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Showing posts from March, 2018

Applying for US visa? You will have to submit your social media details too

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The State Department estimates that the new visa forms would affect 710,000 immigrant and 14 million non-immigrant visas , applicants The Trump administration wants all US visa applicants to submit details of their previous phone numbers, email addresses, and social media histories as part of its "vetting" practice and to prevent entry of individuals who might pose a threat to the country. In a document posted on the Federal Register yesterday, anyone who wants to come to the US on a non-immigrant visa will have to answer a list of questions under new rules. The State Department estimates that the new visa forms would affect 710,000 immigrant and 14 million non-immigrant visa applicants. It said that in addition to asking the visa applicants to provide their identifications or handles of their social media platform, they would also be asked to give details of their phone and mobile numbers used in the last five years. Other questio

Crude prices rebound in March as Opec hints at longer oil output cuts

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Iraqi minister says group mulls extension up to mid-2019 Oil climbed as top crude-exporting countries suggest they may extend output curbs beyond this year, adding momentum to a monthly rebound. Futures in New York posted a 5.4 percent increase in March, erasing February losses fueled by mounting American stockpiles. Some OPEC producers and allies are considering prolonging efforts to drain a global supply glut up to the middle of next year, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said at a conference in Baghdad. “The potential for OPEC to extend their agreement instead of starting to cut it off at the end of the year is a positive development,” said Park City, Utah-based Mark Watkins, who helps oversee $151 billion in assets at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “It shows OPEC is serious about continuing to have a stable price for oil.” Crude has rebounded more than 50 percent since June, with the rally regaining steam this month as geopolitical worries heat up.

Sebi looking into ICICI Bank-Videocon conflict of interest matter

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ICICI Bank is India's fourth most valued bank with a market capitalization of about Rs 1.8 trillion and its shares are also part of the benchmark stock market index Sensex With ICICI Bank embroiled in a controversy over alleged conflict of interest involving its CEO Chanda Kochhar, market regulator Sebi has begun looking into the matter for any possible disclosure and corporate governance-related lapses. Besides, Videocon Industries and its promoters have come under the regulator's scanner as the matter relates to alleged "quid pro quo" involving loans to the company by a group of lenders, including ICICI Bank and some public sector banks. The markets watchdog has begun a preliminary inquiry into various disclosures made by the top private sector bank over the last few years while the stock exchanges may seek additional clarifications regarding recent reports in this regard that relate to dealings that took place way back in 2012, a senior

Trump tells advisers he wants US out of Syria - senior officials

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President Donald Trump has told advisers he wants an early exit of US troops from Syria, two senior administration officials said on Friday, a stance that may put him at odds with many top US officials. A US administration official confirmed a Wall Street Journal report on Friday that said Trump had ordered the State Department to freeze more than USD 200 million in funds for recovery efforts in Syria while his administration reassesses Washington's role in the conflict there. The paper quoted officials as saying that Trump called for the freeze after reading a news report noting that the US had recently committed an additional USD 200 million to the country. The officials said the decision was in line with Trump's declaration during a speech in Richfield, Ohio, on Thursday, where he revealed his desire for America to exit Syria, the paper said. A spokesperson for the White House's National Security Council said that "in line wi

Starbucks case: California judge rules that coffee requires cancer warning

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The suit was brought against Starbucks and 90 companies under a controversial law passed by California voters in 1986. Scientists haven't rendered a verdict on whether coffee is good or bad for you but a California judge has. He says coffee sellers in the state should have to post cancer warnings. The culprit is a chemical produced in the bean roasting process that is a known carcinogen and has been at the heart of an eight-year legal struggle between a tiny nonprofit group and Big Coffee. The Council for Education and Research on Toxics wanted the coffee industry to remove acrylamide from its processing — like potato chip makers did when it sued them years ago — or disclose the danger in ominous warning signs or labels. The industry, led by Starbucks Corp., said the level of the chemical in coffee isn't harmful and any risks are outweighed by benefits. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle said Wednesday that the coffee makers hadn't pr

US stocks jump in an upbeat end to tumultuous quarter; Dow rises 1%

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The year started strong, but early gains evaporated as the markets entered a correction over interest rate jitters Wall Street surged on Thursday, bringing an upbeat end to a tumultuous, holiday-shortened week as technology stocks rebounded, but the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted their biggest quarterly declines in more than two years. The year started strong, but early gains evaporated as the markets entered a correction over interest rate jitters, fears of an escalating import tariff dispute between the United States and China, and a selloff in the tech sector. Tech stocks reversed course on Thursday and the S&P 500 information technology index closed up 2.2 percent after reaching a session high of 3.2 percent, helping push the S&P 500 up 1.4 percent, with the Dow and Nasdaq also rallying. "All the fears now look overblown. Interest rates, the concern about tariffs, we're going to get into a trade war,"

Vedanta, Tata Steel eligible to bid for Electrosteel, say lenders

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Renaissance Steel had raised objections on Vedanta's eligibility to bid for the debt-laden steel company In a battle for taking over insolvent Electrosteel Steels, lenders to the steel producer on Thursday decided to go ahead with Vedanta, rejecting objections raised by the Renaissance Steel on the eligibility of the former to bid for the debt-laden company. The Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on March 20, had directed the resolution professional (RP) of the company to place all the objections of Renaissance Steel against the eligibility of Vedanta and Tata Steel to bid for the insolvent company before the Committee of Creditors (CoC) for an "independent consideration" of the committee. "The Committee of Creditors (COC) validated the eligibility of both Vedanta and Tata Steel to bid for debt-laden steel producer," a source said. Passing the order, Justice Jinan K.R. said: "The RP is directed to plac

Xiaomi Redmi 5 sale on Amazon at 12 noon today: Read review, specs & more

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The Redmi 5 sports modern 18:9 aspect ratio screen wrapped in a metallic-plastic chassis. The phone seems to be on the expensive side for a budget-centric smartphone Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi launched the Redmi 5 at a starting price of Rs 7,999 on March 14. The Amazon-exclusive budget-centric smartphone would go on sale today, March 30, at 12 noon. The Redmi 5 is the third Redmi-series smartphone launched after the Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro in India in 2018. The phone has a modern 18:9 aspect ratio screen wrapped in a metallic-plastic chassis, which looks plush. However, unlike previous-generation Redmi-series devices, the Redmi 5 seems to be on the expensive side for a budget-centric smartphone. The smartphone is built on the blueprint of its elder sibling, the Redmi Note 5, which gives it an edge in terms of design. However, the innards have been kept in line with the previous generation, besides some minor improvements, to keep the price in check.

Will help few good start-ups become large companies, says Nandan Nilekani

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The firm has started looking out for potential investments in the growing start-up space in India Fundamentum, the investment firm set up by former UIDAI chairman and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, and Helion Venture Partners’ co-founder Sanjeev Aggarwal last year, received $20 million from Canadian pension fund CDPQ on Thursday. The firm has started looking out for potential investments in the growing start-up space in India. Nilekani tells Alnoor Peermohamed that while there are enough venture funds available in the market, Fundamentum has a clear differentiation as it will invest in companies looking to scale up by leveraging experiences of building large companies. Edited excerpts: How is Fundamentum going to be different from other funds? We set up this fund to build the next generation of big Indian companies. Setting up a company is one thing, scaling up requires a whole lot of experience — in terms of strategy, technology, getting the right p

Frauds cost Rs 18,170 crore to banking sector in FY17: Report

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While Bank of Maharashtra reported 3,893 cases of fraud, private sector lender ICICI Bank came a close second with 3,359 cases and HDFC Bank the third with 2,319 fraud cases, in the last financial year, according to proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS). The domestic banking sector reported a total of 12,553 fraud cases worth Rs 18,170 crore in fiscal 2016-17, with state-run Bank of Maharashtra registering the highest number of such cases, says a report. While Bank of Maharashtra reported 3,893 cases of fraud, private sector lender ICICI Bank came a close second with 3,359 cases and HDFC Bank the third with 2,319 fraud cases, in the last financial year, according to proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS). In terms of the quantum, Punjab National Bank (PNB) had reported the highest amount of frauds at Rs 2,810 crore in the last financial year, followed by Bank of India at Rs 2,770 crore, State Ba

OnePlus 6 to have a screen notch, but smaller than Apple iPhone X: Carl Pei

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In an interview, Pei made references to iPhone X, its notch-based screen and what OnePlus has learned from Apple's notch-based screen set-up to enhance the user experience in its upcoming OnePlus 6 Some important insights on the still unofficial OnePlus 6 that had been doing the rounds of the internet for a while have now been made official by the company’s CEO and co-founder Carl Pei. In an interview with technology portal The Verge, Pei confirmed that the upcoming smartphone would embrace the notch screen, but with more thought and care than the other Android-based manufacturers that have adopted it. Throughout the interview, Pei made references to iPhone X, its notch-based screen and how OnePlus took lessons from Apple’s notch-based screen set-up to enhance the user experience in its upcoming OnePlus 6. Pei also made a reference to Essential PH1, which is among the first smartphones to sport a tiny circular display notch in the Android space. Howev