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Sour taste: Australian celebrity chief underpaid employees $5.62 million July 18, 2019
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EU is 'unimpressed' by threats of no-deal Brexit: BBC July 18, 2019
Outrageous to suspend parliament in October over no-deal Brexit: minister July 18, 2019
Archive for the 'Apioth Mayom' Category
John Garang: "Our tribes and regions will not unite us; only South Sudanism will unite us"
Posted: November 26, 2018 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Columnists, Commentary, Contributing Writers, Junub Sudan, Opinion Articles, Opinion Writers
Our Tribes, religions and regions will never unite us; only South Sudanism will unite us as Dr. John Garang would have said
By Ngoi Thuech, Dodoma, Tanzania
John Garang's prophecy
Monday, November 26, 2018 (PW) —- We are all caught up in the most stupendous midst of peace. It is not that we are only tired of war, in essence, no one gets to enjoy the good things a life can offer in a time of war. Martin Luther King, Jr once said that "those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war." Our people are still sensitive to the psychological traumas of the recent war and we ought to perpetually avoid weaponizing words as tools for further ethnic divisions and hatred.
Instead of being too sensitive to fight each other over ethnicity, we should rather be quick to defend each other when such ethnic hatred ensues. Peace is hard to maintain, but people can easily be provoked to fight themselves and in a matter of a few months, they could easily destroy relationships that took decades to create, not to mention the billions of dollars that were spent on building the infrastructure.
So, instead of returning a fire for fire, peace would only elude us and we could end up with one war after another. We are better off finding shared commonalities that will act as binding knots to keep us together in times of uncertainties instead of focusing on the different aspects that we don't know about each other yet. Our liberation hero Dr. John Garang de Mabior used to say that our tribes, religions, and regions would never unite us; it is only Sudanism (now South Sudanism) that will unite us. (more…)
Kokora vs Decentralization: What do South Sudanese Confuse Federalism with?
Do Not Confuse a Camouflaged Call for Confederation for Call Federalism
Sunday, November 25, 2018 (PW) —- What do South Sudanese confuse federalism with? Merriam Webster defines it as "the distribution of power in a federation between the central authority and the constituent units (as states) involving especially the allocation of significant lawmaking powers to those constituent units." In the 1970s Jaafar Nimeri turned the former Northern provinces into decentralized regions. Joseph Lagu and his followers saw this as an opportunity to get rid of the Nuer and Dinka in the Equatoria region who they saw as job grabbers.
This political sensation later popularly became known as 'Kokora.' Kokora means to divide or division in Bari. It means 're-division' to its antagonists. "In practice, 'Kokora' meant expulsion of non-Equatorians from government and civil service positions in the regional capital of Juba and elsewhere, and their reposting to their home regions" (Douglas H. Johnson's quote from his Rift Valley Institute Research Paper 1: Federalism in the History of South Sudanese Political Thought).
Today when non-Equatorian people hear the call of federalism from the Equatorian people they probably confuse it with another chauvinistic regionalist call to send them to their home regions. If we dare look again at our governing system, what we have in place is federalism. We have federalism, but it is sort of a car that is taken out of the road and use for something else altogether, let say, its owner uses it as a bath shelter instead of using it to drive himself/herself to work or all sort of social gatherings. We inherit federalism from North Sudan. We have 32 governors and 32 state governments all subordinating to one central government in Juba; if that isn't federalism, then federalism has lost its true meaning. (more…)
President Kiir should Allow Free and Fair Elections after the Transitional Period
After the Transitional Period, Salva Kiir Needs to Set an Example and Allow a Free and Fair Elections
Salva Kiir Mayaardit: The Joshua of South Sudan
Saturday, November 10, 2018 (PW) — What Peter Biar Ajak termed as a generational exit should not mistakenly be interpreted as an all-out call for our aging liberation generation to retire from active politics and allow the new and upcoming youthful generation to give it a try this time around. The late Senator John McCain of Arizona served his people up to the very last of his breath when he passed away this past summer. He was a war veteran, much like our current leaders are. So, being from a military background doesn't necessary socialize you to rule dictatorially and hold the country hostage as a ransom for personal enrichment. One thing that sets the late John McCain with our liberation leaders was that the former came from a stable and liberal democratic nation whereas our leaders come from a region whose democratic institutions are absent or nonexistence.
South Sudanese are forever going to be thankful to Salva Kiir and Riek Machar for inking the peace deal to work together in one unity government as a testament to their faith that for once they can put aside their differences and work for the betterment of their people. Many countries on our East African block have two presidential term limits which run for a total of eight to ten years. President Uhuru Kenyatta said recently that it is unconstitutional to run for a third term in Kenya. President Kiir took up the presidential crown after we gained our independence from Sudan. And by the end of the Transitional Period, he would have been in power for ten years, much like the time normally spent by the Kenyan presidents at the State House. The probable reason why there is a limit on a presidential rule is perhaps to avoid what the political scientists called the political decay, a scenario which entails lack of accepting new ideas and overall democratic institutional upgrade. (more…)
The Government of South Sudan should Stop Curtailing the Freedom of Expression
Posted: August 7, 2018 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Junub Sudan, Opinion Articles, Opinion Writers
By Apioth Mayom Apioth, North Dakota, USA
Peter Biar Ajak is a South Sudanese PhD student of politics and world affairs at Cambridge University in the UK; he was detained by agents of the national security at Juba International Airport on his way to Aweil for the celebration of Red Army Day.
Tuesday, August 07, 2018 (PW) — President Salva Kiir wishes to finish discussing outstanding issues on power sharing agreement signage day. Somebody tell me right now that we are not running a Kindergarten here, are we? How chaotic and simpleminded can we become on these significant issues that may have dangerous repercussions if they are not handled with great care.
High Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF) has been on and off since the summer of 2017; we have had one full year discussing and trying to find the middle ground where we will need to form one unity government. It is business as usual for Juba government. Dr. Peter Biar Ajak was arrested and he is being held without trial; the Members of Parliament bagged a whopping $16 million right on our watch while the peace negotiation were ongoing in Khartoum.
And two weeks prior to the thievery of $16 million from the public coffers, the same Members of Parliament extended the presidential term limit to 2021, an actuality of three more years added to the current term which was also extended to three more additional years in 2015. The $16 million was awarded to the Members of Parliament for a job well done for having been on the good side of Mr. President. (more…)
SSOA's Refusal to Sign Khartoum Peace Agreement is a Continuation of the War
Posted: August 3, 2018 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Junub Sudan
Thomas Cirilo Swaka, former SPLA deputy chief of staff for logistics
Friday, August 03, 2018 (PW) — We have committed wretched crimes against each other in the last four years of the civil war. We can all point fingers at the government, and we can also likewise point the same fingers at the SPLA – IO and National Salvation Front. The best route we should have taken was to set up one Transitional Government of National Unity (TGNU).
However, our brethren at the house of South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) have taken a different route of refusing to initial an agreement of power sharing altogether, which is understandable to all who know how things span out in the end. South Sudan Opposition Alliance's standing point is valid and crystal clear, however, our people are scared and helpless no matter where they may reside in any part of the world.
President Salva Kiir may have a wicked thirst for power, but he is starting to open up new avenues for restructuring and implementing policies that may align our socioeconomic interests with progressing prospects. (more…)
Our Youth Must be Given a Chance to Move the Country Forward: The Case of Biar Ajak
Posted: August 1, 2018 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Columnists, Commentary, Junub Sudan, Opinion Articles, Opinion Writers
Wednesday, August 01, 2018 (PW) —– When a government has everything going well for her; it shouldn't worry about criticism. Criticism is a toothless biting mouth whose venom become obsolete when the said government/institution is feeding her subjects with euphoric and joyous things to celebrate for their dear lives. The more a government does well for her subjects, the less criticism the government faces in the long run.
Even if there is a throw of criticism here and there, and the political sentiment in the nation is ripe with prosperity and happiness, then any sort of criticism thrown at the government shouldn't matter, would it? I ask the government and the leading security agencies to release Peter Biar Ajak from the jaws of injustice labeled against him. We have to start a brand new era of respecting the views of other people that may be different from us!!! The time is ripe to embark on that journey now!!!
No matter how brilliant and bright Peter Biar Ajak is in charting a brand new path for our people to be the sole custodians of their rights and freedoms; it is hard to see how his efforts are going to translate into real substantial results. Salva Kiir is beginning to open up to work with different political organizations, but we are not so certain about how things are going to span out in the long run. (more…)
It is time for President Kiir and his entourage of troopers to vacate the seats of power
Posted: July 13, 2018 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Junub Sudan
Working for Peace Shouldn't be An Excuse to Hold on to Power
Friday, July 13, 2018 (PW) — When Salva Kiir signed the Khartoum Declaration of Principles late last month, it meant he left his chances of reelection at the mercy of the South Sudanese voters comes the end of the Transitional Period. From that day onward, he signed into a letter and word for word that he is going to compete on a fair playing field for votes with the likes of Riek Machar, Pagan Amum, Majak da Agoot and Joseph Bakosoro comes the election time in three years' time.
By amending the constitution to extend his stay in power for another three years meant his thirst for power is more obvious than ever. Agreeing to work with the opposition parties doesn't give the head of state an absolute power to tamper with the constitution; South Sudan is a democracy, and that means any slight alteration to the constitution is the responsibility of the elected members of the parliament.
We don't live in a traditional African chieftaincy or monarchy anymore, where the king had an absolute hold on power. Politics is meant for people who wish to serve the unmet aspirations of the citizens of any given nation-state. The presidency is a service-delivery occupation, and that means the more you serve your voters sincerely and with an honest integrity, the more votes you will garner comes the scrutinization (election) day. (more…)
President Kiir's refusal to work with Dr. Riek Machar is letting down South Sudan
Posted: June 25, 2018 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, HLRF, Junub Sudan, Opinion Articles, Opinion Writers
"IGAD feels there are little acts of insubordination by Machar towards the president which will create another problem if they are forced to work together. They have to agree to work together on their own. In the United States, the law is such that the party leader or the president is allowed to pick his own Vice President. That allows him to pick the person that works well with him. They know through experience, that you can't have two competitors for the top job being president and vice president. It hardly works. You can't force it either. A Vice President is someone who is happy to play the number two role. Dr. Riek Machar doesn't like that role hence his issues with President Kiir. So the real issue was not a tribal one, it's just two people that don't work well together.
Monday, June 25, 2018 (PW) — It is essential for our dear leader Salva Kiir to create a conducive working relationship with Riek Machar because our lives might just depend on it. Politics unlike culture which takes an enormous amount of time to make a substantial change is an emotional animal. It changes from one second to the next without sending a warning signal. Riek Machar has been in this galactic political arena for over thirty years.
He was first believed to be a spiritual anointed leader by Ngundeng, and now he has become the leading opposition figure in the land. Political success just doesn't happen by pure luck and serendipitous wishful thinking. An intelligent political thinker must first and foremost play his/her cards of wins and losses very well; he/she must at all times knows that she would never win all her initiated games; that is why it is always essential to be a shrewd schemer whose game plans are hard to shake off.
Is Salva Kiir afraid of losing the presidency to Riek Machar comes the end of the transitional period? Is that why he is refusing to share a spotlight with Riek Machar in the Transitional government? Another essential element that an intelligent political thinker must control at all times is the political sentiment. Political sentiment is another emotional animal that must continuously be fed by consistently doing good deeds to the general populace. (more…)
Why we should rather be Farming than to Continue Fighting the Destructive War
Posted: May 18, 2018 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Economy, Junub Sudan, Opinion Articles, Opinion Writers
By Apioth Mayom Apioth, WA, USA
Abel Majur Leek's farm in Mareng, Bor, Jonglei state
Friday, May 18, 2018 (PW) — There are no better quotes that capture the current dire political arena in South Sudan than the following two excerpts: "Where you are roasting your sweet potato is also the place where the devil is also roasting its sweet potato of destruction" (African proverb), and "In politics, stupidity is not a handicap" (Napoleon Bonaparte). The late famed singer Nyankol Mathiang sang of how God brought us John Garang so he would strategically align us with the dream of having our land (Canaan=South Sudan) from the shackles of persecution in the not so united Sudan.
In the SPLA bush war, serendipity brought us John Garang and the devil also brought us Salva Kiir Mayarkor. We would go on and spent 21 challenging and trying years with the supposedly anointed and visionless Joshua(Kiir Mayar), not knowing that he would one day lead us into the war of destruction. His latest outburst was how he went ahead and freed the former SPLA detainees (the leaders) from imprisonment in Juba to an exiled political safety in Nairobi. To Kiir, he still regrets setting them free when he should have snatched the last breath out of them while he was at it.
This recent accusation led Ajak Deng Chiengkou of SBS Radio to have wondered as to why he would rather commit such a treasonous crime. This is one area where Dr. John Garang was way ahead of his peers when it came to matters concerning futuristic and shrewd strategic planning in sowing seeds that will bring the bountiful harvest in the not so distant future. The reason why John Garang always made sure that the Lost Boys of Sudan (who were also the core of the Red Army of New Sudan) were so often ferried to safety and properly trained and disciplined in soldiering and education was because in case the SPLA bush war dragged on and on for quite some time, then this newer crop of highly militarized generation of soldiers would take over from the former generation, and keep the flag hoisted high. (more…)
President Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar Must Be Given a Chance so Peace May Reign
Posted: April 20, 2018 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Columnists, Commentary, Contributing Writers, Junub Sudan
By Apioth Mayom Apioth, Washington State, USA
KiiRiek
April 20, 2018 (SSB) — It has become commonplace knowledge that both Salva Kiir and Riek Machar are political liabilities and unfit to steer South Sudan toward a new dawn of bountiful fortune. Salva Kiir's promiscuous personality would never allow him to stick to any consistent strategic policy formulation. After the breakout of the war in December 2013, he allowed himself to be controlled by two hardcore ethnic chauvinists in the name of Paul Malong Awan and the Jieng Council of Elders (JCE), and to a certain extent by a group consisting mostly of former Khartoum politicians, whose political allegiance is questionable at best.
Paul Malong Awan's infamous greed for everything is well known. He wants to have more wives than everyone else. He wants to be the wealthiest person in history that ever lived at the expense of the taxpayers'. He is rumored to have two mansions in Uganda and Kenya: one in Kampala and another in Nairobi as we speak. On his last SBS Radio's interview dated April 10th, Ateny Wek Ateny stated that" during his time in office as army Chief of General Staff, banks were opened at night for General Malong to take the money and he squandered a lot of money that time." (more…)
Why Kiir Must Work with the Opposition to Salvage the Nation from Total Collapse
Posted: February 19, 2018 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Junub Sudan
February 19, 2018 (SSB) — The opposition representatives and the majority of South Sudanese populace want Kiir and his deputies to pack up and leave the leadership mantle once and for good. There is no denying the evidently-seen crisis that is commonplace all over the country. Millions of South Sudanese have been reported to be food insecure for the second year in a row. Another two million people are taking refuge in our neighboring countries. It is only two percent that receives tape water in the capital Juba. The only remarkable road in the land is the Juba – Nimule Highway. What Salva Kiir has been great at for the past twelve years is to issue decrees week in and week out without presenting any factual rational to back up for why he sacked Mr. or Mrs. so and so.
In the just-concluded second round of the Revitalization Forum, IGAD proposed a 36-month transition period for both the government and opposition to iron things out and form one unity government. Even though we have seen numerous shortcomings of Kiir and his entourage, we would be better off for him to lead us to the next phase of governmental formation. The three-year transitional period would give us a window of opportunity to see who is better suited for the top seat in the land comes election time. None of this progression could happen without a lenient thinking on Kiir's part.
By neglecting our youth, we are only creating more David Yau Yau, Riek Machar and Thomas Cirilo
Posted: October 20, 2017 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Columnists, Commentary, Contributing Writers, Junub Sudan, Opinion Articles, Opinion Writers
By Apioth Mayom Apioth, USA
David Yau-Yau, the Murle militia leader who led a military rebellion against the gov't of South Sudan leading to the creation of the Greater Pibor Administrative of which he (Yau-Yau) has been appointed the administrator by President Kiir.
October 20, 2017 (SSB) — The lost boys/girls of Sudan are hitting their 40s. In the West, when someone reaches her 40s; she starts to freak out and goes on a spending spree, because she begins to realize that half of her life is gone, never to be recovered. Similarly, Mr. President, you are in your mid sixties and those of your generation have spent 22 years of your lives fighting for the cause of southern Sudan.
That means two generations of South Sudan have wasted valuable and unrecoverable time of their lives struggling to piece together the peaceful nation we all dreamed of when we started to take up arms against the Arabo-dominated government. The new generation that is beginning to see light as we speak must get to enjoy the freedom and prosperity that the last two generations of South Sudan have missed out on.
The Dinka should leave Equatoria region until ethnic targeting subsides
Posted: September 28, 2016 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Columnists, Commentary, Contributing Writers, Opinion Articles, Opinion Writers
September 28, 2016 (SSB) —- "The Dinka are everywhere like the MTN network, as opposed to Vivacell mobile which has accessibility only in some areas", the Equatorians would say. All tribes go through some sort of a culturization process where some ideas work and other ideologies fail to effect change. It is a common tradition in many African cultures that more people means more wealth. The Dinka had the sheer luck of having brought their best minds and intelligentsia together to create a situation where their population became more numerous. It is not that other tribes didn't give it a good shot; they perhaps tried a couple of times, but it didn't bear fruits. Would it be such a bad idea had all the 64 tribes been equal population-wise? No, it would be a great blessing since that would be the easiest way to get rid of complaints and behind-the-back bad talks.
Now the Equatorians wait for the Dinka to pass about just anywhere and snatch the innocent lives out of them. The Dinka are being punished because we have a failed leader in Juba, who also happens to be from the said tribe. Our leader took a good nap for the last 11 years, and when he woke up, everything that was neatly organized at his house was nowhere to be seen; his house was completely emptied of everything he once owned. From a well, furnished house, full of amenities; his house now even has cracks all over and holes in the rooftop. It terribly gets cold at night. His life is in ruins. Of course this is not what Kiir's life looks like in the real sense. This is an actual depiction of what a normal South Sudanese citizen has been through in the last two and half years.
South Sudan: In tribalism we falter, in diversity we prosper
Posted: July 17, 2016 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Columnists, Featured Articles, Opinion Articles, Opinion Writers
July 17, 2016 (SSB) — Tribalism is a corrosive hindrance to our socioeconomic progress in South Sudan. Once someone gets promoted to a supervising managerial role in a certain department; that same very individual quickly run to gather her tribesmen to get on board. Here and there, the land gets misappropriated for resettling one's clansmen. National scholarship funds get to be dispensed solely to students of the state where one's hails from.
It is extreme tribalism that led our chief of General Staff, Malong Awan to establish Mathiang Anyoor, a militia group drawn heavily from his home state of Northern Bahr Ghazal. Mathiang Anyoor later went on to wreak havoc on targeted killings of Nuer on the night of December 15, 2013. It is also an extreme tribalism that led a loose group of disgruntled Dinka elders to establish Jieng Council of Elders (JCE) to take on an advisory role with President Kiir Mayardit; when we all know that there is no place for such a set up in any democracy.
Our Youth Must Let go of Gang-related Activities
Posted: April 18, 2016 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Commentary, Contributing Writers, Opinion Articles, Opinion Writers
Lakes State Youth Consultative Council in Kenya
April 18, 2016 (SSB) —- Hip Hop has taken our South Sudanese youth for a nightmarish ride. In East Africa and in the diaspora, the social media is fully loaded with these youngsters trying to be rappers Drake and Kanye West. Every now and then, you are almost certainly going to find them promoting all kinds of music on Facebook and twitter. Let's face it people; at the end of the day, not all of us can be great Hip Hop artists. Some are way more gifted than others. If you are not a natural born musician, then how are you going to reinvent yourself to become one? If all our youngsters want to be like Lil Wayne and Kanye West, then what are they going to do when they come face to face with their black Americans cousins, who are already well cemented into Hip Hop culture, three decades before none of them came into this world? The competition is going to be costly stiff and stressful. The music business is a sort of a calling. It is meant only for a selected few, who have the passion to make career out of it; some are meant to do something else with their own lives.
Working in the Office Isn't the Only Way to Make it Big in Life
Posted: November 1, 2015 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Featured Articles
Sabina Dario Lokolong, deputy minister for humanitarian affairs and disaster management, Nov 2011
September 1, 2015 (SSB) —- In our contemporary South Sudanese society, office work is always associated with progress. As a result, people tend to look down on jobs that require manual labor, and many more professions that are seen, having nothing to do with sitting behind an office desk, such as doing entrepreneurial enterprise. In Juba, for instant, an Ethiopian water tanker's owner, whose business charges 15 SS Pounds per home, could walk away with 3,000 SS Pounds by the end of the day after having visited 200 homes.
Meanwhile, a South Sudanese accountant, who obviously sits behind a desk from Monday through Friday, filing business transactions, makes about 900 SS Pounds a month. Furthermore, a whole lot of Bangladeshis are doing road construction, obviously brought over by the NGOs; whereas some of our very own people are going hungry, refusing to make something happen for themselves.
There had been no country in the history of our planet earth, where everyone did office work, and they had actually achieved economic prosperity. In the very office, where we supposedly to do work, running water and the light need to be turn on; and sources of these power outages are operated by a variety of workers ranging from technicians to engineers to environmental scientists: they are also mandated to travel from place to place, surveying their assigned areas, looking for obstacles that may get in the way of their work.
Why the Darfur Problem is Every Black Person's Problem
Posted: March 1, 2015 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Africa, Apioth Mayom, Featured Articles
Darfur: Genocide in the 21st century
March 1, 2015 (SSB) — The latest episode of the Darfur Problem is the erection of concentration camp-like "model villages," funded by the lush stash of Qatar. The Sudanese government's forces have set up military bases on the outskirts, where they bulldoze through these makeshift residential homes to torture men and rape women and girls with impunity.
"The sexual violence has no military objective; rather, it is a tactic of social control, ethnic domination and demographic change. Acting with impunity, government forces victimize the entire community. Racial subordination is also an underlying message, as non-Arab groups are singled out for abuse," said George Clooney, John Prendergast and Akshaya Kumar on a recent New York Times article titled, "George Clooney on Sudan's Rape of Darfur."
The Sudanese Arabs have their origins in the present day Saudi Arabia – Yemen area. They first came to the Sudan as salt traders. Entrepreneurship gave them the leverage to organize, and with this powerful weapon, the power vacuum easily fell into their hands after the Anglo- Egyptian colonial rule came to an end in the Sudan. Knowing who they were, they went on rampaging campaigns to make sure that all non-Arab ethnic groups were left out of the wealth sharing and developmental agendas.
And so the struggles for the many diverse black ethnic groups began. South Sudan, which was formerly known as Southern Sudan, began its campaigning for its share of the pie in the 1940s; a long struggle that culminated in the secession of that region from Sudan in 2011. On the flip side of the coin, Darfur began it rebelling campaigns against the Sudanese government in the early 2000s, citing lack of development and governmental neglect as to why they took up arms. Ever since their first assertion of their rights as equal citizens of Sudan through armed-struggle, the Darfur rebels seemed to be gaining ground against the government forces; the major setback has been time.
The longer the time dragged on, the more the rebel group splinter into smaller less powerful ones. In addition, many Darfuri work in the very same government which is ill-intent to push them off their ancestral lands. Why can all Darfuri people pull their resources together first before thinking of living a settled life? The Darfur people lack someone who can unite all struggling forces and create a united front.
And the one person who could have put an end to all the ethnicity problem in the Sudan was the late Dr. John Garang of Southern Sudan. He was the chief architect who led the Southern Sudanese rebels principally known as the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/SPLA) for twenty two years; whose fruits garnered the secession of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011. He knew that the Sudanese problem had little to with religion but rather much to with ethnicity.
The Sudan had always housed a large population of Muslims; and yet the ruling Sudanese Arab minority had always held back to share the wealth and political power of the country. Many parts comprising of Eastern Sudan, Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, the Blue Nile and even Southern Sudan had its own small percentage of Muslim population; the government made sure to never pass any resource allocation to the black ethnic groups of Sudan.
Apioth Mayom Apioth
Dr. John Garang thought that for Sudan to be totally free from the ethnic politics of the Sudanese Arab; a total removal of their political power through armed struggle was the best alternate route. After his initial installment as the First Vice President of Sudan, he garnered a big following in tens of millions all over Sudan, and just as he was about to realize the dream of a land, totally free from ethnic bigots; he mysteriously disappeared in a helicopter crash on July 30th, 2005. His dream was never kept alive after his demise.
A little over a decade ago, the world's attention shifted to Darfur when the Sudanese military, along with its affiliated Arab-Janjaweed militias were found to have committed acts of genocidal ethnic cleansing against the Darfur people. Now after the Sudanese government has sensed the world has its hands full with conflicts with ISIS's terrorism and political strife in Ukraine; it has gotten back to uprooting the Darfur people as well as the rebelling Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile.
After the secession of South Sudan, the Sudanese were left with no oil reserves; two years ago there was a discovery of gold reserves in Darfur; now the Sudanese government wants the big belly's share of that find. The Sudanese's army forces go about razing down one village after another; once the villagers of these homes disperse, it solicits to house them in its military-controlled "model villages," and while the military lie on the outskirts of these villages, it systemically goes about torturing men and unleashing sexual violence on women and girls.
The Sudanese government has also succeeded to thwart off journalists' access to Darfur; and both the UN and AU peacekeeping missions' offices have been shut down in Khartoum. By giving themselves free reign, they can easily commit the gravest atrocities with no one to hold them accountable.
The Sudanese government is systemically disrupting the social fabric of the Darfur people. By forcing them to live fragmentary and depressed lifestyles; these acts will eventually affect their ability to live meaningful lives, even leading to substantial infertility problems on both men and women. The men's bodies are constantly in harm's way and the women's reproductive parts are time and time again being forcefully hammered to the worst extent possible.
These barbaric meticulous calculations are bound to greatly reduce the population of Darfur people in years to come. Black women have always faced the harshest wretched circumstances in history. During the slavery days in the Deep South, they were the play-vassals for the white men to flex their scourge of White Power. Flash forward to the 21st century, they are still under slavery in the West African country of Mauritania, where the Arab Berbers rape them at their whims.
Up north from South Sudan, in Darfur, the Sudanese army's forces are once again wreaking violence on them: This time they are using the black women to replace the Negro race with their own kind. In the foreseeable future, when equality finally reaches its climax apex, what are the black women going to ask themselves? That their own brothers didn't do enough to stop this monstrositic treatment? No matter how powerless we are against the moneyed petroleum of the Middle East: We don't need to waste any moment at all, we should at least stand our ground until our own economic might reaches somewhere.
Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, the Blue Nile and the West African country of Mauritania, where up to 140, 000 blacks are still under the chains of slavery from the Arab Berbers, are few of the remaining places on earth where black people haven't still gotten their full practicalities of civil liberties, and be able to think through what they can do with their lives and live according to their own terms. The injustice being faced by a black person, whether he/she lives in Mauritania or Darfur is an injustice to every black person that walks the earth.
The black person whose live is being dehumanized on any part of the world is no different from a black person who owns a cement company in Nigeria, or a black person who happily conducts wedding ceremonies in Malawi; all originated from one family tree: The black race. There is no black person who in his/her right mind would feel at ease at an injustice being committed at his/her fellow member, who was molded from the same family tree.
Among all the places where blacks are still under the chains of discriminating persecution; Darfur is one place among the rest, where our very own Darfuri are still struggling tremendously to be a force of deterrence. The only hope we are wishing to come sooner rather than later is the economic development which is sweeping through sub-Saharan Africa at a promising rate, although not fast enough to bring major changes to our ills and mistreatments. If we had a greater economic might, these sorts of mistreatments would automatically free themselves.
The petrodollars of Middle East are also fueling political instabilities in places such as Darfur, Northern Nigeria, where Boko Haram reigns supreme and, of course Kenya, where Al Shabab crosses over from Somalia to create hell out of a nation with lofty ambitions. In recent decades, China and Russia have had shady trade deals with rogue states such as the Sudan; but that doesn't compare with lush funds which the Middle East freely hand to Sudan.
The Middle East has been supporting all the successive regimes in Sudan since the days when Southern Sudanese were exerting their armed struggle. Our magical wish would be to see an end to the rapid drying up of the oil wells in the Middle East.
Countries comprising of Ethiopia and Somalia had a history of enslavement and trade in human flesh. They imprisoned black Africans to the institution of slavery based on the differences they saw at the time: We had full lips; flat noses; short Afro hair; and muscular bodies. They had the long Asian hair and lanky skinnier bodies. Contemporary Somali and Ethiopians are spread out all over sub-Saharan Africa, roughing noses with the very same people they used to push to harm's way.
When other black Africans ask them about their origins, they scream out aloud, "We are blacks! There is nothing more to add to that." The wind of change is underway. We are in the last days of having our people being push from one thorny enclave to another phantasmagoric inferno. Every single day that comes to past, a brand new chapter is written into the history books; after everything is done with, history will be our undeniable witness. We don't have to pressure the Arab-led governments of Sudan and Mauritania to do what is right; there will come a time when they will come knocking at our doorsteps asking for help.
It is better for these ethnocentric governments to stop their further marginalization of the blacks right now rather than later, because failing to do so will further entrench greater belligerent animosities between the two racial groups, which could further jeopardize reconciliatory missions to repair communal relations.
The Sudanese army's forces are an experienced seasoned bunch; they came out of a 22-year civil war with South Sudan, which ended in 2005. Any opponent of theirs, need not make a lot of mistakes, because they will hit them hard at any sluggish sloppiness. Meanwhile despite how disorganized the Darfuri rebels are, they should keep standing their ground until the world's attention shift back to their way. The South Sudanese garnered their independence through sustained and disciplined relentless organized fighting force.
Darfur, however, is a region of less economic important. There is not much that can interest many rent-seeking investors. Even if the whole world forgets about Darfur, the blacks should be the last people to do so. The Darfuri yearns for whatever help they can get: personnel, rations, provisions of logistics; and military intelligence.
Clooney, George. Prendergast, John. Kumar, Akshaya. (2015, February 25). George Clooney on Sudan's Rape of Darfur. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/opinion/george-clooney-on-sudans-rape-of-darfur.html?emc=edit_ty_20150225&nl=opinion&nlid=69268077.
The opinion expressed here is solely the view of the writer. The veracity of any claim made are the responsibility of the author, not PaanLuel Wël: South Sudanese Bloggers (SSB) website. If you want to submit an opinion article or news analysis, please email it to paanluel2011@gmail.com. SSB do reserve the right to edit material before publication. Please include your full name, email address and the country you are writing from.
South Sudan: We Have to Start Emphasizing the Culture of Tolerance
Posted: February 19, 2015 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Featured Articles
Independence day celebration in Juba, South Sudan
February 19, 2015 (SSB) — The recent outburst by Governor Bakosoro of Western Equatoria State in which he labelled Dinka people as a community that is always swarmed by trouble wherever they ventureis a concern to many in a nation that is still reeling in a political malaise.
The Dinkas, since the second Sudanese civil war that took off in the 1980's, began to resettle the Greater Equatoria area after fleeing their homes in the Greater Upper Nile and Greater Bahr el Ghazal regions, and from that time onward, most of them have made the Greater Equatoria region their home.
During the war of liberation era, they specifically preferred the Greater Equatoria region because it was closer to Kenya and Uganda, where the humanitarian relief agencies had a greater accessibility to provide them foods and other basic necessities for survival.
And up to this very day, the Greater Equatoria region is still the place to be in that the East African economic giants of Uganda and Kenya haven't moved elsewhere; they are still the preferred destinations to do business and where you send your children for a top-notch education. South Sudan imports most of its food commodities from Uganda. So the Dinkas want to be close to where the action is.
In your own "me" time and your mind happen to be wondering about, and just in a nick of time, you start to wonder "why" out of all people of South Sudan, why does the Dinkas love to stay here and not somewhere else? Can they be up to something we don't know? Perhaps we don't really have to think too much about why the Dinkas shouldn't be living in the Greater Equatoria region at all; in fact, what we rather ought to do is to welcome them and see where this melting pot of friction will take us to.
Chances could be that, the Dinkas were brought to the Greater Equatoria by fate. Maybe the Dinkas came to the three Equatorias so that the people of this land could understand them better and this could also be a better opportunity to start on building something completely new. This could be the start of fusing communal alliances into new stronger coalitions, where we are many in diversity, but one in unity.
Since Salva Kiir took over after the passing of Dr. John Garang, many diverse array of tribes have been calling for an end to the Dinka domination in the government, and their calling has not gone unnoticed. Things could have been a lot worse had the Dinkas stayed in their home states rather than here in the three Equatorias.
Because that way, we can all tackle our problems head on and quickly arrive at solutions for a better South Sudan, where we earnestly yearn to create a conducive environment of abundant for all to benefit.
Perhaps what we should start on working on is to start to practice the culture of tolerance. We all came from somewhere, and for whatever reason, we happened to be living at the same place at the same time. All our cultures are vastly different and beautifully unique in their own ways. In the midst of this melting pot of friction, no one wants to give up her sovereignty of her cultural background in that we all want to be represented at any given time or place.
None of us wants to waste an iota of her time arguing about our differences, we all want to pull our lives together one way or another. Every culture in South Sudan is equally valid; let's start on refraining ourselves from bloating out the inner stereotypical conditionings of our ethnic backgrounds.
Those inner urgings are the attitudes that offend the members of other tribal ethnic backgrounds. In Social Sciences, we are taught that cultures are human-made; and there is no nagging behemoth dispute to that, and more importantly, what we can at least slightly agree with, is that culture is one of the few societal phenomenal values that every individual in the world inherits.
It is not a private inheritance like a house you may inherit from your parents or close relatives; it is something that you get to encounter from the time you starting bipedaling from infancy onwards. Culture contains all the past wisdom and other ancient sacred heritage of all the generations that have since past, and it doesn't stop from there: you and I, are a continuation of that sequential process.
Any given culture is not something you can easily spit out like a bitter food bite; it may be the only thing that the person in question has always known as part of his/her world.
The time is ripe to start looking at ourselves differently; we may have different ethnic backgrounds, but those differences do not have to create a wedge between us.
We don't really have to agree on everything; we really have to forbear each other's differences, and at that, we have to realize that those unparalleled differences stand for something important to the culturally differing figure you are dealing with.
The opinion expressed here is solely the view of the writer. The veracity of any claim made are the responsibility of the author, not PaanLuel Wël: South Sudanese Bloggers (SSB) website. If you want to submit an opinion article or news analysis, please email it to paanluel2011@gmail.com. SSB do reserve the right to edit material before publication. Please include your full name, email address and the country you are writing from
Mzee Kiir Mayardit: the Unchosen One.
President Salva Kiir Mayaardit
February 12, 2015 (SSB) — The rise of Salvatore Kiir during our times in the bush fighting Khartoum would not have gone unchallenged had his rivals not been overly ambitious to topple their leading colonel, Dr. Garang de Mabior. The likes of Kerubino Kuanyin Bol, Arok Thon Arok, Lam Akol, and Riek Machar, were talented enough to have replaced Dr. John when it was time for him to hang up his boots.
At the time, things weren't straightforward as we would have like them to be; every one of these men was arrogantly coveting the top seat, and no doubt each and every one of them was saying, "What does Garang have that I don't have?" In the end, all of them lost their way; with some switching to the enemy's side; both Kuanyin and Arok met their deaths in the midst of those confusing times.
In the beginning, not many people knew whether Dr. Garang had the leadership capability to lead SPLM/SPLA; the Movement was a collection of southern Sudanese fastidiously lumped together to fight for a common cause: The liberation of southern Sudan from the marginalization practicalities of the Khartoum's ruling elites.
Indeed, many of these compatriots were starting to get to know each other while they were putting together the Movement. As we looked back now, no one can point a finger at these compatriots, for they were rightful candidates in their own rights during the few years of the Movement; at the beginning of the 1990s, they should have back down just a little because they had the luxury of having seen what John Garang was capable of, during his short stint in power.
As things were, these camaraderie kept on calling for Dr. Garang to leave the Movement so as to put in place democratic reforms; however, they failed to have understood what they were dealing with in the first place: a guerrilla Movement. SPLM/SPLA was indeed a progressing Movement; but as things stood while we were in the bush, there wasn't any spacious room to practice liberal ideologues of a democratic nation-state; a lot of things dictated the smooth flow of commandeering.
Dr. John de Mabior wasn't that bad a leader as some people might have falsely made to believe; after the departure of Kuanyin Bol, Arok Thon and others from the Movement, he took in Nyuon Bany and the stormy friction that was commonplace when the likes of Lam Akol and Riek Machar were sharing the spotlight with Dr. John was gone.
I have a gut-feeling that Dr. John de Mabior was the right man to lead us back then, and even at these confusing times, his top-notch leadership hasn't still been surpassed. His great workmanship with Nyuon Bany have time and time again shown that he was willing to work with anyone as long as they were willing to follow his lead because obviously his talents were superior than everyone at the time.
Things would have been different now in South Sudan had any of these compatriots waited patiently for his turn to take the top seat; the race for leadership that took to the fore in the nascent beginnings of the Movement finally plunged our nation into another war zone in December 2013, culminating in the deaths of thousands of our citizens.
I hate to say this, but let the truth be told: Dr. Garang was using both Kiir Mayar and James Wani because all the others wanted to bring the house down; a house that was sheltering the dreams of countless successive generations of South Sudanese. Garang's intentions in using Kiir and Wani were for all our betterment; creating a nation we could all call home.
Here is how the governing house of Kiir Kuethpiny went haywire on him. Sometime after taking power, he began to surround himself with his closing aides. Rather than having the final say and putting in all the final touches to briefings he received, he was always willing to take the words right out of the mouths from his closing associates unaltered and without questioning how those decisions were going to affect the masses of the common South Sudanese.
Kiir's African "big man" leadership is unlike many of the typical strongmen of Africa going back to the time of Toroitich Arap Moi to the present Robert Mugabe. Once similarity though, is the use of force to quieten their opposition forces. Other than that, those of Moi and Mugabe were (Mugabe is perhaps still) preoccupied with accumulating wealth from day one at the expense of their subjects.
Kiir, on other hand, perhaps wanted to share his leadership with his people. He probably had too much love for his people and mistakenly thought his leadership was for charity. He took it as though the leadership was a great wine to be shared among close friends. His leadership has been like a great wine being shared among friends and when everyone is in the wineroom, no one has the upper hand to dictate what every attendee says. Their utmost intention for being there in the first place was to relieve themselves from the stress and have a good time, a wonderful time to forget the daily grinds of the world.
As things took shape, and since he was legally sharing his leadership among his closest aides (according to him), he was taking an advice from Anei Wol today and the next day, he switched to Ring Biar. Events went haywire before his eyes by not taking precautionary measures to take what he was receiving from his advisers and let them pass through a filtration sieve; he had too much respect for them though, almost as though they were co-presidents with him on the throne. He was supposed to synthesize and make improvisations on the briefings he was receiving from his advisers.
Both Daniel Moi and Robert Mugabe have been thus far better than him on one thing: They put in place an orderly security apparatuses to prevent their people from butchering each other, and in reality, their leaderships have been a one-man show; it was either a Daniel Arap Moi's world, or a Robert Mugabe's world; whereas in South Sudan, perhaps there were also President Telar Ring Deng, President Malong Awan and President Salva Kiir Mayar, all ruling at one go.
This was what brought the chaotic dysfunctional downfall of our nation. There were way too many people stirring the soup, creating a messy, murky situation.
Cultural Constraints are the Root Causes of our Troubles to do Business in South Sudan
Posted: January 21, 2015 by PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd. in Apioth Mayom, Business, Economy, Featured Articles
January 21, 2015 (SSB) — Before the present war took us for a phantasmagorical ride, our neighborly East African communities, and especially those of Somali, Ethiopians and Eritreans, who originated from the horn of Africa, were doing exceptionally well in the area of business in South Sudan. The Somali took over a good share of the gas stations; both the Eritreans and Ethiopians were in the restaurant businesses.
Ethiopians used to work from 4am to 4pm; in just eight years, from their first arrival in 2005 up to 2013 when the war broke out, they amassed a wealth which became the envy of our South Sudanese communities. How did they garner such a wealth in such a short time, someone may ask? They reached where they perched through hard work, freeing themselves from cultural constraints, and concerted culture of an entrepreneurial mindset.
From the onset, we can all be lenient toward our people concerning the matter of development of an entrepreneurial mindset; some people may say all these communities had already built an entrepreneurial mindset, centuries or decades before they arrived in South Sudan, and there could be a shade of truth to that.
Our first task to make our present felt in this lucrative field of entrepreneurship would be to free ourselves from the constraints of culture. Our cultures are varied and vastly diverse; however, everyone in the nation put pride before everything else in the nation. A majority of our people think that doing business is beneath their level; in other words, they think people will culturally look down on them if they do those sorts of things. We have come a long way from the earlier times when we were preoccupied with farming and cattle-keeping to our contemporary times where money is the chief obsession.
When the East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania got their independence from their European colonizers; the Southeast Indians came in droves and settled down to do business. Now over 50 years later, they own the most profitable businesses in East Africa. The same episode is repeating itself clothed in different customs: mainly through our horn of Africa's neighbors.
For those of us who have the biggest pride, let it be told that at the end of the day a pride is only a feeling; and money has the power to keep you afloat whereas the pride can't help you in solving your personal problems. Why can't you hide your pride under the carpet for a few years while working your hands to the bones at the shop and see where this might lead you?
You never know your pride might take you further and you might end up one day as the owner of Ramchiel Grand Hotel. Having reached that level, you may never bother with working with your hands; rather you could be doing presentations at the convention centers across town.
Another cultural setback is the baffling occurrence of sharing. In some South Sudanese cultures, there is no distinction between a person and what he/she owns, in this case, business. Friends, relatives and close acquaintances have an easy way to bankrupt the business by taking commodities without paying back a cent.
An age-old saying which goes, "Charity begins at home, rings magnificently here. There is nothing completely wrong with helping out a buddy every once in a while; but the principles of business dictate that proper management of assets must be held in high regard, otherwise you are making way for your own downfall. Those in the business are only in it to make profits; how does insatiable thirst for making profits become compatible with communal charity, especially if you are living in rags?
If you are just in a small business where your income is like those of our compatriots working in hospitals, dentistry, or what have you; why are you freely intentionally giving away the fruits of your sweat when everyone else in the community, like engineers, or geologists, are keeping full portions of their income? Anyone could be a great philanthropist when he/she is wealthy, and there is enough going around to keep his/her life intact.
By first freeing ourselves from the cultural constraints, we are doing ourselves an enormous favor by removing a threatening hurdle. When that is taken care of; everything else will fall into place. Anyone who dreams of living a good life must sacrifice something in order to reach somewhere; hence hard work is not a big issue here, anyone who dreams that big must work hard to realize their capabilities.
An entrepreneurial mindset will develop over time. An entrepreneurial mind involves being economically resourceful and knowing how every pound you invest is going to propagate something profitable.


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Home » Xeris Pharmaceuticals Completes $1.5m Series A Financing
Xeris Pharmaceuticals Completes $1.5m Series A Financing
Published on December 12, 2011 December 12, 2011 By FinSMEs
Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an Austin, TX-based biopharmaceutical company developing the a glucagon rescue pen for emergency treatment of severe hypoglycemia, has completed a $1.5m Series A financing.
The round was led by the Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN), with participation of life science investors including family offices from California and Tennessee.
The company intends to use this capital, along with a $1M Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Diseases of the Kidney (NIDDK), to conduct the Phase 1/2 trial with its G-Pen™, its glucagon rescue pen for emergency treatment of severe hypoglycemia, which contains a room-temperature stable, non-aqueous glucagon solution that will be delivered as a 0.2 mL subcutaneous injection with an auto-injector pen.
Led by CEO John Kinzell, Xeris develops patient-friendly injectable drugs based on its non-aqueous XeriJect™ and XeriSol™ formulation-delivery platforms. These platforms allow Xeris to reformulate existing drugs as highly concentrated, ultra-low-volume, and room-temperature stable formulations that do not require reconstitution (mixing with water before injection).
In conjunction with the funding, Douglas Baum, managing investor at CTAN, will join the company's board of directors.
Tagged with: Central Texas Angel Network, Xeris Pharmaceuticals
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Inovues Raises $2.75M in Funding
By FinSMEs Published on January 3, 2022 January 3, 2022
Interplay Learning Raises $1M in Funding
Xeris Pharmaceuticals Closes $41M Series C Financing
By FinSMEs Published on January 8, 2016

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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– Charter school facility/relocation
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View Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact
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H0395..........................................................by EDUCATION
CHARTER SCHOOLS - Amends existing law relating to public charter schools to
provide for relocation of public charter school facilities to another
school district if the approved primary attendance area of the public
charter school is located within more than one school district.
01/23    House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/24    Rpt prt - to Educ
]]]]              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ]]]]
Fifty-ninth Legislature                   Second Regular Session - 2008
BY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
1                                        AN ACT
2    RELATING TO PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS; AMENDING SECTION 33-5205A, IDAHO CODE,  TO
3        PROVIDE  FOR  RELOCATION  OF  PUBLIC  CHARTER SCHOOL FACILITIES TO ANOTHER
4        SCHOOL DISTRICT IF THE APPROVED PRIMARY  ATTENDANCE  AREA  OF  THE  PUBLIC
5        CHARTER SCHOOL IS LOCATED WITHIN MORE THAN ONE SCHOOL DISTRICT AND TO MAKE
6        TECHNICAL CHANGES.
7    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
8        SECTION  1.  That Section 33-5205A, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
9    amended to read as follows:
10        33-5205A.  TRANSFER OF CHARTER. (1)  A charter for a public charter school
11    approved by the board of trustees of a local school  district  may  be  trans-
12    ferred  to,  and  placed under the chartering authority of, the public charter
13    school commission if the board of trustees of such local school district,  the
14    public  charter  school  commission,  and the board of directors of the public
15    charter school all agree to such  transfer,  including  any  revision  to  the
16    charter that may be required in connection with such transfer. A charter for a
17    public  charter school approved by the public charter school commission may be
18    transferred to, and placed under the chartering authority  of,  the  board  of
19    trustees  of  the  local school district in which the public charter school is
20    located if the public charter school commission, the board of trustees of such
21    local school district, and the board of directors of the public charter school
22    all agree to such transfer, including any revisions to the charter that may be
23    required in connection with such transfer. A request to transfer a charter may
24    be initiated by the board of directors of a public charter school  or  by  the
25    authorized  chartering  entity  with  chartering authority over the charter of
26    such public charter school.
27        (2)  A public charter school, approved by the public charter  school  com-
28    mission,  which  has  an  approved primary attendance area located within more
29    than one (1) school district, may transfer the location of its public  charter
30    school  within its primary attendance area to locate the facilities within the
31    boundaries of another school district within the approved  primary  attendance
32    area  if  the  public charter commission, the board of trustees of each of the
33    relevant school districts and the board of directors  of  the  public  charter
34    school  each approve of such transfer of facilities location. If such transfer
35    of location within the primary attendance area  is  requested  by  the  public
36    charter  school,  the  public  charter  commission shall approve any necessary
37    revision to the charter that may be initiated by the board of directors of the
38    public charter school or by the public charter school commission.
39        (3)  If all parties fail to reach agreement in regard to  the  request  to
40    transfer  a  charter,  as  required  herein,  then  the matter may be appealed
41    directly to the state board of education. With respect  to  such  appeal,  the
42    state  board of education shall substantially follow the procedure as provided
43    in section 33-5207(5)(b), Idaho Code. A transferred charter school  shall  not
1    be  considered  a  new  public charter school, and shall not be subject to the
2    limitations of section 33-5203(2), Idaho Code.
Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact
*The purpose of this legislation is to allow for Charter Schools
chartered by the Public Charter School Commission which has a
primary attendance zone within more than one school district to
be able to relocate to another school district within the primary
attendance zone as established in the charter.
*There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund.
Name: Rep. Darrell Bolz
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE                         H 395


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Scientists Develop Bullet Repelling Material
Scientists at the University of Sydney have developed a new material that can be used to produce bullet-repelling vests for military use. The researchers at the Centre for Advanced Materials Technology say the elastic properties of carbon nanotubes can be harnessed to rebound the force
Scientists at the University of Sydney have developed a new material that can be used to produce bullet-repelling vests for military use.
The researchers at the Centre for Advanced Materials Technology say the elastic properties of carbon nanotubes can be harnessed to rebound the force of bullets.
Carbon nanotubes are a one-atom thick sheet of graphite, rolled into a cylinder that his held together by a strong chemical bond known as orbital hybridisation.
Bullet-proof vests, made from materials such as Kevlar, Twaron or Dyneema, stop a bullet penetrating by spreading its force, which can still leave the wearer suffering from blunt force trauma like bruising or internal bleeding.
The researchers are experimenting to find the optimum point of elasticity for the most effective bullet-bouncing gear.
By Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh
Blockchain in Aerospace and Defense - Thematic Research
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Defense - Thematic Research
Directed Energy Weapons (Defense) - Thematic Research
Loitering Munitions - Thematic Research
Hypersonic Technologies (Defense) - Thematic Research


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United Nations Security Council
Topic: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
India has won the unanimous support of all countries in the 55-member Asia-Pacific Group at the UN in support of its bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for a two year term in 2021-22.
What is the UN Security Council?
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), charged with ensuring international peace and security, accepting new members to the United Nations and approving any changes to its charter.
Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations and international sanctions as well as the authorization of military actions through resolutions – it is the only body of the United Nations with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states.
The Security Council consists of fifteen members – the Soviet Union(now represented by Russia), the United Kingdom, France, Republic of China (now represented by the People's Republic of China), and the United States – serve as the body's five permanent members. These can veto any substantive resolution, including those on the admission of new member states or nominees for the office of Secretary-General.
In addition, the council has 10 non-permanent members, elected on a regional basis to serve a term of two years. A retiring member is not eligible for immediate re-election.
The African Group is represented by three members; the Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, and Western European and Others groups by two apiece; and the Eastern European Group by one.
The body's presidency rotates monthly among its members.
What are the membership reforms sought in the UNSC?
There has been discussion of increasing the number of permanent members. The countries who have made the strongest demands for permanent seats are Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan. These are called the Group of 4 or G4.
Italy leads a movement known as the Uniting for Consensus (UfC) in opposition to the possible expansion of permanent seats. Core members of the group include Canada, South Korea, Spain, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Turkey, Argentina and Colombia. Their proposal is to create a new category of seats, still non-permanent, but elected for an extended duration (semi-permanent seats).
As far as traditional categories of seats are concerned, the UfC proposal does not imply any change, but only the introduction of small and medium size states among groups eligible for regular seats. This proposal includes even the question of veto, giving a range of options that goes from abolition to limitation of the application of the veto.
SMART police survey
Topic: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications,
Rahimatpur police station in Satara district in western Maharashtra has emerged as the State topper in a survey based on the 'SMART' policing concept announced by the Prime Minister.
The Quality Council of India (QCI), which executed the survey, assessed 87 shortlisted police stations across the country on a number of parameters like performance in controlling crime, infrastructure of the police building, mess and optimal use of technology, and citizen feedback.
What is SMART police?
Prime Minister had first called for making the police force 'SMART' — strict and sensitive, modern and mobile, alert and accountable, reliable and responsive, techno-savvy and trained — while addressing the 49th annual conference of Directors-General and Inspectors-General of Police in Guwahati in 2014.
Jal Shakti Abhiyan
Topic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
The Centre is set to initiate the Jal Shakti Abhiyan to ramp up rainwater harvesting and conservation efforts in 255 water-stressed districts from July 1, in line with the government's promise to focus on water.
Though water is a State issue, the campaign would be coordinated by 255 central IAS officers of Joint or Additional Secretary-rank, drawn from ministries as varied as Space, Petroleum and Defence.
The campaign would run from July 1 to September 15 in States receiving rainfall during the south-west monsoon, while States receiving rainfall in the retreating or north-east monsoon would be covered from October 1 to November 30.
Overall, 313 blocks with critical groundwater levels would be covered, along with 1,186 blocks with over-exploited groundwater and 94 blocks with low groundwater availability.
Progress would be monitored in real time through mobile applications and an online dashboard at indiawater.gov.in.
Block and district-level water conservation plans would be drafted, and Kisan Vigyan Kendras would hold melas to promote better crop choices and more efficient water use for irrigation. A major communications campaign on TV, radio, print, local and social media would be carried out, with celebrities mobilised to generate awareness for the campaign.
The Jal Shakti Abhiyan would aim to accelerate water harvesting, conservation and borewell recharge activities already being carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and the Integrated Watershed Management Programme of the Rural Development Ministry, along with existing water body restoration and afforestation schemes being undertaken by the Jal Shakti and Environment Ministries.
Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY)
Topic: Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) is expected to leverage investment of Rs 31,400 crore, handle of 334 lakh MT agro-produce valuing Rs 1,04,125 crore, benefit 20 lakh farmers and generate 5,30,500 direct/ indirect employment in the country by the year 2019-20.
What is the PM Kisan SAMPADA Yojana?
PM Kisan SAMPADA Yojana is a comprehensive package which will result in creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet. It will not only provide a big boost to the growth of food processing sector in the country but also help in providing better returns to farmers and is a big step towards doubling of farmers income, creating huge employment opportunities especially in the rural areas, reducing wastage of agricultural produce, increasing the processing level and enhancing the export of the processed foods.
Under PMKSY following schemes are implemented:
Mega Food Parks;
Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure;
Creation / Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities;
Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters;
Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages;
Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure; and
Beekeeping Development Committee
The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister set up a Beekeeping Development Committee under the Chairmanship of Professor Bibek Debroy. The Beekeeping Development Committee (BDC) has released its report.
BDC was constituted with the objective of identifying ways of advancing beekeeping in India, that can help in improving agricultural productivity, enhancing employment generation, augmenting nutritional security and sustaining biodiversity. Further, beekeeping can be an important contributor in achieving the 2022 target of doubling farmer incomes.
What are the key recommendations of the BDC?
Recognizing honeybees as inputs to agriculture and considering landless Beekeepers as farmers.
Plantation of bee friendly flora at appropriate places and engaging women self-help groups in managing such plantations.
Institutionalizing the National Bee Board and rechristening it as the Honey and Pollinators Board of India under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare. Such a body would engage in advancing beekeeping through multiple mechanisms such as setting up of new Integrated Bee Development Centres, strengthening the existing ones, creating a honey price stabilization fund and collection of data on important aspects of apiculture.
Recognition of apiculture as a subject for advanced research under the aegis of Indian Council for Agricultural Research.
Training and development of beekeepers by state governments.
Development of national and regional infrastructure for storage, processing and marketing of honey and other bee products.
Simplifying procedures and specifying clear standards for ease of exporting honey and other bee products.
Anti-Dumping Duty
Topic: Effects of liberalization on the economy
No anti-dumping duty has been imposed recently on Indian shrimp exports by the United States of America. However, US had imposed anti-dumping duty on import of frozen warm water shrimps from certain countries, including India, in 2004, based on the representations of Southern Shrimp Producers Alliance, an association of local shrimp producers in USA.
What is anti-dumping duty?
An anti-dumping duty is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value.
Dumping is a process where a company exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges in its own home market.
For protection, many countries impose stiff duties on products they believe are being dumped in their national market, undercutting local businesses and markets.
India has achieved a record high of USD 330. 07 billion of merchandise exports in the year 2018-19, registering a positive growth of 8.75% as compared to the previous year.
India's share in global trade (merchandise and services) was 2.1% (481.74 USD billion out of total 23,044 USD billion) for exports and 2.6% (600.62 USD billion out of total 23,112 USD billion) for imports in 2017.
Exports have been growing on a regular basis since 2016-17 for almost three years and total exports reached a new peak of more than half a trillion dollars, for the first time in 2018-19.
What steps has India taken to increase exports?
A new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 was launched on 1st April 2015. The policy, inter alia, rationalised the earlier export promotion schemes and introduced two new schemes, namely Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for improving export of goods and Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) for increasing exports of services. Duty credit scrips issued under these schemes were made fully transferable.
The Mid-term Review of the FTP 2015-20 was undertaken on 5th December, 2017. Incentive rates for labour intensive / MSME sectors were increased by 2% with a financial implication of Rs 8,450 crore per year.
A new Logistics Division was created in the Department of Commerce to coordinate integrated development of the logistics sector. India's rank in World Bank's Logistics Performance Index moved up from 54 in 2014 to 44 in 2018.
Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit was introduced from 1.4.2015 providing interest equalisation at 3% for labour intensive / MSME sectors. The rate was increased to 5% for MSME sectors with effect from 2.11.2018 and merchant exporters were covered under the scheme with effect from 2.1.2019.
Various measures for improving ease of doing business were taken. India's rank in World Bank 'Ease of doing business' ranking improved from 142 in 2014 to 77 in 2018 with the rank in 'trading across borders' moving up from 122 to 80.
A new scheme called Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) was launched with effect from 1st April 2017 to address the export infrastructure gaps in the country.
A comprehensive Agriculture Export Policy was launched on 6th December, 2018 with an aim to double farmers' income by 2022 and provide an impetus to agricultural exports.
A new scheme called Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) scheme has been launched for mitigating disadvantage of higher cost of transportation for export of specified agricultural products.
A new scheme called Scheme for Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) covering the export of garments and made-ups was notified on 7.3.2019 providing refund of duties/taxes at higher rates.
National Rubber Policy
Topic: Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints
The Department of Commerce brought out the National Rubber Policy in March 2019. The National Rubber Policy includes several provisions to support the Natural Rubber (NR) production sector and the entire rubber industry value chain.
What are the provisions of the National Rubber Policy?
National Rubber Policy (NRP) envisages a well-developed value-chain of environmentally sustainable and globally competitive rubber industry, comprising natural and other forms of rubber and products thereof and ancillary sectors, capable of supplying materials and products of international standards to domestic and world markets, with focus on welfare of the entire stakeholder community and national economic progress.
Notwithstanding the status of Natural Rubber (NR) being a crucial industrial raw material, the possibility of treating NR as an agricultural product for all practical and legal purposes and income from rubber production as agricultural income would be explored in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Department of Revenue.
There would be an orderly and complementary growth of all links in the Rubber Industry Value Chain viz., NR production and processing, manufacturing of tyres and general rubber products, trading, ancillary activities etc. Focussed efforts would be taken at synchronizing all initiatives and attempts towards growth of rubber industry as a whole.
NR is not a traditional export oriented commodity and export may be promoted only to adjust temporary demand-supply imbalances in the domestic market, reflected in lower domestic prices. The brand "Indian Natural Rubber" distinguishing Indian rubber in the international market with its assured and consistent quality parameters may also be promoted.
With a view to streamline the objectives envisaged in the Rubber Policy and also to promote "Ease of Doing Business", the functioning of the Rubber Board would be aligned with the policy requirements.
The price volatility in rubber crop directly impacts livelihood of lakhs of small and marginal growers involved in the sector. Efforts would be made to ensure the livelihood protection of rubber growers by way of insurance/price support in consonance with the prevailing norms and policies.
Focused research on Climate Change on assessing climate risk vulnerability and developing climate resilient technologies for adaptation and mitigation protocols would be taken up to address the challenges.
Indian Footwear, Leather & Accessories Development Programme(IFLADP)
Topic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
The Central Government has approved implementation of Central Sector Scheme Indian Footwear, Leather & Accessories Development Programme(IFLADP) with an approved expenditure of Rs. 2600 crore over the three financial years from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
What is the Indian Footwear, Leather & Accessories Development Programme(IFLADP)?
It is a scheme to promote the development of the footwear, leather and accessories industry. Sub-schemes under IFLADPare as stated below:
Human Resource Development (HRD) sub-scheme: HRD sub-scheme provides assistance for Placement Linked Skill Development training to unemployed persons @ Rs. 15,000 per person, for skill up-gradation training to employed workers @ Rs. 5,000 per employee and for training of trainers @ Rs. 2 lakh per person.
Integrated Development of Leather Sector (IDLS) sub-scheme: IDLS sub-scheme incentivizes investment and manufacturing including job creation by providing backend investment grant/subsidy @ 30% of the cost of new Plant and Machinery to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and @ 20% of the cost of Plant and Machinery to other units for modernization and technology upgradation in existing units and also for setting up of new units.
Establishment of Institutional Facilities sub-scheme: The sub-scheme provides assistance to Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI) for upgradation of some of the existing campuses of FDDI into Centres of Excellence (CoEs) and establishing 3 new fully equipped skill centres alongside the upcoming Mega Leather Cluster.
Mega Leather, Footwear and Accessories Cluster (MLFAC) sub-scheme: The MLFAC sub-scheme provides infrastructure support to the Leather, Footwear and Accessories Sector by establishment of Mega Leather, Footwear and Accessories Cluster. Graded assistance is provided upto 50% of the eligible project cost, excluding cost of land with maximum Government assistance being limited to Rs. 125 crore.
Leather Technology, Innovation and Environmental Issues sub-scheme: Under this sub-scheme, assistance is provided for upgradation/installation of Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) @ 70% of the project cost subject to a limit of Rs. 200 crore. The sub-scheme also provides for support to national level sectoral industry council/ association and support for preparation of vision document for leather footwear and accessories sector.
Promotion of Indian Brands in Leather, Footwear and Accessories Sector sub-scheme: Under this sub-scheme, the eligible units approved for Brand Promotion are assisted. The Government assistance is limited to 50% of total project cost subject to a limit of Rs.3 crore for each brand, each year for 3 years.
Additional Employment Incentive for Leather, Footwear and Accessories Sector sub-scheme:Under this scheme, employers' contribution of 3.67% to Employees' Provident Fund for all new employees in Leather, Footwear and Accessories sector, are provided for enrolling in EPFO for first 3 years of their employment.
NavIC Messaging Receiver
Topic:indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
ISRO/Antrix have taken up the responsibility of providing NavIC devices on trial basis. Around 200 devices for Tamil Nadu and 250 devices for Kerala are distributed. A few numbers, viz. 8 and 10 respectively are provided to fishermen of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka States for trial exercises.
What is a NavIC Messaging Receiver?
This device provides Emergency Warning Alerts like cyclone, high waves and Tsunami and also provides information on Potential Fishing Zone and International boundary crossing based on the position information from NavIC – India's indigenous regional navigation system
Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord) portal is a one-stop platform for sharing all cyber related matters amongst Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), government organizations and other stakeholders.
International SME Convention 2019 to be Held in New Delhi From 28th – 29th June with the theme "Indian MSMEs, Global Aspirations"
Luxurious coaches with glass ceiling termed as Vistadome coaches having panoramic view have been introduced by Indian railways. Some of these coaches have infotainment system also.


The Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA Panel) has decided to organise a series of scientific events under the name of 'Science Week at the European Parliament'. STOA will organise these events in co-operation with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, and with the European Research Council (ERC).
The 'Science Week at the European Parliament' will combine the 'Brussels Week' of the MEP-scientist pairing scheme (5-7 February 2019), the JRC 'Science meets Parliaments' event (6-7 February 2019), and a STOA event with the ERC on 7 February 2019. The essence of these events is to strengthen the structured dialogue between scientists and policy-makers, with the aim to raise awareness about politically relevant, cutting-edge scientific issues and about the importance of science for evidence-informed policy-making.
a last meeting, attended by scientists, MEPs or their assistants, and STOA officials, is to assess the week and identify its positive aspects, as well as elements for improvement.
In order to promote a culture of evidence-informed policy making, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission together with the European Parliament's Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) launched the Science meets Parliaments initiative at the European Parliament in Brussels in 2015. The objective of the initiative is to build closer links between scientists and policy-makers at EU, national and regional levels and enhance the role of science in policy through regular dialogue with decision-makers. This year the event will discuss how science can play a bigger role in 21st century policy making. The event offers a series of discussions ranging from how artificial intelligence may impact our lives to building resilient societies and engaging citizens in decision-making. It will be accompanied by an exhibition featuring the contribution of science to making sound and successful public policies which directly benefit our lives.


I slept this Saturday until 5:00 a.m. That's pretty late for me and I somewhat feel as though I have been playing hooky. I am usually awake between 3:30 and 4:30. I made a pot of coffee in the Bud Cave coffee room. I have Tony Bennett playing on my ITunes through the computer speakers. Except for my small desk lamp, the house is dark. The Lovely Sharon is asleep upstairs in her cozy bed. She will soon be making her annual and seasonal move to Palm Desert. We had a snow storm two days ago and I know that caused her to wish she was already there. But there is work to be done. We need to pack boxes of her clothes to be shipped. We purchased the boxes and shipping tape yesterday. We need to cut down flowers for winter. We need to store away the cushions of the outdoor furniture. We have already stacked and covered the outdoor furniture last Saturday. She needs to get her car packed. Lots of work and only a few days to do it. I have a backyard full of leaves that still need to be raked. I hope they are dry enough to rake today.
Last Monday I turned 60. Unbelievable. Closer to the end than the beginning, by far. I worked a good part of the day and then the Lovely Sharon, my dear wife, and I went to dinner, just the two of us. It was a nice day.
I have written in this blog about "The Neighbor's Dog". A big collie next door that I gave dog treats to over the last several years. Each time I would leave the house to go onto the back deck or the lower patio, he would move to the rod iron fence that separates our two yards. He would stare at me until I walked to the fence line and gave him treats. Whenever I would go out back I would put 3 treats in my pocket for him. I would walk to the fence and give him a treat, one at a time. I would pet his head while I fed him treats. The last several weeks when I went outside, I would put his treats in my pocket as usual. But The Neighbor's Dog was nowhere to be seen. It made me wonder. I hated to think the worse, but those thoughts, the worse, kept coming into my mind. Last Sunday I was in the yard and I saw the boy next door with a white puppy. I asked him about "Collie" (the name of The Dog Next Door). He told me Collie had died several weeks ago. I petted the puppy, who was funny and curious like all puppies. Then the boy and the puppy were off and I walked back in the house. The Dog Next door was not my dog but to learn for certain that he had died was a blow for me. I felt incredibly sad. I choked up for a minute. Now when I look at the place where the bags of dog treats rest, near the lower level patio door, I think of him. I can't yet bring myself to move the treats.
Time to shower, dress, make me some eggs and start working for the day.


text:
Test results confirm how 300 dead birds 'fell out of the sky'
An eyewitnesses said it was as if the birds had "dropped down dead from the sky"
Amelia Shaw
Lottie Gibbons
After 300 dead birds "fell out the sky" in Anglesey last week, test results have now confirmed how they died.
On December 11 eyewitnesses said it was as if the birds had "dropped down dead from the sky" as the bodies of 300 starlings lined the road in North Wales.
The shocking footage was captured by Dafydd Edwards after his partner Hannah Stevens spotted them on her way home near Llyn Llywenan, Bodedern.
Miss Stevens said she had initially seen the "massive flock" flying overhead before landing and appearing to eat something in the road.
An hour later they were dead.
Dead birds across a road in North Wales
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carried out an investigation where several bodies were collected and sent off for tests, r eports North Wales Live.
Their findings indicated that the birds died due to "trauma and internal bleeding" after they plunged into the ground.
But scientists are still unsure at this stage what caused the birds to crash in to the road - and they are continuing their investigation alongside North Wales Police.
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An expert told North Wales Live that it wasn't uncommon for starlings to fly into the ground.
The birds were also tested for bird flu but results came back negative.
Over 300 dead starlings in Bodedern (Image: Dafydd Edwards)
A spokesperson for APHA said: "Preliminary findings indicate death due to trauma and internal bleeding in many of the birds examined so far due to impact with the ground.
"We are working closely with the North Wales Police Rural Crime Team to obtain more information about the incident.
"We have investigated several incidents of mass mortality in groups of starlings previously.
"The underlying factors that may have been involved in this case are being investigated."
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Readers have suggested that the birds may have been "spooked" by a loud noise or a predator causing them to panic and crash in to the ground.
Others have suggested that they may have become disorientated in the strong winds making it difficult for them to keep steady.
This morning North Wales Police confirmed that they had received the initial post mortem examination findings but were waiting for toxicology results before releasing the outcome of the investigation.
A spokesperson for APHA said that in cases like this toxicology results can take up to eight weeks."