Zee Info World

The court will take up the matter on Nov 9.released, IHC told

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 05:41:00 +0000

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court that in addition to five Indian prisoners, two more prisoners who had completed their jail terms have been released.

Additional Attorney General Tariq Meh mood, however, said that another accused namely Mohammad Ismail alias, son of Ali Mohammad SAMOA, who is presently confined at Mali r district jail in Karachi, has not been released. On Mr. Tariq Meh mood’s request, judge Attar clubbed Ismail’s case thereupon of Indian spy.The case of eighth inmate has been clubbed with ’s. A petition seeking release of those convicted Indian spies contended that “prisoners have completed their respective sentences, and therefore, the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, mandates in unequivocal terms that no one shall be bereft of life or liberty in accordance with the law. This provision is quite almost like Article 21 of the Constitution of India which deals with protection of life and liberty.” The petition said that any person belonging to any country tried by Pakistani authorities expected that this glorious protection of law to their life and liberty would be extended to them as a matter of right and dignity.within Pakistan under the protection of law, rights of such individual to be dealt within accordance with law.” Petition alleged that in spite of these constitutional provisions, the authorities unfortunately had deprived these prisoners of their legitimate rights.

Published in Zee Info World, November 6th, 2020

Charges fly as GB poll battle heats up

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 05:38:00 +0000

GILGIT / ISLAMABAD: Electioneering gained momentum in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) with the arrival of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz in the region on Thursday as Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called into question integrity and impartiality of the GB Election Commission ahead of Nov 15 polls.

Addressing corner meetings at Pakwara in Astore and Jaglot in connection with the election campaign, the PPP chairman criticised GB Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Raja Shahbaz Khan for holding a news conference in Islamabad and asked him to reveal details of “his meetings with government functionaries” during his stay in the federal capital.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari made the demand a day after the CEC, at a news conference in Islamabad, rejected the talk of pre-poll rigging in GB and indirectly criticised the opposition parties for crying foul even before polling.

Without naming anyone, the GB CEC had said: “There are returning officers in 24 constituencies who have not seen any rigging, but they (the opposition) can see it while sitting 600km away.”

He had said that notices had been issued to as many as 95 individuals belonging to different political parties for running election campaigns in GB in violation of the code of conduct. He said those issued notices included Mr Bhutto-Zardari and federal ministers Murad Saeed and Ali Amin Gandapur.

Reacting to the CEC’s news conference, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said it was the responsibility of the CEC to hold free and fair elections in GB but “he is holding meetings in Islamabad and addressing a press conference against me.”

The PPP chairman expressed surprise over issuance of a notice to him by the election commission, saying he did not hold any public office and had the right to run the election campaign of his party.

“The election commissioner is facilitating the prime minister and the federal ministers in violating elections laws and is not protecting the right of the people to participate in free and fair elections,” he alleged.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari then turned his guns towards Prime Minister Imran Khan and criticised him for talking about his government’s decision to give provisional status of province to the GB. He said it was former president Asif Zardari who had granted interim status of province to GB and appointed a governor and a chief minister back in 2009. He claimed that Mr Khan was “ignorant” about the ground situation in GB.

Referring to the prime minister’s recent statement that he was not announcing any package for GB due to the elections, the PPP chairman said the people of the region were asking him why he did not announce the package during the last two years of his government.

He termed the visits of the prime minister and the federal ministers to GB a violation of the election laws and alleged that the ministers were even distributing money to the people to seek their votes. However, he said: “these incapable (ministers) and puppets do not know that the masses of GB are honourable and loyal people who are not available for sale.”

“Imran Khan wants to snatch the subsidy given (to the GB people) by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on food items, petrol and clothes but the PPP will not allow this to happen,” he said.

The PPP, he said, would not only give full-fledged status of province to GB but also the right to rule and the rights of property and employment to its people.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said today every section of society was protesting against the government’s “tyranny.”

Meanwhile, Maryam Nawaz also addressed PML-N workers at Skardu and Ghanche in which she mostly targeted the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government in Pakistan and Prime Minister Khan.

It is interesting to note that the PPP and the PML-N are jointly running an anti-government campaign in Pakistan from the platform of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, but they are contesting elections against each other in GB. However, so far, the two parties in their election campaigns have refrained from targeting each other and both are mainly targeting the PTI.

Published in Zee Info World, November 6th, 2020

WHO sees ‘explosion’ of Covid-19 cases in Europe

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 05:36:00 +0000

COPENHAGEN: The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday said it was observing an “explosion” of coronavirus cases in Europe and warned of a “tough time” ahead as mortality rates rose.

“We do see an explosion.... in the sense it only takes a couple of days to have over the European region an increase of one million cases,” WHO’s regional director for Europe Hans Kluge said.

Kluge, who was wearing a mask even as he was interviewed over a webcam meeting, also said the mortality rate could be seen rising “little by little”.

“It’s going to be a little bit of a tough time, we need to be honest on that,” he said.

In spite of the rapidly rising cases, Kluge cautioned that closing schools should be seen as a last resort, especially in light of there being “no reasons to say that schools are a main driver of the transmission”.

“We need to keep the schools open really until last because we cannot afford a Covid-19 lost generation,” Kluge said.

However, the regional director also said that the “status quo is not an option” and called for “proportionate targeted measures”, which could be scaled up.

Kluge stressed that governments should take into account two things: Coherence, so people see that we don’t flip-flop, and... predictability, so people know if this threshold is being reached, this is what is going to happen.”

He called for the widespread use of face masks.

“With general mask wearing and strict control of social gatherings we can save 266,000 lives by February in the whole European region,” Kluge said.

WHO Europe spans 53 countries, including Russia and countries in Central Asia, and on Thursday reported a total of over 12 million cases in the region, with nearly two million in the last seven days.

While managing the Covid-19 pandemic was the immediate concern, Kluge also said there were lessons to learn in case an even more dangerous virus were to appear.

“Imagine that Covid was as easily transmitted as measles, or imagine that Covid was as lethal as Ebola... We need to take this chance to be better prepared for the future,” he added.

Published in Zee Info World, November 6th, 2020

'They are trying to steal the election': Trump erupts as Biden closes in on US presidency

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 05:32:00 +0000

US President Donald Trump erupted on Thursday in a tirade of unsubstantiated claims that he has been cheated out of winning the US election as vote counting across battleground states showed Democrat Joe Biden steadily closing in on victory.

“They are trying to steal the election,” an increasingly isolated Trump said in an extraordinary statement at the White House two days after polls closed.

Providing no evidence and taking no questions afterward from reporters, Trump spent nearly 17 minutes making the kind of incendiary statements about the country's democratic process that have never been heard before from a US president.

According to Trump, Democrats were using “illegal votes” to “steal the election from us”.“If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” he claimed. “They're trying to rig an election. And we can't let that happen.”

Beyond the rhetoric, Trump's complaints were specifically targeting the integrity of the huge number of ballots mailed in, rather than cast in person on Election Day.

The big shift to postal ballots this year reflected the desire of voters to avoid risking exposure to Covid-19 in crowded polling stations during a pandemic that has already killed close to 235,000 Americans.

However, because Trump often denied the seriousness of the virus and told his supporters not to support mail-in ballots, far fewer Republicans took advantage of the option, compared with Democrats.

Biden closes in

Several major US television networks cut away from live coverage of Trump's event and there were signs of cracks in Republican support.

Representative Will Hurd called Trump's call to stop vote-counting “dangerous and wrong,” saying it “undermines the very foundation this nation was built upon”.

And conservative Rupert Murdoch's powerful media empire appeared to shift tone, with his New York Post calling Trump's fraud allegations “baseless” and Fox News refusing Republican pressure to rescind its projection that Trump would lose Arizona, vital for his chances.

Trump's rant came as returns from still undeclared states around the country showed Biden trending toward victory.

Biden, 77, was just one or at most two battleground states away from securing the majority to take the White House. Trump, 74, needed an increasingly unlikely combination of wins in multiple states to stay in power.

Biden, who has promised to heal a country bruised by Trump's extraordinarily polarising four years in power, appealed for “people to stay calm”.

“We have no doubt that when the count is finished, Senator (Kamala) Harris and I will be declared the winners,” he said in comments to reporters in his hometown of Wilmington.

“The process is working,” he said. “The count is being completed. And we will know soon.”

All about Pennsylvania?

In Georgia, a generally Republican state, Trump had a razor thin and fast vanishing lead of fewer than 1,900 votes. In Arizona and Nevada, Biden held on to slim leads. If Biden wins both those states he would also win the presidency.

But the biggest piece of the puzzle was Pennsylvania, where Trump's early lead was again steadily draining away, as election officials homed in on processing mail-in ballots, which are more typically cast by Biden supporters.

The Democratic hopeful currently has 253 of the 538 electoral college votes divvied up between the country's 50 states. He has 264 with the inclusion of Arizona, which Fox News and the Associated Press have called in his favor, but other major organisations have not.

If Biden took Pennsylvania, he would grab 20 more electoral college votes, thereby instantly topping the necessary 270 for overall victory.

Latest results showed Trump's lead in the state had shrunk to around 42,000 votes, with most votes yet to be counted coming from Democratic stronghold Philadelphia.

Protests across country

Trump's campaign continued to insist that the president has a way to win, citing pockets of Republican support yet to be counted.

But Trump's overwhelming focus was on claiming, without evidence, that he was a victim of mass fraud.

Trump prematurely declared victory on Wednesday and threatened to seek Supreme Court intervention to stop vote-counting but it has continued nonetheless.

Since then, his team fanned out across the battleground states challenging the results in court and his supporters converged outside election offices in several cities.

In Las Vegas, Trump backers wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats demanded to see ballots being processed.

Brando Madrigal said he wanted to verify that the votes are “not coming from the people who died with Covid, people who are out of state, people who don't have the ability to vote because they don't have the papers”.

But while Trump was demanding that counting be halted in Georgia and Pennsylvania — where he is leading — his supporters and campaign insisted that it continue in Arizona and Nevada, where he is trailing.

Bob Bauer, a lawyer for the Biden campaign, dismissed the slew of lawsuits as “meritless”.

“All of this is intended to create a large cloud,” Bauer said. “But it's not a very thick cloud. We see through it. So do the courts and so do election officials.“

Over 50pc GB polling stations ‘sensitive’, Senate panel told

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 04:55:00 +0000

ISLAMABAD: Over half of the polling stations being established for Nov 15 elections in Gilgit-Baltistan have been categorised as sensitive, a Senate panel was informed on Tuesday.

The GB chief secretary told the Senate Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan that out of the total 1,141 polling stations, 577 had been identified as sensitive, with 297 of them highly sensitive.

The data shared with the panel reveals that 125 out of the 208 polling stations in Gilgit have been declared as sensitive, including 48 highly sensitive.

The situation appears to be comparatively better in Ghizer district where 62 out of a total of 143 polling stations have been declared as sensitive, with 31 of them as highly sensitive. In Hunza, 20 out of the total 64 polling stations have been categorised as sensitive, of which 11 are highly sensitive. In Nagar district, the total number of polling stations is 61 out of which 22 are sensitive including nine highly sensitive.

Elections in the region are set for Nov 15

In Skardu, 103 out of the total 181 polling stations have been declared as sensitive, of which 57 are highly sensitive. In Ghanche, the total number of polling stations is 49 out of which as many as 30 have been declared as sensitive, including 16 as highly sensitive.

In Shigar, 24 out of the total 61 polling stations have been declared as sensitive, of which 12 are highly sensitive. In Kharmang, 27 out of the total 39 polling stations have been categorised as sensitive, 16 of them as highly sensitive.

Diamer appears to be a major trouble spot where only four out of the total 141 polling stations have been categorised as normal.

The panel was informed that in November, some high altitude areas received heavy snowfall, requiring additional arrangements for transportation of election materials, polling staff and returning officers. Helicopters will be requisitioned from the army for arrangements in these areas.

Briefing the committee on the steps taken for transparency of the elections, the chief secretary pointed out that the chief election commissioner of GB had issued a notification on May 18 banning executive authority from postings and announcement of fresh development schemes.

He said that two all-party conferences were held on July 7 and August 26 for reaching consensus among political parties on the conduct and schedule of elections.

He said under section 238 of the Elections Act, 2017, extended to Gilgit-Baltistan on May 15, the CEC had invited observers including Fafen to monitor elections. He said the code of conduct for contesting candidates and political parties had already been issued and electoral rolls had also been updated on the demand of political parties.

Published in Zee Info World, November 4th, 2020

NCC rules out complete lockdown

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 04:06:00 +0000

ISLAMABAD: Despite a considerable rise in the number of Covid-19 cases over the past few days, the National Coordination Committee (NCC) has ruled out the option of imposing a complete lockdown in the country and endorsed all the measures announced by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Oct 28 which included strict implementation of the SOPs (standard operating procedures) at public places and reduction in timings for markets and commercial activities.

The NCC, which met under Prime Minister Imran Khan here on Tuesday, also decided to continue the smart lockdown policy and strictly implement the NCOC decisions.

All the four provincial chief ministers attended the NCC meeting through video link.

According to an official announcement, the prime minister directed all stakeholders to maintain a balance between disease control measures and livelihood of people. He particularly called for ramping up hospital care to cater for any rise in Covid-19 cases, particularly critical care equipment.

Endorses NCOC decisions to restrict market, park timings in 11 cities

The prime minister directed the NCOC to formulate a future course of action in consultation with all stakeholders and issue necessary guidelines.

The NCOC members apprised the prime minister of the present Covid-19 situation and current pattern of the disease spread and increasing positivity ratio.

Addressing a media briefing with his economic team before attending the NCC meeting, Prime Minister Khan said the government had decided not to close businesses and industries in the wake of second spike in the pandemic.

“We have decided that we will not close down businesses and industries. In case of the rise in coronavirus cases, we will close only those things which do not damage the industries. Otherwise, we will run the businesses and industries, but with SOPs,” the prime minister said.

Mr Khan appealed to the public to wear face mask to avoid spread of the pandemic as carelessness in this regard could cause damage to the country. He gave the examples of India and Iran where, he said, the situation was worsening.

The prime minister said that with the arrival of winter they needed to make decisions carefully. He said that with Allah’s blessings Pakistan had so far come out of the difficult situation, but there was a fear of a second spike in the pandemic.

He said Pakistan was the only country in the subcontinent which had economically come out of the Covid-19 situation with a great pace and the whole world had acknowledged it. During the pandemic time, he said, Pakistan ranked high among the countries of subcontinent with growth in exports.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umer said the government would continue its smart lockdown policy during the second wave of Covid-19 without putting additional pressure on the common man.

Mr Umer, who also heads the NCOC on Covid-19, said smart lockdown and protecting employment opportunities at the same time were hallmark of the government strategy during the pandemic.

The minister said the government would also adopt the same strategy during the second wave so that economic activities could not get affected. He said the government had adopted the comprehensive strategy for early revival of the local industry in the post-pandemic scenario. Due to such prudent strategies of the government, he said, the local economy was rapidly reviving as compared to other countries of the world.

Covid-19 cases

According to data available on NCOC’s website, a total of 1,167 new coronavirus cases and 14 deaths were reported across the country during the last 24 hours. The condition of 728 patients is stated to be critical. During the last 24 hours, a total 27,984 tests were conducted, taking the total number of tests so far conducted in the country to 4,514,827.

The NCOC had in its meeting on Oct 28 announced a schedule for commercial and social activities in 11 cities which are most vulnerable to the deadly coronavirus.

Since 80 per cent Covid-19 cases had been reported in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Hyderabad, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Peshawar and Quetta, the NCOC decided that in these cities, the commercial activities — markets, shopping malls, marriage halls and restaurants — would be closed at 10pm and amusement/public parks at 6pm.

The NCOC had also made wearing of mask mandatory at public places, announcing that a fine and punishment of imprisonment could be slapped on the violators. It had directed the provinces to ensure compliance with mask wearing SOPs, particularly in bazaars, shopping malls, public transport and restaurants.

Meetings cancelled

The National Assembly and Senate secretariats on Tuesday announced that all their offices and sections would remain closed to contain exponential spread of coronavirus cases.

The Senate secretariat announced that all meetings of the committees scheduled to be held between Nov 4 and 9 had been cancelled.

According to an office order issued by the National Assembly secretariat, all the meetings scheduled to be held between Nov 6 and 9 had been cancelled. It said the NA Secretariat will remain closed till Nov 6 for purpose of disinfection.

Published in Zee Info World, November 4th, 2020

Biden, Trump score wins but locked in tight races in battleground states

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 04:00:00 +0000

US President Donald Trump was narrowly leading Democratic rival Joe Biden in the vital battleground state of Florida on Tuesday while other competitive swing states that will help decide the election outcome remained up in the air.

Soon after the polling time ended, AP reported that President Trump had won Kentucky, and Biden had carried Vermont.

There were also some predictable victories for each candidate, with Trump taking Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma and Biden winning Massachusetts, his home state of Delaware and Virginia, a former battleground that has become a Democratic stronghold.

Trump also took West Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Meanwhile, Biden won Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New Mexico, New York, the District of Columbia and Colorado.

It was too early to call, in a tight race, the battleground of Florida as well as Georgia. In Florida, a must-win state for Trump in his quest for the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, Trump was leading Biden 50.3 per cent to 48.7pc with about 89pc reported.

Biden still has multiple paths to the 270 electoral votes he needs without Florida despite having spent lots of time and money trying to flip the state that backed Trump in 2016.

Voters, many wearing masks and maintaining social distancing to guard against the spread of the coronavirus, experienced long lines in a few locales and short waits in many other places. There were no signs of disruptions or violence at polling sites, as some officials had feared.

The winner — who may not be determined for days — will lead a nation strained by a pandemic that has killed more than 231,000 people and left millions more jobless, racial tensions and political polarisation that has only worsened during a vitriolic campaign.

Control of the Senate is at stake, too: Democrats needed to net three seats if Biden captured the White House to gain control of all of Washington for the first time in a decade. The House was expected to remain under Democratic control.

A new anti-scaling fence was erected around the White House, and in downtowns from New York to Denver to Minneapolis, workers boarded up businesses lest the vote lead to unrest.

With the worst public health crisis in a century still fiercely present, the pandemic — and Trump’s handling of it — was the inescapable focus for 2020.

For Trump, the election stood as a judgment on his four years in office, a term in which he bent Washington to his will, challenged faith in its institutions and changed how America was viewed across the globe.

Rarely trying to unite a country divided along lines of race and class, he has often acted as an insurgent against the government he led while undermining the nation’s scientists, bureaucracy and media.

At the White House on Tuesday night, more than 100 family members, friends, donors and staff were set to watch returns from the East Room.

Trump was watching votes come in upstairs in the residence with a few close aides. Most top campaign officials were monitoring returns from a “war room” set up in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Read: On US election day, Trump says he feels 'very good' about chances

Biden spent the day last-minute campaigning in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he was born, and in Philadelphia with a couple of local stops in Wilmington, Delaware, where he was spending Election Night.

The president began his day on an upbeat note, predicting that he’d do even better than in 2016. But during a midday visit to his campaign headquarters, he spoke in a gravelly, subdued tone.

Winning is easy,” Trump told reporters. “Losing is never easy, not for me it’s not.”

Trump left open the possibility of addressing the nation on Tuesday night, even if a winner hadn’t been determined. Biden was also scheduled to give a nighttime speech from Wilmington.

“I’m superstitious about predicting what an outcome’s gonna be until it happens [...] but I’m hopeful,” said Biden. “It’s just so uncertain [...] you can’t think of an election in the recent past where so many states were up for grabs.”

With the coronavirus now surging anew, voters ranked the pandemic and the economy as top concerns in the race between Trump and Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate.

Voters were especially likely to call the public health crisis the nation’s most important issue, with the economy following close behind. Fewer named health care, racism, law enforcement, immigration or climate change

The survey found that Trump’s leadership loomed large in voters’ decision-making. Nearly two-thirds of voters said their vote was about Trump — either for him or against him.

The momentum from early voting carried into Election Day, as an energised electorate produced long lines at polling sites throughout the country.

Voters braved worries of the coronavirus, threats of polling place intimidation and expectations of long lines caused by changes to voting systems, but appeared undeterred as turnout appeared it would easily surpass the 139 million ballots cast four years ago.

No major problems arose on Tuesday, outside the typical glitches of a presidential election: Some polling places opened late, robocalls provided false information to voters in Iowa and Michigan, and machines or software malfunctioned in some counties in the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Texas.

The cybersecurity agency at the Department of Homeland Security said there were no outward signs by midday of any malicious activity.

The record-setting early vote — and legal skirmishing over how it would be counted — drew unsupported allegations of fraud from Trump, who had repeatedly refused to guarantee he would honor the election’s result.

Referendum on Trump

Supporters of both candidates called the election a referendum on Trump and his tumultuous first term. No US president has lost a re-election bid since Republican George H.W. Bush in 1992.

Among the most closely contested states that are expected to determine the outcome are Pennsylvania, Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia, with Democrats hoping that Biden may even threaten Trump in states that once seemed certain to go Republican such as Ohio, Iowa and Texas.

Trump is seeking another term in office after a chaotic four years marked by the coronavirus crisis, an economy battered by pandemic shutdowns, an impeachment drama, inquiries into Russian election interference, US racial tensions and contentious immigration policies.

Biden is looking to win the presidency on his third attempt after a five-decade political career including eight years as vice president under Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama.

Biden has promised a renewed effort to fight the public health crisis, fix the economy and bridge America’s political divide. The country this year was also shaken by months of protests against racism and police brutality.

Stocks plunge as rising Covid cases heighten lockdown fears

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 17:51:00 +0000

Stocks on the Pakistan Stock Exchange plunged once again on Monday, an almost identical trajectory to the one witnessed on the previous trading day (Thursday), as rising Covid-19 cases in the country and around the world rattled investor sentiment, pushing the benchmark index down approximately 1,000 points within an hour of the opening bell.

The KSE-100 index was down 963.74 points at 38,924.26 by 12:55pm.

Commercial banks were among the top losers, followed by oil and gas exploration companies, cement, and oil and gas marketing companies.

"The market is under pressure due to the fear of a global lockdown amid rising coronavirus cases," said Mohammad Sohail of Topline Securities.

"Overall sentiments are weak due to uncertainty on rising virus cases, falling oil prices and the likely impact of the US elections," he added.

Read: Here's everything you need to know about the US voting process

Oil-related stocks were under pressure due to falling crude prices on account of worsening demand during lockdowns.

"The benchmark WTI oil price has fallen more than four per cent since last Friday to $34.5 per barrel, extending losses to approximately 12pc, on growing concerns that the rise in cases in Europe and the United States could hurt fuel consumption," said Sherman Securities, a brokerage house.

Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in Pakistan. Last week, the number of daily Covid-19 cases surpassed the 1,000 mark for the first time since the end of July.

According to data from the National Command and Operation Centre, 1,123 people tested positive for the virus on November 1 out of a total of 27,953 tests conducted – which translates into a positivity rate of 4.02pc.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, Germany and France have announced lockdowns as cases in Europe doubled in the last five weeks with total infections surpassing the 10 million mark.

"A notable increase in Covid-19 cases together with declining oil prices triggered a risk-off mood with broad-based selling pushing the benchmark KSE-100 index to an intra-day low of 38,807 (down 2.79pc),” said Umer Farooq, an analyst at AKD Securities.

"Near-term outlook remains choppy with many uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 situation and the US presidential elections likely to keep the market volatile," he said.

Oil falls 4pc on fuel demand concerns

Oil prices fell four per cent on Monday on worries that widening coronavirus lockdowns in Europe would weaken fuel demand and amid concerns about turbulence over this week's US presidential election.

Brent crude futures for January dropped $1.49, or 3.9pc, to $36.45 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell $1.58, or 4.4pc, to $34.21.

Brent fell as much as 5.8pc and WTI as much as 6pcin early trade, hitting their lowest levels since May. Countries across Europe have reimposed lockdown measures to try to slow Covid-19 infection rates that have accelerated in the past month.

Global oil trading companies expect further demand destruction although estimates differ. Vitol sees winter demand at 96 million barrels per day (bpd) while Trafigura expects demand to fall to 92 million bpd or below.

“A lot of traders are now looking at the US and their rising infection rates and wondering if Europe is providing the model for what will happen in the US in the coming weeks,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.

Oil pared some losses after Japan's export orders grew for the first time in two years and China's factory activity rose to a near-decade high in October. More manufacturing surveys are expected from the eurozone and the United States later in the day.

Still, concerns about weakening demand and rising supplies from Opec and the United States caused oil prices to fall for a second straight month in October, with WTI falling 11pc and Brent 8.5pc.

Rising supplies from Libya and Iraq, members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, offset production cuts by other Opec members and caused the group's output to rise for a fourth month in October, a Reuters survey showed.

Opec and their allies including Russia, a group known as Opec+, are cutting output by about 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) to support prices.

Opec+ is scheduled to hold a policy meeting on November 30 and December 1 and some analysts expect it to delay plans to ramp up output by 2 million bpd from January.

Oil demand is outpacing supply by 2.5 million bpd and that deficit will likely remain this winter as consumption for heating and emerging markets is set to rise by about 1.5 million bpd, offsetting the hit from European lockdowns, Goldman Sachs said in a note.

Delaying the output rise would help secure a large deficit through the first quarter of next year and the rest of 2021, they said.

In the United States, the total oil and natural gas rig count rose in October for a third straight month, according to Baker Hughes data.

A tighter race in the lead up to the US election on Tuesday and electoral uncertainty prompted investor caution in global markets.

“The most immediate concern for markets is that political paralysis will delay or diminish a fiscal response to the deteriorating coronavirus situation,” CMC's McCarthy said.

PCAA asks passengers, flight operators to follow Covid SOPs

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 17:46:00 +0000

RAWALPINDI: In order to contain the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak in the country, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has directed its officials to strictly implement the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) formulated for passengers and operators of charter and private flights.

This time the PCAA has decided that pilots will make an announcement twice or thrice during the flight in both English and Urdu about the issues involved.

“Assalam-o-Alaikum. This is the captain of the aircraft. In view of spread of Covid-19, all passengers are required to ensure wearing of masks throughout the air travel. Non-compliance will result in initiation of legal actions against violators at the time of disembarkation. Thank you,” reads the text of an announcement drafted for the purpose.

When a senior official of the Pakistan International Airlines was asked whether the pilots or cabin crew members had been following the fresh SOPs regarding making announcements to ensure wearing of masks throughout the air travel, he said: “Sometime the new SOPs are followed and sometimes ignored.”

He said about “90 per cent of the cabin crew members don’t bother to ask passengers to wear masks or any other things”.

Airports in Pakistan had started following SOPs for Covid-19 after the government announced measures for controlling the spread of the virus in the country.

Last month, the Aviation Division constituted a seven-member committee, comprising officials from the PCAA, airlines and the Airport Security Force (ASF) to ensure implementation of SOPs to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at airports.

The committee members were directed to ensure compliance of SOPs at each airport and take administrative action against the management in case any violations were observed.

The government had taken notice of SOP violations by a foreign airliner that took onboard a passenger who had tested positive for Covid-19 hence putting the health of other passengers along with airport personnel in danger. The PCAA had imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on the airline.

Published in Zee Info World , November 2nd, 2020

Islamabad saw drastic rise in Covid-19 cases in October

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 17:42:00 +0000

ISLAMABAD: G-9 alone reported 17 cases of Covid-19 on Sunday while three more educational institutions were sealed after people there tested positive for Covid-19.

There were 152 cases reported in the city overall, out of 4,271 tests carried out on Oct 31.

“So far, 69 educational institutions have been sealed in the capital and some have been sealed more than once,” District Health Officer Dr Zaeem Zia told Dawn.

He said three schools were sealed on Sunday, including the Islamabad Model School for Girls in G-9/1, where two cases of Covid-19 were detected.

Dr Zia said the other two institutions belong to the armed forces but declined to name them.

There were 17 cases of Covid-19 reported from G-9, followed by 15 from I-8, 12 each from G-11 and DHA II and 10 from G-6.

“Section 144 on masks is now applicable to enclosed public spaces (offices, public transport, hospitals, restaurants, shops etc). It is not applicable inside houses, cars, open areas, parks. However, it is advised to practice extreme vigilance as Covid-19 is on the rise in Islamabad,” Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat stated on Twitter.

Three educational institutions sealed

He said individuals will be fined Rs4,300 for violating standard operating procedure.

So far, four people have been arrested, 117 inspections carried out and shops fined Rs21,500, he said. In addition, 10 mosques, 14 wedding halls and 25 restaurants have been checked and a restaurant has been sealed.

October has seen a drastic increase in Covid-19 cases in Islamabad, according to daily data. There were 39 cases reported on Oct 1, and 23 on Oct 4. However, by Oct 8, 113 cases were reported in the city, rising to 155 by Oct 14.

There were 186 cases reported on Oct 23, and the last day of the month reported 224 cases.

There are 1,538 active cases of Covid-19 in the capital. So far, 91pc of patients have recovered and 222 patients have died. In all, 19,970 cases have been reported in the city.

Meanwhile, the reopening of Islamabad educational institutions sealed after the detection of Covid-19 appears uncertain.

The Islamabad Model College for Boys in G-10/4 was sealed on Oct 16, and the capital administration issued a notification stating it would reopen on Oct 24. However, the college has yet to be unsealed.

The college’s focal person, Associate Professor Mohammad Riaz Anjum, told that although it was decided that the college would open on Oct 24, he was not aware of when it would reopen.

“I had a meeting with the principal on Saturday, but we are not aware of when the school will be opened,” he said.

Rawalpindi

Two people died and 41 tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, while 32 patients recovered from the disease.

A 70-year-old resident of Rehmatabad in Chaklala was brought to the Fauji Foundation Hospital on Oct 31, where he died Sunday morning. A 56-year-old resident of Dhoke Paracha was brought to Holy Family Hospital (HFH) on Oct 27 and died late Saturday night.

Rawalpindi district has reported 7,678 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the last eight months, with 322 deaths and 7,078 recoveries.

There are currently 41 patients admitted to HFH, of which 14 are from outside the district. Another 237 patients are isolated in their homes and are being visited by health authority officials in selected areas.

There are 484 suspected patients awaiting the results of their Covid-19 tests.

Local administrations have kept 730 people in quarantine.

Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood said 9,149 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 since March, including 7,678 in Rawalpindi, 656 in Attock, 517 in Jhelum and 298 in Chakwal.

A total 391 people have died - 322 in Rawalpindi, 39 in Chakwal, 21 in Attock and nine in Jhelum - and 8,456 have recovered - 7,078 in Rawalpindi, 625 in Attock, 494 in Jhelum and 259 in Chakwal.

Mr Mehmood said 41 patients from all four districts have been hospitalised - all of them at HFH.

“There are a total of 261 patients in the four districts isolated in their homes, including 237 in Rawalpindi, 10 in Attock and 14 in Jhelum, while no patient is isolated at home in Chakwal,” he said.

He added that hospitals in the four districts can accommodate up to 5,445 patients at a time; there are four high dependency units at hospitals in the districts with 37 beds.

The commissioner said teams have been told to carry out more tests and ensure standard operating procedure is implemented. People should wear masks when leaving their homes, he added.

Taxila

A total 14 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Taxila, including three officials from Rescue 15.

Health officials said this was the single largest increase in cases reported in one day in the new wave of Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 555.

A report issued by the local health department said 10 of the patients were contacts of previously confirmed patients.

Deputy District Officer Health Dr Sara Qadeer said three of the patients are Rescue 15 officials who tested positive after a colleague of their was previously diagnosed with the disease. Five other patients contracted the disease from a doctor who has already tested positive.

Attock

Two people tested positive for Covid-19 in Attock, bringing the tally there to 656.

District focal person on Covid-19 Dr Asif Arbab Niazi said there are 10 active cases in the district, all under home isolation. — Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Zee Info World, November 2nd, 2020

Britain's Prince William caught Covid in April: report

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 17:34:00 +0000

Prince William, second-in-line to the British throne, contracted the coronavirus in April but kept his diagnosis secret, several United Kingdom media outlets reported on Monday.

The Sun newspaper said the Duke of Cambridge, 38, was diagnosed shortly after his father, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, announced he had caught the virus in late March.

But he did not make the diagnosis public “because he didn't want to alarm the nation”, the tabloid said. The BBC also reported the story, quoting a palace source.

William's Kensington Palace office would not confirm the reports when contacted by AFP but also did not deny they were true.

“There were important things going on and I didn't want to worry anyone,” the prince was reported to have told a guest at an engagement, adding he was “determined it should be business as usual”.

Palace doctors treated the prince, who isolated at the family home in Norfolk, eastern England, where he carried out telephone and video call engagements, said The Sun.

It quoted an unnamed source as saying that “William was hit pretty hard by the virus — it really knocked him for six”.

“At one stage he was struggling to breathe, so obviously everyone around him was pretty panicked,” the source added.

Charles went into self-isolation after announcing on March 25 he had mild symptoms of the virus, which has claimed almost 47,000 lives in Britain.

Two days later, Prime Minister Boris Johnson tested positive and was eventually taken into hospital intensive care for treatment.

On April 17, William revealed his concern for his 71-year-old father's health, and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and grandfather Prince Philip.

“We are doing everything we can to make sure they are isolated away and protected from this but it does worry me,” he told the BBC.

The queen, 94, and the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, went into self-isolation at Windsor Castle, west of London, as a precaution because of their age and heightened risk.

Turkey pulls 2 girls out of rubble three days after quake; death toll rises to 85

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 12:50:00 +0000

In what one rescue worker called a miracle, extraction teams brought two girls out alive on Monday from the wreckage of their collapsed apartment buildings in the Turkish city of Izmir, three days after a strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece.

Onlookers applauded in joy and relief as ambulances carrying the girls rushed to hospitals immediately after their rescues.

The overall death toll in Friday's quake reached 85 after teams found more bodies overnight amid toppled buildings in Izmir, Turkey's third largest city.

Close to 1,000 people were injured, mostly in Turkey, in the quake, which was centered in the Aegean Sea northeast of the Greek island of Samos. It killed two teenagers on Samos and injured at least 19 other people on the island.

Rescue workers clapped in unison on Monday as 14-year-old Idil Sirin was removed from the rubble, after being trapped for 58 hours. Her eight-year-old sister, Ipek, did not survive.

Seven hours later, rescuers working on another toppled building extricated three-year-old Elif Perincek, whose mother and two sisters had been rescued two days earlier.

The child spent 65 hours in the wreckage of her apartment and became the 106th person to be rescued alive, the state-run

Muammer Celik of Istanbul's search-and-rescue team told NTV television that he thought Elif was dead when he reached the child inside the wreckage.

"There was dust on her face, her face was white," he said. "When I cleaned the dust from her face, she opened her eyes. I was astonished. It was a miracle, it was a true miracle."

The girl would not let go of my hand throughout the rescue operation, Celik said, adding: "I am now her big brother".

There was some debate over the magnitude of the earthquake. The US Geological Survey rated it 7.0, while Istanbul's Kandilli Institute put it at 6.9 and Turkey's emergency management agency said it measured 6.6.

The quake triggered a small tsunami that hit Samos and the Seferihisar district of Izmir, drowning one elderly woman. The tremors were felt across western Turkey, including in Istanbul as well as in the Greek capital of Athens. Hundreds of aftershocks followed.

Turkey has a mix of older buildings and cheap or illegal construction, which can lead to serious damage and deaths when earthquakes hit. Regulations have been tightened in light of earthquakes to strengthen or demolish older buildings and urban renewal is under way in Turkish cities, but it is not happening fast enough.

Turkey sits on top of fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. In 1999, two powerful quakes killed some 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey. Earthquakes are frequent in Greece as well.

Veteran British journalist Robert Fisk dies at 74

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 10:21:00 +0000

Veteran British journalist Robert Fisk has died at the age of 74, The Guardian reported late on Sunday.

has died at the age of 74, The Guardian reported late on Sunday.

Fisk was admitted to St Vincent’s hospital in Dublin on Friday after suffering a suspected stroke and died shortly afterwards, according to a report on the BBC.

Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar expressed sadness on the journalist's death. "A fearless journalist who understood the Middle East better than almost any other Western journalist and wrote the truth with clarity and without fear," he said.

Renowned historian William Dalrymple said the late journalist was "fearless" and his book Pity the Nation was "extraordinary".

Fisk started his career at the Sunday Express before moving to The Times, working as their correspondent in Belfast during the Northern Ireland conflict.

In 1976, Fisk became the Middle East correspondent for the paper, covering the Lebanese civil war, the Iranian revolution, the Iran-Iraq war and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

He switched to The Independent in 1989 where he continued to work until his death. The paper said "Fisk was renowned for his courage in questioning official narratives from governments and publishing what he uncovered in frequently brilliant prose."

The paper's managing director said: "Fearless, uncompromising, determined and utterly committed to uncovering the truth and reality at all costs, Robert Fisk was the greatest journalist of his generation. The fire he lit at The Independent will burn on."

Fisk spoke Arabic fluently and interviewed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden twice, according to the publication.

He was also the author of several books on Northern Ireland and the Middle East, including Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War and The Great War for Civilisation.

Fisk won various awards, including the Orwell Prize for Journalism, Amnesty Award and multiple wins at the British Press Awards in the categories of international reporter of the year and foreign reporter of the year.

The New York Times in an article in 2005 said Fisk was "probably the most famous foreign correspondent in Britain".

Fisk went on to take Irish citizenship, according to The Independent.

Ireland President Michael D Higgins said "with [Fisk's] passing the world of journalism and informed commentary on the Middle East has lost one of its finest commentators."

Trump threatens to fire Dr Fauci in rift with disease expert

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 07:59:00 +0000

US President Donald Trump has suggested that he will fire Dr Anthony Fauci after Tuesday’s election, as his rift with the nation’s top infectious disease expert widens while the nation sees its most alarming outbreak of the coronavirus since the spring.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Opa-locka, Florida, Trump expressed frustration that the surging cases of the virus — that has killed more than 230,000 Americans so far this year — remains prominent in the news, sparking chants of “Fire Fauci” from his supporters.

“Don’t tell anybody but let me wait until a little bit after the election,” Trump replied to thousands of supporters just after midnight Monday, adding he appreciated their “advice”.

Trump’s comments on Fauci less than 48 hours before polls close all but assure that his handling of the pandemic will remain front and centre heading into Election Day.

It’s the most direct Trump has been in suggesting he was serious about trying to remove Fauci from his position. He has previously expressed that he was concerned about the political blowback of removing the popular and respected doctor before Election Day.

Trump’s comments come after Fauci leveled his sharpest criticism yet of the White House’s response to the coronavirus and Trump’s public assertion that the nation is “rounding the turn” on the virus.

Fauci has grown outspoken that Trump has ignored his advice for containing the virus, saying he hasn’t spoken with Trump in more than a month. He has raised alarm that the nation was heading for a challenging winter if more isn’t done soon to slow the spread of the disease.

In an interview with the Washington Post this weekend, Fauci cautioned that the US will have to deal with “a whole lot of hurt” in the weeks ahead due to surging coronavirus cases.

Fauci said the US “could not possibly be positioned more poorly” to stem rising cases as more people gather indoors during the colder fall and winter months. He says the US will need to make an “abrupt change” in public health precautions.

Fauci added that he believed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden “is taking it seriously from a public health perspective” while Trump is “looking at it from a different perspective”. Fauci, who’s on the White House coronavirus task force, said that perspective emphasises “the economy and reopening the country”.

In response, White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump always puts people’s well-being first and Deere charges that Fauci has decided “to play politics” right before Tuesday’s election. Deere said Fauci “has a duty to express concerns or push for a change in strategy” but instead is “choosing to criticise the president in the media and make his political leanings known”.

Trump in recent days has stepped up his attacks on Biden for pledging to heed the advice of scientists in responding to the pandemic. Trump has claimed Biden would “lock down” the nation once again. Biden has promised to heed the warnings of Fauci and other medical professionals but has not endorsed another national lockdown.

Trump has recently relied on the advice of Stanford doctor Scott Atlas, who has no prior background in infectious diseases or public health, as his lead science adviser on the pandemic. Atlas has been a public skeptic about mask wearing and other measures widely accepted by the scientific community to slow the spread of the virus.

Other members of the White House coronavirus task force have grown increasingly vocal about what they see as a dangerous fall spike in the virus.

Minister slammed Minister slammed over Taliban attack remarksover Taliban attack remarks

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 07:53:00 +0000

ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) on Sunday reacted strongly to the recent remarks of Minister for Interior retired Brigadier Ijaz Shah in which he had allegedly warned the opposition of attacks by the Taliban.

While the PPP sought an apology from the interior minister over his remarks, the ANP called for his “immediate resignation”.

In a statement, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, the spokesman for PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, termed the minister’s statement a violation of the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism and asked the latter to apologise to the entire nation and the workers of political parties who were killed by terrorists during the war against terrorism.

Speaking at a ceremony at his hometown Nankana Sahib, the interior minister had said the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan had in reaction to the ANP’s policies on terrorism attacked the party leadership and killed many of its leaders, including Bashir Bilour and the son of Mian Iftikhar.

PPP demands apology, ANP the resignation of Ijaz Shah

“Today, I pray for the safety of those following the N-League’s narrative and wish for them to get divine’s guidance,” Brig Shah had stated in his speech which went viral on social media.

Senator Khokhar was of the view that threatening the opposition with possible attacks by the Taliban was not only against NAP, but it could also create difficulties for the country at the international level.

“These kinds of irresponsible statements by the federal ministers have already caused a difficult situation for Pakistan in Financial Action Task Force (FATF),” he said, adding that the ministers through such statements were in fact “validating” the allegations being levelled against Pakistan by the world.

Mr Khokhar said it was proved that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto had correctly named Ijaz Shah as “one of her killers”.

Due to this dual policy and actions, the world does not recognise the sacrifices offered by thousands of our army troops and citizens,” he said, adding that Ijaz Shah should ask for pardon from the entire nation and the martyrs of the PPP, ANP and other political parties.

“Why the people who issue certificates of treason are silent over this statement of Ijaz Shah?” he asked.

Mr Khokhar said the nation was now aware of the reality of the allegation of treason and would soon hold Ijaz Shah and his “selected patron” accountable.

The ANP demanded resignation of the interior minister and formation of a truth commission over such an “irresponsible statement”.

Through its official social media account on Twitter, the ANP quoted the party’s provincial chief Aimal Wali Khan as stating at a public meeting in Buner Nawagai that the ANP not only called for formation of a truth commission over sacrifices of the Pakhtuns but also demanded resignation of the interior minister within 10 days. He said the ANP had always opposed the “good and bad Taliban” distinction.

Iftikhar's 5-wicket haul helps Pakistan bowl Zimbabwe for 206

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 11:41:00 +0000

Off-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed took a maiden five-wicket haul as Pakistan skittled Zimbabwe for 206 in the second one-day international in Rawalpindi on Sunday.

The 30-year-old finished with 5-40 as Zimbabwe — who won the toss and opted to bat — lost their way from a well-set 3-120 after the halfway mark and were bowled out in 45.1 overs.

Left-hander Sean Williams, who top-scored with a 70-ball 75 and Brendan Taylor (36) were repairing the innings from 59-3 during a fourth-wicket stand of 61 before Ahmed struck.

Ahmed, who had only one wicket from his previous five ODIs, had Taylor caught off a miscued sweep at the boundary to start the slide, which saw tourists lose their last seven wickets for 86 runs.

Taylor, who made a fighting 112 in Zimbabwe's 26-run defeat in the first match here on Friday, hit two sixes and three boundaries in his 45-ball knock.

Ahmed then removed Wesley Madhevere (10), Sikandar Raza (two) and Tendai Chisoro (seven) to leave Zimbabwe struggling at 150-7.

Williams, who completed his 32nd 50 off 47 balls, holed out to Ahmed at long-off, to end his lone fight. He smashed 10 boundaries and a six.

The three-match series is part of the One-Day Super League, the first qualifying round for the 2023 World Cup. Currently, Pakistan have the upper hand having won the first ODI against Zimbabwe on Friday.

In today's match, Pakistan handed ODI debuts to batsman Haider Ali and paceman Musa Khan in two changes from the first game while Zimbabwe kept an unchanged eleven.

'Stay at home': Johnson locks down England for a month as UK Covid-19 cases pass 1 million

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 11:38:00 +0000

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered England back into a national lockdown after the country passed the milestone of one million Covid-19 cases and a second wave of infections threatened to overwhelm the health service.

The United Kingdom, which has the biggest official death toll in Europe from Covid-19, is grappling with more than 20,000 new coronavirus cases a day and scientists have warned the “worst case” scenario of 80,000 dead could be exceeded.

Johnson, at a hastily convened news conference in Downing Street on Saturday after news of a lockdown leaked to local media, said that the one-month lockdown across England would kick in after midnight on Thursday morning and last until Dec 2.

In some of the most onerous restrictions in Britain’s peacetime history, people will only be allowed to leave home for specific reasons such as education, work, exercise, shopping for essentials and medicines or caring for the vulnerable.

“We must act now,” Johnson said, flanked by his chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, and his chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance. “Unless we act, we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day.”

The government will revive its emergency coronavirus wage subsidy scheme to ensure workers who are temporarily laid off during a new England-wide lockdown receive 80 per cent of their pay, he said.

Essential shops, schools, and universities will remain open, Johnson said, and while elite sports will continue, amateur sports for adults and children will be asked to stop.

Places of worship will remain open for private prayer, though funerals will be limited to close family members only.

Johnson’s imposition of stricter curbs came after scientists warned the outbreak was going in the wrong direction and that action was needed to halt the spread of the virus if families were to have any hope of gathering at Christmas.

Europe locked down

The measures bring England into alignment with France and Germany by imposing nationwide restrictions almost as severe as the ones that drove the global economy this year into its deepest recession in generations.

Johnson was criticised by political opponents for moving too slowly into the first national lockdown, which stretched from March 23 to July 4. He fell ill with Covid in late March and was hospitalised in early April.

A national lockdown represents a dramatic change of policy for the prime minister, who has been saying for months that it will not be necessary.

Two weeks ago he defended his strategy of a patchwork of local restrictions by saying he wanted to avoid the “misery of a national lockdown”. Currently, areas of England are subject to one of three tiers of coronavirus restrictions.

“I am optimistic that this will feel very different and better by the spring,” Johnson said, adding that there was realistic hope of a vaccine in the first quarter of next year.

Asked by reporters what took him so long to impose a national lockdown, Johnson said it was a constant struggle to balance the risk to life and the risk to livelihoods.

“We have to mindful the whole time of the scarring and the long-term economic impact of the measures,” Johnson said. His medical adviser Whitty said that without the tougher measures then the National Health Service could be overwhelmed.

Keir Starmer, the opposition Labour leader, who called for a lockdown two weeks ago, said the delay introducing the restrictions will come “at an economic cost and a human cost”.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on the proposals on Wednesday.

The new lockdown will heap more pressure on finance minister Rishi Sunak and the Bank of England to increase their already huge support for the UK economy, the world’s sixth-biggest. The economy slumped a record 20pc in the spring.

So far, the United Kingdom has reported 46,555 Covid-19 deaths — defined as those dying within 28 days of a positive test. A broader measure of those with Covid-19 on their death certificates puts the toll at 58,925.

The United Kingdom has the world’s fifth-largest official death toll, after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

Man rescued from rubble after 33 hours as Turkey quake death toll hits 51

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 11:10:00 +0000

A 70-year-old man was pulled from the rubble of a flattened building in western Turkey early on Sunday after being buried under the debris for 33 hours following a powerful earthquake that struck the country's Aegean coast and Greek islands.

The death toll from Friday afternoon's quake rose to 51. Turkish authorities have announced 49 deaths in the coastal city of Izmir, while two teenagers died on the Greek island of Samos.

The man, identified as Ahmet Citim, was rescued from the rubble of the residential “Riza Bey” building, one of the 20 residencies that collapsed during the earthquake.

The Turkish province of Izmir was shaken by an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 which struck the country's Aegean coast and Greek islands on Friday. The quake caused a mini-tsunami on the Aegean island of Samos and a sea surge that turned streets into rushing rivers in one Turkish coastal town.

Officials said 20 buildings were destroyed in Izmir's Bayrakli district which was in the process of urban transformation due to lack of earthquake resistance. Rescue workers are still trying to save people trapped under the debris.

Turkey is crossed by fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. In 1999, two powerful quakes killed 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey.

The Friday earthquake, which the Istanbul-based Kandilli Institute said had a magnitude of 6.9, was centered in the Aegean Sea, northeast of Samos.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 885 people had been injured, 15 of them critically.

'I will play violin for you'

Sixteen-year-old Inci Okan was trapped under the rubble of the same eight-story building as the elderly man before being rescued 17 hours after the strong quake, along with her dog Fistik (Pistachio).

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE) member Edanur Dogan visited Okan at hospital.

Emergency worker Dogan had held the girl's hand while rescue teams removed the debris above her.

“I am very happy. Thankfully my father was not at home. My father couldn't fit there. He would hurt his head. I am tiny. I am short so I squeezed in and that's how I was rescued. We stayed home with my dog. Both of us are well,” Okan said from her hospital bed.

Okan promised to play the violin for Dogan after being discharged from hospital.

“I will play the violin for you, I promise.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and offered condolences and "all possible support and assistance" to Turkey.

According to a statement by the PM Office, the prime minister had assured President Erdogan that Pakistanis will stand by their "Turkish brothers and sisters" just like Turkey stood by Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake.

Opposition speaking against army, ISI chiefs proves my selection was absolutely right: PM Imran

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 11:05:00 +0000

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that the fact that the opposition was criticising the chiefs of Pakistan Army and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) proved that he had appointed the right people to the posts.

The premier, who arrived in Gilgit-Baltistan in the afternoon to mark the 73rd Independence Day of the region, was speaking to the attendees and participants of the Azadi Parade.

"If these thieves [opposition] are speaking against them, it means they [chiefs] are the right people," he said, responding to the recent remarks from the opposition camp.

PML-N supremo and disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif, in his speeches from London while addressing the anti-government rallies of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), has alleged that Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed orchestrated his government's ouster in 2017 and rigged the 2018 general elections to "impose the ‘incompetent’ Imran Khan" on the nation.

The premier as well government ministers reacted strongly to Nawaz's accusations and blasted the opposition parties for what they said was "promoting the enemies’ narrative" and attacking the state institutions.

Ayaz Sadiq's comments

Referring to PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq's comments earlier this week in which he suggested that the PTI government had released Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in capitulation, Prime Minister Imran said that the opposition leaders were speaking the language of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I received congratulatory messages from leaders across the globe for how Pakistan conducted itself after Pulwama and today, he [Sadiq] is saying that Pakistan acted out of fear — which was the basis of Modi's entire election campaign.

"And the entire purpose behind this is to blackmail Imran Khan so that he looks past their looted wealth and gives them an (National Reconciliation Ordinance) NRO.

"I want to tell my nation today that Imran Khan will never forgive these dacoits."

"The way in which they attacked the judiciary [...] they are trying to elevate one judge," he said, alleging that when they — who have "run away abroad" — are cleared in cases, like in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills money laundering reference, then the judiciary is correct but when the verdicts are against them, then the judiciary is wrong.

"Similarly, the pressure on the army is only there so that we forgive them."

A new province

"I am very happy that I am here for a second time to celebrate this day with you and it will be my effort for as long as I am prime minister to spend this day with you," he said at the start of his address after taking part in the parade.

"I want to pay tribute to GB scouts and those shuhada (martyrs) who gave sacrifices and freed this region. I wanted to congratulate people of GB on another thing: our decision to give GB provincial status. This decision has been taken while keeping in view the UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions."

He said he could not speak in detail about a development package because of the upcoming elections but assured the people that his government would prioritise helping the poor and people from underdeveloped areas.

'Modi govt trying to create chaos'

The premier stated that the incumbent Indian government was the "most extreme" government in 73 years and hated Muslims and Pakistan. He said that laws enacted by the Indian government — the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens — were targeted at Indian Muslims, adding that no government had done to Kashmir what this "extremist, racist, totalitarian" government had done.

He emphasised that this was why Pakistan needed a strong army. "There is no week when our soldiers do not sacrifice their lives. From our merged districts to Balochistan and sometimes even in Karachi, planned terrorism is being carried out. Who is standing in front of them? Our army and security forces.

"We know that Narendra Modi's government is trying to [create chaos] not only through terrorism but through Shia-Sunni conflict. They planned to spread chaos by killing Shia and Sunni scholars. I pay tribute to our army who destroyed these plans."

Focus on law

The prime minister said that so far, all his focus had been on fixing the economy which was now "set on the right direction". He added that his focus now would be on upholding the law.

"I will look at the state institutions myself so that powerful convicts of the country trying to blackmail are brought into the ambit of the law. You will see in the coming days whose legs shake and whose forehead sweats."

GB visit

The prime minister will visit the national park in Astore and review the work being done on the Diamer-Bhasha dam, according to the Prime Minister's Office.

Every year on November 1, the region of Gilgit-Baltistan officially celebrates its independence from Kashmir’s Dogra family rule. Gilgit was liberated on November 1, 1947 while Baltistan was freed in 1948 as a result of a bloody freedom war.

However, the struggle to integrate the region in Pakistan continues.

Various governments in Pakistan have tried in the past to regulate the issues of GB through reforms and executive orders. Recently, the region has come under the spotlight again when the federal government announced plans to give GB provincial status.

The decision to make GB a province of Pakistan was taken about four months ago, said Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur on Saturday. “It was amazing for me to hear that the GB people had liberated themselves from the Dogra rule and decided to annex the region to Pakistan unconditionally,” he said.

26 dead, buildings collapse as major quake hits Turkey, Greece

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 04:57:00 +0000

Rescuers dug through heavy blocks of concrete with their bare hands on Saturday in a desperate search for survivors from a powerful earthquake that levelled buildings across Greece and Turkey, killing at least 26 people.

The quake struck late on Friday afternoon, causing a mini-tsunami on the Aegean island of Samos and a sea surge that turned streets into rushing rivers in a town on Turkey's west coast.

The US Geological Survey said the 7.0 magnitude tremor hit 14 kilometres off the Greek town of Karlovasi on Samos.

Felt in both Istanbul and Athens, it also created a diplomatic opening for the two historic rivals, with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis placing a rare call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to offer his condolences and support.

Hospital patients on street

Much of the damage occurred in and around Turkey's Aegean resort city of Izmir, which has three million residents and is filled with high-rise apartment blocks.

Parts of entire apartments, including toys, pillows and shattered appliances, spilled out on the streets, where survivors huddled in tears, many too shocked to speak.

Aerial footage showed entire city blocks turned to rubble.

“I thought: Is it going to end? It felt like 10 minutes, like it was never going to end,” said Gokhan Kan, a 32-year-old courier. “I was terrified not for myself in that moment but for my family, my wife and four-year-old son.”

Izmir's mayor Tunc Soyer told CNN Turk that 20 buildings had collapsed, with officials focusing their rescue efforts on 17 of them.

Turkey's disaster relief agency reported 24 deaths and 800 injuries, while in Greece two teenagers died on their way home from school on Samos when a wall collapsed.

The scenes of devastation suggested the toll could rise.

One Izmir hospital rolled some of its patients — still strapped into their beds and hooked up to drips — out on the street as a precaution.

Turkey's religious affairs directorate opened its mosques to help shelter some of those left homeless by the disaster.

Remain calm

Images on social media showed water rushing through the streets of one of the towns near Izmir from an apparent sea surge.

Thick white plumes of smoke towered over various parts of the city where big buildings had collapsed.

Rescuers, helped by residents and sniffer dogs, used chainsaws to try to force their way through the rubble of one destroyed seven-floor building.

At another site, Agriculture Minister Bekir Pakdemirli managed to establish mobile phone contact with a girl buried under the debris.

“We ask you to remain calm,” he told her in televised footage. “We will try to lift the concrete block and reach you.” NTV television said up to six people were trapped at the site, including the girl's cousin.

The region's governor said 70 people had been pulled out alive by Friday evening, although how many more were missing remained unknown by sunset.

Rescuers set up tents in a small park away from the cracked and damaged buildings for families to spend the night in safety and relative warmth.

“Because we live in Izmir, we have pretty warm weather, we can make it through today, we can make it through tomorrow,” said Cemalettin Enginyurt, a retired soldier. “But we can't think of anything on the long term, we are helpless.”

'Earthquake diplomacy'

On the Greek island of Samos, near the quake's epicentre, people rushed out into the streets in panic.

“It was chaos,” said deputy mayor Giorgos Dionysiou. “We have never experienced anything like this.”

The Greek civil protection agency told Samos residents in a text message to “stay out in the open and away from buildings”.

Greece and Turkey are situated in one of the world's most active earthquake zones. The two neighbours also suffer from historically poor relations despite both being members of the Nato military alliance.

But the quake saw a spurt of what pundits immediately termed “earthquake diplomacy”, with calls exchanged by their foreign ministers and then, hours later, the Greek prime minister and Erdogan.

“Whatever our differences, these are times when our people need to stand together,” Mitsotakis said on Twitter.

“Thank you, prime minister,” Erdogan tweeted in reply. “That two neighbours show solidarity in difficult times is more valuable than many things in life.”

The US State Department said Washington was “heartened” by the newfound cooperation. France, whose President Emmanuel Macron has sparred repeatedly with Erdogan in the past year, said it stood in “full solidarity” with the two countries.

In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey's northwest, killing more than 17,000 people, including 1,000 in Istanbul. In Greece, the last deadly quake killed two people on the island of Kos, near Samos, in July 2017.

A battlefield behind your home': Deaths mount in New York to more than 1,900

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 07:54:00 +0000

New York rushed to bring in an army of medical volunteers on Wednesday as the statewide death toll from the coronavirus doubled in 72 hours to more than 1,900 and the wail of ambulances in the otherwise eerily quiet streets of the city became the heartbreaking soundtrack of the crisis.

As hot spots flared around the US in places like New Orleans and Southern California, the nation's biggest city was the hardest-hit of them all, with bodies loaded onto refrigerated morgue trucks by gurney and forklift outside overwhelmed hospitals, in full view of passing motorists.

"It's like a battlefield behind your home,” said 33-year-old Emma Sorza, who could hear the sirens from severely swamped Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.

And the worst is yet to come.

"How does it end? And people want answers,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. “I want answers. The answer is nobody knows for sure."

President Donald Trump acknowledged that the federal stockpile is nearly depleted of personal protective equipment used by doctors and nurses and warned of trying times to come.

"Difficult days are ahead for our nation,” he said. We're going to have a couple of weeks, starting pretty much now, but especially a few days from now that are going to be horrific."

Scientists offered more evidence on Wednesday that the coronavirus can be spread by seemingly healthy people who show no clear symptoms, leading the US government to issue new guidance warning that anyone exposed to the disease can be considered a potential carrier.

Stocks tumbled on Wall Street and markets around the world, a day after the White House warned Americans to brace for 100,000 to 240,000 deaths projected in the US before the crisis is over.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 970 points, or over 4 per cent.

A new report on Wednesday from the United Nations said the global economy could shrink by almost 1pc this year instead of growing at a projected 2.5pc.

Under growing pressure, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis belatedly joined his counterparts in more than 30 states in issuing a statewide stay-home order. The governors of Pennsylvania, Nevada and Mississippi took similar steps.

Trump said his administration has agreed to ship out 1,000 breathing machines vital for treating severe cases of Covid-19. He said the US government has kept close hold on its stockpile of nearly 10,000 ventilators so they can be deployed quickly to states in need.

Meanwhile, European nations facing extraordinary demand for intensive care beds are putting up makeshift hospitals, unsure whether they will find enough healthy medical staff to run them.

London is days away from unveiling a 4,000-bed temporary hospital built in a huge convention centre.

In a remarkable turnabout, rich economies where virus cases have exploded are welcoming help from less wealthy ones.

Russia sent medical equipment and masks to the United States. Cuba supplied doctors to France. Turkey dispatched protective gear and disinfectant to Italy and Spain.

Worldwide, more than 900,000 people have been infected and over 45,000 have died, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University, though the real figures are believed to be much higher because of testing shortages, differences in counting the dead and large numbers of mild cases that have gone unreported.

The US recorded about 210,000 infections and about 4,800 deaths, with New York City accounting for about 1 out of 4 dead.

More than 80,000 people have volunteered as medical reinforcements in New York, including recent retirees, health care professionals taking a break from their regular jobs and people between gigs.

The few who have hit the ground already found a hospital system being driven to the breaking point.

"Its hard when you lose patients. Its hard when you have to tell the family members: I'm sorry, but we did everything that we could," said nurse Katherine Ramos of Cape Coral, Florida, who has been working at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

“Its even harder when we really don't have the time to mourn, the time to talk about this."

To ease the crushing caseload, the city's paramedics have been told they shouldn't take fatal heart attack victims to hospitals to have them pronounced dead.

Patients have been transferred to the Albany area.

A Navy hospital ship has docked in New York, the mammoth Javits Convention Centre has been turned into a hospital, and the tennis centre that hosts the US Open is being converted to one, too.

On near lockdown, the normally bustling streets in the city of 8.6 million are empty, and sirens are no longer easily ignored as just urban background noise.

"After 9/11, I remember we actually wanted to hear the sound of ambulances on our quiet streets because that meant there were survivors, but we didn't hear those sounds, and it was heartbreaking.

"Today, I hear an ambulance on my strangely quiet street and my heart breaks, too," said 61-year-old Meg Gifford, a former Wall Streeter who lives on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Nearly 6,200 New York City police officers, or one-sixth of the department, were out sick on Wednesday, including about 4,800 who reported flu-like systems, though it was not clear how many had the virus.

Cuomo said projections suggest the crisis in New York will peak at the end of April, with a high death rate continuing through July.

"Let's cooperate to address that in New York because it's going to be in your town tomorrow,” he warned.

“If we learn how to do it right here or learn how to do it the best we can, because there is no right, it's only the best we can then we can work cooperatively all across this country."

In Southern California, officials reported that at least 51 residents and six staff members at a nursing home east of Los Angeles have been infected and two have died.

Mayor Eric Garcetti warned residents of the nation's second largest city to wear non-medical grade masks whenever they go outside.

The number of dead topped 270 in Louisiana, Grand Canyon National Park closed to visitors indefinitely, and Florida was locked in a standoff over whether two cruise ships with sick and dead passengers may dock in the state.

Even as the virus appears to have slowed its growth in overwhelmed Italy and in China, where it first emerged, hospitals on the Continent are buckling under the load.

“We don't have enough masks, enough protective equipment, and by the end of the week we might be in need of more medication too," said Paris emergency worker Christophe Prudhomme.

Spain reported a record 864 deaths in one day, for a total of more than 9,000, while France registered an unprecedented 509 and more than 4,000 in all.

In Italy, with over 13,000 dead, the most of any country, morgues overflowed with bodies, caskets piled up in churches and doctors were forced to decide which desperately ill patients would get breathing machines.

England's Wimbledon tennis tournament was canceled for the first time since World War II.

India's highest court ordered news media and social media sites to carry the governments official version of developments, echoing actions taken in other countries to curb independent reporting.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to order law enforcement to shoot troublemakers and stop massive food and cash aid if there are riots and people defy a lockdown imposed on millions.

Duterte, who has been condemned for a brutal anti-drug crackdown that left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead, also said he would ask police to punish people who attack health workers with toxic chemicals by dousing the offenders with the substance or forcing them to drink it.

The strain facing some of the world's best health care systems has been aggravated by hospital budget cuts over the past decade in Italy, Spain, France and Britain. They have called in medical students, retired doctors and even laid-off flight attendants with first aid training.

The staffing shortage has been worsened by the high numbers of infected personnel.

In Italy alone, nearly 10,000 medical workers have contracted the virus and more than 60 doctors have died.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with health problems, it can cause severe symptoms like pneumonia.

Academic Junaid Hafeez sentenced to death on blasphemy charges by Multan court

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Sat, 21 Dec 2019 13:05:00 +0000

A district and sessions court on Saturday sentenced Junaid Hafeez, a former university lecturer in Multan, to death on blasphemy charges.

Formerly a visiting lecturer at the Department of English Literature of the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Multan, Hafeez was booked on blasphemy charges and was arrested by police on March 13, 2013. The trial of the case started in 2014.

According to Amnesty International, Hafeez, who was also in the process of getting a graduate degree in English Literature, was charged with blasphemy over Facebook uploads.

Read: The untold story of Pakistan’s blasphemy law

Additional Sessions Judge Kashif Qayyum sentenced Hafeez to death and a fine of Rs0.5 million under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC); in case of default he will undergo further imprisonment of six months.

He was also sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 295-B, and 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs100,000 under Section 295-A of the PPC.

According to the court's short judgement, "All the sentences shall run consecutively and the accused would not be entitled to the benefit of Section 382-B CrPC because in case of blasphemer, this court has got no circumstance for taking [a] lenient view and it is also not permitted in Islam."

Under Section 382-B of the Criminal Procedure Code, the period of detention of a prisoner has to be considered in the prison term when a person is convicted by a trial court.

The defence attorney told the Associated Press his client was wrongly convicted and that the verdict would be appealed.

Hafeez has been lodged in the high-security ward number 2 of New Central Jail Multan.

His previous lawyer, Rashid Rehman, was shot dead in May 2014 in his office. At least seven judges were transferred through the course of Hafeez's case.

The testimonies of a total of 15 witnesses were recorded in the case, the trial of which was shifted to the Multan Central Jail in April 2014 by the provincial home department due to security concerns.

Examine: A living hell

Prosecutor Athar Bukhari said Hafeez had spent three years in the United States under a special programme for Pakistani educators.

The prosecutor said investigators retrieved anti-religions material from Hafeez's laptop after his arrest.

The academic's parents had earlier this year appealed to former chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa to look into their son's case. They sought justice for their son, fearing for his mental and physical health.

They had said their son had been languishing in solitary confinement in a cell of the Central Jail, Multan, for the last six years on the false charge of blasphemy.

“Due to transfer of many judges, delaying tactics of prosecution witnesses, and difficulties finding adequate legal counsel for the defence because of the sensitive nature of the case, our son continues to await justice in a fabricated case,” Hafeez's parents had said in a written appeal to the chief justice.

'Unfortunate verdict'

Hafeez's family and counsels in a statement said today's was "an unfortunate verdict which has less to do with the legal merits of the case and more with the sociopolitical environment in which the lower judiciary operates and for which no one seems to care".

"The prospect of Hafeez getting even a semblance of fair trial came into question when his counsel Rashid Rehman was brutally murdered inside his chambers. Those involved in the murder were never apprehended. Rehman's murder resulted in a wave of fear, putting off other lawyers from taking up his defence. The failure to apprehend those who shot Rehman dead signalled impunity for other would-be vigilantes," the statement said.

"Could any judge in such circumstances take the risk of doing justice? Those who could were transferred from the district or brought under pressure by groups of lawyers operating as mafias."

The statement said Hafeez has already spent over six years in solitary confinement prior to conviction "which amounts in itself to cruel and inhuman punishment".

"We feel the case was wholly unnecessarily prolonged defying all legal norms. Seven judges were transferred in six years of the trial," it added.

The statement said an appeal against the verdict will soon be filed in the high court, and that it was hoped that "justice will be served without delay".

How it began

Junaid bid farewell to studying medicine at the King Edward Medical College after his first year of MBBS and entered BZU to pursue a degree in English literature, according to a Zee Info World report.

At the BZU, he stood first, shattering a 38-year-old record by scoring a 3.99 GPA in BA Honours.

Junaid was one of five Pakistani students selected under the Fulbright Scholarship Programme to complete their Masters from the United States.

Related: Junaid Hafeez: condemned forever?

Junaid proceeded to Jackson State University, where he studied American literature, photography and theatre.

After returning home, he rejoined the BZU’s literature department, this time as a lecturer. Despite the conservative environment on campus, Junaid found secular space and academic freedom in the department, which was headed at the time by Shirin Zubair.

Junaid would often invite women-rights activists on campus to deliver guest lectures and engage with students.

One of those was Qaisra Shahraz, who penned the award-winning PTV drama serial Dil he to hai. At her guest lecture at BZU, which was arranged after securing permission from the university’s vice chancellor, some students accused Hafeez and Shahraz of having passed blasphemous remarks. Later, Junaid was also charged with ‘supporting’ the themes in Shahraz’s novels.

The blasphemy allegations put Junaid behind bars while Zubair had to flee Pakistan.

One of the witnesses later produced by the prosecution to testify against Junaid reiterated the same accusations that were levelled at them back in BZU. Junaid’s lawyer brought Shahraz’s books to court and asked the witness to pinpoint the blasphemous content to the judge. The witness couldn’t — he could neither read nor understand English.

When the Multan police registered a case against Junaid, they did so based on some printouts of offensive material attributed to Junaid, which the defence attorney believes was doctored. Junaid was arrested from Lahore and brought back to Multan. Later, he was shifted to Sahiwal jail. His computer was seized and the police forced him to reveal his login details — without any court order and due process as required under the law.

The Multan police subsequently interpreted the content and decided what was blasphemous and what was not.

Blasphemy in Pakistan

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, with even unproven allegations often prompting mob violence. Anyone convicted, or even just accused, of insulting Islam, risks a violent and bloody death at the hands of vigilantes.

Rights groups have said the blasphemy laws are routinely abused to seek vengeance and settle personal scores.

In 2017, a mob in Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan beat up a student, Mashal Khan, to death after accusing him of blasphemy over social media.

Meanwhile, last year, the Supreme Court acquitted Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman earlier condemned to death on blasphemy charges, after accepting her appeal against her sentence. So far, no one has been executed for blasphemy in the country.

Money from £190 million settlement to be used for social welfare, clarifies PM's aide

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 11:35:00 +0000

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar clarified on Friday that £190 million, from a settlement between Malik Riaz's family and the UK government, will be used by the federal government for social welfare.

"Settlement agreement also entails selling 1 Hyde Park and transferring its proceeds to State of Pakistan. Money is transferred into Supreme Court of Pakistan's National Bank of Pakistan account. Federal Govt has made an application to SCP for release of this money to the federal government for spending it on social welfare and for the poor," he said.

On Tuesday, the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) agreed to a civil settlement with the family of property tycoon Malik Riaz.

The NCA accepted a settlement offer of £190 million, which includes a UK property – 1 Hyde Park

Place, London, W2 2LH – valued at approximately £50 million and all of the funds in nine frozen accounts.

In an official statement, the agency stated that the funds would be handed over to Pakistan.

Akbar's clarification on Friday comes after questions were raised whether the money from the settlement was going to be used to pay Riaz's fine, which was imposed on him by the Supreme Court in March. The top court had accepted Bahria Town Karachi's Rs460 billion offer for the lands it occupies in Malir district of Karachi and restrained the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from filing references against it.

Akbar, via Twitter, reiterated that the government of Pakistan has signed a deed of confidentiality and cannot comment on the intricacies of the case, saying: "GOP has signed a confidentiality agreement to not divulge beyond this on the matter."

However, he added that the government is currently involved in similar matters with other governments and expecting recovery worth millions of dollars.

'Govt encourages settlements, does not wish to jail citizens'

Akbar at a press conference in Islamabad on Thursday had stated that the government encourages agreements in civil cases and does not wish to keep people in jail.

Speaking alongside federal minister Murad Saeed, Akbar maintained that this was the first time in Pakistan's history that money had been repatriated from another country through the legal process.

"It is important to note that the settlement was reached in a civil case not a criminal case," he clarified.

“The money has been transferred to the Supreme Court and we have already filed a request before the apex court that the money should be given to us [state of Pakistan],” Akbar said at the joint press conference and later confirmed it during a private TV talk show.

Separately, he told Zee Info World that out of 190m pounds, 140m pounds had been transferred while 50m pounds would be received later when a property of 1 Hyde Park [owned by Malik Riaz] would be sold.

Verdict on Imran’s acquittal in PTV attack case delayed

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 09:59:00 +0000

ISLAMABAD: Perhaps due to lack of coordination among lawyers for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) could not announce its decision on the acquittal plea of Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Parliament House and PTV attack cases.

ATC Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan had last month reserved verdict in the case which was supposed to be announced on Thursday.

PTI leaders, including President Dr Arif Alvi, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak, Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood and Minister for Planning Asad Umar had withdrawn identical petitions to save the court from taking time to decide so many petitions.

However, when the proceeding was resumed on Thursday, a court official said dozens of PTI workers were also seeking same relief and it was not possible for the judge to decide the single petition and keep the others pending.

This was due to the fact that the legal team of the PTI did not make any effort for withdrawal of the petitions pending even before Mr Khan applied for the acquittal.

Subsequently, the court observed that the case would be decided after hearing all other applicants.

Further hearing in the petition was adjourned to Dec 12.Police had invoked Anti-Terrorism Act against PTI chief Imran Khan, Arif Alvi, Asad Umar, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Shafqat Mehmood,

Ejaz Chaudhry and others for inciting violence during the 2014 sit-in.

Published in Zee Info World, December 6th, 2019

Moody’s upgrades outlook for five banks to ‘stable’

noreply@blogger.com (Zee info worlds) — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 09:57:00 +0000

KARACHI: Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday changed the outlook of five leading banks from ‘negative’ to ‘stable’ and affirmed their existing B3 long-term local currency deposit ratings.

The banks include Allied Bank Ltd (ABL), Habib Bank Ltd (HBL), MCB Bank Ltd, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and United Bank Ltd (UBL), according to an announcement by the New York-based rating agency.

The rating actions follow Moody’s decision on Dec 2 to affirm B3 rating for the Government of Pakistan and change the outlook on the sovereign rating to stable from negative and reflect reduced external vulnerability risks and ongoing fiscal reforms.

However, the banks’ outlook was changed mainly due to high exposures to the government securities which is almost risk-free and high yielding.

“The banks’ rating actions reflect improvements in the operating environment in Pakistan and in the country’s sovereign credit profile, which affect the banks’ given their high government exposures that link their credit profiles to that of the government and the expectation that the government’s capacity to support banks in case of need will not deteriorate,” said the agency.

The primary driver of Moody’s decision to change the outlook for the banks to stable is the extensive interconnectedness between their balance sheets and sovereign credit risk, owing to the banks’ high exposures to government securities.

The high direct exposure to government credit risk, in addition to the primarily Pakistan focus of their operations, links the banks’ credit profile to that of the government.

As a result, the improvements in the operating environment and in the sovereign credit profile have eased pressures on banks as well.

The stable outlook assigned to the local currency deposit ratings also reflects Moody’s expectation that the government’s capacity to support banks in case of need will not deteriorate.

The agency said this is reflected by the stable outlook on Pakistan’s sovereign B3 bond rating which is driven by reduced external vulnerability risks on the back of policy adjustments and currency flexibility as well as ongoing fiscal reforms that will mitigate risks related to debt sustainability and government liquidity.

Moody’s decision to affirm the banks’ ratings reflects their stable deposit-based funding structures, high liquidity buffers and good earnings generating capacity, as well as Pakistan’s high growth potential, said the agency.

The agency said further improvements in the operating environment and in the sovereign’s credit risk profile could place upward rating pressures.

Moody’s would downgrade the banks’ ratings in the event of a weakening of Pakistan sovereign’s creditworthiness, it said.

Additional pressure may arise from a weakening in banks’ baseline credit assessment, driven by asset quality pressures that also affect banks’ capital buffers, it added.

Published in Zee Info World, December 6th, 2019