By Christopher Bing and Joseph MennWASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO : President Joe Biden is hiring a group of national security veterans with deep cyber expertise, drawing praise from former defense officials and investigators as the U.S. government works to recover from one of the biggest hacks of its agencies attributed to Russian spies."It is great to see the priority that the new administration is giving to cyber," said Suzanne Spaulding, director of the Defending Democratic Institutions project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Cybersecurity was demoted as a policy field under the Trump administration. It discontinued the Cybersecurity Coordinator position at the White House, shrunk the State Department's cyber diplomacy wing, and fired federal cybersecurity leader Chris Krebs in the aftermath of Donald Trump's Nov. 3 election defeat.Disclosed in December, the hack struck eight federal agencies and numerous companies, including software provider SolarWinds Corp. U.S. … [Read more...] about After big hack of U.S. government, Biden enlists ‘world class’ cybersecurity team
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As Donald Trump’s team exits, here are Joe Biden’s choices to replace them
Under pressure from congressional Democrats, Donald Trump's trade team — headed by Robert Lighthizer — agreed to strengthen the pact to make it easier for Mexican workers to form independent unions and demand better pay and benefits, decreasing the incentives for US firms to move south of the border to take advantage of cheap and compliant labour. … [Read more...] about As Donald Trump’s team exits, here are Joe Biden’s choices to replace them
What can a property buyer do to fix maintenance issues?
NEW DELHI: A high-rise society offers a bundle of amenities within its premises to residents. Be it security, lifts, uninterrupted water and electricity supply or other facilities such as a park or a gym to give a sense of comfort to residents.For residents to continue enjoying these services, maintenance plays a vital role. Without efficient maintenance, it becomes difficult to sustain services for which one buys a house in a housing complex. Across India, maintenance agencies are hired to take care of the upkeep of a housing society. A facility manager oversees and ensures that everything is working fine and services are not hampered. However, the quality of maintenance often remains a key issue of dispute between the builder and buyers. In case a society fails to upkeep the maintenance what exactly can residents do?Joseph Reddi, senior vice president (Operations), Knight Frank India, suggests, “Pre-possession inspection is very important. First time the developer checks it and … [Read more...] about What can a property buyer do to fix maintenance issues?
Securitisation volume crosses Rs 26,000 cr in Q3: Crisil report
Securitisation volume crossed Rs 26,000 crore in the quarter ended December of the current fiscal as more originators entered the market and mutual funds started investing in new issuances, says a Crisil report.This takes the total volume for the first nine months of this fiscal to around Rs 48,000 crore, though that is still way behind FY 2018 (around Rs 60,000 crore), FY 2019 (near Rs 145,000 crore) and FY2020 (close to Rs 152,000 crore), Crisil Ratings said in a report. The volume in the October-December quarter was higher than the cumulative Rs 22,000 crore logged in the first half, it said. "Disbursement activity at non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) has resumed in sync with the uptick in economic activity. With a gradual increase in investor appetite and amenable market conditions in the form of a lower interest rate environment, NBFCs have again started raising incremental funds through securitisation," the agency's senior director Krishnan Sitaraman said. The stability in … [Read more...] about Securitisation volume crosses Rs 26,000 cr in Q3: Crisil report
Are dealers equipped enough to adapt to the changing paradigms of car sales?
New Delhi: Of late digitalisation has been dominating conversations in almost all walks of life. COVID-19 has accelerated its pace and eventually, every industry, including the automotive which has been largely a brick and mortar industry, adapted to that.Not only the OEMs, but the dealers and customers also have been equally disrupted by this wave of the ‘New Normal’. All the five steps of a customer purchase journey right from inquiry, test drives, closure of deal, delivery, to post-delivery will have some measure of impact. A battery of industry experts at the digital ETAuto Retail Forum deliberated how the journey will be going forward with customers’ evolving nature. What is the future of physical retail, and what will it take to make all the boxes ticked.Digitalisation no longer an urban phenomenonPeople assume that most of the digital activities are coming through big cities, and it is the tech-savvy youngsters who are doing it, but that’s no longer true. … [Read more...] about Are dealers equipped enough to adapt to the changing paradigms of car sales?