The Andhra Pradesh Government today assured the centre that over five lakh affordable houses will be built in urban areas of the State under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) in the next fifteen months.
Sep152017
Sep152017
Status of Coal Despatch by Coal India Limited (CIL) to Power Sector as on 13th September 2017.
On 13/09/2017, the total coal despatch of Coal India Limited was 1.505 MT
Sep152017
31 put under coercive measures for deadly accident
China has put 31 people under criminal coercive measures for a construction platform collapse in Jiangxi Province that killed 73 and injured another two, authorities said Friday.
In China, criminal coercive measures may include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention or arrest.
A State Council investigation concluded that the tragedy was a workplace safety accident caused by issues including lax supervision and the building company’s failure to fulfill its work safety responsibilities, according to a report on the State Administration of Work Safety website.
On Nov. 24, 2016, a platform being constructed for a cooling tower at a power plant collapsed in Fengcheng, causing a direct economic loss of about 102 million yuan (15.6 million U.S. dollars).
Authorities have revoked the top-level contractor qualification and the work safety license of the company responsible, and handed out administrative penalties to other companies and people involved.
The State Council also asked local authorities and building companies to draw lessons from the accident, raise awareness about work safety and improve the management for construction safety, according to the report.
Sep152017
French military equipment delivered to Guadeloupe on RAF C-17 Globemaster
French military equipment delivered to Guadeloupe on Royal Air Force C-17 Globemaster
Urgently required vehicles and equipment have been delivered to Pointe-à-Pitre on the French Island of Guadeloupe aboard a Royal Air Force C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft.
Following a request for assistance from French President Emmanuel Macron the heavy-lift aircraft flew to évreux-Fauville Air Base west of Paris and collected 30 tonnes of equipment and supplies including a tipper truck, digger and specialist bulldozer. The vehicles will now be taken by sea to the island of St Martin which sustained severe damaged in Hurricane Irma.
Speaking before the aircraft departed France, Colonel David Desjardins, the Base Commander of évreux-Fauville Air Base, said:
“Cooperation between the French Air Force and Royal Air Force has been in place a long time. Today we are working together to send engineers and equipment to support both the clean-up operation and the population affected by Hurricane Irma. We do often work together such as operations in Africa and the Middle East, we work well together”
The pilot of the 99 Squadron C-17 was Flight Lieutenant Mark Shepherd. He said:
“We work regularly with the French military transporting freight from France to Western Africa in support of their operations there. The level of cooperation between us and the French on this task has been excellent and this has been reflected in how smoothly the transport of this urgently required equipment has been achieved.
“As ever it has been a pleasure to work with our French colleagues and to help the people affected by Hurricane Irma.”
The flight is the latest example of the close relationship between the French and UK Armed Forces. The two nations, which have the largest defence budgets in Europe, continue to work closely on shared interests. British and French forces are deployed together in NATO, fighting against Daesh in Iraq and Syria and training together across the globe. RAF C-17s have also been used on a regular basis in recent years to transport freight from France to sub-Saharan Africa.
The RAF air transport fleet continues to directly support the UK aid effort with further C-17s, A400M Atlas, C-130J Hercules and Voyager aircraft transporting personnel, aid and equipment to the Caribbean and between the islands struck by the hurricane.
© MOD Crown Copyright 2017
Sep152017
Juncker: ‘I don’t intend to force countries to join the euro if they are not willing or not able to do so’
Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, defended his proposal to expand the eurozone. All EU Member States should have the possibility – as required by the EU Treaties – to introduce the euro, but no one would be forced to do so, Juncker said on Thursday in a YouTube interview. The strict euro-accession criteria would continue to apply, he explained.
President Juncker’s statement in the State of the Union Address was “in fact the resumption of a discussion that we Europeans have been having for many years. The European Treaties state that all Member States – except for Denmark and the UK, which did not wish to join the euro – should have the possibility to join the eurozone. Yesterday I didn’t insist or request that everyone, by 11 o’clock in the morning, should now adopt the euro – I am amazed by much of what is written in the press, and that includes the German press. What I said was that those countries that have not yet adopted it, but that want to, must be given that possibility. And we should provide the technical – and in some cases financial – assistance to enable them to do so”, said President Juncker.
“I have no intention of forcing countries to join the euro if they are not willing or not able to do so. So, many of the headlines in the national German press are somewhat exaggerated”, President Juncker continued.
EU Member States can introduce the euro only if they meet the accession criteria. “The criteria impose a certain European discipline. And it is clear that some countries cannot yet take the heat in the euro kitchen.”
On Wednesday, in his State of the Union Address, President Juncker had said: “If we want the euro to unite rather than divide our continent, then it should be more than the currency of a select group of countries. The euro is meant to be the single currency of the European Union as a whole.”
“All but two of our Member States are required and entitled to join the euro once they fulfil all conditions. Member States that want to join the euro must be able to do so. This is why I am proposing to create a Euro-accession Instrument, offering technical and even financial assistance.”
For more information:
Factsheet “Convergence criteria for joining the euro. State of play for non-euro area Member States“
Factsheet “The Treaty of the European Union. Articles about joining the euro“