Justin Trudeau, with his face and hands painted brown, poses with others during an "Arabian Nights" party when he was a 29-year-old teacher at the West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver, Canada, in this photo published in the academy s 2000-2001 yearbook. This image, published in The View yearbook, was obtained by Time. Reuters / Thursday, September 19, 2019
....Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially "heavily populated" call. I would only do what is right anyway, and only do good for the USA!
US President Donald Trump on Thursday blasted as "Fake News" a report that he made a promise to a foreign leader during a phone call that a US intelligence official found troubling enough to file a whistleblower complaint.
"Virtually anytime I speak on the phone to a foreign leader, I understand that there may be many people listening from various US agencies, not to mention those from the other country itself," Trump said on Twitter.
"Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially 'heavily populated' call," he said.
"I would only do what is right anyway, and only do good for the USA!"
WNU Editor: The President says he is well aware that his conversations are being monitored, and that he would not say anything inappropriate. Maybe so. But It is clear that the White House does not want this complaint to be made public .... Administration blocks 'urgent' whistleblower disclosure (AP).
A whistleblower complaint about President Trump made by an intelligence official centers on Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter, which has set off a struggle between Congress and the executive branch.
The complaint involved communications with a foreign leader and a "promise" that Trump made, which was so alarming that a U.S. intelligence official who had worked at the White House went to the inspector general of the intelligence community, two former U.S. officials said.
Two and a half weeks before the complaint was filed, Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian and political newcomer who was elected in a landslide in May.
WNU Editor: There is a lot of speculation among the media on this story. And among Democrats, anger that they are not been given the details on this whistleblower complaint .... Acting spy chief defies subpoena from Adam Schiff for whistleblower complaint (Washington Examiner). As to what is my take. As I mentioned yesterday, this is a strange story. President Trump can say and do what he wants when he deals with foreign leaders. And he is no different from past U.S. Presidents .... case in point .... President Obama Tells Russian President Medvedev That He Needs More Time On Missile Defense (March 26, 2012). So why the focus and intensity on this story? My guess is that the Democrats are still glued to the Russian collusion conspiracy theory, and they just cannot let it go. And as for Congress not receiving the whistleblower complaint, no surprises there either. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has a long history of leaking intel to the media, and it is clear that the acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire does not trust him.
Update #1: I personally would like to know what this intelligence officer felt was important enough for him to lodge a complaint, but it looks like it is not going to happen today .... Administration blocks 'urgent' whistleblower disclosure (AP).
Update #2: My guess is that this whistleblower complaint is about the previous Ukraine government's ties to the Biden family and the Trump's administration's attempt to push Ukraine to investigate these ties. In the meantime the new Ukrainian President is defending his ties with President Trump .... Zelensky defends relationship with US after Trump accused of pushing Ukraine to meddle in 2020 election (The Independent).
More News On The Whistleblower Complaint From An Intelligence Official
"Saudi fighter jets have been spotted along with other fighter jets that have attacked facilities and positions belonging to Iranian militias."
Both Israel and Saudi Arabia have been blamed for recent air strikes targeting pro-Iranian militias in the Albukamal area of Syria near the border with Iraq, according to Arab media. The attacks resulted in a number of deaths and injuries and the destruction of weapon storage facilities and rocket launchers.
"Saudi fighter jets have been spotted along with other fighter jets that have attacked facilities and positions belonging to Iranian militias," said an unnamed source to the Independent in Arabic. The attacks targeted positions belonging to the Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in Albukamal and other areas near the Iraq-Syria border.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper accused China of using its economic power as political leverage with smaller nations.
The problem is particularly prevalent in the Asia-Pacific, Esper told the audience Wednesday at the Air Force Association's Air, Space & Cyber Conference in Maryland's Oxon Hill.
"I was just there a few weeks ago, and you talk to countries, they'll tell you behind closed doors, 'Look, if we do this, they've already threatened to limit this innovation or they won't provide us this loan or grant,'" Esper said.
"And so they are using that economic power as a strategic tool to coerce, influence others into a position of subordination, if you will, to what China wants, and that's a big challenge for us."
WNU Editor: Defense Secretary Mark Esper's concerns are justified. If China did not have the economic clout that it has today, they would be a minor player on the international scene.
A satellite image shows damage to oil/gas infrastructure from missile and drone attacks at Abqaig on September 15, 2019, in Saudi Arabia. The precise targeting of the tanks could be the result of ground operatives helping to direct the missiles with pinpoint accuracy. Photo: US Government / AFP
A massive logistical operation and intel failure allowed 19 warheads to strike with pinpoint accuracy.
Iran successfully attacked two oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, not the Houthi rebels who falsely claimed credit. My evaluation is this: The Iranian attack came from two different launch sites and employed two different weapons systems. Drones (probably of the Abalil 2/T type) were launched from Iranian-controlled Shi'ite militia bases in southern Iraq, and cruise missiles of the Quds-1 type were launched from Iran, near the Iran-Iraq border. Twenty-two weapons were fired in all, of which 19 hit their targets, with sufficient precision to hit oil tanks in roughly the same spot.
The high precision has amazed US Pentagon analysts. They do not understand how that could be done from such a long distance and beyond the communications capabilities of even the Quds-1.
WNU Editor: One of the best analysis that I have read so far on how Saudi Arabia's oil facilities were targeted. In short .... it could have been worse.
The Iranian government has denied any involvement in the drone attack against Saudi Arabia, but observers say that Tehran is trying to raise the stakes in its tug-of-war with Washington.
On Wednesday evening, the Saudi government said that Iran was "unquestionably" behind the attacks on its oil fields. Riyadh said investigations had showed that the missiles were not fired from southwestern Yemen, but came from the north. The US had already said over the weekend that Iran was responsible for the drone strikes. However, until now, there has been no indisputable evidence to confirm Iran's role in the attacks.
* Justin Trudeau emerged on Thursday to apologize for the three photographs * He said he had 'let a lot of people down' and asked for their forgiveness * He became emotional when asked how his father, the late Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau would feel about the scandal * He answered: 'He would not be pleased' and continued to apologize * Three photos emerged in less than 24 hours which all show him in blackface * In one, he had dressed up to sing Day-O on stage at Jean Brebeuf high school * The song is a well-known Jamaican folk song about the country's working class * In another, he wore brown make-up to attend an Arabian Nights party age 29 * A third, undated photo, showed him in full blackface in a video * Trudeau apologized on Wednesday after the Arabian Nights photo emerged and said the high school incident was another example of him wearing blackface * He would not confirm that those three incidents were the only times he had done it when questioned on Thursday
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized again for wearing blackface on Thursday after two additional photos of him donning dark make-up emerged following an original, damning image of him at an Arabian Nights party.
Trudeau first apologized on Wednesday night after a 2001 photograph of him emerged in brown face at an Arabian Nights party when he was a teacher. He also referred to a high school incident where he dressed up as Harry Belafonte to sing the Jamaican song Day-O.
A photograph of the Day-O performance came out on Thursday morning but since then, a video of a third incident where he was wearing blackface emerged. It is unclear when it was taken.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland -- In the hypersonics arms race with China and Russia, Aerojet Rocketdyne has teamed with prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. to develop a cruise missile with Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, as its minimum goal.
Aerojet Rocketdyne is involved in "taming the physics" of the propulsion system for a missile that will fly faster than existing air defenses' ability to keep track, said retired Army Col. Steve Warren, an Aerojet spokesman.
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Stealth Bomber comes in to land at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire on September 11th, 2019 - Close up underneath photos of the B-2 bombers - the world's most expensive and secretive planes - returning from a training exercise from Iceland. (SWNS)
Senior Air Force leaders believe that current shortages in the U.S. bomber fleet are putting the service, and the nation, at tremendous risk of enemy attack.
The U.S. Air Force needs as many as 225 bomber aircraft to meet current and future threats presented by rivals such as Russia and China, according to Gen. Timothy Ray, Commander of Global Strike Command and Strategic Command. Speaking at the 2019 Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference, Ray said the Air Force bomber inventory needs to jump from roughly 156 up to more than 220.
"The number is North of 225. The B-1s and B-2 are older airplanes," Ray said at the conference.
A Sailor and civilian technicians monitor an unmanned surface vehicle (USV), after it was launched from Military Sealift Command's expeditionary sea base, USNS Hershel "Woody" Williams (T-ESB 4), into the Chesapeake Bay, September 14, 2019. (Picture source U.S. DoD)
On September 14, 2019, the U.S. Navy has tested new anti-mine unmanned surface vehicle (aboard Military Sealift Command's expeditionary sea base, USNS Hershel "Woody" Williams (T-ESB 4), into the Chesapeake Bay.
The USNS Hershel "Woody" Williams (T-ESB-4) is an expeditionary mobile base sub-variant of the Montford Point-class expeditionary transfer dock (ESD) currently in service with the United States Navy (USN). The USNS Hershel "Woody" Williams was delivered to the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command in February 2018 and is the Navy's second, purpose-built ESB.
The 784ft.-long vessel features a 52,000 square-foot flight deck, fuel and equipment storage, repair spaces, magazines, and mission-planning spaces. Able to accommodate up to 250 personnel, USNS Hershel "Woody" Williams will support multiple missions, such as air mine countermeasures, counter-piracy operations, maritime security operations, humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions and crisis response operations. The ship has hybrid-manned crew with a combination of military personnel and civilian mariners.
US has spent more than $800bn in Afghanistan, the biggest chunk on security, including the cost of US forces in the country [File: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
The State Department is withholding $160 million from Afghanistan, citing corruption and lack of transparency in Kabul over how the funds are used.
Citing "Afghan Government corruption and financial mismanagement," the State Department said in a statement on Wednesday that it would return $100 million to the Treasury that was slated for a "large energy infrastructure project."
It will also withhold $60 million in planned assistance over Kabul's "failure to meet benchmarks for transparency and accountability" and cease funding the Afghan government's Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, which develops and oversees anti-corruption efforts.
The scout, in custody since July, sent photos to leaders in Lebanon.
A scout for the militant group Hezbollah was looking at locations for attacks in New York, Boston and Washington and sending target information back to leadership in Lebanon, federal prosecutors said.
They unveiled charges in Manhattan on Thursday against Alexei Saab of Morristown, New Jersey, who has been in custody since July. The government alleges that Saab has been a Hezbollah member since 1996 and has extensive firearms and bomb-making training.
Among Saab's dozens of alleged New York City targets, prosecutors said, were the George Washington Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Herald Square and the local airports and tunnels.
DUBAI (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it was building a coalition to deter Iranian threats following a weekend attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities.
Iran has warned U.S. President Donald Trump against being dragged into a war in the Middle East and said it would meet any offensive action with a crushing response.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Trump, who has ordered more sanctions on Iran, wants a peaceful solution to the crisis.
He was speaking after talks with Saudi and Emirati leaders over the strike that Washington and Riyadh have blamed on Tehran.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo takes part in a meeting with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on September 18, 2019. Mandel Ngan/Reuters
* A new Insider poll found just 13% of respondents would back the US military joining or supporting Saudi Arabia in a conflict following an attack on two major Saudi oil facilities. * A significant portion of Americans — roughly one in four — believe the US should remove itself entirely from the affairs of the region and let Saudi Arabia handle its issues itself. * The Trump administration has blamed the attack on Iran, which comes amid broader tensions linked to economic sanctions, and there are fears of another conflict in the Middle East is on the horizon.
Only 13 percent of Americans would support the US military joining Saudi Arabia in a conflict as part of a response to a recent attack on two major Saudi oil fields, a new Insider poll of US adults shows.
The poll asked participants "what, if any, role do you think the US should take in a response to the attack on the Saudi oil facilities?" The participants were given six options and asked to select the one that comes closest to their view.
WNU Editor: This is one of those situations where everyone does not want war, but war wants you. I am expecting more Iran and/or Iran-sponsored attacks in the future.
At least 30 killed after Afghan forces backed by US accidentally bomb farmers while up to 20 killed in Taliban attack.
At least 50 civilians have been killed in separate incidents, as the West-backed Afghan government forces and Taliban fighters have stepped up attacks since a peace deal between the armed group and the United States collapsed earlier this month.
A US-backed air raid conducted by the Afghan security forces accidentally hit farmland in Nangarhar province killing about 30 civilians and injuring 40 others, while at least 20 people were killed in Zabul province in a suicide car bomb blast claimed by the Taliban group.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz are jostling over the terms of a unity government, after the country's second election in a year ended in deadlock.
Local media say both men's parties failed to win enough votes on Tuesday to build a coalition with a majority.
Mr Netanyahu urged Mr Gantz to start negotiations on a joint administration.
Mr Gantz rebuffed the idea, calling it spin. He said he wanted a unity government - but only one led by him.
His party has ruled out joining a coalition led by Mr Netanyahu, who faces possible corruption charges.
A former Navy SEAL commander has warned that China's break-neck military development is quickly making the huge nation America's most significant global rival.
Retired Admiral William McRaven—who headed the Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014 and oversaw the operation that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden—described Chinese military evolution as a "holy s***" moment for the U.S. during a Council on Foreign Relations event on Wednesday to mark the release of a new report, Business Insider reported.
Breaking: A Belgian F-16 fighter jet has crashed in #Pluvigner in western France . One of the pilots is caught on a high-voltage electricity line and rescue efforts are underway. pic.twitter.com/3HKrfxSsXU
* Crew at TV Vannes caught plane flying low moments before it crashed * Belgian F-16 fighter jet crashed near Pluvigner, Brittany, western France * Emergency crew managed to extract the pilot who was stuck on electricity line * One of the plane's wings sliced a house, and the wreckage set a field on fire
A television crew recorded a Belgian F-16 fighter in flight shortly before it crashed into a house and burst into flames in a French field today.
One pilot was left hanging from a high-voltage electricity cable for two hours after successfully ejecting but getting his parachute caught on the wire.
Footage captured by TV Vannes shows the plane, which was travelling from Belgium to a naval base in Morbihan, flying low over a cluster of trees just before it crashes, out of shot of the camera.
Iran's foreign minister has raised the specter of "all-out war" in the event of US or Saudi military strikes and that Saudi Arabia would have to fight "to the last American soldier."
Javad Zarif told CNN that Iran hoped to avoid conflict, adding that the country was willing to talk to its regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But the possibility of a return to negotiations with the US, however, would not happen unless Washington provided full sanctions relief as promised under the 2015 nuclear deal, Tehran's top diplomat said.
He again denied Tehran's involvement in weekend attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, which dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the region this week. Zarif said Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who claimed responsibility for the attack, have stepped up their military capabilities and are capable of conducting a sophisticated operation such as the one that knocked out half of the kingdom's energy production.
The whistleblower complaint that has triggered a tense showdown between the U.S. intelligence community and Congress involves President Trump's communications with a foreign leader, according to two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Trump's interaction with the foreign leader included a "promise" that was regarded as so troubling that it prompted an official in the U.S. intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community, said the former officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
It was not immediately clear which foreign leader Trump was speaking with or what he pledged to deliver, but his direct involvement in the matter has not been previously disclosed. It raises new questions about the president's handling of sensitive information and may further strain his relationship with U.S. spy agencies. One former official said the communication was a phone call.
WNU Editor: This is a strange story. Someone in the intelligence community got a hold of President Trump's communications with a foreign leader, who after reading it then decided to lodge a whistleblower complaint. Because the Intelligence Community Inspector General determined that the complaint was credible and troubling enough to be considered a matter of "urgent concern," it then required his office to notify certain congressional oversight committees who now are being blocked from knowing the details of this complaint. Aside from the politics involved, I am not sure on where this is going. The President has broad authority to decide unilaterally when to classify or declassify information, and he is free to conduct foreign affairs as he wants. But we still should know on what did he promise this foreign leader that has resulted in all of this publicity.
Demonstrators attend a protest to demand authorities scrap a proposed extradition bill with China, in Hong Kong, China June 9, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
While turnout has declined, the demonstrators' sentiment remains.
After more than 100 days of protest, turnout for Hong Kong's pro-democracy demonstrations appears to be declining, at least for the moment. That is in part a result of systematic closures of the city's subway system to restrict protest numbers and in part a natural drop after months of mobilization. Anger, especially toward the police, remains entrenched: There have been persistent rumors of cover-ups of killings by police.
Drawing trend lines across seven centuries suggests that tomorrow's troops will rock some seriously heavy gear.
In 2050, exoskeleton-equipped soldiers could carry the sorts of heavy machine guns that are today mounted on vehicles, while tanks could be armed with howitzer-class cannons, according to a mathematical formula derived from seven centuries of weapons development.
To build the formula, Army Research Laboratory scientist Alexander Kott carefully scrutinized the performance attributes of weapons across the years, starting with crossbows and proceeding through muskets and tanks.
Russian airmen have filmed a swarm of Belgian, Danish, Polish and Swedish fighter jets flanking a Tu-160 Blackjack bomber and its escort while on routine patrol over the Baltic Sea.
Released by the Defense Ministry on Wednesday, the spectacular footage shows the supersonic Tupolev Tu-160 bomber taking off from an undisclosed airfield and heading for the Baltic airspace.
A draft agreement for peace between the U.S. and the Taliban in Afghanistan got a lot of hopes up late this summer, but the former head of U.S. special operations ― most well known for overseeing the mission that ultimately took out Osama Bin Laden ― said that making concessions to the extremist group is the wrong move.
Retired Adm. Bill McRaven, now a national security professor at the University of Texas in Austin, likened negotiating with the warlords who control much of Afghanistan's square mileage to sitting down with ISIS, in a discussion Wednesday at the New America Special Operations Forces Policy Forum in Washington.
WNU Editor: Retired Adm. Bill McRaven is unfortunately right. Afghanistan is one of those conflicts that will takes decades of fighting to resolve. An example that always comes to my mind is Colombia and its war against FARC. That conflict that has been ongoing for over five decades now, and will probably continue for a few more. And while the U.S. can get up and leave Afghanistan to its fate, the problem with this conflict is the Taliban's close alliance with Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda, like ISIS, is an incredibly destructive and fanatical organization that is dedicated to bringing great harm to the rest of the world. Giving them a safe haven to grow and flourish is not an option for us.
A GROUP of explorers set on solving the mystery of a long lost pyramid hidden deep in the Guatemala jungle, rumoured to be larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza, received the treat of their lives.
AREA 51 is the top-secret government facility which will today be the location of the viral "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us" Facebook event. So what is Area 51 and why are locals "preparing for the worst"?
These robo-advisors are the best for setting up a focused, socially responsible portfolio. They all feature individual stock picking for the most granular level of portfolio design.
These robo-advisors allow a sophisticated investor to fine-tune a portfolio, deleting individual stocks from the suggested portfolios, and possibly pick a replacement.
If you're just getting started with investing, and haven't amassed much cash yet, these five robo-advisors feature easy-to-use websites and apps, low minimums, and good education.
If you have a Roth IRA, you are responsible for keeping track of your pretax versus after-tax assets. The tax Form 8606 has become increasingly important thanks to the popularity of the Roth IRA and the rollover eligibility of after-tax assets from qualified plans.
A 401(k) and a Roth IRA are both great tax-saving vehicles for your retirement dollars, but check out the differences before you pick one over the other.
For the first time since 2013, limits for contributions and income thresholds for individual retirement accounts are up. Here are the 2019 figures for all types of IRAs.
The Alibaba Group follows a business model that differs from e-commerce leaders in the United States and allows the firm to play the middleman to various types of buyers and sellers across the globe.
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Zero coupon bonds are bonds that do not make any interest payments until maturity, you won't put a single penny of interest in your pocket for two decades.
To ensure that your assets are distributed correctly, you will need a last will and testament and may also want to consider a living will, a power of attorney, and a trust.
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Mortgage-backed securities can offer monthly income, a fixed interest rate and even government backing. But just how can you make a profit on these assets?
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BARC Stipendiary Trainee Result 201 9 Released @ recruit.barc.gov.in| Check Category I, II Cut off Marks, Merit List here: | The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has recently uploaded the result for Stipendiary Trainee (Category-I, Category-II) on 18th September 2019. Applicants those who have participated in the Screening Test for category I and II can check and download your results from the below link. Applicants can get the complete information of BARC Stipendiary Trainee Result 2019 – Category I, II from the below sections.
BARC Stipendiary Trainee Result 2019
All the Candidates can check BARC Stipendiary Trainee Result 2019 from this article. We have updated the latest link for the BARC Stipendiary Trainee Category 1 & 2 Result with marks. Along with the BARC Result 2019, candidates can download your BARC Stipendiary Trainee Cut off from this page. Also, we have attached the direct link to the end for the BARC Stipendiary Trainee Merit List 2019 from the official site. So, the candidates can check their Final results for the posts of Pharmacist/B, Tech/B Boiler Attendant, Stipendiary Trainees Category-II (Welder/Lab Asst/R&AC/Transport Maintenance) now.
BARC Stipendiary Trainee Result 2019 – Category I, II
BARC Stipendiary Trainee Result 2019 (Released) | Check Category I, II Cut Off Marks, Merit List
Category-I: 31st July to 3rd August 2019 Category-II: 11th June to 13th June 2019
Result Release Date
18th September 2019 – Link Available Below
Official Website
recruit.barc.gov.in
All the applicants those who have participated in the BARC Stipendiary Trainee Recruitment test can get the highlighted points from the above table. Candidates can check your BARC Stipendiary Trainee Result 2019 – Category I, II from the below link. Also, we have provided a direct link for the BARC Stipendiary Trainee Cut Off with marks. Applicants just by clicking the below link, enter into the sign-in page.
BARC Stipendiary Trainee Cut Off Marks 2019
The officials of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) follows some conditions to shortlist the candidate for the next level of the selection process. Based on the reservation category (General, OBC, SC, ST), the number of aspirants attended the test, the number of vacancies available, the difficulty level of the paper in the exam, the candidate will be selected. Check the BARC Stipendiary Trainee Cut Off Marks 2019 of the participant from the official website. More importantly, check the selected list of the candidate which is at the end.
How to check BARC Stipendiary Trainee Result 2019 (Category I, II)?
Candidates must visit the official website of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) @ recruit.barc.gov.in.
On the home page, Move to the Notifications [BARC – Mysuru] section which is on the left side of the main page.
Then, Click on View all tab in that notifications section.
Search for the link related to download the selection list of the candidates in category I, II and click on that link.
Check your application number, name, date of birth, caste through that BARC Stipendiary Trainee Exam Result 2019.
Direct link to download BARC Stipendiary Trainee Result 2019
The Bihar Police Admit Card 2019 will be released by the Bihar Police Authority every year. For the various posts examinations conducted in the Bihar Police Board. Many of the candidates who applied for the respective posts are now curiously waiting to download the Bihar Police Hall Ticket 2019. Therefore, all such applicants can stay tuned to our page. And keep yourself updated with Admit Card release dates, Exam Dates, etc. Furthermore, only those individuals who had applied successfully are able to download the Bihar Police Exam Hall Ticket 2019 @ www.biharpolice.bih.nic.in.
Bihar Police Department will release the admit card for the post of Forest Guards soon. The exam date will be printed on the admit card. Check to the hall ticket once it got released on its official website. Eligible Candidates can download the Bihar Police Hall Ticket from the below section.
Bihar Police Sub Inspector Admit Card will be released for Prelims Examination. The board will release the admit card soon on the official portal. Admit Card will be available only if the board releases the exam date on its official portal.
The Bihar Police will announce the admit card soon. Likewise, the Bihar Police Exam Date will be declared on the official website soon. Thus, the Bihar Police Admit Card can be viewed on the official portal and the direct link will be activated in the below section once it released.
The Bihar Police Department has released the admit card on Today i.e. 05th August 2019. The Exam date will be printed on the admit card. Candidates who applied for the post of Steno Sub Inspector must download the admit card to take down the examination. Get the direct link of Steno Typing Test Admit Card from the below table and download the Bihar Police Admit Card before the exam date.
Bihar Police has announced the admit card for Excise Sub Inspectors on 05th August 2019. The admit card is in live to download. Eligible Aspirants can download the admit card before the exam date. Bihar Police Mains hall ticket is available on the overview table. So, Candidates can get the direct link to download the hall ticket.
Bihar Police Forest Guard Admit Card 2019 is released now. The Bihar Police Department is recruiting Forest Guard Officers through the Written Exam Selection process. Those who have applied for the Bihar Police Forest Guard Jobs Download your Admit Card from the below section. Download the Bihar Police Forest Guard Hall Ticket 2019 from the link given below.
Bihar Police Constable Admit Card 2019 is released on 1st of Nov 2019. Download Bihar Police Admit Card 2019 from the official site @ biharpolic.bih.nic.in. The Bihar Police constable exam I & II will be held on 25-11-2019 and the Bihar Police Constable Exam III will be held on 2-12-2019. Download the Bihar Police Constable Hall Ticket 2019 from the link given below.
Bihar Police Constable Admit Card 2019 will be out soon. The Exam will be conducted on the 25th Nov & 2nd Dec 2019 for both Bihar Police Constable and fireman. Now That the Bihar Police Exam Dates have been announced the Bihar Police Constable Hall Ticket 2019 & Bihar Police Fireman Hall Ticket will be released soon. The Admit Card will be issued just a few days before the Bihar Police Exam. Hence, all the candidates who want to download the Admit Card can visit this page. Because we will update a link below so that the applicants can download the Bihar Police Hall Ticket Once released.
Name of the Organization
Central Selection Board of Constable (CBSC), Bihar
Name of Post
Constable, Fireman
No of Vacancies
11,865
Category
Admit Card
Admit Card Date
Available Soon
Official Website
csbc.bih.nic.in
Bihar Police SI Admit Card 2019
Bihar Police Admit Card for the Post of Steno, Assistant Sub Inspector 2019 is available now. The Aspirants who are looking for the Bihar Police SI Admit Card 2019 can download from the direct link below. Also, check the Official website of BPSSC for any queries regarding the Bihar Police Steno. Asst SI Exam Admit Card 2019.
Exam Name
Stenographer, Assistant SI
No of Vacancies
174
Category
Admit Card
Admit Card Date
Available Soon
Official Website
csbc.bih.nic.in
Bihar Police SI Admit Card 2019
Bihar Police SI Admit Card for Physical Test 2019 is Live now. The Bihar Police Recruitment Board has given the Bihar Police Admit Card for Physical Test on 05th Sep 2019. Hence, the aspirants who cleared the Mains Written Examination can download the Hall Ticket. However, Just Click on the Bihar Police SI PET Admit Card link below.
Post Name
Sub-Inspector
No of Vacancies
1717
Category
Admit Card
Bihar Police Admit Card for Physical Test 2019
Update Soon
Official Website
bpssc.bih.nic.in
Bihar Police Admit Card for Constable & Driver 2019
Bihar Police Admit Card released for Constable & Driver Recruitment. Candidates those who are waiting for the Bihar Police Admit Card can start to download their Admit Card now. Furthermore, we are providing you with a link in the table below to download your Bihar Police Admit Card for Constable & Driver 2019. Also, Aspirants can go to official Page for Bihar Police Admit Card 2019.
Name of the Organization
Bihar Police Recruitment
Name of the Post
Driver & Constable
Number of Vacancies
1669
Category
Admit Card
Admit Card Date
Update Soon
Official Website
biharpolice.bih.nic.in
Find the direct links for the Bihar police exam syllabus and written test pattern details in our syllabus page. Also, aspirants can download the Bihar police previous year question papers pdf for free of cost from our model papers page. Hence, click on the links below and get the required details and free study material for constable, SI, HC & other posts.
Bihar Police Exam Hall Ticket 2019 is provided to only those candidates who have applied for the post. An Aspirant should carry the Admit Card to the exam hall. However, Candidates who fail to get their Bihar Constable Admit Card 2019 won’t allow to take up examination. So, the board has decided to conduct an examination and all aspirants are curious about their hall ticket. To acquire it fast, be ready with your registration number and other exam details. After that, just click the official link provided here and enter the required details to download it.
Steps to download Bihar Police Exam Hall Ticket 2019
First, visit the official website of Bihar Police Department i.e biharpolice.bih.nic.in
It navigates to the home page.
Then candidates must search the Bihar Hall Ticket 2019.
Read through the instructions carefully.
Now enter the application number and password and download the admit card.
And carry the Bihar Police Exam Admit Card 2019 while appearing for the exam.
AIIMS Jodhpur Jobs 2019 – Walk-in for 65 Senior Resident Vacancies. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur has planned for a walk-in to select eligible candidates for the Senior Resident Post. Accordingly, 75 vacancies are allotted for Senior Resident post under various departments. Interested aspirants check eligibility conditions of AIIMS Jodhpur Jobs 2019 Notification in this article. Eligibles can attend the walk-in at 14th & 15th October 2019.
Only Indian Nationals are eligible to apply for the AIIMS Jodhpur Jobs 2019. Candidates will be selected based on the performance in Interview. Selected aspirants will be recruited for 11 months on a contractual basis. Individual willing to apply for the AIIMS Jodhpur Jobs ensure with your eligibility before applying for the Senior Resident Vacancy in AIIMS.
MS/DNB (General Surgery)/M.Ch (Trauma Surgery and Critical Care)
Urology
M.Ch/DNB (Urology)
Age Limit for AIIMS Jodhpur Jobs:
Maximum Age Limit – 37 Years
Age Relaxation:
OBC Candidates – 03 Years
SC/ ST Candidates – 05 Years
PWD Candidates – 10 Years
AIIMS Jodhpur Jobs – Salary Details:
Rs. 18,750 + Rs. 6,600 (Grade Pay) + NPA (Non-Practicing Allowance) + other usual Allowances or
Revised pay scale as per 7th CPC as applicable – Level – 11 of the Matrix – Pre-Revised PB – 3, entry pay of the Rs. 67,700 + NPA + usual allowance admissible under rules
Application Fee:
Pay the fee either through Demand draft or Cheque in favor of “AIIMS, Jodhpur” payable at Jodhpur or deposit as cash at the time of Interview.
General Candidates – Rs. 1000/-
Reserved Candidates – Rs. 800/-
AIIMS Jodhpur Jobs Selection Process:
Walk-in-Interview
How to Apply Offline for AIIMS Recruitment Jodhpur 2019?
Download the AIIMS Jodhpur Jobs Application Form given below.
Fill the blanks with the basic details in the application form.
Attach photocopies of necessary documents as mentioned in Notification.
Attach the demand draft proof with the application form.
Re-Check with the details entered in the Application Form.
Appear for the Walk-in with the duly filled application form and essentials documents at the scheduled time and date.
Essential documents to be brought during the interview:
Registration with Medical Council of India/State Medical Council & DCI for Dentistry candidates.
Experience Certificate.
FMGE certificate conducted by NBE (For foreign graduate).
Walk-in-Interview Venue:
Medical College of AIIMS, Basni Industrial Area, Phase-2, Jodhpur, Rajasthan – 342005.
Walk-in-Interview Dates for AIIMS Vacancy in Jodhpur 2019
Department Name
Walk-in Date
Cardiology/ Endocrinology & Metabolism/ General Medicine Medical Oncology / Haematology/ Nephrology/ Neurology/ Pulmonary Medicine/ Pediatrics/ Psychiatry/ Transfusion Medicine and Blood Bank/ Trauma & Emergency (Medical)
14th October 2019 (10.00 AM)
Biochemistry/ Physiology/ Pharmacology/ Anesthesiology and Critical Care/ Burns & Plastic Surgery/ Cardiothoracic Surgery/ General Surgery/ Neurosurgery/ Nuclear Medicine/ Orthopaedics/ Paediatrics Surgery/ Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation/ Surgical Gastroenterology/ Surgical Oncology/ Trauma & Emergency (Surgical)/ Urology
15th October 2019 (10.00 AM)
Important Links for Jodhpur AIIMS Notification 2019
About All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur
AIIMS Jodhpur is one of the Six AIIMS set up by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY) with the point of revising territorial uneven characters in quality tertiary level social insurance in the nation and achieving independence in alumni and postgraduate medicinal training. PMSSY wanted to set up 6 new AIIMS like establishments in underserved regions of the nation.
These foundations are being set up by an Act of Parliament on the lines of the first All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi which grants both undergrad and postgraduate therapeutic instruction in the entirety of its branches and related fields, alongside nursing and paramedical preparing to unite in one spot instructive offices of the most noteworthy request for the preparation of workforce in all parts of human services activity. The AIIMS family developed with the enlistment of Faculty individuals who have drudged enthusiastically and
Haryana Clerk Admit Card 2019 Released on 14th September 2019. The Haryana Staff Selection Commission has issued the hall ticket for the Clerk examination. Hence, the exam has been scheduled from 21st to 23rd September 2019. Moreover, the admit card can be downloaded from the below-provided link. Make sure to download the admit card before the exam date. Drag down to get more details from the upcoming section.
Haryana Clerk Admit Card 2019
The Commission has announced the exam date to recruit the Clerks in Haryana Staff Selection Commission. Candidates who have submitted the application can download the admit card from here. The HSSC Clerk Admit Card can be used for all the selection rounds. Hence, Download the HSSC Clerk Haryana Admit Card for the sake of examination. Candidates should participate in the examination along with the hall ticket. No aspirants will be allowed to take down the examination without the HSSC Exam Admit Card.
Candidates who are going to attend the examination can download admit card by entering the necessary details. The admit card carries the aspirant’s details and the exam details. Candidates can get the complete information about the HSSC Clerk Exam from the Haryana Clerk Admit Card.
Name of the Applicant.
Exam Date, Time & Centre.
Post Applied for.
Application or Registration Number
Date of Birth
Important Instructions.
HSSC Clerk Exam Pattern
All the applicants must clear the exam conducted by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission. Hence, the Officials of HSSC has revealed the exam pattern for the post of Clerk on its official portal. Make use of the exam pattern given in this page and prepare for the examination well. The HSSC Clerk exam is going to be held from 21st September to 23rd September 2019.
Type of Questions
Objective Type
Number of Questions
100
Time allotted
90 Minutes
Haryana SSC Clerk Exam Schedule 2019
Exam Date
Exam Time
Reporting Time
September 21, 2019
Evening Session – 4:30 pm to 6 pm
2:30 pm (No Entry After 3:30 pm)
September 22, 2019
Morning Session – 10:30 am to 12 pm
8: 00 am (No Entry After 09:30 am)
Evening Session – 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
12:30 pm (No Entry After 2 pm)
September 23, 2019
Morning Session – 10:30 am to 12:00 pm
8: 00 am (No Entry After 09:30 am)
Evening Session – 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
12:30 pm (No Entry After 2 pm)
Documents to be Carried for HSSC Clerk Examination 2019
Examiners have to carry the original Government ID proof along with the Haryana Clerk Admit Card. Invigilators will check to the admit card details. The details should be the same as in the proof. Therefore, Aspirants are suggested to fill the required things in the admit card as in the Government ID. Documents that have to be carried for the exam hall is followed.
Aadhar Card
College ID
Ration Card
Driving License
PAN Card
Voter ID
Any Valid ID Proof Issued By Gazetted Officer
Bank Passbook
Passport
HSSC Clerk Admit Card Download Steps 2019-20
Click on the direct link that reads “Haryana Clerk Admit Card”.
Enter the Login ID and Password to get the admit card page.
Now, the HSSC Clerk Hall Ticket page will appear on the screen.
Fill all the details which are asked in the admit card.
Check to the details in the hall ticket after the completion.
Finally, Submit the HSSC Clerk Admit Card.
Download the hall ticket once it submitted.
Take a print out of the admit card.
Carry for the HSSC Clerk Exam and for all the selection rounds.
APSPDCL Results 2019 Released @ apspdcl.in | Check APSPDCL JLM Results, APEPDCL Energy Assistant Cut off Marks: Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL) has declared the Junior Lineman Grade II (Energy Assistant) Result on 16th September 2019. Applicants those who have participated APSPDCL JLM Exam 2019 on 3rd to 7th September 2019, can download your Result by logging onto official website apspdcl.in. Here on this page, we have provided a direct link to download APSPDCL Result 2019 Merit List.
APSPDCL Results 2019 @ apspdcl.in
Dear Candidates, here we have updated the latest result link for the APSPDCL Recruitment 2019 Results. Applicants can get your results just by clicking the direct link provided below in the table. The APSPDCL JLM Result 2019 Released on 16th September 2019. Moreover, Along with the results, all the candidates can get the APSPDCL JLM Cut off Marks 2019 and APSPDCL JLM Merit List 2019 from the below sections. As we know that all the candidates who had attended the Pole climbing, Meter reading & Cycling tests from 3rd to 7th September 2019 are searching for the APSPDCL Energy Assistant Result 2019. All candidates can get the results from the direct link provided below.
APSPDCL JLM Results 2019 – Overview
APSPDCL JLM Result 2019 | APEPDCL Energy Assistant Cut off Marks, Merit List
Description
Details
Organization Name
Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL)
Pole climbing, Meter reading & Cycling tests and Document Verification
Official Website
apspdcl.in
All the applicants those who have participated in the APSPDCL Recruitment 2019 can get the highlighted points from the above table. Candidates can check your APSPDCL Results from the below link. Also, we have provided a direct link for the Circular Wise Cut off Marks of Junior Lineman Grade II (Energy Assistant). Even we have given an APSPDCL Results 2019 Pdf from the below link. The APSPDCL Selection process contains the Pole climbing, Meter reading & Cycling tests.
APSPDCL JLM Merit List 2019
The candidates who pass the Pole climbing, Meter reading, Cycling tests alone will be considered for selection, based on merit in total marks in SSC. If the aspirant scores highest marks in the Pole climbing, Meter reading & Cycling tests will be listed in the APSPDCL JLM Merit List 2019 and are called for the next level of the selection process (Document Verification). You can check the APSPDCL JLM Merit List 2019 after notified by the APSPDCL officials on the official webs portal apspdcl.cgg.gov.in results. Also, applicants can follow the simple steps to download the APSPDCL JLM Results easily.
How to check APEPDCL JLM Result 2019?
Candidates must visit the Visit official website of the Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL) @ apspdcl.in
The home page of the Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL) appears on the screen.
You will have a "JLM Recruitment 2019" box on the top right side of the home page.
Tap on that "JLM Recruitment 2019"
A new page related to the Junior Lineman Grade II (Energy Assistant) will be opened.
Search for the link related to download the APSPDCL/ APEPDCL JLM Result 2019 and click on that link.
Enter the application number, password of the aspirant and click on the submit button.
Download the APSPDCL Energy Assistant Result 2019, APSPDCL Junior Lineman Result 2019.
Direct link to download APSPDCL Results 2019
Download APSPDCL JLM Result 2019 (Energy Assistant)
APPSC Result 2019 | Get APPSC Forest Range Officers Results 2019 @ psc.ap.gov.in Result – Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission has declared the result for various Posts. And the Forest Range Officers Result released on 18th September 2019. To download APPSC Gazetted Officer Result, APPSC Departmental Test Results 2019, Forest Range Officers Result, applicants can click the direct link provided below in the table. Candidates can check out the APPSC Written Exam Dates along with the Result Released Dates from this article. However, candidates can find more information on the official website psc.ap.gov.in about the Upcoming Result details.
APPSC Forest Range Officers Result 2019 – Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission has announced the Forest Range Officers Result on 18th September 2019. Candidates who have appeared for the exam can check their result on the official website, the link for which is psc.ap.gov.in. Those candidates who have qualified the screening test will have to appear for the main examination. The APPSC 2019 main examination dates will be released soon by the A.P. Public Service Commission on the official website.
APPSC Forest Range Officers Result 2019 – Click Here
APPSC Gazetted Officer Result 2019 – Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission has announced the Gazetted Officer Result dates. As that for Gazetted and Non-Gazetted Officer Exam Dates are upcoming. Applicants those who have registered for the APPSC Vacancy 2019 can check out the APPSC Gazetted Officer Exam Result 2019 from the below section. The APPSC Exam Results are likely to announce by September 2019. Once the results are officially announced we will update with the respective links in the below section.
APPSC Departmental Test Result 2019 – APPSC Departmental Test Results 2019 has released by the APPSC on the official website on 26th July 2019. As we know all those candidates who have completed the APPSC Departmental Test are eagerly waiting for the APPSC Result 2019. So that here we have given a direct link to verify your results. Candidates just by clicking the quick link to access your APPSC Departmental Test Merit List 2019. Also, Get Andhra Pradesh PSC Departmental Test Cut Off Marks 2019, psc.ap.gov.in Result 2019 from this article.
APPSC Group 2 Result 2019 – | Get Group II Result here @ psc.ap.gov.in – Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC), Hyderabad has announced Screening Test Result for Group II Exam of Advt No. 25/2018. Selected Candidates can attend for Main Exam will be held on 29 & 30th August 2019. Appeared candidates can check their result at below link. Candidates who had applied and attended for the APPSC Group 2 Examination are excited to know their APPSC Group II Result 2019 status. Applicants can check this entire article and get to know all valuable information about the APPSC Group II Exam Result, APPSC Group II Main Exam List and others
Applicants those who have completed the Departmental Test can check your results and prepare for the next Round of the Interview. Now candidates can get Andhra Pradesh PSC Departmental Test Exam Qualifying Marks 2019. Along with these applicants can get an overview of APPSC Result 2019 from the above table. To Download APPSC Departmental Test Result 2019 anyone can click the direct link which in the bottom of the table. From the above table, applicants know the APPSC Result Date, psc.ap.gov.in Result link and others.
For all those people we have provided a direct link to download APPSC Departmental Test Cut off marks. Candidates can verify their results now and wait for the APPSC Departmental Test cut off marks 2019. Because based on the APPSC Result 2019 and some categories, the officials will decide the Cut off marks. So it will take some time to receive the APPSC Departmental Test cut off marks 2019. All the applicants can check out the psc.ap.gov.in Departmental Test Results from this article.
APPSC Departmental Test Merit List 2019
Here we have dedicated this page to update all the latest result links and APPSC Merit List. Although If the applicants can get the chance to attain into the Merit List. The candidates got secure minimum or maximum Cut off marks, their name will attain in the Merit List 2019. Also, it will be helpful for the candidates, if the candidate gets top 5 in the Merit List at the time of Interview. Apart from this, we have included some steps to download APPSC Departmental Test Results 2019.
How to check the APPSC Departmental Test Result?
The aspirants should visit the official website Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) @ psc.ap.gov
On the home page, click on the Results Section.
A new page will be opened under the Results Section.
We have to search for APPSC Departmental Test Result 2019 link.
After finding the link we have to click on the link.
The results will be displayed on the screen.
Download and take a print of result for further use.
NHM Maharashtra Recruitment2019 – Apply Offline for 3965 Community Health Officer Job Vacancies. Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) has planned for 6/8 months Certificate Programme in Community Health. Interested and enthusiastic candidates can send their application to serve the community. The application process is through Offline mode only. NHM Maharashtra Applications for CHO Vacancies are getting received from 16th September 2019.
The final date for the receipt of application form for the CHO Vacancy of NHM Maharashtra Recruitment 2019 is 14th October 2019. CHO is expected to conduct public health functions, ambulatory care, management and leadership at Health and Wellness Centres. After the completion of the certificate, course aspirants will be appointed on Contractual Basis at Health and Wellness Centres – Sub centers (HWC-SC) as Community Health Officers. Scroll down for more details regarding NHM Maharashtra Recruitment 2019.
Highlights of NHM Maharashtra CHO Recruitment 2019
NHM Maharashtra CHO Job – District Wise Vacancy Details
District Name
Number of Vacancies
Palghar
205
Raigad
156
Dhule
152
Nandurbar
47
Solapur
360
Satara
118
Kolhapur
380
Sindhudurg
144
Ratnagiri
352
Beed
253
Aurangabad
239
Jalna
187
Parbhani
192
Akola
145
Amravati
37
Buldana
236
Yavatmal
173
Nagpur
90
Wardha
25
Bhandara
15
Gondia
84
Chandrapur
147
Gadchiroli
228
Total
3965
Eligibility Criteria for NHM Maharashtra Recruitment 2019
Educational Qualification:
Bachelors Degree in Ayurvedic Medicine/ Unani Medicine/ Nursingfrom a recognized university registered in Maharashtra Council of Indian Medicine/Maharashtra Nursing council.
Age Limit:
General Candidates – 38 Years
Reserved Candidates – 43 Years
Salary Details:
Stipend during Certificate Programme – Rs. 10,000/-
Appointment after completion of Training – Rs. 25,000/-
The National Health Mission (NHM) was impelled by the governing body of India in 2013 subsuming the National Rural Health Mission and National Urban Health Mission. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), by and by under National Health Mission is a movement endeavored by the organization of India to address the prosperity needs of under-served rural zones. As per the twelfth Plan report of the Planning Commission, the lead program of NRHM will be invigorated under the umbrella of National Health Mission. Notwithstanding physical issues, there are social, passionate, money related and otherworldly issues brought about by the ailment. This will incorporate ailments, for example, Cancer, stroke, HIV/AIDS, tranquilize safe TB, rationally impeded kids, feeble disarranges and so forth. To contain the weight of Palliative need from ceaseless and life restricting ailments Govt. of Maharashtra starts to give palliative consideration administrations
The Govt. of Maharashtra has a Network of 30 Public Health Laboratories (one each in each region HQ) in 3 level framework. (There are two research facilities in Thane District, one at Thane and another at Konkan Bhavan, New Mumbai.) The Laboratory at Pune works as State Public Health Laboratory and is the summit lab. Research centers at Aurangabad and Nagpur are Regional labs. What’s more, staying 27 Public Health Laboratories are District Public Health Laboratories. State Govt.of Maharashtra has issued a Govt. Goals for the foundation of new research facilities at the recently shaped locale of Washim, Hingoli, Nandurbar, and Gondia.The State Blood Transfusion Council has been set up in Maharashtra by the State Government vide Resolution dated second and fourth July 1996 according to the mandates of Hon. Preeminent Court of India dated fourth January 1996.
NPCIL Admit Card 2019 – Nuclear Power Corporation Of India Limited will announce the admit card on September/ October 2019. The board will declare the exam date on its official portal soon. The exam will be conducted in the month of September/ October 2019. The NPCIL Stipendiary Trainee Admit Card will be available on the below section to download. Therefore, Candidates can get the direct link to download the hall ticket here.
NPCIL Admit Card 2019
The Corporation has announced the recruitment notification to recruit the candidates as Stipendiary Trainee/ Technician 'B' And Scientific Assistant 'B. The board will select the contenders by conducting the examination and by other selection processes. So, the board will release the admit card for the sake of examination. Hence, the NPCIL Hall Ticket is an important document to take down the examination. Therefore, Each and every aspirant must download the hall ticket by their own via Online mode.
Required Details to be Check-in NPCIL Hall Ticket 2019
Aspirants who are interested to take down the examination can download the admit card from the bottom of the section. Therefore, by providing the application number and other valid details can download the NPCIL Admit Card. Competitors have to fill the below-stated details in the admit card carefully. Make sure with the details that you have entered in the NPCIL Stipendiary Trainee Admit Card 2019.
Candidate’s Name
Date of Birth
Exam Venue and Address
Exam Timing
Date of examinations
NPCIL Stipendiary Trainee Exam Pattern
The exam will be held in the month of September/ October 2019. The exam will be held at various centers as scheduled by the board. Thus, the exam details like exam date, exam time, exam center and center code will be printed on the NPCIL Admit Card. Candidates are suggested follow the rules and regulations stated in the admit card. The exam will be of 2 phases. Get the exam pattern for both the phases and prepare well for the examination.
NPCIL Phase I Exam Pattern 2019:
Exam Type
Subjects
Objective Type
General Awareness
Science
Mathematics
NPCIL Phase II Exam Pattern 2019:
Exam Type
Topics
Descriptive Type
Concerned Subjects
Important Things to Download NPCIL Admit Card
Contenders who are going to take down the examination can download the admit card by following the steps given below. And hence, Aspirants have to carry any of the original Government ID proof along with the NPCIL Admit Card.
Original Photograph
Voter Card
Pan Card
Employee ID
College ID
PAN Card
Passport
Driving License
Any other ID proof issued by a Gazetted Officer
Bank Pass Book with the photograph
How to Download NPCIL Exam Admit Card 2019?
Visit the “NPCIL Admit Card 2019”
Enter the Login details
Click on to the Submit Button.
A Call Letter page will arise on the screen.
Enter all the valid details in that.
Check once for the clear view of the details you entered.
Now go to the Download option to get the Admit Card.
Take a photocopy of it.
Direct Links to Download NPCIL Exam Admit Card 2019
Indian Navy Syllabus and Exam Pattern for various Join Indian Navy Recruitment 2019 is available here. The Aspirants who applied for the Indian Navy Recruitment 2019 can get the details here. However, we update the latest Indian Navy Syllabus and Exam Pattern details here. So, click on the respective Indian Navy Exam Syllabus link below and check the details. Also, refer to the Official Website for more details and for any queries.
Indian Navy Syllabus 2019
Candidates applying for the various posts under Indian Navy can get here the links for the posts of Chargeman (Mechanic, Ammunition & Explosive), Tradesman Mate, Sailor SSR, AA, MTS, Lascar and various posts. Go through the below sections and prepare well for the examination.
Indian Navy Chargeman Syllabus 2019 is available for download for the post of Chargeman (Mechanic, Ammunition & Explosive). Candidates can get here the complete Indian Navy Chargeman Syllabus Pdf Download Links. Also, get the detailed exam pattern post wise in the below sections.
Recently, the Indian Navy has released the notification for the post of Chargeman. The total number of vacancies released is 172. Interested candidates can go through the Indian Navy Recruitment 2019 Notification for further details.
Indian Navy Chargeman Recruitment Syllabus 2019 – Details
Syllabus for Indian navy 2019 is out now for the posts of Tradesman Mate. Candidates can get here the complete Syllabus Details along with Exam Pattern. Download the Syllabus Pdf from the below links.
Interested candidates can apply now for the 554 Vacancies and get their dream job in Indian Navy. Also, get the detailed Indian Navy Recruitment 2019 Syllabus details here in the below sections.
Great News for candidates who are searching for Indian Navy Jobs 2020. As recently Indian Navy has released the vacancies for the posts of Sailor SSR (Matric Recruit). Candidates can get here the Indian Navy MR Syllabus as well as the Indian Navy Matric Recruit Syllabus Details. Apart from that aspirants can also get the Indian Navy Sailors Previous Paper 2020. Go through the below links mentioned below.
The Selection process for the posts of Sailor SSR and Sailor AA Posts are as follows-
Written Test (CBT Exam)
Physical Fitness Test
Medical Examination
Indian Navy MR Exam Pattern 2020
Name of the Subject
No of Questions
Duration of Exam
General Knowledge
50
30 Minutes
Mathematics
General English
General Hindi
Science
The Question paper will be Computer-Based with a total of 50 Questions and it will carry 1 mark each.
The question paper will be bilingual (Hindi & English).
It will be of Objective Type Questions (Multiple Choice).
Candidates need to pass in all sections and in aggregate.
There will be negative marking of 0.5 marks for every wrong answer.
The standard of question paper will be 10+2 syllabus.
Indian Navy MR Syllabus Pdf 2020
Candidates who apply for the Matric Recruit Posts can get here the complete syllabus details –
Syllabus of Indian Navy MR 2019 – General Knowledge
Culture and Religion
Geography
Sports
Current Affairs
Dance
Languages
Diseases and Nutrition
History
National like birds, animal, sport, etc.
Indian Navy MR Syllabus Pdf Download 2019 – English
Antonyms
Synonyms
Passage
Proposition
Punctuation
Use of pronouns
Use of Adjectives
Determiners
Verbs/ Tense/ Non-Finite etc.
SSR, AA Indian Navy Syllabus – Science
Waves
Kinematics
Laws of Motion
Work, Energy, and Power
Metals and Non-Metals
Optics
Oscillations
Principles of Communications
Organic Chemistry
Electrostatics
Computer Science etc.
Indian Navy Syllabus Pdf 2019 – Mathematics
Set Theory
Relations and Functions
Trigonometry
Matrices
Logarithms
Complex Numbers
Circles
Determinants
Limits and Continuity
Differentiation
Vectors
Statistics etc.
Indian Navy SSR Previous Papers 2019
Get the Indian Navy Previous Year Question Papers for SSR and AA Exam 2019 from the link below. Also, aspirants can download the Indian Navy Previous Papers PDF for free from the given link- Previous Papers for Indian Navy AA
The Join Indian Navy Board announced the Multi Tasking Staff (MTS) Vacancies. However, the Aspirants who applied to the Indian Navy MTS Vacancies can check the Syllabus and Previous Papers details below. Also, check the official Indian Navy Recruitment Notification for MTS. Furthermore, check the Indian Navy MTS Syllabus and Exam Pattern and download the PDF. Also, check out the Indian Navy Previous Papers link at the end of the article.
The Join Indian Navy conducts the written Examination for the Multi-Tasking Staff Recruitment 2019. However, have a look at the latest Indian Navy Exam Pattern for MTS Posts 2019. Also, check out the various subjects and the marks for each section in the table below. Furthermore, check out the link for Indian Navy Syllabus and Exam Pattern Pdf in the section below. For more details, aspirants can check the official join Indian Navy Website.
Part
Subjects
No of Questions
1
General Intelligence/Awareness & Reasoning
20
2
Numerical Aptitude
20
3
General English
20
4
Awareness of relevant Trade/Field
40
Total
100
Each Question carries one Mark.
The Question paper will be having 4 sections
The questions will be of objective type Multiple Choice Questions.
However, check the Indian Navy Previous Year Question Papers for MTS Exam 2019 from the link below. Also, aspirants can download the Indian Navy Previous Papers PDF for free. Furthermore, download Hall ticket in out Indian Navy-Admit Card page.
Welcome to our Indian Navy Syllabus page. Here you can find Various Indian Navy Recruitment Posts Syllabus and Exam pattern. However, Check the Indian Navy Syllabus for Lascar, Master Grade & Others Posts 2019 below. Also, download the Indian Navy Lascar, Master Guard Syllabus 2019 pdf in the section below. Furthermore, if you’re not checked the Official Notification, here is the link below.
Check the Indian Navy Lascar, Master Grade Exam Pattern 2019 from the following mentioned table. Understand the test pattern completely and prepare well for the Indian Navy Examination. By referring to the Indian Navy Lascar, Master Grade & Other Written Exam Pattern, applicants will get to know the topics they want to prepare to crack the Written Test.
Lascar Exam Paper Pattern 2019
Parts
Subject Name
Marks
1
General Intelligence & Reasoning
20
2
Numerical Aptitude
20
3
General English
20
4
General Knowledge
20
5
General Awareness in Related Trade/Field
20
Total
100
The questions will be Objective Type only.
The question paper will be given in the English Language.
Negative Marking will be according to the Board Rules.
Indian Navy Lascar Syllabus PDF Download
The Aspirants can download the Indian Navy Syllabus for Lascar, Master Guard & Other Posts 2019 from the link given below. However, go through the list of detailed topics given for Indian Navy Written Examination 2019. Also, download the Indian Navy Previous Papers for Lascar & Other Posts in the section at the end of the article.
General Intelligence & Reasoning – Indian Navy Lascar Syllabus 2019
Analogies
Similarities & Differences
Space Visualization
Problem Solving
Analysis
Judgment
Decision Making
Visual Memory
Discriminating Observation,
Relation Concepts
Verbal & Figure Classification
Arithmetic Number Series
Non-Verbal Series Etc.
Numerical Aptitude – Indian Navy Master Grade Syllabus 2019
Number Systems
Computations of Whole Numbers
Decimal & fractions
Relationship Between Numbers
Fundamental Arithmetic Operations.
Percentages
Ratios & Proportions
Averages
Interests
Profit & Loss
Discount
Time & distance
Ratio & Time
Work Etc.
www.indiannavy.nic.in Syllabus 2019 – English Language
Vocabulary.
Grammar.
Sentence Structure.
Synonymous.
Antonyms & its Usage Etc.
Indian Navy Syllabus Download – General Knowledge
Questions Related to India & Neighbouring Countries
Sports
History
Culture.
Geography.
Economics Scene.
General Policy.
Indian Constitution & Scientific Research Etc.
Previous Papers Download
Download the Indian Navy Previous Papers from the following link. However, we provide you free material for Indian Navy Lascar, Master Grade & Other Recruitment Written Examination 2019. Also. aspirants can download the Indian Navy Previous Papers for free of Cost. Hope our material will help you in your preparation.
Check the Indian Navy Syllabus 2019 for the Post of Civilian Motor Driver Grade II is available. The candidate who is looking for the Civilian Motor Driver Exam Syllabus can get here. However, the aspirants can download the Indian Navy Civilian Driver Exam Syllabus 2019 for sections below. Also, visit the joinindiannavy.com website for more details on Indian Navy Syllabus for Civilian Driver Exam 2019.
Hence, check the Indian Navy Civilian Driver Grade II Exam Pattern 2019 below.
S.No
Exam Type
Sections
Exam Time
1
Objective Type
General English
2 Hrs
2
General Aptitude
3
General Awareness
4
Reasoning
5
Awareness in Relevant Trades
Check the official Notification for the section Process and other Recruitment details.
Indian Navy Syllabus PDF Download
The Candidates those who are looking for the Indian Navy Exam Syllabus for Civilian Driver 2019, go through the details below. Also, check the Syllabus details and download the Indian Navy Civilian Driver Exam Syllabus PDF from the link below. However, hope our material will help you in preparation for your Indian Navy Civilian Driver Examination 2019.
The Candidates who have applied for the latest Indian Navy Recruitment of Chef, Steward, and Hygenist Vacancies can check the Indian Navy Chef Syllabus and Exam Pattern here. Referring to the Indian Navy Syllabus and Test Pattern can help you to start your exam preparation.
Indian Navy Syllabus for Group C Exam 2019 – Overview
Description
Details
Organization Name
Indian Navy
Total Vacancies
Various
Post Name
Chef, Steward, and Hygenist Vacancies
Apply Mode
Online
Category
Syllabus
Official Website
www.joinindiannavy.gov.in
Selection process
The Indian Navy follows the following recruitment procedure,
Written Test
Physical Fitness Test
Medical Examination
Interview
Indian Navy Syllabus 2019 – Exam Pattern 2019
Here is the exam pattern for the post of Chef, Steward, and Hygenist posts,
Subjects
Questions
Duration
Science & Mathematics
25
30 Minutes
General Knowledge/Awareness
25
The written exam consists of two sections (Science & Mathematics, General Knowledge & Awareness)
There will be 25 questions from each section.
The duration to complete the exam is 30 minutes.
Download Indian Navy Syllabus Pdf
Aspirants who are looking for the Indian Navy Syllabus for the post of Chef, Steward, and Hygenist vacancies can get it here. In the below section, you can get the detailed Indian Navy Syllabus for both the Science & Mathematics, General Knowledge & Awareness). Check it before starting your exam preparation.
Indian Navy Syllabus for Science
Nature of Matter
Universe (Planets/Earth/Satellites/Sun), Electricity and its applications
Force and Gravitation
Newton’s laws of motion
Work
Energy and Power
Heat
Temperature
Metals and Non-metals
Carbon and its compounds
Measurements in Science
Sound & Wave Motion
Atomic Structure
Indian Navy Chef Syllabus for Maths
Mathematical Simplification
Ratio and Proportion
Algebraic Identities
Linear Equations and Polynomials
Simultaneous Equations
Basic Trigonometry
Simple Mensuration
Geometry
Measures of Central Tendency (Average, Median, and Mode)
Interest
Profit
Loss and Percentage
Work
Time
Speed and Distance
Indian Navy Exam Syllabus for General Knowledge/General Awareness
KOLKATA: The telecom regulator's latest paper on deferring implementation of a zero-interconnect usage charges (IUC) regime has triggered a blame game among older operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, and newest entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm. They blame each other for voice traffic imbalance.People familiar with matter at Airtel and Vodafone Idea (VIL), who asked not to be named, blamed the Mukesh Ambani-led telco for recently limiting the duration of rings for calls being made from its network to just 20 seconds – or just 4-5 rings – which triggers a call-back, aimed at ensuring a call terminates on Jio's network, generating interconnect revenue for the telecom market leader.People familiar with the matter at Jio, though, accused rivals of keeping call rates exorbitant — with an effective outgo of almost Rs 2 per minute — for the lowest class of 2G users, forcing them to give missed calls to a Jio user to elicit a return call, ensuring the call terminates on incumbents' networks, generating IUC revenue for them. Interconnect charge (IUC) is paid by call-originating telco to destination operator.A Vodafone Idea spokesman countered, saying "we offer choice to customers via affordable products across 2G, 3G and 4G technologies, wherein users can opt for plans that best meet their needs for voice and data services".At press time, Jio and Airtel did not reply to ET's queries.Trai, which some two years ago had reduced IUC by 57% to 6 paise a minute, and ordered the scrapping it from January 2020, has called for a review, saying consumers are yet to migrate completely to data calls and that the imbalance in voice traffic between operators still exists. Trai on Wednesday said the traffic imbalance in terms of absolute minutes between an only 4G operator (read: Jio) and other operators is still 40 billion minutes per month at June end, though its lower than the peak of around 60 billion minutes a month in December 2017.The move to data calls, it had earlier said, would have reduced the cost of generating a call, encouraging a sharp reduction in traffic imbalance, thus removing need for IUC. But that is yet to happen. 71211044 A senior industry executive said Jio's decision to cut maximum ring time for answering a call to just 20 seconds instead of the 40-45 seconds industry practice has "virtually converted outgoing calls from Jio's network into missed calls, prompting many Airtel customers to call back Jio users, in turn, generating interconnect revenue for the new entrant.""Jio's action has resulted in losses of roughly Rs 80 lakh per day with an additional 132 million voice minutes of usage per day terminating on its network from Airtel's," said the person, added that IUC should be 14 paise a unit.Jio's move, he said, was a clever ploy to rapidly "ring in symmetry in Jio's incoming and outgoing off-net traffic" to minimise IUC payouts to the older operators.Off-net traffic refers to voice call traffic going from one telco's network to another's. At present, Jio's incoming to-outbound offnet traffic ratio is at 36: 64, according to data from the telecom regulator, which is why it is still a net IUC payer and not an earner, despite being voice minutes market leader with a 36% share, ahead of Airtel (33.5%) and Voda Idea (30.7%).For Airtel, it's 54.7:45.3 and for Voda Idea, it's 59.3:40.7.People close to Jio though dismissed the allegations, saying Jio's network, on the contrary, is "being bombarded with missed calls from a vast swathes of ordinary 2G users of Voda Idea and Airtel who can't afford the stiff voice tariffs on the minimum recharge plans. Jio circles reckon as much as 70% and 63% of Voda Idea and Airtel customers are still on 2G networks. "Jio continues to get missed calls from Voda Idea and Airtel 2G users due to the incumbents' skewed voice tariffs."On Thursday, Vodafone Idea and Airtel shares closed nearly 12% and 0.6% higher at Rs 5.44 and Rs 337.7 on BSE respectively. Shares of Reliance Industries, Jio's parent, closed 2.24% lower at Rs 1,178.70."Were the IUC cut to be deferred, the biggest relief could be for Voda Idea which derived ~30% of its overall 1Q EBITDA from IUC. Bharti's gains would be more muted, as IUC contributed as less than 10% of Ebitda," Citibank said in a research note. "Jio would be negatively impacted, with IUC being a net cost to the company (about 18% of Jio's 1Q EBITDA; Jio contributed around 22% of RIL's consolidated Ebitda)."
The debt woes of Essel Group promoters may worsen as mutual funds squabble among themselves on whether to give more time to Subhash Chandra's private firms to repay debt.With 11 days to go for Essel promoters to redeem the pledge on shares of Zee Entertainment by repaying loans to mutual funds and nonbanking finance companies, some mutual funds are against granting more time. Zee Entertainment is part of the Chandra-led Essel Group, and its shares have been pledged by the promoters to raise money for the group's infrastructure projects.ET spoke to various mutual funds on the issue. While some big players are willing to grant Essel promoters three more months to repay, a few others are against offering any leeway.Top executives of the Essel Group are said to have told mutual fund officials about their inability to meet the deadline, and sought more time to repay.The group is in talks with some investors to sell additional stake in Zee and negotiations are on over pricing and other issues, said a personal aware of the discussions.An Essel Group spokesperson said the conglomerate is in constant dialogue with the consortium of lenders and that the overall asset divestment approach is in steady progress with the group focussed on the repayment process."All decisions taken in this process so far have been in the interest of lenders and have only been implemented after their consent. The group will continue to follow this approach with a sheer focus on repayment. The group also continues to actively work on further divestments, including its non-media assets," the spokesperson said.Essel Group promoters had struck a standstill agreement with mutual funds and NBFCs in January after a precipitous fall in Zee shares. After failing to top up shares given as collateral, the promoters had promised to repay lenders by September 30. 71211457 Last month, Essel sold 11 per cent stake in Zee Entertainment to Invesco Oppenheimer for Rs 4,224 crore. The proceeds were used to repay Rs 2,300 crore to six mutual funds —Aditya Birla Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, Franklin Templeton, ICICI Prudential, SBI Mutual and Kotak Mutual. The Essel Group is keen to settle the remaining debt of about Rs 2,300 crore by September 30."Some MFs want to give more time to the Essel Group as it has genuinely made efforts to repay, so that the group can sell its stake in Zee at a better valuation," said a person aware of the matter.It is believed that some fund houses such as Kotak and HDFC are not agreeable to an extension and want the debt to be repaid before the deadline. However, another fund house with a large exposure is ready to grant an extension. Talks are on among the funds and a decision is likely soon, sources said.Spokespersons of all the six mutual funds declined to comment.SEBI'S TOUGH STANCEThe fears of some of the MFs could also be due to the tough stance taken by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on the issue of standstill agreements.The regulator had issued notices to HDFC Asset Management and Kotak Mutual Fund a few months ago for extending the maturity of their FMPs owing to Essel's financial difficulties.
The goods and services tax (GST) council is meeting on Friday in Goa to deliberate a number of issues, including reduction in tax rates on a number of items amid a chorus of demands for measures to address the slowing economy. ET looks at key items of the agenda:Big agenda* 37th meeting of the GST Council* 23 times on agendaKey items** Consultation with the 15th finance commission** Review of revenue position** Recommendations of the law committee** Decision on rates** Fake invoices/ fraudulent refund** New return system** Integrated refund system** Generation of electronic invoice** Linking GST registration with Aadhar** Changes in GST laws in view of creation of J&K and Ladakh UTs 71208251 RATE DECISIONS** Changes recommended: 20 items** Compensation cess changes: 3 items** Clarfications: 9 items** Deferred for further examination: 10 items** No change recommended: 167 items** Rate change/clarification in services: 30 itemsOUTLOOK** Any decision on rates will be based on revenue implications** GST revenues have been below par** Direct taxes growth has also been muted** Council likely to reject any rate change involving significant revenue loss** Opposition to rate cut from within industry has also reduced chances of tax cut for auto
NEW DELHI: In a bid to push credit before the festival season and revive growth, the government has asked state-run banks to hold open houses in 400 districts of the country, tasking them with extending credit to five new customers for every existing borrower.In addition, banks will not declare any stressed assets of MSMEs as non-performing until March 31, 2020, to help them recover.Banks have acquired Rs 9,155 crore worth of pooled assets of nonbanking finance companies and housing finance companies under the partial credit guarantee scheme, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a media briefing after reviewing the performance of state-run lenders on Thursday. Proposals for acquiring another Rs 32,000 crore under the scheme are in the pipeline. "In public view, the scheduled banks will now show that they are really pushing liquidity through the NBFCs or directly to customers," the finance minister said, rebuffing suggestions that the scheme would be reminiscent of the loan melas of the earlier era.71210805 Lack of Credit a Key Reason"This is more enabling the system to function," the minister said. "So, it is definitely a different type of approach (from loan melas) to reach credit."By September 29, as the festival season kicks in, banks will hold public gatherings in 200 districts along with the NBFCs they support to push credit to self-help groups, MUDRA borrowers, customers looking for vehicle and housing loans, MSMEs and farmer producer organisations."Any of them can come there and that day, sitting there, they can sort out their loan requirements," Sitharaman said. The minister said the idea is to ensure maximum credit disbursal during the festive season, the busiest shopping time of the year. "For every one old customer who wants credit, I have said five new ones will be brought. That's the thumb rule we have offered," the minister said, adding that the remaining 200 districts will be covered from October 10 to 15."… for every one customer who wants a loan, please give him, but for every one who you give now, you will bring five newer ones, fresh, somebody who has never taken a loan from a bank," she said, adding that banks readily agreed to the suggestion and that the effort will be spearheaded by minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur.Lack of credit is considered a key reason for the slowdown in the economy, with growth recorded at a six-year low of 5% in the April-June quarter. Overall banking sector credit grew 10.1% at the end of August from a year earlier.The banks will decide which districts to cover and the programmes will be attended by ministers from the council or members of Parliament from the region.Sitharaman said public sector banks would not declare stressed accounts of micro, small and medium enterprises as non-performing until the end of the current financial year in March 2020 under a Reserve Bank of India provision already available to lenders.These could be special mention accounts - SMA-1, where principal or interest payment is overdue between 31-60 days and SMA-2, where principal or interest payment is overdue between 61-90 days."… the bank has enough power given by the RBI to not declare them NPA and, if possible, work it out with them to restructure their loan so that they can get out of the difficult situation," Sitharaman said, suggesting that they could even extend additional credit if needed.In a statement, the government also detailed the progress made on other measures announced earlier.State-run banks had set up internal advisory committees to classify cases of default in line with directions from the Central Vigilance Commission. The minister said the advisory boards would look into cases of defaults as "vigilance" or "non-vigilance" cases, which would recommend the future course of action for large fraud cases above Rs 50 crore."This will now instil a sense of protection among bankers from prosecution for genuine decisions that they have taken," she said.
MUMBAI: Qatar Investment Authority is in negotiations with the Adani Group to buy a minority stake in the latter's flagship power transmission and distribution asset — Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML). The 14-year-old sovereign wealth fund of the oil-rich Gulf nation could invest as much as Rs 3,000-4,000 crore for a minority stake of 20-25% in the business, said people in the know.Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited, the country's largest private sector integrated power utility, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Adani Transmission. In August 2018, Anil Ambani sold his Mumbai power distribution business to Adani Transmission Ltd (ATL) for Rs 12,700 crore, allowing the latter to enter the discom business. Subsequently, the Mumbai business got housed under a dropdown subsidiary.The acquisition was financed by a Rs 8,500 crore of term debt from a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India, Yes Bank and ICICI Bank.Deal's Final Contours in WorksThe funds are likely to help provide growth equity to the business and also deleverage the balance sheet. The company has also earmarked a capex of Rs 1,200 crore for maintenance, upgrade of its existing distribution network and capital addition. The final contours of the transaction are still being worked out. But there is no certainty that the negotiations will fructify and result in a deal.71211004 An Adani spokesperson declined to comment on speculations. Emails sent to QIA did not elicit a response till press time. Several analysts had felt that the Mumbai acquisition was a richly valued one when it got announced and so an equity raise will be seen as a positive catalyst. "The Mumbai discom acquisition is excessively expensive at a 3x P/BV. This M&A translates to just 6.4% ROE for ATL, way below its cost of perpetual debt at 11.8% from promoters, leading to a negative spread," Bharat Parekh, an analyst with CLSA had said last November after the deal was completed.Though the business has been stable with recurring cash flows, Varun Ahuja of JP Morgan said in a report in May that "while capex guidance is higher, the additional cash flows from incremental operating assets and also from the Mumbai distribution asset enhance overall cash flows to keep credit metrics stable". He also said that key credit driver in the near term remains equity market tap for replacing some of the subordinated perpetual instrument into common equity.Even as a group, Adanis have looking at strategic partnerships across gas distribution, petrochemicals, renewables with marquee players like Total, BASF to de-risk its portfolio. "This will be more of a financial investment with a reputed sovereign wealth fund that also has operational expertise in infrastructure, especially power sector," said a long-time Adani Group observer on the condition of anonymity. Adani is already in advanced negotiations with Total SA for selling around 30% stake in his city gas distribution company Adani Gas for around Rs 5,500 crore.The move that will eventually see the French energy giant become an equal equity partner in the company along with promoter Gautam Adani. Interestingly, QIA is also an investor in Total SA.TURNAROUND POST TAKEOVERAEML's integrated business of power generation, transmission and retail electricity distribution serves over three million consumers spread across 400 sq kms in Mumbai and its suburbs, meeting close to 2,000 mw of power demand. Following the takeover, the company witnessed the lowest distribution loss in FY19 at 7.85%, down from 8.12% in FY18. The business also entails 500 mw of thermal power generation capacity, 800 mw of distribution along with generation facilities, besides an underground network of over 1,000 km. The distribution franchise is nine decades old with the licence valid till August 2036.All three business segments of AEML operate under a cost plus fixed ROE regime subject to maintenance of operational parameters above normative levels. The licence area has earned 17-18% return on equity from the business through better operations. For the seven months ending March 2019, AEML posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 43 crore on revenue of Rs 4,270 crore. With recent investments in Bharti Airtel's Africa business, Byju's and successful exit from RMZ, the Qataris have been ramping up its investment plans in Asia. They have created a unit to scour for opportunities in emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and Asia in an effort to snap up stakes in companies directly in what seems to be a throwback to their swashbuckling deal appetite in the last decade.
NEW DELHI: In a bid to push credit before the festival season and revive growth, the government has asked state-run banks to hold open houses in 400 districts of the country, tasking them with extending credit to five new customers for every existing borrower.In addition, banks will not declare any stressed assets of MSMEs as non-performing until March 31, 2020, to help them recover.Banks have acquired Rs 9,155 crore worth of pooled assets of nonbanking finance companies and housing finance companies under the partial credit guarantee scheme, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a media briefing after reviewing the performance of state-run lenders on Thursday. Proposals for acquiring another Rs 32,000 crore under the scheme are in the pipeline. "In public view, the scheduled banks will now show that they are really pushing liquidity through the NBFCs or directly to customers," the finance minister said, rebuffing suggestions that the scheme would be reminiscent of the loan melas of the earlier era.71210805 Lack of Credit a Key Reason"This is more enabling the system to function," the minister said. "So, it is definitely a different type of approach (from loan melas) to reach credit."By September 29, as the festival season kicks in, banks will hold public gatherings in 200 districts along with the NBFCs they support to push credit to self-help groups, MUDRA borrowers, customers looking for vehicle and housing loans, MSMEs and farmer producer organisations."Any of them can come there and that day, sitting there, they can sort out their loan requirements," Sitharaman said. The minister said the idea is to ensure maximum credit disbursal during the festive season, the busiest shopping time of the year. "For every one old customer who wants credit, I have said five new ones will be brought. That's the thumb rule we have offered," the minister said, adding that the remaining 200 districts will be covered from October 10 to 15."… for every one customer who wants a loan, please give him, but for every one who you give now, you will bring five newer ones, fresh, somebody who has never taken a loan from a bank," she said, adding that banks readily agreed to the suggestion and that the effort will be spearheaded by minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur.Lack of credit is considered a key reason for the slowdown in the economy, with growth recorded at a six-year low of 5% in the April-June quarter. Overall banking sector credit grew 10.1% at the end of August from a year earlier.The banks will decide which districts to cover and the programmes will be attended by ministers from the council or members of Parliament from the region.Sitharaman said public sector banks would not declare stressed accounts of micro, small and medium enterprises as non-performing until the end of the current financial year in March 2020 under a Reserve Bank of India provision already available to lenders.These could be special mention accounts - SMA-1, where principal or interest payment is overdue between 31-60 days and SMA-2, where principal or interest payment is overdue between 61-90 days."… the bank has enough power given by the RBI to not declare them NPA and, if possible, work it out with them to restructure their loan so that they can get out of the difficult situation," Sitharaman said, suggesting that they could even extend additional credit if needed.In a statement, the government also detailed the progress made on other measures announced earlier.State-run banks had set up internal advisory committees to classify cases of default in line with directions from the Central Vigilance Commission. The minister said the advisory boards would look into cases of defaults as "vigilance" or "non-vigilance" cases, which would recommend the future course of action for large fraud cases above Rs 50 crore."This will now instil a sense of protection among bankers from prosecution for genuine decisions that they have taken," she said.
A year down the line Ola, Uber should be more in prevalence so people should be buying even less number of cars but the car sales might be up 30%. Then we will look for reasons as to what suddenly changed the psychology of the millennials that the car sales are suddenly up, Sandip Sabharwal of asksandipsabharwal.com said in an interaction with ET NOW. Edited excerpts:ET Now: In this market scenario, where can a retail investor invest because he does not have the option to invest in Russia or Brazil or Europe?Sandip Sabharwal: So retail investors can potentially invest in the US markets through EPS but most tend not to do so. I think investors have to just ride through this phase. Obviously, at this stage the valuations are not expensive. This is a time where people just have to keep on buying the right stocks at the right price. So, whenever there is some panic or some fall you just keep on buying.ET Now: The auto sector is in the doldrums and needs that booster shot. Do you think we are going to see anything emerge from the meet tomorrow?Sandip Sabharwal: It seems highly unlikely given the news bite we have been getting. There is some lack of consensus on auto duty cuts. The government though needs to do something. They might suddenly do it tomorrow seeing what is happening in the overall market place. From whatever we have heard till now, GST cut at least looks unlikely. The few people whom I have talked to said they are waiting for 20th September as they want to buy but they are not buying because they might just get it by 5-10 per cent cheaper. There will possibly be some clarity tomorrow; let the government say whether we are cutting or we are not cutting but do not push it down the line.ET Now: What else does the government need to do? They are doing their bit but it is not working. What can they do that can revive the sentiment back in the market?Sandip Sabharwal: In the first press conference by Nirmala Sitharaman there were the two big announcements -- one payment of Rs 75,000 crore of stuck money to the infra companies by all these PSUs and government departments. FM said arbitration will be released immediately but one month has passed and nothing has happened.Secondly, the FM said that Rs 70,000 crore will be immediately put into PSU banks. Now, where is that money? It was not possible to put it immediately because there is a process. So, it is a scenario of expectation versus what is actually being done. The last press conference they gave an impression as if they are giving Rs 50,000 crore of fresh sops to exporters but it later turned out to be a rehash of the current scheme into a WTO compliant scheme with no additional benefits.I think the issue is that they themselves seem to be unsure of what to do. Somehow, we were saved because the oil price spike did not last. Despite that our markets being down is a bit strange because it is a total breakdown of global linkages. If you see historically, 9 of the 10 times the kind of linkages that are there between Indian and European markets, the movement of the rupee versus the index all seem to be not working at this point of time. There is one anecdotal data that in the last 20 years there have been two times markets have fallen four months consecutively but in the fifth month the markets have risen so there is hope for October.ET Now: When do you think the real uptick will start? Will it happen this year or should we rule it out?Sandip Sabharwal: The sentiment change happens very fast. Even if there is a small indication that the economy has bottomed out and things seem to be improving we could see a change in sentiment because the markets are reasonably oversold in my view. If you remove the contribution of maybe TCS, Infosys and some of the FMCG companies into the performance of the index, the index could have been down more than 20% at this stage. The kind of correction that is there in a normal cycle is over. Now, there is no global crisis which is going to happen at least over the next one or two years because the monetary authorities seem to be in control; there is no credit crisis building in at this stage so to that extent it should be a normal correction and it should bottom out. I think market should bottom out around here only because the valuations are okay but if the markets end up breaking the low they made a few weeks back then we could see the markets fall another 200-300 points.ET Now: Are markets telling you that hold on there is something disruptive happening in the auto world?Sandip Sabharwal: See, markets are not telling you anything, there is no disruption happening anywhere in this world. The biggest disruption happened 100 years back during the industrial revolution; all these are stories. So one year back when Ola, Uber were at their peak, there was Meru and all those things. Car sales were growing at 25%. Just because car sales are down today, 25% people say that it is because people are using Ola, Uber and it is not that. It is the liquidity squeeze which led to this. First, there was no liquidity then the interest rates were too high and then lending standards have become much more stricter and now there is total lack of clarity on what the taxation regime for autos is going to be. A year down the line when Maruti sales will be up 25 per cent then we will see what people are saying about Ola and Uber.ET Now: That is base effect?Sandip Sabharwal: This is also base effect.ET Now: There is absolute decline?Sandip Sabharwal: So car sales went up 30% last year same month and now they are down 30% so there is a base now. People are using Ola and Uber they do not want to buy cars. A year down the line Ola, Uber should be more in prevalence so people should be buying even less number of cars but the car sales might be up 30%. Then we will look for reasons as to what suddenly changed the psychology of the millennials that the car sales are suddenly up.
India's bond markets could become the vehicle for financing large infrastructure projects, but the country must ensure quicker execution of projects and less political interference to keep overseas investors interested, says Nirmal Jain, IIFL chairman. Separately, Jayesh Mehta, MD at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, believes that the yield structure in India's bond market must be right for the country to develop a bond market deep and sizeable enough for infrastructure financing needs of a nation that is aspiring to expand into a $5-trillion economy. Edited excerpts:Your view on offshore bond investors in infrastructure sector.Nirmal Jain: You have the potential to attract a lot of foreign capital into infra also. When they are looking at 30-year sovereign negative bond yield, they are certainly looking for something. Indian infrastructure bonds are yielding about 8-9%, which are attractive enough for those foreign investors.Unfortunately, most of the bond investors in infrastructure projects have suffered due to a variety of reasons including delays, execution risk, government interference, political factors.Even in road projects which are good, people have lost money. Interest rates should be calibrated properly.What are the major issues bond investors in the infrastructure sector are facing?Nirmal Jain:: There are a lot of systemic issues which need to be fixed in the whole scheme of things. Legal and tax issues need to be clarified clearly.What went wrong with NBFCs that are battling a crisis of confidence?Nirmal Jain: It has been one year since the IL&FS default. The problems in DHFL were known at that time as well. After that, no other NBFC has defaulted as such, and Altico is a small NBFC. World-over, financial sector problems have happened because you borrow short and lend long. That was not a great practice. It is highly unlikely that NBFCs will get access to short-term money from commercial papers and mutual funds and that has changed for the good.Most banks are in complete panic and in a paralysis mode. They are not willing to give term loans to most NBFCs; some that have lent money are panicking and want their loans back. That is causing more damage; Lenders should act responsibly and not succumb to the fear factor, because that will aggravate the problem.Is a comparison between India and the US justified when it comes to developing the bond market?Jayesh Mehta: People start comparing with the US market whenever there is talk of the bond market. They also talk about bonds outstanding to GDP, which is 112% in the US versus 18-20% in India.But nobody talks about AUM (assets under management) of mutual funds, insurance, pension funds as a percentage of GDP. If you consider that, we are not even 30%. But in the US, that as a proportion of GDP is 112%. That itself makes a huge difference.Can the bond market be a solution for long- term infrastructure financing?Jayesh Mehta: It is my favourite topic in the last 25-30 years. We are still not addressing the basic thing but everything. The bond market will develop if you have the infrastructure right. By saying this, I mean, your deposits have to be the lowest yield, followed by government bonds, followed by corporate bonds.Unfortunately, government bonds have the lowest yield, followed by corporate bonds. Deposits were giving you the highest yields.What could bring back investors to NBFC bonds?Jayesh Mehta: Our bond investors for NBFCs are typically mutual funds. That's why there are no long-term bonds (for NBFCs). Some FPIs too invest in NBFC bonds. But, they are cyclical.NBFC or corporate bond investments are also linked to the currency view. FPIs normally take such a view but they are missing at this juncture.Mutual funds were the main source. Right now, we have to find alternative sources. At some point of time, the public issue market may pick up.Banks really don't buy NBFC bonds or any bond for that matter. They will come more like a loan situation.After Altico, will NBFC funding become difficult once again?Jayesh Mehta: The problem is with a few NBFCs, and not large NBFCs.The real issue began about four-five years ago when we started AQR (asset quality review) for banks. You had 11 banks under prompt corrective action (PCA). Six banks were almost not lending anything as they were on the verge of PCA. Private consumption, which was typically done by public sector banks, was completely missing.Then of course, we had GST, DeMo and all that. This created a lot of liquidity surplus. That is when mutual funds got money, banks were also surplus on liquidity.Did surplus liquidity trigger the NBFC crisis?Jayesh Mehta: The main source of funding was mutual funds. And that is where it grew at a very large speed, which actually deferred our problem by a year. Banks not lending was a problem. Then NBFCs stepped in. Equity investors started thinking that NBFCs would take over banks' lastmile lending. That is where the problem happened.Has the investor lost trust?Jayesh Mehta: Total trust factor on credit and credit rating by the mutual fund investor has been lost. So, there is no other alternative source, which has been built up for NBFCs.RBI has allowed external commercial borrowings (ECBs). But, how many of them will be able to access ECBs….it needs to be seen.We need to have a proper liability side framework for NBFCs. We cannot depend only on mutual funds. That is a big challenge.
Panaji: In what could bring relief to India's $180 billion IT/ITeS industry, the Goods and Services Tax Council could consider on Friday a proposal to clarify that business process outsourcing services will qualify as exports and not be taxed at 18% here."We have received representations... the law committee has examined the matter," a government official said, adding that it could figure at the GST Council meeting here.The government had clarified the issue in July, but part of the circular left the matter of classifying whether a company offered intermediary services or carried out exports to the discretion of tax officers.Tax officials started to apply this part of the clarification as a general principle and issued notices to IT companies, even some that operated in special economic zones, although the circular said BPO services would not be considered intermediary in nature as long as the provision of service is on its own account. An intermediary is an entity that facilitates or arranges the supply of goods and services."The ambiguity in the definition of intermediary in the GST law has been further accentuated by the interpretation of the earlier circular by certain field formations, classifying almost all IT and ITeS exports as intermediary services and hence liable to GST in India, effectively taking away the export status of these STP and SEZ units and making them unviable in India," said Bipin Sapra, a partner at EY. 71208227 The National Association of Software and Services Companies and other industry bodies had represented the issue before the government as well as the GST Council.The sector was in turmoil after the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling in Maharashtra said that back-office support services didn't qualify as "export of service" and were in the nature of arranging or facilitating supply of goods or services between overseas companies and customers. It said these services fell in the category of intermediary services and were liable to GST.Typically, taxes on exports are neutralised through refunds in the country as they are consumed outside. Back-office services enjoyed this status in the previous service tax regime as well.India has more than 500 global inhouse delivery centres, employing over 350,000 people. As per the industry, an 18% levy on these services upsets the cost dynamics of the back-office model, which operates on wafer-thin margins with competition growing from low-cost jurisdictions such as the Philippines.Sapra said it needs to be clarified unambiguously that such services are not covered and only services where there is clear facilitation alone may be covered. Specific and clear examples for field formations to differentiate would help, he added.
You probably know that drinking green tea is good for you, but did you know it can help your skin? You can use green tea to make your own skincare products and you can add it to your favorite cleanser to help your complexion and fight acne. With your green tea toner, face mask, cleanser, and steam treatment, you can have brighter, clearer skin with just 1 treatment.
Heat a pot or kettle of water until it's nearly boiling. Heat the water over high heat until you see bubbles start to rise from the bottom. Then, remove the water from the heat to use for your tea.[1]
The water doesn't need to be boiling. If it starts to boil, that's totally okay. However, it will take your tea longer to brew and cool down.
Place a green tea bag in a mug. Use an mug to brew the green tea so you have a good batch of toner. Put the bag on the bottom of the mug and drape the string over the side.[2]
If you prefer to use loose tea, put about 1-2 tbsp (2-4 g) of tea into a strainer, then put it into the mug.
Pour the hot water over the tea bag. Use a towel to protect your hand as you slowly pour the water into the mug. Once the mug is nearly full, set the pot on a cool stove burner or a towel. Then, gently swish your tea bag around in the cup to distribute the green tea.[3]
Your water should immediately start to turn a muddy green color.
Let your tea steep for about 5-10 minutes. Drape the string on your tea bag or strainer back over the edge of your mug. Then, set a timer for 5-10 minutes and leave your tea to steep. Once the timer goes off, remove the tea bag and either discard it or save the tea leaves for another treatment.[4]
You can make a mask using brewed tea leaves. See the recipe below in the section about masks.
Wait for the green tea to cool, which takes about 30 minutes. Don't put hot green tea on your face. Instead, set a timer for 30 minutes and leave the mug to cool. After the timer goes off, test the tea with your fingertips to make sure it's fully cooled.[5]
It's okay if the tea is a little warm.
Add 5-10 drops of tea tree oil if you have oily skin or acne. While this is optional, it can help treat oily or acne-prone skin. Simply hold your bottle of tea tree oil over the green tea and sprinkle 5-10 drops into the brewed tea. Gently stir the mixture to combine the ingredients.[6]
You can find tea tree essential oil at local health food stores or online.
Pour the cooled tea into a clean, reusable bottle. Use a spray bottle or airtight container to hold your toner. Hold your container over the sink, then slowly pour the toner from the mug into the container. Finally, screw on the lid.[7]
Use your fingers to apply the toner to your skin after cleansing. Pour a little toner into your hand, then use your fingers to rub it onto your face. Apply more toner to your skin as necessary to cover your entire face.[8]
If you used a spray bottle, you can simply spritz the toner onto your face.
Use your toner once or twice a day after washing your face.
Pour boiling water into a heatproof bowl at your table. Heat a pot of water over high heat until bubbles are rippling across the surface. Then, remove the water from the heat and pour it into a heatproof bowl. Use a towel or pot holders to place the bowl on a table in front of a chair.[9]
Be careful with the hot water because you can burn yourself.
Cut open a green tea bag and pour the leaves into the boiling water. Use a pair of scissors to open the tea bag or rip it with your fingers. Then, sprinkle the tea leaves over the water. They will begin to steep immediately.[10]
Use all of the tea leaves for best results.
Let the green tea steep for 1-2 minutes before you steam your face. The green tea will continue to steep as you do the steam. However, it's best to give it about 1-2 minutes so that you can get the benefits of the green tea at the beginning of your steam. Plus, this gives your water time to cool a bit so you won't scald your skin. Watch a clock or use a timer as you wait.[11]
You should see the water changing colors as the tea releases its properties into it.
Drape a towel over your head and lean over the bowl. Place a large bath towel over the back of your head and your shoulders. Then, lean over the bowl so that your face is directly over the steam. The towel will trap the steam around your face so that it can treat your skin.[12]
Make sure the towel is surrounding the bowl on all sides to fully trap the steam.
If you get too hot, lift the towel to release some of the steam.
Steam your face for 5-10 minutes. Hold your face over the bowl for up to 10 minutes. Breathe in deeply and try to relax to create a spa experience. This gives the steam time to penetrate your skin and remove impurities.[13]
If you start feeling hot, it's okay to stop the treatment early.
It's best to set a time for 5-10 minutes so that you know exactly how long you've been steaming your face.
Rinse your face with cool water to remove impurities. After your steam, go to the sink and turn on the cold water. Then, splash the cool water over your face to remove any sweat and impurities that the steam treatment drew out.[14]
If you like, you can wash your face with a creamy cleanser, as well. However, this isn't necessary.
Pat your face dry with a soft, clean towel. Use the bath towel or a hand towel to lightly blot your face dry. Then, you can continue with your normal facial care routine.[15]
Combine used green tea leaves with honey for a quick mask. Brew a cup of green tea, then remove the tea bag and let it cool. Cut the tea bag open and dump the wet tea leaves into a bowl. Add about of honey to the tea leaves and combine them to make a paste. Apply the paste to your clean face and relax for 15 minutes before rinsing off the mask with warm water.[16]
Follow up with your favorite facial moisturizer.
This mask can exfoliate your skin, reduce redness, and treat acne.
Use this mask as often as once a week.
Mix a green tea, coconut oil, honey, and lemon juice mask for brightening. Add 1 tbsp (2 g) green tea leaves, of honey, of coconut oil, and of lemon juice to a bowl. Then, use a whisk or spoon to combine the ingredients until they're smooth. Apply the mask to your face with your fingers, then relax for 5-10 minutes. Finally, rinse off the mask with warm water.[17]
Apply a moisturizer after you rinse off the mask.
This mask can moisturize your skin and may nourish it when it's stressed or sunburned.
Use this mask as often as once or twice a week.
Make a sheet mask using green tea and rice paper. Brew a cup of green tea, then pour it into a small baking sheet. Lay your rice paper over the green tea, making sure it's totally saturated. Leave the rice paper to soak for 1-2 minutes, then pull it out of the green tea. Place the rice paper over your face and relax for 10-15 minutes before removing the sheet. Don't worry about rinsing your face.[18]
This mask fights inflammation and aging while moisturizing your skin.
Follow the mask with your favorite facial moisturizer.
Use this mask once or twice a week for best results.
Make a green tea and yogurt mask to exfoliate and nourish your skin. Steep a bag of green tea for about 5 minutes. Remove the teabag and let it cool. Then, put about 1 tbsp (2 g) of the wet tea leaves into a bowl. Add about of full-fat yogurt to the bowl and mix the ingredients until they're combined. Use your fingers to apply the mask to your clean face and relax for up to 30 minutes. Finally, wet the mask with warm water, then scrub it off with your fingers.[19]
After you rinse your face, apply your favorite facial moisturizer.
Empty a green tea bag into a small bowl. You don't need to brew the tea before you use it. Just cut or tear open a bag of green tea, then pour it into your bowl.[20]
You can also use loose green tea. Pour about 1-2 tbsp (2-4 g) of loose green tea into your bowl.
Add about of a cream facial cleanser to the bowl. You can use any cream facial cleanser with green tea. Use a measuring spoon to measure out the cleanser and add it to your bowl.[21]
It's best to use fragrance free cleanser because the green tea will add a light scent.
Stir the green tea into the cleanser until they're mixed consistently. Use a spoon or your finger to stir the tea and the cleanser to combine them. The mixture is ready when the flakes of green tea leaves look evenly dispersed in the cleanser.[22]
Use your fingers to apply the cleanser to your face. Scoop the green tea onto your fingers, then apply it to your skin. Gently scrub your face by making circular motions with your fingers. Make sure you completely cover your face with an even layer of cleanser.[23]
This will lightly exfoliate your skin as you cleanse.
Let it sit on your skin for 5 minutes for extra exfoliation. While it's optional, letting the cleanser set like a mask will help it slough off dead skin cells. The mask will soften the dead skin cells, then you'll scrub them away while you rinse. Set a timer for 5 minutes and relax for best results.[24]
If you don't have the 5 minutes to spare, it's okay to go ahead and wash your face. However, leaving it to sit will provide more benefits.
Wet the cleanser with warm water and scrub it off your skin. Splash warm water over the mask to wet it, then use your fingertips to scrub it using circular motions. Thoroughly rinse your skin using warm water to remove all of the mask.[25]
You can use green tea in your cleanser every day if you like. However, only leave it to sit for 5 minutes once or twice a week. Otherwise, it might start to stress your skin.
If you continue to use green tea and make it a regular routine, you will have refreshed and clean skin. It will start showing even bigger results when you use it all the time.
Drinking green tea every day also helps you have better skin. Try drinking it twice a day to see results.
Fish are colorful, fascinating creatures, and you can make your own origami version right at home. All you need is a square piece of paper. Origami paper will be the easiest to work with, but you can try other types of paper too. Start by making the base for your fish, then fold the tail and fins, and voila! You can add your fish to your origami animal kingdom, along with an origami bird, wolf, and whale.
Fold a square piece of paper in half both ways, unfolding it after each fold. First, fold the paper in half one way and unfold it. Then, fold it in half the other way and unfold it again. Make both of these folds mountain folds. A mountain fold is where the crease makes a peak on the top side of the paper.[1]
When you're finished, there should be 2 creases that intersect in the center of the paper.
Origami paper will work the best for this, but you can use printer paper or any other kind of paper you have lying around too.
Origami squares are usually . You can experiment with using bigger or larger squares, but they might be more difficult to fold.
Crease the paper in half diagonally both ways, unfolding it after each fold. Start by folding the paper in half diagonally one way. Then, unfold it, and fold it in half diagonally the other way. Unfold the paper again. Make both of these folds valley folds. A valley fold is the opposite of a mountain fold. The crease of a valley fold should look like a valley instead of a peak.[2]
At this point, there should be 4 creases that intersect at the center of the paper.
Bring the 4 corners of the paper together, then flatten the model. Press the 4 corners toward one another to start collapsing the model. Once they're touching, flatten the model so you're left with a small square.[3]
The square you're left with will be smaller than the square you started with.
Rotate the model so it looks like a diamond. The open corner of the model should be pointing toward you. The opposite corner, which is closed, should be pointing away from you.[4]
Crease the left and right corners of the top flap in toward the center. First, take the left corner of the top flap and fold it in toward the center line. Crease the fold. Then, do the same thing with the right corner of the top flap.[5]
Go over the creases a few times with your finger since the rest of the process will be easier if they're crisp.
Fold down the top corner. The fold should line up with the top edges of the previous fold. After you fold down the top corner, crease the fold.[6]
Unfold all 3 corners that you just folded. First, unfold the top corner. Then, unfold the left and right corners.[7]
When you're finished, there should be a triangle-shaped crease on the top of the model.
Lift up the bottom corner of the top flap. Grab the corner in between your fingers, and lift it up toward the top corner of the model to lift up the top flap. Hold the bottom corner of the bottom flap down on the table with one of your fingers so it doesn't move.[8]
Fold along the creases to flatten the model. First, fold the 2 edges at the bottom of the model down toward the center along the creases. Then, do the same thing with the 2 edges at the top of the model (these are the edges on the flap you're holding up with your fingers).[9]
When you're finished, the model should be completely flat.
Turn the model over and repeat on the other side. First, fold the left and right corners in toward the center, followed by the top corner. Then, unfold all 3 corners. Lift the bottom corner up toward the top like you did with the bottom corner on the other side of the model. Finish by folding all of the edges along the creases to flatten the model.[10]
At this stage, the model should be diamond-shaped and completely flat.
Fold the top point on each side down along the crease. First, fold the top point on the side you're working on down along the crease. Then, turn the model over and do the same thing with the top point on the other side.[11]
When you're finished, the model should resemble a kite.
Crease one of the lower points up to the top point. The lower point is the point that you folded down in the previous step. The top point is the point that's now at the top of the model. Fold the lower point up to the top point so both points meet, then crease along the fold.[12]
Don't unfold after you make the crease.
Fold the same point down and over to the left corner. The point and left corner should meet. Crease along the fold.[13]
Run your finger over the crease a few times since the next step will be easier if the crease is crisp.
Crease the same point over to the right corner, then fold the flap down. When the point meets the right corner, crease along the fold. Then, fold the flap you've been working on down along the crease.[14]
The flap should easily fold down along an existing crease. Don't make a new crease to fold it down.
Turn the model over and repeat the process on the other side. First, fold the bottom point up to the top point and crease. Then, fold the same point over to the left corner before folding it over to the right corner. Finally, fold the flap down along the crease.[15]
Fold the left and right corners in toward the center line on each side of the model. First, fold the left and right corners on the top side of the model in toward the center line. Then, turn the model over and repeat with the corners on that side.[16]
When you're finished, the model should look like a diamond, with the 2 tail pieces sticking out the sides.
Grab the bottom points with your fingers. There should be 2 points at the bottom of the model. Grab one point with each hand.[17]
Pull the points away from each other to create the fins. As you pull on the points, the model will unfold slightly and become 3 dimensional. Stop pulling when the fins make a 45-degree angle with the center line of the model.[18]
Just like their owners, dogs can become ill with anything from a minor virus to something more dangerous with serious complications. Since your pet cannot tell you what's wrong, you should keep an eye out for certain symptoms. Always consult with your veterinarian if you ever suspect your dog may be ill.
Watch for excessive drooling or bad breath[1]. Excessive drooling or bad breath can be signs that your dog might need some teeth extracted. In order to prevent many dental problems, try to train your dog so that it allows you to brush their teeth. Look for the following symptoms in your dog that might indicate a dental problem:
Watch to see if your dog is eating less.
Notice if your dog is sensitive to you touching their muzzle.
You may also visibly notice your dog having trouble chewing.[2]
Listen for excessive coughing or honking. If your dog is coughing, it might not be a reason to worry. However, coughing that lasts for any longer than a twenty-four hour period might be something more serious. Get any severe coughing in your dog checked out by your veterinarian.
Coughing problems can disrupt your dog's sleep.[3]
Coughing in a dog can be a sign of anything from minor bronchitis to heart worms, have a professional examine your dog. [4]
Pay attention to changes in your dog's behavior. Just as humans may act differently when they don't feel well, you may notice changes in your dog's behavior if it's not feeling well.[5]
Changes may include, but are not limited to, increase or decrease in appetite or thirst, hyperactivity or noticeably lowered energy levels.
If you notice changes in your dog's behavior, visit your veterinarian.
If the irritation seems to relate to petting a specific spot, take note, it may be where your dog is injured or sick.[6]
Keep a close eye on any sores or lumps. Dogs can develop ingrown hairs, cysts, and other skin blemishes, so not every small lump or bump is an immediate cause for concern. However, the following symptoms should be seen by a professional.[7]
Take your dog's temperature. Canines can run fevers just like humans can. If your dog has a fever, especially in conjunction with other symptoms, visit your vet as soon as you are able.[9]
A temperature of is high. Take your dog to the vet as soon as possible.
A temperature of requires immediate medical attention.[10]
Watch for excessive drinking. Monitor the amount of water your dog drinks daily. If you notice any big changes in this amount, take note. Drinking too much or too little can indicate a problem that requires veterinary attention.[11]
Rule out everyday reasons such as strenuous play or a hot day.
If you notice your dog drinking much more than normal for a consecutive week, see your vet.
Track your dog's appetite. Changes in appetite, especially those that lead to weight loss or gain, can indicate illness.[12][13]Unexpected weight loss or gain should always be met with a trip to the vet.
In the short term, loss of appetite for your dog can be a sign of fever, pain, or stress, as well as many other possible reasons.
If the loss of appetite is combined with any other noticeable symptoms, you should see a vet immediately.[14]
Pay special attention to digestive upsets. Vomiting or diarrhea is a reason for concern with your dog.[15] These symptoms can be a sign of anything from swallowing a sharp object to ulcers to parasites.[16]
Single instances of vomiting or diarrhea are not necessarily a cause for concern.
Repeated instances,especially lasting more than twenty-four hours,require a vet.[17]
Blood, in either vomit or diarrhea, can be a serious symptom and needs treatment as soon as possible.[18]
Examine your pet's energy levels.[19] Prolonged lethargy is a strong sign that your pooch isn't feeling well.[20] While you don't need to worry about a tired dog after active play, keep an eye out for other signs such as decreased exercise tolerance or general weakness combined with the lethargy.[21]
Unusually low energy levels, over two or three days should be checked with a vet.
Lethargy, in combination with other symptoms, also requires the attention of your vet.[22]
Extremely high levels of energy can also be a problem that needs medical attention.
Pay attention to scratching. All dogs scratch fairly regularly. However, excessive scratching can be a sign of a health problem. If the scratching is excessive, don't ignore it. Look for these possible causes or ask your veterinarian more about them:
Scratching is a typical sign of fleas, ticks, or mange mites.[23]
Scratching can also mean endocrine or hormonal problems in your dog.[24]
Dogs can also suffer from allergies just like humans, which can lead to itching.[25]
Take your dog to the vet.
Most vets will examine the animal, try to reach a diagnosis or suggest tests to reach a diagnosis.
After testing, your vet can prescribe a course of treatment to correct the underlying problem or at least make the dog more comfortable.
Look for difficulty rising or mobility issues. If your dog starts showing signs of stiffness, manifested through difficulty getting up or climbing stairs, then you should have your pet examined. [26]
This symptom can be a result of anything from hip dysplasia to arthritis to Lyme disease from tick-borne bacteria.
The earlier Lyme disease is treated, the better the prognosis, so see a vet quickly if you notice this symptom, especially in younger dogs.
Watch for labored breathing. Labored breathing can indicate a problem with your dog's respiratory system. Identifying the cause can be difficult by yourself. Bring your dog to a vet to accurately diagnose any problems with your dog's breathing.[27]
Labored breathing requires urgent attention.
If your dog's gums have a bluish tint, seek immediate care.
Keep track of accidents. House-trained pets rarely start having accidents unless there is a problem. If your dog inexplicably begins having indoor accidents, then your vet will likely want to schedule some tests to find out the problem.[28]
Having accidents for a few days in a row is a good indication of a problem.
Watch for major changes in urination. Changes in the frequency of your dog's urination can be an indication of a problem. Check also for any blood or strange discolorations in your dog's urine.[29] If you find anything unusual about your dog's urine or urination habits, contact your veterinarian.[30]
Either an increase or decrease in urination can be an indication of an illness.
Problems with urination will may involve the kidneys or bladder stones.
Watch for non-productive retching. If your dog is trying to vomit, and cannot, this can be associated with the life-threatening condition, bloat. Get your dog to the vet immediately in order to ensure the best outcome.[31]
Monitor for non-productive urination. If your dog is trying to urinate, but is unable to do so, take it to the veterinarian quickly. Inability to urinate indicates some form of blockage and can be quite serious.[32]
Look for any weakness. If your dog is having trouble standing, is swaying, or has collapsed then you must seek care quickly. Even if your dog is tired, it will be able to stand and move. Collapsing is a definite sign that your dog needs medical attention. [33]
VVIP chopper case: Ratul Puri sent to judicial custody till Oct 1 While passing the order, Special court judge Arvind Kumar also allowed Puri to take medicines long with him to jail subject to the opinion of the jail doctor
Email will likely never die, but if new apps can change how we think about using it, maybe it will feel like the worst parts have croaked.
In the wake of popular apps like Inbox and Mailbox being sunsetted, like many, I’ve been left rudderless trying to find an email client that fills the void. I’ve been experimenting with so-called premium email clients for a while, and a tiny team in Copenhagen has built what has become my favorite as of late.
Tempo is an email app — currently in free beta — that tries to minimize distractions while helping you be more deliberate and less obsessive about email.
“We believe that we can provide something better for email, but you can’t be everything for everybody,” co-founder Sebastian Stockmarr told TechCrunch in an interview. “I think we’re ready for this fragmentation of the market where we can actually have these niche products, but then they’re still for the most widely used technology for communication.”
It’s Mac-only for Gmail users at the moment, though Android, iOS and Windows platform-support are all on the docket.
Tempo’s niche has grown a bit since development began, and the co-founders have eased up on some of their originally spartan design choices that included a desktop app where you couldn’t access your full inbox and a beta mobile app that didn’t allow you to reply to emails at all.
The radical design decisions were originally made to organize around the idea that being a slave to notifications was bad for productivity and that email was never meant to be an ever-present life blood. The app had “hard-coded in good habits,” Stockmarr told me. Over time, the app has become more appealing to a general user, but as the company prepares to launch their mobile app, they are trying to ensure that they can stop their users from defaulting to bad habits with the proper interface.
“Mobile is a pretty important piece,” Stockmarr says. “If we want to allow people to focus more and be less disturbed by things, I think the biggest killer of that is in our pockets.”
The app has just emerged from its invite-only days in recent weeks and after relying on it for the past couple of months, I’ve really begun to enjoy some of its intricacies. The most recent email service I spent time with was Superhuman, so expect a few comparisons.
Tempo is an email app that’s about directing your focus. Workplace toolsets are so often about sending you mixed signals that drag you out of deep work. Tempo is a design-focused desktop email app that encourages you to give your all to it while it’s fullscreen on your computer, and then to let your more trivial emails fade while you get to your other work.
The fundamental difference between the two apps is that Superhuman has optimized for users to get in and out of the app quickly so they can stay current, but Tempo is more focused on you settling into the app but using it less per day. True to the sell, I’ve ended up checking my email less with Tempo, but I spend more time in the app sending more emails when I do.
The most useful feature of Superhuman was splitting the inbox into messages that were sent only to you and ones that are more likely to be spam or low-priority. You aren’t currently able to designate new inbox buckets or set your own rules, which is something that may hold back power users from adopting it.
“Focus” is a dedicated mode inside the app that just tosses your most recent email in fullscreen glory right in front of you, and gives you the option to archive it, delete it, send it to the workspace or pound out a quick reply. The quick replies are kind of fun; they somewhat arbitrarily give you a 140-character “limit” that you of course can blow through, but Tempo finds places to encourage you to just get done what you need to rather than rattling on.
Tempo’s workspace (image via Tempo)
The workspace is probably the main distinguishing feature of the app — it’s a to-do list that you stock with emails that probably warranted more than a quick reply and may necessitate a few messages before they’re safely out of mind. Combining a getting-things-done interface with your inbox makes a lot of sense, given how parallel the mantras of GTD and inbox-zero are. One feature that I don’t use, because I can’t really afford to as a reporter (or so I tell myself), is scheduled notifications, where you are only sent a desktop notification or two per day letting you know that you have emails to check. You can schedule when these arrive and it encourages you to not be afraid to let a few emails build up in your inbox rather than obsessively checking them.
There are still some design quirks I don’t love, especially regarding how search works, some of the reply/forward mechanics and the occasional beta bugginess, but it seems to help me be healthier about email without feeling too preachy. While competing apps like Superhuman are putting the emphasis on speed, Tempo’s founders say that shaving milliseconds from open times isn’t where much of their focus lies.
“Speed, in itself, is not a goal for us,” Stockmarr tells TechCrunch.
That seems pretty in-line with the product’s design ethos, but it also might have something to do with the fact that Tempo just has five people on its team and isn’t looking to raise any big venture rounds soon, saying that they believe they’re within sight of profitability with the current funding from the design studio Founders inside which Tempo sits.
Tempo’s Mac desktop app is currently free, but once the startup launches their mobile app, they’re planning to charge $15 per month for the service. The service might cost half of Superhuman’s $30/mo, but the test for the startup will be forcing users to compare how the app makes them feel about their relationship with email versus how it makes their credit card feel.
An employee of Facebook died by apparent suicide Thursday morning, Menlo Park police reported and the company confirmed.
“We were saddened to learn that one of our employees passed away at our Menlo Park headquarters earlier today,” a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email.
The male employee was pronounced dead at the scene, which was near the 100 block of Jefferson Drive at a building on Facebook’s Menlo Park campus. Police say that after preliminary investigations they do not suspect any foul play.
“Menlo Park Police Officers and Menlo Park Fire Protection District personnel responded, and when they arrived, found the victim unresponsive,” a police press release reads.
“We’re cooperating with police in their investigation and providing support to employees. While the family is being notified, we have no information to share. We hope to provide an update when we learn additional information from law enforcement,” the Facebook spokesperson further noted.
If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves or taking their own life, get help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress, as well as best practices for professionals and resources to aid in prevention and crisis situations.
We've known this day would come for a long time now. Over the past several months, however, it feels like it has arrived in slow motion. Seemingly legitimate concerns over security and sanction violations have been muddled by chest-puffing and braggadocio and large-headed leaders promising to do deals. Executives were arrested in Canada and the company was added to a trade blacklist, only to be given a temporary reprieve.
This morning, in spite of it all, Huawei unveiled its latest flagship. The Mate 30 Pro is a beast of a smartphone, as we've come to expect from the Chinese electronics powerhouse. It has a quartet of cameras aligned in a ring up top. On the flip side, a 6.53-inch flexible OLED hugs the corners of the handset, boasting an always-on functionality — the long-awaited new feature that served as the central selling point for Apple's latest wearable.
From a 100-foot view, however, it seems inevitable that no one will remember the handset for its screen or cameras or beefy 4,500mAh. It's what's missing that's the most notable. The Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro don't use full Android, but rather an open-source version of the operating system based on it. More importantly, they are missing Google's fundamental apps like Gmail, Maps and Chrome, a central part of the Android experience. Worse yet, there's no Google Play Store to download them.
The solutions for now are mostly stop-gap. There's a Huawei-branded browser that lets you download apps through a Huawei-branded channel. There are 45,000 or so. Not bad, but nowhere near the 2.7 million you'll find via Google Play. There will be better solutions to these, but they take a lot of time and money. Huawei's got plenty of the latter, though the former has been the cause for some debate amongst those following the company.
Thiago Paiva is a fintech entrepreneur, writer and investor. He is the co-founder of Liquia Digital Assets, an investment platform for international investments using blockchain technology.
The super apps WeChat and Alipay became an integral part of the Chinese mobile ecosystem, growing to more than 1 billion monthly active users (MAU) and 1 billion annual active users (AAU), respectively. They both offer services from food delivery and bike sharing to a full suite of financial services such as payment, insurance and investments.
Now, companies from around the world are trying to replicate the successful Chinese model in their region. And Latin America is an especially compelling region for the emergence of super apps, due to its vast population, almost 650 million, distributed in more or less similar countries regarding language, culture and religion. It also has a mobile-first population with 62% of smartphone penetration, according toGSMA data.
The expansion of the super apps model
After the incredible success of WeChat and Alipay, many companies around the world decided to replicate their model in different regions. Due to the proximity to China and its influence and money, Southeast Asia was one of the first regions in which super apps started to appear. The Singaporean ride-hailing Grab and the Indonesian Go-Jek both raised billions of dollars to not only successfully block the expansion of Uber in the region but also to expand their portfolio of services provided beyond ride-hailing to food delivery, payments and other services.
Note that not all super apps are the same.
In India, payTM is expanding beyond its core service and positioning itself to be the leading player in the country, especially after Tapzo was acquired by Amazon last year and closed.
It is interesting to note that not all super apps are the same. Alipay came from the e-commerce Alibaba and is more focused on financial services, while WeChat started as a messenger app, expanding not only to financial services but also to daily services such as e-commerce, gaming, travel and many others. In Southeast Asia, Go-Jek and Grab started as ride-hailing, expanding to delivery before going to financial services, and payTM started as a prepaid recharge mobile platform and then moved to offer a range of financial and daily services.
So, what to expect in Latin America?
Latin American super apps should develop themselves in their own particular way, as the environment in the region is quite different from the one in China.
The internet ecosystem in the region is highly influenced by European and American tech companies that dominate segments such as communication, music, search and many others. It is quite hard for a local startup to compete in those markets. However, there are a few battlegrounds that are not as easy to dominate from abroad, such as ride-hailing, food delivery and finance. Those are on-the-ground or highly regulated industries that are very hard to scale, especially across different countries. Those are precisely the industries in which we have seen the emergence of some super apps candidates, fueled by an unprecedented amount of venture capital investment in the region.
The most prominent candidate to super app in the region is the Colombian on-demand delivery Rappi. It is one of the most funded startups in Latin America, backed by titans such as Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz and SoftBank, which have poured US$ 1.4 billion in investments so far. Although it started offering just food delivery, it now provides services such as e-scooter, payments, P2P transfer, movie theater tickets and a debit card. It also operates in the most relevant countries in the region: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Peru.
Another strong candidate is the financial side of the e-commerce behemoth Mercado Libre (MELI), Mercado Pago. It started as a way to enable payment between users in the marketplace; however, it grew to offer a diverse portfolio of financial services such as online and offline payment, bill payments and, more recently, investment (through itsMercado Fondo). Thanks to its parent company, it's pretty much all over Latin America, and processes around 400 million transactions annually.
The Brazilian Movile is also positioning itself as a strong competitor. The company already has a diverse portfolio of services, from delivery food to event tickets, courier and even a kids Netflix, operating in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina. Not only did it raise a total of US$395 million investment, but also one of its companies, iFood, raised a total of US$592 million.
Latin America is an especially compelling region for the emergence of super apps.
The Spanish Cabify is another company trying to position itself as a super app. It recently started to offer e-scooters and bike service, as well as financial services through its own fintech company, Lana. Even though it raised US$477 million in funding, it will be hard for Cabify to become a super app, as the ride-hailing competition is getting quite intense in the region. Its competitors Uber and Didi are also adding more services and trying to position themselves.
An interesting potential competitor would be Nubank, the Brazilian decacorn (private companies with more than US$10 billion of valuation). It already has more than 8 million customers in Brazil and is starting to expand in the region to Mexico, Argentina and Colombia. Although Nubank still only offers traditional financial services, it has Tencent as a significant investor and has raised US$1.1 billion, so far. Therefore, it would be no surprise if it decides to follow a similar path as WeChat.
Those are the most well-positioned candidates to be super apps in Latin America. Even so, other players could surprise, such as Magazine Luiza, leading retail and e-commerce in Brazil. Its CEO is transforming the company from a brick-and-mortar retail to a technology company and already showed its ambition to transform MagaLu (its app) into a super app offering many other services. Although it could compete in the Brazilian market, it would be doubtful that it becomes a regional player, as its primary business operates only in Brazil.
Super apps in Latin America will not be the same as in China
We are starting to see the rise of the super apps in Latin America, but they will not follow the Chinese path as the markets are very different. A better comparison could be with the Southeast Asian players as the markets are more similar; however, Latin American’s super apps will probably be the result of the unique environment in the region.
As more companies are looking into the Chinese success stories, we will probably see even more players competing to become the Latin American super app. The venture capitalists are already placing their bets on who will become the leading players in Latin America. One thing is certain: It will be exhilarating to see how the market unfolds in the region — the customers will be the true winners in this battle.
Twitter’s controversial “Hide Replies” feature, aimed at civilizing conversations on its platform, is launching today in the U.S. and Japan after earlier tests in Canada. The addition is one of the more radical changes to Twitter to date. It puts people back in control of a conversation they’ve started by giving them the ability to hide those contributions they think are unworthy.
These replies, which may range from the irrelevant to the outright offensive, aren’t actually deleted from Twitter. They’re just put behind an extra click.
That means people who come into a conversation to cause drama, make inappropriate remarks or bully and abuse others won’t have their voices heard by the majority of the conversation’s participants. Only those who choose to view the hidden replies will see those posts.
Other social media platforms don’t give so much power to commenters to disrupt conversations. On Facebook and Instagram, for example, you can delete any replies to your own posts.
But Twitter has a different vibe. It’s meant to be a public town square, where everyone has a right to speak (within reason.)
Unfortunately, Twitter’s open nature also led to bullying and abuse. Before today, the only options Twitter offered were to mute, block and report users. Blocking and muting, however, only impact your own Twitter experience. You may no longer see posts from those users, but others still could. Reporting a tweet is also a complicated process that takes time. It’s not an immediate solution for a conversation rapidly spinning out of control.
While “Hide Replies” will help address these problems, it ships with challenges of its own, too. It could be used as a way to silence dissenting opinions, including those expressed thoughtfully, or even fact-checked clarifications.
Twitter believes the feature will ultimately encourage people to better behave when posting to its platform.
"We already see people trying to keep their conversations healthy by using block, mute, and report, but these tools don't always address the issue. Block and mute only change the experience of the blocker, and report only works for the content that violates our policies," explained Twitter's PM of Health Michelle Yasmeen Haq earlier this year.
Since launching in Canada in July, Twitter said that people mostly used the feature to hide replies they found were irrelevant, abusive or unintelligible. User feedback was positive, as well, as those who used the tool said they found it was a helpful way to control what they saw, similar to keyword muting.
In a survey, 27% of those who had their tweets hidden said they would reconsider how they interact with others in the future, Twitter said. That’s not a large majority, but it’s enough to make a dent. However, it’s unclear how representative this survey was. Twitter declined to say how many people used the feature or how many were surveyed about its impacts.
The system will now also ask users who hide replies if they also want to block the account, as a means of clarifying that “hiding” is a different function.
“These are positive and heartening results: the feature helped people have better conversations, and was a useful tool against replies that deterred from the person's original intent,” explained Twitter in a blog post, shared today. “We’re interested to see if these trends continue, and if new ones emerge, as we expand our test to Japan and the U.S. People in these markets use Twitter in many unique ways, and we're excited to see how they might use this new tool,” the post read.
Despite the expansion, Twitter says “Hide Replies” is still considered a test as the company is continuing to evaluate the system, and it’s not available to Twitter’s global user base.
The new feature will start rolling out at 2 PM PT in both the U.S. and Japan and will be available across mobile and web clients.
Postmates, the popular food delivery service, has raised another $225 million at a valuation of $2.4 billion, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday, ahead of an imminent initial public offering.
Private equity firm GPI Capital has led the investment, first reported by Forbes, which brings Postmates’ total funding to nearly $1 billion. GPI takes non-controlling stakes — between 2% and 20% — in both late-stage private companies and publicly listed ventures.
To discuss the company’s journey to the public markets and the challenges ahead in the increasingly crowded food delivery space, Postmates co-founder and chief executive officer Bastian Lehmann will join us onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt on Friday October 4th.
As Forbes noted, last-minute financings are critical for companies poised to run out of cash and in need of an infusion prior to hitting the public markets. The motives for Postmates’ last-minute financing are unclear; however, the company will certainly begin trading on the stock market at an interesting time. 2019 has proven to be the year of unicorn listings, and former Silicon Valley darlings like Uber and Lyft have struggled to stabilize since their multi-billion-dollar debuts, despite years of support and coddling from venture capitalists.
On-demand food delivery, undeniably popular, has yet to prove its long-term viability as a money-making business. At the very least, a sizeable check from a private equity firm ensures Postmates has the capital it needs, for the time being, to accelerate growth and double down on its autonomous robotic delivery ambitions.
Founded in 2011, Postmates is also backed by Spark Capital, Founders Fund, Uncork Capital, Slow Ventures, Tiger Global, Blackrock and others.
Lime has operated a pilot program in Seattle since last year and is set to conclude at the end of the year. Throughout the program, more than 18,000 people took more than 200,000 trips in LimePods, according to a Lime spokesperson. At launch, the plan was to explore carsharing for short distances and eventually replace its vehicles with an all-electric fleet. Lime, however, is not looking to make LimePods a permanent fixture of the city at this point.
“While the program was a great learning experience, at our core, we are an electric mobility company first,” Lime wrote in an email to LimePod users. “We are committed — like Seattle is — to sustainability, lower carbon emissions, and to make cities more livable, all of which require reduced car travel.”
Additionally, Lime said it was not able to find the right partner for its LimePod’s electric fleet, which led to the decision to end the program at the end of the pilot period.
“We deeply appreciate our partnership with the Seattle community and the opportunity to collaborate on our LimePod Pilot Program,” a Lime spokesperson told TechCrunch. “The experience is a testament to the city's forward-looking position on the future of transportation and the necessity of sustainable options for citizens. We are similarly committed to that goal and the information gained during our pilot will support the work necessary should we decide to expand and improve this service with an all-electric fleet in the future.”
Lime, which got its beginnings as a bike-share company, has deployed its scooters and bikes in more than 100 cities in the U.S. and more than 20 international cities. Recently, Lime hit 100 million rides across its micromobility vehicles. Clearly, Lime sees more of a future with shared bikes and scooters than it does with cars.
Ricoh has a well-earned good reputation when it comes to building smart, technically excellent photographic equipment — including the almost legendary Ricoh GR series of pocketable APS-C cameras, which are a favorite among street photographers everywhere. Earlier this year, the company released the Ricoh Theta Z1, which builds on its success with its pioneering Theta line of 360-degree cameras and delivers a step-up in terms of image quality and build that will feel at home in the hands of enthusiasts and pro photographers.
The Theta Z1 is what happens when you push the limits of what’s possible in a portable form factor 360 camera, both in terms of build materials and what’s going on on the inside. Like its more affordable, older sibling, the Theta V, it shoots both stills and video in 360 degrees — but unlike the V, it does so using two 1-inch sensors — unprecedented for a 360 camera in this category. Sony’s celebrated RX100 series was pushing boundaries with its own 1-inch sensor in a traditional compact camera, and the Ricoh is similarly expanding the boundaries of 360 photography by including not just one, but two such sensors in its Z1. That translates to unmatched image quality for 360 photographers — provided you’re willing to pay a premium price to get it.
Design and build
The Ricoh Theta Z1 feels a lot like previous iterations of the Theta line — it’s essentially a handle with two big lenses on top, which is a pretty optimal design overall for a device you’re mostly going to be holding up to take 360 photos and video. It’s a bit bulkier than previous generations, and heavier, too, but it’s still a very portable device despite the increased size.
With the bulkier build, you also get a magnesium outer case, which is textured and feels fantastic when held. If you’ve ever held a pro DSLR or mirrorless camera, then the feel will be familiar, and that says a lot about Ricoh’s target audience with this $1,000 device. The magnesium alloy shell isn’t only for making it feel like it’s worth what it costs, however; you also get big durability benefits, which is important on a device that you’re probably going to want to use in remote locales and off the beaten path.
The build quality also feels incredibly solid, and the button layout is simple and easy to understand. There’s a single shutter button on the front of the camera, just above an OLED display that provides basic info about remaining space for images or video, battery life and connection status. A single LED indicates both mode and capture status information, and four buttons on the side control power on/off, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, photo and video mode switching and enabling basic functions like a shutter countdown timer.
[gallery ids="1884065,1884067,1884066"]
Using the hardware buttons to control the Theta Z1 independent of your smartphone, where you can remotely control all aspects of the camera when connected via Wi-Fi and using the app, is intuitive and easy, and probably the way you’ll use the Z1 more often than not when you’re actually out and about. There’s little to worry about when it comes to framing, for instance, because it captures a full 360 image, and you can handle all of that after the fact with Ricoh’s editing tools prior to sharing.
On the bottom, there’s a USB-C port for charging and wired data transfer, and a 1/4″ standard tripod mount for attaching the Z1 to tripods or other accessories. This is useful, because if you use a small handle you’ll get a better overall image, as the Z1’s software automatically edits out the camera, and, to some extent, the thing that’s supporting it. There’s also a small lug for attaching a wrist strap, but what you won’t find is a flap or door for a micro SD card — the Theta Z1 relies entirely on built-in storage, and offers just under 20GB of usable storage.
Still images
Ricoh’s Theta Z1 has two 1-inch sensors on board, as mentioned, and those combine to provide an image resolution of 670×3360. The camera captures two 180-degree fields of view from each lens, and automatically stitches them together in software to produce the final image. The result is the sharpest, most color-accurate still photos I’ve ever seen from a 360-degree camera, short of the kind of content shot by professionals on equipment costing at least 10x more.
The resulting images do incredibly well when viewed through VR headsets, for instance, or when you use Theta’s own 360 viewer for web in full-screen mode on high-resolution displays. They also make it possible to export flat images that still look sharp, which you can crop and edit in the Theta+ app. You can create some truly amazing images with interesting perspective that would be hard to get using a traditional camera.
Indoors in low-light situations, the Ricoh Theta Z1 still performs pretty well, especially compared to its competitors, thanks to those big 1-inch sensors. Especially in well-lit indoor environments, like in the restaurant example below, details are sharp and crisp across the frame and colors come out great.
In settings where a lot of the frame is dark or unevenly lit, as in the example at the Robot Restaurant in Tokyo below, the results aren’t nearly as good when operating in full automatic mode. You can see that there is some blur in the parts of the scene with motion, and there’s more grain apparent in parts of the frame, too. Overall though, the audience is pretty well captured and the colors still look accurate and good despite the many different tones from different sources.
The Ricoh Theta Z1 still does its best work in bright outdoor settings, however — which is true for any camera, but especially for cameras with sensors smaller than full-frame or APS-C. It’s still definitely capable enough to capture images you can work with, and that provide a great way to revisit great events or memories in a more immersive way than standard 2D images can accomplish.
You can adjust settings, including aperture to optimize your photo capture, as well as choosing between f/2.1, f/3.5 and f/5.6, with higher apertures offering higher-resolution images. The built-in lens has been designed to reduce ghosting, purple fringe artifacts and flare, and it does an outstanding job at this. RAW capture allows you to edit DNG files using Lightroom, and it works amazingly well with Lightroom mobile for advanced tweaks right on the same device.
Video
The Ricoh Theta Z1 does video, too — though the specs for the video it produces are essentially unchanged from the Theta V on paper. It can capture 4K video at 30 fps/56 mbps or 2K video at 30fps/16mbps, and live stream in both 4K and 2K. There’s a four-channel built-in microphone for immersive audio recording, and it can record as much as 40 minutes of 4K or 130 minutes of 2K footage, though each individual recording session is capped at 5 minutes and 25 minutes for 4K and 2K, respectively.
Ricoh has tougher competition when it comes to video in the 360 camera game — Insta 360’s One X has been a clear winner in this category, and has led to this camera even finding some fans when compared to action cameras like the GoPro Hero 7 and the DJI Osmo Action, thanks in large part to its fantastic built-in image stabilization.
The Ricoh Theta Z1 just frankly doesn’t impress in this regard. The sensors do allow for potentially better image quality overall, but the image stabilization is definitely lacking, as you can see, and overall quality just isn’t there when measured against the Insta360 One X. For a fixed installation for real-time live-streaming, the Ricoh probably makes more sense, but video isn’t the device’s strength, and it’s a little disappointing given its still shooting prowess.
Features and sharing
The range of editing options available either via Theta+ or using the DNG files in both mobile and desktop photo editing software for the Theta Z1 is outstanding. You can really create and compose images in a wide variety of ways, including applying stickers and text that stick to the frame as a viewer navigates around the image. Sharing from the Theta app directly works with a number of platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and theta360.com, where you can get embeddable 360 images like those found in this post above.
Ricoh has done a great job making sure you can not only capture the best possible 360 images with this camera, but also share them with others. It’s also leading the pack when it comes to the range of options you have for getting creative with slicing up those 7K spherical images in a variety of ways for traditional flat image output, which is not surprising, given the company’s heritage.
Bottom line
Simply put, the Ricoh Theta Z1 is the best 360 camera for still photos that you can buy for less than $1,000 – even if just squeaks under that line. It’s the best still photo 360 camera you can pick up for considerably more than that, too, given its sensor arrangement and other technical aspects of the device, including its selectable aperture settings and RAW output.
The $999.95 asking price is definitely on the high end for this category — the Theta V retails for less than half that, as does the Insta360 One X. But I mentioned the Sony RX100 above, and the pricing is similar: You can get a compact camera for much less money, including very good ones, but the latest RX100 always commands a premium price, which people are willing to pay for the very best-in-class device.
If what you want is the best still photography 360 camera on the market, the Ricoh Theta Z1 is easily it, and if that’s the specific thing you’re looking for, then Ricoh has packed a lot of cutting-edge tech into a small package with the Z1.
Google today announced its largest package of renewable energy deals yet. Worth a total of 1,600-megawatts, the package includes 18 deals in the U.S., Chile and Europe. This brings Google’s current set of wind and solar agreements to about 5,500 megawatts (MW) and the company’s number of total renewables projects it’s involved in to 52. Google argues that these new projects it announced today will drive about $2 billion in investments in new energy infrastructure.
In the U.S., Google says it’ll purchase a total of 720 MW from solar farms in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. In Chile, it’s buying an additional 125 MW to power its data center there. For reasons only known to Google PR, the company will only announce details of its plans for Europe tomorrow, at an event in Finland, where Google CEO Sundar Pichai will be present.
In today’s announcement, Pichai notes that many of Google’s earlier investments were in wind energy. Its new investments in the U.S. are mostly in solar, though. The reason for that, he notes, is the declining cost of solar. In Chile, the company is investing in a hybrid solar and wind deal for the first time. “Because the wind often blows at different times than the sun shines, pairing them will allow us to match our Chilean data center with carbon-free electricity for a larger portion of each day,” Pichai writes.
Google’s announcements follow Amazon’s pledge to run its business on 100% renewable energy by 2030 and buy 100,000 electric vans.
"We were so low that people would take advantage of us. People we knew well would just lie to us. One of my favorites was a company we did an enormous amount of work for and really helped save. We then went to see the CEO and he said, 'I really love you guys but we just don’t make these kinds of investments.'”
When you hear an investment banker recounting the tribulations of raising a private equity fund, your first response might be to get out the metaphorical small violin in your head. But when I met-up recently with Stephen Schwarzman, The Blackstone Group's Chairman, CEO and co-founder, and heard several statements like the one above, I came to appreciate that he and his co-founder, gentlemen capitalist (and former Commerce Secretary) Pete Petersen, endured their fair share of indignities and near-fatal setbacks on the road to establishing Blackstone as an alternative investment management powerhouse.
At 38 years old at the time of Blackstone's founding, Schwarzman was already successful and celebrated for having played an integral role in orchestrating a rescue of Lehman Brothers from a set of risky trades spurred on by its then-trader-CEO Lew Glucksman. But Schwarzman's journey from banker to Wall Street entrepreneur to head of a $500-billion-plus asset manager is more interesting and nuanced than I had realized. On that basis alone, Schwarzman's new book easily clears the hurdle rate for the entrepreneurially minded, and especially for those interested in the unique challenges of scaling a financial services business from scratch.
Thinkful, an online education site for developers, has confirmed a data breach, just days after it confirmed it would be acquired.
“We recently discovered that an unauthorized party may have gained access to certain Thinkful company credentials so, out of an abundance of caution, we are notifying all of our users,” said Erin Rosenblatt, the company’s vice-president of operations, in an email to users.
“As soon as we discovered this unauthorized access, we promptly changed the credentials, took additional steps to enhance the security measures we have in place, and initiated a full investigation,” the executive said.
At the time of writing, there has been no public acknowledgement of the breach beyond the email to users.
Thinkful, based in Brooklyn, New York, provides education and training for developers and programmers. The company claims the vast majority of its graduates get jobs in their field of study within a half-year of finishing their program. Earlier this month, education tech giant Chegg bought Thinkful for $80 million in cash.
But the company would not say when the breach happened — or if Chegg knew of the data breach prior to the acquisition announcement.
A spokesperson for Chegg did not respond to a request for comment. Thinkful spokesperson Catherine Zuppe did not respond to several emails of questions about the breach.
The email to users said the stolen credentials could not have granted the hacker access to certain information, such as government-issued IDs and Social Security numbers, or financial information. But although the company said it’s seen “no evidence” of any unauthorized access to users’ account data, it did not rule out any improper access to user data.
Thinkful said it is requiring all users to change their passwords.
We also asked Thinkful what security measures it has employed since the credentials breach, such as employing two-factor authentication, but did not hear back.
Just months earlier, Chegg confirmed a data breach, which forced the online technology giant to reset the passwords of its 40 million users.
One lesson from TechCrunch’s Disrupt SF is that founders can’d get enough programming on the really hard questions. How do I get into Y Combinator? How do I hire a technical lead? How do I raise my first round? That’s why we created a special stage at Disrupt SF for the sole purpose of bringing the top Silicon Valley experts on stage to go deep on those questions with TechCrunch editors and also take audience questions. We call this the Extra Crunch stage, in a tip of the hat to TechCrunch’s Extra Crunch subscription service, which has the same, founder-centric mission.
Please check out the agenda for all three days of the Extra Crunch stage below. You can see the full agenda here (including new additions Will Smith and Steph Curry), which includes the main and Q&A stages as well. Get your Disrupt SF pass here – but remember that only Innovator, Founder and Investor passes get access to the programming at Disrupt.
AGENDA for the Extra Crunch Stage
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2
10:05 am – 10:45 am How to Build a Billion-Dollar SaaS Company with Neeraj Agrawal (Battery Ventures), Jyoti Bansal (AppDynamics) and Whitney Bouck (HelloSign)
Growing your SaaS company to a billion dollars in revenue is no easy task. It takes patience, perseverance and a strong team. Often it doesn't happen until well after a company has gone public. We will talk to three people who have experience working with SaaS startups and understand the unique challenges they face getting to a billion dollars and beyond.
11:05 am – 11:45 am Could the U.S. Government Be Your Next Investor? with Steve Isakowitz (The Aerospace Corporation) and Raj Shah (DIU)
No founder likes dilution, which is why the U.S. government is becoming an increasingly popular source for early-stage, ambitious venture capital. Hear from leaders who have navigated the process to discover your next source of non-dilutive capital.
11:45 am – 12:15 pm How to Evaluate Talent and Make Decisions with Ray Dalio (Bridgewater)
Ray Dalio knows a thing or two about building successful startups. As founder of the firm Bridgewater, he helped build it into one of the most successful investment companies ever, managing a whopping $150 billion in assets. He recently wrote a book called Principles, and he's here on the TechCrunch Disrupt Extra Crunch stage to discuss the book and companion mobile app on how building a strong culture can lead to a flourishing startup.
1:35 pm – 2:15 pm How to Take a Digital Brand Offline with Rich Fulop (Brooklinen), James Reinhart (thredUP) and Susan Tynan (Framebridge)
E-commerce has fundamentally changed the way we browse and buy physical goods. But even though online sales have taken a huge bite out of brick-and-mortar, it doesn't mean that digital brands aren't interested in the prospect of offline channels. Hear from three founders who have taken their own unique approach to launching a store.
2:15 pm – 2:55 pm How to Hire at Breakneck Speed with Scott Cutler (StockX), Harj Taggar (Triplebyte) and Liz Wessel (WayUp)
Nothing is better than striking product-market fit and suddenly finding a path to rapid, venture-scale growth. But as that growth accelerates, how do you create the conditions to rapidly find, attract and hire the talent you need to reach unicorn status? Hear from some of the leading recruiters and services on how they have successfully scaled recruiting and avoided key pitfalls.
3:15 pm – 3:45 pm How to Get into Y Combinator with Ali Rowghani (Y Combinator) and Michael Seibel (Y Combinator)
The seed-stage venture firm has come to form its own startup economy over the years, with its network of companies and founders interconnecting across the tech industry and beyond. Find out how Y Combinator works today, and how you can become a part of it, in this discussion with CEO of YC Continuity Ali Rowghani and CEO and partner Michael Seibel.
3:45 pm – 4:25 pm How to Build a Subscription Product with Alex Friedman (LOLA), Eurie Kim (Forerunner Ventures) and Sandra Oh Lin (KiwiCo)
The direct-to-consumer landscape has exploded in the past year, but the keys to making a subscription product indispensable are still up in the air, as few have discovered a path to success. This chat with LOLA’s Alex Friedman, Forerunner partner Eurie Kim and KiwiCo's Sandra Oh Lin will address the constant struggles of getting a subscription service off the ground and retaining customers.
4:25 pm – 4:45 pm How to Locate the Value with Dennis Crowley (Foursquare)
Foursquare has pulled off a monumental pivot over the last decade, going from a silly location-based social network to an integral enterprise business with the chops to take on Google and Facebook. Hear founder Dennis Crowley discuss the journey the company has taken over the past ten years and what the next ten years looks like for New York's tech sweetheart.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3
10:00 am – 10:40 am How to Raise My First Dollars with Russ Heddleston (DocSend), Charles Hudson (Precursor) and Annie Kadavy (Redpoint Ventures)
Venture funding may have boomed over the last decade, but the decisions around your initial funding are as tricky as ever. Hear how to take advantage of the current landscape from top Silicon Valley early-stage thinkers, including pre-seed investor Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures, early-stage investor Annie Kadavy of Redpoint Ventures and Russ Heddleston, CEO of DocSend.
11:00 am – 11:40 am How to Build a Secure Startup without Slowing Growth with Heather Adkins (Google), Jennifer Sunshine Steffens (IOActive) and Dug Song (Duo)
Leading security experts from Google, Duo and IOActive discuss some of the challenges startups and enterprises face in security. How do companies navigate the litany of issues and threats without hampering growth?
12:40 pm – 1:20 pm How to Build a Sex Tech Startup with Cyan Banister (Founders Fund), Cindy Gallop (MakeLoveNotPorn) and Lora Haddock (Lora DiCarlo)
As the old adage goes, sex sells. A panel of investors and founders will discuss the opportunities — and challenges — of building a successful sex tech startup, and how to capitalize on a market that’s projected to be worth more than $123 billion by 2026.
1:40 pm – 2:20 pm How to Build a Space Economy with Tess Hatch (Bessemer Venture Partners), Sara Spangelo (Swarm Technologies) and Adrian Steckel (OneWeb)
From thousand-satellite constellations to space tourism, orbit is a fresh and inspiring source of new startup ideas and evolutions of established ones. Swarm’s Sara Spangelo is taking on low-cost global connectivity and Bessemer Ventures’ Tess Hatch provides the perspective of investors looking to make bets like these happen.
2:20 pm – 3:00 pm How Do I Exit and What Happens Next with Justin Kan (Atrium), Jess Lee (Sequoia Capital) and Mike Marquez (Code Advisors)
Most good startup outcomes are acquisitions, and most good acquisitions happen because a buyer needs your company for a specific reason. Hear from Justin Kan (sold Twitch), Jess Lee (sold Polyvore) and top Silicon Valley banker Mike Marquez of Code Advisors about how to make them happen the right way.
3:20 pm – 4:00 pm How to be a Positive Force in the Gig Economy with Sarah Cannon (Index Ventures), Derecka Mehrens (Working Partnerships USA) andAmanda de Cadanet (GirlGaze Network)
As gig workers continue to struggle with financial instability, inadequate labor protections and few alternatives, hear from leaders and companies that are now trying to figure out how to create an equitable, just and sustainable economic system for gig workers.
4:00 pm – 4:40 pm How Do You Decide Between Bootstrapping and Raising Venture Capital? with Ben Chestnut (Mailchimp) and Kathryn Petralia (Kabbage)
In this panel, we host two founders who have each grown their respective startups to stratospheric levels, but with very different funding approaches. Kathryn Petralia, co-founder and president of SMB lender Kabbage, has raised prodigious venture capital, including $500 million in equity from the likes of the SoftBank Vision Fund and an additional $2 billion in debt financing to underwrite Kabbage's loan products. Meanwhile, Ben Chestnut, co-founder and CEO of MailChimp, has built a massive and well-known marketing automation business entirely by bootstrapping. Why did they choose their different financing strategies? Come hear from two leading founders about how they thought through their fundraises and the lessons we can all learn from their experiences.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4
10:05 am – 10:55 am How to Iterate Your Product with Manik Gupta (Uber), Diya Jolly (Okta), Ravi Mehta (Tinder) and Robby Stein (Instagram)
Launching an MVP and finding early product-market fit are just the first steps in the journey to build a great startup. Learn from leading product thinkers from Instagram, Okta, Tinder and Uber on how they expand, grow and refine their products to increase their value without alienating existing users.
10:55 am – 11:15 am How to Take a Hardware Company Public with James Park (Fitbit) and Eric Friedman (Fitbit)
Ten years after launching their product at TechCrunch 50, Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman join us to discuss the company's ups and downs.
11:35 am – 12:15 pm How to Build a Brand that Gets Attention with Brooke Hammerling (Brew Media Relations), Chelsea Cain Maclin (Bumble) and Ben Pham (Character)
Brooke Hammerling is the founder of one of the most iconic tech startup PR firms of the past decade, Brew Media Relations, which was sold for $15 million in 2016. Chelsea Cain Maclin is VP of Marketing at Bumble, one of the most recognizable brands in the app world today. And Ben Pham is the founder of Character, a brand design firm that's worked with the likes of Oculus, Nike, DoorDash and Peet's Coffee. The three will discuss how to think about brand design and what gets and keeps the attention of users.
1:25 pm – 1:50 pm How to be a Serial Founder with David Cancel (Drift)
So your first company worked out well. Let's say you have a burning desire to do another one — what's the right way to do it the next time around? Hear from frequent founder David Cancel (formerly of Performable/HubSpot, Lookery, Ghostery, Compete) on what he's done.
1:50 pm – 2:30 pm How to Build a Better Banking Startup with Chris Britt (Chime), Adam Dell (Clarity Money; Goldman Sachs) and Angela Strange (Andreessen Horowitz)
Chris Britt, the chief executive of Chime, Goldman Sachs’ Adam Dell and Andreessen Horowitz’s Angela Strange know that money is what everyone wants. The problem is how to make it more accessible to everyone in the world. Hear them discuss how to build a better bank for everyone.
2:50 pm – 3:10 pm What's Growing on the Consumer Internet with Andrew Chen (Andreessen Horowitz)
You may know Andrew Chen as a widely read startup growth strategist, but today he's investing in his expertise. As a partner at top venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, he is focused on consumer internet companies, seeking out the new growth in this maturing tech sector. Come hear the latest on what he's seeing in the industry both from the growth and investing perspective.
3:10 pm – 4:10 pm Disrupt Hackathon Finals
The top contenders of the Disrupt Hackathon demo their projects that they spent the last two days creating to compete for sponsor prizes and the $10K TechCrunch best of show award.
After two years of work, the wrapper comes off the giant glass cube this week, as Apple's Fifth Avenue flagship opens to the public this Friday. The big reveal coincides with the company's latest releases, including new iPhones and an Apple Watch — an appropriately grandiose homecoming for new gear.
This morning, the company offered a sneak preview to select media, ourselves included. Apple pulled back the curtain as a handful of curious onlookers stood by on the sidewalk. The cube itself appears largely unchanged, aside from a new shine. The colorful concealer wrap was, sadly, just temporary.
But then, why mess with what's become a New York City landmark in its decade and a half of existence? The store is positioned in one of the most highly trafficked corners of the city, at the southeast corner of Central Park, directly across from the Plaza (and perhaps less attractively to some, two blocks north of a certain presidential tower). Until a few years back, it fittingly shared the square with the iconic FAO Schwarz.
Now, however, Apple's completely taken over the space. The plaza surrounding the cube has changed a good deal to accommodate a new lighting system that leverages a combination of sunlight and the power of 500,000 LEDs. More on that here.
Underground, the store occupies the full area of the plaza, as well. That extra space allows for a larger Genius Bar that stretches the length of the store and a special HomePod listening area sealed behind glass that brings to mind the once-popular world of hi-fi stereo stores.
Most surprising, the signature spiral staircase is no longer purely glass. The steps now have a stainless steel covering — for safety purposes, one assumes. One attendee this morning confided to me that he nearly bit it walking down the steps the first time he visited the store. As cool as the glass looked, it always felt like a disaster waiting to happen whenever it rained.
As promised, the lighting system was employed to great effect. It's a cool combination, the sunlight streaming through the fogged portholes along with the lighting rings around them. Check the reflection below:
The sunlight, in turn, is used by eight full-sized trees divided in two rows on the east and west sides of the store, along with a long, live green wall to the east (near the AirPods, FWIW). It’s also apparently the coolest during sunrise and sunset when it takes on a glowing effect.
Apple releasediOS 13, the new major version of iOS. This isn't a groundbreaking release that is going to change the way you use your phone. But Apple has done some tremendous work across the board to improve some low-level features, as well as most Apple apps.
In many ways, iOS 13 feels like a quality-of-life update. In developer lingo, quality-of-life updates are all about refining things that already work. It helps you save a second here, do something more easily there.
I'm going to talk about many of those small refinements, but I want to focus on two things that are going to matter more than the rest — Dark Mode and Apple's focus on privacy.
Dark Mode is here
At some point, smartphone manufacturers started making bigger phones. And if you don't want to become blind at night, Dark Mode is a must. It took a while, but it is finally here and it looks great.
Dark Mode on iOS 13 is a system-wide trigger. You can activate it from the Settings app or by opening the Control Center panel and long-pressing on the brightness indicator. And it completely transforms the look and feel of your iPhone.
While some third-party apps have been updated, many developers still have to release updates to make their apps work with this new setting. I hope in six months, you'll be able to turn on Dark Mode and jump from one app to another without any white interface.
I recommend turning on the automated mode in the settings. iOS uses your current location to time the change with sunset and sunrise — your iPhone goes dark at night and lights up in the morning.
Dark Mode doesn't just affect apps. Widgets, notifications and other buttons in the user interface become dark. Apple uses pure black, which looks great on OLED displays. And you can optionally dim your custom wallpapers at night.
The privacy hammer
Many geeks have tried iOS 13 over the summer. But it's going to be a completely different story when tens of millions of people download it this fall. As iOS 13 brings some much-needed changes on the privacy front, it's going to be nasty for some companies.
Apple is adding more ways to control your personal information. If an app needs your location for something, you can now grant access to your location just once. The app will have to ask for your permission the next time.
Similarly, iOS 13 can tell you when an app has been silently tracking your location in the background with a map of those data points.
Apple is shaming app developers directly by saying "This app has used 40 locations in the background in the past 2 days" and showing you a map. You can turn off location tracking directly in the popup. Facebook is already freaking out and wrote a blog post last week to tell you that it cares about your privacy.
Also, iOS 13 blocks Bluetooth scanning by default in all apps. Many apps scan for nearby Bluetooth accessories and compare that with a database of Bluetooth devices around the world. In other words, it's a way to get your location even if you're not sharing your location with this app.
You now get a standard permission popup for apps that actually need to scan for Bluetooth devices. Some apps actually need Bluetooth to communicate with connected devices, initiate peer-to-peer payments with nearby users, etc.
But the vast majority of them have been abusing Bluetooth scanning. To be clear, you can disable Bluetooth scanning and still use Bluetooth headphones. Audio will still be routed to your headphones just fine.
I hope many app developers will review the third-party SDKs that they use. Many ad-supported apps embed code from adtech companies. But they don't always note that those SDKs are hostile to your privacy.
Finally, Apple is adding "Sign in with Apple." It is an alternative to "Sign in with Google" or "Sign in with Facebook." Customers can choose whether or not to share their email address and developers get little personal data. It's going to be interesting to see if it takes off.
There are a few changes at the operating system level. First, in addition to optimizations, animations have been slightly sped up. Swiping, opening and closing apps feels faster.
Second, the keyboard now supports swipe-to-type. If you've used Android phones or third-party keyboards in the past, you already know how it works. You can move your finger across the display from one letter to another without lifting it. It feels like magic.
Third, the share sheet has been updated. It is now separated in three areas: a top row with suggested contacts to send photos, links and more depending on your most important contacts.
Under that row of contacts, you get the usual row of app icons to open something in another app. If you scroll down, you access a long list of actions that vary from one app to another.
When it comes to automation, Shortcuts is installed by default with iOS 13. Many people are going to discover Shortcuts for the first time by opening the app. Voice-activated Siri Shortcuts are now available in the Shortcuts app, as well.
More interestingly, you can now create automated triggers to launch a shortcut. For instance, you can create scenarios related to CarPlay, a location or even a cheap NFC tag. Here are some examples:
Launch a music playlist when I connect my phone to CarPlay or to my car using Bluetooth.
Dim my screen and turn on low-power mode when I activate airplane mode.
Turn off my Philips Hue lights when I put my phone on an NFC sticker on my nightstand.
New app features
I'm going to go through some of the major changes in Apple's apps.
Apple Arcade is here. You have to download iOS 13 to access it. I'll let you read our first impressions in our separate article.
Photos has received some of the biggest improvements. The main tab has been completely redesigned. You now get four sub-tabs that let you see a curated photo library.
In addition to 'All Photos,' you can tap on 'Years' to jump straight to a specific year, and 'Months' to see some smart albums based on dates and locations. You can then open those events. It'll jump to the 'Days' tab and show you the best photos.
I'm not sure I like the wording of those sub-tabs, but it's definitely a lot more efficient if you're looking for an old photo from a few years back.
Photo editing is also much better on iOS 13. It feels like you can do pretty much all the basic editing you'd do with a third-party app.
Maps is an interesting app. While Apple has been working on improved mapping data, it's going to be hard to notice if you don't live in California. But Look Around, a feature that works pretty much like Google Street View, is quite impressive. This isn't just 360 photo shots — those are 3D representations of streets with foregrounds and backgrounds. I'd recommend finding a street in San Francisco and opening Look Around.
Messages now works a bit more like WhatsApp. By that I mean you can pick a profile name and picture and share those with your friends and family. Apple also tells you to use Memoji, but you can pick any photo. Search in Messages is also much better.
Health has been slightly redesigned. But the big addition is that you can track your menstrual cycles in the Health app. You don't need to install any third-party app.
Reminders has gained some new features. There's a quick toolbar to add times, dates, locations and more. You can indent items, create smart lists and more. To-do apps are highly personal, but I'm sure some people will like it.
Find My is the new name for Find My Phone and Find My Friends. Maybe you'll be able to find your objects soon when Apple launches Tile-like trackers?
Mail, Notes and Safari received small improvements, such as rich-text editing in Mail, a gallery view in Notes and a new site settings popup in Safari to request the desktop site, disable a content blocker or enable reader view.
Files works with Samba file servers and you can zip/unzip files directly in the app — no shortcut needed. You can also install custom fonts.
As you can see, there are a lot of big and tiny improvements across the board with iOS 13. Sure, this version feels buggy at times. It's an ambitious update, with Apple telling everyone that they're not ready to slow down the pace of iOS releases. And Apple is making some welcome progress on the privacy front.
After a week of launching new services to bring payments giant Stripe into the areas of lending and credit, the company is announcing another big step forward to fuel its growth: it’s raising another $250 million in funding at a pre-money valuation of $35 billion, money to fuel more international expansion, launching more products and targeting larger enterprise-sized businesses.
This is a huge jump in valuation for the company: Stripe was valued at $22.5 billion earlier this year when it raised $100 million.
The startup said that General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia are all in the round already. We’ve also heard that SoftBank had been considering an investment. “It was a big miss when SoftBank didn’t invest two years ago,” one source close to the VC said to TechCrunch. But we’ve confirmed also with John Collison — the president of Stripe who co-founded the company with his brother Patrick (who is the CEO) — that SoftBank is not in this round.
Nor will there be any corporate strategics involved in this round. Of note, Collison today confirmed that the bank providing the financial backing for its new cash advance and corporate card services is Celtic Bank, based in Salt Lake City. But the bank is not taking a strategic investment in the company as part of that deal.
Although the round is not yet closed, Collison said the $250 million size is unlikely to change. The round should close in the next several weeks, he added.
Stripe has long been reluctant to talk about when it might consider going public, and this round will put that prospect off even further. “We are still very happy as a private company,” Collison said today. “Our emphasis remans on the long-term opportunities.”
Stripe spent the first several years of its life slowly building up its payments business — which primarily consisted of providing an API to e-commerce businesses so that they could easily integrate a payments option in their apps or websites.
But in more recent years, it’s started to accelerate its growth with a significantly larger range of financial services — notably, now it describes its business as a “Global Payments and Treasury Network.” The latest products — cash advances and credit cards — are coming on the heels of other services that include incorporation services, fraud protection and and more.
All this means not only that the company can diversify its own revenues, but it can differentiate itself from (or, in some cases, offer the same services as) its competitors. Others offering similar services to Stripe’s include PayPal and Adeyn on the payments front, but as it adds more services, it’s also opening new competitive fronts with other rivals, now including Square, Brex and Clearbanc.
While the U.S. remains Stripe’s main market, especially for new launches, it’s getting increasingly global. The company last week expanded its payments out to eight more countries and that is set to expand again to total 40 in the coming months.
The company says it processes “hundreds of billions of dollars a year for millions of businesses worldwide,” although it declines to give specific numbers. Wayfair, Airbnb, Twilio, GitHub and The RealReal are among the kind of “enterprise” customers that it hopes to target more. Indeed, as startups in e-commerce grow into huge businesses, they are turning from being the kinds of small companies that Stripe used to target into the big companies that it now wants to target.
“This comes in the context of the fact that we feel strongly about Stripe's role in the growing internet economy,” Collison said.
As we have pointed out before, the internet economy, for all its seeming ubiquity, is still a small part of all commerce, which is one reason brick and mortar is likely to be another target for Stripe in the long run, building on the point-of-sale services it already provides — even as the company continues to reap the rewards of its traction in the digital universe.
"Even now, in 2019, less than eight percent of commerce happens online," said John Collison, president and co-founder of Stripe, in a statement announcing the round. "We're investing now to build the infrastructure that'll power internet commerce in 2030 and beyond. If we get it right, we can help the internet fulfill its potential as an engine for global economic progress."
Updated with comments from John Collison, the co-founder of Stripe
Wing, the drone delivery company that started its life within the Google X lab before spinning out into its own thing under the Alphabet umbrella, is prepping for takeoff.
The company announced this morning that it’s launching a test program in Virginia with Walgreens, FedEx and local retailer Sugar Magnolia.
As part of the program, Wing will be able to deliver kids’ snacks (goldfish, water, gummy bears and yogurt were mentioned as examples) and over-the-counter meds (like Tylenol or cough drops) from Walgreens, select packages from FedEx Express and sweets and stationary from Sugar Magnolia.
Alas, unless you’re one of the roughly 22,000 people in Christiansburg, Va. and happen to be in a neighborhood they’ve deemed eligible, you’re not going to be able to check it out just yet. Wing says the pilot program is limited to the small Montgomery County town for now as they work with locals to figure out what works and what doesn’t. The company declined to give any sort of timeline for when the program might expand to other parts of the U.S.
So how does it work?
When the customer places an order, one of Wing’s delivery drones heads for a pickup location. As Wing’s drones are only allowed to takeoff or land in specific locations, pickups and deliveries are handled via a tether, with the drone itself hovering about 20 feet in the air. Once at the pickup location, a tether is lowered and a human operator hooks the package onto the line. The drone winches the package into the air, secures it, and heads for its destination.
Once in flight, Wing says its drone cruises at about 60-70mph, with a range of about six miles each way. Once the drone arrives at the delivery location, the same tether line lowers the package. When the drone detects that the package has reached the ground, the package is released and the drone heads back home. All in all, Wing estimates they can make a delivery within about 10 minutes of a customer finalizing their order.
And if the tether gets stuck on something, or someone tries to grab it and tug it down? The drone is designed to detect the resistance and release the tether, dropping the line to the ground.
Wing says its drone can currently handle a payload of about 3 lbs, with the drone itself weighing roughly 10 lbs.
Wing won’t charge pilot program customers for delivery; customers will pay the store’s sticker price, and delivery during this test phase will be free.
Wing says the first deliveries should start next month.
YouTube’s verification program is getting a massive overhaul, the company announced today, which will likely result in a number of less prominent creators losing their verification status. Previously, YouTube allowed any channel that reached 100,000 subscribers to request verification. That limit is being removed, with a change to the verification program that rolls out in October. Going forward, YouTube will focus its efforts on verifying channels that have more of a need to prove their authenticity — like those belonging to a brand, public figure, artist or another creator who might be subject to impersonation, for example.
YouTube says the earlier verification system was established when the site was smaller, but its ecosystem has since grown and “become more complex.”
Instead of looking at a number of subscribers — a metric than can be gamed by bots — the new system will have more murky requirements. YouTube says it’s about “prominence,” which it defines in a number of ways.
For starters, YouTube will determine if the channel represents a “well-known or highly searched for creator, artist, public figure or company.” It will also consider if the channel is widely recognized outside of YouTube and has a strong online presence, or if it’s a channel that has a very similar name to many other channels.
We understand YouTube will use a combination of human curation and algorithmic signals to make these determinations. When asked, the company declined to discuss the specifics, however.
There were several reasons YouTube wanted to change its system, beyond raising the threshold for verification.
The company had run into a similar problem that Twitter once faced — people mistook the verification badge as an endorsement. On Twitter, that issue reached a tipping point when it was discovered that Twitter had verified the Charlottesville rally organizer. Twitter stopped verifying accounts shortly afterward. Its system today is still being fixed, but the project has been put on the back burner.
Similarly, YouTube’s research found that over 30% of users misunderstood the verification badge’s meaning, believing the checkmark indicted “endorsement of content,” not “identity.”
There were other issues with the prior system, as well.
Some creators would fake their verification status, for instance. Before the changes, a verified channel would display a checkmark next to its channel name. This could be easily forged by simply adding a checkmark to the end of a channel name.
Plus, the checkmark itself only really worked when people viewed the channel’s main watch page on desktop or mobile. It didn’t translate as well to interactions in live chats, on community posts or in stories.
By revamping the verification system, YouTube is clarifying that the verification isn’t an endorsement — it’s a neutral statement of fact. It’s also less difficult to forge, and works everywhere the creator interacts with fans.
The updated verification system drops the checkmark in favor of a gray swipe across the channel name (see above).
This applies to both channels and artists. With regards to the latter, it will replace the music note.
The system will roll out in late October, YouTube said, and the new criteria will apply for all channels.
Those who meet the new requirements won’t need to apply — they’ll automatically receive the new verified treatment. Others who didn’t qualify for re-verification will be notified today and will have the option to appeal the decision before the changes take place.
Update, 9/19/19, 1:26 PM ET: Here’s the letter YouTube creators are receiving. Note it refers to a timeframe of “early” instead of “late” October for the changes.
Here’s the email if you stay verified (thanks @thiojoe) –
Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Longreads, Simplenote and soon Tumblr, is now worth $3 billion. But its founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg has a bigger goal. He wants to make the web better, more open and diverse.
With the rise of social networks and closed platforms, Automattic's mission statement has never sounded so important. Automattic doesn't want to be the hot new startup. It wants to build a strong foundation to empower content creators for decades to come.
In an interview this week, Matt Mullenweg discussed why he raised $300 million from Salesforce Ventures, what he thinks of the current state of the web and how Automattic has a shot at building the open-source operating system of the web. The interview was edited for clarity and brevity.
Apple has just released the final version of iOS 13. This update brings many much needed quality-of-life improvements — and there are also a bunch of new features. The update is currently rolling out and is available both over-the-air in the Settings app, and by plugging your device into iTunes for a wired update.
Many people try to download these major updates at the same time. Apple usually implements a queue system to ensure speedy downloads once you're at the front of the queue.
iOS 13 is compatible with the iPhone 6s or later, the iPhone SE or the 7th-generation iPod touch. If you have an iPad and you are looking for iPadOS 13, it'll be available on September 30 (Update:September 24) with the release of iOS and iPadOS 13.1.
But first, backup your device. Make sure your iCloud backup is up to date by opening the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and tapping on your account information at the top and then on your device name. Additionally, you can also plug your iOS device into your computer to do a manual backup in iTunes (or do both, really).
Don't forget to encrypt your backup in iTunes. It is much safer if somebody hacks your computer. And encrypted backups include saved passwords and health data. This way, you don't have to reconnect to all your online accounts.
Once this is done, you should go to the Settings app as soon as possible to get in the queue. Navigate to 'Settings,' then 'General' and then 'Software Update.' Then you should see 'Update Requested…' It will then automatically start downloading once the download is available.
Here's a quick rundown of what's new in iOS 13. This year, in addition to dark mode, it feels like every single app has been improved with some quality-of-life updates. The Photos app features a brand new gallery view with autoplaying live photos and videos, smart curation and a more immersive design.
This version has a big emphasis on privacy as well, thanks to a new signup option called "Sign in with Apple" and a bunch of privacy popups for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi consent, and background location tracking. Apple Maps now features an impressive Google Street View-like feature called Look Around. It's only available in a handful of cities, but I recommend… looking around, as everything is in 3D.
Many apps have been updated, such as Reminders with a brand new version, Messages with the ability to set a profile picture shared with your contacts, Mail with better text formatting options, Health with menstrual cycle tracking, Files with desktop-like features, Safari with a new website settings menu, etc.
Apple’s new iOS 13, the thirteenth major iteration of its popular iPhone software, is out to download. We took iOS 13 for a spin with a focus on the new security and privacy features to see what’s new and how it all works.
Here’s what you need to know.
You’ll start to see reminders about apps that track your location
Ever wonder which apps track your location? Wonder no more — iOS 13 periodically reminds you about apps that are tracking your location in the background. Every so often it will tell you how many times an app has tracked where you’ve been in a recent period of time, along with a small map of the location points. From this screen you can “always allow” the app to track your location or have the option to limit the tracking.
You can grant an app your location just once
To give you more control over what data to have access to, iOS 13 now lets you give apps access to your location just once. Previously there was “always,” “never” or “while using,” meaning an app could be collecting your real-time location as you're using it. Now you can grant an app access on a per-use basis — particularly helpful for the privacy-minded folks.
And apps wanting access to Bluetooth can be declined access
Apps wanting to access Bluetooth will also ask for your consent. Although apps can use Bluetooth to connect to gadgets, like fitness bands and watches, Bluetooth-enabled tracking devices known as beacons can be used to monitor your whereabouts. These beacons are found everywhere — from stores to shopping malls. They can grab your device’s unique Bluetooth identifier and track your physical location between places, building up a picture of where you go and what you do — often for targeting you with ads. Blocking Bluetooth connections from apps that clearly don’t need it will help protect your privacy.
Find My gets a new name — and offline tracking
Find My, the new app name for locating your friends and lost devices, now comes with offline tracking. If you lost your laptop, you’d rely on its last Wi-Fi-connected location. Now it broadcasts its location using Bluetooth, which is securely uploaded to Apple’s servers using nearby cellular-connected iPhones and other Apple devices. The location data is cryptographically scrambled and anonymized to prevent anyone other than the device owner — including Apple — from tracking your lost devices.
Your apps will no longer be able to snoop on your contacts’ notes
Another area that Apple is trying to button down is your contacts. Apps have to ask for your permission before they can access to your contacts. But in doing so they were also able to access the personal notes you wrote on each contact, like their home alarm code or a PIN for phone banking, for example. Now, apps will no longer be able to see what’s in each “notes” field in a user’s contacts.
Sign in with Apple lets you use a fake relay email address
This is one of the cooler features coming soon — Apple’s new sign-in option allows users to sign in to apps and services with one tap, and without having to turn over any sensitive or private information. Any app that requires a sign-in option must use Sign in with Apple as an option. In doing so, users can choose to share their email with the app maker, or choose a private “relay” email, which hides a user’s real email address so the app only sees a unique Apple-generated email instead. Apple says it doesn’t collect users’ data, making it a more privacy-minded solution. It works across all devices, including Android devices and websites.
You can silence unknown callers
Here’s one way you can cut down on disruptive spam calls: iOS 13 will let you send unknown callers straight to voicemail. Anyone who’s not in your contacts list will be considered an unknown caller.
You can strip location metadata from your photos
Every time you take a photo, your iPhone stores the precise location of where the photo was taken as metadata in the photo file. But that can reveal sensitive or private locations — such as your home or office — if you share those photos on social media or other platforms, many of which don’t strip the data when they’re uploaded. Now you can. With a few taps, you can remove the location data from a photo before sharing it.
And Safari gets better anti-tracking features
Apple continues to advance its new anti-tracking technologies in its native Safari browser, like preventing cross-site tracking and browser fingerprinting. These features make it far more difficult for ads to track users across the web. And, iOS 13 has its cross-site tracking technology enabled by default so users are protected from the very beginning.
First published on July 19 and updated with iOS 13’s launch.
Indian Navy takes delivery of second Scorpene submarine Khanderi Khanderi, a Kalvari-class diesel-electric attack submarine, will be commissioned into the Navy by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sept 28.
'Talking dustbin' by Himachal Pradesh teen to be showcased in Japan Vinayak has credited the inspiration behind his invention to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan
'Traffic Tau' roped in for election awareness in poll-bound Haryana The initiative will be carried out by EC in collaboration with the District Administration.
"Howdy Modi" brings together Indian-Americans, Hindu Americans: Tulsi Gabbard Ms. Gabbard earlier cancelled her appearance in the Houston event over "scheduled presidential campaign events."
Pakistan desperate to 'disturb' Prime Minister Narendra Modi's events Imran has sent his advisor Zulfi Bukhari to organise protests during Modi's visit to the US.
All the Candidates can check BARC Stipendiary Trainee Result 2019 from this article. We have updated the latest link for the BARC Stipendiary Trainee Category 1 & 2 Result with marks. Along with the BARC Result 2019, candidates can download your BARC Stipendiary Trainee Cut off from this page. Also, we have attached the direct link to the end for the BARC Stipendiary Trainee Merit List 2019 from the official site. So, the candidates can check their Final results for the posts of Pharmacist/B, Tech/B Boiler Attendant, Stipendiary Trainees Category-II (Welder/Lab Asst/R&AC/Transport Maintenance) now.
AIIMS Jodhpur Jobs 2019 – Walk-in for 65 Senior Resident Vacancies. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur has planned for a walk-in to select eligible candidates for the Senior Resident Post. Accordingly, 75 vacancies are allotted for Senior Resident post under various departments. Interested aspirants check eligibility conditions of AIIMS Jodhpur Jobs 2019 Notification in this article. Eligibles can attend the walk-in at 14th & 15th October 2019.
Forest Range Officers
NHM Maharashtra Recruitment 2019 – Apply Offline for 3965 Community Health Officer Job Vacancies. Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) has planned for 6/8 months Certificate Programme in Community Health. Interested and enthusiastic candidates can send their application to serve the community. The application process is through Offline mode only. NHM Maharashtra Applications for CHO Vacancies are getting received from 16th September 2019.
