Junior Digest

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he would not resign despite being charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a corruption scandal that he denounced as an “attempted coup”.

The charges announced by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit were the first of their kind against a serving Israeli prime minister and represented the gravest crisis in the political career of Israel’s longest-serving leader.

Netanyahu, in power continuously since 2009 and before that in the 1990s, has dominated Israeli politics for a generation, decisively turning the country to the right. He has denied wrongdoing in the three graft cases, saying he is the victim of a political witch hunt.

He is under no legal obligation to resign. But the indictment could further embolden challengers trying to dislodge him after two inconclusive elections since April, with a third election expected to be announced within weeks.

Conviction on the charges could bring a lengthy jail term. But any trial could be delayed for months by the political crisis, and Netanyahu could try to secure parliamentary immunity from prosecution.

Mumbai, Nov 23: After a month long political deadlock in the state of Maharashtra, Bhartiya Janata Party’s Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the 19th Chief Minister of the state for a second term on Saturday morning while Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Deputy CM.
The oath was administered by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, here at the Raj Bhawan.
The surprising move comes a day after NCP President Sharad Pawar indicated that a consensus has been evolved on Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray for the top post.
After taking oath of Chief Minister, Mr. Fadnavis said that before the assembly elections in Maharashtra, we had an alliance with the Shiv Sena, but after the election, Shiv Sena was trying to break our alliance and form a government with Congress and NCP. “I would like to express my gratitude to NCP’s Ajit Pawar ji, he took this decision to give a stable government to Maharashtra & come together with BJP. Some other leaders also came with us and we staked claim to form government.”, he said.
Ajit Pawar, after administering oath as Deputy CM, said that NCP was in talks with the Congress and Shiv Sena for the last several days but due to the negotiations not coming to any conclusion and he ended up forming a government with the BJP to end the President’s rule in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Mr Fadnavis. “Congratulations to Devendra Fadnavis Ji and Ajit Pawar Ji on taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra”, he said in a tweet.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also congratulated the new Maharashtra dispensation. In a tweet he said that he is confident that this government will be continuously committed to the development and welfare of Maharashtra and will set new standards of progress in the state.

Both houses voted in favor of the proposal after hours-long sessions. It will be sent to interim President Jeanine Anez, who has already said she will sign the bill into law at 1400 GMT Sunday.

Among other things, the bill annuls the results of the October 20 vote and allows for new elections to be held.

Crucially, it bars candidates who served in both of the two previous terms from seeking re-election for the same position. That would prevent Morales from contesting the presidency in the new ballot.

Congress also needs to agree on a new seven-member electoral court, after members of the previous panel were removed for allegedly manipulating results.

The tribunal will be tasked with setting a date for the new vote that Anez has previously vowed to hold “as soon as possible.”

“I want to thank our parliamentarians for having understood and listened to the demands of the Bolivian people,” Anez tweeted.

New elections are seen as key to ending Bolivia’s worst political upheaval in 16 years, which has deepened divisions between indigenous people loyal to Morales and Bolivia’s mainly city-dwelling middle and upper classes.

Morales’ Movement for Socialism (MAS) party holds a majority in both houses of Congress, but is divided over the left-wing leader and his political future.

While some supporters would remain loyal to Morales, members of his party “will try to save MAS without Evo Morales in order to be an option in the next elections,” Carlos Toranzo, a political analyst, told AFP.

Morales, who had been seeking a fourth term, claimed he won last month’s election, but opposition groups said the vote count was rigged.

An audit by the Washington-based Organization of American States found irregularities in the results.

Mumbai, Nov 23: The Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress meeting concluded on Friday with a call to Sena President Uddhav Thackeray to accept the post of Maharashtra Chief Minister.
Emerging from the two-hour meeting, NCP President Sharad Pawar indicated that a consensus had evolved on Mr Thackeray’s name for the top post.
“There is unanimity on the name of Uddhav Thackeray for CM post… Now, he must take it up,” Mr Pawar said.
On his part, Mr Thackeray briefly said that the discussions were held in detail and efforts were on to ensure that no issues were left out.
The proposed Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising Sena-NCP-Congress is likely to hold a press conference on Saturday, where the final details will be shared with the media.
“After the press conference tomorrow, we shall make attempts to stake claim at the earliest possible opportunity,” NCP National Spokesperson Nawab Malik said.

Murshidabad (WB), Nov 22: Opposing the Centre’s decision to hive off and disinvest shares in several PSUs, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should talk to experts and all political parties to tide over the economic crisis.

She asserted that shoring up funds by selling off government stake in central public sector firms (CPSUs) could only provide temporary respite.

“The Centre should look for a permanent solution instead of advocating stopgap measures. Unless there is economic stability, such measures cannot be the solution,” Banerjee told newspersons here.

While an elected government should be allowed to work independently, “it should also seek opinion of all other parties” on issues affecting the country, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo noted.

“I feel the prime minister should talk to experts in the country and hold an all-party meeting to overcome the crisis,” she added.

In the biggest privatisation drive ever, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved sale of government’s stake in blue-chip oil firm BPCL, shipping firm Shipping Corporation of India and cargo mover Concor, and decided to cut shareholding in select public sector firms below 51 per cent to boost revenue collections that have been hit by the slowing economy.

Banerjee said participation of private partners in PPP model could be allowed in specific areas as was done by her during her tenure as the railway minister.

Selling off companies owned by the central government was not a wise decision, she insisted.

“If the Centre sells off everything, what will be there with the government?” she asked.

Questioning the Centre’s decision to amalgamate several PSU banks, the chief minister said the merger of United Bank of India with two other banks would pose problems for the state government.

“Several schemes of our government run through banks, so if UBI’s headquarters is shifted out of the state, the future of these schemes might be in question,” she said.

The TMC boss claimed that the government was selling off national carrier Air India and key units in defence production and telecom sector in order to raise funds.

Banerjee said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should talk to all political parties to find ways to generate employment in the interest of people.

Iterating her criticism of the Centre’s decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes in 2016, she said, “India is a country where cashless society cannot be effective; people do not have money.”

Banerjee asserted that disinvestment of government shares in CPSUs would not create jobs.

Earlier, too, the Centre had taken the disinvestment route, but the measure failed to boost the economy, the chief minister claimed.

“The central government has said that the current disinvestment plan announced on Wednesday will fetch anywhere between Rs 1.76 to Rs 1.80 lakh crore, but this would not rejuvenate the economy in the long term,” she added.

Washington D.C., Nov 23: Researchers have developed a new type of concrete that is loaded with several qualities including being heat-insulating and soundproof along with its ability to bounce off liquids like milk and coffee.
Building materials that clean themselves could save immense time and labour in homes and businesses as well as reduce disease risk in settings such as hospitals.
The study has been published in the ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
Nature boasts many examples of self-cleaning surfaces, from lotus leaves to geckos’ feet. Water droplets striking these superhydrophobic — or extreme water-hating — surfaces ball up into droplets if the surface is level, or completely roll off if it’s tilted, at the same time removing dust particles and contaminants.
Scientists have tried to introduce these self-cleaning properties to concrete by adding hydrophobic materials. However, surface coatings can scratch or wear off over time, and hydrophobic materials added to the bulk concrete before drying often weaken it.
Researcher Xin Xu and colleagues wanted to develop a simple method to make porous concrete with robust mechanical and self-cleaning properties.
The researchers added an oil, an emulsifier and a hydrophobic silicone polymer called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to wet concrete. With the help of the emulsifier, the oil formed many tiny droplets that contained PDMS.
The team then dried and heated the concrete, evaporating the oil so that PDMS-coated pores were left behind. The resulting porous concrete was lightweight, yet mechanically strong.
It repelled dust particles and liquids, including milk, beer, soy sauce, coffee and dyed water, and could be immersed in the liquids and removed without leaving any stains behind.
Even with mechanical grinding, heat treatment and chemical exposure, the material remained superhydrophobic. The porous concrete also absorbed sounds and insulated against heat loss, two other attractive properties for building materials.

Chennai , Nov 23: Cyber risk, besides a huge financial risk, can translate into a huge reputational risk and hence should be addressed as a part of the business and corporate strategy rather than leaving to a single IT Department or jurisdiction, feel the experts.
Explaining the gravity of the issue, MK Bhattacharya, Executive Director, Indian Bank, said: “This unknown cyber risk, transcending beyond the geographical and time zone dimensions, today poses the biggest challenge before the banking and financial industry.”
The highly participative panel discussion, moderated by AV Murali, Standard Chartered Bank, during a seminar on ‘Information and Cyber Security: Opportunities and Threats’ organised by the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA), composed of industry experts like Vittal Raj, Head Business Risk Assurance-Pristine, Arjun Prathap-Director, Risk Advisory Practice, Deloitte, PS Shibu, CISO, Indian Bank and S Venkataraman, Lead-Credit Risk, Tata Consultancy Services.
According to a statement issued on Friday about the recently held event, Ken Radigan, CEO, PRMIA, threw light on the fast-changing risk management at global landscape and how India is at the top of agenda of PRMIA, a non-profit global association managed by volunteers in risk management community.
Dr Nirakar Pradhan, Director and Asia Pacific Representative, PRMIA, in his opening remarks touched upon different facets of cyber risk management.

New Delhi ,Nov 21 : In a major decision, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for strategic disinvestment in five central public-sector enterprises (CPSEs) — Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India, Container Corporation of India, THDCIL, and NEEPCO.
Briefing the media about the decisions on Wednesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said there will be strategic disinvestment of central government’s shareholding of 53.29 per cent in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (except its equity shareholding of 61.65 per cent in Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and management control) along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer.
There will be strategic disinvestment of BPCL’s shareholding of 61.65 per cent in NRL along with transfer of management control to a CPSE operating in the oil and gas sector, she said.
The minister said there will be strategic disinvestment of the central government’s shareholding of 63.75 per cent in Shipping Corporation of India Ltd along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer.
In the Container Corporation of India Ltd. (CONCOR), there will be strategic disinvestment of the central government’s shareholding of 30.8 per cent (out of 54.8 per cent equity presently held) along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer.
While in Tehri Hydro Development Corporation India Limited (THDCIL), there will be strategic disinvestment of government’s shareholding of 74.23 per cent along with transfer of management control to identified CPSE strategic buyer – NTPC.
In North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO), there will be strategic disinvestment of the central government’s shareholding of 100 per cent along with transfer of management control to an identified CPSE strategic buyer – NTPC.
An official release said that strategic disinvestment of CPSEs will be undertaken through already established procedures and mechanisms.
It said that the resources unlocked by the strategic disinvestment of these CPSEs would be used to finance the social sector and developmental programmes of the government benefiting the people.
The unlocked resources would form part of the budget and the usage would come to the scrutiny of the public.
The strategic buyer is expected to ring in new management/technology/investment for the growth of these companies.
The release said that the government reinitiated the policy of strategic disinvestment in 2015 in order to open up sectors for private enterprise to bring efficiency in management that would contribute to general economic development.
Finance Minister, in her budget speech of 2019, had also announced that in view of current macroeconomic parameters, more CPSEs will be offered for strategic disinvestment.
The release said strategic disinvestment is guided by the basic economic principle that the government should discontinue its engagement in manufacturing/producing goods and services in sectors where the competitive markets have come of age, and such entities would most likely perform better in the private hands due to various factors such as technology up-grading and efficient management practices.