EU Slams Erdogan Over Varosha Visit; UAE, S. Arabia Unite Study on Nuke Power; A PROMISED LAND: Obama on India; ‘BAKSAL idea wrongly interpreted’ – all in Asian Lite Daily – please click here to read the story.
Author: Newsdesk
Ras Al Khaimah has been named, for the second straight year, the Gulf Tourism Capital for 2021 at the fifth annual meeting of Tourism Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The virtual meeting discussed Gulf integration in the tourism sector, where Ras Al Khaimah was commended for its identity as a sustainable tourist destination, and awarded the coveted title.
Ras Al Khaimah is considered one of the most diverse Emirates offering world-class experiences and attractions, which has enabled it to assert its position on the Global tourism map as the fastest growing destination in the region. Moreover, the Gulf Tourism Capital award this year is a testament to its early and sustained action to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in global recognition as a safe destination for inbound tourism.
It was the first city and Emirate in the world to receive both the prestigious ‘Safeguard Assurance’ Label from Bureau Veritas, a leader in testing and inspection services and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Safe Travels Stamp. The Authority continues to build on its ‘safe destination’ status, offering complimentary COVID-19 PCR testing for international visitors staying in Ras Al Khaimah until the end of this year.
Building on the momentum of recovery, Ras Al Khaimah also announced a series of firsts – the world’s first Bear Grylls Explorer Camp to open with accommodation offerings as well as the highest restaurant in the UAE – 1484 by Puro – both attractions located on Jebel Jais, the highest mountain peak in the UAE. In addition to this, UNESCO World Heritage announced that four sites in Ras Al Khaimah; Julfar, Jazirah al-Hamra, Shimal and Dhayah, have been included on the tentative list of World Heritage Sites, an acknowledgement that will serve to further strengthen the recovery performance of the Emirate’s tourism and hospitality industries.
Raki Phillips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority said: “We are delighted that the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah has once again been recognised as the Gulf Tourism Capital by the esteemed tourism Ministers and senior officials of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It is an especially welcome announcement in an unprecedented and immensely challenging year and is testament both to the resilience of our industry and our ongoing focus on innovation to bring visitors back.”
“In line with the esteemed vision of H.H. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, the Emirate has grown in stature as a leader in adventure, culture and nature tourism in the region and we will continue on our journey to sustainably grow the destination in 2021 and beyond.”
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The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has also called for a settlement of the Cyprus problem on the basis of United Nations’ resolutions
The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has slammed a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of Cyprus on Sunday during which he called for a “two-state” solution, the media reported.
The EU foreign policy chief has also called for a settlement of the Cyprus problem on the basis of United Nations’ resolutions, Kathimerini reported.
According to the report, Mr Borrell said the actions “should be urgently reversed” since it will cause “greater distrust and tension in the region.”
It has been reported that Erdogan visited Varosha, a beach resort abandoned by Greek Cypriots fleeing Turkey’s invasion in 1974.
Meanwhile, Erdogan asked the parliament to authorize sending soldiers to Azerbaijan to establish a “peacekeeping center” with Russia to monitor a truce over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, the Arab News reported.
Erdogan’s request followed two days of talks in Ankara with Russian officials about how the two regional powers intend to jointly implement a Russian-brokered cease-fire signed last week.
Turkey is one of Azerbaijan’s closest allies and has strongly defended its right to reclaim lands it lost to ethnic Armenian separatists in a 1988-94 war.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an order to set up an inter-departmental humanitarian response centre to resolve humanitarian issues and rebuild civil infrastructure in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
According to the order published by the Kremlin, the centre is tasked with facilitating the return of displaced people to their home in the conflict-ridden Nagorno-Karabakh, reports Xinhua news agency.
Putin also asked the centre to help state bodies of Azerbaijan and Armenia to restore civil infrastructure in Nagorno-Karabakh and create proper conditions for its people to live a normal life.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at loggerheads over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988. The latest round of armed conflict broke out in the region in September, causing heavy casualties and property losses.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Putin signed a joint statement on Monday, agreeing on a complete ceasefire in the region.
As agreed, Russia will deploy a peacekeeping contingent consisting of 1,960 servicemen with small arms, 90 armoured personnel carriers, and 380 vehicles to the region.
This is the fourth ceasefire since last month.
Exchange of bodies
Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged the bodies of a number of servicemen who were killed during the fighting around the city of Shusha in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to the defence authorities in Baku.
An unspecified number of bodies of the Armenian armed forces were handed over on Saturday, while the bodies of six Azerbaijani servicemen were returned, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Russian peacekeeping force stationed in the Nagorno-Karabakh region also took part in the event, Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the search and retrieval of the conflict victims are underway with the involvement of the Russian peacekeepers and the Red Cross, according to the Defence Ministry of Armenia.
The exchange was organized in accordance with Article 8 of a joint statement signed on November 8 by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, agreeing on a complete ceasefire in the conflict-ridden region.
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Both parties discussed potential cooperation in regulatory aspects related to nuclear safety, nuclear security, nonproliferation, legal and regulatory framework, emergency preparedness and response…reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, FANR, of the UAE and the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission, NRRC, of Saudi Arabia convened a meeting to explore and strengthen mutual collaboration.
Both parties discussed potential cooperation in regulatory aspects related to nuclear safety, nuclear security, nonproliferation, legal and regulatory framework, emergency preparedness and response.
The meeting was held as part of the bilateral agreement on the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy between the UAE and Saudi Arabia that was signed in 2019. FANR’s Director-General Christer Viktorsson and NRRC’s Chief Executive Officer Dr. Khalid A. Al Eissa presided over the meeting, attended by the senior leadership team of both sides.
The Saudi Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission presented the status of its nuclear programme and regulatory framework. Meanwhile, FANR showcased latest updates with the UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Programme and following the operation of Unit 1 of Barakah Nuclear Power Plant.
FANR also briefed about its regulatory framework in terms of nuclear and radiological sectors in the UAE and efforts to protect the public, workers, and environment from radiation risks.
“We are delighted to meet with our partner, the NRRC of Saudi Arabia. We stand ready to provide necessary support to the NRRC and share with them UAE’s journey into building the peaceful nuclear programme as well as offering various training and workshops in this regard,” said Viktorsson.
Dr. A. Al Eissan thanked FANR for accepting such virtual meeting to look into future cooperation and expressed NRRC’s willingness to strengthen the cooperation by conducting a series of meetings to explore and identify detailed areas of cooperation, and formulating topical technical groups with emphasis on human capacity building, environmental monitoring, nuclear security, radioactive sources control, in particular, customs ports between KSA and the UAE.
Both parties also agreed to hold topical workshops and form working groups to exchange information and knowledge related to regulatory framework, radiation protection, nuclear safety and security as well as nuclear nonproliferation and emergency preparedness. It also agreed to discuss smart licensing systems and public communications.
The Saudi NRRC expressed its interest to participate in ConvEx-3, which will be hosted by the UAE in 2021. ConvEx-3 is the largest and most complex exercise conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency and involves Member States and international organisations. It requires continuous, 24/7 operations for several days and tests arrangements for severe radiological and nuclear emergencies.
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The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) on Monday signed an agreement with the World Bank to get advisory services for its asset monetisation plan.
Disinvestment department DIPAM is mandated with facilitating monetisation of non-core assets of government CPSEs under strategic disinvestment or closure and enemy property of value of Rs 100 crore and above.
The World Bank advisory project, approved by the Finance Minister, is aimed at analysing public asset monetisation in India and benchmarking its institutional and business models against international best practices as well as supporting development of operational guidelines and capacity building for their implementation.
It is expected that this project would facilitate and accelerate the non-core asset monetisation process and help unlock the value of these unused/marginally used assets which has the potential to substantially augment financial resources for further investments and growth.
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For the second time in the span of 10 days after the US elections, there’s a Covid-19 gamechanger on the horizon with US pharma giant Moderna announcing that its vaccine has shown more than 94 per cent effectiveness in preliminary data from the company’s ongoing study.
Pfizer Inc had announced 90 per cent efficacy exactly a week ago. Taken together, these two vaccines are firmly on course to seek emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration if results hold out in final study results due soon.
Anthony Fauci from Trump’s coronavirus task force is optimistic that these early vaccines will change the course of “everything we do” over the next few months.
Pfizer’s final results are due in the third week of November – around the time of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Covid cases in the US crossed 11 million by November 15, with the latest 1 million coming in a week. The country’s death toll is the world’s highest – more than 246,000 at last count.
Roughly 20 million people could be vaccinated against the coronavirus in December, the chief of the Donald Trump administration’s vaccine coordination programme has indicated. Anywhere from 25 to 30 million people could be vaccinated each month after that.
The US is working with a portfolio of six vaccines, using three different platform technologies and two candidates from each platform: Messenger RNA, live viral vectors and recombinant protein.
Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines use the messenger RNA platform, Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca in partnership with Oxford University are on the live vector path while Novavax and Sanofi/GlaxoSmithKline are building out their vaccine candidates on the recombinant protein platform.
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Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, and General Supervisor of the ‘Dubai: Capital of Islamic Economy Initiative’ said that the UAE has accumulated extensive expertise in the field of Islamic Economy and established a robust fintech infrastructure that places it in a strong position to become a global leader in developing the sector.
The Crown Prince attributed the success that Dubai has achieved in the sector to the progressive vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, which laid the foundations for the Islamic Economy sector to become an important pillar of the national economy.
Sheikh Hamdan’s remarks came on the occasion of the announcement of the results of the 2020-2021 State of the Global Islamic Economy Report today.
Speaking about the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheikh Hamdan pointed out that the Islamic Economy sector has the potential to lead post-pandemic global economic recovery. He stressed the need to take advantage of fresh opportunities that can open new economic horizons and help both the region and the world overcome the repercussions of the pandemic.
He called for strengthening channels of cooperation with partners around the world, and harnessing the potential of the ‘Dubai: Capital of Islamic Economy Initiative’ to attract investment and capital into the Islamic Economy sector, which in turn will enhance both Dubai and the UAE’s roles as major players in expanding regional and global growth opportunities post-COVID-19.
The Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre, DIEDC, on Monday announced the results of the annual State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2020/21 (SGIE Report 2020/21), produced by DinarStandard, a US-based research and advisory firm, in partnership with SalaamGateway, the largest news and media platform focused on the Islamic economy. First published in 2013, the Report serves as an annual update on the Islamic economy, encompassing the halal food and beverages, Islamic finance, and lifestyle sectors.
In its eighth edition this year, under the theme ‘thriving in uncertainty’, the Report estimates that Muslims spent US$2.02 trillion in 2019 on halal food, modest fashion, family-friendly travel, halal pharmaceuticals, halal cosmetics, and halal media and recreation. While the figures reflect a 3.2 per cent year-on-year growth, expenditure in 2020 is expected to shrink by approximately 8 per cent, due to the economic impact resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. However, spending across these Islamic economy sectors, excluding family-friendly travel, is forecast to rebound by end-2021, and is slated to reach US$2.4 trillion by 2024.
The UAE was ranked one of the top three countries in the Report’s much-anticipated Global Islamic Economy Indicator, which covered 81 countries this year. New entrants, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and Singapore joined the top 15 rankings while Saudi Arabia and Indonesia moved up in the rankings compared to last year’s SGIE Report.
Malaysia once again topped the overall Global Islamic Economy Indicator as well as the Islamic finance sector, the family-friendly travel sector, halal food and beverages sector, halal pharmaceuticals and cosmetics sectors indicators. The UAE ranked in first place in the remaining two sectors — Modest Fashion and Halal Media and Recreation.
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Emirates has been rated the safest airline in the world in its response to the COVID-19 Pandemic according to the Safe Travel Barometer.
The airline, which has set industry-leading safety standards since the resumption of its operations back in May, has topped the ranks with a ‘Safe Travel Score’ of 4.4 out of 5.0 among 230+ airlines evaluated worldwide. The score is based on an independent audit of 26 health and safety parameters evaluating safety protocols, traveller convenience and service excellence announced by airlines.
Safe Travel Barometer is the world’s most comprehensive solution to monitor and benchmark supplier initiatives in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry for the post-COVID world. Its rating mechanism considers safety measures and hygiene standards across all touchpoints of a traveller’s journey which Emirates has consistently delivered on. At every step of the journey, Emirates has spared no effort to prioritise the care, health and safety of its customers, employees and communities.
Enhanced biosafety measures taken by the airline include the distribution of complimentary hygiene kits, protective barriers at check-in desks and immigration counters, personal protective equipment and new safety protocols for cabin crew and airport employees in customer facing roles, and elevated aircraft cleaning procedures including the frequent cleaning and disinfecting of aircraft lavatories every 45 minutes during flights, amongst many other measures.
Emirates has also led the way in traveller convenience which was another sub-category considered by the Safe Travel Barometer. The airline was first in the industry to offer its customers free Covid-19 cover to help them travel with more confidence, knowing that medical expenses of up to EUR 150,000 and quarantine costs of EUR 100 per day for 14 days will be covered if they are diagnosed with COVID-19 during their travel, while they are away from home.
Emirates’ booking policies also offer customers great flexibility and confidence to plan their travel. Customers have options to change their travel dates, or extend their ticket validity for 2 years. In addition, the airline launched initiatives to help its loyal Emirates Skywards members retain their tier status and introduce new ways for them to earn and spend their Miles.
The Safe Travel Barometer was launched in 2020 to monitor global traveller health and safety measures, traveler convenience initiatives and overall traveler experience which influences traveler’s decision-making and the actual journey in the new normal. The Safe Travel Score is an industry-first COVID-19 rating initiative, created in the wake of recovery from the pandemic.
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Fast bowler Pat Cummins on Monday conceded that the Australia men’s cricket team had fallen behind in its recognition and education around racial injustice, adding that they will stand in a circle with bare feet at the start of every international series in solidarity with the anti-racism movement while also celebrating indigenous culture.
“We’ve decided to do the Barefoot Circle. We’re going to look at doing it at the start of each series and it’s a pretty easy decision for us. As soon as you try and learn a little bit about it, it just becomes a really easy decision. Not only as a sport, but we as people are absolutely against racism,” Cummins said as per ESPNcricinfo.
“We can probably put our hands up and say we haven’t done enough in the past and we want to get better, so this is one small thing we’re going to introduce this summer,” he added.
The Barefoot Circle is a statement taken up by Australian cricket more broadly to connect with Aboriginal culture and the land on which matches are played. The Women’s Big Bash League is using the ‘Barefoot Circles’ to spread message against racism.
Cummins said that while individual players would be free to make their own statements, including taking a knee, the Barefoot Circle had been deemed the best way for the team to begin to acknowledge that in addressing racism, both at home and around the world, they have a fair amount of work to do.
“In addition, we’re going to work a lot on our education. We’re trying to learn as much about our history in Australia in particular moving forward and look forward to doing the Barefoot Circle. I thought NAIDOC week last week in the Sheffield Shield that was quite a powerful opening day. And of course in the WBBL, seeing a lot of great acts there as well,” the 27-year-old said.
Former West Indies pace bowler Michael Holding had lashed out at Aaron Finch and Eoin Morgan last month for not continuing with the knee gesture that began with the West Indies tour of England but was discontinued when Pakistan and Australia toured England. Finch had then said that specific gestures need not be done.
Australia will be hosting India in three ODIs, three T20Is and four Test matches beginning November 27.
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The annual New Year Eve fireworks show in Melbourne has been cancelled and replaced with a two-day street food festival this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the City Council said on Monday.
The change has been made to avoid large-scale outdoor gathering as the fireworks show usually attracts about 400,000 people to the second largest Australian city which could become a public health threat during a pandemic, Xinhua news agency quoted the Council as saying in a statement.
Instead, dining precincts will be set up across the city of Melbourne, encouraging people to enjoy their New Year celebrations at more than 50 venues, some are located at the most popular eat streets such as Flinders Lane and Little Bourke Street.
The Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp said the New Year Street Feasts will support local hospitality businesses that had been hit hard during the pandemic lockdown.
“This has been an incredibly tough year and we want to mark its end by celebrating and supporting Melbourne’s wonderful cafes, bars and restaurants,” Capp said.
“We are tailoring a program to safely encourage more patrons into our incredible and deserving hospitality businesses that have struggled through lockdown restrictions.”
The cancellation came after Melbourne ended its Covid-19 lockdown which lasted for almost four months.
As of Monday, the Australian state of Victoria, where Melbourne is the capital, recorded its 17th consecutive day without any new case or virus-related deaths.
In a similar move last week, New South Wales (NSW) Premier Gladys Berejiklian had announced that Sydney’s New Year’s Eve firework display will be scaled down by several minutes and spectators will be banned from harbour-side vantage points in the wake of the pandemic.
Due to its time zone, Sydney usually hosts the first major New Year’s Eve celebrations of the globe, centering on the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, in a display which attracts thousands of people to the harbour and surrounding area.
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