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Award-winning South Korean director Kim Ki-duk has died in Latvia after contracting the coronavirus, according to media reports. He was 59.
According to an AP report, he died while being treated for COVID-19 at a hospital in Latvia during the early hours of Dec 11 local time.
Kim has achieved the top prize at Venice Film Festival and have also won a prize at the 2011 Cannes film festival and best-director awards at other prominent fests.
India has moved down seven spots in the global home price index to 54th rank in Q3 2020 against 47th in Q3 2019, with a decline of 2.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in home prices, international property consultant Knight Frank said in its latest research report — Global House Price Index Q3 2020.
According to the index, the ranking of India remained unchanged to 54th spot amongst 56 countries compared to previous quarter Q2 2020.
The Global House Price Index tracks the movement in mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories worldwide using official statistics.
In the 12-month percentage change for the period Q3 2019 – Q3 2020, Turkey continues to lead the annual rankings with prices up by 27.3 per cent YoY, followed by New Zealand at 15.4 per cent YoY and Luxembourg with 13.4 per cent YoY. Morocco was the weakest-performing territory in Q3 2020, with home prices fallen to 3.3 per cent YoY.
The report highlighted in Q3 2020, Ireland, Spain, India and Hong Kong witnessed the weakest price growth year-on-year.
According to the Knight Frank India’s recent report titled India Real Estate Update (July-September 2020) — analyses the residential and office market performances across eight major cities for the Q3 2020 period. It estimates that home sales volume jumped by 2.5 times to 33,403 units in Q3 2020 compared to 9,632 in Q2 2020. New residential unit launches increased by 4.5 times to 31,106 units in Q3 2020, compared to 5,584 units in the previous quarter.
Mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories worldwide saw a slight price correction, which stood at an annual rate change of 4.5 per cent on average, compared to Q2 2020 at 4.7 per cent.
According to the report, 16 per cent of the surveyed global countries and territories registered a decline in yearly price growth. In Q2 2020, many housing markets remained frozen and saw a sharp rebound in sales and prices in Q3 2020, including New Zealand, the UK and the US, while others witnessed only a marginal impact on pricing, including China, France and Germany.
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State-owned Indian Oil Corporation on Thursday said the crude oil throughput out of its refineries rose to 100 per cent in November 2020, as consumption of all petroleum products has almost reached pre-Covid levels.
On a sequential basis, this figure stood at 88 per cent in October and last year for the same period last year, it was 99 per cent.
The company said that as the Indian economy prepares to bounce back, IndianOil has gradually raised the throughput of its refineries to the maximum capacity in six months from about 55 per cent of rated capacity at the beginning of May 2020.
In November 2020, the sale of ‘Motor Spirit’ (petrol) was 1.06 MMT, which is higher by 4 per cent as compared to the same period last year.
Besides, the company said that demand for LPG has gone up by approximately 1.4 per cent to 1.09 MMT as compared to the corresponding period last year.
On the other hand, although HSD (diesel) has registered a growth of 2 per cent as compared on a month on month basis, it was still 9 per cent less when compared on a year-on-year basis.
Furthermore, the company said that jet fuel (ATF) registered a growth of 4 per cent as compared to October 2020 but was still 45 per cent less when compared on a year-on-year basis.
Concomitantly with the growing consumption of white oils, petrol, diesel and ATF, the demand for black oils and speciality products like fuel oil, bitumen, petcoke and sulphur also improved enabling an increase in throughput of refineries.
“The Indian economy continues to witness the green shoots of revival. As we get closer to the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out, the fundamentals of the economy being strong, we see a rapid V-shaped recovery in the overall consumption of petroleum products,” said IndianOil Chairman S.M. Vaidya.
“All our project sites too are witnessing a revival in terms of construction activities.”
“In view of this, IndianOil the largest oil refiner of the country is all geared up to meet the rising market demand in accordance with objectives of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission to place the economy on the path of growth resolutely.”
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The European Commission has proposed a back-up plan which aims to ensure, among others, the basic reciprocal air and road connectivity between the European Union (EU) and the UK if the two sides fail to agree to a post-Brexit trade deal.
“Negotiations are still ongoing. However, given that the end of the transition is very near, there is no guarantee that, if and when an agreement is found, it can enter into force on time,” Xinhua news agency quoted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as saying in a statement on Thursday.
While she stressed that the Commission would continue to do its utmost to reach a mutually-beneficial agreement with the UK, there was now significant uncertainty whether a deal will be in place with just three weeks to go.
The set of contingency measures were designed to prepare for all eventualities, including not having a deal in place with the UK on January 1, 2021.
The main purpose of the plan is to ensure basic reciprocal air and road connectivity between the two sides, as well as allowing for the possibility of reciprocal fishing access by EU and UK vessels to each other’s waters.
It proposes that basic air transport will continue for six months provided the UK agrees to reciprocate.
The same applies to access for road haulage.
An interim fisheries regulation is put forward to allow continued reciprocal access by EU and UK vessels to each other’s waters until the end of 2021, or until a fisheries agreement with the country has been concluded.
“Readiness and preparedness are now more important than ever. Disruption will happen with or without an agreement between the EU and the UK on their future relationship,” von der Leyen was quoted as further saying in the statement.
“This is the natural consequence of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the Union and to no longer participate in the EU Single Market and Customs Union,” she added.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson travelled to Brussels on Wednesday for an emergency meeting with von der Leyen to seek a post-Brexit trade deal.
But the meeting ended without a breakthrough as “very large gaps remain” between the two sides, according to Downing Street.
The two leaders have agreed that their negotiating teams will continue discussions over the coming days and a firm decision about the future of the talks should be taken by Sunday.
The trade negotiations are at a crucial stage as time is running out for both sides to secure a deal before the Brexit transition period expires on December 31.
Failure to reach a free trade agreement means bilateral trade will fall back on World Trade Organization rules in 2021.
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Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has been officially rated a Five-Star Global Airline by the Airline Passenger Experience Association, APEX.
The award was presented to the airline at the virtual APEX Award Ceremony, part of the FTE APEX Virtual Expo, on 9th December.
The APEX Official Airline Ratings were created based on neutral, third-party passenger feedback and insights gathered through APEX’s partnership with TripIt from Concur, the world’s highest-rated travel-organising app. Using a five-star scale, nearly one million flights were rated by passengers across more than 600 airlines from around the world. The APEX Official Airline Ratings were independently certified by a professional external auditing company.
Terry Daly, Executive Director Guest Experience, Brand & Marketing, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “The entire Etihad team is honoured to be recognised by APEX as a five-star airline in the 2021 Official Airline Ratings. This would always be a special achievement, but in 2020, it is even more rewarding. This year has challenged the aviation industry in ways we could never have imagined. Yet throughout it all, Etihad’s talented and professional team, has made us proud.”
Etihad has led the industry’s response to the pandemic, with the introduction of the Etihad Wellness programme, which ensures the highest standards of hygiene are maintained at every stage of the customer journey. This includes specially trained Wellness Ambassadors, a first in the industry, who are available to support passengers online, at the airport, and on board.
In order to ensure complete peace of mind for its guests, Etihad is the only airline in the world requiring 100% of its passengers to show a negative PCR test before travelling and then retesting on arrival. Etihad also provides COVID-19 wellness insurance to all guests, no exceptions, as further evidence of its commitment to passenger safety and wellbeing.
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The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has approved the registration of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for import and use in the country, according to Saudi Press Agency.
This was after Pfizer submitted a request to approve registering the vaccine.
The decision of the Authority’s approval of registering the vaccine was based on the data provided by Pfizer on November 24. As soon as the requirements were completed, the Authority began reviewing and evaluating the registration files from several aspects.
Regarding the arrival date of the vaccine and the start of using it, the Authority said that based on the approval issued today, concerned health authorities will start the import procedures according to concerned standards and requirements. The Authority will analyze samples from each incoming vaccine shipment before using it to ensure its quality. The Ministry of Health will announce the date of the vaccine’s arrival and the start of using it after completing import requirements.
On Wednesday, Canada has announced its approval for using the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in the country, which is currently in the midst of a second wave of the pandemic.
Wednesday’s announcement came two days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau notified that up to 249,000 doses of the two-dose vaccine will be on hand by this year’s end to start a mass inoculation campaign, reports Xinhua news agency.
The first doses of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to arrive in Canada next week, and plans are already in place to have the shots ready to be administered at 14 delivery sites in major cities across Canada, within one or two days of shipments arriving.
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