Govt establishes National Flood Response and Coordination Centre

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif presides over the national flood emergency meeting in PM House. — PID

ISLAMABAD: Following the destruction caused by recent floods in Pakistan, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced the establishment of the National Flood Response and Coordination Centre (NFRCC) on Monday. The PM presided the national flood emergency meeting with coalition parties in the federal and provincial governments, armed forces of Pakistan, and government institutions working for flood relief in the country. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa was also present during the high-level meeting held at the PM House to review the aftermath of the monsoon flooding, alongside Naval chief Admiral M Amjad Khan Niazi, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu, and DG ISPR Major General Babar Iftikhar. Taking to Twitter, PM Shahbaz shared that the centre — led by himself — will comprise of federal ministers, representatives of Pakistan Army, provincial chief ministers, and experts. The PM added that the  NFRCC will act as a bridge between government institutions, disaster management authorities, and donors to ensure a seamless rehabilitation process of flood affectees across Pakistan. The centre will gather information and analyse updated information to later pass on to the relevant government agencies. The command centre will also monitor rescue and relief work being carried out to restore damaged infrastructure amid severe flooding.

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Grand Alliance to Have Coordination Committee to Ensure it Does Not Meet NDA's Fate

A coordination committee, which the JD(U) kept pressing for while in the BJP-led NDA, may be set up to ensure smooth functioning of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) that now rules Bihar upon the entry of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. There were indications to this effect on Friday evening when MLAs of the CPI(ML), the fourth largest constituent of the Grand Alliance, called on the Chief Minister, the JD(U)’s de facto leader, at his residence.

The chief minister was strongly in favour of a coordination committee and we felt the same. No ally is likely to have any objection. It may, therefore, come up in due course, CPI(ML) MLA Sandeep Saurav told PTI. The Grand Alliance at present comprises seven parties JD(U), RJD, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI, CPI(M) and HAM which together have more than 160 MLAs in the 243-strong assembly.

Notably, while the JD(U) and the BJP were still in an acrimonious tie-up, many leaders of the former had stressed the need for a coordination committee which was in place during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s time with George Fernandes as its convenor. JD(U) leaders were of the view that the absence of such a committee left different constituents with no platform to voice their divergent opinions before each other and hence they ended up doing so in the media, leading to deterioration in relations.

Though the BJP seems firmly in saddle with a brute majority in the Lok Sabha, the NDA is in tatters, with most of its prominent constituents including TDP, Shiv Sena and Siromani Akali Dal, now out of the coalition. Moreover, the need for such a committee is likely to grow stronger as the Grand Alliance, at present limited to Bihar, may evolve into a formation with wider appeal across several other states. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed his intention to work for a united opposition to take on the BJP’s hegemony.

To this end, the chief minister is also expected to visit New Delhi next week, shortly after the expansion of his cabinet. In the national capital, Kumar is likely to meet top opposition leaders, including Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, said sources close to him. Meanwhile, Saurav also said that the CPI(ML)’s state committee meeting is scheduled here on Saturday which will be attended, among others, by secretary general Dipankar Bhattacharya.

Bhattacharya had earlier this week indicated that the party might not join the new government, preferring to support it from outside, though he had pitched for a common minimum programme. Saurav said that Bhattacharya may call on the chief minister to discuss a further plan of action with regard to building an anti-BJP front.

Besides the 12-MLA-strong CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M) which have two MLAs each, have decided to extend outside support to the government.

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UN lays out role for Ukraine grain shipments coordination center in Istanbul

WASHINGTON

The UN laid out on Friday the new tasks to be carried out by a joint coordination center to implement the just-signed deal to facilitate Ukraine grain and foodstuffs exports to global markets. 

The Istanbul-based center is being tasked with enabling "the safe transportation, by merchant ships, of commercial foodstuffs and fertilizer from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea: Odesa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny," the UN said in a statement. The ports had previously been subjected to a blockade by Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

The center will now monitor the movement of commercial vessels "to ensure compliance" with the agreement, focusing on commercial grain and related food commodities only. It will also ensure on-site control and cargo monitoring of ships coming from Ukrainian ports, and reports on shipments facilitated by the agreement.

The center will not undertake tasks related to the facilitation of food exports from countries other than Ukraine, nor will it facilitate exports of containers of non-food items not covered by the agreement.

Ukraine is colloquially referred to as a global "breadbasket," and is the fifth largest wheat exporter worldwide, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

UN officials warned in June of endangered world food security due to Russia's war on Ukraine, saying it poses the threat of famine, destabilization, and mass migration worldwide as Russia blockades the Black Sea ports that normally send grain to the world.

Internationally praised for its mediator role, Türkiye coordinated with Moscow and Kyiv to open a corridor from the Ukrainian port city of Odesa to resume global grain shipments long halted due to Russia's war on Ukraine, now in its fifth month.

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