Latest news with #Zohaib
Express Tribune
20-07-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
New budget ignores woes of poor patients
The Sindh government has once again claimed improvements in healthcare, asserting increased health sector allocations while paradoxically achieving little in terms of improving patients' access to affordable healthcare. Sindh's public hospitals, facing increasing patient pressure, had submitted a formal written request to the Sindh government for a substantial increase in grants in the annual budget. However, the government rejected this request and instead allocated only an 8 per cent increase in grants for public hospitals. In contrast, a significant amount was allocated for NGOs working in the health sector, including public-private partnerships (PPP's) which were promised 50 per cent more funds. According to sources of the Express Tribune, for the 2025-26 budget, the Sindh government has allocated Rs326.5 billion for the healthcare sector, which is a steady rise from the previous year's budget of Rs302.2 billion. The budget for the People's Primary Healthcare Initiative has been increased from Rs12 billion to 16.5 billion, while the Gambat Institute's budget has been increased by Rs3 billion to 10 billion. In essence, instead of improving the state of government hospitals, the Sindh government has allocated a total of Rs146.9 billion for over 60 NGOs operating under public-private partnerships, an increase from Rs90 billion. Experts believe that this amount could have been used to provide health insurance to patients across Sindh, who remain deprived of adequate healthcare facilities. This is particularly imperative in a province where existing health facilities have seen no improvement in terms of bed capacity, despite annual budget increases. At the Sindh Government Children's Hospital near Nagan Chowrangi, which operates under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), Sabir, the father of 8-year-old Zohaib, shared his concerns. "The hospital staff and administration act as if the facility is privately owned. They often show a lack of attention toward patients and display a disrespectful attitude towards their attendants. It is a common issue at PPP hospitals that essential medicines are frequently unavailable, and emergency services are often not provided during night hours. The attitude of doctors and staff is generally indifferent," said Sabir. Senior photographer at a daily, Jalal Qureshi, shared his recent experience of taking his granddaughter to the emergency department of NICVD's children's unit, where the guard and staff behaved extremely rudely with his son-in-law. "When I attempted to report the incident to the hospital director, I learned that the emergency department had been handed over to an NGO under the PPP model. The NGO staff gave the impression that the facility was a private hospital, with guards and staff appointed at the NGO's discretion," said Qureshi. "No new hospital has been established in Karachi in the past decade, while the bed capacity of existing hospitals has not been increased either. Even in hospitals like Civil, Jinnah, and Lyari, the number of beds remains the same as it was before. Despite the Sindh government increasing the budget for these hospitals every year, no measures have been taken to increase the number of beds. There is no accountability in this regard. Under public-private partnerships, the Sindh government has handed over buildings of public hospitals to various NGOs, which use electricity, water, and manpower free of cost. Although the Sindh government allocates significant funds to these NGOs in the annual budget, patients do not benefit from it," claimed Dr Nighat Khan, Chairperson of the Women Care Foundation. Former Caretaker Health Minister of Sindh, Dr Saad Khalid Niaz opined that the same funds could have been used to offer health insurance to the people. "Despite the Sindh government's annual claims of improving the healthcare sector, poor patients still face difficulties in accessing treatment. The number of government hospitals in the metropolitan city is insufficient for a population of over 20 million," said Dr Niaz.
Express Tribune
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Express Tribune
Eschelle wins ladies singles title in Westbury Tennis
Eschelle Asif outplayed Tahreem Yousuf to clinch the ladies singles title while Kashan Tariq defeated Ismail Aftab with a decisive 8-2 scoreline in the mens singles semifinal in the 21st Westbury National Tennis Championship. In the Boys U-14 Singles quarterfinal, Meer Bhagat beat Zaid Zaman 4-2, 4-0. The grand finals and closing ceremony will be held on Friday at 5:30pm, with Rasheed Jan Mohammad gracing the occasion as chief guest. Results: Semifinal (Mens): Junaid Khan (Peshawar) dominated Ansarullah 4-1, 4-0 Girls U-14 Singles Final: Rumaisa Malik (Pano Aqil) beat Shahnoor Umar (Lahore) 4-0, 4-1. Boys U-12 Doubles Semifinal: Arsh Imran and Azaan Imran beat Tariq Rafi and Umar Zaman 4-2, 4-2. U-10 Singles Semifinal: Ashtar Alam Khan breezed past CM Ayaan Isa Ji 4-0, 4-0. Girls U-18 Doubles Semifinal: Rumaisa Malik / Aishel Asif won 8-0 against Tahreem Yousuf / Sakina U-14 Doubles Semifinals: Rashid Bachani / Ibrahim defeated Meer / Zaid 4-1, 4-1. Zohaib / Ansarullah outclassed Umeed Kut / Ahyan Salman 4-0, 4-0. Girls U-12 Singles: Pre-Quarterfinal: Zoha Imad beat Shanaya Sheikh 4-1, 5-3. Quarterfinal: Dua Yousuf defeated Ayesha Fazli 4-0, 4-0. Men's Doubles Final: Mahathir Mohammad / Rahim Waqar overcame Kashan Tariq / Zohaib 8-3 to claim the title. Juniors U-18 Doubles Final: Ehtesham Humayun (SNGPL) / Zohaib defeated Mohammad Yahya (Islamabad) / Hassan Usmani (SNGPL) 6-2, 6-3. Boys U-10 Doubles Final: Ayaan Isa Ji / Abdullah Ali secured victory against Ibrahim Zaman / Hamza Ali 4-2, 4-0.
Gulf Today
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Waseem shines as UAE beat Bangladesh, keep hopes alive in three-match T20 series
Riding on a spectacular batting performance by Muhammad Waseem, UAE defeated Bangladesh by two wickets in the second T20I at Sharjah. Chasing, UAE got over the line for the loss of eight wickets with 1 ball to spare. Needing 12 off the last over, Haider Ali hit a six to bring the equation down to four needed off four. Haider took a couple of the penultimate ball to take them over the line. Waseem stole the show as he kept the chase alive single-handedly till the 15th over in a topsy-turvy match. UAE got off to a blazing start as both the openers - Muhamad Waseem and Muhammad Zohaib – put up 107 runs for the first wicket to lay down a strong foundation. Waseem and Zohaib batted with both patience and aggression as they amassed 72 runs in the first powerplay. Waseem was at his usual best as he cantered to his second fifty of the series in just 25 deliveries. He brought up his 22nd fifty in the T20Is with a boundary as the UAE looked in control of the match. Like the UAE bowlers, Bangladesh bowlers were also struggling to stop the flow of the runs. They had already tried five bowlers by the end of the eighth over. Waseem was ably supported by Zohaib, who played a perfect foil. Waseem brought up a 100-run partnership with a six off Rishad in 9.2 overs as the UAE reached the half-way mark without loss. Tanvir Islam brought reprieve to the Bangladesh side by sending back Zohaib, who miscued a shot and holed out to a fielder in the cover. Rishad got rid of Rahul Chopra in the next over as UAE lost two wickets within the span of three runs. The two wickets in consecutive overs pushed the UAE on the backfoot briefly as the run rate dropped below ten an over for the first time in the 12th over. But Waseem took 20 runs off the 13th over, bowled by Rishad, to spur the run rate above 10 again. Waseem knew it well that the UAE batting was revolving around him and he needed to stay at the crease till the end. Shorifula Islam dented the UAE's hopes by getting Waseem caught by wicket-keeper off a slower delivery. With the dismissal of Waseem, UAE's hopes of a come-from-behind win all but ended. He smashed nine fours and five sixes during his stint at the crease. Earlier, Bangladesh's batsmen were in blistering form. In the absence of the first match centurion Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das gave Bangladesh a fiery start. Emon, who became the second Bangladeshi batsman to score a century in T20Is after Tamim Iqbal, was ruled out because of a groin injury. But the make-shift openers Tanzid and Das put on spectacular batting performances to set the tone for a huge total. They stitched a 90-run partnership for the first wicket in just nine overs. Tanzid played a blitzkrieg knock, studded with immaculate shots all over the ground, Both the batsmen played sensibly and kept the UAE bowlers at bay. They kept the scoreboard moving as they toyed with UAE's bowling attack. Tanzid was the more brutal of the two as his contribution in the 90-run partnership was that of 59 runs. Tanzid changed his gears after getting his eyes in. He did not spare any bowlers. UAE's decision of electing to bowl first seemed to be firing back. UAE bowlers were struggling to check the flow of runs, leave alone taking a wicket. On a batting-friendly Sharjah turf, Bangladesh were cruising along nicely and looked poised to post a huge total of 200 plus. Tanzid raced to his fifty in just 25 deliveries with the help of seven fours and three sixes, which means 46 of the 50 runs came in boundaries. UAE were desperately looking to break the partnership. They knew if they had to stay in the match, they needed to break this dangerous-looking partnership. Debutant Saghir Khan gave the UAE the first breakthrough by getting rid of Tanzid. The left-handed batsman was caught at the deep-square leg in an attempt to pull a short delivery by the UAE pacer. He could not manage to get hold of the ball and it landed straight in the safe hands of Matiullah at the boundary rope. UAE heaved a sigh of relief as they were oblivious of what was in store. Das, who was a dormant partner, flexed his muscles and started to lead the charge. He added another 35 runs for the second wicket with Najmul Hossain Shantu in just 3.2 overs. The partnership grew fast and had started to look dangerous. Mohammad Jawadullah, who took four wickets in the last match on his debut, broke the partnership to bring some respite to the UAE camp. After the departure of Das, Towhid Hridoy took the responsibility and shared a couple of big partnerships to heap more misery on the UAE bowlers. Hridoy's 24-ball 45 was studded with three fours and two sixes. He was well supported by Shanto. Jakir Ali's quickfire cameo of 6-ball 18 took Bangladesh to 205/5. Jawadullah again put up a spirited performance as he returned with a figure of 3/45, accounting for the dismissals of Das, Shanto and Jakir. His tally of dismissals has reached seven in just two games. Meanwhile, one more T20 has been added to the on-going tour of Bangladesh to the UAE. Originally, Bangladesh were slated to play two T20Is, but one more match has been added to the series, it was announced by ECB in statement. It is believed that Bangladesh's tour of Pakistan is in limbo following the war between India and Pakistan. Though the war has ended but security of the players is still a concern. Both the countries had to cancel their respective cricket leagues briefly before resuming it after the ceasefire.
Express Tribune
15-05-2025
- Express Tribune
Rickshaw driver robbed by police, killed by truck
A rickshaw driver was robbed by police on M-9 motorway and later met a fatal accident when his three-wheeled vehicle was hit by a speeding truck from behind. The incident occurred in the Loni Kot area, where 30-year-old Kashif, son of Waris Abbasi and his cousin, Zohaib Ali, son of Nadeem Abbasi were pushing the rickshaw on foot after vehicle's petrol ran out when a truck hit them, killing driver Kashif on the spot, injuring his cousin Zohaib. According to Zohaib's statement to the police, they were traveling from Karachi to Hyderabad when police personnel at the toll plaza snatched their cash amounting to Rs8,000 and a mobile phone. After being robbed, they continued their journey, but the rickshaw ran out of petrol near Loni Kot New Baran Bridge. As they were pushing the rickshaw, the accident occurred. The victims hailed from Faisalabad and earned their living by driving rickshaws. They had nothing left after being robbed by the police. Meanwhile, SSP Jamshoro Zafar Siddiq Jhanga took notice of the incident after Zohaib's video statement went viral on social media.
Express Tribune
13-05-2025
- Express Tribune
Two cops held for looting currency dealer
City police have arrested a serving policeman and a retired cop for allegedly snatching Rs600,000 from a currency exchange dealer. Their third accomplice, who is also a serving cop, is still on the run. Currency exchange dealer Abdullah complained to the City Police that he was sitting in a vehicle with a customer for an exchange transaction when three policemen arrived. Two of them were in uniform, while one was in plain clothes holding a wireless device. They started questioning the complainant. When Abdullah explained that it was a business transaction, the suspects started searching him. The uniformed cops took his mobile phone, with one sitting in the back seat and the other in the front passenger seat of the car. The plainclothes official remained by the motorcycle. The suspects then drove Abdullah to Murree Road, where they stopped at a juice shop. After drinking juice, the official on the motorcycle joined them, and they fled with Rs600,000 near the RDA Park. The police managed to arrest serving policeman Zohaib, who is currently posted in the Rawalpindi Crimes Investigation Agency (CIA), and former policeman Riyasat, who was dismissed from service in 2019. Raids are still ongoing to arrest the third suspect. A police spokesperson said that disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the serving cop, who has been served a charge sheet. He made it clear that abuse of power and supporting criminal elements would never be tolerated, and such individuals have no place in the department. The accused would be charged with solid evidence, the spokesman maintained.
