Diamond News Archives
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SURAT (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – After polishing diamonds destined for luxury stores from New York to Hong Kong for nearly 10 hours in a cramped workshop in western India, Vikram Raujibhai went home, waited for his family to leave, and locked the front door.
Raujibhai doused himself in kerosene and lit a match.
His family returned to find the 29-year-old’s charred body, his case the latest in a series among workers with low wages and poor work conditions in India’s booming diamond industry, as uncovered by a Thomson Reuters Foundation investigation.
Investigations spread over a year in the western Indian state of Gujarat found a pattern of suicides – many shrouded in silence – in the industry that cuts and polishes 90 percent of gems sold globally, with many workers paid per stone.
A few workers in the industry earn fixed wages – some even up to 100,000 Indian rupees ($1,450) or more a month – but over 80 percent of the total workforce earn a piece rate of 1 to 25 rupees for each stone they polish and have no social benefits.
Interviews with diamond unit owners, brokers, labor groups, families and the police revealed nine suicides since last November in the city of Surat, a hub for the trade, and the Saurashtra region where the workers are from.
But experts said this was likely to be just the tip of the iceberg in India, where industry figures show diamond exports surged 70 percent in the past decade, with no mandatory certification to ensure diamond processing is labor abuse free.
Families are reluctant to blame the diamond business, which employs over 1.5 million men – mainly from drought-prone parts of Saurashtra – for fear of losing work, with few other...
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3+ Hours of Insights on Stocks, Bonds, Bitcoin/Cryptos, Real Estate, the Dollar, Precious Metals... and Much More
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References
- ^ 5-part, online presentation (pages.wealthcycles.com)
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By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
One graphic perfectly captures the absurdity of Illinois pensions over the past three decades.
It’s what Justice Samuel Alito described as Illinois’ “generous public-employee retirement packages” when writing for the majority in the Janus v. AFSCME decision. “Illinois’ pension funds are underfunded by $129 billion as a result of generous public-employee retirement packages” he wrote.
Alito didn’t use the graphic below, but he could have because it makes his point.
In 1987, pension promises made to active workers and retirees in the state’s five state-run pension plans totaled just $18 billion. By 2016, they had ballooned to $208 billion.
That’s a cumulative 1,067 percent increase.
Contrast that to the state’s budget (general fund revenues) which was up just 236 percent over the same time period. Or household incomes, which were up just 127 percent. Or inflation, up just 111 percent.
Promised pension benefits have blown past any ability of the state, the economy or taxpayers to pay for them.
Read the report: Illinois state pensions: Overpromised, not underfunded[1]
Wirepoints released a report on these booming benefits earlier this year, and while it received strong coverage online nationally, Illinois’ traditional media didn’t want to touch it. The findings interfere with the narrative that’s repeatedly promoted by public sector unions and politicians – that the crisis is all the taxpayers’ fault for failing to put in enough money towards pensions.[2][3]
The report proved a lack of dollars wasn’t the issue. Illinois pension assets – buoyed by taxpayer contributions – also grew far faster than the same economic indicators in the graphic above. But taxpayer contributions could never keep up...
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(IDEX Online) – The International Gemological Institute (IGI) will open its 13th branch in Bengaluru which will evaluate diamond jewelry as well as providing educational services in gemology.
The Bengaluru branch complements IGI’s established laboratories in Thrissur, Chennai and Hyderabad. The state-of-the-art laboratory will evaluate and certify jewelry to the same international standard that all of IGI’s worldwide locations adhere to, the lab said. With this addition, IGI not only intends to expand its client service portfolio and reach, but also promote its foremost objective of raising awareness of the importance of gem and jewelry evaluation.
“We’re pleased to expand into a key jewelry market in southern India to cater to the many retailers and jewelers located in the area,” said Tehmasp Printer, managing director, IGI India. “Considering the accelerated rate at which this market is growing, the primary decision to start an office in Bengaluru is to provide consumers with easy access to the exemplary services that IGI offers.”
IGI’s School of Gemology will be essential in providing high-quality education to area retailers, jewelry designers and jewelry enthusiasts. With an unparalleled range of coursework, from rough diamond grading to gemstones, modern treatments and computer-assisted jewelry design, IGI offers education in gemology for students and trade professionals who want to earn a professional diploma in their field of interest.
“As a trusted independent gemological Institute, we’re honored to have the opportunity to now provide our multitude of services to consumers in Bengaluru,” said Roland Lorie, IGI CEO. “We look forward to playing an instrumental role in the market’s continued growth and success.”
International Gemological Institute (IGI) will open its 13th branch in Bengaluru which will evaluate diamond jewelry...
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There’s condescension, and then there’s this.
CNBC has concluded that the reason you haven’t taken out a second mortgage on your house is because you didn’t know you can.
Nowhere, not once, do they mention that it’s a highly risky, often-variable-rate, generally irresponsible thing to do if you can at all avoid it.
Nowhere is the assumption that the responsible homeowner who has built equity in their home through consistent and timely mortgage payments has no need or desire to heedlessly burn all that equity by taking out a second huge loan.
And since you probably wouldn’t understand the in-their-eyes-post-doctorate-level idea of driving up your household debt levels to the absolute hilt for no reason whatsoever, they’ve deigned to spoon-feed you step-by-step instructions in an adorable little cartoon.[1]
How to use your home as a source of cash[2] from CNBC[3].
The basic tone and assumption of the article is telling. Only 1% of home equity is currently being made available to banks so they can double-dip on your mortgage interest? The response is not “Shrewd move, homeowners. Safe, sane, and smart.” It’s “These poor folks must not know they can! They must not know how!”
The article even goes so far as to call anyone who actually owns a percentage of their house and isn't fully in debt to their bank via primary mortgage as "rich".
Overall, just 1.17 percent of available equity was tapped in the first quarter of this year, the lowest amount in four years. Why? They may not know just how rich they are.
“I think the typical American doesn't have that level of awareness, they're not probably studying the numbers,” added Graboske. executive vice...