The Daily Torch Light -Unapologetic in standpoints

27/12/2021

12/08/2020

Pakistan pays back $1b Saudi loan
Islamabad had secured a $3b loan from Riyadh for one-and-a-half year
Shahbaz Rana | August 06, 2020


ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has paid back Saudi Arabia $1 billion out of a $3 billion loan that it secured one and a half year ago to avoid default on international debt obligations after the kingdom decided to reduce its financial support, highly placed sources said.

Pakistan's time-tested friend, China, has immediately come forward and extended $1 billion in loan to help Islamabad avoid any adverse impact of the partial withdrawal of the Saudi lifeline, sources in the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.

Officially, the Ministry of Finance declined to comment while the response of SBP chief spokesman was also awaited till the filing of the story.

In October 2018, Saudi Arabia had agreed to provide $6.2 billion worth of financial package to Pakistan for three years. This included $3 billion in cash assistance and $3.2 billion worth of annual oil and gas supply on deferred payments. The Saudi oil facility was already running into trouble.

As per the agreement, the Saudi cash and oil facility was for one year with an option to roll over the amount at the end of the year for a period of three years. Pakistan was paying 3.2% interest on the $3-billion facility, according to the information that the Ministry of Finance shared with the National Assembly.

In its report in April this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that "Saudi Arabia also refinanced $3-billion BOP (balance of payments) support loans that matured in November (2019)-January (2020)."

However, the repayment of $1-billion loan within six months of its renewal was surprising.

The same IMF report also stated, "Bilateral creditors have maintained their exposure in line with debt sustainability objectives of the IMF programme."

China maintained its exposure by renewing $2 billion worth of bilateral deposits in March this year while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also rolled over $1-billion BOP support loans in March, according to the IMF's Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) loan approval report.

The IMF attaches importance to rollover of all the $14.5 billion worth of debt for Pakistan's debt sustainability that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had secured after coming to power to avoid default on international debt payments.

"Debt sustainability is supported by the agreed rollover of maturing obligations by key bilateral creditors (China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE), as demonstrated by the established track record over the past nine months," according to the IMF's April report.

Sources in the Ministry of Finance said that these countries had also independently assured the IMF that they would not withdraw their financial support to Pakistan.

The IMF is of the view that the rollover of these loans is also critical to reduce gross financing needs to 19.5% of GDP by fiscal year 2025.

In his column "Zero Point", The Express News anchorperson, Javed Chaudhry, also wrote that at a time when Pakistan was changing its political map, the brother Islamic country, Saudi Arabia, withdrew its financial support from Pakistan. Chaudhry highlighted the lack of cooperation from Muslim countries in his article.

Sources said that the Chinese government has provided $1 billion loan to Pakistan to retain the official gross foreign currency reserves at their current levels. Unlike Saudi loan that had been taken on the books of the central bank, the Chinese loan has been taken on the books of the federal government due to another condition of the IMF.

After securing $6.2 billion facility in 2018, including $3 billion cash, Pakistan's Foreign Office had also stated that this arrangement would be in place for three years, which will be reviewed thereafter. Pakistan had received the first tranche of $1 billion in November 2018, second $1 billion in December 2018 and third tranche of $1 billion in January 2019.

Pakistan could also utilise $770 million worth of Saudi oil and gas credit facility on deferred payments in the last fiscal year against the sanctioned annual limit of $3.2 billion. The spokesman of the Petroleum Division, Sajid Qazi, said that the slump in crude oil prices coupled with low demand impacted the facility, hoping that the figures will improve once things return to normalcy.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had twice flown to Saudi Arabia to secure the deal - a journey his close aide Raza Dawood had once described as "awful".

The Saudi facility faced roadblocks since the beginning. Initially, both the countries had a plan to make the facility operational from January 2019. But it actually became operational from July last year.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) had also announced a $6.2 billion package for Pakistan in December 2018, including $3.2 billion oil facility. But later on, the UAE reduced its financial assistance to $2 billion and also shelved the plan to give $3.2 billion oil facility on deferred payments.

The UAE and Saudi Arabian oil credit facilities were part of the $14.5-billion package agreed with three friendly countries, including China.

The PTI government took over $13 billion in foreign loans in the previous fiscal year - the second highest amount in history - to repay maturing external debt and cushion the shrinking foreign exchange reserves. Since coming into power, the PTI government received $26.2 billion loan and out of that $19.2 billion was used to repay the maturing external debt and the remaining balance was added to the external public and publicly guaranteed debt.

Source: The Daily Torch Light

01/06/2020

Racial Terrorism by the Government

We are all but human

21/05/2020

The pandemic effect: a hungry man eats Death dog meet on the highway.

This is really a shame for the world and for the International humanitarian agencies that despite millions of dollars is funded to feed the world there are a number of people in various parts of the world who even can't manage their food.

On CC tv the double standard side of the humanity is caught while a man was found eating a death dog on the highway.

21/05/2020

127 British politicians demand UK impose sanctions on Israel in the event of annexation of occupied Palestinian territory
Posted by Caabu on 01 May 2020
127 British politicians from all parties have written to the British Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary urging them to make clear publicly to Israel that any annexation of occupied Palestinian territory “will have severe consequences including sanctions”.

In an unprecedented intervention, politicians including former cabinet members, ministers and senior diplomats, demanded actions not words in opposing any Israeli annexation. This would be “a mortal blow to chances of peace between Israelis and Palestinians based on any viable two-state solution.”

The letter points out that when Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, “Britain quite properly opposed these acts with appropriate measures, including robust sanctions.”

Signatories to the letter included Lord Chris Patten of Barnes, the former European Commissioner for External Relations; Lord Michael Jay, the former Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Sir Edward Davey, the leader of Liberal Democrats; and former Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell and Baroness Helena Kennedy.

More coverage of the letter can be found in the Guardian. As of 13 May 2020, 147 British politicians had signed or indicated support for the letter. All names and additions can be found at the bottom of this page.

The letter reads:

We are writing to you to express our outrage at the new Israeli Government’s declared plan to annex areas of territories it occupied in June 1967. This action is the key plank of the agreed Israeli coalition platform. It states that the Government can advance legislation on annexation after 1 July. It is already clear that the Israeli Government will use the cover of the Covid-19 pandemic to seek to implement this egregious plan. It is vital that the UK does everything in its power to prevent this.

Annexation of occupied territory violates several UN Security Council Resolutions including UNSCR 242 and 2334. It is a mortal blow to chances of peace between Israelis and Palestinians based on any viable two-state solution. The joint statement by the UK Government, together with France, Germany, Italy and Spain, on 12 September last year could not have been clearer. Unilateral annexation of any part of the West Bank would be “a serious breach of international law”.

International law is crystal clear. The acquisition of territory through war is prohibited. The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 is a recent example where Britain quite properly opposed such acts with appropriate measures, including robust sanctions.

Britain upholds the international rules-based system, as you as Prime Minister have affirmed repeatedly. If we are to prevent other states with territorial ambitions from copying Israeli illegal behaviour, the UK must take a lead in standing up to this aggression. The international community is duty-bound to protect Palestinians under occupation.

We ask you to take the lead in bringing our international partners together to prevent this illegal action. Our Government has stated that any annexation “cannot go unchallenged”. The Government must now make clear publicly to Israel that any annexation will have severe consequences including sanctions. Words are not enough: Prime Minister Netanyahu has ignored our words. We need to prevent his Government from setting this alarmingly dangerous precedent in international relations.

Caabu Director, Chris Doyle commented: “Annexation has the potential to be a watershed moment. On the ground Israel will gobble up ever more Palestinian territory and ride roughshod over international law. Internationally major European powers like Britain, who as these leading politicians show, will have to have the courage to go far further than anyone might have imagined to defend the international rules-based order. Sanctions should not be entered into lightly but such an action would more than warrant it, just as we did with Russia over Crimea. For too long we have stood and watched as Israel violated Palestinian human rights.”

Sir Vincent Fean, UK Consul-General, Jerusalem 2010-14; Chair, Balfour Project: “Annexation is a crime against the wellbeing of both peoples, Palestinian and Israeli. Britain has a duty to work with France, Germany and others to prevent it, with recourse to sanctions if Netanyahu ignores their warnings. “

Quotes from signatories:

Crispin Blunt MP: “This is a massive test for the international community and for Britain which I hope we will pass. We can take the seemingly easy way out, do nothing and pay for the consequences later. We can send the message that in any of the many territorial disputes around the world, aggression and bullying wins. Or we can take a stand, demonstrate that international law does still mean something, and show that whether it is Russia, Israel or any other state, such actions have real and actual consequences.”

Rt Hon David Jones MP, Chair of Caabu: “I am sure the Government understands just how serious a breach of international law any Israeli annexation of Palestinian territory would be. As this letter shows, it would have widespread support to hold Israel account should it cross this line.

“Sadly this will probably require more than words; but such a violation of the rule of law cannot go unchallenged.

“I hope Israeli leaders will think twice before such a drastic decision, which would irrevocably destroy the chances of a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.”

Stephen Kinnock MP, Chair of the Britain-Palestine All Party Palestine Group: “‘The UK government was absolutely right to state on 12 September last year that unilateral annexation would be “a serious breach of international law”. And Wayne David, Labour’s Shadow Minister for the Middle East, reiterated this point yesterday, in his letter to Foreign Office Minister, James Cleverly.

If the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary are genuinely committed to upholding the international rules-based order then they must now make it clear to the Israeli government that if annexation goes ahead then the British government will have no choice but to impose sanctions on goods that are produced in the illegally occupied territories.

Annexation would be the final nail in the coffin of the two-state solution. This is a rubicon moment for Israel, for Palestine, and for the international community. The British government must act, because failure to do so would truly be a betrayal of our duty to stand up for human rights, peace, justice and the rule of law.’”

Layla Moran MP: “The UK has a proud history of not just abiding by but shaping the international law-based order. These worrying developments in Israel are clearly contrary to the letter and spirit of that liberal order and cannot go unnoticed. I would urge the Government to make a clear and unequivocal statement making clear that it is against these illegal moves as soon as possible.”

18/05/2020

Saladin Paid the salvation tax when elite Crusaders refused to pay for Christians: elits deviate poor using religion in every era.
A special Documentary from Al jajeerah

Who was Salahuddin? 'The Crusades: An Arab Perspective' episode 3 - http://aje.io/2pzs

15/05/2020

Indian media accused of Islamophobia for its coronavirus coverage
A large section of media in India accused of running shows that appear to blame Muslims for the spread of the virus.

New Delhi, India - "During this lockdown, why does every crowd gather only near mosques?" journalist Arnab Goswami recently asked on the Indian news channel, Republic TV.

The well-known anchor was referring to a crowd that had gathered last month near a railway station that happens to be near a mosque in Mumbai, the capital of the western state of Maharashtra.

Local media reports said they were migrant workers desperate to get back to their towns and villages after a nationwide lockdown was imposed to try and combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The lockdown had left many of them jobless. They assembled there after hearing rumours that the government had finally arranged transport for their return home.

Just days earlier, similarly anxious workers rioted in neighbouring Gujarat state, but the media did not link it to any particular religion, as was the case in Mumbai.

As news website Newslaundry's Atul Chaurasia noted on his show: "The Mumbai incident once again brought to the fore the diseased, sectarian face of channels, because in the background they had spotted a mosque."

Critics have accused a large section of Indian media of blaming Muslims for the spread of the coronavirus, which so far has infected more than 82,000 people in the country and caused 2,649 deaths.

Islamophobia during a pandemic
Coronavirus worries took centre stage in India by the third week of March but the preceding months had already been turbulent.

Pan-India protests erupted in December 2019 against a new citizenship law championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, that many deemed discriminatory.

Anti-Muslim mob violence shook Delhi in February after supporters of a governing party leader attacked peaceful sit-ins against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

As the world was coming to terms with the sweeping pandemic and its effects, sections of news media remained embroiled in divisive debates until March 24, the day police cleared out the last vestiges of the anti-CAA protest sites led by Muslims in New Delhi.

A nationwide lockdown was then implemented at midnight on March 24.

By late March, Muslims became the focus of media attention after it emerged that six people who died from COVID-19 in southern Telangana state had attended an event held by a Muslim religious group called Tablighi Jamaat from March 13-15 in New Delhi.

Muslims faced further vilification in the first week of April after a government spokesperson publicly linked a spike in coronavirus cases to the Jamaat event, which was also attended by preachers from other Muslim countries.

Since then, the government seemed to have singled out the Jamaat at most official briefings.

"The media chose not to ask the government why foreign participants were not tested at airports, why Delhi and the central government and police agencies gave permission for the gathering, which was denied by the Maharashtra government," activist Kavita Krishnan told Al Jazeera.

Trending Twitter hashtags, such as , soon appeared on TV screens.

"The media are distorting facts to suggest that every Muslim belongs to Tablighi Jamaat, every Muslim is responsible for the coronavirus, and coronavirus is a synonym for Muslim," said political analyst Shahid Siddiqui.

Siddiqui called the group "irresponsible, callous and foolish" for holding a mass meeting when social distancing advisories were already widely disseminated but stressed that on March 13 the government had said COVID-19 was "not a health emergency" and the lockdown was only announced days after the Jamaat event.

He said he was "shocked" at journalists pinning the blame for the outbreak on Jamaat, and by association, Muslims.

Disproportionate focus
Senior health journalist Vidya Krishnan is a rare voice in the media pointing to the government's "inordinate" focus on the Jamaat.

Krishnan explains that the reason a large percentage of coronavirus-positive cases in India was being linked to the group is because of aggressive contact tracing of Jamaat attendees by the government, whereas citizens who have crossed paths with patients unconnected to the Jamaat were not being tracked and tested with equal determination.

"What the Indian government is doing during the pandemic is just the next step in the kind of persecution of minorities that has been happening under the Modi administration," she told Al Jazeera last month.

"You cannot isolate the February riots in Delhi from what's happening in everyday media briefings where the Health Ministry and Home Ministry are actively painting a target on the backs of one community."

A spate of false reports on social media and news media about Muslims spitting, roaming naked or defecating in public were later debunked.

The falsehoods are so numerous that even police departments and other official agencies have been countering or correcting tweets by news organisations and their representatives.

While studying debunked COVID-19 stories in India, University of Michigan associate professor Joyojeet Pal and his co-researchers found a rise in misinformation about Muslims from about the end of March.

In the mainstream media, "the truly insidious part is the way in which Islamophobia is suggested, without explicit mention," Pal said.

"This could include the selection of participants for TV debates, which allows an anchor to claim neutrality, but have participants indulge in extreme claims that go unchallenged. Or the use of imagery - like the focus on a mosque near a train station where migrants gathered, as if to suggest that Muslims had something to do with the gathering."

On April 10, on Zee News, anchor Sudhir Chaudhary openly accused Muslims of impeding India's coronavirus war.

Among the evidence he offered was a video of a Muslim-dominated area of New Delhi - he conceded that hardly anyone was visible in his visuals of the lockdown from this otherwise always-packed locality, but still added: "These people defy the law just so that the infection will spread rapidly across the country."

Earlier this month, police from the southern state of Kerala filed a case against Chaudhary for making incendiary remarks about the Muslim minority on his show.

India Today network aired a so-called "investigation", titled Madrasa Hotspots, on Islamic schools in and around New Delhi, revealing that they misled police about the number of children in their care during the lockdown and rebuking them for renouncing social distancing and online classes.

The report did not acknowledge what filmmaker-writer-activist Saba Dewan pointed out - that "madrasas are for orphans or children of the very poor" and therefore, far from having personal computers, internet connections and spacious homes, those children might starve if sent away during the lockdown.

Dewan added: "There's no data showing that madrasas are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 and not, for instance, boarding houses run for poor but upper-caste Hindu children in Varanasi (in Uttar Pradesh state) that are also congested. The decision to put the spotlight on madrasas alone was absolutely Islamophobic."

The pushback against such journalism has been occasionally intense this month.

Rahul Kanwal, who anchored Madrasa Hotspots, was criticised on Twitter for airing the show.

"There are so many hotspots in India - we aren't naming them to link them with a particular community. Not only is such a usage Islamophobic, it also associates the incidence of COVID-19 with stigma, it criminalises victims of a disease," Kavita Krishnan told Al Jazeera.

"There's been so little testing in India, which also creates room for this dangerous stigma. Dangerous because it deters people from coming forward to seek testing and help, for fear of being tarred by the same brush of crime or shame," Krishnan added.

The media's portrayal of Muslims as potential vectors of the virus has had real consequences.

Reports have emerged of Muslims being beaten, vegetable vendors chased from Hindu communities, a pregnant woman losing her baby after a hospital turned her away because she was Muslim and another hospital segregating COVID-19 patients by religion.

'Seeped into their soul'
Goswami, Chaudhary, Kanwal, news agency ANI's Smita Prakash, India TV's Rajat Sharma and News Nation's Deepak Chaurasia, were contacted for comments by Al Jazeera. Only Chaurasia agreed to be interviewed.

Asked if his TV show questioned why no other Indian gathering has been subject to the meticulous contact tracing done with Jamaat attendees, he said: "If what you say about contact tracing is true, then it's my request to the government."

"We have raised the matter of every other such group, the media has raised these matters," Chaurasia insisted, citing criticism of a singer who defied self-isolation to attend functions in March and a BJP politician who was at one such event.

But media avoided villainising non-Muslim communities for the multiple other political, social and religious congregations.

The BJP's Lalitha Kumaramangalam disagrees with criticism of the government in this matter, but says that the pandemic coverage is biased. "Unfortunately, Tablighi Jamaat belong to a particular community and have to be called out."

She added: "I have good friends among Muslims. My father's favourite junior was called Ali Mohammed. Ali Maama [uncle] was our favourite, so it's not that I'm prejudiced against Muslims. Unfortunately, too many from that community are behaving badly, and bad news seems to sell." She later said she had heard that falsehoods were being floated about Muslim misbehaviour.

Salman Anees Soz of the main opposition Congress party said he believed the Jamaat issue was being kept on the boil to distract Indians from the government's "bungled response [to COVID-19]".

"Some years back, I would have said maybe the media just wants to be on the right side of the government. Now I think many important media outlets genuinely believe Islamophobia is the way to go," he told Al Jazeera.

Soz says while such media are acting as instruments of the government, "at some level, Islamophobia has seeped into their soul

by Anna MM Vetticad
9 hours ago
Src: Al Jejeerah

14/05/2020

Coronavirus update
An uncertain flip-flop paradox

Coronavirus: WHO says 'this virus may never go away'
More than 100 potential vaccines are being developed but experts stress the difficulty in finding one that is effective.

The coronavirus could become endemic in the same way as HIV and populations around the world will have to learn to live with it, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday.

As some countries begin gradually easing lockdown restrictions, the WHO said COVID-19 may never be wiped out entirely.

03/05/2020

News at a glance

01/05/2020

Special Notice

Food chain is to collapse
As a part of consciousness The Daily torchlight Shares the link
Share it but do not fear! We need to come altogether united

A look at the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on food supply chains: meatpacking plants are closing due to contagion risks, and shuttered restaurants have farm...

28/04/2020

Pakistani entrepreneur shares experience of living in China at peak of COVID-19 outbreak

BEIJING: Despite social distancing to contain the epidemic, communities are getting closer in the fight against the novel coronavirus, said Nausheen Chen, a Pakistani entrepreneur living in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

She saw many foreign friends leaving China at the peak of the outbreak in the nation, but she believed there was no reason to leave the place she called home, China Daily Global reported on Tuesday.
Her startup business helping Chinese brands create commercial videos for western markets was impacted by the crisis, but she is impressed that people from all walks of life are sticking together much closer than ever by sharing knowledge and resources to get through the tough time.

“The storm shall pass because we are going to beat it and everyone is united in the fight,” she said.
Arriving at Shenzhen in 2015 with her husband after more than seven years of studying and working in the United States and Pakistan, Chen immediately fit into the city of migrants and co-founded the firm Zen and Zany�a video strategy and production startup.

Within two years, they managed to successfully complete more than 40 projects. She also hosted and organized talks and workshops about filmmaking and entrepreneurship.
However, the epidemic impacted the company’s development, bringing everything to a standstill. The company’s actors got stranded during their vacation and all the studios were closed.


Her core team�three foreigners and three Chinese staff, communicated constantly about updates on available actors and studio facilities, as well as safety measures and new strategies.
“Our clients were also understanding of the situation, so we could delay some shoots and turn our focus to research and development,” she added.

By the end of February, the studio finally reopened and they decided to start shooting right away. “We are a little bit stressed and scared but also happy to be able to work again,” she said, explaining that the first shoot was quite difficult as she had to rigorously ensure everyone’s health and safety.
With a toy firm as the client, the shoot involved children. Luckily the team managed to pull it together. “Everyone involved tried his or her best to follow safety rules, such as temperature checks, wearing masks and gloves, and eating separately.”


Moreover, she also participated in organizing online sessions encouraging and empowering startup communities to recover from the impact of COVID-19.
“I would say startups are now sharing more knowledge than ever,” she said, “and I hope that by sharing knowledge and resources we can get through this period of slow growth”.
Besides work, she is impressed how people have helped each other.
She remembered one night she was coming home late from a shoot, carrying a huge suitcase packed with actors’ costumes and props, so the security guard in her building thought she was coming from outside the city.
Fortunately, an English-speaking neighbor passing by volunteered to help her register and prove she hadn’t left the city since December.

“Times like these were a bit hard because of the communication barrier, but we have always understood that we need to follow all the rules to live harmoniously in China, so we’re happy to do that,” she noted.

She was asked a few times by her friends about whether or not she wanted to leave China and she always told people the same thing: “We live here and we call this country home.”

24/04/2020

Impact of Covid-19 on SMEs
Liaqat Ali Gohar

Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has issued the results of its On-line survey conducted to assess “the impact of Covid-19 on SMEs”, according to which 95% of the businesses have reported that COVID-19 and the subsequent lock down has caused a reduction in their operations, 92% have complained a disruption in their supply chain and 23% have reported total loss in their export orders.

21/04/2020

India may be detecting 1 in 4 Covid-19 cases: Mathematical expert

Mathematician Arni SR Srinivasa Rao has been trying to understand the real magnitude of the pandemic.

To do this, Rao, Director of the Laboratory for Theory and Mathematical Modelling at August University’s Medical College of Georgia, in the US, along with his peer Steven Krantz, professor of mathematics at Washington University, has been trying to mathematically ascertain the number of unreported cases of Covid-19 in many countries, including China, Italy, Spain and the US, where the infection wreaked havoc.

In their study, recently published in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, they visualised the disparities between reported cases and what they projected using what is called a Meyer wavelet. The higher the wave, the higher the under-reporting; lowering the wave means improved reporting.


Based on the model-based predictions, when we look at the data from India, by the end of March almost 1 in 4 Covid-19 cases were identified. But the other three who were not been tested could be spreading or might be taking precautions — we never know accurately.

The testing strategy by ICMR is in the correct direction because unnecessarily increasing the number tested randomly will have no gains if ICMR has pieces of evidence that they are predominantly negative people. Statistically, it is good to show that the positivity rate is low by testing many, but that could lead to a waste of resources. However, the advantage of large scale random testing is that it could catch people who are asymptomatic. But in any large country like India, it is not easy to conduct random testing in such a short time.


According to the government, the ICMR has the capacity to conduct 10,000 tests daily. By comparison France conducts 10,000 per week, UK with 16,000 tests for the same period, United States with 26,000, Germany doing 42,000, Italy doing 52,000 and South Korea doing 80,000 every week, Bhargava informed.