Who are Kurds and What they are Fighting For?

YPJ Fighters: Kurdish Female-Only Brigade

By: Azhar Azam

Following a conversation between Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the United States announced the withdrawal of entire about 2,000 troops from Syria – revoking its support for Kurds in Syria and handing over their future to Turkey.

Turkish armed forces are preparing to march into Syria to drive Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militias out of Rojawa (Western Kurdistan) in northern Syria. As of now, SDF controls one-third of Syria, known as Kurdish region in Syria.

After US abrupt betrayal, the Kurdistan administration in northern Syria is looking at Russia to press Bashar al-Assad to protect their territory from fast-approaching Turkish offensive. Last week, a Kurdish delegation also visited Moscow to seek Russian support.

WHO ARE KURDS?

Kurds are the largest stateless nation in the world and fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East. Kurdish ethnic domains rim on the territories of other three major ethnic groups in the region – the Arabs to the south; the Persian to the east; and the Turks to the west.

In the absence of an independent state, Kurdistan is defined as the areas in which Kurds constitute an ethnic majority. There are about 35-40 million Kurds, who originate from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Armenia, and Turkey as well as located all around the world.

Akin to Arabs – Kurds are an ethnic group, not a distinct religious sect in Islam. The majority of the Kurds are Sunni Muslim, with a small minority of Shia Muslim and some non-Muslim such as Christians, Jewish, and Yezidi communities.

All three ethnic and religious groups – Sunni Arabs, Sunni Kurds, and Shia Arabs – share core religious beliefs in Allah and Prophet Mohammad ﷺ. More than 90% in each group said that they fast in the holy month of Ramadan.

KURDS IN SYRIA

SDF is an alliance of largely Kurdish and other Arab, Turkmen, Assyrian, and Armenian militias fighting against Islamic State, Al-Nusra Front, and other Jihadi groups in the Syrian Civil War. Its objective is to establish and protect the federal region, Rojawa.

Partiya Yekîtiya Demokrat (PYD) or Democratic Union Party is the crux of the SDF. It is a branch of Turkey’s Kurdistan worker’s Party (PKK) and operates two armed wings in Syria – People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ).

YPG surfaced on the world arena in 2012 after it forced Syrian Arab Army out of the Kurdish populated regions. After the siege of Kobanî by ISIS in September 2014, it demonstrated sensational and determined resistance against the DAESH.

With the help of US-led coalition airstrikes and Free Syrian Army (FSA), the YPG eventually defeated the Islamic State and recaptured Kobanî in January 2015. The battle of Kobanî is considered a turning point in the war against Islamic State.

PYD’s YPJ is a female-only brigade, which accounts for about 40% of total Kurdish fighters. Grown through the Kurdish military campaign, the YPG played a crucial role to take back the control of Kobanî from Islamic State. It has around 10,000 volunteer female fighters.

KURDS IN TURKEY

The founding of PYD dates back to the banning of Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê (PKK) or Kurdistan Worker’s Party in Turkey, after which many PKK-sympathetic Kurds emigrated to Rojawa and formed a Kurdish organization (PYD) in Syria.

Imprisoned in Turkey, Abdullah Öcalan is the founding member of PKK, which was instituted in 1978. Revered as ideological leader of Kurds across the region (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria) – Öcalan called for independent state in Turkey.

Widely referred as Apo – Uncle – he has been launching attacks in Turkey from Syria in late 1980s and 1990s. He was forced to flee Syria after Turkey responded with intensive counter-insurgency backlashes and was arrested from Kenya – and was latter extradited to Turkey for prosecution.

KCK (Koma Civakên Kurdistan) or Kurdistan Communities Union is the political arm of PKK in Turkey and has offshoots and affiliates in Syria (PYD/YPG/YPJ); Iran (PJAK or Kurdistan Free Life Party); and Iraq (Tawgari Azadi).

About half of the Kurds in the Middle East live in Turkey – where they are 20% of the total Turkish Population. As the constitution of Modern Turkey rebuffs the existences of any ethnic sub-groups in the country, the Kurds perceive thorough suppression.

Therefore, Ankara has consistently shut down any Kurdish effort to politically organize in the country – designating any act of Kurdish nationalism a punishable offense to imprisonment. It outlawed Kurdish in Turkey language until 1991.

Turkey declares PKK a terrorist organization – accusing its ideology based on revolutionary Marxist-Leninism and separatist ethno-nationalist. It also charges PKK for the killings of more than 40,000 people since its military insurgency began in 1984.

On the other hand, Kurds believe that they have been politically marginalized and persecuted particularly by Turkey and Iraq. Kurds in Syria are seeking a greater autonomy or completely independent Kurdish state.

KURDS IN IRAQ

After the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi Kurds succeeded to achieve establish an autonomous state – Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) – in 1992, with autonomy in three provinces. In 2005, KRG gained increased privileges including maintaining their own army on the borders of Iran, Syria, and Turkey.

The Kurdish region in Iraq now houses 5.2 million population and four governorates – Erbil, Slemani, Duhok, and Halabja – comprising 40,000 square kilometers. KRG is larger than the Netherlands and four-times of the Lebanese area.

However, the Kurds of Iraq they are yet to declare independence – shouldering that such an action would enrage Turkey that would not accept an independent Kurdish state in the neighborhood and might scratch the strong Kurdish nationalist movement in Turkey as well.

Additionally, Iraqi-Kurdistan is also landlocked and has to rely on Iranian, Syrian, and Turkish for land and air communication – one of the most important factors preventing them to declare independence, especially if the Arab Iraq adopts a more hostile line toward the new state.

Halal Food Industry to Exceed $1 Trillion by 2020

By: Azhar Azam

The halal consumer spending of about 1.8 Muslims worldwide exceeded $2.1 trillion in 2017 – the Thomson Reuters’ produced DIEDC’s State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2018/19 uncovered in its latest edition.

Food and Beverages ($1,300bn); Clothing and Apparel ($270bn); Media and Entertainment ($209bn); Travel ($177bn); Pharmaceuticals ($87bn); and Cosmetics ($61bn) were the largest Muslim lifestyle sectors for the year.

With almost 62% of the global Muslim spend – halal food and beverages (F&B) continued to remain the largest Muslim expenditure, growing at 6.1% and is estimated to reach $1.9 trillion by 2023, the report forecasted.

The Largest halal F&B spending countries in 2017 were: Indonesia ($170bn); Turkey ($127bn); Pakistan ($118bn); Egypt ($86bn); Bangladesh ($76bn); Iran ($63bn); Saudi Arabia ($51bn); Nigeria ($47bn); Russia ($41bn); and India ($38bn).

Malaysia is leading the global halal market – exporting $10.9 billion of halal-certified products, including $8.6 billion of halal foods in the last year. Its national flight carrier, Malaysian Airlines, was the first in the world to provide in-flight halal meals on board.

Its dynamic Islamic finance industry, robust Islamic investor biome, and strong and comprehensive halal standards helped Malaysia to spearhead the Global Islamic Economic Indicator (GIEI) for the fifth-consecutive year.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia were the next three leading countries in the index.

Jordan jumped six places to stand 11th, just behind Brazil in halal food standings. Jordanian growth was backed by its double-digit growth in the exports of halal food and beverages products to the 57-membered OIC countries.

With intra-OIC trade of $250 billion and $1.8 trillion in imports across the OIC – Islamic trade finance was valued at just $186 billion in 2016 by the investigation in a global trade industry of $12.3 trillion for the same year.

In customized categories, Pakistan was completely wiped out from top-10 Halal Travel, Modest Fashion; and Halal Media and Recreation and was placed only 8th in Halal Food; 7th in Islamic Finance; and 5th in Halal Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics.

Halal food exports by Islamic countries totaled $124.8 billion in 2017, while imports summed at $191.5 billion – vegetable products ($92.5bn); food processing inputs ($63.2bn); and meat and live animals ($35.9bn).

The halal food and beverage imports of $191.5 billion by (Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) state nations is gaining traction from new contenders to take lead in this growing market, with China leading the charge.

At the same time, Although Muslim life-style spending accounted for 12% of the global expenditure, the aggregate Islamic economy private investments totaled only $745 million in the last four years – less than 1% of the Global private and capital investments of $595 billion.

Particularly, China – through its ambitious Silk Road trade project – has a great potential to become the world leader in the exports of halal products, with its substantial involvement with 28 of OIC member states.

In the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang, Gansu, Xian, and Lanzhou alone, there are nearly 5,000 halal food companies – to gear up China to become a major halal food exporter.

Thailand and Philippines are also expected to disrupt the halal food market – with Thailand making world-leading Halal Research Center and Philippines to develop Asia Halal Center, 100-hectar processing facility.

With one-fourth of the global population, Muslims countries have a boundless opportunity in the halal food and beverages market. Though leading food brands and food producers are seated in the United States, Great Britain, and China- however OIC countries have also joined the fray to tap into local demand and to export.

For instance, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, the runners-up in GIEI, are pursuing to strengthen their central role in the halal food industry and have started to work together by setting-up a halal corridor.

According to the Salam Gateway calculation, the UAE was the net importer of live animals and meat in 2016 – with nearly 60% of its live animals, meat, fish, and other products of animal-origin came from seven countries.

Of UAE’s live animals and their products imports of $3.4 billion – Brazil and Australia together supplied around 26.5%. India (12.6%); New Zealand (8.4%); United States (5.5%); Pakistan (3.6%); and France (2.8%) were the other major suppliers.

The halal food industry is growing rapidly and is set to exceed $1 trillion mark by 2020. Several conglomerates such as Nestle, KFC, and OIC’s Savola Group and Indofood are taking-up this enormous opportunity.

Marc Lamont Hill is not the Only American Who Pans Israel for Repressing Palestinians

By: Azhar Azam

In his gripping speech at the on November 28, Marc Lamont Hill – CNN Commentator and Professor at Temple University – roasted Israel for restricting freedom and impairing equality for Israeli Palestinians as well as those in West Bank and Gaza.

While commemorating the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian people, he said that there are more than sixty Israeli laws that deny Palestinians access to full citizenship rights simply because they are not Jewish.

‘Palestinians continue to be physically and psychologically tortured by Israeli criminal judicial system, a term I can only use with irony.’ Hill also slated Israel for routinely keeping Palestinians in solitary confinements and indefinite detentions.

Talking about Nakba – the great catastrophe in May 1948 that resulted in the expulsion, murder, and permanent dislocation of over a million Palestinians – Hill criticized international community for depriving Palestinians the most of fundamental human rights.

He also panned American presidents including Trump for not taking principled and actionable position in defense of Palestinian rights and voiced ‘as an American, I am embarrassed that my tax dollars contribute to this reality’.

‘Solidarity from the international community demands that we embrace boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) as a critical means by which to hold Israel accountable for its treatment of Palestinian people.’

Hill concluded that the international community has the opportunity to take political, grassroots, local, and international action that is what justice requires – ‘and that is a free Palestine from river to the sea’.

The statement ‘a free Palestine from river to the sea’ – often associated with Hamas and refers to extending Palestine borders from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea – was deliberated as anti-Semitic or against the Jews.

As a result, he was fired by the US cable news network (CNN) within next 24 hours.

Hill responded on twitter ‘I support Palestinian freedom. I support Palestinian self-determination. I am deeply critical of Israeli policy and practice. I do not support anti-Semitism, killing Jewish people or any of the other things attributed to my speech’.

The sacking of Hill as a CNN contributor after his oration in the United Nations triggered a widespread debate in the United States about the limitation of freedom of speech, when it comes to Israel or anti-Semitism.

Hill is not the only American who has shown his laments toward Israeli tyranny on Palestinians and criticized US presidents’ profound silence on Israeli atrocities on Palestinians. They are increasing number of Americans who maintain the same opinion.

In a recent University of Maryland’s Critical Issues Poll, American Views of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, fielded by Nielson Scarborough – 38% of the all adult surveyed Americans (including 55% of Democrats and 19% Republicans) believed that Israeli government has ‘too much influence’ on American politics and policies.

Only 9% of the online survey participants thought that Israelis have ‘too little influence’, while 48% (including 69% Republicans and 31% Democrats) of the Americans termed it ‘about the right level of influence’.

The younger Americans (aged 18-34 years) – 44% – were more convinced that Israeli government has ‘too much influence’ on American politics and policies, as compared to 35+ years aged people, who considered it to be 36%.

When asked about Trump administration role in mediating Israeli-Palestine conflict, 62% of all Americans (including 67% youths) suggested that it should ‘lean toward neither side’; an increase of 3% from 2017 poll that found 59% Americans had the same view.

Americans were almost tied when quizzed about ‘a two-state solution’ or ‘one-state solution’. 36% supported a two-state solution: Israel and Palestine side by side and Palestine would be established on the territories that Israel occupied in 1967.

35% of the all Americans opined for one-state solution: a single democratic state – covering all of what is now Israel and the Palestinian territories – with full and equal citizenship rights for both Jews and Arabs.

On the constructions of illegal Israeli settlements after 1967, the poll showed that 40% Americans believed to either impose some economic sanctions through the UN or unilaterally or take more serious action against Israel.

An overwhelming majority of Democrats (56%) supported such intensive measures against the government of Israel; 26% Republicans endorsed the Democrats also for sanctions on Israel, despite having little awareness on Hill’s backed BDS movement.

Reacting in a podcast last week over his dismissal from CNN on November 29 – Hill said ‘I think it was a hasty decision (by CNN). I disagree with the decision. And the history will vindicate that the claims I made’.

Quite a few other people came out to defend Hill and blasted the cable network for providing much airtime to the racists, the white supremacists, and the climate change deniers but firing Hill in no time.

Former CNN host Soledad O’Brien was also one of those. She tweeted “this exactly – they give a platform – and their credibility – to racists/white supremacists, all in the name of ‘hearing them out’ (which is rating plot btw)”.

Temple University, that employs Hill as Professor of Media Studies and Urban Education, also came under pressure to fire him, but Pennsylvania-based institution avoided any such act – recognizing his First Amendment rights.

On December 11, Temple University released a bamboozled statement that condemned Hill’s remarks in the UN – ‘disappointment, displeasure, and disagreement’ – while at the same time, supporting his Constitutional right to speak as a private individual.

Albeit all psychosomatic stabbings and detrimental career-ending tactics, Professor Marc Lamont Hill still stands by his stance on supporting Palestine and knocking Israel.

‘I am OK, profoundly OK’, the academic says.

Arms Industry: Bombing East to Securing Peace

By: Azhar Azam

Folks around the world should not be stumped by SIPRI’s fieriest data which bares that the sales of top-100 arms producing and military services providing conglomerates (excluding China) soared by 2.5% to $398.2 billion in 2017.

The massive spending on arms is essentially the value that is a part of the larger national arms procurement plans of several countries to support their native arms industry, in the name of modernizing their armed forces.

Ironically, either the state-controlled and arms manufacturers-influenced media represents it as arms exports or international arms sales to mask the massive arms spending, which is fueled by overseas military operations such as in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.

According to the independent think tank on global arms transfers, the arms sales worldwide totaled $376.2 billion and $372.4 billion in 2016 and 2015 respectively. The arms sales peaked to $420.4 billion in 2010.

Courting back to US Congressional Research Service (CSR) December 2016’s report (p. 66) on arms transfers, the global arms deliveries equaled $46.2 billion in 2015 – just a fraction of $372.4 billion (2015) of arms sale worldwide.

The United States ($16.9bn); Russia ($7.2bn), France ($7.0bn), and China ($2.9bn) were the largest arms suppliers to the world in 2015, the CRS report noted. SIPRI’s third-largest arms producer, the United Kingdom, could export just $1.3bn of arms.

Based on SIPRI global arms sales and CSR global arms deliveries in 2015, there is a substantial difference of $326.2bn – echoing the fact that these arms were procured from domestic arms suppliers to spur international and regional conflicts.

Furthermore, SIPRI global arms production statistics mirrors that countries such as – the United States, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and India – have increased their spending on domestic arms procurement to support native arms industry.

Subsequently, the domestic arms companies of these countries have to be the inevitable winners in this deadly arms race – a regimen set by the United States and was followed by the rest in succeeding years.

SIPRI said that the arms sales of 42-US companies totaled $226.6 billion or 57% of the aggregate top-100 arms sales, implying that the US continues to spend more on arms procurement from its domestic arms manufacturers to seek global supremacy.

While the United States’ annual arms exports, at $16.9 billion, is only a fraction of its annual arms production – about 355.5 billion was empathetically spent on procuring arms and military services from US-based companies in 2015.

Lockheed Martin ($44.9bn); Boeing ($26.9bn), and Raytheon ($23.9bn) were the largest cash recipients of the US arms purchases in 2017. As much as, five US companies made to top-10 and eight to top-15 to SIPRI’s largest arms producers.

This year, Russian arms suppliers dethroned the counterparts from the United Kingdom to claim the second slot in the listing – producing $37.7 billion in arms sales behind the United States, accounting for 9.5% of global arms sales.

But again, CSR says that Russian worldwide arms deliveries amounted to $7.2 billion in 2015 against SIPRI’s Russian arms production of $33.5 billion for the same year – the remainder $26.3 billion was procured to counter the US global dominance.

A total of 10 Russian companies made to the SIPRI top-100. Just as the US, Russian arms suppliers also greatly fruited from the Kremlin’s increased outlay on arms ordering to modernize its armed forces, SIPRI senior researcher confirmed.

Almaz-Antey ($8.6bn), United Aircraft Corporation ($6.4bn), and United Shipbuilding Corporation ($5.0bn) have been ranked 10th, 14th, and 15th respectively in global arms production listing for 2017 by SIPRI.

Four Indian arms manufacturing companies are also included in top-100, with total arms sales of $7.5 billion – Indian Ordinance Factories ($2.7bn), Hindustan Aeronautics (2.6bn), Bharat Electronics ($1.4bn); and Bharat Dynamics ($880mn).

Although Indian media has been rejoicing India’s inclusion in top-100 but the fact remains that it historically has a very poor record in arms exports. To date, India has exported only small military articles such as light weapons, army uniforms, trucks etc.

Indian arms exports have still been hovering around only $400 million while it needs to import most of the components for its arms exports. The BrahMos Indian missile is made up of 65% imported components.

Last year, Indian army rejected an Indian-made riffle for a second consecutive year, after it failed the quality tests. Other Indian-made defense equipment like Arjun tanks, light combat aircrafts, and even bullet-proof jackets are inferior enough to castoff.

Nevertheless, India was the largest importer of major arms in 2013-17, accounting for 12% of global arms imports. Its arms imports had increased by 24% between 2008-12 and 2013-17, according to SIPRI.

Consequently, whether it is arms production or arms trade – it could be manifested that every year, about $400 billion of arms are bombed to kill millions by breeding conflicts and wars for global military and economic hegemony.

And South Asia, Middle East, and parts of Africa are the heart of this dirty game of the transnational powers, with the help of some regional allies – ensuring a peaceful West and an invariably destabilized East.

Tobacco Economics: $401 billion in Tax Revenues Worldwide

By: Azhar Azam

Setting aside the fatal impacts on human health by the use of tobacco, killing 7 million people every year including passive smokers – the global tobacco industry remains pivotal to many economies of the world.

The livelihoods of millions of farmers, manufacturers, retailers, and workers in the curing and processing of tobacco leaves and tobacco supply chain are linked with the lethal-but-lucrative global tobacco industry.

Cigarette is the most widely used form of tobacco – with 1.1 billion of tobacco smokers and accounting for 87% of total tobacco consumption. Asia Pacific region alone accounts for 64% of the global cigarette market.

There are 85,600 factories that manufacture tobacco products – 84,400 are located in Asia; 588 in Americas; 526 in Europe; 120 in Africa; and 6 in Oceania. Nearly 80% of all the smokers live in low and middle-income countries.

Notwithstanding enforcement of strict laws – plain packaging, smoking ban at public places, display constraints on outlets, and restriction on sales and marketing – the global cigarette market is still coping to withstand.

GLOBAL TOBACCO MARKET

The global tobacco market is currently estimated at breathtaking value of $880 billion – 87% of which or about $766 billion comes from the sale of conventional cigarettes, according to PMI tobacco economics.

In addition to more than 350 smokeless users, there are about 1.1billion tobacco consumers worldwide who smoke roughly 5.6 trillion of cigarette sticks and 40 billion of cigars or cigarillos pieces every year.

Smoking prevalence is highest in Serbia (40%) and Latvia (38%) and lowest in Ethiopia (4%) and Eretria (2%). Average cost of 20-sticks cigarette pack is highest in Australia ($16.6) and lowest in Guinea ($0.23).

The average consumption of cigarette sticks in various countries (from highest to lowest) is: Georgia (21); Greece (19); China, Germany, and Argentina (15); Nigeria (8), and Ecuador (6).

TOBACCO EXPORTS

Exports value of tobacco products is amounted at $28 billion – Cigarettes ($20 billion) being the largest; cigars and cigarillos ($2 billion); other smoking tobacco products ($4 billion); and smokeless tobacco products ($1 billion).

Germany, Poland, Singapore, the United States, and the Republic of Korea are the largest exporters of tobacco products – accounting for 42% of all exports. Japan, Italy, France, Saudi Arabia, and Spain are the leading tobacco importers.

TAXATION ON TOBACCO PRODUCTS YIELDS $401 BILLION

The taxation on tobacco products generates $401 billion in revenues for the governments worldwide. Chile (89.1%) has the highest rate of tolls per cigarette while Afghanistan (2.3%) has the lowest.

ILLICIT TOBACCO TRADE

While many economies are reaping great financial advantages from taxes on tobacco products – abrupt increase in excise rates have forced tobacco consumers to switch over to cheaper brands, ploughing the field for illicit trade.

Every year, an estimated of over 484 billion cigarettes are sold illicitly around the world. This illegal trade of counterfeit, smuggled, and non-duty paid cigarettes robs billions of dollars of national coffers.

LARGEST GLOBAL CIGARETTE MANUFACTURERS

China has the largest number of smokers in the world. Cheap cigarettes are widely available in the country, which has addicted nearly one-third of the Chinese adult population and over half of its men.

Its state-owned enterprise, China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC)’s brands such as Hongtashan, Baisha, and Double Happiness makes up 98% of all tobacco sales in China – depositing up to 11% of national taxes to China treasury.

The CNTC has the largest share in global retail cigarette market (42.6%). In 2017, the company posted record revenue of $208 billion, selling 2,369 billion cigarettes. Its export market share in global cigarette market is though 1% only.

Headquartered in Switzerland, American publicly traded company, Philip Morris International (PMI), has the biggest export share in cigarette market worldwide, accounting for 14.1% of all cigarette international sales.

Excluding the United States, PMI operates in 180 countries and sells 6 of world’s top-15 brands. Its former parent company, Altria’s Philip Morris USA, sells its brands in the US. PMI was separated from Altria in 2008.

In 2017, PMI generated $78 billion in pre-tax revenues, selling 798 units of tobacco products. Its landmark brand – Marlboro – is the world #1 cigarette brand, which cigarette unit sales equaled 270 billion in 2017.

L&M (#4), Chesterfield (#7), Philip Morris (#10), Parliament (#12), Bond Street (#15), and Lark are some of PMI’s leading international cigarette brands.

British American Tobacco (BAT) is a London-based publicly traded company that rides 11.8% of total global cigarette sales. BAT’s pre-tax revenues were $26 billion in 2017. It sold 686 billion tobacco products in the previous year.

The company’s cigarette market is driven by its five global brands – Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall (#3), and Rothmans (#6). In July 2017, BAT successfully completed the acquisition of Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) for £41.8 billion.

Japan Tobacco (fourth-largest) and Imperial Brands (fifth-largest) are the other two leading international cigarette manufacturing companies in the world with market share of 8.4% and 3.7% respectively.

Winston (#3), Camel (#5), Mevius/Mild Seven (#8), and Benson & Hedges are JP’s top international cigarette brands while Imperial Group’s leading cigarette brands are West, Davidoff, John Player Special, Gauloises Blondes.

Carestream, Trimax, Mediphot Laser Films, Colenta Printers, and Siemens CT, MR, Angiography Systems Available for Sale

S.N.	Item Description	Size (in.)	Packing	Price (PKR)
1.	Carestream DVE Laser Film	8x10	125-Sheets/Pack	Call for Pricing
2.		10x12		Call for Pricing
3.		11x14		Call for Pricing
4.		14x17		Call for Pricing
5.	Trimax TXE Laser Film	8x10	125-Sheets/Pack	Call for Pricing
6.		10x12		Call for Pricing
7.		11x14		Call for Pricing
8.		14x17		Call for Pricing
9.	Trimax TX40 Laser Imager	-	-	Call for Pricing
10.	Trimax TX55 Laser Imager	-	-	Call for Pricing
11.	Mediphot Dry Laser Film	8x10	150-Sheets/Pack	Call for Pricing
12.		10x12		Call for Pricing
13.		10x14		Call for Pricing
14.		14x17	100-Sheets/Pack	Call for Pricing
15.	Colenta Xp Dry Laser Printer	-	-	Call for Pricing
16.	Mars 1417V Wireless DR Detector	-	-	Call for Pricing
17.	Carestream/Agfa CR System (Used)	-	-	Call for Pricing
18.	Potable X-ray System (Used)	-	-	Call for Pricing
19.	Siemens CT Sensation 4, 16, 64, 128 (Used)	-	-	Call for Pricing
20.	Siemens MRI Concerto/Magnetom C! (Used)	-	-	Call for Pricing
21.	Siemens Angiography System (Used)	-	-	Call for Pricing
*Terms and Conditions Apply

By: Azhar Azam

Increasing awareness to detect disease at an early stage – to avoid higher risks of disease prevalence such as cancer, tuberculosis, hepatitis, cardiovascular and neurological disorders and many others – has driven diagnostics industry to evolve.

With the transformation in the diagnostics imaging, the computed radiography (CR) has quickly wiped out the conventional radiography from the global market. And now the more diversified digital radiography (DR) is rapidly dinning the global CR market.

Despite these global radiography makeovers, South Asia is still grappled with outdating conventional and computed radiography tools. On the other hand, the declining CR market in mature economies is helping used CR market in the region to grow.

Image Solutions, a dedicated medical imaging company, is tilling the surface for digital radiography in Pakistan by offering refurbished CR systems as well as new DR Retrofit solutions for the last 15 years, understanding the customers’ financial limitations.

In do so, the Lahore-based company introduced a revolutionary Flat Panel Detector Mars 1417V (Wireless) that upgrades existing general X-ray Machine into completely Digital Radiography System in lower cost.

The company has also a widespread install-base of used Siemens-specific Digital X-ray System, Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Angiography Systems to provide low-cost, high-quality imaging systems.

Realizing the curbs of small hospitals and diagnostic centers, Image Solutions also is selling Carestream DVE Laser Films, Trimax TXE Laser Films and Trimax TX40 and TX55 Laser Imager, Mediphot Dry Laser Films and Colenta Dry Laser Printers in the market.

In a bid to quality assurance and sound service support, Image Solutions has several customer centers in assorted cities of Pakistan where the patients are provided diagnostics services including Digital X-ray, Ultrasound, CT, and MRI scans.

At Lahore, highly equipped diagnostic center, Advanced Digital Imaging (Near Jinnah Hospital) is for nearly 15-years, providing all types of diagnostic facilities, which is itself a testimony of the quality of its offered products and back-up support.

You may contact Image Solutions at the following address, phone numbers, and emails or visit its website for further details:

IMAGE SOLUTIONS®
2/4 Gulberg Complex, Gulberg-V, Jail Road, Lahore-Pakistan
Landline: +92 35776188
Mobile (1): +92 322 4421600 (Mohammad Shuaib)
Mobile (2): +92 345 4800134 (Mohammad Shuaib)
Mobile (3): +92 331 4495801 (Ali Raza)
Mobile (4): +92 345 1442204 (Azhar Azam)
Email: mshuaib73@gmail.com
Email: axar.axam@gmail.com
Website: www.isolpk.blogspot.com

Stunting, Wasting Hits more than 200 million Children

By: Azhar Azam

Stunting or chronic undernutrition is impaired growth in children under five years of age due to limited access to food, health, and care.

Wasting or acute malnutrition is attributed to the children who are thin for their height because of acute food shortages and disease.

According to the Global Nutrition Report 2018 – 150.8 million children across the world are stunted; 50.5 million are wasted; and 38.3 million are overweight. In addition, about 20 million babies are born of low birth weight every year.

No less than 15.95 million children are affected by twin-burden, stunting and wasting – elevating the risk of child mortality. At the same time, 8.23 million children are encountered by another dual-effect of stunting and overweight.

Even though, stunting has declined in Asia from 38.1% in 2000 to 23.2% in 2017; still South Asia has the largest number of stunted children – 38.9%. WHO says that as of October 2018, 55% of stunted children globally are living in Asia and 39% are living in Africa.

Moreover, out of total of 50.5 million wasted children, more than half or 26.9 million children live in South Asia. According to WHO, a child that is wasted is 11 time more likely to die than a healthy child whereas wasting is currently killing 2 million children annually.

The study found that India as the country with the largest number of stunted children around the world – 46.6 million children – accounting for one third or close to 31% of global stunted children below the age of 5 years.

Nigeria (13.9 million) and Pakistan (10.7 million) are the next two countries, which are housing the largest stunted children. India (25.5 million), Nigeria (3.4 million), and Indonesia (3.3 million) are also the home of wasted children.

More than one-fifth of all overweight children are located in Ukraine, Albania, Libya, and Montenegro. Countries such as China, Indonesia, India, Egypt, the United States, Brazil, and Pakistan also host more than a million overweight children.

The paper further noted that anemia – deficiency in the number and quality of red blood cells or lower hemoglobin – prevails in one third of all the teenage girls and women under the reproductive age. Millions of women are still underweight.

While, the anemia problem in girls and women aged 15 to 49 years seems intractable at 32.8%, no country is on a track to achieve the anemia target, it said. Instead, 41% of the countries with high rate of anemia have no anemia target.

Only 5 countries are on track for 4 targets, 10 for 3 targets, and 44 for 1 target – out of 9 targets such as child overweight, child stunting, child wasting, exclusive breastfeeding, diabetes among women, diabetes among men, anemia in women of reproductive age, obesity among women, and obesity among men.

Outrageously, 100 out of 194 countries assessed including – the United States, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and UAE – are on track for 0 targets.

As much as 41 countries face significant multiple forms of malnutrition termed as ‘Triple Burden’ – childhood stunting, anemia (in adult women), and overweight (in adult women). Pakistan and India coexists in 26 countries with stunting and anemia while 54 countries are burdened by anemia and overweight.

In non-communicable diseases (NCDs), an alarming 422 million people are suffering from diabetes and 1.1 billion people have blood pressure. Shockingly, NCDs were responsible for 41 million deaths (71%) of total 57 million deaths in world in 2016.

Global Nutrition Targets 2025 of World Health Organization (WHO) aims at reduction of 40% stunting in children, 50% reduction in anemia, 30% reduction in low birth weight, freezing childhood overweight, at least 50% increase in the rate extensive breastfeeding, and maintain or 5% reduction in childhood wasting.

UN estimates that only $30 billion can eradicate hunger from the world and another $175 billion could end the extreme poverty from the entire planet in 20-years; the 2,043 richest holding $7.6 trillion in net wealth should come up to save our next generations.

Mars 1417V, Trimax TX40, TX55 Laser Imagers, and Trimax TXE Laser Films

By: Azhar Azam

Trimax Laser Imagers TX40 and TX55 as well as Trimax TXE Laser Film are widely used worldwide to acquire true laser image quality.

Manufactured by Carestream Health (CSH), Trimax series of Laser Imagers matches the excellent image quality of Carestream’s landmark DRYVIEW 5700 and 5950 Laser Imagers, so as the Trimax TXE Laser Film to Carestream DVE Laser Film.

The Carestream-manufactured Laser Imagers offer exceptional reliability, tabletop convenience, and low cost of ownership by meeting the financial and workplace limitations, from small diagnostic centers to large hospitals.

Trimax TX40 Laser Imager 
High Quality Laser Imaging with Tabletop Convenience

325 pixels per inch 

78 micron laser spot spacing 

up to 40 films per hour (14x17 in.) 

smaller film sizes print faster 

14x17, 11x14, 10x12, 8x10 

120 lbs. (54kg) 

Download Brochure

Trimax TX55 Laser Imager
High Quality Laser Imaging for multiple modalities

508 laser pixels per inch 

50 micron laser spot spacing 

mammography capabilities 

up to 65 films per hour (14x17 in.) 

up to 100 films per hour (8x10 in.) 

14x17, 11x14, 10x12, 8x10 

175 lbs. (79kg) 

Download Brochure

Underscoring these unique features and their user-friendly nature – Carestream’s Trimax TX40 and TX55 Laser Imagers – have quickly grabbed the trust of many medical institutions, hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers in Pakistan.

In addition, the introduction of Trimax products in Pakistan has immensely disrupted the monopolized diagnostic market in the country, which is highly dominated by Agfa, Fujifilm, and Konica Minolta.

Trimax has further provided the country’s medical imaging market a differentiated opportunity to lessen their reliance on few dominating brands and own systems at comparatively much lower cost.

Al-Shifa Traders is the authorized channel partner of Carestream Health for its Trimax products in Pakistan. The dedicated medical imaging company has prolifically increased the presence of Carestream/Trimax products in Pakistan.

The unprecedented company’s success has also driven the market to realize the value of Carestream’s other core static and mobile digital radiography solutions against the leading giants such as GE, Philips, Siemens, and Toshiba.

Pretending the declining trend of Computed Radiography (CR) throughout the world, Al-Shifa Traders introduced the low-cost quality Wireless Flat Panel Detector (FPD) Mars 1417V, manufactured by iRay Technology.

Mars 1417V
Innovative Wireless Cassette-Size Flat Panel Detector

excellent image quality 

lower radiation dose 

image preview <5 sec. 

i-Sync 2 new generation software 

easy multi-modality sharing 

always charging with backup cable 

up to continuous 300 exposures/battery 

robust wifi transmission 

calibrate with multiple X-ray Systems 

drop history record (date, time, and height) 

Download Brochure

iRay Technology is one of the major global key players in the digital radiography market for flat panel detectors. The company offers a comprehensive series of flat panel detectors suitable for DR Systems as retrofit solutions.

To date, Al-Shifa Traders has sold more than a dozen of iRay’s Mars 1417V (Wireless) DR Detector in Pakistan. Its DR panel clientage embraces leading diagnostic centers, niche hospitals, and premier medical institutions.

Dial the following cellular numbers for pricing or to know more:

Ahmad Farooq: +92 300 5866 064; farooq@alshifatraders.com

Mohammad Shuaib: +92 322 4421 600; +92 345 4800 134; mshuaib73@gmail.com

Nadeem Ahmad: +92 300 8421 013

Ahmad Zia: +92 300 8116 064

Ali Raza: +92 331 4495 801

Wasif Khan: +92 0343 4144 787

Azhar Azam: +92 345 1442 204; axar.axam@gmail.com

IDEAS 2018 Pakistan: Getting Bigger and Stronger

By: Azhar Azam

During Polish political turmoil after World War II, Wladyslaw Turowicz along with 30 other Poles joined Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on a contract of 3-years. While most of Polish airmen left Pakistan, he preferred to stay back.

Turowicz served as chief aeronautical engineer in PAF and played a vital role in Pakistan’s missile and rocket program. After his retirement as Air Commodore in 1967, he also served as Executive Director of SUPARCO through 1970.

Died in car accident in 1980, he was conferred some of the top national and military awards of Pakistan including Sitara-e-Pakistan, Tamgha-i-Pakistan, Sitara-i-Khidmat, Sitara-i-Quaid-e-Azam, and Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military).

The Polish-Pakistani aviator is greatly revered in Pakistan for his immense contributions to Pakistan defense as the country hosts its 10th edition of International Defense Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS 2018), that kicked off on November 27.

A total of 522 exhibitors from 50 countries and 262 delegations from 51 countries, including the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, South Korea, Turkey, UAE, Jordan, and Ukraine are attending the event.

The expo is also supplemented by International Defense Seminar – an interactive forum, facilitating meetings and networking sessions among high profile delegates, policy makers, diplomats, and defense procurement experts.

Conceived after Pakistan Naval Defense Show in 1999, IDEAS 2018 is demonstrating thousands of conventional-to- the most sophisticated weapons and military equipment and the technology of tomorrow.

IDEAS is a biennially-held exhibition that has pulled large number of national and international defense organizations and delegations from all around the world – providing an effective defense platform to the buyers and sellers.

Rosoboronexport, the only Russian state defense equipment manufacturing organization is showcasing their more than 200 products in the exhibition. In 2018, the company delivered weapons to over 40 countries of the world.

Pakistan will also be displaying the country’s indigenously built state-of-the-art military hardware such as main battle tanks, missiles, fighter and training aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), armored personnel carriers (APCs), and drones.

The exponential growth of IDEAS has realized as much as $300 million of Pakistan’s defense exports, mainly supported by JF-17 Thunder fighter jets and Mushshak (The Proficient) and its upgraded version, Super Mushshak (The Agile) aircrafts.

Brigadier Mumtaz Waheed, Director Coordination of Defense Exports Promotion Organization (DEPO) along with some other national defense officials revealed the numbers in a curtain-raiser event of IDEAS 2018.

Nigeria and Myanmar are some of the buyers, reportedly have placed orders for JF-17 Thunder combat aircrafts. Egypt, Malaysia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have also shown their interests in Pakistan’s low cost, highly effective fighter jet.

The top military officers from Iran and Malaysia attended the exhibition for the first time and shown advanced interest in the country’s warplane, while holding talks with the officials Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC).

Mushshak and Super Mushshak are currently being successfully operated by Pakistan army, Pakistan air force, Iran, Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), Syria, Oman, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and South Africa.

The exhibition also marked the arrival of two Russian naval ships for port calling during IDEAS 2018. Pakistan has already received four Mi-35 choppers from Russia to replace part of its aging military fleet of US AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters.

The prior IDEAS 2016 hosted 427 including 294 foreign companies from 36 countries and 88 delegations from 40 countries including the United States, Russia, France, Spain, Italy, China, Turkey, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

This stirring event is organized by Defense Export Promotion Organization (DEPO), supported by Pakistan Armed Forces, endorsed by Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), and managed by Badar Expo Solution (BXSS).