Virus impacts global economy, raises concerns of job wrecking recessions

Bidar, Jan 31: In a disturbing development, the police have arrested two women – a schoolteacher and mother of two students – in connection with staging a play against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens at a prestigious school in Karnataka’s Bidar.

The arrested have been identified as Farida Begum, headmistress of Shaheen Urdu Medium Primary School, and Navida, the mother of a student who played a role in the play.

The development comes days after police filed a sedition case against the management of Shaheen School following a complaint lodged by the ABVP claiming that play contained objectionable dialogues against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The drama was performed during an annual function of the school on January 21.

Bidar SP Sreedhara T confirmed the arrest of Farida Begum and Navida, and said the accused were remanded to judicial custody on Thursday.

Sreedhara said that based on the complaint by one Neelesh Rakshal, the police filed an FIR under sedition charges, initially against the headmistress and management of the school on Saturday. He said that the police have questioned about 50 people, including the members of the management committee of Shaheen Urdu Medium Primary School, staff of the school, audience, parents and students. Based on the statements and evidence, the headmistress and the parent have been arrested.

The SP said that as per the statements and evidence collected, they came to know that the headmistress played a major role in organising the controversial play. The students practised the drama for a week and the headmistress knew about its script containing controversial dialogues against the Prime Minister and senior BJP leaders.

Considering this, she has been booked for creating communal disharmony and abetting sections. The SP said that when a dialogue of slapping the Prime Minister was said on the stage, Navida gave her chappals to the child, to be used while saying the dialogue. She has been arrested for abetting.

Expressing shock over sedition case and arrests, Dr Abdul Qadeer, the chairman of Shaheen Group of Institutions, said that the school management would fight out legally.

About Shaheen Group

Founded by Dr Abdul Qadeer, Shaheen Group has spread its wings through nine states of India and runs 43 institutions and related units. It has also been running a unique course for Huffaz named as ‘Hifz Ul Quran Plus’ in which Huffaz are prepared to appear and excel in competitive exams (NEET-JEE(IIT)).

According to Dr Qadeer, Shaheen’s mission is to engage, educate and empower wards, equipping them with strengths to enter the world of opportunities through free education across various domains in state- owned academic centers of excellence.

The group also runs coaching centers for medical and engineering entrance examinations. So far 1,200 students from the Shaheen Group of institutions got seats in government medical colleges, he said.

‘Hifz Ul Quran Plus’ course was for huffaz between 12 and 17 years. A four-year integrated course is conducted for Huffaz-E-Karam for getting students modern education. By pursuing this course and by appearing in competitive exams (NEET-IIT JEE), Huffaz will be able to get admission into MBBS, BE, & MBA, he said.

May 28: Boeing is cutting more than 12,000 jobs through layoffs and buyouts as the coronavirus pandemic seizes the travel industry, and more cuts are coming.

One of the nation's biggest manufacturers will lay off 6,770 U.S. employees this week, and another 5,520 workers are taking buyout offers to leave voluntarily in the coming wee

Air travel within the U.S. tumbled 96% by mid-April, to fewer than 100,000 people on some days. It has recovered slightly. The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 264,843 people at airports on Tuesday, a drop of 89% compared with the same Tuesday a year ago.

Boeing had said it would cut 10% of a work force that numbered about 160,000. A Boeing spokesperson said Wednesday's actions represent the largest number of job cuts, but several thousand additional jobs will be eliminated in the next few months.

The layoffs are expected to be concentrated in the Seattle area, home to Boeing's commercial-airplanes business. The defense and space division is stable and will help blunt the impact of the decline in air travel and demand for passenger jets, the company said.

Boeing said additional job cuts will be made in international locations, but it did not specify numbers.

"The COVID-19 pandemic's devastating impact on the airline industry means a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services our customers will need over the next few years, which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices," CEO David Calhoun said Wednesday in a memo to employees.

Calhoun said the company faces the challenges of keeping employees safe and working with suppliers and airlines "to assure the traveling public that it can fly safe from infection."

Calhoun warned that Boeing will have to adjust business plans constantly because the pandemic makes it hard to predict the impact on the company's business.

Boeing's crisis began with two crashes of its 737 Max, which led regulators around the world to ground the jetliner last year. The company's problems have deepened with the coronavirus, which has cut global air traffic by up to 90% and caused airlines to postpone or cancel orders and deliveries for new planes.

New Delhi, Mar 14: Excise duty on petrol and diesel was on Saturday hiked by ₹3 per litre as the government looked to mop up gains arising from fall in international oil prices.

Special excise duty on petrol was hiked by ₹2 to ₹8 per litre incase of petrol and to Rs 4 incase of diesel, an official notification said.

Additionally, road cess on petrol was raised by ₹1 per litre each on petrol and diesel to ₹10.

The increase in excise duty would in normal course result in a hike in petrol and diesel prices but most of it would be adjusted against the fall in rates that would have necessitated because of slump in international oil prices.