Within 3 hours, Imran Khan’s telethon raised Rs5 billion for flood affectees in Pakistan

What happened: On Aug 29, former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan staged an international telethon, raising Rs5 billion for flood victims.

Details: Imran stated at the start of the telethon that the goal was to gather donations for flood victims because no government can deal with such a disaster alone. The event was moderated by PTI leader Faisal Javed, and it was attended by the chief ministers of Punjab and K-P, Perviaz Elahi and Mahmood Khan, as well as the former premier’s ex-assistant on social protection, Sania Nishtar. Why it matters: Flood-related economic losses in Pakistan could sum up to at least $10 billion, according to Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who spoke to Reuters earlier on Aug 29. Iqbal further stated that it could take five years to reconstruct and rehabilitate the nation of 200 million people, which will face a severe food scarcity.