Amit Bagga, CEO of Daryaganj restaurant, shows a freshly prepared butter chicken dish and the lentil dish Dal Makhani inside Daryaganj restaurant at a mall, in Noida, India, January 23, 2024. REUTERS/Sahiba Chawdhary/File PhotoWith new photographic and video evidence, an Indian court battle over the origins of the world famous butter chicken is set to get spicier. That "story of invention of butter chicken does not ring true" and is aimed at misleading the court, Daryaganj said in a new, 642-page counter-filing reviewed by Reuters. Butter chicken is ranked 43rd in a list of world's "best dishes" by TasteAtlas, and bragging rights about who invented it can matter, brand experts said. Its butter chicken dishes start at $8 in New Delhi, and are priced at $23 in New York.
Source:The Standard
May 17, 2024 23:21 UTC
A 17-year-old teenager was among 45 women arrested during two anti-prostitution operations in Wan Chai and Yuen Long with all but one found to have a mainland origin. Both operations were jointly conducted by the police and the Immigration Department on Thursday. In the first operation, officers arrested 37 mainland women aged 17 to 57 in Yuen Long for breaching conditions of stay to combat illegal prostitution activities. In the second one, officers raided a number of units on Thomson Road and Lockhart Road and arrested a 21-year-old non-Chinese woman as well as seven mainland women aged 29 to 49 also for breaching conditions of stay. Police said they will step up enforcement against illegal prostitution and called on citizens to report suspicious illegal activities if they encounter any.
Source:The Standard
May 17, 2024 11:45 UTC
Rishi Sunak APSchools in England will be banned from teaching sex education and gender identity to children below nine under new government proposals. It follows concerns over the content of lessons for primary age school children, an education ministry statement said. "That's why I was horrified to hear reports of this happening in our classrooms last year," he added. In addition to a ban on sex education for under nines, the "contested theory of gender identity will not be taught," the ministry added. The move follows a landmark review which last month urged "extreme caution" on prescribing masculinizing or feminizing hormone treatments for young people grappling with gender identity issues.
Source:The Standard
May 17, 2024 07:49 UTC
China's holdings - the most behind Japan's - fell by US$7.6 billion (HK$59.28 billion) to US$767.4 billion. Starting with the February report, the Treasury began including details about how much the changes in a nation's long-term Treasuries holdings were due to movements in prices of the securities. Total overseas holdings of US Treasuries rose by US$119.9 billion to US$8.09 trillion in March. Japan's holdings rose by US$19.9 billion to US$1.19 trillion while the UK's holdings, the third largest, increased by US$26.8 billion to US$728.1 billion, an all-time high. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell by about five basis points in the month.
Source:The Standard
May 17, 2024 07:08 UTC
The government intend to deter locals from chasing extreme weather by imposing fines and imprisonment, said Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki on Thursday. To enhance strategies and measures to cope with extreme weather, a joint press conference was held by the government to prepare for the upcoming typhoon season by strengthening forecast warnings and undertaking emergency and recovery measures. For citizens who refuse to listen to warnings, Chan said the government will take strict enforcement actions and charged them to reach a deterrent effect. Under Secretary for Security Michael Cheuk Hau-yip said rescue workers were deployed 35 times to mountain and water search and rescue over the course of three years under extreme weather. He added that the government would shut down beaches and the country parks during extreme weather, and those breaking the ban will be fined HK$2,000 and jailed for 14 days.
Source:The Standard
May 17, 2024 02:29 UTC
Community fishingFor the record, I am not a fish lover; however, I consider myself a lover of sea and sand. Of course, I was rather surprised by this, considering that the community they serve mostly belong to the blue economy, since fishing was the main source of income. Hence this is why eventually, we thought of how to establish some kind of community fishing and environmental initiative in order to help people out. It is also worth mentioning that while community fishing matters in sustaining communities, commercial fishing is also an integral component to the overall ecosystem. Community fishing is so important because it serves as the foundation of food security and at the same time, fisherfolk are able to participate in management measures that will allow their communities to thrive.
Source:Philippine Star
May 16, 2024 21:02 UTC
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday bared an alternative scheme to bring down the price of rice amid proposals to amend the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL). ADVERTISEMENTMarcos said that if rice prices are high, the government would release cheap rice into the market to force the prices down. While Marcos reiterated that he would certify amendments to the RTL as urgent, he has been speaking to both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The RTL limited the National Food Authority’s role in selling rice. The proposed amendments hope to allow the said agency to sell affordable rice during times of emergency or when prices increase.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 16, 2024 20:21 UTC
Two spam call blocker apps – “CallApp” and “Truecaller” – upload and consolidate information of the entirety of the users’ contacts into the apps’ databases, rendering it available for search by other users, the Consumer Council has found. For CallApp, the council found that it automatically uploads and integrates all contact information into the traders’ databases for other users to perform a “reverse lookup”. Truecaller also accesses and uploads users’ contact lists in a similar manner, but only when the user downloads an APK file from its official website, installs the app, and enables the “Enhanced Search Functionality”. The names and other information of these number holders are also made available for viewing without any need for approval from the relevant people. The privacy policy of CallApp stipulates that users’ personal data and unlisted data will still be stored in the developer’s backup system despite the five years retention period.
Source:The Standard
May 16, 2024 16:24 UTC
According to official data, the net pay trend indicators (PTI) for civil servants in the upper, middle, and lower salary bands are 4.01, 4.32, and 5.47 percent, respectively. Alexa Chow Yee-ping, managing director at recruitment agency ACTS Consulting, said she was surprised by the latest findings in the 2024 Pay Trend Survey Report. Civil servants had their salaries frozen when the economy was bad and the accumulative salary hikes for civil servants in certain ranks still lag behind the inflation rate. Leung Chau-ting, chair of the Federation of Civil Service Unions, hopes the government will increase civil servants’ salaries in accordance with the indicators. Read more: Govt releases latest net pay trend indicators for salary adjustments of civil servants
Source:The Standard
May 16, 2024 15:08 UTC
House panel won't invite Rodrigo Duterte to EJK probeFormer president Rodrigo Duterte and former Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa attend the funeral mass of Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla at San Pedro Cathedral in Davao City on Jan. 15, 2024. "I don’t even think that if we invite (Duterte and Dela Rosa) that they will be able to attend. They were denied their rights," Abante said. Will the findings of the House human rights panel be forwarded to the ICC? Official figures put deaths from Duterte's anti-narcotics campaign at more than 6,000, but estimates from human rights groups peg the actual number of fatalities as at least 30,000.
Source:Philippine Star
May 16, 2024 13:59 UTC
Marcos: All Tarlac politicians don't know Alice GuoMANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Thursday that no single politician from Tarlac knows Bamban Mayor Alice Guo and that the government has been investigating her for some time over her alleged dubious records. ("I know all the politicians from Tarlac, and no one knows her. Marcos said the government earlier "caught" Guo after an official raid at Bamban surfaced her questionable documents. The president did not clarify whether this raid is the same as the raid conducted on a POGO compound in Bamban. Guo's identity came into question after a Senate hearing led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros found that the Bamban mayor did not have a birth certificate.
Source:Philippine Star
May 16, 2024 13:59 UTC
Marcos' education priorities: Climb world rankings, keep free tuition lawPresident Marcos and Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte repaint chairs in a classroom during a visit to the Victorino Mapa High School in San Miguel, Manila yesterday as part of the annual ‘Brigada Eskwela’ aimed at preparing schools for the opening of classes on Aug. 29. Marcos said during the National Higher Education Day Summit on Wednesday that "much work still needs to be done" after no Philippine university broke into the top 100 schools in THE's 2024 Asia University Rankings. But we should also allow private parties to participate and not shove private parties to the sidelines," Marcos added. "When it comes to educating our youth, government and private schools are not competitors but must be regarded as equal partners," he said. Marcos said: "We know that whatever is spent on education, we should never regard as an expenditure.
Source:Philippine Star
May 15, 2024 21:52 UTC
Overseas tour groups on cruise boats will be able to enter and stay in China without a visa for up to 15 days, according to the National Immigration Administration. Source: AFP/Getty ImagesChina will allow visa-free entry for foreign tour groups that come to the country via cruise ships in a further bid to attract international visitors and boost its sluggish inbound travel market. Overseas tour groups on cruise boats will be able to enter and stay in China without a visa for up to 15 days, according to the National Immigration Administration. “The visa-free entry policy for foreign tour groups on cruise ships will provide policy support for the development of the cruise industry,” Mao said. A total of 107,000 passenger trips were made via cruise ships in China in 2023, according to Zhu.
Source:The Standard
May 15, 2024 18:16 UTC
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Robin Padilla wants the rice tariffication law amended as he seeks to restore the role of the National Food Authority (NFA) in managing the country’s supply chain. ADVERTISEMENTPadilla’s measure was lodged in light of the House of Representatives’ ongoing push for amending the Rice Tariffication Law. READ: House OKs proposed rice tariff law amendments on 2nd readingSenators Cynthia Villar, Sonny Angara and Nancy Binay earlier said the government needs to carefully study plans to reinstate the mandate of NFA to buy and sell rice. However, agriculture chief Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. clarified that the proposed amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law do not necessarily seek to bring back the “full power” of the NFA. Subscribe to our daily newsletter SIGN ME UPREAD: DA chief says RTL amendments won’t restore ‘full power’ of NFA
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 15, 2024 16:45 UTC
Philippines deports 165 Chinese nationals from Bamban POGO hubOne hundred sixty-five workers from Zun Yuan Techonology Inc. have been deported to Pudong District in Shanghai, China on May 14, 2024. MANILA, Philippines (Updated 5:08 p.m.) — A total of 165 out of 167 Chinese nationals, employed by a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) situated in Bamban, Tarlac, were deported on Tuesday, May 14. PAOCC spokesman Winston Casio said the cases of the two Chinese nationals left involve violations of trafficking in persons and serious illegal detention. The deported Chinese nationals will also be included in the immigration bureau’s blacklist. The 165 Chinese workers were involved in "scamming activities" and did not have proper travel documents, making them "undesirable aliens", the immigration statement said.
Source:Philippine Star
May 15, 2024 14:11 UTC