China large amphibious aircraft to fly next half of 2020

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

China's independently developed AG600 large amphibious aircraft will conduct its first flight from the sea surface in the second half of this year, according to its developer on May 25.

This large aircraft will make its maiden flight from the sea surface of the coastal city of Qingdao, in east China's Shandong Province, said the state-owned plane maker Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). 

It represents a major step forward of the AG600 large amphibious aircraft project, the AVIC said. 

Codenamed ‘Kunlong’ the AG600 is designed to be the world's largest amphibious aircraft. 

Its development represents a Chinese breakthrough in this field. The AVIC develops the AG600 to meet the needs of China's emergency rescue and natural disaster prevention and control.

China develops unmanned helicopter

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

China's first domestically developed unmanned helicopter focused on plateau operations recently made its maiden flight. Capable of conducting missions including reconnaissance, communication relay, electronic disruption and fire strike at high altitude, this versatile and easy-to-operate drone could help safeguard China's southwestern borders with India, analysts said.

The AR500C unmanned helicopter, developed by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), on May 20 successfully made its maiden flight at an AVIC base in Poyang, East China's Jiangxi Province, in which it conducted several maneuvers including hovering, horizontal and vertical moves, China Central Television (CCTV) reported. 

Its main missions include reconnaissance and communication relay, but when equipped with additional devices, it can also run electronic disruption, target indication, fire strike, cargo delivery and nuclear radiation and chemical contamination reconnaissance, according to an AVIC statement. 

As China's first unmanned helicopter designed to fly in plateau areas, the AR500C can take off at an elevation of 5,000 meters and has a ceiling of 6,700 meters.

It has an endurance of five hours, maximum speed of 170 kilometers an hour and a maximum takeoff weight of 500 kilograms. Highly digitalized and intelligent, it can take off, land and hover automatically and is installed with a number of advanced flight programs for efficient and safe flights. 

"We utilize advanced aerodynamic design for the rotors. Since the power of the engine will drop significantly on plateaus, we use China's most advanced engine," Fang Yonghong, technology director at AVIC's helicopter branch, said on CCTV, noting the unmanned helicopter can be easily controlled via a keyboard and a screen. 

Compared to a traditional fixed-wing drone, a drone helicopter does not require a large airstrip with long runways, making it more flexible to deploy, Chinese air defense expert Fu Qianshao told the Global Times.

The maiden flight of the AR500C marked a significant technological breakthrough in fields such as rotor and engine design, Fu said, noting the thin air on plateaus usually makes it difficult for aircraft to fly. 

The test flight of the AR500C was conducted at a time when China-India border tensions have been flaring up, as Chinese border defense troops have bolstered border control measures and made necessary moves in response to India's recent, illegal construction of defense facilities across the border into Chinese territory in the Galwan Valley region. 

An unmanned helicopter like the AR500C can help in missions in the high elevation border areas if commissioned into the Chinese military in the future, as it can keep a watchful eye on the skies for extended periods and patrol locations that are difficult for infantry troops to reach on foot, analysts said. 

AVIC is also developing other types of unmanned helicopters including the AV500 and its armed reconnaissance variant AV500W. Some of them can also reach plateaus but cannot go as high as the AR500C. 

The Chinese military operates the Z-8G, China's first large transport helicopter with a focus on plateau operations. It can take off from 4,500 meters above sea level and has a ceiling of more than 6,000 meters and lift troops and supplies to high-altitude areas.

China launches virtual graduation to ensure uninterrupted education

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

In an attempt to ensure that students should continue pursue their higher education following COVID-19 pandemic, China has launched awarding online degrees to pass-out graduates.

In this connection the one of the universities in China historic city Nanjing held a ceremony for its passing out students, People’s Daily reported. 

The Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunication held the most memorable online graduation ceremony for the graduate who could not attend it due to the coronavirus restrictions. 

The dummy students, wearing graduation gown and headgear having photographs of pass-out students on their forehead saw getting their degrees. For the convenience of the passed out students who could not attend it, their photos were also shown on giant electronic screen from Alma Mater simultaneously.

Nanjing is an age-old city that was civilized some 7,000 to 8,000 years ago and founded nearly 2,600 years ago. 

In Nanjing history, it served as China's capital throughout 10 dynasties and has been called by many names since its creation. Nanjing is also known for massacres of Chinese from Japanese. 

Meanwhile the graduating students at universities and colleges and those with key research projects in Hubei can return to their campuses starting June 8, the local government announced on May 25. 

It said that there has been no new COVID-19 cases appeared recently while Hubei had only six confirmed cases at the moment.

Corona lung transplant successful in Austria

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

A Vienna’s medical university successfully conducted the first coronavirus lung transplant in Europe last week, the medical center announced in a press release on May 25.

The hospital claimed that the 45-year-old COVID-19 patient would not have survived otherwise but was now recovering well, reported CNN.  

“In our view, she is doing exceptionally well and there are not major problems,” Walter Klepetko, the head of surgery at the clinic, remarked. 

The hospital declared that the patient was in good health without prior illnesses before coming down with coronavirus eight weeks ago. Shortly after falling ill, her condition deteriorated dramatically. 

“The situation was hopeless. The lung was like a block, there was nothing left. The operation was highly complicated but successful. All organs are working and we are very satisfied. But it will still be a long way ahead until we can hopefully discharge her from the hospital," Klepetko added.

Ignoring coronavirus SOPs could cause serious miseries in Pakistan

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The shopping spree of Eid-ul-Fitr, in which the agreed SOPs for coronavirus (COVID-19) were flouted blatantly by the traders as well as the shoppers all over the country, is now being followed by the Eid festivities in which people’s reluctance to pursue the safety measures continues to give rise to more infections and causes more challenges for the already hard pressed health system.

Not surprisingly the rate of infection has been shooting up alarmingly of late which are serious warnings for things to come in the near future if the existing practices are allowed to continue longer. 

While the government has its own obligations, and limitations too, the role and the attitude of the people become more significant. 

As responsible citizens, the SOPs should be followed in letter and spirit in order to prevent catastrophic situation. Otherwise things could go horribly wrong within no time. 

We have already witnessed a country as resourceful as the United States of America (USA) besides the powerful European countries like Italy, Spain, England and France suffer immensely due to their late realization about the venom of this virus, a country like Pakistan, with limited health facilities, simply cannot afford to take it lightly. 

The people of Pakistan need to stand up and take the responsibility of protecting themselves and the country by following the SOPs which everyone seems remembering by heart but for some reasons they are unable to do it. Doing simple things like wearing masks, washing hands and maintaining social distancing should not be an issue for anyone.

Coronavirus Update: Sindh’s rate of infection continues rising phenomenally

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

As Eid-ul-Fitr was observed amid advices for exercising restraints, its rate of new COVID-19 infection in Sindh rose to 23.85% on May 24, against 17.57% of the preceding day (May 23). 

According to official sources, various testing laboratories working in the public and private sectors conducted as many as 3,547 tests for coronavirus, out of which 846 were found positive. 

Earlier, the COVID-19 new infection rate in the province remained almost stationary during a period from May 16 to 22. During the period in question Sindh’s new daily infection rate was on average recorded as 16.59%. 

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, observed on May 24 that the new infection rate of 24% was the highest ever ratio of such cases since February 26 when Sindh reported its first case of COVID-19. 

He didn’t mince words in stating that the COVID situation was going from bad to worse in the province, revealing that out of 846 new cases, 703 belonged to Karachi. 

“This is why I keep requesting our people to stay home because Karachi is a thickly populated city and the threat of local transmission looms large here,” he added. 

Reporting increase in the infection rate, the authorities confirmed another 13 deaths due to lethal coronavirus infection during the last 24 hours ending at 8 am on May 24, pushing the COVID-19 death counts to 367 for Sindh. 

However, there was no elaborated information about the latest deaths as the health department did not release the relevant summary for reasons best known to them. 

It was learnt that 157,449 samples have been tested across the province so far, out of which 22,491 were detected COVID-19 positive. In addition to Karachi, the districts from where the new positive cases were reported on May 24 included Larkana (24), Ghotki (12), Tando Allahyar (10), Hyderabad (9), Sanghar (8), Kambar-Shahdadkot (7), Jacobabad (7), Thatta (4), while Badin and Jamshoro presented two cases each and Mirpurkhas and Tando Mohammad Khan one cases each. 

As many as 13,094 (88.5%) infected people were taking treatment in home isolation, while 791 (5.5%) were in isolation centers and 880 or (6%) were in different hospitals. It was further learnt that 156 patients were in critical condition, of them 34 have been put on the ventilators. 

In the meantime, Sindh Minister for Health, Azra Fazal Pechuho, in a message on May 24, urged the people to prefer staying at home then going out. 

“Coronavirus is very much existent in the community while beds and ventilators are available in limited numbers in our health system,” she revealed, adding that two children are at present on ventilators. 

On the other hand, the Sindh government spokesperson, Murtaza Wahab, noted that the province has seen a jump in the number of coronavirus cases in children in the last 20 days. “On May 2 we had 253 children infected with the virus, today there are 788 children up to the age of 10 were infected.” 

He appealed to the people to practice social distancing and follow relevant SoPs to keep themselves safe. “We went outside and brought coronavirus into our homes. The lockdown policies were for our betterment and to keep us safe,” he added. 

According to an official report, as of May 24, there were 1,654 admitted in different hospitals in the province, out of which 1,499 were in stable condition, 121 in critical condition and 34 on ventilators.

BRI playing important role in fighting COVID-19: Chinese FM

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The infrastructure and public wellbeing projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have played an important role for partner countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, declared on May 24. 

Addressing the foreign and domestic media at the sidelines of second session of the Chinese parliament, Wang Li said that looking into the future, the joint building of the BRI will be conducted on a more solid foundation, with more vitality and broader prospects after the pandemic. 

According to Wang, China-Europe freight trains have transported 8,000 tons of materials used to help combat the virus from January to April. 

The Chinese Foreign Minister took various questions and responded in detail via video link from Beijing. For the convenience of foreign media, the press conference provided simultaneous interpretation service in six languages, English, Fresh, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Japanese. 

Wang came up with comprehensive response to the queries regarding COVID-19 pandemic, China-US relations, globalization, China-Russia relations, global aid, China-EU relations, lawsuits related to COVID-19 and China diplomacy in 2020. 

Shedding light on lawsuits, Wang stated that Beijing will not accept lawsuits from other countries on losses from COVID-19 and such attempts to infringe on China’s sovereignty and dignity are doomed to failure. 

Wang continued to say that the accusations were completely baseless both in terms of laws and facts and have no international precedents. China, like other countries, is also a victim of the pandemic, he remarked. 

“China has paid a heavy price and made huge sacrifice in its efforts to contain the spread of the virus and cut off the path of its transmission with the shortest possible period,” he explained.

Beijing-Hubei passenger air service resume

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Beijing resumed passenger air service to Hubei when the first passenger flight of Shenzhen Airline took off from Beijing to Xiangyang city of Hubei province on May 24. 

It was the first passenger flights from the capital to destinations in Hubei since the outbreak of COVID-19. 

According to a notice released by the civil aviation administration starting from May 24 to October 24 this year, the Shenzhen Airline will operate a round-trip flight between Beijing to Xiangyang every Sunday, providing a channel for the public to go in and out of Hubei by air. 

The airline staff will strictly follow the epidemic prevention and control measures such as temperature-taking and health information collection.

34 bodies of PIA plane crash identified, handed over to families

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Sindh health department announced on May 24 that as many as 34 bodies of PIA crashed airplane have been identified and all of them handed over to their respective families. 

Meanwhile the provincial minister for health and population welfare, Dr Azra Pechuho, said that Sindh has its own forensic/genome laboratory at Karachi University where the DNA sampling of all unidentified plan crash victims was being carried out. 

“We also have another laboratory at the Liaquat University in Jamshoro which has the capacity of conducting the DNA sampling,” she added.

NADRA collect thumb impression of PIA plane crash victims

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

A technical team of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has been entrusted with the responsibility of the identification of victims of PIA plane crash in Karachi through thumb impression. 

An announcement from the NADRA authorities revealed that most of the deaths, in the PIA plane crash at Karachi on May 22, were caused due to severe fire and their bodies were difficult to identify. 

The NADRA team had promptly started undertaking its task as they took thumb impression of three victims on the spot. Out of three, they had identified two of them, the announcement said.