Maharashtra Governor asks Shiv Sena to indicate willingness and ability to form government
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Sunday invited the Shiv Sena, the second largest party, to stake claim to form government, hours after the BJP declined such attempt.“The Sena will have to inform the governor about its stand by Monday (November 11) evening 7.30 pm,” a Raj Bhavan official said.In the 288-member Assembly, the BJP and the Sena each has 105 and 56 MLAs, respectively.Opposition Congress and NCP won 44 and 54 seats, respectively, in recent assembly polls. The halfway mark is 145.Mr. Koshyari asked Sena legislative party leader Eknath Shinde to “indicate willingness and ability” of the party to form government in Maharashtra, a Raj Bhavan statement said.The Governor had on Saturday invited the BJP, the single largest party, to stake claim to form government.However, with the BJP unable to muster numbers in view of the Sena’s stand not to support it on the issue of sharing of power and the post of the chief minister, the party on Sunday declined to form government.“The Governor has, therefore, asked the leader of elected members of the second largest party, Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde, to convey its willingness and ability to form the government,” the statement said.With the BJP backing off from the race, the onus to form government now rests with the Sena, which has indicated that it might rope in the Congress and the NCP to prop up a government.Sena MP Sanjay Raut had earlier claimed support of 170 MLAs.
It is difficult to believe that a prime minister would actually utter those words. One newspaper carried the words in a box. Other papers confirmed that Atal Bihari Vajpayee had indeed spoken those words at a public meeting in Goa.April 12, 2002 will go down in Vajpayee’s life as the,It is difficult to believe that a prime minister would actually utter those words. One newspaper carried the words in a box. Other papers confirmed that Atal Bihari Vajpayee had indeed spoken those words at a public meeting in Goa.April 12, 2002 will go down in Vajpayee’s life as the day when he cast off his rajdharma and was reborn as a true swayamsevak. In his hour of reckoning, the prime minister of India has decided what he wants to be.My memory goes back to my school days. My mother got our school uniforms stitched by a tailor named Zynul-abdeen. For five years in high school (run by Christian missionaries), my class pupil leader was A.K. Moosa.In Form VI, our headmaster, the redoubtable Mr Kuruvilla Jacob, wanted a tall, handsome, fluent-in-English boy as school pupil leader and so we chose Haroon Mohammed. Thanks to an education in Christian institutions, I had many Christian friends. And Muslim friends. Nobody perceived any differences. It was only after many years that I noticed that people had different religious beliefs and different ways of worship.The worlds of art, literature, sports, and cinema-especially cinema-have been adorned by many Muslims. A.R. Rahman dazzles his fans both in India and abroad.Sheikh Chinna Moulana ranked along with the legendary nadaswara vidwans Tiruvavaduthurai Rajarathinam and Karukurichi Arunachalam. Zakir Hussain on the tabla and Amjad Ali Khan on his sarod weave pure magic. Ustad Bismillah Khan is a living legend.The Nawab of Pataudi and Mohammad Azharuddin were among India’s most stylish batsmen-and most successful captains. When Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was awarded the Bharat Ratna, I was the first to drive to his office and offer him congratulations and flowers.advertisementAmong the distinguished chief justices of the Supreme Court were Justice M. Hidayatullah and Justice A.M. Ahmadi. In Chennai, we had chief justice M.M. Ismail, and there are few people who are regarded as greater scholars of the Ramayana (by Kamban, the Tamil poet) than justice Ismail. If you take out Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Aamir Khan, there is little left of Bollywood.I wish to ask the prime minister a simple question. When he said “Wherever Muslims are, they don’t want to live in peace. They don’t want to mix with others. They use terror as a weapon”, did he include Dr Abdul Kalam, the Nawab of Pataudi and Amjad Ali Khan?If he did not, he should tender an unqualified apology for defaming 120 million people who have as much right to live in this country as he and I have. He should also step down in atonement for this unpardonable calumny.Has Vajpayee seen the leaflets being circulated in Gujarat calling for an economic boycott of Muslims? Does he know that Muslims are being driven out of mixed neighbourhoods and pushed into ghettos? Has he read the interviews given by VHP General Secretary Pravin Togadia? I suspect that General Pervez Musharraf is the happiest man today.For months, he has been telling anyone who cared to listen that Pakistan is an Islamic nation and India is a Hindu nation. His case on Kashmir is based on the argument that a Muslim-majority state “belongs” to Pakistan and not to India. For over 50 years we denounced the two-nation theory.The world tended to believe us when we said that India was a plural, multi-religious and multicultural society. This was despite many communal riots. Why? Because no communal riot in the past had the official support and blessings of a chief minister and his government.It is for the first time that we have seen a state Government actively conniving with criminals to organise a pogrom against the Muslims. When Vajpayee spoke of rajdharma on his visit to relief camps, no one would have believed that he would do a volteface in the space of a few days.Rajdharma applies equally to a chief minister and to a prime minister. No matter what the BJP’s allies will now do or not do, the unravelling of the NDA Government has begun.The name of the game hereafter, for the BJP and its allies, is survival. That is why the angst of the Telugu Desam Party will not turn into withdrawal of support. That is why the DMK will demand a meeting of the NDA but remain neutral or silent.Economic reforms have stalled. The average level of the fiscal deficit is higher, tariffs are among the highest in the world, the manufacturing sector has weakened considerably, subsidies are increasing and investment flows have sharply declined.advertisementAs T.N. Ninan has pointed out, this perhaps is the most “revisionist” government since reforms began. Between the reborn swayamsevak prime minister and the sulking, chastened finance minister there is neither the spirit nor the wisdom to carry the reform process forward. After Gujarat and Goa, it is no longer non-governance. It is a case of misgovernance.The author is a former Indian finance minister.
Opener Tillakaratne Dilshan struck an unbeaten 83 to help Sri Lanka open its title defense by beating Afghanistan by six wickets in their World Twenty20 Group 1 game on Thursday.Dilshan struck eight fours and three sixes off 56 balls to guide Sri Lanka to 155-4 in reply to Afghanistan’s 153-7.Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal (18) combined to open with 41 off 5.2 overs but Sri Lanka struggled to build big partnerships.Having won just four T20s and lost 10 since winning the World Twenty20 at Dhaka two years ago, Sri Lanka could have had a harder time but Afghanistan conceded some easy runs with misfields.The match seemed poised for a closer end after an off-color display by the Sri Lanka middle order, but captain Angelo Mathews joined Dilshan and they ensured a smooth ending with seven balls to spare.Mathews struck 21 not out off 10 balls with three fours and one six to give confidence to Dilshan during their unbroken 42-run stand.”They had some quality bowlers but we managed well in the middle with twos and threes,” Dilshan said. “The senior guys need to stand up and do it for the team. The middle order can bat around us.”Earlier, Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai produced an attractive 47-ball 62 with three fours and four sixes in what was his third T20 half-century, and his highest in 33 games.Electing to bat, Afghanistan got off to a sedate start against a disciplined bowling attack and reached only 47-3 in 10 overs. Then Stanikzai broke the shackles.He increased the run rate in the company of Samiullah Shenwari (31) as they added 61 off 5.3 overs for the fifth wicket, with Shenwari striking three fours and two sixes in his 14-ball cameo.advertisementStanikzai, who was dropped by Mathews off Nuwan Kulasekara on 44, hit two consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Siriwardana – over deep mid-wicket and long on.”The total was good but Dilshan played really well,” Stanikzai said. “He took responsibility and played well. Our fielding wasn’t good but we will try our best (in the tournament).”Pace bowler Thisara Perera (3-33) and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath (2-24) were the main wicket-takers for Sri Lanka.West Indies defeated England in the same group on Wednesday, and South Africa was yet to get off the mark.
THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF SIOUX CITY RECEIVED A FINANCIAL BOOST FROM A CORPORATE DONOR ON MONDAY.SMITHFIELD FOODS PROVIDE A $5000 DONATION TO THE CLUB.CLUB RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR AMY NIEWOHNER SAYS THE MONEY WILL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR THE CLUB’S 1300 MEMBERS:Audio Playerhttp://kscj.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AMY.mp300:0000:0000:00Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.OC……OTHER ACTIVITIES. ;17SHE SAYS SMITHFIELD HAS BEEN A SUPPORTER OF THE CLUB FOR SEVERAL YEARS, AND HAS EXPANDED ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ORGANIZATION:Audio Playerhttp://kscj.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AMY2.mp300:0000:0000:00Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.OC………IN JANUARY. :19THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB IS LOCATED AT 823 PEARL STREET.
zoom The Indian government issued today its approval to the proposed change in shareholding in the Container Terminal Projects of Dubai-based port operator Dubai Port World (DPW) Limited in major ports. The green light allows for the creation of an Indian holding company to DPW to operate and manage the terminal operations at the existing major ports “subject to certain safeguards”, the government said in a statement.“The decision will promote foreign direct investment and private sector participation in the port sector,” the statement reads.As informed, DPW Limited is contemplating restructuring of its assets in India with the objective of consolidating the ownership of its port infrastructure in India into a single holding company namely, Hindustan Ports Private Limited (HPPL).The new company is expected to take over all liabilities of the existing subsidiaries of DP World in relation to the concession agreements.” The proposal of DPW is intended to help them to expand the capital base and enable fresh investments in ports and logistics infrastructure in India. This will enable efficient access of finance and introduce latest technology in port operation,” the statement adds.The government has agreed to the proposal subject to the condition that the net worth of the holding company HPPL after acquisition of the shares of the project SPVs shall be higher than USD 80 million.
The Public Service Commission is updating and modernizing the Civil Service Act for better human resource management and immigration support. Public Service Commission Minister Labi Kousoulis introduced the amendments today, April 2. “Nova Scotians expect to have an efficient civil service that effectively delivers the programs and services they depend on,” said Mr. Kousoulis. “By getting rid of red tape, hiring barriers and confusing language, we are creating a more efficient civil service that is better able to deliver services to Nova Scotians.” Changes to the act will clarify the authorities of deputy ministers to improve day-to-day operations in departments. Amendments will also remove a preference for hiring Canadian residents and require that immigrants only have authorization to work in Canada instead of permanent residence or citizenship. “These changes promote diversity,” said Colin Dodds, premier’s advisor on immigration, and president and vice-chancellor of Saint Mary’s University. “Making it easier for new Nova Scotians to join the civil service complements our efforts to welcome more skilled immigrants to the province.” There are also housekeeping changes among the amendments.
New Delhi/ Lucknow: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu held a flurry of meetings with Opposition leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, BSP’s Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, in an apparent bid to rally support for a non-BJP government at the Centre. Naidu, who arrived in the national capital on Friday, also met Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav and leaders of the Communist Party of India. Also Read – India gets first tranche of Swiss account details under automatic exchange frameworkHe then flew to Lucknow and met the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party chiefs. “It is a pleasure to welcome Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri N Chandrababu Naidu Ji to Lucknow,” Akhilesh Yadav tweeted. Naidu did not speak to the media after any of his meetings. Sources, however, said that Naidu and Gandhi discussed the possibility of forming a joint alliance of all Opposition parties. He told Gandhi to have a strategy ready, in case the NDA falls short of a majority and still stakes claim to form the government, the sources said. Naidu told all the leaders that “we all should come together and put our act together” to form the next government by keeping the BJP out, a source said. Also Read – Trio win Nobel Medicine Prize for work on cells, oxygenLater, Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and other Congress leaders met at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s residence to evolve their party’s strategy. “The campaigning of this Lok Sabha Election 2019 has ended and as we await the last phase of polling, Andhra Pradesh CM Shri N Chandrababu Naidu paid me a visit to discuss the ongoing and future political scenario of our country,” Pawar said in a tweet after the meeting at his residence. Naidu met CPI leader G Sudhakar Reddy and D Raja over breakfast, asking them to “come together”. Reddy and Raja separately met Pawar at his residence. The Telugu Desam Party chief has held several rounds of discussion with various Opposition leaders, including TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury. Naidu’s TDP was a part of the NDA but quit the alliance a few months ago. On Friday Naidu said that not only the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) but any outfit which is against the BJP is welcome to join a grand alliance after the election results are declared on May 23. As Opposition leaders scramble to form a joint anti-BJP front, hectic deliberations among them are likely to continue in the days ahead.
Bradley Elliott, 57, of Sterling, worked for the district as a junior varsity hockey coach at Kenai Central High School for the 2005-06 school year. He was also involved with the hockey program at Soldotna High School for three seasons, from 2007 to 2010. The victims that filed the suit are “seeking damages in excess of $100,000 from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, the Kenai Peninsula Hockey Association and former hockey coach”, according to court documents. Elliott faces 62 years and 240 days in prison, with 42 years suspended and a $300,000 fine. A status hearing is scheduled for December 18, according to Courtview. Facebook0TwitterEmailPrintFriendly分享A former hockey coach on the Kenai Peninsula was sentenced on Monday to 62 years in prison for sexual abuse of six minors and possession of child pornography. According to charging documents, Elliott plead guilty to a total of 15 charges, including six charges of 2nd-degree sexual abuse of a minor, one charge of possession of child pornography and eight charges of indecent photography. A suit was filed against the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and the Kenai Peninsula Hockey Association in February claims the two organizations failed to “warn students” and alleges negligent hiring, training and supervision practices. The damages sought in excess of $100,000 were listed in court documents for “psychological and counseling expenses, rehabilitation expenses, physical injury, emotional distress, pain and suffering, inconvenience and loss of enjoyment of life.”
Ten years ago, Wrangell was crawling with feral cats. They roamed the streets, getting into trash and nesting in condemned buildings. Now, it’s hard to even find a cat downtown. That dramatic turnaround is due to the hard work of one woman who noticed the problem and decided to fix it. Dolores Klinke runs the St. Frances Animal Rescue, a non-profit that has saved hundreds of strays.Download AudioDolores Klinke is in her late 60s. She has salt and pepper hair and a big smile. As a kid growing up in New Mexico she had all sorts of pets (as a child.) Now, she’s Wrangell’s most prominent cat lady.Klinke operates St. Frances out of two shelter locations. One is a forested lot for feral cats and the other is for adoptable cats, housed in her own garage. The first thing you notice when you walk inside is that it’s spotlessly clean and doesn’t smell like cats. That’s surprising as it’s currently home to about 20 rescues that live in kennels and cardboard boxes lining the walls.“This is Jack. That’s Benjie; that’s Iji, that black and white one; and that’s his brother, Lasty,” Klinke said, introducing some of the cats.Some have been turned over by past owners. Many have been live trapped around town. She works patiently with the wild ones, like Kiki, to get them socialized.“And at first she was very aggressive but she was scared, you know,” Klinke said. “She didn’t want to be any place else but her own home, but slowly she’s getting better and better.”It’s this unflappable faith in these little animals that led Klinke to start St. Frances in 2008.She says she was disturbed by all of the unwanted cats in Wrangell.At first, she picked up one or two strays at a time. Then she started rescuing entire stray cat colonies. She never predicted it would turn into a full-blown animal rescue.“I think I stopped counting at 600 cats that we’ve, you know, handled through the rescue program so, that’s a lot of cats,” Klinke said. “And that was what, a year and a half ago that I stopped counting?“I just don’t have the time…just too busy.”Once she brings a stray in, she cares for it indefinitely.Every rescue gets a full lineup of shots and any other medical attention it needs. She’s adamant that each one gets spayed or neutered, preventing accidental pregnancies and litters of stray kittens. Fixing the cats is fixing the problem.“It seems like it’s been a little over a year that I haven’t had any kittens come in at all,” Klinke said. “That tells me something – there are no kittens to be found in Wrangell I guess.”It takes a lot of money to care for all of the rescues. Klinke says she goes through countless bags of kitty litter and cans of wet food. She gets enormous community support. The city chips in $5,000 a year. And in 2013, Klinke raised another $14,000 through rummage and bake sales and private donations. But she says it’s still not enough.“Every 28 days we go through six bags of cat food,” Klinke said. “We have the other shelter that we have cats that we have relocated. Over there we go through another maybe four bags a month.”We drive out to the other shelter about five miles out of town.This gated outdoor colony holds the feral cats that are not socialized enough to be adopted out. Klinke says the cats here often hunt for their own food.Cats appear left and right when they hear her walking around. She greets each of them by name. One cat, Clown, follows us around. Klinke says she was an especially difficult rescue.“And the vet was coming into town so we got her ready to go in to get spayed, you know,” Klinke said. “And I grabbed her and that was the wrong thing to do. Boy, she tore my hands all up and bit. We got her though and took her in, got her fixed and I headed for the emergency room.”But that antisocial behavior doesn’t keep her from pampering them.Dolores Klinke truly loves her rescues.“They’re appreciative. That’s my favorite part of the job, I guess you’d call it. But I love doing it. It’s unconditional love,” Klinke said. “They don’t ask for anything, you know. They really don’t. They just want food and somebody to love them.”And that’s why she puts in the countless hours and money, and doesn’t really mind those trips to the emergency room—to give these cats a place to call home.
The Kensington Mine is located in the Tongass National Forest between Berners Bay (pictured) and Lynn Canal. (Photo courtesy Alaska Department of Transportation)An environmental audit of the Kensington Mine found the operation to be “generally in compliance” with its conditions of its permit that govern waste disposal and the long-term closure plan. Auditors pointed out some long-term challenges for the gold mine 45 miles north of Juneau.Listen nowAuditors hired by the mining company Coeur Alaska visited the gold mine last fall and their recommendations are outlined in a 60-page report.The external review is required by a pair of state permits that expire this year.“The audit is a critical for the agencies for taking a look – kind of a third party objective look – at our permitting program to see if there’s areas of improvement,” Allan Nakanishi said. Nakanishi is an engineer with the Department of Environmental Conservation overseeing waste disposal at the mine.One issue of concern noted by the auditors from the firm HDR, is exposed rock that when mixed with air and water leeches acid. These are veins of graphitic phyllite that have oxidized after being churned up by machinery. It’s like metal left in the rain that rusts. Except that in this case it produces sulfuric acid.“It’s not uncommon in the Southeast to hit pockets of material that have high sulfide minerals within it and that go acid,” Nakanishi said.In a written response to questions, the mining company said areas of concern are limited to the tailings treatment facility. It’s working to engineer a solution when it raises its tailings dam for the third time to increase the holding lake’s capacity.But mine critics say acidic runoff threatens water quality in the long run.“You know, once acid generation starts, it’s almost impossible to stop it and it’s very obvious even through the pictures that it’s getting worse over time,” Guy Archibald, staff scientist for the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, said. The group’s unsuccessful legal challenge went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009.“They do describe that they will remedy this issue when they complete the third phase, the third raising of the dam over time, they talk about grouting in there to keep the water out,” Archibald continued. “Again, these are short-term fixes.”DEC cited the mine for acid runoff leeching into its unlined tailing treatment facility in 2013. There are quarterly samples being taken there now. And the auditors recommended the state begin monitoring the flow of contaminated water to keep tabs on the trend. They also gave mixed reviews to the effectiveness of concrete applied to seal off the source of the acid runoff.Nakanishi said his big picture view is that occasional spikes in contaminants isn’t alarming.“There have been some issues, some exceedances but that’s not uncommon,” Nakanishi said.Auditors also critiqued how Kensington reports its environmental test result data to the state. Raw numbers in charts are provided in tables. They should be graphed out with baseline data so trends and abnormalities are more easily spotted.Nakanishi said that’s an example of where the state could improve oversight.“Some of the recommendations, I think, are valid and warranted,” Nakanishi said, “and we will be using this audit in the development of the future permit.”Coeur Alaska said by email that it does provide data in a fuller context – but that’s through a separate water quality permit that was renewed last year and not examined by the audit team.“An extensive monitoring network is in place to routinely monitor water quality, the results of which are frequently reported,” Kensington Mine spokeswoman Jan Trigg wrote in an email.This year, Kensington will need to renew both its state-issued waste management and reclamation permits, which expire in May and September. They’re good for five years.The public process gives mine watchdogs like Guy Archibald a chance to weigh in.“The bigger picture is I’m always concerned when there’s a large dam holding back solid waste directly above Berners Bay,” Archibald said.Reading the audit, Archibald said the mining company has an enormous task and responsibility ahead of it.“You know, for the most part they’re doing everything as well as you can do – as well as humans can try to control nature,” Archibald said. “I think they spend a lot of time, effort, money and expertise on attempting to do that. How this is all going to be performed in the long run, we’ll wait and see.”Since opening in 2010, Kensington’s economic impact to the region has been significant. Coeur Alaska reports around 380 full-time year-round employees and boasts it’s Juneau’s second largest private employer in terms of payroll.Trigg said by email that the company accepts many of the audit’s findings.“Overall, Coeur Alaska feels that the third-party audit conducted by HDR was fair and thorough,” Trigg wrote. “However, as part of Coeur Alaska’s continuous improvement program and strong commitment to engaging in best-in-class environmental controls, Coeur Alaska had already identified these areas and begun the implementation of the suggested items, which was not addressed in the report.”
Costa Rica decided to take the challenge of decarbonizing its economy, for which the transportation sector represents a fundamental challenge, followed by the solid waste sector.Inventories of greenhouse gases (GHG) made by the municipalities of San José, Desamparados, Belén, La Unión, Monteverde and Golfito show that both activities are the main sources of GHG across the six municipalities.Currently, there are 12 municipalities that have taken measures and important steps to implement mitigation and adaptation to climate change, in order to become sustainable and walkable cities. They have the ambitious goal of lowering their carbon emissions, as is the case of Golfito, which aims to reduce 118,000 tons of CO2.Juliana Madrigal, forest engineer from the Municipality of Golfito, stated the following: “We look to build complete trails with sidewalks and cycle paths, restructuring both private and public transport, promote carpooling and bicycles and walking through the streets to migrate from the use of vehicles toward a better environmental awareness”With this reality, the Directorate of Climate Change (DCC) of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE, in its Spanish acronym), through the “Cantonal” category of the Neutral Carbon Country Program 2.0 (NCCP 2.0), works in the formalization of the processes related with the GHG inventories report and the implementation of the National Standard of Carbon Neutrality.Andre Meza, director of the DCC said: “Based on this motto and the interest and enthusiasm of the municipalities, we are working together with academia, NGOs and the international cooperation in the design of tools that facilitate the participation of municipalities to contribute with country commitments (NDC, in its English acronym) adopted under the Paris Agreement. The NCCP 2.0 is one of these tools.” Priority sectors for mitigationA pilot project between the DCC, the German Cooperation GIZ and the Center for Urban Sustainability (CFUS) encouraged the municipalities to achieve carbon neutrality within the framework of the PPNCN 2.0. This project offered technical and methodological support during 2018 to the cantons of San José, Belén, Desamparados, La Unión, Monteverde and Golfito in the process of determining their emission sources, measuring their GHG inventories and developing an action plan for the implementation of possible mitigation steps.In San José, Desamparados and La Unión, more than half of GHG emissions are generated by the transportation sector. In Belén, the largest source of emissions is stationary energy; that is, the energy produced by the burning of fossil fuels (LPG gas, gasoline, diesel, bunker or others) in the use of stoves, ovens, boilers or other types of facilities. In Desamparados and Golfito, it is the waste sector. In Monteverde, the transportation, livestock and fertilizer use sectors in the agricultural area have the same weight in the district’s contribution of emissions.“We are working in the treatment of organic waste and in programs with the refrigerant industries to reduce emissions from these sectors. We are also carrying out studies to make a bike path, because the community is asking for it, and they feel it as a need, ” said Thais Zumbado Ramírez, vice mayor of Belén.Exchange of experiences at the international levelAs part of the strengthening of local governments, in October 2018, a tour was held to exchange experiences with German and Spanish municipalities. The six pilot municipalities, plus Alajuela, Liberia, Talamanca, Montes de Oca, Curridabat and Cartago, which cooperate with the DCC in projects of the Adaptation Fund, knew of a wide range of climate projects in Europe and acquired new knowledge, mainly in active and electrical mobility and waste management. The tour was organized by GIZ and the Spanish Cooperation AECID.Among the sustainable transport projects, they learned about the “Low Emission Zones” in Madrid, Spain, which restrict access to the city center and the most polluting vehicles. Access permits, and parking and detention permits incentivize less-polluting vehicles. In a coastal area in Barcelona, sustainable management of maritime areas was shown with mobility as an integrating element.Non-motorized mobility is encouraged, among others, with bicycle rental stations. In Seville, the service is continually optimized by monitoring the frequency of passing bicycles, parking points and parking. The “Bicycle Academy” of the Innovation Center for Mobility and Social Change in Berlin, Germany, analyzes ideas on how to integrate bicycle lanes in urban mobility planning, particularly at intersections and connections with greater traffic.For Marcel Soler, mayor of Montes de Oca, it is necessary to motivate changes to modern mobility systems: “We recognize the importance of offering incentives to people to impulse change. We have started with a series of incipient efforts to improve the infrastructure, develop public bike systems, integrate different means of transportation and generate intermodality, as well as install recharging points for electric vehicles.”Another priority sector is waste. In Mannheim, Germany, the delegation learned about a project to optimize the planning of garbage collection routes: sensors in the dumpsters indicate if they are full to avoid unnecessary collection trips. During visits to the sanitary landfill and to a solid waste transfer plant that could be re-evaluated in Barcelona, Spain, they also learned about solutions to improve separation, recycling and waste treatment.For its part, Katherine Quirós, environmental management professional of the Municipality of La Union, stressed the importance of communication work to achieve a positive environmental impact in the cantons and stated that “they should ask citizens what they want before building, do not forget to plan for the people and ask ourselves the question of what kind of city we want to live in.”Next steps toward decarbonizationThe 12 municipalities currently identify priority actions to be implemented, which may be supported by the Municipal Development and Advisory Institute, the National Union of Local Governments and international cooperation. Feasibility studies are being prepared for some of the projects, derived from the action plans of the pilot municipalities with the GIZ and the DCC.“At GIZ, we are committed to supporting the government of Costa Rica in decarbonization and promoting municipalities as generators of sustainable development. That is why we have been supporting this initiative, providing technical assistance and support to the training process, inventory surveys and development of climate change actions and projects,” said Sandra Spies, project director at GIZ.With the support of GIZ, virtual teaching modules are being developed to teach how to apply the PPNCN 2.0 tool, in order to prepare GHG inventories and establish mitigation actions at the municipal level, so that all local governments can carry out their own inventories. Through additional guides in the sectors of refrigerants and air conditioners, agriculture, forestry and land uses, it is expected to disseminate good practices and portfolios of mitigation actions. A financing guide will help to recognize ways of mobilizing financial resources toward climate change; for example, through the management of the municipal budget.This story first appeared in Latin Clima. It was translated and republished as part of a partnership with Latin Clima. Read the original story in Spanish here. This story was translated by Ariana Arguedas Bermúdez. Facebook Comments Related posts:Costa Ricans pledge to go car free on Sept. 22 Messages along San José’s streets ask people to stop littering Costa Rican students transform pineapple waste into dishes and plates Renewables, electrification and efficiency the ideal scenario to combat climate change
The airline has assured passengers it is “confident” it will be granted approval of its restart plan and receive license approval. Source = e-Travel Blackboard: N.J Kingfisher has advised passengers that all future bookings have been suspended until further notice after the carrier’s flying licence was revoked for failing to renew it before its expiration.India’s Civil Aviation Directorate-General chief Arun Mishra said the Indian carrier, which has been grounded since October last year, was advised by aviation regulators that its permit had “lapsed” for failing to provide “additional details” to a revival plan for its suffering financial situation, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.Despite being warned to renew its licence prior to its expiration on 31 December 2012, the airline has assured passengers in an online statement that it is “confident” it will be granted approval of its restart plan and receive license approval.“Despite the impending expiry of its License, there is no cause for concern as the regulations permit License renewal within two years of expiry,” the statement read.Kingfisher was India’s second-largest airline over a year ago but now reportedly owes millions of dollars to banks, airport and staff.Late last year the carrier’s dwindling financial situation reportedly lead to its eviction from Mumbai International Airport for failing to pay its rent.
Price Gains Strong in May, Growth Expected to Fade Share June 20, 2013 434 Views Home prices rose annually and monthly in May, according to “”Zillow””:http://www.zillow.com/. In fact, 29 of the 30 largest metropolitan areas covered by Zillow’s Home Value Index experienced rising prices over the 12-month period ending in May, and 15 of the 30 posted double-digit increases. [IMAGE]Zillow expects prices will continue their upward trajectory in the short-run with a 4.1 percent increase over the following 12 months. However, as inventory increases and interest rates rise, “”some demand may also ebb,”” said Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist. [COLUMN_BREAK]These predictions prompted the economist to advise, “”Enjoy it while it lasts, because the housing market will undoubtedly look very different a few years down the road from how it appears now.””Meanwhile, May’s year-over-year double-digit increases were strongest in the western metros of Las Vegas(28 percent), Sacramento, California (26.1 percent), San Francisco (24.2 percent), San Jose, California (21.8 percent) and Phoenix (21.3 percent).Monthly appreciation was not quite as dramatic as the monthly gains. Nationally, prices rose 0.5 percent, and the greatest increase across the 30 largest metros was a 1.7 percent rise in Sacramento, California. Las Vegas followed with a 1.3 percent increase, and Los Angeles fell in place with a 1 percent gain over the month. The share of home sales taken up by foreclosure resales declined 1.1 percentage points over the month, according to Zillow. Foreclosures made up 10.7 percent of May sales. Foreclosure liquidations were down to their lowest level since October 2007 last month, according to Zillow.
in Data, Government, Origination, Secondary Market, Servicing Agents & Brokers Attorneys & Title Companies Demand For-Sale Homes Home Prices Housing Affordability Investors Lenders & Servicers Processing Service Providers Zillow 2013-06-20 Krista Franks Brock
