- A + A A weekly round-up of tanker and dry bulk market (May 20, 2022) This report is produced by the Baltic Exchange. The Baltic Exchange, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Exchange, is the world's only independent source of maritime market information for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts. Its international community of over 650 members encompasses the majority of world shipping interests and commits to a code of business conduct overseen by the Baltic. For daily freight market reports and assessments, please visit www.balticexchange.com . Capesize The Capesize market began the week at the summit of the recent rally. This necessitated a breather before sentiment strengthened, helping it to push up throughout the week and marking new highs for the year. The Capesize 5TC rose +US$4,805 over the week to close at US$37,538. The Pacific region, while easily the premium region to trade currently, was in … [Read more...] about Baltic Exchange shipping updates: May 20
20 000 asset write off
How This Wine Lover Spotted a Market Gap and Turned It Into a Million-Dollar Business
Erica Davis, 37, knew early on that she wanted to be a business owner. Entrepreneurship runs in her family : Her mother owns Carolyn's Creole Kitchen, a catering business, and her real estate agent grandmother owned a laundromat and purchased several homes on one block so that her children could all live in the same neighborhood. "Being an entrepreneur was always in my career path. It was just about me getting the building blocks that I knew I needed to start a successful business. Everything I've done was strategic to get me to where I am right now," says Davis, who currently runs The Sip, an Oakland, California-based wine tasting subscription service. After graduating from the University of San Francisco with a business degree, Davis was accepted into Gap's nine-month Rotational Management Program, which gives participants interdisciplinary leadership training and hands-on lessons in inventory management, merchandising, and customer engagement. "They call it the … [Read more...] about How This Wine Lover Spotted a Market Gap and Turned It Into a Million-Dollar Business
The Russians Lost An Entire Battalion Trying To Cross A River In Eastern Ukraine
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The better part of two or more Russian army battalions—potentially 100 vehicles and more than a thousand troops—in recent days tried to cross a pontoon bridge spanning the Siverskyi Donets River, running west to east between the separatist provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian artillery caught them at the river bank—and destroyed them. The rapid destruction of around six dozen tanks and other armored vehicles, along with the bridge itself, underscores Russia’s deepening woes as its troops try, and fail, to make meaningful gains in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. “We still assess Russian ground force in the Donbas to be slow and uneven,” an unnamed U.S. Defense Department official told reporters on Tuesday. The Russians’ inability to cross rivers might explain their sloth. To be fair, “conducting river-crossings in a contested environment is a highly risky maneuver,” the U.K. Defense … [Read more...] about The Russians Lost An Entire Battalion Trying To Cross A River In Eastern Ukraine
RBI Governor meets bank chiefs to discuss credit growth, asset quality
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on May 17 and May 18 met heads of state-run and private banks to take a stock of credit growth and asset quality in the banking system in the wake of recent geopolitical developments, the central bank said. “In his introductory remarks, the Governor noted the key role played by the banks in supporting the economy throughout the pandemic,” the central bank said in a release on Wednesday. Das further stated that the banking sector has remained resilient and has continued to improve despite facing various headwinds. He also advised banks to remain watchful of the recent geopolitical developments and take mitigating measures proactively including raising capital for ensuring that the potential impact on their balance sheets is minimised. Governor Das also urged banks to pay specific attention to further improving their grievance redress systems and continue to provide the necessary support … [Read more...] about RBI Governor meets bank chiefs to discuss credit growth, asset quality
Amazon (AMZN) Union Gets Split Decision in NYC
Attempts to unionize Amazon.com, Inc. ( AMZN ) workers at two large facilities in the Staten Island borough of New York City have produced mixed results, with workers at one voting for unionization and those at the other voting against. The latter results were announced on May 2, 2022. Meanwhile, Amazon is asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to invalidate the vote in favor of the union, alleging various electoral irregularities. The Amazon Labor Union (ALU) won by a vote of 2,654 (55%) in favor out of 4,785 ballots counted at the JFK8 warehouse. However, the union lost by a margin of 618 (62%) against out of 998 votes counted at the adjacent LDJ5 sorting facility. The former site employs more than 8,000 people, while the latter has approximately 1,633 eligible voters. Key Takeaways After winning a vote to organize workers at an Amazon.com facility in Staten Island, New York, the same union lost a vote at an adjacent facility. Amazon had worked … [Read more...] about Amazon (AMZN) Union Gets Split Decision in NYC
Singapore makes major heroin bust at Malaysian border
Reuters filepix for illustration purpose only - A + A SINGAPORE (May 20): Singapore's anti-narcotics agency on Friday announced the seizure of nearly 18 kg (634 oz) of heroin in a car arriving from neighbouring Malaysia, in what local media said was the biggest haul of its kind in the city-state in two decades. Singapore has some of the world's toughest penalties for drug trafficking, including execution by hanging. The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) arrested three Malaysian men aged between 23 and 28 following Wednesday's search of the vehicle, which uncovered 17.7 kg of heroin, 261 grammes of crystal methamphetamine and two grammes of ecstasy pills. The driver was detained at the scene and the other two men — believed by officers to be the intended recipients — were arrested the following day. The wealthy city-state has a zero-tolerance policy for drugs and imposes long jail terms, or the death penalty. The trafficking of more than 15 grammes of pure … [Read more...] about Singapore makes major heroin bust at Malaysian border
Putin promises to bolster Russia’s IT security in face of cyber attacks
- A + A (May 20): President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the number of cyber attacks on Russia by foreign "state structures" had increased several times over and that Russia must bolster its cyber defences by reducing the use of foreign software and hardware. The websites of many state-owned companies and news websites have suffered sporadic hacking attempts since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine on Feb 24, often to show information that is at odds with Moscow's official line on the conflict. "Targeted attempts are being made to disable the internet resources of Russia's critical information infrastructure," Putin said, adding that media and financial institutions had been targeted. "Serious attacks have been launched against the official sites of government agencies. Attempts to illegally penetrate the corporate networks of leading Russian companies are much more frequent as well," he said. In a meeting with the Security Council, Putin said that … [Read more...] about Putin promises to bolster Russia’s IT security in face of cyber attacks
ManagePay Systems gets BNM’s nod to cross-sell financial services by QuicKash
- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (May 20): ManagePay Systems Bhd (MPay) said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has no objection for its wholly-owned subsidiary ManagePay Services Sdn Bhd (MPSB) to cross-sell financial services offered by QuicKash Malaysia Sdn Bhd on MPay's e-money platform. In a bourse filing on Friday (May 20), MPay said it had on Jan 7 received a letter of consent from BNM for the purpose. "QuicKash is a recognised market operator for peer-to-peer (P2P) financing marketplace licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia. QuicKash marketplace allows small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access to lower cost and faster financing options and gives retail and institutional investors an alternative asset class that can generate higher returns for as low as RM100 per investment sum," it added. MPay said the letter of consent will not have any effect on the company's issued share capital and shareholdings of substantial shareholders, but is expected to contribute … [Read more...] about ManagePay Systems gets BNM’s nod to cross-sell financial services by QuicKash
‘Datuk’ arrested in connection with falsified palm oil sales tax declarations
- A + A KOTA KINABALU (May 20): A man professing to be a "Datuk" was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Sabah on Friday for investigations into a case related to 'protecting' the falsification of crude palm oil sales tax declarations every month to the Sabah Ministry of Finance. Sabah MACC director Datuk S. Karunanithy said the arrest of the ‘Datuk’ followed the arrest of a senior government official and a retiree on May 18 for investigation in the same case under Section 17 (a) of the MACC Act 2009. “The 66-year-old suspect, who is a former civil servant, was arrested at the Sabah MACC office at about 4pm when he turned up to give his statement. “A remand application against the suspect is expected to be made at the Kota Kinabalu Magistrate's Court on Saturday,” he said in a statement here. At the same time, he reminded oil palm mill operators throughout Sabah to come forward to assist the investigation as the submission of a false … [Read more...] about ‘Datuk’ arrested in connection with falsified palm oil sales tax declarations
Interview | Indian Overseas Bank MD says no communication from Centre on privatisation, ‘not even a hint’
Indian Overseas Bank MD and CEO Partha Pratim Sengupta Indian Overseas Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Partha Pratim Sengupta says the government has not approached the lender with a privatisation proposal although occasional media reports speculate about its sale. It has only been from such reports that Sengupta has got to know about the proposal, he said. In fact, the government has not even hinted that the bank will be privatized, Sengupta told Moneycontrol in an interview on May 20. Sengupta said the bank is aiming to grow its advances by 12% in the current financial year with secular growth across retail, micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME), corporate and agricultural loans. Edited excerpts: What is your growth outlook for FY23? The focus is that we should grow advances 12% year-on-year, that is our aim. So far, the credit off-take trend, I would say, is better than what we have seen for the similar period in the last financial year. … [Read more...] about Interview | Indian Overseas Bank MD says no communication from Centre on privatisation, ‘not even a hint’