---Trump administration moves closer to easing gun export.---

😀😀Trump administration moves closer to easing gun export.😀😀

The Trump administration has passed a key milestone in a long-delayed rule change that would make it easier to sell US firearms outside the United States, including assault rifles and ammunition, people briefed on the matter told Reuters.

The proposed rule changes, which would move oversight of commercial firearm exports from the US Department of State to the Department of Commerce, could be enacted as soon as the end of this year, the sources said late on Wednesday.

The move by President Donald Trump's administration may generate business for gun makers such as American Outdoor Brands (AOBC.O) and Sturm Ruger & Company (RGR.N) while increasing the sale of deadly weapons abroad. A relaxing of rules could increase foreign gun sales by as much as 20 per cent, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has estimated.

While the State Department is primarily concerned with international threats to stability and maintains tight restrictions on weapons deals, the Commerce Department typically focuses on making it easier for US companies to sell products overseas.

Since taking office, Donald Trump has been a far more outspoken booster of US weapons sales abroad than his recent predecessors, acting almost as a salesman for the US defense industry, analysts said. Any move that would boost arms sales is also likely to earn enthusiastic support from the influential National Rifle Association as Trump's re-election campaign heats up.

Critics, including some lawmakers and arms control advocates, have expressed concern that any easing of export rules could make powerful weapons of the type often used in US mass shootings more accessible to criminal gangs and militant groups that Trump has vowed to fight.

This week's close of the interagency comment period was a key milestone that enables the Trump administration to put lawmakers on notice of the intent to transfer formal oversight to the weapons sales from State to Commerce. Top officials at both departments still need to sign off on the issue before legislators can be notified.

Reuters first reported on the Trump administration's interest in the oversight shift in 2017 here The action is part of a broader Trump administration overhaul of weapons export policy here

The effort to streamline US small arms export controls dates back to an Obama administration initiative begun in 2009 that was never translated into policy.

"The move would reduce the regulatory burden and make industry members more competitive in the global marketplace without reducing oversight," said Lawrence Keane, head of government and public affairs for the NSSF trade group, adding "there is more oversight at the Commerce Department."

Representatives from the Commerce Department and budget office declined to comment.

Beat the clock

"The Administration continues to work through the interagency process with the Departments of State, Commerce, Homeland Security, Justice, and other stakeholders to reexamine longstanding polices and regulations to ensure that US industries have every advantage in the global marketplace," a State Department spokesman said.

The US House of Representatives has passed legislation that would prohibit the transfer of firearms export oversight to the Department of Commerce. But the bill containing the language, an annual defense policy bill called the National Defense Authorization (NDAA), has not passed the Senate and is not yet law.

If the Trump administration moves to notify legislators of the planned change in the coming weeks, it could be enacted before the passage of the NDAA, one of the people said.

The Senate's version of the Ndaa does not contain the same language as the House bill. The measure is being discussed by legislative staffs, the person said.

Domestic gun sales have risen in the past three months, according to estimates released on Tuesday by research consultancy Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting. Sales are flat at 10.8 million units when compared to the same period a year earlier, Saaf said in the estimate

Halloween 2019: Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo wish fans in quirky manner,

We're terribly missing the OG 6 Avengers (Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner) and their friendly interactions while promoting several MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movies. The last time we saw the six together was during the promotional tour for Avengers: Endgame and Marvel fans were in a for a bittersweet ride as it was the final one for the OGs. From The Avengers (2012) to Endgame, it's been an unforgettable ride for the fans as well as the cast.

As today marks Halloween 2019, three out of the six members took to their Twitter pages to wish their millions of fans for the spooky festival. They were Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Mark Ruffalo! RDJ is finally letting go of Tony Stark and embracing his inner Dr. Doolittle as the actor shared a GIF from his upcoming movie, Dolittle. Chris went the vague way to talk about autumn in Massachusetts and then, proceeded to wish his fans Happy Halloween. Mark decided to share his favourite Hulk looks donned by fans.

Downey tweeted, "Remember; ONE treat per household!!," while Evans tweeted, "Autumn in Massachusetts is my favorite time in my favorite place. Also Happy Halloween!!," and Ruffalo tweeted, "Happy #Halloween Loving these incredible Hulk costumes from you all."

Weight loss is not as simple as it sounds. For those who haven't tried it, it might seem like an easy task of eating less and moving more. But the process of weight loss is more complex than that. Sometimes even after eating right and performing an intense workout session, a person is not able to lose weight. In such a condition, most of the time slow 

metabolism

 is held responsible. But do you really think slow metabolism interferes with your weight loss process?

What is metabolism?

Metabolism is actually referred to as a complex biochemical process in which your body converts the food you eat and the fluid you drink into energy. It is a continuous process as our body needs energy round-the-clock for carrying out basic functions like breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormones and repairing of cells even when we are resting. The amount of energy a person needs to keep the body functioning at rest is called the 

basal metabolic rate

.

Several things are responsible for your basal metabolic rate:

Your body size:

 If your body weight and muscle mass are more, then you will burn more calories, even at rest.

Your sex: 

Men lose more calories as compared to women as they have more fat and muscle mass.

Your age:

 As you get old, your basal metabolic rate decreases and you will burn fewer calories.

Apart from this, how active you are throughout the day and how much exercise you perform also affects your metabolic rate.

Does your metabolism affect your weight?

Probably not. There is definitely a thing called slow metabolism, but in a very rare case, it can hinder your weight loss process.

More IRCTC luxury trains coming soon! Indian Railways to offer rail officials inspection saloons to passengers

Indian Railways to convert 200 saloons into 10 tourist trains.

IRCTC luxury saloon trains! In a bid to regulate the use of the colonial era-style carriages as well as to generate additional revenue, INDIAN RAILWAY has decided to convert as many as 200 saloons into 10 luxury tourist trains. The trains will be run by the  Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). According to a source quoted in a PTI report, initially conceived as inspection cars, the saloons are used by officials of Indian Railways to visit far-flung areas. These saloons consist of two bedrooms, a pantry, a toilet, a lounge, and a kitchen which are built to facilitate stay for up to five days.

While some saloons will still be kept for use of railway officials for inspection, 200 saloons will be handed over to IRCTC and will be operated as luxury tourist trains. After conversion, around ten such trains can be put into service for public use.

According to the report, last year, amid concerns over misuse of these saloons by officials of Indian Railways, Piyush Goyal had given up the use of his own personal ones, calling them “trappings of a colonial mindset”. The Railway Minister had also urged the zonal railways to give up saloons for public use. According to sources quoted in the report, a set of instructions has been prepared by the Railway Board for its zones to strictly regulate the number and use of such saloons. Also, these should be primarily used for inspection purposes with a focus on safety, they said.

The Railway Board has decided that besides the saloons and observation car for zonal general managers, each zone of Indian Railways will have two additional carriages only for inspection purposes. Moreover, each division of Indian Railways will have a self-propelled inspection car with windows at both ends. As per the instructions, the remaining saloons would be used for premium tourist traffic in order to earn additional revenue for the national transporter.

Indian Railways has a total of 336 saloon cars across all the zones, among which many of them have already been condemned. Around 62 saloon cars are air-conditioned. The first privately-occupied saloon coach, complete with AC rooms, valet service, and attached bathroom was operated by IRCTC in March last year. The chartering of the saloon was done at a cost of Rs 2 lakh. Once the routes are finalized, the details for bookings of these saloons will be made available on the IRCTC website.

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 *The*Washington* Post*

UPDATE*2-NOV-2019,, SATURDAY

Donald Trump has argued that the expanding impeachment inquiry is politically driven.

Several days after President Donald Trump's phone call with the leader of Ukraine, a top White House lawyer instructed a senior national security official not to discuss his grave concerns about the leaders' conversation with anyone outside the White House, according to three people familiar with the aide's testimony.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified that he received this instruction from John Eisenberg, the top legal adviser for the National Security Council, after White House lawyers learned July 29 that a CIA employee had anonymously raised concerns about the Trump phone call, the sourced.

.The directive from Eisenberg adds to an expanding list of moves by senior White House officials to contain, if not conceal, possible evidence of Trump's attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to provide information that could be damaging to former vice president Joe Biden.

The instruction to stay quiet came after White House officials had already discussed moving a rough transcript of the call into a highly classified computer server, and the instruction was delivered by Eisenberg, who would later be involved in the administration's battle to keep an explosive whistleblower complaint about the call from being shared with Congratulation.

The interaction between Eisenberg and Vindman suggests there was a sense among some in the White House that Trump's call with Zelinsky was not, as the president has repeatedly claimed, "perfect." And it threatens to undercut Trump's argument that the expanding impeachment inquiry is politically driven.

"If this is such a perfect call, why is everybody going to these extraordinary lengths?" said a U.S. official familiar with Vindman's testimony this week. "Why are people running immediately to the White House counsel? Why is the White House counsel telling people not to talk about 

The revelation, first reported Friday afternoon by Politico, comes as the impeachment inquiry is entering a new, public phase after the House voted along party lines this week to proceed with open hearings for the first time while investigating committees begin to map out articles expected to accuse Trump of abusing his power and potentially obstructing justices.

Vindman's testimony Tuesday pointed to several actions by White House officials that could be interpreted as attempts to cover up Trump's conduct. The top Ukraine expert at the White House, Vindman was one of several officials who listened to the Trump-Zelensky call from the White House situation room.

He told lawmakers that he was deeply troubled by what he interpreted as an attempt by the president to subvert US foreign policy and an improper attempt to coerce a foreign government into investigating a U.S. citizen. Vindman said he relayed these concerns to Eisenberg within hours of the phone call, according to the people familiar with Vindman's testimony who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door testimony.

While meeting with Eisenberg, Vindman said he heard the legal adviser turn to another attorney in the room and propose steps to restrict access to the rough transcript - a move described in the whistleblower report as an attempt to "lock down" what lawmakers now consider the most damaging piece of    

 transcript failed to capture several potentially important words or phrases, including a reference by Zelensky to a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, that had employed Biden's son and that Trump wanted investigated. Vindman said he sought to correct the transcript but that his suggestions were not incorporated.

New details from Vindman's testimony also shed light on other aspects of the tense aftermath of the call inside the White House.     But  by that point, Vindman had already done so, according to his testimony, in which he disclosed that he had spoken to at least two "interagency peers,"  .

The CIA employee who went on to file a whistleblower complaint also supplied a memo he had made for his own records commemorating a July 26 conversation with a White House official about the Trump-Zelensky call.

The White House official had "listened to the entirety of the phone call" and was "visibly shaken by what had transpired," the CIA employee wrote. The official described the call as "crazy," "frightening" and "completely lacking in substance related to national security."

In his statement to lawmakers this week, Vindman said, "I do not know who the whistleblower is and I would not feel comfortable to speculate."

Vindman also testified this week that the official record and rough transcript of the call included an inexplicable change. A vague eight-word phrase was added and attributed to Zelensky that the foreign leader never said. The specific word that Zelensky did say was omitted from the official record: "Burisma," the Ukrainian company that employed Biden's son Hunter. In its place, the official transcript used this instead: "the company that you mentioned in this issue."

The reason for the insertion of a potentially fabricated phrase, which has not been previously reported, is unknown. Some argue that the transcribers simply misunderstood or missed the word but used a generic description. But it could be helpful to the president's claim that he did not engage in a quid pro quo.

Zelensky mentioning Burisma by name holds significance, Vindman told lawmakers. It suggested the Ukrainian leader knew in advance of the call that the American president was seeking an investigation of his Democratic rival before Trump would agree to meet with Zelensky.

Vindman testified that he tried to get the rough transcript corrected to add the word "Burisma" and to match his notes of the call, but learned later that he was unsuccessful. He told lawmakers he doesn't know the reason, nor does he assume there were nefarious motives. Moving the record of the call to a separate secure server interrupted the normal process for handling a review of the transcript for a president's calls with a head of state.

Vindman's interactions with Eisenberg were of keen interest to House investigators. On Wednesday, the day after Vindman's testimony, the House impeachment committees announced they had asked Eisenberg, the legal adviser to the National Security Council, and his fellow White House lawyer..

Govt concerned over WhatsApp's non-disclosure of hacking

The government has expressed concern over WhatsApp not disclosing Pegasus hacking incident during its multiple rounds of discussions with the Centre since June, according to sources.

A senior government functionary, who did not wish to be named, questioned whether this was a rearguard action by WhatsApp to prevent the government from bringing measures on traceability and accountability.

The government is also questioning the timing of the disclosure of the hacking incident, particularly against the backdrop of the Centre seeking three months' time from the Supreme Court to come up with rules to curb misuse of social media in the country.

 WhatsApp had said Indian journalists and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using an Israeli spyware Pegasus, leading to a furore over breach of citizens' privacy.

Following the disclosure by WhatsApp, the Indian government had asked the messaging platform to explain the matter and list out the measures that have been taken by it to safeguard the privacy of millions of Indians. According to sources, the company has been asked to submit its response by November 4.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp said it has taken a "strong action" in the incident and supports the Indian government's stand on the need to safeguard the privacy of all citizens.

The company said it will reply to the Indian government.

We agree with the government of India's strong statement about the need to safeguard the privacy of all Indian citizens. That is why we've taken this strong action to hold cyber attackers accountable and why WhatsApp is so committed to the protection of all user messages through the product we provide," a WhatsApp spokesperson said.

The spokesperson, however, did not comment on whether WhatsApp has submitted its response to the government's query.

WhatsApp had said it was suing NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance firm that is reportedly behind the technology that helped unnamed entities' spies hack into phones of roughly 1,400 users spanning across four continents, including diplomats, political dissidents, journalists and senior government officials.

However, it did not say on whose behest the phones of journalists and activists across the world were targeted.

Refusing to divulge identities or the exact number of those targeted in India, WhatsApp had said in May, it had stopped a highly sophisticated cyberattack that exploited its video calling system to send malware to its users.

The mobile messaging giant said it had sent a special WhatsApp message to about 1,400 users that it has "reason to believe were impacted by this attack to directly inform them about what happened".

While the messaging giant did not disclose the details or the number of people affected in India, the company confirmed that Indian users were among those contacted by the company.

--UNION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION--
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NEW DELHI: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Wednesday released the Combined Defence Service (CDS) Examination -I notification for year 2020.

The candidates applying for the examination should ensure that they fulfill all the eligibility conditions for admission to the Examination.

The Online Applications can be filled up to November 19, 2019 till 6:00 PM. The UPSC CDS (I) 2020 examination will be held on February 2, 2010.

The eligible candidates shall be issued an e-Admit Card three weeks before the commencement of the examination. The e-Admit Card will be made available on the UPSC website (www.upsc.gov.in) for downloading by candidates. No eAdmit Card will be sent by post.

1) 

UPSC CDS-I 2020: Click here to apply online

2) 

Read the UPSC CDS Official Notification Here

All the applicants are required to provide valid & active e-mail i.d. while filling up online application form as the Commission may use electronic mode for contacting them.

UPSC CDS 2020 examination: Important Dates

S. No.	Event	Date
1	Application starting date	October 30, 2019
2	Last date to apply online	November 19, 2019
3	Application withdrawal date	November 19, 2019
4	Issue of Admit Card	January 2020
5	UPSC CDS 2020 exam date	February 2, 2020

The date of holding the examination as mentioned above is liable to be changed at the discretion of the Commission.

UPSC CDS 2020 examination: Application Fee

S. No.	Category	Fees
1	For General/ OBC candidates	Rs. 200/-
2	For SC/ ST/ Female candidates	-Nil-

Note: 

The payment can be made online through Debit Card/Credit Card/Net Banking.

UPSC CDS 2020 examination: Age Limit (As on July 1, 2019)

IMA: 

Candidates sharing their DOB between January 2, 1996 to January 1, 2001 will be eligible.

OTA: 

Candidates sharing their DOB between January 2, 1995 to January 1, 2001 will be eligible.

AFA:

 Candidates sharing their DOB between January 2, 1996 to January 1, 2001 will be eligible.

UPSC CDS 2020 examination: Vacancy Details

S. No.	Course	Vacancy
1	Indian Military Academy, Dehradun	100
2	Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala	45
3	Air force Academy, Hyderabad	32
4	Officer's Training Academy	225
5	Officers Training Academy, Chennai	16
	Total	418

The number of vacancies given above is tentative and may be changed at any stage by Services H. Q. Women candidates are being considered only for Short Service Commission at OTA. They should indicate OTA as the only choice.

UPSC CDS 2020 examination: Qualification

Indian Military Academy/Officers Training Academy: 

Candidates having graduation Degree in any stream from any recognized university/Institution will be considered for this post.

Air force Academy:

 Candidates having Graduation Degree in Physics & Maths at 10+ 2 Level/Bachelor of Engineering from a recognized university/Institution will be considered for this post.

Indian Naval Academy: 

Candidates having Engineering Degree in relevant trade will be considered for this post.

UPSC CDS 2020 examination: Facilitation counter for guidance of candidates