#Cities Investment Facility (CIF)

[worldhabitatday]

High-Level Opening Ceremony of the Global Observance of the World Habitat Day 2023.

UN-Habitat, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, believes that these models can be localised and scaled up through the Global Partnership for Local Investment, where experiences are shared to build a local finance framework for cities and communities, to help distribute existing funding and finance to where it can deliver the greatest impact.

The local finance framework integrates three key solutions to facilitate this access:

Cities Investment Facility (CIF)

UN-Habitat/UNCDF Guarantee Facility for Sustainable Cities

Rapid Own Source Revenue Analysis (ROSRA)

PROGRAMME

Get the World Health Day 2023 Programme.

Watch the High-Level Opening Ceremony of the Global Observance of the World Habitat Day 2023.

[mariacallous]

America is in the opening stages of its next infrastructure decade. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will channel hundreds of billions of federal dollars into state and local infrastructure, representing the largest transfer of federal funds to state and local governments in generations and the most significant impact on the spatial design of urban and rural regions since the interstate highway era of the 1950s. Infrastructure building and rebuilding at this scale can transform economies, social connections, and a community’s quality of life.

This unique investment environment suddenly brings a little-discussed governing tool into the spotlight: the capital budget. Capital budgets are the formal legislative documents that state and local governments use to identify projects and funding sources for the fixed assets that generate long-term economic returns, create financial liabilities, and represent promises to the community, such as roads, bridges, water, wastewater, transit, and broadband. Each government uses slightly different terminology and follows slightly different rules, but these budgetary documents are used in every place.

Considering the enormity of this historic moment, elected officials, government officials, civic leaders, and even voters need to understand how capital budgets work: who controls them, where their fragilities lie, and how to maximize their potential to positively transform the economic and social trajectory of a region.

Capital budgets shape states and metropolitan regions

In practical terms, one can think of a capital budget as a guide to future cityscapes. The bridges in cities with hills and harbors, such as Pittsburgh and San Francisco, give a physical feel and sense of place to the region. Highways and cloverleafs mark the views of Dallas, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In the absence of such massive public investments, cities would look, feel, and behave differently. That is to say, the capital budget is a much more formidable and lasting document than an annual current expense or operating budget that funds the day-to-day operations of government service delivery, because it sets the future direction, evolution, and potential of a city or region.

Infrastructure investments are typically funded through a government’s capital budget by way of its capital improvement fund (CIF). The CIF receives its fiscal resources from three primary sources: own-source revenues (what the government raises through taxes, fees, and fines); federal funds (such as those from the IIJA); and bond funds (aka, borrowed money). The projects that make it into a capital budget are what will define the future of a region.

Cities and states understand that images of the built environment or an iconic cityscape are long-lasting (hence the name “fixed asset”). Once constructed, a facility is likely to survive for decades, shaping the physical contours of a city’s design. Infrastructure built by public authorities is the foundation of great cities. And infrastructure that is designed to separate and divide also has lasting impacts by reducing a city’s potential. For example, a contemporary project in Kansas City, Mo.—supported by a federal RAISE grant—is designed to mend a neighborhood divided by a highway built decades ago by considering pedestrian overpasses. This approach of not dismantling the fixed asset (US 71) but working around it is an explicit recognition that once infrastructure is built, it defines the immediate area and leaves an indelible spatial print.

The cost of a fixed asset exceeds the published cost in the capital budget

Capital budgets reflect the cost of construction, renovation, and major repairs of a fixed asset. However, the published or contracted cost is only a fraction of the total spending on a specific asset. Much like a household’s decision to buy a home, monthly mortgage payments cover only a portion of the full cost of the dwelling. Insurance, structural issues, appliance repairs, and variable utility costs all add to the final cost of a home’s useful life.

In a similar vein, the financial liabilities for a city, county, or state’s budget often reflect only the actual construction or renovation costs, not the longer-term repair, replacement, and other maintenance costs of the asset. The actual “price” of an asset, then, should be reconceptualized as its construction costs (which can be found in the capital budget) plus the amortized value of all future operations and maintenance costs (which can be found in the operating budgets over the useful life of the asset).

The preponderance of repair and maintenance costs are funded not from the capital budget, but the operating budget—and that typically leads to problems. City councils, county boards, utility commissions, and other legislative bodies rarely consider capital and operating budgets at the same time, and capital projects frequently extend beyond one fiscal year. Formal rules also don’t always require local or state government officials to consider future multiyear operational costs when approving projects within their capital budgets. When they are considered, the required maintenance funds are almost never directly linked to a specific project, in part due to the long useful life of capital projects. In other words, capital budgets are almost invariably approved without a crosswalk between the capital budget’s listing of individual projects and their repair and maintenance costs within the operating budget.

The net result is a federalist government system set up to reward ribbon cuttings and delay maintenance for another day. Civil engineers and project managers know exactly how much assets will cost to build and maintain; they can even predict how many decades the asset might last. But if a government decides to greenlight a project by only looking at the upfront sticker price, it’s a recipe for deteriorating infrastructure. Underfunded maintenance creates cascading costs over time, increasing the likelihood an asset will completely malfunction, requiring a full replacement and a far larger budgetary hit.

Some governments have found improved ways to budget for infrastructure maintenance

With billions of dollars in federal infrastructure funds from the IIJA, recipient state and local governments must take action to ensure that those assets, once constructed, are adequately maintained. State and local governments have a very poor track record of doing so, and if past is prologue, the outlook for maintaining infrastructure in a state of good repair is bleak. But budgetary planning for short-term needs and longer-term maintenance and repair activity can avert the underfunded infrastructure problems of the past.

Although the importance of addressing underfunded infrastructure and deferred maintenance has been raised by the Government Finance Officers Association, the National League of Cities, and federal administrations, most state and local governments still haven’t positioned themselves to adequately address the challenges of building and maintaining the nation’s infrastructure. For example, as of 2019, only five states (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Illinois, and Tennessee) measured and reported deferred maintenance costs, which can inform legislatures of their responsibility to maintain infrastructure or face accelerated deterioration and collapse.

One way to address infrastructure deterioration is to adopt the Governmental Accounting Standards Board’s “modified approach” (GASB 34) to reporting the value of infrastructure, which essentially requires the government to specify a desired performance level of the infrastructure and estimate associated maintenance costs. This is a time-consuming activity, but where applied—as in the case of Lake Worth, Texas—it results in high-performing infrastructure that is maintained at adequate levels.

Governments can also create policies that protect existing assets through a legislative appropriations formula. For example, Utah adopted the following appropriations requirement:

The Legislature is required to appropriate 1.1 percent of the current replacement value (CRV) of existing state facilities and infrastructure to capital improvements before funding the design or construction of any new capital development projects (UCA 63A-5b-406). Statutory capital improvement funding for FY 2024 is $154,117,600. The Legislature appropriated $210,160,600 (or 1.5 percent of CRV) with $116,340,600 from the Income Tax Fund and $93,820,000 from the General Fund (H.B. 6, 2023 General Session, Item 72)

Similar legislative requirements—such as Kansas City, Mo.’s policy of dedicating 15% of sales tax revenues exclusively to infrastructure maintenance—ensure a reliable source of funding for capital maintenance needs.

Capital budgets will lay the groundwork for future generations

A place is designed first and foremost on its underlying infrastructure, and how that infrastructure integrates or separates people and economic activity, creates a sense of place for work and play, supports and grows the economic base of the community, and either enhances or denigrates the quality of life. As a result, the way our regions look, feel, and operate today are a manifestation of how prior generations approached their capital budgeting processes: the trade-offs made among stakeholders and the economic, social, and environmental values they pursued. For example, the construction of interstate highways often bifurcated neighborhoods, divided communities, or leveled them completely—the consequences of which we still see today over a half-century later.

Considering the rise in public dollars now committed to infrastructure and other built environment programs, the next round of state and local capital budgets offers a historic opportunity to shape the future based on the values of today’s stakeholders. And since a critical feature of infrastructure is that it connects the economic and social fabric of neighborhoods and communities, collaboration within and among local governments must be prioritized, as Tampa, Fla. Mayor Jane Castor argued at a Brookings event earlier this year.

Infrastructure projects supported by the IIJA and IRA will reflect the hard choices we make about the kind of communities where residents want to live today and, more importantly, the communities where their grandchildren will live generations from now. With billions of federal dollars supporting tens of thousands of infrastructure projects, state and local officials must choose wisely.

[nestaboardimmigration]

Hire the best immigration lawyers or consultants- Nestabroad Immigration

CIf someone is looking for best immigration lawyers or consultants he or she must go through this list of the finest canada immigration lawyer in Punjab if you're seeking for someone to help you apply for an immigration or student visa at a foreign embassy. We have ranked each consultant according to the comments we have received from clients who have used their services in an effort to provide you more information about each consultant. In addition to customer reviews, these Punjab immigration consultants have been evaluated based on their facilities, the countries they are aware about, the cost of the visa, general conduct, the number of counsellors and filing officers who work with them, as well as their experience.

Who are Immigration Lawyers?

Immigration lawyer specialises in criminal and marital law. An excellent communicator with remarkable relationship management abilities, efficient at maintaining cordial commercial relationships with legal counsels as well as other external agencies. Their  fundamental values: ambition, commitment, excellence, and integration guarantee the highest professional standards and aid in the development of supportive and strong connections with their clients.

Here is the list of top 10 immigration consultants in Punjab.

AEC Consultants is a reputable immigration firm situated in Punjab that specialises in Student Visas. They have over 7 branches in all major Indian cities. Trained advisers at the AEC main office in Sector 34-A, Chandigarh, provide appropriate assistance in terms of country and course selection. The best part about AEC Consultants is that they have an in-house Ex-Visa officer that assists candidates by accurately drafting their visa file.

Blue Sapphire Consultants is a top visa and Canada immigration lawyer in Punjab with a track record of success. Blue Sapphire, which is headquartered on the ground floor of a well-managed office building in Sector 34, has direct connections with various cutting-edge institutions, institutes, and universities throughout the world  and also has some contact with good immigration lawyers. Aside from student visas, the organisation is well-known for handling Canada citizenship claims under the skilled worker category and has a high success record.

Academic & Professional Studies Abroad (APSA) is an AAERI, NZIS, QEATC, and PIER-approved education agency. They provide a one-stop shop for students looking to study abroad in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, and Ireland. They offer complete assistance with student visas, as well as dependent and visiting visas and can help you out with assistance of some good immigration lawyers. The APSA staff not only focuses on admission but also assists students in obtaining scholarships from various external scholarship programmes. Councillors have been educated by ex-US embassy specialists, and students can have their files reviewed by an ex-US embassy expert.

West Highlander is an international career counselling service that serves Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. They provide free services such as counselling, admissions, and visa assistance. The staff at West Highlander in Chandigarh, Punjab is highly skilled and experienced in handling the study abroad procedure. As a result, top West Highlander staff have received official training in study visa advice from the Australian High Commission, Education NZ, and Canadian Accreditation agencies. This immigration consultant in Punjab is a signatory to the Pastoral Care for International Students Act and is accredited by the following organisations.

Sunrise Immigration consultants Punjab, also known as "Sunrise International Legal Services," provides immigration services, student visas, and business/investor visas to the following countries. They provide skilled immigration in Canada, Australia. Also, provide Business / Investment Migration in Canada, the United States, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom.

As a specialist in student visas and immigration to Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, Education & Migration Services is one of the most sought-after immigration advisors in Punjab. They have one office in Chandigarh and two in Australia's Melbourne and Sydney. Six migration agents associated with Asia Pacific Group are registered with MARA. In addition to MARA, AAERI Member for Australia, ISANA, ICEF, Member of Migration Alliance, Migration Institute of Australia, IEAA, Licensed Immigration Advisor (NZ), ENZ Trained Agency, and Qualified Education Agent Counselor registered from PIER, they also belong to other organisations (Australia). The finest aspect of this immigration consultant in Chandigarh is that they not only assist with the visa application procedure but also offer complete support once you go to another country and help you with their contacts with immigration lawyers in case of any legality issues.

Canam Immigration Consultant mainly works with student visas, but they also give competent immigration advice. They have a solid visa track record. If you are planning a relocation to Canada and are seeking for housing, you may go through the alternatives on this page.

WWICS was founded in 1993 and is the world's largest immigration organisation. They continue to hold seminars around India to educate people about immigration rules. WWICS is the immigration business with the most offices in all major cities in India, and has the most immigration clients.

Oceanic is also regarded as one of the best immigration experts in Punjab. They generally deal with student visas, but due to their competence in this industry, they provide a wide range of services. Oceanic consultants were founded in 1996.

Unlike Sunrise and WWICS, The Chopras immigration consultants primarily deal with student visas and other student-related services. They work in a variety of locations and are well-known for their special, extended services to assist students in studying abroad. The Chopras offer some excellent nation-specific information for ambitious applicants who want to study in their chosen country.

[reportodisha]

PM transfers Rs. 1000 crore to SHGs benefitting around 16 lakh women members

December 21 The Prime Minister transferred an amount of Rs. 1000 crore in the bank account of Self Help Groups (SHGs), benefitting around 16 lakh women members of the SHGs. This transfer is being done under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM), with 80,000 SHGs receiving Community Investment Fund (CIF) of Rs. 1.10 lakh per SHG and 60,000 SHGs receiving Revolving Fund of Rs. 15000 per SHG. The programme witnessed the Prime Minister encouraging Business Correspondent-Sakhis (B.C.-Sakhis),  by transferring Rs. 4000 as first month's stipend in account of 20,000 B.C.-Sakhis. Prime Minister also transferred a total amount of over 20 crore to more than 1 lakh beneficiaries under the Mukhya Mantri Kanya Sumangala Scheme.  The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of 202 Supplementary Nutrition Manufacturing Units. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Prayagraj and participated in a programme being held to empower women, especially at the grassroot level. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister paid tribute to the doyen of Hindi literature Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi on his death anniversary. He said Prayagraj has been the land of confluence of Ganga-Yamuna-Saraswati, the symbol of our mother power for thousands of years. Today this pilgrimage city is also witnessing such a wonderful confluence of women-power, he said. The Prime Minister said the entire country is witnessing the work being done for women empowerment in Uttar Pradesh. The Prime Minister said schemes like Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana, under which he transferred  crores of rupees to the accounts of more than one lakh beneficiary daughters of the state today, are becoming a great medium of trust for the rural poor and for the girls. The Prime Minister remarked that the security, dignity and respect ensured by the double-engine government for the women of UP is unprecedented. The women of Uttar Pradesh, the Prime Minister said, have decided that they will not allow the return of earlier circumstances. The Prime Minister mentioned that the government has tried to awaken the consciousness of society to prevent sex selective abortions by Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. This has resulted in an increase in the numbers of daughters in many states, he said. The Prime Minister said the Government is focused on immunization of pregnant women, delivery in hospitals and nutrition during pregnancy. Under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Rs 5000 is deposited in the bank account of women during pregnancy, so that they can take care of proper diet. The Prime Minister listed many steps that have led to enhanced dignity of women. With the construction of crores of toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission, facility of gas connection under the Ujjwala scheme, and tap water in the house itself, a new convenience is also coming in the lives of sisters, the Prime Minister said. . The Prime Minister remarked that for decades, house and property were considered as the right of men only. He said the schemes of the government are removing this inequality. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is the biggest example of this. The houses being given under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are being built in the name of women on priority basis. The Prime Minister said that in the schemes being run for employment and increasing the income of the family, women are being made equal partners. Today, Mudra Yojana is encouraging new women entrepreneurs, even from poor families in  villages. He added that women are also being linked with self-help groups and rural organizations across the country through the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana. “I consider the sisters of women self-help groups to be the champions of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat campaign. These self-help groups are actually National Help Groups”, the Prime Minister emphasized. The Prime Minister remarked that the double-engine government, without any discrimination is working relentlessly to empower the future of daughters. He also informed about the important decision regarding the legal age of marriage for girls. “Earlier, the legal age of marriage for sons was 21 years, but for daughters it was only 18 years. The daughters also wanted that they should get time to pursue their studies and to get equal opportunities. Therefore, efforts are being made to bring the age of marriage to 21 years for daughters. The country is taking this decision for the sake of daughters”, Shri Modi said. The Prime Minister referred to the improvement of the law and order situation in the state in recent years. He said the biggest beneficiary of this eradication of mafia raj and lawlessness are the  sisters and daughters of UP. He lauded the Chief Minister Shri Yogi Adityanath for bringing the situation under control. The Prime Minister said “today, there is security as well as rights in Uttar Pradesh. Today UP has possibilities as well as business. I have  full faith that with the blessings of our mothers and sisters, no one can push this new UP back into the darkness”. Stay tuned for more updates.... Read the full article

[un-enfant-immature]

Starling Bank to open second UK office, creating up to 150 tech and support jobs in Southampton

Starling Bank, the U.K. challenger bank founded by banking veteran Anne Boden, is to open a second U.K. office this summer, where it plans recruit up to 50 software engineers and up to 100 customer service team members. The planned location is Southampton, on the south coast of England, and will be Starling’s first office outside of London.

In a call with Boden late on Friday, she told me that the majority of its Southampton office will be new hires who will be helping to build out the challenger back’s business banking product. In just under a year, Starling has garnered more than 30,000 SME business account sign ups, adding to around 500,000 consumer current accounts.

The company plans to invest heavily in its business banking division over the next few years, partly off the back of being awarded a £100 million grant from the Capability and Innovation Fund (CIF), which was set up by Royal Bank of Scotland to fulfil European state aid conditions arising from the bank’s £45 billion U.K. government bailout during the financial crisis.

Boden says that Southampton was chosen as Starling’s new office for its entrepreneurial spirit and high level of tech talent. She says the city is gaining a reputation as a “burgeoning tech hub” and has a growing skilled jobs market and good transport links, including to and from London.

More broadly, she wants Starling to “spread the fintech love” beyond its traditional base of London. There’s an increasing sense that U.K. tech is too London centric and that the country’s fast-growing tech sector and the employment opportunities it represents should be more even distributed.

To that end, Southampton was recently identified in research conducted by global service company CBRE as a technology “Super Cluster” based on the level, concentration and growth of tech sector employment in the city.

The city’s tech scene is also supported by the University of Southampton (where Tim Berners-Lee was previously Chair of Computer Science) and home to the Web Science Institute where Dame Wendy Hall is based. Nearby is also “innovation hub” Southampton Science Park, spanning 72 acres and housing a mixture of commercial offices, laboratories, and meeting and conferencing facilities.

Meanwhile, the news of a second Starling office comes a month after the challenger bank announced it had raised £75 million (~$97 million) in further funding. The new capital consisted of a £60 million Series C round led by Merian Global Investors, including Merian Chrysalis, with £15 million in follow-on funding from Starling’s existing backer and major shareholder Harald McPike. It brings total funding to date for the London-based challenger bank to £133 million, not including the more recent £100 million CIF grant.

Further forward, I’m told Starling is also committed to opening a second regional contact centre to support its growing customer base of SME businesses and individual current account holders. There was previously talk that Wales, the country where Boden hails from, could be chosen, although the bank is also eyeing up the North of England and the Midlands.

[jacobhinkley]

The Daily: New Education Centers, Vietnamese Ask for Fraudster’s Extradition

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we cover a number of new academic education centers around the world devoted to the research of the technology behind cryptocurrency, and demands by Vietnamese victims for an alleged fraudster’s extradition plus an update about Kickico.

Also Read: Okex Socializes Loss From Over $400 Million Bet Among BTC Futures Traders

Tsinghua University Research Center

China Internet Nationwide Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ: CIFS), a financial advisory services provider, has announced an agreement with Tsinghua University to establish an “Industry Trusted Blockchain Application Technology Joint Research Center”. The stated purpose of the center is developing key technologies to support the blockchain ecosystem in the country, as well as common architectural systems and models needed to support blockchain applications for a range of industries.

Mr. Bin Yang, Vice President of Tsinghua University, noted, “The development of industry-trusted blockchain application technologies has become a vital national strategy for all countries. It is an important goal for us to deeply build digital ecosystems, which once integrated into our economy should speed up China’s economic transition by upgrading the industry standard. The digital transformation has only just begun and the development of industry trusted blockchain applications is expected to have a number of positive impacts for the society.”

Bahçeşehir University Innovation Center

According to media reports from Turkey, the Istanbul Blockchain and Innovation Center was inaugurated on Friday at Bahçeşehir University. It is said to work with students and entrepreneurs who want to conduct academic studies in the field. “The purpose of the BlockchainIST project is to be the most important center of research and development and innovation in Turkey in which scientific studies and publications are made in blockchain technologies. To this end, it is crucial to cooperate with other universities, the business world and government institutions,” stated Director Bora Erdamar. “We will strive to train Turkey’s human resources in blockchain and enable the country to lead the world in this area,” he added.

Hartford, Connecticut Chain Valley

Seven Stars Cloud Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSC), the fintech firm of Chinese media tycoon Bruno Wu, has announced that it will be establishing its global headquarters for technology and innovation, called Chain Valley, in Connecticut. The company said it will be transforming Uconn’s former campus in West Hartford into a center for research, training, and business development with a $283 million investment expected to create 330 jobs over the next five years.

“We are thrilled to have found such a wonderful spot right here in central Connecticut,” Bruno Wu said. “It is here that the first students to ever leave China, the Mission Boys, settled in the late 1800s to study Western science and engineering. It is in the spirit of these students that we will build a facility so modern and dynamic that it will attract the best talent and companies, making this site the blockchain capital of the U.S. and the world. This fantastic location provides access to a highly skilled workforce, as well as more than 40 institutions of higher learning, and several major metropolitan areas all in proximity of this site. It is an ideal location for our firm to write our next chapter, and we could not be more excited to soon join this wonderful community in West Hartford.”

Vietnamese Ask for Fraudster’s Extradition

Over 1,000 people have signed a Change.org petition asking for the extradition to Vietnam of Le Minh Tam, the CEO of Ho Chi Minh City-based crypto mining scheme Sky Mining. The petition claims that the alleged fraudsters behind the company “invited 5,000 persons with each investment package from $500 to $5000. They used money to buy machine to get Bitcoin and promised to share the profit with investors. But finally, they escaped with all money, estimated $36 million dollars. Their Victims are not only in Vietnam but also in Japan, Africa. Some of the victims borrow money or sold estate to invest, so now lose everything and someone had killed themselves. Cheaters buy house in San Jose California and now stay in Atlanta or Germany. We need them come back to Vietnam to solve problem. Please Expel them from your countries!” According to local media reports, the Vietnamese police said that Tam left the country on July 22 and flew to Doha, Qatar.

Kickico Update

Kickico, which recently recovered 70 million stolen KICK tokens following a hack, has promised to compensate all stolen KICK tokens and soon begin transferring funds to users’ wallets. The team has also reportedly planned an airdrop of a new project’s native coin (called U.Community) to current KICK token holders, and the estimated pool value may reach $40 million. “It was through the vigilance and collaborative efforts of our community and team which led to such a positive result. Clearly the market has positively reacted to our handling of the situation. Together with all the support from our users, this has led to the growth of the token’s value,” said Alexander Spirin, Head of Community at Kickico.

We officially state that the last victim of the hack reported to us, meaning that all KickCoin holders who suffered from the recent situation have been found. The last part of stolen tokens will be returned to its owner within 3 weeks after report. #kickico pic.twitter.com/nAxuJq2YVk

— KICKICO.COM (@KICKICOplatform) August 6, 2018

What do you think about today’s news tidbits? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.

The post The Daily: New Education Centers, Vietnamese Ask for Fraudster’s Extradition appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The Daily: New Education Centers, Vietnamese Ask for Fraudster’s Extradition published first on https://medium.com/@smartoptions

[bowsetter]

The Daily: New Education Centers, Vietnamese Ask for Fraudster’s Extradition

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we cover a number of new academic education centers around the world devoted to the research of the technology behind cryptocurrency, and demands by Vietnamese victims for an alleged fraudster’s extradition plus an update about Kickico.

Also Read: Okex Socializes Loss From Over $400 Million Bet Among BTC Futures Traders

Tsinghua University Research Center

China Internet Nationwide Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ: CIFS), a financial advisory services provider, has announced an agreement with Tsinghua University to establish an “Industry Trusted Blockchain Application Technology Joint Research Center”. The stated purpose of the center is developing key technologies to support the blockchain ecosystem in the country, as well as common architectural systems and models needed to support blockchain applications for a range of industries.

Mr. Bin Yang, Vice President of Tsinghua University, noted, “The development of industry-trusted blockchain application technologies has become a vital national strategy for all countries. It is an important goal for us to deeply build digital ecosystems, which once integrated into our economy should speed up China’s economic transition by upgrading the industry standard. The digital transformation has only just begun and the development of industry trusted blockchain applications is expected to have a number of positive impacts for the society.”

Bahçeşehir University Innovation Center

According to media reports from Turkey, the Istanbul Blockchain and Innovation Center was inaugurated on Friday at Bahçeşehir University. It is said to work with students and entrepreneurs who want to conduct academic studies in the field. “The purpose of the BlockchainIST project is to be the most important center of research and development and innovation in Turkey in which scientific studies and publications are made in blockchain technologies. To this end, it is crucial to cooperate with other universities, the business world and government institutions,” stated Director Bora Erdamar. “We will strive to train Turkey’s human resources in blockchain and enable the country to lead the world in this area,” he added.

Hartford, Connecticut Chain Valley

Seven Stars Cloud Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSC), the fintech firm of Chinese media tycoon Bruno Wu, has announced that it will be establishing its global headquarters for technology and innovation, called Chain Valley, in Connecticut. The company said it will be transforming Uconn’s former campus in West Hartford into a center for research, training, and business development with a $283 million investment expected to create 330 jobs over the next five years.

“We are thrilled to have found such a wonderful spot right here in central Connecticut,” Bruno Wu said. “It is here that the first students to ever leave China, the Mission Boys, settled in the late 1800s to study Western science and engineering. It is in the spirit of these students that we will build a facility so modern and dynamic that it will attract the best talent and companies, making this site the blockchain capital of the U.S. and the world. This fantastic location provides access to a highly skilled workforce, as well as more than 40 institutions of higher learning, and several major metropolitan areas all in proximity of this site. It is an ideal location for our firm to write our next chapter, and we could not be more excited to soon join this wonderful community in West Hartford.”

Vietnamese Ask for Fraudster’s Extradition

Over 1,000 people have signed a Change.org petition asking for the extradition to Vietnam of Le Minh Tam, the CEO of Ho Chi Minh City-based crypto mining scheme Sky Mining. The petition claims that the alleged fraudsters behind the company “invited 5,000 persons with each investment package from $500 to $5000. They used money to buy machine to get Bitcoin and promised to share the profit with investors. But finally, they escaped with all money, estimated $36 million dollars. Their Victims are not only in Vietnam but also in Japan, Africa. Some of the victims borrow money or sold estate to invest, so now lose everything and someone had killed themselves. Cheaters buy house in San Jose California and now stay in Atlanta or Germany. We need them come back to Vietnam to solve problem. Please Expel them from your countries!” According to local media reports, the Vietnamese police said that Tam left the country on July 22 and flew to Doha, Qatar.

Kickico Update

Kickico, which recently recovered 70 million stolen KICK tokens following a hack, has promised to compensate all stolen KICK tokens and soon begin transferring funds to users’ wallets. The team has also reportedly planned an airdrop of a new project’s native coin (called U.Community) to current KICK token holders, and the estimated pool value may reach $40 million. “It was through the vigilance and collaborative efforts of our community and team which led to such a positive result. Clearly the market has positively reacted to our handling of the situation. Together with all the support from our users, this has led to the growth of the token’s value,” said Alexander Spirin, Head of Community at Kickico.

We officially state that the last victim of the hack reported to us, meaning that all KickCoin holders who suffered from the recent situation have been found. The last part of stolen tokens will be returned to its owner within 3 weeks after report. #kickico pic.twitter.com/nAxuJq2YVk

— KICKICO.COM (@KICKICOplatform) August 6, 2018

What do you think about today’s news tidbits? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.

The post The Daily: New Education Centers, Vietnamese Ask for Fraudster’s Extradition appeared first on Bitcoin News.

READ MORE http://bit.ly/2ASKdyW

[endenogatai]

Starling Bank to open second UK office, creating up to 150 tech and support jobs in Southampton

Starling Bank, the U.K. challenger bank founded by banking veteran Anne Boden, is to open a second U.K. office this summer, where it plans recruit up to 50 software engineers and up to 100 customer service team members. The planned location is Southampton, on the south coast of England, and will be Starling’s first office outside of London.

In a call with Boden late on Friday, she told me that the majority of its Southampton office will be new hires who will be helping to build out the challenger back’s business banking product. In just under a year, Starling has garnered more than 30,000 SME business account sign ups, adding to around 500,000 consumer current accounts.

The company plans to invest heavily in its business banking division over the next few years, partly off the back of being awarded a £100 million grant from the Capability and Innovation Fund (CIF), which was set up by Royal Bank of Scotland to fulfil European state aid conditions arising from the bank’s £45 billion U.K. government bailout during the financial crisis.

Boden says that Southampton was chosen as Starling’s new office for its entrepreneurial spirit and high level of tech talent. She says the city is gaining a reputation as a “burgeoning tech hub” and has a growing skilled jobs market and good transport links, including to and from London.

More broadly, she wants Starling to “spread the fintech love” beyond its traditional base of London. There’s an increasing sense that U.K. tech is too London centric and that the country’s fast-growing tech sector and the employment opportunities it represents should be more even distributed.

To that end, Southampton was recently identified in research conducted by global service company CBRE as a technology “Super Cluster” based on the level, concentration and growth of tech sector employment in the city.

The city’s tech scene is also supported by the University of Southampton (where Tim Berners-Lee was previously Chair of Computer Science) and home to the Web Science Institute where Dame Wendy Hall is based. Nearby is also “innovation hub” Southampton Science Park, spanning 72 acres and housing a mixture of commercial offices, laboratories, and meeting and conferencing facilities.

Meanwhile, the news of a second Starling office comes a month after the challenger bank announced it had raised £75 million (~$97 million) in further funding. The new capital consisted of a £60 million Series C round led by Merian Global Investors, including Merian Chrysalis, with £15 million in follow-on funding from Starling’s existing backer and major shareholder Harald McPike. It brings total funding to date for the London-based challenger bank to £133 million, not including the more recent £100 million CIF grant.

Further forward, I’m told Starling is also committed to opening a second regional contact centre to support its growing customer base of SME businesses and individual current account holders. There was previously talk that Wales, the country where Boden hails from, could be chosen, although the bank is also eyeing up the North of England and the Midlands.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8204425 https://ift.tt/2CfyB79 via IFTTT

[toomanysinks]

Starling Bank to open second UK office, creating up to 150 tech and support jobs in Southampton

Starling Bank, the U.K. challenger bank founded by banking veteran Anne Boden, is to open a second U.K. office this summer, where it plans recruit up to 50 software engineers and up to 100 customer service team members. The planned location is Southampton, on the south coast of England, and will be Starling’s first office outside of London.

In a call with Boden late on Friday, she told me that the majority of its Southampton office will be new hires who will be helping to build out the challenger back’s business banking product. In just under a year, Starling has garnered more than 30,000 SME business account sign ups, adding to around 500,000 consumer current accounts.

The company plans to invest heavily in its business banking division over the next few years, partly off the back of being awarded a £100 million grant from the Capability and Innovation Fund (CIF), which was set up by Royal Bank of Scotland to fulfil European state aid conditions arising from the bank’s £45 billion U.K. government bailout during the financial crisis.

Boden says that Southampton was chosen as Starling’s new office for its entrepreneurial spirit and high level of tech talent. She says the city is gaining a reputation as a “burgeoning tech hub” and has a growing skilled jobs market and good transport links, including to and from London.

More broadly, she wants Starling to “spread the fintech love” beyond its traditional base of London. There’s an increasing sense that U.K. tech is too London centric and that the country’s fast-growing tech sector and the employment opportunities it represents should be more even distributed.

To that end, Southampton was recently identified in research conducted by global service company CBRE as a technology “Super Cluster” based on the level, concentration and growth of tech sector employment in the city.

The city’s tech scene is also supported by the University of Southampton (where Tim Berners-Lee was previously Chair of Computer Science) and home to the Web Science Institute where Dame Wendy Hall is based. Nearby is also “innovation hub” Southampton Science Park, spanning 72 acres and housing a mixture of commercial offices, laboratories, and meeting and conferencing facilities.

Meanwhile, the news of a second Starling office comes a month after the challenger bank announced it had raised £75 million (~$97 million) in further funding. The new capital consisted of a £60 million Series C round led by Merian Global Investors, including Merian Chrysalis, with £15 million in follow-on funding from Starling’s existing backer and major shareholder Harald McPike. It brings total funding to date for the London-based challenger bank to £133 million, not including the more recent £100 million CIF grant.

Further forward, I’m told Starling is also committed to opening a second regional contact centre to support its growing customer base of SME businesses and individual current account holders. There was previously talk that Wales, the country where Boden hails from, could be chosen, although the bank is also eyeing up the North of England and the Midlands.

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/11/starling-bank-southampton/

[worldhabitatday]

Roundtable I - Cities as national and regional drivers of socio-economic resilience and growth.

2023 has been a particularly challenging year for Urban Economies especially in developing countries. The global economy growth itself is declining to about 2.5% and, apart from the initial COVID-19 crisis in 2020 (which demonstrated that the global economic architecture makes countries highly vulnerable to shocks and that structural transformation remains of critical importance), and the global financial crisis in 2009, this is the weakest growth experienced since 2001.

Given the size of the contribution of cities to the national economy, the future of many countries especially those in lower- and middle-income countries, will be determined by the productivity of its urban areas. Cities are the engines that create value that boosts economic recovery, yet they lack adequate financing mechanisms. For this economic growth and recovery to be sustainable, we need cities that can absorb, recover, and prepare for future economic shocks. It is crucial that this is also packaged under the green recovery framework that scales up private and public investments to finance the transition to a climate-neutral economy in a post-COVID world. Cities all over the world have already embarked on this journey through implementing various models and approaches requiring proactive engagement with different stakeholders at all levels. UN-Habitat, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, believes that these models can be localised and scaled up through the Global Partnership for Local Investment, where experiences are shared to build a local finance framework for cities and communities, to help distribute existing funding and finance to where it can deliver the greatest impact.

In cities where securing private finance for public service delivery may be premature, such that it would risk leading to inequitable access to service delivery or place unsustainable financial pressure on government budgets, cities can leverage OSR tools such as UN-Habitat’s Rapid Own Source Revenue Analysis (ROSRA) tool. The ROSRA helps local governments optimize their OwnSource Revenues (OSR) and thereby puts in place the preconditions for accessing private investment. Cities also have the Cities Investment Facility (CIF) at their disposal to help unlock significant private capital flows to inclusive, sustainable urbanization projects, by assisting in project identification, preparation, and financing.

UN-Habitat, in collaboration with UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) – the UN Subnational Financing Hub – on the SDG Cities joint initiative, further provides innovative financial mechanisms and instruments that promote urban resilience and transformation through local government finance. For example, the International Municipal Investment Fund (IMIF) accompanied by a Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) managed by UNCDF serves to increase the capacity of local governments from emerging and developing contexts to access capital for their projects of infrastructures and services. As a vital instrument for sub-national financing, the “Global Guarantee Facility for Sustainable Cities”, backed by the European Fund for Sustainable Development plus (EFSD+) will be used to support local transformative investments and test innovative infrastructure financing solutions that can be taken to scale, specifically in Africa and Southeast Asia. There is wide appreciation to urgently increase capital flows towards sustainable infrastructure including local infrastructure particularly given the rapid growth rate of cities in emerging and developing countries. Optimizing and rethinking the structure and usage of development finance including local government finance as way of closing the global infrastructure gap is one of the key focus areas of this year’s World Habitat Day in the Republic of Azerbaijan, a country that is a good reference for the design and establishment of new resilient urban economies, especially in the post-conflict reconstruction context.

[fmservers]

Starling Bank to open second UK office, creating up to 150 tech and support jobs in Southampton

Starling Bank, the U.K. challenger bank founded by banking veteran Anne Boden, is to open a second U.K. office this summer, where it plans recruit up to 50 software engineers and up to 100 customer service team members. The planned location is Southampton, on the south coast of England, and will be Starling’s first office outside of London.

In a call with Boden late on Friday, she told me that the majority of its Southampton office will be new hires who will be helping to build out the challenger back’s business banking product. In just under a year, Starling has garnered more than 30,000 SME business account sign ups, adding to around 500,000 consumer current accounts.

The company plans to invest heavily in its business banking division over the next few years, partly off the back of being awarded a £100 million grant from the Capability and Innovation Fund (CIF), which was set up by Royal Bank of Scotland to fulfil European state aid conditions arising from the bank’s £45 billion U.K. government bailout during the financial crisis.

Boden says that Southampton was chosen as Starling’s new office for its entrepreneurial spirit and high level of tech talent. She says the city is gaining a reputation as a “burgeoning tech hub” and has a growing skilled jobs market and good transport links, including to and from London.

More broadly, she wants Starling to “spread the fintech love” beyond its traditional base of London. There’s an increasing sense that U.K. tech is too London centric and that the country’s fast-growing tech sector and the employment opportunities it represents should be more even distributed.

To that end, Southampton was recently identified in research conducted by global service company CBRE as a technology “Super Cluster” based on the level, concentration and growth of tech sector employment in the city.

The city’s tech scene is also supported by the University of Southampton (where Tim Berners-Lee was previously Chair of Computer Science) and home to the Web Science Institute where Dame Wendy Hall is based. Nearby is also “innovation hub” Southampton Science Park, spanning 72 acres and housing a mixture of commercial offices, laboratories, and meeting and conferencing facilities.

Meanwhile, the news of a second Starling office comes a month after the challenger bank announced it had raised £75 million (~$97 million) in further funding. The new capital consisted of a £60 million Series C round led by Merian Global Investors, including Merian Chrysalis, with £15 million in follow-on funding from Starling’s existing backer and major shareholder Harald McPike. It brings total funding to date for the London-based challenger bank to £133 million, not including the more recent £100 million CIF grant.

Further forward, I’m told Starling is also committed to opening a second regional contact centre to support its growing customer base of SME businesses and individual current account holders. There was previously talk that Wales, the country where Boden hails from, could be chosen, although the bank is also eyeing up the North of England and the Midlands.

Via Steve O'Hear https://techcrunch.com

[coin-river-blog]

The Daily

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we cover a number of new academic education centers around the world devoted to the research of the technology behind cryptocurrency, and demands by Vietnamese victims for an alleged fraudster’s extradition plus an update about Kickico.

Also Read: Okex Socializes Loss From Over $400 Million Bet Among BTC Futures Traders

Tsinghua University Research Center

China Internet Nationwide Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ: CIFS), a financial advisory services provider, has announced an agreement with Tsinghua University to establish an “Industry Trusted Blockchain Application Technology Joint Research Center”. The stated purpose of the center is developing key technologies to support the blockchain ecosystem in the country, as well as common architectural systems and models needed to support blockchain applications for a range of industries.

Mr. Bin Yang, Vice President of Tsinghua University, noted, “The development of industry-trusted blockchain application technologies has become a vital national strategy for all countries. It is an important goal for us to deeply build digital ecosystems, which once integrated into our economy should speed up China’s economic transition by upgrading the industry standard. The digital transformation has only just begun and the development of industry trusted blockchain applications is expected to have a number of positive impacts for the society.”

Bahçeşehir University Innovation Center

According to media reports from Turkey, the Istanbul Blockchain and Innovation Center was inaugurated on Friday at Bahçeşehir University. It is said to work with students and entrepreneurs who want to conduct academic studies in the field. “The purpose of the BlockchainIST project is to be the most important center of research and development and innovation in Turkey in which scientific studies and publications are made in blockchain technologies. To this end, it is crucial to cooperate with other universities, the business world and government institutions,” stated Director Bora Erdamar. “We will strive to train Turkey’s human resources in blockchain and enable the country to lead the world in this area,” he added.

Hartford, Connecticut Chain Valley

Seven Stars Cloud Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSC), the fintech firm of Chinese media tycoon Bruno Wu, has announced that it will be establishing its global headquarters for technology and innovation, called Chain Valley, in Connecticut. The company said it will be transforming Uconn’s former campus in West Hartford into a center for research, training, and business development with a $283 million investment expected to create 330 jobs over the next five years.

“We are thrilled to have found such a wonderful spot right here in central Connecticut,” Bruno Wu said. “It is here that the first students to ever leave China, the Mission Boys, settled in the late 1800s to study Western science and engineering. It is in the spirit of these students that we will build a facility so modern and dynamic that it will attract the best talent and companies, making this site the blockchain capital of the U.S. and the world. This fantastic location provides access to a highly skilled workforce, as well as more than 40 institutions of higher learning, and several major metropolitan areas all in proximity of this site. It is an ideal location for our firm to write our next chapter, and we could not be more excited to soon join this wonderful community in West Hartford.”

Vietnamese Ask for Fraudster’s Extradition

Over 1,000 people have signed a Change.org petition asking for the extradition to Vietnam of Le Minh Tam, the CEO of Ho Chi Minh City-based crypto mining scheme Sky Mining. The petition claims that the alleged fraudsters behind the company “invited 5,000 persons with each investment package from $500 to $5000. They used money to buy machine to get Bitcoin and promised to share the profit with investors. But finally, they escaped with all money, estimated $36 million dollars. Their Victims are not only in Vietnam but also in Japan, Africa. Some of the victims borrow money or sold estate to invest, so now lose everything and someone had killed themselves. Cheaters buy house in San Jose California and now stay in Atlanta or Germany. We need them come back to Vietnam to solve problem. Please Expel them from your countries!” According to local media reports, the Vietnamese police said that Tam left the country on July 22 and flew to Doha, Qatar.

Kickico Update

Kickico, which recently recovered 70 million stolen KICK tokens following a hack, has promised to compensate all stolen KICK tokens and soon begin transferring funds to users’ wallets. The team has also reportedly planned an airdrop of a new project’s native coin (called U.Community) to current KICK token holders, and the estimated pool value may reach $40 million. “It was through the vigilance and collaborative efforts of our community and team which led to such a positive result. Clearly the market has positively reacted to our handling of the situation. Together with all the support from our users, this has led to the growth of the token’s value,” said Alexander Spirin, Head of Community at Kickico.

We officially state that the last victim of the hack reported to us, meaning that all KickCoin holders who suffered from the recent situation have been found. The last part of stolen tokens will be returned to its owner within 3 weeks after report. #kickico pic.twitter.com/nAxuJq2YVk

— KICKICO.COM (@KICKICOplatform) August 6, 2018

What do you think about today’s news tidbits? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.

[volkmarguidohable]

Subject: bauxite refinery Republic of Guinea

Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable, CEO of Samarium Tennessine Corporation   announces 8 billion USD investment plan into the bauxite industry of  the Republic of Guinea.  

Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable, diplomatic CEO of Samarium Tennessine Corporation, a privately held, non-public resource investment company, has announced that his company has put together a 8 billion USD  10 year investment plan for  the construction of a mine, a bauxite refinery, an aluminum smelter facility, a hydro-dam and port facilities to be built on the area of the former BHP Billiton concession Boffa in the Republic Guinea. The hydrodam will constructed on the basis of existing plans on the Cogon river, the port facilities will be constructed near the city of Boffa on the Atlantic coast, where deep water conditions allow for large ships to dock.

Bulk commodity producers have continued to struggle during since a number of years now, even with efforts made to cut costs. During challenging market conditions, there is often a trend towards restructuring and consolidation of ownership. However, there is a silver linen on the horizon as commodity prices are set to increase in 2017.

Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable, who also is the official diplomatic representative of the Republic of Guinea in British Columbia and the Yukon, stated, “There is every possibility that 2017 may be particularly eventful for the aluminium industry, a year that has the potential to be defined by a large reorganization of the corporate landscape and major investments into existing or new assets. Bauxite is set for a long-term uptrend in price. ”

Previously, Norsk Hydro shook the industry with the US$5.3Bn purchase of aluminium producer Vale's Brazilian bauxite, alumina and aluminium assets that also included agreements for Vale's share in production from the Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN) 18.1Mtpy bauxite mine at Trombetas. The acquisition was part of a move by the Norwegian aluminium producer to become fully integrated in its aluminium raw materials. 

Now, Volkmar Guido Hable of Samarium Tennessine Corporation is planning to shake up the industry with an acquisition of a major bauxite asset  in Boffa, Republic of Guinea, West-Africa, whose total investment is valued in the 8-billion dollar range. 

Weak demand for alumina amid prices languishing in the region of US$210/t CIF China in mid-January 2016, have led to capacity cut-backs and permanent closures of alumina refineries and aluminium smelters. This has affected large, integrated aluminium producers including both Alcoa and Rusal.

However, Volkmar Guido Hable, is confident that a long-term price recovery uptrend in bauxite has started. “we may be looking at a 30% to 60% price increase during the next 3 years”, he stated in Davos, during a conference hosted by the World Economic Forum. 

Volkmar Guido Hable of Samarium Tennessine remains optimistic on the outlooks for bauxite, and expects an annual  27% IRR over the next 20 years for its upcoming multi-billion dollar flagship project in Guinea.

“The market definitely has bottomed out”, he said. “The past closures and bankruptcies changed the industry and significantly reduced long-term supply. 

He also said, that “with current market conditions, there are still attractive investment opportunities which might involve some of the biggest names in the business. Some of the mining companies  or resource investment could be shaping up to complete substantial company-changing takeover deals, which once again would change the face of the industry, and we certainly plan to be part of this.” 

[worldhabitatday]

Roundtable 2: Post-crisis urban recovery.

In the prevailing economic situation, local governments have faced increased difficulty to gain increased access to external resources to fund their development.

The local finance framework integrates three key solutions to facilitate this access:

Cities Investment Facility (CIF)

UN-Habitat/UNCDF Guarantee Facility for Sustainable Cities

Rapid Own Source Revenue Analysis (ROSRA)

World Habitat Day is held on the first Monday of October and launches Urban October. The day centers around the global observance, which is held in a different country each year with keynote speakers and roundtable discussions focused on a specific theme. World Habitat Day was first celebrated in 1986 in Nairobi, Kenya, with the theme 'Shelter is my right'.