Aug302017
The Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi will give away National Level Awards to anganwadi workers to recognize their exemplary service in the field of child development and related areas under the ICDS Scheme, at New Delhi tomorrow. The scheme for awarding anganwadi workers at the National and State levels was formulated in the year 2000-01.
Aug302017
Margaret Greenwood MP, Labour’s Shadow Employment Minister, commenting on the
Office of National Statistics Working and Workless Households figures, said:
“While any increases in employment are positive, under this
Government work is no longer a reliable route out of poverty with over half of
those living in poverty coming from a working household.
“There are four million children growing up in poverty in the UK; two thirds of
these children live in working households.
“A
Labour government for the many, not the few, will introduce a Real Living Wage
to end in-work poverty once and for all, while investing in childcare to allow
parents to get back to work once they are ready.”
Aug302017
Helen Ferguson, Helena Macormac, Paul Mageean, Samuel John McCallister, Edmond Rooney and Graham Shields will replace Christine Collins, John Corey, Milton Kerr, Grainia Long, Alan McBride, Marion Reynolds and Paul Yam who are standing down after serving two terms.
Mr Brokenshire said:
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission under the leadership of Chief Commissioner, Les Allamby, plays a vital role in protecting and promoting human rights for everyone in Northern Ireland’s diverse society.
I am delighted to make these appointments to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and I am confident that the new Commissioners will continue to enhance the Commission’s central role in protecting and promoting human rights in Northern Ireland.
The Secretary of State also thanked the outgoing Commissioners. He said:
The outgoing Commissioners have made a real and valued contribution to the promotion of the human rights agenda in Northern Ireland.
Their dedication to the work of the Commission has been invaluable and I am extremely grateful to them for their commitment over the last six years.
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is a national human rights institution with an ‘A’ status accreditation from the United Nations (UN). The Commission is funded by the UK Government, but is an independent public body that operates in full accordance with the UN Paris Principles.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is responsible under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 for making appointments to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
More information can be found on the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission website http://www.nihrc.org/
The positions are part-time appointments for three years.
The positions attract a fixed remuneration of £7,500 per annum for a commitment of approximately three days a month.
These positions are not pensionable.
Helen Ferguson was a Director, Carers Northern Ireland, from 1994-2015. She has over 30 years’ experience of working in the community and voluntary sector. She is currently a member of the Equality Commission.
Helena Macormac is a lawyer currently employed as Policy Director for National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT).
Paul Mageean is currently the Director of Institute of Professional Legal Studies, Queens University and a Parole Commissioner. He is a former Head of Criminal Justice Inspectorate.
Samuel John McCallister is in the farming industry and formerly served as a UUP MLA from 2007 to 2013.
Edmond Rooney is a retired Senior Civil Servant who was Deputy Secretary in OFMDFM (now The Executive Office) and a former Chief Executive of the Public Health Agency
Graham Shields is the former Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland and a retired senior police officer.
All appointments are made on merit and with regards to the statutory requirements. Political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity in defined categories to be made public.
As noted in the biographies Samuel John McCallister has declared political activity in the past ten years.
The appointment process has been regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointment (OCPA) and all stages of the process were overseen by an independent panel member.
Aug302017
Pageant Media has an international reputation and reach within the financial and professional services industry and attracting this investment to Cardiff is seen as a strong endorsement of the City Region’s growing status as a location of choice for the sector.
Pageant Media chose Cardiff for this expansion having thoroughly researched a number of potential locations in the UK regarding the availability of expertise and talent.
The investment to create a central data gathering and research operation is supported by £300,000 from the Welsh Government’s Business Finance Scheme and will create 25 jobs initially, increasing to 60 over a three year period.
Economy Secretary Ken Skates said:
“I am delighted the company chose Cardiff above a number of other locations in the UK. It will be the first centre of its kind in Wales and is exactly the type of high profile, high quality investment we want to attract that will create a range of graduate level jobs.
“The decision to establish this world class business research centre in Cardiff is a real boost for our rapidly growing financial and professional services sector and speaks volumes for what the city can offer businesses working in this field.”
Pageant Media’s flagship office and global HQ is based in London while the company’s activities span numerous global locations with their main hubs rooted in the financial centres of New York, Frankfurt and Hong Kong that serve the ‘always on’ information economy.
Chief Executive of Pageant Media, Charlie Kerr said:
“We’re very excited to have set up this new research operation in Cardiff and it’s a testament to the city’s highly educated and dedicated workforce as well as to the first-rate educational institutions in the region. We’re looking forward to further growth of the operation and continuing to partner with the Welsh government in the future.”
An innovative and entrepreneurial company, Pageant Media offers a market leading portfolio of specialist information products across a range of financial services sectors including hedge funds, mutual funds, real estate and insurance. It provides market intelligence for banks, accountancy firms, insurance and asset management companies.
Through subscription and renewal, Pageant Media owns and manages a network of global information products and services to help members manage their businesses and make informed investment decisions.
It provides round the clock global insights and analysis, networking opportunities for members to identify the latest financial services trends and collaborate and build consensus around decision marking or charting new courses.
The business regularly expands its range of products and services to ensure it delivers high quality and relevant solutions for each of the sectors it serves and the new research centre in Cardiff will meet current and future requirements.
The business was started in 1998 by CEO Charlie Kerr, former publishing director of Business Age and Marketing Director of Sunday Business, with just two employees which has grown to 160 in the UK and 40 overseas,with staff speaking 17 different languages.
It currently has 2500 members – 14,200 of whom are based in 108 countries.
Pageant Media has already had a number of discussions regarding skills and recruitment with Cardiff University which has one of the leading business schools in the UK with expertise in banking and finance as well as one of the largest modern language faculties in the UK.
Aug302017
UK businesses and research organisations can apply for a share of £15 million for innovative medicines manufacturing solutions. These should speed up access to new medicines and treatments, improve public health and build on the strengths of the UK’s biopharmaceutical sector.
The funding was announced today by Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health.
It is part of the leading-edge healthcare challenge in government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. There is a £146 million commitment over 4 years to develop technologies and facilities that support the manufacture of medicines.
The competition for feasibility studies and industrial research and development projects is the first opportunity from the challenge.
Innovate UK will invest up to £15 million in UK businesses that address technical or commercial issues. The aim is to develop innovative methods or technologies that improve the manufacture of medicines for people.
We are looking for projects that focus on:
There will be other opportunities for businesses and research organisations within this challenge.
These include establishing a number of new centres that support medicines manufacturing innovation, vaccine development and advanced therapy treatments.
The global medicines industry is in a period of significant change. Healthcare systems worldwide are demanding access to cost-effective, innovative medicines with improved patient outcomes.
At the same time, our improved understanding of disease is driving the move towards precision medicine. New, more complex types of medicines are being developed, which are presenting a manufacturing challenge in terms of scale and delivery to large numbers of patients.
Through the leading-edge healthcare challenge we will support the need for a fundamental shift in how medicines are developed and manufactured. It will help UK businesses and research organisations take advantage of the £64 billion lifesciences industry.