Day: 29 December 2022

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CGTN: Vitality under COVID-19: China’s smart ports aid increased throughput

BEIJING, Dec. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — China’s Qingdao Port, a subsidiary of Shandong Port Group and the second-largest foreign trade port in east China’s Shandong Province, has seen an increase in anchorage rotations of very large container ships, according to China Media Group.

The port has handled ultra-large container ships more than 300 times. Ultra-large container ships are usually 400 meters long and have a capacity of over 20,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

The port has also handled 200-meter-long container ships more than 3,900 times, a 7-percent increase year on year, CMG said.

Handling that much freight under the impact of COVID-19 is challenging, particularly with reduced labor. However, the unloading rate at the Qingdao Port increased by 16 percent from January to November, thanks to the port’s record-setting intelligent system.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the global port and water transportation industry. However, China’s major ports have seen an increase in throughput and made significant progress in digital and intelligent construction, thereby playing a leading role in the intelligent development of ports globally.

Qingdao Port is the world’s first to have an air-track intelligent transporting system capable of handling 1.5 million TEUs annually. The system set a new world record in June for managing as many as 67.76 TEUs in an hour, with an average of 60.18 TEUs per hour, a 14.2-percent jump from its previous record.

China now leads the world in the number of automated terminals, both built and under construction, according to the Ministry of Transport. All the major ports in Shanghai and Tianjin are equipped with automated bridge cranes or tracks.

Coupled with the continuous investment in domestic ports and a large number of high-tech enterprises, the concept and practice of smart port construction have been innovative, Mi Weijian, a professor at Shanghai Maritime University, told Xinhua.

For large corporate ports, such as the Shandong Port Science and Technology Group, in-house cooperation is the key to upgrading existing facilities into a fully automated waterfront container terminal, which helps reduce the overall costs by 70 percent compared with newly built terminals, according to Xinhua.

“Now we have traditional terminals, semi-automatic terminals and fully automatic terminals,” said Wang Yusheng, deputy general manager of the group. “The loading and unloading of a ship can be done in three different kinds of terminals, which maximizes the integration of terminal resources.”

Link: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-28/Vitality-under-COVID-19-China-s-smart-ports-aid-increased-throughput-1g7OLnTDJtK/index.html

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Digitt+ Granted Pilot Launch Approval in Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan, Dec. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Digitt+, Pakistan’s first agriculture focused Fintech, today announced that the State Bank of Pakistan has formally granted it approval to pilot launch their Electronic Money Institution (EMI). Digitt+ is powered by Akhtar Fuiou Technologies (AFT).

Digitt+ is committed to digitizing the agricultural ecosystem, offering financial inclusion to farmers and unbanked people through its technology, partnerships, and relationships with agribusinesses and FMCGs in Pakistan.

Digitt+ has partnered with FuiouPay, a leading international payment solutions provider, to provide market-based alternative to the traditional banking system. FuiouPay offers holistic enabling solutions through their seventy five intellectual property licenses and several patented software.

Qasim Akhtar Khan, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Digitt+ talked about the scale and potential of the venture: “We look forward to providing financial technology solutions to the farmers of Pakistan who will be able to open bank accounts and gain access to credit and modern digital financial services such as bill payments, e-commerce, investments, and money transfers. This effort has the potential to solve food security issues, enhance crop yields, and improve human welfare in Pakistan, directly impacting thousands of farmers and merchants.”

Pakistan has been an agriculture powerhouse for decades. Agriculture employs almost half of the country’s workforce and contributes about 25% to GDP. Despite its size and prominence, the sector does not have commensurate access to financial services from the banking system. Furthermore, recent climate change has devastated farmers and deeply impacted their production, thus making access to financial technology all the more important. Such services can provide much-needed access to formal banking channels and donor agencies to support farmers in adapting to climate change.

“At Digitt+, we are using technology to develop innovative digital financial products focusing on micro services to build a comprehensive platform that will enable the delivery of these solutions to a wide range of users, not only for the retail Agri market but for the corporate sector as well, through the provision of specialized business tools.” added Ahmed Saleemi, CEO of Digitt+, giving further insight on how the company would unlock the potential of the Agri economy.

Digitt+ is braced to embark on a mission to revolutionize the Agriculture Fintech sector in Pakistan. The approval from State Bank of Pakistan is an important milestone in that direction.

CONTACT: Noman Shabbir, noman@toplinepr.com

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By yearend, 5.4m Palestinians live in territories occupied in 1967, 7m live in diaspora, 1.7m in Israel – PCBS

By the end of 2022, the population in Palestine within the 1967 borders had reached more than 5.4 million, with an annual increase of 2.4%, while nearly seven million Palestinians still live in the diaspora, today said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

In a brief on the status of the Palestinian people at the end of 2022, the PCBS said the estimated number of Palestinians at the end of 2022 is about 14.3 million, of whom 5.4 million live in the State of Palestine, where more than the third lives in the Gaza Strip. In addition, 1.7 million Palestinians live in present-day Israel, while about 6.4 million live in Arab countries and 761,000 live in foreign countries.

As the number of Jews in historic Palestine is expected to reach 7.1 million by the end of 2022, the number of Palestinians and Jews in historic Palestine will be equal by the end of this year, when the number of Palestinians and Jews will be about 7.1 million each.

The Palestinian population is young with more than one-third of the population less than 15 years of age, said the PCBS.

The percentage of individuals aged 0 to 14 years constituted 38% of the total population at the end of 2022 (36% in the West Bank and 41% in the Gaza Strip). The percentage of the elderly population aged 65 years and above at the end of 2022 reached 3% of the total population in Palestine (4% in the West Bank and 3% in Gaza Strip).

The total fertility rate between 2017 to 2019 has declined to reach four births compared to five births in 1999 (four births in the West Bank and four births in Gaza Strip).

The mortality rate of children under-five years in Palestine was 14 per 1000 live births between 2015 and 2019; (15 in the West Bank and 14 in the Gaza Strip). On the other hand, the infant mortality rate in Palestine reached 12 per 1000 live births (12 in the West Bank and 13 in Gaza Strip). Data also indicated a decline in the child mortality rate during the past 10 years, where this rate reached 15 children per 1000 live births.

The average size of the Palestinian household has dropped to five individuals in 2021 compared to six individuals in 2010 (five individuals in the West Bank and six individuals in Gaza Strip).

Results of the Smoking and Tobacco Consumption Survey, 2021 showed that the percentage of individuals aged 18 years and above who smoke one or more products of smoked tobacco (manufactured cigarettes, hand-rolled cigarettes, cigars, and water pipes) in Palestine increased to about 31% of the total individuals aged 18 years and above in 2021, while this percentage was about 23% in 2010. At the region’s level, the results of the survey indicated a large gap between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. There’s a clear increase in the prevalence of smoking among individuals aged 18 and above in the West Bank, as it reached about 40% in the West Bank compared to 17% in the Gaza Strip in 2021.

Despite the gradual recovery in the performance of the Palestinian economy during the first half of 2022 and the significant increase recorded in the number of employees in different economic activities, the unemployment rates are still high. The rise in unemployment rates is due to the sharp rise in the unemployment rates in the Gaza Strip, where half of the participants in the labor force (45%) are unemployed compared to about 14% in the West Bank. Still, the variance in unemployment rates between males and females is significant, where it reached 21% among males and 39% among female participants in the labor force. It is worth mentioning that the unemployment rate reached 48% among youth graduates aged 20 to 29 years of intermediate diploma holders and higher (28% in the West Bank and 73% in the Gaza Strip).

The number of school students in the scholastic year 2021/2022 in Palestine reached 1,358,410 (672,567 males and 685,843 females), where 760,688 students are in the West Bank (373,519 males and 387,169 females), while there are 597,722 students in Gaza Strip (299,048 males and 298,674 females).

The number of students enrolled at higher education institutions in the scholastic year 2021/2022 in Palestine reached 225,975 (86,992 males and 138,983 females), where 138,754 students are in the West Bank (49,069 males and 89,685 females), while there are 87,221 students in Gaza Strip (37,923 males and 49,298 females).

The number of graduates from higher education institutions in the scholastic year 2020/2021 in Palestine reached 46,225 (16,931 males and 29,294 females), where 32,277 male and female graduates are in the West Bank (10,763 males and 21,514 females), while there are 13,948 male and female graduates in Gaza Strip (6,168 males and 7,780 females).

Within the Israeli systematic policy to uproot the Palestinian people from their land, the continuous aggressions practiced by the Israeli occupation and settlers against the Palestinian people in all localities, where the Israeli occupation demolished and destroyed 1,058 buildings in Palestine (353 residential buildings and 705 facilities), which included 93 self-demolition operations, most of which are located in Jerusalem Governorate of 88 self-demolition operations. Jerusalem governorate recorded the highest number of demolitions by 29%, which included the demolition of 128 residential buildings and 176 facilities, at a time when the Israeli occupation is building hundreds of settlement units, as more than 700,000 settlers live in 151 settlements established on Palestinian lands in the West Bank at the end of 2021.

The number of Palestinian martyrs reached 224 martyrs during 2022 until 26 December (53 martyrs in Gaza Strip and 171 martyrs in the West Bank), according to the records of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and the number of prisoners languishing in the Israeli occupation prisons reached 4,700, as of the end of November 2022, according to the data of the Commission of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs, among them are 34 female prisoners, about 150 minors, and 835 administrative detainees, including three female prisoners and four children.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

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PLO official: Abdullah II’s “red lines” on Jerusalem’s holy sites compass for Arab action

A Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) senior official today described Jordan King Abdullah II’s statements on “red lines” on the holy sites in Jerusalem as the “compass” for Arab action.

Secretary-General of PLO Executive Committee Hussein al-Sheikh hailed Abdullah II’s statements warning of crossing the “red lines” on his country’s custodianship of the holy sites in the occupied city of East Jerusalem as the “compass” of Arab action to face upcoming challenges.

“The statements of His Majesty King Abdullah II about the challenges of the next stage and the red lines form the compass of the Arab direction and the action necessary in facing the upcoming challenges,” al-Sheikh tweeted.

During an interview with CNN’s anchor Becky Anderson at the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ in Jordan, Abdullah tackled the threat posed by the new right-wing Jewish supremacist Israeli coalition government on the status quo on the holy sites and voiced concerns of its quest to undermine his country’s custodianship of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in the occupied city of East Jerusalem.

“If people want to get into a conflict with us, we’re quite prepared,” he said. “I always like to believe that, let’s look at the glass half full, but we have certain red lines… And if people want to push those red lines, then we will deal with that.”

Responding to a question on his reference to Jerusalem in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year, Abdullah II, according to the Jordan Times, reaffirmed that Jerusalem must be a city that brings people together, warning against extremists’ attempts to use the city to create conflict and violence.

“We are the custodians of both the Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem; my concern is that there are challenges that the churches are facing from policies on the ground. If we continue to use Jerusalem as a soapbox for politics, things can get out of control really, really quickly,” he warned.

The King addressed the challenges facing the Christian presence in the region.

“They have been here for 2,000 years. Over the past several years, we are seeing that they have become under pressure as a community, so the numbers are dropping, which is, I think, an alarm bell to all of us.”

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

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Palestinians mark the 58th anniversary of the launch of the armed resistance with a massive rally

Thousands of Palestinians took part today in a rally in Ramallah marking the 58th anniversary of the launch by Fatah movement of the Palestinian resistance and revolution, which coincides on January 1, with the Deputy Chairman of Fatah movement, Mahmoud Aloul, lighting the torch.

Addressing the crowds who came from all over the West Bank to participate in the rally, Aloul stressed that “the anniversary of the launch of the revolution takes us back to the first years of the struggle, which was full of victories that we are proud of.”

He added, “We send a message to the world, the Arab nation, and our people that we have lived 58 years of struggle, and are ready to continue until we achieve the aspirations of our people, achieve the victory, and establish the Palestinian state.”

Aloul said that “the Palestinian people are ready to confront the new far-right Israeli government of religious Zionists, which has made clear its intentions and threats to Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the prisoners, our families, and our people within the 48 territories,” calling on the Palestinian people everywhere to confront this right-wing fascist government through national unity and popular resistance.

“Fatah cannot accept the perpetuation of the status quo of practices and crimes of the occupiers, and violation of the agreements. We cannot accept anything because of that.”

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

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Israeli settlers attack Palestinian commuters on northern West Bank roads

Israeli settlers today attacked Palestinian vehicles driving on northern West Bank roads causing damage to cars and freighting the commuters, according to witnesses.

They said that settlers threw stones at cars on the main road going through the town of Hawwara, south of Nablus, while provoking the local Palestinian residents and shopkeepers.

Reports said that the settlers sprayed pepper in the face of several people.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

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Almost 50,000 Jewish fanatics stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2022 with the highest violations – Waqf official

The year 2022 witnessed the highest ever in the number of violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem with 48,238 Jewish fanatics storming the Muslim holy compound and violating its sanctity, today said Azzam Khatib, director of the Islamic Waqf Department, which is in charge of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

He said in a statement that the fanatics carried out acts that provoked the sentiments and feelings of the Muslims by performing Jewish rituals and raising the Israeli flag inside the walled compound during Jewish holidays not caring what this holy place means for two billion Muslims around the world, warning that the new right-wing government in Israel may carry out acts that could trigger a religious war in the region and the world.

Khatib stressed that “Al-Aqsa Mosque is an Islamic holy place with its area of 144 dunums and all its features and facilities above and below the ground, and that it is a pure mosque for Muslims alone all over the world that does not accept division or partnership despite all attempts to change the long religious, historical and legal status quo for the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

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Israeli parliament approves the new far-right Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu

The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, today approved the new far-right Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu by a vote of 63 in favor and 54 opposed.

Netanyahu’s coalition government includes the ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, and religious Zionists with fascist tendencies, which include Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit, and Noam.

The Knesset elected, earlier, a member of the right-wing Likud party, Amir Ohana, as its speaker.

About 30 ministers were sworn in before the Knesset plenary, while Netanyahu called for the first government session, which will be held later this evening.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency