Sunday, April 27, 2008

The Wikimedia Board of Trustees recently announced that it would dramatically restructure the makeup of the board. The Board announced that there would now be three seats elected by the Wikimedia community, two seats elected by the Wikimedia chapters, one ‘community founder’ seat appointed by the Trustees, and four ‘specific expertise’ seats, also appointed by the Trustees.

Jan-Bart Vreede, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, gave Wikinews more information about the decision in a short email interview, which was carried out yesterday. Below is the text of the interview:

((Wikinews)) How long was this decision process in the works?

Jan-Bart: We have known that we need to carefully look at the board as a whole for quite a while. We weren’t sure how drastic our steps needed to be. We spend a large amount of time on this during our April board meeting, using the additional insights from our newest board members Michael Snow and Domas Mituzas. It took us a while after that fill in all the details. The election committee has been very patient in waiting for us to complete this process, because they were unable to move forward without us.

((WN)) Why did you chose to have a “community foundation person” position, a position not common among other non profits?

Jan-Bart: There have been and will always be discussions with regards to the position of Jimmy within the board, does he count as a community member or not. Keeping in mind his special role we thought it was best to take this opportunity to make his position clear as well. He does have a special seat which doesn’t go in any of the other categories. His seat is up for re-appointment every year (which Jimmy himself insisted on), the big difference is that if the seat is not taken by him, it is left vacant and the board reverts to 9 members. [Note-Jimmy Wales, Wikimedia Founder, is the person who will have the “community foundation” position]

((WN)) How/when will the elections be held for the new open seats?

Jan-Bart: This has been announced by the election committee today. Please note that these are only the community elected seats. The chapters are going to formulate their own process for filling the chapter-selected seats, this may or may not involve elections. [Note: Kwan Ting Chan announced on the Wikinews Water Cooler that candidates may nominate themselves for election between May 8 and May 22, and that the voting will occur between 1 June and 21 June. ]

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Myanmar police have beaten up to 700 protesters with batons, according to witnesses. The crowd was gathered near a pagoda in Rangoon, and included students and Buddhist monks. AFP reported that only monks were allowed to enter the pagoda, and Reuters has quoted witnesses as saying that tear gas was used to disperse the monks.

Some monks were taken away by police in trucks. This is the first time that Myanmar security forces have used violence against the protests, which are now in their ninth day.

Myanmar authorities have imposed a curfew from dusk until dawn, and have also banned public gatherings of more than five people. Troops and riot police have begun taking positions near monasteries, opposition party headquarters, and the house of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

Comedian Zaganar was arrested at his home overnight. He has previously spoken publicly in support of the protests.

The Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, announced earlier today that the Australian government is following events in Myanmar closely, and urged the Myanmar government to show restraint. He also called for the respect of “the legitimate right of Myanmar citizens to peaceful protest.”

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Ian Narev, the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, this morning “unreservedly” apologised to clients who lost money in a scandal involving the bank’s financial planning services arm.

Last week, a Senate enquiry found financial advisers from the Commonwealth Bank had made high-risk investments of clients’ money without the clients’ permission, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars lost. The Senate enquiry called for a Royal Commission into the bank, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Mr Narev stated the bank’s performance in providing financial advice was “unacceptable”, and the bank was launching a scheme to compensate clients who lost money due to the planners’ actions.

In a statement Mr Narev said, “Poor advice provided by some of our advisers between 2003 and 2012 caused financial loss and distress and I am truly sorry for that. […] There have been changes in management, structure and culture. We have also invested in new systems, implemented new processes, enhanced adviser supervision and improved training.”

An investigation by Fairfax Media instigated the Senate inquiry into the Commonwealth Bank’s financial planning division and ASIC.

Whistleblower Jeff Morris, who reported the misconduct of the bank to ASIC six years ago, said in an article for The Sydney Morning Herald that neither the bank nor ASIC should be in control of the compensation program.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

The Indian stock market ended at an all time high on the Diwali 60-minute Special trading session on Friday. Diwali trading is arranged every year on the festival of Diwali to pay obeisance to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity; it is also seen as welcoming the New Year of the Samvat calendar. The Samvat calendar is 56.7 years ahead (in count) of the solar Gregorian calendar.

The benchmark 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitivity Index, Sensex, rose 0.53% or 111.39 points to a record close of 21,004.96. Sensex closes above 21k pts for the first-time in its 135 years history.

Indian markets have attracted about USD 26.74 billion this year of investment from foreign institutional investors. The sale of a 10% stake in Kolkata-based Coal India last month was the biggest share sale in Indian history and banked the government 3.4 billion dollars. Coal India has risen 43 percent since listing at the stock exchanges this week.

According to Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala “This will continue for long periods of time. If you look at India we are 3% to 4% of world GDP, we are not even 0.5% of USD 30 to USD 35 trillion in the investment of institutions worldwide in equities. Our share is USD 250 billion, USD 200 billion may be and it could go up to USD 1 trillion. So I see no reason why money will not come. Don’t forget one thing that India is an open country. Indian companies have return on equity. Among the emerging markets we have the best corporate governance. We are well regulated; we have got good trading systems. Why will the money not come you tell me?” Mr.Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is tagged by the media as “India’s Warren Buffett”.