The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation is going to introduce a mobile application to ensure punctuality of its employees and facilitate their work.Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar announced this while addressing a meeting at the Frere Hall on Friday. He also announced that applications were sought for...

The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science, and Technology on Thursday held its 42nd senate meeting at the Governor House Sindh.The online meeting was chaired by President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi, who is also the varsity’s chancellor. The meeting approved the nomination of two faculty...

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Saturday that Saudi Arabian authorities recently detained and are holding incommunicado Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, who had previously been netted in an anti-corruption drive and released in late 2017.

The US-based rights group, citing a source with ties to the royal family, said Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, a son of late monarch King Abdullah, was detained by security forces on March 27 while self-isolating due to the coronavirus pandemic at a family compound northeast of the capital Riyadh.

Reuters could not immediately independently verify the detention. The Saudi government media office did not immediately respond to a detailed Reuters request for comment.

Earlier in March, authorities had detained King Salman’s brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, and former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who was replaced in a 2017 palace coup and placed under house arrest, sources had told Reuters.

Sources with royal connections said at the time that the move was a preemptive effort to ensure compliance within the ruling Al Saud family ahead of an eventual succession to the throne by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman upon the king’s death or abdication.

It was not clear if the reported detention of Prince Faisal was related to those in early March, which also saw Ahmed’s son Nayef and Mohammed bin Nayef’s brother Nawaf detained.

Saudi authorities have not commented on those detentions, which follow crackdowns on dissent in which clerics, intellectuals and rights activists have been arrested, and an anti-corruption drive launched in 2017 that netted scores of royals, ministers and businessmen.

Critics have said the campaigns were part of moves by Crown Prince Mohammed, the king’s son and the kingdom’s de facto ruler, to consolidate his grip on power.

“Now we have to add Prince Faisal to the hundreds detained in Saudi Arabia without a clear legal basis,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at HRW.

The kingdom has regularly denied allegations of unfair detention.

Authorities said last year the government was winding down the anti-corruption campaign after 15 months, but would continue to go after graft.

HRW said Prince Faisal’s whereabouts or status are not known.

“The source said that Prince Faisal has not publicly criticised authorities since his December 2017 arrest and that family members are concerned about his health as he has a heart condition,” it added.

In late December 2017, a senior Saudi official said Prince Faisal and another royal, Prince Meshaal bin Abdullah, were released from Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, where people nabbed in the anti-corruption drive were being held, after reaching an undisclosed financial settlement with the government.

Kelly Kearney is a top contributor to MATLAB Answers and File Exchange.  Here is a Q&A I did with Kelly who is a research scientist for the University of Washington in their Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean.                 ... read more >>

Kalyan Acharjya has been contributing to MATLAB Answers since 2017. This past year his participation skyrocketed and he is currently a Rising Star. Here is a recent Q&A I had with Kalyan... read more >>

The Government of Palau will draw down on a $15 million policy-based loan from ADB's Disaster Resilience Program to help finance the country’s response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today announced the release of a $6 million grant from its Pacific Disaster Resilience Program (Phase 2) to help finance the Government of the Marshall Islands’ response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and ADB Governor Makhdoom Khusro Bukhtiar today discussed how ADB can scale up its support for the government’s response to the COVID-19...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided a guarantee for a $25 million trade loan to the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka (SPC) to purchase medical supplies as part of the country’s response to the novel ....

CHENNAI: City builder Ceebros has started pulling down the unfinished JW Marriott Hotel in the city, which it had bought from Hyderabad-based Viceroy Hotels for 480 crore last year. Viceroy group sold the property in MRC Nagar after completing the shell of the hotel because the hospitality sector in Chennai is going through a serious crisis with low occupancy in most five-star hotels. With more than half a dozen new star hotels being opened in the city in recent years, there is very high room inventory and hotels are struggling for business, say industry sources. Ceebros is pulling down the unfinished J W Marriott structure to redevelop it into a […]

BANGALORE: Online real estate portal CommonFloor has raised $30 million (over Rs180 crore) in its fifth round from existing investor Tiger Global. In January, the Bangalore-based company had raised about Rs 65 crore from Tiger Global and Accel Partners. Sumit Jain, cofounder and chief executive officer of CommonFloor, confirmed the investment. “We will invest in technology, product development, hiring and expanding to at least 22 new cities in the next one year,” he said. While the company did not disclose the valuation it received, Jain said that Common Floor expects to earn a revenue of $25 million in the next one year. “We have grown 100% in terms of revenue […]

This paper documents the Chair's Summary of the Development Effectiveness Committee (DEC) discussion held on 7 February 2020.  DEC and the Independent Evaluation Department (IED) discussed three topics presented by IED: Evaluation Capacity Development (ECD), Independent Evaluation Methods, and DEC-IED Retrospective/Prospective Exchange.

This guideline specifies framework for validating technical assistance completion reports (TCRs) to capture lessons learned from completed technical assistance (TA) operations and to improve accountability for achieving results, the quality of completion reports, and the independence of project ratings.

This paper documents the Chair's Summary of the Development Effectiveness Committee (DEC) discussion held on 25 March 2020. The commitee discussed the sector-wide evaluation report ADB Support for Transport, 2010-2018.

This paper documents the Chair's Summary of the Development Effectiveness Committee (DEC) discussion held on 14 April 2020. The commitee discussed the 2019 Development Effectiveness Review (DEfR), and the 2019 Annual Portfolio Performance Report (APPR).

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Senior Administration and Communications Assistant in the Strategy, Policy and Partnerships Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 31 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Communications Specialist in the Department of Communications. The deadline for submitting applications is on 12 May 2020.

This video provides an overview of how ADB determines Noncompliance in Procurement and how borrowers can prevent Noncompliance activities from occurring.

This video explains Bidding Related Complaints, when they can occur in the procurement cycle, and why it is important for borrowers to address them in a timely manner.

Dentons is now the largest global law firm in Argentina and the first truly Pan-Latin American and the Caribbean firm in the history of the legal profession.

Global Chairman, Joe Andrew; Latin America and the Caribbean Region CEO, Jorge Alers; and Managing Partner at Dentons Jiménez de Aréchaga, Fernando Jiménez de Aréchaga, spoke to Benjamin Wein at the Latin Lawyer about the first virtual launch of a traditional law firm combination in the history of the legal profession, following Dentons' combination with Jiménez de Aréchaga, Viana & Brause in Uruguay.

Global law firm Dentons has advised the Israeli biotech company Pluristem on a €50 million loan provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The financing is part of a cooperation agreement between the EIB and the Israel Innovation Authority, which aims to strengthen Israeli-EU cooperation in innovative research in the field of biotech, pharmaceutical research and public health.

dsPIC33/PIC24 FRM, High-Speed Analog Comparator with Slope Compensation DAC

MPLAB XC Compiler Functional Safety Manual

PIC32 Family Reference Manual, Sect. 39 Op amp Comparator

ATmega640/1280/1281/2560/2561 - Complete Datasheet

AT25128B/256B Automotive - Complete Datasheet

NEW DELHI: Real estate developers and property consultants today welcomed the RBI decision to cut statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), saying this would enable banks to lend more to industry, including cash-starved realty sector. However, developers demanded easing of interest rates to boost housing sales. RBI today decided to keep the key policy rate unchanged but slashed statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) by 0.5 per cent to unlock about Rs 40,000 crore into the system. “The RBI’s move to cut SLR by 50 basis points to 22 per cent will give banks more headroom to lend and thereby spur lending in future. However, the much anticipated cut in rates would have been […]

Welcoming the 0.25% rate cut by two of the biggest home loan financiers SBI and HDFC, realty sector participants today said the move will help revive interest in the gloomy market. “This is a positive move to boost property sales and spur industry growth. Home buyers who were earlier waiting for rates to come down will now certainly look at buying their dream homes,” industry body Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai) Chairman Lalit Kumar Jain said. “The home loan rate cuts from certain banks have occurred after nearly a year, and will augur well for investment sentiments in the market,” property consultant CBRE South Asia’s Chairman […]

Approved project 50278-002 in Mongolia.

Banking integration lowers bank default risk in recipient countries.

ASEAN could learn from the European Union’s experience, particularly under the current global challenges.

A well-designed evaluation system can be effective in motivating bureaucrats to shift their efforts toward a more environmentally friendly growth path.

This publication provides estimates of purchasing power parities (PPPs) and real expenditures for 22 economies in Asia and the Pacific. These are summary regional results from the 2017 cycle of the International Comparison Program (ICP).

(Postponed) We will be holding Dentons' first Global Competition Summit on Friday 19 June at our London office. Please join us for a series of panel discussions, in which we will provide insights on key current themes and issues in competition law.

Please join us for our Smart Cities & Connected Communities Think Tank Roundtable on Wednesday, May 19. Clint Vince, Chair of Dentons' US Energy practice and Co-chair of Dentons' Global Energy sector, will moderate this event along with a panel of industry leaders for a discussion on the future of cybersecurity concerns.

Social protection, especially health care systems for the poor, is essential to reduce inequality.

Banking integration lowers bank default risk in recipient countries.

ASEAN could learn from the European Union’s experience, particularly under the current global challenges.

A well-designed evaluation system can be effective in motivating bureaucrats to shift their efforts toward a more environmentally friendly growth path.

HYDERABAD: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) commissioner Somesh Kumar suspended deputy municipal commissioner, Qutubullapur, V Mamata, assistant city planner M Tulasiram and section officer Sreedhar Goud for failing to take timely action against an unauthorized construction in Qutubullapur. According to an official release issued here on Monday, suspension orders of the deputy municipal commissioner, the then in-charge assistant city planner (now with Circle 9, Abids) and town planning were issued as they failed to perform their duties in preventing the illegal construction (stilt+ground floor) on plot number 117 & 118 in survey numbers 208, 209, 211 & 212 of Qutubullapur circle as evidenced from the order of the High Court […]

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has begun the construction of 3.1 km-long new Metro Line 7A. The proposed metro corridor would comprise two stations and would connect Line 7 with the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has commenced the development of the Metro Line 7A.  The reach of the new metro would be 3.1 km, out of which 2.1 km-long section would be underground and would include a twin-tunnel. The corridor would establish connectivity between Metro Line 7 and the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Other areas that are expected to benefit from the improved connectivity include Andheri and Dahisar (East). According to an MMRDA […]

HOWRAH: With an eye on boosting revenue, the Howrah Municipal Corporation announced a partial waiver for property and commercial tax on Tuesday. Under the waiver scheme, no penalty or interest need to be paid. The KMC has already enforced such a scheme and has benefited greatly, said Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborty. He said the last board, controlled by the Left Front, bungled in tax collection, resulting in tax default of around Rs 200 crore. “The state is supporting us, but we must be self-sufficient. The tax outstanding will be collected without burdening civilians,” the mayor added. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Howrah-Municipal-Corporation-announces-partial-waiver-of-property-and-commercial-tax/articleshow/31431111.cms

Buying a house or any residential property in Noida will now be a costlier affair, as the Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities decided to hike the land allotment rate up to 10-12% at a board meeting on Monday. “We have increased the land allotment rate up to 10% in Noida in all categories, except for commercial properties. Rates of commercial property in Noida will not be increased because we want to correct the rates. “Land allotment rates will be hiked up to 12% in Yamuna expressway area. The rates are unchanged in Greater Noida because they saw an increase in February this year,” said Rama Raman, chairperson of Noida, Greater […]

NEW DELHI: Builders in Noida are unable to hand over more than 30,000 completed homes to their buyers, because of a National Green Tribunal order forbidding the Noida Authority from giving completion certificates to projects within a 10-kilometre radius of the Okhla bird sanctuary. Developers in Noida say they have in the past seven months since the tribunal’s order lost close to Rs 1,000 crore as they have been holding on the flats, paying interest on their loans as well as penalty to home buyers. “Everyone is bleeding,” said Vineet Gupta, director of the Ajnara group, which has around 1,500 apartments waiting to be handed over to buyers. Projects of […]

In order to expedite the completion of eight stalled residential projects in Noida and Greater Noida, the National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) would soon issue a tender. The NBCC has plans to float a tender for completing the eight stalled housing projects of Amrapali, which includes over 23,000 residential units in Noida and Greater Noida with a total investment of over Rs 5,000 crore. The decision to issue the tender was made after the directive issued by the Supreme Court (SC) to take over the stalled projects in the region. Last year, the apex court had given the responsibility to State-owned NBCC to complete the delayed projects in NCR at the […]

CES 2015, LAS VEGAS – HARMAN, the premium global audio, visual, infotainment and enterprise automation group (NYSE:HAR), introduced today at CES 2015 the Infinity® BassLink SM, the latest subwoofer in the BassLink line. The compact under seat subwoofer is designed to reinforce the low-end bass performance in vehicles and put the richness back into the music.

BENGALURU, INDIA – HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated (NYSE: HAR), the premier connected technologies company for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, today announced that it has opened a new center of competence (CoC) for HARMAN’s...