80-degree weather and sweltering morning commutes make it so easy to justify an overpriced iced coffee.
But spending $5 a few days each week is going to add up very quickly, and you're going to want that money when holiday shopping time rolls around. The KitchenAid cold brew coffee maker is a convenience you'll really appreciate sitting on your counter, and it's $30 off at Amazon.
Making cold brew consists of more than putting ice cubes in regular coffee — that's iced coffee. Cold brew is made by soaking the coffee in cold water for up to 24 hours, then filtering out the grounds. This cool (figuratively and literally) process actually makes cold brew a healthier choice than regular coffee: It's up to 67% less acidic and easier on your stomach and teeth, and that lack of acidic compounds is said to preserve flavor in your beans. Read more...
TL;DR: The ever-popular AirPods are tough to find a deal on, but you can get a pair on Amazon right now for $179 ($20 off their usual price).
AirPods have taken over headphone culture. You’ll find them pretty much anywhere you look — walking down the street, on public transportation, sitting in the train tracks; the list goes on. In fact, they’re around so often that it’s almost impossible not to feel jealous if you don’t already own a pair.
And now you have an excuse to get them, because they’re on sale for $20 off on Amazon right now — come on, you know you want them.
Remember that New Year’s resolution you made back in January, promising to eat healthy and order out less? We get it: Resolutions are hard to keep, and Postmates is just so easy to use. Even though 2019 may be almost over (kinda), you can always redeem yourself by getting a head start on next year. You probably know this already, thanks to Instagram’s latest juice craze, but making smoothies and juices is an easy and fun way to incorporate vegetables and fruits into your diet. Purchasing “freshly” pressed juices from your local Whole Foods or juice bar is very expensive and doesn’t offer much room for customization. Read more...
If your wireless coverage isn’t reaching every corner of your home, don’t run out and buy an expensive new router just yet. Have you tried a Wi-Fi extender?
Just plug the extender in between your router and where you want the extra coverage for faster, more reliable connectivity. To actually activate the extender, then press the WPS button on your router and press the range extender button on the TP-Link, and you’re all set. Read more...
Roast me all you want, but Samsung's new Galaxy Watch Active 2 is one hot smartwatch.
At first glance, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 looks virtually identical to the Galaxy Watch Active, which only launched this past spring. But place your finger on the edge of the display and turn it clockwise or counterclockwise and you'll see Samsung's signature rotatable bezel control has returned.
The Galaxy Watch Active 2 also comes in two sizes (40mm and 42mm) as opposed to the Galaxy Watch Active's one-size-fits-all model, two finishes (aluminum and stainless steel), an LTE version, and double the amount of tracking sensors to more quickly provide out readouts. Read more...
TL;DR: The cutting edge Epson Moverio BT-300 augmented reality glasses are on sale for just £449.99, saving you 37% on list price.
If you do not regularly pilot a drone, you probably won't be too familiar with the concept of augmented reality glasses. If you do, then you'll know that they are a must.
The Epsom Moverio BT-300 AR glasses feature cutting edge silicon-based OLED digital display technology. Thanks to the high resolution transparent display, Moverio BT 300 delivers the next level of FPV (first-person view), meaning you can enjoy your drone video feed while always being able to see where it is. Read more...
Riverdale is about high schoolers trapped in a town where everyone is either a serial killer or a gothic novel protagonistThe Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is about witchcraft, hell, and scaring boysKaty Keene, the newest addition to the Archieverse, seems a little bit lighter.
The first trailer introduces Katy as an aspiring fashion designer living in New York who gets by with a little help from her friends — and her friends include Riverdale's own Josie, finally pursuing her music career in the big city.
Katy Keene is "coming soon" to the CW. Read more...
Not all messes are massive. You don't always need to heave the heavy-duty vacuum cleaner out of the cupboard, and begin the process of vacuuming the entire house. Sometimes you just want to get in and out, with a quick clean-up.
The Shark handheld vacuum cleaner is the perfect device to accomplish this task. The cordless design is ideal for quick clean-ups, and the charging storage base means it's always fully charged and ready to go. It also includes a crevice tool and pet tool, so that you can handle every kind of job. Read more...
Need a new laptop for the new school term? Lucky for you, Rakuten is offering the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 for $717, saving you $80 off the listed price. It features an Intel Core i5-8250U processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, and also comes with a type cover. With its lightweight design, it's perfect for people that work on the go.
If you tend to work long hours at a desk, why not snag yourself a Cubii Jr: desk elliptical for $184.99 (listed at $249). Allowing you to work and exercise at the same time.
TL;DR: Secure the risk-free Private Internet Access VPN for just £2.74 a month, saving you 67% on list price.
Whenever you make any sort of purchase, there is an element of risk. What if you didn't get the best price? What if the product isn't as good as you hoped? What if you change your mind, and don't want it any more? These are all legitimate questions and concerns.
The best way to rid yourself of these worries is by making sure your purchase is covered by a guarantee. This way you can try out the product or service, make sure you're happy, and then move on with your life. If things aren't right, you can get your money back. Read more...
From the amount of money prisoners get paid to the effect their low wages can have on their families, John Oliver is here to explain it all.
In the segment above from Last Week Tonight, he breaks down the damage the current system is doing to the loved ones of people who have been incarcerated.
"One in three families reported going into debt to pay for phone calls or visitation — which is terrible!" says Oliver. "And that doesn't really set up a prisoner for success once they are released.
"Look, the current system of low wages and high cost is clearly no good for anyone, but for the companies who are somehow managing to massively profit from this." Read more...
Emma Watson has launched a free legal advice helpline with Time's Up for women experiencing workplace sexual harassment in England and Wales.
According to Rights of Women, the organisation which will provide the advice, this is the only specialist free legal advice line for women in England and Wales who are experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace.
"It's completely staggering to think that this is the only service of its type given that research has found that as many as one in two women experience sexual harassment in the workplace," Watson said in a statement.
"Understanding what your rights are, how you can assert them, and the choices you have if you've experienced harassment, is such a vital part of creating safe workplaces for everyone, and this advice line is such a huge development in ensuring that all women are supported, wherever we work," she continued. Read more...
Finding the best deals on top brands can sometimes be a challenge. You have to search all over the web, and wait for the right time to strike. It can be a painful process.
There is another much less arduous way of securing the best deals, though. You can simply check out this deals round up for all the best offers on a wide range of products. We have done all the searching for you, and found the best deals on laptops, speakers, headphones, and more.
All the top brands are included in this list, with discounted devices from the likes of Sony, Bose, Ultimate Ears, JBL, ASUS, and Apple. Yes, you can even save on Apple MacBooks. Read more...
In the aftermath of two mass shootings that took place in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio over the same 24-hour period, the U.S. is still grappling with what needs to be done now — and where responsibility lies.
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke attended a vigil in El Paso on Sunday. He spoke to the community, and called for gun control laws that close background check loopholes and end the sale of assault weapons.
And then, according to audio posted by CNN's national political reporter Eric Bradner, O'Rourke was asked a question by an unnamed reporter as he was heading to his car: "Is there anything in your mind that the president can do now to make this any better?" Read more...
Warning: The following contains major spoilers for Euphoria Season 1.
On Sunday, Euphoria fans prepared for the worst.
After seven episodes wrought with graphic imagery and unnerving themes, the controversial series all but promised a finale as shocking as its beginning.
Ahead of airtime, discussions of the antagonists' anticipated demise flooded Twitter. Grimmer predictions on Reddit baited the possibility that we would lose one of the series' beloved protagonists. Recaps boasting live updates prepared to answer the looming "Who dies?" question, with search spots already secured on Google. Read more...
Cloudflare has announced that it will terminate its protection of 8chan after the forum site was linked to another mass shooting over the weekend, tying the site's "lawlessness" directly to "multiple tragic deaths."
Pressure had mounted on the company to cease its service to 8chan, arguing that it enabled the spread of violent white supremacist rhetoric and the celebration of perpetrators of massacres. Manifestos or open letters by shooters including those responsible for the Christchurch, Poway, and El Paso shootings, all of which occurred in 2019, have been hosted on the mostly-unmoderated forums. Read more...
Apple's credit card is launching soon, and it looks like the highly anticipated card will come with a few unusual rules.
Goldman Sachs, which partnered with Apple on the card, published the customer agreement, revealing a few new details about the iPhone maker's new offering.
Though many of the rules are what you'd expect to find in the fine print of any credit card, there are some notable parts of the agreement.
For one, the terms explicitly forbid credit card users from jailbreaking their iPhones. From the agreement (emphasis added):
In other words: don't jailbreak your phone unless you want to risk having your account closed abruptly. Read more...
Amazon's plans to launch a drone delivery service in the United States are slowly inching forward.
The Federal Aviation Administration just announced an important milestone in drone flight that has significant implications for Amazon and other companies hoping to launch commercial drone operations.
The University of Alaska completed the first FAA-approved "beyond line of sight" drone flight this week, Reuters reported.
Up until now, the agency has had a strictly-enforced "line of sight" rules that requires drone operators to be able to see their drone at all times. And even one-time waivers granted by the FAA have required a person on the ground to watch the drone, according to Irish Automation, a company that makes the collision avoidance software that was used in the Alaska flight. This has been a major hurdle for Amazon and other companies that want to use autonomous drones for delivery services and other uses. Read more...
UPDATE: Aug. 5, 2019, 7:40 a.m. EDT A couple of hours after this posted, Cloudflare did in fact confirm plans to end its business relationship with 8chan. According to the site's WHOIS report, the domain registrar has also changed. 8chan business seems to now be concentrated in Sammamish, Wash., with domain registration handled by a company called Epik Inc and domain protection handled by a company called Anonymize Inc. Both companies are based in Sammamish.
Epik has a known history of supporting far right interests, including extremists. It was founded by a man who goes by the name Robert Monster. Less is known about Anonymize, though some poking around on the internet turns up a few details, including two Sammamish addresses — 3832 234th Ave SE and 704 228th Ave — and the thoroughly unsurprising revelation that the company's founder is one Robert Monster.Read more...
Forget snakes on a plane. We have bats to worry about, now.
On Wednesday morning, passengers on a 6:00 a.m. flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Newark, New Jersey received quite the scare after a loose bat that somehow made it aboard a Spirt Airlines flight decided to dart through the cabin.
Two passengers shared footage of the terrifying scene on Twitter. In the first video, shown above, people can be heard screaming, and seen crouching down in their seats and attempting to hide behind the bathroom door. Read more...
If you've been thinking about buying a new Tesla, now might be a good time to make a move.
Tesla is offering prospective buyers some extra incentive: free supercharging when you buy a new Model X or Model S. New purchases of the two cars will come with"free unlimited" supercharging, Tesla announced in a tweet.
BREAKING: All new Model S and Model X orders now come with ⚡ free ⚡ unlimited ⚡ Supercharging ⚡
The company didn't post further details on the offer, but a spokesperson confirmed there is currently no set timeframe on the deal.
For Tesla, the free supercharging is likely meant to draw more customers to its older, higher-priced cars rather than the more affordable Model 3. On a recent earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk acknowledged that the Model 3 is likely cannibalizing sales of the older Model X and Model S. And analysts have expressed concerns over slowing interest in the older models. Even Musk noted that demand for the vehicles "should be higher." Read more...
It might be time to break your Google Chrome habit.
Though Google's browser is the most popular browser by an overwhelming margin, there are some good reasons to switch, especially if you care about privacy.
The Washington Postrecently described Chrome as "a lot like surveillance software," citing the browser's habit of automatically signing you in if you use Gmail in order to serve better targeted advertising. Privacy advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation have criticized Google for putting its business interests (advertising) ahead of user privacy. And, as long as Google continues to dominate the digital advertising market, it has few incentives to invest in meaningful privacy protections. Read more...
America has had 251 mass shootings in the 216 days of 2019, and with each devastating news cycle it gets harder and harder to accept the fact that President Donald Trump tweets "thoughts and prayers" instead of taking any real action on gun control.
In the wake of a recent mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, and another in Dayton, Ohio — which took place in the same 24-hour period — 2020 presidential candidates Beto O'Rourke, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg are stepping up to directly call out Trump's inaction and the impact that his hateful rhetoric has on this country. Read more...
President Trump speaking publicly for the first time after this weekend's 2 mass shootings says, "This has been going on for years, for years and years in our country, and we have to get it stopped." - @MSNBCpic.twitter.com/C0kf48fpIW
Soldiers lie on the ground after a missile attack on a military parade during a graduation ceremony for newly recruited troopers in Aden, Yemen, August 1. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement launched missile and drone attacks on Thursday on a military parade in Aden, the seat of government and a stronghold of the Saudi-led military coalition, killing 36 people according to the interior ministry. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman
WNU Editor: The above picture came form this photo-gallery .... Photos of the week (Reuters).
A group of soldiers are seen discussing strategies in a top-secret military office of China's People's Liberation Army. The troops, known as Rocket Force, handles China's missiles
* Beijing's rocket force are seen discussing strategies in the classified office * Clip was released by People Liberation Army to in a show of military might * It also shows multiple warheads soaring into the skies and blowing up targets * China claims to own 2,500 missiles, including the Dongfeng and Julang series
A propaganda video released by China's People Liberation Army (PLA) has given the public a sneak peek into the classified command centre of the country's missile troop.
A group of soldiers are seen discussing strategies, making phone calls and typing on computer keyboards at the top-secret military office.
The never-before-seen scenes were publicised by PLA's mighty Rocket Force one day after the PLA posted a dramatic video to warn protesters in Hong Kong.
WNU Editor: This is the first time that China has posted such a video. Is this to reassure the Chinese public, or is this a message to everyone in the region? My guess is that China is trying to send a signal to both.
U.S. Secretary of Defence Mark Esper speaks next to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a joint news conference with their Australia counterparts in Sydney, Australia, August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Pool
Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday warned of China's "destabilizing" behavior in the Indo-Pacific region.
The U.S. won't "stand by idly while any one nation attempts to reshape the region to its favor at the expense of others, and we know our allies and partners will not either," Esper said during a news conference in Sydney on Sunday.
"We firmly believe no one nation can or should dominate the Indo-Pacific and we are working alongside our allies and partners to address the region's pressing security needs," he said alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and their Australian counterparts after annual strategy talks between the two countries.
* Portsmouth-based HMS Westminster shadowed destroyer through Dover Straits * Sister frigate HMS St Albans escorted warship Xian on the way to St Petersburg * Commander said Xian conducted herself in 'safe and professional manner' today
A Royal Navy frigate has shadowed a Chinese warship as it sailed through the English Channel today.
Portsmouth-based HMS Westminster was scrambled to monitor the progress of the destroyer Xian as it entered the Dover Straits today.
The Chinese missile destroyer is a Type 052C armed with eight anti-shipping missiles and 48 surface-to-air missiles.
The 500ft ship also has a 100mm main gun, two 30mm close-in weapon systems and six anti-submarine warfare torpedo tubes.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard last week seized an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf that was supposedly carrying "smuggled fuel" from Iran, state media reported Sunday.
The ship was carrying 700,000 liters [185,000 gallons] of fuel, according to state TV and the semi-official Fars news agency. Seven crew members were reportedly detained during the vessel's seizure.
The ship was seized on Wednesday near Farsi Island, where an Iranian Guard Navy base is located, the news outlet reported. The island sits in the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Iran, north of the Strait of Hormuz.
* Nine dead and at least 26 injured after gunman opened fire at bar in Dayton Ohio * Witnesses described seeing 'white man dressed in all black' firing an AR weapon * Gunman seen 'wearing bulletproof vest and earmuffs was stopped at the door' * He used a 'long gun with multiple rounds' in 'a very short timeline of violence'
Nine people have been killed and at least 26 injured after a shooting at a bar in Ohio today in the second US massacre in 14 hours.
Police responded to calls about an active shooter in the area of East 5th Street in the Oregon District on Dayton, according to WHIO-TV.
The the gunman, who was using a 'long gun', was killed by police who were nearby in the early hours of this morning.
Customers said on social media many at Ned Peppers Bar were 'piling on top of each other to get out'.
Witnesses described 'casualties everywhere' and an attacker who was a 'white man dressed all in black'.
Russia has been accused of using a nerve against to try and kill former spy Sergei Skripal in the U.K. in 2018, something it denies.
The United States has announced more sanctions against Russia over its use of a nerve agent to try and assassinate former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Britain in 2018, the State Department said.
The announced sanctions fall under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act and mean the U.S. will oppose loans and assistance by international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund, and restrictions on the export on Department of Commerce-controlled goods and technology, the State Department said in a statement.
"After the first round of sanctions in response to Russia's assassination attempt against a private citizen in the United Kingdom, Russia did not provide the assurances required under U.S. law, so we are imposing the second round of sanctions," White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement Friday.
The president threatened to shut down the U.S. embassy in Kabul last December, complaining to aides that it is too large and expensive, officials said.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has told his advisers that he wants to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by the November 2020 presidential election, according to five current and former administration and military officials.
The president's advisers are now scrambling to meet his election-year deadline, which has exacerbated tensions between officials at the Pentagon and the State Department over the timing of withdrawal and whether it should be completed, the officials said.
"It's tense," said one former official briefed on the debate.
The U.S. peace envoy seeking to negotiate an end to the nearly 18-year war in Afghanistan said Washington was ready to sign a "good agreement" with the Taliban.
Zalmay Khalilzad's remarks came as U.S. and Taliban negotiators met on August 3 in the Qatari capital Doha for an eighth round of peace talks.
A bilateral U.S.-Taliban agreement will cover the withdrawal of foreign forces in exchange for guarantees by the Taliban not to harbor terrorist groups.
That deal will be a prelude to intra-Afghan peace negotiations on a political settlement and a permanent cease-fire.
"The Taliban are signaling they would like to conclude an agreement," Khalilzad wrote on Twitter late August 2. "We are ready for a good agreement."
INDIA'S controversial revoking of Kashmir's protected status has sparked war fears with Pakistan as thousands of troops poured into the disputed region.
ANGELA Merkel is under renewed pressure after a shock poll found the far-right Alternative for Germany has more support than the Chancellor's conservatives in the east of the country - just weeks before crucial regional elections.
IRANIAN state media says Tehran has seized another foreign oil tanker in the Persian Gulf and detained seven sailors as tensions in the contested Strait of Hormuz grows.
HONG KONG has been brought to a standstill this morning as strikes and protests cripple transport infrastructure and block roads to form a city wide "traffic jam".
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump stated "more has to be done" about gun violence in America after two mass shootings occurred just hours apart in Texas and Ohio.
IRAN has hit out at the US saying Washington's hard sanctions against the Tehran regime will serve to only alienate itself from allies around the world and in the Middle East.
Hong Kong commuters faced major disruptions Monday morning, with the city’s trains brought to a standstill and more than 200 flights cancelled as protesters staged a general strike.
Although demonstrations have rocked the city for two months, Monday’s strike was one of the most disruptive to daily life to date. Businesses across the Asian financial hub shut as workers struggled to make it to the office.
Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) website showed seven lines out of service during the morning rush hour, including the Island Line, which cuts through the city’s government and financial districts.
Shops in several MTR stations had metal gates pulled down over them and remained closed during the morning commute. At several stations, protesters in black shirts and face masks blocked carriage doors to delay the trains from leaving. In one station, a man laid down across the carriage entrance to keep the doors from shutting.
Philip Fong—AFP/Getty Images A man (C) falls down during a protest to prevent commuters from reaching work in business districts at Lai King MTR station in Hong Kong on August 5, 2019.
Traffic was blocked on several major thoroughfares. A South China Morning Post reporter posted a video on Twitter of protesters blocking the Cross-Harbor Tunnel, a key tunnel between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.
About 20 protesters, many wearing masks, shut down the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, a key link between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, for the third straight day.
A driver disputes with the protesters, who shout “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times!” pic.twitter.com/OkDDC1MMhj
The Airport Express — the train linking the city’s business district to the airport— was also out of service. Hong Kong’s flagship airline, Cathay Pacific, advised passengers to postpone non-essential travel to another day. Hong Kong Airport’s website showed more than 120 departing flights and at 100 arrival flights cancelled.
The city’s Hang Seng Index was down almost 3% by the lunchtime trading break.
Major malls on Hong Kong Island opened for the day, but customer service representatives said that some stores would open late or not at all. In Pacific Place, a luxury mall adjacent to a protest hotspot, retailers Zara and the North Face were closed. One independent clothing boutique nearby was shuttered with a sign on the door reading, “Pray for Hong Kong! We are not working on 5/8!”
Not everyone was trying to get to work on Monday. Several professionals took the day to join the strike. One major law firm with offices in the city told employees they were welcome to hold their own views on the issue, but if they wanted to strike they would need to take a day of annual leave.
The city’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, called a press conference Monday morning, after largely remaining out of public view for the past two weeks. She urged protesters to restore order in the city, and said the strike was causing anxiety for Hong Kongers. “Some of them do not know whether they could still take some forms of public transport while others are right now being blocked on the way to work.”
(NEW DELHI) — India’s government revoked disputed Kashmir’s special status with a presidential order Monday as thousands of newly deployed troops arrived and some internet and phone services were cut in the restive Himalayan region where most people oppose Indian rule.
Home Minister Amit Shah announced the revocation amid an uproar in India’s Parliament and while Kashmir was under a security lockdown that kept thousands of people inside their homes.
The order revokes Article 370 of India’s Constitution, which gives the state of Jammu and Kashmir its own constitution and decision-making rights for all matters except for defense, communications and foreign affairs. The article also forbids Indians outside the state from permanently settling, buying land, holding local government jobs and securing educational scholarships.
Critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government see the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers.
The announcement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a Cabinet meeting and the government’s top-decision making body on security matters, the Cabinet Committee on Security, which he heads.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both claim the region in its entirety. Two of the three wars India and Pakistan have fought since their independence from British rule were over Kashmir.
Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, told a Pakistani TV station on Monday from Saudi Arabia, where he is on a pilgrimage to Mecca, that Pakistan will step up diplomatic efforts to prevent the order from taking effect.
“India is playing a very dangerous game by changing the status of Kashmir through illegal acts,” he said.
In Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, hundreds of Kashmiri activists rallied against the change in Kashmir’s status near the diplomatic enclave where India’s embassy is located. Authorities kept demonstrators away from the building because of security concerns.
Ghulam Mohammad Safi, a prominent Kashmiri leader in Pakistan, urged the United Nations and the international community to help Kashmir achieve self-determination.
The president of the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan, also rejected the Indian presidential order and said it could lead to a war with Pakistan.
Despite the suspension of internet services, Jammu and Kashmir’s former chief minister, Mehbooba Mufi, tweeted that the Indian government’s decision is “illegal” and “unconstitutional.”
“Today marks the darkest day in Indian democracy,” Mufti wrote.
According to a copy of the order, the revocation of Article 370 will “come into force at once” and will “supersede the constitution.”
Shah also introduced the “Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill” which, if passed, would split the state into two union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, which will have an elected legislature, and Ladakh, which will be ruled directly by the central government without a legislature of its own.
Currently, the state of Jammu and Kashmir comprises three regions: Hindu-majority Jammu, Muslim-majority Kashmir and Buddhist-majority Ladakh.
India’s former finance minister, Arun Jaitley, hailed the government’s decision to remove Article 370, praising Modi and Shah for “correcting a historical blunder.”
“A historical wrong has been undone today,” he tweeted.
Regional parties in Jammu and Kashmir had earlier called attempts to revoke Article 370 an aggression against the people.
The law dates to 1927, when an order by the administration of the then-princely state of Jammu and Kashmir gave its subjects exclusive hereditary rights. Two months after India won independence from British rule in August 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, signed a Treaty of Accession for the state to join the rest of the union, formalized in Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
Further discussions culminated in the 1952 Delhi Agreement, a presidential order that extended Indian citizenship to the residents of the state but left the maharaja’s privileges for residents intact.
Late Sunday in Kashmir, government forces laid steel barricades and razor wire on roads and intersections to cut off neighborhoods in Srinagar, the region’s main city. The government issued a security order banning public meetings, rallies and movement and said schools would be closed.
Authorities also suspended internet services on cellphones, a common tactic to prevent anti-India demonstrations from being organized and to stop the dissemination of news.
The order affects about 7 million people living in the region.
The security deployment in recent days adds at least 10,000 soldiers and other forces in Kashmir, which was already one of the world’s most militarized regions. India also had ordered thousands of tourists and Hindu pilgrims to leave the region.
Tensions also have soared along the Line of Control, the volatile, highly militarized frontier that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
Indian firing along the Line of Control on Sunday wounded one woman, Pakistani police said. In Pakistani border villages, residents were moving to safer places or strengthening bunkers and shelters protecting them from cross-border fire.
Pakistan and India routinely accuse each other of initiating border skirmishes.
Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won reelection early this year on a platform that included promises to do away with special rights for Kashmiris.
At the Srinagar airport, hundreds of Indian and foreign visitors, including some Hindu pilgrims, congregated outside the main terminal, seeking seats on departing flights. Tourists and pilgrims also took buses out of the region, with authorities busing out hundreds of Indian students from Srinagar colleges.
Rebels in Indian-controlled Kashmir have been fighting Indian control since 1989. Most Kashmiris support the rebels’ demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control. About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian crackdown.
___
Associated Press writers Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
(SRINAGAR, India) — An indefinite security lockdown was in place in the Indian-controlled portion of divided Kashmir on Monday, stranding millions in their homes as authorities also suspended some internet services and deployed thousands of fresh troops around the increasingly tense region.
Meanwhile, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a Cabinet meeting at his residence in New Delhi amid speculation that the government could announce changes to how the Himalayan territory is administered.
Around midnight in Kashmir, government forces laid steel barricades and razor wire on roads and intersections to cut off neighborhoods in Srinagar, the region’s main city. The government issued a security order banning public meetings, rallies and movement and said schools would be closed.
Authorities also suspended internet services on cellphones, a common tactic to prevent anti-India demonstrations from being organized and to stop the dissemination of news.
The order affects about 7 million people living in the region.
The security deployment in recent days adds at least 10,000 soldiers and other forces in Kashmir, to what was already one of the world’s most militarized regions. India also has ordered thousands of tourists and Hindu pilgrims to leave the region.
The measures have sparked fears that New Delhi is planning to scrap an Indian constitutional provision that forbids Indians from outside the region from buying land in the Muslim-majority territory. Kashmiris fear the measures would be a prelude to doing away with the region’s special status and intensifying an ongoing crackdown against anti-India dissenters.
Tensions also have soared along the Line of Control, the volatile, highly militarized frontier that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, which both claim it entirely.
Indian firing along the Line of Control on Sunday wounded one woman, Pakistani police said. In Pakistani border villages, residents were moving to safer places or building and strengthening bunkers and shelters protecting them from cross-border fire.
Pakistan and India routinely blame each other for initiating border skirmishes.
Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won reelection early this year on a platform that included promises to do away with special rights for Kashmiris under India’s constitution.
At the Srinagar airport, hundreds of Indian and foreign visitors, including some Hindu pilgrims, congregated outside the main terminal, seeking seats on departing flights. Tourists and pilgrims also took buses out of the region, with authorities busing out hundreds of Indian students from Srinagar colleges.
Rebels in Indian-controlled Kashmir have been fighting Indian control since 1989. Most Kashmiris support the rebels’ demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control. About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian crackdown.
Addressing the public for the first time in weeks, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Monday lashed out at protesters for hurting the city as they moved to immobilize Asia’s financial center with a general strike.
A visibly irritated Lam said the recent wave of demonstrations seeking to disrupt daily life has pushed the city to the “verge of a very dangerous situation.”
Her hastily called press conference comes as the semiautonomous Chinese enclave begins its ninth consecutive week of protests with a citywide strike that aims to increase pressure on the administration. On Monday morning, commuters struggled to get to work as several public transportation lines were forced to suspend service and traffic snarled as protesters dragged roadblocks across major thoroughfares. More than 100 flights out of the city’s airport were cancelled.
“As a result of these widespread disruptions and violence, the great majority of Hong Kong people are now in a state of great anxiety. Some of them don’t know whether they could still take some forms of public transport, while others are right now being blocked on the way to work,” she said.
The strike follows a weekend of clashes between brick-throwing demonstrators and tear gas and rubber bullet-firing police. Protesters also tore down a Chinese national flag from a pole and threw it into the harbor in a symbolic gesture jettisoning Beijing’s authority over the city.
Lam condemned the protesters’ behavior and said it is now time to “set aside differences and support the restoration of law and order as soon as possible.” She called on the city’s residents to “rally together.”
But the protests show no sign of abating. What began as a backlash to an unpopular extradition bill has now swelled into a broader movement calling for full democracy and self-determination. Many of the black-clad protesters see themselves as foot soldiers in a rebellion against China’s sovereignty over the territory.
“The nature of these violent protests has changed,” said Lam. She accused the protesters of operating with “ulterior motives” that will “destroy Hong Kong.” The ongoing unrest, she said, jeopardizes the city’s “continued safety, security, and of course, prosperity.”
Beijing-backed Lam has come under mounting pressure to quell the growing political crisis. Over the weekend, Chinese state media warned that the “central government will not sit idly by and let this situation continue.”
Lam also reiterated once again that, despite protesters’ demands, she will not resign.
“I don’t think at this point that the resignation of myself or my colleagues will provide a better solution,” she said.
Members of her own administration took part in a civil servants’ demonstration Friday evening, illustrating just how far discontent has spread.
Fresh protests are slated to take place Monday afternoon across the city, including in front of the government headquarters and at several locations in suburbs nearer to the border with the mainland.
(PHNOM PENH, Cambodia) — Nuon Chea, the chief ideologue of the communist Khmer Rouge regime that destroyed a generation of Cambodians, died Sunday, the country’s U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal said. He was 93.
Nuon Chea was known as Brother No. 2, the right-hand man of Pol Pot, the leader of the regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. The group’s fanatical efforts to realize a utopian society led to the death of some 1.7 million people — more than a quarter of the country’s population at the time — from starvation, disease, overwork and executions.
Researchers believe Nuon Chea was responsible for the extremist policies of the Khmer Rouge and was directly involved in its purges and executions.
He was serving life in prison after convictions by the U.N.-backed tribunal on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
But Nuon Chea never admitted his guilt.
At the long-awaited Khmer Rouge trials, he told a court that he and his comrades were not “bad people,” denying responsibility for any deaths.
For decades after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Nuon Chea lived quietly with his family in a wooden house in Pailin, a former guerrilla stronghold near the border with Thailand.
“I wasn’t a war criminal,” he said in a 2004 interview with The Associated Press. “I admit that there was a mistake. But I had my ideology. I wanted to free my country. I wanted people to have well-being.”
He was arrested in 2007 to face trial along with other surviving but ailing top Khmer Rouge leaders, and charged with crimes against humanity, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture.
Three decades after his accused crimes, Nuon Chea took the stand as an old man with white hair and sunken cheeks. Frail from a variety of health problems — including high blood pressure, heart problems and cataracts — he peered over eyeglasses as he defiantly defended the regime he served.
“I don’t want the next generation to misunderstand history. I don’t want them to believe the Khmer Rouge are bad people, are criminals,” Nuon Chea testified in 2011 at the age of 85. “Nothing is true about that.”
During his testimony, he insisted that the regime was not responsible for any atrocities and reiterated long-standing Khmer Rouge claims that mass graves found after the Khmer Rouge were ousted from power held the bodies of people killed by Vietnamese troops.
“These war crimes and crimes against humanity were not committed by the Cambodian people,” Nuon Chea said. “It was the Vietnamese who killed Cambodians.”
Vietnam, a onetime communist ally of the Khmer Rouge, suffered several bloody attacks from them and finally struck back in late 1978, chasing the Khmer Rouge from power in early 1979 and installing a client regime of former members of the Khmer Rouge who had split with the group. One of them was Cambodia’s current prime minister, Hun Sen.
Nuon Chea’s fellow defendants also denied any wrongdoing: Khieu Samphan, the regime’s former head of state, who also told the court he bore no responsibility for atrocities, and Ieng Sary, the regime’s former foreign minister. Ieng Sary died before the trials concluded, but Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea were found guilty in the tribunal’s final verdicts in November 2018.
At one point before his arrest, Nuon Chea told journalists that he had become an adherent of Buddhism — an irony for the man who served a regime that abolished religion and turned Buddhist monasteries into sites for torture and execution.
Nuon Chea was born on July 7, 1926, to a wealthy Sino-Cambodian family in Battambang province in northwestern Cambodia. He studied law at Thammasat University in Thailand.
In an interview with government agents a year after his surrender in 1998, Nuon Chea said he joined the communist movement in Thailand in 1950. Other sources say he became a communist in 1948 and returned to Cambodia a year later.
That was a time when communist and nationalist groups, struggling to oust French colonialists, were gaining strength in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
Nuon Chea said in that interview that he and Saloth Sar, Pol Pot’s real name, played key roles in building up a homegrown movement free from the dominance of Vietnam, which was to become the Khmer Rouge’s arch-enemy.
In its early stages, that movement was largely in disarray, facing constant threats from authorities and having neither a clear strategy nor adequate resources, according to Nuon Chea.
Nuon Chea said he and Pol Pot worked together in mapping out “a strategic path and tactics” that the party adopted at a clandestine congress at the Phnom Penh railway station in September 1960.
“Marxism-Leninism was the goal of the party, which had to be built from the countryside up. Rural areas were the basis for cities to rely on and ignite” the revolution, Nuon Chea said.
After coming to power in 1975 following a brutal war, the Khmer Rouge evicted people from cities and turned the country into a vast labor camp.
For a movement known for paranoia and secrecy, Nuon Chea was as shadowy as Pol Pot, or even more so, according to historians.
“Except for Nuon Chea, Pol Pot was the least accessible Cambodian leader since World War II,” David Chandler, an American scholar on Cambodia, wrote in “Brother Number One,” a biography of Pol Pot.
Researchers say he was the chief ideologue responsible for devising the Khmer Rouge’s most brutal policies, notably at Tuol Sleng — or S-21 — prison, which is now a genocide museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Some 16,000 men, women and children passed through the prison’s gate before being tortured and executed.
Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which researches Khmer Rouge crimes, said strong evidence links Nuon Chea to the killings. He said the 800,000 documents about the country’s holocaust his center has gathered include many that incriminate Nuon Chea.
“He was born like all of us, but he was driven by power and he later committed crimes against his own people,” Youk Chhang said Sunday.
After being ousted from power in 1979, the Khmer Rouge waged guerrilla warfare for another two decades before disintegrating. Pol Pot died in the jungle in 1998, and on Christmas Eve that year, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan surrendered.
Prime Minister Hun Sen welcomed the duo at his home and gave them and family members a beach holiday, providing sports utility vehicles and security escorts.
When asked at the time who was to blame for the massacres under his regime, Nuon Chea told a news conference, “Let’s consider that an old issue.”
(LONDON) — London police say a teenager has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a child was thrown from the 10th floor viewing platform at the Tate Modern museum.
The Metropolitan Police said the injured 6-year-old child was found on a fifth-floor roof and taken to a local hospital by air ambulance on Sunday. The police force says he is in critical condition.
Police say they do not think the 17-year-old suspect knew the younger boy.
An open terrace and rooftop bar sit atop the Tate Modern, one of London’s busiest tourist attractions. Visitors to the terrace have panoramic views of London.
(HONG KONG) — Demonstrators in Hong Kong moved en masse to a luxury shopping district Sunday evening after riot police used tear gas to clear out an area they were previously occupying, as the 2-month-old protest movement showed no signs of easing.
Clad in yellow helmets and black face masks, protesters squeezed out of a subway station in Causeway Bay, with a few people directing traffic and others holding open the turnstiles.
Surveillance cameras at the station were covered with black tape and umbrellas as protesters spilled out. Makeshift barricades were also erected in the area, which hosts high-end department stores and upscale restaurants.
The protesters made their move after police fired tear gas — a regular occurrence at the demonstrations — in another district on Hong Kong Island.
But the police used more tear gas on the protesters at Causeway Bay. The tear gas beat back most of the crowd, but some protesters resisted by throwing the canisters back at officers and hurling eggs and other objects. Some jeered “Gangsters!” at the police line.
Demonstrators debated whether they could feasibly defend the area or if they should migrate to another district, as they had been doing throughout the night. Some passers-by were caught in the fray and angrily yelled at protesters.
Earlier in the day, another police station became the target of protesters’ ire as rallies in two different parts of the city converged into one.
Following a rally in the Tseung Kwan O area, some protesters used what appeared to be a long, homemade slingshot to hurl rocks, bricks and other objects at a police station. They shattered multiple glass windows, authorities said. Demonstrators elsewhere also began to barricade and block roads.
Police said earlier Sunday that they had arrested more than 20 people for offenses including unlawful assembly and assault after protest marches on Saturday devolved into now-routine standoffs between protesters and law enforcement.
As has been the pattern during the mass pro-democracy demonstrations in the Chinese territory, Sunday’s rallies started off peacefully.
At one park on Hong Kong Island, a flutist and a trumpeter played “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the musical “Les Miserables,” which has become a rallying song for protests.
Protesters believe China’s government and the administration of Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam are eroding the civil liberties and political autonomy promised when the former British colony was returned to China in 1997.
“We are not just another Chinese city. We are Hong Kong,” said Cara Lee, 53, an insurance agent who was attending her 13th demonstration.
“I feel ashamed because for a long time we didn’t do anything,” said Lee. “But now we are awake. I have to speak out for the next generation. It’s our moral responsibility.”
Police said in a statement Sunday that they will use a colored liquid spray to distinguish protesters from other members of the public. They said that the spray is edible and harmless, but will stay on skin and clothes as a way of marking demonstrators, and that the dye can also be applied to tear gas.
On Saturday, a protest march in the territory’s northern area of Kowloon erupted in clashes with police after some marchers walked off the government-approved route and into separate areas.
Police said some protesters threw gasoline bombs, bricks and glass bottles and refused to disperse.
Some blocked streets while others surrounded two different police stations, damaging vehicles parked inside one lot.
Residents in one neighborhood banded together with protesters and surrounded a police station, yelling at riot police to leave.
Protesters are demanding an independent investigation into complaints of police abuse and the government response to an attack in a train station that injured 44 people. They also want Lam to resign.
Activists have called for a citywide general strike on Monday.
Hong Kong residents increasingly accuse China’s ruling Communist Party of encroaching on their liberties. Those fears have been fueled by the arrests of booksellers and activists in Hong Kong.
During the rally Saturday, some protesters scaled a flag pole, removed the Chinese flag and flung it into the iconic Victoria Harbour.
Former Hong Kong leader C.Y. Leung offered 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($127,720) for information about who threw the flag into the water. The act will provoke “enormous resentment from the entire nation,” said Leung.
(TEHRAN, Iran) — Iranian forces seized a ship in the Persian Gulf suspected of carrying smuggled fuel, state media reported Sunday, marking the Revolutionary Guard’s third seizure of a vessel in recent weeks and the latest show of strength by the paramilitary force amid a spike in regional tensions.
State TV and the semi-official Fars news agency reported that seven crew members were detained when the ship was seized late Wednesday carrying 700,000 liters (185,000 gallons) of “smuggled fuel” from Iran. The local reports did not provide further details on the vessel or the nationality of the crew.
The news agency reported the ship was seized near Farsi Island, where a Revolutionary Guard naval base is located. The island sits in the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Iran, north of the Strait of Hormuz.
Guard commander Gen. Ramazan Zirahi was quoted by Iran’s state TV saying the ship was seized in Iranian territorial waters and had been transporting diesel fuel. State TV and other local media also ran footage of the ship, but did not show any flag or identifying marker for the vessel.
“This foreign vessel had received the fuel from other ships and was transferring it to Persian Gulf Arab states,” Zirahi said in comments carried by Fars new agency.
It was not immediately clear why a ship carrying Iranian fuel would transfer its cargo to energy exporting Gulf states, but smuggling has been a source of concern in Iran. Iranian media reported last month that some 8 million liters of government-subsidized Iranian fuel are smuggled daily to other countries where prices are much higher.
The new claims would make this the third vessel seized by the Guard in the past two weeks, and the second accused of smuggling fuel.
The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, said it did not have information to confirm the reports. Maritime tracking experts also said they did not have any immediate information about the incident or details on the vessel.
Maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global said that, if confirmed, this is likely to be “another relatively low key interception designed to signal to the West that Iran maintains the capability and intent to exercise its influence” in the Persian Gulf.
Tensions in the Persian Gulf have escalated recently, with the United States boosting its military presence in the region and six oil tankers targeted in the Gulf of Oman in unclaimed acts of sabotage that the U.S. blames on Iran. Iran has denied any involvement in those attacks.
In June, Iran shot down an American surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump came close to retaliating, but called off an airstrike at the last moment. Washington has since claimed that a U.S. warship downed an Iranian drone in the strait. Iran denies losing any aircraft in the area.
Maritime security in the region was further jolted in mid-July, when Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval forces confirmed they’d seized a United Arab Emirates-based oil tanker, the Panamanian-flagged MT Riah, for allegedly smuggling some 1 million liters (264,000 gallons) of fuel from Iranian smugglers to foreign customers.
Also in July, the Guard seized a British-flagged vessel near the Persian Gulf in the Strait of Hormuz, in what some Iranian officials suggested was retaliation for the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker in a British Royal Navy operation off Gibraltar, near Spain.
The U.K. says the Iranian oil tanker was suspected of violating European Union sanctions on oil shipments to Syria. Iran denies the ship was bound for Syria but has not disclosed its destination. Officials in Spain initially said the tanker was seized upon request from the United States.
The current tensions stem from Trump’s decision last year to withdraw the U.S. from Iran’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers and impose sweeping sanctions on the country that have crippled its economy. In response, Iran began openly breaching limits set by the nuclear agreement to pressure European signatories to provide economic relief to help offset the sanctions.
Maritime security around the Persian Gulf is of international importance. The Strait of Hormuz sits at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, a shipping channel for one-fifth of all global crude exports. Petroleum products from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain are exported through the strait to countries around the world. Iran also uses the strait for its exports.
Some 67,533 ships sailed through strait last year, according to data from maritime publication Lloyd’s List sourcing research by Russell Group.
Ranjith Raja, a senior analyst at data firm Refinitiv, said this latest seized ship by Iran could be a barge or supply vessel rather than a commercial merchant tanker based on the amount of fuel it was allegedly transporting. Due to the numerous supply vessels operating in the area, it was not possible to pinpoint which ship had been seized, he said.
(ST. MARGARET’S BAY, England) — Is it a bird? A plane? No, it’s a French inventor flying over the English Channel on his hoverboard.French Hoverboard Inventor Successfully Flies Over the English Channel
Looking like a superhero, Franky Zapata successfully completed the famed 35-kilometer (22-mile) journey in just 22 minutes Sunday morning, reaching speeds of up to 177 kilometers per hour (110 mph) on the flyboard that has made him a French household name.
Propelled by a power pack full of kerosene, Zapata set off from Sangatte in France’s Pas de Calais region and landed in St. Margaret’s Bay, beyond the white cliffs of Dover, in southeast England. He stopped only once, on the British side, to refuel his futuristic invention from a boat in the choppy waters.
“I’m feeling happy … It’s just an amazing moment in my life,” he said in English following his touchdown in Britain. “The last 10% (of the flight) was easier … because I had the time to look at the cliffs.”
It was, of course, the record for such a trip: No one else has tried to cross the channel in this way.
It was also a personal record — the furthest distance that the 40-year-old, who drew nationwide attention after whizzing above European leaders in Paris at Bastille Day celebrations, had ever traveled atop his hoverboard.
The wind in the Channel, especially gusts, presented a major challenge, he said, adding that he bends into gusts but is destabilized if the wind quickly dies. It was, he acknowledged, no easy feat — especially given the physical endurance it requires. He said his leg muscles were “burning” during the flight.
“Your body resists the wind, and because the board is attached to my feet, all my body has to resist to the wind,” he told reporters. “I tried to enjoy it and not think about the pain.”
Witness Mark Kerr, a 60-year-old hospital librarian from Dover, said it was quite an unusual sight.
“Spectacular and amazing. Not everyday you see a man standing up, flying across the Channel, being chased by three helicopters,” he said.
Rosie Day, a 17-year-old at the British landing site, was impressed by Zapata’s flying skills.
“I was surprised by how quick he was. It was really impressive how fast he came in and the agility of his movements,” she said. “He was very smooth.”
Sunday was the inventor’s second attempt at crossing the Channel. His first — 10 days ago — ended when he collided with a refueling boat several minutes into his flight. That destroyed his transportation, a version of the flyboard that his company sells commercially.
Zapata told reporters this time he was “scared to touch down” at the refueling station on the sea but knew “whatever happened,” his team “wouldn’t let me fall into the water.”
He said he and his team worked around the clock to pull off the feat.
“All week, we worked 16 hours a day … we worked like crazy,” he said.
French maritime authorities said the refueling operation was dangerous, even though Zapata nixed his initial plan to refuel his power pack from a flying platform.
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JDCC Bank Recruitment 2019 – Apply for 220 Vacancies. Latest Notification of Jalgoan District Central Co-Operative Bank is released. JDCC Notification is announced for clerk post in Jalgoan Co-Operative Bank. Interested can check with the official notification for 220 vacancies and apply for the Clerk post through Online Mode. JDCC Bank Jalgoan Online Application form is available from 01st August 2019. JDCC Bank required eligible candidates for the supporting staff post. Accordingly, 44 vacancies are left open. Interested and eligible can apply for the JDCC Bank Recruitment.
Applicants have to qualified in the online test to get placement in JDCC Bank. The application form will be welcomed until the 20th of August 2019. Check down the below section to know the terms and conditions of the JDCC Jobs and get a career in JDCC Bank.
Eligibility Criteria for Jalgoan Co-Operative Bank Career 2019
Aspirants those wish to apply for the JDCC Bank Recruitment can check the eligibility details such as educational qualifications, age limit and other complete details in the below section of this page. Ensure with your eligibility criteria and then apply for the clerk post. Check the official notification of the JDCC Bank Recruitment Board to know the terms and conditions in detail for the Supporting Staff Vacancies.
Educational Qualification
Candidates should be graduated with a minimum of 50% marks in any stream from a recognized university.
MSCIT/ Government approved certificate in Computer Diploma/ Graduate in Computer stream.
Age Limit:
Minimum Age Limit – 21 years
Maximum Age Limit – 30 years
Application Fee:
Applicant should pay the fee through Net Banking/ Debit card/ Credit card.
The registration fee for JDDC Bank Recruitment 2019 – Rs. 1000/-
JDCC Clerk Salary:
Selected Candidates will get a good pay scale as per the JDCC Bank Recruitment Board.
Selection Process:
Online Test
Interview
How to Apply Online for JDCC Bank Clerk Recruitment 2019?
Candidates who satisfy the eligibility conditions provided by Jalgoan District Central Co-Operative Bank Recruitment Board can apply for JDCC Bank Supporting staff vacancies through Online mode. Aspirants want to be a part of JDCC Bank Careers can follow the below-listed steps to apply through Online mode for JDCC Bank Clerk Posts.
Download the Official Notification given below.
Check with the details that are listed in.
Click on the JDCC Bank Recruitment Apply Online Link.
Register yourself for the Clerk Post.
Log in to the application page.
Fill the application form with the required details.
Attach the necessary documents that are asked for.
Recheck with the details filled in.
Submit the application before the due date.
Important Dates for JDCC Bank Job 2019
Starting Date to Apply
01st August 2019
Last Date to Apply
20th August 2019
Important Links for Jalgoan Clerk Recruitment 2019
A District Co-employable Central Bank (DCCB) is a helpful bank working at the local level in different pieces of India. It was built up to give banking to the rustic hinterland for the rural division with the branches essentially settled in provincial and semi-urban regions. The financial model comprises of an area national bank for each region in each territory of India referred to with a name as an individual District Central Co-usable Bank. The individuals and their chosen chiefs who speak to a huge number of expert agreeable bodies like milk associations, urban cooperatives, rustic cooperatives, rural and non-farming cooperatives, and different others thusly choose the bank’s leader.
These banks are on the whole spoken to by a State Apex Central Co-usable bank for each state and it goes about as a definitive bank and pinnacle body for the DCCBs in each state. It has been generally watched everywhere throughout the nation that the nearby legislators who hold the influence over the cooperatives get chosen as President of the DCC bank and a president post would mean supporting for their future political ambitions.[citation needed] However, this pattern, which has turned into a national marvel, conveys its own points of interest and detriments.
Government spending will be the engine that powers growth in the other sectors of India's slowing economy, State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar said in an interview. "There is an obvious slowdown in demand... it is visible in every sector," Kumar said. "The major spending thrust will come from the government. Once that starts reflecting on the ground, I am hopeful that private sector investments will follow."The new project pipeline is satisfactory but mostly confined to a few segments such oil and gas as well as renewable energy and road projects that are backed by the government, the banker said.India Inc has been looking to the government for a stimulus programme and help from the monetary authorities in the form of lower interest costs to overcome the slowdown that has led to growth falling to a five-year low.Faced with a record slump in sales, automobile companies are cutting output and others are slashing costs, dampening consumer demand, which has been driving growth for the best part of the past decade."I believe the government may now be in a position to step up funding for the infrastructure sector as well as the tax sops and other measures taken to promote affordable housing should help the construction sector," Kumar said. "I am hoping that as the festive season starts, there should be a pickup in demand in the auto sector."'Stricter Norms the New Normal'Kumar joins other CEOs such as HDFC Bank's Aditya Puri who have cited the slowdown in economic growth. Housing Development Finance Corp. chairman Deepak Parekh last week blamed the risk aversion among banks toward giving loans as being one of the reasons for the weakness in demand.But the SBI chairman said stricter norms are the new normal."We can't be too liberal," he said when asked about risk aversion. "In these times, it can't be business as usual... we have seen the consequences. In each sector we have reviewed our policies and if clients conform to those policies bank credit will be available to them. Obviously there will be a tightening around the monitoring of funds which has become a big issue."Apart from economic factors there are issues like fear of getting accused by investigative agencies that have slowed loan disbursements by banks. In cases like Kingfisher Airlines and Infrastructure & Leasing Financial Services, investigators suspect that banks colluded to dupe the system.There is a structural change in the way business is being done, thanks to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and the tightening of credit assessment by lenders, he said. At the same time, there's fear of wrongful prosecution among bankers given the number of bank executives facing corruption allegations "We all support the objective to weed out corruption and irregularities," said Kumar. "But when it comes to procedures or commercial decisions going wrong, then there has to be an understanding under which category such a case is treated. I have heard in news that in one case 250 bank officers have been named. That causes problems. I don't see a situation where 250 bank officers from different lending institutions colluded to help one person divert funds. How is that possible? Are we taking this to the other extreme?"
MUMBAI: Maruti Suzuki India is likely to operate just one shift at all its plants, with demand for cars slumping to multi-decade lows across the country and causing inventory to bloat ahead of the traditional festive season.The carmaker that sells one in two cars running on Indian roads might slash one shift even at the Manesar plant, which will now likely join the Gurugram & Gujarat facilities in operating below capacity, multiple people aware of the move told ET.The Manesar plant has an annual capacity of 750,000 units, and it makes Ertiga, Wagon-R, Swift, Dzire and Baleno cars.Production cuts at the maker of Swift and Baleno have meant hundreds of job losses for contractual staff. With all plants likely to move to a single shift, some more jobs are at risk, sources told ET.Maruti didn't respond to ET's query on realignment of production schedules at its plants and the likely impact on sales volumes and jobs.Late last month, Nissan announced a global layoff affecting 12,500 jobs, and about a seventh of those positions were likely to be shed in India.Passenger car sales in India have declined continuously, with July witnessing the worst shrinkage in about two decades.Monthly car sales have shrunk for nine months in a row, dropping in 12 of the previous 13 months.Kotak Institutional Equities cut the earnings forecast for Maruti Suzuki by 10-18% over FY20-22, mainly driven by 6-9% cut in volume estimates. The brokerage believes that volume growth for the industry is likely to remain challenging in FY20 due to the broader slowdown and the significant increase in car prices from regulatory changes (new safety and emission norms). Similarly, Credit Suisse cut volume and margins estimates for FY20 and FY21, translating into 15% and 9% EPS cuts, respectively.Maruti Suzuki has been taking periodic shutdowns at plants to adjust production. In August, the month just before Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi festivals, there are at least three days of shutdown planned, and these cuts were not in the original output schedule, said people in the know. In FY20 so far, Maruti Suzuki has cut production by 10%.
By Amitabh KantIndia needs to transition towards a $5 trillion economy, taking it from lower-middle income status to upper-middle income. The path of this transition can only be paved with reforms.The introduction of goods and services tax (GST), the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (Rera), the Monetary Policy Framework, a focus on ease of doing business, and formalisation of the economy, enhanced foreign direct investment (FDI) limits, recognition of the scale of the non-performing asset (NPA) problem, & subsequent recapitalisation of public sector banks (PSBs) are some of the measures undertaken in the past five years.Structural reforms of this magnitude always bring with them transient headwinds.Demand, both internal and external, is subdued and private investments are yet to take off. Keynesian economics would tell us that expansionary monetary and fiscal policies are needed to bring aggregate demand out of its slump.However, with both fiscal deficit and inflation targets, the extent of monetary and fiscal expansion to stimulate aggregate demand is limited.Want a Loan? Get BondThe focus of second-generation reforms should be a single-minded pursuit of growth that is investment- and exported.In 1965, South Korea's income level was around $700. By 1996, it had risen to $16,230 thanks to the annual average growth of 10.7% over 31 years. China's per-capita income in 1993 was $530. In 2008, it had reached around $2,720 with average annual growth at 11.5%.So what does India need to do to drive a$5 trillion economy?A slew of recent events have triggered a liquidity crunch. Banks and mutual funds are reluctant to lend to nonbanking financial companies (NBFCs), and bank lending growth is meagre. Giventhe undercapitalised nature of PSBs, the liquidity crunch is further compounded. Ensuring sufficient credit flows is the need of the hour.The Indian financial sector is overly reliant on banks as source of funding. Here, the bond market represents only 20% of total corporate debt as compared to 80% in the US. India needs to deepen the corporate bond markets to lessen the load on banks as drivers of credit in the financial system.A direct Keynesian fiscal expansion may be limited owing to fiscal deficit targets. But innovative ideas such as asset monetisation and recycling need to be vigorously pursued to fund government capital expenditure. Reverse BOT (build-operate-transfer) and TOT (tolloperate-transfer) for airports, roads, infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) of power transmission grids and gas pipelines, along with monetising land lying idle with public sector enterprises, can raise significant funds. Strategic disinvestment can raise further non-tax revenues for GoI.NITI Aayog has recommended strategic disinvestment of 46 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs). These need to be expeditiously taken forward for disinvestment. There is no rationale for government being in business. It must get out of business enterprises and become afacilitator and catalyst.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must also recognise that the real cost of borrowing in India is inordinately high when compared to peer nations.The imperfect monetary transmission mechanism implies that successive and large rate cuts from RBI are needed to bring down the cost of capital.Liquidity needs to be infused into the system, increasing the pool of loanable funds available in the market.Several sectors remain unreformed, agriculture, perhaps, being the biggest example. We need to unleash the productive spirit of our farmers by eliminating outdated laws such as the Essential Commodities Act, the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act, and replace them with modern regulations such as the Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (APLM) Act, the Contract Farming Act, and the Land Leasing Act.Along with marketing reforms, investments in the value chain are needed.This will boost both exports and the domestic food processing industry. Dependence on agriculture as a source of livelihood also needs to be reduced.80% of global economic production happens in cities, lifting vast segments above poverty lines. They are centres of growth, innovation and creativity. We must focus on making Indian cities smart, sustainable and innovative. They hold the key to growth and job creation.Manufacturing will play an important role in this regard. Export-led growth needs to be targeted, particularly in labour-intensive sectors. To capture larger shares of export markets, our firms must be globally competitive. Rationalising electricity tariffs, labour and land laws are critical enablers of firm competitiveness.Get the Wheels MovingReviving demand, especially in the automobile sector, is a critical and necessary short-term intervention. A special six-month programme for the auto sector should include lowering GST for automobiles and auto parts, an incentive-based vehicle-scrapping policy and a scheme like the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for subsidising States to procure BS-VI buses.We need vibrant and dynamic power and railway sectors. This needs radical reforms, including direct benefit transfer (DBT) for targeting subsidies, bringing in franchise and public-private partnership (PPP) modes in distribution, separating carriage and content, permitting open access and freeing renewable from licensing requirement for generation and supply.Railway reforms can add 1% to India's GDP. Passenger fares have not increased for over two decades, and there is high cross-subsidisation of passenger service by freight service. We need to rationalise passenger fares, and projects like dedicated freight corridors to be completed. Private sector play in train operations and station redevelopment will fast-track infrastructure to global standards and bring efficiency.The textiles and apparel sector presents significant employment opportunities, especially to the labour force exiting agriculture. A focus on man-made fibres, through removal of the inverted duty structure, is a first step. India also needs to focus on scale. Nearly 95% of our fabric is produced in small-scale industries, leading to a loss in competitiveness in destination markets. Largescale textile parks, providing common infrastructure and plug-and-play facilities to entrepreneurs, would make this sector competitive.Mining needs urgent reforms. Opening up the coal sector for commercial mining, along with enhancing domestic oil and gas production and exploration, will reduce India's dependence on imports of fossil fuels. In allocating these blocks, the focus should be on production, rather than revenue maximisation.India must also continue its thrust towards renewable energy, especially in the area of storage and batteries. Breakthroughs are likely to aid India in driving size and scale in electric mobility.Tourism is an area where significant growth and employment opportunities emerge. While India has many destinations, we do not have many circuits. Developing the 'Buddhist Circuit', by providing air connectivity through UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) to destinations such as Kushinagar and Bodh Gaya, will help us capture the burgeoning East Asian tourist market. India needs to bring down GST on hotel rooms from 28% to 18%, and reduce visa fees to $25, so that we can offer attractive and competitive packages.For India to grow at 8-9% over the coming years, the structural reforms need to aim at boosting domestic investment and savings levels, especially from the private and household sectors. Domestic infrastructure creation, funded through non-tax revenues, can 'crowd-in' private investment.Similarly, stability, predictability and consistency in policies can boost and maintain investor confidence. Reforms in ease of doing business must continue with the aim of making India one of the easiest places in the world to do business.Tax laws need to be simplified, the processes fully digitised, and the tax research unit needs to be manned by professional tax experts.Finally, we need to do everything possible to unleash the animal spirits of the private sector. Wealth creation on a sustained basis requires the private sector to play a key and significant role.The writer is CEO, NITI Aayog
State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar spoke to Saloni Shukla and MC Govardhana Rangan. Edited excerpts:You are meeting the finance minister on Monday. What issues will you take up?I expect we will discuss how we should improve the flow of credit to various sectors of the economy. There are issues around service tax, around the bankruptcy code process.What is your assessment of the slowdown in the economy?There is an obvious slowdown in demand – it's visible in every sector. The auto sector has been affected and there is an urgent need to fix this fall in demand. The first half is always slow but this year particularly consumption credit, which was driving the credit growth of all banks, has taken a hit. But we have done reasonably well in housing loan and loans against salary.I was studying the project finance pipeline for State Bank of India. There are a number of proposals from the oil and gas sector, especially city gas, fairly good proposals for renewable and roads sectors.What is the project finance pipeline?The total projects are exceeding Rs 2 lakh crore. Assuming that around 50-70% of that will be funded, SBI will have a 20-25% share out of this. But these are all long-gestation projects. If you start a city gas project today, it won't draw the money today, it will be a three-four-year disbursement. For any project finance, there will a funding time lag of six months to a year. For example, financial closure for HPCL's Rajasthan refinery... it's a Rs 26,000 crore bank lending project but as of now there is no drawdown.In your latest earnings, almost 100% of your corporate growth has come from government companies. Where is the private sector growth?The major spending thrust will come from the government. Once that starts reflecting on the ground, I am hoping that private sector investments will follow. Even in the past few years, infrastructure and consumption credit have led credit growth… manufacturing sector demand has been absent.I believe the government may now be in a position to step up funding for the infrastructure sector. As well as the tax sops and other measures taken to promote affordable housing, that should help the construction sector. I am hoping that, as the festive season starts, there should be a pick-up in demand in the auto sector.In any conversation, the fear of investigative agencies is talked about the most. Are you experiencing any fear?If there is a mala fide… I don't think that investigative agencies and banks are not on the same side but there is some sort of a disconnect. This is where I think there should be a more cooperative approach between the lenders and investigative agencies to understand each other – that is the need of the hour. We all support the objective to weed out corruption and irregularities. But when it comes to procedures or commercial decisions going wrong, then there has to be an understanding (about) the category under which such a case is treated. I have heard in the news that in one case 250 bank officers have been named… that causes problems. I don't see a situation that 250 bank officers from different lending institutions colluded together to help one person divert funds. How is that possible? Are we taking this to the other extreme?HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh said that there is a risk aversion on the part of banks that is clogging the system. What is your takeWe can't be too liberal. In these times it can't be business as usual, we have seen the consequences. In each sector, we have reviewed our policies and if clients conform to those policies, bank credit will be available to them. Obviously, there will be a tightening around the monitoring of funds, which has become a big issue. We have come across a lot of problems because of diversion of funds and as per RBI also it is treated as fraud. More than sanction, it is the post-sanction monitoring which has been a cause of big problems. How do you keep a strict oversight on funds we provide to clients? We are looking to fix that. This cannot be called risk aversion.Today, if we look at any funding proposal, we ask promoters, where is the equity? If banks are making an attempt to enforce discipline, it gets equated with risk aversion. I still believe that we can't go to another extreme and stop the liquidity tap. But everyone wants to be very careful looking at the current economic circumstances.You have tightened credit to auto dealers – isn't that risk aversion?We had a meeting with the auto dealers' association and tried to understand the issues faced by them. We have no problem in funding the inventory but it should be self-liquidating – you sell and you pay back. If there is an inventory build-up, we are alright with increasing the credit period from 60 days to 75 days. And if that is not sufficient, we will increase it to 90 days. If there is a short-term slowdown, we will help but there should be a mechanism where this money is rolling.Since Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) collapsed in September last year, the non-banking finance companies' (NBFC) liquidity crisis has persisted. The government took a few measures but it doesn't seem to have solved the problem. Now we are seeing issues with a few other NBFCs ...NBFCs play a very critical role in last-mile funding and connectivity. It's important that the flow of credit to NBFCs and in turn from NBFCs to the sectors they were funding should continue. If the flow stops, it will be a problem.All banks have to be balanced in their approach when we deal with NBFCs. Most of them have good capabilities when it comes to risk appraisal and the ones particularly dealing with retail customers need to be supported by the banks.I don't think liquidity is an issue for NBFCs. There are some who are facing entity-level issues that need to be resolved quickly, so that confidence in the sector comes back.Banks gave loans to NBFCs when the going was good. Since banks have now tightened credit to the sector, they say you were fair-weather friends...It is not a new phenomenon. We have always heard that banks are fairweather friends and give you an umbrella only when it's not raining. The question to be asked, is this a problem with such NBFCs where banks are not convinced about their lending practices or it is a tightening of flow of funds to those NBFCs where there are no issues... that distinction has to be made. If the lending practices are in order, there is a sound governance structure, there are strict underwriting standards... we have no issues lending to such NBFCs. But we can't ignore and keep on lending – that is not going to happen.Three big names— Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd (DHFL), Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group and Essel Group – have added to bank's woes. Where does this stop? Big chunky accounts continue to slip...We are trying to resolve these accounts... resolution is likely to happen but it is a complex process. The bank needs to move towards a tolerance limit for NPA (non-performing asset) slippages in a single year and our aim is to achieve that target quickly. Internally, we have done a lot with tighter underwriting, early warning signals, but if the macroeconomy does not help, then we will continue to have issues with slippages.One is the borrower's intent to pay, another is his capability to pay, which is determined by profitability and positive cash flows. We are being very careful with the borrowers who don't seem to have any intent to pay.It is clearly visible that corporate earnings are under pressure, so the risk in respect of the loans go up. For anyone to invest, one has to get the desired IRR (internal rate of return).Tighter underwriting standards by banks have led to a narrative that this is killing entrepreneurship. What is your view?It is not killing entrepreneurship – there are different business models. It's not that we have not given loans, credit has grown 12% YoY. Banks cannot lend to the startup ecosystem, conventional lending doesn't fit there. I completely agree that a business failure should be treated as a business failure. And the whole concept of limited liability is where the enterprise should be segregated from the individual. But at the same time, under the relevant clause, there are certain behaviours which are expected from the promoters. If those covenants, corporate governance practices are not followed by the promoters and we say that he shouldn't be held accountable... this doesn't work.Are promoters showing the intent to follow these norms?There isn't much choice… everybody has to bring about that mindset change. We were accustomed to doing business in a certain way, that is undergoing a change.Your thoughts on the VG Siddhartha case...I didn't know him personally but it is very unfortunate. I don't know under what circumstances such an extreme step was taken. At this stage, when there is absence of facts, we shouldn't jump to any conclusion. I feel sorry that an entrepreneur who was so successful took such a step – this has shocked the system.The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) process hasn't given the expected results. You yourself mentioned invoking the gods to free up the money stuck in the recovery process. What can be done to fix this?IBC is a new process… for any country it takes a few years to normalise. The speed with which the amendments have been carried out is commendable. If in all matters, everyone moves with this speed, we will be a different country. It applies to all of us, including bankers.The intent was different. When all these tribunals were formed, the intent was that the process will be different from the high courts because these are commercial cases. But unfortunately, what has happened is the treatment has been the same, so the purpose for which separate tribunals were set up is being defeated. I would say that this is a learning process and the intent that every stakeholder has to work fast so that the value of the enterprise of protected will be upheld. We have witnessed that once a case goes to the IBC process, lenders lose control. If a patient is in ICU and you don't administer medicine in time, he will die.If there is any consolidation, does SBI have the appetite to absorb another bank?It's not about appetite… I have always said that we are fairly big. SBI becoming bigger will not help the system, others need to become bigger. In that sense, consolidation will help because there is a huge gap between SBI and other banks. That gap needs to be narrowed down.With RBI's steps on strengthening PSU bank boards, now there is a framework which was missing earlier. When we talk about corporate governance, the starting point is composition of the board... What sort of people are there on the board and its committees... If the quality of the board and management improves, you can improve governance. The current government has been very careful in appointing people on the board.
MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio Infocomm and Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel are among around a dozen companies that have shown interest in the assets of bankrupt Reliance Communications (RCom) and its Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel units, people in the know of the matter said., asset management companies and telecom tower operators have also submitted expressions of interest (EoIs), the people said."Around 10-12 firms have sent in their expressions of interest. Bharti Airtel and Jio are part of it," said one of the people. Vodafone Idea, financially the worst off among India's three private mobile companies, is not on the list of suitors.Legal Battle a Key ConcernJio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea didn't reply to emails seeking comment until press time Sunday. Deloitte, which is managing the court-monitored bankruptcy process of RCom, also didn't respond to request for comment.Airwaves in 14 of India's 22 telecom circles, about 43,000 telecom towers housed under Reliance Infratel and some fibre and real estate assets are up for sale. RCom's licences for the 800 MHz 4G spectrum will expire in July 2021.The Anil Ambani-promoted telecom operator, which is now defunct, has Rs46,000 crore of debt. As many as 39 financial creditors have claimed about Rs 49,193 crore from the company. RCom and its units also have hundreds of operational creditors.Jio had nearly bought RCom's wireless assets before the Department of Telecommunications red-flagged the deal, citing lack of clarity over who would assume liabilities related to its bandwidth. RCom filed for bankruptcy after it failed to complete the transaction.Airtel's interest in the assets underlines the importance of the airwaves to expand its 4G and upcoming 5G coverage, even as it is fighting a bruising battle for market share with Jio.The battle for the assets could get intense as private equity firms too have been actively seeking deals in the sector. But their interest could be more on assets other than spectrum.70528893 "There are major PE players, asset management and tower companies too who have sent in their EoIs. Today, the sector has seen PE firms becoming active players and they will not want to give up the chance to pick up RCom's assets," a second person aware of the development said.Last month, a consortium led by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management agreed to buy Reliance Industries' Reliance Jio lnfratel unit in a multi-stage deal. American Tower Corp too has been expanding in India, through successive buyouts of Viom Networks and the captive tower assets held by Vodafone India and Idea Cellular before their merger.LEGAL CHALLENGESBut for all interested parties, the major looming concern is a legal battle between the telecom department and operators like RCom and Aircel, which too is bankrupt, over the ownership of their most valuable asset: spectrum. The department has previously told the National Company Law Tribunal in the Aircel insolvency case that bankrupt telcos which had not cleared their dues must return their spectrum since that asset belonged to the government. While telcos can trade in the spectrum they acquired through auctions, they must first clear any payment arrears, including spectrum usage charge and one-time spectrum fee, or submit bank guarantees to cover for those, it had said. Both Aircel and RCom haven't met these requirements that the department had raised.However, companies still appear to be keen on the assets because the spectrum under the insolvency process will come in far cheaper than in government auctions.For example, under the now-scrapped deal, Jio was to buy 122 MHz of 800 MHz spectrum for some Rs7,300 crore, besides the towers, before RCom filed for insolvency. The value of that spectrum is expected to be far less now. One of the reasons for this, though, is that the residual licence period for the spectrum has reduced compared with when Jio had initially agreed to buy it, say experts.The battle over spectrum between the two telcos and DoT may be resolved only in the Supreme Court, said sector experts.Meanwhile, RCom's committee of creditors held a meeting last week and is expected to meet again in the next few days. There is a need to come up with a resolution plan quickly in what is turning out to be one the largest insolvency case of Indian industry, several people aware of the developments said.RCom had sold some of its optic fibre and related assets for Rs 3,000 crore, and media convergence nodes and related infrastructure for Rs 2,000 crore before it filed for bankruptcy. Jio was the buyer in both deals.
MUMBAI: Maruti Suzuki India is likely to operate just one shift at all its plants, with demand for cars slumping to multi-decade lows across the country and causing inventory to bloat ahead of the traditional festive season.The carmaker that sells one in two cars running on Indian roads might slash one shift even at the Manesar plant, which will now likely join the Gurugram & Gujarat facilities in operating below capacity, multiple people aware of the move told ET.The Manesar plant has an annual capacity of 750,000 units, and it makes Ertiga, Wagon-R, Swift, Dzire and Baleno cars.Production cuts at the maker of Swift and Baleno have meant hundreds of job losses for contractual staff. With all plants likely to move to a single shift, some more jobs are at risk, sources told ET.Maruti didn't respond to ET's query on realignment of production schedules at its plants and the likely impact on sales volumes and jobs.Late last month, Nissan announced a global layoff affecting 12,500 jobs, and about a seventh of those positions were likely to be shed in India.Passenger car sales in India have declined continuously, with July witnessing the worst shrinkage in about two decades.Monthly car sales have shrunk for nine months in a row, dropping in 12 of the previous 13 months.Kotak Institutional Equities cut the earnings forecast for Maruti Suzuki by 10-18% over FY20-22, mainly driven by 6-9% cut in volume estimates. The brokerage believes that volume growth for the industry is likely to remain challenging in FY20 due to the broader slowdown and the significant increase in car prices from regulatory changes (new safety and emission norms). Similarly, Credit Suisse cut volume and margins estimates for FY20 and FY21, translating into 15% and 9% EPS cuts, respectively.Maruti Suzuki has been taking periodic shutdowns at plants to adjust production. In August, the month just before Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi festivals, there are at least three days of shutdown planned, and these cuts were not in the original output schedule, said people in the know. In FY20 so far, Maruti Suzuki has cut production by 10%.
In a very volatile session on Friday, the headline Nifty index opened lower, breached few more important levels but recovered over 140 points from the lows to end the day with modest gains. Bearish sentiment continued to grip the markets as the Nifty completed its rounding top formation and momentarily breached the bottoms only to recover later. While continuing to be oversold on the short-term charts, Nifty ended the day with minor gains of 17.35 points, or 0.16 per cent.The index now trades below all its moving averages, and the setup remains predominantly bearish. However, given the oversold nature of the market on the daily chart, continuation of the pullback that started on Friday cannot be ruled out. We expect a flat to modestly positive start to Monday's trade, and it remains to be seen if Nifty manages to convert its recovery into a relief rally.On Monday, Nifty is likely to face resistance at 11,050 and 11,120 levels while support should come in at 10,959 and 11,850 levels. 70522069 The RSI on the daily chart stood at 26.55; it remained neutral and did not show any divergence against price. The RSI continued to be in oversold territory. The daily MACD remains bearish and trades below its signal line. No significant formations were seen on the candles.Pattern analysis of the daily charts presented a bleak picture and showed some structural damage on the technical charts. Nifty has completed its rounding top formation and taken support on the neckline after an initial breach of the support. The index now trades below its key moving averages.There are possibilities of Nifty consolidating with the 10,850 level acting as immediate short-term support. There is also some room of a technical pullback and minor relief rally from the current level. However, all these upmoves are set to face resistance at higher levels and will remain vulnerable to selloff. We recommend sticking to defensive stocks while protecting profits at higher levels in the event of any pullback.(Milan Vaishnav, CMT, MSTA is Consultant Technical Analyst at Gemstone Equity Research & Advisory Services, Vadodara. He can be reached at milan.vaishnav@equityresearch.asia)
By Stephen SprattThis week looms as a key one for Asian financial markets with no less than five central banks set to hand down decisions that may set the tone for the rest of the year.Markets are predicting policy makers in India, the Philippines and New Zealand will all cut interest rates to shore up faltering growth, while those in Australia will pause after back-to-back moves, and Thailand looks set to avoid lowering borrowing costs at all.Here's a roundup of what rates markets are pricing in for each of the central banks reporting this week and some possible trades suggested by their diverging outlooks: 70519809 The Reserve Bank of Australia is first up on Tuesday, with markets expecting it to stay on hold after cutting rates in June and July to a record 1 per cent. The next reduction is currently priced for December, with a further one expected in mid-2020.There's a growing perception the RBA may be unwilling to lower its benchmark below 0.5 per cent, suggesting there is a possible floor for rates just a few basis points below next year's pricing. This would appear to create an asymmetric risk, i.e., there's a much more room for rates to rise than fall. 70519811 The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announces policy Wednesday. Markets are fully pricing in a 25 basis-point cut from the current 1.5 per cent, a follow up to a similar move in May. Swap markets suggest the central bank will cut again later this year, and possibly once more by April.A lot is priced in, but RBNZ has said it may allow interest rates to fall as low as minus 35 basis points, according to a Treasury paper prepared earlier this year looking at options for unconventional monetary policy. That means there's plenty of room for rates to go lower. 70519813 The Reserve Bank of India also announces Wednesday, and markets are broadly pricing in a rate cut this week and another in the next six months. The central bank lowered its repurchase rate to a nine-year low of 5.75 per cent in June and paved the way for more easing. Significant rate cuts would do a lot of good for the country, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said last week.More easing is coming and that should be bullish for Indian swap rates, especially as there's plenty of room to keep cutting if inflation stays in check. Data released earlier this month showed consumer prices rose 3.13 per cent in June from a year earlier, below RBI's target of 4 per cent. 70519819 Some economists are predicting a rate cut when the Bank of Thailand meets Wednesday but the market isn't pricing one in. The central bank has preferred to use verbal intervention and reducing bond supply to guide the local currency rather than adjusting interest rates. The stronger dollar has taken some pressure off the baht (and the central bank) and may help push up short-dated rates as well.The forward curve has shifted lower since the end of May with three-month money-market rates fixing about 30 basis points below the central bank's benchmark. This would typically signal lower rates, but in this case appears to reflect a stronger baht, and the flat-term structure argues against any change in central bank rates. 70519823 After a pause in June, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas appears ready to play ball when it meets Thursday. The forward curve has tumbled about 70 to 90 basis points since late May, and markets are pricing in around 50 basis points of rate cuts over the next quarter. This suggests the overnight rate will drop to about 4 per cent, though the pricing is a bit unclear given the noise from the credit component.Annual inflation has slowed over the past six months, with economists predicting a decline to 2.3 per cent for July, which would be near the bottom of the central bank's 2 per cent-to-4 per cent range. This should give a further boost to rate-cut bets.Takeaways:>> The diverging outlooks for the five central banks announcing policy this week throws up a number of potential trades. Signs of stability in Australia and a possible floor under rates provides some room for Aussie short-end rates to rise, particularly against those of New Zealand where there is plenty of scope to ease.>> Turning to Southeast Asia, Thai swap rates may be set to underperform as the baht has room to soften, while rates in the Philippines and India have scope to reset even lower. In the world of cross-market positions though, it's important to remember everything is relative.Below are key Asian economic data and events due this week:Monday, August 5: China Caixin composite PMI; Indonesia GDP; Taiwan foreign reserves.Tuesday, August 6: Reserve Bank of Australia policy decision; New Zealand jobs; CPI release from Philippines, Taiwan; South Korea current account balance.Wednesday, August 7: Reserve Bank of India policy decision; Reserve Bank of New Zealand policy decision; Bank of Thailand rate decision; Taiwan trade balance.Thursday, August 8: Philippine central bank rate decision; China trade balance.Friday, August 9: Japan GDP; China CPI, PPI.
Tim Cook has an interesting connection with India. A big believer in the Indian middle class, Cook last visited the country officially in May 2016 and since then, we hear him praising the country from his Cupertino-headquarters in California, often during analysts' call at the end of the company's quarter results.According to industry analysts, Cook is aware of the immense potential in the country -- which has over 450 million smartphone users -- and would fully utilise the aspirational value of the brand as saturation has set in, in the rest of the smartphone economies including China.The number of smartphone users in India is expected to reach 859 million by 2022, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.9 per cent, according to an ASSOCHAM-PwC joint study. Internet consumption is rising in the country owing to cheap data plans and for Apple, nothing can be as lucrative a market than India today.The smartphone usage in India is increasing despite the global smartphone shipments again falling 1.2 per cent in the second quarter (Q2) this year - marking the seventh consecutive quarter of decline, according to Counterpoint Research.That day appears not too far when Apple, with its deep pockets, will unleash its energies as its own branded stores arrive and the company starts manufacturing brand new iPhones locally.Apple iPhone shipments fell 11 per cent in its third quarter ending June 29 globally but in India, it grew 19 per cent (YoY), according to Counterpoint Research."India bounced back. During the quarter, we returned to growth there. We are very happy with that," said the Apple CEO.Promotional offers and aggressive marketing has helped Apple to drive revenues in India."Apple's market share in India has grown in recent years. It is a premium range player and is performing well in that segment in the country," says Anshul Gupta, Research Director at Gartner.According to Gupta, like any other major player, the iPhone maker is bullish on the country and plans to expand its operations.Apple has already started the assembling of iPhone 7 at its supplier Wistron's facility in Bengaluru.According to Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO, the company set June quarter revenue records in several major developed markets."In emerging markets, we returned to growth in Mainland China, grew strong double digits in India and Brazil and we set new Q3 records in Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines," Maestri added.Despite the global decline, iPhone sales trends are improving in India and this is time for Cook to visit the country and explore further.He knows that Apple has been successful in India, evident from the fact that iPhone users are some of the most loyal users among all smartphone brands, waiting eagerly to get their hands on the new model of iPhone.Cook also realises that the high prices of new iPhones have kept Indian hold onto their devices for a longer period.India for him is a very important market in the long-term."We would like to place retail stores there. And we're working with the government to seek approval to do that. And so, we plan on going in there with sort of all of our might," he reiterated.Cook also said that it doesn't bother him that it's primarily Android business at the moment in India "because that just means there's a lot of opportunity there".A renewed push on manufacturing new iPhones, Apple Watch and iPads would take Apple in a big league - in a market where aspirations are very high, especially among the millennials.Mobile devices are becoming the consumers' preferred choice to consume content and Apple, with its myriad of services like Apple Music and an upcoming Apple TV+ with top-of-the-line content from top Hollywood producers and directors, must look at India with new lenses.
Milind Deora pitches Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot for top party post Deora says he agrees with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh who last month said only a young leader should replace Rahul Gandhi as the Congress president
Sonbhadra violence: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath removes District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police S Rajalingam will be the new District Magistrate and Prabhakar Chaudhary will be the new Superintendent of Police of Sonbhadra district
Rajasthan: 7-year-old rape survivor's case in POCSO court The over 400-page-long charge sheet in the case where he allegedly sexually assaulted a seven-year-old had been filed in the special POCSO court by the Jaipur police on July 24
Despite record apple crop, Uttarakhand fails to provide adequate storage to farmers The farmers are supposed to place their cultivation of apples in the boxes given by the state government, but the boxes are not yet made available to them
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