Brief 13-07-2021

PM Imran pays tribute to Kashmiris on Martyrs’ Day

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday paid tribute to martyrs of July 13, 1931 and said that Pakistanis stand with Kashmiris on Kashmir Martyrs’ Day. Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a series of tweets, said that 22 people were martyred when the Dogra Maharaja’s soldiers fired on peaceful protestors. The premier further said that Kashmiris’ struggle against tyranny and illegal Indian Occupation is steeped in a history of resistance and sacrifice. “This indomitable spirit of resistance remains alive as Kashmiri men and women continue to fight illegal Indian Occupation”, he said.

Kashmir Martyrs Day being observed

Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and world over are observing Kashmir Martyrs Day today to pay homage to martyrs of July 13, 1931. All Parties Hurriyat Conference has appealed the Kashmiri people to mark the day by a complete shutdown in the in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. It is pertinent to mention that on 13th July 1931, the troops of Dogra Maharaja had killed 22 Kashmiris, one after the other, outside the Central Jail in Srinagar during the court proceedings against one Abdul Qadeer who had asked the Kashmiri people to defy the Dogra Rule. Thus, 22 youth sacrificed their lives till the completion of Azaan. A march towards the Martyrs’ Graveyard at Naqashband Sahib in Srinagar will also be held today where the martyrs of 13th July were buried.

Heavy rains wreak havoc in Muzaffarabad, Abbottabad

Monsoon rains wreak havoc in Muzaffarabad and Abbottabad and their adjoining areas on Monday, TTI News reported. According to details, heavy rain completely destroyed 14 houses in village Salkhala in Neelum Valley while 20 were partially damaged. Water supply system in many areas was also destroyed by the rain causing severe drinking water shortage.

Pakistan reports 1,590 coronavirus cases, 21 deaths in 24 hours

Pakistan has reported 21 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 976,867. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 22,618 on Tuesday. According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 1,590 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

Indian Delta variant detected in nine members of a family in Karachi

Nine members of a family in Karachi have been affected by the Indian Delta variant of the coronavirus, Dunya News reported on Monday. According to sources, the affected persons include a couple and their children and are residents of Malir area of Karachi. They have been under admitted at the High Dependency Unit (HDU) at the Lyari Hospital. According to in charge of Lyari Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Professor Injum Rehman, all possible medical facilities are being provided to the affected persons and the staff at the hospital has been asked to be on extra alert to deal with the situation.

Schedule for PM Imran’s rallies ahead of AJK polls announced

The schedule for Prime Minister Imran Khan’s campaign for his party s candidates in the upcoming Azad Kashmir elections, has been finalized. The prime minister will speak at rallies of PTI candidates in Azad Kashmir divisions to bolster the party s election campaign July 17, 18 and 19. The decision was taken at a consultative meeting on Azad Kashmir elections chaired by PM Imran. The meeting was attended by federal ministers and senior party leaders. Talking to media after the meeting, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said that the prime minister has expressed his commitment for holding transparent and fair elections in Azad Kashmir. The PTI is the guarantor of fair and impartial elections.

Pakistan crosses half a million daily vaccination doses’ mark for first time: Asad Umar

Pakistan amped up its coronavirus vaccinations on Monday by vaccinating a record 525,000 persons, revealed National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) head Asad Umar. “For the first time, we crossed half a million doses of vaccination yesterday,” tweeted the NCOC chief. “Highest ever first dose was also achieved yesterday with 3 lakh 90 thousand first doses administered,” he added. 

Pakistan records slight drop in daily coronavirus case count for second day

Pakistan’s daily coronavirus case load dropped slightly for the second consecutive day after the country reported 1,590 new cases Tuesday morning. The daily case count had been on an upward trend since July 7, but the country recorded a slight drop a day earlier and the downward trend continued today. Another 21 people died of coronavirus in Pakistan in the last 24 hours, pushing the national death tally since the pandemic started to 22,618.

Taliban ask Turkey to leave Afghanistan

The Taliban Monday called on Turkey to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan like the other Nato countries. Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s spokesman, said as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato), Turkey must withdraw its forces from Afghanistan in accordance with the agreement signed with the United States on February 29, 2020. “All foreign forces, contractors, advisers and trainers should withdraw from the country,” Shaheen told BBC, referring to the September deadline. “Turkey is a big Muslim country and Afghanistan has historical relations with it and we hope to have strong and positive relations with it after the formation of the new Islamic government in our country in the future,” he said.

US never asked for military bases in Pakistan: Western diplomats

 The United States has “at no stage or at any level even asked” Pakistan for military bases in the wake of withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan, a senior Western diplomat has said. “Nobody in the entire US administration asked for bases, and yet there is so much focus on the issue in Pakistan,” said the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak publicly on the subject.

“The recurring debate and the hashtag ‘Absolutely Not’ campaign in Pakistan has left everyone scratching their heads in Washington,” he said. According to informed sources, the United States has also formally conveyed its reservations to Islamabad over the “self-sponsored” campaign about demanding military bases. Over the last few months, as the date for US withdrawal from Afghanistan draws near, a debate has been raging in policy circles in Pakistan regarding an alleged US request for military bases in Pakistan.

SJC seeks legal clarity on NAB chief’s removal

The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) has deferred further deliberations on a 2019 reference until the federal government comes up with a solution to a legal lacuna about the procedure for removal of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman. Presided over by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, the SJC had taken up the reference moved by Advocate Chaudhry Mohammad Saeed Zafar against NAB chairman Javed Iqbal whose four-year tenure is going to complete on Oct 8. The reference was moved before the SJC against the backdrop of a leaked video showing alleged clandestine meetings of the NAB chairman with a suspect facing NAB inquiry, Tayyaba Gull.

Locally assembled e-bikes hit market

With most bike assemblers looking towards China for collaboration in the local assembly of electric bikes (e-bikes), a Punjab-based assembler claims to have introduced an indigenous model in the market that is also cheaper on the wallet. “We have introduced the JE-70 e-bike with our indigenously developed technology. No foreign funding, no joint venture with the Chinese or any country in the world,” said Mohammad Usman Sheikh, the CEO of Jolta Electric, in a conversation with media on Monday.

Last week, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched Jolta’s JE-70 model at a ceremony held in Islamabad. The locally developed e-bike is priced at Rs82,500 and has a maximum speed limit of 60 km per hour. The government is reported to have received 17 applications from various investors for local assembly of e-bikes in Pakistan.

COVID-19 Updates:

• With 1,590  new COVID-19 cases, 21 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours
• 34,531 COVID-19 cases are active in the country
• The total death tally of Covid-19 stands at 22,618
• 732 people recovered from Coronavirus in the last 24 hours in Pakistan
• The positivity rate of Covid-19 is recorded at 3.63%
• Over 187.2  million are infected globally
• More than 4 million have died due to the virus globally
• Over 134 million recovered from COVID-19 globally
• 525,186 Covid vaccine doses administered across Pakistan on July 10: NCOC
• 4.09 million people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in Pakistan: NCOC
• South Korea Covid-19 vaccine rollout grinds to halt as new cases spike
• Australia apartment blocks placed in hard lockdown
• Islamabad, AJK & GB collectively reports 211 cases, 2 deaths
• 130 Covid cases in detected in KP, 142 in Balochistan
• Punjab reports 200 Covid cases, 10 deaths