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sunshinecoastqldnews · 2 years

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UK faces public well being disaster this winter charities warn

UK faces ‘public well being disaster’ this winter, charities warn https://sunshinecoastqldnews.com/uk-faces-public-well-being-disaster-this-winter-charities-warn/ Charities have warned that hundreds of thousands of Britons face a “public well being disaster” this winter due to excessive vitality payments, regardless of the federal government’s £150bn package deal to restrict prices. Calling for additional state help, anti-poverty teams on Friday stated there was already proof of some households reducing again on the amount and high quality of meals they have been shopping for in an effort to pay fuel and electrical energy payments, which will probably be virtually double the extent they have been in 2021. Power analysts stated there have been additionally early indicators of a discount in vitality demand as households and companies “self-ration” in response to larger costs. A typical yearly family vitality invoice will rise to £2,500 from October 1, from £1,971 at current, though the exact quantity will rely on utilization. Prime minister Liz Truss this month introduced an unprecedented help package deal to make sure common home payments stay at round that degree for the subsequent two years. Households will this winter additionally obtain an extra £400 deduction. However charities warned that about 6.7mn, or greater than a fifth of British households, would nonetheless be in gasoline poverty this winter, up from 4.5mn a yr earlier, given the rise in costs. The vitality value cap, which dictates payments for 24mn households, was roughly £1,277 primarily based on typical utilization final winter. Adam Scorer, chief government of the charity Nationwide Power Motion, stated the rise in vitality payments was “unaffordable for hundreds of thousands”, with folks “already reducing again on the standard of what they eat in addition to the amount”. “The impacts on well being and wellbeing are devastating and can solely worsen after Saturday’s value rises. It’s a public well being emergency,” he added. A YouGov ballot of greater than 4,000 households printed by the NEA on Friday confirmed 24 per cent of oldsters had minimize the quantity of meals they have been shopping for. One in ten stated they have been consuming chilly meals to cut back vitality utilization. Laura Sandys, chair and founding father of the charity the Meals Basis, stated circumstances meant “it could now not be a query of heating or consuming for a lot of” this winter. Really useful “The price of residing disaster and vitality invoice will increase will see kids residing in houses the place there is no such thing as a longer that alternative — they may each go hungry and be chilly,” she added. Each Scorer and Sandys urged the federal government to spice up help for low-income households. NEA and vitality corporations akin to ScottishPower have lengthy known as for a separate, subsidised “social” vitality tariff for the very poorest. In response to the vitality consultancy EnAppSys, electrical energy demand in Britain over the previous few months has fallen 9 per cent in contrast with the identical interval final yr and eight per cent in contrast with 2019. Truss was criticised on Thursday for telling BBC Radio Leeds that households’ “most” vitality invoice this winter can be £2,500. The federal government’s vitality help scheme limits the worth per unit of electrical energy and fuel that households will probably be charged from October 1 at about 34p per kilowatt hour (kWh) for electrical energy and 10.3 per kWh for fuel, inclusive of worth added tax. However a family’s total invoice will rely on use. The Division for Enterprise, Power and Industrial Technique didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. via Sunshine Coast QLD News https://sunshinecoastqldnews.com September 30, 2022 at 11:24AM

#Sunshine Coast QLD News

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ojeshagarwal · 3 years

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Telangana Ration Card | People from the lowest classes of society can acquire food grains and pulses at a reduced price with the aid of a ration card. A ration card is a document that allows its bearer to access food from the Public Distribution System at subsidised rates.

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neethypaksham · 3 years

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Professor R. Ramakumar on PM Modi’s Untruths Regarding Kerala

Date:

December 28, 2020

The global angle to the farmer protestsIt is not just domestic firms that are potential beneficiaries of the new farm laws; foreign agribusinesses are a danger too

30/12/2020

APManish Swarup/AP

The farmers’ movement for the repeal of the three farm laws which affect them closely but have been rammed through without consulting them, has now entered its second month. It is of historic significance. It is not just about minimum support prices but also about the survival of the entire system of public procurement and distribution of foodgrains. Without ensuring the economic viability of foodgrains production in North India — the grain basket of the country — no continuity can be ensured for the public procurement and distribution system, which, despite its drawbacks, continues to provide a modicum of food security to vast numbers of our population.

Recreation of colonial times

Northern industrial countries, namely the United States, Canada and the European Union (EU), cannot produce the tropical and sub-tropical crops in high demand by their own consumers while they have mountains of surplus grain and dairy products, the only goods their single-crop lands are capable of producing for climatic reasons. They must find export markets for these. For over two decades, they have put relentless pressure on developing countries to give up their own public procurement systems, insisting that they should buy their food grains from advanced countries, while diverting their food-crop-producing land to contract farming of export crops that these industrial countries want but cannot themselves produce. In short, they want a re-creation of the economic scenario of the colonial period.

Dozens of developing countries, ranging from the Philippines in the mid-1990s to Botswana (Africa) a decade later, succumbed to this pressure. They paid the price when with rapid diversion of grain to ethanol production in the U.S. and the EU, world grain prices trebled in a matter of months from end-2007. Thirty-seven newly import-dependent countries saw food riots, with urban populations being pushed into greater poverty.

Food security for the developing world is far too important a matter to be left to the global market, but the relentless attack on their public stocking of grain for ensuring food security continues. India had barely managed to pull back from the brink a decade ago: procurement prices were raised substantially after virtually stagnating during the six years preceding the 2008 price-spike, and grain output in Punjab grew again from near-stagnant levels as economic viability improved. But absorption of foodgrains did not improve as much owing to continued exclusion of many of the actually poor from ‘Below Poverty Line’ ration cards, while unemployment caused by the 2016 demonetisation followed by the 2020 pandemic has reduced aggregate demand by now to a historic low.

A case of unfair trade

Our farmers have been exposed for no rhyme or reason to unfair trade, and to the volatility of global prices that has plunged them into unrepayable debt and distress — in one village in Punjab, there were as many as 59 widows of farmers forced into suicide. Trade with the North is unfair, because the advanced countries in the mid-1990s, converted their own price support measures to massive subsidies given as direct cash transfers to their own farmers, transfers that in a blatantly self-serving manner they wrote into the Agreement on Agriculture as ‘not subject to reduction commitments’. India along with other developing countries signed the Agreement with very little idea of the implications of the small print. For the U.S., the direct cash transfers it gives to its 2.02 million farmers, amounting to a huge half or more of its annual farm output value, uses up only 1% of its budget. For India, over 50% of the entire central government annual Budget would be required to give even a quarter of annual farm output value to our 120 million farmers, which is an economic impossibility and an administrative nightmare.

It’s about a reasonable price

The farmers have made it amply clear that they do not want petty cash handouts; all they want is a reasonable price for the vital crops they produce for the nation, so that they can cover costs and live at a modest standard. In Indian circumstances, the price support system is in fact the only feasible one. While depletion of groundwater in Punjab is a real problem, the solution lies in introducing improved agronomic practices such as the System of Rice Intensification which economises water, not in reducing rice production. One does not cut off one’s head because of a headache.

It is precisely the support prices for crops that had been deliberately put by advanced countries under completely arbitrary and absurd computation rules in the Agreement on Agriculture. The U.S. complained against India to the World Trade Organization in May 2018 that since the ‘reference price’ for calculating support was the 1986-88 average world price of a crop which they converted to rupees at the then prevailing ₹12.5 per dollar exchange rate, India’s support price per quintal for rice and wheat in 2013-14 should have been at the most ₹235 and ₹354, respectively! The actual support prices were ₹1,348 and ₹1,386, and the difference, over ₹1,000 per quintal, was then multiplied by the entire 2013-14 output of rice and wheat, and came to 77% and 67% of their output values (https://bit.ly/3mROANe). This, the U.S. claimed, was support provided in gross violation of the permitted 10%!

Two months ago the U.S. sent fresh questions to India. Every kind of dishonest and absurd rule had been put into the Agreement on Agriculture to short-change gullible developing countries. Our farmers are among the lowest cost producers in the world, and the support prices in 2013-14 at the prevailing exchange rate of ₹60.5 per dollar were well below global prices, which means that actual support was negative.

Right assessment

Current compression of global demand means that wheat and rice prices are at historic lows, advanced country farm subsidies are at historic highs and their desperation to dump their grain on our markets has intensified. While our protesting farmers have correctly identified domestic firms as potential beneficiaries of the new marketing laws that they oppose, foreign agribusiness corporations are as great a danger.

Farmers have already experienced contract farming with foreign agribusinesses in Punjab and Haryana. They say clearly that they do not wish to deal with powerful, faceless private corporations that renege on price and quantity contracts when it suits them. Despite all its inefficiency and payment delays, they prefer to sell to government agents at the stipulated minimum support prices. They are absolutely correct in thinking that deregulation of markets as mandated by the new laws, and the entry of business firms, which will be not only Indian but also foreign, mean a severe undermining of the entire system of public procurement and minimum support prices.

The ‘green energy’ push

There are many Indian intellectuals who argue that importing subsidised grain from the North will benefit poor consumers here. They forget that there is an increasingly powerful opinion advocating ‘green energy’ in advanced countries, pushing for even greater conversion of grain to ethanol; hence initial low-priced grain imports, if permitted today, will not only destroy our farmers but will soon give way to a scenario of price spikes and to urban distress as experienced earlier by developing countries forced into import dependence. Anyone with a concern for our own hard- working farmers and poverty-stricken consumers, must support the farmers’ demands against the machinations of both local and global business elites.

Utsa Patnaik is Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University

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khalilhumam · 3 years

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How China, Italy, the UK, and US Can Drive G20 Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/how-china-italy-the-uk-and-us-can-drive-g20-fossil-fuel-subsidy-reform/

How China, Italy, the UK, and US Can Drive G20 Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform

US president-elect Joe Biden has pledged to eliminate fossil fuels, domestically and globally. This is a hugely important climate initiative and one that economists have been advocating for some time. The political barriers to such a move should not be underestimated. Still, with Italy and the UK chairing the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN climate change convention and the G7 and G20 collectively, this looks like an ideal moment to work towards an agreement that would achieve significant fiscal savings to support COVID recovery while taking a major step in tackling climate change, most notably through fossil fuel subsidy reform. This blog looks at the fiscal cost of those subsidies, which countries make most use of them overall, and how dirty are the fuels they subsidise. We look at political barriers and conclude with four reasons why reform can succeed in 2021.

Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies is economically and environmentally sound

Fossil fuel subsidies are a negative carbon tax which encourage wasteful overuse just as carbon taxes incentivise the opposite. Where they are given to producers, they protect inefficiency in sunset industries which needs to phased out as a matter of urgency to avoid the escalating the climate emergency, and where they are directed to consumers to alleviate energy poverty, they tend to be poorly targeted, mainly benefitting wealthier households. Furthermore, as the energy transition looms, fuel subsidies in oil and gas rich countries reinforce production and consumption patterns which will amplify negative price shocks when demand and prices for fossil fuels fall during the energy transition. In addition, subsidies offer the countries that use them an artificial competitive advantage over those that don’t, incentivising others to adopt them in turn.

The scale of the problem

There are various methods for calculating subsidies, but here we simply sum cash transfers from governments to firms and households or tax deductions for consumption or production of fossil fuels, including electricity generation, using OECD data. By this calculation, global subsidies in 2019 had a nominal value of around $173bn. To put this figure in context, it is of similar magnitude to global aid from OECD DAC members, which in 2019 totalled $153bn, and is both significantly larger than the Paris Agreement on climate change goal of $100bn of climate finance to assist developing countries with climate mitigation and adaptation, and has climate effects that are the direct opposite of the Paris goals. Figure 1. Fossil fuel subsidies in 2019, $173bn

Source: Authors’ calculations from OECD.stat data

The elimination of such huge subsidies would free up government funds for domestic spending—they account for some 0.2 percent of global GNI. Note that this pertains just to cash transfers and tax deductions; if we looked at the full social costs of carbon, then fossil fuels are massively under-taxed— the IMF estimate the “subsidy” relative to the true costs to be $5.2 trillion in 2017, or 6.5 percent of global GDP.

Which countries subsidise the most?

President-Elect Biden has stated he will engage key leaders to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. Here we look at which countries should be priorities, both in terms of those with the highest absolute and relative subsidy levels, and those whose fuel subsidies are the most damaging. The table below shows the largest subsidisers in international dollar value terms and translates this figure to per capita terms. Subsidies are also scaled to how damaging they are in terms of carbon emissions relative to natural gas, the least polluting of the fossil fuels. To illustrate, treating natural gas as a numeraire: it emits around 424 grams of CO2 per Kilowatt hour when burned for fuel while coal emits 912 grams per Kwh, so coal has (912/424) = 2.15 the carbon factor of gas, and thus the value of a country’s coal subsidies is multiplied by 2.15. Oil has 1.8x the carbon factor of gas, and electricity’s carbon factor varies by country, depending on the mix of fuels used to produce it. Note that natural gas is not a clean fuel or an alternative to renewables. It still emits carbon, but our methodology requires a numeraire, so we chose gas.

Table 1. Fossil fuel subsidies, per head and scaled according to carbon intensity of energy

Source: Authors calculations from OECD.stat, Carbon Footprint, OECD, World Development Indicators

G20 countries occupy the top 15 spots, and the G20 collectively accounts for 88 percent of subsidies, suggesting that forum will be important for promoting reforms. The US falls just outside the top 10, with $8.2bn in subsidies, which, for the 44 countries for which we have data, still makes it a substantial subsidiser in absolute terms. Unsurprisingly, the two countries with the largest populations, India and China, are in the top five. The majority of fuel subsidies (72 percent) go to consumers, so larger populations should be associated with higher population needs for energy subsidies. But these two countries give relatively modest subsidies when scaled to population—around half of what a US citizen received and close to 1/20th of a UK citizen’s average subsidy. The notable difference between them is the carbon intensity of their subsidies. The majority (58 percent) of India’s subsidies go to natural gas whereas the vast majority (89 percent) of China’s support oil. Four of the top 10 subsidisers are high-income countries: the UK, Italy, France, and the US; and OECD countries are responsible for 60 percent of the total subsidies in these data and the large subsidies- per-head figures in the table are mostly seen in richer countries.

Political challenges and stalled G20 progress

Fuel subsidies are politically difficult to remove in many countries. Where poverty is widespread, subsidies are important to alleviating energy poverty. They are an easily administered redistribution mechanism that citizens perhaps trust more than measures which are better targeted at reducing poverty but may have complex eligibility criteria and be viewed as open to corruption. Fuel subsidies not only provide fuel for households, but inputs to production. India, for example, has a long history of subsidising energy to agriculture, which it justifies on the grounds of food security while subsidies to producers are seen to protect jobs and reforms can be portrayed as a threat to livelihoods. Recent controversies in the US around Biden’s proposed domestic reforms hint at the challenges ahead. Elsewhere, fuel subsidy reform has even led to street protests or riots, including ones in Indonesia in 1998 which ultimately brought down the government. Perhaps this is why, since the G20, over 10 years ago, committed to “rationalize and phase out over the medium term inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption” little progress has been made. Subsidies are just 9 percent lower now than during 2014-16. Among the largest subsidisers, India is to undertake a peer review with France. China has made some reforms to petroleum prices and plans to reduce coal consumption. Mexico identified 10 subsidies to remove worth $2bn and has so far eliminated two of these. Indonesia achieved some reform in 2014-17, but some have since crept back. A very rough measure of how difficult it might be to remove subsidies can be seen by scaling them to a country’s income. In figure 2, we see the 15 countries with the largest subsidies relative to their economies—perhaps suggesting countries where subsidies are seen as most important to energy security, jobs, and incomes—and thus how politically difficult they are to remove. In figure 3, the 15 smallest subsidisers relative to GNI are also shown.

Figure 2. Highest fuel subsidies relative to the economy (% GNI)

Source: Authors calculations using data from OECD.stat, World Development Indicators

Figure 3. Lowest fuel subsidies relative to the economy (% GNI)

Source: Authors calculations from OECD.stat data

A timely moment for reform

There are four reasons to believe that fossil fuel subsidy reform could be possible at this moment in time: First, it’s notable that both China and the US feature in the list of the lowest subsidisers relative to economy size. In terms of political commitment, President Xi Jingping newly committed China to net zero by 2060 at the UN General Assembly in September. With Biden committing to “demand a worldwide ban on fossil fuel subsidies” and planning a trillion dollar climate program at home, there could be an opportunity for progress. Second, although oil prices have recovered somewhat from their dramatic lows earlier in 2020, they are still low by historic standards partly as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic reducing aggregate demand globally. This presents an opportunity for governments to reduce fuel subsidies with lower increases in energy poverty than would occur when prices are higher. Third, as countries emerge from COVID facing stronger fiscal pressures than before, there may be an opportunity for an external initiative which can help policymakers to sidestep domestic criticism and make the case that there are competitive reasons to remove subsidies. Finally, Italy and the UK—both in the top 10 for subsidies—are co-chairs of this year’s climate COP and will respectively chair the G20 and G7. They are in a position to lead by example. Subsidies give unfair advantages to recipients, so removing them is a coordination challenge which is difficult to achieve through markets. This is when multilateralism works best and why president-elect Joe Biden’s team should push for concerted diplomatic efforts to champion this issue and achieve broad global uptake of this goal. Subsidy discipline has been identified as a priority for the World Trade Organization, and with Italy chairing the G20 concerned with economic recovery, as well as chairing the COP, this could a key moment to make progress.

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acti-veg · 7 years

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i know this is a complicated and deep topic but why is meat and dairy so heavily subsidized? is their any information u can give me? is it just because the industries are in with the government to ensure that people keep consuming their products?

It is a bit of a long story, but I’ll try to summarise it as best I can, starting with dairy. Basically during the second world war the US government and many others started exporting a great deal of milk to nations who wanted to ration it for the war effort and provided financial incentives to farmers for switching away from crops and towards dairy. When the war ended, those countries didn’t have nearly the call for milk that they had during the war, but farmers were still overproducing, leaving a large surplus.

The dairy industry had become very powerful due to these subsidies, so instead of reducing output they lobbied the government to promote milk in “milk education campaigns”, in schools, on TV, and even on college courses, all touting the supposed benefits of milk, which were later judged to be false. Congress later passed a law requiring dairy farmers to pay a certain amount of their earnings to support these campaigns, and taxes were introduced on the general public for the purposes of “food security.”

These funds were used in all sorts of nefarious ways, it was used to sponsor the “food pyramid” in conjunction with the meat industry, even though it went against what even nutritionists of the day understood, and they offered incentives to restaurants to offer meat and dairy heavy menus, which are still in effect today. Despite this unprecedented propoganda campaign, in the 50′s and 60′s the dairy industry still had a surplus, so the government bought it up and sold tonnes of it to schools, the military and overseas as aid, even though the countries they were shipping to did not generally consume dairy, or couldn’t.

This still didn’t solve the problem, it continued into the 80′s costing the taxpayer billions by that point, and it still continues to this day. Meat and dairy lobbyists “donate” millions to election campaigns and party funding to keep people in power who will promote their agenda, and will protect their interests during the annual nutritional guidelines review. In 2016, their top 3 highest payouts went to David Valadao, Ted Cruz and Mike Conaway. This is the reason that despite the scientific consensus being overwhelmingly in favour of meat and dairy reduction, governments continue to promote both in their guidelines and meal plans. it’s also how the “ag-gag” laws got passed, making corporations able to prosecute activists for filming and exposing animal abuse on farms and in slaughterhouses.

I’ve focused on the US here because it’s the starkest example, but the story has been very similar everywhere else, and most of these companies are large multi-national corporations benefiting from the subsidy system in many countries all at once. What happens in the US food market generally influences the rest of the world. The meat and dairy industries are also inherently linked by both profits and public support, so when the dairy industry gains power and political leverage, the meat industry does too.

This is all made even worse by the fact that the meat and dairy industry costs lives as well as money; promoting meat and dairy consumption sets people up for an unhealthy lifestyle, which ends up costing the taxpayer even more in long-term medical costs. That’s not to mention the longterm cost of climate change, since animal agriculture is one of the leading drivers. If we instead subsidised produce which has a significantly lower production cost, we could make sure that even the poorest families could eat healthy, rather than the processed food that is so readily available now, cutting both food and medical costs significantly.

#ask #subsidies #meat and dairy subsidies

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iasbhai-blog · 4 years

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People-centric response to COVID-19 | Kerala | Editorial Hunt | 27th March 2020

IASbhai Editorial Hunt IASbhai Editorial Hunt is an initiative to dilute major Editorials of leading Newspapers in India which are most relevant to UPSC preparation -'THE HINDU, LIVEMINT , INDIAN EXPRESS' and help millions of readers who find difficulty in answer writing and making notes everyday. Here we choose two editorials on daily basis and analyse them with respect to UPSC MAINS 2020.

EDITORIAL 37:“Devising a people-centric response to COVID-19"

SOURCES: THE HINDU EDITORIAL/EDITORIALS FOR UPSC CSE MAINS 2020

Pinarayi Vijayan Pinarayi Vijayan is the Chief Minister of Kerala HEADLINES: Devising a people-centric response to COVID-19 CENTRAL THEME: We urgently need an economic stimulus to protect livelihoods in the period of lockdown SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:ECONOMY MAINS QUESTION: India is at an extremely critical stage in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. A lockdown was inevitable.Discuss possible solutions to boost economic activities. -(GS 3) LEARNING: This article will tell you how to react to a pandemic situation in a composed manner. Note key aspects of people eccentric approach and use them in answer related to boosting Economic Stimulus. INTRODUCTION: It is important that we stand united in facing this grave crisis. State must take a leadership role in enforcing the lockdown while upholding the rights and dignity of people, it must educate the citizens on the dos and don’ts of rules to follow, and it must take all sections of society with it. The health machinery has to work round the clock. At the same time, it is imperative that citizens shoulder their responsibilities and follow the rules of the lockdown strictly and diligently. Each life is precious, and any drop in our guard can quickly raise the number of the infected, thereby undermining the gains achieved. The lockdown period should be used by the Centre to not just break the infection chain, but to isolate the infected from the general population and treat those who require it with varying degrees of hospitalisation, including intensive care. BODY: While we must build up national-level preparedness, we must also remember that health is a State subject, and that State governments are an integral part of the governance of the nation. Fiscal federalism, decentralised governance and flexibility to the States to meet their particular needs and requirements should be a part of the fight against the virus, including coping with the lockdown and the economic recovery to follow. The Central government should create consultative bodies consisting of Union and State Ministers to identify bottlenecks and assess progress. In Kerala, we are making the utmost efforts to ensure that the supply of essential commodities, particularly food and medicines, is maintained and that the vulnerable sections of society are specifically protected. As soon as the Kerala government closed pre-schools and schools on March 10, our Women and Child Development Department made available, without missing a day’s allotment, the mandated quantities of rice, pulses, broken wheat/semolina, peanuts, jaggery, oil to all pre-school children in each anganwadi centre. It also took steps to distribute ‘Take Home Ration’ for pregnant/lactating mothers and children aged six months to three years. We undertook this intervention for 33,115 centres, and we were able to protect the nutritional needs of close to 8.3 lakh children. In some anganwadis, vegetables and eggs were also distributed. We are happy to note that the Supreme Court of India expressed appreciation for our efforts in this regard. Kerala will ensure availability of essential goods and services, and our government will not permit a single person to starve during the lockdown. We have energised our Public Distribution System (PDS) to ensure that all households that do not figure in the priority list get 15 kg of free food supplies for a month. This is in addition to the allocation of 35 kg per household for those in the priority category. We also plan to distribute food kits, with basic grocery items and vegetables. Home delivery is being arranged to avoid crowding of people in PDS outlets and grocery shops. We plan to engage our local bodies to lead this effort at the ground level. Nutritious meal plates at ₹20 per plate are being served through 1,000 canteens of the State government. Our Industries Department directed its public sector enterprises (PSEs) to raise the production and supply of hand sanitiser bottles; they immediately responded by producing an additional one lakh bottles per day. The Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a PSE, has been provided with ₹25 crore to ensure adequate supply of medicines required for COVID-19 treatment. Inmates of our prisons, self-help groups under the government’s Kudumbashree Mission, and enterprises operating from our rubber parks were mobilised to increase the production of N95, triple layer and double layer face masks as well as surgical gloves. Our Khadi PSEs have been asked to supply adequate number of bed sheets and towels for disposable use in the hospitals. We have asked Internet Service Providers in the State to increase their network capacity by 30% to 40% to ensure that people can work from home. While we enforce the lockdown in all its seriousness, we should not lose sight of the other major challenge in front of us. India has a high share of poor in its population, most of whom suffer from multiple economic and social deprivations. They earn their livelihoods from the informal and unorganised sectors, where there is neither job security nor continuity of income flows. This is where the Kerala government has taken an initiative and come forward to announce a ₹20,000 crore economic revival package. We have a borrowing capacity of about ₹25,000 crore during the financial year 2020-21. We have requested the Central government to allow us to borrow half of this debt (about ₹12,500 crore) in April 2020 itself. So, we are also requesting the Central government to provide us with flexibility under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. OUR ECONOMIC PACKAGE OF ₹20,000 CRORE WILL BE SPENT ROUGHLY AS FOLLOWS: Two months of welfare pensions will be paid in advance to the pension beneficiaries. For those not eligible for welfare pensions, ₹1,320 crore has been set aside for providing an assistance of ₹1,000 per family from the BPL and Antyodaya sections. Another ₹100 crore has been set aside for providing free food grains to families in need, while ₹50 crore has been set aside for the provision of subsidised meals at ₹20 per meal. Around ₹500 crore has been set aside for a comprehensive health package, where focus will be on improving public health infrastructure and equipping the State to face such epidemics. Loans worth ₹2,000 crore will be distributed through the Kudumbashree Mission. ₹2,000 crore has been set aside for the expansion of the employment guarantee programme. ₹14,000 crore has been set aside to clear all the arrears of the State government till April 2020. Passenger vehicles have also been given tax relief. Autos and taxis have been given relaxation on payment of fitness charges. There is relaxation in the deadlines of water and electricity bill payment for affected firms. Entertainment taxes for cinema halls have been reduced. IASbhai Windup: Let this be the period in which we end fiscal conservatism. Extraordinary times require extraordinary action. The strict rules of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act should be set aside. We urgently need an economic stimulus to protect the people and livelihoods in the period of lockdown. Today the world must stand together in the battle for the safety and well being of humanity. We must draw strength and lessons from global and national experiences even as we redouble our efforts in building a people-centric response to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full article

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wlreports-blog · 5 years

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Mohita Gupta, Deccan Healthcare: India's Transformational Leader 2019

We don’t need another hero; we need a defender of values. Forgoing the hero role for being a steward of shared values. Put simply; it is a call to reject the temptation to become an aggressive, vain, and win-at-all-costs type of leader

Interview Years of working in the industry, your contribution reflects versatility and volubility. What has influenced your decision making process at various stages? Having this metric in mind helps me to keep a clear head when the going gets tough and to make rational decisions for my company instead of relying on my emotions. An accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career? In 2016, participating in a conference at the United Nations Office, Geneva with the vision to set forth the Company’s community impact. Whether its supporting nutrition education, providing access to healthcare or delivering nutritional solutions, the goal is to boost the quality of life and well- being of every community they touch. Taking my parents’ legacy of shared responsibility for society forward, as the Chief Development Officer- Business Strategy and CSR, spearheading Be Young. Be Young the brand is establishing itself on the progression of understanding the consumer. “Launching Be Young" has been one of the most significant milestones in my career yet”.

How do you integrate corporate philanthropy or corporate social responsibility as a part of your business strategies? Integrating corporate philanthropy begins surely that the idea is unique. If it doesn’t exist in the marketplace already, the first thing you ask yourself is does it not exist because no one wants it, and if that’s not the answer, does it not exist because no one has done it yet? And if no one has done it yet, get out there. Ask people if they think your idea is a good one and if they do, start really thinking is this reasonable and realistic for me to do? Can I do it at a cost that I can afford? Finding a void in the market, solving the problem with a product that people really loved, understanding the customer, and put the product where those customers were shopping. What has been your driving force or philosophy in life? We don’t need another hero; we need a defender of values. Forgoing the hero role for being a steward of shared values. Put simply; it is a call to reject the temptation to become an aggressive, vain, and win-at-all-costs type of leader. What are the other philanthropic works you are involved in? We envision a world where every aging adult, sick or well, has meaningful access to information and nutritional solutions to eradicate Micro-Nutrient Deficiency. The value of BE YOUNG is not simply a question of treating severe deficiency in individuals or specific communities but of the need to reach out to Indian population to protect them against the consequences of the subclinical conditions associated with inadequate micronutrient intake and its associated consequences. Extending this across to other spheres, through one of our projects we are providing access to sanitary pads to women and girls in rural areas in India. We have partnered with local NGOs to procure these handmade pads and sustainably process them in our manufacturing facility to make these locally produced pads safe to use, contamination free and hygienic. We then distribute these at a subsidised cost. This sustainable community impact project is in its nurturing stage. How do you define success and how do you measure up to your own definition? The customer must continue to be our main centre of attention, in the development of our nutritional solutions. Growing at an accelerating pace, we are constantly working on a supply system where customers were given what they wanted before anyone else. That strategy, combined with the determination to base nutrition on customers’ desires and necessities means that Be Young is in constant competition with no one, but itself. A recent project or solution to a problem that you have made better, faster, smarter or less expensive? Building a Brand is full of challenges. Things will happen every day. A customer will be unhappy with your product. Your service will have an outage, or you'll hire somebody who doesn't work out. And these are just a few of the problems you'll deal with. We don’t want any of these things to happen. We might complain or feel disheartened. But we can also realize that each of these is inevitable and almost always a “gift in disguise.” The problems encountered can be turned into opportunities to improve: an unhappy customer is a chance to re-engage or improve our product. An outage can lead to improved monitoring that will make our system more resilient. A bad hire can help you find blind spots in our recruiting processes. We live in a fast-paced, technology-driven business world where there is little time to stop and reflect, and where people want immediate outcomes. At face value, business and philosophy might seem poles apart, but the interdisciplinary approach has changed me and my business for the better. In your opinion what is the most significant aspect of leadership? Driven by this philosophy in life at work requires one to develop temperance, a willingness to dialogue, and commitment to morality that does not falter in the face of adversity. This measured, steady, and humble approach to leadership. In doing so, we can create a culture where ethical behavior is encouraged, and people feel safe pointing out things that they feel run counter to it. Your perception of an empowered society. How far your industry has / can contribute for the same? Empowerment begins from within one’s own eco-system. Our team has been given the responsibility and power to run our business than in most other organizations, because they can do whatever they want except for certain restrictions placed. At the same time, most (but not all) efforts are concerned with nurturing self-actualization and happiness of the team. we apply the second meaning of the word empowerment (ability) except where we have reasons to apply the first meaning (authority). The team members say they find this motivating and we believe it makes them more productive too. Most importantly, they (usually) make great decision, which makes the organization more resilient to change and more agile to cope with a challenging environment. PERSONAL GRID 1. One thing you wish to change and one thing you wish to retain about your industry? A growing number of producers are making strides to stay ahead of the curve on everything from new nutrition driven innovations, to the latest and high standards to reduce or remove the use of curative medicines. My belief is they are well positioned to meet today’s challenges. However, the key is to update objectives and align those with solutions. Many producers will find the opportunities are there. With an innovation-focused mindset that include a stronger focus on advanced nutrition approaches, there is a lot of room for improvement to fit the needs of every type of operation. 2. One thing you have to let go off as an entrepreneur/leader? When you’ve hired great talent that is participatory and involved in decision-making, the idea of “control” becomes less of an issue. The critical part, is having those people aligned with your vision, mission, and values. 3. Whom do you owe your success to? I credit my two mentors as having helped me see the value of hiring great people at Deccan Health Care. “What they taught me to do as a leader, is hire smart people who are talented and experienced, and let them operate autonomously in whatever sector they are in our business, whether it was sales, marketing, education or transactions.” 4. Best thing about your job? Every operation is different and there is no one-size-fits-all. The producer must be a direct partner in deciding what will work best. You can have the best health and nutrition strategies in the world but if they don’t fit they won’t work. The future is about teamwork and alignment among everything that goes into production. Read the full article

#TransformationalLeader2019

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accountancyandtaxupdate-blog · 5 years

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A bonfire of the tax reliefs?

Avalara, Brighton, profile photos, head shots, 2016Short of £20 billion? ‘Spreadsheet Phil’ Hammond, the UK Chancellor, is. And with the Brexit dividend funding source melting away at the prospect of stuttering negotiations, a fresh look at a number of questionable tax reliefs is timely. But a lack of HRMC data, erratic forecasting and management will put billions of potential savings beyond his reach. £400bn tax reliefs overdue scrapping HMRC says the UK provides £400bn in tax reliefs each year – that’s 50 percent of the UK’s annual tax revenues. The top ten reliefs account for 94% of this; mostly income tax and NIC thresholds (38%), and reduced VAT reliefs. These are probably going to stay untouched given the Conservative party’s desperation to cling onto its low-tax credentials as Brexit risks a new general election. So what else is lurking in the pot of over 1,100 tax reliefs that could cover the promised health care funding deficit? Three stick out particularly as ineffective and failing to meet the criteria for an effective relief – creating positive behaviours to engender wealth creation, and curb profligacy. A relief deserving retirement Everyone likes to forecast the end of higher tax rate relief on pension contributions. But the £24 billion relief has never looked more past its sell-by-date – almost 70 percent of the relief goes to higher and additional rate payers. A progressive reform would end a tax break for the middle class that has never been particularly efficient at encouraging widespread retirement savings. It’s time to end, or at least curb it, and redirect the savings to boost pensions for the lowed income tax payers, and fund healthcare needs. Entrepreneurs rewarded after crossing the finishing line Entrepreneurs’ Relief, costing the Exchequer £2.7 billion, is a reduced Capital Gains Tax of ten percent on the first £10 million gain (the standard CGT rate is 18 percent or 28 percent) for small business owners when they sell up. Most of us would agree start-ups are a key foundation for innovation and thriving economy, particularly as the economy pivots to the self-employed ‘gig’ model. But providing a tax break after the business is sold-up seems a perverse point to try incentivize any owner, and unlikely to be an incentive for someone considering creating a new business. The relief was initially expected to cost less than £500m per annum. So the sums and rational look poor enough to withdraw it. Cheering on the low-skilled economy to subsidise Corporation Tax cuts Not all reliefs are poorly directed. Research & Development credits are good value – studies show for every £1 of R&D tax credit, UK firms spend an additional £1.53 to £2.35 on innovation. Yet the UK only grants £2.5 billion in credits compared to France’s £5.5m or Germany’s £4.5m (grants). The outcome is the UK significantly lagging all other EU countries in productivity due to lack of investment. In the first quarter of 2018, UK productivity actually fell by 0.4 percent, and continues to rely on a low-skill and poorly-paid workers to maintain its international competitiveness. With this lack of reliable inputs to comprehensively evaluate the £400bn in tax relief, the government is more likely to put most of the worst offenders on the bonfire. So why do we have such a dysfunctional innovation relief? Well. it’s largely to fund the headline-grabbing Corporation Tax cuts from 28 percent in 2010 to 17 percent in 2020. These reductions did not fund themselves as often claimed by supporters pointing to unchanged revenues. Instead, they were flattered by the reductions to capital allowances. Again, a rethink is called for to stop the wasted investment in innovation. This will become particularly important as the government tries to redefine what the UK is post-Brexit – an offshore low-cost manufacturer, and a technology-driven global exporter. HMRC culpable of incomplete evaluation puts shroud over further £14bn reliefs There are many more such poor designed reliefs which probably need pairing back, from Agricultural Property Relief through to VAT relief on new constructions. But the necessary inputs for evaluation are inadequate, and it is unclear if their objectives are being met. The way HMRC looks at reliefs is to consider the tax they generate and the administrative burden they create for tax payers. But there is not enough focus on the costs incurred, and much of what exists is estimated, so comparisons are difficult. This is a major reason why there are so many poorly evaluated reliefs. With this lack of reliable inputs to comprehensively evaluate the £400bn in tax relief, the government is more likely to put most of the worst offenders on the bonfire. The post A bonfire of the tax reliefs? appeared first on Accountancy Age.

https://www.accountancyage.com/2018/09/27/a-bonfire-of-the-tax-reliefs/

#Tax #Brexit #HMRC #tax

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toldnews-blog · 5 years

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New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/world/six-charts-that-show-how-hard-us-sanctions-have-hit-iran/

Six charts that show how hard US sanctions have hit Iran

Image copyright AFP

Image caption The value of Iran’s currency has hit record lows in recent months

Six months of exemptions from US sanctions for countries still buying oil from Iran are ending on Thursday.

President Donald Trump reinstated the sanctions last year after abandoning a landmark nuclear accord, which he wants to renegotiate.

Iran’s leaders have remained defiant in the face of the sanctions and vowed to overcome them, but the substantial impact they have had on the country is clear.

Sliding towards a deep recession

Iran’s economy was badly affected for several years by sanctions imposed by the international community over the country’s nuclear programme.

In 2015, President Hassan Rouhani agreed a deal with the US and five other world powers to limit Iranian nuclear activities in return for the lifting of those sanctions.

The following year, after the deal was implemented, Iran’s economy bounced back and GDP grew 12.3%, according to the Central Bank of Iran.

But much of that growth was attributed to the oil and gas industry, and the recoveries of other sectors were not as significant as many Iranians had hoped.

Growth fell back to 3.7% in 2017, helping to fuel the economic discontent that led to the biggest anti-government protests in Iran for almost a decade that December.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionThe BBC’s James Landale went to Tehran’s Grand Bazaar see what people think of the stringent sanctions

The reinstatement of US sanctions last year – particularly those imposed on the energy, shipping and financial sectors in November – caused foreign investment to dry up and hit oil exports.

The sanctions bar US companies from trading with Iran, but also with foreign firms or countries that are dealing with Iran.

As a result Iran’s GDP contracted by 3.9% in 2018, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF said in late April that it expected the Iranian economy to shrink by 6% in 2019. However, that projection preceded the expiration of the sanctions waivers.

Has Iran’s economy benefited from the nuclear deal?

Oil exports have more than halved

At the start of 2018, Iran’s crude oil production reached 3.8 million barrels per day (bpd), according to data gathered by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). The country was exporting about 2.3 million bpd.

Most of the oil was bought by eight countries or territories that were granted six-month waivers by the US when sanctions on the Iranian energy sector took effect – China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Greece and Italy.

Image copyright AFP

Image caption By March, Iran’s oil exports had fallen to 1.1 million barrels per day on average

So long as those countries cut their purchases of Iranian oil over that period their banks were permitted to continue to conduct transactions for any purpose with the Central Bank of Iran or with any other Iranian banks without risking US penalties.

By March 2019, Iran’s oil exports had fallen to 1.1 million bpd on average, according to the consulting firm SVB Energy International. Taiwan, Greece and Italy had halted imports altogether, while the two biggest buyers – China and India – had reduced them by 39% and 47% respectively. A US official estimated that Iran’s government had lost more than $10bn ($7.7bn) in revenue as a result.

President Trump declared that he “intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero” when he decided to allow the SRE waivers expire on 2 May.

However, it is not clear how much further Iranian oil sales will drop.

China has insisted that its trade with Iran is perfectly legal and that the US has no jurisdiction to interfere. Turkey has said it cannot cut ties with a neighbour.

Iran could also export oil to cover humanitarian needs and might be able to evade the sanctions by exporting oil covertly – something analysts suspect it already does.

Is it about to get more expensive to fill my car?

The value of the rial has plummeted

Image copyright AFP

Image caption Currency traders were offering 143,000 rials to the US dollar at the end of April

President Rouhani kept the Iranian currency stable for almost four years. But it has lost almost 60% of its value against the US dollar on the unofficial market since the US sanctions were reinstated, according to foreign exchange websites.

The fixed official rate of 42,000 rials to the dollar is used for a limited range of transactions, so most Iranians rely on currency traders. Bonbast.com reported that traders were offering 143,000 rials to the dollar on 30 April.

The rial’s slide has been attributed to Iran’s economic problems and a high demand for foreign currency among ordinary Iranians who have seen the value of their savings eroded and worried that the situation will get worse.

The rial has regained some of its value since September 2018, when the Central Bank of Iran released more dollars into the market and authorities cracked down on currency dealers as prices reached a record low of 190,000 to the dollar.

Iran’s currency woes have also led to shortages of imported goods and products that are made with raw materials from abroad, most notably babies’ nappies.

What babies’ nappies tell us about Iran’s economic woes

Living costs have risen dramatically

Image copyright Anadolu Agency

Image caption In the last year, the cost of red meat and poultry has increased by 57%

President Rouhani managed to get inflation down to 9% in 2017. But the IMF estimates that it soared to 31% in 2018 and predicts that it could reach 37% or more this year if oil exports continue to fall.

The plunging value of the rial has affected not only the prices of imported goods but also of locally produced staples. In the past 12 months, the cost of red meat and poultry has increased by 57%, milk, cheese and eggs by 37%, and vegetables by 47%, according to the Statistical Centre of Iran.

The price rises have led to long queues at government-subsidised grocery shops, particularly for rationed meat. In an attempt to lower prices, the government has banned livestock exports, flown in hundreds of thousands of cows and sheep from abroad. But analysts say some Iranian farmers are selling meat in neighbouring countries to obtain foreign hard currency.

There is also a plan to introduce electronic coupons to help the poorest people obtain meat and other essential goods. An estimated 3% of Iranians – some 2.4 million people – were living on less than $1.90 (£1.46) a day in 2016.

The poor have also been hit hard by almost 20% increases in the costs of housing and medical services in the past year.

The IMF’s Jihad Azour told Reuters news agency last week that Iran could help tame inflation by working to eliminate the gap between the rial’s official and unofficial exchange rates.

Iranians describe impact of US sanctions

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sociologyquotes · 7 years

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America’s Imperialist Crimes Against Humanity

from the article Human Rights Day: Sobering Truths About America’s Imperialist Crimes Against Humanity by Harold Pinter and Dr. Gary G. Kohls

“We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, innumerable acts of random murder, misery, degradation and death to the Iraqi people and call it ‘bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle East’. – Harold Pinter

British playwright Harold Pinter won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. His powerful acceptance speech exposed the United States for its fascist, imperialist policies since World War II. His speech (delivered three years before he died in 2008) was an important glimpse into – and a reasonable summary of — the innumerable documentable US imperialistic crimes that have been secretly facilitated by our multinational corporations, our national security apparatus, our military leaders, our wealthy elites and the craven politicians who are beholden to those four realities that have shaped American foreign policy over the past 60 years.

True American patriots, if they really love the United States, must be honest about the dishonorable, dark side of their nation’s history, a history that the rest of the world, especially Pinter, sees so clearly. Understanding that history will clear up any mystery about why the rest of the world fears and hates us.

Real patriots are courageous enough to hear painful truths.

Therefore I present below an extended excerpt from Harold Pinter’s acceptance speech. It was videotaped and posted at: http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=620. For the sake of the future of our children and the planet, please listen to it in its entirety, and then wonder out loud why none of our so-called leaders will ever bring themselves to utter such truths:

“As every single person here knows, the justification for the invasion of Iraq was that Saddam Hussein possessed a highly dangerous body of weapons of mass destruction, some of which could be fired in 45 minutes, bringing about appalling devastation. We were assured that was true.

“It was not true. We were told that Iraq had a relationship with Al Quaeda and shared responsibility for the atrocity in New York of September 11th 2001. We were assured that this was true.

“It was not true. We were told that Iraq threatened the security of the world. We were assured it was true, and it was not true.

“The truth is something entirely different. The truth has to do with how the United States understands its role in the world and how it chooses to embody it.

“I would like to look at the recent past, by which I mean United States foreign policy since the end of the Second World War. I believe it is obligatory for us to subject this period to at least some kind of even limited scrutiny, which is all that time will allow here.

“Everyone knows what happened in the Soviet Union and throughout Eastern Europe during the post-war period: the systematic brutality, the widespread atrocities, the ruthless suppression of independent thought. All this has been fully documented and verified.

“My contention here is that the US crimes in the same period have only been superficially recorded, let alone documented, let alone acknowledged, let alone recognised as crimes at all. I believe this must be addressed and that the truth has considerable bearing on where the world stands now. Although constrained, to a certain extent, by the existence of the Soviet Union, the United States’ actions throughout the world made it clear that it had concluded that it had carte blanche to do what it liked.”

“Low Intensity Conflict” in Central America

“Direct invasion of a sovereign state has never in fact been America’s favoured method. In the main, it has preferred what it has described as ‘low intensity conflict’. Low intensity conflict means that thousands of people die but slower than if you dropped a bomb on them in one fell swoop. It means that you infect the heart of the country, that you establish a malignant growth and watch the gangrene bloom. When the populace has been subdued or beaten to death … the military and the great corporations sit comfortably in power, and they go before the camera and say that democracy has prevailed.

“The tragedy of Nicaragua was a highly significant case. I choose to offer it here as a potent example of America’s view of its role in the world, both then and now.

“I was present at a meeting at the US embassy in London in the late 1980s.

“The United States Congress was about to decide whether to give more money to the Contras in their campaign against the state of Nicaragua. I was a member of a delegation speaking on behalf of Nicaragua but the most important member of this delegation was a Father John Metcalf. The leader of the US body was Raymond Seitz (then number two to the ambassador, later ambassador himself). Father Metcalf said: ‘Sir, I am in charge of a parish in the north of Nicaragua. My parishioners built a school, a health centre, a cultural centre. We have lived in peace. A few months ago a Contra force attacked the parish. They destroyed everything: the school, the health centre, the cultural centre. They raped nurses and teachers, slaughtered doctors, in the most brutal manner. They behaved like savages. Please demand that the US government withdraw its support from this shocking terrorist activity.’

In War, the Innocent People are the Ones Who Suffer the Most

“Ambassador Seitz had a very good reputation as a rational, responsible and highly sophisticated man. He was greatly respected in diplomatic circles. He listened, paused and then spoke with some gravity. ‘Father,’ he said, ‘let me tell you something. In war, innocent people always suffer.’ There was a frozen silence. We stared at him. He did not flinch.

“Innocent people, indeed, always suffer.

“Finally somebody said: ‘But in this case “innocent people” were the victims of a gruesome atrocity subsidised by your government, one among many. If Congress allows the Contras more money further atrocities of this kind will take place. Is this not the case? Is your government not therefore guilty of supporting acts of murder and destruction upon the citizens of a sovereign state?’

“Seitz was imperturbable. ‘I don’t agree that the facts as presented support your assertions,’ he said.

“As we were leaving the embassy a US aide told me that he enjoyed my plays. I did not reply.

“I should remind you that at the time President Reagan made the following statement: ‘The Contras are the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers.’

“The United States supported the brutal Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua for over 40 years. The Nicaraguan people, led by the Sandinistas, overthrew this regime in 1979, a breathtaking popular revolution.

“The death penalty was abolished by the Sandinistas. Hundreds of thousands of poverty-stricken peasants were brought back from the dead. Over 100,000 families were given title to land. Two thousand schools were built. A quite remarkable literacy campaign reduced illiteracy in the country to less than one seventh. Free education was established and a free health service. Infant mortality was reduced by a third. Polio was eradicated.

“The United States denounced these achievements as Marxist/Leninist subversion. In the view of the US government, a dangerous example was being set. If Nicaragua was allowed to establish basic norms of social and economic justice, if it was allowed to raise the standards of health care and education and achieve social unity and national self-respect, neighbouring countries would ask the same questions and do the same things. There was of course at the time fierce resistance to the status quo in El Salvador.”

Reagan’s Tapestry of lies Covered up Gruesome Atrocities

“I spoke earlier about ‘a tapestry of lies’ which surrounds us. President Reagan commonly described Nicaragua as a ‘totalitarian dungeon’. But there was no record of death squads under the Sandinista government. There was no record of torture. There was no record of systematic or official military brutality. No priests were ever murdered in Nicaragua. There were in fact three priests in the government, two Jesuits and a Maryknoll missionary. The ’totalitarian dungeons’ were actually next door, in El Salvador and Guatemala. The United States had brought down the democratically elected government of Guatemala in 1954 and it is estimated that over 200,000 people had been victims of successive military dictatorships.

“Six of the most distinguished Jesuits in the world were viciously murdered at the Central American University in San Salvador in 1989 by a battalion of the Alcatl regiment trained at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA. That extremely brave man Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated while saying mass. It is estimated that 75,000 people died.

“Why were they killed? They were killed because they believed a better life was possible and should be achieved. That belief immediately qualified them as communists. They died because they dared to question the status quo, the endless plateau of poverty, disease, degradation and oppression, which had been their birthright.

“The United States finally brought down the Sandinista government. It took some years and considerable resistance but relentless economic persecution and 30,000 dead finally undermined the spirit of the Nicaraguan people. They were exhausted and poverty stricken once again. The casinos moved back into the country. Free health and free education were over. Big business returned with a vengeance. ‘Democracy’ had prevailed.

“But this ‘policy’ was by no means restricted to Central America. It was conducted throughout the world. It was never-ending. And it is as if it never happened.

Perennial US Support for Right-wing, Anti-democratic, Military Dictatorships

“The United States supported – and in many cases engendered – every right wing military dictatorship in the world after the end of the Second World War. I refer to Indonesia, Greece, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Haiti, Turkey, the Philippines, Guatemala, El Salvador, and, of course, Chile. The horror the United States inflicted upon Chile in 1973 can never be purged and can never be forgiven.

“Hundreds of thousands of deaths took place throughout these countries. Did they take place? And are they in all cases attributable to US foreign policy? The answer is yes they did take place and they are attributable to American foreign policy. But you wouldn’t know it because ‘it never happened.’

“Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It’s a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.

“The United States no longer bothers about low intensity conflict. It no longer sees any point in being reticent or even devious. It puts its cards on the table without fear or favour. It quite simply doesn’t give a damn about the United Nations, international law or critical dissent, which it regards as impotent and irrelevant. It also has its own bleating little lamb tagging behind it on a leash, the pathetic and supine Great Britain.”

The Invasion of Iraq was an act of Blatant State Terrorism

“The invasion of Iraq was a bandit act, an act of blatant state terrorism, demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of international law. The invasion was an arbitrary military action inspired by a series of lies upon lies and gross manipulation of the media and therefore of the public; an act intended to consolidate American military and economic control of the Middle East masquerading – all other justifications having failed to justify themselves – as liberation. A formidable assertion of military force responsible for the death and mutilation of thousands and thousands of innocent people.

“How many people do you have to kill before you qualify as a mass murderer and a war criminal? One hundred thousand? More than enough, I would have thought. Therefore it is right and just that Bush and Blair be arraigned before the International Criminal Court of Justice. But Bush has been clever. He has not ratified the International Criminal Court of Justice. Therefore if any American soldier finds himself in the dock, Bush has warned that he will send in the marines. But Tony Blair has ratified the Court and is therefore available for prosecution. We can let the Court have his address if they’re interested. It is Number 10, Downing Street, London.

“Death in this context is irrelevant. Both Bush and Blair place death well away on the back burner. At least 100,000 Iraqis were killed by American bombs and missiles before the Iraq insurgency began. These people are of no moment. Their deaths don’t exist. They are blank. They are not even recorded as being dead. ‘We don’t do body counts,’ said the American general Tommy Franks.

Full Spectrum Domination is the New American Foreign Policy

“I have said earlier that the United States is now totally frank about putting its cards on the table. That is the case. Its official declared policy is now defined as ‘full spectrum dominance’. That is not my term, it is theirs. ‘Full spectrum dominance’ means control of land, sea, air and space and all attendant resources.

“The United States now occupies 702 military installations throughout the world in 132 countries, with the honourable exception of Sweden, of course. We don’t quite know how they got there but they are there all right.

“The United States possesses 8,000 active and operational nuclear warheads. Two thousand are on hair trigger alert, ready to be launched with 15 minutes warning. It is developing new systems of nuclear force, known as bunker busters. The British, ever cooperative, are intending to replace their own nuclear missile, Trident. Who, I wonder, are they aiming at? Who knows? What we do know is that this infantile insanity – the possession and threatened use of nuclear weapons – is at the heart of present American political philosophy. We must remind ourselves that the United States is on a permanent military footing and shows no sign of relaxing it.

“Many thousands, if not millions, of people in the United States itself are demonstrably sickened, ashamed and angered by their government’s actions, but as things stand they are not a coherent political force – yet. But the anxiety, uncertainty and fear which we can see growing daily in the United States is unlikely to diminish.”

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m7-sanjakulic-blog · 7 years

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Sustainable Diets Healthy Planet

Just before I am about to finish my internship I thought I touch on one more topic of interest. Sustainable diets! What does this mean to you? We are facing yet another concern to our health and all that is connected to public health with our choice in foods. If you ever thought about what you should and shouldn’t eat, you probably just thought about this form your own personal needs. I bet people have told you a variety of diets to try and making this such a confusing this confusing experience. The right information is hard to come by, what you should and shouldn’t eat has been a tough challenge. But when it comes to your diets and your personal needs shouldn’t be the only thing that is essential to consider, but consider what the wider affect of our choices on the people around you are and the environment in which we all live in. When you live in a big city away form where our food is grown its hard to see the impact we are causing and the destruction that takes place. I don’t want to frighten anyone when I say this but our choice of food don’t just impact our waste-lines which will ultimately impact the diseases we may be susceptible to getting, which then impacts the cost of our health system but they impact developing countries, our eco system and the entire planet. We have come to learn that eating the diets we have currently designed for us in the West will have an expiration date and before we are forced to change our consumption patters it's a good time to become more mindful about what we eat now. We are not perfect so it doesn’t have to be a clear cut of your existing habits but small changes are the ones that work the best and are always the ones that last long. If you cannot persuade your parents to reduce their meat intake then be the change you wish to see. If you don’t make this change your future generations will see it and they will not be very forgiving when we leave them in a situation where they struggle at every turn.

Climate change is a huge problem, and the food industry is responsible for 30% of greenhouse emissions across the EU according to the European Environmental Agency (located in Denmark btw). Our food is heavily processed and by the time it reaches our plates it has polluted our planet. Animal agricultural alone is responsible for about 20% of all green house emotions in the world. Our dietary patterns have a strong influence over the demand drawn on the agricultural industry and our choices directly impact this trend of growing greenhouse emissions as well as our direct contribution to a worsening state of climate change. We cannot sustain this level of meat consumption and maintain a balance in our environment.

All this without mentioning the health implications that our current diets have and the long term financial cost of our health care system. There is strong evidence that processed meat and red meat consumption has a strong link to chronic diseases and higher risk of early mortality rates. Not to say that moderate meat consumption cannot be healthy which in deed provides us with good quality protein and fat and lots of bioavailable micronutrients. It's the over consumption that is causing us harm and the environment that we are in. Here in Europe it is recommended that we consume approximately 500g of meat a week if we wish to stay within a healthy norm, whereas generally we currently consume almost 3 times this amount.

This also ties back with the Anti-Microbial resistance I wrote about a couple of weeks. As we consume so much meat and dairy the demand is growing to produce more. This demand forces companies to ensure production can be maximised, meaning that livestock is housed in smaller spaces not only violating animal rights for most of the time but more importantly they draw bacteria of one another and cause various diseases that are harmful to us. To ensure they don’t get sick farmers inject them with small doses of antibiotics meaning that the bacteria if not killed properly will also build resistants to the antibiotics which means if you get infected by this bacteria (can happen if you get food poisoning for example) chances are we won’t have any medicine to help you fight it, because also remember that innovation to antibiotics has slowed down significantly. The added factor of pharmaceutical pollution which is also a key factor to climate change and has to have a more sustainable way of dealing with it.

Overall our demand on the meat and dairy industry is not something that can continue to grow at the rate of 1.8% per year as it does currently. So what can you do to help contribute to a more sustainable diet? 1: Get informed! What are you eating and how do your choices impact the rest of the world. You may not think that your choice makes a difference but I promise you it does. If everyone made a decision to change just something small then collectively the difference is also created. Just like we collectively made a difference to eat so much meat and dairy we can also collectively stop eating it. 2: Make it a meat free Monday every Monday. Financially it will benefit you also and for the meat you will not buy on Mondays you can get saving and planning a holiday and then you can have a meat subsidised holiday. 3: Go visit a farm. Go outdoors and visit some cows and pigs and chickens that may one day end up on your table. Have a chat to those guys see what they have to say about the conditions they live in. I promise you that you cannot walk away from that experience and not feel like you have not connected with them. 4: Vegetarian Recipes are awesome if you would like some I can definitely share, and not to promote Pinterest but that sh** is awesome with the most amazing recipes of all sorts.

Not to mention that increasing your intake of vegetables not only lowers your risks of getting cancer, heart disease or any of these chronic disease now being so heavily part of our society but vegetables protect you form this also. The more varied vegetables you eat and nutrients you get form them the healthier you will be growing older, the better you will feel and less money you will have to spend on medicines and hospital stays. If you have ever been in a hospital you know its not the greatest most euphoric experience you will live to tell the tale of. Is this how you wana spend your free time? Not sure about you but I prefer traveling the world, meeting people and getting the best out of life as long as I can. The answer to that is… EAT VEGETABLES!!!!!!!

Here are some more links

https://epha.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Animal-Farming_Public-Health_Unavoidable-Transition-towards-Sustainable-Healthy-Diets_EPHA.pdf

http://www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2015/articles/agriculture-and-climate-change

http://www.fcrn.org.uk/fcrn-blogs/tim-lang/sustainable-diets-rational-goal-irrational-consumers

#sustainable diets #agriculture #epha #diets #healthy planet #bekind #animal welfare #onelove #healthy economy

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neethypaksham · 3 years

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Recreation of colonial times

A case of unfair trade

It’s about a reasonable price

Right assessment

The ‘green energy’ push

Utsa Patnaik is Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University

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leavingcertnightmares · 4 years

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Industrialisation in less developed countries has driven women, who were the traditional environmental stewards in societies, into positions of powerlessness and poverty and has damaged the environment

I agree with the above statement. There are many examples of industries that continue to exploit female workers under the guise of providing jobs and boosting economy, such as the fashion industry, the tea industry and the water industry. This is largely overlooked by western first world countries as these industries are providing jobs for these developing communities. Unfortunately these jobs are not the economy boosting saviors they seem to be at first glance. The pay is cruelly meager, female employees are paid less than their male counterparts and the pressure to now work is driving women out of their traditional roles as homemaker and environmental stewards.

In the fashion industry women are employed in huge numbers by garment factories to attempt to sustain the western idea of ‘fast fashion’. In Bangladesh garment workers can be paid less than 5,300 taka (62 euro) per month, which is far from the 8,900 taka (104 euro) that is needed to cover a worker’s basic needs, and even further away from a living wage. Many garment workers are working between 60 and 140 hours of overtime per week and it is common to be cheated of the overtime pay. Workers are denied breaks, health and safety is often neglected, and abuse is common. It is not surprising to see women bringing their children to work, as there is no one at home to take care of them. To keep up in the modern market of fast fashion, western fashion brands are outsourcing their production, and can thus step away from their responsibility for the fair and equal treatment of the female garment workers in their employment. Developing countries are competing to produce for multinational brands by offering the lowest costs, and the fastest and most flexible production. In a labour intensive industry such as garment making, this is mainly achieved by making labour cheaper and less formal, that is, by paying lower salaries, push for longer hours, and reducing work and environmental standards. Unfortunately, women in developing countries are so desperate to work to provide for their families that they gladly take these jobs

Yet, there are some who argue that this exploitation is the road to female empowerment. Historically, women’s integration into paid work has been one of the important forces in growing gender equality and freedom. Our theorist Robert Nozick would argue that these women have entered into this employment of their own free will and so any payment, or lack thereof, is legitimate and has no reason to be questioned. Liberal writers such as Leslie T. Chang, argue that the globalised garment industry has had an empowering effect as women from poor backgrounds are able to find work and earn a salary. Sylvia Walby on the other hand would say that this unfair treatment of female garment workers is perpetuating patriarchy in these still developing countries.

The tea industry, especially in Assam, India is also guilty of taking advantage of cheap female labour. The UK’s 6 biggest tea brands :PG Tips, Twinings, Tetley, Yorkshire, Typhoo, and Clipper, comprise about 70% of the UK’s tea market with annual sales of around 500 million pounds (581 million euro), and all use tea grown in Assam as part of some of their blends. Maternal mortality in Assam is the worst in India with 300 women dying per 100,000 live births.(The Indian average is 167 and a UK average is 10). Maternal mortality is even worse in tea estate areas reaching 404 deaths per 100,000 live births. This is comparable to levels in Sub-Saharan Africa and is completely unacceptable in the modern world. Wages on tea estates are set on an Assam wide basis through a formal process every three years, which usually includes tea estate management and a nominated trade union. The current cash wage is 137 rupees (1.76 euros) per day and is below the world bank’s global poverty line of 1.90 euros a day. The low level of the cash wage, which is less than half of the hahah. Indian national minimum wage of 300 rupees (3.86 euro) per day for unskilled agricultural workers, is justified by tea estate owners who point to the ‘in kind’ benefits they are obliged to provide.

Additional ‘in-kind’ benefits include services such as housing, sanitation, health facilities and primary schools. Subsidised food rations are also provided.However these benefits can hardly be called such. Sanitation is minimal or non-existent with open defecation the norm when working, food rations are barely enough to live on, and housing is often damp and in disrepair. About 20% of maternal deaths globally are partly a consequence of anaemia. In Assam’s tea gardens, where overall malnutrition is rife, it is lethal. Therefore it is quite simple to see the connection between the female workers bad treatment and the enormous rates of maternal death. Treatment is growing worse for the workers is Assam’s 800 odd tea gardens as yield is becoming less and less each year due to climate change.

The effects of Assam’s tea industry on women is very similar to India’s farming industry, into which Vandana Shiva, one of our core theorists, has done much research. It is driving women away from their traditional roles as respected matriarchs and household leaders. She puts forward the idea of ecofeminism, where womens vital role in sustaining the earth and the economy, is recognised, and where people are equally responsible for tending the well being of earth and society. She would abhor the tea industries treatment of women and their seizing of power and freedom from their workers.

In contrast to the fashion and tea industries, the water industry in developing countries is seeing a huge rise in women in water management. For example in the 1980s, the government of Malawi began providing piped water to low-income households in 50 districts, establishing community-run tap committees to collect bills and manage systems. Men made up 90 percent of committee membership, and problems quickly became apparent. Over the decades, the tap committees failed to collect payments and manage their money. This resulted in members leaving in throes. To salvage the project, the government began recruiting women as water managers in the committees, and trained them. Once women made up the majority of members, they paid water bills more reliably, held regular meetings with high attendance rates, and redesigned communal taps to be more user-friendly. As the water collectors and users of the water for domestic chores such as cleaning, cooking and washing. Women were already the primary water decision-makers at the household level. Many women water users have invaluable insights about the design, operation, and maintenance of water systems and as such, water projects can become more effective when women participate. These water schemes have been a major leap forward in developing countries, they have provided well paying jobs that are valuable to the development of communities.

However women's representation in the overall water, sanitation and hygiene sector (WASH) is dismal, from community water groups like the ones in Malawi to the national policy level. In 2014, women made up less than 17 percent of the WASH labor force in developing countries. They were particularly underrepresented in technical jobs such as engineers, and in leadership roles such as policymakers, regulators and managers. In an increasingly water-stressed world, many countries and regions face the risk of political instability or conflict over water. For this reason, women's lack of involvement in the water sector is troubling not only for gender equity, but for peace and security as well. Fortunately these numbers are on the rise exponentially and one can hope that they will be nearly equal by the time the situation is dire.

The rise in female representation within water schemes is something both Walby and Shiva would recognize as a step in the right direction. It subscribes to Shiva’s ideas on thinking in circles (sustainably) and not taking women out of their traditional roles, as women were already the main water sourcers in families. And it combats patriarchy within industry, one of Walby’s six structures of patriarchy.

Personally I think industrialisation has had a predominantly bad effect on women and the environment. It took some research to find a positive case study, which I think speaks to the sheer volume of negative cases. In most areas of industry women have been exploited and the environment harmed irreparably, but I think there is hope for the future that it can be turned around. Although it may take some time, progress is progress.

#politics

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iasshikshalove · 4 years

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Daily News Articles/Editorials 27th March 2020

Daily News Articles/Editorials 27th March 2020 DEVISING A PEOPLE-CENTRIC RESPONSE TO COVID-19 THEME: We urgently need an economic stimulus to protect livelihoods in the period of lockdown India is at an extremely critical stage in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. A lockdown was inevitable. About 21 States, including Kerala, had already announced lockdowns of various durations before the Prime Minister’s announcement. It is important that we stand united in facing this grave crisis

As we make our way through the lockdown, the State has major responsibilities.

It must take a leadership role in enforcing the lockdown while upholding the rights and dignity of people, it must educate the citizens on the dos and don’ts of rules to follow, and it must take all sections of society with it.

The health machinery has to work round the clock. At the same time, it is imperative that citizens shoulder their responsibilities and follow the rules of the lockdown strictly and diligently.

Each life is precious, and any drop in our guard can quickly raise the number of the infected, thereby undermining the gains achieved.

The lockdown period should be used by the Centre to not just break the infection chain, but to isolate the infected from the general population and treat those who require it with varying degrees of hospitalisation, including intensive care.

I welcome the announcement of the Prime Minister to set aside ₹15,000 crore for emergencies. However, we need clarity on how this money will be spent and on how States will be helped by the Centre in the expansion of health infrastructure.

Working together on Health:

The Union Government has made some important announcements on March 26.

While I welcome the relief package, I also urge that it be expanded in the coming days.

While we must build up national-level preparedness, we must also remember that health is a State subject, and that State governments are an integral part of the governance of the nation.

Fiscal federalism, decentralised governance and flexibility to the States to meet their particular needs and requirements should be a part of the fight against the virus, including coping with the lockdown and the economic recovery to follow.

The Central government should create consultative bodies consisting of Union and State Ministers to identify bottlenecks and assess progress.

In Kerala, we are making the utmost efforts to ensure that the supply of essential commodities, particularly food and medicines, is maintained and that the vulnerable sections of society are specifically protected.

As soon as the Kerala government closed pre-schools and schools on March 10, our Women and Child Development Department made available, without missing a day’s allotment, the mandated quantities of rice, pulses, broken wheat/semolina, peanuts, jaggery, oil to all pre-school children in each anganwadi centre.

It also took steps to distribute ‘Take Home Ration’ for pregnant/lactating mothers and children aged six months to three years.

We undertook this intervention for 33,115 centres, and we were able to protect the nutritional needs of close to 8.3 lakh children. In some anganwadis, vegetables and eggs were also distributed.

The Kerala Approach:

Kerala will ensure availability of essential goods and services, and our government will not permit a single person to starve during the lockdown.

We have energised our Public Distribution System (PDS) to ensure that all households that do not figure in the priority list get 15 kg of free food supplies for a month.

This is in addition to the allocation of 35 kg per household for those in the priority category. We also plan to distribute food kits, with basic grocery items and vegetables.

To the deserving people now in quarantine, the government is already distributing such kits. Home delivery is being arranged to avoid crowding of people in PDS outlets and grocery shops.

We plan to engage our local bodies to lead this effort at the ground level. Further, nutritious meal plates at ₹20 per plate are being served through 1,000 canteens of the State government.

Our Industries Department directed its public sector enterprises (PSEs) to raise the production and supply of hand sanitiser bottles; they immediately responded by producing an additional one lakh bottles per day.

The Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a PSE, has been provided with ₹25 crore to ensure adequate supply of medicines required for COVID-19 treatment.

Inmates of our prisons, self-help groups under the government’s Kudumbashree Mission, and enterprises operating from our rubber parks were mobilised to increase the production of N95, triple layer and double layer face masks as well as surgical gloves.

Our Khadi PSEs have been asked to supply adequate number of bed sheets and towels for disposable use in the hospitals.

We have asked Internet Service Providers in the State to increase their network capacity by 30% to 40% to ensure that people can work from home.

While we enforce the lockdown in all its seriousness, we should not lose sight of the other major challenge in front of us.

India has a high share of poor in its population, most of whom suffer from multiple economic and social deprivations.

They earn their livelihoods from the informal and unorganised sectors, where there is neither job security nor continuity of income flows. Their livelihoods have to be protected through the lockdown period.

Economic Package:

This is where the Kerala government has taken an initiative and come forward to announce a ₹20,000 crore economic revival package. We have a borrowing capacity of about ₹25,000 crore during the financial year 2020-21.

We have requested the Central government to allow us to borrow half of this debt (about ₹12,500 crore) in April 2020 itself. This will be a major source of the ₹20,000 crore package the government has announced.

This frontloading should not mean less expenditure later in the year. So, we are also requesting the Central government to provide us with flexibility under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. We are hoping that the Centre will permit this.

Our economic package of ₹20,000 crore will be spent roughly as follows. Two months of welfare pensions will be paid in advance to the pension beneficiaries.

For those not eligible for welfare pensions, ₹1,320 crore has been set aside for providing an assistance of ₹1,000 per family from the BPL and Antyodaya sections.

Another ₹100 crore has been set aside for providing free food grains to families in need, while ₹50 crore has been set aside for the provision of subsidised meals at ₹20 per meal.

Around ₹500 crore has been set aside for a comprehensive health package, where focus will be on improving public health infrastructure and equipping the State to face such epidemics.

Loans worth ₹2,000 crore will be distributed through the Kudumbashree Mission. ₹2,000 crore has been set aside for the expansion of the employment guarantee programme.

Further, around ₹14,000 crore has been set aside to clear all the arrears of the State government till April 2020.

Passenger vehicles have also been given tax relief. Autos and taxis have been given relaxation on payment of fitness charges.

There is relaxation in the deadlines of water and electricity bill payment for affected firms. Entertainment taxes for cinema halls have been reduced.

Let this be the period in which we end fiscal conservatism. Extraordinary times require extraordinary action. The strict rules of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act should be set aside.

We urgently need an economic stimulus to protect the people and livelihoods in the period of lockdown.

Today the world must stand together in the battle for the safety and well being of humanity.

We must draw strength and lessons from global and national experiences even as we redouble our efforts in building a people-centric response to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SAFEGUARDING THE VULNERABLE AMONG USTHEME:

The effectiveness of our response will be judged by what we do to protect the weakest sections of our society.

The human dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic reach far beyond the critical health response. All aspects of our future will be affected — economic, social and developmental. Our response must be urgent, coordinated and on a global scale, and should immediately deliver help to those most in need.

From workplaces, to enterprises, to national and global economies, getting this right is predicated on social dialogue between government and those on the front line — the employers and workers, so that the 2020s don’t become a re-run of the 1930s.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that as many as 25 million people could become unemployed, with a loss of workers’ income of as much as $3.4 trillion. However, it is already becoming clear that these numbers may underestimate the magnitude of the impact.

This pandemic has mercilessly exposed the deep fault lines in our labour markets. Enterprises of all sizes have already stopped operations, cut working hours and laid off staff.

Many are teetering on the brink of collapse as shops and restaurants close, flights and hotel bookings are cancelled, and businesses shift to remote working.

Often the first to lose their jobs are those whose employment was already precarious — sales clerks, waiters, kitchen staff, baggage handlers and cleaners.

Weak safety nets:

In a world where only one in five people are eligible for unemployment benefits, lay-offs spell catastrophe for millions of families.

Because paid sick leave is not available to many carers and delivery workers — those we all now rely on — they are often under pressure to continue working even if they are ill. In the developing world, piece-rate workers, day labourers and informal traders may be similarly pressured by the need to put food on the table.

We will all suffer because of this. It will not only increase the spread of the virus but, in the longer-term, dramatically amplify cycles of poverty and inequality.

We have a chance to save millions of jobs and enterprises, if governments act decisively to ensure business continuity, prevent lay-offs and protect vulnerable workers.

We should have no doubt that the decisions they take today will determine the health of our societies and economies for years to come.

Unprecedented, expansionary fiscal and monetary policies are essential to prevent the current headlong downturn from becoming a prolonged recession.

We must make sure that people have enough money in their pockets to make it to the end of the week — and the next. This means ensuring that enterprises — the source of income for millions of workers — can remain afloat during the sharp downturn and so are positioned to restart as soon as conditions allow.

In particular, tailored measures will be needed for the most vulnerable workers, including the self-employed, part-time workers and those in temporary employment, who may not qualify for unemployment or health insurance and who are harder to reach.

Flattening the curve:

As governments try to flatten the upward curve of infection, we need special measures to protect the millions of health and care workers (most of them women) who risk their own health for us every day.

Truckers and seafarers, who deliver medical equipment and other essentials, must be adequately protected. Teleworking offers new opportunities for workers to keep working, and employers to continue their businesses through the crisis.

However, workers must be able to negotiate these arrangements so that they retain balance with other responsibilities, such as caring for children, the sick or the elderly, and of course, themselves.

Many countries have already introduced unprecedented stimulus packages to protect their societies and economies and keep cash flowing to workers and businesses.

To maximise the effectiveness of those measures, it is essential for governments to work with employers’ organisations and trade unions to come up with practical solutions, which keep people safe and to protect jobs.

These measures include income support, wage subsidies and temporary lay-off grants for those in more formal jobs, tax credits for the self-employed, and financial support for businesses.

But as well as strong domestic measures, decisive multilateral action must be a keystone of a global response to a global enemy.

In these most difficult of times, I recall a principle set out in the ILO’s Constitution: “Poverty anywhere remains a threat to prosperity everywhere.”

It reminds us that, in years to come, the effectiveness of our response to this existential threat may be judged not just by the scale and speed of the cash injections, or whether the recovery curve is flat or steep, but by what we did for the most vulnerable among us.

HOW iaINDIA CONTAIN THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID-19THEME:

COVID-19 pandemic has effectively brought normal life to a halt in India.

The importance of social distancing and a lockdown in curbing the spread of the virus cannot be stressed enough, but these measures also have huge repercussions on livelihoods and the economy at large, which has already been seeing a slowdown over the past year.

#best ias coaching in bangalore #ias #IAS Exam #ias preparation #UPSC #upsc exam #upsc exams

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wlreports-blog · 5 years

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Mohita Gupta, Deccan Healthcare: India's Transformational Leader 2019

#TransformationalLeader2019

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bharatiyamedia-blog · 5 years

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Aviation Turbine Gasoline worth reduce by 5.8% to a four-month low as crude oil charges soften; subsidised LPG by Rs 3

http://tinyurl.com/y5kbjg4e New Delhi: Jet gasoline worth was on Monday reduce by a steep 5.Eight % to a four-month low on softening worldwide oil costs, in response to state-owned gasoline retailers. Aviation Turbine Gasoline (ATF) worth in Delhi was reduce by Rs 3,806.44 per kilolitre to Rs 61,200.36 per kl. That is the second straight month-to-month worth discount. State-owned gasoline advertising and marketing corporations revise ATF costs on 1st of each month primarily based on common of benchmark worldwide oil worth within the earlier month. Representational picture. Reuters In Mumbai, residence to nation’s busiest airport, ATF worth was reduce to Rs 61,199.79 per kl from Rs 64,946.04 per kl, in response to a worth notification issued by oil corporations. Charges had been final reduce by a marginal Rs 61.05 per kl on June. Discount in ATF charges will deliver aid to money strapped airways. Concurrently, oil corporations additionally reduce the worth of cooking fuel LPG. Subsidised LPG charge was decreased by Rs 3.02 per 14.2-kg cylinder to Rs 494.35 in Delhi. In Mumbai, the subsidised 14.2-kg bottle will value Rs 492.04 as in comparison with Rs 495.09 until Sunday. The speed reduce has come after 4 month-to-month will increase since March. In all, charges have gone up by Rs 3.84 per cylinder. Following the identical sample, the price of non-subsidised LPG – the one that buyers purchase after exhausting their quota of 12 bottles of 14.2-kg at under market worth, was reduce by Rs 100.5 to Rs 637. The month-to-month 25 paise per litre improve in kerosene worth continued for the 24th month in a row. Whereas Delhi has been declared kerosene-free metropolis after LPG penetration reached 100 % of the inhabitants, the subsidised gasoline in Mumbai now prices Rs 32.18 per litre as in comparison with Rs 31.92 a litre final month. Charges have been elevated by 25 paise per litre each month since July 2016 with a view to eliminating subsidy on the cooking gasoline. Worth of subsidised kerosene, bought via the general public distribution system on ration playing cards, has greater than doubled for the reason that 25 paisa hikes had been launched. The gasoline was priced at Rs 15.02 per litre in Mumbai earlier than the hike was launched. Non-subsidised or market priced kerosene charge was reduce to Rs 61,926.40 per kl (Rs 61.92 per litre) in Mumbai from Rs 63,932.40 per kl (Rs 63.93 per litre) in June. On the present charge, it will take one other two years to eradicate all of the subsidies on kerosene. Your information to the newest cricket World Cup tales, evaluation, stories, opinions, reside updates and scores on https://www.firstpost.com/firstcricket/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2019.html. Comply with us on Twitter and Instagram or like our Facebook web page for updates all through the continuing occasion in England and Wales. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function() {n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)} ; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '259288058299626'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_GB/all.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.9&appId=1117108234997285"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); window.fbAsyncInit = function () { FB.init({appId: '1117108234997285', version: 2.4, xfbml: true}); // *** here is my code *** if (typeof facebookInit == 'function') { facebookInit(); } }; (function () { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; e.async = true; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }()); function facebookInit() { console.log('Found FB: Loading comments.'); FB.XFBML.parse(); } Source link

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