Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
PAKISTAN RECEIVES $700MN FROM CHINA, IMF DEAL ‘10 DAYS’ AWAY
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s finance minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday his country has received $700 million funds from the China Development Bank. Beijing approved the refinancing this week.
This comes as Pakistan is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to receive a tranche of more than $1 billion from the $6.5 billion bailout agreed to in 2019.
Sharif said on Friday that Pakistan has to unwillingly accept the strict conditions of a deal with the IMF. “We have to accept unwillingly the strict conditions for the IMF deal,” he said, adding that an accord was still a “week, 10 days” away. The strict measures are likely to further stoke inflation, which stood at 27.50% in January. REUTERS owned land in Vikhroli for the bullet train project. Of the total 508.17 km of rail track between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, about 21 km is to be underground. One of the entry points to the underground tunnel falls on the land at Vikhroli, owned by the company.
In September, the state government went ahead with the acquisition of the land in question and awarded a compensation of ₹264 crore in lieu of it. Godrej and Boyce challenged this award before the Bombay high court but to no avail.
By a judgment earlier this month, the high court dismissed the company’s plea, holding that national importance took precedence over private interests. “The private interest claimed by the petitioner does not prevail over the public interest which would subserve infrastructural project of public importance which is a dream project of this country and first of its kind,” said the high court, adding that the company’s petition is devoid of merit. The high court held that there was no illegality in the award or in the decision taken by the appropriate government under the pertinent provisions of the Fair Compensation Act.
Pointing to the emergence of technology solutions and digital payment systems amid the pandemic, Modi noted some digital finance innovations posed “risks of destabilisation and misuse”.
He cited India’s experiences as a model, especially the development of highly secure, trusted and efficient public digital infrastructure and digital payments ecosystem.
tion for hours. Amritpal withdrew the stir only after police assured him the release of his aide, Lovepreet Singh “Toofan”, who was imprisoned in an abduction-and-assault case.
“It was false case registered against me and thanks to efforts of sangat, I am being released today. Such actions are taken against us to make Sikh community feel like slave in this country,” said Lovepreet.
He walked out of Amritsar Central Jail on Friday afternoon, after the police moved a discharge application in a local court and said the accused’s role was not established in the investigation.
“Accused is not guilty of any offence and he was not present at the time of commission of offences. Since the accused is no more required by the investigating officer for judicial custody and accordingly, the accused is discharged from the custody only and be released,” read the court order, signed by Manpreet Kaur, subdivisional judicial magistrate.
A victorious Amritpal led supporters to prayers at the Golden Temple in the evening, accompanied by Lovepreet, hundreds of supporters and the Panj Pyaras — five ceremonial holy men, considered the beloved ones of the guru.
In a bus behind them was a holy saroop (scripture) of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book.
“I want to tell the DGP that if they take any illegitimate action, it will again lead to protests,” Amritpal told reporters in Amritsar. The police must take action against those who lodged a “fake FIR” against his supporters, he said.
The controversy began on February 17, when Punjab Police booked Amritpal and 30 of his supporters for allegedly kidnapping and thrashing Varinder Singh, a radical Sikh youth who was once a follower of Amritpal. Varinder Singh alleged that Amritpal and his associates abducted him from Ajnala and took him to an unknown place where he was brutally beaten. Tensions spiked after Amritpal announced on Wednesday that he, along with supporters, will stage a protest outside the Ajnala police station, where the case was registered.
Police clamped restrictions on all roads leading to Ajnala to prevent the gathering, but to no avail.
mary school has eight classrooms with 149 students. In the past, villagers who belong to the Banjara tribe, were on the move at all times, leading to frequent dropouts. And those that stayed in the village did not make the effort to educate their children.
Kude went door-to-door urging young parents to send their children to school, impressing on them the value of education. He also wrote to the state government to have the school painted and add many facilities.
“He is not only a teacher for us but also a person who brings recognition to our village. Due to him, migration of villagers has stopped, the village became free of alcohol addiction, and the fame of the school spread across the state,” said Sanjay Chavan, a former student and resident of the village, who own a computer institute in a neighbouring town. As word got around, more students started seeking admission to the school, “some even covering a distance of 30 kms”.
Chavan added, “He created an atmosphere for pleasant education in the school and his style of teaching was studentfriendly. He taught in a way that every one could understand.”
Kude’s 19 years in the taluka has changed the lives of people – many former students are now white-collar workers, settled in cities.
Laxman Rathod, a senior product manager at an IT firm in Hyderabad, said, “The credit for my achievements rests with Kude sir.” Rathod exited the school when he was in Class II, “bored with education”. He spent the next three years grazing cattle. Things changed in 2004, when the teacher urged him to join the school. “Once in, I became engrossed in education and eventually studied engineering. If not for him, I would have been wandering in the village and become a farm labourer at best,” said Rathod.
In promoting education, Kude is looked upon as a reformer. As Chavan said, “There was no awareness in the village – no one thought about educating girls after Class V. Kude changed this mindset,” he said, emphasising that ‘beti bachao beto padhao’ became an ambition in the hamlet, way before it became a national slogan.
The schoolteacher also conducted de-addiction campaigns: the village, which once had 10 to 12 liquor making centres, is now alchohol free.
“If he is transferred, the pillar of the village will collapse, and then everything will go back to the way it was in 2004. This has emboldened us to prevent the transfer,” said Chavan.
Nand Kumar Rathod, a parent, said, thanks to Kude, today there is a long queue for admission outside the school every year. “My elder daughter attended school till Class V and my younger one is in Class IV in the same school; she travels five kilometres to study every day,” he said. “If sir gets transferred, I will send her to another school.”
Kude is sentimental about the school, as he is a picture of humility. “Transfer is a part of my job. I really thank all my senior officers, villagers and colleagues who helped me in this journey,” said Kude.
Varsha Meena, CEO of the Zilla Parishad, Jalna, said, “I received representation from the villagers requesting to stop the transfer of a teacher, but this transfer was done by senior authorities through an online process. I have forwarded the villagers’ letter to the authorities.”