Junior Digest

Islamabad : Pope Francis is set to visit Pakistan this year on his first-ever trip to the Islamic nation, officials said on Thursday.

The invitation by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the Head of Catholic Church was extended by Ports and Shipping Minister Kamran Michael – the only Christian minister in the current government – and Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Yusuf during a meeting in Vatican last month.

Officials said that Pope accepted the invitation extended on behalf of Sharif.

“It is true that Pope has accepted the invitation and the dates of the trip will be finalised by mutual consultation,” an official of religious ministry said.

He said the Pope will meet Prime Minister Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain.

He will also hold extensive interactions with the minority Christian community of the country, majority of them Catholic, besides visiting a Church.

Christians of Pakistan are pushing to declare Shahbaz Bhatti, killed in 2011 for demanding reform in the country’s controversial blasphemy laws, as a saint and they expect some positive gesture by the Pope during the visit.

@ Agency report.

International group of academics to propose those on frontline of refugee crisis be commended for their ‘empathy and self-sacrifice’

“We live in a world where there are a lot of conflicts and where there are also a certain number of processes that are heading in a more positive direction.”

“Clearly, this has inspired a lot of people to exercise their right to nominate someone,” he added.

There were 228 individuals and 148 organisations nominated, the institute said.

The names on the list will remain a secret for at least 50 years, unless those who nominated them – MPs and cabinet ministers, former laureates, and some university professors, among others – decide to publicly reveal their candidate.

As a result, known to be on the list are US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, the Colombian peace process negotiators, Pope Francis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, residents of the Greek islands helping migrants, and US actress and activist Susan Sarandon.

The list also includes Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, Nadia Murad, a Yazidi abducted by Islamic State fighters in August 2014 from her village in Iraq and held for three months as a sex slave, and the Afghan Cycling Federation women’s team, nominated by a group of Italian MPs hailing the bicycle as environmental, economic and democratic.

The five-member Nobel Committee which selects the winner held its first meeting on Monday, during which members were able to nominate candidates of their own choice.

The name or names of the laureate – there can be a maximum of three – will be announced on 7 October.

Last year, the prize went to four Tunisian groups that rescued the country’s transition to democracy.

@Agency report.

There are clear indications in the Union Budget 2016 that the Government intents to support the National Pension System (NPS). The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) had been asking the government to make NPS tax-free as is the case with other pension products.

Though the government has not conceded to that demand, it has brought pension products at par as far as tax treatment goes. The big change in the budget announcement was that the NPS, which was taxable on maturity, has now been made partially tax exempt, and the EPF and superannuation funds, which were tax-free on maturity, are now partially taxable. In the case of NPS, 40% of the maturity proceeds from the financial year (FY) 2016-17 is exempt from tax.

The NPS is a defined contribution system in which you contribute every year till 60 years of age. At 60 the amount is available for withdrawal, since it’s a dedicated pension product, 40% of the corpus on maturity has to be annuitised. Annuity is a pension product that gives you periodic income during the retirement years. The remaining 60% can be had as lump sum. The budget has announced that withdrawal up to 40% of the corpus at the time of retirement will be tax exempt in the case of NPS.

While Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)  has reasons to celebrate, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has reasons to be worried. The budget has further announced that in case of superannuation funds and recognized provident funds, including the EPF, the same norm of 40% of the corpus to be tax-free will now apply in respect of the corpus created out of contributions made in the products after 1 April 2016. However, this restriction shall not be applicable to an employee participating in a recognised provident fund and whose monthly salary does not exceed `15,000.

@Agency report.

Tamil actor-comedian Kumarimuthu died in Chennai on Sunday at a private hospital. He was 77.

“He passed away on Sunday night at Kauvery hospital due to some age-related ailments,” said a source close to the actor.

Known for his comic roles, Kumarimuthu starred in nearly 50 films in his career spanning over three-decades. He was best known for his signature laugh.

Some of his best films are Idhu Namma Aalu, Sahadevan Mahadevan, Oru Oorla Oru Rajakumari and Marumagan.

@Agency report.

Kolkata: In recognition of his contribution to the world of alternate cinema, veteran filmmaker Mrinal Sen will be honoured with an honorary doctorate by the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur.

“Each year we choose eminent personalities from arts, culture, sports, etc for our honorary DLitt. This year we have decided to give it to filmmaker Mrinal Sen and classical vocalist Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty,” IIEST registrar Dr Biman Bandyopadhyay told PTI.

The institute’s second convocation ceremony would be held at its Howrah campus, adjoining Kolkata, on Friday.

Sen, who turns 94 in May this year, is however unlikely to be personally present at the convocation due to age related issues.

Regarded as a pioneer of the alternative cinema movement in India, he has won four National Film Awards as the best director for works like “Khandhar” (1984) and “Bhuvan Shome” (1969).

In 2005, he was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest award in cinema.

@Agency report.

Mumbai: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, whose remarks on intolerance had kicked up a political storm last year, today said freedom of speech also means the right to be silent.

He was speaking at the trailer launch of his upcoming movie ‘Fan’ here.

When asked about his experience after his remarks on intolerance, Shah Rukh said, “When I would watch Mumbai Indians’ match against KKR, the only one appeal I would make is ‘Out’…I am not getting into this. Freedom of speech means the right to keep silence also. I am very silent about this.”

On his 50th birthday in November last year, Shah Rukh had said there was “extreme intolerance” in the country. “There is intolerance, there is extreme intolerance… there is I think… there is growing intolerance,” he had said.

However, his remarks kicked up a controversy with several BJP members criticising him. His film ‘Dilwale’ also faced demonstrations in parts of the country.

However, the actor had later claimed that he never said India is intolerant and that his words were misconstrued.

@Agency report.

Mr. Cameron is staging a referendum to try to end his party’s feuding over Europe. He is giving the U.K. a vote in the hope that a decision to remain in Europe will close the matter. In his renegotiations, he wasn’t able to limit the free movement of EU nationals, which is seen as a fundamental principle of the Union and is non-negotiable for many member states. But he has managed to restrict some welfare benefits for new migrants from within the EU: ‘thin gruel’ in the eyes of his critics; a good deal for Britain, according to the Prime Minister’s backers.

‘In’ versus ‘out’

The main opposition parties — Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish nationalists — all support continued membership of the EU, though with different degrees of enthusiasm. The business lobby is also largely in favour of staying in. Mr. Cameron hopes that this awkward alliance will be sufficient to deliver him victory.

Ranged against him, as well as much of his own party, is the right-wing U.K. Independence Party which attracted almost four million votes in last year’s general election. And now Mr. Johnson has given the ‘leave’ camp the one thing it lacked — a flamboyant campaigner to lead the anti-EU charge.

Mr. Johnson argues that the EU is taking too much sovereignty away from the Westminster Parliament and diminishing Britain’s greatest achievement: its democracy.

In the eyes of his critics, Mr. Johnson is advocating withdrawal from the EU not out of principle, but to position himself to replace Mr. Cameron. The Prime Minister has already said he will step down before the 2020 general election; he would probably have to go straight away if he suffers defeat in June.

It is still likely that the referendum will endorse Britain’s continued place in Europe — but with one of the biggest hitters in politics now raining down blows on the EU, there is a real uncertainty about the outcome. One thing is clear — Britain faces a tempestuous few months until referendum day.

@Article by Andrew Whitehead published in The Hindu on 2 March 2016.

A Nasa spokesperson said: “The company will develop baseline aircraft requirements and a preliminary aircraft design, with specifications, and provide supporting documentation for concept formulation and planning.

“This documentation would be used to prepare for the detailed design, building and testing of the QueSST jet. Performance of this preliminary design also must undergo analytical and wind tunnel validation.”

Depending on funding a scaled-down version of the aircraft might start flight tests by 2020, Nasa said.

@Agency report.

 New Delhi : Mumbai-based writer Jerry Pinto is among this year’s nine recipients of the Windham-Campbell Prizes at Yale University for literary achievements.

The winners, chosen in three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and drama, will each receive $1,50,000 to support their work.

Pinto was selected in the fi­ction section for his novel “Em and the Big Hoom”. The jury said his writing is deeply empathetic, humorous, and humane, drawing on personal experience to tell stories much larger than the lives they contain.

On “Em and the Big Hoom”, it said, “This semi-autobiographical novel, which Salman Rushdie called ‘one of the very best books to come out of India in a long, long time’, tells the story of an unnamed narrator’s slow, painful attempt to come to terms with his mother’s bipolar disorder and suicidal tendencies”.

“In addition to telling a persuasive coming-of-age story, ‘Em and the Big Hoom’ offers an acute exploration of the impact of mental illness on intimate relationships, as well as a window into the fraught lives of the Goan Christians of Mumbai,” it said.

Established in 2013 with a gift from the late novelist Donald Windham in memory of his partner of 40 years, Sandy M Campbell, the prizes recognise writers from any country who write in English.

Past recipients include the late James Salter, Naomi Wallace, and Teju Cole. In 2017, the prizes will expand to include poetry.

The recipients will gather at Yale in September for an international literary festival celebrating their work.

@Agency report.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said inspection of accounts and records of Greenpeace India, was conducted on the basis of inputs that provisions of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) 2010 were being violated.

During the inspection, he said, a number of violations were noticed, including transfer of foreign contribution to other than FCRA-designated bank accounts, under reporting and repeatedly mentioning incorrect amount of foreign contribution received, thus violating Section 33 of the FCRA 2010.

Under this section a person is liable for action if he or she knowingly gives false intimation or seeks prior permission or registration by means defraud, false representation or concealment of material fact.

The other violations by the NGO include incurring more than 50 per cent of foreign contribution on administrative expenditure, foreign NGO funding legal costs not only of bail but also of writ petitions of Indian NGOs and their activists, he said.

“After serving show cause notice and providing reasonable opportunity, registration of Greenpeace India was cancelled on September 2, 2015,” Rijiju said in a written reply.

Replying to another question, the minister said registration of 4,138 NGOs was cancelled in July 2012 and those of 10,117 in March 2015 after issuance of show cause notices to such associations and giving them adequate opportunity. After inspections and scrutiny of accounts for serious violations, 17 cases were referred to CBI and 10 to State police for further investigation and prosecution.

Accounts of 23 NGOs have been frozen and 20 NGOs were prohibited from receiving foreign contribution. In 2014, penalty amounting to Rs. 5.20 crore was imposed on 341 NGOs for late or non-submission of mandatory annual returns and Rs. 51.99 lakh on 24 NGOs for receipt and utilisation of foreign contribution without obtaining registration of prior permission under the FCRA, Rijiju added.

@Agency report.

New Delhi: Creation of a Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) to finance educational institutions to ensure 20 such places of learning emerge as world class and opening of 62 Navodaya Vidyalayas are among the announcements of the Union Budget 2016-17 presented today.

The Union HED Ministry also witnessed a sharp increase in its budgetary allocation.

The Department of School Education and Literacy has got an allocation of Rs 43,554 crore in the financial year 2016-17 as compared to Rs 42,186 crore as per the revised estimates for 2015-16.

The Department of Higher Education was allocated Rs 25,399 crore for the year 2015-16 while it Rs 28,840 crore for the year 2016-17.

In his budget speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced creation of a Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) with an initial capital base of Rs 1,000 crore which will leverage funds from the market and work to create infrastructure in India’s top institutions like IITs.

HEFA, Jaitley said, will be a not-for-profit organisation that will leverage funds from the market and supplement them with donations and CSR funds.

“These funds will be used to finance improvement in infrastructure in our top institutions and will be serviced through internal accruals,” he said.

Jaitley also spoke about creating a regulatory architecture for ten public and ten private institutions to emerge as world-class teaching and research institutions.

He said that after universalisation of primary education throughout the country, the government wants to take the next big step forward by focusing on the quality of education.

An increasing share of allocation under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will be allocated for this, he said.

“An enabling regulatory architecture will be provided to 10 public and 10 private institutions to emerge as world-class Teaching and Research Institutions. This will enhance affordable access to high quality education for ordinary Indians. A detailed scheme will be formulated,” he said.

The Finance Minister also proposed to establish a digital depository for School Leaving Certificates, College Degrees, Academic Awards and Mark sheets on the pattern of a Securities Depository.

“This will help validate their authenticity, safe storage and easy retrieval,” Jaitley said.

He also declared that 62 new Navodaya Vidyalayas will be opened in the remaining uncovered districts over the next two years.

@Agency report.

Srinagar : Kashmir’s major tourist attraction, the Tulip Garden, with 10 lakh bulbs spread over 20 acres, is witnessing early budding and blooming, forcing the State Floriculture to advance the official opening the garden.

Situated at an altitude of 5,600 feet, the Tulip Garden, curated by former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at the foothills of Zabarwan in Srinagar, came as a shot in the arm for the Tourism Department in 2008. It attracted 12 lakh footfalls in 2012 and is fast emerging as a major spring season attraction for tourists across the country.

However, with day temperatures this year hovering around 20 degrees Celsius in February for the first time in 76 years — a good 10 degrees above normal — the garden is witnessing fast budding.

Around 1000 bulbs are at an advanced budding stage already. Most bulbs may flower by the second week of March if the weather stays as warm ,” said Imran Ahmad, Assistant Floriculture Officer.

Mr. Ahmad said the garden recorded early blooming in 2008 when it was thrown open around March 25. “However, for the past three years, the garden has been opened only around April 1. In the recent past, Netherlands  saw a delayed blooming by a month. The flowering is subject to weather and this year it may advance in the Valley by around 10-15 days,” he said.

With its origin in Persia, the tulip has travelled a long way to add colour and charm to the Valley. Kashmir’s tulip garden, compared to Holland’s Keukenhof, hosts more than 70 varieties of different colours, which bloom in the last week of March. The blooming extends till May.

Last year, despite rumours of floods, around 1.2 lakh tourists visited the garden during the blooming season. The footfall was around 1.6 lakh in 2014. Crafts and food festivals are organised during the tulip season, creating a festive atmosphere.

@Based on the Hindu report.

New Delhi: Aiming to change the perception about running in the country, ‘Great India Run’, the first multi-city ultra marathon, will see 12 elite marathoners traversing through six states and cover a distance of 1480 kms from Delhi to Mumbai in 18 days.
The event will be flagged off at the capital’s iconic India Gate on July 3 and conclude in Mumbai’s Gateway of India on July 20.

Conceptualised by ProSportify, which was behind the Pro Wrestling League, is backed by celebrity runner and former supermodel Milind Soman, who, at 50, successfully completed the Ironman Triathlon — one of the world’s most toughest races — in Zurich, and actress Gul Panag.

The cross-country run will witness 12 Indian and international runners set a new record for the fastest time, covering a distance of 1480 kms.

The inaugural edition of the run will see athletes Arun Bhardwaj, Mathias Jorgensen, Siddharth Choudhary, David Slotsgaard Bredo, Yuri Esperson, Lisa Stoddart, Meenal Sukhija, Satish Gujaran, Ranjana Deopa, Naresh Bharadwaj, Dinesh Heda and Joginder Chandna, participating.

In his late 40s, Arun is the most well-known among the Indian runners competing in the event.

Bhardwaj, last April, finished the 250km ‘non-stop’ 40-hour run from New Delhi to Chandigarh, besides covering Kargil to Kanyakumari.

The ‘Great India Run’ has partnered with mobile fitness start-up, MobieFit, creators of a free running & fitness training app which allow runners to get marathon-ready. Panag is a co-founder of the app.

The app also has a virtual TGIR challenge and users can participate remotely from wherever they are in the country and contribute to the cause by accumulating running distances.

The ultra-marathon has also joined hands with GoSports Foundation, who will be generating funds which will be further donated to the country’s deserving Olympians.

The event is a call to all citizens, to join the movement towards a healthier and fitter lifestyle, and join the ultra marathoners for either a 5km or 21km run in their cities — Gurgaon, Jaipur, Udaipur and Ahmedabad.

@Agency report.

Islamabad: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was today hailed in Pakistan for being a “source of inspiration” to all women of her country by winning the prestigious Oscar, her second, for her new documentary dealing with the sensitive topic of honour killings.

President Mamnoon Hussain termed Chinoy’s choice of the subject as “heroic”.

“Sharmeen had performed a heroic deed by highlighting an important social issue. She deserves congratulation for this,” Hussain said.

Chinoy, 37, was today awarded the Oscar for the documentary “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” which tells the story of a girl who was shot in the face and thrown in a river for marrying a man of her choice.

18-year-old Saba, who fell in love and eloped, was targeted by her father and uncle but survived to tell her story.

“Every year, more than 1,000 girls and women are the victims of religiously motivated honour killings in Pakistan, especially in rural areas,” the Oscars website said.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs (SAPM) Syed Tariq Fatemi also congratulated Chinoy for winning the best documentary short award at the 88th Academy Awards at a ceremony held at Los Angles, United States.

“It was a matter of pride for the nation that a daughter of Pakistan had yet again, achieved this distinction, which was a source of inspiration for all Pakistani women,” he said.

He appreciated the invaluable contribution made by Chinoy for promoting the concept of rights of women in Pakistan through her art by drawing attention to socially challenging issues.

Earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated her for the Oscar nomination and also organised a special screening of her documentary at his office exactly a week ago.

Sharif said on the occasion that “there was no honour in honour killing” and reiterated his government’s unequivocal resolve to ensure women’s rightful place in society, as well as to bring an end to violence against women.

This is the second win for Chinoy, who previously bagged the Oscar in the same category in 2012 for “Saving Face”, a documentary which dealt with another important issue of acid throwing on women in Pakistan.

@Agency report.

Tributes flowed on Thursday for former New Zealand cricket captain Martin Crowe, who died after a long battle with cancer. He was 53.

Widely considered New Zealand’s finest batsman, Crowe was initially diagnosed with follicular lymphoma in 2012 before the disease went into remission.

Crowe’s funeral will be held in Auckland on March 11.

After making his first class debut as a teenager, Crowe played the first of his 77 tests against Australia in 1982. He went on to score 5,444 runs at an average of 45.36 with 17 centuries, still a record for the country.

He had a top-score of 299, falling a single short of becoming the first New Zealander to score a test triple century, against Sri Lanka in 1991.

That mark stood until Brendon McCullum scored 302 against India in 2014.

The elegant right-hander also scored 4,704 runs at an average of 38.55 in one-day internationals.

@Agency news.

Police spokeswoman Goldie Lou Siega said: “We have no evidence of a second person aboard and no weapon was found on the yacht,” reported AFP. Dr Mark Benecke, a forensic criminologist in the city of Cologne, told German newspaper Bild: “The way he is sitting seems to indicate that death was unexpected, perhaps from a heart attack”.

A second sailor, who the German had met in 2009, added: “He was a very experienced sailor. I don’t believe he would have sailed into a storm. I believe the mast broke after Manfred was already dead.”

When the fishermen found Bajorat’s mummified body, old family photo albums and tins of food where around him and most of the cabin was underwater. It is believed a mixture of the high temperature, dry winds sand salty air had helped preserve Bajorat’s body.

His body was discovered near the radio telephone on the 40ft yacht called Sayo, as if he was trying one last desperate mayday call.

The tragic sailor has also penned a haunting final message to his wife Claudia, who died from cancer in 2010.

The note read: “Thirty years we’re been together on the same path. Then the power of the demons was stronger than the will to live.

“You’re gone. May your soul find its peace. Your Manfred.”

It is not clear how long he had been dead and for how many years his yacht had been drifting.

The mast was broken and much of the cabin was underwater, but what killed the skipper is unclear.

Dry ocean winds, hot temperatures and the salty air helped preserve his body. He was identified by paperwork found on the vessel.

@Agency report.

Aurangabad: Former National 6Reds runner-up Rahul Sachdev clinched his maiden title by winning the 1st All India Open Invitational Snooker Championship here.

Sailing in cue sports since last five years, Rahul had achieved the highest by reaching the National 6Reds final in the year 2013. Winning the All India level Invitation tournament is a major breakthrough and certainly will raise his confidence in the years to come.

In the final, Rahul defeated current national 6Reds no.4 Pushpender Singh of Railways 5-3. Though Pushpender emerged as a strong contender and had lost only one frame before reaching the final, Rahul scored a break of 104.

However, Rahul went down by two frames but after that he capitalised in his own style and won the title 5-3. (Frame Score 110(104)-23, 24-70, 32-83, 62-64, 65-08, 84-06, 71-63, 98-49).

Before reaching the final, Rahul ousted Laxman Rawat (Railways) 5-1 whereas Pushpender Singh knocked out Kamal Chawla of Railways 5-1.

@Agency report.

New Delhi: As many as 106 sports persons have so far been given financial assistance under the ambitious Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme of the government, which funds medal prospect athletes for top-class training and preparation for the quadrennial Games.

Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said in his written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha that “an amount of Rs 48882.50 lakh has been allocated for TOP Scheme from NSDF”.

“106 sportspersons have been selected as on date for giving them financial assistance under Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme, which is being implemented within the ambit of National Sports Development Fund (NSDF),” Sonowal said in his reply.

“The source of fund in the NSDF is the contribution from various sources and Government of India’s matching contribution. Sufficient funds are available in the NSDF for the purpose,” he added.

Out of the 106 sportspersons for whom funds have been allocated, 26 are from athletics, a discipline which has not won a single medal in the Olympics so far, followed by shooters (19), archers (16), shuttlers (10), boxers (10), wrestlers (9), para-athletes (9), tennis players (3), two sailors, one gymnast and one swimmer.

Prominent sportspersons among TOP Scheme beneficiaries include shooters Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Jitu Rai, Heena Sidhu and Apurvi Chandela, archer Deepika Kumari, shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu, boxers M C Mary Kom, Vijender Singh and Sarita Devi, tennis players Sania Mirza, Leander Paes, and wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt.

Four sportspersons — Bindra, Narang and fellow shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu, and discus thrower Vikas Gowda — have the highest allocations of Rs 112.50 lakh.

Shuttlers Saina, Sindhu, P Kashyap and K Srikanth are in the second highest slab of Rs 90 lakh while discus thrower Seema Punia, boxers Mary Kom, Vijender, Sarita and Devendro Singh, shooters Vijay Kumar, Heena Sidhu, Jitu Rai and P N Prakash, and wrestlers Sushil, Yogeshwar and Amit Kumar have been allocated Rs 75 lakh.

Among those who have been allocated Rs 60 lakh are Saina, Paes and Rohan Bopanna.

@Agency news.

Panama City : Emirates Airline, which was scheduled to launch what it called the world’s longest non- stop flight this month between Dubai and Panama City, has said it was postponing those plans for around a year.

The launch, which had been slated for March 31, will now occur in late 2016 or early 2017 due to “operational factors,” the Dubai airline said in a statement released in Panama yesterday.

Emirates announced in August that it would launch the world’s longest flight, at 17 hours and 35 minutes between the two trading hubs, making Panama the airline’s first destination in Central America.

The company had said it would offer a daily flight to Panama’s capital aboard a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, which can also carry up to 15 tonnes of cargo.

However, the company said that upon extensive review, it would now postpone the flight after “considering all operational factors, including fleet utilization and commercial demand.”

Among the world’s other longest flights are one connecting Dallas to Sydney (almost 17 hours), Johannesburg to Atlanta (16 hours, 40 minutes), and Dubai to Los Angeles (16 hours 35 minutes).

Previously, the longest flight, lasting almost 19 hours, linked Singapore and New York and was operated by Singapore Airlines. But it was suspended in 2013 to cut costs.

Emirates said it remained enthusiastic about linking its airline network to the region and would keep its staff in Panama.

Meanwhile yesterday German airline Lufthansa launched a direct flight to Panama, which the company said was its first to Central America.

The flight, which connects Panama City and Frankfurt, will be made five times a week by an Airbus A340-300 with a 298-passenger capacity.

SAO PAULO : Brazil’s Health Ministry says it’s received reports of 5,909 cases of microcephaly since the Zika virus outbreak started in October. But only 641 of those have been confirmed so far.

The ministry’s latest figures show 1,046 of the reported cases have been discarded and the remaining 4,222 cases are still being investigated.

Microcephaly is a rare defect that causes newborns to have unusually small heads and damaged brains.

Before the outbreak, authorities said that on average Brazil had about 150 reported cases a year, though some investigators think the actual number of cases was far greater.

Researchers are trying to determine if Zika is linked to microcephaly, which also can also be caused by factors such as syphilis, rubella or toxoplasmosis.

@Agency report.