Latest news with #113
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Pant varsity scientists develop high-yielding barley variety for 12 states
Rudrapur: In a significant breakthrough, scientists at GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Pantnagar have developed a high-yielding, six-row barley variety named UPB 1106 (Pant Barley 1106), after 12 years of research. The new variety is expected to enhance barley production across several Indian states, while also offering improved nutritional value. The variety was officially released by the central sub-committee on crop standards under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and has been notified by the Union ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare for cultivation across the plains of 12 Indian states – including eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, and the northeastern region. JP Jaiswal, coordinator of the wheat and barley research project at the university, said, "Pant Barley 1106 has consistently outperformed existing varieties in national trials conducted by ICAR-Indian Wheat and Barley Research Institute, Karnal. In the northeastern states, it recorded 19.94% and 10.32% higher yields than HUB 113 and DWRB 137, respectively." The variety is resistant to brown and yellow rust, and shows improved resistance to blight and lodging — making it ideal for irrigated, timely sown conditions. It also boasts superior nutritional quality with 12.3% protein content, surpassing HUB 113 (11.7%) and DWRB 137 (11.2%). "With its resistance traits, high productivity, and better grain quality, UPB 1106 is set to boost barley production and promote better health outcomes," Jaiswal added. Barley, rich in beta-glucan fiber, is increasingly valued in multi-grain diets for its ability to reduce body fat, control weight, and manage diabetes—making the launch of UPB 1106 especially timely. Anil Hafeez, an agri-scientist said, "The states targeted for these crops fall largely under humid to sub-humid tropical and subtropical zones, with annual rainfall ranging between 1,000 to 2,000 mm. The Indo-Gangetic plains have deep alluvial soils, rich in nutrients and well-draining, which is ideal for cereal crops like barley, especially in the Rabi season," he said. He also noted that improved farming techniques are making the acidic, organic-rich soils of Assam and other northeastern states increasingly viable for barley cultivation. Farmers who have sown the new variety reported encouraging results. Ramesh Yadav, a farmer from Jafarpur village, said, "My friends in eastern UP said that they have seen a visible difference. The grains are fuller, the plants stand strong even after irrigation, and the yield has gone up. This variety has truly boosted their confidence. We will use this variety this year in our farms." Gurmeet Singh, a farmer from Kartarpur village, said, "There's better disease resistance and the protein content is excellent. It's helping us grow both income and health." The new variety was developed by university scientists JP Jaiswal, Swati, and Anil Kumar. University vice chancellor Manmohan Singh Chauhan, director of research AS Nain, and dean of agriculture Subhash Chandra lauded the team for their remarkable achievement.
Daily Maverick
23-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
State housing CEO promises ‘morale-boosting' payment to staff, including R600K personal cheque
Under fire from whistle-blowers, National Housing Finance Corporation CEO Azola Mayekiso has promised to give staff a lavish once-off payment, which if approved will see her take home nearly R600 000 in bonus pay. National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) CEO Azola Mayekiso appeared to have a staff problem within her state-owned agency, a body which is supposed to broaden access to housing finance for low- and middle-income South Africans. Whistle-blowers were laying complaints against her on a protected hotline and petitioning Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements for assistance. In the just-over two years she had been in her post, four key executives had left under her leadership: two taking early retirement, one accepting a settlement and one resigning. To boost morale, Mayekiso promised a once-off special payment to all staff — this at a government agency which met just 39% of its performance targets in the last audited year. In an email sent to all NHFC staff on 31 March, Mayekiso wrote: 'You will be pleased to note that management took a proposal to the Board last week for a once off [sic] ex-gratia [sic] payment to all staff in order to boost staff morale in the organisation.' Mayekiso wrote that the NHFC board, whose membership terms have since expired without a replacement board in place, had approved the payment subject to Mayekiso obtaining permission from Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane. 'This ex-gratia [sic] payment will be a once off [sic] 13% of your CTC [cost to company] for all staff but it will be 11% for executives,' wrote Mayekiso. The latest NHFC annual report revealed Mayekiso to be on an annual package of R5,113,000, meaning that she stood to take home around R562,430 as a once-off payment. The remaining eight executives would cumulatively net more than R3-million. Mayekiso's email continued: 'From a timing point of view, I am sending the letter to the Minister today and she will have the month of April to object if she so wishes. Should she not object, then we will pay out these once-off payments at the end of April 2025.' The CEO added, 'I hope this gesture goes a long way towards boosting your morale.' On 16 April, Daily Maverick reported on the allegations of misgovernance against Mayekiso and the exceptionally high board fees earned by the outgoing NHFC board. Daily Maverick was informed by an NHFC insider, who asked for anonymity, that Mayekiso suspended a senior official on the day of the article's publication — and subsequently emailed all staff once again. In that email, Mayekiso defended herself against the allegations recorded in our reporting. She wrote that staff were free to continue to use the NHFC's anonymous tip-off line, but added: 'What will not be tolerated at the NHFC is the abuse of the whistleblower hotline.' Mayekiso then appeared to suggest that the actions of a whistle-blower had placed the promised all-staff payments in jeopardy. 'Lastly, you might be asking yourselves questions about the implications of all of this on the once off ex-gratia [sic] payment that was approved by the outgoing board. Well, there is an individual at the NHFC who shared information outside the organisation to discredit the process of the ex-gratia [sic] payment, citing it as irregular. So, I do not know what this therefore means for the ex-gratia [sic] payment, but I thought I should share that with you.' Daily Maverick understands that disgruntled NHFC staff may now look to their union if the promised payment does not materialise. Auditor-General not aware of payments In a lengthy response sent to Daily Maverick this week, Mayekiso defended the proposed ex gratia payments. 'The environment at the NHFC is one of low staff morale due to the fact that there have been no bonuses paid since financial year 2022/23. In an attempt to address this, management took a proposal to the Board for them to consider showing goodwill to employees given the solid turn around [sic] in performance, by paying a once off ex-gratia [sic] payment to motivate employees to continue with the hard work.' The most recent Auditor-General's report shows that the NHFC met just 39% of its targets for the latest audited financial year. Mayekiso maintains, however, that the payments are justified because this represents a major turnaround from the 2022/2023 financial year, when just 19% of targets were met. Mayekiso continued: 'The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and National Treasury (NT) guidelines state that voluntary ex-gratia [sic] payments can be made without admitting legal liability. The PFMA and Treasury regulations provide frameworks for managing and approving such payments, including transparency and accountability.' Treasury spokesperson Cleopatra Mosana told Daily Maverick: 'The enabling legislation of a public entity generally regulates how the remuneration framework for the board and staff is determined. For some public entities, this is determined or approved by the executive authority of the entity after consultation with or with the concurrence of the minister of finance.' The NHFC was established in 1996 in terms of the Companies Act, 1973 (Act No 61 of 1973) and falls under Schedule 3 of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of 1999). Neither of the above pieces of legislation appears to refer to ex gratia, or 'act of grace', payments. The Auditor-General of SA's (AGSA's) spokesperson, Khutsafalo Mnisi, told Daily Maverick on Wednesday that the AGSA was unaware of the proposed NHFC ex gratia payments. 'The NHFC's performance bonus is subject to both the company performance and the individual employee performance, as well as the availability of funds and subject to the approval of the board. All bonus payments are within the scope of the AGSA annual regularity audit, and if there are any payments or provisions for such in the current audit cycle, those will be subjected to the regularity audit process,' said Mnisi. Ex gratia payments in South Africa's state-owned entities have happened in the past — but almost always controversially, and seemingly in the thick of State Capture. In 2014, it was revealed that the SABC under the leadership of Hlaudi Motsoeneng had paid employees a once-off ex gratia payment as part of a bonus payout amounting to R65.76-million. In 2015, i t was reported that Eskom under the leadership of Brian Molefe would also pay some employees ex gratia payments. Thembi Simelane says no crisis at Human Settlements Asked by Daily Maverick this week if Minister Thembi Simelane intended to approve the ex gratia payments, spokesperson Tsekiso Machike said it would be inappropriate for the minister to answer the NHFC's request through the media. 'The minister applies her mind to each matter brought before her on its own merits,' said Machike. Appearing before Parliament's Human Settlements Committee on Wednesday, however, Simelane told MPs that the 'morale' of NHFC staff was a concern and added that they had not been paid 'performance upgrades' for 'donkey years' — suggesting she was sympathetic to Mayekiso's proposal. Simelane also told Parliament that young female CEOs deserved support, and dismissed much of the concern around the NHFC as 'trivialities'. The department issued a statement last week denying DA MP Luyolo Mphithi's claim this month that there had been a 'catastrophic collapse of governance across several housing entities under the Department of Human Settlements'. In it, Simelane 'registered her displeasure' at the fact that the NHFC did not currently have a board in place but said she expected the process of appointing a new board to be concluded by May. 'There is no crisis at DHS entities. Whatever challenges they currently experience, they are not insurmountable and are being attended to,' read the statement. Simelane was moved from her position at the Department of Justice in December 2024 by President Cyril Ramaphosa following damning reporting by Daily Maverick's Pauli van Wyk and News24's Kyle Cowan on a dodgy loan Simelane took from the now-collapsed VBS Mutual Bank. Since then, Simelane has been further accused of fraudulently billing Eskom while in a previous position, prompting the DA to lay criminal charges against her as an act of protest at the fact that Ramaphosa has maintained her as a member of his Cabinet. DM
Zawya
21-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Nigeria: Customs intercepts $623,179 crude oil, others in South-East
The Federal Operations Unit, Zone C in Owerri at the weekend announced the seizure of N1,010,113,880.00 worth of contraband which included 78 Jerry Cans of 25 litre of Crude Oil, 102 bottles of 75 litres of Diesel, 80 Jerry cans of 25 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) amongst others in the South Eastern part of the country in the last one month. In a statement released by the Unit at the weekend, the Unit added that N13,451,848 was generated from Demand Notices (DN) within the period under review. During his first press briefing at the unit's headquarters in Owerri, the Customs Area Controller of the Unit, Comptroller Bishir Abdullahi Balogun stated that no matter the intentions of smugglers and their patronizers, the unit will not relent in carrying out its statutory functions which are backed up with intelligence-driven strategies by the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service Bashir Adewale Adeniyi. The new Controller, while frowning at smuggling, stated that it is economic sabotage to bring in prohibited goods into the country which has negative impact on local industries, and affects the well-being of individuals. Notable among the seizures made by the Unit include: 725 Bales of second-hand used clothing; 2762 Rolls of Satin Fabrics of 60 yards; 2589 used tyres; 233 Sacks of 2Kg foreign Rice; 181 Rolls of Wall Covering; 102 Bottles of 75Cl Diesel; 8 Jerry cans of 25L of PMS; 78 Jerry cans of 25L Crude Oil; 32 New Tyres; 25 Bales of Cannabis Sativa; 24 Bottles of 150Cl of Diesel; 14 Bags of 50kg foreign rice; 3 Carton of Bedwine; one sack of used shoes; one Scannia Container Body truck with Registration number T 281 A2LA; one Mercedes Truck with Registration number NKE 323 XE; amongst others. The Controller of the unit while Commending officers/men of the unit during the briefing anchored his successes to focus, diligence, professionalism, and decision to contribute his quota to national economy, by blocking all revenue leakages, enforcement of trade facilitation and taking charge of the nation's entry points which is of uttermost importance to the unit. In continuation, he reiterated that the unit must work together to support the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and the CGC BA Adeniyi (MFR) to succeed. He also called on traders and stakeholders to be compliant, as our officers are professionally trained to checkmate the activities of non-compliant traders and block likely areas of revenue leakages. In our inter-agency collaboration, the seized cannabis sativa shall be handed over to NDLEA. These timely successes and achievements are a result of the purposeful leadership of the Comptroller General of Customs, high-level of professionalism, commitment, and teamwork. He further added that the unit is also determined to sanitize the zone of any form of un-customs activities and facilitate legitimate is committed to the consolidation of successes achieved, collaborative engagement with critical stakeholders, and innovative ideas in its dealings to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in customs operations. The Controller used the medium to thank the sagacious CGC and his entire management team for their dynamic leadership styles and qualities. In conclusion, the controller commended the media for their continuous support and for spreading the gospel. Copyright © 2022 Nigerian Tribune Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Khaleej Times
26-03-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
UAE: Ras Al Khaimah real estate transactions surge 25,000% in 7 years
The real estate market in Ras Al Khaimah has grown significantly, with transaction volumes increasing by nearly 250 times or 25,000 per cent over the past seven years, according to the latest data from the Ras Al Khaimah Statistics Centre. The total value of real estate transactions in June 2024 reached Dh2,535,067,291, up from Dh10,113,300 in June 2017. Similarly, mortgage values rose to Dh3,475,928,534 in July 2024, compared to Dh15,836,398 in July 2017, an increase of approximately 21,849 per cent. This reflects growing investor confidence and the emirate's position as a real estate hub. The transaction increase comes as Ras Al Khaimah continues to attract investment through strategic initiatives, including the expansion of Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, significant hospitality and entertainment projects, and a growing focus on sustainable urban development. Christopher Cina, Director of Sales at Betterhomes, told Khaleej Times the surge in transactions is linked to increased development, improved connectivity, and growing demand for beachfront properties. 'The integrated gaming resort is expected to bring 4 million tourists a year to Ras Al Khaimah. Naturally, people prefer beachfront property as well,' he said. He also pointed to the rising number of completed projects and growing market confidence. 'Mortgage activity shows that lenders are taking the market seriously, and more importantly, it indicates that many developments are now complete. The numbers have gone up, and market sentiment has improved because, while there was limited development five years ago, today, there is a significant amount.' Andrei Charapenak, CEO of Major Developers, commented on the market growth: 'Ras Al Khaimah is no longer an emerging player it has established itself as an investment destination. The increase in real estate transactions and mortgage values reflects the emirate's economic development, driven by leadership, infrastructure projects, and demand for residential and commercial spaces.' He added: 'We are seeing a shift in investor sentiment, with luxury, sustainability, and lifestyle integration playing a major role in purchasing decisions. The real estate sector in Ras Al Khaimah is evolving to meet global standards, and new developments are catering to both local and international buyers.'
Arabian Business
26-03-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
Ras Al Khaimah real estate ‘no longer an emerging player' as transactions up 25,000% since 2017
The real estate market in Ras Al Khaimah has witnessed unprecedented growth, with transaction volumes skyrocketing by nearly 25,000 per cent over the past seven years, according to the latest data from the Ras Al Khaimah Statistics Centre. The total value of real estate transactions in June 2024 reached AED2,535,067,291 ($2.535bn) an exponential leap from just AED10,113,300 ($2.8m) in June 2017. Similarly, mortgage values have soared, recording AED3,475,928,534 ($946.5m) in July 2024, compared to AED15,836,398 ($4.3m) in July 2017—an unprecedented increase of approximately 21,849 per cent. Ras Al Khaimah real estate This surge underscores the growing investor confidence and the emirate's rising prominence as a real estate powerhouse. Andrei Charapenak, CEO of Major Developers, said: 'Ras Al Khaimah is no longer an emerging player—it has cemented itself as a prime investment destination. 'The staggering increase in real estate transactions and mortgage values reflects the emirate's economic momentum, fuelled by visionary leadership, strategic infrastructure developments, and a strong appetite for premium residential and commercial spaces. 'We are seeing a paradigm shift in investor sentiment—luxury, sustainability, and lifestyle integration are driving purchasing decisions'. The surge in transactions comes at a time when Ras Al Khaimah is attracting heightened interest due to its strategic initiatives, including the expansion of Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, hospitality and entertainment investments, and a strong push toward sustainable urban development.
