www panaloko ph Sources: Ex-Giant Jones to eye playoff contender - ESPNHemant Soren stands vindicated. The Jharkhand Chief Minister who spent months behind bars in alleged corruption cases has emerged victorious in one of the most difficult political battles of his life. The JMM-led coalition is poised to form its government with partners Congress, the RJD and the CPI(ML) without much ado. The Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024 not only gave him the opportunity to prove himself innocent, it also pushed the BJP and its politics of alleged vendetta and aggressive Hinduism to the oblivion at least for the time being. After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the son of “Guruji” Shibu Soren on January 31 this year in an alleged land scam case under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the political dynamics of the state underwent a change. The JMM accused the BJP and the Narendra Modi-led union government of political vendetta and targeting him for not falling in line. It also raked up the issue of the humiliation of a tribesman insult of the state of Jharkhand. But JMM’s main emphasis was on the planks of development and secularism as it successfully tried to consolidate the tribals and the Muslims. The JMM’s gamble paid off as it staunchly protested against the proposed Universal Civil Code. The BJP tried to break the possible consolidation of the Muslim-tribals votes by assuring that the tribals would be kept out of the UCC. Buoyed on the success of the NRC and the issue of infiltration of Bangladeshis in Assam, the BJP tried to play the trump card in the state of Jharkhand as well, but it failed. The BJP failed to the gauge the impact of this issue and overhyped it. From stalwarts like PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to local leaders, all took additional efforts to raise the issue that millions of Bangladeshis have infiltrated and affected the democracy of the state, particularly that of Santhal Pargana. The saffron party targeted the Muslim community without taking its name and tried to sell the idea that the minority would disturb the demographic balance and dominate in the coming years, an old story it had played in other parts of the country that the Hindus are in danger. The Election Commission slammed the saffron party for posting on its social media sites a video showing a group of men capturing the house of a leader of the party. It wanted to drive the point that the outsiders would capture your house one day. The ploy did not work and the people did not accept what the BJP wanted to say. Similarly, the BJP’s attempt of humiliating the tribal people did not work when it played the card of Champai Soren. After Hemant Soren was released from jail on bail, he became the Chief Minister of the state once again and Champai Soren vacated the seat, but reluctantly and grudgingly. The BJP lapped up the occasion, took Chmpai under its wings with the promise of making him the Chief Minister of the state after the election. However, it backfired. Champai Soren failed to bring his own vote bank to the BJP, he failed to impact his old area of impact- Kolhan. Even his son Babu Lal Soren lost the Ghatshila seat on the BJP ticket to JMM’s Ram Das Soren. All the tricks of the BJP failed, all its cards fell on the ground and the people of Jharkhand voted against the saffron party. Written By Pramode Mallik

Telecom troubles PTA’s says foreign investment in local telecom sector has been declining despite jump in broadband subscribers While over 91 per cent of the country now has access to cellular services and broadband subscribers have increased by around 14 million people, things are still looking tough for the country’s telecoms sector. According to the PTA’s annual report for the 2023-24 fiscal year, foreign investment in the local telecom sector has been declining despite the jump in broadband subscribers and access to cellular services. Total FDI to the telecom sector came in at $46 million in FY2023-24, an over 20 per cent decline from the previous fiscal which saw $58 million in FDI. The dollar inflow in FDI was also less than the dollar outflow, which reached around $90 million, in 2023-24. However, the dollar outflows were even higher in 2022-23, ranging around $280 million. The telecom sector’s overall investment also declined by $5 million to $765 million in 2023-24. And while the overall number of mobile subscribers might have grown, average revenue per user has declined in dollar terms compared to other comparable countries. The challenges in terms of attracting foreign investment and lifting revenues per user could prove to be particularly problematic as the country and the world begin the transition to 5G mobile networks. This transition will require substantial investments in terms of upgrading existing networks and expanding infrastructure, imposing a significant financial burden on Pakistan’s telecom operators. There is also the country’s digital divide to consider, with the growth in telecom services thus far having been highly uneven when one compares urban and rural areas. The former has generally seen higher and faster adoption of new telecom technologies than the latter. The PTA report notes that the digital divide also constitutes a significant barrier to the country’s 5G rollout, with rural and/or remote areas at a higher risk of missing out due to the steep costs and logistical challenges involved in bringing 5G to areas where the population is relatively lower and poorer and there is less developed infrastructure. These challenges will likely only grow with time given the rapid rate of urban migration in the country. However, even bringing 5G to urban areas will probably not be smooth sailing. Those who recall the 4G rollout will remember that Pakistan was quite late in adopting this standard and was stuck at 3G while other countries surged ahead. As things stand, it is unclear if telecom operators will be able to find the capital to ensure that the adoption of 5G goes better and where this capital will come from. Without growing FDI and declining or stagnant overall investment, raising prices for existing consumers might seem like the most obvious course, but this will be tricky since customers have become used to rates that are relatively cheaper in global terms and the increasing price sensitivity among people after years of brutal inflation. The decline in FDI for the telecom sector should also worry government officials and urge them to reflect on where telecom policy has gone wrong and what can be done to restore investor confidence. For a start, a country where the internet is prone to hours- or even days-long disruptions, access to social media platforms is restricted, internet speeds are slow and one always has to be wary of what state officials might think of some type of digital content is not exactly an attractive investment. While security and political stability are important concerns, they should not come at the expense of a vibrant and financially successful digital landscape.If you’re looking for a family-friendly activity to plan for the upcoming holiday breaks — and if you’re a fan of the popular Netflix series “Squid Game” — consider “Squid Game: The Experience NYC,” a unique chance to dive into a live-action rendition of the show’s thrilling challenges. Held at Manhattan Mall, the event is suitable for all ages, though parents are encouraged to assess whether the physical and strategic nature of the games is appropriate for their children. Tickets start at $29, with VIP packages offering perks like priority entry, access to the VIP lounge, and unique collectibles. Click here to buy tickets to “Squid Game: The Experience NYC.” The event tests players’ survival instincts and strategic thinking in a 60-minute competition. Participants face off in groups to complete challenges inspired by the show, such as “Red Light, Green Light” and the Glass Bridge, with real-time scoring displayed on a leaderboard. “Squid Game” explores themes of class struggle, debt and survival, resonating with viewers around the world. The experience doesn’t stop with the games — players can explore recreated sets, snap photos and enjoy the Korean-inspired Night Market, complete with food, drinks and exclusive merchandise. ‘Squid Game: The Experience NYC’ offers real-life, immersive version of popular Netflix show. (Courtesy Netflix) Courtesy Netflix MORE ABOUT THE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE The venue is open from Thursday to Monday, with additional holiday hours. After the main event, guests are invited to linger at the Night Market, making for a fun and memorable outing. Accessible for all, the experience is located at 100 W. 33rd St. in Manhattan with an entrance at the corner of Sixth Avenue and 33rd Street. Guests will enjoy 60 minutes of intense gameplay at “Squid Game: The Experience NYC” inspired by the iconic Netflix series, as well as exclusive new games created specifically for New York. After the competition, there is a Night Market, where you can enjoy Korean food, themed cocktails and photo opportunities with iconic show settings. Exclusive merchandise and collectibles are also available to complete the experience. ‘Squid Game: The Experience NYC’ offers real-life, immersive version of popular Netflix show. (Courtesy Netflix) Courtesy Netflix ABOUT SQUID GAME “Squid Game” is a South Korean survival drama series that premiered on Netflix in 2021. Created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, the show centers around a deadly competition where 456 financially desperate participants compete in children’s games for a large cash prize. However, the games take a brutal twist, as those who fail are eliminated in fatal ways. The show’s tension arises from its critique of social inequality, greed and human nature as players face moral dilemmas in their pursuit of the prize. The series became a global phenomenon due to its gripping plot, high-stakes drama and striking social commentary. Popular games featured on the show include “Red Light, Green Light,” “Tug of War” and the “Glass Bridge,” all of which are simple childhood games with life-or-death consequences for the participants.

Although the main markets of are stocked with products, few people are already shopping for the preparations for Christmas dinner next Tuesday. Vegetables, fruits, pork, chicken, and other goods used for the big night are already set out in proportion in Cristo Rey, Villas Agrícolas, and Ciudad Ganadera markets, as observed yesterday in a tour of these shopping malls. According to vendors, the New Market of Agricultural Villages has stocked up on these goods since Thursday, but they understand that there has not yet been a great demand for them because there are still several days to go before the 24th. “Today is Friday. We have quite a few products, but our sales are practically the normal of every day. People buy some products that can be stored until Tuesday, but what are vegetables, pork, chicken... it would be from Sunday that sales will increase,” explained Juan Hernández, a chicken seller in the Cristo Rey market. “We hope to sell 100% of the goods by next week. For dinner it sells well because people have the tradition of making it,” he said. Elena Contreras explained that this week, more products such as rice, groceries, and canned goods have been sold. In the markets of Santo Domingo, most of the purchases were made yesterday by grocery stores and sellers of “guaguitas,” unlike the Livestock Fair, which was installed in the market of the Institute of Price Stabilization (Inespre), where a large number of people came to buy products, which according to its director , are sold at low prices. Although many buyers asked about prices, they assured they were sold with little difference from those in other markets! Viviana Polanco said the difference is almost nothing for the line we are making to buy. “But we have to take advantage of the savings even if it is RD$2.00,” she added.Dear Penny: What short-term investments should I make if I need cash quick?

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The man who ended Nadal's career helps the Netherlands beat Germany to reach the Davis Cup finalNorth Carolina fired Mack Brown on Tuesday, setting in motion a coaching carousel that has been lacking movement at the power conference level. While the American Athletic Conference already has a half-dozen coaching changes in progress, and CBS Sports insiders expect a robust market for power conference coordinators and assistants, the apparent cooling of multiple hot seats over the past month suggests a quiet year for change at major programs. But North Carolina moving on from Brown puts the program in an unfamiliar position. For the first time in the modern era, the national coaching carousel runs through Chapel Hill. This is not a school that has ever held all the cards when it comes to football searches. Thanks to the work of Brown's second stint, however, North Carolina football is as healthy and attractive a job as it has been in decades. Brown raised the floor, ushered the fan base and donors into the NIL era, and repaired relationships throughout the state that had become fractured during previous tenures. He will end the "Mack 2.0" era with six consecutive bowl-eligible seasons, an ACC runner-up finish in 2022, and an Orange Bowl appearance in 2020. In comparison, previous North Carolina football hires have inherited: A program that won just five games combined across 2017-18 A program in the midst of NCAA scandal with sanctions on the way A program that had gone 27-45 across six seasons with just two bowl appearances A program that had lost its footing from the highs of the Mack Brown 1.0 era -- 1999 was its first losing season since 1989. Every coach hired since Brown's exit (which led to the promotion of defensive coordinator Carl Torbush) was tasked with fixing major issues within the program. By moving on from Mack Brown in the 2024-25 offseason, North Carolina is hitting the coach market in the best condition it has been in during the modern era. North Carolina may be doing so with less competition than it has ever faced--or may ever face--in the coaching carousel marketplace. It has been suggested that many hot-seat situations cooled in recent weeks because of the upcoming House ruling and the uncertain financial future of revenue sharing. That may be the case, and if so, North Carolina is taking a calculated risk. If the school had let Brown's tenure extend into 2025 only to make this same move next season, perhaps more clarity about the financials of college sports would have made schools less hesitant to fire their coaches. If North Carolina entered the marketplace in 2025, it could have been competing with multiple SEC programs for top candidates. Brown's Hall of Fame career in perspective Tulane's Jon Sumrall could be best candidate for UNC Why Dennis Dodd says today was another case of Brown being done wrong UNC alum Chip Patterson says Tar Heels in rare spot (in rare time, too) The North Carolina job is a strong position that would attract interest from top candidates. Top SEC coordinators and rising coaches were all mentioned as potential targets before Butch Davis was hired in 2006, but questions remain about the actual candidacy of those individuals given the timeline of the coaching change. John Bunting was fired midseason and allowed to finish the year, while Davis, who was not coaching at the time, was announced as the next coach on Nov. 13, 2006. Now, athletic director Bubba Cunningham and the university leadership get to hold a proper search, within a normal timeframe, with a job to offer that is as attractive as it has been in decades -- and, for now, the best available job in the country. That's an enormous opportunity and a pivot point for the school. Coaches often talk about building programs by following a progression: "lose big, then lose small, then win small, and finally win big." Outsiders often discuss the potential of North Carolina football, citing the rising level of talent in the state, the school's national brand, and a passionate fan base familiar with celebrating big wins in other sports. The reality, however, is that most of the Tar Heels' coaching hires in the modern era have been restoration jobs to bring the program back to its historical average -- winning about 55% of its games. The expectation, based on 120-plus years of North Carolina football, has been to win more games than you lose and, once every four to five years, produce a team that contends for conference championships and a top-25 finish. If North Carolina wants more than that, this is an opportunity to bring in a qualified candidate who doesn't have to start over with the "lose big" or "lose small" stages of building a successful program. Thanks to the work of Mack Brown's second tenure, North Carolina football doesn't need to be rebuilt to its historical 55% average--because that's where the next head coach will begin. Considering the health of the program and the apparent lack of competition, there is no excuse for North Carolina not to make a great hire who can lead the team into a new era of college athletics. That's the calculated risk North Carolina is taking by making a change while others wait for things to settle. This is a job that hasn't been the best available before and might not be again.

Telangana: DCA cracks down on unqualified quacks running clinicsUS Election Don't miss out on the headlines from US Election. Followed categories will be added to My News. Kamala Harris’s campaign chiefs have unleashed on Joe Biden, the media and their fellow Democrats in a bid to explain her devastating defeat at the hands of Donald Trump. Three weeks after the US election, the Vice President’s top aides broke their silence and weighed into the blame game, as Ms Harris returned from a holiday in Hawaii to thank her volunteers and encourage them to “keep fighting”. “I still strongly believe the light of America’s promise will burn bright as long as we never give up ... We’ve got a lot of work to do,” she said, amid reports that she was mulling over running for president again in 2028 or to lead her home state of California. US Vice President Kamala Harris has thanked her volunteers and encouraged them to “keep fighting” after returning from a holiday in Hawaii. Picture: Saul Loeb / AFP The masterminds of her unsuccessful campaign spoke out on Pod Save America, a podcast run by Barack Obama’s former aides, with Ms Harris’s senior adviser David Plouffe talking up their efforts in the face of what he said was a “pretty brutal” political atmosphere. “This political environment sucked. We were dealing with ferocious headwinds,” he said, pointing to widespread dissatisfaction with the direction of the country under Mr Biden, the President’s poor approval ratings and the anger among voters about inflation. Mr Plouffe – who spearheaded Mr Obama’s 2008 election victory – said there was “a price to be paid” for Ms Harris being thrust into the race after Mr Biden’s “pretty catastrophic” debate against Mr Trump, leaving her with just 107 days to campaign. “We inherited a deficit, we got it to even, but the thing never moved,” he said. Senior adviser to Kamala Harris and former campaign manager to Barack Obama David Plouffe. He said the Trump campaign’s most effective attack ad against Ms Harris tied her to the President’s “Bidenomics” record. But fellow senior adviser Stephanie Cutter said Ms Harris felt “tremendous loyalty” to Mr Biden and believed it “wouldn’t be a clean break” had she decided to criticise his record. “Vice presidents stick by their presidents, and she wasn’t willing to change that precedent,” she said. “We were never going to satisfy anybody ... Too many people thought that she would be a continuation, which on the economy was the incumbent-killer.” Ms Harris’s campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon hit out at the “completely bulls***t” criticisms of the Vice President for failing to face the press at the start of her campaign, with Ms Cutter adding that the questions she did receive in interviews were “dumb”. Kamala Harris’s campaign chiefs say the most effective attack ad from the Trump campaign tied Ms Harris to the President’s “Bidenomics” record. Picture: Saul Loeb / AFP Deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks also blasted members of the Democratic Party for “eating our own” by condemning decisions they did not agree with. “If you’re in the Democratic Party and you step out of line, you get punished for it ... by your own party,” he said, adding: “Republicans do not do that.” Mr Fulks revealed he dealt with an “insane” amount of internal angst over an advertisement that included a swear word, as he complained that his party was “losing the culture war”. Ms Cutter also said the Vice President was “ready, willing” to appear on America’s most popular podcast hosted by Joe Rogan but that Mr Trump ended up recording his interview on the only day she was available to do it in Texas. Podcaster Joe Rogan with President-elect Donald Trump, musician Kid Rock and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. Picture: Chris Unger / Zuffa LLC The campaign chiefs maintained they always believed it was a neck-and-neck race, with Ms O’Malley Dillon pointing out that the swing to Mr Trump was only three percentage points in the battleground states, compared to eight points across the rest of the US. “Where she campaigned, we did way better than the rest of the country,” she said. “We did make real progress against these national headwinds.” Ms Harris emerged on Tuesday (local time) for a brief call with her supporters, saying she was “proud of the race we ran”. “I know this is an uncertain time. I’m clear-eyed about that ... and it feels heavy,” she said. “The fight that fuelled our campaign ... that did not end on November 5th.” More Coverage Trump meets the limits of his landslide Tom Minear Why Kamala Harris is starting to sound like Joe Biden Tom Minear Originally published as Kamala Harris’s top aides unleash on Biden, media and Democrats over presidential election defeat Join the conversation Add your comment to this story To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout More related stories US Election MAGA team: Trump makes his final top pick Policy advocate Brooke Rollins joins a billionaire hedge fund manager, an ex-WWE boss, and a TV doctor as one of the top characters proposed for the Trump cabinet. See who else is in. 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