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Illuminating Homes with LEDs in India: Rapid Market Creation Towards Low-carbon Technology Transition in a Developing Country

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: Mar 19, 2020

This paper examines a recent, rapid, and ongoing transition of India's lighting market to light emitting diode (LED) technology, from a negligible market share to LEDs becoming the dominant lighting products within five years, despite the country's otherwise limited visibility in the global solid-state lighting industry.


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Illuminating Homes with LEDs in India: Rapid Market Creation Towards Low-carbon Technology Transition in a Developing Country

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: Mar 19, 2020

This paper examines a recent, rapid, and ongoing transition of India's lighting market to light emitting diode (LED) technology, from a negligible market share to LEDs becoming the dominant lighting products within five years, despite the country's otherwise limited visibility in the global solid-state lighting industry.


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WATCH: South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on the country’s challenges, potential, and resilience

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Thu, 05 May 2016 10:15:00 -0400


At a time of decelerating regional growth in sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa—one of the continent’s leading economies—is facing the brunt of concurrent external and domestic growth shocks. During a Brookings event on April 14, 2016 moderated by Africa Growth Initiative Director Amadou Sy, South African minister of finance, the Honorable Pravin Gordhan, provided cause for encouragement, as he highlighted strategies that South Africa is implementing to reverse slowing growth trends, boost social cohesion, and springboard inclusive, sustainable development.

Throughout the event, Minister Gordhan emphasized that South Africa is refocusing its efforts on implementing homegrown policies to mitigate the effects of global and domestic shocks: “Our approach is not to keep pointing outside our borders and say, ‘That’s where the problem is.’ We've got our own challenges and difficulties, and potential and opportunities. And it's important to focus on those, and rally South Africans behind that set of initiatives so that we could go wherever we can in terms improving the situation.”

He began by explaining the major growth problems facing South Africa, including first-level structural challenges—consistent electricity supply and labor relations—as well as deeper structural challenges, for instance, reforming the oligopolistic sectors of its economy. To address these issues, he expanded on what collaborative, multi-stakeholder efforts would be necessary. Watch:

Pravin Gordhan notes the major growth challenges in South Africa

Contending with infrastructure needs—particularly energy and logistical, but also social, such as water and sanitation, health care, and educational facilities—will play a significant role in overcoming these aforementioned challenges. Minister Gordhan explained how the government aims to fill existing infrastructure gaps through innovative financing mechanisms. Watch:

Pravin Gordhan on addressing South Africa’s infrastructure gaps

Later in the event, Sy pressed Minister Gordhan on plans for implementation for the country’s ambitious goals. As an example, Minister Gordhan underlined “Operation Phakisa,” a results-driven approach to fast-track the implementation of initiatives to achieve development objectives. The government intends to use this methodology to address a number of social priorities, including unlocking the potential of South Africa’s coastlines and oceans. Watch:

Pravin Gordhan on implementation of South Africa's development objectives

Urbanization in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa as a whole is widespread and increasing, creating a demand for governments to both maintain their infrastructure as well as harness their energy and human capacity. Cities, especially those in South Africa’s Gauteng Province (Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Ekurhuleni), will continue to be crucial engines of economic development if municipal governance systems effectively manage the region’s expected rapid urbanization in the years to come. Minister Gordhan discusses some of the lessons learned from the Gauteng city region. Watch:

Pravin Gordhan on the vital role of cities in economic development in South Africa

In sum, referring to the confluence of adverse global conditions and internal problems currently affecting South Africa, Minister Gordhan stated, “Whenever you are in the middle of a storm it looks like the worst thing possible—but storms don’t last forever.” He did not doubt the ability of the South African people to weather and emerge stronger from the storm, offering: “Ultimately South Africans are hopeful, are optimistic and resilient.”

You can watch the full event here. 

Video

Authors

  • Amy Copley
      
 
 


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Mexico’s COVID-19 distance education program compels a re-think of the country’s future of education

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2020 19:02:04 +0000

Saturday, March 14, 2020 was a historic day for education in Mexico. Through an official statement, the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) informed students and their families that schools would close to reinforce the existing measures of social distancing in response to COVID-19 and in accordance with World Health Organization recommendations. Mexico began to implement…

       


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Targeting an Achievement Gap in One of the Country's Most Educated Metropolitan Areas

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Over the past two decades, the Puget Sound area’s innovation-driven economy has become a magnet for highly educated people from across the country and around the world. Drawn to the region by some of the nation’s most innovative companies—Microsoft, Boeing, Nintendo, Amazon, Genentech and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, to name a few—the Puget Sound region ranks well on measures of educational attainment. Of the nation’s largest 100 metro areas, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area is 11th in bachelor’s degree holders and 17th in graduate degree attainment.

But for all its brainpower, the region has fallen behind in terms of cultivating homegrown talent, particularly in less affluent school districts located in South Seattle and South King County. Starting from an early age, low-income students and children of color in these communities tend to lag behind on important indicators of educational success. The effects of this achievement gap worsen with time, putting these students at a serious disadvantage that often affects their ability to find jobs and their earning potential. 

In an effort to address this achievement gap, the Community Center for Education Results has teamed up with the city of Seattle, the University of Washington, the Seattle Community Colleges District, the Puget Sound Educational Service District, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others to form the Road Map Project, a coalition working to double the number of South Seattle and South King County students pursuing a college diploma or career credential by 2020.

What’s innovative about the Road Map Project is its focus on collective action and community engagement. By bringing together key stakeholders to collaborate on shared goals, the project is creating a new model for efforts to reduce inequality in educational attainment. Its cradle-to-college-and-career approach aims to improve student outcomes beginning with access to prenatal care and kindergarten readiness all the way through to elementary and secondary schooling and beyond. Through a combination of community outreach and partnership building, data-driven goal-setting and performance management, the project supports area organizations working to boost student success and close the achievement gap in South Seattle and South King County.

In December, the Project released its baseline report, which provides a detailed snapshot of student achievement in the Road Map region during the 2009-2010 school year. With this initial data in hand, the project will be able to work with area organizations to encourage and track progress on a wide variety of indicators, ranging from birth weight and full-day kindergarten enrollment to proficiency in reading, math, and science, parent engagement to graduation rates and postsecondary enrollment. “Demographics should not determine the destiny of children in this region,” says Mary Jean Ryan, executive director of the Community Center for Education Results. “The children who grow up here deserve as good of an education as the people who show up here.”

Authors

Publication: The Atlantic Cities
     
 
 


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Mexico’s COVID-19 distance education program compels a re-think of the country’s future of education

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2020 19:02:04 +0000

Saturday, March 14, 2020 was a historic day for education in Mexico. Through an official statement, the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) informed students and their families that schools would close to reinforce the existing measures of social distancing in response to COVID-19 and in accordance with World Health Organization recommendations. Mexico began to implement…

       


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The old guard are killing the world’s youngest country

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Fri, 14 Jun 2019 15:48:38 +0000

       


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Georgia Defense Minister: We Are Acting Like a NATO Country, Like a European Country

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Mon, 05 May 2014 15:49:00 -0400


Today, the Center on the United States and Europe (CUSE) at Brookings hosted Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Alasania for an address on Georgia's vision for Euro-Atlantic integration during a period of increased insecurity in the region. In his remarks, Minister Alasania shared his insights on the upcoming NATO summit and Georgia's approach to enhancing its relations with the West while attempting to normalize relations with Russia to lower tensions still simmering from the war six years ago.

Minister Alasania said that his country's "path toward NATO and European integration is unchanged" and offered next steps on "how we're going to make sure that the credibility of the west, the credibility of NATO as an organization will continue to be relevant to safeguard the values that we all cherish: freedom, democracy, and a Europe whole and free."

"We are acting like a NATO country," he said. Continuing:

We are acting like a European country, because we believe that our future is within Europe. And we regard ourselves as a future member. And this is why we are preparing ourselves institution-wise, in terms of freedom, in terms of democracy, and the military capabilities when ... the historical opportunity will open up to Georgia to join NATO and the EU.

The defense minister added that "We are looking at the future." We:

cannot be dragged back to the confrontation of the early 1990s. And we want to make sure that our policies, our economic policies, our foreign policy, [are] specifically working to make sure that the Georgian people who elected us are now moving closer and closer to the European way of living standards. And this only can be done if the efforts that Georgia is making will be validated, will be appreciated by the NATO and the European countries.

One of the things we are looking forward to is the signing of the association agreement. The next step obviously is the NATO summit. And what the NATO summit will decide is how effectively they can assure the allies, but also the partners, like Georgia.

On Russia, Minister Alasania spoke in both hopeful and realistic terms, saying that:

We are now approaching foreign policy and specifically the issue with Russia with a rather mature approach. We don't have any illusions that Russia will change its behavior or policies toward Georgia's territorial integrity or NATO aspirations. But we do hope the diffusion of tensions, the decrease of the military rhetoric between the two countries, will serve Georgia's interests best.

And it will give us more space to develop ourselves, to develop our relationship with the Abkhazia and South Ossetian areas. This is the cornerstone of our policy actually. Be uncompromising on the territorial integrity. Be uncompromising on NATO aspiration, membership in NATO and the EU. But at the same time be sure that we are not going give a pretext to anybody in the region, specifically to Russians, to attack us politically or otherwise.

Listen to audio of the event below or on the event's web page to get the full conversation, which was moderated by CUSE Director Fiona Hill.

Audio

Authors

  • Fred Dews
      
 
 


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Mexico’s COVID-19 distance education program compels a re-think of the country’s future of education

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2020 19:02:04 +0000

Saturday, March 14, 2020 was a historic day for education in Mexico. Through an official statement, the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) informed students and their families that schools would close to reinforce the existing measures of social distancing in response to COVID-19 and in accordance with World Health Organization recommendations. Mexico began to implement…

       


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COVID-19 is expanding further into Trump country

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Wed, 29 Apr 2020 15:59:26 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has already shown a dispersion away from the nation’s most urban and densely populated counties to suburban, somewhat whiter, and less politically Democratic parts of the country.  Yet the group of counties that newly qualify as areas with a high prevalence of COVID-19 cases are even more dispersed, and represent places where…

       


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COVID-19 is expanding further into Trump country

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Wed, 29 Apr 2020 15:59:26 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has already shown a dispersion away from the nation’s most urban and densely populated counties to suburban, somewhat whiter, and less politically Democratic parts of the country.  Yet the group of counties that newly qualify as areas with a high prevalence of COVID-19 cases are even more dispersed, and represent places where…

       


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Scaling Up Development Interventions: A Review of UNDP's Country Program in Tajikistan

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:12:00 -0500

A key objective of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is to assist its member countries in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). UNDP pursues this objective in various ways, including through analysis and advice to governments on the progress towards the MDGs (such as support for the preparation and monitoring Poverty Reduction Strategies, or PRSs, in poor countries), assistance for capacity building, and financial and technical support for the preparation and implementation of development programs.

The challenge of achieving the MDGs remains daunting in many countries, including Tajikistan. To do so will require that all development partners, i.e., the government, civil society, private business and donors, make every effort to scale up successful development interventions. Scaling up refers to “expanding, adapting and sustaining successful policies, programs and projects on different places and over time to reach a greater number of people.” Interventions that are successful as pilots but are not scaled up will create localized benefits for a small number of beneficiaries, but they will fail to contribute significantly to close the MDG gap.

This paper aims to assess whether and how well UNDP is supporting scaling up in its development programs in Tajikistan. While the principal purpose of this assessment was to assist the UNDP country program director and his team in Tajikistan in their scaling up efforts, it also contributes to the overall growing body of evidence on the scaling up of development interventions worldwide.

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South Africa is the first middle-income country to fund impact bonds for early childhood development

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Wed, 06 Apr 2016 12:00:00 -0400


March 18 was an historic day for early childhood development (ECD) financing—the Departments of Social Development and Health of the Western Cape province of South Africa committed 25 million rand ($1.62 million) in outcome funding for three social impact bonds (SIBs) for maternal and early childhood outcomes. This is the first ever funding committed by a middle-income government for a SIB—to date no low-income country governments have participated in a SIB either—making South Africa’s choice to pioneer this new path especially exciting.

A SIB is a financing mechanism for social outcomes where investors provide upfront capital for services and a government agency repays investors contingent on outcome achievement. There are currently two active development impact bonds or DIBs (where a donor provides outcome funding rather than a government agency) in middle-income countries, one for coffee production in Peru and one for girls’ education in India. The South African SIBs, whose implementation was facilitated by the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Cape Town and Social Finance U.K. as well as other organizations, will be the first impact bonds in Africa.

We have been following closely the development of these SIBs over the last two years through our research on the potential applications of impact bonds for ECD outcomes, and recently hosted a discussion on the topic at Brookings. There are currently nine other impact bonds worldwide that include outcomes for children ages 0 to 5, including two recently announced impact bonds in the U.S. for nurse home-visiting in South Carolina and support for families struggling with substance abuse in Connecticut.

Impact bonds are well suited to fund interventions that have high potential returns to society; that require learning, adaptability, and combinations of services to achieve those returns; and that are not core government-funded services (often resulting in a relative proliferation of non-state providers). In our recent report, we find that a majority of evaluations show ECD can have unparalleled returns, but there are also a number of evaluations that show no significant impact or where impact fades out. Overall however, there are few evaluations relative to the number of service providers and interventions, an indication of how little we know about the effectiveness of the majority of service providers. For example, there are only 15 studies examining the effects of ECD interventions in low- and middle-income countries on later-life socioemotional development, which has been shown to be a critical determinant of success in school and life.

The case for government investment is strong, but continuous learning and adaptation is needed to ensure the high potential impacts are achieved. Tying payments to outcomes could help the ECD sector in three ways: it could encourage new government investment in ECD, it could encourage performance management and adaptability, and, crucially, it could help develop the knowledge base of what works in ECD. Unlike some other sectors where providers are able to finance their own operations to participate in a results-based (performance-based) contract through fees or other cash flows, ECD providers will almost always require upfront capital in order to reach the most vulnerable. Consequently, we find that, despite some significant challenges, ECD interventions are particularly well suited to impact bonds.

For this reason, there are three things we find particularly exciting about these new SIBs for early childhood development in South Africa:

  1. Collaboration of two departments to ensure a continuity of outcome measurement and, hopefully, achievement. Given their different mandates, the Department of Health will fund outcomes for pregnant mothers and children in their first 1,000 days and the Department of Social Development will fund outcomes for children ages 2 to 5. The Bertha Centre writes that “the funding will be made available to three community based organizations working with pregnant women and children up to five years of age with outcomes including improved antenatal care, prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV, exclusive breastfeeding, a reduction in growth stunting, and improved cognitive, language and motor development.” 

    2. The continuity of quality services is essential to sustaining the impacts of early childhood services, and this is the first set of impact bonds to address outcomes across the development spectrum from age 0 to 5. Selecting outcomes however, particularly for more complex learning outcomes for children ages 3 to 5, can be one of the greatest challenges for impact bonds in the ECD sector.

    A full list of recommended outcome metrics for ECD impact bonds is available in our report.

  2. Outcome fund structure. The SIBs in South Africa have been designed as impact bond funds, where the outcome funder issues a rate card of prices it is willing to pay for certain outcomes and multiple service providers are awarded contracts to provide those outcomes. This structure, which has been implemented in four instances in the U.K., could help facilitate impact bonds at greater scale than what we have seen thus far.

    3. At the Brookings event on impact bonds, Louise Savell of Social Finance U.K., explained that scale was critical in the South African case because there are few providers that work across the entire province. While the discussion around pricing outcomes in the U.K. was more focused on future value to the economy, the discussion in South Africa had to be more attuned to the price of providing services. These delivery prices differ greatly by township, which may result in different outcome payment prices by township. The impact bond designers also had to ensure the outcome price allowed for providers to serve the hardest to reach.

  3. Matching of private-sector outcome funds. This is the first impact bond to date where private-sector actors will augment outcome funds, in addition to serving as investors. Impact bonds take a great deal of work for a government agency to establish—though it will likely drop over time—and additional or matching of outcome funds will be critical to making this effort worthwhile for low- and middle-income country governments.

Looking forward, it will be interesting to compare and contrast the structure and design of these SIBs with the impact bonds for ECD outcomes in Cameroon, India, and potentially other countries as they launch in the coming years. Each impact bond must be designed taking into consideration the particular issues and challenges in a given context. However, sharing learnings from one impact bond to the next will likely improve both efficiency and quality of the impact bond implementation. 

Authors

      
 
 


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COVID-19 is expanding further into Trump country

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Wed, 29 Apr 2020 15:59:26 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has already shown a dispersion away from the nation’s most urban and densely populated counties to suburban, somewhat whiter, and less politically Democratic parts of the country.  Yet the group of counties that newly qualify as areas with a high prevalence of COVID-19 cases are even more dispersed, and represent places where…

       


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Classifying Sustainable Development Goal trajectories: A country-level methodology for identifying which issues and people are getting left behind

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Tue, 23 Jul 2019 15:56:49 +0000

       


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Scaling Up Development Interventions: A Review of UNDP's Country Program in Tajikistan

By webfeeds.brookings.edu
Published On :: Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:12:00 -0500

A key objective of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is to assist its member countries in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). UNDP pursues this objective in various ways, including through analysis and advice to governments on the progress towards the MDGs (such as support for the preparation and monitoring Poverty Reduction Strategies, or PRSs, in poor countries), assistance for capacity building, and financial and technical support for the preparation and implementation of development programs.

The challenge of achieving the MDGs remains daunting in many countries, including Tajikistan. To do so will require that all development partners, i.e., the government, civil society, private business and donors, make every effort to scale up successful development interventions. Scaling up refers to “expanding, adapting and sustaining successful policies, programs and projects on different places and over time to reach a greater number of people.” Interventions that are successful as pilots but are not scaled up will create localized benefits for a small number of beneficiaries, but they will fail to contribute significantly to close the MDG gap.

This paper aims to assess whether and how well UNDP is supporting scaling up in its development programs in Tajikistan. While the principal purpose of this assessment was to assist the UNDP country program director and his team in Tajikistan in their scaling up efforts, it also contributes to the overall growing body of evidence on the scaling up of development interventions worldwide.

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Norway Becomes First Country to Ban Fur from Fashion Week

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Sat, 01 Jan 2011 08:39:49 -0500

It is now 2011 which means Fashion Week in New York is just around the corner. Making news abroad, Norway has banned fur from the biannual Oslo Fashion Week, Ecouterre reports (via Huffington Post) making them the first country to


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Portraits of Londoners From Every Olympic Country Highlight City's Diversity

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Fri, 10 Aug 2012 05:00:00 -0400

You can see these magnificent photo portraits of Londoners on a wall or on the web.


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Biking Through Amish Country for Climate Ride

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:09:47 -0400

There is a certain irony in the fact that some of the best biking in the U.S. is in an area where people have rejected the modern world -- including bikes (for those of the Old Order).


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Happy Simcoe Day: How good planning changed a country (and made room for a lot of Americans)

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Mon, 05 Aug 2019 08:19:36 -0400

220 years ago a lot of people wanted to move to Canada. Here is how they were welcomed.


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An entire country just divested from fossil fuels

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Thu, 12 Jul 2018 13:57:22 -0400

This is beginning to get real.


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North Carolina mosque aiming to be among first in country to go solar

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:51:04 -0400

The Muslim American Society of Charlotte isn't just putting solar on its mosque. 40 of its congregants are going solar too.


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China thinks it's a developing country now

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Fri, 14 Dec 2018 11:13:31 -0500

The largest greenhouse gas emitter wants wiggle room when it comes to cutting emissions.


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Small wooden home sits like a modernist mountain in the countryside

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Tue, 29 Sep 2015 07:00:00 -0400

Inspired by arthropods, this minimalist all-wood home features a spacious-feeling interior and energy-efficient, passive heating and cooling strategies.


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France is being hit by a massive heat wave. Will it change the country and the culture?

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Wed, 26 Jun 2019 12:41:44 -0400

The French consider AC to be unhealthy. Will they change their minds in the face of a changing climate?


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Summertime means heading to the shore, in both town and country

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Mon, 17 Aug 2015 15:15:07 -0400

Katherine lives in rural Ontario. Margaret lives in New York City. The way they enjoy their summers is bound to be drastically different.


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No country is doing enough to protect children's health and wellbeing

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 07:00:00 -0500

A damning report says children face two main threats globally, and most nations are failing to address these.


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Christmas Trees Recycled Into Fish Habitats Across the Country

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:50:00 -0500

Around the country, Christmas trees are recycled for an unlikely purpose: they make for good fish habitat.


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City, suburb or country? Where's the best place to ride out this crisis?

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 14:13:44 -0400

Apparently, policy is more important than place.


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Cross-country ski industry wants to eliminate toxic wax

By www.treehugger.com
Published On :: Tue, 03 Mar 2020 07:00:00 -0500

The same chemicals that help skiers to glide cause harm to human health and the natural environment.


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Northwestern Mutual financial professionals across the country to host lemonade stands during Alex's Lemonade Days - National Lemonade Day Video

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: 10 Jun 2015 18:35:00 EDT

Northwestern Mutual will support the fight against childhood cancer by hosting lemonade stands nationwide as part of Alex’s Lemonade Days (June 12-14). Join the fight and build your own lemonade stand.


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Ziploc® Brand Helps Bring a Chaos-Free Holiday to Travelers across the Country - Ziploc® Brand Holiday Tollbooth Video (Extended)

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: 11 Dec 2015 13:55:00 EST

Bad traffic, tired drivers and cranky kids; life makes holiday travel anything but a holiday. Watch what happens when Ziploc® takes over a tollbooth and surprises real holiday travelers with gifts.


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Northwestern Mutual financial professionals across the country to host lemonade stands during Alex's Lemonade Days - National Lemonade Day Video

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: 10 Jun 2015 18:35:00 EDT

Northwestern Mutual will support the fight against childhood cancer by hosting lemonade stands nationwide as part of Alex’s Lemonade Days (June 12-14). Join the fight and build your own lemonade stand.


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Zimbabwe's president appeals for help to end country's 'financial isolation'

By www.theguardian.com
Published On :: 2020-02-28T15:53:08Z

Emmerson Mnangagwa makes passionate plea for support as he targets upper middle-income status by 2030

The president of Zimbabwe has appealed for help in pulling his debt-ridden country out of “financial isolation”.

Emmerson Mnangagwa made his passionate call for international funding after he failed to secure new loans from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, African Development Bank and the Paris Club due to outstanding foreign debts of $8bn (£6.2bn).

Related: Zimbabwe urged to prioritise children as record poverty causes food shortages

Continue reading...


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Brazil reports new daily record for Covid-19 deaths as country’s cases exceed 145,000

By www.france24.com
Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 06:36:59 GMT

Brazil, the country in Latin America that has been hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, said Friday it had reached a new daily record for COVID-19 fatalities with 751 deaths.


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Jordanian health minister on leading his country's fight against Covid-19

By www.france24.com
Published On :: Tue, 28 Apr 2020 16:24:06 GMT

In this edition of Middle East Matters, we continue our rolling coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic across the region. Jordan is flattening its coronavirus curve after a series of strict measures, including travel bans. We speak to Health Minister Saad Jaber, himself a doctor, about how he's managed the crisis. Also, deadly clashes erupt after hundreds take to the streets in northern Lebanon amid a crash in the local currency and a surge in food prices. 


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  • Middle East matters
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Coronavirus: UK becomes first country in Europe to pass 30,000 deaths

By www.bbc.co.uk
Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 21:31:16 GMT

The UK records a further 649 deaths, taking the total number of coronavirus deaths to 30,076.


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Football thriving in the country of eternal blue sky

By www.fifa.com
Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2020 07:10:00 GMT


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India against the world: The future of gaming in the country

By www.mid-day.com
Published On :: 17 May 2018 07:31:07 GMT

Representational picture

In India, gaming is considered as a hobby and was less than inclined towards gaming from the get- go. But the scenario is slowling changing. Looking at the growth of the industry over the years, we have finally come to a point where families have started being supportive of this career choice. Rather than opting for a 9-to-5 job, more and more gamers have started taking their careers seriously and are transitioning into professional esports athletes and streamers.

So what is gaming? Gaming is a form of entertainment which is consumed via interaction, participation and viewership. It encompasses PC gaming, mobile gaming and console gaming and is multi-billion dollar industry globally. This industry comprises of gamers who can be a casual or an enthusiast, an amateur or a professional, a player or a viewer. Gaming can be as simple as picking up your mobile and launching some birds at hostile pigs in a castle, or as complex as dedicating years to learning and mastering a game and competing against other similarly dedicated players globally with millions of dollars at stake.

The term 'esports' seem new but the concept isn't. Esports is the part of gaming that’s competitive, where various genres of games are played competitively against other players, on different platforms. From fighting against your friend at the local arcade with a barrage of virtual punches and kicks to being seated together and connected to 100s of other gamers and being the last person alive in a perilous deserted island. Esports is as old as gaming is. The only difference we see nowadays, is the higher stakes and the dedication gamers put in to reach the top. With prize pools running in the millions and a loyal audience who travel halfway across the globe to watch their teams play, esports has become a global phenomenon with major brands investing heavily in the industry and corporations building stadiums larger than conventional sports stadiums.

Professional athletes train their body and mind, regularly to stay at the best of conditions and are supported with the state-of-the-art facilities and a salary for playing their game. Another term people might be unfamiliar with is "video game live streaming”. Streaming is a form of online video broadcast on specialised platforms where you play games and entertain your viewers. A viewer might be engrossed by your playstyle or your witty humour. There can be thousands of players watching you at a point of time and cheering for you. Streaming has become a full-time job for a lot of people with them earning a comfortable six-figure income monthly by just regularly entertaining their viewers. Brands sponsor these streamers to advertise and endorse their products on their stream.

The global gaming industry is still growing at a rapid pace with a valuation of $108.9 billion and a YoY growth of 7.8% in 2017. The Asia Pacific region contributes to 47% of this with India ranked 17 th globally valued at $818 million with an 11.14% CAGR. Gaming in India is still nascent with a lot of scope for growth and recognition. Esports plays a huge part in gaming with $696 million market and whopping 385.5 million viewers watching their favourite teams and players fight for glory. That’s thrice as many subscribers Netflix has.

So how far has India come? India is slowly catching up with the rest of the world. We have 253.2 million gamers in India with 81% of them in the age group of 16 – 30. We have professional teams in India who compete globally against other teams. We have people who have taken up streaming as their jobs. Rather than pursuing a regular career like your average John and Jane, we have emerging brave souls who want to stand out and make their dreams come true. And the space is filled with brands who want to work hand in hand with these people, empowering and enabling such a career into reality.

Insight of target audience by COBX games

Gaming in India has been given a boost in the recent years with the advent of 4G and FTTH. Prices have grown more competitive which has helped not only companies but also gamers across India. We have seen a spike in mobile gaming with 4G being introduced in India and will play a major role in the industry. FTTH, which is already being deployed in tier-1 cities, provides high-speed internet connection over optical fibre directly to your home from the ISP which has increased the quality of service. In tier-2 cities, gaming cafés and colleges act as hotspots for gamers and most tournaments are hosted in these colleges, due to the presence of stable infrastructure which, in turn, promotes the growth of gaming.

Esports is on the rise in India with multiple tournaments being announced with unprecedented prize pools. Esports is dynamically changing the industry with numerous brands joining in and helping the space flourish. Monthly tournaments provide a scope for professional gamers to sustain a living and also provides growth to multiple domains attached to esports like cosplayers, shoutcasters, and analysts and so on. From small tournaments in cafés and college labs to huge events filled with gamers, esports has come a long way in India. 2018 saw numerous companies invest heavily in esports by announcing multiple tournaments with prize pools of over Rs 1 crore.

Mujahid Rupani, Co-founder & C.E.O of COBX Gaming says, "We are also expecting an increase in VR and AR gaming in India. VR gears are being readily accessible to people and families are opting in for the virtual reality experience. Mobile phones are growing powerful every day and proving to be effective AR devices. New games are being launched every day which take advantage of augmented reality and taking use experience to a whole new level. Mobile gaming is also on the rise in India due to the ease of entry and affordable and stable internet connection. With the amount of time people invest on mobiles, a lot of developers are shifting their focus to mobile games and catering to a big chunk of gamers who prefer mobiles over expensive PCs and consoles as their gaming gear. With the number of game development studies in our country, the next big title might be from India."

With the ecosystem growing and evolving every year, the future for gaming in India is bright. Gaming in India is an incipient industry and has a long way to go. We hope to see more professional players, more streamers and more parents supporting their kid’s dream. There was a time when you would idolise a sportsperson, the day is here when kids idolise their favourite professional gamer or streamer. We have a generation of parents who are gamers too and encourage their kids and help them balance gaming along with other life priorities. We hope to see more companies and brands invest their time and resource in the gaming industry and maybe one day, a kid who wants to grow up and be a professional gamer.

Also Read: Hrithik Roshan: Gaming In India Gaining Exponential Popularity

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Netizens salute Mumbai Police, call them best in the country!

By www.mid-day.com
Published On :: 30 Apr 2019 09:13:53 GMT

Mumbai Congress president Milind Deora on Monday took to Twitter to congratulate the Election Commission for peacefully conducting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the metropolis. In a statement, Deora, the Congress' Mumbai South Lok Sabha candidate also appreciated the efforts of the Mumbai police and other security personnel deployed for poll duty and heaped praises on them.

"The voters are the real heroes of this election and I thank them for strengthening our democracy today. On behalf of the Mumbai Congress, I congratulate the Election Commission for peacefully conducting elections in Mumbai," he said.

Also Read: Elections 2019: This how Mumbai police helped senior voters at booths

"I also appreciate and thank Mumbai Police and other security personnel for maintaining law and order in the city," he added. Deora also thanked his party workers, stating they "demonstrated their commitment to the values of the Congress". He also said that the media kept a close vigil on the proceedings of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai.

On April 29, 2019, Over 12.79 crore voters came out and cast their votes in order to decide the fate of 945 candidates. On the other hand, the Mumbai Police's Twitter handle which is well known for their quirky yet remarkable tweets, on the voting day, shared an impactful message of senior citizens of Mumbai setting an example for the youth of the city with their active voting. Mumbai Police on Twitter shared a heartwarming post of senior citizens at different polling booths.

Mumbai Police personnel posted at various polling booths across Mumbai on April 29, 2019, earned kudos for lending a helping hand to senior citizens and differently-abled people who had come out in numbers to cast their votes in the six Lok Sabha constituencies in the city and suburbs that went to polls.

The Mumbai police personnel were seen helping the elderly voters at the polling booths by holding their hand and offering them assistance as they walk towards the polling booths to cast their valuable votes. In the Fort area in South Mumbai, which falls under Mumbai South Parliamentary constituency, police personnel of Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg police station were seen assisting senior citizens to their polling booths.

Similar scenes were witnessed in areas that fall under the rest five constituencies that cover the island city as well as distant suburbs. Many Mumbaikars who exercised their franchise to vote clicked photos of the goodwill gesture of Mumbai Police and shared them on social media.

"Fighting all the odds for an able democracy! Our salute to all the specially abled voters for not compromising on their duty! Let's not make any excuses." Mumbai Police tweeted from their official tweeter handle at Mumbai Police.

In another tweet, Mumbai police said, "Raising the bar for the youth, senior citizens across the city are turning out at large numbers at polling booths to vote. It is our pleasure to help them in every little way we can."

A heavy contingent of over 40,000 security personnel, including local police, QRTs, Central forces, was posted on election duty in Mumbai.

Over 17,000 officers of Mumbai Police cast their vote via postal ballot, to ensure they do not miss fulfilling their duty towards democracy while being on duty for its people.

See Photos: Elections 2019: Politicians, Bollywood celebs, Industrialists cast their vote in Mumbai

Here's how netizens lauded Mumbai Police for their selfless service during the Lok Sabha polls in Mumbai:

The results of the Lok Sabha Elections 2019 will be announced on May 23, 2019. You can log on to eci.gov.in for more information.

With inputs from PTI

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Coronavirus Outbreak: Tata Trusts launches countrywide health campaign on COVID-19

By www.mid-day.com
Published On :: 23 Apr 2020 12:58:40 GMT

Tata Trusts has begun a pan-India community outreach to induce adoption of health practices, as promoted by the Government of India, in rural areas to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Beginning March 31, the exercise is expected to have already reached about 12 million people in 21 states.

The campaign '5 Kadam, Corona Mukt Jeevan', ranges from video messages in the country's languages, even dialects, short animation videos and infographics to audio messages, and SMS based messaging.

For wider deployment by any interested organisation, the Trusts have made publicly available through social media about 300 such videos and audio messages, in different languages, and dialects like Dongri, Kumaoni, Ladakhi, Garhwali, Santhali, Mundari, Kutchi (Gujarat) and Koborok (Tripura). All of them are available in the playlist here.

Over 70 celebrities from all over India, have lent their support with video and audio messages. Among them are Nana Patekar, Sonali Kulkarni, Harbhajan Singh, Ila Arun, Atul Kulkarni, Malini Awasthi, and Sanju Samson for Rajasthan Royals, to name a few.

The Trusts have deployed more than 430 master trainers in these 21 states who in turn have trained a pool of over 8,700 community resource persons (village volunteers) to deliver the message till the last mile.

Through the existing network of the Trusts' programmes, the volunteers, associate organisations of the Trusts, community radios, village-based public address systems, and use of various internet and communication technologies, the programme is expected to have reached out to about 12 million people till date.

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever


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COVID-19 death toll rises to 872 in country; cases climb to 27,892: Health ministry

By www.mid-day.com
Published On :: 27 Apr 2020 05:33:16 GMT

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 872 and the number of cases climbed to 27,892 in the country on Monday, according to the Union Health Ministry. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 20,835 while 6,184 people were cured and discharged, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said. The total number of cases include 111 foreign nationals. A total of 46 deaths were reported since Sunday evening of which 19 fatalities were reported from Maharashtra, 18 from Gujarat, four from Madhya Pradesh, two from West Bengal and one each from Punjab, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Of the 872 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 342 fatalities, followed by Gujarat at 151, Madhya Pradesh at 103, Delhi at 54, Rajasthan at 33 and Andhra Pradesh at 31. The death toll reached 29 in Uttar Pradesh, 26 in Telengana, 24 in Tamil Nadu, 20 in West Bengal while Karantaka has reported 19 deaths. Punjab has registered 18 fatalities so far. The disease has claimed six lives in Jammu and Kashmir, four in Kerala while Jharkhand and Haryana have recorded three COVID-19 deaths each. Bihar has reported two deaths, while Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported one fatality each, according to ministry data. According to the ministry's data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 8,068 followed by Gujarat at 3,301, Delhi at 2,918, Rajasthan at 2,185, Madhya Pradesh at 2,096 and Tamil Nadu at 1,885.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 1,868 in Uttar Pradesh, 1,097 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,002 in Telangana. Cases have risen to 649 in West Bengal, 523 in Jammu and Kashmir, 503 in Karnataka, 458 in Kerala, 313 in Punjab and 289 in Haryana. Bihar has reported 274 coronavirus cases, while Odisha has 103 cases.Eighty-two people have been infected with the virus in Jharkhand and 50 in Uttarakhand. Himachal Pradesh has 40 cases, Chhattisgarh has 37 cases and Assam has registered 36 infections each so far. Andaman and Nicobar Islands has 33 COVID-19 cases while Chandigarh has 30 cases and Ladakh has reported 20 infections so far. Meghalaya has reported 12 cases, and Goa and Puducherry have seven COVID-19 cases each. Manipur and Tripura have two cases each, while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each. "Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said on its website. States wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.

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Tax-News.com: OECD Releases More Transfer Pricing Country Guides

By www.tax-news.com
Published On :: Thu, 12 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMT

The OECD has published new transfer pricing country profiles for Australia, China, Estonia, France, Georgia, Hungary, India, Israel, Liechtenstein, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, and Uruguay, bringing the number of such overviews published by the OECD to 44.


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Rs 411 crore loan defaulters flee country, SBI complains to CBI after 4 years

By www.businesstoday.in
Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 14:46:50 GMT

The CBI had recently booked Ram Dev International and its directors Naresh Kumar, Suresh Kumar and Sangita, for defrauding Rs 414 crore


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Coronavirus lockdown: JK Tyre to resume partial operations across country

By www.businesstoday.in
Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 08:22:17 GMT

The company has also resumed operations at its global research and development hub located in Mysore, Karnataka


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Philippines: First Asian Country to Approve Sale of Dengue Vaccine

By www.medindia.net
Published On ::

Dengvaxia, manufactured by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, secured its first regulatory approval in Mexico a fortnight ago and is currently being


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Tax-News.com: OECD Releases More Transfer Pricing Country Guides

By www.tax-news.com
Published On :: Thu, 12 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMT

The OECD has published new transfer pricing country profiles for Australia, China, Estonia, France, Georgia, Hungary, India, Israel, Liechtenstein, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, and Uruguay, bringing the number of such overviews published by the OECD to 44.


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Tax-News.com: HK, France To Share Multinationals' Country-by-Country Reports

By www.tax-news.com
Published On :: Tue, 16 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Hong Kong has newly signed an agreement with France to automatically exchange country-by-country reports filed by multinationals.


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Business Recorder: An interview with Mohsin Hafeez, Country Representative of IWMI

By www.iwmi.cgiar.org
Published On :: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:52:47 +0000

The principles of integrated water resource management insist on taking a basin-wide or systemwide approach rather than addressing surface water and groundwater issues separately.


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Business Recorder: An interview with Mohsin Hafeez, Country Representative of IWMI

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:52:47 +0000

The principles of integrated water resource management insist on taking a basin-wide or systemwide approach rather than addressing surface water and groundwater issues separately.


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