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☆ Four big reasons to own gold into 2025
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-22 | by ( Sean Conlon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

On Friday, spot gold rose about 1% amid increasing tensions between Russia and Ukraine . Secondly, the global interest rate-cutting cycle will also stretch into 2025, which will serve as another driver of higher gold prices. Moreover, a push among central banks to diversify their reserves away from the dollar could also provide some additional support for gold, he said. "We expect the de-dollarization trend among central banks and private asset managers to continue," Khandelwal said. "We estimate central banks bought around 900 metric tons of gold in 2024, and these volumes can be sustained well above the prior decade's average of around 325 metric tons a year."

Persons: Gold, Donald Trump's, Sagar Khandelwal, Khandelwal Organizations: UBS, UBS Global Wealth Management Locations: Russia, Ukraine

☆ Labor Abuses Abroad
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Megha Rajagopalan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the 1990s, more U.S. companies began manufacturing abroad, where labor was cheaper. Journalists, consumers and human rights groups noticed that, away from the eyes of American unions and regulators, these multinationals sometimes used brutal cost-saving measures, such as sweat shops and child labor. Companies would hire outside inspectors to scrutinize their supply chains. These inspectors would visit their suppliers’ factories, investigate abuses and determine whether everyone was following the rules. Major companies signed on, sending a message that they could clean up their own supply chains.

Persons: —, Saumya Khandelwal Organizations: Journalists, Times Locations: India, Maharashtra

☆ A Family Loses 3 Generations of Women in India Crowd’s Panic
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-03 | by ( Suhasini Raj | Saumya Khandelwal | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Vinod Kumar was away from home on Tuesday, as he usually is for days at a time in search of masonry work, when he got the dreadful call. All the women in his family, three generations of them, were dead, crushed in a stampede. For the rest of the day, Mr. Kumar and his three sons went from hospital to hospital searching for their loved ones among the bodies of the 121 people who had died when a large gathering of a spiritual guru broke into deadly panic. “Why did you leave me just like that? Who will scold the children now and push them to go to school?” Mr. Kumar wailed at the feet of his wife.

Persons: Vinod Kumar, Kumar, Raj Kumari, Bhumi, Mr, Kumar wailed Locations: Hathras

Before the water tanker rolled into one of New Delhi’s largest slums, Arvind Kumar was pacing between the gate of a public school and a tea seller’s stall hundreds of yards from his home, where he lives with nine members of his family. “There, it is coming,” Mr. Kumar shouted to a woman waiting on the slum’s edge. With their last stored drops now spent, and a heat wave searing the city, the two neighbors had decided to make sure the truck reached its destination. The woman boarded the 5,000-gallon tanker and guided its driver through a tight lane, past houses lined with thousands of jerrycans, many chained in place, and onto a stony plateau.

Persons: Arvind Kumar, ” Mr, Kumar

Young girls are pushed into illegal child marriages so they can work alongside their husbands cutting and gathering sugar cane. Labor brokers loan money for the surgeries, even to resolve ailments as routine as heavy, painful periods. Hysterectomies keep them working, undistracted by doctor visits or the hardship of menstruating in a field with no access to running water, toilets or shelter. But for many sugar laborers, the operation has a particularly grim outcome: Borrowing against future wages plunges them further into debt, ensuring that they return to the fields next season and beyond. Workers’ rights groups and the United Nations labor agency have defined such arrangements as forced labor.

Persons: Young, Hysterectomies Organizations: New York Times, Fuller, Labor, Workers, United Nations Locations: Maharashtra

There are moments in life that stick in memory as a fulcrum between before and after. Rohit, Arti’s new husband, was with her, his presence a tangible sign of his support. But even as Arti awaited the starting gun, the crowd of candidates beside her made painfully clear how much competition she faced. So many candidates had traveled to the exam site, on a remote campus in Uttar Pradesh State, that there was nowhere to house them all. Arti, Rohit and Meena had slept in a local gurudwara, a Sikh place of worship, packed in with the other hopefuls and their chaperones.

Persons: Arti Kumari’s, Meena, Rohit, Arti’s, Arti Organizations: Uttar Pradesh State Locations: Uttar Pradesh

For Nasreen, getting to New Delhi after she ran away from her family and the betrothal they had arranged for her was a daring feat. In the winter, the air pollution was among the worst in the world, clinging to skin and choking lungs. In her family’s flat, she cooked on a stove that added to the heat and smoke. When she could get outside, she had to walk a gantlet of leering men who lined the sidewalks. Delhi inspired her to dream of a bigger life and connected her to people who could help her reach for it.

Persons: Nasreen, Bindu Locations: New Delhi, Delhi

☆ Goldman Sachs just promoted 608 employees to the coveted role of managing directors. See the full list here.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Emmalyse Brownstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Goldman Sachs announced its 2023 class of managing directors Thursday afternoon, giving 608 employees the coveted title. It's a smaller cohort than the bank's 2021 MD class, down 5% amid a dealmaking slowdown. Still, Goldman appears to have taken pains to promote employees in revenue-generating divisions like investment banking and trading. Goldman says the percentage of women it promoted as part of the 2023 MD class sets a record, up 1% from 2021. Two years ago, Goldman promoted the largest managing director class in its history, naming 643 employees to the designation in 2021.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Goldman, David Solomon, John Waldron, we've, Solomon, Waldron, Goldman Sachs Fereshteh Abbasi Thomas Abe Devina Abreo Francesca Adamski Emmanuel Adenitire Gopal Agarwal Prasoon Agarwal Udit Agrawal Khamran Ali Omar Alzaim Dorothee Amar Akbar Amin Joe Amsler Wilfred Amuri Jack Anstey Paul Antonios Hidemi Aoki, Carolina Aragon Gonzalez Nelson Armbrust Georgina Aspden Laurene, Gisha, Sharon Babick Navin Babu Alexey Bachurin Alberto Bacis Patrick Badaro Rahul Bajaj Elise Bal Tanya Ballaram Brian Baltz Guillaume Banderet Nirav Bansal Nitin Bansal Swati, Chalapathi, Andrei Banu Camella Barnes James Barry Elisa Anna Bassu Aman Batra Eleanor Beasley Nicole Beavan Michael Becker Yukiko Beer Omar Benchekroune Richard Bennett Nigel Beslee Ashima Bhalla Nikhil Bhandari Nimita Bhargava Bodha Bhattacharya Rebecca Bibb Roseline, Rahul Bindu Mark Bird Leo Biselman Christian Blanc Patrick Bogues Michael Boratin Katherine Bordlemay Gabriela Borges Kate Boucher Erik Bouland Joanne Braidi Chris Brett Joseph Briggs Charles Brockett Emmeline Brothers Aaron Brown Adrienne Brown Kevin Bryck Archana Budida Oliver Bunn Rebecca Burgoyne Andrew Burpitt Todd Byers Patrick Byrne Michael Cahill Ashley Caldwell Jake Caldwell Serdar Caliskan Jon Calluzzo Stewart Campbell Samantha Cantor Yuri Cantor Dan Carabas Gemma Carlaw Laura Carroll Tim Carson Matt Carter Quentin Cezard Alex Cham Simon Chamama Heidi Chan Patrick Chan Suraj Chandran Kim Cheah Jon Cheh CP Chen Nelly Cheng Sarrah Cherhabil Jackson Cheung Michael Cheung Rama, Stan Chiu Anish, Kunal Choraria Ankit Chowdhari Dario Claus Cosimo Codacci, Michael Coleman David Collerd Shannon Collins Francesca Condini Lee Coppersmith John Couch Tim Creamer Maziar, Satish Damodaran Gareth Davies Serkan, Nick De Kock Ann de la, Nick De Kock Ann de la Montaigne Jan Debeuckelaer Molly Decker Gabrielle Decrion Laurent Dedieu Antoine Demongeot Yannick Derippe Deepalakshmi Desai Tim Desiano Joshua Dezube Randeep Dhillon Javier Diaz, Merry Matheus, Jared Dickow Alex Doell Mao Dong Praneil Doolabh Daniel Dooling Michelle Dorea Szymon Doroz Jacqueline Du Benjamin Duell Kelsey Dumont Julie Duval Todd Ebe Dayo, Jeremy Eisenstein Chris Elmore Ryan Erickson Joaquin Escribano Larry Estrada Pavel Fadeev Will Fairbourn Jeremy Falgiani Fabio Federici Wenlong Fei David Felman Sophia Ferguson Zach Fernandez David Fernandez Miguez Scott, William Fio Rito Duffy Fischer Lisa Florentine Akshay Fomra Janice Foo Nicholas Forbat Elie Franko Georgina Fraser Jason Freeman Nicole Freeman Oliver Friedberg Gavriel Friedland Ross Fuller Angela Fung Greg Furness Nikhil Gadodia Stefano Gamba Amit Singh Gambhir Javier Gandara Giorgio Gandola Amit Gangrade Sudha Garimella Mima Garland Mingmin Ge Graziano Gemma Shefali Gera Constance Germain Brad Gifford Benjamin Giles Abbas Ginwala Marlene Giorgio Thomas Giovachini Zachary Glasser Guillaume Gnech Harley Golding Yuriy Goldman Jesse Goldstein Roy Golender Sharon Gonnella Alejandro Gonzalez Steven Gooden Jessie Gould Varun, George Graf von Waldersee Florian Granier Jamie Greenberg Brian Grzelakowski Alessandro Guicciardi Michael Guiliano Samuel Guinness Bivash Gunpath Deepa Gupta Parikshit Gupta Lauren Gutierrez Johannes Hahn Chris Hallam Alex Halpern Christina Halpin Michael Hamilton Brooke Hammel Saki Hanioka John Hanson Mathew Harris Ally Hart Amy Harwood Tom, Emily Hashimoto Rob Haslam Michael Heino Brandon Herde Sarah Higgins Camilla Hill Spencer Hill Sho, Cecilia Ho Jonathan Ho Bryan Hoffman Kevin Hoffmeyer Eliza Hollyday Simon Holmes Mehdi, Lily, Derek Hu Jennifer Hui Tim Huiszoon Camille Humbert Kurt Humes Kelley Hutchison Masayuki Ichioka Andrew Imber Calvin Isaac Jackson Isaacs Sharif Ismail Yu, Doug Michael Jaffa Nitin Jagga Rahul Jain, Jataprolu Fiona Jervis Yinpeng Jin Sandeep Jindal Jennifer Jochinger Steven Johnson David Johnstone Megan Jordan Nicolas Joseph Bob Kadel Jean Kam Harneet Kaur Vinay Kaura Peter Kelman Stephanie Kenary Maggie Keohan Humayun Khalid Sunil Khandelwal Scott Kilpatrick Jenny Kim Ashley King Joel Klaus Rene Klos Rossitsa, Michael Kondoleon Gregory Kontopoulos Larry Kornreich Shrivathsa Kota Konrad Krallmann Ken Kraska Alexander Kretzberg Bryant Krongard Simon Kubbies Adam Kulik Peter Kulka Ajeya Kumar Aditya Kurella Sara Lachapelle Raagini, Langalia Chaim Langer Alexander Langley Raven LaRue Dolapo Lawal Claire Leblanc, Langalia Chaim Langer Alexander Langley Raven LaRue Dolapo Lawal Claire Leblanc Mary LeDonne, Allison Lee Michael Lee Soohyun Lee Victoria Lewis Alice Li Qing Li George Lin Ali Lippert David Lipworth Bozhena Lisko, Murphy Mark Littlewood Zhenyi Liu Yelli Lobel Avinash Lobo Burke Loeffler Gabriela Lopez Cristian Lopez, Balboa Carlos Lopez Torrero Stephanie Louie Edward Lowe Reynolds Lowry Fei Luo Ranjan Luthra Sangeetha M Martin Ma Matthew Maciaszek Michael Magee Steffen Mahringer Poonam Majithia Terres Maloney Gopal Manchikanti Jade Mandel, Manfay Varun, Pierre Marboeuf Matt Margolin Thiago Marinheiro Kevin Martens Masato Maruyama Lucinda Mataka Rishi Mathur Pierre Maugest Scott Maxfield Andrei Maxim Michael McClurg Selina McCole Jeff McCown Andrea McGee Sinead McGuigan John McGuinness Benjamin McRoberts Amit Mehrotra Gaurav Mehta Kelly Mellecker Josef Menasche Raf Mercado Alexander Mielke Rachel Miles Christopher Miller Megan Miller Robert Miller Max Minton Edward Mitchell Oliver Money Tyler Moni Anna Montvai Taylor Moore Anthony Moschella Brandon Moy Faraz Munaim Sasha Munn Ashok Musuvathy Negar, Julian Naden Robinson Hiroki Nagamine Srijith Nair Cornelius Namiluko Sanjiv Nanwani Jay Narain Robert Andranik Nazarian Jovan Negovan Ryan Newman Michael Ng, Tasuku Nishihara John Nixon Kristy Nomi Alexandre Nunes Patrick O'Callaghan Yusuke Ochi KC O'Connor David Olivares Erica Olsen Victoria Ortengren Anas, Peter Pace Robert Packwood Nitin, Ellen Pak Ruth Pan Pedro Panizo Jayshri, Rahul Parikh Dan Parisi Freddie Parker Phil Parsons Peter Paruch Paul Pate Bella Patel Preya Patel Rakesh Patel Amit Patni Ed Paulinski Adam Pennacchio Kyle Penton Abhishek Periwal Michael Perrier Yoric Perrin Rasmus Persson Tommy Pinhas, Marco Poletti Megan Prasad Avijit Praveer James Puccinelli Sameer Punde Rob Pyne Na Qiao Valentina Quadri Marco Quirico Anya Radford Abhishek Rai Rahul Raj Ram Rajamony Ryan Ramsay Rami Rankoussi Nach Rao Pawan Rao Anurag Rathi Philip Renton Noel Reyes Ruth Reynolds Timothy Richards Peter Richter Brigid Riley Hutchinson Nick Rill Kristina Ristagno Vicky Ritter Martin Roberson James Roberts James Robinson Giorgio, Erin Roos Erin Ross Sumit Roy Conrad Ryan Soo, Ryu David Sage Jai Sahani Namita, Sarah Sakkej Karim Saleh Ayesha Salman Divya Samani Henrik Samuelsson Ryan Sansalone Vikram Sarker Shalini Satish Babu Charlotte Saury, Hania Schmidt Helene Schmitt Emily Schorr Wendy Schrunk Thomas Schwegler Michael Sciancalepore Brandon Seaman Benjamin Seigel Gamal Selvarajah Nicholas Semeniuk Devjoy Sengupta Michael Shafik Arpan Shah Shashwat Shah Shahnawaz Shahbaz Manoj Sharma Sachin Sharma Wazila, Gunduz Shirin Alex Silver Asmita Singh Kamalpreet Singh Andrew Sinnott Sapna, Dan Skinner Andrew Snow Stephanie Snyder Farouk Soussa Christopher Spahr Erik Sparks Matt Speltz Naveen Srinivasan Bhargav, Warren, Damian Steele Tobias Stein Catherine Stemp Dave Stringer Shekar Subramanian Jordan Sudy Philipp Suess Fatima Sultana Lu Sun Kumar Sundaram Fiona Syer Matthew Sykes Tofi, Filippo Taddei Sandhya Tadishetty Omer Tanvir Rita Taylor Zachary Tcheyan Brian Teague Wesley, Caitlin Terry Thomas Tesauro Hemal, Justin Therry Christine Thornburg Gregory Thysheril Angelo Tierno Alexander Tingle Ryan Townsend Cynthia Trillo Dimitris, Jessica Tung Jonathan Tung Ezgi, Zachary Upcheshaw Kiyomi, Nadine Urseanu Jim Vais Pim Valantagul Perrin Van Allen Annerieke van Dijk Jeroen van Dorp Dennis van Laer Todd van Stolk, Riley Jacqueline Vargas Alexander Vavalidis Edwin Velez Prasanna Venugopal Tim Verheyden Amanda Verstegen Ankit Vijay Vargiya Salvador Villanueva Arthur Villard Sichel Denzel Voesenek Bradley Wainwright Adam Walker Barbara Walters Omar Waly Daniel Wang Kenneth Wang Kristen Ward Gavin Warren Michael Washington Harry Webster Fredrik Weege Brian Weiss Thomas Weitz Nat Wells Joe Wenzel Tim Whitehead Henry Willans Matthew Williams Taylor Williams Katie Wilson Richard Wilson Stephanie Wisner Ilana Wolfe Jake Woodson Jeff Wu Qi Wu Jackson Yang Esma, Yoon Harm, John Zhai Jenny Zhang Lynn Zhang Raye Zhu Jane Zhuang Hans Zijlmans Carolyn Zimmer Samia Zitouni Mira Zorkot Organizations: Goldman, Wall, Carolina, Nick De Kock Ann de la Montaigne, Langalia Chaim Langer Alexander Langley Raven LaRue Dolapo Lawal Claire Leblanc Mary Locations: Europe, Asia, India

☆ India reassures confidence in Aadhaar after Moody's questions its reliability
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A woman goes through the process of finger scanning for the Unique Identification (UID) database system, also known as Aadhaar, at a registration centre in New Delhi, India, January 17, 2018. REUTERS/Saumya Khandelwal Acquire Licensing RightsSept 25 (Reuters) - The Indian government on Monday reassured confidence in its digital identification system, Aadhaar, after a Moody's report last week highlighted concerns about it like establishing authorization and biometric reliability. India's ministry of electronics & IT said the Moody's report "does not cite either primary or secondary data or research in support of the opinions presented in it". The Aadhaar card, which is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has a unique number tied to an individual's fingerprints, face and eye scan. Moody's in its report had said that Aadhaar's system often results in service denials, and questioned the reliability of biometric technologies, especially for manual laborers in hot, humid climates.

Persons: Saumya, Aadhaar, Akanksha, Maju Samuel Organizations: REUTERS, Indian, IT, of India, Gandhi, Rural, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, Bengaluru

People burned out of their homes by the hundreds. Men, women and children beaten and set ablaze by angry mobs. India, the world’s most populous country and home to the fastest-growing major economy, is now also the site of a war zone, as weeks of ethnic violence in the remote northeastern state of Manipur has claimed about 100 lives. More than 35,000 people have become refugees, with many living in makeshift camps. Internet service has been cut — an increasingly common tactic by the Indian government — and travel restrictions have made it difficult for the outside world to see in.

Persons: — Locations: India, Manipur, China

☆ Google leads funding round for Indian space startup Pixxel
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BENGALURU, June 1 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google is leading a $36 million funding round for Bengaluru-based Pixxel, a satellite-image startup, in the first major investment in the Indian space sector since the government launched its privatisation policy in April. Pixxel did not specify how much Google had invested or the valuation it reflected. Founder and Chief Executive Awais Ahmed said Pixxel would be "the most valued space tech company in India after this investment". Space startups, in particular, have come under pressure after the bankruptcy of Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit launch company. Ahmed has said he was inspired to launch a space startup from a visit Elon Musk's SpaceX as part of a student competition to build a demonstration "hyperloop" transport pod.

Persons: Pixxel, Awais Ahmed, Ahmed, Richard Branson's Virgin, Kshitij Khandelwal, Nivedita, Kevin Krolicki, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Google, Miner Rio Tinto Ltd, Accenture PLC, Skyroot Aerospace, Reuters, Space, Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit, Elon, SpaceX, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, Bengaluru, Miner Rio, India

☆ India's PhonePe launches e-commerce app on government's open network
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Varunvyas Hebbalalu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Saumya KhandelwalBENGALURU, April 4 (Reuters) - Walmart Inc-backed (WMT.N) digital payments firm PhonePe Pvt Ltd launched an app called Pincode on the Indian government's open network on Tuesday to strengthen its e-commerce business. The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) was launched last year to enable small merchants and local stores across India to access processes and technologies typically deployed by large e-commerce platforms like Amazon (AMZN.O) and Walmart (WMT.N). Pincode, which will focus on hyperlocal commerce, is currently live only in Bengaluru and available on the Google Play Store and the App Store, PhonePe said in a statement. PhonePe already has an e-commerce platform, called Switch, on its app, which offers services including food delivery, grocery shopping, travel, hotel booking, retail fashion and healthcare. India's most valuable payments firm, PhonePe had raised $200 million from majority-backer Walmart in a pre-money $12 billion valuation in March.

Vahia is one among India’s young and aspirational 1.4 billion population, whose propensity for online spending has attracted global companies and digital platforms. And as private consumption underpins economic growth in India, financial investors are targetting new ways to tap into it. India's per capita consumption of food was at $314 in 2020 compared to $884 for China, while that of clothing stood at $53.9 versus $212.9 for China, data from CLSA showed. FOREIGN INVESTORS JUMP INWith private consumption accounting for 60% of India's $3.5 trillion GDP, foreign portfolio investors have been quick to latch on. To be sure, it has not been all smooth sailing for investors as they chased India's consumption boom.

☆ A pop-up message tells staff 'please go home' 10 minutes before locking their computers at the end of the day to improve work-life balance
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

IT firm Software Computers developed a fun way to get staff to leave work on time, per Reuters. It made a pop-up message to warn staff that their computers will shut down in 10 minutes. It's installed software that displays a pop-up message telling workers that their computers will shut down in 10 minutes when their day is done, Reuters reported. Tanvi Khandelwal, an employee at Software Computers, shared a photo on LinkedIn of the notification, which has had more than 425,000 reactions. A Software Computers representative told Insider that it had deployed the pop-up messages to help its staff.

☆ Please go home! Indian firm deploys software for work-life balance
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The measure comes amid an increased focus on and research into the adverse effect of long working hours on the health and relationships of employees across the world. "The thought behind this is providing employees a good work-life balance so that they can spend time with their families and loved ones," Chief Executive Ajay Golani told Reuters partner ANI. The pop-up created a social media buzz recently when an employee, Tanvi Khandelwal, shared a picture of the warning on a company desktop. "They put this special reminder, which locks my desktop after business hours and issues a warning," Khandelwal shared on LinkedIn a week ago. Kritika Dubey, one of 40 people employed at the company, told ANI that the pop-up helped her leave on time and fulfil other responsibilities at home.

☆ Big Tech's wipeout sends workers scrambling
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Matt Turner | Dave Smith | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Hi, I'm Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider. Up first: I just returned to New York after a few days in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. It was intense and informative, packed with meetings with business leaders and government ministers from around the world. Davos, Switzerland Hanna Erasmus and EyeEm/Getty ImagesMore than 1,500 business leaders descended on Davos in the Swiss Alps last week. Saumya Khandelwal/Hindustan Times via Getty ImagesIt was a wipeout at Silicon Valley's tech giants this week.

☆ India festival spending booms despite inflation worries, global slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Manoj Kumar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The sales would include nearly $15.2 billion offline sales, compared to about $8.5 billion in 2019, according to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). read moreBut economists said the sense in India was that inflation has peaked while economic activity was picking up. The bump in consumer demand is expected to support economic growth of around 6.5% in the fiscal year ending March 2023, the highest among the world's major economies. Credit demand increases Credit demand increasesThe retail boom is also a boon for the government - goods and services tax collections, a barometer of consumer demand, rose 26% year-on-year in September, data showed. "After two consecutive downbeat festive seasons, consumer sentiment and spending appear to have rebounded this year... which may boost economic growth in the current quarter, but may not sustain thereafter."

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