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As Facebook Reels, Silicon Valley Dabbles in Ethics
Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | Thursday, April 12, 2018
#ethics
When Mark Zuckerberg was grilled in Congress on Facebook's data privacy scandal, few news outlets picked up on his reference to an internal ethics team at the company.
In an exchange with Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the tech titan was asked whether his company has a "set of principles" to guide its development of artificial intelligence, a technology it uses to combat misuse of the massively popular social media platform.
"We have a whole (artificial intelligence) ethics team that is working on developing basically the technology … for making sure this goes in the direction that we want," Zuckerberg replied.
His comment came as lawmakers sought answers over the scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, a company that worked with Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and is said to have illegitimately obtained data from as many as 87 million Facebook users.
Debates are raging these days in the tech industry over issues such as data privacy, online hate speech and foreign interference in American elections, all with important ethical dimensions.
But the Facebook CEO's comment offers a glimpse into what experts say is a shift within the American tech sector: a rapid, albeit uneven, embrace of ethics, one that Zuckerberg hinted at during his opening remarks before the Senate, saying of the Cambridge Analytica incident, "We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake."
A 'groundswell' of ethical debate
Tech companies are often loath to detail how they make ethical decisions — Zuckerberg, for instance, did not immediately provide details about his company's principles when asked by Peters, saying he would follow up later.
Brian Green, director of technology ethics at Santa Clara University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics in California, said this tight-lipped approach is likely strategic.
"I think it's because every company is afraid that they're the one that's going to look like they have an ethical problem," said Green, who has spoken to at least one tech company about ethics but would not give its name. "(But) actually ethics is normal, and we're all doing ethics all the time."
Despite this reticence, Irina Raicu, who also works at Santa Clara, as director of its Internet Ethics Program, said there has been a "groundswell" of discussion about ethics in Silicon Valley over the past few years. She pointed to a previous Facebook controversy as a major catalyst: a 2014 report that the company — along with researchers from Cornell University — manipulated the newsfeeds of 689,003 users as part of a scientific experiment to test emotional reactions.
Facebook defended itself at the time by arguing, among other things, that "none of the data used was associated with a specific person's Facebook account." Raicu said that episode triggered a national conversation that revolved around a specific question also at the heart of the Cambridge Analytica scandal: Yes, what Facebook did was probably legal — but was it ethical?
Raicu pointed to the "issue of content moderation" — be it the spread of "fake news" or online trolling such as the "terrible harassment of journalists on Twitter" — as fueling more recent calls for ethical reform. She also mentioned the recent debate over the spread of misinformation about survivors of the high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., including false claims that some students who spoke out in favor of gun control were "crisis actors."
The ethics-based discourse has already produced practical partnerships. In October 2017, for example, the Anti-Defamation League announced it was teaming up with Facebook, Twitter, Google and Microsoft to create a Cyberhate Problem-Solving Lab to counter online hate speech.
"As more and more questions are posed … both the corporate departments in these companies and the people working in these companies — the technologists — have been taking more and more note of (ethics)," she said, noting that Facebook has provided research ethics training since 2014.
Raicu said the influence of ethics in tech — sparked by scandals across the industry — is becoming increasingly visible. She said "tech ethicists" are now invited onto the campuses of major tech companies to speak to employees, company officials are reaching out to Santa Clara and other groups asking for instructional materials on ethics and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers launched a TechEthics initiative in 2016.
The field even has its own rising stars, such as Tristan Harris, a former "Google design ethicist." Harris has accrued a following through TED Talks and his organization the Center for Humane Technology, which is critical of any technology Harris says uses "unethical persuasion" to "hijack" our "minds and society," such as social media platforms or smartphones. His campaign, often called the "Time Well Spent" movement, appears to be having an impact: In a January post, Zuckerberg listed "time well spent" as a design goal for Facebook, which many interpreted as a direct reference to Harris.
Green noted one of the loudest voices on the subject has been none other than Pope Francis, whose 2015 encyclical on the environment, "Laudato Si'," praised the "immense possibilities" that technology — including information technology — offers, but warned that humanity's "immense technological development has not been accompanied by a development in human responsibility, values and conscience." Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, even met with the pontiff during a visit to the Vatican in August 2016 to discuss "how to use communications technology to alleviate poverty, encourage a culture of encounter, and to communicate a message of hope, especially to the most disadvantaged."
Francis also railed against the overuse of social media and smartphones in an exhortation published on Monday — as have other religious leaders, such as the Dalai Lama. Even so, Green — who teaches at Santa Clara, a Jesuit university — noted the hyper-diverse tech field includes workers who claim a number of nationalities and faiths (or no faith), meaning religious voices are often lifted up alongside more secular approaches.
Disrupting 'disruption' culture
To create a more ethical tech sector, experts say, it must re-evaluate a Silicon Valley culture that champions virtually any technology that "disrupts" societal norms.
"Social transformations are presented as default good," said Colin Koopman, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Oregon. He argued the relentless pursuit of transformation "doesn't even raise the question of the specific inequalities, freedoms and other kinds of political and ethical costs that might come from those transformations."
Meanwhile, Green said the tech sector often sees its boundaries as primarily legal, not moral.
"I think the compliance mindset has steered people toward a sort of ethical minimalism, which is something they're now realizing might not be the best approach," he said.
Microsoft released a book on artificial intelligence in January that argued it "could make sense" for coders to take a "Hippocratic Oath … like we have for doctors." A month later, a group of data scientists from across the industry — including representatives from Microsoft, Pinterest and Google, according to Wired — gathered in San Francisco to draft a specific ethics code for their profession.
They produced a list of principles, such as "be responsible for maximizing social benefit and minimizing harm," respect "human dignity" and take steps to measure and plan for bias.
Raicu's center came up with a quintessentially Silicon Valley solution: an app for ethical decision-making.
Koopman, who penned a New York Times op-ed in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal calling for ethics in data science, cautioned that ethics codes can sometimes prove static, or quickly rendered obsolete by the rapid advancement of technology.
Instead, he suggested ethics review boards for companies and a "social and ethical audit culture" to help anticipate problems ahead of time.
"I don't think principles will get us there — I think they're important, it's just that too often the conversation goes there first, and then sort of stays there," Koopman said. "I point to education. … We're teaching kids coding in high school, but you don't hear a lot about teaching kids the basics of data privacy."
Tech ethics 2.0
While the flurry of ethical discourse excites ethicists, many are quick to dispel any notion that Silicon Valley will suddenly become a moral utopia overnight. Raicu said the tech industry is vast and covers a number of different areas, and the field is still growing: "There are ethicists, but not a lot of them work in this particular area."
She also argued in an article in The Atlantic that ethical training will "not inoculate technologists against making unethical decisions — nothing can do that."
But many experts say implementing ethical frameworks, while perhaps inconvenient in the short term, is actually a sound business strategy.
"It makes good business sense that they would want to anticipate the effects of what they're doing now," Koopman said. "Not just, 'How is this going to impact next quarter's profits,' but also, 'How is this going to impact the company in 10 years or 20 years, where we find ourselves in a situation where we've amassed a huge warehouse of data on all of our users?'"
Courtesy: Religion News Service
Photo courtesy: ©Thinkstock/zimmytws


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A microbial community, or microbiome, in the rhizosphere, the area surrounding plant roots. This image was taken with a scanning electron microscope at EMSL, a national scientific user facility located at PNNL. Image by Alice Dohnalkova. Enlarge Image.
To jump start research and get to the bottom of microbiome function and properties, a consortium of eminent U.S. scientists have proposed an interdisciplinary, unified program to learn more about these little-understood powerhouses of our world. By doing so, they hope to harness these communities of microorganisms that live in nearly every habitat and organism on earth and ultimately launch innovations in agriculture, energy, health, the environment, and more.
Members of the Unified Microbiome Initiative Consortium describe the Unified Microbiome Initiative (UMI), in the October 28 online edition of Science, in "A unified initiative to harness Earth's microbiomes." Pacific Northwest National Laboratory plays a key role in this new initiative as well as in the Consortium. Janet Jansson, chief scientist for biology at PNNL, is one of the Consortium's founding members, and a co-author of the Science Perspectives article.
The Consortium has its roots in meetings organized by both the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and The Kavli Foundation of Oxnard, California that gathered scientists to exchange ideas that were critical to developing the vision of the initiative. Jansson was one of the original participants.
Currently, the Consortium consists of 48 scientists from various scientific fields at national labs and universities across the U.S. who want the UMI to provide scientific insights, technological advances, and economic opportunities of lasting benefit to future generations. Among them are PNNL Chemical Imaging Initiative lead Nigel Browning and Ljiljana Paša-Tolic, lead scientist for mass spectrometry at EMSL.
"The UMI highlights the need for new imaging and omics technologies, such as those currently being developed at PNNL, to understand how microbes function and interact in complex environments and how they are impacted by climate change and other perturbations," said Jansson, who also leads the Microbiomes in Transition initiative at PNNL. The Science Perspectives article highlights an image of a Shewanella oneidensis community with electron-conducting protein nanowires taken at EMSL.
Nearly every habitat and organism on earth contains a diverse collection of microorganisms called the microbiome. These communities play important roles in our world, among them carbon and nutrient cycling, pollutant degradation, plant growth promotion, and cause and prevention of disease. But very little is known about microbiome properties. And the more that is known about them, the more opportunity there is to use microbiomes in a beneficial way.


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Mariam Dao Gabala will chair the committee
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Axadle | West Africa. Firstly, your best news source, From, the expert view you can trust.
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Joan Alsina i Arús (Barcelona, s. XIX-1911), arquitecte modernista, autor de la fàbrica de Can Trinxet a l'Hospitalet de Llobregat.
 Joan Alsina i Hurtós: capellà, víctima del cop d'estat de Pinochet.
 Joan Alsina i Giralt, historiador sabadellenc.
 Joan Alsina i Masip: alcalde de Cardedeu (1914-1923).
 Joan Alsina i Sensat, alcalde del Masnou (1873-1877).
 Joan Alsina (pilot): pilot, mestre nàutic i agrimensor català
 Joan Alzina: llibreter nord-català.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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What happens when you take a Microshit fanboy, add the LOL SO NERDY culture of The Big Bang Theory, throw in some weebs, some Tumblrettes, and for good measure, let's throw in some Smosh. The results from you playing god creates the garbled mess known as Rooster Teeth.
Rooster Teeth is a Machinima comedy multi-million dollar internet media conglomerate located in Little San Francisco, otherwise known as Austin, Texas.
Starting out as just a small website for Machinima laughs, Rooster Teeth over a decade quickly evolved into an Internet juggernaut, only rivaling the cancer causing Pewdiepie. And with anything that becomes big on the Internet, it instant becomes shit, as Rooster Teeth now shills out it's own products on a daily basis. They're so big, they now have their own convention.
1 In AD 2003, War was Beginning
2 Act 1: Welcome to the Strangerhood
3 Act 2: LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLET'S PLAY!
4 Act 3: Now it's time to say goodbye...
5 Other series
6 Notable Controversies
6.1 Connect the Hots
6.2 Hey kid, wanna see my General Ironwood?
6.3 RWBY Plagiarism
6.4 "HOW DARE YOU CRITICIZE FALLOUT 4!"
6.5 The Slow Mo Guys almost get Selena'd.
In AD 2003, War was Beginning[edit]
It all began on April 1st, 2003, with a little video called "Why are we here?" This was the first episode of "Red vs Blue," a Halo Machinima series that followed the life of these color coded Spartans as they end up in different wacky hi jinks and other bullshit. The series became an accidental hit, spawning a cult phenomenon that put Roosterteeth on the map. What started as just a hobby project between a group of Xbox LAN party friends, quickly became a business, a profitable business.
As the years went on, Roosterteeth expanded from just a small room in a house, to a full studio, with Red vs Blue being their flagship series. But as time went on, their flagship began to sink as people were beginning to move onto other things, and as other Halo Machinima series started forming, Roosterteeth needed to fight for relevancy. So, each season got bigger and bigger, as with each new season, came an upgrade in their production. By 2010, Roosterteeth now had a full blown fucking CGI studio, and they started moving away from Machinimas in favor of CGI action movies. It's to the point where they don't even want anything to do with the series that put them on the map to begin with, as Red vs Blue isn't even on their main channel anymore, and sectioned off on it's own, left forgotten. But it's not the only project of theirs they want left forgotten...
Act 1: Welcome to the Strangerhood[edit]
During the Machinima Boom of 2005-2010, machinimas were in such high demand. Roosterteeth was leading the charge with Red vs Blue, they were profiting off the boom with a shitload of merchandise and DVD sales. As they expanded their business, they began to expand to other machinimas in an attempt to create a new Red vs Blue moneytree. Those series being:
P.A.N.I.C.S (People Acting Normal In Crazy-Ass Situations): A four episode miniseries set in F.E.A.R. 1 where a squad argues whether ghosts are real or not, while everyone of them are slowly killed by one.
1-800-Magic: Another miniseries, this time set in Shadowrun, which tried to be Red vs Blue, but in Shadowrun instead of Halo.
Captain Dynamic: A live action miniseries where a superhero pitches a video game.
But the series that was their biggest regret, was "The Strangerhood." Back in 2006, Rooster Teeth was getting a lot of traction, and were commissioned by EA to create a comedy machinima series set in The Sims 2. The series was designed to be a parody of television, from reality competition shows, to sitcoms, to dramas, and more, filled with random racist stereotypes as they try to live in the Strangerhood and figure out where they were. The series was a massive flop, so bad that Strangerhood DVDs are sold for a dollar on their online store. As a joke for their Indiegogo, they even made The Strangerhood Season 2 as a stretch goal, which somehow, they made it to that goal.
After all these failures, Red vs Blue would be their only machinima series, and their only smash success, if it wasn't for a group of five idiots.
Act 2: LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLET'S PLAY![edit]
After the Machinima Boom, Roosterteeth needed new shows, as their influence began to shrink, with only Microsoft promotion deals keeping them afloat. But then, they caught a lucky break with the arrival of an angry Jew Brony named Michael Jones. Roosterteeth found this smalltime Let's Player as he had a passion for getting angry at him sucking ass at video games, and flew him out of New Jersey to Austin to make him their next big thing, starting the series "Rage Quit." Rage Quit episodes followed the same formula:
Michael plays a video game --> Michael sucks at said video game --> Michael spills his spaghetti --> Repeat
Rage Quit helped them get the ad revenue they needed to expand even more, which lead to the creation of Achievement Hunter. Originally a guide for normie Xbox achievements, Achievement Hunter was later rebranded as a Let's Play channel when Egoraptor made his own with Game Grumps, and Roosterteeth seeing it as an easy way to print money. Let's Play began small with short videos of Xbox games they've been paid to shill, but then came 2012, with the release of Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition. With the Minecraft fad in full effect, Roosterteeth found their golden ticket, and their weekly Minecraft let's plays were an easy money market. Overtime they explored other games for one offs, mainly to try to find more moneysinks as they always do. In 2013, they found their next one, with their weekly Grand Theft Auto series, in which they just drive around in expensive cars they bought using microtransactions, and flex all the pay to win garbage they have in game.
All was going well, that was until one of their most popular let players, a spic named Ray, decided to leave the conglomerate. With Ray's departure, Let's Play lost their golden ticket, as their new videos don't even break one million views, and the majority of their subscribers are just dead subs. They try to make themselves relevant again, by playing the newest hits, even now doing a THIRD weekly let's play series with the buggy asset flip Playerunknown's Battlegrounds. However, it wasn't to be, and Let's Play suffered the same fate as Red vs. Blue.
With two moneysinks gone, there's only one source of income left: Weeaboos.
Act 3: Now it's time to say goodbye...[edit]
Remember that CGI studio mentioned earlier in the article? That wasn't just meant for Red vs Blue. Needing a new moneysink, Roosterteeth worked to make an all CGI action show. To make this show, they hired famous Youtube CGI action animator, Monty Oum, creator of animations such as Haloid. Under Roosterteeth, he worked tirelessly to create a series that would become an even bigger success then Red vs Blue: RWBY.
RWBY was Monty's dream. A full story action RPG anime series. RWBY is set in a fantasy world that has scifi tech, as every weapon, and I mean EVERY weapon is a Final Fantasy style weapon that can transform into a gun, because America. The series has horrible pacing, terrible sound design, and a silly plot. It's clear all the effort was put into the fight scenes, as evidenced by the first two seasons. But that didn't stop weebs from signing onto this show in droves. RWBY became x10 more popular then Red vs Blue, even gaining popularity in Japan. It got so popular it even spawned it's own video games, having it's own standalone game, and the RWBY main characters appearing in Blazblue Cross Tag Battle.
But then, tragedy struck in 2015 when RWBY's creator Monty Oum passed away from "doctor complications." With Monty dead, Roosterteeth now had full creative and licensing rights to RWBY, so they could do whatever they pleased. But with it's creator gone, so did what little quality the series had, and dear god it shows. Post-Monty RWBY had slower fight scenes, less fight scenes and more exposition, and the writing took a nosedive. Season 3 is regarded by all RWBY fans as the worst, when what was a good season was ruined in the last few episodes, when out of nowhere they decided to take the Game of Thrones route and kill off two extremely loved fan favorite characters, in the most bullshit ways possible. The feels and fan outrage was extremely massive, and Roosterteeth didn't know what to do with the series after that, so they decided to time skip Season 3-4, which was the final straw for the majority of RWBY fans. Longtime Roosterteeth fans and casual RWBY fans abandoned the series after Season 3, leading RWBY into the same downward spiral of Red vs. Blue and Let's Play.
Other series[edit]
Besides the big three as mentioned, there are other lesser niche series of Roosterteeth that they did in between: some successful, some just blatant Roosterteeth trash. Here are some of those series:
RT Shorts: One off live actions shorts set in the Roosterteeth Office. Nothing to write home about, but it should be noted some of these series are blatant commercials commissioned by game publishers.
RT-ES: A playon of Nintendo Entertainment System, Roosterteeth Entertainment System was a shortlived skit comedy show...that was exclusive only to those who bought membership subs. The show panned worse then Strangerhood did, and died the year it was made.. That'll surely get people to buy your pointless subscriptions.
Camp Camp: An animated cartoon about kids in a shitty summer camp. Nothing special either.
RT Animated Adventures: Cartoons using audio from their podcast, which we'll cover later in the article.
Truly quality entertainment worth paying for.
Notable Controversies[edit]
Besides their failed moneysinks, Roosterteeth is known for a lot of other shady shit and controversies. Notable events that where swept under the rug by their legion of child cultists, able to shill away any and all criticism of Roosterteeth. Below are the most notable events.
Connect the Hots[edit]
A series the Let's Play channel used to do was called Let's Build, which was a Minecraft video in which they build their next let's play, and they just talk about whatever. Well for one video, they were discussing a game they would play when driving to work called "Connect the Hots," in which they would stalk a woman they'd find attractive, then stop stalking her if they found someone more attractive.
Roosterteeth deleted the video and were forced to issue a public apology over it, not that it mattered anyway. The incident was swept under the rug and it was as if it never happened, and their blind child fans defend their blatant stalking.
Hey kid, wanna see my General Ironwood?[edit]
Watch Out! This faggot waits for the child to make the first move in a sexual situation.
You can help by contacting Federal Authorities and alerting Chris Hansen.
So what's more fucked up then self-admitted stalkers in Roosterteeth? How about pedophiles? Last Thursday, Tumblr user TheRealAgentTexas brought some Harvey Weinstein tier accusations against RWBY voice actor Jason Rose, known for playing the character General Ironwood. Below is the statement and DMs from the accuser herself.
Below is the full DMs.
RWBY Plagiarism[edit]
"HOW DARE YOU CRITICIZE FALLOUT 4!"[edit]
Back in 2015, well known game critic (((Jeff Gerstmann))), did a review of Fallout 4 where he had the gall to not give it a perfect 10 and say it's not the best game evar! This lead to Roosterteeth slandering him on their podcast for not submitting to the groupthink, which lead to drama against other critics.
The Slow Mo Guys almost get Selena'd.[edit]
Lose an iPod?
This page contains an hero.
Last Thursday, Christopher Giles, a Slow Mo Guys fan who was dying alone, wanted to go reenact one of the Slow Mo Guys's slow bullet videos on Gavin Free's wife, so he drove all the way from New Mexico to Texas, and broke into their house in the middle of the night to pitch his super awesome video idea. However, Gavin and his wife thought his idea was shit and hid away from him in their bedroom closet, and Chris being too much of a cuck to get Gavin to come out of the closet, decided to do his own stunts and perform the slow mo video on himself.
The Slow Mo Guys
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Dispatchers Speak Out - Kelowna News January 05 2013
Craig Power
Almost everybody knows that in the event of a medical emergency, calling 911 is the best thing to do but it seems that many people abuse the service for non-emergency situations.
Dispatchers with the BC Ambulance Service responded to a staggering 394,000 calls last year alone and a large number of the calls did not require the services of an ambulance.
"There are occasions when all dispatchers are tied up and what it (non-emergency calls) does is it ties that dispatcher up from answering another 911 call," says Norm Matheson, Superintendent for the BC Ambulance Service in the North Okanagan.
Matheson says the scope of why an ambulance is called or requested is so vast; it could be anything from a nose bleed that won't stop, to a trauma or even cardiac arrest situation.
Dispatchers have received 911 calls for such outrageous reasons as:
I need you to get hold of my doctor for me -- the office is closed.
I'm out of beer.
I swallowed toothpaste. I didn't spit it out. Will it make me sick?
There's a dead crow in my yard. Could I get West Nile disease from it?
"We do get these types of calls once in a while but these are more of the rare ones and are certainly an abuse of our 911 operator's time because a cow died in their backyard, that kind of thing," adds Matheson.
Matheson says if someone feels they need an ambulance due to a medical condition, then by all means phone 911. All calls are prioritized by dispatchers.
Non-emergency medical issues should be directed to a family doctor, walk in clinic or tele-health hotline.
Category: Public News


A team of UC Berkeley astronomers, along with an undergraduate contributor, analyzed a series of Uranus and Neptune NASA photos released in late 2018, discovering new information about the planets' atmospheres.
Move over Hubble — there's a new telescope in town. Two UC Berkeley astronomy professors will lead research teams to test the capabilities of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, which will replace the Hubble telescope.
UC Berkeley astronomers successfully gathered data from beneath Jupiter's clouds after developing a new atmospheric mapping technique using radio spectral imaging, publishing their findings Friday in the journal Science.
The surface of Uranus has been nebulous to astronomers for years, but researchers at UC Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have studied the planet's weather patterns and gained some clarity as to what its surface looks like.


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Cooling on net zero isn't good for business
Magenet Magenet July 21, 2022 3 min read
At least we can all now agree: the UK needs to take another look at its net zero target.
It has been a triumph of timing, if nothing else, that a blazing, dangerous heatwave in the UK has coincided with a Conservative leadership campaign where support for the country's legally enshrined target to hit net zero emissions by 2050 has been, at best, lukewarm.
True, the candidates throwing most shade on those climate ambitions, like Kemi Badenoch, have been eliminated from the competition to become the next prime minister. But even Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor who just a few months ago was pledging to make the City the "first-ever net zero aligned global financial centre", has muttered warnings about going "too hard and too fast". Liz Truss, foreign secretary, has said it must be done in a way that "doesn't harm people and businesses".
Meanwhile, as the country sweltered and combusted, a court found that the government's net zero plans were insufficiently detailed to assess their credibility, ordering a new strategy be drawn up by March next year. That echoed a recent report from the independent Climate Change Committee that pointed to "scant evidence of delivery" against big picture goals.
There is mounting evidence that the public would like politicians to be doing more, not less. A new poll by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit found that 70 per cent of Britons think climate change is behind the extraordinarily high temperatures, with more than half saying that governments and societies need to be more ambitious in tackling the problem. Onward, the centre-right think-tank, found in April that 64 per cent supported the net zero goal, more than seven times the proportion opposing it.
The Tory hopefuls are of course playing to a particularly niche audience: YouGov said only 4 per cent of party members surveyed put reducing emissions in their top three priorities. But think-tank the Green Alliance this week found that among those voting Conservative in 2019 there was widespread support for green policies, including an appreciation that low carbon energy could give the UK more security while also bringing down costs. Onshore wind polled well; the nuclear projects so beloved by policymakers less so.
Meanwhile, the need to make progress towards net zero has been largely accepted in the business world. In finance, in particular, it is seen as a risk management exercise — one that the Bank of England has been clear becomes more challenging, costly and unpredictable the later action is taken and the worse the physical fallout in terms of fires, storms and floods from a changed climate.
Elsewhere, there is a sense of opportunity. Make UK, the trade body for the manufacturing industry, says that companies increasingly cite net zero as meaning better access to finance for investments, benefits from reducing energy consumption and the development of new products.
True, the British Chambers of Commerce last year found only one in seven businesses had set targets to bring down emissions, with smaller firms lagging. But even so, a 2020 BCC survey found that half of respondents saw decarbonisation as a competitive advantage, rising to three-quarters for larger companies.
After several years of government flip-flopping on business policies, one virtue of the legally mandated net zero goal was its supposed certainty. The UK's record at sticking to any form of long-term economic planning is horrible, with the untimely demise of the 2017 industrial strategy the latest in a long line of examples. Supporting the transition, with the promise of hundreds of thousands of new jobs, was one of the three pillars of the Plan for Growth that was meant to take its place.
"Businesses are desperate for clarity, certainty and stability," says Will Tanner, director of Onward. Even allowing for a dose of greenwashing, the promise of clear priorities, incentives for boosting investment, job creation and the development of new industries should appeal to politicians and companies alike. Yet a repeated gripe from business has been the lack of detail around government plans: when Make UK rated various government strategies in this area, only two of 11 were regarded as progressing well.
All which is to say, the business world is more likely to agree with the courts than the candidates on this one — and should make that abundantly clear.
@helentbiz
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Q: Building predicate (NSExpression) to determine icon color for Mapbox SymbolStyle layer I've recently started working with the Mapbox SDK on iOS and I've got some markers that I want to add to my map.  Each marker represents an object that has several properties, among them: a type property (which backs to an enum) and a boolean property.  I have a MGLSymbolStyleLayer defined and I've set most of the icon-related properties accordingly.  Currently, I'm  setting the icon color based solely on the "type" of the object like this:
let defaultColor = UIColor.blue
layer.iconColor = NSExpression(format: "MGL_MATCH(type, 'type1', %@, 'type2', %@, 'type3', %@, %@)", UIColor.orange, UIColor.purple, UIColor.yellow, defaultColor)

This is working well but now I need to add an additional piece of logic in the NSExpression to check the boolean property on each object and if it's true, then set the icon color to red; else, determine the icon color for each object based on it's type (using the logic defined above).  So in a nutshell, I need an NSExpression that functions like this:
if feature.booleanProperty == true {
   // set icon color to red
} else {
   // set icon color based on the feature type
}

I've looked through the Mapbox Predicates and Expressions Reference doc but it's still not clear to me how I would implement this sort of conditional logic in an NSExpression.  Can anyone tell me if this is possible to do and if so, how?

A: From what I tried:
NSExpression(format: "TERNARY(booleanProperty=YES, %@, MGL_MATCH(type, 'type1', %@, 'type2', %@, 'type3', %@, %@))", UIColor.red, UIColor.orange, UIColor.purple, UIColor.yellow, defaultColor)

SIDE NOTE: I tried only compositing ternary operators and evaluating on object, not this specific expression.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home Reports & previews Tigers stabilise after Lyon's early rampage
Tigers stabilise after Lyon's early rampage
Reports & previews
A century stand for the sixth wicket between Mushfiqur Rahim and Sabbir Rahman rescued Bangladesh after Australia spinner Nathan Lyon went on the rampage on day one of the second and final Test in Chittagong on Tuesday.
The Tigers were on 253/6 at stumps with captain Mushfiqur unbeaten on 62 and Nasir Hossain 19 not out, the two will try an build on their 31-run partnership on the second morning.
Lyon, who opened the bowling, finished the day with figures of 5-77 from 28 overs after capturing the first four Bangladesh wickets to fall, all lbw.
The off-spinner had Tamim Iqbal (9) and Imrul Kayes (4) trapped in front early before Soumya Sarkar and Mominul Haque added 49 for the third wicket.
Lyon though struck on the stoke of the lunch as Sarkar was out for 33 to leave the Aussies the happier of the sides after the first session as the hosts were 70 for three at the interval.
Not long after the break Mominul played back and missed a straight one off Lyon to go for 31 while left-arm tweaker Ashton Agar got the big wicket of Shakib Al Hasan (24), caught behind, to leave the home team in a spot of bother at 117/5.
Mushfiqur and Sabbir rebuilt the innings with the latter being the more aggressive of the two, Sabbir going to his fifty off 62 balls while the skipper was more patient going to his half-century off 124 deliveries.
Just when it looked as if the Tigers had wrestled back the initiative on the first day, Lyon had Sabbir stumped by Matthew Wade for 66 nine overs before the close, the valuable stand worth 105 coming to an end.
Australia need to win the Test to salvage a draw in the two-match series.
Australia Australia tour to Bangladesh Bangladesh
Pooran insists West Indies will be a T20 World Cup threat
You would be foolish to discount the West Indies in the short format despite their poor run of late.


Bose is the latest audio company to abandon the cables with the release of its new SoundSport Free wireless in-ear headphones which still retain the sound quality of its wired products.
There is a lot of technology built into the SoundSport Free in-ear headphones to not only make them sound great but also comfortable to wear as well.
Design-wise, the earphones look similar to the other Bose Bluetooth earphones but minus the cable.
A lot of work went into fine tuning the product to improve the sound and also to maximise Bluetooth signal strength so they will still connect to your device whether it's in your hand, in your pocket or in your bag.
And they are designed to be used anywhere and, of course, while you're exercising so they can handle water and sweat thanks to a water repellent mesh in the open ports.
And if you want to go for a run in the rain, the Bose SoundSport Free can go with you as well.
For our review, we found the Bose SoundSport Free in-ear headphones consistently delivered an uninterrupted stream whether we were listening to music, and audiobook or a podcast.
Each bud is slightly smaller than a 20-cent piece but is about 3cm thick with most of that bulk hanging outside your ear.
This was okay for the most part, but there were times when we were in the gym doing weights or a circuit when we brushed them with our arms doing an exercise and nearly dislodged them.
This is not an issue if you're just walking, running or using them on public transport.
Yet while they protrude a little more than other similar styled earphones, they still feel quite balanced and secure while you're wearing them.
Bose uses the same silicon tips here as it does for its other earphones which create a comfortable fit and subtle noise isolation.
The right bud has a volume and navigation buttons so you can take control without having to touch your device.
We found these buttons rather small and they took a little getting used to before we could make the proper adjustments.
But most importantly, the Bose SoundSport Free in-ear headphones sounded brilliant.
As is typical with any Bose device, these wireless earphones offer a remarkably balanced sound that nailed any type of music you're listening to. The bass was also perfect – not too much, too little – just spot on.
At the top volume, the earphones also delivered in spades and with zero distortion.
Bose's on-board volume optimised equaliser does most of the heavy lifting here and the result is consistently high performance.
For phone calls, the audio isn't quite so crash hot.
The people we spoke to said they could hear the wind when we were outside so there was not much noise isolation going on.
And we can only hear the calls through the right earbud.
With a $299 price, we expected a little better in this area considering how often we are making and receiving calls with our mobile devices.
The Bose Connect app is also useful to help you connect the earphones to your mobile device but also to locate a bud if you happen to misplace it.
They show up on a map within the app.
The app's also handy to get the latest firmware updates for the SoundSport Free as well.
On the battery side, we got about five hours of use before the earphones needed to recharge.
And to do that all we had to do was put them back into their charging case which has its own battery and enough power for two full recharges.
Now about that charging case. It's huge!
It's more than twice the size of the Apple AirPods case and dwarfs other charging cases for other wireless earphones.
It's a bulky accessory to have to carry around especially if it's in your pocket.
With the SoundSport Free, Bose has made yet another high-quality audio product that sounds brilliant but that are slightly bulkier than other similar products in the market.
To hear this sort of quality, that extra size is worth it and won't be an issue unless you're too self-conscious.
The Bose SoundSport Free are one of the best wireless in-ear headphones you can buy. True fans of the brand and audiophiles you won't mind the slight bulk in the earbuds and the larger charging case as long as it's delivering that high-quality audio.
VERDICT: The Bose SoundSport Free are one of the best wireless in-ear headphones you can buy. True fans of the brand and audiophiles you won't mind the slight bulk in the earbuds and the larger charging case as long as it's delivering that high-quality audio.


Product prices and availability are accurate as of 2019-04-03 23:26:26 EDT and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on http://www.amazon.com/ at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Not legally approved. Probably the most famous shoe in New Balance history. The 574 is a clean and classic die cut eva runner that utilizes encap cushioning technology.


Gone are the shoulder pads and the triangular haircut. But the Arsenio of yesteryear seems mostly untouched. Grinning happily, wearing a shiny suit and surrendering to a barrage of fist pumps and "woof-woof" chants, Arsenio took to the stage of his new show earlier this week and picked up exactly where he left off in 1994.
Of course the landscape has changed in many ways since Arsenio's late-'80s, early-'90s heyday. David Letterman is still around, but he's moved over to CBS. Jay Leno has taken over NBC's "The Tonight Show" (and is on the verge of retiring himself), and Jimmy Kimmel sweeps up the leftovers on ABC. The post-10pm news slot has become the exclusive realm of old people, not hip young urbanites looking for a late-night party. The young people are all on Facebook reposting twerking videos. Which makes you wonder what's left for Arsenio.
Arsenio started off his show with some corny jokes. He segued into some prop comedy, holding up an AOL CD and asking everyone if they remembered such an item. He then welcomed his first official guest, rapper Snoop Dogg—which might have been a credible first "get" before the guy changed his name to Snoop Lion and became the spokesperson for Overstock.com. Dogg immediately took the "hip" out of hip-hop, performing a 20-year-old song and urging the audience to "throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em like you just don't care." C'mon, Dogg. In this day and age, that creaky old dance floor exhortation sounds more realistic coming out of my grandmother's mouth.
Looking over Arsenio's first-week guests, it's hard to spot one that anyone under the age of 30 would recognize. Magic Johnson? Mark Harmon? Lisa Kudrow? Earth, Wind & Fire? Nostalgia is nice, but it ain't gonna get you a season pickup after 12 weeks, old pal.
"Arsenio" airs locally on KASA-2, Monday through Friday, at 10pm.


Club Finder - Your Nearest Club - Just a Click Away!
The best and most enjoyable way to learn to fly radio controlled model aircraft is by joining a club. To find your nearest R/C Model Flying Club search our Club Finder. Searches can be made under any category, Club Name, Location, County, Country etc. We register ALL clubs, not just BMFA Affiliated. We list clubs from all countries of the UK and Eire and even clubs from other parts of the world.
Our Club Finder has undergone a major upgrade! It is now FULLY searchable.
New registration will appear immediately after you submit your details.
We now have over 400 clubs listed.
Please Note: Before visiting any of the flying sites listed here, you should first make contact with the local flyers and establish their ground rules. Discussions that could be taking place with a number of local and national bodies means that access to certain sites may be under review and inappropriate use could jeopardise the negotiations and ultimately the site!
If your club is not listed (and you have your club's authority to do so) then please click on the link below and fill out the registration form.
If your are already listed and wish to amend or remove your details then please email me with your new information.
All listings are FREE and we will be added to our Club Finder immediately.
RC FW = Radio Control Fixed Wing.
Heli = Radio Control Helicopters.
Sil = Radio Control Silent (Elec or Gliders).


text:
Shri Ram The 7th Avatar of Vishnu
By liejdj8ejs / February 7, 2022 February 4, 2022
Lord Vishnu is known for his many unique avatars on the planet. One of them is Lord Ram, who is considered one of the most renowned avatars connected with many big Hindu festivals. He is known for his righteousness and discipline that were clearly visible throughout his life span. Let us find out more about Lord Vishnu's 7th Avatar Shri Ram.
Shri Rama's Birth and Family
Why did Vishnu take Rama avatar?
Narad Muni's Curse
The Tale of Jay and Vijaya
Story of Jalandhar
The Request of Maharaj Manu
Lord Vishnu's Avatars
Lord Ram was born to King Dashrath of Ayodhya and his wife Kaushalya on the ninth day of Vasant Navratri as per the Hindu calendar. Due to this reason, his birthday is celebrated as Ram Navmi.
Being born in a royal family, he lived a luxurious life in his childhood. Lord Ram also had three siblings- Lakshman, Bharat, and Shatrughan. All three of them were completely devoted to their elder brother. The love and respect among all the brothers had no match.
Although he never had the lack of anything in his life as a child, Shri Ram was known for his groundedness and simplicity.
Later, he married Sita, the daughter of King Janak. His life is known for being quite challenging as he had to go through an exile of 14 years with his wife and younger brother Lakshman where Sita was kidnapped by the demon Ravana.
This led to one of the greatest wars in history. The day when Ravana was killed is known as Dussehra to celebrate the victory of good over evil. The epic Ramayana states the complete sequence of Lord Ram's life events.
Coming back to the article's title, let us find out this avatar of Lord Vishnu.
There have been multiple stories associated with the birth of Shri Ram, but what are the major reasons behind Shree ram's avatar? Well, Lord Shiva has explained some of them.
One of the reasons behind the ram avatar is the curse given by Narad muni to God Vishnu. Narad muni is known as one of the biggest followers of Bhagwan Vishnu. You might be wondering, then how come Narad Muni cursed him?
It happened once that Narad muni was so proud of his soberness and kept telling Lord Shiva about how nobody could distract him from his spiritual path. When Lord Shiva heard this, he warned Narad muni to not discuss this with Lord Vishnu.
But he repeated the same in front of Lord Vishnu. As a result, he decided to make him realize his mistake. One day, on his walk, Narad muni crossed a kingdom where he saw the beautiful arrangements of a princess's wedding. He got attracted and wanted to marry her.
He asked Shree Vishnu to make him look good so that the princess chose him for marriage. When he went to the kingdom, the princess made fun of him because his face had turned similar to a monkey's face. He was ashamed and embarrassed, and, in return, he cursed Lord Vishnu that he too would suffer the pain of segregation from his wife.
These two names have also played a great role in Lord Ram's avatar. They are known as the gatekeepers of the Vaikuntha, the place where Lord Vishnu resides.
They were cursed by Lord Brahma's four sons – Sanaka, Sanadana, Sanatkumara, Sanatana, when they visited Lord Vishnu and were stopped by Jay and Vijaya. The gatekeepers didn't allow them to meet him because he was resting.
When the four Kumaras heard this, they cursed them that they had to suffer the cycle of birth and death on earth. It was their belief that Lord Vishnu was always available for his disciples.
As a result, they were known as Hiranyakashipu and Hirankasha in their first life. Ravana and Kumbhakaran, in the second birth, were killed by Lord Ram's avatars and freed themselves from the curse.
Jalandhar is an infamous demon who was too proud of his abilities and considered himself equal to the Devtas. When all the limits were exceeded, Lord Shiva decided to teach him a lesson and fought a battle with him. Still, Jalandhara was undefeatable at that time because of his wife's fast to ensure a long life.
It was necessary to kill him, Lord Vishnu appeared as Jalandhara in front of his wife, and she broke the fast. As soon as this happened, Lord Shiva killed Jalandhar. However, he was reborn as Ravana in his next birth and received liberation from Lord Ram.
Lord Ram's parents, Raja Dashrath and Kausalya, were Manu Maharaj and his wife, Satrupa. They were engrossed in tough meditation and Tapa for years and were great devotees of Lord Vishnu. Finally, after a long time, the Lord appeared and blessed them with a boon as per their desire.
They wanted Lord Vishnu to be their son, and in their next birth, they were born as Lord Ram's parents.
Here is the list of Shri Vishnu's avatars:
Matsya Avatar
Kurma Avatar
Varaha Avatar
Narasimha Avatar
Vamana Avatar
Parashurama Avatar
Krishna Avatar
Buddha Avatar
Kalki Avatar
Apart from the reasons mentioned above, one of the most important things that we must understand and learn from Lord Ram's birth is the way of living a life. His birth taught us the ideal way of living life in the simplest manner possible. A person who does not distract from the challenges that come in the path of life makes it to the end successfully.
Today, we are witnessing a gradual downfall of the value system among the youth. Lord Ram is the perfect example of sticking to one's values and fulfilling responsibilities in every situation, whatever it may take. He played the role of an ideal son, brother, husband, and king, which is surely not easy to do all together.
Even though a person achieves great height in life, he must never leave his simplicity and compassion towards other living beings. Kindness and equality are key to making this earth a better place to live.
Hope you like this article on Shri Ram, the avatar of Bhagwan Vishnu. Please share this post on Lord Rama with your friends and family on social media.
When Was Lord Ram Born? Lord Ram Birth Date
What is Shiva Lingam? Story of Shivling
15 Amazing Facts about Lord Hanuman
Hindu Goddesses Name with Pictures


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Both Religion and science require faith in God. For believers, God is in the beginning, and for physicists He is at the end of all considerations.
WHAT IS PHYSICS?
Formerly called natural philosophy, physics is concerned with those aspects of nature which canbe understood in a fundamental way in terms of elementary principles and laws. Physics is in some senses the oldest and most basic pure sciencesince matter and energy are the basic constituents of the natural world.
In the course of time, various specialized sciences broke away from physics to form autonomous fields of investigation. In this process physics retained its original aim of understanding the structure of the natural world and explaining natural phenomena.
The most basic parts of physics are mechanics and field theory. Mechanics is concerned with the motion of particles or bodies under the action of given forces. The physics of fields is concerned with the origin, nature and properties of gravitational, electromagnetic, nuclear, and other force- fields. Taken together, mechanics and field theory constitute the most fundamental approach of understanding of natural phenomena which science offers. The ultimate aim is to understand all
natural phenomena in these terms. based on certain general classes of natural phenomena on which the methods of physics had been found particularly applicable.
The divisions or branches of modern physics are made in accordance with particular types of structures in nature with which each branch is concerned. The aim of physics is the construction of a unified theoretical scheme in mathematical terms whose structure and behaviour duplicates that of the whole natural world in the most comprehensive manner possible. Whereas other sciences are content to describe and relate phenomena in terms of restricted concepts peculiar to their own disciplines, physics always seeks to understand the same phenomena as a special manifestation of the underlying uniform structure of nature as a whole. In line with this objective, physics is characterized by accurate instrumentation, precision of measurement, and the expression of its results in mathematical terms. The major areas of physics are Acoustics, Atomic physics, Classical mechanics, Electricity, Electromagnetism, Elementary particle, Fluid mechanics, Heat, Low-temperature physics, Molecular physics, Nuclear physics, Optics, Solid-state physics, Statistical mechanics, Theoretical physics
WHY STUDY PHYSICS?
Physics major is great preparation for almost any career, because they teach students how to analyse complex problems and inculcate a strong quantitative background that can be applied in any technical field. The goal of physics is to understand how things work from first principles. We offer physics courses that are matched to a range of goals that students may have in studying physics — taking elective courses to broaden one's scientific literacy, satisfying requirements for a major in the sciences, or working towards a degree in physics. Courses in physics reveal the mathematical beauty of the universe at scales ranging from subatomic to cosmological. Studying physics strengthens quantitative reasoning and problem solving skills that are valuable in areas beyond physics. Students who study physics are prepared to work on forefront ideas in science and technology, in academia, the government, or the private sector.
Careers might focus on basic research in astrophysics, cosmology, particle physics, atomic physics, photonics or condensed matter physics, or in more applied research in areas such as renewable energy, quantum information science, Data science, materials development, biophysics, or medical physics etc. Careers could also include teaching, medicine, law (especially intellectual property or patent law), science writing, history of science, philosophy of science, science policy, energy policy, government, or management in technical fields
COMMON SKILLS GAINED FROM A DEGREE IN PHYSICS INCLUDE:
Studying for a physics degree will provide you with benefits which last a lifetime and knowledge and skills which are valued by employers generally. Some of these benefits are harder to quantify than others, such as the pleasure that can come from being able to read about and understand the latest discoveries in science, while others are more specific. Where these skills are useful in many contexts, they are called transferable skills. They include, a practical approach to problem solving, the ability to reason clearly and to communicate well.
The transferable skills you will develop while studying BSc Physics at MMC:
Studying physics will enhance your ability to think clearly, to pay attention in detail and to construct logical and reasoned arguments.
The mathematics and physics modules you take will ask you to solve problems—lots of them! This includes not only academic problems but also practical problems. You will learn how to formulate problems precisely, how to identify the key questions and how to use simple problems and limiting cases to guide your approach to more complicated problems.
One of the most important skills a degree develops is the ability to teach yourself. During your studies, you will gain experience of searching for and digesting information from a variety of sources including lectures, the library and other people.
Physics deal with complicated and surprising concepts and good communication is essential. Throughout the course you will be interacting with lecturers, colleagues and friends from outside science both in writing and orally. You will also develop the essential communication skills of listening and reading.
Studying at MMC develops self-discipline. You will have to organise your timetable to meet deadlines for a variety of activities including examinations and the submission of assessed coursework. You will also have to plan your programme of studies in advance.
IT has come to mean anything to do with computers. You will need to use computers for at least some of word-processing and the graphical display of information, accessing the internet, controlling experiments and modelling.
You will also have the opportunity, through activities not directly related to your studies, to develop your personal skills. There are opportunities to participate in, organise and publicise sports, music, drama, politics, student support groups and many other activities.
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Wish you all a merry Christmas and a prosperous New year 2022!! - Covid 19's new variant Omicron is spreading everywhere. Let us be cautions and prayerful.- Covid19 is escalating again in our country... Please stay home and keep yourself safe!! - Let us pray for those who are affected by the virus and let us stay home not to be affected!!
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Saturday, February 28th from 7:00-10:00 pm.
Sorry for the cancellation, but Carl has the flu. See everyone in February.
We're Ba-ack! The Wait is Over.
We're appearing this Saturday, November 15th, from 7-10 pm at Thomas Sweet, Montgomery. See you there.
We'll be at the Thomas Sweet Cafe in Montgomery on November 15th, 7:00-10:00 pm.
Beautiful weather, SHB music, ice cream…2 out of three ain't bad.
Come check us out this Saturday at Thomas Sweet, Montgomery.
Let's start the chant now: No SNOW, No SNOW, No SNOW!!!
See everyone this Saturday, March 15th, at Thomas Sweet in Montgomery, 7-10 pm.
We will be performing on Saturday, January 25th.


Egypt's construction industry is growing at an extremely fast pace. The primary factors driving demand for construction materials are major projects in the emerging megacities, like the new capital city east of Cairo, the new Alamein City west of Alexandria, and many other building projects in the Cairo and Alexandria metropolitan areas. Sika will use its additional production capacities to harness this growth in the market and further reinforce its leadership position in mortar products.
Ivo Schädler, Regional Manager EMEA: "We are delivering excellent growth rates in Egypt and have doubled our production capacities for mortars. This is a key competitive advantage in a market, such as Egypt, that is expanding at such a fast pace. We have laid a foundation for growth that outstrips the market, thus positioning ourselves as a strong partner of high-performance products for the construction industry."
With its rapidly growing population Egypt has enormous requirements in terms of living space as well as transportation and energy infrastructures. On top of this, a high level of investment is being channeled into the expansion of tourism infrastructure. According to forecasts, the construction industry is expected to grow by just under 11% this year, with an average growth rate of over 10% until 2023.


text:
Home » UPSC Calendar 2023 » Daily Current Affairs for UPSC
Daily Current Affairs for UPSC – 7 December 2022
Daily Current Affairs for UPSC | Daily Current Affairs 2022 | Latest Current Affairs 2022 PDF | Daily Current Affairs for UNION Public Service Commission | 7 December 2022 Daily Current Affairs
Posted bymanishsiq Published On December 7th, 2022 Leave a comment on Daily Current Affairs for UPSC – 7 December 2022
Daily Current Affairs for UPSC 2022
Q) Recently seen in news, the 'Asia-Pacific Employment and Social Outlook 2022' was released by which one of the following organizations?
Option (4) is correct: International Labour Organisation (ILO) recently released two reports that gave an indication of the global employment scenario post-pandemic. Asia-Pacific Employment and Social Outlook 2022: Rethinking sectoral strategies for a human-centred future of work. It stated that the Asia-Pacific region lost about 22 million jobs in 2022. It noted that decrease in wages is placing millions of workers in a dire situation. Income inequality and poverty will rise if the purchasing power of the lowest paid is not maintained.
Global Wage Report 2022-2023: The Impact of inflation and COVID-19 on wages and purchasing power. It discusses the twin crises, inflation and economic slowdown, which created a "striking fall" in real monthly wages around the globe. It blames the war in Ukraine and the global energy crisis for this situation. International Labour Organisation (ILO) is one of the United Nations agencies that ensure sustained labour law standards across the different world countries.
Q) With reference to exit polls in India, consider the following statements:
Exit polls are conducted before the elections to indicate trends in the election.
Conducting exit polls is prohibited during the period notified by the Election Commission of India.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2
Statement 1 is incorrect: Exit poll is the opinion of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. This is used to forecast the outcome of an election. Exit polls are different from opinion poll, which is conducted before the elctions. Exit polls are supposed to give an indication of trends in an election, along with the issues, personalities, and loyalties that have influenced voters. Exit polls are usually conducted by a number of organisations, often in tie-ups with media organisations. The surveys can be conducted either face to face or online. Currently, exit polls can't be published from before voting begins till the last phase of voting concludes.
Statement 2 is correct: Under Article 324 of the Constitution the Election Commission prohibited newspapers and news channels from publishing results of pre-election surveys and exit polls during voting. However, the guidelines could not be implemented as there was no statutory backing. Section 126 (A) of the Representation of the People's Act, 1951 ban both exit and opinion polls during a period specified by the Election Commission. Individual or agency violating the directive will face two-year prison term or fine or both.
Q) Consider the following statements about the Print and Digital Media Association (PADMA):
PADMA is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
PADMA is mandated to address grievances that have not been resolved by digital news publishers within a month.
PADMA is empowered to hear appeals filed by the complainant against the decision of publishers.
PADMA is headed by a retired Chief Justice of the High Court.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
1, 2 and 4 only
2 and 3 only
1, 2, 3 and 4
Statement 1 is incorrect:Print and Digital Media Association (PADMA) has been approved by the government as a self-regulatory body for publishers of news and current affairs across the country. The organization will have 47 digital news publishers on board and will look at grievances related to digital media news content on their platforms.
Statement 2 is incorrect:PADMA shall perform functions provided under Rule 12 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, such as, to oversee and ensure adherence by the publisher to the code of ethics; provide guidance to publishers on issues of the code of ethics, address grievances that have not been resolved by publishers within 15 days.
Statement 3 is correct:PADMA shall hear appeals filed by the complainant against the decision of publishers and issue such guidance or advisories to publishers for ensuring compliance to the code of ethics. It is a non-governmental organisation that establishes rules and standards relating to the conduct of entities in the industry in order to protect the customer and promote ethics, equality, and professionalism.
Statement 4 is correct:The Print and Digital Media Association (PADMA) as a self-regulatory body is chaired by former High Court Chief Justice Mool Chand Garg and two members – Ashok Kumar Tandon, Senior Bureaucrat and Journalist and Manoj Kumar Mishra, Senior Journalist and Writer.
Q) Consider the following statements about the ideology of B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi:
Both agreed on separation of religion from politics.
Both favoured parliamentary democractic system of polity.
Gandhi supported the varna system whereas Ambedkar opposed it.
Which of the statements given above is/are not correct?
Statement 1 is incorrect: In political precepts, Ambedkar believed in freedom of religion, free citizenship and separation of State and religion. Gandhi also endorsed the idea of freedom of religion, but never approved a separation of politics and religion. But religion as an agent of social change was well accepted by both leaders.
Statement 2 is incorrect: The two leaders differed over the nature and scope of democracy as a method of government. Ambedkar advocated parliamentary system of government for independent India, but Gandhi had very little respect for the parliamentary system of governance. Gandhi believed that democracy tends to get converted into mass democracy with a propensity for domination by leaders. Ambedkar was inclined towards mass democracy as it could act as a pressure on the government with the advancement of the oppressed people
Statement 3 is correct: Ambedkar denounced the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures. He believed that the Hindu scriptures do not lend themselves to a unified and coherent understanding, and reflect strong contradictions within and across sects. And the caste system and untouchability were the manifestations of the Hindu religious scriptures. On the contrary, Gandhi held that caste system in Hinduism has nothing to do with religious precepts and spirituality. For Gandhi, caste and varna are different, and caste is perversive degeneration. Gandhi was a proponent of the Varna system and belief in the varna-ashrama system was a cardinal qualification to be a Hindu.
Q) With reference to Paris Club, consider the following statements:
It is an informal group of creditor nations that helps debtor countries stabilize their financial situation.
All the countries in the Group of Seven (G-7) are members of the Paris Club.
Statement 1 is correct: The Paris Club is an informal group of official creditors whose role is to find coordinated and sustainable solutions to the payment difficulties experienced by debtor countries. As debtor countries undertake reforms to stabilize and restore their macroeconomic and financial situation, Paris Club creditors provide an appropriate debt treatment. Paris Club creditors provide debt treatments to debtor countries in the form of rescheduling, which is debt relief by postponement or, in the case of concessional rescheduling, reduction in debt service obligations during a defined period (flow treatment) or as of a set date (stock treatment). Paris Club creditor nations are proposing a 10-year moratorium on Sri Lankan debt and another 15 years of debt restructuring.
Statement 2 is correct: It has 22 permanent members, including most of the western European and Scandinavian nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. All the members of G7 are currently member states of the Paris Club. The G7 is an informal grouping of seven of the world's advanced economies, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Posted bymanishsiq December 7, 2022 Posted inDaily Current AffairsTags: Current Affairs, Daily Current Affairs, Daily Current Affairs for UPSC, latest current affairs, UPSC current Affairs
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डेली करंट अफेयर्स for UPSC – 7 December 2022


text:
Middle East Press (23 May 2016 NewAgeIslam.Com)
The Women behind Sykes-Picot: New Age Islam's Selection, 23 May 2016
New Age Islam Edit Bureau
The Women behind Sykes-Picot
By Ibrahim Al-Marashi
Life in the Shadow of an Empire
Hezbollah, the Defender of Israel
By Turki Al-Dakhil
Preserving Our Architectural Heritage
By Hala Al-Qahtani
Egypt and the Aversion of Investors
By Abdulrahman Al-Rashed
Compiled By New Age Islam Edit Bureau
British diplomat Mark Sykes and French diplomat Francois Georges-Picot garnered most of the attention in the retrospective commentaries published around May 16, the 100-year anniversary of the Sykes-Picot Treaty.
Other pieces referred to their contemporaries, such as the British agent T E Lawrence, who led the Arab Revolt during World War I, or the influential oil broker Calouste Gulbenkian.
These Europeans sought to shape the Middle East, yet for every discussion of a European man who engaged in this endeavour, there is also a story of a European woman who both made this region, and was made by the region.
Jane Digby, Gertrude Bell, or Freya Stark, just to name a few women, led lives as illustrious as their male counterparts in the Middle East.
In terms of popular historical memory, we remember European men in the Middle East, such as archaeologists, spies, and diplomats concocting surreptitious treaties, but have forgotten the women who also engaged in such activities.
Jane Digby
The life of Jane Digby resembles that of Lord Byron, as they both flouted social conventions of their time.
Byron, remembered as the debauched, flamboyant, amorous, Romantic-era poet, travelled to the Ottoman Empire in 1809.
Today, he would be considered a foreign fighter on par with those leaving from Europe to fight in the current Syrian civil war. In 1824, he died in an Ottoman civil war, fighting on behalf of Greeks seeking independence.
Around the time of Byron's death, Digby was coming-of-age in Britain. She has been remembered for her love affairs, having had four husbands, and a variety of lovers, including a Greek general who fought in the war of independence that Byron died in.
Today [Lord Byron] would be considered a foreign fighter on par with those leaving from Europe to fight in the current Syrian civil war.
In 1853 she arrived in Damascus, travelling to the ancient city of Palmyra. Digby's journey was daunting given the risk of disease and attack from other Bedouins.
She was accompanied by Medjuel el-Mezrab, a sheikh from one of the smaller tribes of the Aniza confederation, who she eventually married.
She learned Arabic, lived half of the year in nomadic tents in the desert, and the other half in her palatial home in Damascus, spending the rest of her life in Syria with her husband until her death 28 years later.
In light of the Sykes-Picot treaty, attention has been given to T E Lawrence and his interaction with the future king of Iraq, Faisal, son of Sharif Hussein of the Arab Revolt.
However, it was a woman, Gertrude Bell, referred to known as the "khatun" or "queen", who was more instrumental in Faisal's career. It was this queen who was a kingmaker in Iraq, lobbying for King Faisal to rule, then becoming his personal adviser.
While Lawrence is memorialised, Bell had an equally illustrious career as an explorer and spy. Bell completed her studies in history at Oxford with honours.
During World War I, like Lawrence, she worked for the Arab Bureau out of Egypt and then in Iraq. She would go on to establish Iraq's National Museum in Baghdad.
In some respects, she is remembered along the lines of Sykes and Picot, Europeans who drew up the borders of the region.
In the words of the late journalist, Anthony Shadid: "Here, the new Iraq looks like the old one, imbued with politics that might be familiar to Gertrude Bell, the British diplomat and adventurer who drew the country's borders after World War I."
Even Nicole Kidman, who plays Bell in the film Queen of the Desert described her along these lines: "She basically defined the borders between Iraq and Jordan that exist today, borders that she negotiated between Churchill and different Arab leaders."
Ironically, the most infamous border drawer, Mark Sykes, was not fond of Bell, calling her a "conceited, gushing, flat-chested, man-woman, globe-trotting, rump wagging, blethering ass".
Portrait of the British explorer and writer Freya Stark [1893-1993], dressed in the traditional costume of the Hadramaut region of Yemen [Getty]
In terms of World War II spies, Laszlo Almasy will be remembered in popular historical memory as the inspiration for the main character in the film, The English Patient.
In fact, he was a Hungarian spy who actively aided Nazi Germany in Libya and in their campaign to take Egypt. It was a female British agent, Freya Stark, who tried to prevent Egypt from falling into German hands.
Stark's journeys to the Middle East began in 1927, when she travelled to Beirut, making her way to Baghdad, in the Mandate of Iraq, and by 1931 western Iran, reaching the long-fabled mountain fortress of the Assassins in the Elburz mountains.
In 1935, she travelled to the Hadhramaut in today's Yemen. Few Western travellers, never mind women, had gone into these parts of Iran or Yemen, risking the dangers of not so much bandits, but the environment and water-borne diseases.
Like Digby and Bell, she was fluent in Arabic, a talent that served her well during the Second World War in the British Ministry of Information.
She worked in Aden in southern Yemen, producing Arabic news broadcasts to counter Axis propaganda, and travelled to northern Yemen to meet with its ruler, the Imam, as a one-woman propaganda team to keep the kingdom neutral during the War.
In Egypt, she contributed to the Ikhwan al Hurriya (Brotherhood of Freedom), a propaganda network to persuade Arabs to rally behind the Allies, particularly as the Axis military were massing near El Alamein.
Her expeditions continued after the War, and her last, in in her old age, were to Afghanistan. She died in 1993 at 100 years old.
Their Legacies
The feats of these three women were noteworthy given that they not only navigated patriarchal societies in the Middle East, but also Britain. Digby and Bell found freedom in the Middle East, escaping rigid Victorian social conventions.
Today, Digby would be horrified to witness the fate of Palmyra under ISIL control. Bell would be dismayed to see the museum she founded, sacked and looted after 2003, or the damage ISIL inflicted upon the ancient site of Hatra in Iraq, which she visited in 1911.
She would probably be more upset about the damage ISIL inflicted to Iraq's human heritage, particularly among the Yezidis, whom she had visited in 1905. Freya Stark probably could have never envisioned a group like al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula establishing a presence in the Hadhramaut in Yemen, or the Taliban in Afghanistan.
In the cases of Bell and Stark, these two women were agents of imperialism, perpetuating British colonial control over the Middle East. Yet this article is a lament of sorts, for many of the places these women travelled and meticulously documented, would be unrecognisable to them today, all for the worse.
Source: aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/05/women-sykes-picot-160519112909032.html
On May 11, I joined a number of friends attending a performance of the 64th anniversary of Ballet Folklorico de Mexico at Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
Founded in 1952, Ballet Folklorico de Mexico is the brainchild of Amalia Hernandez(1917-2000), a world-renowned choreographer whose lifetime achievement is this spectacular staging of various song and dance traditions from the pre-Columbian, Hispanic, and revolutionary eras of Mexican history.
Coming to Mexico City and watching this show after the ever nastier tones of the US presidential election in which Donald Trump has verbalised and personified the systemic mendacity of North American racism towards Mexicans and other people, a sharp contrast emerges between two overwhelming power of representation and marks the varied manners in which nations live in the shadow of an amorphous empire.
Donald Trump becomes gold mine of material for comedians
Racialised Delusions
In the United States, as these days best captured by Donald Trump and his followers, Mexicans and other people living in the US beyond its racialised delusions are the bete noire of enduringly nasty white supremacist fantasies.
Trump speaks of mass deportation of Mexicans, of building a tall and long wall on the southern border of the US, and of banning Muslims from entering the country in a manner that betrays the white supremacist racism that has always informed US imperialism - and he just utters it more bluntly.
Such bigoted portrayals of Americans of a different descent than Trump and his racist supporters are deeply rooted in a hateful ideology dominant in the US that wishes to belittle, denigrate, and demonise various segments of its own society to rule them more ruthlessly by the maddening logic of abusive capital and its unending need for cheap labour.
But beyond Trump's racist delusions, nations continue to live their lives on uncharted territories.
To combat the terror of US imperial racism at home and abroad, nations need to stage themselves from the depth of their despair to their most sublime aspirations.
Staging the Nation
The musical charm of Ballet Folklorico de Mexico is justly staged to celebrate the continued history of a nation's visual and performing arts.
But if such just and sweet celebrations are not to become mere eye-candy tourist attractions and thus gloss over much nastier realities, then they will have to be seen in conjunction with other forms of public staging that is not on any official stage but right in the streets and alleys of Mexico City.
Just over two weeks before I came to Mexico there was a massive demonstration in Mexico City against femicide and other forms of violence against the Mexican youth, about which Vijay Prashad wrote a detailed account for the Frontline in India.
"On April 24," Prashad reported, "thousands of demonstrators marched to the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City from the municipality of Ecatepec. People from all kinds of backgrounds marched with signs that had the requisite dose of humour and anger."
"Revolution en la Plaza, en la Casa y en la Cama" (Revolution in the streets, at home and in bed), announced one woman, while another wrote on her pregnant belly: "Quiero nacer sin violencia" (I want to be born without violence). A resonant chant went, "Ni sumisa, ni obediente. Soy libre, loca y valiente" (Neither submissive nor compliant. I'm free, crazy and brave).
To combat the terror of US' imperial racism at home and abroad (the two categories are now entirely meaningless to this amorphous empire), nations need to stage themselves from the depth of their despair to their most sublime aspirations.
The Zapatista movement shines a bright ray of hope on Mexico as their kindred souls do in Kobane and Palestine, sustaining a similar vision of liberation for a world devoured by state-sponsored violence, greed and corruption.
One has to come to Mexico and look at the emancipatory movements in Rojava and Palestine from the Zapatista's perspective and the map of our hopes will look entirely different.
A Nation in Defiance
The plague of ISIL in the Arab world has its counterpart here in Mexico, too. The Mexican drug cartels partake in Christian iconography almost identically as those mercenary thugs in Iraq and Syria sport their Islamist symbolism.
What I see here in Mexico is a nation in defiance against its own odds. Its corrupt politics, its drug cartels, and the under- and unreported systemic violence that bruises its souls are kept in balance by the sheer determination of a nation to live with dignity and teach the world grace.
Its hidden treasures, as in the magnificent Diego Rivera murals, are protected not by armed guards but by the rambunctious urbanity of its crowded markets teaching humility to its wide pretentious boulevards.
For Mexico as a nation, its drug cartels are a US problem, a narcotic market created by the supply and demand logic of the selfsame predatory capitalism it so adores.
US corporate brand junks - Starbucks and McDonald's galore - pour into the magnificent rambunctiousness of Mexico City through the same porous borders that drugs flow up through into the US.
Mexican drug cartels are the functional equivalents of US corporate greed and operate through the selfsame maddening logic of predatory capitalism.
Donald Trump is not an accident. He is the very logic of US imperial thuggery carried to its rhetorical ends.
But nations are not entirely defenceless against the US imperial politics and the barbarity it occasions. The example of Mexico shows how nations resist this ugly imposition by their creative and critical prowess far beyond the limited banality of a McDonald's joint here and a drone attack there.
Faces in the Mirror
Beyond the monumental vacuity of the globalised marketing of the commodities and brands it sells to sustain itself in power, from its military machinery to its material rubbish industry, this culture has nothing to offer the world.
No art, no industry, no ethics, no morality, no philosophy. Nothing. The US and its military allies form an amorphous empire with no hegemony - nothing to convince anyone of anything but the banality of brute violence.
Donald Trump is not an accident. He is the very logic of US imperial thuggery carried to its rhetorical ends. He does with ghoulish vulgarity what Barack Obama has done (and Hillary Clinton will do) with sleek salesmanship.
How do Mexicans resist that banality? Not just by staging in their opera house a loving tribute to their myriad traditions of delightful songs and dances, or else pouring into their street protesting against corruption and violence.
They celebrate life in every pleasant moment of their civilized gatherings - eating, drinking, and merrymaking - and there and then, they teach themselves to anticipate their own better angels. Millions of Bernie Sanders' supporters from one end of the US to another are the kindred souls of these Mexicans, yet trapped in their own corrupt and rigged "democracy".
How do we cross the fictive frontiers imposed between a beleaguered empire and the peripheral nations it wishes but fails to rule? A friend in Mexico City gave me a masked marionette of a Zapatista woman as a souvenir and shared with me the story often told when the Zapatistas are asked why they cover their faces.
"Look into the mirror," they respond, "that's who we are!"
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/05/life-shadow-empire-160522060051341.html
When former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was assassinated, Hezbollah narrated strange theories calling Israel as the main culprit behind the crime. We remember Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah's famous speech in which he showed maps and videos to back up the party's theories. Whatever he showed, however, contradicted the cause and the sequence of events.
Nasrallah wanted to exonerate his party and the Syrian regime from the responsibility and wanted to distract people. He was attempting to end the controversy surrounding the car used in the assassination, which international investigator Detlev Mehlis said came from Beirut's Dahiyeh.
However, when it has come to the assassination of some of its commanders, Hezbollah exonerates Israel. During his recent appearance on television, Nasrallah insisted that Mustafa Badreddine was the victim of what he called "Takfiri" groups. He excluded Israel from this whole narrative on Badreddine's assassination.
Following the assassination of Hariri, Hezbollah always asked the question: "Who benefits from killing Hariri?" However when it comes to Badreddine, it's asking another question: "Who is the enemy?"
The militias that exonerate Israel, or hold it responsible based on their own circumstances and interests are more dangerous than Israel
Double Standards?
Hezbollah's militia is fighting the Syrian people and the moderate opposition. It is fighting a battle against the rights of the Syrian people. However, what is strange is that Hezbollah exonerates Israel from Badreddine's murder but insists on involving it in the assassination of Hariri. This exposes its logic as conveyed via the story of Abu Adas and other futile media fabrications.
Days have gone by since the indictment was issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. People learnt that Hezbollah, its commanders and the Syrian regime were responsible for the murder of political figures just because they disagreed with them. But fate has its ways and Hezbollah is now drinking from the same cup as Gebran Tueni, Samir Kassir and Rafiq Hariri.
What is more dangerous than Israel are the militias who exonerate Israel or hold it responsible based on circumstances and interests.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/05/22/Hezbollah-the-defender-of-Israel.html
While most European cities try to preserve their historical identity of which they are very proud, we see many Arab cities embracing modern architectural styles, totally ignoring their heritage.
A picture of any Italian city reflects Italians' tremendous love for their ancient architecture and town planning. It looks as if they have copied the same style of architecture all over the country. They have also preserved old forts, engravings and pillars as well as the ancient Roman theatres and stadiums as they are proud of the great Roman history and civilization. They publicize Roman architecture through pictures, greeting cards and souvenirs, which are available at airports and shopping centres.
Islam has been successful in developing a great civilization and a unique architecture and town planning, quite different from other civilizations. The Islamic architecture and construction have been successful in accommodating previous styles.
Saudi Arabia, the land of the two holy mosques, is honoured to host and serve millions of pilgrims who come to the country to perform for Haj and Umrah. I believe it will be impossible to preserve the built heritage in Makkah while implementing massive expansion projects. However, efforts must be made to protect the city's architectural heritage such as porticoes, balconies, decorations and designs in some manner.
When we construct buildings we often ignore the identity of the place. When a visitor tours Riyadh for example he or she can witness the culture and civilization of Yamamah and Najd and the history of Daraeya fort, but when they pass by the main streets of the city they will be surprised to see western style buildings that do not reflect the identity of Riyadh or the Arabian Peninsula for that matter.
Even in Jeddah we cannot see the city's beautiful architectural style and built heritage except in the historical region. Authorities should have preserved the city's built heritage while constructing government buildings or public facilities to protect its identity.
The Kingdom's southern region is distinguished for the Asirian architectural heritage that highlights the artistic capabilities of its people in constructing beautiful homes with wood, stone and mud works. The Eastern Province is also rich in built heritage. One can see attractive architectural designs in Al-Ahsa, Qatif, Saihat, Safwa, Al-Khobar and Dammam.
But no one now feels that he or she is on the eastern coast except during the Eid festivities. There is no objective planning for construction of buildings in the region to preserve its culture and heritage. The disorganized buildings will force you to think that the Eastern Province has no cultural identity.
Every region of the Kingdom has its distinct culture and heritage that makes it different from other parts of the country. But up till now no initiative has been taken to protect and project these identities. I believe that the work of an architectural engineer is not only ensuring quality of the building work but also projecting a city's distinct identity.
Although we are incapable of forcing individuals to build their homes incorporating the city's architectural heritage, mayoralties and municipalities can at least apply them on government buildings and other public facilities to preserve the heritage in different regions.
The built heritage should not be restricted to tourist villages. We need to revise our town planning policy to deepen our historical and heritage identity. We wish our streets and squares would be transformed into museums and exhibition centres that carry the city's identity and add to its beauty.
We cannot see now any outstanding art works in our big squares. It is high time we decorate our streets by installing small models of historic forts and other monuments that reflect our heritage.
Source: saudigazette.com.sa/opinion/local-viewpoint/preserving-architectural-heritage/
Egypt's number one enemy is neither terrorism nor the opposition – it is the economy. Successive governments in the country have promised reforms but hardly succeeded. It's the enemy which can shake the pillars of the state again and creatie chaos – more than the Muslim Brotherhood and even the armed opposition groups.
Economy is also the only challenge that can be overcome as compared to other challenges staring Egypt in the face. It is an important battle but the situation can be improved. The government has spoken about a new phase of development and started its era with promises which it began to be implemented.
However, massive projects may not be enough to save the economy as burdens increase and difficulties continue to exist. Perhaps there's a massive project which we are not aware of and which will build an economy based on the aspirations of its 90 million people.
We believe in Egypt because it has a huge market. It's the second biggest economy in Africa after Nigeria. Yet, global companies are losing confidence in Egypt due to political propaganda, bureaucracy's inability to open up or due to restraints imposed on the few investors who have taken the risk by going to work in Egypt.
This does not diminish the accomplishments made so far. The new Suez Canal was completed in one year. It was a massive construction engineering project and it was an important test of the government's will - a test it passed. The second question is: does the government have new ideas?
All Egyptian governments have executed multiple projects but none of them proposed a plan to develop the country's economy. All we've had for decades are promises for development.
We must exclude the first experience of change led by late President Anwar al-Sadat when he opened the economy as part of political change following the Camp David Agreement. Sadat was the first to adopt this approach. Socialist countries, mainly the Soviet Union, and the socialist eastern European countries followed suit.
Egypt can do better with its huge resources and capabilities but we fear that the state's rivals will succeed at distracting its attention and keeping it occupied with political challenges
Journey of Reform
Egypt's consecutive governments did not complete this journey of reform and development, unlike Poland, Bulgaria and other such countries. What slowed down this path of development is that Cairo focused on confronting political challenges. Former president Hosni Mubarak developed an ambitious reform transition plan; however it deviated from its path as a result of political and administrative tussles.
Mubarak focused on the game of political balances with the opposition in the street and with the political parties within the regime and leaders in governance. And so years passed until the government found itself incapable of fulfilling people's livelihood needs. Meanwhile the political opposition was waiting to seize the moment for change and the moment came in 2011.
President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi's era started with the talk of development, change and prosperity. This was the third such occasion since the end of the socialist economic system in the 1970's. Egypt promised to attract international investments and this first required reforming legislations as well as developing a comprehensive economic plan that acts as a roadmap.
Egypt can do better with its huge resources and capabilities but we fear that the state's rivals will succeed at distracting its attention and keeping it occupied with political challenges.
We know that the Egyptian opposition, regional struggles and administrative disputes are enough to consume the government's energy and distract it from the more important promises. We cannot, however, underestimate the extent of harm which the opposition has caused to the country's economy.
Tourism, which is one of the most important financial resources, has declined by 66 percent during the first quarter this year. There is no doubt that this has been due to terrorism. Oil price drop also affects Egypt as it has oil and depends on selling the commodity in return for hard currency. Egyptian laborers who work in oil-rich countries also depend on it.
Egypt's situation will continue to be difficult if it doesn't implement reforms which former governments have avoided. The most important step will be modernizing legislations which are the causes behind investor aversion. Egypt's economic success will make the country better for its domestic constituents and make it a strong and influential state.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/05/22/Egypt-and-the-aversion-of-investors.html
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/middle-east-press/new-age-islam-edit-bureau/the-women-behind-sykes-picot--new-age-islam-s-selection,-23-may-2016/d/107385


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