Laddakh: Protests continue against Indian PM's discriminatory policies

 

April 13, 2024

Protests are continuing in Laddakh against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's discriminatory policies.

After removing the special status of occupied Kashmir, Indian government is now repeating the same process in Laddakh.

Residents of Laddakh are taking to the streets, denouncing Modi government plans to centralize control from Delhi and implement new regulations.

At the heart of the demonstrations is a fear of losing Ladakh's unique identity and facing potential environmental degradation due to proposed policy changes.

In addition to socio-political concerns, protesters cite economic challenges, including inflation and unemployment, worsening the region's woes.

Local leaders have criticized the government's heavy-handed response, accusing it of suppressing protests through the deployment of a significant police and paramilitary presence.

The protestors said Indian government is trying to hide its illegal actions from the world by arresting the youth in Laddakh, shutting down the internet and cracking down on protesters.  They said Modi government is pursuing extremist policies.   

THESE CAMPS ARE CITIES!

Israeli artillery shelling targets school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza

Civil defense says teams unable to enter school, evacuate victims due to danger of location

Anadolu staff |13.04.2024 

Israeli attacks on Gaza continue

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Several Palestinians were killed and injured following the Israeli artillery's targeting of a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, the civil defense in Gaza said Friday.

The Civil Defense General Directorate said teams in the central governorate received “dozens of distress calls after the Israeli artillery targeted Nuseirat New Camp Elementary School.”

It said there are Palestinians who were killed and injured in the school, which shelters a large number of displaced residents, mostly children and women.

The group explained that teams were unable to enter the school and evacuate victims due to the danger of the location.

The civil defense appealed to the UN and the Red Cross “to fulfill their responsibilities, assist and coordinate in the immediate evacuation of the martyrs and the wounded.”

The Nuseirat refugee camp has been subjected to an “unexpected” Israeli military operation since Wednesday, resulting in deaths and injuries.

Earlier Friday, Hamas condemned the military operation and described it as “a new chapter in the Zionist genocide war” against the Palestinian people.

The Palestinian group said the camp “has been under a brutal attack for two days, targeting civilian facilities and homes, resulting in dozens of martyrs and wounded.”

Israel has waged a military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 33,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began.

Tel Aviv has also imposed a crippling blockade on the seaside enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while much of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has urged it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala

Anadolu Agency website 

21ST CENTURY ALCHEMY

How to Extract Gold From E-Waste Using Old Milk

ByTasos Kokkinidis
April 13, 2024

Burning the aerogel that had adsorbed and reduced gold from an e-waste solution produced this 0.5 g gold nugget with a purity of around 91%, corresponding to 21 to 22 carats. 

Credit: Raffaele Mezzenga/ETH Zurich

An aerogel made from old milk can extract highly pure gold nuggets from discarded computer motherboards.

Discarded electronics, known as e-waste, often contain large amounts of gold and other heavy metals. Scientists have come up with methods to recover the valuable metals, but these processes often rely on synthetic chemicals that can damage the environment.

Raffaele Mezzenga at ETH Zurich in Switzerland and his colleagues have developed a way to recover gold from e-waste by using a milk-derived aerogel.

He and his colleagues started with whey protein, a byproduct of the cheesemaking industry, and made a low-density aerogel. Making the spongelike material is cheap, he says. “The value of the gold we recover is 50 times the value we invest to transform the protein into this sponge.”

The researchers placed whey protein into an acidic solution and heated it, which unraveled the proteins from tiny balls into strands. Then they freeze-dried the solution, forming a lightweight puck with high porosity.

“You can place them on the top of a flower. And the advantage of having aerogels is that they have high surface area,” says Mohammad Peydayesh, a chemical engineer who’s also part of the research team at ETH Zurich.

The researchers tested the gel’s ability to adsorb gold from a solution also containing other metals—including copper, lead, and nickel—at the same concentration.
Aerogel from old milk sucked up 93 percent of the gold

The aerogel sucked up 93 percent of the gold while removing less than 10 percent of any of the other metals. To test the protein sponge with real e-waste, the team dissolved computer motherboards in aqua regia, a mix of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid.

Gold ions from the mixture settled on the surface of the aerogel and were reduced, forming metallic gold. Each gram of aerogel snatched 190 mg of gold. Burning the aerogel freed the gold, turning it into a tiny hunk of metal.

“It was really exciting to find this nugget in the ashes,” Peydayesh recalls. The nugget was about 91% gold, which corresponds to about 21 to 22 carats.

The method already presents an improvement over activated carbon, a more typical adsorption method used to recover gold. Each gram of activated carbon only adsorbed about 60 mg of gold from an e-waste mixture, the team found. Because it takes a lot of energy to create activated carbon, recovering the same amount of gold using activated carbon had a higher environmental impact in a life cycle analysis.

The team is already eyeing other food waste proteins, such as keratin and those from the production of tofu, that could potentially help with other needs, such as the recycling of rare earth metals.

“We can simultaneously address the global waste of food and e-waste to produce something really precious,” Peydayesh says.

Sweet lessons: Taiwan urban beekeeping gets positive buzz

Published: 13 Apr 2024 - 

In this picture taken on March 6, 2024, students attend an urban beekeeping class of Yonghe community college in New Taipei City. 

(Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)


Taipei: Under mulberry trees at a bee farm in Taipei's suburbs, students watched intently as instructor Tsai Ming-hsien wafted smoke over a hive box, explaining to aspiring apiarists how to keep the insects happy in an urban setting.

His audience included entrepreneurs, retirees and even a six-year-old who reached eagerly for a frame pulled from the box, as Tsai demonstrated how bees can be kept calm with a smoker.

"Many join my class out of curiosity," said the 43-year-old instructor who also heads the Bee and Wasp Conservation Association of Taiwan.

"They want to learn more about this insect, which has important economic values and a crucial role in agriculture."

Bee populations around the world are facing disaster from overuse of pesticides, predatory mites and extreme temperatures due to climate change.

That also spells catastrophe for humans, as three-quarters of the world's main crops depend on bees to act as key pollinators.

Temperature and weather fluctuations in Taiwan have impacted honey output in recent years. From 2020 to 2021, it jumped nearly 60 percent to 13,260 tonnes, before dropping to 9,332 tonnes the following year.

Tsai said recreational beekeeping in Taiwan has grown steadily over the past decade, with people tending about a dozen to up to 60 hive boxes in their yards or rooftop gardens.

"The city is overdeveloped with less green space and declining biodiversity," he told AFP.

"We hope this creature will act as a key to open more knowledge about nature and ecosystems."

Tsai Ming-hsien, the instructor of an urban beekeeping class of Yonghe community college, poses for photographs in New Taipei City.

 (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)

Money for honey?

Six-year-old Hsia Wei-yun, who attended a class in March, was thrilled to watch bees flitting on a box frame.

"I think it's a lot of fun keeping bees. I got to hold a bee frame," she said excitedly.

Her mother, Hsia Cho-hui -- who also brought along her son -- said she had been concerned about whether there was enough nectar in the city, and fretted after one class that beekeeping seems "very complicated".

But the class has fuelled her children's interest in getting their own hive box, and "it'd be a little difficult to dissuade them", she said.

Some, like Edwin Huang, see Tsai's class as a chance to make money while taking part in the "under-forest economy" -- a practice of developing and selling eco-friendly products that give back to the environment.

"I think keeping bees can help improve the overall ecosystem... it is a very positive activity for both personal and public reasons," he told AFP.

The 40-year-old currently produces coloured dyes from aster, a flowering plant, that he grows on a hillside in New Taipei City, and plans to one day open a diner where he could serve the honey he produces.

"I'm learning the techniques while researching my menu," he said.

Urban beekeeper Sherry Liu inspects bee hive boxes on her house's rooftop at Shihlin district in Taipei.

 (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)

'A pleasure'

Retiree Sherry Liu, who took a class seven years ago and is now an avid apiarist, said she is "not in this to make money".

She started with three hive boxes for bees that had flown into her rooftop garden and has expanded to 12.

"It's very healing to watch bees fly. They look very cute when they fly... It's a pleasure for me," she told AFP, dressed in protective headgear and jacket as a swarm of bees flew around her.

Liu usually harvests honey three to four times a year, sharing the fruits of her labour with relatives, friends and neighbours.

But she lamented that this year's rainy and cold conditions have hit her production.

"I couldn't collect any winter honey because the weather was really bad and the bees ate all the honey (in their hives)," she said, adding that it can be "quite troublesome to tend" to her boxes.

"You need to be loving -- you can't just keep them but not look after them."

Tsai said that he does not expect everyone who attends his class to become a bee farmer or keeper.

"But we hope at least (people) can get to know and understand them, and won't rush to destroy them when they appear," he said.

OFFBEAT

New airline Bark bets big on $6,000 flights for dogs

Starting April 11, dog owners will be able to book flights on Gulfstream 550 private jets

Published: April 13, 2024

 Bloomberg

 Bark Air


Flying with dogs can be fraught, and the options are slim. If they're small enough, you can keep them in a carrier under a conventional airplane seat. If not, you can crate them and check them into the cargo hold"-a scary prospect for pet owners. Although unwelcome incidents are statistically uncommon, it's unsettling how often dogs are flown to the wrong destinations or mishandled by airport staff. Airline-related pet deaths are logged by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics on a monthly basis; between September and November 2023, the most recent months where data is available, there were three such incidents on US carriers.

Bark Air, a new airline dedicated to dogs and their humans, aims to address worries for those with outsize pet budgets. Starting on April 11, dog owners will be able to book flights on Gulfstream 550 private jets, with all members of the family allowed in the main cabin. It's the latest offering from Bark Inc., the company behind BarkBox, a subscription service for popular dog treats.

The airline will operate once-weekly flights from New York to Los Angeles in each direction, as well as twice monthly from New York to London. It will use secondary airports better able to accommodate private flights: New York's Westchester County Airport (HPN), Los Angeles' Van Nuys Airport (VNY) and London's Stansted Airport (STN). Fares will start at $6,000 one-way on the transcontinental US flights"-a single ticket includes a seat for one person plus one dog"-and $8,000 one-way on the transatlantic route.


Its first departures are scheduled for May 23, on jets owned and operated by charter company Talon Air. The planes normally seat 14, not including flight crew, but Bark's bookings will be limited to 10 people to ensure adequate space for four-legged passengers"-who get to sit anywhere on the plane, be it on owners' laps, the floor or on the airplane's couch. Predeparture calls take stock of various passengers' temperaments, and concierges will ensure that vaccinations, medical checks and paperwork are in place to avert quarantining after international flights.

Pet messes will be quickly cleaned up. Bark plans to install replaceable carpet tiles on the aircraft to help keep planes spotless"-and eventually to create an onboard play area that will resemble a dog park.

"We'll find out if this is a service that the world wants and values," says Matt Meeker, chief executive officer and co-founder of Bark. "If not, we're going to have a heck of a time finding out."

The initial routes were selected for being the busiest out of New York, Meeker says. For pet owners, they may also represent journeys that are essential"-for cross-country or international moves, for instance"-and not easily achieved by car or ship. (Cunard Line famously has kennels aboard its transatlantic ships, but they typically spend seven nights at sea.)

Among the most likely customers will be BarkBox's 2.3 million active monthly subscribers.

"It's our great hope that those prices come down over time," says Meeker. "The current pricing is the most it will ever cost us to operate these flights. If the demand is there, we have ways of lowering those prices."

Bark isn't the first airline to cater to pets. In 2007, Pet Airways started a network of pet-friendly domestic flights, with fares typically ranging from $500 to $1,200. The company shut down four years later due to financial losses.

Undeterred, Meeker says the market is bigger now than it was 12 years ago, when Bark was created. Some 65 million households in the US own pets, up from 38 million then.

Private aviation company VistaJet saw pet travel surge by 86 per cent from 2019 to 2021, the first two years that it offered its (ongoing) VistaPet program, which is available only to the company's members and includes such in-flight amenities as doggy beds. Now, it says, one in about four customers chooses to fly with pets (including cats and rabbits), with a 43% year-over-year increase in the number of overall pets flying from 2022 to 2023.

"Bark Air faces an uphill battle," says Henry H. Harteveldt, travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group. Notwithstanding the advantage that comes with the built-in BarkBox audience, he says, "I don't believe Bark Air will offer enough utility, convenience and value to appeal to enough pet owners and be profitable."

This may be besides the point, however, Bark may be willing to take a loss on the flights, he continues, if it means keeping subscribers more engaged with its core BarkBox business. "It may see greater gains elsewhere, such as growing its subscriber base, seeing subscribers order more product or both."

Serbia's only horse sanctuary aids tortured, old and neglected animals

April 13, 2024 2:51 AM
By Associated Press

Zeljko Ilicic kisses a horse in the Old Hill, sanctuary for horses in the town of Lapovo, in central Serbia, April 3, 2024.


LAPOVO, SERBIA —

Zeljko Ilicic saved his first horse from certain death 12 years ago and found his calling.

The Serbian, now 43, set up the Balkan country's only horse sanctuary in 2015 on a small piece of land in Lapovo in Central Serbia. Around 80 horses have since passed through Staro Brdo, or Old Hill, sanctuary. Ilicic has taken in tortured, old and abused horses, but also those that had lived well but could no longer be looked after by caretakers.

Animal care is a persistent challenge in Serbia, which is impoverished and marred by corruption after years of crisis and conflict in the 1990s. While authorities run shelters for dogs, there are no state-backed facilities for horses. Ilicic's sanctuary today provides shelter and care for dozens of animals.

A horse stands in the Old Hill, sanctuary for horses in the town of Lapovo, in central Serbia, April 3, 2024.

"I witnessed the sad destiny of a horse that was about to be put down," he said, recalling the first animal he saved. "I decided to try to bring him back to life and to keep him if he survived. And he did."

One of Ilicic's favorite horses over the years, he said, was a local derby winner that eventually died peacefully of old age. Another, now 28, was in a number of Serbian movies before retiring to the sanctuary, its legs stiff with arthritis. Some horses end up in limbo as "neither a pet nor a working machine" on farms, he said, so they become a burden to people.

Violeta Jovic, who works at the sanctuary, remembers a time in 2020 when veterinary inspectors intercepted a truck packed with nearly two dozen illegally transported horses bound for slaughter. She said they were all in bad condition but that the sanctuary managed to find new homes for most of them, while three remained under their care.

"This is no longer volunteerism or a hobby or a job," she added. "This has become my life."

The sanctuary tries to find new homes for as many animals as possible to ensure there is always space for new ones. When a horse is ready for adoption, the sanctuary launches a bid for potential caretakers.

Horses eat in the Old Hill, sanctuary for horses in the town of Lapovo, in central Serbia, April 3, 2024.

Staro Brdo today looks after nine horses, two donkeys, a buffalo, seven pigs, and several dogs, cats and chickens. Seven newborn kittens, found in a closed plastic bag, and seven Yorkshire piglets found at a waste dump have become fully grown animals that like to cuddle and play. A cacophony of animal sounds echoes through the small estate as a visitor ventures in.

The sanctuary operates on donations but Ilicic said he hopes to become self-sustaining through various initiatives, including therapy riding. Serbian authorities have helped by repairing local roads and Ilicic has cooperated with veterinary inspections, but there is still no legal framework to register his facility as an official horse sanctuary.

"We are the only ones in the Balkans at the moment and we hope that, in time, we will be recognized by the state," he said.

'They want to silence Palestinian voices’: British-Palestinian surgeon denied entry to Germany

'When I arrived at Berlin airport, I was stopped. I was taken down for questioning for three and a half hours. I was then told that I would not be allowed to enter German soil for the remainder of April,' Ghassan Abu Sitta tells Anadolu

Burak Bir |13.04.2024 - 



- 'The reason behind this is they want to silence Palestinian voices. And the reason behind this is that what Nicaragua is saying in the International Court of Justice, that Germany is an accomplice to the genocidal crimes of Israel is true,' says war surgeon who spent weeks in Gaza to help wounded civilians

-'This is what accomplices do in a crime. They try to hide the evidence and they try to silence the witnesses and that's what Germany is trying to do,' adds Abu Sitta

LONDON

Doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta who was prevented by Germany from entering Friday to address a pro-Palestine conference in Berlin said German officials try to hide evidence and silence witnesses to the crimes in the Gaza Strip.

The British-Palestinian surgeon who is also the newly-appointed Rector of Glasgow University told Anadolu about what happened when he was held up by federal police at a Berlin airport and why he was banned from entry.

Abu Sitta said he landed in Germany to attend a Palestine Congress event to give evidence about what he saw in Gaza.

Until his return to the UK in November, Abu Sitta helped wounded Palestinians for weeks in Gaza, including at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital and the Al-Shifa Medical Complex.

"When I arrived at Berlin airport, I was stopped. I was taken down for questioning for three and a half hours. I was then told that I would not be allowed to enter German soil for the remainder of April," he said.

The war surgeon noted that he was also told not to try to deliver a speech via video from outside Germany or send a recorded video address to the conference.

"They asked me who I was, what I had done in Gaza. And they asked me whether I had received an invitation and whether there were planned marches or it was just going to be a speech," said Abu Sitta.

“The reason they gave is really a ludicrous reason. They said that they cannot ensure the safety of people attending the conference, and that's why they're canceling the conference.”

However, for Abu Sitta, the reason is quite different than what he was told. He said, "The reason behind this is they want to silence Palestinian voices."

"The reason behind this is that what Nicaragua is saying in the International Court of Justice -- that Germany is an accomplice to the genocidal crimes of Israel is true."

Germany is also facing legal charges from Nicaragua at the top UN court that it is "facilitating the commission of genocide" against Palestinians with its military and political support for Israel.

"This is what accomplices do in a crime. They try to hide the evidence and they try to silence the witnesses and that's what Germany is trying to do," added Abu Sitta.

Asked whether the UK Embassy in Berlin or UK Foreign Secretary have contacted him after he was denied entry, he said, he was contacted through his lawyer by a member of parliament representing his constituency.

"We will be taking it up both legally and diplomatically with the German government," added Abu Sitta.

Berlin police broke up the Palestine Congress in Berlin, less than two hours after the event began Friday.

Dozens of police officers stormed the meeting, cutting off the livestream transmission and electricity in the hall.

A police official ordered the 250 participants to leave the hall, spurring strong shouts of protest by the crowd.

Marcos to Duterte: What did you compromise in ‘secret agreement’ with China?

APR 13, 2024 2:21 PM PHT
RAPPLER.COM



INFO
President Marcos says he also plans to get answers from former Duterte officials on his predecessor's 'gentleman's agreement' with his Chinese counterpart on Ayungin Shoal


MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has several questions for former president Rodrigo Duterte on his “gentleman’s agreement” with China on Ayungin Shoal, among them, why he kept it a secret to the Filipino people and what the deal entailed.

“Para sa akin maliwanag na may tinago – may usapan sila na tinago nila sa taumbayan, number one (For me, it’s clear that they hid something – they had discussions that were kept from the people, number one),” Marcos said in response to questions in a Philippine media interview in Washington on Friday, April 12.

He was asked about the Chinese embassy in Manila’s confirmation of the existence of such an agreement, though Duterte denied it.

“So, now, with the confirmation of the Chinese embassy, we now know that there was a secret agreement. Now,…the second question that I have is what is contained in the secret agreement?” he said.

Marcos says the trilateral summit was 'not against any country' but had focused on deepening economic and security relations among Manila, Washington, and Tokyo

“We need to know, what did you agree to? What did you compromise? Ano ‘yung pinamigay ninyo? Bakit nagagalit sa atin ang mga kaibigan natin sa China dahil hindi kami sumusunod? Ano ‘yung dapat naming gawin? Ano’ng laman ng secret agreement na ‘yan?” he added.

(We need to know, what did you agree to? What did you compromise? What did you give away? Why are our friends from China angry at us because of we didn’t follow it? What is it that we should we do? What does that agreement entail?)

The Chinese embassy said in a statement posted on its website on Friday that under the deal with the Duterte administration, Philippine resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre would only be limited to the delivery of food and water and would not include construction and repair materials.

China has been harassing Philippine resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal, which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, calling such actions “provocative.”

The Philippines and its allies have slammed China’s actions, which were among the top agenda in the first trilateral summit of the leaders of the United States, the Philippines, and Japan in Washington. 

(READ: US, Japan, Philippines condemn Beijing’s South China Sea moves in summit)

Accountability issue

Marcos reiterated that then-outgoing president Duterte and his officials did not mention any such deal during the transition period between administrations following his victory in the 2022 presidential elections.

Marcos said he also wants to hear from former Duterte officials who may shed light on what the agreement entailed, but did not identify them.

“Tanong natin sa kanila. Eh walang dokumento. Oh sige, ano ba talaga, ano ba talaga? I- kuwento naman ninyo kung ano ‘yung nangyari? What part did you play in all of these? Well, we need to clarify the situation because nalalagay ang Pilipinas sa alanganin,” he said.

(Let’s ask them. There’s no documentation. What is is about? Tell us what happened. What part did you play in all of these? Well, we need to clarify the situation because the Philippines is being placed in a compromising situation.)

“I’ll talk to the former officials, and see what they have to say. I can get a straight answer on any of them,” he added.

Marcos said he “disagrees” with the idea of entering into a secret agreement because it would allow those behind it to escape accountability.

“[If] you have any secret, any agreement with another sovereign state should really be known by the people, should be known by the elected officials, should be known by the Senate. Because the treaty is to be ratified by the Senate. It should be known by all the local officials. It should be known by everyone,” he said.

“If it’s a bad decision, you’re accountable,” he added.

Marcos also wondered aloud why a “very experienced lawyer” like Duterte would enter into such an important agreement without any written documentation.

“Walang dokumento. Hindi ko nga maintindihan, very experienced lawyer si president Duterte. Ang abogado lahat gusto nila nakasulat lahat ‘yan. Bakit walang nakasulat na kahit isang papel? Bakit walang video? Bakit walang announcement? Nothing,” he said.

(There are no documents. I can’t understand this – [former] president Duterte is a very experienced lawyer. All lawyers want everything in writing. Why was there not even one sheet of paper? Why is there no video? Why is there no announcement? Nothing.)

“So, papaano namin magagawa, kung gusto naming sundan, kung ayaw naming sundan, hindi pa rin, hindi namin alam (So what could we do, if we want to follow it or not follow, we have no idea). So, whatever foreign policy we undertook vis-à-vis South China Sea, West Philippine Sea was just continuing our foreign policy of maintaining the peace and promoting the national interest,” he added.

Marcos said in an April 10 interview that he was “horrified by the idea that we have compromised, through a secret agreement, the territory, the sovereignty, and the sovereign rights of the Filipinos.” 

– Rappler.com

CAPITALI$T ANARCHY

Global cholera jab stockpile runs dry

At the end of February, countries had already reported 79,300 cases and 1,100 deaths from cholera this year. Since there is no uniform system for counting cases, this is most likely a gross underestimate

Stephanie Nolen

 New York  Times

Published 13.04.24, 


Pilirani Wanja, a clinician at a health centre in Blantyre, Malawi, shows clients how to take the cholera vaccine.Reuters file picture

Doses of cholera vaccine are being given to patients as fast as they are produced and the global stockpile has run completely dry, as deadly outbreaks of the disease continue to spread.

This does not shock anyone in the field of emergency epidemic response because the vaccine stockpile has been precariously low for years.

The surprise — the good news, which is in itself surprising since ‘cholera’ and ‘good news’ are rarely used together — is that three new vaccine makers are setting up production lines and joining the effort to replenish the stockpile. And a fourth company, the only one that makes the vaccine which is given orally, has been working at a pace that experts describe as “heroic” to expand its production.

Yet even with all this, the total global supply of the vaccine that will become available this year will be, at best, a quarter of what is needed.


At the end of February, countries had already reported 79,300 cases and 1,100 deaths from cholera this year. Since there is no uniform system for counting cases, this is most likely a gross underestimate.

In October 2022, the organisation that manages the global emergency cholera vaccine stockpile made an unprecedented recommendation that people receive only one dose of the vaccine instead of two to stretch the supply. A single dose of the cholera vaccine provides between six months and two years of immunity, while the full regimen of two doses delivered a month apart gives adults roughly four years of protection.

Last year, countries sent requests for 76 million doses of the vaccine for single-dose “reactive campaigns” — efforts to vaccinate people in places with active outbreaks.

There were only 38 million doses in the stockpile, so only half the requests were filled, and those were with only a single dose. No vaccines were left for preventive campaigns that would ideally be carried out in places such as the Gaza Strip, where all of the conditions for large outbreaks exist, or in places where cholera is endemic.

The race to make more cholera vaccine illustrates all of the reasons it’s so hard to respond to epidemics even with the participation of committed drugmakers who are not scared off by the slim profit margins in an immunisation that’s mostly for poor people.

Cholera can cause death by dehydration in as little as a single day as the body tries to expel virulent bacteria in streams of vomit and watery diarrhoea.

The disease is spread through unclean drinking water. The current outbreaks are being driven by the spread of conflict and climate disasters that force people into crowded living situations without adequate sanitation systems. In recent months, there have been outbreaks in 17 countries.

New York Times News Service

Pakistan has highest living cost in all of Asia with 25 per cent inflation rate: Asian Development Bank

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and federal government had set the inflation target at 21 per cent for this fiscal year but they are going to miss it despite inflicting huge losses in the shape of a 22 per cent interest rate

PTI Islamabad Published 13.04.24


Pakistan has the highest living cost in all of Asia with a 25 per cent inflation rate and its economy may grow at the fourth lowest pace of 1.9 per cent in the region, according to a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.

The report was released on Thursday in Manila.

The Express Tribune reported that the Asian Development Outlook also painted a gloomy picture for the next fiscal year as well, projecting a 15 per cent inflation rate for the next fiscal year -- again the highest among 46 countries and a 2.8 per cent growth rate -- the fifth lowest for FY 2024-25.


The Manila-based lending agency stated that the inflation rate in Pakistan is expected to be 25 per cent in the current fiscal year -- the highest in all of Asia. This makes Pakistan the most expensive nation in Asia. Earlier, the cost of living in Pakistan used to be the highest in South Asia.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and federal government had set the inflation target at 21 per cent for this fiscal year but they are going to miss it despite inflicting huge losses in the shape of a 22 per cent interest rate.

The ADB said during the current fiscal year, the country’s economic growth rate might remain at 1.9 per cent -- the fourth lowest after Myanmar, Azerbaijan and Nauru.

Pakistan is in a stagflation phase for a prolonged period and the World Bank too said last week that another 10 million more people might fall into the poverty trap because of any adverse shocks. About 98 million people are already living a poor life in Pakistan.

In the past, the ADB gave a rather optimistic economic scenario close to Pakistan’s official forecasts.

However, the latest ADB report stated that Pakistan would continue to face challenges from substantial new external financing requirements and the rollover of old debt, exacerbated by tight global monetary conditions.

The Manila-based lender said political uncertainty that affected macroeconomic policymaking would remain a key risk to the sustainability of stabilisation and reform efforts. It said with Pakistan's large external financing requirements and weak external buffers, disbursement from multilateral and bilateral partners remained crucial.

“Further IMF support for a medium-term reform agenda would considerably improve market sentiment and catalyse affordable external financing from other sources,” the report added.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is set to meet the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva next week in Washington to request a new bailout package. The IMF MD said this week that Pakistan was in discussions for a potential follow-up programme.

However, she said that there are “very important issues” to be solved in Pakistan: the tax base, how the richer part of the society contributed to the economy, the way public spending is being directed, and creating a more transparent environment.

The ADB said low confidence, a surge in living costs, and the implementation of tighter macroeconomic policies under the IMF programme would restrain domestic demand in Pakistan.

It said the government’s goal was to achieve a primary surplus of 0.4 per cent and an overall deficit of 7.5 per cent of GDP in FY2024, with both declining gradually in subsequent years. However, the World Bank said last week that Pakistan would miss both these budget targets, reported The Express Tribune.