COAS Gen Bajwa reiterates resolve to fight against terrorism

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday reiterated the resolve of the Pakistan Army to fight against terrorism till the elimination of this menace from the country, a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The COAS was briefed about the prevailing security situation, progress on development works in newly-merged districts, and Pak-Afghan border fencing during his visit to the Corps Headquarters in Peshawar.

The military's media wing said that while paying tribute to brave tribesmen, officers, and soldiers of Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps (FC), Levies, Khasadar, and police, the COAS vowed that sacrifices of martyrs will not go in vain and "complete peace will return to Pakistan."

"The COAS appreciated security forces for providing an enabling environment for the completion of socio-economic development projects in the newly-merged districts, vital for enduring stability and sustainable progress of the area," the statement read.

Earlier, on arrival at the Corps Headquarters, the COAS was received by Commander Peshawar Corps Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid.

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Coronavirus positivity ratio in country shoots up to 12.93%.

Pakistan registered its highest number of daily COVID-19 cases — 7,678 — in the last 24 hours, up from 6,808, the second-highest daily toll, since the pandemic started in 2020, official figures showed Friday morning.

Previously, the highest daily toll was recorded on June 13, 2020, when the country reported 6,825 coronavirus cases, the National Command and Operation Centre's (NCOC) data showed.

With the new infections, the overall cases have moved past 1.35 million. Meanwhile, as many as 59,343 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, and the positivity ratio shot up to 12.93%.

The deaths from coronavirus also went up to 23 — highest since October 15 — in the last 24 hours from five a day earlier, taking the overall death toll to 29,065, official figures showed.

The cases are on the rise, but top officials have refused to impose a lockdown, saying that the country's economy could not bear the burden of another.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan turned down the possibility of imposing a lockdown.

Addressing a launching ceremony of the National Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Policy in Islamabad, he said the government will not shut down the economy but will advise people to strictly observe mandated SOPs for COVID-19.

Amid the rapid spread of coronavirus, two major politicians — Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif and Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin — also tested positive for coronavirus two days back.

NCOC issues new guidelines
The NCOC had on Wednesday issued revised coronavirus guidelines and SOPs for the education, restaurant, entertainment, and other sectors as Pakistan struggles to contain the spread of the Omicron variant.

The forum had decided that indoor weddings, dining, and gatherings will be banned in cities and districts with an infection rate higher than 10%. The schools in such cities and districts will remain open, with "staggered" classes for children under 12 years.

As a result of the rising cases, the NCOC also lowered the crowd attendance for Pakistan Super League (PSL) from 100% to 25% for Karachi-leg matches, while children under the age of 12 have been barred from the stadium.

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ICC announces T20 World Cup schedule

ICC announces Schedule for T20 World Cup. The tournament will be played in seven Australian cities from October 16 to November 13.

The opening match of the mega event will be played between Sri Lanka and Namibia, while Pakistan and India's Takra will be held in Melbourne on October 23, with 45 matches between 16 teams being played in the mega event.

The Super 12 round of the tournament will begin with a match between Australia and New Zealand on October 22, with Pakistan's group featuring Teams from India as well as South Africa and Bangladesh, two teams to be part of Pakistan's group from the qualifying round.

Pakistan and South Africa will take on The Teams of Pakistan and Bangladesh on November 3, the Teams of Pakistan and Bangladesh will come face to face on November 6.

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WhatsApp web update: You can now pause, play voice notes

Popular messaging app WhatsApp is now rolling out a useful feature for users across the globe, which will make their day-to-day messaging easier, WABetaInfo reported.

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has already rolled out the option to listen to your voice note before sending it. Now, it has introduced an update allowing you to pause and resume voice notes.

"As you can see in this screenshot, there is a new pause button (in the previous version, there was a stop icon) that allows you to pause the voice note. In this situation, you can listen to the voice note before sending it, you can delete the voice note or you can resume the recording!"

WABetaInfo said the feature is already available on WhatsApp for iOS and it is expected to be rolled out on WhatsApp beta for Android as well.

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Babar Azam named captain of ICC ODI team of the year

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday announced its ODI team of the year featuring two Pakistani players — Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman — with the former given the reins to captain the honorary line-up, just as in the T20I eleven.

The cricket body had unveiled its T20I team of the year a day ago, naming Azam as its skipper for his "classy best" performance in the format last year, during which he was also the leading run-scorer at the T20 World Cup. He earned the same honours for the 50-over format as well.

The 11-member ODI team announced today comprises Babar Azam (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Rassie van der Dussen, Shakib Al Hasan, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mustafizur Rahman, Simi Singh and Dushmantha Chameera.

The ICC, in its statement, noted that Azam played just six ODI matches last year, "but he still managed to score 405 runs at an average of 67.50 with two centuries."

The talismanic Pakistan skipper made vital contributions on tough away tours of South Africa and England, ending up with player of the match awards in both their victories in the former, said the ICC.

"He also scored a memorable ton in Birmingham in conditions that assisted the seamers."

The ICC also commended Zaman for his "stellar run" in the national side's ODI matches in 2021.

It said the opener played six matches and aggregated 365 runs at an average of 60.83 with two centuries. Zaman's century against South Africa impressed the ICC the most, which, according to the cricket body, will be "remembered for ages".

The T20I team, announced by the ICC yesterday, featured Jos Butler, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasanranga, Mustafizur Rahman and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

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Government will take measures to provide maximum relief to salaried class: Hammad

Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar on Thursday said that the PTI-led government will take measures to provide maximum relief to the salaried class.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the minister said that the industrial sector grew by 7.8% and while services sector by 5%, despite the previous government's record trade deficit which was managed by the current government.

He further said that inflation has affected the working class due to an increase in prices of international resources, and assured the masses that the government will provide them with "maximum relief."

Shedding light on the circular debt, the minister added that the "government is paying double the amount in rents by paying Rs800 billion instead of Rs400 billion".

The minister said that the government has saved the economy from bankruptcy by taking steps to reduce the circular debts.

"We have to maintain the good economic indicators," he said, adding that the country is going towards sustainable development as "there has been a yearly decrease of Rs140 billion in the circular debts".

He said that the number of taxpayers has increased by 35% since last year, adding that the incumbent government faced economic difficulties as well as grey-listing by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) due to the previous government.

Azhar talked about the economic growth since the last fiscal year which was 5.37% and said that the country had good economic growth in the third year of the current government.

Criticising the PML-N, he said that the former government could not increase exports and people had to pay a heavy price in the last year of its tenure.

"The PLM-N government had damaged the economy and never revealed if there has been an increase in the circular debt," he said.

The minister promised that the government will create more jobs and said that "analysts are predicting progress in the country".

Azhar also condemned the Lahore blast that happened today in which two people lost their lives while more than a dozen sustained injuries.

He also assured that the security agencies will not allow the law and order situation of the country to be affected at any cost.

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Beijing city raises vigilance as local COVID cases tick higher before Olympics

China's capital Beijing ramped up efforts to curb COVID-19 infections, ordering checks among cold-chain firms and urging residents to cut unnecessary gatherings, as the city reported an uptick in local cases weeks before the Winter Olympics.

Beijing had three domestically transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms on Wednesday, including one previously reported as a local asymptomatic carrier for Jan. 18, according to local health authority data on Thursday.

That compared with one local confirmed infection for Jan. 18.

The city has reported less than ten local COVID infections since Jan. 15, with both the Delta and Omicron variants detected, a tiny case count compared with the rest of the world.

However, the city and China are still working under guidelines of getting any virus flare-up under control as soon as possible. The strategy takes on extra urgency as Beijing and neighbouring Hebei province will host the Winter Olympics from Feb. 4, while the ongoing Lunar New Year travel season raises the risk of virus transmission nationwide.

The city of Beijing should immediately launch full inspections over its cold-chain industry and make the testing of staffers and goods more frequent, the city government said in a statement late on Wednesday, after some infections were found to be cold storage workers.

Residents are advised to reduce movement and unnecessary gatherings, while children, the elderly and people in weaker health should avoid crowded public places, the city's health authority said in a statement on Wednesday.

Nationwide, China reported a total of 43 locally transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms for Jan. 19, according to a statement by the National Health Commission on Thursday, down from 55 a day earlier.

There were no new deaths, leaving the death toll at 4,636. As of Jan. 19, mainland China had 105,411 confirmed cases, including both local ones and those arriving from overseas.

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