Month: June 2022

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday sought postponement “by a few weeks” for appearing before the Enforcement Directorate till complete recovery from Covid-19 and a lung infection.

Sonia Gandhi had been undergoing treatment at Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital from June 12 was discharged on June 20. She had developed profuse bleeding from the nose following the COVID infection and had also underwent a follow-up surgery.
“Since she has been strictly advised rest at home following her hospitalisation on account of Covid and lung infection, Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi has written to ED today seeking the postponement of her appearance there by a few weeks till she has recovered completely,” Congress’ communications-in-charge Ramesh said in a tweet.

As per the party statement, Sonia Gandhi was undergoing treatment for a fungal infection in her lower respiratory tract along with post-COVID symptoms.

Sonia Gandhi has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate on June 23 in the National Herald money laundering case in which her son and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was questioned for 5 days.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi left the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in the national capital post-midnight after around 12 hours of questioning in connection with the money laundering case involving the National Herald newspaper.

The Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in Kerala arrived at ED headquarters at around 11.15 am on Tuesday accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi was questioned by the ED for over 27 hours for three straight days from June 13 to June 15 and was again summoned on June 20. On Monday he was questioned for around 14 hours.

The Congress leader was deposed before the ED investigators in the case for the first time on June 13.

He first sought exemption from appearance on June 16, following which he was called on June 17. But the senior Congress leader wrote to the ED to postpone his questioning citing the illness of his mother Sonia Gandhi. The ED then allowed him to join the probe on June 20 at his request. (ANI)

Amid an acute shortage of petroleum products, refineries in Pakistan have urged the federal government to take urgent steps to resolve this issue as a trade credit crisis would completely engulf oil marketing companies too after refineries.

Foreign banks are still not confirming local refineries’ letters of credit (LCs) for crude oil imports.

In January this month, oil refineries in the country had warned the government of a looming shutdown of their operations in a couple of weeks due to high and yet rising stocks of furnace oil.

The News International reported that the foreign banks were still not confirming local refineries’ letters of credit (LCs) for crude oil imports.

Oil marketing companies (OMCs) are also struggling to get their LCs confirmed by the global banks for the import of petroleum products, it was revealed on Monday during the meeting of the representatives of refineries and OMCs with the high-ups of the Ministry of Petroleum Division, The News International reported.

Citing sources, the publication reported that the issue of blocked trade credit is on the verge of turning into a crisis for Pakistan’s oil sector.

“The severity of the issue can be gauged from the fact that even state-owned Pakistan State Oil has now started feeling the heat as two of its cargos carrying petroleum products are anchored in the international waters and can’t enter the country’s territorial water to offload the cargo due to non-confirmation of LCs by the international banks,” a source said.

There will be a high risk of closure of refineries in February in the absence of a significant upward revision in demand, Pak-Arab Refinery Company Limited (PARCO) had said.

The total monthly furnace oil production of the refineries was more than 200,000 tonnes, said PARCO, adding that this is on top of about 700,000 tonnes currently in stocks of refineries, marketing companies and power plants.

Calling for an immediate need to address the critical issue of high furnace oil stock levels, the refineries have demanded an urgent high-level meeting on the issue to work out a firm demand for furnace oil for February to enable the industry to plan refinery operations.

Due to high furnace oil stocks, at least three refineries recently faced shutdowns and others had to go for production cuts, according to Dawn. (ANI)

Yash Raj Films unveiled the teaser of their much-awaited film ‘Shamshera’ and Ranbir Kapoor looks fiery in this intriguing tale of the dacoits.

Sharing the teaser on Instagram, Yash Raj Films wrote, “A legend who will leave his mark. #ShamsheraTrailer out on 24th June. Experience SHAMSHERA in @imax in Hindi, Tamil & Telugu. Celebrate #Shamshera with #YRF50 only at a theatre near you on 22nd July”.

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Based on the pre-independence era, ‘Shamshera’ portrays the story of dacoits led by Ranbir Kapoor, whose only motive is to fight against the cruelty of the ruthless antagonist, played by Sanjay Dutt for the sake of the villagers.

Directed by Karan Malhotra, the one-minute-long teaser of ‘Shamshera’ looks extremely impressive and the ‘Rockstar’ actor looks fierce in this action drama. Along with Ranbir, the film also casts Sanjay Dutt and Vaani Kapoor in prominent roles.

Sanjay Dutt’s look as the merciless police officer Shudh Singh gathers all the attention, and the ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’ actor is all set to put fire on the big screen with his ‘Khalnayak’ avatar.

Vaani Kapoor, whereas, is missing from the teaser, and her role in the film is still not revealed.

“Karam Se Dacait…Dharam Se Azaad” Fans laud the ‘Brahmastra’ actor’s dialogue in the monochromatic teaser, as he increases the excitement level to a new extent.

“OMG, this is what makes Ranbir Kapoor different. He goes for like 4 years but now when he has come back, the first fantasy movie in the history of Bollywood and a character he had never played before in his career. Ranbir never disappoints us,” a user commented.

The film is all set to hit the theatre on July 22, 2022, in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu

Meanwhile, ‘Shamshera’ marks the big-screen comeback of Ranbir Kapoor after four years, the ‘Saanwariya’ actor was last seen in ‘Sanju’ which was released in 2018.

Sanjay Dutt, on the other hand, was last seen in ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ and Vaani Kapoor gave her last on-screen performance with Ayushmann Khurrana in ‘Chandigarh Kare Ashiqui’.

Whereas, Karan Malhotra last directed ‘Brothers’ starring Akshay Kumar and Sidharth Malhotra in 2015, and in ‘Shamshera’ the director marks his second collaboration with actor Sanjay Dutt after ‘Agneepath’ in 2012. (ANI)

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan shared a fun picture of himself, enacting the hook-step of the ‘Nach Punjaban’ song from the movie ‘Jug Juug Jeeyo’.

“Nach panjaban nach panjabnan nach panjaban nach,” captioned the ‘Sholay’ actor on Instagram.

In the picture, Big B, as he is popularly known as was seen sporting a violet-coloured tracksuit and wore a black headband along with wristbands of the same colour looking dapper. He seemed to perform the ‘Nach Punjaban’ step in the picture and enjoyed it while doing so, which is evident from his smile.

Helmed by Raj Mehta, ‘Jug Jugg Jeeyo’ comprise an ensemble cast of Varun Dhawan, Kiara Advani, Anil Kapoor, and Neetu Kapoor. Host Maniesh Paul will also be starring in the film with YouTuber and influencer Prajakta Koli making her Bollywood debut with this film. Reality TV star Varun Sood will also do a cameo appearance in the film.

Produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and Viacom18 studios, ‘Jug Jugg Jeeyo’ is set to hit the theatres on June 24.

Meanwhile, talking of Amitabh Bachchan, the 79-year-old will next be seen in Ayan Mukherjee’s epic fantasy drama ‘Brahmastra’, alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt which is to hit the screens on September 9. Apart from that, Big B has also wrapped up his shoot for his upcoming project ‘Uunchai’ starring Parineeti Chopra, Anupam Kher and Boman Irani.

Further, speculations are on the rise after Amitabh shared a cryptic throwback picture on Instagram with superstar Shah Rukh Khan where the megastar can be seen signing up the vintage poster of his action thriller film ‘Don’, while Shah Rukh Khan gives him a look.

However, an official announcement of ‘Don 3’ is still awaited. (ANI)

Sunny Deol-starrer ‘Ghayal’ completed 32 years of its release on Wednesday.

Marking the special occasion, Sunny took to Instagram and dropped a video which comprises a string of his iconic scenes from the film.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfGT68bpxnv/?hl=en

Alongside the clip, he spoke about how people struggle in the country for “justice.”

“#32YearsOfGhayal..The world hasn’t changed much. The same struggle for justice & fight for what’s right is still relevant today #Ghayal,” Sunny captioned the post, leaving fans nostalgic.

“Best film. Can watch it anytime,” a social media user commented.

“Loved your dialogues in the film Sunny paaji,” another one wrote.

“Ghayal is an evergreen film,” a netizen commented.

For the unversed, ‘Ghayal’ was produced by Dharmendra and helmed by Rajkumar Santoshi. The film starred Sunny as an amateur boxer, who goes on to avenge his brother’s death. He was also jointly given a National Award (Special Jury Award), with Pankaj Kapur and South Indian actress Jayabharathi.

Meenakshi Seshadri and Amrish Puri also featured in the film, which garnered a lot of appriciation for its high-voltage action and great drama.

Sunny wil be be seen next sharing screen space with Pooja Bhatt and Dulquer Salmaan in R Balki’s ‘Chup’. He is also coming up with ‘Gadar 2’ and ‘Apne 2’. (ANI)

More than 1,000 people were killed in Afghanistan after a powerful earthquake hit the country on Wednesday, media reports said.

A severe earthquake struck in the early hours of this morning near the city of Khost in the southeastern part of the country. The most affected areas are in Spera District in Khost Province, and Barmala, Ziruk, Naka and Gayan districts in Paktika Province.
“We have over 1,000 dead and over 1,500 wounded. Many villages were destroyed,” Amin Huzaifa, the head of the culture and information department of the Paktika province, told Sputnik.

The head of the Paktika department of information and culture, Mawlawi Huzifa, told TOLOnews that the earthquake occurred around 1:30 AM last night. He said that many of the victims are from the Giyan district of the province.

According to local officials, helicopter and rescue teams have arrived in the area.

Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said that an emergency cabinet meeting was held today to discuss assistance for the people affected by the earthquake.

“In addition to helping the people affected by the earthquake, all relevant organizations were tasked to send rescue teams,” he said.

Abdullah Abdullah, the former chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation offered condolences to the people affected by the earthquake.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the epicentre was 44km from Khost city, and it measured 6.1 on the Richter scale. Search and rescue operations are ongoing and are being led by the de facto authorities.

The disaster comes as Afghanistan continues to struggle with a severe economic crisis since the Taliban took over, as US-led international forces withdrew following two decades of war.

A UN agency said Afghanistan had asked humanitarian agencies to help with rescue efforts, and teams were being dispatched to the quake-hit area.

“The UN and humanitarian country team in Afghanistan expresses deep sympathy to all people affected by this disaster. We will be issuing a flash update later today with further details on the situation and response,” the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in a tweet.

The UN and humanitarian partners have been requested to support the de facto disaster management authority in assessing and responding to immediate needs. “Inter-agency assessment teams have already been deployed to a number of affected areas,” it added.

Secretary General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov said UN us assessing the needs and responding in the aftermath of the earthquake last night.

“@OCHAAfg and @unafghanistan are assessing the needs and responding in the aftermath of the earthquake last night which has taken hundreds of lives. Our condolences to the families of the deceased, response is on it’s way,” Alakbarov tweeted. (ANI)

Amid the soaring political temperatures in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena issued a letter to party MLAs warning them to be present at a meeting to be held in the evening or else considered themselves to be out from the party.

The meeting is scheduled at 5 pm in the evening. The ultimatum to party MLAs has been issued after rebel Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Eknath Shinde claimed to have the support of 40 MLAs and back-to-back meetings are being held by the three coalition partners Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena to end the crisis.
Shiv Sena’s Chief Whip, Sunil Prabhu issued a letter to all party MLAs, asking them to be present in an important meeting that will be held today evening.

The letter stated that if someone remains absent, it will be considered that the said MLA has decided to quit the party voluntarily.

The letter also warned that if any MLA remains absent from the meeting without proper reason and prior information, they should keep in mind that action will be initiated to cancel their membership as per constitutional provisions.

This came after 40 MLAs led by Rebel Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Eknath Shinde arrived at a luxury hotel in Guwahati in BJP-ruled Assam on Wednesday morning.

The revolt in the Shiv Sena has given rise to speculations that Shinde along with other MLAs might join the BJP in a bid to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

The MLAs are now staying at Radisson Blu Hotel in the city. “A total of 40 MLAs are present here. We will carry Balasaheb Thackeray’s Hindutva,” said Shinde after arriving in Guwahati.

40 Maharashtra MLAs including 33 Shiv Sena and seven independent MLAs exhorted their support to rebel Shiv Sena leader and state Cabinet Minister Eknath Shinde by signing a letter, said sources.

These MLAs were received by BJP MLA Sushanta Borgohain and BJP MP Pallab Lochan Das at Guwahati airport.

“Right now we have 46 MLAs with us, including 6-7 Independent MLAs. The rest of them are Shiv Sena MLAs. This number will rise in the time to come. As of now we have neither received any proposal from BJP nor are we holding any talks with them,” Shinde told ANI over the phone.

“As far as the current political situation is concerned, I would say that we are Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sainiks and will continue to be Shiv Sainiks. As of now, we are not holding any talks with Shiv Sena or the Chief Minister. We have not decided on the future course of action,” added Shinde.

As the future of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government appears to be glooming, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Uddhav Thackeray who tested positive for COVID on Wednesday joined the meeting via video conferencing.

State cabinet minister Aslam Shaikh said only the cabinet agenda was discussed in the meeting and not the current political scenario.

“Only cabinet agenda was discussed. No discussion on the present political situation took place at the cabinet meeting. Subhash Desai and Shankar Rao Gadakh were physically present. Chief Minister Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray, Anil Parab and several others joined the meeting in virtual mode,” said Aslam Shaikh.

Earlier today, a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party was held in Mumbai. The meeting was held at the residence of Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader and Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Balasaheb Thorat. All India Congress Committees (AICC) observer Kamal Nath was also present at the meeting.

Following the meeting, Kamal Nath said, “41 out of 44 MLAs attended the meeting here while 3 are on the way. The politics BJP has started is of money and muscle power. It is against the constitution. I have seen this a lot. Unity will prevail in Shiv Sena under Udhhav Thackeray. I have talked to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and he said that as of now there is no proposal to dissolve the Maharashtra Assembly.”

He also informed that Chief Minister Udhhav Thackeray tested COVID positive.

Pertinent to mention, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has tested positive for COVID-19.

He has been admitted to HN Reliance Foundation hospital, Mumbai on Wednesday for treatment purposes.

Earlier today, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday hinted at the dissolution of the State Legislative Assembly.

“The ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra is heading to the dissolution of Vidhan Sabha,” said Raut in a Twitter post.

Back-to-back meetings of Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are taking place in Mumbai over the rapidly changing political developments in the state.

Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal however, ruled out midterm polls in the state.

“Midterm elections? There have been no talks yet. What can I say?,” Bhujbal said.

Shiv Sena women workers in Aurangabad break down and weep as they protest against rebel leader Eknath Shinde who has led to ongoing instability in the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government in the state.

On the other hand, when Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar was asked about the crisis in MVA, he termed the turmoil “an internal matter of the Sena”. Pawar also said he remains fully committed to the three-party government. He also ruled out any tie-up with the opposition BJP.

US Embassy in India congratulated Biological E. Limited, a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical and vaccines company for getting approval from WHO as an additional manufacturing site for the Janssen/Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

“Congratulations to @biological_e on its @WHO approval as an additional manufacturing site for the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine! Great progress for the Quad Vaccine and #USIndiaHealth partnerships through U.S. technical support and @DFCgov financing,” US Embassy in India tweeted.
Earlier, on June 4, Biological E. Limited announced that its Corbevax COVID-19 vaccine has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) as a heterologous COVID-19 booster dose for individuals aged 18 years and above after six months of administration of primary vaccination (two doses) of Covaxin or Covishield vaccines for restricted use in an emergency situation.

A statement issued by pharmaceutical and vaccines company read, “The BE’s Corbevax is the first such vaccine in India to be approved as a heterologous COVID-19 booster. Recently, BE has furnished its clinical trials data to the DCGI who after a detailed evaluation and deliberations with the Subject Experts Committee granted their approval for administering the Corbevax vaccine as a heterologous booster dose to people who have already taken two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin.”

Biological E’s clinical trial data showed that the Corbevax booster dose provided significant enhancement in immune response and the excellent safety profile required for an effective booster, said the statement.

Mahima Datla, Managing Director, Biological E. Limited, said, “We are very happy with this approval, which will address the need for COVID-19 booster doses in India. We have crossed yet another milestone in our COVID-19 vaccination journey. This approval reflects once again the sustained world-class safety standards and high immunogenicity of Corbevax.”

The statement further said, “Biological E has conducted a multicentre Phase III placebo-controlled heterologous booster clinical trial in 416 subjects from 18 to 80 years of age who were previously vaccinated with two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin at least 6 months prior to the administration of CORBEVAX as a booster dose.”

The booster dose of Corbevax increased the neutralizing antibody titers in the Covishield and Covaxin groups significantly when compared to the placebo, said the pharmaceutical company in its statement.

“In a subset of subjects evaluated for nAb against the Omicron variant, the Corbevax booster shot resulted in a significant increase in the nAb titers against the Omicron variant. After the booster dose of Corbevax, Omicron nAbs were observed in 91 pc and 75 pc of subjects who had received primary vaccination by Covishield and Covaxin respectively,” said the statement.

It stated that the Corbevax booster dose also resulted in a significant Th1 skewed cellular immune response as indicated by cytokine expression analysis post-stimulation of the T-cells, said the company in its statement.

“The Corbevax heterologous booster vaccine was well tolerated and safe. There were no severe or adverse events of interest for 3 months of follow-up after the booster dose was administered,” said the statement.

The Corbevax vaccination slot can be booked through the Co-WIN app or Co-WIN portal. So far, 51.7 million doses of Corbevax have been administered to children across the country, including 17.4 million who have completed the two-dose regimen. BE has supplied 100 million doses of Corbevax to the Government of India.

“Corbevax is entirely developed and manufactured by Biological E. Limited in association with Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine as a recombinant protein subunit vaccine against COVID-19,” the statement concluded. (ANI)

South Korean food companies are paying attention to the halal market. Halal means “allowed things” in Arabic, and refers to food that it conforms to the Islamic law.

Only food products without alcohol content and made from meat such as cows, sheep, and goats can obtain halal certification. Without halal certification, it is impossible to export food to Islamic countries.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, halal food has become popular as a hygienic food even in the non-Muslim regions. Domestic food companies are actively expanding their global business by entering the halal market, which has high growth potential.

According to KOTRA on the 21st, the global halal market, including food, beverage, fashion, drugs, and cosmetics, is estimated to be USD 4.5 trillion as of 2020. Among them, the halal food market grew to 1.9 trillion won last year.

The halal market accounts for 26 per cent of the global food market and is growing by 10-15 per cent every year. Considering that the average annual growth rate of other food markets is 1-2 per cent, the halal food market is rapidly growing.

Korean food companies are also targeting the halal market.

CJ CheilJedang has continued to expand its halal food business since it obtained the halal certification for its 30 food products, including instant rice, seaweed, and kimchi, from Malaysia’s JAKIM in 2011.

It has also obtained the halal certification from Indonesia’s MUI and the Korea Muslim Foundation (KMF) over the past 10 years and is supplying halal products to 110 countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, the Middle East, Thailand, and Singapore.

CJ Cheiljedang’s Kizuna plant in Vietnam, which was completed in February, is the production base to target the halal market. It produces instant rice, kimchi, and Korean-style sauce products at Halal-only production lines. Halal foods produced at the factory are exported to neighboring countries.

Daesang Food has obtained the halal certification for about 50 products since it begin exporting halal foods in February 2011. It is also actively localizing halal food products, such as launching the Mamasuka brand in Indonesia, its major market.

In the Middle East market, which has a 400 million population, it is supplying more various products, including Chung Jung Won and Jonggajip. It sells halal-certified kimchi, soy sauce, seasoned seaweed, and rice cakes in the Middle East.

SPC Group has set up a joint venture with Berjaya Food Group, the No.1 Malaysian food company, and is also pushing to build a halal-certified baking factory in Johor Bahru.

It will invest 40 billion won to build the Johor Bahru plant on a 12,900m^2 construction site. It aims to complete by June 2023. It is expected to be a production base to export more than 100 items such as bread, cakes, and sauces to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

SPC Group will target the Southeast Asian Halal market based on Malaysia.

In addition, Samyang Food, Lotte Food, Shinsegae Food, Jeju Samdasoo, and hy are also actively pushing to enter the halal market by obtain halal certification. An industry source said, “Demand for halal-certificated foods is increasing in non-Muslim areas as well as Muslim areas. The food companies’ entry to the halal market is expected to be more active.” (ANI/Global Economic)