Daily News Pakistan

Pakistan has reported 9 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 1,285,254. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 28,737 on Wednesday. According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 414 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Till now 13,027 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 7,621 in Sindh 5,846 in KP, 955 in Islamabad, 742 in Azad Kashmir, 360 in Balochistan, and 186 in GB.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Senator Dr Sania Nishtar has rejected the allegations of irregularities in the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme. “It is unfortunate that the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has challenged the authority of the highest forum like the federal cabinet,” she said in an interaction with the media on Monday regarding special audit report pertaining to the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme prepared by the AGP. The SAPM said the objections raised by the AGP office were adequately answered and the audit authorities had taken a stand that they were satisfied with the replies submitted in that regard. She lamented that the AGP has included audit paragraphs in the audit report; nevertheless, the observations made were technical and advisory in nature. “The objections raised do not point to any misappropriation, corruption or irregularities in the social security programme” she maintained. She said that the a...

Pakistan on Monday reaffirmed its consistent and unstinted support for the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause, which has always been a defining principle of the country’s foreign policy. “The government and people of Pakistan join the world community in observing the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (November 29),” the Foreign Office said in a statement issued. “The commemoration of this day is a reminder to the international community that the question of Palestine remains unresolved and the Palestinian people are yet to realise their inalienable right to self-determination as provided in various resolutions of the United Nations. “It is also an occasion to reiterate our support and solidarity for the Palestinian people who continue to wage a just struggle against an illegal and brutal occupation,” the statement added. The Foreign Office said that the international community must shoulder its responsibility to protect the lives and fundamenta...

Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Tuesday that there was a likelihood of the government not being able to fund elections that would not include the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs). Speaking after a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad, he told media persons that the cabinet had discussed the matter at length and agreed that the Election Commission of Pakistan was bound to use EVMs in by-elections. "And one of the points of view [shared in the meeting] was that the government could not fund any election held without [the use of] EVMs as after the recent amendment, the law [only] recognised polls involving the use of EVMs," he said, adding that Law Minister Farogh Naseem had the same point of view. The minister was referring to contentious amendments to the Elections Act, 2017, which were bulldozed through a joint session of parliament amid fervent protest by the opposition earlier this month. The amendments allowed the use of EV...

PPP and the masses will hold Prime Minister Imran Khan accountable for every misery he had incurred upon people, the party chairman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said Tuesday. Addressing the PPP's 54th foundation day event, Bilawal said this "complete failure of a government" is ruling the country and "toying with Pakistan's future and its people". "After three years, every Pakistani is aware that 'tabdeeli's' real face is rising inflation, historic poverty, and historic unemployment. These are the antics of Khan, and this is 'Naya Pakistan'," Bilawal said. The PPP chairman said when the government keeps "waiting for an umpire's directions", then pain is inflicted on the masses. Talking about the recently gone viral tapes, which allegedly featured ex-chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar and another of PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz, he said: "Let the conspirators plot their conspiracies, let people leak ta...

PTI MNA Riaz Fatyana has decided to take a “tough stance” in response to the show-cause notice issued by the party for allegedly making "unreasonable" demands at a recent climate conference in Glasgow (UK) and making "false" allegations against two members of the federal cabinet, it emerged Tuesday. The notice was issued by the PTI’s Standing Committee on Accountability and Discipline (SCAD) on the complaint of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam last week. During a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee on November 25, Fatyana had claimed that the PM’s adviser had a brawl with Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul while attending the climate conference in the UK. According to Geo News sources, Fatyana has decided to take a "tough stance" against the allegations, saying he will not "tolerate any disrespect" and that if the party wants to fire him, so be it. Sources said that he will present...

PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif Monday raised alarm at reports that the government intends to release a mini-budget in line with the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) recommendations, saying that it would prove to be a death knell for a nation already reeling from the effects of rising inflation and unemployment. Sources said that the government intends to introduce a mini-budget in line with the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As per sources, tax exemptions on mobile phones, stationery, and packaged food items are likely to be abolished in the mini-budget, while the amendment bill would allow the government to withdraw sales tax exemptions from zero ratings in addition to exports, stated the report. In a statement, Shahbaz said that it would become impossible for the nation to live after the government introduces the mini-budget considering how petrol, gas and electricity will become even more expensive. The former Punjab chief minister said an increase in...

Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Athar Minallah told the former chief judge of Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Shamim that he tried to shake the public's confidence in the judiciary. A couple of weeks earlier, Shamim had alleged in a notarised affidavit that then CJP Saqib Nisar had directed a high court judge to not release Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz on bail at any cost before the 2018 General Elections. The allegations were published in a report in The News following which the IHC had taken notice of it and directed the ex-judge to submit his response. Presiding over the hearing, Justice Athar Minallah said the judiciary's freedom was dependent on the freedom of the press. "However, there are some responsibilities that come with the freedom of the press," he noted. The IHC chief justice then summoned Rana Shamim to the rostrum and asked whether he had submitted a written response to the court regarding the case. "My lawyer will tell you w...

Seven people, including a three-year-old, have died on Tanzania's Pemba island after eating poisonous turtle meat. Three others are still in hospital. The meat is a common delicacy among those living on Tanzania's islands and coastal areas but the authorities have now banned the consumption of turtles in the area. In rare cases turtle meat can be toxic due to a type of food poisoning known as chelonitoxism. Its exact cause is not known but it is thought to be linked to poisonous algae which the turtles eat, according to the Turtle Foundation charity. At least five families on Pemba, which is part of the semi-autonomous Zanzibar islands, ate the turtle meat last Thursday, local police commander Juma. The effects were first felt the next day and the three-year-old was the first to die. Two others died that night and then four more on Sunday. A further 38 people were admitted to hospital, but most were discharged and the three who remain are said to be in a stable condition....

The World Bank is finalizing a proposal to deliver up to $500 million from a frozen Afghanistan aid fund to humanitarian agencies, people familiar with the plans but it leaves out tens of thousands of public sector workers and remains complicated by U.S. sanctions. According to Reuters, board members will meet informally on Tuesday to discuss the proposal, hammered out in recent weeks with U.S. and U.N. officials, to redirect the funds from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), which has a total of $1.5 billion. Afghanistan's 39 million people face a cratering economy, a winter of food shortages and growing poverty three months after the Taliban seized power as the last U.S. troops withdrew from 20 years of war.

Pakistan has reported 10 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 1,284,840. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 28,728 on Tuesday. According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 475 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Till now 13,023 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 7,621 in Sindh 5,842 in KP, 954 in Islamabad, 742 in Azad Kashmir, 360 in Balochistan, and 186 in GB.

Federal Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said that vaccination is the most effective way of protection against the new coronavirus variant, Omicron. Umar, who is also the chief of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), while addressing a joint press conference flanked by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan in Islamabad, warned that the Omicron variant will inevitably come to Pakistan. The minister announced that the NCOC has made some decisions regarding the highly contagious new variant which is spreading fast across the globe. He said that the country has only a few weeks to contain the Omicron threat. "Measures to control the [spread of] new variant in Pakistan are underway but vaccination is the only effective way of protection against Omicron,” said Umar. Informing the media about the NCOC decisions, Umar said that the government would launch a massive vaccination campaign across the country within two to t...

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Monday has inaugurated academic blocks of Al-Qadir University in Jhelum. Addressing the ceremony, the premier said that we have to act on the rules set by Riyasat-e-Madina for the development of the country. The nations who follow these rules will never face any challenge, he added. It is to be mentioned here that the university, in these blocks, will provide world level education facilities for boys and girls in Islamic teachings, mysticism and modern scientific research. The educational programme of Al-Qadir University will also focus on building leadership qualities in the students as well as their character in the light of Seerat-e-Tayyeba. The existing capacity of the academic blocks is five hundred students, which will be enhanced in phases.

The capital of Punjab Lahore has been declared the most polluted city globally again. Lahore had an air quality ranking of 398, well over the hazardous level of 300, according to IQAir, the technology company that operates the AirVisual monitoring platform. According to details, the worst quality of air was recorded in Gulberg as AQI reached 728, followed by Kot Lakhpat 652, Model Town 572, Thokar Niaz Baig 523 and DHA Phase 8 at 449. Residents choking in acrid smog pleaded with officials to take action. Air pollution has worsened in Pakistan in recent years, as a mixture of low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal crop burn off, and colder winter temperatures coalesce into stagnant clouds of smog. Lahore, a bustling megacity of more than 11 million people in Punjab province near the border with India, consistently ranks among the worst cities in the world for air pollution. In recent years residents have built their own air purifiers and taken out lawsuits against government...

Parts of Punjab continue to see a sharp rise in air pollution from the smoke residue of burning crops, brick kilns and chimneys of industries. It is being reported that air pollution is on the rise in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Bahawalpur. Police have been directed to take joint action with the district administration and agencies to curb the dangerous levels of smog in the province. Over 135 cases were registered last week against people for spreading pollution in Punjab. At least 116 arrests were made after these cases were registered. Meanwhile, Lahore again ranked number one among the most polluted cities in the world today. Until recently, Karachi was ranked 12th. Schools will remain closed for the third day today to reduce air pollution in Lahore, while 50% attendance has been directed in private offices. Fog, too, has increased in the plains of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, due to which road traffic is being affected. Motorway M1 from Peshawar to Rashkai has bee...

Coronavirus cases have fallen to their lowest level in more than one-and-a-half years in Pakistan as 176 new cases were recorded during the last 24 hours on Monday. The last time the country saw a daily case count lower than today's was on April 5 when Pakistan recorded 172 cases. Pakistan reported nine coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours. In total, Pakistan has reported 1,284,365 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 28,709 total confirmed COVID-related deaths, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data. During the same period, 172 people recovered from coronavirus, taking the tally for recoveries to 1,241,761. This placed the total number of active cases at 13,895, of which there is only one critical case. The positivity rate stood below 1% for the 10th consecutive day at 0.59%. Pakistan is reporting 331 new infections on average each day, 6% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on June 17. Pakistan has administered at least 122,319,...

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry in reaction to a viral video of voters being allegedly bribed ahead of Lahore's NA-133 by-election, has asked whether "buying votes for Rs2,000" is how respect is accorded to the vote. His remarks, during a rally in Pind Dadan Khan, Jhelum, were in reference to the PML-N mantra "vote ko izzat do", meaning "respect the vote". The war for votes between PML-N and PPP in Lahore's NA-133, where a by-election is due on December 5, has gone beyond the constituency to social media, where a viral video appeared to show voters being bribed by party members. Both parties have blamed each other's workers for the alleged move. "Is buying votes for Rs2,000 respecting the vote?" Chaudhry asked. He accused PML-N of contesting the elections with the lure of money. "PML-N won the 1990 general election of 1990 through rigging", the minister added. He said that the PTI is...

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Sunday said that Karachi's new population census will be completed by December 2022. Umar, while addressing a PTI's workers' convention in Karachi, said that the census has always been a problem in Karachi. He said that a complaint was received that the people of Karachi are not able to find employment at which, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that census should be conducted every five years. "A fair and transparent census will be conducted in Karachi," Umar said. The minister further stated that the Green Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project will be completed within 10-12 days. Umar said that the PTI-led government will resolve Karachi's transport issues as he announced that PM Imran Khan will inaugurate the project in Karachi in two weeks. "PM Imran Khan is coming [to Karachi] to solve the transportation issues of the citizens of Karachi," said Umar. He said tha...

Pakistan and Turkey on Sunday agreed to enhance bilateral trade and economic cooperation at a meeting of President Arif Alvi with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ashgabat on his visit to Turkmenistan. The two leaders concurred to further strengthen the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) to achieve its objectives and underlined the need for collective efforts of the region, particularly of the Islamic countries, to stop Islamophobia. President Alvi said there was a need to work together to tackle the challenges faced by the region. He thanked the Turkish President for Turkey’s principled stance on the issue of Kashmir. Earlier, President Alvi also met Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and exchanged views on bilateral ties, trade and economic cooperation. He stressed the need for increasing political contacts between Pakistan and Azerbaijan. The leaders agreed to further strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation at the regional and international forums.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced Sunday that the Kingdom will now accept foreign pilgrims willing to perform Umrah in the Grand Mosque of Makkah under the updated coronavirus related restrictions. A statement issued by the official Twitter account for the publication of news related to the two holy mosques in Saudi Arabia said that the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has updated its vaccination requirements for Umrah pilgrims "coming from abroad". According to the new requirements, the pilgrims travelling to KSA on Umrah visa, who are inoculated with any vaccine approved by the kingdom will be allowed to perform Umrah immediately, without having to quarantine upon arrival. Whereas pilgrims travelling on Umrah visas, who are inoculated with any of the vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation, will have to go into quarantine for three days upon the arrival. Moreover, after the completion of quarantine, pilgrims would be required to submit a neg...

Federal Minister for Broadcasting and Information Fawad Chaudhry has said that the alleged audio of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar is irrelevant in the Nawaz Sharif case, as it was heard by 16 judges and the former CJP was not one of them. The federal minister said Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz should present the audio before the court hearing her case. "If Maryam Nawaz believes she could elicit help from the audio, she should present it before the bench hearing her case. It is the job of the judge who is hearing Maryam Nawaz's case to analyse the audio, in case she takes it to court, said the federal minister. He also called into question the relevance of the audio. "The audio stands irrelevant as the Panama Papers case was heard by three CJPs, and nearly 16 judges and a trial court," Chaudhry noted. Given that so many judges heard the case over stages, the surfacing of audio is thoroughly meaningless, he asserted. "Whatever Maryam Nawaz a...

The much delayed Green Line bus project in Karachi finally appears close to its completion as Planning Minister Asad Umar on Sunday said its commercial operation is to begin from Dec 25. The minister, in a tweet, said that the project will be ready for a trial operation within the next 10 days, following which it will be formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan and then its commercial activities could begin. "I conducted a detailed reviewed the Karachi Green Line project yesterday (Saturday). With the grace of Allah, this project will be ready for trial operation in the next 10 days," he said in a tweet. Work on the Rs16.85 billion federal government-funded bus project had begun after then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated it in February 2016 by performing the groundbreaking. Later, the project was extended by another 10 kilometres as initially sought by the Sindh government and the estimated cost crossed the figure of Rs24bn. The project was estimated t...

Britain announced new measures on Saturday to try to slow the spread of the newly identified Omicron coronavirus variant and a top health official said there was a "reasonable chance" that vaccines could be less effective against it. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said arrivals from all countries would have to self-isolate until receiving a negative result from a PCR test, that face masks must be worn in retail settings and it was time to step up booster jabs. "We need to buy time for our scientists to understand exactly what we are dealing with," he told a news conference. Johnson said those who had come into contact with people testing positive for a suspected case of Omicron would have to self-isolate for 10 days and that face masks must be worn in shops and on public transport but not restaurants and pubs in England. England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty told the same news conference there was a reasonable chance that the newly identified variant ...

The biggest three-day festival in the history of the region has been concluded in Astore under the auspices of Pakistan Army. The festival featured cricket, volleyball, weightlifting, athletics, horse racing, sheep racing, and other sports and speech competitions. Residents of the area and the district administration were briefed on the equipment and weapons used in the snow-capped mountains. The aim of the festival was to promote healthy activities among the people of the area and to strengthen the goodwill between the locals and the Pakistan Army. A free medical camp for the needy was also organized during the festival, in which 103 patients were examined and free medicines were also distributed. The festival was well received by the locals and was attended by a large number of students and youth.

President Dr. Arif Alvi has underscored the need for establishment of regular bilateral mechanisms between Pakistan and Iran for trade including utilization of barter trade mechanism. He was talking to his Iranian counterpart Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, on the sidelines of the 15th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Ashgabat on Sunday. The President underlined that Pakistan considers Iran as an important Muslim neighbour and brother based on deep-rooted historical, religious and cultural linkages between the two countries. He expressed satisfaction at the recent operationalization of International Road Transport shipments from Pakistan to Turkey and Azerbaijan, which would be beneficial for the entire ECO region. President Alvi also thanked Iran’s consistent support to the Kashmir cause, particularly from the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei. On regional situation, particularly in the context of Afghanistan, he emphasized the need for closely coordinate...