- Big Relief: HC Grants Regular Bail To Chandrababu Gulte
- Skill development scam case | Former Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu gets regular bail The Hindu
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Tag Archives: Grants
Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $700 Million in Grants to Replace Aging Passenger Railcars in Six Transit Systems | US Department of Transportation – Department of Transportation
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $700 Million in Grants to Replace Aging Passenger Railcars in Six Transit Systems | US Department of Transportation Department of Transportation
- UTA ‘delighted’ to receive $60M from feds to replace light rail vehicles KSL.com
- CTA is getting millions in federal cash for new trains Crain’s Chicago Business
- RTA wins $130 million federal grant to replace railcar fleet, starting with Red Line cleveland.com
- New MetroLink train cars coming to St. Louis region KTVI Fox 2 St. Louis
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Hugh Grant’s Oscar interview with Ashley Graham highlights culture clash – The Washington Post
- Hugh Grant’s Oscar interview with Ashley Graham highlights culture clash The Washington Post
- Hugh Grant did nothing wrong in Ashley Graham Oscars interview — she did New York Post
- Hugh Grant Has Literally Told Us That He’s A “Nasty Piece Of Work” And Admitted That His Women Costars Hate Him, So We Shouldn’t Be Surprised By His “Rude” Oscars Interview BuzzFeed News
- Jimmy Kimmel Shares Oscars Conspiracy Theory After Painful Red Carpet Moment HuffPost
- 5 Of Hugh Grant’s Rudest Moments — From Being ‘Loathed’ By Co-Stars To Being Dubbed A Talk Show’s ‘Worst Guest’ YourTango
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Jason Kennedy praises Ashley Graham for handling Hugh Grant’s Oscars ‘nonsense’ – Page Six
- Jason Kennedy praises Ashley Graham for handling Hugh Grant’s Oscars ‘nonsense’ Page Six
- Hugh Grant’s awkward Oscars red carpet interview with Ashley Graham divides opinion CNN
- Hugh Grant did nothing wrong in Ashley Graham Oscars interview — she did New York Post
- Hugh Grant Has Literally Told Us That He’s A “Nasty Piece Of Work” And Admitted That His Women Costars Hate Him, So We Shouldn’t Be Surprised By His “Rude” Oscars Interview BuzzFeed News
- Piers Morgan awards Hugh Grant ‘Douche of the Day’ Sky News Australia
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Philippines grants U.S. greater access to bases amid China concerns
MANILA, Feb 2 (Reuters) – The Philippines has granted the United States expanded access to its military bases, their defence chiefs said on Thursday, amid mounting concern over China’s increasing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea and tensions over self-ruled Taiwan.
Washington would be given access to four more locations under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Philippines’ Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez said in a joint news conference.
Austin, who was in the Philippines for talks as Washington seeks to extend its security options in the country as part of efforts to deter any move by China against self-ruled Taiwan, described Manila’s decision as a “big deal” as he and his counterpart reaffirmed their commitment to bolstering their countries’ alliance.
“Our alliance makes both of our democracies more secure and helps uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Austin, whose visit follows U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s trip to the Philippines in November, which included a stop at Palawan in the South China Sea.
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“We discussed concrete actions to address destabilising activities in the waters surrounding the Philippines, including the West Philippine Sea, and we remain committed to strengthening our mutual capacities to resist armed attack,” Austin said.
“That’s just part of our efforts to modernize our alliance. And these efforts are especially important as People’s Republic of China continues to advance its illegitimate claims in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
The additional locations under the EDCA bring to nine the number of military bases the United States would have access to, and Washington had announced it was allocating more than $82 million toward infrastructure investments at the existing sites.
The EDCA allows U.S. access to Philippine military bases for joint training, pre-positioning of equipment and the building of facilities such as runways, fuel storage and military housing, but not a permanent presence.
Austin and Galvez did not say where the new locations would be. The former Philippine military chief had said the United States had requested access to bases on the northern land mass of Luzon, the closest part of the Philippines to Taiwan, and on the island of Palawan, facing the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
There was no immediate comment from the Chinese Embassy in Manila.
Outside the military headquarters, dozens of protesters opposed to the United States maintaining a military presence in the country chanted anti-U.S. slogans and called for the EDCA to be scrapped.
Before meeting his counterpart, Austin met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr at the presidential palace on Thursday, where he assured the Southeast Asian leader, “we stand ready to help you in any way we can”.
Ties between the United States and the Philippines, a former colony, were soured by predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s overtures towards China, his famous anti-U.S. rhetoric and threats to downgrade their military ties.
But Marcos has met with U.S. President Joe Biden twice since his landslide victory in the elections last year and reiterated he cannot see a future for his country without its longtime treaty ally.
“I have always said, it seems to me, the future of the Philippines and for that matter the Asia Pacific will always have to involve the United States,” Marcos told Austin.
Reporting by Karen Lema
Editing by Ed Davies and Gerry Doyle
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Brazil court grants bankruptcy protection for retailer Americanas
SAO PAULO, Jan 19 (Reuters) – A Rio de Janeiro court on Thursday accepted Brazilian retailer Americanas SA’s (AMER3.SA) bankruptcy protection request, days after the company disclosed nearly $4 billion in accounting inconsistencies that have sparked a legal feud with creditors and investors.
Americanas, a 93-year-old company with stores all over Brazil and a major e-commerce unit, said in a securities filing that it would restructure debts of about 43 billion reais ($8.2 billion).
Shares in the company plunged about 42.5% to 1.00 real following news of the filing, extending its year-to-date drop to around 90%.
The firm, backed by the billionaire trio that founded 3G Capital, said the move had come “despite the efforts and measures that the management has been taking in the past few days alongside its financial and legal advisers to protect the company from the effects” of the accounting scandal.
Investors had expected the decision, with some deeming it unavoidable, especially after lender BTG Pactual (BPAC3.SA) obtained on Wednesday a court decision overturning part of the firm’s protection from creditors.
Americanas is also facing seven different investigations launched by securities regulator CVM, as well as an arbitration process requesting compensation of 500 million reais to the firm and the trio that founded 3G Capital.
In a document filed with the court, law firms Basilio Advogados and Salomao Kaiuca Abrahao attributed the urgency in filing for bankruptcy to the creditors’ decision to seize the companies’ assets.
The retailer also mentioned a debt downgrade by ratings agencies, which prevented any new loans from being extended. S&P, Moody’s and Fitch all downgraded Americanas’ credit ratings following the accounting scandal.
Earlier, Americanas had said that its current cash position stood at only 800 million reais, down from a previously reported 7.8 billion.
Lucas Pogetti, a partner at M&A advisers RGS Partners, said a large part of Americanas’ previously disclosed cash position was linked to the prepayment of receivables or deposited with creditors.
“Naturally, when the banks became aware of the company’s real situation they began to adopt a more aggressive posture to protect themselves, consequently restricting access to resources,” Pogetti said.
In the filing, Americanas asks to exclude its fintech, Ame, from the bankruptcy protection, as it is regulated by the central bank, and for authorization to increase its capital.
Americanas’ stores are ubiquitous at Brazilian shopping malls. It e-commerce unit, which traded as a separate company before a recent restructuring, is one of the country’s top online retailers.
Chief executive Sergio Rial resigned last week, less than two weeks after taking the job, citing the discovery of “accounting inconsistencies” totaling 20 billion reais.
Rial, the former head of Banco Santander’s Brazilian arm (SANB3.SA), attributed the inconsistencies to differences in accounting for the financial cost of bank loans and debt with suppliers.
Chief financial officer Andre Covre, who had just joined Americanas as well, also left the firm, which has Brazilian billionaires Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Telles as reference shareholders.
Americanas said the reference shareholders intended to maintain the company’s liquidity at levels that allowed for a “good operation” of its stores, digital channel and other entities.
($1 = 5.2226 reais)
Reporting by Gabriel Araujo, Tatiana Bautzer and Peter Frontini in Sao Paulo and Carolina Pulice in Mexico City; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Bradley Perrett
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
GM’s U.S. Sales Recovered From Early 2022 Woes to Post Full-Year Rise
The U.S.’s largest auto makers confronted another challenging year in 2022 with supply-chain snarls and poorly stocked dealership lots denting sales results and concerns mounting about an economic downturn.
The Detroit auto maker also retook its U.S. sales crown from
Toyota Motor Corp.
TM -0.65%
, outselling its Japanese rival by about 165,630 vehicles last year.
Toyota had overtaken GM in 2021 as the U.S.’s top-selling auto maker, an upending of the traditional pecking order that was largely due to parts shortages that both car companies viewed as temporary.
Toyota said its U.S. sales were down 9.6% in 2022, and
Hyundai Motor Corp.
closed last year with a 2% decline.
Most other car companies report throughout the day Wednesday.
Ford
plans to report 2022 sales results Thursday.
Industrywide, U.S. auto sales are projected to total 13.7 million vehicles in 2022, the lowest figure in more than a decade and an 8% decrease from the prior year, according to a joint forecast by J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. Sales are expected to remain well below prepandemic levels of roughly 17 million.
The drop-off marks a reversal for a sector that started the year hoping historically low interest rates and an end to parts shortages would fuel a rebound in sales. Instead, vehicles continued to be in short supply as car makers mostly waited for scarce computer chips. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a key supplier of auto parts, added to the supply-chain troubles.
A prolonged shortage of semiconductors created pent-up demand for new vehicles, which meant that cars and trucks went to waiting buyers almost as soon as they hit the dealer lot. The lack of availability left buyers paying top dollar for the rides they could secure, pushing the average price paid for a vehicle in December to a near record high of $46,382, according to J.D. Power.
The record high prices buoyed auto maker profits last year despite shrinking sales volume and insulated the industry from a broader decline in consumer spending.
Now, while some supply constraints are easing, auto executives are confronting other obstacles, such as rising interest rates and soaring materials costs. Inventory levels are bouncing back, putting pressure on car companies to resist the kinds of profit-damaging discounts that have been historically used to counter slowing demand.
Photos: The EV Rivals Aiming for Tesla’s Crown in China
Some analysts caution that it is still too early to tell if rising prices are pushing buyers away. Heavy snowfall in large parts of the northern U.S. weighed on December sales, making it hard to see the impact of higher prices, JPMorgan analysts wrote in a note to clients.
Still, there are early signs that demand might be slowing, even for the hottest car makers.
Tesla Inc.
reported Monday that it fell short of its growth projections last year, in part because of Covid-related shutdowns at its Shanghai factory and changes in the way it manufactures and distributes vehicles.
Analysts have pointed to decreased wait times for Tesla vehicles as a sign of softening demand. Tesla offered a rare discount on some of its vehicles if buyers agreed to take delivery before the end of 2022.
Electric-vehicle sales accounted for 3% of the U.S. retail market in 2021 and nearly 6% in 2022, according to J.D. Power.
Executives have been investing billions of dollars on new models and factories, in the belief that sales will continue to expand rapidly over the next decade.
But rising prices for raw materials used in lithium-ion batteries pushed up EV prices throughout 2022, and some executives warned of a looming battery shortage.
General Motors cut its EV sales target for 2023 because of a slower-than-expected increase of battery production.
The semiconductor shortage, while easing for some other sectors, such as smartphones and personal computers, remains a challenge for autos, in part because car companies typically use inexpensive, commodity silicon for vehicles. Toyota, citing a lack of chips, cut its production outlook for the current fiscal year through March.
Falling used-car values are also discouraging to potential buyers, who have trade-ins and are looking to use them to offset the higher cost of a new vehicle.
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That bodes poorly for sales this year, as retailers worry that buyers who were unable to buy a car as a result of shortages will now be priced out of the market, according to a survey of dealers conducted by Cox Automotive.
The research site Edmunds expects new-car sales to hit 14.8 million in 2023, a marginal increase from last year but well below prepandemic levels. A combination of rising rates, inflation and economic turmoil could push vehicles out of reach for many buyers, Edmunds said.
Write to Sean McLain at sean.mclain@wsj.com
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Canada grants record permanent residency permits in 2022
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada set an immigration record last year by granting more than 437,000 foreigners permanent residency, the government said on Tuesday, as it ramps up immigration to fight a tight labor market.
The government had set a target to welcome 431,645 new permanent residents in 2022, and the immigration ministry said Canada has reached that target to make it the largest annual intake of people in Canadian history.
The tally for last year is about 9% higher than 2021, when Canada surpassed the previous record set in 1913, and comes as Canada seeks to bring in 1.45 million new permanent residents by 2025-end.
Immigration is a key part of the solution as Canada focuses on addressing an acute labor market shortages, the ministry said. People with permanent residency permits can typically apply for citizenship after five years.
Immigration accounts for almost 100% of Canada’s labor force growth and by 2036 immigrants will represent up to 30% of Canada’s population, up from 20.7% in 2011, the statement said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has relied on immigration to boost the Canadian economy and support an aging population since coming to power in 2015.
Shortage of skilled workers in industries like healthcare is acute and the most recent official data shows there were 871,300 job vacancies in October, down from a record high of over a million open roles in Canada in May.
To tackle that, Ottawa is planning targeted draws for skilled immigrants for the first time in 2023, allowing it to cherry pick applicants with the most in-demand skills for the regions of the country that most need workers.
But many immigrants still struggle to find work in their chosen field, and some advocates say supports have not grown in pace with the number of new permanent residents.
Canada has also struggled to keep up with a surge in applications after COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions eased as the number of processed applications doubled to about 5.2 million in 2022 from the previous year, the ministry said.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
Russia grants tax amnesty to encourage troops fighting in Ukraine | Russia-Ukraine war News
Russian authorities have announced that soldiers and state employees deployed to fight in Ukraine will be exempt from income tax, Moscow’s latest effort to encourage support for a military campaign against Kyiv that has suffered multiple setbacks and defeats.
The new tax measure concerns all Russian troops fighting in the four Ukrainian territories Moscow has declared as its own – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – although it does not completely control the four regions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday cited an exemption contained in an anti-corruption law, which the Russian authorities published the details of on Thursday evening.
Soldiers, police, members of the security services and other state employees serving in the four regions no longer have to supply information on “their income, their expenditure, their assets”, according to the decree.
Russian forces in Ukraine also have the right, according to the decree, to receive “rewards and gifts” if they are of “a humanitarian character” and received as part of what Russia calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Tax relief also applies to the partners and children of those serving and is back-dated to February 24, 2022 – the date Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
The Moscow Times reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday removing requirements for government officials to disclose their income tax returns for the duration of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Prior to the decree, Russian law required civil servants to publicly disclose income tax returns for themselves and their immediate family members in an effort to curtail endemic corruption. Military officers were also required to disclose their tax returns when being appointed or dismissed,” the Moscow Times reported.
“The decree also exempts soldiers fighting in Ukraine as well as members of the security services from releasing their tax returns, as well as officials who have travelled to Russian-annexed regions of Ukraine for work,” the Times reported.
The Kremlin has rolled out a series of incentives for Russians who fight in Ukraine, offering cash bonuses and promising financial aid to families in the case of the death or injury of loved ones.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine can have their sperm frozen for free in cryobanks.
News the Russian state will fund sperm freezing for its armed forces follows reports in October that demand for sperm freezing had increased after Putin announced a partial mobilisation to funnel more troops to support Moscow’s war.
Moscow’s mobilisation drive has prompted hundreds of thousands of Russians to flee the country to avoid being conscripted.
Thousands of Ukrainians have also fled to avoid joining the war, Germany’s DPA news agency reported on Friday. DPA said that “almost 12,000 men were caught trying to cross the border illegally, heading in the direction of Western countries”.
Citing Ukrainian border troops, the news agency said 15 men had died while trying to flee the country to avoid military service, including “two reportedly having frozen to death in the Carpathian Mountains on their way to Romania”.
Ukraine’s Defence minister Oleksii Reznikov has said that, given the extent of Russia’s losses of equipment and troops in Ukraine, it would take Moscow’s army at least five years to recover its former strength.
“According to NATO intelligence, the Russians have huge losses of tanks, artillery, armoured personnel carriers and soldiers,” Reznikov was quoted as saying by the media outlet Ukrainska Pravda. “The regular armed forces of the Russian Federation could be restored in five years at the earliest, perhaps not for 10 years,” he said.
Reznikov gave no details about Ukraine’s armed forces but sides have suffered heavy losses since the war began in February.
United States General Mark Milley estimated in November that about 100,000 Russian soldiers had either been killed or wounded since the invasion in February. He said Kyiv’s armed forces had “probably” suffered a similar level of casualties.
Biden grants full pardons to six individuals who served their sentences
“President Biden believes America is a nation of second chances and that offering meaningful opportunities for redemption and rehabilitation empowers those who have been incarcerated to become productive, law-abiding members of society,” said a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement. “The president remains committed to providing second chances to individuals who have demonstrated their rehabilitation — something that elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates and law enforcement leaders agree our criminal justice system should offer.”
Biden’s end-of-year pardons affect people who are not well-known, unlike the recipients of pardons from former president Donald Trump. In a chaotic flurry announced by the White House less than 12 hours before the end of his presidency, Trump granted 144 pardons and sentence commutations, with entertainers, politicians from both parties and several well-connected Trump allies among the recipients.
The six pardoned by Biden were, according to the White House:
* Gary Parks Davis, 66, of Yuma, Ariz., who pleaded guilty to using a telephone to facilitate an unlawful cocaine transaction more than 40 years ago. After serving his six-month sentence in a county jail, Davis completed probation in 1981. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree and now owns a landscaping business and manages construction projects. He continued to serve in leadership of a local high school booster club, even after his children graduated, and helps raise money for a local rotary club and chamber of commerce.
* Edward Lincoln De Coito III, 50, of Dublin, Calif., who pleaded guilty to involvement in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy more than 25 years ago. De Coito had previously served in the Army and the Army Reserve, where he received the Southwest Asia Service Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal and the Humanitarian Service Medal. After his release from prison, De Coito worked as a skilled electrician for approximately 15 years before launching a second career as a pilot.
* Vincente Ray Flores, 37, of Winters, Calif., consumed ecstasy and alcohol at age 19 while serving in the military. He was sentenced to four months’ confinement, forfeiture of $700 pay per month for a four-month period, and reduction in rank. Since then, Flores remains on active duty and has been awarded the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and the Meritorious Unit Award among other honors. He has also volunteered for a number of causes through his military units, including Habitat for Humanity, a cancer research fundraiser, and events for military members returning from deployment.
* Beverly Ann Ibn-Tamas, 80, of Columbus, Ohio, was convicted of murder in the second degree while armed for killing her husband. The then-33-year-old was pregnant and testified that her husband physically and verbally abused her moments before she shot him. During her trial, the court refused to allow expert testimony regarding battered woman syndrome, a psychological condition and pattern of behavior that may develop in victims of domestic violence, and Ibn-Tamas was sentenced to a term of one to five years’ incarceration. Ibn-Tamas was recently the director of nursing for an Ohio-based health-care business and continues to manage cases at the facility.
* Charlie Byrnes Jackson, 77, of Swansea, S.C., who pleaded guilty to one count of possession and sale of distilled spirits without tax stamps. He was sentenced to five years’ probation for the crime he committed as an 18-year-old. Jackson attempted to enlist in the Marine Corps after graduating from high school but was rejected because of the federal conviction. He has since been an active member of his church and has volunteered his carpentry skills to maintain and renovate church buildings.
* John Dix Nock III, 72, of St. Augustine, Fla., pleaded guilty to one count of renting and making for use, as an owner, a place for the purpose of manufacturing marijuana plants. He was sentenced to six months’ community confinement in lieu of imprisonment in 1996. Nock now operates a general contracting business and mentors young contractors through a professional networking group. He also helps organize an annual fishing tournament to benefit abused young men.