SRINAGAR: Amid ongoing weather vagaries, authorities have ordered for closure of Sinthan and Margan passes for all sorts of movements to avoid any exigency till May 9.
“In view of predictions by the Meteorological Department for widespread and heavy rains and Snowfall in upper reaches, people of Tehsil Larnoo and outside tourists are advised to refrain from venturing in landslide and shooting stone prone areas”, reads an advisory.
“Moreover rainfall/thunderstorm/snowfall may lead to disruption of traffic on Sinthan pass and Margan pass roads. People are advised to refrain from travelling on these two roads on 8th and 9th of May 2023,” it said.
“Also in compliance to the directions of SDM Kokernag, SHO Larnoo, and Naib Tehsildar Larnoo are directed to set up naka at daksum and Gowran and restrict all kinds of vehicular traffic on Sinthan Pass and Margan Pass roads on 8th and 9th of May 2023”, it reads. (GNS)
Jock Zonfrillo, a renowned chef and a judge on the popular TV show MasterChef Australia, has died at the age of 46. His family confirmed the news of his passing in a statement, describing him as “our irreplaceable husband, father, brother, son, and friend”. The cause of his death is unknown, but it is not being treated as suspicious by the Victoria Police. A report on his death will be prepared by the coroner’s office.
Following Mr. Zonfrillo’s death, the new season of MasterChef Australia was canceled, according to Network 10. The chef’s family expressed their sorrow and devastation in a statement, saying that they were “completely shattered” and overwhelmed.
Born in Glasgow in 1976, Mr. Zonfrillo began working in kitchens at the age of 12. By the age of 15, he had become the youngest-ever apprentice at the luxury Scottish resort, The Turnberry Hotel. He later worked for Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White before moving to Australia in the 1990s, where he opened several successful restaurants, including his most acclaimed eatery Orana in 2013.
In his 2021 memoir, The Last Shot, Mr. Zonfrillo wrote about his addiction to heroin, which he overcame to build his successful career as a chef. He is survived by his wife and four children.
Californiahas passed stringent new rules to limit emissions from diesel-fueled locomotive engines, putting the state on track to implement the most ambitious regulations on high-polluting railways in the country.
The landmark step taken by the California Air Resources Board (Carb), which regulates California’s air quality, requires the phase-out of inefficient locomotive engines more than 23 years old by 2030, increase the use of zero-emissions technology to transport freight from ports and throughout rail yards, and bans diesel-spewing engines from idling for longer than 30 minutes.
In the hours before the unanimousvote, dozens of environmental justice advocates and community members spoke in support of the rules, highlighting the heartbreaking burden placed on frontline communities who have been left to grapple with higher rates of asthma, cancer and other devastating health effects, along with the relentless rumbling that shakes neighborhoods along the tracks.
“We are fighting for air,” Gemma Pena Zeragoza, a resident from San Bernardino, tearfully told the board. Others sharedstories of children forced to share inhalers, a kindergartener who couldn’t physically keep up with her love of running and family members lost to respiratory illnesses.
According to California regulators, diesel emissions are responsible for some 70% of Californians’ cancer risk from toxic air pollution. The rule would curb emissions on a class of engines that annually release more than 640 tons of tiny pollutants that can enter deep into a person’s lungs and worsen asthma, along with nearly 30,000 tons of smog-forming emissions known as nitrogen oxides. Carb analysts project a 90% reduction in local cancer risks in the decades following implementation.
The rule would also drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions from locomotives by an amount akin to removing all heavy-duty trucks from the state by 2030.
“It’s going to be groundbreaking and it’s going to address the diesel crisis that’s been poisoning communities near railyards for literal decades,” said Yasmine Agelidis, a lawyer with environmental non-profit Earthjustice.
Still, some advocates had hoped for more. After years of pushing for stronger regulations, many emphasized that there’s more to be done, including narrowing the time locomotives can be left to idle and hastening the transition to cleaner railways.
“I wish we could do more – but this is a good first step,” said John Balmes, a board member, before the vote, calling the rule the biggest single thing that could be done for public health and the environment.
California also still has to get authorization from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to move forward with the rule, but regulators aren’t worried.
“We are talking to them and getting positive feedback from them that we are on the right path with this regulation,” said Hector De La Torre, another board member, during Thursday’s meeting.
Representatives of the rail industry who spoke before the board pushed back against the proposal, saying that the accelerated timeline wasn’t feasible.. “Currently there is no clear path to zero-emissions locomotives,” a spokesperson for Union Pacific said during the meeting, adding that infrastructure and capacity for the shift is inadequate. The company has given itself a longer runway to transition, aiming to achieve net-zero by 2050.
The Association of American Railroads, an organization that represents all major freight railroads across North America, echoed those concerns aboutmandating a swifter transition, saying in a statement that it “ignores the complexity and interconnected nature of railroad operations and the reality of where zero-emission locomotive technology and the supporting infrastructure stand”.
skip past newsletter promotion
after newsletter promotion
The organization has also been outspoken about how essential and efficient freight railway is at transporting goods – especially as online orders continue to rise. “It would have taken approximately 3.5m additional trucks to handle the 63.8m tons of freight that originated by rail in California in 2021,” the organization said.
Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, added the rule would be expensive for rail companies and increased costs will mean higher prices for many goods that move by rail.
But residents who live near railroads and have borne the brunt of breathing toxins say they have waited for clean air long enough.
Heidi Swillinger, who lives in a mobile home park in San Pablo, a small city in the San Francisco Bay Area, along the BNSF Railway, estimates that her home is just 20ft from the tracks. She said it’s not uncommon for diesel fumes to fill her house, resulting in a “thick, acrid, dirty smell”.
“Nobody wants to live next to a railroad track,” Swillinger said. “You move next to a railroad track because you don’t have other options.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story
[ad_2]
#California #passes #stringent #dieselengine #emissions #rules #Fighting #air
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
And it was a hard-fought victory, at that. The conference had been in talks over the bill for months, yet McCarthy was still negotiating with on-the-fence members shortly before the vote. Still, GOP lawmakers cheered the bill’s passage, hoping it will give them some leverage to force leading Democrats to back down from assertions they would not negotiate at all over the debt limit.
“I think everybody is focused on solving this problem and finally getting the president … to come to the table,” said Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), adding that Republicans want to give McCarthy the “opportunity to go and negotiate with the president.”
Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.) and Matt Gaetz (Fla.) were the Republicans who opposed the bill, along with all Democrats.
It’s still far from clear that the House GOP plan will change the calculus either at the end of Pennsylvania Avenue or across the Capitol with Senate Democrats. Both have stressed for months, along with their less influential House colleagues, that they want a “clean” debt ceiling increase, with no spending cuts attached.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer lambasted McCarthy ahead of the vote on Wednesday, accusing him of having “capitulated to the hard right once again” as he worked to lock down the votes to pass the debt plan.
“It’s a bill that might as well be called the Default On America Act. Because that’s exactly what it is — DOA, dead on arrival,” Schumer said.
The House Republican bill combines across-the-board spending cuts with other conservative proposals, including stricter rules for social safety net programs and energy production incentives. But after vowing for days that they wouldn’t open the bill for negotiations, worried it would create a tidal wave of demands, Republican leadership cut a middle-of-the-night deal to try to win over two critical holdout groups: Midwesterners and conservatives.
For Midwestern members, GOP leadership agreed to kill changes to incentives structures for renewable diesel, second generation biofuel, carbon dioxide sequestration and biodiesel. For conservatives, they beefed up the work requirements and sped up the implementation timeline. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who flipped to backing the bill on Wednesday, also said McCarthy committed to working on balancing the budget in a conversation with her.
House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) acknowledged that his conservative members weren’t sold on all the bill’s provisions but argued that passing the proposal was crucial to keeping Republicans at the table.
“It is not perfect. It’s a step in the right direction. We’ve got to be in the arena and stay on offense,” Perry said.
The next phase won’t get any easier for Republicans, though, who barely scraped by this time on a 217-215 vote. McCarthy eventually needs to cut a deal with Biden and Senate Democrats that somehow would also win over both the centrist and conservative factions of his conference.
”It’s gonna have to be a conservative package if it’s going to win the support of the Republican conference, but I don’t think it serves anyone’s interest by talking about red lines right now,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), the chair of the business-oriented Main Street Caucus.
Driving the debt-limit talks is still relatively new for House Republicans, who largely left it up to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to negotiate agreements on the debt ceiling during the first two years of the Biden administration. Those deals sparked fierce pushback not only from House Republicans but also Senate conservatives.
And Republican senators are warning they aren’t preparing to step into the breach again, at least not yet. Plus, it’s far from clear that a Senate GOP negotiated deal would even find favor in the more raucous House GOP conference.
The House bill “forces the administration to come to the table,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said Wednesday. “The pressure really ought to be on the White House.”
Sarah Ferris and Burgess Everett contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
#House #GOP #passes #debt #bill #upping #pressure #Biden
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Chandigarh: Former Punjab Chief Minsiter and Shiromani Akali Dal patron S Parkash Singh Badal passed away on Tuesday, at the age of 95.
This was confirmed by the Personal Assistant of his son and party president Sukhbir Singh Badal.
Earlier on Monday, it was reported that he was under close observation in the ICU, at Fortis Hospital, Mohali.
Badal was admitted to ICU on April 21, following complaints of breathing difficulties, according to the party.
Parkash Singh Badal served as the Chief Minister of Punjab multiple times. He was the CM from 1970-1971, from 1977-1980, from 1997-2002, and from 2007-2017.
He was also the youngest Chief Minister to have ever hold office in the state of Punjab.
Ottawa: Pakistani-Canadian columnist Tarek Fatah passed away on Monday after a prolonged battle with Cancer, his daughter Natasha Fatah, who herself is a journalist, shared the news.
“Lion of Punjab. Son of Hindustan. Lover of Canada. Speaker of truth. Fighter for justice. Voice of the down-trodden, underdogs, and the oppressed. Tarek Fatah has passed the baton on… his revolution will continue with all who knew and loved him. Will you join us? 1949-2023,” Natasha tweeted.
Born in Karachi, Pakistan before emigrating to Canada in 1987, Fatah was an award-winning reporter, columnist, and radio and television commentator, both in Canada and abroad, with a huge social media following, according to Toronto Sun. Fatah, who died at 73, was a political activist, a fierce defender of human rights and a staunch opponent of religious fanaticism in any form, nothing scared Tarek Fatah.
As a secular Muslim who authored books titled The Jew is Not My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths that Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism and Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State, Tarek was never deterred by controversy.
On the contrary, he would dive right in.
As one of many examples, he was a fierce critic of Pakistan and an advocate for the Baloch separatist movement, fighting for an independent Balochistan state.
Expressing his condolences over the death of the columnist, “Kashmir Files” film director Vivek Agnihotri tweeted, “There was one and only @TarekFatah- daring, funny, knowledgable, sharp thinker, great orator and a fearless fighter. Tarek, my brother, it was a delight to have you as a close friend. Will you be able to rest in peace? Om Shanti.”
New Delhi: Sidharth Rao, who co-founded one of India’s first and top digital agencies Webchutney, has passed away, according to media reports.
He died on Friday evening. He is survived by his parents and wife.
At the age of 19, he started Webchutney, which was the most-awarded Indian agency at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2019.
In 2008, he incubated Network Play under Webchutney, which in less than three years became the largest brand ad network, one that was later acquired by Bertelsmann AG. In 2013, Webchutney was acquired by the Japanese multinational media network Dentsu Aegis Network.
While he continued to head Webchutney, in 2021 he was also appointed as head of the India unit of dentsuMB, the restructured global creative network of the company.
In 2022, Rao stepped down as group CEO of dentsuMB India and joined hands and launched a new venture in the marketing technology (MarTech) space, called Punt Partners along with serial entrepreneur Madhu Sudan.
Hyderabad: Maulana Qubool Pasha Shuttari, a renowned cleric of Hyderabad passed away in the early hours of Monday. He was the convener of the Ruyat-e-Hilal (Moon Sighting) committee and the Secretary of Sadar Majlis Ulema-E-Deccan.
He was also a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and passed away at Owaisi Hospital Kanchan Bagh, at the age of 82.
The cleric had been unwell for the past few months and in the wee hours of Monday his condition deteriorated upon which he was shifted to the hospital, where he breathed his last breath. He is survived by a son and four daughters.
Various scholars from Hyderabad and other districts have expressed deep shock over the demise of Maulana Qubool Pasha. Maulana used to deliver sermons at Shuttaria Mosque, Dabeerpura, on Fridays.
According to sources from his family, his funeral prayers will be performed on Monday night at 11 pm at the Historic Makkah Masjid and burial will be held at the graveyard abutting Masjid-E-Shuttaria, in the inner dome of the shrine of Hazrat Kamil Shuttari.
More details can be obtained from 9000008138 or 9866112393.
Pompeo’s decision came after months of private deliberation with his family and public assertions that his former boss would not play a role in his decision to seek the presidency. In a Cabinet that was known for staffing drama and turnover, Pompeo gained a reputation as one of Trump’s most loyal foot soldiers. But in the Fox interview, Pompeo said that he will “see how the primary plays out” before making a decision on any endorsement, and that he might not support Trump.
“I think Americans are thirsting for people making arguments, not just tweets,” said Pompeo, when asked if he thinks anyone can beat Trump, who currently leads in polling.
The Republican primary field is already crowded and includes Trump, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, fintech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Sen. Tim Scott, (R-S.C.), who recently announced an exploratory committee. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former vice president Mike Pence have also signaled they plan to make announcements in the coming months.
The former congressman from Kansas recently wrapped up a book tour for his memoir, “Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love.” The book focused on his time driving foreign policy for the Trump administration and his book tour was widely seen as a testing ground for a presidential run. There were other telltale hints of Pompeo’s 2024 ambitions – he made frequent trips to states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina to headline GOP events and rub elbows with powerful players in early voting states.
In a sign of his ambitions to be a leading Republican voice on foreign affairs, Pompeo quietly led a delegation of business leaders and lawmakers on a trip to Kyiv in early April for a meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Pompeo said he would encourage Washington to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles. On the ground, he toured with leaders from Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical charity organization providing aid to Ukraine. That visit was largely overshadowed by news of Trump’s arraignment.
A retired Army captain with credentials from U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Harvard Law School, Pompeo pushed for a stronger NATO and increased military to deter Russia, even as Trump threatened to pull the U.S. out of the North Atlantic alliance. He was also one of the administration’s most vocal critics of China and its aggressions toward Taiwan.
Pompeo played a key role in the Abraham Accords, a peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Bahrain, and as an evangelical Christian he frequently touted the administration’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. He backed Trump’s decision to pull out of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal and the administration’s subsequent sanctions pressure campaign.
Pompeo has expressed regret for not making more progress with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, even after accompanying Trump to his three summits to meet with the hermit nation’s leader and negotiate North Korea’s denuclearization.
Despite his decision to not enter the race, Pompeo said he would continue to play a role in Republican politics.
Pompeo added in a statement: “To those of you this announcement disappoints, my apologies. And to those of you this thrills, know that I’m 59 years-old. There remain many more opportunities for which the timing might be more fitting as presidential leadership becomes even more necessary.”
[ad_2]
#Pompeo #passes #presidential #run
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
