Even before the U.S. National Women's soccer team's match with Mexico kicked off on Sunday, the crowd at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey was brought to its feet by Pete DuPré, a 96-year-old World War II vet and his pregame harmonica performance of the national anthem.
While the crowd begins the anthem in relative silence, they begin to sing along about halfway through before roaring as DuPré brought the anthem to a close.
You know the Star Wars universe. You know the DC Extended Universe. You know the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
How about the Talking Animal Cinematic Universe?
Movies and television shows allow us to peer inside other worlds, worlds where almost anything is possible. Sometimes these worlds are real. Sometimes they’re fiction. Sometimes they are shared worlds set across multiple features or series.
What if — and stay with us for a minute here — the live action movies and TV shows starring talking animals are all part of a shared universe?
How? We have three conflicting theories, each of them completely plausible and foolproof. One of them is a biological miracle. One of them is horrifying for the animals. And the last one is terrifying for humans. Read more...
Imagine taking an Apple MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar, then stretching that Touch Bar down to occupy nearly half of the space where the keyboard usually resides.
That's pretty much what Asus' new ZenBook Pro Duo laptop looks like, and while we're not quite sure about the concept's usefulness yet, we have to give Asus credit for sheer bravado in launching such a product.
The concept is similar to HP's Omen X 2S laptop, which also has a smaller screen below the regular screen and above the keyboard. But while HP's secondary screen measures a meagre 6 inches, the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo has an ultra-wide, 4K touchscreen with a 14-inch diagonal, which can easily fit several apps side-by-side. Read more...
Disney's highly anticipated Aladdin is here, but we know better than to expect anything groundbreaking from another needless live-action adaptation. While remake has pleasantly surprised most critics with colorful costumes and charismatic leads, Aladdin's signature songs are its biggest disappointment.
From Mashable's own Angie Han: "Guy Ritchie and his team seem to have no idea how to stage and shoot a musical number," which is precisely the opposite of what you want to hear about the director of a movie musical (much less one who was married to Madonna).
So, where and how did Aladdin botch its opportunities for movie musical greatness? Let us count the ways. Read more...
Let's be real. You're going to take your phone to the beach. How could you not? So let's make sure it doesn't meet its untimely end there.
There are three main issues to consider when beach-proofing your device: sun, sand, and moisture. You don't want your phone to overheat, you don't want it to get sand in its ports and crevices, and you definitely don't want it to get wet.
Take these precautions and you'll be able to enjoy your beach day in peace. Unless you get sand under your swimsuit, in which case ... may god be with you.
Keep it cool
Your phone runs the risk of overheating on a hot day, especially if it's sitting out in direct sunlight. To keep it safe, store it under a bit of shade — your beach umbrella, perhapsPopular Science suggests keeping it under a t-shirt or a corner of your beach towel (but not in the sand!). Whatever you do, don't leave it in your car or in an enclosed, compact space like your pocket. Too hot! Read more...
You can already connect one iPhone to several Bluetooth devices — a watch, a speaker, a car — but you currently cannot send Bluetooth audio to two different audio devices.
With this new functionality, two users could listen to tunes on one iPhone using two pairs of AirPods. Or you could have the phone send GPS directions to a car's audio system, while transmitting audio to a pair of headphones at the same time. Read more...
The fact that there's a multitude of potential threats to your personal information whenever you connect to the internet isn't really a surprise these days. It actually might be more shocking that you're not using a VPN yet to protect your data — including your location (creepy) and other sensitive information (like your credit card data or your SSN).
If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, there's no better time than the present to do so: Private Internet Access VPN is a PCMag Editor's Choice service that's on sale in the Mashable Shop — and for a limited time, you can use coupon code WEEKEND25 for an extra 25% off. Read more...
Summer is just around the corner, finally. And that means so are vacations, weekends spent outside, and, if you're the proud owner of a vehicle, a few road trips. As you make the necessary preparations to navigate the road for long periods, don't forget to stock up on trinkets that will make your trip infinitely safer and more convenient.
This Memorial Day weekend, we're holding a sale on car chargers, dash cams, smartphone mounts, and more for an additional 15% discount. Just make sure to enter the code WEEKEND15 at checkout.
Keep your eyes on the road and not on the GPS of your phone. This portable display that you can place directly on your dash mirrors your smartphone screen so you won't have to keep craning your neck to look at directions. You can also use it to manage calls, switch tracks, share your location, and more. Read more...
Memorial Day is here, and we hope you are enjoying your three day weekend. Whether you had a jam-packed weekend of activities, or you spent your time off lounging around and chilling with your loved ones, we think the rest time is well deserved.
Nowadays, most computer users don't need to worry about the exact specifications of the chips running in their machines — a mid-range processor will run the majority of common tasks without issues.
But every once in a while comes a processor that promises to make everyday computers far more powerful without breaking the bankAMD's new Ryzen 9 3900X, launched at Computex trade show on Sunday, is one such processor.
The Ryzen 9 3900X is a 12-core, desktop processor built on AMD's 7-nanometer architecture, that performs a little better (according to AMD) than Intel's top-of-the-line Core i9-9920X processor. Despite the performance boost, AMD's chip has a better power efficiency than Intel's offering, with a 105W TDP (thermal design power), compared to Intel's 165W TDP. Read more...
We're into the final day of the Bank Holiday weekend, but don't be down about it, because if these last few days have taught us anything it's that summer is on its way.
If we are to expect more great weather, we ought to get the garden in order. Nobody wants to spend the whole day stuck inside, especially when the sun is shining and it's hot outside. That's why B&Q's outdoor and garden sale couldn't have come at a better time.
This is your last chance to save 20 percent on a wide range of outdoor essentials, including plants, BBQs, furniture, and lawnmowers. The sale ends at midnight on May 27, so hurry. Read more...
Facebook has come under criticism for not doing enough on dog fighting, a practice which is illegal in numerous countries around the world.
The report, published by animal rights organisation Lady Freethinker, highlights how dog fighting content is easily found on the platform, and how the company has failed to enforce its own policies against the practice.
Between Oct. 2018 and Feb. 2019, the organisation found 2,000 posts which promoted dogfighting or trafficking animals used for fighting, more than 150 pages, groups and profiles actively involved in the practice, plus 160,563 members in the top five pages and groups. Read more...
Warning: The following post contains spoilers for the finale ofGame of Thrones. You must know this by now.
No one was more emotional about the fate of Daenerys Targaryen than Kit Harington.
As seen in HBO's behind-the-scenes Game of Thrones documentary, The Last Watch, which aired Sunday, the star who played Jon Snow/Aegon Targaryen can be seen during the cast's very last table read reaching the moment when his character kills his beloved queen.
Whether or not you saw it coming in the show, Harington apparently didn't, and it's an undeniably stunning moment in the two-hour documentary about the making of Game of Thrones' eighth and final season. Read more...
When you first heard about Disney's live-action remake of the 1992 classic, Aladdin, you probably had a pretty strong opinion.
So did critics, throwing down divided reactions to the studio's latest major redo of an animated classic. But that hasn't stopped Aladdin from flying high at the box office.
Snap has been "in talks" with a number of record labels in an effort to broker deals that would let the company add more music to its app, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal. The talks are not yet final but have "intensified in recent weeks."
If these talks do progress to actual licensing deals, it would mean Snapchat would be able to add musical features akin to Instagram and TikTok, both of which allow users to add short clips from popular songs to their posts. It's also the latest sign that Snap wants to do more to lure fans of TikTok to its service. Read more...
Tesla owners will soon find that they can no longer charge up to 100 percent at some Supercharger stations.
The car maker has opted to limit charging to 80 percent at some of its busiest stations, according to a report in Electrek. "Today, we released a new Supercharger feature that will limit owners’ State of Charge (SOC) to 80% at select high-traffic sites," Tesla told employees in a memo obtained by the site.
The new limits will reportedly apply to 17 percent of U.S. charging stations. In some cases, the limit will be in effect at all times, while some stations will only have limits during holidays and "large regional events," like music festivals. Tesla says it expects the change to "result in a 34% improvement in throughput at our busiest Supercharging locations" and that Tesla owners will be alerted to the limit when they show up at an affected station. Read more...
Netflix teamed up with Latin American YouTubers to create three Little Black Mirror mini-stories, but they're only available in Latin America.
The Little Black Mirror series is a promotional campaign aimed at Spanish-speaking audiences, according to a report from Variety. Netflix confirmed to Mashable that the videos, which will be published on the Netflix América Latina YouTube channel, are only available in Latin American countries and will not be released in English.
That's a bit of a bummer for Black Mirror fans outside of Latin America. But hey, you're not the target here.
Little Black Mirror stars actors and YouTube personalities Alesso, Delaney Glazer, Anwar Jibawi, Rudy Mancuso, Maia Mitchell, Lele Pons, Hannah Stocking, Jeff Wittek, and Juanpa Zurita. Mancuso, who saw massive popularity on Vine, directed the three episodes and scored the music for them. Read more...
Congratulations to the referee in the Netherlands who scored a goal against the Harkemase Boys football club on Saturday.
During a match between the Harkemase Boys and HSV Hoek in the Netherlands, the Harkemase Boys' defense were scrambling to stop the Hoek offense from scoring inside the penalty box. One of the defenders tried to clear the ball away from the goal but kicked it right at the referee and the ball bounced back into the goal.
After a second, the referee signaled that the goal counted much to the dismay of Harkemase players.
Unfortunately for the Harkemase Boys, the referee made the correct call. FIFA considers referees to be part of the field of play, so balls that touch them are still in play. Read more...
A laptop infected with some of the most destructive pieces of malware ever may sound like the kind of ticking time bomb you'd expect only in sci-fi movies. But one man has created just such a machine, and it can be yours — if you have about $1 million to spare.
No, this isn't some shady dark web marketplace. It's an art auction, and the current bidding price is around $1.2 million.
The piece, by artist Guo O Dong, is titled "The Persistence of Chaos," and the name is apt because the laptop could wreak some serious havoc. The old Samsung Netbook that runs Windows XP is infected with half a dozen extremely dangerous pieces of malware that, cumulatively, have caused nearly $95 billion in damages, according to Dong. Read more...
After a year and a half of deliberation on the new revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11), which included gaming disorder in its 2017 draft, all 194 member states of the WHO agreed to adopt ICD-11. The new revision goes into effect Jan. 1, 2022.
So what exactly is gaming disorder? It sits in the subcategory in ICD-11 called "Disorders due to substance use or addictive behaviors" alongside alcoholism, gambling addiction, and, curiously, a section devoted to harmful cannabis use dependence. Read more...
This has been one of the deadliest climbing seasons on the world's highest peak. Veteran climbers blame increased permits for climbers, including many who are inexperienced.
A large team of US researchers has found a single solution that appears to manage everything using a sustainable material that both reflects sunlight and radiates away excess heat. The miracle material? Wood. Or a form of wood that has been treated to remove one of its two main components.
That amped-up version of the Obi-Wan vs. Darth Vader duel from a few weeks back was cool and all, but this hilarious video gets at exactly why bringing "A New Hope" in line with films made later is a silly idea.
The painting used for the "Jaws" film poster was made by Roger Kastel, who based his creation off a taxidermy shark. Taking a photo with a real-life one, though, has proven elusive for many photographers.
Uber was the most valuable private company in history, but the public market has not been as enthusiastic. The reason explains a lot about how the tech industry works.
It has been said that if we do not understand our history, we are doomed to repeat it. Which is why I'm here to remind you that, for a very long time, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were famous for being straight-to-VHS movie stars.
Over the course of his career, David Schulson amassed arguably the most impressive private collection of drawings, scribbles, and autographs in the world.
Navigate the road and see clearly with this Hudway Cast Dashboard Heads-up Display: it sits on the dash and wirelessly mirrors your smartphone screen with a much larger and sharper resolution. Get an extra 15% off the sale price of $199 this weekend with code WEEKEND15, and you'll bring it home for just $169.15.
Regardless of how you feel about this last season of "Game of Thrones," these dragon egg candles look great, and serve as a subtle way to display your fandom.
Ultimately, this guy is doing it right: keeping his cool long enough to release this scaly beauty near the creek by his house, where it is now living happily.
"As a transgender woman... when I try to psychoanalyze myself, I find that my desire to look female, to look feminine and to look beautiful are not exactly the same but they're so woven so tightly that it's kind of difficult to untangle them... the truth is I don't just want to look female, I want to be beautiful."
Enslaved Africans smuggled into Alabama in the schooner Clotilda founded Africatown after the Civil War. Now residents want to raise the wreck from under the Mobile River as a symbol of pride.
Both Warner Bros. and Laika also have animated projects about Yetis coming out soon ("Smallfoot" and "Missing Link"). It's going to be a chilly, adorable year.
The diner's imprint on New York culture can be felt among the holdouts, the mourners of the recently shuttered and the restaurant owners who find life after the death of their diners.
Entering the US at a rate of more than 5,000 a day, new arrivals from Central America are departing border towns by the busload. And that bus is usually a Greyhound.
Copyright issues have plagued YouTube and its community for years, but creators are calling this moment in time one of the worst eras for trying to navigate the platform. Over the past six months, multiple YouTubers have run into issues with what they describe as aggressive copyright claims from record labels.
"In addition to Iowa and New Hampshire, it feels like 'The View' is a stop on the political campaign trail," says Ramin Setoodeh, author of the new book "Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of 'The View'" and Variety's New York bureau chief.
If you want to use the summer season to its fullest, you're going to need some gear. Fire pits, hammocks and more are being discounted for Memorial Day, so stock up while the getting is good.
Zappos is discounting a huge percentage of its catalog right now, and we're not just looking at shoes here. Shorts, swimsuits, dresses and other clothes are being marked down significantly.
Nothing's worse than waiting around for a full battery — this iPM Wireless Charging Docks with Removable Charging Pad helps you get going fast with 10W of charging power and a 4-in-1 design.
Viewpoint: A Soldier's Reflection For Memorial Day -- Time
It is the early days of January 2010, and the company forms to the front of the memorial display at the chapel of the forward operating base in Afghanistan. The backdrop for the small shrine: the crossed staffs of an American flag and the regimental colors. An M4 rifle stands upright, its bayonet lodged into a felt-covered wooden desk in front of the flags, the pistol grip facing the audience. The fallen soldier's helmet rests on the weapon's buttstock, shielding it as it once did his silhouette. Two dog tags dangle from the rifle's pistol grip, clamoring in the desert wind. Below, centered on the rifle's barrel and arrayed at the position of attention, are the soldier's desert tan boots — tied, laces tucked.
The photo, taken by The New York Times's Todd Heisler, while he was a staff photographer at The Rocky Mountain News in 2005. The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the coffin, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her. Associated Press/Rocky Mountain News, Todd Heisler
General Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868
I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.
If our eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.
Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan.
II. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to lend its friendly aid in bringing to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.
III. Department commanders will use efforts to make this order effective.
A sunny round of golf, double hamburgers for lunch, ringside seats at a sumo wrestling "basho" and a barbeque dinner. Those were the components Sunday of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's latest bid to become President Donald Trump's best global friend.
Whether the hours of male bonding result in wins on trade and security remains to be seen. Before the day even began, there were signs the ardent effort at cultivating the US leader -- started even before he assumed office -- had not paid off in new agreement on North Korea.
Still, the lavish displays of camaraderie clearly suited Trump, who was pictured at the Mobara Country Club south of Tokyo smiling broadly in a selfie taken by Abe as they played 16 holes and sat together for both breakfast and lunch (double cheeseburgers made from American beef, according to Japan's foreign ministry).
Tokyo (CNN): President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday he doesn't view North Korea's short range missile tests as disturbing, a view deeply at odds with his Japanese hosts and in conflict with statements made a day earlier by his national security adviser.
"North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me," Trump wrote on Twitter.
This is a major blow ahead of his meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which are set to begin in a few hours.
The Japanese government has said North Korea's recent test of short range missiles violated UN resolutions -- a determination that national security adviser John Bolton agreed with in Tokyo on Saturday during a briefing with reporters before Trump arrived in Japan.
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that planned arms sales to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan that will bypass congressional approval are needed quickly as any delay could increase the risk for American partners at a time of instability caused by Iran.
Mr Pompeo's statement came just hours after the Pentagon said it would send an additional 1,500 troops to the Middle East to bolster defences against Iran as it accused country's Revolutionary Guard of direct responsibility for this month's tanker attacks off the coast of the UAE.
U.S. officials said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent boats to approach the USS New Orleans and USS Stout as Gen. Votel rode aboard the New Orleans. PHOTO: US NAVY/REUTERS
But second general says 'rational American commanders' will prevent war; FM Zarif calls Trump's dispatch of 1,500 troops a threat to world stability.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday a US decision to deploy 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East was "a threat to global peace and stability."
"Increased US presence in our region is very dangerous and a threat to global peace and stability and must be confronted," Zarif told the official IRNA news agency before heading home from a visit to Pakistan.
Washington says the reinforcements, which come after the deployment earlier this month of an aircraft carrier task force, B-52 bombers, an amphibious assault ship and a missile defense system, are in response to a "campaign" of recent attacks approved by Iran's top leadership.
With the Trump administration set to deploy U.S. troops to the Middle East amid heightened tensions with Tehran, a new report reveals that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has never talked with his Iranian counterpart.
Pompeo has never directly spoken with Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, Reuters reported on Friday, citing Iran's mission at the United Nations. The two men serve as their respective country's highest diplomat.
Zarif argued in an interview with Reuters that part of the reason the two men have never spoken is Pompeo's tendency to "insult" Zarif in public statements about Iran's government.
The U.S. is sending 1,500 more troops to the region amid simmering tensions, President Donald Trump said Friday.
The U.S. decision to deploy more troops to the Middle East amid simmering tensions with Iran is "highly dangerous," the country's foreign minister warned Saturday.
President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. is sending 1,500 more troops to beef up American forces in the region.
"The U.S. move to increase its military presence in our region is highly dangerous and a threat against international peace and security," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told state news agency IRNA.
The new deployment will consist of surveillance aircraft, a fighter jet squadron and engineers to fortify buildings and other facilities. The military is also extending the deployment of a 600-person Patriot missile battalion in the region, defense officials said.
All told, the military is sending fewer than 1,000 more troops to the region, officials said.
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon will send another 900 troops to the Middle East in the coming weeks in a move meant to bolster security for U.S. troops in the region amid heightening tensions with Iran, the Defense Department announced Friday.
Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan notified Congress on Friday that he had authorized a request from U.S. Central Command to send the additional forces – an Air Force fighter jet squadron, an engineering element and combination of manned and unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets – into the Middle East, he said in a statement. The Pentagon will also extend the deployment of some 600 soldiers from a Patriot missile battalion already serving in the region.
Tanker A. Michel is seen off the Port of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, on Monday. The U.A.E says it was one of four shipping vessels targeted Sunday. (Satish Kumar/Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Friday accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) of being directly responsible for attacks on tankers off the United Arab Emirates earlier this month, describing it as part of a "campaign" by Tehran driving new U.S. deployments.
"The attack against the shipping in Fujairah we attribute it to the IRGC," said Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, the director of the Joint Staff, adding the Pentagon attributed limpet mines used in the attack to the IRGC. He declined to describe "the means of delivery" of the mines.
In January, CIA Director Gina Haspel and fellow spy chiefs testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that North Korea was unlikely to abandon its nuclear weapons and that Iran was complying with a 2015 nuclear accord—assessments that seemed to undercut President Trump's policies. Photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters
CIA director seeks the mute button—for herself and her agency.
WASHINGTON—At a gala dinner in February to raise funds for the families of Central Intelligence Agency officers killed in the line of duty, CIA Director Gina Haspel surprised her audience by delving into details of spycraft the agency has used to run agents on the streets of Moscow. But the crowd's astonishment at the unusual revelation quickly evaporated when the spy chief confided that the material came from a journalist's book.
After a year atop the CIA, Ms. Haspel is giving away few secrets. With a 35-year career in clandestine operations and a U.S. president who pounces when his spy chiefs contradict him publicly, she and her agency have adopted their lowest public profile in decades.
"She's gone to ground," said Mark Lowenthal, a former CIA official and staff director of the House Intelligence Committee. "It's not going to be any good for her to be out there attracting lightning bolts."
Interviews with nearly 20 current and former U.S. intelligence officials reveal a portrait of a CIA director who has been warmly received by the workforce she has spent her life among.
The CIA's first female director since its 1947 founding, she has put in place her own leadership team—which also includes many women—and so far has avoided having President Trump's political allies embedded in the agency's senior ranks.
WASHINGTON — President Trump's order allowing Attorney General William P. Barr to declassify any intelligence that led to the Russia investigation sets up a potential confrontation with the C.I.A. It effectively strips the agency of its most critical power: choosing which secrets it shares and which ones remain hidden.
Mr. Trump said on Friday that he wanted Mr. Barr to "get to the bottom" of what the intelligence agencies knew about the investigation into his campaign. He promised, "We're exposing everything."
The president raised questions about C.I.A. involvement in the origins of the Russia investigation, and other officials said Mr. Barr wanted to learn more about sources in Russia, including a key informant who helped the C.I.A. conclude that President Vladimir V. Putin ordered the intrusion on the 2016 election. Mr. Trump also invoked two close allies, Australia and Britain, telling reporters he wanted the attorney general to examine their roles in sharing intelligence about Russia's interference.
WNU Editor: Russia-Gate occupied the U.S. media and political landscape for two years. If the CIA played a role in this entire affair, they should permit the Justice Department to declassify all relevant information. My prediction. If President Trump wants it declassified, they will.
Environmentalist parties have seen record gains in the EU elections as the conservative EPP and centre left Social democrats seem likely to lose ground, setting the stage for the Greens to end up as kingmaker in the European Parliamenthttps://t.co/JsYDZACdglpic.twitter.com/NB4NAQLCje
WATCH: Full ceremony: Japan's new emperor, Naruhito, welcomes President Trump and the First Lady during the president's state visit to Japan. pic.twitter.com/Z8csKpdvGI
— Naval War College Naval & Maritime News (@NavalNews) May 26, 2019
In the Defense News Minute for May 24: The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved a Space Force, but it differs from the version put forth by the White House. #SpaceForcepic.twitter.com/VyHNMAEqlU
(TOKYO) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he is not “personally bothered” by recent short-range missile tests that North Korea conducted this month, breaking with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is hosting the president on four-day state visit full of pageantry.
Abe, who stood beside Trump at a news conference after hours of talks, disagreed with the U.S. president, saying the missile tests violated U.S. Security Council resolutions and were “of great regret.” Abe, who has been cozying up to Trump on a number of issues, is concerned because the missiles pose a threat to security in Japan.
Trump was far from Washington, but he didn’t miss the chance to lob another broadside insult against former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the Democrats seeking to challenge Trump in next year’s presidential election. North Korea’s Kim Jong Un recently criticized Biden as having a low I.Q. and Trump told the world he agreed with the authoritarian leader’s assessment.
Abe is hosting Trump on a state visit designed to highlight the U.S.-Japan alliance and showcase the friendship and warm relations between the leaders. During hours of talks, Trump and Abe deliberated over economic issues, including trade and Iran.
The Republic of Ireland has voted to relax restrictions on divorce laws by an overwhelming majority, in the latest move to liberalize a constitution heavily influenced by the Roman Catholic Church.
A referendum held Friday saw 82.1% of voters supporting the change, which removes a clause requiring couples to have been separated for four of the previous five years in order to get a divorce, the BBC reports.
A new timeframe will be decided on by the Oireachtas, or the Irish parliament. The government has previously expressed the view that a two-year separation is enough, according to the BBC.
The country’s Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan, tweeted Saturday that the results represent “very positive news” and that he will move quickly with the legislation to “reduce upset and trauma on couples and children” trapped in failed marriages.
The Deputy Leader of the Irish Senate, Cahterine Noone, also tweeted her reactions to the results.
Ireland has really grown into a more tolerant and progressive society over the last 24 years.
— Sen Catherine Noone (@senatornoone) May 26, 2019
While Ireland’s main political parties are in favor of easing regulations that would make filing for a divorce easier, Catholic pressure groups have maintained their opposition, stating that separation causes disruption to children’s lives and that the government should instead invest resources into “what makes marriages work.”
Divorce was legalized relatively recently in the predominantly Catholic country — in 1995 — after a vote passed by a margin of less than one percent.
But the country is seeing signs of moving towards more liberal policies; last year, a ban on abortion was repealed by a landslide, and in 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to approve same-sex marriage through popular vote.
A British mountaineer, among the latest to die while climbing Mount Everest in less than two weeks, wrote about his worries that overcrowding on the mountain could “prove fatal” in the days before he lost his life while descending.
Robin Haynes Fisher died of what appeared to be altitude sickness at around 28,215 feet, according to CNN.
Fisher wrote in his last post on Instagram that he was delaying his summit to May 25, intending to avoid the crowd of climbers who were planning their routes for an earlier date.
“With a single route to the summit, delays caused by overcrowding could prove fatal,” Fisher said. “I am hopeful my decision to go for the 25th will mean fewer people.”
He added, “Unless of course, everyone else plays the same waiting game.”
On Facebook, Fisher’s partner Kristyn Carriere wrote that scaling Everest was his “ultimate challenge” and that she is heartbroken.
At least nine mountaineers have died on Everest during this year’s climbing season, which has been marked by difficult weather conditions causing summit attempts to be restricted to a small number of days. Overcrowding as a result meant climbers had to spend long periods of time queuing in an area known as the “death zone,” where the high altitude increases their chances of running out of oxygen.
Last week, a 54-year-old man from Utah fainted from high altitude sickness at the summit and could not be revived.
Four Indian climbers, two Irish climbers and a Nepali guide are also among the dead.
More than 200 mountaineers have died scaling Everest since 1922, according to CNN.
Seven Myanmar soldiers who were jailed for killing 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys were released early, ultimately serving less time than two journalists who exposed their crimes, Reuters reports.
Several sources including two prison officials and two former fellow inmates confirmed to the news agency that the soldiers had their sentences cut short. They were reportedly freed last November, less than a year into the 10-year term they received.
The 2017 military operation in Rahkine forced the exile of more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh as soldiers pillaged and burned entire villages. Women and girls were gang raped by soldiers during the crackdown. The U.N. has called for several of Myanmar’s military leaders to face charges of genocide.
The seven soldiers jailed for their involvement in the massacre were the only security personnel the military has said it has punished over the operation, according to Reuters.
(BRUSSELS) — The European Union’s traditional center splintered in the hardest-fought European Parliament elections in decades, with the far right and pro-environment Greens gaining ground on Sunday after four days of a polarized vote.
Turnout was at a two-decade high over the balloting across the 28 European Union countries. The elections were seen as a test of the influence of the nationalist, populist and hard-right movements that have swept the continent in recent years and impelled Britain to quit the EU altogether. Both supporters of closer European unity and those who consider the EU a meddlesome and bureaucratic presence portrayed the vote as crucial for the future of the bloc.
In Britain, voters went for the extremes, with the strongest showing for Nigel Farage’s the newly formed Brexit party and a surge for the staunchly pro-European Liberal Democrats, versus a near wipeout for Conservatives. In France, an electorate that voted Emmanuel Macron into presidential office in 2017 did an about-face and the party of his defeated opponent, Marine Le Pen, drew into first place. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition saw a drastic loss in support to the Greens and, to a lesser extent, the far right. Italy’s League party, led by Matteo Salvini, claimed 32% of the vote in early projections, compared with around 6% five years ago.
“Not only is the League the first party in Italy, but Marine Le Pen is first in France, Nigel Farage is first in Great Britain. Therefore, Italy, France and England: the sign of a Europe that is changing, that is fed up,” Salvini said.
Despite gains, the vote was hardly the watershed anticipated by Europe’s far-right populists, who have vowed to dilute the European Union from within in favor of national sovereignty. Pro-EU parties still were expected to win about two-thirds of the 751-seat legislature that sits in Brussels and Strasbourg, according to the projections released by the parliament and based on the results rolling in overnight.
The continent-wide voting had major implications not just for the functioning of the bloc but also for the internal politics in many countries. Le Pen exulted that the expected result “confirms the new nationalist-globalist division” in France and beyond; Greece’s governing party called for snap elections after its loss; and Salvini was expected to capitalize on the outcome to boost his power at home.
“The monopoly of power is broken,” Margrethe Vestager, of the pro-EU ALDE grouping that includes Macron’s party. Vestager declared herself a candidate to lead the European commission for ALDE, which gained seats in large part because Macron’s party is itself a newcomer.
Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigrant National Rally party came out on top in France with 24% in an astonishing rebuke of Macron, who has made EU integration the heart of his presidency. His party drew just over 21%, according to government results.
Exit polls in Germany, the EU’s biggest country, likewise indicated Merkel’s party and its center-left coalition partner also suffered losses, while the Greens were set for big gains and the far right was expected to pick up slightly more support.
Turnout across the bloc was put at 50.5%, a 20-year high. An estimated 426 million people were eligible to vote.
The results will likely leave Parliament’s two main parties, the European People’s Party and the Socialists & Democrats, without a majority for the first time since 1979, opening the way for complicated talks to form a working coalition. The Greens and the ALDE free-market liberals were jockeying to become decisive in the body.
A subdued Esther de Lange, vice chair of the European People’s Party, conceded that the results indicate “fragmentation and a shrinking center.”
The Greens did well not just in Germany but in France and Ireland. “The Green wave has really spread all over Europe, and for us that is a fantastic result,” said Ska Keller, the group’s co-leader in the Parliament.
Germany’s Manfred Weber, the candidate of the EPP, the biggest party in Parliament, said that now it is “most necessary for the forces that believe in this Europe, that want to lead this Europe to a good future, that have ambitions for this Europe” to work together.
The EU and its Parliament set trade policy on the continent, regulate agriculture, oversee antitrust enforcement and set monetary policy for 19 of the 28 nations sharing the euro currency. Britain voted, even though it is planning to leave the EU. Its EU lawmakers will lose their jobs as soon as Brexit happens.
Europe has been roiled in the past few years by immigration from the Mideast and Africa and deadly attacks by Islamic extremists. It has also seen rising tensions over economic inequality and growing hostility toward the political establishment — sentiments not unlike those that got Donald Trump elected in the U.S.
Hungary’s increasingly authoritarian prime minister Viktor Orban, a possible ally of Italy’s Salvini, said he hopes the election will bring a shift toward political parties that want to stop migration. The migration issue “will reorganize the political spectrum in the European Union,” he said.
Proponents of stronger EU integration, led by Macron, argue that issues like climate change and immigration are too big for any one country to tackle alone. His lead candidate, Nathalie Loiseau, said she would continue the fight against nationalists in the European Parliament.
With the elections over, European leaders are jockeying over the top jobs in the EU’s headquarters in Brussels. The leaders meet for a summit over dinner Tuesday. Current European lawmakers’ terms end July 1, and the new parliament will be seated the following day.
(BANGKOK) — Prem Tinsulanonda, who as an army commander, prime minister and adviser to the royal palace was one of Thailand’s most influential political figures over four decades, died Sunday at age 98.
A statement from the palace said Prem died of heart failure at Bangkok’s Phra Mongkutklao hospital, and had served the throne loyally, contributing beneficially to the country.
Prem was best known for his long-standing devotion to the monarchy, especially the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who appointed him to his Privy Council immediately after Prem’s eight years as prime minister, and named him head of that powerful advisory body in 1998, a position he held until his death.
Prem is credited by scholars with establishing the unspoken primacy of the palace in Thailand’s power structure, cementing a mutually beneficial alliance with the military.
“He essentially forged and sustained a partnership between monarchy and military with the latter as junior partner up until today,” said Paul Chambers, a political scientist at Naraesuan University in northern Thailand.
Prem was prime minister from 1980 to 1988, and helped usher in a period of relative stability after a successful pro-democracy uprising against a military dictatorship in 1973, a counter-revolution and coup in 1976 and another coup in 1977, as well as edginess about communist takeovers in neighboring Indochina in 1975.
While most Thai army commanders came to the position through coups, Prem was elected constitutionally by parliamentary vote, though he never ran for office. As prime minister, he weathered two attempted coups and was reportedly the target of several assassination plots.
Critics questioned his devotion to democracy, and accused him of encouraging, if not engineering, the 2006 coup that ousted elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
He denied such allegations, but in the months preceding the military takeover, he frequently spoke out about corruption and greed in government — a major accusation against Thaksin by his critics — and strongly advised in public speeches to army and navy cadets that their loyalty was to king and country, not the government.
Ironically, Prem’s barely veiled backing of the coup set in motion events that contributed to a decline in the near-universal respect for the monarchy, because of the perception among the popular Thaksin’s supporters that the palace was taking sides in politics, something it publicly always denied doing under the system of constitutional monarchy.
“That coup was probably Prem’s last major political intervention, and it was one where he misjudged,” Kevin Hewison, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina and veteran Thai studies scholar, said in an email interview on Sunday. “He expected elation and praise for his open role in getting rid of Thaksin. Instead, his intervention lit the fuse of a political polarization that continues to haunt Thailand’s elite.”
The coup set off a sometimes violent battle for power between Thaksin’s opponents and his political allies, who despite electoral victories were forced time and again from office, culminating in another coup in 2014. An election in March this year is set to install a government in the near future, but constitutional changes ensure the military will keep elected politicians on a tight leash.
Prem retained his role as a behind-the-scenes power broker after the 2006 coup, especially as King Bhumibol was in ill health for much of the decade before his death in 2016.
Prem, in apparently vigorous health for his age until recently, looked frail at two recent public appearances: voting in the March general election and the formal coronation of Bhumibol’s son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, earlier this month.
Prem was born in the major southern fishing port of Songkhla on Aug. 26, 1920. He attended the prestigious Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy in Bangkok and later U.S. Army schools. He began his military career in 1941 as a second lieutenant in a tank regiment.
He first achieved national prominence in 1974-77, when as regional army commander in Thailand’s poor rural northeast he stressed development and civic action instead of military might in a successful campaign against communist insurgents. As prime minister, he continued using policies of amnesty and other political means to prompt defections from the communist guerrilla movement.
Junior officers pushed a reluctant Prem into taking the prime minister’s job in 1980, when Thailand was facing an ailing economy and perils on the border with Cambodia, which had been occupied by Vietnamese forces who had driven out the communist Khmer Rouge regime but also sent hundreds of thousands of refugees into Thailand. At the same time, Thailand expanded ties with China and allies in the West, Japan and Southeast Asia.
Prem was appointed deputy interior minister in 1977 and later army commander and defense minister. He became prime minister in March 1980, after the resignation of Kriangsak Chamanand, another former military leader.
The border crisis with Cambodia eased over time, and Prem had the good luck to preside over the birth of Thailand’s economic boom, which ended only with Asia’s devastating 1997 financial crisis.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, credited Prem with keeping the military at arm’s length from politics by warding off the coup attempts in 1981 and 1985, and checking elected politicians from excessive graft by shielding the Finance Ministry and macro-policy agencies, particularly the Central Bank, from domestic politics.
But Prem showed little appetite for public political activity, and was dubbed by some academics as suffering from “reluctant ruler syndrome.” Critics accused him of indecision and lacking in imagination, and influential businessmen criticized his government’s austere economic policies. His aloof manner, bordering on arrogance, didn’t help his popularity.
“Prem disliked the cut-and-thrust of parliamentary politics, disdained elected politicians as the source of Thailand’s corruption, and he seldom appeared in parliament,” said Hewison, the Thai studies scholar. “As prime minister, Prem established a system of government that has been a model for the current military junta.”
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the junta leader who seized power in 2014, praised Prem as “a role model for Thais who love the country,” according to a statement from deputy government spokesman Werachon Sukondhapatipak.
“He was honest and cared for the betterment of society. He also had other characteristics about him that future generations should learn from,” the statement cited Prayuth, another former army commander, as saying.
A later government statement called Prem a “hero,” and said that flags would be lowered to half-staff for seven days in his honor and that civil servants would dress appropriately for mourning for three weeks.
Never married, Prem leaves no family survivors. Thailand’s Princess Sirindhorn will preside over his initial Buddhist funeral rites on Monday.
(TOKYO) — Under a blazing hot sun at Japan’s Imperial Palace, President Donald Trump on Monday became the first world leader to meet the new emperor of Japan.
The president, who is on a four-day state visit, was the center of attention at a grand outdoor welcome ceremony where he took a solo walk down red carpets, reviewing Japanese troops as the guest of honor. The pomp and pageantry then gave way to meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about trade and other world issues.
Trump’s “state call” opened with handshakes and greetings from Naruhito, who ascended to the throne on May 1, and his wife, Empress Masako.
As he approached the emperor, Trump said, “How are you? Thank you very much.” The first lady told the empress, “Nice to meet you.”
After exchanging pleasantries inside the palace, the couples emerged and walked to a raised platform as the national anthems of both countries were played.
Trump showed little emotion, but waved near schoolchildren feverishly waving U.S. and Japanese flags. Some of the children suffered from the heat and were later seen siting with cups of water and cool compresses on their foreheads.
At the White House last week, Trump noted the significance of his meeting with the emperor. Naruhito took the throne after his father stepped down, the first abdication in Japan’s royal family in about two centuries.
“It’s a very big thing going on with the emperor. It’s something that hasn’t happened in over 200 years,” Trump said. “I am the guest, meaning the United States is the guest.”
Trump stressed that Abe “very specifically” said Trump is the guest of honor.
“With all the countries of the world, I’m the guest of honor at the biggest event that they’ve had in over 200 years,” Trump said.
It’s not the emperor who chose Trump as his first state guest. It was Abe, who is seen by some as using the invitation to meet Naruhito to curry favor with Trump who is threatening to impose potentially devastating tariffs on Japan’s auto industry, among other tensions in the relationship..
After leaving the Imperial Palace, Trump went to the Akasaka Palace, the Japanese state guest house with lush manicured grounds, for meetings, a working lunch and joint news conference with Abe. The president also will be the guest of honor at an imperial banquet at the palace hosted by the emperor.
(KINSHASA, Congo) — Authorities in western Congo say at least 30 people are dead and another 200 are missing after a boat sank on a lake.
Simon Mboo Wemba, the mayor of Inongo, told The Associated Press on Sunday night that many of those aboard the boat that sank on Lake Mai-Ndombe were teachers.
The mayor says they had traveled to collect their salaries by boat because roads in the region are so poor.
It was not immediately known how many people were aboard the boat when it hit bad weather late Saturday.
But officials estimate several hundred were on board. More than 80 people survived.
Boats in the vast nation of Congo are usually overloaded with passengers and cargo, and official manifests don’t include all those aboard.
(BERLIN) — Israel’s president said Sunday he is shocked by a German official’s comment that he wouldn’t advise Jews to wear skullcaps in parts of the country, which is drawing mixed reactions at home.
Felix Klein, the government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, was quoted Saturday as saying: “I cannot recommend to Jews that they wear the skullcap at all times everywhere in Germany.” He didn’t elaborate on what places and times might be risky.
“The statement of the German government’s anti-Semitism commissioner that it would be preferable for Jews not wear a kippa in Germany out of fear for their safety, shocked me deeply,” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said in a statement.
He added that “we will never submit, will never lower our gaze and will never react to anti-Semitism with defeatism — and expect and demand our allies act in the same way.”
Government statistics released earlier this month showed that the number of anti-Semitic and anti-foreigner incidents rose in Germany last year, despite an overall drop in politically motivated crimes.
Germany’s main Jewish leader, Josef Schuster, told news agency dpa “it has long been a fact that Jews are potentially exposed to danger in some big cities if they can be recognized as Jews.” He added that he pointed that out two years ago, “so it is to be welcomed if this situation gets more attention at the highest political level.”
Others were sharply critical of Klein’s comment. Michel Friedman, a former deputy leader of Germany’s main Jewish group, said it was an admission of failure and that “the state must ensure that Jews can show themselves everywhere without fear.”
Bavaria’s state interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, said that wearing a skullcap is part of religious freedom. “Everyone can and should wear his skullcap wherever and whenever he wants,” he said.
Klein himself told dpa that his statement had been “provocative” and he “wanted to initiate a debate about the safety of the Jewish community in our country.”
“Of course I believe that there must not be no-go areas anywhere in Germany for Jews or members of other minorities,” he said.
(RIO DE JANEIRO) — Thousands gathered in cities across Brazil on Sunday to show support for President Jair Bolsonaro, who faces an uncooperative Congress, street protests, a family corruption scandal and falling approval ratings five months into his term.
The stumbling start for the far-right leader who rode a wave of dissatisfaction with Brazil’s political class to victory led his backers to call for the demonstrations, which represented a mixed bag of demands and protests.
Supporters sang the national anthem and waved Brazilian flags while chanting the names of Bolsonaro cabinet members. Many said that Brazil’s institutions were not letting Bolsonaro govern. Some called for the closure of Congress and the Supreme Court.
“We need to clean out Congress,” said Neymar de Menezes, a 45-year-old construction contractor. “Unfortunately all the deputies there are compromised and all about deal making. Bolsonaro is fighting them by himself.”
Bolsonaro, who earlier in his political career said he would close Congress if he were ever president, told reporters on Friday he didn’t support calls to close institutions.
“That would not be good for Brazil,” Bolsonaro said. “That’s more Maduro than Jair Bolsonaro,” he added, referring to Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The call for demonstrations created a rift among Brazil’s conservatives. The president of Bolsonaro’s party said protests “don’t make sense.”
“For the love of God, stop with the calls for protests, these people need a reality check,” tweeted Janaína Paschoal, a federal congresswoman whose name was floated as a potential vice president. She said Bolsonaro’s biggest risk was himself, his sons and some of his staff members.
“Wake up! On the 26th, if the streets are empty, Bolsonaro will realize he has to stop with the drama and do his job,” she said.
Bolsonaro did not participate in the demonstrations. Speaking at a church service in Rio de Janeiro, he said demonstrators were on the streets to, “deliver a message to those who insist on keeping the old politics who aren’t allowing the people to be free.”
The idea for demonstrations in favor of Bolsonaro gained steam after tens of thousands of people across Brazil last week protested budget cuts to public education imposed by his government. Bolsonaro dismissed the student-led protests, calling their participants “imbeciles” and “useful idiots.”
It was the first mass street movement against the former army captain who took office on Jan. 1 and has seen his popularity steadily slipping. Roughly as many people now disapprove of his government as approve of it.
Pollster XP Investimentos said its poll showed 36% of Brazilians think Bolsonaro’s government is bad or terrible and 34% say it’s good or great. The firm surveyed 1,000 people on May 21-22, with a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.
“Bolsonaro got off to a very bad start, especially in the first month,” said Sergio Praça, a political scientist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation University, referring to a corruption scandal involving his family.
Just weeks into his presidency, questions mounted over a report from financial regulators that flagged irregular payments in 2016 and 2017 between his son, Flavio, then a state legislator and now a senator, and his driver. Prosecutors suspect the payments are part of a common scheme in lower levels of Brazilian government in which politicians hire ghost employees who kick back portions of their salaries into the elected official’s bank account. Bolsonaro and his son ran on anti-corruption platforms — a large reason why many voters chose him over the leftist candidate from the scandal-ridden Worker’s Party.
Praça said things have not been looking up since then. Brazil’s economy is sluggish and its currency has weakened. Bolsonaro is struggling to make alliances in Brazil’s infamously deal-making Congress, which is preventing him from passing his agenda, including a desperately needed pension reform. Brazil’s pension system, which allows swaths of the population to retire in their early 50s, is the single largest factor contributing to the country’s deficit.
And, just as during his campaign and time in Congress, Bolsonaro is making headlines for controversial comments. In March during Carnival, he tweeted a pornographic video saying it was a warning to the nation of how decadent the celebration has become.
“The beginning of his government has been marked with uncertainty and confusion,” Praça said.
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MATTEO SALVINI hinted at the start of a new eurosceptic coalition in the EU following the outstanding results of his party in Italy, Marine Le Pen's party in France and Nigel Farage's in the UK at the European elections.
SPAIN's European election contest was rocked by the breakthrough of the far-right Vox party and a disastrous performance by the country's traditional conservative party.
CONTROVERSIAL Spanish politicians who were forced out of the country due their support to secure independence for Catalonia have been elected to the European Parliament.
ANGELA MERKEL and her Christian Democratic Union party endured their worst ever night at the European elections as they were humiliated by the Greens/Alliance 90.
GREEK Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called a snap general election after his socialist Syriza party were decimated by the conservative opposition in European Parliament elections on Sunday.
After Surat tragedy, 9,395 buildings get Gujarat govt notice for fire safety The state had formed 713 teams made up of 2,055 officials to check for fire safety in various buildings across Gujarat
Plogging: A workout craze sweeping the nation Happy plogging, shall we say, as we all join in to make our neighbourhoods clean, get a toned body and a happier heart, relishing the small, yet sweet joy of having made a difference!
Rewriting the developmental paradigm: From doles to dignity What we need is a new paradigm of development which will blend grants and dignified entrepreneurial opportunities
Rewriting the developmental paradigm: From doles to dignity What we need is a new paradigm of development which will blend grants and dignified entrepreneurial opportunities
The test that could give Modi 2.0 its first serious reality check By Rajesh Kumar Singh, Debjit Chakraborty and Anindya UpadhyayOne of the biggest challenges facing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he begins his second term is ensuring clean air in a country that's home to some of the most polluted cities in the world.The country is burning up more coal to supply cheap electricity to its 1.3 billion people, resulting in polluted air across vast stretches. That's costing lives and denting the nation's economic productivity, prompting a policy rethink. Air pollution and how political parties plan to tackle it figured in their manifestos for the first time in national elections that ended May 23.Efforts in the past to clean up the environment have struggled to clear the test of affordability. India's fleet of coal-burning power plants, among the biggest sources of air pollution and a dominant provider of cheap energy, have dragged their feet over implementing emission standards, citing cost. A campaign to replace firewood with clean cooking fuel in rural homes needs to be affordable to have greater adoption. 69512329 A look at what the Modi administration needs to do:*Strengthen the electricity distribution companies. Rejuvenating the power retailers will be crucial for transitioning to cleaner, although costlier electricity. Their losses rose from April to December, reversing a declining trend. Efforts to revive them during Modi's first term have met with some progress but haven't been completely successful. *Ensure timely implementation of emissions norms for thermal power plants. One of the reasons this process has moved slowly is a possible reluctance by lenders to finance retrofits in a sector already stressed with a mountain of bad debt. Fixing the money-losing power retailers would be key to resolving the bad loan mess.*Bring fuels, such as natural gas, under the national sales tax regime, helping them compete with dirtier options, such as coal and petcoke. Boosting local production of gas will make it more affordable and help raise its share in the mix to 15%, more than double from now. *Accelerate capacity addition in renewable energy, while enabling the grid to deal with the rising flow of intermittent power. Increase use of biomass for energy to help reduce the dependence on crude oil imports and prevent burning of crop residue, a leading air polluter in northern India. Source: ET
US about to hit Indian techies where it hurts The Trump administration has begun the process to ban work permits for spouses of H-1B visa holders, a move that would affect the families of thousands of Indian hi-tech workers in the US.The US government on May 22 issued a notice for the proposed rule-making that will kick in public consultations to ban the H-4 EAD (Employment Authorisation Document), a work visa programme launched by the previous Obama administration to leverage skilled spouses of H-1B visa holders and address skill shortage in the technology domain. While explaining its reasons for the proposal, the Department of Homeland Security wrote that American citizens would benefit "by having a better chance at obtaining jobs that some of the population of the H-4 workers currently hold".Indians, largely female engineers, have been the biggest beneficiaries of the H4 EAD visa programme, taking over 90% of the 1.2 lakh visas issued since 2015. The Trump administration had first indicated the scrapping of the programme in February last year. Even if this proposal goes through, it would take a while for it actually take effect, said policy watchers.Rajiv S Khanna, managing attorney at immigration law firm Immigration.com, said it could take as much as a year for the visa programme to get scrapped. "The process is currently at the second last stage. Once it is approved here, it will be posted in the federal register and people will have 30 or 60 days to post comments, following which the regulation will be made final," said Khanna. The administration is obligated to comment before publishing and implementing the final rule, a process that could take several months, he added.Since Donald Trump became President in 2017, the US has tightened immigration rules across the board. The biggest that has affected India is the tightening of the H-1B visa programme for IT services companies in favour of US technology companies. The US has brought in rules that give preference to candidates with US Master's degrees for H-1B visas, helping US companies, while increasing the rejections for existing visa holders who seek extension for another three years. Nearly 70% of the H-1B visas are granted to Indian nationals.Sarah Pierce, an analyst who tracks immigration to the US at Washington DC-based Migration Policy Institute, said setting a timeline would be tough. "The proposed rule is still waiting for approval from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Legally, that office has until June 20 to conduct that review. Should it approve it, the rule could be published shortly thereafter," she said.A fallout of the scrapping of the visa would be a shortage of talent for US tech firms as these families are likely to return to India, she said. While most tech firms have increased their local hiring in the US, it has been difficult to find people, given the low unemployment rates coupled with a shortage in the number of people with the kind of skills required. If an employee's spouse can no longer pursue a career in the US, it would lead to more people turning down US postings, said analysts. "There is no doubt that ending the opportunity for spouses of certain H-1B visa holders to work will have negative consequences for tens of thousands of immigrant families in the United States, as well as for the US companies that employ them," said Pierce. Source: ET
Where to invest & where not in Modi 2.0 The return of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister has pumped adrenaline into the stock market. As it became clear on Thursday that the BJP will get a clear majority, the benchmark indices created history: the Sensex crossed the 40,000 mark and Nifty rose above 12,000. Though both indices retraced from those levels due to profit booking, the formation of a stable government at the Centre is seen as good news.The markets prefer a strong, stable regime without the crutches of coalition because it ensures continuity in economic policies. "Investors now have political stability and predictability of economic policies, which they normally look forward to before investing with a long-term time horizon," says Dhiraj Relli, MD & CEO, HDFC Securities. "The clear mandate removes the overhang of uncertainty from the markets. This is a significant positive for market sentiment and for attracting global investors," says Mihir Vora, Director & Chief Investment Officer, Max Life Insurance.Though the Sensex ended the week below 40,000 and the Nifty closed below 12000, it is only a matter of time before these indices cross these levels. Even so, experts say that investors should not base investing their decisions on such milestones in an index's trajectory. "Sensex at 40,000 or Nifty at 12,000 are just numbers and not of much to use to long-term investors. They should look at the long-term prospects of the market," says G. Pradeep Kumar, CEO, Union Mutual Fund. Also, markets may not make fresh highs immediately because round numbers like 40,000 and 12,000 are psychological resistance levels. When these levels are breached, a large number of sell orders get triggered and there is widespread profit booking, which brings down stock prices.Though volatility is part and parcel of the stock markets, it does not last forever. The markets factor in major events like the Lok Sabha elections but eventually go back to their normal functioning. ET Wealth looked at how markets performed after the formation of the past four governments. Though the short-term performance (1-6 months after election results) was inconsistent, the long-term performance of 3-5 years produced good results.How markets have performed after election resultsThe short-term performance of the BSE 500 may have been inconsistent but long-term prospects were good except in 2002 69492880 69492883 69492894 69492905 1-month and 6-month returns of BSE 500 are point to point; 3-year returns are annualisedGrowing global tensionsModi's second term has infused a lot of optimism but investors should tread with caution. "In a day or two, markets should pause and take stock of fundamental factors like global concerns, domestic slowdown, muted earnings, NBFC liquidity crisis, and expensive valuations," says Prasanna Pathak, Fund Manager-Equity, Taurus Asset Management.Some of the correction from the peak on 23 May was induced by global factors. Most European markets had opened 1% down that day, spooked by a possible spike in crude oil prices due to the US-Iran tension and prospects of a US-China trade war. There is very little Indian investors can do in this regard. "Global volatility triggered by events will continue and allocation to emerging markets like India will move accordingly. However, India allocation from global funds will increase now because of stability and more ETF flows are likely over the short term that could drive the markets even higher," says B. Gopkumar, CEO, Reliance Securities. After a stupendous 2017, FII inflows had turned negative last year. But they started looking up a few months ago and are already positive.The return of FIIs in 2019 should support the marketForeign institutional investors left in droves in 2018. 69492916 Figures are net FII inflows in Rs croreCompiled by ETIG DatabaseTasks for new govtBack home, all eyes will now be on the new government and the steps it must take to mend a troubled economy. Since there is clear a mandate for the next five years, the government is expected to implement some of the pending schemes. Some continued action is expected on infrastructure and agriculture related schemes (income generation for farmers and not loan waivers). With numbers tilted in its favour in the Lok Sabha and expected to gain strength in the Rajya Sabha, the ruling dispensation can also look to push through its reforms agenda. "A comfortable majority also ensures no impediments of coalition pressures in case of tough decisions for long term growth," argues Pankaj Pandey, Head – Research, ICICI Securities.But it will be an uphill task. A clear mandate doesn't mean that things will be smooth for the BJP government. Garima Kapoor, Economist, Elara Capital, points out the Modi government's second term in office is likely to be more challenging than the first. "Reeling under consumption slowdown amid liquidity crisis in the NBFC sector and lower terms of trade in the agriculture sector, optimism around India's economic growth has come to a grinding halt," she says.Weak earnings growthEven though FII inflows have improved in recent months, analysts point out that there is a storm brewing underneath. Corporate earnings growth remains elusive. "Our expectation was that there will be some green shoots in the January-March quarter, but that did not happen. Being an election quarter, the March-June quarter will also be not great," says Gopkumar.Except a few pockets of strength, there are no discernible signs of an uptick in earnings growth. The consumption engine—the pillar propping up India's economy in recent years—has started sputtering. Passenger vehicle and two-wheeler sales are down. Offtake of consumer durables such as air-conditioners and refrigerators has also moderated. There is muted demand even in small ticket consumer items such as shampoos, detergents and soaps. With NBFCs facing a severe liquidity crisis, one of the key factors fuelling consumption is no longer in a position to lend to consumers.The rural economy is also in distress. If the monsoon plays truant, it is likely to further affect rural consumption. "If monsoon is normal, corporate earnings should pick up from the July-September quarter onwards," says Pradeep Kumar.High valuationsAdding to the challenges are the high stock valuations. The Sensex PE is now close to 29, significantly higher than its average. But some experts say this is not an area of worry, especially since the valuation has spiked due to big losses of a few companies (for example, Tata Motors). "Valuations are looking high now, because of the depressed earnings. So one should not bothered about the market PE now," says Pradeep Kumar.A more stable ratio is the dividend yield. The dividend yield of the Sensex is also very low now, suggesting that the index is overvalued. "The Indian markets valuations are not cheap despite muted performance of the broad market over the past 12 months," says Sanjeev Prasad, Executive Director and Co-head, Kotak Institutional Equities. A significant contributor to the correction in large-cap stocks is the earnings downgrades rather than correction in valuation multiples, Prasad adds.Avoid going overweight on equityBased on dividend yield, the valuations of the broader market are high. 69492933 While markets may power ahead in the near term, analysts expect markets to come to terms with the ground realities soon enough. "Post the initial euphoria, the focus would shift to hardcore economic decisions and the manner in which the slowdown and economy is handled in Modi 2.0," asserts Amnish Aggarwal, Head Research, Prabhudas Lilladher. Trim your expectationsInvestors who have adequate exposure to equities are likely to benefit in the coming months. However, this is not the time to increase your equity allocation due to the factors explained above. "Investors should continue with their equity allocation. Don't go overweight on equity now," says Gopkumar. What if the short-term rally in stocks takes your equity allocation even higher? Vijay Kuppa, Co-founder, Orowealth reckons this expected short-term rally should be used to cut equity exposure. "Don't be very aggressive in buying at present levels. Stick to your existing financial plans and SIPs. You will get an opportunity to buy more aggressively sometime in the near future," he says.Will the market give outsized returns?Low earnings growth over the past 12 years has led to low returns during this period. 69492951 Low inflation = low market returnMarket returns and inflation growth have moved in tandem over the years. 69492956 Includes only governments that completed at least 3 years in power*All series rebased to 1993-94Source: Elara CapitalEven those investors who have remained on the sidelines waiting for a clear direction for the market should refrain from jumping headlong into the market. Jimmy Patel, MD and CEO, Quantum Mutual Fund, suggests investors remain calm and not give in to the euphoria. "Rising markets make the stocks expensive, and hence it would be not the right time to jump in." It would be prudent to build exposure gradually, and very selectively. Relli of HDFC securities suggests, "Investors may increase their equity exposure in a phased manner if their current equity allocation is less than the desired exposure." More importantly, the market is already at high levels and therefore, investors who get in now should also rein in their return expectations. The market is maturing and it is reasonable to have lower returns comparable to those of other developed markets.Sectors to bet nowAs explained earlier, the new government is also expected to continue with its infrastructure thrust. All fundamentally strong stocks from this segment should do well in the coming years. The action on agriculture is expected to put more money in the rural economy, which could revive the consumption growth. Some of the fundamentally strong consumer discretionary stocks, which have taken a hit now, should do well over the next 3-4 years.Only a few sectors are trading cheap Sector Current PE 10 Year Average PE Bank 63.17 22.16 Financial Services 47.33 21.18 Infra 40.62 26.11 Consumer 43.22 30.36 Realty 48.97 36.73 FMCG 45.21 37.20 IT 22.96 20.04 Pharma 46.61 43.03 Energy 13.31 15.28 Auto 22.80 28.54 Media 25.06 38.22 Metals 10.00 16.41 Data as on 23 May Source: CapitalineIncreased consumption should result in better capacity utilisation, which will trigger the revival of capital expenditure by companies. Though this is expected to happen only after 2-3 years, banks and capital goods companies will be the main beneficiary of this development. "In the medium term, we expect the capex cycle to start and earnings pick-up to accelerate. We are positive on the corporate banking space, capital goods and cement sector," says Pathak of Taurus Asset Management.Increase mid-cap exposureThough benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty are close to all-time highs, the broader market, particularly the mid- and smallcap segment, has been battered over the past one and half years. The valuation gap between mid-caps and large-caps is down. This is why experts are recommending an increase in one's mid-cap exposure now. Kunj Bansal, Partner and CIO, Acepro Advisors, says, "In the months ahead, bulk of the returns will come from the mid-cap segment."Mid-cap valuations have come downMid-caps were trading at a hefty premium to large-caps till a few months ago. 69492970 Instead of taking a broader call on the mid-cap space, the strategy should be to go sector wise. "After the rally of largecaps and fall in mid-caps, several good mid-caps are now trading at significant discount compared to their large-cap peers and investors can bet on them now," says Gopkumar. Another strategy is to use the corrections in this space to build the mid-cap portfolio and being very selective, particularly while investing in themes like infrastructure. However, experts say it is still not time to go bottom fishing in the small-cap universe. "Do not jump into small-cap stocks now. Stay with relatively larger names with known brands and strong balance sheets," says Vikas Gupta, CEO and Chief Investment Strategist, OmniScience Capital.(with data inputs from Sameer Bhardwaj and Shailesh Kadam) Source: ET
Anti-shell co provision is bizarre, feels India Inc MUMBAI: A regulatory mandate, which seeks to pin down a company's location accurately, is giving India Inc sleepless nights. Called ACTIVE (Active Company Tagging Identities and Verification), it was introduced in February by the corporate affairs ministry to crack down on shell companies and protect public money and financial irregularities.According to the directive, the government has made e-filing of a company's particulars, including details of registered office and location (with latitude and longitude), mandatory for all registered companies in India. The provision under the Companies (Incorporation) Amendment Rules 2019 — also called INC-22 form, which is applicable to over 12 lakh firms, requires them to upload a photograph of the company's registered office, with the director or key managerial person (KMP), outside and inside their premises.Only a handful — over a lakh — companies have submitted the form, industry experts say, adding the provision is "impractical and bizarre", even as large corporate business groups are finding it tough to fly down their directors to pose for the photograph, to prove the company's credentials.Sai Venkateshwaran, partner and head, CFO advisory services at KPMG India, said, "One can understand the intent to crack down on shell companies and those who would be abusing the system. While many of the requirements in the new form are relatively straightforward, the practicality of some of the requirements is very much debatable. For instance, providing a photo of one of the directors/MDs/ KMPs in front of the registered office of the company." Also, there are technical glitches from the backend, which some companies have been facing, while filling in the e-form.The deadline to file the ACTIVE e-form without any fee was April 25, after which it would incur a fee of Rs 10,000. This has now been extended to June 15, without payment of the fee.If the form is not filled by the deadline, the company would be marked as "ACTIVE non-compliant", and its corporate actions like increase in authorised or paid-up capital, or merger may get blocked. Corporate law experts suggest companies, those above a certain revenue and employees, or those which have filed their IT and GST returns, could have been exempted. Source: ET
BCCI may face ED probe into its foreign payments MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to give a go-ahead to an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) foreign remittances of close to Rs 2,000 crore without its prior approval during 2009-15, rejecting an exemption request from the board.BCCI chief executive Rahul Johri and chief financial officer Santosh Rangnekar had met senior RBI officials last week to explain why the money related to the nowdefunct Champions League T20 (CLT20) tournament was remitted overseas without express approval from the banking regulator, RBI insiders said."Yes, a meeting did take place where BCCI representatives sought exemption from the Reserve Bank of India under India's foreign exchange rules, but the regulator may reject the request and send the matter to the Enforcement Directorate for investigation," one of them told ET.ET had first reported on April 26 that BCCI may find itself in a spot over possible violation of foreign exchange rules for remitting over Rs 1,600 crore without RBI approval to two Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) with which it ran the CLT20 tournament.Following ET's story, BCCI wrote to the RBI, seeking an exemption.While the central bank may have entertained an exemption request and not taken a final decision on the matter yet, insiders said the banking regulator is in no mood to budge.RBI did not respond to ET's email seeking comment as of press time Sunday.Email queries sent to the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) of BCCI and Johri also did not elicit any response till press time Sunday.BCCI had started CLT20 in 2008 as a joint venture between itself (50%), CA (30%) and CSA (20%).During the course of the international club tournament, BCCI paid over Rs 800 crore to Cricket Australia and CSA as 'additional participation fee', equivalent to their share of profit, although the three boards had not signed any agreement on this. The other half was paid as compensation following termination of the tournament, BCCI records show.BCCI's new finance department had flagged the transactions, following which the board decided to seek the RBI's approval for them.The COA, appointed by the Supreme Court to run the BCCI's affairs, sent a letter to the RBI earlier this month, following which, the regulator called BCCI officials for an explanation.One key issue is whether the 'additional participation fee' and the termination compensation, which were paid without the RBI's approval, were capital account transactions or current account transactions.Under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema), overseas remittances are categorised as capital account transactions, for which RBI permission is needed, or current account transactions, which banks are authorised to approve.According to some members of BCCI at that time, CLT20 operated as an unincorporated joint venture, with the three boards receiving profit in a pre-decided ratio.None of the current BCCI functionaries was on the board when the CLT20 was scrapped and its accounts settled in 2015. Source: ET
Anil Ambani said to have found a new buyer for Big FM MUMBAI: Anil Ambani has found a buyer for Reliance Broadcast Network (RBN), which operates the Big FM radio channels, with Jagran Prakashan set to purchase the company valuing it at close to Rs 1,200 crore, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. An announcement is expected as early as Monday, said one of the people.The offer from the publisher of Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran comes after an earlier deal with the Zee Group fell through due to a delay in getting government approvals. The sale will come handy for Ambani who is looking to raise Rs 12,000 crore by selling non-core businesses to reduce debt. Recently, Reliance Capital, the investment arm of his Reliance Group, signed an agreement with Nippon Life to sell its stake in Reliance Mutual Fund for around Rs 6,000 crore.Mahendra Mohan Gupta's Jagran Prakashan had in December 2014 acquired Music Broadcast Ltd (MBL), which owns FM channel Radio City, in an all-cash deal. It will acquire RBN through MBL. 69511286 "RBN and MBL have reached an agreement … MBL will first pick up 24% in RBN, which does not require any permission," said one of the people.Anil Ambani's Reliance Group and Jagran Prakashan didn't respond to emails seeking comment till press time Sunday.Big FM has 59 FM stations, while MBL has 39 stations under the Radio City brand. RBN will transfer the control of 45 stations to MBL once the approvals are in, and the remaining 14 once their lock-in period expires in 2020, a second person said. "The deal will make Radio City India's largest private FM company."As per government guidelines, a radio company cannot sell majority stake in a new licence for three years. The lock-in period for Big FM's 45 stations expired on March 31 last year, whereas for the remaining 14, it will be effective till March 2020. MBL is also in the process of acquiring Friends FM in Kolkata; the deal is awaiting the government's approval.Jagran Prakashan's offer values RBN cheaper than Zee's Rs 1,872 crore deal, which also covered the TV channels — Big Magic and Big Ganga — operated by the Reliance Group company. An RBN executive said the new valuation also accounted for the period remaining under the FM licences, which has come down with time."The Zee deal was signed in 2016, at that time value of the radio business was higher. But overall, value has not eroded," he said.EY India is the financial adviser to the transaction for RBN.ET had reported about on-again, off-again talks between RBN and Zee. The 2016 deal between Zee and RBN was structured in two parts. While the two television channels were acquired by Zee for Rs 300 crore, Zee Media Corp, which housed the news channels of the group, was to initially take a 49% stake in the FM radio business. Zee also had the option to buy the remaining 51% after the three-year lock-in period ended for the licences. But, the two sides dropped the deal for the FM channels.RBN'S JOURNEYAnil Ambani's tryst with the media and entertainment business started in 2005, when his group acquired a controlling stake in Adlabs Films, the entertainment and multiplex company promoted by Manmohan Shetty and Vasanji Mamania.A year later, his group bought out Shetty's stake also to take full control of the company and launched its radio business, Big FM. Later, the radio and TV businesses were demerged into a separate company, which was listed on bourses as Reliance MediaWorld in 2009.Subsequently, the company added television business to its portfolio and changed the name to Reliance Broadcast Networks.In October 2013, RBN got board approval to delist and by fiscal 2016, it started looking for a buyer. Source: ET
India will be the No. 1 place in the world for FDI: Prem Watsa Prem Watsa, often called the Canadian Warren Buffet, has always been a Narendra Modi fan. The 68-year-old media-shy billionaire is excited about Namo 2.0, calling India the number one investment destination in the world. Fairfax Financial Holdings entered India in 2014 and to date has invested about $5 billion in public and private companies — Thomas Cook, Catholic Syrian Bank, IIFL, Fairchem, Bangalore International Airport Ltd and National Collateral Management System, among others.Some of his investments, such as IIFL and Fairchem, have fallen about 25%, but Wasta believes India is a sleeping giant that would yield robust returns. In an exclusive telephonic interview with Sneha Shah, Watsa claims his firm would double its investments in the country in the next five years. Edited excerptsYour thoughts on the Narendra Modi-led government winning a second term…I see this as a massive transformation in India because of economic freedom. It does not matter which class you come from. It doesn't make a difference what your caste is, whether you are high-class or low-class, or what your religion is, because there is economic opportunity for all. Caste, religion, all will be broken in the next five years as every Indian, as Mr Modi says, will get an inclusive opportunity at economic growth. That is the most exciting thing that I think of India. From an investor's standpoint, India will be the number one place in the world for foreign direct investment. Money will flow into India, believe me, in the next five years. I am very, very optimistic about India's growth prospects.How big is the Indian opportunity for global investors?I see money coming in from all over the world — the US, Canada and Japan — because India is a big democracy. More than 600 million people voted in this election. People understand democracy, the rule of law. And you have had it for five years. You will have more of it. There will be more privatisation, more business-friendly policies. And fundamentally, as I travel all around the world and talk to more people, I have realised that is what creates jobs. So, you have economic freedom and that's what will help India.Which sectors do you see this money flowing into?We have been investing in financial services sector a lot. We like insurance, we like banks. We have invested in Catholic Syrian Bank, a Kerala-based bank, and it is going to expand outside of Kerala. Financial services grow at 2-3 times the economic growth of a country. I see India's economic growth in the next five years to rise from 7-8% to 10%, perhaps even more than that over time, because that is the potential of India. We have invested in the Bangalore International Airport. We have the grain storage company NCMS (National Collateral Management Services). There is IIFL, a non-bank financial institution. We have diversified investments such as through Thomas Cook in India, investment in Quess Corp. So together we have in India approximately 5 billion dollars of investments and 3,00,000 people working with us.I think over the years, we will be putting a lot more money into India. I consider for us — and many people will follow —India is the number one emerging market. For investors all over the world, the opportunity in India will be really significant as Mr Modi rolls out his plans for the next five years.Does India stand to gain from the US-China trade war?Given all of that, it makes India more business friendly and money will flow into India. And I am sure Mr Modi is planning to do that. There is probably some of that taking place (money flowing into India as the trade war escalates). I believe the US and China at the end of the day will get their differences solved and so I think China is too big a nut to solve and I think it's one for the US and one for China. I think they will figure it out and I don't know when as it might take a little, give a little and get the deal done.President Trump just tweeted this morning that with India, the historic partnership between India and the US is very valuable to the United States. So, the Indian diaspora would want to send all of the profits to India, and this will direct more money into India and it is as simple as that. And the economy is much smaller than that of China as it is just $3 trillion. And there is no reason why the Indian economy won't do as well and perhaps do even better than the Chinese economy in the next five years.What is your take on measures such as demonetisation and GST?Whenever you are implementing something like demonetisation and GST, it will never be perfect. It can never be perfect. For something like GST, most people thought it could not be implemented but it has been implemented. It is one tax rate for all the states. That is phenomenal to be able to get that because they had to go through the Lok Sabha, they had to get it through the upper house i.e. Rajya Sabha and they have been able to do it and get that through. They first got the support from everyone and now they will tweak it too to ensure it works well. Apart from a simple tax regime, it also reduces corruption. And demonetisation also had a similar intent. The bigger point there was that, listen, we are not going to tolerate corruption and now you have had the after-effects of that where more and more people are now using digital payments in India. So it is a trade-off between cash and corruption. So, all of these actions are very good for India. Source: ET
Hopes of big reforms may take D-Street bulls to new highs The stock market is expected to cross new milestones in the months ahead on hopes of strong steps to revive the economy following PM Narendra Modi's emphatic return to power.The majority of participants in an ET poll of 31 money managers, heads of research and market strategists said the Nifty could gain 5-10 per cent in the runup to the Union Budget in July.About 50 per cent of the respondents see the Nifty at 12,500, while another 25 per cent predict the index reaching 13,000 by the time the full Budget for the fiscal year 2019-20 is presented. However, 14 per cent see an upside only till 12,000 while 11 per cent see the Nifty falling to 11,500.Going by the response of the poll participants, the index is unlikely to clock huge gains after the Budget. About 38 per cent foresee the Nifty at 13,000 by December 31, while 23 per cent see it at 13,500. Just 7 per cent participants predict the benchmark hitting 14,000. As many as 20 per cent say the index would hover around current levels by the year-end — between 11,500 and 12,000 — and about 13 per cent see it at 12,300. 69511362 The market is deriving strength from the bigger-than-expected mandate to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).The rupee may trade in the range of 66-75 to the dollar with the weakness largely due to global factors such as the worsening US-China trade relationship. Bond yields could soften and interest rates may fall. "The (NDA) government being re-elected with a thumping majority ensures continuity. This is a positive for business and consumer confidence. Investors who have been concerned about the elections and sitting on the sidelines will now start allocating money," said Vetri Subramaniam, head of equity at UTI Asset Management.Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Ultra-Tech Cement are the top picks for 2019.Keeping fiscal deficit in check is the key expectation of money managers and analysts from the Modi government in its second term. Also on the wish list are job creation, resolution of nonperforming assets, revival of public sector banks and a push to economic growth.Fund managers said the stable political scenario would help improve sentiment toward mid and small caps which have been left out of the market rally since March. The BSE Midcap index is down 3 per cent for 2019 while the Smallcap index is flat on a year-to-date basis."The rally has been mostly in the Sensex and Nifty so far. I would assume the current rally will get extended to the rest of the market and we will see larger participation from mid-sized companies, which will improve overall market depth," said A Balasubramanian, chief executive officer at Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund."Genuine, long-term investors who have not been allocating so much towards India would probably start investing here now. There is no uncertainty for the next five years from political and reforms point of view," he said.Buoyant foreign portfolio investors have already stepped up buying, scooping up shares worth Rs 1,400 crore on Thursday, when the election results were announced.They followed it up with purchases of Rs 2,000 crore more on Friday (as per provisional data). Since March, FPIs have bought Rs 54,000 crore of Indian shares. Mutual funds have sold Rs 5,300 crore of stocks since March (as per data till Thursday).Besides the Budget, the market will closely watch the monsoon, Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy, measures to improve liquidity, crude oil prices and reforms on ease of doing business.The Sensex and Nifty gained 4 per cent last week to post their biggest weekly gain in 2019. The benchmark indices were also the best performers among Asian markets.The recent fall in crude oil prices notwithstanding, the commodity remains a risk for the market, according to 18 per cent of the respondents. The trade tiff between the US and China will also keep the market on its toes, with this factor being a top concern for another 18 per cent of participants. Closer home, the liquidity crisis plaguing non-banking finance companies was the top concern for 15 per cent of the market experts polled while another 15 per cent termed the slowdown in consumption a big worry.Also, valuations are expensive at 20 times one-year forward earnings."The challenge is that valuations are not cheap, and we are significantly more expensive as compared with May 2014. GDP growth estimates for the coming year are trending lower and the economy is feeling the pain of NBFC and credit dislocation," said Subramaniam of UTI Asset Management.TOP PICKSMoney managers and analysts believe financial stocks will take the lead going forward. The persisting low-inflation environment should leave space for a 50-basis-point-plus policy rate cut that should spur rate-sensitive sectors, said CLSA.About 26 per cent of the respondents see banking as the top-performing sector, followed by infrastructure (15 per cent), capital goods (11 per cent), cement (10 per cent) and construction (9 per cent). Source: ET
Data may remain at centre of NDA govt's tech policy Policy-making for the technology sector is expected to gather pace with the return of the National Democratic Alliance government, experts said. The focus will be on the personal data protection bill, regulation of technology platforms and support for local internet and hardware companies as part of the government's Digital India initiative, they said.Technology giants Facebook, Google, Twitter and ByteDance are expected to take a hit from the personal data protection bill, which regulates the processing of individuals' personal data. They are also likely to be impacted by the proposed amendment to the Information Technology Act's intermediary guidelines, which weakens the legal protection given to technology companies against content hosted on their platforms."It's going to be a predictable five years on where the technology policy is moving," said Nikhil Narendran, partner at Trilegal. "The government wants more companies to be incorporated in India, so it can have more regulatory control. It also has a tax, content and data localisation angle to it. They will act with brute force on it."The debate around technology policy has been highly charged over the last two years, as the government drafted laws to control internet content, store critical data within the country and to compulsorily incorporate foreign firms locally. "The good thing is predictability. What we would like to see is better policy-making processes, with constant inputs from stakeholders, and not having different ministries and regulators take different approaches to the same issue," said Anirudh Rastogi, managing partner at Ikigai Law.Although the personal data protection bill may be introduced in Parliament soon, no government action is expected on regulation of online content and platform governance, Rastogi said.While Facebook and Google have opposed the government's move on local incorporation and data storage, Indian firms, including Reliance Jio and Paytm, have supported it.According to Tejas Karia, partner Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, one of the top priorities would be streamlining the information flow from the technology companies to the law enforcement agencies for prevention and investigation of crimes involving technology platforms. The government has repeatedly asked WhatsApp to help law enforcers trace messages to senders despite its in-built encryption. WhatsApp has declined the request. "As the same government has come to power, there is likely to be an impetus to create a level playing field for Indian businesses in the data-driven economy. The government will push forward on national security from a technology point of view," said Gowree Gokhale, partner at Nishith Desai Associates. "It is clear that the focus on digital infrastructure building will continue." "There is pressure by the US on China, which may push many US, Korean and Taiwanese companies to set up electronic manufacturing units in India," said Rajesh Ram Mishra, president of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association. Source: ET
How bonds may help discoms to recover pending dues; benefit investors, borrowers The losses for distribution companies surged 43 per cent to more than Rs 21,500 crore at FY19 end as against nearly Rs 15,100 crore in the last fiscal year.
Delhi HC seeks Robert Vadra's response on ED's plea to cancel his anticipatory bail in PMLA case Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing ED in the court, said they required his custody as Vadra was not cooperating in the investigation and and the trial court had not discussed the gravity of the offence in its order.
Exploring Poland: A small town Indian girl's guide to visiting East European nation Moving to a country without the knowledge of local language is not easy. You struggle, you try to figure out ways to express and communicate without getting misinterpreted. I was no different.
Life paralysed in Nepal due to general strike as series of explosions kill 4 people Police said they suspect that the outlawed group that once split from the ruling Communist Party was responsible for the blasts as its members have been protesting the arrests of their supporters.
Indian Railways passengers, cheer! Look forward to these 5 big projects under Modi government With PM Narendra Modi-led BJP government returning to the office, Indian Railways and its passengers can look forward to continuity in policy making- focus on safety, infrastructure upgradation, increasing speed of trains and enhancing passenger amenities.
Modi in Varanasi for thanksgiving visit, offers prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple Flanked by BJP president Amit Shah and Adityanath, Modi entered the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and paid obeisance to the deity as priests recited Sanskrit 'shlokas' in the sanctum sanctorum and blew conch shells.
