How to create a PCS memory book

Arts & Culture, Books

Every PCS move is a new chapter in your military spouse adventure. With a personalized PCS memory book, you can turn each move into a beautiful keepsake. Capture the friendships, adventures, and memorable moments that make each duty station unforgettable. Your journey is unique, and your memory book should be too.

Designing Your Story: Make Your PCS Memory Book Truly Yours

A PCS memory book is more than just a scrapbook. It’s a way to celebrate your family’s journey through military life. Start by choosing a theme that reflects your family’s personality. Maybe you love a classic travel style or something more modern and sleek. Whatever you choose, let it be a reflection of you and your experiences.

Think beyond photos. Add maps of the places you’ve lived, ticket stubs from special events on base, or menus from your favorite local restaurants. These little details make your memory book rich with your life’s stories. Remember, this book is about capturing the spirit of each place you’ve called home, not about being perfect.

Capture the Everyday Joy: Moments Big and Small

Military life is filled with big and small moments that make up your story. It’s not just the significant events that matter; it’s the everyday joys, too. Snap pictures of your kids playing in the new backyard, your first trip to the commissary, or the cozy corner of your new home where you have your morning coffee. These moments make your memory book come alive, reminding you of the happiness in each new place.

Remember to include messages from friends and neighbors who have shared in your journey. Ask them to write farewell notes or share their favorite memories with you. These personal touches turn your memory book into a heartwarming narrative of the connections you’ve made along the way.

From Goodbyes to New Beginnings: Cherish Every Step

Myriam Caldwell, left, a 35th Force Support Squadron family care provider, hugs U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Elizabeth Williams, right, a 35th Medical Support Squadron aerospace medical technician, and her son, Kaiden, center, at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Dec. 25, 2018. After seven years of friendship, Caldwell describes Williams as a hard working mother and an ideal Airman. (Courtesy photo)

Every PCS move is a mix of goodbyes and new beginnings. Use your memory book to honor these moments. Dedicate a section to each farewell, remembering what made that duty station special. Then, create a space for the excitement of your new home. Make a list of things you want to explore at your next post, and leave room to add photos as you check them off.

Your memory book is not just about looking back; it’s about celebrating the future. With each new page, you capture the essence of military life—full of changes and endless opportunities.

Make It a Family Affair: Create Together

Making a PCS memory book can be a fun project for the whole family. Let your kids draw their favorite memories, write about their experiences, or decorate pages with stickers. You can also involve them in choosing the book’s theme or layout. This makes the memory book even more special and helps everyone feel excited about the move.

If you love technology, think about going digital. There are great online platforms like Shutterfly, Mixbook, or Blurb where you can create beautiful photo books with your own captions and layouts. Whether you choose to go digital or stick to the classic hands-on approach, making your memory book together can become a cherished family tradition.

Preserve Your Journey: A Keepsake for the Future

Your PCS memory book is more than just a collection of memories. It’s a way to celebrate your journey as a military spouse. Years from now, you’ll look through its pages and relive the places, people, and moments that shaped your life. It’s a gift to yourself and your family—a way to keep your story alive for future generations.

As you prepare for your next PCS, start gathering the photos, mementos, and memories that will fill your book. With each turn of the page, you’ll feel the pride and joy of being a military spouse.

A PCS memory book isn’t just a project; it’s a celebration of your journey, a way to embrace the adventure, and a keepsake that will hold the essence of your military life long after the moves are done.

What It’s Like Being the Official Team USA Gymnastics Photographer

Technology

John Cheng is the official photographer for USA Gymnastics (USAG), one of the most interesting jobs in all of sports photography. PetaPixel chatted with Cheng about his career, his work, what it’s like shooting gymnastics, and his experience at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where Team USA won numerous medals, including the gold in the women’s team event. An Unusual Path Toward Professional Photography Cheng’s path to Paris is an interesting one. Like many who find photography as an adult, Cheng’s kids inspired his entry into photography. “My daughter Allison was a gymnast. I picked up a camera to photograph her at gymnastics meets as a gym dad,” Cheng explains. “The gym club she went to asked if I would take photos at the state competition they were hosting as a fundraiser. Other gym clubs approached me to cover their competitions and just kind of snowballed from there.” Paul Juda (United States of America)
Asher Hong (United States of America) Stephen Nedoroscik (United States of America) At the time, Cheng was in corporate IT, and photography was just a hobby. That has long since changed. He has been the official USA Gymnastics photographer since 2007. Cheng and his wife own an event coverage company, Team Photo. They cover gymnastics events along the East Coast during the primary competitive season, which runs from November through July.

‘Rebel Ridge’ Stars Praise Netflix Movie For Exposing ‘Injustice Of Civil Asset Forfeiture’

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

LOADINGERROR LOADINGThe stars of Netflix’s new thriller are speaking out about the very real “injustice” behind the film: civil asset forfeiture.“Rebel Ridge” was only released Friday, but has already become the No. 1 movie on the streaming platform. The film, directed by Jeremy Saulnier, follows a fictional U.S. Marine (Aaron Pierre) who has thousands in cash legally seized from him by Alabama police while he’s on his way to bail his cousin out of jail. Advertisement

Pierre’s character, Terry Richmond, “is a Black man experiencing the intensity and severity, and in this particular case, the injustice, of civil asset forfeiture,” Pierre told Entertainment Weekly in an interview Friday, adding that the film “highlights our ability as individuals to actively not be complicit.” But Richmond is no typical veteran. He enlists the help of a local court clerk (AnnaSophia Robb), who learns that justice doesn’t always wear a badge.Civil asset forfeiture ― when law enforcement agencies seize private property they claim was involved in a crime ― is entirely legal in most states, as the ACLU explains. It’s even legal for law enforcement to keep the property if the owner is never charged with a crime. Pierre plays fictional U.S. Marine Terry Richmond in the Jeremy Saulnier film.Charley Gallay via Getty ImagesAdvertisement

Former President Donald Trump reversed a policy in 2017 that had limited this practice.While most affected Americans are forced to enlist costly legal counsel to get their assets back, Richmond takes matters into his own hands.Robb told Entertainment Weekly that the film “speaks to the power of an individual.” “It takes place in a small town,” Robb told the outlet, “but it really speaks to a larger audience.”“When you’re taking care of yourself, trying to put one foot in front of the other, and there’s a situation that comes along and you’re able to alter your course to do the right thing, that action will have a domino effect,” she added. “Being an ally to someone … changes society at large.”Support Free JournalismConsider supporting HuffPost starting at $2 to help us provide free, quality journalism that puts people first.Can’t afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. We hope you’ll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.RelatedNetflixpoliceAaron Pierreannasophia robbRebel RidgeNicole Kidman And ‘The Perfect Couple’ Cast ‘Had A Mutiny’ Over The Opening CreditsThis Netflix Reality Show’s New Season Might Be Its Messiest YetWinona Ryder Says Agent Wanted Her To Have No Part In This Iconic ’80s Film

Raw Milk Is Becoming More Popular – but According to Scientists, It’s More Dangerous Than You Think

Science and Health

Consuming raw milk or products made from it poses significant health risks, yet less than half of U.S. adults are aware that raw milk is less safe than pasteurized milk. The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s survey reveals widespread misconceptions about pasteurization’s effectiveness, with only 47% recognizing the safety benefits, and some even questioning pasteurization’s ability to kill harmful bacteria.
Fewer than half of Americans are aware that drinking raw milk is less safe than drinking pasteurized milk.
Drinking raw milk or consuming products made from it carries more risks compared to pasteurized milk. However, according to the latest health survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, less than half of U.S. adults are aware that raw milk is less safe than pasteurized milk, and many do not recognize the associated health risks.
The survey finds that 47% percent of U.S. adults know that drinking raw milk is less safe than drinking pasteurized milk, while nearly a quarter (24%) of Americans either think incorrectly that pasteurization is not effective at killing bacteria and viruses in milk products (4%) or are not sure whether this is true (20%).
“It is important that anyone planning to consume raw milk be aware that doing so can make you sick and that pasteurization reduces the risk of milk-borne illnesses,” said Patrick E. Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.
Less than half of those surveyed (47%) say raw milk is less safe to drink than pasteurized milk. From an Annenberg Public Policy Center survey of 1,031 U.S. adults in June 2024. Credit: Annenberg Public Policy Center
APPC’s survey was conducted by SSRS, a market research company, on June 7-10, 2024, as a cross-sectional survey of 1,031 U.S. adults who are part of the SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus. The margin of error for total respondents is ±3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Why consuming raw milk is risky
Milk from animals including cows, sheep, and goats that has not been pasteurized to kill harmful germs is called unpasteurized or raw milk. Unpasteurized dairy products are estimated to “cause 840 times more illnesses and 45 times more hospitalizations than pasteurized products.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that consuming unpasteurized milk and products made from it “can expose people to germs such as Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella, and Salmonella.”
Heightening these concerns, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported in an open letter on June 6, 2024, that bird flu has been detected in cow’s milk. Cattle infected with avian influenza “shed the virus in their milk.” Technically known as highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) of the H5N1 subtype, the CDC has noted that H5N1 bird flu is “widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows.” The presence of H5N1 bird flu was confirmed in cattle in the United States in mid-March 2024. As of June 21, 2024, there had been four human cases of H5N1 in the United States since 2022, three in April and May of 2024 following exposure to cows and one in April 2022 following exposure to poultry. As of mid-June, 95 cattle herds in 12 states were identified as infected.
Less than half of those surveyed (43%) say pasteurization does not destroy nutrients in milk. (The CDC says pasteurized milk offers “the same nutritional benefits without the risks of raw milk consumption.” From an Annenberg Public Policy Center survey of 1,031 U.S. adults in June 2024. Credit: Annenberg Public Policy Center
The FDA says it does not currently know whether the HPAI H5N1 virus can be transmitted to humans through consumption of raw milk and products made from raw milk from infected cows. However, a study conducted in mice concluded that the virus in “untreated milk can infect susceptible animals that consume it” and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) says this suggests that drinking raw milk “may pose a risk of transmission to people.” As of mid-June 2024, the FDA concluded “that the totality of evidence continues to indicate that the commercial milk supply [which is pasteurized] is safe.”
Although the FDA has prohibited the interstate sale of raw milk since 1987, 30 states in the United States allow the sale of raw dairy milk in some form, according to the NIH. While an FDA food safety report in 2016 said just 4.4% of U.S. adults reported consuming raw milk at least once in the past year, raw milk sales have been increasing, according to the Associated Press, which reports that weekly sales of raw milk from late March to mid-May grew from 21% to as much as 65% over the same period last year.
What people know about the risks of raw milk and benefits of pasteurization
The CDC notes that “pasteurization is crucial for milk safety, killing harmful germs that can cause illness” and the NIH says “dairy milk purchased in the grocery store has been pasteurized – heated to a level high enough and long enough to kill most viruses or bacteria in the milk.”
Yet in the APPC survey, over half of the respondents (54%) either think drinking raw milk is safer (9%), just as safe (15%), or are unsure (30%) whether it is more or less safe than drinking pasteurized milk. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed question the effectiveness of pasteurization at killing bacteria and viruses in untreated milk – 20% are unsure whether it is effective and 4% incorrectly assert that it is not effective.
Who holds correct and mistaken beliefs about raw milk?
An analysis of survey data shows that adults who are 65 and older, college educated, or who identify with the Democratic Party are more likely to understand the benefits of pasteurization and to believe that pasteurization does not destroy the nutrients in milk. The survey finds that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe that drinking raw milk is less safe than pasteurized milk (57% vs. 37%). People living in an urban environment also are more likely to believe that raw milk is less safe than pasteurized milk than people in a rural environment (49% vs. 32%).
“The difference in views of raw milk that we see between Democrats and Republicans is difficult to disentangle from the difference between rural and urban dwellers,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. “Those in rural areas are both more likely to identify as Republicans and to consume raw milk.”
However, a regression analysis conducted by APPC research analyst Shawn Patterson Jr. shows that both which political party one identifies with and where one lives independently predict an individual’s beliefs about the safety of raw milk. But the analysis also shows that where one lives does not independently predict beliefs about the effectiveness of pasteurization nor the effect pasteurization has on the nutrients of milk. (See the appendix for regression analysis.)
The nutritional value of pasteurized vs. raw milk
Viral online videos championing the purported benefits of raw milk attracted millions of views between late March, when the presence of bird flu virus was first confirmed in U.S. cattle, and mid-May, according to reports in the Associated Press and Washington Post. Drinking raw milk has been encouraged as well by some political leaders, including presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who told the audience at an October 2022 meeting of his Children’s Health Defense that he drinks raw milk exclusively.
Among the arguments advanced in favor of consuming raw milk is that pasteurization destroys valuable nutrients – but the CDC states that pasteurized milk “offers the same nutritional benefits without the risks of raw milk consumption.”
Our survey finds that less than half of Americans (43%) know that pasteurization “does not destroy nutrients in milk,” while 16% believe that it does destroy nutrients and 41% are not sure. Notably, the survey finds that younger people (18- to 29-year-olds) are more likely to believe than older adults (65 and older) that pasteurization destroys the nutrients in milk (25% vs. 5%) and Republicans are much more likely to believe it than Democrats (23% vs. 8%). Whether one lives in an urban vs. rural setting is not significantly different in this belief.
APPC’s survey
This study was conducted for APPC by SSRS, on its Opinion Panel Omnibus platform. The SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus is a national, twice-per-month, probability-based survey. Data collection was conducted from June 7–10, 2024 among a sample of 1,031 respondents. The survey was conducted via web (n=1,001) and telephone (n=30) and administered in English (n=1,005) and Spanish (n=26). The margin of error for total respondents is +/-3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus data are weighted to represent the target population of U.S. adults ages 18 or older.
In addition to Patrick Jamieson, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, and Shawn Patterson Jr., APPC’s survey team includes Ken Winneg, managing director of survey research.
Download the topline, appendix, and methodology statements.

Venice Film Festival: Pedro Almodovar wins Golden Lion for “The Room Next Door

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Director Pedro Almodovar holds his Golden Lion Award for Best Film for the movie “The Room Next Door”, during the 81st Venice Film Festival, Italy, September 7, 2024. LOUISA GOULIAMAKI / REUTERS Spanish director Pedro Almodovar was honored with the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, September 7, 2024, for his latest film The Room Next Door five years after receiving a career achievement award at the same festival. Nicole Kidman won her award playing a lusty, unfulfilled CEO embarking on a torrid affair with an intern in Babygirl. She was, however, unable to collect her award following the sudden death of her mother. “The collision of life and art is heartbreaking and my heart is broken,” said the Australian actress in a statement read on her behalf by the film’s Dutch director, Halina Reijn. “I’m in shock, and I have to go to my family. But this award is for her. She shaped me, she guided me, and she made me,” she said. French veteran actor Vincent Lindon won the festival’s best actor award for The Quiet Son. Over his 40-year career, the Cannes-winning Lindon has often gravitated towards films with social themes, playing flawed working-class men roused to fight injustices. Star-studded festival The winners were among 21 contenders vying for the top prize in a 10-day festival that swarmed with top Hollywood talent, from Angelina Jolie to George Clooney. Venice’s red carpet this season had seen the likes of Lady Gaga, starring with Joaquin Phoenix in the sequel to Todd Phillips’ antihero Joker film, as well as George Clooney and Brad Pitt, whose action comedy “Wolfs” premiered out of competition. Another film that was well received was Queer – an adaptation directed by Italy’s Luca Guadagnino of the short novel by Beat Generation writer William Burroughs – that starred Daniel Craig. The former James Bond actor is already being predicted as an Oscar contender for his role as William Lee, a lonely, heavy-drinking gay writer in 1940s Mexico City, whose unrequited love for a young man sends him on an anguished and drug-fuelled road trip through South America. The Brutalist starring Oscar-winner Adrien Brody playing a Hungarian Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor, Laszlo Tothalso, also got good reviews. Voices heard The films at this year’s festival did not shy away from difficult subject matter, whether contemporary or historical. Abortion (April), white supremacy (The Order), the Mafia (Sicilian Letters), and enforced disappearances and killings during Brazil’s military dictatorship (I’m Still Here) were all examined in the films competing for the Golden Lion. Several films explored war and its crushing repercussions, whether documentaries on the war in Ukraine or the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, while two Italian features centered on the two World Wars of the last century. Among the most remarkable was Russians at War by Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, who went behind the lines of the Ukraine war with Russian soldiers. “Russian soldiers are not someone whose voices are heard,” Trofimova told journalists. “This is my attempt to see through the fog of war and to see people as people.” The festival also honored American actress Sigourney Weaver and Australian director Peter Weir with lifetime achievement awards. International palmares Among the 21 films vying for top honors at the Venice Film Festival, the main awards were decided by a jury chaired by French actress Isabelle Huppert: Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize: Vermiglio by Maura Delpero (Italy, France, Belgium)Silver Lion for Best Director: Brady Corbet for The Brutalist (UK)Award for Best Screenplay: Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega for I’m Still Here by Walter Salles (Brazil, France)Special Jury Prize: April by Dea Kulumbegashvili (France, Italy, Georgia)Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress: Paul Kircher for Leurs Enfants Après Eux by Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma (France) Le Monde with AFP Reuse this content

Times Leader reporter pens book on notorious Hugo Selenski case

Arts & Culture, Books

WILKES-BARRE — In February 2015, after nearly 12 years of trying, investigators and prosecutors finally convicted Hugo Selenski of the strangling deaths of pharmacist Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett.
It was a long time since authorities searched Selenski’s Mount Olivet Road property in 2003 and found the bodies of the missing pharmacist and his girlfriend, and at least three other sets of human remains.
During his nearly three-week trial, prosecutors said Selenski, then-41, and a co-conspirator brutally beat Kerkowski to compel him to reveal the location of tens of thousands of dollars he kept in his house, then used flex ties to strangle him and Fassett.
According to an Associated Press story, authorities found their decomposing bodies on Selenski’s property about a year later. A few months after his 2003 arrest, he escaped from prison using a rope fashioned from bed sheets and spent three days on the run before turning himself in.
The jury reached its verdict after deliberating more than 11 hours over two days. It convicted Selenski of eight of 10 counts, including first-degree murder and robbery.
And now, Times Leader staff writer Ed Lewis has written a book — “Hugo’s Graveyard” — that is available on Amazon at https://amzn.to/4cUl8A9.
Lewis said retrieving a manuscript from an old computer hard-drive was easy — but organizing and sorting thousands of pages of court documents was far more difficult.
Lewis, a Times Leader reporter who has covered crime and courts for nearly three decades, recently published “Hugo’s Graveyard” that chronicles the investigation, prison escape and criminal trials of Hugo Selenski.
“It was Dec. 18, 2022, when I spoke with two podcasters who called me for information about the disappearance of Phylicia Thomas and their belief Selenski was somehow involved in her disappearance,” Lewis said. “That very same night, my daughter Emily, who was home from college, asked when I’m going to start the Selenski book and it just kicked me into overdrive. I restarted writing the book that night and did not stop.”
Lewis said he had begun a manuscript in 2003 when he wrote 90 pages, but parenting three children and coaching youth and high school soccer took precedence.
As he was urged to resume writing, Lewis said he woke up at 2:45 a.m. most mornings during the work week to write a few hours before he headed into the Times Leader and the Luzerne County Courthouse — and he also wrote for three to four hours at night and five to seven hours on the weekends.
As the manuscript was nearing completion, Lewis said he met with two literary agents who were interested in publishing the book. When Lewis learned he would lose nearly all rights to the book, he said he opted to self-publish after conferring with other authors.
The title of the book was recommended by an editor in New York City who reviewed Lewis’ manuscript.
“I wrote the book for two reasons,” Lewis said. “I hate being bored, and I strongly believed the Selenski case needed to be told in one setting.”
Lewis said the book is 530 pages and took nearly 17 months to complete.
“Getting advice from other book authors, they told me ‘write what I know,’” Lewis said. “I’ve covered the Luzerne County Courthouse for more than 20 years and drafted an outline. The book follows Selenski’s case through the courts, prison escape and dramatic court proceedings.”
The book explores the early days of the investigation, Selenski’s Luzerne County Correctional Facility escape using bed sheets, and court proceedings where Selenski battled with his own lawyers.
The book also explores a murder plot to kill a key witness, a juror reporting being intimidated outside a Hanover Township business and behind-the-scenes accounts of private meetings.
Lewis’ daughter, Emily, an amateur photographer majoring in psychology and minoring in creative writing, designed the book cover.
“Kerry Miscavage, our publisher at the Times Leader, permitted the use of Times Leader photos of Selenski,” Lewis said. “Emily looked at multiple pictures and the one on the cover immediately stood out. The families of Kerkowski and Fassett criticized Selenski before and during the 2015 trial for having a smirk, and the picture on the cover speaks for itself.”
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.

S&P to adjust big tech weightage in UNITED STATES market

Technology

In the era of Big Tech, the US stock market has become extremely top heavy in proportion to its market capitalisation. The index barometer , the S&P has decided to reduce the weightage of the market leaders proportionately in case they breach the size related thresholds in the key industry benchmark indices.
There has been a rising concentration risk over the last few years with a handful of bluechip technology companies hitting regulatory limits without any capping . Currently in the S&P index when any preset threshold is triggered or breached then the smallest of the group gets its weightage trimmed at first . But now with the changes in the S&P capping methodology taking effect from 20 August 2024 there will be many passive investment vehicles or ETFs particularly from the technology sector shuffling their holdings to reset their imbalance.
Analysts and large US brokerage houses expect that with this news there would be distribution of weightage more evenly across the index thereby reducing unnecessary turnover and tracking error . With the Dow Jones index futures showing a downtrend by over 150 points , it mirrored an expected weak opening for the US stocks during the Friday trading session . Here , the Indian stock market barometer , the S&P BSE Sensex tanked by over 1000 points or 1.24% to close at 81,183 levels while the Nifty 50 index dropped by 292 points or 1.17% to close at 24852 levels . In the broader market , the S&P Mid Cap index fell by 1.41% while the S&P BSE Small Cap index declined by 0.96% during the Friday trading session . On the other hand , the NSE Index VIX which is a gauge of the stock market’s expectation of volatility surged by 6.49% to close at 15.13 levels . The 10 year Indian bond yield benchmark advanced by 1.69% to touch the 6.97% yield.The KEC International Ltd stock hit its 52 week high of Rs 1040 on Friday 06 , 2024 on the back of the company announcement that it had secured new orders of Rs 1423 crores for the design , supply and installation of 380kV transmission lines in Saudi Arabia . Only recently in July it had secured new T&D and cables orders worth Rs 1171 crores along with a 400 kV transmission line contract in the UAE and 380 kV in Saudi Arabia.
With all these orders , the total order book over the last six months have been in excess of Rs 11,000 crores . KEC International has posted a good Q1FY2025 with revenue of Rs 4512 crores on EBITDA margin of 6.5% at Rs 294 crores .
Profit after Tax increased by two times to Rs 88 crores on the back of highest ever order book in the T&D , renewables , railways and cables sector . With all financial metrics in place and a visible multi decadal opportunity in the infrastructure space , KEC International is expected to post all round decent performance over the next few years . The KEC International stock is currently quoting at Rs 992 on the bourses and can deliver a decent price appreciation in the medium term investment horizon .
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S&P to adjust big tech weightage in UNITED STATES market

Technology

In the era of Big Tech, the US stock market has become extremely top heavy in proportion to its market capitalisation. The index barometer , the S&P has decided to reduce the weightage of the market leaders proportionately in case they breach the size related thresholds in the key industry benchmark indices.
There has been a rising concentration risk over the last few years with a handful of bluechip technology companies hitting regulatory limits without any capping . Currently in the S&P index when any preset threshold is triggered or breached then the smallest of the group gets its weightage trimmed at first . But now with the changes in the S&P capping methodology taking effect from 20 August 2024 there will be many passive investment vehicles or ETFs particularly from the technology sector shuffling their holdings to reset their imbalance.
Analysts and large US brokerage houses expect that with this news there would be distribution of weightage more evenly across the index thereby reducing unnecessary turnover and tracking error . With the Dow Jones index futures showing a downtrend by over 150 points , it mirrored an expected weak opening for the US stocks during the Friday trading session . Here , the Indian stock market barometer , the S&P BSE Sensex tanked by over 1000 points or 1.24% to close at 81,183 levels while the Nifty 50 index dropped by 292 points or 1.17% to close at 24852 levels . In the broader market , the S&P Mid Cap index fell by 1.41% while the S&P BSE Small Cap index declined by 0.96% during the Friday trading session . On the other hand , the NSE Index VIX which is a gauge of the stock market’s expectation of volatility surged by 6.49% to close at 15.13 levels . The 10 year Indian bond yield benchmark advanced by 1.69% to touch the 6.97% yield.The KEC International Ltd stock hit its 52 week high of Rs 1040 on Friday 06 , 2024 on the back of the company announcement that it had secured new orders of Rs 1423 crores for the design , supply and installation of 380kV transmission lines in Saudi Arabia . Only recently in July it had secured new T&D and cables orders worth Rs 1171 crores along with a 400 kV transmission line contract in the UAE and 380 kV in Saudi Arabia.
With all these orders , the total order book over the last six months have been in excess of Rs 11,000 crores . KEC International has posted a good Q1FY2025 with revenue of Rs 4512 crores on EBITDA margin of 6.5% at Rs 294 crores .
Profit after Tax increased by two times to Rs 88 crores on the back of highest ever order book in the T&D , renewables , railways and cables sector . With all financial metrics in place and a visible multi decadal opportunity in the infrastructure space , KEC International is expected to post all round decent performance over the next few years . The KEC International stock is currently quoting at Rs 992 on the bourses and can deliver a decent price appreciation in the medium term investment horizon .
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Kagwanja: Three cheers for satellite technology, but reject e-colonisation of Africa

Technology

The world is in the throes of a fierce digital geopolitics. A throwback to President Ronald Reagan’s pet project, Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in the 1980s — lampooned as “Star Wars” — the new geopolitics of digital connectivity casts a long shadow over the future of Africa’s economies, security and sovereignty.

In a sense, America’s 21st century “star war” is unfolding as a war of technologies. It is a head-to-head combat between the satellite internet technology and the fifth generation, or 5G, wireless cellular technology.

Having lost the fierce race for the 5G to rising China, the United States is harnessing its satellite internet capacities to recapture its digital hegemony. There are reasons galore why China has won the 5G race, including strategic government investments, technological superiority, and an unmatched market scale.

Today, Chinese techno-giants, Huawei and ZTE, are top in the pecking order of global supply chain for 5G equipment and software. Moreover, Beijing has four times as much licensed midband spectrum as America, which now ranks 13th of 15 leading nations in licensed midband spectrum for 5G and 6G.

America’s National Security Strategy, released by President Joe Biden’s Administration in October 2022, prioritizes “Shaping the rules of the road for technology” to deal “with the challenges…posed by our strategic competitors” (p.23). As a result, Washington has taken full advantage of its clear edge in the satellite internet technology to reassert its digital hegemony.

Discernibly, the real beachhead in America’s 21st century ‘Star War’ is SpaceX, a California-based spacecraft manufacturing company founded in 2002 by the South Africa-born American billionaire, Elon Musk. In 2019, SpaceX unveiled its signature Internet company, Starlink.

Starlink is utilising Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to provide global broadband, high-speed, low-latency and low-cost internet service coverage targeting the world’s remotest areas where fixed or mobile network connectivity is absent. Starlink has licenses to deploy around 12,000 satellites, expected to increase to a mega-constellation over 34,000 platforms. 

Starlink owes its meteoric rise in the internet market to lucrative contracts and subsidies by the US government and its agencies. A case in point is a $885.5 million the firm received from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in December 2020 to provide high-speed satellite-based broadband internet service to rural areas in 35 American states.

Further, after Russia invaded Ukraine and destroyed its cellular phone and internet networks in February 2022, America called in the firm to re-connect the Ukrainian military to the internet to continue fighting. The US Department of Defence has met Starlink’s costs through a contract with SpaceX. 

In 2022, ahead of its entry into Africa’s internet market, SpaceX unveiled its Starshield, a program designed along the line of Starlink, to erase the company’s image as a tool of the America security agencies and restore its civilian face.

Starlink’s muscle in the internet marketplace has grown, rising from a million subscribers in December 2022 to 2.3 million by 2023. On January 30, 2023, SpaceX tweeted, “Starlink is now available in Nigeria – the first African country to receive service.”

As of September 2024, Starlink has entered eight African countries, and plans to be in 25 out of 54 African countries. In July 2023, the company entered Kenya, introducing a system that allows customers to acquire the necessary equipment through installments. As a result, the company’s subscribers have grown from 405 in July 2023 to 4,808 by March 2024, according to the Communication Authority of Kenya. 

Digital autonomy

Opinion on what Starlink’s advent in Africa means is sharply divided. While some digital activists hail the advent of the American firm as “a big game changer”, some governments and local internet companies are worried that Africa risks become an exclusive sphere of American ‘digital colonialism’, with dreadful consequences for its economies, security and sovereignty. 

In Kenya, the entry of StarLink could potentially disrupt the operations, market share and revenue streams of Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecom company, the nation’s main internet provider, contributor to the economy and the fulcrum of its strategic communication sector.

As of 2023, Safaricom employed over 1.2 million people, 236,674 directly and 1,159,309 indirectly. Last year, the company contributed Sh909.5 billion to the Kenyan economy. Its impact on the economy is approximately 15 times greater than the financial profit. Also at risk are job losses in the telecom sector, particularly among small Internet Service providers.

The country also faces potential decline in investments in vital infrastructure by local telecom companies. Kenya could become totally dependent on foreign satellite systems for its crucial security and strategic communications. Losing control over critical communication infrastructure could undermine national defense and security, which are increasingly tied to technology. Regionally, the dominance of M-PESA, which has presence in 11 countries, could become severely contested.

Africa should collate and curate lessons from the way other regions are responding to the new geo-strategic challenge caused by the digital geopolitics. The European Union (EU) has its IRIS project, a new space-based secure connectivity system to address the need for high-speed internet broadband to cope with connectivity in remote zones and offer enhanced communication services to its citizens, businesses and governmental users.

Since 2023, China has fast-tracked the development of its own satellite internet constellation, run by Chinasat, the brand name of communications satellites operated by China Satellite Communications. While entertaining licenses for two America satellite connectivity companies, Starlink and Project Kuiper, India is supporting to the hilt its local flagship companies, Oneweb and JioSpaceFiber, to prevail in the strategic space sector.

Africa needs a comprehensive strategy to protect its economies and secure its digital autonomy and sovereignty. E-colonization in all its forms and guises is a big no-no.

Professor Peter Kagwanja is the Chief Executive at the Africa Policy Institute. He teaches a doctoral level course: “Science & Technology in International Relations” at the Department of Diplomacy & International Studies, University of Nairobi

Kagwanja: Three cheers for satellite technology, but reject e-colonisation of Africa

Technology

The world is in the throes of a fierce digital geopolitics. A throwback to President Ronald Reagan’s pet project, Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in the 1980s — lampooned as “Star Wars” — the new geopolitics of digital connectivity casts a long shadow over the future of Africa’s economies, security and sovereignty.

In a sense, America’s 21st century “star war” is unfolding as a war of technologies. It is a head-to-head combat between the satellite internet technology and the fifth generation, or 5G, wireless cellular technology.

Having lost the fierce race for the 5G to rising China, the United States is harnessing its satellite internet capacities to recapture its digital hegemony. There are reasons galore why China has won the 5G race, including strategic government investments, technological superiority, and an unmatched market scale.

Today, Chinese techno-giants, Huawei and ZTE, are top in the pecking order of global supply chain for 5G equipment and software. Moreover, Beijing has four times as much licensed midband spectrum as America, which now ranks 13th of 15 leading nations in licensed midband spectrum for 5G and 6G.

America’s National Security Strategy, released by President Joe Biden’s Administration in October 2022, prioritizes “Shaping the rules of the road for technology” to deal “with the challenges…posed by our strategic competitors” (p.23). As a result, Washington has taken full advantage of its clear edge in the satellite internet technology to reassert its digital hegemony.

Discernibly, the real beachhead in America’s 21st century ‘Star War’ is SpaceX, a California-based spacecraft manufacturing company founded in 2002 by the South Africa-born American billionaire, Elon Musk. In 2019, SpaceX unveiled its signature Internet company, Starlink.

Starlink is utilising Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to provide global broadband, high-speed, low-latency and low-cost internet service coverage targeting the world’s remotest areas where fixed or mobile network connectivity is absent. Starlink has licenses to deploy around 12,000 satellites, expected to increase to a mega-constellation over 34,000 platforms. 

Starlink owes its meteoric rise in the internet market to lucrative contracts and subsidies by the US government and its agencies. A case in point is a $885.5 million the firm received from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in December 2020 to provide high-speed satellite-based broadband internet service to rural areas in 35 American states.

Further, after Russia invaded Ukraine and destroyed its cellular phone and internet networks in February 2022, America called in the firm to re-connect the Ukrainian military to the internet to continue fighting. The US Department of Defence has met Starlink’s costs through a contract with SpaceX. 

In 2022, ahead of its entry into Africa’s internet market, SpaceX unveiled its Starshield, a program designed along the line of Starlink, to erase the company’s image as a tool of the America security agencies and restore its civilian face.

Starlink’s muscle in the internet marketplace has grown, rising from a million subscribers in December 2022 to 2.3 million by 2023. On January 30, 2023, SpaceX tweeted, “Starlink is now available in Nigeria – the first African country to receive service.”

As of September 2024, Starlink has entered eight African countries, and plans to be in 25 out of 54 African countries. In July 2023, the company entered Kenya, introducing a system that allows customers to acquire the necessary equipment through installments. As a result, the company’s subscribers have grown from 405 in July 2023 to 4,808 by March 2024, according to the Communication Authority of Kenya. 

Digital autonomy

Opinion on what Starlink’s advent in Africa means is sharply divided. While some digital activists hail the advent of the American firm as “a big game changer”, some governments and local internet companies are worried that Africa risks become an exclusive sphere of American ‘digital colonialism’, with dreadful consequences for its economies, security and sovereignty. 

In Kenya, the entry of StarLink could potentially disrupt the operations, market share and revenue streams of Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecom company, the nation’s main internet provider, contributor to the economy and the fulcrum of its strategic communication sector.

As of 2023, Safaricom employed over 1.2 million people, 236,674 directly and 1,159,309 indirectly. Last year, the company contributed Sh909.5 billion to the Kenyan economy. Its impact on the economy is approximately 15 times greater than the financial profit. Also at risk are job losses in the telecom sector, particularly among small Internet Service providers.

The country also faces potential decline in investments in vital infrastructure by local telecom companies. Kenya could become totally dependent on foreign satellite systems for its crucial security and strategic communications. Losing control over critical communication infrastructure could undermine national defense and security, which are increasingly tied to technology. Regionally, the dominance of M-PESA, which has presence in 11 countries, could become severely contested.

Africa should collate and curate lessons from the way other regions are responding to the new geo-strategic challenge caused by the digital geopolitics. The European Union (EU) has its IRIS project, a new space-based secure connectivity system to address the need for high-speed internet broadband to cope with connectivity in remote zones and offer enhanced communication services to its citizens, businesses and governmental users.

Since 2023, China has fast-tracked the development of its own satellite internet constellation, run by Chinasat, the brand name of communications satellites operated by China Satellite Communications. While entertaining licenses for two America satellite connectivity companies, Starlink and Project Kuiper, India is supporting to the hilt its local flagship companies, Oneweb and JioSpaceFiber, to prevail in the strategic space sector.

Africa needs a comprehensive strategy to protect its economies and secure its digital autonomy and sovereignty. E-colonization in all its forms and guises is a big no-no.

Professor Peter Kagwanja is the Chief Executive at the Africa Policy Institute. He teaches a doctoral level course: “Science & Technology in International Relations” at the Department of Diplomacy & International Studies, University of Nairobi