Medicine reaction: 26 dead in Lahore

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LAHORE: Another 12 people Saturday succumbed to their mysterious disease spawned by the reaction of medicines, raising the overall death toll to 26.

Meantime, the probe committee formed to identify the mysterious disease could not reach any consequence even after two days.

The probe committee head Dr. Azhar said the Secretary Health has been requested to form a team to inspect the manufacturing and packing processes of the concerned medicine factories producing the suspicious medicines.

The most of the patients were admitted to Punjab Institute of Cardiology, after they had consumed blood-thinning medicines. Later on, they developed the mysterious disease.

According to sources, the disease killed as many as 20 people as yet; but, Punjab Health Department denies any such report.

Proff. Dr. Javed Akram, Principal Allama Iqbal Medical College Lahore said the most of the patients had beforehand undergone bypass surgery.

According to Dr. Afzal Shaheen, MS Jinnah Hospital, the people in the mysterious disease have symptoms of low count of platelets and white cells along with marks on the body. Some patients also bleed from various parts of t heir body.

Special arrangements have been made for the patients at the hospital. TrendPK

Quetta snowfall brings mercury down in Karachi

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KARACHI: Cold wave gripped the country on Saturday after snowfall in upper parts and Quetta as a result of a new rain spell, Meteorological Department said.

According to Met department, the new weather system has entered from Balochistan triggering snowfall in Quetta and over the mountains of the province during the night between Saturday and Sunday.

Amid chilling winds, low temperature was recorded in Karachi and other cities of Sindh on Saturday after snowfall in Quetta.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Upper Punjab areas, Islamabad, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are also expected to receive showers on Sunday and Monday.

The Met office on Friday predicted continued cold wave till March this year unlike the previous seasons.

The weather department forecasted rain and snowfall in parts of Balochistan – Zoab, Qallat, Khuzdar, Sibbi, and Makran division during the next 24 hours.

The minimum temperature recorded in Kalam was minus 15 degree centigrade and minus 13 in Sukurdu. TrendPK

Cricket: English coach Flower sees team swift comeback

DUBAI: Andy Flower on Friday expressed his confidence in England staging a swift comeback against Pakistan after losing the first Test by ten wickets inside three days.
  
England crumbled to 160 all out in their second knock on Thursday to go 1-0 down in the three-match series — their first Test as world number one, a position they attained in August last year following a 4-0 rout of India.
  
Flower, who was named UK coach of the year in 2011, said beating Australia in Australia was a bigger test, but coming back in the second Test will also be a big task.
  
“Pakistan certainly outplayed us by a long margin in this Test. We underperformed, poorly. However, we can come back from this. Is it a real test? Yes it will be,” the 43-year-old England coach told reporters.
  
“Beating Australia in Australia was a big test. This team has done great things in the recent past, but you have to move on from the past and live in the present, and this is a very good indication that you have to live in the present,” said Flower.
  
England have not lost a series since losing to the West Indies in 2009 — Flower’s first after he took over from Peter Moores.
  
Flower disagreed that England — playing their first Test since August last year — were under-prepared or lacked application.
  
“I don’t think it’s either of those. Our preparation were excellent,” said Flower of the two wins inside games here. “It might be fair to say that the lay-off we’ve had probably means people aren’t quite up to speed as we usually are.
  
“However we needed that break, the players needed a mental and physical break and you can’t have it all ways. Our challenge now is to get up to speed for the second Test,” said Flower the match starting in Abu Dhabi from January 25.
  
Dubai will stage the third Test from February 3-7 followed by four one-day and three Twenty20 internationals.
  
Flower backed captain Andrew Strauss and struggling batsman Kevin Pietersen.
  
“He’s a pretty calm bloke and I wouldn’t say he’s in poor form at all,” said Flower of the England captain who made 19 and six against Pakistan.
  
“Strauss looks very composed and compact at the crease. He got out in the first innings to a shot he wouldn’t want to repeat, and he was unlucky in the second, so that’s how it goes sometimes. He will come back,” said Flower of Strauss who has only one fifty in the last 12 innings.
  
“As Strauss said, there’s no point in panicking. What we’ve got to do is play better.”
  
He added: “All batsmen are under pressure to make good decisions and it’s unfair to single out one batsman.
  
“In a number of instances in both innings where there were soft dismissals and poor decisions, and if you make poor decisions in Test cricket, you get severely punished for it.”
  
Flower added that he hoped his team adapts quickly as they also have two tough tours of Sri Lanka and India later in the year.
  
“We’ve got this tour then Sri Lanka, then India, so we’d better get up to speed very quickly.” AGENCIES

10-15% CNG stations of Karachi to be closed

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KARACHI: The Ministry of petroleum and gas has decided to close 10-15% of CNG stations of the city, TrendPK reported on Saturday.

The decision has been made to control the gas crisis.

Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), under load management program, has announced to keep CNG supply closed weekly.

The ministry has written to the CNG dealers that the process of checking the CNG stations will start from January 23^rd. TrendPK

Maoist landmine attack kills 12 policemen in India

PATNA:  A landmine attack by Maoist rebels in eastern India killed at least 12 policemen and injured three others, authorities said on Saturday.

The attack, targeting a police vehicle in Jharkhand state, was to protest against the killing of one of the top Maoist leaders Koteswar Rao — better known as Kishenji — by security forces last year, police said.

“The Maoists triggered a powerful landmine targeting the police vehicle in Garhwa district,” senior police official Suman Gupta told AFP by telephone from state capital Ranchi.

The policemen were apparently trapped by the Maoists in a forested area of the district, Gupta added.

The Maoist insurgency, which began in 1967, feeds off land disputes, police brutality and corruption, and is strongest in the poorest and most deprived areas of India, many of which are rich in natural resources.

The attack was the latest in a series of rebel strikes on often poorly trained police battling the Maoist rebels, fighting to overthrow all state and national authorities.

Last month, another landmine attack by Maoist rebels in the same state struck a convoy of a senior politician, killing 10 policemen and a young boy.

The increasingly lethal insurgency has spread to around 20 of India’s 29 states and has been described by Prime Minister Singh as the country’s biggest internal security threat. AGENCIES

Govt decides to resume industrial gas supply in Faisalabad

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FAISALABAD: Government announced Saturday it would resume the supply of gas to industries in Faisalabad.

Faisalabad’s industries continue to remain deprived of the gas from the last one month.

According to the announcement, industrial units would get gas supply three days a week from January 23. TrendPK

Multan: No clue found in abduction of foreign nationals

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MULTAN: No clue could be found about the whereabouts of two foreigners kidnapped from Multan on Thursday.

The abductees, a German and an Italian national, are workers of a foreign Non-Government Organization (NGO).

Checkposts were set up at all exit points of Multan at the order of Punjab police chief immediately after the abduction. But the police is yet to find any significant clue.

The movement of other foreigners who are working in flood-hit areas of Multan and Southern Punjab has been restricted. There are reports that all foreign national workers have been called back from South Punjab.

MQM ready for movement supporting new provinces

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KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farroq Sattar said that the party is ready for a movement in support of new provinces in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, TrendPK reported on Saturday.

While talking with media during inauguration ceremony of a bridge at Orangi Town, Sattar said that if necessary, the MQM will launch a movement for new provinces in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The MQM wants to bring revolution in the country, he added. TrendPK

Firdous Ashiq Awan condoles Arfa Karim’s death

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SIALKOT:  Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has announced on Saturday to make a documentary film on world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional, Arfa Karim Randhawa.

The minister expressed profound grief and sorrow over her untimely demise. 

She also condoled on behalf of President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Arfa Karim honored the country in very young age, she said.

Awan also announce donation of Rs 1million for Arfa Karim Foundation. TrendPK

Mansoor Ijaz wants army protection on Pakistan visit

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ISLAMABAD:  Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has been requested by Mansoor Ijaz to provide security for his visit to Pakistan, where he is due to appear before a judicial commission on January 24 in memo scam case.

Advocate Akram Sheikh, the counsel of Ijaz, wrote a letter to army chief, asking for security after his arrival in Pakistan.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik questioned why Ijaz was so worried about his security.

He said that his (Ijaz) name could be put on exit control list (ECL) if national security committee recommended.

On the other hand, Hussain Haqqani’s counsel Zahid Bokhari said that Mansoor Ijaz was making excuses not to appear before the commission. TrendPK

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