Pakistan records 2,117 fresh corona cases in a day

As many as 2,117 new cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19) detected over the previous 24 hours took the country’s caseload to 921,053.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, the death toll climbed to 20,779 after 43 more people succumbed to the disease.

A total of 52,223 samples were tested, out of which 2,117 turned out to be positive. The positivity rate of infections was recorded at 4.05%, the NCOC said.

1,919 more people recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the number of recovered patients to 841,241. The number of Covid-19 patients in critical care has come down to 3,947.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Punjab has reported a total of 339,989 infections, Sindh 317,665, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 132,549, Islamabad 81,195, Balochistan 25,148, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 19,232, and Gilgit Baltistan 5,578.

On Sunday, Federal Minister for Planning and Development and head of the NCOC Asad Umar said that Pakistan set a new record of most vaccinations in a day after nearly 400,000 people received COVID jabs on Saturday.

Taking to Twitter to make the announcement, Asad Umar said that over 383,000 people received COVID jabs on Saturday, setting a new record of most vaccinations in a day.

“So far seven million people have been vaccinated in the country,” he said while sharing that number of people getting registered for the vaccination is also increasing day by day.

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Tareen demands ruling PTI make Ali Zafar’s report public

A Lahore sessions court on Monday has extended the interim bail of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen and his son Ali Tareen in money laundering case till June 11, reported.

Additional Sessions Judge Hamid Hussain heard the interim bail of Jahangir Tareen and Ali Tareen. At the outset of the hearing, the judge asked about the last 15 days development in the case. The deputy director FIA replied that an official of the department has been transferred, the investigation is still underway.

“It’s been long since the case is underway, but yet the investigation has not been completed, is FIA not interested in pursuing the case,” Justice Hamid Hussain asked the FIA official.

Later the hearing was adjourned until June 11.

Talking to newsmen after getting an extension in interim bail, Jahangir Tareen said, Prime Minister Imran Khan has promised delivery of justice and we are still waiting for it.

Commenting on the report finalized by Barrister Ali Zafar, the PTI leader he respects Zafar a lot and was hoping that his report will be made public.

He deamdned to public the report so that everything should become crystal clear.

Earlier, sources having knowledge of the matter had relayed the probe team has started preparing working papers to arrest sugar baron and disgruntled leader of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Jahangir Tareen.

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Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine reduces mortality by 97 percent: study

Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine reduces coronavirus mortality by 97 percent, according to early results of the immunization campaign in Uruguay, which relies heavily on the Chinese vaccine.

In people who had received two doses, it reduced infection with the coronavirus by 57 percent and intensive care admissions by 95 percent, said a report by the health ministry of the South American nation.

Compared to other vaccines in use, there have been few scientific publications on the efficacy of CoronaVac, produced by Chinese firm Sinovac, and widely divergent reported results.

Coronavac is nevertheless widely used in China and in some two dozen other countries.

Chile reported last month that early results from its immunization campaign showed CoronaVac to be 67 percent effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 and 80 percent at preventing death.

Trial results with CoronaVac in Brazil showed efficacy of about 50 percent in preventing symptomatic infection, while Turkish data said it was more than 80 percent effective.

Uruguay, which started vaccinating on March 1, has used CoronaVac in more than 80 percent of cases.

It has reserved the Pfizer-BioNTech jab for older people, health workers, and people other illnesses.

The results are based on outcomes two weeks after administering two shots to some 862,000 people — more than 712,000 who received CoronaVac and almost 150,000 Pfizer.

The Pfizer shot, the results showed, was 75 percent effective at preventing infection, 99 percent effective at preventing illness requiring ICU admission, and 80 percent effective at preventing death.

The results with the two vaccines are not directly comparable, as recipients of Pfizer in Uruguay fell into higher-risk categories, the ministry said.

Other studies have attached much better outcomes to Pfizer.

The largest real-world Pfizer study yet, in Israel, said this month it provided more than 95 percent protection against Covid-19.

CoronaVac is a traditional type of vaccine, using inactivated virus to trigger immunity, while Pfizer uses RNA messenger technology.

Uruguay, with a population of 3.5 million, has given at least one vaccine dose to 45.8 percent of the target population and two doses to 28.29 percent by May 25 — placing it third in the Americas behind Chile and the United States.

The country has never had a lockdown, and had comparatively few cases in the first months of the outbreak, but in recent weeks led the world in daily deaths per capita.

The ministry said the results are preliminary and should be interpreted with caution, as some data has yet to be processed.

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UK PM Boris Johnson marries fiancee in surprise ceremony

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson married his fiancee Carrie Symonds in a small ceremony at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday, his office said.

The event was not announced in advance and media reports said guests were invited at the last minute to the Roman Catholic cathedral in central London, adding that even senior members of Johnson’s office were unaware of the wedding plans.

“The Prime Minister and Ms Symonds were married yesterday afternoon in a small ceremony at Westminster Cathedral,” Johnson’s office said on Sunday. “The couple will celebrate their wedding with family and friends next summer.”

Weddings in England are currently limited to 30 people due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Johnson, 56, and Symonds, 33, have been living together in Downing Street since Johnson became prime minister in 2019.

On Saturday, the cathedral was suddenly locked down at 1:30 p.m. and Symonds arrived 30 minutes later in a limo, in a long white dress with no veil, media reports said.

The couple announced last year they were engaged and that they were expecting a child. Their son, Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, was born in April 2020.

Earlier this month the Sun had reported that wedding invitations had been sent to friends and family for July 2022. read more

Boris Johnson, once dubbed “Bonking Boris” by Britain’s tabloid media, has a complicated private life.

He was once fired from the Conservative Party’s policy team while in opposition for lying about an extra-marital affair. He has been divorced twice and refuses to say how many children he has fathered.

Johnson’s last marriage was to Marina Wheeler, a lawyer. They had four children together but announced in September 2018 that they had separated.

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215 bodies found at residential school for children in Canada

The rem­ains of 215 children, some as young as three years old, have been found buried on the site of what was once Canada’s largest indigenous residential sch­o­ol, one of the institutions that held children taken from families across the nation.

Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tkemlups te Secw­pemc First Nation said in a news release that the rem­ains were confirmed last weekend with the help of ground-penetrating radar.

More bodies may be found because there are more areas to search on the school grounds, Casimir said on Friday. In an earlier release, she called the discovery an unthinkable loss that was spoken about but never documented at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 First Nations children were required to attend state-funded Christ­ian schools as part of a programme to assimilate them into Canadian society. They were forced to convert to Christianity and not allow­ed to speak their native languages.

Many were beaten and verbally abused, and up to 6,000 are said to have died.

The Canadian government apologised in parliament in 2008 and admitted that physical and sexual abuse in the schools was rampant. Many students recall being beaten for speaking their native languages; they also lost touch with their parents and customs.

Indigenous leaders have cited that legacy of abuse and isolation as the root cause of epidemic rates of alcoholism and drug addiction on reservations.

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No new taxes in upcoming budget: finance minister

In a bid to provide maximum relief to the common man, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin has announced that the federal government would not impose new taxes in the budget 2021-22.

Addressing a budget webinar in Islamabad today, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said that no new tax would be slapped on taxpayers, adding that they would trace tax evaders via modern technology and send them to the prisons.

He maintained that achieving sustainable development goals was the top priority of the incumbent government. The finance minister said agriculture, industries, IT and service sectors will be incentivized in the next budget to enhance their productivity.

He further said the government has a progressive plan for the development of agriculture sector. Enhancing its productivity will also help check the prices of food items.

“The tax rates will not be increased,” he said, adding that they have figured out a plan to enhance our revenues.

He expressed the confidence that the tax collection will reach 5.8 trillion rupees next year. He said technology will be used to achieve the target without any coercion.

Shaukat Tarin said power sector will be stabilized and innovative ways will be used to reduce the ballooning circular debt. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan has given the commitment that there will be no increase in electricity tariff in the near future.

He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to put the country on the path of inclusive and sustainable growth. He said the Economic Advisory Council comprising of eminent economists has been tasked the responsibility to prepare short, medium and long term plans for various sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, power, housing etc.

On the development side, Shaukat Tarin said the PSDP allocation will be increased to nine hundred billion rupees in the next financial year from the current year’s 650 billion rupees. He said private sector will also be included in the development process.

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Sarfaraz, 10 others couldn’t travel to Abu Dhabi despite receiving clearance

Quetta Gladiators captain and 10 other participants couldn’t travel to Abu Dhabi for remaining Pakistan Super League (PSL) season six matches.

According to the Pakistan Cricket Board, Sarfaraz from Karachi and 10 others from Lahore have not been able to travel despite receiving clearance.

All of them were scheduled to leave for Abu Dhabi by commercial flights at around 4 am this morning.

Remember, Abu Dhabi Sports Council gave special permission to PCB to send 16 people via commercial flight from Pakistan to UAE.

PCB has contacted the Abu Dhabi Sports Council for clearance of all people. The PCB is also considering alternative options for their early departure to the UAE.

On the other hand, five people including fast bowler Muhammad Hasnain left Karachi for Abu Dhabi.

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