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The <keyword id="68998" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="environment-ministry">Environment Ministry</keyword> has yet again refused forest clearance to Rs 11,000 crore worth <keyword id="553754" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mumbai-Trans-Harbour-Link">Mumbai Trans Harbour Link</keyword>. 
 
The six-lane Link road might help decongest Mumbai in a great way but the ministry is being cautious and has sought for commitments on flamingo protection in the area. 
 The forest clearance for the aforesaid project is pending since 2013 and has been discussed four times by the Centre's <keyword id="254340" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Forest-Advisory-Committee">Forest Advisory Committee</keyword>, but to no avail. 
 
Economic Times reported that around 47.41 hectares of forest land would have to be diverted for building Link road in Raigad and Thane district in Maharashtra. 
 
The Forest Advisory Committee has sought comments of the Maharashtra Government, asking it to get the proposed mitigation measures vetted by a credible external agency like the Wildlife Institute of India or the Bombay Natural History Society. 
 
Building of a Flamingo sanctuary has also been sought that will be spread across a 19-square kilometre area. 
 
"The project has been held up, mainly because it passes through a key conservation area for Flamingos. The state government has proposed a series of conservation measures and we are hopeful that the FAC will clear it next time. As far as the Forest Conservation Act is concerned, we do not see any impediments now, an official from the Maharashtra government's Forest Department, who did not wish to be identified, told ET. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

No respite for Mumbaikars; Environment Ministry denies forest clearance for the Rs 11,000 crore Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo spoke about advancing AI during a May committee meeting. </li><li>Meanwhile, Raimondo's husband exercised up to $150,000 in stock options at his AI company in December 2021.</li></ul>Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo spoke on a committee in May discussing the regulation and advancement of artificial intelligence while her husband holds stock and is employed at a biotech AI firm.Former Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub, who first pointed out the meeting on Twitter on September 2, said this could have constituted a "<a href="https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1565820984065679367?s=20&amp;t=bKSCuFS3xCm9Zl0hI7ixrg">conflict of interest."</a>Shaub, now senior ethics fellow at Project On Government Oversight, told Insider that it "seemed pretty clear" that Raimondo's participation in the May meeting did not violate 18 US Code § 208, which prohibits government officials from participating in matters that could directly affect financial interests.However, her comments on "regulating AI" indicated that she may be working closely on issues narrowly focused on the industry, Shaub said."I don't understand how she can drop in and out of this committee's work without running the risk that, at some point, some of her activities will qualify as a particular matter and trigger the conflict of interest [law]," Shaub said.In a statement to Insider, a spokesperson for the Department of Commerce defended the meeting, as well as Raimondo's work regulating "emerging technology," pointing to the <a href="https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/PAS+Index/89BA5C322F850747852586640032DC75/%24FILE/Raimondo,%20Gina%20%20finalEA.pdf">ethics agreement</a> that Raimondo signed prior to her confirmation."The Secretary disclosed her husband's place of employment in the confirmation process; the options are from his job and were disclosed," the spokesperson said. "It is also well known that the Department of Commerce regulates emerging technology."The spokesperson continued: "The Secretary has a clear ethics agreement as it relates to her husband's employment and she remains in full compliance with that agreement."The Office of Government Ethics did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.In May, Raimondo spoke at the first meeting of the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee, which <a href="https://www.ai.gov/naiac/#MEMBERS">is overseen by</a> the Secretary of Commerce."AI has the potential to be part of the solution for our greatest challenges, right?" Raimondo said during the onset of the meeting. "Our greatest economic challenges. Our greatest healthcare challenges. Advancing biotechnology.""AI has massive potential for good," she added. "The way we teach children, the way we run our businesses. It also has massive potential for bad."Raimondo's husband Andy Moffit is employed at PathAI, according to government filings. He exercised his company stock options and received between $65,000 and $150,000 in stocks on Dec. 27, 2021, <a href="https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/PAS+Index/79F47D7EEFF81B9E852587E40033CA4C/$FILE/Gina-M-Raimondo-01.26.2022-278T.pdf">filings</a> with the Office of Government Ethics show. Moffit works as a strategic adviser at PathAI, according <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-moffit-he-him-02932215">to his LinkedIn</a>, but is not listed on the <a href="https://www.pathai.com/about-us/team/">company's team website.</a> Raimondo's year-end financial disclosures revealed up to $1.25 million in <a href="https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/PAS+Index/6ACD4F276A676F3B85258856002EDD22/$FILE/Gina-M-Raimondo-2022-278.pdf">various stock options in PathAI</a> by the end of 2021. PathAI is a venture capital firm described <a href="https://www.pathai.com/">on its website</a> as a platform that seeks to improve the "accuracy of diagnosis and the measurement of therapeutic efficacy for complex diseases" using artificial intelligence technology. <h2>Other Biden officials have had their own conflict-of-interest controversies </h2>Key officials in the federal government in general have struggled mightily to either comply with federal conflicts of interest laws or otherwise avoid conflicts of interest, be they real or perceived.In Congress, Insider and other media organizations have since 2021 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9">identified 71 lawmakers who've violated the disclosure provisions</a> of the Stop Treading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012. At <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/conflicted-congress-key-findings-stock-act-finances-investing-2021-12">least 182 senior-level congressional staffers</a> have also violated the law, Insider reported as part of its ongoing "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/financial-conflicts-congress-members-rated-2021-12?page=stories">Conflicted Congress</a>" project.Congress is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/financial-conflicts-congress-members-rated-2021-12?page=stories">now considering</a> whether to ban its members from trading stocks at all, with lawmakers expected to consider legislation this month. The executive branch has had its moment, too.In February, Insider's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-administration-energy-secretary-jennifer-granholm-stock-act-violator-2022-1">Warren Rojas</a> reported Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm violated the <a href="https://www.oge.gov/web/OGE.nsf/0/A709C70885CBAB8D852585B6005A12F9/$FILE/3f9ea6240ac14444bf3bcd7125b5d06a2.pdf">STOCK Act</a> when she failed to properly disclose $240,000 in stock sales before a disclosure deadline. Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to President Joe Biden, <a href="https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/editorialfiles/2022/08/11/AnitaDunn278.pdf">will have to divest between $16.8 million and $48.2 million</a> in stocks after her reappointment in May 2022, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/12/biden-senior-advisor-anita-dunn-has-to-divest-investment-portfolio-to-avoid-conflict.html">CNBC reported in August</a>. And tech-related investments by Mina Hsiang, the Biden administration's top digital officer, have also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watchdog-complaint-biden-ethics-investments-digital-omb-2022-2">come under scrutiny</a> this year.Biden himself has been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/state-of-the-union-biden-congress-stock-trading-ban-2022-3">conspicuously</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-ban-congress-biden-pelosi-democrats-tom-nelson-wisconsin-2022-2">silent</a> about the federal government's conflicts-of-interest matters, ignoring <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watchdogs-demand-joe-biden-start-leading-congress-stock-trade-ban-2022-5">calls from government reform advocates</a> to speak out on the issue."The last administration didn't seem to care at all about ethics, but this one seems to approach ethics the way tax lawyers approach taxes, they look for loopholes, they look to do the bare technical minimum," Shaub said."They never step back and see the forest through the trees and realize okay, it may be technically legal for this Commerce Secretary to sit there on camera asking a group of experts how she should regulate AI," Shaub continued. "That's not okay."

Biden's Commerce secretary spoke on an AI committee while her husband held stocks in AI. It isn't illegal, but it could pose an ethical problem in the future, government watchdog expert says.

<ul><li>The basketball superstar <keyword id="290547" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Shaquille-ONeal">Shaquille O'Neal</keyword>, Martin Luther King III, and three former Disney executives are joining forces to back a new blank-check company.</li><li><keyword id="10081682" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="forest-road-acquisition-corp">Forest Road Acquisition Corp</keyword>. aims to raise $250 million for deals in the tech and media space.</li><li>Potential targets include intellectual property, "audience aggregation platforms," and "companies in need of capital," a Securities and Exchange Commission <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1826889/000121390020030635/fs12020_forestroadacq.htm#T9">filing</a> published Thursday said.</li><li>The special-purpose acquisition company, or <keyword id="1817616" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="SPAC">SPAC</keyword>, comes amid a frenzy for the investment vehicles. More than $53 billion has been raised through SPAC initial public offerings in 2020 so far.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestutm_source=msn.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=msn-slideshow&amp;utm_campaign=bodyurl?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestts&amp;utm_medium=ingest">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>With 2020 bringing a flood of special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, it can be hard for some to stand out from the rest.Forest Road Acquisition Corp. shouldn't have that issue, as the basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal, Martin Luther King III, and three former Disney executives are leading the blank-check firm to launch.The SPAC aims to raise $250 million for acquisitions in the tech and media industry, including intellectual property, "audience aggregation platforms," and "companies in need of capital," a Securities and Exchange Commission <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1826889/000121390020030635/fs12020_forestroadacq.htm#T9">filing</a> published Thursday said.O'Neal will serve as the firm's strategic advisor and is described in the filing as having "a keen eye for investing in successful ventures." King, the eldest son of the civil-rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., will work as one of the company's directors.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/investing-strategy-and-stock-picks-from-fund-manager-brandon-nelson-2020-10">Fund manager Brandon Nelson is tripling his benchmark in 2020 with 'less-discovered' companies that become big winners. Here are 3 themes and 9 stocks he's betting on.</a>Tom Staggs, a former chief operating officer at Disney, will serve as the chair of the SPAC's strategic advisory committee. Salil Mehta, a former Disney strategy executive, will be Forest Road's chief financial officer. Kevin Mayer, a former TikTok CEO and chief strategy officer at Disney, will serve as a strategic advisor; Mayer also led the launch of Disney Plus in November.The team's "distinguished and long-term track record of sourcing, acquiring, and building next-generation media and entertainment platforms" will aid the SPAC's leaders in providing "differentiated consumer insights and sourcing opportunities," the filing said.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-to-buy-packaged-food-companies-covid-cooking-stifel-2020-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Buy these 7 stocks poised to profit from the boom in packaged-food sales as COVID-19 prompts more Americans to cook at home, Stifel says.</a>So-called blank-check companies raise cash through an <keyword id="35216" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="initial-public-offering">initial public offering</keyword> with the intention of merging with a private firm and taking the combined entity public. Investors who buy into a SPAC's IPO are typically in the dark as to what company will be targeted.While some have hailed the vehicles as a better way to take companies public, others have said SPACs are too lightly regulated.More than $53 billion has been raised across 138 SPAC debuts in 2020, trouncing the $13.6 billion raised last year, <a href="https://spacinsider.com/stats/">according to SPACInsider.com</a>. The average IPO size has increased to $388 million this year from $230 million.Now read more <keyword id="31671" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="markets">markets</keyword> coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/investing-outlook-japan-growth-investing-baillie-gifford-stock-strategy-portfolio-2020-10">'A paradise for growth investors': A Baillie Gifford fund manager overseeing almost $2 billion explains why investors are underestimating Japanese stocks — and shares his 3-part strategy for picking winners</a><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/xilinx-stock-price-amd-buy-takeover-xlnx-semiconductor-tech-market-2020-10-1029665920">Xilinx soars 17% on report rival AMD is in talks to buy it for $30 billion</a><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/bill-ackman-spac-psth-pershing-tontine-targets-buy-blank-check-2020-10-1029665772">Billionaire investor Bill Ackman offers new hints on possible targets for his record-breaking SPAC</a>

Shaquille O'Neal, former Disney executives, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s son target $250 million SPAC launch

New Delhi [India], July 20 (ANI): The Monsoon session of <keyword id="6354721" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="parliament" source="Orion">Parliament</keyword> begins on Thursday amidst outrage over the situation in <keyword id="6359754" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="manipur" source="Orion">Manipur</keyword> with the Opposition demanding a statement from the Prime Minister of India. Parliamentary Affairs Minister <keyword id="145705" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="prahlad-joshi" source="Orion">Prahlad Joshi</keyword> has said that 31 bills will be taken up in the monsoon session. Among these include the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023. Other important legislations that are expected to be taken up in the Session are the Bill to replace the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, promulgated in May this year. The ordinance deals with the control of services in Delhi and was promulgated after the Supreme Court verdict on an appeal by the Delhi government. Parliamentary Affairs Minister yesterday said that 34 parties and 44 leaders participated in the all-party meeting convened by the government for smooth conduct of the monsoon session which will continue to till August 11 and will have 17 sittings. Other Bills on the agenda of the government include Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019; DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019; Mediation Bill, 2021; Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2022 ; Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022; Repealing and Amending Bill, 2022; Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023; Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023; Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022 (with respect to State of Himachal Pradesh); Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2022 (with respect to State of Chhattisgarh); Postal Services Bill, 2023; National Cooperative University Bill, 2023; and Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The list also includes International Monetary Fund and Bank Bill, 2023; Provisional Collection of Taxes Bill, 2023 18; the National Dental Commission Bill, 2023; National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill, 2023; Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2023; Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023; <keyword id="6357972" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="jammu" source="Orion">Jammu</keyword> and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023; Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023; Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023; Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023; Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023. Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2023; National Research Foundation Bill, 2023; Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023; Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023 are also among the 31 bills on the agenda of the government. Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, was approved by the Union Cabinet earlier this month. This government had withdrawn Personal Data Protection Bill from Parliament in August last and said that it will come up with a fresh bill. Supreme Court had ruled in 2017 that privacy is a fundamental right and the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, is a crucial pillar of the overarching framework of technology regulations being framed by the Centre. The previous version of the bill had come after an extensive consultation process with a Joint Parliamentary Committee also examining it. The government has held another round of consultations to frame the new bill. The Bill to replace the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, seeks to establish the National Capital Civil Services Authority, which consists of the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary of Delhi, Principal Home Secretary of Delhi. The Authority will make recommendations to the Lieutenant Governor (LG) regarding transfers and postings of officials and disciplinary matters. While the government is expected to give push to its legislative agenda, the Opposition parties have planned to raise several issues including Manipur violence, railway safety, unemployment, inflation, India-China border standoff and trade imbalance between the two countries. Pralhad Joshi said the government has sought the Opposition's support in the smooth functioning of the Parliament during the Monsoon Session. "The government is ready to discuss all issues in the Monsoon Session. We have appealed to the Opposition parties to support in the smooth functioning of the Parliament," Joshi said after the all-party meeting yesterday. Some of the parties have planned to move an adjournment motion over Manipur violence among other issues on day one of the Parliament's Monsoon Session today. The opposition insisted that the discussion should take place in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Congress on Wednesday said that the party will raise Manipur violence during the session. "Today, in the beginning (of the meeting), I kept my point. Our first issue is the violence in Manipur. Prime Minister should come and answer in Parliament. We will bring adjourment motion over the matter tomorrow," Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhary said after attending the all-party meeting. <keyword id="6355187" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="lok-sabha" source="Orion">Lok Sabha</keyword> Speaker Om Birla also chaired a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee ahead of the session. He said, leaders of all parties have assured cooperation in the proceedings of the House. (ANI)

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No respite for Mumbaikars; Environment Ministry denies forest clearance for the Rs 11,000 crore Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

BI India Bureau

Biden's Commerce secretary spoke on an AI committee while her husband held stocks in AI. It isn't illegal, but it could pose an ethical problem in the future, government watchdog expert says.

Hannah Getahun

Shaquille O'Neal, former Disney executives, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s son target $250 million SPAC launch

Ben Winck

Parliament Monsoon session begins today; 31 bills likely to be taken up

ANI

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