Sagar Media Inc
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced a raft of growth
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a government work report during the opening meeting of the fourth session of the 12th National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2016.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced a raft of growth-supportive measures on Saturday that include investment in infrastructure and an emphasis on innovation to prevent the economy from falling too quickly this year.
According to a government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at the annual parliamentary meetings, China will invest 1.65 trillion yuan (2,530 billion U.S. dollars) on road construction and 800 billion yuan on new railways.
Other investment for the year includes 20 water conservation projects and projects ranging from hydropower and nuclear power to urban rail transit and urban underground pipelines.
Though such concentrated investment might give the impression China is returning to the old strategy of investment-led growth, the premier gave his reassurance that they are effective investments.
China is working to transition to self-sustaining growth, a departure from wasteful investment fed by unbridled credit expansion. A more efficient network of roads and better use of clean energy fit the ambition.
Investment will also go toward sophisticated projects such as deep space exploration, aero-engine and robot development. China’s expenditures on research and development in the next five years will be 2.5 percent of its gross domestic product, up from 2 percent last year, according to the draft 13th Five-Year Plan unveiled the same day.
Following 6.9-percent economic growth in 2015, China set this year’s target in the range of 6.5 to 7 percent. Bloomberg said this is “testing but achievable.”
The fiscal and monetary policies are becoming more accommodative. This year’s budget deficit-to-GDP ratio was raised to 3 percent, up from 2.3 percent last year. The growth of M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, was proposed to be 13 percent, one percentage point higher than last year’s target.
Based on China’s economic size last year, a rise of 0.7 percentage point in the deficit translates into an extra 470 billion yuan at the government’s disposal. Central bank officials said last week that it will implement a prudent monetary policy with “an easing bias.”
Stephen Roger, senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, told Xinhua that China has “ample fiscal space” to increase its budget deficit, and it is “both wise and prudent to minimize risks by taking out insurance in the form of proactive fiscal policy.”
A wave of job losses is on the horizon as China works to slim down its inefficient state-owned enterprises, and this year’s crop of college graduates is estimated at around 7.7 million, so adequate economic expansion and job creation are needed to prevent social instability. The 6.5 to 7 percent growth rate can generate enough new jobs, according to Li.
Analysts have urged using the budget increase wisely. Liu Shangxi, director of China Fiscal Science Institute, said the increased budget cannot be used simply as bailout money for “zombie enterprises.”
“The temporary fiscal easing offers China a window to facilitate structural reform, which is its top priority,” Liu said.
Aside from these investment plans, Premier Li reiterated that China will continue with supply-side structural reforms and foster new growth engines through innovation and entrepreneurship.
The government will set up some state-level innovation platforms this year, Li said.
Supply-side reforms seek to advance economic restructuring by reducing ineffective and low-end supply, and boost productivity by expanding medium and high-end supply,
“Supply-side structural reforms mean both challenges and opportunities for enterprises. By aligning our production with what the market really demands and putting a higher premium on better products and services, we can avoid the fate of elimination by the market,” said Liang Fengyi, president of Guangdong Real Faith Enterprise Group Co., Ltd. and a deputy to the National People’s Congress.
With increased investment in research and development, the Foshan-based private enterprise specializing in LED lighting products is unfazed by the economic headwinds. Its deep-water fishing lamps, a new product line, have received many orders from Southeast Asia, Liang told Xinhua.
China’s emphasis on innovation-driven growth has cheered global investors as it ushers in more opportunities for cooperation.
“The United Kingdom offers a mature, proven system to promote innovation, and our two countries can take cooperation to a new level here,” Jeff Astle, executive director of the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC), told Xinhua.
CBBC will hold a forum on “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education” this month in the port city of Tianjin and will release a report on the Made in China 2025 Initiative for UK companies to work with Chinese companies.
Analysts have also advised patience. Improving supply-side quality and efficiency is a long-term process and we should not expect to see the benefits immediately, CBBC said.
“Innovation doesn’t work the way low-cost manufacturing does. Innovation cannot be legislated. An innovation-based economy must accept failure as a necessary part of the process,” Robert Lawrence Kuhn, an international corporate strategist, told Xinhua in an e-mail.
“Dramatic changes cause pervasive problems, and China is confronted with contradictions and challenges. The most effective and robust policy to facilitate China’s transition is greater competition,” Kuhn said. Enditem
Donald: Pakistan’s nuclear weapons need to be protected
Donald Trump dropped his two cents about Pakistan’s nuclear capability and somehow linked it to the presence of US forces in Afghanistan.
Responding to a question on Afghanistan during the Republican presidential debate, Trump said that the US needs to stay in Afghanistan because its immediate neighbour, Pakistan, has nuclear weapons which have to be protected.
Apparently oblivious to the fact that the US has been eager to thin its presence in Afghanistan and seeking Pakistan’s help to bring peace to the region, Trump said, “I think you have to stay in Afghanistan for a while, because of the fact that you are right next to Pakistan, which has nuclear weapons, and we have to protect that.”
The Obama administration reduced the presence of American forces to fewer than 10,000 with an aim to bringing it further down to a little over 5,000. The administration has declared that the mission of the remaining forces is to train, advise and assist Afghan counter-parts and not participate in any combat operations.
On the other hand, the United States has also expressed confidence, a number of times, in Pakistan’s commitment and dedication to nuclear security and appreciation of Pakistan’s efforts to improve its strategic trade controls. Even Pakistan’s engagement with the international community on nuclear safety and security issues have been repeatedly recogniszed.
The State Department has made it public as well that the administration has been in regular discussions with the Government of Pakistan on a range of issues on important shared interests, including nuclear security, counter-terrorism and fostering a stable Afghanistan.
For a while, the administration has been encouraging Pakistan and India to have improved relations, but Trump has already suggested to bet India against Pakistan. In a radio interview in September last year he said, “You have to get India involved. India’s the check to Pakistan.”
Donald Trump has been gaining popularity among right wingers. Last week he came closer to the Republican nomination when he bagged seven out of the eleven states where Republicans were voting. Since then the Republican Party establishment has been weary of Trump’s political successes and want to halt him believing that he’s not a conservative but a showman.
The Media freedom in Turkey collapse
Turkish police use water cannons to disassemble the crowd protesting outside the headquarters of the opposition Zaman newspaper. Turkish police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds protesting outside the headquarters of the opposition Zaman newspaper. They moved in to secure the premises following a government decision to take over the management of the media group. Police officers pushed their way inside the building.
“Throw him off the staircase!” one of the officers allegedly shouted, as the raid squad pushed one of the publication’s employees down to the hall, according to a tweet written by a Zaman employee.Zaman Editor-in-Chief Sevgi Akarcesme said that during the raid she was pushed by police as authorities tried to take her out of the building.
“Throw him off the staircase!” one of the officers allegedly shouted, as the raid squad pushed one of the publication’s employees down to the hall, according to a tweet written by a Zaman employee.Zaman Editor-in-Chief Sevgi Akarcesme said that during the raid she was pushed by police as authorities tried to take her out of the building.
“A police officer grabbed my phone forcefully while I was broadcasting on Periscope. I’ll sue him when the rule of law is back. Unbelievable!” she tweeted. “This is beyond comprehension! Such a sad day in Turkey!”
The police had gone to the management floor in the building, and were preventing editors from entering their offices. The journalists were shut out of their offices while police allegedly confiscated their cell phones, according to reports on social media.The raid began shortly before midnight after a day of standoffs between police and opposition protesters furious about what they call a government crackdown on the free press.
Watch press freedom in Turkey collapse as police raid #Zaman, tear gas just used.The biggest opposition publication is being accused by the state of alleged links to America-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the government accuses of attempting to topple the regime.
The decision by Istanbul 6th Criminal Court of Peace to de facto censor the publication was granted after the request of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, that accused the publication of taking orders from what it called the “Fethullahist Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure (FETO/PDY).”
The prosecutor said that the alleged terrorist group is working together with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) with the aim of toppling the Turkish government.
State Cabinet clears final notification on plastic ban
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Bengaluru: Mar 04, 2016, DHNS:
BBMP officials, members of local bodies can enforce ban
The State Cabinet on Thursday cleared a final notification to ban the manufacture and use of various kinds of plastic items including carry bags, banners, buntings, flags, flexes, plates, thermocol cups, spreading sheets, among others, irrespective of their thickness.
The ban will come into effect once the notification is gazetted. The Cabinet, however, has not fixed a timeframe to gazette the notification, sources said. There was no official briefing after the cabinet meeting as the legislature is in session.
The Forest, Ecology and Environment Department in October 2015, had issued a draft notification to ban manufacture, supply, storage, transportation, sales, distribution and use of nearly a dozen kinds of plastic items. Products made out of thermocol and microbeads are also included in the list. The department had called for objections and suggestions from the public within 30 days.
The department received as many as 1,600 objections and suggestions. According to officials in the department most of the objections were plastic manufacturers and traders associations who felt that the plastic ban was not practical. Moreover, it would hit the livelihood of thousands of persons and their families working in the plastic industry. The traders in their objections had also pointed out that hundreds of them had availed loans to start work in the plastic industry and that they would go bankrupt if the ban is put in place.
The Cabinet, on Thursday, approved the final notification that seeks to impose the ban under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act. Sources said that no major changes have been made in the final notification.
According to the notification, top administrative officials in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, deputy commissioners of districts, health officers, members of local bodies in the State, assistant commissioners, tahsildars in taluks, environmental officers of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, officers of the Commercial Taxes Department and Food and Civil Supplies Department will be conferred with the power to enforce the ban.
Legal action would be initiated against those who violate the ban and cases booked in the jurisdictional court of law as per section 19 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The Growth Net 2016
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The Growth Net 2016
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Naresh, You and I have a lot of things in common.
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Care2 is launching Activist University, a new live training series with Care2 staff that’s designed to help you build support for your causes.
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Forum on the Role of Religious Leaders in Preventing Incitement to Violence
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United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect: Forum on the Role of Religious Leaders in Preventing Incitement to Violence
4 March 2016
Working together over two days in Washington, DC, religious leaders and representatives of faith based organisations from the Americas developed an important regional strategy to prevent and counter incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence in the region. The meeting, on 29 February and 1 March, was convened by the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect in partnership with the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, the United States Institute of Peace and the World Council of Churches.
Recent years have seen a significant escalation in tensions among and against groups of different religions or beliefs, which has often resulted in violence. Incidents of violence have been preceded or accompanied by hate speech and incitement, including in public discourse and the social media. The meeting in Washington was the third in a series of regional meetings aimed at developing strategies to implement the global plan of action for the prevention of incitement developed by religious leaders from around the world in Fez, Morocco, on 23-24 April 2015.
Adama Dieng, United Nation Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, noted that “Religious leaders from across the Americas are already taking courageous action to prevent and respond to all forms of racism and incitement to violence based on identity. They must be supported nationally, regionally and internationally.”
The regional strategy developed in Washington included recommendations to map existing initiatives; monitor and publicise acts of hatred and incitement that could lead to violence; develop alternative messages in response to hate speech and hate crimes; build robust multi-faith social action and strategic communication campaigns and develop specific educational tools to promote the values of diversity and respond to incitement to violence.
Specific to the Central and South American context, religious actors highlighted the importance of historical memory and truth seeking processes; promoting debates on gender equality within religious institutions; the prevention of gender-based and domestic violence; creating a Central American network aimed at tackling youth violence associated with criminal activity and enhancing the protection of religious leaders who are courageously working to prevent and counter hatred and radicalization.
For more information, images or interview opportunities please contact:Simona Cruciani: Cruciani@un.org, +1-917-367-5430
Status of Allegations, Investigations and Actions (Sexual Exploitation and Abuse)
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From 2015 onwards, detailed information about allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse is provided in the annual Report of the Secretary-General on Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse. This section of the website provides updates to the information provided in this report, as it is received.
Information about new allegations is also provided in this section of the website as it is received and assessed by the Heads of Missions, by DFS/DPKO and/or by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). Incidents of possible misconduct can be reported to Conduct and Discipline Teams in field missions, OIOS or other entities. Reconciliation of information received by the various entities takes place. This is a continuous process that aims to confirm whether information received refers to new allegations. An assessment of the information received is then made. Updates to this section of the website will be made once reconciliation and assessment of information has been completed.
Due to space limitations, the table on the website includes only a basic view of the information available. A full view of the information is available in PDF format. If you apply filters before opening the table in PDF view, only the filtered information will be displayed in the PDF.
For the total number of allegations recorded, please refer to the statistics section on “Allegations for All Categories of Personnel per Year (Sexual Exploitation and Abuse)”.
For further guidance on how to read the information contained in the table, click here.
Note: In cases marked with ** in the Results column, personnel from more than one nationality are involved. Currently, such cases appear on more than one row, with a row for each nationality, although the matter still refers to one case. Changes to the display method, to be implemented in April 2016, will move the information into one row reflecting all nationalities involved.
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