Month: September 2018

Watching violent content on TV may make teenagers aggressive

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Parents should keep a close watch on what kind of media content their children consume as researchers have found that teenagers exposed to TV and film violence and high levels of household conflict are at risk of engaging in aggressive behaviours.

The findings, published online in the journal Aggressive Behavior, suggest that parental monitoring help to protect against aggressive behaviour.

“It was quite interesting that for adolescents who had high levels of media violence exposure, family conflict, impulsivity and sensation-seeking, parental monitoring still continued to provide a protective effect against aggressive tendencies,” said lead author Atika Khurana, Professor at the University of Oregon in the US.

The findings are based on an online survey of some 2,000 teenagers aged 14-17.

The participants were asked what shows they had watched, how many times they viewed each, and whether they had engaged recently in a physical fight, face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying as measures of aggression.

To measure family conflict, the teenagers were asked if their home life involved criticism, hitting each other, cursing, arguing and throwing things when angry.

Other questions probed parental supervision of media use, such as restricting and forbidding the viewing of violence and adult content.

The researchers found that media violence alone was a strong risk factor for aggression, even when the adolescents were low in all the other risk factors.

“The effect is no doubt greater if you also have other risk factors such as family conflict and impulsivity, but it is nonetheless significant even for those at lower risk in other categories,” Khurana said.

She, however, cautioned that parental intervention in media viewing needs to be age appropriate.

Actions that restrict or forbid viewing of violent media works best with younger adolescents but can be counterproductive with older teens, Khurana said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Lakshmi Vilas Bank to raise around Rs 2000 crore

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Tamil Nadu-based mid-sized private sector lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) is planning to raise around Rs 2,000 crore in fresh equity capital before the end of the current financial year, and has appointed JP Morgan Chase for advice on the process, a top official said Sunday.

The bank has also set a target of Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore through recoveries from defaulters. So far this fiscal, it has recovered around Rs 350 crore from defaulters.

It had mopped up around Rs 700 crore last November through qualified institutional placement to promoters.

The fresh fund raising plan through preferential allotment comes on the back of an expected uptick in credit growth for the bank, led by small scale units and retail demand, chief executive and managing director Parthasarathi Mukherjee told PTI over phone from Chennai.

“We are working on raising anywhere between Rs 1,500 crore and Rs 2,000 crore in fresh equity capital during this fiscal year. While the effort is on to get the money in by December, in any case it should be in before the end of the fiscal year as JP Morgan Chase, which is advising us, is already getting a good response,” Mukherjee said.

The money will help the bank fund its growth which can clip around 20 percent, he said.

Asked about news reports that the bank’s promoters are planning to exit or cede management control by selling up to 51 percent to strategic investors, he declined to comment.

However, I-banking sources told PTI that the bank already has held many rounds of discussions with global private equity leaders like Baring and Aion Capital, among others.

They also said the deal may be modelled after the Canadian NRI Prem Watsa of Fairfax Holdings’ purchase of 51 per cent in the Thrissur-based Catholic Syrian Bank (in Kerala) that was concluded recently.

On asset quality, Mukherjee said the bank has been “witnessing a perceptible improvement in our assets quality moderation in stress in the lending book and as well as buoyancy in recoveries.”

“We have already recovered around Rs 350 crore so far this fiscal and have set a target of mopping up Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore from defaulters by March,” he said.

Last fiscal, the bank had added over Rs 2,915 crore in fresh bad loans, leaving it with a net loss of Rs 585 crore against a profit of Rs 256 crore in the previous fiscal year.

In the June quarter of this fiscal, its gross dud loans widened to 10.73 per cent from 3.78 per cent in June 2017, leading to a net loss of Rs 124 crore from a profit of Rs 66 crore a year earlier.

Asked about a massive fall in the bank stock last Friday, Mukherjee said it came as a surprise to him as nothing has changed negatively for the bank, and pointed to the massive sell-off in midcap stocks when the bank counter slumped 20 per cent to Rs 71.05 on the BSE.

In an exchange filing late Saturday on this, LVB said, “The bank has been consolidating its business significantly during the current financial year. During this year, asset quality slippages have considerably moderated and the bank has seen an impressive growth in low cost Casa balances. Overall, our funding has become a lot more granular in nature now.”

“Our capital raising process, including induction of strategic investors, is proceeding as per plan and investment managers have seen good interest from high quality global investors so far. It is expected that the process will be completed well before the financial year-end,” it said.

On other key metrics, Mukherjee said the bank’s low- cost deposits Casa has grown by over 50 per cent in the past three years, since he took over, to 21 per cent of the total deposits. Higher Casa base helps a bank net higher margin.

He said the bank’s liquidity condition is very good and he does not see any challenges going forward.

“There is credit demand now, thanks to SMEs and new retail borrowers. This has helped our asset base to change from 50 per cent of corporate book three years ago to 61 per cent now being non-corporate book. Today, corporate asset is only 39 per cent,” he said.

Founded in 1926, the bank has a strong retail base in Tamil Nadu, apart from Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra with 567 branches.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Indian Super League: Kerala Blasters beat Atlético de Kolkata in season opener

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IL&FS plans rights issue and sale of assets to clear dues

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Cash-strapped Infrastructure Financing and Leasing Services (IL&FS) Ltd on Saturday said it is planning to have a “successful” rights issue and would sell its assets to repay its creditors.

The company in its Annual General Meeting on Saturday sought shareholders’ permission to carry out its plans to recapitalise itself.

In a video shared by the company after the AGM, IL&FS MD Hari Sankaran said that the company addressed the concerns of shareholders to restore normalcy in its operations and proposed a three-point strategy.

“Number one, to have a successful rights issue which will generate and enable the company to recapitalise itself,” he said, adding that the company also proposes to sell assets in order to repay its creditors.

The third element of the strategy is “to get liquid allocation to support repayments of debtors till our assets sale begins”, he said.

IL&FS Financial Services, a group company, defaulted in payment obligations of bank loans (including interest), term and short-term deposits and failed to meet the commercial paper (CP) redemption obligations due on September 14, 2018.

Furthermore, on September 15, 2018, the company reported that it had received notices for delays and defaults in servicing some of the inter corporate deposits accepted by it.

IL&FS Ltd is a core investment company and serves as the holding company of the IL&FS Group, with most business operations domiciled in separate companies which form an ecosystem of expertise across infrastructure, finance and social and environmental services.

Also Read:  No clarity on IL&FS rights issue at AGM; Shareholders against distress sale of assets

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India and Pakistan trade blows in UN over support for terrorism

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s foreign minister accused neighboring Pakistan of harboring terrorists in an angry speech Saturday before the U.N. General Assembly and rejected the notion that India is sabotaging peace talks with Pakistan, calling it “a complete lie.” Hours later, Pakistan shot back in its own speech, accusing India of financing terrorists and declaring that New Delhi “preferred politics over peace.”

India’s Sushma Swaraj pointed to the fact that Osama bin Laden had been living quietly in Pakistan before he was found and killed by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs, and said the mastermind of the 2008 attack in Mumbai in which 168 people died “still roams the streets of Pakistan with impunity.” Pakistan has said there is not enough evidence to arrest him.

“In our case, terrorism is bred not in some faraway land, but across our border to the west,” Swaraj said. “Our neighbor’s expertise is not restricted to spawning grounds for terrorism, it is also an expert in trying to mask malevolence with verbal duplicity.”

Swaraj and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were supposed to meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this week. India called it off only one day after it was announced, following the killing of an Indian border guard in the disputed region of Kashmir.

The two South Asian nations, always uneasy neighbors, face off under particularly tense conditions in that region at a “line of control” that cuts through a rugged mountain range.

The announcement of the planned meeting had been considered an encouraging sign for restarting stalled talks between the nuclear-armed neighbors. New Delhi had agreed to hold the meeting in response to a letter from newly-elected Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has written his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, stressing the need for positive change, a mutual desire for peace and a readiness to discuss terrorism.

“We accepted the proposal,” Swaraj said. “But within hours of our acceptance, news came that terrorists had killed one of our jawans. Does this indicate a desire for dialogue?”

Qureshi said it was the third time that the current Indian administration had called off talks, “each time on flimsy grounds.”

He said in his speech that “Pakistan continues to face terrorism that is financed, facilitated and orchestrated by our eastern neighbor.” He referred to extremist attacks in his home country, including one at an army school in the northwestern city of Peshawar in 2014 that killed more than 150 children, which he said were perpetrated by “terrorists supported by India.”

Qureshi’s afternoon speech prompted a vehement response from India, which exercised its right of reply at the end of the daylong meeting and accused Pakistan of spreading “fake allegations and fake facts.” Pakistan, in turn, responded by accusing India of “practicing terrorism as an instrument of state policy.”

Since independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, divided between the two countries but sought by each in its entirety.

“The unresolved Jammu and Kashmir dispute hinders the realization of the goal of durable peace between the two countries,” Qureshi said. “For over 70 years it has remained on the agenda of the U.N. Security Council and a blot on the conscience of humanity.”

He welcomed the release of a report earlier this year by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights that mentioned “chronic impunity for violations committed by security forces” in Kashmir. The report was written without visiting the region as both sides refused to grant unconditional access to the investigators. India at the time rejected it as a selective compilation of largely unverified information.

The U.N. has had a peacekeeping mission in the region since 1949, making it one of the world body’s longest-running peacekeeping operations. It is currently one of the smallest, with about 120 troops as of last month.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Market Outlook: RBI monetary policy and NBFC default concerns to steer equity indices

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s monetary policy review along with release of key macro data points and concerns regarding the stability of the NBFC segment will influence the trends on key equity indices next week.

According to analysts, high crude oil prices and directional flows of foreign funds will be the other major themes for the market’s movement.

“RBI policy meet next week is the key event; market is pricing a 25 bps (basis points) rate hike,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Investments and Advisors, said steady fund outflows, ongoing global trade war concerns and surging oil prices are putting pressure on the domestic currency and therefore, “it is expected that RBI may raise interest rates in early October, despite relatively tame inflation”.

According to Nair, investors are yet to gain confidence due to lack of liquidity, margin funding and short selling in the market. Weak sentiment is likely to extend till the financial market stabilises, he added.

Along with the central bank’s monetary policy, the market would also take cues from the Purchasing Managers’ Index for September due in the week.

On the technical front, Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange is likely to receive support at 10,850 points, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, adding that immediate resistance is seen at 11,050 points.

In the week gone by, the Nifty50 closed at 10,930.45 points on Friday, down 212.65 points or 1.91 percent from the previous week’s close.

Similarly, the Sensex closed at 36,227.14 points, lower 614.46 points or 1.67 percent from its previous weekly close.

In terms of investments, provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 3,713.09 crore, while the domestic institutional investors bought Rs 8,437.32 crore worth of stocks during the week.

According to National Securities Depository (NSDL) figures, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) divested Rs 511.65 crore, or $68.82 million, in the equities segment during the week ended September 28.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee closed at 72.48 a US dollar on Friday, 28 paise weaker from the previous week’s close of 72.20.

In the coming week, the rupee is expected to be within a range of 72-73 per US dollar, said Anindya Banerjee, Deputy Vice President for Currency and Interest Rates, Kotak Securities.

He further said that heavy RBI intervention would continue to keep the rupee steady in spite of the massive foreign fund outflows from the equity and debt markets.

“Next week markets will keep a close watch on developments related to IL&FS, as any development related to it impacts the stock markets and in turn the rupee,” Banerjee said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Five books to look forward to in October

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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International titles by acclaimed authors will once again rule the roost in October, along with a biography of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and a splendid story for children, woven around the life of late President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

There will be other significant releases during the month, primarily “The Girl in Room 105” by Chetan Bhagat; an “Intimate Portrait of Jahangir” by Parvati Sharma; the final book from the late Professor Stephen Hawking; and John Grisham’s “The Reckoning”.

Here are the five books that we can’t wait to read this October:

Killing Commendatore, by Haruki Murakami (Penguin)

In “Killing Commendatore”, a 30-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a strange painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a strange ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious 13-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist’s home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors.

Billed as a “tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art — as well as a loving homage to “The Great Gatsby” — this book, the publisher said, is a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers.

Every Breath, by Nicholas Sparks (Hachette)

From the No.1 bestselling author of “The Notebook” comes an unforgettable tale of enduring love this October.
“Hope Anderson is at a crossroads. At thirty-six, she’s been dating her boyfriend, an orthopedic surgeon, for six years. With no wedding plans in sight, and her father recently diagnosed with ALS, she decides to use a week at her family’s cottage in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, to ready the house for sale and mull over some difficult decisions about her future. Tru Walls has never visited North Carolina but is summoned to Sunset Beach by a letter from a man claiming to be his father. A safari guide, born and raised in Zimbabwe, Tru hopes to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding his mother’s early life and recapture memories lost with her death. When the two strangers cross paths, their connection is as electric as it is unfathomable… but in the immersive days that follow, their feelings for each other will give way to choices that pit family duty against personal happiness in devastating ways.”

The publisher said that the novel illuminates life’s heart-breaking regrets and enduring hope, and explores the many facets of love that lay claim to our deepest loyalties — and asks the question: How long can a dream survive?

Bridge of Clay, by Markus Zusak (Penguin)
This is a story told inside-out and back-to-front by the author of the popular “The Book Thief”.

“The five Dunbar brothers are living — fighting, dreaming, loving — in the perfect squalor of a house without grown-ups. Today, the father who walked out on them long ago is about to walk right back in.” But why has he returned and who have the boys become in the meantime? At the helm, the publisher informed IANS, is Matthew, cynical, poetic; Rory, forever truanting; Henry, the money-spinner; and Tommy, the pet collector who has populated the house with dysfunctional pets, including Achilles the mule and Rosy the border collie. “And then there’s Clay, the quiet one, his whole young life haunted by an unspeakable act.”

From a grandfather, whose passion for the ancient Greeks still colours their lives, to a mother and father who fell in love over a mislaid piano, to the present day, where five sons dwell in a house with no rules, “Bridge of Clay” is said to be an epic portrait of how a ramshackle family, held together by stories and by love, come to unbury one boy’s tragic secret.

Mohan Bhagwat: Influencer-in-Chief, by Kingshuk Nag (Rupa)

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power at the Centre since 2014, there is growing interest in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is perceived as the power behind the throne. Is this true? How much does RSS influence the government of the day? How does it use this influence? Is policymaking in the government dependent on the diktats of the RSS or is the reverse correct? More importantly, what role did RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat play in bringing the BJP and Narendra Modi to power? With the 2019 election not too far away, what is the critical thinking in the upper echelons of the Sangh? How does it propose to forge an alliance that will propel the saffron party to power again?

“Mohan Bhagwat: Influencer-in-Chief”, the publisher said, looks incisively at the Sangh and its world view, its inner workings, and how it has moulded the Indian mind-set. It also focuses on Mohan Bhagwat and examines what propels him to spread the influence of the Sangh across the nation.

The Adventures of Young Kalam, by Stuti Agarwal (Juggernaut)

And finally, why should adults have all the fun? Meet Kalam, perhaps you know him well already! He is the cleverest little boy in his school, perhaps even in his town, Rameswaram. He is annoyingly curious, full of crazy ideas and up to mad innovations. Everyone around him thinks he is bonkers and best avoided — all except his dad, two best friends and Professor Ramachandran, the science teacher in whose little laboratory he tests all his inventions. But when the school’s most horrid teacher, Punnakai, spreads lies about the professor’s experiments and plots to throw Kalam out for his latest creation, the two have to find a way to fight back.

The book casts an iconic new character like Chhota Bheem by weaving a fictional narrative for children around India’s late President A.P.J. Kalam.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India believes in peace but not at cost of self respect, says Narendra Modi

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India staunchly believes in peace and is committed to taking it forward, but it would not be at the cost of compromising its self-respect and sovereignty, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday as he asserted that the armed forces will give a befitting reply to any attempt to destroy the atmosphere of peace in the country.

Recalling the 2016 surgical strikes, he said Indian troops gave a befitting reply to the “audacity of a proxy war” under the “garb of terrorism”.
In his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio address, Modi said, “It has now been decided that our soldiers will give a befitting reply to whosoever makes an attempt to destroy the atmosphere of peace and progress in our nation.”
He said India staunchly believe in peace and is committed to taking it forward, “but not at the cost of compromising our self-respect and sovereignty of our nation. India has always been resolutely committed to peace.”

India has never eyed someone else’s territory maliciously. “This in itself was our commitment and dedication towards peace,” the PM said.
His remarks came days after India called off the planned meeting of foreign ministers in New York, citing the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Ministry of External Affairs had said talks in the current circumstances would be futile and also cited stamps issued by Pakistan in July to “glorify” Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani as a reason for the cancellation.

Modi pointed out that India is one of the largest contributors to various United Nations Peace Keeping Forces in terms of sending its personnel.
“For decades, our brave soldiers wearing blue helmets have played a stellar role in ensuring maintenance of world peace,” he said to drive home his point.

He said yesterday Indians celebrated ‘Paraakram Parva’ to mark the second anniversary of the surgical strikes. “We remembered that surgical strike carried out in 2016, where our soldiers gave a befitting reply to the audacity of a proxy war under the garb of terrorism,” he said.

He said such celebrations remind the youth of the glorious heritage of the army. “It also inspires us to maintain the unity & integrity of the country,” he said.

Days before Air For Day is celebrated on October 8 to mark its birth in 1932, Modi said “air warriors” have proved themselves to be the cynosure of every citizen’s eye through display of sheer might in the skies.
He also recalled the contribution of the IAF in transporting men and material to Srinagar in 1947 when Pakistani attackers had tried to capture Jammu and Kashmir.

He said IAF payed a key role in 1965, 1971 and the Kargil war. He said be it the relief and rescue work or disaster management, the country is indebted to the IAF for its commendable efforts.

He pointed out that the Air Force has set an example in ensuring gender equality and has opened its doors for women. “Now, the Air Force is offering the option of permanent commission to women, besides the Short Service Commission …India can proudly claim that in the armed forces, only man-power but woman-power too is contributing equally.

Women are already empowered and now getting armed too,” he said.
The prime minister also praised navy commander Abhilash Tomy for his courage at high seas when his boat was damaged in storm while participating in Golden Globe Race.

“He fought to be afloat without food or drink. He did not accept defeat and continued to fight death. A rare example of courage, determination, strength and bravery,” Modi said. He recalled his meeting with Tomy and prayed for his sound health.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Videos showing ‘how to hack Facebook’ running on YouTube

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Even as Facebook struggles to deal with a fresh data breach that affected nearly 50 million of its users, Google’s video streaming platform YouTube continues to host tutorials that claim to provide people ways to hijacking Facebook accounts, the media reported.

Hours after Facebook revealed the breach on Friday, some YouTube videos, which were seen several thousand times, described a method similar to the one used by the hackers to get access to the millions of Facebook accounts, The Telegraph reported on Saturday.

In the fresh Facebook data breach case, hackers stole “access tokens” or digital keys that keep people logged in to Facebook so they do not need to re-enter their password every time they use the app.

Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s Head of Cyber Security Policy, told the Telegraph that he was “aware of certain videos describing different elements of the attack” and that the company was “looking into these to make sure people’s accounts are protected”.

A Google spokesperson was quoted as saying that the company carries out a careful review of flagged content, and will remove videos that encourage illegal activities of the hacking of accounts or sites with “malicious intentions”.

Guy Rosen, Facebook’s Vice President of Product Management, on Friday said the social networking giant had reset the access tokens of the almost 50 million accounts it know were affected to protect their security.

Rosen added that another 40 million users might have got exposed to similar attacks.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Indonesia mourns as death toll from quake jumps to 832

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The toll from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia soared to 832 confirmed dead on Sunday, with authorities fearing the numbers will climb as rescuers grappled to get aid to outlying communities cut off from communications and help.

Dozens of people were reported to be trapped in the rubble of several hotels and a mall in the city of Palu, on Sulawesi island, which was hit by waves as high as six metres (20 feet) following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday.

A woman was pulled alive from the debris of the city’s Roa Roa Hotel, where up to 60 people were believed trapped. Hundreds of people gathered at the wrecked eight-storey Tatura Mall searching for loved ones.

“Grieve for the people of Central Sulawesi, we all grieve together,” President Joko Widodo tweeted late on Sunday.

Most of the confirmed deaths were in Palu itself, and authorities are bracing for the toll to climb as connections with outlying areas are restored.

Of particular concern is Donggala, a region of 300,000 people north of Palu and close to the epicentre of the quake, and two other districts, which has been cut off from communications since Friday.

“We haven’t received reports from the three other areas. Communication is still down, power is still out. We don’t know for sure what is the impact,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, told a news conference.

Along with Palu, 1,500 km (930 miles) northeast of Jakarta, these districts have a combined population of about 1.4 million.

Social worker Lian Gogali tweeted from the area that several villages on the west coast of Sulawesi were in desperate need of food, medicine and shelter and that road access was still limited.

PLEDGE TO REBUILD

Five foreigners – three French, one South Korean and one Malaysian – were among the missing, Nugroho said. The 832 dead included people crushed in the quake and swept away by the tsunami.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the death toll could rise into the thousands.

Earlier President Widodo visited a housing complex flattened when the quake liquefied the soil it stood on, and called for patience.

“I know there are many problems that need to be solved in a short time, including communications,” he said. The ruins would be rebuilt, he said, as aftershocks rattled the region 48 hours after the quake.

Footage of the ruined city show a crumpled mess of houses, cars and trees mashed together by the quake, with rooftops and roads split and left at all angles.

Internal Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, asked about reports of looting on social media, said he had ordered authorities to help people get food and drink and businesses would be compensated. One video posted on YouTube showed people grabbing boxes of supplies from a truck.

Television pictures showed scores of residents shouting “we’re hungry, we need food” as soldiers distributed rations from a truck in one neighbourhood, while footage from elsewhere showed people making off with clothes and other items from a wrecked mall.

State logistics agency chief Budi Waseso said it was preparing to send hundreds of tonnes of government rice stocks to Central Sulawesi areas affected by the disaster.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the government had allocated 560 billion rupiah ($37.58 million) for disaster recovery, media reported.

QUESTIONS ABOUT WARNINGS

Indonesia, which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, is all too familiar with deadly earthquakes and tsunamis. In 2004, a quake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean, killing 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.

Questions are sure to be asked why warning systems set up after that disaster appear to have failed on Friday. Nugroho, bemoaning a fall in funding, said no tsunami buoys, one type of instrument used to detect the waves, in Indonesia had been operating since 2012.

The meteorological and geophysics agency BMKG issued a tsunami warning after the quake but lifted it 34 minutes later, drawing criticism it had been too hasty. But officials estimated the waves had hit while the warning was in force.

Hundreds of people had gathered for a festival on Palu’s beach when the water surged. A disaster official said the tsunami travelled across the sea at speeds of 800 kph (500 mph).

Video on social media showed water bearing whirls of debris rushing in as people shouted in alarm and scattered.

Palu is at the head of a bay, about 10 km long and 2 km wide, which had “amplified” the wave as it was funnelled towards the city, a geophysics agency official said.

The BMKG said its closest tidal gauge sensor, about 200 km (125 miles) from Palu, had only recorded an “insignificant” 6 cm (2.5 inches) wave.

Palu’s airport was damaged in the quake, but had reopened for limited commercial flights, authorities said.

Neighbours including Australia, Thailand and China offered help and Pope Francis, speaking to thousands in St. Peter’s Square, said he was praying for the victims.

Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population but also significant pockets of Christians, including on Sulawesi, which is one of the archipelago nation’s five main islands.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow