Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am


Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Exclusive: ECB will tailor new loans to reduce demand, sources say

The skyline with its financial district and the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) are photographed in the early evening in Frankfurt
FILE PHOTO - The skyline with its financial district and the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) are photographed in the early evening in Frankfurt, Germany, December 4, 2018. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

March 12, 2019

By Francesco Canepa

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Central Bank policymakers want to reduce banks’ reliance on central bank cash and will tailor a fresh loan facility to curb appetite, four sources familiar with the discussion have told Reuters.

With growth slowing and business confidence fading, the ECB announced new stimulus measures last week to prop up a still- fragile economy, promising to put off raising interest rates and to give banks access to more multi-year loans from the central bank.

But the sources, who asked not to be named, said the economy was still far stronger than a few years ago, so any support should be less generous, reflecting healthier fundamentals.

One of the key questions still on the table is just how cheap the ECB cash should be and whether the ECB should restrict access to its multi-year credit, commonly known at targeted longer-term refinancing operations, or TLTROs.

An ECB committee working on the design of the TLTRO proposed setting the rate at a premium of 25 basis points above the ECB’s main refinancing rate, now at zero. Then, as now, that rate could be reduced progressively to encourage banks to meet, or then exceed, their lending quotas.

But doves from the EU’s periphery considered such a rate too high, not giving banks enough support, and asked staff to prepare a proposal with more favorable terms, the sources said. They noted that even at a zero percent rate, it would be 40 basis points more expensive than the previous TLTRO.

An ECB spokesman declined to comment.

The sources added that, for now, the main refinancing rate is considered the lowest achievable rate on the TLTROs. But they said the discussion remains open and, if the economy performed worse than expected, they could opt for an even lower, possibly negative, figure.

The need to assess the growth outlook also provided an argument for the Governing Council to take more time to decide the terms of the loan, suggesting that the June 6 meeting is the likeliest opportunity for the ECB to publish the final terms, the sources said.

(Graphic: Depositors and borrowers at the ECB – https://tmsnrt.rs/2UpDLEM)

ADDICTED

A key argument for providing the loans is to roll over a previous TLTRO facility and avoid a sudden reduction in the ECB’s balance sheet. But policymakers also want to reduce banks’ reliance on ECB cash, the sources said.

Options under discussion include more stringent collateral rules on the new loans and more ambitious targets for lending volumes for those granted the knock-down rate.

While demand for the loans will depend on conditions, ECB calculations suggested the take-up of the new facility could be below 500 billion euros ($564 billion), compared with more than 700 billion in the previous round, with many northern European banks not rolling over previous facilities as they can borrow on the market on better terms.

The sources added that the question of tiering the ECB’s deposit rate to shield banks from negative rates had not been discussed.

“Any TLTRO-III rate at, or above the refi rate would lead to very low demand on top of TLTRO-II rollover (which could be a feature, not a bug, if growth picks up),” Frederik Ducrozet, an economist at Pictet Wealth Management, wrote on Twitter after Reuters’ article was originally published.

($1 = 0.8868 euros)

(Graphic: TLTRO II holdings by country – https://tmsnrt.rs/2F6e1rV)

(Additional reporting by Balazs Koranyi; editing by Kevin Liffey, Larry King)

Source: OANN

0 0

From farms to slums, Indian women on sharp end of jobs crisis

Women labourers work in a pearl millet field at Narayangaon
Women labourers work in a pearl millet field at Narayangaon, India, March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

March 20, 2019

By Suvashree Choudhury and Alexandra Ulmer

CHINCHOLI, India (Reuters) – A few years ago, in this sweltering corner of western India, the horizon was dotted with hunched, barefoot women swinging sickles all day to cut wheat for the spring harvest.

Now, a giant green harvester clears an entire half-acre field within minutes, allowing farmers to save money and quickly sell the wheat, typically used to make Indian flat breads.

Chhaya Kharade, 36, and other women doing lighter farm work were gradually replaced by the machines that now crisscross wheat, sugar cane and onion fields surrounding Chincholi, a village 190 km (120 miles) east of India’s financial hub of Mumbai.

“I should be busy now, as the wheat harvesting is going on. But there is hardly any work for me. Almost all farmers are using machines,” Kharade said in her spartan two-room house.

Indian women, especially those working in precarious informal sectors, are at the sharp end of what economists and opposition politicians describe as a jobs crisis in India. According to the private Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), 90 percent of around 10 million jobs lost last year were held by women.

Several unemployed women interviewed by Reuters said they had soured on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist who swept to power in 2014 vowing to turn India into an economic powerhouse but has struggled to create jobs.

While Modi remains the favorite in general elections that kick off next month, insufficient employment – despite India’s roughly 7 percent economic growth rate – is a major voter worry.

“Modi’s government has not done anything to create employment in this region. We would like to vote for a party that will set up factories and create jobs,” said Mumtaj Mulani, a 40-year-old woman who was plucking weeds from a pearl millet field in the area. She said she usually struggles to find work due to the spread of machines.

The dwindling female labor participation rate could have far-reaching implications for India’s economic development and the progress of women’s rights in the often deeply conservative country.

“When nearly fifty percent of the labor force is unable to live up to its potential, India is foregoing significant growth, investment, and productivity gains,” said Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment.

“The social costs, while less tangible, are nevertheless acute,” Vaishnav added, noting research suggests women’s economic empowerment reduces inequality and ensures women have a greater voice in society.

Measuring the problem is tricky, and Modi’s government has delayed the release of controversial jobs data. [L3N2121QE]

But the official report, leaked to local newspaper Business Standard in February, shows the female labor participation rate was merely 23.3 percent in 2017-2018, down about 8 percentage points from 2011-2012.

Private estimates are gloomier. CMIE puts the figure at just 10.7 percent between May and August 2018.

For an interactive graphic on India’s female labor force participation rate, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2FbrbDK

DOUBLE WHAMMY: NOTE BAN AND GST

To be sure, the loss of jobs to machines is a global issue, but Indian women have a more limited range of alternative work than their male counterparts. And in family-focused India, women across economic lines often quit work after getting married or having children.

Also, as some families’ earnings rise, more women can afford to become caregivers.

Still, when compared to nations with similar income levels, India’s female labor participation rate is “a distinct outlier,” according to Vaishnav.

Economists say Modi’s two signature economic policies – a ban on high-value banknotes in 2016 and the implementation of a national sales tax rate (GST) in 2017 – have hurt women more than men because they are more likely to be employed in vulnerable, informal workplaces.

Demonetisation thrust the informal, cash-based economy into turmoil. A year later, many small businesses went under, unable to deal with GST’s complexities or rate increases.

“If there are fewer jobs available, who will move out? The women will move out, because they get lower wages. The men will go compete for the few jobs,” said CMIE’s CEO Mahesh Vyas.

In Dharavi, a Mumbai slum that is one of Asia’s largest, 33 year-old Farzana Begum has struggled to provide for her five children since the workshop she stitched buttons for shut shop in the wake of GST.

“I have stopped all extra spending on clothes and good food,” said Begum. “If you ask anyone in Dharavi, everyone has seen a fall in income, lost their jobs or seen factories close after GST.”

Her dismay was echoed on the other side of the country, in a village near the eastern city of Kolkata, where Nuren Nesa’s earnings from embroidering saris fell from 700 rupees a week to 300 after demonetisation. Following GST, work ground to a halt and her embroidery machine is gathering dust.

“Modi’s note ban and GST measures have destroyed our source of income,” said Nesa, 41, who withdrew her son from university because tuition fees grew out of reach.

“I will vote for the leader who will help us out with proper work and income,” she added.

As the battle for women’s votes heats up, Modi has pointed to programs to provide toilets and subsidized cooking gas cylinders as evidence his administration cares for women. This month, the main opposition party, Congress, vowed to reserve a third of federal government jobs for women if elected.

HARD WORK TO HIRE WOMEN?

Some business owners say they receive few applications from women.

“We do not find too many women in the segment we service, even though we would like to hire more women because they are more sincere, there is less attrition and they can multi-task,” said Vineet Pandey, who owns Mumbai-based housekeeping firms Kaarya Facilities & Services and Hecqo.com.

Indian women sometimes do not take jobs far from home due to fears for their safety.

Call centers or factories run by multinationals often attract women workers by providing transport after late shifts, but working at many other jobs entails commutes on packed trains and buses through India’s teeming and cities.

One businessman who employees roughly 1,000 men at his chemical factory in southern India, says hiring women would mean providing separate bathrooms and transport at night.

He argues bypassing men would also stoke tensions in India, where economic transformations and an influx of technology are testing the social fabric.

“In the rural areas, it is a more patriarchal society, if we give jobs to women and not men, there will be complaints from men,” said the businessman, who asked to remain anonymous.

“It is to maintain harmony.”

In any case, it is a moot point for now. His plant, struggling with high costs of power and transport, is not hiring.

For an interactive graphic on the regional female labor force participation rate, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2O4rinC

(Reporting by Suvashree Choudhury in Mumbai and Alexandra Ulmer in Hivare, Additional reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Hivare and Subrata Nag Choudhury in Kolkata, Graphics by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru, Writing by Alexandra Ulmer, Editing by Euan Rocha and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: OANN

0 0

NBA notebook: Knee soreness sidelines Embiid

NBA: All Star Game
Feb 17, 2019; Charlotte, NC, USA; Team Giannis forward Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers (21) shoots the ball against Team Lebron forward Lebron James of the Los Angeles Lakers (23) during the 2019 NBA All-Star Game at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

February 21, 2019

Joel Embiid’s return from the All-Star break is expected to be delayed as the Philadelphia 76ers forward/center is experiencing left knee soreness, the team announced Wednesday.

In addition, an MRI on the right knee of guard/forward Furkan Korkmaz revealed a meniscus tear, with a surgical procedure a possibility to repair the injury.

According to Sixers vice president of athlete care Daniel Medina, Embiid will be out of action immediately and will be re-evaluated in one week. An MRI showed no structural damage.

The third-year player, who scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in 23 minutes of action Sunday in the All-Star Game, will undergo a treatment program “involving physical therapy and load management.” The team did not disclose when the injury might have taken place.

–Washington Wizards center Dwight Howard will return to on-court workouts, the latest step in his attempt to return from spinal surgery.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Howard has been rehabbing from the surgery, performed in November, in Atlanta.

Howard, 33, has played just nine games this season for the Wizards, who signed him to a two-year, $11 million contract last July. In his limited action, he averaged 12.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, far below his career averages of 17.4 points and 12.6 rebounds.

–Houston center Clint Capela said he expects to be back in the lineup Thursday when the Rockets meet the Lakers in Los Angeles.

He has been out with ligament damage to his right thumb since Jan. 13. The Rockets went 9-6 in his absence.

Capela has played in 42 games, averaging 17.6 points and 12.6 rebounds.

–The Golden State Warriors do not plan to limit DeMarcus Cousins’ playing time for the duration of the regular season. The team had been careful with Cousins’ workload since the big man returned to the court in mid-January after recovering from a torn left Achilles tendon.

Cousins had been limited to 25 minutes per game, but coach Steve Kerr said he and his staff would be more lenient as the team returns from the All-Star break.

Cousins is averaging 13.9 points and 6.8 rebounds in 11 starts with Golden State. He has played an average of 23.4 minutes per contest.

–Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving expanded on the telephone call he made to former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate LeBron James earlier this season.

Irving broke down the phone call with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, saying he needed to contact James, now with the Lakers, in order to move forward. Irving and James led the Cavaliers to a NBA championship in 2016, but the duo could not repeat the feat in 2017 and Irving eventually requested a trade.

“Now, mind you, I have no regrets in terms of any decision I made, going about my individual journey and what I want and foresee for my career,” Irving said. “But for me, it’s just … apologizing, yeah, that was a step for me, just to move forward in my life.”

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

0 0

EU antitrust chief news conference at 1030 GMT, Google likely in focus

FILE PHOTO: EU Competition Commissioner Vestager talks to the media at the European Council headquarters in Brussels
FILE PHOTO: European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager talks to the media at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 6, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

March 20, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager will hold a news conference on an antitrust case at 1030 GMT (11.30 a.m. Brussels time), the European Commission said on Wednesday.

Vestager is expected to announce a third fine for Alphabet unit Google over anti-competitive practices, related to its AdSense advertising service, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters last week.

Last year, Vestager imposed a record 4.34 billion euro ($4.91 billion) fine on Google for using its popular Android mobile operating system to block rivals. This followed a 2.4 billion euro fine levied in 2017 for blocking rivals of shopping comparison websites.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

Source: OANN

0 0

From street kids to war romance, Oscar foreign-film slate keeps it real

Director Alfonso Cuaron attends the 91st Oscars Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills
Director Alfonso Cuaron attends the 91st Oscars Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills, California, U.S. February 4, 2019. REUTERS/David McNew

February 20, 2019

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – From Lebanese street children to love behind the Iron Curtain and the daily life of a Mexican housekeeper, this year’s Oscar-nominated foreign language films draw from real life and, in some cases, deeply personal experiences.

While Poland’s “Cold War” and Germany’s “Never Look Away” are set decades ago, Japan’s “Shoplifters” and Lebanon’s “Capernaum” take on contemporary themes, while “Roma” is the most personal film ever made by Alfonso Cuaron.

“Roma,” inspired by Cuaron’s 1970s childhood in Mexico City’s Colonia Roma neighborhood, is seen as the favorite to take not only the foreign language Oscar on Sunday but could make history by also winning best picture.

The film, shot entirely in black and white, is inspired by the two women who raised Cuaron: his mother and a domestic worker.

“The source material were my memories, but then the film took on its own life,” Cuaron said. “Now my memories are tainted by the film.”

LOVE AND CHAOS

Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski was inspired by the love life of his parents for “Cold War,” a dark romance between a pianist and a singer set in both Communist-led Poland and postwar France. The lead characters, Wiktor and Zula, are named after his parents.

“It was very personal to start with because that’s where the idea came from,” Pawlikowski said. “It’s inspired by the tempestuous and chaotic relationships which involved many divorces, separations, marrying other people, remarrying, moving countries and so on.”

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck also looked back to World War Two for “Never Look Away.” The story about a struggling artist in Nazi-era Germany and then Communist-ruled East Germany spans four decades.

Donnersmarck was born in West Germany in 1973 and partly grew up in the United States.

Donnersmarck said he wanted to “see how within one family drama you have the murderers and the victims and the Nazis and those whom they abused and killed and destroyed living under one roof.”

In Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s drama “Shoplifters,” an elderly widow, three adults, a boy and a girl create a family unit that is united by financial and emotional need.

They steal to supplement their working-class wages, all while hiding from authorities after kidnapping the girl from her abusive parents.

The film employs a “ripped-from-the-headlines” approach based on news reports Kore-eda read about families who commit crimes.

Lebanese director Nadine Labaki cast street children in “Capernaum” to tell the story of a 12-year-old boy in a Beirut slum who tries to stop his younger sister from being married off.

    The plot was largely based on events Labaki witnessed or cast members experienced, and took more than four years to make. The film’s young protagonist is played by a Syrian refugee. Another young cast member was jailed during the shoot, and a third was deported to Kenya.

“None of it was make-believe,” Labaki said.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Jill Serjeant and Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

0 0

WH Floated Idea of Releasing Migrants Into Sanctuary Cities

The White House floated an idea with immigration officials in recent months that would have involved arresting illegal immigrants at the southern border and then busing them to sanctuary cities to send a political message to Democrats.

The Washington Post reported Thursday the proposal began in a White House email last November. The idea was raised again in February as another migrant caravan was heading to the United States.

San Francisco, a high-profile sanctuary city and which is represented by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was among the areas targeted in the proposal.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement ultimately shot down the idea.

The White House said the proposal was designed to both send a political message to opponents of how President Donald Trump is handling immigration and also to free up space in jails near the border.

In a statement to the Post, the White House said, "This was just a suggestion that was floated and rejected, which ended any further discussion."

Pelosi's office was furious.

"The extent of this administration's cynicism and cruelty cannot be overstated," spokesperson Ashley Etienne told the Post. "Using human beings — including little children — as pawns in their warped game to perpetuate fear and demonize immigrants is despicable."

Sanctuary cities are jurisdictions that do not enforce federal immigration laws and do not help ICE officials or agents. The Trump administration has threatened to withhold federal funding to cities and states that do not comply with ICE directives.

It was reported this week, meanwhile, White House officials are pushing a plan to have Border Patrol agents question asylum seekers to see if the migrants are truly in need of a safe haven.

Source: NewsMax America

0 0

A call to Action from @NCGOP 58 candidate, Gay Republican @PeterBoykin: #ComeOutForTrump & Pro-2nd Amendment Counter Protest to the David Hogg-” March for Our Lives” anti-gun rally in Greensboro NC

    Peter Boykin Gay Republican?? — A message and call to action from House 58 candidate, Peter Boykin: WHERE: Sidewalk in front of the Cultural Arts Center, across from Lebauer Park, Downtown Greensboro WHEN: 4:30-7:00pm, Wednesday, August 1 WHAT: Pro-2nd Amendment Counter Protest to the David Hogg-“March for Our Lives” anti-gun rally which will […]

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London
Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London, Britain, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Gerhard Mey

April 26, 2019

By Hanna Rantala

LONDON (Reuters) – Irish rockers The Cranberries are saying goodbye with their final album released on Friday, a poignant tribute to lead singer Dolores O’Riordan who died last year.

“In the End” is the eighth studio album from the band that rose to fame in the early 1990s with hits likes “Zombie” and “Linger”, and includes the final recordings by O’Riordan, who drowned in a London hotel bath in January 2018 due to alcohol intoxication.

Work on the album began during a 2017 tour and by that winter, O’Riordan and guitarist Neil Hogan had penned and demoed 11 tracks.

With O’Riordan’s vocals recorded, Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler completed the album in tribute to her.

“When we realized how strong the songs were, that was the deciding factor really… There was no point… trying to ruin the legacy of the band,” Noel Hogan said in an interview.

“It was obvious that Dolores wanted this album done because when you hear the album, you hear the songs and how strong they are, and she was very, very excited to get in and record this.”

The Cranberries formed in Limerick in 1989 with another singer. O’Riordan replaced him a year later and the group went on to become Ireland’s best-selling rock band after U2, selling more than 40 million records.

O’Riordan, known for her strong distinctive voice singing about relationships or political violence, was 46 when she died.

“She was actually in quite a good place mentally. She was feeling quite content and strong and looking forward to a new phase of her life,” Lawler said.

“A lot of the lyrics in this album are about things ending… people might read into it differently but it was a phase of her personal life that she was talking about.”

The group previously announced their intention to split after the release of “In The End”.

“We are absolutely gutted we can’t play (the songs) live because that’s something that’s been a massive part of this band from day one,” Noel Hogan said.

“A few people have said to us about maybe even doing a one off where you have different vocalists… as kind of guests of ours. A year ago that’s definitely something we weren’t going to entertain but I don’t know, I think it’s something we need to go away and take time off for the summer and have a think about.”

Critics have generally given positive reviews of the album; NME described it as “(seeing) the band’s career go full-circle” while the Irish Times called it “an unexpected late career high and a remarkable swan song for O’Riordan”.

Their early songs still play on the radio. This week, “Dreams” was performed at the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Londonderry last week as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.

“We wrote them as kids, as a hobby and 30 years later they are on radio and on TV, like all the time… That’s far more than any of us ever thought we would have,” Noel Hogan said.

“That would make Dolores really happy because she was very precious about those songs. Her babies, she called them and to have that hopefully long after we’re gone… that’s all any band can wish for.”

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; additoinal reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

April 26, 2019

By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce a bill Friday that offers new protections for U.S. military families facing unsafe housing, following a series of Reuters reports revealing squalid conditions in privately managed base homes.

The Reuters reports and later Congressional hearings detailed widespread hazards including lead paint exposure, vermin infestations, collapsing ceilings, mold and maintenance lapses in privatized base housing communities that serve some 700,000 U.S. military family members.

(View Warren’s military housing bill here. https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dy5aht)

(Read Reuters’ Ambushed at Home series on military housing here. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/usa-military)

The Massachusetts Democrat’s bill would mandate both regular and unannounced spot inspections of base homes by certified, independent inspectors, holding landlords accountable for quickly fixing hazards. The military’s privatization program for years allowed real estate firms to operate base housing with scant oversight, Reuters found, leaving some tenants in unsafe homes with little recourse against landlords.

The bill would also require the Department of Defense and its private housing operators to publish reports annually detailing housing conditions, tenant complaints, maintenance response times and the financial incentives companies receive at each base. The provisions aim to enhance transparency of housing deals whose finances and operations the military had allowed to remain largely confidential under a privatization program since the late 1990s.

The measure would also require private landlords to cover moving costs for at-risk families, and healthcare costs for people with medical conditions resulting from unsafe base housing, ensuring they receive continuing coverage even after they leave the homes or the military.

“This bill will eliminate the kind of corner-cutting and neglect the Defense Department should never have let these private housing partners get away with in the first place,” Warren said in a statement Friday.

The proposed legislation comes after February Senate hearings where Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, slammed private real estate firms for endangering service families, and sought answers about why military branches weren’t providing more oversight.

Her legislation would direct the Defense Department to allow local housing code enforcers onto federal bases, following concerns they were sometimes denied access. Warren’s office said a companion bill in the House of Representatives would be introduced by Rep. Deb Haaland, Democrat of New Mexico.

In response to the housing crisis, military branches are developing a tenant bill of rights and hiring hundreds of new housing staff. The branches recently dispatched commanders to survey base housing worldwide for safety hazards, resulting in thousands of work orders and hundreds of tenants being moved. The Defense Department has pledged to renegotiate its 50-year contracts with private real estate firms.

Congress has been quick to take its own measures. Earlier legislation proposed by senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, along with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, would compel base commanders to withhold rent payments and incentive fees from the private ventures if they allow home hazards to persist.

(Editing by Ronnie Greene)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai
FILE PHOTO: A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai, India, May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

April 26, 2019

By Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Surging global oil prices will pose a first big challenge to India’s new government, whoever wins an election now under way, especially as domestic prices have been allowed to lag, meaning consumers are in for a painful surge as they catch up.

For oil-import dependent India, higher global prices could lead to a weaker rupee, higher inflation, the ruling out of interest rate cuts and could further weigh on twin current account and budget deficits, economists warned.

But compounding the future pain, state-run fuel suppliers and retailers have held off passing on to consumers the higher prices during a staggered general election, which began on April 11 and ends on May 23, according to sources familiar with the situation.

That delay is expected to be unwound once the election is over. And there could be additional price increases to make up for losses or profits missed during the period of delayed increases, the sources said.

In some major Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, pump prices are adjusted periodically so they move largely in tandem with international crude prices.

That was what was supposed to happen in India but the election means there have been many days when pump prices have been unchanged.

In New Delhi, for example, while crude oil prices have gone up by nearly $9 a barrel, or about 12 percent, in the past six weeks, gasoline prices have only risen by 0.47 rupees a liter, or 0.6 percent.

State-controlled fuel suppliers and retailers declined to say why they had delayed price increases, or discuss whether there has been any pressure from the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A government spokesman declined to comment.

The opposition Congress party said Modi’s government was violating its own policy of daily price revision by advising the state oil companies to hold prices steady.

“The government should cut fuel taxes otherwise consumers will have to pay much higher oil prices once the elections are over,” said Akhilesh Pratap Singh, a senior leader of the Congress party.

(GRAPHIC: India Polls: Fuel price hike lags crude surge – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XLlxik)

Nitin Goyal, treasurer at the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, representing fuel stations in 25 states, said prices were similarly held down for 19 days in the southern state of Karnataka last year, when it held state assembly elections.

Only for them to surge after the vote.

“Consumers should be ready for a rude shock of a massive jump in retail prices, similar to the level we have seen in the Karnataka state election,” Goyal said.

‘CREDIT NEGATIVE’

Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia oil at Singapore-based consultancy FGE, said retail prices of gasoline and gasoil prices would have been up to 6 percent, or about 4 rupee, higher if they had been allowed to rise in line with global prices.

“Indian pump prices have failed to keep up with the recent uptrend in crude prices,” Paravaikkarasu said.

“With the country’s general elections underway, the incumbent government has been keeping pump prices relatively unchanged.”

India had switched to a daily price revision in June 2017 from a revision every two weeks, as the government allowed retailers to set prices.

But the government faced protests last October when retailers raised prices by up to 10 rupees a liter after the crude oil price went above $80 a barrel, forcing it to cut fuel taxes.

Global prices rose to their highest level in 2019 on Thursday, days after the United States announced all Iran sanction waivers would end by May, pressuring importers including India to stop buying Tehran’s oil. [O/R]

Higher oil prices will mean Asia’s third largest economy is likely to see growth of less than 7 percent rate this fiscal year, economists said. Growth slowed to 6.6 percent in the October-December quarter, the slowest in five quarters.

Rating agency CARE has warned that a 10 percent rise in global oil prices could increase demand for dollars, putting pressure on the rupee and widening the current account deficit.

India’s oil import bill rose by nearly one-third in the fiscal year ending March 31 to $140.5 billion, against $108 billion the previous year.

“The increase in international oil prices is a credit negative for the Indian economy,” ICRA, the Indian arm of the Fitch rating agency, said in a note.

“Every $10/ bbl increase in crude oil prices increases the fiscal deficit by about 0.1 percent of GDP.”

Any big price rise would also build a case for the central bank to keep rates steady, or even raise them.

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee, which cut the benchmark policy repo rate by 25 basis points this month, warned that rising oil and food prices could push up inflation.

Policymakers are worried that a sustained increase in the oil price in the range of $70-75/barrel or higher can move the rupee down by 3-4 percent on an annual basis.

The rupee has depreciated by 1.24 percent against the dollar since a year high in mid-March.

($1 = 70.1800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Martin Howell and Rob Birsel)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: Uber's logo is displayed on a mobile phone in London, Britain
FILE PHOTO: Uber’s logo is displayed on a mobile phone in London, Britain, September 14, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc unveiled terms for its initial public offering on Friday, telling investors it would seek to sell as much as $10.35 billion in stock at a valuation of up to $91.5 billion.

In a regulatory filing, Uber set a target price range of $44-$50 per share for its IPO. The company will sell 180 million shares in the offering, with a further 27 million sold by insiders.

In the filing, Uber also reported a net loss attributable to the company for the first quarter of 2019 of around $1 billion and revenues of roughly $3 billion.

(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; editing by Patrick Graham)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: Jet Airways aircraft are seen parked at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai
FILE PHOTO: Jet Airways aircraft are seen parked at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India, April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Aditi Shah and Abhirup Roy

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – The grounding of India’s Jet Airways is turning into a quick windfall and long-term opportunity for international airlines keen to scoop up nearly a million outbound passengers from what was once the nation’s biggest airline.

Jet, which previously had a fleet of around 120 largely Boeing Co planes, was forced to indefinitely halt all flight operations on April 17 after its banks rejected the carrier’s plea for emergency funds.

The carrier’s descent into crisis has benefited international airlines in the form of rising fares and demand, data showed.

Fares from India to cities such as Dubai, London, New York, Singapore and Bali in the first quarter of 2019 rose between 4 percent and 32 percent from a year ago, according to Indian travel portal MakeMyTrip Ltd.

In the peak travel months of May and June, fares to London have spiked as much as 36 percent and tickets to San Francisco are up nearly 20 percent from a year ago, according to data from travel portal Yatra.com.

“For the next three months it’s actually bonanza time for international players,” said Ashish Nainan, a research analyst at CARE Ratings. “At least until the middle of June, the fares are not going to come down.”

Due to rising demand, even before Jet’s lessors grounded planes, carriers such as British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, Singapore Airlines Ltd and United Airlines saw an up to a 27 percent increase in passenger numbers from India in the last quarter of 2018, data from India’s aviation regulator showed. That is the latest period for which the data is available.

India is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, clocking 15-20 percent domestic growth in recent years. It has long had only two full-service long-haul carriers, state-run Air India and Jet.

Jet is now hoping to be bailed out by a new investor, with final bids due on May 10.

INCREASING CAPACITY

Before its grounding, Jet had the biggest share of India’s outbound international air traffic, carrying 12 percent of the 7.8 million passengers headed overseas in the Oct-Dec quarter, down from 14 percent a year earlier, data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation showed.

For an interactive graphic on Jet’s market share, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2WvDQYi

For an interactive graphic on average daily flights by the airline, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2FeFDel

The total number of passengers traveling overseas with Jet fell 10 percent during the last quarter of 2018 even as the outbound travel market grew about 5 percent.

Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines posted a 27 percent increase in passengers from India, Cathay registered 17 percent growth and British Airways saw a 10 percent rise in the same period.

Cathay said the events at Jet combined with increasing demand for travel had led it to deploy larger aircraft with more seats on some Indian routes.

“In the long term we would certainly like to be able to offer more capacity into India, not just on our existing routes but by establishing new services to secondary cities,” Cathay said in a statement.

Singapore Airlines, in an email to Reuters, said the Indian market is “very promising” but declined to give details of airfare levels or demand patterns in the wake of Jet’s exit, citing a quiet period before the release of its annual results.

DOMESTIC GAINS

Jet’s grounding has also had a big impact on the domestic market, with inter-city air fares to major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata soaring more than 20 percent in May and June, according to Yatra.com.

The spike in fares is expected to underpin strong earnings for IndiGo and SpiceJet Ltd, which are set to report results for the quarter ended March 31 in the coming weeks.

“Domestic Indian carriers are the main benefactors, but I suspect if Jet fails to be revived by May 10 then Vistara and other airlines that ply international routes, particularly the lucrative Gulf market, are the main winners,” said Shukor Yusof, the head of aviation consultancy Endau Analytics. Vistara is a joint venture of India’s Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines.

Inadequate bilateral traffic rights between India and other countries, however, could be an impediment to foreign carriers’ hopes of winning business lost by Jet, some analysts said.

“Even before Jet’s operational shutdown, international capacity was significantly constrained,” said Kapil Kaul, CEO for South Asia of consultancy CAPA. “We have now more serious capacity challenge … this is unlikely to be stabilized in the near term.”

A new national government likely to be in place sometime after elections end in May is expected to address the international capacity constraints, and once bilateral agreements are eased airlines including Emirates, Turkish and Qatar would immediately benefit, said Kaul.

“We would love to add more flights but we are at the limit of the allocation granted to us for traffic rights,” Emirates Chief Commercial Officer Thierry Antinori told reporters in Dubai on Wednesday.

(Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Dubai, Jamie Freed in Singapore and Tanvi Mehta in Mumbai; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist