Corona claims 57 more lives in a day

COVID-19 has claimed 57 more lives in Pakistan during the last 24 hours, pushing the nationwide tally of fatalities to 26,035.

According to the latest figures issued by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 3,787 persons tested positive for COVID-19, lifting the overall number of infections in the country to 1,171,578.
Pakistan has conducted 59,745 tests in the past 24 hours out of which 3,787 persons tested positive for the disease. The country has conducted overall 17,931,365 tests to diagnose the deadly virus.

The COVID positivity ratio was recorded at 6.33 per cent as compared to yesterday’s 6.65%.

The NCOC said 5,606 people are in critical condition.

So far, a total of 58,156,714 vaccine doses have been administered to the masses across the country.
Out of 58,156,714, the number of fully vaccinated people against the coronavirus is 18,004,529, while 44,701,679 partial doses have been administered to date.

On Thursday, Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar had appealed to the public to adhere to the COVID-19 standard operating procedures to avert the chances of any other wave in the country.

In a tweet, the NCOC head urged citizens to follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to contain the spread of COVID-19 as the hospital inflow and critical care COVID patients, both reached the highest level since the start of the pandemic.

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Corona claims 57 more lives in a day

COVID-19 has claimed 57 more lives in Pakistan during the last 24 hours, pushing the nationwide tally of fatalities to 26,035.

According to the latest figures issued by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 3,787 persons tested positive for COVID-19, lifting the overall number of infections in the country to 1,171,578.
Pakistan has conducted 59,745 tests in the past 24 hours out of which 3,787 persons tested positive for the disease. The country has conducted overall 17,931,365 tests to diagnose the deadly virus.

The COVID positivity ratio was recorded at 6.33 per cent as compared to yesterday’s 6.65%.

The NCOC said 5,606 people are in critical condition.

So far, a total of 58,156,714 vaccine doses have been administered to the masses across the country.
Out of 58,156,714, the number of fully vaccinated people against the coronavirus is 18,004,529, while 44,701,679 partial doses have been administered to date.

On Thursday, Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar had appealed to the public to adhere to the COVID-19 standard operating procedures to avert the chances of any other wave in the country.

In a tweet, the NCOC head urged citizens to follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to contain the spread of COVID-19 as the hospital inflow and critical care COVID patients, both reached the highest level since the start of the pandemic.

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Italy's Mario Draghi still hopes to hold G20 summit on Afghanistan

Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi Thursday said Rome still hopes to hold an ad hoc summit of the Group of 20 major economies on Afghanistan, adding that any such meeting would take place after this month's UN General Assembly.

Italy, which holds the rotating G20 presidency this year, has previously signalled it was looking to call a one-off summit in the middle of the month. The United Nations assembly ends on September 30.

Draghi told reporters that Europe had to do a better job of confronting such crises. "It is unthinkable that things can carry on like this," he said.

Earlier, Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio, in a parliamentary hearing, has said that Rome was working on the idea of organising an ad hoc summit of the G20 on Afghanistan.

"Due to its structure and representation, the G20 can be an important multilateral platform for responsible and coordinated management of global challenges," Di Maio told members of parliament.

Italy, which holds the rotating G20 presidency this year, wants an in-depth debate on Afghanistan.

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CHINA DEVELOPS PROTOTYPE MINIATURE HELICOPTER FOR MARS MISSIONS

China has developed a prototype miniature helicopter for surveillance work on future Mars missions, according to its space science agency, following the historic landing of a robotic rover on the Red Planet a few months ago.

The prototype is similar in appearance to the robotic helicopter Ingenuity, developed by NASA for its Perseverance mission this year, according to a photograph posted on the website of China’s National Space Science Center on Wednesday.

The agency said the helicopter could be a tool for China’s follow-up exploration on Mars, but it did not give details.

China landed a Mars rover in May in its first-ever mission to the planet, becoming the second country after the United States to do so. NASA’s most advanced rover, Perseverance, landed on the planet in February.

From the NASA rover, Ingenuity made its inaugural flight in April, rising about 3 metres (10 feet) above the surface, in humankind’s first successful deployment of a powered aircraft in a world other than Earth.

The challenge for the 1.8 kg (4 pound) Ingenuity is the planet’s thin atmosphere, which is just 1% as dense as Earth’s.

To compensate for the lack of aerodynamic lift, NASA engineers equipped Ingenuity with rotor blades that are larger – 1.2 metres (4 feet) tip to tip – and spin more rapidly than would be needed on Earth for an aircraft of its size.

Like Ingenuity, the Chinese prototype sports two rotor blades, a sensor-and-camera base and four thin legs. But there is no solar panel at the top like Ingenuity, according to the photograph.

Ingenuity has made more than 10 outings since April, covering an overall distance of more than 2 km (1.2 miles) with flight time of about 20 minutes in all.

China is planning its first crewed mission to Mars in 2033.

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$2.75 billion from IMF takes SBP forex reserves to all-time high

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received $2.75 billion under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), which have taken the foreign exchange reserves of the central bank to an all-time high of $20.14 billion.

According to data released by the central bank, its foreign currency reserves on August 27 stood at $20,145.6 million. The same reserves stood at $17,578.9 million on August 20.

After accounting for external debt payments, the SBP’s reserves have increased by $2,567 million to $20.145.6 million due to the government’s official inflows.

Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $27,227.7 million.

Meanwhile, net reserves held by banks amounted to $7,082.1.

SDR allocation

The central bank had received $2.75 billion from the Fund under its new allocations for member countries to fight against COVID-19 challenges.

Pakistan was due to receive the amount on August 23 from IMF's general allocations of $650 billion, which had been approved to boost global liquidity amid the coronavirus pandemic across the globe.

The amount was directly transferred to the SBP, which has further improved the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

The Board of Governors of the IMF had approved a general allocation of SDRs equivalent to $650 billion on August 2, 2021.

According to an IMF statement, the allocation would benefit all members, address the long-term global need for reserves, build confidence, and foster the resilience and stability of the global economy.

It would particularly help the most vulnerable countries struggling to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

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Taliban approve Afghanistan's first cricket Test match since takeover

The Taliban have approved Afghanistan's first cricket Test match since their takeover, raising hopes that international matches will continue as usual under the new rule.

“We have got approval to send the team to Australia,” chief executive of the Afghanistan Cricket Board Hamid Shinwari told AFP.

During their first stint in power, before they were ousted in 2001, the Taliban banned most forms of entertainment — including many sports — and stadiums were used as public execution venues.

The Taliban do not mind cricket, however, and the game is popular among many fighters.

The Test match, to be played in Hobart from Nov 27 to Dec 1, was scheduled for last year but was put off due to the Covid-19 pandemic and international travel restrictions.

It will be Afghanistan's first Test in Australia.

Before the Australia tour, the Afghanistan team will feature in the Twenty20 World Cup, to be held in the United Arab Emirates from Oct 17 to Nov 15.

Shinwari also confirmed Afghanistan's Under-19 cricket team will tour Bangladesh for a bilateral later this month.

Since the evacuation of the US and Nato forces from Afghanistan after the Taliban swept into Kabul last month, there were fears that cricket and other sports would be hit.

But ACB officials categorically said that cricket was supported by the Taliban.

Afghanistan's home ODI series against Pakistan — shifted to Sri Lanka — was however cancelled until next year over logistical and Covid-19 issues last week.

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With 89 new fatalities, Pakistan's coronavirus death toll nears 26,000

Pakistan has reported 89 new coronavirus deaths during the last 24 hours, raising the total death tally to 25,978 nationwide on Thursday.

According to the latest figures provided by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 61,651 coronavirus tests were conducted in the country, out of which 4,103 came back positive.

The positivity ratio was recorded at 6.65% in the country as of today.

The total tally of COVID-19 cases now stands at 1,167,791, with most cases reported in Punjab.

The number of recoveries nationwide has reached 1,048,872 so far, while the number of active cases in the country stands at 92,941 as of today.

According to the official portal, the total number of COVID-19 patients in Sindh has reached 433,931, in Punjab 396,326, in Balochistan 32,282, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 163,010, in Islamabad 99,910, in Azad Kashmir 32,380 and 9,952 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Pakistan is reporting 3,975 new infections on average each day, 68% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on June 17.

The country has administered at least 56,768,446 doses of COVID vaccines so far. Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 13.1% of the country’s population.

During the last week reported, Pakistan averaged about 936,145 doses administered each day. At that rate, it will take a further 47 days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population.

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