A second Trump White House would seek to sharply reduce the power of U.S. financial regulators, according to a review of public documents and interviews with people allied with the former president. In the wake of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Congress dramatically expanded the U.S. government's oversight of the financial industry to prevent a repeat of the 2008 global banking meltdown. Donald Trump would likely renew his efforts to scale back those reforms, if elected, as well as pare protections for small-scale investors and borrowers, and allow companies to raise money with less scrutiny, according to the interviews and proposals from groups positioned to influence a new conservative administration. Reuters spoke with, among others, about a dozen people who have provided advice or been consulted by Trump or his allies. The Republican Party’s presumptive nominee has not announced a formal policy staff or released detailed positions on how he would regulate Wall Street, aside from short videos and snippets in campaign appearances. But, the sources told Reuters, a constellation of experts and Trump allies are pitching regulatory rewrites, identifying potential staff and floating ideas on TV, in op-eds and directly to Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Some of the ideas in Trump’s current policy orbit have long circulated in conservative economic conversation. They include curtailing the Dodd-Frank Act, a set of post-2008 financial crisis rules intended to reduce systemic risk. Another idea is to make it easier for private companies to raise capital – in turn opening access to less transparent and more difficult-to-trade private funds and securities. More recent policy ideas include attacking environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments and disclosures, which help screen businesses based on socially conscious factors, or potential dramatic cuts to staff at regulators through a mechanism known as Schedule F, which would reclassify up to 50,000 civil servants across the government as easily-replaceable political appointees. Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, said Trump had success in peeling back regulations during his administration. "President Trump's pro-growth, deregulatory agenda ignited the greatest economy in history,” Leavitt said in an email to Reuters. The Trump administration, with mixed success, opens new tab, worked to reverse a range of Obama-era rules, such as those that eased regulations for Wall Street banks or “fiduciary” rules for brokers. Excluding the immediate effects of the coronavirus pandemic, official data show unemployment at its lowest since the 1960s under both Trump and Biden. Though pandemic and other distortions can make comparisons difficult, in inflation-adjusted terms the U.S. economy grew more slowly in Trump’s first three years in office (8.1%) than under Biden (10.6%), according to Commerce Department data. Michael Faulkender, a former Trump Treasury official, has called publicly for scrapping bank stress testing, opens new tab under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act in favor of stronger capital requirements, saying that requiring banks to pass the same set of evaluations leaves the system open to collapse if they all run into the same problems at once. He is now chief economist at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), which was founded by former Trump officials. Asked about his policy positions, Faulkender pointed to his previous writing, opens new tab about ESG investing. “As the academic literature has documented, ESG is too much in the eye of the beholder,” he told Reuters. “Therefore, it can and has been used to deviate from the fiduciary duty that money managers have to their clients, and it has distracted financial supervisors from the safety and soundness criteria that should be used in ensuring the ongoing strength of the U.S. financial system.” TARGETING CLIMATE CHANGE RULES Robert Bowes, a former Trump appointee who has worked with the conservative Heritage Foundation, has called for the abolition, of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – created by the Dodd-Frank Act to police the lending industry at the federal level – and referred to the Securities and Exchange Commission as an “unaccountable meddling shakedown agency” that “uses its regulation to target political enemies, to ram through woke and radical green agenda.” In an email, Bowes told Reuters he was “very concerned about the disastrous bank regulation and economic policies by the Biden administration.” Asked about that characterization and others about burdensome regulations, a Biden White House spokesperson said congressional Republicans have pushed to continue Trump-era policies by “gutting life-saving regulations and legalizing predatory business practices,” thereby increasing risks to the financial system and the economy. It’s unclear what ideas Trump will take up, and what can become settled policy. But taken together, the ideas being promoted in conservative circles would overturn key aspects of current financial regulation. The changes would reverse reforms ranging from investor protections to risk management by the biggest banks, Brian D. Feinstein, an expert on financial regulation at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, said of the policy proposals being floated for a second Trump administration. “It would upend the U.S.'s entire system of financial regulation,” he said. Campaign spokeswoman Leavitt characterized Biden’s administration as engaging in a "massive push to increase burdensome regulations, especially on our energy and auto industries." The Biden administration has pushed regulations to spur the use of electric vehicles and renewable energy sources, in addition to seeking fair lending requirements, increased investor disclosures and bank capital hikes. Trump has repeatedly said he wants much less regulation than now exists. A person who regularly speaks with him on economic matters said Trump would be “sure” to “go after all of this climate change stuff,” likely a nod to new corporate climate risk disclosure rules and ESG investments. Feinstein, the Wharton professor, said that some of the proposed policies from Trump’s allies would need to go through Congress, such as limiting the Dodd-Frank Act, making their fortunes uncertain. That will depend on the outcome of November’s elections in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Currently, Democrats control the Senate and Republicans have a narrow House majority. But agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission, whose five-person bipartisan commission is appointed by the White House (usually one each year) and approved by the Senate, would have power to push through other proposals, such as those related to environmental reporting, Feinstein said. And bureaucratic changes such as expanding the definition of political appointees through Schedule F could have a major effect on financial regulators by removing job protections for many career professionals, compelling them to pursue the president’s preferences rather than their own independent judgment, he added. The Biden administration has maneuvered to slow such a move by Trump should he return to office. Even if Trump loses the election, the judicial appointments from his 2017-2021 presidency could change the legal landscape for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission, with the Supreme Court considering challenges to the power of those agencies to issue regulations. THINK TANK TRANSITION The Heritage Foundation, the influential Washington-based conservative think tank, has positioned itself as central to getting the agenda through regardless. Heritage’s preparations, dubbed “Project 2025, opens new tab,” include a more-than-900-page book of policy ideas and an expansive database of pre-screened personnel. The group has compiled policy recommendations since the Reagan era, but the latest edition includes more detail on financial regulation than in 2016. Among Heritage’s policy authors is Stephen Moore, a conservative economist and longtime advisor to Trump who recently pitched him at Mar-a-Lago on candidates to lead the Federal Reserve. Moore proposes a transformation of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that would slash the Internal Revenue Service’s budget and terminate employees who have participated in diversity initiatives, among other things. Moore told Reuters he’d like to see “less of the regulators sticking their fingers in all these financial transactions, especially in areas like banking regulation,” singling out bank capital requirements in particular. A spokesperson at Heritage declined to comment. The America First Policy Institute, the nascent think tank led by Trump White House strategist Brooke Rollins, is also angling for influence. The group is home to more than 50 former Trump administration officials and staff, including Larry Kudlow, the FOX Business Network host and former White House economic adviser who remains close to Trump; Faulkender, who led the Covid-era Paycheck Protection Program at Treasury; and Robert Lighthizer, the former U.S. Trade Representative. The group has also written a high-level policy agenda, opens new tab and is “crafting action-oriented plans for each federal department and agency” as part of the “America First Transition Project, opens new tab.” A spokesman for AFPI said in an email that its Transition Project "is focused on unleashing American prosperity by implementing the America First Agenda." Lighthizer did not respond to a request for comment. POTENTIAL PERSONNEL Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, said in an emailed statement that there has been “no discussion” of potential personnel. But during a January campaign speech, opens new tab, Trump floated billionaire investor and donor John Paulson as a potential Treasury Secretary. Paulson has said, opens new tab he supports the “reduction of unnecessary regulation”; on Saturday, he hosted other major donors and Trump at his Palm Beach home, raising $50.5 million, according to the campaign. Trump wants Paulson to lead Treasury, and if not him, Scott Bessent, another investor and campaign contributor, according to a source familiar with internal conversations among Trump and his advisers. Former SEC Chair Jay Clayton is among other potential candidates for Trump’s Treasury team, according to two sources familiar with the situation, but considered a long shot. The consideration of Paulson, Bessent and Clayton was previously reported by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal. Clayton, in an email to Reuters, said only that he expected the financial team in a new Trump administration would be similar to the first, which he said was “focused on lifting real wages, facilitating growth through domestic investment, and providing strong long term returns for retirees.” Paulson, in a statement to Reuters, said, "It’s too early to discuss any positions in President Trump’s administration." Bessent did not respond to a request for comment.   Source: Reuters

Jim Bates, an election observer from the US, has described the 12th national election as “free and fair.” "I would like to say it is a free and fair election already," he told.   “So when they say ‘low turnout,’ that’s something to manoeuvre the press,” Bates said.   “The thing they keep talking about is low turnout, that is a misnomer. In some countries, voting goes on until 5/6pm or even months,” he added. Foreign observers visited several centres on Sunday (Jan 7).  “At this point, it looks peaceful. Hopefully that will remain the case throughout the day,” said another observer. Around 127 foreign observers are currently in Dhaka to observe the 12th national election.  

"It is very unfortunate that some specific foreign countries are continuously exerting pressure on Bangladesh centring polls," Chief Ellection commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal says. 12th parliamentary polls must be free and fair for the welfare of the country's economy and future, CEC Kazi Habibul Awal said today. "We want free, fair and credible polls. Unfortunately, some foreign countries are extending their claws on Bangladesh, dominating the country centering the polls." he said while inaugurating a training programme for the electoral enquiry committee at the Electoral Training Institute in the capital. "To save ourselves, the garment sector and the people, the upcoming election must be free, fair and credible. Both the general People and the foreigners want such an election," he expressed. Chief Election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal added, "The country is in "crisis" over the election. There is doubt regarding trust. We need to come out from it. Everybody must discharge their duties very responsibly." He said that the Election Commission wanted a fair election with no controversy result. The US declared, "If anybody is responsible for undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh then they would impose visa restrictions on individuals and their immediate family members . This year in September, Washington told, they had started applying the restrictions, but they would not reveal the names of people who are facing the curbs.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Sunday) pledged to eliminate leprosy from the county by 2030, urging the local drug manufacturing factories to produce quality medicines for the treatment of leprosy patients. "We are firmly committed to erasing the leprosy from the country by 2030," she said while opening the second national leprosy conference-2023 at a city hotel. The premier asked all concerned to increase the fund and other required measures to achieve the "Approach to Zero Leprosy by 2030". At the same programme, she unveiled the “National Strategic Guideline for Leprosy 2023-2030”. The premier also called upon all to serve the leprosy patients with love and affection. "Let's all to help recover leprosy patients by standing beside them with love and affection as they are our near and dear ones," she said. The prime minister reiterated her call to pay more attention on conducting medical research in the country. "More medical research is needed for us. But, our medical research is very few in numbers. Please do research on the medical sciences," she said. If you will do research on the medical science, you will get a clear understanding on the diseases related to climate, she said. "We can produce required medicines to treat the diseases link to climate. I request you all to do more research on medical science," she said. The prime minister called upon all to stand by the leprosy patients, shunning the old misconception and superstition that they can't be touched. "We all will have to come out of the old misconception. Many have already come out of it.... We'll have to leave the old beliefs and superstitions," she added. Sheikh Hasina said they have built digital Bangladesh and now has taken steps to build a smart Bangladesh. "How will we be smart, cherishing such superstitions in the Smart Bangladesh?" said Sheikh Hasina.

US Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller said, "They support everyone’s right to freely exercise their role in a democratic society. We oppose any restrictions on human rights." on July 24, US Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters during a regular media briefing. In that briefing, He added, "They (US) do not take a position with respect to any political party in Bangladesh or in other countries.But we believe that Bangladesh and all countries throughout the world should have free and fair elections."  "Visa restrictions would apply to anyone who undermines the democratic election process in Bangladesh", He also added this.   

Ramban district administration has set up free medical camps from Nashri to Banihal for Amarnath Yatris along the National Highway 44. As many as 19 medical camps have been set up in Langars (a communal free kitchen), Yatri Niwas and other lodgements, Nodal Officer, Health Dr Opinder Singh told ANI. Facilities like free medicines, ambulance service and testing facilities are available round the clock to the Yatris. "Free medical facilities are being provided round the clock to the Yatris. Our medical staff is available in every Langer. Serious patients are being referred to the district hospital Ramban," Dr Singh said. Security officers, langar managers, workers and tourists are also being provided free medical facilities, he said. Yatris hailed the administration for making the arrangements. Balvinder Singh, a Yatri from Punjab, said, "The arrangements have been made up to the mark. I had a medical checkup on one of my ears. Medicines are provided free of cost here. I am satisfied with the treatment." Camp Director, Dr Sushant Mahajan said, "Many facilities are being provided to the Yatris. Beds have been set up here for patients, and ECG machines have also been installed. Medicines are being provided free of cost". Vinay Kumar, another Yatri said, "I had a skin cut. It was washed and attended to by a doctor. Besides, I got my sugar test done free of cost. I expressed my gratitude to the doctors". The annual Amarnath Yatra began on July 1 with the first batch of pilgrims starting their journey from Baltal base camp in Jammu Kashmir's Ganderbal to Amarnath Cave. The 62-day pilgrimage will culminate on August 31. 

The three-way split of the Sequoia venture capital firm will free its Indian and Southeast Asian arm to pursue U.S. software deals in hot sectors such as artificial intelligence that were once off-limits, the managing director of the Bengaluru-based business told Nikkei Asia. Sequoia Capital -- early backers of Apple, Google and Airbnb in the U.S., ByteDance in China, Zomato and Byju's in India, and GoTo in Indonesia -- said last week that its Chinese and Indian/Southeast Asian entities would separate from their U.S. parent and operate as HongShan and Peak XV Partners, respectively. The end of Sequoia's investing alliance in China has been blamed on rising political tensions between Washington and Beijing. But there has been considerable debate about why Sequoia would want to distance itself from India at a time when global firms like Insight Partners, GSV Ventures, General Catalyst and Mary Meeker's Bond Capital have begun backing startups in the country. In an interview, Peak XV Managing Director Shailendra Singh highlighted the commercial motivations for the split, saying his team has been missing out on desirable investments due to potential conflicts with companies that were already part of the sprawling Sequoia ecosystem. The challenge was particularly pronounced in an area like AI, where multiple companies could end up building competing products. But there were other examples, as well, Singh said. Sequoia stayed out of the first two funding rounds at Indian financial services startup Razorpay amid possible competition with an "important U.S. portfolio company," he said. Other missed opportunities came in robotic process automation, where Sequoia was blocked by its investment in UiPath, and in so-called no-code or low-code startups. Freed from the old constraints, Singh said Peak XV Partners would step up investments in "cross-border" software companies, essentially U.S.-based startups "where one of the co-founders is in India or Southeast Asia, or they have engineering teams there." He said Peak XV would set up a team in the U.S. to help its portfolio companies. "I expect that in the next five to 10 years there will a parallel ecosystem where in every category, there will be an American company and an Indian company [competing]," Singh said. "But founders won't even come to us if they feel we have a conflict, and our LPs [limited partners] will not be well-served if we don't pick the best companies of our region." The firm's emphasis in India will be on software deals that straddle AI, cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity, he said, as well as on financial technologies and consumer companies. Peak XV will continue backing consumer and financial services startups in Southeast Asia, as well as looking for software deals in Singapore and Australia. Before the split, Sequoia reportedly managed $53 billion in the U.S. and Europe, $56 billion in China and $9 billion in India and Southeast Asia. As part of Sequoia, Peak XV raised $2.8 billion last year -- including $2bn earmarked for India, the largest amount ever for an India-focused fund. Singh declined to comment on Peak XV's fundraising plans in Asia, but said the practice of one Sequoia partner investing in the fund of another would end. Sequoia began operating in India in 2006 through a partnership with local private equity firm Westbridge Capital. Top management, however, quit in 2011 to relaunch Westbridge, while the current leaders of Peak XV stayed on to run Sequoia's Indian business. The firm underwent another shake-up in late 2017, when three more senior executives left to launch a separate fund. Peak XV says its current portfolio spans more than 400 companies, over 50 of them unicorns -- startups valued north of $1 billion. It has returned about $4.5 billion to its limited partners and holds shares worth $1.6 billion in portfolio companies that went public. Exiting investments through initial public offerings could prove tricky for Peak XV. More than 10 Indian firms paused IPOs last year amid a "global rout on public tech listings," said Bain & Co, which estimates the value of VC exits in India plunged to $3.9 billion in 2022 from $9.6 billion the year before. At the same time, investors such as BlackRock, Neuberger Berman and Fidelity Investments have marked down their valuations of several high-profile Indian startups, setting the stage for so-called down rounds, which could either amplify losses or delay exit plans. These companies include some key Peak XV portfolio companies such as Byju's, Pine Labs and Meesho. "We encourage companies to reset valuations whenever it makes sense. Public company valuations change every day," said Singh. "It is not sensible that private companies stick to unreasonably high valuations if those are no longer representative of the market, and we encourage founders to be courageous and embrace a reset." The breakup of Sequoia also comes as some of its high-profile portfolio companies face questions about their corporate governance. The most notorious example has been FTX, whose founder Sam Bankman-Fried faces federal charges that he stole billions of dollars from the cryptocurrency exchange. Closer to home, the chief executive of one of Peak XV's marquee bets, Singapore-based fashion supply chain startup Zilingo, was sacked after allegations of financial irregularities. Another portfolio company, Byju's, has been locked in a legal wrangle with its lenders. "Downstream portfolio issues are not unique to us, or to our region," said Singh. "We can't guarantee that nobody in the world will do bad things. But what we can do is to take action. We can focus on our actions to serve our LPs in a great manner." Source: asia.nikkei.com

Taking a major step towards providing free quality coaching to financially weaker children, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has directed all private tuition and coaching centers to provide free coaching to 10 per cent of the children in their centers who are underprivileged. According to Rule 4(e) of Jammu and Kashmir Regulation of Private Tuition Center Rules 2010, Nazim School Education Jammu has made it mandatory for all private tuition/coaching centers to have 10 per cent orphans, children belonging to BPL, Antodhya Anna Yojana and PhH category, who are pursuing secondary, higher secondary or undergraduate comparable courses. In this regard, the Director of School Education Jammu has issued an order asking interested candidates to submit applications with required documents for admission to private tuition centers/coaching within 15 days. These applications can be sent to the email [email protected] or collected during office hours at the Private Section of the Directorate of School Education, Mithi Jammu. The required documents include orphan certificate, ration card of BPL/AAY and PHH categories, and qualification certificate of previous classes. The list of registered Private Tuition/Coaching Centers is available on the Directorate website www.schedujammu.nic.in. There are 72 private tuition and coaching centers in Jammu. There are 10 centers in Kathua, 4 in Samba, 3 in Udhampur, 5 in Poonch district, 5 in Rajouri, 3 in Ramban, 5 in Doda and 5 in Kishtwar. It has happened for the first time that such an order has been issued, and strict disciplinary action will be taken against those who do not implement it. The poor people have welcomed this decision. (ANI)

Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday announced to conduct an independent audit of the free flour scheme in Punjab for the sake of “transparency and financial prudence” after baseless allegations by some Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Dawn reported. On May 6, Mohsin Naqvi said, “We have decided to go for an immediate audit through the Auditor General Pakistan office, and simultaneously through a private audit firm of established international repute,” as per the Dawn report. He further said that a request was sent to the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau to verify if anything related to the allegations was committed by any “nefarious elements”. Punjab caretaker CM’s decision comes after the PML-N leader’s allegations. PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had alleged that Pakistani Rupees 20 billion was looted during the free flour distribution programme which was first started in Punjab, as per the news report. He made the statement last week during a seminar at Lahore’s Government College University. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had said, “Recently, Rs84bn worth of [free] flour was distributed. I am sorry to say that approximately Rs20 bn was looted. Look at it any which way. What if the poor man get for whom you spent Rs84bn?”, Dawn reported. Abbasi further said that it was not possible to deliver on the promises within the current system of governance. He called for changing the whole system and further said, “it has become so corrupt that it cannot deliver, whether in the Centre or the provinces.” Even though Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had not singled out the Punjab government. However, Punjab’s Interim Information Minister Amir Mir called Abbasi’s allegations “false and fabricated.” Meanwhile, the food department of Punjab province has denied any misappropriation, as per the news report. In March, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced free wheat flour for the “poorest of the poor” during Ramzan, Dawn reported. The scheme was first implemented in Punjab and later in other parts of Pakistan. Sharif had ordered the authorities to plan a strategy for the supply of flour to poor families at the earliest. 

Free Tibet is urging the UK government to put pressure on China after major new evidence shows the destruction of religious and cultural sites, torture and detentions, which locals warn is a second ‘Cultural Revolution’. The new report launched January 23,2023 by the London-based NGO Free Tibet with its charitable research arm, Tibet Watch, details previously unreported torture, detentions and destruction of Tibetan heritage in Drago in eastern Tibet.   Tibetan’s living in Drago have been under siege by the Chinese government with numerous crackdowns on the Tibetan way of life for some years. However, Tibet Watch has found the crackdown on freedom of religion and culture escalated under Wang Dongsheng, the newly nominated Chinese Party Secretary of Drago. Wang Dongsheng was previously involved in mass demolitions and expulsions of thousands of monks and nuns from the Tibetan Buddhist monastery, Larung Gar. John Jones, Campaign and Advocacy Manager at Free Tibet, said: “This new report shows how residents of Drago County, known for its strong sense of Tibetan identity and resistance, have been under siege since October 2021, with their cultural and religious heritage coming under attack and locals being detained, tortured and subjected to ‘re-education’.” ‘Desecration in Drago Country: Destruction of Tibetan Religious Heritage, Arbitrary Detentions and Torture’ focuses on events between October 2021 and June 2022.  For the first time, the report documents a new extrajudicial facility used for political ‘education’, and information about a military base and prison. The report shows the scale of the destruction. Satellite photos show before and after images, including the destruction of three colossal statues of Buddha, evoking the Taliban’s destruction of Buddhist statues in Afghanistan 20 years earlier. Evidence also details the destruction of a Buddhist school, a building housing 45 giant prayer wheels, the residence of a revered spiritual leader, and the burning of Drago monastery’s prayer flags. The report also found new information about security crackdowns in the months following the 2012 mass protest in Drago, which includes primary schools being temporarily used as places to detain and torture protesters, and a police shooting at an entire family of a protester. Tibet is rich in minerals and resources and is the source of water to Asia, as well as being a military strategic and trade route for China. The brutal occupation of Tibet by China and the use of torture has been a longstanding and widespread human rights abuse since the 1950s, and one that United Nations treaty bodies have raised directly with China. Free Tibet is now calling for a global political acknowledgement that Tibet is still under the occupation of China and is one of the least free countries on earth. The NGO urges international governments to push China into a prompt and full investigation into the destruction of religious and cultural sites in Drago Country. It’s also urging UN stakeholders to raise Tibet as a specific agenda item in all human rights discussions with their Chinese counterparts, as well as push for open access to Tibet for diplomats, journalists and NGOs. Free Tibet is also asking the UN international community to urge the Chinese government to decriminalise the use of the image of, or mention of the Dalai Lama, in Tibet. John Jones added: “The findings of this report show how China has violated Tibetan’s rights to self-determination and freedom as well as using torture and detention. We urge the UK government to take immediate action and lead the international community on safeguarding Tibetan human rights.” Source: UK Cause