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Friday,24-March-2023

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Turkey hikes up passage fees through its straits almost fivefold

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Turkey has introduced a nearly fivefold hike in fees for passage through its straits, which connect the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, local media reported.

Citing officials from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the Sabah daily said on Monday that the new passage toll will be effective from October 7, reports Xinhua news agency.

The passage fee increased from around $0.8 dollars to $4 per tonne, it added, noting that annual revenues are expected to rise to $200 million, compared to the current 40 million generated from some 40,000 passages per year.

Following the rights provided by the Montreux Convention, Turkey has the right to charge ships passing through its straits, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, for service costs, including lighthouses, emergency preparations, and medical services.

Straits of Turkey present a shorter cargo route for big volumes of goods transferred through the regions.

Crossing through Turkey’s largest city Istanbul, the Bosphorus Strait represents a challenging voyage as an almost 30 kilometres long route with a width of about 700 meters at its choke points.

Another strait, the Dardanelles in the Canakkale province is twice the length.

The passage fee hike came shortly after the straits of Turkey became the epicentre of global attention as ships carrying tonnes of Ukrainian grain sailed through them.

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Atif Aslam, wife Sara welcome baby girl in holy month of Ramzan

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 Pakistani playback singer Atif Aslam, who is known for chartbusters such as ‘Aadat’, ‘Bakhuda’, ‘Jeena Jeena’, ‘Jaane De’ and several others, has become a proud faher as he and his wife Sara Bharwana welcome a baby girl.

The ‘Tajdar-e-Haram’ hitmaker took to his Instagram on Thursday to share the news of his baby’s arrival with his fans. He posted a picture of his daughter wrapped up in pink colour baby sleepwear.

The baby is named Halima.

He wrote in the caption: “Finally the wait is over. The new queen of my heart has arrived.”

“Both baby and Sarah are fine Alhamdulilah. Please do remember us in your prayers. Ramadan Mubarak from Halima Atif Aslam 23/03/2023.”

He also added #Ramadan in the caption.

Atif has sung many songs in Bollywood films including ‘Tere Sang Yaara’ from ‘Rustom’, ‘Tu Jaane Na’ and ‘Tera Hone Laga Hoon’ from ‘Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani’ and ‘Tere Bin’ from ‘Bas Ek Pal’.

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International News

FIRST ROZA ON THURSDAY IN SAUDI ARABIA & JERUSALEM OR PALESTINE

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JERUSALEM: The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, Mohammad Hussein, declared that Thursday, March 23, will be the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

RIYADH: The crescent moon was not sighted on Tuesday evening in Saudi Arabia and Thursday, March 23, will be the start of the holy month of Ramadan, the Kingdom’s Supreme Court has said. 

The court called on all Muslims in the Kingdom to look for the Ramadan crescent on Tuesday evening that corresponds to Shaban 29, 1444.

The Ministry of Justice announced it has launched an electronic system for crescent sighting “with the aim of automating and governing the moon sighting processes, and unifying work procedures between the courts of first instance and the Supreme Court.” 

The service aims to unify the data source of the observatory through a robust electronic system that provides speed and integration with the relevant authorities, raising the quality of the observatory operations, and speeding up the issuance of the Supreme Court’s decision regarding new moon sightings.

More than 1.9 billion Muslims around the world will mark the holy month, during which believers abstain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn until sunset.

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Indian flag pulled down by pro-Khalistani protesters at London mission; MEA summons UK diplomat

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The tricolour flying atop the Indian High Commission in London was pulled down by a group of protesters waving Khalistani flags and chanting pro-Khalistani slogans on Sunday evening.

Scotland Yard, headquarters of Metropolitan Police, said it was “aware” of an incident in the area but is yet to issue an official statement.

India has, meanwhile, registered its strong protest with the British government over the safety of its diplomatic mission and questioned the lack of sufficient security at the premises.

Images of shattered windows and men climbing the India House building were circulating on social media and videos from the scene show an Indian official grabbing the flag from a protester through the first-floor window of the mission, while the protester is seen waving a Khalistan flag hanging off its ledge.

MEA summons UK diplomat
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the senior-most UK diplomat in New Delhi was summoned late evening on Sunday to convey India’s “strong protest” at the actions taken by separatist and extremist elements against the Indian High Commission in London.

“An explanation was demanded for the complete absence of the British security that allowed these elements to enter the High Commission premises. She was reminded in this regard of the basic obligations of the UK Government under the Vienna Convention,” the MEA said in a statement.

“India finds unacceptable the indifference of the UK government to the security of Indian diplomatic premises and personnel in the UK. It is expected that the UK Government would take immediate steps to identify, arrest and prosecute each one of those involved in today’s incident, and put in place stringent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents,” it said.

The banned terrorist organisation, Sikhs For Justice, is conducting a so-called “Referendum 2020” amid a crackdown on pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh in Punjab.

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