Friday, 3 December 2021
Geneva, DEC 3: “The Omicron strain has been identified in 38 countries, but delta remains the dominant variant of COVID-19.”
The head of the technical group of the WHO Emergency Diseases Unit, Maria Van Kerkhove.
“Omicron has so far been identified in 38 countries in all six WHO regions, with the main increase in infections in Africa. But the delta variant remains dominant in the world,” Maria Van Kerkhove said speaking during an online session, answering questions about the coronavirus situation.
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Courtesy report.az
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With more gatherings and an increase in people’s movements during the holiday season, people need to stay vigilant, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific.
Geneva, DEC 3: Asia-Pacific countries must brace for a new surge in the number of Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, which emerged ahead of the Christmas holidays, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday.
With more gatherings and an increase in people’s movements during the holiday season, people need to stay vigilant, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific.
Initial data showed that Omicron, first detected in South Africa and recently declared a variant of concern, may be more transmissible than other coronavirus variants, Kasai said.
“Border control can delay the virus coming in and buy time, but every country and every community must prepare for new surges in cases,” he told an online press briefing from the regional headquarters in Manila.
“The positive news in all this is that none of the information we have currently about Omicron suggests we need to change the direction of our response,” he added.
Kasai urged countries to use their experience in dealing with the Delta variant as a guide on “how to cope with future surges in a more sustainable way.”
He stressed the need for countries to vaccinate more people, boost their health care capacities to ensure that hospitals are available for severe cases, and strengthen surveillance to detect cases in preparation for a surge.
People must also continue implementing public health and safety measures such as mask-wearing and physical distancing which are known to be effective in stopping the spread of the virus.
“We can adapt, so that Covid-19 has less impact on our lives in 2022, and we can start to regain – and hopefully retain – a sense of normality,” Kasai said.
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Courtesy Anews
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ISLAMABAD, DEC 3: The official Twitter account of Pakistan's embassy in Serbia tweeted criticism targeting Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, citing rising inflation and alleged non-payment of salaries for three months. Two hours later, the Foreign Office issued a statement, saying social media accounts of the embassy had been hacked.
The tweets have since been deleted.
"The Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts of the Embassy of Pakistan in Serbia have been hacked. Messages being posted on these accounts are not from the Embassy of Pakistan in Serbia," the Foreign Office spokesperson tweeted.
Later, Pakistan's embassy in Serbia also said the account had been hacked and a "baseless" tweet was posted on it from a device in Karachi.
"The Twitter account of the Embassy of Pakistan [in] Belgrade, Serbia (@PakinSerbia) was hacked and logged in from a Chrome desktop on a Windows device in Karachi, Pakistan at 05:59 hours local time (09:59 PST)," a statement issued by the embassy said, adding that a message was posted from the hacked account at 6:59am local time (10:59 PST), which was not from the embassy.
"After the hacking of the Twitter account, a baseless and unfactual post was [...] made regarding the non-payment of salaries. This was totally false and far from reality."
The tweet from the embassy's verified account stated: "With inflation breaking all previous records, how long do you expect @ImranKhanPTI that we [government] official will remain silent & keep working for you without been paid for past 3 months & our children been forced out of school due to non payment of fees. Is this #NayaPakistan ?"
The tweet along with the text critising the premier included a parody song with the "Ghabrana nahi hai (we do not have to worry)" catchphrase.
Under the above tweet, the account posted another tweet saying: "I am sorry @ImranKhanPTI, am not left with another option."
According to the embassy's statement, all of its employees are paid their salaries regularly, "and there is no disruption in the education of the children of [its] officers and staff."
"The embassy is receiving funds from Islamabad on a regular basis," the statement read.
It added that the embassy "does not take any responsibility for the above-mentioned posts and deeply regrets the frivolous activity generated through the hacked account", and that "baseless" posts were deleted from the embassy's social media account.
The statement further said the embassy's Facebook and Instagram accounts were also hacked apparently using the same device from which its Twitter account was hacked.
"The Twitter account was retrieved at 09:11 hours local time (13:11 PST)," it said, adding that the IP address of the device used for hacking it was being shared with relevant quarters in Pakistan for further investigation into the matter.
Earlier this week, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed inflation edged up to 11.5pc from 9.2pc, the highest increase noted in the past 20 months influenced by a record hike in fuel prices in October.
The massive rupee depreciation fuelled import-led inflation. Inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to its highest level in 20 months — the period when global oil prices kept rising steadily undermining earlier gains.
At the same time, prices of fresh vegetables, fruits and meat also posted a persistent increase in major urban and rural centres.
The average inflation during the July-November period rose to 9.32pc on a yearly basis.
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Courtesy Dawn News
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“Armenia has lost the (Karabakh) war and is currently in a weak state. The government has to negotiate with Turkey and Azerbaijan, but this should happen without intermediaries like Russia,” Stepan Grigoryan, the head of the Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation, a think tank in Armenia.
Yerevan, DEC 3: For improvement in ties, Armenia has to negotiate with Turkey and Azerbaijan but without mediators such as Russia, an Armenian analyst has said.
“Armenia has lost the (Karabakh) war and is currently in a weak state. The government has to negotiate with Turkey and Azerbaijan, but this should happen without intermediaries like Russia,” Stepan Grigoryan, the head of the Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation, a think tank in Armenia, told Anadolu Agency.
“The process must continue through bilateral negotiations,” added Grigoryan, who is also a former lawmaker of the Pan-Armenian National Movement party.
Emphasizing that Turkey can be an alternative to Russia in the region, he said: “Turkey follows a serious foreign policy in line with its interests.”
After last year’s six-week war, Azerbaijan retook Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions from nearly three-decade-long Armenian occupation.
Turkey had backed Azerbaijan during the 44-day war, which ended in a Russia-brokered cease-fire agreement in November 2020.
Moscow has since mediated talks between Baku and Yerevan to end the decades-long conflict. It has also expressed willingness to support normalization between Ankara and Yerevan.
Besides Karabakh, Turkey has long been at loggerheads with Armenia over issues such as Yerevan’s refusal to recognize their shared border, terror attacks on Turkish diplomats, and Armenia’s claims over the events of 1915.
Due to its intransigence, landlocked Armenia has been left out of transport and trade lines towards Turkey and Europe, routes meant to draw the region closer together.
‘GREATER CHANCE’ TO ESTABLISH PEACE
Noting that Turkey has the potential to be a “sustainable and reliable partner for Armenia”, Grigoryan said: “Turkey’s support and alliance with Azerbaijan is understandable and not open to discussion.”
“While doing this, it can establish a reasonable and balanced relationship with Armenia. The same goes for Armenia.”
Urging his country to establish direct channels of relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, he said: “I am not saying that this will be easy. Yes, there are disagreements on many issues, but negotiations should begin.”
“Today we have a greater chance to establish peace,” he added.
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Courtesy Anews
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Thursday, 2 December 2021
ANKARA, DEC 2: Turkey will never leave its political and economic future to the “prescriptions” of global economic institutions like the IMF, the country’s president vowed on Wednesday.
“Turkey will never again submit its political and economic future to the prescriptions of global economic tutelage institutions, such as the IMF and similar institutions,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his Justice and Development (AK) Party’s parliamentary group.
The Turkish president urged calm among the public, asking them “not to stray from common sense” when buying foreign currency, setting prices, and shopping.
Erdoğan also promised additional measures to help low-income citizens “whose purchasing power has decreased.”
On intervention by Turkey’s Central Bank earlier on Wednesday, Erdoğan underlined the bank’s authority to take such action as it is governed by its own law.
“It has such a right when such a thing is necessary. The Central Bank makes such interventions and has the right to do so,” he said.
Turkey’s Central Bank on Wednesday said it has intervened in the market via selling transactions due to “unhealthy” price formations in exchange rates, according to a statement by the bank.
The announcement came amid fluctuating foreign exchange rates.
Following the move, the Turkish lira gained 6.27% against the U.S. dollar, reaching 12.65 after a historic low of 14.05.
The Central Bank made its last direct foreign exchange intervention in January 2014 with a sale of $3.15 billion.
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Courtesy Anews
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The antibody treatment, sotrovimab, "was found to be safe and effective at reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 infection who are at an increased risk of developing severe disease," said the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
LONDON, DEC 2: British regulators
on Thursday approved a GlaxoSmithKline drug to treat those at high risk of
developing severe Covid-19 symptoms, with the manufacturer saying it appears
effective against the new Omicron variant.
The antibody treatment,
sotrovimab, "was found to be safe and effective at reducing the risk of
hospitalisation and death in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 infection
who are at an increased risk of developing severe disease," said the
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Preclinical data showed that the
drug "retains activity against key mutations of the new Omicron SARS-CoV-2
variant," GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said in a statement.
"To date, sotrovimab has
demonstrated ongoing activity against all tested variants of concern and
interest defined by the World Health Organization (WHO)," it added.
Testing is ongoing "to
confirm the neutralizing activity of sotrovimab against the combination of all
the Omicron mutations with the intent to provide an update by the end of 2021."
A single dose of the drug was
found to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death by 79 percent in
high-risk adults with symptomatic COVID-19 infection, according to the MHRA.
Sotrovimab was developed by
Britain's GSK and Vir Biotechnology based out of California.
It is a monoclonal antibody, a type of protein that attaches to the spike protein of the coronavirus, reducing its ability to enter the body's cells.
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Courtesy Anews
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ISLAMABAD, DEC 2 — Around 100stakeholders including government representatives, diplomatic partners, civil society, stakeholders from development and private sector, artists, activists, and experts attended an outreach event “UNESConnect” held at Islamabad Serena Hotel by UNESCO Pakistan.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations working closely with the government and people of Pakistan since 1958. UNESCO was founded with the mission of contributing to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, culture, and information.
UNESCO Representative to Pakistan Ms.Patricia McPhillips welcomed the guests and stated that, “A successful development agenda requires inclusive partnerships. UNESCO believes in a partnership-based approach founded on a sense of shared purpose and mutual accountability. Together, we want to find newer, better, more sustainable ways to make a difference”.
UNESCO hosted the event to facilitate meaningful engagement with a diverse range of stakeholders, andhighlight the specialized strengths, opportunities, and assets that UNESCO possesses to support the development agenda 2030 in Pakistan, in the fields of education, culture, science, and information.
Renowned journalist Zarrar Khuhro moderated an open discussion to brainstorm ideas in developing linkages among public, private, and multilateral organizations to address eminent challenges facing Pakistan.
Participants pledged to support UNESCO’s mission in Pakistan to mitigate climate change, increase access to education, leverage digital technologies to reduce inequalities, and preserve Pakistan’s rich and diverse cultural heritage for future generations.
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MOSCOW, DEC 2: Russia has flown more than 200 people out of Afghanistan. In addition to passengers from Russia and Kyrgyzstan, Afghan students studying at Russian universities were also on board the three planes, the Defence Ministry in Moscow told the Interfax news agency.
The Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft were scheduled to land at a military airfield near Moscow after stops in the Central Asian former Soviet republics of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
The last Russian evacuation flights from the crisis-hit country were ordered by President Vladimir Putin in mid-November.
Since the Taliban took power in August, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has been catastrophic.
Russia is also concerned about the security situation among its Central Asian allies bordering Afghanistan.
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Courtesy Anews
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Wednesday, 1 December 2021
KARACHI, DEC 1: One of the world’s largest manufacturers of mobile phones, Samsung, has finally started production in Pakistan, lifting hopes of the authorities and the industry that this would cut down the import bill of the country in the months to come.
The development came to light on Tuesday at a meeting of the company’s top managers with the Senators who visited the production site in line with the plan to receive a briefing on the growing new sector and challenges ahead for the cellphones manufacturing industry in Pakistan.
“We were informed that Samsung has formally started its production,” Faisal Subzwari, chairman of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Industries and Production, told Dawn.
He headed a delegation of members of the Senate panel which visited Samsung’s production unit and an auto manufacturing plant, and held a meeting with the management of Export Processing Zone.
THE COMPANY AIMS TO MANUFACTURE AROUND 3M HANDSETS EVERY YEAR
“It’s really good to know that the company has started production within a short span of four months,” Mr Subzwari said. “We visited the production facility which was designed on modern lines and obviously the local manpower, support of local industry and conducive environment provided by the government led to such achievement. But still I believe that we need to move forward from just growing in the assembling area to localisation of the industry.”
The country has witnessed robust growth in local production of cellular phones. During the first 10 months of this year, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) data says, the production of mobile phones by local manufacturing plants has almost doubled to 18.87 million against the import of mobile phones which stood at 45m.
However, despite the increase in local production of mobile phones, the import remained on a higher side. The PTA data says that mobile phones worth $644.673m were imported during the first four months (July-October) of 2021 compared to $557.961m during the same period of last year, registering a growth of 15.54 per cent.
The industry believes that it may take time to achieve the desired results but with the fresh start in an absolutely new industrial avenue, things have finally started moving in the right direction.
“With production of around 250,000 to 300,000, we aim to produce around 3m cellphones every year,” Mohammad Ali Tabba, chief of the Lucky Group which partners with Samsung to produce cellphones in Pakistan, told Dawn. “The whole production line is manual with no robotic assistance. So you can imagine how much workforce is required offering employment in this absolutely new area of engineering in Pakistan.”
He agreed that the country needed to move towards localisation from its current status of assembling industry and believed it was more the role of the industrial sector than the government to go for modification and compatibility.
“It’s not only the local production of cellphones but also a host of opportunities which it brings. From employment to investment and from export opportunities to local capacity building, it carries immense potential,” said Mr Tabba.
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Courtesy Dawn News
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ISLAMABAD, NOV 30: A Book Launch Ceremony of “The Tajiks in the Mirror of History” was jointly organized by Embassy of Tajikistan to Pakistan, Regional Integration Centre, University of the Punjab, Lahore and Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad. This Book is authored by Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Ismatullo Nasredin, Ambassador of Tajikistan to Pakistan also visited University of the Punjab and graced the occasion. Before the Book Launch ceremony a meeting was held between Ismatullo Nasredin, Ambassador of Republic of Tajikistan to Pakistan, Prof. Dr. Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, Vice Chancellor, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Prof. Dr. Saleem Mazhar, Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of the Punjab, Lahore and Mr. Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director CGSS. The Head of various Departments of the University were also present during the meeting.
The Book Launch ceremony commenced with the remarks by Prof. Dr. Saleem Mazhar, Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of the Punjab, Lahore. He stated that Pakistan and Tajikistan share historical and cultural ties.
He highlighted the importance of Pakistan's bilateral ties with Central Asia. He also mentioned that both countries have been cooperating in many domains. Recently, Pakistan and Tajikistan have also signed several accords to boost ties between the two nations.
Ismatullo Nasredin, Ambassador of Tajikistan to Pakistan also addressed the students and participants of the session. He stated that Tajikistan stands ready to build up friendly relations with other countries and recognize shared interests based on reciprocal respect, equality and mutually beneficial cooperation. Moreover, Tajikistan has done remarkable efforts towards regional integration and the country has enhanced regional ties and global outreach through multilateral cooperation.
The bilateral ties between Pakistan and Tajikistan are also growing with the passage of time and both brotherly countries enjoy deep cordial ties more than ever before.
Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director CGSS stated that the dynamic leadership of Tajikistan under President Emomali Rahmon has created equal opportunities, formed a robust security system and promoted higher living standards for its people. The leadership has the vision that globalization and national interests should complement each other and provide a reliable guarantee for sustainable development of international relations.
Mr. Ghazi M. Abdullah, Department of History, University of the Punjab, Lahore and Dr. Shareh from Department of Political Science also shared their thoughts at the occasion. They stated that the book authored by President Emomali Rahmon, is a great contribution as it provides a profound understanding of Tajikistan’s history, culture, people, language, customs and tradition.
One can get a detailed knowledge of Tajikistan by reading this book. The speakers also stated that Tajikistan has been on a road to development and we also share our mutual admiration and respect for Allama Iqbal.
Ismatullo Nasredin, Ambassador of Tajikistan to Pakistan also presented the Book to the management of University of the Punjab, Lahore and CGSS.
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Tuesday, 30 November 2021
Chittagong, NOV 30: Abid Ali fell nine runs short of a second consecutive century as Pakistan chased down a target of 202 on Tuesday to win the first Test in Chittagong by eight wickets and take the lead in the two-match series against Bangladesh.
Abid, who scored 133 in Pakistan’s first innings, and Abdullah Shafique stitched together a 151-run opening partnership in the second innings to put Pakistan within touching distance of victory on day five of the Test. Pakistan looked like they would cruise to a 10-wicket win, but Mehidy Hasan trapped debutant Abdullah leg-before on 73 to ease the margin of defeat.
Abid lost his wicket six overs later, when Taijul Islam rattled his pads to get him out leg-before.
“Abdullah Shafique was making his debut, so we tried to stay on the crease, waited for bad balls and succeeded in putting those away,” Abid said.
“I had done well in domestic cricket and carried that positive mindset here too. Abdullah played really well, I gave him more credit.
“I am a bit disappointed that I got out for 91 in the second innings but at the same time I am happy that we won the match.”
Azhar Ali (24 not out) and Babar Azam (13 not out) then combined to guide Pakistan over the finish line.
The second Test in Dhaka starts on December 4.
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Courtesy Dawn News
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