Headlines 9pm: PM visits ISI headquarters, coronavirus cases spike

Here are SAMAA TV’s headlines from the 9pm bulletin.

• Prime Minister Imran Khan made a visit to the ISI headquarters in Islamabad with Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The premier emphasised that no effort will be spared for national security and sovereignty. He was given a comprehensive briefing on regional and domestic challenges with special focus on Pakistan’s efforts for restoration of peace and stability.
• ISPR Director-General Major General Babar Iftikhar has warned India to be prepared to face consequences against any misadventures from its side.
• The Economic Coordination Committee approved on Wednesday firing all employees of the Pakistan Steel Mills in a meeting chaired by Adviser to the PM on Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh. There are 9,350 employees who will be fired within a month and another 250 will be let go within three months. The ECC approved a Rs18 billion package for the employees, which amounts to Rs2.3 million per person.
• Two MPAs have died of the coronavirus in a day. PML-N’s Shaukat Cheema and PTI’s Mian Jamshed Uddin Kakakhel have died of COVID-19. In the last 24 hours, Pakistan recorded its highest number of coronavirus cases with 4,131 new reports. Nearly 1,700 patients have died.
• The public still has time to strictly follow the SOPs and take precautions against the virus, says Information Minister Shibli Faraz. He said otherwise the government will have no choice but to tighten the lockdown again.
• Coronavirus is fast spreading among children below 10 years of age in Karachi, say doctors. In a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, they said the isolation centre at Expo Centre did not have oxygen facilities.
• PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif can’t be arrested by the National Accountability Bureau till June 17. The Lahore High Court approved his bail on Wednesday in the money laundering and assets cases. He has been ordered to submit a Rs0.5 million surety bond.
• PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi says Shehbaz, for the last 20 months, has been filled in whatever questionnaires NAB has given him. He said NAB is taking its last chance. “When NAB has no options left, it takes its last chance which it calls assets beyond means,” he said.
• Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the provincial governments to monitor the prices of essential commodities on a daily basis and make every effort to pass on the benefits of fuel price reduction to the common man. He said there is no logic as to why flour prices should increase when harvesting of the wheat crop has just recently been concluded.
• A petrol shortage was witnessed in several cities. Many pumps in Karachi were closed. Long lines were seen at the pumps that did open.
• Tropical Cyclone Nisarga hit Karachi in the shape of a storm on Wednesday night, bringing rain, power cuts and high gusts of winds. The Pakistan Met Department tweeted a warning that that Nisarga had formed a deep depression over the East-central Arabian Sea and intensified into a cyclonic storm at 1700PST. Winds of up to 60km/hr should be expected it said.

Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/news/pakistan/2020/06/headlines-9pm-pm-visits-isi-headquarters-coronavirus-cases-spike/