World

Politics

As of 24th May latest on corona Virus

Cases and deaths due to corona Virus as of 23rd May
	cases	Deaths
World	5,298,207	339,418
Top 10 countries
USA	1,645,094	97,640
Brazil	330,890	21,048
Russia	326,448	3,249
Spain	281,904	28,628
UK	254,195	36,393
Italy	228,628	32,616
France	182,219	28,289
Germany	179,713	8,352
Turkey	154,500	4,276
Iran	116,635	7,300

 

News about Vaccine developments and on drugs regarding corona virus epidemic

• Corona virus has devastated Moscow. Now it’s spreading across Russia’s 11 time zones to ill-funded regions.
• Lack of immunity means China is vulnerable to another wave of corona virus, top adviser warns, Zhong Nanshan, the Chinese government’s senior medical adviser.
• The de Khon Global and its partners in the Netherlands and Turkey have reportedly reached the human testing phase in the development of a drug to treat Covid-19. The drug, named TR-C 19, can neutralize the virus under laboratory conditions and it is now at authority approval stage for usage on voluntary Covid-19 patients and clinical trials.
• Corona virus cases top 100,000 across Africa, WHO says.
• Brazil now has the second-highest number of corona virus cases in the world after US.

• China’s ambassador to Israel was found dead in his home in a Tel Aviv suburb on 17^th May, an Israeli police spokesman said.

According to initial reports, staff had found Du dead in his bed and that there were no signs of violence. It quoted a first aid service as saying the cause of death appeared to be a cardiac incident.

· Afghan president and rival ‘sign power-sharing deal’

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah have signed a power-sharing deal to end a political stalemate that has hampered progress towards peace, according to sources. The draft agreement envisages Mr. Abdullah leading the peace process with the insurgent Taliban while Mr. Ghani leads the country as president, senior sources within both camps said.

• At least 24 migrant workers were killed and dozens injured in India when a truck they were traveling in collided with another vehicle early 16^th May, police said.

The incident took place in Auraiya district, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, police official Suresh Kumar told CNN. An investigation is underway. Thousands of migrant workers have been trying to flee India’s major cities since the country went into a nationwide lockdown on March 24. The lockdown has left many workers, who live far from home, without jobs or pay.

• President Donald Trump on Monday made the surprise announcement that he is taking hydroxychloroquine; an anti-malaria drug that his own government experts say is not suitable for fighting the novel corona virus.

Trump, noting that he has tested negative for the virus and shows no symptoms, said he’d been taking the drug as a preventative measure for about a week and a half. “I take a pill every day,” he said, adding that he combines this with zinc.

• Savior or strongman? El Salvador’s millennial president defies courts and Congress on corona virus response

Even though Bukele had been president for less than a year, in March he took the dramatic step of closing his country’s border even before El Salvador reported a single case of coronavirus, arguing that the small Central American nation had to get ahead of the outbreak.

Economy

• World Bank: Pandemic could force 60 million more people to live on less than $2 a day

The corona virus pandemic could push as many as 60 million people into extreme poverty, the World Bank said on Tuesday. The warning suggests deepening pessimism among economists about the scale and duration of the fallout from what the bank described as an “unprecedented crisis.”

GLOBAL INDICES AS OF 24th May 2020

As Compared to 17th May 2020

 

Global indices as of 24th May 2020
Name	Current Value	Prev. Close
US MARKETS
NASDAQ (May 21)	9,284.88	9375.78
EUROPEAN MARKETS
FTSE (May 22)	5,984.63	6015.25
CAC (May 22)	4,464.20	4445.45
DAX (May 22)	11,104.52	11065.93
ASIAN MARKETS
SGX NIFTY (May 22)	9,078.00	9035.50
NIKKEI 225 (May 22)	20,388.16	20552.31
STRAITS TIMES (May 22)	2,499.83	2555.34
HANG SENG (May 22)	22,930.14	24280.03
TAIWAN WEIGHTED (May 22)	10,811.15	11008.31
KOSPI (May 22)	1,970.13	1998.31
SET COMPOSITE (May 22)	1,303.97	1320.69
JAKARTA COMPOSITE (May 20)	4,545.95	4548.66
SHANGHAI COMPOSITE (May 22)	2,813.77	2867.92

 

Global indices as of 17th May 2020
Name	Current Value	Prev. Close
US MARKETS
NASDAQ (May 15)	9,014.56	8943.72
EUROPEAN MARKETS
FTSE (May 15)	5,799.77	5741.54
CAC (May 15)	4,277.63	4273.13
DAX (May 15)	10,465.17	10337.02
ASIAN MARKETS
SGX NIFTY (May 16)	9,073.50	9107.50
NIKKEI 225 (May 15)	20,037.47	19914.78
STRAITS TIMES (May 15)	2,523.55	2522.31
HANG SENG (May 15)	23,797.47	23829.74
TAIWAN WEIGHTED (May 15)	10,814.92	10780.88
KOSPI (May 15)	1,927.28	1924.96
SET COMPOSITE (May 15)	1,280.76	1280.40
JAKARTA COMPOSITE (May 15)	4,507.61	4513.83
SHANGHAI COMPOSITE (May 15)	2,868.46	2870.34

 

Pakistan

As of 24th May latest on corona Virus

Position as of 23rd May 2020 as compared to 16th May 2020
Cases 23rd May	Death 23rdMay	Cases 16 May	Death 16 May	Increase cases	Increase death
50,694	1,117	37,218	803	13,476	314

 

• A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft A320 Airbus on 22^nd May crashed in Model Colony near Jinnah international airport Karachi.

 

(Pictures of Flight captain Sajjad Gul, Air Hostesses Madiha Irum and Amina Irfan. The last picture is of Bank of Punjab CEO Mr Zafar Masud. He is one of the two passengers of ill-fated PIA plane A320 airbus who has survived and out of danger now)

PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez confirmed the crash and added that PK 8303 was carrying 90 passengers and 8 crew members from Lahore to Karachi. They included 51 men, 31 women and 9 children. Sindh health officials have said that 97 people have been confirmed dead, while two survived the crash.

• The Inter­ior Ministry on 16^th May issued a circular regarding Eid holidays.

According to the circular, there will be public holidays in the country from May 22 to May 27 on account of Eidul Fitr.

·Shawwal moon not sighted in Saudi Arabia, Eidul Fitr to fall in countries like Pakistan on May 25

Eidul Fitr in Saudi Arabia will fall on Sunday (May 24) as the Shawwal moon was not sighted in the country on Friday (May 22), according to the authorities. The crescent — as predicted — is likely to be spotted on May 23.

• The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on 17^th May claimed to have killed four terrorists in an operation in Bahawalpur.

The operation was conducted after the security force received intelligence reports, the security force stated. Three accomplices of the terrorists were reported to have escaped. As per the CTD, the killed terrorists belonged to the banned Islamic State (IS) militant group. They were identified as Amanullah, Abdul Jabbar, Rehman Ali and Aleem. The terrorists were planning to target a worship place of a minority community, said the security officials.

• Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed on 18^th May issued directions to reopen shopping malls across the country.

It observed that markets and shops were to be opened in Punjab, Islamabad, Sind, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Baluchistan and Gilgit-Balitistan, and the governments had agreed to ensure that standard operating procedures (SOPs) are followed. The order also addressed the opening of markets on Saturday and Sunday, saying that the move was a “violation of Articles 4, 18 and 25 of the Constitution” and was not “justifiable”.

• Seven soldiers have been martyred in two separate terror attacks in Baluchistan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on 19^{th may.}

According to the ISPR statement, terrorists targeted a vehicle of the Frontier Corps (FC) in Mach using improvised explosive devices (IEDs), claiming the lives of six Pakistan Army soldiers. The martyred soldiers were identified as Naib Subedar Ihsan Ullah Khan, Naik Zubair Khan, Naik Ijaz Ahmed, Naik Maula Bux, Naik Noor Muhammad and Abdul Jabbar.

• A PTI member of the Punjab Assembly (MPA) from Gujranwala, Shaheen Raza, passed away on 20^th May at Lahore’s Mayo Hospital after having tested positive for the novel corona virus.

Raza was shifted to the isolation ward of Mayo Hospital, Lahore, on 18^th May and was put on a ventilator after her condition deteriorated.

·Political uncertainty engulfs G-B as cabinet members tender resignation

Political uncertainty engulfed Gilgit-Baltistan on 20^th May after cabinet members of the government submitted their resignations to the G-B chief minister to protest over the seizure of powers by the chief election commissioner.

• Information Minister Shibli Faraz and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Shehzad Akbar on 21^st May revealed details from a report issued by the Sugar Forensic Commission (SFC) constituted to investigate and assign responsibility for the shortage and price hike of the commodity in the country in recent times.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside the information minister, Akbar said the commission’s report, which had already been discussed by the federal cabinet earlier today, revealed that six major sugar mill groups were acting as “cartels”. A mill called Alliance from Rahim Yar Khan — partially owned by Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) senior leader Moonis Elah JDW sugar mill in which PTI stalwart Jahangir Tareen has a 21pc stake. Al Arabiya mill owned by Salman Shahbaz Sharif have committed fraud worth Rs400m through informal receipts and market manipulation. The Omni Group in Sind had “specifically benefited” from the subsidies of the Sind government

• Mansehra police on 21^st May registered a case against a woman whose video went viral on social media, in which she can be seen harassing officials and proclaiming herself to be the “wife of a colonel” after they refused to let her vehicle pass through a blockade on the Hazara Motorway.

According to a statement by Mansard police, the woman in question threatened, insulted, misbehaved and interfered with police officials performing their “lawful duty” on May 20. COAS had asked to take disciplinary action against army officer and wife for misbehaving with police.

Economy

• Moody’s puts top 5 Pakistani banks’ ratings under review

Moody’s has placed on review for downgrade the B3 long-term local-currency deposit ratings of Allied Bank Limited (ABL), Habib Bank Ltd (HBL), MCB Bank Limited (MCB), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and United Bank Ltd (UBL). The banks’ foreign currency deposit ratings and baseline credit assessments were also placed on review for downgrade,” the US-based credit rating agency said on 19^th May.

• Pakistan has planned to seek $2 billion in six new foreign loans for activities like garbage collection, pension and fiscal reforms, and ending market distortion amid the rapid deterioration of public debt indicators.

The loans that Pakistan wants to obtain from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are higher than the $1.8-billion debt relief that Islamabad has sought from G20 nations.

• Multinational companies have continued to inject fresh investment into ongoing projects in different sectors of Pakistan’s economy like telecommunication, power, and chemical despite the global economic crisis sparked by the corona virus pandemic.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) rose 32% to $133.2 million in April 2020 compared to $100.8 million in the same month of the previous year, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on 18th May.

F.C Exchange Rates of PKR as of  24th May 2020 as compared to 17th May  2020
Countries	PKR rate as of 17th May   2020	PKR rate as of   24th May  2020
U.S.A. $	161.00	162.00
U.K. Pounds	199.00	202.00
Euro	172.00	176.75
Japan Yen	1.52	1.52
Saudi Arabia Rial	43.50	43.80
U.A.E. Dirham	41.70	43.00

Pakistan Stock Exchange Indices

As of 24th May 2020 As Compared

To 17th May 2020

Position as of 24th May 2020
Symbols	KSE100 Index	PSX-KMI All Shares Index
Advance 133 (Curr)	Current 33836.61	Current 16890.23
Decline 167 (High)	High 34049.00	High 16966.57
Unchanged 17 (Low)	Low 33757.37	Low 16846.08
Total change 317	-96.20	-10.00

 

 

Position as of 17th May 2020
Symbols	KSE100 Index	PSX-KMI All Shares Index
Advance (Curr)168	Current 34008.33	Current 16773.76
Decline 134 (High)	High 34041.44	High 16782.68
Unchanged 13 (Low)	Low 33804.90	Low 16578.46
Total Change 315	203.43	195.30