Couple killed in Shikarpur

Couple killed in Shikarpur after four years of free-will marriage

SHIKARPUR: In what appeared to be a chilling murder, a couple was killed after four years of their free-will marriage in Shikarpur area of the Sindh province, ARY NEWS reported.


According to police, the incident occurred in suburb area of the Shikarpur district, where a man killed his sister and brother-in-law over free-will marriage.

“The couple contracted the marriage four years ago,” said the police.

They said that the accused was able to flee away from the scene after the incident and police have initiated a search for him. The bodies have been shifted to a hospital for medico-legal formalities.

Violent acts against couples who contract free-will marriage have been reported in the country from time to time.

In one such incident, a young person in Sadiqabad was brutally tortured with his nose chopped off for contracting free-will marriage.

The shocking incident took place in Chowk Bahadur area of the Sadiqabad tehsil in Rahim Yar Khan.

According to the youngster’s family, the girl’s brothers along with other people subjected him to brutal torture and cut off his nose.

The victim has been shifted to Shaikh Zayed Hospital in critical condition.

His family members said over fifteen people beat Ahmed Ali black and blue after kidnapping him.

They appealed to Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar to take notice of the incident and bring the culprits to justice.
Reports say the boy and a girl named Samera Bibi got married out of their own free-will a year and a half ago, which angered the family of the girl, that was looking for an opportunity to settle a score with the boy.

A first information report (FIR) of the incident has been lodged at the Saddar Sadiqabad police under kidnapping and attempt to murder charges.

Meanwhile, three key accused, Arif, Asif and Siraj have been arrested as raids are being conducted to arrest their accomplices.

France testing whether nicotine could prevent coronavirus

Experts are not encouraging people to pick up smoking or use nicotine patches as a protective measure against the virus

Nicotine could protect people from contracting the coronavirus, according to new research in France, where further trials are planned to test whether the substance could be used to prevent or treat the deadly illness.

The findings come after researchers at a top Paris hospital examined 343 coronavirus patients along with 139 people infected with the illness with milder symptoms.

They found that a low number of them smoked, compared to smoking rates of around 35 percent in France’s general population.

“Among these patients, only five percent were smokers,” said Zahir Amoura, the study’s co-author and a professor of internal medicine.

The research echoed similar findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine last month that suggested that 12.6 percent of 1,000 people infected in China were smokers. That was a much lower figure than the number of regular smokers in China’s general population, about 26 precent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The theory is that nicotine could adhere to cell receptors, therefore blocking the virus from entering cells and spreading in the body, according to renown neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux from France’s Pasteur Institut who also co-authored the study.

The researchers are awaiting approval from health authorities in France to carry out further clinical trials.

They plan to use nicotine patches on health workers at the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris — where the initial research was conducted — to see if it protects them against contracting the virus.

They have also applied to use the patches on hospitalised patients to see whether it helps reduce symptoms and also on more serious intensive care patients, Amoura said.

The researchers are looking into whether nicotine could help to prevent “cytokine storms”, a rapid overreaction of the immune system that scientists think could play a key role in fatal COVID-19 cases.

But with further research needed, experts are not encouraging people to pick up smoking or use nicotine patches as a protective measure against the virus.

“We must not forget the harmful effects of nicotine,” said Jerome Salomon, France’s top health official.

“Those who do not smoke should absolutely not use nicotine substitutes”, which cause side effects and addiction, he warned.

Tobacco is the number one killer in France, with an estimated 75,000 deaths per year linked to smoking.

France is one of the hardest hit countries by the coronavirus in Europe, with more than 21,000 deaths and over 155,000 reported infections.

Basha Dam to be completed on time

Asad Umar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Thursday reiterated that Diamer Basha Dam will be completed on time, ARY News reported.

Presiding over a high-level meeting to review progress on Diamer Basha Dam, Asad Umar directed to expedite the pace of work on the project.

Matters pertaining to land acquisition for the dam, contracts for construction and other issues were came under discussion in the meeting.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Gilgit-Baltistan CM Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman and other high officials attended the meeting through video-link.

Read More: Asad Umar announces completion of 20 water reservoir projects in 2020

Earlier on March 6, Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar had announced that 25 water reservoir projects would be completed during the ongoing year.

The government had already utilized 42 percent of the funds earmarked for the water resources’ projects that is upto Rs 20 billion during the eight months of this year, said the federal minister while chairing a meeting to review projects of the water resources ministry.

The meeting was also attended by chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and officials from water resources and planning ministries.