Friday, December 10, 2021

On Wednesday, India’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat died in a helicopter crash in the hills near the Coonoor city of Tamil Nadu. The general was flying to Wellington, Tamil Nadu with 13 others. Among the dead were his wife and other top defence personnel. The aircraft involved in the crash was a Mil Mi-17 v5. The Indian Air Force later confirmed the death of all but one of the 14 persons on the flight.

The helicopter took off from Sulur Air Force Station and was headed to the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington, Tamil Nadu. General Rawat, his wife and his staff were travelling to the DSSC, where Rawat was to address the college’s faculty and student officers. At 12:08 PM local time (0638 UTC), the helicopter lost contact with the Sulur Air force base. It subsequently crashed near a residential colony of private tea estate employees on the outskirts of the hamlet of Nanjappachatiram, Bandishola Panchayat, in the Katteri-Nanchappanchathram area of Coonoor Taluk, Nilgiris district.

Krishnaswamy, an eyewitness told the BBC, “Even the electric poles shook. Trees toppled. There was smoke everywhere, there was a raging flame above the trees. I saw just one person with my own eyes, he was burning, and he fell down.” Reportedly, the crash victims were burnt beyond recognition. The only survivor Group Captain Varun Singh is undergoing treatments in the military hospital in Wellington. The cause of the crash remains unknown but is suspected to be bad weather and poor visibility. The Indian Air Force has initiated an inquiry about the crash to ascertain the reason.

The Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh expressed deep condolences about the incident and stated, he was “deeply anguished by the sudden demise of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other Armed Forces personnel in an extremely unfortunate helicopter accident today in Tamil Nadu. His untimely death is an irreparable loss to our Armed Forces and the country.” Rawat was the first Chief of Defence Staff of India who was appointed in December 2019 by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Following the expiry of broadcast corporation ABS-CBN’s legislative franchise, the Philippine government issued a cease and desist order dated yesterday, forcing the shut-down of broadcasting operations by the company. Later in the evening, the network signed off and went off-air. The last time the Philippine government ordered the network to shut down was during the martial law imposed by former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos back in 1972.

Republic Act No. 3846, also known as the “Radio Control Law”, states “no person, firm, company, association, or corporation shall construct, install, establish, or operate a radio transmitting station, or radio receiving station used for commercial purposes, or a radio broadcasting station, without having first obtained a franchise therefor from the Congress of the Philippines.” Since ABS-CBN’s legislative franchise, Republic Act No. 7966, expired on Monday, the network no longer had a valid franchise to continue airing their programs. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued a cease and desist order to the network yesterday, and in compliance, the network signed off that night.

The network tried to renew their franchise as early as July 2019, but all eleven of the legislative bills filed have been stuck in Congress. The franchise of ABS-CBN expired on Monday, the same day Congress reconvened after their Lenten Break, which began on March 13. Though the NTC is allowed to provide the network a provisional license while its application to the Congress is still being decided upon, the commission refused to provide the network with said license. A number of Senators condemned the act of the NTC, citing the move as a “grave abuse of governmental power” and “contrary to law”.

ABS-CBN Corporation is the largest television and radio broadcasting company in the Philippines with over 42 television stations, 10 digital channels, and 18 FM and five AM radio stations, and has been broadcasting for over 65 years. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened the network’s franchise renewal before, after the network didn’t carry some of his campaign commercials, which they’ve said was due to a lack of airtime, and he accused the network of “swindling”. Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a quo warranto petition on February 10, accusing the network of violating its franchise. After a Senate hearing was conducted on February 24, the Senate did not find the network had breached laws, nor its franchise terms. ABS-CBN CEO Carlo Katigbak said refunds for Duterte’s unaired political ads were offered, of which some were not accepted by his campaign. Katigbak apologized to Duterte during the hearing, which the President accepted according to a statement by the Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

The network’s news channel, ABS-CBN News Channel, is still on air, as the network claims the cease and desist order did not cover their news channel’s franchise.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Tony Blair today launched the Labour Party’s 112 page manifesto for a third term, entitled “Britain: Forward not back”, at London’s Mermaid Theatre this afternoon, promising not to increase income tax or VAT.

Blair, with Chancellor Gordon Brown, described the manifesto, which focused on economic policy, as “radical”, “quintessentially New Labour” and giving people the “chance to succeed and make the most of what they have”.

As well as economic promises, the manifesto pledged better social housing, increased funding and reform of education and the National Health Service and the introduction of community police patrols. The manifesto does not promise a freeze on National Insurance, the income-linked tax which funds the NHS and pensions.

Conservative leader Michael Howard said that the British people had “heard it all before”, and reiterated claims that Labour would have to increase taxes significantly in the third term.

Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell, whose party was the only mainstream party consistently against the Iraq war, said Labour would “not be judged by their promises, but by what they have done”, adding that Labour have not kept their previous promises.

The Conservative Party and Green Party launched their manifestos yesterday, and the Liberal Democrats launch theirs tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Ray Scott is running for the Family Coalition Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Algoma-Manitoulin riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Markets worldwide have surged in value following efforts by governments to ease the effect of the ongoing financial crisis, which has recently caused a massive decline in the value of stock markets.

On Sunday, the fifteen countries from the Eurogroup – that is, those countries which use the euro as official currency – had agreed on a joint plan to face the crisis, which would consist in supporting financial institutions and by guaranteeing interbank loans.

The Eurogroup meeting was the last of many which took place during the weekend. The G7 nations had met in Washington at the same time that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank held their Autumn meetings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average index is one of the indexes that have done particularly well today, and it closed up 11.08%, well over 9,000 points. General Motors was the best performer in this index, with its value rising by 31.49%. The Nasdaq rose by 11.81%.

The FTSE 100 has today gone up in value by 8,26%, to take the index back over the four thousand mark. TUI Travel was the best performing company in this index. It went up by 41.25 points (21.48%), to take it to a new share price of 233.25. Some shares in the FTSE, however, have continued to fall dramatically. HBOS today dropped in value by 31.48%.

The Brazilian Bovespa index today went up by 14,66%, while the Hang Seng and Singapore Straits Times went up by 10.24% and 6.57% respectively.

Stocks exchanges in Tokyo, Buenos Aires and Toronto were closed due to national holidays.

Thursday, October 22, 2020

2020 Melbourne Lord Mayor candidate Wayne Tseng answered some questions about his campaign for the upcoming election from Wikinews. The Lord Mayor election in the Australian city is scheduled to take place this week.

Tseng runs a firm called eTranslate, which helps software developers to make the software available to the users. In the candidate’s questionnaire, Tseng said eTranslate had led to him working with all three tiers of the government. He previously belonged to the Australian Liberal Party, but has left since then, to run for mayorship as an independent candidate.

Tseng is of Chinese descent, having moved to Australia with his parents from Vietnam. Graduated in Brisbane, Tseng received his PhD in Melbourne and has been living in the city, he told Wikinews. Tseng also formed Chinese Precinct Chamber of Commerce, an organisation responsible for many “community bond building initiatives”, the Lord Mayor candidate told Wikinews.

Tseng discussed his plans for leading Melbourne, recovering from COVID-19, and “Democracy 2.0” to ensure concerns of minorities in the city were also heard. Tseng also focused on the importance of the multi-culture aspect and talked about making Melbourne the capital of the aboriginals. Tseng also explained why he thinks Melbourne is poised to be a world city by 2030.

Tseng’s deputy Lord Mayor candidate Gricol Yang is a Commercial Banker and works for ANZ Banking Group.

Currently, Sally Capp is the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, the Victorian capital. Capp was elected as an interim Lord Mayor in mid-2018 after the former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle resigned from his position after sexual assault allegations. Doyle served as the Lord Mayor of Melbourne for almost a decade since 2008.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, an organic meatpacking company based in Arkansas City, Kansas, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for what the company claims is threats by the USDA that it would face prosecution if it proceeds with plans to test nearly 100% of its beef for Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease or BSE.

The USDA position is that allowing any meatpacking company to test every cow would undermine the agency’s official position, a position that holds to random testing as a scientifically adequate measure to assure safety. It also claims that 100% testing does not ensure food safety because the disease is difficult to detect in younger animals.

The USDA currently tests about 1% of cattle slaughtered in the U.S. The USDA’s objection is believed to be the result of pressure from larger meatpacking operations. In 2004, the president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association told the Washington Post that “If testing is allowed at Creekstone, we think it would become the international standard and the domestic standard, too.” Creekstone Farms says tests cost about $20 per animal, increasing the cost of beef by about 10 cents per pound.