India launched its first international bullion exchange on Friday as the world’s second-biggest consumer of precious metal tries to bring transparency to the market for the precious metal.
India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX), based at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City in Gujarat, could lead to standard gold pricing in India and make it easier for small bullion dealers and jewellers to trade. “We would have better price negotiation strength with the launch of this bullion exchange,” India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Gold is tightly regulated in India and currently only nominated banks and agencies approved by the central bank can import gold and sell to dealers and jewellers.
“IIBX with its technology-driven solutions, will facilitate the transition of Indian bullion market towards a more organised structure by granting qualified jewellers a direct access to import gold directly through the exchange mechanism,” the exchange said in a statement.
China, the top gold consumer, runs such a bourse, where all domestic production and imported gold has to be bought and sold. India imported 1,069 tonnes of gold in 2021, up from 430 tonnes a year ago.
The Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX NSE 0.63 %) and National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) offer gold futures contracts in India, but there wasn’t any physical exchange to buy gold.
“India’s efforts to monetise gold will also derive tremendous support from a transparent bullion trading system in GIFT City,” said Somasundaram PR, regional chief executive officer of WGC’s Indian operations.
Indian households own an estimated collective 25,000 tonnes of gold, which passes from one generation to the next. New Delhi has been trying to monetise these holding to reduce the imports.
I meet a number of dreamers every day, who dreams of making it big and becoming billionaires, but who believe success and luck will fall into their laps:
Gary Player for years was a great competitor in national and international golf tournaments. People constantly said to him, “I’d give anything if I could hit a golf ball like you.”
Upon hearing that comment one day, the Player responded impatiently: “No, you wouldn’t. You’d do anything to hit a golf ball like me if it were easy! Do your know what you have to do to hit a golf ball like me? You’ve got to get up at 5:00 every morning, go out to the golf course, and hit a thousand golf balls! Your hands start bleeding, and you walk to the clubhouse and wash the blood off your hands, slap a bandage on it, and go out and hit another thousand golf balls! That is what it takes to hit a golf ball like me!”
His goal was to be at the top of his sport. That lofty dream required hard work, hard work and more hard work..!
Often we think we can achieve nirvana and peace of mind by giving up everything, for those who dream of such lazy a life, Rabbi Harold Kushner tells a wonderful story about a bright young man who was a sophomore Stanford pre-med student. To reward him for having done so well in school, his parents gave him a trip to Asia for the summer.
While there he met a guru who said to him, “Don’t you see how you are poisoning your soul with this success-oriented way of life? Your idea of happiness is to stay up all night studying for an exam so you can get a better grade than your best friend. Your idea of a good marriage is not to find the woman who will make you whole but to win the girl that everyone else wants.
“That’s not how people are supposed to live,” the sage admonished. “Give it up; come join us in an atmosphere where we all share and love each other.”
The young man had completed four years at a competitive high school to get into Stanford, plus two years of pre-med courses at the university. He was ripe for this sort of approach. He called his parents from Tokyo and told them he would not be coming home. He was dropping out of school to live in an ashram (a spiritual retreat).
Six months later, his parents got this letter from him:
“Dear Mom and Dad,
I know you weren’t happy with the decision I made last summer, but I want to tell you how happy it has made me. For the first time in my life, I am at peace. Here there is no competing, no hustling, no trying to get ahead of anyone else. Here we are all equal, and we all share. This way of life is so much in harmony with the inner essence of my soul that in only six months I’ve become the number two disciple in the entire ashram, and I think I can be number one byJune..!”
Aha! There he was in the ashram, still striving to achieve!
So let’s face it; you want to do well, in the office, golf course or ashram; work hard, there’s no other way..!
In the wake of the deteriorating situation of women and minorities in the country, the Taliban on Thursday called for the implementation of Sharia law in Afghanistan, stressing the need for preserving Islamic values.
The Islamic Emirate leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada held a gathering with the provincial governors in Kandahar where he emphasized the need to solve every problem through Sharia and not laws made by people, reported Khaama Press.
“Over the past 20 years, there have been a lot of anti-Shari and Islam rhetoric and laws which are made by the people is not implementable,” Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid quoted in the statemen
The statement by the leader stressed that all rights concerning women and minorities in the country must be based upon Sharia, and the implementation of the latest decree by the supreme leader has at least six articles, reported Khaama Press.
Since the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan in August last year, they have constantly escalated their atrocities against Afghan women by depriving young girls and women of humanitarian rights. Girls above 6th grade have been barred from gaining access to schools under the Taliban regime.
Meanwhile, the Taliban issued a diktat against female employees and told them to send male relatives as their replacements. Afghan women have been protesting against the Taliban for the violations of their rights and the removal of women from government institutions since they took over.
In response, the Taliban targeted protesters with harassment and abuse, arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance and physical and psychological torture. Taliban also has a history of targeting the Hazaras, an ethnic minority group that practices Shia Islam.
The group has been responsible for the deaths of over dozens of Hazaras over the past months. Notably, an international conference was held in Uzbekistan on July 25th and 26th, which was attended by delegates from nearly 20 world countries including India.
A delegation of the Taliban, led by acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi, attended the conference, which was held nearly one year after the fall of the democratic government in Afghanistan.
The aim of the conference was to discuss the security situation as well as the humanitarian situation in the country.
Even though more and more countries are extending their outreach to the Taliban, the latter is not upholding its promises.
Earlier, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan released a report that highlighted the eroding human rights situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover.
The report detailed the UN findings with regards to the protection of civilians, extra judicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests, the rights of women and girls, fundamental freedoms, and situations in places of detention.
The Indian stock market’s key indices, Sensex and Nifty, rallied for the third straight day on Friday led by strong buying support in metal, financial and energy stocks.
The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex surged 712.46 points or 1.25 percent to 57,570.25 points against its previous day’s close at 56,857.79 points.
This is the third consecutive day of rally in the Indian equities markets. The Sensex had gained 1041.47 points or 1.87 percent on Thursday.
The Sensex started the day sharply higher at 57,258.13 points and rose to a high of 57,619.27 points in the intra-day. The index touched a low of 57,104.81 points in the intra-day.
The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange rallied 228.65 points or 1.35 percent to 17,158.25 points against its previous day’s close at 16,929.60 points.
The Nifty has rallied for the third straight day. The Nifty had gained 287.80 points or 1.73 percent on Thursday.
Tata Steel surged 7.27 percent to Rs 107.65. Sun Pharma surged 5.45 percent to Rs 943.55 after announcing strong quarterly numbers.
Sun Pharma on Friday reported a consolidated net profit to Rs 2,060.88 crore for the quarter ended June 30 as compared to Rs 1,444.17 crore recorded in the corresponding period of the last year, registering a year-on-year growth of 42.70 percent.
Bajaj twins surged for the second consecutive day. Bajaj Finserv surged 2.64 percent to Rs 15039.30. The scrip had surged 10.14 percent on Thursday.
Bajaj Finance soared 1.87 percent to Rs 7208.90. The scrip had gained 10.68 percent on Thursday.
The index heavyweight Reliance Industries Limited soared 2.10 percent to Rs 2508.75.
IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, Infosys, Wipro, HDFC, NTPC, and Bharti Airtel were among the major Sensex gainers.
Hours after authorities nabbed a few persons in Assam for allegedly having links with terror groups, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that around 10 persons have been arrested and their statements recorded.
“Around 10 persons have been arrested, their statements recorded. Bengaluru Police have shared information regarding how the accused got funds from Bangladesh and their bank statements,” said Sarma to media persons today.
In a major crackdown in the northeastern state of Assam, 11 persons were detained on Thursday for their alleged links with global terror outfits including Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS) and Bangladesh-based Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). One of the persons detained was also a Madrassa teacher in the state.
According to the police, the 11 persons, who were detained yesterday from Assam’s Morigaon, Barpeta, Guwahati and Goalpara districts, are “connected to Islamic fundamentalism” having links with AQIS and ABT. Further action will be taken as per the law.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while coming down heavily on the “Jihadi modules” in the state, said that a lot of information is expected from these arrests.
“From yesterday till today, we have caught two Jihadi modules in Barpeta and Morigaon districts of Assam and arrested all the people involved with Jihadi modules. This coordinated action along with the national police agencies, was a coordinated effort and we will get a lot more information from these arrests,” Sarma had said. According to the Assam Police, Mustafa alias Mufti Mustafa, who is an accused in the case, is a resident of Saharia Gaon in the Morigaon district, and an active member of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) which is linked to Al Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent
Four persons of a family, including two children, were found dead at their home in Shivaji Nagar Baigan Wadi area in Mumbai on Friday, police said.
The deceased were identified as Shakil Jalil khan aged 34 and his wife Naziya Shakil Khan along with their 7-year-old son SK Supari and a three-year-old daughter.
According to police, it seems like a case of death by suicide as the door of the house was locked from the inside.
Police said that acting on information they received they arrived at the spot and after breaking down the door found the man’s body hanging from the ceiling while the remaining three bodies were found lying on the floor.
The police registered a case under ‘Accidental Death Report’ in Shivaji Nagar police station and have started further investigation.
Police is interrogating people around the area. Till now no suicide note has been recovered from the site and police said that there are no suspects in this case but they have begun an investigation.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday that the Ukrainian military attacked a pre-trial detention centre near Olenivka in the Donbas region with HIMARS rocket systems and killed 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
“40 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed and 75 wounded. In addition, eight employees of the pre-trial detention centre received injuries of different severity,” Sputnik reported citing the ministry.
The ministry called the Ukrainian attack a “flagrant provocation” aimed at intimidating Ukrainian soldiers who think about surrendering.
Ukraine shelled an important bridge in Kherson recently, closing it to traffic, and Zelenskyy promised to rebuild Antonivskyi bridge in the Russian-occupied Kherson region after it was struck by Ukrainian forces with what a Moscow-appointed local administrator said were US-supplied high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS).
The Antonivskyi bridge is the city of Kherson’s sole span across the river and Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-appointed city administration, told Russia’s RIA news agency it had been closed to traffic after the attack.
The Ukrainian army, emboldened by deliveries of Western-supplied long-range artillery has been clawing back territory in the southern Kherson region in recent weeks just a day after Ukraine and Russia agreed on a grain deal.
At least two missiles hit the infrastructure of the port and two were shot down by Ukraine’s air defence.
This attack came one day after Ukraine and Russian ministers signed an agreement, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in Istanbul, to allow grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports aimed at easing the global food crisis sparked by the war.
On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics requested help in defending themselves. The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger.
Owing to strict measures of Zero Covid Policy, the original epicentre of the Covid-19 virus, Wuhan has shut down again as four new asymptomatic cases were reported recently.
Moreover, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, George Gaos, stepped down after five years in the post, after overseeing the preliminary probe into the world’s first outbreak of coronavirus.
Nobody is willing to say if the current strain of the Covid virus attacking the people is highly infectious like Delta or is a mild one and not lethal at all as the latest lockdown has sent shock waves across the country to Chinese citizens, only now recovering from the trauma of a lockdown that lasted months.
The communist nation still refuses to give up its zero Covid policy.
The Jiangxia district of Wuhan was shut down initially for three days with a looming threat of extension if fresh cases continued to be reported. Nearly a million people were confined to their homes as everything was closed down.
Offices, entertainment venues, clinics, agricultural produce markets, restaurants, and downed shutters. All places of worship have locked their doors and the movement of tourists is halted.
All public transport, from buses to subway services, was suspended, and residents were urged not to leave the district unless absolutely necessary.
Four more neighbourhoods were “designated as medium-risk, meaning residents cannot leave their compounds”.
Meanwhile, George Gao’s departure from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to leave a large gap in the efforts to not only contain the current strains of the virus but also plan ahead to handle future viral attacks.
The Centre has been also brought under the direct control of the “monolithic centrally controlled” National Health Commission and placed within a “new nominally streamlined bureau”, borne of pandemic-era calls for reform.
CNN reported the Oxford University-educated and internationally connected Gao, 60, will be succeeded by former president of the Nanjing Medical University Shen Hongbing, currently vice-director of the National Administration of Disease Prevention and Control, the new bureau established in 2021.
The media network says the “shift brings to an end the tenure of an internationally respected virologist who observers say grappled with the limitations of an agency with little sway over policy-making — a key distinction between China’s CDC and the US agency it was modelled after”.
Gao also oversaw the agency “at a time of increasing acrimony between China and the United States, made worse by questions over the origins of the coronavirus and accusations that China had suppressed its investigation”.
Prior to the pandemic, Gao was known for his work in Sierra Leone countering a 2014 Ebola outbreak, when he was still deputy director of the China CDC. He took up the director role in 2017.
Tracing Gao’s efforts in early 2020, CNN reported: “Gao was among a group of top-level health officials who travelled to Wuhan, the epicentre of the first known outbreak of Covid-19, before the disease became a global crisis in January 2020.
China has been criticized for its actions during that period, due to the three-week lag between local officials’ announcement of the outbreak and confirmation the virus could pass between people.
Gao played a key role in early scientific papers documenting the outbreak in Wuhan, and went on to develop one of the seven Covid-19 vaccines authorized for use in China.
” Gao’s crucial contribution to the tonnes of existing literature on how the coronavirus spread is this: “He has also been involved in research into the origins of the virus, suggesting, contrary to recently published studies, that a Wuhan market linked to early cases was not where the new virus emerged, but rather a place where it was able to spread rapidly between people.”
Within the Chinese government, however, he was seen as a “loose cannon” because he never shied away from saying what he thought was prudent. He once said the vaccines produced in China offered a “low protection rate”.
Gao has earlier “discussed the conditions under which China might relax its zero-Covid policy which is often considered a sensitive subject in China, where the policy is viewed as the personal directive of leader Xi Jinping”.
Former West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee said that he is being framed in a conspiracy, a day after he was stripped of his portfolios and his positions in the Trinamool Congress by chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, six days after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged teacher recruitment scam, in which the agency recovered cash worth RS 50 crore.
“I’ve been framed, I’m a victim of conspiracy,” Chatterjee said. Arrested Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee – who is now suspended from the Trinamool Congress – and his aide Arpita Mukherjee have separately claimed that they are a “victim of conspiracy.”
“Partha Chatterjee has been removed from TMC along with the post of General Secretary, National vice president and three other posts. He has been suspended till the investigation is underway,” Abhishek Banerjee said.
Trinamool Congress, which had been distancing itself from its arrested leader Partha Chatterjee, axed him as a minister on Thursday and suspended him from the party leaving it to him to defend himself in the Enforcement Directorate probe in the teacher recruitment scam in which crores of rupees have been seized from residences linked to his aide Arpita Mukherjee.
Trinamool Congress’ decision to part ways with one of its most senior leaders was announced by party leader Abhishek Banerjee at a press conference in which he said “if anyone commits something wrong then Trinamool Congress will not spare him” and ‘there will be zero tolerance for corruption”.
He said Partha Chatterjee will remain suspended till probe is underway. Party leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee removed Partha Chatterjee as a minister in the state government.
Partha Chatterjee was considered one of the most trusted lieutenants of the Chief Minister, a “go-to” man and was regarded third in party hierarchy after the chief Minister and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
After his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on Saturday, Partha Chatterjee had called Mamata Banerjee four times. She did not take his calls.
Political observers said that Partha Chatterjee has been virtually left in the cold by the party to defend himself in the face of apparently onerous allegations in the ED probe. They said that the Trinamool Congress move is also aimed at cutting any losses due to ED probe in the teacher recruitment scam.
Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the School Service Commission (SSC) scam in West Bengal on Saturday.
Abhishek Banerjee told the media here that Partha Chatterjee has been removed from TMC along with the post of general secretary, national vice president and three other posts.
“He has been suspended till the investigation is underway. He can come back if proven not guilty. CM took the decision and the (Partha Chatterjee) minister was removed. The probe into the matter is underway. If anyone commits something wrong then TMC won’t spare him,” he said Abhishek Banerjee said the investigating agency must complete the probe in a time-bound manner.
‘’There will be zero tolerance for corruption. Investigating agency must complete the probe within the time limit. Even in Sarada case nothing happened, it’s just lingering. There should be a time-bound investigation,” he said.
“The one (Arpita Mukherjee) from whose house sums of money were recovered isn’t from TMC. We want stringent action against those who are linked to this matter. I am saying this in a hypothetical way that if Partha Chatterjee goes to BJP after two months then he will become a saint. Since he is in TMC, all of these things are happening,” he added.
Admitting that huge sums of money had been recovered, Abhishek Banerjee said “TMC is the only party that intervened within seven days in the matter.”
” I agree huge sums of money were recovered. But, everyday bank frauds are happening what action did BJP take? Nirav Modi flew away, did BJP sack Nirmala Sitharaman, it’s TMC who walk the talk,” he said.
He also took a dig at BJP leader and actor-politician Mithun Chakraborty that 38 TMC MLAs were in touch with the party. “Mithun Chakraborty doesn’t even know how many Assembly seats and districts are there in Bengal. He just wants to brag about how big a leader he has become, if he wants to make a mockery of himself, then, so be it,” Abhishek Banerjee said.
The arrest of Partha Chatterjee followed Rs 21 crore in cash and jewellery worth above Rs 1 crore being recovered from the Kolkata residence of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of the former education minister.
The ED unearthed many disproportionate assets allegedly of Partha Chatterjee since his arrest, of which were three flats in West Bengal’s Diamond City.
The ED raided Arpita Mukerjee’s house in connection with an alleged teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal. “The said amount is suspected to be proceeds of crime of the said SSC scam,” the probe agency had said in a statement.
The searches by Enforcement Directorate on premises linked to Arpita Mukherjee are continuing and earlier on Thursday, a team of officials reached the New Town residence of Arpita Mukherjee. The officials reached her residence at the Royal Residency flat at Chinar Park in New Town in West Bengal’s Kolkata along with the Central Force personnel.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had on Thursday morning left the Belgharia residence of Arpita Mukherjee after filling ten trunks with cash amounting to approximately Rs 27.90 crore that was found there.
ED sleuths on Wednesday began their fresh searches on the premises linked to Arpita Mukherjee. The flat of her mother at Belgharia Club town in North 24 Parganas and three other premises was covered in the action initiated on Wednesday.
One of the two flats of Arpita Mukherjee, in Belghoria, has been sealed by ED. ED officials also conducted a raid at the residence of businessman Manoj Jain in Ballygunge. Jain is reportedly an aide of Partha Chatterjee.
A five-time MLA, Chatterjee was appointed as the minister-in-charge of higher education and school education in 2014 and he held the portfolio till 2021.
Pak gov to sell shares of state-owned entities to friendly countries 12
Cash-starved Pakistan will amend the laws for the sale of shares of listed state-owned entities with a buyback option to friendly countries on a government-to-government basis to help bridge a part of $4 billion financing gap estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the current fiscal year.
The announcement was made by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on July 27 while addressing a seminar on the state-owned entities (SOEs) corporate governance.
Pakistan’s economy in for a jolt The Minister also said the ban on imports would be lifted in a couple of weeks and all prior actions agreed upon under the staff-level agreement with the IMF had been completed and there was no more hitch to be able to getting the first tranche in the later part of August, the Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday.
Without naming the Inter-Government Commercial Transaction Act 2022 that the Federal Cabinet approved later in the day, the Finance Minister said the law was necessary because the existing privatisation law did not allow such commercial transactions on a government-to-government (G2G) basis.
An official statement after the Cabinet meeting said the Cabinet approved ‘InterGovernment Commercial Transaction Act 2022’ presented by the Ministry of Law and Justice and referred it to the relevant Standing Committee of Parliament.
The Cabinet was informed that the law would provide confidence to foreign investors and also increase foreign investment on a G2G basis in developmental agreements.
The Minister also talked about the prior actions committed with the IMF for the revival of its programme and said the government would be lifting the ban on imports in a couple of weeks because it created difficulties for the people.
Pakistan’s economic muddling and the IMF challenge Mr. Ismail said Pakistan had a persistent issue with the SOEs as some of them were badly managed and while some of them were important for service delivery, even those were not providing services and were rather creating problems in the budget.
Mr. Ismail said most of the SOEs had professional people running them, yet they were not able to perform which meant that maybe laws and governance structures restrict their ability to perform. “Therefore, the country perhaps needed better law and governance structures to make such entities perform or better ways to expedite their privatisation,” the report said.
He said there had been no progress on privatisation either over the past decades. The Minister said the country faced an LNG shortage because the Ministers and officers in the previous government were scared of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and its law to take decisions and book future orders.
“On the other hand, such a law also provided an excuse to the people to not work or take decisions which had a huge cost to the nation,” he said. “NAB has been in place for 20 years but the level of corruption or perception of it did not go down,” he said.
The reason was that these laws were a straightjacket and provided some people an excuse to not work. Therefore, the change in SOEs-related laws would be made “appropriately to sell SOEs shares to a friendly country through a stock exchange” and two LNG-based power projects owned by the federal government — Balloki and Haveli Bahadur Shah — to another friendly country, the Minister said.
Though the Minister did not name the friendly countries, Pakistan has close relations with nations such as China and Saudi Arabia which have doled out huge assistance to Islamabad during its financial woes.
Mr. Ismail despised that even though talks for these transactions had not begun, some people had started criticising the sale of “family silver”. “We are only selling shares traded at the stock exchange and only a little bit of each of them. We are not selling majority shares or ownership shares and we are selling a small number of shares on buyback option,” he said.
“He said the government could buy back those shares at a later stage if it so desires with improved economic conditions,” the report said. Cash-strapped Pakistan could face a serious economic problem as its foreign exchange reserves are depleting fast amid rising external debt servicing.
The governments in FY22 that ended on June 30 could not control the influx of huge imports totalling $80 billion creating a large current account deficit (CAD), which alone is enough to understand the external weakness of the economy.
Despite record remittances and exports, the country is unable to get dollars from the international debt market. Pakistan has faced growing economic challenges, with high inflation, sliding forex reserves, a widening current account deficit and a depreciating currency.
With the rising current account deficit at #13.2 billion in the first nine months and pressing external loan repayment requirements, Pakistan required financial assistance of $9-12 billion till June 2022 to avert further depletion of foreign currency reserves.
