NewsBytes

Australian towns blanketed with rare snow in wild weather

Several towns in eastern Australia were blanketed with their thickest layer of snow in decades as wild weather swept the area this weekend, causing floods, stranding vehicles and cutting power to thousands of homes, authorities said. A cold air front dropped as much as 40 cm (16 inches) of snow on parts of northern New South Wales on August 2, the most since the mid-1980s, said Miriam Bradbury, a meteorologist at Australia's weather bureau. Snow also settled in areas of the neighbouring state of Queensland for the first time in 10 years, she said. Bradbury said climate change has made Australia's weather more volatile in recent years but that this sort of event had occurred several times in the historical record. "What makes this event unusual is how much snow we had but also how widespread, covering quite a large part of the northern tablelands," she said.

From ideology to income: The new social media game in Kashmir

Security agencies have uncovered a new trend among some youngsters in the Kashmir Valley of using social media to glorify separatist and terrorist figures not out of ideological conviction, but as a calculated tactic to gain followers and earn money from advertisers. Srinagar police, which has been making every effort to track social media sites to counter the radicalisation process, found out about this modus operandi after detaining some youth behind such accounts. During interrogation, the youngsters allegedly admitted that the employment of inflammatory imagery -- such as that of slain terrorist Burhan Wani of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen -- was a calculated plan to gain a high and active fan base. This engagement farming subsequently enabled them to capitalise on their social media accounts by receiving payment from advertisers for endorsements. After gaining a number of followers, especially from across the border and overseas, the account handlers used to replace these pictures with other images such as mountains or Chinar trees, the officials said.

Pakistan, Iran decide to increase bilateral trade to USD 8 bn annually

Pakistan and Iran agreed on August 3 to increase bilateral trade to USD 8 billion annually, taking advantage of their geography and the “discount of distance,” as trade ministers from the two countries held discussions to deepen economic and political ties. The agreement was reached during a meeting between Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan and Iranian Minister for Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Atabak on the sidelines of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's two-day state visit to Pakistan. Pezeshkian landed in Lahore on August 2 afternoon and then flew to the capital in the evening. A statement by the Commerce Ministry here said the high-level discussion between Khan and Atabak marked a renewed commitment from both sides to accelerate trade, remove border bottlenecks and build trust-based partnerships across priority sectors. “[During the meeting], Kamal envisioned that, if fully leveraged, bilateral trade between Pakistan and Iran could easily exceed USD 5-8 billion annually in the coming years,” the ministry said.

Govt notifies new vegetable oil regulation order to enhance transparency, oversight

The government has notified a new framework for the edible oil industry, imposing stricter registration and reporting requirements on producers to enhance transparency and oversight, according to an official release. The 2025 Vegetable Oil Products, Production and Availability (VOPPA) Regulation Order, notified on August 1 by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, amends the Vegetable Oil Products Production and Availability (Regulation) Order, 2011, under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. Under the new framework, producers will face stricter registration and reporting requirements. They must apply for registration certificates through the Directorate of Sugar and Vegetable Oils in New Delhi, providing details such as factory location and production capacity as outlined in Schedule-I.