Saturday, 30 January 2021
OSLO, JAN 2021: Norwegian Air confirmed on Thursday that it’s dropping its intercontinental long-haul routes and will instead concentrate on flights in the Nordic region. Around 2,000 employees are losing their jobs.
The airline, which began with shuttle service on Norway’s West Coast and then evolved into first a domestic- and then European carrier, is already in the process of unloading its fleet of the Boeing 787 Dreamliners that became a nightmare for Norwegian. Many were plagued by technical problems and Norwegian lacked back-up aircraft or alliances with other airlines when they couldn’t fly. The airline’s huge acquisition of the new Dreamliners also left it saddled with massive debt, and the airline had to recapitalize on several occasions, while also facing labour unrest and a debilitating pilots’ strike. Its ambitious founder finally withdrew last year.
Then came the Corona crisis, which forced the grounding of airlines all over the world and then only a fraction of the traffic they’d had before the Corona pandemic began. It’s all led to Norwegian being forced to end its pioneering low-fare intercontinental expansion and return to its roots.
Back to ‘core operations’
“Under these circumstances,” state the airline in a message to the Oslo Stock Exchange, it’s no longer fruitful for Norwegian to continue its long-distance flights. The decision comes as no surprise, and the airline will scale down its fleet of aircraft to just 50 from the 140 it has today. Its route system will be reduced to “core operations” in the Nordic area for short- and medium-distance routes using narrow-body aircraft.
The drastic reduction in service is aimed at saving the airline, which is currently trying to reorganize under the protection of bankruptcy courts in Norway and Ireland. It is also expected to reduce Norwegian’s debt by around 60 percent, to roughtly NOK 20 billion.
Airline officials are also asking the Norwegian government once again for more state financial support. The government has assisted both Norwegian and its rivals SAS and Widerøe with funding for routes to maintain critical airline service in Norway, but has been reluctant to provide more capital or become an owner in the airline. The airline’s heavy debt simply presented too much of a risk for Norwegian taxpayers.
State re-evaluating aid
Now the government may be more willing to help save Norwegian. Business and Trade Minister Iselin Nybø issued a statement of her own on Thursday, noting that Norwegian’s new request differs from the one rejected in November.
“We are now underway with a thorough evaluation of this new request,” Nybø wrote in an email to state broadcaster NRK. She stressed that Norwegian Air is now making a considerable effort to emerge from its crisis, which began long before Corona.
“We are aware of the time limits under which Norwegian is working, and will work as fast as we responsibly can with our evaluation,” Nybø wrote.
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RAJA FURQAN
ISLAMABAD, JAN 29: The Ambassador of Greece in Pakistan, Andreas Papastravou called on Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi. Greek Envoy Papastravou emphasised on the importance of shipping and showed keen interest in furthering cooperation.
Federal Minister Ali Zaidi laid out his vision and discussed various ideas to enhance trade and also spoke about possibilities to learn from Greece’s experience and success in the maritime sector.
Issue of seafarers and water pollution also came under discussion. Shipping being one of the 3 main pillars of the Greek Economy, Ambassador offered all support and help.
Ambassador Papastravou also thanked Minister Zaidi for receiving him and agreed on close coordination in future.
The Envoy also appreciated the efforts of Minister Zaidi for developing the maritime sector and the blue economy in Pakistan along with focusing on export growth and facilitation.
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COURTESY thepakistandaily
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NURSULTAN, JAN 2021: Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed further political modernization and outlined his 2021 priorities for the Kazakh Parliament and government at the Jan. 15 opening of the first session of the Parliament of the seventh convocation.
At the end of the last parliamentary elections, two Kazakh political parties were just a few percent away from earning seats in the Majilis (lower house of the Parliament). The President proposed to reduce the mandatory vote threshold from seven to five percent for more political parties to be able to enter the Majilis and, thereby, increase the political competition.
“The time has come to make such a decision. Such a rule will stimulate legally registered parties to participate in the next elections,” he said. “This initiative will expand representation, and allow us to take into account the opinion of the widest possible layers of the population when developing state policy.”
In addition to that, he proposed to return the option “none of the above” to the ballots because “the concept of alternative views and voting against all should be considered normal in Kazakhstan.”
The President informed the citizenry about the upcoming akim (governor) elections in rural districts in Kazakhstan. These elections should “strengthen the system of local self-government at the grassroots level,” he stressed.
The Jan. 10 Kazakh parliamentary elections coincided with Kazakhstan’s 30th anniversary year of independence. In this historical year, Tokayev called on the deputies to focus their efforts on building “an effective state and a just society.”
“The main priority is to improve the quality of life and increase the well-being of citizens. The people are waiting for a full return and concrete results from the socio-economic programs we have implemented,” he said.
Tokayev instructed the Parliament to make every effort to develop the rule of law and strengthen government approval.
“The essence of reforms in this area lies in the reasonable decentralization of the system, modernization of the state apparatus, optimization of the quasi-public sector, and digitization of all procedures. Thus, the state apparatus will become as compact, open, and efficient as possible, and the decision-making process will become flexible and transparent. Socio-economic development is impossible without proper protection of the rights of citizens,” Tokayev said.
The President also stressed the importance of modernizing social policies, education, healthcare, and pension systems. In addition to this, Tokayev instructed the Kazakh government to prioritize the progressive growth of the national economy, continue countercyclical macroeconomic policies to support economic activity, as well as to focus on creating favorable conditions for doing business.
“Given the dynamic transformation of the labor market, it is necessary to stimulate the flow of labor from low-productivity to more productive sectors of the economy. As I said earlier, the industry of our country should be flexible and adaptable to change,” said Tokayev.
Another priority will be the infrastructure connecting regions, cities, districts, and villages. According to him, the government will modernize more than 3,500 villages and repair roads between villages and all national highways.
Tokayev concluded that the Parliament is the locus of all activities aimed at protecting the interests of the country. He called on the deputies to make decisions with a sense of the highest responsibility and to always remember that the Kazakh people expect positive changes.
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COURTESY norwaynews
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Friday, 29 January 2021
Raja Furqan Ahmed
ISLAMABAD, JAN 29: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency completed the disbursement of emergency cash assistance for 75,000 vulnerable Afghan refugee families that have been the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees are hosted in Pakistan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their ability to work and earn a minimum livelihood, mainly as daily wage earners, has been severely affected.
In response, UNHCR launched an emergency cash programme in May 2020. The programme mirrored the Government of Pakistan’s Ehsaas social protection programme under which vulnerable Pakistani families receive a one-off cash grant of Rs. 12,000. UNHCR’s support helped vulnerable refugee families meet their critical needs, such as food, health, education, as well as rent and transportation.
UNHCR’s cash assistance programme was established and rolled out in collaboration with the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON)/Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR), the Pakistan Post, some partner NGOs, and a network of refugee volunteers and community leaders. Using vulnerability criteria, this volunteer refugee network supported the process of identifying the neediest refugee families.
The UNHCR Representative in Pakistan, Ms. Noriko Yoshida, said, “Cash assistance to 75,000 refugee families is about leaving no one behind, as the COVID-19 pandemic does not discriminate.”
“With the support of the Government of Pakistan and the international community, emergency cash assistance has made a difference in the lives of refugees during this very challenging time. The assistance has not only allowed refugees to meet their immediate needs in dignity but has also been a gesture of the solidarity,” she added.
UNHCR’s emergency cash programme has supported a total of 450,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan. One out of every three Afghan refugees has benefitted from this support.
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COURTESY reliefweb.int
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Thursday, 28 January 2021
- It is too early to relax in the fight against the disease, the president stated
NOVO-OGARYOVO, Jan 28: Actions of Russian authorities to combat the coronavirus spread are in line with the level of threats and yield positive results, hence the pandemic is slowly subsiding in Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a cabinet meeting Thursday.
According to him, objective data shows that the actions taken in Russia to curb the COVID-19 spread "are in line with the level of threats which it poses for citizens."
"Generally, [these actions] yield positive results," the leader stressed. "The pandemic is gradually receding."
He explained that the number of cases is going down in Russia, while the number of recoveries "has been steadily above the infection numbers lately."
"As of lethality, the situation is generally satisfactory if you can speak about it in such terms. Nevertheless, this is the case in comparison with other countries," Putin added.
The Russian president emphasized that the infection rate in Russia remains lower than in other countries. "We have around 12 infections per every 100,000 people," he noted. "This is four times as low as in European countries, many European countries.
Meanwhile it is "too early to relax" in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the president stated.
Putin noted that in conversations with regional governors he constantly emphasized "the need to maintain precautionary measures and health rules and keep a reserve of hospital beds for coronavirus patients and means to combat COVID-19, including personal protective equipment and medications."
"We need to act carefully, providing assistance to people and supporting the economy," Putin stressed. The president also ordered that federal and regional authorities continue coordinated efforts to combat the coronavirus, adapting their activities "to the current threats."
About 68 mln Russians need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, Vladimir Putin said.
He noted that according to head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Anna Popova, nearly 70 mln people were inoculated against the flu during the recent vaccination campaign. "We need to reach the same level as far as the fight against the coronavirus pandemic goes," the head of state pointed out.
"We launched a mass vaccination campaign on January 18, we have big plans in this regard," the president noted. "[Trade and Industry Minister Denis] Manturov reported to me that vaccine production was ahead of schedule," he added.
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COURTESY tass
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BISHKEK, Jan. 28 -- Sadyr Zhaparov officially took office as the new Kyrgyz president on
Thursday, becoming the sixth president of Kyrgyzstan.
Zhaparov took the oath at an inauguration ceremony at the Kyrgyz National Philharmonic
building, and then head of the country's Central Election Commission Nurzhan Shaildabekova
handed over the president's certificate and the badge.
Zhaparov said Kyrgyzstan will adhere to a multi-vector foreign policy in his speech.
"Enhancing cooperation and strengthening economic and cultural ties with strategic
partners is a priority of our foreign policy," he stressed.
The new Kyrgyz president expressed hope for furthering mutually beneficial cooperation with
China.
He also expressed great gratitude to countries that provided all possible assistance in difficult
days, especially Russia.
Zhaparov also said Kyrgyzstan will make effort to start cooperation with the United States
and countries in Europe and Asia.
He assured that Kyrgyzstan will fulfill international obligations within the framework of the
United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union as
well as other international organizations.
Zhaparov won the Jan. 10 early presidential election with 79.2 percent of the votes.
The early presidential election was held after former President Sooronbai Jeenbekov
resigned amid protests against the results of the parliamentary elections, which took place
on Oct. 4, 2020.
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COURTESY xinhuanet.com
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BUCHAREST, JAN 28: Romania is "fully prepared" to join the Schengen area,
Romanian prime minister Florin Citu told his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte
in a phone conversation on Monday, January 25.
"Yesterday [e.n. Monday] I had a telephone conversation with the prime minister
of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte. We analyzed the promising prospects for
cooperation between Romania and the Netherlands, focusing on strengthening
economic relations and boosting political dialogue," Citu wrote in a Facebook post.
"Our legitimate goal of joining the Schengen area was one of the key points
reached in the discussion with prime minister Rutte, to whom I told that Romania
is, without a doubt, fully prepared to enter the Schengen area," the Romanian
PM added.
The evolution of the pandemic and the vaccination process in the two states
were two other topics discussed, Florin Citu also said.
Romania's accession to the Schengen area since 2011, according to G4media.ro.
In May 2019, during the EU summit in Sibiu, the Dutch prime minister said that
Romania would be ready for admission to the Schengen area "when it complies
with the rule of law and democracy."
In December 2018, the European Parliament adopted a report supporting the
Schengen membership for Bulgaria and Romania.
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COURTESY romania-insider
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BAKU, JAN 2021: Anglo-Asian Mining had been waiting for decades. Since 1997,
the company has held the rights, granted by Azerbaijan, to three gold deposits
beyond its reach, in territories controlled by Armenians. In an October 27
press release it announced that it was looking forward to tapping its
300-square-kilometer Vejnali contract area, which had just been retaken by
Azerbaijani troops: “Once secure, the company plans to immediately start work.”
After the fighting ended, some two weeks later, Armenian troops handed back
more gold-mining areas, including the Kelbajar region, home to one of the most
productive gold mines in the Caucasus.
Nagorno-Karabakh and the areas around it are rich in
deposits of gold, copper, and other valuable metals. For decades, mining
revenues helped prop up the de facto Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. In 2019, for
example, 13 percent of Nagorno-Karabakh’s GDP came from the extractive
industry, according to the territory’s statistics service, making it the top
source of tax revenues. During the war Nagorno-Karabakh – which Armenians call
Artsakh – lost control not only of profitable mines but, according to the de
facto economy minister, “most of the hydroelectric plants.”
"Taking into account the obstacles caused by land
losses as a result of hostilities, the Artsakh government will not be able to
provide the revenue to fund its budget not only this year, but also in the coming
years. According to my calculations, tax collection in Artsakh will be reduced
by 40 billion drams [$80 million], or 65 percent,” Yerevan-based economist
Suren Parsyan, who is connected to Armenia’s opposition, told Eurasianet.
The 44-day war that ended on November 9 radically changed
the map of the South Caucasus – and with it, the economic foundations of
Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Now, after pushing for years to attract
international attention to what it describes as the looting of its territories,
Baku’s timing is auspicious: Around the world, investors are piling into
precious metals as a hedge against inflation, which is expected to rise
globally with coronavirus stimulus policies. The price of gold has jumped about
19 percent in the last 12 months. Copper futures hit multi-year highs this
month.
The precise economic stakes for both Armenia and Azerbaijan
are obscured by opaque governments. Mining enterprises in Armenia are obliged
to disclose little information; activists’ repeated efforts to introduce
transparency requirements have failed. We are only able to deduce the scale of
miners’ contributions to Yerevan’s and Stepanakert’s coffers because both do
release figures on large tax payments. Azerbaijan’s gold industry, for its
part, has been tarnished by investigative reports showing how, in other mining
ventures, President Ilham Aliyev’s daughters Arzu and Leyla Aliyeva extracted
millions of dollars in profits, stashed them offshore, and then left rural
mining communities, in the words of the Organized Crime and Corruption
Reporting Project, “high and dry.”
Worth its weight
During Armenia and Azerbaijan’s first war over
Nagorno-Karabakh as the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, Armenian
troops took control of the territory and seven adjoining districts – all
internationally recognized as belonging to Azerbaijan. The war ended, after
tens of thousands of deaths, in a 1994 ceasefire that largely held until late
2020. Nagorno-Karabakh had declared itself independent and become an unrecognized
satellite of impoverished Armenia.
Only three years after the ceasefire, a Delaware-registered
company, R.V. Investment Group Services, signed an agreement with Baku for
exclusive rights to six mines, three of them on territories under Armenia’s de
facto control.
The man who signed that agreement is Reza Vaziri, a former
official in Iran’s pre-revolutionary government and today the president, CEO,
and largest known shareholder in Anglo-Asian Mining, which operates exclusively
in Azerbaijan.
The company did not respond to requests for comment.
Anglo-Asian Mining has enjoyed a sharp uptick in the price
of gold since the 2008 financial crisis. In a preliminary 2020 report released
on January 14, Vaziri said the company enjoyed “record revenues … in excess of
$100 million” last year from its operations in two mines to the north of
Nagorno-Karabakh – Gosha and Gedabek.
With licenses “restored” by the most recent war, Anglo-Asian
Mining expects “to deliver substantial shareholder value over the coming
years,” Vaziri said, adding, “we will start evaluating additional development
of our licenses in the restored Vejnali, Soutely and Gyzilbulakh contract areas
as soon as practically possible.”
The mines to which Anglo-Asian Mining holds rights:
Soyudlu/Sotk
Until work was suspended in November, the open-pit Soyudlu
gold mine (also known as Soutely, Zod, or, in Armenian, Sotk) on the border
between Azerbaijan’s Kelbajar district and Armenia was exceptionally
productive. It was being operated by GPM Gold, the fourth-largest taxpayer in
Armenia in 2020 according to the State Revenue Committee, when it paid over 30
billion drams ($58 million) into government coffers. As of October, the mine,
which also produces silver, employed 1,654 people.
GPM Gold is wholly owned by Cyprus-registered GeoProMining
Investment, which is managed through a web of offshore outfits. Last summer
Russian real estate and airport tycoon Roman Trotsenko became the controlling
shareholder of GeoProMining. Trotsenko is a former advisor to Igor Sechin, the
CEO of Russia’s biggest oil company, Rosneft, and a close ally to Vladimir
Putin.
Sotk grossed $126 million in 2019, by far GeoProMining’s
largest operation. The company’s website says the mine yielded 130,000 ounces
of gold in 2018 and has an operating life of another 18 years. Yet its
bondholders cannot be pleased: In its audited 2019 financial report, the
company did not list Azerbaijan as a political risk; in fact, the document did
not mention Azerbaijan at all. (Neither, for that matter, did the big ratings
agencies.)
Inside Armenia, GeoProMining also operates the Ararat Gold
Recovery Plant, which it upgraded in 2014, and a copper-molybdenum plant in the
south. In Russia, it operates several fields in Siberia.
If any of these mines offers Armenia and Azerbaijan an
opportunity for mutual benefit, it is Soyudlu/Sotk. But that would require
cooperation. Armenian officials have said that half the mine is on Armenian
territory, while an Azerbaijani official has said that 74 percent lies on Azerbaijani
territory. When Azerbaijani troops took back control of Kelbajar as part of the
November peace deal, the local village head said they forced Armenian workers
to leave – a claim Yerevan denied. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry released this
video of the site after it had been deserted.
Vejnali/Tondirget
Discovered in the late 1950s and confirmed to hold up to 6.5
tons of gold, in recent years Vejnali has been mined by a company called Gold
Star, which was the fourth-largest taxpayer in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2019
according to the State Revenue Committee. Little is known about the company,
though a 2020 financial report seen by Eurasianet shows a 1 billion dram ($2
million) loss. Gold Star is run by a Swiss-Armenian citizen, Vartan Sirmakes,
who is Armenia’s consul in Marseille, France, and co-founder of luxury watch
brand Franck Muller. Baku has sought Swiss help prosecuting Sirmakes for his
role in operating the mine.
Armenian environmentalists have complained of a lack of
oversight at the mine.
Gyzilbulakh/Drmbon and Demirli/Kashen
Until the 2020 war, these two mines were operated by
Karabakh’s largest taxpayer, Base Metals, which paid 18.7 billion drams ($38.5
million) to the treasury in 2019; by the company’s calculations, it alone was
responsible for 32 percent of Karabakh’s revenues. Parsyan, the economist,
estimates that the firm accounted for 60 percent of exports.
Base Metals is owned by Vallex Group, which has holdings in
metals, IT, and tourism in both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh – it even helped
sponsor a key highway between Armenia and Armenian-held territories that opened
in 2017. Armenia lost control of the highway during the recent war.
Vallex confirmed to Eurasianet that operations at both mines
– which are 15 kilometers apart as the crow flies – have been on hold since the
war. The company was unable to answer questions by the time of publication, but
a source close to the Karabakh authorities told Eurasianet that both mines
remain under Armenian control, though Azerbaijani troops had taken a crucial
pumping station, without which neither mine cannot operate. Karabakh’s de facto
minister of territorial administration and development, Zhirayr Mirzoyan, has
told Armenian investigative news site Hetq that building a new pumping station
would be time-consuming and expensive.
Gyzilbulakh (Drmbon in Armenian) is an underground copper
and gold mine founded in the early 2000s. Almost a decade ago, it was
reportedly nearing the end of its working life.
Azerbaijani prosecutors have accused Vallex and Base Metals of "almost complete depletion" of Gyzilbulakh, earning some 302 million manats ($178 million today) in "illegal profits" between 2009 and 2017. A 2019 report from Azerbaijan’s MFA and based on high-resolution satellite imagery included concerns about the tailings pond where chemical waste is stored at Gyzilbulakh.
In a January 21 statement, Anglo-Asian Mining claimed the
site had been restored to Azerbaijani control and that, because it sits within
Nagorno-Karabakh, it is protected by Russian peacekeepers. Access, the company
said, “will depend on the final resolution of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Yet more of a prize today is the nearby Demirli (Kashen in
Armenian) open-pit copper and molybdenum mine near Aghdara (Martakert), said to
hold 100 million tons of copper. Vallex claimed in July 2020 that it had
invested $250 million in the site, which employed almost 1,500 people.
Azerbaijan’s prosecutor has charged Vallex’s president,
Russian-Armenian Valeri Mejlumyan (no relation to one of the authors), with
illegal extraction and belonging to an organized criminal group.
This is not Vallex’s first setback. In 2018, the company had
its Teghut copper and molybdenum mine in northern Armenia seized by its Russian
creditor, VTB Bank, after being unable to service a $380 million loan during a
shutdown linked to concerns about the environmental impact of tailings dumps.
All that glitters
Anglo-Asian Mining’s strong balance sheet suggests it will
have fewer troubles than Vallex. It also shows how the Aliyev family casts a
long shadow over any lucrative industry in Azerbaijan.
The same year the first daughters were leaving hundreds of
Azerbaijani miners high and dry, Anglo-Asian Mining received a $3 million
credit line from Baku-based Pasha Bank. The bank lists the Aliyeva sisters and
their maternal grandfather as its ultimate beneficial owners.
Anglo-Asian Mining – which is now debt-free – is also well-connected
in the United States.
After Vaziri, the company’s second-largest shareholder is
former Governor John Sununu of New Hampshire, who served as President George H.
W. Bush's chief of staff and owns 9.4 percent of the company, a stake worth
about $25 million. Sununu’s son Michael is also on the board. Another son,
Chris, is currently a first-term governor of New Hampshire.
Meanwhile, the government in Baku is taking its message
abroad. If the Armenian companies "do not pay compensation," Aliyev
said on January 6, Baku will pursue international arbitration. "There is
no place in the modern world for companies and people who illegally exploit
natural resources in another country and make a profit from that. Therefore,
they must calculate the value of the gold and other natural resources they
illegally exploited, calculate the damage they have caused, the income gained,
and compensate us."
With record high prices for commodities, plus hopes for an economic rebound in 2021 fueled by a COVID vaccine and loose monetary policy, and excitement about new green technologies built with the kinds of metals under the soil in Karabakh, Baku must be eager for Anglo-Asian Mining to start digging. Across the frontier, the losses threaten to leave Armenians out of the next economic recovery.
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COURTESY oilprice.com
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OSLO, JAN 2021: Entry to Norway will only be allowed to persons with a necessary purpose for travel from the night to Friday, the Norwegian government has decided.
The measure is in accordance with the recommendation of the Norwegian Directorate of Health.
“In practice, the border is closed to everyone who does not live in Norway,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H) said, adding that there are some exceptions.
“This ensures that critical goods and services arrive in Norway, but it means that many immigrants who work in Norway cannot come to the country in the coming weeks,” she added.
The rules will be re-evaluated in two weeks. However, the new and stricter rules for entry can last beyond the initial two weeks, Solberg warned.
“We must be prepared for the fact that we will have stricter entry restrictions longer than these 14 days,” she noted.
Solberg: The R-number is 0.6
The national corona measures have worked, Solberg added. The so-called R-number is estimated to be 0.6
“The weekly report from the FHI for week 3 shows a 53% decrease in the number of infections since week 1, which was the worst infection week in the pandemic,” Solberg said at a press conference about the corona pandemic on Wednesday.
She said that the R-number is estimated to be 0.6. The R-number indicates how many people a corona-infected person infects.
The R-number must be lower than 1.0 for the infection in society to decrease. If the number is above 1.0, the infection will increase.
“I asked the Norwegian people to join efforts on January 3. This effort most likely contributed to the mutated virus not spreading as much as it otherwise would have… Many thanks to everyone who has done so,” Solberg said.
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COURTESY norwaytoday
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Naveed Ahmad Khan
ISLAMABAD, JAN 2021: The Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood held a meeting with Aybek Arif Usmanov, the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Pakistan, at the Ministry of Commerce, to discuss the visit of Pakistan’s delegation to Uzbekistan. The delegation which will be led by the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, will visit Uzbekistan from 31st January 2021 to 4th February 2021.
The visit is a follow-up to the visit of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Dr. Sardor Umurzakov, on 10th in September 2020. During that visit a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Joint Working Group on Trade and Economic Affairs was signed and it was decided that the first meeting of the Joint Working Group will be held in Tashkent at a mutually agreed time. It was also agreed during this visit that possibilities of starting negotiations on a Pakistan-Uzbekistan Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) would also be explored.
Apart from Mr. Dawood, the delegation will include Secretary, Ministry of Commerce along with senior officials from other related ministries and departments. During the visit, matters relating to trade, especially the Pakistan-Uzbekistan PTA will be discussed.
The two countries are striving to enhance trade and regional connectivity. Uzbekistan shares borders with Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. Improved connectivity and trade relations can open the doors for enhancing Pakistan’s exports to Uzbekistan and beyond which has a market of $ 90 billion.
Apart from trade, the establishment of railways’ links, banking relations, economic cooperation, maritime cooperation and investment will be discussed. The possibilities of cooperation in the fields of textile and pharmaceuticals will also be explored. It is also expected that a delegation from Afghanistan may also join Pakistan and Uzbekistan at Tashkent to culminate into a Trilateral Conference on trade and connectivity.
Pakistan has deep shared historic connections with Uzbekistan especially with regard to culture, art, crafts and traditions. Its cities like Samarkand and Bukhara have been the centres of Islamic civilization and learning. Diplomatic Relations between Pakistan and Uzbekistan were established when it gained independence from Soviet Union in 1991. Both countries are members of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Economic Cooperation Organisation and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
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COURTESY dailyspokesman
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ISLAMABAD, JAN 28: On 27th January 2021 Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad organized an Online Conference on, "Countering Islamophobia: Deconstructing Misconceptions."
The conference aimed to understand the rising dilemma of Islamophobia, examine the world’s perspective, and establish a unified response by Muslim nations to tackle the anti-Muslim sentiments.
The conference commenced with the speech of His Excellency Ali Muhammad Khan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Pakistan, he discussed Policy Options for Pakistan to Counter Rising Islamophobia.
The misconceptions spread in the world is because globally there is no practical display of the teachings of Islam. It is important to practically manifesting the true spirit of Islam. He also emphasized that the main role of Muslims is to engage with western countries and people with constructive dialogues. He also highlighted the role of educated youth and its role in spreading awareness about our religion and its values.
Engr. Prof. Dr. Athar Mahboob, Vice-Chancellor, Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB), Bahawalpur, highlighted the Systematic Genocide of Muslims around the world and Moral Imperatives.
Muslims should realize and spread that Islam is a religion of accommodation, from the very start our religion teaches us to respect other religions and their places of worship it also protects the rights of non-Muslims. He concluded by emphasizing that Islamophobia has always existed in the west and there needs to be a collective approach to handle it effectively.
Dr. Mahboob Hussain, Chairman, Department of History and Pakistan Studies, University of Punjab, Lahore shared his thoughts on the Historical Perspective of Islamophobia: Roots and Causes. He explained the concept and meaning of Islamophobia in detail and stated that Islamophobia can be defined as an irrational fear of Islam. Its first use is said to be in the 1980s. He highlighted that Islam became a victim of racial prejudice due to its worldwide expansion in a very short period, it challenged the west culturally and politically. He also highlighted the origin of Islamophobia. He also presented an overview of the research that how the Australian public is being bombarded by anti-Islamic news by its media under negative connotations.
Dr. Minhas Majeed Marwat, Department of International Relations, University of Peshawar, Peshawar discussed the Role of Muslim Countries and Institutions, Specifically OIC, in Effectively Tackling Islamophobia. She highlighted the role of the Organization of Islamic Council and various steps taken by it. The OIC has been successful in many areas but it has come short vis-à-vis certain challenges. Right from when it was initiated in 1969, OIC has worked for harmony and stability of the world. Moreover, it has passed various resolutions to take issues of Islamophobia to the institutional level. It also formed an Islamophobia observatory to observe the magnitude of Islamophobia from around the world. It also took the initiative to start a technical body to keep a strict check on blasphemous content worldwide.
Dr. Faheem Akhter, Head of Department Management Science and Humanities & Social Sciences, DHA Suffa University, Karachi discussed, Unpacking Structural Islamophobia: What happens when stereotypes and prejudice go unchecked?
Dr. Faheem rightfully pointed out that Islam is a religion of peace, it is the fastest-growing religion in the world and particularly in the west. He also highlighted that after the event of 9/11 more and more people started to research and study Islam. Dr. Faheem presented some statistics and stated that a study shows that by 2030 the Muslim population will increase by 35% across the globe.
He also mentioned that the west is not particularly afraid of Islam but it is afraid of Muslims. This is the area of concern that we must work on. Muslims have a collective responsibility to remove the tag of terrorists from themselves and spread the true teachings of our religion.
The conference was moderated by Mr. Tariq Khattak, Member Board of Experts, CGSS, and was attended by 70 people from various sectors. It was also viewed live on social media platforms by more than 300 viewers.
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