Monday, March 1, 2021

42 corona related deaths 1,163 new corona cases reported in past 24 hours

42 corona related deaths 1,163 new corona cases reported in past 24 hours
Pakistan has recorded 42 more coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 12,938

According to the latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the COVID-19 has claimed 42 more lives and 1,163 fresh infections were reported during the said period.

The total count of active cases is 22,184 and the positivity rate stands at 3.64 per cent.

In the past 24 hours, as many as 1,035 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and 1,529 patients are still in critical condition.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with the fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 582,528.

A total of 31,948 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Overall 547,406 people have recovered from the deadly disease so far while 9,022,124 samples have been tested thus far.

As many as 258,412 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Sindh so far, 172,683 in Punjab, overall 72,615 cases have been detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 44,516 in Islamabad, 19,066 in Balochistan, 10,280 cases in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,956 have been reported in Gilgit-Baltistan, so far.



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42 corona related deaths 1,163 new corona cases reported in past 24 hours

42 corona related deaths 1,163 new corona cases reported in past 24 hours
Pakistan has recorded 42 more coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 12,938

According to the latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the COVID-19 has claimed 42 more lives and 1,163 fresh infections were reported during the said period.

The total count of active cases is 22,184 and the positivity rate stands at 3.64 per cent.

In the past 24 hours, as many as 1,035 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and 1,529 patients are still in critical condition.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with the fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 582,528.

A total of 31,948 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Overall 547,406 people have recovered from the deadly disease so far while 9,022,124 samples have been tested thus far.

As many as 258,412 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Sindh so far, 172,683 in Punjab, overall 72,615 cases have been detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 44,516 in Islamabad, 19,066 in Balochistan, 10,280 cases in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,956 have been reported in Gilgit-Baltistan, so far.



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COAS Bajwa lauds top class facilities at Rawalpindi logistics workshop

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited a logistic installation/workshop in Rawalpindi
Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited a logistic installation/workshop in Rawalpindi, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement on Monday.

According to ISPR, COAS visited various facilities and infrastructures of the workshop handling a vast range of specialized transport items for the Army.

The army chief was briefed regarding facilities being developed, up-gradation mechanism of vehicles and handling of central stores, said the military’s media wing.

COAS appreciated the performance and commitment of the workshop in the provision of top-class maintenance facilities and services as per standard engineering practices in line with modern/latest standards.

Earlier on arrival, COAS was received by Lieutenant General Azhar Saleh Abbasi, Chief of Logistic Staff (CLS).

Separately today, H.E Dr. Christian Turner, British High Commissioner called on General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) at GHQ, today.

Matters of mutual interest and overall regional security situation including the Afghan Peace Process were discussed during the meeting.



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COAS Bajwa lauds top class facilities at Rawalpindi logistics workshop

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited a logistic installation/workshop in Rawalpindi
Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited a logistic installation/workshop in Rawalpindi, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement on Monday.

According to ISPR, COAS visited various facilities and infrastructures of the workshop handling a vast range of specialized transport items for the Army.

The army chief was briefed regarding facilities being developed, up-gradation mechanism of vehicles and handling of central stores, said the military’s media wing.

COAS appreciated the performance and commitment of the workshop in the provision of top-class maintenance facilities and services as per standard engineering practices in line with modern/latest standards.

Earlier on arrival, COAS was received by Lieutenant General Azhar Saleh Abbasi, Chief of Logistic Staff (CLS).

Separately today, H.E Dr. Christian Turner, British High Commissioner called on General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) at GHQ, today.

Matters of mutual interest and overall regional security situation including the Afghan Peace Process were discussed during the meeting.



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Britain hunts mystery spreader of Brazil coronavirus variant

Britain hunts mystery spreader of Brazil coronavirus variant
Britain on Monday appealed for a mystery individual infected with a highly transmissible Brazilian variant of the novel coronavirus to come forward, more than two weeks after they tested positive but failed to give proper contact details.

Britain said six cases had been detected of the “P.1” variant identified in the Brazilian city of Manaus, against which current vaccines appear to be less effective. Two were in South Gloucestershire in England and three in Scotland.

But a sixth individual in England, one of more than a million people tested on Feb. 12-13, had yet to be identified.

“If you’ve had a test on the 12th or 13th of February, (and) haven’t had your results back, please get in touch,” vaccination minister Nadhim Zahawi told Times Radio. “We are working with the postal system to try and locate them.”

The P.1 variant shares significant mutations with a variant first detected in South Africa known as B.1.351, which has raised similar concerns.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told broadcasters: “We don’t have any reason at the present time to think that our vaccines are ineffective against these new variants of all types.”

But Adam Finn, of the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, told the BBC: “The evidence we have suggests that certainly the South African variant and potentially this Brazilian variant, which is somewhat similar – the vaccines we have at the moment are less effective at reducing at least mild disease and possibly transmission.

“We are optimistic that the vaccines will continue to prevent severe disease, but the evidence for that is still fairly limited.”

Manufacturers are working on measures to adapt their vaccines to mutations of the virus.

Johnson said the government would continue with a “cautious but irreversible” relaxing of lockdown restrictions.

One of the cases in the household in South Gloucestershire had flown from Brazil via Zurich to London, arriving on Feb. 10.

All three Scottish cases were identified as people who had flown from Brazil to Aberdeen via Paris and London and had self-isolated for the required 10 days.

By Sunday, over 20 million people in Britain had been given a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine – just over 30% of the population – while around 800,000 had had a second dose.



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Govt, opposition both claim victory over SC opinion on Senate elections

Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood
Members of the government and the opposition both claimed victory over the Supreme Court's (SC) opinion on the issue of secret ballot in the upcoming Senate elections, which was announced early on Monday morning.

In its short written order issued some hours after the announcement, the Supreme Court bench noted that Senate elections are held in accordance with the law and the Constitution. However, the apex court suggested that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) could use the latest technology to hold transparent elections. The bench also said that the secrecy of the ballot papers was "not final", quoting a decision by the top court on a similar matter in 1967 (Niaz Ahmed case).

The 4-1 majority opinion was announced by a five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and including Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi, with the latter choosing to abstain from responding to the question posed by the president's reference.

Addressing the media outside the ECP's head office in Islamabad, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said that the SC's decision "supports our stance and moves it forward". The education minister was joined by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior and Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar and PTI Senator Faisal Javed.

The education minister said the SC's decision "has shown a path" to how bad practices in the Senate elections could be prevented. He said it was "clearly written" that it was the duty of the ECP to conduct an election which was free of corrupt practices.

Awan, meanwhile, said that the SC referred to a previous decision of the top court in 1967 which allowed for "secrecy to be lifted considering the present circumstances, this is clearly written". "This is a decisive moment in Pakistan's history for elections to be conducted fairly".

Chaudhry also said that the SC's advice was "clear" that voters and their votes should be identifiable. "This is the principle on which the prime minister and the cabinet sent this reference to the SC," said the federal minister.

"What is the SC's decision? They have said that the secrecy of the ballot will remain secret for political parties but it won't be secret for the ECP. So if there are allegations of horse trading or selling votes, then the ECP can conduct an inquiry," said Chaudhry.

The technology minister said in a post on Twitter that the SC had "acknowledged the stance" to end horse-trading and corrupt practices in the Senate polls, adding it "has not adhered to the principle of full secret ballot".

Minister for Information Shibli Faraz also took to Twitter and hailed the decision as "historic". He said it was a "big day" for businessmen and traders of "[people's] consciences" since the people who set up markets for buying and selling of votes will be disappointed.

"This is a success of Imran Khan's vision of transparent elections," said the information minister, adding that technology would be used in light of the SC decision to make "transparency real and make the identification of votes possible".

Addressing the media outside the SC premises earlier, Senator Javed had also termed the opinion a "splendid decision" and a "victory for Pakistan". "The honourable court said secrecy is not absolute. That means it cannot stay [this way] till the Day of Judgement," said the senator.

Meanwhile, PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz took to Twitter, saying the SC's opinion once again proved that "the Constitution is far above the tricks of vote thieves, malicious references and conspiratorial ordinances".

She said that now "alarms of technology are being raised" but warned that "RTS and Daska-fog technologies" wouldn't work anymore.

"Why are you afraid of the power of the vote?"

The Sindh government's spokesperson, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, too said that the SC opinion agreed with the "principled stance of the PPP, Sindh government, different opposition parties and Pakistan's various lawyer organisations".

"What was that stance? it was that Senate polls must be held in accordance with the Constitution," said Wahab, adding that Article 226 had already decided that any election in accordance with the Constitution would be through the secret ballot.

"Our stance was victorious because it was in accordance with the Constitution and the PTI and federal government lost," the Wahab, adding that the federal government had repeatedly claimed that Senate elections aren't held in accordance with the Constitution and they shouldn't be held through secret balloting.

"Today is a day for the lovers of the Constitution and those who have always struggled for the supremacy of the Constitution and free and fair elections."



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PSL: Gladiators vs United match rescheduled for Tuesday, 2 March

Gladiators vs United
The Event Technical Committee of the HBL Pakistan Super League 6 has decided to reschedule Quetta Gladiators-Islamabad United match for Tuesday, 2 March, at 7pm Pakistan Standard Time.

The decision has been made despite both the sides returning negative tests on late Monday afternoon after Fawad Ahmed of Islamabad United’s coronavirus test result came back positive earlier today.

Fawad was put in isolation late Saturday night. He will re-enter the bio-secure bubble after two negative tests.

The decision to reschedule the match has been made after a careful consideration, aimed at allowing players sufficient time to relax, refocus and regroup following the testing and in the best interest of the competition.

While all squad members of Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United have tested negative, players and player support personnel of the four remaining sides and the match officials will undergo rapid tests on Monday evening.

The tickets for Monday’s match will be valid on Tuesday, while the unused tickets can be refunded.



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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...