MUMBAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co is seeking to raise between $1 billion and $1.5 billion in a dedicated fund to invest in core infrastructure assets across Asia, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
The Wall Street bank's second pan-Asian infrastructure fund is nearly double the size of its first fund raised in 2010, which is now nearly fully invested, the sources said.
Global asset managers including Invesco, Eastspring, KBC Asset Management and AMP Capital have Asia-focused infrastructure funds aiming to benefit from the region's surging demand for investments in ports, roads and power stations.
JPMorgan Asian Infrastructure & Related Resources Opportunity Fund II will invest in transportation, power generation, water and social infrastructure across China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and South Korea, the sources said.
JPMorgan raised about $860 million in its first dedicated Asia infrastructure fund. The latest fund raising comes as Asia's biggest economies are pouring trillions of dollars into improving creaky infrastructure to keep up rapid growth. The Asian Development Bank estimates the region will require about $8 trillion in infrastructure by 2020.
China and India, Asia's top two emerging economies, have announced $2.5 trillion worth of projects to improve their ports, roads and other infrastructure from 2011 to 2017, according to a Goldman Sachs report.
The sources declined to be named, as they were not authorised to speak to the media since the fund raising was still private.
A Hong Kong-based spokesman for JPMorgan declined to comment.
(Reporting by Indulal P.M. in MUMBAI and Stephen Aldred in HONG KONG; Writing by Denny Thomas; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Paget Brewster is getting up to some intrigue with her latest project.
The "Criminal Minds" veteran is taking a turn into lighter territory, starring in ABC's upcoming comedy pilot "Spy" opposite "Children's Hospital" star Rob Corddry.
The single-camera comedy, written by Simeon Goulden, stars Corddry as Tim, a well intentioned father of a highly intelligent and verbal son who inadvertently takes a job at the Secret Service in order to prove himself a worthy father.
Brewster will play Tim's ex-wife Erica, described as a cold, neurotic person who has long been seeing therapists. Having received zero custody of her son Marcus because of a pill addiction, Erica snipes viciously at Tim, whom she openly loathes for his utter lack of achievement, accomplishment or ambition.
ABC Studios and Hat Trick Productions are producing the pilot, with Jimmy Mullville and Helen Williams executive producing.
Most recently, Brewster has provided the voice of Elise on The Hub's animated dark comedy "Dan Vs."
Background checks, permanent records needed for all firearm transfers, not just gun sales by retailersPublic release date: 20-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Carole Gan carole.gan@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu 916-734-9047 University of California - Davis Health System
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) Gun violence in the United States can be substantially reduced if Congress expands requirements for background checks on retail gun sales to cover firearm transfers between private parties, a new report by the director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program concludes.
The report "Background Checks for Firearm Transfers" by Garen Wintemute, who also serves as a professor of emergency medicine, notes that 40 percent of U.S. gun transactions occur between unlicensed private parties, such as people buying and selling at gun shows. That figure doubles, to more than 80 percent, for firearm sales that involve criminal intent.
Private-party transactions make up an often overlooked, thriving secondary gun market that is exempt from background checks and other controls designed to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and others prohibited from legally purchasing a gun.
By creating a single, equitable structure governing all retail commerce in firearms, Congress could make it harder for criminals to obtain guns, substantially reduce firearm-related violence, and curb the large-volume gun purchases that result in firearm trafficking, Wintemute said.
The report comes on the heels of the Newtown, Conn., massacre, in which 20 children and six adults were shot at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Since that December tragedy, President Obama has made gun violence a top priority and is pushing lawmakers to tighten gun laws and take other steps to reduce future violence.
While shootings such as the Newtown episode intensify public concern, statistics show gun violence is an everyday, serious threat to the nation's health and safety. In 2012, there were an estimated 467,321 firearm-related violent crimes in the U.S., a 26 percent increase since 2008. There were 11,101 firearm homicides that year, and an estimated 55,544 injuries resulting from gun-related assaults requiring treatment in hospital emergency departments.
Wintemute's study provides an in-depth look at procedures governing gun purchases and the double standard that distinguishes rules for retail sales from those covering private-party transactions.
A buyer at a retail establishment, for example, must complete a lengthy Firearms Transaction Record and certify that he is buying the gun for himself and is not a member of any of the prohibited groups as defined by federal statute. The retailer must then submit the buyer's identifying information to the FBI to check for a criminal history and verify the buyer's eligibility to purchase firearms, a process typically completed in minutes.
"These procedural safeguards are intended to ensure that the buyer is who he says he is, that he and not someone else will be the actual owner of the firearm, and that he is not prohibited from owning it," Wintemute said. "They help prevent the large-volume purchasing that otherwise might fuel trafficking operations. They establish a chain of ownership that will help law enforcement authorities link the firearm to the buyer if it is used in a crime later."
A private party, by contrast, is permitted to sell guns with none of these federal safeguards in place. There are no forms to fill out, no records to be kept, and no requirement that a buyer show identification or submit to a background check.
In addition to background checks to identify prohibited persons and deter those with criminal intent, Wintemute recommends establishing a permanent record for each firearm transferred between private parties, thus creating a chain of ownership. Such records have proven to be of great help to law enforcement agencies as they investigate individual crimes and seek to disrupt firearm trafficking networks.
To maximize the potential of the current background check system, he also recommends greater efforts to improve the three FBI databases the Interstate Identification Index, National Crime Information Center and the National Interstate Criminal Background Check System on which background checks rely. Improved reporting of criminal convictions, domestic violence restraining orders and prohibiting mental health events is most important.
"The widespread unavailability of records seriously compromises the effectiveness of our current background-check process," Wintemute said. "I am actually very optimistic that the nation will adopt a comprehensive background check policy in this Congress, where there has been a bipartisan expression of support for such a proposal. Six states have adopted such policies, and we know they work."
He cited two pitfalls to avoid: adopting a limited, "gun show loophole" approach and creating an exemption for holders of unexpired concealed weapon permits.
"These more limited approaches are unnecessary and would still allow prohibited persons to purchase firearms from private parties," he said.
Wintemute added that a public opinion survey conducted last month found that 88.8 percent of the population overall, 84.3 percent of firearm owners and 73.7 percent of National Rifle Association members supported "requiring a background check system for all gun sales to make sure a purchaser is not legally prohibited from having a gun."
###
UC Davis Health System is improving lives and transforming health care by providing excellent patient care, conducting groundbreaking research, fostering innovative, interprofessional education, and creating dynamic, productive partnerships with the community. The academic health system includes one of the country's best medical schools, a 619-bed acute-care teaching hospital, a 1000-member physician's practice group and the new Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. It is home to a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, an international neurodevelopmental institute, a stem cell institute and a comprehensive children's hospital. Other nationally prominent centers focus on advancing telemedicine, improving vascular care, eliminating health disparities and translating research findings into new treatments for patients. Together, they make UC Davis a hub of innovation that is transforming health for all. For more information, visit healthsystem.ucdavis.edu.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Background checks, permanent records needed for all firearm transfers, not just gun sales by retailersPublic release date: 20-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Carole Gan carole.gan@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu 916-734-9047 University of California - Davis Health System
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) Gun violence in the United States can be substantially reduced if Congress expands requirements for background checks on retail gun sales to cover firearm transfers between private parties, a new report by the director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program concludes.
The report "Background Checks for Firearm Transfers" by Garen Wintemute, who also serves as a professor of emergency medicine, notes that 40 percent of U.S. gun transactions occur between unlicensed private parties, such as people buying and selling at gun shows. That figure doubles, to more than 80 percent, for firearm sales that involve criminal intent.
Private-party transactions make up an often overlooked, thriving secondary gun market that is exempt from background checks and other controls designed to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and others prohibited from legally purchasing a gun.
By creating a single, equitable structure governing all retail commerce in firearms, Congress could make it harder for criminals to obtain guns, substantially reduce firearm-related violence, and curb the large-volume gun purchases that result in firearm trafficking, Wintemute said.
The report comes on the heels of the Newtown, Conn., massacre, in which 20 children and six adults were shot at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Since that December tragedy, President Obama has made gun violence a top priority and is pushing lawmakers to tighten gun laws and take other steps to reduce future violence.
While shootings such as the Newtown episode intensify public concern, statistics show gun violence is an everyday, serious threat to the nation's health and safety. In 2012, there were an estimated 467,321 firearm-related violent crimes in the U.S., a 26 percent increase since 2008. There were 11,101 firearm homicides that year, and an estimated 55,544 injuries resulting from gun-related assaults requiring treatment in hospital emergency departments.
Wintemute's study provides an in-depth look at procedures governing gun purchases and the double standard that distinguishes rules for retail sales from those covering private-party transactions.
A buyer at a retail establishment, for example, must complete a lengthy Firearms Transaction Record and certify that he is buying the gun for himself and is not a member of any of the prohibited groups as defined by federal statute. The retailer must then submit the buyer's identifying information to the FBI to check for a criminal history and verify the buyer's eligibility to purchase firearms, a process typically completed in minutes.
"These procedural safeguards are intended to ensure that the buyer is who he says he is, that he and not someone else will be the actual owner of the firearm, and that he is not prohibited from owning it," Wintemute said. "They help prevent the large-volume purchasing that otherwise might fuel trafficking operations. They establish a chain of ownership that will help law enforcement authorities link the firearm to the buyer if it is used in a crime later."
A private party, by contrast, is permitted to sell guns with none of these federal safeguards in place. There are no forms to fill out, no records to be kept, and no requirement that a buyer show identification or submit to a background check.
In addition to background checks to identify prohibited persons and deter those with criminal intent, Wintemute recommends establishing a permanent record for each firearm transferred between private parties, thus creating a chain of ownership. Such records have proven to be of great help to law enforcement agencies as they investigate individual crimes and seek to disrupt firearm trafficking networks.
To maximize the potential of the current background check system, he also recommends greater efforts to improve the three FBI databases the Interstate Identification Index, National Crime Information Center and the National Interstate Criminal Background Check System on which background checks rely. Improved reporting of criminal convictions, domestic violence restraining orders and prohibiting mental health events is most important.
"The widespread unavailability of records seriously compromises the effectiveness of our current background-check process," Wintemute said. "I am actually very optimistic that the nation will adopt a comprehensive background check policy in this Congress, where there has been a bipartisan expression of support for such a proposal. Six states have adopted such policies, and we know they work."
He cited two pitfalls to avoid: adopting a limited, "gun show loophole" approach and creating an exemption for holders of unexpired concealed weapon permits.
"These more limited approaches are unnecessary and would still allow prohibited persons to purchase firearms from private parties," he said.
Wintemute added that a public opinion survey conducted last month found that 88.8 percent of the population overall, 84.3 percent of firearm owners and 73.7 percent of National Rifle Association members supported "requiring a background check system for all gun sales to make sure a purchaser is not legally prohibited from having a gun."
###
UC Davis Health System is improving lives and transforming health care by providing excellent patient care, conducting groundbreaking research, fostering innovative, interprofessional education, and creating dynamic, productive partnerships with the community. The academic health system includes one of the country's best medical schools, a 619-bed acute-care teaching hospital, a 1000-member physician's practice group and the new Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. It is home to a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, an international neurodevelopmental institute, a stem cell institute and a comprehensive children's hospital. Other nationally prominent centers focus on advancing telemedicine, improving vascular care, eliminating health disparities and translating research findings into new treatments for patients. Together, they make UC Davis a hub of innovation that is transforming health for all. For more information, visit healthsystem.ucdavis.edu.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Findables, a specialty case maker for smartphones and tablets, has just scored some significant distribution deals for its QR-coded, "connected" cases. Previously, the company was selling online and in 550 "The Source" locations in Canada, but will now be on the shelves in all 1,100 Office Depot stores in the U.S. next month, as well as made available on BestBuy.com, Amazon, and Gamestop.com.
Feb. 19, 2013 ? Although an intravenous fluid that paramedics in Japan often give to patients in cardiac arrest before they reach hospital may help restore circulation, it may also be linked to reduced survival with minimal neurological or physical damage one month later, according to a study from Japan published in this week's PLOS Medicine.
In Japan, intravenous fluid loading with lactated Ringer's solution (a mixture of salts and sodium lactate) is included in resuscitation guidelines for patients who have a cardiac arrest out of hospital. In order to investigate outcomes associated with this practice, Japanese researchers, led by Akihito Hagihara from the Kyushu University Graduate School of Medicine, analysed national information from 2005 to 2009 on more than a half million patients experiencing a cardiac arrest out-of-hospital and then examined their subsequent health outcomes one month later.
The authors found that when other factors such as age, sex, and time taken for help to arrive were taken into account, the pre-hospital use of lactated Ringer's solution was linked to a slightly increased chance (1.2) of return of spontaneous circulation before arrival at hospital but with a decreased chance (0.7) of survival with minimal neurological or physical impairment one month later. However, among all patients, the pre-hospital use of lactated Ringer's solution had no effect on overall survival at one month.
Although these findings may have important clinical implications, the authors make clear that these results will need to be confirmed in other studies before changing clinical guidelines. Their study did not have information on the treatment that patients received once they reached hospital, which may have influenced the results.
The authors say: "We found that prehospital IV loading with lactated Ringer's solution was independently associated with a decreased likelihood of 1-month survival with minimal neurological or physical impairment."
They continue: "Prehospital IV loading with lactated Ringer's solution was associated with an increased likelihood of return of spontaneous circulation before hospital arrival, while 1-month survival varied depending on the analysis."
The authors add: "Our findings should be verified by studies that include data on in-hospital resuscitation."
They conclude: "Future studies will need to determine whether administration of fluids other than lactated Ringer's solution is associated with beneficial outcomes."
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Gun Control: On his way to a play date with the world's most famous? golfer, President Obama stops in America's most violent city to push universal? background checks that Chicago's violent street gangs will totally ignore.
Janay McFarlane, 18, was killed late Friday just hours after her younger? sister joined a group of teens onstage for President Obama's speech in Chicago? on gun violence.
McFarlane was shot to death hours after her little sister, Destini, 14, sat? just feet away as Obama spoke in the aftermath of the similar murder of Hadiya? Pendleton.
The 15-year-old Pendleton was gunned down in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood,? a few blocks from the high school she attended and a few days after she? performed with her high school band at Obama's inauguration. The park where she? was killed is less than a mile from the president's Kenwood home.
Pendleton's death was one of more than 40 homicides in Chicago last month, a? total that made it the deadliest January in the city in more than a decade,? after more than 500 murders in 2012.
This carnage in the nation's most gun-controlled city in America has been? blamed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and others on the flow of guns into Chicago from? elsewhere ? notably suburban gun shops.
They do not explain why the areas outside Chicago don't have anywhere near? Chicago's murder rate. The Windy City's murder rate of 15.65 per 100,000 people? looks nothing like America's overall 4.2, the Midwest's 4.5 or Illinois' 5.6? rates.
As the president noted in his speech, of Chicago's 2012 murder victims, 65 of? them were 18 and under.
"That's the equivalent of a Newtown every four months," he said. "That's? precisely why the overwhelming majority of Americans are asking for some common? sense proposals to make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a? gun."
Yet, speaking of common-sense proposals, in 1999 when a bill came up in the? Illinois Senate to charge anyone carrying out a firearm attack on school? property as an adult, a law that would have largely affected gang members, our? current president voted "present."
The fact is that up to 80% of Chicago's murders and shootings are? gang-related, according to police.
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Public release date: 20-Feb-2013
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