Yellow Line trial run, free rides from Saturday
The Yellow Line elevated monorail built to serve the Lat Phrao-Samrong route will begin a month-long trial run, with free rides for commuters, on June 3, Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand governor Pakapong Sirikantaramas said on Wednesday.
He said this was agreed on at a meeting of representatives of the Department of Rail Transport and the concessionaire, Eastern Bangkok Monorail (EBM), on Tuesday.
A final inspection to ensure readiness of the system, the train stations and staff will be made on Thursday.
On Friday, the first trial run will be for news media.
On Saturday, the public will be offered free rides from selected stations from 9am-noon and 1pm-5pm. If all goes well, the operating time during the trial will be extended to midnight.
The trial will then continue until the end of June.
Mr Pakapong said EBM must comply with advice from an independent certified engineer for the security system to meet international standards before the line can begin full operations.
The Yellow Line extends for 30.4 kilometres, between Lat Phrao and Samrong, with 23 stations.
Fares were initially set at 14 baht to 42 baht when the concession contract was signed in 2016. They will be adjusted, based on the consumer price index for the previous three months, before the service begins full operations.
Chhattisgarh: India official fined $640 for draining dam to find phone
@ramanmann1974An Indian official who made headlines after he drained a dam to retrieve his phone has been fined by the government.
Rajesh Vishwas has been ordered to pay 53,092 rupees ($642; £519) for pumping out millions of litres of water without seeking permission from authorities.
He had dropped the device while taking a selfie and claimed it needed retrieving as it contained sensitive government data.
But he has been accused of misusing his position.
The food inspector dropped his Samsung phone, worth about 100,000 rupees, into Kherkatta Dam in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh last week.
After local divers couldn’t find the phone, he paid for a diesel pump to be brought in, Mr Vishwas said in a video statement quoted in the media. The pump ran for several days, emptying out thousands of litres of water, but by the time the phone was found, it was too waterlogged to work.
At the time, Mr Vishwas had told the media that he had verbal permission from an official to drain “some water into a nearby canal”, adding that the official said it “would in fact benefit the farmers who would have more water”.
But the authorities suspended Mr Vishwas from his post over the incident. And a few days back, the state irrigation department sent him a letter penalising him for his actions. The BBC has seen a copy of the letter.
It stated that Mr Vishwas had wasted 4.1 million litres of water (880,000 gallons) for his “personal interest” and that he had to pay for the water as well as a penalty of 10,000 rupees for “evacuating water without permission”.
It added that his action was “illegal” and “punishable under Chhattisgarh’s Irrigation Act”.
When first reported, the incident had triggered outrage in the country. Many politicians criticised the official’s actions and said that the water could have been put to better use in a country where several regions face water shortages, especially in the scorching summer months.
BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.
Read more India stories from the BBC:
- Dhoni’s delayed retirement delights cricket fans
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SIA to offer free unlimited Wi-Fi for economy, premium economy class passengers from July
BETTER SEATS, REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY
SIA’s chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong on Tuesday also shared the airline’s plans to improve its offering for passengers.
For instance, there will be better seats across all cabins on the new Boeing 777-9 planes that are expected to be introduced in 2025, he said, adding that this will be an “industry-leading” product when it is launched.
SIA also expanded its network during the pandemic, enabling it to now reach about 80 per cent of its pre-COVID capacity. In comparison, airlines in the Asia-Pacific region as a whole have recovered to just over 50 per cent of their pre-COVID capacity, said Mr Goh.
With SIA subsidiary Scoot’s recent acquisition of the Embraer E190-E2 aircraft that has 112 seats, the budget airline will be able to access “smaller points, particularly in the region”, therefore connecting Singapore and the hub to new places in Southeast Asia.
Reflecting on SIA’s losses during the pandemic’s early days, Mr Goh expressed gratitude for the strong support from shareholders, allowing the company to raise S$15 billion (US$11.1 billion).
He also highlighted SIA’s decision to continue operations to serve its customers and the nation, even though many airlines ceased international operations due to a lack of demand. The airline also continues to honour customer refunds despite the direct impact on its cash reserves.
Adding that SIA’s employees have “taken quite a bit of sacrifice”, not just in terms of a pay cut, he pointed out that travel operations could not have resumed as quickly if not for their readiness.
“Ironically, during that period, many of the ground (staff) were working sometimes even harder. Because we were doing a transformation to really get the organisation ready for the restart, in terms of reviewing the processes, reviewing workflow to ensure that we are even better than before,” he said.
Earlier this month, SIA announced a record annual profit of S$2.16 billion after three straight years of losses. Eligible employees could receive around eight months’ bonus, the airline said.
Illegal breeder who kept 19 dogs in terrace house fined S$9000
SINGAPORE: A self-professed dog lover kept 19 dogs in his terrace house and engaged in illegal breeding, selling one of the puppies for S$9,500 (US$7,017).
Goh Chong Tse, 37, was fined S$9,000 by a court on Wednesday (May 31) for his offences under the Animals and Birds (Dog Licensing and Control) Rules.
He pleaded guilty to five charges, including maintaining his home as a farm without a licence by breeding his dog with another dog, owning dogs without licences, and keeping more than three dogs in a place that was not a licensed dog farm or pet shop.
Another seven charges were considered in sentencing.
The court heard that Goh lived with his wife at 11 Seletar Road from 2019 to about September 2021.
From 2019 to July 2020, the couple owned four dogs – two corgis named Nutella and Waffles, and two shiba inus named Milktea and Pudding.
They bought Nutella and Milktea from a licensed pet kennel, while Pudding was purchased from a seller on Gumtree.
Waffles was a stray that Goh’s wife found. Goh registered Waffles’ licence under his name.
In December 2020, Goh got to know a person named Jermaine Ang. The pair agreed that Waffles would be sired by Ang’s stud dog, Bailey.
They agreed that Waffles would be artificially inseminated, with Ang paying for the insemination. They also agreed that Ang would share 30 per cent of the overall costs and keep one puppy from the subsequent litter.
Waffles gave birth to six puppies in late February 2021. Ang kept one puppy, while Goh and his wife kept four puppies.
The last puppy was sold to someone for S$9,500.
On Feb 9, 2022, officers from the National Parks Board (NParks) acted on information they had received and inspected Goh’s home.
He had moved to a terrace house in Parry Road. During the inspection, the officers seized 19 dogs – most of them corgis.
The officers also found that Goh did not have valid licences to own three of the dogs, named Mantou, Ruffles and Truffles.
The prosecutor sought a fine of S$9,400 for Goh. She said almost all the puppies had discharge, tear staining and poor dental health.
Most of the puppies had dirty coats stained with faeces, and almost half of them had light staining of the teeth and gingivitis, she said.
DEFENCE’S PLEA
Defence lawyer Amarjit Singh asked instead for a fine of S$6,000.
He said his client worked as a chauffeur for private airport transfers before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, and was also a Grab driver, while his wife was a homemaker.
However, he lost his job during the pandemic and took on various jobs including delivery work and a COVID-19 swabber to make ends meet.
Goh and his wife share a strong affinity for dogs, said Mr Singh.
“His actions were driven by his deep love and affection for his dogs and puppies,” said the lawyer.
He said Goh had a history of anxiety and took solace and comfort in the companionship of his dogs and puppies.
The seizure of his dogs has negatively impacted both Goh and his wife, who self-harmed afterwards, said Mr Singh.
The judge allowed Goh to pay the fine in instalments.
Former houseowner surrenders after killing new owner
The dispossessed former owner of a house who shot dead the new owner at a housing estate in Pathum Thani on Tuesday afternoon surrendered to police later that night.
Decha Phayakkha, 66, gave himself up at 7.54pm, surrendering to local police and a special operations squad that had surrounded the house on Rangsit-Nakhon Nayok Road in tambon Bueng Namrak, Thanyaburi disrict.
Mr Decha was taken to Thanyaburi police station, where he was held in custody.
The suspect allegedly shot dead Kamolporn Donthong, 52, who bought the house from a bank through the Legal Execution Department, when she arrived shortly before 3pm to talk to him about moving out.
Mr Decha refused to move out and allegedly shot her dead while she was in the street outside the house.
Police surrounded the house, where the shooter had holed-up. His daughter was called in to help persuade him to surrender, but he refused.
Around 4.30pm, Pol Col Jirawat Piampinset, chief of Thanyaburi police station, asked the man to lay down his weapon and surrender, but he did not respond. A special operations unit had already been deployed around the house.
About 5.30pm, Mr Decha fired shots from the house as special operations police moved closer. Shortly before 8pm, he agreed to surrender.
On Wednesday, his son and daughter and a lawyer arrived at Thanyaburi police station to visit him.
Pol Capt Sariphong Apiwan, deputy investigation chief at Thanyaburi, said the suspect had become very stressed overnight, but calmed down when his children visited him.
Mr Decha was initially charged with murder, attempting to kill officers on duty and firearms offences.
He would be taken to Thanyaburi Provincial Court, where police would apply to detain him for the first 12-day period of the investigation, Pol Capt Sariphong said.
Wrestlers’ protest: IOC says police action against Indian athletes very disturbing
Getty ImagesThe International Olympic Committee (IOC) has condemned the way India’s top wrestlers are being treated during their ongoing protest.
It has also demanded an investigation into allegations that Indian wrestling chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh sexually harassed female athletes.
The wrestlers were temporarily detained by police on Sunday as they tried to march to the new parliament building.
They were demanding the resignation and arrest of the federation chief.
Mr Singh, who is also an influential MP from the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has denied the allegations and accused the wrestlers of being “politically motivated”.
On Tuesday, he told reporters that the Delhi police was investigating and that they would arrest him if they found anything against him. “Let the investigation take place, it is in the hands of Delhi police,” he said.
Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia and two-time world champion medallist Vinesh Phogat, were among those who were detained and later released by the police on Sunday. The police also filed cases including of rioting against them.
Visuals of the athletes being dragged and carried off in buses went viral, sparking criticism from top athletes and opposition politicians.
In a statement on Tuesday night, the IOC “urged the safety and wellbeing of these athletes” and called for “a speedy conclusion” of the investigation.
It said it had been in close contact with United World Wrestling (UWW) – the international organisation governing amateur wrestling – over the situation.
The UWW also issued a statement on Tuesday saying that it was following “with great concern” the wrestlers’ protests “over allegations of abuse and harassment by the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)”.
“It expresses its disappointment over the lack of results of the investigations so far,” the statement said and added that the UWW would hold a meeting with the wrestlers to inquire about their safety and “reconfirm our support for a fair and just resolution of their concerns”.
The UWW also said that it might suspend the WFI if its upcoming elections were not held on time.
The wrestlers, who have been protesting for over a month now, had first protested in January but called it off after Mr Singh was stripped of his administrative powers by the sports ministry and the government promised to investigate their complaints.
However, they restarted their protests in April, calling for his arrest.
On Tuesday, the wrestlers had threatened to throw their medals into the Ganges – India’s holiest river. They said they had first considered returning their medals to the president and the prime minister but were disappointed that they had not spoken about the protests even once.
“These medals are our life and soul… We feel there’s no meaning to having these medals around our necks anymore,” they said in a statement.
But they were persuaded by Naresh Tikait, leader of influential farming group Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), to not throw their medals yet. Mr Tikait later told reporters he was giving the government five days to take action.
BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.
Read more India stories from the BBC:
- Dhoni’s delayed retirement delights cricket fans
- Indian man held for brutally murdering girl in public
- Why prosperity can’t break India’s dowry curse
- A teacher uniting colonial-era divided Indian families
- India police file rioting case against top wrestlers
- Why prosperity can’t break India’s dowry curse
Pet supplies e-retailer Perromart becomes insolvent, gets new owner amid dozens of complaints
SINGAPORE: Perromart, a popular pet supplies e-retailer, has been sold to a new operator after customers lodged nearly 200 complaints with Singapore’s consumer watchdog over the last five months.
Perromart’s previous sole owner, 25 Holdings, became insolvent and was placed under receivership in March, its new receiver and manager Farooq Mann told CNA on Monday (May 29).
This means it was unable to meet its debt payments on time. Companies can take several routes to rescue the business and avoid bankruptcy, including receivership – a court-appointed tool to help creditors recover funds they are owed.
Perromart – which branded itself as Singapore’s largest online pet store – first came under fire in January when customers turned to social media to air their grievances over delayed or unfulfilled orders.
At the time, its co-founder Roy Lim told CNA the company was unable to catch up on orders and support tickets due to supply chain disruptions and manpower issues stemming from the Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year holiday periods.
Mr Lim said these were “not excuses” and that Perromart would improve its processes and operational turnaround time, as well as “launch new services that include predictive delivery based on respective products”.
However, in March, Mr Mann was appointed receiver and manager of Perromart after it became insolvent.
It has since been sold to an operator in the same industry, but Mr Mann said he was not at liberty to disclose the buyer’s name at the moment.
“The incoming owner-operator of the business is confident that the new business will be able to provide excellent customer service to all existing and new customers,” added the managing partner of Mann & Associates PAC.
The new owner-operator intends to continue operating at Perromart’s new warehouse in Kallang. Perromart had announced in February that it was in the midst of moving there.
Mr Lim did not respond to further queries from CNA on the receivership.
‘We want to be free’: Filipinos demand right to divorce
A controversial birth control law was passed in 2012, despite strong opposition from the Church. And in 2018, majority and opposition parties in the House of Representatives approved a divorce bill that later stalled in the Senate. It was the first time such a proposal had got that far. SurveysContinue Reading
Elon Musk: Tesla boss on first China trip in over three years
ReutersTesla chief executive Elon Musk is in China, as he makes his first trip to the world’s second largest economy in over three years.
He arrived in Beijing on Tuesday and is also expected to visit Tesla’s huge manufacturing plant in Shanghai.
The multi-billionaire met China’s foreign minister Qin Gang within hours of arriving in the country.
Mr Musk has not yet publicly commented on the trip, which comes amid tensions between the US and China.
He also declined to make any comments about his plans for the trip when asked by reporters as he left a hotel in Beijing on Wednesday.
Later on Wednesday, Mr Musk met China’s industry minister Jin Zhuanglong and discussed the development of electric vehicles.
In a statement on Tuesday, China’s foreign ministry said that Mr Musk was willing to expand the car maker’s business in the country, which is Tesla’s biggest market after the US.
The ministry added that during the meeting Mr Musk had described the economies of the US and China as “conjoined twins”.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.
Mr Musk has also been uncharacteristically quiet on Twitter, which he owns and where he has more than 141 million followers.
He is known for tweeting many times a day but as of midday on Wednesday had not posted anything since arriving in the country on Tuesday afternoon.
The social media platform is banned in China but it can be accessed through VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks.
Mr Musk is the latest high-profile US executive to make a trip to China. JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon is also in China this week, while Apple boss Tim Cook visited the country in March.
However, as tensions rise between Washington and Beijing Tesla finds itself in a difficult position, Dan Ives from investment firm Wedbush Securities said.
“Playing nice in the sandbox in Beijing is something Wall Street is laser focused on, to make sure there are no disruptions to Tesla’s expansion within China for the coming years,” Mr Ives added.
In January 2019, Tesla started building its so-called gigafactory in Shanghai, which was the firm’s first manufacturing plant outside the US.
Later that year, it delivered its first Chinese-made cars, marking a major milestone for the American company.
However, Covid lockdowns across the country, including in the financial, manufacturing and shipping hub of Shanghai, made it increasingly difficult for manufacturers to operate.
Last year, Mr Musk said the coronavirus lockdown of Shanghai was “very, very difficult” for Tesla, which reportedly halted most of its production at its gigafactory for several weeks.
Operations have since resumed at the plant, which produced its millionth car in August, according to Mr Musk. This accounted for a third of Tesla’s global production.
Last month, the company said it planned to build a new factory in China to make its large-scale “Megapack” batteries.
China has also become the largest market for Tesla’s Model Y mass-market electric vehicle, according to market research firm JATO.
More than 94,000 Model Y vehicles were sold in China in the first three months of this year, putting it ahead of the US and Europe, JATO data shows.
In recent years, Tesla’s lead in electric vehicle market has been challenged by increased competition from car making giants, including Ford and General Motors, as well as newer entrants into the market like China’s BYD and Nio.
Mr Musk – who bought Twitter last year for $44bn (£35.5bn) – has been under pressure to find someone else to lead the company and refocus his attention on his other businesses, including Tesla and rocket firm SpaceX.
Earlier this month, he named Linda Yaccarino, the former head of advertising at NBCUniversal as the platform’s new chief executive.
Ms Yaccarino will face the challenge of running a business that has struggled to be profitable, while facing intense scrutiny over how it handles misinformation and hate speech.
Twitter is now worth around a third of what Mr Musk paid for it, according investment firm Fidelity, which helped to finance his takeover of the company.
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Wissanu: Comprehensive complaint may result in annulled election
The details listed in complaints will determine if Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat is disqualified from being prime minister and whether the May general election should be annulled, according to caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam.
Mr Wissanu, the current cabinet’s legal guru, said at Government House on Wednesday that details in complaints against Mr Pita’s shareholding in iTV Plc were a key factor.
If a complaint targets Mr Pita’s elegibility to be an MP he could still be prime minister, because the prime minister is not required to be an MP, he said.
If a complaint targets Mr Pita’s prime ministerial qualifications, he could still be an MP, Mr Wissanu said.
“If a complaint targets both, the court will rule on both,” he said.
A complaint could also also question Mr Pita’s approval of Move Forward Party memberships, Mr Wissanu said.
“In that case, there would have to be a new nationwide general election,” he said.
Mr Wissanu said he was not giving any recommendation on how a complaint should be written.
“It is up to the complainant. The [constitutional] court will rule on the particular issue in a complaint,” he said.
The constitution prohibits a shareholder of a media organisation from running in a general election and Mr Pita’s qualifications were challenged because of his inherited shareholding in iTV Plc, which was long ago merged into Thai PBS.
Complaints filed with the Election Commission target his MP status, his approval of Move Forward candidates in the May 14 election and the whole cabinet that he would form.
“But you should not have such a distant imagination. Consider it step by step. The Election Commission has not taken any action. Do not jump into a negative scenario,” Mr Wissanu said.
Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam