ISTANBUL, May 21:Turkey’s national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) will resume operations in June, according to the company.

   The THY will begin its domestic flights on June 4 and international flights on June 10, a press officer told Xinhua on Thursday.

   In the upcoming period, cabin baggage would no longer be carried in the cabin, said Ilker Ayci, chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the company.

   Speaking to local media, Ayci noted that only handbags would be allowed inside the cabins.

   The carrier earlier extended the suspension of all its domestic and international flights until May 28 over COVID-19 concerns.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said that Pakistan appreciates the support extended by the US in FATF, COVID-19 and debt relief from the G-20 countries.

“We value our relationship with the US particularly the business collaborations which have a great potential of growth given the opportunities for business and investment available in Pakistan,” he said while speaking during a virtual discussion with the office-bearers and members of the US-Pakistan Business Council here at the Finance Division today. Esperanza Jelalian, president of the US-Pakistan Business Council, Charles Freeman, senior vice-president Asia of US Chamber of Commerce, Steven Kobos, chairman of the US-Pakistan Business Council, Dr. Asad M. Khan, Ambassador of Pakistan to the US and other senior office-bearers and members of the US-Pakistan Business Council and US Chamber of Commerce also attended the discussion.

During the discussion, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh conveyed heartfelt sympathies from the government and the people of Pakistan on the loss of precious lives in the US due to COVID-19 pandemic. He said the Pakistani leadership had met President Trump thrice in the past and the visit by US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to Pakistan earlier this year was a confirmation of the growing trade and investment ties between the two countries. He said the business environment in Pakistan facilitated by a greater ease of doing business, improved regulations and huge market potential, was ideal for investment and joint ventures by the US businessmen.

The Adviser said the government had recently announced a Rs 1.2 trillion stimulus package that included direct cash transfers, payment of tax refunds, subsidized credits and payroll loans, to shore up the economy and boost businesses. Similarly, the upcoming budget was being designed in a way to provide maximum relief and incentives to the businesses and promote trade by reducing tariff on a large number of items of raw material.  

While speaking on the occasion, Esperanza Jelalian, president of the US-Pakistan Business Council and Steven Kobos, chairman of the US-Pakistan Business Council, said the US government and the businessmen saw Pakistan as an important trade partner and the visit by US Secretary of Commerce to Pakistan was an evidence of the degree of importance the US attached to Pakistan. The hoped the bilateral collaborations between the two countries would further grow in the coming times. 

YUNNAN, China, May 20 / DNA /  = : “To help the needy by whatever means is a great accomplishment,” said Talha Elahi, a Pakistani student who spent his 2019 winter holiday to observe China’s poverty alleviation campaign in a small village named Sabazi in Yunnan Province, China.

According to a report published by China Economic Net (CEN),  a few months ago Talha was an average Pakistani student studying in Sichuan Normal University. He attends classes, plays basketball, friends others, travels around, with not much difference from his schoolmates.

But earlier this year when he returned to school from Sabazi Village, he came to understand things about China’s poverty alleviation – a must-win battle for the Chinese government – as quoted by him, “two months that I’ll never forget”.

Talha has been in China for further study since 2016. Living in Chengdu, one of the most important financial, commercial, cultural and transportation centers of western China, he is quite familiar with urban life, so he made a decision to experience rural life in China’s developing Yunnan Province, and more importantly, to see how the Chinese government help its people who yearns for a better life.

Sabazi Village, with a population of 1,171, is located in Songping Town, Yongsheng County of Yunnan Province. By the end of 2019, residents here have got access to water, electricity, roads and street lights.

The village is an impoverished one in dire need of being lifted out of poverty; its economy, in common with other villages nearby, is dominated by crop and plant cultivation, with purchasers mainly from Yongsheng County.
The village is quite distant from Chengdu that it took Talha four and a half hours to get there. Led by the poverty alleviation group, he got chances to see how they find out information and facts about the deserving people and come up with a list of definite targets to hit for.

Stepping into a 89-year-old granny’s house, they were shocked by her living conditions. It is unbearable to stay in her woolen house with chilly winter coming, and what is worse, the roof would leak when it rained. To Talha’s surprise, the old lady offered to cook her only hen for him out of kindness.

“I did cry, ” Talha told CEN, “they are so needy but still, they are nice. I was deeply moved by her goodwill.” Touched by the granny’s move, he gave her all his money in the pocket. People might be poor for different reasons, but one’s kindness will never lie, and that is the reason why we are ready to help them, Talha added.
According to CEN, 2020 is set to be the year China eradicates poverty in the country and becomes a “moderately prosperous society in all respects.” En route to delivering the target of eradicating poverty in rural areas and eliminating regional poverty, China still has 52 counties, 2,707 villages and 5.51 million people who need to be lifted out of poverty.

To ensure a smooth implementation of poverty alleviation, China has taken several measures. According to China’s State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, the government had built schools, houses, hospitals in poverty-stricken areas; on top of that, people now have access to education, training programme and job opportunities.