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Time of India
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Housing societies protest against Manesar civic body's sanitation charge
GURUGRAM : Thousands of residents of group housing societies living in new sectors are up in arms against imposition of sanitation charges by MCM despite no door-to-door waste collection services by the corporation. In what residents call an "arbitrary and coercive" collection under the guise of municipal taxation, MCM has appended sanitation tax to their property tax bills even though no civic worker has ever entered their compounds for waste pickup. The charges, enforced without service, are not just causing inconvenience — they block transactions like property sales and lease agreements, since a No Dues Certificate (NDC) cannot be obtained unless the tax is paid. They pointed out that the directorate of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) earlier instructed MCM to levy such charges only where door-to-door garbage collection is provided. On Monday, representatives from several housing societies met with additional commissioner Jitender Kumar and submitted a memorandum demanding an immediate waiver of the sanitation charges. "Why are we paying for something we never received? Our society spends around Rs 7 lakh every month on sanitation managed by us, yet MCM forces us to pay again just to get a No Dues Certificate. This is nothing short of coercion," said Dharmvir Singh, president of Mapsko Casabella RWA . In a letter to the MCM commissioner, RWAs have demanded an independent forensic audit of sanitation deployment records and expenditure, alongside the immediate rollback of the charges and legal action against any officials involved in violating the ULB order. "This is not just about money. It's about defiance of a govt directive. If civic bodies start charging residents without service and ignore state orders, we are no longer a rule-based society," said Kumar Ashok, president of Bestech Grand Spa RWA . RWAs have warned that if corrective steps are not taken, they will approach the State Lokayukta, Vigilance Bureau, and even the high court for relief. Some RWA representatives also met the MCM commissioner last week, urging the removal of sanitation charges from group housing societies classified as bulk waste generators (BWGs). "This is a double whammy on residents," said Praveen Malik, president of Rising Homes RWA. "While MCM organises meetings for tax collection and property ID verification, it has ignored our grievances. We manage waste collection internally through empanelled vendors under the BWG framework. We segregate waste at source, maintain records, and bear all operational costs ourselves." When asked, an MCM official defended the corporation's position, saying, "This is a state policy that mandates collection of sanitation charges in municipal areas. If the state revises the policy, we will waive the charges—but we cannot do it on our own."
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Former head of BSO's Tamarac unit fired after demotion over triple murder
The former head of the Broward Sheriff's Office Tamarac unit has been fired following his demotion over a triple murder in February, according to a notice of termination released to the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Tuesday. Jemeriah Cooper was a captain serving at the helm of the unit when Mary Gingles, her father and a neighbor were shot and killed, deputies say, by her husband, Nathan, in her Tamarac neighborhood. In the weeks following the murders, Cooper was demoted to deputy, serving in the Port Everglades division. He was also placed on probation. On Friday, Cooper's termination was issued and his pay discontinued for 'failure to meet probationary standards,' according to the notice. The termination was finalized on Tuesday. On a Sunday morning in February, Nathan Gingles, 43, had shot and killed his father-in-law, David Ponzer, then took the couple's 4-year-old daughter as he chased his wife through the neighborhood before killing her as well as Andrew Ferrin, 36, a stranger whose home she had run into to try to escape, according to the Sheriff's Office. Cooper was among several BSO employees either demoted or placed on leave after the murders. Mary Gingles had frequently notified the Sheriff's Office of Nathan's threats to her life — including providing information about a backpack full of suspicious supplies and a tracker on her car — but he was never arrested or detained. A judge had ordered his guns surrendered under a domestic violence injunction, but Sheriff's Office personnel never took them, including the gun he used to commit the murders. BSO had evidence of suspicious bag left at Tamarac murder victim's home before her death, report shows BSO deputies investigated over sexual harassment, domestic violence case before Tamarac triple murder Prior to his promotion to the Tamarac district, Cooper had faced allegations of sexually harassing four deputies, according to internal affairs records. Investigators sustained a 'conduct unbecoming' finding in his case, but not a finding of sexual harassment. Cooper declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday. Eight other deputies, many of them in the Tamarac district, were placed on administrative leave with pay after the murders. One of them, Detective Brittney King, also had a change in her status this month. On May 1, internal affairs notified her that she had been placed on administrative investigative leave without pay, according to a notice obtained by the Sun Sentinel. King is under investigation in relation to the following charges: 'Discretion,' 'Breach of Confidence,' 'Meeting BSO Standards; to-wit: Criminal lnvestigations and Detective Duties and Responsibilities,' 'Meeting BSO Standards; to-wit: Domestic Violence/Dating Violence case Procedure,' 'Neglect of Duty,' 'Evidence and Property,' 'Case File Maintenance System,' 'Body Worn Cameras (BWG),' and 'Risk Protection Order (RPO),' according to the notice. BSO had evidence of suspicious bag left at Tamarac murder victim's home before her death, report shows BSO deputies investigated over sexual harassment, domestic violence case before Tamarac triple murder King was heavily involved in the investigation into a tracker that Gingles said her husband had placed on her car, according to emails obtained by the Sun Sentinel, an investigation that could have resulted in her husband's arrest. The detective had authored an application for a search warrant of the GPS tracker in support of a domestic violence stalking charge on Jan. 16, a month before the murder, records show. The warrant would have allowed BSO to identify the person who bought the tracker and make an arrest. The application for the warrant said the owner of the tracker was 'unknown.' It is unclear whether the application for the warrant was ever presented to a judge, or if BSO did present it to a judge and the judge did not approve it. Meanwhile, another of the deputies under investigation, Lieutenant Michael Paparella, returned to full duty on April 28, according to records. Requests for the job status of the remaining deputies were not available as of Tuesday afternoon. The deputies' union, IUPA 6020, did not immediately return an email seeking comment about Cooper's termination or King's placement on leave without pay. Staff writer Angie DiMichele contributed to this report. This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
MCG fines 2 bulk waste generators Rs 25k each for flouting solid waste management rules
Gurgaon: MCG imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 each on two bulk waste generators (BWGs) for non-compliance with solid waste management (SWM) rules, 2016. A hotel in Sector 29 and a residential society in Sector 66 were also penalised for flouting the commissioner Mahabir Prasad said that the civic body was serious about protecting the environment and will continue to take strict action against those not complying with the rules. "With a rapid pace of urbanisation in metropolises like Gurgaon, waste management has emerged as a significant challenge. The actions taken by MCG against violations of solid and plastic waste rules are not only a concrete step towards establishing discipline but also indicate that we are now both vigilant and strict. This action is not merely punitive but also conveys a social message that environmental protection is no longer an option but a necessity," said Prasad."In line with the guidelines of Haryana govt and minister Rao Narbir Singh, these efforts by the corporation demonstrate that 'single-use plastic-free Gurugram' is not just a slogan but a concrete goal. However, this campaign cannot succeed with govt efforts alone. The public, business community and private institutions must also act responsibly. We all need to stop using plastic on a personal level and ensure waste segregation," he was in April that MCG directed the BWG monitoring cell to impose at least 100 penalties each month at the zonal level against generators not adhering to solid waste management rules .During a meeting between the officials and members of the cell, it was reported that 2,600 BWGs were registered on the portal since Jan this year. Moreover, during inspections over the past month, fines worth Rs 22 lakh were imposed on 86 BWGs for non-compliance with the waste management rules.
Business of Fashion
05-05-2025
- Business
- Business of Fashion
Demonised by Trump, DEI Professionals Go ‘Discreet' to Find Jobs
On the website of diversity consultant BWG Business Solutions is a sentence that would have felt out of place five years ago, when companies were bragging about their DEI efforts: 'Due to the increasing scrutiny and politicization of equity efforts, the public listing of clients and partnerships has been removed from this website.' BWG's founder, Janice Gassam Asare, isn't the only one changing the way she's doing business now that the Trump administration has placed diversity, equity and inclusion in its crosshairs. The attacks are forcing professionals in the field to rebrand themselves to get contracts, battle over the remaining staff positions and reimagine what the industry will look like going forward. Some in the field are repositioning how they market themselves, including leaning away from talking about race and gender, and prioritising their leadership expertise, according to interviews with more than a dozen DEI professionals. 'I like to call it DEI done discreetly,' said Gassam Asare. Some longtime BWG clients started letting contracts lapse in early 2024, as pushback against DEI entered the US presidential election. Gassam Asare said that corporate clients are now less interested in long-term consulting that includes a comprehensive equity audit — analyses that assess how policies impact various gender or racial groups — and surveys with staffers. They're more inclined to ask for workshops that don't require a long-term financial commitment. It's led to a 60 percent drop in the amount of money she's bringing in via contracts compared to two years ago. 'Companies aren't sure what the future of DEI is going to be,' she said, 'so they don't want to invest in what they fear could be illegal.' For Keith Wyche, who writes and speaks about workplace culture and was previously a corporate vice president at Walmart Inc., the current environment is prompting him to emphasise other parts of his resume. 'Personally, I do make sure that I lean into my leadership skills, I lean into my career and background in change management transformation so that I'm not labelled a DEI guy,' he said. In his first days in office, President Donald Trump made good on his pledge to fight what he called an 'anti-White feeling' in the US. He's signed executive orders aimed at pressuring corporations and other groups to end policies that constitute 'illegal DEI discrimination,' saying the initiatives disguise race and sex-based discrimination, undermine meritocracy and divide people into an 'identity-based spoils system.' He revoked a longstanding requirement that federal contractors follow affirmative action commitments and dismantled diversity programmes across the government. A slew of US businesses including Inc. and Walmart rolled back their diversity and inclusion efforts as they increasingly face campaigns and legal attacks over their efforts. A March NBC News survey found that a slightly higher share of voters had negative versus positive feelings on DEI, with roughly half of respondents saying there is 'too much political correctness in our society today.' That kind of divisiveness prompted Wyche to stop using the acronym altogether. ''DEI' has been co-opted to mean, you know, a bunch of other things,' he said. 'But when I say 'diversity, equity, and inclusion,' it's kind of hard to fight those three words.' Michael Welp is the founder of WMFDP — or White Men as Full Diversity Partners. But the full name is one the organisation is shying away from, opting to use the acronym lately. When Welp runs multi-day leadership-coaching sessions on topics like conflict resolution or better communication, the first thing he asks prospective clients now is whether they are government contractors. If so, he'll change the sessions to veer away from explicitly discussing gender or race. 'I've actually moved more outside of the DEI space to honour what the laws are,' Welp said. 'And also I find that there's plenty of work to do in growing the kinds of leadership skills that people need that we use to grow DEI, without a need to focus on DEI.' One recent example is an auto supplier that was having issues with team dynamics. WMFDP created a four-day programme aimed at improving how the group provides feedback and finding each of the team members' strengths. 'It was not necessary to have a conversation about race to do that, for example,' Welp said. But in the end, you improve 'those same kinds of skills.' Corporate leaders are understandably jittery. In one of Trump's early executive orders, the president directed the head of every government agency to identify up to nine large public companies, nonprofits, universities and professional associations they think should be investigated over DEI policies. And the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, created in the Civil Rights era to fight discrimination in the workplace, has questioned some of the country's biggest law firms over their diversity focused hiring practices. Elsewhere, anti-DEI activists like Robby Starbuck are drumming up social media campaigns that have ended in companies like Deere & Co. and Tractor Supply Co. scaling back their initiatives. And yet, at a January gathering of about 60 corporate CEOs, the moderator asked who in the audience was dismantling programmes within their corporations. No one raised their hand. 'Most CEOs tell us: 'We're going to do the work of diversity, equity and inclusion. We may not boast about it, you may not get a DEI annual report anymore, you may not see us use it as a branding opportunity. But we're going to do the work,' said Cid Wilson, president of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, a pro-DEI group working to advance the inclusion of Latinos in corporate America. He's spoken to some 200 corporate leaders about the topic in recent months, and he's come away with what he described as interest in figuring out how to 'navigate this tighter lane.' Wilson added: 'That's been a very difficult maze.' Since the US Supreme Court banned race-conscious admissions in colleges in 2023, company leaders worried about whether diversity programmes would face legal challenges, even if laws hadn't actually changed yet. Big companies, including Wall Street banks, began opening up programmes focused on women and minorities to include everyone and scouring their internal and external communications to weed out language that could draw scrutiny. 'If you're the general counsel, arguably you are the second most powerful person in corporate America right now,' Wilson said. Companies are notably pulling back on hiring DEI-specific roles. The number of new positions at S&P 500 companies was down more than 70 percent in 2024 from a peak three years earlier, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. This year, just six new roles were added through the start of April. 'If your job title's got inclusion in it, it's either been changed or eliminated or repurposed,' said Chantalle Couba, who advises leadership at private sector companies, nonprofits and higher education institutions on human capital issues. California-based Michael Streffery, who has been job hunting since the end of 2024 and has previously worked at and Ubisoft, is feeling the effects of those cuts. In recent months, he has been in the final round of interviewing for four DEI roles. Two of those positions were removed, and he didn't progress in the others. 'Have I considered pivoting to other areas like head of talent development, head of talent attraction, or HR business director?,' he said. 'Absolutely. And I have applied to those positions, but what I'm also seeing is that the competition is so extreme.' Nearly all of the professionals interviewed said they expect the industry to transform further, though it's not entirely clear what that new reality will look like. Most agree that the days of plush budgets and listening sessions about race at work are gone, at least for now. 'My hot take is that we haven't done diversity well,' said Misty Gaither, who previously oversaw DEI at Indeed Inc. and now works as an independent consultant. She hopes this moment allows companies to move away from narrowly focusing on hiring diverse talent, which often draws pushback. The better strategy is making sure that performance reviews are equitable for those that fall into marginalised groups or ensuring talent development is accessible throughout an organisation. 'Moving away from more performative, topical things that have been bold headlines but really doing the hard work, the less sexy work,' Gaither said. 'I think that is something that can be a positive output from what we're seeing in this current landscape.' By Kelsey Butler
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Demonized by Trump, DEI Professionals Go ‘Discrete' to Find Jobs
(Bloomberg) -- On the website of diversity consultant BWG Business Solutions is a sentence that would have felt out of place five years ago, when companies were bragging about their DEI efforts: 'Due to the increasing scrutiny and politicization of equity efforts, the public listing of clients and partnerships has been removed from this website.' The Battle Over the Fate of Detroit's Renaissance Center NYC Real Estate Industry Asks Judge to Block New Broker Fee Law NJ Transit Strike Would Be 'Disaster' for Region, Sherrill Says Iceland Plans for a More Volcanic Future NJ Transit Urges Commuters to Work Remotely If Union Strikes BWG's founder, Janice Gassam Asare, isn't the only one changing the way she's doing business now that the Trump administration has placed diversity, equity and inclusion in its crosshairs. The attacks are forcing professionals in the field to rebrand themselves to get contracts, battle over the remaining staff positions and reimagine what the industry will look like going forward. Some in the field are repositioning how they market themselves, including leaning away from talking about race and gender, and prioritizing their leadership expertise, according to interviews with more than a dozen DEI professionals. 'I like to call it DEI done discreetly,' said Gassam Asare. Some longtime BWG clients started letting contracts lapse in early 2024, as pushback against DEI entered the US presidential election. Gassam Asare said that corporate clients are now less interested in long-term consulting that includes a comprehensive equity audit — analyses that assess how policies impact various gender or racial groups — and surveys with staffers. They're more inclined to ask for workshops that don't require a long-term financial commitment. It's led to a 60% drop in the amount of money she's bringing in via contracts compared to two years ago. 'Companies aren't sure what the future of DEI is going to be,' she said, 'so they don't want to invest in what they fear could be illegal.' For Keith Wyche, who writes and speaks about workplace culture and was previously a corporate vice president at Walmart Inc., the current environment is prompting him to emphasize other parts of his resume. 'Personally, I do make sure that I lean into my leadership skills, I lean into my career and background in change management transformation so that I'm not labeled a DEI guy,' he said. In his first days in office, President Donald Trump made good on his pledge to fight what he called an 'anti-White feeling' in the US. He's signed executive orders aimed at pressuring corporations and other groups to end policies that constitute 'illegal DEI discrimination,' saying the initiatives disguise race and sex-based discrimination, undermine meritocracy and divide people into an 'identity-based spoils system.' He revoked a longstanding requirement that federal contractors follow affirmative action commitments and dismantled diversity programs across the government. A slew of US businesses including Inc. and Walmart rolled back their diversity and inclusion efforts as they increasingly face campaigns and legal attacks over their efforts. A March NBC News survey found that a slightly higher share of voters had negative versus positive feelings on DEI, with roughly half of respondents saying there is 'too much political correctness in our society today.' That kind of divisiveness prompted Wyche to stop using the acronym altogether. ''DEI' has been co-opted to mean, you know, a bunch of other things,' he said. 'But when I say 'diversity, equity, and inclusion,' it's kind of hard to fight those three words.' Michael Welp is the founder of WMFDP —or White Men as Full Diversity Partners. But the full name is one the organization is shying away from, opting to use the acronym lately. When Welp runs multiday leadership-coaching sessions on topics like conflict resolution or better communication, the first thing he asks prospective clients now is whether they are government contractors. If so, he'll change the sessions to veer away from explicitly discussing gender or race. 'I've actually moved more outside of the DEI space to honor what the laws are,' Welp said. 'And also I find that there's plenty of work to do in growing the kinds of leadership skills that people need that we use to grow DEI, without a need to focus on DEI.' One recent example is an auto supplier that was having issues with team dynamics. WMFDP created a four-day program aimed at improving how the group provides feedback and finding each of the team members' strengths. 'It was not necessary to have a conversation about race to do that, for example,' Welp said. But in the end, you improve 'those same kinds of skills.' Corporate leaders are understandably jittery. In one of Trump's early executive orders, the president directed the head of every government agency to identify up to nine large public companies, nonprofits, universities and professional associations they think should be investigated over DEI policies. And the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, created in the Civil Rights era to fight discrimination in the workplace, has questioned some of the country's biggest law firms over their diversity focused hiring practices. Elsewhere, anti-DEI activists like Robby Starbuck are drumming up social media campaigns that have ended in companies like Deere & Co. and Tractor Supply Co. scaling back their initiatives. And yet, at a January gathering of about 60 corporate CEOs, the moderator asked who in the audience was dismantling programs within their corporations. No one raised their hand. 'Most CEOs tell us: 'We're going to do the work of diversity, equity and inclusion. We may not boast about it, you may not get a DEI annual report anymore, you may not see us use it as a branding opportunity. But we're going to do the work,' said Cid Wilson, president of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, a pro-DEI group working to advance the inclusion of Latinos in corporate America. He's spoken to some 200 corporate leaders about the topic in recent months, and he's come away with what he described as interest in figuring out how to 'navigate this tighter lane.' Wilson added: 'That's been a very difficult maze.' Since the US Supreme Court banned race-conscious admissions in colleges in 2023, company leaders worried about whether diversity programs would face legal challenges, even if laws hadn't actually changed yet. Big companies, including Wall Street banks, began opening up programs focused on women and minorities to include everyone and scouring their internal and external communications to weed out language that could draw scrutiny. 'If you're the general counsel, arguably you are the second most powerful person in corporate America right now,' Wilson said. Companies are notably pulling back on hiring DEI-specific roles. The number of new positions at S&P 500 companies was down more than 70% in 2024 from a peak three years earlier, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. This year, just six new roles were added through the start of April. 'If your job title's got inclusion in it, it's either been changed or eliminated or repurposed,' said Chantalle Couba, who advises leadership at private sector companies, nonprofits and higher education institutions on human capital issues. California-based Michael Streffery, who has been job hunting since the end of 2024 and has previously worked at and Ubisoft, is feeling the effects of those cuts. In recent months, he has been in the final round of interviewing for four DEI roles. Two of those positions were removed, and he didn't progress in the others. 'Have I considered pivoting to other areas like head of talent development, head of talent attraction, or HR business director?,' he said. 'Absolutely. And I have applied to those positions, but what I'm also seeing is that the competition is so extreme.' Nearly all of the professionals interviewed said they expect the industry to transform further, though it's not entirely clear what that new reality will look like. Most agree that the days of plush budgets and listening sessions about race at work are gone, at least for now. 'My hot take is that we haven't done diversity well,' said Misty Gaither, who previously oversaw DEI at Indeed Inc. and now works as an independent consultant. She hopes this moment allows companies to move away from narrowly focusing on hiring diverse talent, which often draws pushback. The better strategy is making sure that performance reviews are equitable for those that fall into marginalized groups or ensuring talent development is accessible throughout an organization. 'Moving away from more performative, topical things that have been bold headlines but really doing the hard work, the less sexy work,' Gaither said. 'I think that is something that can be a positive output from what we're seeing in this current landscape.' — With assistance from Weihua Li, Lauren Pizzimenti and Saijel Kishan Made-in-USA Wheelbarrows Promoted by Trump Are Now Made in China US Border Towns Are Being Ravaged by Canada's Furious Boycott 100 Moments You Might Have Missed From Trump's First 100 Days How an Israeli Hostage Negotiator Outsmarts Ransomware Hackers Can the Labubu Doll Craze Survive Trump's Tariffs? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
