Daily Archives: March 29, 2017

LAHORE

A series of allegations among political parties before the elections is impacting politics and the election commission and superior judiciary should take notice of the issue.

These views were expressed by the speakers at Jang Economic Session on Impact of rise in political temperature on economic growth agenda. The panelists were Dr Ikram-ul-Haq, Ahsan Wayne, Khurshid Ahmed, Prof Musarrat Abid, Qayum Nizami, Rifat Malik and Yousaf Baloch while the seminar was hosted by Sikindar Lodhi.

Dr Ikram-ul-Haq said social system has failed badly due to nonexistence of taxpaying culture while political instability is directly related to the economy. He said the rulers have captured resources and want their monopoly on the resources while a planned monopolistic system is being introduced in society. He called for strengthening Pakistan through industrialisation.

Ahsan Wayne said current politics was brining Pakistan to collapse while allegations between politicians and political parties against each other create panic among local and foreign investors. He said export volume should be $120 billion which is only $20 billion due to nondemocratic politics. He said budget deficit could not be controlled due to debt servicing. He called for adopting democratic attitude to improve politics.

Khurshid Ahmed said Pakistani politicians were elites who never gave any socio-economic growth programme to highlight youth and labour issues. He suggested long-term policies by focusing on national economic growth agenda, reducing a gap between the poor and rich by increasing imports and declining exports and budget deficit.

Prof Musarrat Abid said the politics of allegations or personal interests are creating political and economic instability which is affecting the commoners and investment. She called for socio-economic justice to control the concentration of wealth in few hands. She believed poverty, crime and illiteracy were the major issues of Pakistan for which comprehensive steps were required.

Qayum Nizami said political and economic stability was required for state stability while economy was declining in Pakistan. He said if trend of negative politics is not discouraged, it could affect CPEC projects. He called for banning the political gatherings and said a non-political authority should be established to avoid any damage to CPEC projects.

Rifat Malik said land management, labour and public sector enterprises issues should be resolved on priorities as strong public sector enterprises will make the economy stronger. She said investment was declining due to lack of planning. She called for planning to control population growth and cut cost of production. She suggested effective taxation system to increase national income.

Yousaf Baloch said social stability is also crucial for economic growth while economy is caught in debt trap despite the claims of the rulers. He called for spending on production and infrastructure development to control unemployment.

Read more here:

'Politics of interests, allegations creating instability' - The News International

Tuesday, March 28th, 2017 6:17am

Patient transfers and virtual airlines on agenda

Today's House of Keys questions contain queries about two issues which have been very much in the spotlight recently.

Ayre and Michael MHK Tim Baker has two questions about the patient transfer contract, the award of which to a new companysparked a public outcry.

They are for the health and social care minister.

Following the collapse of Citywing, Ramsey MHK Lawrie Hooper wants to know if the infrastructure minister has plans to prevent so-called virtual airlines from continuing to operate in the Isle of Man.

Ramsey MHK Dr Alex Allinson will ask the treasury minister when the former Albert Road school was put up for sale, to whom it was sold to and what development has taken place on the site.

Garff MHK Daphne Caine wants to know what plans the education minister has to urgently review the catchment areas for Onchan's primary schools.

Lawrie Hooper has a question for the policy and reform minister on what government's policy is to reduce disadvantages arising from socio-economic inequality.

And North Douglas MHK David Ashford will ask the infrastructure minister about what plans he has to bring in regulations for on-street parking of motorhomes and other large vehicles.

There's coverage of Keys questions on AM1368, online at manxradio.com and via our smartphone apps from 10am.

View post:

Keys tackle topical consumer concerns - Manx Radio

-Editorial-

Santiago de Len Caracas, or "Caracas" as the capital of Venezuela is known to most, is the city with the third worst quality of life in Latin America. A 2016 report by the Mercer consulting firm found only Havana and Port au Prince to be worse places to live in from a list of 123 cities across the region, based on criteria that include socio-economic levels, transport, schools and crime. It's a new low for Caracas, which has been steadily dropping in the list over the past few years.

Meanwhile, a new report on nutrition on the website Prodavinci finds that Venezuelans have been eating less and less since 2013. It cited figures by the government statistics agency INE to show that through the second half of 2013 and the first half of 2014, households cut their intake of 57 out of 62 listed food items. INE found that between 2013 and 2015, the number of Venezuelans who ate more than three times a day fell from just over 14 million to just under 12 million, with a corresponding rise in people eating less than three meals a day.

Venezuela is experiencing the worst economic collapse in the modern history of Latin America. All Venezuelans able to migrate seem to have done so, and the country finds itself with a severe dearth of qualified technicians and professionals. The late President Hugo Chvez dismantled the country's productive apparatus, focusing instead on the production and export of oil, while importing virtually everything else.

In Caracas, Venezuela Photo: Joka Madruga/Terra Livre Press/ComunicaSul

Infrastructure has deteriorated to the point where power and water shortages and damaged roads are the norm now. Schools and offices open two or three days a week, and life in a Venezuelan city has become a daily misery consisting of trying to buy food, avoiding muggers and learning to live without reliable electricity or tap water. With pharmaceutical shortages, people have turned to home remedies. Inflation is fluttering at three-digit heights, and childbirth and infant mortality are on the rise.

Others qualify it more plainly as a drug gang in power.

All this explains why 70% of Venezuelans disapprove of President Nicols Maduro. The government may insist it is doing fine, but who could dispute that it is time for Maduro to step down and put an early end to his "working-class presidency?" The government's political record seems as bad as its economics. The civil rights group Foro Penal observes a sharp rise in arbitrary arrests since Maduro was elected. While Chvez was happy with "just 113" political prisoners, Maduro has locked up 310, which Foro Penal divides into three categories: "those jailed to get them out of the political game," like conservative politician Leopoldo Lpez and former mayor of Caracas Antonio Ledezma; "those in a particular social group," like student activists; and "propaganda detainees" held to "justify a particular measure."

Maduro is a duly elected president, but his own government violated the Venezuelans' right to vote in October 2016, when it suspended elections for mayors and state governors. They were suspended because regime candidates were set to lose, and no regime that does that can call itself democratic. By blocking the vote, Maduro acted as a dictator would.

Photo: Joka Madruga/TerraLivrePress.com

Indeed, there was a whiff of the dictator about him as soon as he took office exactly four years ago, with his predecessor's blessing. His first step was to meddle with the judiciary, as his mentor Chvez had begun to do, by naming loyal judges. That came in handy after the opposition won an overwhelming majority of seats in parliament, as the courts began to issue verdicts undermining, if not nullifying, the powers of the legislature. Maduro had the judiciary approve the state budget for 2017, which parliament had lawfully rejected, and his nominee as Central Bank chief.

Some are increasingly calling this presidency a "constitutional dictatorship," while others qualify it more plainly as a drug gang in power. The arrests in Miami of the president's two godsons Efran Campo and Francisco Flores was at least a pointer to the regime's alleged drug-related shenanigans. They were said to be linked to the so-called "Suns cartel," a trafficking gang supposedly run by Venezuelan generals.

The United States is now accusing Maduro's first Vice-President Tareck El Aissami of being a drug kingpin and has frozen his monies in the United States, which shows an increasingly clear policy by the Trump administration to confront the regime and back the opposition. The secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, has proposed suspending Venezuela from the OAS until proper democracy is restored, and called for presidential elections scheduled for 2018 to be forwarded to this year.

We agree with Almagro. We believe Venezuela cannot take any more of the Maduro regime. The time has come for other Latin American governments to demand free, and immediate, general elections in Venezuela.

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Venezuela, Constitutional Dictatorship Or Drug-Gang Regime? - Worldcrunch