For 40 years, journalists chronicled the eccentric royal family of Oudh, deposed aristocrats who lived in a ruined palace in the Indian capital. It was a tragic, astonishing story. But was it true?
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Barbara Liskov pioneered the modern approach to writing code. She warns that the challenges facing computer science today can't be overcome with good design.
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Rudy Giuliani said during an interview on Fox News Saturday that he has "insurance" if President Trump attempted to "throw him under the bus." He also said he wasn't afraid of being indicted.
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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a movie about how startling it is to be brought back to an open-heartedness that most of us spend our lives unlearning.
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The Apollo 11 moon mission was an overwhelming success but what if it had been a disaster? Richard Nixon had a backup speech ready and now MIT's Center for Advanced Virtuality created a Deepfake of him making it.
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A demonstrator throws an object at a police vehicle during a protest against Chile's government in Santiago, Chile November 19, 2019. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera vowed "no impunity" for security forces that used excessive force and violated the rights of protesters during weeks of violent riots over economic policies and social injustice that have left at least 23 dead. Public prosecutors are investigating more than 1,000 cases of alleged abuses - ranging from torture to sexual violence - by the police and military. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic
WNU Editor: The above picture came from this photo-gallery .... Photos of the week (Reuters).
There is precedent for presidents intervening in military justice matters. John F. Kennedy stopped the punishment of an Army Reserve soldier who was court-martialed for bad-mouthing him. Abraham Lincoln infuriated some of his generals by regularly combing through court-martial orders for Union troops who were charged with desertion and other crimes and scrawling impromptu one-line orders for leniency, like "Let him fight instead of being shot."
But experts say the constitutional arrangement of civilian control over the military can become strained when a president disregards the counsel of generals and admirals, or never seeks it in the first place.
Well, that's one way it can become strained. Another is when people inferior to the President set themselves up in judgment over his orders, and publicly challenge them. Lt. Col. Vindman is apparently not alone in this.
WNU Editor: Civilian control over the military is paramount. If there are those in the military who oppose what the civilian authority is doing, they should retire, be transferred, and/or fired. But as Glenn Reynolds from Instapundit says in the above post, there has been many incidences of Presidents and the military not seeing eye to eye on issues. The US Navy ignoring President Trump on the case of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher is therefore not unique. But in the end the President's decision will be the final one, and I expect the same will happen with this case.
French Defence Minister Florence Parly leaves the Elysee Palace following a cabinet meeting in Paris, France, October 21, 2019. Benoit Tessier, Reuters
France's defense minister criticized the U.S. on Saturday over what she described as "unanswered" attacks in recent months threatening the Persian Gulf, warning that the decades-long American deterrence in the oil-rich region appeared to be losing its power.
Florence Parly separately said France deplored both U.S. President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal of America from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that led to the re-imposition of crushing sanctions, as well as Tehran recently breaking the deal's enrichment, stockpile and centrifuge limits.
Colombia's President Iván Duque has said security forces will remain on the streets to maintain order, as protests continued for a third day.
The anti-government demonstrations erupted on Thursday, when more than 250,000 marched in a national strike.
They started peacefully but clashes between protesters and police have since broken out, and there have been reports of vandalism and looting.
Mr Duque said troops would carry out joint patrols with police.
"We express the total and absolute rejection of all Colombians for the vandalism, for the terrorism, for the looting," Mr Duque told reporters on Saturday.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks at a news conference after restoring diplomatic ties with Kiribati on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S. September 27, 2019. Mark Kauzlarich | Reuters
* Meeting Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers meeting in the Japanese city of Nagoya, Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi did not hold back in his criticism of the United States. * "The United States is broadly engaged in unilateralism and protectionism, and is damaging multilateralism and the multilateral trading system. It has already become the world's biggest destabilizing factor," China's Foreign Ministry cited Wang as saying.
The United States is the world's biggest source of instability and its politicians are going around the world baselessly smearing China, the Chinese government's top diplomat said on Saturday in a stinging attack at a G20 meeting in Japan.
Relations between the world's two largest economies have nose-dived amid a bitter trade war - which they are trying to resolve - and arguments over human rights, Hong Kong and U.S. support for Chinese-claimed Taiwan.
The Army can adapt all kinds of ground vehicles to an unmanned configuration.
* The U.S. Army is pouring a lot of time and effort into unmanned systems. * Unmanned ground is more difficult than unmanned air. * The research does not involve autonomous use of weapons, only mobility.
The U.S. Army has developed a standard set of hardware and software that, once installed in a human-vehicle, allows the vehicle to be operated remotely or even in a semi-autonomous fashion. The Army's goal is unmanned fighting vehicles that can operate along manned fighting vehicles, and convoys of unmanned vehicles that can travel routes autonomously or following the lead of a human driver. The service faces significant challenges, however, as the two-dimensional aspect of unmanned ground is more difficult than unmanned air.
Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Saturday in the highest-level American trip since President Donald Trump ordered a pullback of U.S. forces in Syria two months ago.
Flying in a C-17 military cargo jet to preserve the secrecy of the visit to the conflict zone, Pence landed in Erbil to meet with Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani. The visit was meant to reassure the U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State after Syrian Kurds suffered under a bloody Turkish assault last month following the Trump-ordered withdrawal.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy Secretary said on Saturday he did not threaten to resign amid a disagreement with President Donald Trump over whether a Navy SEAL convicted of battlefield misconduct should face a board of peers who may oust him from the elite force.
"There seem to be rumors out there that I threatened to resign. I have not threatened to resign," Spencer told reporters at a security conference in Halifax. The New York Times reported earlier on Saturday that Spencer had threatened to quit if Trump subverted the process.
Spencer said Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher should face a board of peers because "the process matters for good order and discipline," Reuters reported on Friday.
The threat from Tehran continues to increase despite U.S. military buildup, U.S. Central Command's Gen. Kenneth McKenzie says.
MANAMA, Bahrain—Since May, the Pentagon has dispatched 14,000 additional U.S. troops, an aircraft carrier, and tens of thousands of pounds of military equipment to the Middle East to respond to what it says are alarming new threats from Iran. But despite the stepped-up U.S. military posture, the top U.S. general in the region believes the Iranian threat continues to rise—and Tehran is likely to continue lashing out.
"I think the strike on Saudi Aramco in September is pretty indicative of a nation that is behaving irresponsibly," said Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, in a Friday interview, referring to the Sept. 14 Iran-sponsored attack on Saudi facilities that took half of Riyadh's oil production offline.
"My judgment is that it is very possible they will attack again."
WNU Editor: Iran is facing growing unrest over its dire economic conditions (due to US sanctions). The General's concerns are justified, because history has taught us that anything is possible when these situations arise and radical governments have few options on their table to solve them.
The sun sets over U.S. Navy equipment at Naval Support Facility Deveselu in Romania, home to NATO's Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense System site, August 9. Moscow has long condemned the site as part of a global missile shield undermining Russian national security. Public Affairs Officer Lieutenant Amy Forsythe/Naval Support Facility Deveselu
Russian President Vladimir Putin gathered his national security council Friday in a bid to anticipate upcoming challenges faced by Moscow, as the country prepares for the new decade with some of the worst ties with the West and its U.S.-led NATO alliance since the dawn of the 21st century.
Addressing senior officials at the Kremlin, Putin said Friday he planned "to discuss ways and prospects for the development of the Russian military in the upcoming decade, until 2030." He said the council would "outline the tasks we will have to deal with in order to guarantee Russia's national interests and security," specifically highlighting the role of the various branches of the armed forces "in ensuring Russia's sovereignty."
WNU Editor: The Kremlin's international priority right now is next month's summit with Ukraine on finding a pathway to end the current war in eastern Ukraine. Peace in Ukraine will be a lessening of tensions with Europe, both politically and militarily. But if things do collapse, I expect Russia will reverse its trend of smaller defense budgets, and embark on a major military buildup deploying hypersonic missiles and other high-end military equipment.
A man claiming to have worked as a secret Chinese operative for five years says Beijing has directed overseas assassinations, including on Australian soil.
Government sources have confirmed to the ABC Wang "William" Liqiang has detailed the sensational allegations as he seeks political asylum.
Nine Newspapers have reported Mr Wang is in hiding in Sydney after recently providing a sworn statement to Australia's domestic spy agency ASIO outlining Beijing's covert operations.
Senior Ukrainian military officials observe a U.S. Army soldier demonstrating how to use the Javelin anti-tank missile system at the combat training center at Hohenfels Training Area, Germany, on May 9, 2017. (1st Lt. Kayla Christopher/U.S. Army)
Under Obama the military opposed giving Javelin missiles to Ukraine because of fear Russia would get access to sensitive tech, said ex-CIA chief Brennan.
WASHINGTON — Republicans made a point of emphasizing during the impeachment hearings that President Donald Trump provided sophisticated weapons to Ukraine to deter Russian aggression, in contrast to the Obama administration, which declined to do so.
President Obama's decision was portrayed as an example of his timidity in foreign policy. But the story is more complicated than that, said former CIA Director John Brennan.
In particular, said Brennan, now an NBC News analyst, the military was opposed to providing Javelin anti-tank missiles to the Ukrainians during the Obama administration "because of fear that the Russians would get access to Javelin's sensitive technology," he said.
WNU Editor: When it comes to Ukraine I would be more worried about corruption than spies. I can easily see a Ukrainian official or military officer selling a Javelin missile for a few thousand dollars, ditto for an American anti-aircraft missile.
China's new ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu attends a news conference for a small group of reporters at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa, Canada November 22, 2019. REUTERS/Blair Gable
OTTAWA (Reuters) - China's new ambassador to Canada on Friday warned Ottawa not to follow the U.S. lead and formally back protesters in Hong Kong, saying such a move would cause "very bad damage" to already poor ties with Beijing.
Canada, locked in a trade and diplomatic dispute with China, has repeatedly expressed concern about the safety of its 300,000 citizens in Hong Kong, hit by five months of mass demonstrations for more democracy and autonomy.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed two bills to back the protesters and send a warning to China about human rights.
"If somebody here really tries to ... have this kind of law like that in the United States, it's very dangerous," said Chinese envoy Cong Peiwu, speaking in English.
WNU Editor: Canada's parliament is not in session, and I do not see the Canadian government passing any resolution/bill like what one that the U.S. Congress passed this week anytime soon. And speaking of that Congressional bill on Hong Kong, China is demanding (yes they issued a demand) that President Trump vetoes it .... China demands Trump veto bills on Hong Kong (ABC News/AP). LOL .... DEMANDS!!!!
Jerry Chun Shing Lee is the third former U.S. intelligence officer to be convicted in less than a year of conspiring with the Chinese to give them national defense information.
A former CIA case officer was sentenced Friday to 19 years in prison for conspiring to provide American intelligence secrets to the Chinese government, in an espionage case that some current and former officials say dealt a devastating blow to U.S. intelligence operations.
Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 55, served 13 years as a Central Intelligence Agency case officer in several locations overseas, including China, where prosecutors said he had firsthand knowledge of some of the agency's most sensitive secrets, including the names of covert CIA officers and clandestine human sources in China.
Following the shakeup from the sudden U.S. retreat, major powers in northeast Syria have bolstered their forces and converged on a strategically critical area.
Russia has chosen to establish a new military base in a part of Syria perilously close to an area that American troops have been charged with defending, heightening the risk of a confrontation from either an unintentional skirmish or a deliberate provocation.
Analysts believe the potential for new fighting in northeast Syria is particularly high as Russia seeks to test the resolve of the U.S. and its allies following President Donald Trump's hasty decision to withdraw from the region last month.
"This is a new phase that the U.S. hasn't dealt with before," says John Dunford, a research assistant at the Institute for the Study of War, which tracks the movement of forces in the region. "As we move into a new phase of war, northeast Syria becomes more and more compacted with different forces."
WNU Editor: I do not think there is going to be a Russian - U.S. skirmish. Both sides are in constant communication, and when they have crossed paths they have always respected each other. The Russians also do not see the Kurds as the enemy, and have given them a wide berth. The big problem are the Turks, who are determined to claim territory in this region and to wage war against the Kurds and their allies. And when the Turks have threatened a new offensive, the U.S. and Russia have worked together .... U.S. and Russia Hit Back At Turkey's Threat to Attack Their Allies in Syria (Newsweek).
U.S. Naval Academy graduate Caroline Johnson opened up about her experience as a female in the Navy, detailing her time flying above warzones and dropping bombs in enemy territory.
"You have this feeling, 'I can't believe this is going on," Johnson said in her documentary "Jet Girl," which is available now on Fox Nation.
Johnson's journey began when she followed her brother to the Naval Academy, she explained, after years of exploring her adventurous and athletic side as a child.
"I grew up with all boys, and it never was told to me 'hey, you can't do that, you're a girl," Johnson said. Instead, "they said 'hey, we'll buy you the sports equipment in pink.'"
(KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia) — The Sumatran rhinoceros has become extinct in Malaysia, after the last of the species in the country succumbed to cancer on Saturday.
The Wildlife Department in eastern Sabah state on Borneo island said the rhino, named Iman, died of natural causes due to shock in her system. She had uterine tumors since her capture in March 2014.
Department director Augustine Tuuga said in a statement that Iman, who reportedly was 25 years old, was suffering significant pain from growing pressure of the tumors to her bladder but that her death came sooner than expected.
It came six months after the death of the country’s only male rhino in Sabah. Another female rhino also died in captivity in 2017 in the state. Efforts to breed them have been futile but Sabah authorities have harvested their cells for possible reproduction.
“Despite us knowing that this would happen sooner rather than later, we are so very saddened by this news,” said Sabah Environment Minister Christina Liew.
Liew said that Iman had escaped death several times over the past few years due to sudden massive blood loss, but that wildlife officials managed to nurse her back to health and obtained her egg cells for a possible collaboration with Indonesia to reproduce the critically endangered species through artificial insemination.
The Sumatra rhino is the smallest of the rhinoceros species and the only rhino with two horns. The species once roamed across Asia as far as India, but its numbers have shrunk drastically due to deforestation and poaching. The WWF conservation group estimates that there are only about 80 left, mostly living in the wild in Sumatra and Borneo.
(PARIS) — Several thousand protesters marched through Paris on Saturday to demand a national wake-up call and more government investment to prevent deadly domestic violence against women, a problem that President Emmanuel Macron calls “France’s shame.”
A wave of purple flags and signs snaked from the Place de la Republique through eastern Paris amid an unprecedented public campaign to decry violence against women — and honor the 130 women that activists say have been killed in France this year by a current or former partner. That’s about one every two or three days.
While France has a progressive reputation and pushes for women’s rights around the world, it has among the highest rates in Europe of domestic violence, in part because of poor police response to reports of abuse. Many of the women killed this year had previously sought help from police.
At Saturday’s march, French film and TV stars joined abuse victims and activists calling for an end to “femicide.” Many held banners reading “Sick of Rape.”
The protest came on the U.N.’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and is aimed at pressuring the French government before it unveils new measures Monday to tackle the problem.
The measures are expected to include seizing firearms from people suspected of domestic violence and prioritizing police training so they won’t brush off women’s complaints as a private affair.
Some of Saturday’s marchers want 1 billion euros in government investment, though the funding is expected to fall far short of that.
French activists have stepped up efforts this year to call attention to the problem, with an unusual campaign of gluing posters around Paris and other cities every time another woman is killed. The posters honor the women, and call for action. They also hold protests, lying down on the pavement to represent the slain women.
A 2014 EU survey of 42,000 women across all 28 member states found that 26% of French respondents said they been abused by a partner since age 15, either physically or sexually.
That’s below the global average of 30%, according to UN Women. But it’s above the EU average and the sixth highest among EU countries.
Half that number reported experiencing such abuse in Spain, which implemented a series of legal and educational measures in 2004 that slashed its domestic violence rates.
Conversations about domestic violence have also ratcheted up in neighboring Germany, where activists are demanding that the term “femicide” be used to describe such killings.
In France, lawyers and victims’ advocates say they’re encouraged by the new national conversation, which they say marks a departure from decades of denial. Women aren’t the only victims of domestic violence, but French officials say they make up the vast majority.
(NAIROBI, Kenya) — Kenya’s interior minister says 29 people have been killed in mudslides, among the 34 people overall who lost their lives Saturday amid flooding in the East Africa nation.
Heavy rains unleashed overnight floods in western Kenya. Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi said 17 people died in a mudslide in the village of Takmal in the Pokot Central district, while 12 others lost their lives in mudslides in the villages of Parua and Tapach in Pokot South.
Five other people died when their car was swept away on the road between Kitale and Lodwar after two rivers overflowed their banks, said West Pokot County Commissioner Apollo Okello.
West Pokot County Commissioner Apollo Okello said five other people died when their car was swept away on the road between Kitale and Lodwar after two rivers overflowed their banks.
Matiangi said the government sent military and police helicopters to help those affected by the floods, but the scope of the disaster was not yet clear.
“While rescue and recovery efforts remain the priority, a full assessment into the extent of damage caused continues to be a challenge due to harsh weather conditions,” he said.
More than 1 million people in East Africa have been affected by flooding after higher-than-normal rainfall. The latest deaths in Kenya bring to 72 the number of people who have died in a month and a half due to flooding-related causes.
The International Rescue Committee said this month that many people had been reeling from an earlier severe drought in the region. Now rains in parts of Somalia, South Sudan and Kenya are expected for four to six more weeks.
The torrential rain is uncommon for this time of year. Experts have said the changing weather patterns have a huge impact because close to 100% of Kenya’s agriculture is rain-fed.
(BAGHDAD) — Iraqi security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds of protesters Saturday, killing one person, in a third day of fierce clashes in central Baghdad, security and hospital officials said.
A protester was struck with a rubber bullet and died instantly and 12 others were wounded in the fighting on Rasheed Street, a famous avenue known for its old crumbling architecture and now littered with rubble from days of violence. Fifteen people have died and over 100 wounded in the renewed clashes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
At least 341 protesters have died in Iraq’s massive protests, which started on Oct. 1 when thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to decry corruption and lack of services despite Iraq’s oil wealth.
Separately, Iraq’s Parliament failed to hold a session Saturday due to lack of a quorum. Lawmakers were supposed to read reform bills introduced to placate protesters. The next session was postponed to Monday.
The fighting has centered on Rasheed Street and started on Thursday when protesters tried to dismantle a security forces barricade on the street, which leads to Ahrar Bridge, a span over the Tigris River that has been a repeated flashpoint. Security forces responded with barrages of tear gas and live ammunition.
The violence took off again Friday afternoon. Live rounds and tear gas cannisters were fired by security forces from behind a concrete barrier on Rasheed Street.
Protesters have occupied part of three bridges — Ahrar, Jumhuriya and Sinak — in a standoff with security forces. The bridges lead to the fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq’s government.
(ERBIL, Iraq) — Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Saturday in the highest-level American trip since President Donald Trump ordered a pullback of U.S. forces in Syria two months ago.
Flying in a C-17 military cargo jet to preserve the secrecy of the visit to the conflict zone, Pence landed in Erbil to meet with Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani. The visit was meant to reassure the U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State after Syrian Kurds suffered under a bloody Turkish assault last month following the Trump-ordered withdrawal.
Earlier Pence received a classified briefing at Iraq’s Al-Asad Air Base, from which U.S. forces launched the operation in Syria last month that resulted in the death of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and spoke by phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.
It was Pence’s second trip to the region in five weeks after Trump deployed him on whirling trip to Ankara, Turkey, last month to negotiate a cease-fire after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seized on the U.S. withdrawal to launch an assault on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. Trump’s move had sparked some of the most unified criticism of his administration to date, as lawmakers in both parties accused Trump of forsaking longtime Kurdish allies and inviting Russia and Iran to hold even greater sway in the volatile region.
Pence said he welcomes “the opportunity on behalf of President Donald Trump to reiterate the strong bonds forged in the fires of war between the people of the United States and the Kurdish people across this region.”
A senior U.S. official said Pence’s visit was meant both to reassure Iraqi Kurds who remain allied with the U.S. in the fight against IS, as well as Americans who have long supported the Kurdish cause, that the Trump administration remained committed to the alliance. The visit was also designed to show Pence’s focus on foreign policy as Washington is gripped by the drama of impeachment.
When the U.S. forces withdrew, Syria’s Kurds — seeking protection from their No. 1 enemy Turkey — invited Syrian government and Russian forces into parts of northeastern Syria where they had not set foot in years. More are now deploying along large parts of the border region under a Russian-Turkish deal, including to at least one former U.S. garrison in northern Syria.
The Ankara agreement required the Kurds to vacate a swath of territory in Syria along the Turkish border in an arrangement that largely solidified Turkey’s position and aimst.
Pence hailed the cease-fire as the way to end the bloodshed caused by Turkey’s invasion, though he remained silent on whether it amounted to a second abandonment of America’s former Kurdish allies, many of whom are branded as terrorists by Ankara. The deal includes a halt to American economic sanctions and no apparent long-term consequences for Turkey for its actions.
On Nov. 13, Trump feted Erdogan with a White House visit over the objection of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who argued Erdogan should be denied the honor of a West Wing visit in the aftermath of the invasion and because of his decision to purchase Russian-made surface-to-air missiles over the objection of NATO allies.
Barzani thanked Pence for the U.S. military support in the fight against ISIS, adding that his “visit at this particular time is an important indication of your continued support to Kurdistan and Iraq.”
Weeks after declaring the near-complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria, Trump decided that roughly 800 would stay to keep eastern Syria’s oil fields from falling back into the hands of the Islamic State.
Just years ago, the militant group seized control of vast stretches of Syria and Iraq, with its extremist ideology spreading from its self-declared “caliphate” across the globe. In March, American troops and Kurdish forces routed the last IS territorial holdings. But the militant group, which arose from the remnants of al-Qaida in Iraq after that group’s defeat by U.S.-led forces in 2008, has ambitions to regenerate again. And it remains a dangerous threat in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond.
Trump also agreed to keep about 150 U.S. troops at a base in southern Syria as a check on Iranian influence in the region.
While Trump has claimed that the U.S. was now “keeping” the oil, Pentagon officials indicated the U.S. presence is not intended to improve the oil infrastructure but to keep it in the hands of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Pence said the U.S. and Kurdish alliance was meant to ensure that IS or another extremist group “will not be able to gain a foothold in this region again.”
Pence, joined on the trip by his wife, Karen Pence, also greeted U.S. troops ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, serving turkey and accompaniments to hundreds of troops at the two locations.
“While you come from the rest of us, you’re the best of us,” Pence told service members in a dusty hangar at Al-Asad. He said the Trump administration is working to secure another pay increase for the armed services and suggested the ongoing impeachment inquiry in Washington was slowing the way.
“Partisan politics and endless investigations have slowed things down in D.C.,” Pence said.
Pence’s visit to Iraq comes as the country has been plagued by widespread anti-corruption protests. At least 320 protesters have been killed and thousands have been wounded since the unrest began on Oct. 1, when demonstrators took to the streets in Baghdad and across Iraq’s mainly Shiite south to decry rampant government malfeasance and a lack of basic services despite Iraq’s oil wealth. The protests have exposed long-simmering resentment at Iran’s influence in the country, with protesters targeting Shiite political parties and militias with close ties to Tehran.
Pence spoke by phone with Mahdi after the Iraqi leader declined an invitation to meet with Pence at the air base after security concerns prevented Pence from traveling into Baghdad. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller said Pence expressed support for a free, sovereign and independent Iraq — a subtle warning against Iranian influence in the country, which has weakened cooperation between the U.S. and Iraq.
Pence also encouraged the Iraqi government to show restraint with the protesters. According to one official, Mahdi expressed regret for the violence and cast it as growing pains for the country and its security services, more used to war than democratic protest.
Iraq’s government has struggled to respond to the protests, and recent efforts by Parliament to pass reform bills fell short of calming the unrest. Parliament convened on Tuesday and voted on a bill to cancel the financial privileges of officials and conducted a first reading of a much-anticipated electoral reform bill, but these did not appease protesters.
The leaderless, mass protests aim to sweep aside Iraq’s sectarian system imposed after the 2003 U.S. invasion and its political elite, including Mahdi, blamed for massive corruption.
U.S. officials assess that the protests won’t subside unless Mahdi’s government makes substantial concessions, potentially up to the resignation of the government and the calling of early elections.
Pence’s visit comes days after the release of hundreds of pages of purported Iranian intelligence documents detailing Iran’s extensive influence in Iraq.
The unprecedented leak of 700 pages of what appears to be Iranian intelligence cables shows Tehran’s efforts to embed itself in Iraq and co-opt the country’s leaders, including paying Iraqi agents working for the United States to switch sides and infiltrate every aspect of Iraq’s political, economic and religious life, according to a joint report by The New York Times and The Intercept.
The revelation came after dozens of demonstrators attacked the Iranian consulate in Karbala earlier in November, scaling concrete barriers and saying they rejected the influence of the neighboring country in Iraqi affairs.
The cables, written mainly in 2014-2015 at the height of the war against the Islamic State group after it seized large swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria, show heavy interference by Tehran to keep Baghdad a pliant client state.
___
Associated Press writer Samya Kullab in Baghdad contributed.
Danelly Estupiñán will never forget the first threats she received back in 2015. First came the text message declaring “Danelly, your end has come.” And then a distorted voice over the phone, repeating: “we know where you are”.
Since then, Estupiñán has been constantly followed, photographed and had her home broken into, in apparent retaliation for her human rights work defending black communities in Buenaventura, Colombia’s biggest Pacific port. “I don’t go out anymore… because wherever I go, they’re there,” she told Amnesty International in June, shortly before fleeing the country upon learning of a plot to kill her. “I have no social life, I have nothing.”
Having lost fathers, husbands and sons to years of bloodshed, women of African heritage like Estupiñán are taking on more active roles in defending their ancestral communities. Yet standing up to corporations and criminal organizations who seek to oversee development projects, mineral extraction and drug-trafficking in their territories has put them in the crosshairs.
Sunday is the third anniversary of the Peace Agreement that Colombia signed with the FARC guerrillas, but this has not quelled violence, with many other armed groups still competing for influence. Public anger at the government erupted into widespread mass demonstrations on Thursday, as hundreds of thousands of Colombians took to the streets. State security forces responded heavy handedly to protesters, who expressed their discontent over social reforms, the relentless killings of human rights defenders and the government’s failure to fully implement the terms of the Peace Agreement.
Colombia is the world’s deadliest country for human rights defenders, with Frontline Defendersregistering at least 126 killings there last year. It’s also home to 7.8 million internally displaced people, more than any other country, according to a 2018 UN report. Indigenous leaders comprise many of the victims, but black women are increasingly at risk in the western provinces where Colombia’s Afro-descendent population is concentrated.
Since taking office last year, President Iván Duque has strengthened specialist police units to protect human rights defenders and offered rewards for suspects wanted over killings. His government is providing protective measures for about 3,700 defenders but these have proven flawed and insufficient. State-provided cars and mobile phones are useless to people who cannot afford fuel or live in remote areas with no signal. Bulletproof vests are cumbersome and draw unwelcome attention, while panic buttons do not always draw quick enough responses from police to deter killers.
Estupiñán, a leader of the Afro-Colombian rights group Proceso de Comunidades Negras, is one of the most prominent activists in Buenaventura, a gritty, sweltering hub. In the last 20 years, Buenaventura’s Afro population has faced a wave of killings, torture, sexual violence and enforced disappearances at the hands of paramilitaries infamous for dismembering their victims.
Many in the black community believe the violence is a manifestation of structural racism and discrimination, aimed at driving them from the waterfront areas where they have lived for generations in stilted wooden huts, so the government and private developers can press ahead with plans to expand the port and build tourist infrastructure.
Estupiñán says “the violence is aimed at destroying the social fabric to create a weak community that can be controlled socially, culturally and politically.” Women are being targeted to prevent them from repairing that social fabric, she says, with paramilitaries using femicide and rape as systematic tools to control their territories and intimidate the population.
Many women displaced from black communities seek refuge in Cali, southwestern Colombia’s biggest city. Erlendy Cuero, vice-president of the National Association of Displaced Afro-descendants (Afrodes), fled Buenaventura in 2000 when her father was murdered, she was sexually assaulted, and her house was destroyed in a land dispute.
Cuero told Amnesty International she has suffered constant threats, harassment and break-ins at her modest redbrick home on the outskirts of Cali. Despite this, the government rejected her requests for protection until her brother Bernardo Cuero—another prominent human rights defender and Afrodes leader—was shot dead in 2017.
The authorities had provided Bernardo with protective measures but withdrew them against his wishes months before he was killed, having decided he was no longer at risk. Nine months later, gunmen also killed Bernardo’s son, Javier Cuero. Erlendy Cuero’s 21-year-old son, Alex, has been targeted too. He survived a shooting in 2016 and narrowly avoided a stabbing last year when his pet pit-bull fought off the assailant. Cuero believes the attacks against her family were a message to her to “keep quiet or we’ll hit you where it hurts the most.”
Francia Márquez, a Goldman prize-winning environmentalist, is also living in Cali after being displaced from her home in La Toma, a rural area two hours to the south, when gunmen came looking for her in 2014. Márquez told Amnesty International she began receiving threatening letters and phone calls in 2010, when she was defending La Toma against the devastating environmental and social impact of illegal mining. That year she won a case in Colombia’s Constitutional Court, which suspended concessions in the area belonging to the multinational AngloGold Ashanti.
“The armed groups said they were declaring us a military objective because we were blocking the entrance of multinationals and obstructing development. What development? Who’s the development for if my community doesn’t have clean water and we’re drinking water poisoned by mercury from the mining?” Márquez asks. “I can live without gold and jewels. I can’t live without water or food.” AngloGold has denied any link to the threats against Márquez and denounced a recent attempt on her life, when armed men opened fire and threw grenades at her during a meeting of black leaders at a farmhouse in May.
Many human rights defenders do not survive such attacks. In June, assassins on a motorcycle shot dead María Hurtado, another Afro leader, in the town of Tierralta. Hurtado had defended her community in a land dispute and had recently denounced threats from paramilitaries.
Instead of being assigned flawed protective measures on an individual and inconsistent basis, Colombia’s human rights defenders need comprehensive collective measures tailored to the specific needs of their communities and developed in accordance with their wishes. The government must also work to eradicate the corruption, impunity and stigmatization that fuel the marginalization and exploitation of Afro communities and the killings of those who defend their rights.
Undeterred by the threats against her, Márquez insists that women have a key role to play in the defense of human rights because their “caring instinct” drives them to protect not only their children, but also their territory, the environment and the people in their communities.
“We need to feminize politics and fill humanity with maternal love,” she says. “War has always been driven by machismo, by the patriarchy and by business between men. I think these men need to stop being so aggressive in life and think about feminizing themselves.”
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VLADIMIR Putin is getting ready for "state versus state war" after two Russian attack submarines were revealed to have carried out "duelling" exercises in waters north of Scotland, testing Britain's preparedness for war.
EGYPT archaeologist Dr Zahi Hawass has praised his Egyptian colleagues for their role in a recent discovery in the Valley of the Kings, adding it was the first of its kind.
IRAN has threatened to wipe out key US bases in the Middle East in just seven minutes according to a sickening animation of the attack broadcast on Iranian state television.
IRAN has started major war games as the US military creeps through their shores in the latest sign tensions between the two nations have tipped boiling point.
VICE president Mike Pence visited Iraq to to reassure Iraqi Kurds of US support after Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria drew criticism that Washington had betrayed its Kurdish allies there.
Did you know that 88% of customers won't return to a website if they have a bad experience? Whether your site continually crashes or your media won't load, bad user experience can result in decreased website and app traffic and even sales loss. But user experience encompasses more factors than just the general performance of your website and app. With technology increasing every year, it's important to implement some of these tech advances toward your website and app. These technology advances improve your user's experience and inspire them to come back to your website. Here are 9 UX trends and
The average business spends between 40% and 80% of gross annual income and employee wages. While your employees are an integral part of your business success, there are ways your staff can take advantage of you. Time theft is one of the most common examples. Time theft is when an employee receives payment for work or time that they did not do. The most common example is when the employee is clocked in but doesn't work. Instead, they perform another task, take a break while still clocked in, or are just lazy while on the clock. Your staff member can
35% of small businesses are an LLC. Are you ready to start your own business? You probably think forming an LLC is the smartest way to legally operate your business. There's a good reason why an LLC is a popular business entity to create. The LLC process is easy, affordable, and your business receives plenty of protection. But LLCs differ from other business entities in many ways, from the formation to the operation and even the taxation. How does an LLC work? How do you apply for one? This guide offers a look at forming a limited liability company, the
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MPSC PSI Result 2019 @ mpsc.gov.in | Check (Police Sub Inspector, State Tax Inspector, Assistant Section Officer) Result Here:The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) is going to announce the MPSC PSI Exam Result in the November 2019 (Tentatively). The MPSC has conducted the Examination for various Posts like PSI, STI, and ASO from 28th July to 24th August 2019. So the candidates who have participated in the Mains & Paper-II examination are eagerly waiting for the result. All those participated applicants can check your result from the direct link provided below in the table.
MPSC PSI Result 2019 @ mpsc.gov.in
All the Candidates can check your MPSC PSI Results 2019 from this article. We have updated the latest result link and it will activate Soon. Along with the results, candidates can download your MPSC PSI Final Result, MPSC PSI Mains Result Cut off Marks, Merit List from this page. Applicants should check the MPSC PSI Departmental Result to attend the next level of the selection process. This is a Mains Exam, so applicants should clear this Written Examination to attend the Personal Interview. If the candidates clear the Mains Exam, they will receive the Call letter for the Personal Interview. Candidates can get MPSC Online PSI Result, just by clicking the below link provided in the table.
MPSC Mains (PSI, STI, ASO) Result 2019 | Overview
MPSC PSI Mains Result 2019 | Check Maharashtra STI, ASO Cut Off Marks, Merit List
Description
Details
Organization Name
Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC)
Post Name
Police Sub Inspector, State Tax Inspector, Assistant Section Officer
Main Exam (Combined paper-I): 28th July 2019 PSI Paper-II: 4th August 2019 STI Paper-II: 11th August 2019 ASO Paper-II: 24th August 2019
Result Release Date
November 2019 (Tentatively)
Selection Process
Written Test, Interview
Job Location
Maharashtra
Official Website
mpsc.gov.in
All the applicants who have participated in the MPSC PSI Recruitment 2019 can get the highlighted points from the above table. Candidates can check your MPSC PSI Results 2019 from the below link. Also, we have provided a direct link for the MPSC PSI Main Exam Result. Even we have given an MPSC PSI Final Result 2019 Pdf from the below link. The MPSC PSI Selection process contains the Mains Exam and Personal Interview.
MPSC Mains Cut Off Marks 2019 @ mpsc.gov.in
MPSC Mains Cut Off Marks 2019 are decided by the MPSC Department. Along with the above-given conditions, aspirants should secure minimum qualified marks in the written test. Then the participant is called for the next level of the selection process. To select for the next level of the interview process, aspirants have to be eligible for the conditions given below
Candidates category (General, OBC, SC, ST)
Analysis based upon the previous year cut off marks
The number of participants attended the written exam
The number of seats available for the post.
MPSC Mains Merit List 2019 – PSI, STI, ASO
Candidates with top marks in the Police Sub Inspector, State Tax Inspector, Assistant Section Officer Exam are entered into the MPSC Merit List 2019. Participants are shortlisted based upon the performance level in the MPSC Mains Exam 2019 for the PSI, ASO, STI Examination 2019 and filtered according to the highest marks. You can check the MPSC Mains Merit List 2019 after the announcement of the MPSC PSI Mains Result 2019.
How to check MPSC PSI Mains Result 2019?
Candidates must visit the official website of Maharashtra Public Service Commission @ mpsc.gov.in
On the right side of the home page, click on the "Results" Tab.
Then, search for the link related to download MPSC Mains PSI Result 2019 and click on that link.
Enter the details of the aspirant provided in the MPSC PSI Mains Admit Card 2019 and click on the submit button.
Download the MPSC STI, ASO, PSI Mains Result 2019 of the aspirant.
Download the MPSC PSI Mains Result for further reference.
Mumbai University Results 2019 declared for Master Of Engineering on 22nd November 2019. Check out the updated Mumbai University Semester wise Exam results 2019-20 details from the below section. We have updated the University Exam Results from the official website. As the University Board has released the first half 2019 results. The current page is fully equipped with the results of all courses like T.Y.B.A., B.Arch, M.A and soon. Hence, Check other information on Mumbai University Results in the below sections of this page. Check out more information on the official website i.e,mu.ac.in.
Latest Results Update: University of Mumbai (MU) has Declared Result of B.Sc 5th Sem Exam Results
Mumbai University Exam Results 2019-20
As that the University of Mumbai has released the semester wise examination results through Pdf format. Those candidates who wish to check down their results can check it out here. The Mumbai University has updated the results for BACHELOR OF COMMERCE (BANKING & INSURANCE) (SEM.VI) (CBSGS) on 22nd November 2019 as a recent update. Students of Mumbai University check the updated and previously released examination results from the below section. Also, stay in touch with our page to get the recent updates about Mumbai University.
Mumbai University is one of the oldest universities in Maharashtra & Mumbai city as well. It was established on 18th July 1857. The Mumbai University is also known for MU. Most of the people usually called it as MU. It offers Bachelor’s, Master & Doctoral courses. along with these courses, it also offers Diploma courses, Certificate courses in multiple disciplines like Arts, Commerce, Science, Medical & Engineering. The Mumbai University has 3 main campuses across Mumbai city and one it out of the city. wherein the Fort campus carries out only administrative works. There are 711 colleges affiliated to the university as per the 2011 census. But it increased to 762 now.
When we discuss Key people of the university, The Honorable Governor of Maharashtra giving services as Chancellor of the university. While Mr.Suhas Pednekar is Vice-Chancellor of the Mumbai University. get more information related to Mumbai University here.
Mumbai University Revaluation Exam Results 2019-20
Candidates of Mumbai University those who have undergone the Semester Examination for the courses conducted by the University it time for you check out exam results. Students who failed in the regular examination can go for the second chance which is called Revaluation Results. This revaluation results will also help in increasing the scorecard obtained in the regular examination. This Revaluation is only for those who wish that their examination paper should be evaluated once again. As soon as the main exam results are released the University Board will announce the revaluation dates. Students those wish can apply for the revaluation. Do have a regular update with the official website of the University as that the Mumbai University Board releases the Revaluation Results within a few week’s interval gaps.
HP Patwari Result 2019 to be released soon for the Patwari Post @ www.himachal.nic.in. Check and download Cut off Marks, Merit List Here. Many Candidates have participated in the Combined Screening test and eagerly waiting for the HP Patwari Result 2019. The Himachal Pradesh Department of Revenue Board has conducted the Combined Screening Test on 17th November 2019. The HP Patwari Result is expected to be released in the December 2019 (Tentative).So, all the aspirants can check the HP Revenue Patwari Result 2019 Release Date from this webpage.
HP Patwari Result 2019- Download here
The Himachal Pradesh Department of Revenue will announce the Himachal Pradesh Patwari results as soon as possible on their official website www.himachal.nic.in. A huge number of candidates appeared for the written exam on 17th November 2019. All the aspirants are waiting for HP Patwari Combined Screening Test Result 2019. Moreover, the result will be released in December 2019. Hence, you can check the shortlisted aspirants for the post of Patwari. Here, we will update the latest result link, and the result link will be activated at the time of the official announcement. The Applicants can also check cut off Marks and Merit List here. So, participants Vist our page frequently.
Candidates can have information about the results, cut off marks, and merit list here. To check results candidates should have their roll number and password along with them. Himachal Pradesh Department of Revenue will be releasing the HP Patwari final exam result based on the performance of the candidates. Here on this page candidates can get the HP Patwari Expected Cut off 2019 from the below sections. The selection process is based on the Combined Screening Test.
Himachal Pradesh Patwari 2019 Cut Off Marks District Wise
All the aspirants can have detailed information about HP Revenue Patwari Cut Off Marks 2019. The Himachal Pradesh Department of Revenue has not yet released the exact cutoff marks. The board of higher authority will be releasing the HP Patwari District Wise Cut Off Marks 2019 according to the categories of the aspirants SC, ST, BC, OC. The cutoff marks play an essential role in every participant life. 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.
Expected Cut Off Marks
Category Name
Cut off Marks
General
75-88
OBC
75-82
SC
70-79
ST
65-72
PWD
70-74
Check HP Patwari Merit List Pdf
In this section, the applicants can know more clearly about the Himachal Pradesh Revenue Patwari Merit List PDF. Generally, the authority will announce the Merit after releasing the Result. The contenders who score maximum marks in all the sections will be listed on the merit list. Here you can check and download your HP Revenue Patwari Merit List from this page. We will update the latest information on our web page. In the upcoming section, we have given the stepwise procedure to check the HP Patwari Result 2019.
How to check the Himachal Pradesh (HP) Patwari Result 2019 Online?
Initially, applicants can visit the official website of the Himachal Pradesh Department of Revenue @ www.himachal.nic.in.
The Homepage Appears on the Screen.
Then Scroll down the homepage, you will get the latest announcement.
Then search for the HP Patwari Result 2019 for the combined screening test.
And Click on the link and download the HP Patwari Exam Result 2019 PDF
UBTER Group D Result 2019 @ ubter.in | Check Uttarakhand BTER Class 4 Exam Result here. Welcome to our UBTER Group D Result Page. Here we will help you find all the UBTER Group D Exam Result. The Uttarakhand Board of Technical Education is planning to release UBTER Group D Result 2019 in the month of November 2019. The UBTER Officials have conducted the UBTER Group D Exam on 20th October 2019. So all those participants can check and download your result from this page.
UBTER Group D Result 2019 – Download Here
The Uttarakhand Board of Technical Education officials will soon announce the UBTER Group D Exam Result 2019 on official website ubter.in. A huge number of applicants have written the UBTER Group D Exam for 401 Class IV Posts on 20th October 2019. All the exam participants are waiting for the UBTER Group D Class IV Exam Result 2019. Here we will be updating the latest Uttarakhand BTER Class 4 Exam Result 2019 link, and the link will activate at the time of the official announcement. Along with the result, applicants can check UBTER Group D Class 4 Result 2019 from the below sections.
Uttarakhand BTER Class 4 Exam Result 2019 – Overview
UBTER Group D 2019 Result | Check Class 4 Cut Off Marks, Merit List
Candidates have to score 50% for the General/EwS category and 45% for SC/ST/OBC in the written examination to be listed in the UBTER Group D merit list. Check the schedule regarding the UBTER Group D Class 4 Result 2019 link from below. Here we have provided some easy steps to download your UBTER Group D Exam Result 2019. Applicants can download the Group D Recruitment in State Judiciary Uttarkhand (Civil & Family Courts) Exam Answer Key from the below link. Applicants can get more details about Uttarakhand High Court Group D Result 2019 from this page.
UBTER Group D Merit List 2019
All the applicants who have appeared for UBTER Written Examination for Group D Posts can check the Uttarakhand UBTER Group D Qualified List 2019 from the official website. The UBTER Merit List 2019 will be provided on the basis of qualified candidates. The Merit List will contain the Roll number & date of birth. Hence, Any of the aspirants whose scores are capable enough to meet the specified qualifying marks are eligible.
UBTER Group D Class 4 Cut Off Marks 2019
The UBTER Cut Off Marks 2019 means the Uttarakhand Board of Technical Education authority will fix the minimum marks that need to be scored by the candidates to get qualified in the exam. Officials will decide the Cut off marks based on the UBTER Group D Class IV Exam Result 2019. Those qualified aspirants can move to the next level rounds. Officials will release the UBTER Group D Class 4 Cut Off Marks 2019 on the official website. The UBTER Cut Off Marks 2019 will be decided based on the
Number of the candidates appear for the exam,
Number of Vacancies available,
Previous year cut off marks and
Candidates category.
How to check the UBTER Group D Exam Result 2019?
Initially, applicants can visit the official website of Uttarakhand Board of Technical Education, ubter.in
On the home page, click on the UBTER Group D Class IV Exam Result 2019 link
Click on the Result link and check your result
Then finally the UBTER Results 2019 will display on your screen.
Beltron Result 2019 – Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. (BELTRON), Patna has declared CBT Exam results for the post of Data Entry Operator. Those Candidates who have been appeared for the Examination can check the results from the official website i.e, bsedc.bihar.gov.in. Beltron DEO CBT Exam Results has been published on 11th June 2019. For your comfort, we furnished a direct link at the end of this page to download the Beltron DEO CBT Exam Results 2019.
Beltron Result 2019 @ bsedc.bihar.gov.in
A large number of applicants have appeared in the examination and now they are eagerly waiting for the result. For all the applicants we are providing a direct link to check your DEO CBT Exam Results 2019. The computer-based online test (CBT) has successfully conducted on 26th, 27th, and 28th February 2019 in Patna at various examination centers for those who have done Registration Online or through BKC/BKS. The BELTRON DEO Score Card 2019 for the candidates who were appeared in the written test on 27th & 28th February has been published category wise.
Beltron DEO CBT Exam Results 2019 – Details
Description
Details
Organization Name
Bihar State Electrical Development Corporation Limited
The final BELTRON Result of DEO 2019 has been announced. Applicants anyone can check and download the results from the official website as well as on this page. Here we have provided a direct link to download your Beltron DEO CBT Exam Results 2019. Without any hesitation, Candidates can click on the link provided below in the table to verify their results. The result plays an important role for those applicants who had appeared for the examination. However, by checking the Results, can find the Applicants performance in the Examination.
If the Candidate who secure highest marks only available in DEO Merit List 2019 PDF. However, the Candidate who is unable to get maximum marks those Registration Number/Name is not Consider in BELTRON DEO Final Selection List 2019-20. The Final Provisional List will be declared for BELTRON Programmer Jobs based on the Written Exam and Skill Test. So, Candidate must qualify in examination also get merit Marks. Finally, Stay with us for regular Updates regarding BELTRON DEO Results 2019-20.
Beltron Cut off Marks 2019
All the Candidates who appeared in DEO Test must Clear Minimum Cut off Marks. The BELTRON DEO Cut off Marks varies according to Category wise. So, for that concern, you must clear individual cut off Marks to move to further selection Procedure. The Minimum Qualifying Marks for Programmer Written Examination are 40% for OCs, 35% for BCs and 30% for SCs / STs / Ex-Servicemen. Those Candidates who clear BELTRON Programmer Category Cutoff Marks will intimate to select based on merit marks.
Steps to download BELTRON DEO Results 2019
Visit the official website of Bihar State Electrical Development Corporation Limited i.e, www.bsedc.bihar.gov.in
In the Home page, you can see the Notice & Circular
In that click on the Result of existing DEOs 2nd CBT (exam held in Jan-Feb 2019)
A new page will be open with BELTRON DEO Results 2019 pdf file
Applicants can check their results with Name & Roll number
Download or take a Print out of the Pdf file for further reference.
Calicut University Results 2019 Released @ uoc.ac.in– Calicut Universityis one of the famous university in Kerala which releases the examination results by the board. Updated Calicut University Results released on 22nd November 2019 for Semester wise Bachelor & Master Degree Exams. Here we provide all the Courses Results according to the semester wise. Candidates do check complete section to know the Updated Calicut University Exam Results 2019.
Calicut University Results 2019-20
Calicut University (CU) is one of the top universities in India. Around 373 colleges are affiliated to the University of Calicut which has an annual intake of 100000 students. The University conducts exams for the students who are pursuing their UG, PG Programme, Ph.D. Programming Courses. Candidates can get the updated University results from the below page which will direct you to the official site. Earlier CU had declared M.Com 2nd Sem Results. Candidates can check their results of all exams from the direct link given below. Here you will find the direct link to check Calicut University Exam Result 2019.
Latest University of Calicut Exam Results 2019-20
Examination Name
Release Date
Results Link
II Semester M.A. Philosophy (CCSS) Examination 4/2019
The University of Calicut is the largest University in Kerala. Established in the year 1968, it is the second university to be set up in Kerala. The University aims to nurture excellence in education and research in its catchment areas of Northern Kerala, historically consigned to the periphery of Kerala's academic map. Calicut University lays its emphasis on fostering quality human resource and promoting productive research that benefits both local communities and wider humanity. The University created through a Government plan bifurcating Kerala University. As per the plan, the four post-graduate departments of the University of Kerala operating in Calicut annexed to the new University along with fifty four constituent colleges spread across seven northern districts.
University of Calicut Regular/ Supplementary Result
Students, those who have not cleared or got low marks in the University examinations can apply for the Revaluation. This is is a second chance for the students to increase their marks in subjects in which they have scored low marks. If students have written the main exam well and still got a low score or having doubts in the correction of the exam paper it is a choice to increase their marks. Currently, the Calicut University has released the revaluation results for UG, PG with all-region Students. So Students can check the Revaluation results from the official website as well as on this. We have provided a direct link to get the Supply/Revaluation Results.
Dear Aspirants !! Are you searching for OSSSC Junior Clerk Syllabus 2019? It is the right destination to download the Odisha SSSC Junior Clerk Syllabus 2019 to prepare well for the examination. Odisha Sub-Ordinate Staff Selection Commission Officials are going to conducting the Written Examinationon 08th December 2019 for recruiting various Junior Clerk and Junior Assistant posts. So, Interested candidates use this amazing opportunity to achieve their dream job through the OSSSC Recruitment 2019.
Candidates need to know all the topics for the examination to start the preparation. By knowing the contents of the Odisha SSSC Junior Clerk Syllabus 2019, the contenders can understand how to prepare for the Examination. All the candidates need to secure the highest marks in the examination. Getting a job in the Odisha Sub-Ordinate Staff Selection Commission is a hard task for all. So, aspirants have to use this wonderful chance to participate in the written Examination. Aspirants can start their exam preparation with the help of the Odisha SSSC Junior Clerk Exam Pattern2019 and the Syllabus.
To make your examination preparation easy, we have also provided the OSSSC Junior Clerk Exam Pattern 2019 on this page. Based on your preparation, you will score good marks in the Odisha SSSC Junior Clerk Examination. Aspirants can go through the Odisha SSSC Junior ClerkExam Pattern 2019 for Junior Clerk/Junior Assistant Post tabulated in the below section.
Odisha SSSC Junior Clerk Exam Pattern 2019-20
Odisha SSSC Junior Clerk Written Examination Pattern 2019
Paper
Name of the subject
Number of Marks
Time Duration
Paper-I
Language Test (English & Odia)
85
150 minutes
Paper-II
General Knowledge
100
Paper-I
Mathematics
100
180 minutes
Paper-II
Basic Computer Skills
100
Total
385
330 minutes
Odisha SSSC Junior Clerk Practical Skill Test 2019
Name of the subject
Number of Marks
Time Duration
Essay and letter writing in Odia
15
30 minutes
Basic Computer Skills
50
60 minutes
Selection Procedures:
To hold a position in Odisha SSSC as Junior Clerk/Junior Assistant posts aspirants must qualify in the following selection process. All the applied candidates must know that the selection rounds given below.
Written Examination
Practical Skill Test
Download OSSSC Junior Clerk Syllabus 2019-20 PDF
Odisha SSSC English Language Test Syllabus
Verbs
Tenses
Active and Passive Voice
Subject-verb Agreement
Connectors
Types of Sentences
Direct and Indirect Speech
Comparison
Odisha Language Test Syllabus 2019
Grammar
Translation (One English passage of around 100 words to be translated into Odia)
HPU Result 2019 Declared @ hpuniv.ac.in – 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 Ph.D. 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.
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.
TNMGRMU Results 2019 – Dear Folks!! Here we have a piece of good news for you. Yes, The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University has published the results for various Courses. The University recently released the results for Diploma in various departments, B.Sc, B.O.T, B.Pharm, M.D/M.S, and other results are available here. Students who are studying under The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University can check their TNMGRMU Results from the official website of the University i.e, tnmgrmu.ac.in. Also, we provide all the Regular, Supplementary and the Revaluation Results from this article. Moreover, you can obtain your TN Dr. MGR Medical University Results regarding the Dental, Medical, Allied Health Sciences, and the Distance Education Result all in one place.
TNMGRMU Results 2019 @tnmgrmu.ac.in
Dr. MGR Medical University Results in 2019 of Dental, Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, Allied Health Sciences and Ph.D. announced. All the candidates who have attended these examinations can check out this website. Here, on this page, we have included all the regular, supplementary and revaluation exam results easily. Here on this page, we have provided the direct link to download and verify the TNMGRMU Results from the below table. Also, we will be updating the Upcoming TNMGRMU Results link, it will work once the University will announce the results officially. In fact, Students can get the Result links, and the download process of the Dr. MGR Medical University Results 2018 -19 on this page. Furthermore, refer to our official site to know other University Result Details all in one place.
Latest TNMGRMU Exam Results 2019
Results – Allied Health Sciences
Name of the Exam
Release Date
Download Link
B.Sc. in Operation Theatre & Anesthesia Technology
The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, or TNMGRMU for short, is a government medical university centered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is named after the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. M.G.Ramachandran (M.G.R.) and is the second-largest health sciences university in India. The University offers undergraduate qualifications in medicine (MBBS), dentistry (BDS), Nursing, Allied health professions, and Indigenous Medicine. It also provides postgraduate courses in various medical and dental subspecialties. The university is planning to set up a 500-bedded hospital on four acres of land on the outskirts of the Raj Bhavan campus, with 300 beds set to be installed in the first year.
TNMGRMU 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 Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical 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 TNMGRMU Results 2019.
UP ITI Result 2019 – Get UP ITI SCVT & NCVT 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Semester Exam Results here @ admissionscvtup.in 2019 – Uttar Pradesh UP SCVT/ VPPUP ITI has announced the Fourth Round Allotment Result for the ITI Govt. and Private Admission in Various Trades 2019. Those candidates who have applied for this Exam Can Download Result from the below link. Applicants can find the quick link to access your UP ITI Fourth Round Seat Allotment. The result link has activated for both Government and Private colleges, applicants need to enter the Registration number and Date of Birth.
Latest Update 23rd November 2019:UP ITI Result for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Semester exams will be announced soon. Students can keep track of this page for more latest updates.
UP ITI SCVT NCVT 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Semester Result 2019– UP ITI result for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th semester of NCVT and SCVT programs for 2019 Announced. Separate results have published for ITI courses offered under NCVT and SCVT. The UP ITI Result 2019 published on separate dates on the official website of UP SCVT. After the publication of UP ITI Results, we have updated the result link. Applicants can get a direct link from the table to get your SCVT NCVT 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Semester Results.
UP ITI SCVT & NCVT 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Semester Result
UP ITI SCVT NCVT 1st Semester Result 2019 – Click Here UP ITI SCVT NCVT 2nd Semester Result 2019 – Click Here UP ITI SCVT NCVT 3rd Semester Result 2019 – Click Here UP ITI SCVT NCVT 4th Semester Result 2019 – Click Here
UP ITI 4th Round Seat Allotment Result 2019Declared– SCVTUP has announced UP ITI Fourth Merit List/List of selected candidates for the 4th round counseling on 12th September 2019. All candidates who will participate in 04th round counseling will be able to check their name in the 04th round college allotment result. All candidates are advised to stay in touch with this page for more latest updates. All those Students can check UP ITI Counselling 2019 Result from the direct link. Students are just by clicking one direct link UP VPPUP ITI Result 2019 to know your status.
UP ITI 4th Round Seat Allotment Result 2019 – Govt College
UP ITI 3rd Round Seat Allotment Result 2019 – SCVTUP has announced UP ITI Third Merit List/List of selected candidates for the 03rd round counseling. All candidates who will participate in 03rd round counseling will be able to check their name in the 03rd round college allotment result. As per the latest update, UP ITI 03rd Round Seat Allotment Result 2019 has announced on 29thAugust 2019. All candidates are advised to stay in touch with this page for more latest updates. All those Students can check UP ITI Counselling 2019 Result from the direct link. Students are just by clicking one direct link UP VPPUP ITI Result 2019 to know your status.
UP ITI 02nd Round Seat Allotment Result 2019 – SCVTUP will soon announce UP ITI Second Merit List/List of selected candidates for the 2nd round counseling. All candidates who will participate in 2nd round counseling will be able to check their name in 2nd round college allotment results are now waiting for the 2nd Merit List. As per the latest update, UP ITI 2nd Round Seat Allotment Result 2019 will be announced in August 2019. All candidates are advised to stay in touch with this page for more latest updates. All those Students can check UP ITI Counselling 2019 Result from the direct link. Students are just by clicking one direct link UP VPPUP ITI Result 2019 to know your status.
UP ITI 01st Round Seat Allotment Result 2019 – To get an Admission for UP ITI Students have appeared for the Counselling process of UP ITI Seat Allotment. And currently the UP SCVT ITI Admission 2019 officials have released the UP ITI Seat Allotment Result 2019 for the first round. The UP ITI Admission 2019 Team has released the UP ITI Seat Allotment 2019 for the Government and Private Colleges on 27th July 2019. All those Students can check UP ITI Counselling 2019 Result from the direct link. Students are just by clicking one direct link UP VPPUP ITI Result 2019 to know your status.
Candidates those who have appeared for the UP ITI Counselling 2019 can check your First round seat allotment result from the below link. Moreover, applicants can get the complete UP ITI Seat Allotment 2019 from the official website admissionscvtup.in 2019. In addition to this here we have mentioned the UP ITI Merit List 2019 Date, UP ITI First Round Seat Allotment result date, UP ITI Registration @www.vppup.in link. We advise the Students to keep track of this page to get the Second, Third, Fourth & other Round Seat Allotment Result. Because we will update the latest result link it will activate after the announcement of the Result.
UP ITI Cut off 2019 will play an important role in the UP ITI Admission 2019, because based on the UP ITI Cut off marks students will get the seat allotment. If the Students get the UP ITI Cut off 2019 then students can select the colleges by their choice. The officials will announce the Cutoff marks and which is based on some categories. All those students may get the UP ITI Merit List. This will be based on the VPPUP Merit list & cut off marks. If the applicants get the high Cut off marks, applicants’ names will attain into the Merit list.
UP ITI Merit List | UP VPPUP ITI Result
Students will be called for the Counselling process based on the UP ITI Merit List 2019. If the applicants get secured top 10 UP ITI Merit List 2018-19, they can attend the Counselling process. Also, Students can choice filling the application form for the Colleges. Applicants can get the UP ITI Admission 2019 easily with the UP ITI Merit List. Students should attend the counseling process with the ITI Certificate Download. Although here we have given some steps to download UP ITI First Round Seat Allotment Result.
How to check the UP ITI First Round Seat Allotment?
Initially visit the official website of the State and Private I.T.I. Entry i.e, admissionscvtup.in
On the home page click on the Seat allocation process
A new page will be open, in that click on the link UP ITI Seat Allotment Result 2019
UP ITI First Round Seat Allotment page will be open,
Enter the registration number and Date of Birth to get यूपी आईटीआई परिणाम 2019
Applicants can check and download the results for further reference.
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Generational shift plays out in multiple ways. In 2017, Mumbai-based Ajit Singh Ahluwalia, 34, saw it in his father's eyes."Really? You don't have to pay anything for it and it works?" Ahluwalia senior was in disbelief as he asked his son, the managing director of Surindra Engineering, a Rs 200 crore company which is a 50-year-old family business that makes steel pipes for the oil, gas and water sectors. The younger Ahluwalia was elaborating to his father about GlobalLinker, a B-to-B global networking and transaction platform, which helps MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) do business efficiently by creating company websites and digital product catalogues, connecting them with suppliers and customers globally and offering range of services from insurance to logistics.A shift is happening at MSMEs like Surindra Engineering as they change the way they do business, pushed forward by ambition and technology. It has been a harrowing time for the sector that was pummelled by demonetisation and the goods and services tax (GST). But a digital wave and formalisation could see the dismantling of old practices and the emergence of companies that are sturdier and stronger, looking to scale and grow. 72200593 Sameer Vakil, cofounder of Mumbai-based GlobalLinker, which has 2.7 lakh MSMEs from 150 countries on its platform, says, "MSMEs are fragmented and don't have economies of scale. Our platform helps aggregate demand and bring scale and efficiencies to a segment that never had it."While GlobalLinker is free, it takes a commission on the businesses that companies bag on its site. "On services like insurance & logistics, I found them 5-8% cost effective," says Ahluwalia. "On products, they are even better. The best is that they are a one-stop shop for everything." 72200598 Recently, he became an exclusive distributor in India of a Spanish firm called Cevisa that makes bevelling machines, for which GlobalLinker helped generate 40 overseas inquiries. Ahluwalia wants to move up the value expand geographically and grow Demonetisation and GST hit many hard. But they are bouncing back. We are now seeing many becoming more productive. We, too, have big growth plans," he says.In the MSME world of gloom and doom today, Ahluwalia's is a rare story. Even as India Inc hurts, MSMEs — at the bottom of the business pyramid — are the worst-affected. Small, unorganised and under the radar, they are often invisible, but their stress is evident. Demonetisation triggered it. And a slew of NDA government's formalisation moves, including GST, proved fatal for many. 72200602 SME Chamber of India says 9 lakh MSMEs shut down in the last 18 months alone. The distress reverberates across India's economic landscape, culling jobs and hitting consumption.Big ChurnCould this bleakness have a silver lining? India's 75 million MSMEs play a critical role in economic growth and employment. They contribute $1,183 billion to India's GDP and create 180 million jobs. Yet, their world has always stood on shaky foundations. Only about 7 million are registered. About 97 per cent companies are small, employing less than 10 workers, with the biggest chunk having just one to three workers. For instance, hawkers and roadside vendors. About 96 per cent have no access to formal finance. 72200608 Suboptimal and cash-driven, Indian MSMEs are dominated by what this year's Economic Survey calls "dwarfs" — small, weak enterprises that will never grow. Half of India's labour force is self-employed, stuck in low-productivity jobs, barely able to make ends meet. Not surprisingly, on productivity, India scores poorly vis-a-vis countries like the US and Mexico (See chart, Land of Dwarfs). Only 3 per cent of MSMEs are competitive or have the bandwidth to export, says Praveen Bhadada, partner, Zinnov.A slew of structural shifts — GST, digitisation, policy resets, generational change in family enterprises and low-cost technology tools — are changing the MSME world. These factors could help move it to the next orbit. 72200613 "Indian MSMEs are not fit and productive. Let's accept that. Think of this difficult phase as a churn, a renewal process. It is painful but will help set us on a stronger growth path," says Samir Sathe, executive vice president of Advantage India, Wadhwani Foundation, which works closely with MSMEs to build capacity. "The biggest shift is in the owners' mindset. Young and ambitious, they don't want to do business old-style," adds Sathe.Digitisation is helping solve many chronic issues like financing. Take Tushar Anand, 24, who set up his enterprise Pizza on My Plate in NCR last year. Starting an outlet costs about Rs 10 lakh. "But I didn't have that kind of money," he says.Straight out of college, he decided to pursue an asset-lite model. He enrolled on Zomato platform and took space in its cloud kitchen on a revenueshare basis. Getting credit, though, proved to be an enormous challenge. "No bank would give credit to a firm that was under three years old," recalls Anand. NBFCs offered credit at an unaffordable 18 per cent interest rate. 72200616 At that time, a fintech startup Indifi came to Anand's rescue. Based on a three-way agreement between Zomato, Pizza on My Plate and Indifi, the latter offered Anand a Rs 35 lakh working capital loan at an annual rate of 10-11 per cent . "RBI sub-committee's recent report on MSMEs has some fantastic suggestions. They have thought through issues like financing that MSMEs face. If implemented, they can be game-changers for the sector," says Alok Mittal, cofounder, Indifi. Meanwhile, Anand operates out of two kitchens and has three outlets in NCR. In the second year, he hopes to log an annual turnover of Rs 5 crore.Even as digitisation and automation wave swept through large enterprises, with technology tools like ERP (enterprise resource planning), these remained out of bound for financially stretched MSMEs.Companies from Amazon, Facebook, Cisco and Google to KhataBook, Rivigo, Tally and Zoho are offering a range of free or low-cost, or pay-peruse tech tools to MSMEs. "SMEs have emerged as one of the fastest growing customer segments in India," says Chandra Balani, head, geographic incubation (India & SAARC), Amazon Internet Services. Bhadada estimates that MSMEs' digital adoption offers a $26 billion-plus business opportunity in India today, which will likely cross $80 billion by 2024. 72200620 Aman Jain of the two-decade-old Aman Enterprises, a wholesale lubricant distributor in NCR, began using KhataBook in April this year. "I downloaded it from the Play Store. I wanted to upgrade from the old way of doing business," says Jain, 22. Maintaining a physical ledger and keeping track of bills and payments of over 150 customers were difficult even with five dedicated employees.Now he has all the information he needs realtime on his mobile phone. The app also sends automatic reminders to his customers about payments. "Earlier, everything was in the bahi in my office and it was a time-consuming process. Now, both my customers and I have the information we need," he says. As a result, receivable recovery time has improved from an average of three months to one month.Ravish Naresh, cofounder of KhataBook, says it has 3 million monthly active users from over 3,000 cities, who transact business worth Rs 20,000 crore. "Most of our users have just started using internet for business and are using our app to become efficient and automate processes." In the next 12 months, Naresh is targeting a user base of 25 million and monthly transactions worth Rs 200,000 crore on his platform. 72200629 "GST rollout was an important inflection point," says Tejas Goenka, managing director, Tally Solutions. Founded in 1989, Tally is a Bengaluru-based company offering software suite to companies. Before GST, it had a customer base of 1 million. After GST, its paid subscribers have surged to 2 million. Multiple factors like complicated GST, Jio's cheap data and low-cost smartphones are driving adoption, he says. "Indian SMEs have poor control over their customers and supply chain. Slowly, they are discovering the benefits of automation. This will drive adoption," he says.Vidit Aatrey, cofounder of Meesho, is pushing MSME digitisation at another level. Meesho enables social commerce through platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook and has enabled 2 million SMBs to start business on its platform with virtually no capex. Many of them are first-time entrepreneurs and over 80 per cent are women. Meesho offers a range of onlineoffline training on how to market, get customers and manage accounts, handholding the entrepreneurs at every step. "Recently, we made our first investment in Meesho to support women entrepreneurs," says Archana Vohra, director (SMB), Facebook India.Enabling EnvironmentChanges at two other levels are catalysing shifts in the MSME world. Historically, perverse government incentives kept MSMEs small. For example, firms with over 100 employees need government nod before shedding staff. A plethora of laws and compliances — from the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, to Trade Union Act, 1926, Factories Act, Contract Labour Act, 1970, and Minimum Wages Act, 1948 — would kick in after a certain threshold of workers. Further, since 1967, many product categories were reserved for SMEs. All these created perverse incentives for MSMEs to remain small and suboptimal with low productivity. 72200632 Policy tweaks are underway to tackle some of these. Start with the definition of MSMEs — earlier these were classified based on investments, which made things difficult for services firms with little investment. Now, it is based on turnover. With receivables being one of the biggest problems of MSMEs, the RBI set up in 2015 TReDS or Trade Receivables Discounting System to tackle it. "From 2020, companies will have to raise invoices on GSTN. Integration of TReDS exchanges with GSTN will improve compliance and tackle receivable problems," says Sundeep Mohindru, founder, M1xchange.MSME Samadhaan has been set up as a monitoring system for delayed payments. The new Labour Code on Industrial Relations, 2019, allows companies to hire workers for a fixed term, tackling labour law rigidities. It is now mandatory for 25 per cent of government procurement to come from MSMEs.The stifling and difficult norms governing shops and establishments have been amended by many states. Mudra loan to ease MSME credit, skilling programmes to train unskilled workers and cluster development plans to nurture MSMEs have been rolled out by both the Centre and states.Philanthropic entrepreneurs are chipping in. Anand Deshpande, founder, Persistent Systems, is using technology to equip workers to make a decent living. His not-forprofit DeAsra helps and mentors micro entrepreneurs like tailors, carpenters and beauticians by offering a virtual kit-in-a-box. DeAsra helps them with free basic information like how to open a shop, what are the procedures and approvals required and how to track cash flows and get customers. The information is segregated by trade and city. Every month, DeAsra gets 5,000-odd visitors of which at least 13 per cent pay for specialised services like mentoring and solving particular business problems.Wadhwani Foundation, too, is working in the area. "Our mission is to work on a large scale to create high-value jobs that can support at least four family members," says Ajay Kela, CEO, Wadhwani Foundation, which has five broad areas on which they work with MSMEs. "MSMEs are a goldmine for job creation. 70 per cent of all jobs are created by them," says Kela. The foundation helps build their capacities and improve productivity. "Big companies go to Mc-Kinseys and Bains to get strategic help and grow. SMEs have none.We want to offer this through techin-a-box concept," he says. Starting in 2018, they are now in 20 emerging countries, including Mexico. In India, they are working with 200 SMEs, helping them explore new markets or new businesses to chase growth and create jobs. Next year, they will scale up to 2,000 SMEs.Despite all-round efforts, the journey of Indian MSMEs will be difficult and painful. One, the complexity of the challenges MSMEs face is huge. Two, hit by multiple headwinds, they are reeling from simultaneous changes that will prove devastating for many. Already, job losses and unemployment have become serious socioeconomic and political issues. While government initiatives, from Mudra loan to TReDS, have been rolled out for MSMEs, they have had only limited success.There isn't an easy solution. But, for India, nurturing a strong and competitive MSME sector offers the only hope to create decent jobs at scale. Hopefully, electoral politics and economic pursuits will converge to give MSMEs the attention and urgency they deserve.
By allowing cross-ideological attempts to form a non-BJP government, to run its course for almost a fortnight before staging a stunning coup, the Bharatiya Janata Party has tried insulating itself from accusations of political opportunism. Because, the Shiv Sena tried forming a government with Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress, after raging against the two — and vice versa — for decades, the BJP calculates it cannot be charged of forming a government with a person as deputy chief minister who was in its firing line during the election campaign. The BJP would be right to say that if establishing a political PSU (Pawar-Sonia-Udhav) was politically acceptable, can anyone be critical of BJP for joining hands with the 60 year old 'junior' (Ajit) Pawar? In the end, the BJP has underscored once again that the party remains master of backroom maneuvering. Or, will time show that the real 'Chanakya' was Sharad Pawar to openly engaged with Udhav Thackeray and Sonia Gandhi, while keeping channels open with BJP?Yet, because of the suddenness of developments & since the basis on which Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari administered the oath of office to Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar early on Saturday morning are questionable, eyebrows will be legitimately raised regarding constitutional fairness. It will be asked if the system has been subverted once again given that the notification to revoke President's Rule in Maharashtra was signed by President Ram Nath Kovind in the wee hours of the morning suggesting the BJP got the official machinery at work through the night.It is certainly not the last maneuver of political trapeze artists of Maharashtra. Much action is expected before the deadline to demonstrate majority in the state assembly by the end of the month. These will also not be the last of realignments in the state as the BJP will seek to insulate the government from instability. Despite having warded off the possibility of losing power in the state which elects the second largest contingent of Lok Sabha MPs after Uttar Pradesh, which also is home to India's financial capital, for the BJP this is still a humbling moment. After all, when polls were announced in September, few would have imagined that the BJP would have to struggle to form the government in Maharashtra. Fadnavis' uphill climb to 'Varsha', the official residence of the state chief minister, has to be seen in conjunction with the party being forced to accommodate a coalition partner in Haryana. Besides ensuring the survival of the government and creating fissure in the Shiv Sena and Congress, the BJP leadership must use this experience as an occasion to take corrective steps.There are several questions whose answers shall be provided by time. First, is the conflict within the Pawar family actually the result of the nephew deciding to step out of his uncle's shadow and not share limelight with a political lightweight cousin? Or, is this a mere enactment and replay of previous temporary splits within political families — for instance like how HD Develop Gowda and son, HD Kumaswamy parted ways in 2006 when he decided to become chief minister with BJP support— and that they will soon kiss and make up?Second, how will the developments impact the Shiv Sena? Will the BJP's success in stealing the government from under the Sena's nose create dissensions within the party? Will party leaders question Udhav Thackeray's decision to break ranks with the BJP and lose out on sharing power? Furthermore, will the BJP be successful in using the potential dissidence and force a vertical split in the Sena ranks?Third, what will be the impact of these developments on the Congress party? Will the party remain united and what will be its status in the opposition ranks? Would it's political flirtation with the Sena lead to the party losing territory in the secular space in the state? And, if yes, which party will secure control of the anti-Hindutva discourse in Maharashtra?Fourth, an important matter which has unfortunately been losing its previous prime position and becoming increasingly irrelevant amid no-holds-barred power politics — that alternatives for Indian people are fast dwindling and that there is complete breakdown of parliamentary system. After all, the BJP once positioned itself as a 'party with a difference'. The developments show it as being as unprincipled as the others who often in the past to burn the midnight oil, altered Koshiyari's plans to visit the Indian capital and got Home machines machinery running through the night, to hastily swore in Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar before the SS-NCP-Cong could formally stake claim.Lastly, although minuscule, the BJP decision to use questionable means to reinstall Fadnavis, will be disapproved by a section of leaders in the party, however minuscule. Despite the party remaining outwardly united behind the top leadership, there are sections which remain at odds with the policy of compromising its foundational principles. There is also a section within the BJP that is of the opinion that the reduced mandate for the party in the state was a reflection of people's disaffection with a Brahminical tilt in the BJP after Fadnavis became chief minister. If the government survives, the BJP will find it doubly tough to secure the support of Marathas because Ajit Pawar will be the Maratha face of the government.Significantly, these developments have come days after the cryptic comment of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, that obliquely suggested BJP and Sena to patch up. These developments however, means a parting of ways within the saffron fold and underscores that post 2014, ties between the parties never matched the bonhomie between the BJP and its oldest ally. Here on, either the Sena or the BJP will have to move to a more centrist or inclusive position. For both, there will be challenge in this because it will mean sacrificing a section of its core supporters. As far as Ajit Pawar is concerned, and maybe even his uncle, leaders like him are driven more by lure of power than principles and ideology.A quip that was put up on an alumni WhatsApp group of the 'anti-national' Jawaharlal Nehru University is most apt for the situation, not just in Maharashtra, but even for every political party. It was the line from an ever popular film, steeped in comical realism: Jaate the Japan, pahunch gaye Cheen, Samajwadi Gaye Na? (Had to go to Japan, but ended up in China, hope you understood!). With parties swapping partners and preparing to cohabit with new bed-fellows, it is time to remake Chalti Ka Naam Gaari, only this the last word in the title shall read — Rajniti!
"Nobody has ever asked us about this cohort before," says Snehil Khanor, cofounder & CEO of dating app TrulyMadly, when approached with a query on users in their 50s and beyond on his app. His reaction is justifiable. By industry estimates, the 50-plus form less than 1% of the user base of any leading dating app catering to the Indian masses. To most people inside and outside that age bracket, the idea of a baby boomer dating is outlandish. So why bother, right? Nonetheless, Khanor obliges and comes back with some answers three days later."First of all, men in the 50+ cohort are getting more profile matches than some of the guys on our team of 20-somethings," he says, sounding equally amazed & amused. He then rattles off a few case studies: A sexagenarian male user from Bengaluru has fetched 18 matches within three months of signing up on the app. A 50-year-old divorced man from Kolkata has a like rate of 25% as against the average of 10% (calculated on the basis number of likes per number of impressions on a user profile). A 57-year-old woman entrepreneur from Delhi has got 103 matches since July 14, 2019. The most fascinating of the lot, though, is a 62-year-old man from Aurangabad, who has bagged 34 matches in the last couple of months. "His like rate is 2% higher than mine. I am contemplating increasing my age on my profile," quips Khanor, who is 29. 72201074 The cause of his envy is a retired government official — Gopal Kuril. Separated from his wife a few years ago, Kuril now lives alone in his Aurangabad bungalow while his two kids work in a metro city. "When I feel lonely, I open a dating app to chat with someone who has liked my profile," he says. Sometimes he gets a match from a woman in her late 20s and wonders how to navigate that situation. "They're like my daughter's age. What will I talk to them about on a dating app?" If the user is in her 40s or is older, Kuril asks her about work and general whereabouts. He has neither met anyone in person through the app nor spoken to them on the phone. Just a few minutes of in-app chatting every once in a while. "It helps me while away time," he says. 72201090 Like Kuril, a lot of single folk in the 50 and above age group are taking to dating apps to ward off their loneliness. "They are not necessarily looking for romance but mere social interaction," says Alaokika Bharwani, a Mumbaibased psychotherapist. Around 80% of Bharwani's clientele from the 50-plus age group admits to being active on one or more online dating apps, she says. They see these apps as a fun distraction.Dating companies in several parts of the world are fast realising the potential in creating apps specifically for the 50-plus single men and women. Last year, Charly Lester, a UKbased journalist and an expert on the dating industry, launched Lumen, a dating app catering to those who are 50 and above. In her interviews to journalists, Lester, an entrepreneur in her 30s, has referred to people in their 50s and 60s as "the forgotten generation of dating". "Dating apps are designed for millennials, making them a miserable experience for everyone else. There are very few over the 50s using the other apps — and often men over 50 are searching for women in their 30s or 40s. We are the only app designed specifically for the over-50 age group," she told one publication. Within a year, Lumen has managed over a million downloads on Android and secured £3.5 million in seed funding. Besides this, the dating giant Match Group — parent company of Tinder, Hinge, and OKCupid, among others — has at least three apps exclusively for those above 50. Each has several thousand users. One of them, DisonsDemain (French for let's say tomorrow), has close to 100,000 users. Three times as many Indians in the 50+ age group have listed themselves as "Single" on Facebook. Yet, a lot of users from this cohort treat their dating lives as a covert operation. Many of them shared their experiences with ET Magazine only on the condition of anonymity. The few who agreed for their names to be published were not willing to share their photographs.In a country where online dating has less than 3% user penetration — and where most millennials are reluctant to tell their parents that they found their partners on Tinder — getting the older generation to talk about their dating lives is understandably a far-fetched idea. This is true also of countries like China and South Korea. In China, a grand total of 0.9% of all online dating users belong to the 50 and above cohort, according to a recent Statista Global Consumer Survey. In South Korea, the same survey points out, the percentage of online dating users above the age of 55 is literally zero. That said, the perception around dating after 50 isn't stopping people in India. TrulyMadly has 1.5 times more women per male users in this segment as against the 18-40-year-olds. At 6.13%, the 50-plus also has the highest percentage of paying users in an age group, Khanor adds. Match Group and dating app Bumble declined to comment. The taboo around dating after 50 does not worry Mumbai-based Neeta Kolhatkar, 52. "Do you stop growing as a human being after 50? Then why should age be a deterrent for dating or anything?" Single by choice, Kolhatkar, a freelance media professional, points out how the younger generation is helping eradicate the taboo around dating after 50. "I see children, at least in the metros, being forthcoming about wanting to see their single parents meet new people and move on in life."Dharti Desai, a 52-year-old single parent, gets that support from her daughter Anjali, 21. A marketing consultant who shuttles between New York and Mumbai, Desai maintains an unspoken code with her daughter about dating. "We don't advise each other on dating, we don't say 'no' either. We just tell each other we are there when we are needed." It is a model that can work well in the US but what about back home in India? "My family loves that there is a 21-year-old talking about dating and that her mother is also talking about dating," she quips.Even Kuril, the retired government official in Aurangabad, gets the support of his children. They also warn him of fraudulent profiles."It is a grave issue within the gay community," says a 55-year-old retired gay medical professional from a tier-2 town in Maharashtra who wishes to remain anonymous. "You hear stories of younger men pursuing older men to turn them into their sugar daddies. Most of the men above 50 are married and paranoid about being outed." Many, thus, prefer taking the offline route to pursue a relationship.Reservations against online dating aside, the conversations of the 50-plus aren't very different from that of the younger lot, says Bharwani from Mumbai. Yet, dating in your 20s and 30s is very different from dating in your 50s, she adds. "Your desires are different when you have lived half of your life. You carry a lot more baggage. Women, in particular, struggle with the concept of sexuality at 50 as they are going through menopause. To be viewed as desirable at 50 is a mindset they have to really work on." Bharwani suggests looking at dating apps as a tool to open oneself up, to connect to one's desirable self.Meanwhile, TrulyMadly's Khanor is busy marvelling at the success of a handful of baby boomers on his dating app. "These guys have amazing profiles," he goes. "One of the 50-year-olds has a physique that could give a lot of millennials a run for their money." In the 24 hours since culling out this data on the 50 and above, Khanor has been telling everyone on his team just one thing: "Don't lose heart if you aren't getting any matches at present. There is hope for you 20 years from now."TO DATE OR NOT TO DATE?What is encouraging:— Availability of dating apps and Facebook groups— Clarity of expectations from dating— Progressive attitude of family & societyWhat is discouraging:— Limited people in the dating pool— Fear of being bodyshamed— Marital expectations from a date in the same age-group— Fear of being duped by younger people on dating apps 72203396
Three meetings, two hotels, one city. These were crucial to an eight-month-long investigation by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in 2010 and 2011 to expose a cartel in India's cement industry, which resulted in a penalty of Rs 6,317 crore, the regulator's highest in a single case to date.The CCI has since carried out many probes into alleged anti-competitive agreements and companies' abuse of their dominant position, but it is still best known for the cement cartel case mainly because of the eye-popping fine. It is nearly half of the Rs 13,523 crore the CCI levied in 135 cases till March 2018, according to the latest data available with the regulator. Of its total fines, the CCI has collected a mere Rs 55 crore, or 0.4%.72201957 Compare this to the US Department of Justice (DoJ), which collected $172 million in criminal penalties in fiscal year 2018 (October-September), with the highest ever being $3.6 billion in fiscal year 2015. It has also sent several executives to prison.While the CCI cannot boast figures like DoJ, the very fact that it has the authority to severely penalise violators could be working to its advantage. Meanwhile, some of the recommendations made by the Competition Law Review Committee (CLRC), which submitted its report recently, could make CCI more nimble in the resolution of cases and take it a little closer to its counterparts in the EU, the UK and the US.72202044 It was in 2010, almost a decade ago, that the CCI, which had only become operational in May 2009, decided to probe its most high-profile case — to find out if 10 cement companies colluded through the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) to limit supplies and raise prices. The CCI said that after two of three CMA meetings at Mumbai's Grand Hyatt and Hotel Orchid in early 2011, the companies hiked cement prices, which, the CCI said, "establishes that they co-ordinated their decisions and fixed prices after due consultations". There were also questions over whether Ambuja Cement and ACC, which are part of the Swiss company LafargeHolcim, had attended two of these meetings despite no longer being members of the CMA.72201942 The companies and the CMA disputed the CCI's findings and appealed the penalty. The case has made its way through the Competition Appellate Tribunal, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), which replaced the former in 2017, and is now pending before the Supreme Court, which asked the parties to deposit 10% of the penalty last year. Aparna Dutt Sharma, secretary general, CMA, did not respond to a request from ET Magazine for comment. Questions sent to Lafarge-Holcim, UltraTech Cement and Jaiprakash Associates, which were handed the highest penalties, also went unanswered.The delay in the conclusion of this case — and others where fines were levied — has meant that companies have not coughed up what the CCI asked them to. Should that be a cause for concern? Kaushal Kumar Sharma, the first director-general of the CCI, says it would be wrong to equate deterrence to realisation of penalties. Vaibhav Choukse, partner, competition law, J Sagar Associates, concurs. "Companies do not want to be on the wrong side of the competition law as there is a huge reputational loss from a penalty." A listed company will have to make disclosures to the stock exchanges in case it is fined by the CCI, which could drive its shares down."It's not that the CCI wants to make money. The CCI's idea in the early days was to make a splash and say, 'We have arrived,'" says a competition lawyer, requesting anonymity. Nisha Kaur Uberoi, national head of competition law at Trilegal, a law firm, says the CCI has created deterrents through a combination of factors: "its ability to levy India's highest economic penalties on companies, imposition of individual liability as well as advocacy to foster a culture of competition compliance". By individual liability, she is referring to the CCI's powers to penalise the directors of an errant company.Ashok Kumar Gupta, chairman, CCI, recently told ET that penalties are not an end in themselves in any enforcement process. "In numerous cases, parties rectify their anti-competitive behaviour during the enquiry process itself so the market correction as such has taken place."72202024 As of March 2018, the CCI had noted 940 competition cases, ordered probes into 400 and completed investigations in 288. Even before the cement cartel case, a CCI order in 2011 gave India Inc an inkling of the regulator's powers. It investigated the realtor DLF's conduct in relation to one of its apartment buildings in Gurgaon and found that the company had set terms unfavourable to buyers in their agreement, like their inability to raise objections to changes in the structure by the builder. The CCI report added: "Despite knowing that necessary approvals were pending at the time of collection of deposits, DLF Ltd inserted clauses that made exit next to impossible for the buyers."72201983 The CCI fined DLF Rs 630 crore, which the realtor appealed; the matter is now in the apex court. Also before the Supreme Court is an appeal related to a Rs 591 crore penalty on Coal India for discriminatory terms in fuel-supply agreements. DLF and Coal India did not respond to questions sent by ET Magazine. Besides looking at anti-competitive agreements like cartels and abuse of dominance, the CCI also has to greenlight mergers and acquisitions beyond a certain size. The CCI, set up under the Competition Act, 2002 (amended in 2007), replaced the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission.Change is in the AirThe CLRC, which the government set up last year, has recommended a series of changes to the CCI. These include a dedicated NCLAT bench for competition cases, given that NCLAT is overburdened with cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016. Though there is no NCLAT-specific data, as of September 30, there were nearly 1,500 IBC cases pending before the NCLAT or the Supreme Court, according to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.Some of the report's suggestions could make the CCI dispose of cases quickly. The introduction of settlement and commitment procedures, for instance, could help avoid pendency of cases. In the EU, which has had settlements since 2008, half the cartel cases are resolved using settlements, in which the parties admit to their guilt in exchange for a 10% reduction in penalties. Since 2004 the EU has also had commitments, in which the parties agree to change their behaviour. The US DoJ has consent decrees, which need to be court-approved.72202031 Another recommendation made by the CLRC is that the CCI should be transparent in how it arrives at penalties, like in the EU and the UK. "It's as if the CCI is pulling figures out of a hat," says Aditya Bhattacharjea, professor at the Delhi School of Economics and a member of the CLRC.The CCI, according to CLRC recommendations, can levy a penalty of up to 10% of the average turnover of the preceding three years in matters related to abuse of dominance. In case of cartels, it can impose a fine of up to 10% of their turnover or up to three times their profit in each year of the period during which the cartel existed, whichever is higher. "Having penalty guidelines will be good for the CCI when it has to defend its orders in courts," says the competition lawyer quoted earlier.Come CleanRegardless of when these recommendations are incorporated into the law, experts say companies could make use of an existing provision to minimise a crippling penalty. A company engaged in an anti-competitive agreement with its competitors can alert the CCI to the existence of the cartel and cooperate in the investigation in the hopes of being waived a part, or the whole, of its fine.Panasonic Energy utilised the lesser penalty option and went to the CCI in 2016 and admitted that it was part of a cartel with Eveready Industries and Indo National (which sells under the Nippo brand), aided by their industry association, to control the distribution and prices of zinc-carbon dry cell batteries, since 2008. Eveready and Indo National also availed of the lesser penalty provision. As a result, the CCI waived 100% of Panasonic's Rs 75 crore penalty, and reduced Eveready's and Indo National's fines by 30% and 20%, respectively, to Rs 172 crore and Rs 42 crore.Tech ChallengeCracking down on cartels without one of the participating companies coming forward is not easy, especially since in some cases the CCI may not have more than circumstantial evidence to base its conclusions on. An even bigger challenge is dealing with violations in the fast-evolving world of technology.Acting on information filed by Jaipur-based Consumer Unity & Trust Society and Matrimony.com, the CCI in 2018 fined Google Rs 136 crore for promoting its own specialised search — say, for flights — to the detriment of other websites. The order was stayed by NCLAT. Google is also being probed by the CCI for tying some of its apps to Android and limiting handset makers' ability to sell devices with alternate versions. "Android has enabled millions of Indians to connect to the internet by making mobile devices more affordable. We look forward to working with the CCI to demonstrate how Android has led to more competition and innovation, not less," says a Google India spokesperson.Google's dominance has been under scrutiny in the EU and the US as well. Since 2017, it has been fined a total of $9.3 billion by the EU in three different cases related to its abuse of dominance by favouring its advertising and shopping services over its competitors' and for bundling some of its applications with Android. (Google has appealed all three orders.) It is also being investigated in the US and so are Facebook and, reportedly, Amazon. "Other than in the EU, competition regulators are exercising caution (with tech companies) because consumers are benefiting from these companies," says Bhattacharjea.While India may have got a competition authority later than several other countries, new technologies are coming to India soon after they are launched elsewhere. This is why Sharma, former CCI director general, believes that handling tech matters may not be too hard for the CCI. One of the emerging areas of concern for competition regulators worldwide is artificial intelligence-powered pricing algorithms of competitors colluding to fix prices. Who is to be held responsible here in the absence of executives of rival companies acting in tandem?In addition to instances of cartelisation and abuse of dominance in the old-economy sectors, the CCI will have to increasingly deal with competition cases in businesses like ecommerce, ridehailing, food delivery and online travel aggregation (the CCI is currently investigating MakeMyTrip and Goibibo, which merged in 2017, and Oyo Rooms over allegations of predatory pricing, among others). The CCI has also made clear its intent to pursue cases on its own without a formal complaint. But what is unlikely to change, till the CLRC recommendations are implemented, is the time it takes for a case to reach its conclusion.
CHENNAI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said banks should assess their strength and weakness before planning to scale up of operations."Institutions like banks should understand their core strengths and offer benefits to people like providing value- added features like phone banking facilities or rolling out of chat bots to serve customers and should not take up unnecessary scaling up of operations", she said,at the 116th Foundation Day celebrations of Tamil Nadu-based City Union Bank here."Scaling up (of operations in banks) is becoming like a disease. (There is a trend) that every body should scale up, tomorrow I should be three times the current size. Today, I am in this state and in six states. I am planning to expand presence across the country. Whether it will add to my core or make it weak. That is the assessment banks should do", she said.To check whether the banks have the ability to scale up operations, then the regulators like Reserve Bank of India come into play, she said.Sitharaman said if a financial institution in the present situation has a name ending with 'Bank' doubts are raised on the functioning of it and heaped praise that City Union Bank has been functioning steadily for the last 115 years.Stating that even a small error caused by an employee would raise questions on the functioning of a bank, she said, "Even if there is a corruption complaint against a cooperative bank, sometimes questions are raised on whether the public money is safe there".Referring to a recent media report on City Union Bank MD and CEO N Kamakodi comments that the bank's focus area was on providing 'consistency' and 'stable' operations and having 'people's trust', she said, "it is good principle (for the bank)".She said banks speaking about 'consistency' is a good quality and added that banks should run on stable operations."If there is no stability, then the economic activity surrounding it will get affected," she said and added having people's trust is very important because if a bank loses people's trust then it is bad for the bank and also to the country.Earlier, Sitharaman released the bank's chat-bot facility that would help bank customers enable to transfer funds, block cards or take up any other banking service.
Kolkata: Coal India has managed to command a premium of 62% premium over notified prices for coal sold through spot e-auctions conducted in October. During September the company managed to fetch 82% premium over notified prices for spot e-auctions.For the period April-October, the company managed to command a premium of 67% over its notified prices on an average.At special forward e-auction for the power sector, Coal India managed to sell coal at a premium of 39% over notified prices in October. For the April-October period, the company managed to command an average premium of 32% over notified prices.There exclusive auction for the non-power sector, Coal India managed to command a premium of 32% for both October and the period April-October.This year, Coal India intends to ramp up auction offerings by 14% against the previous year when similar supplies declined 5%. This year Coal India has decided to auction 137 million tonnes of coal which would include long term supply contract auctions, spot e-auctions and forward e-auctions.Last year, the dry fuel supplier offered 120 million tonnes through similar auctions which was a 5% drop compared to the previous year (2017-18). Increased offerings this year is expected to bring down premiums which touched 92% in the spot market last year as availability through spot e-auctions had dwindled almost 38% among other reasons like higher international coal prices and Rupee depreciation.Last year unforeseen demand from power generators forced Coal India to send them additional coal as the sector was grappling with dwindling inventory and many power plants were stranded with critical coal stocks. Last year, premiums for special forward e-auction for power and special spot e-auction was 72% while exclusive e-auction for non-power fetched 58% premium. The number of critical plants had touched 29 in October last year while stocks and dipped to 6 million tonnes.
Both banking sector smallcaps as well as the overall non-banking smallcaps have shown a de-growth in their earnings, says Sunil Subramaniam, MD & CEO, Sundaram Mutual Fund. Excerpts from an interview with ETNOW.ETNOW: What is the rationale behind launching a fund that is going to invest in international equities of global brands?Sunil Subramaniam: After our tie-up with BNP Paribas for an AMC broke up, we applied for and got a licence in Singapore to set up an asset management company. for getting international investors into Indian equities. So, we launched a midcap fund investing in India. We thought with Sundaram's retail network of 90 branches and more than 1.8 million investors, we could use the expertise available at our Singapore AMC to help Indian retail investors get a flavour of something they cannot do on their own. Now for buying equities internationally, the government has a liberalised remittance scheme of $250,000. HNIs are able to take advantage of it. Many years ago in 2014-15, we launched this concept in a close-ended fund in India managed by the Singapore people and we collected about Rs 140-150 crore. A close-ended fund had a limited reach now in June 2015. We launched an open-ended fund in Singapore catering to the same asset class of brands and we have now built up a track record. From a customer perspective, international equities is a very dangerous and risky place. You do not know which stocks, which country, the research to go and do it on your own. If you had to go to international equities, then you need to be sure that the stocks that you are buying have a sustainability and all that. Brands have competitive advantage and the ability to ride through downcycles and upcycles. By buying a brand, I am not buying a single country because many brands have multiple geographies in the world as part of their market and automatically you are buying world. ETNOW: What is the ideal geographical mix that you are aiming to achieve?Sunil Subramaniam: Let me explain the portfolio construction and that will answer this question. We are looking at various brand rating agencies of the world. Interbrand is the one which comes to mind, there are quite a few others. So let us take Interbrand. We are going to take the top 30 world brands as rated by Interbrand. One of the factors that Interbrand looks at is the geographic spread of that company. By very factor of it makes it into the top 30 in the world. That means this has a worldwide brand recall. So that is one way the geographic divestment gets achieved. But the brand cannot make it to the top. I will give you an example. Tencent is such a big company in China but Tencent is not there in the top 30 brands of the world because it is very China centric units business. Going by the brand philosophy, we get geographic diversification. Now the fact that the US is a mother country for demand means that a lot of the big brand companies start off in the US. In terms of the current portfolio, on the Singapore global brand front, 60% of the stocks in it are listed in the US.Talking about domestic markets, what is your take on the disinvestment announcement made by the finance minister? How exactly should these companies be approached hereafter?It is very good from two perspectives. One, this family sliver is coming out into the market for the market to participate. Number two, hopefully this will lead to privatisation over the medium term. That means the efficiencies and economies of these companies will improve. Three, more short term, it is surgically going to help contain that fiscal deficit risk which after the corporate tax giveaways had suddenly loomed large. This comes as a cushion because you notice some rating agencies had put India a little bit on watch. So, this would be a cushioning factor to the risk factor on India equities from an FII perspective and should ease that concern a little bit.ETNOW: What did you make of the earning season and which pockets of the market stood out for you?Sunil Subramaniam: I look at the earning season from two different perspectives. The telecom provisions brought down the earnings of the market as a whole. Otherwise, banks are the one sector which have held up the markets earnings. Overall market earnings are about 20% without the telecom thing and if you take away banks, it comes down to about 16% for largecaps and 16% for midcaps. Smallcaps are the ones which have got hurt. Both the banking sector smallcaps as well as the overall non-banking smallcaps have shown a de-growth in their earnings. Second, a lot of the earnings growth was partly due to the Nirmala effect in terms of the tax breaks that came in. Largecaps actually have shown a negative growth on top line, flattish on the EBITDA but sharp rise in the EPSes because of the taxation effect. But then taxation is a permanent effect, so why should we discount that? It is a permanent profit growth for these companies but the fact that they are able to post positive EBITDAs and negative top line growth indicates that larger and larger midcap companies are able to use this downturn to improve their efficiency of operation. This is a healthier longer term thing.
Maximum mistakes happened in 2017 when suddenly people said smallcap is the new gem. If you ask me, you do not need to time the market, says, S Naren, ICICI Prudential AMC at at the ETMarkets Global Summit in Mumbai on Friday. Excerpts from an interview with Pankaj Poddar of ETNOW.How would you categorise the last 12 months because there has been a lot of volatility in the markets but at the same time inflows have not been very volatile.S Naren: That is in equity. If you look at credit risk as a category, barring us, no one got money, others lost money. So, if you ask me, normally when any asset class is at its bottom, you are not likely to get money and that is why you require to see equity becoming a "thumping-the-table" asset class! That was not met by this condition because if you are getting money monthly through whatever route, it does not signify that you are at the extreme bottom. That does not mean that the markets are not more attractive than before. But I would say, it met all my requirements because in credit you had a situation where valuations were attractive, flows were negative and cycle was very interesting because every day people were worried about what was happening. I used to tell people that equity market is very interesting. Jet Airways was trading at above Rs 100 in the share market but you could not take a flight! If you had put an FD in Dewan Housing, you are not getting your money back but the share was trading at triple digit rupees! If the equity market has been at the bottom, we would not have these kind of opportunities. That's why I would say the equity market never went to extreme low in the aggregate.So that is why the flows just continue? S Naren: Yes.But when look at the SIP flows, do you get a sense that equity as an asset class is preferred via mutual funds versus earlier?S Naren: Clearly, I have been part of the broking industry from 1994 to 2004. Somehow what happened was in that phase, the broking industry found it difficult to create models where people could make money and somewhere the whole business was about trying to earn brokerage. I think in recent times, with people moving away, more cash trading models are being created as well. The mutual fund industry that way was always very investment oriented and in my opinion exit loads and other things also contributed to the fact that you could not trade mutual funds; you had to invest in mutual funds. Thanks to various things that the regulator did, we have created a much more investment oriented approach in mutual fund industry. The entire IFA and wealth management community also somehow managed to create a habit of saving through SIPs. It is one of the most extraordinary good decisions that have happened to the investor and the mutual fund industry. I believe the investor will gain a lot but you have to remember that they cannot give up if the market falls. The day people close SIPs when the market falls, then it is a failure and that is something I am going to watch out for. Two years back. when we used to be negative on smallcaps and midcaps, people would ask how do I invest in the next 20 years through SIP? I would say SIP in small and midcaps and we never had a smallcap fund. I hope all the people at that point of time who used to say that I want to do SIP for 20 years, genuinely believed that and they did do SIPs for the next 20 years, now 18 years.Everybody looks to time the market. But when you are really looking for 15-year, 20-year-long SIP, does the timing factor on any sort of index or asset class really matter?S Naren: If you are doing SIPs, there is no need to time the market. What typically happens is suddenly people say I want to look at this theme. Leaving aside general purpose funds, they will say I want to do this theme. Maximum mistakes happened in 2017 when suddenly people said smallcap is the new gem. If you ask me, you do not need to time the market. You do not need to bother about timing. But if you are going to invest in the fourth year, then you have to worry because that fourth year of fixed deposit returns forces you to forget risk management. That is why I am always fond of market volatility because then people do not forget the word 'risk'. On the other hand if you have long periods where markets are not volatile, people forget the word risk.You say there is value in stocks or growth stocks which are highly priced at this point of time and so the markets are extremely polarised. What sort of opportunity does that give to mutual funds because there are certain stocks which are just not seeing re-rating and there are certain sectors and stocks which are almost at an all-time high?Value funds have stopped getting money and that is a clear sign that value is in a very interesting position. If you look at the value category, it was getting a lot of money two to three years back. Now it is getting no money. I do not know whether it is redemption. But I would say that the opportunity does come out of that and that is the challenge of investing. Investing challenge is not about knowledge, it is about battling the temperament that exists at that point of time and today value is very cheap. I would love to see whether people take the trouble of investing in all the value funds in the market because value is very cheap. A lot of people look at the risk taking ability of that individual. How does one decide the asset allocation? Let us just leave out real estate. Between equity, debt and gold -- how should one allocate?You should leave it and choose a fund which can do all three and not bother about trying to time that. That would always be best because logically there are all kinds of rules like doing 100 minus age should be your equity allocation. But my view is markets are too volatile. If you had asked me post Lehman whether equities is risky, the answer would have been no. But in 2007, I felt that equities was risky even to a young investor and I would have said yes. So for me, risk is a function of valuation. I believe that I used to tell a lot of people that real estate is a risky asset class. But somehow, I have come to a conclusion that a few years from now, I am going to say real estate is a much less riskier asset class than it was. I believe risk for me is a function of valuation. In 2017, most people believed that smallcaps is not risky. Today for example most people think that credit is riskier than equity. But that is not true. So, somewhere past returns play a role in people thinking what is the risk of the asset class. It should not be so. In fact, if past returns are very low in an asset class, I actually feel more comfortable that it is a lower risk asset class. Because the risk is factored in?S Naren: Yes, risk is factored in. Today, in case of credit, clearly risk is factored in. It is not that the risk of credit goes away, the name itself suggests that. But the fact is risk gets factored in. There are times when risk gets factored in. Today, for example, when we make statements on quality stocks, the reality is they are the best companies of India. The problem is not with the companies, the problem is with the valuation. The companies are the greatest in India.Just look at the markets in terms of Nifty and the headline numbers. The GDP numbers, defaults by big companies -- all news is bad but markets are at an all-time high. What do you make of this situation?If I had to look at one simple way to invest, it is investing when GDP is very low. If you go back to 2002, GDP was doing very badly and in 2007, GDP was doing very well. So, one should invest when GDP growth is very low and take out money when GDP growth is very high. That is a simple way to invest. Right now, the problem is that GDP growth is low but market valuation is not as cheap as 2002 or 2008 post Lehman. That is a challenge and that is why I would say that today value stocks seem to reflect GDP growth. In my opinion, if you invest when GDP growth is low, you will normally make money. This time you cannot do it in everything. But you can still do it in value. One of the things people forget is that equity is an asset class to be invested when times are bad and to be taken out when times are good, if at all. That creates the challenge of investing.Some of the consumption stocks have continuously done well. If India has to be a $5-trillion economy, the opportunity is very large. How would you look at that?S Naren: In 2007, people felt that roads will get constructed, cars would not get sold. Today people feel that cars will get sold, roads would not get constructed. We will always go through these cycles and that is why I believe the advantage is how we have all had jobs also. It is very difficult to perceive that in 2007, most of the construction companies were trading at record valuations. Pharma, consumer stocks, auto stocks were trading at very low valuations. Today 10-12 years later, it has reversed. Today I ask people, can you have a situation in the next 10 years when power demand would not grow but only car demand will grow. People tell me definitely power demand will grow but most people are very uncomfortable investing in a power stock.If any investor is trying to make an asset allocation at this point of time, what are the four or five basic things one should always keep in mind?S Naren: I will say that the most important thing is saving. We all grew in pre-liberalisation India. In pre-liberalisation India, we were always very cautious. Today, one of the worries I have is that too many people are taking loans on the basis of future income. In a country like India, it is important to save. I would say the first and most important requirement of the younger generation will be that they should start saving from the first month of when they start working. That is more important. Second, choose a SIP in any fund which they want and then start with that process. That is why I would say that anyone should start at this point of time. I would say that if there is an asset class which becomes very cheap, they should have the guts to buy that asset class. Those are the things I look at. What worries me is that in Japan people save, companies save and so the government can spend. In India we have a situation today where the government also has a fiscal deficit and so people cannot say I will not save. You cannot use the Japanese experience because Japan has a situation where people and companies have saved a lot of money over the last 50 years. Saving is more important, asset allocation or SIPs take care of everything and that is all I would say.
India, U.S. to sign industrial security agreement at 2+2 dialogue They will also review implementation of pact to facilitate encrypted communications between armed forces
ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్లో జగన్మోహన్ రెడ్డి పరిపాలన అద్భుతంగా ఉందని అభిప్రాయపడ్డారు దత్తపీఠం వ్యవస్థాపకులు గణపతి సచ్చిదానంద స్వామి. పవిత్ర పుణ్యక్షేత్రం కాశీలో గణపతి సచ్చిదానందస్వామి అతిరుద్ర యాగం నిర్వహించారు. లోక కల్యాణం, ప్రజా సంక్షేమం కోసమే అతిరుద్రయాగం చేసినట్టు వివరించారు. హిందూ ధర్మ పరిరక్షణ అందరి బాధ్యత అని వ్యాఖ్యానించారు. ఏపీలో జగన్ పాలన అద్భుతంగా ఉందన్నారు. వారసత్వ అర్చకత్వంపై సీఎం జగన్ నిర్ణయం చారిత్రాత్మకమైనదిగా అభివర్ణించారు. ఇచ్చిన ప్రతిహామీని నెరవేర్చే దిశగా జగన్ పాలన సాగుతోందని అభిప్రాయపడ్డారు. ఏపీ […]
ప్రతి ఒక్కరికి ఏదో ఒక బలం ఉంటుంది. ఆ బలాన్ని బేస్ చేసుకొని వెళితేనే సక్సెస్ మన పాదాక్రాంతమవుతుంది. అది గుర్తెరిగిన వారే ఇప్పుడు సమాజంలో విజయవంతమైన వ్యక్తులుగా ఉన్నారు. మన బలం, బలహీనత తెలిసినప్పుడే ఇది సాధ్యమవుతుంది. దేశంలో సక్సెస్ ఫుల్ అయిన వారిని పరిశీలిస్తే అదే విషయం స్పష్టమవుతోంది. బాహుబలితో దేశవ్యాప్తంగా క్రేజ్ సంపాదించుకున్న జక్కన్న రాజమౌళి సక్సెస్ సీక్రెట్ ఏంటి అనే దానిపై ఇప్పటికే చర్చోపచర్చలు సాగాయి. తన తొలి సినిమా నుంచి […]
చంద్రబాబు హయాంలో ఏపీఎండీసీ ఎండీగా పనిచేసిన వెంకయ్య చౌదరి రాష్ట్రం నుంచి రిలీవ్అయి కేంద్ర సర్వీసులో చేరిపోవడం కలకలం రేపింది. విజిలెన్స్ విచారణ జరుగుతుండగానే, రాష్ట్ర ప్రభుత్వం నుంచి అనుమతి రాకముందే ఆయన కేంద్ర సర్వీసుల్లో చేరి పోస్టింగ్ కూడా తెచ్చుకోవడంతో ప్రభుత్వం షాక్ అయింది. ఈ వ్యవహారంలో ఇద్దరు సచివాలయ ఉద్యోగులపై సీఎస్ నీలం సాహ్ని వేటు వేశారు. అసిస్టెంట్ సెక్రటరీ జయరామ్, సెక్షన్ ఆఫీసర్ జి అచ్చయ్యను సస్పెండ్ చేశారు. వివాదానికి కారణమైన వెంకయ్యచౌదరి…. […]
ఓడలు బండ్లు.. బండ్లు ఓడలు కావడమంటే ఇదే.. ఆరు నెలల కిందటి వరకూ ఆయన ఏపీ సీఎంగా ఉన్న చంద్రబాబు పుత్రరత్నం… పైగా ఎమ్మెల్సీ, మంత్రి. దీంతో ఎక్కడ సమావేశాలు, సమీక్షలు జరిగినా హాజరయ్యేవాడు. ఆయన కనుసన్నల్లోనే అంతా జరిగేది. రాజధాని ప్రాంతమైన మంగళగిరిలోనూ లోకేష్ ఆధిపత్యం చెలాయించేవాడు. కానీ ఇప్పుడు మొన్నటి ఓటమి ఆయనకు అధికారాన్ని దూరం చేసింది. నారాలోకేష్ మంత్రిగా ఉన్న సమయంలో మంగళగిరి ఎమ్మెల్యే ఆళ్ల రామకృష్ణా రెడ్డిని బాగా ఇబ్బందులకు గురిచేసేవారనే […]
10 నుంచి 11 మంది ఎమ్మెల్యేలు మాత్రమే అజిత్ పవార్తో ఉన్నారని ఎన్సీపీ అధినేత శరద్ పవార్ చెప్పారు. మిగిలిన వారంతా తమ వెంటే ఉన్నారన్నారు. ఇండిపెండెంట్లు కూడా తమ వైపు ఉన్నారన్నారు. మహారాష్ట్రలో ప్రస్తుతం మారుతున్న రాజకీయ పరిణామాల నేపథ్యంలో…. శివసేన అధ్యక్షుడు ఉద్దవ్ ఠాక్రేతో కలిసి శరద్పవార్ సంయుక్తంగా మీడియా సమావేశం నిర్వహించారు. అజిత్ పవార్ వెంట ఉన్న ఎమ్మెల్యేలు అనర్హత వేటు ఎదుర్కోవాల్సి ఉంటుందని శరద్ పవార్ హెచ్చరించారు. అసెంబ్లీలో బీజేపీ బలనిరూపణ […]
టీడీపీ నుంచి బీజేపీలో చేరిన, చంద్రబాబుకు అత్యంత సన్నిహితుడు అయిన సీఎం రమేష్ కుమారుడి వివాహం ఈ నెల 24న దుబాయ్లో జరగబోతోంది. కోట్లాది రూపాయలు ఖర్చు పెట్టి కళ్లు చెదిరే రేంజ్లో ఈ వివాహం చేయబోతున్నారు. అంత ఖర్చు పెట్టి ఇండియాలో పెళ్లి చేస్తే అది రాజకీయ దుమారానికి తావిస్తుందన్న ఉద్దేశంతో సీఎం రమేష్ రూట్ మార్చి దుబాయ్లో పెళ్లి పెట్టుకున్నారు. చాలా మంది బీజేపీ ఎంపీలకు సీఎం రమేష్ ఆహ్వానం పంపారు. కాకపోతే కేంద్రమంత్రి […]
కేంద్రం తెచ్చిన కఠిన మోటారు వాహన చట్టాన్ని తెలంగాణ పూర్తిస్థాయిలో అమలు చేయడం లేదు. కానీ డ్రంకెన్ డ్రైవ్, రాష్ డ్రైవింగ్, ట్రాఫిక్ నిబంధనలు ఉల్లంఘించిన వారి వాహనాలకు ఈ-చాలెన్లను పంపిస్తోంది. అయితే ఇది మహా అయితే 100 నుంచి 2వేల రూపాయలోపే ఉంటాయి. కానీ ఇదే ఇప్పుడు తెలంగాణ సర్కారు కు కాసులు కురిపిస్తోంది. నిజంగా వెల్లడైన విషయం తెలిస్తే మీకళ్లు బైర్లు కమ్ముతాయి. హైదరాబాద్, సైబరాబాద్, రాచకొండ పోలీస్ కమిషనరేట్ పరిధిలో ట్రాఫిక్ ఉల్లంఘనల […]
ఈ సంక్రాంతికి టాలీవుడ్ లో పోటీ రంజుగా ఉంది. జనవరి 12నే మహేశ్ బాబు 'సరిలేరు మీకెవ్వరు'తో పోటీగా అల్లు అర్జున్ నటించిన 'అల వైకుంఠపురం' రిలీజ్ అవుతోంది. దీంతో ఇద్దరి అగ్రహీరోల సినిమాలు ఒకేరోజు రిలీజ్ కావడం బాక్సాఫీస్ ను షేక్ చేస్తోంది. తద్వారా కలెక్షన్లు తగ్గుతాయని.. ఇద్దరికీ నష్టం అని.. ఎవరో ఒకరు డ్రాప్ కావాలని కోరుకుంటున్నారు. ఇక మహేష్ బాబు 'సరిలేరు' టీజర్ రోజునే పోటీగా బన్నీ అల్లు అర్జున్ 'అల వైకుంఠపురం' […]