Beijing:&nbsp;Nearly a million people in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province where the Covid-19 pandemic was first recorded, have been placed under a lockdown after four asymptomatic cases were detected, the media reported on Thursday.According to a BBC report, the lockdown has been imposed in the city's Jiangxia district and the residents have been asked to stay inside their homes or compounds for three days.Of the four cases, two were reported 48 hours ago as a result of regular testing, which was quickly followed by the third and fourth via contact tracing, the report said.Soon after, the city's authorities imposed the lockdown.Wuhan, a city of 12 million people, became popular across the world as the first place where scientists detected the Covid-19. It was also the first city to be put under harsh restrictive measures as the global pandemic broke out in early 2020.Earlier this week, scientists said there was "compelling evidence" that Wuhan's Huanan seafood and wildlife market was at the centre of the Covid outbreak, says the BBC report.Two peer-reviewed studies have re-examined information from the initial outbreak in the city.Meanwhile, China has adopted a "zero Covid-19" strategy under which authorities conduct mass testing, declare strict isolation rules and impose local lockdowns.In June, Shanghai emerged from a strict two-month lockdown, but residents are still adapting to a "new normal" of frequent mass testing, the BBC report adds.As of Thursday morning, China has reported a total of 2,167,619 confirmed Covid cases and 14,647 deaths.—IANS

Nearly a million under lockdown in Wuhan after 4 Covid cases detected

Far East

Seoul :&nbsp;South Korea's top military officer said on Monday that the country's missile forces are capable of dealing a "fatal" blow to a potential enemy, in an apparent message of deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.In a meeting with reporters, new Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman General Kim Seung-kyum commented on his visit last week to a unit of the Army Missile Strategic Command, which he said was designed to deliver such a warning."As North Korea has undertaken various strategic provocations and is threatening South Korea... I thought I should send a different message to the enemy," Kim said, referring to South Korea by its official name."Missiles that South Korea possesses are at a considerable level. I thought (the visit) carried and should carry a warning message that (South Korea) is capable of sending a fatal blow to the enemy," he added.Kim referred to the North as an enemy but noted that there is no need to call it an enemy or antagonise it should it not pose any threat, Yonhap news agency reported."Soldiers exist to protect the nation from enemy threats, provocations and invasion," he said.The top military officer also stressed the importance of exercising the "right to self-defense" based on "basics and principles" in case of enemy provocations."If an enemy provokes, we conduct operations based on our right to self-defense. You don't need to ask a question on whether to exercise that right," he said, apparently highlighting the role of lower-level field officers responding to North Korean provocations.Kim, Former Deputy Commander of the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command, took office on Tuesday amid growing concerns about the possibility of Pyongyang conducting what would be its seventh nuclear test or other provocative acts. -- IANS

South Korea's top military officer said on Monday that the country's missile forces are capable of dealing a "fatal" blow to a potential enemy, in an apparent message of deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

 S.Korean missiles capable of dealing 'fatal blow' to potential enemy: JCS chief

Islamabad: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to hold a huge public gathering at Parade Ground in the capital city of Islamabad on Saturday amid the worsening economic crisis in the country.Aside from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, the Islamabad jalsa would be addressed by other senior leaders of the party. Khan will himself lead a rally from Rawalpindi to the Parade Ground venue, ARY News reported."InshaAllah tomorrow will be our historic Islamabad jalsa at Parade Ground against Imported govt's pol destabilisation &amp; crushing our people under the burden of excessive load shedding in peak of summer &amp; spiralling fuel prices. I will be leading a rally from Pindi to Parade Ground," Imran Khan tweeted on Friday."Instead of buying cheaper oil from Russia Imported govt, brought in by US regime change conspiracy, continues to put unbearable burden on people while giving themselves NRO2 worth Rs 1100 bn. Total increase Rs 99 for petrol, Rs 133 for diesel. Join our protest ag this tomorrow," he said in another tweet.Earlier, the PTI had received permission from the Islamabad district magistrate's office to hold a rally in the federal capital on Saturday. The PTI was given "permission to use the venue" of Parade ground by "related concerned", The Express Tribune cited a notification.Imran Khan was ousted from power after losing a no-confidence vote, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of "independent" foreign policy. Even after his ouster, the former PM has continued with foreign conspiracy tirades at every rally.This rally comes as Pakistan stands on the brink of financial collapse. The Shehbaz Sharif government on Friday said the energy prices will keep increasing in the country for the next three to four months due to policies implemented by Imran Khan.Addressing separate pressers in Islamabad, the Pakistan energy ministers -- Khurram Dastgir and Musadik Malik -- said the downward trend will not start before November-December this year. They said the PTI government had tied their hands with legal compulsions for price and there was no way out of the quagmire before the completion of corrective reforms, the Dawn newspaper reported. The Pakistan ministers claimed that Imran Khan's government kept delaying price adjustments for electricity and natural gas and changed laws before leaving to ensure the new government was left with no choice but to clear the backlog. According to the Shehbaz Sharif government, the PTI government did not arrange LNG, coal and furnace oil imports when their prices were at their lowest and international lenders were providing cheaper loans to sustain the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. —ANI

 Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to hold a huge public gathering at Parade Ground in the capital city of Islamabad on Saturday amid the worsening economic crisis in the country.

Pakistan: Imran Khan To Hold Public Gathering In Islamabad Against Shehbaz Sharif Govt

Islamabad: Pakistan has lodged a strong protest against Indias recent blocking of many of its official Twitter accounts, including handles of Pakistani diplomatic missions in various countries.The Foreign Office on Saturday summoned Indian Charge d'Affairs in Islamabad to hand over a strong demarche, terming the Indian action being against international obligations and norms."The Indian Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today and a strong demarche was made on the Indian government's blocking of access to content of 80 accounts on Twitter including accounts of Pakistan's diplomatic Missions in Iran, Turkey, Egypt, UN-New York and the national broadcaster Radio Pakistan, by activating geo-blocking and censorship laws," said a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."The Charge d'Affaires was conveyed that these Indian actions were against the international standards, obligations, norms, and framework of flow of information and reflected the alarming pace of shrinking space for pluralistic voices and curbing of fundamental freedoms in India." Pakistan maintained that blocking of its twitter accounts of its diplomatic missions abroad was a clear and deliberate attempt to block Pakistan's right to access to information and "fundamental freedom of opinion of expression"."It was noted that the new illegal practice employed by the Indian government of regulating the internet sphere with regard to diplomatic accounts, with a clear intent to stifle dissent stood completely against the rights to access to information and fundamental freedom of opinion or expression," the statement said.Pakistan was faced with this issue when at least 80 of its official twitter accounts of diplomatic missions in important countries were blocked by Twitter.Pakistan raised the matter with the micro-blogging site, and called for an immediate restoration of the handles which were banned by India."Diminishing the space for plurality of voices and access to info in India is extremely alarming. Social media platforms must abide by applicable international norms; we are urging twitter to restore immediate access to our accounts and ensure adherence to democratic freedom of speech and expression," the Foreign Office had said after it raised the matter with Twitter.Pakistan also accused India for blocking accounts of senior journalists and experts in India, who have been critical of the Central government and have questioned its policies."Government of India has been urged to immediately reverse its actions relating to the blocking of Pakistan's diplomatic Missions' Twitter accounts in India. India must also abide by the established international norms and standards as espoused by the UN and also ensure protection of fundamental freedoms and respect for dissent," the Office maintained. —IANS

Pakistan has lodged a strong protest against Indias recent blocking of many of its official Twitter accounts, including handles of Pakistani diplomatic missions in various countries.

Pak Registers Protest On India's Recent Blocking Of Twitter Accounts

Islamabad: Opposing the fiscal budget 2022-23 passed by the Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan government, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan announced to hold a protest meeting on July 2 at the Parade Ground, Islamabad, against the 'super tax' imposed by the government.Through a video link from his Bani Gala residence, he said "The nation should be clear that there was no preparation on the rulers' part to fix the economy, reduce prices," emphasising that the government had only one thing in their mind as to how to take another 'NRO' as the first 'NRO' was taken from Musharraf.Imran Khan will be holding a protest meeting on July 2 at the Parade Ground, Islamabad, against the government and its policies to showcase his discontentment over the super tax. According to him it would increase pressure on industries and add to unemployment, The News International reported.High net worth individuals will also be subject to a "poverty alleviation tax".Those whose annual income exceeds Rs150 million will be subject to 1pc tax; for Rs200 million, 2pc; Rs250 million, 3pc; and Rs300 million will be taxed 4pc of their income.Due to super tax, the corporate tax would go up to 39 per cent while India and Bangladesh had 25 per cent that meant that this tax would make the things costlier, Imran said, pointing out that the cost of making things would be expensive and this would have the biggest impact on employment amid the already existing economic crisis.Raising concerns over difficulties faced by salaried class, Imran Khan said load-shedding would affect farmers and Pakistan's production as diesel is expensive, targetting the Sharif government for not taking important measures to tackle the same.The PTI chairman said: "The taxation will force people to evade taxes while we collected record taxes and had found out the mortgage of people through artificial intelligence. We had planned how to bring them into the tax net and increase the tax net. We had brought in a track and trace system to end sales tax evasion and had selected 20 industries and started track and trace system on 3 and planned to go to the entire 20."The PTI chief also criticized the government for NAB law amendments and said that "we have gone to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to challenge the amendments they have made to the NAB Act and I have full faith in our judiciary" alleging the incumbent government for the destruction of the country.NAB had recovered Rs 280 billion before 2018 and then made recoveries worth Rs 480 billion in the PTI government. The News International said, quoting Imran Khan as saying.Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has previously lambasted the recent amendments made by the incumbent government of Shehbaz Sharif and called for throwing rulers in jail for 'shamelessly' passing National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws.He also announced approaching the Supreme Court against the NAB amendments.Khan also bashed the leaders of the two big political parties, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would be "saved" after the changes -- said the government amended section 14 of the law, which now states that a person will only be held accountable for the "money left in the fake accounts (when a person is arrested)".The PTI chairman said under the current tax laws, a person has to provide the trail of his money as the onus lies on them, not the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).&nbsp;&nbsp;—ANI

Opposing the fiscal budget 2022-23 passed by the Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan government, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan announced to hold a protest meeting on July 2 at the Parade Ground, Islamabad, against the 'super tax' imposed by the government.