Tencent Withdraws Lawsuit Against Lao Gan Ma, Plans to Partner ‘For Real’ In the Future – TEO – The Esports Observer

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After a series of dramatic twists related to a $2.3M USD esports advertising dispute case between Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings and Chinas biggest chili sauce brand Lao Gan Ma (LGM), it would appear that the story is coming to an amicable end.

Tencent Holdings and LGM released a joint statement Friday announcing that the two companies have made a compromise.

According to the statement, Tencent has withdrawn the lawsuit from the Shenzhen Nanshan Court and will cooperate with LGM to aid the Guiyang Police Office in prosecuting three suspects who were arrested for faking LGMs company seal and pretending to be marketing representatives with the goal of signing a contract with Tencent to obtain CD-keys for games.

Tencent and LGM have had a deep conversation on this incident and LGM was offered a sincere apology by Tencent for the misunderstanding, according to the announcement.

In addition, LGM and Tencent have confirmed that the two companies plan to partner for real in the future.

Despite the fact that the two companies have not announced details of this future partnership, the announcement has managed to go viral on the internet and has become a partnership trailer.

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Tencent Withdraws Lawsuit Against Lao Gan Ma, Plans to Partner 'For Real' In the Future - TEO - The Esports Observer

Has the title deed lost its sanctity? – The Star, Kenya

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Owning land in Kenya, especially in the big towns and their suburbs, should be added to the list of 1,000 ways to die.

How else can one describe a scenario in which a hard-working Kenyan who earns an honest living buys a piece of land after undertaking due diligence, takes a loan and develops it, starts a family, raises his children then one day, out of the blues and in his twilight years, the government of the day announces that his home sits on a road, sewer or forest reserve and is earmarked for demolition?

Such is the predicament facing many Kenyans who despite owning genuine land ownership documents (issued by the government) have watched in horror as the same government brought down their dream homes built through sweat and blood. To add salt to injury, there is no chance of compensation. Who will save Kenyans from their government?

World over, successive governments inherit baggage from previous administrations. Some of the land issues that Kenya faces today can be traced back to the colonial era. My argument should not be misconstrued as a blanket condemnation of the state. Indeed, Article 62 of the constitution mandates the state to manage and protect all public land.

It is true that in some instances, individuals have illegally occupied and settled on what is classified as public land. Efforts by the government to eject them ought to be supported by all.

The elephant in the room, however, is in cases where officials in previous governments degazetted some sections of public land in clear abuse of office, allocated themselves and their cronies large tracts of the hived-off land and finally sold it to unsuspecting Kenyans.

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Has the title deed lost its sanctity? - The Star, Kenya

Breaking down the top 10 LB recruits in Vanderbilt history – 247Sports

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Zach Cunningham made highlight after highlight in 2016, including the game-winning, fourth-down stop at Georgia. (Photo: Icon Sportswire / Contributor, Getty)

In recent seasons, Vanderbilt has churned out some impressive linebacker talent even relative to much of the SEC. Zach Cunningham and Oren Burks were Day 2 NFL Draft picks, Jordan Griffin was a tackling machine and Dimitri Moore could emerge over the next two seasons after being thrown into the fire immediately following a redshirt season in 2017. Cunningham in particular dominated the SEC in his final season on West End.

While Vanderbilt did a good job of developing those players, the Commodores have also brought in quite a bit of talent at the position in the 247Sports era, which dates back to 2000. A number of the program's highest-rated all-time recruits have come at linebacker, and many of those wins on the trail actually came under current head coach Derek Mason as opposed to James Franklin.

Linebackers are next up in my series featuring Vanderbilt's top 10 prospects at each position in the 247Sports era, and the vast majority of these players will be familiar to younger fans they're almost all from the last 10 years. And more than one should play significant roles on the 2020 squad, which bodes well for the long-term health of the program.

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Dozens of seals rescued by ‘fake mums’ in innovative wetsuit creation – expressandstar.com

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Dozens of orphaned seal pups who were swept away from their mothers during storms are being saved by wetsuit mums.

Seal Rescue Ireland in Co Wexford has seen a recent surge in orphaned seals, with many just days and weeks old.

The injured or orphaned pups are comforted by the fake mums which are made from old wetsuits.

The charity organisation which rescues, rehabilitates and releases native seals from across the coast, said it uses wetsuits that would have ended up in landfill.

Each of the pups needs months of care after being separated from their mother and would not survive if left alone in the wild.

The wetsuit mums are made to look and feel like an adult seal and are placed beside the pups in the centres intensive care unit.

Executive director of Seal Rescue Ireland Melanie Croce said that orphaned seals can become distressed when brought into the centre.

When they become separate from their mother very young they have virtually no chance of survival and thats when we have to step in, help them and bring them back to a healthy weight, and get them big and strong enough to be released into the wild, she said.

They can be very stressed and we look for ways to keep them calm.

The idea kind of evolved and we tried it out and it was a hit. Its a practical way to help them along, its very heart-warming and this is the closest thing they will have to a mother.

We have 17 pups and they all get a fake mum with them. We put them into an ICU container with a heat lamp its a quiet place for them to rest.

After storms we always get a huge amount of calls about abandoned pups so this is how climate change is impacting.

They also become orphaned through human disturbance. People dont realise that seals need to rest and they raise their young on the beach and if you approach a seal the mother might leave and not come back for their young.

The designer behind the wetsuit mum, Lynn Haughton, said she wanted it to resemble an adult seal.

Lynn, who is founder and designer of The Upcycle Movement, had been volunteering at the centre when she was asked to make the wetsuits.

I repurpose recyclable textiles and I have my own design collection focusing on wetsuits so we tried out this new creation and it worked, Ms Haughton said.

It has a recycled waterproof lining filled with off-cuts from old wetsuits so its great to get those used too.

The seals responded really well most have went straight to it but some arent bothered.

Its definitely effective. They are really happy with it and other rescue centres in the UK have contacted me about how they can do it.

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Dozens of seals rescued by 'fake mums' in innovative wetsuit creation - expressandstar.com

Coronavirus: Donald Trump finally wears mask in public – BBC News

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US President Donald Trump has worn a mask in public for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The president was visiting the Walter Reed military hospital outside Washington, where he met wounded soldiers and health care workers.

"I've never been against masks but I do believe they have a time and a place," he said as he left the White House.

He has previously said that he would not wear a mask and mocked Democratic rival Joe Biden for doing so.

But on Saturday he said: "I think when you're in a hospital, especially in that particular setting, where you're talking to a lot of soldiers and people that, in some cases, just got off the operating tables, I think it's a great thing to wear a mask."

The change of tone came as the US recorded 66,528 coronavirus cases on Saturday, a new daily record.

Speaking to Fox Business Network last week, Mr Trump said: "I'm all for masks."

He added that he "sort of liked" how he looked with one on, likening himself to the Lone Ranger, a fictional masked hero who with his Native American friend, Tonto, fought outlaws in the American Old West.

But when the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in April began recommending people wear masks or cloth coverings in public to help stop the spread of the virus, Mr Trump told reporters he would not follow the practice.

"I don't think I'm going to be doing it," he said back then. "Wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens - I just don't see it."

Some media reports have suggested aides have repeatedly asked the president to wear one in public.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal last month, Mr Trump suggested some people might wear masks to signal disapproval of him.

He also said he took issue with people touching their faces after taking their mask off.

"They put their finger on the mask, and they take them off, and then they start touching their eyes and touching their nose and their mouth. And then they don't know how they caught it?" he said.

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The US has seen another 66,528 infections in the past 24 hours, a record for one day, and a total of almost 135,000 deaths since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Louisiana has become the latest state to order that masks be worn in public.

Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards also ordered the closure of bars across Louisiana, and tightened restrictions on restaurants, which will no longer be able to serve customers inside. The measures come into effect on Monday.

State Republican lawmakers are expected to oppose the move.

"If you don't like the mask mandate, then don't like it while you wear your mask," Governor Edwards said. "If you want to be mad at me about it, then be mad at me about it."

Neighbouring Texas has recorded another rise of coronavirus infections, with a record 10,500 new cases recorded on Saturday.

The governor of South Carolina has issued an order banning sales of alcohol after 23:00 in bars and restaurants to try to stop the spread of the virus.

A court in Indiana has halted the execution of a convicted killer as the victim's relatives said they were worried about travelling during the pandemic to watch him die. Daniel Lee was set to be executed on Monday in what would have been the first federal execution in 17 years.

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Coronavirus: Donald Trump finally wears mask in public - BBC News

Too Much and Never Enough review: Mary Trump thumps Donald – The Guardian

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Mary Trumps tell-all will not make her uncles re-election bid any easier. The presidents late-night walk of shame is already a classic campaign moment. His nieces allegation that he paid someone else to take his college entrance exams resonates as true, because of his reported disdain for reading and capacity to inadvertently invent new words like swiffian.

Adding insult to injury, Maryanne Trump Barry, Trumps sister, appears to be the key source for this smorgasbord of dysfunction. She is a retired federal judge who left the bench with an ethics cloud over her head. Fittingly, as Mary Trump lacerates multiple sets of vital organs, her pen a stiletto, she thanks her aunt for all of the enlightening information.

It is score-settling time, Trump-style. Go big or go home. Few are spared.

Too Much and Never Enough doubles as mesmerizing beach reading and a memorable opposition research dump, in time for the party conventions. Think John Bolton-quality revelations, but about Trumps family. It is the book Michael Wolff, the author of Fire and Fury, likely wishes he had written but isnt kin so he couldnt. It is salacious, venomous and well-sourced.

Sadly, it is also a book born of tragedy and pain. The authors father, Fred Trump Jr, died in his early 40s. He drank hard, was jettisoned by his father and siblings, and treated as a cautionary tale. Mary Trump is angry, not self-pitying. Although she casts her book as a warning to the American public, it is 200-plus pages of revenge served with the benefit of time and distance. Yet the narrative remains compelling.

Fred Jr found joy in flying and serving his country. He was a member of the national guard and a TWA pilot. In most homes, that would be deemed an achievement. But the Trumps were not most folks. Fred Sr saw his oldest son as weak. His brother Donald humiliated him, his mother Mary stood by and watched. As for Fred Jrs military service, Trump pre found little value there. As for Donald, bone spurs were his path to avoid Vietnam.

When Fred Jr was dying, in 1981, the future president thought it an opportune time to go to the movies. Past became prelude. When Roy Cohn, Trumps friend and consigliere, was dying of Aids a decade later, Trump walked away again. A stunned Cohn reportedly remarked: Donald pisses ice water.

But it was the aftermath of Fred Srs death that put Mary Trump and the older generation on a collision course. Fred Jrs two children were cut out of Fred Srs will. Maryanne and her brothers did their best to thwart their claims to an inheritance.

Tensions spiraled, then subsided. The matter was settled, and the parties filed a stipulation in surrogates court. Ostensibly, the agreement barred disclosure regarding Fred Sr and his legacy. Maryanne was an executor of the estate. Ironically, she has emerged as her nieces muse. The judge leaked like a sieve.

According to Too Much and Never Enough, Trump and Cohn played a pivotal role in Maryannes elevation to the federal bench. At the time, she was only an assistant federal prosecutor, an usual launchpad to a federal judgeship. Strings were pulled. When Maryanne had the temerity to tell Trump his presidency was failing, her niece now writes, he reminded her that he made her. Like Fred Sr, Trump brooks no hint of disloyalty.

A New York Times investigation in the origins of Trumps wealth brought the past roaring back. Questions surrounding the family fortune abounded. Tax evasion appears as one possibility. After resisting overtures for assistance from Susanne Craig of the Times, Mary Trump began to cooperate. In the process, she came to doubt the rationale for her own settlement.

As for Aunt Maryannes role in the mess, Mary Trump lumps her in with the rest of them: They all knew where the bodies were buried because they buried them together.

This may be the first time a family member of a sitting president has publicly accused him of paying a surrogate to take the SATs a claim the alleged surrogates widow denies. Looking back, Trumps obsession with Barack Obamas college transcripts appears to have been a fusion of envy, projection and racism. As an institution of learning, Trump University was truly created in its namesakes image.

Amid all this, mockery is unavoidable. And as Mary Trump observes, the president hates to be mocked. Think of Stormy Daniels dishing about Toad and Mario-Kart an image best forgotten.

The author also stresses that Trumps prejudices mirrored his parents. Both Trump and his father were sued by Richard Nixons justice department, for housing discrimination. Mary Trump also contends that Fred Sr regarded Jew as a verb and was scandalized when the first Italian American family moved into the neighborhood. Trumps mother, she writes, derided Elton John as a little faggot. The author was in a same-sex relationship at the time.

Trumps nostalgia for all things Confederate approaches the organic. In his view, hoisting the Confederate battle flag is free speech but Colin Kaepernick taking a knee is blasphemy. As an election strategy, it doesnt seem to be working. Below the Mason-Dixon line, Trump trails Joe Biden in Florida and North Carolina and is in a tight fight in Georgia.

In this cycle, race-based appeals energize communities of color and repel suburbia. Trump generally turns off college-educated women.

Theres more, of course. Mary Trump writes that if the president can in any way profit from your death, hell facilitate it, and then ignore the fact that you died. As her book appears, Covid-19 cases are exploding, the pandemic moving to the countrys interior. More than 200,000 Covid-related deaths are projected by election day. The Grim Reapers scythe is unsheathed.

Trump is undeterred. He falsely claims the situation is improving and demands schools re-open while his White House looks to numb us into submission. A modern-day Moloch, the president expects the nation to sacrifice itself. Not everyone appears willing, least of all his niece.

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Too Much and Never Enough review: Mary Trump thumps Donald - The Guardian

Trump is a bigot and a hypocrite, but hes right to condemn China – The Guardian

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Donald Trump taints everything he touches. If he supports a cause, he damages it. If he takes a stance, the instinct of most self-respecting liberals is to rush to the opposing side. So when Trump rails against China, a favourite bete noire, it can make a progressive pause.

Thats especially true when the US president lurches so easily into casual bigotry referring to the coronavirus as kung flu and when his hypocrisy is so rank. Thanks to his former national security adviser, John Bolton, we know that, for all his talk, Trump begged Beijing to meddle in this years election in his favour, breezily granting US blessing to what Amnesty International calls the gulag of camps in Xinjiang, in which China holds a million Uighur Muslims against their will.

And yet, just because Trump exploits Chinas human rights abuses when it suits him doesnt mean those abuses dont exist or that we shouldnt be paying attention. Most western interest has been aroused by the plight of Hong Kong, on which Beijing last week imposed a new and crushing national security law, a move the Economist rightly described as one of the biggest assaults on a liberal society since the second world war.

The new law criminalises dissent. Lest there be any doubt, within hours of the laws passage a man was arrested for no greater offence than carrying a banner calling for independence for Hong Kong. Now national security cases can be tried before government-appointed judges, in secret and without a jury or on the Chinese mainland, where justice is what the ruling party says it is, and where prosecutors have a near-100% conviction rate.

Whats more, the new law applies globally: in theory, anyone anywhere deemed to have subverted the Chinese state could have their collar felt by the long arm of Beijing. That may sound fanciful, but in a speech on Tuesday the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, described Operation Fox Hunt, Chinas continuing global campaign against Chinese nationals abroad. Beijing insists its an anti-corruption drive, but Wray said it had coerced expat political rivals, dissidents and critics some of them US citizens to return home, often by threatening their families. One target was passed a message that said: Return to China promptly or commit suicide.

The last six months have revealed more about China under President Xi Jinping than the previous six years, wrote John Sawers, the former head of MI6, this week. To which a fair reply is: only because we didnt want to look. Of course, its understandable that the west notices when things happen in Hong Kong: it was a British colony until 1997, and to this day it remains where China meets the world, as one longtime observer puts it. But the evidence of the Chinese Communist partys willingness to crush not just opposition but difference goes far beyond Hong Kong, and that evidence has been there from the start.

The repression of minorities in Tibet and especially Xinjiang has escalated sharply. The horrific plight of the Uighurs has been hard for reporters to document, but the publication last November of the China Cables, a cache of secret documents, confirmed the existence of a vast prison network in Xinjiang where a million people, mainly Muslim, have been held captive; former inmates speak of torture and rape. These are brainwashing detention centres, designed to strip Uighurs of their cultural memory and identity. The existence of this gulag, the largest mass incarceration of an ethnic-religious minority since 1945, is a grievous crime, a stain on humanity. And yet it is barely mentioned.

Less than a fortnight ago, an investigation by the Associated Press revealed that the Chinese government is forcing intra-uterine devices, sterilisation and even abortion on hundreds of thousands of women, in a bid to slash birth rates among Uighurs and other minorities as part of a sweeping campaign to curb its Muslim population. All this as it encourages some of the countrys Han majority to have more children. The AP quoted experts who called it a form of demographic genocide.

Those who have long watched Chinas rulers can see the pattern. This has been the project of the Chinese Communist party: to tame and domesticate Tibet, then to do the same to Xinjiang and now to Hong Kong, says Nicholas Bequelin, who monitors the region for Amnesty International. He fears this record suggests an obvious next target: Taiwan, as China pursues what it sees as its manifest destiny, complete reunification. Such a move raises the prospect of war.

This is where those unmoved by arguments rooted in human rights might prick up their ears. Chinas conduct cannot be walled off as somehow unconnected to the rest of the world.

You dont have to engage in Trump-style name-calling to know that the authorities in China sat on the news that there was human transmission of coronavirus for nearly a week a move that surely had lethal consequences. You can listen to specialists such as Bequelin who have concluded that Beijings ambition is to dismantle systems that protect democracy and human rights.

How, then, should the rest of the world react? One option would be to brand China a rogue superpower, to shun it as a pariah. But thats hard to do when the US is itself in the hands of a rogue president. How to condemn Chinas suppression of peaceful protest when Trumps response to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations was to tweet, When the looting starts, the shooting starts? It did not escape Beijings notice that Republican senator Tom Cotton published his notorious op-ed call to send in the troops on the eve of the anniversary of the crushing of the protests in Tiananmen Square.

Nor does trolling and insulting Beijing get results, even if it gives Trump and his lieutenants a Twitter sugar-rush. No one should want to trigger a new cold war; we know from bloody experience what happens when cold wars turn hot. Besides, in the hands of Trump, its all too easy to see how a conflict with China would spill over into suspicion and hostility directed at the Chinese diaspora. Sanctions such as those Trump is expected to sign into law next week may fail if Beijing has decided it can take the economic hit.

In the age of coronavirus, with future global pandemics likely, there has to be some engagement with a country of the heft and importance of China, the worlds second largest economy. So perhaps the answer begins in finding allies and taking on the undramatic, often unglamorous work of diplomacy, anchored in basic notions of reciprocity. At its simplest, it would mean saying to China: If you want to keep selling us your tinned tomatoes produced in Xinjiang, then you have to ensure they are verifiably forced-labour-free.

Practical, hard-headed, advancing bit by bit towards something better: none of that is Trumps strong suit. But faced with a mighty power behaving so cruelly towards those it rules, it is essential.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

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Trump is a bigot and a hypocrite, but hes right to condemn China - The Guardian

How Psychedelics Can Save Us From the Pandemic Blues – Mandatory

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Have you been obsessively cleaning obscure surfaces in your home over and over? How about pacing in circles for hours while muttering to yourself? Or, worst of all, are you doomscrolling until your neck is kinkier than an ex-president on a private island? The pandemic is causing a spike in mental health problems, which is probably no surprise to any of you by now. Isolation, boredom, and fear all create a perfect recipe for folks to go all The Shining. Can psychedelics help people cope?

According to an avalanche of research, the answer seems to be a big yes. While most psychedelics are still illegal, this could change in the next few years. Instead of tripping balls in your buddys basement, youll be able to astral project from the comfort of a luxury spa. And if your trip suddenly takes a dark turn, theres a nice doctor or nurse right there to chill your vibes. We take a look at how the psychedelics can help with the pandemic blues.

If youre feeling stir-crazy like old Jackie here, youre not the only one. The pandemic and the policies required to contain it could lead to a mental health crisis at exactly the time when the medical establishment is least equipped to handle it, according to numerous studies (1,2,3).

Rates of anxiety, depression and suicide have been trending upward in the U.S. for decades, or about since the time reality TV was invented. The pandemic seems to be accelerating these trends and medical professionals worry current treatment options may not be up to the challenge.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs for short, are the most common antidepressant currently. Though they help many, they have lots of super depressing side-effects like no boners and getting fat, plus they dont work at all for many people and take like a whole sporting season to kick in.

Many types of psychedelics are recognized as breakthrough therapies by the FDA for treating anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders. Maybe if the government hadnt banned all human research on psychedelics for half a century then we wouldnt all be quite so messed up in the head.

The active ingredient in magic mushrooms is psilocybin, and even science agrees these little fungi have pretty stupendous healing potential. If you hate treatment-resistant depression, major depressive disorder or anxiety disorders, then you should love all the research showing how much psilocybin can help with these issues.

Its estimated that 88,000 Americans die annually from alcohol-related causes, but strange as it may sound, LSD could help prevent some of these deaths. Research shows that when combined with psychotherapy, LSD is effective at treating alcoholism, and no, were not tripping.

Ayahuasca is a traditional Amazonian psychedelic made by brewing together DMT-rich leaves with vines that amplify the psychedelic chemicals effects. This cup of tea may not taste good the understatement of the century but a growing body of research supports that it is effective at treating substance-abuse disorders when combined with psychotherapy.

MDMA, aka Molly, was as an essential part of every rave bunny's go-bag as candy jewelry, platform shoes, tutus and a good water bottle. The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychic Studies, or MAPS, pioneered modern psychedelic research and has focused its efforts recently on looking into how MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can help treat PTSD, which the FDA has recognized as a breakthrough therapy.

Ketamine isnt a traditional psychedelic like mushrooms or LSD, but it will literally separate your consciousness from your body like in some kind of B-movie. However, its shown to help those suffering from some forms of depression and is the only drug on the list that is currently legal and available for patients in all 50 states.

Psychedelics are powerful substances best taken under the guidance of qualified professionals, especially during times of high stress like right frigging now. Some mental health professionals offer psychedelic integration therapy for ketamine and even other psychedelics under the table, but we recommend trying to enroll in a legit clinical trial or starting with the psychotherapy part of the healing process on its own.

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How Psychedelics Can Save Us From the Pandemic Blues - Mandatory

China pulls back from disputed border with India as Beijing eyes new contested area – Express.co.uk

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Tensions erupted in violence last month when Chinese soldiers killed 20 Indian troops after attacking them with clubs and rods in the disputed Galwan Valley in the western Himalayas. The Chinese military was seen dismantling tents and structures at a site near to where the the clash took place and vehicles were seen withdrawing from the area, as well as two other contested border zones at Hotsprings and Gogra.

First Nepal, now Bhutan, they are testing us

Kanwal Sibal

Both sides said they had agreed to a significant disengagement of troops. India's note also said both sides had agreed to respect the existing Line of Actual Control (LAC) after "a frank and in-depth exchange of views".

But Beijing is now seeking to open another front in the regions territorial spat with India with a new claim in nearby Bhutan.

India is talking to Bhutan amid Chinas attempts to stoke a fresh dispute around a wildlife sanctuary.

Security sources said India believes Beijing's latest move over the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary in eastern Bhutan is to provoke New Delhi.

They said the sanctuary shares a border with Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian state which China claims as its own.

Chinas sudden claim over the Sakteng sanctuary came to light last month during a virtual meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a multilateral, international initiative that works in partnership with the United Nations.

During a discussion on a project for the sanctuary, China described it as a disputed territory.

READ MORE:WW3 warnings: China puts India on alert with bombing tests

The claim was immediately rejected by Bhutan, which said the sanctuary was an integral and sovereign territory of Bhutan and at no point during the boundary discussions between Bhutan and China has it featured as a disputed area.

The sources said the Chinese claim was Beijings way of punishing Bhutan for the support it gave India during the 2017 stand-off in the Doklam plateau, which falls on the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction.

Security experts agree the fresh Chinese claim is Beijings bid to pressure Bhutan to provoke India.

"There are some major mistakes happening in Chinas decision-making. First Nepal, now Bhutan, they are testing us, but by doing this they are only sullying their own image internationally.

Bhutan will now have to handle it well. During Doklam also they helped India but publicly they maintained distance.

Beijing's position has taken some observers by surprise. as the two sides have tried to settle their differences over areas in western and central Bhutan.

But this is the first time China has raised any claims to territory in eastern Bhutan and experts said it had simply not figured in any bilateral negotiations before now.

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China pulls back from disputed border with India as Beijing eyes new contested area - Express.co.uk

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In Singapore, an Orderly Election and a (Somewhat) Surprising Result – The New York Times

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Face-masked citizens lined up to vote in Singapore on Friday, with plenty of space separating them from each other. Their temperatures had been checked. Before receiving their ballots, they spritzed their hands with sanitizer, and many put on disposable gloves.

If any country could successfully carry out a general election during a global pandemic, it was surely Singapore, a rich, manicured city-state with a population that has largely been conditioned to follow the rules.

The winner was never in doubt, either, even though balloting was extended by two hours to accommodate the long lines.

But while victory went to the center-right Peoples Action Party, which has held power longer than any other elected political party in the world, results released early Saturday showed a surprising slip in its support. Its share of the popular vote fell to 61 percent, a nearly nine-point swing from elections five years ago. The leading opposition party took a record 10 of Parliaments 93 seats.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the 68-year-old son of the nations founding father, said he would stay at the helm until the coronavirus crisis passed, and he acknowledged his weakened mandate.

The results reflect the pain and anxiety that Singaporeans feel in this crisis, the loss of income, the anxiety about jobs, Mr. Lee said early Saturday morning.

If calling an election during a pandemic was meant to showcase the steady hand of a party that has used Singapores greatest strengths deep coffers, technocratic professionalism and a belief in science and technology to battle the coronavirus, the campaign also highlighted divisions in a society that, like many others in the developed world, is struggling with a changing geopolitical and economic landscape.

Several of the parliamentary races proved surprisingly competitive, and high-profile candidates from the governing party lost their contests. Besides adding four seats to its previous showing, the opposition Workers Party won more than 10 percent of the popular vote for the first time.

Singapore rode the wave of globalization to great heights, but with Covid, were entering a period of deglobalization that leaves Singapores economy very vulnerable, Bridget Welsh, a political scientist focused on Southeast Asia, said before the results were announced.

From the outside, Singapore looks like a great success story and in many ways it is, but there are legitimate questions being raised about what it aspires to be in this new era, Ms. Welsh added.

The Peoples Action Party promised, above all, stability and competence. Having led Singapore since even before independence in 1965, the party claims credit for transforming a resource-starved backwater on the tip of peninsular Southeast Asia into one of the most prosperous nations on the planet.

The coronavirus has ripped through crowded dormitories housing 200,000 foreign laborers, infecting tens of thousands, but Singapore has kept its death toll from the pandemic to just 26 people. Job losses and a looming recession have been blunted by a relief effort costing more than $70 billion, the Peoples Action Party said. While Singapore has no minimum wage and at least 10 percent of its households are considered poor by some estimates, extensive public housing for citizens ensures a kind of social safety net, according to the governing party.

For the 10 opposition parties that ran against the Peoples Action Party, the campaign was less an attempt to unseat a political behemoth than an effort to inject different viewpoints into the national conversation. The smallest mandate the governing party has ever received was a 60 percent victory in 2011, a shade worse than Fridays showing.

What we are trying to deny them is a blank check, and that is what I think this election is about, Jamus Lim, an economist and candidate for the Workers Party, said in an online debate during the campaign.

Mr. Lim won a seat in Parliament.

Singapores political strictures, along with social distancing measures, put even more roadblocks in the way of an opposition trying to gather momentum.

The campaign season was only nine days long. A fake news law that came into force last year was seen as having a chilling effect on online debate. Because of the coronavirus restrictions, electoral rallies were banned. Nor was electoral polling allowed.

The short campaign period was dominated by personal vitriol, particularly a spat between Mr. Lee and his younger brother, Lee Hsien Yang, a former brigadier general and business executive who joined the opposition Progress Singapore Party last month.

Their father, Lee Kuan Yew, co-founded the Peoples Action Party and served as prime minister for more than three decades.

The senior Mr. Lee steered the ethnically Chinese-dominated city-state to independence in 1965, after it broke off from the new country of Malaysia. He embraced rules and order, championing Confucian virtues.

Today, most Singaporeans are still of Chinese descent, but about 40 percent of the countrys 5.7 million residents are foreign-born. Under racial harmony laws, people who stoke religious or racial enmity can spend up to three years in jail.

Last year, Heng Swee Keat, the deputy prime minister and presumptive successor to Mr. Lee, said that older Singaporeans were not ready for a leader who is not ethnically Chinese. Mr. Heng won his race on Friday by a relatively narrow margin.

On Sunday, Raeesah Khan, a candidate for the Workers Party, apologized for comments on social media that accused the police of treating ethnic minorities and migrant workers more harshly than whites or rich Chinese. Her commentary prompted the filing of two police reports, the Singapore police confirmed.

Systemic racism is a reality in Singapore, said Jolovan Wham, a social worker and activist who has campaigned for migrant workers rights.

Members of ethnic minority groups have feared that if they publicly challenge racism, they may be subjected to investigations by the police, said Mr. Wham, who spent a week in prison this year for criticizing Singapores courts.

Self-censorship has become the norm, he added. The lack of freedom of expression in Singapore has made it difficult to have authentic and honest debates about important issues affecting us.

Still, Ms. Khan won a seat in Parliament. At 26, she will be the youngest member of the legislature.

Young Singaporeans, some of whom have expressed their political views in boisterous online forums, are part of a global discourse about privilege and power, said Donald Low, a former high-ranking civil servant in Singapore who now teaches at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Some prominent members of the governing party have pushed back against the notion that they are beneficiaries of a system that unfairly rewards an ethnically Chinese elite.

To deny to young ethnic minorities that a well-to-do Chinese man isnt privileged, that there isnt prejudice in society, is incredibly patronizing, said Mr. Low.

At a news conference early Saturday, Mr. Lee acknowledged that the countrys youth were yearning for a diversity of political voices.

The younger voters also want to see more opposition presence in Parliament, he said.

Singapores prosperity depends on the sweat of its million or so low-wage migrant workers, who help keep the city neat, efficient and breathtakingly modern.

Unlike other expatriates who can eventually qualify for permanent residency, these migrants, who are mostly from South Asia and China, work in Singapore knowing they are temporary members of society.

Labor activists have warned over the years that their dormitories, relegated to the periphery of the island state, are petri dishes for disease, and it is perhaps no surprise that the vast majority of Singapores more than 45,600 coronavirus cases are among this population.

The government has said it will build more facilities for foreign laborers, but it has pushed back against criticism that it ignored migrants working conditions to their peril. Most migrants who have tested positive were asymptomatic or barely sick, health authorities have said.

The setting up of new dorms with more space is not a silver bullet, K. Shanmugam, Singapores law minister, said in an interview. Cruise ships, he noted, are luxurious, yet the coronavirus still spread quickly within their shared spaces.

But the public health crisis among Singapores migrant workers has catalyzed a debate about the fundamental structure of the nations hyper-globalized economy.

The real problem is our overreliance on low-cost foreign labor, said Mr. Low, a former director of fiscal policy at the Singaporean ministry of finance.

What this has revealed, he added, is not just systemic injustice for foreign workers, but also something that is a stain on Singapores veneer of technocratic modernity and superior governance.

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In Singapore, an Orderly Election and a (Somewhat) Surprising Result - The New York Times

Study: Gallatin among top ‘freest’ cities in Tennessee – Gallatin News

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Gallatin has been ranked as one of the top 10 freest cities in the state, according to a new report from the Beacon Center of Tennessee.

The Nashville-based nonprofit think tank released its first City Freedom Index last week, which ranked Gallatin seventh overall out of the 30 most populated cities in the state.

The report gave Gallatin favorable marks for having lower than average building permit fees and property taxes, but dinged the city for tougher restrictions on alcohol businesses and food trucks as well as not having an exemption for self-defense in its gun regulations.

Gallatin has a lot to be proud of and a lot to build off of particularly in terms of its strong protections of private property and also being a city that is in strong fiscal health, Beacon Center Director of Policy and Research and author of the report Ron Shultis said about the citys ranking. There is a way to make the city a little bit more competitive by making it a little bit easier for (some) types of businesses to operate.

Researchers spent nearly a year collecting data from cities across the state that had a population of more than 20,000 residents. Each one was then ranked on 25 metrics across four categories free enterprise, private property, induvial liberty and cost of government.

La Vergne came in first place on the list followed by Brentwood, Hendersonville, Morristown and Clarksville in the top five. In neighboring Wilson County, Mt. Juliet came in 8th place while Lebanon came in 10th.

There are a lot of things that people know at a national level about different states, but there really was no resource talking about the differences at the local level between cities across Tennessee, Shultis said about the origin the report. Were not saying that a certain city is free or unfree, but how do they compare (to others) in the state?

Tennessees largest cities ranked near the bottom of the list. Nashville came in last place while Memphis ranked 25th, Knoxville placed 28th and Chattanooga ranked 23rd.

According to Shultis, the Beacon Center hopes the report will lead to positive changes in cities across the state.

Everybody benefits when we are a little freer, Shultis added. Our hope is that people can use this as a resource to spur change for more freedom at the local level in their own community.

The full City Freedom Index report can be found online at the Beacon Center of Tennessees website at http://www.beacontn.org.

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Study: Gallatin among top 'freest' cities in Tennessee - Gallatin News

Advocates hopeful CERB will pave way for universal basic income – Yahoo Canada Finance

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Advocates for a universal basic income say they're hopeful the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program, introduced to help unemployed and underemployed Canadians through the pandemic, will pave the way towarda more equitable system for all.

Turning the CERB into a universal basic income is the logicalprogression for the program, according toElaine Power,a Queen's University researcher and member of the Basic Income Canada Network in Kingston, Ont.

"There's more and more pressure on the government, I would say, to extend the CERB. I think the basic income would be a logical extension of CERB, and it's a more rational plan," Power toldOttawa Morningon Thursday.

The Parliamentary Budget Office has started to study the potential cost of providinga basic income for Canadians for six months, a move Power called"very exciting news."

Some similarities

The idea already has the support ofsome members of the Senate, including B.C. Sen. Yuen Pau Woo.

With the CERB set to expire in October, Power said now would be the right time to consider making the transition to a universal basic income, which is like CERBbut would beuniversally available, not tied to employment.

On Wednesday, Finance Minister Bill Morneau presented his fiscal snapshot in the House of Commons, and said the government is committed to delivering emergency aid to struggling Canadians.

"Our collective decisions as Canadians to put each other's health above all else has meant we've flattened the curve faster than many other countries. But Canadians also made great sacrifices to get here. Millions of Canadians have lost their jobs, lost hours, or lost wages. Businesses of all sizes are still facing uncertainty," Morneau said.

Workers living below poverty line

Power said that while nothing in Morneau's speech signalled the government is ready to adopt a basic income, she hopes the government will consider the economic benefitsof such a program nonetheless. She said it would save money over time withinthe health-care, education and justice systems.

"There are other benefits that I think we can't calculate the benefit to people who live in poverty, who feel trapped there. The kind of freedom that it would give them to make better choices about their lives, their futures."

Power said there are still"stereotypes" around basic income, such as the fear that it will leave recipients dependent on government handouts instead of contributing to the workforce, and that it will add to the deficit already creaking under the weight of Canada's COVID-19 response.

"We know that, in fact, most people who live in poverty in Canada are employed. They do already have jobs, but they don't make enough to bring them up to the poverty line," Power said.

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MedCrypt Joins BlackBerry QNX Partner Ecosystem to Deliver Safety-Critical and Secure Software for Healthcare – PRNewswire

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SAN DIEGO, July 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --MedCrypt Inc., a leading provider of proactive security solutions for the healthcare space, today announced it has joined the BlackBerry QNX Partner ecosystem, a worldwide network of technology companies who specialize in development tools, middleware, and embedded software products (e.g., database, HMI, and more) that are compatible with and complementary to BlackBerry QNX's broad technology portfolio.

The QNX OS for Medical is a safety-certified version of the trusted QNX Neutrino operating system used in critical embedded systems globally.

"The healthcare industry has seen nearly twice as many breaches between February and May this year in comparison to last year's count, indicating a growing need for medical tech to be secured at the source, before it goes to market," said Mike Kijewski, CEO at MedCrypt. "We're happy to join the BlackBerry QNX Partner ecosystem as it will further help us bring new and necessary medical technology to market quicker with top notch security built right in."

"We are excited to expand our BlackBerry QNX Partner network with the addition of MedCrypt," said Kaivan Karimi, SVP and Co-Head, BlackBerry Technology Solutions. "As the explosion of connected devices drives new applications and solutions in healthcare and around the world, it also increases the risk of cyberthreats and breaches, requiring data and infrastructure to be secured at every layer. Together with our partners, we are providing access to BlackBerry's trusted software and cryptography solutions and technological know-how to accelerate the design, development, integration, and testing of mission-critical systems in healthcare and other industries."

MedCrypt's medical device cybersecurity software tools and APIs make it more efficient, easier, and less expensive for medical device manufacturers (MDMs) to build safe and secure medical devices. Building upon QNX OS for Medical and providing integration services and design will enable MedCrypt's customers to develop safety-critical solutions for the medical device industry.

MedCrypt's cybersecurity platform can be implemented in full or with a modular approach to proactively secure both legacy and new medical devices and maintain their security posture. MedCrypt solutions include:

The MedCrypt data security library cross-compiles for and runs on the QNX OS for Medical as a turnkey solution. BlackBerry QNXsolutions are used extensively for life-critical medical devices including blood diagnostics, ultrasound imaging, infusion delivery, heart monitoring, resuscitation and surgical robotics.

To learn about the BlackBerry QNX Channel Partner Program, visit https://blackberry.qnx.com/en/partners/qnx-partner-directory.

About MedCrypt, Inc.

MedCryptis a San Diego-based company that provides proactive security for healthcare technology. MedCrypt's solution encrypts data traveling to and from medical devices with just a few lines of code, ensuring devices are secure by design. MedCrypt announced a $5.3 million Series A funding round in May of 2019, bringing the total funds raised to $8.4 million with participation from Eniac Ventures, Section 32, Y Combinator and more. The company is based in San Diego, California. For more, please visit http://www.medcrypt.com.

Contact: Brenda ManeaBAM Communications[emailprotected]

SOURCE MedCrypt

http://www.medcrypt.com

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‘5G ecosystem will boost growth in Pakistan’ – The Express Tribune

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ISLAMABAD:

We foresee our 5G ecosystem to serve as the bedrock of sustainable socio-economic development in Pakistan, said Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa.

Addressing the SAMENA Telecommunications Council Leaders Summit, he said that deployment of this transformative technology should be precisely timed, supported by intelligent regulatory initiatives, enabled by adequate spectrum resources, under favourable market conditions, and with consensus of all stakeholders.

I believe that readiness of our telecom infrastructure will be sufficient to support 5G networks and services across the country.

Telecommunications leaders and experts from Pakistan and across the world recently gathered at the summit to review plans for unleashing the potential of 5G networks to boost economies and societies in a post Covid-19 environment.

The event, held virtually for the first time, was hosted by Huawei for the seventh successive year.

Also speaking on the occasion, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Digital Pakistan Tania Aidrus said, We have to really think of the internet as one of the most democratising forces. How do we ensure that we are helping young people come out, apply their skills, apply their knowledge, and apply their creativity to innovate for the country? And really, a governments job here is to clear the path.

Meanwhile, Huawei Middle East President Charles Yang said that the outbreak has led to increased demand for ICT solutions specifically in areas like 5G amid a boost in network usage and 5G 2B innovations.

Meeting that demand will require new forms of public-private partnerships based on open collaboration, supporting strong industry policies that will enable social value, economic development, and provide enhanced service experiences to consumers across the region, he added.

The summit was held under the theme 5G-X: Harnessing 5G across industries for investment revival and highlighted how technology and ICT infrastructure play a significant role in our societies and economies.

The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated the need to strengthen digital infrastructure to better prepare societies for future crises and to make systems more resilient and sustainable, guaranteeing a better and more effective outcome.

A shift to cloud, IoT, and better integration of AI into the public health response was also spotlighted, in addition to harnessing of other technologies for smart service delivery, which should be a key priority moving forward.

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'5G ecosystem will boost growth in Pakistan' - The Express Tribune

Movers And Shakers Of The Startup Ecosystem This Week [July 6-11] – Inc42 Media

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We bring you the next edition of the movers and shakers of the week.

This week, fintech company PayU has announced layoffs in PaySense, the digital credit business it acquired in January this year. According to sources, somewhere between 40-50 employees across departments such as sales and operations have been laid off. The spokesperson said that the layoffs werent because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but because of the company automating various processes.

As we progress to be future-ready and find efficiencies in our business and automate, certain roles and functions become redundant. Where possible we have absorbed, repurposed or re-skilled roles to retain as many people as possible within a number of functions in the organisation. We are working hard with those impacted to help them during this transition period, a PayU spokesperson said.

Further, Arun Srinivas, who until recently was Olas chief operating officer and global chief marketing officer, has resigned and is serving notice. Ola reportedly confirmed these exits. Arun Srinivas, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer and Sanjiv Saddy, SVP- Corporate Affairs, are moving on to pursue other opportunities outside of Ola. The organization wishes them well in their future endeavours, the company said.

Here are the other movers and shakers of the week:

Bengaluru-based nonprofit GiveIndia announced the appointment of Ashok Kumar E.R. as the President of the organization. In his new role, he will be responsible for advancing the strategy and vision, scaling up the donor ecosystem, and spearheading the next phase of growth and expansion for GiveIndia.

Kumar brings extensive leadership experience, with a track record of accelerating growth in technology companies, championing purpose-driven transformation initiatives, and leading corporate social responsibility and nonprofit funding efforts.

Previously, Kumar was the co-founder and CEO of Scripbox. His cofounders and management team will continue to run Scripbox. Prior to Scripbox, he has held various leadership positions at IT, Telecom & Hi-tech companies such as Wipro, Intel, Airtel & Cisco.

Founded in 2000, GiveIndia has been promoting giving for the last two decades through its online donations platform, consumer and workplace giving partnerships.

Bengaluru-based real estate platform Housejoy has appointed Neelima Ronanki as the Associate Vice President, Design and Deepak Thakur as the Vice President, Product and Technology with a focus on innovation and digital transformation.

Ronanki has over 15 years of diverse experience in consultancy and real estate industry of handling projects of various scale ranging from Greenfield residential developments to large scale in-fill mixed-use developments and various complex revitalization projects.

Thakur is a technologist with over 20 years of technology leadership in organizations like IBM, Oracle, CGI, etc. and strong international exposure. His leadership principles are based on innovating and inspire, strengthen employee condence in tech organization, walk the talk, focus on the big picture, evolve vision and invest in people.

In her new role, Ronani will focus on the extensive domain of services with a particular focus on IRC. Thakur will leverage technology and innovate in the IRC services and other areas.

Housejoy plans to scale up its construction business in the known cities across the country, apart from Bengaluru. The brands overall goal is to become the largest tech-enabled construction and home services platform in India.

Bengaluru-based edtech learning management system, Ken42 has appointed Vibha Mahajan as Vice President- Growth and Strategic Alliances, based out of Delhi.

In her position as VP-Growth & Strategic Alliances, Mahajan will leverage her experience as a seasoned education leader in delivering next-generation digital learning solutions to help students achieve improved outcomes and lead growth strategies at local and global levels, through innovative customer-driven educational solutions.

Mahajan with over two decades of experience in leadership roles in edtech companies like Matific and McGraw-Hill Education. She was previously working with Australian edtech company Matific as Vice-President, India for over a year. She has also previously worked at McGraw-Hill Education for over 20 years in various leadership roles, eventually amalgamating into Director of Portfolio & Marketing where she was responsible for developing and delivering product portfolio strategy for organizational success and lead digital product development through a variety of state-of-the-art learning environments, all based on consumer needs.

Mahajan has completed her education from Nagpur University with a Bachelors of Engineering in Electronics & Communication. She has also pursued the General Management Program from the prestigious IIM Lucknow.

Ken 42 is a complete education ecosystem that revolutionizes how administrators manage their institutions, faculty imparts learning, and how students gain academic and real-world knowledge and skills. Ken42 also enables online classroom and exams, certificate courses from universities around the world, and opportunities for personal growth in the form of interview preparation, public speaking and professional skills.

Revenue optimisation platform AdPushup has appointed Sanjay Trehan, a digital media industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience, as its Advisor. In his new role, Trehan will help AdPushup improve its value proposition for current and prospective customers, develop stronger positioning in the Indian market, and accelerate market share expansion.

Trehan currently provides consulting services to some of the top brands in digital media, marketing, and online advertising, as well as start-ups in India. He has helped several companies scale their business using strong partnerships, new monetization models, content syndication, content mix and tiering video, and audience acquisition strategies.

Before running his consulting practice, Trehan held senior leadership positions at HT Media, Microsoft, NDTV Convergence, and Times Internet. During his time at these companies, Trehan led digital and new media initiatives across web, video, and mobile categories. He also spearheaded new global partnerships and developed go-to-market strategies based on value creation and sustainable competitive advantage.

AdPushup specializes in helping publishers unlock the true value of their advertising inventory using in-house technology, premium demand partnerships, and proven ad operations expertise.

Sterlite Power, a leading global power transmission player has appointed Swaminathan Subramanian as the Group Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO). In his role, Subramanian will be responsible for leading the HR function across India and Brazil.

With more than 22 years of experience working across domains like Consulting, Mergers & Acquisitions, Compensation & Benefits and HR Governance, he has an in-depth exposure to markets in Asia, Africa and Middle East. He has worked with renowned firms like Standard Chartered, Barclays, JP Morgan and Fullerton. Prior to joining Sterlite Power, Subramanian was associated with Reliance Capital as Chief People Officer for Financial Services business of the ADAG Group.

Subramanian is a Bachelor of Technology degree from Jadavpur University, Kolkata and an MBA in HR from XLRI Jamshedpur. Sterlite Power is a global developer of power transmission infrastructure with projects of over 13,670 circuit kms and 24,800 MVA in India and Brazil.

Stay tuned for the next edition of Movers and Shakers of the week!

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Movers And Shakers Of The Startup Ecosystem This Week [July 6-11] - Inc42 Media

Women in Technology- Addressing the 6 types of Gender Gaps – Analytics Insight

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A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussions, decisions, and outcomes for Everyone-Google CEO Sundar Pichai

Women have traditionally pioneered the field of computer technology, yet as we move forward in the 21st century the technology sector is still seen dominated by men. Diversity is critical in technology just like any other industry to create better and safer products and services for the benefit of society. A report from McKinsey highlighted that, diverse companies perform better, have more engaged employees, retain workers better and hire better talent, than those who do not focus on diversity and inclusion.

Employees in pro-diversity regions, like the U.S. and Western Europe, prefer to work in diverse work environments. In a survey of 1,000 respondents, 67% of job seekers overall analyse workforce diversity when evaluating an offer. This holds especially in case of the top female recruits who look at gender-diverse work environments. Despite these studies, women remain widely underrepresented in IT and core technology roles.

So where does the lacuna lie? Though tech companies offer formal gender diversity training programs to increase awareness in a bid to reduce gender bias at work and address the barriers that hinder the progress to build a diverse and inclusive team, research shows that these programs do not increase workforce diversity. After five years of organising diversity training programs for its workforce, companies subsequently reported no change in the number of women engaged in management positions.

Though the technology industry has made efforts toward achieving diversity and inclusion into hiring talent, the real progress has been slow, represented with fewer women cross countries currently in the tech workforce.

According to the data by the World economic forum, less than a third of female students choose to study higher education courses in subjects like math and engineering resulting in being under-represented in STEM-related fields. On average, around 30% of the worlds researchers are women. Those working in the STEM fields publish less research and often receive less pay.

Though it may be relatively easy for women to begin their career in the industry, the catch lies in promotion ironically, they often stall in lower-level positions feeling stagnated in their careers. According to data from the National Science Foundation, only 38% of women who majored in computer science are working in the field compared to 53% of men.

Diversity in the workplace has a lot to do with psychological safety and a comfortable welcoming environment in the workplace. As long as workplaces dont become women-friendly, they would not feel comfortable enough to speak up and contribute to the team constructively.

When countries and industries do not value women at an equal pedestal, women working in those countries dont feel psychologically safe speaking up, even though they may have innovative ideas, they might hesitate to discuss.

According to a study from the Silicon Valley Bank, the founders gender has a direct impact on gender diversity in a start-up, and there is where the gap lies, one in four start-ups have a female founder, while 37% have at least one woman on the board of directors and 53% have at least one woman in an executive position.

Women are not only underrepresented in STEM; they are also underpaid grim condition that has not changed in over 25 years. Even though STEM professionals on average earn significantly more than those in the non-STEM fields, the gender gap is still prevalent. For computing fields, on average a woman earns 87% of what a man earns. The numbers are even worse for black women in STEM who earn around 87% of white womens salaries and just 62% of what men earn.

According to IDC research, the percentage of women in senior leadership positions grew from 21 percent to 24 percent between 2018 and 2019. In organizations where 50 percent or more senior leadership positions are held by women, they are more likely to offer equal pay and have higher retention rates for longer than a year, besides reporting higher job satisfaction levels.

To bridge the gender gap, companies are making conscious efforts with re-skilling and career development initiatives to help women advance in the workplace and drive forward their careers.

IBM, through its Technical Womens Pipeline Program, has established programs to advance women in technical leadership roles. The company aligns mid-career women with both an executive coach and a sponsor to help them navigate opportunities. In IBM, women hold a quarter of management positions worldwide and comprise 29% of the total workforce.

Deloitte has also seen the positive results for its sponsorship program aimed at its women workforce. Women accounted for 44% of the companys workforce in the 2019 fiscal year. A quarter of Deloittes Global Board constitutes of women.

The bridge to mend the gender gap applies equally well among organisations, leaders and practitioners, now and in the future. Bringing women workforce with a wider range of perspectives and ideas onto the work environment can be good for creatively driving innovation and advancing the tech industry. Moreover, ensuring more female workforce can give them greater visibility as role models which may help move the needle on womens overall tech industry representation.

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Kamalika Some is an NCFM level 1 certified professional with previous professional stints at Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. An MBA (Finance) and PGP Analytics by Education, Kamalika is passionate to write about Analytics driving technological change.

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Emerging technology remains an ‘innovation driver’ for NE Ohio companies – Crain’s Cleveland Business

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At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Key's Paycheck Protection Program operation ran on cloud-native technology, permitting the bank to meet high demand.

"We also leveraged digital assistants to help with common questions related to government stimulus and other pandemic programs," Kirk said. "These technologies provided us with an ability to meet the surge in demand very quickly, especially in support of our Paycheck clients."

Through June 30, Key ranked seventh on the list of the nation's top PPP lenders, with over 41,000 loans, according to Small Business Administration data.

Relationships with tech behemoths Google and Cisco keep Key abreast of technological advances, an effort buttressed by internal tech forums that have become a fount of knowledge and best practices. Onboarding new innovations will always be a challenge, though company-sponsored hackathons help speed adoption of new technologies and practices.

"There needs to be a methodology on when to bring something in or upgrade, otherwise you will always be chasing a moving target," Kirk said. "Allowing our teams to experiment and understand the technology while still providing support in their day-to-day activities is a balancing act."

The Deloitte survey notes that investment into emerging technology is prioritizing information security, the adoption of 5G technology and business innovation. John Nicholas, a professor of business and information technology at University of Akron, said disruptive technologies carry unlimited potential for all industries. For example, a repair company could utilize the IoT a system of physical devices accessed through the internet that identify themselves to other online devices to remotely fix a refrigerator.

"Every company has to start looking as far into the future as they can," Nicholas said. "They should be going to conferences outside of their industry to see if an idea can be used for Product X. It may become possible for someone in Australia to have a part built by a manufacturer in Strongsville. They can send a 3D photo, then have the file loaded into whatever machine is making the part."

Caesar said cutting-edge tech is an "innovation driver" for Hyland as well as an essential facet of its growth strategy. "We're paying attention to the challenge of these emerging technologies and what they mean to the world," he said. "We're very interested in it."

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Emerging technology remains an 'innovation driver' for NE Ohio companies - Crain's Cleveland Business

Massachusetts Senates omnibus police reform bill includes provision banning facial recognition technology; O – MassLive.com

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Facial recognition, a controversial type of software criticized for its inaccuracies and potential to violate personal privacies, has been at the forefront of debates on surveillance throughout the country, and Massachusetts may now be poised to ban the technology.

In February, The New York Times dedicated a 31-minutes episode of its popular podcast The Daily to reporting on the softwares existence and whether the technology provides a beneficial tool for law enforcements investigations or poses an even bigger threat to privacy.

Many individuals are continuing to argue for the latter.

Opponents of the form of biometric surveillance have pointed out that the software is being used by governmental agencies with minimal oversight and that it raises serious questions about the extent to which artificial intelligence should be used in everyday life.

Another concern is that facial recognition has proven to frequently misidentify people of color, elderly people and children.

The software even led Robert Williams, a Black man living in a suburb of Michigan, to be wrongfully identified and taken into custody for a crime he did not commit, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Theyre really only good at evaluating the faces of middle-aged, white men, which is obviously not the majority of the population, Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty program at the ACLU of Massachusetts, told MassLive when discussing facial recognition. The tech. is just not ready for primetime, not even close.

Starting as early as last year, residents, public officials and advocacy organizations from across the U.S. have fought for the technology to be regulated, and so far, seven communities in Massachusetts have either temporarily or outright banned their municipal governments use of the software.

Easthampton was the most recent city to pass such a ban. A similar ordinance restricting the technology was signed into law in Boston, the second-largest city after San Francisco to ban the software in the United States.

Its hugely significant, Crockford said of communities taking it upon themselves to restrict facial recognition at the local level. City councilors have agreed that this technology poses really an unprecedented threat to peoples privacy and civil rights.

Despite being lambasted for its civil liberties concerns and racial biases, facial recognition still remains largely unrestricted at both the state and federal levels. However, that could change in the weeks to come.

A wide-ranging, omnibus police reform bill, introduced by the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee on Sunday would temporarily ban the governments use of the software.

The piece of legislation, called S.2800, would issue a statewide moratorium on the use of the technology, banning the government from using the software from the date the bill is potentially signed into law until Dec. 31, 2021.

Such legislation would prohibit a government agency, office, department, commission, bureau, agent or contractor from acquiring, possessing or accessing any form of biometric surveillance, excluding identification based on finger or palm prints.

A statewide facial recognition moratorium had previously been in the works for months but was then added as a provision onto the police reform bill.

Crockford pointed out that state legislatures are slow to act but noted the Massachusetts Senate is finally taking notice.

The State Legislature is finally realizing that they need to do something, she said. Were happy to see that.

Among the dozens of provisions inside the police reform bill is the establishment of a special commission to study the use of facial recognition by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and law enforcement agencies.

The provision follows controversy from a year ago after the ACLU of Massachusetts sued MassDOT over the agencys use of the drivers license database for surveillance. MassDOT has used its database of state-issued identification photographs for facial recognition since 2006.

The state of Massachusetts has a facial recognition program in their Registry of Motor Vehicles system, so that every time you go to get a drivers license now, the picture that is taken of your face is scanned against all of the existing images that they have in their database, Crockford explained. They basically compare them to see if theres a match, and if there is a match, you may be investigated for trying to get a drivers license under a fake name or something like that.

The committees members would include the State Senate and House chairs of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary as well as one person with academic expertise in bias in machine learning and another expert on privacy, technology and the law.

Several state officials, or representatives in their stead, would also serve as members on the committee, including Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack, Secretary of Public Safety and Security Thomas Turco and Attorney General Maura Healey.

Gov. Charlie Baker will be able to appoint five members to the commission as well, including executive directors or designees from the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, the New England Innocence Project, Jane Doe Inc., the Massachusetts Coalition against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, the New England chapter of the American Immigration Lawyer Association and the ACLU of Massachusetts.

A statewide ban on facial recognition technology is direly needed, Crockford emphasized, because, in its current state, the software cannot be used appropriately in any circumstances.

Were not going to stop. Were going to continue until every single person in Massachusetts is protected, she said.

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Massachusetts Senates omnibus police reform bill includes provision banning facial recognition technology; O - MassLive.com

Technology Bridges the Gap to Better Sight – The New York Times

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Along the way, Dr. Werblin brought in a tech-savvy mobile app developer, Ammad Khan, as a partner. Imagining a concept that would transform somebodys life was very compelling for me, Mr. Khan said.

With $1.5 million from Mr. Dougan, a $1.5 million grant from the National Eye Institute, and about $4 million from angel investors and venture capitalists, the co-founders got to work. They collaborated with experts from Stanford and Johns Hopkins universities, and partnered with Samsung, which provided the smartphone, the augmented, virtual and mixed reality technologies, and the mobile artificial intelligence platform. By 2017, the device was ready.

IrisVision helps restore visual function to people with such conditions as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosis, Stargardt disease, glaucoma and optic atrophy but not cataracts. It can help someone with visual acuity as low as 20/1000. (Acuity measures sharpness: A 20/200 acuity, for example, means a person can make out an object at a distance of 20 feet that a normal vision person could see from 200 feet.)

So how does it work?

IrisVision helps the brain use parts of the eyes that still function properly. The smartphones camera captures an image, and then the virtual reality, or V.R., headset and algorithms enhance the image by providing enough information to fill in the gaps and remap the scene to provide a complete picture.

The company recently added voice control, video streaming, Alexa and other interactive features that give those with low vision easy access to news, weather updates, YouTube videos and TV shows viewed within the headset. The person can adjust the headset, by voice command or button, to zoom in or adjust the color, contrast or brightness.

Still, the device has its shortcomings: It is large and clunky, and the user needs to be stationary not walking around to use it. In addition, at $2,950, it is expensive. And unless you are a veteran, health insurers do not cover the cost.

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Technology Bridges the Gap to Better Sight - The New York Times

Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market Research Report by Technology, by Power Output, by Application – Global Forecast to 2025 – Cumulative…

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New York, July 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market Research Report by Technology, by Power Output, by Application - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913491/?utm_source=GNW

The Global Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market is expected to grow from USD 2,124.36 Million in 2019 to USD 4,985.93 Million by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.27%.

Market Segmentation & Coverage:This research report categorizes the Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:

On the basis of Technology, the Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market is studied across Driver-assisted Tractors and Driverless Tractors.

On the basis of Power Output, the Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market is studied across 101 HP and Above, 31 HP to 100 HP, and Below 30 HP.

On the basis of Application, the Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market is studied across Harvesting, Irrigation, and Seed Sowing.

On the basis of Geography, the Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market is studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas region is studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The Asia-Pacific region is studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa region is studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.

Company Usability Profiles:The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market including AGCO Corporation, Ag Leader Technology, Inc., Agjunction, Inc., Autonomous Solutions Inc., Deere & Company, Komatsu America Corp., KUBOTA Corporation, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Raven Industries, Inc., and Trimble, Inc..

FPNV Positioning Matrix:The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market on the basis of Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.

Competitive Strategic Window:The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth.

Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, so for and, the long-term effects projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlaying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report is delivering insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecast, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.

The report provides insights on the following pointers:1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on sulfuric acid offered by the key players2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments

The report answers questions such as:1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market?2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market during the forecast period?3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market?4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market?5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market?6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the Global Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market?Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913491/?utm_source=GNW

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Autonomous & Semi-autonomous Tractors Market Research Report by Technology, by Power Output, by Application - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative...