Tag: pledges

Japan pledges to have women in third of top boardroom roles by 2030

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Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has said he wants almost a third of executive positions at the country’s top companies to be occupied by women by the end of the decade.
In an apparent attempt to address Japan’s poor record on gender equality ahead of the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima next month, Kishida said more boardroom diversity would boost the world’s third-biggest economy.
“We seek to have the ratio of women among executives at 30% or more by 2030 in companies that are listed on the Tokyo stock exchange’s prime market,” Kishida told officials, including the minister of state for gender equality – who is male – at a meeting this week. His 19-member cabinet includes just two women.
“Securing diversity through promoting women’s empowerment, and enabling innovation as a result, is crucial to achieving new capitalism and an inclusive society,” Kishida added.
Japan has drawn criticism for the lack of women in senior positions in the private sector and in public life. Women represented only 11.4% of executives in major listed companies in Japan last year, according to a cabinet office survey, although the figure has been rising in recent years.
In politics, too, there are signs of progress, with parties attempting to recruit more women to run for office after a 2018 gender equality law required them to “make efforts” to select similar numbers of male and female candidates.
Although women occupy only about 10% of seats in the lower house of parliament, a record number of female candidates won seats in last summer’s upper house elections. 28% of upper house seats are held by women.
In another encouraging sign, Shoko Takahashi, a female member of a government panel, this week joined a meeting accompanied by her two-month-old baby. Takahashi, the founder of the personal genome company Genequest, is thought to be the first person to take their newborn to a work gathering at the prime minister’s office.

And a recent round of local elections saw a record seven women voted in as mayors in smaller cities, while Arfiya Eri, a woman of Uyghur and Uzbek descent, won a byelection for a seat in the lower house as a candidate for the ruling Liberal Democratic party.
But Japan’s corporate sector still has a long way to go to catch up with comparable economies, and has also struggled to narrow the gender pay gap – Japan ranked 116th out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap report.
Few observers believe change will come until more women, who form the backbone of the part-time, low-pay economy, are given permanent positions and help balancing work with family commitments.
Japan, this year’s G7 host, has come under pressure to address its record on gender equality. This month, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund – the world’s biggest – said it would vote against board nominations at Japanese firms in which it invests that do not have any female directors, Nikkei Asia reported – a move that could affect as many as 300 listed companies.
In a recent interview with Kyodo news, the EU commissioner for jobs and social rights, Nicolas Schmit, said Japan’s gender gap resembled the situation in Europe “20 or 30 years ago”.
Precedent indicates that Kishida could struggle to reach his goal. In 2003, the then prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, set a similar quota for female executive representation by 2020, but the number of women in managerial positions by that date fell short of the target.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 28, 2023
Top Dem super PAC starts Biden ad blitz, pledges $75 million campaign effort

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The president’s long-awaited announcement on Tuesday allows Biden to begin fundraising for what will be an expensive campaign. But his April launch also gave the green light for Democratic groups like Priorities USA to jumpstart 2024 efforts backing the president.
“It is essential to remind voters of what’s at stake in 2024, and to do so online. Issues such as abortion access, protecting our climate, curbing gun control, making health care more affordable and making our economy work for every American will be the centerpieces of this campaign,” said Danielle Butterfield, the group’s executive director.
Founded in 2011, Priorities USA is among the Democratic Party’s largest political action committees. But it won’t be the only one supporting Biden, or the main one for that. Future Forward, which already has been running TV ads, will likely be Biden’s primary outside spending apparatus, though American Bridge and others are also expected to have a share in the campaign’s portfolio.
There was also some uncertainty about the role Biden-allied Building Back Together might play after the 2022 election. But instead of paid media campaigns, BBT will focus on coordinating among Democratic groups to highlight the Biden administration’s efforts to implement the president’s agenda.
Priorities’ ad, titled “Our Strength, Our Champion,” focuses on the Biden administration’s accomplishments and echoes the tone of Biden’s announcement video — with imagery of Jan. 6 and Biden’s leading GOP opponent, former President Donald Trump. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another expected 2024 GOP candidate, make appearances as well. The ad will stream in English and Spanish.
The ad then runs through a list of Biden’s accomplishments, noting that he has “worked across the aisle,” “protected marriage equality,” “took historic climate action,” and “lowered health care costs.”
In the final seconds of the video, with Biden’s voice playing in the background, “Joe Biden is fighting with us. Let’s finish the job together” flashed across the screen.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 26, 2023
Iran pledges more access for nuclear inspectors, head of UN watchdog says

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Iran pledged to re-install monitoring equipment at its nuclear facilities and to assist an investigation into uranium traces detected at undeclared sites, the head of the U.N.’s nuclear agency said Saturday after a visit to Tehran.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other top officials in Tehran on Saturday.
“Over the past few months, there was a reduction in some of the monitoring activities” related to cameras and other equipment “which were not operating,” Grossi told reporters upon his return to Vienna. “We have agreed that those will be operating again.”
A joint statement issued on Saturday by the IAEA and Iran’s nuclear agency included assurances that Tehran would address long-standing complaints about access to its disputed nuclear program. But the text went into little detail, and similar promises by Iran have yielded little in the past.
“Iran expressed its readiness to continue its cooperation and provide further information and access to address the outstanding safeguards issues,” according to the joint statement.
“These are not words. This is very concrete,” Grossi said of the assurances he received in Tehran, the Associated Press reported.
The visit to Iran followed a recent report from the IAEA, seen by CNN and other media, that confirmed that uranium particles enriched to 83.7 percent purity, close to the 90 percent needed to make a nuclear bomb, were found at an Iranian nuclear site. The report raised concerns that Tehran was speeding up its enrichment.
Grossi said the Iranians had agreed to increase inspections at that site by 50 percent, the AP reported.

Iran also will allow the re-installation of extra monitoring equipment that had been put in place under the 2015 nuclear deal, but then removed last year as the agreement fell apart, Reuters reported.
The 2015 deal gave Tehran relief from most international sanctions as long as it allowed the U.N. watchdog to monitor its nuclear activities. But it began to unravel after the U.S.’s unilateral withdrawal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump.
Iran also “will allow the IAEA to implement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities,” according to Saturday’s joint statement. “Modalities will be agreed between the two sides in the course of a technical meeting which will take place soon in Tehran,” it said.
Grossi said there was a “marked improvement” in his dialogue with Iranian officials, according to the AP. “I hope we will be seeing results soon. We will see.”

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 2, 2023
Congress pledges laws to rein in hate crimes

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Raipur: The Congress, in its draft political resolution, on Saturday pledged to bring in laws to prevent hate crimes in the country, if voted to power.
This comes against the backdrop of rising incidents of hate crimes and lynching, the lastest being the burning alive of two people in Rajasthan.
The resolution said, “In the last eight-and-a-half years under the BJP Government, the politics of hate has assumed alarming proportions and religious polarisation has reached its peak. Hate crimes and atrocities have increased manifold.
“Vigilante right wing groups incite violence on various trivial issues. These groups operate with impunity and have started acting like police, spreading anarchy and fear. This fear in the minds of minorities is the aim of the BJP/RSS regime.”
During the course of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, it was clear that the majority of Indians yearn for love, peace and harmony, it added.
The Congress said it believes in our civilisational principle of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ which means “The World Is One Family”. Minorities form about a
fifth of India’s population. Neglecting, marginalising, and alienating them is
inhuman, and hits at the unity and integrity of India.
“The culture of hatred, nurtured and propagated by BJP, RSS and their acolytes violates the tenets of all religions. We need to create a sense of security among each and every Indian, regardless of their region, religion, caste, class or gender,” it further said.
It also said that crimes against weaker sections of society have also increased. Atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SCs) have increased by 1.2 per cent in 2021, according to the NCRB. Violence against Dalit and adivasi women has also risen. Cases of rape against SC women, including shockingly, minors, account for 7.64 per cent and ST women account for 15 per cent out of the total cases reported.

“Congress will pass a new law to prevent and punish hate crimes,” it concluded.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 25, 2023
DOT pledges new actions on hazardous trains, asks Congress and industry to also take steps

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DOT also highlighted a rule in the works to require a minimum train crew of two people, which industry has opposed, and pledged to spend resources from the 2021 infrastructure law that can be spent on rail safety improvements.
DOT also wants railroads to give state authorities a heads-up when hazardous gas tank cars will be passing through. DOT said it’s also working on requiring this through regulation, “but railroads should not wait.”
The department is asking the railroads — including but not limited to Norfolk Southern — to do the following:
— Proactively let state emergency response teams know when they are transporting tank cars with hazardous gases through their states;
— Join FRA’s whistleblower protection program, which many smaller railroads and passenger railroads participate in but which the major freights do not;
— Deploy automated track inspection technology without asking to get rid of human inspectors;
— Move up the phase-in of safer, more durable tank cars that railroads had lobbied to delay until 2029, currently slated for 2025; and
— Provide workers paid sick leave, the unfinished business of the resolution of the strike threat last year.

What DOT wants from Congress: DOT called on Congress to increase maximum fines for rail safety violations from the current $225,455 cap, which the agency called “a rounding error” for profitable companies.
In a letter Sunday to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, Pete Buttigieg noted the railroad’s “exceptionally profitable business,” running a 38 percent operating margin and issuing $18 billion in stock buybacks and dividends over the last five years — “reportedly twice as much as the amount Norfolk Southern invested in its railways and operations.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 21, 2023
Biden brings hope — as well as pledges of cash and weapons — to Ukraine

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KYIV — Just days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the streets of the capital were suddenly locked down on Monday morning. Then videos of a mysterious procession of vehicles with blacked-out windows began being posted online.
Who, wondered many ordinary Ukrainians — trying to go about their daily business as best as they can despite the war — was the foreign guest causing so much inconvenience?
There had been rumors that Joe Biden was going to make a surprise visit to Kyiv before his scheduled trip to Poland. But the people of Ukraine didn’t know for sure until Biden was pictured walking out of Mykhailivsky monastery in central Kyiv together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The image of the U.S. president calmly walking in Kyiv, while air raid sirens blared in the background, gave hope to Ukrainians, who saw a powerful ally standing beside them.
“Thank you, Mister President, for visiting Kyiv today. Strong gesture in support of our fight. Again, we are invincible when united! Russia is already losing. Invaders will die. Be brave like Ukrainians and like Biden,” prominent Ukrainian military volunteer Serhiy Prytula said in a statement.
Russians were obviously less impressed. Dmitry Medvedev, a former president, reacted with a rant about Biden “being allowed to safely travel to Kyiv by Russians” and Russian military bloggers started asking when Vladimir Putin is going to the occupied Donetsk region to show the same kind of support for his troops.
Vladyslav Faraponov, an Internews Ukraine media analyst, told POLITICO that “Russians are going crazy on social media because they realize their weakness during this visit. There is nothing they can do about it. What is more, as the first anniversary of the war approaches, it makes them think of their foolishness as Russia’s officials have convinced them that Kyiv could be captured in three days.”
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told the AP that the Russians were only formally informed several hours before the visit to avoid “any miscalculation that could bring the two nuclear-armed nations into direct conflict.”

“It is difficult to imagine a bigger diplomatic slap [in the face] to Putin than the arrival of President Biden in Kyiv,” former CEO of Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz Andriy Kobolev wrote on Facebook.
Biden came bearing more than support: In a joint address with Zelenskyy, he announced half a billion dollars of additional assistance to Ukraine, which will include military equipment such as artillery munitions, javelins and howitzers.
“Together with more than 50 partner countries, we have approved more than 700 tanks and thousands of armored vehicles,” the U.S. president said. Biden also said he thought it was critical not to leave any doubt about U.S. support for Ukraine in the war: “The Ukrainian people have stepped up in a way that few people ever have in the past.”
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar described Biden’s visit as a historic day for Ukraine. “It is a sunny and warm day in Kyiv. We survived this winter, which is almost over. Now it is time to win the war,” she wrote in a statement, posting a photo of the Ukrainian first couple happily greeting Biden in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s Deputy of Defence Minister Hanna Maliar | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the front lines also saw Biden’s visit as a morale boost ahead of the expected counteroffensive later this week.
“He came to the capital, half a thousand kilometers from the front line. And the guys at the very front, despite the wild fatigue and cold, have a completely different mood. More energy and strength. There is even greater confidence that we are doing everything right,” Ukrainian serviceman and environmental activist Yehor Firsov wrote in a Facebook post.
Faraponov, the Internews Ukraine media analyst, said: “In my view, the visit of President Biden is crucial for Ukrainians because it hasn’t been announced in advance, and it brings some hope during this difficult time.”
He added: “The visit is happening at the moment of the Russian counteroffensive in the east. In addition, last week Russia continued to launch missiles all over Ukraine. Therefore, Ukrainians have enormous expectations for the U.S. regarding extending its support toward Ukraine. It applies to fighter jets, more tanks, long-range missiles, and other means to defeat Russia. But what I’ve seen today is a confirmation that Biden has a special sentiment toward Ukraine.”
The shock visit was a logistical nightmare to arrange. Biden left Washington at 4:15 a.m. local time and U.S. officials had expressed concerns that the president couldn’t fly into Ukraine or take a 10-hour train ride without immense risk to the host nation and Biden himself. Ensuring the president’s safety was a near-impossible endeavor, those officials said, though they acknowledged Biden had long wanted to go to Kyiv.
A Ukrainian government official, speaking on the condition on anonymity due to the confidential information involved, said the Ukrainians “have been requesting this visit for a long time.”
The same official added that the visit had been prepared “in a very short amount of time” — around a week — “with the utmost level of secrecy through (President’s Office Head Andriy) Yermak’s and (Foreign Minister Dmytro) Kuleba’s lines of communication.”
Biden’s bold move brought praise from beyond Ukrainian borders. Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said the visit to Kyiv was “immense.”
“In a way, it will frame all these events around the sad anniversary of the year of the full-scale war. And it will give, I think, a lot of mental power to the Ukrainian people. It will give a strong signal to Russia. But very important also, I think, all over the planet, and also countries of global south will get that signal.”
Poland’s Ambassador to the EU Andrzej Sadoś said Monday’s visit “strengthens the allies’ determination to support Ukraine and introduce further sanctions against Russia. It is a timely, symbolic and historic visit which shows that the free world stands with Ukraine.”
Lili Bayer contributed reporting.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

February 20, 2023
Biden pledges to protect America after Chinese balloon incident

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The balloon traversed U.S. and Canadian airspace last week before it was shot down off the coast of the Carolinas on Saturday, just days before Biden addressed Congress.
China has claimed it was a weather balloon that went off course and has lashed out at the U.S. over shooting it down. Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to Beijing over the incident.
The flap triggered bipartisan uproar at China on Capitol Hill — where confronting Beijing has garnered support from both parties — and calls for more information over the balloon and the administration’s handling of it.
Biden said last week he ordered the military to shoot down the balloon before Saturday, but top brass recommended waiting until it was over water so it would minimize risk to people on the ground. The military is now working to retrieve the debris.
Administration officials are set to brief lawmakers on the balloon this week, and a Senate panel is scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday on it.
Biden added Tuesday night that his administration has put the U.S. in “the strongest position in decades to compete” with Beijing. The U.S., he said, would cooperate where possible.
He added that he makes “no apologies that we are investing to make America strong” and competing with China. He touted efforts to modernize the military “to safeguard stability and deter aggression.”
Biden also highlighted the administration’s efforts to aid Ukraine to repel Russia’s invasion, a message that comes as some Republican factions question the need to continue to aid Kyiv.

As the war nears its one-year mark, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion was “a test for the ages” for the U.S. and its allies in Europe.
“One year later, we know the answer,” he said.
Biden called out Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, who sat in the House gallery for the speech.
“We are united in our support for your country,” Biden pledged. “We’re going to stand with you as long as it takes.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 8, 2023