COPENHAGEN : The European chapter of the World Health Organisation on Friday expressed concern over the surge in new coronavirus cases across Europe, saying countries should impose tighter restrictions if necessary.

The number of infections in Europe crossed three million on Thursday, a fifth of the world´s more than 15 million cases. It remains the hardest hit in terms of deaths, with 206,633 out of 627,307 worldwide.

With 335 new cases for 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks, Kyrgyzstan is the worst affected country in the sprawling zone covered by WHO´s European chapter.

Others include Montenegro (207), Luxemburg (196), Bosnia (98), Serbia (71), Romania (52) and Bulgaria (46).

However, the numbers of new infections have gone down significantly in Armenia (197 cases per 100,000), Kazakhstan (128), Moldavia (82), and Russia (60).

“The recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases in some countries following the easing of physical distancing measures is certainly cause for concern.

“Where new clusters of cases appear, these need to be controlled through rapid and targeted interventions including rapid case detection and isolation and diligent contact tracing and quarantining,” she said.

“If the situation demands, reintroduction of stricter, targeted measures with the full engagement of communities may be needed.”

However, the number of new cases across Europe has remained stable at around 20,000 daily since May 20 — more than two times lower than peak numbers at the start of April.

DNA

BEIJING, July 24: Besides extensive collaborations in energy, infrastructure, industrial and socio-economic spectrum, Pakistan and China have another business avenue to tap to further promote their socio-economic partnership.

According to a report published by Gwadar Pro on Friday, the lucrative window, still unexplored, belongs to sand economy.

China, which has gained mastery in the field of reclaiming lands from deserts through afforestation, has already channelized its own business fortunes by giving robust impetus to sand economy.

This ecological industry has not only unleashed monetary gains but also help catalyze jobs especially for rural areas in China.

Pakistan, desperately, needs the sand economy which is also called green economy to usher in era of afforestation to transform ill-fate into lucrative business.

Being a home of five deserts including Cholistan desert, Thal desert, Indus Valley Desert, Thar Desert and Kharan desert, Pakistan’s economy may get a booster if the PTI government engages with China to establish ecological industry, .

The report says, Pakistan should take inspiration from the example of China’s success story showcased in Kubuqi desert.

Elion, a private ecology and investment enterprise, invested approximately RMB 38 billion ($5.82 billion) in the Kubuqi desert-greening project since 1988, helping to lift more than 102,000 local farmers and herdsmen out of poverty.

If Pakistani economic wizards exploit the scenario, deserts will transform into fertile land to help grow Chinese herbal plants in great number. By exporting them that are in high demand in China, Pakistani may amplify its exports base in China.

Environmentalist Dr Javed Iqbal said that Pakistan should welcome Elion Resources Group and its investment proposal in deserts of country. ERG has planted the seed of industrialization of desertification control in people’s mind, he adds.

Kubuqi project generated over 5000 employment opportunities for local peasants and herdsmen, while free professional training has also been provided to make them the new-generation ecological construction workers, tourist service staff and skilled workers of intensive breeding and planting.

The ecological industry in desert has increased the income of natives by over RMB 300 million per year. The per capita net income of herdsmen has increased from RMB 2,000 in the past to RMB 30,000 at present.

All five deserts in Pakistan have been confronting the same worst conditions like once Kabuqi desert in China suffered 32 years ago. Cholistan desert sprawling over 10,200 sq mile is stripped off all civic facilities with scanty water and vegetation.

Agriculturist Dr. Humayun Faisal says that Pakistan governments, in past, launched some projects to increase the prospects of irrigation and cultivation in the Thal desert by unveiling Greater Thal Canal project (phase I and Phase II) costing Rs. 30 billion in 2001 but unfortunately project stands incomplete so far.

DNA

ISLAMABAD, July 24 : A vast majority of the Pakistanis are against any restriction or ban on Chinese video social media giant TikTok which they enjoy on a daily basis, says a report published by Gwadar Pro on Friday.

Pakistan’s telecommunications regulator earlier banned video streaming platform Bigo and issued a final notice to TikTok over concerns that they are encouraging “immoral, obscene and vulgar content”.

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) said that it had earlier raised the allegations with both companies and had received responses that were “not satisfactory”.

“Therefore, PTA has decided to immediately block Bigo and issue final warning to TikTok to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity and immorality through its social media application”, said a government statement.

But Pakistanis who are fans of the Tik Tok maintain the government should not follow India who banned it. “We are friends of China. We should not ban Tik Tok,” said Mohammed Ismail, a university student who was among many interviewed on the issue.

He said Tik Tok was a great way of spending time and the government should not make allegations against it. Arif Khan, a government employee said he spent his leisure time using Tik Tok. “I am shocked with the news. PTA should think twice before acting against the Tik Tok”, he added.

People from different walks of life gave almost identical positive replies on the Tik Tok. They were unanimous that Tik Tok provided them free entertainment.

“Why should they ban it? Do they want to take entertainment away from us?” Maryam Awais, an artist, said Tik Tok does not promote any wrong message. “We should not be narrow-minded. Tik Tok is a great fun”, she commented.

In 2012, PTA blocked video-sharing website YouTube for the hosting of a trailer for an amateur film considered blasphemous. That ban remained in place for four years.

Last year, in a landmark case wherein the Awami Workers Party (AWP) challenged a ban on its website, the Islamabad High Court ordered PTA to frame rules that would clearly delineate the criteria and process by which websites could be blocked.

Rights activists, however, said little had been done to make the process more transparent. Farieha Aziz, co-founder of digital rights group Bolo Bhi, said the telecommunications authority has been exercising ‘blanket powers’ on censorship.

“The criteria is just what the PTA believes or what consensus it believes exists in society”, she said, adding “these terms have never been defined (and) the PTA is making these decisions unilaterally and with no transparency”.

Earlier this month, the regulator suspended access to the popular online game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, better known by the acronym PUBG, saying it was “addictive, wastage of time, and poses serious negative impact on physical and psychological health of the children”.

Bigo, a Singapore-based company, provides live video streaming and video content creation services to users on its platform. Its Likee platform, popular in Pakistan, has more than 100 million global monthly users, according to company data.

Pakistan’s move to potentially ban TikTok, a social media platform that allows users to share short videos, follows a ban by authorities in neighbouring India, where the government said the app, along with 58 other Chinese software applications, was a threat to “national security” because of data privacy concerns.

Developed by Chinese developer ByteDance, Tik Tok has been downloaded more than two billion times worldwide, according to technology research firm Sensor Tower.

In Pakistan, the app is popularly used across a range of economic backgrounds to share short videos, often depicting people singing along, or lip-syncing, to popular songs; or acting out scenes overdubbed with popular Bollywood movie dialogue.

In a statement, Tik Tok said it considered “maintaining a safe and positive in-app environment our top priority”, and had removed more than 3.7 million videos from Pakistan in the second half of 2019 for violating content guidelines.

“We are committed to further strengthening our safeguards to ensure the safety of our users, while increasing our dialogue with the authorities to explain our policies and demonstrate our dedication to user security”, the company said.

Romaisa Khan, 20, is a Tik Tok star in Pakistan, with 2.8 million followers and videos that regular register more than 500,000 views.

She said the platform needs stricter content moderation, especially for users who are minors, but the government should not ban it outright. “I don’t think banning is a solution, because there are a lot of people who are earning (a living) through TikTok or getting work through Tik Tok, so it’s kind of a good thing as well”, she said.

Khan’s Tik Tok fame helped her breakthrough in the country’s television industry, she said, with the exposure she got on the platform helping her get modelling jobs with large national and multinational brands. This year, it helped her land her first role in a major television soap opera.

“The industry has a lot of nepotism, and it’s kind of hard to break into the industry if you don’t have anything behind you”, she said. “Tik Tok helps you to get into this, people want to work with you.”