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March 25, 2020: National / International Current Affairs
1. Rs1.13tr package unveiled to fight coronavirus
• Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 24, 2020 announced a rescue and stimulus package worth about Rs1.13 trillion aimed at supporting various sectors of society and the economy in absorbing the adverse impacts of coronavirus pandemic.
• Speaking at a news conference, the prime minister gave details of the multi-sectoral package put together by the federal government and said the provinces had also been asked to chip in with their funds to support troubled sections of economy.
• At the same time, he said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was considering reducing its key policy rate. It was cut by 150 basis points to 11 per cent soon after the premier`s televised session came to an end.
2. First death from local virus transmission in Pakistan
• With the first death caused by local transmission of novel coronavirus in Pakistan on March 24, 2020, countrywide tally of fatalities has risen to seven and the Balochistan government has imposed a lockdown across the province for 15 days.
• The federal government has decided to accept donations and designated the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to use donated funds to combat the disease. With the first death of a coronavirus victim in Lahore, Punjab witnessed a slight decline in confirmed cases across the province on Tuesday.
• According to official figures, only 19 more patients tested positive for the virus all over the province, including seven in Lahore alone, on Tuesday.
3. Punjab govt gives Rs11bn to health dept
• The total number of coronavirus patients in Punjab is 265: 176 patients are quarantined in DG Khan, 59 in Lahore, 12 in Gujrat, seven in Gujranwala, three in Jhelum, two each in Rawalpindi and Multan and one each in Faisalabad and Mandi Bahauddin.
• Chief Minister Usman Buzdar told a video link media briefing after the cabinet meeting that paid tributes to Dr Usama Riaz of Gilgit-Baltistan who laid down his life while treating coronavirus patients. `We also appreciate the role being played by medical teams in the treatment of patients in Punjab,` he added.
• The meeting was also briefed on coronavirus situation and the chief minister and his cabinet members announced that they would donate their one-month salaries to chief minister`s fund for the disease control, he said
4. Pakistan seeks clarity about SAARC`s Covid-19 fund
• Pakistan wants the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation`s (SAARC) Covid-19 Emergency Fund to be administered by the bloc`s secretary general and is seeking clarity about its utilisation.
• The fund was announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the SAARC leaders` March 15 video conference on coronavirus pandemic and pledged $10 million for it.
• The emergency fund is meant to assist countries in the region to deal with the pandemic. However, nothing was said about the administration of the fund and modalities for its utilisation
5. All passenger trains suspended till March 31
• Pakistan Railways on March 24, 2020 announced the closure of its entire passenger train operations across the country till March 31 as a precautionary measure to avoid spread of Corona pandemic.
• The operations of trains will remain suspended from 12:00 am (Wednesday) till March 31, said a notification issued by Ministry of Railways. However, operations of freight trains would not be suspended, reads the notification.
• Meanwhile in his video statement Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad said “from 12 am tonight the operations of all the trains in the entire Pakistan will be closed down,”. He said that decision was taken on emergency basis with the permission of the Prime Minister, Imran Khan.
6. Coronavirus Governor launches helpline
• Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar March 24, 2020 launched the ‘Governor Punjab Anti-Corona Helpline’ to curb the virus spread in the province.
• “People from nine divisions of Punjab and Azad Kashmir can seek guidance on coronavirus pandemic and preventive measures from doctors round-the-clock on mobile number 0304-1112101. More than 3,000 doctors have registered themselves to serve at the helpline centre,” the Governor told reporters.
• Ch Sarwar said the helpline would have 150 phone lines and people could call any time round-the-clock. “If you want to get a checkup through video call, people can access corona telemedicine web portal where doctors are available 24/7 and the facility would also be available for the people of Azad Kashmir,” he added
7. Coronavirus disease first global pandemic since 1969
• Coronavirus is the first outbreak of any disease since 1968-69 that has been declared a global pandemic by the United Nations.
• Several million people have gone to the valley of death due to global outbreaks during the last 150 years. During last few years on the basis of scientific research and achievements made by various countries, it was claimed that there would be no new global outbreak in the world, but coronavirus outbreak negated all these claims. The devastation has wreaked havoc on the entire world economy. According to sources, the largest global outbreak in the history was caused by smallpox which killed more than 500 million people worldwide including Pakistan during 1877 and 1977, while H1N1 infected more than 100 million people worldwide during 1918-1920. Similarly, more than 32 million people lost their lives worldwide including AIDS since 1920 till now. More than two million people were killed due to H2 N2 influenza during 1957 and 1958. A new global outbreak of Encephalitis Lethargica during 1915 – 1926 killed 1.5 million people. During 1968-69, H3N2 Hong Kong influenza caused more than a million deaths worldwide. Global outbreak worldwide in 1899 and 1923 claimed 0.8 million lives. The global plague killed 40,000 people worldwide during 1910 and 1912. The latest UN reports said that more than 17,000 people have lost their lives worldwide due to the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19). The death toll from this virus is still high. It is learnt that over the last 150 years, thousands of people have died due to malaria and other global outbreaks, but during the last 50 years it was expected that there may be no new global outbreaks due to modern research but the coronavirus has falsified all such claims and have raised concerns around the world
8. German army loses 6m masks in Kenya
• German customs officials are trying to track down about 6 million face masks, ordered to protect health workers from the coronavirus, that they say went missing at an airport in Kenya.
• `The authorities are trying to find out what happened,` a German defence ministry spokeswoman said, confirming a report first published by Spiegel Online.
• A Kenyan Airports Authority (KAA) spokeswoman said investigations had found nothing so far
9. Jazz legend Manu Dibango dies of coronavirus
• Veteran Afro-jazz legend Manu Dibango died on March 24, 2020 after contracting the new coronavirus, one of the first worldwide stars to succumb to the disease.
• The 86-year-old Cameroonian, best known for the 1972 hit `Soul Makossa`, `died early this morning in a hospital in the Paris region, his music publisher Thierry Durepaire said.
10. Tokyo Olympics postponed until next year
• The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed until 2021 on March 24, 2020, ending weeks of speculation the games could not go ahead as scheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) made the decision after speaking to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and local organisers.
• The IOC said the games would be held not later than summer of 2021 but they would still be called the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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