SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said citizens’ welfare is foremost priority of the government and property tax will ensure financial self-sustainability of cities and improvement of public amenities in the Union Territory.
In a statement LG Manoj Sinha said that our cities must witness rapid development and emerge as engines of growth. “For that financial self-sustainability of cities is necessary. Property tax in J&K will be one of the lowest in the country and will be used for improving public amenities in J&K.”
“Implementation shall be done in consultation with general public. Common citizens’ interests will be protected,” he added.
Mumbai: The Union government has approved the renaming of Maharashtra’s Aurangabad city as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’ and the Osmanabad city as Dharashiv’.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis shared the news on Twitter.
Aurangabad derives its name from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, while Osmanabad was named for a 20th century ruler of the princely state of Hyderabad.
Chhatrapati Sambhaji, the eldest son of warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was the second ruler of the Maratha state founded by his father. Sambhaji Maharaj was executed on Aurangzeb’s orders in 1689.
Dharashiv, the name of a cave complex near Osmanabad, dates back to the 8th century as per some scholars.
Hindu right-wing organisations had been demanding renaming of the two cities for long.
Fadnavis tweeted two letters from the Ministry of Home Affairs to the deputy secretary of the state General Administration Department dated February 24.
The letters stated that the Centre had no objection to the change in the names of these two central Maharashtra cities.
Fadnavis thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the decision.
The state government headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ”did what was promised ”, he said.
Notably, to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv was the last cabinet decision of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government which collapsed last June following Shinde’s rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray.
The new government headed by Shinde scrapped the cabinet decision and took a fresh decision.
One year of war in Ukraine has left deep scars — including on the country’s natural landscape.
The conflict has ruined vast swaths of farmland, burned down forests and destroyed national parks. Damage to industrial facilities has caused heavy air, water and soil pollution, exposing residents to toxic chemicals and contaminated water. Regular shelling around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, means the risk of a nuclear accident still looms large.
The total number of cases of environmental damage tops 2,300, Ukraine’s environment minister, Ruslan Strilets, told POLITICO in an emailed statement. His ministry estimates the total cost at $51.45 billion (€48.33 billion).
Of those documented cases, 1,078 have already been handed over to law enforcement agencies, according to Strilets, as part of an effort to hold Moscow accountable in court for environmental damage.
A number of NGOs have also stepped in to document the environmental impacts of the conflict, with the aim of providing data to international organizations like the United Nations Environment Program to help them prioritize inspections or pinpoint areas at higher risk of pollution.
Among them is PAX, a peace organization based in the Netherlands, which is working with the Center for Information Resilience (CIR) to record and independently verify incidents of environmental damage in Ukraine. So far, it has verified 242 such cases.
Left: Hostomel, Ukraine, after a Russian assault. Right: Port of Mykolaiv after a Russian strike | Imagery courtesy of Planet Labs PBC
“We mainly rely on what’s being documented, and what we can see,” said Wim Zwijnenburg, a humanitarian disarmament project leader with PAX. Information comes from social media, public media accounts and satellite imagery, and is then independently verified.
“That also means that if there’s no one there to record it … we’re not seeing it,” he said. “It’s such a big country, so there’s fighting in so many locations, and undoubtedly, we are missing things.”
After the conflict is over, the data could also help identify “what is needed in terms of cleanup, remediation and restoration of affected areas,” Zwijnenburg said.
Rebuilding green
While some conservation projects — such as rewilding of the Danube delta — have continued despite the war, most environmental protection work has halted.
“It is very difficult to talk about saving other species if the people who are supposed to do it are in danger,” said Oksana Omelchuk, environmental expert with the Ukrainian NGO EcoAction.
That’s unlikely to change in the near future, she added, pointing out that the environment is littered with mines.
Before and after flooding in the Kyiv area, Ukraine | Imagery courtesy of Planet Labs PBC
Agricultural land is particularly affected, blocking farmers from using fields and contaminating the soil, according to Zwijnenburg. That “might have an impact on food security” in the long run, he said.
When it comes to de-mining efforts, residential areas will receive higher priority, meaning it could take a long time to make natural areas safe again.
The delay will “[hinder] the implementation of any projects for the restoration and conservation of species,” according to Omelchuk.
And, of course, fully restoring Ukraine’s nature won’t be possible until “Russian troops leave the territory” she said.
Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol before and after a Russian attack |Imagery courtesy of Planet Labs PBC
Meanwhile, Kyiv is banking that the legal case it is building against Moscow will become a potential source of financing for rebuilding the country and bringing its scarred landscape and ecosystems back to health.
It is also tapping into EU coffers.In a move intended to help the country restore its environment following Russia’s invasion, Ukraine in June became the first non-EU country to join the LIFE program, the EU’s funding instrument for environment and climate.
Earlier this month, Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius announced a €7 million scheme — dubbed the Phoenix Initiative — to help Ukrainian cities rebuild greener and to connect Ukrainian cities with EU counterparts that can share expertise on achieving climate neutrality.
[ad_2]
#environmental #scars #Russias #war #Ukraine
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Mumbai: Five more banks will join the pilot on the central bank digital currency or e-rupee for retail customers and the project will be extended to nine additional cities, the Reserve Bank said on Wednesday.
The Reserve Bank, which began piloting the central bank digital currency or e-rupee for retail customers in early December with eight banks in five cities, stressed that it does not want to rush with it but favours a slow and steady adoption.
The retail CBDC is available for only 50,000 users now and of them 5,000 are merchants. The service is being offered on invitation basis by eight banks across five cities now, deputy governor T Rabi Sankar told reporters on Wednesday at the customary post-policy presser.
Given the glitches-free adoption so far, five more banks will be added soon on to the platform along with increasing the number of cities where the pilot service is available now from the present five to nine more, Sankar said.
“Having said on this and the risk of being right, let me just reiterate that we want the process to happen. But we want the process to happen gradually and slowly. We are in no hurry to make something happen very quickly.
“We have our targets in terms of users, in terms of merchants and all that. But we will go through it slowly because we don’t want to do something without actually understanding what the possible impact and that impact can be,” the deputy governor said.
On the volume of transaction, he said it is increasing slowly and so far it has totalled at around Rs 7.7 lakh only.
The RBI on November 1, and December 1, 2022, launched the CBDC for wholesale and retail respectively. While the use case of the wholesale CBDC is limited to the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities, the retail e-rupee-is being piloted within a closed user group (CUG) comprising participating customers and merchants.
The first phase includes four banks–State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank and subsequently, four banks Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank joined.
The CBDC is expected to make the inter-bank market more efficient and settlements in e-rupee can reduce transaction costs by pre-empting the need for settlement guarantee infrastructure or for collateral to mitigate settlement risk.
Hyderabad: After the United States Federal Reserve approved a quarter-point interest rate hike marking the return to a more traditional interest-rate policy, the gold rates broke all-time high records in Hyderabad and other Indian cities.
Today, the gold rates jumped by over 1.1 percent in Hyderabad. Currently, the rates of 22-carat and 24-carat yellow metal are Rs 53600 and Rs 58470 respectively.
Meanwhile, the rates of 22-carat and 24-carat yellow metal in the national capital are Rs 53750 and Rs 58610 respectively.
The rates in other cities are as follows:
Cities
22K (in rupees)
24K (in rupees)
Hyderabad
53600
58470
New Delhi
53750
58610
Mumbai
53600
58470
Chennai
54750
59730
Kolkata
53600
58470
Domestic, international reasons for rise in gold rates in Hyderabad, other cities
Both domestic and international reasons are responsible for the rise in gold rates in Hyderabad and other Indian cities. As India is an importer of yellow metal, international reasons play a major role.
On February 1, the US Federal Reserve approved a quarter-point interest rate hike which indicates progress in the Central Bank’s fierce battle with inflation.
Though Fed indicated that more hikes are needed to control inflation, it is unlikely that the central bank will go for any bigger hikes due to weakening growth.
As Fed is moving towards the policy of milder rate hikes, interest-bearing assets are becoming less preferable investment option. It is pushing investors to prefer gold.
At the domestic level, the announcement of hike in custom duties on articles of gold, silver, and platinum made precious metal jewelry costly.
No cut in import duty on gold
Due to continuous hikes in gold rates in Hyderabad and other Indian cities, traders were demanding cut in import duty on the yellow metal.
They were of the opinion that the cut in the duty will not only push the sales but also help the government in putting a curb on smuggling.
Despite gold traders’ huge expectations, the union budget left them disheartened as no change was introduced. The import duty continues to remain at 15 percent.
As per market experts, soon the rates in India are likely to touch Rs 60000 per 10 grams.
Hyderabad: The prices of petrol and diesel in Hyderabad and other Indian cities are likely to drop as union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday asked Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to cut the retail prices of petrol and diesel if the crude oil prices in the international market come down and also if OMCs under recovery come down.
“Oil marketing companies should cut down prices once international prices are stabilised and they have managed to recover under-recovery,” he said.
How prices are calculated?
Oil companies review and revise the prices of petrol and diesel on a daily basis. The new prices become effective from morning at 6 a.m.
The daily review and revision of prices are based on the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market in the preceding 15 days, and foreign exchange rates.
Though Oil Marketing Companies are free to revise product prices based on economics, in practical terms political considerations are also important in the revision of prices.
Meanwhile, a senior Oil Marketing company said, “We are earning a gross profit on petrol and it is in single digit. However, during the last 15 days, due to cracks, petrol profitability has been affected. However, diesel sale is still on gross loss and it is in double-digit.”
Petrol, diesel prices in Hyderabad
The prices of petrol and diesel vary from state to state due to different rates of Value Added Tax (VAT) by the state governments.
In Hyderabad, the prices of petrol and diesel as of January 23 are 109.66 and 97.82 per liter respectively.
Gold is not just a precious metal but its rates in Hyderabad, Dubai, Riyadh and other big cities of the world indicate the market trends. The rates of the yellow metal depend on various factors including geopolitical stability, wars, pandemic, uncertainties, etc.
As gold is also a commodity, its rates depend on demand and supply. In case of any uncertainty, the rates of yellow metal increase drastically as investors consider it save heaven.
However, during the market boom period, its rates return to normal as investors start exploring options that can give them higher returns when compared to gold.
Apart from demand-supply, local factors also contribute to the gold rates in Hyderabad, Dubai, Riyadh, and other important cities across the world.
Gold rates in Hyderabad
Gold rates in Hyderabad and other cities in India depend on various factors including its currency exchange rates as the country is a net importer of the yellow metal.
If the dollar rate goes up against the rupee, India has to spend more to import gold thereby making the yellow metal costly in the local market.
Gold rates as on
22-carat (10 grams)[Change]
24-carat (10 grams) [Change]
January 21
Rs. 52250 [-100]
Rs. 57060 [-50]
Gold rates in Dubai, UAE
A host of factors are responsible for the rise and fall in gold rates in Dubai. The common factors are inflation, tax rates, demand, and supply, etc.
It is a precious metal for both those who buy it for personal use and investors who want to diversify their investments.
When the values of other investment options such as stock, mutual funds, etc go down, the gold value increases thereby reducing the net losses of the investors.
Gold rates as on
22-carat (10 grams)[Change]
24-carat (10 grams)[Change]
January 21
Dirham 2160 [No change]
Dirham 2333 [No change]
Gold rates in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The gold rates in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, mainly depend on global factors. However, other factors such as inflation, taxes, and demand-supply also plays role in the price movement of the yellow metal.
Gold rates as on
22-carat (10 grams)[Change]
24-carat (10 grams)[Change]
January 21
Riyal 2230 [No change]
Riyal 2410 [No change]
Gold rates in Doha
As Doha, the capital of Qatar sells gold at tax-free rates, the rates are cheaper when compared to India.
Gold rates as on
22-carat (10 grams)[Change]
24-carat (10 grams)[Change]
January 21
Qatari Riyal 2230 [No change]
Qatari Riyal 2370 [No change]
Gold rates in Washington
Due to the history of using it as currency, gold is considered a monetary metal. It becomes the most in-demand metal in case of uncertainty in any part of the world.
