NEW DELHI, 27 December 2021, (TON): While the Union government mulls law to regulate cryptocurrency, Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an affiliate of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has demanded a ban on the private digital currency but supported the exploration of blockchain technology.

In a resolution passed following the two-day Rashtriya Sabha of SJM in Gwalior, the outfit said that virtual currency should be banned citing reasons such as “there is no underlying asset”, “issuer is not identifiable”, “recognition of cryptocurrency may lead to heavy speculation which may adversely impact financial markets” and “recognition may also result in money laundering and terror financing”.

Putting forth its demand for the ban, the SJM said persons holding cryptocurrencies may be allowed to sell or exchange the same within a short period, subject to the provision of submitting the information to the income tax department.

It has also asked the government to create awareness and to come up with a law for the issuance of digital currency by the RBI.

The SJM said “allowing cryptocurrency shall result into capital account convertibility from the back door.”

SJM, however, said that blockchain technology should not be linked to cryptocurrencies only and the use of this technology in all spheres of economic or social activities must be encouraged.

KABUL, 27 December 2021, (TON): Afghanistan and Kazakhstan have agreed on creating a joint chamber of trade and enhancing commercial cooperation.

Acting Minister of Trade and Industry Nooruddin Azizi and his Kazakh counterpart Bakhyt Sultanov made the announcement on Saturday.

At a joint media briefing in Kabul, Azizi said comprehensive talks were held with a visiting Kazakh delegation, led by Sultanov.

Efforts were ongoing to establish a joint chamber of commerce, he said, adding: “Steps have been taken to set up a chamber of commerce.”

Afghanistan was willing to jointly work with Kazakhstan for bolstering bilateral trade relations,” the minister said after talks with the Kazakh delegation.

Sultanov, bringing half a tonne of medical products in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, promised more aid would reach Kabul soon.

He said “if we refer to trade relations, exports and imports of goods between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan have fallen by 27%.”

KABUL, 27 December 2021, (TON): Transportation and Civil Aviation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on Sunday, December 26 announced that three French Radars arrived in Kabul and were submitted to the ministry.

The three Radars will be installed in the Afghan capital Kabul, Balkh, and Herat province.

The statement of the ministry reads that the French Company Thales will provide Afghanistan with these Radars by the end of 2023 and enable Afghanistan to gain full control of its aerial space.

Afghanistan currently has a contract worth 112 million Euros with the French Company Thales.

The Radars are supposed to be installed in 12 sites in Afghanistan. It is worth mentioning that the contract was initially signed between Thales and the relevant administrations of the previous Afghan government.

NEW DELHI, 27 December 2021, (TON): Indian economy is all set to become sixth largest economy in the world leaving French and British economy behind, says British Consultancy Cybr report made public.

The report says that in the year 2022, Indian economy will exceed French economy whereas it will trump British economy in 2023. However, the report had a bad news for China as it says that it will take time for the Mandarins to become world's top economy in dollar terms.

Cebr report said "India looks set to overtake France next year and then Britain in 2023 to regain its place as the world's sixth biggest economy.”

The report added “the report also said that world's economic output will exceed $100 trillion for the first time in 2022. However, it will take China a little longer than previously thought to overtake the United States as the No.1 economy.”

The British Consultancy Cebr predicted that China will become the world's top economy in dollar terms in 2030, two years later than forecast in last year's World Economic League Table report.

NEW DELHI, 27 December 2021, (TON): India has imposed antidumping duties on five Chinese products, including certain aluminium goods and some chemicals, for five years to guard local manufacturers from cheap imports from the neighbouring country.

According to separate notifications of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the duties have been imposed on certain flat rolled products of aluminium, sodium hydrosulphite (used on dye industry); silicone sealant (used in manufacturing of solar photovoltaic modules, and thermal power applications); hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) component R-32; and hydrofluorocarbon blends (both have uses in refrigeration industry).

These duties were imposed following recommendations of the commerce ministry’s investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR).

The DGTR in separate probes have concluded that these products have been exported at a price below normal value in Indian markets, which has resulted in dumping.

DHAKA, 27 December 2021, (TON): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave the Maldives, ending her maiden six-day bilateral visit.

She went to the Maldives on December 22 at the invitation of the county's President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

The prime minister's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told media "a special VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage will depart the Velana International Airport at 13:30pm (local time).”

The flight is scheduled to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 6:15pm (Bangladesh time) today.

On the second day of her visit on December 23, two MoUs on Recruitment of Qualified Health Professionals and on Cooperation in the Areas of Youth and Sports Development and an agreement for the Elimination of Double Taxation with Respect to the Taxes on Income and the Prevention of Tax Evasion and Avoidance were signed.

DUBAI, 26 December 2021, (TON): Remote learning, where the student and the teacher are not physically present in a traditional classroom environment, has become the norm in most parts of the world.

Information is relayed through discussion boards, video conferencing and online assessments. Educational activities have assumed a variety of formats and methods, most of which use computer technology over the Internet.

Now, with new variants of concern emerging such as the omicron strain, and infections again on the rise in many parts of the world, it increasingly looks as if remote learning, instead of being a stopgap, is here to stay.

Disrupting the school year for more than 1.7 billion students across the world, the pandemic has accelerated an existing trend toward digitalization, changing the way in which people study, work and interact.

What began as a temporary solution to allow schools and universities to complete the academic year while conforming to stringent social-distancing regulations has become a fixture of the education system.

Iraqi pupils wearing face masks attend class on the first day of the new academic year in Mosul.

KUALA LUMPUR, 26 December 2021, (TON): Officials said “the death toll from Malaysia’s worst floods in years rose to 46 Saturday, with five people still missing, as work crews continued a massive clean-up on Christmas day.”

Days of torrential rain caused rivers to overflow last weekend, swamping cities, cutting off major roads, and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Selangor Malaysia’s most densely populated and wealthiest state, encircling the capital Kuala Lumpur  has been one of the worst-hit areas.

Many in its flood-hit state capital Shah Alam were left stranded in their homes with barely any food for days, before being evacuated on boats in a chaotic rescue operation.

Inspector General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said the death toll rose to 46 people as more bodies were recovered, with the majority of the fatalities in Selangor and Pahang states.

He told a press conference “there are still five people missing. We hope they will be found soon.”

He said 54,532 people were still in more than 300 evacuation centers across seven states and 68 roads remained closed due to flooding.

WASHINGTON, 26 December 2021, (TON): Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope, a revolutionary instrument built to peer the farthest yet into the cosmos, was launched by rocket early on Saturday from South America's northeastern coast, opening a much anticipated new era of astronomical exploration.

The powerful $9 billion infrared telescope, hailed by Nasa as the premiere space-science observatory of the next decade, was carried aloft inside the cargo bay of an Ariane 5 rocket that blasted off at about 7:30am EST from the European Space Agency's (ESA) launch base in French Guiana.

The flawless Christmas Day launch, with a countdown conducted in French, was carried live on a joint Nasa-ESA webcast.

If all goes as planned, the 14,000-pound instrument will be released from the French-built rocket after a 26-minute ride into space and gradually unfurl to nearly the size of a tennis court over the next 13 days as it sails onward.

Live video captured by a camera mounted on the rocket's upper stage showed the Webb moving gently away high above the Earth as it was jettisoned. Flight controllers confirmed moments later that Webb's power supply was operational.

ANKARA, 26 December 2021, (TON): A source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told media “Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held telephone talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.”

The agency’s interlocutor said “during the talks, the ministers discussed bilateral relations and recent ev-ents in the South Caucas-us.”

On December 20, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said at a press conference in Ankara that the special representatives of Turkey and Armenia on the normalization of relations between the two countries could hold a meeting in the near future.