CDS Preparation Tips Step by Step Guide 2017

How to Prepare for CDS Exam? CDSE Paper Pattern | CDS Preparation Tips to Crack Combined Defence Service Exam.

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) department is going to conduct CDS exam 2017. Participants need to check their eligibility criteria for CDS exam before submitting CDS online application form. After completing this process, you should start your CDS written exam preparation. here Study Sector Guide provides you complete details about UPSC CDS Exam. Check CDS Preparation tips and How can we prepare for CDS exam?

What is CDS Exam?
CDS full form is Combined Defence Service Exam. CDS Exam conducts by UPSC Department two times in a year (CDS 1) & (CDS 2). This written exam organized to take admission in Indian military academy (IMA), Indian naval academy (INA), Air force academy (AFA), Officers Training Academy (OTA). Successfully qualified candidates called for Interview by Service Selection Board (SSB).

CDSE Exam Notification normally released in November (CDS I) and July (CDS II) month of every year and exam will be conducted in CDS 1 – February and CDS 2 – October month. Take a look at CDS Exam paper patternfor detailed information about CDS syllabus subjects and how many questions and marks with CDS paper time duration etc.

CDS Preparation Tips with CDS Exam Study Plan

CDS Paper includes 3 subjects General knowledge, English and Elementary Mathematics. All papers have 100 marks with a time duration of 02 hours. For admission in IMA, INA, AFA paper contains 3 subjects and for OTA courses, you will face only two subjects with 200 marks. check complete details about CDS Exam pattern is given below the table.
CDS Question paper pattern – IMA, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy.

Paper	CDS Paper	Marks	Duration
I	English Paper	100	2 hours
II	General Knowledge	100
III	Mathematics	100
	Total	300

CDS Question paper pattern – OTA

Paper	CDS Paper	Marks	Duration
I	English	100	2 hours
II	General Knowledge	100
	Total	200

What to Prepare for CDS Exam?
Participants must aware about that what should you need to prepare for CDS? first. you should download or check Complete UPSC CDS Exam Syllabusfirst to get exact CDS exam syllabus topics and their importance in CDS exam. CDS Exam paper is an objective type paper. check CDS subjects wise details in given table below.

CDS English Paper	CDS GK Paper	CDS Maths Paper
Spotting Errors Questions Sentence Arrangement Synonyms & Antonyms Selecting Words Ordering of Sentence Comprehension Questions Vocabulary Preparation Fill in the blanks questions	Latest Current Affairs Indian Constitution Indian History Indian Economy Indian Geography Indian Politics Indian Navy & Military Religions Banking Sector Universities Books & Authors Taxation Sports – Awards etc.	Arithmetic Algebra Trigonometry Geometry Mensuration Statistics

How to Prepare for UPSC CDS Exam?

Here we are talking about CDS Exam Preparation tips which you can consider in your study plan of prepare for CDS recruitment. Firstly you should get proper UPSC CDS Study material such as CDS Exam previous question papers, CDS preparation books, and CDS notes topic wise. Now check the complete guide to preparing for CDS Exam subject wise. by helping of these given tips for CDS I 2017, you can easily crack CDS exam in one attempt.

How to Prepare English for CDS Exam?
CDS Preparation tips for English –Most of the students are afraid of English section and not gain enough marks in English section and always searching the perfect answer of How to prepare CDS English Paper? English question paper includes 120 questions of 100 marks with a time duration of 02 hours. Through this paper, examiner tests your basic English skills in many ways and different types of Grammar and Vocabulary questions. Let’s check some great CDS Exam English preparation tips here.

• Check Complete CDS English Syllabus first.
• To prepare for English, you should develop the habit of reading. you can improve your reading habit via many sources like English Newspapers, Magazines, Notes, books etc. and also enhance your English writing, English speaking, and English listening habits. Make new words lists on a daily basis and try to use it in many sentences. Also, may join English speaking classes too.
• Set Proper Time management for all grammar and vocabulary sections. Give more time to weak sections.
• Try some CDS English online test for an exact idea of CDS English paper. also, check and try to solve UPSC CDS Last Year English question papers.
• Divide all sections and prepare for one by one.
• Buy some CDS English preparation books to clear the concept. check CDS preparation tips to score well.

How to Prepare General Knowledge (GK) for CDS Exam?
CDS Preparation tips for GK –CDS General Knowledge paper is an objective type paper of 100 marks with 120 questions. CDS GK Paper questions include mainly topics from Constitution, History, Economy, Geography, Politics, Navy & Military and Latest current affairs etc. you can easily get right answer of question How to prepare CDS GK Paper? by trying these given east steps to prepare for CDS Exam.

• Check Complete CDS GK SyllabusFirst.
• Read Newspapers on a daily basis with consternation this habit increase you the overall General knowledge and also grab some magazines and notes that cover various topics ranging from economy to business to trade policies to the latest awardees in the fields of sports, art, literature etc.
• Buy CDS GK Preparation Books it helps you to check previous years and upcoming expected major topics questions.
• Do more practice with Online GK test for CDS Exam via CDS mock test, CDS speed test, and CDS practice papers.

How to Prepare Mathematics for CDS Exam?
CDS Preparation tips for maths – UPSC CDS Elementary Mathematics paper contains 100 objective type questions 100 marks. this paper standard almost similar to matriculation. Check How to prepare CDS Maths Paper? It contains questions from Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry etc. to easily crack this section you should have to master in important formulas for CDS mathematics exam.

• Check Complete CDS Maths SyllabusFirst.
• Make a list of important formulas, theorems and tips check some of here Geometry formulas for Circle, Rectangle, Square, tangents etc. Speed Distance and Time-related questions, Math Formula For Area & surface area, Math Formula For Volume, Maths Formulas Of Number System etc to prepare for CDS.
• Practice more and more to get success in maths. Try more questions to solve.
• Familiar with Maths important formulas and write down all at one place for last minute preparation.
• Try CDS Maths online test for practice. and Check UPSC CDS Solved papers for exact idea and calculation behind the question.
• Buy CDS Maths question syllabus books for better understand the concept of How to study for UPSC CDS Exam?

Combined Defence Service Exam (CDSE) 2017 Latest Updates
CDS Notification 2017	CDS Exam Dates
CDS Application Form	CDS Exam Pattern
CDS Exam Physical Ability	CDS Exam Syllabus 2017
CDS Question papers	CDS Preparation Books

How to Prepare for UPSC CDS Physical & Medical Exam?

Students those are going to participate in UPSC Examination 2017 for CDS Exam must have physically and mentally fit and fine with no mental breakdown record in past. you can check complete CDS physical eligibility criteriahere and must check UPSC CDS Preparation tips below. Because the physical and medical test also plays an important role in CDS Exam so you should prepare for it.

• Must put your weight and height on a standard scale. So regular exercise and running are musts.
• Must check up your whole body before CDS Examination for any type of disease.

Medical Interview –All participants must go through a medical test only when they clear the SSB interview. and may be different criteria for all forces Army, Navy, and Air Force. Prepare for UPSC CDS Exam this is also a major part of this exam medical examination.

• CDS Preparation tips – Regular exercise keeps you fit and fine with proper weight. Take a full checkup of your whole body to clear the doubt of any type of hidden disease so you can cure it at the right time.
• Eat healthily and be the focus on exam preparation.
• Have yourself medically examined before you take the CDS exam, just to avoid any surprises

Personal Interview – Intelligence and Personality Test
how to prepare for CDS Interview? those candidates successfully qualified in CDS written test they are called for Intelligence and Personality test which will be conducted by the Services Selection Board (SSB). This test judge a candidate of his intelligence, personality, and his ability to be chosen as an officer in the Defence Forces. There are several components included in the test like Psychological Tests, Group Discussion, Intelligence Tests, Outdoor activities, Opinion on issues, Physical Fitness etc. here are few UPSC CDS tips – tricks to help you clear this test.

• Self-confidence – You should have the ability to express yourself in a beautiful manner with a positive energy. having the courage and cheerful attitude.
• Sharp your communication skills.
• Increase General awareness about all around the country.
• Present a nice personality example on the front of them you should have the ability to impress them by the way of talking and other activities what you do there.
• Try to conceive yourself a team leader which will help in successfully carrying out teamwork.
• Think before done and behave like an officer (proper manner and respectfully)

• Tips To Crack UPSC CDS Exam – CDS Preparation tips

  All aspirants who are participating in this CDSE start their CDS Exam Preparation before a few days ago because of they already busy in their studies OR other job working schedule. here you find some of the best techniques to prepare UPSC CDS 2017.
  1. Proper planning– You should have first planned your study. proper planning gives you complete output otherwise, you left many important topics of CDS Exam. Maintain a routine for all subjects set time for every subject. and focus on one topic at a time.
  2. Syllabus knowledge– You should have complete Syllabus of Combined Defence service exam (CDSE) it gives proper way that what topic are coming in the exam and what is their value in the exam. So you can easily plan your studies separately for all subjects. you must know what to prepare exactly.
  3. Update yourself– Students needs to update themselves to prepare for CDS by many ways like Reading Newspapers, Watching News channels, Join many events which are suitable to enhance your overall General knowledge. Must aware about all around the country what new government activities and policies, politics, sports, banking sector, RBI functions and policies, share market, technology world etc.
  4. Time management– This is one of the valuable weapons of every competition exam not only for CDS Exam. Examiner design paper in this way that how fast you are he test your speed. So you should set proper time for all subjects because without time setting you are just wasting your time here and there. Time management is also important while your CDS Exam Preparation also. Test yourself before exam much time as a trial. this trick can help you lot in your UPSC Exam. Also, check more about on this topic here: – Time management tips for CDS Exam.
  5. Study Topic wise– You should start your CDS preparation topic wise. The first complete one subject then starts another this trick helps you to focus more on a single subject to better understand it. many students ask me that How to prepare CDS at home? this is the fine answer of that question – Study topic wise with proper time management get you success in an easy way. Plan everything before.
  6. Practice makes perfect– Always remember that how much you practice you sharp yourself for CDS Exam. try UPSC CDS model papers and prepare for CDS online with many test series, mock test etc. Also, check CDS previous year question papers for a better idea of the exam. you can also take coaching for CDS exam too.CDS Combined Defence Services Examination: 10 Practice Sets.
  7. Officer’s attitude– You are going to apply for an Officer post so you should behave like an Officer. You should be sincere and calm while judgments at every time this shows your personality to become an officer. Your personality to handle situations plays a major role in near future if you will qualify for written exam. Best Of Luck.
  8. Positive Attitude with confidence– You should have to build up your self-confidence that you can crack CDS Exam. and must have the positive attitude about yourself and CDS Exam that you can. After all the Defence Forces is all about courage and confidence. take proper diet to keeps you healthy.
  9. CDS Preparation books– Books are the major source of study material for CDS Exam. So Buy some top most books for CDS it gives you more information and idea close to the exam and also expected questions for upcoming CDS Exam. Check Best Book to Prepare for CDS Exam below.
  • UPSC – CDS Entrance Examination – Includes Solved Papers
  • Pathfinder CDS: Combined Defence Services Entrance Examination

  What to do in last week for improving score in CDS Exam?

  Students need to check these Last Minute Tips For CDS Exam these CDS I 2017 preparation tips helps you to perform well in CDSE. Firstly, at last, time don’t afraid about that How to prepare for CDS OTA Exam? because this is not a right time to think about this now you can focus on these given “CDS preparation tips”.
  • Make small notes for every useful topic and formula to revise it at the last time this will decrease your time and effort to get valuable information just in one step. you don’t need to search in books, computer or online anywhere.
  • Don’t panic about what you can’t prepare this time is not for add more information. take this time for revision the topics which you are prepared well. In last week, you should revise more topics.
  • Time management is compulsory for all topics don’t waste time on a single question or topic during CDS preparation or CDS exam time. move towards second and then third, fourth … first attempt what you know well then the weaker part.
  • Always remember that negative marking is also taking effect on your every wrong answer so you should avoid by chance answer it may hurt your overall score.
  • Also, take Online Mock test trial at last time about analyzing the final speed and your preparation about UPSC defense exam.
  • Check some upsc last year question papers for a better idea of the upcoming CDS exam question paper. Now you answer the question How to prepare for CDS Entrance exam?
  What types of questions asked in CDS Exam?UPSC CDS Exam is a tough competition large number of students apply for it. so you should prepare for every topic for each subject. don’t take any subject easy overall score depends on all subjects. Read carefully CDS preparation tips given above. Meanwhile after analysis of UPSC CDS previous year papers we recommend you some of the major topics of CDS Exam which can definitely help you to score well.
  CDS Exam topics – These are mix topics for all subjects which you should consider as major topics like CDS English topics Grammar Preparation, Vocabulary Preparation, Comprehension Skills, Spelling Mistakes, Sentence formation etc. CDS GK topics Indian history, Indian Geography, Culture, Indian economy, politics etc. CDS Maths topics Arithmetic, Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, Statistics etc. you must complete these topics well most of the questions in CDS Exam are coming from these topics from last few years.
  Hope you find something useful in this article about How to crack CDS Exam? share it with your friends, community, groups and other students who really need it or prepare for cds. If you have any suggestion, query or past experience of CDS Entrance Exam or CDS Interview share with us to help other aspirants for cds preparation you can use our comment section below and like our Facebook page and also subscribe our latest UPSC exam updates via email. Check other UPSC Exam latest notification here.

Sia beats nude picture seller to the punch

(CNN)Sia may not want you to see her face, but she's apparently not as shy about her other parts.

The "Chandelier" singer, who usually performs with a wig obscuring part of her face, on Monday shared an image she said was of her nude.

"Someone is apparently trying to sell naked photos of me to my fans," Sia wrote in the caption of the photo, which shows a naked woman from the rear. "Save your money, here it is for free. Everyday is Christmas!"

"Everyday Is Christmas" is also the name of the singer's forthcoming Christmas album.

Sia told The Observer last year that the effort to hide her face evolved from self-protection.

"It was about not having to deal with the unfairness of being a pop star," she said. "Not having to worry about camera angles catching your double chin. Everybody in the entertainment industry is insecure." "Everyday Is Christmas" is also the name of the singer's forthcoming Christmas album. Sia told The Observer last year that the effort to hide her face evolved from self-protection. "It was about not having to deal with the unfairness of being a pop star," she said. "Not having to worry about camera angles catching your double chin. Everybody in the entertainment industry is insecure."

RAPE CLAIMS Who is Kristina Cohen? Actress who accused Ed Westwick of rape in Facebook post

 ongoing revelations of sexual assault in the entertainment industry.

Her allegations, which the British actor has vehemently denied, come after several Hollywood figures, including Kevin Spaceyand Harvey Weinstein, have been accused of sexual assault.

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Actress Kristina Cohen has alleged Ed Westwick raped her three years ago in a Facebook post

Who is Kristina Cohen?

Born in California, Kristina Cohen has appeared in a handful of minor TV and movie roles.

The 27-year-old is best known for her roles in Greek and Californication and Earthwalkers,.

She also starred in web series Ladies Like Us in 2013 and Ladies Like Us: The Rise of Neighborhood Watch in 2015.

What did Kristina Cohen say about Ed Westwick?

In a detailed Facebook post, Cohen accused Westwick, best known for playing Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl, of raping her three years ago hen she met him at his house with her boyfriend.

She claimed a producer she was dating at the time allegedly brought her to Westwick’s house, where he raped her.

The 30-year-old actor issued a vehement denial on social media.

In a statement shared on his Twitter and Instagram pages, he said: “I do not know this woman.

“I have never forced myself in any manner, on any woman.

“I certainly have never committed rape.”

PA

Ed Westwick is an English actor, best known for playing Chuck Bass in smash hit series Gossip Girl

Cohen wrote: “I wanted to leave when Ed suggested ‘we should all f**k’. But the producer didn’t want to make Ed feel awkward by leaving.

“Ed insisted we stay for dinner. I said I was tired and wanted to leave, trying to get out of what was already an uncomfortable situation. Ed suggested I nap in the guest bedroom.”

She said after her “producer” boyfriend convinced Cohen to take a nap, she woke up to find Wetwick “on top” of her.

She continued: “I fought him off as hard as I could but he grabbed my face in his hands, shaking me, telling me he wanted to f**k me.

“I was paralysed, terrified. I couldn’t speak, I could no longer move. He held me down and raped me. It was a nightmare, and the days following weren’t any better.

“The producer put the blame on me, telling me I was an active participant. Telling me that I can’t say anything because Ed will have people come after me, destroy me, and that I could forget about an acting career. Saying there’s no way I can go around saying Ed ‘raped’ me and that I don’t want to be ‘that girl’.

Cohen said that her decision to go public with the allegation had been an extremely difficult one.

She added: “I hope my coming forward will help others to know that they are not alone, that they are not to blame, and it is not their fault.

“Just as the other women and men coming forward have helped me to realise the same.

United Airlines' final Boeing 747 flight is today

flight is today

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Editor's note: Check back later Tuesday for photos and updates from the farewell flight festivities.

SAN FRANCISCO — It sure didn’t feel like a curtain call. But that’s what it was Tuesday morning at San Francisco International Airport as United Airlines bid farewell to its last Boeing 747.

United Flight 747 was scheduled to take off for Honolulu at 11 a.m. local time, departing from Gate 86 after a de facto party among those ticketed on what went into the books as United’s last-ever passenger flight on the 747.

All on board had booked the flight specifically to be on the last 747 departure, a special one-off flight scheduled by United in September to give the famous jumbo jet a proper send-off.

It’s a grand finale, no question,” United CEO Oscar Munoz said to USA TODAY from the jet’s upper deck just before takeoff. “It’s a fitting send-off in the most dignified way for the ‘Queen of the Skies’.”

Tickets for the 374-seat jet sold out in hours, despite one-way fares of $550 and up for the one-way flight to Hawaii.

ARCHIVES: United's farewell flight for the Boeing 747 sells out in less than 2 hours

“I had to be here,” said John Vanderford, 56, of Detroit, as he partied with other Flight 747 customers prior to boarding. “It’s the last 747 flight. I remember flying it as a kid, on this exact route — San Francisco to Honolulu."

Trump commerce secretary's business links with Putin family laid out in leaked files

Donald Trump’s commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, is doing business with Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law through a shipping venture in Russia.

Leaked documents and public filings show Ross holds a stake in a shipping company, Navigator, through a chain of offshore investments. Navigator operates a lucrative partnership with Sibur, a Russian gas company part-owned by Kirill Shamalov, the husband of Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova.

Ross, a billionaire and close friend of Trump, retained holdings in Navigator after taking office this year. The relationship means he stands to benefit from the operations of a Russian company run by Putin’s family and close allies, some of whom are under US sanctions.

Corporate records show Navigator ramped up its relationship with Sibur from 2014, as the US and EU imposed sanctions on Russians. The measures followed Putin’s aggression in eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Navigator has collected $68m in revenue from its Sibur partnership since 2014.

Ross, 79, has apparently faced little official scrutiny over the arrangement. He told a US ethics watchdog that he was keeping a pair of obscurely named holding companies, but did not specify whether he would also retain their interests in Navigator and its lucrative contract in Russia.

The Ross interests appear in the Paradise Papers, a trove of millions of leaked offshore files reviewed by the Guardian, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and other partners. They join established links between Ross and Russian finance that have raised questions over his selection by Trump to head the US Department of Commerce.

Analysts said the arrangement was troubling. Daniel Fried, an assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs under George W Bush, said Ross’s connection to “cronies of Putin” threatened to undermine US sanctions.

“I don’t understand why anybody would decide to maintain this kind of relationship going into a senior government position,” he said. “What is he thinking?”

 What are the Paradise Papers? – video

Peter Harrell, a senior state department official under Barack Obama, who worked on sanctions against Russia, said: “I’m frankly surprised. Maybe I shouldn’t be, given that with this administration, there seems to be a Russian in every closet.”

Ross’s press secretary, James Rockas, said in a statement that Ross’s holding would not conflict with his government duties on trade and industry. “Secretary Ross recuses himself from any matters focused on transoceanic shipping vessels,” he said.

The disclosures come as inquiries intensify into Russian interference with the 2016 US election. Congress and Robert Mueller, the special counsel, are investigating possible collusion between Trump’s presidential campaign and Moscow. Ross has dismissed claims of collusion as “rumour and innuendo”.

 Donald Trump and Ross. Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The involvement of Ross and Shamalov in the shipping venture dates back to 2011. That year, Ross’s investment firm, WL Ross, began buying into Navigator with an investment that gave him two seats on the company’s board. Meanwhile, in Moscow, Shamalov began investing in Sibur, which was formerly state owned. 

By January 2012, having built up his holding in the Russian company, Shamalov, then 29, was made its deputy chairman. That summer, WL Ross took control of Navigator by buying a further $110m stake from the collapsed Lehman Brothers bank.

Shamalov is the son of Nikolai Shamalov, one of Putin’s oldest friends from St Petersburg, where Putin worked in the mayor’s office. He married Katerina in a secret ceremony in February 2013.

Later that year, two ships from Ross’s company began transporting liquefied gas out of Russia for Putin’s son-in-law’s firm under a decade-long contract initially worth $226m.

Towards the end of the year, Navigator went public on the New York stock exchange, its share price buoyed by the Sibur deal. WL Ross more than doubled its money, prompting Ross to boast in remarks to a convention that his firm had hit “a home run” by taking over Navigator.

Shamalov drastically increased his holding in Sibur in September 2014. He borrowed $1.3bn from the state-controlled Gazprombank – his brother, Yury Shamalov, is the bank’s deputy chairman – and used this to buy a chunk of Sibur from Gennady Timchenko, who is under US sanctions. The US Treasury said in 2014 that Putin held investments in Timchenko’s oil-trading firm, which it denied.

 Kirill Shamalov. Photograph: Kommersant/Getty Images

Ross stepped down from Navigator’s board in November 2014. His replacement was Wendy Teramoto, then managing director of WL Ross. Teramoto has since resigned from the businesses to join the Trump administration as Ross’s chief of staff.

Shamalov insisted he had received no preferential treatment in the Sibur deal and had received his stake on strictly commercial terms.

Karen Dawisha, the director of Russian and post-Soviet studies at Miami University, Ohio, said it should be assumed that Putin benefited from the prosperity of companies run by his relatives and close associates.

“Shamalov is a very important member of Putin’s circle and there is no question that he is closely trusted,” said Dawisha. “He was not well trained for the job at Sibur, but he was well connected.” Shamalov has a law degree from St Petersburg State University, according to Sibur.

Shamalov stepped down as deputy chairman in 2015. He remains a director of Sibur. This year, he reduced his 21.4% stake in the company, which was worth about $2.85bn, to 3.9%. This was completed in April, while journalists were looking into Sibur’s connections to Ross. The reason for the sale was unclear.

Shamalov sold to Sibur’s main shareholder, Leonid Mikhelson. Mikhelson is Russia’s richest man, according to Forbes magazine, and CEO of the gas producer Novatek. The Obama administration twice imposed sanctions on Novatek, once in 2014 over Ukraine and again in 2016 as punishment for Moscow’s meddling in the US election.

The offshore commerce secretary

Under the Navigator-Sibur deal, two ships – the Navigator Libra and the Navigator Leo – began moving Sibur gas from the Russian port of Ust-Luga, west of St Petersburg, to Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe. The partnership doubled to four ships this year, as Ross joined Trump’s administration. Invited to name the new vessels, Sibur christened them Navigator Luga and Navigator Yauza, after Russian rivers.

Corporate records show that the proportion of Navigator’s revenue coming from Sibur almost doubled between 2014 and 2015, even as Sibur’s owners complained of being shut out of financial markets due to sanctions.

Sibur has also received assistance from the Kremlin while dealing with Ross’s firm. In May 2014, a Russian government fund led a $700m investment in the Ust-Luga port, where Sibur has exclusive rights to ship liquefied gas. In December 2015, Sibur received a $1.75bn state loan repayable at a third of the market rate.

Rockas, Ross’s press secretary, tried to distance Ross from the Sibur deal with a series of statements that were contradicted by other sources. He said the Navigator-Sibur deal was signed in February 2012, before Ross joined the Navigator board. But Sibur’s annual report for that year said the deal was signed in March.

Rockas said Ross did not join Navigator’s board until 31 March 2012. But a press release filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission on 2 March that year said Ross was by then already on the board. In ethics forms filed this year, Ross estimated that his start date had been January 2012. 

Rockas said: “No funds managed by WL Ross & Co ever owned a majority of Navigator shares.” But a press release issued by the company in August 2012 was titled “WL Ross Agrees To Acquire Majority Stake In Navigator”.

Navigator vessels also carried out extensive business with the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, records show, at a time when Venezuela’s government was cracking down on opposition. Trump imposed sanctions on PDVSA in August.

Rockas said Ross “has been generally supportive of the administration’s sanctions of Russian and Venezuelan entities.” He said Ross had never met Shamalov, Timchenko or Mikhelson.

The Paradise Papers detail a complex web of dozens of offshore investments that have been held by Ross, who publicly champions Trump’s campaign promise to “bring back” business to the US. Many use similar names and acronyms that are difficult to decipher.

The files show, for instance, that Ross is a shareholder in WLR Recovery Associates IV DSS AIV GP, a Cayman Islands investment vehicle. This is a shareholder and general partner of WLR Recovery Associates IV DSS AIV LP, another Cayman Islands entity, which is in turn a general partner of WLR Recovery Fund IV DSS AIV LP, a third Cayman firm, which is a shareholder in Navigator.

He should have sold off any and all interests

Richard Painter

The WLR stake in Navigator is now worth about $179m, according to corporate filings, but it is not clear how much of this is held by Ross personally. When he joined the Trump administration, Ross declared holdings worth up to $10m in vehicles with interests in Navigator.

In a letter to the commerce department and Office of Government Ethics before taking office this year, Ross said he was retaining his interest in a handful of entities, including two that hold stakes in Navigator. The letter said some retained interests related to shipping but did not detail whether this included the subsidiaries that led to Navigator.

At the end of May, Ross sold a small holding in Navigator worth $15,000-$50,000, according to an ethics filing. But he appeared to retain other Navigator stakes.

Ross was not asked about his links to Putin’s family during his confirmation hearing by the US Senate. Richard Painter, the chief ethics counsel in George W Bush’s administration, said Ross had not made absolutely clear in his paperwork that he was retaining a stake in Navigator. “It is very difficult to figure out from the financial disclosure,” said Painter. “He should have sold off any and all interests.”

 Ross testifies at his confirmation hearing in January. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Lloyd’s List, the authoritative shipping industry newsletter, said in January that Ross’s ethics disclosures suggested he was making a “clean cut” from Navigator by divesting from WL Ross. “Mr Ross’s apparent departure is to avoid conflict of interest,” it said, before quoting a remark made by Ross during his Senate confirmation hearing: “I intend to be quite scrupulous about recusal.”

Ross and the Russians

Ross built lucrative connections to Russian business during a 40-year career that banked him an estimated fortune of $2.9bn, making him comfortably the wealthiest member of Trump’s cabinet.

His private equity firm, WL Ross, earned him a reputation as a ruthless corporate raider. Ross took over bankrupt companies, turned them around by slashing costs, and sold them for large profits. An early critic of free trade, who profited from tariffs to protect US steelmakers, Ross has been deputised by Trump to fulfil the president’s populist campaign promise to overhaul international trade deals.

In 2014, Ross led a €1bn takeover of the Bank of Cyprus, a favoured destination for Moscow oligarchs seeking to store their wealth. The bank’s biggest shareholder at the time was the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. In 2008, as the US began to fall into a financial crisis, Rybolovlev bought a Florida mansion from Trump for $95m. The future president had paid $41m for it four years earlier.

Also invested in the bank takeover was the billionaire Russian industrialist Viktor Vekselberg. Vekselberg, who owns the world’s biggest collection of Fabergé eggs, attended the now infamous December 2015 dinner in Moscow for the Kremlin TV channel RT, where Trump’s future national security adviser Michael Flynn was photographed next to Putin.

Ross sat on the senior leadership team of Bank of Cyprus alongside Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, a former KGB colleague of Putin’s who is also on the board of several state corporations in Moscow.

And in 2015, while Ross was vice-chairman of the bank, its Russia-based businesses were sold off to Artem Avetisyan, a Russian businessman who had been appointed by Putin to lead an agency responsible for strengthening ties between the Kremlin and business.

Democratic senators wrote to Ross in February demanding that he disclose “the full extent of your connections to Russia”. Ross did not respond. The senators also lambasted the White House for refusing to provide answers to the questions before the vote confirming Ross.

Asked around that time whether Bank of Cyprus had any customers under US sanctions during his time there, Ross told CNN: “That’s a question that is very complicated to answer,” adding that he had never approved any such deals.

Transactions through the bank involving Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, are reportedly part of the federal inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 US election.

Ross also entered Russian markets through other industries. After WL Ross’s 2005 takeover of VTG, Europe’s largest railcar leasing firm, the German company opened offices in Russia. Over the following years, VTG bought out other Russian firms in the sector, taking on thousands of railcars in the country. VTG’s chief executive, Heiko Fischer, eventually sat with Ross on the board of Navigator.

Five offshore entities in the Cayman Islands holding VTG stock were among some 50 linked to Ross and his firm in the Paradise Papers. The firms were handled by Appleby, a legal and accounting company. One leaked file said WL Ross was among Appleby’s top 20 clients by total billings.

Rockas, Ross’s press secretary, said: “Private equity firms have a responsibility to their investors to optimize corporate structures, and Secretary Ross has decades of experience that he is now using to benefit American workers.”

In May 2016, as Ross trod the campaign trail with Trump, his firm sold off the last of its holdings in VTG. The sale brought in about $420m for Ross’s firm, which had not disclosed how much it paid a decade earlier.

Ross has been a trusted associate of the president since the early 1990s, when he helped to bail out Trump’s beleaguered casino portfolio in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which had left him on the verge of bankruptcy.

Ross and his wife, Hilary, own a Manhattan apartment, a home in the Hamptons and a house valued at $23m in Palm Beach, Florida. The house is a five-minute drive from Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, where Ross accompanied the president during weekend visits in his early weeks in office.

In April, Ross was pictured at Trump’s right hand inside a makeshift situation room at the club where the president monitored missile strikes against Syrian forces in response to the Assad regime’s latest use of chemical weapons. Ross later described the strikes as “after-dinner entertainment”.

 Trump and his team monitor missile strikes in Syria in a ‘situation room’ at Mar-a-Lago. Photograph: Shealah Craighead/AP

On the day Ross was nominated to the cabinet by Trump in November last year, he and Navigator executives including David Butters, the chief executive, dined together in a private room at Manhattan’s Gramercy Tavern restaurant. “Your interest is aligned to mine,” Ross reportedly told Butters. “The US economy will grow, and Navigator will be a beneficiary.”