Last year in July, when Xiaomi entered the Indian market, it took the country by surprise. More than its potential buyers, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer managed to shake up the ground for its competitors. Today, a year later, the company has come a long way. Xiaomi is going to launch its first 'Made in India' smartphone, in Visakhapatnam, today. The launch will be conducted by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu; this event will also see Xiaomi make announcements for further expansion plans in India.
The seed of this project is said to have been planted, when the CM visited China, earlier this year. The event today will see CEO Xiaomi India, Manu Jain delivering the welcome address and Hugo Barra, VP Global Xiaomi, briefing the audience on the 'Journey of Xiaomi in India'. It has also been reported, that Secretary DIPP, Govt. of India, Amitabh Kant, will be the Guest of Honour.
With India estimated to become the second largest smartphone market by 2017, after China, it is said, that many companies will be looking to invest in India, in the near future. However, China is not the first country to show interest in India, and specifically Andhra Pradesh; Japan and Malaysia have all shown an interest in being partners in capital construction and have also come forward to contribute to the construction of people's capital. It has also been reported that PM Narendra Modi suggested Naidu to send a delegation to cities like Astana and Asghabat, to study and incorporate some of the best practices they follow.
Xiaomi is the third largest smartphone maker in the world, following Samsung and Apple, that has come to Visakhapatnam to launch its first main-in-India smartphone. The phone is being re-branded as MI and is looking forward to a successful launch.


Wendy Vetter, DO, focuses on providing internal medicine and pediatric care to patients ranging from newborn to geriatrics.
Her focus is in providing preventative services and well visits for all ages, managing chronic medical conditions, transitional care from pediatrics to internal medicine, acute care needs and newborn nursery coverage.
She works with patients by helping them understand how nutrition, mental and spiritual factors impact physical health.
Dr. Vetter is also a leader in the medical community by serving on the South Dakota Arthritis Foundation Board of Directors.
My philosophy of care is to partner with children and adults with chronic diseases to achieve maximal, well-being.
Dr. Vetter enjoys running and yoga, working in her garden, spending time with her husband, kids, and dog. When free time allows, she loves listening to music and reading.


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Hurricane Harvey is gone, but it spawned a disgusting new problem in Houston
Mike Wehner @MikeWehner
Hurricane Harvey might be a thing of the past, but the devastation it wrought still remains. Now, a new, somewhat unexpected problem is springing up for those who were in the storm's path, and it's pretty gross. Houston, one of the hardest-hit areas, is now left to deal with an exploding population of mosquitos thanks to the incredible amount of standing water the storm left behind.
Don't Miss: Apple's AirPods 2 with Wireless Charging Case are somehow even cheaper now than they were on Prime Day
Everything from sand boxes to gardening pails were filled with water when Hurricane Harvey made its way inland, and as the city begins to repair and rebuild from the powerful storm, that water is becoming a haven for mosquitos. Officials in Houston are asking residents to clear any standing water they can, which means dumping out buckets, pails, and even discarded tires — anything that might be holding water.
"A lot of pockets of water will be formed," Mustapha Debboun, Director of the Mosquito Control Division of the Harris County Health Department, explained to Fox News. "As the water recedes from the floods there will be a lot of formation of pockets and pools of water where mosquitos will find to breed. More habitats will be available for them."
The mosquitos aren't just a nuisance, they can also spread West Nile Virus and other diseases, and the last thing the city of Houston needs right now is a bug-borne public health crisis. Even with the warning, it's impossible to clear all the new mosquito breeding grounds in time, and the population of the bugs in Houston is expected to spike in the coming weeks.
Image Source: DFAT
Tags: health, hurricane harvey, nature
The sun is acting pretty strange right now
The all-screen smartphone design of our dreams is coming next year – but not to the Galaxy S11

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Is it possible to customise the look and feel of IBM MobileFirst App Center I need to know whether its possible to customise the look and feel of IBM Mobile First App Center. Like adding our own branding image and changing the ui style of the App Center.

A: If you are referring to the Application Center Management Console - you cannot alter its UI because it is part of a .war file. You could potentially open this .war file, edit the files and re-deploy it. But this is an action not supported by IBM.
If you are referring to the Application Center Installer application that you install on the end-user device, yes, you can customize its look & feel, as you have the project source code. Feel free to alter its UI however you'd like. However if you alter its functionality, this will not be supported.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Quorum Fund Limited is a private investment vehicle, available only by offer to eligible investors via the Fund's private offering memorandum.
All contents of this site are solely for informational purposes and do not constitute an offer of Fund shares or a solicitation of an offer to purchase Fund shares.
Click 'Accept' to access additional information about Quorum Asset Management.
Driven by well-defined investment themes, Quorum's portfolio strikes a balance between value and event-driven strategies.
Over the years Quorum has developed an investment process that combines extensive local knowledge and thorough due diligence with comprehensive risk management.


It doesn't get much better than a day of golf on a beautiful summer day- except if that golf tournament is raising money for a charity to inspire kids to get out and play sports- over $19,000 to be exact! The 2nd annual InSports Foundation golf tournament was held on June 20th, 2015 at the Monticello Country Club.
This summer's tournament was a huge success for InSports. With over 100 golfers signed up, it was bound to be an exciting day. For $25 the golfers could buy the InPack, which included two mulligans and a raffle ticket to have a chance to win a variety of prizes! Along with the raffle was our silent auction. The auction included items ranging from wine & food gift baskets, signed football helmets and hockey sticks, to a range of different golf course foursomes.
Tee times started at 12 o'clock sharp and everyone was ready to get out and play. We had an array of sponsors at different holes that were able to share their services as well as helping us with ours. Summit Chiropractic practiced free massages for the golfers with a long day of playing ahead of them, and the InSports booth hosted a social media contest where guests could take a photo in our InSports Instagram cutout!
After a long day of golfing, guests were invited back to the clubhouse to make their final bids on the silent auction, and accept their awards for men & women's long drive and longest putt, closest to the pin, and closest to the gin!
The InSports team was so proud to put on a successful event! We want to thank all of our sponsors once again for contributing to our goal in getting 10,000 kids in 3 years to get in the game, as well as everyone who participated and volunteered to make this golf tournament a hole in one!


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Huge Chunks of Ice Fall From The Sky
imagery January 20, 2020
A strange phenomenon seems to be occurring all around the world, in which large chunks of ice fall from the sky. In many cases, there isn't a cloud in sight. Certainly not a frequent event, but perplexing nonetheless. And unlike ball-lightning, the Lockness Monster and Big Foot, this phenomenon has been well documented with pictures and insurance reports, time and time again.
Megacryometeor is a term used to describe a large block of ice that falls from the atmosphere under clear sky conditions. Just how large are we talking? Most have weighed between 25 to 35 pounds, but one found in Brazil weighed an incredible 440 pounds! That's big enough to leave a 10-foot hole in the ground and make whooshing noises loud enough to be heard by people hundreds of feet away!
It's not a question if they exist. There are countless reports and documented proof from all around the world that huge chunks of ice are falling from the sky.
What's causing them? No one knows.
One possibility is that ice forms on some part of a high flying jet aircraft which becomes dislodged, then falls to the ground. A jet flying at 35,000 feet with a speed of 500 mph will be a good 20 to 30 miles away before the chunk of ice hits the ground below. So those witnessing one of these events may never connect the jet to the falling ice chunk.
The FAA has checked their flight records and found no aircraft in the vicinity when such events are reported. This would seem to suggest the ice must have come from someplace else. However, large chunks of ice have been found in the flight paths of local airports.
Is the FAA holding back the truth for fear of liability lawsuits? There could be millions of dollars at stake in trying to prevent or eliminate megacryometeors from forming. What about military aircraft that may have been in the area and had their flight paths kept secret? The FAA wouldn't know about these aircraft or their flight paths.
Meteorologists say these chunks of ice are not weather related. Even though the megacryometeors share similar textural, hydro-chemical and isotopic features of large hailstones, meteorologists say even the largest of the supercell thunderstorms — those responsible for creating the largest hailstones and tornadoes — could never produce chunks of ice this large. The updraft required to grow 25 pound hailstones is impossible on Earth.
In the Midwest, it's not uncommon to get hailstones the size of baseballs or even softballs which is remarkable in itself, but nothing the size of what's reportedly been falling all around the world. For example, the record setting grapefruit-sized hail that fell in North Dakota back on June 22, 2003 only weighed1.7 pounds. This is nowhere near the heft of the documented megacryometeors. Moreover, most recorded megacryometers fell when there were no clouds present.
Another theory suggests that the large chunks of ice could be the result of atmospheric changes caused by climate change. Ice chunks have fallen in Africa, England, Brazil, United States, Spain, China and Scotland. This implies there are no localized conditions conducive to megacryometeor formation.
One of the most bizarre incidents happened in Spain where in January of 2000, 6 lb chunks of ice fell from the sky over a period of 7 days (Source: Sciencemag.org). The atmosphere is a very complex system and changes in one variable can have profound consequences throughout the whole system. So maybe something has changed atmospherically that is now causing ice to form where it hasn't in the past.
The chance of them being extraterrestrial in origin is highly unlikely. Their isotopic-signature matches that of terrestrial based water found on Earth. Comet ice usually has lots of trapped gases. They also have a different isotopic-signature, and contain pollutants such as dust and iron, but the ice from the megacryometeors are lacking these contaminants. Even though they leave relatively large craters when they smash into the ground, they are not from outer space.
A Mercedes-Benz dealership in Brazil was the unlucky winner of the refrigerator-sized 440 pound chunk that crashed through the roof. Second place goes to a Ford Mustang in Florida where a 100 pound chunk caved in the roof of the car. Local authorities are not investigating either incident as a criminal act. Besides, how would a vandal quietly hoist a 100 pound chunk of ice high enough to destroy a car in a quiet city neighborhood without being seen? Not to mention the 440 pounds!
Or how do you get a 50 pound chunk of ice to crash through the roof of a home, like 78-year-old Jan Kenkel had happen to him when he found insulation, bits of wood and a block of ice beside his TV?
Just how big can these things get and who's next?
To date, no one knows what's creating these large chunks of ice. Maybe there's a change in atmosphere conditions due to climate change. Perhaps there's an increase in atmospheric water vapor at higher elevations promoting ice development. Could ice form on an aircraft which then dislodges and falls to the ground? Only time will tell. The frequency of these events does not seem to be subsiding.
God forbid someone gets hurt or killed. But that may be what has to happen before anyone starts taking this seriously.
Other Weather Articles
Can Lightning Crash an Airplane?
Can Lightning Be Used As a Source of Power?
Is Ball Lightning Real?
Can Lightning Strike The Same Place Twice?
Do My Car Tires Protect Me From Lightning?


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© Gregory Crewdson. Courtesy Gagosian
Untitled, 1998-2002
digital chromogenic color print on Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper
Edition: 4/10
sheet: 48 x 60 inches (121.92 x 152.4 cm); framed: 53 x 65 x 1 inches (134.62 x 165.1 x 2.54 cm)
James S. Ely Fund and funds in memory of Peggy Balbach, 2004
the artist;
Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York;
March 29, 2004, purchased by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
Digital prints (visual works)
Chromogenic color print
Laser print
By constructing and then photographing elaborate tableaux, many based on the American suburban landscape, Gregory Crewdson blurs the distinction between film and photography, reality and fantasy. "I've always been interested in the uncanny," he said, "in looking into ordinary situations and finding something fantastical or mysterious. I've always been interested in domesticity; I've always been interested in photographic beauty; and I've always been interested in a kind of realism."
This photograph is from "Twilight," a series of forty images that Crewdson, along with his production team, made in and around Lee, Massachusetts, between 1998 and 2002. The images were shot at dusk with ambient artificial light. This particular image was choreographed on an elaborate stage set where a boy in his underwear reaches down into a bathroom drain. The dark, empty space visible below the floor, combined with the dramatic light streaming in through the window, turns what at first appears to be a mundane scene into an inexplicable narrative.
Label from DECADE: Contemporary Collecting 2002–2012, August 21, 2012–January 6, 2013
DECADE: Contemporary Collecting 2002–2012
Albright-Knox Art Gallery: Highlights of the Collection
Decade: Contemporary Collecting 2002-2012
Untitled (Sunday Roast)
No title (red chapel) , 1985


The security cameras with SIM card is referred to as a cellular security camera or SIM card camera that operates on the 4G or 3G phone network to transmit image and video signals. These cameras are used in surveillance areas and stores the videos recorded. This can be used in home security, office, crime locality for making evidence.
Using extraordinary starlight sensor, the camera can capture at total darkness, this produces quality images at day and night. The intelligent photosensitive components can automatically collect light in the darkness to increase brightness. With the built-in 4G sim card, plug and play app, you can watch one or more camera simultaneously. There is no limit to view the video where and how you see it.
Multi-live surveillance package allows users to monitor and record the video from up to 64 cameras on PC. There is no professional installer, extra wires, no IP address setting. When the camera is triggered by motion detection it alerts with a snapshot. It has built-in 120GB SSD memory storage to store the videos for future use.
PTZ motorizes camera with PAN 360 degrees, 200 degrees per second speed, 200pcs presets and record up to 120 meters night vision. A PTZ camera with a PAN tilt function is a camera that has the remote directional and 18x optical zoom control feature. PTZ cameras are used with professional video cameras and it is also called as a robotic camera.
The H.264 compression technology allows HD cam to utilize your network with the highest quality video. Compatibility with AAC allows you for a direct connection from iPhones and iPads with full audio and video. It has a specification of Microsoft IE version 5.5, Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and other browsers.
Thus, PTZ camera can be used when you are in need of capturing the long distance areas for surveillance with its rotational and zooming facilities.
Change Video resolution in YOUTUBE to 1080P before watching !


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Speakerless car audio and other hi-tech whiz bangery
Car brands buy in nuts, bollts — and very clever tech. John Carey rates an outstanding German supplier.
Continental's speakerless audio uses the surfaces of the car interior to project sound.Source:Supplied
CAR makers don't deserve all of the credit they get for innovation. Most people believe the company that stuck the badges on the nose and tail thought of everything in between, but this isn't the case.
Quite often the smartest new stuff was brainstormed by the likes of German component supplier Continental.
More than half of what you pay for when buying a new car was made by component suppliers — by value, their products can account for about 70 per cent or more of what a car cost to make.
Major suppliers employ more people and make more money than some car brands. Continental, for example, has more than 220,000 employees worldwide and its sales last year totalled about $60 billion.
Anyone who has heard of Continental knows that it makes tyres. But round rubber things account for just a quarter of its global business — its four other divisions supply parts as simple as plastic hoses or as complex as the sensors and computing devices needed to make a self-driving car.
To keep its car-making customers coming back for more, Continental needs to keep coming up with fresh ideas. And some of its latest, among the many displayed at its recent Tech Show 2017 in Hanover, Germany, are wild.
Its boffins have virtually reinvented the wheel, figured out how to do great car audio without speakers and have an idea that will make electric vehicles more affordable and more useful. When you see these technologies make it into production, you'll know who really deserves the credit …
SPEAKERLESS AUDIO
Great sound with no speakers? Sounds mad but the sound quality in a current Mercedes-Benz C-Class equipped with a prototype Speakerless Audio system was brilliant.
"Everything you have heard is an excited surface," explains Continental engineer Jens Friedrich after the impressive demonstration.
What this means, in plain language, is that the audio set-up uses tiny vibrating actuators to make parts of the car itself vibrate. Instead of conventional speaker cones, Speakerless Audio uses the windscreen pillar covers, dashboard, roof and front seat backs to produce richly detailed and totally immersive sound.
Friedrich says Speakerless Audio saves weight and space. Fewer actuators are needed compared to conventional speakers, too. Cost reductions are also possible.
And the technology also promises greater freedom for car interior designers, who would no longer have to make space for speakers in door trims and other places.
ALLCHARGE
As Australia continues to ignore electric cars, Europe continues to find ways to make them better. AllCharge makes it possible to hook an electric car up to any kind of charging station; high-speed direct current, single or three-phase alternating current. It's designed to handle the most powerful recharge stations under development, which will be capable of delivering enough energy to drive 150km in just five minutes.
Continental has made an onboard recharger redundant.Source:Supplied
The brilliance of AllCharge is that it delivers great recharging flexibility for the electric vehicle driver, without an onboard recharger. The recharger is a bottleneck, putting a limit on the current the car can accept.
Continental's idea is to give dual purpose to components already in place in an electric vehicle to handle regenerative braking, particularly by boosting the performance of the inverter and enabling the vehicle to draw the maximum charge a station can deliver.
Making the on-board recharger redundant has the potential to cut costs too.
Another bonus with AllCharge is that it's reversible. It's no problem at all to provide an output plug to deliver power at any country's standard domestic AC voltage and frequency, Continental's engineers say.
THE WHEEL, REINVENTED
Continental reinvents the wheel.Source:Supplied
The parts that make up Continental's new wheel.Source:Supplied
CONTINENTAL'S design is a two-piece wheel, which also turns the conventional disc brake inside out. Designed with electric vehicles in mind, it's lighter, more durable and quieter than a regular wheel and brake assembly.
The wheel rim and tyre are bolted to a central five-pointed "star", which is permanently fixed to the axle. Fastened to the star's points is a large-diameter brake disc made of a tough aluminium alloy that Continental engineers say will last the entire life of the car.
The large diameter of the brake disc means the brake caliper doesn't need to bite so hard for strong stopping power. This, in turn, requires smaller and lighter hydraulic components. And the caliper can also be downsized at the same time as being made stiffer.
As a bonus, there is a reduction in noise when the brakes are applied, the engineers say.


text:
tanaonte - stock.adobe.com
What will the Data Reform Bill mean for UK businesses operating in the EU?
Following the government's response to the Data Reform Bill consultation, Peter Galdies of DQM GRC looks at what might lie ahead for UK organisations working in the European Union
Peter Galdies
At the state opening of parliament on 10 May, the Prince of Wales announced the government's intention to reform the UK's data protection regime. Since Brexit, this has comprised two complementary laws – the UK GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the DPA (Data Protection Act) 2018.
The UK GDPR applies both to UK organisations that collect, store or otherwise process the personal data of individuals residing in the UK, and to non-UK organisations that offer goods or services to, or monitor the behaviour of, UK residents. As its name suggests, the UK GDPR is based on, and is substantially similar to, the EU GDPR, which applied in the UK before Brexit.
The DPA 2018 supports the UK GDPR and applies to certain types of processing that are outside the Regulation's scope, including processing by public authorities. The DPA 2018 also sets out data processing regimes for law enforcement processing and intelligence processes.
The GDPR originated in the EU – albeit with significant input from UK experts and the UK's data protection authority, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) – so Boris Johnson's government, elected on a promise of getting Brexit done and cutting EU red tape, has long earmarked it for reform.
According to the official briefing notes for the Queen's Speech, reforming the UK GDPR and DPA 2018 should "create over £1bn in business savings over 10 years by reducing burdens on businesses of all sizes", such as "excessive paperwork" and other obligations that have "little benefit to citizens".
The outcome of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport consultation on data protection reform has now been published and the principal recommendations that will be carried through to legislation are now known.
In essence, these proposals seek to lessen the administrative burden on organisations (reducing "red tape"), while maintaining an adequate level of protection for individuals' rights.
The key requirements are as follows.
Organisations must implement privacy management programmes
Maintaining the principle of accountability is key, and this is intended to be maintained by implementing a privacy management programme, which needs to be proportional to the risk created by the organisation's data protection processing activities. The government believes that such programmes "will place greater emphasis on the principles at the core of accountability, such as organisational responsibility; risk management; transparency; training and awareness of staff; and continuous monitoring, evaluation and improvement of data protection management within an organisation".
In practice, this is often the approach already taken by larger or more complex organisations. This broader approach is to be welcomed, as it will encourage the many smaller organisations that perhaps currently do not do enough to review and modify their practice in order to introduce a more appropriate data protection programme.
Removal of the requirement to designate a DPO
Article 37 of the UK GDPR requires a data protection officer (DPO) to be appointed in certain specific circumstances. Currently, it is not mandatory for the vast majority of UK organisations to appoint a DPO.
A data protection officer is responsible for:
Representing or delegating a representative to the ICO and data subjects.
Ensuring appropriate oversight and support is in place for the programme and appointing appropriate personnel.
Providing tailored training to ensure staff understand the organisation's policies.
Regularly auditing the efficacy of the programme.
The new proposal is that organisations must appoint a "senior responsible individual" as a data protection officer. The government hopes that this "will shift the emphasis to ensure data protection is established at a senior level to embed an organisation-wide culture of data protection".
While this is a "headline" proposal, it probably will not make a substantial difference to the administrative burden for many organisations. The key challenge will be to ensure that the "senior responsible individual" has a suitable working knowledge of the law and data protection to effectively undertake their duties.
In practice, we are sure that many organisations will continue to delegate the detail of managing their data protection programmes to experienced professionals. The government suggests that "some organisations that process large volumes of highly sensitive data might continue to appoint and resource data protection officers where they consider that is the best way to monitor and improve compliance".
A more flexible approach to DPIAs
Article 35 of the UK GDPR requires organisations to carry out a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) when a type of processing is likely to result in a high risk to data subjects' rights and freedoms. The government is legislating to remove the mandatory requirement to undertake DPIAs for high-risk processing, as it believes that "data protection impact assessments can be a more prescriptive duplication of other risk assessments that achieve the same outcome performed within an organisation; for example, organisations which have compliance teams performing wider risk analysis which sometimes ends up duplicating some of the requirements under the data protection impact assessment requirement".
Other than a DPIA or specific privacy risk programme, it is extremely rare to find any risk assessment in an organisation that recognises the risks to individual data protection rights. For this reason, it is highly unlikely that this change will be material. In fact, it may actually increase the administrative burden on organisations by extending the requirement to "ensure there are risk assessment tools in place for the identification, assessment and mitigation of data protection risks across the organisation" as part of their privacy management programme.
However, the increased focus on formal risk assessments that this legislation will inevitably bring is welcome.
Changes to the requirement to keep records of data processing activities
Article 30 of the UK GDPR requires data controllers to keep specific records of their data protection processing. The government will legislate to replace this requirement with a more general requirement where "organisations will need to have personal data inventories as part of their privacy management programme which describe what and where personal data is held, why it has been collected and how sensitive it is".
Superficially, this would appear to be a simplification of the existing requirement, removing the need to document some of the existing characteristics of the processing – for example, envisaged time limits, international transfers and appropriate safeguards. However, in practice, many of these attributes will still have to be maintained for an effective privacy management programme and associated risk assessments. It is hard to envisage how this proposal constitutes a material saving in administration for organisations and, sadly, looks like rearranging the deckchairs.
Other GDPR-related changes
There are several other changes to the existing GDPR-based regime being legislated that will not have a significant impact on the vast majority of organisations. These include a change from mandatory to voluntary consultations with the ICO in relation to new high-risk data processing, and changing the current threshold for refusing or charging a reasonable fee for a subject access request from "manifestly unfounded or excessive" to "vexatious or excessive", which will bring it into line with the Freedom of Information regime.
Changes to PECR and cookies
The consultation also focused heavily on reviewing the controls introduced by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) – in particular, the requirement to display cookie banners on websites.
The government will introduce legislation to remove the need for websites (and other connected devices) to display cookie banners to UK residents and "in the immediate term, the government will permit cookies (and similar technologies) to be placed on a user's device without explicit consent, for a small number of other non-intrusive purposes". The example quoted is for website analytics.
Interestingly, the government will also require websites to respect automated signals emitted by browsers and intends "to move to an opt-out model of consent for cookies only when the government assesses these solutions are widely available for use".
Anything that provides greater clarity for organisations on where cookies can be used without specific consent is to be welcomed. However, it is not yet clear what will be allowed. We imagine that privacy-intrusive cookies – such as those that track an identifiable user's behaviour or allow cross-site marketing – will still require active consent and therefore a banner. I also see the requirement to respect "do not track" signals from browsers as useful clarity.
There is welcome news for charities and other non-commercial organisations, which will be permitted to benefit from the so-called "soft-opt-in". This will allow an opt-out regime for marketing communications but "in parallel, will take steps to make sure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect individuals who do not wish to continue receiving communications".
Perhaps the most encouraging element of this proposal is the government's intention to introduce the same level of fines for breaches of the PECR as for the GDPR. This will bring the threat of a 4% global turnover fine for cookie misbehaviour clearly into focus, along with other bad marketing communications practices.
Currently, the rules regarding international data transfers under the GDPR-equivalent legislation can be highly complex to manage. The government intends to move away from the existing GDPR-based structures and "intends to create an autonomous framework for international data transfers that reflects the UK's independent approach to data protection, that helps drive international commerce, trade and development and underpins modern-day business transactions and financial institutions. The UK's approach will be driven by outcomes for individuals and organisations".
This is probably the most contentious area to be addressed in the proposed legislation. It is clearly an area where the UK intends to move out of alignment with the current adequacy arrangements and therefore is likely to be subject to intense scrutiny, particularly if the suggested changes will allow the data of UK citizens to travel more easily (and less transparently) to counties with less rigorous data protection regimes – potentially lowering the overall level of data protection currently afforded to data subjects.
When looked at in detail, the proposed, individual changes do not appear to be as significant as their whole might suggest. It is highly likely that organisations will still have to undertake very similar levels of administration. For example, should the requirements in Article 35 change and DPIAs are replaced, this may be exceeded by the need for organisations to have a demonstrable and proportionate privacy management system. The shift to a more centralised and cohesive risk assessment regime is welcomed, as is clarity on cookies and the big uplift in fines for breaching the PECR.
To fully understand the impact on individuals' rights, we will need to wait for more detail. However, the general principles of the proposal would appear to support these rights and continue to ensure that organisations are fully responsible for their implementation. The ones to watch, where there may be a risk of eroding individual rights, include the specifics on allowable cookies and details on international transfers.
Peter Galdies is founder and senior consultant at DQM GRC. He is a data and technology professional with over 30 years' experience, providing expert advice on implementing privacy in real business situations with a particular emphasis on privacy-by-design. DQM GRC is a specialist data protection and privacy consultancy. It is part of GRC International Group and has 25 years' experience in data regulation and practices.
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Government responds to Data Reform Bill consultation – ComputerWeekly.com
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Oracle and Salesforce sued over online ad tracking – ComputerWeekly.com


Yesterday I read this blog post and it really resonated with me. When you become a parent, it's just the herald of a lifetime of worrying and paranoia.
Is my child developing at the right rate?
Why can't he get up on his hands and knees yet?
Why is he so sensitive about everything?
Why doesn't he like being around other babies?
Why did he refuse to eat breakfast this morning?
Why doesn't he like looking in a mirror?
I've asked myself (and Google) these, and countless other questions, over the six and a half months of Finn's life, and just when it seems that things are on an even keel, some other new 'problem' crops up, and I wonder whether this parenting thing is ever going to get any easier.
And the truth is, it probably won't. Here I am, waiting impatiently for him to reach the next milestone, but each new thing he can do takes him further away from me. In no time at all, I'll be worrying about leaving him alone for a second lest he start climbing the TV cabinet or the bookcase or crawling onto Jedi's bed. Next I'll worry about how he'll cope at school, and then I'll wonder what I've done wrong when he hits puberty and decides I'm the enemy.
That blog post made me stop and count my blessings.
A baby that doesn't go anywhere while I make a cup of tea is not such a bad thing.
I don't love getting up at 5.30 am, but those precious moments of cuddling a warm, sleepy baby and kissing the top of his downy head in a quiet house, just the two of us, are moments I'll never get back.
His clinginess when we're out in public can be annoying, but it won't be that long before he's asking me not to kiss him goodbye in front of his friends when I drop him off at school.
The days when just about everything seems to make him cry are interminable, but then he'll give me a smile that takes my breath away and lights up the whole world.
Seeing how much he loves George and the joy the two bring to each other makes all the difficult days worthwhile.
So I'm slowing down, and I'm enjoying each step of his development, even if it doesn't necessarily correlate with what the books say he should be doing right now. These milestones will have no effect on his future success, and they certainly won't change how I feel about him. Above all, I don't want to wish his life away, because one day soon I'll lament that he no longer thinks my yawns are the funniest thing in the world.
When he's at high school, or university, or starting his career, no one will remember that he didn't crawl, or walk, or talk until he was X months old. This first six months of challenges will be long buried under those that follow, but the rewards will far outweigh them, just as they do today.


text: Q: How can I obtain the refresh frequency of my screen? I'm making a game and I would like to create a vsync. So I need to obtain the refresh time of my screen using C++ (and maybe GLFW library, or using the GL11 library.


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Home News Cloud Discovery Market Is Forecasted To Climb To a Valuation of US$...
Cloud Discovery Market Is Forecasted To Climb To a Valuation of US$ 4.5 Billion by 2033: Fact.MR Report
Primary factors propelling the global market for cloud discovery are increasing adoption of multi-cloud environments and growing requirement to manage IT infrastructure security effectively
Rockville, Maryland, United States, 23rd Jan 2023 – Fact.MR, a market research and competitive intelligence provider, reveals that the global cloud discovery market is set to garner US$ 4.5 billion by 2033, growing rapidly at 16.2% CAGR over the next ten years.
Cloud discovery assists enterprises in identifying cloud activities such as cloud databases, cloud spans, containers, and other cloud-related services that are active at the same time. The solution gives a unified picture of all cloud services and cloud platforms within an organization. Using auto-discovery tools, cloud discovery aids in reducing manual interactions. It also gives precise information about all IT infrastructure systems and apps and aids in the protection of end-user data.
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Key Takeaways from Market Study
The global cloud discovery market is valued at US$ 1 billion in 2023.
Worldwide demand for cloud discovery solutions is predicted to surge at a CAGR of 16.2% during the forecast period (2023 to 2033).
The global market is anticipated to touch US$ 4.5 billion by 2033.
North America captured 33.5% share of the global market in 2022.
The telecom & ITES segment is projected to exhibit substantial growth over the decade.
Various capabilities, such as data exchange via high-quality web services, file feeds, and single sign-on throughout the network, are increasing the popularity of cloud discovery among industrial sectors. Moreover, the growing uptake of IT-based applications among various information technology and other organizations is boosting the demand for cloud discovery solutions. The growing adoption of cloud computing technology throughout different industries is also increasing the demand for cloud discovery technologies.
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Key players in the cloud discovery market have been seen to prioritize organic growth methods such as new product launches and other associated events such as product promotion and marketing. Other growth methods majorly embraced by these players are partnerships, collaborations, and acquisitions. Moreover, many start-ups are raising funds to make new developments.
Britive, a start-up based in the United States, closed a US$ 5.4 million seed round headed by Upfront Ventures in September 2021 to help redefine security for multi-cloud enterprise environments. The start-up allows users to instantly boost their own privilege levels (on a pre-authorization basis) to accomplish important administrative activities in the shortest amount of time. Britive's intelligent engine analyzes user behavior and advises privilege right-sizing for users and machine IDs, while actively monitoring for abnormalities that indicate privilege misuse.
Netskope, the leader of SASE, confirmed his membership in the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA) on May 27, 2021. MISA is an ecosystem for independent software suppliers and security service partners linked with Microsoft Security to assist customers in effectively protecting themselves in the event of a cyber threat.
StarLink, the META area's fastest growing 'Real' Distributor (VAD), established a relationship with BMC Software, Inc., a world leader in Autonomous Digital Enterprise software solutions, on April 21, 2021, as BMC Distribution Partner for BMC IT Software services and solutions in the MENA region.
Lookout Inc, a cybersecurity business headquartered in San Francisco, California, acquired CipherClouds in March 2021 to offer security to organizations from endpoints to clouds.
Alien Vault, Inc
Certero
ASG Technologies Group, Inc
Iquate
BMC Software, Inc
Ciphercloud, Inc
KMicro Tech
ConnectWise, Inc
McAfee LLC
Increasing adoption of big data and multi-cloud technology among numerous cloud-based organizations around the world is driving the expansion of the global cloud discovery market. This is due to cloud discovery features like automated monitoring, which uses advanced multi-cloud and hybrid cloud discovery to track cloud-based workloads via cloud provider APIs and exhibits a single hybrid view of resource interdependencies.
Furthermore, a multi-cloud environment enables managed cloud services such as Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) for the operation of multiple companies, which supports the growth of the global cloud discovery market.
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Key Segments of Cloud Discovery Industry Research
By Component :
By Organization Size :
By End Use :
Telecom & ITES
By Region :
Asia Pacific & China
North America is the leading regional market for cloud discovery and is projected to continue dominating during the study period as well due to the region's significant adoption of innovative cloud-based technologies across industries. The United States is dominating the North American market. The presence of major players in the United States is aiding regional market growth.
More Valuable Insights on Offer
Fact.MR, in its new offering, presents an unbiased analysis of the global cloud discovery market, presenting historical demand data (2018 to 2022) and forecast statistics for the period of 2023 to 2033.
The study divulges essential insights on the market on the basis of component (solutions, services), organization size (large enterprises, SMEs), and end use (telecom & ITES, BFSI, retail & consumer goods, healthcare & life sciences, government & public sector, media & entertainment, manufacturing, transportation & logistics, others), across five major regions (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa).
Check out more related studies published by Fact.MR Research:
Cloud Computing Market – The global cloud computing market size is estimated to secure a market value of US$ 482 Bn in 2022. The market is expected to procure US$ 1,949 Bn by 2032 while expanding at a CAGR of 15% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032.
Cloud Managed Services Market – Global sales of cloud managed services in 2021 was held at US$ 86.1 Bn. With 9.6%, the projected market growth during 2022 – 2032 is expected to be significantly higher than the historical growth.
Cloud Telephony Services Market – The global cloud telephony services industry reached US$ 17.7 Billion in valuation as of FY 2021. The market is projected to document a Y-o-Y expansion of nearly 17% to be valued at US$ 20.7 Billion in 2022. Across the 2022-2032 forecast period, the market is scheduled to embark on a positive trajectory, registering a CAGR of 9.5% to reach US$ 51.5 Billion
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Dokument #2048406
USDOS – US Department of State
2020 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Gabon
Gabon is a republic with a presidential form of government dominated by the Gabonese Democratic Party and headed by President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family has held power since 1967. Bongo Ondimba was declared winner of the 2016 presidential election. Observers noted numerous irregularities, including a questionable vote count in Bongo Ondimba's home province. The government forcibly dispersed violent demonstrations that followed the election. In the 2018 legislative elections, the Gabonese Democratic Party won 100 of 143 National Assembly seats. The African Union observer mission did not comment on whether the elections were free and fair but noted some irregularities. Some opposition parties boycotted the elections; however, fewer did so than in the 2011 legislative elections.
The National Police Forces, under the Ministry of Interior, and the National Gendarmerie, under the Ministry of Defense, are responsible for law enforcement and public security. Elements of the armed forces and the Republican Guard, an elite unit that protects the president under his direct authority, sometimes performed internal security functions. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control over security forces, and the government had mechanisms to investigate, prosecute, and punish those found responsible for abuses and corruption. Members of the security forces committed some abuses.
Significant human rights issues included: torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment by government authorities and Gabonese peacekeepers deployed to UN missions; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; political prisoners and detainees; interference with freedom of peaceful assembly and serious restrictions on freedom of movement because of COVID-19 mitigation measures; inability of citizens to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections; restrictions on political participation; serious acts of corruption; lack of investigation of and accountability for violence against women; and the worst forms of child labor.
The government took some steps to identify, investigate, and prosecute officials and punish those convicted of human rights abuses; however, impunity remained a problem.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
There were no reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.
There was one report of a disappearance during the year. On August 16, two Omar Bongo University students active in the Human Rights League were reported missing. They remained missing at year's end.
In 2017 the government reported to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances that, despite opposition allegations of disappearances, no official complaints were filed after the 2016 elections. The committee called on the government to conduct an exhaustive inquiry into postelection violence and to update the law to comply with the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The government National Committee of Human Rights opened an inquiry during the year that was scheduled for completion in 2021.
The constitution prohibits such practices. There were reports of torture in prisons where unidentified personnel employed torture. For example, on January 29, the attorney of Patrichi Christian Tanasa, the former director of the Gabon Oil Company, stated in a press conference that his client was tortured by three hooded men who beat and sexually molested him at the Libreville Central Prison.
Impunity was a problem in the security forces. Nevertheless, the government took some steps to identify, investigate, and prosecute officials and punish human rights abusers. In April authorities established a national hotline to report abuses by security force members.
According to the Conduct in UN Field Missions online portal, there were 12 allegations submitted during the year of sexual exploitation and abuse by Gabonese peacekeepers deployed to UN peacekeeping missions. For those allegations, the number of cases and the years the incidents reportedly occurred, or ended, are: three in 2020, one in 2019, two in 2018, two in 2016, and four in 2015. There were eight open allegations from previous years. The minister of defense and the minister of justice stated that investigations of the allegations continued and the Gabonese judicial process was being followed. The current open allegations include 17 against individuals involving: an exploitative relationship with an adult (eight cases), transactional sex an adult (four cases), solicitation of transactional sex with an adult (one case), and rape of a child (four cases); one case against two individuals for transactional sex with three adults; and two cases against individuals and groups with multiple offenses. In the first of the last two cases: one individual was involved in exploitative relationships with 17 adults and the rape of a child; two individuals were involved in rape of two unknown victims, and 15 were in exploitative relationships with 17 adults. The final case involved 19 individuals accused of rape of 27 adults, 36 children, and five unknown victims.
Prison conditions were harsh and potentially life threatening due to low-quality food, inadequate sanitation, lack of ventilation, gross overcrowding, and poor medical care. Conditions in jails and detention centers mirrored those in prisons. There were no specific accommodations for persons with disabilities in prisons.
Physical Conditions: Libreville's central prison was severely overcrowded; it was built to hold 500 inmates but held approximately 4,000 inmates. There were also reports of overcrowding in other prisons.
Authorities did not provide data on the number of deaths in prisons, jails, and pretrial detention or other detention centers attributed to physical conditions or actions of staff members or other authorities.
Media reported one attempted suicide related to solitary confinement. Media reported three deaths during the year at the Libreville Central Prison attributed to inmate mistreatment. In May an inmate who attempted escape was beaten to death and another suspected of being a drug dealer was reportedly denied food and tortured. On July 24, a detainee arrested on July 16 died of an internal hemorrhage attributed to beatings.
Some prisoners and detainees were kept in solitary confinement for several months without access to exercise or use of showers and other sanitary facilities.
In some cases authorities held pretrial detainees with convicted prisoners, juveniles with adults, and men with women. Authorities separated juvenile prisoners from adults in Libreville and Franceville prisons. There were separate holding areas within prisons for men and women, but access to each area was not fully secured or restricted. Prisoners had only limited access to food, lighting, sanitation, potable water, and exercise areas. On-site nurses were available to provide basic medical care, but prison clinics often lacked sufficient medication. For serious illnesses or injury, authorities transferred prisoners to public hospitals. Management of the spread of infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, was inadequate.
There were no reports of prisoner-on-prisoner violence or authorities' failure to maintain control.
Administration: Prisoners filed few complaints. Observers believed the low incidence of complaints was due to ignorance of, or lack of faith in, the process, or fear of retribution. There was no prison ombudsperson or comparable independent authority available to respond to prisoner complaints. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities significantly reduced prison visits. Prisoners were limited to contacting their families through telephone calls and written correspondence.
Independent Monitoring: The government permitted human rights organizations to conduct independent monitoring of prison conditions. A prominent attorney stated that beginning in March authorities cited COVID-19 policies to deny attorneys' access to all prisoners. Except for COVID-19 limitations, representatives of several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)–Malachie, the Lions Club, and the Voice of the Forgotten–visited and reported having access to prisons.
Improvements: On December 10, an addition to the central prison was opened that reduced overcrowding. In order to reduce further overcrowding, authorities undertook a review of inmate cases with the goal of identifying those eligible for release. The minister of justice stated improvement of prison conditions throughout the country was a government priority.
The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention and provide for detainees or persons arrested to challenge the legal basis and arbitrary nature of their detention in court; however, the government did not always respect these provisions.
Although the law requires arrest warrants based on sufficient evidence and issued by a duly authorized official to make arrests, security forces in some cases disregarded these provisions. The law allows authorities to detain a suspect up to 48 hours without charge, after which it requires the suspect be charged before a judge. Police often failed to respect this time limit.
Once a person is charged, the law provides for conditional release if further investigation is required. There was a functioning bail system. Detainees did not always have prompt access to family members and a lawyer of their choice. The law requires the government to provide indigent detainees with lawyers, but this was not always possible, often because the government could not find lawyers willing to accept the terms of payment offered for taking such cases. Arrests required warrants issued by a judge or prosecutor based on evidence.
Arbitrary Arrest: On August 19, agents from the General Directorate for Investigation of the National Gendarmerie arrested the Dynamique Unitaire Trade Union Confederation leader Jean Bosco Boungoumou without a warrant. Accused of broadcasting a video jeopardizing public order, he was detained without charge for longer than the law allows and not permitted prompt access to a lawyer. On August 24, he was charged with terrorism and conspiracy. He remained in prison pending trial at year's end.
In 2017 authorities arrested Frederic Massavala-Maboumba, the spokesperson for the opposition Coalition for the New Republic, and Deputy Secretary General Pascal Oyougou of the Heritage and Modernity Party, and charged them with "provocation and instigation of acts likely to provoke demonstrations against the authority of the State." In June 2019 Massavala-Maboumba was released after 20 months' imprisonment; however, Oyougou remained in detention with no trial date set at year's end.
Pretrial Detention: Approximately two-thirds of prison inmates were held in pretrial detention that sometimes lasted up to three years. There were instances in which the length of pretrial detention exceeded the maximum sentence for the alleged crime. Prolonged pretrial detention was common due to overburdened dockets and an inefficient judicial system. The law limits pretrial detention to six months on a misdemeanor charge and one year on a felony charge, with six-month extensions if authorized by the examining magistrate. The law provides for a commission to deal with cases of abusive or excessive detention and provides for compensation to victims, but the government had yet to establish such a commission. Detainees generally lacked knowledge of their rights and the procedure for submitting complaints and may not have submitted complaints due to fear of retribution.
On April 10, the Ministry of Justice announced the release of 680 persons from the Central Prison of Libreville, including a significant number who were long-term pretrial detainees who, had they been tried and convicted, would have been released based on time served in most cases.
Detainee's Ability to Challenge Lawfulness of Detention before a Court: The law provides for detainees or persons arrested to challenge the legal basis and arbitrary nature of their detention. The law also provides for compensation if a court rules detention unlawful. Authorities did not always respect these rights.
The law provides for an independent judiciary, but the judiciary demonstrated only partial independence and only in some cases. The judiciary was inefficient and remained susceptible to government influence. The president appoints and may dismiss judges through the Ministry of Justice, to which the judiciary is accountable. Corruption was a problem. For example, individuals charged with offenses reportedly paid bribes to influence the judicial process, avoid facing trial, or both.
Authorities generally respected court orders.
The constitution provides for the right to a fair and public trial and to legal counsel, and the judiciary generally respected these rights. Trial dates were often delayed.
Criminal defendants have the right to a presumption of innocence. They have the right to be informed promptly and in detail of charges when booked at a police station. A panel of three judges tries defendants, who enjoy the right to be present at their trial, to communicate with an attorney of choice, and to have adequate time and facilities to prepare their defense. Indigent defendants in both civil and criminal cases have the right to have an attorney provided at state expense, but the government often failed to provide attorneys because private attorneys refused to accept the terms of payment the government offered for such cases. Defendants have the right to free interpretation as necessary from the moment charged through all appeals when staff members with the required language skills are available. Defendants have the right to confront witnesses against them and to present witnesses or evidence on their own behalf. Defendants may not be compelled to testify or confess guilt. Defendants have the right to appeal convictions.
In September the prime minister stated there were no political prisoners in the country. According to one civil society group, however, there were six individuals it considered political prisoners. Of an estimated 60 protesters detained in 2017, opposition leader Pascal Oyougou remained in pretrial detention (see section 1.d.). According to multiple domestic and international news reports, opposition leader Landry Washington and former Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) deputy Bertrand Zibi were incarcerated for almost three years before they were tried. In April 2019 Washington was convicted of insulting the president and attempting to incite popular revolt. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and required to pay a substantial monetary fine. He was due for release in April 2019 based on time held, but the government appealed the sentence as being too lenient, and he was held for an additional eight months. On January 7, Washington was released. In July 2019 Zibi was convicted of inciting violence and possession of a firearm and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. Zibi remained in prison at year's end.
Prior to COVID restrictions, routine consular and NGO access was permitted. According to the minister of justice, subject to health-screening measures, access continued during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Persons or organizations may seek civil remedies for human rights abuses through domestic courts or through administrative or other mechanisms established by law, although this seldom occurred.
Although the constitution and law prohibit such actions, the government did not always respect these prohibitions. As part of criminal investigations, police requested and easily obtained search warrants from judges, sometimes after the fact. Security forces conducted warrantless searches for irregular immigrants and criminal suspects. Authorities reportedly monitored private telephone conversations, personal mail, and the movement of citizens.
The constitution and law provide for freedom of expression, including for the press, and the government generally respected this right. According to the revised penal code, conviction of contempt of the president or of any government official "committed anywhere, on any occasion, or by any means," is punishable by six months' to five years' imprisonment and monetary fines. Employing its authority under the communications code, the High Authority of Communication (HAC) suspended eight print, radio, and online media outlets for libel and slander, including the radio station Radio Generation Nouvelle.
Freedom of Press and Media, Including Online Media: Independent media were active, but authorities occasionally used libel and slander laws to restrict media criticism of the government. The country's sole daily newspaper, L'Union, was progovernment. All newspapers, including government-affiliated ones, criticized the government and political leaders of both opposition and progovernment parties. The country had both progovernment and opposition-affiliated broadcast media.
Violence and Harassment: There were no cases of journalists being harassed or intimidated, although some journalists reported they received anonymous instructions or calls from persons suspected of being connected with the government not to report on certain issues.
Censorship or Content Restrictions: Most newspaper owners had either a progovernment or a pro-opposition political bias. Print journalists practiced occasional self-censorship to placate progovernment owners. In April HAC suspended the online daily Gabon Media Time for three months because it published an article authorities considered libelous.
Libel/Slander Laws: Libel and slander may be treated as either criminal or civil offenses. Editors and authors of articles ruled libelous in a court of law may be jailed for two to six months and required to pay substantial fines. Penalties for conviction of libel, disrupting public order, and other offenses also include a one- to three-month publishing suspension for a first offense and three- to six-month suspension for repeat offenses.
There was evidence that in several cases libel laws were applied to discourage or punish critical coverage of the government. For example, on January 16, HAC banned distribution of all copies of an edition of the newspaper Moutouki that included criticism of the coordinator of presidential affairs. On August 19, HAC suspended the online Kongossa News for one month for commentary it deemed critical of the president's independence day celebration speech.
The government did not restrict or disrupt access to the internet or censor online content, and there were no credible reports the government monitored private online communications without appropriate legal authority.
There were no government restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.
The constitution provides for the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association; however, the law places restrictions on freedom of assembly. The government limited freedom of peaceful assembly but not freedom of association.
Some civil society activists stated they did not submit requests to hold public meetings because they expected the government would deny them. They added that authorities prevented opposition gatherings by routinely refusing to approve permits or by blocking access to planned meeting spaces. For example, on February 5, authorities prevented Dynamique Unitaire union leaders from holding a meeting at their headquarters. Some civil society activists stated that while authorities prevented opposition groups from hosting meetings due to COVID-19 restrictions, it did not prevent progovernment groups from meeting. According to pastor and civil society activist Georges Bruno Ngoussi, he was arrested, and his passport withheld for three months, for hosting a meeting that authorities asserted was in violation of COVID-19 restrictions, despite the fact that all COVID-19 provisions had been met. Ngoussi stated that the intended purpose of the meeting was to plan a protest demonstration against the government's decision to decriminalize same-sex sexual conduct.
The constitution and law provide for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation. Nevertheless, in 2018 and 2019, the government prevented opposition leader Jean Ping from traveling abroad by court order and following expiration of the order, prevented travel during the year by refusing to renew his passport. In January authorities prevented trade union activists from Dynamique Unitaire and the Transportation and Aviation Workers Union from leaving the country under the pretext they were plaintiffs in a judicial proceeding. The law does not restrict foreign travel by plaintiffs in judicial proceedings.
In-country Movement: Although there were no legal restrictions on freedom of internal movement, military and police personnel and gendarmes stopped travelers at checkpoints to check identity, residence, or registration documents and on some occasions to solicit bribes. As a COVID-19 mitigation measure, authorities required travelers to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test within the preceding 14 days of internal travel. Refugees required a travel document endorsed by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and government authorities to circulate freely within the country.
Foreign Travel: The law requires a married woman to have her husband's permission to obtain a passport and to travel abroad. The law prohibits individuals under criminal investigation from leaving the country. Refugees and most holders of a residence permit need an exit visa to leave from and return to the country. Exit visas were not always issued promptly, which impeded persons' ability to depart. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities required persons departing the country to provide a negative COVID-19 test result.
The government cooperated with UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
Abuse of Migrants, Refugees, and Stateless Persons: Despite efforts by the government and UNHCR to reduce discrimination, refugees complained of harassment and extortion by security force members. Some security force members harassed asylum seekers or refugees working as merchants, service-sector employees, and manual laborers and, in order to extort bribes, refused to recognize valid documents held by refugees and asylum seekers.
Access to Asylum: The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status, and the government has established a system for providing protection to refugees.
Access to Basic Services: The law provides refugees equal access to public services, although there were reports that in some cases school and hospital employees improperly required refugees to pay additional fees. Most refugees were not registered to receive services from the National Health Insurance and Social Welfare Fund.
Durable Solutions: The nationality code allows refugees to apply for naturalization; however, the process is long and expensive. At age 18 children born in the country of refugee parents may apply for citizenship.
The constitution and law provide citizens the ability to choose their government in free and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on universal and equal suffrage; however, international monitors of the 2016 presidential election observed anomalies. The governing party has dominated all levels of government for five decades. Citizens participated in presidential, legislative, and municipal elections.
Recent Elections: In early 2018 the Constitutional Court dissolved the National Assembly. The Senate assumed National Assembly responsibilities, and a caretaker government was installed. In late 2018 legislative elections were held. Both rounds of legislative elections were calm, with a voter turnout of 43 percent in the first round. The PDG won 100 of 143 National Assembly seats. Opposition leaders alleged irregularities such as ballot stuffing, vote buying, polling stations opening without the presence of opposition representatives, and unfair treatment of the opposition by the Gabonese Elections Center. Domestic and international organizations were not authorized to observe the elections. A limited African Union observer mission did not comment on whether the elections were free and fair but noted some irregularities.
Political Parties and Political Participation: The PDG has dominated the government since creation of the party by former president Omar Bongo in 1968. PDG membership conferred advantages in obtaining government positions. Opposition party members complained of unfair drawing of voter districts, alleging the president's home province received disproportionately more parliamentary seats than other provinces. They also stated the PDG had greater access to government resources for campaign purposes than did other parties.
Unlike in prior years, there were no reports of restrictions on the formation of political parties.
Participation of Women and Members of Minority Groups: No laws limit participation of women and members of minorities in the political process, and they did participate. The president of the Senate and prime minister were women. Nevertheless, cultural and traditional factors prevented women from participating in political life to the same extent as men. As of July women held 11 of 31 ministerial positions–an increase of nine from 2019–but women held only 23 of 143 National Assembly seats and 19 of 102 Senate seats.
Although members of all major ethnic groups occupied prominent government civilian and security force positions, members of indigenous populations rarely participated in the political process (see section 6, Indigenous People).
The law provides criminal penalties for conviction of corruption by officials, but the government did not implement the law effectively. According to media and NGOs, officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Some police were inefficient and corrupt. There were reports of police, gendarmes, and military members seeking bribes to supplement their salaries, often while stopping vehicles at legal roadblocks to check vehicle registration and identity documents. In July taxi drivers demonstrated to protest police harassment, including exacting bribes.
According to reports from the African immigrant community, in order to exact bribes, police and other security force members often detained and falsely accused noncitizen Africans of lacking valid resident permits or identification documents.
In 2016 the government launched an anticorruption campaign. A number of former officials, including a vice president, ministers, and agency directors, were arrested on corruption charges. The former minister of economy and presidential advisor Magloire Ngambia and former minister of petroleum and hydrocarbons Etienne Dieudonne Ngoubou were arrested and charged with corruption. In 2018 Ngoubou was released on bail; he had yet to be tried by year's end. On September 24, Ngambia was convicted of embezzlement of public funds. He was fined and sentenced to time served in pretrial detention.
Corruption: There were numerous reports of corruption by government officials during the year. For example, in September Mayor Leandre Nzue of Libreville and several city officials were arrested and charged with embezzlement and money laundering. Other government officials charged with corruption included former presidential chief of staff Brice Laccruche, several former ministers, and the director general of the Merchant Marine. None had been tried by year's end.
Financial Disclosure: The law requires executive-level civil servants and civil servants who manage budgets to disclose their financial assets to the National Commission against Illicit Enrichment within three months of assuming office. Most officials complied, but some attempted to withhold information. The government did not make these declarations available to the public. There are administrative sanctions for noncompliance, but authorities did not provide information regarding enforcement.
A number of domestic human rights groups operated, albeit with government restrictions, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Several human rights NGOs reported governmental intimidation and a general lack of responsiveness to their views.
Government Human Rights Bodies: The Ministry of Justice coordinates government efforts to improve respect for human rights, organize human rights training for government officials, and address major human rights problems. The National Human Rights Commission, composed of representatives from civil society, media, religious groups, and the judiciary, had a degree of independence. Commission members provided basic human rights training to police and in past years inspected detention conditions at police stations in Libreville; however, it did not conduct inspections during the year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes rape, and convicted rapists face penalties of 10 to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine. Nevertheless, authorities seldom prosecuted rape cases. The law addresses spousal and intimate partner rape regardless of gender. There were no reliable statistics on the prevalence of rape, but a women's advocacy NGO estimated it to be a frequent occurrence. Discussing rape remained taboo, and women often opted not to report it due to shame or fear of reprisal.
Although the law prohibits domestic violence, NGOs reported it was common. Penalties for conviction range from two months' to 15 years' imprisonment. Women rarely filed complaints, due to shame or fear of reprisal, although the government operated a counseling group to provide support for abuse victims. The government provided in-kind support to an NGO center to assist victims of domestic violence, and through the center's work, police intervened in response to incidents of domestic violence.
Sexual Harassment: NGOs reported sexual harassment of women continued to be pervasive. In June the National Assembly and the Senate enacted a revised penal code prohibiting sexual harassment. It states sexual harassment, "constitutes an offense against morals (and includes) any behavior, attitude or repeated assiduous or suggestive words, directly or indirectly attributable to a person who, abusing the authority or influence conferred on him by his functions or its social rank, aims to obtain sexual favors from an individual of one or the other sex." Conviction of sexual harassment is punishable by up to six months' imprisonment and a substantial monetary fine.
Reproductive Rights: Couples and individuals have the right to decide the number, spacing, and timing of their children and had access to the information and means to do so, free from discrimination, coercion, or violence. However, abortion is illegal except in limited circumstances. Therapeutic termination of a pregnancy is permitted if recommended by a doctor and if the fetus has serious and irreversible physical impairments; the pregnancy seriously endangers the life of the mother; the pregnancy is a result of incest or rape; or the mother is an underage girl in a state of serious distress as defined by law.
The Ministry of Health provided guiding recommendations based on family-planning best practices to health facilities throughout the country. Sexual and reproductive health services were available to survivors of sexual violence at government and private medical facilities, and local NGOs provided support to sexual violence survivors.
The World Health Organization estimated the maternal mortality rate in 2017 at 252 deaths per 100,000 live births. According to the 2012 Gabon Demographic and Health Survey, girls and women between ages 15 and 19 were among the most affected, representing 34 percent of maternal deaths. The main causes of maternal death were hemorrhages during childbirth, high blood pressure, and infections.
Coercion in Population Control: There were no reports of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization on the part of government authorities.
Discrimination: Although the law does not generally distinguish between the legal status and rights of women and men, it requires a married woman to obtain her husband's permission to receive a passport and to travel abroad. The law provides for equal treatment regarding property, nationality, and inheritance. No specific law requires equal pay for equal work. Women faced considerable societal discrimination, including in obtaining loans and credit and, for married women, opening bank accounts without their husbands' permission and administering jointly owned assets, especially in rural areas.
Birth Registration: Citizenship is derived through one's parents and not by birth in the country. At least one parent must be a citizen to transmit citizenship. Registration of all births is mandatory, and children without birth certificates may not attend school or participate in most government-sponsored programs. Many mothers could not obtain birth certificates for their children due to isolation in remote areas of the country or lack of awareness of the requirements of the law.
Education: Although education is compulsory to age 16 and tuition-free through completion of high school, it often was unavailable after sixth grade in rural areas. There was no significant difference in the rates of enrollment between boys and girls; however, due to high rates of early pregnancy, girls were less likely to complete school than boys.
Child Abuse: Child abuse is illegal, with penalties for conviction of up to life in prison, a substantial monetary fine, or both. According to NGOs, child abuse occurred, and the law was not always enforced.
Child, Early, and Forced Marriage: The minimum age for consensual sex and marriage is 15 for girls and 18 for boys. According to the UN Population Fund, 6 percent of women between ages of 20 and 24 married before age 15.
Sexual Exploitation of Children: The law prohibits the commercial sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, and authorities generally enforced the law. Perpetrators convicted of procuring a child for prostitution or a child pornography-related offense may be sentenced to between two and five years' imprisonment. Under the revised penal code, sex trafficking is considered to be aggravated child trafficking, for which conviction is punishable by life imprisonment and substantial monetary fines. Conviction of possession of child pornography is punishable by imprisonment of six months to one year and a substantial monetary fine.
The Jewish population was very small, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
The law prohibits discrimination against persons with "physical, mental, congenital, and accidental" disabilities and requires they have access to buildings and services, including voter access to election polling centers. Most public buildings, however, did not provide adequate access and accommodation for persons with disabilities, hindering their ability to obtain state services and take part in the judicial system. The law subsumes sensory disabilities under congenital and "accidental" disabilities but does not recognize the concept of intellectual disability. The law provides for the rights of persons with disabilities to education, health care, and transportation. Enforcement of these rights was limited–there were no government programs to provide access to buildings, information, and communications for persons with disabilities. Children with disabilities generally attended school at all levels, including mainstream schools. There was accommodation for persons with disabilities in air travel but not for ground transportation.
Persons with physical disabilities faced barriers in obtaining employment, such as gaining access to human resources offices to apply for jobs, because public buildings did not include features to facilitate access for persons with physical disabilities. The inaccessibility of buses and taxis complicated seeking jobs or getting to places of employment for those without their own means of transportation.
The Babongo, Baghama, Baka, Bakoya, and Barimba ethnic groups are the earliest known inhabitants of the country. The law grants members of indigenous ethnic groups the same civil rights as other citizens, but they experienced societal discrimination. They remained largely outside of formal authority, keeping their own traditions, independent communities, and local decision-making structures, and did not have ready access to public services. Discrimination in employment also occurred. Indigenous persons had little recourse if mistreated by persons from the majority Bantu population, and there were no specific government programs or policies to assist them.
During the year parliament reversed the July 2019 revised penal code that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults. On June 23, the National Assembly approved a government bill decriminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults; on June 29, the Senate approved the criminalization reversal; and on July 7, the president signed it into law. The law does not limit freedom of speech or peaceful assembly rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons. There are no specific antidiscrimination or hate crime laws or other criminal justice mechanisms designed to aid in the prosecution of bias-motivated crimes. There were reports from civil society organizations and media of LGBTI persons being targeted for abuse. Such incidents were rarely reported to police, however. A case that drew attention during the year, however, was that of a gay couple who were arrested and charged after their marriage ceremony for violating "the good morals of society" and for failing to obtain legal authority to be married. Societal discrimination in employment and housing were problems, particularly for openly LGBTI persons.
Local NGOs reported discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. Such persons encountered difficulties obtaining loans and finding employment in at least some sectors. NGOs worked closely with the Ministry of Health to combat both the associated stigma and the spread of the disease.
Ritual killings in which persons were killed and their limbs, genitals, or other organs removed were reported. In July 2019 the human trafficking provisions of the revised penal code criminalized ritual killing and organ harvesting. During the year authorities made no arrests of persons accused of ritual killing. The local NGO Association to Fight Ritual Crimes reported six victims of ritual killings and 14 disappearances from January to October. It stated that the actual number of victims was higher because many ritual killings were not reported or were incorrectly characterized. Additionally, authorities discouraged journalists from reporting ritual crimes, and most cases occurred in rural areas where media lacked access. In January mobs incited by social media reports of kidnappings of children for ritual crimes killed at least two suspected perpetrators. On January 24, a mob attacked Patrick Eyeghe as he was picking up his children from school in the Venez-voir neighborhood of Libreville. He was mistaken for a kidnapper. Eyeghe was taken to the hospital, where he later died of wounds inflicted during the attack.
The law protects the rights of workers to form and join independent unions and to bargain collectively. The law provides for the right to strike, with restrictions. Antiunion discrimination is illegal, and the law provides for reinstatement for workers dismissed for union activities. Unions must register with the government to obtain official recognition, and the government routinely grants registration. Agreements negotiated by unions also applied to nonunion workers.
Strikes may be called only after eight days' advance notification and only after mandatory arbitration fails. Public-sector employees' right to strike could be restricted where the government determines it poses a threat to public safety. The law does not define the essential-services sectors in which strikes are prohibited; however, armed services are prohibited from unionizing and striking. The law prohibits government action against strikers who abide by the notification and arbitration provisions and excludes no groups from this protection. There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in the country's two export-processing zones.
The government generally enforced applicable laws. Resources to protect the right to form unions, bargain collectively, and strike were adequate. Penalties for violations of these rights are compensatory, determined on a case-by-case basis, and commensurate with those for other laws involving denials of civil rights. Administrative and judicial procedures were sometimes delayed.
Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining were not always respected. Some unions were politically active, and the government accused them of siding with opposition parties. The government sometimes restricted strikes.
Employers created and controlled some unions. Although antiunion discrimination is illegal, some trade unionists in both the public and private sectors complained of occasional discrimination, including the blacklisting of union members, unfair dismissals, and threats to workers who unionized. Trade union representatives complained they experienced hurdles accessing educational establishments during their efforts to represent and defend their members' interests. Labor union leaders reported the majority of labor violations stemmed from illegal dismissals, including of workers on strike, leaving them without social security and insurance benefits.
In 2017 the Port-Gentil Court of Appeal upheld a judge's ruling that ordered the revocation of a strike declaration by the National Organization of Oil Industry Employees (ONEP); the judge found ONEP failed to establish minimum service and that the strike constituted an unlawful disturbance. According to a government report submitted to the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2019, ONEP did not seek review of the appeal ruling and legal proceedings were closed. The ILO responded with a request that the government open an independent investigation to establish the facts regarding ONEP's allegations police and other security force members dispersed striking workers in 2017 using violent means that produced multiple injuries among striking workers. According to ONEP representatives, ONEP did not press the government on the matter during the year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 1, gendarmes, using teargas, dispersed and reportedly beat Ministry of Water and Forestry members of the National Union of Water and Forestry Professionals (Synapef), causing severe injuries among the striking workers. During the two-month strike, the Synapef president was arrested, held for 24 hours, and released without charge.
The law prohibits and criminalizes trafficking for the purposes of servitude or slavery. The government enforced the law more actively to combat forced labor of children. Penalties reflect the serious nature of the offense and were commensurate with those for analogous serious crimes.
Resources, inspections, and remediation were inadequate. The lack of sufficient vehicles, budget, and personnel impeded the ability of labor inspectors to investigate allegations of forced labor. Additionally, labor inspectors found it difficult to access family-owned commercial farms and private households due to inadequate roads. The government provided trafficking-in-persons training to law enforcement officers.
Boys were subject to forced labor as mechanics, as well as in work in handicraft shops and sand quarries. Boys and men were subject to forced labor in agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, and mining. Girls and women were exploited in domestic servitude, market vending, restaurants, and commercial sexual exploitation. Conditions included very low pay and long forced hours. Migrants were especially vulnerable to forced labor (see section 7.c.).
Limited reporting suggested that illegal and unregulated foreign fishing trawlers may have engaged in the forced labor of boys. Widespread poverty resulted in the increased risk of exploitation in the country, but the small scale of artisanal fishing suggested that trafficking was limited to foreign fishing operations. The industrial fishing fleet operating in Gabonese territorial waters was composed mostly of illegal, primarily Chinese, industrial-scale fish trawlers, with unknown status of workers on board.
See also the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at https://www.state.gov/trafficking in-persons-report/.
Child labor remained a problem. The law prohibits employment of children younger than 16 without the expressed consent of the Ministry of Employment, Public Administration, Labor, and Professional Training; the Ministry of Education; and the Ministry of Health. By law children younger than age 16 may perform light work with parental permission, but the law does not define the activities considered light work, establish a minimum age for light work, or set hour limits. The law provides for penalties commensurate with those for other analogous serious crimes but does not cover children in informal employment.
The Ministry of Employment, Public Administration, Labor, and Professional Training is responsible for receiving, investigating, and addressing child labor complaints through inspectors. The Interministerial Committee for the Fight against Child Trafficking is responsible for filing and responding to complaints, but it was inactive during the year. Children were sometimes subject to forced and exploitive labor in markets, restaurants, and handicraft shops, as well as on farms and in sand quarries. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as of October the government had not organized the repatriation of any foreign children exploited in trafficking.
Noncitizen children were more likely than were children of citizens to work in informal and illegal sectors of the economy, where laws against child labor were seldom enforced. An unknown number of children, primarily noncitizens, worked in marketplaces or performed domestic labor. Many of these children were the victims of child trafficking (see section 7.b.). According to NGOs, some citizen children, particularly street children, also worked in the informal sector.
Child laborers generally did not attend school, received only limited medical attention, and often experienced exploitation by employers or foster families. In an effort to curb the problem, police often fined the parents of children who were not in school. Laws forbidding child labor covered these children, but abuses often were not reported.
Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/findings .
The labor code prohibits discrimination with respect to employment and work conditions based on race, color, sex, religion, political opinion, disability, national origin or citizenship, or social background. It does not address discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or language. The government did not effectively enforce the law. No specific law requires equal pay for equal work, and women's pay lagged behind that of men. Employment discrimination occurred with respect to indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons with HIV/AIDS, and LGBTI persons. There were reports of labor exploitation of indigenous persons by their Bantu neighbors, who paid them much less than the minimum wage. Undocumented foreign workers frequently experienced wage discrimination and poor working conditions.
The government established a national monthly minimum wage that was above the official poverty line. Authorities did not enforce wage laws adequately, although workers could file suit if they received less than the minimum wage. Labor inspections were infrequent. Minimum wage laws were not enforced in the informal sector, which accounted for the vast majority of workers.
The labor code stipulates a 40-hour workweek with a minimum rest period of 48 consecutive hours. The law also provides for paid annual holidays. Employers must compensate workers for overtime work as determined by collective agreements or government regulations. By law the daily limit for compulsory overtime may be extended from 30 minutes to two hours to perform specified preparatory or complementary work, such as starting machines in a factory or supervising a workplace. It also may be extended for urgent work to prevent or repair damage from accidents. The daily limit does not apply to establishments in which work is continuous or to establishments providing retail, transport, dock work, hotel and catering services, housekeeping, security services, medical establishments, domestic work, and journalism.
The Ministry of Health establishes occupational safety and health standards. The Ministry of Employment, Public Administration, Labor, and Professional Training is responsible for enforcing minimum wage, overtime, and safety and health standards in the formal sector. The number of labor inspectors was not sufficient to enforce compliance and COVID-19-mitigation measures further limited enforcement action. Inspectors have the authority to make unannounced inspections and recommend that sanctions be imposed. Employers generally respected minimum wage standards. Formal-sector employees could submit complaints regarding overtime or health and safety standards, and the ministry's labor inspectors investigated such complaints. The government penalized violations with a range of fines that were commensurate with those for similar crimes. In the formal sector, workers may remove themselves from situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, and authorities effectively protected employees in this situation.
The government did not enforce labor code provisions in the informal economy or in sectors where the majority of the labor force was foreign, such as in the mining and timber sectors and domestic work. Employers obliged foreign workers to work under substandard conditions, dismissed them without notice or recourse, and often physically mistreated them. Employers frequently paid noncitizens less than they paid citizens for the same work and required them to work longer hours, often hiring them on a short-term, casual basis to avoid paying taxes, social security contributions, and other benefits.
The government does not provide data on industrial accidents; however, several accidents occurred during the year, including train derailments that resulted in four deaths and many serious injuries.
ecoi.net-Zusammenfassung:
Jahresbericht zur Menschenrechtslage im Jahr 2020 (inkl. Nachtrag vom 4. November 2021 zu reproduktiven Rechten)
Originallink:
https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/gabon/
Periodischer Bericht
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