#up intermediate result 2020

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This is your brain on fraud apologetics

In 1998, two Stanford students published a paper in Computer Networks entitled “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine,” in which they wrote, “Advertising funded search engines will be inherently biased towards the advertisers and away from the needs of consumers.”

https://research.google/pubs/pub334/

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/24/passive-income/#swiss-cheese-security

The co-authors were Lawrence Page and Sergey Brin, and the “large-scale hypertextual web search-engine” they were describing was their new project, which they called “Google.” They were 100% correct — prescient, even!

On Wednesday night, a friend came over to watch some TV with us. We ordered out. We got scammed. We searched for a great local Thai place we like called Kiin and clicked a sponsored link for a Wix site called “Kiinthaila.com.” We should have clicked the third link down (kiinthaiburbank.com).

We got scammed. The Wix site was a lookalike for Kiin Thai, which marked up their prices by 15% and relayed the order to our local, mom-and-pop, one-branch restaurant. The restaurant knew it, too — they called us and told us they were canceling the order, and said we could still come get our food, but we’d have to call Amex to reverse the charge.

As it turned out, the scammers double-billed us for our order. I called Amex, who advised us to call back in a couple days when the charge posted to cancel it — in other words, they were treating it as a regular customer dispute, and not a systemic, widespread fraud (there’s no way this scammer is just doing this for one restaurant).

In the grand scheme of things, this is a minor hassle, but boy, it’s haunting to watch the quarter-century old prophecy of Brin and Page coming true. Search Google for carpenters, plumbers, gas-stations, locksmiths, concert tickets, entry visas, jobs at the US Post Office or (not making this up) tech support for Google products, and the top result will be a paid ad for a scam. Sometimes it’s several of the top ads.

This kind of “intermediation” business is actually revered in business-schools. As Douglas Rushkoff has written, the modern business wisdom reveres “going meta” — not doing anything useful, but rather, creating a chokepoint between people who do useful things and people who want to pay for those things, and squatting there, collecting rent:

https://rushkoff.medium.com/going-meta-d42c6a09225e

It’s the ultimate passive income/rise and grind side-hustle: It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to discover a whole festering nest of creeps on Tiktok talking about how they pay Mechanical Turks to produce these lookalike sites at scale.

This mindset is so pervasive that people running companies with billions in revenue and massive hoards of venture capital run exactly the same scam. During lockdown, companies like Doordash, Grubhub and Uber Eats stood up predatory lookalike websites for local restaurants, without their consent, and played monster-in-the-middle, tricking diners into ordering through them:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/19/we-are-beautiful/#man-in-the-middle

These delivery app companies were playing a classic enshittification game: first they directed surpluses to customers to lock them in (heavily discounting food), then they directed surplus to restaurants (preferential search results, free delivery, low commissions) — then, having locked in both consumers and producers, they harvested the surplus for themselves.

Today, delivery apps charge massive premiums to both eaters and restaurants, load up every order with junk fees, and clone the most successful restaurants out of ghost kitchens — shipping containers in parking lots crammed with low-waged workers cranking out orders for 15 different fake “virtual restaurants”:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/01/autophagic-buckeyes/#subsidized-autophagia

Delivery apps speedran the enshittification cycle, but Google took a slower path to get there. The company has locked in billions of users (e.g. by paying billions to be the default search on Safari and Firefox and using legal bullying to block third party Android device-makers from pre-installing browsers other than Chrome). For years, it’s been leveraging our lock-in to prey on small businesses, getting them to set up Google Business Profiles.

These profiles are supposed to help Google distinguish between real sellers and scammers. But Kiin Thai has a Google Business Profile, and searching for “kiin thai burbank” brings up a “Knowledge Panel” with the correct website address — on a page that is headed with a link to a scam website for the same business. Google, in other words, has everything it needs to flag lookalike sites and confirm them with their registered owners. It would cost Google money to do this — engineer-time to build and maintain the system, content moderator time to manually check flagged listings, and lost ad-revenue from scammers — but letting the scams flourish makes Google money, at the expense of Google users and Google business customers.

Now, Google has an answer for this: they tell merchants who are being impersonated by ad-buying scammers that all they need to do is outbid them for the top ad-spot. This is a common approach — Amazon has a $31b/year “ad business” that’s mostly its own platform sellers bidding against each other to show you fake results for your query. The first five screens of Amazon search results are 50% ads:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/28/enshittification/#relentless-payola

This is “going meta,” so naturally, Meta is doing it too: Facebook and Instagram have announced a $12/month “verification” badge that will let you report impersonation and tweak the algorithm to make it more likely that the posts you make are shown to the people who explicitly asked to see them:

https://www.vox.com/recode/2023/2/21/23609375/meta-verified-twitter-blue-checkmark-badge-instagram-facebook

The corollary of this, of course, is that if you don’t pay, they won’t police your impersonators, and they won’t show your posts to the people who asked to see them. This is pure enshittification — the surplus from users and business customers is harvested for the benefit of the platform owners:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

The idea that merchants should master the platforms as a means of keeping us safe from their impersonators is a hollow joke. For one thing, the rules change all the time, as the platforms endlessly twiddle the knobs that determine what gets shown to whom:

https://doctorow.medium.com/twiddler-1b5c9690cce6

And they refuse to tell anyone what the rules are, because if they told you what the rules were, you’d be able to bypass them. Content moderation is the only infosec domain where “security through obscurity” doesn’t get laughed out of the room:

https://doctorow.medium.com/como-is-infosec-307f87004563

Worse: the one thing the platforms do hunt down and exterminate with extreme prejudice is anything that users or business-customers use to twiddle back — add-ons and plugins and jailbreaks that override their poor choices with better ones:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/29/23378541/the-og-app-instagram-clone-pulled-from-app-store

As I was submitting complaints about the fake Kiin scam-site (and Amex’s handling of my fraud call) to the FTC, the California Attorney General, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and Wix, I wrote a little Twitter thread about what a gross scam this is:

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1628948906657878016

The thread got more than two million reads and got picked up by Hacker News and other sites. While most of the responses evinced solidarity and frustration and recounted similar incidents in other domains, a significant plurality of the replies were scam apologetics — messages from people who wanted to explain why this wasn’t a problem after all.

The most common of these was victim-blaming: “you should have used an adblocker” or “never click the sponsored link.” Of course, I do use an ad-blocker — but this order was placed with a mobile browser, after an absentminded query into the Google search-box permanently placed on the home screen, which opens results in Chrome (where I don’t have an ad-blocker, so I can see material behind an ad-blocker-blocker), not Firefox (which does have an ad-blocker).

Now, I also have a PiHole on my home LAN, which blocks most ads even in a default browser — but earlier this day, I’d been on a public wifi network that was erroneously blocking a website (the always excellent superpunch.net) so I’d turned my wifi off, which meant the connection came over my phone’s 5G connection, bypassing the PiHole:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/28/shut-yer-pi-hole/

“Don’t click a sponsored link” — well, the irony here is that if you habitually use a browser with an ad-blocker, and you backstop it with a PiHole, you never see sponsored links, so it’s easy to miss the tiny “Sponsored” notification beside the search result. That goes double if you’re relaxing with a dinner guest on the sofa and ordering dinner while chatting.

There’s a name for this kind of security failure: the Swiss Cheese Model. We all have multiple defenses (in my case: foreknowledge of Google’s ad-scam problem, an ad-blocker in my browser, LAN-wide ad sinkholing). We also have multiple vulnerabilities (in my case: forgetting I was on 5G, being distracted by conversation, using a mobile device with a permanent insecure search bar on the homescreen, and being so accustomed to ad-blocked results that I got out of the habit of checking whether a result was an ad).

If you think you aren’t vulnerable to scams, you’re wrong — and your confidence in your invulnerability actually increases your risk. This isn’t the first time I’ve been scammed, and it won’t be the last — and every time, it’s been a Swiss Cheese failure, where all the holes in all my defenses lined up for a brief instant and left me vulnerable:

https://locusmag.com/2010/05/cory-doctorow-persistence-pays-parasites/

Other apologetics: “just call the restaurant rather than using its website.” Look, I know the people who say this don’t think I have a time-machine I can use to travel back to the 1980s and retrieve a Yellow Pages, but it’s hard not to snark at them, just the same. Scammers don’t just set up fake websites for your local businesses — they staff them with fake call-centers, too. The same search that takes you to a fake website will also take you to a fake phone number.

Finally, there’s “What do you expect Google to do? They can’t possibly detect this kind of scam.” But they can. Indeed, they are better situated to discover these scams than anyone else, because they have their business profiles, with verified contact information for the merchants being impersonated. When they get an ad that seems to be for the same business but to a different website, they could interrupt the ad process to confirm it with their verified contact info.

Instead, they choose to avoid the expense, and pocket the ad revenue. If a company promises to “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” I think we have the right to demand these kinds of basic countermeasures:

https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/our-approach/

The same goes for Amex: when a merchant is scamming customers, they shouldn’t treat complaints as “chargebacks” — they should treat them as reports of a crime in progress. Amex has the bird’s eye view of their transaction flow and when a customer reports a scam, they can backtrack it to see if the same scammer is doing this with other merchants — but the credit card companies make money by not chasing down fraud:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosalindadams/mastercard-visa-fraud

Wix also has platform-scale analytics that they could use to detect and interdict this kind of fraud — when a scammer creates a hundred lookalike websites for restaurants and uses Wix’s merchant services to process payments for them, that could trigger human review — but it didn’t.

Where do all of these apologetics come from? Why are people so eager to leap to the defense of scammers and their adtech and fintech enablers? Why is there such an impulse to victim-blame?

I think it’s fear: in their hearts, people — especially techies — know that they, too, are vulnerable to these ripoffs, but they don’t want to admit it. They want to convince themselves that the person who got scammed made an easily avoidable mistake, and that they themselves will never make a similar mistake.

This is doubly true for readerships on tech-heavy forums like Twitter or (especially) Hacker News. These readers know just how many vulnerabilities there are — how many holes are in their Swiss cheese — and they are also overexposed to rise-and-grind/passive income rhetoric.

This produces a powerful cognitive dissonance: “If all the ‘entrepreneurs’ I worship are just laying traps for the unwary, and if I am sometimes unwary, then I’m cheering on the authors of my future enduring misery.” The only way to resolve this dissonance — short of re-evaluating your view of platform capitalism or questioning your own immunity to scams — is to blame the victim.

The median Hacker News reader has to somehow resolve the tension between “just install an adblocker” and “Chrome’s extension sandbox is a dumpster fire and it’s basically impossible to know whether any add-on you install can steal every keystroke and all your other data”:

https://mattfrisbie.substack.com/p/spy-chrome-extension

In my Twitter thread, I called this “the worst of all possible timelines.” Everything we do is mediated by gigantic, surveillant monopolists that spy on us comprehensively from asshole to appetite — but none of them, not a 20th century payment giant nor a 21st century search giant — can bestir itself to use that data to keep us safe from scams.

Next Thu (Mar 2) I'll be in Brussels for Antitrust, Regulation and the Political Economy, along with a who's-who of European and US trustbusters. It's livestreamed, and both in-person and virtual attendance are free:

https://www.brusselsconference.com/registration

On Fri (Mar 3), I'll be in Graz for the Elevate Festival:

https://elevate.at/diskurs/programm/event/e23doctorow/

[Image ID: A modified version of Hieronymus Bosch's painting 'The Conjurer,' which depicts a scam artist playing a shell-game for a group of gawking rubes. The image has been modified so that the scam artist's table has a Google logo and the pea he is triumphantly holding aloft bears the 'Sponsored' wordmark that appears alongside Google search results.]

[howtofightwrite]

For super-powered individuals, if we assume the standard of characters being stronger, faster, more durable than normal, is there a reasonably thin enough material (i.e. not just 5 inch thick hardened steel) that a super strong individual could carry to be bullet-proof (enough), presumably in some form of plate armor where you can still be agile?

Not exactly. The problem with armor (in the context of armored vehicles) is that you can just hit them harder. Something that can stop a .50 round might not do so well against a guided explosive munition, and if that fails an artillery strike. But, against a roughly human foe, those anti-material rounds would probably get the job done.

So, let's stick with your hardened steel solution for a moment. A .50 BMG round will penetrate ~1.5 inches, but for the sake of argument let's say 2 inches. That's a pretty good defense against a sniper with an AM rifle. However, this is also used in heavy machine guns, where you're looking at a cyclic rate of ~750-850rpm. In a situation like that, your armor might hold up to a short burst, but probably will not survive multiple bursts in the same area. As is often the case, the real problem isn't the bullet with your name on it, it's the 20 or 30 buddies who wanted to swing by for a fun time.

This leads to another problem. While bullets punching holes in you is bad, your armor taking a hit can be pretty unpleasant in its own right. A .50 BMG will deliver somewhere north of 14k joules of force into the target. That's enough for the bullet to do some pretty unpleasant things to a person in the armor, even if the armor itself isn't compromised. This a large part of why there isn't any armory rated to soak a hit from one of the AM rifles. (The Russians claimed that their Ratnik-3 armor would be able to... and then it never really appeared. The claim was someone dubious to begin with, but that's a much larger, and wilder, rabbithole than you're asking about.)

For a normal person, wearing high end body armor, hits from normal combat rifles (intermediate and high power rounds) can result in broken ribs and internal hemorrhaging. It's not just about your armor being bulletproof, it's about your armor being able to effectively dissipate kinetic force as it's received. If it doesn't do that effectively, the bullets may get the job done, even if they don't manage to penetrate the body armor.

On an individual level, simply adding more armor isn't a particularly efficient solution. It makes sense to a point, but if you're already saying someone is super-humanly strong, and tough, covering them in steel plate isn't going to make them immune to harm.

Beyond that, there have been experiments with developing combat exoskeletons, to allow normal soldiers this kind of protection. The aforementioned Ratnik-3 was the Russian program, while the American project was named TALOS. TALOS was scrapped sometime before February 2019, citing technological limitations. So, this isn't a new concept.

Something I found deeply amusing is the “See also,” section on TALOS's Wikipedia page includes a link to Crysis. For those unfamiliar, Crysis was a first person shooter set in the distant future year of 2020, which would have come dangerously close to matching the intended schedule for TALOS, if the project had continued.

Powered exosuit research is probably not dead, even if TALOS has been scrapped. It may be a bit further out than was originally expected, but it is a reasonable bet that it will happen at some point. There are a lot of technological hurdles, including both the issue with the armor failing under direct fire, and dealing with kinetic force, but, at least from an optimistic perspective, it's somewhat plausible.

Unless you're talking about vehicles, modern armor isn't about adding more metal, it's about being more efficient with dissipating the kinetic force from a hit, and still survive to do it at least a couple times.

That said, whatever you do come up with, it's likely that the old adage will hold true, if force doesn't solve your problems, you're probably not using enough of it. No matter how good your armor is, it won't survive sufficient application of high explosives.

Even ignoring all that, a Type IV plate will still take a hit from most rifles (up to and including .30-06 AP rounds.) You don't need fantasy armor for that, it's something that already exists. Real world body armor is designed to take hits. Full plate was designed for melee combat. Neither one is particularly good at doing the other's job. That's not a limitation of the materials or technology, it's a function of what the armor is designed to deal with.

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, one of my scoutmasters warned us that if you use a knife as a screwdriver, you'll break it. It has an intended purpose. Trying use that tool, (whether it's a knife or body armor) for a purpose other than it's intended ones, will usually end poorly. (Of course, I also remember a crayon eater who was rather vocal in his opinion that the USP's only effective use was as a hammer.)

If you want to put a character in fully enclosed armor, take a look at Ratnik-3 or TALOS armor. If you just want a character who's unusually durable, and you're willing to go for (low key) superpowers, you don't need special armor to get that idea across.

-Starke

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get access to new posts three days early, and direct access to us through Discord. If you’re already a Patron, thank you. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

[keiflwrs]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ enhypen.ㅤ﹚ ㅤ ࣪  ㅤ˖ ㅤeri's profile

OO1   ⋆ 𓏧 basics

BIRTH NAME: sebastian erin kang

NICKNAMES: bash, seb, sunny, teddy bear, bear, honey vocals, cinnamon roll.

BIRTHDATE: october 4, 2005

PLACE OF BIRTH: london, england

HOMETOWN: wellington, new zealand

NATIONALITY: british-kiwi

ETHNICITY: korean

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: english ( 100% — fluent ), korean ( 100% — fluent ), french ( 60% — intermediate ), japanese ( 45% — basics ).

OO2   ⋆ 𓏧 physical

FACECLAIM: taesan ( boynextdoor )

BLOOD TYPE: a positive

HEIGHT: 185cm

WEIGHT: 61kg

BODY MODIFICATIONS: none

OO3   ⋆ 𓏧 career

STAGE NAME: eri

PROFESSION: idol. songwriter. producer. ex-ballerino.

GROUP: enhypen

POSITION: no official positions

LABELS: hybe entertainment ( dec 2019 - june 2020 ). belift label ( june 2020 - present )

TRAINING PERIOD: 12 months

SKILL STATS:

𓏧 vocal: 98/100

𓏧 dance: 80/100

𓏧 rap: 65/100

𓏧 stage presence: 100/100

𓏧 acting: 80/100

𓏧 producing: 91/100

𓏧 songwriting: 100/100

𓏧 composing: 87/100

𓏧 choreographing: 19/100

𓏧 public speaking: 48/100

𓏧 leadership: 27/100

INDIVIDUAL FANDOM: erivly (eri's lovelies)

EMOJI HE REPRESENTS: 🐻

OO4   ⋆ 𓏧 personality overview

ENNEAGRAM TYPE: 4w3

TRITYPE: 495

TEMPERAMENTS: melancholic-phlegmatic

BIG FIVE ( SLOAN ): rloai

MBTI TYPE: isfp

OO5   ⋆ 𓏧 personal

GENDER: male

PRONOUNS: he/him

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: panromantic ( private )

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: pan-demisexual ( private )

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single

PHOBIA(S): aerophobia ( fear of flying ). cynophobia ( fear of dogs ).

HABITS: furrowing his eyebrows, sitting with his legs crossed, putting things in his mouth, humming in agreement.

HOBBIES + SKILLS: writing music/songs, playing his electric guitar, eating, sleeping, sketching, painting, going to cat cafes, listening to music, stargazing, seashell collecting.

OO6   ⋆ 𓏧 facts

he was placed third place in the final of I-LAND

eri trained for 6 months before taking part of I-LAND

his parents abandoned him when he was 8 years old, and he spent his whole childhood until he was 16 on an orphanage at new zealand

living in the orphanage was not the worst thing for him. however, he felt extremely lonely around that time

eri is scared of dogs because of an accident he had when he was 9 years old. however, his fear improved over time

he likes mint chocolate chip ice cream

he is very gullible, which results in him getting tricked by niki's pranks

he goes to cat cafes daily, it is one of the things that always managed to cheer him up

eri falls in love and develops crushes easily

his role models are bts and seventeen

he likes physical affection, but he gets shy whenever someone shows affection since he's not used to it

his most precious item is his kuromi plush. It was a gift from a close caregiver before she left, eri carries it everywhere he goes; in tours, cafes, when shopping, etc. Plus, he would have a mental breakdown if it got lost

©KEIFLWRS

[33-108]

"Srividya: the twists and turns of a tantric tradition : Phil Hine

In the last two issues of my Unfoldings newsletter, I have been engaging in an in-depth analysis of Kenneth Grant’s representation of Tantric mysteries in his books – using his 1999 book, Beyond the Mauve Zone as the main reference point. In support of this series of essays, I thought it would be helpful for those reading the essays to attempt a general overview of the historical development of the Tripurāsundarī traditions, known nowadays as Śrīvidyā. In this first post, I’m going to focus on the roots of this tradition – the Nityā

The term Śrīvidyā is a compound formed from Śrī – an honorific denoting auspiciousness (also an epithet of the Goddess), and Vidyā – a feminine mantra.

Exoterically, Vidyā can denote knowledge or wisdom. The early texts of the tradition do not use this term though, rather, the tradition referred to itself as the traipuradarśana (doctrine of Tripurā) or sometimes, the Saugbhāgyavidyā (Saugbhāgya denotes good fortune, happiness, and success). According to Anna A. Golovkova (2020), the term Śrīvidyā first appears in a fourteenth-century commentary on the Yoginīhṛdaya. The tradition is sometimes referred to as the ‘last sampradāya’ – the most recent of the nine classical Śaiva tantric traditions. The principal or ‘root’ text of the tradition, the Vāmakeśvarīmata tantra has been dated to between the 10th-11th century CE.

The Nityā Tradition

Contemporary scholars have identified the antecedents of the worship of Tripurāsundarī within a lost Kaula tradition, known as the Nityā (‘eternal’). Much of what is known about this tradition has been gleaned from references in tantric scriptures.

As Golovkova points out, there are no references to the Nityā in works of the Trika tradition, but there are in the later Kubjika tradition, such as the Kubjikāmata (tenth century), the vast Manthānabhairava Tantra, and the Ciñciṇīmatasārasamuccaya. Only one scripture of the Nityā has survived – the Nityākaula. Chapter 30 of the Manthānabhairava Tantra which largely concerns the rules for writing and transmitting scripture, names the Nityākaula as one of the scriptures it considers valid.

In the Nityā tradition, the principal goddess is Kāmeśvarī, and her consort is the god of love, Kāmadeva, accompanied by eleven subordinate Nityā goddesses (see this long essay for some related discussion of Kāma, his weapons, particularly the Sugarcane Bow).

These Nityā goddesses are placed around a triangle (identified with the yoni) and intermediate points of an enclosing hexagram. The points of the triangle are identified with three pīṭhas (seats) of the goddess: Jālandhara, Pūrṇapīṭha, and Uḍḍiyāna. The fourth pīṭha, Kāmarūpa, is the centre of the triangle and the abode of Kāmeśvarī. Hence Kāmarūpa is considered to be the greatest of the śaktī pīṭhas.

The Kālikāpurāṇa (c.10-11th century) gives a lengthy description of Kāmarūpa (Assam) as a kind of divine wonderland, where death cannot enter; where there are no temples or images, but the deities are present as mountains, ponds, trees, and streams. After the terrible events of Dakṣa’s sacrifice, Śiva’s spouse, Satī took her own life. The grieving Śiva carted her body about with him until the other gods sliced up her body. The goddess’ yonimaṇḍala fell at Kāmarūpa, on Mount Kāmagiri (mountain of desire).

The Kāmākhyā temple complex is a centre of Śakta Tantra, and the goddess Kāmākhyā is worshipped there in the form of a yoni-stone, submerged in a natural stream, located in an underground chamber beneath the temple. According to the Kālikāpurāṇa, bathing in the waters of this stream results in release from rebirth and instant liberation. The Kaulajñānanirṇaya says that all of the women who reside in Kāmarūpa are Yoginīs who can reveal secrets and grant siddhis.

Kāmeśvarī is described as being of red hue, bearing weapons the weapons of Kāmadeva (noose, goad, bow, flower-arrows), and extensively ornamented (see these posts for some related discussion of ornamentation).

According to Golovkova, many of these elements appear in the Vāmakeśvarīmata (and later scriptures) – such as the goddess’ red hue; her bearing of the weapons of Kāma; the triangle and her triadic form; and her identification with the pīṭhas. Although, in the later tradition, Kāma has been supplanted by Śiva, there are many references to Kāma – particularly in the names of the groups of subsidiary goddesses populating the layers of the Śricakra (here’s a quick tour through the Śricakra).

In her paper, Golovkova gives a very insightful comparison between a passage she has translated from the Nityākaula and a very similar passage from the Vāmakeśvarīmata. Both passages show that the worship of the goddesses necessitates that the (male) adept should, having installed the goddess in his own body using Nyāsa, must dress in red clothing, adorn himself with flowers, smear his body with red unguent, apply eyeliner (collyrium), chew betel and spices, and equip himself with the weapons of Kāma. He is trying to further identify himself with the goddess by taking on her physical characteristics. Similar practices, albeit directed at emulating the fury of Bhairava are described in the mudrākośa section of the Jayadrathayāmala. This kind of ritualistic male performance of femaleness can be found in early tantric scriptures -even those of the orthodox Śaiva Siddhanta.

The attraction of female partners – human, or otherwise (nāgas, gāndharvas, yakṣinīs, for example) is a core concern of the Nityākaula, and again, as Golovkova shows, this is a focus of the Vāmakeśvarīmata. I concur. There is a great deal of emphasis on not only attracting women but gaining wealth, and power, destroying enemies, and obtaining siddhis in the Vāmakeśvarīmata – and relatively little directed towards what we think of as spiritual liberation.

Locating female agency is always a tricky proposition in regards to the tantras. In this respect, Golovkova argues that in these early scriptures, women have no agency at all – they are highly sexualized, mere objects for the male ritual gaze and acquisition, subjects of practices that aim at attracting and subordinating them."

Sources:

- Bagchi, P.C., Magee, Mike. 1986. Kaulajnana-nirnaya of the The School of Matsyendranatha. Prachya Prakashan.

-Dyczkowski, Mark S.G. (2009). Manthanabhairavatantram Kumarikakhandah (The Section Concerning the Virgin Goddess of the Tantra of the Churning Bhairava In Fourteen Volumes). Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts and D. K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.

-Golovkova, Anna A. 2020. ‘The Forgotten Consort: The Goddess and Kāmadeva in the Early Worship of Tripurasundarī’. International Journal of Hindu Studies. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11407-020-09272-6

-Magee, Mike. 2011. The Mysteries of the Red Goddess. Prakasha Publishing.

-Rosati, Paolo E. 2023. ‘Crossing the boundaries of sex, blood and magic in the Tantric cult of Kāmākhyā’ in Acri, Andrea and Rosati, Paolo E. (eds) Tantra, Magic, and Vernacular Religions in Monsoon Asia. Routledge."

[alldancersaretalented]

Madisyn Rose Amos Solo and Scholarship Results

2020/21, Age 7 (Dance Connection 2)

W.O.M.A.N. - Jazz, Tanya Emmer

DC 2 Showcase

Rainbow Mesa (3/12/21): 2nd in Top Rising Starz Solo 6-8, Rising Starz Petite DOY

Starpower Gilbert: 1st in Category, 4th in 8 & Under Intermediate Solos, 5 Stars, Petite Miss Starpower 1st Runner-Up

Adrenaline Phoenix: 1st in Category, 2nd in Sparks Solo, Ultimate Platinum

National Dance Honors: 1st in Category, 2nd in Sparks Solo, Ultimate Platinum

Scholarships:

Adrenaline Phoenix: Sparks Scholarship

Nuvo Phoenix: Die Hard Dancer (Angela Cifone)

National Dance Honors: Sparks Scholarship

One Rhythm Dance: Mini Scholarship, Lyrical Scholarship, Ballet Scholarship, Hip-Hop Scholarship, Jazz Scholarship, Tap Scholarship

2021/22, Age 8 (Dance Connection 2)

Good Lookin' - Jazz, Tanya Emmer

24Seven Rochester: 2nd in Mini Solo

Nuvo National Harbor: 1st in Mini Solo

24Seven Glendale: 1st in Mini Solo

Jump Santa Clara: 1st in Mini Solo

The Dance Awards Las Vegas: Top 22 Mini Female Best Dancer

Scholarships:

One Rhythm: Hip-Hop Scholarship

24Seven Rochester: Mini Non-Stop Dancer

Jump Phoenix: Mini Jump VIP

Nuvo National Harbor: Mini BreakOut Artist

The Dance Awards Las Vegas: Class Scholarship Winner

2022/23, Age 9 (Club Dance Studio)

Do What I Do - Jazz, Molly Long

24Seven Rochester: 2nd in Mini Solo

Radix San Francisco: 1st in Mini Solo

24Seven Denver: 2nd in Mini Solo

Jump Detroit: 2nd in Mini Solo

24Seven Glendale: 5th in Mini Solo

Nuvo Cleveland: 1st in Mini Solo

The Dance Awards Las Vegas: Top 13 Mini Female Best Dancer

Radix Nationals: Top 15 Mini Protégé

Without - Contemporary, Jennifer Peterson

Jump Buffalo: 1st in Mini Solo

24Seven Myrtle Beach: 1st in Mini Solo

The Dance Awards Las Vegas: 3rd in Mini Solo

Scholarships:

24Seven Rochester: Mini Non-Stop Dancer

Radix San Francisco: Mini Protégé

Jump Glendale: Mini Jump VIP

Nuvo Cleveland: Mini BreakOut Artist

2023/24, Age 10 (Club/Elite Dance Pro)

Time - Lyrical, Shannon Mather (Club)

24Seven Rochester: 1st in Mini Solo

Nuvo Santa Clara: 5th in Mini Solo

The Weight Of It All - Contemporary, Chelsea Sebes (Elite Dance Pro)

Jump Detroit: 1st in Mini Solo

NYCDA Phoenix: 4th in Mini Solo

A New Life - Contemporary (Elite Dance Pro)

The Dance Awards Las Vegas: Top 22 Mini Female Best Dancer

Scholarships:

KAR Convention: KAR Protégé Winner

24Seven Rochester: Mini Non-Stop Dancer

Nuvo Santa Clara: Mini BreakOut Artist

Jump Detroit: Mini Jump VIP

[amalasdraws]

is there a specific piece where you look back on and go

damn, i really did so well with this!

Oh yes! Actually many! I have phases where I look at them and see mistakes but overall I love looking at them and things damn yes!!! The Aran and Tao homework piece is def one of those! It took me so long but I really love how it turned out and it felt like a moment where I leveled up, so I hold it dear to me!

This food truck piece is also one I still really love! I love how the truck turned out and how Aran and Tao look, especially their clothes. And I really love the colors here. This was also a pick I took a bit longer with but then all fell into place and coloring was so much fun!

And this diner pic is one of my all time faves too. Here I really struggled with the colors and the final result is a bit of an accident. But a happy one!! It was a good luck! And Aran making breakfast here is one of my all time faves too. This was the first pic that really worked out with the intermediate palette and I was so excited. Still am! This was a great break through.

Tbh i really could name more. But those are pieces that even hold up through time. Some are from 2020 and I still look back and I am really happy with them. And this says a lot! I know sometimes I struggle with my work. Right now for example. But I still overall really like my work and I like looking at some old pieces still.

[loveforlandonorris]

💬 Lando's words on having reached 100 races in his career at Austin:

Lando on his debut race at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix:

“I can’t remember all of my debut race, but I can remember a lot of it,” Lando says. “I can remember being on the grid, the nerves, and having so many things to remember. We practised that situation so many times in pre-season testing, but having to remember my stop laps, the plan for the race, and things like that added a lot of nerves, and that’s what I really remember."

“Then I remember being on the grid, lights out and the run down to Turn 1. It was not my best start, I don’t think, but a good memory. It was exciting, and doing it for the first time is special. I wouldn't say my first race was my favourite, it is cool and memorable, but it is nothing compared to a podium or a pole.”

Lando on his 1st podium at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix:

“I remember the whole thing,” Lando says. “I got past [Sergio] Perez at Turn 3, I was driving as quickly as I could. The gap to Lewis [Hamilton] at that point was quite big, but I knew that he had a five-second time penalty and that I needed to push as hard as I could. This is where Scenario 7 happened."

“There were no fans there, which is the disappointing thing, but to see the whole team, to spray some champagne – that was my first time in quite a while - was very nice.”

Lando on his first pole at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix:

“It was an intermediate qualifying on a drying track." “There was one run on slick tyres in Q3, in conditions that I have always enjoyed since karting: slick tyres and that element of taking so much risk. You know that if it goes a little bit wrong, it is pretty much a guarantee you are going to be in the wall or crashing out."

“It is about who is going to take the biggest risk, basically, in every corner. The risk is a tyre's width, and if you go a little bit too wide, you're in the water. It is scary conditions in a way, but I remember my lap and the thought of 'don't mess it up'. I knew we had the chance of getting a good result."

“Crossing the line and getting told that I was P1 was super exciting, it put a big smile on my face. My first pole in Formula 1 was a good one.”

Lando on getting P2 in his home race at the 2023 British Grand Prix:

“Silverstone was one of the coolest, most exciting races,” Lando recalls. “One, because it is Silverstone, my home race, with the fans and the atmosphere, but then, of course, because of the podium. Getting my first podium of the year and having the turnaround we had to get to that point was quite incredible. It was just very special. It was my first [podium] in front of a home crowd."

“To hear everyone chanting my name, cheering for me, and seeing so many McLaren fans, it is one of those times that you remember looking up to as a kid. You really feel like you are in the moment when you are there, it is a very special feeling.”

Lando on his relationship with his teammates:

"There have always been filming days and things that we have done with Carlos [Sainz], Daniel [Ricciardo] and Oscar," he says. "There are moments you don't even see on camera when we are not filming. We have had great laughs. "It is about sharing these experiences with different teammates and people which is what always makes it a lot of fun. I wouldn't say there aren't any specific off-track moments I would name, but just time with my three teammates and the team, sharing my experiences with them."

Lando on having reached 100 races & his hopes for the future:

After completing my first 100, it has got to be a step up from everything that we have achieved so far, that next bracket of success, which is hopefully winning some races and competing for more race wins and podiums," Lando says. "I think this year has been our strongest so far in terms of actually competing on genuine pace for race wins and podiums."

"Previously, it was every now and then. It was a one-off strong race, or maybe we had gotten lucky. Now, we are actually competing."

"Over the next 100, it is about achieving more success with the team, sharing more moments, creating more memories and taking some gold trophies instead of silver or bronze ones - that is my target."

"We have had a great five years together, but there are hopefully many more to come in papaya with the Papaya Army cheering us on every weekend."

[sa7abnews]

Why China Won’t Allow Single Women to Freeze Their Eggs

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/16/why-china-wont-allow-single-women-to-freeze-their-eggs/

Why China Won’t Allow Single Women to Freeze Their Eggs

Last week, Xu Zaozao, also known as Teresa Xu, received the final verdict for a lawsuit she filed in 2019 against an obstetrics hospital that denied her access to egg-freezing services. Rejecting Xu’s third appeal on Aug. 7, the Third Intermediate People’s Court in Beijing sided with the hospital, saying it did not violate her rights by doing so. For the claimant, the outcome of a six-year battle for reproductive rights came as no surprise. “I was mentally prepared for it,” she said in a live stream on her social media account. “This result wasn’t all that unexpected.”

The 36-year-old women’s rights activist and writer first approached the hospital to freeze her eggs in 2018 after she broke up with her then-boyfriend, spurred by the realization that despite being unmarried and not wanting to put her career on hold, she wanted to have children someday. Instead, doctors urged Xu to marry and get pregnant sooner rather than later, as Chinese law allows only married couples to undergo the procedure of egg freezing. She decided to challenge the limits of fertility treatments in China in the first legal case of its kind. “It feels like my right to choose is always controlled by others,” she told reporters at the time.

In the early 2000s, the country’s National Health Commission issued rules that would allow single men to freeze their sperm. Yet, the law excludes single women from exercising the same rights. Though the court has now handed a decision that goes firmly against Xu’s wishes, the case has sparked a heated debate over gender equality in the country, with rights activists arguing that an overwhelming patriarchal culture in China excludes single women from exercising choice in their reproductive journey. 

“From a societal perspective, single women do not conform to traditional family values,” says Li Maizi, a renowned Chinese activist and campaigner for gender equality. “But as the first person in China to dare to challenge this unreasonable policy, Xu Zaozao has successfully brought the issue of egg freezing and assisted reproduction for single women into the public eye, making it an unavoidable social issue.”

Declining birthrates spur population crisis

The court’s decision comes at a time when China faces an urgent population crisis caused by aging and historically low fertility rates. Last year, the country’s population shrank—a first since 1961—as the fertility rate fell under 1.2 per woman, below the rate of 2.1 needed to keep a population stable, according to UN data. Concurrently, the number of Chinese households with just one person increased from 8.3% in 2000 to 25.4% in 2020. And while traditional, nuclear families remain the norm, more young women have begun delaying getting married and having children, including those in relationships. The number of registered marriages in China during the first half of this year dropped to the lowest level in a decade. 

These trends are widespread in other East Asian countries, too: the combined populations of China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan will shrink by 28% between 2020 and 2075, according to the U.N. 

Read More: Why Women in Asia Are Having Fewer Babies

In China, the ruling Communist Party has had a say over family planning for years, though officials have gradually loosened rules around the one-child policy by allowing families to have two children by 2016, and then three by 2021. To respond to the population crisis, President Xi Jinping pledged “a national policy system to boost birth rates” in 2022. Beijing has since offered incentives to encourage married couples to have more children that range from cash handouts, tax cuts, and property concessions, to making in vitro fertilization and other reproductive services more widely affordable.

These measures reflect how marriage is established as a gateway to children in China, says Melanie Meng Xue, a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “Aside from viewing children as the property of the husband’s family, rather than something women might desire from themselves, the Chinese Communist Party has reinforced this perspective by implementing policies that make marriage a prerequisite for obtaining a permit to give birth,” says Xue. She adds that without this permit, parents cannot officially register their child.

In light of these restrictions, single mother communities have united to fight for their rights for years by asking for “maternity allowances” and “maternity insurance”—compensation given to mothers for missed work income while pregnant. In 2021 Zhāng Méng, a single mother from Shanghai, successfully secured maternity insurance after battling the courts for four years. 

Officials nevertheless justify the ban on single women from freezing their eggs by pointing to the health risks involved with women giving birth at an older age. Experts have pushed back by pointing out that the procedure—which requires hormone injections and an egg retrieval procedure that takes place under anesthesia—is the same for single and married women. Moreover, a 2015 peer-reviewed article by Sun Xiaoxi, the deputy director of the Genetics & IVF Institute at Fudan University’s Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital, stated the risks associated with egg freezing were “small probability events.”

Read More: Can China’s Baby Bust Be Reversed? Don’t Count On It

Single women turn to other options

Given the restrictions, single Chinese women have instead turned elsewhere to seek the expensive procedure. In 2015, Chinese film star Xu Jinglei caused a stir when she revealed that she had undertaken an egg-freezing procedure in the U.S. two years earlier. Travel companies have also begun catering to these needs, with websites like Ctrip.com offering a seven-day tour of California that includes sessions at a clinic for egg freezing. 

Li says that while the U.S. remains a popular destination to undergo the procedure, women have also sought services in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and underground IVF clinics in China. “The enormous reproductive demand from non-mainstream groups has stimulated the market, giving rise to many gray industries,” she says. 

But for the majority of Chinese women wishing to access these services abroad, the high cost remains prohibitive. “I would’ve done it already if I could afford it,” one Guangzhou government office worker in her early 30s told CNN.

It will take a while before Chinese society can widely accept the use of IVF technology to allow women more reproductive options, Xue at LSE says, but Teresa Xu’s case has nevertheless highlighted the growing awareness among younger Chinese women of their reproductive rights, or lack thereof, as well as their desire to have children at a time of their choosing. 

“The current legal and social frameworks need to evolve in ways that are meaningful for women’s autonomy and rights,” she continues, “but even in a society that is not traditionally rights-based, it is not impossible to see policy changes occur.” 

Even Xu, the claimant, noted the positive language in the court judgment despite the verdict during her live stream: “As our country’s policy on births is adjusted, relevant medical and health laws, regulations, diagnosis and treatment standards, and medical ethics standards may also change accordingly.”

[bhushans]

Beyond Borders: The Global Drug Discovery Enzymes Market Offers Hope for Millions

The global drug discovery enzymes market is anticipated to grow rapidly and, by 2033, be valued at an estimated US$1,751.3 million. This substantial spike represents a significant advancement over its projected value of US$932.4 million in 2023. For the duration of the forecast, a robust Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.5% is anticipated, suggesting that the market is prepared for expansion.

Enzymes are vital instruments in pharmaceutical research and development that are utilized in the identification, verification, and refinement of therapeutic targets and candidates. These enzymes speed up the drug development process, explain metabolic pathways, and help researchers uncover new treatments for a variety of illnesses.

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The anticipated growth in the global market for drug discovery enzymes is being driven by multiple factors. The increasing prevalence of chronic and infectious illnesses, along with the growing demand for innovative treatments and personalized medicine approaches, are driving investments in drug discovery research and development. The market is also expanding as a result of advancements in high-throughput screening technologies, protein engineering, and enzymology, which are expanding the potential applications and capabilities of drug discovery enzymes.

Broadening Horizons: Enzymes Drive Innovation Across Industries

This growth is explained by the increasing adoption of drug discovery enzymes by a greater number of companies. These enzymes have historically been used in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, but they are also being used in the food and beverage sectors. This pattern illustrates a common emphasis on using enzymes for a variety of analyses, which eventually results in the creation of ground-breaking drugs.

Beyond Pharmaceuticals: Enzymes for a Sustainable Future

Drug discovery enzymes have applications outside of the pharmaceutical industry. Producing intermediates for the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is proving to be crucial to the development of potent drugs. In addition, the biofuel sector has made use of the potential of enzymes such as lipase. These enzymes are essential for the conversion of free fatty acids, which emphasizes the wide range of industries that have used this technology.

Unlocking a Healthier Future

The market for drug discovery enzymes is booming, which bodes well for the advancement of medicine. We can expect the development of more specialized and potent drugs as long as research and development on enzymes continue. This means better healthcare outcomes, but it also shows how enzymes can transform a number of industries and open the door to a future powered by ground-breaking discoveries.

Competitive Analysis of the Drug Discovery Enzymes Market:

In recent years, a number of well-known researchers have focused on studying drug discovery enzymes. In recent years, pharmaceutical experts have developed a number of pharmacological enzymes that have assisted in the treatment of patients’ life-threatening illnesses.

Some recent developments in the Drug Discovery Enzymes industry are as follows:

In November 2020-Genesis Therapeutics and Genentech formed an AI-driven, multi-target drug development cooperation. Genesis’ graph machine learning and drug discovery capabilities are used in this cooperation to uncover novel drug candidates for therapeutic targets across numerous disease categories.

In January 2020, Bayer signed a collaborative deal with the artificial intelligence drug discovery business Exscientia to develop and optimize innovative lead structures for prospective therapeutic candidates in the treatment of cardiovascular and oncological illnesses.

Some Key Participants Present in the Global Market Include:

Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC.

Kaneka Corporation

Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd

Genesis Biotechnology Group

Suven Life Sciences Limited

Enzo Life Sciences, Inc.

Merck KGaA

Key Segments:

By Product Type:

Active Kinases

Ubiquitin

Epigenetic

Methyltransferases

Deacetylases

Phosphodiesterases

Other Product Types

By End User:

Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Company

Research Institutes

Other End User

By Region:

North America

Latin America

Asia Pacific

The Middle East and Africa

Europe

[runnersnz]

“Running is my vehicle for self-exploration. 

I’ve run in some shape since I was a kid, nothing competitive really, just ranging from cross country, local kids running events and track at primary school. From Intermediate and High School, it was more directed towards fitness for football in the winters and tennis in the summers.

However, there was a period in those early teenage years at school where a particular teacher would make our class get sent out for a 3-5km block run for no particular reason. It was, in their eyes, a good excuse to get us focused and fit. In a sense it seemed to be a punishment for some reason. We were required to be back in a set time. If you were late or took too long, you had to either do it again or the next time extra kms would be added on. As a result, this took the fun out of running for me. It was no longer an enjoyable thing to do.

Fast forward to now and so much has changed. 

I’ve always tried to keep a reasonable level of fitness and maintain some form of good health over the last decade, whether it was through playing football or tennis or going through spurts of attending a gym. Funnily enough running was not on this list at all. However, I wasn’t getting any younger and injuries from the past came back to haunt me. This resulted in having to face reality and end my competitive and social footballing and tennis days. I became lost. I needed to find something to fill the void that ticked the boxes in a fitness and social interaction sense.

My father-in-law is a runner and he started to get into trail running, something I had never heard of. When I started to research what it encompassed, I thought, ‘No way! Why would someone run up rugged, uneven tracks and basically put themselves through so much pain in running incredibly long races and events?’

Next thing I knew, my amazing wife Katie, signed up to run the Tarawera Ultramarathon 21km in 2020. She was on a journey and I drew inspiration from her taking on this challenge. She graciously let me join her on this journey and together we completed the 21km race at Tarawera. We had a blast. What I did not anticipate was that 10kms into that run I would be hooked! From that moment on the trails and ultramarathons are always calling my name. The rest is history.

A quote I like to use is “you are never too old to dream a new dream”, and with this I had a new dream to run a 50km Ultramarathon. To achieve this, I wanted to go back to where it all started – the Tarawera Ultramarathon. I enlisted the guidance of some experienced running coaches to give me structure and guidance as I had no clue how to train for a distance like this. Despite Covid I was able to achieve this goal in 2021.

Together, Katie and I completed another couple of events, supporting local through the Manawatu Striders. This was fun to do as a couple and at the same time keeping healthy and fit. As a whānau, with our son, we would go to our local parkrun and either walk or run. It was really inspiring to see and meet other runners and whānau who were there too. We made new social connections with other local runners and walkers.

I have been so fortunate and grateful with my most recent challenge and goal in completing the 60km Kepler Challenge. It was an amazing and unforgettable experience and a big tick on my adventure list.

With running, and the trail running community, the people are just fantastic. There are always opportunities to connect with likeminded, passionate people who challenge their mind and body to achieve extraordinary things. These people do things many only dare to dream and it is inspiring and just awesome. 

I am someone who tries to give back in everything I do and running is no different. I am fortunate and grateful to now be part of the Achilles New Zealand Manawatū chapter. I have become a guide for our local people with disabilities and will be able to help them participate in events. The work here and the effort these athletes put in is truly inspiring and hugely rewarding. 

For me, running, and the trails, is now my happy place. It’s ‘my time’ in escaping the daily grind and hustle and bustle of everyday life. I have nothing but gratitude for being with the whenua, the sights and smells that greet me, the fresh early morning run in the bush as the sun rises, the mist or fog untouched in the hills, the newly formed spiderwebs from the previous night lie in wait. Being present in the moment and emerging out of the trail feeling revitalised, reenergised, and clear-headed sets me up for what lies ahead, ultimately helping my mental wellbeing.

Another reason why I love to run is to challenge myself, set a goal, face all the highs and lows, and then smash it! Three years ago, I started out small with goals that I wanted to achieve and did achieve. This gave me the self-belief and confidence that over time has now given me strength to have bigger goals that give me the drive and determination to go for. Some of these goals are scary to me and that’s okay. I remind myself that I get to be alive, I get to be here, I get to do this, I get to feel my physical weakness and I get to overcome it with my mind. It’s my determination and mental fortitude that gets me through it and to the start line. 

My son is one of my biggest motivators. For the majority of my races, he has always brought me home through the finishing shoot. One thing that drives me and pushes me not to quit in a race is the thought in my mind of him standing there waiting for me after being told, ‘Daddy’s nearly here – get ready’. These are priceless memories I’ll cherish forever. As he gets older, I want him to see the determination and drive I have for my training and running, doing the mahi to get the job done. I’ll look forward to the day when he wants to join me, and we run together and me trying to keep up with him. 

Running has become a regular part of life for me. I run for fun, I run for the social connectivity, and I run for a purpose as well as for my mental and physical wellbeing. By pushing my limits in the endurance sport world, it challenges and drives me on how far and how high I can go.

For me, It’s always one foot in front of the other. And to go one more.”

Brad @b.rad_and_run (Palmerston North) Photo taken in Te Anau – Portraits of Runners + their stories @RunnersNZ

[arthimpact]

A Comprehensive Guide to Micro Enterprises and Their Role in the Economy

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a vital component of economic development in many countries. They are responsible for a majority of businesses worldwide and employ more than half of the global workforce. In India, SMEs have a significant role to play in the country's self-reliance initiative or Atmanirbhar Bharat. With over 63 million micro industries, 330,000 small businesses, and 5,000 medium and micro enterprises, the Indian SME sector is poised for rapid growth. Uttar Pradesh has the most SMEs in India, followed by West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.

One of the most significant advantages of SMEs is their ability to quickly adapt their production structure to meet the changing needs of the market. This is not as easy in larger companies, which have more complex structures and larger investments. This agility allows SMEs to introduce new products and services more quickly, making them a valuable contributor to the economy. As such, governments need to support and promote the growth of SMEs to drive economic development and create new jobs.

The Uniqueness of MSME 

MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) have a multifaceted impact on various aspects of the economy, society, and environment. Let's take a closer look at the unique aspects of MSMEs that make them stand apart from other industries:

1. Employment Generation: MSMEs are a major source of employment, providing opportunities across various skill levels. Unlike large industries that require substantial capital investment, MSMEs are more labor-intensive, resulting in employment creation at a lower cost. They often employ people from marginalized communities, providing them with a stable source of income and improving their standard of living.

2. Rural and Backward Area Development: MSMEs play a vital role in rural industrialization. By setting up units in remote areas, they contribute to regional development, alleviating disparities between urban and rural regions. This leads to balanced growth and social inclusion. MSMEs also help in preserving traditional skills and crafts, which are essential for cultural heritage and tourism.

3. Complementary to Large Industries: MSMEs are not competitors to large industries but are complementary. They often act as ancillary units, supplying essential components, intermediate goods, and finishing tasks, thereby forming a synergistic relationship. This helps in reducing the cost of production for large industries and improves their competitiveness in the global market.

4. Equitable Distribution of Wealth: The decentralized nature of MSMEs ensures a fairer distribution of wealth and income across the country. They promote a more balanced development model by allowing entrepreneurship and innovation to thrive in various regions. This helps in reducing regional imbalances and promoting inclusive growth.

5. Agility and Flexibility: MSMEs are known for their agility and ability to adapt to market changes. Their size allows them to respond quickly to new trends, demands, or shifts in the economy. They are also more environment-friendly, promoting sustainable development practices.

MSMEs are not just important for economic growth but also social and environmental development. Their contribution to employment generation, rural development, industrialization, innovation, and sustainable development makes them a vital part of any economy.

How to register as an MSME in India?

As of July 1, 2020, the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in India has implemented a new registration procedure to be completed via the Udyam Registration Portal. This new process allows any individual who intends to establish a micro, small, or medium-sized enterprise to complete the registration process online through the Udyam Registration portal. The registration process is based on self-declaration, and there is no requirement to upload any documents, papers, certificates, or proof. Once registered, the enterprise will be assigned a permanent identity number called the “Udyam Registration Number”. Additionally, an e-certificate known as the “Udyam Registration Certificate” will be issued upon completion of the registration process. This new registration procedure is a significant milestone in the MSME sector, as it streamlines the registration process and eliminates the need for cumbersome documentation and paperwork, allowing entrepreneurs to focus on establishing and growing their businesses.

It's impossible to understand India's economic landscape without grasping the importance of MSMEs. This guide offers a comprehensive look at the vast scope of MSMEs, highlighting their critical role in the growth of the nation. The streamlined Udyam Registration process is also discussed, making this guide a valuable resource for both existing and aspiring entrepreneurs. As India's MSME sector continues to thrive, it will undoubtedly contribute to the country's global competitiveness. With the government's unwavering support and incentives, MSMEs are poised for sustained growth and innovation. Overall, this guide reflects the dynamic and robust nature of India's MSME sector, making it a must-read for anyone looking to succeed in this thriving industry.

[delvenservices]

Marine Engines Market Insights & Future Scope: 2028

Marine Engines Market by Power (<1, 1-5, 5-10, 10-20 & >20) 000 hp, Vessel (Commercial, Offshore), Fuel (Heavy, Intermediate, Marine Diesel and Gas Oil), Engine (Propulsion & Auxiliary), Type and Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and South America)

Market Overview

The Marine Engines Market size is projected to reach a CAGR of 3.9% from 2022 to 2028.

Marine propulsion is the system or mechanism used to generate thrust that allows a small boat or even a ship to move across waterways. Modern ships are usually equipped with mechanical systems consisting of an electric motor turning a propeller, or even pump-jets or an impeller, and they use reciprocating engines as the main source of power.

Growth in international marine freight transport, growth in maritime tourism, and increasing adoption of smart engines for situational awareness and safety are some of the factors that have supported long-term expansion for Marine Engines Market.

The Outbreak of COVID-19 has hindered the growth of the marine propulsion engine market with continuous lockdowns and the subsequent economic slowdown across the world. The most significant near-term impact on marine engines will be felt through supply chains. However, post-pandemic as restrictions eased market expected to gain momentum during the forecast period.

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Regional Analysis

Asia Pacific is expected to be the largest marine engines market during the forecast period. Asia Pacific comprises China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and the Rest of Asia Pacific.

Competitive Landscape

Key Players

MAN Diesel & Turbo

Wartsila

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd

Daihatsu Diesel Mfg. Co. Ltd

Caterpillar

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Volvo Penta

Rolls-Royce

Cummins

GE Transportation

Deutz AG

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Recent Developments

In August 2021, Yanmar Marine International commenced installations of its new high horsepower 6LF diesel engines, with outstanding results reported from the first project completed in Europe. In the milestone installation, certified Yanmar dealer Motonáutica Balear in Mallorca repowered Magnum 40 motorboat Adriana with two Yanmar 6LF530 models and upgraded the electronics and controls.

In February 2019, MAN Diesel & Turbo SE won the contract to supply the engines for a new harbor tug in Spain, which would be operated by P&O Reyser in the Port of Barcelona, which is expected to enter service from mid-2020.

Reasons to Acquire

Increase your understanding of the market for identifying the best and suitable strategies and decisions on the basis of sales or revenue fluctuations in terms of volume and value, distribution chain analysis, market trends and factors

Gain authentic and granular data access for Marine Engines Market so as to understand the trends and the factors involved behind changing market situations

Qualitative and quantitative data utilization to discover arrays of future growth from the market trends of leaders to market visionaries and then recognize the significant areas to compete in the future

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Report Scope

Marine Engines Market is segmented into range, engine, vessel, type, fuel and region.

On the basis of Range

Up to 1000 hp

1001 – 5000 hp

5001 – 10000 hp

10001 – 20000 hp

Above 20000 hp

On the basis of Engine

Propulsion Engine

Auxiliary Engine

On the basis of Vessel

Commercial Vessel

Offshore Support Vessel

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[mediwinpharma]

How Did The Pharma Export Market Emerge During The Pandemic?

The Indian pharmaceutical industry has a long history of creating the best pharma exports in India at competitive prices. India is known as the “pharmacy of the world”. It is the third-largest producer of pharmaceuticals by volume and the fourteenth-largest producer by value. 

Generic pharmaceuticals, OTC medications, Pharmaceutical Active Components, vaccinations, contract research and production, and copycat and biologics. These are just a few of the product categories that Indian pharmaceutical businesses provide. 

Medicine export from India

They are known to be the best as it is the world’s largest supplier of generic drugs, making up a sizeable portion of the generic vaccination supply globally. In terms of providing vaccinations like DPT, BCG, and measles, India leads the globe.

Also, it has the most US FDA-approved pharma export in the USA. Access to reasonably priced HIV medications is one of the great accomplishments of the Indian pharmaceutical industry. 

India is also one of the biggest international suppliers of inexpensive vaccinations and is highly known for the export of pharmaceutical products from India. Drug formulations and biologicals account for the majority of India’s pharmaceutical exports, or around 75% of the total. India is known for its ability to do research and come up with affordable solutions for many diseases. 

Understanding in Detail About the Rapidly Growing Export Pharma Industry in India!

In total 5.92% of the worldwide market for medicines and medications is covered by the top pharma export companies in India. With a share of 73.31%, formulations, and biologics made up the majority of India’s exports. It is followed by bulk pharmaceuticals and drug intermediates. 

The value of the nation’s pharmaceutical exports in 2021–22 was US$ 24.62 billion, unchanged from the prior year. Exports increased by 18% year on year to US$24.4 billion in 2020–21. 

The pharma export companies in India have these five as their top export destinations the United States, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Nigeria.  This strong result was made possible despite lockdowns, global supply chain interruptions, and muted manufacturing. India exported medications and pharmaceuticals worth US$ 2.4 billion in March 2022. A 23% increase from US$ 1.97 billion in February 2022. 

The Pharma Export Companies in India have Stayed Strong and are Growing

India was a crucial player in the Covid-19 epidemic and showed that it could continue to provide the globe with pharmaceuticals even in times of need. India has the most US food and drugs administration (USFDA)-compliant businesses with facilities outside of the USA. 

Almost 85% of the 20 worldwide generic businesses are based in India. And more than 55% of its exports go to highly regulated regions. 

Around 65-70% of the vaccines needed by the World Health Organization (WHO) are derived from India. Because it is the largest vaccine exporter in the world. 

Exports of medicines and pharmaceutical goods totaled US$ 4066.86 million from April 2022 to September 2022. While exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals were US$ 12,724.06 million.

The Backup and Initiatives Taken by the Indian Government

The Indian government has established several programs to support the pharmaceutical sector. The Development of a Pharmaceutical Industry initiative, with a total financial investment of Rs. 500 crores (US$ 64.5 million). It focuses on enhancing the current infrastructural facilities.

Pharmaceuticals, crucial key ingredients, medical equipment, bulk drug parks, and other industries have production-linked incentive (PLI) programs to support producers. The Indian government wants to boost output and investment in the country’s pharmaceutical industry through the PLI plan.

The Pharmaceutical Promotion and Development Scheme (PPDS), which provides financial support for holding seminars, conferences, exhibits, and delegations, was created in 2017 to promote the Indian pharmaceutical sector. 

India’s Pharmaceutical Export Development Council: The Indian government established Pharmacal as a promotion organization for the country’s pharmaceutical companies. The council’s duties include giving advice to the government, planning trade missions, business meetings in India and overseas, and seminars and meetings on export-related topics. Moreover, the council helps its members obtain Market Access Incentive (MAI) claims from the Indian government.

Pharmaceuticals Department: To concentrate on the growth of the pharmaceutical industry in the nation, the Department of Pharmaceuticals was established in 2008. The main responsibilities of the department are to guarantee affordable drug prices, properly an operation of Central Pharma undertakings, enabler, and scheme revival, ensure proper governance, develop infrastructure and human resources, create schemes and projects, and create annual plans, budgets, and budget expenditure monitoring.

Actions Done to Enhance and Encourage the Exports

The Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India serves as the nation’s central organization for export promotion. The following are significant initiatives for export promotion:

Reducing reliance on API imports: To satisfy its needs for local production and formulation, India primarily relies on API imports. The value of India’s imports of API was $3.68 billion as of FY21. The government has introduced plans to establish three bulk drug parks, medical device parks, and product-linked incentives (PLI) to support the production of APIs domestically.

Assistance for the Industry: To promote additional product registrations in new markets, the Department of Commerce grants reimbursement of the registration costs for products registered overseas up to US$ 0.26 million each year.

Global outreach and B2B interactions: To encourage exports, Pharmexcil and the Department of Commerce organize trade shows, webinars, and exhibits all over the world.

Pharma export authentication system: Since 2011, a track-and-trace system has been established to help limit the use of counterfeit and subpar pharmaceutical formulations. Packaging at the secondary and tertiary levels now uses barcoding.

The Brand India Pharma Project: This was started in 2012 to promote Indian pharmaceutical products in foreign markets by using Made in India emblems and promoting the industry as a top location.

The Effect of Covid-19 on the Pharma Companies

The COVID-19 pandemic has had immediate effects on demand, regulations, research and development processes. And the move to telemedicine and telecommunication. As long-term effects of the COVID-19 virus on the pharmaceutical sector. It is possible to expect industry growth slowdown, approval delays, moving toward self-sufficiency in the drug company supply chain, and trend shifts in consumption of health-market products, together with an ethical issue.

From both a global and local standpoint. The COVID-19 worldwide pandemic may have a variety of short- and long-term effects on the healthcare industry, particularly the pharmaceutical industry.

By identifying these effects, policymakers may adopt evidence-based plans and decisions to address related problems. The identification and subsequent measurement of short-term consequences using the right data analysis are necessary for planning to avoid long-term issues.

For policymakers to be guided towards more scientific proof planning to tackle concomitant issues. It is crucial to identify these consequences. In the context of developing nations with more scarce medical resources and pharma-emerging markets, this may be even more crucial.

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[opedguy]

House Republicans to Investigate Coronavirus

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 14, 2023.--House Republicans opened up an investigation into the origin of the deadly novel corona virus that’s killed over 1 million Americans, more that 6.7 million worldwide.  President Joe Biden, 80, asked 52-year-old Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to get to the bottom of the virus origin in June 2021, returning her findings three months later. Haines concluded in August 2021 that it was impossible for the intelligence community to conclude anything because China, who holds the lab data, refused to cooperate.  Yet that didn’t satisfy the majority of House Republicans who have plenty of data on how the National Intitute’s of Health, under 82-year-old Dr. Anthony Fauci, awarded $15 million in grants to New York-based EchoHealth Alliance CEO Peter Daszak.  Dasak admitted to funding Shi Zehenli’s laba the Wuhan Institute of Virology nearly a million dollars.

Fauci testified before Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) Oversight Committee on at least two occasions denying that the NIH ever funded so-called “gain of function” research at Zhengli’s virology lab.  Daszak, 54, admitted to funding Zhegli’s lab, despite Fauci’s denials.  On a technical issue, the NIH didn’t fund Zhengli’s lab directly but gave the cash to EcoHealth Alliance that funded the lab.  University of North Carolina microbiologist Dr. Ralph Baric openly admitted to working with Zhengli in her Wuhan lab, injecting harmless bat coronaviruses with Angiotensin 2 [ACE 2], a powerful beta-blocker drug, to enhance the infectiousness of the virus.  Fauci, Daszak and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyseus all insist that the virus originated naturally, jumping from bats to animals, then to humans.  Fauci, Daszak and Tedros prove zero evidence to back up their claims.

Early on in the coronaviurs global pandemic, former President Donald Trump said April 30, 2020 that the virus leaked from Zhengli’s Wuhan lab, prompting Fauci, Daszak and Tedros to challenge the lab-leak theory.  Daszak, sent a letter Feb 27. 2020  backed by 27 other scientists to the British Medical Journal Lancet saying that the virus was a “spillover event,” jumping from bats, to an intermediate animal, they infecting human.  If that’s not a convoluted theory, then what is?  When the first deadly coronavirus SARS CoV-1occurred in 2003, it infected 8,000, killing only 800 worldwide. How could the second version of the virus, SARS CoV-2, infect nearly 678 million, with over 6.7 million deaths worldwide?  Something happened to the virus in Zhengli’s lab that engineered the virus into the most deadly virus known to man.  It’s genetically impossible for SARS CoV-1 to morph into SARS CoV-2.

House Intelligence Committee Rep. James Comer (R-Ten..) said his committee will get to the bottom of how the deadly coronavirus emerged.  DNI Avril Haines said before her final report to Biden the virus origin of the virus that preventing another global pandemic was imperative.  But listening to Fauci, Daszak or Tedros would be a wild goose chase.  All indications point to Zhengli’s “gain-of-function” experiments, turning harmless coronaviurses into the most infectious pathogens, explaining why the SARS CoV-1 bears little resemblance to SARS CoV-2.  Comer said he will “follow the facts” and “hold U.S. government officials that took part in any cover-up accountable.”  Fauci’s prior testimony under oath resulted in screaming matches with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), calling Paul a “liar” for saying Fauci funded Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance who, in turn, funded Zhengli’s bioweapons lab.

U.S. press vehemently attacked former President Trump when he said April 30, 2020 that the lab-leak idea was a conspiracy theory.  Seeking to oust him from office during an election year, the media could care less about the origin of the virus, only preventing Trump from a second term.  Well, they succeeded in getting rid of Trump but they’ve done their profession and world a disservice by not putting their resources to determining the origin of the virus.  Why should the House Intel committee be forced to spend its resources on determining the origin of the virus?  “This investigation must begin with where and how this virus cam about so that we can attempt to predict, prepare or prevent it from happening again,” said Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chair of the virus subcommittee in a statement.  If the virus came from Zhengli’s lab, the world should know the risk of bioweapons.

House Intel Committee officials are doing a real public service because today’s media is all about politics, not concerned with their mandated job under the First Amendment to objectively find the truth. Like so many lies promoted against Trump in the press, finding the origin of the deadly novel coronavirus should help scientists prevent another future outbreak.  There’s no sense of spending millions on a goose chase pushed by Fauci, Daszak and Tedros, seeking to cover-up the origin of the virus.  Fauci has the most to lose in his decades-long reputation for funding Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance that gave Zhengli about a million dollars to study “gain-of-function” research on harmless bay coronaviruses.  Whatever role Fauci played in creating the deadly novel coronavirus, the public has aright to know what happened.  U.S. press should be ashamed of turning facts into politics.

About the Author    

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation. Charisma.

[shaqodoon]

Terms of Reference for Endline Assessment for the WASH, Protection and Livelihoods support Project in Lower Juba Region, Somalia, 2021 – 2023, CARE Background Somalia remains one of the most complex and long-standing humanitarian crises in the world.  Cycles of extreme flooding, spikes in conflict, the worst locust infestation in decades, and the outbreak of COVID-19 have all resulted in unprecedented humanitarian needs. The multi-layered nature of the crisis exceeds the capacity of local resources to respond. The 2021 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) estimated that 5.9 million people will require humanitarian assistance, up from 5.2 million in 2020 and 4.2 million in 2019. Displacement continues to increase, adding to the estimated 2.6 million people living in a state of protracted displacement. The impact of the multiple humanitarian crises has exacerbated pre-existing vulnerabilities of women and girls and negatively affected livelihoods and coping mechanisms for vulnerable families and internally displaced people (IDPs). CARE is a humanitarian non-governmental organization committed to working with poor women, men, boys, girls, communities, and institutions to have a significant impact on the underlying causes of poverty. CARE seeks to contribute to economic and social transformation, unleashing the power of the most vulnerable women and girls.   The water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), protection and livelihoods support project in Lower Juba Region, Somalia, 2021 – 2023 is a 2-year Global Affairs Canada-funded project running from April 2021, through Mar 2023. The project is implemented by CARE, which plays an overall leadership role and implements field activities. The ultimate outcome of the project is to save lives, alleviate sufferings and maintain human dignity through WASH, livelihoods, and protection interventions for crisis-affected women, men, boys, and girls in Lower Juba, Somalia. To accomplish this, CARE implemented activities that addressed the immediate needs of returnees, IDPs and improve the livelihoods of host communities, addressed the WASH conditions, and provides protection related assistance to a target of 57,258 (22,903 men, 4,008 boys, 25,766 women, 4,581 girls) for a period of two years in the three districts (Kismayo, Afmadow and Badhaadhe districts of Lower Juba region.   Intermediate Outcome Increased and equitable use of gender-responsive assistance by crisis-affected women, men, boys, and girls to meet their basic WASH, livelihoods and protection need in Lower Juba, Somalia. Immediate outcomes Increased and more equitable access to safe and sustainable WASH supplies and services among vulnerable women, girls, boys, and men in Lower Jubba. Increased capacity of vulnerable households in communities in Lower Juba to meet their basic needs. Increased and more equitable access to protection prevention and response services for vulnerable women, girls, boys, and men in Lower Juba. Objectives of the Endline assessment The overall objective of the endline assessment is to assess and provide reliable endline information on project performance against set parameters on the three project components i.e. livelihoods, (including cash interventions), WASH and protection. The evaluation report will identify best practices and key lessons in technical aspects as well as the program management approach to facilitate continued learning and improvement of humanitarian emergency response. Findings of this final evaluation will be shared with GAC, and with the humanitarian community working in Somalia, through the Somalia NGO Consortium, the UN Cluster system, the wider CARE international family, as well as through local networks. Evaluation Questions Did the project achieve every indicator of the Performance Measurement Framework at outcomes levels (immediate, intermediate, and ultimate)? making use of the output level indicators already measured by the project if ne

eded To what extent does the project comply with OECD-DAC criteria on efficiency, effectiveness, appropriateness/relevance, sustainability, and short-term intended and unintended impacts? To what extent did the project deliver the required support to enable targeted households to maintain food security? What was the impact of project intervention on women, IDPs, returnees and people with disabilities who received direct support through the project? How did the intervention support the household’s food access and improved the livelihood recovery of the targeted communities? How did the project contribute to increasing the community’s access to clean, safe and affordable water for household and livestock use? To what extent did the project provide protection support to vulnerable people in the community and how these services changed the lives of the GBV victims or survivors? What are the key lessons learnt and best practices from the program implementation, operating context and response type as well? How can these lessons learned (around design, implementation, coordination, flexibility among other aspects) from this intervention be used to inform future programming?   Evaluation Criteria The evaluation will be done in line with OECD-DAC recommended criteria based on the five criteria relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact. The end-line assessment will contribute to both strengthening accountability of CARE International in Somalia to its donor and key stakeholders including beneficiaries, and to learn from this experience to inform future programing. Relevance Was the project consistent with the sector policies and strategies of the Government of Somalia more so to Jubba Land state? To what extent did the project respond to the needs and priorities of the affected people/ communities it targeted, with specific reference to the experiences and opinions of women, girls and other vulnerable and/or marginalized groups. To what extent was the flexible and multiyear funding fit into the needs of the target population and how different was this funding from the annual funding?   Effectiveness To what extent has the project increased the capacity of water accessibility and enhanced operation and maintenance of the water points? Are the results satisfactory? To what extent has the project enhanced communal and personal hygiene practices through the attainment knowledge, attitude and practice changes? What were the key drivers and barriers that impacted on the delivery of the project outputs? To what extent has the project used learning to improve delivery? Efficiency Were resources utilized and managed in an efficient manner? Would it have been possible to achieve the same results at a lower cost? Were the project activities implemented within the planned time and financial targets? What factors and constraints affected project implementation including technical, managerial, organizational, institutional, and socio-economic policy issues in addition to other external factors unforeseen during the project design? Sustainability What is the level of community ownership, as reflected in the participation of the community in the project supported WASH community-based structures? Is the project supported by community-based structures adequately and has a long-term vision and strategy for operating, maintaining, and regulating the water supply and sanitation infrastructure/system? Do the community have the capacity to maintain the benefits from the project with support from CARE or any other donor? If yes, how? If no, what will be the principal challenges in sustaining the program benefits? Impact Has the project contributed to the improvement in the quality of life of the people in affected districts? Have there been any other changes (positive and negative) at the household or community level as a result of the

project? Has the project affected people in ways that were not originally intended? If yes, what has changed? what was the role of the program partners to deliver the assistance? What is the gendered impact of the project in the areas of intervention? Equity Did the project contribute to equitable participation and benefits to various groups (men, women, boys and girls and differently abled people)? Over the past 2 years, were there any undertakings by the project to promote equity? If yes, how? If no, why not?   Approach and Methodology This endline study is a performance evaluation that adopts a non-experimental design for simple pre-post comparison of results using mixed methods involving both quantitative and qualitative data. Data collection to involve a quantitative beneficiary household survey, document reviews, and beneficiary and stakeholder interviews. A comparative analysis approach will be used to report on project achievements for selected indicator values. It’s expected that the technical support team will propose a suiting and detailed evaluation methodology encompassing the appropriate evaluation method, sampling, data analysis, presentation and reporting and ethical consideration of the evaluation. Scope of the Evaluation The end-line assessment will cover Kismayo, Afmadow and Badhaadhe districts of Lower Juba, Somalia, Specifically the locations where the project activities has been implemented. The participants of the evaluation survey will include; IDPs, returnees, host rural and urban communities in the target area as well as government authorities and partner agencies. Responsibilities of CARE CARE will provide all logistics support including flights, accommodation, transport, enumerators recruitment, payment of enumerators, etc. Commission the consultancy fee for the study Introduce the consultant to relevant stakeholders Review and approve the study instruments/tools Support the consultant in field data collection while supervising the entire process. Provide input to the draft report and approve the final report Responsibilities of the Consultant Develop appropriate methodology and tools for the data collection and analysis process. The tools will be shared and approved by CARE before starting field work. Develop a practical work plan for the work Undertake a desk-based review and lead field level data collection Train enumerators who will be involved in the data collection. Carry out all Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions if selected as data collection tools. Debrief CARE Somalia/Somaliland after completing the assignment and validate the findings prior to submitting final report. Prepare and submit final evaluation report to CARE Somalia/Somaliland as per time frame set in the ToR. Key Deliverables The evaluation deliverables are: Inception Report: For review, the evaluation team should submit to CARE an inception report presenting findings from the desk review and/or examination of data to date. The inception Report should include Detailed evaluation methodology Proposed sample size with specific detail on sampling approach and methodology Evaluation Matrix Procedures for ethical consideration Revised work plan Data collection methodology, including data collection tools for all indicators Proposed data analysis methods and the tools and technologies to be used. Draft Evaluation Report: The consultant providing the technical support should share a draft evaluation report that addresses all the questions identified in the ToR and any other issues the team considers having a bearing on the objectives of the evaluation. Once the initial draft evaluation report is submitted, CARE will have 5 working days in which to review, comment on the initial draft and submit the consolidated comments to the evaluation team. The evaluation team will then be asked to submit a rev

ised final draft report within 5 working days, and again CARE will review and send comments on this final draft report within 3 working days of its submission. Final Evaluation Report: The consultant will be asked to take no more than 7 days working days (or as agreed upon in the work plan) to respond to and incorporate final evaluation report comments from CARE. The technical lead will then submit the final report to the Emergency Director in CARE International in Somalia/Somaliland. A fact sheet (one page) for each thematic area and a succinct presentation should accompany the final report. CARE suggests the final evaluation report have the following format/structure, Executive Summary (one page written succinctly to summarize the methodology, key findings, and lessons learned) Recommendations—list of key recommendations and learning from the evaluation, with brief explanations Introduction: Project Introduction, purpose and objectives Methodology, Scope, and Sampling Limitations Key Findings analyzed on evaluation criteria and in reference to the evaluation question while also providing gender and geographically disaggregated data. Conclusions Recommendations for future programming. List of interviewees including name, organization and role (if applicable) Submission of Dataset(s) to the Development Data Library: The consultant must submit the report to CARE in a machine-readable, non-proprietary format, any dataset created or obtained in performance of this award. The dataset should be organized and documented for use by even those not fully familiar with the intervention or valuation. The data sets to be submitted include All data collection tools used for the assignment Raw and cleaned data sets (Qualitative and Quantitative) Generated codebooks and syntaxes preferably in SPSS or STATA formats Qualitative codebook, audio types, transcriptions and translations. All Photos documented for evaluation purposes GPS Coordinates for all sampled locations Presentations Duration of the Assignment The duration of the assignment is 40 working days after the signing of the contract. Days are inclusive of traveling, fieldwork, and reporting. The evaluation is expected to take place from 1st February to 12th March  2023. Skills and Qualifications The evaluation will be external. The consultant/s will have to be a team or persons with vast experience in performing evaluations for similar projects funded by GAC as well as someone with vast experience in Somalia/Somaliland to better understand the context. Other qualifications for the consultant/s are listed below. 10 years’ international humanitarian and development experience particularly in the Somalia context. Proven humanitarian evaluation experience Solid experience and understanding of cash policy and delivery, including various delivery mechanisms Solid experience and understanding of Cash and Voucher Assistance-CVA and its inter-connectedness to other sectors especially food security, nutrition and livelihoods. Strong knowledge of the drivers of malnutrition and poor health in the Somalia context and experience in evaluating health and nutrition programs. Strong knowledge and experience in the Somalia context (teams including Somali speakers are desirable and if unfeasible, it should be outlined how the team will obtain local feedback in their methodology. Knowledge and understanding of the World Humanitarian Summit’s Grand Bargain and OECD DAC Criteria Strong experience and knowledge in application of humanitarian standards like SPHERE and Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS) Good understanding of integrated approach to programming and ability to make recommendations based on the evaluation findings Ability to see the big picture and make practical recommendations for delivery and improvements on the ground Ability to absorb, consolidate analyse and communicate large amounts of data and information simply and

concisely Experience and ability to operate in security volatile environments Experience of working with local partners and private sector in particular the financial/payments sector Excellent inter-personal skills Willingness to travel to Somalia under the CARE international security framework. Good participatory facilitation and workshop design skills Excellent English report writing skills   How to apply All applications MUST be accompanied by a technical and financial proposal including a brief outline of the proposed methodology, 3 references with contacts and a tentative work plan as well as the candidate’s availability during the month of February and March 2023. The proposals shouldn’t exceed 10 pages. Deadline for submission of technical and financial proposals is 15th January 2023. Interested consultants or firms are expected to conduct their own security and accessibility of the target project locations before application. Updated CVs of individuals or profiles of applying companies expressing interest to conduct the assessment should be sent to consultants@som.care.org no later than 15th January 2023. Please indicate “GAC4 End-line assessment’’. Female applicants with requisite experience are highly encouraged. CARE is an equal opportunity employer promoting gender, equity, and diversity. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse Emailconsultants@som.care.org

[gcraoacademy]

CMA Institutes in Karnataka

G.C RAO academy started in 2012 by Mr. G.C.Rao, A Young and Dynamic mentor to students aspiring to bring changes in commerce education in Karnataka. In a span of 10 years, produced No of qualified & semi-qualified CMA’s along with 31 ALL INDIA RANK HOLDERS.We offer coaching for both Regular classes for students and Weekend classes for working professionals.

This is the primary qualification of the ICMAI following completion of up to three levels (Foundation, Intermediate, and Final) examinations and three years of practical training in areas like management accounting, cost accounting, financial accounting, taxation, cost audits, GST audits, internal audit, corporate laws, etc. and enables an individual to become a CMA (cost & management accountant).

The Institute has introduced new Syllabus 2022 Which Fulfils the requirements of new education policy 2020 and has increased level of skill development and improved Course learning objectives

The Old syllabus was introduced in August 2016 following the International Education Guidelines (IEG) of IFAC to get the advantages in the process of Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) among different member countries of the world under GATS

Subjects for examinations include management accounting, financial accounting, strategic management, taxation, corporate law, financial management, business valuation, financial reporting and cost & management audit etc.

Students who have passed the degree examination of any recognized university or equivalent are eligible for admission directly to the Intermediate level.

Paper-wise exemptions on the basis of reciprocal arrangement are available to students who have passed Institute of Company Secretaries of India Final Examinations.

Examinations are held twice a year in June and December in various examination centers in India and overseas centers. The results are declared in August and February for the June term and December term exams respectively.

Foundation

An aspirant can enroll for Foundation Level of Cost And Management Accountant (India) after completion of 10th class from recognized Board or Institution.

He can also enroll after passing out 1. from recognised board exam held at Senior Secondary level as per 10+2 scheme 2.from Central Government recognised examination for senior secondary level 3. All India Council for Technical Education examination in commerce for National diploma 4. All India Council recognised exam for senior secondary levels organised by State Board of Technical Education 5. Exam conducted by National Council of Rural Higher Education for Diploma in Rural Service.

Intermediate

An aspirant can enroll for Intermediate Level of Cost And Management Accountant (India) after passing of 12th class(10+2) from recognized Board or Institution and foundation level exam conducted by Institute of Cost Accountants of India .

Is a graduate from any recognised university or institution in any discipline other than fine arts.

Passed out examination on Part 1 conducted for Foundation (entry-level) by CAT of Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

Passed out examination on Part 1 along with Competency level Part 2 conducted for Foundation (entry-level) by CAT of Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

Cleared foundation level examination from Institute of Company Secretaries of India or The Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (ICWA) after passing out 10+2 level examination.

Final

Passed out Intermediate level examination conducted by Institute of Cost Accountants of India in addition to practical training

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