fg casino plus
That time of the year when the doorbells of Digital India constantly clamour with different sounds, sounds that make the ears miss the tones of another bell. As its curtains down on another year, it opens the door to memory lane. As Christmas and New Year narratives see Digital India’s doorbell ringing fast and furious to new-age tones -- BlinkIt to Big Basket, Zepto to Zomato ferrying year-end deliveries, it’s time for nostalgia to tiptoe in. What a pity that GenNext --- post-millennials --- shall never know the sound of a bell that came tinkling down the bend when New Year crept round the corner. For whom the bell tolls Come December end and that bell sounded busier. As did the postman bustling about the neighbourhood, on his bloated belly and bicycle, bearing a bountiful load of letters. Bigger, bulkier, busier. New Year greeting cards. The bell tinkled and trilled more fast and furious, as the postman used to ferry forth an armload of cards to every letterbox down the lane. He puffed and pedalled to ensure the greetings landed on time. How times have since changed! Whither now that ritual of penning and posting piles of greeting cards. How the digital life, thanks to social media and WhatsApp e-greetings, has robbed the New Year narrative of the joys of penning greeting cards. Come December, and back in bygone days, it entailed a trip to a stationery store in our City Beautiful’s shopping hotspot -- Sector 17. Tucked in a corner of the pulsating plaza was this shop that stocked greeting cards of all colours, creativity and curiosity. Azad Hind Stores. This year-end excursion was undertaken as religiously as going to gurdwara on Gurpurab. The ritualism that informed this pilgrimage had a hidden bait driving it. Post the endless hours spent tagging with parents to pick and pore, over greeting cards at this store, there awaited a tempting treat. Softy at Kwality’s or jelly ‘n’ cream at Indian Coffee House. Well worth the bait, well worth the wait. This was a generation that saw December devoted to navigating Long Lists and Short Lists different from the lists that Gen Z is growing up with -- Bucket Lists to Booker Short Lists to Oscars Long Lists. Parents used to thrust under the noses of progeny the Big Fat New Year Cards Long List. Other than routine holiday homework, this was another home work an entire generation grew up on. Stamp of the times From the painstaking penning of addresses and endearments on cards to pasting stamps to pottering off on another pilgrimage to the letter box down the lane, this was a pen project done with much relish and revelry. The best part of it was not so much in the sending, but in the receiving. The thrill lay in the decoding. New year mail spawned an entire generation of junior Sherlock Holmes. The moment a bunch of New Year cards landed, the handwriting on the envelope began to be deciphered. The clues lay in the twists and turns. Of the senders’ handwriting. “This looks like Minni masi’s writing, that seems like Sweety uncle’s card...” Childhood was one big card game. Then came the new writing on the wall. Digitalisation slowly snatched it all. Gone is that ritual from the New Year narrative. Like that ubiquitous stationery store, handwritten greetings too have faded forever. Faded into the bylanes of the bygone. The other day, a mini storm erupted when one was consumed by this sudden urge, after ages, to post hand-written New Year cards. There was a pressing need for postage stamps. But there were none in the house or neighbourhood. Digital India’s denizen contorted in consternation. Young India twitched its tongue to seal it with a stamp of surprise. “Gosh, who sends cards in these times of WA! You must be off your rocker.” So resonant of that age-old argument, that big book debate -- Paperback Vs Kindle. One was saved from answering, for there was a door bell to answer. A Porter bloke stood pounding the bell, bearing swag and a new-age New Year deliveries’ bag. The curious case of “You’ve Not Got Mail”. chetnakeer@yahoo.com
Rangers vs. Tottenham lineups, starting 11, confirmed team news and injuries: Postecoglou faces another defensive headache | Sporting NewsMUMBAI: Japanese retailer Uniqlo is increasing sourcing from India for global markets and is expanding production in the country, said Kenji Inoue, COO and CFO at Uniqlo India . "For our India stores, we are sourcing about 15.5% of our requirements locally but the share is higher for exports and the strategy is to keep sourcing more," Inoue told TOI in an interview here on Thursday. Uniqlo sources items like T-shirts and its heattech clothing from India for its global stores. Growing income levels in India, which is enabling people to premiumise make the company a "good fit" for the market where it has grown at a CAGR of 59% in the last five years, Inoue said. "India is seen as a market with the highest (growth) potential. It's important that we make a good branding presence here. If we exclude Covid-hit years, we have been in India for three years and there is a lot of headroom for growth," Inoue said. During its first leg of India expansion, Uniqlo has largely been focused on the Northern part of the country, with Delhi-NCR being home to its largest number of stores. The firm, which counts millennials in their early 30s as its key consumer cohort, is now also building its footprint in metros like Mumbai. "We are not rushing to get into new cities. The focus is more on product mix and quality," said Inoue. Uniqlo India's revenue from operations increased by 31% year-on-year to Rs 814.8 crore in FY24. Profits also widened to Rs 85 crore during the year, data sourced from market intelligence platform Tofler showed. The company competes with players like Zara and H&M in India, where several young and trendy D2C brands are also fighting for a share of the consumer wallet. Ready to Master Stock Valuation? ET's Workshop is just around the corner!
Pentagon announces a new $725 million arms package for Ukraine
None
Delhi's villages suffered under AAP's rule in last 10 years, will teach a lesson in polls: Sachdeva
2 ASX dividend shares I think would be reliable even during a recession
UN General Assembly overwhelmingly demands immediate Gaza ceasefireChinese Vice President Han Zheng met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua On Tuesday, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son in Beijing. Noting that next year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the China-Vietnam Year of People-to-People Exchanges, Han said the two sides should follow the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, maintain strategic communication, expand practical cooperation, consolidate the foundation of public opinion, strengthen multilateral coordination and promote the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, bringing more benefits to the two peoples. Bui Thanh Son said that developing long-term friendly relations with China is the consistent proposition, objective requirement, strategic choice and top priority of Vietnam's diplomacy. Vietnam firmly adheres to the one-China policy and is willing to strengthen high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation with China, and jointly promote the building of a Vietnam-China community with a shared future with strategic significance, he added. Also on Tuesday, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi and Bui Thanh Son co-chaired the 16th meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation in Beijing. Wang said that in December last year, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, made a historic visit to Vietnam, and in August this year, To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Vietnamese president, successfully visited China, as the top leaders of the two parties and countries reached an important consensus on advancing the construction of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future. Over the past year, various departments and localities of both countries have actively implemented this consensus, promoting fruitful results in China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperation. This not only benefits the two parties, the two countries, and their peoples, but also adds stability and certainty to a world filled with turmoil and uncertainty, Wang said. Wang and Bui Thanh Son also attended the commemorating event for the 25th anniversary of the demarcation of the land boundary between China and Vietnam and the 15th anniversary of the signing of the three legal documents. Gu Xiaosong, dean of the ASEAN Research Institute at Hainan Tropical Ocean University, told the Global Times that meetings between senior officials from China and Vietnam are constructive to accelerate the implementation of the consensus reached by the two heads of state, enhance political mutual trust and improve the quality of cooperation in fields like infrastructure, trade and investment. Given the increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, Gu noted that the stable China-Vietnam relationship is of great significance to regional peace and eliminating external interference. Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that interaction between the two countries will serve as a link between the past and the future, laying the groundwork for the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-Vietnam diplomatic ties in 2025. The experience of China and Vietnam in settling their land border issue through peaceful negotiations has proved that the two countries have the wisdom and ability to manage their differences, which adds confidence that maritime differences can be resolved, especially as Malaysia, chair of ASEAN in 2025, has expressed hope that the South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC) can be finalized, Xu said. Although China and Vietnam are facing an increasingly complex geopolitical environment, the pragmatic cooperation between two sides is unlikely to be affected despite differences, Xu said. China and Vietnam have had frequent and positive interactions in various fields recently. On December 4, two fleets from the Chinese and Vietnamese navies concluded a two-day joint patrol in the Beibu Gulf, which was of great significance to deepening the mutual trust and cooperation between the two militaries, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Bui Thanh Son on Monday visited Zhongguancun, which is known as China's "Silcom Valley" in northwestern Beijing as a hub for fostering cutting-edge and high-tech enterprises, according to Vietnam Government News. China-Vietnam relations are sustainable and continuous, and the latest interactions between senior official from both sides will lay a more solid foundation for the continuous development of bilateral relations in the future, Xu said.HOUSTON (AP) — An elaborate parody appears to be behind an effort to resurrect Enron, the Houston-based energy company that exemplified the worst in American corporate fraud and greed after it went bankrupt in 2001. If its return is comedic, some former employees who lost everything in Enron’s collapse aren’t laughing. “It’s a pretty sick joke and it disparages the people that did work there. And why would you want to even bring it back up again?” said former Enron employee Diana Peters, who represented workers in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings. Here’s what to know about the history of Enron and the purported effort to bring it back. What happened at Enron? Once the nation’s seventh-largest company, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2, 2001, after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions of dollars in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable. The energy company's collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work, wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions and rendered $60 billion in Enron stock worthless. Its aftershocks were felt throughout the energy sector. Twenty-four Enron executives , including former CEO Jeffrey Skilling , were eventually convicted for their roles in the fraud. Enron founder Key Lay’s convictions were vacated after he died of heart disease following his 2006 trial. Is Enron coming back? On Monday — the 23rd anniversary of the bankruptcy filing — a company representing itself as Enron announced in a news release that it was relaunching as a “company dedicated to solving the global energy crisis.” It also posted a video on social media, advertised on at least one Houston billboard and a took out a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle In the minute-long video that was full of generic corporate jargon, the company talks about “growth” and “rebirth.” It ends with the words, “We’re back. Can we talk?” Enron's new website features a company store, where various items featuring the brand's tilted “E” logo are for sale, including a $118 hoodie. In an email, company spokesperson Will Chabot said the new Enron was not doing any interviews yet, but that "We’ll have more to share soon.” Signs point to the comeback being a joke. In the “terms of use and conditions of sale” on the company's website, it says “the information on the website about Enron is First Amendment protected parody, represents performance art, and is for entertainment purposes only.” Documents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show that College Company, an Arkansas-based LLC, owns the Enron trademark. The co-founder of College Company is Connor Gaydos, who helped create a joke conspiracy theory that claims all birds are actually surveillance drones for the government. What do former Enron employees think of the company’s return? Peters said that since learning about the “relaunch” of Enron, she has spoken with several other former employees and they are also upset by it. She said the apparent stunt was “in poor taste.” “If it’s a joke, it’s rude, extremely rude. And I hope that they realize it and apologize to all of the Enron employees,” Peters said. Peters, who is 74 years old, said she is still working in information technology because “I lost everything in Enron, and so my Social Security doesn’t always take care of things I need done.” “Enron’s downfall taught us critical lessons about corporate ethics, accountability, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. Enron’s legacy was the employees in the trenches. Leave Enron buried,” she said. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70 Juan A. Lozano, The Associated PressRICHMOND — Two years ago, Gov. Glenn Youngkin proposed sweeping investments to overhaul the state’s behavioral health system. The initiative, called Right Help, Right Now, promised funding for crisis response solutions like mobile crisis teams and a new crisis hotline. On Wednesday, Youngkin said the commonwealth had made good on that promise. “We are finding a way to get people the help they need when they need it, and that does not mean tomorrow or next month,” he said during a news conference at the Patrick Henry Building. “It means today.” At the outset, the program’s goals included boosting the number of mobile crisis response units from 36 to 70. Today, there are 102 active teams operating 24/7 year round. Those teams average a 50-minute response time across the state. Likewise, Youngkin said that between crisis receiving centers, stabilization units and therapeutic homes, there are now 663 available crisis units, up from 213. Other highlights included the 988 hotline , which acts as an alternative to 911 for mental health crises. In September, the hotline received more than 14,000 calls. Youngkin said the wider availability of dedicated mental health supports also reduced the amount of time police officers spent monitoring people in crisis at hospitals. To continue the progress, Youngkin pledged an additional $70 million to further the efforts of Right Help, Right Now in a budget proposal he will present next week. Still, there’s work to be done. The bulk of last year’s funding went to developmental disability waivers , distributed quarterly over two years and designed to help children and adults with disabilities receive support at home. Historically, the waitlist to receive these waivers has been thousands of people long. The mental health investment has funded 3,440 slots for top applicants — effectively enough to clear the backlog of people who urgently need support services. But that doesn’t mean there’s enough support to get people help right away. There is a rollout process, and advocates have warned there remains a shortage of service providers who act as an alternative to group homes. “We hear from people when they get (the waiver), and they call excited,” said Tonya Milling, executive director of the Arc of Virginia, an organization that advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. “And then it’s, ‘Oh my God, what do I do?” To that end, the Arc is lobbying for resources to help waiver recipients navigate the process. Milling said there’s also a difference in how crisis intervention systems work for people with developmental disabilities compared to people accessing the mental health system without one, at least right now. “It’s taken longer to get crisis receiving centers trained, ready and prepared so that they know how to support someone with (intellectual and developmental disabilities) when they come in,” she said. “We have a lot of people with significant support needs that have autism that can manifest as a behavioral health crisis. Calling the cops is still pretty scary, so there needs to be so much more education on 988 and for people to know to call that.” Of the $70 million in spending included in Youngkin’s budget amendments, $35 million would go toward Special Conservators of the Peace, badged officers in hospitals and emergency departments that would take custody of people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. Youngkin said the goal is to reduce the time police officers spend in hospitals. The governor will present his amended budget proposal to state lawmakers next Wednesday. The General Assembly convenes Jan. 8 and will adjourn Feb. 22. During the session, lawmakers will consider this and other amendments Youngkin proposes for the state’s two-year budget plan. Kate Seltzer, katherine.seltzer@virginiamedia.com