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May 09, 2020: National / International Current Affairs
1. Record Covid-19 cases reported in a single day
• The country witnessed a record rise in Covid-19 cases on May 8, 2020, a day before lifting of the nationwide lockdown in phases announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
• Although the decision to lift the lockdown from Saturday was taken in consultation with all the provinces, Punjab and Sindh on Friday expressed their desire to extend the lockdown restrictions for some more time.
• With the addition of 2,000 new cases during the last 24 hours, the total number of infections in the country on Friday stood at 26,954.
2. Pakistan backs Afghan talks, Bajwa tells US special envoy
• Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has said Pakistan`s support for the Afghan reconciliation process is a proof of its sincerity for peace in Afghanistan.
• Talking to US Special Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation Dr Zalmay Khalilzad on May 8, 2020, the army chief said: `Our support towards peace process is a manifestation of our goodwill towards the cause.
• Dr Khalilzad was visiting Pakistan after a meeting with Taliban leaders in Doha and a stopover in Delhi, where he met Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
3. Punjab goes for separate line of action
• Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Lahore Corps Commander Lt-Gen Majid Ehsan and other senior civil and military officers decided to go for a line of action different from the federal government to check the spread of coronavirus in the provincial metropolis.
• The government plans to keep the industries, businesses and markets shut in Lahore for three days instead of the federal government`s decision of two days. It resolves the implementation of the Punjab Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control Ordinance 2020 in letter and spirit while registering cases against the violators of the standard operating procedure (SOP).The Punjab government has constituted a committee, headed by additional chief secretary (home), to formulate recommendations for submission before the federal government.
• The Punjab government had suggested to the federal government to ease the lockdown about a week back and after Prime Minister Imran Khan announced going for easing the lockdown in phases on Thursday, the Punjab government decided to go for a different line of action on Friday
4. AJK PM appoints principal secretary
• In a brief reshuffle in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) bureaucracy, Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider brought his previous principal secretary back in office after a gap of around 22 months.
• According to a notification, issued by the Services and General Administration Department here on May 8, 2020, Ehsan Khalid Klani, a BS-21 officer of the management group, renamed as AJK administrative group, was posted as principal secretary in place of Raja Amjid Pervaiz Ali Khan.
• Mr Kiani had also remained principal secretary with Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed of the previous PPP government and was retained by PM Haider at the time of PML-N government in August 2016
5. Balochistan allows business activities under `smart lockdown` from Monday
• The Balochistan government decided on May 8, 2020 to convert the lockdown into a `smart lockdown`, allowing the business community to resume activities from Monday across the province.
• The provincial government had announced extension of the lockdown for two more weeks, but traders` organisations rejected the announcement and announced opening of shops and markets after May 9 without waiting for any government approval, saying they had already suffered losses of millions of rupees.
• The decision was announced after talks between a team of government officials and traders` representatives
6. KP eases lockdown, allows shops to open four days a week
• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday announced the easing of lockdown enforced across the province on March 21 to check the spread of novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
• According to it, shops and selected businesses will open four days a week and that all businesses will be closed at 4pm.
• A notification of the relief, rehabilitation and settlement department said all businesses would remain closed across the province on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
7. UN appeals for $6.7bn to fight Covid-19 in poor countries
• The United Nations called on governments, companies and billionaires to contribute to a $6.7 billion fund for immediate needs in fighting the coronavirus pandemic in vulnerable countries, warning that a failure to help could lead to a hunger pandemic, f amine, riots and more conflict.
• UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said that Covid-19 has now affected every country and almost every person on the planet.` He said the UN`s initial $2 billion appeal unveiled March 25 was being increased because there is already evidence of incomes plummeting and jobs disappearing, food supplies falling and prices soaring, and children missing vaccinations and meals. He added that the peak of the pandemic isn`t expected to hit the worlds poorest countries for three to six months.
• Lowcock said in a video briefing launching the new appeal that the poorest countries face a double whammy the health impact of Covid-19 and the impact of the global recession and the domestic measures taken to contain the virus.
8. Oceans may rise over a metre by 2100, five metres by 2300: study
• Oceans are likely to rise as much as 1.3 metres by 2100 if Earth`s surface warms another 3.5 degrees Celsius, scientists warned on Friday.
• By 2300, when ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland will have shed trillions of tonnes in mass, sea levels could go up by more than five metres under that temperature scenario, redrawing the planet`s coastlines, they reported in a peer-reviewed survey of more than 100 leading experts.
• About ten percent of the world`s population, or 770 million people, today live on land less than five metres above the high tide line.
9. US accuses China, Russia of `coordination` on virus conspiracies
• The United States on May 8, 2020 accused China and Russia of stepping up cooperation to spread false narratives over the coronavirus pandemic, saying Beijing was increasingly adopting techniques honed by Moscow.
• `Even before the Covid-19 crisis we assessed a certain level of coordination between Russia and the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) in the realm of propaganda,` said Lea Gabrielle, coordinator of the State Department`s Global Engagement Center, which tracks foreign propaganda.
• `But with this pandemic the cooperation has accelerated rapidly,` she told reporters
10. ‘Smell cameras’ built to detect explosives on planes
• Aeronautic giant Airbus is working on sensors that could be used to sniff out coronavirus. Ultra-sensitive ‘smell cameras’ have been in development since 2017 and were initially designed to detect explosives.
• The innovative sensors use microprocessors made of biological cells to identify specific chemicals or microbes floating in the air. Similar technology has already been used to detect cancer and influenza, and it could soon be used to provide advance warning of areas contaminated with SARS-Cov-2, the virus which causes COVID-19.
• According to the people behind the project, there are already ‘encouraging’ signs of early progress as the technology is adapted help to fight the pandemic. California-based Koniku partnered with Airbus on the project as the start-up specializes in neuro technology.
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