Islamabad: A passenger bus, travelling from Karachi to Peshawar, met with an accident yesterday killing five people and injuring several others in Manjhiwala area near Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, DawnNews reported.
Rescue sources said the victims were shifted to a nearby hospital where the condition of some injured was reported as critical. Witnesses added that the accident took place due to over-speeding.
In other news, a thick blanket of fog engulfed Peshawar and its adjoining areas as the weather turned cold following two days of rain. The fog disrupted the schedule of all flights at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport, forcing them to be diverted to airports in Karachi and Lahore.
Poll office faces big dilemma
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) appears to be caught in a dilemma, with the government excusing itself from printing of ballot papers for local bodies’ elections in Punjab and Sindh and the National Assembly adopting a resolution against the proposed involvement of the private sector in the process.
Informed sources said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had called on Acting Chief Election Commissioner Justice Tassaduq Jillani yesterday and made it clear that it was not possible for the state-owned printing facilities to print over 400 million ballot papers in the specified time.
Dar was of the opinion that printing of ballot papers from the state-owned presses would provide people an opportunity to point finger at the transparency of the process and asked the ECP to get the job done by private printing presses.
Emergency on hepatitis urged
ISLAMABAD: On the sidelines of the American Association of Liver Disease (AASLD) conference, a number of international researchers and physicians asserted on Pakistan’s health officials to declare hepatitis emergency in country as over 9.4 million hepatitis-C patients suffers from the deadly disease.
The AASLD concluded here in downtown DC the other day. At the concluding session the physicians specially took interest in the launch of two drugs Sofusbivir and Simeprevir.
The two new treatments for hepatitis C are to be released in December 2013. Both the drugs extremely promising but the obstacles to their use in Pakistan and other developing countries would be their cost.
Agencies
