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A MAN in protective suit walks in a railway coach at Rawalpindi station on Monday. Pakistan Railways has converted some of its coaches into isolation centres for coronavirus patients.—Tanveer Shahzad / White Star ISLAMABAD: Again ruling out the possibility of enforcing a complete lockdown in the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday urged people to fight coronavirus with “wisdom” and said that a cell had been set up at the Prime Minister Office to ascertain upward or downward trend of the deadly virus in a week after which the government would devise its future line of action. “We have established a cell at the PM Office to ascertain decreasing or increasing trend of the viral disease in one week and a future line of action will be made after monitoring the situation,” the prime minister said in his address to the nation. The prime minister feared starvation due to hoarding and once again warned the hoarders and profiteers of exemplary punishment if they hid stocks of food

KABUL: The Taliban have killed about two dozen Afghan police and pro-government fighters, officials said Monday, in two attacks that come as the foes are supposed to be preparing for peace talks. In one of the incidents late Sunday, the insurgents killed at least six soldiers and 13 police and pro-government militiamen at several outposts near a police headquarters building in northeastern Takhar province, provincial police spokesman Khalil Assir told AFP. A wedding party was being held in the building at the time, but the attackers did not reach the headquarters. “The police bravely defended and prevented the Taliban from entering the celebration,” Assir said. Mohammad Azam Afzali, a member of Takhar’s provincial council, gave a slightly lower toll, saying 17 police and pro-government militiamen were killed in the fighting that lasted at least seven hours. The Taliban did not immediately comment. Militants have not claimed responsibility for strikes Meanwhile, a Taliban attac

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi talking to media during his appearance at the Islamabad High Court.—Online ISLAMABAD: The Islam­abad High Court (IHC) on Monday granted four-week protective bail to former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former secretary of petroleum Arshad Mirza in a case about the alleged illegal appointment of managing director and deputy managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO). The National Accounta­bility Bureau (NAB) last week filed a reference against Mr Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Mr Mirza for allegedly appointing Sheikh Imranul Haq as managing director and Yaqoob Sattar as deputy managing director (finance) of the PSO in violation of rules and regulations. Admitting the reference, Farid Anwar Kazi, administrative judge of the accountability court, had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Mr Abbasi and Mr Mirza and directed the prosecution to produce Abbasi and Mirza on April 10. Barrister Zafar

Authorities in Sindh on Monday reported 36 coronavirus cases of local transmission among members of the Tableeghi Jamaat in Hyderabad. Hyderabad now has 43 cases of Covid-19, out of which 36 cases were confirmed among the Jamaat members today, according to Meeran Yousuf, media coordinator to the Sindh health and population welfare minister. Yousuf said the cases were reported from Noor Mosque, where some 200 Jamaat members were initially quarantined. Noor Mosque is the second-largest centre of the Jamaat in Sindh after the one in Karachi. The mosque was sealed off after a 19-year-old Chinese-origin member of the preaching group staying there tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday. According to Yousuf, authorities have taken the samples of all the people who were staying at the mosque and sent them for testing. A total of 830 persons belonging to the Tableeghi Jamaat are currently in the Hyderabad range. "Of these 830, 234 belong to Hyderabad’s Noor Mosque," Hyderabad ra

Indian health workers caused outrage on Monday by spraying a group of migrants with disinfectant, amid fears that a large scale movement of people from cities to the countryside risked spreading the coronavirus. Footage showed a group of migrant workers sitting on a street in Bareilly, a district in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, as health officials in protective suits used hose pipes to douse them in disinfectant, prompting anger on social media. Nitish Kumar, the top government official in the district, said health workers had been ordered to disinfect buses being used by the local authorities but in their zeal had also turned their hoses on migrant workers. “I have asked for action to be taken against those responsible for this,” he said in a tweet. India imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25, with thousands of labourers subsequently fleeing cities for their home villages after work and public transport vanished. India has registered more than a thousand cases of the

Sindh education minister and a key member of the provincial cabinet Saeed Ghani has recovered from the new coronavirus, he announced on Twitter on Monday. Ghani had tested positive for Covid-19 last Monday, prompting him to go into self-isolation. The development had caused Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to get himself tested for the virus and order tests of all those members of his team who had been in contact with Ghani. Taking to Twitter today, the minister said his Covid-19 test conducted today had come out negative. "According to doctors, I have recovered fully. God willing, I will continue my work from where I had left," he said. Ghani thanked his wellwishers for praying for him after his diagnosis. "I will try to continue fulfilling my responsibilities effectively in the future as well," he wrote. The minister is part of the provincial task force on coronavirus constituted by the Sindh government last month. The province is currently under a

LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday granted exemption from personal appearance to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his nephew Yousuf Abbas in proceedings of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case till filing of a reference by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Mr Abbas was present in the court along with a legal team during the hearing of applications for permanent exemption. Previously, Mr Sharif had been granted exemption from personal appearance on medical grounds as he had been in London for a couple of months with the court’s permission, for his medical treatment. In this case, PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz had also been given exemption from appearance before the trial court till the filing of the reference by NAB. On Monday, Advocate Amjad Pervez argued in the court that Mr Sharif was still staying abroad as doctors treating him in London had not permitted him air travel. Moreover, he said, NAB had also failed to file a reference against Mr Sharif so far in