Nasheman news Dubai President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday ordered a reshuffle of the central bank’s board of directors, state-run WAM news agency reported.
According to the presidential decree, Hareb Masoud Hamad Al Darmaki was appointed as new chairman of the board of directors and Abdulrahman Saleh Al Saleh as new vice chairman, Xinhua news agency cited a report by WAM.
Meanwhile, the central bank governor, Mubarak Rashed Khamis Al Mansoori, who was first appointed as governor in September 2014, was kept in office for the next four years.
Chhattisgarh announces Rs 6,100-cr farm loan waiver
Raipur, (IANS) Within hours of being sworn-in as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Bhupesh Baghel on Monday announced to waive off farm loans amounting to Rs 6,100 crore. The new government has also decided to raise minimum support price of paddy to Rs 2,500 per quintal.
The Chief Minister presided over a cabinet meeting and decided to waive off farm loans which would benefit 16.65 lakh farmers reeling under debt.
The farm loan waiver was a major promise of the Congress during the Assembly election campaign that helped the party bag 68 seats in a 90-member House.
The farm loan waiver announcement has been widely hailed by farmers’ representative bodies.
Addressing the maiden press conference as Chief Minister, Baghel briefed media persons about the cabinet decisions and said he decided to form an SIT to unravel conspiracy behind Jheeram valley massacre in May 2013 in Bastar in which several Congress leaders were killed by Maoists including then state Congress chief Nandkumar Patel, veteran leader V.C. Shukla and tribal leader Mahendra Karma.
Vibrant Gujarat summit 2019 to celebrate Africa Day
nasheman news
Gandhinagar In a bid to boost India-Africa trade ties, the ninth edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investment Summit 2019 will celebrate Africa Day on January 19.
Talking to reporters, SJ Haider, principal secretary, Tourism said, “On January 19th, we will be celebrating the Africa Day, marking the trade ties between India and African countries.”
“Over the last four years, the exports from the ports of Gujarat have doubled. Gujarat is exporting its products in 51 out of the total 54 African countries. We will be focussing on around 14 sectors where trade between the two sides is good,” Haider informed.
“More than 12 MoUs will be signed during the event, most notably in healthcare, education and mineral development sectors,” he added.
As many as 32 African countries are participating in the summit.
“32 out of 54 countries have confirmed their participation and other are expected to join,” said Haider.
The trade show at the exhibition centre will have an African Pavillion, featuring various projects’ progress carried out under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Gujarat and over 20 African countries.
“The VGGIS will be inaugurated on January 17, most probably by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The significant addition in this year’s edition of the global trade show will be business through buyer-sellers meet. For the first time we will have a reverse buyer-seller meet and vendor development sections,” Haider stated.
A bullet train simulator will also be placed at the trade show. Also, there will be a display of Innovation and technology with Robotic and Laser cutting. There will also be a display of digital economy and disruptive technology.
The trade show will be spread across 2,00,000 square meters with 5 pavillions where 1500 participants will be displaying their stalls and products. There will also be 15 partner country pavillions and Indian states pavillions and pavilliions featuring central government’s flagships programs like ‘Make In India’, Digital India’, Start-Up India’, ITES, Sagarmala, Ayushyaman Bharat and Indradhanush.
The VGGIS will also have trade shows focussed on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. There will be a special MSME zone.
Besides, the global trade show will also see a fashion show based on ‘Farm to Fabric’ theme.
Equity indices open in red; Sensex down 150 points
Mumbai (IANS) The key Indian equity indices opened on a negative note on Tuesday tracking weakness in the global markets.
Heavy selling pressure was witnessed in banking and IT stocks.
At 9.27 a.m, the S&P BSE Sensex traded at 36,112.60 points, lower by 157.47 points or 0.43 per cent from the previous close of 36,270.07 points.
It had opened at the intra-day high of 36,226.38 and has so far touched a low of 36,047.49 points.
The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange traded at 10,841.90 points, lower by 46.45 points or 0.43 per cent from the previous close of 10,888.35 points.
Delhi sees more dengue cases this winter than last
New Delhi, (IANS) A new municipal report suggests that dengue cases have increased in the months of November and December this year compared to 2017.
According to the weekly report by the MCD released on Monday, 1,062 dengue cases were recorded in November 2018 while it was 816 in 2017. Even in December 2017, only 81 cases were reported in the national capital while this year 117 cases have already been reported till December 15. Forty-two fresh cases have been registered in the past one week.
So far, four deaths caused by dengue have been confirmed in Delhi which includes a 13-year-old girl from Wazirabad area. The other three cases are reported to be from west and north Delhi.
However, as per the report, 2,774 people have been diagnosed with the vector-borne disease in Delhi so far in 2018. However, the number is less than what it was in 2017 — 4,704.
In 2015, Delhi saw its worst dengue outbreak with more than 11,800 cases and 60 deaths, according to the city’s civic bodies.
As for malaria, only one new case surfaced last week taking the toll to two till now for the month. In November, 33 malaria cases were reported in the city, according to the municipal report. So far, 473 malaria cases have come to light, while in 2017 it was 575.
No new cases of chikungunya were reported this week keeping the total number of cases at 3 in the national capital while in November, there were 28 cases. Till date, a total of 164 chikungunya cases have been reported in the city compared to 551 in 2017.
Indian firms scouting for Cloud-like experience on premises: Dell EMC By Nishant Arora
(IANS) Cloud adoption is undoubtedly growing very fast in India — but the running costs, coupled with the desire to have data on premises with a Cloud-like feel, is also driving Indian enterprises towards owning a multi-Cloud experience, says Rajesh Janey, President and Managing Director, India Enterprise, Dell EMC.
The digital transformation journey that began with data storage for large Indian organisations has now resulted in a realisation that massive data-sets are not only critical from the storage perspective but also from the perspective of how to harness those and derive maximum growth.
“Cloud has shown a significant growth but when we look at the India scene, traditional IT infrastructure is still very big when compared to the overall Cloud spend.
“CEOs and CTOs who wanted ease, simplicity, agility and operational availability with Cloud are also looking at the same experience on premises. This is true mostly for those organisations with sustained, predictable workloads,” Janey told IANS.
“The enterprises are aiming for a Hybrid Cloud model — even better a multi-Cloud offering — where the same ease, simplicity, manageability, auto-provisioning and orchestration can be achieved right in their backyards that is associated with Cloud,” explained Janey, a long-time industry veteran.
At a time when data becomes the key and unlike video streaming or retail shopping where Cloud becomes necessary to make sense of the “bursty, unpredictable” data, organisations in India with sustained workloads are looking at vendors, asking hey, can I take my data where I sit?
“The new thought process among Indian CEOs and CTOs is: Can I bring data on-premise? Here, I see three clear trends for 2019: Data explosion, automation and a demand for Cloud-like infrastructure on-premise. Remember that Cloud is not a destination but a way of doing things in a certain way,” Janey told IANS.
In India, Dell EMC works with Chitale Dairy which is using an Internet of Thing (IoT) solution to help keep livestock healthy, and producing 10 times higher yield through big data analytics, automated farmer to-do lists and computerised breeding management.
Dell EMC “VxRail” (a hyper-converged appliance family) has successfully driven business growth for Truetzschler India Private Limited, a leading manufacturer and supplier of textile, carding and comber machinery.
Pune-based KPIT Technologies developed its IT infrastructure with Dell-EMC, which has, over time, helped them foster innovation and gain better control over their technology support system.
“What I witnessed in the later part of this year was that Indian enterprises now accept data is the key. Storing, managing, protecting and optimising data are now important conversations. In the past year or so, we have seen an era of leveraging data, deriving actionable and business intelligence (BI),” noted Janey.
Globally, in its third quarter for fiscal 2019, Dell Technologies reported revenues of $22.5 billion, up 15 per cent from the prior period.
Infrastructure Solutions Group revenue for the third quarter was $8.9 billion — a 19 per cent increase. This was driven by revenue of $3.9 billion in storage and $5.1 billion in servers and networking.
For Jeff Clarke, Vice Chairman, Products and Operations, Dell Technologies, data is becoming the most valuable and differentiating asset for many organisations as it opens up new revenue streams and unearths opportunities for improvement in almost every part within the organisation.
According to Janey, embedded in the data are disruptive technologies that are happening across the spectrum.
“Analysing data (via automation, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning), managing large storage and unpredictable growth — everything has come to the fore.
“Have we reached an age of actionable, data-based intelligence? In some way yes, especially in the consumer space — but a lot is yet to come,” said Janey.
“Clearly, storing and managing humongous data, protecting against its loss and misuse from cyber threats and optimising it for growth will drive innovation in Indian enterprises next year,” Janey emphasised.
Devastating Mumbai hospital blaze claims 6, 147 hurt
Mumbai, (IANS) At least six persons were killed and 147 others, mostly patients and staffers, injured in a major fire that engulfed the state government-run Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital at Andheri East here on Monday, officials said.
A majority of those injured, who have been admitted to various hospitals in the suburbs, were patients and staffers. By late on Monday night, around a dozen were treated and discharged.
Informed official sources said the toll might increase as some of the injured were in a critical condition.
The fire was first noticed near the operation theatre of the five-storey hospital located at Marol MIDC, an industrial hub in Andheri East.
The blaze quickly spread horizontally and vertically, trapping around 155 people.
Panicking, some patients and staffers did not wait for help and jumped out of the fourth floor window. They suffered fractures, and at least one was killed.
The fire brigade team rushed to the spot with 12 fire tenders, 15 water tankers and other specialised equipment to battle the blaze.
The firemen also used ladders and ropes to bring down the wailing and screaming victims trapped on the third and fourth floors of the hospital.
Leaping flames, resulting in thick black cloud of smoke, besides a precautionary power cut, rendered the rescue operation difficult but the blaze was controlled in nearly four hours, said the BMC Disaster Control.
A majority of those rescued had suffered burn wounds or suffocation symptoms.
They were admitted to half-a-dozen government and private hospitals in Andheri, Vile Parle, Jogeshwari and Goregaon.
Nineteen were taken to Cooper Hospital, Juhu, 39 to Prabodhankar Thackeray Trauma Hospital, Jogeshwari East, 40 to Holi Spirit Hospital, Andheri East, 44 to Seven Hills Hospital, Andheri East, three to Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, and two to Sidhharth Hospital, Goregaon.
Preliminary reports suggested that the fire might have erupted due to a short-circuit in the hospital building with a glass facade.
State Health Minister Deepak Sawant and Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, who visited the mishap site, along with senior officials, promised a detailed probe and strict action against those guilty of lapses.
Meanwhile, thick clouds of smoke emanating from the fire-hit hospital travelled quite a bit, reducing the visibility in the area and leading to peak-hour traffic jams.
Mumbai has witnessed over a dozen major fires in residential and commercial premises claiming over 50 lives and injuring many more besides damage to properties.
BJP earned over Rs 1000 crore, spent Rs 758 crore in 2017-18; ADR
New Delhi, (IANS) The ruling BJP has declared a total income of over Rs 1,000 crore in 2017-18 spending over Rs 750 crore in the year. However, the income and expenditure of the Congress party was not known with the party yet to submit its audited reports to the Election Commission.
According to a report by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released here on Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s total income for 2017-18 stood at Rs 1,027.339 crore followed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) at Rs 104.847 crore. The Mayawati-led BSP declared a total income of Rs 51.694 crore in the year.
The BJP’s income for the year came down by nearly Rs 7 crore as compared to Rs 1034.27 crore total income it had declared in 2016-17.
On the expenditure front, the BJP spent Rs 758.47 crore in the year, followed by the CPI-M at Rs 83.482 crore and the BSP which spent Rs 14.78 crore.
Incidentally, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) declared a total income Rs 8.15 crore but spent Rs 8.84 crore, an excess of Rs 69 lakh over what it earned during the year.
The other national parties — Trinamool Congress declared a total income of Rs 5.167 crore while the Communist Party of India (CPI)’s total income was Rs. 1.55 crore.
The Congress, which in 2016-17 earned Rs 225.36 crore, is yet to submit its copy of Income Tax returns for the year. The due date for submission of annual audited accounts for the parties was October 30, 2018.
4 transgenders complete Sabarimala darshan
Sabarimala (IANS) Four transgenders draped in sarees, who were earlier denied permission to visit the Sabarimala temple on Sunday, completed their darshan of the Lord Ayyappa shrine on Tuesday after securing permission a day ago.
Arriving at Erumely early in the day, the four devotees from Ernakulam draped in their choice of attire — saree — were given security cover as they started their climb from Pamba at 8 a.m.
By 9.45 a.m. amidst tight security they were on the hallowed 18-steps and completed paying their obeisance to the deity. There were no protest from any quarter.
The four devotees were on Sunday prevented by the police at Erumely from completing their climb to the hilltop temple after they wished to perform their darshan in sarees.
They had then complained to Kottayam Superintendent of Police. Later on Monday they even approached Kerala High Court-appointed Director General of Police A. Hemachandran who is part of a three member committee overseeing the pilgrimage.
Later in the day, one of the transgenders, Ananya told the media they have secured permission.
The Kerala High Court on November 27 had set up the three-member observer panel to oversee the Sabarimala pilgrimage season, after numerous complaints surfaced against the manner in which the police were acting in the temple town.
Besides Hemachandran, the panel also consisted of P.R. Raman and S. Sirijagan, both retired high court judges.
The Committee got in touch with the Sabarimala tantri and the Pandalam Royal family, who gave their nod for it.
This particular group got the nod as in the past too, transgenders have prayed at the temple.
The temple town has witnessed protests by Hindu groups since a September 28 Supreme Court verdict allowed women of all ages to enter the temple, including those hitherto banned girls and women aged between 10 and 50.
‘Mumbai man freed from Pakistani jail, heads home’
Mumbai (IANS) A Mumbai man, who spent around three years in a Pakistan jail, has been released and will return home on Tuesday, an activist said here.
“Yes it’s really a great news. Hamid Nehal Ansari has been released from jail and will be handed over to India at the Wagah Border later this afternoon,” Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) General Secretary Jatin Desai told IANS.
Ansari’s family members, including father Nehal and mother Fauzia, a large number of India-Pakistan friendship activists, officials and political personalities will be present at the border to welcome him.
Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activist and former legislator Krishna Hegde, who helped the family in the past few years, said they had gone to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to complete the formalities and secure his repatriation.
Pakistan had alleged that Ansari, 33, an engineer, was an “Indian spy” who illegally entered the country, and accused him of involvement in anti-state crimes, forging documents, and jailed him.
For the Ansari family, it was an ordeal since November 2012 when he left the country for Kabul for employment and then was reported “missing”.
He reportedly became friendly with a Pakistan girl on social media and reached Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to save her from a forced marriage.
On November 12, 2012, Ansari crossed over from Afghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan where he was nabbed by Pakistan intelligence.
Later, a military court sentenced him to three years in jail.