Wednesday, 6 January 2021
ISLAMABAD, JAN 5 - Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev has expressed an interest in getting their COVID-19 vaccine registered in Pakistan, Geo News reported Tuesday citing sources.
The Russian official, in a letter written to Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, has sought details about getting the COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V registered in Pakistan.
In the letter, Dmitriev said that Sputnik V is one of the first registered vaccines in the world which has been "certified for emergency use."
The Russian official reportedly said that the vaccine is 91.4% effective against the virus, adding that it would be available for public use in February 2021.
He said that the vaccine's price had fallen down from $22 to $10 per dose, adding that the vaccine was much cheaper as compared to others.
The Sputnik V vaccine can be stored at -2 degrees Celcius to -8, he wrote in the letter, per sources, adding that "Sputnik V is easier to store than other vaccines."
In November, the Sputnik V proved to be 92% effective in preventing coronavirus during interim trial results, the country's sovereign wealth fund had said.
Russia registered Sputnik V for public use in August 2019, the first country to do so, though the approval came before the start of the large-scale trial in September.
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COURTESY THE NEWS
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WhatsApp has introduced a Beta update for Android — making it the first one for 2021.
According to WABetainfo, the updated version 2.21.1.1 has been uploaded onto the Google Play Beta Programme.
The portal said that WhatsApp has started asking some of its users to begin accepting the new terms of services.
“Accepting these new terms won’t change your WhatsApp experience: your chats, messages, calls and status updates are still end-to-end encrypted,” the portal said.
Multi-device use
The multi-device feature, which is an important update, is not available to all users at the moment, per WABetainfo.
This new feature will allow users to use WhatsApp on multiple devices without requiring an active internet connection on the main device.
“WhatsApp is considering the idea to offer a public beta for WhatsApp Web in order to let the user try the new experience to use WhatsApp without keeping your phone connected,” it said.
However, the official release date for the feature has not been announced yet.
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COURTESY THE NEWS
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Monday, 4 January 2021
KARACHI: The Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) which met today with Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood in the chair decided to reopen schools in phases.
The federal government, on the recommendation of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), had closed educational institutions from November 26, 2020 to January 10, 2021.
Under that plan, schools were to reopen on January 11. But the rising spread of the novel coronavirus across the country has cast a shadow on that decision with federal and provincial education ministers saying that it was “unlikely” educational institutions would be allowed to reopen.
The final decision regarding the reopening of schools would be taken after advice from the health ministry on the matter. All the provincial ministers would attend the meeting via video link.
The IPEMC would deliberate reopening educational institutions in phases. In the first phase, the primary level students would head back to school on January 25. The second phase would see middle schools reopening by February 4 and the higher education institutions would start by February 15 in the third phase.
According to details, it has been proposed to delay school and board examinations till the last week of May or early June. The summer vacations would be shortened with the new academic year beginning in August.
The IPEMC meeting agenda
- Health updates on all provinces/regions by the national health services ministry
- Reopening of educational institutions
- School and education board exams slated to be held in May-June 2021
- Reduction in spring and summer vacation and the start of the 2021-22 academic session
- Implementation status of the Council of Common Interest’s decision on the transfer of the existing NCHD and BECS schools, and the proposed national education policy.
It may be noted here that although education is a provincial matter, under the 18th Amendment, the provinces adopted Centre’s policy owing to a Supreme Court decision directing for a uniformed policy to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
It may be added here that private schools associations across the country have opposed keeping schools shut.
On Thursday, a private school council demanded the government reopen schools on January 11 as planned and also sought an economic relief package. “The government should suspend the registration fee and taxes for a year.”
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COURTESY when where how
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NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh political party leaders debated on Dec. 30 live on air on the Khabar national television channel with seats in the Majilis (lower house of the Parliament) at stake. The citizens watched the pre-election debates live unlike the last debates in 2016 that were pre-recorded.
The televised pre-election debates featured the speeches of representatives from the Nur Otan ruling party, People’s Party of Kazakhstan, Auyl (Village) democratic patriotic party, Ak Zhol (White Way), and Adal (Faithful) parties. The debaters spoke in Kazakh and Russian by choice.
The one-hour long debate consisted of three segments. First, each representative spoke about their party’s vision of Kazakhstan’s economic development. Then, party representatives challenged each other with questions. In the second segment, the debaters spoke about the social welfare of citizens. Then the debate moderator asked each party representative a question. In the final segment, each shortly addressed the voters directly.
According to Nur Otan First Deputy Chair Baibek, one third of 255 specific measures of the Nur Otan party will address issues of economic development and recovery from the pandemic. The party plans to allocate 21 trillion tenge (US$49.81 billion) to economic recovery and removing barriers to business. The party’s agenda also includes ensuring water supply and road construction to 3,500 villages.
Ak Zhol party leader Azat Peruashev stressed the need for the Kazakh National Bank to lower the base rate and refinance all loans to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) at 6 percent. Peruashev also noted the importance of holding a tax amnesty and lowering the value-added tax. The party also proposed to toughen the requirements for foreign companies involved in subsoil use.
Auyl party leader Ali Bektayev called on the government to focus more on agriculture and developing villages. Bektayev stressed the need to cut imports and substitute them with domestic crops. The party’s proposals were to allocate funds to subsidize local production and reimburse utility costs.
Adal party political council member Yeldar Zhumagaziyev stresses the need to develop domestic goods in general. According to him, Kazakhstan spends all of its attracted investments to purchase goods abroad. To change the situation, the party suggests reducing the base rate of the Kazakh National Bank by 4-5 percent, introducing a moratorium on tax increases, as well as introducing new indicators to measure the economy.
People’s Party of Kazakhstan leader Aikyn Konurov suggested that the Kazakh government is largely detached from social reality in the country. The party leader called for the need to build “a people’s economy.”
“Cosmetic reforms do not achieve anything, transnational companies are not interested in the development of our country. We need a people’s economy! [We need] to use human resources with the ability to work, and to provide decent wages that keep up with the growing economy, but the people do not see it,” Konurov said.
Konurov stressed that the average income of citizens in dollar terms has not grown since 2008. According to the party leader, building a people’s economy will help increase incomes.
Aiman Zhussupova, an expert of the Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP) under the Nursultan Nazarbayev Foundation, stressed that the debates were lively and constructive in nature and increased the interest of the Kazakh public in the process.
“The level of polemics has also significantly increased, making the debates more dynamic, lively and meaningful. In the final debates, the debate participants followed a certain political decorum in relation to each other due to the event status and respect for the positions held. Nevertheless, it was not without attacks and sharp questions. As observers stressed, ‘the questions were much tougher and trickier compared to the 2016 debate,’” she said.
The expert noted that the new level of the inter-party debates reflects “the growing level of the political culture in the country and the demand of citizens for a clearer expression of the interest of the population by the parties.”
This is the only televised debate that was confirmed by the Kazakh Central Election Commission. Prior to this, the party representatives also went on air during the Dec. 22 televised debates, where they discussion national values and ideology.
The elections to the Majilis and Maslikhats (local representative bodies) will take place Jan. 10.
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COURTESY The Astana Times
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ISLAMABAD, JAN 4 - The education ministers will hold an important meeting today to make a final decision regarding the reopening of schools which were closed in November to control the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
The Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC), scheduled at 11:30am, is expected to mull over the reopening of educational institutions in three phases.
The federal government, on the recommendation of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), had closed all the educational institutions including madrassahs from November 26, 2020 to January 10, 2021.
Under that plan, schools were to reopen on January 11. But the rising spread of the novel coronavirus across the country has cast a shadow on that decision with federal and provincial education ministers saying that it was “unlikely” educational institutions would be allowed to reopen.
Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood will chair the meeting while all the provincial ministers will attend the conference via video link. The final decision regarding the reopening of schools would be taken after advice from the health ministry on the matter.
The IPEMC will deliberate over the reopening educational institutions in phases. In the first phase, the primary level students would head back to school on January 25. The second phase would see middle schools reopening by February 4 and the higher education institutions would start by February 15 in the third phase.
It has been proposed to delay school and board examinations till the last week of May or early June. The summer vacations would be shortened with the new academic year beginning in August.
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COURTESY when where how
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Raja Furqan Ahmed
On 21 August 1969, an Australian born Christian Dennis Michael Rohan attempted to set fire to the Ancient Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Fire destroyed part of the roof and 800-year-old pulpit of Salahuddin Ayubi, a general who liberated Jerusalem from crusaders in the 12th century.
After this accident, a former Mufti (chief Muslim Islamic legal religious authority) Amin al-Husseini of Jerusalem demanded to call on the summit of all Muslim head of state. 25 Muslim countries also file a complaint to the United Nations alleged Israel as complicit in the arson.
Reaching to this accident, Morocco king Hassan ll invited Muslim leaders. On 25 September 1969 Representative from 24 Muslim Majority countries met in the Rabat, the capital of Morocco. In conference, they decide to establish a body. Furthermore, they also passed the resolution which stated that
“Muslim government would consult with a view to promoting among themselves close cooperation and mutual assistance in the economic, scientific, cultural and spiritual fields, inspired by the immortal teachings of Islam.”
March 1970, the first Islamic Conference of Foreign Minister was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In the meeting, they plan for setting a permanent secretariat.
The headquarter of OIC is located in Jeddah. It is the second-largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations. It consists of 57 states which cover four continents (Asia, Africa, Europe and South America). OIC is the collective voice for 1.9 billion Muslims. OIC has a permanent delegation to the United Nations and European Union. During the 38th meeting of the foreign minister on 28 June 2011 in Astana, Kazakhstan the name was changed from the Organisation of Islamic conference to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Following are some objectives of OIC. To preserve Islamic social and economic values, promote solidarity among member states, increase cooperation in social, economic, cultural and political areas, enhance and consolidate the bonds of fraternity, to promote inter-state relations based on justice, mutual respect and good neighbourliness to ensure global peace, security and harmony, reaffirm its support for the rights of peoples as stipulated in the UN Charter and international law, support and empower the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and establish their sovereign State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, while safeguarding its historic and Islamic character as well as the Holy places therein, protect and defend the true image of Islam, protect the human right and fundamental freedom, Eliminate racial discrimination.
In 1970 a conflict broke out between Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Jordan. The President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser and Saudi Arabia King Faisal jointly led the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to resolve the clash. OIC also played a vital role during the Ramadan War in 1973 against Israel. OIC also solved the issue of oil restriction against the supporters of Israel in 1974. Due to the OIC backing the Palestine liberation organization (PLO) get recognition from the international community to represent stateless Palestinians.
One of the big achievements of OIC was to get PLO observer status at the UN and adopt a number of non-binding resolutions at the UN General Assembly, including one that declared Zionism a racist ideology (Resolution no# 3379).
OIC has been also criticized by many people for not providing any solutions in current crises in the Muslim countries. Another big challenge for OIC is that there is a political diversity as well as states have different political system either Monarch or Democracy. The OIC doesn’t have a unified voice because most of its member countries are not democratic. Saudi- Iran relations both are Muslim countries but with different sect.
It is no secret that member of OIC faces a variety of problems due to the trembling relations between them. The Syrian issue is another challenge for the OIC. According to the reports, more than 250,000 Syrian have lost their lives during the civil war. Last 9 years, OIC did not play its role to minimize the conflict. Many Muslim countries are infamous regarding sectarian violence. Equal participation of women is another challenge for the organization.
The organisation is suffering from a structural problem, as organization members belong to different continents. Its budget is not enough for global activities because most of the member states are poor but still, the organization can play its part in the future.
The major conflict in this contemporary world going in the Middle East so the OIC can play its role to minimize the conflict. Sectarian conflicts among states should be solved peacefully. The conflict should be resolved through bilateral or OIC can play its role by doing mediation or providing Good office. Economically OIC should help poor member for financial support. The lack of enforcement gaps must be full fill in the future.
(The writer is a student of International Relations and Freelance journalist currently based in Islamabad, Pakistan. He can be reached at furqanraja1122@gmail.com or @furqanraja1122 on Twitter.)
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COURTESY daily spokesman
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ISLAMABAD, JAN 4 - A high-level Saudi delegation led by the kingdom’s foreign minister is scheduled to visit Pakistan this month.
According to details, the visit will take place within a fortnight. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan will hold talks with President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during his official visit.
He will be accompanied by the kingdom’s Minister of Energy Abdulaziz bin Salman and a team of Saudi businessmen and companies’ heads.
Reportedly, the officials will also touch upon the establishment of an oil refinery in Pakistan during bilateral discussions.
The sources revealed that the scheduled Saudi visit was sending positive vibes with regard to mending ties between Pakistan and the kingdom that were damaged following Islamabad’s demand to call an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting on the Kashmir issue
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COURTESY daily spokesman
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ISLAMABAD, JAN 4 - Amin Ul Haque, Federal Minister for IT & Telecom attended a celebratory ceremony in Karachi on Sunday, where he acknowledged and applauded Systems Ltd. ‘s recent award winning as Forbes Asia’s best under a billion 2020 award.
Forbes Asia’s Best Under A Billion list aims to honor the high achievers of the region across different industries. System Ltd. competed amongst 18,000 publicly traded companies in the Asia-Pacific region with annual revenue above $10 million and below $1 billion and secured a position amongst 200 Asian companies.
He admired Asif Peer’s leadership and System Ltd.’s team as their efforts added the grace to our National Flag in a major competition in Asia.
He further added that recent growth figures of our Industry are remarkable, surpassing all traditional sectors. He said that this is the time for our traditional sectors to consider about this potential of IT exports business in Pakistan.
With overwhelming business response, Pakistan need serious investments in branding, infrastructure and capacity building and other resource, not only from Government but also from Private sector.
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KABUL - The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said in a statement that between 2 to 9 December there were nine IED and armed attacks in Khost, Kapisa, Kandahar and Kabul in which 9 civilians were killed and 17 others injured.
According to the statement, the number of civilians had been killed and wounded in separate incidents of bombings and armed attacks in the provinces. AIHRC considers the killing of civilians to be forbidden, condemned and criminalized from the point of view of religious, legal and human rights.
According to the Human Rights Commission, perpetrators of war crimes are responsible in every situation, time and place. The commission called on the government to ensure the rights and security of the people.
The commission also called on the United Nations, the international community, religious scholars and Islamic countries to use their influence to support the human rights of the Afghan people and to put pressure on them to end the violence.
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COURTESY DAILY SPOKESMAN
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SINGAPORE, Jan 3 — Hold your phone to your face for about a minute and it would be able to tell your heart rate, oxygen saturation, respiration rate and stress level with medical grade accuracy.
That is what Singapore health startup Nervotec is promising with its application, which detects a user’s vital signs by studying the way light reflects off a user’s face changes as blood flows through the capillaries under the skin.
The mobile application, which works on almost any smartphone with a front-facing camera, then feeds the data through an artificial intelligence engine to calculate an overall health score, which the app presents together with the individual readings for the user’s vital signs.
A poor health score could indicate sickness, excessive levels of stress or possibly even a Covid-19 infection.
That is because some Covid-19 patients have been known to exhibit a condition called silent hypoxia, when oxygen levels drop so slowly that patients do not notice it.
Nervotec’s founder Jonathan Lau said the firm’s technology can complement the temperature screening that is being done at public places and offices.
After all, having a fever is just one symptom of Covid-19, he said.
“We’re creating additional layers, without (causing) inconvenience, to make sure that the individual, with a certain level of confidence, is okay to mingle (with others) or at least come out of the house.”
Accuracy ‘well-within’ FDA standards
According to Lau, the app is able to accurately tell a person’s heart rate within two beats per minute and oxygen saturation — amount of oxygen in the bloodstream — within two percentage points.
The app, however, does not work well when an artificial light source such as a lamp is in frame of the camera as the high-speed flickering of a light bulb interferes with the reading.
When this reporter tried out the application, the results given by the app did not stray beyond that range when compared to a reading from a pulse oximeter clipped on the finger that measured heart rate and oxygen saturation.
The app’s accuracy, Lau said, is “well within” the required range to receive approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration for medical use, which the team is aiming to get within the next year and a half.
When that happens, the app would be able to get fast-tracked approval from Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority for use here, he added.
Dr Ian Mathews, an emergency room doctor at the National University Health Systems, said such technology could help reduce crowds at hospitals.
“In this time of the pandemic, remote monitoring (of vitals) allows clinicians to still provide quality care to patients while keeping the risk of transmissible diseases to a minimum,” said Dr Mathews, a medical consultant for the team.
The 25-man team at Nervotec is working on an update to allow users to take their readings even with a face mask on.
It is also working towards getting its app used for telemedicine services in the future.
How it began
The idea for the app was sown six years ago when Lau, a former Republic of Singapore Air Force fighter pilot, was attending an air crash investigation course in New Mexico in the United States.
He was bugged by what he felt was a huge disparity between the number of safety checks an aircraft had to go through and the screening a pilot had to undergo before a flight.
“The supervisors call it an ‘eyeball check’. Basically they look into your eyes and say, ‘Okay, you look good’,” said the 36-year-old.
“Can you imagine? The aircraft just had 250 test points and here is a supervisor giving you an eyeball check. It didn’t sit well with me.”
He left the Air Force in 2019 and started work on the app before registering his company in June 2020.
With the app, Lau’s team won the Singapore Airlines AppChallenge 2020 in October, a competition where startups pitch solutions to challenges faced by the aviation sector and allows them the opportunity to work with the national carrier.
Nervotec’s development is being supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority through the Open Innovation Platform, a programme that matches businesses with solution providers.
Nervotec is also a member of the Singapore Health Technologies Consortium, which was launched in 2019 by the National Research Foundation to match industry partners with academics at research institutes and institutions of higher learning.
Monitoring employee wellbeing
Currently, Nervotec’s app is commercially available but is sold through a business-to-business model and is not available for public users.
Local toymaker Mighty Jaxx has been trialing the app by having its employees take a reading of their vitals before they leave home for work.
In the first two weeks of testing the app, it managed to flag out an employee who was in poor health but insisted on returning to the office for a photoshoot.
His supervisors stepped in and got him to rest and see a doctor, who diagnosed him with the flu.
Several large corporations in the services and construction industry in Singapore, which Nervotec does not yet have permission to name, have also begun using the application to track their employees’ health.
With more employees working from home since the pandemic, apps like this can also help employers better monitor the physical and mental wellbeing of their staff, Mighty Jaxx’s chief operations officer Melissa Wong said.
“I don’t see that as very invasive, I think people actually want us to know how they are feeling,” she said. “Sometimes employees won’t dare to voice out that they are not feeling well... so having that data is an extra push factor.”
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COURTESY malaymail.com
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BAHAWALPUR, JAN 4 - PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Sunday said that "the day the Pakistan Democratic Movement resigns from the assemblies, it will mark the government's end".
Her remarks came in an address on Sunday at a Pakistan Democratic Rally in Bahawalpur.
At the start of her address, at Seraiki Chowk, she conveyed to the supporters the salaams (greetings) of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and party president Shahbaz Sharif.
"I wonder what would happen if I were to redirect this storm, this sea (of supporters) to Islamabad," she remarked, adding that the "fake prime minister would find no place to hide".
She said the support by people today "shows that the government's days in power are numbered".
Maryam said the reason why it is so "necessary to get rid of the government", is because "in Pakistan's 73-year history never has such an incompetent, corrupt and unqualified government come".
She repeatedly asked the crowd to signal with their chants if they wish to see the Opposition resign or remain seated in the "fake assemblies".
The PML-N vice president then declared: "The day PDM resigns from the assemblies, will be the end of the government."
She said that Punjab was "taunted" for "not standing up for others" and other provinces would say that "unless Punjab stands up, things will not change".
"Well listen here! Not only has Punjab risen, it is ready to take back the rights it has been robbed of. And when Punjab stands up, whose legs start shaking?" she asked the crowd.
"The selectors and the selected can see that the people of Punjab have now stood up."
She asked the crowd: "So is Punjab ready to take back the vote that it was robbed of? Is it ready to fight for other provinces? Is it ready to fight the war for the federation? Is Punjab ready to rid Pakistan of this incompetent, corrupt man?"
"And if Maryam Nawaz Sharif calls for it, will you march to Islamabad, fight, sit there, will you take back your right?" she asked further, to chants of "yes" from the people.
'I feel your pain'
Counting all the woes of the people due to the inflation, she said the International Monetary Fund, "to make matters worse", has now "directed for the electricity prices to go up by 25%".
"I feel your pain. Will the people of Bahawalpur make ends meet to feed their families, to pay their children's fees, to pay utilities or pay for the treatment of the elderly at home?"
"This is why I want us to send this fake, incompetent prime minister packing who, after two-and-a-half years, has thrown his hands in the air to declare he does not know how to run the country's affairs," Maryam said.
She said that "what to speak of chicken, no one will soon be able to afford vegetables even".
"Your daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif feels your pain and this is what brought us to you all today," she added.
'Can we call this change?'
Maryam asked whether the "storm of inflation" must be considered the "change" that was promised.
"Can we call this sea of incompetence, change? Can we call this flood of unemployment, change? Can we call the selling out of Kashmir, change? Can we call the selling out of national interests, change? Can we call the putting out of the fire that lights poor people's stoves, change?" she asked, as she went on to also count other "prohibitively expensive" basic necessities of life.
Laments deaths in Islamabad, Balochistan
The PML-N leader also lamented the death of 22-year-old Usama Nadeem Satti, who she said was a hardworking student who believed in the Tehreek-i-Insaf. "But no one raised their voice for him. We are raising our voice for the boy who was martyred on the streets of Islamabad."
Maryam, speaking of the Machh coal mine incident today, said that "no one from the government seems concerned".
"And then he (the prime minister) says that 'the army knows I am not corrupt'," she said.
Criticism for prime minister
She said that the premier "takes Rs250,000 as salary but runs a 300 marla house" and "then says he is not corrupt", also accusing his sister Aleema of laundering millions of "black money to white money".
The PML-N leader also questioned the Billion Tree Tsunami project. "Where did those trees go? No one knows."
Maryam also alleged "foreign funding from India and Israel" and questioned why this "snake inside the Election Commission of Pakistan" does not let the investigation proceed.
She further censured the prime minister for "saving his friends from NAB (National Accountability Bureau) and having them escape abroad", in addition to getting his billion-dollar estate regularised.
The PML-N leader said "without installing a brick in the way of development", the government has "doubled" the country's debts.
Maryam said the prime minister "admitted" in an interview that Rana Sanaullah was "falsely implicated" in a narcotics case.
Govt responds
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz, in response to Maryam's address, said that she had "forgotten" in Bahawalpur that a certain "royal family" had "robbed" the people of the funds set aside for South Punjab.
"The people of South Punjab continued to long for health, education, but their funds were spent on Lahore," Faraz claimed.
"The PML-N ruined the lives of cotton farmers in South Punjab," said the information minister, adding: "The farmers despise this elite lot."
He said that roads in South Punjab paint a picture that can be likened to the ruins of Mohenjo Daro.
Faraz questioned how it is that Maryam Nawaz has the "cheek to cry over South Punjab".
"The PTI government is fulfilling its promise to the people of South Punjab," he said, adding that the chief minister himself was chosen from there instead of Lahore.
He said a separate secretariat for the region has been established and development works are underway.
'Follow me to Seraiki Chowk'
Ahead of the rally, a venue was set up at the lawn of MPA Malik Zaheer's residence, where the PML-N gathered first.
Addressing party supporters there atop a container, Maryam asked them to follow her to Seraiki Chowk in the form of a procession.
"Come with your daughter, your sister Maryam, to Seraiki Chowk, so Bahawalpur may also announce the end of this fake government," she said.
Opposition struggle aimed at getting rid of 'illegal occupation' in Islamabad, says Fazl
As the procession made its way to the rally venue, Maryam shared another video, saying Bahawalpur has "erupted".
Earlier, as she entered the city, tweeted a video of the vehicles that had lined up all around her.
"If this is the beginning, I don't know what the build-up would look like," she wrote.
Workers of the Muslim League Youth Wing also staged a motorcycle rally in the city.
No permission for rally, cases registered
A spokesperson for the district police a day earlier said the administration had not given permission for the rally.
Warning notices were issued to the organisers to cancel the rally and panaflexes as well as billboards in the city advertising the rally were removed, he said.
The police spokesperson added that cases have been registered against local PDM officials and workers for violating coronavirus safety protocols.
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COURTESY THE NEWS
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