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  • How the pandemic could bring cash-rich Dubai to its knees

    The financial heart of the UAE faces an uncertain future with the pandemic halting its trade, travel and tourism, pushing it to turn to big brother Abu Dhabi for help.

    TRT World

    Across the chaotic Middle East, Dubai has long been known for its riches. From luxury hotels and glittering real estate to its penchant for gold, the oil money allowed it to build almost anything people dreamed of.

    But the days of lavish spending may soon be over as the deadly coronavirus has struck the city hard. The pandemic has brought its economy to a standstill, severely affecting this commercial hub, which is one among the seven Emirati states comprising the UAE.

    Dubai’s economic activity is largely subservient to shipping, aviation and real estate — the three sectors are generally considered to be coronavirus hotspots. The closure of these sectors have contributed to the sharp decline of oil prices, hitting the UAE hard.

    “Sectors that are likely to be most affected by the pandemic account for over half of the UAE’s total GDP (and just under half of the non-oil GDP) and an even greater share of Dubai’s GDP,” said a report prepared by Moody’s, one of the ‘big three’ credit rating agencies of the world.

    The shutdown has stopped almost all commercial flights to Dubai International, one of the world’s most active airports prior to the pandemic, hurting the Emirate at a time when holiday season was around the corner.

    The deadly pandemic has also forced Dubai to delay its long-planned Expo 2020, which was expected to generate essential investment and much tourism, pulling in 25 million visitors according to estimates, from its scheduled month of October to a year later, cutting much-needed revenue avenues to the Emirate.

    “Dubai is the most vulnerable of the economies in the Middle East and North Africa to the economic damage from such [lockdown] measures,” Capital Economics, a leading economic research company based in Britain, reported in late April.

    “We think that Dubai’s economy could contract by at least 5-6 percent this year if these measures last into the summer,” the report estimated in a dire analysis for the Emirate.

    The problems for the fancy Emirati state doesn’t end there. It has also accumulated major sovereign debt, which was valued at 110 percent of its GDP in 2019, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), making Dubai vulnerable to a possible default.

    “If debt problems do materialise, Dubai’s government is not in a position to step in given its own large debt burden,” Capital Economics researchers wrote.

    According to the consultancy firm, Dubai’s financial health, whose debt-to-GDP ratios is one of the highest across the globe, is tied to “a key factor that will determine how fresh debt problems in Dubai play out is the response from neighbouring Abu Dhabi”.

    Abu Dhabi is the most powerful Emirate of the federal monarchy with enormous sovereign wealth funds reaching nearly a trillion dollars, according to Capital Economics.

    In the 2008-09 crisis, which brought Dubai to the brink of defaulting, heavily damaging its global image, Abu Dhabi came to the help of its little brother, bailing out much of its debt at the time.

    The Emirate’s top financial official, Mohammed Ali al Shorafa, claims that “Abu Dhabi has the resources, even at these levels of crude oil prices, to continue with its planned progression” regarding its financial projects for 2020.

    While Abu Dhabi might be tired of covering for the failures of its lavish brotherly competitor, the fall of Dubai could also create an existential threat for the durability of the Gulf monarchy.

    “Failing to support Dubai would also raise concerns about the economic and political stability of the UAE as a whole,” wrote Capital Economics.

    But this time around everything appears to be more complicated than even the 2009 crisis for both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as the virus shutdown has been coinciding with a slump in oil markets, whose revenues comprise the biggest part of the Gulf country’s national income.

    Dubai has been a falling star for some time in terms of both its residential property prices, which have declined 30 percent since 2014, and hospitality revenues, which have decreased more than 25 percent per hotel room since 2015.

    “The coronavirus outbreak and the pandemic’s indirect impact on global growth and trade pose a significant shock to economic growth in the United Arab Emirates,” Moody’s report said.

    The report also observed that Dubai appears to be more exposed to the economic consequences of the pandemic saying: “The negative growth and fiscal implications are most acute in Dubai, while it faces the greater risk of its government-related entities requiring financial support as a result of the deterioration in economic conditions.”

    – TRT World

    (This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

  • 322 new coronavirus cases reported in Oman

    Muscat: The Ministry of Health has registered 322 new coronavirus cases in Oman on Thursday.

    Among those, 242 new cases were of expats and 80 of Omanis.

    The total cases in the country has now touched 4341, including 1303 recoveries and 17 deaths, according to MOH.

    The ministry urged everyone to adhere to social distancing instructions issued by the supreme Committee and the MOH, as well as staying at home and not going out unless necessary.

    – Agencies

  • The Hunt Begins: New Top 10 militants in Kashmir

    IANS

    New Delhi: Indian security forces have launched fresh operations to neutralize the next wave of Top 10 most wanted terrorist currently active in Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. According to top sources in the security establishment, these terrorists are linked to Pakistan-based terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). The immediate aim of security forces is to disrupt all the active terrorist networks and launch retaliatory strikes to neutralize them.

    These top 10 terrorists were trained in terror camps operated with the help of Pakistan”s intelligence unit ISI. They were well-armed before infiltrating into Indian territory to recruit Kashmiri youth and carry out terror strikes.

    “Pakistan is recruiting gullible youngsters from Kashmir and are training them for carrying out jihad against India,” said a top anti-terror unit chief.

    The security forces move to identify top terrorists came after Riyaz Naikoo, one of Kashmir”s most wanted terrorists and the commander of terror group Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed during an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir”s Pulwama during an anti-terrorist operation conducted by the Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police in the Beighpura area.

    Naikoo, 32, had a bounty of Rs 12 lakh on his head and was a key target for India once he took charge of the Hizbul Mujahideen in Kashmir.

    The security forces are offering rewards for information leading to the apprehension of the next line of 10 most wanted active terrorists after a list was prepared as early as this week. This is a part of a counter terror strategy adopted after two senior army officers — a colonel and a major- were among five security personnel killed in action during an encounter in Handwara in Kashmir”s Kupwara district. Colonel Ashutosh Sharma along with Major Anuj Sood, Naik Rajesh Kumar, Lance Naik Dinesh, and police Sub-Inspector Sageer Ahmad Pathan was killed in the encounter.

    According to security forces, Hizbul Mujahideen newly appointed head Saifullah Mir alias Ghazi Haider alias Doctor Sahab is on the top of the wanted list. He had joined Hizbul Mujahideen in October, 2014 and hails from Malangpora in Pulwama. He was radicalised by Naikoo and given the name Ghazi Haider.

    The second in the list is Mohammad Ashraf Khan alias Ashraf Maulvi alias Mansoor-ul-Islam. He joined Hizbul Mujahideen on September 9, 2016 and has since been active in the valley. Third in the list is Junaid Sehrai and he also belong to Hizbul Mujahideen. Then comes Mohammad Abbas Sheikh infamous as Turabi Maulvi and is active since March 3, 2015. He is also member of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen.

    Fifth in the list is Zahid Zargar and he part of JeM. He has been active since late 2014 and has gone underground for last few months. The sixth in the list is Shakur, who is member of LeT and is active since 2015.

    Seventh in the list is Faisal and he is infamous as Faisal Bhai. He is member of JeM and is active since 2015.

    At eight is Hizbul member Sheraz al Lone. He is infamous as Maulvi Shaab and he joined the terror outfit on September 30, 2016. Saleem Paray of JeM figures at ninth place and Owais Mallick of LeT comes last on the wanted list.

    These terrorists belong to top category and are active in north and south Kashmir.

    Some of the wanted terrorists names came up before the security forces following a spate of rivalry between terror recruits of The Resistance Front” (TRF), a newly-created terror organisation in Kashmir, and the Hizbul Mujahideen.

    The security establishment have decided to increase bounty of these terrorists” manifold as part of counter-terrorism strategy in a bid to neutralize them as soon as possible.

    “Hunt for these terrorists are on. The quality of intelligence about terrorists in several districts has improved and we are determined to act against terror before it raises its head in the region,” said the anti-terror unit chief.

    (Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at [email protected])

    –IANS

  • Srinagar airport ready to resume with 40 per cent flight operations

    Waiting for Centre’s nod, Its going to be a challenge, proper arrangements for social distancing of passengers, airline officials to be ensured: Director Sgr Airport, SMC installs de-contamination tunnel for passengers

    Srinagar: The airport authorities in Srinagar Thursday said that they are ready to resume the flight operations with only 30 to 40 per cent air traffic the Centre gives its nod while as Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) and the Covid-19 protocol will be followed in spirit.

    The officials said that there will be a major change in travel by air and all the guidelines will be followed. They said that it may take some time to start full-fledged operations but initially “30 to 40 per cent air traffic operation would start.”

    Talking exclusively to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Director Srinagar Airport, Santosh Dhoke, said that all the necessary protocols, SOPs are being put-in place and they will ensure the normal operation without any hesitation soon after Centre gives a go ahead.

    “We are ready to resume the flight operations but final call is up to the ministry of aviation (GoI). The moment they give us the nod, we will go ahead”, he said.

    He told KNO that to ensure protocol is follow in spirit and social distancing maintained among the passengers, they have started marking some spots and in the coming few days’ marks to be used for maintaining social distancing will be done.

    “Special marks will be used at the checking counters to ensure social distancing among officials. Airlines will also depute their officials who will provide passengers boarding pass after showing valid PNR number. But in entire exercise, proper guidelines will be followed and no laxity will be allowed,” he said.

    He said all the arrangements are being made to ensure the safety of passengers and officials. “At entrances, the computers and web cameras have been installed to magnify the boarding passes and tickets. Passes will be shown on computer screen to satisfy the CISF officials who will allow entry,” Dhoke said.

    Similarly, at the gate, there will be a team of health officials who will check the temperature of Passengers and as per government guidelines, the passenger should have Arougya-Setu app and the indication it shows must be green. “In case it’s orange, one won’t be allowed to enter/proceed,” he said, adding that Arogya-Setu app is mandatory. “If a passenger arrives without it he/she won’t be allowed to proceed,” he said.

    A decontamination tunnel is also being installed by SMC for sanitizing the passengers and their luggage also with 1% of hydro chloride. The director airport said that its going to be a challenge but all the government guidelines are being followed to ensure smooth flow of air traffic and passengers that include arrivals and departures—(KNO)

  • Covid-19 | Delhi reports highest number of cases in a single day

    472 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Delhi in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 8,470, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Thursday.

    This is the highest number of cases reported in a single day in the city so far.

    Also, nine more deaths have been reported, taking the total number of deaths to 115. But all the deaths did not happen in the past 24 hours.

    “Cumulative deaths as per case sheets received from hospitals, after audited by committee,” the bulletin said on the total number of deaths.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • India may have to open dialogue with Taliban, say observers

    Outfit has re-emerged as the core of a new, yet unfinished, constellation of power

    There is little doubt that after a gap of nearly two decades, Afghanistan is undergoing another major power overhaul. Taliban, ousted by the post-9/11 U.S.- led military campaign, has re-emerged as the core of a new, yet unfinished, constellation of power.

    Unlike its previous avatar in the mid-nineties, when it was birthed by Pakistan and nurtured by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with covert support from the United States, Taliban 2.0 is manifestly different.

    Except India, former heavyweight supporters of the Northern Alliance — a non-Pashtun coalition of ethnic groups that took over from Taliban — chiefly Iran and Russia, have significantly invested in the rebranded Taliban. This has eminently suited the Taliban, which is yearning for recognition as a symbol of Afghan nationalism, rather than a safehouse of international terror groups, including Al-Qaeda, the architect of the bombing of the twin-towers in New York.

    There is strong evidence that the Taliban of 2020, unlike the past, is enmeshing Afghanistan’s ethnic minorities in the new power coalition emerging in Kabul, rather than relying mostly on the majority Pashtuns.

    Regional influencers

    To impart a more composite and pluralistic image, the Taliban is relying significant on regional influencers — particularly Iran, Russia and Uzbekistan, signalling that the era of Pakistan’s virtual monopoly in running the pre-2001 show in Kabul is over. Yet, Islamabad, leveraging its deep assets, continues to exercise considerable influence in the Af-Pak badlands, despite the Taliban’s attempt to bond with regional powers.

    The Taliban is dependent on Iran to gain influence among ethnic Hazaras, who have shared deep historical and cultural ties with Tehran. Geographically, the Hazaras, who share Iran’s Shiite bonds, mainly reside among the Koh-i-Baba mountains on the western fringe of the Hindukush range in central Afghanistan.

    Besides, Iran exercises leverage over Afghanistan because of Chabahar port. In the future, it is unlikely that any new dispensation in landlocked but resource-rich Afghanistan would like to forego the option of using Chabahar — a port on the Indian Ocean — for its international trade, despite the attraction of Pakistani ports of Karachi and Gwadar, the starting point of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

    The Hindu reported earlier that in an April 22 Taliban video which features the group’s newly appointed northern district Governor Mawlawi Mahdi Mujahid, the Hazara Shia cleric incites his brethren to fight against the “Jewish and Christian invaders” alongside the Taliban. The video also directly addresses the “Shia brothers and religious scholars in Qom” — a reference to the Shia seminary city, 140 km south of Tehran.

    Iran, on its part, has been regularly engaging with the Taliban. An Iranian Foreign Ministry statement earlier this month detailed a telephonic conversation between Iran’s special representative on Afghanistan Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian with the Taliban’s political leaders regarding the ongoing political deadlock in Afghanistan between President Ashraf Ghani and former Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah. “The two sides also exchanged views on future developments in inter-Afghan negotiations and comprehensive efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Afghanistan,” the statement added.

    Diplomatic sources told The Hindu that the Taliban is now well on its way to appointing Rashid Dostum as “field marshal” in the new dispensation that is yet to emerge but taking shape behind the scenes. A former Vice-President, Gen. Dostum, is an ethnic Uzbek with a stronghold in northern Afghanistan, not far from the Amu Darya on the border with Uzbekistan. Recently, he publicly opposed President Ghani following the controversial national elections.

    International legitimacy

    Diplomatic sources point out that it is only a matter of time before Taliban gains international legitimacy. “The five permanent members would first like to ensure that the Taliban, on the ground, rejects presence of international terror groups, such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, in Afghanistan. That can follow the removal of UN sanctions and the eventual mainstreaming of the group,” a diplomat told The Hindu. Major global powers are also concerned about the presence of Haqqani network, Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and Chechen fighters, among many others.

    Observers say that while remaining vigilant, India may have no option but to consider a conditional engagement with the Taliban. “India’s Taliban policy can’t narrowly focus on baulking Pakistan alone. Like other powers, the underlying motive should be to view from a wider regional and global perspective — fostering connectivity, trade, protecting environment and countering terrorism,” says P. Stobdan, former ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, in a conversation with The Hindu. He acknowledged that “we can’t be sure whether the Taliban, as a legitimate ruler of Afghanistan, will make or break the entire chain of multiple Jihadist network created by Al-Qaeda and IS”.

    The former diplomat pointed out that both Al-Qaeda and IS’s Ansar Ghazwa’tul Hind have footings in Kashmir since 2017. “The Haqanni Network is another source of concern, especially as Pakistan may try to position Sirajuddin Haqqani, its strategic asset, in a Taliban-led government in Kabul.”

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Six migrant workers run over by speeding bus in U.P.’s Muzaffarnagar

    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister announces a compensation of ₹2 lakh to the family of the deceased and ₹50,000 to the family of the injured

    According to police, four of the deceased were from Gopalganj and the other two were from Patna and Bhojpur. “The bus was empty and the driver was under the influence of alcohol. He has been arrested,” said Abhishek Yadav, SSP, Muzaffarnagar.

    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked the Commissioner of Saharanpur zone to investigate the incident and has announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh to the family of the deceased and ₹50,000 to the family of the injured.

    Condoling the death of workers, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav tweeted: “First train accident and now bus accident, why the lives of workers are so cheap? Can’t the poor of the country reach home via Vande Bharat Mission?”

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Coronavirus may never go away, World Health Organization warns

    Geneva: The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, warning against any attempt to predict how long it would keep circulating and calling for a “massive effort” to counter it.

    “It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away,” WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan told an online briefing.

    “I think it is important we are realistic and I don’t think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear,” he added. “I think there are no promises in this and there are no dates. This disease may settle into a long problem, or it may not be.”

    However, he said the world had some control over how it coped with the disease, although this would take a “massive effort” even if a vaccine was found — a prospect he described as a “massive moonshot”.

    More than 100 potential vaccines are being developed, including several in clinical trials, but experts have underscored the difficulties of finding vaccines that are effective against coronaviruses.

    Ryan noted that vaccines exist for other illnesses, such as measles, that have not been eliminated.

    WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added: “The trajectory is in our hands, and it’s everybody’s business, and we should all contribute to stop this pandemic.”

    Ryan said “very significant control” of the virus was required in order to lower the assessment of risk, which he said remained high at the “national, regional and global levels”.

    Governments around the world are struggling with the question of how to reopen their economies while still containing the virus, which has infected almost 4.3 million people, according to a Reuters tally, and led to over 291,000 deaths.

    The European Union pushed on Wednesday for a gradual reopening of borders within the bloc that have been shut by the pandemic, saying it was not too late to salvage some of the summer tourist season while still keeping people safe.

    But public health experts say extreme caution is needed to avoid new outbreaks. Ryan said opening land borders was less risky than easing air travel, which was a “different challenge”.

    “We need to get into the mindset that it is going to take some time to come out of this pandemic,” WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove told the briefing . Reuters

  • High Court directs govt to take decision on felling of poplar trees

    High Court directed the government to take a decision over the impact of the pollen and fluff from the trees, desirability of felling poplar trees with issues related to it and place the same by 20th May 2020.

  • Shah Faesal’s detention extended by 3 months under PSA

    The extension order, finalised by the Home department, is likely to be served to Mr. Faesal in the next 24 hours, sources said.

    The detention period of IAS topper and Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement chief Shah Faesal, 36, was extended by three months under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) on Wednesday, official sources said.

    The extension order, finalised by the Home department, is likely to be served to Mr. Faesal in the next 24 hours, sources said.

    Mr. Faesal, who was booked under the PSA on February 15, was about to complete three months of detention under the PSA and was due to a review as per the rules.

    Mr. Faesal was detained at the Delhi international airport in the second week of August following his interviews to several media channels, expressing strong views against the Centre’s move to revoke J&K’s special status.

    Mr. Faesal, who quit his government job to launch his own party last year, was shifted to a detention centre in Srinagar on August 14, 2019. At present, he is detained in the MLA Hostel in Srinagar.

    He has become fifth mainstream leader to face extension in their detention. Earlier, the detention periods of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, Naeem Akhtar, Sartaj Madani and National Conference’s Ali Muhammad Sagar were extended.

    With inputs from The Hindu