Today is the 7th death anniversary of Sahabzada Yaqub Khan (SYK)- prince, soldier, diplomat. He was quite a figure & led a picture perfect life. Born in Rampur in 1920 where his father was Chief Minister to the Nawab, SYK grew up in affluence & joined army in 1940 during WWII 1/n He fought for Allied forces in North Africa & was taken taken POW by German & Italian forces in a battle close to Libyan/Egyptian border. He spent 3 years as POW in various camps in Italy, reading books & learning languages. He- along with Yahya Khan & Kumaramanglam- tried to 2/n

End of the year scorecard: 2020 has been a difficult, dangerous and depressing year. Like last year, I again read 41 books this year- it was reading which kept me going through these gloomy times. I also reviewed 4 books, which are mentioned on the top of this list of 41 books 1) Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Rivalry That Unravelled the Middle East
2) Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical Comparison by Ahmet Kuru
3) The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a Divided Nation by Declan Walsh

In terms of pricing, Oxford/AstraZeneca have said they will sell their vaccine at cost (USD 4 - USD 5), while Moderna has said its vaccine will be charged at USD 32 - USD 37. Pfizer’s vaccine is expected to cost USD 20 –USD 40. Pakistan in touch with Oxford AstraZeneca. In terms of storage, Pfizer’s vaccine is the most troublesome as it requires refrigeration at -70 degrees Celsius during shipment and storage, and has to be
mixed with another liquid before administration.

As per SBP, Pakistan’s Overseas Worker's Remittances grew by 2.38% to $2.339 billion in Nov 2020 vs. $2.284 billion in Oct 2020. Pakistan’s remittances touched $2 billion mark for 6th consecutive month since June 2020. On yoy basis, remittances grew by 28.38% in November 2020 On a month-on-month basis, country’s remittances have dropped by 3.10% from Saudi Arabia. Whereas, it grew by 1.01% from USA, 2.79% from UK, 3.06% from UAE & 7.95% from EU countries. During July-Nov 2020, Pakistan’s remittances surged by 26.90% to $11.770 billion vs $9.275 bln

I am sick of misleading media reports about Zairean from Taftan spreading virus. This campaign- directed against a minister, against a religious sect & against Iran-is fuelled by sectarian & political bias.This thread explains why pilgrims- who are quarantined- are not spreading Virus but those people who are coming back by air through airports from UK UAE KSA etc are spreading it. There are more than 1400 cases in Pakistan of corona virus. Around 700 cases are among pilgrims who came from Taftan and are now quarantined in Sukkur, Larkana, DG Khan,DIKhan