The worst criticism of NAB is that the Govt is using it: Chairman NAB

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Javed Iqbal on Thursday defended the watchdog's conduct after questions were raised in political circles on the whereabouts of the monetary recoveries worth hundreds of billions of rupees made by NAB.

In a parliamentary testimony on Nov 3, the Ministry of Finance had expressed complete ignorance about the whereabouts of over Rs821 billion, except Rs6.458bn, that the NAB claimed to have recovered since its inception some 16 years ago. The PPP had subsequently demanded a probe on the matter, while the NAB had issued a report detailing the recoveries it made since its inception in 1999.

Addressing a ceremony in Lahore, Iqbal termed the episode a "storm in a teacup". He said a bulk of the recoveries made by NAB were not in the form of currency bills but in physical assets such as property, land and wheat.

"A complete audit of NAB has been carried out three times, and with God's grace, apart from two to four ordinary lapses, nothing [unusual or strange] came to the fore," he said.

"So when this storm in a teacup was created then the ones responsible didn't know that NAB has kept a record of every single penny," Iqbal said.

The NAB chairman said in the four years under him the accountability watchdog registered 1,270 references involving a sum of Rs1,386 billion.

He said none of the references were "made up in the air", adding that the bureau would still be reviewing all the 1,270 references.

"Where NAB feels some that some references are very weak or very old and sometimes convictions don't happen because there are technical reasons [...] we are reviewing them again and if it is felt [that references are weak then we will close them]."

Responding to criticism on NAB cases not reaching their conclusion, the chairman said a case reaches its "logical end" when a reference is sent to the relevant court. He explained that deciding on cases was the job of accountability courts and not of the watchdog.

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Polio virus: WHO extends travel restrictions on Pakistan

The World Health Organization (WHO) has extended travel restrictions on Pakistan by three months due to it being the last polio-endemic country, along with Afghanistan.

The WHO deemed Pakistan and Afghanistan to be dangerous countries in a recent statement by the Thirtieth Polio IHR Emergency Committee, stating that the two countries have failed to eradicate polio fully and may be responsible for the virus's global spread.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has made remarkable strides against polio, as the incidence of Wild Polio Virus (WPV1) cases has decreased to zero in the previous ten months, down from 84 reported cases in 2020.

The Committee observed that Pakistan's primary problem continues to be the 'persistently overlooked children' in core reservoirs, as well as dealing with parental refusals and troubling polio vaccination programmes in sensitive areas.

However, the committee noted that the viral presence in Pakistan's sewerage systems has diminished, which has aided in the infection's containment.

According to the WHO, Afghanistan is the primary source of Wild Polio Virus, which enters Pakistan via refugee migration. This poses a serious threat to Pakistan.

Polio surveillance will continue in Pakistan for an additional three months, and Pakistanis traveling overseas will be required to prove polio immunization.

The polio related travel restrictions were imposed in Pakistan in May 2014.

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1st Test: Pakistan announce 12-man squad

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Thursday announced the 12-man squad for the first Test match against Bangladesh.The Men in Green will clash with hosts Bangladesh in Chittagong's Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Friday, November 26.

Here is the squad, led by skipper Babar Azam:

Babar Azam - Captain
Mohammad Rizwan - Vice captain (wicketkeeper)
Abdullah Shafique
Abid Ali
Azhar Ali
Faheem Ashraf
Fawad Alam
Hasan Ali
Imam-ul-Haq
Nauman Ali
Sajid Khan
Shaheen Shah Afridi
"Our team is impressive and this time around, will make a good impression in the Test Championship," said skipper Babar Azam during a press conference today.

Azam acknowledged that the team had had less time to adjust to Test cricket after months of playing T20 matches.

The Pakistani skipper said his team was not taking Bangladesh lightly. "Conditions here are different [than Pakistan is used to] hence we cannot take Bangladesh lightly," he said. "These conditions are a bit difficult and batters have to stick around on the crease to get settled."

Babar Azam said the Men in Green will have to play with focus and patience to do well in the series.

The two sides will follow up the first Test match with another on Saturday, December 4 at the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium Mirpur, Dhaka.

Pakistan will be brimming with confidence when they take the field tomorrow against Bangladesh. The visitors completed a 3-0 whitewash over the hosts last week, winning the third and last T20 match of the series in thrilling fashion.

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PPDA go on strike across country

Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) on Thursday has gone on strike across the country over government’s negligence in increasing the dealer margin to six percent.

Chairman PPDA while holding a press conference at Karachi Press Club said, "The association will observe indefinite strike by suspending the supply from its petrol pumps from November 25, 2021."

On the other hand, spokesperson for the Ministry of Petroleum said all the petrol pumps of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Shell, TOTAL and other companies across the country will remain open.

Majority of the petrol pumps in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Azad Kashmir and other cities are closed while some are open and witnessing long queues of the vehicles for refueling.

The spokesperson said that the Petroleum Division of the Ministry of Energy sent the case to ECC to increase the margins of petrol pump dealers and the ministry is working on it.

PSO spokesperson said that their petrol pumps across the country will remain open and continuous supply of fuel at the petrol pumps is being ensured. “The PSO is always ready to serve the people,” he added.

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Pakistan records 13 corona deaths in a day

The number of active coronavirus cases continued to decline as Pakistan reported less than 13,600 active cases for the first time in over a year Thursday morning.

The National Command and Operation Centre's (NCOC) latest coronavirus report showed 363 new COVID-19 cases after 41,240 tests were taken in the last 24 hours, bringing the country's total case count to 1,283,223.

Those new cases were outpaced by 1,000 recoveries in the last 24 hours, pulling down active cases to 13,538. The number of active cases has fallen consistently over the last four days. As of now, some 1,240,995 patients have recovered since the pandemic started.
Meanwhile, NCOC reported another 13 deaths from coronavirus over the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 28,690. The number of critical cases, too, are on a downward trend, with the current tally at 998 cases.

Pakistan is reporting 356 new infections on average each day, 6% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on June 17.

The country has administered at least 121,470,994 doses of COVID vaccines so far. Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 28% of the country’s population.

During the last week reported, Pakistan averaged about 333,012 doses administered each day. At that rate, it will take a further 131 days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population.

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PPDA go on strike across country

Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) on Thursday has gone on strike across the country over government’s negligence in increasing the dealer margin to six percent.

Chairman PPDA while holding a press conference at Karachi Press Club said, "The association will observe indefinite strike by suspending the supply from its petrol pumps from November 25, 2021."

On the other hand, spokesperson for the Ministry of Petroleum said all the petrol pumps of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Shell, TOTAL and other companies across the country will remain open.

Majority of the petrol pumps in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Azad Kashmir and other cities are closed while some are open and witnessing long queues of the vehicles for refueling.

The spokesperson said that the Petroleum Division of the Ministry of Energy sent the case to ECC to increase the margins of petrol pump dealers and the ministry is working on it.

PSO spokesperson said that their petrol pumps across the country will remain open and continuous supply of fuel at the petrol pumps is being ensured. “The PSO is always ready to serve the people,” he added.

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Pakistan records 13 corona deaths in a day

The number of active coronavirus cases continued to decline as Pakistan reported less than 13,600 active cases for the first time in over a year Thursday morning.

The National Command and Operation Centre's (NCOC) latest coronavirus report showed 363 new COVID-19 cases after 41,240 tests were taken in the last 24 hours, bringing the country's total case count to 1,283,223.

Those new cases were outpaced by 1,000 recoveries in the last 24 hours, pulling down active cases to 13,538. The number of active cases has fallen consistently over the last four days. As of now, some 1,240,995 patients have recovered since the pandemic started.
Meanwhile, NCOC reported another 13 deaths from coronavirus over the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 28,690. The number of critical cases, too, are on a downward trend, with the current tally at 998 cases.

Pakistan is reporting 356 new infections on average each day, 6% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on June 17.

The country has administered at least 121,470,994 doses of COVID vaccines so far. Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 28% of the country’s population.

During the last week reported, Pakistan averaged about 333,012 doses administered each day. At that rate, it will take a further 131 days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population.

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