Pakistan govt decides to amend Constitution
Islamabad, Jan 27: Pakistan Cabinet has decided to table a bill in Parliament to amend the Constitution for holding the Senate elections through open vote. The decision was taken during the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan. “The government wants the (Senate) polls to be held in a transparent manner and without horse-trading. This is why we want Senate polls to be held through an open ballot,” Information Minister Shibli Faraz told the media after the meeting. He said that in the past, money was used in Senate elections and votes were bought making the House election a mockery. He asked what was the use of an upper house in which people come through purchasing of votes. Faraz also said that people opposing the proposed move are forgetting that their own party had demanded open ballot in the past. “The government will present a constitutional amendment bill in the parliament so that Senate polls are held through open ballot,” he said. (PTI)
Covid cases surpass 100 mn
New York, Jan 27: Global Covid-19 cases topped 100 million on Tuesday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, the Xinhua news agency reported. Meanwhile, Nepal on Wednesday launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive with the one million doses of vaccine provided by India under grant assistance in sync with its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy. Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli inaugurated the vaccination campaign at the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar on Wednesday morning. At the same time, government hospitals across the country vaccinated doctors and front-line health workers actively engaged in the field. (PTI)
Woman killed in Philippines blast
Manila, Jan 27: A 53-year-old woman was killed and five others injured in a bomb blast in southern Philippines’ Cotabato province on Wednesday, police said. The explosion took place at around 12:30 p.m. (local time) near a roadside waiting shed in Tulunan, a town in the province, police added. According to the police, the blast engulfed a passenger bus heading to a bus station but nobody was injured. The attackers had used a home-made bomb in the attack, Xinhua reported. However, no group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet. The explosion rocked a day after a bomb blast in Maguindanao province of southern Philippines killing one person and leaving another injured. (IANS)
Tornado kills 1, hurts 17 in US
Fultondale, Jan 26: A teenager huddling in his basement was killed and several of his family members were critically injured when a tornado blew a tree onto their home in Alabama and it collapsed on top of them, police said Tuesday. The tornado left a swath of destruction Monday night in Fultondale, a Jefferson County city north of Birmingham. Piles of furniture, appliances and tree limbs were strewn about and vehicles ended up in awkward positions, as if a child had flung his collection of Matchbox cars into the air. One car landed upside down against some tree branches on a large pile of debris. (AP)