Labbaik Ya Hussain (as)

2 Virginia children die from COVID-19 in 3-day span

Sindh retained their top position in the National T20 Cup points table with a three-run win via the DLS method against Northern in their match in Rawalpindi on Friday.

Heavy rain brought a halt with Northern 62 for three (7.3 overs) in their 177-run chase. After the rain ended, a wet outfield forced the match to be abandoned.

The ball before the rain interruption earned Sindh Nasir Nawaz’s wicket that turned the DLS equation in their favour. Northern needed to be 66 for three to earn victory on the DLS method at that stage of the match. Nasir was caught attempting a big shot off Danish Aziz.

Nasir top-scored for Northern with 27 off 19 balls (three fours, one six). Haider Ali scored 11 while Imad Wasim was batting on 13 when the rain arrived.

Sindh now have eight points from five games while Northern have accumulated six from five matches.

Earlier, Northern won the toss and opted to bowl. Sindh lost Shan Masood for one in the second over of the innings. Sharjeel Khan took the attack to the Northern bowlers in a 52-run stand for the second-wicket with Khurram Manzoor (15).

After Khurram’s departure, Sharjeel continued his onslaught, the left-hander played a series of attacking shots and only a superb diving catch at the mid-wicket fence by Haris ended his 64-run innings. Sharjeel faced 43 balls and hit 10 fours and two sixes.

Saud Shakeel made another useful contribution before being dismissed by Salman Irshad for 28. Salman then got rid of Anwar Ali (13) with another slower ball. Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed chipped in with a useful 26 off 18 balls (two fours).

Rumman Raees ended the Sindh innings on a high with two big sixes (one each in the penultimate and the final over). For Northern Salman, Shadab Khan and Musa Khan took two wickets apiece. Haris who bowled a fiery opening spell gave away only 22 runs in his four overs.

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Two rare breed Indus dolphins who strayed into the Dadu Canal in Sukkur were rescued by Sindh Wildlife Department and released back into the Indus River on Friday.

However, another 11 blind dolphins were still reported stranded in irrigation canals.

Adnan Hamid, the deputy conservator of the department, told SAMAA that a seven-hour operation was carried out to rescue the two blind dolphins.

He said that one of the dolphins was 8 years old while the other was 5 years old. He added that the rescued dolphins were released into the Indus River at Keti Mumtaz.

Adnan said a total of 13 dolphins have strayed and entered various canals but two of them have been successfully rescued.

It is common for blind dolphins to stray into irrigation canals where they get stranded due to low water flow and die. They need human intervention to survive, but not all fishermen and villagers show compassion for them.

On August 25 an Indus dolphin strayed into Korai Wah and ended up in a fishing net.

Five fishermen pulled it out of the water, killed it with axe blows, and threw the body into the water.

The 25-year-old female dolphin was approximately 7.2 feet long.

In other cases, villagers have caught dolphins to take home.

Pregnant blind Indus dolphin murdered near Ghotki

Sindh villagers catch Indus dolphin, carry it in a pot

On June 13 in the village of Baqir Unar in Nawabshah, some people were swimming in the canal when they saw a dolphin. They grabbed this baby dolphin and put it in a bucket.

The men first took selfies and videos with the dolphin and then took it with them.

Sindh Wildlife Department regularly investigates such crimes and seeks police help to get the culprit arrested.

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Thousands of internally displaced Afghans living at a temporary camp in Kabul have started their journey home to northern provinces, after an end in fighting that forced them to flee.

As the Taliban waged an offensive across the country earlier this year, many people fled to the safety of major cities including Kabul, before that too was seized and the US-backed government toppled.

Shahr-e-Naw park in the centre of the capital became an open-air refugee camp for thousands of families, living in dire sanitary conditions on the ground or under makeshift tents.

The Afghan Volunteer Women’s Association chartered dozens of buses on Thursday to return 1,068 families to the Kunduz region.

Rafiullah Zaha from the NGO said the relocation plan included providing refugees 10,000 Afghanis ($112) in cash to buy food and distributing basic provisions such as flour, oil, rice and beans.

“We also have plans for their future,” Zaha said.

The Taliban’s victory over the Afghan security forces has seen an end to the clashes, bombings, and airstrikes that plagued the country for the past few decades.

“We had to move because of the war. Our house was destroyed. It was badly damaged,” said Hadi, 39, who fled the town of Kunduz.

“Now we have to go back. We have no choice,” he said, adding he was worried he may not earn the $1 to $2 salary he used to.

“Security has returned a little. It is better in our region,” he added.

The Afghan economy is in ruins, with many losing their jobs, and a third of the population at risk of starvation according to the UN.

As of last month, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had recorded more than 634,800 internally displaced Afghans this year.

An estimated 2.9 million Afghans had already fled their homes by the end of 2020, according to the UN’s human rights division.

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All airline travelers, aged six and above, will be required to carry a valid negative PCR test result carried out with 72 hours of travel to, from or within Pakistan, new guidelines issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) stated on Thursday.

All deportees will, however, be exempt from this regulation.

Inbound, outbound travelers and passengers within Pakistan, with the exception of deportees, should register themselves on Pass Track app and submit the required information before their departure to Pakistan, according to CAA guidelines.

Who can travel without vaccination certificate

Beginning from October 1, only fully-vaccinated persons aged between 18 and above will be allowed to travel to, from or within Pakistan. They would be required to hold valid proof of vaccination against Covid-19.

Passengers below 18 years of age may be allowed to travel to, from or within Pakistan without vaccination certificates.

Meanwhile, Pakistani passengers between the ages of 15 and 18 would be allowed to travel to, from and within Pakistan without vaccination certificates until October 31. Proof of partial vaccination will be required from passengers between ages of 15 and 18 by November 1 and full vaccination proof by December 1 this year.

Air travelers below the age of 15 will be able to undertake domestic journeys until further notice in this regard.

People traveling to Pakistan

Pakistani students below the age of 18 and studying abroad will be allowed to travel to Pakistan without vaccination certificates but they will be required to carry full vaccination certificates on their outbound flights.

Foreigners and foreign passport-holders below the age of 18 will also be allowed to travel to Pakistan without vaccination certificates.

People medically advised against vaccination should hold a certificate from classified specialized doctors. Such passengers will be allowed to travel to Pakistan without fully or partially vaccinated requirement.

All airline passengers, six years or older, arriving in Pakistan will need to undergo a rapid antigen test (RAT). Diplomats will, however, be exempt from RAT when they arrive in Pakistan. They will be required to self-quarantine for 10 days.

Passengers testing positive on RAT upon arrival will have to undergo a 10-day quarantine at a government or self-paid facility.

The CAA stated that because of the volatile Covid-19 situation, all passengers arriving in or from or within Pakistan will be subject to fulfill additional stipulation as and when advised by relevant health authorities.

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The federal government has increased prices of petroleum products by up to Rs8.82. The announcement was made shortly after LPG price went up by Rs29 per kilogram.

The finance division issued a notification on Thursday night saying the new prices take effect from Friday, October 1.

The price of petrol was raised by Rs4 and petrol would now cost Rs127.30 per litre.

The price of high-speed diesel (HSD) has been jacked up by Rs2 to Rs122.04 per litre.

Light diesel oil has seen the highest price increase of Rs8.82 and it will cost Rs99.51 per litre.

Kerosene oil will cost Rs99.31 after a price hike of Rs7.05.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had recommended a price hike of Rs5 for petrol and Rs3.5 for diesel.

LPG price

Earlier, OGRA notified a price increase of Rs29 per kilogram for Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The price of commercial cylinder has been increased from Rs8004 to Rs33. Every cylinder would not cost an additional Rs1334.

LPG cylinder for domestic use has been made expensive by Rs343. Consumers paying Rs2060 for a cylinder will now pay Rs2403.

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ended Sindh’s perfect star at National T20 after registering a six-wicket victory on Thursday at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

Chasing a 151-run target, the Mohammad Rizwan-led men got over the line in 17.4 overs.

Opener Fakhar Zaman led the charge for the side with a typically aggressive 49 off 32 balls. The left-hander hit pacer Mohammad Hasnain for three sixes and a four in the second over the innings as Hasnain conceded 28 runs –most in an over in the tournament so far.

Meanwhile, Sahibzada Farhan, Adil Amin and Musadiq Ahmed took the side past the target.

Farhan scored 45 off 30 balls with the help of three fours and as many sixes. The right-hander added 58 runs for the third-wicket with Adil who scored 26 off 19 balls.

Rumman Raees, Anwar Ali, Danish Aziz and Zahid Mahmood took a wicket each. This was Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s third win in four matches, Sindh too have three wins from four games.

Earlier, Rizwan won the toss and invited Sindh to bat. Sharjeel Khan hit three fours in the opening over of the match bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi. The left-hander was however pegged back by the bowlers and was eventually dismissed by Arshad Iqbal for 25.

Sindh lost Shan Masood (13) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (0) in one Asif Afridi over to crash to 41 for three (7.3 overs).

Khurram Manzoor and Saud Shakeel did the repair work by adding 56 for the fourth-wicket. The left-handed Saud was dismissed for 32 by Imran Khan Snr who then got rid of Danish Aziz the next ball.

Imran narrowly failed to take a hat-trick as Shaheen spilled a difficult chance in the slips with Anwar Ali the batter.

Anwar hit a last ball six off Muhammad Wasim Jnr as Sindh finished with what looked like an under par score midway. Asif took two wickets for 20 runs while Imran returned figures of 4-0-24-2.

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