"Tidbits From TNT" Wednesday Morning 6-30-2021

TNT:

Tishwash:  Injured by security bullets in night demonstrations in southern Iraq and threats to cut off the sea route

A local source in Al-Aziziyah district of Wasit governorate reported on Wednesday that 4 protesters were wounded by security forces' bullets.

Dozens of residents of the district went out on Tuesday evening in protests against the deterioration of the reality of energy supply, which has declined significantly recently due to the increase in demand with temperatures rising to about 50 degrees Celsius and the occurrence of technical or sabotage failures in the electricity transmission and supply networks.

The source added, in his interview with Shafaq News Agency, that the injured were transferred to the judiciary hospital for the purpose of conducting a surgical intervention for them, as 3 of them are in a very critical condition.

The source also indicated that a team of protesters in the governorate center is currently heading to the judiciary, to find out the reasons for using live bullets against unarmed demonstrators, and there may be escalating developments in the judiciary in the coming hours.

In Basra, dozens of people went out late yesterday evening, with nightly protests to demand an improvement in the reality of electricity.

 Shafaq News Agency's reporter stated, "Dozens of demonstrators in Khor Al-Zubair took to the streets of the city to demand an improvement in the electricity situation, which has reached a bad level during the past days."

And he indicated, "The demonstrators threatened to cut off vital roads linking Iraq to the world through the sea, unless their demands are implemented."

And the General Company for the Distribution of South Electricity announced on Tuesday, "The occurrence of an emergency technical accident on the national grid, and the disconnection of all generating stations from work in the southern region.

She noted that work is underway to find out the reasons and work to restore the system to work.  link

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Tishwash:  The White Paper.. 64 projects and government directions to seek the assistance of international experts

Advisor to the Prime Minister, Alaa Abdul-Hussein Al-Saadi, confirmed, on Wednesday, that the white paper included 64 projects, stressing that international experts would be hired to implement them.

Al-Saadi said, according to the official media, that "the white paper issued by the Iraqi government, in its first and second parts, identified a number of oil projects to increase export capacity, increase production, increase oil refineries, design energy, gas and gas extraction through 6 well-defined projects entrusted to the Ministry of Oil."

He continued that "the white paper includes two parts, the first part of which deals with the Iraqi economic reality and the goals and strategies followed by the government and the translation of these goals and strategies through the second part issued by the government and which included the mechanisms and governance of implementation, in addition to dividing these goals into strategic projects in various ministries." Noting that "there are approximately 64 projects, and each project is divided into a number of goals that must be implemented, and set in a time period," pointing out that "there are approximately 366 goals within the projects."

He stressed that "the announcement to start implementing the white paper projects will be issued soon," noting that "some ministries have started implementing some projects, but the official announcement of the implementation has not started," explaining that "during the coming period, preparations for the implementation process will be completed."

He pointed out that "the 64 projects included in the white paper, we will use to implement them with international expertise and international organizations, in order to provide the best experiences for each project separately, and we will launch a website for the implementation of the white paper, in order to achieve transparency and announce it to people within a very soon."  link

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Tishwash:  This is in Kurdistan

PROTESTERS BLOCK DUHOK-ERBIL MAIN ROAD OVER LACK OF ELECTRICITY, SERVICES

Blocking the main road between Duhok and Erbil on Wednesday (June 30), residents of Chra community in Duhok’s Bardarash district protested about the lack of electricity in the area.

It is the latest protest related to poor public services, with similar protests taking place in Dukan, Erbil city, Penjwen, Bazian, and Kalar over the past week. Though the protests are not coordinated, with local residents acting in response to the conditions that they face every day, the causes and demands are remarkably similar.

Like the other demonstrators, the demands of the protesters in Chra community are two-fold.

First, that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) provide better and more reliable public services, like water and electricity, and create local job opportunities.

Second, that the government answer their demands in a substantive way. At many similar protests, demonstrators have told reporters that they have raised their complaints with the government many times, only to receive no response and see no action taken to address their issues.

On Wednesday, the security forces in Chra community, which are affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), broke up the demonstration and cleared the road, but local officials have not commented about the root cause of the protest.  link

Tishwash:  Associated Press: Iran has stopped electricity transmission lines to Iraq

 Aso Shed Press reported that Iran has completely shut down the electricity supply lines to Iraq in conjunction with the harsh summer wave.

The agency stated in a report translated by the "Nas" news website and followed by "Al-Iqtisad News", that "Iran has suspended its vital supplies of energy to Iraq, which fueled fears of the outbreak of protests amid a state of instability."

He added, "Iran, which is suffering from financial distress, pressured the Iraqi government to release the overdue debt, in light of the scorching temperatures, and before the elections in the country."

The report pointed to the protests that began in the south of the country following the electricity crisis, where temperatures reach 50 degrees Celsius.

And he indicated, "Iraq's dependence on Iranian energy imports has geopolitical consequences, and has been a source of ongoing tensions with the United States, and Washington has stipulated successive exemptions from sanctions - which enabled these imports to continue - provided that Iraq becomes more independent in the field of energy."

He also pointed out the impact of the crisis on the upcoming elections as a result of the expected protests.

The report said, "Outputs from four cross-border power lines from Iran to Iraq reached zero on Tuesday, according to Ministry of Electricity data."

A ministry official said, according to the report, that the overall cuts began this week. Gas and electricity imports from Iran meet up to a third of Iraq's energy requirements.

"Iraq relies heavily on Iranian energy imports, especially in the summer months," said Yasar al-Maliki, a Gulf analyst at the Middle East Economic Survey.

He added that "gas imports from Iran range between 1.5 and 1.8 billion cubic feet per day, and now, the level of supply has decreased significantly."

Iran feeds gas in Iraq through two pipelines used for power plants in Basra, Samawah, Nasiriyah and Diyala.

In Basra, the province needs 4,000 MW, but it currently receives 830 MW. "It is a disaster," Maliki said.

The report confirms that these cuts will deprive Iraqis of electricity in hospitals, companies and homes as temperatures rise.

Iraq owes Iran $4 billion for energy imports. The country's economic crisis has caused partial delays, but even for funds earmarked to pay for imports, a complex payment system aimed at evading US sanctions has slowed remittances, the report says.

Through this scheme, Iraq cannot pay for imports directly to Iran, but it can pay for goods, medicines, and other expenses related to Tehran's diplomatic mission and Iranian companies operating in Iraq. More recently, Iraq bought vaccines for Tehran.

However, Iran has complained that the money is flowing too slowly   link

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Tishwash:  Talk about the “advantages” of a citizen’s digital identity.. The Central Bank: We are close to creating an electronic collection system.

On Tuesday (June 29, 2021), the Governor of the Central Bank, Mustafa Ghaleb, announced the imminent launch of an identity that organizes the opening of an account for citizens from their homes, while referring to the creation of the electronic collection system that the bank has been working on since 2019 .

 The Media Department of the House of Representatives said in a statement received by  IQ News , “The Committee to Monitor the Implementation of the Governmental Program, headed by Representative Hazem Al-Khalidi, Chairman of the Committee, and the presence of its members, hosted today the Governor of the Central Bank, Mustafa Ghaleb, and a number of government bank managers to discuss what has been accomplished from the ministerial curriculum,” indicating that "The meeting was held in the Constitutional Hall of the House of Representatives, in the presence of a number of members of various parliamentary committees, as well as the Minister of State for Parliament Affairs, Hiyam Al-Haidari ."

 The committee indicated, according to the statement, that "it held several meetings to evaluate the work of the government and submitted in a previous period a detailed report to the House of Representatives, in which it touched on the percentages of achievement and areas of failure," noting that "the government has not yet presented its government program, which led to a lack of coordination between state institutions." different ".

 The committee presented, according to the statement, "a number of questions regarding a number of related issues that fall within the work of the Central Bank, the most prominent of which are the negative effects of the decision to raise the exchange rate, as well as the absence of the reasons and justifications mentioned for this, especially with the increase in bank sales through the currency sale window and the possibility of filling the deficit after the increase in the price of Oil, in addition to the lack of the necessary conditions to preserve the local product, the many exceptions to this, and the clear delay of the Made in Iraq project.

The stages of completion of the ministerial curriculum and the application of mechanization were discussed, in addition to the measures taken by the Central Bank and government banks regarding administrative reform .

 The committee touched on “the foundations adopted by the Central Bank in classifying banks, closing banks in violation of the law, and the consequences of raising the exchange rate on the poor and middle class, stressing the need for coordination between the government and the Central Bank to start drafting a draft law for the bank . ”

With regard to supporting housing projects and granting loans, the committee warned of the "low percentage of achievement in this area . "

 While the governor of the Central Bank praised "the effective role of the committee through exercising its supervisory role and seeking to diagnose weaknesses and work to fix them," pointing out that "all government banks are administratively affiliated to the Ministry of Finance and he has no choice in managing those banks, referring to addressing the government regarding that The central bank has a role in choosing the management of governmental and private banks .

 And the Governor of the Central Bank indicated that “the banking sector in Iraq went through two important turns, the first in 2012 and the other in 2019 that led to a rise in the granting of licenses to banking companies and banks,” noting that “the bank demanded the government to automate the border crossings to control the imports of the ports, which are considered after oil in terms of importance ."

 The Governor of the Central Bank pointed out that "the imminent establishment of an electronic collection system, which the bank has been working on since 2019, in addition to working on the digital identity that organizes the opening of an account for citizens from their homes and the transition from paperwork to the (Digital Bank ) system ."

 For their part, the bank managers gave an explanation regarding the questions and inquiries raised by the deputies about the banking system, stressing that "there are problems facing a number of banks that need actual reforms."

 Also during the meeting, the President of the Republic recommended that "counting and sorting processes be electronic as well as manual in every electoral station."   link

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Mot  -- Gunna be One of Those Daze!! --- I Can Just Tell!! ~~~