Showing posts with label WORLD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WORLD. Show all posts

Saturday, 23 October 2021

NATO not ready for equal dialogue with Moscow: defence chief

 

NATO not ready for equal dialogue with Moscow: defence chief

MOSCOW, OCT 23: Russia's defence minister accused NATO on Saturday of gradually gathering forces near Russia's borders and being unwilling to discuss European security with Moscow on equal terms, Interfax news agency reported.

Shoigu's comments were the latest sign of mounting tension between Russia and NATO after defence ministers from the Western alliance agreed on a new plan on Thursday to defend against any potential Russian attack on multiple fronts.

Germany's defence minister described the plan as "the way of deterrence" but the Kremlin said on Friday that the plan showed Moscow had been right to cut ties with NATO. Russia shut its diplomatic mission to NATO and the alliance's mission in Moscow this week after NATO expelled eight Russians accused of spying.

"NATO is gradually gathering forces near our borders amid calls for military deterrence of Russia," Interfax quoted Shoigu as saying in a statement, without giving details.

"The German defence minister (Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer) must know really well how a similar thing ended up for Germany and Europe," he added in an apparent reference to World War Two.

He said security in Europe must be mutual and must not infringe on Russia's interests.

"But it is NATO that is not ready for an equal dialogue on this issue," he said. "Moreover, the implementation of NATO's 'deterrence' plan in Afghanistan has ended up in a disaster, which the whole world is now dealing with."

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COURTESY Anews

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Thursday, 21 October 2021

Pakistan's inflation rate is the fourth highest in the world: report

 

Pakistan's inflation rate is the fourth highest in the world: report

  • The Economist ranks Turkey second with a 19.6% inflation rate, followed by Brazil with 10.2%.
  • Argentina tops list with 51.4% inflation rate.
  • Inflation rate in India clocks in at 4.3%, taking it to the 16th position on the list. 

LONDON, OCT 21: Amid soaring inflation, Pakistan has been ranked as a country with the fourth highest inflation rate in the world,according to a weekly report published by The Economist.

The report placed Pakistan at fourth place out of a list of 43 countries.

It is pertinent to mention here that the rate of inflation in Pakistan clocked in at 9% in September.

As compared to that, the inflation rate in India clocked in at 4.3%, taking it to the 16th position on the list of most expensive countries.

Per the report, the highest inflation around the world is in Argentina where the inflation rate is currently at 51.4%.

Meanwhile, Turkey ranks second with a 19.6% inflation rate, followed by Brazil with 10.2%.

According to the international publication, inflation in Japan is -0.4%.

September inflation edges up to 9% in Pakistan

The month of September saw a new round of increased prices of consumer items as inflation edged up to 9% from 8.4% in August, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on October 1.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation increased by 2.1% owing to significant changes in three indices — food, housing, and construction.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI), which captures prices in the wholesale market, also rose sharply by 19.6% in September compared to 4.3% in the same month a year ago.

The government has set the average inflation target for the ongoing fiscal year at 8.5%, indicating that the year-on-year inflation may remain in double digits in the fiscal year 2021-22.

The PBS had reported that the overall inflation rate in both the urban and rural areas recorded an increase. The inflation rate in urban areas edged up by 9.1% in September and rural areas surged to 8.8% over the same month of the last year. In September last year, inflation in urban areas was recorded at 7.7% and in rural areas at 8.4%.

The food inflation rate in villages and towns remained unchanged at 9.1% and in cities rose to 10.8%, which was significantly higher than the previous month. Non-food inflation was recorded at 8.1% in urban areas and 8.5% in rural areas compared to 5% and 7.2% in September 2020.

Core inflation — calculated by excluding food and energy items — rose to 6.4% in urban areas in September, reported the national data collecting agency.

The food group saw a price increase of 10.21% in September from the same month a year ago. Within the food group, prices of non-perishable food items surged by 13.84% on an annualised basis meanwhile the prices of the perishable goods were effectively reduced by 8.3%. The inflation rate for the housing, water, electricity, gas, and fuel group — having one-fourth weight in the basket — rose to 9.74% last month.

Average prices for the clothing and footwear group increased by 9.19% in September. Prices related to transportation surged by 9.11%.

On a month-on-month basis, the price of chicken skyrocketed 42.04%, followed by a 15.7% surge in pulse masoor, 14.43% increase in eggs, nearly 10% wheat, according to the PBS. The prices of vegetables, cooking oil, and sugar recorded an increase of 3.95%, 3.64%, and 3.04% last month.

Meanwhile, electricity charges surged by 11.4% during the period under review.

The average inflation rate for July-September of the current fiscal year came in at 8.58%, according to the PBS.

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COURTESY GEO NEWS

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Pakistan to remain on FATF grey list

Pakistan to remain on FATF grey list


ISLAMABAD, OCT 21: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced on Thursday that Pakistan will remain on its increased monitoring list, also called the grey list.

Pakistan has been on the grey list, for deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since June 2018.

Announcing the decision, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said that Pakistan had to complete two concurrent action plans with a total of 34 items. “It has now addressed or largely addressed 30 of the items,” he said.

“Its most recent action plan from June this year, which largely focused on money laundering deficiencies, was issued after the FATF’s regional partner — the Asia Pacific Group — identified a number of serious issues.

“Overall, Pakistan is making good progress on this new action plan. Four out of the seven action plan items are now addressed or largely addressed.”

He said that this included showing that financial supervisors are conducting on-site and off-site checking on non-financial sector businesses and enacting legislative amendments to improve international cooperation.

Commenting on the action plan devised in 2018 which focused on terror financing, the FATF president said that Pakistan was still assessed to have largely addressed 26 out of 27 items.

“Pakistan has taken a number of important steps but needs to further demonstrate that investigations and prosecutions are being pursued against the senior leadership of UN designated terror groups,” he said.

All these changes are about helping authorities stop corruption, preventing terrorism and organised criminals from benefitting from their crimes, he said, thanking the government for their “continued strong commitment” to the process.

‘FATF takes decision by consensus’

To a question regarding an Indian minister’s claims that the Modi government had ensured that Pakistan remained on the ‘grey list’, Dr Pleyer said that the FATF is a technical body and “we take our decisions by consensus […] so it’s not only one country that makes decisions.”

Following the last plenary session in July, India’s Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar said the Modi-led Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government had ensured that Pakistan remained on the FATF ‘grey list’.

“Due to us, Pakistan is under the lens of FATF and it was kept in the grey list,” Jaishankar was quoted as saying while addressing a virtual training programme on foreign policy for BJP leaders.

Refusing to comment on the Indian’s minister’s remarks, Dr Pleyer said that the FATF consists of 39 jurisdictions and the decisions on Pakistan are all taken by consensus.

‘FATF has recognised Pakistan’s progress’

In a statement, the Finance Division said that the FATF had recognised the “considerable progress” made by Pakistan on both the action plans.

The statement said that Pakistan had completed four of the seven items on the 2021 action plan, adding that these were completed “much before” the timelines prescribed by the FATF. It said that progress on the remaining three items was “well underway” and the aim was to complete them ahead of the timelines set by the financial watchdog.

“The action items that have been completed include amendments in the Mutual Legal Assistance Act, 2020, AML/CFT [anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism] supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs), transparency of beneficial ownership information and implementation of targeted financial sanctions for proliferation finance by DNFBPs,” the statement said.

The remaining items in the 2021 action plan include investigation and prosecution of money laundering cases, confiscation of assets and UN listings, it added.

Regarding the single item remaining on the 2018 action plan, the Finance Division said that Pakistan had submitted a comprehensive progress report in this regard.

“The FATF acknowledged Pakistan’s continued political commitment, which led to significant progress across a comprehensive CFT action plan and encouraged Pakistan to report further progress on investigation and prosecution,” the statement said.

The Finance Division noted that “considerable work” has been carried out on the remaining items of both action plans, adding that the FATF will review Pakistan’s progress in February 2022.

June plenary

The FATF in its last session in June had kept Pakistan on the watchdog’s “increased monitoring list” till it addressed the single remaining item on the original action plan agreed to in June 2018 as well as all items on a parallel action plan given by the Asia Pacific Group — the FATF’s regional affiliate.

“Pakistan has made significant progress and it has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on the action plan it first committed to in June 2018,” FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer had said at a post-plenary presser.

He had, however, pointed out that the remaining item on financial terrorism still needed to be addressed which concerned the “investigation and prosecution of senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terror groups”.

The FATF, after discussion, had decided to maintain status quo for Pakistan — countries in increased monitoring. It hoped the remaining action item would be completed before the FATF’s next plenary scheduled for October.

Shortly after the announcement, the then minister for industries and production Hammad Azhar had said that the APG had given seven additional action points under a parallel mutual evaluation mechanism under which Islamabad had largely completed 75 out of 82 action points.

Azhar had said Pakistan would complete within three-four months the only remaining FATF target on speedy prosecution of the UN-designated terror groups’ leaders.

He had said the government had set a target for itself to complete APG’s seven action points within 12 months — a target most jurisdictions achieve in two years.

Pleyer had made it clear that Pakistan’s delisting from grey list would not take place until both action plans were completed and the members then came to a conclusion that systems and efforts against financial risks were sustainable.

He had said the rules were very clear and equally applicable that jurisdictions under increased monitoring list had to complete all action points and fully address the risks.

Under the new action plan, Pakistan will have to address its strategically important AML/CFT deficiencies. These include enhancing international cooperation by amending the MLA law, demonstrating that assistance is being sought from foreign countries in implementing UNSCR 1373 designations and also that supervisors are conducting both on-site and off-site supervision commensurate with specific risks associated with designated non-financial businesses & professions (DNFBPs), including applying appropriate sanctions where necessary.

The new actions also require Pakistan to demonstrate that proportionate and dissuasive sanctions are applied consistently to all legal persons and legal arrangements for non-compliance with beneficial ownership requirements, show increase in ML investigations and prosecutions and that proceeds of crime continue to be restrained and confiscated in line with Pakistan’s risk profile, including working with foreign counterparts to trace, freeze and confiscate assets. Also, the government has to demonstrate that DNFBPs are being monitored for compliance with proliferation financing requirements and that sanctions are being imposed for non-compliance.

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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Japan provides equipment worth USD 6.59 million for Pakistan’s COVID-19 response

Japan provides equipment worth USD 6.59 million for Pakistan’s COVID-19 response


ISLAMABAD, OCT 21: Cold chain optimization equipment worth USD 6.59 million funded by the Government of Japan and procured through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for enhancing national capacity to store COVID-19, was today handed over to the Government of Pakistan.

The Parliamentary Secretary on Health, Dr. Nausheen Hamid received the cold chain equipment from the Ambassador of Japan, MATSUDA Kuninori, in presence of the UNICEF Representative in Pakistan, Aida Girma, at a ceremony held in the National Emergency Operation Centre, Expanded Programme for Immunization (EPI).

“We greatly value the significant contributions made by Japan during the last 70 years of its diplomatic relations with Pakistan,” said Dr. Nausheen Hamid. “Over the years, our two countries have partnered in various sectors including health, education, power and many other. I affirm our strong desire to further deepen and broaden our bilateral ties with Japan.”

“The Expanded Programme for Immunization in Pakistan has a strong cold chain system that is considered the backbone of the programme as it handles and stores massive quantities of vaccines inclusive of all kinds of COVID-19 vaccines.

It is, however, important to know that the cold chain system can be risky in countries which have extreme temperatures and the power supply is unreliable. I am grateful to the Government of Japan for providing this cold chain optimization equipment for vaccine storage and ensuring quality check as it would definitely strengthen our existing system,” she added.

The equipment procured through funds from Japan, include power generators, voltage regulators and temperature monitoring devices which will enhance vaccine storage capacity of EPI, especially at provincial and district level where power outage and voltage fluctuation is frequent.

The new equipment would help to ensure optimum temperature control at storage facilities thus maintaining the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine. 

Japanese funds will also be used for strengthening the capacity of health care staff to handle the cold chain equipment.

Japan has extended a total of $23.5 million grant assistance to Pakistan for its counter-COVID19 measures including provision of hygiene items, medical equipment, and training of health care staff.

Japan provides equipment worth USD 6.59 million for Pakistan’s COVID-19 response


Speaking at the event, Ambassador MATSUDA stressed that Japan has prioritized the health sector as part of its development cooperation policy for Pakistan for decades, including Maternal & Child Health, Polio Eradication, Routine Immunization and Counter-COVID-19 measures.

He expressed his hope to open a new area of cooperation in the future partnership between Japan and Pakistan in the health sector, suggesting that tackling diabetes could be one of the candidates.

 “I am looking forward to seeing a new chapter added to the friendship between Japan and Pakistan on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries next year,” the ambassador said.

As part of COVID 19 pandemic response UNICEF has been assisting the Government of Pakistan in procuring CoVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility.

It has also procured cold chain, laboratory and personal protective equipment and handed over to the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.

“Today’s ceremony reinforces the high level and longstanding support of the Government of Japan to UNICEF in its efforts to procure vaccines and essential equipment for strengthening immunization services in Pakistan,” said Aida Girma, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan.

“May it be routine immunization or the large-scale COVID-19 vaccination drive, storage of vaccines at optimum temperature is essential to maintain their efficacy and effectiveness.

The cold chain support equipment being handed over to the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination today, will help in making vaccines available to people across the country, especially the marginalised and those living in hard to reach areas, Ms. Girma said.”

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Wednesday, 20 October 2021

Donald Blome nominated as the new US ambassador to Pakistan

Donald Blome nominated as the new US ambassador to Pakistan


  • Blome is currently serving as the ambassador of the US in Tunisia.
  • A career Foreign Service diplomat, Blome has extensive experience in the region.
  • He once worked in the US embassy in Kabul, which was closed a few months ago after the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government.

WASHINGTON, OCT 20: US President Joe Biden picked career diplomat Donald Blome as his top diplomat in Pakistan, as the volatile situation in Afghanistan escalates following the withdrawal of US troops from the country.

Blome is currently serving as the ambassador of the US in Tunisia. He is a career Foreign Service diplomat with long experience in the region who once worked in the Kabul embassy, shuttered earlier this year during the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Pakistan is playing a major role in diplomacy with its Taliban-ruled neighbour.

International agencies have warned that Afghanistan is on the verge of humanitarian collapse without access to aid or foreign reserves, which remain frozen in the United States.

Pakistan's relationship with neighbouring China has also been of interest to the Biden administration, which regards Beijing as its chief international rival.

Tunisia, where Blome has worked as ambassador since 2019, is an important diplomatic outpost for the United States in North Africa, representing interests beyond the country's borders, including in neighbouring Libya.

The ambassadorial position requires Senate confirmation.

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Courtesy geo.tv

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