ABRACADABRA

Scotch whisky to protect U.K economy

London: The Scottish government has called for Scotch whisky to be properly defined so that it is protected under UK law in the lead up to Britain's exit from the European Union (EU).

Scotland's economy secretary Keith Brown has written to British ministers on behalf of the estimated 4-billion-pound Scotch whisky industry to replicate the EU's definition of whisky which currently protects sales from sub-standard products.

"Aside from being a key part of Scottish culture and identity, our whisky industry supports around 20,000 jobs. 

The US made clear in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership discussions that they would support a relaxation of the definition of whisky, which would open the market up to a number of products which do not currently meet that standard," said Brown.

The minister has demanded that the current EU regulations are guaranteed post-Brexit and questioned if the issue was raised during trade talks with Brussels.

$3.71 million debtor goes under scalpel
to avoid payment

Beijing: A 59-year-old Chinese woman has transformed her appearance through plastic surgery in an attempt to disguise herself to avoid a whopping $3.71 million of personal debts, a media report said.

Zhu Najuan underwent plastic surgery and disappeared after a court in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, asked her to pay off huge debts of over 25 million yuan ($3.71 million) earlier this year.

In July, Zhu was reported to be in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, where police officers from the Intermediate People’s Court of Wuhan detained her and were astonished by her brand new face, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

“We were very surprised at the scene,” a policeman said. “She looked in her thirties and was different from the photos we had.”

Time overrun on 311 projects: original cost `48,000 crores: cost overrun `1,72,000 crores

New Delhi: As many as 322 infrastructure projects worth `150 crore or above each have seen cost overrun of `1.71 lakh crore due to delays and other reasons by March 2017, according to a report. “Total original cost of implementation of the 1,231 projects was `15,59,571.06 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be `17,31,162.47 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of `1,71,591.41 crore (11 per cent of original cost),” a flash report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said.

Out of 1,231 projects, a total 322 projects reported cost overrun, the report said. The flash report provides details on the status of the 1,231 central infrastructure projects that cost `150 crore and above. In March, 2017, out of 1,231 projects, nine were ahead of schedule, 324 were on schedule, 327 were delayed and 322 projects showed cost overrun. The report said that 105 projects showed both time and cost overrun with respect to original implementation schedules. The number of delayed projects decreases to 233 if delay is calculated with reference to latest revised schedule of completion, the report said.

It stated that out of 327 delayed projects, 63 projects have overall delay in the range of 1 to 12 months, 67 projects have delay in the range of 13 to 24 months, 119 projects have delay in the range of 25 to 60 months and 78 projects have delay of 61 months and above. The report stated that the expenditure incurred on these projects till March 2017 is `7,46,480.94 crore, which is 43.12 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. According to report, there were 311 projects showing time overrun.

Population Explosion Pak style

Bannu (Pakistan): Three men who have fathered nearly 100 children among them are doing their bit for Pakistan’s skyrocketing population, which is being counted for the first time in 19 years.

But in a country where experts warn the surging populace is gouging into hard-won economic gains and social services, the three patriarchs are unconcerned. Allah, they say, will provide.

Pakistan has the highest birth rate in South Asia at around three children per woman, according to the World Bank and government figures, and the census is expected to show that growth remains high.

“God has created the entire universe and all human beings, so why should I stop the natural process of a baby’s birth?” asks Gulzar Khan, a father of 36, citing one of the strongest influences in the region: the belief that Islam prevents family planning. Tribal enmity is another factor in the northwest, where the 57-year-old lives in the city of Bannu with his third wife, who is pregnant. “We wanted to be stronger,” the 57-year-old tells AFP, surrounded by 23 of his offspring – so many, he observes, they don’t need friends to play a full cricket match.

Polygamy is legal but rare in Pakistan, and families like Khan’s are not the norm, though the beliefs he holds are widespread.

The last census, held in 1998, showed Pakistan had a population of up to 135 million. Estimates suggest the new census – carried out earlier this year, will put the figure closer to 200 million.

The economy is expanding faster than it has in a decade, and last month Islamabad hiked its development budget by 40 per cent. But observers have warned the population boom is negating any progress, using up valuable resources in a young country where jobs are scarce and nearly 60 million people live below the poverty line.