ICRC seeks $7.8 mn for Pakistan`s earthquake-hit people: Mathaba

The International Committee of the Red Cross `ICRC` Sunday launched an appeal of 7.8 million dollars for the affected people of Pakistan`s southwest.

Officials say that death toll from the October 29th earthquake has crossed the figure in Balochistan.But the ICRC in an appeal through internet said that at least 200 people were killed in the earthquake.Over 70,000 people, including 30,000 children, were left homeless by a quake that measured 6.4 on the Richter scale.It said that 20 to 30 thousands people have been affected and some 4000 mud houses destroyed in Ziarat district, some 60 kilometers from Quetta, the provincial capital.The ICRC said that its priority is to provide tents to the affected people as winter has already approached and the people are living outside houses due to fear of aftershocks.

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Pakistan's Economy:Treacherous ground: Economist

Oct 30th 2008 | DELHI

From The Economist print edition

An earthquake adds to Pakistan’s woes

ON TOP of a bloody insurgency and a listing economy, Pakistan must now contend with a natural calamity. Before dawn on October 29th, an earthquake of magnitude 6.4 or greater struck the mountainous province of Baluchistan not far from its capital, Quetta. The death toll quickly exceeded 200.

It was the biggest earthquake since one in October 2005 that killed over 70,000 in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. After that catastrophe, America spent almost $1 billion on relief operations, ferrying supplies to mountain villages by Chinook helicopter. According to one American official, cited by an independent working group on Pakistan policy, the goodwill America earned represents “the most successful strategic confrontation to date in the battle with the terrorists in South Asia.”

Even before the latest earthquake, Pakistan was again hoping its strategic position would persuade the world to rush to its aid. The ground is giving way beneath its economy. A distracted, overstretched government has allowed inflation to soar (see chart), the rupee to plummet and foreign-exchange reserves to seep away. On October 17th the central bank’s stash of hard currency was just over $4 billion, enough to cover just four to five weeks of imports.

Pakistan hoped for an infusion of cash from the “Friends of Pakistan”, an informal circle including China, America and Saudi Arabia. But to its dismay, only the IMF appears ready to offer the sums it needs as quickly as it needs them. The IMF is expected soon to approve a loan of up to $12 billion, probably spread over two years.

Pakistan and the IMF may not be “friends”; but nor are they strangers. Some of the politicians and civil servants now in power were “pretty traumatised” by the IMF programmes they endured during the 1990s, says Mohsin Khan of the fund. In those days, the IMF twisted their arms to make tough fiscal commitments they could not keep. In 2005 the military regime, having proudly turned down the last two instalments of its loan, declared that it had “broken the begging bowl forever”.

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Legend Holger Runs Coaching Clinic In Pakistan: Goal.com

FIFA Coaching Instructor Holger Obermann,72, who will be conducting Football for Hope Clinics III in the earthquake affected areas of Pakistan under Football for Hope Program, opened the two-day Clinic at Rawalakot on Tuesday.

FIFA Assistant Development Officer Mohsen Gilani and PFF Co-ordinator Akhtiar Ullah are assisting the German coach in the third edition of Football for Hope Clinics.

According to the information provided by Pakistan Football FA, FIFA earlier despatched Holger Obermann to Pakistan in Aug-Sep 2006 and Feb-March 2007 - making it three times in 26 months. The earthquake that hit northern areas of Pakistan and parts of Azad Kashmir on 8 October 2005, claimed more than 75,000 lives.

The German-based coach oversaw a programme of Football Clinics offering a new perspective on the future to young people affected by the Earthquake 2005. The social dimension of the game in emerging and conflict-ridden countries has long been a key priority for FIFA.

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