PESHAWAR: A powerful blast has been heard on Ring Road in Peshawar on Friday morning, Geo News reported.

Meanwhile, police are trying to determine the nature of blast.

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JAFFERABAD: Most parts of Jafferabad city in Balochistan left flooded after deluge wreaked devastation there have remained disconnected with other parts of country for 23 consecutive days, Geo News reported.

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NOWSHERA: When water gushed through Nowshera hospital last month it filled operating rooms and wards, left them clogged with stinking mud and forced patients to leave, whatever their condition.

Two doctors evacuating the sick had to be airlifted to safety after getting trapped on the top floor of the district hospital, the main source of health care for 1.6 million people in Pakistan’’s impoverished northwest.

“Eighty percent of the hospital staff were affected themselves. The water had destroyed their homes, cars and everything. No one was able to come to hospital,” said the hospital’’s chief doctor, Muhammad Arshad.

But since the ruin, caused by monsoon-triggered floods, which swept across the country, a massive volunteer undertaking has allowed the hospital to reopen, and Arshad now sits smiling on donated furniture in his freshly whitewashed office.

The walls that were blackened and buried in mud for a week are now a hygienic white, there are working heart-monitor, X-ray, ultrasound and anesthaesia machines, and the damaged water pipe has been replaced.

“When we arrived to rehabilitate the hospital we had no idea where to start, because every corner of the hospital needed immediate attention,” said Arif Mehmood Siddiqui, the administrative head of Pakistan’’s National University of Science and Technology, who coordinated the volunteer effort.

“What we had was mud and a stinking smell. There was not even a bench to sit on to run a clinic,” he says.

Young doctors from Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, arrived with doctors from international aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres, army engineers and university staff, to roll up their shirt sleeves and save the hospital.

Now, after hard work and donations, the hospital has new mattresses and pillows for all 114 beds, there are new delivery tables for the labour ward and the operating theatres are fully functioning.

“We have rediscovered this hospital from the rubble,” Siddiqui said.

Once the hospital itself had been saved, however, there were hundreds of flood victims waiting for help — meaning extra doctors were quickly needed.

“We ran this hospital for two weeks because the doctors normally on duty were affected themselves. There was a dire need for doctors and medicine and we successfully managed it,” said Rawalpindi doctor Nasir Habib.

The World Health Organization estimates that 4.4 million flood victims have received medical treatment since the floods began in late July, but that number only accounts for those who visited health centres that reported their figures.

Before the floods, this district hospital, situated close to Pakistan’’s militant-riddled tribal areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, handled up to 400 patients each day, but Arshad says nearly 700 now come daily.

Many of them are suffering from water-borne gastric diseases caused by the month-long floods, which threaten to cause a second wave of death among the 18 million affected nationwide.

“Everything is under control, we are ready to fight diarrhoea and can deal with the patient load,” said doctor Fayaz Ahmed, who runs a clinic to counter the diarrhoea epidemic.

For Nabila, whose two-month-old daughter was struck with the illness, the work of the volunteers has saved her family.

“These doctors have given new life to my daughter. I am so thankful to this hospital which has saved my baby from death,” Nabila said.

For Shumaila Khatun, a 29-year-old woman who is due to give birth next month, the reopening of the hospital has brought much-needed relief.

“I am really relieved. Now I can give birth to my baby without worry,” she said.

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LARKANA: Deluge has kept its devastating pace maintained in separate parts of Sindh province as in the latest development, the raging flood torrents have entered Khairpur Nathan Shah city of Dadu district to wreak havoc with many Kutchi settlements besides inundating government boys? college, police station, many houses, parks and grid station, Geo New reported Friday.

Meanwhile, another gigantic tide is fast raging towards Jati tehsil of Thatta district from Mir Khan Mori.

A big floodtide, unleashed form Shahdadkot, has entered Khairpur Nathan Shah tehsil after developing breaches in Khuda Wah Canal, which in turned, has flooded many Kutchi Abadies, government school, college, police station, houses and grid station, cutting electricity supply to city and areas abutting.

Water with 3-feet dept has been flooding most parts of city, surging with constant and slow velocity but alarming, witnesses told media.

More than 5000 stranded people in the heart of city have been impatiently waiting for rescue operation for hours but nevertheless authorities have made no arrangements for transportation of trapped people to safer places, people complained.

Sujawal city is yet submerged under 4-feet deep water.

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JEDDAH: The Organisation of the Islamic Conference on Thursday appealed to Muslims everywhere to direct their zakat tithes to relief for flood-wracked Pakistan.

The Jeddah-based pan-Islamic organisation, together with the OIC-sponsored International Islamic Fiqh Academy, said in a statement that Muslims everywhere “should not restrain from helping their Pakistani brothers … and should not leave them alone to their fate.”

The Fiqh academy, a centre of research on Islamic jurisprudence, said that Islamic scholars had ruled that it is acceptable to direct one’’s tithes to other communities and countries than one’’s own.

Islam requires believers to donate 2.5 percent of their income annually to share with others within their community, usually the less privileged.

“The scholars also approved the Muslim’’s choice to pay zakat to those who are more in need of zakat money than the people of the country of origin, such as people affected by different disasters, including floods and earthquakes,” the statement said.

The lives of some 18 million people in Pakistan were affected by the massive flooding along the Indus river beginning in August.

Some eight million are completely dependent on handouts to survive, and Pakistan has said the hundreds of millions of dollars already pledged in aid would not be enough.

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has stressed the need to continue the relief efforts with the same zeal and zest as exhibited during last weeks till the flood-affected people return to their homes.

The Prime Minister was talking to the Federal Ministers who met him at the Prime Minister House on Thursday to brief him about the rescue and relief operations in different areas as well as damage caused to various kind of infrastructure.

The Prime Minister stressed upon the Ministers to devise means for early restoration of civic amenities and services so that the recovery and reconstruction operations could be launched without any waste of time.

He said that restoration of public utilities will help in mitigating the sufferings of the flood affected people to a great extent.

The Prime Minister urged the Ministers to update the assessment of damages in collaboration with the provincial governments so that assistance could reach to the genuine affected people in time.

He further said that the government had succeeded to create awareness among the Pakistani public and the world community to contribute generously towards the Flood Relief Fund.

The meeting was attended by the Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Nazar Muhammad Gondal, the Federal Minister for Water Power, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, The Federal Minister for Information Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira, the Federal Minister for Labour Manpower, Syed Khurshid Shah and Advisor to the Prime Minister, Senator Raza Rabbani.

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LONDON: Pakistani High Commissioner in London Wajid Shamsul Hassan has strongly criticized ICC following its ruling of suspension of Pakistani cricket trio: Salman Butt, Mohammed Aamer and Mohammed Asif, alleged cricketer of spot-fixing allegations, Geo News reported Friday.

In his statement, he said ICC Chief Haroon Logart has betrayed Pakistani High Commission (PHC), by telling a lie.

He said: ?Logart visited PHC at 5:30pm and stayed there for an hour.? ?In the meantime, he hinted at avoiding to unnecessarily pressurize Pakistani players besides assuring not to dismiss or suspend trio from playing International Cricket?, he noted.

Subsequently, he left PHC excusing that he had some personal work to do but he issued orders of suspension of three players after a little while, he maintained.

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has issued official approval of four-day Eid holidays, which will fall from September 10 to 13, Geo News reported.

In his pre-Eid message, the Premier hoped the nation to remember in its Eid?s celebrations the ill-fated flood-hit Internally Displace Persons (IDPs).

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LONDON: Cricket’’s world governing body charged three Pakistan stars accused in a betting scam with anti-corruption offences and provisionally suspended them Thursday, as the trio protested their innocence.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif were barred from taking part in all cricket matches with immediate effect, although they can appeal the suspension.

Earlier, Pakistan’’s ambassador to Britain said after meeting the trio that they had asked to miss the rest of the team’’s tour of England because of the scandal, but said he believed their insistence that they were innocent.

The ICC said it had charged the three stars with offences under its anti-corruption code and they had been provisionally suspended pending a decision on those charges.

“We will not tolerate corruption in cricket - simple as that,” said ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat.

“We must be decisive with such matters and if proven, these offences carry serious penalties up to a life ban.

“The ICC will do everything possible to keep such conduct out of the game and we will stop at nothing to protect the sport’’s integrity. While we believe the problem is not widespread, we must always be vigilant.

“It is important, however, that we do not pre-judge the guilt of these three players. That is for the independent tribunal alone to decide.”

Earlier, Butt, Aamer and Asif met with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt and Pakistan’’s ambassador to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, at the diplomat’’s London office.

Speaking afterwards, Hasan said: “The three players have said that they are extremely disturbed by what has happened in the past week, especially in regard of their alleged involvement in the crime.

“They mentioned that they are entirely innocent in the whole episode and shall defend their innocence as such.

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ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Thursday said that the network of terrorist organizations has been smashed in the country adding that we have to join hands to fight collectively against such elements.

Talking to media persons here at the Parliament House, he said that it is not a time to indulge in blame game but is a time to create unity among our rank and file and to fight the mindset which wants to destabilize the country. “The Punjab government should not be blamed for Lahore tragedy. No one is safe from them and the terrorists attack whenever they find any opportunity,” he observed.

The minister said the government operation against the terrorists in Swat, Malakand and tribal areas remained successful and the whole network of terrorist organizations has been broken. The whole nation including security forces, media and the civil society played key role in eradicating the menace of terrorism from Swat and Malakand division, he said.

The security forces remained successful in the operation against the terrorists in Malakand division and it was the results of consensus which was built against such elements, he added. The Minister said that some splinter elements belonging to smashed terrorists groups are acting in desperation but the government would not allow them to play with lives of innocent people.

Replying to a question, Kaira said that it was not made public that how many people were arrested in connection with terrorism on the basis of intelligence. “Wherever we deem necessary, we will take action and we need no dictation from any quarter,” he added.

In response to another question, he said that democracy has been restored after long struggle and the nation would not tolerate any ultra-constitutional change in the system.

The National Assembly session was convened to discuss relief and rehabilitation of flood victims but it has been adjourned for one day owing to the death of Minister for Local Government AbdulRazzaq Thahim and now the matter would be discussed on Friday.

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