China will keep integrating business certifications and licenses into one consolidated business license, which is to further reduce institutional costs for market entities and stimulate market vitality as part of the country’s business registration re… read more
26 April 2017
*Green Party launches three student policies
*Pledges to scrap tuition fees, bring back maintenance grants and protect students and universities after Brexit
*Co-leader Jonathan Bartley: “Students need a liferaft in the Brexit storm”
The Green Party will announce three policies aimed at students at an event in Sheffield today.
Co-leader Jonathan Bartley and deputy leader Amelia Womack will make a series of commitments to students during a visit to the University of Sheffield [1]. They will be joined by students, members of the Young Greens and Natalie Bennett, candidate for Sheffield Central.
The Green Party will pledge to:
*Scrap tuition fees
*Reinstate maintenance grants
*Continue the Erasmus programme and match EU funding for universities with a UK equivalent after Brexit
Ahead of the announcement, Bartley said:
“The Green Party is the only party standing up for students and putting young people at the heart of its campaign. Education is a right not a commodity to be bought and sold, and we need a level playing field so everyone has the chance to go to university or college.
“Students need a liferaft in the Brexit storm. They are being ignored in the Brexit negotiations, despite having the most to lose. Funding for our universities is under unprecedented threat. The Green Party will not let young people miss out on opportunities to study, travel and work across Europe because of a decision that they so emphatically voted against.
“Building a better future for young people is an absolute priority and today we are committing to policies that will help us work towards an open, fairer society where everyone has the chance to succeed.”
Notes:
1. The policy launch is at 12 noon, April 26 outside the Information Commons, University of Sheffield, 44 Leavygreave Road, Sheffield S3 7RD.
2. Green Party tax plans will be unveiled in the manifesto in May. The scrapping of tuition fees will be paid for through progressive taxation including a rise in corporation tax for large companies. Corporation tax has been cut sharply since 2010, with the main rate dropping from 28% to a proposed 17%, which will cost £12bn by 2020-21.
read moreTen of China’s major news agencies and websites formed a union in Beijing on Wednesday in order to provide better copyright protection for the media. The union was set up at a conference on internet copyright protection, where a declaration of the uni… read more
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Jiaolong submersible goes through a dive simulation in Sanya, Hainan Province, on April 22. [Photo/Xinhua] |
Jiaolong, China’s manned submersible, completed a dive Wednesday in the South China Sea.
Departing its mother ship Xiangyanghong 09 at around 7 a.m., Jiaolong stayed underwater for nine hours and twelve minutes for the dive before returning at around 4:19 p.m.
It managed to bring 16 liters of sea water samples collected near the seabed, eight sediment samples and two rock samples back to Xiangyanghong 09, in addition to high-definition photos and video footage shot during the mission.
Wednesday’s dive marks the first dive by Jiaolong in the second stage of China’s 38th ocean scientific expedition, which will last until May 13.
The maximum depth of the Jiaolong mission on Wednesday was 1,741 meters below sea level, and the submersible spent some seven hours on the seabed.
Three staff, including one seasoned crew member, Tang Jialing, and two interns, Liu Xiaohui and Yang Yifan, were on board the submersible.
“This is almost Jiaolong’s longest underwater mission,” said Tang.
In an interview with Xinhua prior to the drive, Yang Yaomin, chief scientist for the second stage expedition, said experts had planned to choose a site for experimenting with the collection of polymetallic nodules during the mission.
“We are working to avoid damaging the marine environment in mining,” said Yang. “The expedition will help develop technology for environmentally friendly deep-sea mining.”
Polymetallic nodules are mineral resources that are generally deposited more than 4,000 meters deep beneath the sea’s surface and contain manganese, iron, copper, nickel, cobalt as well as rare earth elements.
During the expedition, manned deep-sea submergence was also conducted in the seamount chain and continental slope areas in the South China Sea, according to scientist Shi Xuefa.
“We plan to carry out geological and biological surveys in the region,” said Shi. “The submersible will take photos of the distribution of polymetallic nodules, deep-sea life and seafloor terrain.”
The rock samples collected from the seamount will be used in research in chronology, mineralogy and geochemistry on the South China Sea, advancing the study of the region’s structural evolution, according to Shi.
The 38th oceanic scientific expedition started on Feb. 6. Jiaolong completed a dive in the northwestern Indian Ocean earlier this year in the mission’s first stage. It will also conduct surveys in the Yap Trench and the Mariana Trench in the third stage.
Named after a mythical dragon, Jiaolong reached its deepest depth of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench in June 2012.
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