Pakistani fisherman becomes millionaire overnight after selling rare fish
Karachi (PTI): A fisherman in Pakistan's Karachi city became a millionaire overnight after auctioning a haul of rare fish which has many medicinal properties.
Haji Baloch, who lives in the impoverished Ibrahim Hyderi fishing village, and his workers caught the fish known as golden fish or "Sowa" in the local dialect from the Arabian Sea on Monday.
"The entire catch was sold for some 70 million rupees at the Karachi harbour on Friday morning when fishermen auctioned off their catch," Mubarak Khan of the Pakistan Fishermen Folk Forum said.
The Sowa fish is considered priceless and rare since substances from its belly are said to have great healing and medicinal properties. A thread-like substance from the fish is also used in surgical procedures.
"One fish fetches around 7 million rupees in the auction," Baloch said.
The fish, which often weighs between 20 to 40 kgs and can grow up to 1.5 meters, is much sought after in East Asian countries.
More importantly, the Sowa also holds cultural and traditional significance, finding its use in traditional medicines and local cuisine.
"We were fishing in the open sea of Karachi...when we came across this huge cache of golden fish, and it was a windfall for us," he said.
Haji said he would share the money with his crew of seven people.
The fish comes near the coast only during breeding season.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
