French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for Covid-19, the presidency said on Thursday, adding he would now self-isolate for the next week.
“The president tested positive for Covid-19 today (Thursday),” it said in a statement, adding he had been tested after the “onset of the first symptoms”.Macron will now, in accordance with national regulations, “self isolate for seven days. He will continue to work and carry out his activities remotely,” it said.
ISLAMABAD : The Supreme Court ordered the Islamabad police chief to recover a girl abducted within the remits of the capital’s Koral police station and produce her before it at next hearing.
A bench of the SC, headed by Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, put off the hearing until Jan 6.As the court resumed hearing earlier today, the IG was conspicuous by his absence. Expressing displeasure over his no-show, the court ordered him to appear within fifteen minutes and called for a short recess.
The Advocate General Islamabad informed that Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed is to visit the police line, due to which the IG could not turn up. “The minister’s visit means the IG won’t come to the court. If this is so, we summon the minister,” Justice Malik remarked.
Later, the Islamabad top cop appeared before the bench stating that suspected abductors had been arrested but the girl could not be traced.
“We had asked you to recover the girl and not just capture the men,” the judge slammed the IG. “You started this traditional arrest programme.” The court directed the police chief to assign the task of the girl’s recovery to a DSP with a good understanding of the system.
The court warned that the IG Islamabad may have to face the music if no progress is made until the next hearing.
Written by
Mr. Shakeel Ahmad Ramay, MemberBoard of Experts, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad
&
Mr. Khalid TaimurAkram, Executive Director, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad.
World has been jolted by COVID-19 pandemic. It was un-expected and sudden. The impacts are multidimensional and multifaceted. The severity of impacts is unfolding in a timewise manner. The first victim was economy which was immediately stuck and bearing the full wrath of impacts. It is shrinking. World Bank predicted that the economy will be contracted by 5.2 percent in 2020. Foreign direct investment is exhibiting a negative trend. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) came up with the figure of 40 percent reduction, which means the global FDI in 2020 would be less than US$ 1 trillion. It is happening after a long time, since 2005. Besides, it has been envisioned by UNCTAD that there would be further reduction of 5 to 10 percent in 2021, which is a scary prediction. Recovery in FDI is expected in 2022, which is still a long way to go.
The economic crises and drying investments are resulting in increasing extent of extreme poverty. World Bank report, Poverty and Shared Prosperity, has projected that 88 million to 115 million people will be added to extreme poverty (US$ 1.90) group. The South Asia would be major hit and bear the brunt of the poverty. It was estimated that 63 percent of these extreme poor will be from South Asia. If we change the poverty line from US$ 1.90 to US$ 3.20, the number will jump to 223 million at global level and South Asia will account for 71 percent. It is happening after 20 years that the extreme would be on rise. It is expected that it will affect the about 9.1-9.4 percent world population against the pre-Covid-19 projection of 7.9 percent.
The COVID-19 has also wedged the most celebrated achievements of humanity like mobility. The COVID-19 has compelled people to restrict their movement.In some cases, the countries had to adopt complete lockdown. World is still struggling to find a way of un-restricted movement of people. International travel and shipments have also been severely squeezed. Tourism is another major sector which is bearing the brunt of COVID-19 and restriction on mobility. It is happening against the backdrop of cherished success in means of mobility like air, train etc.
The second wave of COVID-19 is further aggravating the situation. We have witnessed many countries are going back to lockdowns. The economic activities have further started to shrink. World institutes are working to analyse the effects of second wave of COVID-19. It is expected that the impacts would be more severe in 2021, if the second wave of COVID-19 continued. It would be a scary scenario, as world is already facing huge problems due to the pandemic. The COVID-19 has introduced two specific problems, which has no precedent in history;
Countries and regions are offering hefty relief packages domestically and globally. However, the focus is on domestic markets and economy. For example, USA has already offered more than US$ 3 trillion. European Union has announced a package of 750 billion Euros. Unfortunately, the same commitment is not visible at global level. Owing to weak response many developing, and least developed countries are suffering the most. These countries were already facing problems due to food insecurity, energy crises, poverty etc. The global data showed that even before COVID-19 world was home to 600 million poor and 820 million people suffering from food insecurity. Further, 2 billion people were looking for safe drinking water and 1 billion were in need of electricity. 2.8 billion Peoplelacked sources of good quality cooking fuel. World was struggling to find ways to take care of 263 million out of school kids. Unfortunately, the majority of these people are resident of global south or developing world.
The worst impact of COVID-19 is that the process of unilateralism and protectionism got accelerated among the big countries. Strong countries, especially the Western, led by USA seems less interested in cooperation, rather they are focusing on domestic front.It is creating a sharper divide between poor and rich countries. Now the poor countries are struggling to find a way for recovery by building cooperation with strong economies. It has culminated into three specific problems, which are pressurizing world;
However, the analysis of past and history reveals that problems can only be solved by win-win cooperation, opening the borders and multilateralism. The situation also urges that world needs to work on multiple areas simultaneously, like economy and diplomacy. However, diplomacy would have to lead the way, as world is more fragmented at the present. In this scenario China is emerging as global player which can tackle the both dimensions of the problem. The reason of believe is sheer big size of economy, sustainability of growth even during COVID and partnership building style of diplomacy.
China has already showed the commitment and skills of partnership-based diplomacy through Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The SCO is one of the unique initiatives in many ways. The organization is home to 45 percent population and 25.88 percent land mass of world. Its contribution in economic sphere is also huge and constitute 21 percent of global GDP. It is only organization which have four nuclear armed states e.g. China, Russia, Pakistan and India. Its contribution in global trade is 21 percent (US$ 7.1 trillion). The sheer size of organization makes it a very relevant and principal player at the global stage.
Although the organization was created to settle the border issues among the member countries but in recent times it has phenomenally in all aspects. Now it is hosting 8 members, 4 observer states and 6 dialogue partners. Globally it is considered as one of the major diplomatic forums. In recent times China has also started the process of economic engagement and enhanced economic connectivity through the SCO. Hence, it is necessary to analyze the role of SCO in contemporary world and look how SCO can enhance role in role.
The pre-COVID-19 efforts to enhance economic cooperation were focused on the traditional economic fields. China proposed a Free Trade Agreement many years back, to enhance the economic and trade linkages among the SCO members. It was suggested by keeping in mind the sheer market size of the SCO. On bilateral level China is already deeply connected with all countries e.g. China’s trade with SCO countries is US$ 337 billion. Russia (US$ 106.65 billion) and India (US$ 95.87 billion) were major trading partners in 2018.
President Xi Jinping recently has launched two specific initiatives. First, he established a dedicated economic zone with the name of “China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone”. It has been envisioned that through the zone China will enhance relationship in the fields of trade, investments, technology, tourism etc. It is an excellent opportunity for SCO countries to benefit from it, especially in the context of COVID-19. As, we know COVID-19 has impacted the whole world and the economic opportunities are scarce. It will also pave the way for future free trade agreement among SCO members.
In the post COVID-19 era, President Xi has proposed that the cooperation in the digital economy. He urged it should be enhance among the SCO members under the guidelines of UN. He emphasized that the COVID-19 reiterates the importance of digital economy, technology and cooperation. He advocated that with win-win cooperation we can reach at destiny of shared prosperity. China will be organizing a meeting of SCO members with name of “China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization on Digital Economy” next year. The announcement of forum shows that China is serious in building cooperation and ready to take practical steps.
The initiative is need of the time, as COVID-19 multiple the importance of digitalization and role of technology in economy. As we know COVID-19 has restricted the mobility and human interaction. The technology helped to minimize the impact, as it helped to keep the supply chains functional. There is no second opinion that the China was on forefront to use the technology and demonstrate the successful deployment of technology. In this context the initiative by China to enhance the cooperation in digitalization economy will help the member countries. The biggest catch would be technology sharing by China. The successful implementation will encourage other countries to join hands with SCO and expand the cooperation at wider scale. The best part of initiative is that SCO will be host of the initiative, which will enhance the importance of SCO in coming years.
SCO was created as a diplomatic forum to settle the most urgent issues of borders and border management among the members states. The successful implementation led to expand the scope of work. The expansion process is still going on. However, the core values of SCO are intact which emphasize on the need of “partnership building” not “alliances”. The alliance building is favorite tool of global order at present. We can find number of organizations which have built on the concept of alliance. The prominent example is North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) including other. The basic flaw of alliance building approach is “alliance needs an opponent if not enemy”.
The world is facing the outcome of “alliances” approach. Today we are living in fragmented world and fractured global order. The Western countries are trying to oppose the rise of any other country and applying all types of instruments to hinder the rise of any other great power. It has led to fragmentation, unilateralism and protectionism. The forces of globalization are on backfoot. The pioneers and once proponents of globalization are backing out. They are trying to introduce ways, which can hinder the process of globalization rather reverse the process of globalization. The most famous slogan of present days is “country first” which is entirely in opposite direction to globalization.
It is unfortunate reality that the big powers are not understanding the impact of COVID-19 and importance of cooperation.The COVID-19 has urged the world leaders to cooperate, as cooperation is only way out to find ways to combat the impact of COVID-19. The situation also highlights that alliance building strategy will not serve the purpose. It can help few countries, but world will be losing.
In this context the approach of SCO, the “partnership” building can help world. The approach can pave the way for win-win cooperation under the auspices of UN. Although, the leading members China and Russia are already working to achieve the objectives of win-win cooperation but there is need to move fast. China will be hosting major event China-SCO Digital Economy Forum, under the auspices of SCO next year. The event can be used to lay the foundation to expand the cooperation at wider level. China and SCO can also look to enhance the participation and invite non-member countries to join the forum.
SCO can also launch a series of events and meetings to engage with non-member states and extend hand of the cooperation. As we discussed above SCO is home to 45 percent of world population, it can also serve as hope of world economic recovery due to its market size. China is already working to further open up but through the SCO, as an organization and platform, world can benefit in better way.
SCO can also introduce new form of engagement which would be based on thepartnershipand principles of equality. The equality among nations is a desired commodity and small countries are specifically looking for it. They are tired of the hegemonic or dominant behavior of big countries.
In the light of discussion above, we have come up with following suggestions;
DNA
ISLAMABAD : Palestine National Council (PNC) has called on the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), regional and international associations, parliaments and the world’s parliaments to take same positions of members of the European Parliament to ban trade and stop support for illegal Israeli settlements in lands considered occupied under international law.
In a statement, PNC welcomed what was stated in a letter signed by 46 members of the European Parliament (Renew Europe group), addressed to the Executive Vice President and Commissioner of the European Union for Trade Valdes Dombrovskis regarding the necessity of prohibiting trade and economic support for illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, and applying the European law and the World Trade Organization (WTO) law to prevent settlements products from entering the markets of the Union, to act unified, and to benefit from the influence of the European Union as a global trading bloc.
The positions of the European parliamentarians are a strong message to everyone who violates international law and legalizes Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and deals with their products, PNC stressed, denouncing -same time- the Israeli occupation authorities approval of a plan to establish 8,300 new settlement units aimed at bringing about a total change in the borders and demographic composition of occupied Jerusalem .
PNC commended what was stated in the message of these members who indicated that if the European Union wants to uphold its values of respect for human rights, and above all, respect for international law, it must prohibit economic support for illegal Israeli settlements and, as a global trade bloc, use the soft power to establish economic influence and pressure for everyone who flouts and does not abide by international law.
The importance of the message of the members of the European Parliament that it is consistent with international law, resolutions of international legitimacy and decisions of human rights councils regarding entities that deal with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, PNC confirmed, considering the settlements are illegal and must be removed, as they constitute a continuous war crime. It is necessity to take all required measures to end the Israeli occupation in all its manifestations and images, and the ugliest crime of settlement.
Auckland : Pakistan has named their 15-member squad for the first T20I against New Zealand at Eden Park on Friday.
The 22-year-old Shadab Khan will lead the Green Shirts in the absence of regular skipper Babar Azam, who fractured his thumb and was ruled out of the series.
Leg-spinner Usman Qadir, who was star of the last Pakistan series against Zimbabwe, has not been included. Pacer Musa Khan is also left out of the first T20I but both of them can be called-up if needed.
Squad
Shadab Khan (c), Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Wahab Riaz.
DUBAI : Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday arrived in Dubai on a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Pakistan’s Consul General in Dubai Ahmed Amjad Ali, senior officers of the embassy, and senior officials from the UAE ministry of Foreign Affairs received the FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi at Dubai International Airport.During the visit, the foreign minister will hold discussions with the UAE leadership on all areas of mutual interest, including regional and global issues.
He will also exchange views on bilateral cooperation, in a particular trade, investment and the welfare of the Pakistani diaspora. He will also meet the Pakistani diaspora and interact with local and international media.
This visit of FM Qureshi is a continuity of promotion of contacts between the two countries at higher level.
Pakistan and the UAE enjoy historic fraternal relations, rooted firmly in shared history, common faith, values and mutual respect. High-level visits are an important feature, which not only exhibit cordial ties between the two countries but also accord the leadership an opportunity to give further impetus to strengthening bilateral cooperation on a wide range of issues.
Back in October, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi held a telephonic conversation with his United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 17 : Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed former Silicon Valley & IBM Executive Amer Ahmed Hashmi as the Chairperson for Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA).
The federal government earlier this month decided to establish STZA through an Ordinance under the Cabinet Division, with almost similar incentives available to Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
According to a report carried by Gwadar Pro on Thursday, Amer Hashmi possesses diverse global experience in organizational leadership with companies like IBM and MCI Systemhouse.
He was the founding CEO of Si3, Pakistan’s pioneering technology outsourcing firm that helped to stimulate IT systems integration in public and private organizations in Pakistan.
His work has been featured in Forbes Asia, Businessweek and Financial Times UK. Hashmi spent the last 10 years building knowledge ecosystem in his capacity as Advisor and Chief Strategy Officer at National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST).
He was also the Chairman of Executive Committee of NUST Science & Technology Park and founding President of the Global Think Tank Network (GTTN).
The new authority will focus on the growth of scientific and technological ecosystem in the country, primarily through fostering the development of technology zones and high-tech industrial parks, thereby contributing to the acceleration of the evolution of the national system of innovation.
Headquartered in Islamabad, the federal body will help promote the global competitiveness of the domestic technology sector, as well as provide institutional and legislative support for attracting foreign direct investments in the high-tech sector.
The Prime Minister is the President of Board of Governors of the STZ Authority.
The ultimate goal behind the establishment of such an authority is to provide support and ease for the technology sector, both financially and logistically. These will then drive more and more people and enterprises within the country to step up and deliver.
The goal is to make their lives easier by giving them the international standards provided outside of Pakistan so that they can flourish within the country. The Authority would help create more jobs in the technological industry within Pakistan.
It will also attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and, in turn, bring more money to the country. The STZA will also allow the youth of the country to capitalize and make the most of their innovative ideas.
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 17 : Pak-China cooperation in Electric Vehicles (EVs) is quite promising as it is beneficial for both the countries, according to a report published by Gwadar Pro.
Pakistan’s Daewoo Express and China’s Skywell Automobile have signed a Strategic Alliance Agreement, under which Skywell Automobile will provide its state-of-the-art electric buses for the Pakistani market in Phase-1, and in Phase 2, shall set up a manufacturing plant to produce EVs in Pakistan.
The report says, given the high cost of importing EVs, it’s necessary and mutually beneficial to establish local manufacturing plants in Pakistan.
Pakistan needs the same kind of manufacturing lines in Pakistan. It will be cheaper to manufacture in Pakistan as the labor cost is lower in Pakistan. And we can have an abundance of the workforce to work in these factories.
Aside from the indicated above, joint marking and government policy are also of great significance at the starting phase of EVs development.
In retrospect, at the starting point of China’s EVs, around 10 years ago, the Chinese government provided a lot of financial support policies. “If a customer buys one EV, the government will provide subsidy from around RMB10,000 to 50,000, that means a lot,” Wang mentioned.
It is worth mentioning that in April this year, the Chinese government also extended monetary incentives that were about to expire and prolonged the purchase-tax exemptions of new energy vehicles (NEVs) through 2022.
At last, to tap the potential for cooperation, the differences in weather conditions and driving habits between the two countries also need to be taken into consideration. But despite the differences, “I think the future is bright,” said Wang Shida, Associate Research Professor at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
Since the first electric vehicle charging station was set up and made functional in Islamabad in July this year, the shortage of charging piles remains a major problem in advancing the usage of EVs.
Wang Shida further saidt, the charging pile, in fact, is an issue not only in Pakistan but even in China, which has been developing electric vehicles for several years, given insufficient installation of private charging piles as well as poor user experience for public ones.
“Chinese charging companies are already using big data technology to resolve this issue. Because big data technology and analysis can provide very specific data. Using this we can know where to install charging piles and how many. So for doing that maybe big data technology is a way out,” said Wang.
Besides, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Industries and Production in November expressed concerns over the higher prices of vehicles in the country. Under some circumstances, the EVs do cost more than the traditional ones, especially when they are imported instead of being locally produced. However, in terms of manufacturing and maintenance cost, some experts hold optimism.
“If you look at the manufacturing, then I don’t think EV’s price is higher than that of the gasoline cars as more parts are used in gasoline engine than electric engine. Besides, after-sales services or maintenance for EVs is also lower in cost,” said Sameer Siadiqui, Incident Manager (APAC) at ABB Global.
Pakistan has informed the international community that it’s working on a plan to ensure that by 2030 at least 30 percent of the vehicles used in the country are electronic, at a meeting of the 32-member UN Group of Friends on Sustainable Energy for All earlier this month.
DNA
ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 17-18 December 2020.
During the visit, the Foreign Minister will hold discussions with the UAE leadership on all areas of mutual interest including regional and global issues. The Foreign Minister will exchange views on bilateral cooperation, in particular trade, investment and the welfare of Pakistani diaspora. The Foreign Minister will also meet Pakistani diaspora and interact with local and international media. The UAE is home to the second largest Pakistani community abroad.
Pakistan and the UAE enjoy historic fraternal relations, rooted firmly in shared history, common faith, values and mutual respect. High-level visits are an important feature, which not only exhibit cordial ties between the two countries but also accord the leadership an opportunity to give further impetus to strengthening bilateral cooperation on a wide range of issues
Cosy socks, oversized hoodie struggles, moisturiser at an arm’s stretch and lots of cosy blanket snuggles. You know what that means?
Winter season is finally here, and while we’re enjoying the weather casually surprising us with the chills, the foodie in us in craving some hot chocolate, and quality (socially-distant) time with our best mates.
Far from our regional delicacy, the drink is obviously a tough one to master. From getting the perfect, velvety texture to sweeten your winter palates, all the way to whipping a delicious froth to give you a canvas for those yummy decorations; here are five ways to easily up your hot drinks game this winter.
Imagine decorating your hot chocolate with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream that’s just magnificently floating in the rich, foamy goodness of your warm fuzzy drink? Now imagine being able to gulp that warmth and slurp that freeze with a spoon, all at once? Sounds like a dream? It tastes even better!
Give your drink an upgrade by adding mini chocolate shavings, a generous layer of some delicious chocolate syrup (our preference is Hershey’s), and peanuts as part of your condiments. Now, sit back and enjoy.
Too lazy to create art on your drink? No worries, it’s 2020, and lucky for you, minimal is the new chic. Melt some basic chocolate chips into a muffin cup (Hack: you can do six and even twelve at a time!), and freeze until they set.
Then fill your cup with your yummiest treats (some marshmallows, M&Ms or even whipped cream), and watch it float across the sea of richness you just created. Less is more and adorable too!
One part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts plain wheat flour – shortbread cookies are the ultimate munchy fix when it comes to complimenting hot drinks, and what better way than to use your two favourite things, pull your sleeves up and innovate?
Not only will the cute lid help your drink stay warm for longer, it will also satisfy those random, and might I add, usually unnecessary hunger pangs that seem to pop up at odd hours of the night. Excited to make them? Find an easy recipe here.
This one’s a toughie, but if you’re really invested in sipping that big mug of royalty, it’s what we call the ultimate combination of exotic and yummy. Some chocolate spheres filled with lots of cocoa goodness and tailored to your level of spice, creaminess and winter mood.
Prepare your bombs, decorate with your favourite toppings (sprinkles, chocolate chips, grated cinnamon, or even sweetened coconut shavings), and watch your drink explode with flavour.
Pro tip: you want to make sure you’re using good quality chocolate with cocoa butter in it, and not too many ingredients, or your chocolate won’t melt right.
If you’ve reached this part of the article, loved the ideas but convinced yourself this hard work is not for you – don’t fret because I feel you. Winter laziness is a whole mood, but when so are your hot chocolate cravings, here’s a little something to build up the recipe from the basics.
Topple your empty mug, run it along some melted chocolate, dip it in some sea-salt (could alternate between peppermint and cinnamon too) and there you go. Elevated and ready to gulp. This one definitely has to be my culinary soulmate!
Must be a lot of things hot chocolate can’t cure but I don’t know a single one of them.
