Tag: Pakistan

Friday congregations to continue in Pakistan: clerics

Friday congregations will continue in Pakistan and mosques will not be placed on lockdown, according to Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman. Rehman said the meeting could not reach a consensus on a decree issued by Egypt’s Al-Azhar University. The decree said that a Muslim government could suspend congregational prayers. Rehman said people should offer sunnah and nawafil at home for all prayers, including Friday’s.

Police closes motorways for general traffic

Motorway Police announced that all motorways in Pakistan will remain closed for general traffic. The decision was taken in a bid to restrict movement and help prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. For now, only fuel tankers and vehicles that are transporting essential items such as food will allowed to travel.

Pakistan’s retail stores go online, everything is on sale

Pakistan’s retail stores go online and have started providing online sales after the global lock down due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Sindh government also announced a partial lock down in the province, leading to all the shopping malls and restaurants to close down for a period of 15 days which effected the sales of stores. 

Airlift suspends operations in Pakistan

Airlift, a bus ride-hailing service has suspended all ts operations across Pakistan until April 6 in a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The online ride-hailing service announced this in a notification sent to users. The decision was taken after rising coronavirus cases in the country. The notification sent out asked customers to avoid bus rides because they pose a high-risk environment.

Pakistan is getting an electric vehicle plant

President of China Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Pakistan later this year and in his itinerary is the inauguration of an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant, which will be the biggest private EV venture in the country. The initial production capacity of the plant is 30,000 units annually and will be located near Lahore.

Pakistani Umrah pilgrims get four days to return home

Saudi Arabia has permitted special flights to take Pakistani Umrah pilgrims back home until March 19. These special flights could take Pakistani pilgrims from the Jeddah and Madina airports, according to the Saudi aviation authority. Ferry flights from Pakistan will be able to land at these two Saudi airports. Earlier, Saudi Arabia announced suspension of all flight operations froim Pakistan for two weeks. 

Pakistan coronavirus tally reaches 53

Twenty new cases of the coronavirus were reported in Pakistan on Sunday, taking the country’s tally to 53. Five new COVID-19 cases were reported in Karachi, the Sindh health department confirmed. Thirteen others returning from Iran via Taftan tested positive for the virus in Sukkur. This brought the total number of cases in Sindh to 35, the health department said. One coronavirus case was reported in Islamabad, according to PIMS spokesperson Dr Waseem Khawaja.

Pakistan to remove import duty to make exports more competitive

Pakistan is planning to remove duties on many imported raw materials used by exporters, according to commerce and investment adviser to Pakistan’s prime minister, Abdul Razak Dawood. This will make them more regionally competitive and help the economy escape a recurring boom-bust cycle. Dawood mentioned that last year import duty was slashed on more than 1600 products and will further be eliminated in this year’s budget. 

Qatar bans entry from Pakistan, 13 other countries over coronavirus

Qatar has temporarily banned entry from Pakistan and 13 other countries to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. Entry has been temporarily suspended for people from Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand. The country’s Government Communications Office made the announcement on Sunday after Qatar Airways suspended flights to and from Italy.

6th Coronavirus case confirmed in Pakistan

Another Coronavirus case has been confirmed from Karachi, Pakistan as an elderly man tested positive on Thursday evening. With this confirmation, the total number of cases from Sindh has jumped to three and overall six in the country. Taking to Twitter last night, Federal Health Minister, Dr. Zafar Mirza. said that the 69-year-old man had returned from Iran on February 25 and was among the patients under observation.