Monday, April 24, 2017

KARACHI: Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar has vowed to take on the provincial powers that be in order to reclaim the city from the neglect it has suffered since the Sindh government wrested control of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s municipal functions. Among his priorities is a campaign to revamp KMC, remove encroachments and revive Karachi’s green spaces, foremost among them being Bagh Ibne Qasim.

Waseen Akhtar says the Bahria Town management has been warned against landing helicopter in Bagh Ibne Qasim,

In a conversation with Dawn in his office at the KMC building, he categorically stated he would restore the park, the city’s largest, to its former lush expanse when it used to play host to hundreds of visitors every day. The mayor said he would not allow Bahria Town to take over Bagh Ibne Qasim and ruled out an out-of-court settlement on the issue.

The biggest problem is lack of funds. “I’ve had to divert funds from elsewhere but that’ll only bring in Rs40 million. That’s nothing. With that we’re getting the motors in the sump [which used to supply recycled wastewater for irrigating the park] replaced because everything has gone missing, even the pipes.”

Examine: Karachi’s dilemma

MQM-P may not have to work under the pressures it did when Altaf Hussain was calling the shots from London, but that does not mean pressure from other quarters is not being applied. According to a source in KMC, Bahria Town’s claim in court that it was no longer interested in taking over the park is only meant for public consumption, and that Bahria is trying to approach the mayor through top Sindh government sources to make a “deal”.

Vows not to allow takeover of Bagh Ibne Qasim

For his part, Mr Akhtar seems to be a man on a mission. “I’ve been elected, so I have to deliver. When I came to this office, there was nothing here. All there was in the departments were broken chairs and tables. Officers would come in after 11.30. I’m trying to streamline things. For instance, I’ve terminated the services of 168 ‘ghost’ city wardens so I can save some of the millions of rupees that were going in salaries,” he said. “I have very few departments which can raise the funds on which KMC can run. The departments where I really need to work are not with me — water and sewage board, solid waste, building control, master plan; the Sindh government has taken all of them.”

Mr Akhtar described the ‘clean-up’ of the KMC as just “one of the many wars” he is fighting. He said he has told the Bahria management that there were to be no more helicopter landings in Bagh Ibne Qasim, as had taken place around 10 days ago when the company’s CEO Malik Riaz, had arrived in the city. “I called the Civil Aviation Authority and they said Bahria has no permission to land a helicopter there. Moreover, there are maalis (gardeners) working there. What if they get caught in the rotor blades or on the ground?” he said.

Keen to demonstrate that work is indeed being done in what was a wasteland a few days ago, Mr Akhtar took journalists on a visit to Bagh Ibne Qasim. Scores of KMC gardeners were there collecting the detritus strewn across its 130 acres. A pump was suctioning out the filth from a big pool of sludge, the result of a collapsed sewage line. Former DG Parks Liaquat Ali Khan, whose help has been sought by the mayor in reviving Bagh Ibne Qasim, was supervising the work along with several other KMC officials.

One of them related how the KMC gardeners had to be prised away from the homes of various Sindh government ministers and senior officials who had got them to work at their houses.

When Mr Akhtar was asked why, when he took office as mayor, he did not cancel Bahria’s contract signed with KMC in March 2016 — under which the private developer was to maintain the park for one year, and instead proceeded to further ruin it, as reported in this paper on April 18 — he claimed he was unaware of the contract.

“All the documents were secret and they were with them [Bahria] so that in case they’re taken to court they can present them there,” he said. “They signed the contract so they could control the park and do what they wanted with it. While doing that they badly damaged Kothari parade. Earlier they fooled the people by building this underpass, which was only to serve their Icon Tower.” One end of that underpass opens up inside the park itself, near the half-renovated, and now abandoned, aquarium.

KMC officials present told Dawn that the private developer intended to take over another five acres of area for its underground parking, in addition to the thousands of yards already encroached upon. The mayor asserted that he will have none of it, and has had one of the two tunnels of the underpass bricked up.

Nevertheless, why should the citizens of Karachi trust MQM, any faction of it, given its history of violence? “I know your question is valid and it will take some time to change perceptions,” said the mayor. “That’ll happen through people seeing our work — for example, this park, our cleaning and desilting of Neher-i-Khayyam, as well as our attitude, our workers’ attitude. If I was a target killer I wouldn’t have people like architect Shahid Abdullah working with me on Neher-i-Khayyam. But what I need more than anything, is for the people of Karachi to stand with me.”

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2017

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Syria war: Evacuation begins in besieged towns - BBC News

Syria war: Evacuation begins in besieged towns - BBC News: "Syria war: Evacuation begins in besieged towns
31 minutes ago
From the section Middle East These are external links and will open in a new window Share this with Facebook Share this with Twitter Share this with Messenger Share this with Email Share Related TopicsSyrian civil war
Image copyrightREUTERS
Image caption
People evacuated from Foah and Kefraya have been taken to Rashideen
Syria's war
Syria 'chemical attack': What we know
Syria 'chemical attack': What can forensics tell us?
Syria 'chemical attack': What now?
Why is there a war in Syria?
The Syrian government and rebel forces have begun an operation to move people away from four besieged towns, activists say.
People from Foah and Kefraya, two government-held towns in the north-west, have arrived in Rashideen, west of Aleppo, AFP news agency reports.
Similar operations have begun in rebel-held Madaya, near Damascus. It is not clear if nearby Zabadani, included in the deal, is also being evacuated.
More than 30,000 people will be moved.
Last month, the UN described the situation in the four towns as "catastrophic", with more than 64,000 civilians "trapped in a cycle of daily violence and deprivation".
Many people are reported to have died as a result of shortages of food or medicine.
Besieged Madaya desperately calls for help
Madaya, where children resort to suicide
Why is there a war in Syria?
Image copyrightREUTERS
Image caption
Dozens of buses are being used in the evacuation
Foah and Kefraya, most of whose residents are Shia Muslims, have been encircled by rebels and al-Qaeda-linked Sunni jihadists since March 2015.
Madaya and Zabadani, which are predominantly Sunni, have meanwhile been besieged since June 2015 by the Syrian army and fighters from Lebanon's Shia Islamist Hezbollah movement.
The evacuation deal has been brokered by Iran and Qatar. But critics say it amounts to forced demographic change.
Some 4.7 million people live in hard-to-reach and besieged areas in Syria, including 644,000 in UN-declared besieged locations.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Russia, Syria and Iran are due to meet in Moscow in the first meeting of the three allies since the US fired 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase near Homs.
The US says its strike was in response to a Syrian government chemical attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, in which more than 80 people were killed.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied carrying out a chemical attack, calling the reports "fabricated".
The ministers meeting in Moscow are expected to consider their next move, including what sort of investigation they might back, the BBC's Ben James in Beirut reports."

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MOAB strike: US bombing of IS in Afghanistan 'killed dozens' - BBC News

MOAB strike: US bombing of IS in Afghanistan 'killed dozens' - BBC News: "MOAB strike: US bombing of IS in Afghanistan 'killed dozens'
44 minutes ago
From the section Asia These are external links and will open in a new window Share this with Facebook Share this with Twitter Share this with Messenger Share this with Email Share

Media captionWatch 2003 footage of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB) being tested
A US military strike with a weapon known as the "mother of all bombs" (MOAB) killed 36 IS militants and destroyed their base, the Afghan defence ministry says.
The 21,600lb (9,800kg) bomb was dropped on a tunnel complex used by so-called Islamic State in Nangarhar province.
No civilians were affected by the explosion, the ministry said.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack as "an inhuman and most brutal misuse of our country".
How powerful is 'mother of all bombs'?
Chief Executive of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah confirmed that the attack had been carried out in co-ordination with the government and that "great care had been taken to avoid civilian harm".
The Afghan defence ministry said the bomb struck a village area in the Momand valley where IS fighters were using a network of caves.
It said the bomb also destroyed a large stash of weapons.
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb is the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used by the US in a conflict.
It was dropped by plane in Achin district on Thursday evening local time, the Pentagon said. It is more than 9m (30 ft) in length.

Media captionSpeaking at the White House: "Another successful job, we are very proud of our military"
It was first tested in 2003, but had not been deployed in combat before.
Achin district governor Ismail Shinwary told the BBC that Afghan special forces, with the help of American air support, had begun anti-IS operations in the area 13 days ago.
He said IS targets had been bombed regularly but "last night's bombarding was very powerful... the biggest I have ever seen".
Nangarhar Provincial Governor Gulab Mangal said IS fighters had used the complex to "kill people and hold important meetings".
Image copyrightTWITTER/KARZAIH
He described the MOAB strike as a "specific plan" to "kill all hidden IS foreign fighters".
The US has yet to confirm the results of the strike but President Donald Trump called it "another successful job".
Massive blast area - Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence correspondent
The clue is in the ungainly name - the MOAB or GBU-43/B massive ordnance air blast is the US military's most destructive conventional (that is non-nuclear) bomb.
It is a huge weapon and is GPS-guided. It was dropped from a MC-130 aircraft - the US Special Forces variant of the Hercules transport. The weapon is carried on a special cradle inside the aircraft from which it is extracted by a parachute.
Its principal effect is a massive blast over a huge area. It is a larger version of weapons used during the Vietnam War.
The Trump administration's policy towards Afghanistan remains under consideration but the use of this weapon sends a powerful signal that IS is top of the administration's target list wherever its offshoots may be found.
Hamid Karzai vehemently condemned the attack, saying on Twitter it was "not the war on terror but the inhuman and most brutal misuse of our country as testing ground for new and dangerous weapons".
Syria error
IS announced the establishment of its Khorasan branch - an old name for Afghanistan and surrounding areas - in January 2015. It was the first time that IS had officially spread outside the Arab world.
It was the first major militant group to directly challenge the Afghan Taliban's dominance over the local insurgency.
Image copyrightEPA
Image caption
Afghan forces have been targeting IS in Nangarhar for two weeks
However, experts say it has struggled to build a wide political base and the indigenous support it expected. It has steadily lost territory and fighters to US air strikes and an assault by Afghan forces on the ground.
Estimates about IS's numerical strength inside Afghanistan vary, ranging from several hundred to a few thousand fighters. US forces say their number has been cut in half since early 2016 due to military operations.
IS in Afghanistan: How successful has the group been?
The MOAB strike followed last week's death of a US special forces soldier fighting IS in Nangarhar.
The news also came hours after the Pentagon admitted an air strike in Syria mistakenly killed 18 rebels.
It said a partnered force had mistakenly identified the target location as an IS position, but the strike on 11 April had killed rebels from the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are backed by Washington."

'via Blog this'

Monday, April 10, 2017

ny times EDITORIALS APR 10 17 The Gig Economy’s False Promise Uber / Lyft

The Opinion Pages | EDITORIALS apr 10 17

The Gig Economy’s False Promise Uber / Lyft

By THE EDITORIAL BOARDAPRIL 10, 2017

The promises Silicon Valley makes about the gig economy can sound appealing. Its digital technology lets workers become entrepreneurs, we are told, freed from the drudgery of 9-to-5 jobs. Students, parents and others can make extra cash in their free time while pursuing their passions, maybe starting a thriving small business.

In reality, there is no utopia at companies like Uber, Lyft, Instacart and Handy, whose workers are often manipulated into working long hours for low wages while continually chasing the next ride or task. These companies have discovered they can harness advances in software and behavioral sciences to old-fashioned worker exploitation, according to a growing body of evidence, because employees lack the basic protections of American law.

A recent story in The Times by Noam Scheiber vividly described how Uber and other companies use tactics developed by the video game industry to keep drivers on the road when they would prefer to call it a day, raising company revenue while lowering drivers’ per-hour earnings. One Florida driver told The Times he earned less than $20,000 a year before expenses like gas and maintenance. In New York City, an Uber drivers group affiliated with the machinists union said that more than one-fifth of its members earn less than $30,000 before expenses.

Gig economy workers tend to be poorer and are more likely to be minorities than the population at large, a survey by the Pew Research Center found last year. Compared with the population as a whole, almost twice as many of them earned under $30,000 a year, and 40 percent were black or Hispanic, compared with 27 percent of all American adults. Most said the money they earned from online platforms was essential or important to their families.

Since workers for most gig economy companies are considered independent contractors, not employees, they do not qualify for basic protections like overtime pay and minimum wages. This helped Uber, which started in 2009, quickly grow to 700,000 active drivers in the United States, nearly three times the number of taxi drivers and chauffeurs in the country in 2014.

The use of independent contractors is hardly an innovation. Traditional businesses like garment factories, construction companies and trucking have often misclassified employees as contractors to avoid offering benefits, paying payroll taxes and abiding by labor laws. What makes this different is that gig economy businesses are arguing that their use of the independent contractor model is in fact better for workers.

Increasingly workers, and government agencies are pushing back. Seattle passed an ordinance in 2015 allowing drivers for Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing apps to unionize. A federal judge temporarily blocked that law on Tuesday after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and some conservative groups filed lawsuits against the city. Workers have also sued various gig economy companies to seek overtime pay, reimbursement for expenses and other damages. Lyft recently agreed to pay $27 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by drivers in California.

Legislation and lawsuits might ensure that traditional labor laws are applied to the gig economy. But a few smaller companies, like Hello Alfred, which dispatches people to do household chores, and Managed by Q, which provides office maintenance and cleaning services, are taking steps on their own, by treating workers as employees. They say that this lowers turnover and improves the quality of their services. Over time even bigger companies like Uber, many of which lose money and rely on investors to keep pouring in billions of dollars of capital, might find that it pays to treat workers better and even make some of them employees.

But so far, experience with these companies shows that without the legal protections and ethical norms that once were widely accepted, workers will find the economy of the future an even more inhospitable place.

Monday, April 3, 2017

This is how savvy shoppers are saving money on Amazon – Medium

This is how savvy shoppers are saving money on Amazon – Medium: "This is how savvy shoppers are saving money on Amazon
If you think you’re already getting the best prices, you’ll be surprised.
As a loyal Honey user, I never shop online without it. So, when I noticed its new Amazon feature came out, I had to try it out. You might have already heard of Honey, the popular browser add-on that automatically applies coupon codes at checkout (if not, you’re welcome). Now, it also finds better prices on Amazon for you, immediately."

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The 100-Percent Rule: The Simple Advice That Changed My Life

The 100-Percent Rule: The Simple Advice That Changed My Life: "The 100-Percent Rule: The Simple Advice That Changed My Life
Greatist
Susie Moore
8/16/2016
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The rising retirement perils of 401(k) 'leakage'
© Provided by Greatist, Inc.
I have a friend who quit eating sugar two years ago. When we go out to eat, I almost always get dessert. “Will you have a bite?” I ask, testing her. “No thanks!” She always responds with ease and indifference. Must be so hard for her to turn down a beignet every single time—right?
Wrong.

Put simply, it's far too easy to waste our time, money, and energy by not committing wholeheartedly to something important to us. We intend to start blogging (for real this time), but keep getting distracted. We spend way too much money on clothes when we try to cut down on online shopping.

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But it's our well-meaning "99-percent effort" that is exhausting. It consumes energy without producing results. It’s stressful. It makes us feel like a failure when we’re not—we just haven’t fully committed to something. Putting 99-percent effort into things that matter in life means we are constantly falling short of our potential—and feeling bad about it.

The 100-Percent Rule
When I was at a conference earlier this year, I heard a statement I knew would change my business. I later realized it would also change my entire life.

The statement? Ninety-nine percent is hard—100 percent is easy. Or as Jack Canfield, the best-selling author of The Success Principles, puts it (in slightly more aggressive terms): "99 percent is a b*tch. 100 percent is a breeze." Take a moment to let that sink in.

Then consider the following individuals: my sister, who is a strict vegan; my neighbor, a six-time New York Times-best-selling author; and a comedian who publishes a new YouTube video every week without fail. No exceptions or breaks or excuses.

Is it hard? Maybe when they first got started. But now my sister knows exactly which foods to buy, where, and how to cook them. The author writes every single day, not just when he feels inspired. The YouTuber is constantly learning new skills, researching, and developing new routines, each one better than the last.

If something is tugging at you and has been over time, you’ve probably been "99-percenting" it too long. Here's how to finally give it your all.

7 Expert Tips to Buying a Gym Membership
1. Identify exactly what needs 100 percent of your attention.
Your writing? Your photography? A side-hustle idea that has been percolating for a while but requires action? A habit you need to quit altogether—online shopping, drinking soda, even seeing a certain toxic person?

Not everything in your life needs 100-percent effort. But your heart always knows what truly does. You don’t have to go crazy and commit to a million projects or banish everything fun from your life. Your "100 percent" right now is probably just one thing. What is it?

2. Put in the effort.
Commit to writing for one hour per day, seven days per week. Pinpoint exactly how to make your first sale for your side hustle (you can do it)! Delete your online shopping accounts, throw out the soda, or end that relationship once and for all. And don’t look back.

For me, I came to realize that my "100 percent" was finishing my book. I had been going at it 99 percent for two years, and after hearing this advice, I finally finished it—in just two months. It wasn’t easy, but it was easier than thinking about my book on the subway, on vacation, when cooking, and when out with friends. Now it’s complete.

When I shifted gears to 100 percent, there were no decisions to make. It was write or die!

Ninety-nine-percenting was so much harder. It weighed on me daily. It was heavier than the actual task at hand. The decision fatigue was killing me: "Should I write or go out?" "Should I write or go grocery shopping?" "Should I write or call a friend?" When I shifted gears to 100 percent, there were no decisions to make. It was write or die!

3. Repeat (again and again).
True happiness is the joy we experience when we move toward our potential. The beautiful part is when we apply the 100-percent rule to a task at hand, we complete it. A project gets wrapped. A once-hopeful intention becomes a habit. A goal is met.

It then frees up adequate mental space for the next priority to become clear, since we’re not plagued by guilt about other multiple half-assed projects. And when we give 100 percent, other not-as-important stuff falls away in the meantime: It’s an awesome perk to an already pretty-awesome rule.

Why do some people succeed over others? Because they commit completely to something. If you know anyone who is self-made and grew their wealth over time, you know they are not half-assed about their investment strategy. If someone writes best-selling book after best-selling book, you know they're not sitting down to write every so often, or whenever they feel like it. If you know someone who's built up a loyal YouTube following, you know they're continually making the effort to put out new, unique content.

It’s called commitment."

'via Blog this'

Sunday, April 2, 2017

What you need to know about the Uber settlement la times july 15 15

Samantha MasunagaContact Reporter

By settling two class-action lawsuits brought by Uber drivers who wanted to be classified as employees, the ride-hailing company has halted the biggest threat to its business model.

Uber will pay up to $100 million to those drivers covered by the lawsuits as part of its settlement, announced Thursday night.

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The settlement still needs the approval of Judge Edward Chen of the District Court of Northern California, which could take months.

Here's what you need to know.

How many drivers does this affect, and how much will they receive?

Uber said it will pay an initial sum of $84 million to some 385,000 drivers in California and Massachusetts who are part of the class-action suits.

The ride-hailing company said it would shell out an additional $16 million to those drivers if the company's valuation hits 1.5 times its current value, which now stands at $62.5 billion, after it goes public, or if it gets bought.

Which drivers will get money?

The payment will be distributed to drivers in California and Massachusetts who drove at least one trip up until the date of the preliminary settlement approval.

Payment amounts will be determined based on miles driven with a passenger in the car. Plaintiff attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan said drivers who drove more than 25,000 miles could receive $8,000 or more.

How else are drivers affected by the settlement?

Uber drivers will now receive warnings and have a chance to correct problems before they are terminated. The company will also stop deactivating drivers who frequently turn down rides.

The company will set up an internal escalation process to manage driver pay disputes.

Uber will also create appeals panels and help drivers form an association to contest deactivations. If the drivers are dissatisfied with the result from the appeals process, they can take their case to an arbitrator at Uber's expense.

Drivers will also be able to solicit tips from riders and Uber will make it clear that tips are not included in fare prices.

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What does Uber get out of this?

The case had posed a huge threat to Uber's business model. If a court recognizes Uber drivers as employees rather than independent contractors, the company would have to pay driver expenses and benefits, which would have cut into Uber's margins and potentially slowed its international growth and increased its fares.

Does the debate over drivers as independent contractors end here?

Not necessarily. Liss-Riordan said the settlement is not the same as a decision, and that further litigation could be possible since no court has ruled on whether drivers are independent contractors or employees.

For more business news, follow @smasunaga.

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Uber will pay up to $100 million to settle suits with drivers seeking employee status

Judge approves Lyft’s $27-million class-action settlement with drivers la times june 16

Tracey Lien

Ride-hailing company Lyft is one step closer to settling a class-action lawsuit from drivers who want to be treated as employees after U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco granted preliminary approval to a $27-million settlement.

The sign off comes after Chhabria rejected an initial settlement offer in April of $12.5 million, saying that it “shortchanged” drivers. He wrote in a finding Thursday that the new proposed settlement agreement “fixes the monetary flaws the court previously identified and enhances the non-monetary benefits at least to some degree."

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Lyft agreed to make changes to its terms of service, including giving drivers warnings before they are deactivated and the ability to take up pay-related issues before a neutral arbitrator at Lyft’s expense.

"We are pleased the court has granted preliminary approval of the settlement, which maintains the classification of drivers as independent contractors and brings us one step closer to a final resolution,” said Chelsea Wilson, Lyft’s spokeswoman.

“Lyft drivers in California may now receive the benefits of the settlement rather than waiting years and risking not being able to proceed on a classwide basis and risking an adverse jury verdict,” said plaintiff attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan.

The settlement does not decide whether Lyft drivers are employees or independent contractors, and leaves the matter open to future litigation.

If the proposed settlement receives final approval, the $27 million will be paid out to an estimated 100,000 Lyft drivers in California. Those who have driven the most will receive the highest payments.

Class members will soon be notified of the preliminary approval and be given the opportunity to opt out or object. A final settlement hearing is expected later this year.

Receiving preliminary approval for the settlement is a win for Lyft because it means the company can avoid a costly trial, and it allows the company to continue its operations without having to classify its drivers as employees.

The San Francisco company built its business on independent contractors. Having to bring on drivers as employees would put the company on the hook for overtime payments, expense reimbursement, Social Security and other benefits, adding considerable expense and potentially affecting its $5.5-billion valuation.

Lyft’s main competitor, Uber Technologies, is trying to settle a similar lawsuit. A proposed settlement of up to $100 million is currently before a U.S. district judge.

tracey.lien@latimes.com

Twitter: @traceylien

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