Latest news with #MemorandumofUnderstandings
Scoop
17-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
South Wairarapa Locks In Key Decisions, 4.7% Rates Rise Likely
South Wairarapa District Council has locked in its Long-Term Plan options after deliberating on submissions, resulting in a preliminary total rates increase of 4.7% for the coming financial year. The council would adopt the final Long-Term Plan and budget on June 25. Deputy mayor Melissa Sadler-Futter said elected members and council staff had worked hard to limit the overall rates increase. She thanked the community for their input into submissions and hearings. During the council's Long-Term Plan consultation between March 7 and April 6, 218 full submissions and 600 signed letters with the same template were received, addressing six questions across three decision areas. At a Strategy Working Committee meeting on Wednesday, councillors agreed to maintain the proportion of uniform charge rates at 21%, instead of increasing to 28% as proposed in the consultation. Because the uniform charge is based on capital value, keeping it at 21% meant rates would be cheaper for a larger number of South Wairarapa properties but would continue to disproportionately affect properties with a higher capital value. The community feedback on this decision was described by council staff as 'even' with 92 'full submissions' in favour of 21% and 92 in favour of 28%, however the 600 signed letters were in favour of 28% and suggested the council should lift it to 30%. Councillors also agreed to maintain the current funding model for services and facilities based in the three main towns instead of introducing a district services rate as proposed in the consultation. A new and improved definition of Separately Used or Inhabitable Parts (SUIP) was agreed upon, which made it clear which dwellings would be excluded from extra charges. The refuse and recycling charge was also changed back to per rating unit instead of per SUIP. The next big decision was locking in the council's water operations budget at $6.05 million for the 2025-26 year. It was the cheapest option on the table and was supported by a majority of councillors. However councillor Rebecca Gray said it was not a responsible position for the council to take and wished the council would set the budget at $6.55m budget. Councillors Alistair Plimmer and Martin Bosley agreed with Gray. Regarding roading investment, the council locked in funding for the full Low Cost Low Risk roading improvements programme with an increased capital budget. Sadler-Futter said councillors had been 'very mindful of the impact of our decisions on ratepayers' pockets'. 'In the current economic climate, a rates increase of any size is something to carefully consider. We are all here for right reasons and our community is at the heart of those decisions we make.' The council decided not to fund a number of Memorandum of Understandings that were requested during the consultation, with many around the table concerned about making longer term commitments ahead of a new triennium. Instead, it was agreed to increase the annual community and youth grant budget from $120,000 to $200,000 for the 2025-26 year. 'We have a small amount of funding available to share across our district and in this environment, everyone should get a chance to apply for a contestable fund instead of committing to MOUs,' Sadler-Futter said. 'We are trying to balance keeping rate increases low and supporting the incredible work that our community delivers.' Requests from each of the community boards were giventhe green light, including the Martinborough Community Board's request to fence the small children's area at the Waihinga playground with funding from the Waihinga Reserve up to the balance of the reserve. This would not have an impact on rates. The council had also agreed to the Featherston Community Board's request to include the Featherston greenspace in the budget, and the Greytown Community Board's request to extend the Arbor Reserve in Greytown and delegate beautification to the Greytown Community Board. Councillor Aidan Ellims said these outcomes were a great example of community boards identifying projects that were meaningful to their communities that also had a low impact on the overall budget. – LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Arabian Business
30-04-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
Emirates signs major travel deals at Arabian Travel Market
Emirates has signed a series of agreements with the tourism boards and ministries of countries such as Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Seychelles and Bahamas to bolster visitor arrivals. The Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) signed with the countries, which also included Warsaw and Nigeria, also envisaged boosting the appeal of each destination. The MoUs were signed on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM). Emirates expands tourism ties The signing spree saw Emirates and Tourism Malaysia renewing their partnership, reaffirming the airline's longstanding commitment to the Southeast Asian gateway. The airline will seek to promote Malaysia across key markets in its global network, exploring opportunities for joint marketing promotions and advertising initiatives to position Malaysia as a premier tourist destination. Emirates and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) have also renewed their three-year strong partnership, aimed at further developing the country's tourism and trade industries. Through joint initiatives, such as developing excursions and familiarisation trips to promote the island nation to key feeder markets, Emirates and SLTPB aim to grow the tourism industry of the popular Indian Ocean destination by showcasing the destination to customers across the airline's global network. Emirates and the Moroccan National Tourist Office will explore ways to promote inbound tourism to Morocco from key destinations on the airline's vast global network. The agreement directly supports Morocco's strategic roadmap to double the size of the tourism sector and make it one of the top 20 destinations for visitors in the world. The partners will explore programmes for trade partners and tour operators to further educate and incentivise the travel industry. Emirates and Tourism Seychelles have also renewed their longstanding commitment to support the travel and tourism industry of the country. Building on a partnership established in 2013, the MoU aims to increase inbound tourist traffic to Seychelles, with a focus on key feeder markets within the airline's extensive network. Emirates and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Bahamas will partner on joint promotional campaigns in key markets to boost tourist arrivals into The Bahamas, by showcasing the destination's appeal to visitors and holidaymakers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will support the airline's efforts by providing tour operators and travel agents in key target markets with promotional giveaways, special packages, incentives and marketing spend. Emirates and the Warsaw Tourism Organisation will work together for the first time to develop inbound passenger traffic from key markets in the airline's global network to the city. Both entities will explore developing joint advertising campaigns and organising familiarisation trips for media representatives and travel agents to Warsaw, aimed to boost awareness of Warsaw's cultural richness and strengthen its positioning as a key gateway in Central Europe. Emirates and the Nigerian Ministry of Art Culture Tourism and the Creative Economy will work closely to boost international visitors to Nigeria. The partnership underscores the airline's commitment to the market through attracting visitors from across its global network of more than 140 passenger destinations, as Nigeria's tourism roadmap aims to make the country a major holiday destination in Africa. The partnership between the airline and the ministry—to be driven by its agency for tourism promotion, the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA)—supports this exciting new chapter and is further bolstered by the recently signed interline agreement between Emirates and Air Peace, which expands Emirates' reach to 13 additional cities across Nigeria.
Zawya
30-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Emirates signs 7 deals to boost inbound visitors from around its network
DUBAI: Emirates has signed another seven Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) on the side-lines of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) with the tourism boards and ministries of Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Seychelles, Bahamas, Warsaw and Nigeria to bolster visitor arrivals and boost the appeal of each destination. Emirates and Tourism Malaysia have renewed their partnership, reaffirming the airline's longstanding commitment to the Southeast Asian gateway. Emirates will seek to promote Malaysia across key markets in its global network, exploring opportunities for joint marketing promotions and advertising initiatives to position Malaysia as a premier tourist destination – highlighting its natural landscapes, cultural heritage and unique culinary experiences. Emirates will also explore organising familiarisation trips to Malaysia for key media representatives and travel agents from strategic markets across its global network. Emirates and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) have renewed their three-year strong partnership, aimed at further developing the country's tourism and trade industries. Through joint initiatives, such as developing excursions and familiarisation trips to promote the island nation to key feeder markets, Emirates and SLTPB aim to grow the tourism industry of the popular Indian Ocean destination by showcasing the destination to customers across the airline's global network. The joint efforts to boost the nation's tourist industry have supported a steady increase in inbound traffic into the island, which recorded just over 2 million visitors in 2024. Between April 2024 and March 2025, Emirates carried over 240,000 passengers into Sri Lanka from key markets around its network including Rusia, the UK, Germany, Australia, China, and the US, among others. Emirates and the Moroccan National Tourist Office will explore ways to promote inbound tourism to Morocco from key destinations on the airline's vast global network. The agreement directly supports Morocco's strategic roadmap to double the size of the tourism sector and ultimately make it one of the top 20 destinations for visitors in the world. The partners will explore programmes for trade partners and tour operators to further educate and incentivise the travel industry, in addition to familiarisation trips and other marketing initiatives to increase visibility of the destination within Emirates' network. Morocco has ambitious targets to develop tourism, aiming to attract 17.5 million visitors annually by 2026 and create 200,000 new jobs in the sector. 2024 marked a record-breaking year, with 17.4 million tourists visiting the kingdom. The partnership inked at Arabian Travel Market directly support this vision, leveraging Emirates' frictionless travel options and vast global network to further promote the destination in key target markets. Emirates and Tourism Seychelles have renewed their longstanding commitment to support the travel and tourism industry of the country. Building on a partnership established in 2013, the MoU aims to increase inbound tourist traffic to Seychelles, with a focus on key feeder markets within the airline's extensive network. Emirates has been a major contributor to Seychelles' tourism successes over the years, with the island welcoming more than 350,000 tourist arrivals in 2024. Joint initiatives that have contributed to healthy visitor numbers include marketing campaigns targeted at European markets like Austria. Emirates and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Bahamas will partner on joint promotional campaigns in key markets to boost tourist arrivals into The Bahamas, by showcasing the destination's appeal to visitors and holidaymakers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will support Emirates' efforts by providing tour operators and travel agents in key target markets with promotional giveaways, special packages, incentives and marketing spend. Emirates and the Warsaw Tourism Organisation will work together for the first time to develop inbound passenger traffic from key markets in the airline's global network to the city. Both entities will explore developing joint advertising campaigns and organising familiarisation trips for media representatives and travel agents to Warsaw. These initiatives aim to boost awareness of Warsaw's cultural richness and strengthen its positioning as a key gateway in Central Europe. Emirates and the Nigerian Ministry of Art Culture Tourism and the Creative Economy will work closely to boost international visitors to Nigeria. The partnership underscores the airline's commitment to the market through attracting visitors from across its global network of more than 140 passenger destinations, as Nigeria's tourism roadmap aims to make the country a major holiday destination in Africa, driven by significant investments in infrastructure, tourist facilities, and enhanced air connectivity to and from the country. The partnership between Emirates and the Ministry — to be driven by its agency for tourism promotion, the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) — supports this exciting new chapter and is further bolstered by the recently signed interline agreement between Emirates and Air Peace, which expands Emirates' reach to 13 additional cities across Nigeria. Both partners will develop programmes for trade partners, hoteliers and tour operators, as well as exploring incentives, familiarisation trips and other marketing initiatives.
Hindustan Times
21-04-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Sebi finds no manufacturing at Gensol's Pune EV plant, only 2-3 labourers
Markets regulator Sebi has said it found "no manufacturing activity" at Gensol Engineering's electric vehicle (EV) plant in Pune with only 2-3 labourers present when a National Stock Exchange (NSE) official visited the site. These revelations were part of markets regulator Sebi's interim order issued on April 15 following a complaint received in June 2024 alleging manipulation of Gensol's share price and misappropriation of funds. In its order, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) found discrepancies as well as misleading disclosures to investors by Gensol Engineering, a company promoted by brothers Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi. Also Read | Gensol shares fall 5% after SEBI bars promoters from securities market One of the disclosures came from an investigation conducted by the NSE, which revealed a lack of manufacturing activity at Gensol's EV plant -- Gensol Electric Vehicle Private Ltd -- at Chakan in Pune. During a site visit to the facility on April 9, an NSE official found only 2-3 labourers present. "It was found that there was no manufacturing activity at the plant with only 2-3 labourers present there. The NSE official called for details of electricity bills of the unit and it was observed that the maximum amount billed by Mahavitaran during the last 12 months was ₹1,57,037.01 for December 2024. Also Read | Who is Anmol Singh Jaggi, BluSmart and Gensol promoter barred by SEBI from securities market? "Hence, it can be inferred that there has been no manufacturing activity at the plant site which is on a leased property," Sebi revealed in its interim order passed on April 15. The visit followed an announcement by Gensol to the stock exchanges on January 28, 2025, claiming it had received pre-orders for 30,000 units of its newly launched EVs showcased at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025. However, upon reviewing the documents provided by the company, Sebi found that the orders were Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) entered with nine entities for 29,000 cars. The MoUs were in the nature of an expression of willingness with no reference to the price of the vehicle or delivery schedules. Therefore, it prima facie appeared that the company was making misleading disclosures to investors, Sebi stated. In another disclosure dated January 16, 2025, Gensol informed the exchanges regarding a strategic tie-up with Refex Green Mobility Ltd "for the transfer of 2,997 electric four-wheelers" to Refex. As a part of the tie-up, Refex was to assume Gensol's existing loan of ₹315 crore. However, in a disclosure dated March 28, the proposed takeover by Refex was withdrawn. In yet another disclosure dated February 25, 2025, Gensol informed the exchanges that it had signed a non-binding term sheet for ₹350 crore for a strategic transaction involving the sale of Gensol's US subsidiary -- Scorpius Trackers Inc. It was noted that the US subsidiary was incorporated on July 22, 2024. When probed by Sebi regarding the basis of such valuation of ₹350 crore, Gensol failed to submit any explanation or rationale. These were uncovered in a Sebi probe, which prima facie, revealed "mis-utilization and diversion of funds of the company in a fraudulent manner by its promoter directors, Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, who are also the direct beneficiaries of the diverted funds". Gensol secured ₹977.75 crore in loans from IREDA and PFC between FY22 and FY24. Of the loan, ₹663.89 crore was meant for purchasing 6,400 EVs. However, Gensol admitted to acquiring only 4,704 EVs, worth ₹567.73 crore, as confirmed by supplier Go-Auto. Given that Gensol was also required to provide 20 per cent equity contribution, the total outlay should have been ₹829.86 crore, leaving an unaccounted-for amount of ₹262.13 crore. The Sebi probe found that funds meant for EV purchases were often routed back to Gensol or entities linked to Jaggi brothers. Some of the funds were used for personal expenses of the promoters, such as the purchase of a luxury apartment, transfers to close relatives, and investments benefiting private entities owned by the promoters. In response to these governance lapses, Sebi took several stringent measures, including prohibiting Gensol and its promoters -- Jaggi brothers-from accessing the securities market until further notice. Also, it barred the Jaggi brothers from holding any directorship or key management position in Gensol. Additionally, Sebi directed Gensol Engineering to put its planned stock split into the ratio of 1:10 on hold. Following the order, the brothers stepped down as the company's directors.
