Month: June 2022

With the aim of protecting the Hajj pilgrims from various infections and promoting health safety measures, a vaccination programme has been running at full steam for the last couple of days in the Valley, informed the officials on Wednesday.

About 5,281 people from the Valley would be going on the pilgrimage this year. The department of health services is providing vaccine doses free of cost.

The pilgrims lauded the arrangements and appreciated the efforts of the government in arranging the vaccination facilities under one roof.

“We thank the organizers for the vaccination drive. Their aim to keep us safe is really thoughtful,” said Aquib Javaid, a pilgrim.

Earlier, an orientation-cum-training program was organized by authorities of Hajj house Srinagar in various districts of the Kashmir Valley on May 21.

These orientation training programmes were conducted o spread awareness and provide information about performing Hajj. The authorities distributed special pamphlets and various experts delivered brief lectures to help the devotees.

The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and a once-in-a-lifetime duty for all able-bodied Muslims to perform if they can afford it.

Before the virus emerged, some 2.5 million people used to travel every year to Saudi Arabia for Hajj. (ANI)

A three-meter tall replica of the “Pillar of Shame” statue honouring the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident will be unveiled at a commemorative vigil in Taiwan on Saturday evening, local media reported.

Ahead of commemorations for the Tiananmen Square incident this weekend, this statue will be unveiled in Taipei after funds were raised by New School for Democracy (NSD) to help develop a copy of the sculpture made by a Danish artist, Taiwan Focus reported.

Tseng Chien-yuan, Chairman of the NSD, said the focal point of the vigil will be the unveiling of the replica of the statue that was previously erected at the University of Hong Kong.

Last December, Workers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) had removed the Tiananmen Massacre statue, widely known as the “Pillar of Shame,” after the university had said the statue must go.

This monument was created by a Danish artist in memory of those killed in the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing in 1989.

Sophie Richardson, Human Rights Watch’s China Director, had said slammed the Chinese government for being afraid of a statute.

“The world’s second-largest economy. Largest standing army. Permanent member of the UN Security Council. Nevertheless, China govt afraid of a statute and what it represents, stealing it away at night, under wraps…pathetic,” Richardson had tweeted in December.

The Tiananmen incident was precipitated by the peaceful gatherings of students, workers, and others in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and other Chinese cities in April 1989, calling for freedom of expression, accountability, and an end to corruption. The government responded to the intensifying protests in late May 1989 by declaring martial law.

On June 3 and 4, the military opened fire and killed untold numbers of peaceful protesters and bystanders. In Beijing, some citizens attacked army convoys and burned vehicles in response to the military’s violence.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Chinese government should acknowledge and take responsibility for the massacre of pro-democracy protesters in June 1989.

The authorities should immediately allow commemorations of the occasion in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and cease censoring discussions of the crackdown, according to the rights watchdog. (ANI)

Leading private sector and government-run lenders including Punjab National Bank, ICICI Bank and mortgage lender HDFC have hiked their lending rates that will make home, car and other loans costlier.

ICICI Bank has increased its lending rates by 0.30 per cent or 30 basis points across tenures.

The government-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Wednesday raised its marginal cost of funds-based lending rate by 15 basis points or 0.15 per cent across all tenures. The new rates are effective from June 1.

“The Exchange is hereby informed that Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate (MCLR) with effect from 01.06.2022 has been revised,” PNB said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges.

The country’s largest mortgage lender HDFC Ltd has increased its retail prime lending rate by 5 basis points or 0.05 per cent effective from Wednesday.

“HDFC increases its retail prime lending rate (RPLR) on housing loans, on which its adjustable rate home loans (ARHL) are benchmarked, by 5 basis points, with effect from June 1, 2022,” HDFC Ltd said in a statement. (ANI)

Police have busted a kidney racket gang in South Delhi and arrested 10 persons from various parts of the city. The case was registered at the Hauz Khas police station.

According to the police, one of the arrested persons is a doctor while others are technicians and helpers.

An operation theatre was set up by the members of kidney racket network in Sonipat where the patients were operated upon.

“During the interrogation, the detained doctor revealed that he charged lakhs of rupees from a patient for an operation. It was revealed that nearly 14 people were targeted over six months. The figure could increase as the investigation into the matter is underway,” said the police.

It also came to the fore that the doctor mainly targeted the poor people and lured them by offering more money.

He used social media to look for his clients.

The police are likely to make more arrests in the case. (ANI)

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath performed the ‘Shila Pujan’ ceremony and laid the foundation stone for the construction of the sanctum sanctorum of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on Wednesday.

He laid the foundation stone for construction of Ram Temple’s ‘Garbha Griha’ or the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, and placed the first carved stone.

Adityanath facilitated the engineers of Ram Temple construction with ‘Anga Vastras’.

Chief Minister Adityanath arrived in the town early this morning to participate in the ceremony.

Seers and saints from across the country were invited for the occasion. Later today, CM Yogi will also inaugurate Shri Ramlala Sadan, a Dravidian-style temple, at the site.

Earlier, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered prayers at Hanuman Garhi temple in Ayodhya.

According to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which is in charge of the construction of the temple, the sanctum sanctorum is expected to be completed by December 2023.

“Work on the superstructure begins today. We have a 3-stage time frame (for completion of works) – Garbhagriha by 2023, temple construction by 2024 end and main constructions at the temple complex by 2025,” Nripendra Misra, Chairman of Ayodhya Ram Mandir construction committee told ANI.

The construction of the temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya is going on at a fast pace. On August 5, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Ram temple and since then the construction work of the temple is going on.

The five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi (now retired) had on November 9, 2019, unanimously delivered its verdict that the land in Ayodhya where Babri Masjid once stood, belongs to Ram Lalla. (ANI)

The price for a commercial LPG cylinder has been reduced by Rs 135 with immediate effect from today. With the latest reduction, a 19-kg commercial Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder in Delhi will now cost Rs 2219.

Prior to the reduction in prices, the commercial LPG cylinder was priced at Rs 2454 in Kolkata, Rs 2306 in Mumbai, and Rs 2507 in Chennai. After the respite, the rate for a commercial LPG cylinder in Kolkata is now Rs 2322, Rs 2171.50 in Mumbai, and Rs 2373 in Chennai.

This reduction in price is only valid for commercial ones, and not the domestic LPG cylinders.

Earlier, in the first week of May, the price of an LPG cylinder was hiked by Rs 50.

On May 1, the price of a 19-kilograms commercial LPG cylinder was increased by Rs 102.50, to Rs 2355.50.

Last month, on May 1, Oil marketing companies organized more than 5000 LPG panchayats on the occasion of Ujjwala Diwas, where apart from experience sharing, aimed at safe and sustained usage of LPG, all-out efforts were made to maximize customer enrolment. (ANI)

The Pakistan government increased the rates of ghee and cooking oil by an unprecedented Rs 208 and Rs 213 to be effective from Wednesday. The announcement came as a complete shock to the nation as the country continues to struggle with the economic crisis.

An official of Utility Stores Corporation (USC) confirmed that with this surge, the price of food oil and ghee would be at an all-time high of Rs 555 per kg and Rs 605 per litre, which was Rs 540-560 per kg in the retail market.

“USC had issued a notification of this whooping jump in ghee and cooking oil rates effective June 1,” a Pakistani Newspaper Dawn reported citing the USC official, however, the reason for the increase was not specified.

According to the Secretary-General of Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA), Umer Islam Khan, the retail rates of ghee and cooking oil would soon come on a par with USC prices, the Dawn reported.

He said that the manufacturers of cooking oil and ghee have stopped giving the products on credit to the USC as the corporation had not cleared outstanding Rs 2-3 billion to the manufacturers.

Speaking of the Supply of Palm Oil from Indonesia to Pakistan, Umer Islam said, “Prime Minister Task Force Committee on Supply of Palm Oil comprising officials of relevant ministries and PVMA office-bearers has been holding daily zoom meetings to analyse the demand and supply situation of palm oil. Despite the lifting of an export ban by Indonesia on palm oil on May 23, not a single loaded vessel had been on the high seas or at Indonesia port for shipments to Pakistan,” the Dawn reported.

He said that the shipments booked on higher rates and a massive rupee devaluation further raised the landing cost because of which ghee and cooking oil rates did not fall despite a drop in Indonesian palm oil rate to USD 1,700 from USD 1,900-2,000 per tonne two months back.

“The PVMA in its circular on May 27 had intimated its members to pay the transportation charges for their edible oil consignments to NLC/private tankers with an increase of only 22.50 per cent after a jump of Rs 30 in diesel to Rs 174.67 per litre. The increase in transportation charges is applicable on both upcountry and Karachi delivery of edible oil,” said Umer Islam. (ANI)

The deep recession in China’s real estate companies is becoming a major problem for the country as well as for the world’s economy.

The property market was one of the few cherished destinations for household savings. The developers and homebuyers were also willing to take the loans from the banks but these good days for China ended last year. The household debt touched over USD 10 trillion. And around 27 per cent of bank loans in China are tied to real estate, reported a think tank, Policy Research Group (POREG).

This industry was known to be the biggest job creator in China but now it is termed as “Lehman moment”, in comparison to the 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, which was a trigger for the global financial crisis. More so, when the number of empty homes has crossed the 65 million mark (90 million according to some estimates) – enough to house the population of France, and raised the spectre of a global economy on crutches.

The housing market in China is now seen as ‘a national threat’ as prices rise sky-high, just like the buildings, according to Think Tank citing New York Times.

Developers borrowed money in the form of onshore and offshore bonds, trust loans, and wealth management products, in addition to bank loans. Thus, lenders span from institutions to the general people both at home and overseas.

Interestingly, Beijing’s assault on property debt is part of the country’s battle to control corporate debt. Much of the corporate is held by the state-owned firms (SOEs). In SEOs, over-indebtedness is the root of the problem with one difference. For SOEs, the debt is laced with government guarantees, and hence there is no imminent threat of liquidation.

China has a debt to pay to the global market. It has benefitted from the globalization of the market; its companies though anchored behind the Bamboo curtain have spread to all corners of the world with their unadulterated motto that money has no colour. A crash in China could bleed into other countries and lead to deflation as also unemployment, according to Think Tank citing CNBC analysis.

Over China’s failing economy, US Federal Reserve also felt worried that it could harm the global economy. “Stresses in China’s real estate sector could strain the Chinese financial system, with possible spillovers to the United States,” the Federal Reserve said in its recent financial stability report.

According to the Think Tank, if the Chinese government allows a drop in property prices, lowering reliance on property building as a source of GDP, and developing other investment channels will help to curb speculative activity in the housing market. (ANI)