 air-dried beef. Where better to wind-down the tour with a wine tasting session and some locally produced snacks.1. Soak toor dal, kabuli channa and kidney beans for a day.
2. Grind with garlic, aniseeds, red chillies, green chillies and salt to a coarse paste without adding water.
3. Spread on idli plates and steam cook in the idli cooker for 15-20 minutes.
4. When done, cool the paste to room temperature and break into small pieces.
6. In a kadai, add 4 tsp of oil.
7. Fry the seasonings.
8. Add and fry onion and then tomato.
9. Add the chilli, coriander, jeera and turmeric powders and salt and fry.
10. Add 1/2 cup water. Boil till the raw flavour is gone.
11. Mix the cooked dal paste and saute together for a few minutes.
12. Serve hot with idli, dosa or idiappam.Hurricanes Iota and Eta have both swept across Central America in the last two weeks, causing destruction from southern Mexico to Panama. At least 30 people have been killed, though the count may rise after mudslides and extremely severe flooding.
The storms were both Category 4, and Hurricane Iota is considered the strongest Atlantic storm this year. Hundreds of thousands of people who evacuated to shelters before the storm now also face the tertiary risk of COVID-19 infection.
Local Nazarene churches have mobilized to respond in a variety of ways; at least 24 churches opened their doors to serve as shelters and others are serving as collection centers. Nazarene Theological Seminary in Guatemala City is also collecting donated relief items. Many communities across Central America experienced severe flooding that completely destroyed families’ crops. The Nazarene church will continue to assess the situation to determine how to continue helping families.
A team of nine Nazarene staff members visited seven shelters in Guatemala to distribute more than 1,300 crisis care kits. They also provided a puppet show for children, medicine, clothing, and blankets. The Church of the Nazarene in Campur, Guatemala, was completely submerged, incurring damage that likely won’t be reparable.
In Nicaragua, many rivers overflowed after Hurricane Iota. Many homes were destroyed, and teams of Nazarenes are waiting for the waters to recede to deliver relief goods to areas that are still isolated. At least 11 Nazarene churches are hosting or enabling shelters, and one Nazarene businessman provided a warehouse as a shelter as well. The superintendent of the North District reported that one church is gathering a team of 15 people to respond to any emergencies, and they are preparing two warehouses to be shelters. The city gave the team boats to use if they are called upon to begin rescue efforts.
The Nazarene mobile medical brigades in Mexico have also been responding in flooded areas in the state of Tabasco. The church sent hygiene kits, organized food pantries, and prepared food for those who were evacuated or homeless.
In Honduras, Iota caused widespread power outages and flooding, which has cut off several communities. In the Central South East District, one community is completely destroyed, including the Nazarene church. Early assessments indicate the church may not be able to be rebuilt. Nazarenes in El Salvador, which shares a border with Honduras, are collecting relief items and offerings to send to the impacted districts.
Dámaris Kellogg, the North Central Field NCM coordinator in Guatemala, explains that the church is also bringing hope.
Pray for those who have lost loved ones, and pray for those facing the loss of homes, livelihoods, food sources, and community. Pray for the church as they support people now to reduce further displacement later. Pray for the months of recovery ahead, when developing resilience will be key. Pray for those who are most vulnerable during and after the storm, especially senior adults, individuals with disabilities, and people living in poverty. Pray for church leaders and churches responding to the needs around them. To send a prayer or note of encouragement, go to ncm.org/pray.
Be sure to put 135608 in the Memo area.
It’s the Year of the Monkey. The Chinese New Year is barely two days old. Mardi Gras has just kicked off. And global markets are discombobulating.
Equity indices are bleeding red ink. The Nikkei lost 5.4% overnight. The Bank of Japan is making noises implying some sort of FX intervention. The Swiss National Bank is threatening to cut negative interest rates even deeper. The European Central Bank’s Mario Draghi is talking stimulus. The UK is fixated on Brexit. The media is talking about a European banking crisis. Goldman Sachs analysts warn that oil could drop below $20/barrel. Throughout all these distractions, calming words and soothing actions from the big four central banks are sorely lacking.
Instead of Kuroda, Carney, Draghi and Yellen, it appears that Caesar, Curious George, Donkey Kong and Bubbles are the Supreme Simians in charge of the central banks.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index (VIX is the markets expectation of 30-day volatility), is pushing towards the January 20 peak of 27.50. That was the day before the release of the Federal Open Market Committee statement when there were fears of an extremely dovish statement which proved to be unfounded. The index declined until February rolled around but its been climbing steadily since. According to Investopedia, A VIX reading above 30.00 indicates large volatility while below 20 indicates periods of less stress. It is not surprising, given the 2016 price action in various markets, that the VIX has only been below 20 twice this year and even then, the dip was shallow and short-lived.
The US dollar index is probing support in the 96.00-20 zone and if the bottom gives out, there is nothing but air until 94.98. It would be the exact opposite of the move seen October 22, 2015 when the ECB press conference hinted at a massive stimulus package to be announced at the December meeting.
The intraday downtrend remains intact while trading below 97.20. Only a break above this level would negate the downward pressure and re-target 98.40.
There is no shortage of oil and according to the International Energy Association, that isn’t going away anytime soon, at least that’s how Bloomberg reports it. Opec increased oil production by 280,000 barrels/day in January, thanks in part to an additional 80,000/b per day from Iran.
The IEA predicts that there will be a larger than previously forecast surplus in the first half of 2016 which will then ease back considerably by year end due to slowdowns in China, Europe and the USA. Goldman Sachs analyst, Jeffrey Currie warns that the only thing cheap in oil is volatility and warns that storage capacity constraints are in danger of being breached. In a Bloomberg interview, he says “once you breach storage capacity, prices have to spike below cash costs because you have to shut in production almost immediately”. He went on to say that he wouldn’t be surprised to see prices in the teens.
One thing to remember, Goldman made the $20/b call for oil in September 2015 and at the time, it was scoffed at and ignored. It doesn’t look too outlandish today.
The WTI technicals are bearish while trading below $33.40. The move back below $30.60 has renewed the intraday downtrend and is looking for a break of $29.10 to extend losses to the January low of $26.77.
There is a high degree of uncertainty permeating financial markets, including FX. Traders are desperately seeking guidance and evidence that central bankers are “on the case” and have a clue. So far, that has been just wishful thinking. Fed speakers, Stanley Fischer and William Dudley have spooked the markets with their apparent U-turn away from rate hikes.
Their comments have led to speculation of zero rate increases in 2016 which is a radical change of heart. In December, the Federal Open Market Committee members dot plot indicated 4 rate hikes. Has a little financial market turmoil in January completely altered the landscape or are these two Fed members just following the herd? Today’s JOLTS survey reported job opening increases which when coupled with last weeks NFP report provides another measure of support to the US dollar.
Janet Yellen has a chance to set things right, tomorrow and from that the monkeys aren’t running the zoo. In her remarks to the Humphrey Hawkins committee, she can demonstrate to the world that the Federal Reserve does have a handle on the US economic outlook and confirm that it is a big picture view, not one altered by short-term volatility.
#!/usr/bin/env python
# Copyright (c) 2012 The Chromium Authors. All rights reserved.
# Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
# found in the LICENSE file.

"""
A simple utility function to merge data pack files into a single data pack. See
http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/linuxresourcesandlocalizedstrings
for details about the file format.
"""

import sys

import data_pack

def main(argv):
  if len(argv) < 3:
    print ("Usage:\n  %s <output_filename> <input_file1> [input_file2]... " %
           argv[0])
