Life insurers feel that their premium income has remained stagnant since the industry was brought under service tax in 2012. The present service tax rate is 14. As of March 2016, life insurers exposure to such debt instruments stood at Rs 15 trillion.Life insurers are making 50 per cent of their investments in central and state securities.5 lakh employees of life insurance companies, the industry has paid Rs 25,000 crore in the form of taxes alone, he said. In fact, we are doing what the government was supposed to do by covering social security needs of the public," he said.Since life insurers are passing on service tax to customers, it has impacted their premium income growth which has been stagnant since then. "We have to pass it on to customers and they don't find investing in insurance attractive anymore," he added.""We have been urging the government to exempt insurance premium from GST because we are doing a yeoman service to the nation.5 per cent 'Swachh Bharat' cess.

Meanwhile, non-life insurers have already submitted their recommendations before the GST Council, the first meeting of which was held in New Delhi on September 22-23, demanding differential rates for their products.Forget service tax, the government has imposed a host of other taxes on life insurance premium which include income tax and 'Swachh Bharat' cess, he said and pointed out that in contrast, other financial products like fixed deposits, debentures, mutual funds, equities, NPS etc are exempted from these taxes.25 trillion per annum since 2012 after the service tax was imposed by the government on premium income.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been repeatedly calling for ending tax exemptions to have lower GST rates as exemptions are forcing the government to impose higher rate of tax on other taxable items/sectors."Life insurers' new business premium has remained stagnant at around Rs 1.

The demand comes as the first two-day GST Council meeting that ended on Friday in the National Capital, decided to meet on October 17-19 to finalise the maximum and minimum rates in the single national taxation regime.Moreover, investment under NPS is exempt from any tax under section 80(C) and even a special window has been opened under section which allows one to invest Rs 50,000 extra to save income tax payment. "Keeping this in view, we feel that a step-motherly treatment is being meted out to us and hence we are all set to China o-ring write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon," Manickam said, adding "we have already made a host of representations on the topic to the finance ministry in the past.Life insurers, who are set to write to the Prime Minister seeking exemption from the new tax regime, feel that their premium income has remained stagnant since the industry was brought under service tax in 2012.Similarly, PF, at a time when an employee retires is not taxable at all. Life insurers have paid Rs 7,000 crore in service tax to the government last year.A resolution to this effect was passed during the annual general meeting of the Life Insurance Council held here on September 16.The Life Insurance Council, which is the umbrella body of 24 life insurers, is all set to write to the Prime minister in this regard shortly, as their representations to the finance ministry in the past have not been successful, a senior council executive said."If it is a government-run scheme through which the government wants to reach out to the poor, then the GST rate must be on a lower side," he said, adding, "we also want a centralised registration facility in GST as we are operating nationally.

There are four state-owned, and 17 private sector and two specialised general insurers in the country and majority of them are participating in the government-run scheme like Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.Mumbai: As the GST rollout plans gathers momentum, life insurers sought exemption from the new taxation regime on premium income, while general insurers have demanded differential rates for their products."We want differential rating for our various types of products looking at the end beneficiary of these schemes," General Insurance Council secretary R Chandrasekaran said

Mumbai figured twice in the study for being among the six cities, that also includes Kolkata, that will be exposed to coastal flooding by the 2070s and also for faring worse in its waste disposal management, with 12 per cent being burnt openly, jeopardising the health of millions of residents.”“These worrying trends (across the world) are also making it increasingly hard for the world to feed itself,” the report warned, adding, “Increasing unsustainable consumption patterns have led to worsening air pollution, water scarcity and waste generation, threatening human and environmental health.” UNEP’s executive director Achim Steiner said: “Today, thanks to this report, we now know more about the state of the world’s environment than ever before.” The report recommended encouraging “sustainable consumption and production” to reduce environmental pressures, implementation of measures to reduce pollution, investment in environmentally sound. The number of record-breaking rainfall events increased in the region by 56 per cent over the 1981-2010 period,” the report said. With these assessments, UNEP has presented the world with the very latest evidence on the state of the world’s environment, providing them with the tools they need anticipate and avoid the damage that is being done to our planet,” adding.

“If current trends continue and the world fails to enact solutions that improve current patterns of production and consumption, if we fail to use natural resources sustainably, then the state of the world’s environment will continue to decline.Water-related diseases and unsafe water contribute to 1.While noting that population growth, rapid urbanization, rising levels of consumption, desertification, land degradation and climate change in all regions has led to severe water scarcity, for Asia-Pacific it pointed out that “unprecedented economic growth” is putting heavy pressure on the ecosystems even though it lifted millions out of poverty. The report also flagged that deforestation and waste were other reasons threatening the environment in the Asia-Pacific region.8 million disability-adjusted life years in the region as well.

United Nations report touted the Asia-Pacific region as the world’s most disaster-prone region, accounting for 91 per cent of the world’s deaths due to natural disasters China auto door seal Manufacturers Sounding a note of caution, a United Nations report touted the Asia-Pacific region as the world’s most disaster-prone region, accounting for 91 per cent of the world’s deaths due to natural disasters in the last century.The assessment comes ahead of the United Nations Environment Asse-mbly and has six separate reports giving details of environmental issues affecting each of the world’s six regions — the Pan-European region, North America, Asia and the Pacific, West Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa. Increased demand for fossil fuels and natural resources - extensive agriculture, palm oil and rubber plantations, aquaculture and the illegal trade in wildlife – are causing environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. “Uncontrolled dumping, which is still the main waste disposal method in the region, is also a major source of disease.“Asia-Pacific continues to be the world’s most disaster prone region,” said the report titled Global Environmental Out-look (GEO-6): Regional Assessments released by the United Nations Environment Programme.The report prepared with over a 1,203 scientists, hundreds of institutions and more than 160 governments involved, also noted the Asia-Pacific region for its acute contamination of water sources by human and industrial waste, including pharmaceutical and personal care, resulting in the consumption of water contaminated by human feces by about 30 per cent of the population. In Mumbai, for example, about 12 per cent of total municipal solid waste is burned either openly on the streets or in landfills, a practice that releases black carbon, dioxins and carcinogenic furans,” the report points out, adding, “In Southeast Asia, the average area deforested annually is more than one million hectares, resulting in the release of hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year (between 2005 and 2015).8 million deaths annually and 24

Malta closed its airspace to the effort last year. Sea-Watch spokesman Ruben Neugebauer called the grounding political, saying that the group is in compliance with Italian and national norms.The country became a major crossing point for migrants to Europe after the overthrow and death of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, when the North African nation was thrown into chaos, armed militias proliferated and central authority collapsed.In Europe, meanwhile, two humanitarian groups that have been flying search-and-rescue missions for migrants out of the Italian island of Lampedusa say their planes have been grounded by Italy’s civil aviation authority. Rights groups say those efforts have left migrants at the mercy of brutal armed groups or confined in squalid detention centers that lack adequate food and water. One month ago, up to 150 Europe-bound migrants, including women and children, were missing and feared drowned when two boats carrying about 300 people capsized off Libya.Neugebauer said it is important to have the planes in the air because they document human rights violations by ships that do not respond to rescue calls. (Photo: AP) Cairo: A boat carrying dozens of migrants bound for Europe capsized Tuesday in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, with at least 40 people missing and presumed drowned, U N officials said, as a support group reported it had gotten a call from someone on the vessel “crying and shouting” that passengers had died already. In January, 17 died or were missing off Libya and in May, about 65 drowned when their boat sank off Tunisia.”Libya’s coast guard says it has intercepted hundreds of migrants at sea so far in August.

The U N’s migration agency said a total of 859 migrants have died in the Mediterranean as of Aug, 22.At least 6,000 migrants from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and other nations are locked in dozens of detention facilities in Libya run by militias accused of torture and other abuses.More than 3,000 migrants are in danger because the detention centers in and around Tripoli are close to fighting between forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter and an array of militias loosely aligned with a UN-recognized government since April. The coast guard gave a lower estimate for those missing and feared drowned, saying it was 15 to 20 people.Gassim told rubber seal strip Manufacturers The Associated Press that five people were confirmed dead, including a woman and a child from Morocco whose bodies were recovered near the western town of Khoms, around 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Tripoli. Malta generally has accepted migrants rescued in its area of responsibility. human rights chief said could amount to a war crime. The group said it received a call from migrants on the boat, who “were in severe distress, crying and shouting, telling us that people had died already.In recent years, the European Union has partnered with the coast guard and other Libyan forces to try to stop the dangerous sea crossings.The German group Sea-Watch and the French nongovernmental organization Pilotes Volontaires confirmed their flights have been grounded. There are limited supplies for the migrants, who often end up there after arduous journeys at the mercy of abusive traffickers who hold them for ransom from their families.

IST Tuesday’s shipwreck was the latest maritime disaster involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe.The coast guard gave a lower estimate for those missing and feared drowned, saying it was 15 to 20 people.Also Tuesday, hard-line Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini banned a German humanitarian ship carrying migrants rescued off Libya from entering Italian territorial waters.At least 44 people were killed in July by an airstrike on a detention center for migrants near the Libyan capital in an attack that the UN.Tuesday’s shipwreck was the latest maritime disaster involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe. Lifeline has urged the German government to help identify a safe harbor. The positions have led to numerous standoffs.Italy’s civil aviation authority, ENAC, confirmed the groundings, saying the aircraft are approved for recreational and not professional use.“If today’s tragic numbers are confirmed, the number of people drowned in the Mediterranean in 2019 will have reached close to 900,” said Charlie Yaxley, a spokesman for the U N refugee agency, who gave the estimate of at least 40 dead or missing, among them women and children, based on eyewitness accounts of the survi

The philosophy of wireless carriers and smartphone companies, Kroub said, can be “let’s deal with these claims as they arrive, because we don’t know who will knock on our door next.Huawei may be more inclined to monetize its US patents now that the US government has limited its ability to sell products in the country, Kroub said.Kroub said Huawei’s licensing demand could reflect“desperation to come up with ways of generating revenue in the US market, especially considering the traditional ways of offering products and selling things to business is closed to them. (Photo: AP) Huawei is demanding Verizon Communications Inc pay USD 1 billion to license the rights to patented technology, signalling a potential shift in the embattled Chinese company’s strategy for the US market.”.The following explains why the patent dispute is not unusual and how it could be resolved.Legal experts said Huawei is likely prepared to go to court.Has Huawei been an aggressive enforcer of its patents?Huawei has long been known for defending itself against US patent infringement claims, rather than bringing them.While some licensing disputes are resolved without lawsuits, litigation is fairly common. “It happens all the time. Huawei may end up going to a US court and suing Verizon for alleged patent infringement.

While such injunctions are rarely granted in the United States, the threat of one can motivate a defendant to settle with the patent owner.George Koomullil, a patent analyst at Pleasanton, California-based technology company Relecura, said that 10 or 15 years ago Huawei applied for a relatively modest number of patents.Large companies like Verizon will try to identify patents they might be violating, said Gaston Kroub, a patent lawyer in New York. But that could be changing. Huawei and Samsung Electronics Co recently settled a global legal battle on confidential terms. Given the broader geopolitical context, any issue involving Huawei has implications for our entire industry and also raise national and international concerns. But the company has been more aggressive about applying for patents since around 2007, and particularly in recent years, Koomullil said.”However, Young said.

The fee would cover licensing of more than 230 patents. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the letter on Wednesday.”Huawei did not respond to a request for comment. But that can be a challenge because so many patents are granted every year, Kroub said.Last month, the Trump administration banned Huawei from buying vital US technology without special approval and effectively barring its equipment from US telecom networks.“I don’t know how you can make a demand of USD 1 billion and not be prepared for the answer to be no, at least at first, and for the need to litigate,” Kroub said. Nokia, for example, routinely brings in more than USD 1 billion a year from licensing its patents to others.A Huawei executive made the demand in a February letter, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters.In a lawsuit, a patent owner can ask a judge to block sales of infringing products.“Sophisticated companies like Verizon understand that they could be approached by licensors of any stripe at any time,” Kroub said.A defendant in a patent case typically argues that it does not actually infringe the asserted patents, or wholesale rubber seal strip that they were mistakenly issued and should be revoked.”Tom Cotter, a professor of patent law at the University of Minnesota, said it was possible Huawei executives believe Verizon has been infringing their US patents for some time but for business reasons waited until now to seek compensation.”What happens if Verizon does not pay?Huawei may end up going to a US court and suing Verizon for alleged patent infringement.

It is not unusual for these firms to try to make money from their massive patent portfolios. There are millions of US patents in force, and a typical smartphone implicates hundreds of thousands of them.Verizon spokesman Rich Young declined to comment “regarding this specific issue because it’s a potential legal matter.Republican Senator Marco Rubio said on Twitter on Thursday that the demand against Verizon was an “attempt by (Huawei) to retaliate against the US by setting the stage for baseless, but costly, patent claims.”Franklin Turner, a government contracts lawyer at McCarter & English in Washington, said the patent licensing demand may also be a way for Huawei to “retaliate” against the United States. As technology has advanced, it has become harder to avoid violating — or “infringing” — patent rights.Patent owners “may not enforce their patents for a period of time, but they can choose to do to so whenever they want to,” Cotter said.How common is patent licensing?Patent licensing is very common, particularly in complex industries like telecommunications

Bigger companies can also quickly fix security holes that crop up.(Source).With the right tools, you can check remotely whether you remembered to lock the doors — and lock them if you forgot.If it&China silicone rubber39;s Amazon, then devices powered by its Alexa digital assistant might work best. Many devices are constantly listening for commands and connect to corporate servers to carry them out. These voice snippets may include music or conversations in the background. Smart speakers, for instance, typically have a mute button to disable the microphone completely.Many people start thinking about a smart home when they get a voice-activated speaker such as Amazon's Echo or Google Home, although such gadgets aren't strictly necessary. Not everyone is going to be comfortable with live microphones in their homes (though your phone may already be doing the same thing, if you had enabled assistive features such as "Hey Siri" and "OK Google"). But before you succumb to the temptation — for yourself or others — consider that these devices might also give companies and hackers a key to your homes. Major remodels also offer an opportunity to make bigger smart-home plans. You probably wouldn't want to get new window shades now only to replace them with smart ones a year later.

Gadgets from startups and no-name brands may offer little or no protection; those companies may be more concerned with rushing a product to market. You can command an Alexa microwave oven to "reheat one potato" instead of having to look up how many seconds. It'll also reorder popcorn with a command — from Amazon, of course.If you catch the smart-home bug, you can add appliances with the smarts already built in as you replace your existing ones.You might have heard of lights that turn off with an app or voice command. The packages are good for those who prefer one-stop shopping, though you might save money and get more choices by shopping around. But an Amazon device mistakenly recorded and sent a family's private conversation to an acquaintance after the device mistakenly thought it heard the trigger word followed by a "send message" request. But in most cases, you have to pay only for the product.Manufacturers, for instance, typically store the voice commands their gadget send over the internet and use that data to help them personalise their services — and, potentially, advertisements. Some systems can also create temporary digital keys for guests and contractors. Down the line, you may want to mix and match these tasks into routines, such as a wake-up ritual that automatically starts the coffee maker, lifts # the window shades and plays the news. Some products will work with more than one digital assistant.A smart home can encompass features as simple as remote-controlled lamps and as sophisticated as thermostats that know when you're home and turn up the heat automatically. Reputable brands let you review and delete your voice history; be sure to do so regularly. There's a range of Alexa products, including refrigerators and washing machines.There are some concerns to keep in mind. Mozilla's Privacy Not Included project seeks to warn consumers about products with security or privacy problems.

For the most part, recordings will leave home only when you trigger the device, such as by speaking a command phrase like "OK Google" or pressing a button to get the device's attention. If you rent, a landlord might suspect an unauthorised occupant if you create a guest key that's used daily.For the do-it-yourself approach, consider which company's services you're already using heavily.In general, it helps to stick with major brands, as their corporate reputations are at stake if they're caught taking shortcuts.Likewise, if you're a heavy Google user, choose devices that support Google's Assistant.

In a child-custody dispute, for instance, your ex might subpoena the records to learn that you've been staying out late on school nights.Check what safeguards a device offers before buying. Nor do you even need actual smart lights and appliances, as you can buy smart plugs, adapters that control existing lights or whatever you plug into them.Some devices, especially cameras, come with extra fees for extended storage and other features.Even if a product works as intended, it may be leaving a record that can resurface after hacks, lawsuits or investigations.And think twice about smart locks and their digital keys.Here's how to get started on your smart home and what to worry about along the way. A general web search also might turn up complaints.Technology companies are pushing the "smart home" hard, selling appliances and gadgets that offer internet-connected conveniences you didn't know you needed. So consider the trade-offs.As cable and internet services become commodities, the companies behind them are turning to smart homes for new sources of revenue. Apple has products under the umbrella of HomeKit, while Samsung has SmartThings. Or window shades that magically rise every morning.Bigger companies, however, are also more likely to use your data for marketing. AT&T's Digital Life and Comcast's Xfinity Home offer cameras, door controls and other smart-home devices

This year, the company improved features such as traffic data, local places, and recommendations. But, the most popular Internet company in the world had humble beginnings.Google&China auto rubber Manufacturers39;s hardware divisionGoogle has a wide range of consumer products. Collaborating with the US government, Fiber has so far provided 1,000 Mbps connections at thousands of public houses in Kansas, Austin, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, Nashville, California, and San Antonio. By May 2017, over 900,000 web domains were publishing AMP pages.33rd Day. Back in 1998, Stanford students Sergey Brin and Larry Page envisioned a new way to search information on the web. AdWords and AdSenseAds remain Google's cash cow.2 billion.It had other benefits too. It includes media streaming device Chromecast, Pixel phones, Google Home, Daydream View Virtual Reality headset, Chromebooks, and Google Wifi (smart Wi-Fi router).FiberIt is an experiment to help make faster Internet more accessible. It is also testing smart lens for glucose sensing and accommodative vision correction. X labThis is Alphabet's lab where all the wacky projects come to life. The restructuring enabled them to put those risky ventures under a new umbrella company Alphabet. YouTube is the second most visited website after Google.

Under the leadership of Founder & CEO, Arthur Levinson, the company aims to enable people to lead longer and healthier lives. On the other hand, Google relied on factors such as website relevance and backlinks to assign a value to each domain. Yet, till now, over 70 percent of its revenue comes from ads.(source). If anything goes wrong, Alphabet can shut down a division without causing any bad PR for Google. In addition to Earth, Google has also mapped other celestial bodies such as Moon, Mars, Mercury, and Venus. As of 2017, it has over a billion monthly users.Earphones: Pixel Buds Bluetooth earphones. And as per the Q1, 2017 stats, Android dominates this segment with a market share of over 86 percent. Alphabet acquired Nest in 2014 for 3. It was chosen to signify the number of results or information offered by the search engine. In effect, Google could then focus on its core businesses. Seeing the rise of this user-generated video sharing site, Google acquired it in 2006. Currently, Google is the most visited website in the world.Laptops: PixelBook.CalicoCalico focuses on solving healthcare problems. ParentAlphabetSubsidiariesGoogle, Fiber, Calico, Next, Life Sciences, Ventures, Capital, X lab. Under Alphabet, Nest expanded to Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Mexico. Under Alphabet, it is now headed by Susan Wojcicki.GoogleGoogle is Alphabet's biggest and most important subsidiary. The company working to change the future transport is headed by CEO John Krafcik. With the recent rise in the popularity of Instagram and Snapchat, last week YouTube launched stories feature called ‘Reels’. And project Loon, which uses weather balloons rigged with powerful wireless routers above stratosphere to provide Internet. It added cameras, doorbells, and alarm system to its product portfolio. The founders claim that the restricting helped the company streamline its processes.

It is currently headed by CEO Sundar Pichai. Back in 1998, Stanford students Sergey Brin and Larry Page envisioned a new way to search information on the web. The company was founded by former Apple engineer Tony Fadell.Life SciencesDubbed as Verily Life Sciences, the organization develops tools to collect and organize health data. Started in 2009, the company completed the world’s first fully self-driving trip on public roads in a car without a steering wheel, pedals, and driver. We all board the ship called Google to explore the vast and often dark Internet. Internet Explorer is down to mere 12 per cent. The restructuring may also help Google distance its name from some wacky ideas executed by its experimental off-shoots.YouTubeFounded by former PayPal employees, YouTube launched in February 2005.Virtual Reality Headset: Daydream View.com, by November 2017, Chrome controls over 60 percent of the browser market.7 percent. At that time, most Internet engines ranked the results based on how many times the search term appeared on the webpage. Now let’s have a look at Alphabet's company structure. The restructuring enabled them to put those risky ventures under a new umbrella company Alphabet.The website was initially set to be named Googol, which denotes ten raised to the power of a hundred. Before coming to fruition, Life Sciences and Waymo projects were fostered here. Recently, when the Hurricane hit Puerto Rico in November, Alphabet provided Internet to around 100,000 people. As per NetMarketShare. In no time, it started gaining a lead on Yahoo and the rest is history. Later, the search-giant turned into a cross-platform service available on smartphones, tablets, TVs, smartwatches, and desktop computers. Come 2017, and Android is the most used OS with over 2 billion monthly users.AI Assistant Speaker: Google Home Mini and Google Home Max.

AMPThe AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) project showed strong growth in 2017. Google has plenty of consumer and business products. It was Google's open web standard initiative to offer faster and lighter version of websites to save time and data.com, Google search has a global market share of over 90 per cent with all platforms taken into consideration.MapsGoogle Maps need no introduction. In fact, it was Google that had created its parent company.NestNest's claim to fame was 'smart' Wi-Fi connected thermostats. They claim that the company had too many moonshot projects. Google had acquired this open operating system platform in 2005.AndroidSmartphones are the hottest consumer product category. Company's premium laptop that runs Chrome OS. It is known for its research on ageing and associated diseases. Apple's iOS comes a distant second with 13. It started off as a computer program at a mapping start-up in Australia. Its other test case includes Liftware stabilising handles meant to help people with hand tremor, mostly related to cerebral palsy or spinal cord injury.Camera: Google Clips AI-powered tiny camera that syncs with your phone.SearchGoogle's flagship product, its search engine continues to dominate # the market. According to the latest numbers from StatsCounter. Devices launched this year:Phones: Google Pixel 2 in collaboration with HTC; Pixel 2 XL with hardware expertise from LG. The company currently lacks a CEO after Gregory McCray resigned this year. WaymoWaymo is Alphabet's autonomous car programme. Google subsidiaries can now compete with startups to attract talent by offering shares in some of its smaller companies.ChromeChrome browser has also left the competition far behind. Nest products are now compatible with Google voice assistant. By 2015, it grew so much that it had to undergo restructuring. The company was acquired by Google in 2004. The operating system also holds a commanding position in smart TV, smartwatch, and tablet market.Google retains Ads, Search, YouTube, Apps, Android, and Maps under its umbrella. Other upcoming projects include Wing, which focuses on the development of drones for delivery

This year, the company improved features such as traffic data, local places, and recommendations. But, the most popular Internet company in the world had humble beginnings.Google&China auto rubber Manufacturers39;s hardware divisionGoogle has a wide range of consumer products. Collaborating with the US government, Fiber has so far provided 1,000 Mbps connections at thousands of public houses in Kansas, Austin, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, Nashville, California, and San Antonio. By May 2017, over 900,000 web domains were publishing AMP pages.33rd Day. Back in 1998, Stanford students Sergey Brin and Larry Page envisioned a new way to search information on the web. AdWords and AdSenseAds remain Google's cash cow.2 billion.It had other benefits too. It includes media streaming device Chromecast, Pixel phones, Google Home, Daydream View Virtual Reality headset, Chromebooks, and Google Wifi (smart Wi-Fi router).FiberIt is an experiment to help make faster Internet more accessible. It is also testing smart lens for glucose sensing and accommodative vision correction. X labThis is Alphabet's lab where all the wacky projects come to life. The restructuring enabled them to put those risky ventures under a new umbrella company Alphabet. YouTube is the second most visited website after Google.

Under the leadership of Founder & CEO, Arthur Levinson, the company aims to enable people to lead longer and healthier lives. On the other hand, Google relied on factors such as website relevance and backlinks to assign a value to each domain. Yet, till now, over 70 percent of its revenue comes from ads.(source). If anything goes wrong, Alphabet can shut down a division without causing any bad PR for Google. In addition to Earth, Google has also mapped other celestial bodies such as Moon, Mars, Mercury, and Venus. As of 2017, it has over a billion monthly users.Earphones: Pixel Buds Bluetooth earphones. And as per the Q1, 2017 stats, Android dominates this segment with a market share of over 86 percent. Alphabet acquired Nest in 2014 for 3. It was chosen to signify the number of results or information offered by the search engine. In effect, Google could then focus on its core businesses. Seeing the rise of this user-generated video sharing site, Google acquired it in 2006. Currently, Google is the most visited website in the world.Laptops: PixelBook.CalicoCalico focuses on solving healthcare problems. ParentAlphabetSubsidiariesGoogle, Fiber, Calico, Next, Life Sciences, Ventures, Capital, X lab. Under Alphabet, Nest expanded to Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Mexico. Under Alphabet, it is now headed by Susan Wojcicki.GoogleGoogle is Alphabet's biggest and most important subsidiary. The company working to change the future transport is headed by CEO John Krafcik. With the recent rise in the popularity of Instagram and Snapchat, last week YouTube launched stories feature called ‘Reels’. And project Loon, which uses weather balloons rigged with powerful wireless routers above stratosphere to provide Internet. It added cameras, doorbells, and alarm system to its product portfolio. The founders claim that the restricting helped the company streamline its processes.

It is currently headed by CEO Sundar Pichai. Back in 1998, Stanford students Sergey Brin and Larry Page envisioned a new way to search information on the web. The company was founded by former Apple engineer Tony Fadell.Life SciencesDubbed as Verily Life Sciences, the organization develops tools to collect and organize health data. Started in 2009, the company completed the world’s first fully self-driving trip on public roads in a car without a steering wheel, pedals, and driver. We all board the ship called Google to explore the vast and often dark Internet. Internet Explorer is down to mere 12 per cent. The restructuring may also help Google distance its name from some wacky ideas executed by its experimental off-shoots.YouTubeFounded by former PayPal employees, YouTube launched in February 2005.Virtual Reality Headset: Daydream View.by November 2017, Chrome controls over 60 percent of the browser market.7 percent. At that time, most Internet engines ranked the results based on how many times the search term appeared on the webpage. Now let’s have a look at Alphabet's company structure. The restructuring enabled them to put those risky ventures under a new umbrella company Alphabet.The website was initially set to be named Googol, which denotes ten raised to the power of a hundred. Before coming to fruition, Life Sciences and Waymo projects were fostered here. Recently, when the Hurricane hit Puerto Rico in November, Alphabet provided Internet to around 100,000 people. As per NetMarketShare. In no time, it started gaining a lead on Yahoo and the rest is history. Later, the search-giant turned into a cross-platform service available on smartphones, tablets, TVs, smartwatches, and desktop computers. Come 2017, and Android is the most used OS with over 2 billion monthly users.AI Assistant Speaker: Google Home Mini and Google Home Max.

AMPThe AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) project showed strong growth in 2017. Google has plenty of consumer and business products. It was Google's open web standard initiative to offer faster and lighter version of websites to save time and data.com, Google search has a global market share of over 90 per cent with all platforms taken into consideration.MapsGoogle Maps need no introduction. In fact, it was Google that had created its parent company.NestNest's claim to fame was 'smart' Wi-Fi connected thermostats. They claim that the company had too many moonshot projects. Google had acquired this open operating system platform in 2005.AndroidSmartphones are the hottest consumer product category. Company's premium laptop that runs Chrome OS. It is known for its research on ageing and associated diseases. Apple's iOS comes a distant second with 13. It started off as a computer program at a mapping start-up in Australia. Its other test case includes Liftware stabilising handles meant to help people with hand tremor, mostly related to cerebral palsy or spinal cord injury.Camera: Google Clips AI-powered tiny camera that syncs with your phone.SearchGoogle's flagship product, its search engine continues to dominate # the market. According to the latest numbers from StatsCounter. Devices launched this year:Phones: Google Pixel 2 in collaboration with HTC; Pixel 2 XL with hardware expertise from LG. The company currently lacks a CEO after Gregory McCray resigned this year. WaymoWaymo is Alphabet's autonomous car programme. Google subsidiaries can now compete with startups to attract talent by offering shares in some of its smaller companies.ChromeChrome browser has also left the competition far behind. Nest products are now compatible with Google voice assistant. By 2015, it grew so much that it had to undergo restructuring. The company was acquired by Google in 2004. The operating system also holds a commanding position in smart TV, smartwatch, and tablet market.Google retains Ads, Search, YouTube, Apps, Android, and Maps under its umbrella. Other upcoming projects include Wing, which focuses on the development of drones for delivery

However, they are just good enough and can be considered as average.The speaker system is a simple one-piece unit. The remote is very basic and has basic controls for operating the MP3 playback or FM playback only. The console sports a small microphone above the volume control dial that allows you to sing along and record your own tracks.As for the performance, you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for an outdoor PA system that can also double up as a good party entertainment system, then Aisen has something covered for you. There are six drum pads that are built on the top and can be worked with fingers or palms. However, the speaker is pretty bulky and is not meant for high portability. We got our hands dirty on the Aisen Trolley DJ Tower Speaker which claims to pump out 20,000 watts of peak audio power along with features such a mini DJ console and light effects. The speakers are mainly aimed at those who host outdoor parties, or indoor community meetings and get-togethers.Moving on, the main USP of this trolly speaker is the top control panel which doubles up as a DJ console for adding the oomph factor to all your parties. An additional wired microphone or FM mic can be added if required. Nevertheless, the cones seem strong enough to ensure that it can take a few hits.

Built entirely with engineered wood and sporting a plastic grille upfront, the speakers are pretty heavy. We noticed that the lower frequency controls are a bit too harsh and don’t have adequate control over minute changes.. The rear sports a detachable power jack (220V) and an Aux in and out port. However, the decent audio quality, bundled wireless mic, the high power output and the rugged chassis does manage to justify the price to an extent. While using it in an outdoor space, the bass is just sufficient to start up a grind, but when compared to other speaker systems we have used and heard, we find that the bass could have been better.

It sports a 3-way driver with two front-facing large 12-inch bass drivers and two 3-inch tweeters.The onboard graphic equalizers do a good job, but are not as pronounced and efficient as they ought to be. The speaker system can also be controlled by a basic IR remote control that is bundled with the product. To the left are the five graphic equalizer buttons and to the right are some other audio effect knobs such as volume and echo for the mic. The display is basic and does not help with the track information and other information that could have been helpful especially when playing music from an SD card or USB storage.

Additionally, the woofers lack proper protection citing damage to the cones if any large object accidently hits it from front.The Aisen Trolley DJ Tower Speaker A20UKB830 is priced at Rs 24,990, which is pretty high as there are a few alternatives that are known to sell for cheaper. However, what failed to impress us is the steep price, the non-synced LED light show and the average equalizers. At low volumes, when planning to use indoors, the speakers turn on a good ambience too. The electronic drum can be mixed with the existing music being played back to add beats and effects to your DJ side. The drum also has its own volume control so that you can decide how much of audio from the drums should mix with the background music. Lastly, there are four forward-facing bass reflex ports present around the woofers to allow the speakers to breath at high power outputs. The pads are responsive and you can also change the beat or drum types. In this midst, we happened to try out a similar product from a brand which is known to cater to this segment. Lastly, straight up ahead is a miniature LED display that shows you the status of the input such as AUX, Bluetooth, FM and alike. The Aisen Trolley DJ Tower Speaker A20UKB830 is a single large speaker unit that stands tall as a tower.The console also has additional pre-installed music or tunes add-ons for your excitement. The audio is pretty loud and punchy. The audio is rich and clear, but the bass is not as boomy as expected. Sadly, the LED lights are not synchronized with the music and are pretty static. Next to these to knobs are control buttons to operate the music (play/pause/etc) when playing from an SD card, USB, or FM. Rating: Trolley speakers are suddenly everywhere — with basic ampli-speakers to feature-rich ones, trolley speakers seem to be holding a stronger place in the personal-outdoor audio entertainment system market off recently. It sports an electronic drum pad, along with a few sound effects and a 5-channel graphic equalizer. The cones are painted in silver to look classy and gel with the party mood too.Moving on, the wooden chassis is strong and heavy, adding sufficient weight to hold on to the high wattage power output. A large and soft volume control button or dial is present right up front that makes controlling the music very easy and quickly. Between the tweeters and on top of the woofer grille are a few multi-colour LEDs that can be turned on or off and they change colours to produce a good light show to match the party mood. As a single PA audio system that can also deliver good audio/music performance, the Aisen Trolley DJ Tower Speaker A20UKB830 gets a huge thumbs up from our end. These speakers are meant for creating loud volumes and they do the job well.5-ft tall and 1.

The inputs are FM radio, Bluetooth for tablets, laptops and smartphones, Line in and Aux in for external audio players, a Guitar input for musical instruments, SD card and USB slot for MP3 music playback and a microphone input.All the knobs and controls are pretty responsive and work flawlessly. While the woofers are placed behind a plastic wide-open grille, the tweeters are protected by a metal grille on the top extreme ends. The entire speaker sports in a dark shade of grey dual-tone surface that adds to a decent somber look. Though it can be handled by a single person, the bulky body can get tough moving it around easily. It has a front-facing speaker, a DJ console and control panel on the top and equipped with handles for carting it around easily. This is a great add on and you won’t have to purchase an additional mic for your kit. The pads sport large palm-sized soft rubber buttons that seem durable and comfortable.The Aisen Trolley DJ Tower Speaker A20UKB830 is a single large speaker unit that stands tall as a tower. The wireless microphone is basic and runs off two AA batteries.Lastly, since the speaker system has its own DJ mixing and electronic drums options, you can also record your own songs on the SD card. However, the tactility is a little less than average and getting used to the pads will take a while for you to get used to. The sides and rear are covered with a matte-finished vinyl skin, while the front panel is all plastic.The speakers are driven by a 20,000 watt PMPO or 180 Watts RMS amplifier that sports multiple inputs.2-ft wide and deep. The bass drivers used here are meant for pure power and not pleasure performance. The sides and the top sport handles for easy transportation and lifting.33rd Day Of Lockdown Total Cases 26,283 Rubber gasket Manufacturers  Party outdoors DECCAN CHRONICLE Published: Sep 22, 2018, 4:19 pm IST Updated: Sep 22, 2018, 4:19 pm IST Loud and shrill, this speaker can kickstart your outdoor party within minutes. It is larger than a suit-case, and stands around 3.The speaker also has a wireless microphone that comes bundled along with it and is paired with the amplifier by default. The trebles are well spaced out from the mids and lows, and the speakers can get pretty loud if you are using them in an enclosed space. The Aux out port can be used for recording your audio on an external media source or can also be used for pairing the speaker with a second speaker system, and so on, for added power output or a multiple speaker system setup

Translating his proposals into digestible bullet points, he offered to-the-point titles for the legislative vehicles he'd need Congress to approve to accomplish his goals, such as the "End Illegal Immigration Act" and the "Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act. (Photo: AP) The Republican presidential nominee called them 'liars' and blamed Democrats for orchestrating the allegations.Though mostly a recap of policies he's proposed before, Trump's speech included a few new elements, such as a freeze on hiring new federal workers and a two-year mandatory minimum sentence for immigrants who re-enter the U."Clinton said she would be focusing the days remaining before the election helping down-ballot Democrats.In Las Vegas.

Assam36191 Chandigarh28150 Meghalaya1201 Puducherry840 Goa770 Manipur220 Tripura220 Mizoram100 Arunachal Pradesh110 World, Others Off his message again: Trump vows to sue all female accusers AP Published: Oct 23, 2016, 10:00 am IST Updated: Oct 23, 2016, 10:00 am IST The Republican presidential nominee called them &wholesale Rubber seal039;liars' and blamed Democrats for orchestrating the allegations. The latest came on Saturday, when an adult film actress said the billionaire kissed her and two other women on the lips "without asking for permission" when they met him after a golf tournament in 2006.Trump didn't say what kind of lawsuits he planned to file against the women, but any libel litigation could be complicated by the fact that Trump, in the 2005 recording, bragged about the same kind of conduct the women now accuse him of perpetrating.Yet any headway that Trump may have made was likely to be diluted by his legal threats against his accusers, just the latest example of Trump stepping on his intended message at inopportune moments.Her campaign headquarters in New York was back up and running after a scare over an envelope that arrived containing a white powdery substance.The Republican nominee vowed to lift restrictions on domestic energy production, label China as a currency manipulator and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, familiar themes to supporters who have flocked to his rallies this year. Without offering evidence, he surmised that Clinton or the Democratic National Committee had put the women up to it. In a pledge sure to raise eyebrows on Wall Street, he said he'd block a potential merger between AT&T and media conglomerate Time Warner. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. illegally after being deported a first time."Today is just further proof that hyper-partisan, ethically challenged Katie McGinty will be a rubber stamp for everything Hillary Clinton wants to do in Washington," he said."I understand that they need a president who cares about them, will listen to them and I want to be their president," she said. "Pat Toomey has been, and will continue to be, an independent leader in the Senate on issues ranging from gun safety to ending Wall Street bailouts."Throughout the GOP primary, Trump was criticized for shying away # from detailed policy proposals. The singer surprised students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas when she knocked on the doors of their dorm rooms wearing a T-shirt that read "Nasty Woman," a phrase Trump uttered at Wednesday's debate in reference to Clinton."Speaking to reporters aboard her campaign plane between rallies in Pennsylvania, Clinton said that, after three debates, she was no longer thinking about responding to what Trump says anymore and would "let the American people decide what he offers and what we offer.Trump has denied all the allegations, while insisting some of the women weren't attractive enough for him to want to pursue.With the debates now over, Trump and Clinton have few apparent opportunities to alter the course the race substantially — a reality that benefits Clinton more than Trump.

But his speech, which aides said would form the core of his closing argument to voters, underscored how the billionaire has gradually compiled a broad — if sometimes vague — policy portfolio that straddles conservative, isolationist and populist orthodoxies.Trump's blunt threat of legal action eclipsed his planned focus on serious-minded policy during a speech in Gettysburg. Days earlier, during the final debate, his otherwise well-received performance was marred by an alarming statement near the end that he might not accept the outcome of the election if he loses.Nearly a dozen women have publicly accused Trump of unwanted advances or sexual assault in the weeks since a 2005 recording emerged in which the former reality TV star boasted of kissing women and groping their genitals without their consent. She headlined a short outdoor rally on campus but didn't perform any of her songs."Trump's comments on women Saturday came after numerous complaints that his behavior toward them has been inappropriate.An increasingly confident Clinton on Saturday made what's become her closing pitch in Pittsburgh, stressing unity and asking her backers to carry her message to any Trump supporters they meet. Though his campaign had billed the speech as a chance for Trump to lay out a to-do list for his first 100 days as president, he seemed unable to restrain himself from re-litigating grievances with Hillary Clinton, the media and especially the women who have come forward in recent days. Clinton called the accusation "inaccurate. Gettysburg: Steering his campaign toward controversy yet again, Donald Trump vowed on Saturday to sue every woman who has accused him of sexual assault or other inappropriate behavior."Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign," he said. He added later: "I look so forward to doing that. To that end, she assailed the state's Republican senator, Pat Toomey, saying in Pittsburgh that he has refused to "stand up" to Trump as she touted his Democratic challenger, Katie McGinty.S."All of these liars will be sued once the election is over," Trump said."This is my pledge to you, and if we follow these steps, we will once again have a government of, by and for the people," Trump said, invoking a phrase from President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The Republican is trailing his opponent in most of the battleground states while Clinton eyes potential upset victories in traditionally safe GOP territory, with Arizona at the top of the list.

He called them "liars" whose allegations he blamed Democrats for orchestrating. Trump recently vowed to sue The New York Times for libel, but has not yet followed through on the threat."Trump's broadside against the women came at the start of an otherwise substantive speech that sought to weave the many policy ideas he has put forward into a single, cohesive agenda that he said he would pursue aggressively during his first three months in office.Noting Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants and his attacks on a Muslim-American military family, she said of Toomey: "If he doesn't have the courage to stand up to Donald Trump after all of this, then can you be sure that he will stand up for you when it counts "Toomey spokesman Ted Kwong said Clinton's comments show that McGinty would not be an independent voice in the Senate

Financial institutions and business corporations working with bottom-of-pyramid communities have China silicone rubber traditionally focused on scaled-down versions of their conventional products for serving their varied needs. Role models matter more than words. This kind of “help” is likely to stunt development because it creates dependency, conflict and feelings of helplessness. It is a tough balance between not being subservient and not coming across as disrespectful. Local users have much better skills than engineers at transforming technologies to suit their own situations. Build with what they have. If the users do not value the benefits, they will not use the facilities. In the absence of inclusive governance, the people at the grassroots, that is, the intended beneficiaries of poverty alleviation programme are left abjectly dependent on a bureaucratic delivery mechanism over which they have no effective control. They are shouted down by those who consider them illiterate and uninformed and who abrogate to themselves the wisdom and the right to speak for the poor. Instead of mapping problems from needs through external solutions, we must help the community identify its values and then map these through local resources to develop a vision and action plan. He can be reached at moinqazi123@gmail.The real tragedy of the poor is that their voice is unheard in forums, even at those which are exclusively devoted to their problems. Incidentally, this process itself is a great capacity-building one on both sides. If you are already inside such an organisation, do what you can to help colleagues realise that development is an ongoing, endogenous process. We must be challenged to see the reality of poverty and vulnerability through the eyes of a particular individual, typically a woman, and to understand how that person strives to overcome it. These clients have different requirements than traditional urban ones and hence research has to be done before introducing products and services in the field of financial inclusion or consumer goods — to see their feasibility for the market. As the Malagasy proverb goes, “Poverty won’t allow him to lift up his head, dignity won’t allow him to bow it down”.

We cannot approach people with readymade solutions. To that end, we must introduce bank clients to people like themselves who are succeeding in the kind of environment in which they themselves will need to succeed. This way we can get a feeling of her daily worries and needs and develop solutions that have relevance to her needs. Mentors are more important than formal training. We must deal with people who are more permanent in the system and are the key interface with children and parents. And yet the majority survives and adapt.We need to be very sensitive while interacting with them.What is required is sympathetic but hard-headed leadership, operating from a variety of institutional bases (government agencies, NGOs and banks). The mobile phone is being integrated into various business processes, from vital health information to rural families, poor farmers gaining access to commodity prices to providing to paying for water.

Personal experience is the best way to create agents for change.You must not volunteer for work where you “educate” the community about its problems, in which you generate plans and then get “buy-in” from the community, and in which the priority is the development product (latrines, health centre, church building) rather than the people, for which you bring in the capacity rather than help build it within the community. Live with them.Approaches to rural development that respect the inherent capabilities, intelligence and initiative of rural people and systematically build on their experience have a reasonable chance of making significant advances in improving those people’s lives. | MOIN QAZI Published: Sep 24, 2018, 1:32 am IST Updated: Sep 24, 2018, 1:32 am IST Thinking about novel uses of existing products, such as mobile phones, is a powerful source of solutions.Our questions should be: “How can we help?” or “How can we contribute” and not “This is what you should do”. Winning a point is not as important as achieving long-term change.Instead of mapping problems from needs through external solutions, we must help the community identify its values and then map these through local resources to develop a vision and action plan.The core of our relationship must be with the people as also with the government at ground level. The alternative system would be participatory development, where the people themselves are enabled to build their own future through elected representatives responsible to the local community and, therefore, responsive to their needs.Consider, for example, the remoteness of our professional lives as bankers from our villages. If, for this, we have to compromise for the time being, we must be prepared for it.Thinking about novel uses of existing products, such as mobile phones, is a powerful source of solutions. The tacit knowledge that senior executives have accumulated over the years must be passed on face-to-face, revealing culture in action. But is it required for accelerated growth to translate into inclusive growth? The answer, I fervently believe, lies in inclusive governance. It is not pleasant for anyone to be pushed away with an “All right, now sit down”, when that person is halfway through expressing an issue of life and death. The oppression of impatience came home to me only when I was on the other side, years later.We need to heed the wisdom of the legendary philosopher Lao Tzu: “Go to the people. Even the best university-taught skills aren’t going to be particularly useful there. It is important to analyse the problems together to evolve solutions. This is why the divide between the professionals and the villages is so serious; now if we do go to the villages, it is to study them, to do good for them — but not to become of them.It’s crucial to help people shift their thinking so they believe they can do the job.

The preference for growth over social justice, indeed, the argument that economic growth is the road to social justice, is advocated over and above increased spending. It should make common cause with rural people, learning with and from them how to make desired and sustainable improvements in the customers’ conditions of life. Intervention may still be called for appropriate strategies to be devised, but the kind of intervention that gets them over a bump in the road, not the kind that builds the road, provides the car, petrol and driver, buckles the seatbelts and pays the tolls.Over years of wandering the villages, I have been compelled to revise much of my received wisdom about what our rural priorities should be. And, of course, the public places where such meetings are held are designed to keep the poor away from any scope for voicing their problems. In the village, each successive generation is born into the rigidity of caste; each generation must bear the rapacity of the moneylender and the merchant and the random cruelty of nature: floods, famines and pestilence. Love them.”The writer is a well-known banker, author and Islamic researcher. They realised very late that low-income communities have their own peculiarities and they require exclusive and mass customised products and services appropriate to their needs. Inadequate investment in locally-led initiatives is one of the two ways in which we fail to ensure that those who are most affected by inequity have pathways to address it. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say ‘We have done this ourselves’.