Sunday, November 1, 2020

Sindh sees major spike in COVID-19 cases

Sindh sees major spike in COVID-19 cases
The Sindh province on Sunday witnessed a massive spike in COVID-19 cases after it recorded 480 fresh virus cases, including 367 from Karachi, within past 24 hours.

“We have performed 11,313 cases during the day, which resulted in 480 people testing positive for the virus,” the chief minister said while giving a routine daily update on COVID-19 situation in the province.

He said that 110 patients had recovered from the deadly infection during the past 24 hours while four people lost their battle against it.

Giving detail of overall COVID-19 situation in the province, Murad Ali Shah said that 146,331 virus cases have been reported in the province so far of which 2,631 succumbed to the infection.

“We have 4,921 active COVID-19 cases in the province of which 245 are being treated at various hospitals while the remaining are self-isolating at their homes,” he said adding that 186 patients are in critical condition while 28 are on the ventilator.

Pakistan has reported 17 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus, taking the nationwide tally of fatalities to 6,823.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 977 fresh infections emerged during this period, lifting the national tally of cases to 333,970. Around 27,655 samples were tested during the last 24 hours across the country.

There are a total of 12,592 active cases of the coronavirus as 314,555 patients have so far recuperated from the disease.

Thus far, Sindh has reported 145,851 cases, followed by Punjab reporting 104,271 cases while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 39,564, Balochistan 15,920, Islamabad 19,970, Gilgit Baltistan 4,261 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 4,133.



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Balochistan has not yet decided to impose micro-smart lockdown: spokesperson

Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani
Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said on Sunday that the decision for imposing micro smart lockdown has not yet taken by the authorities.

Liaquat Shahwani said that National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) appealed nationals to follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) during the second wave of the novel coronavirus.

He said that Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan had earlier expressed fear of another wave of COVID-19. The imposition of lockdown had affected citizens due to an increase in financial burden amid an economic crisis.

The spokesperson admitted that a rise in the number of infections is witnessed in the province in September up to three per cent, however, it was not decided yet to impose micro-smart lockdown.

Pakistan reported 17 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus on Sunday, taking the nationwide tally of fatalities to 6,823.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 977 fresh infections emerged during this period, lifting the national tally of cases to 333,970. Around 27,655 samples were tested during last 24 hours across the country.

There are a total of 12,592 active cases of the coronavirus as 314,555 patients have so far recuperated from the disease.

Thus far, Sindh has reported 145,851 cases, followed by Punjab reporting 104,271 cases while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 39,564, Balochistan 15,920, Islamabad 19,970, Gilgit Baltistan 4,261 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 4,133.

648 of the patients under treatment in hospitals across the country are said to be in critical condition.



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PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz launches 'Sher Jawan' campaign

PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz
PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz addressed the launch ceremony of the party's "Sher Jawan" campaign on Sunday.

The PML-N vice-president launched the campaign in the party's bid to encourage its young workers to bring about a positive change in the country.

Talking about the campaign, she said that it aimed at providing the youth with political awareness. "Sher Jawan is a campaign to remind the youth about the reason behind Pakistan's creation."

"It is a campaign that aims to make the youth understand the Constitution, restore their faith in democracy, and warn them against the hybrid government," she said, adding that it eyes to fulfil the dreams of the youngsters.

Modern day 'slavery'

Maryam, speaking on what true "slavery" is, said that it embodies itself in moves that "take away the right to speak, force people to bow down before the powerful, induce fear in people, restrict them from asking for their rights and ask them to remain silent".

"People are given their rights as if it is charity and even those are provided after the powerful approve," she said.

"People are sent to jails when they demand their rights — this is slavery," Maryam said.

Shedding light on the Karachi incident, she said: "Slavery is when the inspector-general is abducted in Karachi and forced to sign the orders of (retired) Captain Safdar's arrest."

The PML-N leader said that the IG was told that he could not leave until he had signed the order. Slamming the authorities, she asked: "Are policemen lesser creatures? Are they not human beings?"

The PML-N leader said that the ideals that led to Pakistan's creation are still not being followed. However, after witnessing the enthusiasm of the attendees, she said that the country is "in safe hands".

Speaking about the students of Balochistan, whose scholarships have been canceled, she said: "Six hundred children held a long march for [over 10 days] but the government did not even bother to inquire about their problem."

'Nawaz only wants Constitution upheld'

Maryam went on to say that the Constitution was the book that contained the rights of the people. "It mentions what should and should not take place in Pakistan, what is right and what isn't."

Urging the audience to read the Constitution, she said that even if a single demand of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif went against it, then people should not support him.

"Nawaz Sharif talks about upholding the Constitution and the oath (taken by army officers)," she said, adding that "one should not cast blame" on the "uniform".

"This uniform is worn by martyrs who protect us at Siachen," she said.

Maryam said that when the vote is not respected, then students are deprived of laptops and scholarships, adding that inflation also surges when this happens.

Party meets to deliberate Lahore jalsa

According to an earlier tweet, the preparations for Pakistan Democratic Movement's December 13 jalsa in Lahore were discussed during a meeting of PML-N's MPs meeting.



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Sindh sees major spike in COVID-19 cases

Sindh sees major spike in COVID-19 cases
The Sindh province on Sunday witnessed a massive spike in COVID-19 cases after it recorded 480 fresh virus cases, including 367 from Karachi, within past 24 hours.

“We have performed 11,313 cases during the day, which resulted in 480 people testing positive for the virus,” the chief minister said while giving a routine daily update on COVID-19 situation in the province.

He said that 110 patients had recovered from the deadly infection during the past 24 hours while four people lost their battle against it.

Giving detail of overall COVID-19 situation in the province, Murad Ali Shah said that 146,331 virus cases have been reported in the province so far of which 2,631 succumbed to the infection.

“We have 4,921 active COVID-19 cases in the province of which 245 are being treated at various hospitals while the remaining are self-isolating at their homes,” he said adding that 186 patients are in critical condition while 28 are on the ventilator.

Pakistan has reported 17 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus, taking the nationwide tally of fatalities to 6,823.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 977 fresh infections emerged during this period, lifting the national tally of cases to 333,970. Around 27,655 samples were tested during the last 24 hours across the country.

There are a total of 12,592 active cases of the coronavirus as 314,555 patients have so far recuperated from the disease.

Thus far, Sindh has reported 145,851 cases, followed by Punjab reporting 104,271 cases while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 39,564, Balochistan 15,920, Islamabad 19,970, Gilgit Baltistan 4,261 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 4,133.



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US election 2020: Trump, Biden make late push as early voting gathers momentum

Trump, Biden make late push as early voting gathers momentum
With just two days of campaigning left, a record 90 million Americans have voted early in the US presidential election, data revealed on Sunday.

The high number of early voters, about 65% of the total turnout in 2016, reflects an intense interest in the contest as US President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden campaigned across the country to try to convince the remaining undecided voters.

Concerns about exposure to the coronavirus at the busy Election Day voting places on Tuesday have also pushed up the numbers of people voting by mail or at early in-person polling sites.

The Republican president is spending the closing days of his re-election campaign criticizing public officials and medical professionals who are trying to combat the coronavirus pandemic even as it surges across the United States.

Opinion polls show Trump trailing former vice president Biden nationally, but with a closer contest in the most competitive states that will decide the election. Voters say the coronavirus is their top concern.

Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that mail-in ballots are susceptible to fraud and has more recently argued that only the results available on election night should count. In a flurry of legal motions, his campaign has sought to restrict absentee balloting.

“I don’t care how hard Donald Trump tries. There’s nothing – let me say that again – there’s nothing that he can do to stop the people of this nation from voting in overwhelming numbers and taking back this democracy,” Biden said at a rally in Flint, Michigan, where he was joined by former President Barack Obama for their first 2020 campaign event together.

Trump held four rallies on Saturday in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, where the campaigns are seeking to win over undecided voters in areas like the suburbs of Philadelphia and the “Rust Belt” west of the state.

“If we win Pennsylvania, it’s over,” Trump told a large rally in Reading before moving to another big gathering in Butler.

Officials in several states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, say it could take several days to count all of the mail ballots, possibly leading to days of uncertainty if the outcome hinges on those states.

A federal judge in Texas has scheduled an emergency hearing for Monday on whether Houston officials unlawfully allowed drive-through voting and should toss more than 100,000 votes in Democratic-leaning Harris County.

In Iowa, a new poll published on Saturday shows Trump has taken over the lead there just days before the election. A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll shows Trump now leads Biden by seven percentage points, 48 percent to 41 percent. The results, based on a poll of 814 Iowa voters, suggests Biden has lost support among independent voters in the Midwestern state.

At a small, in-person rally in Newtown, Pennsylvania, Trump mocked his opponent for his criticism of the administration’s record of fighting COVID-19, which has killed more people in the United States than in any other country.

“I watched Joe Biden speak yesterday. All he talks about is COVID, COVID. He’s got nothing else to say. COVID, COVID,” Trump told the crowd, some of whom did not wear masks.

He said the United States was “just weeks away” from the mass distribution of a safe vaccine against COVID-19, which is pushing hospitals to capacity and killing up to 1,000 people in the United States each day. Trump gave no details to back up his remarks about an imminent vaccine.

Jobs and fracking

In his closing arguments, Biden has accused Trump of being a bully, criticized his lack of a strategy to control the pandemic, which has killed nearly 229,000 Americans; his efforts to repeal the Obamacare healthcare law; and his disregard for science on climate change.

He has offered his own made-in-America economic platform, a contrast with Trump’s “America First” approach, saying he will get the wealthy to pay their fair share and make sure earnings are distributed more equitably.

In an effort to highlight what he says is Biden’s plan to ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to extract fossil fuels, Trump signed an executive order on Saturday that calls on the U.S. Department of Energy to commission a study about the potential harm caused by banning or restricting the practice.

The order also reinforces a prior law, directing federal agencies to produce reports about decisions that are detrimental to the fracking industry. Fracking for natural gas is a major source of jobs in western Pennsylvania. Biden denies intending to ban fracking if he wins the White House.

Stanford University economists on Saturday released an estimate that Trump rallies held from June to September led to more than 30,000 additional COVID-19 infections and possibly as many as 700 deaths. The study was based on a statistical model and not actual investigations of coronavirus cases. The paper, which did not cite disease experts among its authors, has not been peer-reviewed.

Public health officials have repeatedly warned that Trump campaign events could hasten the spread of the virus, particularly those held in places where infection rates were already on the rise. Determining the actual impact of those rallies on infection rates has been difficult due to the lack of robust contact tracing in many U.S. states.

Amesh Adalja, an infectious diseases expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, described the report as “suggestive.”

“I would just say it’s suggestive but hard to completely isolate the specific impact of one event without robust contact trace data from the cases,” Adalja said.

Biden’s campaign, which has sharply limited crowd sizes at events or restricted supporters to their cars, quickly seized on the Stanford findings.

“Trump doesn’t even care about the very lives of his strongest supporters,” Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

At one Biden rally in Detroit on Saturday, social distancing broke down as supporters crowded toward the stage to hear Obama speak.



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PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz launches 'Sher Jawan' campaign

PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz
PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz addressed the launch ceremony of the party's "Sher Jawan" campaign on Sunday.

The PML-N vice-president launched the campaign in the party's bid to encourage its young workers to bring about a positive change in the country.

Talking about the campaign, she said that it aimed at providing the youth with political awareness. "Sher Jawan is a campaign to remind the youth about the reason behind Pakistan's creation."

"It is a campaign that aims to make the youth understand the Constitution, restore their faith in democracy, and warn them against the hybrid government," she said, adding that it eyes to fulfil the dreams of the youngsters.

Modern day 'slavery'

Maryam, speaking on what true "slavery" is, said that it embodies itself in moves that "take away the right to speak, force people to bow down before the powerful, induce fear in people, restrict them from asking for their rights and ask them to remain silent".

"People are given their rights as if it is charity and even those are provided after the powerful approve," she said.

"People are sent to jails when they demand their rights — this is slavery," Maryam said.

Shedding light on the Karachi incident, she said: "Slavery is when the inspector-general is abducted in Karachi and forced to sign the orders of (retired) Captain Safdar's arrest."

The PML-N leader said that the IG was told that he could not leave until he had signed the order. Slamming the authorities, she asked: "Are policemen lesser creatures? Are they not human beings?"

The PML-N leader said that the ideals that led to Pakistan's creation are still not being followed. However, after witnessing the enthusiasm of the attendees, she said that the country is "in safe hands".

Speaking about the students of Balochistan, whose scholarships have been canceled, she said: "Six hundred children held a long march for [over 10 days] but the government did not even bother to inquire about their problem."

'Nawaz only wants Constitution upheld'

Maryam went on to say that the Constitution was the book that contained the rights of the people. "It mentions what should and should not take place in Pakistan, what is right and what isn't."

Urging the audience to read the Constitution, she said that even if a single demand of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif went against it, then people should not support him.

"Nawaz Sharif talks about upholding the Constitution and the oath (taken by army officers)," she said, adding that "one should not cast blame" on the "uniform".

"This uniform is worn by martyrs who protect us at Siachen," she said.

Maryam said that when the vote is not respected, then students are deprived of laptops and scholarships, adding that inflation also surges when this happens.

Party meets to deliberate Lahore jalsa

According to an earlier tweet, the preparations for Pakistan Democratic Movement's December 13 jalsa in Lahore were discussed during a meeting of PML-N's MPs meeting.



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PM Imran Khan announces to grant the status of a province to Gilgit-Baltistan

PM Imran Khan
Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced that the federal government took the decision to grant the status of a province to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan participated Azadi Parade after reaching Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on the occasion of the National Day celebrations of the region. PM Imran Khan is accompanied by Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda, other ministers and officials during his visit to GB region.

While addressing the ceremony, PM Imran Khan said that the decision for giving provincial status to Gilgit Baltistan (GB) region was taken in accordance with the United Nations (UN) resolutions.

He said that Gilgit scouts had freed the region by sacrificing their lives 73 years ago. The premier said that he will try to celebrate November 1 with the GB citizens every year. Imran Khan paid tribute to the martyrs and Gilgit scouts.

He said that the federal government designed policies to uplift the weak segment and people living below the poverty line.

He added that the tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan and far-flung areas of Sindh were left behind in the journey of the development and the government planned to uplift its citizens by focusing on development projects.

Imran Khan said that a strong military is necessary for Pakistan. He added that the disaster of wars hit Libya, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq while many other Muslim nations were facing difficulties. Extremist and anti-Muslim leaders are currently ruling neighbouring India, whereas, not a single government took such steps for increasing brutalities against Kashmiris with the slogan of Hindutva, he added.

“Our security forces are sacrificing their lives almost every week which makes Pakistan a safe country. Enemies have taken full advantage of the wave of terrorism during the last 15 years. [Indian spy] Kulbhushan Jadhav told about getting mission for spreading terror in Karachi and Balochistan.”

He paid tribute to the security forces for thwarting all nefarious plans of the enemies of Pakistan.

The so-called democratic leaders have planned to defame armed forces and judiciary, criticised the premier, adding that those looted the country have joined hands against him. The country would not move ahead until the complete elimination of corruption.

He slammed the opposition leaders, saying that it is impossible to given NRO to dacoits. Law should be the same for powerful and weak, he insisted. While pointing towards the opposition leadership, Khan said that they tried to blackmail him in the name of electoral rigging, economy and legislations for Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan.

“Looters are now talking against the army chief and ISI head. Imran Khan will never forgive these dacoits and I will look after state institutions by myself for the supremacy of law.”

PM Imran Khan is accompanied by Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda, other ministers and officials during his visit to GB region.

PM Imran Khan and GB interim chief minister paid a visit to Yadgar-e-Shuhada and laid floral wreath on the graves at the monument of martyrs.

During his visit, the premier will also review the development work on Diamer Bhasha Dam and visit Astore National Park.



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Islamabad court dismisses Gill’s bail plea in sedition case

A District and Sessions court of Islamabad dismissed the post arrest bail petition of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill on Tuesday. Additional Dist...