Month: July 2022

Amid the ongoing economic crisis in the country, the headline inflation in Sri Lanka might increase to 70 per cent in the coming months.

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe on Thursday said that the gross official reserves of the country were USD 1.9 billion at the end of June, the News Wire reported.

The amount of the gross official reserves include the swap facility equivalent to USD 1.5 billion from the People’s Bank of China, he added.

The Central Bank Governor mentioned the present headline inflation in the country is 50 per cent and it might increase to 70 per cent in the coming months.

Broad guidelines and a framework will be issued to banking and non-banking institutions with regard to moratoriums for loans, and restructuring, including grace period for capital/interest where necessary, the News Wire reported citing Dr Weerasinghe.

The guidelines and the framework will be issued for the next six months, the Central Bank Governor said adding that the litigation against defaulters has been recommended to be put on hold for a minimum of six months.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the island country aimed to reduce the inflation rate to between 4 and 6 per cent by 2025.

In order to strengthen the rupee and reduce inflation, Wickremesinghe said that they have implemented a plan to limit the printing of money in the future.

Notably, Sri Lanka has been facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, leading to an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas, and fuel across the island nation.

The nearly-bankrupt country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, had announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026, Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt.

The economic crisis has particularly impacted food security, agriculture, livelihoods and access to health services.

Food production in the last harvest season was 40 – 50 per cent lower than last year, and the current agricultural season is at risk, with seeds, fertilisers, fuel, and credit shortages.

Sri Lanka is one of the few nations named by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which is expected to go without food due to the global food shortage expected this year. (ANI)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said ‘people make mistakes but they can be rectified’.

“We make mistakes while working but they can be rectified. Some people don’t see all the good work and suddenly start shouting… Negativity affects our brain cells so let’s think positively,” said Mamata while addressing a students’ credit cards distribution event in Kolkata.

Her statement comes at a time when Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra is facing an FIR for her comments on Goddess Kali.

TMC distanced itself and said in a tweet that the comments made by Moitra and her views expressed on Goddess Kali have been made in her personal capacity “and are NOT ENDORSED BY THE PARTY in ANY MANNER OR FORM. All India Trinamool Congress strongly condemns such comments.”

On Wednesday, Moitra dared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to prove that whatever she said is wrong.

“I do not want to live in an India where BJP’s monolithic patriarchal brahminical view of Hinduism will prevail and the rest of us will tiptoe around religion. I will defend this till I die. File your FIRs – will see you in every court in the land,” tweeted Moitra.

“I challenge the BJP anywhere in the country to prove anything that I said is wrong,” Moitra added.

The TMC leader has been booked for allegedly hurting religious sentiments after her comment on Goddess Kali stirred a controversy.

An FIR has been registered in Bhopal against Moitra under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for hurting religious sentiments. She had called Kali “meat-eating” and “alcohol-accepting”.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that Hindu religious sentiments have been hurt by Moitra’s statement and that insult to Hindu deities will not be tolerated at any cost.

Reacting to the complaints against her by the BJP leaders, the TMC MP said: “Bring it on BJP! Am a Kali worshipper. I am not afraid of anything. Not your ignoramuses. Not your goons. Not your police. And most certainly not your trolls. Truth doesn’t need back up forces.” (ANI)

The State Goods and Services Tax (GST) Enforcement Wing of Odisha has unearthed a network of 24 fictitious firms generating fake invoices without the supply of goods and passing fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) to multiple beneficiaries.

As per the Commissionerate of CT&GST, Odisha, 12 teams consisting of 48 officers of the State GST Enforcement Wing (assisted by 35 Police officials) have nabbed 5 masterminds from Rourkela for their involvement in availing and passing of bogus ITC worth Rs 311.03 crore on the strength of fake invoices to the tune of Rs 1727.91 crore and for commission of cognisable and non-bailable offence u/s 132 (1) (b) (c) & (1) of OGST / CGST Act, 2017 read with section 132(5) of the said Act.

“The masterminds in addition to their own companies have created and operated 23 other fictitious/non-existent business entities in the district of Sundargarh for making bogus transactions in their name and to avail and pass on bogus ITC without physical receipt and supply of goods and have defrauded the State exchequer,” Commissionerate of CT&GST, Odisha, said in a statement.

As per the department, in 2019-20 simultaneous raids and inspections were conducted to the place of business of 49 suspected non-existent business entities and it was found that 47 out of 49 business establishments were non-existent and fictitious. But, as proceedings have already been initiated by CGST Authority in 23 cases, the investigation in the remaining 26 cases are being done by the state enforcement wings.

The Enforcement Wing has arrested the masterminds of the fake racket.

For the creation and operation of the fake firms, the masterminds obtained identity documents like PAN, Aadhar, Bank Passbook, etc. of innocent people like primary school teachers, LIC agents, crane operators, daily-wage earners, farmers, street vendors, agents of vehicle registration and house-wives under the plea of providing them regular monthly documents for the purpose of obtaining GST registration and running fake business in their name.

The masterminds have also opened bank accounts in different banks like ICICI bank. Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Urban Co-operative bank, HDFC bank, Bandhan bank and Axis bank in the name of the said innocent person and operated the same by obtaining the signed checkbook, and signed RTGS form, ATMs and password from the account holder.

During the process of investigation, transactions in regard to 49 bank accounts opened and operated in different names have been examined in detail and approximately 173 persons have been interrogated to substantiate the charges and unearth the circular trading.

It is pertinent to mention here that the State Enforcement Wing has till date made 28 arrests over the involvement in the generation of fake invoices worth Rs 9196.26 crore and availing and passing of bogus ITC worth Rs 1739.84 crore. (ANI)

After more than 50 government ministers or aides of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned on Thursday, he agreed to step down.

The British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has also cut short her trip to a G20 meeting in Indonesia to return to London, CNN quoted Britain’s PA news agency as reporting on Thursday.

Truss is widely seen as one of the potential contenders for the leader of the Conservative Party.

Johnson finally agreed to step down after one of his closest allies, Treasury Chief Nadhim Zahawi, told the prime minister to resign for the good of the country. It was not immediately clear whether Johnson will stay in office while the Conservative Party chooses a new leader, who will automatically become prime minister as well. A formal announcement is expected later Thursday, reported Washington Post.

“Prime Minister: this is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country,” Zahawi said in a letter to Johnson. “You must do the right thing and go now.”

The latest minister to resign is Environment Minister Rebecca Pow. The MP announced her decision with a series of tweets this morning, after reports Boris Johnson resigned as Tory leader.

Pow said her decision came as “values, integrity and the morals by which I live are at stake”.

“This week I’ve been at home with COVID-19. Earlier this morning I tendered my resignation as Environment Minister. Values, integrity and the morals by which I live are at stake, and the needs of the country must always come first. My letter follows,” tweeted Pow.

Caroline Johnson and Luke Hall, deputy chairs of the Conservative Party, and Rob Butler, a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) at the Foreign Office, announced their resignations on Thursday.

In her letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson posted on Twitter, Caroline Johnson said “it is with great sadness, however, that I recognize that over time the cumulative effect of your errors and judgment and domestic actions have squandered the goodwill of our great Party, Conservative colleagues, and many of my constituents.”

Hall in a letter to the prime minister said that “I had taken the view that there must be parliamentary oversight of the inevitable leadership contest. However, there are others who can provide that. The current situation is clearly untenable.”

Butler also shared his resignation letter to the prime minister on Twitter, saying: “Loyalty is rightly highly regarded in politics; we succeed as a team. But I can no longer reconcile loyalty to you as Prime Minister.”

A total of 58 ministers have resigned from the government, reported CNN.

Earlier, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel and several Conservative Party lawmakers asked Johnson to tender his resignation after dozens of ministers abandoned his government.

“Home Secretary Priti Patel, told Johnson that the general view of the Conservative party was that he had to go,” CNN reported.

Almost 30 UK government officials, including key figures like UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, have already submitted their resignations over the recent scandal involving former deputy chief whip Christopher Pincher.

Earlier today, another minister of his government Brandon Lewis resigned from his position, saying that he no longer believed the values of honesty, integrity and mutual respect are being upheld by Johnson’s government.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain tried frantically on Wednesday to salvage his position, even as a delegation of cabinet colleagues traveled to Downing Street to plead with their scandal-scarred leader to step down.

The UK Prime Minister initially refused to go without a fight, sacking close ally and senior cabinet minister Michael Gove, who tried to make Johnson accept his time is up, according to sources.

Johnson, 58, managed to remain in power for almost three years, despite allegations that he was too close to party donors, that he protected supporters from bullying and corruption allegations, and that he misled Parliament and was dishonest to the public about government office parties that broke pandemic lockdown rules.

However, Johnson could continue to serve as Prime Minister until his Conservative Party selects a new leader. It is possible that he will remain in office until October, when the Conservative party meets for its annual conference.

Conventionally, when a Conservative leader resigns, they give the party time to hold a thorough leadership contest. (ANI)

A level 2 fire broke out at a mall in the Hiranandani Powai area of Maharashtra’s Mumbai on Thursday morning.

As many as 12 fire tenders are at the spot. No casualties and injuries have been reported in the incident so far.

More details are awaited.

Earlier on June 19, a total of 14 people were rescued after a fire broke out on the 14th floor of a building ‘Dheeraj Savera’ in Mumbai’s Borivali. No casualties were reported in the incident and the fire had been brought under control. (ANI)

Microblogging site Twitter has removed the controversial July 2 tweet of filmmaker Leena Manimekalai.

Leena had released the poster of the film ‘Kaali’ via a tweet which led to outrage in the country. The poster of her film depicted a woman dressed in a costume portraying the goddess and smoking.

Reacting to Twitter’s action, Leena in a tweet asked whether the social media platform would also withhold posts by “hate mongers”.

“This is hilarous. Will @TwitterIndia withhold the tweets of the 200000 hate mongers?! These lowlife trolls tweeted and spread the very same poster that they find objectionable. Kaali cannot be lynched. Kaali cannot be raped. Kaali cannot be destroyed. She is the goddess of death,” she wrote.

However, it’s not clear when Twitter actually took the tweet down.

The original tweet has been replaced by a message from Twitter.

“This Tweet from @LeenaManimekali has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand,” read the message.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has been booked for allegedly hurting religious sentiments after her comment on Goddess Kali stirred a controversy. An FIR has been registered in Bhopal against Moitra under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for hurting religious sentiments. (ANI)

No Indian wedding is complete without mouth-watering delicacies! And Punjab CM Bhagwat Mann’s wedding function will be no different with an array of food items lined up for the guests.

As per a food menu obtained by ANI, the guests will get to savour the best of Indian and Italian cuisine including Karahi Paneer, Tandoori Kulche, Dal Makhani, Navratan Biryani, Mausami Subzian, Apricot Stuffed Kofta, Lasagna Siciliano and Burrani Raita.

No meal is complete without desserts and a variety of lip-smacking sweets such as Fresh Fruit Triffle, Moong Dal Halwa, Shahi Tukda, Angoori Rasmalai and Dry Fruit Rabari will be there for the guests at the Bhagwat Mann wedding. Those who are health conscious will not be disappointed either as different types of salads will be available.

Bhagwant Mann is getting married to Dr Gurpreet Kaur in a private ceremony at his residence in Chandigarh today. Mann was divorced from his first wife almost six years back.

The wedding ceremony will be attended by Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and his family. However, no minister or other big leaders have been invited to the ceremony. Sources said it was Bhagwant Mann’s mother’s wish that he should get married.

His former wife Inderpreet Kaur and their children are residing in the USA. His daughter Seerat Kaur Mann (21) and son Dilshan Mann (17) had flown from the US to attend his swearing-in ceremony on March 16 this year. (ANI)

Age is no bar when it comes to education and this was proved by 53-year-old Shila Rani Das, who along with her two daughters cleared the Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE) exams on Wednesday.

Shila wrote her Class 10 board exam (Madhyamik) while her two daughters appeared for the Higher Secondary Exam (Class 12) this year.

The triple delight came yesterday as the TBSE (Tripura Board Of Secondary Exam) published the results.

Shila Das was married at a tender age and soon after that, her husband passed away, which put a stop to her attempts to study. She brought up her two daughters singlehandedly.

Years later, both the daughters insisted their mother sit for the board exam. Following that Shila prepared for the exam under her daughters’ guidance.

Speaking to ANI, Shila said, “I am happy that I’ve passed the exam. My daughters and other people supported me and inspired me to do it. I was confident that I will clear the exam.”

She passed out from Abhoynagar Smriti Vidyalaya, Agartala.

Shila’s daughter Jayashree, passed the HS exam from Bani Vidyapeeth Vidyalaya in Agartala. She said, “We are happy as our mother passed Class 10 exam and my sister and I cleared our Class 12 exam. We motivated her and also helped in her studies.” (ANI)

As Sri Lanka continues to battle its worst financial crisis in seven decades, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has sought urgent credit support to import fuel to the island nation in a telephonic conversation with the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (local time).

The two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries in several key sectors including energy even as Colombo negotiated a support package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Had a very productive telecon with the Russia President, Vladimir Putin. While thanking him for all the support extended by his government to overcome the challenges of the past, I requested an offer of credit support to import fuel to Sri Lanka in defeating the current economic challenges,” Gotabaya tweeted.

Further Gotabaya also requested Putin to restart Russian Airlines Aeroflot operations in Sri Lanka. “We unanimously agreed that strengthening bilateral relations in sectors such as tourism, trade & culture was paramount in reinforcing the friendship our two nations share,” Gotabaya tweeted.

“At the initiative of the Sri Lankan side, President of Russia Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa,” said Kremlin in a statement.

Both the presidents discussed current matters of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, in particular, in energy, agriculture, and transport.

In the context of the 65th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries marked this year, “the mutual disposition to further progressive development of traditionally friendly Russian-Sri Lankan ties was confirmed.”

As per the release, the presidents agreed to continue contact at various levels.

While addressing a news conference on June 28, Sri Lankan MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that the Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka had initiated the discussion to facilitate the telephonic conversation between President Rajapaksa and Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach an agreement for the procurement of fuel.

The MP said the government had formulated a comprehensive mechanism to ensure continuous fuel supply after July 10.

Amid the unprecedented fuel crisis, the Sri Lankan Education Ministry declared a holiday week for all the government and state-approved private schools. Earlier also, on June 18, the Sri Lankan government announced to shut down all the schools for a week.

Sri Lanka has been facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, leading to an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas, and fuel across the island nation.

Severe protests have sparked political unrest leading to the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s brother Mahinda Rajapaksa from the Prime Minister’s post and the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country’s Prime Minister in May.

The country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, had announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026. Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion. (ANI)