M6.6 – NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
| Magnitude | 6.6 |
| Date-Time |
|
| Location | 5.462S 151.396E |
| Depth | 39 km |
| Distances |
|
Italian Upper House Chair,Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati is First Lady
Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, a Forza Italia MP, has been appointed speaker of Italian Senate, local media report. She has become the first woman in the country’s history to chair the parliament’s upper house.
Casellati is a staunch ally of Forza Italia’s leader Silvio Berlusconi. She graduated from the Pontifical Lateran University and practiced as a matrimonial lawyer for several years, having joined Forza Italia in 1994.
Tata Steel Adventure Foundation mountaineers are all set for the Mount Everest Expedition 2018
Tata Steel Adventure Foundation mountaineers are all set for the Mount Everest Expedition 2018
~ Expedition organised by Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) in association with Tata Steel ~
New Delhi, March 26, 2018: Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF), today, announced the commencement of ‘Tata Steel Mount Everest Expedition 2018’. Three mountaineers, Ms Swarnalata Dalai, Ms Poonam Rana, Mr Sandeep Toliya, Senior Instructor, TSAF have been selected for the challenge. All the three mountaineers are trained and mentored by Ms. Bachendri Pal, Chief Adventure Programme, Tata Steel.
The three adventurers will be leaving New Delhi on March 27, 2018 by flight to Kathmandu for their Everest Mission. They will start the trek from Jiri, which is along the route taken by Ms Bachendri Pal during her Mount Everest Expedition in 1984. This will further help the climbers to build on their mental and physical fitness.
Speaking about the expedition, Ms Bachendri Pal, Chief, Adventure Programme, Tata Steel said, “Tata Steel has always believed in empowering individuals to stand up to the challenges in their lives and scale new heights. Mt. Everest represents the epitome of challenge that tests the abilities of human endeavor, leadership, strengths and weaknesses. The skills and expertise learnt for an expedition to scale Mt. Everest helps the climbers to become leaders in their spheres of life and in contributing significantly to the community and the organisations they work for.” She further added, “We wish the very best to our three mountaineers for their conquest of Mt. Everest.”
The two girls and the instructor have been through rigorous training programme by TSAF. The trio has been trained to navigate extreme climatic conditions and to carry heavy load up and down the mountain slopes, and sleep in tents like they will be doing on Mt Everest.
For the past one year, the mountaineers have been provided the right exposure and opportunity to participate in various expeditions to improve their mountaineering skills and stamina, thereby preparing them for Mt Everest.
The details of the three climbers on Mission Everest are as follows:
a) Swarnalata Dalai, a 20-year old tribal girl from Odisha known for her mountaineering skills and excellent performance in her journey of mountaineering. In 2017, Ms Dalai had participated in Mt. Rudugaira Expedition under the Biju Patnaik Himalayan Expedition. She also participated in a few other expeditions like the Roopkund Trek in Garhwal, one of the toughest treks and the Indian Women’s Gokyo – Everest Grand Circle Expedition, which paved her way for selection to the Mt. Everest Expedition 2018. She is being supported by TSAF and Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of Odisha.
b) Poonam Rana, a 21-year gritty lady from Uttarakhand who has completed her basic and advance mountaineering courses and trekked to Everest Base Camp in April 2017. She has been working with TSAF as camp in-charge.
c) Sandeep Toliya has been working with TSAF for more than 10 years as a Senior Instructor. He has done basic and advance mountaineering courses, Method of Instruction, Outdoor Educator Semester at National Outdoor Leadership Course, USA, Trip Leader Course at NOLS, Ranikhet. He has climbed multiple peaks in Himalayas that include Mt Bhagirathi 2, Mt. Rudugaira, Mt Kanamo, Stok Kangri, and Karakoram Pass and trekked to Everest base camp. He is also one of the Instructors in TSAFs outdoor leadership programmes for corporates and B schools.
About Tata Steel
Tata Steel Group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 27.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) as on March 31, 2017. It is the world’s second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $18.12 billion (INR 117,420 crore) in FY17. Tata Steel Group is spread across five continents with an employee base of nearly 70,000. Having bagged the Deming Application Prize and Deming Grand Prize for continuous improvement in 2008 and 2012 respectively, Tata Steel has now been recognised as the global ‘Industry Leader’ in ‘Steel category’ by Dow Jones Sustainability Index (2015). Besides being a member of the World Steel Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel has also been felicitated with several awards including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2013-14 (received in 2017), Best Risk Management by CNBC TV18 (2016), ‘Best-in-class Manufacturing’ award from TIME India (2016) and the ‘Most Ethical Company’ award from the Ethisphere Institute (2016), IIM Sustainability Award (2015), among several others.
6.4 Magnitude Quake hit coast of eastern Indonesia
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake has struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Tanimbar Islands according to the US Geological Survey (USGS) after 8am on early hrs of Monday 26 March 2018.
The quake rocked an area 214 kilometres northwest of Saumlaki just after 8pm (UTC).
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 171.5 kilometers, according to the USGS. There were no initial reports of injuries or damage.
A tsunami alert was called by the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS). Later , IOTWMS followed up with a second bulletin that said there was “no threat to countries in the Indian Ocean”.
The quake‘s epicentre was located in a sparsely inhabited part of the Banda Sea, 222 kilometres northwest from Indonesia‘s Tanimbar Islands and 380 kilometres from Ambon, the capital of Maluku province.
A similar 6.1 magnitude quake hit close to today’s epicentre on 26 February and caused no damage.
Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismic activity hotspot.
It is frequently hit by quakes, most of them harmless.
Egypt President election El-Sissi & Moussa Mustafa Moussa in fray
Campaigning for Egypt’s presidential elections has begun. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is against Moussa Mustafa Moussa the later is late entrant and former is strong contender.
Polls opened in Egypt’s presidential election on Monday with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi widely expected to secure a second term in office. The election will last three days. A general-turned-president,
El-Sissi is challenged by Moussa Mustafa Moussa. The little-known politician joined the race at the last minute to avoid a one-candidate election, AP said.
A number of other presidential hopefuls stepped forward earlier this year, but Moussa has made no effort to challenge El-Sissi, and the president has never mentioned his challenger in public. There are nearly 60 million eligible voters in Egypt.
Vote on Final Brexit deal with the EU
UK government has been clear that it will give parliament a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal it negotiates with the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman said on Monday. This comes after Donald Tusk has called on Britain to reverse the decision to leave the European Union with a second referendum or a House of Commons vote on the final Brexit deal.
The Labour Party has called for parliament to be given a wider range of options beyond either accepting the Brexit deal, or leaving the bloc without a deal, Reuters said. “The government’s position on this is very clear, which is that there will be a meaningful vote on the Brexit deal where parliament can choose to either accept that deal or we can leave without a deal, but we will be leaving the European Union on March 29, 2019,” the spokesman said.
Every industrial revolution is defined by Trailblazers
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Rajya Sabha MPs who have not been analysed
24th March, 2018
Dear friends,
National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 229 out of 233 sitting Rajya Sabha MPs. 3 MPs have not been analysed as their affidavits were unavalible or badly scanned. One Rajya Sabha seat in Bihar is vacant.
S.No.
|
State
|
Name
|
Party
|
Issue
|
1
|
RAJASTHAN
|
K.J. ALPHONS
|
BJP
|
Affidavit not available
|
2
|
KERALA
|
K K RAGESH
|
CPM
|
Incomplete affidavit
|
3
|
JHARKHAND
|
Dhiraj Prasad Sahu
|
INC
|
Badly scanned affidavit
|
4
|
BIHAR
|
–
|
–
|
Seat is vacant
|
Table: Rajya Sabha MPs who have not been analysed
CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
· Rajya Sabha MPs with criminal cases: Out of the 229 Rajya Sabha MPs analysed, 51(22%) Rajya Sabha MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves.
· Rajya Sabha MPs with serious criminal cases:20(9%) Rajya Sabha MPs have declared serious criminal cases.
· Rajya Sabha MPs with declared cases related to murder: One Rajya Sabha MPs namely Dhoot Rajkumar Nandlal (SHS) fromMaharashtra has declared cases related to murder (IPC section 302).
· Rajya Sabha MPs with declared cases related to attempt to murder: 2 Rajya Sabha MPs namely Gopal Narayan Singh (BJP)from Bihar and V. Muraleedharan (BJP) from Maharashtra have declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC Section 307).
· Party wise Rajya Sabha MPs with criminal cases:14(22%) out of 64 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 8 (16%) out of 50 Rajya Sabha MPs from INC, 3 (21%) out of 14 Rajya Sabha MPs from SP, 4(31%) out of 13 Rajya Sabha MPs from AIADMK and 1(8%) out of 13Rajya Sabha MPs from AITC have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
· Party wise Rajya Sabha MPs with serious criminal cases: 4(6%) out of 64 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 5 (10%) out of 50 Rajya Sabha MPs from INC, 1 (7%) out of 14 Rajya Sabha MPs from SP, 1(11%) out of 9 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJD and 2(40%) out of 5 Rajya Sabha MPs from RJD have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Figure: Party wise percentage of Rajya Sabha MPs with declared criminal cases
· State Wise Rajya Sabha MPs with criminal cases: 8(42%) out of 19 Rajya Sabha MPs from Maharashtra, 7 (47%) out of 15 Rajya Sabha MPs from Bihar, 6 (19%) out of 31 Rajya Sabha MPs from Uttar Pradesh, 6(33%) out of 18 Rajya Sabha MPs from Tamil Nadu and 3(27%) out of 11 Rajya Sabha MPs from Madhya Pradesh have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Figure: State wise percentage of Rajya Sabha MPs with declared criminal cases
FINANCIAL BACKGROUND
· Share of wealth among Rajya Sabha MPs : The share of wealth amongst sitting Rajya Sabha MPs as follows:
Value of assets (Rs)
|
Number of Rajya Sabha MPs
|
Percentage of Rajya Sabha MPs
|
Rs.10 crores and above
|
84
|
37%
|
Rs.5 crores to Rs.10 crores
|
34
|
15%
|
Rs.1 crore to Rs.5 crores
|
83
|
36%
|
Rs.20 lakhs to Rs.1 crore
|
23
|
10%
|
less than Rs.20 lakhs
|
5
|
2%
|
Table: Share of wealth among Rajya Sabha MPs
· Crorepati Rajya Sabha MPs: Out of the 229 sitting Rajya Sabha MPs analysed, 201 (88%) are crorepatis..
· Partywise crorepati Rajya Sabha MPs: Among major parties, 58 (91%)out of 64 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP,46 (92%) out of 50 Rajya Sabha MPs from INC, 13(93%) Rajya Sabha MPs from SP and 12(92%)out of 13 Rajya Sabha MPs from AIADMK have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.
Figure: Party Wise Percentage of Crorepatis Rajya Sabha MPs
Figure: State Wise Percentage of Crorepatis Rajya Sabha MPs
· Average assets:The average of assets per Rajya Sabha MP is Rs. 55.62 crores.
· Party wise average assets: Among the major parties, the average assets per MP for 64 BJP Rajya Sabha MPs analysed is Rs27.80 crores, 50 INC Rajya Sabha MPs have average assets of Rs 40.98 crores , 14 SP Rajya Sabha MPs have average assets worth Rs. 92.68 crores and 13 AITC Rajya Sabha MPs have average assets of Rs. 12.22 crores.
· High asset Rajya Sabha MPs*:The top three Rajya Sabha MPs with high assets are given below:
S.No.
|
Name
|
State
|
Party Name
|
Movable Assets (Rs)
|
Immovable Assets (Rs)
|
Total Assets (Rs)
|
PAN Given
|
1
|
BIHAR
|
JD(U)
|
40,43,48,19,318
|
34,92,41,000
|
40,78,40,60,318
4078 Crore+ |
Y
| |
2
|
UTTAR PRADESH
|
SP
|
5,38,83,66,566
|
4,62,80,25,000
|
10,01,63,91,566
1001 Crore+ |
Y
| |
3
|
BIHAR
|
BJP
|
7,94,16,49,173
|
62,95,00,000
|
8,57,11,49,173
857 Crore+ |
Y
|
Table: Top three Rajya Sabha MPs with highest declared assets
· Low asset Rajya Sabha MPs: 3 Rajya Sabha MPs with lowest assets have their assets valued less than Rs 7 lakhs, and their details are as follows:
S.No.
|
Name
|
State/UT
|
Party Name
|
Movable Assets (Rs)
|
Immovable Assets (Rs)
|
Total Assets (Rs)
|
PAN Given
|
1
|
WEST BENGAL
|
AITC
|
1,40,205
|
2,64,662
|
4,04,867
4 Lacs+ |
Y
| |
2
|
ORISSA
|
BJD
|
4,12,374
|
83,714
|
4,96,088
4 Lacs+ |
Y
| |
3
|
NCT OF DELHI
|
AAP
|
6,60,513
|
0
|
6,60,513
6 Lacs+ |
Y
|
Table: Three Rajya Sabha MPs with lowest declared assets
· Rajya Sabha MPs with high liabilities: 154(67%) Rajya Sabha MPs have declared liabilities, and the details of the top 3 Rajya Sabha MPs with highest deaclared liabilities are as follows:
S.No.
|
Name
|
State/UT
|
Party Name
|
Total Assets(Rs)
|
Liabilities (Rs)
|
1
|
MAHARASHTRA
|
IND
|
4,25,65,86,815
425 Crore+ |
3,04,60,34,642
304 Crore+ | |
2
|
ANDHRA PRADESH
|
INC
|
4,22,44,58,704
422 Crore+ |
1,73,58,97,037
173 Crore+ | |
3
|
UTTAR PRADESH
|
SP
|
10,01,63,91,566
1001 Crore+ |
1,05,64,84,796
105 Crore+ |
Table: Top three Rajya Sabha MPs with high liabilities
· Rajya Sabha MPs with high income as declared in ITR*:The table below shows 3 Rajya Sabha MPs who have declared highest income in their Income Tax Returns.
S.No.
|
Name
|
Party Name
|
State
|
Total Asset (Rs)
|
The financial year for which the last income tax return has been filed by candidate
|
Total income shown by candidate in ITR (Self+Spouse+Dependent) (Rs)
|
Self income shown by candidate in ITR (Rs)
|
1
|
JD(U)
|
BIHAR
|
40,78,40,60,318 4078 Crore+
|
2016-2017
|
3,06,14,00,000 306 Crore+
|
3,03,50,00,000 303 Crore+
| |
2
|
INC
|
WEST BENGAL
|
6,49,80,99,894 649 Crore+
|
2016-2017
|
1,31,56,86,280 131 Crore+
|
1,30,96,95,330 130 Crore+
| |
3
|
SP
|
UTTAR PRADESH
|
10,01,63,91,566 1001 Crore+
|
2016-2017
|
78,76,67,570 78 Crore+
|
13,02,810 13 Lacs+
|
Table: Top 3 Rajya Sabha MPs with high income as declared in income tax returns
*Total income includes income of self, spouse and dependents
· Rajya Sabha MPs who have not declared Income Tax Details*:24 (10%) Rajya Sabha MPs out of 229 analyzed have not declared income tax details.
* Some Rajya Sabha MPs may be exempted from filing Income Tax Returns
· Education Details of Rajya Sabha MPs: 27 (12%) Rajya Sabha MPs have declared their educational qualification to be between 5th pass and 12th pass while 197 (86%) Rajya Sabha MPs have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above.
· Age details of Rajya Sabha MPs:8 (3%) Rajya Sabha MPs have declared their age to be between 31 and 40 years while 115 (50%) Rajya Sabha MPs have declared their age to be between 41 and 60 years.There are 102(45%) Rajya Sabha MPs who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years. There are 4 Rajya Sabha MPs who have declared their age to be above 80 years.
· Gender details of Rajya Sabha MPs:Out of 229 Rajya Sabha MPs, 25 (11%) Rajya Sabha MPs are women.
Media and Journalist Helpline
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Maj.Gen. Anil Verma (Retd)
Head
National Election Watch,
Association for Democratic Reforms
011 4165 4200,
+91 88264 79910
adr@adrIndia.org,
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Prof Jagdeep Chhokar
IIM Ahmedabad (Retd.)
Founder Member,
National Election Watch, Association for Democratic
Reforms
+91 99996 20944
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Prof Trilochan Sastry
IIM Bangalore
Founder Member,
National Election Watch,
Association for Democratic Reforms
+91 94483 53285
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Association for Democratic Reforms
T-95, C.L. House, 2nd Floor,
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Indian Foods GDP $2trillion By 2030 – Bihar’s Maize Program
March25, 2018 (C) Ravinder Singh ravindersinvent@gmail.com
US Foods GDP share exceed $2trillion- by 2030 India’s Food GDP ought to exceed $2trillion for 1500m population, 300% of USA. Focus of Maize summit was Bihar.
India may promote FDI in Food Processing by letting Reputed Producers of Various PROCESSED & PACKAGED FOODS from Ketchup & Jams to Wines & Whisky, Meats & Cakes, Pizzas & Confectionery and Dosas to Butter Chicken, Icecreams to Rasgulla.
My three Critical Interventions at FICCI Maize Summit were –
1. Even in 1992 Potential of Hybrid Maize Seeds of Pioneer Hi-Bred was 10T per hectare – but Weeds, Pests, Insects, Plant Diseases, Untimely Rains, Floods, Inadequate Pollination would lead to much lower Crop Yields and then Post-Harvest Losses.
2. Maize like many other CROPS – Grains or Fruits & Vegetables can be raised all over India and at any time of the year. India should be growing Crops next to Consumption Area to minimize Storage, Transportation & Losses in the process. India needs ‘Maize to Poultry Farm to Chicken & Processed Chicken 20 Times Value Addition SME Industries.’ Multi-Season Production of Maize, Basmati, Fruits & Vegetables could Guarantee Maximum Factory Utilization With Minimum Storage & Working Capital, Damage from Natural Causes – Best Quality & Most Competitive Products.
3. Punjab can produce ‘Any Amount of Maize or Oilseeds, Fruits or Vegetables etc. Cargill or Large Companies should Establish LOCAL Dedicated PROCESSING facilities’ for Indian & Export Markets.
4. Dr. Sain Dass also made Critical Intervention – Punjab, Haryana & UP may Switch to Maize if Center & States Support the program – it could save 30 BU of Electricity, worth Rs.20,000 Cr Which could be Sold to Industry every year, save WATER By AVOIDING WATER GUZZLING PADDY & SAVE ENVIRONMENT BY AVAOIDING PADDY STRAW BURNING.
5. Another VERY IMPORTANT Intervention was TERM OF CROP LOANS to Farmers TO BE EXTENDED TO 15-18 MONTHS, Release Farm Produce in Smaller Quantities.
6. Not Discussed were Campaign to Build 200,000 MW of Multi-Purpose Hydro Power Projects in Himalayas on International Rivers – Indus, Ganga & Brahamputra and.
7. Banks should Support HIGH VALUE ADD Economic Activities – Farmers Add Upto 70%-90% when Rs.40/kg Groundnuts are Roasted sold at Rs.200/kg plus than Low Value Add Industries 10% like Computers, businesses like Gems, Gold, Jewelry and Trading activities 1% to 2% – These also lead to SCAMS and Banking NPAs.
Bihar Agriculture Per Capita GDP – $127 to USA $6,000
Bihar’s Agriculture GDP 2016-17 is [Rs.88,222 Cr] barely $14b for 30% of US Population – per capita food GDP for 110m Bihar population is $127 – US $6,000. Karnataka is leading Maize Producer in India – 3.27 million tonnes produces 4766m Eggs, Bihar producing 2.4 million tonnes Maize produces 1002m Eggs or 9 Per Capita.
Idea of producing Maize in Bihar is not to feed Poultry Farms but exports at loss mostly.
India average Egg availability per capita is 63 Eggs.
‘India’s per capita consumption of poultry meat is estimated at around 3.1 kg per year, which is low compared to the world average of around 17 kg per year. India’s per capita consumption of eggs is estimated at about 62 eggs per year.’ USDA.
When population of Bihar increased by 10% to 12% there was no increase in foods production as given by the RBI Data clipped here. Punjab has twice more crop yield for one third population – Punjab’s Per Capita availability is 6 times of Bihar. [Table 5.1]
For 9% population Bihar Produces 5% Milk and 1.2% Eggs.
BIHAR’S PRODUCTION OF FOODGRAIN AND MAJOR NON-FOODGRAIN CROPS in Thousand tonnes.
Year
|
Rice
|
Wheat
|
C. Cereals
|
Pulses
|
F. Grains
|
Oilseeds
|
S.Cane
|
Jute-Mesta
|
2011-12
|
7162.6
|
4725.0
|
1648.3
|
511.3
|
14047.2
|
139.5
|
11288.6
|
1738.8
|
2012-13
|
7529.3
|
5357.2
|
2510.3
|
542.8
|
15939.6
|
143.3
|
12741.4
|
1717.7
|
2013-14
|
5505.8
|
4738.0
|
2139.9
|
522.0
|
12905.8
|
146.2
|
12881.8
|
1745.1
|
2014-15
|
6377.2
|
4049.3
|
2206.8
|
420.2
|
13053.5
|
131.4
|
14131.4
|
1500.0
|
2015-16
|
6802.2
|
4736.4
|
2548.6
|
420.7
|
14507.9
|
126.5
|
12649.3
|
1630.0
|
2016-17
|
7476.9
|
5085.1
|
2575.2
|
439.0
|
15576.6
|
131.0
|
15416.0
|
1682.1
|
GoI & Bihar State Programs Like Soil Cards, Insurance, Food Parks, Drip Irrigation etc Has FAILED to Improve Food Availability to 1.3b Indians.
Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS
Y-77, Hauz Khas, ND -110016, India. Ph: 091- 8826415770, 9871056471, 9650421857
Ravinder Singh* is a WIPO awarded inventor specializing in Power, Transportation,
Smart Cities, Water, Energy Saving, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Technologies and Projects
UN-ESCAP: Implementing digital trade facilitation could cut trade costs in Asia-Pacific by $673 billion annually
According to the Digital Trade Facilitation in Asia and the Pacific report launched on 23 March by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), full implementation of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) together with other digital trade facilitation or paperless trade measures is projected to reduce trade costs in Asia and the Pacific by 26 per cent – or $673 billion of savings every year.
The report shows that potential trade cost reductions for all ASEAN countries exceed 15 per cent, with Indonesia, Cambodia and Viet Nam seeing sharpest reductions. Potential trade cost reductions in South Asia exceed 20 per cent in all countries of that subregion, including in India and Sri Lanka. Least Developed Countries and Pacific Island countries, such as Bangladesh and Samoa, have the most to gain, with trade cost reductions from digital trade facilitation exceeding 30 per cent.
Digital trade facilitation refers to the application of modern information and communications technologies (ICTs) to procedures involved in moving physical goods across borders. Implementing digital trade facilitation including paperless trade measures, to the level currently seen in China could increase the region’s annual GDP by more than 3.8 per cent, and its exports by 11.2 per cent by 2030. At the same time, the report notes that achieving cross-border paperless trade is expected to be a long and complicated process, and it cannot be achieved without close collaboration between countries.
The report also finds that more than half of the regional trade agreements (RTAs) which have entered into force since 2005 globally include paperless trade provisions, with a large majority of these agreements now featuring one or more commitments aiming to exchange trade-related data and information electronically. Recent RTAs such as Republic of Korea-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Australia-China FTA, among others, are found to go further than the WTO TFA in promoting digital trade facilitation and the application of modern ICTs to trade procedures.
“Trade facilitation is about making trade easier for all,” said UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Dr. Shamshad Akhtar. “Countries need to work closer together to streamline and digitalize trade procedures.”
“The Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific, can support this process. I am pleased to see so many countries coming together this week to support drafting of an implementation roadmap for this agreement.” she added, noting that Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Armenia, and the Islamic Republic of Iran formally signed the UN treaty in 2017.
The Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific is fully dedicated to the digitalization of trade processes and enabling the seamless electronic exchange and legal recognition of trade-related data and documents across borders, rather than only between stakeholders located in the same country.
Developed by a diverse group of more than 25 Asia-Pacific economies at very different stages of development over four years, the Framework Agreement is designed as an inclusive and enabling platform that will benefit all participating economies regardless of where they stand in terms of trade facilitation implementation. Implementation of the Agreement is expected to greatly reduce transaction time and costs as well as increase regulatory compliance. Importantly, it will enable countries that have already initiated work at the bilateral or sub regional levels to leverage that work and ensure that emerging regional and multilateral solutions more fully take into account existing work.
The report was launched at the Intergovernmental Steering Group on Cross-border Paperless Trade Facilitation this week, where senior officials from 25 countries made considerable progress on a draft road map, which outlines the necessary actions for successful implementation of the Framework Agreement.
Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi reconstituted Youth Wing,
Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi reconstituted Youth Wing, called youth to be aware of present panthaksituation of Delhi-Sarna
New Delhi-24 MarchS Harvinder Singh Sarna, General Secretary, Shiromani Akali Dal, Delhi said in his statement that aPanthak Youth Conven#on held at West Delhi’s “Umang Palace” in Janak Puri. In this Convention, S. Ramandeep Singh (Sonu) was unanimously nominated as President of theYouth Wing of SADD and execu#ve board of 300 members was also formed. President SADD S. Paramjit Singh Sarna, while addressing the convention said that due to mismanagement and bad policies of Manjit Singh G.K., the DSGMC, which earlier provide financial assistance not only to the Sikhs of Delhi but also to the Sikh and Sikh institutions of other states. Today, the same DSGMC is even not able to timely pay monthly salary to its employees and the DSGMC in a process to mortgage land of Gurdwars and educational institution to borrow a loan ofRs. 100 crores. Due to the bad policies of the Badal Dal, the only polytechnic institution of the Delhi committee has been closed and two management institution are at the verge of closure.
DSGMC Chief Manjit Singh G.K. has also announced for retrenchment of 500 employees ofGurdwaras and educational institution which is extremely unfortunate. Due to financial conditon of the country, Sikh youth are already facing acute difficulty in gthe employment and if the committee will also terminate their job, then G.K. and Badal Dal leaders will be responsible for the misery and starvation of their families, said Mr. Sarna.
Unwarranted foreign trips by the GK and his favourite members, travel by Chartered helicopters and aircrafts, purchase of Innova and other expensive cars, huge consumption of petrol and diesel, misuse of DSGMC resources in Punjab and Delhi Legislative Assembly electons, purchase of DesiGhee from sham companies at higher prices for kadah Pahad and langar caused heavy loss to Gurdwara funds. G.K. punishing Sikh youth for his own bad policies and management failures. S. Sarna appealed Sikh youths to protect educational institution for future genera#on and stop Badal Dal and their leaders from plundering of Golak funds. In this mammoth Panthak Youth Convention, members, workers and members of women wing participated in large number.
We need Old & Young debate in workshop
Entire deliberation or mini worship started on 17 March at 2.15 PM lasted UpTo 6.15 PM the India News Today asked to convert the deliberation into the videos for the benefit of media fraternity. Deliberation were shot in questions answer firm as an interview which shall be uploaded as per the schedule of Ajay Pawar who is well versed film direction and took personal interest in making it Video of Chai for baatcheet soon shall be sent to 10K members of ippci ,WJI & RJS.
M6.0 – NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
| Magnitude | 6.0 |
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| Location | 5.611S 151.422E |
| Depth | 67 km |
| Distances |
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| Location Uncertainty | Horizontal: 7.3 km; Vertical 4.7 km |
The Science makes, We move faster
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