Doctor blamed for death of babies at Karachi hospital

KARACHI: An initial probe report into the death of four newborn babies at a private hospital has blamed doctor’s negligence for the horrific incident.

The report states that the doctor was not present at the time of the incident and was giving instructions to technicians over the telephone.

The newborn babies lost their lives after oxygen supply to their incubators was disconnected due to load shedding at the hospital.

According to the spokesman of Sindh Department of Health, seven pre-mature babies were born at a private hospital in Korangi no.6 two days ago who were kept in incubators for intensive care.

However, the oxygen supply was discontinued due to load shedding that resulted in the death of four infants.

The parents and relatives of the deceased children protested outside the hospital and alleged that the newborn babies were not provided with adequate first aid and negligence of doctors resulted in their death.

The sources told that the hospital staff along with the doctors disappeared after the incident while the Sindh Health Department has requested to arrest the entire staff.

The Health department sealed the hospital and arrested three persons while raids are being conducted to search the owner of the hospital.

Six children die at a private hospital

KARACHI: Six children died at a private hospital due to alleged negligence by the staffers, Geo News reported.

The parents of the victims alleged that their children died due to shortage of oxygen and negligence of hospital administration.

Sources in the health ministry confirmed deaths of children at a private hospital near Korangi crossing area.

Meanwhile, EDO health was unaware of the incident, however, he formed a committee to investigate into the matter.

Texas General Hospital awards scholarships to five students

DALLAS : The Texas General Hospital of Grand Prairie hosted a ceremony where scholarships were awarded to five students with outstanding performances in medical field.

Arlington Texas resident Raheel Akhtar Khanzada was awarded a five thousand dollar scholarship in recognition of his academic excellence and community services.

A special ceremony was held at the hospital where hospital Owner & Chairman Board of Directors Dr Hassan Hashmi, President & CEO Salman Hashmi and its board members Chief Operating Officer Syed Usman, Vice President of Operations Faraz Hashmi, Chief Financial Officer Julie Stimmel, Chief Nursing Officer Brandi Ciufi and an Administrator , Bernnie Kennedy attended the ceremony; Dr. Hasan Hashmi presented a five thousand dollar’s scholarship check to Raheel Khanzada.

Talking to participants, Dr. Hasan Hashmi said that Texas General Hospital will keep encouraging students with high scholastic achievements in the medical field and will do everything possible in helping the youth in their educational pursuit.

He said that students residing in and around Grand Prairie are the future leaders of our society.

He said that Texas General Hospital is preparing community welfare programs where we are looking into as how best we can serve our communities.

The award recipient Raheel Khanzada said that he wants to pursue the medical career. He thanked the Hospital leaders for their encouragement as this scholarship will be a great contribution to his tuitions at UTA for his pre-med degree.

Sethi had nothing to do with selling PCB rights: Imran hospital audit body chief

 

LONDON: The former president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and a senior Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) adviser Ehsan Mani has said that Najam Sethi, ex-PCB chairman, had nothing to do with the bidding procedures or sports rights for the cricket series against Sri Lanka.
Geo TV’s detractors and Najam Sethi’s critics, without presenting any evidence, have alleged that Sethi, who hosts one of the most watched current affairs shows on Geo called ‘Aapas Ki Baat’, may have helped Geo Super get the sporting rights for the Pakistan-Sri Lanka series held in the United Arab Emirates last year.

But in an exclusive interview over phone with this correspondent from France, Ehsan Mani, who was the head of the PCB committee that approved the Geo Sports’ bid for the Sri Lanka/South Africa series, expressed shock that such baseless allegations were aired without giving any thought to the facts.

Ehsan Mani is a board member of Imran Khan’s Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital and a friend of Imran Khan — who has led the campaign of allegations against the Jang and Geo Group, accusing the group of being involved in election rigging and winning favours from Nawaz Sharif — but Mani said he was astonished that such allegations were being made knowingly by some whose aim was to malign rather than to do anything good.

But the stern rebuttal by Ehsan Mani will come as a shock to Imran Khan who faces court cases from Jang and Geo over these allegations.

Ehsan Mani clarified: “The committee that I headed comprised Justice Shabbar Rizvi, an ex-Lahore High Court judge, Ahmed Hussain and a lawyer. It had three PCB management members Subhan Ahmed, COO, Badar Khan, CFO, and Salman Naseer, PCB’s internal legal adviser. It has had an ex-PCB Board member Bughio, a close aide of Zaka Ashraf.

“It was on my request that renowned accounting firmErnst & Young was taken on board to oversee all the process and to ensure that the whole bidding process was independent and transparent. The aim was to ensure transparency so that no bidder should be given undue advantage. Ernst and Young made the final report with recommendations and sent it to the PCB.”

Ehsan Mani said that the highest bidders were Ten Sports and Geo and they were recommended on the basis of the merit of their bids, the highest amounts they put down to win these rights. “Najam Sethi wasn’t involved at any stage. He had nothing to do with the bidding at any of the stages. There was only one PCB representative Bughio who sat in the meeting as an observer. Najam Sethi didn’t have any influence at any stage. There was no pressure, corruption or manipulation. Everything was independent and the bid was open, negotiations were opened and on board. Everything was on record and minutes were taken down.”

After the bids were received, Mani said, the committee only recommended to the PCB board that the South African series shall go to Ten Sports and the rights for Sri Lanka shall go to Geo Super. “We had no power other than to make recommendations. The PCB governing body finalised the decision. There was no interference at all at any level, there’s no question of any pressure. It was not possible. The highest bidder won and it’s simple. The terms and conditions were provided in writing in advance to all the parties involved.”

Ehsan Mani refused to disclose how much money was offered by Geo Super and Ten Sports because it was “confidential” but he stressed that the rights were won by the highest and the most competitive bidders. “There is no doubt about that. This is all on the record. Ernst & Young witnessed the negotiations and recorded everything. Their report was confidential and private which we didn’t see. Everyone involved was satisfied with the procedures and no objections were raised.”

When asked if the chairman PCB could manipulate at any stage using his powers, Ehsan Mani said that the process of establishing committees was such that the chairman couldn’t do anything. “The PCB chairman cannot manipulate. When I was approached to be a part of this committee, I said I will help.”

Mani said that he has been helping the Pakistan cricket since 1992 and had been involved in many deals and at various stages. “My only condition was that this committee will be independent and the PCB chairman will not be involved. The committee was completely independent and any involvement from any quarter was out of the question. I had done the ICC deal for $500 million in 2000. In 2006 and 2007, I was asked again by the ICC to help with their rights and one of the deals was done for $1.1 billion. When my reputation is so high and I am trusted so much, then why would I do anything untoward?”

When asked again if Najam Sethi had anything to do with the bidding process, Ehsan Mani said that Najam Sethi had no involvement. “Najam Sethi had absolutely no involvement. He couldn’t have done that. We followed a transparent procedure. No bidder knew who was offering what amount. No one knew what was on board. We wanted maximum money. We wanted maximum money for the PCB and that was our aim. Those who failed our targets failed to get the rights. All bidders were there and they knew what was going on.”

Ehsan Mani’s interview has proved the allegation leveled by Imran Khan, Mubashir Luqman and several TV channels as a complete lie. Several channels, particularly ARY, were alleging that Sethi favoured Geo in getting the cricket rights. Imran Khan leveled this allegation in his several TV interviews. He particularly attended Mubashir Luqman’s programme at ARY and repeatedly leveled this baseless allegation.

The Jang Group’s response to this allegation was present at its website, parts of social media and even published several times in newspapers, but no anchorperson ever asked any question from Imran Khan about the role and stand of Ehsan Mani, who is the chairman of the audit committee of Shaukat Khanum Hospital.

As Imran’s allegation has been proven a lie, the lawyers community in the UK is discussing what would be the worth of Imran’s other allegations against the Geo and Jang Group. They think Imran, who enjoys respect in the UK, will face embarrassment on failure to prove his charges against the Geo/Jang Group in the UK courts.

Policeman guns down 3 US citizens at Kabul hospital

KABUL:An Afghan policeman opened fire Thursday on staff at a Kabul hospital run by a US charity, killing three Americans in the latest deadly attack targeting foreign civilians in the city.

The gunman was injured in the incident outside the CURE International hospital and detained by police, officials said, adding that the motive behind the shooting was not immediately known.

"The attacker was a member of the police in the district," Seddiq Sediqqi, spokesman for the interior ministry told.

"He opened fire as the foreign nationals were entering the hospital, tragically killing three and injuring one more. Another policeman in the area shot the attacker, injuring him."

A medic who was treating the wounded told that a foreign doctor was among the dead.

"With great sadness we confirm that three Americans were killed in the attack on CURE Hospital," the US embassy said on its Twitter account. "No other information will be released at this time."

Kabul has been hit by a spate of attacks targeting foreign civilians this year, including a Lebanese restaurant where 21 people died, an attack on a luxury hotel and the daylight shooting of a Swedish radio journalist.

Last month Taliban militants attacked a Kabul guesthouse used by Roots of Peace, a US anti-landmine charity, killing two people including a girl.

And this month Associated Press (AP) photographer Anja Niedringhaus was shot dead by a police commander in the eastern province of Khost in an attack which also left her Canadian colleague Kathy Gannon badly wounded.

Balochistan CM enquires Mir’s health in hospital

KARACHI: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik visited the hospital in Karachi, where Hamid Mir is under treatment, and enquired about the health of injured Geo News anchorperson.

Talking to media on the occasion, the Balochistan chief minister said that Hamid Mir is a voice of Baloch people and he (Mir) is their ‘natural companion’.

He further said that Baloch people would not leave Mir alone during his hard time.

Dr Malik also offered that Balochistan government could bear the expenses of Hamid Mir’s medical treatment if the family members of the renowned journalist and Geo News management granted permission.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's baby girl born in Gurgaon hospital

 

President Hamid Karzai made a brief visit to Gurgaon to meet his wife and newborn daughter at the Fortis Memorial Research Institute.

GURGAON: Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai made a brief visit to Gurgaon on Wednesday to meet his wife and newborn daughter at the Fortis Memorial Research Institute.

The child was born on Tuesday morning. "The baby girl was born around 9.30 am on Tuesday. Both the mother and her baby daughter are doing quite well," Afghanistan's ambassador to India, Shaida Mohammad Abdali, said in an emailed response to TOI.

Abdali said the president paid a very short visit to the hospital during his brief transit stay in New Delhi before going to Colombo on Wednesday. "Both the president and the first lady enjoyed a few moments together with their newly born baby-daughter," the ambassador added in his email.

There was no official statement from the hospital. Sources said Karzai's wife was admitted to the hospital earlier this week. She was accompanied by her family members and relatives. The sources said Karzai stayed with the family for around 20 minutes. The first lady is likely to be discharged by Friday evening, the sources added.

On choosing Gurgaon as the place for the delivery of their third child, Abdali said, "The president's two other beautiful children were born in Afghanistan. In this case, however, due to some predictable medical complication, the specialized doctor in Afghanistan advised that the baby be delivered in India given the availability of specialized medical facilities and personnel."

Abdali thanked New Delhi for its support. "We're thankful to the hospital's excellent medical staff for their superb services, as well as to the hospital's management team. And we're grateful to the Indian government for their continued support with everything, including facilitating the hospitalization process."