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Lupin launches generic medication in US market
- Country:
- India
Drug maker Lupin on Tuesday said it has launched Sevelamer Hydrochloride tablets (800 mg), used to treat hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease, in the US market.
The company has launched the product after having received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).
The medication will be manufactured at the company's manufacturing facility in Nagpur, Lupin said in a statement.
Hyperphosphatemia refers to abnormally high serum phosphate levels.
The company's product is a generic equivalent of Genzyme Corporation's Renagel tablets.
As per IQVIA MAT December 2021 data, Sevelamer Hydrochloride tablets (800 mg) had an estimated annual sales of USD 75 million in the US.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943215-lupin-launches-generic-medication-in-us-market
| 2022-03-01T13:03:15
|
en
| 0.926252
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Germany's 10-year yield below 0% as traders slash ECB hike bets
In Italy, one of the biggest beneficiaries of ECB stimulus, 10-year yields fell over 20 bps to 1.55%, pushing the closely-watched risk premium over German bonds to as low as 150 bps, the lowest in nearly two weeks. "It seems that the markets have started to reassess the monetary policy outlook.
Germany's 10-year yield returned to negative territory on Tuesday as worries about the economic implications of the Ukraine conflict pushed traders to slash bets on rate hikes from the European Central Bank. As fighting raged on in Ukraine, euro zone money markets moved to price in 25 basis points of hikes by December, down from around 30 bps of hikes priced in on Monday and 40 bps before Russia invaded Ukraine last Thursday.
A first, 10-basis point hike is no longer priced by September, with the first hike now priced at around 15 bps by October. That reflects investor wariness around how central banks will react to the threat to growth from the conflict, particularly as surging prices will add further pressure to already record-high inflation.
The repricing sent government bond yields in the bloc tumbling. Germany's 10-year yield, the benchmark for the bloc, fell below 0% for the first time since Feb 1 and was set for its biggest daily fall since 2011.
Five-year yields, sensitive to interest rates, dropped nearly 18 bps, also the biggest daily fall since 2011. In Italy, one of the biggest beneficiaries of ECB stimulus, 10-year yields fell over 20 bps to 1.55%, pushing the closely-watched risk premium over German bonds to as low as 150 bps, the lowest in nearly two weeks.
"It seems that the markets have started to reassess the monetary policy outlook. The focus was on the impact of the war on inflation that would keep the ECB on path to rate hikes and ending asset purchases," said Jan von Gerich, chief strategist at Nordea. "Now the thinking is that the outlook won't change that rapidly and so yields are falling and spreads narrowing."
A flurry of other yields also fell below 0% as the market now implies the ECB policy rate rising to only -0.25% by year-end. Belgium and France's five-year yields turned negative for the first time since Feb. 3 on Tuesday, following Dutch, Austrian and Slovakian five-year yields on Monday.
Two-year yields in Italy and Spain are also back below 0%. They had all risen above 0% following the ECB's hawkish pivot.
"It's just a continued risk off on Ukraine and not very positive headlines overnight such as the convey of tanks heading to Kyiv and Russia throwing more resources at the issue," said Rabobank senior rates strategist Lyn-Graham Taylor. On top of energy price fears, Germany's February inflation reading later on Tuesday is being watched for clues on whether the euro area reading on Wednesday may rise to yet another record high.
Data for North-Rhein Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, showed inflation rose to 5.3% year-on-year from 5.1% in January, while Italian inflation on Tuesday and Spanish inflation on Monday came in far above a Reuters poll's expectations. A key market-gauge of long-term euro zone inflation expectations rose to 1.9386%, the highest since Jan 5.
"In this kind of situation... (the ECB) need to (focus on) financial stability and more than whether inflation is at 5%, 4% or 2%," said Jens Peter Sorensen, chief analyst at Danske Bank. Elsewhere, Germany will raise 4 billion euros from the re-opening of a 30-year bond.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943217-germanys-10-year-yield-below-0-as-traders-slash-ecb-hike-bets
| 2022-03-01T13:03:23
|
en
| 0.966232
|
Many non-Ukrainians flee Ukraine, their fates also uncertain
But other nationalities that made up at least 100 people each were Uzbek, Nigerian, Indian, Moroccan, Kazakh, Pakistani, Afghan, Polish, Belarussian, Iranian, Turkish, Algerian and Russian.Some non-Ukrainians have complained that they have waited longer in line than Ukrainians and in some cases felt treated poorly.Kaneka Agnihotri, an Indian student who has lived six years in Ukraine, walked six hours without food to the Shehyni border crossing.
All day long, as trains and buses bring people fleeing Ukraine to the safety of Polish border towns, they carry not just Ukrainians fleeing a homeland under attack but large numbers of citizens of other countries who had made Ukraine their home and whose lives have also been upended.
In Przemysl, a town near the border which is the first stopping point for many refugees, there is a visibly large number of Africans and people from Middle Eastern countries.
Ahmed Ibrahim, a 23-year-old Egyptian, arrived carrying his cat in a carrier late Friday, feeling stunned and sick after days of travel. He said he had been studying medicine in Ukraine for five years and had only one year left. He had no idea what his future holds, not even what his next steps are. “What should I do?” he said.
Earlier a Pakistani man got off a bus that had come from Lviv in western Poland in a supermarket parking lot that is the arrival point for buses. Shaking in the cold he told a volunteer that he wants to go to Germany but has no money. The volunteer asked him if he wanted to be taken to Krakow, a Polish city that would bring him closer to Germany, and he said yes.
The UN refugee agency said Tuesday that some 660,000 refugees had already fled from Ukraine into neighbouring countries.
“This figure has been rising exponentially, hour after hour, literally, since Thursday,” agency chief Filippo Grandi told the United Nations Security Council. “I have worked in refugee crises for almost 40 years and I have rarely seen such an incredibly fast-rising exodus of people — the largest, surely, within Europe, since the Balkan wars.” Most go to Poland, a European Union country that is already home to many Ukrainians who came for work in recent years.
UNHCR figures on Monday had 281,000 people arriving in Poland, more than 84,500 in Hungary, about 36,400 in Moldova, over 32,500 in Romania and about 30,000 in Slovakia.
The UN believes up to 4 million refugees could leave Ukraine if the war deteriorates further.
Polish UN Ambassador Krzysztof Szczerski said people of some 125 nationalities had been admitted from Ukraine on Monday morning alone. Most were of course Ukraine. But other nationalities that made up at least 100 people each were: Uzbek, Nigerian, Indian, Moroccan, Kazakh, Pakistani, Afghan, Polish, Belarussian, Iranian, Turkish, Algerian and Russian.
Some non-Ukrainians have complained that they have waited longer in line than Ukrainians and in some cases felt treated poorly.
Kaneka Agnihotri, an Indian student who has lived six years in Ukraine, walked six hours without food to the Shehyni border crossing. There, she said, Ukrainian guards humiliated her and a group of other Indians, telling them to stand up and sit down over and over again and getting close to them with guards.
She told the AP that her group later moved to a different border crossing where they were treated well. Once in Poland, the Poles did everything to help.
There have been some reports that Africans in particular have been treated badly by Ukrainian guards.
Cihan Yildiray, a 26-year-old from Turkey who has been working in Kyiv, said Ukrainians passed through the border checkpoint more easily. He said he saw Black people and Arabs being beaten by Ukrainian guards.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943225-many-non-ukrainians-flee-ukraine-their-fates-also-uncertain
| 2022-03-01T13:03:31
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en
| 0.982424
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Ashneer Grover resigned after receiving agenda of board meeting: BharatPe
BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover resigned as Managing Director and Board Director, minutes after receiving the agenda for the upcoming board meeting that included submission of the Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) report regarding his conduct and considering actions based on it.
- Country:
- India
BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover resigned as Managing Director and Board Director, minutes after receiving the agenda for the upcoming board meeting that included submission of the Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) report regarding his conduct and considering actions based on it. The Board reserves the right to take action based on the report's findings, the company said.
A source close to the developments said that Grover's 8.5 per cent stake in the company might be clawed back as it is on the board's agenda to deliberate on the issue in the meeting in the evening today. Sources told ANI that Grover mailed his resignation to the board at midnight 12:05 pm, 15 minutes after receiving the agenda of the board meeting which is scheduled on Tuesday late evening. He received the agenda in the mail around 11:50 pm on Monday.
In his resignation addressed to the Board of Directors, Grover said that while they will not find a single act of impropriety against him, "I will not be participating in your charade". "Since you clearly believe you can run this Company better without me -- I am leaving you with this challenge. Build incrementally even half of the value I created so far -- I am leaving you with three times the funds I've utilised till date," said Grover.
"I hereby resign as the Managing Director of BharatPe, effective immediately. I also resign as a Director of the Board. I will continue as the single largest individual shareholder of the Company," he added. His resignation comes close on the heels of Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) rejecting Grover's petition against the company for initiating an investigation against him and BharatPe sacking his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, Head of Controls at the company, over allegations of misappropriation of funds.
Meanwhile, BharatPe issued a statement on Tuesday which says, "the Board reserves the right to take action based on the report's findings." It seems Grover resigned as the board meeting is going to discuss alleged irregularities by the Grover couple. BharatPe board has roped in professional services firm Alvarez and Marshal (A and M) and PwC to investigate the alleged irregularities by Grover's. PwC has completed its investigation and prepared its report which will be discussed in the board meeting.
People aware of the development said that the company has found certain financial irregularities against Madhuri Jain Grover, wife of Ashneer Grover who was sacked by the company last week. The company has strong proof of the funds being used for her personal purchases at the start-up. Her stock options have also been cancelled.
On the allegation that she was named in a preliminary investigation by professional services firm Alvarez and Marshal (A and M) that linked her to alleged financial irregularities at the startup, Madhuri said, "Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and A and M never presented a single document to me when I was called. They did not present any proofs for me to address. Where is the concept of natural justice? I have learned of allegations from the media. A and M has not till date been able to explain how their report leaked." A Spokesperson of the company told ANI that Jain has been terminated in accordance with the terms of her employment agreement. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943230-ashneer-grover-resigned-after-receiving-agenda-of-board-meeting-bharatpe
| 2022-03-01T13:03:39
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en
| 0.982225
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Rouble heads back towards record lows, living standards exposed
The rouble gave up earlier attempts at a recovery to head back towards record lows on Tuesday, threatening the living standards of ordinary Russians as the country was hit with a raft of harsh Western sanctions. The currency had found some support after Russian authorities ordered exporting companies, among which are some of the world's biggest energy producers from Gazprom to Rosneft, to sell 80% of their forex revenues on the market, as the central bank's own ability to intervene on currency markets was curbed.
The rouble gave up earlier attempts at a recovery to head back towards record lows on Tuesday, threatening the living standards of ordinary Russians as the country was hit with a raft of harsh Western sanctions.
The currency had found some support after Russian authorities ordered exporting companies, among which are some of the world's biggest energy producers from Gazprom to Rosneft, to sell 80% of their forex revenues on the market, as the central bank's own ability to intervene on currency markets was curbed. But the rouble's brief gains had still left it well shy of the 75 to the dollar mark and 87 to the euro it traded at before Russia recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine and sent its troops into the neighbouring country last week.
The Russian currency had fallen 2.3% to 96.80 against the dollar by 1053 GMT in Moscow, and lost 1.8% to 107.87 versus the euro, slipping back towards Monday's record low of 122. Promsvyazbank said they expected the rouble to hold below 100 to the dollar on the local exchange on Tuesday.
On the EBS electronic trading platform, however, the rouble was pegged at 104 to the greenback, although still a distance from the all-time low of 120 hit on Monday. The rouble will be steered by state measures to sell foreign currency on the domestic market and could even firm if people start selling dollars, fearing keeping savings in the U.S. currency, said Dmitry Polevoy, head of investment at LockoInvest.
The rouble has tumbled since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at one point losing a third of its value, prompting the central bank to more than double interest rates to 20% and adopt a range of other urgent measures. "The substantial interest rate hike from the Bank of Russia failed to stabilise the rouble," said Piotr Matys, senior FX analyst at In Touch Capital Markets.
"The currency's moves are a clear indication that even such a drastic move is not sufficient to improve very negative sentiment towards the rouble, as it's impossible for foreign investors to invest in Russian assets." Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists. Share trading on the Moscow Exchange was suspended for a second day after sharp sell-offs hammered the market since mid-February.
"The decision was very effective, as most blue chips are actively used in the REPO market, and a plunge may lead to margin calls," said Ararat Mkrtchian, co-founder of Russian index company Beta FT. Russian authorities will also order temporarily curbs on foreign investors seeking to sell Russian assets, saying they wanted to ensure they take a considered decision not one driven by political pressure.
LIVING STANDARDS DAMAGED The weak rouble is set to hit living stands in Russia and fan already high inflation, while western sanctions are expected to create shortages of essential goods that people in Russia have become used to, such as cars.
The Institute of International Finance (IIF), a trade group representing large banks, also warned that Russia was extremely likely to default on its external debts and its economy will suffer a double-digit contraction this year. The central bank and the finance ministry did not reply to Reuters request for comment on the possibility of defaults.
Inflation will spike in the short term but over the longer term could slow as people in Russia switch to a money-saving mode, said LockoInvest's Polevoy.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943232-rouble-heads-back-towards-record-lows-living-standards-exposed
| 2022-03-01T13:03:47
|
en
| 0.968525
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Ukraine crisis: PM Modi asks Air Force to evacuate stranded Indians
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the Indian Air Force IAF to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive against that country, sources said on Tuesday. The IAF is likely to deploy several C-17 aircraft as part of Operation Ganga from Tuesday, they said.
- Country:
- India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive against that country, sources said on Tuesday. The IAF is likely to deploy several C-17 aircraft as part of Operation Ganga from Tuesday, they said. Till now, only private Indian carriers have been evacuating Indians from Romania and Hungary, countries with land borders with Ukraine on the western side, as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24. India began evacuation of around 14,000 of its stranded citizens on February 26.
In a statement on Tuesday, the IAF said it is geared up for any requirements of evacuation of Indian citizens from Ukraine.
C-17 is IAF's largest transport aircraft and it has the capacity to carry approximately 300 passengers in it during a humanitarian relief mission.
In order to scale up the ongoing evacuation efforts under Operational Ganga, Modi has called for the IAF to join the exercise, the sources said.
Leveraging the capacities of the IAF will ensure that more people can be evacuated in a shorter time frame, they noted.
The large C-17 aircraft will also help deliver humanitarian aid to war-hit Ukraine more efficiently, they said.
Indians are travelling by road to Ukraine's borders with Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland etc, from where they are being taken by the Indian government officials to the airports for the evacuation flights.
The Indian Embassy in Ukraine on Twitter advised all Indian nationals -- including students -- to leave Kyiv urgently on Friday itself, preferably by available trains or through any other means available.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943233-ukraine-crisis-pm-modi-asks-air-force-to-evacuate-stranded-indians
| 2022-03-01T13:03:54
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en
| 0.968533
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Vipul Organics board recommends bonus issue of shares in the ratio of 1:4
Vipul Organics Limited, a leading specialty chemicals company in the pigments and dyes segment, said on Tuesday its board has recommended a bonus issue of shares in the ratio of 1
- Country:
- India
Vipul Organics Limited, a leading specialty chemicals company in the pigments and dyes segment, said on Tuesday its board has recommended a bonus issue of shares in the ratio of 1:4. The record date for the bonus issue is set on April 9, 2022. As per the board recommendation, the company will issue 1 new fully paid-up equity share for every 4 fully paid-up equity shares held. A total of 25,62,375 new equity shares will be issued.
"Over the past five decades, the Company has grown to become one of the largest manufacturers of pigment and dyes in India. This was made possible due to the unequivocal support of all its shareholders," said Vipul Shah, Managing Director, Vipul Organics Limited, said in a statement. The company's board also approved and recommended Vipul Organics Limited - Employee Stock Options Scheme 2022 ("VOL - ESOS 2022") and issuance of up to 2,00,000 options to the eligible employees.
"The issue of bonus equity shares and ESOS's is a token of appreciation for the continued support of its shareholders and employees respectively," Shah said. The board also allotted 3,34,000 equity shares at an issue price Rs 111 each (including premium of Rs 101 per share) upon conversion of 3,34,000 warrants issued on preferential basis, as approved by the members of the Company in their Extra Ordinary General Meeting held on 30th January 2021 to the promoter and promoter group of the Company.
Upon conversion of the Warrants, the promoters' stake in the company has increased from 65.08 per cent to 66.22 per cent. After the above allotment, the paid-up share capital of the company stands increased to Rs 10,24,95,000 divided into 1,02,49,500 equity shares of Rs 10 each. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943234-vipul-organics-board-recommends-bonus-issue-of-shares-in-the-ratio-of-14
| 2022-03-01T13:04:03
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en
| 0.960501
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Value of UPI transactions declined to Rs 8.27 lakh crore in Feb: NPCI data
- Country:
- India
India's cashless retail transactions on UPI platform were worth Rs 8.27 lakh crore in February, slightly lower than the amount recorded in the previous month, data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) showed on Tuesday.
There were a total of 452 crore (4.52 billion) transactions in February 2022.
In January, the value of cashless retail transactions on the BHIM UPI platform stood at Rs 8.32 lakh crore while the total number of transactions was at 461 crore (4.61 billion).
However, there was a slight uptick in the value of automatic collection at toll plazas through the NETC FASTag technology, with over 24.36 crore transactions (243.64 million) worth Rs 3,631.22 crore in February, NPCI said.
In the preceding month, NETC FASTag toll collections were valued at Rs 3,603.71 crore by way of 23.10 crore (231.01 million) transactions.
On the other hand, instant money transfer through 24x7 IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) fell to Rs 3.84 lakh crore in February as against Rs 3.87 lakh crore in January. During the same period, the number of such transactions stood at 42 crore (420.93 million) as against 44 crore (440.17 million), as per the data.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- NETC
- NPCI
- India
- National Payments Corporation of India
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943236-value-of-upi-transactions-declined-to-rs-827-lakh-crore-in-feb-npci-data
| 2022-03-01T13:04:11
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en
| 0.953735
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Indian ultra HNIs allocate 29pc of wealth to buy primary, second homes in 2021
- Country:
- India
Nearly 30 per cent wealth of Indian ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) was allocated towards purchase of principal and second housing properties last year, according to Knight Frank.
In its attitude survey, part of the Wealth Report 2022, property consultant Knight Frank India said that 29 per cent wealth of Indian UHNWIs, those having a net worth of USD 30 million and above), is allocated towards purchase of principal and second homes.
Further, 22 per cent of UHNWIs' investable wealth was allocated towards direct purchase of commercial property (including rental property, offices etc) while 8 per cent was allocated towards indirect purchase of commercial property (including REITs, funds, etc.).
Additionally, the survey cited that 8 per cent of the property portfolio was held overseas.
As per the report, 10 per cent of India’s UHNWIs plan to buy a new home in 2022.
Indian UHNWI prefer to invest in properties in the domestic market (home country India), followed by international markets of the UK, the UAE and the US.
Globally, 21% of the ultra-wealthy are expected to purchase a home in 2022.
On an average an Indian UHNWI owns 2.3 homes and 32 per cent of the Indian UHNWIs have rented out their second homes during 2021.
Knight Frank India Chairman and Managing Director Shishir Baijal said: '' Investment in the real estate sector in India has grown in recent times especially in the wake of the pandemic as real estate was viewed as a safe and tangible investment option amidst the economic volatility.'' Further, at attractive valuations, real estate continued to drive institutional demand.
''The governing rules surrounding REITs are regularly updated to augment the scope of these investment instruments in India. Our survey indicates that the investor interest will remain stable in 2022.
''Interestingly investors showed preference towards assets such as Land Development, Healthcare, Retail and Logistics etc. ESG will continue to gain prominence as key influence in property purchase decisions in 2022,'' Baijal said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943237-indian-ultra-hnis-allocate-29pc-of-wealth-to-buy-primary-second-homes-in-2021
| 2022-03-01T13:04:19
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en
| 0.946511
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Bharat Petroleum to invest Rs. 3,972 Crore for Development of City Gas Distribution Network in Aurangabad and Ahmednagar
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), a 'Maharatna' and a Fortune Global 500 Company, has launched the city gas distribution (CGD) network in Aurangabad and Ahmednagar districts.
- Country:
- India
Aurangabad (Maharashtra) [India], March 1 (ANI/NewsVoir): Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), a 'Maharatna' and a Fortune Global 500 Company, has launched the city gas distribution (CGD) network in Aurangabad and Ahmednagar districts. The Company will invest around Rs. 1,600 crore over next 5 years and a total of Rs. 4000 Cores for completion of full project.
BPCL won geographical area (GA) of Aurangabad and Ahmednagar during 9th round of bidding of PNGRB, through a wholly owned subsidiary Bharat Gas Resources Ltd (BGRL). During the first five years, approximately 3 lakh PNG connections, 100 CNG filling stations and laying of 350 km of steel pipeline network is planned in an area of 27,178 sq. km. in the GA. Speaking at the launch of CGD network in Aurangabad, Sukhmal Jain, Executive Director (Gas), BPCL said "Aurangabad and Ahmednagar will enter an era of Natural Gas as Piped Natural Gas and Compressed Natural Gas network will spread across both districts. We are delighted to be a part of this development to help both districts shift towards a green and clean fuel thereby contributing to the overall vision of "Net zero" carbon emission of the Company by 2040 and cut emissions as a response towards global climate change.
Expanding the PNG and CNG penetration across geographical areas is a part of our strategy that will enable us towards a sustainable planet. Being at a forefront of leading the change in a sustainable way, all our initiatives are aimed at providing Energy solutions to consumers that are environment-friendly by leveraging talent, innovation and technology." Despite the pandemic during last two years, the Company has already started laying steel pipeline for development of PNG and CNG in the two districts. BPCL has developed 21 CNG stations (15 in Ahmednagar and 6 in Aurangabad) and work is in process for 40 more CNG stations to be set up in both districts. For the industrial consumers, the connectivity in areas of Walunj and Shendre in Aurangabad and Supa in Ahmednagar is expected to be completed by September 2022.
Bharat Petroleum in City Gas Distribution Business The government has set a vision to make India a gas-based economy. The goal is to increase the share of gas in the energy mix from the current 6 per cent to 15 per cent in 2030. We have already witnessed a growing demand for natural gas owing to its attribute of being a cleaner fuel, and of course improvement in supply and distribution infrastructure over the years.
BPCL has emerged a major player in taking the vision of gas based economy a reality. After the successful bidding in the 11th bidding round by PNGRB, BPCL and its JV now have presence in 48 Geographical Areas in 94 Districts in 18th States, to develop City Gas Distribution (CGD) Networks. CGD Network project envisages marketing of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to various customers in domestic, commercial & industrial segments and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to the automotive segment. BPCL's committed investment in CGD network, on standalone basis, would now increase to Rs. 22,000 Crore.
CNG is substantially economical and Eco-friendly than the conventional liquid auto fuel. It will bring clean cooking fuel at the door step of domestic house hold as well as providing clean fuel option to commercial and industries. Fortune Global 500 Company, Bharat Petroleum is the second largest Indian Oil Marketing Company and one of the premier integrated energy companies in India, engaged in refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products, with a significant presence in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry. The company attained the coveted Maharatna status, joining the elite club of companies having greater operational & financial autonomy.
Bharat Petroleum's Refineries at Mumbai & Kochi and subsidiary Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd., at Bina, Madhya Pradesh have a combined refining capacity of around 35.3 MMTPA. Its marketing infrastructure includes a network of installations, depots, energy stations, aviation service stations and LPG distributors. Its distribution network comprises over 19,000 Energy Stations, over 6,100 LPG distributorships, 733 Lubes distributorships, 123 POL storage locations, 53 LPG Bottling Plants, 60 Aviation Service Stations, 3 Lube blending plants and 4 cross-country pipelines. Bharat Petroleum is integrating its strategy, investments, environmental and social ambitions to move towards a sustainable planet. The company has chalked out the plan to offer electric vehicle charging stations at around 7000 energy stations over next 5 years.
With a focus on sustainable solutions, the company is developing a vibrant ecosystem and a road-map to become a Net Zero Energy Company by 2040, in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Bharat Petroleum has been partnering communities by supporting innumerable initiatives connected primarily in the areas of education, water conservation, skill development, health, community development, capacity building and employee volunteering. With 'Energising Lives' as its core purpose, Bharat Petroleum's vision is to be the most admired global energy company leveraging talent, innovation & technology. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943239-bharat-petroleum-to-invest-rs-3972-crore-for-development-of-city-gas-distribution-network-in-aurangabad-and-ahmednagar
| 2022-03-01T13:04:27
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| 0.933167
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UK passes law to ban Russian-linked ships from its ports
- Country:
- United Kingdom
Britain said on Tuesday it had passed a law that would ban all ships that have any connection to Russia from entering its ports.
Britain had said on Monday that it wanted all ports to refuse entry to ships that were Russian flagged, registered or controlled while it drew up new legislation. "We've just become the first nation to pass a law involving a total ban of all ships with any Russian connection whatsoever from entering British ports," Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Twitter.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943240-uk-passes-law-to-ban-russian-linked-ships-from-its-ports
| 2022-03-01T13:04:34
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| 0.969452
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Maruti Suzuki sales decline marginally to 164,056 units in February
India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki said on Tuesday its sales declined marginally to 164,056 units in February 2022 from 164,469 units recorded in the same month last year.
- Country:
- India
India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki said on Tuesday its sales declined marginally to 164,056 units in February 2022 from 164,469 units recorded in the same month last year. "Maruti Suzuki India Limited sold a total of 164,056 units in February 2022. Total sales in the month include domestic sales of 137,607 units, sales to other OEM of 2,428 units and its highest ever monthly exports of 24,021 units," the company said in a statement.
"The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles which are primarily sold in the domestic market. The Company took all possible measures to minimise the impact," Maruti Suzuki said. Cumulative sales for April-February period of 2021-22 stands at 1,482,258 units as against 1,290,847 units recorded in the corresponding period of last fiscal. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943242-maruti-suzuki-sales-decline-marginally-to-164056-units-in-february
| 2022-03-01T13:04:42
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| 0.965618
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Revolutionary programs CharanSparsh and AagLaga do Sapne Mein introduced by Dinesh Burad makes society more progressive and inclusive
In an attempt to nurture relationships and foster economic growth, entreprenuer Dinesh Burad has introduced two revolutionary programs named, Charan Sparsh and Aag Laga Do Sapne Mein aimed towards making society more progressive and inclusive in terms of growth
- Country:
- India
New Delhi [India], March 1 (ANI/ATK): In an attempt to nurture relationships and foster economic growth, entreprenuer Dinesh Burad has introduced two revolutionary programs named, Charan Sparsh and Aag Laga Do Sapne Mein aimed towards making society more progressive and inclusive in terms of growth. While the first program is aimed at fostering relationships with older people in families and beyond, the second program is tailored to inculcate purpose-driven life in the youth while developing moral character. Both these programs are significantly towards making our society more progressive and inclusive.
Dinesh Burad has emerged as one of those rare set of people who have made social welfare as the goal of his life. Once a small businessman, Dinesh has turned his luck through hard work and commitment. A seasoned businessman and motivational speaker, Dinesh has become the guardian angel of the marginalized section of society by working at the ground level through his revolutionary programs "CharanSparsh" and "AagLaga do Sapne Mein." Hailing from Jasol- a small town of Rajasthan, Dinesh took his family's financial and emotional responsibility on his shoulders as he ventured into a textile business at the young age of 20 years. He made himself one of the industry's leading business people with his acumen and creativity. Today, his new-fashioned fabrics for lady suits and Kurtis are in much demand across the country. Customers all over the country swear by the supreme quality of his products and services and buy them hand to hand.
However, the quest to serve society didn't let Dinesh sit at ease. Inspired by the philanthropic actions of his mother Leela Devi and father Ukchandji Burad, he wanted to bring a transformative change in society by making a difference. Thus, this B.com Graduate researched extensively to find the purpose of his life. He found the same through spiritual enlightenment, following the principles of Jainism. He abides by the three pillars of his life to support his professional vision are Jayashree, Dikshita, and Siddhi. These principles acted as an igniting fuel for his journey for self-less dedication towards humanity.
With a knack for connecting with the audience, Dinesh Burad groomed himself after joining Akhil Bhartiya TerapanthYuvak Parishad Sanstha. The body played a crucial role in reinstating his belief in serving society. Following his vision, he made two programs- "CharanSparsh" and "AagLaga do Sapne Mein" for the benefit of the masses. Being an entrepreneur, Dinesh envisions creating an ecosystem where entrepreneurship is supported and taken as a profession. He wants to hone future makers with the relevant skillset to be 'employment givers' and not 'employment takers.'
For his exceptional commitment, today, he has become a role model for many who seek to bring progressive change in society. He is also closely associated with Akhil Bhartiya TerapanthYuvak Parishad Sanstha in their social projects to contribute to building the nation. The nation needs more philanthropic contributions by her sons like Dinesh to become a world leader in the years to come. This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943244-revolutionary-programs-charansparsh-and-aaglaga-do-sapne-mein-introduced-by-dinesh-burad-makes-society-more-progressive-and-inclusive
| 2022-03-01T13:04:50
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| 0.976065
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Idbook launches flagship franchising model for hotels across India
Idbook Hotels & Holidays, the pioneers of the flexible stay length model in the Indian hospitality sector, announced their flagship franchising model for hotels and travel agencies today.
- Country:
- India
New Delhi [India], March 1 (ANI/NewsVoir): Idbook Hotels & Holidays, the pioneers of the flexible stay length model in the Indian hospitality sector, announced their flagship franchising model for hotels and travel agencies today. The brand, also known to promote village tourism in the country, is looking to expand its service portfolio and reach through this initiative.
With the aim of increasing efficiency, affordability and structurally sound services in the sector, Idbook's franchise model will provide brand association opportunities to the hotel chains equipping them with a well-trained staff and premium amenities. Additionally, the model will facilitate flexible stay time with availability in 4, 8, 12, 24 hours and any time check-in and check-outs to its customers. The brand is also the leader in promoting village tourism in the country. With a wide range of verticals and benefits to explore, Idbook's ideology of boosting the local economy has proven to be a positive force in the industry. By creating employment opportunities, increasing exposure towards new business/work prospects for the villagers and generating growth and income, the brand has been able to take a step further towards promoting the government's mission for rural development. Idbook also offers homestay to all its traveller as well as help them organise business activities under their village tourism packages.
Commenting on the launch Shubham Sahu, Founder, Idbook Hotels said, "We strongly believe that hotel stays should be comfortable, relaxing and a hassle-free experience. Realising the need for a flexible model that allows a combination of fair prices and finest facilities and with the aim of providing a one-stop solution to hotels that are looking for branded recognition and maximising their business footprint, we introduced our franchising model." He further added, "Every business breakthrough should be able to take the economy a notch higher. Entering a territory less explored, we saw an amazing opportunity in village tourism. The beauty of the uniqueness of the Indian villages combined with premium hospitality is the mantra of our exclusive services under this initiative. We truly hope our customers enjoy their stay in the lap of nature and traditional yet modern home stays."
Idbook is currently working with more than 500+ hotels under their brand name. The company provides a variety of holiday packages for both Indian and international destinations like Maldives, Dubai, Singapore, Thailand and others. Trusting in conserving the environment, the company also works closely with Prawaah Foundation for their recycling projects. Idbook is all about travel solutions in their easy, safe, quick, enjoyful, and unique version. It is hourly hotels chain with a network of 500+ hotels in India, Nepal, Thailand, Dubai, and building the branded hotels chain with specialisation in providing flexible hotel stay length. Also, Idbook tour packages are popular for their unique experience and affordable service. Currently, we are on the mission of promoting village tourism across India.
This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943245-idbook-launches-flagship-franchising-model-for-hotels-across-india
| 2022-03-01T13:04:57
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| 0.950349
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More supply chain pain as airspace closures hit air cargo
Transport between Europe and north Asian destinations like Japan, South Korea and China is in the front line of disruption after reciprocal bans barred European carriers from flying over Siberia and prevented Russian airlines from flying to Europe. Airlines responsible for moving around 20% of the world's air cargo are affected by those bans, Frederic Horst, managing director of Cargo Facts Consulting, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Global supply chains, already hit hard by the pandemic, face new disruption and cost pressure as airspace bans following Russia's invasion of Ukraine raise concerns over a fifth of air freight. Transport between Europe and north Asian destinations like Japan, South Korea and China is in the front line of disruption after reciprocal bans barred European carriers from flying over Siberia and prevented Russian airlines from flying to Europe.
Airlines responsible for moving around 20% of the world's air cargo are affected by those bans, Frederic Horst, managing director of Cargo Facts Consulting, told Reuters on Tuesday. Germany's Lufthansa, Air France KLM, Finnair and Virgin Atlantic have already cancelled north Asian cargo flights over closed access to airspace.
Major Asian carriers like Korean Air Lines and Japan's ANA Holdings are still using Russian airspace, however, as are Middle Eastern airlines. Shares in German logistics firm Deutsche Post fell almost 3% on Tuesday. Major airline shares fell around 1%.
Pure cargo carriers like Russia's AirBridgeCargo Airlines and Luxembourg's Cargolux are subject to the bans in a move that could send air freight rates - already elevated due to a lack of passenger capacity during the pandemic - soaring further. "The flights become more expensive due to the longer routes" said Stefan Maichl, analyst at Germany's Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg.
"With more kerosene on board, the cargo capacity decreases. Freight rates could increase further as a result. " In December, air cargo rates were 150% above 2019 levels, according to the International Air Transport Association, spurring inflation that has rocked economies around the world.
Sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of its Ukraine invasion are expected to further disrupt global supply chains. Russia's AirBridgeCargo alone moves just under 4% of global international air cargo, with most of that between Europe and Asia, Horst said.
"All up you could be looking at perhaps a quarter of air cargo between Asia and Europe needing to find alternate means of transportation," Horst said. "Yields are high enough that flying a longer route via Southeast Asia, South Asia or the Middle East is an option, but it will still pull capacity out of the market."
E-commerce surged during the pandemic. Shipping container shortages and port bottlenecks led to more products being flown by air. Demand for air cargo last year was 6.9% above 2019 levels, according to IATA. Taiwan's EVA Airways said on Tuesday its cargo flights to and from Europe were operating normally and it would consider adding more services to meet market demand.
China Airlines, also based in Taiwan, said it would continue to pay attention to the global economic and political situation and flexibly adjust cargo capacity. Asia-North America cargo routes are expected to be less affected than European routes, analysts say, because many carriers already use Anchorage, Alaska, as a cargo hub and stopover point.
Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co said on Tuesday they were keeping an eye on any disruption to supply chains as a result of what Russia calls its "special operation" in Ukraine. U.S.-based United Parcel Service Inc and FedEx Corp , two of the world's largest logistics companies, have halted deliveries to Russia. Deutsche Post said its DHL unit was halting inbound shipments to Russia.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943251-more-supply-chain-pain-as-airspace-closures-hit-air-cargo
| 2022-03-01T13:05:05
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| 0.958732
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Shipping firm MSC suspends container cargo bookings for Russia
- Country:
- United Kingdom
Shipping company MSC has stopped cargo bookings to and from Russia but will still accept and screen food and humanitarian cargoes, the world's number one container line said on Tuesday.
Geneva-headquartered MSC said in a customer advisory that it was implemented with immediate effect from March 1 "a temporary stoppage on all cargo bookings to/from Russia, covering all access areas including Baltics, Black Sea, and Far East Russia."
"MSC will continue to accept and screen bookings for delivery of essential goods such as food, medical equipment, and humanitarian goods," it said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943254-shipping-firm-msc-suspends-container-cargo-bookings-for-russia
| 2022-03-01T13:05:13
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| 0.943727
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Canadian CPPIB to invest Rs 2,650cr in JV with RMZ corp to develop, buy commercial assets
- Country:
- India
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will invest Rs 2,650 crore in a joint venture with Bengaluru-based realty firm RMZ Corp to develop and acquire commercial projects across India.
RMZ Corp and CPPIB announced that they have entered into their second joint venture to develop and hold commercial office space in key cities across India.
''The total aggregate capital commitment by CPP Investments into the joint venture will be up to Rs 26.5 billion (C$ 449 million), to support the development and acquisition of projects across India,'' RMZ said in a statement.
Manoj Menda, Corporate Chairman, RMZ Corp said this joint venture will provide additional opportunities to forge new strategic financial co-investments and remain ahead of the curve whilst also significantly increasing capital allocation to the core and development asset portfolios.
''The two joint ventures together have been established to develop assets worth in excess of USD 2.5 billion across cities. This partnership takes RMZ a step closer to our supercharge vision and growth strategy by 2032,'' he added.
The joint venture will be seeded with StarTech – a 1.37 million square feet Grade A office building located in Koramangala, Bangalore, which is currently co-owned by RMZ and Prestige Estates.
CPP Investments will acquire Prestige’s entire stake in StarTech.
Spread across 8 acres, Star Tech is a LEED Platinum-rated green building and is a premium commercial campus with 100 per cent occupancy.
This is the second joint venture between RMZ and CPP Investments. The two entities formed their first joint venture in 2021 to develop and manage approximately 10 million square feet of Grade A commercial office spaces across Hyderabad and Chennai.
Arshdeep Sethi, Senior Managing Director, RMZ Corp said, ''This second joint venture builds on our existing partnership in Hyderabad and Chennai and reiterates RMZ’s strategic objective to expand the Group’s asset base and development pipelines across other cities.'' Hari Krishna V, Managing Director, Real Estate – India, CPP Investments, said, “We continue to identify high demand for premium commercial office space in top city locations in India, such as Bangalore.'' RMZ owns and operates a real asset portfolio of 67 million square feet, and are poised to grow to 350 million square feet of assets by 2032.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943265-canadian-cppib-to-invest-rs-2650cr-in-jv-with-rmz-corp-to-develop-buy-commercial-assets
| 2022-03-01T13:05:20
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| 0.932826
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Air India Express flight carrying 182 evacuees from Ukraine lands in Mumbai
- Country:
- India
An Air India Express flight carrying 182 Indian nationals, mostly students, evacuated from Ukraine landed here from the Romanian capital Bucharest on Tuesday morning, an airline spokesperson said.
Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane received them at the Mumbai airport, the spokesperson added.
The AI Express flight IX-1202 from Bucharest via Kuwait touched down at the airport at 7.40 am.
Of 182 passengers, 25 were from Maharashtra, 38 from Haryana, 34 from Uttar Pradesh, 10 from Gujarat, and the remaining 75 from other parts of the country, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) later said in a release. Air India Express is the international budget arm of Air India, which is now owned by the Tata Group.
The airport operator also said that complying with the instructions of the Mumbai civic body BMC, government, and Airport Health Organization (APHO), it undertook several measures to facilitate a smooth transit of the passengers to their respective destinations while adhering to all necessary norms and COVID-19 protocols.
Air India had operated the first chartered flight to Mumbai from Bucharest with 219 Indian evacuees from Ukraine on Saturday.
India began the evacuation of its citizens from Romania and Hungary -- western neighbors of Ukraine -- on Saturday after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Union minister Rane addressed the students inside the aircraft.
The passengers were later received at the aerobridge by airport officials who escorted them out and ensured their exit on priority, CSMIA said.
CSMIA, in coordination with travel operators, assisted some 85 passengers with their domestic onward ticket booking, it said. One of the students who returned by the AI Express flight said the plight of those stuck in eastern parts of Ukraine, which is largely affected by the Russian attack, is worse, as they can not reach the western borders easily.
''We hid in our hostels for a couple of days and then managed to reach the western border quickly. Thousands of students in educational institutions in the eastern parts of Ukraine are facing a grim situation as traveling by road from there is extremely difficult," said Nishi Malkani who studied in a university in western Ukraine.
Poorva Patil, another student, thanked God for the safe return.
Narrating her experience, Patil said, "First, we were asked to stay inside our hostel rooms and were later sheltered in bunkers. It was severe cold with a temperature around 2 degrees Celsius. We traveled almost 10 km by hiring a bus to reach near the Romanian border."
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Scholz flies to Ukraine as fears of Russian invasion grow
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943277-air-india-express-flight-carrying-182-evacuees-from-ukraine-lands-in-mumbai
| 2022-03-01T13:05:28
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| 0.966741
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Billionaire Fridman quits Veon board after named on EU sanctions list
He holds a stake of 47.9% via his investment vehicle LetterOne. Fridman said in a statement on Monday he would contest his inclusion on the EU sanctions list and denied he had “cultivated strong ties” to the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Veon operates the Beeline network in Russia and Kyivstar in Ukraine.
Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman has stepped down from the board of directors of Veon, the mobile network operator said on Tuesday, following his inclusion on a list of Russians sanctioned by the European Union.
Fridman is the biggest shareholder in the Amsterdam-listed company, which operates networks in Ukraine and Russia as well as Algeria, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. He holds a stake of 47.9% via his investment vehicle LetterOne. Fridman said in a statement on Monday he would contest his inclusion on the EU sanctions list and denied he had "cultivated strong ties" to the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Veon operates the Beeline network in Russia and Kyivstar in Ukraine. On Monday it said Kyivstar was still operating, despite the war, and CEO Kaan Terzioglu said he was closely monitoring sanctions imposed on Russia.
Terzioglu said Veon had $2.3 billion in cash at the end of last year as well as $1.5 billion in undrawn credit lines. However, he said the firm could not provide financial guidance in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The shares are currently suspended on Euronext at 0.56 euro cents, down 63% year to date.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943278-billionaire-fridman-quits-veon-board-after-named-on-eu-sanctions-list
| 2022-03-01T13:05:36
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| 0.967399
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Indian ultra-HNIs put 11 pc of investable wealth into art, jewellery, classic cars, others
Wine saw a 16 per cent incremental value on investment, compared to 9 per cent for rare whisky.However, over a 10-year period, rare whisky continues to top the charts, rising 428 per cent.In line with global trends, Indian UHNWIs too preferred wine over rare whisky in 2021.Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India said, The Indian UHNWIs have a fantastic appreciation towards investments of passion, where the consideration is beyond pure risk and return dynamics.
- Country:
- India
Indian ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI), those having net worth of USD 30 million (about Rs 226 crore) and above, allocated 11 per cent of their investable wealth towards luxury items like art, jewellery, classic cars, watches and handbags, according to Knight Frank.
''11 per cent of the investable wealth of Indian ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI) is allocated towards passion led investments against the global average of 16 per cent,'' Knight Frank India said in a statement.
As per its Wealth Report 2022 released on Tuesday, about 29 per cent of Indian UHNWIs spent more on passion investments during 2021 compared to the previous year.
Joy of ownership, rather than investment returns, was the driving factor for India's ultra-rich for their passion investments, the consultant noted.
''Art was the most preferred investment by Indian UHNWIs, followed by Jewellery and classic cars,'' it said.
Luxury handbags and wines slipped from their earlier 1st position to 5th and 7th respectively in 2021.
According to Knight Frank's global luxury investment index, art provided a return of 13 per cent in 2021 and 75 per cent over 10 years.
Wine gained over rare whiskey globally in the 12-month period ended December 2021. Wine saw a 16 per cent incremental value on investment, compared to 9 per cent for rare whisky.
However, over a 10-year period, rare whisky continues to top the charts, rising 428 per cent.
In line with global trends, Indian UHNWIs too preferred wine over rare whisky in 2021.
Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India said, ''The Indian UHNWIs have a fantastic appreciation towards investments of passion, where the consideration is beyond pure risk and return dynamics. With the world coming closer in this digital age, we expect this phenomenon to only grow stronger in the country.'' Andrew Shirley, editor of The Wealth Report at Knight Frank, said the COVID-19 pandemic certainly has not dented the enthusiasm of collectors who have continued to pay significant amounts of money for an increasingly eclectic mix of assets including basketball sneakers, comics and even meteorites.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943282-indian-ultra-hnis-put-11-pc-of-investable-wealth-into-art-jewellery-classic-cars-others
| 2022-03-01T13:05:44
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| 0.937897
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EXCLUSIVE-Raiffeisen looks at leaving Russia after Ukraine invasion - sources
The second source said any decision to leave Russia would have to be done in coordination with the central bank, which might impose its own conditions. Austria's finance ministry said this week that RBI was "well positioned for all eventualities." RBI has invested 2.4 billion euros in its Russian subsidiary, which had assets worth 11.96 billion euros at the end of last year. Writing off both would cut just over 100 basis points off the group's Core Equity Tier 1 ratio - a key gauge of financial strength - of 13.14%, according to Reuters calculations.
Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is looking into leaving Russia, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, a move that would make it the first European bank to do so since the country's invasion of Ukraine.
Such a decision, which could see one of central and eastern Europe's biggest banks quit both Russia and Ukraine, is not imminent, but could be triggered if its businesses in those countries need further cash or capital, one of the people said. RBI has operated in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union thirty years ago and its business there - Russia's No. 10 bank by assets - contributed almost a third to the group's net profit of 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) last year.
The contingency plan shows how some foreign businesses with operations in Russia are scrambling to adjust to heavy sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West, and to the ensuing turmoil that has gripped Russian markets. Energy giants BP and Shell are among companies looking to reduce ties with Russia. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
A second person said RBI could exit Russia and Ukraine by handing over ownership to another entity, without giving details. A temporary suspension of activity was also an option, that person said. Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has said Moscow would temporarily curb foreigners seeking to sell assets, complicating any attempts to quit the country.
A spokesperson for RBI in Vienna declined to comment. RBI's Russian business said in a statement: "Raiffeisenbank plans to secure uninterrupted availability of its financial services for the clients based on existing legislation and the regulator's orders."
The potential cost to RBI of quitting Russia and Ukraine is unclear. Both sources said it was financially robust enough to withstand any stoppage of its banking operations there. The second source said any decision to leave Russia would have to be done in coordination with the central bank, which might impose its own conditions.
Austria's finance ministry said this week that RBI was "well positioned for all eventualities." RBI has invested 2.4 billion euros in its Russian subsidiary, which had assets worth 11.96 billion euros at the end of last year.
Writing off both would cut just over 100 basis points off the group's Core Equity Tier 1 ratio - a key gauge of financial strength - of 13.14%, according to Reuters calculations. That does not take into account any profit from bets the bank has made against the rouble as a 1.4 billion euro "hedge" against its exposure to the currency, which would reduce the capital hit.
On top of that, RBI's full-year results presentation shows it had an exposure of 1.6 billion euros to Russia and 170 million euros to Ukraine, which it said was mainly booked via its corporates and markets unit at the group level. ($1 = 0.8950 euros) (Writing by John O'Donnell Editing by Mark Potter)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943300-exclusive-raiffeisen-looks-at-leaving-russia-after-ukraine-invasion---sources
| 2022-03-01T13:05:51
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| 0.973084
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Jaguar Land Rover pauses Russian deliveries over trading issues
Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Tuesday paused the delivery of vehicles to Russia, saying the current global situation had presented it with trading challenges. British Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng welcomed the move and said it was part of a rapidly growing number of companies and governments that were seeking to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Tuesday paused the delivery of vehicles to Russia, saying the current global situation had presented it with trading challenges.
British Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng welcomed the move and said it was part of a rapidly growing number of companies and governments that were seeking to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. "The current global context also presents us with trading challenges so we are pausing the delivery of vehicles into the Russian market and continually monitoring the situation on behalf of our global customer base," the company said in a statement.
Britain's government has imposed harsh financial sanctions on Russia and several Russian companies and banks in a bid to pressure the Kremlin to pull back from the conflict, while shipping and air cargo routes have also been disrupted. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation".
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943335-jaguar-land-rover-pauses-russian-deliveries-over-trading-issues
| 2022-03-01T13:05:59
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| 0.943072
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Russia to temporarily ban foreigners from selling assets
Russia will temporarily stop foreign investors from selling Russian assets to ensure they take a considered decision, not one driven by political pressure, the prime minister said on Tuesday, as Moscow responds to intensifying Western sanctions. Russia's huge sovereign wealth fund will also be pressed into action, spending up to 1 trillion roubles ($10.3 billion) to buy shares in Russian companies, a government decree showed, confirming an earlier report by Reuters.
Russia will temporarily stop foreign investors from selling Russian assets to ensure they take a considered decision, not one driven by political pressure, the prime minister said on Tuesday, as Moscow responds to intensifying Western sanctions.
Russia's huge sovereign wealth fund will also be pressed into action, spending up to 1 trillion roubles ($10.3 billion) to buy shares in Russian companies, a government decree showed, confirming an earlier report by Reuters. "In the current sanction situation foreign entrepreneurs are forced to be guided, not by economic factors, but to make decisions under political pressure," Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told a governmental meeting.
"In order to give business a chance to make a considered decision, a presidential order was prepared to impose temporary curbs on exit from Russian assets," he said, without giving details. Russian authorities are hurrying to respond to increasingly harsh sanctions imposed by Western nations since Moscow invaded Ukraine last Thursday.
The measures range from curbs on the central bank's ability to use its gold and foreign exchange reserves to the exclusion of big Russian banks from the international financial system. On Monday, a plunge in the rouble to all-time lows forced the central bank to hike its key interest rate to 20% and ask exporting companies to sell forex to support the currency.
Global companies which have operated in Russia for decades have said they will halt investments, including BP and Shell, shareholders respectively in Russia's top energy company Rosneft and Sakhalin 2 LNG plant. Mishustin said Russia was "open to dialogue with constructively-minded investors" and that: "We expect that whose who invested into our country will be able to work here further on."
On Tuesday, Connecticut Treasurer Shawn Wooden said he would direct the U.S. state's pension funds to sell Russian assets, for moral reasons and to reduce investment risk in the state retirement funds, worth more than $47 billion in all. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" designed not to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
The Institute of International Finance (IIF), a trade group representing large banks, has warned that Russia is extremely likely to default on its external debts. With Moscow's battered stock market closed for a second day on Tuesday, Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, who has been sanctioned by the European Union, warned that exiting Russian assets might prove difficult even without the temporary ban.
"I don't think we would be able to divest assets in Russia right now because there are no buyers for the time being," Fridman told reporters in London.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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- Western
- Russian
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943338-russia-to-temporarily-ban-foreigners-from-selling-assets
| 2022-03-01T13:06:06
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| 0.956633
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Ukrainian guards beat up Indians trying to flee war zone, says MP student on return
- Country:
- India
A medical student who returned to her home in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district from Ukraine earlier this week claimed that Ukrainian guards were beating up Indian students who were fleeing the war zone.
Videos of a purported security officer hitting a student had gone viral a couple of days ago as the stranded students tried to reach Ukraine's western borders after Russia launched an invasion of the country.
Shruti Nayak, a third year MBBS student at Ivano National Medical University, reached her home in Guna after being evacuated by an Air India flight.
The situation in Ukraine is very bad, she told reporters.
''Ukrainian guards were harassing Indian students who were fleeing the war zone and even beating them up,'' she claimed.
“I am fortunate enough that I reached India and now meeting family members,” she said. Nayak had booked a return ticket for February 16, but the flight was cancelled.
She then booked a ticket for March 3, but it too got cancelled, she said.
Nayak then traveled 400 km on a bus to reach Romania on February 26 and the government there helped Indian students, she said, while also thanking the Indian government. She boarded a special Air India flight for evacuees on February 27 from Romania and reached New Delhi at 6.30 pm IST the same day.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said earlier that more than 180 students stuck in Ukraine contacted a helpline set up by the state government.
So far, 29 persons from Madhya Pradesh have returned from Ukraine, Chouhan stated on Monday night. PTI COR ADU KRK KRK
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943343-ukrainian-guards-beat-up-indians-trying-to-flee-war-zone-says-mp-student-on-return
| 2022-03-01T13:06:14
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| 0.982807
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Abu Dhabi, Dubai railway link completed, UAE media office says
The railway link between the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai has been completed, the United Arab Emirates media office said on Twitter on Tuesday.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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- United Arab Emirates
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943345-abu-dhabi-dubai-railway-link-completed-uae-media-office-says
| 2022-03-01T13:06:22
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| 0.901507
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VECV sales up 7 pc in February
- Country:
- India
VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), a joint venture between Volvo Group and Eicher Motors, on Tuesday reported a 7.3 per cent jump in sales to 5,856 units in February.
The company had sold 5,457 units in February 2021, VECV said in a statement.
Total domestic sales of Eicher-branded commercial vehicles (CV) last month stood at 5,093 units, as against 4,825 units in the year-ago month, a growth of 5.6 per cent, it added.
The company further said exports of Eicher-branded CVs last month stood at 652 units as compared to 510 units in February 2021, a jump of 27.8 per cent.
Sales of Volvo-branded CVs were at 111 units, as compared to 122 units in the same month last year, a dip of 9 per cent, it added.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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- VECV
- Eicher Motors
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943348-vecv-sales-up-7-pc-in-february
| 2022-03-01T13:06:30
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| 0.958043
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U.S. Republicans urge Yellen to block Russia from exchanging IMF reserves
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen must block Russia from exchanging the $17 billion in International Monetary Fund reserves it received last year and oppose any further such IMF allocations, U.S. Republican lawmakers said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen must block Russia from exchanging the $17 billion in International Monetary Fund reserves it received last year and oppose any further such IMF allocations, U.S. Republican lawmakers said. The 41 lawmakers said in a letter to Yellen that the $650 billion allocation of Special Drawing Rights to IMF members that she backed was a mistake that had undermined sanctions on Russia even before it invaded Ukraine.
"The hostile invasion of Ukraine this week demonstrates why the IMF should never have approved its latest $650 billion general allocation of SDRs in August 2021," the lawmakers said in the letter dated Feb. 28. All IMF members received SDRs - backed by dollars, euros, yen, sterling and yuan - in proportion to their shareholding in the Fund in the distribution aimed at helping poorer countries fight the COVID-19 pandemic. But to spend the $17 billion in SDRs it received, Russia would need to find a partner country willing to exchange them for the underlying currencies in the form of an interest-bearing loan.
The United States and Western allies have imposed sanctions on Russia's central bank aimed at neutralizing Moscow's $640 billion reserves, which would make such a transaction difficult and subject the counterparty to sanctions as well. But the lawmakers used the invasion to repeat their longstanding criticism of the SDR allocation, which also provided SDRs to China and Iran. They said Yellen should press IMF members to formally agree not to exchange Russia's SDRs, and should oppose further allocations because they would grant more assets to Moscow.
"We cannot allow these reserve assets to help the regime withstand the latest sanctions announced by the President, let alone offer additional billions through further allocations," wrote the lawmakers, led by Representative French Hill of Arkansas and Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee. The lawmakers also said that Yellen and U.S. allies must plan for contingencies to block a bailout if an economically weakened Russia is forced to turn to the IMF for future loans.
"As the largest shareholder of the IMF, the United States has a responsibility to ensure that the Fund is not misused to support Russia's warmongering in Ukraine," the lawmakers wrote. A U.S. Treasury spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943355-us-republicans-urge-yellen-to-block-russia-from-exchanging-imf-reserves
| 2022-03-01T13:06:38
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| 0.963819
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Chip woes continue to hobble auto dispatches in Feb; Tata Motors, M&M buck trend
Leading carmakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Toyota and Honda witnessed a drop in vehicle dispatches to dealers last month as the global semiconductor shortage continued to impact production.Tata Motors, Mahindra Mahindra, Skoda and MG Motor, on the other hand, reported an increase in wholesales in February as compared to the same month last year.The countrys largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India MSI said its domestic sales slipped 8.46 per cent to 1,40,035 units as against 1,52,983 units in February 2021.The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles which are primarily sold in the domestic market.
- Country:
- India
Leading carmakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Toyota and Honda witnessed a drop in vehicle dispatches to dealers last month as the global semiconductor shortage continued to impact production.
Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Skoda and MG Motor, on the other hand, reported an increase in wholesales in February as compared to the same month last year.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its domestic sales slipped 8.46 per cent to 1,40,035 units as against 1,52,983 units in February 2021.
''The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles which are primarily sold in the domestic market. The company took all possible measures to minimise the impact,'' the auto major noted.
Sales of the company's mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, fell 17.81 per cent to 19,691 units last month as compared to 23,959 in the same month last year.
Similarly, dispatch of compact models like Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire dipped 3.38 per cent to 77,795 units as against 80,517 cars in February 2021.
Sales of utility vehicles, including Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, also declined to 25,360 units from 26,884 vehicles earlier.
Similarly, Hyundai Motor India, the country's second largest carmaker, reported a 14.6 per cent drop in domestic sales to 44,050 units last month as against 51,600 in February 2021.
''As the industry continues to grapple with the semiconductor shortage situation, the company along with its partners is continuously exploring alternatives to ensure customers can take delivery of their most loved Hyundai cars at the earliest,'' it stated.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor said its domestic sales declined by 38 per cent to 8,745 units in February.
Similarly, Honda Cars reported a 23 per cent decline in domestic wholesales to 7,187 units for February.
''On the supply side, chip shortage continued to impact our production and despatches in Feb'22. We hope the situation improves in future so that we can meet the market demand more effectively,'' Honda Cars India Director (Marketing and Sales) Yuichi Murata said.
Tata Motors reported a 47 per cent increase in passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market in February at 39,981 units compared to 27,225 units in the same month last year.
Similarly, Mahindra & Mahindra said its passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market soared by 80 per cent to 27,663 units last month as against 15,391 units in February 2021.
''All segments showed robust growth including SUVs at 79 per cent, which registered the highest ever monthly volume. We expect demand to continue to remain strong as the Covid situation eases further.
''We continue to closely monitor the semiconductor-related parts supply and take corrective action as appropriate,'' M&M Automotive Division CEO Veejay Nakra noted.
Besides, Skoda Auto India reported an over five-fold surge in sales to 4,503 units last month, riding on the success of its mid-sized SUV Kushaq.
Similarly, MG Motor India said its retail sales increased 5 per cent year-on-year to 4,528 units in February. The automaker had retailed 4,329 units in February 2021.
Nissan India said it sold 2,456 units in the domestic market last month.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943361-chip-woes-continue-to-hobble-auto-dispatches-in-feb-tata-motors-mm-buck-trend
| 2022-03-01T13:06:45
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| 0.945755
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World's biggest container lines suspend shipping to Russia
Russia's assault on its neighbour, which Moscow says is a "special operation", is the biggest state-to-state invasion in Europe since World War Two. Swiss headquartered MSC, the world's biggest container shipping company by capacity, said in a customer advisory that as of March 1 it had introduced "a temporary stoppage on all cargo bookings to/from Russia, covering all access areas including Baltics, Black Sea and Far East Russia”.
The world's two biggest container lines on Tuesday temporarily suspended cargo shipments to and from Russia in response to Western sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine, in a further blow to trade with the country. Russia's assault on its neighbour, which Moscow says is a "special operation", is the biggest state-to-state invasion in Europe since World War Two.
Swiss headquartered MSC, the world's biggest container shipping company by capacity, said in a customer advisory that as of March 1 it had introduced "a temporary stoppage on all cargo bookings to/from Russia, covering all access areas including Baltics, Black Sea and Far East Russia”. "MSC will continue to accept and screen bookings for delivery of essential goods such as food, medical equipment and humanitarian goods," it said.
Denmark's Maersk said separately it would temporarily halt all container shipping to and from Russia, also adding that the suspension covering all Russian ports, would not include foodstuffs, medical and humanitarian supplies. "As the stability and safety of our operations is already being directly and indirectly impacted by sanctions, new Maersk bookings within ocean and inland to and from Russia will be temporarily suspended," the company said in a statement.
The moves follow similar decisions already taken by Singapore-headquartered Ocean Network Express and Germany's Hapag Lloyd - effectively cutting Russia off from the world's leading container shipping companies, adding to freight challenges ahead. For the past year the world has been struggling with supply chain bottlenecks caused by surging demand for retail goods transported on container ships and pandemic-related lockdowns.
MSC said it would contact customers directly in respect of any Russia-related cargo that was already in transit. "MSC has been closely monitoring the advice from governments about new sanctions," the privately owned group added.
In a coordinated response, the United States, European countries and others have made the unusual move of targeting Russia's central bank with financial sanctions and put limits on cross-border transactions by the country's largest lenders. Maersk owns 31% of Russian port operator Global Ports , which runs six terminals in Russia and two in Finland. Global Ports' shareholders also include Russian state nuclear company Rosatom and Russian businessman Sergey Shiskarev.
"With Global Ports we are looking at how to comply with the ever evolving sanctions and restrictions and preparing possible next steps," Maersk said. Maersk operates container shipping routes to St Petersburg and Kaliningrad in the Baltic Sea, Novorossiysk in the Black Sea, and to Vladivostok and Vostochny on Russia's east coast.
The Copenhagen-based company has around 500 employees in Russia. Last week, it temporarily halted all port calls in Ukraine, where it has some 60 employees in Odessa.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1943368-worlds-biggest-container-lines-suspend-shipping-to-russia
| 2022-03-01T13:06:54
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| 0.964116
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Lt Governor asks bike-riders to use helmets
- Country:
- India
Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Tamilisai Soundararajan has appealed to riders of two-wheelers to use crash helmets.
Flagging off a motorcycle rally by college students on Tuesday to highlight the importance of wearing helmets, she said the head-gear was needed just as a mask was to protect people from the Covid-19.
Also, she raised the issue of Indian students in war-hit Ukraine and said the territorial administration has taken up with the Centre the concern of their parents in the Union Territory of Puducherry. On the pandemic, she said 85 per cent of the population here have been vaccinated.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/education/1943312-lt-governor-asks-bike-riders-to-use-helmets
| 2022-03-01T13:07:02
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| 0.975963
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Centre to take cognizance of all information on people stuck in Ukraine, Centre tells J'khands
The Ministry of External Affairs MEA has asked the Jharkhand government to share all the information it has on the states people who were stuck in crisis-hit Ukraine and assured it of taking cognizance of each information.In a letter to Chief Minister Hemant Soren, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said all the information shared by the state will be followed up, according to an official release.Please be assured that we are taking cognizance of all enquiries and information.
- Country:
- India
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has asked the Jharkhand government to share all the information it has on the state's people who were stuck in crisis-hit Ukraine and assured it of taking cognizance of each information.
In a letter to Chief Minister Hemant Soren, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said all the information shared by the state will be followed up, according to an official release.
“Please be assured that we are taking cognizance of all enquiries and information. All of them will be attended to by TeamMEA representatives on the ground,” Jaishankar's letter said.
Soren had on Sunday written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking his immediate intervention to bring back all the students and workers from the state who are stranded in Ukraine. He also shared a list of people from Jharkhand stranded in Ukraine with Shah.
“You (the CM) are naturally getting many anxious enquiries from the families of students and other Indian nationals who are still in Ukraine. The ministry has set up a helpline for the public. However, if there are particular concerns or information that you wish to share, I would request you to contact my office directly,” Jaishankar said in the letter. According to the data available with the state control room set up by the Jharkhand government to help families of students and workers stuck in Ukraine, 158 people, mostly students, were in the war affected country till 5 pm on Monday. Of them, 55 are women.
Head of State Control Room Johnson Topno said, “Calls are still pouring in. We are revising the list accordingly and sharing it with the state government.” One medical student Arpita Prasad returned from Ukraine to Ranchi, while five others are set to arrive here on Tuesday evening, a control room official said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/education/1943337-centre-to-take-cognizance-of-all-information-on-people-stuck-in-ukraine-centre-tells-jkhands
| 2022-03-01T13:07:10
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| 0.959269
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Goa govt withdraws circular making parents' consent mandatory for students to attend offline classes
The Goa government on Tuesday withdrew a circular making parents consent mandatory for children to attend classes in the offline mode.In a new circular issued during the day, State Education Director Bhushan Savaikar requested heads of government, government aided, unaided pre-primary, primary, secondary, higher secondary and special schools to not insist on parents consent for students to physically attend classes.The new circular has come days after parents raised objections to the consent forms, which institutions were getting signed from them.
- Country:
- India
The Goa government on Tuesday withdrew a circular making parents' consent mandatory for children to attend classes in the offline mode.
In a new circular issued during the day, State Education Director Bhushan Savaikar requested heads of government, government aided, unaided pre-primary, primary, secondary, higher secondary and special schools to not insist on parents' consent for students to physically attend classes.
The new circular has come days after parents raised objections to the consent forms, which institutions were getting signed from them. All educational institutions have begun physical classes from last week, after the number of COVID-19 cases dropped drastically in the coastal state.
Savaikar said that the circular withdrawing the requirement of consent from parents has been issued with the approval of the competent authority. Goa on Monday reported 18 new cases of coronavirus that took the tally of infections to 2,45,019, leaving the state with 271 active cases.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/education/1943342-goa-govt-withdraws-circular-making-parents-consent-mandatory-for-students-to-attend-offline-classes
| 2022-03-01T13:07:20
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| 0.968367
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Rupert Friend, Stuart Martin join cast of Zack Snyder's 'Rebel Moon'
Actors Rupert Friend and Stuart Martin have joined the cast of 'Rebel Moon', the sci-fi fantasy feature, which is being directed by Zack Snyder.
- Country:
- United States
Actors Rupert Friend and Stuart Martin have joined the cast of 'Rebel Moon', the sci-fi fantasy feature, which is being directed by Zack Snyder. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Sofia Boutella is leading the ensemble that includes Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Doona Bae and Ray Fisher, among others.
The story of the Netflix-backed tentpole follows a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy that is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical regent named Belisarius. Desperate, the colonists dispatch a young woman (Boutella) with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighbouring planets to help them make a stand. Friend is the story's lead antagonist, a man who leads the armies and will square off against Boutella. Martin's character details are unknown but, he is also said to be villainous. Production is scheduled to begin in April and last until November.
Other than directing the Netflix project, Snyder co-wrote the script with 'Army of the Dead' co-screenwriter Shay Hatten and Kurt Johnstad, who co-wrote '300', Snyder's adaptation of the Frank Miller comic. Snyder is also producing with his producing partner and wife, Deborah Snyder, and Wesley Coller via the trio's The Stone Quarry production banner. Eric Newman of Grand Electric is also producing.
Friend is coming off of his third collaboration with Wes Anderson, the filmmaker's adaptation of Roald Dahl's short story collection 'The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More'. The actor is widely known for starring in 'Hitman: Agent 47' as well as his season-spanning appearances in the acclaimed series 'Homeland'. He will next be seen in Lucasfilm's Star Wars series 'Obi-Wan Kenobi'.
For Martin, 'Rebel Moon' marks a reunion of sorts with Snyder. The Scottish actor starred in 'Army of Thieves', which Snyder produced and was a prequel to Snyder's own feature, 'Army of the Dead'. Martin also stars in the mystery series 'Miss Scarlet and the Duke'. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/entertainment/1943222-rupert-friend-stuart-martin-join-cast-of-zack-snyders-rebel-moon
| 2022-03-01T13:07:28
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| 0.952915
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Mumbai teen attempts record for batting longest, stays at crease for over 72 hours
This was one way I wanted to show people that I have something extra in me, Mohite said in a media release.Due to the COVID lockdown I lost two good cricketing years which was a big loss.
- Country:
- India
Eyeing a new world record for batting the longest, Mumbai teen Siddarth Mohite stayed at the crease for a whopping 72 hours and five minutes during a marathon net session and is now waiting for the Guinness Book of World Record to recognize the feat.
The 19-year-old Mohite passed compatriot Virag Mane's 50-hour record, created in 2015, before batting for 72 hours and five minutes over the weekend.
"I am very happy that I completed what I was trying. This was one way I wanted to show people that I have something extra in me,'' Mohite said in a media release.
"Due to the COVID lockdown, I lost two good cricketing years which was a big loss. So, I thought of doing something different and randomly this thought came to me, and then I contacted many academies and coaches,'' he added.
Mohite was supported in his endeavor by his mentor Jwala Singh, who has also coached young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.
"Everyone said no to me. Then I contacted Jwala Sir and he said why not? He supported me all the way and provided whatever was required," added Mohite.
A group of bowlers stayed with Mohite to support him throughout his session. As per the rule, a battery can take a break for five minutes in one hour. Mohite's recording and required papers will now be sent to the Guinness World Record books, Singh said in a statement. ''Mohite was part of the MCC Pro-40 league before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 and then during the pandemic, his mom contacted me for his cricket. ''But due to the lockdown, everything was closed. Then one day he called me and asked to attempt this feat. To be very honest, I was not very keen on this but I was very much aware that many young cricketers have lost some good years,'' Singh said ''So I thought 'if someone wanted to do something different why not?' And hence, I agreed to support," added Singh.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/entertainment/1943229-mumbai-teen-attempts-record-for-batting-longest-stays-at-crease-for-over-72-hours
| 2022-03-01T13:07:36
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| 0.982539
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KSFDC's first movie under women directors' project to compete in Bengaluru film fest
Its a seminal initiative to promote women-led creative projects in the state, he noted.The scheme for filmmakers from the SCST category will also ensure the participation of creative talents from marginalised sections in the mainstream cinema, the minister said.The films being made under these projects will be reflecting different perspectives and approaches of lived experiences.
- Country:
- India
'Nishiddho', the first film produced by Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) as part of the state government’s ground-breaking initiative to support aspiring women directors, has been selected to the competition section of the 13th Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes), scheduled from March 3 to 10.
Written and directed by Tara Ramanujan, Nishiddho (Forbidden) is one of the two films produced by KSFDC under the government’s ‘Films Directed by Women' project, an initiative for empowerment of women by giving wings to their creative talents.
The movie will be screened in the Indian Cinema Competition category of BIFFes.
Nishiddho is a vivid portrayal of the lives of two migrant people from West Bengal and Tamil Nadu and their struggles in a Kerala city.
Actors Kani Kusruti and Tanmay Dhanania play the lead in the film, which has cinematography by Manesh Madhavan, editing by Anzar Chennatt and music by Debojyoti Mishra.
The government has allocated budgetary funds to KSFDC for production of two movies under the project annually. The movies must be helmed by female directors only.
In another major project to support directors from less privileged sections, KSFDC has already launched a project to support film directors belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) communities.
Two films will soon go on the floor under this scheme, which is open to any filmmaker from the SC/ST category regardless of gender, an official statement said here.
Congratulating the crew of Nishiddho, Minister for Culture Saji Cheriyan said Kerala is probably the first state in the country to introduce such distinct projects for encouraging creative endeavours by the underrepresented section in filmdom.
The project for women filmmakers is part of the government’s commitment to uplift and empower women, he said.
''It will provide ample creative space for them to fulfil their concepts and ideas through visual story-telling. It’s a seminal initiative to promote women-led creative projects in the state,'' he noted.
The scheme for filmmakers from the SC/ST category will also ensure the participation of creative talents from marginalised sections in the mainstream cinema, the minister said.
''The films being made under these projects will be reflecting different perspectives and approaches of lived experiences. The KSFDC has been entrusted with the task of producing the films under these projects on behalf of the government,” he added.
Shaji N Karun, eminent director and KSFDC Chairman, said from this year onwards the corporation will be producing two films a year to support directors belonging to the SC/ST category and currently two films are under pre-production stage.
Overall, KSFDC will be producing four films — two by female directors and another two by directors from the SC/ST category, he pointed out.
''The initiative will pave the way for inducing more confidence in aspiring women filmmakers and bringing out their enormous potential. KSFDC stands for supporting the filmmakers, who have a unique visual language and narration skill,'' he added.
'Nishiddho' has also been selected for the International Competition Section of the 26th International Film Festival of Kerala 2022 (IFFK) slated to be held from March 18 to 25. It was also selected to the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival.
Established in 1975, KSFDC is the first public sector corporation for film development in India.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Tara Ramanujan
- Kerala city
- Nishiddho
- Anzar Chennatt
- Bengaluru International Film Festival
- KSFDC
- Bengal
- Kerala State Film Development Corporation
- SC/ST
- India
- Kani Kusruti
- Tanmay Dhanania
- Indian
- Debojyoti Mishra
- Kolkata International Film Festival
- West
- Kerala
- Tamil Nadu
- Manesh Madhavan
- Nishiddho (Forbidden
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/entertainment/1943241-ksfdcs-first-movie-under-women-directors-project-to-compete-in-bengaluru-film-fest
| 2022-03-01T13:07:44
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| 0.93408
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'You' showrunner Sera Gamble developing new series for Peacock
American TV writer and producer Sera Gamble, widely known for her work on 'You' and 'Supernatural', is developing a series adaptation of the Francesca Lia Block book 'Weetzie Bat' for Peacock.
- Country:
- United States
American TV writer and producer Sera Gamble, widely known for her work on 'You' and 'Supernatural', is developing a series adaptation of the Francesca Lia Block book 'Weetzie Bat' for Peacock. As per Variety, Gamble will write and executive produce the series. Paul Shapiro, Greg Silverman of Stampede Ventures, Vince Gerardis and Hope Rieser Farley of Startling Media will also executive produce.
Chris Schelling, Liz Lippman of Stampede Ventures, and Block will co-executive produce. UCP will serve as the studio. The series will follow Weetzie, her best friend Dirk, and their found family as they traverse the sparkling, dangerous, secret world beneath the surface of 1980s Los Angeles. Weetzie faces the deepest heartbreaks of life with a spirit of hard-won optimism and an unfailing knack for finding the magic hidden inside the ordinary. Weetzie has discovered something amazing: magic is real, and it is hiding in plain sight in the city of Los Angeles. Now, if she can find it, she can use it to get what she's always wanted: true love, a real home, and a happy family.
This marks the second Peacock project that Gamble is developing. It was reported in 2021 that she was also working on adapting the Caroline Kepnes' book 'Providence' for the streamer. Gamble previously co-developed the hit drama series 'You', which is also based on Kepnes book series. 'You' started out on Lifetime before moving to Netflix for Seasons 2 and 3. It was renewed for Season 4 ahead of the Season 3 premiere. Gamble is the executive producer and showrunner on the series.
Her other credits include 'The Magicians' at Syfy, 'Physical' at Apple and 'Supernatural' at The CW. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/entertainment/1943260-you-showrunner-sera-gamble-developing-new-series-for-peacock
| 2022-03-01T13:07:54
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| 0.95136
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Kodi Smit-McPhee joins cast of Alfonso Cuaron's Apple series 'Disclaimer'
Golden Globe-winning actor Kodi Smit-McPhee has joined the cast of Apple TV Plus' upcoming series 'Disclaimer' created by Alfonso Cuaron.
- Country:
- United States
Golden Globe-winning actor Kodi Smit-McPhee has joined the cast of Apple TV Plus' upcoming series 'Disclaimer' created by Alfonso Cuaron. As per Deadline, the series will also feature Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline. Details with regard to the character Smit-McPhee is playing have not been disclosed yet.
Oscar-winner Cuaron is writing, directing and executive producing his first-ever series, which is based on the novel of the same name by Renee Knight. In it, Blanchett will play Catherine Ravenscroft, a successful and respected television documentary journalist whose work has been built on revealing the concealed transgressions of long-respected institutions. When an intriguing novel written by a widower (Kline) appears on her bedside table, she is horrified to realize she is a key character in a story that she had hoped was long buried in the past, one that reveals her darkest secret.
Cuaron's Esperanto Filmoj is producing with Anonymous Content, with Blanchett, Cuaron, Esperanto Filmoj's Gabriela Rodriguez, Anonymous Content's David Levine, Dawn Olmstead and the late Steve Golin executive producing. Oscar-winning DP Emmanuel Lubezki will lens the project in concert with Oscar nominee Bruno Delbonnel.
Smit-McPhee this year landed his first Oscar nomination, along with BAFTA, Critics' Choice and SAG Award nominations and a Golden Globe, for his turn opposite Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons in Jane Campion's 'The Power of the Dog'. The actor is also known for his turn as Kurt Wagner (aka Nightcrawler) in the 'X-Men' films and has appeared in such titles as 'Dolemite Is My Name', 'Slow West', 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes', 'All the Wilderness', 'A Birder's Guide to Everything', 'ParaNorman' and 'Let Me In'.
His TV credits include Paramount Plus' 'Interrogation' and Nine Network Australia's miniseries 'Gallipoli'. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/entertainment/1943306-kodi-smit-mcphee-joins-cast-of-alfonso-cuarons-apple-series-disclaimer
| 2022-03-01T13:08:01
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| 0.945013
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Shilpa Shetty announces her next movie 'Sukhee'
Actor Shilpa Shetty, on Tuesday, announced her new film titled 'Sukhee'.
- Country:
- India
Actor Shilpa Shetty, on Tuesday, announced her new film titled 'Sukhee'. Taking to her Instagram handle, Shilpa shared the poster of the film and wrote, "Thodi bedhadak si hoon main, Meri zindagi hai khuli kitaab, Duniya besharam kehti hai to kya, Kisi se kam nahin hain mere khwaab! Thrilled to announce my next, In and As #Sukhee with @abundantiaent & @tseriesfilms! Directed by @random_amusements."
Going by the poster, the project appears to be a female-centric film starring Shilpa in the lead role. Abundantia Entertainment and T-Series have joined hands to produce the film. Vikram, the founder of Abundantia Entertainment is known for producing strong female-centric films like 'Sherni', 'Shakuntala Devi', and more.
The upcoming film will be helmed by Sonal Joshi, who has earlier served as an assistant director on films like, 'Dhoom 3' and 'Jab Harry Met Sejal' among others. For the unversed, Shilpa recently made her comeback to the silver screen after a gap of many years with the comedy-drama 'Hungama 2'.
Shilpa can be currently seen as a judge on the show 'India's Got Talent' with veteran actor Kirron Kher, rapper Badshah and writer Manoj Muntashir. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/entertainment/1943315-shilpa-shetty-announces-her-next-movie-sukhee
| 2022-03-01T13:08:09
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| 0.945824
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Shilpa Shetty announces next film 'Sukhee'
Actor Shilpa Shetty on Tuesday announced her next feature film Sukhee.The movie, to be directed by Sonal Joshi, is backed by Abundantia Entertainment and T-Series. Directed by randomamusements, the actor wrote.Shetty was last seen in Hungama 2 2021, which marked her return to the screen after Apne in 2007.The actor will next be seen in the action romantic comedy Nikamma, co-starring Abhimanyu Dassani and Shirley Setia.Details about Sukhee are still under wraps.
- Country:
- India
Actor Shilpa Shetty on Tuesday announced her next feature film ''Sukhee''.
The movie, to be directed by Sonal Joshi, is backed by Abundantia Entertainment and T-Series. Shetty, 46, took to Instagram and shared the film's poster. ''Thrilled to announce my next, In and As #Sukhee with @abundantiaent & @tseriesfilms. Directed by @random_amusements,'' the actor wrote.
Shetty was last seen in ''Hungama 2'' (2021), which marked her return to the screen after ''Apne'' in 2007.
The actor will next be seen in the action romantic comedy ''Nikamma'', co-starring Abhimanyu Dassani and Shirley Setia.
Details about ''Sukhee'' are still under wraps.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/entertainment/1943323-shilpa-shetty-announces-next-film-sukhee
| 2022-03-01T13:08:16
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| 0.966921
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Series adaptation of 'Twisted Metal' starring Anthony Mackie lands at Peacock
The 'Twisted Metal' TV show, starring Anthony Mackie in the lead, has landed at Peacock with a series order.
- Country:
- United States
The 'Twisted Metal' TV show, starring Anthony Mackie in the lead, has landed at Peacock with a series order. As per Variety, Mackie will also serve as an executive producer for 'Twisted Metal' series, which is based on the video game franchise of the same name. The show was first reported as being in development back in February 2021.
The half-hour action-comedy will see Mackie play John Doe, a smart-ass milkman who talks as fast as he drives. With no memory of his past, John gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make his wish of finding community come true, but only if he can survive an onslaught of savage vehicular combat. With the help of a trigger-happy car thief, he'll face savage marauders driving vehicles of destruction and other dangers of the open road, including a deranged clown who drives an all too familiar ice cream truck. The show is based on an original take by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Michael Jonathan Smith will serve as writer, showrunner, and executive producer. Both Reese and Wernick also executive produce. Along with Mackie, Will Arnett and Marc Forman will executive produce via Electric Avenue, which secured the rights to the material and helped put the project together.
Jason Spire of Inspire Entertainment, Peter Principato of Artists First, Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan from PlayStation Productions, and PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst will also executive produce. Sony Pictures Television, Playstation Productions, and Universal Television will produce. The first 'Twisted Metal' game was released on PlayStation in 1995. It was originally reported in 2019 that Sony was interested in developing a series based on the games.
This is the latest high-profile project from Sony Pictures TV and PlayStation Productions. A series adaptation of 'The Last of Us' has been ordered at HBO, with Pedro Pascal and 'Game of Thrones' breakout Bella Ramsey set to star. That show is expected to debut in 2023. Sony and PlayStation also found success on the film side recently with the release of the 'Uncharted' starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, which has grossed over USD 225 million worldwide since releasing on February 18. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/entertainment/1943366-series-adaptation-of-twisted-metal-starring-anthony-mackie-lands-at-peacock
| 2022-03-01T13:08:24
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| 0.960398
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US STOCKS-Futures fall as Russia-Ukraine crisis escalates
U.S. stock index futures slid on Tuesday, with banks stocks declining further as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepened, while a rise in oil prices supported shares of energy companies. Chevron also raised its share buyback program and forecast for operating cash-flow through 2026. Defense stocks, including Lockheed Martin Corp, edged higher, building on a sharp rally in the previous session.
- Country:
- United States
U.S. stock index futures slid on Tuesday, with banks stocks declining further as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepened, while a rise in oil prices supported shares of energy companies. Citigroup slipped 1.6% in premarket trading to lead losses among the big banks as the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 1.7565, its lowest level since Jan 3.
European stock markets sagged, oil jumped back above $100 a barrel as a Russian armoured column bore down on Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Tuesday. Russia's defense minister said Moscow will continue its military operation in Ukraine until it achieves its goals. Oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp rose about 0.6% each as oil prices surged. Chevron also raised its share buyback program and forecast for operating cash-flow through 2026.
Defense stocks, including Lockheed Martin Corp, edged higher, building on a sharp rally in the previous session. Shares of Tesla Inc dipped 1.3%, making them the biggest decliner among the mega-cap growth names. At 06:09 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 188 points, or 0.56%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 26.75 points, or 0.62%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 93 points, or 0.65%.
All the major indexes logged their second straight month of losses on Monday, with the S&P 500 index down over 8% so far in 2022, its deepest two-month decline since March 2020. The CBOE volatility index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, was last trading at 31.40 after hitting its highest level since Feb. 24 in the previous session.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943213-us-stocks-futures-fall-as-russia-ukraine-crisis-escalates
| 2022-03-01T13:08:32
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| 0.953005
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EXCLUSIVE-Connecticut treasurer orders pension funds to divest Russian assets
Connecticut has cut holdings in Russian-domiciled companies and Russian sovereign debt since 2014, Wooden's office said, as risk concerns, previous sanctions and cyberattacks made Russian markets less favorable. As sole trustee of the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, Wooden has more power to act than pension leaders in some other U.S. states.
Connecticut Treasurer Shawn Wooden on Tuesday will direct state pension funds to sell Russian assets, one of the most direct steps by a U.S. pension official to date in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement sent by a spokesperson, Wooden said the sales were needed both for moral reasons and to reduce investment risk in the state retirement funds, worth more than $47 billion in all. The names and exact amounts of specific securities to be sold were not immediately available. State funds held $218 million worth of Russian-domiciled investments as of Feb. 24.
"Connecticut's action today will apply further economic pain on a dangerous autocrat who needs to know that the free world stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's abhorrent actions will have enduring, harrowing economic consequences in the days, months, and years ahead," Wooden said in the statement. Connecticut has cut holdings in Russian-domiciled companies and Russian sovereign debt since 2014, Wooden's office said, as risk concerns, previous sanctions and cyberattacks made Russian markets less favorable.
As sole trustee of the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, Wooden has more power to act than pension leaders in some other U.S. states. On Monday, California Treasurer Fiona Ma said she supports divesting Russian assets from plans like the California Public Employees' Retirement System, where she is a board member and which has around $1 billion in Russian assets.
But another board member, state Controller Betty Yee, stopped short of calling for divestment. Energy giants BP and Shell and global bank HSBC are among a growing list of companies looking to exit Russia as the United States and Europe impose stiffening sanctions, and Moscow responds.
So far major U.S. investment firms with Russian holdings have offered little comment about their intentions, however.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- U.S.
- Moscow
- Vladimir
- Ukrainian
- Wooden
- Ukraine
- Connecticut
- Russia
- California
- Shell
- HSBC
- Putin
- United States
- Russian
- Europe
ALSO READ
Russia's top diplomat advises President Vladimir Putin to continue security talks with the West.
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Putin in principle approves Russia's reply to West on security guarantees -RIA
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943214-exclusive-connecticut-treasurer-orders-pension-funds-to-divest-russian-assets
| 2022-03-01T13:08:40
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| 0.952507
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Russia to temporarily ban foreigners from selling assets
Russia will impose temporary curbs on foreign investors seeking to exit Russian assets to ensure they take a considered decision not one driven by political pressure, the prime minister said on Tuesday, as Moscow responds to Western sanctions. "In the current sanction situation foreign entrepreneurs are forced to be guided, not by economic factors, but to make decisions under political pressure," Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told a governmental meeting.
- Country:
- Russian Federation
Russia will impose temporary curbs on foreign investors seeking to exit Russian assets to ensure they take a considered decision not one driven by political pressure, the prime minister said on Tuesday, as Moscow responds to Western sanctions.
"In the current sanction situation foreign entrepreneurs are forced to be guided, not by economic factors, but to make decisions under political pressure," Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told a governmental meeting. "In order to give the business a chance to make a considered decision, a presidential order was prepared to impose temporary curbs on exit from Russian assets," he said.
Mishustin did not provide details. The step is the latest of many Russia has taken in response to increasingly harsh Western nations imposed since Moscow invaded Ukraine last week. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbor's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
The sanctions range from curbs on the central bank's ability to use its gold and foreign exchange reserves to excluding many big Russian banks from international financial markets. They knocked the rouble to all-time lows on Monday, forcing the central bank to hike its key interest rate to 20% and ask exporting companies to sell forex to support the currency.
Global companies which have operated in Russia for decades said they would halt investments, including BP and Shell, shareholders, respectively in Russia's top energy company Rosneft and Sakhalin 2 LNG plant. "We expect that whose who invested into our country will be able to work here further on," Mishustin said. "We are open to dialogue with constructively-minded investors."
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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US: Over 130,000 Russian troops now staged outside Ukraine
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943218-russia-to-temporarily-ban-foreigners-from-selling-assets
| 2022-03-01T13:08:47
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| 0.960841
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Rotterdam Port says Russia traffic continues, but confusion over rules
Most traffic to and from Russia at Europe's biggest port is continuing with minimal disruption as key energy products such as crude oil and LNG are not covered by EU sanctions against Moscow, a spokesperson for Rotterdam port said on Tuesday. However, there is some confusion among shipping companies and customs officials are conducting extra examinations of containers that may contain goods covered by the sanctions, Sjaak Poppe said, adding this was affecting individual firms.
Most traffic to and from Russia at Europe's biggest port is continuing with minimal disruption as key energy products such as crude oil and LNG are not covered by EU sanctions against Moscow, a spokesperson for Rotterdam port said on Tuesday.
However, there is some confusion among shipping companies and customs officials are conducting extra examinations of containers that may contain goods covered by the sanctions, Sjaak Poppe said, adding this was affecting individual firms. "When there's uncertainty (for outbound containers), a company may say 'well, we won't load it then'," he said, adding that uncertainty over inbound containers could see cargo remaining on the ship.
He said there were no significant delays in the port at the moment. Around 30% of raw oil and 25% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) that moves through Rotterdam comes from Russia.
On Monday, shipping giant Maersk halted all container shipping to and from Russia. Britain, not a member of the European Union, moved to close its ports to Russia-linked ships. Poppe said the overall impact in Rotterdam was limited for now. The port will follow instructions of governments if they impose additional restrictions, he said.
Around 10% of container transport in Rotterdam is linked to Russia. The EU has forbidden the export to Russia of a large number of "dual use" goods that could have military as well as civilian applications. Many goods from Russia, including steel, copper, aluminium and nickel do not fall under the current restrictions, the port said.
"Companies will have to make individual choices about how they handle Russian shipments," the port said in a statement.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Scholz flies to Ukraine as fears of Russian invasion grow
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943221-rotterdam-port-says-russia-traffic-continues-but-confusion-over-rules
| 2022-03-01T13:08:56
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| 0.974009
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Uttarakhand: Gates of Kedarnath shrine to be opened to the public on May 6
The gates of Kedarnath temple will be thrown open for the public on May 6 at 6
- Country:
- India
The gates of Kedarnath temple will be thrown open for the public on May 6 at 6:25 am. This announcement was made at Omkareshwar temple, Ukhimath, the winter seat.
Meanwhile, Kedarnath doli will leave from Ukhimath for Kedarnath on 2 May. The doors of Kedarnath situated in the Himalayas, known as the 11 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva, will open for the common devotees. The date of opening of the doors of Badrinath Dham has already been fixed on May 8 on the occasion of Basant Panchami.
On the occasion of Mahashivratri, the date of opening of the doors of Lord Kedarnath was announced in Omkareshwar temple at Ukhimath, the seat of Panch Kedar. Before the opening of the doors, Kedar Baba's doli will leave for Kedarnath from Omkareshwar temple at Ukhimath. Earlier in the morning, Rudrabhishek of the Lord was performed in the Omkareshwar temple, the seat of Panch Kedar, after performing special worship of Lord Omkareshwar. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943238-uttarakhand-gates-of-kedarnath-shrine-to-be-opened-to-the-public-on-may-6
| 2022-03-01T13:09:04
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| 0.945918
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kikovic - stock.adobe.com
ASOS commits to keep using Microsoft Azure for another five years to support business growth push
Online retail giant ASOS is preparing to go even deeper into the Microsoft Azure cloud portfolio, as it looks to ramp up its use of data analytics to support its business growth goals
Asos is embarking on an expanded cloud agreement with Microsoft that will see the online retail giant commit to using the software giant’s Azure platform for another five years.
Microsoft’s work with Asos dates back several years, after the retailer decided to migrate to an Azure-powered microservices architecture in 2016 to underpin its push to offer a more personalised and responsive shopping experience to its customers.
This work was geared towards helping streamline the online shopping experience for its customers through the roll-out of a real-time product recommendation platform to help users sift with greater ease through the tens of thousands of items Asos sells.
That same year, Asos credited Microsoft and its Azure platform with helping it to process 167 million customer requests during the 24-hour Black Friday holiday shopping period.
Since then, Asos has continued to dig into the Microsoft Azure portfolio of cloud products to underpin its forays into artificial intelligence (AI) and support the roll-out of its other data-led customer-facing offerings.
“Over the past few years, Asos’ engineering teams – which number around 70 – have worked with Microsoft to build a customer platform that enables technical agility, global scale and resilience,” said the two firms in a blog post announcing the five-year cloud contract extension.
“This has been critical in handling high levels of customer demand and helping its customers find the fashion and beauty products they want, in a way that suits them.”
Asos said it already has a pipeline of projects it is looking forward to embarking on with Microsoft that are geared towards supporting its “strategic growth plans” that are focused on expanding its product ranges and the availability of the items it sells.
“Asos will evolve its existing Azure data platform as the foundation to further accelerate its journey to become a data-driven organisation – enabling the co-creation of industry-leading capabilities that leverage AI and machine learning as the catalyst for even deeper personalisation of the customer experience, driving unique recommendations from the approximately 90,000 products on site,” the company said.
“Leveraging Microsoft research, alongside its own data science expertise, will enable Asos to deliver operational efficiencies by better predicting customer demand, optimising logistics and delivering efficiencies across price and stock investments.”
Scott Guthrie, executive vice-president of cloud and AI at Microsoft, said that retail remains one of the most competitive and dynamic industries in the world, which is why firms such as Asos are using cloud to ensure they can respond in timely way to changing customer demands and preferences.
“By harnessing the power of the Microsoft cloud and its AI capabilities, Asos will be able to better meet customer demand, provide greater product availability, and deliver more seamless and personalised digital experiences,” said Guthrie.
Meanwhile, Cliff Cohen, CTO of Asos, described Microsoft as a “critical partner” that has assisted the firm with a rebuild of its technology stack to ready itself to become a global business.
“As we embark on the next phase of growth, we see Microsoft as a critical partner that is trusted and can provide a comprehensive set of cloud and AI solutions as a key enabler for evolution of our customer offering, particularly in building capabilities to support our growth strategy and embedding data-driven insights across our business.”
Read more about Asos and its tech strategy
- Asos’s digital product director Andy Berks talks about how the online retailer has used AI and machine learning technologies – and why the needs of the customer have to come first.
- Asos has launched augmented reality (AR) technology to allow customers to see what clothes might look on their body type, with models currently unable to attend its studios for photoshoots to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
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https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252514002/ASOS-commits-to-keep-using-Microsoft-Azure-for-another-five-years-to-support-business-growth-push
| 2022-03-01T13:09:13
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| 0.957259
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Nokia stops deliveries to Russia
Nokia will stop deliveries to Russia to comply with sanctions imposed on the country following the invasion on Ukraine, the Finnish network equipment maker said on Tuesday.
"This is a complex situation which is evolving rapidly and we continue to assess it", the company, which supplies MTS , Vimpelcom, Megafon and Tele2 in Russia, told Reuters.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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| 2022-03-01T13:09:12
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COMMODITIES-Oil, gas and wheat prices surge as sanctions disrupt flows
"The fragile situation in Ukraine and financial and energy sanctions against Russia will keep the energy crisis stoked and oil well above $100 per barrel in the near-term and even higher if the conflict escalates further," Louise Dickson, senior oil market analyst at Rystad Energy, wrote in a note. Metals also extended gains on worries over supply of palladium, aluminium and nickel, since Russian production accounts for global market shares of 40%, 6% and 7% respectively.
Most commodity prices remained on the boil on Tuesday as Russia's invasion of Ukraine escalated and Western sanctions disrupted air and sea transport, threatening flows of raw materials.
Crude oil extended gains above $100 a barrel, gas prices rocketed 17% and wheat surged 5% on fears that logistics problems will result in shortages. Gold had eased when Russian and Ukrainian officials held ceasefire talks, but it rebounded 1% as safe-haven buying resumed after there was no agreement.
A huge Russian armored column bore down on Kyiv after the lethal shelling of civilian areas in Ukraine's second-largest city raised fears that frustrated Russian commanders could resort to more devastating tactics. There were rising worries about logjams in supply chains after several shipping groups halted activity to and from Russia while airlines canceled cargo flights because of reciprocal airspace bans that hit both Russia and Europe.
"The current situation is highly volatile, with no sign of de-escalation, and the potential for existentially bad outcomes for all parties," Berenberg analyst Richard Hatch said in a note. "Our base-case scenario is one ... with demand for commodities remaining strong and prices elevated for those commodities where Russia plays a material role in supply."
GAS SOARS May Brent crude oil futures climbed about 4% to $102 a barrel as concern over supply disruptions outweighed the talk of a coordinated global crude stocks release.
Even though sanctions have avoided directly touching Russian oil and gas, worries over disruptions sent Dutch front-month gas prices soaring by 17%. "The fragile situation in Ukraine and financial and energy sanctions against Russia will keep the energy crisis stoked and oil well above $100 per barrel in the near-term and even higher if the conflict escalates further," Louise Dickson, senior oil market analyst at Rystad Energy, wrote in a note.
Metals also extended gains on worries oversupply of palladium, aluminum, and nickel, since Russian production accounts for global market shares of 40%, 6%, and 7% respectively. Palladium gained more than 3% as analysts said sanctions began disrupting shipments.
Aluminum hovered just below a record high of $3,525 a tonne touched on Monday while nickel also firmed. Russian aluminum producer Rusal halted production at its Nikolaev alumina refinery in Ukraine, citing logistical challenges.
Supplies of energy-intensive aluminum and zinc could be further disrupted if European smelters decide electricity prices are too high to keep smelters running. In agricultural markets, meanwhile, European Euronext wheat futures jumped more than 4% in early trade on worries about Black Sea feed grain and oilseed shipments being stopped by the crisis. Chicago wheat gained about 5% and corn climbed 3%.
Ukraine and Russia together account for about 29% of global wheat exports, 19% of global corn exports, and 80% of world sunflower oil exports. Malaysian palm oil futures vaulted more than 7% to a record peak on Tuesday on the prospect of rising demand as the closure of Ukrainian ports hits supplies of sun oil from the Black Sea region.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943269-commodities-oil-gas-and-wheat-prices-surge-as-sanctions-disrupt-flows
| 2022-03-01T13:09:21
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| 0.953669
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Nord Stream 2 terminates contracts with employees following sanctions
The United States imposed sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG last week after Russia recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine prior to its invasion of the country. A wave of economic sanctions by the West has followed. "Following the recent geopolitical developments leading to the imposition of U.S. sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG, the company had to terminate contracts with employees.
- Country:
- Russia
The operator of the Russia-led gas pipeline project Nord Stream 2 said on Tuesday it had to terminate contracts with employees because of U.S. sanctions. The United States imposed sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG last week after Russia recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine prior to its invasion of the country. A wave of economic sanctions by the West has followed.
"Following the recent geopolitical developments leading to the imposition of U.S. sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG, the company had to terminate contracts with employees. We very much regret this development," it said in an emailed statement.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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- U.S.
- Nord Stream 2
- Ukraine
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- The United States
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943272-nord-stream-2-terminates-contracts-with-employees-following-sanctions
| 2022-03-01T13:09:29
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| 0.935401
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Maha: BPCL to invest Rs 4,000 cr for gas distribution project in Aurangabad, Ahmednagar
Union Minister Dr Bhagwat Karad on Tuesday said Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited BPCL has launched a gas distribution network in Aurangabad and Ahmednagar districts of Maharashtra and will invest Rs 4,000 crore for the completion of the project.The minister of state for finance was addressing a press conference with the BPCL officials here.The ground-breaking ceremony of the project will be held in Aurangabad on Wednesday, for which Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri will remain present through video conferencing, Dr Karad said.
- Country:
- India
Union Minister Dr Bhagwat Karad on Tuesday said Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has launched a gas distribution network in Aurangabad and Ahmednagar districts of Maharashtra and will invest Rs 4,000 crore for the completion of the project.
The minister of state for finance was addressing a press conference with the BPCL officials here.
The ground-breaking ceremony of the project will be held in Aurangabad on Wednesday, for which Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri will remain present through video conferencing, Dr Karad said. ''The work on the gas distribution network line work is underway from Srigonda in Ahmednagar to Aurangabad. The ceremony will be the commencement of distribution line in Aurangabad city. By December, gas will be supplied through pipeline to households in the city,'' the minister said.
Talking to reporters, BPCL's executive director (gas) Sukhmal Jain said that the company will spend around Rs 1,600 crore in the next five years and a total of Rs 4,000 crore for completion of the project.
''Despite the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years, the company has already started laying steel pipeline for the development of PNG and CNG in two districts. BPCL has set up 21 CNG stations (15 in Ahmednagar and six in Aurangabad) and work for 40 more is underway in both the districts,'' Jain said.
The company plans to connect 3 lakh customers in the first phase and seven lakh in the next five years, Jain said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943273-maha-bpcl-to-invest-rs-4000-cr-for-gas-distribution-project-in-aurangabad-ahmednagar
| 2022-03-01T13:09:37
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| 0.932529
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WRAPUP 3-Russia seeks to halt investor stampede as sanctions hammer economy
Russia said it was placing temporary curbs on foreigners seeking to exit Russian assets on Tuesday, putting the brakes on an accelerating investor exodus driven by crippling Western sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine. Russian assets went into freefall on Tuesday with London-listed ishares MSCI Russia ETF falling 50% to hit a fresh record low and Russia's biggest lender, Sberbank slumping 21% as investors raced for the exit.
Major money managers, including hedge fund Man Group and British asset manager abrdn, have been cutting their positions in Russia even as the rouble slumped to a record low and trading froze on its bonds. "There is certainly a willingness from asset managers and benchmark providers to get rid of Russia exposure in their portfolios and indexes," said Kaspar Hense, a senior portfolio manager at Bluebay Asset Management in London.
"The big question is where do buyers turn up?" Moscow's move to impose capital controls means that billions of dollars worth of securities held by foreigners in Russia are at risk of being trapped.
British asset manager Liontrust suspended dealing in its Russia fund while the prices of some of the most popular Russia-focused exchange-traded funds were trading at a discount to their net asset values. Ratings agency Fitch has identified 11 Russia-focused funds which have been suspended, with total assets under management of 4.4 billion euros ($4.92 billion) at end-January, a spokesperson said by email.
WILL NOT INVEST In a matter of weeks, Russia has turned from a lucrative bet on surging oil prices to an uninvestable market with a central bank hamstrung by sanctions, major banks shut out of the international payments system and capital controls choking off money flows.
Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc have blocked multiple Russian financial institutions from their networks and Germany's market regulator BaFin said that it was closely monitoring the European arm of Russia's VTB Bank, which was no longer accepting new clients. Shares in some European banks remained under pressure after heavy declines on Monday because of lenders' exposure to Russia. The sector remained volatile as Moscow started the day six of its invasion.
Asset manager abrdn has around two billion pounds of client money invested in Russia and Belarus and has been cutting its positions, Chief Executive Stephen Bird said. "We will not invest in Russia and Belarus for the foreseeable future," Bird said.
Man Group cut its investments in Russia in recent weeks and now has 'negligible' exposure to Russia and Ukraine across its portfolio, its Chief Financial Officer Antoine Forterre told Reuters on Tuesday. Shares of Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International were down 6% in late morning, after sliding 14% on Monday. Shares of Italy's UniCredit fell 1%, after Monday's 9.5% fall.
The European Central Bank has put banks with close ties to Russia, such as Raiffeisen and the European arm of VTB, under close observation following sweeping financial sanctions by the West that have already pushed one Russian lender over the edge, two sources told Reuters. Tuesday's share price swings and investor comments came as Russia faced increasing isolation over its invasion of Ukraine, with resistance on the ground denying President Vladimir Putin decisive early gains despite heavy shelling and a huge military convoy outside Kyiv.
Shares of leading banks fell with the European banking sector slid 1.9% on Tuesday to a fresh 2-1/2 month low. In recent days, the United States, Britain, Europe, and Canada announced a raft of new sanctions - including blocking certain Russian lenders' access to the SWIFT international payment system.
In response, the London Stock Exchange said on Tuesday it would stop trading in two global depository receipts (GDRs) for VTB Bank after Britain's financial regulator suspended them in response to sanctions. India's top lender will not process any transactions involving Russian entities subject to international sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, according to a letter seen by Reuters and people familiar with the matter.
Amid wild swings in bank shares, bankers have sought to reassure investors and the public, saying they are well capitalized and that their footprints in Russia are relatively small. Some like Blackrock doubled its stake in Polymetal POLYP.L. Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Christian Sewing told the Bild newspaper that it would be wrong to assume a quick resolution to the crisis in Ukraine following the exclusion of Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system.
"That would be the wrong expectation," Sewing said.
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| 2022-03-01T13:09:47
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Malaysia to deny port call of Russia-flagged tanker sanctioned by U.S.
According to the United States, Linda is owned by PSB Leasing, a unit of Russian lender Promsvyazbank, which has also been hit by international sanctions. Provsyazbank, however, has denied that its subsidiary owned the vessel. A U.S. advocacy group has said Linda was also suspected to be transporting Iranian oil. Malaysia has made no official comment on the international sanctions imposed on Russia over the invasion.
A Russian-flagged oil tanker targeted by U.S. sanctions will not be allowed to call at Kuala Linggi port in Malaysia, its government said on Tuesday, underlining global pressure to squeeze Moscow-linked businesses over the invasion of Ukraine.
The Linda, which was identified in a U.S. Treasury document detailing sanctions against Russian entities, was heading towards the Malaysian port and was scheduled to arrive at the weekend, Reuters reported on Monday, citing shipping data. Malaysia's transport ministry in a statement said the port's operator had decided to decline the ship's intention to drop anchor there "in order not to violate any sanctions".
"The ministry will continue to review the situation for further action as may be required according to current government policies," it said. It did not state the government's position on the U.S. sanctions. According to the United States, Linda is owned by PSB Leasing, a unit of Russian lender Promsvyazbank, which has also been hit by international sanctions.
Provsyazbank, however, has denied that its subsidiary owned the vessel. A U.S. advocacy group has said Linda was also suspected to be transporting Iranian oil.
Malaysia has made no official comment on the international sanctions imposed on Russia over the invasion. Neighboring Singapore, a regional shipping and finance hub, on Monday denounced the Russian invasion and said it would impose targeted banking and financial curbs and prevent the export of items that could be used as weapons against Ukrainians.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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| 2022-03-01T13:09:55
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201 species of Himalayan birds spotted in Uttarakhand: NGO
- Country:
- India
A total of 201 species of Himalayan birds, including the very rare red crossbill, were spotted in Uttarakhand by a group of 20 bird-watchers, who took part in the 'Great Backyard Bird Count 2022', an NGO said here.
''The bird count was conducted at Munsiyari, Dehradun, Mukteswar (Nainital) and Mailbag (Tihri Garhwal) over the last three weeks,'' Ramnarayan Kalyanaraman, overall coordinator and founder of India's Nature NGO, said.
The bird count exercise was conducted by the NGO.
Besides the red crossbill, the bird-watchers also spotted monal, the state bird of Uttarakhand, wall creeper, spotted nutcracker, streak-breasted scimitar-babbler, bearded vulture, river lapwing, and steppe eagle.
''Our group has also counted groups of altitudinal migrant birds and trans-continental migrants, along with a host of breeding resident birds of the Himalayan region,'' Kalyanaraman said.
The annual bird count is carried out by the group to raise awareness among local people about the birds and to promote ethical birding by rural nature guides, he said.
''We could count extremely rare birds in the IUCN list red crossbill and black-throated parrotbill, besides near-threatened birds like the cinereous vulture, Himalayan vulture, painted stork, Alexandrine parakeet and the vulnerable common pochard,'' Kalyanaraman added.
The bird count was supported by Bird Count India, eBird India and eBird Global, he said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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| 2022-03-01T13:10:02
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| 0.949234
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Indian student killed in Kharkiv identified as Naveen Shekharappa from Karnataka's Haveri district
Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) Commissioner Dr Manoj Rajan on Tuesday said that the Indian student, who lost his life in Kharkiv this morning because of shelling in the area, has been identified as Naveen Shekharappa from Chalageri village of Haveri district in Karnataka.
- Country:
- India
Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) Commissioner Dr Manoj Rajan on Tuesday said that the Indian student, who lost his life in Kharkiv this morning because of shelling in the area, has been identified as Naveen Shekharappa from Chalageri village of Haveri district in Karnataka. "We have confirmed from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) the unfortunate demise of Naveen Shekharappa in Ukraine. He was from Chalageri, Haveri. He had left for a nearby store to buy something. Later his friend got a call from a local official that he (Naveen) has died," said Karnataka SDMA.
Earlier today, MEA in a statement said that one Indian student has lost his life in Kharkiv this morning because of shelling in the area. Taking to Twitter, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi shared the information and expressed condolences to the family.
"With profound sorrow, we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning. The Ministry is in touch with his family. We convey our deepest condolences to the family," he wrote in the tweet. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a high-level meeting on Monday evening over the Ukraine crisis said that the entire government machinery is working round the clock to ensure that all Indians there are safe and secure, said Bagchi.
Government sources on Monday said that the 'Special Envoys' including Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju, and Gen (Retd) VK Singh will travel to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate evacuations of stranded Indians amid ongoing Russian military operations. On February 24, the Prime Minister chaired a Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting in New Delhi on the Ukraine crisis.
The union government has launched "Operation Ganga" to bring back stranded students and Indian citizens from the conflict-torn Ukraine. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943291-indian-student-killed-in-kharkiv-identified-as-naveen-shekharappa-from-karnatakas-haveri-district
| 2022-03-01T13:10:10
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| 0.964353
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FOREX-Rouble slips again, Swiss franc hits seven-year high
The rouble fell further on Tuesday after partly recovering some ground, while the dollar edged higher and the Swiss franc hit a seven-year high, as investors sought out the safe-haven currency while waiting for developments in Ukraine.
The rouble fell further on Tuesday after partly recovering some ground, while the dollar edged higher and the Swiss franc hit a seven-year high, as investors sought out the safe-haven currency while waiting for developments in Ukraine. Financial markets have been rocked in recent days by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two, and the resulting Western sanctions which include cutting off some Russian banks from the SWIFT financial network and limiting Moscow's ability to deploy its $630 billion of foreign reserves.
Global stock markets initially showed signs of regaining their composure on Tuesday, but by 1152 GMT European indexes and Wall Street futures were firmly in the red. The rouble was down around 4% on the day, trading at 97.036 per dollar, a day after it collapsed to a record low of 120 per dollar. Earlier on Tuesday it had recovered some of those heavy losses, helped by an emergency rate hike by Russia's central bank.
Still, the rouble was down almost 30% from its best levels this year. The U.S. dollar, which surged last week on safe-haven flows, continued to climb, leaving the dollar index up 0.2% at 96.96 .
The euro was down 0.4% on the day at $1.1175. ROUBLE 'BAROMETER'
Neil Jones, head of FX sales at Mizuho, said that investors were watching the rouble and using that to determine the direction of other currencies. "Rouble is the barometer which the rest of the foreign exchange market follows right now," Jones said.
The safe-haven yen was around 0.2% stronger against the dollar, at 114.790. Meanwhile, the Swiss franc hit its strongest level since 2015 against the euro, with the pair last at 1.0248 .
Mizuho's Jones said some investors were disappointed that the yen had been underperforming the Swiss franc as a safe-haven currency, and suggested one reason may be that Japan has higher energy demands - and buying energy involves selling the yen to buy dollars, which puts depreciation pressure on its currency. The Swiss National Bank's sight deposits were little changed in February, suggesting the central bank may have given up its attempts to slow the franc's appreciation.
Currency volatility was at its highest since late 2020, as measured by a Deutsche Bank index. "Today, the focus will be on whether sanctions/retaliation will start impacting the commodity flows from Russia, and whether (Russia's central bank) will step in with more measures to support the rouble," ING FX analysts wrote in a note to clients.
Among the G10 currencies, Sweden's crown, the euro and Britain's pound could suffer the most if sanctions affect the flow of Russian gas into Europe, they said, while Norway's crown may keep benefiting from high gas prices. The Australian dollar hit its highest since mid-January in early trading, before easing to trade up 0.1% on the day at $0.72715, its third consecutive day of gains.
Australia's central bank on Tuesday held interest rates at a record low and cited the war in Ukraine as a major new source of uncertainty as it stressed patience on tightening policy. The New Zealand dollar was steady at $0.67755.
Some of the demand for Australian and New Zealand dollars may be due to geography, with the countries far away from the troubles in Europe and little exposed to Russian trade. Bitcoin jumped sharply late on Monday to briefly hit a 12-day high above $44,000.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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| 2022-03-01T13:10:18
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| 0.969154
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Central railway to run 22 trips of Holi special trains between Mumbai, Ballia
The central railway will run 22 tri-weekly special trains between Mumbai in Maharashtra and Ballia in Uttar Pradesh to clear the extra rush of passengers during the Holi festival, informed the central railway on Tuesday.
- Country:
- India
The central railway will run 22 tri-weekly special trains between Mumbai in Maharashtra and Ballia in Uttar Pradesh to clear the extra rush of passengers during the Holi festival, informed the central railway on Tuesday. Shivaji Sutar, Central Railway Public Officer (CRPO) stated that train no. 01001, a tri-weekly special train, will leave Lokmanya Tilak Terminus every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 2:15 pm from March 7 to March 30 and will arrive at Ballia at 1:45 am on the third day.
"Train number 01002 will leave Ballia every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 3:15 pm from March 9 to April 1 and will arrive at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 3:35 am on the third day," he further added. During the trip, the train will stop at various station like Kalyan, Nashik Road, Bhusaval, Harda, Itarsi, Rani Kamlapati, Bina, Lalitpur, Tikamgarh, Khargapur, Chhatarpur, Khajuraho, Mahoba, Banda, Chitrakutdham Karwi, Manikpur, Prayagraj, Gyanpur Road, Varanasi, Aunrihar, Mau and Rasra.
CRPO also gave information about the composition of train coaches. He stated, "One AC-2 Tier, Six AC-3 Tier, 11 Sleeper Class and 5 General Second Class will be included." Citing the COVID situation, Sutar stated, "Please follow COVID appropriate behaviour for your and others' safety."
The bookings for fully reserved special train No. 01001 on special charges will open on March 3 at all computerised reservation centres and on the website www.irctc.co.in. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943298-central-railway-to-run-22-trips-of-holi-special-trains-between-mumbai-ballia
| 2022-03-01T13:10:25
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| 0.940291
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Saudi cabinet reaffirms support to OPEC+ agreement - state news agency
- Country:
- Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's cabinet reaffirmed on Tuesday its commitment to the OPEC+ agreement of oil exporters supplying an additional volume of 400,000 barrels per day each month to output, Saudi state news agency said.
The Saudi cabinet also called for stability in oil markets and for a de-escalation in Ukraine.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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- Saudi
- Ukraine
- Saudi Arabia's
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| 2022-03-01T13:10:33
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| 0.921515
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EU to seriously look at Ukraine's 'legitimate' request for EU membership
European Union institutions and governments will have to seriously look at Ukraine's request for EU membership and respond to Kyiv's "legitimate" request, the chairman of EU leaders Charles Michel said on Tuesday. "The council (of EU governments) will have to seriously look at the symbolic, political and legitimate request that has been made and make the appropriate choice in a determined and clear-headed manner," Michel said.
- Country:
- Belgium
European Union institutions and governments will have to seriously look at Ukraine's request for EU membership and respond to Kyiv's "legitimate" request, the chairman of EU leaders Charles Michel said on Tuesday. Michel noted however that while Ukraine's application was "symbolic", there was no unity on the issue of enlargement in the 27-nation bloc.
"It is going to be difficult, we know there are different views in Europe," Michel told the European parliament. "The council (of EU governments) will have to seriously look at the symbolic, political and legitimate request that has been made and make the appropriate choice in a determined and clear-headed manner," Michel said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- European
- Michel
- Charles Michel
- European Union
- Ukraine
- Kyiv
- Europe
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| 2022-03-01T13:10:41
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| 0.950043
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Offline classes for standards 10, 12 in all Delhi schools, parents' consent not necessary
Consent of parents would not be mandatory for offline classes or exams for students of classes 10 and 12, Delhi government's Directorate of Education said on Monday.
- Country:
- India
Consent of parents would not be mandatory for offline classes or exams for students of classes 10 and 12, Delhi government's Directorate of Education said on Monday. It said in a circular that schools may henceforth conduct offline classes and exams for classes 10 and 12.
"All government, government-aided, non aided, unaided, recognised, NDMC, MCDs and Delhi Cantonment Board Schools may, henceforth, conduct offline classes as well as exams for students of classes 10 and 12. Consent of parents for attending offline classes/exams will not be mandatory for students of classes 10 and 12," the circular said. The directions came in view of the notification issued by DDMA dated February 25.The circular also said that the schools may deploy transportation facilities for the convenience of students and parents with COVID appropriate behaviour to be followed.
The hybrid mode of classes and exams - offline as well as online - will continue as earlier for classes up to 9 and for 11 till March 31 and all classes will be in offline mode from April 1 this year, the circular said. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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| 2022-03-01T13:10:49
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| 0.956006
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Conservation groups call for rich nations to bankroll biodiversity efforts
Environment groups are calling for wealthy nations to boost spending on biodiversity conservation in developing countries and in that way account for the harm done by international trade. On Tuesday, groups including the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Campaign for Nature and World Resources Institute, announced a goal of mobilizing $60 billion annually in international biodiversity finance.
Environment groups are calling for wealthy nations to boost spending on biodiversity conservation in developing countries and in that way account for the harm done by international trade.
On Tuesday, groups including the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Campaign for Nature and World Resources Institute, announced a goal of mobilizing $60 billion annually in international biodiversity finance. That follows developed countries commitment to $100 billion in annual climate financing to help poorer nations, which have been disproportionately affected.
"We have a moral obligation to provide developing countries with the means to conserve nature," said Bruno Oberle, director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. One million animal and plant species are currently threatened with extinction - more than ever before in human history. In the Amazon alone, more than 10,000 species are at risk of disappearing due to the clearing of the rainforest for cattle ranching, soy farming and other uses.
More than $700 billion is needed each year to address the global biodiversity crisis, out of which $500 billion can be taken care of by canceling harmful subsidies, the groups said. Out of the remaining $200 billion, developed nations should provide 30%, or $60 billion. "International trade is driving about 30 percent of species' threats globally," explained Manfred Lenzen, a sustainability researcher at the University of Sydney. What it means, he said, is that wealthy countries are largely able to protect their own habitat and environment while "they outsource all these problematic biodiversity activities elsewhere and import commodities produced in low-income countries."
The environmental groups announced the goal ahead of a major round of United Nations' biodiversity negotiations due in Geneva later this month. The goal is to secure wealthy countries' commitment ahead of next month's meeting on the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming, China. In 2009, wealthy nations promised to mobilize $100 billion per year for climate financing by 2020. But they have fallen short of that goal and latest estimates say it will not be reached until 2023. Despite their poor track record on environmental financing, conservation leaders hope rich nations will understand it is in their interest to act.
"This is not a tax for biodiversity," said Marco Lambertini, director general of World Wildlife Fund International. "This is an investment in the services that biodiversity is generating for our society, for our economy, for our wellbeing and health."
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943327-conservation-groups-call-for-rich-nations-to-bankroll-biodiversity-efforts
| 2022-03-01T13:10:57
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| 0.940537
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Global food supply at risk from Russian invasion of Ukraine, Yara says
"It is therefore crucial that the international community come together and work to secure world food production and reduce dependency on Russia, even though the number of alternatives today is limited," Yara said. Fertiliser prices rose sharply in the final months of 2021, tracking soaring natural gas costs.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine threatens global food supplies, Norwegian fertiliser maker Yara International said on Tuesday, adding that the international community needed to reduce its dependence on Russian raw materials for agriculture.
Ukraine and Russia are both major exporters of some of the world's most basic foodstuffs, together accounting for about 29% of global wheat exports, 19% of world corn supplies and 80% of world sunflower oil exports. But Russia also exports crop nutrients as well as natural gas, which is critical for producing nitrogen-based fertilisers. Yara said that in total, 25% of the European supply of the key crop nutrients nitrogen, potash and phosphate come from Russia.
"With the geopolitical conditions out of balance, the biggest sources of raw material to Europe's food production are being subject to limitations, and there are no short-term alternatives," Yara said in a statement. The Norwegian company, which is one of the world's biggest fertiliser producers, supplies Ukraine's agricultural sector and is a big buyer of raw materials, such as phosphate and potash, from Russia, which also supplies Europe's nitrogen fertilisers plants with natural gas.
David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said last week that war in Ukraine would have a dramatic impact on the organisation's ability to reach the 120 million people it feeds, adding that food, fuel and shipping costs would "skyrocket" in what he described in a Twitter post as "an absolute catastrophe". Wheat futures have soared in recent days on concerns that Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24 and which Moscow is calling a "special operation" will continue to disrupt grain shipments from the Black Sea region.
"One potential consequence is that only the most privileged part of the world population gets access to enough food," Yara said, adding that while high prices may have a short-term positive impact on profit, they would mean an unsustainable food system, leading to starvation and conflict in the long term. "It is therefore crucial that the international community come together and work to secure world food production and reduce dependency on Russia, even though the number of alternatives today is limited," Yara said.
Fertiliser prices rose sharply in the final months of 2021, tracking soaring natural gas costs. This is leading in turn to higher food prices, which could lead to famine for the most vulnerable, Yara warned in October.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943350-global-food-supply-at-risk-from-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-yara-says
| 2022-03-01T13:11:05
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| 0.950943
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ANALYSIS-Foes over Ukraine, Russia and Western unity tested in Iran talks
Western powers and Russia have for almost a year worked closely to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but the war in Ukraine is creating a sense of urgency to conclude talks before cooperation becomes impossible. The stakes are high.
Western powers and Russia have for almost a year worked closely to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but the war in Ukraine is creating a sense of urgency to conclude talks before cooperation becomes impossible.
The stakes are high. Failure after 10 months of talks could carry the risk of Tehran getting to within a short sprint of nuclear weapons and igniting a fresh war in the Middle East. It could also see more harsh sanctions on Iran by the West and continued upward pressure on world oil prices already strained by the Ukraine conflict. As Russian troops poured into and bombed Ukraine and Western powers responded with tough sanctions, the contrast with the talks in Vienna over the past week has been striking.
Mikhail Ulyanov, the ever-optimistic Russian negotiator, was posting videos and pictures on Twitter showing the ongoing co-ordination with the United States, France, Britain and Germany, even as he toed Moscow's line on Ukraine. Western officials have repeatedly said that they have always been able to compartmentalise the Iran nuclear dossier because everybody had a common interest to avoid a major non-proliferation crisis.
That could be about to change, however, as pressure mounts on Moscow. "There's a good chance that a crisis of this magnitude will pollute not only the Iranian file, but many others," said a French presidential official.
"This is one of the many subjects on which the relationship with Russia is very severely, very significantly changed by the behaviour of President Vladimir Putin." STILL CIVIL, FOR NOW
All parties involved in the talks, which also include China, say progress has been made towards restoring the pact to curb Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. The 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), had fallen apart in 2018 when then President Donald Trump pulled out the United States. But both Tehran and Washington have said there are still some significant differences to overcome.
Diplomats say Russia has been instrumental in shaping a compromise. Three diplomats close to the talks emphasised that events in Ukraine had sped up efforts to conclude negotiations this week, fearing it would become more difficult to ignore events elsewhere.
"The longer that talks go on, the greater the chance that the conflict intercedes," said Henry Rome, Iran analyst at consultancy Eurasia. Diplomats say things have remained civil, but even a cursory look at social media shows that France's main negotiator is repeatedly calling out Russia, while warning Iran that it's playing with fire.
Speaking late on Friday, a senior U.S. State Department official said that, as best Washington could tell, it remained Russia's desire to negotiate a revival of the nuclear deal. "We're not doing it as a favour to Russia. Russia is not doing it as a favour to us. We're working towards a goal that, on this issue, we appear to have a common interest in: reviving the JCPOA," the official said.
IRAN OVERREACHING? After a brief hiatus in the talks following what appeared to be a final Western offer, Iranian officials have seemingly returned with a tougher stance.
Analysts say the Ukraine crisis may have encouraged Iran to overplay its hand, thinking Washington would be keener to both avoid a second crisis and get Iran's oil back on international markets, where prices have risen above $100 a barrel. "That's a miscalculation because the U.S. has sufficient bandwidth to deal with these issues simultaneously and it will take at least two months for Iran's oil to hit the markets in case there is a deal," Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at International Crisis Group, told Reuters.
"So far tensions over Ukraine have not spilled into the Iran nuclear talks. But it's nearly impossible to segregate them for much longer." Ulyanov told reporters on Monday that the Ukraine situation has had no impact on the talks and Iranian officials have downplayed it for now.
"These are two separate issues," a senior Iranian official told Reuters from Tehran. "Of course time is running out and with what is happening in Ukraine, Russia might get busy with the crisis and then the West will be responsible for the failure of these talks."
An Iranian security official in Tehran said that even if Russia were to change tack and try to torpedo talks, Iran would prioritise its national interest - the sale of oil and if possible a deal that would enable it. "Why should we sacrifice our millions of dollars in income because of an alliance with Russia?" the official said.
Should a deal be struck there could be technical implications. Russia is expected to ship excess enriched uranium out of Iran, but Western sanctions could impact that. "The conflict and sanctions may also introduce implementation risks surrounding Russia's role ... but those issues are likely manageable," said Eurasia's Rome.
A first test of whether Ukraine will derail cooperation could come on as early as Wednesday, when some of the protagonists will take a break from Iran to face off at an emergency meeting at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to discuss the security and safety of Ukraine's four operational nuclear power plants and various waste facilities, including at Chernobyl. "It has to be this week," said a European diplomat of the urgency of reaching deal. "Because we never know when there might be an escalation in Ukraine and then we're are no longer allies. Who knows, if the (IAEA) Board criticises Russia on Wednesday, the Russians could say 'To hell with the Iran deal'." (Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Editing by Alex Richardson)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943352-analysis-foes-over-ukraine-russia-and-western-unity-tested-in-iran-talks
| 2022-03-01T13:11:13
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| 0.971644
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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks slide on Ukraine woes, oil storms back above $100
European stocks sagged and oil jumped back above $100 a barrel on Tuesday as markets struggled with massive uncertainty caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, although the rouble steadied as Moscow scrambled support for its beleaguered markets. Russia's stock markets remained suspended and some bond trading platforms were no longer showing prices, but dealing in the major financial centres both in Europe and in Asia overnight was orderly, albeit jittery.
European stocks sagged and oil jumped back above $100 a barrel on Tuesday as markets struggled with massive uncertainty caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, although the rouble steadied as Moscow scrambled support for its beleaguered markets.
Russia's stock markets remained suspended and some bond trading platforms were no longer showing prices, but dealing in the major financial centres both in Europe and in Asia overnight was orderly, albeit jittery. Losses for the pan-European STOXX 600 were starting to mount again, with the index down nearly 2% by midsession and Wall Street expected to open around 1% lower in New York later.
There had initially been gains for mining and oil & gas stocks but even those had soured and there was a heavy 4% slump in bank stocks with investors now sensing that interest rate hikes might now get delayed. Paul Jackson, Global Head of Asset Allocation Research, Invesco said: "assuming no rapid resolution to this conflict, we fear that global GDP could be reduced by 0.5%-1.0%."
"That's enough to aggravate the ongoing slowdown but not enough to produce recession," although he cautioned that some parts of Europe could see a recession and that inflation was also likely to stay higher for longer. High-level talks between Kyiv and Moscow on Monday had ended with no agreement except to keep talking, and nerves were acute as a huge Russian armoured column bore down on Kyiv on Tuesday after lethal shelling of civilian areas in Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv.
With Russia one of the world's largest oil and producers, Brent crude futures were up $4.51, or 4.6%, to $102.75 a barrel. That was just below a seven-year high of $105.79 hit after Moscow launched its assault on Ukraine last week. European natural gas prices leapt nearly 15% too. Both oil and gas prices are now up nearly 60% since fears of an invasion of Ukraine began to escalate in November.
"The fragile situation in Ukraine and financial and energy sanctions against Russia will keep the energy crisis stoked and oil well above $100 per barrel in the near-term and even higher if the conflict escalates further," Louise Dickson, senior oil market analyst from Rystad Energy, wrote in a note. ROUBLE
The sense that the war and higher energy prices could slow the global economy meant euro zone bond yields continued to fall in the bond markets as traders further reduced their bets on rate hikes from the European Central Bank this year. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields were sitting at 1.80% in European trading having been over 2% less than two weeks ago, while the euro resumed its decline in the currency market.
Momentum in euro zone manufacturing growth had already waned slightly last month, revised PMI data showed on Tuesday, although it was still strong and firms said supply chain constraints had eased. "Don't let the drop in the headline PMI distract from what should be viewed as a largely positive month for the euro area manufacturing sector in February," said Joe Hayes, senior economist at data compiler IHS Markit said.
Russia's rouble appeared to be stabilising after plunging as much as 30% to a record 120 per dollar after Western countries had slapped Russia with the most far-reaching sanctions ever placed on such an interconnected global economy. Those measures include cutting Russia's top banks from the SWIFT international financial network and sanctioning its central bank in a bid to limit Moscow's ability to deploy its $630 billion of foreign reserves.
Russia responded on Tuesday by temporarily stopping foreign investors from selling Russian assets to ensure they take a "considered decision" Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said. Russia's huge sovereign wealth fund will also be pressed into action, spending up to 1 trillion roubles ($10.3 billion) to buy shares in Russian companies, a source close to the government told Reuters. Sanctions though mean that the big global banks are now reluctant to trade with Russian banks and vice versa, which means there are now effectively two different rouble currency markets - one in Russia and one internationally.
Traders in London were quoting the rouble at between 101 and 105 per dollar, although it had been around 94 per dollar according to some local market prices. More broadly, currency market volatility is at its highest since late 2020, as measured by a Deutsche Bank index and the rouble is down almost 30% from its best levels this year.
"Today, the focus will be on whether sanctions/retaliation will start impacting the commodity flows from Russia, and whether (Russia's central bank) will step in with more measures to support the rouble," ING FX analysts wrote in a note to clients. Trading in Russian stocks meanwhile remain suspended on the Moscow Exchange and Russian sovereign and corporate bond prices were not showing on some trading platforms. JPMorgan's widely-tracked GBI-EM Global Diversified index did still include Russia's rouble-denominated bonds although Monday's market plunge had slashed their so-called weighting in the index.
Foreign investors held $20 billion of Russia’s dollar- and rouble-denominated government debt at the end of last year according to Russian central bank data while they own just over $85 billion worth of equities according to the Moscow Exchange. "A lot of the (global) price action is a function of uncertainty." said Madison Faller at JPmorgan Private Bank.
(Additional Reporting by Sujata Rao in London; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943357-global-markets-stocks-slide-on-ukraine-woes-oil-storms-back-above-100
| 2022-03-01T13:11:21
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Cash-strapped Egypt hikes Suez Canal transit fees for ships
Vessels carrying vehicles, natural gas and general cargo, as well as multi-purpose vessels, will see an increase of 7, while a 5 increase will be imposed on oil and crude tankers and dry bulk vessels, it said.The hikes could later be revised or called off, according to changes in global shipping, it added.Canal authorities have been working to widen and deepen the waterways southern part, where a hulking vessel ran aground and closed off the canal in March 2021.The six-day blockage disrupted global shipment.
- Country:
- Egypt
Cash-strapped Egypt increased transit fees Tuesday for ships passing through the Suez Canal, one of the world's most crucial waterways, with hikes of up to 10%, officials said.
The Suez Canal Authority said on its website the increases were “in line with the significant growth in global trade'' and cited the canal's “development and enhancement of the transit service”.
According to a statement, transit fees for liquefied petroleum gas, chemical tankers, and other liquid bulk tankers increased by 10%. Vessels carrying vehicles, natural gas and general cargo, as well as multi-purpose vessels, will see an increase of 7%, while a 5% increase will be imposed on oil and crude tankers and dry bulk vessels, it said.
The hikes could later be revised or called off, according to changes in global shipping, it added.
Canal authorities have been working to widen and deepen the waterway's southern part, where a hulking vessel ran aground and closed off the canal in March 2021.
The six-day blockage disrupted global shipment. Some ships were forced to take the long alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa's southern tip, requiring additional fuel and other costs. Hundreds of other ships waited in place for the blockage to end.
About 10% of global trade, including 7% of the world's oil, flows through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean and Red seas. For Egypt, the canal - which first opened in 1869 - is a source of both national pride and foreign currency.
Authorities said 20,649 vessels passed through the canal last year, a 10% increase compared to 18,830 vessels in 2020. The annual revenues of the canal reached $6.3 billion in 2021, the highest in its history.
Last month, 1,713 vessels passed through the waterway, bringing in $545 million in revenues, according to Adm Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority. In February last year, 1,532 vessels passed through the canal, bringing in $474 million.
The shipping industry is still under pressure from the pandemic, and Russia's war on Ukraine is likely to add to global economic concerns.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943358-cash-strapped-egypt-hikes-suez-canal-transit-fees-for-ships
| 2022-03-01T13:11:29
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| 0.956163
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SAN ANTONIO — A person was taken to the hospital after being shot in the leg Tuesday morning, police say.
Just after 12:35 a.m., the San Antonio Police Department and the San Antonio Fire Department responded to the 6700 block of Raintree Forest for a shooting. When they arrived, they found a victim with a gunshot wound to the leg.
Officials say a vehicle was driving on Toepperwein and Nacogdoches when another vehicle pulled up next to them and opened fire hitting the vehicle several times. One of the bullets hit a passenger sitting in the back seat in the leg.
The victim was taken to the hospital in stable condition. Police say they don't know what led up to the shooting, but an investigation should reveal that later.
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https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/one-person-taken-to-hospital-after-being-shot-in-the-leg-local-news/273-a3297af0-d938-4c28-99bd-d2c09c947127
| 2022-03-01T13:11:33
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| 0.971342
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Italy can cope without Russian gas, explores alternatives-Draghi
The government is also ready, if necessary, to control gas supplies to industry and the power generation sector and use existing coal- and oil-fired power plants on a temporary basis. Draghi's comments come as sweeping Western sanctions slapped on Russia after it invaded Ukraine threaten to disrupt energy flows, raising the spectre of gas shortages, blackouts and price increases.
Italy would be able to weather a complete breakdown in gas supplies from Russia in the short-term but that would make following winters more difficult, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Tuesday.
Even if Russia cut supplies next week, gas storage levels and alternative import flows would suffice to cover peak demand, especially with milder weather lowering demand, Draghi said in parliament. "However in the absence of Russian supplies the situation for coming winters and even the more immediate future, risks being more complex," the prime minister said.
Italy is working to increase supplies from other gas producing countries such as Algeria and Azerbaijan, as well as making greater use of liquefied natural gas terminals, he added. The government is also ready, if necessary, to control gas supplies to industry and the power generation sector and use existing coal- and oil-fired power plants on a temporary basis.
Draghi's comments come as sweeping Western sanctions slapped on Russia after it invaded Ukraine threaten to disrupt energy flows, raising the spectre of gas shortages, blackouts and price increases. Italy, which uses gas for around 40% of its electricity generation, imports more than 90% of its gas. Last year 40% of imports came from Russia.
While energy supplies have so far largely avoided sanctions, there are concerns possible disruptions could push energy prices higher. Draghi, who pledged additional support to families and businesses if needed, said there were no signs of gas flows from Russia being interrupted at the moment.
"However it is important to consider all possibilities given the risk of retaliation and a possible further tightening of sanctions," he said. Finding a wider range of energy supplies was something that needed to be done irrespective of what happened to Russian gas flows in the short term, Draghi said.
"We can't be so dependent on the decisions of a single country... Our liberty is at stake, not just our prosperity."
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Azerbaijan
- Algeria
- Mario Draghi
- Ukraine
- Russia
- Italy
- Russian
- Draghi
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1943365-italy-can-cope-without-russian-gas-explores-alternatives-draghi
| 2022-03-01T13:11:36
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| 0.951378
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SAN ANTONIO — Three people were taken to the hospital after a shooting at an apartment complex on the northwest side Tuesday morning, officials say.
At 1:40 a.m., the San Antonio Fire Department and San Antonio Police responded to the 5500 block of Fredericksburg Road for a shooting. When police arrived, two people had already been taken to the hospital --- however, another victim showed up to the hospital and was confirmed to have also been shot.
Police said details were still pending, but two people were shot in a parking lot. Two people took themselves to the hospital, the other person who was shot in the head was taken to the hospital by EMS.
Multiple people were being detained for questioning, but they are not cooperating with police, officials say.
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https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/shooting-on-the-northwest-side-sends-three-people-to-hospital-local-news/273-c7dc32a2-f9fe-44e3-a83d-1f311da78177
| 2022-03-01T13:11:39
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| 0.995108
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Jan Aushadhi week begins on Monday, to focus on affordable medicines
With an aim to provide affordable medicines to everyone across the country, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI), under the aegis of the Department of Pharmaceuticals will observe Jan Aushadhi week from 1 to 7 March.
- Country:
- India
With an aim to provide affordable medicines to everyone across the country, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI), under the aegis of the Department of Pharmaceuticals will observe Jan Aushadhi week from 1 to 7 March. "About 8,600 Jan Aushadhi centres are running in India to provide affordable medicines to everyone. To promote this, Jan Aushadhi week is being celebrated from 1 to 7 March", said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday.
Mandaviya said that lakhs of people buy medicines from the Jan Aushadhi centres at cheaper rates. Under this, public awareness is being created among the general public about public medicine. Along with this, people are coming to know that the best and cheap medicines are available in Jan Aushadhi Kendra.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said that on the first day of Jan Aushadhi week, a padayatra has been taken out in 75 cities of the country. With an objective of making quality generic medicines available at affordable prices to all, Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) was launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India in November 2008. Under the scheme, as per the ministry, dedicated outlets known as Janaushadhi Kendras are opened to provide generic medicines at affordable prices. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1943220-jan-aushadhi-week-begins-on-monday-to-focus-on-affordable-medicines
| 2022-03-01T13:11:44
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| 0.940454
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KYIV, Ukraine — Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city again Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations.
With the Kremlin increasingly isolated by tough economic sanctions that have tanked the ruble currency, Russian troops attempted to advance on Ukraine’s two biggest cities. In strategic Kharkiv, an eastern city with a population of about 1.5 million, videos posted online showed explosions hitting the region's Soviet-era administrative building and residential areas.
Throughout the country, many Ukrainian civilians spent another night huddled in shelters, basements or corridors.
The casualty toll mounted as Ukraine faced Day 6 of a Russian invasion that has shaken the 21st century world order. Hopes for a negotiated solution to the war dimmed after a first, five-hour session of talks between Ukraine and Russia yielded no stop in the fighting, though both sides agreed to another meeting in coming days.
With Western powers sending weapons to Ukraine and driving a global squeeze of Russia's economy, President Vladimir Putin's options diminished as he seeks to redraw the global map — and pull Ukraine's western-leaning democracy back into Moscow's orbit.
“I believe Russia is trying to put pressure (on Ukraine) with this simple method," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday in a video address, referring to stepped-up shelling. He did not offer details of the talks between Ukrainian and Russian envoys, but he said Kyiv was not prepared to make concessions “when one side is hitting another with rocket artillery.”
As the talks along the Belarusian border wrapped up, several blasts could be heard in the capital, and Russian troops advanced on the city of nearly 3 million. The convoy of armored vehicles, tanks, artillery and support vehicles was 25 kilometers (17 miles) from the center of the city and stretched about 65 kilometers (40 miles), according to satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies.
“They want to break our nationhood, that’s why the capital is constantly under threat,” Zelenskyy said, saying that it was hit by three missile strikes on Monday and that hundreds of saboteurs were roaming the city.
Kharkiv, near the Russian border, is another key target. One after the other, explosions burst through a residential area of the city in one video verified by AP. In the background, a man pleaded with a woman to leave, and a woman cried.
Determined for life to go on despite the shelling, hospital workers transferred a Kharkiv maternity ward to a bomb shelter. Amid makeshift electrical sockets and mattresses piled up against the walls, pregnant women paced the crowded space, accompanied by the cries of dozens of newborns.
The Russian military has denied targeting residential areas despite abundant evidence documented by AP reporters around Ukraine of shelling of homes, schools and hospitals.
Regional administration chief Oleh Sinehubov said that the administration headquarters in the city center also came under Russian shelling. Images posted online showed the building’s facade and interior badly damaged by a powerful explosion that also blew up part of its roof. The state emergencies agency said that attack wounded six people, including a child.
Sinehubov said that at least 11 people were killed and scores of others were wounded during Monday’s shelling of the city.
Meanwhile, flames shot up from a military base northeast of Kyiv, in the suburb of Brovary, in footage shot from a car driving past. In another video verified by AP, a passenger pleads with the driver, “Misha, we need to drive quickly as they’ll strike again.”
And Ukrainian authorities released details and photos of an attack Sunday on a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, saying more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed along with some local residents. The attack could not be immediately confirmed.
The Russian military's movements have been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to dominate Ukraine's airspace.
In the face of that resistance, the Kremlin has twice in as many days raised the specter of nuclear war and put on high alert an arsenal that includes intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers. Stepping up his rhetoric, President Vladimir Putin denounced the United States and its allies as an “empire of lies.”
Western nations have increased weapons shipments to Ukraine to help its forces defend themselves — but have so far ruled out sending in troops. Still, the embattled country moved to solidify its ties to the West by applying to join the European Union — a largely symbolic move for now, but one that won't sit well with Putin, who was already infuriated by Ukraine's desire to join the NATO alliance.
Messages aimed at the advancing Russian soldiers popped up on billboards, bus stops and electronic traffic signs across the capital. Some used profanity to encourage Russians to leave. Others appealed to their humanity.
“Russian soldier — Stop! Remember your family. Go home with a clean conscience,” one read.
Fighting raged in other towns and cities. The strategic port city of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov, is “hanging on,” said Zelenskyy adviser Oleksiy Arestovich. An oil depot was reported bombed in the eastern city of Sumy.
In the seaside resort town of Berdyansk, dozens of protesters chanted angrily in the main square against Russian occupiers, yelling at them to go home and singing the Ukrainian national anthem. They described the soldiers as exhausted young conscripts.
“Frightened kids, frightened looks. They want to eat,” Konstantin Maloletka, who runs a small shop, said by telephone. He said the soldiers went into a supermarket and grabbed canned meat, vodka and cigarettes.
"They ate right in the store,” he said. “It looked like they haven’t been fed in recent days.”
For many, Russia's announcement of a nuclear high alert stirred fears that the West could be drawn into direct conflict with Russia. But a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States had yet to see any appreciable change in Russia’s nuclear posture.
As far-reaching Western sanctions on Russian banks and other institutions took hold, the ruble plummeted, and Russia’s Central Bank scrambled to shore it up, as did Putin, signing a decree restricting foreign currency.
But that did little to calm Russian fears. In Moscow, people lined up to withdraw cash as the sanctions threatened to drive up prices and reduce the standard of living for millions of ordinary Russians.
The economic sanctions, ordered by the U.S. and other allies, were just one contributor to Russia's growing status as a pariah country.
Russian airliners are banned from European airspace, Russian media is restricted in some countries, and some high-tech products can no longer be exported to the country. On Monday, international sports bodies moved to exclude Russian athletes and officials from international events, including soccer’s World Cup.
The U.N. human rights chief said Monday at least 102 civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded — warning that figure is probably a vast undercount.
More than a half-million people have fled the country since the invasion, another U.N. official said, many of them going to Poland, Romania and Hungary.
Among the refugees in Hungary was Maria Pavlushko, 24, an information technology project manager from a city west of Kyiv. She said her father stayed behind to fight the Russians.
“I am proud about him,” she said, adding that many of her friends were planning to fight, too.
___
Isachenkov and Litvinova reported from Moscow. Robert Burns and Eric Tucker in Washington; Francesca Ebel, Josef Federman and Andrew Drake in Kyiv; Lorne Cook in Brussels; and other AP journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
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https://www.kens5.com/article/news/nation-world/ukraine/russia-pummels-ukraines-second-largest-city/507-43432f3a-1289-483c-8c8b-7fee1bee21d0
| 2022-03-01T13:11:46
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| 0.96984
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Queen Elizabeth well enough to carry out virtual audiences -source
- Country:
- United Kingdom
Queen Elizabeth is feeling well enough to undertake two virtual audiences on Tuesday, a Buckingham Palace source said.
The British monarch postponed several scheduled virtual audiences last week but continued to perform other official duties as she recovered from COVID-19.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Queen Elizabeth
- British
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1943262-queen-elizabeth-well-enough-to-carry-out-virtual-audiences--source
| 2022-03-01T13:11:52
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| 0.938287
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30-60 minutes of weekly muscle strengthening activity linked to lower death risk: Study
It has been known that regular exercise has a lot of health benefits. But what is the minimum time of exercise required to ensure optimal health, considering everyone's busy lifestyle?
- Country:
- England
It has been known that regular exercise has a lot of health benefits. But what is the minimum time of exercise required to ensure optimal health, considering everyone's busy lifestyle? A pooled data analysis of the available evidence has found that 30 to 60 minutes of muscle-strengthening activity every week is linked to a 10-20 per cent lower risk of death from all causes, and from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, in particular.
The study was published in the 'British Journal of Sports Medicine'. The findings are independent of aerobic exercise. But the analysis points to a J-shaped curve for most outcomes, with no conclusive evidence that more than an hour a week of muscle-strengthening activity reduces the risk further still.
Physical activity guidelines have recommended regular muscle-strengthening activities for adults, primarily because of the known benefits for skeletal muscle health. Examples of these activities include lifting weights; working with resistance bands; push-ups, sit-ups, and squats; and heavy gardening, such as digging and shovelling. Previous research indicated that muscle-strengthening activity is associated with a lower risk of death, but it's not known what the optimal 'dose' might be.
To try and find out, the researchers scoured research databases for relevant prospective observational studies that included adults without major health issues who had been monitored for at least 2 years. The final analysis included 16 studies out of an initial cache of 29. The earliest study was published in 2012, and most studies were carried out in the USA, with the rest from England, Scotland, Australia, and Japan. The maximum monitoring period lasted 25 years.
Study participant numbers varied from nearly 4000 to almost 480,000, and ranged in age from 18 to 97. Twelve studies included both men and women; two included men only while three included women only. All the studies considered aerobic or other types of physical activity as well as muscle-strengthening activities. The pooled data analysis showed that muscle-strengthening activities were associated with a 10-17 per cent lower risk of death from any cause, as well as death from heart disease and stroke, cancer, diabetes, and lung cancer.
No association was found between muscle strengthening and a reduced risk of specific types of cancer, including those of the bowel, kidney, bladder, or pancreas. A J-shaped curve emerged, with a maximum risk reduction of between 10-20 per cent at approximately 30-60 minutes/week of muscle-strengthening activities for death from any cause, cardiovascular disease, and all cancer.
An L-shaped association was observed for diabetes, with a large risk reduction up to 60 minutes/week of muscle-strengthening activities, after which there was a gradual tapering off. Joint analysis of muscle strengthening and aerobic activities showed that the reduction in risk of death from any cause, cardiovascular disease, and cancer was even greater when these two types of activities were combined: 40 per cent, 46 per cent, and 28 per cent lower, respectively.
The researchers acknowledged certain limitations to their findings, the main one of which was that data from only a few studies were pooled for each of the outcomes studied. The included studies also relied on subjective assessment of muscle-strengthening activities. Because most of the studies were carried out in the US, the results might not be more widely applicable, cautioned the researchers, who added that the included studies were all observational rather than clinical trials.
Given the J-shaped associations, the potential of a higher volume of muscle-strengthening activities on the reduction in risk of death is unclear, they wrote. But they concluded, "The combination of muscle strengthening and aerobic activities may provide a greater benefit for reducing all-cause, [cardiovascular disease], and total cancer mortality.
"Given that the available data are limited, further studies--such as studies focusing on a more diverse population--are needed to increase the certainty of the evidence." (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1943267-30-60-minutes-of-weekly-muscle-strengthening-activity-linked-to-lower-death-risk-study
| 2022-03-01T13:11:59
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| 0.974703
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Queen Elizabeth well enough to carry out virtual audiences
Queen Elizabeth felt well enough to undertake two virtual audiences on Tuesday, just over a week after she tested positive for COVID-19 and following the cancellation of other similar events last week. The British monarch, 95, has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus and was previously said to have been suffering mild cold-like symptoms.
- Country:
- United Kingdom
Queen Elizabeth felt well enough to undertake two virtual audiences on Tuesday, just over a week after she tested positive for COVID-19 and following the cancellation of other similar events last week.
The British monarch, 95, has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus and was previously said to have been suffering mild cold-like symptoms. Despite cancelling some events she continued with light duties after testing positive. On Tuesday the palace said she spoke with incoming ambassadors from Andorra and Chad. Last week she spoke to Prime Minister Boris Johnson by telephone.
Buckingham Palace has said it would not give a running commentary on the condition of Elizabeth, who last month celebrated her 70th anniversary of becoming queen.
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1943332-queen-elizabeth-well-enough-to-carry-out-virtual-audiences
| 2022-03-01T13:12:07
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| 0.967683
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EXCLUSIVE-Indonesia extends AstraZeneca vaccine shelf life as 6 mln doses near expiry
Indonesia has extended the shelf life of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to nine months, as nearly six million doses it received in donations approached their expiration dates, a health ministry spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday. Nearly three million doses of vaccines were also thrown out by African nations, officials said, leading them to call for a longer shelf life for the shots donated.
Indonesia has extended the shelf life of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to nine months, as nearly six million doses it received in donations approached their expiration dates, a health ministry spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday. The decision underscores the challenges many developing countries face in their slow inoculation campaigns, as vaccines donated by wealthy countries arrive with a relatively short shelf life of just a few months or weeks.
Indonesia, which reported record daily infections in mid-February due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19, has fully vaccinated about 53% of its population of 270 million. That compares with more than 70% in richer nations. Siti Nadia Tarmizi, a health ministry spokesperson, told Reuters it had six million doses of vaccines set to expire at the end of February, but only 200,000 of them had expired after it extended the shelf life of the AstraZeneca shot to nine months from six.
"The food and drugs agency extended the expiry date ... based on new available data about its efficacy," she said. The expired vaccines were from Sinovac and Moderna Inc and add to 1.1 million expired doses that Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in January the country had discarded.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson said it supported the government's shelf-life extensions and that they "comply with the highest standards, in line with AstraZeneca's commitment to providing effective medicines of the highest quality." The relatively short shelf life of AstraZeneca's vaccine is complicating the rollout to the world's poorest nations, according to officials and internal World Health Organization documents reviewed by Reuters last month.
Its shelf life of just six months from the date of bottling is the shortest among top suppliers to the COVAX global vaccine sharing scheme, several COVAX and EU officials said. Kurniasih Mufidayati, an Indonesian member of parliament overseeing health, called for the government to speed up vaccination on Monday.
"Even though the vaccines are free, but receiving and distributing them uses the state budget. If they go bad and are wasteful, it's a waste of the budget," she said. Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi said last month after a meeting with COVAX and WHO officials that it "hopes that vaccine recipient countries can get a longer expiry period."
Poorer nations rejected more than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by COVAX in December, mainly because of a rapidly approaching expiry date, a UNICEF official said. Nearly three million doses of vaccines were also thrown out by African nations, officials said, leading them to call for a longer shelf life for the shots donated. (Editing by Miyoung Kim, Jacqueline Wong and Bernadette Baum )
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1943364-exclusive-indonesia-extends-astrazeneca-vaccine-shelf-life-as-6-mln-doses-near-expiry
| 2022-03-01T13:12:15
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| 0.956826
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Pakistan sees surge in offences against women in 2021
Around 34,000 women registered complaints regarding different types of offences last year across Pakistan, according to the official data depicting the deteriorating condition of the country's women.
- Country:
- Pakistan
Around 34,000 women registered complaints regarding different types of offences last year across Pakistan, according to the official data depicting the deteriorating condition of the country's women. The News International reported citing data that most of the cases of rape in the country happened in Punjab province, whereas cases, such as honour killing of women and burning them, emerged from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Giving reasons for the escalating abuses and offences against women, Afzal Shigri, former IGP Sindh, explained to this correspondent that due to increased education and awareness among the women, they are asserting their rights and challenging the male dominance that is facing resistance by the established norms in the country, as per the newspaper. In 2021, Punjab province received the highest number of complaints contributing up to 71 per cent of the total complaints that the authorities received from all over Pakistan. In Sindh, total number of 6,842 offences were reported to the Women Protection Cell in the same year, whereas, 2,766 complaints were made by women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A total of 540 complaints of criminal offences like rape, murder and kidnapping, 1,939 complaints related to the inheritance of property, 3,481 cases of domestic violence, 3,571 complaints of harassment and 1,790 complaints regarding the family issues were made by the women to the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women in the past year. Other complaints that were made in Punjab by the women were regarding their education and health, which were 12,975, The News International reported. According to the information given by the Women Protection Cell, Sindh, reported a total of 6,842 cases of violence against women. Around 142 women were raped in 2021 in Sindh only, according to the data shared by the Women Protection Cell.
Notably, the annual report of State of Human Rights in Pakistan released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) for the year 2020 had set alarm bells ringing over the plight of women in the country. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/1943212-pakistan-sees-surge-in-offences-against-women-in-2021
| 2022-03-01T13:12:22
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| 0.968405
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Kiren Rijiju leaves for Slovakia to oversee evacuation of Indian Nationals stranded in Ukraine
Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju has left for Slovakia on Tuesday as a special envoy to oversee the evacuation efforts of stranded Indian students in Ukraine.
- Country:
- India
Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju has left for Slovakia on Tuesday as a special envoy to oversee the evacuation efforts of stranded Indian students in Ukraine. Speaking before his departure Rijiju said, "As an envoy of our Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi we will give his message to the Prime Minister Of Slovakia because without the help of their government we cannot conduct this operation."
He further said, "We will do the overall coordination for the evacuation operation. Our Indian citizens will come from Ukraine so they will face the issue of visa and all paper works, so we need the support of the Slovakia government to help our citizens." He added, "Our main aim is to provide safe passage to our Indian citizens."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to his Slovakian counterpart Eduard Heger and thanked him for the assistance provided by the Slovak Republic in the evacuation of Indian citizens from Ukraine and for permitting special evacuation flights from India. In a phone call, PM Modi requested for Slovak Republic's continued assistance in the next few days as well as India undertook to evacuate other citizens from conflict zones.
"Prime Minister thanked Eduard Heger for the assistance provided by the Slovak Republic in the evacuation of Indian citizens from Ukraine, and for permitting special evacuation flights from India. He requested for Slovak Republic's continued assistance in the next few days as India undertook to evacuate other citizens from conflict zones," the Prime Minister's office said in a statement. PM Modi also informed Heger about the deployment of Kiren Rijiju, as his special envoy to oversee the evacuation efforts of Indian citizens.
He expressed his anguish at the ongoing violence and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, and reiterated India's consistent appeal for cessation of hostilities and a return to dialogue, the statement said adding further that PM Modi also stressed the importance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/1943223-kiren-rijiju-leaves-for-slovakia-to-oversee-evacuation-of-indian-nationals-stranded-in-ukraine
| 2022-03-01T13:12:30
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| 0.961567
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Death of Indian student in Ukraine unfortunate collateral damage, says Defence Expert
Security experts in India have asked Indian nationals in war-hit areas of Ukraine to leave for safer places after an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv city on Tuesday.
- Country:
- India
Security experts in India have asked Indian nationals in war-hit areas of Ukraine to leave for safer places after an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv city on Tuesday. They call the incident unfortunate collateral damage in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Major General (Retd) K K Sinha said, "The thing is that you have been told not to come out. He might have gone to the Kharkiv supermarket there. He must have gone to buy some food. There are many kinds of casualties. Collateral damage is always there." Naveen Shekharappa, a medical student from Karnataka's Haveri died when Russian soldiers blew up a government building in Kharkiv this morning. Naveen was standing outside a grocery store when he was hit.
Sinha said, "See these people are not leaving in spite of all these advisories. Even through the media, we were telling them to please leave because it is a serious matter. The advisory is that people should just tag along with Russians as 80 per cent of Kharkiv and Kyiv are Russian and they all are on the Russian side". News of the student's death came within an hour of the Indian embassy in Ukraine asking its citizens to urgently leave the capital Kyiv. "Advisory to Indians in Kyiv- All Indian nationals including students are advised to leave Kyiv urgently today. Preferably by available trains or through any other means available (sic)," a statement from the embassy read.
Security experts are advising students on various options to protect themselves. "If they can't leave it is better to go to some place which is midway, in my judgment in the rural areas. They will give the shelter. There are churches, not the Roman Catholic Churches but there are Churches," said Sinha.
Russian and Ukrainian troops continued to engage in fighting in Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv on the sixth day since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion. The Ukrainian presidential advisor said Russian troops are trying to lay siege to the capital Kyiv and Kharkiv. There were reports of a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatening the capital -- tactics Ukraine's embattled president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations.
The Indian government launched Operation Ganga to rescue Indian citizens, mostly students, from Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia six days ago. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/1943248-death-of-indian-student-in-ukraine-unfortunate-collateral-damage-says-defence-expert
| 2022-03-01T13:12:37
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| 0.979567
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Over 20 injured in shelling in Kharkiv, says Ukrainian emergency service
More than 20 people have been injured in an explosion in Ukraine's second-biggest city Kharkiv, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service on Tuesday.
- Country:
- Ukraine
More than 20 people have been injured in an explosion in Ukraine's second-biggest city Kharkiv, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service on Tuesday. In a video posted on its official Facebook account, the service member said that a state administration building and adjacent building were damaged in the attack, CNN reported.
"As a result of artillery shelling, a state administration building and adjacent building were damaged. People are trapped under the rubble. The head of rescue operations has learned that over 20 people have been wounded," the service member quoted by CNN said. "There are eight emergency rescue squads on-site working, with 80 staff and volunteers sorting the debris, dragging it away to find the injured and the dead. Work is underway," he added.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov today denied the reports of attacking infrastructure, residential areas in Ukraine. "During the course of the special operation, Russian troops do not carry out any strikes on civilian infrastructure facilities and on a residential complex. This is out of the question. We are talking only about the demilitarization of Ukraine and military facilities. We must not forget that in a large number of cases, we are talking about the fire of nationalist groups that use living objects as a shield," Peskov said, according to Sputnik. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/1943318-over-20-injured-in-shelling-in-kharkiv-says-ukrainian-emergency-service
| 2022-03-01T13:12:45
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| 0.974839
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Pakistan: Opposition says announcement of oil price reduction by Imran Khan is out of fear of Awami March
After Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday announced a reduction of up to Rs 10 per litre in petrol and diesel, opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that "Kaptaan" panicked because of Awami March and thus made the decision.
- Country:
- Pakistan
After Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday announced a reduction of up to Rs 10 per litre in petrol and diesel, opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that "Kaptaan" panicked because of Awami March and thus made the decision. Amid political and economic turmoil in Pakistan, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Tuesday unveiled the route of anti-govt 'Awami March' against Imran Khan-led PTI government.
Notably, Imran Khan along with the announcement in petrol and diesel prices, also said that the prices of electricity tariff will also be brought down by up to Rs 5 per unit. While addressing the nation Imran Khan unveiled a relief package for the nationals including the reduction in petrol prices, power tariff, tax exemptions for the IT sector and others.
Pakistan is facing a dire economic situation and the opposition sees Imran Khan's announcement as a hasty move made in fear of the long march that the opposition has planned against the ruling government. Not just Bilawal's PPP, but major opposition parties have described Prime Minister Imran Khan's announcement on Monday to reduce the prices as a "futile and desperate last-ditch attempt" to save his government, reported Dawn.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) leaders, echoing the same sentiments said that the government made this move under pressure. They said Imran Khan is fearful of the long march and the no-confidence motion. As Pakistan is already grappled with a severe economic crisis and in view of this, the opposition parties have termed these relief measured as insufficient.
Calling it a speech by a "terrified and defeated person", they said it was PM's "last address" to the nation, reported Dawn. Marriyum Aurangzeb, PML-N information secretary said, "The PTI government had increased electricity tariff by Rs15 per unit over the past three years and reduced it by Rs5 to fool the nation."
"Over the past three years, the price of petrol was jacked up by Rs70 per litre by the PTI. Still, desperate to save his job, Imran was using the eyewash of reducing it by just Rs10 per litre," she added. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/1943330-pakistan-opposition-says-announcement-of-oil-price-reduction-by-imran-khan-is-out-of-fear-of-awami-march
| 2022-03-01T13:12:53
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| 0.972171
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Hester Prynne, protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's masterwork The Scarlet Letter, is among the first and most important female protagonists in American literature. She's the embodiment of deep contradictions: bad and beautiful, holy and sinful, conventional and radical.
At first glance, Hester may seem more victim than heroine. The adultery she committed when her husband was thought lost at sea leads Boston's Puritan authorities to brand her with the bright red "A" of the title. She's forced to stand in shame before the mass of Puritan citizens, enduring their stares, their whispers and their contempt. In the self-righteous eyes of the townspeople, she is the ultimate example of sin.
Hester Prynne is also the object of a cruel and shadowy love triangle between herself, her minister lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, and her husband, now called Roger Chillingworth.
"The drama is really the drama of the patriarchial society's need to control female sexuality in the most basic way," says Evan Carton, literature professor at the University of Texas, Austin. "This classic male anxiety: How do you know for sure whether your baby is yours? If you don't know if your woman and your child are actually yours, then you have no control over property, no control over social order, no control over anything — and that's the deep radical challenge that Hester presents to this society."
America was in the midst of a growing feminist movement when Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter. Professor Jamie Barlowe, of the University of Toledo, says that Hawthorne — living in Salem, Boston and later Concord, Mass. — "was very, very aware of the growing feminist insurgence. Women's rights were a part of the cultural conversation."
The first women's-rights convention at Seneca Falls, N.Y., was held in 1848, two years before The Scarlet Letter was published. Strong women like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were gathering other women to talk about science, politics and ideas. For the first time in America, women were challenging the firmly established male patriarchy. Hester Prynne can be seen as Hawthorne's literary contemplation of what happens when women break cultural bounds and gain personal power.
A Survivor, and Strong
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne may seem a victim and an object, but she also shows great personal strength. She survives.
Hester builds a small business doing embroidery-work. She raises her daughter, Pearl, by herself, fighting to keep her when the authorities try to take the child away. Over the years, Hester gains the respect of other women in Boston, becoming something of a quiet confidant for them.
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Updike says the book still makes him cry. He describes a scene where Hester meets Dimmesdale in the forest and implores him to run away with her.
"First she throws away the scarlet letter," Updike recalls. "Then, quote, 'By another impulse, she took off the formal cap that confined her hair; and down it fell upon her shoulders, dark and rich, with at once a shadow and a light in its abundance and imparting the charm of softness to her features.'
"How wonderful, the power of the hair," Updike says.
Updike wrote three novels of his own based on the characters of The Scarlet Letter; they're often called Updike's Hawthorne Trilogy. The final one, titled simply S., is the story of a 20th century version of Hester Prynne. Updike says Hester is "fun to write about, because she was so irrepresible."
"She's such an arresting and slightly ambiguous figure," he says. "She's a funny mix of a truly liberated, defiantly sexual woman, but in the end a woman who accepts the penance that society imposed on her. And I don't know, I suppose she's an epitome of female predicaments."
Professor Barlowe says that how a reader feels about Hester Prynne "will have something to do with how that individual person sees women as functioning, or ways they should function."
A Mirror Turned on Social Norms
So, just as Hester is a vessel for the feelings and actions of the men who surround her in the book, she's also a mirror, revealing the true feelings of the reader about the role of women in society.
At the end of her life, Hester Prynne chooses to live in Boston and to continue to wear that red letter "A" on her breast, long after she has fulfilled her punishment.
"Never afterwards did it quit her bosom," Hawthorne writes. "But, in the lapse of the toilsome, thoughtful, and self-devoted years that made up Hester's life, the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world's scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too."
It becomes a symbol, in other words, that throughout her life she wore her sin bravely, out in the open, on her chest.
All the contradictions of Hester Prynne — guilt and honesty, sin and holiness, sex and chastity — make her an enduring heroine of American literature. She is flawed, complex, and above all fertile.
The idea of Hester Prynne, the good woman gone bad, is a cultural meme that recurs again and again — perhaps because we as a culture are still trying to figure out who Hester really is and how we feel about her. In John Updike's words, "She is a mythic version of every woman's attempt to integrate her sexuality with societal demands."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-03-02/hester-prynne-sinner-victim-object-winner
| 2022-03-01T13:13:00
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| 0.970436
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Be cautious, take refuge in 'bomb shelters': Maj Gen (Retd) BK Sharma to Indians in Ukraine
Strategic analysts and security experts have urged trapped Indians in Ukraine to be cautious and advised them to take refuge in " bomb shelters" after an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv city on Tuesday.
- Country:
- India
Strategic analysts and security experts have urged trapped Indians in Ukraine to be cautious and advised them to take refuge in " bomb shelters" after an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv city on Tuesday. Talking about the incident, defense expert, Maj Gen (Retd) BK Sharma termed the incident as unfortunate and condoled the death of the Indian student.
"This is very unfortunate, but in war situations, people do lose their life, this is what happened in Ukraine in the Kharkiv area. All I want to say is that it has no strategic dimension except that it has a huge humanitarian cost. One can only condole and lament this death," said the defense expert. Naveen Shekharappa, a medical student from Karnataka's Haveri died when Russian soldiers blew up a government building in Kharkiv this morning. Naveen was standing outside a grocery store when he was hit.
"The war has broken out and no one anticipated that President Putin will launch this offensive and war has broken out, people will die," said Sharma. He further advised Indian nationals to take refuge in "bomb shelters" till the government aid reaches them.
News of the student's death came within an hour of the Indian embassy in Ukraine asking its citizens to urgently leave the capital Kyiv. "Advisory to Indians in Kyiv- All Indian nationals including students are advised to leave Kyiv urgently today. Preferably by available trains or through any other means available," a statement from the embassy read.
Russian and Ukrainian troops continued to engage in fighting in Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv on the sixth day since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the military operations. The Ukrainian presidential advisor said Russian troops are trying to lay siege to the capital Kyiv and Kharkiv.
There were reports of a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatening the capital -- tactics Ukraine's embattled president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. Meanwhile, the Indian government launched Operation Ganga to rescue Indian citizens, mostly students, from Ukraine. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/1943331-be-cautious-take-refuge-in-bomb-shelters-maj-gen-retd-bk-sharma-to-indians-in-ukraine
| 2022-03-01T13:13:00
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| 0.971714
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"Who is Christ the Lord?"
With those words, Anne Rice opens her new novel.
The question is posed by Jesus, the narrator of the book. That Rice has chosen to write the book from the point of view of, well, God, is an artistic challenge and a gutsy move.
Spiritually, it is the question of the past 2,000 years — desperately needed in this day, where some theologians have rendered Jesus little more than the accidentally crucified socialist, and others as an aspiring head of the RNC.
The reality is that Jesus has been lost in the context of our time — reduced to an almost cartoonish amalgam of Cesar Chavez, Mister Rogers and Pat Robertson.
It is precisely this caricature of Jesus that Anne Rice undoes in her new book, The Road to Cana, the second in her Christ the Lord series. The novel is a wonder. Rice clearly revels in the artistic and spiritual challenge of creating a fully human Jesus. And she succeeds. This Jesus that she brings to life transfixes. In narrative pacing and character development, Rice's Jesus is — a revelation.
He is vulnerable, grasping at the contrasts of his life, the amazing stories of his birth — magi and shepherds and angels. He is an unmarried man "in a worn woolen robe" in a dusty, drought-stricken town.
He is fierce — confronting an accusing crowd and calling down torrential rains from heaven with an unspoken thought.
He is brilliant. An accusing Scribe who had marveled at his theological insights when he was a boy now despises him because he is a carpenter. Jesus reduces him to mere breath by saying a carpenter is exactly who God needs to work in this world of "wood and stone and iron and grass and air."
He is a man in love; in that love, we find the dramatic and theological core of The Road to Cana.
Her name is Avagail. She is the town's beauty, and she is tenderly crafted by Rice.
Jesus dreams of her in dreams he cannot control, dreams "all men dream." Dreams of "lips against lips."
But he cannot have her. This he knows, though he does now know why. The heartbreak over the loss of this very human love is profound. It reintroduces Jesus as a man of sorrows in an approachable way.
But Avagail is more than a love interest. She also serves as a metaphor for our own brokenness and the extent to which Jesus will go to heal that brokenness.
There is a scene that left me gasping at some points and crying at others. Avagail — victimized by the culture's violence and her bitter, broken father — goes out of her mind with grief. She appears in a hidden grove where Jesus rests, pleading with him to take her, to make her the harlot she concludes she must be.
He resists, but not because he is some asexual being. He does not take her because he knows who she really is — a precious and innocent soul in the midst of great anguish — and because he knows who He is: the sacrificial lover. To her, yes, but also to humanity. At tremendous personal cost, Jesus shields and shepherds her through the crisis and into the arms of a man who can give her what she needs and longs for.
We are all Avagail. We spin unaware, lost, reaching for comforts we do not really want. But in the midst of this occasional confusion and panic, Rice reminds us that there is one who knows the way of sorrow and confusion and loneliness and temptation. And who wants to comfort and shield us.
The Road to Cana is a masterful book written by an extraordinary writer at the height of her powers. It deserves to be read for that reason alone. But it also deserves to be read to better understand the most dynamic and important person in human history — Christ the Lord.
David Kuo is the author of Tempting Faith and the former deputy director of the office of faith-based community initiatives in the Bush administration.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-03-05/anne-rices-jesus-transfixes-in-road-to-cana
| 2022-03-01T13:13:06
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| 0.971753
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Ukrainians face long journeys to borders as fighting escalates
Ukrainians arriving into the European Union on Tuesday described their frantic journeys to the border after leaving behind husbands and fathers to fight a Russian invasion and escaping their homes to the sound of shelling. As a massive Russian convoy rumbles toward the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the United Nations said more than 500,000 refugees had fled to neighboring countries since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he has called "a special military operation" last Thursday.
- Country:
- Ukraine
Ukrainians arriving into the European Union on Tuesday described their frantic journeys to the border after leaving behind husbands and fathers to fight a Russian invasion and escaping their homes to the sound of shelling.
As a massive Russian convoy rumbles toward the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the United Nations said more than 500,000 refugees had fled to neighboring countries since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he has called "a special military operation" last Thursday. At the Hungarian border crossing Tiszabecs, a young mother cradled a baby in her arms as she and her son recounted watching rockets stream through the air before they drove for four days from the capital Kyiv.
"I saw war, I saw rockets," said 15-year-old Ivan, who looked exhausted and pale after the journey. The family, whose father stayed behind to fight, traveled in two cars carrying Ivan's three sisters, two aunts, and grandmother. New arrivals continued to pour across central European border crossings, with news of fierce fighting, civilian deaths, and the massive Russian convoy stoking worries of those fleeing the war.
Across central Europe, authorities set up makeshift reception centers in tents where people could get medical aid and process asylum papers, while thousands of volunteers have driven to the borders with donations of food, blankets, and clothes. Most of the refugees escaping the war have crossed into the European Union from borders in eastern Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary and in northern and northeastern Romania.
Poland, whose Ukrainian community of around 1 million is the region's largest, has welcomed a big chunk of the arrivals. The Polish Border Guard said that over 377,400 people had so far entered from Ukraine, with around 24,000 arriving on Tuesday since 7 a.m. local time. At the Medyka crossing, Poland's busiest along its roughly 500-kilometer (310 miles) border with Ukraine, people huddled around a bonfire in freezing temperatures as they waited for buses to take them to reception centers. Discarded bottles, clothes, and other items littered the road, and a few hundred people gathered near a local grocery store.
Also at the crossing was Ibrahima Sory Keita, who had arrived in Meliptopol three weeks ago from Guinea to begin studies. Cities under siege across Ukraine are home to tens of thousands of African students studying medicine, engineering, and military affairs. Thousands of Indian students are also trying to flee.
Keita and a few friends raced to the border when fighting broke out, walking the final 45 kilometers on foot. "Everything hurts right now," he said after crossing the border. "I haven't had a chance to lie down for 4 days. I am shaking (from cold) and I need to sleep in a warm place."
Some refugees were met by family members already working in the European Union who waited at the many border crossings, while local residents and officials across the region offered apartments and set up reception centers for temporary lodging. Hungarian police reported that more than 60,000 people have arrived in the country since the Russian invasion while nearly 90,000 have entered Romania.
At some border crossing, queues on the Ukrainian side stretched back for kilometers. At the Budapest train station, a newly-arrived Ukrainian man in his 60s was met by volunteer workers worried about his sons who stayed behind in Kyiv and wondered whether he would ever return to his home.
"I think this war will be very long in time," said Amir, who did not want to give his last name. "I left my house, my car, all of my profit in my life, I left all. We have nothing now."
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1943211-ukrainians-face-long-journeys-to-borders-as-fighting-escalates
| 2022-03-01T13:13:08
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| 0.974943
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This weekend, Hollywood's biggest movie release is set in 10,000 B.C. But two other "period" movies strike me as more interesting. Both of them play with movie styles that have mostly gone out of fashion.
The Bank Job, for instance, takes a nugget of fact — a 1971 robbery that became known as the "walkie-talkie bank heist" — and tunnels with it, straight into a kind of fiction that used to be popular in the '50s and '60s: the serious "heist" movie.
More recently, you see, heists have tended to be caper comedies, with just a bit of suspense. (Consider Ocean's 11 and its sequels.) This one makes nods in that direction, but what gives the movie its kick is what made the real crime remarkable at the time: The robbers posted a lookout. And he had — back in the days before cell phones — a big, clunky two-way radio.
Now, the robbers figured this gave them an advantage: They could see the police coming if the heist went wrong. What they didn't figure on was that a ham-radio operator would hear them and inform the police.
Director Roger Donaldson and his writers take a long time to set all this up, and most of the setup (and even the robbery itself) isn't nearly as sharply paced as the mad dash that happens after the heist. But if The Bank Job rarely feels terribly urgent, it's still fun — and in a pleasantly old-fashioned way.
Frump Meets Showgirl; Vintage Comedy Ensues
Older-fashioned still is Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, a 1930s mistaken-identity comedy in which no one is quite who she appears to be.
Not Guinevere Pettigrew, the prim, frumpish nanny played by Frances McDormand, who's living on London's answer to Skid Row when she takes a social-secretary job she's not remotely qualified for. And certainly not Delysia LaFosse, the ditzy showgirl who hires Miss Pettigrew almost entirely for effect. Delysia, played by Amy Adams, delysias-ly, is all about effect.
Now, in a '40s comedy about a frump and a showgirl, the frump must bloom and the showgirl get shown up. The only real question is how long it will take after they shed their false pretenses for the men in their lives to realize how splendid they are.
There are rather a lot of men in Delysia's case: She's juggling the attentions of a theater producer she's sleeping with, a nightclub owner she's living with, and a seriously frustrated pianist who actually loves her. ("I want the ice-pick for murder," he growls in one particularly fraught cocktail-making moment.)
Nothing in director Bharat Nalluri's credits, which include TV's Tsunami: The Aftermath, suggests he'd be someone who could, say, channel Blake Edwards' timing or George Cukor's fashion sense with any success. But he proves clever in harking back to the sort of Hollywood comedy where cocktail parties passed for plot devices.
That sort of film needs grounding these days, something Frances McDormand helps with. Just watch her face when the sound of bombers draws partygoers to a balcony, reminding you that the Blitz will soon dim London's lights.
But that's another day. Miss Pettigrew is about comic effervescence, and with McDormand — and Adams — on hand, it proves a vintage form can still have a certain fizz.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-03-07/bank-job-miss-pettigrew-old-forms-well-turned
| 2022-03-01T13:13:12
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| 0.966939
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2 sharpshooters of Kala Jathedi gang held after encounter in Delhi
Two sharpshooters of the Kala Jathedi gang were arrested following a heavy exchange of fire on Tuesday, officials said and claimed to have foiled a conspiracy to kill gangster Tillu Tajpuria and a Delhi Police constable.The accused -- Parvinder 31 and Tony 22, had planned to execute Tajpuria when he was to be produced in a court here, the police said.
- Country:
- India
Two sharpshooters of the Kala Jathedi gang were arrested following a heavy exchange of fire on Tuesday, officials said and claimed to have foiled a conspiracy to kill gangster Tillu Tajpuria and a Delhi Police constable.
The accused -- Parvinder (31) and Tony (22), had planned to execute Tajpuria when he was to be produced in a court here, the police said. On September 24 last year, jailed gangster Jitendra Gogi was shot dead by two men, who were dressed as lawyers, inside a Rohini courtroom here. The police in retaliatory fire had killed the assailants who were from the rival Tillu gang. The police said 22 rounds were fired during the encounter in north Delhi on Tuesday. A tip-off was received that Parvinder, an active member of Kala Jathedi gang, along with his associate would come to Alipur area to join others on Tuesday as they were planning to kill a Delhi Police constable and rival gangster Sunil Maan alias Tajpuria on the directions of Goldi Brar and Jathedi, a senior police officer said.
Around 2.15 am, the police signalled a bike, coming from GT Karnal road in the Alipur area, to stop but the occupants tried to escape, police said.
Seeing themselves surrounded by the police, both the accused started firing indiscriminately. Two bullets hit sub-inspector Rashmi's bullet-proof jacket, Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer north) Brijendra Kumar Yadav said. In retaliation, the police also opened fire, caught both the accused and snatched their weapons. A total 14 round bullets were fired by the police and eight were fired by the accused, both residents of Haryana, officials said. Interrogation revealed that both the accused were sharpshooters of Jathedi and Goldy Brar, the officer said.
They came to Delhi on Jathedi and Brar's direction as they had to kill Tajpuria and a constable. It was also revealed that Parvinder was wanted in a case of murder in Bengaluru. He was also involved in cases of loot of around Rs 24.7 lakh at Lahori Gate in Delhi, Rs 35 lakh in Haryana's Beri Jhajjar and Rs seven lakh in Jhajjar's Sadar area, police said.
Parvinder lived with Mithun, an active member of the Jathedi gang. But when Mithun was arrested, Parminder had fled to Nepal, police said. Two pistols, four live cartridges, eight empty cartridges and a stolen motorcycle have been recovered from them, police added.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1943224-2-sharpshooters-of-kala-jathedi-gang-held-after-encounter-in-delhi
| 2022-03-01T13:13:15
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| 0.98486
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10,000 B.C. is as crazy as it wants to be. It plunders the past and plunders other movies with that peculiar Hollywood combination of the earnest and the preposterous that has to be seen to be believed.
Who knew, for instance, that woolly mammoths were used to build the pyramids? True story.
The idea behind 10,000 B.C. is that the Ice Age is not a time, but a place that people could simply walk out of — if they had a heck of a good reason to hit the trail. Our hero, the hunter D'Leh, has that reason: His beloved Evolet has been kidnapped by a band of marauding slave traders.
So D'Leh starts walking, encountering everything from saber-toothed tigers to a flock of enormous and quite hostile chickens. He ends up in a proto-Egyptian civilization run by effete priests — dead ringers for refugees from Mel Gibson's Apocalypto. Naturally, he leads a revolt.
More than anything, 10,000 B.C. is an updated version of those old Saturday-matinee action films. It's filled with hair's-breath escapes, wild coincidences, things foretold by ancient prophecy and mysterious places from which No one has ever returned. (Cue the ominous music.)
10,000 B.C. even employs the veteran Omar Sharif to read a pious voice-over that relies on sentiments like, "Only time can teach us what is truth and what is legend." The oracle, my friends, has spoken.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-03-07/into-the-past-and-the-preposterous-in-10-000-b-c
| 2022-03-01T13:13:19
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| 0.957349
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Poland calls for more sanctions on Russia if war continues
- Country:
- Poland
Poland's foreign minister Zbigniew Rau called on Tuesday for further sanctions on Russia if Moscow does not end its invasion of Ukraine.
"What has been achieved so far indicates that if the war was to last longer, the scope of sanctions would increase. There is an agreement between us on this," he said after meeting his German and French counterparts.
Poland has accepted around 400,000 refugees since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, but the total number might even reach one million, Rau added.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1943227-poland-calls-for-more-sanctions-on-russia-if-war-continues
| 2022-03-01T13:13:23
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| 0.956222
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JACKI LYDEN, host:
As my aunt Ali Lyden always told me before passing away last month at the age of 100, Ireland's changing, Jacki. Thirty-something Linda Murray says you're not kidding.
Ms. LINDA MURRAY (Founder, Artistic Director, Solas Nua): My grandfather will be 91 in two weeks' time and he grew up in Dublin his whole life. I mean, he goes to the pub every morning for his pint of Guinness and the barman is now Chinese. He goes to get his paper every morning, and the man who sells it to him is now Polish. And these are huge changes for him.
LYDEN: Linda Murray is the founder and artistic director of a new theatre company here in Washington called Solas Nua. The name means new light, and Murray wants to bring to light the art of her changing homeland. Murray says Solas Nua is the only theatre group in the country that performs only contemporary Irish work.
We asked Linda Murray to join us in studio with a posse of actors: Stephanie Roswell, Grady Weatherford and Adam Segaller. Welcome, everybody.
Mr. GRADY WEATHERFORD (Actor): Thank you.
Mr. ADAM SEGALLER (Actor): Thank you.
Ms. STEPHANIE ROSWELL (Actor): Thank you.
LYDEN: It's my understanding that you have a sort of a rigid application here saying that you're only do plays of 15 years or younger work.
Mr. MURRAY: Yeah, well, I feel like there's a lot of people out there who address Irish work because there is an interest among the Irish-American community and the American community at large about all things Irish. So I felt that the niche that I could fill and the particular vision I could bring to America was to focus on new work by artists.
So I set myself a 15-year ultimatum. If it's older than 15 years it doesn't matter how much I love it, I don't touch it.
LYDEN: What are contemporary playwrights doing that's different? Are they not talking about the Irish civil war? Are they not talking about the famine in Ireland? Are they not talking about the fight over land between the three sons of the family?
Mr. MURRAY: Well, I think Ireland as a country has changed dramatically. The focus on rural affairs has changed very much too in urban landscape now. The focus on poverty, the focus on oppression has gone to becoming a very wealthy country with mass immigration for the first time.
So culturally, socially and economically we're a very different nation than we were 20 years ago. So obviously the arts are going to reflect that.
LYDEN: And so who are some of these younger writers that you've done and are contemplating doing?
Mr. MURRAY: Well, I think at the risk of offending others, my two favorite writers coming out of Ireland at the moment would be Enda Walsh and Marco Rowe(ph). For me they're writers who 50 years (unintelligible) are going to be considered to be giants of theatre.
Marco Rowe wrote a play that premiered in the Abby this past June called "Terminist," which is written in Dublin slang but completely in blank verse, and it was one of the most phenomenal experiences I've ever had at the theatre. And Enda Walsh is a writer whose work we have long since championed. The very first play the company ever produced was a play by him called "Disco Pigs," which is written in a completely imagined language.
These are two writers who really know how to bend the rules of writing. And they take these wonderful imaginative leaps and if I could champion their work until the end of my days that's what I'll do.
LYDEN: Let's talk about this play that will be opening up next weekend. It's called "Portia Coughlan" by Marina Carr. This is about twins, right? Portia Coughlan is one of a pair of twins.
Mr. MURRAY: Yes.
LYDEN: They only come in pairs, of course. And the twin brother and sister have a suicide pact but Portia hasn't gone through with it and…
Mr. MURRAY: That's right.
LYDEN: …Gabriel the brother has.
Mr. MURRAY: So the play focuses on Portia Coughlan's 30th birthday. And what we learn throughout the play is that 15 years ago on her 15th birthday, she and her twin Gabriel made a suicide pact to drown themselves in the local river, the Belmont River. And at the last minute Portia decided not to go in but Gabriel drowned.
And on her 30th birthday in the morning she is visited by her twin Gabriel who reappears and continues to haunt her throughout the day of her birthday and the following day until she finally commits suicide.
LYDEN: Let's ask Adam Segaller and Grady Weatherford to do a little bit. Would you guys do some of this play for us?
Mr. SEGALLER: Sure.
Mr. WEATHERFORD: Sure.
LYDEN: Adam, what's happening in this scene?
Mr. SEGALLER: Well, this is a scene where everyone in the town has just seen Portia's dead body brought up by a crane from the river. And Danus Halley(ph), which is my character, is Portia's longtime lover. He kind of isn't allowed to mourn her because nobody knew. And Fenton Goulan is the barman who made a pass at her shortly before she died. So in a way it's their own little funeral.
LYDEN: And in this scene they're talking about how odd the twins were but also how close they were.
Mr. SEGALLER: (as Danus Halley) I'm telling you, there was always something strange about those Sculley(ph) twins.
Mr. WEATHERFORD: (as Fenton Goulan) What was that?
Mr. SEGALLER: (as Danus Halley) You ask them a question, they both answer the same answer exact same time, exact pause, exact inflection, exact everything.
Mr. WEATHERFORD (as Fenton Goulan) What about now?
Mr. SEGALLER: (as Danus Halley) You remember the school trip?
Mr. WEATHERFORD (as Fenton Goulan) Which one?
Mr. SEGALLER: (as Danus Halley) The one to Bettystown(ph)?
Mr. WEATHERFORD (as Fenton Goulan) No.
Mr. SEGALLER: (as Danus Halley) Portia and Gabriel sat up in the front of the bus in red shorts and white T-shirts.
Mr. WEATHERFORD (as Fenton Goulan) Whispering to one another is was their wont.
Mr. SEGALLER: (as Danus Halley) We got to Bettystown. Still the picture of the whole class, still can't tell one of them from the other. Anyways, the time came to get back on the bus, Portia and Gabriel was missing. Mad search went on, nary a sign of them. Coast Guard called in, helicopters, lifeboats, the works. Portia and Gabriel found five mile out to sea in a rowboat. They just got in it and started rowing. Poor old Ms. Sullivan in an awful state. What were (unintelligible)? What (unintelligible) us all?
We're just going away, says one of them. (unintelligible) in the name of the God, says Ms. Sullivan? Anywhere says the other of them. Just anywhere that's not here.
Mr. WEATHERFORD (as Fenton Goulan) Anywhere that's not here.
LYDEN: That was Grady Weatherford and Adam Segaller reading from Marina Carr's "Portia Coughlan."
Is it hard to do those Irish accents?
Mr. WEATHERFORD: It's hard to do them well.
(Soundbite of laughter)
LYDEN: I thought you did quite well.
Mr. WEATHERFORD: Thank you.
LYDEN: Not to try to, you know, peel away too many layers on the proverbial onion here but would you say that this is a play about Ireland's being haunted by its own past, about the way that the past does keep dominating you even when you try to escape it?
Ms. MURRAY: I think that's definitely a representation that's solid. I don't know that it's, I don't know that Marina Carr would necessarily say that's foremost to her mind when she was writing it. But I think every play that's being written at the moment in Ireland you can certainly make an argument that there is something going on about the larger situation of the country involved.
And I think it's quite easy to say that perhaps Gabriel represents an Ireland that is gone and Portia represents an Ireland struggling in the present. Beyond that, Marina takes Irish mythology and weaves it into a modern story. So in a very real way her writing is all about working Ireland's past into our present life.
LYDEN: Well, I'd like for you and Stephanie Roswell to also read, please, a scene from "Portia Coughlan," if you would, here. And, again, tell us what's going on.
Ms. MURRAY: So this is scene where Portia reveals to her aunt what the family doesn't know, which is the suicide pact.
Ms. MURRAY: (as Portia Coughlan) I knew he was going to do it. Planned to do it together, and at the last minute I got afraid and he just went on in. And I called him back but he didn't hear me on the count of the swell and just kept on waiting. And then standing on the bank right here shouting at him to come back. And at the last second he turns thinking I'm behind him. His face made, the look on his face.
And he tries to make the bank but the undertow (unintelligible) and a wave washes over him.
Ms. ROSWELL: (as Portia's Aunt) Gee, Pat, did you tell your mother and father about this? They don't like to talk about Gabriel, do they not?
Ms. MURRAY: (as Portia Coughlan) No one does. Don't know if anyone knows what it's like to be a twin. Everything's swapped and mixed up. And you're either two people or you're no one. He used to call me Gabriel and I used to call him Portia. Times we go so confused you couldn't tell who was who. We'd have to wait for someone else to identify us and put us back into ourselves. I could make him cry just by calling him Portia. We didn't really like each other that much when it came down to it.
How can everybody be alive and not him? If I could see him just once I'd be all right. I know I would.
Ms. ROSWELL: (as Portia's Aunt) But that's not possible, Pat.
LYDEN: That was Stephanie Roswell and Linda Murray reading from Marina Carr's "Portia Coughlan."
We want to thank Linda Murray, whose the founder and artistic director of the Irish Theatre Group Solas Nua. They're performing Marina Carr's "Portia Coughlan." It opens next week here in Washington, D.C. And we were joined by actors Adam Segaller and Grady Weatherford and Stephanie Roswell. Thank you all very, very much.
Ms. ROSWELL: Thank you.
Ms. MURRAY: Thank you.
Mr. SEGALLER: Thank you.
Mr. WEATHERFORD: Thank you.
(Soundbite of music)
LYDEN: That's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-03-08/artistic-director-wants-to-bring-light-to-irish-drama
| 2022-03-01T13:13:25
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| 0.981223
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Is it possible? Could Ahab — the peg-legged ship's captain who leads that ill-fated quest for the great white whale in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick — have been misunderstood.
To most, especially those who know him only from John Huston's film, Ahab is a petty dictator, tyrant of a tiny seaborne fiefdom, a monomaniac dedicated only to killing the whale that mauled him. Ultimately, he's a mass murderer who drags dozens of sailors to Davy Jones' Locker.
But under that exterior madness, some see a man of surprising talents — a man destined for greatness, then marred by destiny. He's a wounded man, haunted not just by his loss, but by the image of the wife and child he's left behind. There's a humanity to him — and he's his own worst enemy.
There have been men of vision who've recognized this, not least Orson Welles, who turned Moby-Dick into theater and grabbed the part of Ahab for himself. Welles' play Moby-Dick Rehearsed has a following among Ahabophiles for staying faithful to the master.
And Ahab, finally, may be a more modern character than his 1851 vintage might suggest. Corporate groups come to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut for leadership seminars inspired by Captain Ahab. (And no wonder: He convinces a bunch of boozy seamen to join his suicidal mission. And there's no mutiny on the Pequod; Ahab is no Captain Bligh.)
In some sense, he's every leader of every country who asks the population to trust him, follow him — wherever.
In this installment of NPR's ongoing series In Character, our correspondent takes a high-concept trip to the decks of the Pequod, in search of what makes Ahab such an enduring figure.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-03-10/was-captain-ahab-ahead-of-his-time
| 2022-03-01T13:13:31
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| 0.96296
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NATO chief meets Polish president amid Ukraine crisis
NATO Secretary- General Jens Stoltenberg is meeting Polish President Andrzej Duda at the Lask Air Base in central Poland for talks on the eastern flank's security, as Russia wages war on Ukraine, just across Poland's eastern border.
Stoltenberg and Duda shook hands early Tuesday at the 32rd Tactical Air Base in Lask, where Polish and NATO fighter jets are based, including F-16s.
The United States recently reinforced the eastern flank of NATO's territory with some 5,000 additional troops.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Jens Stoltenberg
- NATO
- NATO Secretary-
- Duda
- Ukraine
- F-16s
- Russia
- Polish
- The United States
- Lask
- Andrzej
- Poland
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1943228-nato-chief-meets-polish-president-amid-ukraine-crisis
| 2022-03-01T13:13:31
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| 0.907002
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The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has issued a notice to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) seeking an explanation on why sewage has been entering the Horamavu-Agara lake which has resulted in the death of fish. Residents of Horamavu noticed dead fish floating in the lake on Sunday.
A senior BBMP official with the lakes department said, “Yesterday, officials from the BBMP and KSPCB visited the lake. We found sewage entering the lake through the stormwater drain. We have created a diversion channel to prevent this. Unfortunately, the BWSSB is laying underground sewage lines for the 110 villages recently added to the municipal body and they are yet to be connected to the main trunk line. The resultant entry of sewage into the lake leads to reduced dissolved oxygen levels, causing the death of fish. The KSPCB has issued a notice to the BWSSB seeking an explanation.”
Venu N, a resident of Horamavu, called BBMP and KSPCB officials and apprised them of the incident.
Activist Balaji Raghotham said this is the second instance of fish kill in the lake. “We have informed the officials. It was great to see that they visited the lake on being informed,” he added.
Last year too, hundreds of dead fish were found floating in Muthanallur lake and Rachenahalli lake which, officials said, was caused by the flow of sewage into the lake.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
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https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/bengaluru-notice-issued-bwssb-sewage-fish-kill-horamavu-agara-lake-7796250/
| 2022-03-01T13:13:34
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en
| 0.972395
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The Portland Museum of Art in Maine is currently exhibiting "Bright Common Spikes," the first major retrospective of John Bisbee, a Maine sculptor who, over the course of his career, has made almost all of his art with what most people use to hang it up — nails.
It all started when Bisbee was a student in college. He was raiding abandoned houses for found objects to use in his art when he came upon an old bucket of nails.
"I kicked the bucket and it flipped over," Bisbee recalls, "and the nails had cohered, oxidized — they'd rusted into the bucket shape. And it was just such an obvious thing of beauty — it was so clearly above anything I had ever envisioned making myself. And I sat down on the bed, and I knew that I needed to get some nails."
Bisbee went to the hardware store and bought $30 worth of brads. He would later move to 1-inch nails, then 2-inch nails, ten-penny nails and 5-inch nails.
Over the years, Bisbee has created a surprisingly diverse array of sculptures with the nails — everything from tightly wadded balls of welded brads, to undulating waves of bent nails, to towering brambles of 12-inch spikes. But don't ask him to talk about what it all means.
"I don't know what they are," Bisbee admits. "They're just kind of these rhythms that I get into my head, and into my hands and out into space. And there's just big, dumb chunks of steel. And I say that in the best sense of the word."
'A New Visual Language'
Susan Danly, the curator of contemporary art at the Portland Museum, says she's sure Bisbee sees his art as more than just dumb chunks of steel.
"He likes to think of himself as inventing a new visual language," Danly explains. "One of his works is called 'Synapse.' I think that's how he views his work, as that thing that gets you from the wonder of the nails and how they're formed into things, into working it out in your own brain what it all means."
In addition to the Portland Museum, Bisbee's work has been shown at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Mo.; Plane Space, a gallery in New York; and Decordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Mass.
Rachel Rosenfield Lafoe, the director of curatorial affairs at the Decordova Museum, says Bisbee's ability to keep creating such a variety of forms from nails alone makes him one of the most interesting sculptors working today.
"I just don't know of anyone else who's used the same material for so many years and continues to come up with inventive ways to work with it," Rosenfield Lafoe says.
'Hammer the Nails'
Back at his studio in Brunswick, Maine, Bisbee recently discovered a new direction to take his art; after decades of oxidizing, welding, bending and cutting, he realized that he was overlooking the most obvious thing he could do with nails:
"I was either falling asleep or coming out of sleep, and it hit me like a brick: Hammer the nails, hammer the nails," Bisbee says.
So Bisbee started a project involving 12-inch spikes and his new toy, a pneumatic power hammer, which he uses to flatten the nails to about the thickness of a piece of cardboard.
"I'm not hammering them into anything," Bisbee explains. "I'm hammering them into themselves. It's still a nail, it's still a 12-inch spike, but they're not round anymore, they're not useful anymore. They're like shadows of themselves."
Bisbee has been taking these shadow nails and welding them into lacelike wall pieces or arranging them into piles. It's a process that has opened up new terrain for the artist who says he'll probably be working with nails for at least another decade or so.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-03-13/maine-sculptor-forges-art-from-nails
| 2022-03-01T13:13:37
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en
| 0.986597
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Russia to spend up to $10 bln from rainy-day fund on buying Russian shares, source says
- Country:
- Russian Federation
The Russian government has ordered the finance ministry to channel up to 1 trillion roubles ($10.3 billion) from the National Wealth Fund to buy shares in Russian companies, a source close to the government told Reuters on Tuesday.
($1 = 96.8050 roubles)
Also Read: Court rules Russian skater Valieva can compete
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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- Russian
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1943235-russia-to-spend-up-to-10-bln-from-rainy-day-fund-on-buying-russian-shares-source-says
| 2022-03-01T13:13:39
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| 0.937856
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The three-tier panchayat polls in Odisha have thrown up some unlikely winners who braved quite a few adversities to emerge victorious. The list includes a daily wage labourer, a college student and a homemaker, among others.
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In Ganjam district, which witnesses a lot of outward migration to states such as Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, a village in Purushottampur block elected a daily wage labourer, Dinabandhu Das (52), in the recent polls. Das campaigned with an MGNREGA job card in hand and promised to ensure more jobs for the youth in the village. Notably, Das himself had worked in the textile industry in Gujarat for nearly 20 years before coming back to Odisha. Later, his sons followed in his footsteps and migrated out of the state for work. The family faced its worst crisis during the pandemic-induced lockdown, when Das’s sons had to return home after losing their jobs.
“The pandemic taught me how important it was to have jobs in the locality. As the sarpanch, apart from executing development work in the panchayat, I will try to ensure more work for the youth here under the MGNREGA scheme,” he said. The Gangadhani panchayat where Das won was reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Caste category this year.
In Mayurbhanj district, Rani Singh of Bhadasole village under Bhangriposi block won the sarpanch’s seat by a margin of 115 votes. Singh is a homemaker and married to a truck driver. She told indianexpress.com that she decided to contest the polls after being denied a pucca house. Singh defeated a seasoned candidate and former sarpanch Sabita Bhuyan. “Every person elected to power engages in favouritism. I was denied a pucca house twice. My name never made it to the list of beneficiaries. So, I was determined to win the election and give everybody equal opportunities,” Singh said.
In Pratapur gram panchayat, final-year MA student Hira Nayak (21) got elected. In 2019, her house was extensively damaged by Cyclone Fani and most of her belongings got washed away. She continues to live in a kutcha house, which is covered by a tarpaulin sheet to protect against rain. Nayak’s mother is a homemaker and father a daily wage labourer.
“There are no roads in my village. Most of the houses are kutcha and they get damaged during the rains. Even for basic treatment, we have to travel at least 20 km. Being near the coast, heavy rains and winds are a common affair here. I knew that to develop my village, I had to first win the election and take our grievances to the higher authorities,” Nayak said.
Till last reports came in, the BJD had won 759 of 845 zilla parishad seats. The BJP was a distant second with 42 seats and the Congress had secured 37 seats.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
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https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bhubaneswar/odisha-panchayat-polls-tales-of-grit-and-indefatigable-spirit-7796248/
| 2022-03-01T13:13:40
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en
| 0.981878
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RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
Now, for a movie review. "The Unforseen" is a little documentary with some powerful friends. Robert Redford and Terrence Malick as executive producers. Los Angeles Times and MORNING EDITION film critic Kenneth Turan has this look at it.
KENNETH TURAN: "The Unforseen" unfolds like a tragic whodunit, with the earth itself being the victim of a crime. This documentary skirts the danger of being a tree hugger movie. Instead it honors the intricacies of a complex subject: a 30-year war between developers and environmentalists around Austin, Texas. It turns that into a microcosm for land-use issues everywhere.
We hear first from a soft-spoken man who talks of the harshness that made him abandon rural life.
(Soundbite of documentary, "The Unforseen")
Mr. GARY BRADLEY (Real Estate Developer): Nature very quickly in your life as a child becomes god. A god that gives in great abundance at times and takes everything away at times.
TURAN: That man is known as the most controversial real estate developer in central Texas: Gary Bradley.
"The Unforseen" shows what happens when one of his projects threatens Barton Springs, a beloved spring-fed swimming area. That led first to an Austin environmental movement that helped stop growth, and then to a property rights backlash that helped put George Bush into the governor's mansion and eventually the White House.
What then and now footage starkly reveals is that everyone's worst fears about development near Barton Springs came to pass.
(Soundbite of documentary, "The Unforseen")
Mr. BRADLEY: So instead of having a healthy stream you now have a drainage ditch. It's either bone dry and largely dead or it's a raging, you know, flood channel. And so instead of having this healthy stream, you know, you have these boom-and-bust cycles that are really destroy the stream ecology.
TURAN: "The Unforseen's" refusal to demonize Bradley is one of its strengths. Yet no one who sees this intriguing documentary will want to argue with a reporter who insists near the end, we need a more mature regard for the future. We do indeed.
MONTAGNE: The documentary is "The Unforseen." Kenneth Turan reviews movies for MORNING EDITION and the Los Angeles Times.
(Soundbite of music)
MONTAGNE: This is NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-03-14/a-thriller-of-a-documentary-the-unforseen
| 2022-03-01T13:13:43
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| 0.941669
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As many as 66 Indian students stranded at a hostel of Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv Tuesday urged the Indian Embassy to immediately evacuate them as the situation is worsening in the city with constant sound of bomb blasts around them.
This comes on a day when the Ministry of External Affairs reported that an Indian student was killed in shelling from the Russian side in Kharkiv city. Earlier in the day, the Indian Embassy in Ukraine urged all Indians to leave the capital city of Kyiv amid rising action by Russia.
Speaking to indianexpress.com from Mykolaiv, Bala Yogi, a fourth-year medical student who hails from Theni in Tamil Nadu, said, “We can hear sounds of bomb blasts. We don’t have sufficient food and the weather has been very cold since morning. We just ask the Indian Embassy officials to help us as soon as possible.”
Yogi also said, “The university asked us to move to Moldova due to the current situation in Mykolaiv but we are unable to do so as there is no transportation.”
The student added, “The University evacuated one batch of students, the remaining 66 of us are waiting for the bus since morning to reach Moldova. We tried calling the Indian Embassy and our agents but they are not replying properly. They say they will arrange to evacuate us but we have been waiting since morning.”
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
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https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chennai/help-us-indian-students-stranded-ukraines-mykolaiv-urge-indian-embassy-evacuate-them-7796252/
| 2022-03-01T13:13:47
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en
| 0.97416
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Mali debt defaults due to sanctions reach $180 million
Mali has failed to pay 46.32 billion CFA francs ($78.5 million) in principal and interest on a treasury bond, the West African debt agency Umoa-Titres said on Tuesday, pushing its debt defaults due to sanctions following two coups to $180 million. West Africa's main political bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the UEMOA monetary union ordered the sanctions after Mali's military rulers pushed back the timeline for elections.
- Country:
- Mali
Mali has failed to pay 46.32 billion CFA francs ($78.5 million) in principal and interest on a treasury bond, the West African debt agency Umoa-Titres said on Tuesday, pushing its debt defaults due to sanctions following two coups to $180 million.
West Africa's main political bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the UEMOA monetary union ordered the sanctions after Mali's military rulers pushed back the timeline for elections. The missed payments, which were due on Monday, bring the total payments that Mali has defaulted on because of sanctions since January to about $180 million.
The sanctions include border closures and restrictions on financial transactions. Malian authorities have called the measures inhumane, and filed a lawsuit against UEMOA to try to get them lifted. Mali has more than a dozen treasury bills and bonds maturing this year, one of them on March 9. ($1 = 589.8700 CFA francs)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Malian
- Mali
- West Africa's
- West African
- treasury
- ECOWAS
- Economic Community
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Chandiwal Commission asks Maha minister Nawab Malik to appear before it on Feb 17
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1943243-mali-debt-defaults-due-to-sanctions-reach-180-million
| 2022-03-01T13:13:47
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| 0.942173
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Whether you were reading comic books in 1940 or you read them today, chances are the "Princess of Plunder," better known as Catwoman, has crossed your path.
Initially she was an archvillain, introduced in Batman No. 1 as a foil for Gotham City's Dark Knight. But there's always been a clear attraction between the two, even though a romance between a criminal and crime fighter might seem to be fraught with folly.
Catwoman ranks No. 51 on the 100 Greatest Villains of All Time list from Wizard Magazine. And no wonder: Her hisses — and purrs — have made her a symbol of feminine power.
Alluring and Devious
The first glimpse many people got of Catwoman was watching her slink onto the set of the campy 1960s TV series Batman.
Jaws around the country dropped as the 6-foot Julie Newmar oozed onto the screen. Shimmering in a black Lurex cat suit, complete with cat ears and a low-slung golden belt, this villain definitely had a feline's fascination with shiny objects. But the crime-fighting duo Batman and Robin made her arch her back — and not in a good way.
Catwoman, says Julie Newmar, is comprised of the "most delicious" human traits. Newmar even made a list: determined, calculating, wise. She says men tell her she was their first crush. Women tell Newmar they love the character because she's gorgeous and smart.
So what's it like in that cat suit?
"You feel more power," says Newmar. "You're both hidden and exposed at the same time. You're hidden by the black; you're exposed by the tightness of the outfit. You have on these high heels, long nails, and then your eyelashes — your hair!"
Newmar's Catwoman tempered her amoral heart with a wistful innocence. Eartha Kitt's version — also created for the Batman TV show — was downright fierce.
Kitt says she didn't think of her Catwoman as a superhero, but she did see her as powerful — even autobiographical.
"I didn't have to think about how Catwoman would be," she says. "I just did myself!"
Adam West played Batman (and Bruce Wayne, of course) on the TV series. He says that though Catwoman was a confusing bad girl, she was never boring. And Batman — his Batman, at least — really had feelings for her.
"She was sexy and attractive," he says. "But she certainly had her own agenda, even if it wasn't very honest."
Feline Evolution: From Archvillain to Empowered Antihero
DC Comics veteran Jerry Robinson, now 86, helped define the character of Catwoman alongside Batman's creator, Bob Kane. Catwoman's real name is Selina Kyle. Robinson says he visualized her as a master criminal, along the lines of the character Michelle Pfeiffer developed for the Batman movie series.
"She was agile and she was athletic," Robinson says. "She was a highly proficient burglar, but she was not a heroine. She was one of the protagonists."
But Catwoman has changed with the times. Will Pfeifer (no relation to Michelle) writes the current Catwoman comic. He says her backstory is as tangled as a ball of string: She was orphaned, has a sister, and has a shadowy past as a prostitute.
"I like to play off that," says Will Pfeifer. "To me, she's just someone who's had a really rough life, but she's never been beaten. She really comes out on top, and she uses her experiences and moves on from them — and she has fun while she's doing it, I think.
Indeed, Catwoman isn't the type to sit around twiddling her claws, waiting for anyone to bail her out of trouble — even when the offer comes from Bruce Wayne.
"This was one of the first female characters we saw on television that really spoke to empowerment," says Suzanne Colon, author of Catwoman: The Life and Times of a Feline Fatale. "Not only empowerment; a proto-feminism that was very sexy and pretty and female, and yet very take-charge. This woman had her own gang of men who wore little cat ears ... to please her."
Colon says women have a such a visceral reaction to Catwoman because, though she's a little nuts, she's her own woman.
"She doesn't like the goody-two-shoes side of women we are taught to be," Colon says. "We are taught to be trusting and nice."
A few other things have changed since Catwoman first yowled, back in 1940. She's had her own comic for 15 years now. And sure, she still wears the suit, but it's more functional now. She still has the whip, but no more high heels that could slip off of a rooftop. Selina's had some martial arts training. And she has a daughter.
Catwoman sees herself now as a guardian of the poor and disadvantaged, though that doesn't stop her from committing a little larceny every now and then. Bottom line: Catwoman wants what she wants, and drat the consequences.
Colon says Catwoman gives us a sense of what we might be able to do — even if it's not necessarily a good idea to unleash all that in our daily lives.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-03-15/catwoman-feminine-power-on-the-prowl
| 2022-03-01T13:13:49
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en
| 0.988342
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The Bombay High Court Tuesday granted interim protection from coercive steps of three weeks to director Mahesh Manjrekar and two producers Narendra and Shreyans Hirawat in connection with a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 for allegedly portraying children in an objectionable manner in a film.
The court also issued notices to respondent authorities to respond to the plea seeking quashing of the FIR lodged by Mahim Police station on February 24
Last month, a special POCSO court had directed the Mumbai Police to probe makers of the Marathi film “Nay Varan Bhat Loncha Koni Nahi Koncha”, including Manjrekar.
Social activist Seema Deshpande and her NGO, through advocate Prakash Salsingikar, had filed a complaint before the court seeking action against Manjrekar and others claiming that the trailer of the movie, which was later released in theatres and on OTT platforms, contained “obscene material”.
“Respondent is directed not to take coercive steps or action against the petitioners till the next date of hearing,” the court noted.
The movie featured two teenage boys who grow up facing deprivation and brutality by society and become hardcore criminals.
“It has the tendency to corrupt and deprave the minds of those who are open to such immoral influence and (contents that) contain sexually explicit scenes,” the complaint had said while raising objection to the trailer of the movie and sought it to be removed.
The special court had allowed the plea and had directed appropriate action to be taken as per law after which Mahim police station registered an FIR, prompting Manjrekar to approach the High Court.
Senior advocate Shirish Gupte appearing for Manjrekar submitted that the Special Court’s order was based on a “non-application of mind” and also that the trailer, based on which the complaint was lodged, was immediately withdrawn from the social media platform.
Gupte said that the movie has been released after duly viewed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and it “does not involve in any manner any act that may be objectionable under the POCSO Act”.
“All acts leading to objections being raised were removed, including removal of trailers from the social media platform. It does not contain in any manner an act in derogation of the POCSO Act,” Gupte added.
Senior advocate Aabad Ponda appearing for Hirawats submitted that the offences alleged against the petitioners provide a maximum punishment of seven years. He added that in such cases, as per an earlier Supreme Court judgment in the Arnesh Kumar case, where police authorities in a undue haste have been taking resort to extreme action, the procedure under Section 41A of the CrPC, which mandates the investigating officer to issue a notice of appearance before the arrest, was required to be complied with.
Apprehending coercive action by the police, the petitioners sought interim relief from the High Court and submitted that they were ready to extend all cooperation to the probing authorities.
The bench said, “We are of the opinion that the petitioners made out a case for interim relief.” It also issued notices to the respondents — state government and Mumbai Police — seeking its response during the hearing after three weeks.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
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https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/bombay-hc-grants-relief-from-coercive-action-to-mahesh-manjrekar-producers-in-pocso-case-7796305/
| 2022-03-01T13:13:53
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en
| 0.972266
|
Over the course of her career, photojournalist Robin Bowman has worked for People magazine, traveled to dozens of countries and negotiated countless difficult situations, including the conflicts in Darfur and Bosnia.
Recently, Bowman spent four years driving across the United States, covering more than 20,000 miles, and photographing and interviewing more than 400 American teens. Some of those pictures — and the teens' words — are included in her new book, It's Complicated: The American Teenager.
The project was, at times, very different from Bowman's previous work as a photojournalist. For one thing, although she always obtained a signed release form from her subjects' parents, she resisted extensive prep work before shooting the teens.
"In my profession, I always knew a lot of information in the past before walking into a shoot," Bowman says, "but with this, I felt very concerned that I was going to manipulate the image or control these teenagers if I knew too much about them."
Though she found some of her subjects through friends, other times, it was much more happenstance.
"Often I'd be driving down the street, and I'd see a group of four teens, and I would pull over and have to convince them that I was not going to hurt them, that I meant no harm, but that I was working on this project," Bowman recalls.
Bowman shot with an older Polaroid camera that gave her both a positive image — that the kids could see — and a negative, for printing later. She says having that immediate feedback helped gain the teens' trust. She'd often ask the teens to suggest a location for the shoot, and later to show her which photos they preferred. The final decisions about the book were hers.
Bowman asked each teen a set list of questions about family, school, drugs, money, aspirations and fears. The project forced her to be quiet and to not interrupt. For some of her subjects, having an adult listen was a new experience.
"I felt that adults heard what I said, but they did not listen," says Ebony Wilson. Wilson was 15 when Bowman photographed her standing on a street corner in the Bronx.
Now 20 and the mother of a young son, Wilson feels that people will pay more attention to her words reading them in a book:
"When you read, you have no choice but to listen because you can't interrupt," she says.
Bowman shot Patrick Roberts in his favorite alley in Lawrence, Kan. In the photo, Roberts is 19, with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth. Now, he's ready to graduate from college and that picture is on the cover of Bowman's book.
Roberts says he likes the picture but feels vulnerable now, reading the words he said then:
"The easiest thing about being a teenager is still having a sort of romantic perspective or outlook on the world: not being jaded or disillusioned; and knowing — hoping — that you have time to do what you want and to achieve what you want."
Roberts says he still believes what he told Bowman when he posed for the photo, with one correction:
"Maybe I was wrong that that's specific to being a teenager. I think you have to work hard, though, not to let yourself forget that feeling of having dreams and aspirations and knowing that there's nothing that can stop you."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-03-26/photographer-trains-a-complicated-lens-on-teens
| 2022-03-01T13:13:55
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en
| 0.985695
|
Indian students chant 'Vande Mataram' on return from Ukraine; Union Min RK Singh welcomes them
Union Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh on Tuesday welcomed Indian students who reached Delhi airport after they were evacuated from conflict-hit Ukraine due to ongoing Russian military operations.
- Country:
- India
Union Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh on Tuesday welcomed Indian students who reached Delhi airport after they were evacuated from conflict-hit Ukraine due to ongoing Russian military operations. Students were seen joyously waving the national flag as they chanted "Vande Mataram" upon the touchdown in the national capital.
Speaking to ANI, the Union Minister reiterated India's evacuation mission under 'Operation Ganga' and said that the government is "committed to bringing back every Indian stranded there." "Four ministers deputed just to organise this. There are help desks of states, help desk of Ministry of Power, officers of the Ministry. Students will be provided whatever assistance they need," he added.
On returning to the native country, Vindhya Doshi, an Indian student said, "I am very happy and relaxed now because the situation on the borders around Ukraine was terrible. I thank the Government of India and the Indian Embassy who supported the students. We are relaxed now." The special flight carrying Indian nationals came from Hungary's capital city Budapest.
"We are really thankful to the Indian government for evacuating us from Ukraine," said Samarita Hazarika, another Indian student. India has been ramping up its efforts to evacuate Indian nationals stuck in Ukraine.
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri left for Budapest to aid the evacuation of Indian citizens stranded in war-hit Ukraine. Government sources on Monday informed that the 'Special Envoys' including Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and Gen (Retd) VK Singh will travel to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate evacuations of stranded Indians amid ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine.
The government has deployed 'special envoys' to four neighbouring countries bordering Ukraine to coordinate and oversee the evacuation process. "Union Ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia will be going to Romania, Kiren Rijiju to Slovak Republic, Hardeep Puri to Hungary, VK Singh to Poland... to coordinate and oversee the evacuation process," the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Monday. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1943252-indian-students-chant-vande-mataram-on-return-from-ukraine-union-min-rk-singh-welcomes-them
| 2022-03-01T13:13:55
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en
| 0.951311
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