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1 March 2016 Last updated at 07:58 GMT
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Home Featured 170 more dispensaries functionalised in Thar THAR 170 MORE DISPENSARIES FUNCTIONALISED IN THAR
Karachi—Sindh Health Department has functionalized 170 closed dispensaries in Tharparkar with 557 trained and unskilled employees in the larger interest of people living in the desert. This was stated by Sindh Minister for Health Jam Mehtab Dahar while briefing Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah here at the CM House, said a statement on Tuesday.
Jam Mehtab said that he had personally visited far flung areas of Thar and found that 170 dispensaries were not functional while their buildings were abandoned. On directives of the Sindh CM all the buildings of dispensaries were repaired and made functional by providing necessary equipment and staff, he said. The salaries of the technical and nontechnical staff members have not been released so far, he complained.
The CM Sindh directed the Sindh Chief Secretary to release their salaries as soon as possible. Replying to a question of the CM Sindh, Secretary Health Saeed Mangnijo said that the budget of medicine which was increased by the CM from Rs 20 million to Rs 60.5 million have been released. “All the newly operational zed dispensaries have also been provided with medicines,” he said.
The Health Minister said that he had selected some 167 local girls of Thar who were either matriculate or intermediate and gave them a three days training of midwife. The local ‘daies’ (untrained) have also been given training of conducting safe and secure deliveries, he said. They have also been told that chloral Hexidin ointment for applying it just after cutting the umbilical cord. “The infection due unhygienic cutting of umbilical cord becomes one the main cause of death of newborns, he said.
He said that the Daies (untrained midwives) have also been provided Ambo bags through which respiration can be restored in the asphyxia cases as these bags are operated manually and are easy to operate. The Health Minister said that a Rs 4 billion Nutrition Programme was going on in eight districts of the province, including Thar.
On this, the CM Sindh said that he was not satisfied with the programme and the performance of the programme is deplorable, he said. He also said that the programme of Lady Health Workers has also failed to produce proper results. He said that 22,000 Lady Health Workers (LHW) were working in Sindh and there is a dire need to build their capacity and use their services in the larger interest of women living in rural areas particularly in primary health sector.
The CM Sindh directed the Health Minister to take drastic measure to improve both the programmes—LHW and nutrition programme. He wants these recruitments on merit and on emergency basis, the CM Sindh said.—APP
The CM Sindh directed the Sindh Chief Secretary to release their salaries as soon as possible. Replying to a question of the CM Sindh, Secretary Health Saeed Mangnijo said that the budget of medicine which was increased by the CM from Rs 20 million to Rs 60.5 million have been released. “All the newly operational zed dispensaries have also been provided with medicines,” he said.
The Health Minister said that he had selected some 167 local girls of Thar who were either matriculate or intermediate and gave them a three days training of midwife. The local ‘daies’ (untrained) have also been given training of conducting safe and secure deliveries, he said. They have also been told that chloral Hexidin ointment for applying it just after cutting the umbilical cord. “The infection due unhygienic cutting of umbilical cord becomes one the main cause of death of newborns, he said.
He said that the Daies (untrained midwives) have also been provided Ambo bags through which respiration can be restored in the asphyxia cases as these bags are operated manually and are easy to operate. The Health Minister said that a Rs 4 billion Nutrition Programme was going on in eight districts of the province, including Thar.
On this, the CM Sindh said that he was not satisfied with the programme and the performance of the programme is deplorable, he said. He also said that the programme of Lady Health Workers has also failed to produce proper results. He said that 22,000 Lady Health Workers (LHW) were working in Sindh and there is a dire need to build their capacity and use their services in the larger interest of women living in rural areas particularly in primary health sector.
The CM Sindh directed the Health Minister to take drastic measure to improve both the programmes—LHW and nutrition programme. He wants these recruitments on merit and on emergency basis, the CM Sindh said.—APP
Rolling Stones announce 'landmark' Cuba concert
Rolling Stones announce 'landmark' Cuba concert
- 1 March 2016
- Entertainment & Arts
Reuters
The Rolling Stones have announced they are to give a free concert in Cuba later this month.
A band spokesman said the show in the capital Havana on 25 March was "the first open air concert in Cuba by a British rock band".
The Stones are currently on a Latin American tour due to end on 17 March in Mexico City.
The Havana gig will come three days after an historic visit to Cuba by US President Barack Obama.
In a statement, The Rolling Stones said: "We have performed in many special places during our long career, but this show in Havana is going to be a landmark event for us, and, we hope, for all our friends in Cuba too."
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Rock music was marginalised in Cuba for political reasons after the Cuban revolution in the 1950s which saw Fidel Castro come to power.
In 2001, Manic Street Preachers became the biggest British rock band to play in the country, putting on a show at Havana's Karl Marx Theatre which was attended by the Cuban president.
The Stones' America Latina Ole tour also includes shows in Brazil, Peru and Colombia.
The Havana gig will be filmed by director Paul Dugdale, who has previously worked with One Direction, Adele and Coldplay.
FREEDOM CHAMPIONS FROM MALAYSIA, INDIA, NEPAL, MORE, AT ASIA LIBERTY FORUM
FREEDOM CHAMPIONS FROM MALAYSIA, INDIA, NEPAL, MORE, AT ASIA LIBERTY FORUM
In February, Atlas Network partners in Asia joined together for the 2016 Asia Liberty Forum, held this year at the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to strategize for even greater impact in the months to come.
Highlights included Speed Networking, designed to help attendees expand their contacts; training workshops to hone skills in marketing, social media, and entrepreneurship; a documentary screening of India Awakes; and the Elevator Pitch Competition, in which participants present their 60-second pitch with the chance to win a prize. The Elevator Pitch Competition winner, Yohannan Nair from IDEAS (Malaysia), received $500. Second place went to Sarwagya Raj Pandey from Bikalpa, an Alternative (Nepal), and third place to Manogya Sharma from Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation (Nepal). The second- and third-place winners each received $250. The winner of the Asia Liberty Award was also announced at the conference: Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation, won for its Econ-ity project.
More than 250 people attended the conference, representing 28 countries: Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Australia, Tajikistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Singapore, the United States, Guatemala, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Japan, South Korea, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, Sweden, Somalia, and Portugal.
“Property rights are the best way to protect the assets, particularly of the poor, who have nothing but the law to protect themselves,” said Barun Mitra, managing trustee of India-based Liberty Institute. “Without secure property rights, the poor are particularly vulnerable to injustice and exploitation, and fall prey to a system of patronage.”
Basanta Adhikari, founding chairperson of Bikalpa, an Alternative, shared his story of how he learned about the freedom movement. At the 2013 Asia Liberty Forum, he saw Parth J. Shah’s book, Why is India Poor?, and decided this was a good question to ask in Nepal, as well.
“Why is it difficult for a common Nepalese to afford a glass of milk, a bottle of Coke, and a piece of egg in our daily life?” Adhikari asked. “Why do these products seem like luxuries to us? Why can’t we afford it easily as people from developed countries? The answer is clear: because we are poor, and we lack purchasing capacity. Now another question arises. Why are we poor? The answer is clear again: We are poor because we do not have an environment for investment; we lack responsible and accountable government; we lack rule of law that guarantee peoples, life, liberty, and property; and we don’t have sound economic policy that allows growing an entrepreneur.”
Rishi Kochar, founder and coordinator for the Amristar Policy Group, spoke about the faces of freedom in Asia. “We know that young people are our future and they are shaping our tomorrow, but at the same time we strongly believe that young people are not just shaping our tomorrow but they are positively bringing a change in our present. We can very well see this by looking at young faces of freedom in this hall at Asia Liberty Forum 2016.”
Ali Salman, founder and executive director of Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME) in Pakistan, spoke about post-Islamism in his country.
“Pakistan is emerging as a stable democracy as a result of largely competition amongst political elites representing diverging economic, ethnic and regional interests,” Salman said. “While a more liberal and inclusive version of a democratic order will take time, the procedural evolution is on the right track. It will eventually create an environment where civil institutions will get strengthened generating more respect for rule of law. Pakistan’s failings are largely function of a weaker state, unable to meet the demands of a strong, frustrated and thriving society.”
Cindy Cerquitella (Atlas Leadership Academy director) and Stephanie Giovanetti Lips (Atlas Network director of outreach) visit a school in Indonesia with friends from the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies before Asia Liberty Forum began in Malaysia.
Asia Liberty Forum was the second of several regional forums that Atlas Network has planned for 2016, and the event continued the momentum of energy growing around the globe in this battle for freedom. By combining training, structured networking, and competitive awards, each event furthers Atlas Network’s “Coach, Compete, Celebrate!” model of inspiring and supporting excellence in the movement.
“It is a testament to the growth and maturity of the global freedom movement that we are able to support such significant events on five continents this year,” said Atlas Network CEO Brad Lips.
Kuala Lumpur served as an ideal location for this year’s event, and the entire teams from the Centre for Civil Society and IDEAS deserve tremendous credit for the event’s success.
Tuesday, 1 March 2016
Finland's New Anti-NATO Party and Its Founder
Finland's New Anti-NATO Party and Its Founder
25 February 2016
A curious chain of events has unfolded in Finland that makes one wonder about the country’s newly formed anti-NATO political party, its founder, and his discomforting relationships with some shadowy characters.
Paavo Väyrynen is a veteran politician of the first order. Representing Finland's primarily rural Center Party, he has been a candidate for president three times. And, he has also served at one time or other as foreign minister, labor minister, minister for foreign trade and international development, minister of trade, as well as an MP and now an MEP. Earlier this month, as the country begins to debate NATO membership, Väyrynen announced that he’s launching a new party, the Citizens’ Party, which he says will fight to maintain Finland’s military non-allied status. That is, he wants to keep Finland out of NATO.
Finish public opinion is divided about the benefits of NATO membership. However, there’s no such division of opinion in Finland’s large neighbor to the East, which opposes NATO’s expansion in no uncertain terms. To no one’s surprise, Russia’s most vocal Finnish supporter, Johan Bäckman, leaped at the opportunity to congratulate Väyrynen and his new party declaring that it would receive 10 percent of Finnish votes from the get-go. Bäckman makes no secret of his pro-Russian allegiances, identifying himself on Facebook as a representative of the Donetsk separatists. And Bäckman posted his comments in January, before Väyrynen announced his new Russia-friendly, NATO-opposing political party. He would appear to be in the know.
Another group of full-throated Väyrynen supporters and enthusiasts can apparently be found among the Russian nationalists at NOD (National Liberation Movement). According to a recent report in the Finnish newspaper Ilta Sanomat, NOD awarded him the ribbon of St. George last August. The ribbon, which lauds the Soviet victory in WWII and has been popularized under Vladimir Putin, was presented by NOD’s Finnish coordinator Olga Tshizhik-Kinnunen. Apparently the presentation was sufficiently awkward for Mr. Väyrynen that when asked about it by Ilta Sanomat, Väyrynen reportedly said that he had no idea if he’d ever received the ribbon. Väyrynen said that if he had indeed received it, he had thrown it in the trash. However, the NOD website posted news of Mr. Väyrynen’s speech at its event, along with several photos of the presentation.
It remains to be seen whether the new Citizens’ Party will be able to captivate meaningful support in Finland. Last week former President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari suggested that Väyrynen should leave politics altogether. Alas, that will likely be left to the Finnish voter.
Carphone Warehouse founder embroiled in row with neighbours over extension plans at £20 million mansion
Carphone Warehouse founder embroiled in row with neighbours over extension plans at £20 million mansion
The founder of Carphone Warehouse is embroiled in a row with neighbours over plans for a huge basement extension to his £20 million Holland Park mansion.
Sir Charles Dunstone, 57, and his wife Celia, 36, applied to build a wine cellar, storage space, showers and a play room for their three young children under their six-bedroom home, according to architects' drawings.
Carphone Warehouse founder Sir Charles Dunstone has applied for a one-storey basement at their six-bedroom home in Holland Park Photo: GLENN COPUSHowever residents said they have already endured years of noise and dust from the construction of a house with an underground gym and pool, which Sir Charles and Lady Dunstone built on land they own behind the Victorian villa.
In papers submitted to Kensington and Chelsea Council, Sir Charles, who set up Carphone Warehouse in 1989 and is worth an estimated £830 million, said he needs more space for his family.
Bijan Ghavimi, who represents residents of the nearby Redlynch Court apartment block, has lodged an objection to the basement extension plans.
Celia Dunstone and Charles Dunstone Photo: Rex FeaturesHe believes Sir Charles and his wife are trying to merge their two Holland Park properties together via the subterranean leisure basements.
Another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, has lived in a nearby property for three years.
She told the Evening Standard: "The noise and dust has been constant and the drilling sounds are horrible. When they built the pool there was drilling going on all the time and it just gets on your nerves.
"It's already a huge house. Why do they need to make it bigger?"
But in a statement accompanying his planning application, Sir Charles said: "What is proposed is a modest one-storey basement, which will be a long way inside Kensington and Chelsea's space guidelines and will wholly comply with all their strict obligations about construction noise, dust and disturbance.
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