Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told reporters on Monday that the Senate Republican caucus doesn't have the votes to dismiss the articles of impeachment against President Trump, who endorsed an "outright dismissal" over the weekend.
"I think our members generally are not interested in a motion to dismiss. ... Certainly there aren't 51 votes for a motion to dismiss," Blunt, the No. 4 Senate Republican, told reporters after a closed-door leadership meeting.
Republicans have warned for months that they will not dismiss the two articles of impeachment against Trump, predicting a trial will end with votes on either acquitting or convicting him.
But Trump revived talk of trying to dismiss the articles over the weekend, saying the Senate was "giving credence" to the allegations against him by having a trial.
WNU Editor: I would be surprised if they acquit. For the US Senate this will guarantee nonstop news coverage for weeks where all the Senators can show their seriousness and commitment to their job to their voters. When did a politician ever run away from that type of news? As for witnesses. I do not think that is going to happen. These proceedings are going to be tightly controlled, and having witnesses would only keep this affair going on forever.
#UPDATE France and its five partner nations in the Sahel region of West Africa pledged to bolster efforts against jihadists waging an increasingly deadly insurgency, while urging the US to keep its troops engaged in the region's anti-terror fight https://t.co/SlzKweg0Sj
Parmana, a fishing village on the banks of the Orinoco River in central Venezuela, has been abandoned by the government.Credit...Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times
To solidify his grip on power, President Nicolás Maduro is channeling resources to Caracas while abandoning rural Venezuelans, who are often without electricity, police or currency.
PARMANA, Venezuela — From his palace in Caracas, President Nicolás Maduro projects an image of strength and his grip on power appears secure. Residents have a regular supply of electricity and gasoline. Shops are bursting with imported goods.
But beyond the city, this facade of order quickly melts away. In order to preserve the quality of life of his most important backers, the country's political and military elites, his administration has poured the country's dwindling resources into Caracas and forsaken large swaths of Venezuela.
"Venezuela is broken as a state, as a country," said Dimitris Pantoulas, a political analyst in Caracas. "The few available resources are invested in the capital to protect the seat of power, creating a ministate amid the collapse."
Across much of the country, basic government functions like policing, road maintenance, health care and public utilities have been abandoned.
The only remaining evidence of the state in Parmana, a fishing village on the banks of the Orinoco River, is the three teachers who remain at the school, which lacks food, books, and even a marker for the board.
U.S. soldiers are seen at the site where an Iranian missile hit at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, Iraq January 13, 2020. At the sprawling base in Iraq's western Anbar desert, U.S. Air Force and Army teams cleared piles of metal and concrete debris from the airfield and around bunkers using bulldozers and pickup trucks after Iran's first direct missile attack against U.S. forces on January 8. REUTERS/John Davison
The U.S. Army has announced on Friday that QinetiQ North America and Textron will receive contacts to build Robotic Combat Vehicles.
The U.S. Army CCDC Ground Vehicle Systems Center and the U.S. Army Next Generation Combat Vehicles Cross Functional Team intends to award an Other Transaction Agreement to QinetiQ North America to build four Light and Textron to build four Medium Robotic Combat Vehicles.
The Army's selections for both the RCV Light and RCV Medium agreements were announced in coordination with its partner, the National Advanced Mobility Consortium today. Pending successful negotiations, the Army intends to award the final OTA for both variants by mid-February.
* Attorney General William Barr branded the December attack at the US Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, an 'act of terrorism' at a Monday press conference * He urged Apple to cooperate with investigators trying to crack two iPhones used by gunman Mohammed Alshamrani * The FBI has been unable to access the phones as they are locked and encrypted * Barr accused Apple of refusing to provide 'substantive assistance' * Apple says it has already provided investigators with all the relevant data * Barr's latest appeal for Apple's cooperation marked an escalation of the DOJ's ongoing fight with the tech giant over personal privacy vs public safety * The attorney general indicated that he intends to use the Alshamrani case to push for a solution to the DOJ's struggle to get around Apple security features * DOJ officials say they need access to the Alshamrani's phones to determine whether he had discussed his plans with others at the base and if acted alone * Three sailors were killed and eight others were wounded when Alshamrani opened fire in a classroom on December 6 * Alshamrani, 21, was then killed by a sheriff's deputy during the 15-minute attack * Barr said on Monday that Alshamrani was motivated by 'jihadist ideology'
US Attorney General William Barr has demanded that Apple unlock two cellphones used by a gunman who carried out a mass shooting at a Florida military base.
Barr made the high profile request at a press conference on Monday where he branded the attack an 'act of terrorism'.
Three American sailors were killed and eight other people were wounded when Saudi military trainee Mohammed Alshamrani opened fire in a classroom at the US Naval Air Station in Pensacola on December 6.
Alshamrani, 21, who was training to be a naval flight officer, was then killed in a shoot-out with police.
The Iranian regime is threatened under President Trump for the first time ever, according to one Muslim scholar.
"They've had a disastrous outcome to their attempt of intimidating the United States," Council on Foreign Relations member Qanta Ahmed said Sunday on Fox & Friends. "Their attempts on the embassy in Baghdad failed, they've had Qassem Soleimani [figuratively] decapitated, they had to admit that they shot down their own commercial airliner, killing hundreds of people, 83 Iranians, many Iranians have lost multiple family members."
She added, "I think the Iranians have to ask themselves what else have they concealed."
When and how did President Donald Trump come up with the decision to have Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani killed? That's the question the media seems to have been asking for the past week — and so far, they've come up with wildly different answers.
Using the oh-so-tired "anonymous sources" trick, media outlets have reported everything from Trump wanted Soleimani dead back in 2017 to suggesting it was actually Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who pushed for the killing. Here are the four completely contradictory narratives the media have "reported," all based on anonymous officials:
Iran's top judge Ebrahim Raisi says the Judiciary in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will file a complaint against US President Donald Trump for the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani.
"In our view, because martyr Soleimani was the symbol of combating terrorism and supporting the oppressed, his assassination violates every law," said Raisi in a meeting of high-level Judiciary officials on Monday.
He added that the violation can be followed up and "I call upon law scholars to shout their protest … The US claims to hold power but has flagrantly violated the law and committed such a horrific crime, so, if we condone the US violation, we will not be able to follow up any others."
A Russian soldier on the advance in Syria, following the US pullout from this region, near Aleppo, in November 2018. US missteps in the Middle East are offering opportunities to Russia. Photo: AFP/Bekir Kasim/Anadolu Agency
On a complex chessboard, the US assassination grants Moscow immediate benefits – and wider regional potential
The US assassination of key Iranian General Qasem Soleimani potentially favors Moscow's game in Syria, while the collateral benefits of Baghdad-Washington tensions offer the Kremlin opportunities in Iraq.
The killing, on US President Donald Trump's orders, brought Tehran and Washington to the brink of open conflict which potentially could have had catastrophic consequences for the balance of forces promoted by Russia in the Middle East.
* The Royals held an unprecedented summit at Sandringham House today to thrash out a Sussex solution * Speaking afterwards in a statement, the Queen said that the royals had held 'very constructive discussions' * It has been agreed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will split their time between the UK and Canada * Her Majesty spoke of her deep regret at Harry and Meghan's decision to quit as senior Royals Wednesday * There will be a 'transition period' where the couple will likely wind down the volume of official Royal duties * Monarch has ordered courtiers to double down efforts to chart a way forward for Sussexes within days * Princes Charles, William and Harry drove from the Norfolk estate in three separate cars following meeting
The Queen allowed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to quit as senior Royals following a private heart-to-heart with her grandson at today's crisis summit, it was revealed tonight.
The Duke of Sussex is understood to have arrived at Her Majesty's Sandringham estate more than two hours before he was due to sit down with the monarch and Princes Charles and William to chart a way through the turmoil engulfing the Family.
According to friends, Harry wanted to put his side of the story to the Queen, who came into the crunch talks deeply disappointed with him and Meghan for wanting to step back from their official duties.
Russian officials have hailed "progress," although Libyan warlord Haftar has delayed signing the agreement. Warring factions are due in Berlin later this month to finalize a permanent cessation of hostilities.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that most parties to the conflict have signed the agreement except for Libyan general-turned-warlord Khalifa Haftar and his ally Aguila Saleh, speaker of Libya's breakaway parliament in the east.
"There has been certain progress," said Lavrov. But Haftar and Aguila "have asked for a bit more time until morning to make a decision on signing" the document, he added.
Haftar, who leads the militia known as Libyan National Army, is a key guarantor of the rival eastern government's power.
* ISIS is on the rise in south-east Syria and western Iraq, King Abdullah has warned * He added that many foreign fighters in Syria have made their way to Libya * Jordan's king is this week scheduled for talks in Brussels, Strasbourg and Paris
ISIS is regrouping and is once more on the rise in the Middle East, King Abdullah of Jordan has warned.
King Abdullah expressed concerns that the terror group had been re-establishing itself over the past year in south-eastern Syria and western Iraq.
'We have to deal with the reemergence of ISIS,' the king said, adding that it was a 'major concern'.
He added that many foreign fighters in Syria have made their way to Libya.
A composite image of US President Donald Trump and the Iranian military commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Leah Millis/Reuters; Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP
The timing raises new questions about the Trump administration's stated justification for taking out the top Iranian general.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump authorized the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani seven months ago if Iran's increased aggression resulted in the death of an American, according to five current and former senior administration officials.
The presidential directive in June came with the condition that Trump would have final signoff on any specific operation to kill Soleimani, officials said.
That decision explains why assassinating Soleimani was on the menu of options that the military presented to Trump two weeks ago for responding to an attack by Iranian proxies in Iraq, in which a U.S. contractor was killed and four U.S. service members were wounded, the officials said.
* Dozens of protesters chanted slogans at a Tehran university today on a third consecutive day of protests * Film director Masoud Kimiai and singer Alireza Assar have pulled out of events to show support for protests * Two state TV presenters quit over Iran's initial false reporting over last week's crash which killed 176 people * Tehran is now signalling de-escalation in the stand-off with the United States following Soleimani's death
Anti-government protests in Iran have entered a third day today after Tehran finally abandoned its pretence and admitted shooting down a passenger jet.
Dozens of protesters chanted slogans at a Tehran university today amid a wave of public anger after the plane was shot down with dozens of Iranians on board.
A string of Iranian celebrities have also turned on the regime and two state TV hosts have quit over Tehran's three days of false reporting on the crash.
Leading Iranian film director Masoud Kimiai has pulled out of Tehran's annual Fajr Film Festival in protest, saying he was 'on the side of the public'.
Iraqi officials say around $35 billion of the country's oil revenues are held at the US Federal Reserve, which means Washington's threat to restrict access could be a major problem
Iraqi officials fear economic "collapse" if Washington imposes threatened sanctions, including blocking access to a US-based account where Baghdad keeps oil revenues that feed 90 percent of the national budget.
US President Donald Trump was outraged by the Iraqi parliament voting on January 5 to oust foreign forces, including some 5,200 American troops, who have helped local soldiers beat back jihadists since 2014.
If troops were asked to leave, he threatened, "we will charge them sanctions like they've never seen before."
The US then delivered an extraordinary verbal message directly to Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi's office, two Iraqi officials told AFP.
AIN AL-ASAD, Iraq —U.S. commanders at the Iraqi military base targeted by Iranian missiles last week said Monday they believe the attack was intended to kill American personnel, an act that could have pushed the two powers closer to outright war.
On a visit to the sprawling Ain al-Asad air base in the Iraqi province of Anbar, reporters saw deep craters and the crumpled wreckage of living quarters and a helicopter launch site. The attack lasted more than an hour and a half, troops said, with each explosion illuminating the landscape for miles.
With tensions between the United States and Iran reaching a boiling point, the base had already been on high alert, expecting the sorts of rocket attacks that have target U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi forces across Iraq for months. The base hosts some 2,000 troops, 1,500 of them from the U.S.-led coalition.
A woman shouts slogans as she gathers with people to show their sympathy to the victims of the crash of the Boeing 737-800 plane, flight PS 752, in Tehran, Iran January 11, 2020. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
DUBAI (Reuters) - Protesters denouncing Iran's clerical rulers took to the streets and riot police deployed to face them on Monday, in a third day of demonstrations after authorities acknowledged shooting down a passenger plane by accident.
Demonstrations in Iran, some met by a violent crackdown, are the latest twist in one of the most serious escalations between Washington and Tehran since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Video showed students on Monday chanting slogans including "Clerics get lost!" outside universities in the city of Isfahan and in Tehran, where riot police were filmed taking positions on the streets.
U.S. crews at the Ain al-Asad military base in western Iraq cleared debris from the scene of an Iranian missile strike on Monday, with officials telling reporters that at least 10 missiles struck the airfield.
The Associated Press reported Monday that workers used forklifts and large trucks to move debris as large craters littered the area where Iranian missiles struck the base last week, causing no casualties. The base was one of two struck by Iranian missiles during the attack.
"There were more than 10 large missiles fired and the impact hit several areas along the airfield," coalition spokesman Col. Myles Caggins told the AP.
"We are leaving it to our friends of the U.S. to conduct themselves in a manner they see fit in attending to a situation like this," Abdulaziz said. The U.S. killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani earlier this month, triggering a dramatic escalation that many feared could result in a widening regional conflict. Iran, an arch-rival of Saudi Arabia in the region, responded to the U.S. attack by launching missiles at two military bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq.
Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said Monday that President Donald Trump should be able to do as he chooses when it comes to international security.
Speaking during a panel session at the International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz said: "The president of the United States is the president of the United States, he can do whatever he wishes."
He's "certainly" not accountable to me or "anybody in this room," he added.
WNU Editor: I could be wrong. But the impression that I am getting is that after spending years saying that the US should forcefully confront Iran, Saudi officials are now distancing themselves from the current US - Iran crisis.
More than a dozen Saudi servicemen training at US military installations will be expelled from the United States after a review that followed the deadly shooting last month at a Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, multiple sources told CNN.
The Saudis are not accused of aiding the 21-year-old Saudi Air Force second lieutenant who killed three American sailors in the December shooting, two sources said, but some are said to have connections to extremist movements, according to a person familiar with the situation.
A number are also accused of possessing child pornography, according to a defense official and the person familiar with the situation. The FBI and Justice Department declined to comment.
We should stop listening to the media on national security issues, since they are always wrong. As a captive audience, they make us accompany them through their stages of hysteria, and it's insufferable.
If anything may be gleaned from the recent hyperbolic reporting about Iran, it is that our media betters, particularly those reporting on national security issues, are deeply and inexorably challenged at providing reasonable and thoughtful analysis due to a blinding animus towards President Trump.
Nothing evinces this phenomenon more succinctly than the recent days in which supposedly serious national security reporters waxed poetic about the likelihood of World War III, while sharing unverified reports about tens of killings of Americans from Iranian state media. If we knew what was good for us, we would never offer the privilege of precious airwaves again to such individuals, but alas, they remain alert in the bunkers, waiting for the next national security issue to spin into full-blown crisis, if only to crush Trump. They have become the self-anointed soldiers of the Resistance, defending the Obama foreign policy legacy at all costs, even sacrificing their reputations to take up the mantle formerly assumed by Ben Rhodes.
WNU Editor: I would not say that they have always been wrong. But they have definitely failed in their coverage of Iran since the beginning of this year.
"During the last week, earth-shattering events occurred that completely disrupted the Middle East …. In other news the Americans assassinated Iranian General Qassem Soleimani."
In March 2013, I noted that Israel's discovery and development of huge offshore natural gas fields was a game-changer, putting Israel on course to become an energy superpower.
At that time, the field that had just come on line was the Tamar field. I wrote, Yesterday the Middle East changed forever, and you didn't know it:
Israel now is pumping natural gas from one of the enormous offshore fields which will transform Israel into an energy-independent nation and a global energy powerhouse:
WNU Editor: No longer being dependent on energy imports from hostile neighbours is a huge security boost for Israel. This is a game changer for its economy and its independence.
* Xi Jinping rejected proposals for a bilateral meeting with Donald Trump after the Apec summit in Chile was cancelled in November * A frantic three months in US-China relations will culminate in Liu He's trip to Washington next week, but analysts point to more choppy waters ahead
In the first week of November, after Chile cancelled the Apec summit and before the BRICS summit took place in Brasilia, there were intense discussions between China and the United States about a potential face-to-face meeting between their two respective leaders.
The hope was that after plans of a meeting in Chile's capital of Santiago were wrecked by violent street protests, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump might find a location to finalise a phase one trade deal, according to two separate sources briefed on the matter.
Trump's desire for an eye-catching photo opportunity with Xi has always been clear, with the US president looking for a "win" in the trade war to help boost his re-election campaign.
For Xi, however, the timing was off. The text of the agreement had not been finalised and the broader US-China bilateral relationship was clouded by protests in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
WNU Editor: Among the Chinese that I know they have trouble seeing this trade deal succeed. The Chinese are not motivated to buy US products, they are more focused on what they can sell. Chinese President Xi's reluctance to meet President Trump for a signing-op is also Beijing's way of deliberating sending a message to its citizens that this deal is not important, and it will not be enforced. But China does have a huge problem. As much as the Chinese leadership do not trust President Trump, foreign businesses do not trust China, and they are now leaving .... China's manufacturing exodus set to continue in 2020, despite prospect of trade war deal (SCMP).
Konstantin Sivkov, a member of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, says superior U.S. reconnaissance would give it the defining advantage.
Key Point: Sivkov's scenario relies on a lot of built-in assumptions, but it's still useful in designing strategy.
If U.S. and Chinese aircraft carriers were to clash, the U.S. Navy would win.
And who makes that prediction? A Russian military expert.
Konstantin Sivkov, a member of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, argues that superior U.S. reconnaissance capabilities would trump China's advantages in hypersonic missiles.
Sivkov lays out a sort of wargame for an America vs. China carrier clash that seems based on the World War II carrier battles between America and Japan, particularly the Battle of Midway. Those battles tended to be nail-biting, knife-edge affairs where victory or defeat rested on which side first spotted the other side's carriers, and then dispatched an airstrike against the vulnerable flattops.
BREXIT PARTY MEP Alexandra Phillips unleashed a scathing attack on Ursula von der Leyen and the European Union during a European Parliament plenary session on Tuesday.
EMMANUEL MACRON has begged Donald Trump not to reduce the US troop presence in Africa, warning his Presidential counterpart: "It would be bad news for us."
JUSTIN TRUDEAU has sworn to seek "justice" for those killed on board the Ukranian plane which was shot down by Iran amid a showdown between Donald Trump and Iranian leaders.
DONALD TRUMP has overseen a period of intense hostility between the US and Iran as the two countries exchange violent rhetoric and even drone strikes. While the US continues to apply pressure to Tehran's embattled regime, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously mocked the idea that taking military action against Iran is the way to resolve the issue.
THE EUROPEAN UNION will engage in a last-ditch attempt to convince Donald Trump to back down over his plans to hammer France by imposing duties on £2.4 billion worth of Champagne, cheese and other goods.
BILLIONAIRE, Yusaku Maezawa, seeks to find love on a Japanese video streaming website so that he finds a special someone to join him on a Space X trip around the moon in 2023.
When a company increases the number of shares issued through a secondary offering, it generally has a negative effect on the stock's price. Learn more on how the price is affecting by share dilution.
Alibaba has grown into a global technology giant, and its major shareholders have held steady. Here are the top five individual shareholders of the company.
Learn how Venmo one of the most popular apps in the peer-to-peer payments space actually works. You will learn what it is, what the fees are, how it makes money and more.
When you are indecisive about an investment, the best way to proceed may be to test various hypotheses using the most relevant statistics.Hypothesis testing comes to the aid for such decision-making. (Note: This article assumes readers' familiarity with concepts of a normal distribution table, formula, p-value and related basics of statistics.)
If you over-diversify your portfolio, you might not lose much, but you won't gain much either. Find out how to maintain a well-balanced set of investments.
Ever wish for a job that gives you less stress, more time with the family, or more money? Here you'll find a few careers to match your lifestyle goals.
Learn how awareness campaigns have led to huge minimum wage hikes in several large cities, and discover which U.S. cities have the highest minimum wages.
The Questrom School of Business is the business school located at Boston University. It was previously known as the Boston University School of Management.
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Aspirants who are appearing for MP NRHM Examination must download the NHRM MP Syllabus PDF to prepare well for the examination and also get a position in National Rural Health Mission, Madhya Pradesh. So, to help out the candidates our team recruitment.guru has provided the NHRM Exam Pattern 2020 to know more about the National Rural Health Mission Madhya Pradesh Examination. Aspirants can refer to the below section to secure the highest marks in the examination.
Job Description
Syllabus Link
Ayurvedic Medical Officer, Unani Medical Officer, STS, STLS & Other
NRHM MP Syllabus 2020 – Aspirants who are looking for Madhya Pradesh NRHM Syllabus for Ayurvedic Medical Officer, Unani Medical Officer, STS, STLS & Other Exam can get the complete details about the Exam Pattern & Syllabus topics. At the end of the section, we have given the direct link to download the Syllabus Pdf. Prepare well using the given syllabus & exam pattern details and get qualified in the exam.
Madhya Pradesh NRHM Syllabus 2020
Organization Name
National Rural Health Mission, Madhya Pradesh (NRHM MP)
Name of the Post
Ayurvedic Medical Officer, Unani Medical Officer, STS, STLS & Other
NRHM MP Syllabus 2020: Dear Candidates !! National Rural Health Mission, Madhya Pradesh Officials are planning to conduct the Written Examination for recruiting Senior Treatment Supervisor Posts. Aspirants can use this golden opportunity to get their desired jobs in the National Rural Health Mission Madhya Pradesh. We advised the aspirants to check the complete NHRM MP Senior Treatment Supervisor Syllabus 2020 to prepare well for the Written Examination and also get the highest marks in National Rural Health Mission Madhya Pradesh Examination.
National Rural Health Mission Madhya Pradesh Officials will be selected for the candidates through the following selection rounds. So, aspirants must know the NRHM MP Selection Process are prescribed below
IOCL Recruitment 2020 – Latest Job Notification is here regarding the Medical Officer Job in IOCL. Interested can apply from 04th January 2020 to 31st January 2020 for the 25 Medical Officer Vacancy in IOCL. Candidates who have completed MD/ MS & willing to make your career in Indian Oil Corporation Limited make use of this great chance. IOCL Application form 2020 is welcoming from the Indian Nationals through Postal mode.
Candidates who got qualified in the Pre-employment Medical Examination are only eligible for the Medical Officer vacancy in the Guwahati, Barauni, Gujarat, Haldia, Mathura, Panipat, Digboi, Bongaigaon and Paradip Refineries of IOCL. Rech down to know Educational qualification, vacancy details, salary, application fee & other important details.
IOCL Recruitment 2020: Latest Job Notification is here regarding the Trade Apprentice Job in Indian Oil Corporation Limited. Interested candidates can apply from 14th January 2020 to 27th January 2020 for 248 Trade Apprentice Vacancy in IOCL. Candidates who have completed their ITI in relevant field and are willing to make their career in Indian Oil Corporation Limited make use of this great chance. Selected candidates will be placed in South India (Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh). Applications are invited online from eligible candidates to fill up IOCL Vacancies.
IOCL Apprentice Recruitment 2020-21
Candidates who are really interested in IOCL jobs can read all the details given in the sections below. Then they can proceed to refer the IOCL Recruitment notification 2020 for further details. After this, they have to make sure they are eligible to apply. Aspirants can start applying by clicking on the IOCL Apply Online link provided. Start applying now to be part of IOCL Careers. ALL THE BEST!!
IOCL Recruitment 2020 @ www.iocl.com.| IOCL Northern Region Recruitment Notification released!! Candidates who were waiting forIndian Oil Corporation Limited Recruitment can now make note that the officials have released the job notification. IOCL wants to fill up 312 vacancies for the post of Technical & Non-Technical Apprentices. Eligible and interested candidates to apply online for IOCL jobs from 26th December 2019. The last date to apply for IOCL Recruitment is 22nd January 2020. Applications will be accepted only in the online mode.
IOCL Northern Region Recruitment 2020
Candidates, those who were searching for Latest Govt Jobs in IOCL can utilize this IOCL Recruitment 2019 opportunity. Candidates should register themselves at RDAT or BOAT or NSDC portal. Applications are invited from candidates meeting the following qualification & other parameters for engagement as Apprentices under the Apprentices Act in the Trade/Disciplines mentioned below. You can also check the IOCL Notification in the official website @ www.iocl.com
The details of the vacancy as given in the IOCL Marketing Division – Northern Region Recruitment 2019 for Apprentice Posts is mentioned below
Name of the Post
Number of Vacancies
Technical & Non-Technical Apprentices
312
Total
312
State Wise IOCL Apprentice 2020 Vacancy Details
Name of the State
Number of Vacancies
Delhi
41
Haryana
43
Himachal Pradesh
08
Jammu & Kashmir
08
Punjab
42
Rajasthan
41
Uttar Pradesh
108
Uttarakhand
12
Chandigarh
04
Total
312
Eligibility Criteria for IOCL Trade & Technician Apprentice Vacancy 2020
Candidates interested in IOCL Apprentice Recruitment 2020 can check their eligibility with the details below to apply.
Academic Qualification:
Candidate must have completed 12th/3 years Diploma/ ITI from recognized Institute/University with minimum 50 % marks in aggregate for General & OBC candidates & 45% in case of SC/ST candidates against reserved positions.
Read the official notification for more details on IOCL Careers.
Age Limit:
Minimum – 18 Years
Maximum – 24 Years
For age limit and age relaxation details as given in the IOCL Recruitment Northern Region, refer to the official notification
Selection Process:
Written Test
Interview
Pay Scale for IOCL Recruitment Northern Region 2020:
Rate of stipend payable to apprentices per month shall be as prescribed under the Apprentices Act, and Corporation's guidelines.
Refer to the official website for more details on the pay scale for IOCL Northern Region Jobs.
IOCL Recruitment 2019: Candidates who were waiting forIndian Oil Corporation Limited Panipat Refinery Recruitment can now make note that the IOC Panipat officials have released the job notification. Ther want to fill up 37 vacancies for the post of Junior Engineer Assistant. They want eligible and interested candidates to apply online for IOCL jobs from 20th December 2019. The last date to apply for IOCL Recruitment is 17th January 2020. Applications will be accepted only in the online mode.
IOCL Panipat Refinery Recruitment 2019-20
Candidates, those searching for Latest Govt Jobs in IOCL can utilize this IOCL Recruitment 2019 opportunity. Before beginning the Junior Engineer applying process verify if you are eligible for the posts. If you meet those eligibility requirements, you can apply for IOCL Jobs. Therefore, eligible aspirants will have to send their online applications before the last date. You can also check the IOCL Notification in the official website @ www.iocl.com
Overview of IOCL Panipat Refinery Jobs 2019
Name of the Organization
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) Panipat Refinery & Petrochemical Complex
Candidates interested in IOCL Panipat Refinery Jobs can check their eligibility with the details below to apply.
Academic Qualification:
Candidate must have completed 3 Years Diploma or BSc in a recognized institute/ university in India
Read the official notification for more details on IOCL Careers.
Age Limit:
Minimum – 18 Years
Maximum – 26 Years
For age limit and age relaxation details as given in the IOCL Panipat Recruitment 2019, refer to the official notification
Selection Process:
Written Test
Interview
Physical Test
Pay Scale for IOCL Panipat Refinery Recruitment 2019:
Rs. 25,000/- to Rs. 1,05,000/- per month
Refer to the official website for more details on the pay scale for IOCL Panipat Refinery Jobs
IOCL Panipat Refinery Online Application Fee:
General Candidates – Rs. 150/- (Rupees One Hundred and Fifty Only)
SC/ ST Candidates – No application Fee
How to apply for IOCL Panipat Refinery Recruitment 2019?
Visit Indian Oil Corporation official website www.iocl.com
Download the IOCL Panipat Refinery Apprentice Notification directly
Verify the eligibility conditions and check the instructions mentioned in the advertisement
If eligible click on the IOCL Panipat Refinery Jobs online apply link
Fill the online form and submit the application after checking filled details
Pay the application fee, if applicable
Take printouts of the application for future reference
After applying online, send the print out of the application form to the address given below along with self-attested photocopies of all documents through the ordinary post before the last date through ordinary post
Postal Address:
Post Box No. 128, Panipat Head Post Office, Panipat, Haryana – 132103
Important Links for IOCL Panipat Refinery Recruitment 2019-20:
Jiwaji University Results 2020 Released for Diploma, B.B.A, L.L.M, M.A, M.Com, M.Sc, B.Sc, M.A, M.P.ED, B.T.M, and also Other Courses. Jiwaji University has conducted the UG and PG Semester Examination. Those candidates who have appeared for the semester examination of Jiwaji University can check out the Exam Results from the below section. Students can download the Jiwaji University Gwalior Results 2020 from the below section. Also, get the Jiwaji University New Updates right here on this recruitment.guru webpage.
Check out the updated semester exam results for all B.A, B.B.A, L.L.M, B.Sc, M.A, M.SC, M.Ed, B.Ed, Diploma and Other Courses Offered by the Jiwaji University. Our webpage will provide you with all the updated information about the results as soon as it is updated on the main page. We have gathered and updated the results links which will direct you to the result page of Jiwaji University. Students can check out the Jiwaji University Results 2020 through Online. Students can take a print out of Jiwaji University Results for future verification.
Jiwaji University Gwalior is started on 23rd May 1964. Ist established through M.P. Govt. Ordinance no. 15 of 1963. This was a generous contribution of the Scindia family, in particular, Kailashwasi Maharaja Shrimant Jiwaji Rao Scindia and late Rajmata Shrimati Vijayaraje Scindia. The institution was christened after the name of Kailashwasi Shrimant Jiwajirao Scindia as a standing memorial to his persona. The motto of the university in its logo Vidyaya Prapyate Tejah. It is now almost forty-seven years. University has witnessed a logarithmic phase of growth. It has also seen the strides that can parallel to any other national/ international academic institutions. The university fraternity has contributed with full strength for the growth of this institution which is flourishing and fragrancing in the tough terrain of Chambal and Gwalior region and promoting higher education for the better quality of life of the people.
Jiwaji University Supplementary/Revaluation Results 2020
Those students who have attended the regular examination under Jiwaji 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 Jiwaji University Revaluation Results. For every semester Students can apply for the revaluation after the announcement of the main examination results. Jiwaji 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 Results.
Tumkur University Results 2020 Declared: Dear Students !!! Tumkur University has declared UG, PG, Diploma, and Other Exam Results 2020. UG and PG Semester and Annual Exam Results will be uploaded on the official website of the university. Students who have done with the exam in there streams like B.A, B.Sc, B.Com, M.A, M.Sc, M.Com, BCA, and Others are eagerly waiting for the result. The examination results are very important for the students to go to next semester. Students can keep in touch with our recruitment.guru webpage to get the latest updated Tumkur University Results 2020.
Students can check their course-wise results simply by visiting the official website of Tumkur University. Tumkur University conducts the semester-based term-end examinations for all the courses that it offers. Tumkur University releases the Online Results for Odd and Even Semesters. Also, Here on this page, we used to update the latest information about the Tumkur University Results. Apart from this, we will be updating the Upcoming Tumkur University Results Name Wise, it will work once the University will release it officially. Moreover, we will update the latest information about Tumkur University Results 2020 Name Wise, Tumkur University Exam Schedule, Admit Card, Previous Paper, Syllabus, and also others.
Latest Tumkur University EMS Results 2020:Click Here
Visit the official website of Tumkur University i.e tumkuruniversity.ac.in
In the home page, you will find the Examination tab and click on the results
In the result page, you have to enter the registration number and Year of the Course
Click on the result link for which course you want to check
Results will appear on the screen
Take the printout of the Tumkur University result for future reference.
About Tumkur University
The establishment of Tumkur University was in 2004 in Tumkur, Karnataka, India. From the Bangalore University, Tumkur District students accommodated with their basic needs. Set up under the Karnataka State Universities Act, 2000, as a multi-workforce college, it has 12 postgraduate divisions, 2 constituent schools, and 94 subsidiary schools. It established 29 research centers to promote advanced multi-disciplinary research and academic collaborations. In the year 2000-2001, new subjects like Computer Science, Microbiology, Electronics and Biochemistry also merged up. In 2008, postgraduate courses included in Chemistry, Physics, and Environment Science.
Tumkur University Supply/Revaluation Results
Students who fail need not worry. Just take another step for Revaluation and wait for the Tumkur University to announce the results. Once they applied for the Examination, the higher level Examiner will check the paper again. They can get the revaluation results within the time. Also if they still get fail marks, they can apply for the supplementary examination. For each and every semester Students can apply for the revaluation after the announcement of the main examination results. Tumkur University will take a week or more to process the exam papers to announce the Tumkur University Revaluation Results. Do stay updated with the University to know about the Revaluation Exam Results.
OPSC Result 2020: Candidates who have appeared for the Odisha Public Service Commission written examinations. Then you can find the results for all Odisha PSC exam online on our page. Aspirants who are looking for the OPSC Results 2020 can find the direct link at the end of the page. Hence, candidates can check the complete details regarding the examination and check your Odisha PSC exam result online.
OPSC Municipal Administrative Service Result 2020 Released: Candidates who are eagerly waiting for the OPSC Results 2020 can get their exam results here. A huge number of candidates have written the Municipal Administrative Service Examination conducted by the Odisha Public Service Commission on 03rd November 2019. The Officials of Odisha Public Service Commission has declared the OPSC Municipal Administrative Service Result on 10th January 2020. Here, we have provided the direct link to download the OPSC Result 2020 on this page. Candidates can also go through the entire article to know the Odisha PSC Results 2020, Cut Off Marks and Merit List 2020 on this webpage.
OPSC Municipal Administrative Service Result 2020
Description
Details
Organization Name
Odisha Public Service Commission
Post Name
Group A (Assistant Director, Municipal Administrative/ Assistant Commissioner, Chief Executive Officer, Enforcement Officer), and Group B (Executive Officer)
OPSC Municipal Administrative Service Result 2020 – Click Here
Odisha Public Service Commission Civil Services Final Result 2020 Released: Odisha Public Service Commission has commenced the Civil Services Group A & Group B Examination from 5th July 2020 to 29th July 2020 and the Personality Test was started from 17th to 28th December 2019. A large number of aspirants appeared for the Examination and waiting for the OPSC Civil Services Group A Mains Result 2020. Moreover, the Department has declared the OPSC Civil Services Group A and Group B Final Result 2020 on 6th January 2020. Here on this page, we will update the direct link to download the OPSC Civil Services Cut Off Marks and Merit List 2020 from this page. And the link is activated now.
OPSC Civil Services Mains Result 2020 – Click Here
Odisha Public Service Commission Medical Officer Result 2019: Candidates who have participated in the Odisha Public Service Commission wait for the latest update of Result. Odisha Public Service Commission gives the recruitment notification for various vacancies like a medical officer, civil services examination, groups 1, 2, 3 & other every year. However, for those candidates who have applied for the vacancies and appeared for the written examinations, we have given the direct link to check the result online here. As per the latest update from the Odisha Public Service Commission, the candidates who had completed the exam on 22nd December 2019, will get the result on 27th December 2019.
OPSC Assistant Town Planner Result 2019 Released @ www.opsc.gov.in: The Odisha Public Service Commission has commenced the Written examination for Assistant Town Planner Posts on 10th November 2019. A huge number of applicants attended the Examination and now start searching for the OPSC ATP Exam Result 2020. However, the Odisha PSC Board has announced the OPSC Assistant Town Planner Exam Result 2020 on 21st December 2019. Therefore, the candidates can get the OPSC Exam Results 2019 through this page. Moreover, the aspirants can also download the Odisha Assistant Town Planner Cut Off Marks 2019, Odisha Assistant Town Planner Merit List 2019 from this site.
OPSC Geologist, Geophysicist, Mining Officer Result 2020: The officials of Odisha Public Service Commission have conducted the exam for Geologist, Geophysicist, Mining Officer posts. Aspirants those who appeared for the OPSC Geologist Exam 2019 on 8th September 2019 must verify this article completely. The officials are going to released the Odisha PSC Result 2020 on 29th November 2019. So, Candidates can check their OPSC Results 2019 on this page.
OPSC Result Assistant Agriculture Engineer (AAE) Result 2020: The officials of Odisha Public Service Commission have conducted the exam for Assistant Agriculture Engineer post. Aspirants those who appeared for the OPSC AAE Exam 2019 on 17th November 2019 must verify this article completely. The officials are going to release the OPSC AAE Result 2020 in January 2020(Tentatively). Here, we will update the direct link to download the OPSC AAE Result 2020.
OPSC Assistant Agriculture Engineer Result 2020 – Click Here
OPSC Cut Off Marks 2020
Cut off marks are the minimum qualifying marks applicants must score to get qualified for further rounds. However, the cut off marks are decided by the board and hence there would be no ambiguity. The OPSC Cut Off marks are decided by the officials for various categories. Moreover, the OPSC Cut Off marks varies every year depending on the crowd. Those contenders have to reach the expected marks to attend further rounds. Hence guys prepare well for the exam to be part of the board.
Odisha PSC Merit List 2020
The OPSC Results 2020 will be here soon when released by the officials. Results play an important role for those applicants who had appeared for the examination. To help contenders easily check their OPSC Merit List 2020 we have provided direct links and steps. OPSC Exam Result 2020 is released by the officials and hence there would be no ambiguity. Moreover, results can be viewed only by those contenders who had appeared for the exams. However, we have provided direct links and steps to help candidates easily get their results. Hence stay tuned on our page and check your results as soon as possible.
Steps to Download OPSC Exam Results 2020
First, applicants have to visit the official website of Odisha Public Service Commission ie. www.opsc.gov.in
Then check the OPSC Results 2020.
The result page appears
Enter your hall ticket number carefully and click on the submit button.
A result page appears.
Check your name on the OPSC Merit List 2020.
Download the results.
Finally, take the printout of the OPSC Result 2020.
KUHS Results 2020 Declared: Dear Students !!! Kerala University of Health Sciences announced the course wise results through its official website i.e., kuhs.ac.in. Here on this page, we provide the result for various KUHS courses like Nursing, Ayurveda, Pharmacy, Paramedical, Medical, Unani, Siddha, Dental and others. Hence, go through the information of Kerala University of Health results in sections below. We recruitment.guru moderated this page with the most recent results given by the KUHS for various courses. And this article is completely enclosed with the latest updated KUHS Results 2020.
Students studying at the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) used to check their exam results this month. Here on this page, we have provided a direct link to get the KUHS Results2020 from the below table. We update the results on our page immediately when the official website updates. By this student who is eager to check the result can find without any delay. Also, reduces the confusion in finding their performance in the examinations. So, we advise the students of Kerala University of Health Sciences to check the latest Updated KUHS Results 2020 through our recruitment.guru website.
Latest Updated KUHS Exam Results 2020
Name of the Exam
Release Date
Download Link
Retotal Result-First BHMS Degree Regular/Supplementary (2015 Scheme) Examinations, October 2019
Kerala University of Health Sciences was established in the year 2010. The university is located in the government medical college, Thrissur. It was established on the basis of the Kerala University of Health Act 2010. There are 282 professional colleges of Kerala affiliated under this university. All affiliated colleges imparting professional education in health care in Kerala. All branches of treatment would come under the university and medical colleges now functioning under different Universities.
KUHS Supply/Revaluation Results
Students have a chance to apply for the revaluation, if the students may get low marks in the examination, they can apply for the KUHSRevaluation Results. So again the head of the Examiner will review the answer paper. After revaluation, students may get high marks. Still, if anyone got low marks, they can apply for the Supplementary Examinations. For Revaluation/Supplementary, students should pay the fee. Students can get all the results from this page Regular, Revaluation and Supplementary Results. Students of Kerala University of Health Sciences can also get all Results Also. Just we are advising the Students to frequently visit this page to get the latest updates of all KUHS Revaluation Exam Results 2020.
Calicut University Results 2020 Released @ uoc.ac.in:Dear Candidates !!!Calicut Universityis one of the famous university in Kerala which releases the examination results by the board. Updated Calicut University Results released on 13th January 2020 for Semester wise Bachelor and Master Degree Exams. Here, we provide all UG/PG Course Results according to the semester wise. Candidates do check the complete section to know the latest Updated Calicut University Exam Results 2020.
Calicut University (CU) is one of the top universities in India. Around 373 colleges are affiliated to the University of Calicut which has an annual intake of 100000 students. The University conducts exams for the students who are pursuing their UG, PG Programme, Ph.D. Programming Courses. Candidates can get the updated University results from the below section which will direct you to the official site. Candidates can check their exam results of all exams from the direct link given below. Students can keep in touch with our recruitment.guru webpage to check the latest updated Calicut University Results 2020.
The University of Calicut is the largest University in Kerala. Established in the year 1968, it is the second university to be set up in Kerala. The University aims to nurture excellence in education and research in its catchment areas of Northern Kerala, historically consigned to the periphery of Kerala's academic map. Calicut University lays its emphasis on fostering quality human resource that benefits both local communities and wider humanity. The University created through a Government plan bifurcating Kerala University. The four post-graduate departments of the University of Kerala operating in Calicut annexed to the new University along with 54 constituent colleges spread across 7 northern districts.
University of Calicut Regular/ Supplementary Results
Students, those who have not cleared or got low marks in the University examinations can apply for the Revaluation. This is is a second chance for the students to increase their marks in subjects in which they have scored low marks. If students have written the main exam well and still got a low score or having doubts in the correction of the exam paper it is a choice to increase their marks. Currently, the university has released the Calicut University Revaluation Results for UG, PG with all-region Students. So Students can check the Revaluation results from the official website as well as on this page.
NCR Result 2020 @ ncr.indianrailways.gov.in: Candidates who are eagerly waiting for NCR Trade Apprentice Result can get their exam results on this page. A huge number of candidates have appeared for the North Central Railway Trade Apprentice Examination 2019. The Officials of North Central Railway is planning to release the NCR Trade Apprentice Result 2020 on 20th January 2020 (Tentatively). Here, we have provided NCR Results, Merit List, Cut Off, Selection List and Others on this page.
NCR Apprentice Result 2020
Candidates who have attempted Trade Apprentice Examination conducted by the North Central Railway can check the results from this page. Every examiner who is taken for a selection process based on the eligibility and educational qualification. Based on the merit list, the candidates are shortlisted and called for the further selection process. Check the full selection list by tuning the official website of North Central Railway. Also, we have included the steps to download the NCR Trade Apprentice Result 2020. We advise you to keep in touch with our recruitment.guru page to get the day to day updates.
Above all the details will give information such as the Organization name, Post name, number of vacancies, the category of the Results, the Result Release Date, Selection Process, the job location, and the Official site to check the North Central Railway Results. Candidates who got shortlisted in the Written Examination will be eligible to go for further selection rounds. All the exam participants can gather detailed information about NCR Cut Off Marks 2020 and also Merit List from the below sections.
NCR Apprentice Merit List 2020
The Officials of North Central Railway will provide the NCR Trade Apprentice Merit List 2020 based on the application details. So the candidates must be attentive to the details which are given while applying. Whereas the officials release the NCR Trade Apprentice Merit List 2020 based on the highest marks in the education. After the North Central Railway Apprentice Merit List 2020 is released, then go with the PDF according to the Name of the aspirant, Father Name, Catagory, etc.
North Central Railway Apprentice Selection List 2020
The North Central Railway Apprentice Selection List 2020 states the aspirants got selected for 296 Trade Apprentice posts. So it is important to verify the final North Central Railway Apprentice Selection List 2020. Therefore candidates can know the status of selection based on the application details. Go through the entire article to know more detailed information about the NCR Apprentice Result.
How to Download North Central Railway Apprentice Result 2020?
Visit the official website @ ncr.indianrailways.gov.in.
North Central Railway home page will be opened on the screen.
On top of the home page News & Recruitment section gets updated.
Click on Recruitments.
Check for the North Central Railway Apprentice Result 2020.
Click on Result of NCR Apprentice.
Download and check the NCR Apprentice Result.
Take a print out of it for future reference
Direct Links to Download NCR Apprentice Result 2020
Mumbai University Results 2020Declared for T.Y.B.Com, B.E, B.Sc, M.A on 13th January 2020. Check out the updated Mumbai University Semester wise Exam Results 2020-21 details from the below section. We have updated the University Exam Results from the official website. As the University Board has released the UG/PG Exam Results. The current page is fully equipped with the results of all courses like B.E, M.A., T.Y.B.A., B.Arch, M.A and soon. Hence, Check other information on Mumbai University Results in the below sections of this page. Check out more information on the official website i.e,mu.ac.in.
As that the University of Mumbai has released the semester wise examination results through Pdf format. Those candidates who wish to check down their results can check it out here. The Mumbai University has updated the results for T.Y.B.Com, B.Sc, M.A, B.Pharm, M.Sc, and also various other courses on 13th January 2020as a recent update. Students of Mumbai University check the updated and previously released examination results from the below section. We requested the students to stay in touch with our recruitment.guru page to get the recent updates about the Mumbai University Results 2020.
Latest Updated Mumbai University Exam Results 2020
Mumbai University is one of the oldest universities in Maharashtra & Mumbai city as well. It was established on 18th July 1857. The Mumbai University is also known for MU. Most of the people usually called it as MU. It offers Bachelor’s, Master & Doctoral courses. along with these courses, it also offers Diploma courses, Certificate courses in multiple disciplines like Arts, Commerce, Science, Medical & Engineering. It has 3 main campuses across Mumbai city and one it out of the city. wherein the Fort campus carries out only administrative works. There are 711 colleges affiliated to the university as per the 2011 census. When we discuss Key people of the university, The Honorable Governor of Maharashtra giving services as Chancellor and also Mr.Suhas Pednekar is Vice-Chancellor of the Mumbai University.
Mumbai University Revaluation Exam Results 2020-21
Candidates of Mumbai University those who have undergone the Semester Examination for the courses conducted by the University it time for you check out exam results. Students who failed in the regular examination can go for the second chance which is called Revaluation Results. This revaluation results will also help in increasing the scorecard obtained in the regular examination. This Revaluation is only for those who wish that their examination paper should be evaluated once again. As soon as the main exam results are released the University Board will announce the revaluation dates. Students those wish can apply for the revaluation. Do have a regular update with the official website of the University as that the Mumbai University Board releases the Revaluation Results within a few week’s interval gaps.
NEW DELHI: The government is likely to make fraudulent claims for input tax credit a non-bailable offence in the hands of recipients of goods and services in the February 1 budget by tightening the GST law, as it seeks to plug leakages. CXOs, directors or employees directly responsible for making such claims can also be penalised as per the proposed changes aimed at tackling evasion."Changes are being proposed to the law to plug issues related to fraud input tax credit," said a government official. The threshold of Rs 5 crore will apply for the offence being treated as bailable; beyond that it will be non-bailable. The provision already applies to suppliers of goods and services.GST Council has Okayed ChangesThe provision is now proposed to be expanded to include recipients found guilty of colluding in such fraud, said the person.The proposed amendments to Sections 122 and 132 of the GST Act have been endorsed by the law committee and the GST Council, the apex decision-making body for the tax. Current provisions don't have specific measures to deal with such tax evasion."A value-added tax like GST should have explicit penalties to deal with cases where active collusion results in input tax credit frauds," said MS Mani, partner, Deloitte India. "Such cases by a small community of taxpayers lead to increasing compliance and procedural requirements on all taxpayers." 73237453 Another official said the government has come to the view that beneficiaries of such fraudulent claims, usually made through dummy companies, should be penalised commensurately.The authorities have registered several cases in which input tax credit has been claimed without supporting invoices or receipt of goods or services. A clear provision in the law will provide a framework for dealing with such cases, the second official said.An official said the names of daily wage earners such as rickshaw pullers and others are being used to open multiple firms that issue invoices without supply of goods or services to pass on input tax credit. Those who orchestrate such frauds also arrange for actual suppliers of goods or services to whom these invoices will be sold on payment of an agreed amount of money.These suppliers then utilise this credit to either discharge their GST liability or claim refunds of duty paid on export of overvalued goods, the official said.The GST Council has also endorsed changes to Section 49 of the GST Act empowering officials to block credit in the case of fraud. This will also be introduced in the budget.Experts said the changes will need to be elaborated upon to avoid confusion. "While there is a need to have legislative recourse to prevent such instances, it's important that government issues detailed guidelines as to how and when these provisions have to be invoked so that possibility of misuse can be minimised," said Pratik Jain, indirect tax leader, PwC.
Mumbai: The government is considering a proposal to extend further incentives to salaried tax payers in the upcoming budget. The finance ministry may allow tax exemptions of up to Rs 2.5 lakh for savings under the 80 category and carve out a separate segment under section 80C of the Income Tax Act to give tax exemptions up to Rs 50,000 for National Savings Certificate (NSC), three people familiar with the development said.It is also mulling allowing a maximum investment limit of Rs 2.5 lakh for Public Provident Fund (PPF) investors. "A proposal to allow tax incentives on the small savings scheme, especially PPF and NSC, is with the finance ministry. If given a go ahead, these would be part of the budget announcement," an official, privy to the matter, said. "These fiscal incentives would put more money in the hands of the savers."Presently, there is an exemption of Rs 1.5 lakh under section 80C of the IT Act, which includes investments made to the PPF account. NSC is also part of that exception. India's household sector's saving rate fell to 17.2 percent in 2017-18 from 23.6 percent of GDP in 2011-12. Data for FY19 is unavailable. Since 2011-12, household savings in financial assets have hovered around 7 percent of GDP. 73237572 Bank deposits, at 27%, account for the biggest share in the total gross financial savings of households. The government's plan is to put more money in the hands of the savers and hope to spur consumption. "The potential increased savings arising on account of an increase in the limit of PPF by Rs 1 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh is immense if we consider that there could be over 3 crore individual taxpayers having a gross total income of Rs 5 lakh or more. Compared to other measures around providing tax relief, this one has the advantage of garnering significant personal savings," said Gautam Mehra, leader, tax and regulatory services, PwC India."Also, a step like this could go be crucial at a time when India's savings are going down," he said. ET recently reported that a flat tax rate without exemptions, new slabs for those earning higher incomes, cuts in personal income tax in line with those in corporate tax, are proposals being examined ahead of the upcoming federal budget on February 1.The government has already shrunk its kitty through the Rs 1.45 lakh crore in corporate tax cuts, but that's seen as part of broader direct tax reform aimed at attracting investments. But it sparked calls for cuts in personal income tax, since there were no reliefs in this regard in the last budget.Industry trackers said while these proposals may put some dent in the tax collections, it won't be crucial. The government is trying to manage the fiscal deficit that stood at Rs 8.07 lakh crore at the end of November last year, 13% above the full-year target, as per the Controller General of Accounts. Indian revenue collections have been below expectation.
MUMBAI: The Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group has leaned on its stake in Tata Sons — the subject of India's biggest corporate battle — to buy time for the liquidity-starved construction empire and raise short-term funds, said people with knowledge of the matter.Deutsche Bank has provided $200 million (Rs 1,400 crore) as bridge financing, they said. The funds were given to Sterling Investments and Cyrus Investments, which belong to the Mistry family, against the ownership of Tata Sons shares, they said.Cyrus Mistry has challenged his ouster from Tata Sons in October 2016 — the case is currently in the Supreme Court. The 18% stake that the Mistry family owns in Tata Sons is held through the two entities.This short-term finance is part of a larger fundraising exercise that the Mistrys and SP Group are evaluating to deal with the squeeze. The SP Group has also initiated several divestment exercises, including selling flagship Eureka Forbes and solar energy assets.SP Group Needs Rs 5,000-6,000 CrThe Deutsche Bank funding is a temporary solution to meet immediate needs ahead of the asset sales, said the people cited above.Cyrus Mistry's office, the SP Group and Deutsche Bank declined to comment. Tata Sons didn't respond to queries. 73237392 The SP Group likely needs Rs 5,000-6,000 crore to give them the flexibility to undertake group-wide M&As and divestments in order to restructure the balance sheet.Closely held Tata Sons, which controls the $111 billion conglomerate spanning more than 100 companies, is 66% owned by Tata Trusts, helmed by chairman emeritus Ratan Tata.Sources said the Mistrys have been in talks with a diverse set of funds including KKR, banks such as Standard Chartered and nonbank finance companies (NBFCs) like Edelweiss, among others, to raise funds. Talks with KKR had advanced significantly but were inconclusive, said the people cited above."Multiple discussions are ongoing," said one of those directly involved. "They are looking at different deals, structuring with different sets of investors—asset-based, project-level funding, holding company infusion that gives them options to use the money whichever way they want… This was an urgent requirement, so Deutsche Bank stepped in."The documentation for the financing is believed to have been finalised at the end of December.The SP Group had informed exchanges on December 31 that the promoters had repaid another tranche of the Rs 750 crore debt owed to group company Sterling and Wilson Solar (SWSL). The Deutsche Bank funding is expected to have assisted in those repayments.The Mistrys have been engaged in a legal battle alleging suppression of minority shareholder rights in the wake of Cyrus Mistry's ouster in October 2016. The constitution of Tata Sons was changed in September 2017 to convert it into a private limited company from a public limited one. This freed it of the need to seek shareholder consent on crucial decisions, which could be passed with board approval.The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had reinstated Cyrus Mistry in Tata Sons and quashed the latter's conversion, terming it "illegal" on December 18. The Supreme Court subsequently stayed the NCLAT order in its entirety on January 10.The Mistrys have alleged that the decision to convert Tata Group's holding company was to choke the family's liquidity tap. At a time when the group is facing an unprecedented liquidity crunch, being able to raise money against the holdings in the Tata Group will help immensely, said people close to the Mistrys.The value of the Mistry family stake, as per various credit assessments for advancing money against it, is pegged at $14-20 billion. Cyrus Mistry had cited $14 billion as an estimate in the past. "Therefore, at this point, the ability to realise the full value of their 'stored wealth' would help the family whose main business has been construction and realty – both parched for cash," said a Mistry family associate.Tata Group experts said the transfer of Tata Sons shares to a third party would need board approval. As per its Articles of Association, such a transfer can only take place among shareholders. If they do not exercise the right of first refusal (RoFR), then the board can authorise a share sale, according to the persons cited.A share pledge, however, is different from a transfer though theoretically the equity can be invoked in case of a default.It is unclear if Tata Sons knew about the recent transactions or if the Mistrys sought any approvals.There are various ways in which such deals can be structured, banking sources said."One needs a collateral but instead of direct control of the shares, lenders do use combination of covenants and structuring methods like a non-disposal undertaking or power of attorney… What matters is the effective control," said a banker. "Here too, the transactions are with entities which in turn own Tata Sons shares, even though the value lies there."The SP Group sold nearly 3.9 million shares in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in December to raise around Rs 780 crore as part of the group's assetmonetisation plan to pare its Rs 30,000 crore debt. The TCS share sale was undertaken "with a view to strengthen the balance sheet," the company said last month.What has compounded the urgency is the group's need to pay off the debt raised from Sterling and Wilson, a commitment that had been made before its initial public offer. Sterling and Wilson got listed in August last year. The Rs 2,850 crore IPO was to have enabled the promoters to repay loans amounting to Rs 2,563 crore within 90 days of listing.
The government will roll out the option of cash recharge for FASTags to accelerate its adoption, as penetration of electronic toll collection (ETC) has been stagnating after a steep rise in toll collection via FASTags since December 15.Over 40% traffic is being registered in hybrid lanes at toll plazas meant for both cash and electronic collection, nearly a month after government mandated use of FASTags in at least 75% of toll lanes at plazas across national highways.The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been mandated the task of implementing the ETC infrastructure to reduce congestion at toll plazas. Come January 15, only one hybrid lane in each direction will be allowed at toll plazas in the country."Right now, country wide toll collection via FASTags is still at around 60%," said an official in the know. "While we saw a rampant increase in the first three weeks, the growth is stagnating now," the official said. 73235346 "There are some toll plazas where the traffic flow is very less, so people are using the hybrid lane instead of FASTag ones," another official said.
MUMBAI: The family pack is very much in demand – and is moving at a fast clip in an otherwise sputtering auto market.Led by a series of new launches, the multiple purpose vehicles (MPV), or family cars, are back. The segment registered 35% growth in 2019 to 2.2 lakh units, with cars priced between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 25 lakh. By contrast, most segments of the automotive market contracted, often in double digits.So, the share of MPVs in India has risen from 5% to 8%. To be sure, at its peak, MPVs accounted for 10% of the overall market. Launches from Kia, Maruti Suzuki and Toyota should help the segment regain its previous peak.The segment was singlehandedly driven by Maruti Suzuki's new generation Ertiga, which accounted for almost 50% share. It was complemented by Renault Triber at the entry level, making up a tenth of the market. Toyota Innova continues to rule the upper end of the segment, which now has Maruti's XL6 and Mahindra Marazzo populating the middle.Shashank Srivastava, ED, sales and marketing, Maruti Suzuki, says design is the number one criteria while buying an MPV now."It has been an exceptional year for us in the MPV segment. MPVs grew by over 100% led by the new Ertiga. With the new-generation vehicle, we are not only seeing the percentage of first car buyers moving up, but also an increasing number of buyers who are affluent and prefer a top-end variant," said Srivastava.Interestingly, the share of petrol in MPVs has gone up to 35-38% from 5% about 5-7 years ago, and Maruti Suzuki is also reporting strong demand for the CNG variant of Ertiga.First-time buyers for Ertiga have jumped from 16% to 37% over the last seven years, indicating higher affordability quotient. For Renault India, the share was even higher, at 62%, thanks to the sub-6 lakh price point.Gaurav Vangaal, country lead for production forecasting at IHS Markit, said MPVs are fast transforming from high-on-practicality and space to high-on-design and features, with space and ride comfort as a prerequisite."MPVs today have similar specifications to the high-on-aspiration SUVs. Barring the difference on exteriors, there is very little to differentiate on the inside. Fleets always formed a sizeable share of the MPV market, but with new-generation vehicles, we expect increased traction from personal buyers too," added Vangaal.Naveen Soni, Sr VP, sales and service at Toyota Kirloskar, said the Innova created the people mover segment and has remained the preferred choice for thousands of family buyers over the years. With time, Innova has evolved with the needs of the Indian buyers and has remained a strong contender for upgrading families."Upright driving position and stance of the vehicles are some of the other factors behind buyers' continued preference for the Innova," added Soni.Renault has no plans to open up Triber to fleets as yet. Mahindra too ensured that the fleet version of Marazzo came in much later.
NEW DELHI: The government is likely to make fraudulent claims for input tax credit a non-bailable offence in the hands of recipients of goods and services in the February 1 budget by tightening the GST law, as it seeks to plug leakages. CXOs, directors or employees directly responsible for making such claims can also be penalised as per the proposed changes aimed at tackling evasion."Changes are being proposed to the law to plug issues related to fraud input tax credit," said a government official. The threshold of Rs 5 crore will apply for the offence being treated as bailable; beyond that it will be non-bailable. The provision already applies to suppliers of goods and services.GST Council has Okayed ChangesThe provision is now proposed to be expanded to include recipients found guilty of colluding in such fraud, said the person.The proposed amendments to Sections 122 and 132 of the GST Act have been endorsed by the law committee and the GST Council, the apex decision-making body for the tax. Current provisions don't have specific measures to deal with such tax evasion."A value-added tax like GST should have explicit penalties to deal with cases where active collusion results in input tax credit frauds," said MS Mani, partner, Deloitte India. "Such cases by a small community of taxpayers lead to increasing compliance and procedural requirements on all taxpayers." 73237453 Another official said the government has come to the view that beneficiaries of such fraudulent claims, usually made through dummy companies, should be penalised commensurately.The authorities have registered several cases in which input tax credit has been claimed without supporting invoices or receipt of goods or services. A clear provision in the law will provide a framework for dealing with such cases, the second official said.An official said the names of daily wage earners such as rickshaw pullers and others are being used to open multiple firms that issue invoices without supply of goods or services to pass on input tax credit. Those who orchestrate such frauds also arrange for actual suppliers of goods or services to whom these invoices will be sold on payment of an agreed amount of money.These suppliers then utilise this credit to either discharge their GST liability or claim refunds of duty paid on export of overvalued goods, the official said.The GST Council has also endorsed changes to Section 49 of the GST Act empowering officials to block credit in the case of fraud. This will also be introduced in the budget.Experts said the changes will need to be elaborated upon to avoid confusion. "While there is a need to have legislative recourse to prevent such instances, it's important that government issues detailed guidelines as to how and when these provisions have to be invoked so that possibility of misuse can be minimised," said Pratik Jain, indirect tax leader, PwC.
The domestic stock market made a better-than-expected start to the session on Monday, as it opened higher and sustained gains throughout the day. Despite spending most of the session in a capped 25-point range, NSE Nifty ended with a gain of 72.75 points or 0.59 per cent at 12,329.55, a fresh record high. The headline continues to remain in the present area formation. The index traded in the broadening formation and is expected to test some incremental highs on Tuesday. In the same breath, given the rising nature of the upper trend line of the present area formation, there are fewer chances of Nifty giving a clean breakout despite making incremental highs. Lead indicators are pointing towards more strength, which may lead the market higher, albeit with a limited potential. Tuesday's session is likely to see 12,350 and 12,390 levels act as immediate resistance. Support may come in at 12,295 and 12,245. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the daily chart was 60.42 and marked a fresh 14-period high, which is bullish. 73233022 The daily MACD continued to stay bearish and traded below its signal line. Apart from a white body, no other important formations were seen on the candles. As per pattern analysis, Nifty continued to trade in the broadening formation. The index is expected to keep tracking the upper trend line, which is rising in nature. Even as India VIX rebounded from its recent multi-month lows, it is still trading lower lower 2019's average. This being said, despite the direction that the market may take, the possibility of volatility increasing in the near term cannot be ruled out. All in all, upward momentum is likely to persist for some more time. Traders can continue to follow incremental upward moves. However, they shouldn't chase rally blindly, as Nifty trades in the broadening formation despite being in uncharted territory. A cautiously positive view is advised for the day.(Milan Vaishnav, CMT, MSTA, is a Consulting Technical Analyst and founder of Gemstone Equity Research & Advisory Services, Vadodara. He can be reached at milan.vaishnav@equityresearch.asia)
Prasanth Prabhakaran of YES Securities says while Infosys' Q3 numbers did impress, the company still has a lot of catchup to do with TCS. He also shared his outlook on auto, cement and some other sectors in this exclusive interview with ETNOW. Excerpts:-ET Now: Looking at Infosys' performance, we were wondering whether its valuation gap with TCS could narrow?Prasanth Prabhakaran: The way I look at it is simple: TCS has got its act into place. It has managed to get its digital PEs, product PEs into place, and it has been continuously growing with a stable management, which has been there. Infosys will take some more time to catch up, with the basics getting taken care of. So maybe, you will end up seeing this gap narrowing in a couple of quarters. Right now I believe the performance that they have come out with has been a good one. They are on the right track, but it will take some time before it catches up with TCS. I am very much interested to see TCS results at this point.ET Now: How are you looking at oil marketing companies? A number of experts say this is the year when we are going to see rerating for some of these OMC stocks based on oil price movement. How have these stocks fared? What is your assessment?Prasanth Prabhakaran: Our standpoint has been to stay away from commodity stocks, because traditionally they have been driven not just by global factors but by government intervention, which is regular. We have not covered these stocks. When we talk to our clients, we refrain from advising them on these sectors. So, right now, giving a view on them will be difficult.ET Now: How are you looking at the real estate sector? There are reports indicating that we might see some sort of an uptick in this space. Are you seeing potential in individual stocks? What are you pencilling in for the earnings season?Prasanth Prabhakaran: When you look at data for last five-six years, you end up looking at the number of approvals that have come in for major cities across the country, and approvals for fresh projects have actually been down by around 60-odd per cent over the last five years. This is a clear indication that the market is waiting for the existing stock to get exhausted and that will trigger a pickup in activity in this segment. It might just be a surprise pack in the entire investment universe that you have, where you will see better-run companies with better balance sheets end up having an advantage over the others. So maybe, a company like Godrej Properties, which has actually done well already, along with maybe a Prestige and an Oberoi might be the pack that you will end up looking at to invest for the future.ET Now: What is your view on cement? Till a few months back, only UltraTech Cement was the darling of the Street. Would you say, there is a case for dabbling in some of the regional players in anticipation of a real estate recovery?Prasanth Prabhakaran: You need to look at regional players in the cement pack. But UltraTech remains a clear 'buy' for two reasons; one, they are market leader on both pricing and volume fronts. Also, there is going to be consolidation in this space. So you have to be careful when you look at regional players, because the ratio at which it will get picked up will be different. Wherever the companies are stable and debt is low, you are going to see action. You have regional players in Bangalore, Bombay and Delhi, which are going to make a difference and we will see a pickup in activity as far as real estate is concerned. Anything that is going to be regional in this space might end up getting a preference in midcaps from the cement pack.ET Now: When it comes to autos, do you think a decent recovery in sales is on the anvil? That sector has been a beleaguered one and companies from this space have been talking about green shoots. Where do your preferences lie?Prasanth Prabhakaran: We have not gone into the passenger vehicles portion of it, where we are still bearish. What we are actually bullish on is Ashok Leyland. The reasons are simple. The moment we see recovery in the economy, the first company that is going to do well will be Ashok Leyland. It has reduced debt in books and there has been a change in the top management, which is looking at growth proactively. The stock has been beaten down nearly 50-60% from the top.ET Now: What is your view on the PSU pack? I am not only talking about the banking space; any view on some of the other rerating candidates from among the PSUs?Prasanth Prabhakaran: I wish I could have a lot more confidence than I have on the PSU pack. They remain undervalued, because there is no clarity from the top managements on how they will end up driving the businesses. It is always preferable when you have choices to look at. There are better-run private banking names compared with the PSU banks. You have a HDFC Bank, which has had a fabulous run as far as retail franchise is concerned. It is a good pack to look at. And you have ICICI Bank in the corporate place, which is doing everything right, from setting up the liability franchise to looking at retail growth. That pack is what I will be interested in rather than trying to dig out names in the PSU space where there has been de-growth in credit. They were nearly 75-80% of the entire credit cycle in this country, in the last five years they have fallen to nearly around 58-59%. Apart from that in the PSU space, it is very unpredictable the way the government functions. I would prefer to stay away from the PSU pack, because we have burnt our fingers enough over there in last 10 years.ET Now: What is the word on some of the specialty chemicals names, because that is one island which has performed well through all of 2019. What is the outlook going forward. Will the gain sustain or do you think it is time to take some profit off the table?Prasanth Prabhakaran: It is time to take profit. The runup that has happened in the specialty chemicals space has been reasonably large, considering that there have been China-related problems that have helped these guys out. Fundamentally, nothing has changed, except for the simple fact that China has moved out of the scenario for a period. However, this story has played out. Unless there is a separate pickup as far as further margin improvement, you are not going to get large returns. So it is better to book profit in around 50-60% of your portfolio, allow your positions to ride out and build up fresh positions in these segments. So it is an 'avoid' at this point.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has expressed his disappointment with India's new Citizenship Amendment Act and expressed his desire of a Bangladeshi immigrant help create the next unicorn in the country or become the CEO of Infosys, Ben Smith, Editor-in-Chief of online website BuzzfeedNews said on Monday."I think what is happening is sad... It's just bad.... I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India or becomes the next CEO of Infosys" Smith wrote on the micro blogging platform Twitter, quoting the Indian-born Nadella as responding to his question. Smith told ET that Nadella made these comments at a meeting with editors in Manhattan earlier in the day. By popular demand, here's the verbate https://t.co/I8YcMDJsf8— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) 1578941841000 ET reached out to Microsoft seeking comments on Nadella's statement.Here is what Microsoft responded in an email:"Every country will and should define its borders, protect national security and set immigration policy accordingly. And in democracies, that is something that the people and their governments will debate and define within those bounds. I'm shaped by my Indian heritage, growing up in a multicultural India and my immigrant experience in the United States. My hope is for an India where an immigrant can aspire to found a prosperous start-up or lead a multinational corporation benefitting Indian society and the economy at large." – Satya Nadella, CEO, MicrosoftHistorian Ramchandra Guha, who has opposed the government's move saying that it was against the country's constitution, welcomed Nadella's statement and asked Indian IT leaders to have similar courage."I am glad Satya Nadella has said what he has. I wish that one of our own IT czars had the courage and wisdom to say this first. Or to say it even now," wrote Guha on the microblogging platform Twitter.On January 11, the government notified the law that amended the Citizenship Amendment Act of 1955 that would provide Indian citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian migrants who have come to India until December 31, 2014. People across India have protested this move saying that the CAA discriminates muslims and violates the Indian constitution.Former Infosys board member T V Mohandas Pai, who supports the government, said that Nadella was confused and has been misled by Indian leftist academics in the US."Yes, he is very confused in his statement.Must be the Indian leftist academics in the US who have confused him by misinformation., @satyanadella Pl study the CAA before you comment!We respect you as @Microsoft CEO and you must not make comments to malign India!," Pai wrote on the microblogging platform Twitter.
US, Japan, EU to meet on China ahead of Wednesday trade deal signing- USTR The EU and Japan share many of the United States' concerns about those issues and China's behavior in global markets, but Tokyo and Brussels have been put on the defensive by tariffs threatened and imposed by President Donald Trump.
Jaiprakash Power Ventures to exit insolvency process NEW DELHI: Jaiprakash Power Ventures' lenders, led by ICICI Bank, have restructured its debt by converting much of it into equity or convertible instruments, and approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to withdraw their application for starting of bankruptcy proceedings.The outstanding debt of the Jaiprakash Associates group company has reduced to less than Rs 6,000 crore, from more than Rs 11,000 crore, following the restructuring. The terms involve an interest write back of about Rs 2,000 crore that will help the company report a net profit this fiscal, people in the know said.ICICI Bank, which had filed for initiating proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code against the company in 2018, last Friday moved an application before the Ahmedabad bench of NCLT for its withdrawal. Since the earlier petition is yet to be admitted, the bank will be allowed to withdraw it, said a person cited above.A Jaiprakash Power Ventures spokesperson confirmed that the lenders had approved the debt restructuring, but refused to divulge details. An ICICI Bank representative didn't respond to queries until press time Monday."The consortium of lenders has agreed to a restructuring whereby they reduced outstanding loan of Rs 11,282 crore to Rs 5,800 crore; the balance was converted into equity or compulsorily convertible preference shares," said a senior banker involved in the process.73237125 As many as 22 banks and financial institutions have agreed to convert Rs 3,840 crore of debt into compulsorily convertible preference shares, with a maturity period of 29 years and coupon rate of 0.01%, said the banker. The remaining debt of Rs 5,800 crore on the company's book will carry an interest rate of 9.50%, this banker added.People in the know said the restructuring would lead to an interest write back of nearly Rs 2,000 crore for the company, which in turn would enhance its net worth and make it profitable from the current fiscal year itself."After the restructuring, the company's annual interest cost burden will decline from nearly Rs 1,500 crore to less than Rs 600 crore, leading to a gain of nearly Rs 1,000 crore annually in interest cost alone," said a senior company official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.Under the scheme of arrangement, Jaiprakash Power Ventures has also converted $110 million (equivalent to Rs 663 crore based on the exchange rate when the restructuring process started) of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) into equity at Rs 12 a share, as against the prevailing market price of less than Rs 2 per share.The company has also converted about Rs 350 crore of corporate loan from JSW Group into equity shares at Rs 10 each. After restructuring, JPVL has become a professionally run power company with original promoter JP group's shareholding declining to 24%. Banks and financial institutions own a 42.643%, while FCCB holders got 8.36% and JSW Group have a tad over 5.1%. About 19% is held by public shareholders.JPVL has generating capacity of 2,220 MW (400 MW of hydel and 1,820 MW of thermal). It owns a 74% in a 224-km transmission network to evacuate power from the Karcham Wangtoo hydel project. Source: ET
Jaiprakash Power Ventures to exit insolvency process NEW DELHI: Jaiprakash Power Ventures' lenders, led by ICICI Bank, have restructured its debt by converting much of it into equity or convertible instruments, and approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to withdraw their application for starting of bankruptcy proceedings.The outstanding debt of the Jaiprakash Associates group company has reduced to less than Rs 6,000 crore, from more than Rs 11,000 crore, following the restructuring. The terms involve an interest write back of about Rs 2,000 crore that will help the company report a net profit this fiscal, people in the know said.ICICI Bank, which had filed for initiating proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code against the company in 2018, last Friday moved an application before the Ahmedabad bench of NCLT for its withdrawal. Since the earlier petition is yet to be admitted, the bank will be allowed to withdraw it, said a person cited above.A Jaiprakash Power Ventures spokesperson confirmed that the lenders had approved the debt restructuring, but refused to divulge details. An ICICI Bank representative didn't respond to queries until press time Monday."The consortium of lenders has agreed to a restructuring whereby they reduced outstanding loan of Rs 11,282 crore to Rs 5,800 crore; the balance was converted into equity or compulsorily convertible preference shares," said a senior banker involved in the process.73237125 As many as 22 banks and financial institutions have agreed to convert Rs 3,840 crore of debt into compulsorily convertible preference shares, with a maturity period of 29 years and coupon rate of 0.01%, said the banker. The remaining debt of Rs 5,800 crore on the company's book will carry an interest rate of 9.50%, this banker added.People in the know said the restructuring would lead to an interest write back of nearly Rs 2,000 crore for the company, which in turn would enhance its net worth and make it profitable from the current fiscal year itself."After the restructuring, the company's annual interest cost burden will decline from nearly Rs 1,500 crore to less than Rs 600 crore, leading to a gain of nearly Rs 1,000 crore annually in interest cost alone," said a senior company official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.Under the scheme of arrangement, Jaiprakash Power Ventures has also converted $110 million (equivalent to Rs 663 crore based on the exchange rate when the restructuring process started) of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) into equity at Rs 12 a share, as against the prevailing market price of less than Rs 2 per share.The company has also converted about Rs 350 crore of corporate loan from JSW Group into equity shares at Rs 10 each. After restructuring, JPVL has become a professionally run power company with original promoter JP group's shareholding declining to 24%. Banks and financial institutions own a 42.643%, while FCCB holders got 8.36% and JSW Group have a tad over 5.1%. About 19% is held by public shareholders.JPVL has generating capacity of 2,220 MW (400 MW of hydel and 1,820 MW of thermal). It owns a 74% in a 224-km transmission network to evacuate power from the Karcham Wangtoo hydel project. Source: ET
Leopard found dead in Erode A four-year-old female leopard died of internal injury and the carcass was found near the 11th hairpin bend on Dhimbam Ghat Road here on Monday. Aler
Bharathiar University's B.P.Ed course loses recognition The Department of Physical Education of Bharathiar University cannot admit students to its B.P.Ed programme from the next academic session, according
Amblyopia, commonly called lazy eye, is a medical condition that adversely affects the eyesight of millions, but if caught early can be cured altogether — unfortunately this usually means months of wearing an eyepatch. NovaSight claims successful treatment with nothing more than an hour a day in front of its special display.
The condition amounts to when the two eyes aren’t synced up in their movements. Normally both eyes will focus the detail-oriented fovea part of the retina on whatever object the person is attending to; In those with amblyopia, one eye won’t target the fovea correctly and as a result the eyes don’t converge properly and vision suffers, and if not treated can lead to serious vision loss.
It can be detected early on in children, and treatment can be as simple as covering the good eye with a patch for most of the day, which forces the other eye to adjust and align itself properly. The problem is of course that this is uncomfortable and embarrassing for the kid, and of course only using one eye isn’t ideal for playing schoolyard games and other everyday things.
And you look cool doing it!
NovaSight’s innovation with CureSight is to let this alignment process happen without the eyepatch, instead selectively blurring content the child watches so that the affected eye has to do the work while the other takes a rest.
It accomplishes this with the same technology that, ironically, gave many of us double vision back in the early days of 3D: glasses with blue and red lenses.
Blue-red stereoscopy presents two slightly different versions of the same image, one tinted red and one tinted blue. Normally it would be used with slightly different parallax to produce a binocular 3D image — that’s what many of us saw in theaters or amusement park rides.
In this case, however, one of the two tinted images just has a blurry circle right where the kid is looking. The screen uses a built-in Tobii eye-tracking sensor so it knows where the circle should be; I got to test it out briefly and the circle quickly caught up with my gaze. This makes it so the other eye, affected by the condition but the only one with access to the details of the image, has to be relied on to point where the kid needs it to.
The best part is that there isn’t some treatment schema or tests — kids can literally just watch YouTube or a movie using the special setup, and they’re getting better, NovaSight claims. And it can be done at home on the kid’s schedule — always a plus.
Graphs from NovaSight website.
The company has already done some limited clinical trials that showed “significant improvement” over a 12-week period. Whether it can be relied on to completely cure the condition or if it should be paired with other established treatments will come out in further trials the company has planned.
In the meantime, however, it’s nice to see a technology like 3D displays applied to improving vision rather than promoting bad films. NovaSight has been developing and promoting its tech over the last year; It also has a product that helps diagnose vision problems using a similar application of 3D display tech. You can learn more or request additional info at its website.
Oscar Health, the upstart healthcare insurance company and technology developer, expects to have roughly 400,000 members insured under its healthcare plans, who collectively will bring in roughly $2 billion in revenue for the company by the end of 2020, according to slides of a presentation from the JP Morgan Healthcare conference seen by TechCrunch.
Those figures, based on the open-enrollment period that just closed, would represent 50% growth both in membership and revenue for the healthcare provider co-founded by Mario Schlosser and Joshua Kushner, founder of VC firm Thrive Capital and the brother of senior Trump advisor Jared Kushner.
Earlier today, Oscar announced that it was partnering with Cigna to provide services to small business owners. Commercial health insurance is a small but growing proportion of Oscar’s total membership, and it’s one area where the company hopes to expand. Essentially, Oscar can bring its technology-enabled healthcare services to small businesses in concert with the large healthcare networks that businesses are used to working with.
To date, Oscar counts around 375,000 individual members on its insurance plans, with another 20,000 coming through small-group insurance and the balance derived from Medicare Advantage customers, according to a person familiar with the company’s business.
Only three years ago, Oscar was a much smaller business with only 70,000 members after retrenching its coverage and pulling out of markets in Dallas-Fort Worth and New Jersey. From a footprint that encompassed New York, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Francisco, Oscar now expects to operate in 29 markets by the end of 2020.
Fueling that expansion is prodigious capital infusions the company has received over the past few years. In 2018 alone, Oscar raised $540 million from investors including Alphabet, Founders Fund, Capital G (Alphabet’s later-stage investment firm) and Verily, Alphabet’s investment firm focused on life sciences. In all, Oscar Health has raised $1.3 billion to fulfill its vision of providing better healthcare services through technologies like a mobile app for telemedicine, physician consultations, booking appointments, prescription refills, and a more concierge-like healthcare experience for its members.
Initially, the company took advantage of the Affordable Care Act’s creation of new marketplaces for individuals to buy health insurance when it launched in 2012, but is now looking to buoy its growth by adding more deals with insurance providers like Cigna for small businesses.
Ultimately, the company envisions a healthcare industry where employer-defined plans will disappear as more consumers turn to Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements. In that environment, Oscar’s bespoke services — like the recent partnership with the startup Capsule Pharmacy to provide same-day prescription delivery for Oscar’s members in New York — or the company’s tight relationship with providers like the Cleveland Clinic, become competitive advantages.
Seventy-five-million-dollar-funded legal services startup Atrium doesn’t want to be the next company to implode as the tech industry tightens its belt and businesses chase margins instead of growth via unsustainable economics. That’s why Atrium is laying off most of its in-house lawyers.
Now, Atrium will focus on its software for startups navigating fundraising, hiring and collaborating with lawyers. Atrium plans to ramp up its startup advising services. And it’s also doubling down on its year-old network of professional service providers that help clients navigate day-to-day legal work. Atrium’s laid-off attorneys will be offered spots as preferred providers in that network if they start their own firm or join another.
“It’s a natural evolution for us to create a sustainable model,” Atrium co-founder and CEO Justin Kan tells TechCrunch. “We've made the tough decision to restructure the company to accommodate growth into new business services through our existing professional services network,” Kan wrote on Atrium’s blog. He wouldn’t give exact figures, but confirmed that more than 10 but less than 50 staffers are impacted by the change, with Atrium having a headcount of 150 as of June.
The change could make Atrium more efficient by keeping fewer expensive lawyers on staff. However, it could weaken its $500 per month Atrium membership that included some services from its in-house lawyers that might be more complicated for clients to get through its professional network. Atrium will also now have to prove the its client-lawyer collaboration software can survive in the market with firms paying for it rather than it being bundled with its in-house lawyers’ services.
“We’re making these changes to move Atrium to a sustainable model that provides high-quality services to our clients. We’re doing it proactively because we see the writing on the wall that it’s important to have a sustainable business,” Kan says. “That’s what we’re doing now. We don’t anticipate any disruption of services to clients. We’re still here.”
Justin Kan (Atrium) at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2017
Founded in 2017, Atrium promised to merge software with human lawyers to provide quicker and cheaper legal services. Its technology can help automatically generate fundraising contracts, hiring offers and cap tables for startups while using machine learning to recommend procedures and clauses based on anonymized data from its clients. It also serves like a Dropbox for legal, organizing all of a startup’s documents to ensure everything’s properly signed and teams are working off the latest versions without digging through email.
The $500 per month Atrium membership offered this technology plus limited access to an in-house startup lawyer for consultation, plus access to guide books and events. Clients could pay extra if they needed special help such as with finalizing an acquisition deal, or access to its Fundraising Concierge service for aid with developing a pitch and lining up investor meetings.
Kan tells me Atrium still has some in-house lawyers on staff, which will help it honor all its existing membership contracts and power its new emphasis on advising services. He wouldn’t say if Atrium is paid any equity for advising, or just cash. The membership plan may change for future clients, so lawyer services are provided through its professional network instead.
“What we noticed was that Atrium has done a really good job of building a brand with startups. Often what they wanted from attorneys was…advice on ‘how to set my company up,’ ‘how to set my sales and marketing team up,’ ‘how to get great terms in my fundraising process,’ ” so Atrium is pursuing advising, Kan tells me. “As we sat down to look at what’s working and what’s not working, our focus has been to help founders with their super-hero story, connect them with the right providers and advisors, and then helping quarterback everything you need with our in-house specialists.”
LawSites first reported Saturday that Atrium was laying off in-house lawyers. A source says that Atrium’s lawyers only found out a week ago about the changes, and they’ve been trying to pitch Atrium clients on working with them when they leave. One Atrium client said they weren’t surprised by the changes because they got so much legal advice for just $500 per month, which they suspected meant Atrium was losing money on the lawyers’ time as it was so much less expensive than competitors. They also said these cheap legal services rather than the software platform were the main draw of Atrium, and they’re unsure if the tech on its own is valuable enough.
One concern is Atrium might not learn as quickly about which services to translate into software if it doesn’t have as many lawyers in-house. But Kan believes third-party lawyers might be more clear and direct about what they need from legal technology. “I feel like having a true market for the software you’re building is better than having an internal market,” he says. “We get feedback from the outside firms we work with. I think in some ways that’s the most valuable feedback. I think there’s a lot of false signals that can happen when you’re the both the employer and the supplier.”
It was critical for Atrium to correct course before getting any bigger, given the fundraising problems hitting late-stage startups with poor economics in the wake of the WeWork debacle and SoftBank’s troubles. Atrium had raised a $10.5 million Series A in 2017 led by General Catalyst alongside Kleiner, Founders Fund, Initialized and Kindred Ventures. Then in September 2018, it scored a huge $65 million Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz.
Raising even bigger rounds might have been impossible if Atrium was offering consultations with lawyers at far below market rate. Now it might be in a better position to attract funding. But the question is whether clients will stick with Atrium if they get less access to a lawyer for the same price, and whether the collaboration platform is useful enough for outside law firms to pay for.
Kan had gone through tough pivots in the past. He had strapped a camera to his head to create content for his live-streaming startup Justin.tv, but wisely recentered on the 3% of users letting people watch them play video games. Justin.tv became Twitch and eventually sold to Amazon for $970 million. His on-demand personal assistant startup Exec had to switch to just cleaning in 2013 before shutting down due to rotten economics.
Rather than deny the inevitable and wait until the last minute, with Atrium Kan tried to make the hard decision early.
Visaannounced today that it is buying financial services API startup Plaid for $5.3 billion.
Plaid develops financial services APIs. It is akin to what Stripe does for payments, but instead of facilitating payments, it helps developers share banking and other financial information more easily. It’s the kind of service that makes sense for a company like Visa.
The startup bought Quovo two years ago to move beyond just banking, and into broader financial services and investments. The idea was to provide a more holistic platform for financial services providers. As the founders wrote in a blog post at the time of the acquisition, “Financial applications have historically used Plaid primarily to interact with checking and savings accounts. In acquiring Quovo, we are extending our capabilities to a wider class of assets.”
The deal is expected to close in the next three to six months, pending regulatory approval.
The price
Plaid's exit price is a triumph for its investors, who put a combined $353.3 million into the company, according to Crunchbase data. Most important among those rounds was a $250 million infusion that came in late 2018. Index and Kleiner led that round, valuing Plaid at $2.65 billion, or 50% of its final sale price (we doubt that that ratio is a coincidence).
At the same time, it was later revealed, Mastercard and Visa also took part in the round, with TechCrunch reporting in 2019 that the two payments giants "quietly participated in the round."
Whether those investments were large enough to grant Visa information rights isn't clear, but certainly the two credit card giants had more insight into what Plaid was doing than they did before their investment. We can presume, then, that Plaid was doing well as a private company; no one pays twice a multi-billion-dollar valuation for a firm unless they want to keep it away from their core business, or a key competitor.
Plaid is often compared to Twilio, another API-first company that sits in the background, helping other players do business. Noyo, on the early-stage front, is doing something similar with its healthcare information and insurance APIs. Stripe, as mentioned above, is similar but in the payment space. The model has proved lucrative for Twilio, which has soared as a public company; Plaid's huge exit will add extra shine to the startup varietal.
However, unlike Twilio, Plaid was bought while still private, depriving us of a good look into its figures. We anticipate that they would show growth in high-margin revenues. That's something that all companies, public and private, covet.
For Visa, however, there's likely something more to the deal. Namely, it now has a view into scads of high-growth, private companies that are reinventing the world in which Visa operates. Buying Plaid is insurance against disruption for Visa, and also a way to know who to buy.
But for today, it's a win for Plaid shareholders (including employees).
Last Halloween, we broke down some "good news" from a Canalys report: the smartphone industry saw one-percent year-over-year growth — not exactly the sort of thing that sparks strong consumer confidence.
In short, 2019 sucked for smartphones, as did the year before. After what was nearly an ascendant decade, sales petered off globally with few exceptions. Honestly, there's no need to cherrypick this stuff; the numbers this year have been lackluster at best for a majority of companies in a majority of markets.
For just the most recent example, let's turn to a report from Gartner that dropped late last month. The numbers focus specifically on the third quarter, but they're pretty indicative of what we've been seeing from the industry of late, with a 0.4 percent drop in sales. It's a fairly consistent story, quarter after quarter for a couple of years now.
Elizabeth Gore is co-founder and president of Alice, a free multi-channel platform powered by AI technology that guides business owners by providing access to funding, networks and services.
My grandma, Opal Thompson, once wrote that to me in a letter, like the dyed-in-the-wool, strong Texan woman she was. It is now tattooed on my forearm for all to see. Memories of her powerful presence and great advice have been a North Star on my path to entrepreneurship, as well as the kick in the pants I have needed along the way to confidently go toe-to-toe with nonbelievers in my industry. "Honey, you need to work harder and smarter than men and get ‘er done," she once told me. It may sound folksy, but it's gotten me to where I am today.
Last October, my fearless cofounder Carolyn Rodz and I "gave them hell" with an announcement of which I couldn't be prouder: our small business growth platform Alice just closed a Series A round of funding. That's a major accomplishment that I think is newsworthy in its own right. But, the headline is even better. We required a morality clause in the funding agreement, legally demanding repercussions in the event of racial, gender, or sexual orientation discrimination.
As we were pitching Alice for funding, Carolyn and I went back to the fundamentals of why we started Alice for small business owners in the first place. Our platform exists to break down barriers to growth for our community of more than 100,000 business owners — especially entrepreneurs who are women, veterans, people of color, or members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Whether that means access to tips and best practices or funding opportunities of which they otherwise wouldn't be aware, our job is to help small business owners "get 'er done" — whatever that means to them. For us, there is an immense responsibility in being a comprehensive resource that small business owners trust to help them grow their ventures. We're always encouraging our owners to try new approaches and go big in every aspect of their development, and that includes pushing owners to challenge institutions that stand in the way of their successes.
One institution that has long stood in our way is the silent perpetuation of discriminatory and predatory behavior by influential investors. While we've seen a rise of so-called "Weinstein" clauses drafted in the wake of the watershed #MeToo movement two years ago, most of those cases refer to protections for investors against investee executives who have outstanding allegations.
This is an important step in the right direction of instilling accountability at all levels of business. But we were left asking ourselves, "what happens when an investor is the one #MeToo'd?"
We at Alice were troubled by the lack of legal consequences for key decision makers, from board members to venture capitalists, given the reputational harm their actions could inflict on the businesses they touch. So to protect the reputation we have worked so hard to build for Alice and to protect the business owners who seek us for help every day from across the globe, Carolyn and I decided to lead by example and take a stand with our own investors. We took the "Weinstein" clause and flipped it, giving our board members the agency to use corporate governance mechanisms to vote for removal of any board member in the event of a #MeToo event, racial discrimination, or sexual orientation discrimination incident. Simply put, Alice and its investors are not afraid to show you the door if your behavior doesn't serve the best interests of our community of entrepreneurs.
Including this provision was crucial to our vision for the company as we continue to grow. It echoes our core values of inclusivity within our online business community. And, as our users seek venture capital, we want them to know that they have the right to stipulate what should be common sense legal protections while still securing the funding they need. We have provided the clause openly here so everyone can take advantage — and not have to pay the legal bills we did.
Making sure that this information is available to anyone who wants it is part of our commitment to ensuring that everyone in business gets a fair shake. To have other founders include morality clauses like ours in their funding agreements is as important to me as the fact that we did it ourselves. We must make this a trend.
Our morality clause is also important to us as we strive to improve the broader business community and the way we all seek funding. Small businesses represent nearly 95 percent of all U.S. employers and support the careers of more than 50 percent of Americans.
But, while the small business landscape is changing into a New Majority, with more women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ folks starting businesses every day, the demographic of venture capitalists is much slower to change. To date, 89 percent of venture capital deciders are still men, and of all the investments they make, only 2 percent of them are in female-owned businesses. Less than half of a percent of women who receive venture capital are Latina, and the representation is even worse for other minority communities of entrepreneurs.
By now, Carolyn (who is Latina herself) and I have learned that we have to make our presence known in a business world that has often excluded us. And as more #MeToo behaviors come to light across industries, we'll be able to protect our businesses and entrepreneurs making lasting impacts on our communities.
As we look to the next chapter of Alice and its expansion into new markets in 2020, we will continue to share our unique funding story with hopes that other small businesses will be inspired and empowered to do the same.
Venture capitalists be warned: the New Majority of entrepreneurs is here to stay, and our morality clause is just the beginning of a new path to small business success.
As Google Cloud looks to convince more enterprises to move to its platform, it needs to be able to give businesses an onramp for their existing legacy infrastructure and workloads that they can’t easily replace or move to the cloud. A lot of those workloads run on IBM Power Systems with their Power processors, and, until now, IBM was essentially the only vendor that offered cloud-based Power systems. Now, however, Google is also getting into this game by partnering with IBM to launch IBM Power Systems on Google Cloud.
“Enterprises looking to the cloud to modernize their existing infrastructure and streamline their business processes have many options,” writes Kevin Ichhpurani, Google Cloud’s corporate VP for its global ecosystem, in today’s announcement. “At one end of the spectrum, some organizations are re-platforming entire legacy systems to adopt the cloud. Many others, however, want to continue leveraging their existing infrastructure while still benefiting from the cloud's flexible consumption model, scalability, and new advancements in areas like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and analytics.”
Power Systems support obviously fits in well here, given that many companies use them for mission-critical workloads based on SAP and Oracle applications and databases. With this, they can take those workloads and slowly move them to the cloud, without having to re-engineer their applications and infrastructure. Power Systems on Google Cloud is obviously integrated with Google’s services and billing tools.
This is very much an enterprise offering, without a published pricing sheet. Chances are, given the cost of a Power-based server, you’re not looking at a bargain, per-minute price here.
Because IBM has its own cloud offering, it’s a bit odd to see it work with Google to bring its servers to a competing cloud — though it surely wants to sell more Power servers. The move makes perfect sense for Google Cloud, though, which is on a mission to bring more enterprise workloads to its platform. Any roadblock the company can remove works in its favor, and, as enterprises get comfortable with its platform, they’ll likely bring other workloads to it over time.
Kleiner is known for many things. Among them, increasingly, is the growing number of people who’ve logged time at the firm, then struck out on their own to hang their own shingles.
The latest among them: Lynne Chou O’Keefe, who joined Kleiner Perkins in 2013 as a partner in its life sciences group, where she focused on digital health and connected devices. Today, Chou O’Keefe is taking the wraps off a new firm, Define Ventures, and announcing a debut fund with $87 million in capital commitments.
We’d first written about the fund back in October, when we spied an SEC filing for it. As we reported then, Chou O’Keefe spent six years with Abbott Vascular, a division of the healthcare giant Abbott, as a global product manager and later as a global marketing director. She also logged a couple of years with Guidant (which is part of Boston Scientific and Abbott Labs) and, before that, worked in venture with Apax Partners.
That SEC filing listed a target of $65 million. But Chou O’Keefe, with whom we chatted on Friday, suggested that interest in the fund was even greater than imagined, thanks in part to investors she got to know through her work as a former board member of Livongo, a now publicly traded company that monitors and coaches patients with chronic diseases like diabetes.
Unsurprisingly, she says founders are also excited about her new firm, suggesting they’d been looking for a firm that doesn’t just dabble in digital health but that focuses expressly on it, as does Define Ventures .
“A lot of founders have said, ‘It’s so nice not to have to explain the space to you.’ Having true partnerships is something they’ve needed and something you can do with a sector-focused fund.”
Define may be announcing its final fund close today, but the firm, which is interested in telemedicine startups and teams focused on chronic disease management, among others, has been actively investing in startups over the last year.
Among its bets so far: HIMS, the direct-to-consumer digital health and wellness company focused on men; Tia, a startup that plans to open membership-only women’s health clinics across the country, after opening its first location in New York last March; Verana Health, a clinical data startup that initially focused on ophthalmology but has been expanding into other areas; Unite Us, a care coordination software maker that looks to connect social services with healthcare; and Lightship, a startup that’s working to find and connect patients with the companies that need them for their clinical trials.
Though the lone general partner, Chou O’Keefe isn’t running the fund single-handedly. Helping her is principal Chirag Shah, who was most recently a vice president with Imagine Health, a Utah-based company that builds custom teams of healthcare providers for employers with large concentrations of employees in a single geography. He has also worked as a senior manager at the publicly traded company Castlight Health and as an associate with The Carlyle Group.
The two had numerous mutual connections, says Chou O’Keefe, adding that they plan to invest in between 15 and 18 startups altogether from their debut fund, writing checks that range from $750,000 on the earlier side to upwards of $6 million.
Whether Define proves smart to focus more narrowly on digital health will take time to know, but certainly, there’s growing interest in virtual healthcare across the board. According to one research outfit, Grand View Research, the global digital health market size is expected to reach $500 billion by 2025, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of roughly 27% between now and then.
In the meantime, Chou O’Keefe becomes part of a group of former Kleiner investors who are now in charge of their own destiny. Among other Kleiner alums who’ve since co-founded their own shops is Beth Seidenberg of Westlake Village Biopartners, Chi-Hua Chien of Goodwater Capital, Trae Vassallo of Defy, Mary Meeker of Bond and Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures, to name just a handful.
Taking a ride on an electronic scooter soon? Wear your helmet! According to a recent study published in JAMA Surgery, not wearing headgear or taking other precautions while riding is increasingly sending young people to the hospital — leading to more than 40,000 broken bones, head wounds and other injuries.
Unfortunately, less than 5% of riders in the study were found to be wearing their helmet, leading to nearly one-third of patients having a head injury. That’s more than double the rate of head injuries experienced by bicyclists.
The rise is likely due to the increasingly popular adoption of scooters among young people in urban areas. Electronic scooter injuries for those aged 18-34 increased overall by 222%, and injuries sending riders to the hospital rose by 365% from 2014-2018, with the most dramatic increase in the last year. Close to two-thirds of those with scooter injuries were young men, and most were not wearing head protection.
“There was a high proportion of people with head injuries, which can be very dangerous,” said Dr. Benjamin Breyer, an associate professor of urology and chief of urology at UCSF partner hospital Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. “Altogether, the near doubling of e-scooter trauma from 2017 to 2018 indicates that there should be better rider safety measures and regulation.”
Right now there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of requirements for head gear while scootering in California, thanks to a change in the law that went into effect at the beginning of last year. Those over the age of 18 who want to ride without a helmet are free and legal to do so in California. Several other states also don’t require helmet-wearing while on a motorized scooter.
The laws may need an update after recent revelations, but in the meantime, perhaps the scooter companies themselves can help ensure safety precautions. We reached out to several electronic scooter companies and only heard back from a few about this issue. Lime tells TechCrunch it is committed to safety by encouraging users to wear a helmet, offering discounts to buy one and giving away more than 250,000 as part of a campaign. Bird and others also encourage helmet-wearing on their site, and some companies offer helmets for rent at another location.
But the promise of scooters is their convenience. You don’t have to carry anything. You just click on the app and hop on your ride. It’s too easy to just hop on a scooter without prior planning or helmet in tow.
So what’s the solution? Rider responsibility at this point. You’re free to take your chances but, though inconvenient, wearing your helmet on that scooter ride could prevent a serious accident.
“It’s been shown that helmet use is associated with a lower risk of head injury,” said first author Nikan K. Namiri, a medical student at the UCSF School of Medicine. “We strongly believe that helmets should be worn, and e-scooter manufacturers should encourage helmet use by making them more easily accessible.”
For many gamers, Pokémon GO was an exciting fad that ate up their summer and was just another chapter in a franchise. A lot of these people would already treat the game like some sort of nostalgic mid-2010s hit, but the game is minting cash from users at a more expansive rate that ever. A report in Sensor Tower this week estimated that 2019 was Niantic’s best year to date in terms of in-app purchase revenue from Pokémon GO users, noting that the company likely pulled in nearly $900 million according to its estimates.
The rate of user revenue is still lower now than it was following launch, Pokémon GO launched in just a few markets at the beginning of July 2016 and Sensor Tower estimates its revenue reached $832 million in the final six months of that year. But with higher year-over-year totals compared to 2017 and 2018, the estimates do suggest that Niantic’s aggressive updates to gameplay and its in-game social features helped boost revenues.
The truth is, every couple years there’s a new gaming title that accumulates users at a startling pace. What happens after the press cycle churns and the game is left to its own devices is where the great studios prove themselves. Niantic is in a cushy position as its breakout title fills its coffers, but the company still has some soul-searching ahead of it as it simultaneously aims to chase a follow-on hit and a developer platform.
Every radical turn in technology history has its great entrepreneur, and for space that person is SpaceX founder Elon Musk. His unswerving conviction that "space must be affordable" led him to disrupt the old-school space launch industry with reusable Falcon 9 boosters, an achievement that has inspired hundreds of entrepreneurs and investors to take up the challenge of space.
In 2018 alone, venture investments in space topped $2 billion for the first time, and 187 investors wrote checks to 90 startups, according to Bryce Space and Technology.
Space represents the most extreme business and technical challenges imaginable, but SpaceX's $30 billion valuation today is a stunning example of what space startups can achieve. Add to that the incomparable allure of space, to "boldly go where no man has gone before," and who can look away?
In that spirit, TechCrunch is pleased to announce our first TC Sessions: Space, a single-day show dedicated to this fast-emerging startup category. The show will be held at Gateway Sheraton Hotel in Los Angeles on June 25, right in the neighborhood of America's most powerful players in space, including Boeing, Northrop, Lockheed, Raytheon, Teledyne, The Aerospace Corporation, the U.S. Air Force and, of course, SpaceX.
Darrell Etherington, Jon Shieber and Devin Coldewey have led TechCrunch's coverage on space startups and they are already working hard on a stellar programming line-up that will feature top founders and investors, as well as key players from the industry's top established companies, NASA, The Aerospace Corporation, the U.S. Air Force and more.
They will lead a day of fireside chats and panel discussions on the big topics facing the space category at this historic moment, when technology and market developments are converging to bring about dramatic advances, from sci-fi-worthy manned space travel and colonization, to revolutions in broadband communications, earth observation data, manufacturing in space and, yes, even conduct of war in space.
In addition to Main Stage programming, TC Sessions: Space will feature breakout sessions on specialized topics, as well as audience Q&A with Main Stage speakers and an exhibit area for partners as well as startups.
And to top off the show, TechCrunch will also feature a space startup pitch-off featuring five early-stage founders chosen by the editors from a large application pool. Applications open today; apply here.
Katzenberg is a longtime Hollywood executive who led Walt Disney Studios during its animation renaissance in the late ’80s and early ’90s before co-founding Dreamworks Animation. Whitman worked at both Disney and Dreamworks, but she’s best known as the former CEO of eBay and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
So it’s fitting that they presented Quibi as a company that exists at the intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley — as Whitman put it, creating “the very first entertainment technology platform optimized for mobile viewing.”
The original plan was for Lululemon COO Stuart Haselden to take over today and, in a way, he will. Though, Haselden will now be co-CEO along with Korey. In an interview with the NYT, Korey said the board changed its mind after realizing it wasn’t the right move.
This all comes after The Verge’s explosive investigation into Away’s toxic workplace. Since then, the company has hired a lawyer, Elizabeth M. Locke, though has not filed a lawsuit. If Locke’s name sounds familiar, it may be because she’s the one who successfully sued Rolling Stone for defamation regarding an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia.
“Steph Korey responding to our reporting by saying her behavior and comments were 'wrong, plain and simple' and then choosing to step down as CEO speaks for itself,” The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel said in a statement to the NYT.
Following The Verge's story, which described a workplace where Korey was known for berating employees via Slack, Korey tweeted last month that she was "making things right" at the company.
"I'm not proud of my behavior in those moments, and I'm sincerely sorry for what I said and how I said it," she tweeted. "It was wrong, plain and simple."
She added that she had also been working with an executive coach since those incidents the report highlighted. According to The Wall Street Journal, Away had been looking for Korey's replacement since the spring.
In a Slack note sent to employees today, Korey said what happened in December created a lot of confusion, and more questions than answers. She added that it “unleashed a social media mob — not just on me, but also on many of you.”
At this point, Away’s plan is to consider legal action against The Verge and try to improve lines of communication within the company.
Adobe announced today that Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is now available as a cloud-native SaaS application. Prior to this, it was available on premises or as a managed service, but it wasn’t pure cloud-native.
Obviously being available as a cloud service makes sense for customers, and offers all of the value you would get from any cloud service. Customers can now access all of the tools in AEM without having to worry about maintaining, managing or updating it, giving the marketing team more flexibility, agility and ongoing access to the latest updates.
This value proposition did not escape Loni Stark, Adobe’s senior director of strategy and product marketing. “It creates a compelling offer for mid-size companies and enterprises that are increasingly transforming to adopt advanced digital tools but need more simplicity and flexibility to support their changing business models,” Stark said in a statement.
AEM provides a number of capabilities, including managing the customer experience in real time. Having real-time access to data means you can deliver the products, services and experiences that make sense based on what you know about the customer in any given moment.
What’s more, you can meet customers wherever they happen to be. Today, it could be the company website, mobile app or other channel. Companies need to be flexible and tailor content to the specific channel, as well as what they know about the customer.
It’s interesting to note that AEM is based on the purchase of Day Software in 2010. That company originally developed a web content management product, but over time it evolved to become Adobe Experience Manager, and has been layering on functionality to meet an experience platform’s requirements since. Today, the product includes tools for content management, asset management and digital forms.
The company made the announcement today at NRF 2020, a huge retail conference taking place in New York City this week.
Today in regular trading, shares of American electric car manufacturer Tesla surged past the $500 mark.
Tesla, perhaps the most famous electric vehicle company in the world, has had a tumultuous last 12 months on the public markets. The company’s shares have traded as low as $176.99 in the past 52 weeks, and, as has high as $507.50 today.
The company is worth $507.28 per share at the moment, valuing Tesla at $91.38 billion according to Google Finance. As is often pointed out, Tesla is worth more than Ford and General Motors combined. In a slightly more exotic formulation, Tesla is worth just under 64 times as much as Aston Martin.
What’s going on?
Why is Telsa surging? We presume that it’s not the latest from Musk, that “Teslas will soon talk and make fart noises,” according to CNBC. (At least we hope not.)
Instead, an investor upgrade this morning could be the key reason for the company's gains today. As IBD points out, the new target from Oppenheimer is over $600 per share.
That’s today’s runup explained. The morning’s rally, however, is tied to the company’s rising growing operations in China and global delivery figures.
China’s automotive market is moribund and shrinking at the moment, and the Chinese government’s incentives for electric cars have fallen. Small issues, it appears, for Tesla bulls. (Tesla’s success allowed NIO to go public, a China-based electric car company; another is hoping to follow in its footsteps.)
Tesla said Friday that it delivered 367,500 electric vehicles in 2019 — 50% more than the previous year — a record-breaking figure largely supported by sales of the cheaper Model 3. More than one-third of those deliveries — about 112,000 vehicles — occurred in the fourth quarter. The electric automaker reported production also grew 10% from the previous quarter, to 105,000 vehicles.
That said, the company’s detractors point to mix shift harming year-over-year revenues, and lower-margin cars taking over its sales volume. Maybe.
Today, however, the longs have it and shorts are eating their, well, pants.
You better move fast if you want to party with us and 1,000 of your closest startup entrepreneur and investor friends. We just released a fresh round of tickets to our 3rd Annual Winter Party at Galvanize in San Francisco on February 7. Tickets are limited, and they fly off the shelf faster than you can say seed funding. Don't get shut out — buy your tickets here.
What can you do at the Winter Party? Plenty. Commune with the Silicon Valley community over craft beer and signature cocktails. Nosh on delectable appetizers. Converse and connect in a fun, relaxed setting. You never know who you'll meet, but you can be sure to find influencers eager to meet and greet.
Demo your startup and introduce your genius product to the Valley's finest thinkers, makers and investors. We have a very limited number of tables available — only two demo tables left — so get cracking. FYI: The price of a demo table includes four tickets to the party. Bring your crew and maximize your networking mojo.
What else goes down at the Winter Party? Lots of laughter, party games and activities — killer karaoke, anyone? — and plenty of photo ops. You might even score door prizes, like TC swag and tickets to Disrupt SF, our flagship event coming in September 2020. We'll toss in a few surprises that night, too. Sweet!
Here's the Winter Party lowdown.
When: Friday, February 7, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Where: Galvanize, 44 Tehama St., San Francisco, CA 94105
Remember, we release tickets in batches. If you don’t score a ticket this time, keep your eyes peeled for the next round. Don't miss out!
Come to the 3rd Annual Winter Party at Galvanize and hang out with your people. Enjoy the food, the drinks, the fun and the opportunity to expand your network in a relaxed setting. We'll see you in February!
Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at the 3rd Annual Winter Party at Galvanize? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.
Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the gray space in between.
Today we’re working to figure something out, namely the tradeoffs that D2C unicorn (and soon to be public company) Casper faces as it seeks to balance growth and profitability. And then we’re going to stack it next to its most obvious public comp, Purple, to figure out what it might be worth.
This is going to be a little more wonky than usual, but I can’t help myself. Let’s go.
Profit v. Growth
Every growing company faces a tradeoff in growth and profitability. The faster a company grows, generally speaking, the lower its profitability. In reverse, companies that grow more slowly can focus on wringing profits from existing operations. Companies that grow quickly while generating profit are rare (the Zooms of the world).
The tension between growth and profit is so well-known and understood that startups are held to a rule regarding the pair, called the Rule of 40. (In the post-WeWork IPO era, get used to hearing about this sort of thing more often.)
It’s no secret that the Google Cloud management team has decided to focus its efforts on a select number of enterprise verticals like healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, energy and life sciences. Retail, too, has long been a growth market for the company, especially as Amazon’s competitors are looking to run their services on clouds that are not AWS. Current customers include the likes of Kohl’s, Lowe’s and France’s Carrefour. It’s maybe no surprise, then, that Google today used NRF 2020, one of the largest retail events, to launch a number of updates to its services for retailers.
Some of the announcements today focus on specific vertical editions of existing services, including Google Cloud API Management for Retail, powered by Apigee, or Google Cloud Anthos for Retail, which specifically targets retailers that want to modernize their store operations and infrastructure. There also is Google Cloud Search for Retail, powered by Google Search, which promises to bring better product search results to a retailer’s applications.
In addition, Google also is expanding to more customers programs like its Retail Acceleration Program and making its white-glove Customer Reliability Engineering service, which helps retailers better plan for and manage their peak shopping days, available to more customers.
What’s maybe more interesting, though, is new services like Google Cloud 1:1 Engagement for Retail, “a blueprint and best-practice guide on how to build these types of data-driven solutions effectively and with less up-front cost.” The idea here is to help retailers make use of Google’s big data platform to build personalization and recommendation models to better understand and engage their customers.
Also new is a buy optimization and demand forecasting service that aims to help retailers better plan their logistics operations.
We’ll likely see Google use a similar playbook for more verticals over time. We know that Google Cloud has ambitions to become the No. 2 cloud provider within a few years, and, to do so, it needs to get large enterprises — and especially those that are still trying to figure out their cloud strategies — to opt for its services.
Samsung this morning announced that it has completed the acquisition of TeleWorld Solutions. The Virginia-based telecommunications company provides wireless networking and consulting services. It's TWS's 5G solutions that Samsung is clearly the most interested in as part of this deal.
The electronics giant says it plans to leverage TWS's services to help U.S.-based networks build out the next generation of wireless.
"The acquisition of TWS will enable us to meet mobile carriers' growing needs for improving their 4G and 5G networks, and eventually create new opportunities to enhance our service capabilities to our customers," Samsung EVP Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun said in a release. "Samsung will continue to drive innovation in communications technology, while providing optimization services for network deployments that accelerate U.S. 5G network expansion."
The deal will make TWS a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung, allowing the brand to continue to offer its consulting services to existing clients. That last bit is important, so as to not leave companies in the lurch over the course of the next year, as 5G becomes an increasing focus beyond just smartphone connectivity.
Good morning friends, and welcome back to TechCrunch’s Equity Monday, a short-form audio hit to kickstart your week. Regular Equity episodes still drop Friday morning, so if you’ve listened to the show over the years don’t worry — we’re not changing the main show. (Here’s last week’s episode with Danny Crichton, which was a lot of fun.)
What was on our minds this morning? Brian Heater’sCES overview of sleeptech from the weekend, which made the argument that not all gadgets are bad for our sleep, even if there is some irony in using tech to help cure our tech-addled brains. Here’s to something a bit more substantial than blackout shades.
Also, Facebook closed out last week after setting some record valuations — so much for the techlash — and Casper’s IPO filing landed to much impact just as everyone was trying to get away from their desks and onto their couches.
Looking at the coming week, earnings season is upon us, but not quite yet for companies that we care about, the recently public tech and venture-backed firms of the world. There are some big names that are reporting this month, but over the next five days expect things to be a bit quiet. Pending news, of course.
And in terms of the Twitter forecast, with the CEO of Away coming back to her company as early as today, expect your timeline to feature one topic in particular. Can you guess what it is?
This morning we also took a look at two funding rounds:
Former Google Pay execs raise $13.2M to build neo-banking platform for millennials in India (TechCrunch)
Legalpad Raises $10M To Help Immigrant Entrepreneurs With The Visa Process (Crunchbase News)
And we wrapped with notes on the Casper IPO filing, and why it’s attracting so much commentary, and criticism.
Keeping your skin moist and supple throughout the day can be challenging, especially in dry winter air. The key to getting beautifully hydrated skin that lasts all day is timing and layering your moisturizer correctly. Always apply moisturizers to damp skin and layer lighter treatments like oils and serums underneath your moisturizer. Weekly treatments like exfoliation and face masks can help get rid of dead skin and give you an extra glow.
Use lukewarm water to wash up. Using hot water to shower or wash your face might feel nice, but it can dry out your skin, too. Hot water strips away the skin's natural oils and will leave it more dry, no matter how much moisturizer you apply.[1]
If you can't give up hot showers, try to switch to using lukewarm water for washing your face and hands.
Look for alcohol- and soap-free cleansers. Deodorant soaps, scents, and alcohol all have drying effects on the skin. Look for ingredients like glycerine, Niacinimide, and Vitamin B3, especially if you have sensitive skin.[2]
Foaming and scrubbing cleansers can also dry out the skin.
Use oils, serums, or medications before applying moisturizer. In order for your moisturizer to work the best, it should be the last thing you apply to your skin. If you use any oils, serums, or medications, such as acne creams, apply them directly after cleansing your skin.[3]
Apply products to your skin in order from the product with the lightest formula to the heaviest formula.
Apply moisturizer while your skin is still damp. Use an oil-based ointment or cream rather than a water-based lotion. Olive oil, jojoba oil, and shea butter are all natural ingredients that soothe and moisturize dry skin. Moisturizer of any kind won't work unless your skin is already a little wet. Apply moisturizer after gently patting your body, face, or hands dry, while your skin still feels damp.[4]
The best kind of moisturizer is a cream that contains hyaluronic acid or ceramides. The thicker and greasier the formula feels, the more effectively it will seal in moisture.
Apply a hand cream after you wash your hands.
Massage products gently into the skin. Rubbing your skin too hard or too much can cause irritation. Rub the tips of your fingers in small circles to gently massage any products you are using into your skin.[5]
To minimize irritation even more, use a patting motion rather than a rubbing motion to dry your face and body.
Exfoliate once a week to get rid of dead skin and help moisturizers penetrate. Although exfoliating doesn't actively moisturize, it can help the skin get rid of dead cells so that moisturizers work better. Exfoliate your hands, face, and all over your body, then follow the treatment immediately with a moisturizer. Use a gentle, unscented exfoliator, especially for the face.[6]
If you have sensitive skin, a washcloth and a gentle chemical exfoliator should be enough, rather than an exfoliator with beads.
Excessively exfoliating can leave your skin raw and won't help lock moisturizer in any better.
Try a face mask once or twice a week. Look for a cream, gel, or sheet mask with ingredients like collagen and antioxidants. Choose a face mask created for your skin type or problem (for example, oily skin or redness). Pay attention to instructions on the packaging that will tell you how long you need to leave the face mask in place and how you should remove it. Apply a moisturizer after you take the face mask off.[7]
Always use face masks on clean and exfoliated skin.
You can also make a homemade face mask using 1 avocado, 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of plain yogurt, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of olive oil, and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of organic honey to the bowl. Leave the mask on for 15-20 minutes and rinse it with warm water.
Avoid taking baths or hot showers. Soaking in a hot tub can be tempting when it's cold outside, but it will certainly dry out your skin, as will a long, hot shower. Lukewarm water is best for keeping your skin as moisturized as possible.[8]
If you love taking baths, try making them a special once a week event and limit how long you spend in the water.
Add a layer between your skin and wool to avoid irritation. If you bundle up in wool clothes to keep warm, you might notice that your skin becomes itchy and irritated where it rubs up against the fabric. Try layering a more skin-friendly fabric, like cotton or silk, between your self and your wool sweater to keep warm without irritating your skin.[9]
Also wash your clothes using unscented or hypoallergenic detergent to reduce irritation on your skin.
Other fabrics that can irritate your skin include bamboo, acrylic, polyester, rayon, acetate, and nylon.[10]
Keep yourself hydrated. It's important to keep hydrated year-round, but it can be harder in the winter. Adults need around 11.5 cups (2.7 liters)-15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of water every day. As a rule of thumb, if you feel thirsty, you are probably dehydrated. If you're having trouble drinking enough water to stay hydrated, try eating foods that have a high water content such as cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, and kiwi.[11]
A lot of these foods also contain vitamin C, which can help your skin produce elastin and collagen.
Wear sunscreen, even on the darkest, cloudiest days. Even if it seems like the sun is a distant memory, it's important to wear sunscreen every day. Low levels of sun exposure can contribute to skin damage over time, leading to wrinkles, spots, or even skin cancer.[12]
If you live in a place with high winds or extremely cold temperatures, also take care to protect your face from the elements by layering up with scarves, hats, and gloves.
Use a humidifier in your room during winter. Winter brings dry air, both indoors and outdoors, which can dry out your skin. Keep the humidity in your room at around 60% to keep your skin hydrated at night.[13]
Your skin repairs itself a lot while you are sleeping, so your bedroom is the best place for a humidifier.
To hydrate your lips, look for a balm with paraffin ceramides rather than beeswax. Ingredients like lanolin and vitamin E can also revive and hydrate lips.[15]
The ability to make other people happy is a great skill. You'll seem more charismatic and more people will gravitate towards you. Keep the people around you happy by showing them that you care about them. Make friendly conversation by listening more than you talk and ask questions about people. Praise their accomplishments and remember details about their lives to make them feel important. In general, maintain a positive attitude and good sense of humor. These feelings are contagious to the people around you.
Listen more than you speak. Try not to dominate conversations. If you do all the talking in a conversation, people will feel like you're talking at them. Instead, let other people talk and only provide input when they're finished. This makes you look like a polite, attentive person who cares what other people have to say.[1]
Don't interrupt a person while they're speaking. People don't like being cut off. Always let them finish what they're saying.
Of course, still answer questions if the person asks them. But don't just look for the next time you can start talking about yourself again. Allow other people to talk.
Ask questions about the person. Keep conversations going by asking the other person about themselves. Give people the opportunity to open up and talk about themselves. They will appreciate talking to someone who listens to them. Even a simple, "How are you doing today?" makes people feel like you care about them.[2]
Don't just ask superficial questions. Demonstrate that you were listening by asking questions based on what they person was saying.
For example, if someone is telling you about their vacation and mention they got a flat tire, say, "Wow, how did you fix the tire?" This shows that you're not only interested, but were paying attention to the story.
Look away from your phone or computer when speaking with people. Don't look distracted while conversing with people. Checking your phone or computer constantly makes you look rude and uninterested. Put your phone down and look away from the computer. Make eye contact with the person so they know you're paying attention.[3]
If you do have to check your phone, excuse yourself and say, "Sorry, I have to check this for one second."
If you are actually busy and don't have time to talk, be polite about it. Say, "I'd love to talk some more but I have a work call to make. I'll see you later."
Be enthusiastic about what they say. Get excited when someone tells you something. If they share a piece of good news or an accomplishment, congratulate them. A simple, "That's great!" will make them feel like they really did accomplish something and that you care about it.[4]
People sometimes get shy when you compliment them. If they say something like, "Oh, it's no big deal," you can follow up with, "Well just know I'm happy for you." This maintains the personal connection with the other person without making them uncomfortable.
Return compliments if the other person gives them. It's possible someone will congratulate or compliment you in a conversation. Thank them sincerely for the compliment, and then return a compliment. This makes you look both gracious and generous at the same time.[5]
A coworker might say that you offered a great idea in the meeting today. You could respond, "Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. With your skills I'm sure you can pull it off."
Avoid criticizing their opinions. Inevitably, you'll disagree with people on some of their beliefs or opinions. Keep the conversation friendly and don't criticize them. Allow them to voice their opinions. That way, they'll continue feeling safe and happy talking to you.[6]
You can still voice your disagreement without being hostile. Just simply saying, "That's not the way I see it, but I get your point," shows that you disagree but also gives the other person credit.
If you want to avoid confrontation altogether, you can just ignore their opinion and try to steer the conversation elsewhere.
Remember details about people's lives. This is a great practice for connecting with people and showing them you really care about what they're saying. If you always forget things they've told you, it will seem like you aren't listening to them. Make an effort to remember the details they've told you to increase your connection with the person.[7]
Ask about these details too. Someone might tell you on Friday that they're going to a concert over the weekend. If you see them on Monday, ask how the concert was. This shows you were listening and that you care about them.
If you have trouble remembering things, try doing some exercises to improve your memory.
Show your interest with nonverbal cues. Certain mannerisms and body language show a person you're paying attention. Nodding, making eye contact, and changing your facial expression according to what they say all shows the person that you're invested in what they say. Don't remain firm or unresponsive. This shows that you don't care about the conversation.[8]
If someone tells you a story about something unexpected happening, widen your eyes and make a shocked face. They'll feel like you're completely invested in the story.
You can also do this when you aren't directly having a conversation with someone. If a coworker is giving a presentation in a conference room, look at them while they speak. Nod along when they make a good point, and take notes. These all make the person speaking feel important and they will appreciate it.
Offer praise in moderation. Compliments and praise are great ways to make someone feel important. Give compliments to other people, but don't overdo it. If you constantly compliment everyone, your praise won't look genuine. Be sincere when you compliment people, and then move on.[9]
Don't continue complimenting the person after they've already acknowledged your compliment. If they say thank you, don't say, "No but really, you did a great job." This could come off as fake.
Bring attention to their accomplishments. Compliments don't only have to be private matters. If someone you know accomplished something, let other people know about it. The person will be happy to see that other people take their accomplishments seriously.[10]
This doesn't have to be a grand gesture. You might be giving a presentation and say, "I'd like to thank John for doing a great job on these figures here." This quick statement gives John credit without dwelling on the matter.
However, if someone asks you to keep something quiet, respect their wishes. They may want to be the one to tell a certain person or might just be shy about it.
Write thank-you notes if a person does something for you. Making people feel appreciated is another great way to show them that they're important. If someone helps you out, take some time to write them a genuine thank-you note or email. Explain how they helped you and let them know you appreciate it.[11]
Personal thank-you's work as well. Try to find the person and thank them. Saying, "I just wanted to drop by and say thanks for that favor you did," shows that you went out of your
If you can't find the person, a phone call is great too.
Avoid gossiping and talking about other people negatively. Spreading gossip about people creates a more hostile and less friendly environment. If you get a reputation for doing this, less people will want to interact with you. Stay away from gossiping and make yourself someone that people feel comfortable talking to. They'll be much happier around you.[12]
This is a good situation where thinking about the Golden Rule helps. Would you like someone spreading rumors about you? Probably not. So don't spread rumors about others.
Treat people the way you'd like to be treated. This is often called the "Golden Rule" for a reason. If you want to make people happy, just think about what makes you happy. Then treat people accordingly. Live by this code and you'll be a much friendlier person.[13]
Think about if you were talking to someone and you made fun of them for liking a certain band. Would you be happy if someone did that to you? Probably not. Reconsider your actions and apologize.
Smile as much as possible. Smiling helps you feel positive and also spreads positivity to the people around you. Make a conscious effort to smile often. You'll look like a much friendlier person and people are more likely to come talk to you.[14]
Whenever you greet people, smile as you say hello. This is an easy way to spread more positive feelings.
Don't try to make your smile as wide as you can. This will look fake. Just slightly turning the corners of your lips up makes you look bright naturally.
Have a good sense of humor. Having a sense of humor helps reduce your stress and keep a positive attitude. More importantly, people will gravitate towards you if you're a fun person. Laugh often and try to brighten other people's moods. This will spread positive energy all around you and people will appreciate it.[15]
Remember that having a sense of humor isn't just about telling jokes. It's more about keeping a lighthearted mood about things. If something negative happens, try to find a bright side in it. Be the person that stays optimistic when other people are feeling down.
Always know the limits for your humor, however. Don't tell inappropriate jokes. If people don't seem amused by your antics, tone it down.
Remember that every situation is different. If something tragic happens, it might not be the best time to show your sense of humor. Judge each situation and act accordingly.
Beets are beloved by many—they contain lots of beneficial vitamins and minerals, work well in a plethora of recipes, and, when cooked properly, boast a rich, earthy flavor. There are many ways to prepare beets, but one of the best methods is boiling, which softens up the tough root vegetable without robbing it of its natural juices. Just throw your beets in a deep pot, cover them with water, add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice, and simmer them until they're tender, about 30-45 minutes.
Choose beets that are roughly the same size to ensure that they cook evenly. Pick out a few beets that are a suitable size for the dish you'll be using them in. Bigger beets typically take longer to cook than smaller ones. Using different-sized specimens will therefore make it harder to achieve a consistent texture.[1]
You can boil beets of any size. However, medium-sized beets tend to work best, as they offer the best balance between heartiness and cook time.[2]
Pass up beets with noticeable bruises or blemishes or dry, wrinkly-looking skin. These are usually indications that they're past their prime.
Cut the leafy stalks off of the top of your beets. Lay your beets out on a cutting board one at a time and use a sharp knife to slice off the lush greens growing out of the upper end. Leave about of the stalk intact to avoid cutting into the beetroot itself.[3]
Raw beets can be tough, which means you may need to apply quite a bit of pressure to get your knife all the way through. Be sure to watch your fingers!
If you like, you can save your beet greens and use them in other dishes. Beet greens can be prepared much like spinach, kale, collards, and other greens.[4]
Slice off the roots protruding from the bottom of the beets. Once you've removed the stalks, turn your beets around and do the same for the long, tendril-like feeler root on the lower portion of the vegetable. Make your cut right around the point where the bulbs taper so as not to waste any of the juicy, nutritious meat.[5]
You can skip this step if your beets came pre-trimmed.
This part of the beet is technically edible, though it isn't very good on its own due to its tough, stringy texture. However, it could make a flavorful addition to a homemade vegetable stock.[6]
Scrub your beets with a vegetable brush to remove excess dirt and debris. Run the head of the brush lightly over the outer surface of each beet using short, sweeping motions. Focus on spots that are heavily caked with dirt or sediment. Place the clean beets in a bowl, or set them on a layer of folded paper towels or another sanitary surface.[7]
Try not to scrub your beets too hard. Damaging the skin could cause some of their color, flavor, and nutrient contents to leach out into the boiling water.
Beets grow in the ground, so it's important to make sure that they're nice and clean before cooking with them.
Rinse your beets thoroughly with cool, clean water. Turn on the faucet and run each beet under the stream, using the pads of your fingers to loosen any lingering dirt. When working with large batches, place your beets in a colander or wire strainer so that you can rinse them all at once.[8]
If you're a stickler for cleanliness, you can also soak your beets in a bowl full of water for around 5 minutes. Add of vinegar or lemon juice to help kill bacteria.[9]
Place your beets at the bottom of a pot or saucepan. A standard saucepan should be big enough to cook 1-4 individual servings at one time. For larger batches, you'll need to upsize to a medium-sized pot, stockpot, or Dutch oven to make sure there's enough room for all of the beets you're preparing.[10]
Whatever piece of cookware you use should be big enough to hold all of the beets you plan on boiling, plus an equal volume of water.[11]
Spreading out your beets a bit will allow the heat of your boiling water to better circulate between them.
Fill the pot with enough water to completely cover the beets. There's no need to measure out a precise amount of liquid. Just turn on the faucet and let it run into your pot until the water sits above the top of your beets.[12]
Don't overfill your pot. Doing so will cause all that water to take much longer to heat up. You'll also burn a lot of unnecessary energy trying to maintain the optimal cooking temperature.
Add of vinegar or lemon juice to prevent bleeding. Use a measuring cup or spoon to portion out your acid of choice, then dump it into the pot with your boiling water. It will help lock in the beets' natural juices as they cook. As a result, they'll come out perfectly soft, tender, and flavorful.[13]
Double the amount of acid you add for every additional of water in your pot.
Bring the water in your pot to a boil. Set the pot on one of the eyes of your stove and switch on the cooktop to medium-high or high heat. Allow the water to heat up until it reaches a full, rolling boil. This should take around 8-10 minutes, depending on the total volume of your pot.
Putting a lid on the pot will prevent excess heat from escaping, which in turn will help the water boil faster.
Reduce the heat and simmer the beets for 30-45 minutes. As soon as your water begins boiling, turn the temperature down to low-medium heat. Let the beets simmer at this decreased heat setting for around half an hour, or until they reach the desired doneness. Come back and give your beets a stir periodically to keep the heat evenly distributed throughout your pot.[14]
Be sure to leave the lid on the pot the whole time it's on the stove. Otherwise, the temperature of the water will drop and your cook time will increase.
Especially large beets or those that have been in cold storage may need closer to an hour to cook all the way through.[15]
Use a knife to check whether your beets are done. Remove the lid from the pot, reach in carefully, and jab one of the boiled beets with the tip of your knife. If it pierces easily, it's time for them to come off of the stove. If it still feels tough, leave them on the stove for another 10-15 minutes to soften them up.[16]
Choose a knife with a long blade to avoid burning your hand. It may also be a good idea to slip on an oven mitt if there's a lot of steam escaping from the pot.
Fill a large bowl with ice water. Run cold water into the bowl, then add a couple handfuls of ice cubes. Place the bowl on the countertop next to your stove. You'll be using it as an ice bath to quickly cool the boiled beets.[17]
A spacious serving or mixing bowl will work well for this purpose, but you could also fill up the sink itself if you're working with a large quantity of beets or don't have a suitable container handy.
Transfer the beets to the ice bath using a slotted spoon or pair of tongs. Once your beets are fully cooked, switch off the cooktop and remove the pot from the hot eye. Scoop the beets out of the hot cooking liquid with your spoon or tongs one-by-one and deposit them in the bowl of ice water.[18]
Alternatively, you can dump the entire contents of the pot into a colander or wire strainer before transferring the drained beets to the ice bath.
You also have the option of simply emptying the boiling pot and rising your beets with cold water if you'd rather not go to the trouble of chilling them.[19]
Let the beets cool in the ice bath for 2-3 minutes. Plunging your freshly-boiled beets into ice water will instantly kill their residual heat and stop them from cooking them any further. The drastic change in temperature will also loosen up the connection between the skin and the meat, making them a breeze to peel.[20]
You may need to chill your beets in batches, depending on the quantity you've cooked. Be sure to refill your bowl with fresh water and ice after each batch.
Peel the loose skin off of your beets by hand. At this point, the tough skin will have softened enough to allow you to simply pull it away in large sections. Use the pad of your thumb or thumbnail to scrape away any stubborn clinging spots you happen to encounter.[21]
It might be a good idea to pull on a pair of latex gloves before you begin peeling your beets to make sure that the flowing juice doesn't stain your fingers.
Discard the skins immediately to avoid discoloring your clothes, countertops, floors, or other surrounding surfaces.[22]
Serve your boiled beets as-is with a sprinkle of salt, a drizzle of olive oil, and a few sprigs of fresh parsley. You can also pickle them, use them to top a salad, add them to a gratin or casserole, or mash them with butter, milk, and salt the way you would potatoes.
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