Rawalpindi: Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum President Mian Zahid Hussain has said that sales tax should be withdrawn on cottonseed, oil cake, etc. while withholding tax refunds stuck since a decade should be released.He said the largest foreign exchange earning sector is in trouble,...

Rawalpindi : Under vigorous campaign against profiteering and hoarding, 1,633 raids were conducted by Price Control Magistrates in seven tehsils of Rawalpindi District and action in accordance with the law was taken against 216 persons found indulged in violation of law.The administration also...

Islamabad : Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood on Friday resented massive fee hike by the Lahore University of Management Sciences and declared it unacceptable.In a couple of tweets, the minister said he had seen reports that the LUMS had increased its fee by 41%."If true, this is...

Islamabad : The coronavirus pandemic has increased the transgender persons' socioeconomic vulnerability and isolation, so short and long-term measures, especially by the government, are imperative to support them and ensure alternate means of livelihood in the changing environment.This was the...

Rawalpindi : Conditional relaxation in lockdown announced by the Prime Minister Imran Khan was the dire need of the hour to halt the emerging poverty and deprivation of the people, said Haji Mohammad Gulzar Awan, Advisor to the President PTI North Punjab and Chairman of Global Peace Foundation...

Rawalpindi : Four suspects allegedly involved in the killing of a newlywed couple, in apparently an honour killing case, were arrested here on Friday from the jurisdiction of Airport Police Station.Junaid and Sidra were murdered few days back in apparently an honour killing case after they tied...

Islamabad: The cancellation of educational board exams over the coronavirus pandemic has caused confusion for candidates, Federal Minister of Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood has promised to respond to questions early next week.In multiple tweets, the minister said Class 9 exam...

The Special Investigation Unit of the Criminal Investigation Agency busted on Friday three suspected criminals running a gang. In a separate raid, they apprehended analleged robber.According to SIU police chief SSP Irfan Bahadur, three gang members were involved in various criminal cases,...

The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science, and Technology on Thursday held its 42nd senate meeting at the Governor House Sindh.The online meeting was chaired by President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi, who is also the varsity’s chancellor. The meeting approved the nomination of two faculty...

The Sindh High Court has directed the home department to decide the representation of a proscribed organisation’s activist against his 90 days’ detention under the Maintenance of Public Order within a week.The activist, Abdul Hameed Bugti, had been recently released in the Pakistan...

Two people were wounded in two separate firing incidents on Friday. A 40-year-old man, Feroz, son of Salman, was injured near Mauripur’s Gate No. 15. The man was taken to the Civil Hospital for medical attention.The Jackson police said that the incident took place when a traffic police cop...

The Pakistan Navy in a joint raid with the Anti-Narcotics Force seized 100 kilogrammes of crystal meth worth around Rs3 billion.A Navy spokesman said that in an intelligence-based joint operation with the ANF, they seized 100 kilogrammes of crystal myth off Pasni, Balochistan. The drug was valued...

A man was killed and another wounded during a clash within the Gulshan-e-Iqbal police station’s limits on Friday.Police said the incident took place when the two men exchanged fire near Kamran Market in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 1. As a result, both were wounded and taken to Jinnah Postgraduate...

There is a growing perception among the people of Karachi that they are being intentionally deprived of their fundamental rights by both the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf -led federal government and the Pakistan Peoples Party -led Sindh government.Pak Sarzameen Party Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal said...

The Sindh High Court on Friday issued notices to the federal and provincial law ministries on a petition of the Sindh Bar Council seeking direction to the federal and Sindh governments for the provision of an annual grant in aid to the lawyers’ top provincial regulatory body and at least...

Criticising the Sindh government for “playing politics” over the holding of mourning religious congregations by issuing a notification to ban such congregations, the Majlis-e-Wahdat Muslimeen announced on Friday that the Yaum-e-Ali procession would be organised on Ramazan 21 after...

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A white former police officer and his son were arrested on Thursday in Georgia, United States of America, and charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black man, an incident that touched off a furore in the community and among civil rights activists nationwide.

Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis, 34, were taken into custody by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and charged with aggravated assault as well as murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in the town of Brunswick, the agency said in a statement.

The Feb 23 shooting death of Arbery, 25, as he ran unarmed through the small town was captured on video by an unnamed witness in a vehicle near the scene. The video’s wide broadcast in recent days ignited outrage among activists, politicians and celebrities who saw the incident as the latest case of white perpetrators killing a black man and going unpunished.

It was not immediately clear on Thursday if the two men had retained attorneys.

A district attorney appointed to handle the high-profile case after two other prosecutors recused themselves said on Wednesday he would ask a county grand jury to decide if the two men should face charges.

The men’s arrest by the GBI, one day after the agency opened an investigation into the case, appears to have sidelined any grand jury probe.

Three shots

The video footage shows Arbery jogging down a narrow two-lane road and around the McMichaels’ white pickup truck, which had stopped in the right lane with its driver’s door open.

As Arbery crosses back in front of the truck, a gunshot is fired. Arbery is then seen struggling with a man holding a long gun as a second man stands in the bed of the truck brandishing a revolver. Two more shots are heard before Arbery stumbles and falls face down onto the asphalt. The GBI said it was Travis McMichael who fired the fatal round.

According to a police report obtained by the New York Times, Gregory McMichael, a former Glynn County police officer and district attorney’s investigator, told detectives the incident began when he spotted Arbery from his front yard “hauling ass” down the street.

McMichael told police that, because he suspected Arbery in a string of recent neighborhood break-ins, he and his son gave chase in the truck, with Gregory McMichael carrying a .357 Magnum revolver and Travis armed with a shotgun.

Gregory McMichael said Arbery began to “violently attack” his son, fighting him for the shotgun, prompting Travis to open fire.

According to a letter obtained by the Times, the prosecutor in Brunswick argued there was not probable cause to arrest the McMichaels because they were legally carrying firearms, had a right to pursue a burglary suspect and use deadly force to protect themselves.

NEW DELHI: India’s top medical research body has turned down a proposal by the Modi government to test water from the Ganges river as a cure for coronavirus, ThePrint news portal said on Thursday.

It said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) turned down the government’s “request” to conduct research on a theory that Gangajal, or water from Ganges river, could possibly cure Covid-19.

Speaking to ThePrint, a source in the ICMR said the agency has refused to get involved as it is focussing on the Covid-19 battle and doesn’t want to waste time on other research amid the pandemic.

The move came after the country’s apex medical research body received a “request” from the Ministry of Jal Shakti to conduct “further research” on a proposal by an NGO, Atulya Ganga, said an ICMR official, who didn’t wish to be named.

In its letter last month, Mr Atulya had cited the presence of a “ninja virus”, called bacteriophage, in Ganges water that could cure Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Bacteriophage is a special type of virus that eats harmful bacteria, the letter said.

According ThePrint, the NGO asked the government on April 3 to conduct a study on the possibility of this virus acting as a cure. It sent a copy each to the ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The ministry’s National Mission for Clean Ganga, the department administering the Modi government’s ambitious Namami Gange programme, then wrote to ICMR on April 30 requesting a clinical trial.

The ICMR then held a meeting to discuss the idea, but refused to proceed, offering only its “help” to the NGO, ThePrint said. “We had indeed received a letter from the Ministry of Jal Shakti for such research. The experts at ICMR also held a meeting on this matter. Then we asked those proposing this research that you should tell us about hospitals and doctors that are ready and willing to conduct some research on it. We will certainly help them in this regard,” said the ICMR official.

“As of now we are still treating plasma therapy as a trial for treatment for corona (Covid-19), then how can we so quickly accept a virus called bacteriophage, found in the water of Ganges, as a cure? Right now, there is no logic in the argument that the virus found in Ganga’s water can indeed fight the coronavirus disease,” added the official.

However, he added that if the ministry takes an initiative into the matter then ICMR will extend its assistance to it.

Speaking to ThePrint, Dr Rajnikant Srivastava, ICMR’s head of the Department of Research Management, Policy Planning and Communication, in Delhi and Director of Regional Medical Research Centre, Gorakhpur, said: “A presentation was made after the Jal Shakti ministry’s proposal. The matter is at a very preliminary stage. Nothing has been decided on the future course of action. We will support the Jal Shakti ministry in all the work it does on this front.”

A senior official of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, meanwhile, said there are several special properties in the river and many people were demanding research on them.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2020

A wholesale market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan played a role in the outbreak of the novel coronavirus last year, as the source or possibly as an “amplifying setting”, the World Health Organisation said on Friday, calling for more research.

Chinese authorities shut down the market in January as part of efforts to stop the spread of the virus and ordered a temporary ban on trade and consumption of wildlife.

“The market played a role in the event, that’s clear. But what role we don’t know; whether it was the source or amplifying setting or just a coincidence that some cases were detected in and around that market,” said Dr Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO expert on food safety and zoonotic viruses that cross the species barrier from animals to humans.

It was not clear whether live animals or infected vendors or shoppers may have brought the virus into the market, he told a Geneva news briefing.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said there is “a significant amount of evidence” the virus came from the Wuhan laboratory, although he has also said there wasn’t certainty.

Read: The Wuhan lab at the core of a virus controversy

No public evidence has linked the outbreak to the lab in Wuhan and scientists have said the coronavirus appears to have developed in nature. A German intelligence report cast doubts on Pompeo’s allegations, Der Spiegel reported.

Ben Embarek did not address the accusations. He noted that it took researchers a year to identify camels as the source of the Mers (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) virus, a coronavirus that emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and spread in the Middle East, adding: “It’s not too late.”

“What is important, what would be of great help, is to get hold of the virus before it adapted to humans, before the version we have now. Because then we would better understand how it adapted to humans, how it evolved,” he said.

“In terms of investigations, China has most probably, most likely, all the expertise needed to do these investigations. They have lot of very qualified researchers to that,” he said.

A common sight across Asia, wet markets traditionally sell fresh produce and live animals, such as fish, in the open air.

Many markets worldwide that sell live animals must be better regulated and hygiene conditions improved, and some should be closed down, Ben Embarek said. “But the vast majority can be fixed, can be better organised.”

It is often a question of controlling waste management, the movement of people and goods, and of separating live animals from animal products and from fresh goods, he said.

Five Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers and one officer were martyred after their vehicle was targeted with an improvised explosive device (IED) near the Pakistan-Iran border, the military's media wing said on Friday.

In a tweet, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the security personnel were returning from patrolling in Buleda — 14 kilometres from the Pakistan-Iran border — to "check possible routes used by terrorists in the mountainous terrain of Makran".

As they were returning, their vehicle was targeted with a remote controlled IED, it added.

The martyred were identified as Major Nadeem, Naik Jamshed, Lance Naik Khizar Hayat, Lance Naik Taimor, Sepoy Nadeem and Sepoy Sajid.

In December 2019, one FC soldier was martyred and two others were injured in an exchange of fire with terrorists after they raided an FC checkpost in North Waziristan.

"Terrorists raided an FC post in North Waziristan district near the Pak-Afghan border," an ISPR statement had said.

"During the exchange of fire, two terrorists were killed," it had added.

LAHORE: A sharp increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases across Punjab has further burdened state-run health facilities, taking their bed occupancy ratio to 54 per cent.

The rate increased during the last two weeks or so due to widespread transmission of the virus.

Official figures reported by the health department portray a grim picture as 3,693 people contracted the virus during the last seven days in the province.

Punjab had reported around 3,686 positive cases for the virus during a period of one month starting from March 15, when the first Covid-19 case was spotted.

Most of the confirmed patients were taken care of in Lahore where the 1,000-bed Expo Centre Field Hospital is housing 450 patients, with 45pc bed occupancy.

Ratio may touch 80pc in two weeks

Similarly, the Mayo Hospital houses 420 patients (70pc bed occupancy) while the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institution 100 patients (100pc bed occupancy).

The health authorities believe that this percentage is likely to reach 80pc in coming two weeks if cases continue to grow at the same rate.

The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) is very much concerned over the increasing number of coronavirus patients and rising death toll.

“We are extremely disturbed that how our hospitals would mange the load of corona patients in future because of the scale of transmission of the virus,” said PMA Secretary Dr Qaisar Sajjad.

He said the government would have to revisit the current health system in order to remove flaws and create more space for coronavirus patients, keeping in view the future requirements.

While sharing the fresh report, a spokesperson for the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department said Punjab reported a record 961 confirmed cases of the virus on Friday and it was the highest figure in a single day so far since the pandemic surfaced in the province.

“The government has allocated 7,753 beds for the corona patients at all the teaching, district and other field hospitals across the province,” he said. Of them, 4,239 had been occupied by the patients.

“We have 6,744 beds for corona patients at all the teaching and field hospitals that fall under the specialised healthcare and medical education department in Punjab,” SH&MED Additional Secretary (development) Nadir Chattha said.

He said 3,370 of them were allocated in teaching hospitals and 3,374 at field hospitals. Of the 6,744 beds, he said 2,261 (34pc) had been occupied by the patients.

“We are going to make available 984 more beds in coming days,” he said.

Of the total admitted patients, Mr Chattha said 40 were in a critical condition, with 34 of them on ventilators. He said so far 186 corona patients had died in Punjab.

On the other hand, of the total 961 confirmed cases on Friday, 488 were reported from Lahore which was also another record number (of people testing positive) in the provincial capital in just a day. Of them, 87 were reported from Gujrat, 77 from Rawalpindi, 60 Faisalabad, 45 Multan and 67 from Muzaffargarrh besides some other cities.

The total number of confirmed cases in Lahore and Punjab rose to 3,856 and 10,033, respectively, on Friday.

Surprisingly, the health department said only one patient died (in Muzaffargarh) of coronavirus in Punjab during the last 24 hours.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

KARACHI: The number of coronavirus-infected policemen has gone up to 115, a police spokesperson said on Friday.

“So far, 115 policemen and officers have been infected with the contagion.” Out of them, five new cases emerged on Friday. The majority of the policemen belonged to Karachi.

As many as 97 police personnel were under treatment at different hospitals while 15 policemen have been discharged after treatment. The condition of one sub-inspector was stated to be critical.

“Covid-19 infected policemen were being looked after properly and steps were being taken to this effect on daily basis,” added the spokesperson.

The police on Friday also issued a video message, highlighting ordeals of the families of the policemen and commitment of the law enforcers to serve humanity in these testing times.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

LAHORE: Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq says being confined to home due to the coronavirus-forced lockdown can become depressing and wants some cricket activities to resume soon even if the matches have to take place behind closed doors with proper safety barriers.

There are reports that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was contemplating rescheduling and organising the three Test matches against Pakistan in August behind closed doors at Old Trafford, Manchester and Southampton.

Misbah said he would love to see some cricket activities resume at the international level, and has no problems in playing in empty stadiums.

“It is not an ideal situation for anyone because of this coronavirus pandemic and obviously the health and well being of everyone should be our top priority. But if matches can be held even in empty stadiums with the right safety barriers...I would have no problems,” Misbah was quoted as saying in a Press Trust of India report that appeared on The New Indian Express website on Friday.

The former Pakistan skipper said that the players have had nothing much to do except stay indoors for the last two months since the Pakistan Super League (PSL) was called off due to the global health crisis in March.

“Everyone is confined and I just think that if even if it can be made possible to bring some live cricket action to people sitting at home it would do them a lot of good,” Misbah said.

“It becomes depressing when you have nothing to do and hear about mostly Covid-19 news all the time. In this situation if sports can be resumed and if cricket can be started at least it will allow the people to watch cricket at home.”

Misbah, who took charge last year in September, said if the right safety barriers and precautions are put in place for players, match officials and other stake holders, cricket boards can move forward.

He, however, reminded that boards will have to follow their government instructions on the coronavirus.

German football league Bundesliga is set to resume on May 16 and Misbah said it was a positive development.

“But even they first got clearance from their government. Cricket boards also will have to do that,” he insisted.

The 45-year-old said the players were responsible for maintaining fitness standards during these testing times and he expects them to be in top condition whenever cricket resumes.

“I told them as cricket professionals it is their individual responsibility to take care of themselves and their fitness. Because they can be called on duty anytime,” he said.

Misbah said he had told the players fitness standards are essential nowadays because if they are fit they can also get back to form and match fitness quickly.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: The country witnessed a record rise in Covid-19 cases on Friday, a day before lifting of the nationwide lockdown in phases announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Although the decision to lift the lockdown from Saturday was taken in consultation with all the provinces, Punjab and Sindh on Friday expressed their desire to extend the lockdown restrictions for some more time.

With the addition of 2,000 new cases during the last 24 hours, the total number of infections in the country on Friday stood at 26,954.

Prime Minister Khan, after chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Thursday, announced the lifting of the lockdown by opening several industries, businesses and markets from Saturday (today).

Punjab, Sindh express wish to extend lockdown restrictions; Umar dismisses Murad’s claim about unilateral decisions by Centre; PM reviews economic situation

On Friday, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said they wanted to extend the lockdown but agreed to the Centre’s call at the NCC meeting that the restrictions should be lifted from Saturday.

“It was our desire that the lockdown should be extended, but we agreed to whatever decided at the NCC meeting on Thursday,” CM Shah said at a press briefing.

The PTI-led Punjab government took a step forward and recommended that major cities of the province should remain under lockdown as there was an increasing trend of the viral disease there. “We want continuation of lockdown in eight to 10 cities, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Gujranwala,” Mr Chohan said at a press conference.

In a related development, the federal government expressed its surprise and dismay over Sindh chief minister’s remarks that Islamabad was imposing its decision regarding ending the lockdown. Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who also heads the National Command and Operation Centre, in a television programme categorically on Friday evening, said that all decisions were made with the approval of the provincial governments. He even said that some of the federal government’s proposals on which there were objections, or difference of opinion, were not included as the government wanted to have complete consensus on the matter.

Prime Minister Khan has urged people to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) evolved by the government when the lockdown is lifted, otherwise there will be trajectory of Covid-19 and then the government will have no option but to enforce another lockdown.

The prime minister presided over a meeting on Friday to review the economic situation and its future outlook in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The finance ministry briefed the meeting on the overall situation and the performance of various macroeconomic indicators during the last nine months of the current financial year, as well as the impact of coronavirus on the economy, an official press release said.

The meeting reviewed the progress and impact of the Rs1.25 trillion economic stimulus package announced by the government to provide relief to the poor and vulnerable segments of society and support various sectors of the economy affected by the pandemic.

The prime minister appreciated the efforts made by the finance ministry to ensure financial discipline and provision of relief during the Coved-19 situation. He emphasised that greater attention should be paid to supporting small and medium enterprises and the agriculture sector, enabling them to create greater job opportunities for people. “The process of reforming public sector organisations should be expedited to plug leakages of the economy,” he added.

The prime minister said the process of provision of subsidies should also be reviewed to make these interventions more effective and target-oriented. “Out of the box solutions are needed to meet the present day economic challenges,” he emphasised.

Reviewing the future economic outlook, Mr Khan said all-out efforts should be made to provide maximum possible relief to the people. He emphasised that priorities and targets for the next Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) should be clearly defined with a focus on completion of projects rather than mere initiation. He stressed the need for maximum utilisation of the public-private partnership model and involving international development partners to enhance and broaden the PSDP scope.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said the government had signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Organisation of Migration, which helps connect countries with expatriates.

At a press conference, he said the government wanted to develop a networking system with overseas Pakistani doctors in order to learn from their experiences and expertise even after the coronavirus crisis is over.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

An estimated 29 million babies will be born in South Asia in the nine months after the Covid-19 outbreak was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), while five million births will be reported in Pakistan, according to a report released by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).

The report — released on May 6 — has predicted that an estimated 116 million babies will be born across the world in the 40-week period between March 11 and December 16, with almost a quarter of them in South Asia.

India is expected to report 20 million births, the highest in the region, during this period, the report said, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh (2.4 million) and Afghanistan (one million).

The report also warned that lockdown measures imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus may cause disruptions in life-saving health services "putting millions of pregnant mothers and their babies at great risk".

"The continuing rapid spread of Covid-19 across South Asia means new mothers and newborns will be greeted by harsh realities, including global containment measures such as lockdowns and curfews, health centres overwhelmed with response efforts, supply and equipment shortages, and a lack of sufficient skilled birth attendants as health workers [...] are redeployed to treat Covid-19 patients.

"Unicef cautions that although evidence suggests that pregnant mothers are not more affected by Covid-19 than others, countries need to ensure they still have access to antenatal, delivery and post-natal services.

"Likewise, sick newborns need emergency services as they are at high risk of death. New families require care to ensure the health and well-being of mothers, support to start breastfeeding, and to get medicines, vaccines and nutrition to keep their babies healthy," the report said.

The UN body urged governments and healthcare providers to take a few steps to save lives in the coming months by:

• Helping women receive regular checkups during their pregnancy, skilled delivery care and post-delivery care
• Ensuring health workers are provided with the necessary personal protective equipment and priority testing and vaccination for Covid-19 when it becomes available
• Ensuring that all infection prevention and control measures are being followed at health facilities
• Allowing healthcare workers to reach pregnant women through home visits, encouraging women living in rural areas to visit maternal waiting homes, and using mobile health strategies for tele-consultations
• Training, protecting and equipping health workers with kits to attend to home births
• Allocating resources to lifesaving services and supplies for maternal and child health

The report also urged pregnant women to take precautionary measures by practicing social distancing, avoiding physical gatherings and using online health services.

Read: Mothers may pass coronavirus to unborn children, say Chinese doctors

It also advised them to continue breastfeeding their children even if they are infected as "the virus has not been found in samples of breast milk".

"Mothers with Covid-19 should wear a mask when feeding their baby, wash hands before and after touching the baby, and routinely clean and disinfect surfaces," it cautioned.

WASHINGTON: Some debts were not sustainable and needed to be restructured, re-profiled or written off, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in an interview recorded earlier this week.

In this interview to ITV News, Ms Georgieva also urged governments to spend more money on health workers to protect the most vulnerable.

“There is a possibility that in some cases debt simply is not sustainable and therefore some action has to be taken either to re-profile or restructure or in some cases write off this debt,” she said.

Although G20 countries have promised some debt relief, a transcript of the interview, released by the IMF headquarters in Washington, indicated that Ms Georgieva believed the crisis required them to go further.

Imran has argued that heavy debt burdens are preventing countries from focusing on the challenge of saving people from pandemic as well as hunger

Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan appealed to the leaders of rich countries, the UN secretary general and heads of financial institutions to give debt relief to developing countries like Pakistan so that they could combat the deadly Covid-19 in a better way.

The prime minister argued that heavy debt burdens were preventing some countries from focusing on the real challenge of saving their people from the deadly pandemic and hunger that extended lockdowns would trigger.

The IMF chief, while acknowledging the need to restructuring loans, also said the first priority was to combat the disease that has already killed hundreds of thousands and infected several millions across the globe.

“The only thing we ask countries is please spend more money for your doctors and nurses — and please, please use the money to protect the most vulnerable,” she said.

The interviewer, Julie Etchingham, noted that loans usually came with conditions — such as tightening public spending — that were difficult to implement during the Covid-19 crisis.

Ms Georgieva said she was aware of the risks ahead for the IMF. “We are looking to the transparency and accountability in countries. They themselves are coming up with commitments to audit the use of the funds we provide, but there are no strings attached,” she said.

The IMF chief said that more than 100 countries had reached out to them for help to fight the pandemic and 50+ requests were swiftly approved for a total of about $18 billion.

Asked to assess the scale of the crisis facing the global economy, Ms Georgieva did not mince her words. “It is the worst crisis since the Great Depression. But it is more than that because it is a combination of a health crisis and an economic shock,” she said. “And it is truly global.”

The IMF now has about $1 trillion dollars lending capacity — four times more than in the last financial crisis.

The IMF approved $1.386 billion of assistance for Pakistan under the Rapid Financing Instrument to address the economic impact of the Covid-19 shock.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

SRINAGAR: Anti-India protests and clashes continued for a third day in occupied Kashmir on Friday, following the killing of a top resistance leader by Indian forces.

Kashmiri leader Riyaz Naikoo and his aide were killed in a gunfight with Indian troops on Wednesday in the southern Awantipora area, leading to massive clashes at several places.

The clashes continued on Friday as anti-India protesters threw stones at government forces, who fired shotgun pellets and tear gas to quell the spiralling protests.

At least one man was killed and 50 others were injured in the three days of clashes, residents and medics said. Most of the injured were treated locally.

However, at least a dozen people with bullet and pellet injuries were taken to a hospital in Srinagar for treatment, a doctor said on condition of anonymity. She said most of the injured had been hit by pellets in one or both eyes.

Residents said Indian troops swooped into the Kashmiri leader’s native village on Thursday, and accused them of vandalising a tent which villagers had set up for mourning his death, triggering large protests and clashes in the area.

Authorities did not hand over the bodies of the two slain fighters to their families under a new Indian policy designed to thwart large-scale funerals. Instead, police buried the bodies in a mountainous graveyard about 100 kilometres from the village.

Authorities have shut down mobile phone and internet services since Wednesday, a common Indian tactic in the disputed region when such protests erupt. They also imposed a near total information blackout and refused to brief media about the situation.

India imposed similar measures in 2019 when it revoked the disputed region’s semi-autonomous status and statehood and imposed direct federal rule.

Indian security officials and some members of the ruling party called Naikoo’s killing a victory against the Kashmiri fighters. Naikoo, 35, was the chief of operations of the region’s largest indigenous armed group, Hizbul Mujahideen, which has spearheaded a rebellion against Indian rule.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

The government of Pakistan has decided to bring back via special flights its students stuck in Wuhan, China, ground zero of the novel coronavirus.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari tweeted the development on Friday night, referring to those stranded there as "the bravest soldiers".

Pakistan International Airline (PIA) has been tasked to bring the first batch of Pakistanis – mostly students – beginning May 18, when around 250 individuals are expected to return.

Pakistanis who had been studying in Wuhan and other cities in the Chinese province of Hubei – first region in the world to be put under a strict lockdown on Jan 20 after being declared a virus epicenter – had appealed at the time to be evacuated.

Multiple requests for evacuation were made not only by the stranded students but also by their families back home. However, the government said it would not repatriate them immediately and would follow guidelines and processes put in place by China in this regard.

To allay the fears of the students and their families, the Foreign Office in February sent two of its officials from the Beijing embassy to Wuhan while the strict lockdown was still in place. The FO said the staffers were to remain in Wuhan till the lockdown ended and would meet students in different universities to get an update on their well-being and safety.

In March, President Arif Alvi and Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi visited China and interacted with Pakistani citizens there via video link.

Upon returning from the trip, both the foreign minister and President Alvi briefed the media and said that the students were in a good condition and had only requested that Pakistani food be provided to them.

On March 28, China began lifting the lockdown in Wuhan. By April 8, the restrictions were completely lifted and some of the the students celebrated by cooking themselves a meal.

NEW DELHI: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the real estate sector could jump over two-fold in the next one year with easing of FDI rules in the construction sector, realtors’ body NAREDCO said today. Real estate developers and consultants were of the view that this move would give fillip to cash-starved realty sector, which is reeling under a slowdown since last 2-3 years. It will help developers in raising funds to complete projects. Yesterday, the Cabinet relaxed FDI rules in construction sector by reducing minimum built-up area as well as capital requirement and easing the exit norms. “Reduction in minimum built-up area to 20,000 sq meters from 50,000 sq meters […]

NEW DELHI: The Delhi state consumer panel has asked real estate firm Omaxe Buildhome Pvt Ltd to pay over Rs 11 lakh to a retired Indian Airlines official after holding the realty firm of “deficiency of service” in the allotment of a flat at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh. The Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC), presided by judicial member S A Siddiqui, asked the firm to pay Rs 11.14 lakh to Secunderabad resident Pradeep Chaudhary. Chaudhary had approached the Commission alleging “unfair trade practice” and “deficiency of service” on the firm’s part and said that despite his strong opposition, the company, on its own, changed the location of […]

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, engineers and scientists are finding themselves suddenly working from home or other remote locations. We’d like to help you continue to use MATLAB and Simulink productively. We hope this brief collection of resources will help you access MATLAB, collaborate and connect with others, and... read more >>

"The COVID-19 pandemic is not an excuse for human rights violations. Excessive force and brutality are unacceptable from any of our enforcement or security forces."

In recent months, several Pakistani activists and bloggers living in Europe have claimed to have been targeted for speaking up against human rights violations in Pakistan.

"I felt that they listened to what I was trying to say, and it shows that they do value democracy here in Taiwan."

Colorado Republican Party Chair Ken Buck, a U.S. representative from Windsor, pressured a local party official to submit incorrect election results to set the primary ballot for a state Senate seat, according to an audio recording of a conference call obtained by The Denver Post.

A document created by the nation's top disease investigators with step-by-step advice to local authorities on how and when to reopen restaurants and other public places during the still-raging outbreak has been shelved by the Trump administration.

The Weld County GOP chairman has filed a complaint with the local district attorney and the Secretary of State’s Office accusing an aide to Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck and three others of election fraud and corruption.

ADB has approved a $100 million loan to help supply renewable energy to Mongolia by installing its first large-scale advanced battery energy storage system.