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Marcos jewelry sale to trim budget deficit
Jun 8th
Commissioner Ricardo Abcede of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (Paloma’s Crown of Hearts pendant) said that proceeds from the sale of the fabled jewelry collection of former First Lady Imelda Marcos will help the national government reduce its budget deficit and will benefit farmers under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
During an interview with reporters on Thursday, Abcede added that proceeds from the sale of the Roumeliotes and Hawaii collections of the Marcos jewelry would go directly to the Bureau of the Treasury.
“Besides benefiting more than three million farmers, it will also lessen the deficit because it is going to be counted as revenue,” he said.
Abcede, however, admitted that the supposed June 30 deadline to dispose of the two sets of the Marcos jewelry is unrealistic.
“I wanted it June 30 [but] the [Department of Finance] wants it within the year. But, there are many factors to consider. The winning auction house will have to do the appraisal, cataloging, roadshow. They are contemplating on selling them here or abroad,” he said.
According to him, Christies Inc. Auction House was done with the Paloma’s Grown of Heart bangle and its representatives have left the country on Thursday, while two gemologists from Hong Kong are expected to arrive on the same day.
“Representatives from Christies and Sotheby will be here to conduct separate appraisals to check the quality of the stones. Then they will submit to us next week the actual appraisal [report],” Abcede said.
After the final appraisal in their respective headquarters, the two auction houses will bid to determine which of them will be the sole auctioneer of the jewelry collection.
But Abcede clarified that the Marcos jewelry auction will not generate P15 billion in proceeds.
“That’s way above. There’s no valuation yet. They have listings of the prices, but now the purpose of this is to update the appraisal of all the three sets [Roumeliotes, Hawaii and Malacanang collections],” he said.
Abcede added that the winning auctioneer will have to secure a term of reference, contract and consignment agreement with the government so that they can have the jewelry insured if they bring it out and have it sold abroad.
He earlier said that the Marcos jewelry should be disposed off immediately without Paloma’s Tenderness Heart pendant for the next administration to be installed.
Palace warns
During a press briefing at Malacanang, spokesman Ricardo Saludo Saludo said that they are amenable to the sale of the Marcos jewelry even after President Gloria Arroyo’s term ends officially on June 30.
“It does not matter whether the disposal should take place in the Arroyo government or in the coming administration. What is important is that jewelry collection must be auctioned off and the proceeds should go to the National Treasury to be used in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program as provided under the law,” Saludo added.
Abcede has been insisting that the Marcos jewelry be disposed off immediately even if the rest of the PCGG commissioners oppose this move.
Some of the PCGG commissioners said that there is still a legal impediment to the sale Paloma’s X pendant the Marcos jewelry collection because its ownership is still the subject of a case pending before the Sandiganbayan.
The PCGG also has not issued a resolution authorizing the sale of the Marcos jewelry.
Trade ministry will seek support for export sectors that need it
Jan 24th
The commerce ministry has concluded its sectoral review of exports and will seek additional support for industries still under pressure, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said on Wednesday.
“We will see what we can do and seek continuation of support where it is absolutely necessary,” he said, adding that labour-intensive sectors such as handicraft, leather, and gems and jewellery continue to be in trouble.
“Sectoral reviews have been completed. I am soon going to work on the recommendations. They will also get tiffany jewelry on our budget proposals,” Sharma told reporters at the sidelines of a conference organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, or Ficci.
The Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the ministry carried out the performance review of key export sectors.
It also examined if any sector might need additional incentives due to the slump in external demand for Indian goods.
Asked if the finance ministry would withdraw some of the incentives provided to the exporters, Sharma said any such move will be a considered pull-back. “The finance minister will dispassionately examine the sectoral performance and do what is judicious,” he said.
Merchandise exports rose in November for the first time this fiscal to $13.2 billion (Rs61,512 crore) from $11.16 billion tiffany money clips, up 18.28%. However, exports in the April-November period were lower than in the year-ago period, having dropped 22.32% to $104.25 billion.
Sectors that saw significant growth are gems and jewellery (40.4%), petroleum products (83.6%), iron ore (47.2%), and plastic and linoleum (28%).
The sectors that lagged behind are textiles (6%), drugs and fine chemicals (8.7%), tobacco (5.6%), carpet (5.8%), and engineering goods (6.8%).
Earlier on Wednesday, commerce secretary Rahul Khullar said: “I am not in favour of providing incentives if it cannot be sustained.”
Khullar also called for “some degree of stability”, expressing apprehension that there could be a tendency to “tiffany pendants back some of the incentives” already provided to exporters.
Jewelry Takes a Starring Role in Biannual Fashion Extravaganza
Jan 15th
More good news for the jewelry industry was the subtle shift in jewelry’s relationship to the intensely scrutinized New York Fashion Week. This season, the industry saw fewer “placements”-i.e., jewelers, industry groups, or their public relations pros work to get fashion designers to show jewelry with their collections, sometimes in exchange for financial sponsorship of a show. Instead, the idea that jewelry is an organic extension of both the runway collections and the hoopla that surrounds them gained a stronger foothold.
The trend seemed to arrive with the showing last winter of collections for the current fall/winter season. Those runways, set aglitter with bejeweled brooches, right-hand rings, and other fine-jewelry must-haves, set the tone for a more jewelry-friendly fashion world.
Jeweler Chris Aire, meanwhile, raised the bar for jewelry designers and manufacturers looking to increase the profile of fine jewelry. Aires own jewelry-focused fashion show drew both a smattering of A-list celebrities and the media that follow them wherever they go. Sponsored by the savvy industry insiders at Platinum Guild International and the Diamond Promotion Service, the show proved the viability of fine jewelry as an important element of fashion and, therefore, Fashion Week.
On the fashion catwalks, the idea of luxe looks for day or night encouraged consumers to indulge-especially in diamonds. Taking an approach contrary to the minimalism of the past-and enforcing the idea of jewelry for everyday-designers even paired diamond jewelry with bathing suits.
Finally, Fashion Week served as the backdrop for a real-life Breakfast at Tiffany’s experience for fashion editors and buyers as the venerable Fifth Avenue jeweler opened its doors to designer Behnaz Sarafpour for a runway show staged on Tiffany’s main floor.
Boulder cancels open space Christmas-tree cutting
Nov 22nd
After four years of inviting people to cut down their own Christmas trees tiffany jewellery on open space, the city of Boulder has canceled its free holiday event because of budget cuts and because the forest location has been sufficiently thinned.
The city doesn’t have enough money this year to pay workers to guide nearly 1,000 tree-seekers through the wilderness atop Flagstaff Mountain, said Steve Mertz, a spokesman for Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department. And even if the department did have the $4,000 it needs to continue the program, Mertz said, Flagstaff’s tree reserve is tapped out.
“Part of the reason we do this is for fire mitigation and to stop the spread of pine beetles,” he said. “But the area we have been working in for years is kind of out of trees.”
News of the cancellation disappointed some residents, who previously trekked with saws and rope up a twisted Flagstaff Road and — after finishing their work — stuck around for cookies, hot chocolate and caroling.
Durango Steele, who cut down a tree for the first time last year, said she would have loved to do so again.
“What we said after our experience last year is how amazing it is to walk out the key rings front door and be in the forest cutting a tree down and how grateful we felt to be living in Boulder,” she said. “It really added to the whole festive feeling of Christmas.”
Mertz said funding might be restored in the future, “but finding another spot is the tricky part.”
The funding issue rests largely with Boulder shoppers, who are spending less and thus leaving the open space department without essential sales tax revenue, Mertz said. In August — the most-recent month for which statistics are available — Boulder sales tax collections were down 7.5 percent, marking the 12th consecutive month of declining revenue for the city.
“We are 97 percent tax-based,” Mertz said. “So when that goes down, we take a larger hit than other government agencies.”
To host the tree-cutting in previous years, the department paid for seasonal workers from its outreach budget, which was cut 80 percent this year due to the sales-tax drop, Mertz said. Even though AmeriCorps volunteers helped out last year, Mertz said, the department had too few outreach employees to even start necklaces organizing the event.
“We didn’t even get to that point this year,” he said.
Melissa Fernandez Reed, of Boulder, said she and her husband have taken their 3-year-old son to get a Christmas tree from Flagstaff for two years now, and she had hoped to make it a family tradition.
She said she was just starting to think “the time is coming soon” to sign up for a tree, and her family would be willing to pay if it helps revive the event.
“That makes me so sad,” she said of the cancellation.
Still want to cut your own tree?
Other land-management agencies are still offering programs:
The U.S. Forest Service provides information about its Front Range Christmas Tree Tiffany Accessories Cutting at fs.fed.us/r2/recreation/christmas/.
Golden Gate Canyon State Park, near Golden, provides information about its Christmas tree permits at http://parks.state.co.us/Parks/goldengatecanyon.
Christmas party to support diabetes research
Nov 20th
Take a horse and carriage ride as you start the holiday season with a tour of the Christmas tiffany jewellery Hope House, 4418 S. Lewis Place in the GreenHill Addition.
Set from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, the tour and activities surrounding it will raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
In addition to the carriage rides, you can have photos taken with Santa and enjoy a sale of Christmas finery and holiday gifts.
Tickets are $10 per person, and children under 12 are admitted free of charge.
Tickets are on sale at the JDRF Office, Fortnight and Walter & Associates necklaces Realtors.
For more information, call 481-5807.
Sponsors include Walter & Associates Realtors; Tony Domeck, Illuminations Lighting and Lawn Service; Sondra Reeves, Catcher of Dreams; Lynne Bischoff, Fortnight; Tulsa National Bank; Peter Walter; B’Howlin Graphics; Norberg/IES; the Drotar Family, J.D. Young and Susan Coman.
JDRF was founded in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, a disease that strikes children, adolescents and adults suddenly, makes them insulin-dependent for life and carries the threat of complications.
Since its inception, JDRF has provided more than $1.2 billion for diabetes research Tiffany Accessories worldwide.
More than 85 percent of JDRF’s expenditures directly support research and research-related education.
JDRF’s mission is to find a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications Tiffany Keys through the support of research.
Stolen Laptop Leads Police to Identity Theft Ring
Nov 16th
Absolute Software and the Char- lotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) in North Carolina tiffany jewelry found more than they expected when they recovered a stolen laptop from one of the school’s portable trailers. Using Absolute’s Com- putrace Agent, which was embedded into the firmware of the computer, they were not only able to reclaim the device but also help federal and local law enforcement uncover an alleged identity theft ring and charge several individuals with immigration law violations.
“We were able to mine the forensic data on the computer,” says David Hawks, business development manager, education industry for Absolute. “During the investigation, we’re trying to track the computer to recover it, but then what happens is these cases lead to so much bigger cases.”
When CMS was notified that the computer had been stolen, it reported the incident to local law key rings enforcement and to Absolute via a web portal available to Computrace subscribers, Hawks says. Because the agent was embedded into the firmware, enabling it to survive everything from operating system reinstallations to hard drive removal, Absolute was able to contact the stolen laptop and instruct it to send updates on its location every 15 minutes instead of the usual 24.5 hours. The company’s theft recovery team then used forensic tools such as keystroke capturing and registry scanning to learn as much about the computer’s users as possible.
“It’s only a matter of time before they reveal who they are,” Hawks says. “They don’t know what forensic tools are on there. You can actually see the computer screen, real-time, as they’re surfing the web. You can see what they’re clicking on. You can see who they’re talking to through emails.”
After uncovering evidence of possible immigration violations, the ICE (Immigration and Customs necklaces Enforcement) stepped in. Then, federal agents and CMS law enforcement raided the trailer where the laptop was located. The computer was recovered, and law enforcement found plenty of other equipment: a laminating machine, a scanner and printer, hole punches used for ID cards, and other materials in the makeshift low-level document lab, according to Absolute.
“What it does is send a message to anybody that is thinking about trying to lift a Tiffany Accessories Charlotte-Mecklenburg asset to move on to another district and not mess with them,” Hawks says. “They have the technology and the law enforcement working together to ensure that CharlotteMecklenburg’s assets are safeguarded.”
GREAT NECK DRUG RING SMASHED
Nov 8th
Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that an 18-month-long joint investigation with the Nassau County Police Department has resulted in the dismantling of a Great Neck drug ring that distributed heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine throughout the North Shore silver jewellery community.
Rice said the Nassau County Police Department began collecting intelligence in March 2008 that Akey Williams, 40, of Great Neck, was selling drugs out of his Summer Avenue home. Surveillance by police revealed a high level of activity outside of Williams’ home, as well as numerous hand-to-hand transactions between Williams and drug users.
Individuals arrested for drug possession immediately after being observed buying drugs from Williams identified Williams as selling quantities of heroin and cocaine in the Great Neck area.
In June 2009, a wiretap by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office intercepted numerous calls wherein individuals ordered quantities of cocaine, marijuana, and heroin. Investigators were eventually able to identify Williams’ supplier as Michael Gates, 37, of Flushing, Queens.
Further surveillance revealed that Williams was trying to replenish his supply from Gates before Gates could catch a flight out of town from JFK International Airport on September 17. A September 16 purchase was made on behalf of Williams by his father, El Rahiem.
On September 17, Gates, Williams, Rahiem, and Williams’ nephew, Amar Williams, key rings were arrested. Search warrants executed at Gates’ apartment and car, and Akey Williams’ Great Neck home led to the recovery of 51 grams of cocaine, 32 grams of crack cocaine, 170 grams of heroin, two ounces of marijuana, $70,600 in cash from Gates’ apartment, and a loaded .380-caliber handgun.
Rahiem is believed to have driven his son to pick up drugs from Gates, while Amar Williams is believed to have delivered drugs to customers on behalf of his uncle.
Williams is charged with Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, three counts of Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, and Conspiracy in the Second Degree. Williams faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted. He is represented by Edward Dudley, Esq. and is due back in court October 23.
Gates is charged with Attempted Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, three counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, and Conspiracy in the Second Degree. He faces up to 24 years in prison if convicted. He is represented by David Louis Cohen, Esq. and is due back in court October 20.
Rahiem has been charged with three counts of Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled necklaces Substance in the Third Degree, Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, and Conspiracy in the Second Degree. He faces up to 10 years in prison. He is represented by Dana Grossblatt, Esq. and is due back in court October 23.
Amar Williams has been charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree. He faces up to three years in prison if convicted. He is represented by Karl Seman, Esq. and is due back in court October 20.
“I want to congratulate the men and women of the Nassau County Police Department and my office for their fine work in destroying an organization that made money off the misery of others,” Rice said. “We will not sit idly by while drug dealers and traffickers destroy our neighborhoods and endanger lives. We will continue to aggressively pursue and prosecute those who peddle drugs on our streets.”
Handling the case for the DA’s Office is Deputy Bureau Chief Kristen Fexas and ADAs Kathleen Tiffany Accessories Swenson and Irene Angelakis of the Street Narcotics and Gangs Bureau.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.