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China took its first major step towards reopening two months ago, in January, when it scrapped quarantine requirements on arrival at international airports. Business visas were also resumed at the time China to allow foreign tourists after 3 years Beijing: China on Tuesday announced that it will allow foreign tourists into the country for the first time in three years and resume issuing various other categories of visas from March 15, the latest step in the country’s opening up after three years of strict border controls amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision to issue all categories of visas comes after China declared a “decisive victory” against Covid-19 and downgraded outbreak control protocols earlier this year. Allowing tourists back in the mainland means China has fully ended the much-criticised “zero-Covid” policy under which not only did Beijing keep its borders shuttered, but it also implemented frequent lockdowns and ran a regime of tests and contact tracing. China took i...

 China should “actively participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system” and promote “global security initiatives,” said Xi, the country’s most powerful leader in decades. China's Xi Jinping. BEJIING: President Xi Jinping called Monday for China to play a bigger role in managing global affairs after Beijing scored a diplomatic coup as the host of talks that produced an agreement by Saudi Arabia and Iran to reopen diplomatic relations. Xi gave no details of the ruling Communist Party's plans in a speech to China's ceremonial legislature. But Beijing has been increasingly assertive since he took power in 2012 and called for changes in the International Monetary Fund and other entities it says fail to reflect the desires of developing countries. China should “actively participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system” and promote “global security initiatives,” said Xi, the country’s most powerful leader in decades. That wi...

 "Unfortunately, on arrival, the passenger was declared dead by the airport medical team," the spokesperson said in a statement. Image used for representational purpose only. NEW DELHI/KARACHI: An IndiGo plane that took off from Delhi for Doha was diverted to Karachi on Sunday night after a passenger fell ill onboard, officials said. The passenger, a Nigerian national aged around 60, was later declared dead on arrival, they said. The officials said the aircraft, A320-271N, which was parked at the Karachi airport for nearly five hours, returned to Delhi after the authorities in Karachi issued the death certificate of the passenger and all formalities were completed. An IndiGo spokesperson on Monday said the flight, 6E-1736, operating from Delhi to Doha (Qatar), was diverted to Karachi (Pakistan) due to a medical emergency on board.  "Unfortunately, on arrival, the passenger was declared dead by the airport medical team," the spokesperson said in a statement. "We...

 Even though bottles may serve as a breeding ground for high numbers of bacteria, a microbiologist at the University of Reading has said that it is not necessarily dangerous.  As per the study, squeeze-top bottles are the cleanest of the three styles tested. (Unsplash/Rep pic) A new study has found that reusable bottles can harbour around 40,000 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat.  A team of researchers from US-based waterfilterguru.com swabbed different parts of water bottles including the spout lid, screw-top lid, stray lid and squeeze-top lid, three times each, and found two types of bacteria present - gram-negative rods and bacillus, HuffPost reported.   "They are objects that can't betray us," Australian Catholic University clinical psychologist and hoarding disorder expert, Associate Professor Keong Yap, said, comparing the phenomenon with objects children use to soothe anxiety (like stuffed toys). "They are reliable and predictable, unlike p...

 Rajasthan Congress in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa made comments on the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in February 2019, months before the Lok Sabha elections, in which 40 soldiers died.                                                                 Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa Jaipur: Rajasthan Congress in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa's controversial statement on Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised a storm in the BJP. Senior leaders of the party have accused him of insulting the country and the Prime Minister, much like Rahul Gandhi "the way he tries to defame the country's image abroad". Mr Randhawa, in a recent address at a Congress dharna asking for action on the Hindenburg Report, had urged his party to end infighting -- a situation that is generating headlines almost every day. All eyes are on ...

 The invitation came during a meeting between Mr Biden and Mr Sunak in San Diego, California, where they were taking part in the unveiling of a n uclear submarine pact with Australia.  President Biden invited PM Sunak to visit Washington in June, the White House readout said. San Diego: President Joe Biden on Monday invited British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to the White House in June. The invitation came during a meeting between Mr Biden and Mr Sunak in San Diego, California, where they were taking part in the unveiling of a nuclear submarine pact with Australia, according to a readout from the White House. "The president and prime minister discussed the importance of continuing to deepen the strong, enduring economic relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. President Biden invited Prime Minister Sunak to visit Washington in June to continue this conversation," the readout said. While in San Diego, they joined Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ...

 The GO from the tourism, culture and religious endowments department dated March 10 said the order was issued based on the verdict of the Madras High Court on January 11. Representational image. CHENNAI: The state government has banned the performance of kuravan-kurathi aattam in any cultural or aadal paadal programme under the guise of karakattam since it denigrates the Kuravar community.    The GO from the tourism, culture and religious endowments department dated March 10 said the order was issued based on the verdict of the Madras High Court on January 11. The joint action committee of the Tamil Nadu Kuravan, Malaikuravan and Kuravar Sangankal had also made a request to the government to ban kuravan kurathi aattam. The HC had directed the state government to ensure that no dance performance is identified using a caste/tribal community’s name so as to insult or degrade people belonging to such community. The court had also directed the government not to grant ...

 A beleaguered Education Minister Ranoj Pegu told journalists SEBA was forced to cancel the exam on Sunday midnight after getting “clues” about the paper’s leak.                                  Image used for representational purpose only. (File Photo) GUWAHATI: The leak of general science question paper of the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) examination, 2023, conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA), left the Himanta Biswa Sarma government embarrassed. The exam was cancelled on Sunday midnight, barely nine hours before it was to have been commenced at 9 am of Monday. Many students across the state went to their examination centres, unaware of the cancellation of the exam.  A beleaguered Education Minister Ranoj Pegu told journalists SEBA was forced to cancel the exam on Sunday midnight after getting “clues” about the paper’s leak.  He said the question pape...

 This is the third major international recognition for the chartbuster 'Naatu Naatu', composed by MM Keeravaani and penned by Chandrabose, after a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award. Indian composer M.M. Keeravaani (R) and lyricist Chandrabose accept the Oscar for Best Music (Original Song) for 'Naatu Naatu' from 'RRR' during the 95th Annual Academy Awards.  LOS ANGELES: Filmmaker SS Rajamouli's period action blockbuster "RRR" charted history by becoming the first Indian track to win the Academy Award in the Best Original Song category for "Naatu Naatu". In the category, the Telugu song was nominated alongside 'Applause' from 'Tell It Like a Woman', 'Hold My Hand' from 'Top Gun: Maverick', 'Lift Me Up' from 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' and 'This Is a Life' from 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'. This is the third major international recognition for the chartbust...

 Costa Titch scored a major hit with "Big Flexa," which has more than 45 million Youtube views, showcasing the amapiano local subgenre of house music blending house, jazz and lounge music. South African rapper Costa Titch. JOHANNESBURG: The South African rapper Costa Titch died on stage while performing, police said Sunday, as they opened an investigation in the circumstances of the 28-year-old's sudden death. The artist "collapsed while he was performing" on Saturday evening at the Ultra South Africa concert in the Johannesburg suburb of Nasrec, police told AFP. They said a post-mortem would establish the cause of death. Costa Titch scored a major hit with "Big Flexa," which has more than 45 million Youtube views, showcasing the amapiano local subgenre of house music blending house, jazz and lounge music. Videos on social media of his concert Saturday show him performing with his microphone in hand when he appears to fall. He continues singing but ...

Flexibility emanates from the regulated players which have been dominating the market for a long time, says Shyam Maheshwari SSG Capital taking what he said on the flexibility of the banks and the non-banks. The financial expert considers the first one as regulated and the second one as leveraged. According to him, the leverage platforms have certain constraints which were shown when IFS has happened in terms of whether it is LLM or it is provisioning norms. Shyam maheswari Mr. Maheshwari also identifies that flexibility is available in two ways. Flexibility is available in terms of speed and also in terms of crafting a solution which is meeting the need of the borrower then. “It could be for capital formation, which is quite a constraint in terms of financing from the traditional sector in India”, he says. According to Shyam Maheshwari , the third is real estate and the fourth is intangibles. He deliberates that a lot of these sectors as the building blocks of the country especially...