Economics and Psychology Essential for Leaders and PolicymakersDaily 10 Minutes
Well versed leaders and policymakers on Economics and Psychology can bring concrete change in lives of people. It is the duty of universities like LUMS and private sector to educate students and communities about proven principles of Economics and Psychology. (Sajid Imtiaz)
Presentation by Mario Solis-Garcia at the OECD Workshop on “Joint Learning for an OECD Trust Strategy” on 14 October 2013. Mr. Solis-Garcia discusses why trust matters and uses a simple economic model to see how government trust influences environment, government, households and timing.
The Parliamentary Yearbook is currently gathering news items for major features on the regeneration of our urban landscape in the next edition and has been following the progress of Local Enterprise Partnerships since their launch in the Summer of 2010
Economics and Psychology Essential for Leaders and PolicymakersDaily 10 Minutes
Well versed leaders and policymakers on Economics and Psychology can bring concrete change in lives of people. It is the duty of universities like LUMS and private sector to educate students and communities about proven principles of Economics and Psychology. (Sajid Imtiaz)
Presentation by Mario Solis-Garcia at the OECD Workshop on “Joint Learning for an OECD Trust Strategy” on 14 October 2013. Mr. Solis-Garcia discusses why trust matters and uses a simple economic model to see how government trust influences environment, government, households and timing.
The Parliamentary Yearbook is currently gathering news items for major features on the regeneration of our urban landscape in the next edition and has been following the progress of Local Enterprise Partnerships since their launch in the Summer of 2010
Madam Speaker
In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens opens with:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity… we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way...”
So too is the present time. As a country, we stand at a crossroads. We can choose a path of hope; or a path of despair. We can go directly to Heaven, or as Dickens so politely puts it, we can go the other way.
The finance minister maintained a commendable balance between the evenly stronger and mostly diverging compulsions of economic growth, fiscal discipline and political expediency.
Most of the budget provisions are inarguably aimed at ensuring inclusive growth, and bringing in equity in taxation and provisions.
A record number of measures have been introduced, to bring predictability, transparency and conciliation in the tax regime of the country.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated the need to build both a strong developmental state and a fast growing private sector to achieve a world class economy.
We are facing some very difficult budget choices and challenges for Massachusetts for Fiscal Year 2011 (July 2010 - July 2011). Governor Patrick and his administration are holding a series of hearings and forums around the state to get input and ideas from citizens where this presentation is included. To learn more about the hearings and forums, visit www.mass.gov/governor/forums
If you weren't able to make a hearing or forum or want to be prepared before you attend one, this presentation is about 9 minutes long and will give you a basic overview of the budget situation. Please review it, then visit our blog at www.mass.gov/blog/engage to comment and share your ideas.
Mobilising domestic resources for sustainable development in cameroon is the ...SHILLIE PETER (DBA Fellow)
Considering that financing development from domestic resources can be more cost effective to a nation, there is urgent need to strengthen and mobilize the domestic resources of the Country. A more guaranteed source of domestic resources for financing development is through taxation.
Mobilising domestic resources for sustainable development in cameroon is the ...SHILLIE PETER (DBA Fellow)
Considering that financing development from domestic resources can be more cost effective to a nation, there is urgent need to strengthen and mobilize the domestic resources of the Country. A more guaranteed source of domestic resources for financing development is through taxation.
Ministry of Justice Extradition Eswatini 3.pdfSABC News
The Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services has confirmed that an extradition application for the two men linked to the murder of Kiernan 'AKA' Forbes and Tebello 'Tibz' Motsoane has been approved and sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions in eSwatini.
January’s Producer Price Index increases to 4.7%SABC News
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has released the Producer Price Index (PPI) for January, which rose to 4.7% year-on-year, compared with 4% in December.
MEC MAJUBA SADDENED BY THE PASSING AWAY OF THREE TEACHERS FOLLOWING A CAR ACC...SABC News
The Mpumalanga Department of Education has learnt with shock and sadness about an accident which claimed the lives of three teachers along the N4 road towards Mbombela.
Minister Gordhan Announces New Transnet Board Appointments_11 July 2023.pdfSABC News
The nine Trasnet Non-Executive Directors and the reappointment of two will serve a three-year term. Andile Sangqu has been appointed as the new Chairperson.
REMNANTS OF FREDDY BRINGS HEAVY RAINS IN SOME PARTS OF SOUTH AFRICA WHICH MIG...SABC News
The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has called on communities to heed the warning from the South African Weather Service (SAWS) and the disaster management teams across the country.
Letter to the Speaker re extension 14 November 2022.pdfSABC News
Parliament's spokesperson Moloto Mothapo says retried Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, who is chairing the panel, has written to Mapisa-Nqakula asking for an extension.
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola’s Keynote Address...SABC News
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola’s Keynote Address at the Rand Merchant Bank Investment Big Five Investment Conference, 13 September 2022
03062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
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‘वोटर्स विल मस्ट प्रीवेल’ (मतदाताओं को जीतना होगा) अभियान द्वारा जारी हेल्पलाइन नंबर, 4 जून को सुबह 7 बजे से दोपहर 12 बजे तक मतगणना प्रक्रिया में कहीं भी किसी भी तरह के उल्लंघन की रिपोर्ट करने के लिए खुला रहेगा।
31052024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
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An astonishing, first-of-its-kind, report by the NYT assessing damage in Ukraine. Even if the war ends tomorrow, in many places there will be nothing to go back to.
In a May 9, 2024 paper, Juri Opitz from the University of Zurich, along with Shira Wein and Nathan Schneider form Georgetown University, discussed the importance of linguistic expertise in natural language processing (NLP) in an era dominated by large language models (LLMs).
The authors explained that while machine translation (MT) previously relied heavily on linguists, the landscape has shifted. “Linguistics is no longer front and center in the way we build NLP systems,” they said. With the emergence of LLMs, which can generate fluent text without the need for specialized modules to handle grammar or semantic coherence, the need for linguistic expertise in NLP is being questioned.
हम आग्रह करते हैं कि जो भी सत्ता में आए, वह संविधान का पालन करे, उसकी रक्षा करे और उसे बनाए रखे।" प्रस्ताव में कुल तीन प्रमुख हस्तक्षेप और उनके तंत्र भी प्रस्तुत किए गए। पहला हस्तक्षेप स्वतंत्र मीडिया को प्रोत्साहित करके, वास्तविकता पर आधारित काउंटर नैरेटिव का निर्माण करके और सत्तारूढ़ सरकार द्वारा नियोजित मनोवैज्ञानिक हेरफेर की रणनीति का मुकाबला करके लोगों द्वारा निर्धारित कथा को बनाए रखना और उस पर कार्यकरना था।
01062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
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1. Monday, 02 March 2020
Dear Fellow South African,
The Budget presented by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni last week presents a sobering
assessment of the state of our economy.
The figures make it plain that unless we act now to turn things around, there will be even more
difficult times ahead.
Put simply, we are spending far more than we are earning.
As a result, we are borrowing more and more, and the cost of servicing that debt is rising. In fact,
debt service costs are now the fastest-growing area of expenditure. We spend more on debt
repayments than we do on health; only education and social development get more.
This position is precarious and unsustainable.
We need to make significant changes and we need to make them now.
There are several reasons for the position we’re now in. Our economy has not grown much over
the last decade, mainly due to the 2008 global financial crisis and a decline in demand for the
minerals that we export. As a result, revenue collection has been weak and we have had to
borrow more to sustain spending on development, infrastructure and wages. At the same time,
state capture and corruption has affected governance, operational effectiveness and financial
sustainability at several public institutions, including state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Efforts over the last two years to revive the economy and rebuild institutions have now been
undermined by the electricity crisis, further constraining growth and placing an additional burden
on public finances.
Our priorities in this budget therefore are to put the economy back on a path of growth, constrain
public spending and stabilise our debt.
The budget is an integral part of our drive for inclusive growth, job creation, investment and a
2. capable state.
We have made a deliberate decision not to pursue a path of austerity. Such a route would have
seen deep cuts in spending on the social services that poor people rely on. It could have involved
dramatically reducing the salaries of civil servants, the size of the public service, cutting bonuses
and pensions, raising taxes and selling off key state assets.
An austerity budget would have damaged our growth prospects further and weakened the ability
of the state to stimulate economic activity and meet people’s needs.
We have instead presented a budget that contains a range of balanced and well-considered
measures to contain spending, increase revenue and encourage growth.
Over the next three years, we expect to achieve savings of around R261 billion by cutting the
budgets of several departments and reducing the rate at which the public service wage bill
increases. At the same time, however, we will need to spend more to support the restructuring of
SOEs like Eskom and SAA. As a result, we expect a net reduction of R156 billion in non-interest
spending over the medium term.
This will help to narrowthe deficit and reduce our borrowing needs.
A large part of the savings will come from reducing the rate at which our wage bill grows. This will
require focused discussions among all social partners, but particularly with public sector unions.
These engagements need to be conducted in a spirit of seeking solutions. I am heartened by the
willingness of all parties to engage in serious negotiations aimed at finding a solution.
Our approach is not to dramatically cut the size of the public service, but to examine the rate at
which wages grow. Public service wages have on average increased at a much higher rate than
inflation over many years, and we need to fix this if we are to get public finances under control.
This also applies to the management of people’s personal finances, where if any expenditure
item that rises at a rate more than inflation – be it electricity tariffs, mobile tariffs or food – will
always put any individual person’s budget and finances under strain and out of kilter.
The wage bill remains the largest component of spending by economic classification. Growth in
the wage bill has begun crowding out spending on capital projects for future growth and items
that are critical for service delivery.
The public service wage bill is by no means the only area where we are cutting costs. I have
decided that there will be no increase in the salaries of senior public office bearers this year. This
follows a reduction in benefits stemming from changes to the Ministerial Handbook. We will
publish a new law this year introducing a remuneration framework for public entities and state
owned companies to prevent excessive pay for board members and executives.
Our trade union compatriots are right in saying that we should in a demonstrable way prevent
leakages of public funds by addressing corruption, ending irregular, fruitless and wasteful
expenditure. We will do this and much more.
As much as containing the public wage bill is critical to stabilising public finances, improving
public sector performance is imperative if we want to build a more capable, efficient state. We
need more of the right people in the right positions.
3. As we contain public spending, we are pursuing growth. It is for this reason that, despite the
fiscal gap, there are no major tax increases. Instead, there is some relief for individual tax payers
and several measures to broaden the corporate tax base. We are also pushing ahead with far -
reaching reforms in areas like electricity provision, ports and rail and telecommunications to
reduce the cost of doing business. Through the Infrastructure Fund we aim to mobilise financing
from a range of sources to invest in a massive build programme. Through our industrial strategy
and investment drive we are unlocking vital areas of growth.
We are fixing our public finances to make inclusive growth and job creation possible. Such times
call for us to be realistic, not dogmatic. They call for cooperation, not conflict. Compromises and
trade-offs will have to be made.
We are all in this together, and we share a collective responsibility to take the oars, to row in
unison and steer our country through these stormy waters.
With best wishes,