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08 WORLDVIEW Don’t overestimate the Us election impact on soUth asia

OutlOOk, india MiChael KugelMan

as of this writing, the outcome of America’s 2020 election—one closer than many pollsters had projected—was unclear. Given what’s at stake,Americans—and the world— were nervously awaiting the result. And yet, when it comes to south Asia, there’s little reason for anxiety. And that’s because there’s not much daylight between the positions of Donald Trump and Joe Biden on U.s. policy in the region.

In a country as hyper-polarized as America, few public policy issues are nonpartisan. Everything under the sun, from immigration and health care to climate change and the question of U.s. global leadership, amounts to partisanship on steroids—bitterly disputed betweenAmerica’s two main political parties and their supporters. Even issues that should transcend the poison of partisanship—from wearing a mask during a pandemic to fully supporting U.s. treaty allies—have become political footballs.

U.s. policy toward India, however, is an exception. It’s one of the few subjects that Republicans and Democrats, and by extension Trump and Biden, agree on.

For this reason, the 2020 election impact on U.s. policy toward India—and south Asia more broadly— shouldn’t be overstated. Geopolitical dynamics, more than the person occupying the White House on Inauguration Day, will influence the trajectory of U.s. relations with India and its neighbors.

The U.s. -India relationship has enjoyed forward movement ever since the early 1990s, and especially since the mid-2000s.Two key U.s. interests with strong bipartisan support—combating terrorism and counterbalancing China—have fueled its growth.

Today, amid a U.s. -China rivalry that’s here to stay, both Democrats and Republicans view U.s. -India partnership as a strategic imperative. They view India as a like-minded player keen to work with Washington to Guardian Catherine FiesChi ligion. France’s shortcomings in its

The first is that the principle of laïcité in France –the country ’s particular brand of secularism – is more it, the disappearance of the religious in France. To ex-

There hasn’t just been a precipitous decline in Catholic belief and practice, but a near-vanishing of push back against Beijing in the Indo-Pacific region.

The election won’t interrupt the relationship’s latest surge in momentum, which in recent days saw the signing of a major defense accord that enables Washington to share sensitive intelligence with New Delhi—the last of a series of foundational agreements thatAmerica inks with its closest defense partners.

In fact, by traveling to India to sign the accord just days before their boss risked becoming a lame duck, the U.s. secretaries of state and defense telegraphed a significant message: U.s. -India partnership transcends partisan issues like elections, and endures regardless of the government of the day.

To be sure, Democrats are more willing than Republicans to call out India on human rights and religious freedom concerns. Barack Obama famously criticized India on the latter during a 2015 speech in New Delhi. Additionally, much of the noise on Capitol Hill last year following India’sArticle 370 revocation came from Democrats. still, given the bipartisan support for the idea that U.s. -India partnership is essential, any White House—regardless of party affiliation—will limit such criticism to avoid rocking the boat with India.

Widen the geographic lens beyond India, and the bipartisan policy consensus remains entrenched. Both Democrats and Republicans view Pakistan as an important country that warrants a workable relationship, but that is also a difficult partner. Both view as paramount Pakistan’s assistance with peace talks in Afghanistan and continued counterterrorism efforts at home. Both remain open to broadening the relationship into the trade and investment realm—but only after sufficient progress is made onAfghanistan and counterterrorism.

Meanwhile, inAfghanistan, both major U.s. parties support a peace process that ends the war, and the withdrawal of U.s. troops. Democrats favor a more gradual exit, but they want one nonetheless.They wouldn’t want to back out of the agreement with the Taliban, concluded last February, which obliges all U.s. troops to leave by the spring of 2021.

However, while Democrats and Republicans largely operate in lockstep on southAsia policy, there are sharp differences in their foreign policy positions more broadly that carry considerable implications for India and its neighbours. Democrats favor a more conciliatory position toward Iran. They want to bringAmerica back into the nuclear deal with Tehran brokered by Obama. An even modestly improved U.s. -Iran relationship would be advantageous for New Delhi, Islamabad, and Kabul. All three want stronger commercial ties with Tehran, and they ’d rather not have to confront a tough U.s. sanctions regime on Iran.

Then there’s China. A bipartisan consensus exists in Washington that Beijing is America’s top strategic rival, and constitutes a threat to U.s. economic primacy. But Democrats are more open to exploring cooperation in some areas. Potential spaces for collaboration inseen that role disappear, and Catholic observance reity has occasionally become more strident, more opportunity heretics. The allergy to granting faith any kind of public role is displayed across the board: most French people will break out in hives at the sight of a

Any debate about the rights or wrongs of France’s brand of secularism needs to be conducted within the economically marginalised minority. There is Islamocover-up – is missing how deep and how wide French those who are looking for France to compromise here misunderstand the nature of what citizenship means in clude, as Biden wrote in a ForeignAffairs essay earlier this year, climate change, nonproliferation, and health security.Aslightly less fraught U.s. -China relationship would be welcomed by Islamabad, Beijing’s close ally, as this would give U.s. -Pakistan relations more space to grow. A mild U.s. -China detente may even be welcomed by New Delhi.After all, the more toxicity there is in U.s. -China relations, the more likely Beijing is to hit out atAmerica’s friends, including India, as it did in Ladakh. The next administration will be confronted with three key southAsia policy questions.

The first is how to reframe the U.s. -Pakistan relationship amid an impending withdrawal of American troops fromAfghanistan. For four decades,Washington has largely viewed this relationship through the lens of Afghanistan.The second is how to manage a fast-growing U.s. -India security partnership outside of an alliance system that Washington prefers but that New Delhi eschews, insisting that it remains committed to strategic autonomy—and even after the Ladakh crisis, which crystallizes the threat that Beijing poses to both New Delhi and Washington. The trick is to find a happy medium between alliance and alignment.

Finally, the next administration must figure out how to fit southAsia into its broaderAsia policy. Both major parties agree on allocating more economic and security resources to the region to push back against China, and they have implemented similar policies: the Asia pivot and rebalance for Obama, and the Indo-Pacific strategy for Trump. To this point, such efforts (with the exception of India policy) have been more focused on East Asia, home to U.s. treaty allies. But China’s increasing inroads into southAsia—mainly through the vehicle of BRI—coupled with its capacity to threaten U.s. partners there highlight the strategic logic of formally bringing southAsia into the Indo-Pacific fold.

TheTrump administration’s messaging (in January, a senior official declared that the Indo-Pacific stretches from “California to Kilimanjaro”), along with Indo-Pacific policy documents supporting more cooperation with smaller southAsian states, suggest a desire for including western Asia in the Indo Pacific policy. Given U.s. bipartisan concern about China’s growing reach in broaderAsia, such a position won’t likely attract opposition across the aisle.

The 2020 election was one of the most consequential in decades, mainly because it was a referendum on so much—and especially the dramatically different approach thatTrump, one of the most unconventional and controversial leaders in modern U.s. history, brought to the presidency.

It’sbeenaturbulentthree-plus-yearinTrump’sAmerica.Andyet,inthetumultuousseaofU.s.politics,policy toward India and the broader region is a relative island of stability. sure, there may be differences around the margins, but it largely enjoys broad bipartisan support. Continuity is assured, regardless of the election outcome.

Michael Kugelman is Deputy Director for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for tures. And for that to work secularism cannot be young) Muslims it simply isn’t clear how or why this fundamental human rights, including the right to walk

Taking the trouble to spell this out (it hasn’t been fully now going to place on the teaching of laïcité –sations may alienate some, given that these groups do aftermath of 9/11 and developed after the attacks of Scholars in Washington, DC.

GettinG reaDy For mr BiDen With a constrained mandate, he will face strong domestic and external challenges

Hindustan times eDitOrial

The election of the 46th president of the United states is over, bar the final official result. While there remain a handful of states yet to finish their ballot tabulating, Democratic candidate Joe Biden requires only a single victory to win the magic number of electoral college votes. Mr Biden will not be able to claim a decisive mandate. The presidential contest has gone down to the wire. The Democrats failed to recapture the senate and suffered a net loss of seats in the House of Representatives. Donald Trump was able to eat into Democratic margins among the working class and even minorities. If Covid-19 had not struck and Mr Trump had been slightly less abrasive, a second term would have been more than likely. This election was all about him: Even those who voted for Mr Biden did so largely because he wasn’t Donald Trump. Mr Biden will take over a nation deeply divided on a number of fronts, and be overwhelmingly absorbed in trying to heal the gaping wounds evident in American society. His administration wants to spend money at home to overcome the pandemic, lay out a green energy path, expand subsidised health care and revamp ailing infrastructure. Much of this will be designed to overcome the social inequities that led to the Trump phenomenon in the first place. But Mr Biden will shy away from the more radical demands of the Left-wing of his party, primarily breaking up tech monopolies and Wall street’s financial conglomerates. He will be harassed from the Right by Mr Trump even as his party ’s progressive wing will push him to move further Left, even as Mr Biden’s policy initiatives will be Mr Biden will have his own version ofAmerica First. Yes, he will reverse Mr Trump’s stance on immigration, security alliances and, most of all, the multilateral approach on climate. Punitive tariffs will be rolled back, in part because they are ineffective, but trade will be increasingly about reciprocity. The shifting of supply chains and technology coalition-building, both aimed at China, will continue. Middle Kingdom bashing is bipartisan, but there may be marked difference in tactics. Mr Biden’s team version of isolationism lies in the desire to commit less overseas and invest more on the home front. Beijing is unlikely to give him so much leeway. Mr Biden will be tested in the international realm — and having to decide whether home renovation is possible without neighbourhood watch duties.

macron’s task is to show French muslims they have a place in the republic

as a dual citizen of France and Canada, I never cease to be amazed by the depth of misunderstanding there is about French attitudes to remanagement of diversity are obvious – as are everyone else’s – but it is important to recognise some basic facts before pronouncing on them.

than posturing: it is a lived, sociological fact.

The extent of secularism in France, especially over the last half century, is well documented. Jérôme Fourquet, in The FrenchArchipelago, provides 350 pages of evidence on the transformation of France – or, as he puts plain the depth of that transformation, he starts with the obliteration of Catholicism.

Christian references. In 1945, Catholicism had officially been a minority sport for half a century, but it still played a role in the social space. The years since the war have

THE PRESIDENT MUST DEMONSTRATE THAT THE SECULAR STATE –WITH A SUBTLE DOSE OF MULTICULTURALISM – WORKS FOR THEM

duced to a (very small) minority.As a result, that minor“identitarian” , but also quite irrelevant.

Its irrelevance is confirmed by Olivier Roy in Is Europe Christian?, in which he examines the political space occupied by French Catholics.As Roy puts it, no political party in France can afford to put Catholicism at the heart of its political programme – or in fact go anywhere near it, because it speaks to only roughly 5% of the electorate.And switches everyone else radically off.

And this is the key point: France is a nation of equalprocession of priests in the public space, as much as at any other kind of religious display.

terms of this generalised anti-clericalism.

Of course, there is a difference between poking fun at a majority culture that is largely confident in itself and its own contradictions, and poking fun at a culturally and phobia in France, much as in any non-Muslim majority country, but reducing the principle of laïcité to intolerance or racism – or alleging that it is no more than a vast suspicion of all faiths runs. so while this across-the-board anti-clericalism may exacerbate social tensions, it is politically defensible and institutionally rooted.

Anyone holding their breath for an about-turn on this is in for a long wait. Most French people would go to the wall for it, including against any Christian church. And France: any compromise with any faith will be seen as a breachofthesocialcontract.Thatisthesecondbasicfact.

However, for the contract to hold, it needs to be renewed with French citizens of all beliefs and of all culdeployed simply as an incantation of republican values or used as a test of belonging.

Laïcité needs to be explained. For many (especially particular ideal can be liberating rather than diminishing: that it offers a neutral space in which to exercise one’s away from one’s original tradition or belief.

done since the 1905 law separating church and state) is a necessary step.And it is a remarkably difficult one.The renewed emphasis that the French government is hoperather than simply beating people over the head with it – gives me hope.

But this takes us to the third basic fact and the recent actions of Emmanuel Macron, which mark a departure from those of his predecessors. Over the past few weeks, Macron has been taken to task for calling for a reformed Islam, and a French Islam. I think his recent actions show two things. The first is a resoluteness in engaging with Muslim media and Muslim organisations abroad. He has made it clear, for example, that he supports the inclusion of Hezbollah in talks on the future of Lebanon.

Domestic engagement with French Muslim organinot represent all French Muslims. But the fact that they are so actively being brought into the tent suggests a pivotal moment.

Macron is upping the security ante, too, adapting the counter-terrorism strategy France first put in place in the ideologically moderate. 2015. And of course this is part of his attempt to square up to Marine Le Pen and her supporters.

Butthepresidentmayalsoquietlybesettingthestage for a new departure; closer to a strategy of multiculturalism, even if that concept is so fundamentally misunderstood in France that it could never dare speak its name.

I have always argued that multiculturalism, as practised in Canada or singapore rather than Germany or the UK, is a stroke of realpolitik genius. Far from the kumbaya philosophy to which it is often reduced, multiculturalism is first and foremost an incredibly effective if slightly cynical political strategy. It is designed to create a framework for the participation of minorities – complete with all the right financial and political incentives – in exchange for an agreement that each of them becomes just one defined cultural strand among many.

Faithandreligionbecomeculture,asdolanguageand ethnicity. Institutions make room for their representation, butascriss-crossingculturalidentitiesratherthancurrents of belief or faith. Multiculturalism in effect dilutes public faithintoculture.Thismaynotsitwellwitheveryone,but itdoesrecogniseandcementpeople’sstatusinapolity.In the French context, where faith is a private matter but religion can be a matter of cultural affiliation, moving toward such inclusion is more necessary than ever.

More to the point, it is probably the only compromise on the horizon. In advanced democracies with generous welfare states, where the state rather than the market is the gatekeeper to full citizenship rights, a multicultural set of institutions is the only way to balance rights and duties.What Macron is attempting to do – the carrot of engagement and the stick of security – may not immediately quell the sort of violence we have seen in the past few weeks, but it may create the kind of framework in which French Muslims will finally feel an integral part of the republic.

Perhaps Macron has understood that a subtle dose of stealth multiculturalism is the best way to achieve thoroughly republican aims.

corporate corner

19th Shaukat Khanum Cancer Symposium commences

LAHORE: The annual Shaukat Khanum Cancer Symposium has commenced as a virtual meeting to ensure that exchange of ideas and information related to cancer care can continue in these extraordinary times. The symposium is being held in collaboration with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) from November 6 – 8, 2020. There are nearly 150 national and international speakers this year and attendance of over 2,500 professionals is expected. This year, the sessions are planned to include a number of topics related to cancer care including breast cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, head and neck cancer, hematology, neurology, and paediatric cancers. Moreover, workshops will be conducted related to cancer research and pathology. PRESS RELEASE

BUSINESS 09 ML-1 ProjeCT To ModernISe raILwayS, aCCeLeraTe eConoMIC aCTIVITy: PM

ATTOCK STAFF REPORT

PRIME Minister Imran Khan has said that the Main Line-1 (ML-1) project will modernise the railway system and accelerate economic activity in the country. The prime minister said this while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the upgraded HasanAbdal Railway Station on Friday.

The premier said that the multi-billion dollar ML-1 project will be executed with the cooperation of China. After completion, he added, the distance between Karachi and Lahore will be covered in seven hours. "The project will be an important step towards self-reliance, " the PM stated, adding that the country is heading in the right direction as all economic indicators are on the positive trajectory.

Railways will play an important role in Pakistan's economicdevelopment,heremarked.ImranKhansaid the project will create massive job opportunities and willsignificantlycontributetoeconomicdevelopment.

He noted that trains are a cheap and comfortable mode of travel throughout the world. "But unfortu-

PM IMRAN INAUGURATES UPGRADED HASAN ABDAL RAILWAY STATION, SAYS GOVT STRIVING TO FACILITATE TOURISTS, SIKH PILGRIMS

nately, Pakistan railway was not developed by the previous governments. "

The premier said with the upgradation, Hasan Abdal Railway Station will now provide better facilities to all passengers, including Sikh yatrees. He said the government is striving to make things easier for the Sikh community, "which will fully be facilitated at the HassanAbdal Railway Station" .

Underlining the need to promote the country's tourism sector, the PM said that worship places of the minorities, including Hindus and Sikhs, should be renovated so that people from different religions visit Pakistan in large numbers. "Ifweimprovetourism,therewillbenoneedtoask for a loan from anyone. I want Pakistan to become a country that does not have to beg anyone, " he asserted.

Earlier, the prime minister was briefed on the facilities being offered at the upgraded Hasan Abdal Railway Station.

Speaking on the occasion, Railways Minister Sheikh RasheedAhmed said that local resources were utilised for the upgradation of the HassanAbdal Railway Station. "The ML-1 project is very important for the development of railways, " Rashid said, noting that a reduction in the electricity tariffs for industries is an important achievement of the government.

The British-era railway station in HassanAbdal has been upgraded to a two-storey structure, with 24,502 square feet of covered area. The boundary of the railway station covering a total area of 101,610 square feet, including passengers’ facilities, was also improved.

Water plants and a new tube well have been constructed to provide clean and cold water to the passengers, while a 300KV generator was installed for uninterrupted power supply at the HassanAbdal Railway Station. A canteen and a cafe were also set up near the waiting area.

KARACHI: TCL Pakistan continues its partnership with Daraz by becoming co-sponsors for the upcoming 11.11 sale 2020. TCL and Daraz have taken their partnership to the next level with this sponsorship and aim to bring exciting new deals for its consumers offering mega discounts. PRESS RELEASE

LAHORE: Unique Group of Institutes (UGI) Chairman Dr Tariq Sharif poses a group photo with other members during the Seeratul Nabi & Samajiyat Seminar. PRESS RELEASE

Indicators signify economy heading in right direction: FM

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that increase in foreign exchange amid coronavirus pandemic reflects overseas Pakistanis' trust in the economic policies of the current government. Talking to State Bank Governor Reza Baqir on Friday, Qureshi noted that the continuation of GSPPlus status for Pakistan by the European Union (EU), appreciation of rupee against the US dollar, and other economic indicators signify that the national economy is heading in the right direction. The minister said that Pakistani ambassadors are diligently highlighting investment opportunities in Pakistan as well as the government's business friendly policies across the world through economic diplomacy. He expressed confidence that the government will soon overcome the economic challenges facing the country. Reza Baqir briefed the foreign minister on the SBP’s performance, increase in foreign exchange and other economic indicators. NEWS DESK

‘PTV being restructured, not privatised’

ISLAMABAD: Information and Broadcasting Minister Senator Shibli Faraz has rejected reports that the government is going to privatise the state-owned Pakistan Television (PTV). The minister in a statement said that PTV is being restructured as per the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. "The reports regarding PTV’s privatisation are unfounded, " he clarified. adding that the government is in the process of hiring new board members to run the organisation. TLTP

MaxuslosesfourmediaaccountstoIGSquare

BABAR KHAN JAVED

IG Square has won the media remit for Stylo (Pvt.) Limited, United Industries Ltd, MG JW Automobile Pakistan, Mitchell’s Fruit Farms Limited, GFC, and Mughal Steel. Co-founded by Adnan Shaikh and Sarwar Khan, IG Square is a media buying house specializing in fit for format media solutions that embrace data, content, and technology.

Stylo (Pvt.) Limited was formerly a media client of Brainchild Communications Pakistan while MG JWAutomobile Pakistan is a new market entrant that chose IG Square as its first media agency in the country. United Industries Ltd, GFC, Mitchell’s Fruit Farms Limited, and Mughal Steel were media clients of Maxus, as confirmed by the Pakistan BroadcastersAssociation client database.

While speaking to Profit, a spokesperson from GroupM insinuated that the media investment company was still in talks with United Industries Ltd, suggesting the handover was incomplete.According to the representative, the Maxus office had issued provisional non objection certificates to several clients that IG Square is actively poaching, adding that if the new relationship doesn’t work out, GroupM and Maxus are always ready to help.

“In Lahore, business is won and lost on the tenure of relationships, not on competence or incompetence, ” said a leading media professional. “Services offered are somewhat commoditized at the moment, so if you have a long standing relationship with a tier two client, stealing them from your former agency is easy. ”

Shaikh, who has served GroupM,Z2CLimited,andBrainchildCommunicationsPakistanas a chief financial officer, is the cofounderandchiefoperatingofficer ofIGSquare.Khanthechiefexecutive officer of IG Square and former managing director of Maxus, amediaagencyunderGroupMdid not comment for this story despite multiple requests.

The Lahore-headquartered media agency is currently in the process of setting up an office in Karachi comprising client services and media management teams. The media agency is also shortlisted for the $5 million Reckitt Benckiser media review, which will announce the winning media agency at the end of November 2020.

While Khan declined to share which global advertising holding company IG Square is affiliated with, the decision by Reckitt Benckiser to shortlist the young media agency suggests that IG Square has either secured a global affiliation or is in talks with one.

Given that IG Square will bid for the Nestle media review in Q1 2021, the latter appears more likely. Currently managed by Maxus Pakistan – soon to be rebranded as Wavemaker Pakistan – the Nestle media account is worth Rs2.5 billion ($16 million) and represents nearly a third of Pakistan billings for the leading media agency.

Govt plans to transform outlook of energy market: minister

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan has said that the government has planned to transform the outlook of the energy market under the newAlternative Renewable Energy Policy.

The minister said this while talking toAmbassador of Denmark to Pakistan Lis Rosenholm on Friday. Tabish Gauhar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Power, was also present on the occasion.

During the meeting, the outlook of the emerging market of the sector and business opportunities in view of the newly approvedAlternative Energy Policy were discussed.

Acknowledging the lead role of Denmark in clean and green energy at global level, the minister said that Pakistan too is embarked upon tapping the huge indigenous potential of renewable energy. He said that Pakistan’s New Renewable Energy Policy would bring opportunities for investors due to transparent policies of the incumbent government.

He said that the government had set ambitious targets to introduce 25pc renewable energy by 2025, and 30pc by end of 2030, including 45pc share of hydel power generation and 10pc of nuclear energy into the energy mix of the country. While explaining the investment potential in the power sector, the minister said that the government would induct renewable energy-based power plants through open and transparent competitive bidding process, which would lower the cost of production of electricity.

MARKET DAILY

Bears dominate PSX as benchmark index sheds 339 points

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Bears returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index failed to hold on to early gains and ended in the negative. Global equity markets, on the other hand, showed a positive trend, whereas crude oil prices slipped lower from the previous close; WTI crude price falling 3.33pc to $37.48 while Brent crude price declining 2.88pc to $39.76. "After posting some gains early in the session, courtesy US elections and spike in commodity prices, the index showed signs of consolidation by making a downward adjustment. Selling pressure was observed across the board, especially banks and exploration & production stocks, " said a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd. Despite a positive start to the day, the KSE-100 Index remained in the red for almost the entire session, touching its intraday low at 40,679.61 (-391.69 points). It settled lower by 339.69 points at 40,731.61. Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index dropped 578.29 points to end at 40,731.61, while the KSE All Share Index fell 181.12 points, settling at 28,667.51. The overall market volumes decreased from 356.59 million shares in the previous session to 349.57 million shares. Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY +2.92pc), Power Cement Ltd (POWER +5.99pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +7.48pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 48.30 million, 43.59 million and 31.25 million shares, respectively. Sectors that dragged the benchmark to the red zone included banking (-125.17 points), oil & gas exploration (-47.73 pts) and fertilizer (-46.39 points). Among the companies, Habib Bank Ltd (HBL -50.20 points), MCB Bank Ltd (MCB 32.12 points) and United Bank Ltd (UBL -26.30 points) dented the index the most. Shedding 1.18pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the automobile assembling sector turned out to the session's worst performer, with Indus Motor Company Ltd (INDU -1.57pc), Atlas Honda Ltd (ATLH -1.60pc) and Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Ltd (HCAR -1.10pc) ending in the red.

‘SPB committed to facilitating SMEs, women entrepreneurs’

LAHORE SHAHAB OMER

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir has said that the central bank was committed to serving those sectors that remained ignored in the past, including SMEs and women entrepreneurs.

During his visit to the Lahore Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Friday, Baqir said the SBPwas focusing heavily on digital financial services and in this regard was chalking out a system where payments would be made in seconds.

He recalled that the apex bank had recently reduced interest rate by 6 per cent to facilitate businesses affected by Covid-19,

DR REZA BAQIR SAYS SBP IS SETTING UP 'PAKISTAN CREDIT GUARANTEE CORPORATION' UNDER WHICH BANKS WILL GET 60PC RISK COVER ON LENDING TO SMES

nothing that exchange rate was now running in a two-way format. "We also postponed actual payments of about Rs650 billion, of which 90 per cent were beneficiary small businesses (microfinance bank borrowers). "

Baqir said the SBPwas seriously considering LCCI's demands regarding the Electronic Credit Information Bureau (ECIB), adding that a policy in this regard would be announced in the next few days.

Further highlighting the prudent measures of SBP to avert economic crisis, the SPB governor stated, "Debts of Rs200 billion had been restructured to assist businesses in their mark-up payments. Under the Prime Minister's Employment Finance Scheme, Rs232 billion has been provided for the salaries of employees. Roshan Digital Account facility was launched for overseas Pakistanis, through which an account could be opened without going to the embassy and without verification of any document. "

He informed that a 'Pakistan Credit Guarantee Corporation' was being set up wherein banks would get 60pc risk cover on lending to SMEs. Under the markup subsidy scheme, small houses would be provided 3pc to 5pc financial assistance.

Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah said, "There are a largenumberofbusinesseswhoarenotbeing able to clear their bank liabilities in time due to Covid-induced liquidity crisis, hence their names are included in Electronic Credit Information Bureau (eCIB).This makes it hard for them to secure credit from any financial institution. We would request the SBP to relax this condition till June 2021. "

He further observed that even after the customersfullysettletheiroverduepayments amicably with the banks, their names were still reported in the eCIB under write-offs. "Customers of all banks should be given access to check their own status in eCIB database and banks should intimate customers before reporting any overdue in eCIB, besides giving them reasonable time for reconciliation and settlement of overdue liabilities, " he suggested.

Misbah also highlighted the plight of small traders amid coronavirus and urged the SPB to devise new schemes of interestfree loans that could help the traders revive their businesses.

10 FOREIGNNEWS UN CAllS fOr dE-ESCAlAtiON iN EtHiOpiA'S tiGrAy rEGiON

NEW YORK AGeNCIes

tHE United Nations has called for immediate de-escalation in Ethiopia's northernTigray region, where federal troops have been exchanging fire with the powerful ethnic faction that led the ruling coalition for decades.

Prime Minister's Abiy Ahmed's government is mobilising troops from around the country and sending them to Tigray, after two days of clashes between government forces and theTigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). "The stability of Ethiopia is important for the entire Horn of Africa region. I call for an immediate de-escalation of tensions and a peaceful resolution to the dispute, " UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a message on Twitter.

Mr Abiy said on Friday that the military offensive had limited objectives. "Operations by federal defence forces under way in northern Ethiopia have clear, limited and achievable objectives – to restore the rule of law and the constitutional order, and to safeguard the rights of Ethiopians to lead a peaceful life wherever they are in the country, " he wrote on Twitter.

Sporadic sounds of shelling could be heard from Abu Rafi town, near the Tigray-Amhara border, at 3am on Friday, a humanitarian worker in the area said. Two foreign diplomats briefed on the violence told Bloomberg they have received reports of heavy fighting in three areas that have caused dozens of casualties.

The areas include north of the city of Gondor, about 420 kilometres north of the capital, Addis Ababa; the town of Homera; and around a military facility at Dansha.

MrAbiy has so far resisted diplomatic pressure to halt the military offensive. US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Thursday called for “immediate action to restore the peace and de-escalate tensions" . The TPLF was the dominant political force in Ethiopia's multi-ethnic ruling coalition for decades until Mr Abiy, a member of the Oromo ethnic group, took office two years ago.

Mr Abiy, who has tried to open up what has long been one of the most restrictive economic and political systems inAfrica, reorganised the ruling coalition into a single party which the TPLF refused to join.

Countries in the region fear that the crisis could escalate into an all-out war under Mr Abiy, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for ending a decadesold conflict with neighbouring Eritrea but has failed to prevent outbreaks of ethnic unrest.

The Tigray administration, which is led by president Debretsion Gebremichael, said on Thursday it was well equipped to deal with an attack from any direction. Two Ethiopian fighter jets were seen flying over Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, on Thursday afternoon, two diplomatic sources told the media, in what was described as a show of force by the Ethiopian National Defence Forces.

Ethiopia closed the airspace over Tigray to all flights on Thursday, and closed all the international and domestic flight routes that traverse its northern airspace. Sudan closed its border with Ethiopia on concern that clashes may spread across its southern border.

The government of Sudan’s Kassala state said the action was aimed at stopping fighters in Tigray Tigray region from crossing the frontier. Kassala’s governor plans to travel to the border areas to assess the security situation, it said.

America is more than a one-man show' : German foreign minister on US vote

BERLIN ReuteRs

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Friday urged both sides in the U.S. election to show restraint until the results were available, adding it was irresponsible to aggravate tensions. “America is more than a one-man show.Anyone who continues to pour oil on the fire in a situation like this is acting irresponsibly, ” Maas told Germany ’s Funke media in unusually blunt language. “Now is the time to keep a cool head until an independently determined result is available, ” he added in some of his first comments on the situation. Counting was continuing in the extremely close U.S. presidential election which hinges on razor-thin margins in a handful of states. Republican President Donald Trump has launched a flurry of lawsuits hoping to slow down his opponent, Democrat Joe Biden, and tensions have risen in some places. “In order for the result - which has not yet been determined - to be accepted, everyone must first show restraint, ” Maas told Funke media in an interview, extracts of which he tweeted. “That includes us. ” “Decent losers are more important for the functioning of a democracy than radiant winners, ” he added. Biden took a narrow lead over Trump in the battleground state of Georgia for the first time early on Friday, putting the White House within his reach. “With such narrow majorities, it is very easy to find yourself on the losing side, ” Maas said. “This shows how important it is to work to bridge the political divide. ” Maas said he expected that once the election result is settled, “the USAwill probably not return to the international stage with full energy for the time being” , but he added: “The world needs the USAas a force for order, not as a factor of chaos. ”

Eurozone to rebound in 2021 from Covid recession: Commission

BRUSSELS AGeNCIes

The Eurozone will rebound in 2021 from its unprecedented coronavirus recession this year, but the recovery will be smaller than previously expected because of the second wave of infections, according to the European Commission forecast.

In its regular economic forecasts for the 27-nation European Union and the 19 countries sharing the euro currency, the EU executive arm cautioned however, that uncertainty surrounding the predictions was exceptionally high.

It cut the euro zone growth forecast for next year to 4.2% from 6.1% predicted in July and saw 3.0% growth in 2022 after an unprecedented 7.8% recession this year.The Commission said its forecast assumed Covid-related restrictions would remain, to some degree, until 2022, but that they would be gradually eased next year and that their economic impact would diminish over time.

The forecast also makes a technical assumption that there will be no trade deal between the EU and Britain in place on Jan1, 2021 when the current transition period ends, and that trade will be based on basic World Trade Organization terms.

The Commission expects the euro zone economy will contract 0.1% in the last quarter against the previous three months due to new restrictions to stem the second wave of the pandemic. Ireland, France and Belgium are to be the hardest hit by the second wave of COVID-19, with Ireland’s economy contracting 1.1% quarter-on-quarter, France shrinking 1.0% and Belgium 0.7%.

The biggest economy Germany, however, is to weather the storm quite well, registering quarter on quarter expansion of 0.6%, in the last three months, the Commission said. Eurozone inflation, which the European Central Bank wants to keep below, but close to 2% over the medium term, is to stay at 0.3% this year, and rise to 1.1% in 2021 and 1.3% in 2022.

Thanks to government shorttime work schemes introduced at the start of the pandemic, unemploy-

ment in the euro zone is to rise to only 8.3% this year despite the deep recession, from 7.5% in 2019. It is to increase to 9.3% in 2021 and then fall again to 8.9% of the workforce in 2022. But the pandemic will take a huge toll on public finances, the Commission forecast. The aggregated Eurozone budget deficit will surge to 8.8% of gross domestic product this year from a 0.6% surplus in 2019 before shrinking to 6.4% next year and 4.7% in 2022.

That will boost eurozone debt to 101.7% of gross domestic product this year from 85.9% last year. The debt will keep rising to 102.3% in 2021 and 102.6% in 2022.

UNSC extends authorisation of EU-led force in Bosnia & Herzegovina

NEW YORK AGeNCIes

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has extended the authorization of an EU-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina for another 12 months. The 15member council adopted Resolution 2549, which re-authorizes European Union Force Althea (EUFORALTHEA) and the NATO presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 12 months starting from the date of adoption of this resolution. The resolution underlines the Security Council's commitment to support the implementation of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the annexes thereto (collectively the PeaceAgreement). The resolution reiterates that the primary responsibility for the further successful implementation of the PeaceAgreement lies with all the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina themselves and notes the continued willingness of the international community and major donors to support them in implementing the PeaceAgreement, and calls upon all the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to fully cooperate with the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals and support investigations and prosecutions in the national system. It welcomes the EU's readiness to maintain an EU military operation (EUFORALTHEA) in Bosnia and Herzegovina from November 2020.

Oil tanker Suez Canal transits drop 27pc in October

COPENHAGEN AGeNCIes

The number of oil tankers passing through the Suez Canal in October have seen a sharp 27 percent decline, as demand for oil transports has stayed subdued since theApril crash in oil prices that fuelled high demand for oil tankers. Atotal of 3,708 oil tankers passed through this key chokepoint for global shipping between 1 January and 31 October, representing 76 less oil tanker transits (or a 2% decline) compared to the same period last year. The steepest decline in October was recorded for LR1 tankers (55,000 – 80,000 DWT), which only saw nine transits, representing a 74% drop. “The oil product tanker workhorse – the MR recorded the smallest drop in transits, down to 49 from 52 in October 2019, accounting for 16% of total oil tanker transits, ” says Peter Sand, BIMCO’s Chief ShippingAnalyst. Back in May, a record 100 MR transits took place, representing 21% of all oil tanker transits.At that time, the oil price war worked miracles for freight rates due to a sharp rise in spot market demand, resulting in a monthly record of 482 oil tanker transits. “Since May, the oil freight market has gone from fast forward to reverse, as illustrated clearly by the sharp drop in October for Suez Canal transits, ” Sand says. In contrast, dry bulk transits have risen 24.4% (822 more transits) in the first 10 months of the year, whereas containership transits unsurprisingly fell by 14.4% (657 less transits).

‘UK to face border turmoil after Brexit on January 1’

LONDON AGeNCIes

Government failures to prepare for Brexit mean the UK faces “significant disruption” when it is fully free of the European Union on January 1, an official watchdog said on Friday.

The coronavirus pandemic will add to the strain on freight, farming and other economic sectors, especially in Northern Ireland, with or without an EU trade deal, the NationalAudit Office (NAO) said.

Britain formally left the EU in January but remains bound by its rules under a transition period until the end of this year.The two sides are currently trying to thrash out a new economic partnership, but Britain's full exit will mean changes either way, in particular customs checks for trucks heading to the EU from British ports.

In a report, the NAO backed up complaints by business leaders who have been warning for months that the government is putting all the pressure on companies to prepare, but failing to do enough itself. “Even if the government makes further progress with its preparations, there is still likely to be significant disruption at the border from January 1 2021 as traders will be unprepared for new EU border controls which will require additional administration and checks, ” the NAO said.

NAO chief Gareth Davies said: "The January 1 deadline is unlike any previous EU exit deadline - significant changes at the border will take place and the government must be ready. " He added that the situation was all the more challenging because of the Covid19 pandemic.

The watchdog's report said computing systems have yet to be tested for outbound freight, and transit areas for lorries are not ready. It said the government had also yet to appoint enough customs agents, despite their "vital" role in ensuring trade flows smoothly from next year. Under its "reasonable worst-case scenario, " the UK government concedes that queues of up to 7,000 lorries could develop in south-east England from January 1 as the post-transition period kicks in.

It says it has ploughed more than £700 million ($920m) into border infrastructure, but business groups say they are hampered especially by the slow rollout of critical IT systems identified in the NAO report. The auditors also highlighted concerns about checks that will be required for the movement of goods from the rest of the UK to Northern Ireland, which shares a border with EU member Ireland.

Northern Ireland's agriculture department has been "severely hampered" by the ongoing trade talks with Brussels and a "lack of clarity" over the measures required. As a result, the devolved administration in Northern Ireland is having to explore "contingency options" after January 1, the NAO said.

Rossi to RaCe in euRoPean GP as title-CHasinG Vinales suFFeRs Pit

VALENCIA AGENCIES

VALENTINO Rossi was Friday cleared to race in the European MotoGP after recovering from coronavirus but Yamaha's joy at seeing the return of their seventime world champion was tempered when title-chasing Maverick Vinales was ordered to start Sunday's race from the pit lane.

Rossi flew to Valencia from Italy on Thursday evening after a first negative Covid-19 test. "This morning, Rossi took a second PCR test, as per FIM (International Motorcycling Federation) regulations, and this afternoon it came back negative, " said Yamaha in a statement. "The two consecutive negative test results allow Rossi to reunite with the team and takepartinthisweekend'sGranPremiodeEuropa. "TheveteranItaliandidnotparticipatein Friday's opening two practice sessions in Valencia. American stand-in Garrett Gerloff managed 19th place. Rossi, 41, missed backto-backracesatMotorLandAragonlastmonth after testing positive for Covid-19.

He stands 15th in the overall standings.

Meanwhile, Vinales, who is just 19 points off the championship lead, will start Sunday's race from the pit lane, five seconds after the green light is shown at the exit.

Vinales was penalised after exceding the permitted number of engines.

Yamaha also revealed that they will not appeal their 50-point deduction slapped on them by the FIM "failing to respect the protocol required for technical changes" .

On the track,Australian Jack Miller produced the best time in Friday's practice while championship rivals Joan Mir and Fabio Quartararo cracked the top 10 despite struggling in a wet opening session.

After dominating on a slick track in the morning practice, Ducati rider Miller set a

lane BloW

fastest lap of 1min 32.528sec as the Ricardo Tormo circuit dried in the afternoon session.

Aleix Espargaro was a surprise second ahead of Franco Morbidelli, Quartararo's Yamaha-SRT team-mate and the Teruel Grand Prix from winner two weeks ago.

Quartararo bounced back to finish ninth in the second session having come 21st and last earlier in the day. Mir, who leads the MotoGP standings by 14 points, was 10th with both riders over 0.8sec behind Miller. South African Brad Binder, seventh on Friday, will serve a long lap penalty in Sunday's race as punishment for the KTM rider's collision with Miller in the previous grand prix.

'More pressure': Quartararo, who faded badly after starting two of the past three races on pole, showed his frustration by pick, ” he added. banging his fist on his fuel tank after sliding off the track in soggy morning conditions.

But the French rider, who has won three racesthisseason,movedupthetimesheetsas the weather improved for the second session. Mir had initially fared little better than Quartararointhefirstrunoutwhenhefinished1.6 seconds adrift of Miller in 17th place. The Valencia MotoGP will be held on the same circuit next weekend before the season finale takes place at Portimao in Portugal on November 22. Mir has admitted the pressure is beginning to tell as he closes in on the possibility of becoming world champion without winning a race. With three rounds left, there are still 75 points available.Only 32 points separate the top six after a roller-coaster season truncated by the coronavirus and thrown wide open by the absence of six-time world champion Marc Marquez.

Wolff is 'without doubt the best leader' in F1, says Hamilton after Mercedes take title record

AGENCIES

Mercedes wrapped up a record seventh-consecutive constructors' title at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and after the race Lewis Hamilton heaped praise on Silver Arrows team boss Toto Wolff, who has overseen all seven championship wins.Hamilton led home team mate Valtteri Bottas at Imola to ensure Mercedes sealed the title win with another 1-2 finish.Asked whether he was surprised that Wolff declined to join him on the Imola podium, Hamilton explained that the team boss’s impact was clear even if he's not always in the limelight. “He’s not trying to be at the front of every photo. He’s not trying to claim anything. He puts the team first. I think that’s- without doubt, he is the best leader here. It doesn’t matter what anyone says, no one has done as good a job as he has, ” said Hamilton. The British ace scored a record 93rd victory at Imola, and is well on course to wrap up his own seventh championship title this season, to match Michael Schumacher's record.All but one of Hamilton's titles have been won at the Mercedes team, and he said Wolff is the “best boss you could have” . He said: “I think it’s his mentality, the balance of drive, compassion, understanding and ego.All of them come together to create the best boss you could have. “Every single person in the team, no one’s below him, and he really cares about how everyone is doing: ‘how ’re things away from the track?’ , ‘how ’s things at home with your family – is there anything we can do so you can be better at the office?’He’s a great guy and I feel privileged to have him as our leader. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without his guidance. ” Instead of Wolff it was Mercedes engineer Leo Stevens who got the privilege of spraying champagne with the top three finishers on the podium at Imola, which left Hamilton somewhat bemused. “I thought that he [Wolff] was [to join us on the podium] so I was a bit surprised, ” said Hamilton. “I thought that’s why he was at the front. We very rarely see him at the front there and he came and did an interview, so I thought that he was coming up – but I think whilst it would have been nice for him to be up there with us, I think that’s a real showing of a leader, ” he concluded. Next up is the Turkish Grand Prix, where Hamilton could seal that seventh title for himself.

PCB wants Younis Khan to lead High Peformance Centre in Karachi

AGENCIES

The PCB is keen to rope in former captain Younis Khan in a full-time role as the head of the High Performance Centre (HPC) in Karachi in addition to his role as Pakistan's batting consultant. Earlier this year, Khan signed up as the national team's batting coach for the tour of England, where they lost the Test series 1-0 and levelled the T20I series 1-1. This is the third time the PCB has reached out to Khan to coax him into the coaching mix. They had initially wanted him to work at the National Cricket Academy - the predecessor to the HPC - in a development capacity that, Khan toured the UK as part of the star-studded support staff that also included Waqar Younis (bowling coach) and Mushtaq Ahmed (spin-bowling coach). That short-term stint ended in September. In May last year, Khan was close to taking up a role as the country's Under-19 coach, but the plan eventually didn't come to pass. One of the sticking points, ESPNcricinfo reported, had to do with finances, while the other was with the job profile, as the PCB had proposed Khan only be a mentor and a coach, but he wanted a broader scope and a say in selection as well. Khan brings with him vast experience as Pakistan's highest scorer in Test cricket, though he has had a frayed relationship with the PCB over the years. It is understood that various senior PCB officials have expressed reservations about working with him.

'He surprises me every weekend' – Alonso picks young F1 driver who has impressed him most

AGENCIES

Fernando Alonso will be back on the Formula 1 grid next season, and ahead of his return the wily old veteran has been keeping a close eye on the competition – and has picked out one young driver in particular who has impressed him...

Alonso took two world championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006 but stepped away from F1 after the 2018 season. But he’ll return in 2021 with a rebranded Renault squad, soon to be known as Alpine, with new opponents to face on track.

Asked ahead of last week's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix which young driver was the best of the bunch,Alonso had a firm answer.

“I think there are very, very talented drivers now in Formula 1 and they all came with very nice preparation as well, with driver academies that build the performance and the talent, you know, [to] help them from a very young age.And now they are doing their job, ” he said.

“I think from all of them, George Russell is the one that surprises me every weekend. How he’s driving the Williams and zero mistakes and I’m really surprised about his natural speed. So if I have to say

one name, Russell, for the future, is going to be my though that didn't ultimately pan out. However, after

Alonso was speaking before Russell's crash behind the Safety Car at Imola, but the 22-yearold Mercedes backed driver is highly regarded, having enjoyed an unbeaten qualifying record against Williams team mates Robert Kubica and Nicholas Latifi across the past two seasons, even if he has as yet been unable to grab his first F1 points finish.

As for Alonso, he’s been gearing up for his return with a test of the 2018 Renault F1 car at Bahrain, where he has completed 186 laps over two days.

The Spaniard has, however, ruled out an early return to racing to get experience for 2021, as he said in October: “If I race in 2020, it’s because something happened to the two race drivers and I wish that will not happen. “And also I think I will not be 100%, so I prefer to race when I feel that I’m ready to do so, ” he said at Imola.

Last five completed matches, most recent first

Pakistan WLWWL

Zimbabwe LLWWL

If Imad Wasim is on his game, Pakistan are usually tough to beat IDI via Getty Images IN THE SPOTLIGHT: ODIs have proved a bit hitand-miss for Imad Wasim, but his importance to the Pakistan T20I side is not open to discussion.Aregular withthenewball,itwasWasim'smiserlyeconomyrate (6.15), and knack of applying enough pressure to force a wicket or two - he averages 22.35 per wicket - that formed the bedrock of the Pakistan side from 2016-19 that soared to the top of the world rankings in the format.Wasimwon'tspintheballmuch(oratall),butthat nagging line and accuracy is tough to attack. If he's on his game, Pakistan tend to get off to flying starts, and once they do, it can get difficult to rein them in.

When Zimbabwe arrived in Pakistan, they put up Elton Chigumbura for the first press conference, which made you wonder if he would be among the central figures for them. So far, that hasn't been the case at all, with the former captain not even making the 15-man shortlist in any of the ODIs. But you wonder if they might have held him back for the T20I series, in the hope that this format can coax the best of his explosive ability back out from where it's been hiding the past few years. Chigumbura isn't at the top of his powers - or even close to it - anymore, but he was among the stars when his side last visited Pakistan. And with the top order failing to fire on tour, the thought of Chigumbura being handed a free role in the powerplay piques the interest from a strategic point of view. It might not work; it might not even happen, but do watch out. TEAM NEWS: Shadab Khan's absence will be a blow to Pakistan, but the format does suit HaiderAli's more belligerent game, and Pakistan could go with an even younger side than the one they chose for the ODIs.At the same time, however, Mohammad Hafeez is also part of the squad, and one wonders whether defeat in the third ODI may bring out chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq's more naturally cautious side.

Pakistan (possible): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 HaiderAli, 4 Mohammad Hafeez/Abdullah Shafique 5 Mohammad Rizwan/Rohail Nazir (wk), 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Khushdil Shah 8 Imad Wasim 9 Haris Rauf/Wahab Riaz, 10 Mohammad Musa/Mohammad Hasnain, 11 ShaheenAfridi

Zimbawe (possible): 1 Brian Chari/Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 2 Brendan Taylor (wk) 3 Craig Ervine 4 Chamu Chibhabha (capt) 5 Sean Williams 6 Wesley Madhevere 7 Sikandar Raza 8 Elton Chigumbura/Richmond Mutumbami 9 Carl Mumba 10 Richard Ngarava 11 Blessing Muzarabani PITCHAND CONDITIONS: It's an afternoon start, which means dew shouldn't be a factor. And it's generally been dry in Rawalpindi. STATSANDTRIVIA: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, the venue for the series, has never hosted a T20I before. Don't expect an individual century in this series. Pakistan have one T20I centurion -Ahmed Shahzad and he isn't around. Zimbabwe's highest individual score belongs to Solomon Mire, who scored 94 against Pakistan; he isn't on the tour either.

This article was originally published on ESPNcricinfo

Provisional 2021 MotoGP calendar revealed

20 ROUNDS HAVE PROVISIONALLY BEEN SET BETWEEN MARCH AND NOVEMBER NEXTYEAR, PORTIMAO, INDONESIA AND RUSSIA ONTHE RESERVE LIST

The provisional 2021 MotoGP™ calendar has been released as we get a first taste as to what next year’s season might look like. 19 venues are currently on the provisional calendar with a 20th to be decided, while Portimao, Indonesia and the Igora Drive Circuit in Russia are on the ‘Reserve Grand Prix Venues’list.

The provisional calendar will see the opening race of the season take place in Qatar, our usual opening Grand Prix venue at the end of March. After a weekend off the MotoGP™ circus heads toArgentina andAmerica on the 11th and 18th of April before the European leg begins – as usual – at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto on the 2nd of May.

France, Italy, Catalunya, Germany, Netherlands and – subject to homologation – Finland will lead us to the 11th of July, with the next venue on the list currently down as TBC. If the provisional calendar becomes the final one, then Austria and Great Britain host MotoGP™ races in August, before the Aragon and San Marino rounds take place in September.

Then, hopefully, it’s time for the flyaway races. Japan and Thailand will be back-to-back on the 3rd and 10th of Oc-

ChINa CaN help sUpport ‘major ChalleNges’ IN global reCovery: ImF

WASHINGTON AGENCIES

CHINA, built on its rapid return to growth, could lend an impetus to the world’s economic recovery by expanding vaccine access, providing debt relief and sustaining global infrastructure investment, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

Confirming that the gross domestic product growth of the world’s secondlargest economy is projected at 1.9 per cent in 2020 and 8.2 per cent in 2021, as it predicted last month, the IMF highlighted the role of China in helping overcome “several of the major challenges” facing the global economy, which it forecast to contract by 4.4 per cent this year.

“This includes supporting international efforts to expand access to a vaccine, providing debt relief to low-income countries and sustainable financing for global infrastructure investment, and tackling climate change, ” the IMF said at the conclusion of its “Article IV Mission” consultation with China.

Early last month, China officially joined the COVAX, an international initiative aimed at ensuring equitable global access to Covid-19 vaccines, becoming the largest economy to support the initiative so far, according to earlier media reports.

IMF conducts Article IV Mission consultations with its members annually, in which an IMF team of economists visits a country and discusses with government and central bank officials to assess a member’s economic health and to forestall future financial problems.This year’s tour was done virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has prompted new lockdowns in many parts of the world and has resulted in the worst global downturn in decades.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has inflicted significant human and economic costs on China, but a major containment effort has helped contain the spread of the virus, and macroeconomic and financial policies have mitigated the crisis’ impact and quickly returned the economy to growth, ” IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director Geoffrey Okamoto said.

Despite the pandemic, important reforms continued in China, including steps taken to further open the financial sector, advance household registration reform, and improve intellectual property protection, Okamoto said in an end-of-mission release.

China’s GDP grew by 4.9 per cent yearon-year in the third quarter, faster than the 3.2 per cent growth betweenApril and June, suggesting “a rapid return to the pre-Covid trend” , according to US economist Stephen Roach, also former chairman of Morgan StanleyAsia, a New York-based investment bank. During the Article IV Mission, Okamoto held virtual meetings with People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang and other officials to discuss the country ’s policy mix to secure balanced growth against the headwinds from the global pandemic.

“While the recovery is advancing, growth remains unbalanced as it relies heavily on public support while private consumption is lagging, ” Okamoto said, cautioning that China’s outlook faces downside risks, stemming from rising financial vulnerabilities and the increasingly challenging external environment.

UN says needs $655 million to avert new measles and polio epidemics

AGENCIES

Severe disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to immunisation campaigns against measles and polio are putting millions of vulnerable children at risk from deadly and debilitating diseases, United Nations agencies said on Friday. Issuing an urgent call for funding to avert epidemics of the contagious diseases, the UN children’s fund UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) said $655 million was needed to address “dangerous immunity gaps” in poor and middle-income countries. “We cannot allow the fight against one deadly disease to cause us to lose ground in the fight against other diseases, ” UNICEF’s executive director Henrietta Fore said in a statement. Fore said the $655 million needed included $400 million for polio and $255 million for measles. Measles – one of the world most contagious known diseases – has staged a global resurgence in recent years, with ongoing outbreaks in all parts of the world. Vaccination coverage gaps have been further exacerbated in 2020 by Covid-19, and the WHO said data on measles death rates for 2019, due to be released next week, “ will show the continued negative toll that sustained outbreaks are having” . With polio, case numbers worldwide had been reduced to extremely low levels before the Covid-19 pandemic, but the transmission of the crippling virus is now expected to increase in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and in areas of Africa where polio vaccination coverage rates have dipped. “The Covid-19 pandemic (has) hurt momentum as … immunisation efforts were suspended, ” the WHO’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing on Friday. “This left children, especially in high-risk areas, more vulnerable to killer diseases like polio, measles and pneumonia. And now we’re starting to see outbreaks of these diseases. ” The WHO’s director of immunisation, vaccines and biologicals Catherine O’Brien told a separate briefing that disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic to health services had led to 91 routine vaccination campaigns being stopped in 53 countries. “They ’re coming back, but they haven’t come back fully or as quickly as we were hoping they will, ” she said, adding that this was creating “immunity gaps” for measles, polio and several other infectious diseases. “If we don’t act quickly soon for both polio, measles, yellow fever, cholera, typhoid, we will see significant outbreaks in 2021 or 2022, ” O’Brien said.

US coronavirus cases climb by record for second day in a row, up over 120,000

AGENCIES

Coronavirus cases in the United States surged by at least 120,276 onThursday, according to a Reuters tally, the second consecutive daily record rise as the outbreak spreads in every region.

U.S. cases have risen by over 100,000 for three out of the last seven days, putting pressure on hospitals in several states and causing families to rethink their plans for Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 26.

Twenty out of 50 states reporting record one-day increases on Thursday. Previously, the most states that reported recordsfornewcasesinasingledaywas 16onOct.30,accordingtoReutersdata.

While the spread of the virus is wide, the outbreak is hitting the Midwest particularly hard, based on daily new cases per capita.

Illinois reported nearly 10,000 new casesonThursdayandalongwithTexas is leading the United States in the most cases reported in the last seven days.

Other Midwestern states with record increases in cases on Thursday were Nebraska, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio andWisconsin.Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Kentucky, Oregon, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah and West Virginia also set records for rises in new infections.

Some cities and states have announced new measures such as curfews or reduced gathering sizes to combat the spread of the virus, but the United States has taken no action at the federal level. Seventeen out of 50 states do not require masks.

Many countries in Europe are shutting high-risk businesses and even orderingnationalorregionallockdownsin the face of a second wave of the virus.

Inadditiontorisingcases,U.S.hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients rose to over 52,500 on Thursday, up for an 11th consecutive day and getting closer to the record of 58,370 set in July.

North Dakota reported only eight free intensive care unit beds in the entire state on Thursday. Hospitalization are a key metric because they are not affected by the amount of testing done.

Coronavirus deaths are trending higher but not at the same rate as cases. The United States is averaging 850 deaths a day, up from 700 a month ago.

In recent days, six states have reported their highest one-day increases in pandemic deaths: Arkansas, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota,WestVirginia and Wyoming.

The pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of American life, including a record number of voters mailing in their ballots in Tuesday ’s elections.

WHO sees ‘explosion’ of Covid-19 cases in Europe

COPENHAGEN AGENCIES

TheWorld Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday said it was observing an “explosion” of coronavirus cases in Europe and warned of a “tough time” ahead as mortality rates rose. “We do see an explosion…. in the sense it only takes a couple of days to have over the European region an increase of one million cases, ” WHO’s regional director for Europe Hans Kluge said.

Kluge, who was wearing a mask even as he was interviewed over a webcam meeting, also said the mortality rate could be seen rising “little by little” . “It’s going to be a little bit of a tough time, we need to be honest on that, ” he said. In spite of the rapidly rising cases, Kluge cautioned that closing schools should be seen as a last resort, especially in light of there being “no reasons to say that schools are a main driver of the transmission” . “We need to keep the schools open really until last because we cannot afford a Covid19 lost generation, ” Kluge said.

However, the regional director also said that the “status quo is not an option” and called for “proportionate targeted measures” , which could be scaled up. Kluge stressed that governments should take into account two things: Coherence, so people see that we don’t flip-flop, and… predictability, so people know if this threshold is being reached, this is what is going to happen. ” He called for the widespread use of face masks. “With general mask wearing and strict control of social gatherings we can save 266,000 lives by February in the whole European region, ” Kluge said. WHO Europe spans 53 countries, including Russia and countries in Central Asia, and on Thursday reported a total of over 12 million cases in the region, with nearly two million in the last seven days.

While managing the Covid-19 pandemic was the immediate concern, Kluge also said there were lessons to learn in case an even more dangerous virus were to appear.

India's top general says face-off with China could spark bigger conflict

NEW DELHI AGENCIES

India’s top military commander said on Friday a tense border standoff with Chinese forces in the western Himalayas could spark a larger conflict, even as senior commanders from both sides met near the frontline for their eighth round of talks. Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat said the situation was tense at the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border, in eastern Ladakh, where thousands of Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a months-long confrontation. “We will not accept any shifting of the Line of Actual Control, ” Rawat said in an online address. “In the overall security calculus, border confrontations, transgressions and unprovoked tactical military actions spiralling into a larger conflict cannot, therefore, be discounted, ” he said. Brutal hand-to-hand combat in June left 20 Indian and an undisclosed number of Chinese soldiers dead, escalating tensions and triggering large deployments on the remote, desolate border area. Both sides have since attempted to ease the situation through diplomatic and military channels, but have made little headway, leaving soldiers facing-off in sub-zero temperatures in Ladakh’s snow deserts. Senior Indian and Chinese commanders were meeting on Friday in Ladakh, the eight-round of talks between the military leaderships since the crisis began, officials in New Delhi said. The talks would likely include discussions on a Chinese proposal to pull some troops back from a contested area on the northern bank of Pangong Tso lake, where soldiers were separated by a few hundred metres, according to an Indian official. Infantry troops, backed by artillery and armoured vehicles, are also facing off on the southern bank of the lake, where China has been pushing India to pull back, the official said.

Trump administration advances $2.9 billion drone sale to UAE

WASHINGTON AGENCIES

The U.S. State Department gave Congress notification it plans to sell 18 sophisticated armed MQ-9B aerial drones to the United Arab Emirates in a deal worth as much as $2.9 billion, people briefed on the notification said.

The move comes on the heels of last week’s notification of a potential sale of F-35 fighter jets to the middleeastern country.

This would mark the first armed drone export since the Trump administration reinterpreted a Cold War-era arms agreement between 34 nations to allow U.S. defence contractors to sell more drones to allies.

Reuters has reported that UAE has long shown interest in purchasing drones from the United States and would be among the first customers in line after U.S. export policy changed this summer.A$600 million deal to sell four unarmed but weapons-ready MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones toTaiwan was the first to be formally notified to Congress onTuesday.This informal notification for the Reaper-style drones is the precursor to the State Department’s formal and public notification.

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committees – whose members have criticized UAE’s role in civilian deaths in Yemen’s civil war – have the ability to review and block weapons sales under an informal review process before the State Department sends its formal notification to the legislative branch.

The U.S. State Department may wait to formally notify Congress of the sale once staff and members are briefed on the potential sale, one of the people said. The formal notification gives Congress 30 days to object to any sales.

AU.S. State Department spokesman told Reuters, “As a matter of policy, the United States does not confirm or comment on proposed defence sales or transfers until they are formally notified to Congress. ”

The armed MQ-9B drones will also be equipped with maritime radar and could be delivered in 2024. The package notified to Congress is for 15 with an option for three additional drones, one of the people said.

The UAE is also seeking a package of Boeing Co EA18G Growlers, an electronic warfare version of the twoseat F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft, that are capable of jamming radar and other advanced capabilities. Growlers are operated buy the U.S. andAustralia.

The UnitedArab Emirates, one of Washington’s closest Middle East allies, has long expressed interest in acquiring the stealthy F-35 jets and was promised a chance to buy them in a side deal made when they agreed to normalize relations with Israel. The informal notification for 50 Lockheed Martin Co F-35 jets was made on Oct. 29.

But any deal the U.S. makes to sell weapons in the region must satisfy decades of agreement with Israel where the U.S. -made weapon must not impair Israel’s “qualitative military edge, ” guaranteeing U.S. weapons furnished to Israel are “superior in capability ” to those sold to its neighbours.