The Taliban's chief negotiator has said the "doors are open" to resuming talks with the United States, hours after two attacks claimed by the militants killed at least 48 people in Afghanistan.
Peace talks between the United States and the Taliban meant to reach a deal on the withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops collapsed last week after President Donald Trump cited an attack that killed a U.S. soldier as his reason for calling off negotiations. The talks did not include the Afghan government.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai told the BBC that the insurgents had done nothing wrong by continuing to fight throughout the talks. Stanikzai said the Americans had also admitted to killing thousands of Taliban during the discussions.
"From our side, our doors are open for negotiations," he was quoted as saying.
WNU Editor: The "peace talks" are definitely dead. The Taliban's refusal to talk to the Afghan government coupled with their continuing close ties with the Al Qaeda .... In Afghanistan, Taliban's Ties to al-Qaida Unchanged (VOA), means that these negotiations have a long way to go before their is any resolution to the conflict.
Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, President Vladimir Putin, and Valery Gerasimov (L-R), Russia's First Deputy Defence Minister and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, observe the main stage of the Vostok 2018 military excercises held jointly by the Russian Armed Forces and the Chinese People's Liberation Army at the Tsugol range.
* Russia is carrying out a series of large-scale military exercises with China, India and Pakistan in what experts believe is Moscow trying to send a powerful message to the West. * The military drills take place annually but Russia has upped the ante this year by inviting forces from China, India and Pakistan (as well as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) to take part in the drills. * The exercises are not directed at any other country, Russia said.
Russia is carrying out a series of large-scale military exercises with China, India and Pakistan in what experts believe is Moscow trying to send a powerful message to the West.
The military drills take place annually but Russia has upped the ante this year by inviting forces from China, India and Pakistan (as well as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) to take part in the drills.
The exercises will involve 128,000 military personnel, more than 20,000 weapons and military equipment, about 600 aircraft and up to 15 ships and support vessels, according to the Russian defense ministry. The drills are designed to test the combat-readiness of the military command and troops within the central military district in Russia (hence being called "Tsentr-2019") and will also see the country test its military capabilities in the Arctic.
The assault on the heart of Saudi Arabia's vast oil empire follows a new and dangerous pattern that's emerged across the Persian Gulf this summer of precise attacks that leave few obvious clues as to who launched them, @jongambrellAP reports. https://t.co/AHL4FcjZrj
Europe and North America have absorbed the largest share of the world's 272 million migrants, a population that has grown by 23 percent over the past decade, according to a UN report.
Half of migrants live in just 10 countries, with the US in first place https://t.co/jd0BOfUXVJ
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin and his wife Sara casts their votes during Israel's parliamentary election at a polling station in Jerusalem September 17, 2019. Netanyahu faced a battle for political survival in a closely fought election that could end his 10-year domination of national politics. Opinion polls put former armed forces chief Benny Gantz's centrist Blue and White party neck-and-neck with Netanyahu's right-wing Likud, and suggest the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party could emerge as kingmaker in coalition talks. Heidi Levine/Pool via REUTERS
PENTAGON - The Air Force and the Navy bought Chinese-manufactured drones for elite forces months after the Pentagon prohibited their use due to cybersecurity concerns, according to government documents.
In each case, the services used special exemptions granted by the Pentagon's acquisition and sustainment office "on a case by case basis, to support urgent needs," Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Andrews told VOA.
The Department of Defense issued a ban on the purchase and use of all commercial off-the-shelf drones, citing "cybersecurity vulnerabilities," in a memo from then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Pat Shanahan dated May 23, 2018.
* Expect 'exciting new weaponry on show' during event marking 70th anniversary of founding of People's Republic, analyst says * At least two types of advanced unmanned aerial vehicle likely to take part
China's supersonic spy drone was unveiled for the first time during a weekend rehearsal for the National Day military parade on October 1, according to photographs circulating on social media.
The photos, which have prompted discussion among military enthusiasts, show at least two types of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – identified as the DR-8 or Wuzhen 8, and the Sharp Sword stealth attack drone.
The DR-8 would be expected to play a key role should there be a conflict with US aircraft carrier strike groups in the South China Sea or Western Pacific.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked secret documents about U.S. telephone and internet surveillance in 2013, saying his new book violates non-disclosure agreements.
The Justice Department said Snowden published his memoir, "Permanent Record," without submitting it to intelligence agencies for review, adding that speeches given by Snowden also violated nondisclosure agreements. In 2013, Snowden wrote "Everything You Know about the Constitution is Wrong."
The United States is seeking all proceeds earned by Snowden for the book, the Justice Department said. The lawsuit also names the "corporate entities" behind the book's publication as nominal defendants.
* Researchers based the simulation on realistic data on current nuclear war plans * The war would start with tactical strikes but end up with attacks on key cities * It predicts that 90 million people would be killed or injured before fallout effects * The team hopes that the model will highlight the consequences of nuclear war
Researchers have developed a terrifying simulation that shows how an escalating nuclear war between the United States/NATO and Russia would play out.
The model — based on realistic data on nuclear force postures, targets and causality estimates — predicts that 34.1 million people would die within hours.
The catastrophic conflict would leave another 55.9 million injured — figures which do not include subsequent deaths from nuclear fallout and other effects.
In the first three hours alone, Europe would be devastated and an estimated 2.6 million people would be either killed or injured.
The relatively low-tech attack managed to pierce the Arab kingdom's air defences despite the country spending $65billion on arms last year alone (pictured, the refinery burns)
* Abqaiq refinery and Khurais oil field were blown up in suspected drone attack, crippling Saudi Arabia's oil exports and cutting off 5 per cent of global supply * Experts question how low-tech drones were able to pierce Saudi's air security * Country bought $65bn of arms last year, including US radar and Patriot missiles * Vladimir Putin said Saudi should have bought his S-400 air defences instead
Drone attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil fields exposes just how vulnerable the kingdom is to assaults using low-cost technology despite being the world's largest importer of arms, experts say.
Saudi Arabia spent an estimated $65 billion on military hardware last year alone, most of which was imported from the United States, including the latest radars, F-15 fighter jets, and Patriot missile defence systems.
But on Saturday an attack using what appears to have been explosive-laden drones managed to pierce that defensive shield and knock out half of the kingdom's oil output, or 5 per cent of global supply.
What we do know: The electorate wasn't indifferent after all, the president is determined to avoid a third round of voting, and Netanyahu's immunity prospects are dwindling
On a night of political drama, with exit polls showing no clear election winner, and actual results set to flow in over the coming hours, we don't know who Israel's next prime minister will be. Here are some of the things we do know as of 2:00 a.m.
WASHINGTON/DUBAI (Reuters) - The United States believes the attacks that crippled Saudi Arabian oil facilities last weekend originated in southwestern Iran, a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday, an assessment that further increases tension in the Middle East.
Three officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the attacks involved both cruise missiles and drones, indicating that they involved a higher degree of complexity and sophistication than initially thought. Read more ....
The United States is "locked and loaded" to attack Iran in response to its alleged attacks on Saudi oil facilities last week, according to President Trump. How might the United States carry out such an attack? Here are five options that range from defensive to an extended air campaign. These options come from actions presidents have taken in similar situations in the past. Of course, diplomats are working to find a solution, and the president is saying that "he does not like war." Nevertheless, at some point, I believe Iran will go too far, and the U.S. will launch a military response.
* Previous U.S. offers of talks without preconditions were sharply rescinded in the wake of Saturday's attacks on Saudi Arabia's largest oil facilities. * Khamenei's words come ahead of the high level meetings at the UNGA scheduled for next week, and effectively kill any chance of talks between U.S. and Iranian leaders. * Washington's sanctions on Iran have crippled its oil exports and much of its economy, sending inflation as high as 50% this year.
DUBAI — Iran will never hold talks with America, the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on state television Tuesday morning, effectively killing chances for a rapprochement some had anticipated between leaders of both countries during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings taking place this week and next.
"Iranian officials will never talk to America .... this is part of their (U.S.) policy to put pressure on Iran ... their policy of maximum pressure will fail," Khamenei said.
Khamenei's words come ahead of the high level meetings at the UNGA scheduled for next week, and amid fresh acrimony between Washington and Tehran following major attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure that U.S. officials have blamed on Iran. The attacks on Saudi Aramco's massive Abqaiq and Khurais plants, which was claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels, forced the state oil giant to shut down half of its production, sending oil prices up by double digits.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday the United States was reviewing evidence that suggests Iran was behind the attacks on Saudi oil facilities and stands ready to defend its interests and allies in the Middle East.
"We're evaluating all the evidence. We're consulting with our allies. And the president will determine the best course of action in the days ahead," Pence said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington.
President Donald Trump had warned that the United States was "locked and loaded" to respond to the attacks, but has emphasized he does not want a war.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was traveling to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss the response to the attacks, Pence said.
WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President Donald Trump says any American military attack on Iran would be proportionate to the attacks carried out on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn on Monday afternoon, Trump, asked about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo directly blaming Iran for the attack on the Saudi installations, replied: "I think we're the same. I think we just want to find out the final numbers and see."
The president added that it would be known who is responsible "for certain over the next pretty short period."
US officials believe missiles and drones were launched from an Iranian air base near the border with Iraq (possible launch site centre), flew over southern Iran and Kuwait to avoid powerful radar in the Persian Gulf, then hit targets at Khurais and Abqaiq (right). If the image is of the missile wreckage is genuine, then it is likely a Quds-1 missile, a Houthi weapon with an estimated range of 435 miles, based on similar Iranian designs. Experts say this shows it could not have been fired from Houthi territory in Yemen (bottom)
* Saudi Arabian oil supply blown up in what Yemen's Houthis called a drone attack * US investigators have concluded that drones and missiles were fired from an Iranian air base near the border with Iraq, source said * Officials believe the missiles flew over southern Iraq and Kuwaiti airspace to avoid powerful radar in Persian Gulf, before striking their targets * Experts are studying video from Kuwait which seems to record sound of missiles overhead, and image of what appears to be missile wreck in Saudi desert * Analysts say the missile appears to be a Quds-1, which would rule out Yemen as a launch site and strongly suggest Iraq, Iran or a boat in the Persian Gulf * Saudi has also blamed Iran, and says it is ready to 'forcefully respond' to attack * Iran's foreign minister said that Washington was 'in denial' by blaming Tehran
America has concluded that weekend attacks on two Saudi oil facilities were launched from Iranian soil and cruise missiles were involved, an official said today.
The official, who declined to be identified, said the United States was gathering evidence about the attack to present to the international community, notably European allies, at the UN General Assembly next week.
Another source, who spoke to CNN, said the attack involved a mixture of drones and missiles launched from an Iranian base near Iraq, flying at low altitude through Iraqi and Kuwaiti airspace to avoid radar detection, before striking the Abqaiq refinery and Khurais oil field in Saudi Arabia.
* The attacks on Saudi Aramco's oil plants were "extremely surgical," says Samir Madani, co-founder of satellite tracking firm TankerTrackers.com. * Damage to the top OPEC producer's oil facilities ignited fears of energy supply disruption around the world and sent crude prices soaring by double digits.
DUBAI — Satellite photos released by the U.S. government and DigitalGlobe reveal the surgical precision with which Saudi Aramco's oil facilities were struck in attacks early Saturday.
The strikes, which unidentified U.S. officials have said involved at least 20 drones and several cruise missiles, forced Saudi Arabia to shut down half its oil production capacity, or 5.7 million barrels per day of crude — 5% of the world's global daily oil production.
The images, first obtained by The Associated Press, show that at least 19 strikes were launched and 17 actually hit targets.
Netanyahu campaign has demonised Israel's Arab minority and vowed to annex much of Palestinian territories
Israelis are going to the polls in the country's second election this year, following a campaign dominated by Benjamin Netanyahu and his vows to implement a far-right, ultranationalist agenda in exchange for a record fifth term as leader.
Facing the prospect of criminal corruption indictments and hoping to extend his unmatched stint in the prime minister's office, Netanyahu has promised to declare up to a third of the occupied Palestinian territories as part of Israel if he is re-elected.
* At least 48 people killed and 80 wounded in attacks at a checkpoint and in Kabul * Both attacks came in one day and designed to take place in lead up to elections * Suicide bomb went off at checkpoint leading to a rally for President Ashraf Ghani * Taliban set off a device in central Kabul just over an hour later near US embassy
Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 48 people and wounded dozens more in two blasts today.
One attack was at a campaign rally for the president and the other in Kabul - with the insurgents warning of more violence ahead of elections.
The first attack saw a motorcyclist detonate a suicide bomb at a checkpoint leading to a rally where President Ashraf Ghani was addressing supporters in central Parwan province, just north of the capital, killing 26 and wounding 42.
Just over an hour later another blast also claimed by the Taliban rocked central Kabul near the US embassy.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party are facing voters for the second time in just five months in an unprecedented contest that has the potential to end Netanyahu's decade-long grip on power.
Months of political limbo followed the previous election in April that saw Likud and the centrist Blue and White party each win 35 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel's parliament.
One day after saying the US was "locked and loaded" to retaliate against those responsible for the weekend's attacks on Saudi Arabian oil plants, US President Donald Trump now says he is in "no rush" to take action.
Details of the Saturday strikes on Abqaiq — the world's largest oil processing facility — and the Khurais oil field in eastern Saudi Arabia remained unclear, but left crude oil output by the world's top exporter slashed in half.
And they were never meant to be released to the public.
The U.S. Navy has confirmed that three online videos purportedly showing UFOs are genuine. The service says the videos, taken by Navy pilots, show "unexplained aerial phenomena," but also states that the clips should have never been released to the public in the first place.
The three videos in question are titled "FLIR1," "Gimbal," and "GoFast." They show two separate encounters between Navy aircraft and UFOs.
Read more .... WNU Editor: You have to wonder what they have not made public.
First he trained and worked as an assassin for Mexico's most powerful crime group; now he uses that training to "clean up" cartel infestations.
CHILPANCINGO, Mexico—The safe house sits on a side street in a barrio that looks out on the well-lit downtown of Guerrero's state capital and the dark foothills beyond. A late-model pick-up truck is parked in the street, and the surrounding alleys are scrawled with graffiti. It's just past sunset on a late summer evening and a woman is trudging up the hill with a basket of bread, calling out her wares. Otherwise the street is silent. Then the hit man steps from the shadows behind the parked truck and waves me on toward the safe house. Read more ....
WNU Editor: Murderers killing murderers. It makes you realize how hopeless the drug war has become in Mexico.
With the war drums beating loudly ever since Mike Pompeo accused Iran of launching the drone strike that crippled Aramco oil production, moments ago the odds of an imminent war with Iran de-escalated materially after President Trump said it was "looking like Iran was behind this weekend's attacks" on Saudi oil facilities, but added that "he doesn't want to go war with anyone."
"It's certainly looking that way at this moment," Trump says in response to a question whether Iran was responsible for the attacks.
"I don't want to have war with anybody" but our military is prepared, Trump says at the White House, where he was meeting with Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Furthermore, the president said the US is not looking at retaliatory options until he has "definitive proof" that Iran was responsible for attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities.
Still, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the US "is prepared" if the attacks warrant a response.
This image provided by the U.S. government and DigitalGlobe and annotated by the source, shows damage to the infrastructure at at Saudi Aramco's Khurais oil field in Buqayq, Saudi Arabia. Image provided on Sept. 15. Photo: DigitalGlobe
Saudi Arabia will tap into stocks, officials say, as they worry fellow OPEC members might overproduce.
OPEC and Russia are so far holding off pumping more oil to fill potential gaps in global supplies after an attack in Saudi Arabia over the weekend led to a major crude disruption, officials said.
Crude prices surged on Monday in the aftermath of a weekend attack on Saudi Arabia's crude production infrastructure. Officials said the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Aramco, aimed to restore about a third of the disrupted output by day's end on Monday.
Saudi Arabia held a series of calls with cartel members and other oil-producing allies over the weekend and told producers that they wouldn't need to respond with additional output, Saudi and OPEC officials said. Saudi energy officials fear that other members might begin pumping too much and take away some of the kingdom's market share, Saudi oil officials and advisers said. Saudi officials told cartel members that the kingdom would mitigate the outage by tapping into its reserves, the Saudi and OPEC officials said.
The strikes knocked out 5.7 million barrels of daily production, about half of Saudi capacity. One of the main targets of the attack was a large crude-processing plant in Abqaiq—the largest of its kind in the world.
(STRASBOURG, France) — The risk of Britain leaving the European Union without a divorce deal remains “very real,” European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker declared Wednesday as EU lawmakers debated the ramifications of a no-deal Brexit.
After the debate, the European Parliament is set to adopt a resolution laying out its concerns about Britain’s impending departure from the 28-nation bloc on Oct. 31. Johnson has been adamant the U.K. will leave the EU on that date with or without a withdrawal agreement.
The main sticking point over a Brexit deal is the Irish border backstop, which would require Britain to respect EU trade and customs rules in order to avoid a hard border between EU member Ireland and the U.K.’s Northern Ireland until a better solution is found.
“I have no sentimental attachment to the backstop,” Juncker said, adding, however, that he remains attached to the purpose it serves, which is not to create border structures that could be detrimental to peace in Northern Ireland.
“That is why I called on British prime minister to come forward with concrete proposals, operational and in writing on all alternatives that would allow us to reach these objectives,” Juncker said.
EU leaders have made clear that any amendment to the current proposed divorce deal should preserve the bloc’s single market and uphold the Good Friday peace agreement that ended decades of conflict in Northern Ireland.
Despite his declaration that Britain will leave on Oct. 31 “do or die,” Johnson insists he can strike a revised divorce deal with the bloc in time for an orderly departure. European leaders are skeptical of that declaration.
“I asked the British prime minister to specify the alternative arrangements that he could envisage,” Juncker said. “As long as such proposals are not made, I cannot tell you — while looking you straight in the eye — that progress is being made.”
The Brexit agreement made with the EU by Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, was rejected three times by Britain’s Parliament, prompting May to resign and the fiercely pro-Brexit Johnson to come to power in July.
Spelling out the need for the backstop, EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned that even if Britain leaves without any agreement at all, several major problems will still have to be resolved, including the future of citizens hit by Brexit, peace in Northern Ireland and the protection of the EU’s single market and the Irish economy.
“None of these questions disappears,” Barnier said Wednesday, insisting that the challenges must not be underestimated. “We need legally operative solutions in the withdrawal agreement to respond precisely to each problem — to address each risk — that Brexit creates.”
“Some three years after the British referendum, it’s not a question of pretending to negotiate. It’s our responsibility to continue this process with determination and sincerity,” Barnier told the European lawmakers.
In London, Britain’s Supreme Court was set to resume its hearing to determine whether Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament was illegal. Judges must determine if Johnson overstepped his authority by suspending Parliament for a five-week period during the run-up to the Brexit deadline.
The government’s opponents argue that Johnson illegally shut down Parliament just weeks before the scheduled Brexit date for the “improper purpose” of dodging lawmakers’ legitimate scrutiny of his Brexit plans. They also say Johnson misled Queen Elizabeth II, whose approval was needed for the shutdown.
Speaking in Strasbourg, the European Parliament’s top Brexit official attacked Johnson’s decision to prorogue Parliament. Noting that Eurosceptic politicians often criticize the EU for being undemocratic, Guy Verhofstadt said EU leaders “can do a lot of things, but at least they cannot close the doors of our house. That is not possible.”
(JERUSALEM) — Israel’s two main political parties were deadlocked Wednesday after an unprecedented repeat election, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing an uphill battle to hold on to his job.
The election’s seeming political kingmaker, Avigdor Lieberman, said he’ll insist upon a secular unity government between Netanyahu’s Likud and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White parties, who based on partial results are currently tied at 32 seats each out of the 120 in parliament.
Without Lieberman’s endorsement, both parties appear to have fallen well short of securing a parliamentary majority with their prospective ideological allies.
With results still pouring in, Lieberman insisted the overall picture was unlikely to change. He also demanded a secular “liberal” government shorn of the religious and ultra-Orthodox allies the prime minister has heavily courted.
“The conclusion is clear, everything we said throughout the campaign is coming true,” he said outside his home in the West Bank settlement of Nokdim. “There is one and only option: a national unity government that is broad and liberal and we will not join any other option.”
That could spell serious trouble for the continuation of Netanyahu’s lengthy rule.
Gantz, a former military chief, has ruled out sitting with a Netanyahu-led Likud at a time when the prime minister is expected to be indicted on corruption charges in the coming weeks. It raised the specter of an alternate Likud candidate rising to challenge Netanyahu, though most of its senior officials have pledged to stand solidly behind their leader.
Netanyahu, the longest serving leader is Israeli history, had desperately sought an outright majority with his hard-line and ultra-Orthodox allies in hopes of passing legislation to give him immunity from his expected indictment.
Israel’s attorney general has recommended charging Netanyahu with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three scandals, pending a long-awaited hearing scheduled in the coming weeks. A formal indictment would increase the pressure on Netanyahu to step aside if he does not have immunity.
The partial results released Wednesday by the Central Election Commission were based on 44% of the vote counted. The three Israeli TV channels reported the same outcome, based on more than 90% of the vote counted, but did not explain the discrepancy with the commission’s official release.
According to the partial results, Likud with its natural allies of religious and ultra-nationalist parties mustered just 56 seats — or five short of the needed majority.
Gantz’s Blue and White and its center-left allies garnered 55 seats, putting Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu and its nine seats placed in the middle as the deciding factor.
In his first comments Wednesday morning outside his home, Gantz said he had already begun working toward forming a “unity government” but urged patience until the final results were announced.
Focus will then shift toward Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, who is tasked with selecting the candidate he believes has the best chance of forming a stable coalition. Rivlin is to consult with all parties in the coming days before making his decision. Lieberman’s recommendation will carry a lot of weight regarding who will be tapped as the prime minister designate.
The candidate would then have up to six weeks to form a coalition. If that fails, Rivlin could give another candidate for prime minister 28 days to form a coalition. And if that doesn’t work, new elections would be triggered yet again. Rivlin has said he will do everything possible to avoid such a scenario and Lieberman has ruled it out as well.
Lieberman’s primary stated goal is to push out what he sees as the excessive power of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties and have wide a coalition that can effectively tackle Israel’s most pressing security and economic challenges. But Netanyahu accused his former ally of plotting to oust him from office out of personal spite.
Behind the two is decades of a roller-coaster relationship. Lieberman, once Netanyahu’s chief of staff, has held a series of senior Cabinet posts and was often a staunch partner. But he’s has also been a rival, critic and thorn in Netanyahu’s side.
The Moldovan-born Lieberman started as a top Netanyahu aide in the 1990s before embarking on a political career of his own as a nationalist hard-liner and champion of immigrants like the former Soviet Union like himself. But he resigned last year as defense minister because Netanyahu kept blocking his plans to strike hard against Gaza militants.
Lieberman passed up the chance to return to the post following April’s election, refused to join Netanyahu’s emerging coalition and forcing the do-over vote. Assuming he sticks to his guns this time as well, Netanyahu could be done as Israel’s prime minister.
Saudi Arabia’s energy minister says 50% of the production cut by the attack on its oil processing plant has been restored.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman made the comments Tuesday night at a news conference in Jiddah.
The attack Saturday struck a Saudi oil field and the world’s largest crude oil processing plant, which knocked out 5.7 million barrels of crude oil production per day for the kingdom, or about 5% of the world’s daily production.
The prince added that within this month, production capacity will be up to 11 million barrels per day by the end of September. It had been around 9.6 milllion barrels per day before the attack.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, whom a Saudi-led coalition have been fighting since March 2015, claimed the attack. However, U.S. and Saudi officials say they believe Iran carried out the assault, something denied by Tehran.
After an apparent election setback, Israel’s prime minister says he will seek the formation of a new “Zionist” government that excludes Arab parties.
Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a small crowd of supporters in Tel Aviv at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, more than five hours after voting ended.
Initial exit polls placed challenger Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party just ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud, hurting Netanyahu’s chances of remaining as prime minister.
Exit polls are often imprecise, and Netanyahu said he would wait for official results before making conclusions.
But he said he would not allow the formation of a new government with Arab partners. He said: “There will not be and there cannot be a government that leans on Arab, anti-Zionist parties.”
Netanyahu’s campaign repeatedly questioned the loyalty of Israel’s Arab citizens.
Geneva, Sydney, Taipei, New York—at another point in Denise Ho’s career these might have been stops on a concert tour. Instead, the Cantonese pop diva turned icon of Hong Kong’s protest movement has been traveling around the world drumming up support for her city’s struggle against authoritarian China.
Ho has spent the last five years hitching her stardom to Hong Kong’s democracy fight, and in response, has been banned from the lucrative mainland Chinese market and dropped from sponsorship deals and by her record label.
As a singer, Ho hit the mainstream in the 2000s. Then, in 2012, she was the first major female star in Hong Kong to come out, and began advocating for LGBT+ rights. In 2014, she was arrested for joining the “Umbrella Revolution,” a protest movement calling for free elections and an end to Beijing’s encroachment on semi-autonomous Hong Kong.
Amid the enclave’s latest political upheaval, Ho continues to be one of the most prominent celebrities on the front lines. When she’s not calling on the U.N. Human Rights Council to drop China from the international body, Ho can be spotted sporting the protester’s black t-shirt uniform and joining the chants of “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our time.”
TIME caught up with Ho on the sidelines of the Oslo Freedom Forum in Taipei, Taiwan last week.
You’ve paid a price for your political activism. Do you feel more Hongkongers are now also having to choose between their careers and political views?
For sure. The main thing we can see is that people are restraining themselves from speaking their minds, not only public figures and celebrities, but also really anyone who might, say, travel to China, or who might be working in the corporate [sector]. I have close friends who are scared to even take a photo with me. So you see this kind of fear and self-censorship, and it is a very dangerous thing really, because that is how Communist governments always work. They instill fear and then people do these things on their own.
You’ve said the ‘one country, two systems’ framework Beijing uses to govern Hong Kong is doomed. What do you mean?
This is a very fundamental conflict, where two very different sets of values [clashed]. It actually worked quite well for some time, not even that far [back]. In 2012, when I came out in Hong Kong I expected to be blacklisted in China, but I wasn’t. At that time, it was before the [President] Xi Jinping era. We even got a social media campaign going on [Chinese social media platform] Weibo, with people holding signs supporting the LGBT community. At the time, we were even hoping that the Communist Party was actually improving, loosening up. But then Xi Jinping took over with his very emperor-style of governing and controlling the population. It’s been downhill ever since.
So what’s the alternative?
I know that a lot of young people think that we should just basically go toward independence. But at this moment in 2019, I don’t see how we can do that right away. Maybe in 20 or 30 years the whole environment could be different. Anything could happen really with China facing external and also internal problems. From the way that they have been putting their propaganda machine at full speed, I do think they know that they are not in a very favorable situation and they are feeling the pressure. We need to keep the fight on, and just wait for something to shift.
The majority of people are not actually asking for Hong Kong independence. The five demands that we are voicing are very clear, and within that we are asking for political reform, real universal suffrage, where we can elect our own chief executive.
Why should people around the world care about what’s happening in Hong Kong?
This is a global fight. We are a front line trying to preserve universal values—freedom, justice, equality and human rights—that are common to a lot of the more progressive societies, especially Western societies. Chinese influences have been reaching out and infiltrating different corners of the world. You see them coming into different areas with their economic power and then also, at the same time, their Communist values, where they do not allow anyone to criticize them. Corporations and institutions are succumbing to this kind of intimidation. That is something that should be very worrying for anyone really. If you are someone who believes in universal values, then you are part of this fight that has brought Hongkongers onto the streets for three months.
So you’re worried about a domino effect, that if the influence isn’t stopped in Hong Kong it will spread?
It is actually happening already. You see all these institutions and brands censoring themselves, kowtowing to this kind of pressure because they want a piece of the China market. And it’s happening everywhere. In Canada, even. It was very shocking for me when I saw that my hometown, Montreal [Ho emigrated there with her parents at the age of 11 before returning to Hong Kong eight years later], they had Hong Kong activists banned from gay pride. Are we going to accept that the world will fall under mass censorship? Or is there something that we can do together to fight this kind of suppression?
Why are the protesters appealing directly to the U.S.?
The U.S. is the only country that has the power to confront China right now, and also the U.S. has always been a free and equal society, well at least a society that is trying to get to this place. So I do think that there is a sort of moral responsibility to safeguard the whole world against the erosion of these human rights and freedoms. Of course, it is not only limited to the U.S. I think that any country, and any person with the freedom to do so should be standing up against these authoritarian governments, because if you don’t, maybe some day maybe you will be the one calling for help.
What action could the U.S. be taking to support Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists?
At the moment, there is the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act that is supposed to be pushing ahead. It involves [possible] sanctions on Hong Kong and China officials who have taken part in the erosion of human rights in Hong Kong, those who have not respected the ‘one country, two systems’ model. If that bill actually passes then it will probably [have] a ripple effect [on] other countries that would start to evaluate this situation and see if they should be doing the same thing.
After three months, is there any indication the protests in Hong Kong are tapering off?
I don’t see that. I see Hongkongers creating new ways to sustain this fight, whether it’s to have more non-violent actions, peaceful protests with the human chain. There is this new anthem in Hong Kong and people are singing it on the streets. That is a sort of collective empowerment where people can draw energy from others. This movement has been able to sustain itself precisely by this sort of creativity and this sort of flexibility.
What is the possibility that the protests have a knock on effect in mainland China?
It’s probably happening already. I have received direct messages on Twitter from people in China or who are Chinese living overseas. They are very supportive of the Hongkongers because they do know that this is a fight that concerns their freedoms, too. But of course, they are in a situation where it is very difficult for them to participate. In this very digitized and highly surveilled generation, we do need to think of maybe somehow going back to a more organic stage where the human touch might be key, where people can see each other and they can communicate their ideas and their thoughts.
What is your outlook for these protests?
I really have total confidence in our next generations. Already we seeing secondary school kids joining in the fight, and some are even younger. They have initiated movements on their own, forming human chains in front of their schools and so on. This kind of momentum, it really needs to go on into the next and the next generation. And I do see that happening, so that might be where my optimism comes from. At the end of the day, I do think that all authoritarian governments are afraid of the awakening of the people, and if you have enough people joining in the fight then we might have a high chance of winning.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
(WASHINGTON) — Activists involved in the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong appealed to U.S. lawmakers Tuesday to support their fight by banning the export of American police equipment that is used against demonstrators and by more closely monitoring Chinese efforts to undermine civil liberties in the city.
The activists, including several young people who have emerged as prominent figures in a leaderless movement, testified before a U.S. government commission set up by Congress to monitor human rights in China.
Republicans and Democrats on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China expressed their support Tuesday for protests that began in June with a since-withdrawn bill to extradite people arrested in the semiautonomous Chinese territory to China for prosecution.
“The heart of the discontent is that Hong Kong’s political leaders do not represent and are not accountable to the people. Instead, Hong Kong’s leaders are beholden to the Chinese government,” said Rep. James McGovern, D-Massachusetts.
The former British colony has been allowed certain autonomy and freedoms since it was returned to China in 1997 as a territory, with a “one country, two systems” policy that was supposed to ensure a smooth political transition.
Under U.S. law, the territory of Hong Kong receives special treatment in matters of trade, customs, sanctions enforcement, law enforcement cooperation and more. China has benefited from this, and lawmakers believe, used it to evade U.S. export controls and sanctions.
Rep. Christopher Smith, R-New Jersey, has authored legislation that places Beijing on “annual notice” that they will lose Hong Kong’s special economic and trade status if its autonomy continues to erode.
Smith’s bill would also allow qualified Hong Kong residents to work or study in the U.S. even if they have been arrested for participating in nonviolent protests.
Earlier this month, Smith, McGovern and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., put forward legislation that would block U.S. company exports of police weapons and equipment to Hong Kong.
Joshua Wong, a Hong Kong activist who has been jailed multiple times, told lawmakers that Hong Kong is a “police state,” where every demonstration is automatically an illegal assembly that results in violent police arrest and where protesters gather amid a mounting Chinese military troop present across the border.
“The present state of affairs reveals Beijing’s utter inability to understand, let alone govern, a free society,” Wong said.
Activist Sunny Cheung told lawmakers that young protesters face riot police carrying letters with their last will.
“They believe the only limits to their freedom are their deaths,” Cheung said. “We fight for freedom from a sense of duty and dignity.”
Denise Ho, a Hong Kong-based pop artist who has testified on the issue before the United Nations, told lawmakers that more than 1,500 people in Hong Kong, including a 12-year-old child, have been arrested. Many more have been injured by police tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and batons.
Ho said many artists in Hong Kong, companies, as well as institutions in nations like Australia and Canada have backed down from supporting the Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters because of China’s intimidation.
Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, ascribed the violence in Hong Kong to the protesters at a Tuesday briefing in Beijing. She derided Western politicians meeting with Hong Kong “separatists” at cocktail parties and now in the United States.
“Hong Kong is China’s internal affair,” she said. “No foreign government, organization or individual can interfere. We advise them to have a clear understanding of the situation and pull out their dirty hands from Hong Kong.”
An American cancer survivor has made history after becoming the first person to swim the English Channel four times non-stop.
Sarah Thomas began her historic 130-mile feat (209 km) early on Sunday morning and finished just over 54 hours later on Tuesday morning at about 6:30am, according to her GPS tracker.
Thomas, from Colorado, was met with cheers by a small crowd and given champagne and chocolate as she reached the shore at Dover for the final time, the Associated Press reported.
She told AP she felt “a little sick” after 54 hours in the water and thanked her husband and supporters for their encouragement.
The 37-year-old was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in November 2017 and underwent chemotherapy, surgery and radiation last year. Thomas had booked her turn to swim the English Channel before her diagnosis and has been pushing towards the marathon swim since her first round of chemotherapy.
Thomas admitted she was scared before the marathon swim. “I’ve been waiting for this swim for over two years now and have fought so hard to get here,” she said in a Facebook post. “Am I 100%? No. But I’m the best that I can be right now, with what I’ve been through, with more fire and fight than ever.”
The swim was supposed to be around 80 miles in length, but because of the strong tides, Thomas ended up swimming closer to 130 miles.
The ultra marathon swimmer dedicated her historic achievement to fellow survivors of breast cancer. “This is for those of us who have prayed for out lives, who have wondered with despair about what comes next, and have battled through pain and fear to overcome,” she said in a Facebook post.
A gas explosion has sparked a fire at a Russian bioweapons facility which stores viruses including Ebola, smallpox and Anthrax.
The blast occurred on Monday after a gas cylinder exploded during scheduled repair work on the fifth floor of the six-story Russian State Centre for Research on Virology and Biotechnology, commonly known as Vector, the facility said in a statement.
No biological material was held in the sanitary inspection room where the explosion occurred, and no structural damage was caused to the concrete laboratory building, the center added.
One worker was taken to hospital and is being treated in intensive care for burns, Russia’s TASS news agency reported. A fire, covering 30 square meters was later extinguished by fire fighters.
The bioweapons facility, located in Koltosvo, in the Novosibirsk region of Siberia, is known for being one of two centers in the world housing samples of smallpox. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the only other center in the world known to hold live samples of the disease.
Originally, the center was used to develop biological weapons research during the Cold War Soviet era. Now it is one of the largest scientific virological and biotechnological centers in Russia.
(TEHRAN, Iran) — Iran’s supreme leader announced on Tuesday that “there will be no talks with the U.S. at any level” — remarks apparently meant to end all speculation about a possible U.S.-Iran meeting between the two countries’ presidents at the U.N. later this month.
Iranian state TV quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying this is the position of the entire leadership of the country and that “all officials in the Islamic Republic unanimously believe” this.
“There will be no talks with the U.S. at any level,” he said.
Khamenei said the U.S. wants to prove its “maximum pressure policy” against Iran is successful.
“In return, we have to prove that the policy is not worth a penny for the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said. “That’s why all Iranian officials, from the president and the foreign minister to all others have announced that we do not negotiate (with the U.S.) either bilaterally or multilaterally.”
There had been reports about a possible meeting between President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, during the upcoming U.N. General Assembly this month in New York.
But tensions roiling the Persian Gulf have escalated following a weekend attack on major oil sites in Saudi Arabia that the U.S. alleged Iran was responsible for — a charge Iran denies.
The crisis between Washington and Tehran stems from Trump’s pullout last year from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. He also re-imposed and escalated sanctions on Iran that sent the country’s economy into freefall.
The attack on Saudi Arabia, which set ablaze a crucial Saudi oil processing plant and a key oil field, was claimed by Yemen’s Iranian-allied Houthi rebels, who are at war with a Saudi-led coalition that is trying to restore Yemen’s internationally recognized government to power.
Trump declared Monday it “looks” like Iran was behind the explosive attack on the Saudi oil facilities. But he stressed that military retaliation was not yet on the table in response to the strike against a key U.S. Mideast ally.
Oil prices soared worldwide amid the damage in Saudi Arabia and fresh Middle East war concerns. But Trump put the brakes on any talk of quick military action — earlier he had said the U.S. was “locked and loaded” — and he said the oil impact would not be significant on the U.S., which is a net energy exporter.
The Saudi government called the attack an “unprecedented act of aggression and sabotage” but stopped short of directly pinning blame on Iran.
One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the U.S. was considering dispatching additional military resources to the Gulf but that no decisions had been made. The U.S. already has the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier battle group in the area, as well as fighter jets, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and air defenses.
Trump, alternating between aggressive and nonviolent reactions, said the U.S. could respond “with an attack many, many times larger” but also “I’m not looking at options right now.”
American officials released satellite images of the damage at the heart of the kingdom’s Abqaiq processing plant and a key oil field, and two U.S. officials said the attackers used multiple cruise missiles and drone aircraft.
Private experts said the satellite images show the attackers had detailed knowledge of which tanks and machinery to hit within the sprawling Saudi oil processing facility at Abqaiq to cripple production. But “satellite imagery can’t show you where the attack originated from,” said Joe Bermudez, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who examined the images.
The U.S. alleges the pattern of destruction suggested Saturday’s attack did not come from neighboring Yemen, as claimed by the Houthis there. A Saudi military alleged “Iranian weapons” had been used.
The Saudis invited the U.N. and other international experts to help investigate, suggesting there was no rush to retaliate.
For his part, Khamenei on Tuesday also reiterated Iran’s stance that if the U.S. returns to the nuclear deal, Tehran would consider negotiations.
“Otherwise, no talks will happen … with the Americans,” he said. “Neither in New York nor anywhere” else.
(LONDON) — The British government and its opponents faced off Tuesday at Britain’s Supreme Court, arguing in a high-stakes legal drama over whether new Prime Minister Boris Johnson broke the law by suspending Parliament at a crucial time ahead of Britain’s impending departure from the European Union.
The government’s opponents argued that Johnson illegally shut down Parliament just weeks before the country is to leave the 28-nation bloc for the “improper purpose” of dodging lawmakers’ scrutiny of his Brexit plans. They also accused Johnson of misleading Queen Elizabeth II, whose formal approval was needed to suspend the legislature.
The government countered that the suspension was a political matter and none of the court’s business.
Johnson sent lawmakers home on Sept. 9 until Oct. 14, which is barely two weeks before the scheduled Oct. 31 Brexit day.
The prime minister says Britain must leave the EU at the end of next month with or without a divorce deal. But many U.K. lawmakers believe a no-deal Brexit would be economically devastating and socially destabilizing, and are determined to thwart him.
Lawyer David Pannick, who represents one of the campaigners challenging the government, told 11 Supreme Court judges that Johnson had improperly suspended the legislature “to silence Parliament … because he sees Parliament as an obstacle to the furtherance of his political aims.”
Johnson says the suspension is routine, and will allow his government to launch its domestic agenda with a new session of Parliament. But the decision outraged many lawmakers, who say it’s designed to prevent them from challenging Johnson’s push for Brexit in October “do or die.”
The suspension sparked legal challenges, to which lower courts have given contradictory rulings. England’s High Court said the suspension was a political rather than legal matter, but Scottish court judges ruled last week that Johnson acted illegally “to avoid democratic scrutiny.”
The Supreme Court is being asked to decide who was right, in a case scheduled to last up to three days. It is considering two questions: Is this a matter for the courts; and, if so, did the government break the law?
The government denies misconduct. Its lawyers argued in a written submission that the issue is “intrinsically one of high policy and politics, not law.”
Lawyer Richard Keen, acting for the government, told the court that the Scottish judges “have simply gone where the court should not go.”
“The courts are not to cross the boundaries and intrude upon the proceedings in Parliament,” he said.
Keen insisted there was nothing improper in the government’s behavior. He said there were previous cases of British governments suspending Parliament “for political reasons” and for “extensive periods of time.”
But Pannick, attorney for transparency advocate Gina Miller, told court it was a fundamental constitutional principle that “Parliament is sovereign and the executive is accountable to Parliament.”
He said the five-week suspension of Parliament was the longest for decades, and called it “remarkable” that the prime minister had not submitted a witness statement to the court outlining his reasons. He said, in the absence of a sworn statement, “we say the court should infer that there is no answer” to the allegation that Johnson acted improperly.
Pannick, however, stressed that he wasn’t criticizing Britain’s 93-year-old monarch in the case.
“Her majesty acted on the advice of her prime minister,” he said.
Johnson hasn’t said what he will do if the judges rule the suspension illegal. He told the BBC he would “wait and see what they say.”
Keen promised that “the prime minister will take any necessary steps to comply with any declaration made by the court.” But he had no answer when judges asked if Johnson might recall Parliament on the court’s order, only to suspend it again.
“I’m not in a position to comment on that,” he said.
The case is the latest twist in a Brexit saga that has divided British politicians and the public for more than three years, since the country narrowly voted in 2016 to leave the EU.
Protesters with signs reading “reopen Parliament” and “defend our democracy” stood silently outside the courthouse Tuesday across from the Houses of Parliament before the case opened, alongside a performer painted green and wearing a blond wig who called himself “The Incredible Sulk.”
Johnson told a newspaper over the weekend that the U.K. would break free of the EU “like the Hulk.”
The brash prime minister insists Britain must leave the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a divorce agreement, though he says he believes he can strike a deal with the bloc in time for an orderly departure.
But the EU says Britain has yet to offer any “legally operational” solutions to the problem of keeping goods and people flowing freely across the Irish border, the main roadblock to a deal.
The leader of the European Parliament’s biggest party group said Tuesday that “no progress” was being made in Brexit talks.
Manfred Weber, who heads the center-right European People’s Party bloc, said in Strasbourg that “there is no proposal from the British side on the table.”
You are subscribed to email updates from World – TIME. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.
Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States
ISRAEL is voting in today's parliamentary election, in the wake of turbulent few months in Israeli politics. Here are the latest updates on the Israel election results 2019.
A RUSSIAN research laboratory that stores highly infectious viruses was hit by a gas explosion, with a "major incident" being declared after a fire broke out at the site.
HURRICANE SEASON is in full effect and following its peak last week, plenty more storms are expected for the remainder of the season. But how many potentially devastating systems are being monitored right now?
THE second Israeli election in five months took place on Tuesday after some turbulent months for Benjamin Netanyahu. Who won the Israeli election and is Netanyahu still Prime Minister?
A TERRIFYING simulation have laid bare the sheer horror which would be unleashed by a nuclear war between the United States and Russia, which the ensuing firestorm likely to kill more than 34 million people in less than five hours.
VLADIMIR PUTIN has called for "comprehensive measures" from North Korea to stop future incursions after Russian border police were embroiled in hostility with a vessel from Pyongyang.
SSC CHSL Admit Card 2019 for tier 1 and tier 2 written examination is available on our page. Aspirants who applied for the Staff Selection Commission CHSL exam 2019 can find the direct link for call letter in the article below. Find the direct link to download SSC CHSL exam 2019 on our page.
SSC CHSL Exam Result 2019
Staff Selection Commission has given the notification for CHSL exam 2019. Combined Higher Secondary Level (CHSL) for vacancies in various ministries or departments or organizations under the government of India. Aspirants who are applied for the CHSL exam might be looking for the admit card 2019. Hence, to help the aspirants if finding the admit card online. We have given the direct link on our page below.
Generally, SSC announces the admit card for the written test has been released by region wise. Hence, aspirants who are going to appear for the CHSL tier 1 and tier 2 examination can download the call letter from the below section SSC allows its applicants to download the admit card online. But aspirants need to enter their login details to download the SSC CHSL Admit Card online.
SSC CHSL (10 +2) Tier II Admit Card 2019
Staff Selection Commission has announced the admit card for the Tier-II examination. Hence, Candidates are allowed to download the hall ticket before the exam date. The SSC CHSL Tier-II exam will be held on 29th September 2019. Moreover, the Commission has released the admit card on 18th September 2019. Make sure to download the admit card before the exam date. The direct link to download the SSC CHSL Hall Ticket is available on the below section.
Staff Selection Commission has announced the Tier 3 exam date from 16th August to 02nd September 2019. Hence, the admit card is available for region-wise. So, Aspirants can download the hall ticket from the link provided below. Thus, the SSC Tier 3 Exam will be held at various centers. Those who are eligible to participate in the exam can download the SSC Admit Card from the below table.
SSC recruitment board conducts the online computer-based test for both applicants. Hence, applicants applied need to prepare for the online CBT 2019. However, check the complete SSC CHSL exam pattern details on our page.
SSC CHSL Tier I Exam Pattern 2019
Candidates who applied have to attend for tier 1 CBT going to held from 01st July 2019 to 26th July 2019. Hence, check the exam pattern for tier 1 examination in the tabular section below. The maximum time limit for CHSL tier 1 examination is 60 mins.
S.No
Subject
Questions
Max Marks
1
General Intelligence
25
50
2
English Language (Basic)
25
50
3
Quantitative Aptitude (Basic Arithmetic Skill)
25
50
4
General Awareness
25
50
Find the material to prepare for the CHSL exam in our SSC CHSL previous papers page. Where we provided last 5 years SSC question paper for the sake of applicants.
SSC CHSL Tier-II Admit Card 2019
Aspirants who clear the tier 1 examination are only eligible for the tier 2 examination. However, the candidates will be tested on their letter and application writing skills and essay writing skills. Where the exam was conducted for a total of 100 marks. Find the overview in the table below.
S.No
Sections
No of Questions
Maximum Marks
1
Letter/Application
1
50
2
Essay Writing
1
50
Applicants applying for examination can refer to the exam pattern given above for tier I and tier II. It contains the subjects and the number of questions allocated to each section. Hence prepare well for the exams. Also, only the candidates who have selected in examinations conducted by the SSC CHSL Authority are allowed for further rounds.
Download SSC CHSL Hall Ticket 2019
The officials of Staff Selection Commission will release its SSC CHSL exam hall ticket 2019 through online mode. However, contenders need not worry about the hall ticket as we have given the direct link here to download your SSC CHSL Tier 1 exam call letter. Hence, focus on the examination and prepare well. Make sure that each and every applicant get their SSC CHSL admit card 2019-20 while entering the exam hall. Admit Card can be downloaded according to the region-wise. Get the Direct Links for each region in the below page.
Steps to download SSC CHSL Exam Admit Card @ sss.nic.in
Click on the direct link provided below.
Will redirect you to the official website where you can find the direct link for SSC CHSL tier 1 & 2 admit card.
Find the link for the respective region or the direct link on SSC page.
Click on the link and enter the login details and submit.
Admit card is shown on a new page, take a photocopy.
We advise saving the admit card in pdf format and upload into your drive.
And carry the SSC CHSL Exam Hall Ticket 2019 while appearing for the exam.
AFCAT Result 2019 @ afcat.cdac.in – Check AFCAT 02/2019 Batch Result in Various Branch 2019 here | Career Indian Air Force (IAF) has Recently Uploaded Result for the Recruitment Under Air Force Common Admission Test AFCAT 02/2019 Batch in Various Branch 2019. Those Candidates Who have Appeared in this Recruitment Exam Can Download Result. Here we have provided a direct link to download your AFCAT 2019 Result with marks.
AFCAT Result 2019 @ afcat.cdac.in
All the Candidates can check your AFCAT Air Force Result 2019 from this article. We have updated the latest link for the AFCAT 2019 Result with marks. Along with the AFCAT Result 02/2019, candidates can download your Air Force Common Admission Online Test 2019 Cut off from this page. Also, we have attached the direct link to the end for the Air Force Common Admission Online Test Result 2019 pdf from the official site. So, the candidates can check their IAF Result 02/2019 now. Here we have provided a direct link to download your Air Force Result from the bottom of the table. Applicants just by clicking the below direct link, to download your Exam Result. Candidates can check your IAF Air Force Common Admission Online Test Result from the below link.
Indian AFCAT Result 02/2019 – Overview
AFCAT Result 2019 pdf | AFCAT 2019 Result with marks
Description
Details
Organization Name
Indian Air Force
Exam Name
Air Force Common Admission Online Test (AFCAT 02/2019)
All the applicants those who have participated in the Air Force Common Admission Online Test (AFCAT 02/2019) can get the highlighted points from the above table. Candidates can check your AFCAT Result 02/2019 from the below link. Also, we have provided a direct link for the AFCAT 2019 Result with marks. Applicants just by clicking the below link, enter into the sign-in page. So applicants should enter the email address and password to login to the page.,
AFCAT 2019 Result with marks
Applicants who appeared for Air Force Common Admission Online Test (AFCAT 02/2019) had to go through the Test to get placed in the required posts. After receiving the Air Force Result candidates know whether they get qualified or not. To get placed, candidates need to score the qualifying marks/ Cut Off Marks as mentioned by the authority. So that you can go through the further selection rounds after completion of the Written Test. Here we have mentioned some simple steps to download your Cut off Marks.
How to check AFCAT Air Force Result 2019?
Candidates must visit the official website of Indian Air Force (IAF) @ afcat.cdac.in
On the home page, you can find the candidates log in
Then, Click on AFCAT 02/2019 – Cycle option
A new page will open, enter into the sign-in page
So applicants should enter the email address and password to login to the page
TN TRB Assistant Admit Card 2019: TamilNadu TRB has announced the notification to fill up their board with 2144 PG Assistant Grade I officers. Thus, the application registration process will be up to 15th July 2019. However, the Board will conduct the examination process to shortlist the candidates. For the examination purpose, Aspirants need to download the admit card. Moreover, the admit card will be released by the board only after the announcement of the exam date.
TN TRB PG Call Letter 2019
Candidates can download the admit card from the below section. Eligible Candidates should download the valid admit card. Candidates will be allowed to the examination only with the TN TRB Hall Ticket 2019. Moreover, all the aspirants can get the admit card by registering the Application form number and the password. So, note down the application number while registering the application.
TamilNadu Teachers Recruitment Board will declare the exam date in soon. Candidates who are interested to attend the examination can update the exam details in the official website. If you are the one who registered in the recruitment process get ready for the examination. Because the board will release the exam date at any time. So, Aspirants start preparations from now. For your easy reference, we will provide you the TN TRB PG Assistant Exam Syllabus 2019. Click on the link to get the exam syllabus.
Candidates can get the steps to download the admit card from the below section. Candidates make use of the instructions given below and follow it to get the valid TN RRB Assistant Admit Card 2019.
TN TRB Admit Card 2019 – TamilNadu Teachers Recruitment Board has released the Admit Card for the Online Registered Candidates for Computer Instructors Grade I Post. Hence, Contenders can get the direct link of the admit card from the below section. Moreover, Applicants download the TN TRB Hall Ticket so as to sit in the Examination.
trb.tn.nic.in Hall Ticket 2019
Tamilnadu Teachers Recruitment Board has issued the admit card on the official website. Hence, the TN TRB Hall Ticket has been published on 16th June 2019. So, Candidates download the admit card from the direct link provided below. Make use of the direct link and get the admit card for the exam going to be conducted by the board. For TN TRB examination each and every examiner will be provided with the TN TRB Hall Ticket.
TRB now released the provisional Hall Ticket for the candidates who have applied for TNET Examination. Moreover, the board has received many applications from the Candidates and now the shortlisted applicants with the eligibility criteria will only get the Admit Card. The admit card has been released on the official website i.e tn.trb.nic.in. Check the details that you have entered in the TN TRB Hall Ticket before downloading. Almost all the details about the TN TRB examination will be determined in the admit card. Candidates can attend the exam if they carry the admit card without any mistakes. So, make sure to download the Hall Ticket without making any mistake in the following contents.
Name of the Applicant.
Exam Date, Time & Centre.
Post Applied for.
Application or Registration Number
Father Name and
Important Instructions.
TN TRB Computer Instructor Grade I Exam 2019
Tamilnadu Board decided to conduct the exam for Computer Instructor Grade I examination. Interested Aspirants to join in Tamilnadu Teacher Recruitment Board must attend the exam. The Board had scheduled the TRB Examination on 23rd June 2019. Hence, Contenders should appear for the examination before 30 minutes. However, the examination is going to be conducted through Online Mode.
The examination will consist of Single Paper.
Time duration will be of 3 Hours to complete the examination.
The Question paper will be of Multiple Choice of Questions.
150 Marks as Total Mark.
The examination covers the main subject of Computer Science, general knowledge, and Educational Psychology.
tn.trb.nic.in Hall Ticket 2019 – Download
From this article, we have provided with the steps to download the Admit Card. We have attached the direct link to download the TN TRB Hall Ticket 2019. Follow the steps to download the TN TRB Admit Card. Contenders must appear for the exam along with any one of the ID Proof. Aspirants should not fail to bring the admit card given by the board. Candidates are strictly prohibited to enter the examination hall without the TN TRB Hall Ticket 2019.
Aadhar Card
College ID
Ration Card
Driving License
PAN Card
Voter ID
Any Valid ID Proof Issued By Gazetted Officer
Bank Passbook
Passport
How to Download TN TRB Admit Card 2019-20
Click on “TN TRB Admit Card” Link.
Teachers Recruitment Board Page will Appear.
Enter the User ID and Password to Login.
Now, the Admit Card will appear on the Screen.
Fill all the details.
Finally, Submit the Admit Card and Download it.
Take a print out and carry with you for the exam.
Direct Links to download TN TRB Garde I Admit Card 2019
SAIL Durgapur Recruitment 2019 – Walk-in-Interview for 95 Proficiency Trainee Job Vacancy. Steel Authority of India Limited invites application from the eligible nurses for the Proficiency Training in DSP Hospital. There are 95 openings are available for the Trainee Jobs. These vacancies in DSP Hospital are filled under SAIL Durgapur Recruitment 2019. Interested and eligible candidates can send your application through the mail before appearing for the Walk-in. Aspirants should drop your mail between 16th September 2019 to 31st September 2019.
SAIL Durgapur Recruitment Board has planned for Walk-in on 1st October 2019. Interested candidates should meet the eligibility conditions mentioned in the SAIL Durgapur Recruitment Notification 2019. Aspirants who have completed their Nursing course can try out for this SAIL Jobs. Read this article for more details to ensure your eligibility level before applying for the SAIL Careers.
Overview of SAIL Durgapur Steel Plant Recruitment 2019
About Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Durgapur
Durgapur steel plant was set up in the late fifties with an underlying creation limit of 1 MPTA (million ton for each annum) rough steel which was logically expanded to 1.8 MTPA during the last modernization in nineties with the prime goal of accomplishing more elevated amount of generation, improvement in efficiency and quality, protection of vitality, decrease in expense of creation and minimization of ecological contamination.
DSP is at present actualizing its Modernisation and Expansion Plan (Phase-I) with primary destinations are to Change of accessible semis into worth included moved items, Close to 100% contrast generation with eliminating of top pouring ingot-Blooming Mill course Sustenance/De-bottlenecking of existing offices to defeat present requirements and Limit of the plant will increment in hot metal at 2.40 MTPA, Crude Steel at 2.20 MTPA and Saleable Steel at 2.12 MTPA Extraordinary component of this plant is its Wheel and Axle Plant for making manufactured haggles taking into account Indian Railways. Wheels are tried in International Test House and found of a higher standard. Throughout the year’s plant has created different sorts of wheels according to the need of Railways. The plant is performing past its appraised limits reliably and the generation and TE parameters are best-case scenarios ever levels.
DDU Result 2019 – Hello Students!!. Yes, Let’s start to check your results from this Webpage. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University has declared the results for the various courses every day. Students those who have appeared for those Examinations can check the DDU Result 2019 from the official website of the University i.e, ddugu.ac.in. Currently, the University has released the results for M.A. Political Science (Final), M.A. Visual Art (Fine Art) Previous, M.A Education, M.A Urdu, M.A English, M.A Political Science, M.A Urdu, and others. We are here to help you out, We have updated the latest results and provided a direct link to get your results.
DDU Result 2019 | DDUGU Results 2019
Here on this page, we have updated all the latest information regarding the DDU Result, News, Exam Time Table, Admit Card and others. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University conducts various Examinations for Undergraduate, Postgraduate of Regular and Supplementary Students, All the Students can get the results from this web page recruitment.guru. Also, We used to update the latest updates regarding the DDU Examination Results. Moreover, we will be providing the Upcoming DDU Result link, once it gets officially announced by the University. After verifying the Examination results we can predict the Students individual performance. We advise the Students to click on the below link to get the DDU Result 2019.
Latest DDU Exam Result 2019
Name of the Exam
Announcement Date
Download Link
P.G. Diploma in Disaster and National Security Management
Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University or simply Gorakhpur University is located in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. The University of Gorakhpur is a teaching and residential-cum-affiliating University. It actually started functioning since 1 September 1957, when the faculties of Commerce, Law, Arts, and Education were started. In the following year, 1958, the faculty of science came into being. Faculties of Medicine, Engineering, and Agriculture came into existence in later years. Graduates from the Chemistry Department are traditionally well respected and serving nationally and internationally at various top and responsible positions.
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University Supply/Revaluation Results
Those students who have attended the regular examination under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University and still failed. Here comes one more opportunity to clear the examination. To increase the scoring along with that students to fail in the previous examination will get a chance to clear through Revaluation Exams Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University Results. For each and every semester Students can apply for the revaluation after the announcement of the main examination results. The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University will take a week or more to process the exam papers to announce the Revaluation results. Do stay updated with the University to know about the Revaluation Exam Results.
SGBAU Result 2019 – The Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University has updated the SGBAU BE Result 2019 in the main server. If you have undergone the semester examination under the Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University. Here get the updated list of results for all the courses like B.Tech, BA, B.Com, MBA, MA, MCA & other graduates, Post Graduate courses. This current page is exclusively for SGBAU Result here on students from the colleges which are affiliated to Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University can get their SGBAU Result 2019.
SGBAU Exam Result 2019-20
Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University is one of the topmost university in Maharashtra. Students those who are doing their degree in Sant Gadge University it time for you people to check out the SGBAU Result 2019 for all the Semester Examination. Aspirants may get to know the way of doing and performance through the SGBAU Exam Result. To know the updated Amravati University SGBAU Exam Result candidates can check out for the below-given link and enter the asked details. So, we advise the candidates who are pursuing their degree can evaluate their performance by getting their Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University Result 2019 through our website i.e, Recruitment.Guru
Lastest SGBAU Result 2019-20
Students who are pursuing their degree under the Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University can check out the all semester exam SGBAU Result under this link. All you need to just click on the link and it will direct you to the main server of the Official Website. Make sure the details you enter in the webpage are correct to get you SGBAU Result 2019.
Examination
Result Release Date
Results Link
M.E MECHANICAL ENGINEERING in CAD/CAM(FULL TIME) (Second Semester ( Sem – 2)
Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University is also termed as Amaravati University. It was established in the year 1983 by the hands of Maharashtra Government. There are near to 90,000 are studying under the university in various Courses offered by the university. The university has been offering Undergraduate, Post Graduate & other doctoral courses to its students. As of now, the university has affiliated with 127 colleges wherein 90,000 students for the undergraduate and graduate courses, together, in different faculties. The Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University spread across over an area of 225 hectares, and the university is home to 20 postgraduate departments offering 25 courses in different disciplines.
The Governor of Maharashtra will act as the Chancellor of the university. while Dr.Murlidhar Govindrao Chandekar is the Vice-Chancellor of the university.
Regular/ Supplementary SGBAU Result
Those students who have attended the regular examination under the Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University and still failed. Here comes one more opportunity to clear the examination. To increase your scoring along with that students to fail in the previous examination will get a chance to clear through Revaluation Exams SGBAU Results. For each and every semester Students can apply for the revaluation after the announcement of the main examination results. The University of Rajasthan will take a week or more to process the exam papers to announce the Revaluation results. Do stay updated with the University to know about the SGBAU Revaluation Result.
GTU Sem 2 Result 2019 date announced. Check out GTU Sem 2 & 4 Results released on 12th September 2019 – The Gujarat Technological University has declared May Month conducted GTU Result BE Sem 4 Regular 2019 for various courses. Aspirants who have attended the examination under the Gujarat Technological University can check out the article to find the updated regular and supplementary results for the Diploma, Under Graduate and Post Graduate Courses. Examiners can find the GTU Results First Semester in the below section. Check out the Gujarat Technological University Official Website @www.gtu.ac.in to know more details.
GTU Result BE Sem 4 Regular 2019
The Gujarat Technological University has announced the GTU Result 2019 Diploma, UG and PG Programming Courses. Students who have undergone the examination under the Gujarat Technological University can check out the examination results along with the revaluation results. Here are the updated Ahmedabad GTU Result 2019 Diploma for Summer and for the Winter Examination. Get all the updates about the GTU Semester Examination from this article. We have also included the Updates of GTU Result BE Sem 4 Regular 2019 included with GTU Result 2019 Diploma.
Gujarat Technological University (GTU) is ahead scholarly and investigate organization which has driven better approaches for intuition since its 2007 establishing, set up by the Government of Gujarat vide Gujarat Act No. 20 of 2007. Today, GTU is a scholarly goal that attracts motivated researchers to its grounds, keeping GTU at the nexus of thoughts that challenge and change the world. GTU is a State University with 486 associated schools in its overlap working over the territory of Gujarat through its FIVE zones at Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Rajkot, and Surat. The University obliges the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Management, Pharmacy, and Computer Science. The University has around 4,00,000 understudies taken a crack at countless Diploma, Under Graduate, Post Graduate projects alongside the powerful Doctoral program.
GTU Supplementary/ Revaluation Results
Those students who have attended the regular examination under the Gujarat Technological University and still failed. Here comes one more opportunity to clear the examination. To increase your scoring along with that students to fail in the previous examination will get a chance to clear through GTU Result BE Sem 4 Regular 2019. For each and every semester Students can apply for the revaluation after the announcement of the main examination results. The Gujarat Technological University will take a week or more to process the exam papers to announce the Revaluation results. Do stay updated with the University to know about the Revaluation Exam Results.
Uniraj Result 2019 declared for Dual Degree BA/ BBA Part I/ II/ III Sem Courses on 18th September 2019. This is good news to the candidates who are looking for the Uniraj Result. Here we are providing direct Rajasthan University Result link for B.A. L.L.B, M.Sc, M.A, MBA, MCA, Dual Degree, etc. Candidates can download the Uniraj Result from here and can attain their respective marks. Rajasthan University had declared Uniraj Result on 22nd August 2019. The University of Rajasthan released Uniraj PG IV Semester Results for all courses are released. Candidates who are seeking for the Uniraj PG Result can get the result from here.
Rajasthan University – Uniraj Result 2019-20
Rajasthan University or Uniraj had recently declared the result of MBA, B. Tech, BBA Semester exams. Also, it had earlier declared M.A. M.Sc., B.Ed. M.Sc. B.A., LLM exams result. Candidates who had appeared for these courses can check their result/qualifying status as well as marks from below given link. We will update with recently released Uniraj University Semester Result 2019 with direct link. Just by clicking the Results link you will get the direct updated Uniraj Result New from this webpage. Check out the below section and get to know the recently Updated Uniraj Rajasthan University Exam Results 2019.
College of Rajasthan (Uniraj) is probably the most established college situated in Jaipur, Rajasthan. It is an open and state college associated to University Grants Commission (UGC). Uniraj was once known as the University of Rajputana. Uniraj University offers different courses at UG, PG and PhD level. There are numerous orders like Arts, Science, Commerce, Education, Fine expressions, Law, Management and so on. Competitors who are intrigued to think about in Rajasthan University can wait for the confirmations warning. And then you can apply through online mode. Understudies who are intrigued to ponder in Rajasthan can pick this college for higher examinations. Applicants can allude to the notice and different subtleties in the legitimate site of the University of Rajasthan. The official site of Rajasthan University is www.uniraj.ac.in.
Raj University Results 2019 for Revaluation/ Supplementary
Those students who have attended the regular examination under the University of Rajasthan and still failed. Here comes one more opportunity to clear the examination. To increase your scoring along with that students to fail in the previous examination will get a chance to clear through Revaluation Exams Uniraj Results. For each and every semester Students can apply for the revaluation after the announcement of the main examination results. The University of Rajasthan will take possibly more than seven days to process the test papers. Once the process gets completed the Rajasthan University Revaluation Results will be declared. Do stay updated with the University to know about the Revaluation Exam Results.
AP Grama Sachivalayam Result 2019To be Release Soon!!! Download AP Grama/ Ward Sachivalayam Merit List, Category I, II, III Cut Off (Expected) @ gramasachivalayam.ap.gov.in – Dear Candidates!! Here we have good news for you. Yes, The AP Grama/ Ward Sachivalayam Answer Key 2019 Pdf (Released) on 03rd September 2019. Here on this page, all the applicants can get the direct link for the AP Grama Sachivalayam Results. Applicants those who have applied for the Grama/Ward Sachivalayam Posts going to write the examination on 01st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th September 2019. Before going to appear for the Examination applicants can refer the Exam Pattern, Syllabus & Previous papers for better assistance. In the bottom of this article, we have updated a direct link for Results & Others.
AP Grama Sachivalayam Latest Updates: The AP Grama Sachivalayam Result, cut off marks 2019 will be released soon. The results are expected to be released on 18th September 2019.
AP Grama Sachivalayam Result 2019 @ 1,26,728 Vacancies
The Andhra Pradesh State Government has announced the AP Grama Sachivalayam Recruitment 2019 by 3 months before, so a huge number of candidates have applied for the Posts. And almost all the candidates are writing the AP Grama Sachivalayam Exam and will search for the Answer key and Results. For the sake of candidates, we are updating all the latest information on this page. So applicants can get all the AP Grama Sachivalayam latest news from this article. we advise the applicants to keep track on this page to get your results on time. We have updated the latest AP Grama Sachivalayam Result 2019 link and the link will activate at the time of official announcement.
AP Grama Sachivalayam Results 2019 – (1st To 8th Sep Exams)
AP Grama Sachivalayam Result 2019 | Check Cut off Marks, Merit List
Description
Details
Organization Name
Andhra Pradesh State Government
Post Name
Grama/Ward Sachivalayam Posts like Panchayat Secretary, VRO, ANM, VRA, Electrical Assistant, Engineer Assistant, Welfare Assistant & Other Posts
Candidates those who are waiting for your Grama/Ward Sachivalayam Exam Result can check your result from this page easily. The Participants can get Andhra Pradesh Sachivalayam Results 2019 link in the below segments. In addition to the written test results, Candidates can also get Cut off Marks, Merit List details from this page. Also, we have provided some step by step instructions to download vsws.ap.gov.in Result 2019 here. The selection process for the AP Grama Sachivalayam Recruitment 2019 has only two rounds. Applicants should get select in the Written Test and the Document Verification Rounds.
AP Grama Sachivalayam Exam Answer Keys
The conducting authority has published the answer keys to all the sets of question paper of all the exams conducted from 1st to 8th September 2019.
Here are some essential factors that to be considered while deciding the cut off marks. AP Grama Sachivalayam board is going to announce the cutoff after the exam result declaration. Factors that consider while calculating the cut off marks are as follows, No of vacancies, Total Number of people attended the written test, Highest marks secured by people, etc. We will also update the official cut off for SC/ ST/ OBC/ General/ PWD candidates whenever it declared by the authorities. Here on this page, all the candidates can check your AP Grama Sachivalayam Results 2019- Qualifying Marks, Expected Cutoff Marks.
Andhra Pradesh Grama Sachivalayam Merit List 2019
AP Grama/Ward Sachivalayam will publish the Merit list within two days of the Result announcement date. The Andhra Pradesh Grama Sachivalayam Merit List consists of Hall ticket number, name and marks obtained by the candidates in the examination. The AP Grama/Ward Sachivalayam Posts Appointment of candidates will be purely based on the Merit List. So all the candidates can download your AP Grama Sachivalayam Exam Qualifying Marks, Merit list & check your name, Rank among the toppers from the official website i.e, gramasachivalayam.ap.gov.in
How to check AP Grama Sachivalayam Result 2019 Online?
Candidates must visit the Andhra Pradesh Grama/ Ward Sachivalayam Official Site i.e http://vsws.ap.gov.in/
The candidates will be directed to the home page of AP Grama Sachivalayam.
Search for the AP Grama Sachivalayam Results 2019 on the home page.
Click on that link.
Now a fresh login page will be displayed on the screen.
Enter the data in the login credentials like Hall Ticket Number, Date of Birth.
Press the submit button.
Download AP Grama Volunteer 2019 Exam Result pdf.
Direct link to download AP Grama Sachivalayam Result 2019
Download AP Grama Sachivalayam Results (All Posts)
Indian Air Force Result 2019 @ afcat.cdac.in – Check AFCAT 02/2019 Batch Result in Various Branch 2019 here | Career Indian Air Force (IAF) has Recently Uploaded Result for the Recruitment Under Air Force Common Admission Test AFCAT 02/2019 Batch in Various Branch 2019. Those Candidates Who have Appeared in this Recruitment Exam Can Download Result. Here we have provided a direct link to download your AFCAT 2019 Result with marks.
Indian Air Force Result 2019 @ afcat.cdac.in
All the Candidates can check your AFCAT Air Force Result 2019 from this article. We have updated the latest result link for the AFCAT 2019 Result with marks. Along with the AFCAT Result 02/2019, candidates can download your AFCAT Result 2019 Cut off from this page. Also, we have attached the direct link to the end for the AFCAT Result 2019 pdf from the official site. So, the candidates can check their AFCAT Result 02/2019 now. Here we have provided a direct link to download your AFCAT Air Force Result from the bottom of the table. Applicants just by clicking the below direct link, to download your AFCAT Exam Result. Candidates can check your IAF AFCAT Result from the below link.
AFCAT Result 02/2019 – Overview
AFCAT Result 2019 pdf | AFCAT 2019 Result with marks
Description
Details
Organization Name
Indian Air Force
Exam Name
Air Force Common Admission Online Test (AFCAT 02/2019)
All the applicants those who have participated in the Air Force Common Admission Online Test (AFCAT 02/2019) can get the highlighted points from the above table. Candidates can check your AFCAT Result 02/2019 from the below link. Also, we have provided a direct link for the AFCAT 2019 Result with marks and IAF AFCAT Result. Applicants just by clicking the below link, enter into the sign-in page. So applicants should enter the email address and password to login to the page., Then Applicants can download the AFCAT Result 2019 pdf.
AFCAT 2019 Result with marks
Applicants who appeared for Air Force Common Admission Online Test (AFCAT 02/2019) had to go through the Test to get placed in the required posts. After receiving the AFCAT Air Force Result candidates know whether they get qualified or not. To get placed, candidates need to score the qualifying marks/ Cut Off Marks as mentioned by the authority. So that you can go through the further selection rounds after completion of the Written Test. Here we have mentioned some simple steps to download your AFCAT Result 2019 Cut off and Result.
How to check AFCAT Air Force Result 2019?
Candidates must visit the official website of Indian Air Force (IAF) @ afcat.cdac.in
On the home page, you can find the candidates log in
Then, Click on AFCAT 02/2019 – Cycle option
A new page will open, enter into the sign-in page
So applicants should enter the email address and password to login to the page
Then Applicants can download the AFCAT Result 2019 pdf.
Direct link to download Indian Air Force Result 2019
General Electric shares continue to struggle to breakout from 50- and 200-day moving averages despite favorable analyst coverage of its turnaround process.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
The company that Americans refer to as Chrysler is actually called Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCAU). Learn more about the top companies owned by Chrysler.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
An introduction to the top natural gas companies in the world. These companies produce a combined over 100 billion cubic feet of natural gas—approximately 30% of the total global production of natural gas.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
The Bitcoin Investment Trust from Grayscale Investments (GBTC) can help simplify investing in cryptocurrency, but it also poses some major disadvantages.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Both Priceline and Hotwire travel booking sites are easy to use and becoming more similar. Priceline seems to list more options and uses opaque pricing for both hotels and flights. Hotwire's opaque pricing is limited to hotels but is more transparent.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Learn which of the Vanguard proprietary exchange traded funds (ETFs) are least expensive to buy and own. Vanguard offers investors about 1,800 various ETFs.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Trading ETF and Index options can be highly profitable, but understanding the differences between the two can make the difference between being exercised in cash, or being exercised early and owning shares of an ETF you don't necessarily want.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
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.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
You are subscribed to email updates from rss_headline. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.
Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States
Maybe it was that lucky penny you picked up off the sidewalk yesterday. Or maybe it was just coincidence. But you are 1 in 302 million. YOU WON THE JACKPOT! YOU WON THE LOTTERY! If you’re sitting there with an imminent pile of cash, even if it’s not the $654 million prize, you’re likely wanting to be wise with your money. But what should you do? You’ve never had this much money before. The good news is, if you’re wise, you could set yourself up for life and not work another day. You could free yourself from drudgery and live
You are subscribed to email updates from ShoeMoney. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.
Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States
As India develops, the role of its states in driving growth has become vital. The current centralising tendencies in the polity will harm the economy, besides generating centripetal forces.Within the dismal realm of economics, some parts can be particularly dreary — public finance, for one. However, a brief dip into Indian Public Finance Statistics can be bracing. In 1990-91, the share of the central government's expenditure in the combined expenditure of the Centre and the states stood at 65%. In 2018-19, the Centre's share stood at 42%.We might not be Picasso and lack justification for superimposing a second perspective of the same figures on an earlier one. Still, since it will serve to highlight the point, here goes: in 1990-91, expenditure by the Centre was 186% of expenditure by the states. By 2018-19, that ratio had shrivelled to 73%.Competitive Federalism…The state governments' combined expenditure has a greater impact on the economy than the Centre's. What this shift in the fiscal centre of gravity means is that things that constrain the states' finances would worsen the slowdown.India is a union of states, says the Constitution. However, the federal spirit is quite strong within the polity's skeletal architecture and in the beating heart of the beast it holds up. The reaction to the suggestion to make Hindi the common language of the country is but the latest example.Last Saturday, Kerala's Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation organised a seminar in the Capital on a last-minute addition to the terms of reference (ToR) of the 15th Finance Commission (FinComm), which asked the commission to make a special provision for defence and internal security. ET had broken the story (bit.do/ET-FinComm), which made it clear that the commission had been nudged to recommend a non-lapsable fund for defence and internal security, to which funds should be allocated before devolving the states' share of taxes.Now, devolving a share of the taxes collected by the Centre to the states is not charity. Certain taxes are best collected centrally, such as taxes on income and duties on imports. Just because a company's head office is in Mumbai and it pays its tax on profits in Maharashtra, it does not mean that Maharashtra or the Centre has any privileged claim on the proceeds. Mahindra and Mahindra will sell more tractors and other vehicles outside Maharashtra than in that state.Every state and the Centre should get a share of the tax on their profits or the incomes of their employees. Similarly, it would be unfair to let customs duty proceeds go exclusively to states with ports and/or the Centre. Power projects in Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh could import turbines that come in through Kandla.Should Gujarat get the customs duty? The power plant in MP could be supplying power to a factory in Gurugram, whose output is sold across the land. So, every state has a legitimate claim on the import duty. Duties on petroleum and natural gas fall in the same category.So, some taxes are collected exclusively by the Centre and shared with the states. How much should be shared (vertical devolution) and how the shared amount should be distributed among the different states (horizontal devolution) are determined by a FinComm, appointed every five years.…Or Magic Federalism?Surcharges and cesses collected by the Centre are not shared with the states. The recent proliferation of these cesses and surcharges has the effect of eroding the states' revenues.How much a state can borrow is determined by the Centre. Central pay commission recommendations have a deterministic effect on state level salaries. Macroeconomic management by the Centre and RBI determine rates of interest. Salaries and interest payments take away the bulk of a state's budget.In effect, the fiscal autonomy of the states is quite limited. The suggestion to set aside funds for defence prior to devolution could knock a sizeable chunk off the shareable tax collections.Funding defence and internal security is important. India has to spend a whole lot more on defence, if it wants to maintain strategic autonomy. Suppose India spends 2% of GDP on defence, as it should. If that is taken out of the divisible pool proposed in the 2019-20 Budget, the funds to be divided amongst states would come down by a drastic 17% from the current allocation.This is why the addition to the 15th FinComm's ToR is a matter of grave concern and former PM Manmohan Singh called, speaking at the seminar, for the FinComm to consult all chief ministers on the matter before proceeding to make its recommendation. The Centre has also made the Finance Commission produce a committee report seeking transfer of healthcare to the Concurrent List, from the State List. This centralisation is quite unwarranted and inefficient.Ideally, the Centre should stick to its own constitutionally mandated responsibilities and fiscally empower the states to carry out their mandates.Instead, the Centre wants to shift responsibilities and funds from the states to itself. This is not cooperative federalism. The right name for it is Msilaredef — federalism running backward.Views expressed by the author are his own
A panel tasked with recommending producer levies has ruled out changes in taxes on cars, consumer durables or cookies, dashing hopes of a reduction in Goods and Services Tax (GST) for automobiles and other consumption oriented industries. The Fitment Committee's recommendations, which will be discussed by the 37th GST Council in its meeting on 20th September, blamed the current liquidity crisis and troubles of non-bank lenders for the woes of the automobile sector, which has seen its worst sales decline in about two decades. "The Fitment Committee does not recommend any reduction in the present GST rate, on account of huge revenue implications, besides the fact that several other factors also have impact on the demand - like liquidity crunch, crisis affecting NBFC, axle load increase, abolition of check-posts after introduction of GST, cyclical nature of the industry, and structural changes like BS-IV to BS-VI," the panel said in its 286-page recommendations to the council. 71174544 ET has seen a copy of the report. Several industries have sought GST cuts to prop up the Indian economy, which has slowed to a six-year low. Auto industry players have sought a GST cut to help revive the sector. The committee also decided not to tinker with the present GST structure for biscuits, bakery products, breakfast cereals, fruits and vegetables, mineral water, ready-to-eat packaged items, and several other food products."Biscuits are manufactured in the organized sector and by bakeries etc. Having two different slabs for biscuits based on the selling price will be prone to evasion. The Fitment Committee does not recommend any reduction in the present GST rate," the report said. Parle executive Mayank Shah had said last month that he expects the levy on cheaper biscuits to be reduced from the existing 18%. Biscuits costing less than Rs 100 a kg were taxed at 12% under the previous tax regime, and firms had assumed the GST rate to be fixed at 12% for premium biscuits and 5% for the lowerpriced ones. But under the GST regime, all biscuits were brought under the 18% tax structure, forcing companies to increase prices, affecting sales.A cut in GST rate would lead to thousands of crores of rupees in tax shortfall for the government, which is struggling to maintain its fiscal deficit at 3.3% for the current year after crossing 77% of its annual target in July. "The GST Council would take into account the GST collections, which have been below targets until now, before deciding on any reduction in rates. Since there appears to be a shortfall in the compensation cess collections, any reductions in cess would also pose a challenge," said M S Mani, Partner, Deloitte India. People in the know said that the government may relook at the compensation cess on certain categories of cars besides GST on auto components, as there may be no real impact on tax revenues. "There could be some minor changes like the cess on certain category of cars, mainly the small cars. Apart from that, the GST on auto components could be slashed by 10% as there would be no revenue impact," said a person in the know. The committee has also recommended tax rates be increased from 5% to 12% after a demand from railway coach manufacturers, which could not set off input tax credits and faced cash-flow problems.
China, you should pay attention. And Pakistan, you do the same. The Americans are sending a strong signal. Do you copy? US President Donald Trump will not only appear at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Houston rally, but also have a separate bilateral meeting with him in New York. It's quite a departure from trying to mediate in Kashmir to make Pakistan feel good for a bit. But Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's daily calls for jihad and threats of nuclear war have unsettled American and Arab leaders alike. He may have totally lost Trump.As Pakistan's former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani told me, while Trump may have hosted Khan, it is Modi that he considers his "ally and friend". This will certainly "depress those who thought Khan's last trip to Washington represented a breakthrough in relations". So why is Trump courting Modi? Yes, it's great to be part of a charged up crowd. But we know Indian Americans lean more towards the Democratic Party. Can he sway a significant chunk of the vote? There may be a deeper play on. Notice the White House announcement on Trump attending Modi's rally. It also mentions a joint event with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to celebrate a new manufacturing plant. Three of the four leaders of the Quad, or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue -- the US, India and Australia -- are doing things in pairs this week. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the fourth member, assiduously courts Trump and meets him frequently.In the struggle to maintain supremacy, the American deep State wants India in its corner. It doesn't want China to establish any more points of control around the Arabian Sea -- think Gwadar -- as it has done in South China Sea. The rest is detail. Pakistan's military-intelligence complex, which was gearing up in a last-ditch attempt to grab attention by trying to disrupt Modi's rally, may want to think again now that Trump is attending. Imagine shadowy figures of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) pulling the strings of obvious 'front' organisations such as 'Kashmir2Khalistan' or 'Sikhs For Justice' for a protest against the US president in the US! The FBI is probably on their tail already. On the other hand, India and the US have a trade deal to announce, so long as the US doesn't pile on any and everything. The idea is to solidify what the two sides already agree on and keep adding to the deal. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is 'ready to roll' because Trump needs a trade win for his 2020 re-election campaign.Republican Congressmen are pushing Lighthizer to restore India's benefits under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) -- at least partially -- if India removes specific barriers. Thing is, US importers of Indian products eligible for GSP are hurting because their costs have risen. If a trade deal fructifies, Trump and Modi can celebrate together in Houston. But as they say, there is many a slip -- or tweet – between the cup and the lip. All said and done Trump's presence at 'Howdy, Modi!' is a PR bonanza. It comes in the wake of New Delhi's controversial moves in Kashmir. The US administration has been doing a delicate balancing act -- neither condemning nor condoning the decision, while urging a quick lifting of the communication freeze and release of political leaders. Like it or not, in these times of great churn, Kashmir is only a small part of the puzzle. But there is one potential downside. Since Trump is a polarising figure, some Democrats are uncomfortable sharing the stage with him. As a long-time observer told me, Indian American community leaders will have to 'play this smartly'. The choice for Dems: should they anger the base, or please an Indian American donor? Pressure on Kashmir from leftist groups, dalit activists and Muslim American organisations -- Black Muslims recently protested outside the Indian embassy -- is intense. BJP's best friend, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, has backed out. But about 25 Democrats and Republicans are expected. House majority leader Steny Hoyer, second only to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will address the rally. Don't forget that Pakistan has stirred both Muslim and Khalistani groups. Last month, ISI masterminds reportedly organised a 'community meeting' in Norway of Sikhs from Europe, the US, Britain and Canada to rile them on the Kashmir issue. The message: ready, get set, go. But US lawmakers and their young staffers have no way of knowing who is calling, or sending a protest email to their offices -- a genuine Kashmiri, or a Pakistani American pretending to be an Indian Kashmiri? A quick search of 'Friends of Kashmir' reveals that its office-holders are all Pakistanis sitting in Karachi. When Democrat Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal writes on behalf of 'our constituents', who's to say if her staff had the time to crosscheck their antecedents. It doesn't require a Russian level of interference to game this. As an experiment, I checked one of these 'email generators'. One click and I received a prepared statement addressed to the Congresswoman representing the area I live in. It warned of the "looming danger of genocide of Kashmiri people" and demanded that she take notice. Thousands of such emails are being generated as Modi heads to Houston.
KOLKATA: The ministry of finance has scrapped the import duty on open cell LED TV panel from 5% to zero in a late night notification issued on Tuesday. This is the most critical component used in LED TV manufacturing accounting for 65-70% of the total production cost.This is going to reduce television prices considering around 60-65% of TV sets sold in the country are locally produced where the TV panel is procured after paying 5% import duty and also going to give a boost to the Make in India initiative.The government notification issued said "open cell (15.6 inch and above) for use in the manufacture of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and Light Emitting Diode (LED) TV panels" has been made nil with immediate effect.It has also clarified that there will be no duty on "goods used in the manufacturing of Open cell of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and Light Emitting Diode (LED) TV panels" such as chip on film, printed circuit board assembly and cell (glass board/substrate."An industry executive said while there was already no duty on these components but it was a grey area and a notification specifying nil duty will further boost investor confidence.The industry said this will also revive LED TV manufacturing in the country since India's largest television manufacturer Samsung had exited local TV production last year October due to this imposition of 5% duty on open cell TV panels.Contract manufacturer Dixon Technologies chairman Sunil Vachani said scrapping the duty will help to reduce input cost at a time when the TV market is not growing. "It will help in building a strong ecosystem of manufacturing and eventually make India a hub for export of LED televisions," he said.ET had earlier written that the Centre was contemplating to scrap the duty on open cell TV panel to boost manufacturing and bring back large investors like Samsung. Samsung had started import from Vietnam through the free trade agreement (FTA) route. Some more companies like LG and Sony too were contemplating similar imports for price competitiveness.The Rs 22,000 crore television market has been flat this year and declined by 2-3% in July and August with consumers postponing purchases due to high prices, poor sentiments and consuming audio-visual streaming content mostly on their smartphones.The Ministry of Electronics and IT and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade have also pushed for reduction of goods and services tax (GST) on large-screen LED televisions to 18% from 28% to revive demand in the festive season. The industry is now pinning its hopes on a tax cut in the GST Council meeting scheduled to take place in Goa this Friday.At present, televisions up to 32 inches attract 18% GST but those with larger screens attract 28% duty. Sales of televisions up to 32 inches are declining, accounting for 55% share in overall sales as compared to 75% two years back as consumers want to buy larger screens.
NEW DELHI: The government is likely to consider selling Air India in such a way that the acquirer does not have to take on its working capital debt, thus halving the burden and making it a more attractive prospect, said people with knowledge of the matter.The carrier, which the government is again trying to sell after having failed in 2018, will then be left with just Rs 15,000 crore of debt, for loans taken to buy planes.The proposal, among others, is likely to be discussed at the first meeting of a ministerial group on Air India's divestment headed by home minister Amit Shah. Other members are finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, commerce and railways minister Piyush Goyal and civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri.The government had already transferred Rs 29,400 crore of debt last year to Air India Asset Holdings Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that houses debt and assets of the national carrier. It is repaying the debt through government-guaranteed bond issues in three batches. The move halved Air India's Rs 59,000-crore debt. Of the Rs 30,000 crore remaining, about Rs 15,000 crore is working capital debt.71176953 "The bigger problem with this proposal is managing the optics of the government selling the company without debt," said a senior government official who did not want to be identified. The government will have to take a call, as any decision to absorb working capital debt may have a political fallout, the person said. But, "reducing debt may ensure more bids for the carrier, which did not get any bids last time."The move may draw Indian bidders too. A senior executive at a domestic airline earlier said, "Even with debt reduction to Rs 29,400 crore, there is a lot of debt left with the carrier. It would not make any sense unless this is reduced further."The earlier attempt to sell 76% stake in Air India drew a blank primarily because no foreign investor was keen on taking over if the government owned 24% after divestment. The government is now also likely to announce a 100% stake sale.Puri recently told reporters he expected more interest in Air India.Interest will also have risen after Jet Airways stopped flying, a senior aviation ministry official said. "With Jet's grounding, the main competitor (in the full-service space) is out, and the market is left to just one carrier," he said. "Who would not want to buy Air India and get into a market where it will be the only legacy carrier?"
KOLKATA: The ministry of finance has scrapped the import duty on open cell LED TV panel from 5% to zero in a late night notification issued on Tuesday. This is the most critical component used in LED TV manufacturing accounting for 65-70% of the total production cost.This is going to reduce television prices considering around 60-65% of TV sets sold in the country are locally produced where the TV panel is procured after paying 5% import duty and also going to give a boost to the Make in India initiative.The government notification issued said "open cell (15.6 inch and above) for use in the manufacture of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and Light Emitting Diode (LED) TV panels" has been made nil with immediate effect.It has also clarified that there will be no duty on "goods used in the manufacturing of Open cell of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and Light Emitting Diode (LED) TV panels" such as chip on film, printed circuit board assembly and cell (glass board/substrate."An industry executive said while there was already no duty on these components but it was a grey area and a notification specifying nil duty will further boost investor confidence.The industry said this will also revive LED TV manufacturing in the country since India's largest television manufacturer Samsung had exited local TV production last year October due to this imposition of 5% duty on open cell TV panels.Contract manufacturer Dixon Technologies chairman Sunil Vachani said scrapping the duty will help to reduce input cost at a time when the TV market is not growing. "It will help in building a strong ecosystem of manufacturing and eventually make India a hub for export of LED televisions," he said.ET had earlier written that the Centre was contemplating to scrap the duty on open cell TV panel to boost manufacturing and bring back large investors like Samsung. Samsung had started import from Vietnam through the free trade agreement (FTA) route. Some more companies like LG and Sony too were contemplating similar imports for price competitiveness.The Rs 22,000 crore television market has been flat this year and declined by 2-3% in July and August with consumers postponing purchases due to high prices, poor sentiments and consuming audio-visual streaming content mostly on their smartphones.The Ministry of Electronics and IT and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade have also pushed for reduction of goods and services tax (GST) on large-screen LED televisions to 18% from 28% to revive demand in the festive season. The industry is now pinning its hopes on a tax cut in the GST Council meeting scheduled to take place in Goa this Friday.At present, televisions up to 32 inches attract 18% GST but those with larger screens attract 28% duty. Sales of televisions up to 32 inches are declining, accounting for 55% share in overall sales as compared to 75% two years back as consumers want to buy larger screens.
By Ann SaphirSAN FRANCISCO: Deep disagreements within the Federal Reserve over the economic outlook and how the U.S. central bank should respond will not stop policymakers from cutting interest rates at a two-day meeting that began on Tuesday.An oil price spike after attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities over the weekend added to the list of risks facing an economy already slowed by ongoing trade tensions and global weakness.But the deep divide evident around the Fed's policymaking table means further rate cuts could be far from a done deal, and on Tuesday traders were no longer betting the central bank will follow Wednesday's expected rate cut with another by the end of the year.At one end of the Fed's large boardroom table sit St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, who are expected to argue for a steep reduction in borrowing costs to counter low inflation and an inverted Treasury yield curve.Pushback from the opposite end is likely to come from Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, who opposed the Fed's rate cut in July, and Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, who only reluctantly supported it and says he wants to leave rates where they are "to see how things play out."Fed Chair Jerome Powell, seated midway down the table, faces the delicate task of taking on board those views and the disparate arguments of the other dozen policymakers to build consensus.A top challenge: making sense of economic data that suggests the U.S. manufacturing industry may be contracting and inflation remains weak, even as households continue to spend and employers overall are adding plenty of jobs."The discord is extremely visible," said Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. "If you look at the economy today, you look at an economy that's bifurcated ... The key question is whether that weakness seeps through the economy, and whether that's aggravated."On Tuesday, uncertainty over the rates outlook made its way into the market for interest-rate futures tied to the Fed's policy rate, where bets rose that the central bank's expected reduction to its benchmark overnight lending rate this week will be its final rate cut of the year.Traders, as of late Tuesday morning, gave a 61% probability that the Fed would reduce its policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 1.75% to 2% on Wednesday, down from 92% just a week ago.Further complicating matters, the Fed's policy rate spiked overnight, forcing the New York Fed to take immediate steps to relieve stress in U.S. funding markets that are relied on by securities firms to finance their positions.Though the volatility isn't expected to have a direct impact on the Fed's setting of rates, it could weigh on Fed officials as they consider technical adjustments and guidance for their balance sheet outlook.'MIXED OPINION'Since the Fed's 8-2 decision to cut rates in July, a move that Powell called a 'mid-cycle' adjustment, the economic data has delivered mixed signals.Strong retail sales and continued wage growth may add to Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren's confidence that current economic conditions do not justify further policy easing. He dissented in the July policy decision.The ongoing U.S.-China trade war makes Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan among others concerned about slowing factory output and a slide in business investment. Kaplan supported July's rate cut.The newest wild card to factor in to the debate emerged unexpectedly in Saturday's attacks on the Saudi oil facilities, which triggered the biggest spike in oil prices in more than two decades.Fed officials could see the development either as a risk to an already fragile growth outlook, which would support the case for more easing, or as a welcome boost to inflation, which would back a case for standing still for now."If everyone was on the same page at the Fed I could understand it," said Lee Ferridge, head of macro strategy for North America at State Street Global Markets."But clearly there is disagreement at the Fed ... If the Fed is very split and Powell can't give a strong signal, doesn't that imply very few moves are likely, rather than these dramatic cuts?"Fed policymakers will bring to the meeting their own views of where rates should be by December. In June, the last time they published their forecasts, about half of policymakers expected a total of two rate cuts this year; about half thought no rate cuts would be appropriate.That divide in the so-called Fed "dot plot" has borne little relation to how policy has actually shaped up, but it could add to confusion over the rate outlook after the conclusion of this week's meeting.With more dovish policymakers like Bullard, Kashkari and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans calling for more easing, and more hawkish policymakers like Mester, Harker and Kansas City Fed President Esther George more skeptical, "expect the 2019 dots to reflect this mixed opinion," said Jefferies economist Ward McCarthy.
Mumbai: India's fundamentals are totally intact and the government is conscious about the fact that it has to take India back to its high growth trajectory, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Tuesday. "Let me assure you the government is totally alive, receptive and despite the global headwinds , we are very conscious that we have to take India to high trajectory growth rate," he said at the Morningstar Investment Conference in Mumbai. "India's fundamentals are totally intact. India has a very vibrant private sector, and India has a government which is very committed to reforms," he said. He said the government's objective is to really push for 100 lakh crore of infrastructure on ground."We will give a big push to highways, infrastrctue," Kant said.India has made itself a very complex and complicated place to do business over the years, he pointed.He said that our challenge has been to make India easy and simple so that the private sector can create wealth over a period of time."We opened up our economy to range of areas in the last five years," he said while adding that opening up of FDI regime has been good for India.Foreign direct investment into India grew by 28 per cent to $16.33 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal, according to government data. Inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) during April-June of 2018-19 stood at $12.75 billion.Kant also said that the process of urbanisation has just begun in the country, which is bigger than 24 countries of Europe."The challenge in India is we must plan and urbanise cities. This will be a key driver of India's growth," he said.He also highlighted that India has done some far reaching structural reforms. "We replaced 17 taxes with one tax – GST. We ended crony capitalism with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is also a critical reform," said Kant.He also believes that startups will bring a lot of innovation. "You will see a lot of disruption due to our startups and India will be way forward in terms of data and artificial intelligence," said Kant.The government's think tanks also added that technology will play a critical role in the growth.
New Delhi: PC maker Lenovo India on Tuesday said it expanding its business into end-to-end IT solutions for enterprises.The company, which is number one PC and tablet seller in India, said it will start providing internet of things (IoT) solutions also, apart from the existing business of personal computers."We are moving from a device company to a device-plus-solution company. Our current sales team cannot handle this. We have onboarded two new people for the new vertical and will gradually build the team. We are not looking to bag 100 deals but we are looking for few installations to prove ourself to begin with," Lenovo India Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Rahul Agarwal told PTI.The company has now divided its business in three segments -- smarter devices, smart workplace and smarter businesses."New leg, smarter businesses, has nothing to do with PCs (personal computers). They will provide vertical solutions. Under this, we will offer an end-to-end solution. This will be solution-centric approach," Agarwal said.The company has started expansion on the similar lines in some of the leading markets, including the US, China, Germany and some other parts of Europe."On the consumer side, we are expanding the footprint into smart devices, augmented reality, virtual reality, and smart clock. On the commercial front, we have brought in nano PC with 1 terabyte storage, which is around a third of a litre but as powerful as a tower PC, IoT solutions to bring efficiency for industrial and retail segment," Agarwal said.He said Lenovo will now approach manufacturing companies and give them technology solutions to improve efficiency.According to market research firm IDC, Lenovo led the PC market in the April-June period with 46 per cent share, followed by HP (22 per cent) and Dell (14 per cent)."Firstly, I don't think there is any market where any vendor has more than 40 per cent market share in both tablet and PC. It is one of unique quarters and will go down in history for Lenovo," Agarwal said.He said PC is a hyper-competitive segment and it is not possible to sustain 46 per cent market share every quarter.The company expects to have market share of 30 per cent for 2019.
Automating agriculture is a complex proposition given the number and variety of tasks involved, but a number of robotics and autonomy companies are giving it their best shot. FarmWise seems to have impressed someone — it just raised $14.5 million to continue development of its autonomous weeding vehicle.
Currently in the prototype stage, these vehicles look like giant lumbering personnel carriers or the like, but are in fact precision instruments which scan the ground for invasive weeds among the crop and carefully pluck them out.
“Each day, one FarmWise robot can weed crops to feed a medium-sized city of approximately 400,000 inhabitants,” said FarmWise CEO Sebastien Boyer in a press release announcing the latest funding round. “We are now enhancing the scale and depth of our proprietary plant-detection technology to help growers with more of their processes and on more of their crops.”
Presumably the robot was developed and demonstrated with something of a specialty in one crop or another, more as a proof of concept than anything.
Well, it seems to have proved the concept. The new $14.5 million round, led by Calibrate Ventures, is likely due to the success of these early trials. This is far from an easy problem, so going from idea to nearly market-ready in under three years is pretty impressive. Farmers love tech — if it works. And tiny issues or error rates can lead to enormous problems with the vast monoculture fields that make up the majority of U.S. farms.
Hopefully the cash infusion will help propel FarmWise from prototype to commercialization, though it’s hard to imagine they could build more than a handful of the machines with that kind of money. Perhaps they’ll line up a couple big orders and build on that future revenue.
Meanwhile they’ll continue to develop the AI that powers the chunky, endearing vehicles.
“Looking ahead, our robots will increasingly act as specialized doctors for crops, monitoring individual health and adjusting targeted interventions according to a crop's individual needs,” said Boyer. So not only will these lumbering platforms delicately remove weeds, but they’ll inspect for aphids and fungus and apply the necessary remedies.
With that kind of inspection they can make a data play later — what farmer wouldn’t want to be able to digitally inspect every plant in their fields?
GoCardless, the London fintech that aims to become the one-stop shop globally for businesses that want to let customers pay via recurring bank payments, has launched a U.S. debit solution.
The company has also opened an office across the pond in San Francisco’s financial district, headed up by Andrew Gilboy, general manager, North America, who was previously the company’s chief revenue officer.
Specifically, GoCardless’ new U.S. product supports debit payments on the ACH (Automated Clearing House) network. This means that businesses can use the GoCardless platform to offer U.S. consumers the option to pay by recurring bank payments, as an alternative to a credit card, for example. Likewise, companies can use GoCardless for debit payments for B2B transactions, such as relating to SaaS subscriptions, invoices or installments.
It is the B2B use case where GoCardless thinks there is the biggest opportunity for recurring payments, since, unlike in the U.K., for example, the biggest competitor would be writing cheques. That’s costly and slow by 2019 standards and doesn’t provide anything like the visibility that direct debits and ACH affords.
“By using the ACH debit network on the GoCardless platform, merchants can pull payments directly from their customers' bank accounts, at a lower cost than credit cards and without the overhead and burden of cash and cheques,” says the U.K.-headquartered company.
GoCardless adds that businesses using the GoCardless ACH debit solution gain increased visibility over payment flow via a “fully automated” collection system. This includes things like due dates, and whether or not a payment was successful or failed and why.
The addition of ACH debit means that GoCardless’ global debit network now covers more than 30 countries accessible through a single API and platform.
Meanwhile, the 2011-founded company is no stranger to the West coast of America. In its formative years, the U.K. startup went through Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator, where it initially struggled to find product-market fit before successfully pivoting to recurring payments.
If you happen to bump into GoCardless CEO Hiroki Takeuchi, ask him about the time he and his co-founders stayed up all night working the phones in a bid to win the startup’s first U.K. customers, lest they have nothing to show at YC Demo Day.
Now backed by the likes of Google Ventures, Salesforce and Accel, amongst others, the company has come a long way since then.
Navin Chaddha leads Mayfield. The firm invests in early-stage consumer and enterprise technology companies and currently has $2.7 billion under management.
We face two major threats today: one to the health of our planet and the other to our own. The U.N. says the global population will hit 9.7 billion by 2050, meaning more people consuming more natural resources than at any point in human history. Consumption is already doubling every 10-12 years. Add to that the challenges of a warming planet. On the human health front, some 30% of young people under age 20 are obese, 31% of deaths are from cardiovascular disease, and cancer cases are growing at a rate twice as fast as the population.
Fortunately, biology and technology are creating fixes for the planet as well as for the human body. As they do so, they are poised to reinvent countless industries, giving rise to what I believe is a golden age for biology as technology. As Arvind Gupta, the founder of health-science accelerator IndieBio, argued in one recent Medium post, "the twin catastrophes of planetary and human health" will create a $100 trillion opportunity.
Before I tell you how, here is an extremely brief history of the field. Biology, of course, is the original technology. Our tinkering with life's building blocks, and our ancestor's manipulation of plants and herbs as medicines and their use of neem branches as toothpaste or the cultivation of plants like corn has been going on for millennia. It wasn't until the 1970s and 1980s that we saw the first flowering of today's modern biotech industry.
In 1972, Robert A. Swanson helped launch the birth of biotech when he co-founded Genentech, which became a pioneer in the field of recombinant DNA technology. By creating novel DNA sequences in the lab, Genentech was able to synthesize human insulin for diabetics (1982), and create growth hormones for kids who suffered from a hormone deficiency (1985).
Among the other early leaders in the field was Applied Molecular Genetics (today known as Amgen). In 1989, it won approval for the first recombinant human erythropoietin drugs to treat anemia in people with chronic kidney failure, and later to treat anemia in HIV patients. Last year, the $23.75 billion company's best-selling drugs were Neulasta, used to prevent infections in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, and Enbrel, to treat some autoimmune diseases.
Startups working in these fields are creating entirely new industries, disrupting others and bringing us into what I believe is a golden era of biology as technology.
Today, innovative researchers are building on those early technologies. Among the most promising is the discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique. Using what they refer to as molecular scissors, scientists can use CRISPR to edit a living person's DNA, deleting or repairing damaged sections. Because the changes are made at the genome, the DNA fix is hereditary, unlike previous fixes that affect only the individual patient. The technique promises to slow if not eradicate cancer. It could also prevent sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, hemophilia and heart disease.
Notwithstanding the concern over creating designer babies (and the recent controversial creation of the first gene-edited babies in China), it promises to fortify our bodies for us, those of our kids and all succeeding generations. Co-founded by Jennifer Doudna, a leader in the CRISPR field, Mammoth Biosciences is on a mission to leverage the power of CRISPR to democratize disease detection by bringing accurate and affordable testing out of the laboratory and into the point-of-care.
Other technologies, like DNA sequencing, cell engineering and bioprinting, have led to the creation of animal-free protein products, bio fuels for jet engines, lightweight materials stronger than steel and even memory for computer storage. As a result, startups working in these fields are creating entirely new industries, disrupting others and bringing us into what I believe is a golden era of biology as technology.
One successful company is Beyond Meat, which bills itself as the future of protein. With its plant-based meat product, it is trying to address our global population's need for protein while also tackling the cow problem (they consume land and water and destroy the ozone with their flatulence, not to mention some people think eating them is wrong). The company's work promises to disrupt the $270 billion global meat industry.
The entrepreneurs at New Culture are also tackling the cow issue. They are using an engineered version of baker's yeast to make cheese without milk. Unlike other vegan cheeses, made from soy or nuts, this one has been praised as tasting like the real thing.
Another area ripe for disruption is our home. The startup Lingrove is trying to lessen our reliance on trees, and the deforestation that comes with it, by creating wood products with flax fiber and bio-epoxy resin. With its Ekoa TP product, Lingrove is targeting the $80 billion interior market, with an eye toward using its products in the construction industry. Another player in this field is bioMASON. The making of concrete contributes massive amounts of carbon to the air. But this company has shown it can "grow" bricks and masonry from sand without using a traditional heating-blasting-process, by infusing the sand with microorganisms that initiates a process like the one that creates coral.
There's no telling where this golden age of biology as technology will lead.
And then there's transportation, the No. 1 global contributor of greenhouse gasses. Companies like Amyris are trying to do away with fossil fuels by turning genetically engineered yeast (i.e. sugar) into environmentally friendly gas and jet fuel.
And that's not all. There are many more biology as technology stories, with innovative companies doing things like turning mushrooms into leather (MycoWorks), molecules into whiskey (Endless West) and bacteria into silk (Bolt Threads). Biology might even reinvent information technology. Scientists have shown how a few grams of DNA can store as much information as an entire data center (Microsoft is working on this). Another company is building computers from neurons (Airbus is a partner).
There's no telling where this golden age of biology as technology will lead, how many products it will come up with and how many industries it will end up disrupting, or creating. But it seems destined to reinvent trillion-dollar industries and create a healthier planet where we can live longer, healthier lives.
Disclosure: Genentech and Amgen are Mayfield investments from the 1970s and 1980s. Mammoth Biosciences is a current investment.
Clark, the tutor management business-in-a-box service, has been acquired by the New York-based education startup Noodle for an undisclosed amount, TechCrunch has learned.
Founded by John Katzman, the serial entrepreneur behind education technology giants including The Princeton Review and 2U, Noodle offers education search services to help people apply to the right programs that meet their needs.
Megan O’Connor, the co-founder and chief executive of Clark, actually met Katzman two weeks after she launched the company, which is backed by investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Winklevoss Capital, Rethink Education, Flat World Partners and Human Ventures (where O’Connor worked as the chief growth officer).
It’s not a stretch to call Katzman the godfather of tutoring, and, from the beginning, the seasoned executive took an interest in what Clark was doing, according to O’Connor.
With the acquisition, Clark’s shareholders will receive an equity stake in Noodle and O’Connor and her co-founder, Sam Gimbel, will take roles within Noodle to build out a tutoring service within the company, O’Connor says.
Going forward, Gimbel and O’Connor will build up the tutoring component of Noodle’s business as a complement to the company’s higher education and elementary and secondary school divisions.
One of the core components of the new tutoring platform within Noodle will be a focus on the individualization and personalization of tutoring sessions, buoyed by a community of tutors who share information on the most effective teaching strategies for different kinds of students.
What the tutoring practice won’t do, O’Connor says, is teach to a standardized curriculum. “If we can give them the software of shared services, then they can be more hands-on with the student,” O’Connor says.
Lyft is facing another lawsuit pertaining to its handling of alleged sexual assaults at the hands of drivers on its platform. In a suit filed today in the San Francisco Superior Court, Alison Turkos accuses Lyft of 11 counts, including general negligence, vicarious liability for assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault, sexual battery and breach of contract.
The lawsuit describes how the plaintiff’s Lyft driver allegedly kidnapped her at gunpoint and took her across state lines, where the driver and other men took turns raping her, the lawsuits states.
“Alison remembers the men cheering and high fiving each other as they continued to rape her,” the lawsuit alleges. “Their attack was so brutal that the next day Alison experienced severe vaginal pain and bleeding. Her body was so exhausted from the attack and resulting trauma that Alison could not even leave her bed or raise her arms.”
When the plaintiff reported it to Lyft, the lawsuit alleges Lyft simply apologized for “inconvenience” and gave her a partial refund for the ride. Lyft, however, says the incident was not initially reported as a safety incident, but rather as an indirect route issue. Lyft says it did not become aware of the incident until May 2018, when the Wall Street Journal ran a piece on it.
“What this rider describes is awful, and something no one should have to endure,” a Lyft spokesperson told TechCrunch. “The unfortunate fact remains that one in six women will face some form of sexual violence in their lives — behavior that's unacceptable for our society and on our platform. In this case, the driver passed the New York City TLC's background check and was permitted to drive.”
The spokesperson added, “We constantly work to improve the platform, which is why we have invested in new features, protocols and policies to protect our riders and drivers. This year alone we've launched 14 new safety features — including daily continuous background check monitoring, in-app emergency assistance, and mandatory feedback for any ride rated less than four stars.”
The plaintiff says she reported the crime to the police, who performed a rape kit that found evidence of semen from at least two men on the clothing she wore that night.
The New York Police Department then transferred the case to the FBI, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit states the FBI is now investigating the incident as a human trafficking case. However, Lyft “has been wholly uncooperative” throughout the NYPD and FBI’s investigation, the lawsuit alleges.
In May 2018, Lyft says it received a subpoena from law enforcement and worked with law enforcement for over a year during the investigation.
The lawsuit seeks special damages, including economic restitution to cover past and future hospital expenses, as well as expenses relating to her profession and loss of earning capacity.
“By failing to take reasonable steps to confront the problem of multiple rapes and sexual assaults of LYFT passengers by LYFT drivers, LYFT has acted in conscious disregard of the safety of its passengers,” the lawsuit alleges.
This suit comes just weeks after 14 women filed suit against Lyft alleging the company has not addressed complaints pertaining to sexual assault. Both suits recommended Lyft adopt new policies, such as the addition to the app of a surveillance camera that can record audio and video of all rides.
Meanwhile, Lyft recently announced new safety features, including trip check-ins if a ride seems to be taking longer than it should and in-app 911 calling.
“We're committed to playing a significant role in connecting our communities with transportation, and we understand the responsibilities that come along with that,” Lyft co-founder and president John Zimmer wrote in a blog post. “We’ve known since the beginning that as part of our mission, we must heavily invest in safety. We continue to welcome accountability and partnership to best protect our rider and driver community.”
It’s no coincidence that Lyft announced these safety features in light of the lawsuit on behalf of those 14 women. The company had previously taken some steps to address safety, but at a much slower pace than competitor Uber, which has also faced a number of sexual assault and abuse lawsuits. Between 2014-2018, CNN found 103 Uber drivers who had been accused of sexual assault or abuse of passengers.
Over the years, both companies have taken steps to ramp up their respective safety procedures. In April, Uber launched a campus safety initiative while Lyft implemented continuous background checks and enhanced its identity verification process for drivers. Uber, however, implemented continuous background checks about a full year before Lyft, and added an in-app 911 calling feature more than a year before Lyft.
“We don't take lightly any instances where someone's safety is compromised, especially in the rideshare industry, including the allegations of assault in the news last week,” Zimmer said earlier this month in that same blog post. “The reality is that certain populations carry a disproportionate burden simply trying to get to work or back home after a night out — in the U.S., one in six women will face some form of sexual violence in their lives. The onus is on all of us to learn from any incident, whether it occurs on our platform or not, and then work to help prevent them.”
GoDaddy’s website-building product GoCentral is getting an upgrade today — and along with new features, there’s a new name: Websites+Marketing.
As you can probably guess, Websites+Marketing isn’t just a website builder. After all, as Senior Director of Product Management Heidi Gibson put it, a small business website is now part of a “a whole ecosystem that comprises your online presence.”
These are issues that Gibson said she’s experienced directly, as the chef/owner/”Commander in Cheese” at The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco.
“Our typical customer, our target customer is not just a small business — they’ve got one to five employees … they don’t know what they're supposed to do, they don't know what's effective,” she added. Complicating matters is the fact that “where you need to be will not be the same answer for every kind of business.”
So GoDaddy Websites+Marketing — which Gibson described as “an evolution of GoCentral” — includes tools to manage email marketing and search engine optimization, and it syncs up with Facebook, Yelp, Instagram and Google My Business, so that it’s easy to read the latest reviews and comments, respond and post other updates directly from your Websites+Marketing dashboard.
It also includes a new feature called GoDaddy Insight, which relies on anonymized data — aggregated from all the businesses using GoDaddy and GoCentral — to provide entrepreneurs with a score on how their online presence and marketing compares to similar businesses, as well as an action plan recommending the next steps for improvement.
The website-builder looks pretty slick, too. Gibson acknowledged that some of the features will look pretty similar to anyone who’s used a competing product, but she said even here, GoDaddy has taken steps to make things easier.
For example, the Site Makeover feature allows businesses to get a quick view of how their content might look laid out on each of the 20-plus website templates, rather than making them click through each one. And thanks to GoDaddy’s recent acquisition of Sellbrite, businesses also can manage their product listings across online marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart and eBay.
GoDaddy Websites+Marketing is available in four pricing tiers, ranging from $10 to $25 per month.
A real check to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s control is finally coming in the form of an 11 to 40-member Oversight Board that will review appeals to its policy decisions, like content takedowns, and make recommendations for changes. Today Facebook released the charter establishing the theoretically independent Oversight Board, with Zuckerberg explaining that when it takes a stance, “The board’s decision will be binding, even if I or anyone at Facebook disagrees with it.”
Slated to be staffed with members this year, who will be paid by a Facebook-established trust (the biggest update to its January draft charter), the Oversight Board will begin judging cases in the first half of 2020. Given Zuckerberg’s overwhelming voting control of the company, and the fact that its board of directors contains many loyalists, like COO Sheryl Sandberg and investor Peter Thiel whom he’s made very rich, the Oversight Board could ensure the CEO doesn’t always have the final say in how Facebook works.
But in some ways, the committee could serve to shield Zuckerberg and Facebook from scrutiny and regulation, much to their advantage. The Oversight Board could remove total culpability for policy blunders around censorship or political bias from Facebook’s executives. It also might serve as a talking point toward the FTC and other regulators investigating it for potential antitrust violations and other malpractice, as the company could claim the Oversight Board means it’s not completely free to pursue profit over what’s fair for society.
One of the most important projects I've worked on over the past couple of years is establishing an independent Oversight…
Finally, there remain serious concerns about how the Oversight Board is selected and the wiggle room the charter provides Facebook. Most glaringly, Facebook itself will choose the initial members and then work with them to select the rest of the board, and thereby could avoid adding overly incendiary figures. And it maintains that “Facebook will support the board to the extent that requests are technically and operationally feasible and consistent with a reasonable allocation of Facebook's resources,” giving it the right to decide if it should apply the precedent of Oversight Board verdicts to similar cases or broadly implement its policy guidance.
How the Oversight Board works
When a user disagrees with how Facebook enforces its policies, and with the result of an appeal to Facebook’s internal moderation team, they can request an appeal to the Oversight Board. Examples of potential cases include someone disagreeing with Facebook’s refusal to deem a piece of content as unacceptable hate speech or bullying, its choice to designate a Page as promoting terrorism and remove it or the company’s decision to leave up problematic content, such as nudity, because it’s newsworthy. Facebook also can directly ask the Oversight Board to review policy decisions or specific cases, especially urgent ones with real-world consequences.
After Zuckerberg initially laid out a blueprint for the Oversight Board a year ago, Facebook assigned a 100-person team to build out the plan for the board. It held six workshops and 22 round-tables, plus case-review simulations with 650 people from 88 countries.
The board will include a minimum of 11 members, but Facebook is aiming for 40. They’ll serve three-year terms and a maximum of three terms each as a part-time job, with appointments staggered so there isn’t a full change-over at any time. Facebook is looking for members with a broad range of knowledge, competencies and expertise who lack conflicts of interest. They’re meant to be “experienced at deliberating thoughtfully and collegially,” “skilled at making and explaining decisions based on a set of policies,” “well-versed on matters relating to digital content and governance” and “independent and impartial.”
Facebook will appoint a set of trustees that will work with it to select initial co-chairs for the board, who will then assist with sourcing, vetting, interviewing and orienting new members. The goal is “broad diversity of geographic, gender, political, social and religious representation.” The trust, funded by Facebook with an as yet undecided amount of capital, will set members’ compensation rate in the near future and oversee term renewals.
Inevitable calls of biased board members
My biggest worry here is how Facebook will handle the fact that it’s trying to represent an extraordinarily vast set of global policy perspectives…broader than any one country’s laws. What’s taboo or even illegal in one nation may be common or lauded in another. Facebook may see endless challenges from different segments of the public regarding the previous public statements by board members.
What Facebook’s own staff in California might see as an uncontroversial viewpoint could trigger calls for removal from the board elsewhere. We’ve seen how common “cancelled” culture has become when the public digs up problematic content from celebrities or politicians, and that’s just based on what flies in the United States.
For example, Republican senators just bullied Facebook into removing a fact-check that found the statement “abortion is never medically necessary” to be false, allowing that viewpoint to spread uninhibited on the social network. I personally wouldn’t want someone with that viewpoint on the Oversight Board, but others might feel the opposite. And what happens when politicians start demanding more conservative representation on the Oversight Board the same way they’ve badgered Facebook for supposedly censoring them despite evidence to the contrary?
BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 21: Founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg gives his speech during the presentation of the new Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 edge on February 21, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Which cases get reviewed?
The board will choose which cases to review based on their significance and difficulty. They’re looking for issues that are severe, large-scale and important for public discourse, while raising difficult questions about Facebook’s policy or enforcement that is disputed, uncertain or represents tension or trade-offs between Facebook’s recently codified values of authenticity, safety, privacy and dignity. The board will then create a sub-panel of five members to review a specific case.
The board will be able to question the request that Facebook provide information necessary to rule on the case with a mind to not violating user privacy. They’ll interpret Facebook’s Community Standards and policies and then decide whether Facebook should remove or restore a piece of content and whether it should change how that content was designated. Verdicts are meant to have consensus, but will be approved by majority when necessary.
How decisions get made
Once a panel makes a draft decision, it’s circulated to the full board, which can recommend a new panel review if a majority take issue with the verdict. Once they’ve gone through a privacy review to protect the identities of those involved with the case, the decisions will be made public within two weeks and affected users will be notified. Those decisions will be archived in a database, and are meant to act as precedent for future decisions. The idea is that the decisions of the board will be binding and implemented by Facebook as long as they don’t require it to violate the law.
But will Facebook really implement them?
The biggest concern with the charter is that it still provides Facebook some leeway about how to implement the board’s decisions. Critically, it only has to apply the decision to the specific case reviewed, and it’s at the company’s discretion to turn that into blanket policy:
In instances where Facebook identifies that identical content with parallel context — which the board has already decided upon — remains on Facebook, it will take action by analyzing whether it is technically and operationally feasible to apply the board's decision to that content as well. When a decision includes policy guidance or a policy advisory opinion, Facebook will take further action by analyzing the operational procedures required to implement the guidance, considering it in the formal policy development process of Facebook . . . Facebook will support the board to the extent that requests are technically and operationally feasible and consistent with a reasonable allocation of Facebook's resources.
Because of these sections I’ve bolded, Facebook has the ability to decide it would be operationally infeasible to do what the board decided in every situation, merely take the guidance into account for future policy-making and choose whether implementation is a reasonable allocation of capital and staff. This provides a sizable gray area.
If Facebook chooses that the board’s decision could materially reduce sharing even if it protected users, it might consider that operationally infeasible. If it would cost too much to moderate content in the way the board recommends, it could deem that unreasonable resource allocation. And if the policy guidance doesn’t mesh with its other objectives, it only has to “consider” the board’s wishes.
This section is where advocates and critics should focus. These exemptions to implementation need to be made less vague if the structure is truly going to hold Facebook accountable. If Facebook just declines to broadly change its policy to fit the board’s recommendation, all the board can do is make binding decisions on specific cases.
Facebook director of governance Brent Harris explained on a call with reporters that “If the board doesn’t feel like we’ve handled it right, they’ll keep taking cases and overturn us.” But again the board’s power is focused on a case-by-case basis. Facebook still controls the wide-reaching changes to policy.
If you want to learn more about solutions to Facebook’s concentration of power, check out my talk at SXSW 2020 with Facebook’s co-founder Chris Hughes, who has called for the company to be broken up.
Amazon-owned Twitch has made a small but strategic acquisition designed to improve its search capabilities and better direct viewers to exactly the right content. The company is acquiring IGDB, the Internet Games Database (no relation to Amazon’s IMDb), a website dedicated to combining all the relevant information about games into a comprehensive resource for gamers everywhere. As a result of the acquisition, IGDB’s database will now feed into Twitch’s search and discovery feature set. However, the IGDB website itself will not be shut down.
Founded in 2015 by Christian Frithiof and a small team based in Gothenburg, Sweden, IGDB sources its gaming content both through community contributions and automation.
The site includes useful information for every game, like the genre, platforms supported, description, member and critic ratings and reviews, storyline, game modes, publisher, release dates, characters and more. You could also find less-common details, like how long it would take to play the game in question, or the player perspectives the game offered, among other things.
And similar to IMDb’s mission of organizing everything associated with the entertainment industry, IGDB allowed voice talent to claim their profile on its site, in addition to listing the full credits associated with a given title.
To generate revenue, IGDB provided a developer API that’s been free to use for smaller shops or $99 per month for up to 50K requests. Interested partners, (e.g. ASUS), could reach out to request special pricing. To date, IGDB was working with several thousand API users, we understand.
Twitch confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch in a statement.
“Millions of people come to Twitch every day to find and connect with their favorite streamers and communities, and we want to make it easier for people to find what they're looking for,” a spokesperson said. “IGDB has developed a comprehensive gaming database, and we're excited to bring them on to help us more quickly improve and scale search and discovery on Twitch.”
Deal terms were not disclosed, but it was likely a small deal, from a financial standpoint. IGDB is only a 10-person team and had raised just $1.5 million to date, according to data from Crunchbase.
From a strategic standpoint, however, the acquisition is much more impactful.
Twitch CEO Emmett Shear has spoken publicly about the issues surrounding Twitch’s search functionality and how it needs to improve on that front.
“We want every place on Twitch to help you get discovered. Today, nearly one in three people who come to Twitch use Search to find what they're looking for. Now, I'll be the first to admit that our search function hasn't always been the best experience,” Shear had said earlier this year, speaking at TwitchCon Berlin. “One wrong letter and your search results may come back empty, or direct you to a very different streamer than the one you were looking for. So we're going to fix search so it actually works,” he promised.
In recent weeks, there were hints that something was going on at IGDB.
In a blog post dated August 19, 2019, IGDB announced it was starting a “large scale migration of our backend, database, and hosting” and said that the service was “about to undergo some changes, some temporary and others more permanent.” As a part of its changes, it shut off the ability for users to sign-up or update their profiles, and it shut down its pulse news, feed and recommendations features.
Now a part of Twitch, IGDB will merge its free and premium APIs into one free tier, will clean up other features and migrate infrastructure. Its IGDB website will continue to remain online.
“Our mission has always been to build the most comprehensive gaming database in the world. Such a monumental undertaking can be quite challenging when you are a small startup team,” reads an IGDB blog post. “By joining Twitch, we will be able to tap into their experience, resources, and skills, which will enable us to accelerate our progress and deliver the version of IGDB we all always dreamed about. Not only that, our companies share the same culture, core values, and passion for gaming – making this the perfect fit,” the post said.
It was common industry knowledge Twitch previouslyused competing data provider Giant Bomb. As is often the case, the company may have been in discussions with IGDB about making a switch, which led to the acquisition. (The company declined to say how it came about.) What had made IGDB different from other API providers, like MobyGames, is that it allowed its API to be used commercially, including by competing projects, and it allowed caching and storing data on local databases.
The entire 10-person team from IGDB will remain based in Sweden, but will report into Twitch through its Viewer Experience organization.
Colorcon, a 58-year-old company that develops, supplies and supports specialty products for the pharmaceutical industry — think food colorants, nutritional coatings, the film on time-release medications — is getting into the business of funding startups.
It isn’t bringing aboard any traditional venture investors or taping off a corner of its Harleysville, Pa., offices so a team of staffers can meet with startups. Colorcon knows what it doesn’t know, suggests its CEO, Martti Hedman. “We’re a team of 750 people, so we didn’t want to invest in our own VC team. We’re sort of too small for that, too inexperienced.”
Instead, Colorcon, which wants to plug $50 million into startups, has elected to outsource its venture operations to a low-flying but growing outfit in San Francisco called Touchdown Ventures that helps manage the corporate venture activities of a dozen companies already, including the multinational food company Kellogg’s, the media giant 21st Century Fox and the adhesive manufacturing company Avery Dennison.
The idea is for Touchdown, which has 30 employees, to use its relationships with these other companies and with VCs — along with its own outbound efforts and sector analyses — to bring to Colorcon deals it might want to fund. After that, Hedman, Colorcon CFO Dave Graeber and Colorcon’s head of corporate development, Pankaj Rege, will decide which startups merit checks.
The initial amount it intends to commit: between $1.5 million and $3 million per startup, says Touchdown Ventures CEO David Horowitz, who will be heading up the effort for Colorcon.
It’s worth noting that unlike many companies that work with pharmaceutical giants, Colorcon isn’t looking to fund startups that are developing active ingredients or molecules. Instead, the fund will target investments across the manufacturing, supply chain and delivery of pharmaceutical products and services.
As you might imagine, it’s also looking to invest in startups where it can add value, be it subject matter expertise or introductions to the many companies and labs with which it works around the world. Indeed, more than 70% of Colorcon’s sales comes outside of North America, including in China, India, South America and, to a small but growing extent, Europe.
Is it a match made in heaven? We’ll see. But it’s certainly interesting to see companies like Colorcon with their industry expertise hitching their wagons to platforms like Touchdown, which has institutional know-how about VC.
Says Horowitz, “We have other heathcare relationships. We know how to drum up deal flow. We have relationships with thousands of VCs and we speak at conferences and we do things that are specific to this industry.” That work now produces 5,000 “opportunities” per year, in terms of startup pitches, Horowitz adds.
If Colorcon is lucky, some of those startups — whether Colorcon acquires them or adopts their technology or merely learns from them — will help keep the company in business for another 50 years.
President Emmanuel Macron announced in a speech ahead of France Digitale Day that the French government has convinced institutional investors to invest more heavily in late-stage VC funds and asset managers in one way or another. Institutional investors have committed to investing $5.5 billion (€5 billion).
“We’ll have €2 billion that will go in so-called late-stage funds and €3 billion for funds managed by asset managers specialized in [publicly listed] tech companies,” Macron said.
In addition to that financial pledge, the French government wants to break down any hurdle that prevents French startups from raising a $100 million+ funding round in France, becoming a unicorn and eventually going public.
A couple of years ago, Macron gave a speech at Viva Technology in Paris. It was the first time he addressed the startup community after his election. At the time, I wrote: "Macron wanted to send a message to the startup community — he still cares about technology very much, thank you for asking."
Since then, the French tech ecosystem has thrived, but without any radical policy change to shake things up. But today marks a departure, as it's all about startups, startups and startups.
“I'm talking about the jobs of tomorrow.” - Emmanuel Macron
It's clear that Macron believes that startups represent a huge opportunity when it comes to job creation, competitiveness and reshaping the economic landscape in France. In other words, according to him, if you help startups thrive, it's going to trickle down all the way and have positive impacts on your neighbor who has never used a computer in her life.
Some will applaud such a move, others will say that it divides society.
“When I talk about startup funding, I talk about the ability to help those startups succeed,” Macron said. “I’m talking about the jobs of tomorrow. And I’m saying that for many French citizens who think that those are only financial numbers.”
(Photo Credit: Aliocha Boi)
Financing hypergrowth
So here's Macron's plan. First, French VC funds have been good when it comes to funding startups at the seed, Series A and sometimes Series B level. But many startups then look for international investors for late-stage rounds. For instance, just last week, Akeneo raised $46 million in a round led by Summit Partners, a Boston-based VC firm.
“Numbers show that we’re getting there, and I want to start from there,” Macron said. “The goal when it comes to technology is that we should be one of the countries that matter. Fundraising from French startups keep setting new records — we had $3.1 billion in fundraising in 2017, $4 billion in 2018 and $5.5 billion in 2019 probably.”
Following a report from Philippe Tibi, the French government has been working on a way to foster late-stage funds and investments in public tech companies in France. "We managed to rally big insurance companies, asset managers and long-term public investment funds," a source close to Macron told me.
They'll have three ways to invest and take part in the initiative:
If they have their own VC fund, they can create a new late-stage fund.
If they are limited partners in various VC funds, they can invest in late-stage funds managed by third-party teams.
If they don't know anything about venture capital, they can invest in a special fund of funds managed by Bpifrance. Bpifrance will then select various late-stage funds and invest that money in those funds.
Eventually, the French government hopes that there will be at least 10 French VC firms with a late-stage fund above €1 billion. By pushing them to redirect some of their investments in VC, the French government thinks that they'll invest more regularly in venture capital in the future.
When it comes to going public, the French government wants to make European stock exchanges more attractive. They’re hoping the new influx of late-stage cash will convince banks and other financial institutions that manage huge positions in tech companies to create local teams in Paris.
Attracting foreign VCs too
French startups still want to become global players, and the French government is well aware of that. And foreign VCs shouldn't be at odds with French VC firms.
That's why the French government also invited around 40 partners of venture capital firms and limited partners for a couple of days in Paris this week. They'll meet key people in the ecosystem as well as promising startups.
I covered the first edition of this tour last year. The message was clear: Foreign VC firms should think about investing in French startups. Some are already doing it while others never thought about it. And the thing is, nobody wants to be the first one to invest in something new, but nobody wants to be the last one, either.
This year, the French government is inviting a new batch of foreign investors from Khosla Ventures, Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, etc. There are more Asian investors in the mix this time.
But Macron said that France should control its own destiny when it comes to startup funding. “When I talk about sovereignty, I deeply believe in that concept. It’s a politically charged word, but I think it’s at the heart of your approach. I believe in technological and economical sovereignty,” Macron said.
(Photo Credit: Aliocha Boi)
Transforming La French Tech
The French Tech Mission, also known as La French Tech, is a government-backed initiative that promotes French startups around the world and provides a few services to help startups.
And the government is going to overhaul the French Tech Mission drastically. This is as significant as the late-stage funding news. In addition to the small core team, every French ministry and administration will have a French Tech correspondent — Urssaf, INPI, AFNOR, Banque de France, customs, etc. Eventually, there will be 150 people spread out across the entire government working in some way or another for French startups.
"We're not alone, we get to coordinate with everyone," French Tech Mission director Kat Borlongan told me. "The overarching announcement is that France is going all in."
La French Tech is going to become a one-stop shop for tech startups to overcome any administrative hurdle. La French Tech is going to pick 40 (and later 120) top-performing startups and give them the label Next40 and French Tech 120 — a play on words with the CAC40 and SBF 120 stock indexes. Those companies will automatically be able to access this fast-track administrative system — every startup will get a representative for their particular needs. This special treatment proves that startups have become a center piece of France's economic policies.
“The coolest thing is that they can ask us for anything: ‘I'm about to do bizdev in China,’ ‘I’m launching a rocket and I need to test it on a space facility’ or ‘I'm hiring 50 people and I need them and all their families here,’ ” Borlongan told me.
All companies that are unicorns or have raised more than €100 million are automatically in the Next40. Then, the government is looking at growth rate and annual turnover to find the most promising 40 and 120 startups.
“I’ll leave you with a goal: there should be 25 [French] unicorns by 2025,” Macron said at the end of his speech.
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
Matthew Panzarino continues his tradition of testing out the latest iPhones at Disneyland. This time, he was particularly interested in how well the iPhone 11’s Night Mode works. His verdict: It compares extremely well to other low-light cameras, with exposure and color rendition that’s best-in-class.
But if you’re planning to upgrade, should you get the Pro, or the regular ol’ iPhone 11? Apparently the Pro is really there to address edge cases — the best video and photo options, a better dark mode experience, a brighter screen.
Amazon has a new, high-quality streaming tier of its music service called Amazon Music HD. It's priced at $12.99 per month for Prime members, and you can add it to your existing Amazon Music subscription for an additional $5 each month.
They’ll be joining us to discuss their upcoming film "Gemini Man,” which features “jaw-dropping effects” from Weta Digital. The effects allow Smith to play both an assassin named Henry Brogan and a younger clone who’s been sent to kill his older counterpart.
Stallman said he has resigned from his position as a visiting scientist at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab after describing a victim of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as "entirely willing" in emails sent to a department list.
How do you keep your startup secure? That's one of the big questions we explored at TC Sessions: Enterprise earlier this month — and if you weren’t there, we’ve got a write-up of the main takeaways. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
The latest research from OpenAI put its machine learning agents in a simple game of hide-and-seek, where they pursued an arms race of ingenuity, using objects in unexpected ways to achieve their goal of seeing or being seen. This type of self-taught AI could prove useful in the real world as well.
The study intended to, and successfully did look into the possibility of machine learning agents learning sophisticated, real-world-relevant techniques without any interference of suggestions from the researchers.
Tasks like identifying objects in photos or inventing plausible human faces are difficult and useful, but they don’t really reflect actions one might take in a real world. They’re highly intellectual, you might say, and as a consequence can be brought to a high level of effectiveness without ever leaving the computer.
Whereas attempting to train an AI to use a robotic arm to grip a cup and put it in a saucer is far more difficult than one might imagine (and has only been accomplished under very specific circumstances); the complexity of the real, physical world make purely intellectual, computer-bound learning of the tasks pretty much impossible.
At the same time, there are in-between tasks that do not necessarily reflect the real world completely, but still can be relevant to it. A simple one might be how to change a robot’s facing when presented with multiple relevant objects or people. You don’t need a thousand physical trials to know it should rotate itself or the camera so it can see both, or switch between them, or whatever.
OpenAI’s hide-and-seek challenge to its baby ML agents was along these lines: A game environment with simple rules (called Polyworld) that nevertheless uses real-world-adjacent physics and inputs. If the AIs can teach themselves to navigate this simplified reality, perhaps they can transfer those skills, with some modification, to full-blown reality.
Such is the thinking behind the experiment, anyway, but it’s entertaining enough on its own. The game pits two teams against one another in a small 3D arena populated with a few randomly generated walls and objects. Several agents are spawned in it and the “hiders” are given a few seconds to familiarize themselves with the environment and hide. They can also interact with the objects, pushing them around and locking them in place. Once the “seeker” looks up they have a certain amount of time to spot the hiders.
All the machine learning program was informed of were the basic senses — each agent has a view of the world and a sort of “lidar” to tell them the positions of nearby objects — and the knowledge that they can move objects around. But beyond that they were simply given a point when they succeeded at their job, either seeking or hiding — that’s their motivation.
From these basic beginnings came wonderfully interesting results. At first the teams essentially moved randomly. But over millions of games the hiders found that by moving in a certain way — “crudely” running away — they could increase their points more often. And thus the arms race began.
Since the hiders were running away, the seekers began to develop more structured pursuit behaviors. But then came the tools.
Hiders found that they could push and pull objects on the field, and began constructing forts out of them.
The seekers responded by using ramps found on the field to ascend over the objects and crash the forts.
Hiders began looking for ramps while the seekers were still counting and either stealing them or locking them in place (the lock can’t be undone by an agent of the opposite team). Interestingly this involved a certain amount of division of labor, because there often wasn’t enough time for both hiders to go out in search of ramps; one had to prepare the fort while the other went on ramp patrol.
The OpenAI team thought maybe that was the end of it, but the seekers learned to exploit an unintended feature of the game world. They discovered that they could “push” a box while riding on top of it, meaning they could put it near a ramp, climb onto it, then “surf” it all over the field and find those naughty hiders.
Of course the hiders responded by locking every object they weren’t using to construct their fort — and that seems to be the end of the line as far as strategy in this game.
So what’s the point? As the authors of the paper explain, this is kind of the way we came bout.
The vast amount of complexity and diversity on Earth evolved due to co-evolution and competition between organisms, directed by natural selection. When a new successful strategy or mutation emerges, it changes the implicit task distribution neighboring agents need to solve and creates a new pressure for adaptation. These evolutionary arms races create implicit autocurricula whereby competing agents continually create new tasks for each other.
Inducing autocurricula in physically grounded and open-ended environments could eventually enable agents to acquire an unbounded number of human-relevant skills.
In other words, having AI models compete in an unsupervised manner may be a far better way to develop useful and robust skills than letting them toddle around on their own, racking up an abstract number like percentage of environment explored or the like.
Increasingly it is difficult or even impossible for humans to direct every aspect of an AI’s abilities by parameterizing it and controlling the interactions it has with the environment. For complex tasks like a robot navigating a crowded environment, there are so many factors that having humans design behaviors may never produce the kind of sophistication that’s necessary for these agents to take their place in everyday life.
But they can teach each other, as we’ve seen here and in GANs, where a pair of dueling AIs work to defeat the other in the creation or detection of realistic media. The OpenAI researchers posit that “multi-agent autocurricula,” or self-teaching agents, are the way forward in many circumstances where other methods are too slow or structured. They conclude:
“These results inspire confidence that in a more open-ended and diverse environment, multi-agent dynamics could lead to extremely complex and human-relevant behavior.”
Google today announced an update to how it handles videos in search results. Instead of just listing relevant videos on the search results page, Google will now also highlight the most relevant parts of longer videos, based on timestamps provided by the video creators. That’s especially useful for how-to videos or documentaries.
“Videos aren't skimmable like text, meaning it can be easy to overlook video content altogether,” Google Search product manager Prashant Baheti writes in today’s announcement. “Now, just like we've worked to make other types of information more easily accessible, we're developing new ways to understand and organize video content in Search to make it more useful for you.”
In the search results, you will then be able to see direct links to the different parts of a video and a click on those, which will take you right into that part of the video.
To make this work, content creators first have to mark up their videos with bookmarks for the specific segments they want to highlight, no matter what platform they are on. Indeed, it’s worth stressing that this isn’t just a feature for YouTube creators. Google says it’s already working with video publishers like CBS Sports and NDTV, which will soon start marking up their videos.
I’m somewhat surprised that Google isn’t using its machine learning wizardry to mark up videos automatically. For now, the burden is on the video creator, and, given how much work simply creating a good video is, it remains to be seen how many of them will do so. On the other hand, though, it’ll give them a chance to highlight their work more prominently on Google Search, though Google doesn’t say whether the markup will have any influence on a video’s ranking on its search results pages.
Bharat Vasan is no longer the Chief Executive Officer at Pax Labs, the consumer tech company that makes cannabis vaporizers. A source familiar with the situation said that the board of directors made the decision to remove Vasan from the CEO role. His last day was Friday.
We’ve reached out to Vasan for comment. Pax is declining to elaborate on what drove its decision.
Certainly, it’s a surprising move, given that Vasan was appointed the CEO of Pax not so long ago — in February of 2018. Before that, he served as President and COO of August Home, which was acquired by Swedish lock maker Assa Abloy in 2017. Previous to that, Vasan was the cofounder of Basis, a fitness-based wearable company that was acquired by Intel in 2014 for $100 million.
Vasan also led the company in its most recent round this past April, in which it secured $420 million from Tiger Global Management, Tao Capital, and Prescott General Partners, among others. The post-money valuation for the company at the time was $1.7 billion.
Vasan is a veteran of consumer electronics, but Pax may be looking for a CEO that has more operational experience in cannabis.
After all, Pax is at an interesting intersection in its path, navigating an oft-changing regulatory landscape around cannabis. Moreover, the entire cannabis industry — and vaporizer industry — is under a microscope in the wake of hundreds of reports of vape-related lung illness. The CDC says that there have been 380 cases of lung illness reported across 36 states, with six deaths. Most patients reported a history of using e-cigarette products containing THC.
Pax is currently on the hunt for a new chief executive. In the meantime, its general counsel, Lisa Sergi, who joined the company at the end of July, will be its interim CEO and president.
Sergi had this to say in a prepared statement:
PAX is uniquely positioned as a leader in the burgeoning cannabis industry, with a talented team, an iconic brand, quality products and the balance sheet to achieve our ambitious goals and continued growth trajectory. I am extremely excited and honored to have been entrusted to lead this extraordinary company.
When it opened in 2006, Apple's Fifth Avenue flagship quickly became a top destination for New York City residents and tourists, alike. The big, glass cube was a radical departure from prior electronics stores, serving as the entrance to a 24-hour subterranean retail location. Location didn't hurt either, with the company planting its flag across from the Plaza Hotel and Central Park and sharing a block with the iconic high-end toy store, FAO Schwarz.
Since early 2017, however, the store has been closed for renovations. Earlier this month, the company took the wraps off the outside of the cube (albeit with some multi-color reflective wrap still occupying the outside of the familiar retail landmark). Last week, the company offered more insight into the plan as retail SVP Deirdre O'Brien took to the stage during the iPhone 11 event to discuss the company's plans for the reinvented space.
During a discussion with TechCrunch, Apple shed even more light on the underground store, which will occupy the full area of the Fifth Avenue plaza. As is the case with all of Apple's flagships, light is the thing here — though that's easier said than done when dealing with an underground space. Illuminating the store is done through a combination of natural lights and LEDs.
When the store reopens, a series of skylights flush on the ground of the plaza will be doing much of the heavy lifting for the lighting during the day. Each of those round portholes will be frosted to let the light in, while protecting the privacy of people walking above, with supplemental lighting from silver LED rings. That, in turn, is augmented by 18 (nine on each side of the cube) "sky lenses." Oriented in two 3×3 configurations, the "sculptural furniture" will also provide seating in the outdoor plaza.
Of course, the natural lighting isn't able to do all of the work for a 24-hour store. That's complemented by a ceiling system that uses a similar stretched fabric-based lighting system as other Apple Stores. Here, however, the fabric will take on a more cloud-like structure with a more complicated geometrical shape than other Apple stores. The fabric houses tunable LED lights that react to the external environment. If it's sunny outside, it will be brighter downstairs. When it's cloudy, the lights will dim.
In all, there are five modes tuned to a 24-hour cycle, including:
Sunrise: 3,000K
Day: 4,500K-5,250K (depending on how bright it is outside)
Sunset: 3,000K
Evening: 3,250K
Night: 3,500K
Sunrise and sunset are apparently the best time to check it out, as the lights glow warmly for about an hour or so. There are 80 ring lights in all, and around 500,000 LEDs, with about 2,500 LED spotlights used to illuminate tables and products inside the store. The natural lighting also will be used to keep alive eight trees and a green wall in the underground space.
Brett is the Chief Marketing Officer of Monotype and is responsible for the company's worldwide marketing and product strategies.
In today's brand landscape, consumers are rejecting traditional advertising in favor of transparent, personalized and most importantly, authentic communications. In fact, 86% of consumers say that authenticity is important when deciding which brands they support. Driven by this growing emphasis on brand sincerity, marketers are increasingly leveraging user-generated content (UGC) in their marketing and e-commerce strategies.
Correlated with the rise in the use of UGC is an increase in privacy-focused regulation such as the European Union's industry-defining General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the along with others that will go into effect in the coming years, like the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), and several other state-specific laws. Quite naturally, brands are asking themselves two questions:
Is it worth the effort to incorporate UGC into our marketing strategy?
And if so, how do we do it within the rules, and more importantly, in adherence with the expectations of consumers?
Consumers seek to be active participants in their favorite companies' brand identity journey, rather than passive recipients of brand-created messages. Consumers trust images by other consumers on social media seven times more than advertising.
Additionally, 56% are more likely to buy a product after seeing it featured in a positive or relatable user-generated image. The research and results clearly show that the average consumer perceives content from a peer to be more trustworthy than brand-driven content.
With that in mind, we must help brands leverage UGC with approaches that comply with privacy regulations while also engaging customers in an authentic way.
Influencer vs user: Navigating privacy considerations in an online world
Here's a fun thing to look forward to next month. Simone Giertz, she of the shitty robots fame, will be appearing onstage at Disrupt SF (October 2-4) at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
The U.S.-based Swedish inventor has built a massive online following (currently at 1.92 million YouTube subscribers) with DIY videos that examine technology and art through a whimsical lens.
Giertz is probably best known for her "shitty" robotic creations, including arms that serve soup and breakfast, draw holiday cards and apply lipstick — to hilariously uneven results. More recently, she had a verified viral hit when she busted out some power tools to turn her Tesla into a pickup truck.
She'll be joining us onstage to walk us through some of her most interesting creations, including The Every Day calendar. The project, which made nearly $600,000 on Kickstarter late last year, is designed to help motivate users into developing good habits, like meditating, flossing or writing. Or, you know, eating churros.
Disrupt SF runs October 2 to October 4 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Giertz joins an outstanding lineup of speakers, including Kitty Hawk’s Sebastian Thrun, Admiral Mike Rodgers, Rachel Haurwitz of Caribou Biosciences, and Marc Benioff, Box’s Aaron Levie and dozens more.
AT&T faked the numbers for its DirecTV Now streaming service ahead of the company’s Time Warner merger, according to a lawsuit filed by investors, Bloomberg reported. The suit alleges the media giant pressured employees to boost DirecTV Now’s numbers by secretly adding the product to existing customers’ accounts. It also claims the company touted DirecTV Now’s user growth, when in reality, subscribers were leaving as their promotional periods ended and the service’s price hikes were limiting new sign-ups.
The suit says a variety of tactics were used to promote the idea that DirecTV Now was growing organically. For example, it claims that employees were taught how and encouraged to convert activation fees that customers typically had to pay to upgrade their phones into DirecTV Now subscriptions. This involved the customer being told the fee was being “waived,” when instead the customer was charged anyway and the payment was applied to up to 3 DirecTV Now accounts using fake emails.
One former employee even said that around 40%-50% of customers he dealt with in early 2017 were complaining about being charged for DirecTV Now, which they had never signed up for. This was supported by other employees, the suit cites, and was a directive that came top from upper management to the sales channel.
In addition, the suit speaks to overly aggressive sales quotas, high churn from deeply discounted promotions, technical issues, and unsustainable pricing. It noted how AT&T finally disclosed that by the end of 2018, none of the 500,000 heavily discounted DirecTV Now subscribers remained on the service, and subscriptions had dropped by 267,000 as a result. In April 2019, it reported another 83,000 subscribers had left the service, and in July, 168,000 had abandoned it.
But ahead of the Time Warner merger, AT&T touted the service’s success, the suit said. It didn’t disclose any of the risks associated with DirecTV Now, despite SEC obligations. The plaintiffs believe AT&T should have noted what made its stock risky, including the fact that DirecTV Now was not profitable, its growth had been dependent on aggressive promotions, and it faced severe technical challenges.
“By buying AT&T's securities at these artificially inflated and artificially maintained prices, the Class members suffered economic losses, which losses were a direct and proximate result of Defendants' fraudulent conduct,” the suit states.
"We plan to fight these baseless claims in court," an AT&T spokesperson said in a statement.
DirecTV Now had a rough start to begin with, having suffered heavily from glitches, including freezing, buffering, and more. While that can happen at first with new streaming services, AT&T’s glitches were bad enough that many wanted to cancel.
TechCrunch reported in 2017 how customers complained they weren’t able to get refunds from AT&T, even though they weren’t able to use the service as promised. Some had even filed complaints with the FCC, we found. In January, we also noted how the service’s price hikes and promotional packages ending led to a sizable loss of subscribers and that AT&T was “losing the cord cutters.”
The filing of the lawsuit comes at a time where AT&T has seen much upheaval. This month, activist investor Elliott Management Corp. disclosed its $3.2 billion stake in AT&T and criticized the company’s acquisition strategy. It also suggested that AT&T should sell some assets that don’t fit its future direction, like the DirecTV satellite service and Mexican wireless business. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson defended the company’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner today, in response to this criticism.
Arc, a platform that wants to simplify the process of hiring developers who work remotely, is launching officially today. The new company grew out of Techstars-backed Codementor, an online education platform for software developers. Codementor will continue to operate as a standalone product under Arc.
While there are already many freelancing platforms, Weiting Liu, the founder and CEO of Arc and Codementor, said Arc is more focused on long-term contractor and full-time employee positions instead of short-term gigs. To make the recruitment process easier for tech companies, all developers on its platform are vetted by Arc in a process modeled on the hiring assessments used by tech companies in Silicon Valley. Arc's clients have already included Spotify, Chegg, Hims, Fivestars and AppLovin.
Codementor launched in 2014 to connect developers with instructors around the world for coding education. Arc has the same mission of helping boost the careers of engineers who live outside of major tech hubs.
"I think Arc is a natural evolution. Codementor had hundreds of thousands of developers in the community already and that created a very strong and inclusive community to help developers worldwide continuously improve their skills," says Liu. "We definitely see Codementor and its network creating a strong funnel of talented developers who want to work remotely."
Remote hiring has benefits like increasing the talent pool for tech companies while helping employees maintain work-life balance or avoid moving to high cost-of-living areas. But despite the increase in remote hiring (for example, Stripe recently described its remote engineers as the company's "fifth engineering hub"), there are still many hurdles to overcome.
The team of Liu's first startup, Y Combinator alum SocialPicks, were based in different cities. In 2006, that meant everyone had to find a way to work together even though collaboration tools like Slack and Trello didn't exist yet. But while it has become much more easier to work remotely over the past decade, hiring people who live far away still presents a lot of friction for companies. "From an employers' perspective, there are a lot of fears and unknowns for hiring strangers online for a permanent, full-time role, but I think things are changing," says Liu.
He adds that Arc is different from other hiring platforms like AngelList or We Work Remotely because of its vetting process, designed to identify developers who can stay with a company for a long time.
"People can still hire remote developers for short-term contracts, but we want to enable more companies to hire long-term, full-time regular employees who are not based in their ZIP code, but should be treated no differently than their Bay Area counterparts because they are as good, if not better, than Silicon Valley developers," Liu says.
Arc pre-screens engineers and teams using what it describes as "Silicon Valley-caliber technical and behavioral assessments." Candidates go through behavioral and technical interviews conducted by senior developers and technical recruiters who have worked for Google, Facebook and other big tech companies. In order to judge how well they will work with a team in another location, Arc also asks developers to prepare programming during the interview process to simulate the process of collaborating remotely.
As Arc grows larger, Liu says it will build tools that will help them gauge developers at scale, as well as features to companies manage remote workers.
California recently passed a significant new bill that, if signed into law, would dramatically change the gig economy by requiring companies to give independent contractors who do the work of employees minimum wage, workers' compensation and other benefits. Liu hopes this signifies a shift in how remote workers are viewed.
"There are a lot of first-generation online platforms for 'remote work,' but most are freelancing work. Platforms like Fiverr and Upwork are pioneers of this space, so they are the first generation of online freelancing platforms,” Liu says. “They came into a world where people felt comfortable working together in very short-term freelancing gigs. I think the second phase means there is increasingly higher trust and better infrastructure to enable long-term, permanent full-time work to be made possible remotely, and we want to be the main facilitator of that."
For the longest time, Google Fi didn’t play the unlimited calls, text and data game and instead focused on offering pretty affordable and flexible plans with a price cap of $80 (before taxes and government fees). Today, however, Google is introducing Fi Unlimited, which, as you’ve probably figured out from the name, is more akin to a traditional “unlimited” plan from other carriers.
Fi Unlimited plans start at $70 for the first line. For families, you also can opt to pay $60 per line for two lines, $50 per line for three lines or $45 per line for four to six lines (excluding taxes and fees). That’s pretty much in line with the unlimited plans from other carriers, though they all come with their own limitations and special services and may feature different (and often more substantial) family discounts.
“Since Fi's launch in 2015, we've had one plan, the Fi Flexible plan, that gives you the flexibility to pay for just the data you use,” writes Fi product manager Dhwani Shah. “As we've grown, we've heard that many of you want the simplicity and predictability that comes with paying the same price each month. So today, for the first time ever, Fi is adding a second plan: our Google Fi Unlimited plan.”
If you’re also a happy Fi user and like the old plan, don’t panic. A Google spokesperson has told us that Google will continue to offer the existing flexible plan, too.
Unlimited, of course, is never quite unlimited, so Google will cap your speed after you use 22 GB of data in a given month (only 1% of Fi users currently do so, the company says) and it “may” cap video quality at 480p. Like with the company’s other Fi plans, there are no contracts or activation fees.
There are some positives, too, though. You’ll get free international calls from the U.S. to 50 countries and territories and you’ll still get Fi’s unlimited data and text in 200 countries. Every unlimited plan also includes a Google One membership with 100 GB of cloud storage and live support for all Google products, as well as Google’s new phone backup service. There are also no limits on hotspot usage.
As always, you’ll need a compatible phone to make Fi work for you.
The maximum you’ll pay for Fi’s flexible price is $80 per month after you’ve used more than 6 GB of data. So there’s a trade-off here. You’ll pay a fixed price for every unlimited line, even if you only use 1 GB of data, but you’ll pay a predictable price and you’ll get a discount for activating multiple lines, as well as a few other goodies.
You are subscribed to email updates from TechCrunch. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.
Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States
Congress leader DK Shivakumar to be sent to Tihar jail The Congress leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on September 3 and was in its custody since then.
Left Unity panel wins JNUSU polls; Students Federation of India's Aishe Ghosh elected president Aishe Ghosh of the SFI was elected as the president, Saket Moon of the DSF as the vice president, Satish Chandra Yadav of the AISA as the general secretary and Mohd Danish of the AISF as the joint secretary.
Indian Railways to phase out generators from trains, create 20,000 seats Sources added that the single generator car will be a noise-free car and will help Railways save Rs 800 crore annually
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to fly indigenous Tejas aircraft Tejas, designed and developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Aeronautical Development Agency, is India's home-grown single-engine multirole light fighter to replace the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Bison aircraft.
Sukhoi Su-30MKI test-fires Astra BVR air-to-air missile More than 50 private and public sector industries have been involved in the development and production of Astra missile.
NGOs getting 'substantial' government grant fall within RTI: SC Another aspect for determining substantial finance is whether the body, authority or NGO can carry on its activities effectively without getting finance from the government, according to the judges.
GST rebates, stamp duty cut needed specifically for realty sector: Niranjan Hiranandani, MD, Hiranandani Group Unemployment in the real estate sector happens over a period of time, unlike automobile where stress will be visible on a quarter-on-quarter basis. Buildings take longer to complete.
Srei seeks Sebi, RBI nod to buy back NCDs from retail investors According to Srei, the proposed step to consolidate its lending business into one entity is an attempt to create a long-term structure to be ready for "merger or conversion into a bank" and roping in strategic investors in order to be able to continuously get access to capital for further growth.
Azure Power Solar Energy likely to price its dollar bonds at 5.65 pct The firm was looking to raise close to $350 million through the issue. Earlier during the day, the initial price target (IPT) on the bonds had come in at 6%, sources indicated.
JSW Steel says can't implement BPSL resolution plan In its order, NCLT had directed JSW Steel to distribute profits earned during the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) period among financial and operational creditors on pro-rata basis.
Hindu student found dead under mysterious circumstance in Pakistan The body of Namrita Chandani was found lying on a charpoy with a rope tied around her neck in her hostel room of a college in Larkana.
Chandigarh civic body to tag truant employees with smartwatch The smartwatch will share the location of the on-duty employee and the duration of their work-time with a control room
All the Candidates can check your AFCAT Air Force Result 2019 from this article. We have updated the latest link for the AFCAT 2019 Result with marks. Along with the AFCAT Result 02/2019, candidates can download your Air Force Common Admission Online Test 2019 Cut off from this page. Also, we have attached the direct link to the end for the Air Force Common Admission Online Test Result 2019 pdf from the official site. So, the candidates can check their IAF Result 02/2019 now. Here we have provided a direct link to download your Air Force Result from the bottom of the table. Applicants just by clicking the below direct link, to download your Exam Result. Candidates can check your IAF Air Force Common Admission Online Test Result from the below link.
Indian AFCAT Result 02/2019
SAIL Durgapur Recruitment 2019 – Walk-in-Interview for 95 Proficiency Trainee Job Vacancy. Steel Authority of India Limited invites application from the eligible nurses for the Proficiency Training in DSP Hospital. There are 95 openings are available for the Trainee Jobs. These vacancies in DSP Hospital are filled under SAIL Durgapur Recruitment 2019. Interested and eligible candidates can send your application through the mail before appearing for the Walk-in. Aspirants should drop your mail between 16th September 2019 to 31st September 2019. 
