Federal Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry says the Eid moon will be visible in Pakistan tonight (Saturday night), making Sunday Eid. The Ruet-e-Hilal Committee is set to meet today to sight the moon but it is expected that they will declare Eid on Monday. Chaudhry addressed a press conference on Saturday where he said the State was trying to accommodate religious groups when it shouldn’t be.
The passenger death toll from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-8303, which crashed on Friday afternoon has risen to 97. Only two survived the crash — the chief executive of the Bank of Punjab and a young engineer. The Karachi-bound flight from Lahore had been seconds away from landing at the Karachi airport when it crashed in the residential Jinnah Garden area near Model Colony in Malir, right outside the airport’s boundary wall.
The Sindh High Court has lifted the stay it had granted against the Sindh government’s order to schools to reduce their monthly fee by 20% during the coronavirus pandemic. The court had issued the stay order after private schools had challenged the government’s directives. On Thursday, the court ruled that there was no need to continue with the order since the provincial government had approved the Coronavirus Emergency Relief Ordinance, 2020.
Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed announced in a Thursday video message that single ticket counters were being opened at railway stations in some cities. The move is being taken to reduce the load on the online ticket reservation system. There are issues with the online system issue, Rasheed said, adding that it cannot take the load.
Many people heaved a sigh of relief after Pakistan Railways partially resumed its services on Wednesday. Fifteen trains have been given permission to operate and take people to their homes at the time of Eid-ul-Fitr. The department has been taking only 60% of bookings through online bookings. Passengers have been asked to bring their own masks, gloves, hand sanitisers and soap with them.
The Sindh government launched a mobile educational application for kindergarten to grade five students in the province. The learning app can be downloaded on an android device. Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said in a press conference that the students will be able to gain a real time experience through this application. The minister added that development was made as there were slim chances of reopening schools amid the pandemic.
Supreme Court ordered to stop all illegal constructions on Margalla Hills immediately, while hearing a case on the protection of Margalla Hills. A restaurant, Monal has cut down 200 trees for illegal expansion, the CDA chairperson told the court. The bench said that the restaurant should be stopped from doing so and it should plant the trees it has cut.
The Private Schools Association of Karachi has demanded that it should be allowed to reopen schools after Eid. Tariq Shah, the associations’s president appealed that schools should also be granted permission to reopen amid SOPs as everything else in the country is resuming. He further added that according to an international study, students between the age of one to 17 have strong immunity so there is no point in keeping the schools closed.
Pakistan’s shopping malls and markets to stay open on weekends until the Eid, clarified Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed on Tuesday. He added that they are looking out for the entire country and they cant close their eyes and ears to what is happening in the country. On Monday, the court ordered all provinces to open shopping malls so that people can prepare for Eidul Fitr.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has launched the cash disbursal programme under the Ehsaas Emergency Cash for workers who are worst affected by the coronavirus crisis and have become jobless. The prime minister has committed that for each rupee provided by donors, Rs4 will be committed by the government.