Pakistani batsman Umar Akmal was banned Monday from all forms of cricket for three years after failing to report match-fixing approaches, the country’s cricket board announced. The 30-year-old batsman, withdrew last month from challenging the charges. Umar’s ban is effective from February 20, when he was provisionally suspended by the board under its anti-corruption code.
Punjab will begin random COVID-19 testing of people for an assessment of coronavirus prevalence in the province from Tuesday. This will help draw a complete epidemiological assessment of the situation,” the Health Department of Punjab said in a tweet on Monday night. The samples will include these places in the beginning: hospitals, mandis, markets, residential areas and pharmacies.
A human trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine is being launched by Oxford University with the aim of making it available to the public. In its first phase, half of 1,112 volunteers will receive the potential vaccine against COVID-19, the other half a control vaccine to test its safety and efficacy. The volunteers are aged between 18 and 55, are in good health.
‘Ramzan Aya Roza Rakho Ji’ song, sung by Rais Anis Sabri went viral on social media three years ago. The song gained popularity and became an anthem for everyone who’s been fasting or otherwise. The same singer is all grown up now and unrecognisable. Hailing from, Jalalabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, the singer has met the likes of AR Rahman and Kailash Kher.
The Punjab government has launched a mobile application Taleem Ghar in order to facilitate the students confined to their home due to the coronavirus lockdown. Previously, the government launched a TV channel by the same name. Students from class one to eight as well as matric and intermediate will be able to study using this app very soon.
The federal government is going to pay the electricity bills for small businesses across the country for the months of May, June and July. Federal Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar announced this. He also announced a package for labourers laid off during the coronavirus lockdown during a Monday afternoon press conference. He said Rs75 billion has been allocated for the package.
Over 80% mosques in Punjab and Islamabad have failed to implement government directives and safety guidelines, finds a report. The number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan crosses 13,000. The report has been published by the Islamabad-based NGO, Pattan Development Organisation. Team of observers visited 194 mosques of Punjab province, as well as the capital city. Also, they compared the situation with a checklist of 20 rules the ulema had agreed to with the president.
European satellite system Copernicus has discovered that the largest hole in the ozone layer over the Arctic has finally closed. Earlier in March, scientists had observed a hole forming in the layer and reasoned it as the result of dropping temperatures at the north pole. On April 23, however, it was discovered by Copernicus that the hole had closed itself.
The Singapore University of Technology and Design has predicted through mathematical modeling that Covid-19 will end around June 3 for Pakistan. Its project of data-driven estimation of end dates brings together projections for other countries as well. It uses data from Our World in Data and applies the SIR Model for Spread of Disease – The Differential Equation Model.
The Hyderabad district administration has set up a system allowing people to get themselves registered for rations via SMS. They have to send an SMS with the word ‘Ration’ and their CNIC number and send it to 88434. They will then get a token via mobile which will allow them to receive the rations. If it’s a repeated CNIC number we get a message, said one official.