Man shot dead in street fight

A 20-year-old man was shot dead by his neighbour as they clashed over some dispute in Kot Lakhpat, police said on Thursday. The deceased was identified by police as Muhammad Waseem. A relative of the victim told the police that Waseem was shot dead by Sajid. The alleged killer fled instantly. The body was moved to the morgue for autopsy. According to locals, both the killer and the victim had fought over some dispute a couple of days ago. Again, they clashed in the street on Thursday. Sajid took out a pistol and shot Waseem in the head. The victim died on the spot. The police have registered a murder case against Sajid and his unknown accomplices and were investigating the killing. –Staff Reporter

CS lauds officers’ role in progress

Punjab Chief Secretary capt (r) Zahid Saeed has said that role of civil officers especially deputy commissioners is commendable in improvement in overall governance, health, education and other sectors and progress of the province. Addressing a meeting of deputy commissioners at Civil Secretariat here on Thursday, he remarked that it is the result of hard work and untiring efforts of the officers that ‘speedy progress of Punjab’ has become a dictum. The chief secretary said that owing to the hard work and professionalism of the administrative officers, provision of amenities to people was ensured. DHQ and TQH hospitals have been transformed into state-of-the-art health facilities due to revolutionary measures in health sector, he mentioned. He said that he is satisfied with the performance of officers; however there is always room for improvement. The officers should continue work with the same spirit and dedication, he said, lauding Additional Chief Secretary Home Azam Suleman and Chairman Planning and Development Jahanzeb Khan for their support and cooperation. The deputy commissioners thanked the Chief Secretary for encouraging them.–Staff Reporter

Call to arrest Charan Singh’s killer

Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and other Sikh leaders have demanded Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to arrest the killer of Sardar Charan Singh, who was killed in a firing incident in Peshawar some days ago. The demand was made in a press conference held at Gurdwara Dera Sahib here on Thursday after offering special ‘duaya’ ceremonies for the late Sardar. Former Pardhan Sardar Bishon Singh, Sardar Ramesh Arwara, Gopal Singh Chawala and a large number of Sikh leaders participated. Sardar Ramesh Arwara said that the PSGPC had announced Rs 500,000 financial assistance for the family of the deceased.–APP

Govt distributes Rs18b Zakat in 5 years

Secretary Zakat and Ushar Punjab Muhammad Hassan Iqbal has said that Rs 18 billion have been distributed as Zakat in the province during the last five years. Talking to APP here on Thursday, he said that during the month of Ramadan, Rs 1000 is being distributed as Zakat among 150,000 persons in addition to the routine distribution of funds for them. He said that biometric system has been launched for distribution of Zakat in Punjab province to ensure transparency.He said that Zakat and Ushar Department is spending huge amount for welfare of skilled and technically trained people through 24,000 Zakat committees in the province. He said that the department has launched more than 16 different programmes in this regard. Hassan Iqbal said that a pilot project has been launched in 18 districts of the province under which an amount of Rs 100,000 is being provided to diploma-holders from vocational institutes for starting their own business. He said that the registered madrasas have also been granted an amount of Rs 120 million from Zakat fund. The registered trust hospitals have also been granted Rs 500 million. Shaukat Khanum Hospital also got Zakat funds worth Rs 30 million, he added.–APP

Dr Niaz Ahmad becomes PU VC

Dr Niaz Ahmad, Taxila UET VC, has been appraoved for the slot of Punjab University chief for four years. The summary has been approved and forwarded to the Governor Punjab for his sanction. The Higher Education Department will issue notification. Dr Niaz was one of the three candidates whom the CM office had interviews after they were cleared by the search committee. Others include Dr Zakrya Zakir and Dr Mansoor Sarwar. Official sources in the CM office however, said that both rejected candidates were facing some problems like Dr Zakir was removed by the Supreme Court on handing over varsity lands to the Punjab government while Dr Mansoor Sarwar’s “appointment” as professor was under question.–Staff Reporter

Atta gives Rs60,000 each to 14 artists

Alhamra Arts Council Executive Director Atta Muhammad Khan has distributed 14 cheques worth Rs60,000 each to 14 deserving artists under Khidmat Card scheme. Under the scheme, the provincial government will give monthly honorarium to senior artists. Atta said the cheques were given fairly. All the deserving artists will be provided the cheques before Eidul Fitr, said Culture Department Section Officer Waqar Azeem. He added “Every artist is an asset and financial help programme will encourage them.” Comedian Jawad Waseem was also present on the ceremony.–Staff Reporter

PHC becomes partner of IAMRA

As an acknowledgement of regulator of the healthcare service delivery, the Punjab Healthcare Commission has attained an international partnership status with the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities (IAMRA). According to a press release issued here on Thursday, since the PHC is expected to add a unique perspective, and bring its hard-earned expertise as a success story before the General Assembly of the IAMRA, the management committee of the IAMRA has accepted PHC as its partner. This partnership has been granted keeping in view the progress made by the PHC during the last five years in introducing quality in the healthcare in the province, developing a system to prescribe standards and assessment of the healthcare establishments enforcing compliance with the standards at all public and private sector healthcare establishments in Punjab. The IAMRA’s collaboration, which has 110 members from 46 countries, is inclusive of medical schools, organisations involved in regulation of medical education and health professions, and the PHC has also partnered to support the world’s medical regulatory framework in promoting quality of healthcare services. The Association provides a forum for sharing scientific and educational knowledge sharing on the global best practices of medical regulatory bodies to respond to needs through collaborative activities. Being a partner of the IAMRA, the PHC would become part of international regulatory community, which shares its commitment to excellence in medical practices. This community would serve as an important source of support, information, and resources, which would be of benefit to the PHC’s growth and expansion. In return, PHC’s own experience and expertise, can gain international recognition as a pioneer regulatory body in Pakistan. Also, the PHC closed down 55 businesses of quacks in different parts of the city. The PHC teams had visited 174 treatment centres, and closed down 55 businesses which were being operated by quacks. These included 28 quacks posing as general physicians, 14 bone-setters and fake hakeems, five fake dentists, four laboratories, two each medical stores and homoeopathic clinics.–Staff Reporter

Out of the total centres visited in accordance with the census, 49 quacks have started other businesses after quitting quackery.
Since the SC orders last month, the PHC has closed down 3,166 businesses of quacks across the province. Teams of the Commission have visited 9,187 treatment centre, and as per the census, it was found that 2,318 quacks have quit quackery and started other businesses. On the other hand, the district administrations have inspected 2,694 premises, and sealed 1,292 outlets, which were being run by quacks. Cumulatively, both the PHC and district authorities have visited 11,881 centres and closed down 4,458 businesses of quacks. Also, the Commission has received 1,631 desealing applications. Since the initiation of the PHC anti-quackery drive in July 2015, the Commission has sealed more than 13,000 outlets of quacks.
The spokesperson of the Commission added that the maximum number of quacks were the general ones, followed by bone-setters and hakeems, homoeopathic doctors, fake dentists, medical stores, laboratories, etc. He maintained that the PHC would continue its crackdown on quacks till these were eliminated totally. “Because of the PHC action, the patient inflow have increased at the public sector hospitals and qualified general practitioners,” he said, while adding that the masses were constantly giving information about the quacks on the PHC free helpline 0800 00742, email and social media under the ‘Report a Quack’ initiative. “Besides this, the PHC has organised awareness seminars and roundtables in different districts, and imparted training to anti-quackery teams of the district administrations,” he said. He also mentioned that all the teams were working in the field by using the application ‘Census Information Manager’, indigenously developed by the PHC.