Business

Indore, Oct 29 (PTI) Amid the soaring prices of onion, Union Agriculture Minister has said one lakh tonne of buffer stock of the key kitchen staple is being released by the government to provide relief to people.

He was talking to reporters on Wednesday after taking part in a rally in Dharampuri town of Indore district ahead of the November 3 bypolls to 28 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh.

"The government has already taken cognisance of the issue of rising prices of onion and its one lakh tonne of buffer stock is being released through NAFED," Tomar said.

Mumbai, Oct 28 (PTI) NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday blamed the central government's policies for the spiralling prices of onion and said he would speak to the Centre about the stock limit imposed on the commodity traders.

Traders kept off the onion auction in most of the Agriculture Produce Market Committees in Maharashtra's Nashik district, including at Lasalgaon APMC, Asia's biggest onion market, for the third consecutive day on Wednesday to protest against the Centre-imposed stock limit on the kitchen staple.

New Delhi, Oct 28 (PTI) Prominent Muslim body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Wednesday voiced support for the boycott call against French products given by Muslims in the Middle East and beyond over the controversy surrounding depictions of Prophet Muhammad.

In a statement, Jamiat general secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani strongly condemned French President Emmanuel Macron for "supporting insulting cartoons of Prophet Muhammad under the pretext of freedom of expression".

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Life for many Americans may not return to normal until the end of 2021 or into 2022, Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the nation's top infectious expert, said Wednesday.

"It will be easily by the end of 2021, and perhaps even into the next year, before we start having some semblances of normality," Fauci said during a special webinar titled "Conversations on COVID-19: The Global View," hosted by the University of Melbourne.

PARIS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- France will go into national lockdown starting from Friday to stem the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday evening.

"The virus is circulating at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated," said Macron in a televised address to the nation. "Like all our neighbors, we are at the same point, overwhelmed by a second wave which will undoubtedly be harder and more deadly than the first."

28 Oct 2020; MEMO: The Grand Mufti of the Sultanate of Oman, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Hamad Al-Khalili, on Monday declared his full support for the boycott of French products following French President Emmanuel Macron’s offensive comments about Islam and its Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Sheikh Al-Khalili called on the Muslim nation to withdraw its investments from economic institutions run by “arrogant aggressors” and to work towards building fully independent global economies.

28 Oct 2020; MEMO: Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri vowed to form a government of specialists yesterday, local media reported.

The 20 or 24-person cabinet will not include well-known political figures aside from Hariri, the reports claimed, but will involve technocrats named by key political parties.

28 Oct 2020; MEMO: Israeli wine produced in the occupied Golan Heights Winery will be sold in the United Arab Emirates from Thursday, reported The Jerusalem Post.

The bottles of wine will be made available in Dubai before being distributed to other emirates. The United States is currently the largest export market for Israeli wine.

New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) India and the US on Tuesday announced the extension of the duration of an MoU between them concerning cooperation with the Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP).

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday brought the Trump administration’s anti-China campaign to two Indian Ocean island nations considered particularly at risk for what American officials allege is Chinese exploitation.

Pompeo is visiting Sri Lanka and the Maldives to press the two countries to be on guard against potential predatory lending and investment by China.