Baltistan

PTI leader and Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid has been appointed President Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Gilgit-Baltistan and a formal notification has also been issued.

 

Federal government forms committee to 'deliberate policy' on enforced disappearances

The federal government on Monday constituted a seven-member committee for the "deliberation of a policy" related to enforced disappearances in the country after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) instructed the heads of the government to explain how disappearances "became state policy".

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Interior, the committee will be headed by Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar and comprise Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah, Minister for Power Alleviation and Social Safety Shazia Marri, Minister for Communications Asad Mahmood, Minister for Defence Production Muhammad Israr Tareen, Minister for Maritime Affairs Faisal Ali Subzwari, and Minister for Science and Technology Agha Hassan Baloch.

Recommendations or report of the committee will be presented in the federal cabinet for further deliberations. "The interior ministry shall provide secretarial support to the committee," it said.

لاپتہ افراد کے معاملے پرکمیٹی تشکیل، وزارت داخلہ نے نوٹیفکیشن جاری کر دیا۔

کمیٹی کے چیئرمین وزیر قانون اعظم نذیر تارڑ ہوں گے، نوٹیفکیشن جاری۔

وفاقی وزیر داخلہ رانا ثناء اللّٰہ خاں، وفاقی وزیر اسعدمحمود، شازیہ مری اور اسرار ترین، فیصل سبزواری، آغا حسن بلوچ کمیٹی کا حصہ۔ pic.twitter.com/EH7EYcLF5r

— Rana SanaUllah Khan (@PresPMLNPunjab) May 30, 2022

The notification added that the committee will also be allowed to co-opt eminent jurists, representatives of human rights organisations and other members "it deems appropriate".

President Alvi approves Baligh Ur Rehman’s appointment as Punjab governor

After rejecting the summary twice, President Arif Alvi Monday approved the appointment of Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman as the governor of Punjab.

President Alvi approved the summary on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif under Article 101(1) of the Constitution of Pakistan.

On May 21, President Alvi had urged PM Shehbaz to reconsider his advice about the appointment of the new governor as there was no occasion to propose a new appointment.

In response to the premier’s summary about appointing a new governor, the president had reiterated that "the Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President”, as envisaged by Article 101 (2) of the Constitution.

However, sources had said that the premier has asserted that Baligh Ur Rehman will be the governor of Punjab.

According to sources, the premier had maintained that if the president does not respond within 10 days, Rehman will take oath as governor of Punjab as the summary has been sent to the president for the second time.

 

Saudi Arab appoints its 1st climate envoy

Saudi Arabia announced Sunday it had named a senior diplomat as its first climate envoy, as officials vow to ramp up oil production while pursuing ambitious goals for emission cuts.

The appointment of Adel al-Jubeir, the minister of state for foreign affairs, to the envoy role was announced as part of a series of royal orders decreed by King Salman.

The announcement did not include details about the envoy's mandate.

Jubeir, who previously served as foreign minister and ambassador to Washington, will continue in his role at the foreign ministry.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, has been cashing in on the spike in energy prices resulting from Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

In early May, the kingdom announced that economic growth in the first quarter had risen 9.6% compared to the same period in 2021, which the statistics authority said represented "the highest growth rate in (the) last 10 years".

It has resisted US entreaties to raise oil output in an attempt to bring prices down in the wake of the Ukraine war, instead of stressing its commitment to the OPEC+ oil alliance, which Riyadh and Moscow lead.

Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said earlier this month that the country expected to ramp up its daily oil production capacity by more than one million barrels to exceed 13 million barrels by 2027.

Yet last year, Saudi Arabia pledged ahead of the COP26 climate change summit to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, sparking scepticism from environmental campaign group Greenpeace.

With increasing urgency to limit global warming, experts warn of the need to reduce fossil fuel use.

Speaking on a panel last week at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Saudi economy minister Faisal Al-Ibrahim disputed the notion that his country´s policies were in conflict.

"We will continue to advocate increased capacity. We will also continue to advocate... reducing emissions," he said.

"These two points do not contradict each other. The last thing we want is focusing on climate change without focusing on energy security."

Nepalese plane goes missing in bad weather

A 43-year-old plane operated by a private airline in mountainous Nepal went missing on Sunday with 22 people on board, and officials said cloudy weather was preventing search helicopters from flying into the area of the flight's last known location.

The Tara Air plane took off from the tourist town of Pokhara, some 125 km (80 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu, for Jomsom, about 80 km to the northwest, the officials said.

Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 said the missing De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft with registration number 9N-AET made its first flight in April 1979.

"One search helicopter returned to Jomsom due to bad weather without locating the plane," the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement.

"Helicopters are ready to take off for search from Kathmandu, Pokhara and Jomsom once weather conditions improve. Army and police search teams have left towards the site."

The airline said the plane was carrying four Indians, two Germans and 16 Nepalis, including three crew. Seven of the passengers were women, it said.

The plane lost contact with the control tower five minutes before it was due to land at Jomsom, a popular tourist and pilgrimage site, an airline official said on condition of anonymity.

The country's weather office said there had been thick cloud cover in the Pokhara-Jomson area since the morning.

Police official Prem Kumar Dani said a land rescue-and-search team had been sent to the area near Mount Dhaulagiri, the world's seventh-highest peak at 8,167 m (26,795 ft).

Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest, has a record of air accidents. Its weather can change suddenly and airstrips are typically sited in difficult-to-reach mountainous areas.

In early 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu crashed on landing and caught fire, killing 51 of the 71 people on board.

In 1992, all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane were killed when it ploughed into a hill as it tried to land in Kathmandu.