UN appeals for $357m for flood-ravaged Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations on Sunday launched an appeal to raise 356.9 million dollars under its Rapid Response Plan 2011, which will be spent initially on 91 projects in the flood affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan, due to heavy monsoon rains.

The Rapid Response Plan 2011 was launched here at a local hotel by Humanitarian Coordinator of United Nations, Timo Pakkala at a ceremony where Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan was the chief guest.

Representatives of diplomatic community, UN organizations, government departments, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and others were present on the occasion in which the UN Humanitarian Coordinator launched this plan.

The Rapid Response Plan has been launched on the appeal made by President Asif Ali Zardari after his visit to the flood affected areas of Sindh when he phoned the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for generating funds from the international community to help the victims due to gravity of the devastation caused by unprecedented rains.

It is an initial plan for emergency needs, which will be reviewed after a month to assess the actual needs, when the complete destruction and damage data will be compiled from the affected areas.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan while addressing the launching of the Rapid Response Plan said unprecedented heavy rainfall have affected  23 districts of Sindh and five districts of Balochistan.

The Minister said the situation further compounded due to a number of breaches in all the irrigation channels and Left Bank Out Fall Drain.

Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said, unfortunately 342  precious lives have been lost due to the floods while 633 persons were injured and millions of people are vulnerable to different diseases, particularly acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, malaria and  infections.

She said, “More than 7.1 million people have been directly affected out of which 491,000 people have been accommodated in 2618 relief camps.”

As many as 1.3 million houses have been damaged and over 6 million acres of land including 2 million acres cultivated land has been affected, she added.

The Minister said heavy damages to property, infrastructure, agriculture and livestock have been reported, however, the actual damages could be ascertained after detailed damages and needs assessment is carried out.

The Information Minister said the Government of Pakistan, under the dynamic leadership of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, despite being faced with resource constraints, has so far mobilized approximately 166,000 tents, over 869,000 family food packs and a large number of other relief items including blankets, mosquito nets, water purification units, medicines and jerry cans etc.

She said, “The government had tried its best to cope with the situation by itself, however, due to the sheer scale of the disaster it came to the conclusion that the situation exceeds the capacity of any single stakeholder.”

She said in view of this President Asif Ali Zardari requested UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to supplement the Government’s efforts.

The Minister hoped that the people of Pakistan would receive similar generous support as has been extended by friends and international community in the past for the Rapid Response Plan of $356 million.

“We are confident that the Rapid Response Plan – Pakistan Floods 2011, launched today, jointly by Pakistan Government and the UN would receive the required funds from donors,” she added.

The Minister said Pakistan government together with the UN would ensure transparency and accountability in the utilization and delivery of the assistance to the affected people in a most efficient manner.

She said it is natural disaster as people of Pakistan especially living in Sindh are unfortunately once again passing through great hardship due to unexpected and unprecedented heavy monsoon rains.

She said Pakistan is prone to hydro meteorological disasters; however, the frequency and intensity of such disasters have increased in the recent past, primarily due to climate change phenomenon experienced all over the world.

The Minister said a well placed three-tier disaster management system consisting of district, provincial and national disaster management authorities has been evolved by the government.

Referring to the issue of visa and permission to the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international community to reach to the flood affected areas, the Information Minister assured that there is no such problem and government of Pakistan has been facilitating the donors in this regard.

She said previous response of international community so far was due to Pakistan’s personal efforts at international level while the UN has launched its campaign today and expressed the hope that there will be good response of this campaign.

Humanitarian Coordinator of United Nations, Timo Pakkala while announcing the Rapid Response Plan said it is basically for the 91 projects identified initially to provide shelter, food, medicines and clean drinking water in the affected areas.

He said the UN has already started supply of food, shelter, medicines and other basic needs of life to the flood affected areas without waiting for the funds to be generated.

Timo Pakkala said this plan is for initial response to the victims and it will be reviewed after 45 days to revise the needs and demands of the people of the affected areas.

Giving some details, he said, with the present resources of Pakistan government, only 30 percent shelter could be provided to the homeless victims.

He said out of 5.44 million affected people there are 2.60 million women and 1.96 million children, while 1.8 million people have been displaced and 1.0 million houses have been damaged.

He said 64 percent people in the flood affected areas are without clean drinking water while 67 percent food stock of the people had been destroyed.

He said 70 percent crops in the area have been damaged while 280,000 families have lost their livestock.

Replying to a question, Timo Pakkala said so far no country has announced its pledge under the Rapid Response Plan 2011 adding that some of the countries have already announced their donations before.

He however clarified that it will be up to the donor countries either they want to contribute directly on bilateral basis or they can contribute through this Rapid Response Plan.

He said Rapid Response Plan is for providing immediate relief and after its revision, a fresh plan would be prepared for reconstruction, rehabilitation and improvement of other basic facilities to the flood victims.

Brigadier Sajid Naeem, representing National Disaster Management Authority explained the contingent plan and ongoing efforts of the NDMA for the assistance of flood victims.

He said NDMA has been coordinating with other departments of the federal and provincial governments and international community to provide best possible help to the flood victims without delay.

He said the NDMA had already prepared a contingent plan according to the reports of Met office, but the rains were much more than the assessments of Met office and beyond the capacity of the canals and rivers that created more damage. AGENCIES

Pentagon plans steps to slash security budget

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that he would close a military command, restrict the use of outside contractors and reduce the number of generals and admirals across the armed forces as part of a broad effort to rein in Pentagon spending.

Gates did not place a dollar figure on the total savings from the cutbacks, some of which are likely to be challenged by members of Congress intent on retaining jobs in their states and districts.

But they appear to be Gates’s most concrete proposals to cut current spending as he tries to fend off calls from many Democrats for even deeper budget reductions, and they reflect his strategy of first trying to squeeze money out of the vast Pentagon bureaucracy.

While large headquarters have been combined and realigned over the years, Pentagon officials could not recall a time when a major command was shut down and vanished off the books, even though some jobs will probably be added elsewhere to carry on essential parts of the mission.

The White House, which is under intense political pressure to address the rapid increase in the national debt, quickly stepped in to back Gates, saying his plan would free money that could be better spent on war fighting.

“The funds saved will help us sustain the current force structure and make needed investments in modernization in a fiscally responsible way,” President Obama said in a statement.

The potential savings Gates outlined are likely to be relatively modest in the context of a total Pentagon budget, including war fighting costs, projected to top $700 billion next year. The most significant step — in symbol and in substance — was his plan to close the military’s Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va.

The command includes about 2,800 military and civilian positions supported by 3,000 contractors at an annual cost of $240 million. Its responsibilities, which include managing the allocation of global forces and running programs to press the armed services to work together on the battlefield, will be reassigned, mostly to personnel working under the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.

Gates also called for a 10 percent annual reduction in spending on contractors who provide support services to the military, including money for intelligence-related contracts, and he placed a freeze on the number of workers in the office of the secretary of defense, other Pentagon supervisory agencies and the headquarters of the military’s combat commands.

Kabul conference backs Taliban peace talks

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai won backing at an international conference Tuesday for his plan to make peace with the Taliban as he pledged his government could assume security responsibility of the country by 2014.

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Kabul conference backs Taliban peace talks

PM refutes Clinton claim about Osama

ISLAMABAD: Rebuffing US Secretary of State Hillary Clintons claim, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani denied Tuesday the presence of Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Ladin and Afghan militants supremo Mullah Omar in Pakistan, ARY NEWS reports.

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PM refutes Clinton claim about Osama

Spain debates plan to ban burqas in public

MADRID: Spain’s Parliament is to debate a proposal that could lead to a ban on women in public spaces wearing the Islamic veil that reveals only their eyes, but the ruling Socialist Party has vowed to vote against the plan.

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Spain debates plan to ban burqas in public

NZ to extend troops stay in Afghanistan

WELLINGTON: New Zealand will extend its deployment of 140 troops in Afghanistan for another year, then start withdrawing troops while posting civilian development specialists to the war-ravaged country, Prime Minister John Key said Tuesday.

New Zealand”s 140-strong provincial reconstruction team of troops in Bamiyan had been expected to end their seven-year deployment in September, but Key said the posting will roll over for another year, then start reducing as civilian specialists are introduced.

Under the plan, about 50 troops would remain in Bamiyan, he said. Key said that a separate contingent of about 70 New Zealand commandos in Kabul that had been due to leave in March 2011 may now also be extended.

Oil stays below 84 dollars in Asian trade

SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell in Asian trade Thursday after a report showing weaker demand in the United States, the world”s largest energy-consuming nation, analysts said.

New York”s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, dropped 26 cents to 83.42 dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for June was down 16 cents to 85.54 dollars.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) announced Wednesday that American crude reserves increased 1.9 million barrels in the week ending April 16. This was against market expectations for a drop of 200,000 barrels

Gasoline or petrol stockpiles also soared 3.6 million barrels, more than forecasts for a small gain of 300,000 barrels.

Distillates, which include diesel and heating fuel, rose 2.1 million barrels whereas analysts had expected an increase of 900,000 barrels.

“The increase in crude inventories was largely unexpected so demand fundamentals are weighing on people”s minds,” Serene Lim, a Singapore-based oil analyst with the ANZ bank, said.

Demand in the United States is closely monitored by the oil market because it is the world”s biggest economy and its largest energy consumer.

The giant US economy is struggling to recover from its worst downturn since the 1930s.

JAL chief refuses to impose further job cuts: report

TOKYO: The new chief of beleaguered Japan Airlines is refusing to impose further swingeing cuts to jobs and unprofitable routes despite heavy pressure from the carrier”s creditors, a report said Thursday.

The airline”s 78-year-old chief Kazuo Inamori, an entrepreneur and ordained Buddhist monk, is attempting to contain mounting pressure from banks to conduct further aggressive restructuring of the flag carrier.

“Syndicated banks and government tell me we need to do more by drastically reducing more flight routes and jobs,” he said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Thursday.

“I am trying to keep the reduction level as planned,” he said.

JAL filed for bankruptcy protection in January and aimed to shed nearly 16,000 employees by March 2013 from the original workforce of 50,000 and cut unprofitable routes, but has recently been under pressure to speed up the plan.

The airline”s main lenders, including Mizuho Corporate Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, are forgiving more than eight billion dollars of debt in return for more stringent restructuring, the report said.

The carrier, undergoing a court-led bankruptcy programme, is considering asking for an extension to a June deadline to draft its rehabilitation plan having failed to reach a deal with creditors, according to reports Thursday.

JAL wants two months to refine the plan amid disputes over the size of job cuts and termination of routes, the Yomiuri Shimbun said without citing sources.

The flagship carrier went under with 26 billion dollars of debt in one of Japan”s biggest ever corporate failures, but has continued flying while it goes through painful state-led restructuring.

The government asked charismatic entrepreneur Inamori, founder of high-tech maker Kyocera, to turn around the former state-run company.

While promising to bring the bankrupt carrier to profitability, Inamori has openly lamented at the lack of business sense among JAL managers and employees.

Transport Minister Seiji Maehara told a legislative committee Wednesday that the deadline could be extended.

“Depending on the speed of the progress being made, a change (of the deadline) is possible,” he said.

“Even if the plan experiences a moderate delay, I don”t think it would cause JAL”s loss to expand or cause other bankruptcies,” he said.

American Forward Their Clock For Daylight Saving Time

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American Forward Their Clock For Daylight Saving Time:RALEIGH – Sunday, Americans will set their clocks forward for daylight saving time. In 2007, the federal government extended the period by four weeks with the goal of reducing energy consumption. But the plan may actually have gotten people to [...]

Pamela Anderson vows to take pantomime to America

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London: Former “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson has vowed to take pantomime to America for British citizens there. The actress had such a blast during her festive stint in “Aladdin” at London’s New Wimbledon Theatre that she has come up with her plan for one in LA, as she is convinced there [...]

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