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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has recognized the late UAE-based Pakistani medical practitioner, Dr. Mohammed Usman, as a martyr and national hero. The doctor had contracted the coronavirus while treating blue-collar patients at a small clinic in Abu Dhabi and died on 15 May.

He was also posthumously conferred with the Order of the Fallen Frontline Heroes by the President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyanm, on the Emirati Commemoration Day, also known as ‘Martyr’s Day’, on 30 November.

To accolade the sacrifice of the courageous doctor and all the other six heroes who had given their lives for the Gulf country, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, and the Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces had invited their families to the event and personally thanked them for their services.

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Alia Usman, the widow of the martyred doctor, said, “I got a call from the office of the Crown Prince that he would speak to me later on Monday. However, I was told later that he was busy and would call me in a few days”.

She added, “At first, I did not believe that Sheikh Mohamed would call me, but then I was told that my late husband had been recognized as a martyr by the UAE government and that everything related to me and my children, including visas, their education, my daily expenses, and house rents, would be taken care of by him. I was very happy”.

The widow revealed that the six months after the death of her husband have been quite difficult but people have often stepped up to help her.

She said, “Despite all the help that I got, I was planning to move back to Pakistan but this call changed everything. If all goes as the government has promised, I will continue to live here and my children will get the best education that my husband had desired for them”.

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Alia Usman was contented that her late husband’s professional dedication and selflessness was recognized by the Government of the UAE.

The late doctor was a father of two from Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir, and had worked for a private health care group for eleven years. After losing his job in 2019, he had joined a small clinic in the UAE where he treated blue-collar patients.

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Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) management has decided to replace six Airbus 320s with the new narrow-body aircraft as their lease expires early next year.

The national airline had decided, in principle, to terminate the lease of these aircraft which will expire in March next year. They will be replaced with eight narrow-body aircraft up to ‘2012-vintage, or up to the aircraft’s first 12-year check’.

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The PIA spokesperson, Abdullah Hafeez, said on Wednesday that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PIA, Air Marshal Arshad Malik, has approved the acquisition of a new six-year lease for eight narrow-body planes. The first of the lot will be delivered by March next year, while all eight aircraft will arrive in Pakistan by December 2021.

Last month, an eleven-member team under the supervision of Syed Majid Humail from the Department of Engineering and Maintenance carried out a detailed inspection of the leased aircraft. The committee has presented its report to the management, giving the go-ahead for termination of the lease.

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The spokesperson said that the airline had issued a tender notice seeking eight narrow-bodies configured with 170 seats in an all-economy layout.

He remarked that the arrival of the new Airbus 320 and Boeing737 aircraft will help the flag carrier grow and that the acquisition could have transpired earlier but had to be postponed due to the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Interpol recently revealed that criminal networks can, and may, target COVID-19 vaccines directly and online. According to their report, alerts regarding vaccine attacks have been issued to law enforcement agencies in 194 countries around the world.

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Criminal networks are reportedly planning to target the coronavirus vaccine supply-chain. These networks can also mislead people through fake websites, putting their health and financial assets at risk.

As the pandemic forces more people to go online for their needs, the black market trade, particularly in drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, has boomed, causing untold harm to consumers and losing governments millions in critical revenue.

Prior to the pandemic, global illicit trade was already thriving from an array of crimes such as trafficking and smuggling. Today, black markets generate trillions of dollars every year for transnational criminal organizations, complicit corrupt facilitators, and other criminal networks.

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The Interpol has warned the international community to beware of possible fraudulent schemes hitting local markets as the vaccine hits the stores.

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Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, chaired the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in Islamabad today.

The Power Division presented the case for the abolishment of the Time-of-Use tariff scheme for industrial consumers to spur industrial activity amid the COVID-19 pandemic by removing the distinction between the current system of peak and off-peak hours as a part of the industrial support package. The underlying rationale is to incentivize industrial units to operate round the clock and produce greater output during testing times.

Consequently, ECC approved, in principle, the proposal regarding amendment in the respective SROs, for both XWDISCOS and K-Electric, to charge the off-peak rates against the peak hours. The abolishment of peak and off-peak tariff structure would be implemented w.e.f. 01 November 2020 till 30 April 2021.

Minister for Privatization, Muhammad Mian Soomro, Minister for Economic Affairs, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Adviser to the PM on Commerce., Abdul Razak Dawood, SAPM on Revenue, Dr. Waqar Masood, SAPM on Power, Tabish Gauhar, and Adviser to the PM on Institutional Reforms and Austerity, Ishrat Hussain participated in the meeting. Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Dr. Reza Baqir, joined the meeting through a video link.

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Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the Civil Servants (Efficiency & Discipline) Rules, 2020, to ensure transparent department accountability.

A new two-tier system eliminating the authorized officer tier has also been introduced to expedite its process.

The move is expected to resolve the decision-making issues in disciplinary proceedings at a lower level while allowing the authorized officers to sanction minor penalties without requiring them to get the approval of the authority.

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Timeliness
The new set of rules focus on timeliness at every step of the proceedings. Officers charged with either misconduct or other offenses will have 14 days to submit a reply regarding it. The inquiries will be completed within sixty days and the authority is bound to decide the case within thirty days. Previously, there had been no timeframe for the conclusions of the proceedings which had allowed for the cases against corrupt/incompetent officers to linger for years.

Plea Bargain
The Civil Servants (Efficiency & Discipline) Rules have also introduced the opportunity for accused officers to have personal hearings to ensure just decisions are made in the cases against them. The option of a plea bargain and voluntary return has been included for the first time in the definition of the term ‘misconduct’.

Procedural issues relating to the provision of record, slackness on part of the Departmental Representatives, suspensions, proceedings against officers on deputation/leave/scholarship, etc. have been clearly provided.

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Empowering Establishment Division
Under the new rules, the Establishment Division has the authority to issue either directives or clarifications to avoid delays in the proceedings.

If multiple officers are charged in a single case, the restriction of appointing one Inquiry Officer has been imposed ‘to ensure transparency and avoid different decisions in a single case’.

In case a PAS or a PSP officer is deputed to a province, the provincial chief secretary is bound to submit a fact-finding report, the failure of which will prompt a direct intervention from the Establishment Division.

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The governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab have announced a complete ban on indoor dining at different hotels, restaurants, and food points amidst the escalating COVID-19 pandemic across Pakistan.

Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD) has issued a notification according to which people can only have meals in open spaces and that adequate spacing should be maintained between the tables and chairs in line with COVID-19 SOPs.

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The notification further states that all businesses are scheduled to close at 10 pm and that people should also avoid unnecessary traveling.

The KP Department of Home and Tribal Affairs has issued a notification according to which only takeaway services are permitted in the province. This decision was taken upon the directives of the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) following an increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

The notification also clearly states that penalties and legal proceedings will be enforced against the violators.

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In the last twenty-four hours, 218 more people have been affected by the coronavirus, taking the total number of infected patients in KP to 47,919. Meanwhile, three more people have died of the virus, taking the coronavirus death toll in KP to 1,378.

According to a spokesperson of the KP Health Department, 281 more patients have recovered from COVID-19 within the last twenty-four hours.

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A new leak has revealed Huawei’s roadmap of releases for 2021 as well as the end of 2020, revealing much to look forward to for the upcoming months. The leak comes from a tipster called Teme who talks about a number of different products in his report.

According to the tipster, Huawei will announce the Watch GT 2 Pro ECG on December 12 and it is expected to go on sale on December 21. This is the same date the base Huawei Mate 40 is expected to go on sale as well. He adds that the new ECG watch will cost around $410 and the global release will follow next year.

End of the year
Watch GT 2 pro ECG sale start 21 December
End of the month: new smart screen launch maybe some other products too.
2021
Mate X2 unclear release time, MWC is possible.
P50 series in March and like Mate 40 series poorly available.
Later in spring new MatePad Pro 2 pic.twitter.com/qEh6Hnt5Y8

— Teme (特米)? (@RODENT950) December 2, 2020

By the end of December, we might also see a smart screen and a handful of other products alongside. This smart screen will launch with a new version of Harmony OS meant for large displays. There is also a mention of the Nova 8 series in the tweet, but it is uncertain whether it will debut in December or January.

The launch of the next Mate X foldable is also uncertain, but the tipster expects to see it around the next MWC 2021, which usually happens during the first quarter of the year. The Huawei P50 series is expected to break cover in March next year, but it will also likely suffer from availability issues like the Mate 40 series.

Huawei’s next-gen flagship tablet, the MatePad Pro 2 will be unveiled sometime later in Spring. It will have a new chipset and two different variants for 5G and WiFi.

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