Feb152017
Pursuing Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of Affordable, Quality Healthcare for All, Government of India has issued the notification for fixing the ceiling prices of coronary stents, informed Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Ananthkumar here today. The step would bring down the cost of coronary stents, currently hiked by about 380%, the Minister added.
Feb152017
Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Croatia on Economic Cooperation was signed by Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Government of India and Ms. Martina Dalic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Government of the Republic of Croatia on 14th February, 2017 in Zagreb, Croatia.
Feb152017
The news of problems with Toshiba’s nuclear power generation investment plans will prompt some new thinking here in the UK. Some in the press are suggesting that in order to carry forward a programme of additional nuclear stations beyond Hinkley, the UK government will now itself have to venture into being a minority investor in these new plants. Private sector companies are finding it a stretch to handle the very high up front investment costs of a new nuclear station. They also have to worry about the long term nature of their commitments, and the eventual costs of decommissioning the facilities when they are worn out.
It is true, as the government argues, that nuclear has merits compared to wind power. It is much more reliable, and the plants can be run permanently without the same amount of back up power than interruptible renewable sources require. Whilst a nuclear plant is dear, you do not need an equivalent amount of stand by capacity, as you do for wind. The idea has been to supply unsubsidised power from nuclear plants. That means guaranteeing them a high and constant price for the power they will generate, given the high fixed costs involved. Some see guaranteed prices as just another variant of subsidy.
The enthusiasm for UK nuclear is based around the decarbonisation plans of Labour and the Coalition governments, in harmony with the EU requirements. The new government, leaving the EU, can rethink our energy needs and vary the policy. The overriding objectives should be to provide a sufficient supply of affordable power. We need that both to pursue the new Industrial strategy,. and to tackle fuel poverty. Building a new nuclear industry here may make sense, but only if it can be done in a way which delivers sufficient power at affordable prices. It may be the case that a new fleet of gas powered stations would b e a better way of ensuring plentiful good value energy.
What is sure is that you don’t have a meaningful policy to fire up many industries we have lost or where there has been decline unless they have access to cheap power.
Feb152017
15 February 2017 – Using smartphones, laptops and other technology to work from home can be a blessing – it does away with rush hour traffic, for example – but it also diminishes personal space and contact with colleagues, according to a new study released today by the United Nations labour agency and a private sector partner, which recommends how to address these work-life disparities.
“This report shows that the use of modern communication technologies facilitates a better overall work-life balance,” said the Jon Messenger, co-author of the joint report by the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) and Eurofund.
The study, Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work is based on interviews with workers and experts in 10 European Union member states, Argentina, Brazil, India, Japan and the United States.
It highlights positive effects of teleworking, such as greater autonomy on working time and better work-day organization, and reduced commuting time resulting in a better overall work-life balance and higher productivity.
On the down side, teleworking “blurs the boundaries between work and personal life, depending on the place of work and the characteristics of different occupations,” Mr. Messenger said.
People teleworking have a tendency to work longer hours, and have higher levels of stress as a result of overlapping paid work and personal life.
As telework becomes more prominent so too has the need to disconnect in order to separate paid work and personal life, with France and Germany beginning to look at arrangements at the company level, and at existing and new legislation, such as the “right to be disconnected” (le droit à la déconnexion) in the most recent revision of the French Labour Code.
According to the report, there are distinctions between home-based teleworkers who seem to enjoy better work-life balance and ‘high-mobile’ workers who are more at risk of negative health and well-being outcomes.
The report recommends promoting formal part-time teleworking so that people working from home can maintain their ties with co-workers and improve their well-being.
Feb152017
15 February 2017 – Access to food is becoming harder in eastern Ukraine as prices are outpacing incomes, the United Nations emergency food agency today said, warning that without longer-term intervention, more people will need humanitarian aid in the months and years to come.
“Food prices are increasing at a time when household incomes are impacted by unemployment, and we see many families resorting to negative coping strategies in the face of economic hardship,” said the World Food Programme (WFP) in Ukraine, Dorte Ellehammer.
The UN agency said there are about 70,000 people in eastern Ukraine considered “most vulnerable.” This group includes the elderly, families headed by a single mother, people with chronic illnesses or disabilities, and people who do not receive other humanitarian aid.
In addition, there are up to 150,000 people considered “moderately food-insecure,” meaning that they struggle to find or buy enough food on a daily basis, according to WFP.
“As the conflict has continued, many Ukrainians have become more vulnerable due to the lack of sufficient social benefits to cover food and other living expenses,” the agency said in a press release.
To help Ukrainians cope, WFP said that it would scale up its use of cash-based transfers in areas where the banks are functioning properly and there is food in the stores.
During the coming spring and summer, the agency said that it plans to implement small-scale early recovery projects to increase incomes, diversify crops and help to inject some money into local businesses.
WFP has urgently requested more than $30 million to provide much-needed food aid to eastern Ukraine through the end of 2017.