US actor Kevin Spacey has been charged with four counts of sexual assault against three men, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Thursday.
Spacey was also charged with one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent, the CPS said. The charges relate to two alleged incidents in London in 2005, another two in 2008, and a further incident in Gloucestershire, western England, in 2013. The alleged victim of the 2005 incidents is now in his 40s, while the two men allegedly involved in the 2008 and 2013 incidents are now in their 30s, London's Metropolitan Police said. The decision to charge Spacey "follows a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police Service in its investigation," the force said. While the charges were authorized on Thursday, Spacey is not currently in England or Wales and the charges cannot formally be applied until he enters one of those countries, a CPS spokesperson told CNN. The agency did not comment on whether it would be seeking Spacey's extradition if he does not do so. Spacey has won two Academy Awards for his roles in "The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty," and was artistic director of London's Old Vic theater from 2003 to 2015. He has also starred in the Netflix political series "House of Cards," and returned to acting in the past year. Reference : https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/26/uk/kevin-spacey-sexual-assault-charges-intl-gbr/index.html
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Rajeev Jhawar, and Indian Industrialist and son of Brij Kishore Jhawar is the Managing Director of Usha Martin Limited. He is an aluminous of Ranchi University and London Business School. He started his journey as the vice president (commercial) and became the Managing Director of the company in 1998. In the three decades that he has been at the helm of the group, he has accelerated growth, built a meritocracy and enhanced stakeholder value. His leadership qualities, sharp business acumen, in depth understanding of business administration and strategic decision making has taken the group do an altogether higher growth trajectory. Rajeev Jhawar is on the boards of various corporates including Orient Cement Limited (part of CK Birla group companies) and Neutral Publishing House Limited which has a leading regional newspaper under the flagship title ‘Prabhat Khabar’ published in the Indian cities of Patna, Dhanbad, Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Kolkata. He is also a director on the boards of Usha Martins Overseas subsidiaries that is Usha Martin International Limited at UK, Usha Siam Industries public company limited at Thailand and Brendon Wire Ropes FZCo at Dubai. UML’s wire rope business manufactures wire, strands, LRPC and wire ropes, which cater to various industries, including steel, infrastructure, construction and auto. Rajeev Jhawar Usha Martin expects that the domestic market will see a spurt in demand once the contagion is contained and business returns to normalcy, as overall economic activity in India is likely to register a sharp growth in the wake of strong global backlash against goods manufactured in China. According to Rajeev Jhawar, “The various measures announced by the Central government to boost the economy are likely to start yielding results post-monsoon”. He expects that additional infusion of government funds in the infrastructure sector is also likely to push up demand for LRPC strands in the domestic market segment. Conveyor cords market segment in the domestic market is likely to remain strong in the current fiscal, Rajeev Jhawar hopes. Usha Martin Limited expects the Indian economy to rebound on the back of pent-up demand across sectors. Rajeev Jhawar, Managing Director of Usha Martin Limited anticipates that Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary stimulus and the Government of India’s fiscal measures will bring the economy back to a sustainable positive terrain. He believes that the substantial budgetary outlay on infrastructure by Government of India will augur well for their business. Usha Martin Limited has a manufacturing capacity of around 2,30,000 tonnes per annum across its two facilities in India — at Ranchi, Jharkhand and Hoshiarpur, Punjab and three overseas units in the UK, Thailand and Dubai. The company recorded a consolidated revenue of Rs. 2,097.28 crore, compared to Rs. 2,153.82 crore in FY19–20. UML’s consolidated EBITDA stood at Rs. 312.56 crore in FY20–21 compared to Rs. 284.96 crore in the previous year. Despite the shrinkage in revenue, there was a marked improvement in the EBITDA margin from 13.23% to 14.90%. During the year, Usha Martin Limited had adequate working capital and liquidity, which ensured that their operations went on smoothly. Emir asks government to stay on in a caretaker capacity
A Kuwaiti Emiri decree accepted the resignation of the government on Tuesday, more than a month after it was submitted, state news agency Kuna reported. The decree asked the government to stay on in a caretaker capacity, the report said. Social media posts suggest that some drivers are refusing to work, demanding better wages
Restaurants in the UAE are facing difficulties finding riders from the country's most popular delivery services Zomato and Talabat. Owned by Germany-based Delivery Heroes, the two services jointly account for the lion's share of delivery services in the UAE. Social media posts suggest that some riders are refusing to work, demanding better wages. In a statement, Talabat told Khaleej Times that it is "committed to ensuring riders can continue to rely on our platform to provide for their families, having decent stable gross monthly earnings of around Dh3,500 on average". "Until last week, rider pay satisfaction was well above 70 per cent, and we haven't updated our payment model recently. We understand economic and political realities are constantly changing, and we will always continue to listen to what riders have to say," the statement added. The delivery services platform said refusing to work is not a "constructive way to ask for improvements, and it is something that we strongly oppose, not to mention that it goes against the regulations of the UAE". Meanwhile, several restaurants appear either busy or closed on the app. The Talabat app displays a message that the company is expecting operational delays. Some restaurants that are available for delivery are also facing issues. "We got an order for delivery," said Annu George, owner of an Oud Metha based restaurant. "I have the food ready, and I have been waiting for a delivery rider for over 1.5 hours. Each time, the dashboard (on the app) says 'Rider is 5 minutes away,' but nothing is happening. Neither the rider nor the account manager is responding." "This is a matter of great concern for us because if the food order is cancelled- which the customer will do if our order is late- Zomato will only refund us 40% of the total bill, which they deem suitable compensation. And the customer who ordered will think it's the only restaurant's fault and will most likely not order from us again." Several customers have been complaining about delivery delays. "I ordered from a restaurant and waited for an hour," said Parikshit. "When I called the restaurant, they said they could not find a rider. So I had to go and pick up the food myself." Complaints about cancelled orders also found their way to social media. Some riders who got in touch with Khaleej Times complained that they have repeatedly approached management for an increased wage but were not heard. However, Talabat claims that they periodically conduct satisfaction surveys and always listen to the concerns of their riders. Last week, riders of Deliveroo had refused to work after the company moved to cut their per delivery commission. The British delivery giant then decided not to go ahead with the cuts. Elon Musk said on Tuesday that Twitter could start charging a “slight cost” for government and commercial users in comments that come just over a week since he reached a deal to buy the social media platform.
“Ultimately, the downfall of the Freemasons was giving away their stonecutting services for nothing,” Musk tweeted initially. “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users,” he added a few hours later. It is not exactly clear what Musk means by “casual users” or how Twitter would characterize that usage. Last year, a subscription service called Twitter Blue was rolled out by the social media platform that gives subscribers access to special features, such as an “undo feature” that allows people to change or “undo” a tweet with the use of a customizable timer. Another feature accessible to Twitter Blue subscribers is the option to read tweets through a “reader mode” in which longer threads are turned “into easy-to-read text so you can read all the latest content seamlessly,” according to the company. However, the social media platform is free for users to access and create accounts, similar to Facebook and Instagram. Musk’s latest tweets come as Twitter users watch for hints of any changes the Tesla CEO plans to make at the social media platform. In recent days, he has made suggestions on features he wants to see and offered thoughts on the function of Twitter. “Twitter DMs should have end to end encryption like Signal, so no one can spy on or hack your messages,” Musk suggested in a tweet several days following the deal. “For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,” Musk said in another tweet after the deal. FIFA World Cup Trophy to delight fans across Qatar with 200 days to go for Qatar World Cup 20225/5/2022 A host of special guests and football personalities will be present at all the public events — meaning extra excitement for the many fans who are sure to turn out. Fans will also be treated to a host of activities and have the chance to win tickets to the opening match of the tournament between Qatar and Ecuador.Doha: With only six months to go until the first FIFA World Cup™ in the Middle East and Arab world, excitement for the tournament is reaching fever-pitch levels in Qatar and throughout the region.
During the Eid holiday, fans in Qatar will be able to catch a glimpse of the famous FIFA World Cup™ Original Trophy from 5–10 May as it visits tourist hotspots including Aspire Park, Lusail Marina, Souq Waqif and Msheireb Downtown Doha. These events in Qatar will count as the send-off for the Original Trophy before it embarks on the FIFA World Cup™ Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola — which will return to Doha for the opening match of the tournament at Al Bayt Stadium on 21 November. Khalid Al Mawlawi, Deputy Director General, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, said: “Excitement is building ahead of the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup — the first to be held in the Middle East and Arab world. We are only 200 days away from the opening match and we invite everyone in Qatar to seize the opportunity to appreciate the Original Trophy up close, before its amazing journey around the world begins.” A host of special guests and football personalities will be present at all the public events — meaning extra excitement for the many fans who are sure to turn out. Fans will also be treated to a host of activities and have the chance to win tickets to the opening match of the tournament between Qatar and Ecuador. The general public will be able to see the FIFA World Cup™ Original Trophy every evening from 6–9 PM. During the daytime, the trophy will be taken to various businesses and organisations, including in the health and education sectors. A special send-off event will be held at Katara on 10 May. MUMBAI : The 125-year-old Godrej group has entered into the lending business launching its unit Godrej Capital Limited, which will be a subsidiary of Godrej Industries Limited.
Godrej Capital will be the holding entity for Godrej Housing Finance and Godrej Finance Limited, its non-banking financial company (NBFC), Godrej group said in a statement. Godrej Finance held a NBFC licence since 1998, when it was known as Ensemble Holdings and Finance; however, it has never been active in the lending space. Godrej Industries has now committed to invest Rs 1,500 crore in capital in Godrej Capital. With its retail financial services business, the $4.1 billion conglomerate group has a near-term aim to build Rs 30,000 crore balance sheet by 2026, the statement further said. Godrej Capital currently has its footprint across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Ahmedabad, and Pune and will soon be operational in six new cities, i.e., Jaipur, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Chennai, Indore and Surat. “Godrej Capital will form a key pillar in the overall growth of the Godrej Group. We started with home loans in select geographies in 2020. Having seen strong customer acceptance of our offering, we are very optimistic about the prospects of our financial services venture and will be entering new markets and enhancing our reach across key target sectors and consumer segments,” said Pirojsha Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Capital. The company will continue to focus on growing its secured loan book consisting of home loans and loans against property (LAP) and is positioned to diversify into other customer segments and products. Additionally, the business aims to grow its team by 50% to approximately 500 people in this financial year to aid geographical expansion. “We have successfully implemented a digital-first approach at Godrej Housing Finance through innovative products such as Design Your EMI and end-to-end contactless solutions delivered digitally. This has inspired us to grow our footprint and to broaden our service offerings to different customer segments through affordable housing loans and unsecured loans. We envision Godrej Capital becoming a new- age, leading retail financial services institution in the years ahead,” said Manish Shah, MD & CEO, Godrej Capital. In October 2020, the group launched Godrej Housing Finance, which offers mortgage loans of Rs 40 lakh to Rs 1 crore, but only for customers of Godrej Properties. Its capital adequacy ratio stood at 21.8% as of March 2021, and had a loan book of Rs 1,001 crore as of December 2021. Last year in July, following a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approval, group holding company Godrej Industries transferred its stakes in its units Godrej Housing Finance and Godrej Finance to Godrej Capital (another subsidiary earlier called Pyxis Holdings), making it the group’s financial holding company. According to data from the ministry of corporate affairs, Godrej Finance has been engaged in investment and other NBFC activities. Investment activities include dealing in listed and unlisted securities and holding 0.6% of Godrej Properties, it said. Godrej Industries had signalled its ambition in the finance business last year itself. “The company is looking at expanding and diversifying its business activities. It believes there is a strong potential for housing finance and non-banking finance business in our country with a decent return on investments. The housing finance business in India has been growing at a steady pace. GHFL has recently obtained a licence to operate as a housing finance company and has commenced operations. Looking at the opportunity in the housing finance sector and NBFC business, it is proposed to nurture the finance business under the company’s umbrella, being the flagship firm of the group,” it wrote to stock exchanges on 24 August. The Godrej group was founded in 1897 when brothers Ardeshir and Pirojsha Godrej opened a lock-making company in Mumbai after failing in earlier ventures. It has since emerged as a global conglomerate. The group has been going through an ownership shake-up after a family feud cropped up between the two brothers, resulting in the division of the group’s businesses among the next generation of the family. The group is led by veteran industrialist Adi Godrej (79) as chairman. His brother Nadir Godrej is chairman of Godrej Industries and Godrej Agrovet. Their cousin Jamshyd N. Godrej is chairman of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd, whose assets include largely undeveloped land across Mumbai. Adi’s son Pirojsha runs the listed Godrej Properties, which is developing some of the land owned by Godrej & Boyce, along with other projects across Mumbai. Adi’s youngest daughter, Nisaba, is chair and managing director of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. Adi’s other daughter, Tanya, is executive director and chief brand officer of Godrej Industries. The newly raised funds will be used for building a team which will help the 2018-founded company expand into newer geographies and categories, its co-founder and chief executive Arpi Mehta Shah said.
Dental technology startup Toothsi on Monday said that it has raised $40 million (over Rs 305 crore) in a round of funding from a clutch of investors, including veteran banker Aditya Puri, Eight Roads Ventures, Paramark and IIFL. The newly raised funds will be used for building a team which will help the 2018-founded company expand into newer geographies and categories, its co-founder and chief executive Arpi Mehta Shah said. The company claims to have designed 'smile makeovers' for 1.4 lakh customers in the country since its inception. Shah said the company intends to be the one-stop shop for doctor-directed solutions for cosmetic dentistry and dermatology. It also has a sister brand called 'Skinnsi' which provides at-home laser assisted cosmetology services. In the last few months, it has introduced self-care products like a teeth whitening and oral hygiene product line. Its network comprises of 2,000 partner dental centres and it is planning to further expand availability in Tier-II cities in the near future, according to a statement.The company had raised $5 million in January 2021 and another $20 million towards the end of the year. One of Colombia’s most notorious drug lords was extradited Wednesday to the United States to face drug trafficking charges, announced President Ivan Duque.
“I want to reveal that Dairo Antonio Usuga, alias ‘Otoniel’ has been extradited,” Duque said on Twitter, calling him “the most dangerous drug trafficker in the world.” Usuga, 50, was the most wanted person in Colombia until he was arrested last October in the northwest of the country after a massive military operation. Duque described Usuga as a “murderer of social leaders and police, an abuser of boys, girls and teenagers.” “Today legality, the rule of law, the security forces and justice triumphed,” he added. On Wednesday afternoon, a convoy of five bulletproof police vehicles transported Usuga from a prison in the capital Bogota to a military airport, where he was handed over to US Drug Enforcement Administration officials. Images shared by local media showed a handcuffed Usuga seated in an airplane alongside Colombian police and an Interpol official. Usuga was the leader of Colombia’s largest narco-trafficking gang, known as the Gulf Clan. He was captured near the border with Panama following a military operation involving 500 soldiers backed by 22 helicopters, in which one police officer was killed. His arrest was one of the biggest blows to Colombia’s drug trafficking business since the assassination of Pablo Escobar in 1993. Usuga was indicted in 2009 in the United States, which had offered a $5 million bounty for information leading to his arrest. The United States accuses Usuga and the Gulf Clan of illegally bringing at least 73 tons of cocaine into the country between 2003 and 2012. Following Usuga’s arrest and that of another 90 suspected gang members, Duque declared the “end” of the Gulf Clan. However, four Colombian soldiers were killed in attacks blamed on the gang just days after Usuga’s arrest. The Gulf Clan was believed to be responsible for 30 percent of cocaine exports from Colombia, the world’s largest producer and supplier of the drug. ‘Who is afraid of Otoniel?’Since his capture, Usuga has been held in a high-security prison in Bogota, and has been at the heart of multiple controversies. Recordings of testimony “Otoniel” gave to the Truth Commission – an extrajudicial body investigating the decades-long conflict between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) – were stolen, the perpetrators unknown. Colombian police also halted one of Usuga’s Truth Commission hearings, saying the Gulf Clan had organized an escape attempt. “Who is afraid of Otoniel?” read a headline on Cambio, an independent online news outlet, which charged that some people in the Colombian government sought to silence the drug lord. The site reported Usuga would have said during his hearings that the army continued to work in complicity with right-wing paramilitaries in some parts of the country. Citing a leaked Truth Commission document, the outlet said “Otoniel” had implicated 63 people as linked to the Gulf Clan, including a former minister, a former national director of intelligence, six former governors and four former members of parliament. Family members of Usuga’s victims had asked for the courts to suspend his extradition, arguing that he should stand trial in Colombia for “crimes against humanity.” But the Colombian justice system ultimately gave the green light for his extradition, Usuga’s defense team told AFP. Duque vowed that Usuga would still face justice in Colombia. “This criminal was extradited to serve drug trafficking sentences in the United States,” the president said. “But I want to be clear that once those are served, he will return to Colombia to pay for the crimes committed against our country.” Tags : COLOMBIA, FARC, DRUG TRAFFICKING, USA Following Russia’s invasion of Urkaine and a crackdown on the media, independent outlet DOXA – like others – had to reinvent itself.
More than 100 people gathered outside of the Dorogomilovsky district court in Moscow on the foggy morning of April 12. Inside the court, four DOXA magazine journalists were about to hear their sentence in a year-long criminal case. They were accused of encouraging minors to protest in a YouTube video they published in the midst of pro-Navalny rallies in January 2021. As hours passed, the crowd and the police presence grew. A woman with balloons in Ukrainian flag colours and six more people were arrested by the police. Tension rose. Finally, at 5:00pm the judge announced the sentence – two years of “correctional labour”. In different circumstances and in a different country, such an outcome might have depressed the defendants. But the journalists were relieved. The measure obligates the four – Alla Gutnikova, Armen Aramyan, Natalia Tyshkevich, and Vladimir Metelkin – to work in Russia and give five to 20 percent of their earnings to the government. It could have been worse – a two-year jail term. The four had already spent a year under house arrest, and this latest sentence meant freedom: their tracking anklets would be removed immediately, they would be able to leave their houses at any time and use the internet again. The crowd cheered as three of the four journalists left the court. Tyshkevich was taken to jail where she was serving a 15-day sentence in another case, for a 2017 Instagram post with a Ukrainian coat of arms. ‘New level of danger’Today, more than two months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, almost all of DOXA’s 20 journalists have either left Russia or stopped reporting. So have more than 150 Moscow-based reporters and editors of Meduza, BBC Russian, Dozhd television, Ekho Moskvy radio station, Novaya Gazeta, the Moscow Times and other independent media. DOXA’s editors felt they had no other choice. “Otherwise, we couldn’t guarantee their safety,” said one DOXA editor who uses the pseudonym Richard Kropotkin. “This was a test for our editorial team, because some people, the majority, felt that this was а new level of danger.” In early March the Russian government introduced a law punishing “fakes about the Russian army” with up to 15 years in prison. “Fakes” included citing Ukrainian sources and using the word “war” instead of the government-approved “special operation”. “We had a long discussion with the editorial team, and we concluded that we can’t self-censor,” said a DOXA editor, Katya Moroko, over a video call from Germany. “Any small step towards compromising with this government meant that they would ‘tighten the screws’ even more, and this compromise wouldn’t save us.” After four days of almost non-stop coverage of the war, the DOXA website was blocked by the Russian government regulator Roskomnadzor, after a post about how to talk with friends and relatives who support the Russian invasion went viral on social media. In the following days, two dozen other independent Russian media were blocked or taken off air. “Those [first] days were really terrible,” said Masha Menshikova, DOXA’s news editor who is currently based in Germany. “I just sat at the computer from morning to night … Everything has changed for us because we have never written about the war in such detail. We wrote about universities.” Popularity among studentsDOXA started as a student magazine at the Higher School of Economics (HSE), one of Moscow’s most prestigious and most liberal universities. It quickly became one of Russia’s biggest media outlets covering education. In the summer of 2019, high school and university students in Moscow took to the streets when several opposition candidates were not allowed to run in the city council election. DOXA actively covered the rallies and asked inconvenient questions about the election campaign of HSE vice-rector Valeria Kassamara. In opinion pieces and social media posts, the magazine supported students who were arrested. As a result, the HSE discontinued the magazine’s registration as a student organisation, stating that the university is “beyond politics”. This, however, only contributed to DOXA’s popularity. Tags: Telegram, DOXA, Russia, Urkaine |
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