Federal Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar presented Rs7.14 trillion ‘tax-free’ budget 2020-21 on Friday. The budget for fiscal year 2021 comes amid a health crisis that caused our GDP to shrink by Rs3,300bn, and has been referred to as the ‘corona budget’. As Azhar highlighted the PTI-led government’s efforts to streamline the economy, he was challenged by the opposition’s loud jeering.
Paying rich tribute to doctors and medical professionals, SAPM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza has announced a seven point package for front line medical staff. While acknowledging the efforts of frontline workers, Mirza said that the package does not equal the efforts they are making. The highlights of the package include: financial incentives, healthcare of doctors and their families and support mechanism.
A Pakistani Truck artist, Haider Ali, has paid his own kind of homage to George Floyd with his mural on the wall of his house in Karachi. Alongside Floyd’s image, are famous songs written as slogans in popular truck poetry manner. “This artwork not only pays reverence to George Floyd but it pays a tribute to everyone fighting inequality and injustice,” says Haider.
The Paris Club of creditor nations have agreed to suspend debt service payments from Pakistan, Chad, Ethiopia and the Republic of Congo as part of a G20 debt relief deal, the group said. The latest agreements bring to 12 the number of countries to receive debt relief under the deal with a total of $1.1 billion in debt deferred as a result.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza has undermined the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) statement regarding COVID-19 in Pakistan by saying the organisation is only looking through a “health lens”. Mirza stated government, on the other hand, is pursuing a “holistic strategy to combat the coronavirus”. His remarks came after WHO recommended imposing an “intermittent lockdown” in Pakistan.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said Pakistan has been ranked among the top 10 countries in the world reporting the highest number of new cases of Covid-19. In a letter to the four provinces, WHO stated Pakistan did not meet any of the prerequisites for opening of the lockdown and advised to observe a strict two-week lockdown.
The community members of an area in Lahore have paid tribute to the warrior hero of Turkish television series, Dirilis: Ertugrul , by erecting a statue of Ertugrul in their neighbourhood. The warrior in the statue in the Maraghzar Housing Scheme situated along the Multan Road is seen carrying a sword and riding a horse.
Facebook page by the name “Corona recovered warriors”, is providing hope to many critical patients by connecting them with recovered patients for plasma donation. The founder of the page, Zoraiz Riaz, a graduate of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), has used the social media platform to help users find relevant medicines, injections and guidelines by authorized doctors.
While Prime Minister Imran Khan ruled out chances of another countrywide lockdown, Pakistan on Friday witnessed the highest number of cases in last 24 hours, taking the total number of infections to 91,456. A record 5000 new cases and almost 100 deaths were reported, the highest in the country since the first case emerged on February 27th. Total fatalities have now exceeded 1800.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Pakistan to freeze all major non-development expenditures heads, including salaries and defence, in order to bring down primary deficit. The IMF staff proposed Pakistan to to undertake massive fiscal adjustments of Rs1,150 billion to bring down primary deficit at negative 0.4 percent of GDP for the upcoming budget 2020-21 post COVID-19 pandemic.