Daily News Pakistan

Pakistan's daily coronavirus case count crossed the 5,000 mark for the first time in five months after the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) reported 5,026 fresh infections in the country on Sunday morning. According to the NCOC's latest stats, 56,965 coronavirus tests were conducted during the last 24 hours, out of which 5,026 turned out to be positive. The virus cases reported today were the highest since April 4. At present, the COVID-19 positivity rate in the country stands at 8.82%, said the NCOC. Meanwhile, the novel coronavirus has claimed 62 more lives in the last 24 hours, pushing the national death tally to 23,422. Pakistan's fight against coronavirus continues to get worse and worse every day. Earlier on Saturday, 4,950 fresh infections were detected over the last 24 hours after 58,479 COVID-19 tests were conducted, the NCOC said. The nationwide death toll from coronavirus stood at 23,360 after 65 people lost their lives to the disease, while t...

In a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19 virus, the local administration has notified micro smart lockdown in 13 areas of Lahore on the instruction of Punjab government, The local administration has notified to restrict movement in 13 areas of Lahore till August 12. “All markets, offices and restaurants will remain closed in these hot spots of the Covid-19,” according to a notification. “All government and private offices will remain closed in these areas, while all religious, cultural and private gatherings will be prohibited,” the administration notified. “The businesses related to the necessities will remain open, while in departmental stores only grocery and pharmacy sections will be opened.” “Funeral prayers and other essential religious rituals will be allowed,” according to the notification. “The water, electricity, gas and other utility services will remain open. The call centres will be allowed to work with 50 percent staff and the banks will remain open with essent...

PPP co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari has submitted his reply to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a New York apartment case, ARY News reported, citing sources. PPP Co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari denied owning the expensive apartment in Manhattan. “I had sold out the apartment the same year I purchased it,” the sources quoted him as saying in the reply he filed through his lawyers. The former president stated that he didn’t hold any public office when he bought the flat, adding he went to the United States (US) for treatment. He accused the corruption watchdog of subjecting him to vengeful action. The bureau had served him a notice along with a questionnaire to provide information about his Belair apartment. He subsequently obtained pre-arrest bail from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to avoid his arrest at the hand of the NAB.

Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar on Saturday hit out at PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari after the latter defended the Sindh government’s decision of imposing a lockdown in the province to curb the spread of coronavirus. “Bilawal zardari says if what happened in India happens in Karachi PM [will be] responsible,” the minister tweeted. “Mr zardari what you wanted.. Lock down lock down lockdown..Was done in India & the world saw the devastation,” he continued. “Crores thrown into poverty from which they have still not recovered. Economy shrank 7%.” “Remember Mr zardari last year you told me in a meeting that you believed in the Imperial study which had predicted 78 thousand deaths in Pakistan in a single day. This is obviously a subject that you do not understand very well. Please do not politicize the covid response.” Asad Umar said the PTI government’s strategy based on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of protecting both lives and livelihoods produced “dr...

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has slammed the Indian government for failing to check the spread of Delta variant of COVID-19. In a tweet, Fawad Chaudhry said the world was close to victory in its war against the pandemic, but the irresponsible handling of the Modi government has again pushed us into deep trouble. It may be noted that Pakistan continues to record a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases as the country has registered 4,950 new infections over the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said earlier in the day.  

Expressing solidarity with the Turkish government and the people over the loss of precious lives in the wildfires tragedy, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistan stands ready to offer any help at this difficult time. Taking to Twitter, PM Imran Khan said, "We stand with the government and people of Turkey and share in their sorrow at the tragic loss of life in the wildfires tragedy". The forest inferno on Turkey’s southern coast has claimed at least four lives so far, according to a report published in Reuters. Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan has said that more than 70 wildfires have broken out that week in provinces on Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts as well as inland areas. Out of the 70, 14 were still burning, he added. According to Reuters, firefighters were battling blazes for a third day on Friday after the evacuation of dozens of villages and some hotels and television footage has shown people fleeing across fields as fires closed in on their...

The US' spokesperson for the Office of International Media Engagement Zed Tarar has said that no telephone call from President Joe Biden to Prime Minister Imran Khan in over six months doesn’t mean that US-Pakistan relations are not functioning well. “The officials of the two administrations are in regular contact with each other and cooperating at various levels, as normal. I don’t want to go into the logistics of the telephone call matter. Only a few days ago, the US gave three million vaccine doses to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture,” Zed Tarar said, during an interaction with Pakistani media. The diplomat said that US-Pakistan relations are based on “mutual respect” and the two countries have an “old friendship”. He said that it is actions that speak and that is reflected in the relations between the two countries.

A delegation of Afghan journalists has met Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at General Headquarters (GHQ), ARY News quoted the spokesperson of the military’s media wing on Friday. A 15-member delegations of Afghan media paid a visit to GHQ and met COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). Speaking at the occasion, COAS said media can act as a bridge to create conducive environment for promoting cultural / social and people to people engagement between the two countries. coas bajwa afghan journalists media delegation ispr “It is the responsibility of media and people to identify and defeat the spoilers of peace. Peace in Afghanistan is Pakistan’s earnest desire because peace of the two countries is interlinked,” COAS said, adding that the spoilers will not be allowed to derail peace process. Referring to Pakistan’s comprehensive border management regime, COAS said security of borders is in the best interest of the tw...

The Sindh government postponed on Friday intermediate and matriculation exams that were scheduled to take place next week as it announced a province-wide lockdown from Sunday to control the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said a “partial lockdown” was being imposed for a week from July 31, Sunday, till August 8 due to rising cases of Delta variant that first emerged in India. Following are the restrictions that will be imposed in the province Grocery stores, meat shops, and milk shops will stay open till 6pm. Restaurants will remain open only for deliveries and takeaways will be banned Markets will remain closed Pharmacies and medical facilities will remain open round the clock Public transport will operate partially with some Covid-19 restrictions Movement of media persons wearing masks will be allowed Earlier today, the Sindh government announced to impose a lockdown in the province from July 31 (tomorrow) ...

After the Sindh government on Friday announced a nine-day lockdown in Karachi — from July 31 to August 8 — Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah addressed a press conference to respond to concerns and criticism regarding the decision. The chief minister said that it is being said that "it is not as if the pandemic will end in nine days", but what must be understood is that in this period "hospitals will not choke". Answering a question regarding why a nine-day lockdown was announced, versus a 15-day one, Shah said that the task force, in its meeting today, acknowledged that this period — which amounts to five actual days of lockdown as four days will be regular off days for businesses anyway — will be one "that will cause minimum economic damage". He added that doctors concurred that "something is better than nothing". "At least a break will be provided — think of it as a speed breaker slowing things down," Shah said. "Then, w...

Due to frequent heavy rains throughout the night on Friday, the city and its adjoining parts have conceded road damages and power outages due to landsliding and flash floods, reported. Swathes of lands in the northern region have been deluged due to flash floods in river channels and nullahs while many roads have succumbed to the landsliding. The Babusar Top route connecting Chilas with Naran national highway has too been blockaded for over the past 10 hours due to torrential rains. Buses and private transport remain stuck with locals and tourists both stranded on roads hapless. Separately, yet pertinent, the Pakistan Meteorological Department warned, in a weather alert yesterday, of the Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in the vulnerable areas of Gilgit Baltistan and Chitral regions. A weather system is likely to prevail for next 1-2 weeks in Gilgit Baltistan and Chitral after persistent high temperatures having potential to produce Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in the vu...

President Joe Biden on Thursday stepped up actions to combat the spread of Covid-19´s surging Delta variant, asking every US federal worker to either declare they are fully vaccinated or wear masks and be tested. "We have the tools to prevent this new wave of Covid from shutting down our businesses, our schools, our society as we saw happen last year," the veteran Democrat said in a speech on his administration´s new initiatives. The White House said ahead of the address that all four million federal employees and on-site contractors "will be asked to attest to their vaccination status." Those who do not declare they are fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on the job regardless of location, physically distance from co-workers, and be tested either once or twice a week. The moves stop short of a vaccination mandate for federal workers -- something that was being considered as the administration was mulling ways to protect federal workers and set an...

Top national security officials of Pakistan and the US held a discussion on the ongoing situation in Afghanistan and the need for an urgent reduction in violence in the country. National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf is in the US to meet with senior US officials, lawmakers and think tanks to exchange views on the changing regional security situation. His visit is part of high-level bilateral engagements between the two countries, read a statement. “Had a positive follow-up meeting with NSA @JakeSullivan46 today in Washington. Took stock of progress made since our Geneva meeting & discussed bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest,” the Pakistan NSA tweeted. Had a positive follow-up meeting with NSA @JakeSullivan46 today in Washington. Took stock of progress made since our Geneva meeting & discussed bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. Agreed to sustain the momentum in Pak-US bilateral cooperation. I met with Pakistan’s NSA today to ...

As COVID continues to up the ante against the province’s capacity to fight its speedy spread and to cope with challenges such as exhausting public hospital beds, Sindh’s Covid task force is set to meet later Friday to deliberate suggestions for a complete lockdown over the fortnight, reported. The provincial health department has called for a complete lockdown ahead of the decisive task force meeting today convened by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. The meeting will be attended by all provincial ministers, health experts and parliamentary leaders to huddle over possible solutions to the raging pandemic. It is also expected that lockdown shall be extended to the educational institutions for the same period of time. Total lockdown in a city is not the solution to the rampaging Covid-19 pandemic, head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar said in a press briefing as the ideas of Sindh lockdown were floated in the preliminary meeting of the task force. NCOC chi...

Pakistan continues to record a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases as the country has registered 4,537 new infections over the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Friday. The country last recorded more than 4,000 cases in a single day on May 21, when 4,007 new cases were reported. The NCOC said that the country’s number of overall confirmed cases has risen to 1,024,861, including 938,843 recoveries, adding that the positivity rate of infections was recorded at 7.79 per cent. The COVID-19 claimed 86 more lives across the country in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll from the disease to 23,295, the NCOC said, adding that 3,117 people are in critical condition. Sindh province is the most affected region of the country with 377,231 infections, followed by the Punjab province which has reported 355,483 cases. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains third on the list with 143,213 cases. Islamabad, 86,945, Balochistan, 30,162, AJK, 23,819 and GB has reported 8,...

President Dr Arif Alvi has said that he is ready to help the affectees of heavy rains in Islamabad, reported on Thursday. The heavy rains in Islamabad left the city at the mercy of torrential streams inducing fears of high-level flooding of Lai Nullah as Army teams and resources turned up to rescue people. President Arif Alvi in his tweet said, Islamabad is my city just like Karachi and all other lovely cities of Pakistan and he is ready with his boat if needed. Islamabad is my city just like Karachi and all other lovely cities of Pakistan. I am confident that Islamabad's administration are doing their job well but if need be, I am ready with my boat ? pic.twitter.com/whOskBKsNf — Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) July 28, 2021 “I am confident that Islamabad’s administration are doing their job well but if need be, I am ready with my boat,” the president added. It is to be noted that President Arif Alvi came out with his boat to rescue people in Karachi during the 2017 heavy rai...

Total lockdown in a city is not solution to the rampaging Covid-19 pandemic, head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar said here in a press briefing. The Sindh government is proactively taking steps to curb spread of the coronavirus, Federal Minister for Planning and Development said on Thursday. “As and when the lockdown restrictions ease, the virus rapidly spreads,” Umar said. “Proper enforcement and compliance of the SOPs could help in success against the pandemic,” NCOC head said. Umar assured every possible cooperation to the government of Sindh for implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the province including deployment of military troops and Rangers. NCOC chief said that vaccination is the only solution to get rid of the pandemic. “Vaccination drive is ongoing in all parts of Pakistan. We have set a new record of maximum vaccination by administering over 8.5 Lac vaccine shots in a day, yesterday,” Umar said. Punjab made maxi...

Pakistan has reported the highest single-day spike of COVID-19 cases in two months with 4,497 new cases over the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Thursday. The country last recorded more than 4,000 cases in a single day on May 21, when 4,007 new cases were reported. The NCOC said that the country’s number of overall confirmed cases has risen to 1,020,324, including 935,742 recoveries, adding that the positivity rate of infections was recorded at 7.53 per cent. The COVID-19 claimed 76 more lives across the country in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll from the disease to 23,209, the NCOC said, adding that 2,898 people are in critical condition. Sindh province is the most affected region of the country with 371,762 infections, followed by the Punjab province which has reported 354,312 cases. To curb the spread of the disease, Pakistan also expedited the pace of vaccination and administered 683,616 COVID-19 vaccine doses on July 29. The ...

Sajid Sadpara alongside different mountain climbers has ascended the second-most elevated worldwide pinnacle K2-a day after he discovered the assemblages of his dad Mohammad Ali Sadpara, Iceland's John Snorri, and Chile's Juan Pablo Mohr at the bottleneck. A message from the Twitter record of Sajid Sadpara reported the K2 culmination from the climber alongside Canadian producer Elia Saikaly and Pasang Kaji Sherpa, who dispatched an endeavor to discover collections of the three fallen mountain climbers. In his message, Ali Sadpara said that the most recent couple of days have been testing and fortunate for them all, high up in the mountains. Last few days have been challenging and lucky for us all, high up in the mountains. With whole nation waiting and looking to hear about search and recovery of their hero #AliSadpara . We are lucky enough to find the bodies of my companions from #K2Winter2021 and trying to 1/n — Sajid Ali Sadpara (@sajid_sadpara) July 28, 2021   Wit...

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that political reconciliation is the only solution to the Afghan issue as the United States (US) failed to seek a military solution to the conflict. In an interview with a US media outlet, he said Pakistan is a partner in peace and cannot become a part of the dispute. He categorically said that there is no military solution to the Afghan issue. PM Khan said Pakistan played a key role as a facilitator to bring the Taliban and the United States to negotiating table. He said any kind of unrest and anarchy in Afghanistan will directly affect Pakistan and it will have to face multiple problems. Imran Khan said the incumbent government revived the national economy after hectic efforts and now it cannot bear the burden of more Afghan refugees. Insurgency in Afghanistan will force more Afghanis to rush to Pakistan, but we cannot host more refugees, PM Khan made it clear. He said there is 1500 kilometers long border between Pakistan and Afghanistan...

Pakistan's daily COVID-19 case count crossed 4,000 for the first time in two months Wednesday morning after the National Command and Operation Centre reported 4,119 fresh infections. The country last recorded more than 4,000 cases in a single day on May 22. According to the NCOC's latest stats, 52,291 coronavirus tests were taken in the last 24 hours across the country. Of these, 4,119 came back positive. Another 44 people, meanwhile, lost their lives to the virus in the last 24 hours, pushing the national death tally to 23,133. The positivity rate, too, went up again. The current rate is 7.8% The total number of cases has reached 1,015,827. In addition to this, 7,020 patients have recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 935,742 while the number of active cases is 56,952. Earlier this week, it was reported that Pakistan's coronavirus death rate in July surpassed the global death rate figures, according to officials f...