French "yellow vest" protesters are planning a series of nationwide demonstrations this weekend in a bid to show the government they can still muster support on the first anniversary of their movement https://t.co/qiFTT6Xbxtpic.twitter.com/l5OzHFBHFZ
Watch these @usairforce airmen practice using the new Snowmobile Loading and Transportation System, or SLATS, in Norway. This system is made for the CV-22 Osprey to quickly and efficiently load snowmobiles onto aircraft in high-paced operations. #KnowYourMil 🇺🇸 🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/7eTeL86Wj3
In a ceremony on November 6, Japan launched its latest submarine, the Toryu. It is its second to be equipped with lithium-ion batteries. Japan is the first country to field this game-changing technology in submarines.
So what is the big deal? We are familiar with lithium-ion batteries in our smartphones, laptops and other consumer goods. They have a higher power-density than traditional batteries, and they can be made smaller and in novel shapes which better fit the space given to them. Yet the submarine community has been slow to adopt this technology.
This is for good reason. As we know from Samsung's woes with the Galaxy Note 7, lithium-ion batteries are prone to catching fire. Battery fires aboard submarines can quickly turn lethal. Recently 14 elite Russian submariners lost their lives due to a fire in the battery compartment of their submarine. Those were traditional, safer, lead-acid batteries. Japan must have found a way to make lithium-ion batteries safe enough to send to sea.
U.S. President Donald Trump departs for campaign travel to Louisiana from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 14, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has asked Japan to quadruple its payments for U.S. forces stationed there, Foreign Policy reported, citing unnamed current and former U.S. officials, as Washington presses long-standing allies to increase their defense spending.
Washington wants Tokyo to increase annual payments for the 54,000 U.S. troops in Japan to around $8 billion from about $2 billion, Foreign Policy said, citing three unnamed former defense officials. The current agreement expires in March 2021.
The demand was made to Japanese officials during a trip to the region in July by John Bolton, at that time Trump's national security adviser, and Matt Pottinger, who was then the Asia director for the National Security Council, Foreign Policy said.
A spokesman for the Japanese foreign ministry said the report by the U.S. global affairs publication is incorrect and no U.S.-Japan negotiations on a new agreement have taken place.
It's known for being the home of Mount Rushmore – and not much else. But thanks to its relish for deregulation, the state is fast becoming the most profitable place for the mega-wealthy to park their billions.
Late last year, as the Chinese government prepared to enact tough new tax rules, the billionaire Sun Hongbin quietly transferred $4.5bn worth of shares in his Chinese real estate firm to a company on a street corner in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, one of the least populated and least known states in the US. Sioux Falls is a pleasant city of 180,000 people, situated where the Big Sioux River tumbles off a red granite cliff. It has some decent bars downtown, and a charming array of sculptures dotting the streets, but there doesn't seem to be much to attract a Chinese multi-billionaire. It's a town that even few Americans have been to.
Satellite imagery from Nov. 13 shows rows of airplanes at Kalama Airfield in Wonsan, North Korea. Satellite imagery from Planet Labs Inc. Aircraft identification by 38 North.
A 38 North exclusive with analysis by Peter Makowsky and Jenny Town
Recent commercial satellite imagery shows tens of military aircraft parked wingtip to wingtip along the taxiways and parking aprons at North Korea's Wonsan-Kalma International Airport. While the purpose of the display is unclear, the North may be preparing for a site visit by Kim Jong Un and possible demonstration of its air force capabilities. Similarly, it may be reviving the suspended annual Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force Flight Drill Competition, which is usually observed by Kim Jong Un and demonstrates the air force's ability to destroy enemy targets. Other explanations may be staging for possible air exercises, although the wingtip-to-wingtip formation makes this scenario less likely, or potentially an air show like what took place in September 2016, although without a grand audience seems unlikely as well.
Iranians are blasting their government for rationing gas and greatly increasing its price, with many concerned that the move will lead to inflation and greater hardship in a country where so many people are struggling to make ends meet.
The state-run National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company said in an overnight announcement on November 15 that each motorist in Iran will have to pay 15,000 rials ($0.127) per liter of gas for their first 60 liters each month, an increase of more than 33 percent over the current price.
Each additional liter over 60 each month will cost 30,000 rials ($0.254) -- an increase of nearly 300 percent over prices before the announcement.
WNU Editor: A story about a group of soldiers' last days before the battle of the Somme in 1916, showing the conditions in the trenches during World War I, and taking you into the minds of the soldiers.
The son of llama herders was a coca farmer before transforming his country during 14 years in office but his personalised rule was a fatal weakness
The meteoric political journey of Evo Morales came to an end – for now, at least – right where it started: in a steamy jungle region of central Bolivia.
It was in El Chapare that Morales cut his teeth in the 1980s, helping organise his fellow coca farmers against US-backed efforts to eradicate the raw ingredient of cocaine.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to record levels on Friday, reaching 28,000 for the first time ever, after White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said China and the U.S. were getting close to reaching a trade deal.
The 30-stock average closed 222.93 points higher, or 0.7% at 28,004.89. It took the Dow just over four months to go from 27,000 for the first time to 28,000.
Apple is the best-performing stock in the Dow since July 11, when the index first reached 27,000. In that time, Apple shares are up more than 30%. Intel, J.P. Morgan, United Technologies and Home Depot are some of the stocks that have also rallied more than 10% since July 11.
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has told the "wealthy country" it can afford to pay more for the stationing of US troops. Washington's 28,500-strong military presence costs Seoul under $1 billion a year.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday pressed South Korea to pay a bigger share of the cost of having US troops on its soil.
Speaking after a high-level defense policy meeting with his South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-doo, Esper said the South is a "wealthy country and could and should pay more."
Seoul currently contributes under $1 billion (€907 million) a year for US military support which began in 1951 during the three-year war between the two Koreas.
Some 28,500 American troops remain stationed in the South to buttress defenses against North Korea.
Eleven sailors suffered minor injuries during a fire that broke out late Thursday aboard the amphibious warship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), Navy officials told USNI News.
"Sailors on board reported smoke in a cargo hold and a subsequent damage control investigation identified the fire and confirmed the fire had not spread to surrounding spaces," read a statement from Expeditionary Strike Group 2.
"In total, 11 Iwo Jima Sailors reported minor injuries; they were treated at the scene and released."
The fire broke out about 11:45 p.m. on Thursday while the amphib was in a maintenance period at Naval Station Mayport, Fla. Ship's company, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and sailors from nearby guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) fought the fire until it was put out at about 4:35 a.m., according to a report in local station, CBS 47 Action News Jax.
* 'It will be worse than the world wars that ruined European civilisation,' says former secretary of state and adviser to Richard Nixon * One side cannot dominate the other – and they have to get used to that, veteran diplomat says
Conflict between the United States and China will be "inevitable" and result in "a catastrophic outcome" that "will be worse than world wars" unless the countries settle their differences, according to former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger.
"We are in a difficult period now. I am confident the leaders on both sides will realise the future of the world depends on the two sides working out solutions and managing the inevitable difficulties," he said at an event hosted by the National Committee on US China Relations in New York on Thursday.
"There is no doubt many aspects of the evolution of China are challenging to the US," the 96-year-old said. "It never happened before that two major countries in different parts of the universe were in similar positions."
WNU Editor: What's my personal take on Henry Kissinger. I see him as someone who represents China's interests, and who is always trying to influence American foreign policy when it comes to Beijing. The fact that he is now coming out and voicing fears of a "catastrophic conflict" between the U.S. and China tells me that his "Chinese friends" are voicing to him their concerns on where the current trade war is heading. To put it bluntly. From the Chinese perspective this trade war is damaging, and they are telling Henry Kissinger to transmit the message that they want this resolved or else. It is not Henry Kissinger who is warning of a catastrophic conflict, it is the Chinese who are using Kissinger who are warning of a catastrophic conflict. Here is a good review a few years back on Henry Kissinger and his business ties with China .... At 93, Henry Kissinger is still doing deals and courting controversy in China (Quartz)
* Each service branch's F-35's are falling short of combat readiness goals, according to the Pentagon's top testing official. * One reason for falling short of service expectations is that "the aircraft are breaking more often and taking longer to fix," the official said.
Even though the F-35 program is making strides, each of the Joint Strike Fighter variants is still coming up short on combat readiness goals, according to the Pentagon's top weapons tester.
Based on collected data for fiscal 2019, the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy variants all remain "below service expectations" for aircraft availability, Robert Behler, director of the Pentagon's Operational Test and Evaluation Office, said Wednesday.
"Operational suitability of the F-35 fleet remains below service expectations," he said before the House Subcommittee on Readiness and Tactical Air and Land Forces. "In particular, no F-35 variant meets the specified reliability or maintainability metrics."
One reason for falling short of the 65% availability rate goal is that "the aircraft are breaking more often and taking longer to fix," Behler added.
WNU Editor: Lockheed Martin was able to convince the Pentagon that they could develop and field a fighter jet that would meet their specifications, and the Pentagon bought it. This is why these reports of under performance are maddening. It also makes one wonder on what else is performing below expectations.
Rosemont Seneca Bohai LLC is owned and operated by Devon Archer, the Kerry Family including John Kerry Senior, John Kerry Junior, Heinz Jr and Hunter Biden.
All of whom are also listed as partners in the Rosemont Seneca Fund and other affiliated Rosemont Seneca companies.
Information leaked by a Ukrainian government office shows more than $3 million in payments to the son of former Vice President Joe Biden from a Ukrainian gas company while Biden was in office.
Dozens of payments to 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, from Burisma Holding were posted online – with 38 of them totaling more than $3.1 million. They were dated during the period when the older Biden served as former President Barack Obama's vice president and top diplomat to the Ukraine.
The Ukrainian General Prosecutor's Office leaked images of each transaction while reviewing the Biden's business dealings.
WNU Editor: This story is being covered extensively in Ukraine, but ignored by the U.S. media. Gateway Pundit is the only English website that I have found so far that provides more details on these money transfers (link here).
The giant tube-like apparatus can create blast waves that mimic a nuclear denotation and are so powerful they can literally flatten vehicles.
Russia recently offered a behind-the-scenes look at how it tests military vehicles' resistance to the effects that result from a nuclear explosion. This included demonstrations of a huge blast tube and an electromagnetic pulse generator, recreating what might happen to a vehicle, its occupants, and various onboard systems if it were to find itself in the wake of a nearby nuclear detonation.
* GOP operative Roger Stone was found guilty Friday in federal court * He was found guilty five counts of making false statements to Congress and single counts of obstructing a congressional proceeding and witness tampering * Stone could be jailed for a maximum of 50 years - 20 years for obstruction and five years apiece for the lying and witness tampering charges * He lied about his conversations with senior Trump Campaign officials and lied to lawmakers when he said he had no written communication about WikiLeaks * Longtime Trump confidante Stone previously told Congress that Randy Credico was his back channel to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange * But Credico denied those claims and threatened to contradict Stone's sworn statement, which would showed Stone perjured himself
Roger Stone faces years in federal jail after he was found guilty today of lying to Congress about his efforts to procure stolen Democratic Party emails from WikiLeaks to help Donald Trump become President.
Jurors agreed the self-proclaimed political dirty trickster told five 'whoppers' when he testified before members of House Intelligence Committee investigating Russian collusion in the 2016 election.
Stone lied about the identity of his 'back channel' to WikiLeaks and lied when he denied asking its founder Julian Assange for the plundered messages.
He lied about his conversations with senior Trump Campaign officials and lied to lawmakers when he said he had no emails or written communications about WikiLeaks that could prove useful to their probe.
WNU Editor: Lying under oath and witness tampering are serious crimes. And even though Roger Stone has been convicted on what is essentially a process crime, it does not minimize the seriousness on what he did.
Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testifies before a House Intelligence Committee hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 15, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
WNU Editor: A minor player in this entire impeachment affair, and not a very good witness at that. And Marie Yovanovitch is the third "star witness" in this impeachment inquiry?!?!? I do not know why Marie Yovanovitch is there. Her main complaint is that the White House was not using regular diplomatic channels. But for purposes of this inquiry she witnessed nothing that pertains to why President Trump should be impeached. Her only reason why she is there is because she is upset that she was removed as ambassador. Big deal. Diplomats are always removed and/or transferred somewhere else. And after listening to her this morning, I would have removed her also. I can also now understand why President Trump wanted to use other channels. Diplomats serve at the pleasure of the President, and they do not have a say on what diplomacy should be pursued. Their job is to implement the policy of the President. What I saw on Wednesday and what I saw this morning confirms to me that these highly paid diplomats are not only way over-valued, but they were never interested in pursuing President Trump's Ukraine policy. In a normal situation they would be told to resign or be reassigned. How they are able to stay in their jobs this long perplexes me. As to how the media will package this testimony, they are going to focus on Presdient Trump's tweet this morning .... 'Very intimidating' - Trump launches Twitter attack on witness during impeachment testimony (Reuters).
....They call it "serving at the pleasure of the President." The U.S. now has a very strong and powerful foreign policy, much different than proceeding administrations. It is called, quite simply, America First! With all of that, however, I have done FAR more for Ukraine than O.
As Russia prepares to celebrate the May 2020 anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis in World War II, President Vladimir Putin said that a visit from Donald Trump would be "the right thing to do," even during an election campaign.
Trump's re-election campaign will be in full swing next May, when Russia marks the 75th anniversary of the Soviet and allied victory over the Nazi Germany. While the US president's opponents will likely still be hammering him on his "friendliness" with Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader told reporters on Thursday that a visit from Trump would be fitting.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS uncovered a "secret city" from the Incan Empire that was buried deep in the Amazon jungle and it could be hiding the famous "lost treasure" of the pre-Columbian tribe, a documentary claimed.
FEARS over China's increasingly aggressive military movements in the South China Sea are expected to dominate the agenda when southeast Asian defence chiefs meet for talks over the weekend.
THE CONGO is rolling out a new Ebola vaccine in a bid to finally put an end to further outbreaks of the killer virus. Health authorities in Congo have introduced a new Ebola vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Thursday.
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron is bracing for a new wave of demonstrations in the country ahead of the anniversary of the yellow vest protests which sparked chaos across the nation earlier. French President Emmanuel Macron, on Thursday, said he was aware of the simmering anger over his ambitious reform agenda and keen to assuage citizens' "fears" ahead of the anti-government yellow vest movement's first anniversary.
(VENICE, Italy) — The historic lagoon city of Venice exists on the edge of a double threat: As it sinks, the seas rise.
That reality became more stark this week when Venice was hit with its worst flood in over 50 years, caused by a nearly 1.9 meter (6-foot) tide that sent waist-high water flowing through St. Mark’s Square, cast the city’s world-famous gondolas onto walkways, and threatened its medieval, Baroque and Renaissance art and architecture.
Damage to the City of Canals from the second-worst flood ever recorded was put at hundreds of millions of euros (dollars).
Against the backdrop of the disaster, a corruption-riddled underwater barrier system that was supposed to protect the city still is not operational after more than 16 years of construction and at least 5 billion euros of public funds. It was supposed to be working by 2011.
“It has been a generation of panels and engineers that have been working on it. No one can actually tell if it will actually be operational,” said Mechtild Rossler, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center in Paris, which lists Venice as one of its legally protected World Heritage sites because of its cultural and historical significance.
Called Moses — from the Italian acronym for experimental electromechanical modules, but also a nod to the biblical figure who parted the Red Sea — the system of 78 underwater barriers is designed to be raised as needed to block openings to the lagoon and hold back tides of 1.1 to 3 meters.
That would still leave exposed the lowest areas of the city, or about 12% of its area, including St. Mark’s Square.
Though nearly completed, the project still has not been even partially tested, and some parts have already started to corrode. It has also been marked by bribery scandals and overruns. Its initial costs were projected at 1.6 billion euros. Even with the emergency, Moses won’t be operational before the end of next year.
Vittorio Zunino Celotto—Getty ImagesA woman is seen while emptying a shop of the tide water on Nov. 15, 2019 in Venice.
At the same time, the threats to the city of a quarter-million people are growing.
While the latest round of flooding has been attributed mostly to a combination of high tides from a full moon and high winds pushing water from the shallow Adriatic Sea into Venice, climate scientists note that exceptional tides — those over 1.4 meters — have become much more frequent in the past two decades.
Of the 20 exceptional tides recorded from 1936 through Tuesday’s, more than half have occurred since 2000. “It is a long-term issue. It is not the issue of one flood, we restore, and we go back to normal,” Rossler said.
Climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf of the University of Potsdam estimates that one-third of Venice’s increasing vulnerability is due to global warming, which has raised the sea level. “The rest is mostly man-made,” he said.
The 1,600-year-old city is built on uncompacted sediment, which is sinking. Venice’s Tide Office said that because of the combined effect of the sinking and the rising of the sea, the water is now 30 centimeters (12 inches) higher against the buildings than it was when record-keeping began in 1873.
About 10 to 11 centimeters of that took place since the last big flood, in 1966.
Venice is being monitored for inclusion on a list of World Heritage sites in danger, which serves as a call to action to the international community.
Alberto Lingria—Xinhua News Agency/Getty ImagesA woman walks across the floods on Nov. 13, 2019 in Venice.
Other problems threatening the city include large numbers of tourists, which put stress on a city where even something as simple of trash collection must be done by boat, and the passage of cruise ships through St. Mark’s Basin.
The vessels release pollution, displace water into the city and carry other safety risks. Over the summer a cruise ship crashed into a boat and a dock.
The historic flooding only underscores the urgency to resolve Venice’s problems.
Even opponents of Moses, who have complained that it is technically flawed, too costly and damaging to the environment, now see it as the only expedient solution. “We have to be pragmatic. Moses is almost done,” said Toto Bergamo Rossi of Venice Heritage, a nonprofit focused on conservation.
“Maybe it is the wrong project, but we have spent 5 billion euros, a number I cannot count. They have to finish, they have to rush to finish,” he said. “I hope this kind of catastrophe will finally give the right attention to Venice, because this city needs to be treated in a different way.
___
Karl Ritter and Giada Zampano contributed from Rome.
Ukraine is at the center of today’s east-west geopolitical battle, but it’s feeling increasingly alone and abandoned by its U.S. backers amid the impeachment drama unfolding in Washington.
The U.S. ambassador — who was pushed out earlier this year and testified Friday in Congress — hasn’t been replaced. Neither has the influential U.S. envoy tasked with helping Ukraine quell its Russia-backed separatist insurgency. The lower-level U.S. officials remaining in Kyiv are keeping an unusually low profile.
The erosion of Washington’s readiness to protect its Eastern European ally leaves Ukraine vulnerable to mounting Russian pressure, just as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky heads into high-stakes talks next month with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to end the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainians increasingly feel the U.S. impeachment inquiry is making their country toxic.
A member of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee told The Associated Press that U.S. officials have shown increasing indifference to Ukraine and have been reluctant to attend meetings.
This has been particularly visible, the lawmaker said, since the September resignation of envoy Kurt Volker, whose departure led to the disappearance of a coordination center made up of people who were engaged in Ukraine’s affairs.
The lawmaker discussed the sensitive issue of U.S. aid on condition that his name be withheld. Ukrainian government officials refuse to talk about relations with the U.S. while the impeachment inquiry is ongoing, and influential lawmakers are similarly wary of saying anything publicly that could make matters even worse for their country.
Moscow is happy to fill the void, further bolstering Russia’s position along Europe’s geopolitical front line, with consequences around the region. The mixed messages to Ukraine from President Donald Trump’s administration are also damaging U.S. diplomatic credibility at a time when American foreign policy influence is already waning.
“Trump’s policy toward Ukraine looks badly incoherent and inconsistent,” said Mykola Sunhurovskyi, the head of military programs at the Razumkov Center, a Kyiv-based independent think-tank. “It’s like a swing, and Kyiv has found it difficult to adapt to that.”
In a July 25 phone call that triggered the impeachment inquiry, Trump pushed Ukraine’s newly-elected Zelensky to investigate the country’s activities in the 2016 U.S. election and his potential 2020 rival Joe Biden, while the Trump administration was withholding about $400 million in military aid to Ukraine.
Democrats say that Trump was engaged in “bribery” and “extortion,” abusing his office for personal political gain. The president denies wrongdoing. The military aid was ultimately released in September after Congress was informed of the phone call.
U.S. military aid makes up about 10 percent of Ukraine’s defense budget, according to Sunhurovskyi. He said the American aid is necessary to shore up the underfunded and badly equipped Ukrainian army, but is even more crucial as an indication of Washington’s determination to stand firmly behind its ally.
“The U.S. military aid is an important political signal indicating that Ukraine is a victim and Russia is an aggressor,” Sunhurovskyi said.”
President Barack Obama’s administration provided Ukraine with nonlethal military supplies, including countermortar radars, night-vision devices and medical items. The Trump administration in 2017 agreed to provide lethal weapons, committing to sell $47 million in Javelin anti-tank missiles.
The U.S. handed over two repurposed patrol boats Wednesday to Ukraine’s navy, part of over $1.6 billion in U.S. security assistance since 2014. Speaking at the ceremony, U.S. envoy Joseph Pennington pledged continued U.S. support.
It was one of the rare high-visibility American appearances in Ukraine in recent weeks.
While American business people remain ubiquitous in Kyiv, arriving daily on flights to Boryspol Airport and filling lobbies of the city’s high-end hotels, U.S. officials appear to be lying low, notably those visiting from Washington. When Assistant Secretary of State Denise Natali visited last month, none of her schedule was made public and media had no access.
Volker, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine peace negotiations, used to regularly visit Kyiv, maintained close contacts with the European Union nations to coordinate their support for Ukraine and met with his Russian counterpart to defend Ukraine’s interests. The Trump administration hasn’t named a replacement since he resigned.
Trump himself encouraged Zelensky to meet with Putin and “solve your problem.”
“Trump’s hesitations and the absence of a clear U.S. strategy forces Kyiv to make concessions to Russia,” said Vadim Karasev, head of the Kyiv-based Institute of Global Strategies.
That’s worries many in Ukraine, especially ahead of Zelensky’s long-awaited meeting with Putin and the leaders of France and Germany on Dec. 9.
After Ukraine’s former Moscow-friendly president was driven from office by massive protests in 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and helped foment a separatist insurgency in the east. More than five years of fighting has killed over 13,000 and ravaged the country’s industrial heartland. The U.S. and the EU responded by hitting Russia with a slew of sanctions that hampered Russia-EU trade.
European nations also provide Ukraine significant aid, but Ukraine fears their support is slipping too. Some EU nations have pushed for lifting sanctions against Moscow, and French President Emmanuel Macron recently called for reaching out to Russia.
Lawmaker Iryna Gerashchenko said that could herald pressure on Ukraine to agree to a deal on Russian terms.
“The U.S. military assistance cemented the Western position,” Karasev said. “Any doubts, suspensions or delays will cause the Western coalition to collapse and allow Paris and Berlin to play their game and make a deal with Russia. Once the U.S. role in Europe weakens, Russia’s influence inevitably grows — it’s a historic pendulum that Trump has already set in motion.”
___
Karmanau reported from Minsk, Belarus. Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
After a month of the most sustained protests Chile has seen since the end of its military dictatorship (1973-1990), President Sebastian Pinera delivered this week the ultimate concession—the offer to rewrite the country’s constitution. It’s a desperate move by Chile’s president to satisfy the ever-changing demands of protestors and buy himself some time; a plebiscite will be held in April 2020 to determine both whether Chileans want a new constitution (almost 80 percent of them do), and who will be the people responsible for drafting this new constitution.
Why It Matters:
In a world beset with all kinds of protests these days—over corruption, over climate change, over independence, over democratic freedoms—the ones taking place in Chile continue to stand out both for their intensity and as a sign of things to come. The immediate trigger to these protests was a 4-cent hike to metro fares, but the root cause underpinning the violence is widespread inequality. Authorities didn’t think that such a small fare hike in one of Latin America’s richest and most politically-stable countries would touch off a firestorm; but by the time Pinera got around to scrapping the metro fare hike, it was too late. He’s been playing catch-up ever since.
Among all OECD countries, Chile has the highest levels of inequality, offering a troubling glimpse of a future where trendlines show the divide between the world’s have’s and have-not’s growing even wider. When it comes to Chile specifically, anger has been boiling over high healthcare and medicine costs, low pensions, high utility costs, a lackluster education system, etc… the kinds of problems most of the world’s middle class can relate to these days. Pinera has already attempted to placate the protestors by reshuffling his cabinet, boosting social spending, raising taxes on the country’s highest earners, abandoning tax reform plans and cancelling two high-profile international events that were scheduled to be hosted in the country, but to no avail.
The protests have raged into this week (so far, 24 people have died and more than 2,000 have been injured; 7,000 people have been arrested), a testament to just how fed up Chileans are with “politics as usual.” Complicating matter for Pinera is that there are no leaders of the protest movement that he can negotiate with directly to bring an end to the mayhem.
What Happens Next:
Hence his constitution gamble, a broad-yet-still-somewhat-vague promise to change things for the better.
Some context: Chile’s constitution is a holdover from the military rule of Augusto Pinochet, and many Chileans are quick to point to it as a main source of the country’s inequality today—Pinochet and his economic advisors adhered to the economic philosophy championed by U.S. economist Milton Friedman, where the government has a minor role when it comes to regulating the free market and providing public services. But even though there is now momentum toward a constitution that provides better social safety nets and public services, key questions remain: what will be the political and economic comprises needed to deliver on these goals? More state intervention? More private sector involvement? A mix of the two? To what degree? These are issues that will be debated over the coming months in the runup to the plebiscite.
Originally, Pinera and his administration preferred that the new constitution text be drafted primarily by lawmakers and then put to a referendum, an attempt to limit the number of anti-establishment figures that could be elected to rewrite the country’s principal political document. Public opinion pushed for a new “constituent assembly” to be elected to take charge of the new text given deep distrust of the current political class. Pinera’s administration, severely weakened over the last month, compromised by offering on the ballot an option for a committee made up of both existing legislators and newly elected representatives and one exclusively formed by the latter. The fear is that such a grouping could push the country leftwards and enshrine more state intervention into the economy/business spheres, making already-skittish foreign investors even more wary of doing business in the country.
But even if the country’s constitution is successfully rewritten—a big if—there is no guarantee that Chile will return to what it once was. Many of the factors driving protestors to the streets have built up over generations, and now they’re out in the open. These are problems that are impossible to be solved with a stroke of a pen and needing years of economic and social reforms. Meanwhile the Chilean people are so angry about the here and now.
If the world doesn’t heed what’s going on in Chile, the mistakes made in Santiago are likely to be repeated elsewhere.
The Key Statistic That Explains It:
Being the most unequal OECD country is bad enough; also being at the bottom of this OECD list for general government spending is asking for trouble.
The Key Quote That Sums It All Up:
Just days before the protests started, Pinera had proclaimed Chile to be “an oasis of stability.” But like most visions of an oasis, this one turned out to be a mirage.
The irony would be funny if it wasn’t tragic.
The One Thing to Say About It at a Dinner Party:
There are certain countries that have enough strong institutions and established political stability to wait out leaderless protests—see France and China. But for those in more politically precarious situations (think Chile and Lebanon), leaderless protests pose an existential threat; to them, the only thing worse than facing a well-organized group of dissatisfied voters is a disorganized one with momentum. Chile is trying to arrest that momentum with a new constitution. TBD if that will work.
The circumstances of Bolivian President Evo Morales’s resignation Nov. 10 have sparked fierce international debate this week. But whether you believe the leftwing leader was forced out by a thinly veiled military coup, or that he resigned in disgrace after a popular revolt over election fraud—or that both could be true—there’s one man who bears much of the responsibility.
Luis Fernando Camacho quickly emerged as the leader of the anti-Morales protests that wracked Bolivia for three weeks following the country’s Oct. 20 election. International election observers from the Organization of American States say Morales tampered with vote tallies to avoid a run-off vote and claim a fourth presidential term outright.
A 40-year-old lawyer from the eastern province of Santa Cruz, Camacho centered his campaign on a desire to “bring the Bible back to the palace of government”—a promise he fulfilled literally when he hand-delivered a Bible to the presidential palace in downtown La Paz on Nov. 11, along with a Bolivian flag and a resignation letter he wanted Morales to sign.
The protest leader’s foregrounding of his Catholic faith, and his roots in a right-leaning region of Bolivia, have led some Latin American media outlets to dub Camacho “the Bolivian Bolsonaro,” in reference to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right provocateur with a political base of evangelical Christians.
But unlike the Brazilian president, who was a lawmaker before being elected president in October 2018, Camacho is a regional activist who holds no position in the national government. Additionally, though he rails against the leftwing party that controls Bolivia—often with incendiary language—he did not espouse far-right policies during the protests. He focused instead on promoting Catholicism and uniting Bolivians against what he called “the dictatorial tyranny of Morales.”
“He’s managed to build a radical movement, entirely around opposition to Evo—anti-Evismo,” says Marcelo Arequipa, a political science professor at the Catholic University of Bolivia. “Everything that’s being done right now, the whole political agenda [Bolivia’s new government] is pushing right now is the agenda of Camacho.”
With Bolivia’s interim president Jeanine Añez promising fresh elections within 90 days, here’s what to know about Luis Fernando Camacho and his anti-Morales movement.
Why were Bolivians protesting?
Bolivia’s presidential elections in October were the tightest presidential race in the country since Morales first came to power in 2006. The vote count initially showed Morales with just under the 10-point lead he needed to avoid a second-round run-off with his centrist challenger Carlos Mesa. But electoral authorities abruptly paused the count for 24 hours. When it re-started, Morales led by just over 10 points.
While Morales claimed victory, Mesa cried foul play and immediately called for the second round to go ahead.
But Camacho went further, arguing that Morales should resign for clear authoritarian overstep—a claim bolstered by the fact that, by running for a fourth term in the first place, the president was already defying the result of a 2016 referendum in which voters refused to abolish term limits for him.
Who is Luis Fernando Camacho?
A few months ago, Camacho was barely known outside of the eastern region of Santa Cruz, where he is the president of the Comité pro Santa Cruz, a powerful civic organization that groups together businesses, unions and neighborhood associations. The group says its aim is to “watch out for the moral and material improvement” of the region and the country.
There has long been a deep political divide between the two geographical halves of Bolivia. Santa Cruz is the country’s wealthiest region and a bastion of opposition to Morales and his Movement for Socialism (MAS). MAS’s support base lies in the west of Bolivia, which his home to most of the country’s indigenous population.
Camacho has been combining advocacy for his region with railing against Morales’ government for months. In early summer he coordinated strikes to protest the decision of Bolivia’s election board to allow Morales to run for fourth term. In August, as wildfires raged in eastern Bolivia, Camacho blamed the blazes on a law recently passed by Morales’s administration allowing slash-and-burn farming. Camacho was referring to Morales as “a dictator” on social media even before the alleged fraud in the October election.
Camacho’s fierce critique of Morales, stronger than that of Mesa who initially dismissed calls for his opponent’s early resignation, has found support in a country that is bitterly divided over their leader, Arequipa, the Catholic University professor, says. “In an atmosphere of polarization like what we have today, it’s a radical message, not a centrist one, that becomes most powerful.”
How did Catholicism play a role in Bolivia’s protests?
Before Morales came to power in 2006, Catholicism—which is practiced by around 75% of the population according to a September poll—played a large role in Bolivian public life. Bolivia was officially Catholic and government officials all swore oaths on the Bible and fealty “to God and country” until 2009, when Morales’ government approved a new constitution. The constitution turned Bolivia into a secular state, with no official religion, in an effort to prevent discrimination against Bolivia’s indigenous cultures.
Restoring the status of Catholicism became a rallying cry for Camacho and Morales opponents, Arequipa says. “Camacho has used the Bible like a symbol of these protests, as if he wanted to introduce the idea that Bolivia was no longer a secular state but a Catholic state again,” according to the professor. Camacho regularly brandished a Bible and invoked the “Almighty” at rallies.
A week before Morales resigned, Comacho announced he was traveling from Santa Cruz to the capital La Paz, telling a large crowd of supporters, “I’m not going with weapons, I’m going with my faith and my hope; with a Bible in my right hand and a resignation letter [for Morales] in my left hand.” He promised he wouldn’t come home until he’d delivered them. After Morales stepped down on Sunday, and the army said it would not oppose the anti-Morales protesters, Comacho managed to enter the main hall of the presidential palace. A widely-circulated photo shows him kneeling over the Bible, atop a Bolivian flag.
[BOLIVIA] El dirigente opositor Luis Fernando Camacho irrumpió en el Palacio de Gobierno con una bandera y la Biblia. 📸(Vía @LaRazon_Bolivia) pic.twitter.com/8HgESsFiOt
Añez, the interim president, is herself a conservative Catholic and she echoed Camacho’s invocation of religion, using a Bible at her swearing in ceremony Tuesday and telling the crowd, “God has allowed the Bible to come back into the palace. May he bless us.”
On Wednesday, Añez announced a new cabinet including several politicians from Santa Cruz, along with Camacho’s personal lawyer.
Will Camacho run in Bolivia’s promised elections?
Parties have yet to announce candidates for upcoming elections and a final date has not been set—though Añez must announce one within 90 days of taking the presidency, per Bolivia’s constitution.
Añez has said Morales will not be able to run and told the BBC Thursday that he should face prosecution for electoral fraud if he returns to Bolivia from exile in Mexico.
Camacho has previously said that ousting Morales was his political goal and that he doesn’t plan to run for office. But Arequipa says it’s “doubtful that he wouldn’t want to use the political capital he’s built up” over the last few weeks. “It’s too early to say, but I’m inclined to believe that he likely will present himself as a candidate [of a rightwing party.]”
The right don’t necessarily stand win power in new elections, though. Bolivia’s parliament is dominated by two parties, Morales’s leftwing MAS and the centrist National Unity Front. Just a few seats belong to the rightwing Christian Democrats. Arequipa says the next elections will likely see MAS lose some seats as more parties enter parliament, dispersing power.
But MAS still has a good chance of success—if the party can overcome the challenges of Morales’s legacy. “For a long time inside the left, it’s been taboo to talk about a time when Morales wasn’t in power,” making it hard for new projects and leaders to emerge, Arequipa says. “If they manage to organize around a new candidate and reinvigorate themselves, they’ll be able to win again.”
Johnson is facing calls to release the classified 50-page report before the election, scheduled for Dec. 12. But he brushed off concerns on Friday that the delay was political, saying “normal procedures” were being followed.
“I cannot accept his explanation on this at all,” Dominic Grieve, the (now former) chair of the committee which produced the report, told TIME on Friday. “My committee produced a report. He chose not to publish it. And his explanations for not publishing it are in my view entirely untenable. But I’m not, I’m afraid, going to comment on the content of the report because I’m not allowed to. It’s classified.”
Grieve’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) met in secret, and was examining evidence of Russian interference in U.K. politics. The committee submitted its report to Johnson (who as Prime Minister must sign off on its publication) on Oct. 17, after it was approved for release by the U.K.’s intelligence agencies.
Part of the report’s remit was Russian activities during the 2016 Brexit referendum. Johnson was a leading figure on the winning “leave” side in that referendum. (Grieve, a former U.K. attorney general who was expelled from Johnson’s Conservative Party over disagreements on Brexit, is running in the upcoming election as an independent lawmaker instead.)
Johnson has said that the report’s delay is standard procedure. “I see absolutely no reason to change the normal procedures for publishing ISC reports just because there’s an election… They’re not normally published at that pace,” he said Friday. Asked by the BBC if he had anything to hide, Johnson responded “absolutely not.”
But Grieve hit back at these claims to TIME. “That’s simply not correct,” Grieve told TIME in response to Johnson’s interview. “Our report was ready by late March. It [then went] through a process of scrutiny and redaction carried out with the cooperation of the intelligence agencies and the national security secretariat to make it fit for publication without endangering national security. And that process was finished in October … The sign-off [by the Prime Minister] is essentially a formality.”
“I cannot accept his explanation on this at all,” Grieve continued. “However on the question as to the contents of the report, I’m afraid it’s classified and I will not comment on what the report says.”
Fears of Russian interference in U.K. politics
The U.K. has had no Mueller-style inquiry into Russian interference in the Brexit referendum, but lawmakers, activists and some intelligence officials say there is reason to believe Russia intervened to support Johnson’s campaign on the “leave” side.
“This is the report that would be telling us the actual scale of Russian interference,” Kyle Taylor, the director of Fair Vote, a campaign pushing for an independent inquiry into the Brexit referendum, told TIME on Nov. 4. “But if you look at Mueller’s report, you think, ok, there’s obviously a level of similarity in the tactics and the objective. Russia’s ultimate objective in Europe is breaking up the E.U., which increases their power relative to other nations. If Russia can get the E.U. to be less cohesive, Russia can play a bigger part. Getting the U.K. out was the first opportunity.”
Those fears have been supported by piecemeal official reports on Russian meddling in U.K. politics. One report released earlier this year by the U.K. parliamentary committee on disinformation said there was “strong evidence” that Russia and other foreign actors have attempted to influence U.K. politics in the past. That report referenced “significant numbers” of articles published by Kremlin-aligned media and promoted on social media during the Brexit referendum, many of which had a “clear anti-E.U. bias.”
The chair of that committee, the Conservative lawmaker Damian Collins, was outspoken about Britain’s vulnerability to Russian interference at the time of the report’s release in February. “We know that Russian agencies were involved in using Twitter to try and spread messages during the Brexit referendum,” hetold NPR in 2018. “For all democracies, there’s an urgency to actually uncover what’s been going on,” he said.
In June, Collins declared his support for Johnson in the race to become Prime Minister.
Asked by TIME on Friday to comment on the delay to the Russian interference report, a spokesperson for Collins said: “He hasn’t seen the [ISC] report, he’s not privy to the government’s discussions on it, and he looks forward to seeing the report when it’s published.” Pressed on whether Collins had more to add on Britain’s democracy being vulnerable to foreign actors, the spokesperson declined to comment further.
(BAGHDAD) — Security forces fired live rounds and tear gas at anti-government protesters in a central Baghdad square Friday, killing three people, in bloody confrontations that continued despite an influential Shiite leader’s call for calm.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani emphasized support for the demonstrators in his weekly religious sermon, saying none of their demands have been met so far and that electoral reform should be a priority. He called for a new election law that would restore public confidence in the system and give voters the opportunity to bring “new faces” to power.
At least 320 people have been killed and thousands have been wounded since the unrest began on Oct. 1, when protesters took to the streets in the tens of thousands outraged by what they said was widespread corruption, lack of job opportunities and poor basic services despite the country’s oil wealth.
Renewed clashes broke out in Khilani square Friday afternoon. Soldiers and riot police began firing live rounds and tear gas at hundreds of protesters who removed concrete barriers and streamed into the square. Iraqi security and medical officials said three protesters were killed and at least 25 others wounded.
Friday’s deaths brought to four the number of protesters killed in the past 24 hours in the square, which has been at the center of confrontations for days.
Demonstrations have mostly been taking place in Baghdad’s Tahrir and Khilani squares and the predominantly Shiite southern provinces, following tough measures by Iraqi security forces to clamp down on protests.
The powerful cleric, who’s opinion holds major sway over Iraqis, said a fair electoral law should give voters the ability to replace current political leaders with “new faces.”
“Passing a law that does not give such an opportunity to voters would be unacceptable and useless,” he said in his weekly sermon Friday.
“If those in power think they can evade dealing with real reform by procrastination, they are mistaken,” al-Sistani said. “What comes after the protests is not the same as before, so be careful,” he warned.
He said corruption among the ruling elite has reached “unbearable limits” while large segments of the population are finding it increasingly impossible to have their basic needs met.
“People did not go out to demonstrations calling for reform in this unprecedented way, and do not continue to do so despite the heavy price and grave sacrifices it requires, except because they found no other way to revolt against the corruption which is getting worse day after day, and the rampant deterioration on all fronts,” he said.
On Monday, al-Sistani said he backed a roadmap by the U.N. mission in Iraq aimed at meeting the demands of the protesters, but expressed concern that political parties were not serious about carrying out the proposed reforms.
(ANKARA, Turkey) — Turkey’s interior minister says an American Islamic State group suspect who was stranded in a no man’s land between Greece and Turkey, has been deported to the United States.
Suleyman Soylu said Friday the man was put on a plane “a short time ago.”
The man had been struck in the border area for five days. On Thursday, Turkey’s Interior Ministry said repatriation was underway after the U.S. agreed to accept him and provided travel documents.
He has been identified by local media as 39-year-old Muhammad Darwis B., a U.S. citizen of Jordanian origin.
It’s a couple days before the opening of the world’s first bricks-and-mortar Vagina Museum in London, and curator Sarah Creed is wearing a bright blue acetate necklace reading ‘Vaginas Are Normal’. The museum’s first exhibition, Muff Busters: Vagina Myths and How to Find Them, opens Saturday, a whistlestop tour examining the facts behind periods, contraception, hygiene and sexuality, and dispelling myths about the gynecological anatomy, pubic hair and the location of the clitoris.
Nestled in the former horse stables that now comprises London’s touristy Camden market, the 700-square-foot Vagina Museum is the brainchild of biochemistry graduate Florence Schechter, who has a background in presenting science-based documentaries, podcasts and comedy shows to the public. Schechter’s inspiration for the museum was sparked in March 2017 when she discovered there was a permanent penis museum in Iceland, but no museum dedicated to the vagina anywhere in the world. “So I decided to make one,” she says, as we sit beside a giant red glittery tampon and menstrual cups in a corner of the compact space. “I was unsurprised when I found out [about Iceland’s Phallological Museum]; it was new information, but not surprising.”
More surprising to visitors might be the statistics and facts displayed in the museum. One of the exhibition panels, next to a 3D labeled illustration of the gynecological anatomy, highlights a March 2019 survey that revealed that half of Britons could not identify or describe the function of the urethra (58%), the labia (47%) or vagina (52%). For curator Creed, who has 10 years of experience in museums in the U.K., those numbers were far higher than she ever thought they would be, particularly from respondents of the survey who identified as female. “That’s what really spurred me on to think about how we can take it forward and do more activities and workshops.” Initially conceived of as a pop-up, the Vagina Museum ended up getting its first long-term home after a successful crowdfunding appeal. It has a rich events program planned, ranging from plays about enjoying sex while living with the medical condition of vaginismus, to a dinner in honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance, an internationally-observed day each year in memory of transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. “We’ve also got a Christmas crafting workshop where you can make baubles, or make a clitoris star for your tree,” Schechter adds.
Angus Young—courtesy of the Vagina Museum The world’s first vagina museum opens in London, November 2019
A sense of humor runs through the museum—from Schechter and Creed’s own underwear on display showing how normal vaginal discharge is, to the postcards in the gift shop with quirky illustrations of sex toys, contraceptives and vaginas of all kinds. But the museum’s underlying goal is to educate visitors about women’s health and destigmatize the female body. Creed says there has already been interest from several schools about visits. Given that the number of people attending cervical cancer screenings has hit a 20-year-low in the U.K., Schechter says it’s a particularly pressing time to be talking about gynecological health. “Stigma surrounding this part of the body is very rooted in society and has a lot of real world consequences, like people not going to the doctor when they have symptoms, putting off their cervical smears; people are literally dying of embarrassment,” says Schechter. “We want to tackle that stigma in a non-conventional, fun and accessible way.”
One example is the enlarged Coca Cola bottle on display, perhaps not what you’d expect in a museum dedicated to vaginas. Yet in the 1950s and 1960s before the widespread availability of contraception, particularly in the U.S., a common wives’ tale held that douching with Coca-Cola classic glass bottles after penetrative sexual intercourse could prevent pregnancy because the acidity of the soda could kill sperm. It’s one of the myths the museum is keen to debunk, as not only is the practice not an effective form of contraception, but it could also lead to infection in the vagina. The museum is also keen to dispel myths about the billion-dollar feminine hygiene industry, showcasing a box of products including lightening creams, tightening gels and virginity soap, purported to create an “ideal vagina.” “I could have filled a space 800 times bigger than this,” says curator Creed. “We’re going to do a lot of evaluation; I don’t know what everyone in the world who has a vagina wants to know about themselves, so it’s a first step.”
ISABEL INFANTES–AFP via Getty ImagesBookmarks on sale during the press preview of the new Vagina Museum in Camden market, north London on November 14, 2019.
While the lease at the Vagina Museum’s current location is for two years, the eventual goal is to create a permanent museum space with a permanent collection, although Schechter says that will take several years and significant funding. She’s also looking to other parts of the world where the Vagina Museum might make an impact. “I would obviously love to do a pop-up in the U.S. for many reasons, especially considering that it’s a very developed country and yet its abortion laws are very backward. I’d love to do one in Northern Ireland too.” Schechter also says that the museum has had several enquiries from Indian journalists asking whether the country, which has experienced its own #MeToo reckoning, would be ready for a museum centered around a historically taboo subject. Indeed one of the museum’s exhibits is a medical pathology textbook from India used to teach forensic science students, with a table showing the apparent characteristics of a “true virgin” and a “false virgin.”
The museum also makes a point of challenging gender norms and cisnormative ideas, displaying the words “if you have a vagina, then you are a woman” as one of the myths in the current exhibition. “I feel like one of the central tenets of modern feminism should be bodily autonomy, so that should include you being able to control what gender you are,” says Schechter.
That awareness of and commitment to promoting social justice issues is a conversation several historic museums are grappling with, evident during a controversial international debate around the definition of museums in September. The Vagina Museum, along with several other museums in the U.K. including the East End Womens’ Museum, the Migration Museum Project, the Museum of Transology and the Museum of British Colonialism, mark a shift away from conventional definitions of museums, with a particular focus on inclusivity, education and awareness-raising.
“Museums are used to symbolize community values,” says Schechter. “What’s interesting about these museums is that we’re responding to a social change that is happening, where we are caring more about ethics, values and principles, and throwing off the shackles of previous hierarchies of classism, misogyny and homophobia. We’re trying to live these values and say we should have a society based on them.”
T.C. usually spends his lunch break eating in one of the many restaurants near his office with his law-firm colleagues, chatting casually about the cases they’re working on. But lately, he’s been skipping lunch altogether to join hundreds of other office workers in protests in Hong Kong’s financial district, where midday, flash-mob style demonstrations have brought the business hub to a standstill every day this week.
The lanky 22-year-old lawyer is hard at work overturning garbage cans onto a major road that skirts Central, as the financial quarter is called, when he stops to talk to TIME. He’s dressed for the office in black suit pants and a blue collared shirt, but a black t-shirt is wrapped around his face as a makeshift balaclava to hide his identity, and he has donned a pair of safety goggles, of the kind normally used by construction workers.
“We want to block the roads to stop the police from coming in, so they can’t get to the office workers,” he tells TIME. “Usually people coming from the office don’t have gear with them,” he says, referring to gas masks, goggles, helmets and umbrellas Hong Kong protesters use to shield themselves from tear gas and rubber bullets.
He says that protesting as a professional is complicated. “I’m worried about getting arrested,” he says. “If I get convicted, I could get disbarred.”
He has attended several peaceful anti-government rallies over the last few months, but he’s been particularly inspired to take to the streets since last Friday morning, when a university student died from injuries sustained after falling from height near an area where police were conducting a dispersal operation.
Circumstances around the student’s death remain unclear, but many have hailed him as a martyr, and on Monday, enraged protesters shifted their demonstrations—which have gripped various neighborhoods of the restive territory for 23 straight weekends—to weekdays in the heart of the third most competitive financial center in the world, with the aim of drawing more attention to their cause.
Not everyone in his office is on the side of the protesters. “My colleagues are pro-government, so it’s very weird,” T.C. says. “After lunch I have to go back and pretend everything is normal, that nothing happened.”
He pulls his expensive watch out of his pants pocket—where he’s stashed it so it doesn’t get scratched while he builds barricades—to check the time. Noticing that the end of his lunch hour is drawing close, he pulls a tissue out of his other pocket and begins brushing off his suit and shoes. “It’s just dirt, I can clean it off,” he says. “I have a jacket in my office that I’ll put on as soon as I get back to hide it.”
He’s not the only office worker trying to hide his lunchtime activities this week.
Luka, who works for a Chinese bank, spends her Thursday chanting slogans like “Fight for freedom! Stand with Hong Kong!” as she marches through the finance mecca with her fellow protesters, some who are still wearing company ID cards on lanyards around their necks. It is no easy feat for the 27-year-old to navigate the bricks and detritus littering the streets in her dress and high-heels, but she says she couldn’t change her footwear.
“I don’t think my colleagues would agree that I left work to come here,” she tells TIME as she teeters around a pile of dirt dumped out in the middle of the road, a Chanel handbag slung over her right shoulder. “I left my heels on so I can just take off the mask and be a normal worker again,” she says. “I cannot bring things with me or [my colleagues] will know.”
Some other finance workers haven’t managed to stay under the radar. A Citibank investment banker was reportedly arrested this week, according to Bloomberg. “We are aware of this incident and are investigating further and it would be inappropriate to comment further while investigations continue,” a spokesman for Citi in Asia told TIME.
ANTHONY WALLACE—AFP via Getty Images A man yells at police during a protest in Hong Kong’s Central district on November 11, 2019.
‘The end of this is nowhere in sight’
The rallies, weaving in between the city’s glistening office towers, have made meanwhile made it difficult to get business done.
“The disruption can’t be ignored, it’s very clear, either to productivity—you’re not really going to feel like trading when there’s so much going on out the window—or your ability to make it to meetings when the transport system is crippled,” Benjamin Quinlan, CEO and Managing Partner of independent strategy consultancy Quinlan & Associates, tells TIME.
Several major firms enacted business continuity plans to keep their workers out of harm’s way. “Employees are encouraged to work remotely, where practical,” HSBC, which employs about 30,000 people in Hong Kong, told its staff in an email this week.
“The office has been extremely quiet this week and somber in a way,” an American employee at a major international law firm based in Central, who asked not to be named, told TIME. A number of events and trips by overseas staff were cancelled this week, she says. “We even had to move a regional meeting to another office in Asia due to potential safety issues.”
The action has non-protesters who work in the area on edge.
“It was pretty scary walking through the streets among the protesters,” an expatriate lawyer at another international law firm, who asked for her name not to be used, told TIME. “Hearing the protesters and the tear gas being fired has been quite upsetting.”
“Working at an international firm means clients expect the same level of client service and delivery times from you, which is difficult when you’re unsure whether you need to evacuate the building at short or no notice,” she adds.
Protests, which have convulsed Hong Kong since early June, have hit the economy hard. September tourist arrivals dropped 34% from the same month in 2018, and hotel room occupancy across the enclave stood at only 63%. With tourists avoiding the city, transport frequently paralyzed, and shops and restaurants shuttered during protests, the territory plunged into recession in the third quarter, according to official date released at the end of October.
Corporations are now thinking hard about if it makes sense to keep doing business in Hong Kong.
“I don’t think anyone has actually made a decision to shift operations—the major firms haven’t,” Quinlan says. But, “there is a recognition now that the end of this is nowhere in sight, so people are being realistic around what that means for headcount, staffing and where to conduct their business.”
Despite the Hong Kong government efforts to cast the protests as a fringe movement of “rioters” and “radicals”—the city’s embattled leader Carrie Lam said in an August address that protesters “have no stake in the society…and that’s why they resort to all this violence and obstruction, causing huge damage to the economy”—people from a wide-cross section of society have been gathering in the streets of the financial district to show their support for the anti-government movement. And it’s not just young firebrands resorting to extreme measures to get their message heard.
Anthony Kwan—Getty Images Pro-democracy supporters make gestures as they occupy a street in Central district on November 14, 2019 in Hong Kong, China.
“I want to let the government to know that educated people, people with financial stability, people who have a future, are standing with the younger generation,” Will, a banker, tells TIME.
The bespectacled 29-year-old is breathless from pushing an industrial-sized garbage bin into the middle of a highway, in the hopes of stopping traffic, in front of a skyscraper which houses J.P. Morgan’s regional headquarters and several other financial firms, when he stops to talk to TIME.
He normally goes to the gym during lunch, but he says giving up his lunch hour to be here is a minor sacrifice. “It’s nothing compared to what the students do for us,” he says. “It’s so heartbreaking to see the young generation fighting this battle.”
He has to be back in the office for a 3 p.m. conference call, but before then, he says he’ll do what he can to help the cause. He puts on a pair of bright orange 3M work gloves—which look out of place paired with his well-tailored pastel pink button-down shirt, navy slacks and brown Oxford loafers—and starts digging bricks, which will be used to build roadblocks, out of a nearby sidewalk.
The protests on the doorstep of some of the world’s largest banks certainly has the the finance industry talking.
“I think before this week, it was just something that was occurring over there, but now it’s on [Hong Kong Island] and so disruptive to life and work that it’s the number one talked about topic,” an expatriate banker at an international investment bank, who asked for his name not to be used, told TIME. From one of the shiny high-rises dotting Hong Kong’s impressive skyline, he’s had a bird’s eye view of riot police and protesters facing off from his desk. “It’s like a film,” he says.
The banker says that with protests hitting so close to home this week, he’s started to worry about his family’s safety.
“Expats with the ability to leave …very senior bankers are saying, ‘if this doesn’t settle by Q1, we’re going to implement plan B,’” Quinlan says.
But others say they will fight for democracy for their hometown until the bitter end.
As Thursday lunch hour comes to a close, T.C. pulls his watch from his pocket one more time and decides he needs to head back to the office. He has work to get done that afternoon, but he promises to return to the streets as soon as he can.
As he turns to make the short walk back to the office he says: “I will keep on fighting, until we succeed or until we all die.”
You are subscribed to email updates from World – TIME. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.
Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States
The differences between Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs lie in the timing of their tax breaks, eligibility standards, and the access to they offer to the funds within them.
The relationship between the stock market and your monthly Social Security check should be on your mind, as sizable investment gains from the market can matter in certain situations.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Spousal Social Security benefits may be taxable at the federal level, as well as in some states, depending on your total household income for the year.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Both pensions and Social Security provide an income stream to retirees, but they differ widely on how they're structured and funded. Learn the differences.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Get the latest information regarding current IRS regulations on how much money can be carried over from one year to the next in a flexible spending account (FSA).
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Which funds work best during retirement, when you are drawing on your saving accounts for income? Here are six recommended by several financial advisors.
A risk profile is an evaluation of an individual or organization's willingness and ability to take risks. It can also refer to the threats to which an organization is exposed.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Find and compare the best health insurance companies in the United States from over 125 plans top-rated by the National Committee for Quality Assurance with plans in multiple states.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Your retirement security depends on your retirement accounts and the nest egg you build with them. Find out how to get the most out of your 401(k) plan.
The energy sector is a category of stocks that relate to producing or supplying energy, i.e., oil and gas drilling and refining or power utility companies.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
A Cash or Deferred Arrangement (CODA) is a specific method of funding any type of qualified profit-sharing, stock bonus, pre-ERISA money purchase pension plan, or rural cooperative plan.
Although the name might suggest otherwise, independent insurance adjusters work for the insurance company but through a third party that specialized in homeowners or other types of insurance claims.
Learn how to maximize your earnings on your cash or money saved for a special goal by finding and opening a high-yield savings account that's right for you.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Euroclear is one of two principal clearing houses for securities traded in the Euromarket and specializes in verifying information supplied by brokers involved in a securities transaction and the settlement of securities.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Think of an investment portfolio as a basket that holds all of your investments. If you're building an investment portfolio for retirement, here's what to focus on.
Foregone earnings are the difference between earnings actually achieved and earnings that could have been achieved with the absence of specific fees, expenses or lost time.
Learn why age plays an important role for when to start receiving Social Security income and how calculating break-even age can help a retiree make that decision.
The EAFE Index is a stock index that serves as a performance benchmark for the major international equity markets as represented by 21 major MSCI indexes from Europe, Australia and Middle East.
Operating leverage can tell you a lot about a company and its future profitability, and the level of risk it offers to investors. Learn the pros and cons.
Filing early for Social Security can make sense. Here's a list of when it's appropriate to ignore the conventional wisdom of waiting as long as you can.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Learn how the pros help their clients minimize their tax burden with clever strategies that will help you avoid taxes on your 401(k). The result: more money for your retirement.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
You can get Social Security retirement or survivors benefits and work at the same time. But that income could reduce your Social Security benefits. Find out how.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
NHM MP CHO Admit Card 2019 Available in December 2019. National Health Mission has declared the exam date for the Community Health Officers. Moreover, the board has issued the Exam Date Notice on its official portal on 15th November 2019. So, Aspirants can check to the exam notice from the below-given link. Make sure to get the hall ticket in the month of December 2019. The NHM MP CHO Exam will be on 10th December 2019.
NRHM MP Admit Card 2019 will be available from 17th October 2019 Onwards. The National Health Mission Madhya Pradesh has announced the exam date from 02nd November to 17th November 2019. Thus, the admit card will be issued on its official website on the declared date. Though, the Officials of the NRHM MP will schedule the exam center to conduct the examination. The exam center details will be printed on the NRHM MP Hall Ticket.
NRHM MP Admit Card 2019
Candidates who have applied for the post of 1479 Dental Surgeon, Nutrient Tester, Ayurvedic Medical Officer, Homeopathy Medical Officer, Unani Medical Officer, Senior TB Laboratory Supervisor, Laboratory Technician, Senior Treatment Supervisor must download the NRHM MP Admit Card from the below section. The detailed information about the hall ticket will be available on the upcoming page. So, Aspirants are suggested to go through the complete article to get the exam details.
NRHM MP Hall Ticket 2019 – HighLights
Name of the Board
National Health Mission Madhya Pradesh
Name of Post
Dental Surgeon, Nutrient Tester, Ayurvedic Medical Officer, Homeopathy Medical Officer, Unani Medical Officer, Senior TB Laboratory Supervisor, Laboratory Technician, Senior Treatment Supervisor
Check to the below stated details in the admit card after downloading it. The National Health Mission will issue the hall ticket to the applicants who submitted the applications at the time of registration. Moreover, Aspirants are suggested to keep the application in one hand to fill the admit card details.
Candidates Name
Name of the Candidate's Father
The venue of the Exam Centre
Date & Time of the Test
Reporting Time to the Exam Hall
Gender (Male/ Female)
Roll Number
Duration of the Online Test
Space for Invigilator's Signature
Registration Number
Name of the Test Centre
Category of the candidates
Space for Applicant's Signature
Name of the Exam Conducting Board
Photograph of the Candidate
Applicant's Date of Birth
Name of the Written Test
Important Guidelines for the Exam Takers
Full Name of the Applicant
Examination Centre Code
Signature of the Board Counselor
NHM MP Exam 2019
The National Health Mission has declared the exam date to be held from 02nd November to 19th November 2019. The Board will allocate the exam centers and the exam center details will be printed on the NRHM MP Admit Card. Thus, Examiners can download the syllabus and the previous papers from the official website. It will help the users to make the preparation in an easy manner. Make sure to download the admit card from the official portal and carry it for the examination. Thus, Contenders are suggested to follow the general instructions in the examination hall which are printed on the Hall Ticket.
Documents to be carried along with NRHM MP Call Letter 2019
Aspirants must carry the Government ID proof along with the NRHM MP Admit Card. Carry any one of the documents to the exam hall.
Original Photograph
Voter Card
Pan Card
Employee ID
College ID
PAN Card
Passport
Driving License
Any other ID proof issued by a Gazetted Officer
Bank Pass Book with the photograph
NRHM MP Admit Card Download Steps 2019-20
Click on the direct Admit Card Link.
Fill the Login details to get the admit card page.
Enter the Captcha shown on the page.
The NRHM MP Hall Ticket will appear on the screen.
Enter the valid credentials in the admit card.
Check the details in the hall ticket before submitting it.
Finally, Submit the NRHM MP Admit Card.
Download the hall ticket after submission.
Take a photocopy of the admit card.
Carry for the exam and upcoming selection rounds.
Direct Links to Download NRHM MP Hall Ticket 2019-20
NIA Syllabus 2019: Dear Candidates !! National Investigation Agency Officials are going to conducting the Written Examination for recruiting 79 Constable, Head Constable & Assistant Sub Inspector Vacancies. The NIA Constable Job Aspirants can easily download NIA Constable Syllabus 2019 here at free of cost. Many Aspirants who are interested in National Investigation Agency Jobs have applied for NIA Recruitment 2019 and eagerly preparing for the NIA Constable Examination. So, aspirants can grab this opportunity by seriously preparing well for the NIA Examination.
To compete thousands of Aspirants who have applied for NIA Constable, Head Constable & Assistant Sub Inspector Vacancies candidates have to prepare well for the Written Examination. So, in order to benefit the Aspirants, we have provided complete information regarding NIA ConstableSyllabus 2019. Here, we have also provided the NIA Constable Exam Pattern 2019 and the syllabus for reference purposes. We advise Aspirants to check out the National Investigation Agency Syllabus and start Exam Preparation immediately. Scroll down to know more information about NIA Syllabus 2019.
NIA Constable Exam Syllabus 2019 – Overview
Description
Details
Name of the Organization
National Investigation Agency
No of Vacancies
79
Name of the Post
Constable, Head Constable & Assistant Sub Inspector
NIA Constable Exam pattern is very essential for the National Investigation Agency Examination. So, Contenders have to go through each topic in the NIA Constable Exam Pattern 2019. Competition for NIA Constable Examination is very high. Contenders have to check the National Investigation Agency Exam pattern before starting the Constable Exam Preparation.
NIA Constable & ASI Exam Pattern 2019-20
Name of the Subject
Number of Questions
Number of Marks
General Intelligence & Reasoning
25
25
General Knowledge & General Awareness
25
25
Elementary Mathematics
25
25
English/Hindi
25
25
Total
100
100
Type of Examination: Multiple Choice & Objective Type Examination
Time Duration: 2 Hours
Selection Procedures:
Candidates who are applied for NIA Recruitment 2019 will be selected on the basis of their performance in the following selection rounds. Candidates must know the NIA Selection Procedures given below
HPU Result 2019 – Dear Students!! Students of Himachal Pradesh University can check the exam results on our page. Where we have given the latest HPU results and exam date details. Hence, Students of all Undergraduate, Postgraduate, M.Phil, and PhD courses can check their result here. Also, we provide the HPU entrance exam result 2019 on our page. Students can now check out the Himachal Pradesh University Results from the Official Website @hpuniv.ac.in. Here on this page, Students can find the direct link for HPU Result 2019 updated on the in the tabular section below. Students can access all the HPU Semester wise results in the article below.
HPU Result 2019
Himachal Pradesh University announces the result for the entrance, all semester regular supplementary exam online. The University has published the results for MA History 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Sem, MCA Results available here. We have provided a direct link to get the results from the below table. We people from recruitment.guru will provide all the latest results released by HPU to make avail for Students. By this, students can find the recent results given by the university without any confusion.
So, students of HP University can keep checking our page for regular updates and can evaluate their performance in exams by checking their results through our website. Apart from these results, we used to update the latest information about the HPU Exam Schedule, Admit Card, Syllabus, Previous Paper, and others. So we advise the students to regularly check our page to get additional information about the HPU Result.
Latest HPU Exam Result 2019
Name of the Exam
Download Link
MA History 1st Semester examination held in June 2019
Himachal Pradesh University was established on 22nd July 1970. HP University is located at the summer hill which is 5 km from the town of Simla. The environment of the university will be awesome, covered with woods, settled around summer hill. The HPU campus occupies 200 acres and has been designed to possess a distinctive architectural style. Himachal Pradesh University got accredited by NAAC and recognized by UGC as a center of excellence in Himalayan studies. The university provides both distance education and open learning. HP University has 300 affiliated and constituent colleges under it. Find the list of courses provided by Himachal Pradesh University in the section below.
HPU Supply/Revaluation Results
Students have a chance to apply for the revaluation, if the students may get low marks in the examination, they can apply for the Revaluation results. So again the head of the Examiner will review the answer paper. After revaluation, students may get high marks. Still, if anyone got low marks, they can apply for the Supplementary Examinations. For Revaluation/Supplementary, students should pay the fee. Students can get all the results from this page Regular, Revaluation and Supplementary Results. Students of the Himachal Pradesh University can also get all Results Also. Just we are advising the Students to frequently visit this page to get the latest updates of all HPU Result 2019.
Bank Note Press Dewas Result 2019 for Supervisor, Junior Office Assistant, Junior Technician, Other Posts are available on our page. BNP, Dewas Officials announced the BNP Dewas Junior Technician Results, Marks along with other posts also recently. The Exam holders those who have given the BNP Dewas Exam in September 2019 can check the BNP Dewas Result 2019 through this page quickly. BNP Dewas Cut Off Marks category wise are tabulated on this page. Interested aspirants can visit the official website of Bank Note Press Dewas for more details.
Bank Note Press Dewas Exam Result 2019
Exam holders can get the complete details about, how to check Bank Note Press Dewas Jr Technician Results 2018 via online mode. Also, Verify BNP Dewas Supervisor Cut Off Marks 2018-19. Here anyone can get a direct link to download the Bank Note Press Dewas Result 2018-19. We advise the contenders to read the article for more detailed information about bnpdewas.spmcil.com Result 2019. Also, Candidates can view the merit list pdf from this page recruitment.guru.
Bank Note Press Dewas has given the notification for Supervisor, Junior Office Assistant, Junior Technician, Other Posts in December 2018. Bank Note Press Dewas has released 86 Vacancies, where job seekers who are waiting for the vacancy have applied for the recruitment. However, here we have mentioned an overview of the Bank Note Press Dewas recruitment 2019. Here on this page, we have provided BNP Dewas Syllabus, Admit Card and Official Notification from the below table.
Bank Note Press Dewas Result 2018-19 Details
Description
Details
Organization Name
Bank Note Press Dewas, (MP)
Post Name
Supervisor, Junior Office Assistant, Junior Technician, Other Posts
The Bank Note Press Dewas result 2019 is released on 13th May 2019. Applicants can check the list of candidate shortlist from the link at the end of the article. Job Seekers who are waiting for the Supervisor, Junior Office Assistant, Junior Technician, Other Vacancies can keep checking we update the details when the board announces.
BNP Dewas Cut Off Marks @bnpdewas.spmcil.com
Bank Note Press Dewas, (MP) A Unit of SPMCIL has recently Uploaded Skill Test Result for various Post Recruitment 2018-19. Those Candidates who have appeared in this Recruitment Exam can download Skill Test Result. In view of the presence of the vacancy positions at the time of the result and the exam participants’ marks in the exam, the qualifying score of the exam is going to be decided. That score is called as the BNP Dewas Cut Off Marks. Counting these cut off marks, the official board will choose the BNP Dewas Merit List of the candidates.
However, Bank Note Press Dewas has given the list of candidates provisionally selected for appointment by direct recruitment for the post of Supervisor, Junior Office Assistant, Junior Technician, Other Vacancies 2018-19. Find the link for Bank Note Press Dewas Result 2019 at the end of the page.
Steps to check Bank Note Press Dewas Result 2018-19 Online
Candidates should click the below link -> download Bank Note Press, Various Posts Result
If the result will be in the format of Individual marks, candidates need to enter the Roll No, DOB
If the result will be in the format of PDF File,
Candidates need to check their details(Roll No, Marks, etc)
Selected candidates will be called for Interview.
Finally, Download and Get a hard copy of Bank Note Press Dewas Result 2018
Direct links to download BNP Various Post Recruitment Skill Test Result 2019
SBI Result 2019 Released for Trade Apprentice @ www.sbi.co.in. Check Provisionally Selected Candidates List here. Here we will help you to find Trade Apprentice Result 2019. The State Bank of India (SBI) has released the Trade Apprentice Final Result on 15thNovember 2019.So, all the Candidates can check and download the SBI Results, Cutoff Marks, and Merit List from this page.
SBI Result 2019 – Download here
The Board members of State Bank of India has announced the Trade Apprentice Result for various regions. A huge number of applicants have appeared for the SBI Recruitment for 700 Trade Apprentice Posts on 23rd October 2019. Now all those candidates are looking for the result, here anyone can find the SBI Trade Apprentice 2019 Result. We have provided a direct link to check and download your results. As well as candidates can get your Cutoff Marks and Merit List from the below link.
State Bank of India Trade Apprentice Result 2019 – Overview
Candidates can have information about the results, cut off marks, and merit list here. To check results candidates should have their roll number along with them. The State Bank of India (SBI) has released the Trade Apprentice based on the performance of the candidates. Candidates can get a direct link for the SBI Clerk Result 2019 from here. The Roll Numbers of Provisionally Selected Candidates list has been announced.
SBI Trade Apprentice Cut off Marks 2019
All the aspirants can have detailed information about SBI Cut off Marks 2019. The SBI Board has not yet released the exact cutoff marks. The board of higher authority will be releasing the SBI Trade Apprentice Cut off Marks 2019 according to the categories of the aspirants SC, ST, BC, OC. The candidates should know the cutoff marks before appearing in the examination to score high marks. The board will soon announce the cutoff marks in their official web page.
SBI Merit List 2019
Generally, the Merit List will be released after the announcement of the results by the authority. The contenders who score maximum marks in all the sections will be listed on the merit list. Here you can check and download your merit list from this page. By using the roll number can access the SBI Trade Apprentice Merit List 2019. Aspirants with maximum score in the Main exam will be shortlisted for the next round that is Interview according to the Merit List. In the upcoming section, we have given the stepwise procedure to check the SBI Trade Apprentice Result 2019.
How to check the SBI Trade Apprentice Result 2019?
Initially, applicants can visit the official website of the State Bank of India (SBI), @www.sbi.co.in
The homepage of the SBI, Click on the Careers section
A new page will open, scroll down the page and click on the Recruitment Results section
Search for the link related to SBI Trade Apprentice Result 2019
The Roll Numbers of Provisionally Selected Candidates list will display on your screen
Check and download the SBI Trade Apprentice 2019 Result.
NVS Result 2019 – Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) has recently uploaded the result for the post of Assistant Commissioner and other various Post Recruitment 2019 on 08th November 2019. Those Candidates who have appeared in this recruitment exam can download Navodaya Result 2019. NVS has recently uploaded the Computer Operator, Assistant, Asst. Commissioner Result. Applicants can get the direct link here to check and download their Navodaya Result 2019. Candidates who clear the selection rounds with good merit will be shortlisted for the PGT, Principal and other posts as per their merit.
NVS Teaching & Non-Teaching Result 2019 – Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) officials had conducted the written exam for 2370 TGT, PGT LDC Teacher (Teaching & Non-Teaching) posts. Moreover, the CBT was held from 10th to 13th June 2019. The authority released NVS PGT Result 2019 & NVS Assistant Commissioner Result 2019. More details about NVS Result, NVS Cut Off Marks, NVS Merit List provided in the below sections.
NVS Assistant Commissioner Result 2019 – Click Here
Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti PGT Result 2019– Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) has released the NVS PGT Final Result on 14th November 2019. Those Candidates who have appeared in this Recruitment can Download Result. Applicants can download NVS Result from the below link. By clicking the direct link, applicants can verify the NVS PGT Result 2019. Moreover, candidates can check the NVS PGT Final Result from the official website i.e, navodaya.gov.in
NVS PGT Final Result 2019 – Click Here Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti PGT Result 2019 – Result | Marks
NVS TGT Principal Result 2019– Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) has released the NVS Principal Result on 20th September 2019. Those Candidates who have appeared in this Interview can Download Result. Applicants can download NVS Result from the below link. By clicking the direct link, applicants can verify the NVS Principal Result 2019. Moreover, candidates can check the NVS Result from the official website i.e, navodaya.gov.in
NVS TGT Principal Result 2019– Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) has released the NVS TGT Principal Result & Interview Schedule on 03rd September 2019. Those Candidates who have appeared in this recruitment exam can Download Result & Interview Schedule now. Applicants can download NVS Result from the below link. By clicking the direct link, applicants can verify the NVS TGT Principal Merit List 2019. Moreover, candidates can check the NVS Result from the official website i.e, navodaya.gov.in
NVS Principal & PGT CBT Result & Interview Schedule 2019– Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) has recently released the NVS PGT & Principal Result & Interview Schedule on 05th August 2019. Those Candidates who have appeared in this recruitment exam can Download Result & Interview Schedule now. Applicants can download NVS Result from the below link. By clicking the direct link, applicants can verify the NVS Principal & PGT CBT Result & Interview Schedule. Moreover, candidates can check the NVS Result from the official website i.e, navodaya.gov.in
NVS Principal & PGT CBT Result & Interview Schedule 2019
NVS Principal & PGT CBT Result & Interview Schedule 2019 – Principal | PGT
NVS Result 2019(DV)– Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) has recently uploaded the Document Verification result for the Post of Principal, Assistant, PGT Teacher and other various Post Recruitment 2019 on 15th July 2019. Those Candidates who have appeared in this recruitment exam can Download Result now. Applicants can download NVS Result and DV Result from the below link. By clicking one direct link applicants can verify the Assistant & Computer Operator DV Result. Moreover, candidates can check the NVS Result from the official website i.e, navodaya.gov.in
NVS Result 2019 DV (Assistant & Computer Operator)- Check Here
NVS Result 2019 – Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) conducted the written test for Postgraduate Teacher, Principal, and various other posts from 10th to 13th June 2019. Currently, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti has announced the Assistant Commissioner Result on 28th August 2019. Thousands of aspirants seeking to get NVS posts have competed for the PGT written test in scheduled dates. Applicants can download the NVS Assistant Result 2019, NVS Computer Operator Result 2019, NVS Asst. Commissioner Result from this page. By clicking one direct link to download their results without any hesitation. Moreover, here we have included the NVS PGT Expected Cut Off 2019, NVS Computer Operator Cut Off 2019 in this article.
A large number of candidates seeking to get central government jobs have applied for the NVS posts from 15th January 2019 to 14th February 2019. The selection process includes Written Examination and Interview Rounds. Candidates who clear the selection rounds with good merit will be shortlisted for the PGT, Principal and other posts as per their merit. Currently, the officials have declared the NVS Computer Operator Answer Key 2019, NVS Assistant Result 2019 & Others.
The organization will announce NVS Cut Off PGT 2019 along with the result. The NVS will release the NVS PGT Expected Cut Off 2019 shortly. Probably, the Navodaya Result 2019 is expected to release in the month of July. The cutoff marks/qualifying marks will be based on various factors such as the number of posts, the number of candidates competed for the posts, and various other posts. NVS Computer Operator Cut Off 2019 category-wise, section-wise will be released by the organization. Candidates must have to score the qualifying marks to get shortlisted for the interview round.
NVS Merit List 2019 | NVS Result 2019 Cut Off
NVS will release the PGT merit list along with the result. Candidates who have shortlisted in the written test round can attend the interview round. The NVS PGT Merit list will consist of the names of qualified candidates. Competitors can download NVS PGT Merit list 2019 from the NVS official portal, navodaya.gov.in soon. At this time the officials have released only the Non-Teaching Post Result.
Steps to check NVS Non-Teaching Post Result 2019
Applicants initially visit the official website of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti i.e, navodaya.gov.in
In the home page, from the main menu click on the recruitment
In the Recruitment tab, click on the Results
Results will be displayed on your screen
Applicants can click the appropriate NVS Result 2019
Download or take a print out of the result for further reference.
Jharkhand High Court Result 2019 for Assistant, Cashier, Translator, Jr Translator, Assistant Librarian, Typist Posts @ jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in. Applicants who are looking for the Jharkhand High Court Exam Result can check this page. The High Court Of Jharkhand, officials will soon announce the Written Exam Result tentatively in the month of November 2019. Here on this page, we will be updating the latest result link, it will activate at the time of the result announcement.
Jharkhand High Court Result 2019 – Download Here
The High Court Of Jharkhand will be released the Jharkhand High Court Assistant Exam Result in the month of November 2019 for Assistant, Cashier, Translator, Jr Translator, Assistant Librarian, Typist Posts. After the official announcement, we will provide the exact link on this page. Candidates keep checking this article frequently to know your result status. Applicants who are looking for the Jharkhand High Court Assistant Result Date can check the latest updates on this page, Along with the direct result link, candidates can get a few steps to download the result from the official website.
Jharkhand High Court Assistant Result 2019 – Overview
Jharkhand High Court Assistant, Cashier, Translator, Jr Translator, Assistant Librarian, Typist Result 2019
Description
Details
Organization Name
High Court Of Jharkhand, Ranchi
Post Name
Assistant, Cashier, Translator, Jr Translator, Assistant Librarian, Typist
Assistant Librarian, Cashier, Typist – 10th August 2019 Translator, Jr. Translator – 11th August 2019 Assistant – 22nd September 2019
Result Release date
November 2019 (Tentatively)
Selection Process
Written Exam, Personality Test, Viva/ Voce Test
Job Location
Jharkhand
Official Website
jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in
Candidates who are searching for the Jharkhand High Court Assistant, Cashier, Translator, Jr Translator, Assistant Librarian, Typist Result 2019 can get a direct link from this page. Applicants who have attended the Jharkhand High Court Recruitment 2019 Exam can get your Date of Jharkhand High Court Result 2019, Merit List and Cut off Marks from the below section. Applicants will be selected by considering the marks obtained in the written exam.
Jharkhand High Court Assistant Cut Off Marks 2019
Applicants can check the Jharkhand High Court Assistant Cut Off Marks from this page. To decide Jharkhand High Court Exam Cut Off Marks 2019 officials will have some factors like no of questions, total vacancies, and previous year Cutoff Marks. After the result declaration, Jharkhand High Court Officials will publish the Cut off Marks on the official website. Candidates should get minimum or maximum marks to qualify for Assistant, Cashier, Translator, Jr Translator, Assistant Librarian, Typist Posts.
Jharkhand High Court Merit List 2019
The merit list will contain the roll number and name of the Candidates who qualified in the written exam. Applicants who score high marks in the examination will be placed in the Jharkhand High Court Assistant Merit List. All the aspirants can download the Jharkhand High Court Assistant, Cashier, Translator, Jr Translator, Assistant Librarian, Typist Merit List 2019 on @ jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in. Along with the Results, candidates can get some simple steps to download your result from the official website.
How to check Jharkhand High Court Assistant Result 2019?
Initially, applicants can visit the official website of High Court Of Jharkhand, Ranchi, jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in
On the home page, click on the Recruitment section on the left-hand side
A new page will open with various results
Candidates can check the related link of Jharkhand High Court Assistant Exam Result 2019
Applicants can check your results with name, roll number, and date of birth.
Download the Jharkhand High Court Typist Result 2019 for further reference.
Direct links to download Jharkhand High Court Result 2019
The University of Puducherry has released B.Sc., B.Ed.(Computer Science, Maths) Semester Examination Pondicherry University Result now. Then its time to check out your Pondicherry Results 2019 through Online mode. The University has released various results according to the Semester wise. Students can now get the Pondicherry University Result 2019 according to the Odd/ Even Semester. We will have a regular update regarding the University Results as soon the Pondicherry University releases the Results. So do stay in touch get the updated Results. Also, check out the Pondicherry University Retotalling Result. Candidates can get the Pondicherry University Result through Online mode just by entering your Register Number/ Roll Number and selecting the Semester.
Pondicherry University Result 2019
Here in the below webpage, we have listed the Pondicherry University Result for all the courses and semesters. There are many other courses are available, where the result is updated in the below section in an elaborated manner. Students can verify their results from the official website of the University as well as on this page. Here we used to update all the latest information regarding the Time Table, Results, Admit Card and others. Also, we will be providing the upcoming Results link, once the University will announce it officially. Check the below article and get more information regarding the Results in the official Website. Students who are searching the Results will get the correct link and won't get any confusion. Scroll down the entire page and get the Pondicherry University Exam Results here.
Pondicherry University is an Indian government-operated university which was established in 1985. It spread over the union territories of Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobars Islands. Nearly 50,000 students are involved in colleges that are affiliated to this university wherein 10,000 students learning from distance learning mode. Nearly 70 colleges are affiliated with Pondicherry University. currently, the university has a strength of 6,500. The university has introduced innovations like the choice based Credit System and on-line admission for Post Graduate Studies. Teaching & research are its primary functions as in other central universities. It has affiliated colleges located in Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe, Yanam and the union territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The university has a motto of "Vers la Lumiere" it is in French.
Pondicherry University Supply/Revaluation Results
Students have appeared for the Pondicherry University Examination can check their results, if they got low grades, still Students can apply for the Revaluation. The higher level Examiner will check the results and announce the Revaluation results. Still, if any students will get low marks again they can write the exam. For that, they should apply for the Supplementary Examination. For each and every semester Students can apply for the revaluation after the announcement of the main examination results. Students can keep in touch with the University website to know more information about the Revaluation Results.
MCGM Recruitment 2019: Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has recently released a notification for 136 Assistant Medical Officer post in Maharashtra. The application needs to be submitted offline. Interested candidates can apply from 15th November 2019 to 25th November 2019. Selection will be done on the basis of performance in written test and interview. Candidates between the age of 18 to 38 who have completed their MBBS are eligible to apply.
MCGM Recruitment 2019
The BMC Officials are paying a good salary to the hired candidates. The candidates hired will be placed as Assistant Medical Officer. Details of BMC Recruitment 2019-20 are given below. You can also find the link to the official website as well as in the Official Notification. You can read the details, check eligibility and apply using the link below.
05 – Project Assistant, Junior Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow
About Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM):
MCGM is also known as Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation(BMC). It was known as the Bombay Municipal Corporation and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay (MCGB) till 1996. BMC is the municipal corporation in Mumbai, Maharastra. It is also the richest municipal bodies in India. BMC was registered in 1888 under the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act 1888. MCGM is responsible for the infrastructure and administration of Mumbai and a few other smaller cities. Trushna Vishwasrao became the first corporator to serve as BMC’s leader in 2014.
KUHS Results 2019 released for First Professional MBBS Degree Regular/Supplementary Examinations, August 2019. Check out your Kerala University Results Declared on15th November 2019.
Dear Folks!!. Kerala University of Health Sciences announced the course wise results through its official website i.e., kuhs.ac.in. Here on this page, we provide the result for various KUHS courses like Nursing, Ayurveda, Pharmacy, Paramedical, Medical, Homoeopathy, Unani, Siddha, Dental. Students who are looking for KUHS can find the results on our page. Hence, go through the information of Kerala University of Health results in sections below. We recruitment.guru moderated this page with the most recent results given by the KUHS for various courses. Students of KUHS can find both regular and supplementary exam results on our page. And this article is completely enclosed with the updated Kerala University of Health Sciences Results 2019.
KUHS Results 2019
Students studying at the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) used to check their exam results this month. Here on this page, we have provided a direct link to get the KUHS Results from the below table. We update the results on our page immediately when the official website updates. By this student who is eager to check the result can find without any delay. Also, reduces the confusion in finding their performance in the examinations. Students of KUHS can find both Undergraduate, Postgraduate of regular and supplementary exam results on our page. Apart from this, we used to update the latest information regarding the KUHS Exam Time Table, Admit Card, Syllabus, Previous Paper, and others. So, we advise the students of KUHS to check results through our website.
Latest KUHS Exam Results 2019
Name of the Exam
Release Date
Download Link
Withheld Release of First Professional MBBS Degree Regular/Supplementary Examinations – August 2019 of Azeezia Medical College
Withheld Release of First Professional MBBS Degree Regular Examinations(2018 adm) – August 2019 of Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Jubilee Mission Medical College, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Medical College, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Science
The Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) was established in the year 2010. The university is located on the government medical college, Thrissur campus. It was established on the basis of the Kerala University of Health Act 2010. There are 282 professional colleges of Kerala affiliated under this university. All affiliated colleges imparting professional education in health care in Kerala. All branches of treatment would come under the university and medical and para-medical colleges now functioning under different Universities.
KUHS Supply/Revaluation Results
Students have a chance to apply for the revaluation, if the students may get low marks in the examination, they can apply for the Revaluation results. So again the head of the Examiner will review the answer paper. After revaluation, students may get high marks. Still, if anyone got low marks, they can apply for the Supplementary Examinations. For Revaluation/Supplementary, students should pay the fee. Students can get all the results from this page Regular, Revaluation and Supplementary Results. Students of Kerala University of Health Sciences can also get all Results Also. Just we are advising the Students to frequently visit this page to get the latest updates of all KUHS Result 2019.
MUMBAI | KOLKATA: Vodafone Idea's top management has cautioned lenders that timely repayments may not be possible without urgent relief from the government if the telecom department decides to invoke bank guarantees to recover dues in the next three months, people familiar with the matter said.Apart from looking to state support, the telco is planning to sell its data centres as well as its optic fibre network to raise funds, managing director Ravinder Takkar said on an analyst call on Friday."Banks with high exposure to Vodafone Idea met them (the management, including Takkar) this week, in which the latter expressed their inability to pay dues if the department of telecommunications (DoT) decides to invoke bank guarantees and not extend any relief," said a senior official on the condition of anonymity. "They have told us that the ball is now in the government's court."Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL), which posted a record September quarter loss of Rs 50,921.9 crore, has debt of about Rs 1.02 lakh crore, most of it to the government in the form of spectrum and interest payments guaranteed by banks. It is now facing additional statutory dues worth more than Rs 44,000 crore in licence fees, spectrum usage charges, interest and penalties, which need to be paid in less than three months. This follows the October 24 Supreme Court ruling on the scope of adjusted gross revenue (AGR). 72079859 Hoping for a Positive OutcomeThe company has said that its ability to continue as a "going concern" is dependent on getting reliefs — including a waiver on the interest, penalties on the AGR-related dues, lower taxes and levies, and a moratorium on spectrum payments — from the government.It's also hoping for a positive outcome from its proposed review of the Supreme Court ruling, failing which a curative petition can also be filed before a five-judge bench that may be different "from the bench that delivered" the October 24 judgement, Takkar said.The company said Thursday it had set aside Rs 25,680 crore for the additional dues, widening its quarterly loss, the highest in corporate India's history. Its revenue for the quarter ended September was Rs 10,440 crore, with operating income of Rs 3,347.1 crore. Investors didn't seem too daunted — the stock rose 27% to Rs 3.75.Takkar said some lenders had granted "waivers" while others were closely watching the developing situation. The telco's chief financial officer Akshaya Moondra said some banks had pushed for advance payments, but the company had turned them down."Banks, because of covenant breaches, have a right to accelerate payment from time-to-time," said Moondra. The company continues "to remain engaged with all our financial creditors. There is no acceleration of payment happening."He said vendors were supporting the telco through vendor financing.State Bank of India (SBI) is the lead lender to Vodafone Idea with an exposure of Rs 11,200 crore, according to a report by brokerage firm Jefferies. However, another source said the exposure could be as much as Rs 12,000 crore. Other large staterun lenders on the list are Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda. Among private sector banks, IndusInd Bank has an exposure of Rs 3,000 crore while that of ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank is Rs 1,700 crore and Rs 500 crore, respectively, said the Jefferies report.ET has learnt that the troubled telecom major may also ask banks to write to the ministry if its demands aren't met."Let the management first have a dialogue with the DoT. If they fail to accept its demands, the lenders may explore formally writing to the ministry to take up its case as our exposures are huge," said another bank official.Vodafone Idea did not respond to ET's query on its meeting with banks.Goldman Sachs said in a report that the provision amounts to around 43% of Vodafone Idea's net debt. If it had to pay the provisioned amount in full, its net debt-to-ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) could rise to 28x, compared with 20x as of September. It added that ebitda continues to be under pressure, despite merger synergies.This has added to Vodafone Idea's need for relief from the government.Relief key, operations improving"Providing relief from this judgment is very much in the hands of the government as they are winners of this case," said Takkar. "Given the stress and criticality of the sector, we don't see any conflict in the government being able to act in the overall interest of the economy and consumers."He also expects the panel of secretaries, which is discussing ways in which to provide relief to the sector, to make "positive recommendations" to help restore its health, including a longer tenure for spectrum payments and freeing up Rs 7,000 crore of blocked goods and services tax (GST) input credits.He added that the government was aware of the stress in the industry with debt of over Rs 7 lakh crore and wants three non-state contenders plus one public sector telco in the market."Our discussions with the government suggest the regulator may start a review of floor pricing…there are significant opportunities to reduce the predatory pricing position that we have been in for several years, which has impacted not just us (VIL), but the overall industry," the Vodafone Idea MD said. The government has been nudging the telecom regulator toward setting a floor price for tariffs but the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has been resisting this, said people with knowledge of the matter.Trai chairman RS Sharma said Friday that the regulator hasn't received any reference from DoT on the issue.Takkar said the company has seen a steady reduction in customers leaving its network for rivals and expects customer attrition to end by March 2020, once the benefits of integration start kicking in."It is premature to say whether revenue has bottomed out but the company is seeing some green shoots, courtesy integration benefits in VIL's strong markets," said Takkar, adding that the company doesn't plan to exit its non-core markets.
NEW DELHI: The government doesn't want any phone companies shutting down and is looking at support that can be given to the debt-laden telecom sector that's been saddled with additional dues on account of last month's Supreme Court ruling on adjusted gross revenue (AGR)."I want no company to shut operations," finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday in response to a query on the telecom sector. "I want all companies to flourish and serve their customers."The Supreme Court had backed the telecom department's stance on including revenues from noncore items in the definition of AGR in its verdict on October 24. 72079795 The minister said top finance ministry officials had participated in discussions held by the committee of secretaries tasked with drawing up possible options for addressing the concerns of the sector.Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, which reported total losses of Rs 74,000 crore on Thursday, have petitioned the government for relief in the form of a waiver or a deferral on dues that could be as high as Rs 1.34 lakh crore for the entire sector on account of the AGR decision. The committee, which is headed by the cabinet secretary, is examining the Supreme Court judgment and representations from the telecom sector.Sitharaman said the government is yet to take a decision on including the dues arising out of the Supreme Court judgment into its own accounts."I am not sure if the fitment committee and others had a complete look at it," she said about the demand to cut the goods and services tax rate on telecom services to 12% from 18% and whether it will be taken to the GST Council. "They (will) take a look at it and then decide if it is to be part of the agenda."Relief for DepositorsSitharman said the government will introduce legislation in the winter session of Parliament, after cabinet approval, to enhance the insurance cover on bank deposits from the current Rs 1 lakh and bring multi-state cooperative banks under the banking regulation act to ensure they follow prudential norms. The winter session is due to start on Monday.This assumes significance in the wake of the alleged fraud at Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank that has left customers in the lurch after the Reserve Bank of India imposed withdrawal restrictions. Bank depositors currently have an insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corp.The finance minister also said the government has no plans to cut spending on welfare schemes and will encourage all the departments of the Union government to spend all the funds provided for them in the budget. She said it was too early to take a call on the fiscal situation and expressed confidence about meeting the target. She said the government has not started thinking about seeking any interim dividend from the RBI.The finance minister said top executives of some companies had met her following the recent corporate tax reductions and conveyed their interest in stepping up investments, a key element of the government's revival strategy.
MUMBAI: The government is looking to clarify that goods and services tax (GST) should not be applicable on salaries of chief executives sitting in head offices, two people in the know said.This comes after the tax department started raising queries on how companies have dealt with this issue. ET had first written on November 14 that some of the top companies headquartered in Pune, Mumbai and New Delhi have started receiving queries from the tax department on cross-charging of CEO and CFO salaries.According to a person close to the development the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), is set to clarify that common function like Human Resources should be out of the GST gamut."The intention of the GST law was never to tax salary and any other interpretation should be avoided as this would lead to prolonged litigation. Salary cannot be under the GST net and there is an urgent need for a clarification around this," said Rohit Jain, partner, ELP, a law firm.The tax department has started questioning top companies and banks if they were passing on some of the common costs like salaries of chief executives to their branch offices. The department wants companies to proportionately distribute common costs from head office to branch offices and treat this as a supply. Once this is treated as a supply, 10% of it has to be added to the cost and 18% GST could be levied on the total amount.Industry trackers say that ideally this would be a revenue neutral transaction but still impact the cash flows of the company. Untitled Carousel 72051038 72066467 72077198 72038696
NEW DELHI: You have heard of family planning. Should you get ready for car planning – at least in Delhi? Basically, a ceiling on how many cars a family can own.A policy limiting cars per family will need the Centre and the Delhi government to take on board the Supreme Court's observation on Friday that the capital's pollution levels require measures much more "substantive" than odd-even, which the bench critiqued as "half-baked".If governments follow through what the court observed, Delhi will join a few Chinese cities in capping car buying. Some Chinese cities have quotas on how many new car registrations a city can have annually and they allow one local resident to own only one car. Guangzhou city in China has an auction and a lottery system for residents to allocate carbuying rights within the quota."Maybe we should have car planning like family planning," the bench said. "Rationalise use of cars," said the court nudging both the central and state governments to come up with urgent steps to deal with the pollution situation.The judges didn't let it rest there. Mukul Rohatgi, lawyer for the Delhi government, had to defend his car usage. Justice Arun Mishra remarked that those owning 5-10 cars have both odd and even registration numbers and are able to circumvent the oddeven scheme."You have 10 cars," Justice Mishra told Rohtagi. The lawyer replied: "I don't have 10 cars." The lawyer said he travels less than 5 km every day from his house to the Supreme Court. "My house is only three kilometres away, he said.Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta were in no mood to relent, however. They upbraided the Delhi government for providing too many exemptions on the odd-even scheme, which they said hasn't had any significant impact on pollution levels."This is a half-baked thing. Why the exemptions?" Justice Gupta observed during the hearing as the presiding judge Justice Mishra demanded facts and figures on the impact of the odd-even scheme.The Central Pollution Control Board claimed that the oddeven scheme had less than 3% impact on air pollution levels. The Delhi government, however, claimed the positive impact was between 12% and 15%. Rohatgi said that putting two-wheelers under the odd-even scheme would put inordinate pressure on the public transport system. "The city will collapse. We can't do that," he said.
NEW DELHI: India is learnt to have aligned with China, Russia and Japan to oppose use of 26 Ghz spectrum band for 5G operations, but industry bodies have expressed their reservations about the decision. China and Russia have opposed 5G operation in 26 Ghz band to defend their military operations, while India has aligned with them as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wants this spectrum band for satellite services.At the ongoing World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) 2019, China, Russia and Japan were in support of using alternative bands for 5G services with around 3000 Mhz of frequencies, while India is yet to decide on alternative bands having large chunk of airwaves to support the next generation telecom services, according to industry bodies.According to industry body Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), China is working to deploy 5G in 3.3-7.125 Ghz range. Signal transmitted in low frequency bands provide higher coverage compared to the transmission in a higher frequency bands. This also leads to proportionate reduction in cost of telecom network.Industry body COAI has written to telecom secretary Anshu Prakash saying that the proposal submitted by the Department of Telecom (DoT) to use low power of 7 decibel-watt for 5G base station will require 16 times more base stations to adequately provide coverage, thus making the rates of service unaffordable for the people.At WRC 2019, the matter will be under consideration from November 28 to December 23 at Sharm El Sheikh, where a decision is expected on the use of 26 gigahertz (Ghz) spectrum band for 5G services.The DoT has accepted the demand of ISRO to use 26 Ghz band, in which 5G ecosystem has been developed, primarily for satellite service. Consequently, the department has submitted this proposal for consideration to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which sets global benchmark for wireless services, for discussion at WRC 2019.The GSA in its communication to the DoT on November 10 said that 188 member countries out of 192 are having liberal view over use of 26 Ghz band for 5G services and India, Russia, Japan and China are having a common and highly restrictive position.The GSA said that ISRO has not taken any global position and in the absence of global resolution, satellite services will be hampered by interference from other countries.In another communication to the DoT, the GSA said that with hard position adopted by India at WRC 2019, it is clear that high frequency band in the range of 26 Ghz band and 40 Ghz are not at all a priority for India.
MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi police has found that Awanish Mishra, managing director of Allied Financial Services, fraudulently and dishonestly transferred mutual fund (MF) units of Dalmia Cement (Bharat) into his account by using delivery instruction slips (DIS) bearing the forged signatures of authorised signatories.The chargesheet further alleges that IL&FS Securities Services (ISSL) also failed to do adequate due diligence about the huge amount of the collaterals (MF units) given by Allied Financial (AFSPL). "ISSL, in violation of the rules of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), did serious financial irregularities in a transaction with AFSPL," says the nearly 60-page chargesheet, a copy of which ET reviewed. "Forensic auditor Grant Thornton has highlighted the serious financial irregularities done by ISSL."In a chargesheet filed by the EOW in the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court in Karkardooma in Delhi on Monday, the police said it found evidence of alteration and uploading wrong credentials with the NSDL system and transferring of MF units of Dalmia Cement) through forged signatures of the authorised signatories. "He (Mishra) sent false and fabricated statements of the OCL and Dalmia Cement to the complainant through email to make the complainant believe that the MF units of the complainant are intact," says the charge sheet. The charge sheet also indicated that V Hansprakash, head of business development at ISSL, also played a role in it.Emails to IL&FS, a parent of ISSL and Allied Financial, remained unanswered till press time."We have always said that our securities were fraudulently transferred and misappropriated. We are hoping for a speedy release of theY securities that lawfully belong to us," said Dalmia Bharat spokesperson."We also hope that the people who have committed this crime are brought to justice," he further added.In August, EOW initiated a probe into alleged involvement of IL&FS Securities in a fraud committed by brokerage firm AFSPL. Around the same time, the police arrested Awanish Mishra on the basis of an FIR filed by Dalmia Cement for illegally transferring the company's financial securities worth Rs 344 crore.
By John AuthersIt's still all about the central banks. If you care about allocating money between global assets, everything else remains ancillary, and all 2019's biggest trends — from negative interest rates in Germany through the inverted U.S. yield curve to the impressive global rebound in share prices — can be explained by the actions of central bankers.Many will find this rather depressing. Approaching the end of an exciting year for world markets, it is tempting to rely on a narrative of geopolitical intrigue and trade wars. But it is far simpler and more accurate to explain 2019's events in terms of the liquidity that the developed world's central banks have unleashed — while China and the bigger emerging markets have prominently refused to follow the same. CrossBorder Capital, a London-based investment group, maintains indexes of global liquidity, covering central banks, international financial flows and domestic private-sector liquidity. Numbers above 50 show expansion, and a rising number shows acceleration. They show a dramatic shift in 2019.The year started with the developed world's central banks trying to dry up liquidity and return to normality after the crisis years, while their counterparts in the emerging world pumped money into their economies. Since then, there has been a 180-degree turn:72074104 Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, protests that nobody should put the label "QE" on the U.S. central bank's decision to expand its balance sheet in the last two months to address disruptions in the repo market for short-term bank funding. But the financial markets don't recognize this distinction. In conjunction with asset purchases from the European Central Bank (which does describe what it is doing as QE) and the Bank of Japan, provision of liquidity has accelerated faster in the past few months than at any time since the first desperate days after the 2008 Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. The story in the emerging markets, which these days are dominated by China, is the polar opposite. At the beginning of the year, liquidity was expanding, and the People's Bank of China appeared to be trying to repeat its trick from 2016, when a big expansion in credit averted a slowdown. Since then, however, emerging-market central bank liquidity has dried up, and is now as tight as it has been since the series started in 2005. Contrary to the hopes of a year ago, it appears that the PBoC has been engaged in cleaning up balance sheets and helping local governments to cut back their debts in the Chinese shadow banking system, rather than making any concerted attempt to stimulate the macro economy. This dynamic helps to explain the anomalous poor performance of emerging-market currencies. Normally, EM foreign exchange is regarded as a "risk-on" asset. If investors are feeling confident, as is typically the case when the Fed is making money plentiful, that tends to mean flows into emerging markets. But JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s emerging-markets foreign exchange index is close to its post-crisis low.Weak emerging-market currencies open the risk of debt crises as their dollar-denominated debt grows harder to service. The emerging world remains under pressure. This isn't just from the U.S.-China trade conflict but also, as the liquidity figures make clear, from China's efforts to avert a financial crisis at home. The fresh flow of money from the developed world's central banks has allowed U.S. stock markets to set fresh highs, and spurred optimism. The greatest risk remains, as it has been for years, that China succeeds in averting a Lehman-style credit crisis at home, but at the cost of an economic slowdown that would affect the rest of the world.
By Chandan Taparia Nifty50 opened positive on Friday and extended its gains towards the 11,973 mark in the first half of the session. However, profit booking towards the fag end of the session dragged the index below the 11,900 mark.It formed a Doji candle with a long upper shadow on the daily scale, which indicates the absence of followup buying at higher levels. The index formed a Doji candle for the second consecutive week, indicating indecisiveness among the market participants. Nifty retested the breakdown trend line on the intraday scale and corrected sharply, which restricted upside momentum.During the week gone by, the index traded in the narrow range of 171 points, which was the narrowest weekly trading range in last six months. Now, it has to hold above 11,850 level to witness an up-move towards 11,950 and then 12,000 levels, while on the downside a major support is seen at 11,780 level.In monthly options, maximum Put open interest was at 11,600 followed by 11,500 levels, while maximum Call OI was at 12,000 followed by 11,800 levels. There was Call writing at 12,000 followed by 12,100 levels while marginal Put writing was seen at 11,500 and then 11,600 levels. Options data suggested a broader trading range between 11,700 and 12,100 levels.India VIX fell 3.96 per cent to 15.03 level.Bank Nifty opened positive and extended the gains towards 31,165 mark, but witnessed some profit booking at higher levels in the last hour of trade. It formed a bullish candle on the daily scale after forming higher highs and lows for past five weeks. Now it has to hold above 30,800 level to witness an up-move towards 31,250 and then 31,500 levels, while a major support on the downside was seen at 30,400 level.Nifty futures closed positive at 11,940 level with 0.34 per cent gains. Long buildup was seen in Chola Finance, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Canara Bank and Union Bank while shorts were seen in Siemens, IndiGo, IOC, Apollo Hospital, Vedanta.(Chandan Taparia is Technical & Derivative Analyst at MOFSL. Investors are advised to consult financial advisers before taking an investment calls based on these observations)
New Delhi: The Indian PC market grew 15.8 per cent in third quarter of 2019, driven by Tamil Nadu's scheme to distribute free laptops and accelerated upgrade to Windows 10 by corporates, a research report said. According to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, Indian PC market inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations, shipped 3.1 million units, in Q3FY19 as Windows 7 is near to its scheduled end in early 2020.The desktop category saw a 10.6 per cent on year growth in its shipments, mainly contributed by Windows 10 refresh buying from the banking sector. Notebooks grew 18 per cent annually on the back of education deals as well as growth in both corporate and SMB segments, IDC report said.This growth was mainly driven by the second phase of shipments to the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd. (ELCOT) under its ongoing initiative of free distribution of laptops in the state.The commercial segment witnessed a 39 per cent on year growth, as vendors shipped a total of 1.7 million units in the third quarter of 2019. "Strong demand from the start-up ecosystem, BFSI segment, and very large enterprises, along with the Tamil Nadu education deal, helped the commercial segment provide much-needed growth to the Indian PC market," said Bharath Shenoy, Market Analyst, PC, IDC India."Vendors have procured inventory to target Windows 10 refreshes in small and medium enterprises. Hence, the SMB segment is expected to be relatively softer in 2019Q4, although education deals and global account refreshes are expected to maintain the momentum."However, the consumer segment was down by 4.2 per cent from the same quarter a year ago. Learning from last year's inventory issues, some vendors were cautious to avoid extra stocking this time and shipped in a phased manner, leading to a weak consumer quarter as compared to the third quarter of 2018. Regardless of vendors' efforts to maintain the price parity between the offline and online channels, the retail segment witnessed a 6.9 per cent decline when compared to a year back."As we see consumers shifting entertainment and content consumption to smartphones, PCs are becoming a conscious purchase in India. Consumers are comfortable to wait for discounts and offers while looking to buy or upgrade their PCs," said Jaipal Singh, Associate Research Manager, IDC India."Looking at opportunities, branded PC gaming is a growth area in the next few quarters. Although India's gaming market is dominated by mobile phones, gamers have already started preferring PCs for a more immersive experience as their best alternate," IDC said. Lenovo retained its leadership position with a 28.5 per cent market share in Q3. Its shipments grew 55.4 per cent YoY on the back of the ELCOT deal. Outside the ELCOT, Lenovo was able to win a few large BFSI deals, which helped the brand to maintain triple-digit growth in the overall commercial segment for the second quarter in a row.
New Delhi: To safeguard the interest of workers in formal sector, particularly working class, the Centre is planning to introduce 'One Nation, One Pay Day' system, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said on Friday. "There should be a pan-India single wage day every month across various sectors to ensure that workers get timely payment of salaries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen on this legislation to get passed soon. Similarly, we are also looking at uniform minimum wages across sectors which will safeguard better livelihood of workers," said Gangwar addressing at 'Security Leadership Summit 2019' organised by the Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI). The central government is in the process of implementing Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, and Code on Wages. Parliament has already passed the Code on Wages and rules are being framed for its implementation. The OSH Code was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 23, 2019. The Code will streamline the private sector by enhancing the coverage of workers manifold by merging 13 central labour laws relating to safety, health and working conditions into a single code. The OSH Code has many new initiatives like mandatory issues of appointment letter by employers, annual free medical check up of workers and broadening coverage of all type of workers in the country under it. Gangwar mentioned that since taking the office in 2014, Modi government has consistently worked on reforming labour laws. "We have taken up 44 complex labour laws to reform them. We are talking to all stakeholders to make these laws more effective and useful. "Similarly, we are preparing a 'Single Page' mechanism for various sectors to complete various compliances to ensure ease of doing business. We are also preparing an online system of all grievance redressal to ensure that all problems are resolved with 48 hours without any physical interface," said Gangwar. Underlining the role of private security industry as a major job creator today, Gangwar said the sector employs around 90 lakh people at present, which has the potential to go up to 2 crore in the next few years. He also said the prime minister is keen to ensure growth of the sector. "Mr Modi is keen to ensure that all those working in the unorganized sector should get a pension of Rs 3,000 per month besides getting medical coverage. We have introduced various attractive pension schemes for working class. We will introduce more schemes in future to ensure better social security of those working in unorganised sector and also labour class," Gangwar added.
There is a 24X7 toll free number where customers can call in case their cards get lost or stolen.Several public and private sector banks have different Card Protection Plans Source: LM
More trouble for Jet Airways: Lenders order second forensic audit Lenders are likely to accede to the request at the next meeting of the committee of creditors (CoC)on Tuesday. "At this point, the CoC is giving the extension as a hope against hope. Bankers are anyway in a situation of harakiri right now," the person said.
CBIC refutes reports it demanded GST on salaries paid to CEOs Experts said that under GST, salaries paid to executives by the head office is considered to have been paid by all the branch offices of the organisation situated in different states in lieu of services.
Bharti Airtel fumes over extension of bid deadline for Reliance Communications assets While Bharti did not name the bidder, according to reports, Reliance Jio had sought extension of the November 12 deadline to make an offer under the ongoing insolvency proceedings for RCom's assets.
Bajaj eyes localisation of Chetak's lithium battery assembly in Pune Bajaj has opted for a slow charging option for the e-scooter as it means that the scooter can be charged anywhere so it is easier for the customers. Slow charging also ensures a longer battery life as fast charging depletes battery life by 20-25%, Vas said.
Norwest Venture Partners announces closure of its largest $2-billion fund "The launch of Norwest Venture Partners XV, which brings the firm's total capital commitments to more than $9.5 billion, closes on the heels of a record two years, as 23 of the firm's portfolio companies achieved notable liquidity events," the firm said.
Senior citizens can invest in an FD for a tenure ranging from 7 days to 10 years.Fixed deposits for senior citizens provide higher interest rate and tax benefits Source: LM
SBI customers have to maintain an average monthly balance (AMB) in their account.Maintenance of average monthly balance charges are different for metro, semi-urban and rural areas Source: LM
Aatish Taseer's criticism of PM Modi was best ignored Taseer was never sent to exile—or tadi-paar—and is free to apply for a visa to come to India. But, the controversy was stirred, and now the likes of Jhumpa Lahiri, Orhan Pamuk, Salman Rushdie, and 257 other noted writers have thrown their weight behind Taseer.
JNU row: Shocking that authorities didn't hike fees for so long Hiking the hostel fees for a shared room from Rs 10 per month to Rs 300 in JNU, and from Rs 20 to Rs 600 for a single room, and adding a service charge of Rs 1,700 per month—the service charge has now been changed to the actual cost incurred—is huge, so the students' anger looks justified, but keep in mind Delhi University or Ambedkar University charge anywhere from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 for the same thing.
PPF account fetches an interest rate of 7.9% per annum currently.PPF is essentially a long-term investment tool but you can even use it for short-term investments to save tax Source: LM
BNP Various Posts Results
