Tag: country-world news

The Delhi High Court has granted six weeks’ time to the Centre to inform it about the outcome of consultations and deliberations with stakeholders on draft rules to regulate e-pharmacies.

The court was hearing pleas seeking a ban on “illegal” sale of drugs online and challenging the draft rules published by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to further amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules.

On perusing the latest status report filed by the Centre, the court noted it has been categorically stated that the Union of India has not yet finalised the draft notification of August 2018 and it is pending for consultation and deliberations.

“The Union of India is granted six weeks’ time to inform the outcome of the consultations and deliberations and also to inform the final stand taken by the Union of India in the matter. List on August 28, 2023. It is made clear that the pendency of the present matters will not come in the way of the Union of India in taking action against the persons who are violating the interim order dated December 12, 2018,” the bench said.

TD college here on Sunday suspended a professor for allegedly seeking sexual favour from a girl student, an act which was recorded on video and appeared on social media.

“The accused professor Pradeep Singh has been suspended and a five-member committee has been formed to probe the matter. The team will give its report in 15 days,” College Manager Raghvendra Pratap Singh said.

Students of TD College created a ruckus on Friday after a video in which Pradeep Singh is purportedly seen asking sexual favour from the girl in lieu of ensuring that she clears the B.Ed-TET examination turned up online.

An FIR against Pradeep Singh was registered at Line Bazar Police Station here on Saturday, officials said.

“Professor Pradeep Singh of TD College here was seen talking in an indecent manner to an unidentified girl student. Following a preliminary inquiry, an FIR has been lodged against him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code,” Station House Officer (SHO) Sanjay Verma said.

A mob on Sunday allegedly blackened the face of a youth who had eloped with a girl and paraded him around their village with a garland of shoes in the district’s Kunwargaon area.

A purported video of the incident has been widely circulated on social media.

The villagers ostensibly asked the youth to return to the village and promised him that the couple would be married off. The alleged incident occurred after the couple returned to the village.

The youth, with his blackened and with a garland of shoes around his neck, was also thrashed by the villagers while he was being paraded.

Taking note of the video, the police swung into action and reached the village.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Alok Mishra said a probe is underway in this connection and added that strict action will be initiated against those involved.

Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits on Sunday paid their obeisance at the famous Ragnya Devi temple in Ganderbal district and celebrated the annual Kheer Bhawani mela.

Nestled in the shade of mammoth Chinar trees in the central Kashmir district, the temple witnessed massive crowds of devotees, most of them Kashmiri Pandits, who made the journey from across the country.

The devotees, walking barefoot, carried rose petals and offered tribute to the goddess as men took a dip in the stream close to the shrine.

As the devotees jostled with each other to move closer to the main temple complex, the chants of hymns echoed through the temple compound and paid obeisance to the deity while offering milk and kheer (rice pudding) at the sacred spring within the complex.

The mela, a symbol of communal harmony, passed off peacefully as the administration had made elaborate arrangements, including security related, for the devotees.

Gudi Zutshi, a devotee from Jammu, said their ‘pooja’ is incomplete without visiting the temple shrine on the occasion of the annual mela held on the birthday of the deity.

“She is our deity. It is an important day for us and without her, our pooja is incomplete, so we have to come here to celebrate her birthday. The deity has taken the form of water here. The colour of the stream keeps on changing when something happens,” she said.

It is believed that the colour of the sacred spring water which flows below the temple indicates the situation in the Valley.

While most of the colours do not have any particular significance, the black or darkish colour of the water is believed to be an indication of inauspicious times for Kashmir. However, the water in the spring was clean and milky white this year.

Zutshi said last year when she was here, she had witnessed that the colour of the stream water was red, apparently referring to the several attacks on the minority community in the Valley.

“Its colour turned black when there was Corona. The same happened when the Kargil war happened,’ she added.

However, she said, this year, the colour of the water was very good. It means there will be prosperity in Kashmir, Jammu and Delhi. “We want prosperity everywhere. Today, the situation is good in Kashmir. The arrangements are good for the mela.” Zutshi said as the situation had proved in the Valley, they prayed for the return of the community members who had left Kashmir in the early 1990s.

“We want to return to Kashmir. We miss the place. Though we come almost every year, we want to return to our homeland permanently. We have prayed for the happiness and prosperity of everyone and the return of Kashmiri Pandits to Kashmir,” she said.

Another devotee, Dileep, said there was about 80-85 per cent improvement in the situation from the 1990s in Kashmir.

“We also want to return to our homeland. We pray whenever we come here and today as well we prayed for our return,” he said.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, who also paid obeisance at the temple, said that she prayed for the dignified return of the Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley.

“I came here to welcome our Kashmiri Pandit brothers who have come from Jammu and other places. We are here to pray for the dignified return of these people to their homes so that once again Hindu-Muslim-Kashmiri Pandits live together in Kashmir with brotherhood,” she told reporters.

Asked if the community was wary of targeted killings that took place last year, Dileep said that such incidents happen, we cannot say anything on that. “But the situation is good now”.

“We want that brotherhood back. Our Muslim brothers also want that,” he added.

Apart from the religious significance, the annual festival is important for the Kashmiri Pandit community as they get a chance to visit their homeland and meet with their friends.

A section of Jawaharlal Nehru University students on Sunday alleged that the varsity authorities “prevented” them from taking part in the ‘Mahila Maha Panchayat’ by ramping up security on campus.

The ‘maha panchayat’ was called to express solidarity with the wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

The All India Students’ Association (AISA) claimed that an “undeclared Section 144” has been imposed on the campus.

“Today, the Mahila Panchayat was announced. Heavy police deployment has been made inside and outside Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to prevent students from participating in it. The government has deployed its entire machinery to protect sexual violence accused,” said AISA activist Madhurima Kundu said.

She also shared a photograph of over half a dozen women police personnel on the campus.

Kundu alleged that she was physically restrained as soon as she stepped outside the main gate.

“The female police (personnel) gheraoed me and tried to intimidate me by taking videos from personal phones,” she added.

To protest against the restrictions, scores of students staged a protest at the varsity gate. They also demanded Singh’s arrest.

AISA said in a press note, “Protest at JNU gate against undeclared 144 in campus preventing students from joining Mahila Panchayat and against the detention of women wrestlers and women leaders protesting for justice against sexual harasser BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh.” The wrestlers, who have been sitting in protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, have demanded the arrest of Singh who, they alleged, sexually harassed several women grapplers.

Thunderstorms with gusty wind, accompanied by light to moderate rainfall, were recorded at a few places in east Rajasthan and isolated places in the state’s western parts in the last 24 hours, a Met department spokesperson said.

During this period, 3 cm rainfall was recorded each in Nasirabad and Vijaynagar (both Ajmer), Todabhim (Karauli), Nagrafort (Tonk) and Jaipur, the official said.

The weather office has forecast intense thunderstorms with wind reaching speeds of 50-60 kilometres per hour and issued an ‘orange alert’ for Sunday and Monday for Jaipur, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Ajmer and Bharatpur divisions.

It has also advised people to not take shelter under trees.

Tel Aviv: Ninety-seven Israeli companies are now extending their global reach through the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) free trade zone, a 25 per cent increase since January.

Nearly one-third of the Israeli companies are in precious metals and stones, financial services, technology and telecoms and professional services.

Other sectors include construction, engineering and machinery, media and marketing, energy, and food and agriculture.

Benefits provided by the free trade zone include exemption from taxes, such as no income tax for 50 years; 100 per cent ownership of their companies; and assistance with company formation services and the visa process for employees and their families.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and chief executive officer for DMCC, said, “I am personally delighted to see this 25 per cent jump in members from Israel, which is further proof that Israeli companies believe in DMCC’s value proposition.

“In the coming years, we will increase our focus on Israel and keep this incredible momentum moving forward. I am therefore confident we will see many more companies from Israel choose Dubai and DMCC to scale and access the global marketplace,” he added.

DMCC registered its most successful year yet in 2022 and now includes more than 23,000 companies from around the world.

A long-awaited free-trade agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates went into effect on April 1.

Meanwhile, in Morocco, the International University of Rabat (UIR) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday to establish a centre of excellence focused on aeronautics, artificial intelligence research and innovation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, May 28, inaugurated the new Parliament building and installed the historic and sacred golden sceptre ‘Sengol’ near the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair. The new complex is much bigger and finer with stunning features when compared to the old Parliament building. Triangular in shape, the new Parliament building which replaced the old circular structure lies just opposite to the 90-year-old complex that housed both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Lok Sabha: The new and enormously-built Lok Sabha Chamber is designed in the likeness of India’s National Bird, the Peacock. The new Lower House of Parliament is twice in size in comparison to that of the old house.

Big paintings of National Bird, Peacock, on walls of the new Lok Sabha Chamber.

The floor of the new Lok Sabha Chamber has the design of Peacock feathers.

Rajya Sabha: While Rajya Sabha Chamber is inspired by the National Flower, the Lotus, and is 1.5 times bigger than the existing Upper House.

As the EU prepares to impose the 11th sanctions package against Russia, Budapest with support from Athens has been blocking the fresh measures, according to Politico. While the EU has already placed at least 10 coordinated sanctions on Moscow in response to its war in Ukraine, Brussels is preparing another tranche of sanctions that are being opposed by not only Hungary but also Greece.

Objection to Ukraine’s name-and-shame list
EU is planning to impose a trade embargo on countries that have been helping Moscow dodge the sanctions. Ukraine has handed the EU a list of private companies labelling them as the “war sponsors” to be sanctioned that also includes scores of European companies. But Hungary and Greece want some of these firms to be excluded from the sanctions package. At an EU meeting this week, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock slammed Hungary for not participating in the sanctions against Russia since the start of the invasion. Greece, however, which was at the forefront of the discussion, appeared to push back on the claims of the sanction circumvention.

“In the case of the Ukrainian name-and-shame list, the Greek companies are accused as International War Sponsors even though they are not violating the restrictive measures against Russia.”

Another diplomat told the outlet that while the EU sympathises with Greece’s position, “the question is how much does it damage [their economy], and Greece says it’s very damaging. We don’t have a problem with that position — but independently of that we of course want the next sanctions package.” It was also learnt that both countries have refused to agree on anything unless the firms were taken off the list. Hungary, Russia’s ally, had previously refused to give consensus on sanctions that included oil embargo. Hungary demanded an exemption from the European Union’s proposal to ban Russian oil imports, citing its dependence on Russian energy as making such compliance totally unfeasible. “This package of sanctions will completely destroy the security of Hungary’s energy supply,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó had told a press briefing. He further argued that his country was reliant on Russian oil imported via existing pipelines.

Earlier this week in Minsk, Belarus, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu and his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin signed a number of contracts outlining the process for preserving Russia’s non-strategic nuclear weapons at a designated storage facility on Belarusian soil.

Prior to that, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in late March that Minsk and Moscow had reached an agreement to station Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, a move that, in his words, does not violate Russia’s nuclear non-proliferation contracts, Sputnik reported. The Russian Ambassador to Belarus stated that the tactical nuclear weapons would be placed closer to the western boundaries of the Union State of Belarus and Russia.

Belarus forced to strengthen its own security
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry in a statement said, “Over the last two and a half years, the Republic of Belarus has been subjected to unprecedented political, economic and information pressure from the United States, the United Kingdom and its NATO allies, as well as the member states of the European Union.”

It added that “In view of these circumstances, and the legitimate concerns and risks in the sphere of national security arising from them, Belarus is forced to respond by strengthening its own security and defence capabilities.”

The British government’s decision to give Ukraine armour-piercing shells containing depleted Uranium, which the Russian president said was “one way or another related to nuclear technology,” was highlighted as the immediate cause for the deployment of Tactical Nuclear Weapons (TNP) in Belarus.

What is a Tactical Nuclear Weapon?
The goal of tactical nuclear weapons is to eliminate enemy forces and equipment on the battlefield. They are far less effective and have a much shorter range than nuclear warheads mounted on long-range strategic missiles that can destroy entire cities. The number of tactical weapons or any other information about them has not been disclosed by Russia, AP reported.