World’s first electric smart bus completed road test in south

Thumbs up: 13-year-old teen earns tuition by selling vegetables on street

Al Wakra bypass

Paradoxes of Gulf Crisis

Coalition airstrike and artillery shelling kill 36 persons in Raqqa

Raqqa (Syria News) Air strikes carried out by the US-led international coalition and an artillery shelling killed more than 39 persons in the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa, Enab Baladi reported on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the IS-owned news agency “Amaq” mentioned that 36 persons were killed, while 50 others were wounded in the city of Raqqa, due to an artillery shelling and US air strikes on the neighborhoods of the city.

The news was confirmed by “Raqqa is silently slaughtered” Campaign, which also pointed out to another air strike carried out by Russian warplanes, two days ago, on a IDPs camp in al-Sabkha Town, killing 15 persons.

Moreover, Wrath of the Euphrates Operations Command announced that security forces managed to liberate the vicinity of al-Moustafa Mosque completely, in the center of Nazlet Shehada neighborhood, south of Raqqa.

It is noteworthy, United Nations announced on June 29 that nearly 100 thousand civilians are besieged in the city of Raqqa, north of Syria.

On the same context, a report published by the Syrian Network for Human Rights documented the killing of at least 1400 civilians, including 308 children and 203 women in the city of Raqqa, in the period between 6 November 2016 and 30 June 2017.

 

Source  :  Iraqi News

Jihan Sheikh Ahmad: SDF captures 50% of Raqqa

Raqqa (Syria News) The Syrian Democratic Forces managed to recapture several neighborhoods and security points, belonging to the Islamic State group, since the beginning of the “Wrath of the Euphrates” military operation in the city last June.

The spokesperson of the “Wrath of the Euphrates” Operation Command, Jihan sheikh Ahmad, said in a press statement, “The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is now controlling 50% of the city [Raqqa].”

Ahmad also pointed out that the Islamic State militants are using tunnels, booby-trapped vehicles, explosive devices and the group’s sleeper cells to halt the advance of the Syrian Democratic Forces into the city.

Furthermore, she revealed that the battles and military operations will continue until the full recapture of the city of Raqqa.

It is noteworthy, Islamic State group lost several areas in the city and its southern countryside for the Syrian Democratic Forces and regime forces.

 

Source  :  Syria News

Uzbekistan to turn off analog broadcasting in 2018

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Government of Uzbekistan issued a resolution “On further measures for transition to digital television broadcasting and cessation of terrestrial analogue television”.

According to the resolution, the Ministry for Development of Information Technologies and Communications of Uzbekistan was entrusted until the end of 2017 to ensure coverage of all settlements of the country with digital television broadcasting.

The document noted that it is planned to install and put into operation 90 sets of powerful and 404 sets of low-power digital broadcast transmitters throughout Uzbekistan.

the Ministry for Development of Information Technologies and Communications of Uzbekistan was entrusted to ensure broad access for the population to digital TV broadcasting services, including the distribution of a public package of state TV and radio programs to remote and hard-to-reach settlements of the country through the lease of a satellite segment of a foreign satellite communications operator.

The resolution also envisages production of digital television receivers. The document said that within 5 years the enterprises of Uzeltehsanoat will produce 3 million digital television receivers.

The Government of Uzbekistan also approved a schedule for the phased termination of terrestrial analogue television in Uzbekistan. The resolution underlined that terrestrial analogue television in Tashkent will be turned off by 15 July 2018 and throughout Uzbekistan by 5 December 2018.

The Government recommended that commercial banks, with the assistance of the Mahalla Charitable Foundation, expand provision of preferential consumer loans to the population, including low-income groups and pensioners, to purchase TV sets, consoles and other devices for receiving a digital television signal.

 

Source  :  UzDaily

Uzbekistan approves procedure for issuing overdrafts

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan approved a procedure for issuing overdraft loans to individuals through bank plastic cards.

The Board of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan adopted a resolution “On approval of regulation on procedure for issuing overdraft loans to individuals through bank plastic cards”.

On 21 July 2017, the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan registered the resolution of the Central Bank.

According to the regulations, individuals must submit an application, a copy of the passport and a certificate of income to the bank. The bank’s overdraft loan committee must consider the application within three banking days.

If the committee decides to refuse to grant the overdraft, the bank must inform the client about the reason for refusal in written form.

The document noted that the maximum amount of overdraft credit will be up to three times of the average monthly income of the applicant. Overdraft is provided up to 12 months. The interest rate on overdraft is determined in the contract between the bank and the applicant. At the same time, interest is only accrued on actually used credit funds.

The client of the bank may amend the overdraft agreement in accordance with the established procedure in case of change of income volume.

The client repays interests and overdraft loan due to salary, pension and other means by transferring money to the plastic card.

 

Source  :  UzDaily

SK Innovation’s Q2 earnings fall 58%

SK Innovation, South Korea’s biggest oil refiner in terms of market share, saw its second-quarter earnings drop by more than half on-quarter, largely due to the slump in international oil prices, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.

SK Innovation’s sales in the second quarter reached 10.5 trillion won ($9.4 billion), up 2.7 percent, but its operating profit dropped to 421 billion won, down by 62.4 percent on-year from 1.1 trillion won.

(Yonhap)

Compared with the previous quarter, the company’s operating profit decreased 58 percent. The company’s operating profit in the first quarter surpassed the 1 trillion won mark.

The decrease in operating profit was largely due to the slump in international oil prices and inventory losses, the company explained.

SK Innovation’s refining sector in the second quarter marked sales of 7.38 trillion won, with its operating profit falling to 12.5 billion won, a 441 billion won decrease from the first quarter.

The operating profit of SK Innovation’s chemicals sector also slightly decreased to 333.7 billion won, 121 billion won down from the previous quarter.

The company’s lubricant oil unit recorded an increase in operating profit, reaching 120 billion won, the highest figure since the last quarter in 2011.

Despite the downbeat performance this quarter, Korea’s refiners are currently expecting their earnings to recover in the third quarter, as international oil prices are forecast to stabilize with better refining margins.

Stock prices for domestic oil refiners have been rising since June, as refining margins started to recover and reach an annual record high in July.

Refining margins have doubled over the past month, according to an industry source.

Meanwhile, SK Innovation decided to pay out its first interim dividends worth a total of 149 billion won at a board meeting held Wednesday.

Korea’s third-largest oil refiner, S-Oil, also said that it would decide whether to provide interim dividends at its board meeting in early August.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)

 

Source  :  The Korea Herald

Moon highlights jobs, vision in meeting with business leaders

 

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday held the first round of a two-day meeting with South Korean corporate leaders, discussing economic policies and business issues.

The meeting comes as the government and the ruling party push for a tax hike on “super large companies” and high income individuals in its drive to reduce economic polarization.

The meeting took place in the gardens of the presidential office, with the president and the business leaders partaking in craft beer produced by a local small business.

President Moon Jae-in enjoys a beer with Korea’s corporate tycoons in the gardens of the Blue House in Seoul, Thursday. From right: Moon, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Park Yong-maan, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Chung Eui-sun, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Keum Choon-soo, Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won and Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok. (Yonhap)

Moon and the business leaders then retreated into a meeting to discuss the new government’s policy direction, as well as outstanding economic issues.
At the meeting, Moon elaborated on his vision of “income led growth” and his ideas for job creation. Job creation has been one of Moon’s key agendas since the election campaign, and he has since installed a monitor displaying labor market figures in Cheong Wa Dae.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, the meeting lasted more than two hours, going far over the initially planned 50 minutes, with the president and attending businessmen freely exchanging views.

The meeting called together the chiefs and vice chiefs of some of the largest conglomerates, and Ottogi, a South Korean food company.

The business leaders present at Thursday’s meeting were vice chairmen Chung Eui-sun of Hyundai Motor, Koo Bon-joon of LG Group, Keum Choon-soo of Hanwha Group, Chung Yong-jin of Shinsegae Group, and chairmen Kwon Oh-joon of Posco, Park Jeong-won of Doosan Group, Sohn Kyung-shik of CJ Group and Ham Young-joon of Ottogi.

LG Group Vice Chairman Koo Bon-joon (left) and Posco Chairman Kwon Oh-joon (Yonhap)

Ottogi Chairman Ham Young-joon and Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin (Yonhap)

At the meeting, the Hyundai Motor vice chairman also touched on China‘s economic reprisal over Seoul’s decision to deploy US missile defense system THAAD was cutting the company‘s sales in China. He added that the company would seek to cooperate with Korean startups.

According to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Soo-hyun, Doosan’s Park Jeong-won expressed concerns for difficulties arising from the Moon administration‘s nuclear free policy, which may put an end to Shin-Kori 5 and 6 reactors’ construction, but that the company will seek new revenue chanels overseas.

Although Ottogi ranks far below the other groups represented at the event, the food maker’s chief was invited in consideration of its efforts for providing equal opportunity to its workers. Alongside its ramen business, the company gained fame in recent years for its charitable activities and for hiring almost all of its workers on regular contracts. Of the company’s employees, about 1.1 percent are on irregular contracts.

Along with the business leaders, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Kim Dong-yeon, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu and Chairman of the Financial Services Commission Choi Jong-ku attended the meeting.

President Moon with a group of business leaders at Cheong Wa Dae (Yonhap)

Along with Moon administration’s top economic policy makers, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission Kim Sang-jo, often referred to by the Korean media as the “chaebol sniper” was in attendance.

On Friday, the president will meet the representatives of seven conglomerates including SK Group, Samsung Group, and Hyundai Heavy Industries to wrap up the two day event.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)

Source  :  The Korea Herald