Month: May 2022

The shipments of Russian metallurgical coal to China increased to nearly 49 per cent in April from a month earlier, Sputnik reported, citing the commodity analytics firm Kpler.

Russia has been diverting coal shipments eastward as European markets continue to close over the fighting in neighboring Ukraine.

Moreover, the cargo-tracking data shows that China imported 1.37 million tonnes of Russian coking coal last month, up from 922,000 tonnes in March and 750,000 tonnes in April last year, the Brussels-based company stated.

Ilya Makarov, the director of the corporate ratings at Moscow-based rating agency ACRA, however, warned that the Asian shift was straining Russia’s rail freight capabilities and risked pushing down coal prices in the Asian market.

The lure of cheaper energy, in the form of gas, coal, and oil, and low-cost wheat from Russia far outweighs the fear of sanctions as China has decided to make deals with Russia as long as it can.

China has taken full advantage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, grabbing the huge discount offered by Moscow on coking coal which is used in steel mills, as Japan and the European Union have curbed imports leaving the Russian companies scrambling for buyers. (ANI)

Pakistani artists Ali Sethi and Shae Gill’s track ‘Pasoori’ from Coke Studio’s season 14 has become the internet’s favourite. Actor-singer Shehnaaz Gill also could not resist flaunting her love for the soulful track.

On Thursday, Shehnaaz took to Instagram and dropped a video in which she is seen grooving to the song.
In a simple and casual red outfit, Shehnaaz looked mesmerizing as she aced the ‘Pasoori’ trend.

From spreading her arms wide to smelling the fragrance of fresh flowers in her balcony, Shehnaaz beautifully captured the essence of ‘Pasoori’ with her moves.

“Aa chale lekar tujhe, hai Jahan silsile,” she captioned the clip.

Shehnaaz’s version of the ‘Pasoori’ trend has left netizens in awe of her beauty.

“Haye so beautiful,” a social media user commented.

“You look so so so adorable,” another one wrote.

Meanwhile, on the work front, if reports are to be believed, Shehnaaz is all set to make her Bollywood debut opposite Salman Khan in ‘Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali’. (ANI)

Actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra, on Thursday, announced she would be taking a break from social media for a while.

Taking to Instagram, Shilpa stated that is going off social media for a while as she is ‘bored of the monotony’. “Soooo bored of the monotony, everything looking the same… going off social media till I find a new avatar,” she wrote.

Alongside the note, Shilpa uploaded an all-black photo, leaving fans confused.

“What happened?” a social media user commented.

“Is everything fine?” another one wrote.

A section of social media assumed that it appeared to be a promotional stunt.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Shilpa will be seen in ‘Nikamma’ and ‘Sukhee’. She is also a part of Rohit Shetty’s Amazon Prime series ‘Indian Police Force’. (ANI)

The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court on Thursday rejected the plea seeking to open 22 closed rooms in the Taj Mahal to ascertain the presence of the idols of Hindu deities.

The hearing seeking an investigation over 22 rooms of the Taj Mahal concluded on Thursday.

The plea was filed by Rajneesh Singh, a BJP youth media in-charge, before the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court that sought the directions to the Archaeological Survey of India to probe the 22 closed doors in the Taj Mahal to ascertain the presence of the idols of Hindu deities.

The plea sought the constitution of a fact-finding committee and the submission of a report by the ASI. The plea also cited the claims by some historians and some Hindu groups about the monument being an old Shiva Temple. (ANI)

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant any interim relief in a matter pertaining to the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) initial public offering (IPO) issue and issued notice to the Centre on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of provisions of certain sections of Finance Act, 2021 and certain provision of LIC Act 1956.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and PS Narasimha asked the Centre to file a reply on various petitions. But the bench said, “We are of the view that no case of interim relief has been made out. No interim relief granted.”
The Court also tagged the matter with the proceedings before the Constitution Bench as the petitions also raised issues regarding the enactment of law as a money bill.

One of the petitioners in the matter has challenged the order of the Madras High Court while other one has challenged Bombay High Court order.

The petitioner in Madras High Court was filed by L Ponnammal, a LIC policyholder, challenging the passing of the Finance Act, 2021 as a money bill and as the petitioner stated that the provisions were introduced by a Money Bill despite amendment does not fall in the category of Money Bill.

The petition sought to declare sections 128 to 146 of the Finance Act, 2021 as ultra vires Article 110 of the Constitution of India or alternatively declare Section 5(9) of the LIC Act 1956 and Section 128 to 130 Section 132 to 146 of the Finance Act, 2021 as ultra vires Article 110 of the Constitution of India or alternatively declare section 140 of the Finance Act, 2021 as ultra vires Article 110 of the Constitution of India. (ANI)

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has requested Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to reschedule the NEET-PG examination, which is scheduled to be held on May 21.

The IMA in its letter to the Health Minister on Wednesday said, “The NEET-PG 2021 was held five months after the scheduled date in the month of September 2021. Then the counselling scheduled to begin from October 25, 2021, was also initiated (in January 2022) after a delay due to a pending decision on seat reservations and was further delayed owing to the Supreme Court ruling of March 31, 2022, which ordered cancellation and conduct of special round of counselling for the mop-up round.”
“As a result of the delayed counselling schedule, NEET PG 2022 was deferred from April 2022 to May 2022, so that the candidates could appear for the final stray vacancy round of NEET PG 2021 and can still have plenty of time for preparation and reappearance for the next NEET PG 2022 exam if they failed to secure a seat this year. However, the AIQ Counselling anticipated to be completed by the end of March 2022, is still in process and is uncertain if it will end by May 7. The several States will also be finishing the counselling around the middle of May 2022,” it said.

Highlighting the delay in All India Quota (AIQ) counselling for NEET PG 2021, IMA said that the difference between the NEET PG 2022 exam date and the completion of 2021 counselling is too short for an aspirant to prepare and appear for such an extremely difficult exam like NEET-PG.

“Another innocent five to ten thousand interns, who served as COVID warriors during COVID-19 pandemic, are ineligible to appear for NEET-PG due to delay in completion of their final examination and consequently their internship beyond eligibility criteria set for the examination,” the IMA said.

Pointing out various scenarios and Supreme Court judgments on the timetable for postgraduate courses, the IMA stressed the need to defer NEET 2022 examinations as it “concerns career paths of lakhs of medical graduates”.

“Since the NEET PG 2022 examination date is 21st May 2022, we request your timely intervention and urgent consideration of postponement of the NEET PG 2022 for a reasonable period of time, so that, the current NEET PG 2021 aspirants have adequate time to prepare and appear for the upcoming NEET-PG 2022 examination and the eligibility of all interns is also ensured,” the IMA said.

“We are sure that the issue shall be dealt with urgency by granting the prayer as made herein above in larger academic and societal interest as a whole,” it further said. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday stressed on 100 per cent coverage of the welfare schemes and said that saturation is his dream.

The Prime Minister added that saturation leaves no space for appeasement politics.
“My dream is saturation. We should move towards 100 per cent coverage. Government machinery should get used to this and a belief should be generated among the citizens,” he said while addressing ‘Utkarsh Samaroh’ virtually.

“The country has made this resolve to cover 100 per cent of the beneficiaries. When there is 100 per cent coverage of schemes, the appeasement politics come to an end. There remains no space for it,” PM Modi added.

The Prime Minister also highlighted the motive of his government as it moves to complete eight years at the Centre, and said that his tenure has been dedicated to service, good governance and welfare of the poor.

The Prime Minister recalled his life in Gujarat spent with the people of the state and said that it is due to his experience here that he is working for the country as a member of the family.

“The eight years of my government at the Centre have been dedicated to service, good governance and welfare of the poor. Whatever I am able to do today, I have learnt it all near you. I have experienced poverty, pain, development and troubles with extreme proximity while living among you. It is through that experience that I am working for the citizens of this country as a member of the family. It is the government’s effort that the deserving beneficiary should not be left behind from the government schemes,” the Prime Minister said.

He further said that his government is moving ahead with “new commitment and energy” as it inches closer to completing eight years at the Centre. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday got emotional while interacting with the daughter of a beneficiary of the government schemes who was visually challenged.

The Prime Minister, while interacting with the beneficiary, asked him if he imparts education to his daughters, to which the latter said that one of the three daughters wanted to become a doctor.

PM Modi asked the reason for the daughter to choose the medical profession as a career, to which she said, “I want to become a doctor because of the problem that my father is suffering from”.

Getting emotional on the response of the girl, the Prime Minister maintained a few moments of silence and lauded her strength.

“Your compassion is your strength,” he said.

The Prime Minister was virtually addressing a gathering, Utkarsh Samaroh, in Gujarat’s Bharuch. (ANI)

As many as 25 people were injured after a passenger plane veered off the runway during take-off and caught fire at an airport in southwest China’s Chongqing on Thursday, lcoal media reported.

The passenger plane operated by Tibet Airlines was carrying 113 passengers and nine crew members were on board, Xinhua reported citing airport sources as saying.

All passengers aboard the plane were evacuated and the injured were rushed to the hospital for treatment.

The cause of the incident remains unknown.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)

Crime Branch of Delhi Police has arrested a sergeant of the Indian Air Force (IAF) for allegedly leaking sensitive information about defence installations.

The IAF officer was arrested on May 6 for espionage charges.
The official, police said, was honey-trapped by a woman and allegedly ended up sharing sensitive information with her.

The arrested Sergeant has been identified as Devendra Kumar Sharma, who belongs to Kanpur and was working as an Administrative Assistant (GD) at Air Force Record Office at Suboroto Park, New Delhi.

A senior police officer said, “On May 6, a team of Crime Branch from Delhi police received inputs about suspicious activities of a Sergeant of the Indian Air Force. It was informed that the MN has been honey-trapped and has made available some classified information to his contact, suspected to belong to some other country.”

The police said that there is a suspicion of the hand of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI in this whole work.

Acting on this input, a team zeroed in on Sharma and he was arrested. “Further probe revealed that Sharma had leaked the sensitive information about defence installations and Air Force personnel through the electronic means to the agent of adversary country after deceitfully obtaining the said documents from the computers and other files. He had also received money, from the agent of the adversary country, for leaking the information,” said the officer.

The police have also found some suspicious transactions in the bank account of the accused’s wife.

Delhi police have now booked Sharma under the Official Secrets Act (OSA). During further investigation, incriminating evidences such as electronic gadgets and documents etc. were seized and the accused was arrested in the case.

“Investigation of the case is going on to unearth the whole conspiracy and to track the person who was in touch with Sharma. It has been found that the number that Sharma was getting calls from was of an Indian service provider. Hence, the details of the number have also been sought and further probe is underway,” the officer added.

Further investigation is underway. (ANI)