Dying teen inspires thousands to donate

Efforts of 19-year-old Stephen Sutton with inoperable cancer lead to almost 2,00,000 people donating to Teenage Cancer Trust. The donations, many of them, came in small sums. But there have been so many — with almost 2,00,000 people inspired to give by Stephen Sutton’s story — that by last night the total he had raised had passed £ 2.3 million, and was rising fast. The Teenage Cancer Trust said the donations would revolutionise its ability to work with similarly ill young people.

Mr. Sutton from Burntwood, Staffordshire was diagnosed four years ago with bowel cancer, which has now spread to be inoperable. His condition turned critical this week when one of his lungs collapsed. He remains in a Birmingham hospital.

In January last year he had set himself the goal of raising £ 10,000. On Friday, Kate Collins, director of fundraising for the Teenage Cancer Trust, a relatively small organisation that runs 27 specialist medical units around Britain as well as offering family support and health education, said his efforts had already dwarfed any previous donations, the biggest of which was a £ 1million bequest in a will.

Mr. Sutton’s story has been a chronicle of the remarkable focus and courage of one young individual, and a wider illustration of how social media can broadcast such bravery to a huge audience.

People are dying of hunger: SC

 

 

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has asked what kind of Islamic welfare state Pakistan is where people are dying of hunger and they are made to pay for even breathing.
The observation came during the course of the hearing of a petition filed by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Secretary General Liaquat Baloch against the increase in flour (atta) price.A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Mushir Alam, took up the case on Monday.

The apex court constituted four committees to ascertain the price and availability of flour (atta) across the country in the context of the fundamental rights of the masses.During the course of the hearing, Taufique Asif, the counsel for the petitioner, suggested a sound basis for on-the-spot determination of flour and its availability in various parts of the country.

The court termed the suggestion of the counsel reasonable having the support of all counsel and law officers in the matter, and constituted four committees comprising Syed Attique Shah, Additional Attorney General for Pakistan, Taufique Asif, counsel for the petitioner, and the law officer of each province respectively.

The committees will ensure on-the-spot checks to assist the court in ascertaining the price and availability of flour in the context of fundamental rights enforcement.The court also directed the federal government to convene a meeting of the Federation and officials of provincial food ministries, who would propose possible ways and means through which the fundamental rights under articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution could be assured to citizens.

Rafique Rajwana, who has been appointed amicus curie (friend of the court) in the case, submitted that it was the state’s responsibility to provide essential food items at reasonable prices to citizens.

He proposed to the court to direct the federal government to convene a meeting of the responsible government functionaries of the Federation and the provinces to inform the court about the possible ways and means through which the fundamental rights could be ensured to citizens.

He contended that the procurement procedure was very difficult as the middlemen directly contacted the growers and after buying wheat from farmers exported it to Afghanistan. He informed the court that the government also bought wheat from the farmers hence, there was a need to check the attitude of flour mills.

Additional Attorney General Attique Shah said that a total of Rs40.1 billion subsidy on wheat was given by the federal and provincial governments to citizens. The AAG submitted the report which contained the input of the advocate general of all the provinces.

The court, however, termed the instant report incomplete and observed that it did not contain the relevant information and statistics to enable the court to ascertain whether the fundamental rights were indeed being ensured to citizens or not.

The court directed the law officers to submit a complete consolidated report which should also include the relevant statistical data showing that the fundamental rights had been ensured to the people.

During the hearing, Dr Shakeelur Rehman, Food Security Commissioner, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, said that a person in Pakistan required a minimum of 2,350 calories per day, which come from wheat. The government had made sure that wheat was supplied to every part of the country adding that in the whole year there was no wheat problem.

The court, in its order, recalled that on the previous date of hearing, it had noted that the minimum wage of an unskilled worker in the four provinces was Rs7,000 to Rs9,000 a month. Therefore, Dr Shakeel was asked to prepare a table to show as to how a family comprising two adults and two minors would be able to survive with dignity as per Article 14 of the Constitution within the minimum wage.Later, the court adjourned the hearing till April 22.

People dying in Balochistan while chief secretary visiting US: SC

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday observed that the Balochistan chief secretary was visiting the US while people in the province were dying.

The apex court gave these remarks when it was informed that the meeting of the chief secretary, the counsel for the FC Irfan Qadir, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and Balochistan Advocate General Nizamud Din could not be held as the chief secretary had proceeded on a visit to the US.

A two-member bench of the apex court comprising Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Mushir Alam was hearing the cases on the law and order situation in Balochistan, missing persons and the Khuzdar mass grave.

The court asked the Balochistan government what the solution of missing persons issue was and directed the chief secretary to submit a detailed report in this regard in the first week of April.

The court also directed the chief secretary, the counsel for FC Irfan Qadir, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and Balochistan Advocate General Nizamud Din to hold a meeting and decide how to proceed against the army officers, allegedly involved in the enforced disappearances of the people in Balochistan.

The court also directed the Punjab advocate general to appear on the next date of hearing and explain why a long time was required for finalising the DNA report of the bodies found from a mass grave in the Khuzdar district.

During the proceedings, the Balochistan Home Secretary, Asad Gilani, informed the court that 14 samples had been taken and now they had to be matched and it would take at least four to five months.

It means that the bodies would not be buried till the DNA report, Justice Amir Hani Muslim observed.The home secretary, however, replied that two persons had been identified and other bodies would be handed over after their identification.

The advocate general said that the samples had been sent to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PSFA), Lahore, for DNA tests, which had told them that it would take four to five months to finalise the DNA report.

The court asked the Balochistan advocate general as to why the meeting of the provincial chief secretary, advocate general and counsel for the FC Irfan Qadir was not held.The Balochistan AG said that March 24 was fixed for the meeting but the prime minister called the chief secretary to Islamabad.

Justice Hani said that the meeting could have been held on the next day. However, the advocate general said after that, the secretary had flown to the US and was still in America.The court observed that on March 7, it directed the chief secretary, advocate general and FC counsel Irfan Qadir to hold a meeting on the missing persons’ issue.

Irfan Qadir, however, informed the court that he had talked to the chief secretary on phone. The court observed as to how the meeting could be held on phone.Meanwhile, the court directed the Balochistan chief secretary to hold a meeting on his return from the US and adjourned the hearing for two weeks.