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Before coronavirus, Europe lacked empathy for migrants. The pandemic can teach us compassion ǀ View

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NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal on Friday issued notices to South Korean company LG Polymers, Union Environment Ministry, Central Pollution Control Board and others regarding the Vizag gas...

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NEW DELHI: Pakistan is projected to record five million births in the nine months since the COVID-19 was declared pandemic in March and these births expected to take place between March and December,...

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Coronavirus emergency erupted in Italy in late February, during Milan's Fashion Week, causing some designers to present their runway shows without audiences.

Ni RICHARD R. GAPPI  Sanay na kami. Ang tawaging kilikili ng lungsod at libag ng lansangang umaalingasaw. Amoy-kanal? Sa estero kami naka-bahay. Mga tamad. Hindi nagbabayad ng tax. Pero unang nakinabang sa SAP. O e ano? Hindi natutong mag-ipon? Nang bumili kami ng 3-in-1, kape’t sabon, nagbayad ng kuryente at ilaw wala ba dung value-added…

The post uSAP-usapan appeared first on Bulatlat.

TEHRAN: An earthquake struck early Friday near Iran's highest peak and jolted Tehran, killing at least one person and injuring more than 20 as people ran for their lives.The shallow 4.6 magnitude quake hit at 00:48 am near the city of Damavand, about 55 kilometres east of Tehran, the US Geological...

LONDON: Major social advances have often emerged from the depths of disaster: the Black Death brought an end to serfdom, and Britain’s welfare state emerged from the ruins of World War II. As the coronavirus outbreak took hold, many governments brought in policies previously dismissed as...

TEHRAN: An earthquake struck early Friday near Iran’s highest peak and jolted Tehran, killing at least one person and injuring more than 20 as people ran for their lives. The shallow 4.6 magnitude quake hit at 00:48 am near the city of Damavand, about 55 kilometres east of Tehran, the US...

BEIJING: China said Friday it supports a World Health Organization-led review into the global response to the coronavirus outbreak, but only “after the pandemic is over”.The comments from foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying came as China faces increasing global pressure to allow...

BERLIN: The world must draw lessons from the past and work together to beat the coronavirus pandemic, European leaders urged as the continent marked 75 years since the end of World War II in Europe. With parades and commemoration events cancelled or scaled down to contain the outbreak, Europe and...

BEIJING: The coronavirus pandemic had cleared smog from China’s skies for months, but air pollution has returned with a vengeance as factories rush to ramp up output after going idle during the outbreak.Levels of toxic pollutants including nitrogen dioxide and tiny particles known as PM2.5...

LONDON: Planning for future pandemics should be handed over to the NHS and be “free from political interference”, academics have suggested.Researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University, the Cass Business School in London, Nottingham University and Vlerick Business School, in Belgium...

The United States prevented a vote Friday in the UN Security Council on a resolution on the coronavirus pandemic, apparently because it made implicit mention of the World Health Organization, diplomats said.

The United States recorded Friday its steepest job losses in history over the coronavirus pandemic as Europe moved to keep its borders shut for another month.

Global leaders marked 75 years since the end of World War II in Europe Friday, urging citizens to draw inspiration from the historic victory as the world battles against the coronavirus pandemic.

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal on Friday issued notices to South Korean company LG Polymers, Union Environment Ministry, Central Pollution Control Board and others regarding the Vizag gas leak incident.The NGT has directed LG Polymers, India, at whose plant the gas leakage occurred, to...

ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan’s GDP is going to contract by 1.6 percent in the ongoing fiscal 2019-20 and will grow to 2.9 percent in the next financial year 2020-21 and the loans from IMF and other multilateral and bilateral donors will help to ease...

tNEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal on Friday issued notices to South Korean company LG Polymers, Union Environment Ministry, Central Pollution Control Board and others regarding the Vizag gas leak incident.The NGT has directed LG Polymers, India, at whose plant the gas leakage occurred, to...

ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan’s GDP is going to contract by 1.6 percent in the ongoing fiscal 2019-20 and will grow to 2.9 percent in the next financial year 2020-21 and the loans from IMF and other multilateral and bilateral donors will help to ease...

ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan’s GDP is going to contract by 1.6 percent in the ongoing fiscal 2019-20 and will grow to 2.9 percent in the next financial year 2020-21 and the loans from IMF and other multilateral and bilateral donors will help to ease...

WASHINGTON: The coronavirus epidemic sent US jobless totals soaring to historic highs on Friday, increasing pressure on authorities to follow Europe in phasing out lockdown measures despite still climbing American death tolls.Germany, meanwhile, marked the anniversary of the end of World War II in...

BEIJING: China said on Friday it supports a World Health Organisation-led review into the global response to the coronavirus outbreak, but “after the pandemic is over”.The comments from foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying came as China has faced increasing global pressure in...

Global supply chains link the welfare of disaster-hit companies and their surrounding communities to a network of corporations that have an economic incentive to help them bounce back. 

Medical waste disposal is a key part of pandemic planning and recovery that we must get right during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The COVID-19 pandemic could be an opportunity to take a more holistic approach to health and well-being, invest in health systems and in resilient supply chains.

COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerability of energy value chains but solar power could be an indigenous solution to keep the lights on during a crisis.

Bank-held nonperforming loans in some Asian economies have risen in recent years. Policy makers should address this growing risk now.

The surge in online learning in the People’s Republic of China during the coronavirus outbreak highlights the importance of infrastructure, platforms and the preparedness of teachers, students and parents.

A new program will help provide food to thousands of poor households in the Philippines.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to embrace the future of work-from-home and the greater adoption of walking and cycling. 

Many workers will be displaced and many businesses will close as a result of the slowdown caused by COVID-19. Providing support to those affected gives them a fighting chance.

For many of Indonesia’s urban poor who work in the informal sector, social distancing is nearly impossible if they want to maintain their income. Two key policies can help.

The global response to COVID-19 should also be a springboard for action on climate change resilience so we can narrow the divide between rich and poor and keep everyone safe.

Bold action is required by policymakers and central bankers to keep the region’s economies afloat and contain the pandemic.

Crafting small business support efforts to specific country circumstances could help save millions of livelihoods in poor communities and fortify economies against future shocks.

The pandemic has highlighted the shortcomings of the globalized supply chain model.

Investments in climate-resilient infrastructure should be the centerpiece of the billions of dollars in economic stimulus being used to rebuild Asia’s economies.

GURGAON: The managing director of real estate company Vigneshwara Group and two of his family members have been booked by Gurgaon Police in a multi-crore fraud case. Some estimates put the scale of the fraud at more than Rs 1,000 crore. Despite taking money from around 700 investors for properties in and around Gurgaon in 2006-07, and promising assured returns till possession, the group allegedly didn’t begin construction of some projects and defaulted on payments to investors. An FIR was filed at Sushant Lok police station against group MD Sunil Dahiya, his brother Sanjay and father Daryav Singh. Dahiya hasn’t been taken into custody yet because he complained of illness […]

Hong Kong's protesters are aching to take to the streets again. In the meantime, they are taking to their screens.

Japan has fast-tracked the approval of the anti-viral drug remdesivir to be used to treat COVID-19 patients in that country.Speaking to reporters Friday in Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga confirmed the rare fast-track, four-day approval of remdesivir by the Ministry of Health,...

Microchip Expands Silicon Carbide (SiC) Family of Power Electronics to Provide System Level Improvements in Efficiency, Size and Reliability

The coronavirus lockdown wiped out 20.5 million US jobs in April, destroying nearly all the positions created in the previous decade in the world's largest economy, the country's labour department reported on Friday.

The unprecedented collapse drove the unemployment rate to 14.7 per cent — well beyond the peak hit in late 2009 during the global financial crisis — from 4.4pc in March.

And job losses in March were worse than initially reported, falling 870,000 even though the business closures mostly happened in the second half of the month.

The plunge in non-farm payroll employment was the largest ever recorded since 1939, while the jobless rate was the highest and the biggest increase since 1948, the report said.

Employment fell sharply in all major industry sectors, with particularly heavy job losses in leisure and hospitality, the first sector hit and the one bearing the brunt of the impact of the lockdowns.

However, the labour department noted that the some workers were misclassified in the report as employed when they should have been counted as laid off.

Had they been listed properly, the unemployment rate would have been nearly five percentage points higher.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump downplayed unprecedented US job losses, saying they were not a surprise.

“It's fully expected, there's no surprise. Somebody said, 'oh look at this,'” he said on Fox News minutes after the labour department published the figures.

“I'll bring it back,” he said.

TOKYO: Japan on Thursday approved Gilead Sciences Inc’s remdesivir as a treatment for Covid-19, making it the country’s first officially authorised drug to tackle the coronavirus disease.

Japan reached the decision just three days after the US drugmaker filed for fast-track approval for the treatment.

“There has so far been no coronavirus medicine available here so it is a significant step for us to approve this drug,” a Japanese health ministry official said at a press briefing. Remdesivir will be given to patients with severe Covid-19 symptoms, he added.

With no other approved treatments for Covid-19, interest in the drug is growing around the world. Administered by intravenous infusion, it was granted authorisation last week by the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Gilead says the drug has improved outcomes for people suffering from the respiratory disease and has provided data suggesting it works better when given in the early stages of infection.

Japan, with just over 16,000 infections and under 800 deaths, has recorded fewer cases than other major industrialised nations.

However, a steady rise in cases has put pressure on medical facilities in some parts of the country, and a drug that helps patients recover more quickly could help in freeing up hospital beds.

A trial performed by the US Institutes of Health (NIH) showed the drug cut hospital stays by 31 per cent compared with a placebo treatment, although it did not significantly improve survival.

On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe extended a month-long state of emergency until the end of May in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Japan as yet does not know when it will get its first doses of remdesivir or how much, the health ministry official said.

Gilead on Tuesday said it was in discussion with several companies, including generic drugmakers in India and Pakistan to produce remdesivir in large quantities.

Remdesivir, which previously failed as a treatment for Ebola, is designed to disable the ability by which some viruses make copies of themselves inside infected cells.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2020

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday allowed subsidised financing for setting up of new plants and expansion of existing units while the maximum amount for a single unit has been set at Rs5 billion to boost economic activities in the manufacturing sector.

The SBP on Friday said it has opened up its subsidised Temporary Economic Relief Facility (TERF) for Balancing, Modernization and Replacement (BMR) and expansion of existing projects.

Under this scheme, the SBP provides refinance to banks for their onward extension of financing at maximum end-user rate of seven per cent for 10 years.

“The maximum financing for a single project under the scheme is Rs5bn. The objective of this facility is to boost economic activity through investments in manufacturing units,” said the SBP.

While allowing the BMR and expansion of existing projects, the SBP has permitted financing for purchase of new-imported and locally-manufactured plant and machinery against foreign letter of credit (LC) and inland LC.

“The funding under the facility cannot be used for procurement of second-hand machinery, land or carrying out civil works,” said the SBP.

According to the circular issued by the central bank, in addition to new projects, existing projects and businesses are being allowed to avail financing under these facilities for BMR and expansion of their projects or businesses.

“This measure has been taken to provide further stimulus to the economy in the context of Covid-19’s impact on the economy, to support investment in the country for modernising or expanding manufacturing and production units, and in response from feedback from stakeholders,” said the SBP.

The central bank said that, it has taken several measures since the outbreak of Covid-19 to safeguard economic activity in the country. On Mar 17, the SBP introduced TERF and its shariah-compliant version to stimulate new investment in the manufacturing sector.

With expansion in scope of the facility, the SBP expects that existing businesses will avail subsidised funding to improve productivity leading to higher economic activity and employment generation.

The banks and development finance institutions will be required to make disbursements to their customers on the basis of certificates of their internal audit confirming that financing is within the terms and conditions laid down in the facilities.

Borrowers will be required to submit a report from the Pakistan Banks Association-approved surveyors with regard to confirmation that the newly-purchased plant and machinery has been installed as per their initial request or proposal for BMR and expansion. In case of installation and fixation in part, this report will be required at first and final installation of the plant and equipment.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

"The COVID-19 pandemic is not an excuse for human rights violations. Excessive force and brutality are unacceptable from any of our enforcement or security forces."

Around 500 migrants are arriving at the Colombian border city of Cúcuta every day intending to return to Venezuela. As of April 15, a total of 34,000 people had passed through the city.