Tag: transparency

Govt Has Brought Greater Transparency And Accountability To Financial System Since 2019: CS

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SRINAGAR: Finance Department on Wednesday organised a day-long workshop on “Transformation and Reforms in Financial Management” at SKICC.
The workshop aimed at apprising the participants about the priorities of the government and implementation of its schemes through digital platforms for better outcomes at the field level.
Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta who was Chief Guest on the occasion highlighted major reforms taken up by J&K government to bring greater transparency and accountability in the financial system making it more robust and outcome oriented. He said that since 2019 many reforms had been taken in the financial management system which has resulted in producing far better outcomes.
Chief Secretary said that the key reforms introduced by the government in its financial structure envisaging added transparency and accountability and has brought UT’s fiscal system at par with any other system in the country. He maintained that implementation of transformative reforms such as Budget Estimation and Allocation Monitoring System (BEAMS), online submission of bills through J&K PaySys, mandatory administrative approvals, technical sanctions and e-tendering, digital payments, GFR, GeM and related measures have greatly helped the financial systems in J&K to be efficient, transparent and result oriented.
Dr Mehta complimented the finance department for bringing in necessary changes for the overhaul of the system and said that the department has been at the forefront in eradication of corruption at all levels. “Today we could safely conclude that the financial system in J&K is one of the most transparent systems anywhere and is among the key changes that have taken roots in the UT after 2019” he added.
Chief Secretary said that the government has completed 92000 works during 2022-23 which was unthinkable in the recent past as the number of completed works would be around 9000 before 2019.
He also said that the feedback taken from the panchayats is highly encouraging as no complaint is being received from them regarding the works. He said that works are taking place 3-4 times more on the same amount of money and without facing any obstacles as this year 43000 works have been completed in panchayats which was just about 3000 before this system was put in place. He said that the officers involved in this transformation should feel proud to be part of this journey.

Regarding the number of beneficiaries receiving old age pension, widow pension, the CS said that number of beneficiaries has increased from 4.5 lakh to 10 lakh without putting any further burden on the state exchequer. He also said that 11.5 lakh beneficiaries have been weeded out from the CAPD department without anyone complaining about the same. He said that the money is reaching where it is intended to reach and there is no siphoning of public money now due to DBT and digitisation of services.
He recalled that the officers of the finance department are the protectors of the public exchequer and they should make this department most happening department in the country and achieve the financial discipline for achieving saturation of all the beneficiary led schemes.
Dr Mehta said that promoting good governance in the financial management has been one of the core objectives of the government and people are able to oversee works being executed in their areas on a real time basis on EMPOWERMENT portal.
CS also reiterated that the government has zero tolerance against any kind of irregularity in any recruitment process undertaken by any recruiting agency of the J&K Government. He assured that the confidence of our youth in these institutions is paramount for the administration and it would be safeguarded at any cost to ensure that the government jobs are acquired by deserving candidates on merit only.
Some of the main topics which came under discussion during this day-long workshop includes Role of GST as a fulcrum of J&K’s Own Tax Revenues, People’s participation through EMPOWERMENT/ JANBAGHIDARI, E-Audit and performance auditing, PFMS and CNA/SNA Module, Introduction of IT in GP Fund, Co-relation between Finance and Investigations, and Digital Payments & DBT.

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

May 3, 2023
Govt has brought greater transparency and accountability to the financial system since 2019: CS

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Reiterates Zero tolerance against irregularities in recruitment
SRINAGAR, MAY 03: Finance Department today organised a day-long workshop on “Transformation and Reforms in Financial Management” at SKICC here.
The workshop was attended by Director General(s) of Finance and Planning Departments, Director(s) Finance in Administrative Departments, FA&CAOs in Administrative Departments, FAs/CAOs/Accounts officers posted with HODs/DDCs, Treasury officers and other senior officers of the Department.
The focus of the workshop was to apprise the participants about the priorities of the government and implementation of its schemes through digital platforms for better outcomes at the field level.
Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta who was Chief Guest on the occasion highlighted major reforms taken up by J&K government to bring greater transparency and accountability in the financial system making it more robust and outcome oriented. He said that since 2019 many reforms had been taken in the financial management system which has resulted in producing far better outcomes.
Chief Secretary said that the key reforms introduced by the government in its financial structure envisaging added transparency and accountability and has brought UT’s fiscal system at par with any other system in the country. He maintained that implementation of transformative reforms such as Budget Estimation and Allocation Monitoring System (BEAMS), online submission of bills through J&K PaySys, mandatory administrative approvals, technical sanctions and e-tendering, digital payments, GFR, GeM and related measures have greatly helped the financial systems in J&K to be efficient, transparent and result oriented.
Dr Mehta complimented the finance department for bringing in necessary changes for the overhaul of the system and said that the department has been at the forefront in eradication of corruption at all levels. “Today we could safely conclude that the financial system in J&K is one of the most transparent systems anywhere and is among the key changes that have taken roots in the UT after 2019” he added.
Chief Secretary said that the government has completed 92000 works during 2022-23 which was unthinkable in the recent past as the number of completed works would be around 9000 before 2019.

He also said that the feedback taken from the panchayats is highly encouraging as no complaint is being received from them regarding the works. He said that works are taking place 3-4 times more on the same amount of money and without facing any obstacles as this year 43000 works have been completed in panchayats which was just about 3000 before this system was put in place. He said that the officers involved in this transformation should feel proud to be part of this journey.
Regarding the number of beneficiaries receiving old age pension, widow pension, the CS said that number of beneficiaries has increased from 4.5 lakh to 10 lakh without putting any further burden on the state exchequer. He also said that 11.5 lakh beneficiaries have been weeded out from the CAPD department without anyone complaining about the same. He said that the money is reaching where it is intended to reach and there is no siphoning of public money now due to DBT and digitisation of services.
He recalled that the officers of the finance department are the protectors of the public exchequer and they should make this department most happening department in the country and achieve the financial discipline for achieving saturation of all the beneficiary led schemes.
Dr Mehta said that promoting good governance in the financial management has been one of the core objectives of the government and people are able to oversee works being executed in their areas on a real time basis on EMPOWERMENT portal.
CS also reiterated that the government has zero tolerance against any kind of irregularity in any recruitment process undertaken by any recruiting agency of the J&K Government. He assured that the confidence of our youth in these institutions is paramount for the administration and it would be safeguarded at any cost to ensure that the government jobs are acquired by deserving candidates on merit only.
Some of the main topics which came under discussion during this day-long workshop includes Role of GST as a fulcrum of J&K’s Own Tax Revenues, People’s participation through EMPOWERMENT/ JANBAGHIDARI, E-Audit and performance auditing, PFMS and CNA/SNA Module, Introduction of IT in GP Fund, Co-relation between Finance and Investigations, and Digital Payments & DBT.
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( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

May 3, 2023
Twitter fails to report some political ads after promising transparency

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Stefanik’s tweet, which promised the opportunity to win a signed MAGA hat, included a link to her joint fundraising committee’s WinRed page, where users could donate. The tweets from Fetterman and Frisch included links to their respective campaign’s ActBlue pages. All three were labeled as “promoted” in users’ feeds and would seem to fall under Twitter’s political content policy, which allows for political ads — defined to include several types of promoted political content, including tweets that “solicit financial support” — but says they will be subject to public disclosure.
The lack of disclosure casts doubt on all of the political advertising data released by the platform and makes it hard to assess which groups are using Twitter to fundraise or sway voters ahead of 2024. It also highlights the hodgepodge of voluntary transparency efforts that experts say falls short when it comes to informing voters about who is trying to influence them online.
“Several of these social media companies have disclosure platforms that are imperfect, but at least somewhat useful, whereas Twitter is essentially non-disclosure masquerading as disclosure,” said Robert Maguire, a researcher with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit watchdog group. “It is really not a disclosure regime at all.”

A promoted tweet from Adam Frisch running in late March.
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POLITICO screenshot
While there are few standards around how digital companies have to disclose political advertising, companies such as Meta and Google maintain public libraries of all political ads on their platforms. In requiring users to submit requests for data, Twitter already added an additional step to making advertising information public. The omission of some tweets from the company’s publicly released reports makes it even harder to assess what paid political influence on Twitter looks like.
Twitter announced in January that it was resuming allowing political advertising, a reversal of the platform’s 2019 ban following Musk’s takeover. The company, which was never a major hub for political advertising and has seen traditional advertisers flee amid brand safety concerns, rolled out a Google Form linked on its website where members of the public could request information about the political ads run on the platform.
POLITICO requested data in late March and early April on all political advertising run on Twitter. In response, the company released a spreadsheet including just over 30 tweets from a handful of accounts, mostly linked to Republican candidates or groups. The disclosed ads included several promoted fundraising tweets from the National Republican Senatorial Committee that featured WinRed links, similar to the ads from political figures that the platform failed to disclose.
Twitter did not respond to additional questions about the reach of the Fetterman, Frisch and Stefanik ads and why they were not disclosed. After POLITICO inquired through Twitter’s form specifically about ads run by the three accounts, Twitter responded with the same spreadsheet that did not include tweets from those accounts. The email address previously used by the company’s press office auto-replies with the poop emoji, a change Musk announced a few weeks ago.
“When information about political ads isn’t fully disclosed, the public loses out on key details that can help people assess the merits of the messages and messengers of online political ads,” said Michael Beckel, research director at Issue One, a nonprofit that has supported reforms such as the Honest Ads Act, a bill that would model regulation of digital ads on the Federal Communication Commission’s long standing rules around political advertising on radio and television but has stalled for several years.

While federal campaigns are required to report spending in quarterly FEC reports, ad tracking is one of the few public ways to track spending from nonprofits and 501(c)(4) groups that often do much of their spending well prior to an election.
Digital ad disclosures, including those maintained by Meta and Google, also provide insight as to the demographics of users targeted by ads. Twitter’s limited data release also included information on targeting for the ads the platform did disclose; for example, a handful of fundraising tweets from the NRSC targeted users older than 35, according to the platform’s data (although some NRSC ads targeted younger users as well).
Other political advertising disclosed by Twitter from March include promoted tweets from Missouri State Sen. Bill Eigel, a New York State campaign to promote public financing of elections and a Texas group aiming to establish casino-style gambling in the state. The total spending on ads disclosed by the platform was just over $1,650.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 10, 2023
Limit to even transparency in ‘New India’: Cong on PM’s degree case

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New Delhi: The Congress on Friday took a swipe at the government, saying there is a limit to even transparency in ‘New India’, after the Gujarat High Court set aside an order of the Central Information Commission asking the Gujarat University to provide information on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree.
The high court set aside the seven-year-old order of the commission, asking the varsity to provide information on prime minister’s degree to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Allowing the Gujarat University’s appeal against the Central Information Commission (CIC) order, Justice Biren Vaishnav also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Kejriwal and asked him to deposit the amount within four weeks to the Gujarat State Legal Services Authority (GSLSA).
Reacting to the verdict, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh in a tweet in Hindi said, “There is a limit to even transparency in New India. This is what the ‘Entire Political Science’ teaches.”
Asked about the issue at a press conference, Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, “See, why this matter went to the court. Courts have lot of pressure… PM’s educational qualification, whether his degree is genuine or not, this matter going to a court is astonishing.”
“It’s a matter of paradox in India, in a country where four crore cases are pending in courts, a hearing is happening on the prime minister’s degree. So, why this situation came up, we need to understand. ‘Entire Political Science’, I haven’t heard of it, if you have heard about it, please tell me,” Khera told reporters in response to a query.
“Even if today such a degree is offered then, I would like to take it,” he said.

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#Limit #transparency #India #Cong #PMs #degree #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 31, 2023
What the hell is wrong with TikTok?

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Western governments are ticked off with TikTok. The Chinese-owned app loved by teenagers around the world is facing allegations of facilitating espionage, failing to protect personal data, and even of corrupting young minds.
Governments in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and across Europe have moved to ban the use of TikTok on officials’ phones in recent months. If hawks get their way, the app could face further restrictions. The White House has demanded that ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, sell the app or face an outright ban in the U.S.
But do the allegations stack up? Security officials have given few details about why they are moving against TikTok. That may be due to sensitivity around matters of national security, or it may simply indicate that there’s not much substance behind the bluster.

TikTok’s Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew will be questioned in the U.S. Congress on Thursday and can expect politicians from all sides of the spectrum to probe him on TikTok’s dangers. Here are some of the themes they may pick up on:
1. Chinese access to TikTok data
Perhaps the most pressing concern is around the Chinese government’s potential access to troves of data from TikTok’s millions of users.
Western security officials have warned that ByteDance could be subject to China’s national security legislation, particularly the 2017 National Security Law that requires Chinese companies to “support, assist and cooperate” with national intelligence efforts. This law is a blank check for Chinese spy agencies, they say.
TikTok’s user data could also be accessed by the company’s hundreds of Chinese engineers and operations staff, any one of whom could be working for the state, Western officials say. In December 2022, some ByteDance employees in China and the U.S. targeted journalists at Western media outlets using the app (and were later fired).
EU institutions banned their staff from having TikTok on their work phones last month. An internal email sent to staff of the European Data Protection Supervisor, seen by POLITICO, said the move aimed “to reduce the exposure of the Commission from cyberattacks because this application is collecting so much data on mobile devices that could be used to stage an attack on the Commission.”
And the Irish Data Protection Commission, TikTok’s lead privacy regulator in the EU, is set to decide in the next few months if the company unlawfully transferred European users’ data to China.
Skeptics of the security argument say that the Chinese government could simply buy troves of user data from little-regulated brokers. American social media companies like Twitter have had their own problems preserving users’ data from the prying eyes of foreign governments, they note.
TikTok says it has never given data to the Chinese government and would decline if asked to do so. Strictly speaking, ByteDance is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, which TikTok argues would shield it from legal obligations to assist Chinese agencies. ByteDance is owned 20 percent by its founders and Chinese investors, 60 percent by global investors, and 20 percent by employees.
There’s little hope to completely stop European data from going to China | Alex Plavevski/EPA
The company has unveiled two separate plans to safeguard data. In the U.S., Project Texas is a $1.5 billion plan to build a wall between the U.S. subsidiary and its Chinese owners. The €1.2 billion European version, named Project Clover, would move most of TikTok’s European data onto servers in Europe.
Nevertheless, TikTok’s chief European lobbyist Theo Bertram also said in March that it would be “practically extremely difficult” to completely stop European data from going to China.
2. A way in for Chinese spies
If Chinese agencies can’t access TikTok’s data legally, they can just go in through the back door, Western officials allege. China’s cyber-spies are among the best in the world, and their job will be made easier if datasets or digital infrastructure are housed in their home territory.
Dutch intelligence agencies have advised government officials to uninstall apps from countries waging an “offensive cyber program” against the Netherlands — including China, but also Russia, Iran and North Korea.
Critics of the cyber espionage argument refer to a 2021 study by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, which found that the app did not exhibit the “overtly malicious behavior” that would be expected of spyware. Still, the director of the lab said researchers lacked information on what happens to TikTok data held in China.
TikTok’s Project Texas and Project Clover include steps to assuage fears of cyber espionage, as well as legal data access. The EU plan would give a European security provider (still to be determined) the power to audit cybersecurity policies and data controls, and to restrict access to some employees. Bertram said this provider could speak with European security agencies and regulators “without us [TikTok] being involved, to give confidence that there’s nothing to hide.”
Bertram also said the company was looking to hire more engineers outside China.
3. Privacy rights
Critics of TikTok have accused the app of mass data collection, particularly in the U.S., where there are no general federal privacy rights for citizens.
In jurisdictions that do have strict privacy laws, TikTok faces widespread allegations of failing to comply with them.
The company is being investigated in Ireland, the U.K. and Canada over its handling of underage users’ data. Watchdogs in the Netherlands, Italy and France have also investigated its privacy practices around personalized advertising and for failing to limit children’s access to its platform.
TikTok has denied accusations leveled in some of the reports and argued that U.S. tech companies are collecting the same large amount of data. Meta, Amazon and others have also been given large fines for violating Europeans’ privacy.
4. Psychological operations
Perhaps the most serious accusation, and certainly the most legally novel one, is that TikTok is part of an all-encompassing Chinese civilizational struggle against the West. Its role: to spread disinformation and stultifying content in young Western minds, sowing division and apathy.
Earlier this month, the director of the U.S. National Security Agency warned that Chinese control of TikTok’s algorithm could allow the government to carry out influence operations among Western populations. TikTok says it has around 300 million active users in Europe and the U.S. The app ranked as the most downloaded in 2022.
A woman watches a video of Egyptian influencer Haneen Hossam | Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images
Reports emerged in 2019 suggesting that TikTok was censoring pro-LGBTQ content and videos mentioning Tiananmen Square. ByteDance has also been accused of pushing inane time-wasting videos to Western children, in contrast to the wholesome educational content served on its Chinese app Douyin.
Besides accusations of deliberate “influence operations,” TikTok has also been criticized for failing to protect children from addiction to its app, dangerous viral challenges, and disinformation. The French regulator said last week that the app was still in the “very early stages” of content moderation. TikTok’s Italian headquarters was raided this week by the consumer protection regulator with the help of Italian law enforcement to investigate how the company protects children from viral challenges.
Researchers at Citizen Lab said that TikTok doesn’t enforce obvious censorship. Other critics of this argument have pointed out that Western-owned platforms have also been manipulated by foreign countries, such as Russia’s campaign on Facebook to influence the 2016 U.S. elections.
TikTok says it has adapted its content moderation since 2019 and regularly releases a transparency report about what it removes. The company has also touted a “transparency center” that opened in the U.S. in July 2020 and one in Ireland in 2022. It has also said it will comply with new EU content moderation rules, the Digital Services Act, which will request that platforms give access to regulators and researchers to their algorithms and data.
Additional reporting by Laura Kayali in Paris, Sue Allan in Ottawa, Brendan Bordelon in Washington, D.C., and Josh Sisco in San Francisco.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 23, 2023
Twitter’s plan to charge researchers for data access puts it in EU crosshairs

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Elon Musk pledged Twitter would abide by Europe’s new content rules — but Yevgeniy Golovchenko is not so convinced.
The Ukrainian academic, an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen, relies on the social network’s data to track Russian disinformation, including propaganda linked to the ongoing war in Ukraine. But that access, including to reams of tweets analyzing pro-Kremlin messaging, may soon be cut off. Or, even worse for Golovchenko, cost him potentially millions of euros a year.
Under Musk’s leadership, Twitter is shutting down researchers’ free access to its data, though the final decision on when that will happen has yet to be made. Company officials are also offering new pay-to-play access to researchers via deals that start at $42,000 per month and can rocket up to $210,000 per month for the largest amount of data, according to Twitter’s internal presentation to academics that was shared with POLITICO.

Yet this switch — from almost unlimited, free data access to costly monthly subscription fees — falls afoul of the European Union’s new online content rules, the Digital Services Act. Those standards, which kick in over the coming months, require the largest social networking platforms, including Twitter, to provide so-called vetted researchers free access to their data.
It remains unclear how Twitter will meet its obligations under the 27-country bloc’s rules, which impose fines of up to 6 percent of its yearly revenue for infractions.
“If Twitter makes access less accessible to researchers, this will hurt research on things like disinformation and misinformation,” said Golovchenko who — like many academics who spoke with POLITICO — are now in limbo until Twitter publicly decides when, or whether, it will shut down its current free data-access regime.
It also means that “we will have fewer choices,” added the Ukrainian, acknowledging that, until now, Twitter had been more open for outsiders to poke around its data compared with the likes of Facebook or YouTube. “This means will be even more dependent on the goodwill of social media platforms.”
Meeting EU commitments
When POLITICO contacted Twitter for comment, the press email address sent back a poop emoji in response. A company representative did not respond to POLITICO’s questions, though executives met with EU officials and civil society groups Wednesday to discuss how Twitter would comply with Europe’s data-access obligations, according to three people with knowledge of those discussions, who were granted anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations.
Twitter was expected to announce details of its new paid-for data access regime last week, according to the same individuals briefed on those discussions, though no specifics about the plans were yet known. As of Friday night, no details had yet been published.
Still, the ongoing uncertainty comes as EU regulators and policymakers have Musk in their crosshairs as the onetime world’s richest man reshapes Twitter into a free speech-focused social network. The Tesla chief executive has fired almost all of the trust, safety and policy teams in a company-wide cull of employees and has already failed to comply with some of the bloc’s new content rules that require Twitter to detail how it is tackling falsehoods and foreign interference.
Musk has publicly stated the company will comply with the bloc’s content rules.
“Access to platforms’ data is one of the key elements of democratic oversight of the players that control increasingly bigger part of Europe’s information space,” Věra Jourová, the European Commission vice president for values and transparency, told POLITICO in an emailed statement in reference to the EU’s code of practice on disinformation, a voluntary agreement that Twitter signed up to last year. A Commission spokesperson said such access would have to be free to approved researchers.
European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová said “Access to platforms’ data is one of the key elements of democratic oversight” | Olivier Hoslet/EPA-EFE
“If the access to researchers is getting worse, most likely that would go against the spirit of that commitment (under Europe’s new content rules),” Jourová added. “I appeal to Twitter to find the solution and respect its commitments under the code.”
Show me the data access
For researchers based in the United States — who don’t fall under the EU’s new content regime — the future is even bleaker.
Megan Brown, a senior research engineer at New York University’s Center for Social Media and Politics, which relies heavily on Twitter’s existing access, said half of her team’s 40 projects currently use the company’s data. Under Twitter’s proposed price hikes, the researchers would have to scrap their reliance on the social network via existing paid-for access through the company’s so-called Decahose API for large-scale data access, which is expected to be shut off by the end of May.
NYU’s work via Twitter data has looked at everything from how automated bots skew conversations on social media to potential foreign interference via social media during elections. Such projects, Brown added, will not be possible when Twitter shuts down academic access to those unwilling to pay the new prices.
“We cannot pay that amount of money,” said Brown. “I don’t know of a research center or university that can or would pay that amount of money.”
For Rebekah Tromble, chairperson of the working group on platform-to-researcher data access at the European Digital Media Observatory, a Commission-funded group overseeing which researchers can access social media companies’ data under the bloc’s new rules, any rollback of Twitter’s data-access allowances would be against their existing commitments to give researchers greater access to its treasure trove of data.
“If Twitter makes the choice to begin charging researchers for access, it will clearly be in violation of its commitments under the code of practice [on disinformation],” she said.
This article has been updated.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 23, 2023
SL President assures external creditors of transparency in resolving debt crisis

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Colombo: Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe has assured the island nation’s external creditors of maintaining full transparency in resolving the debt crisis and getting the country back on track.
Awaiting the much-needed $2.9 International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout which is expected to be taken up at March 20 board meeting by the Washington-based lender, he encouraged both bilateral and private creditors of Sri Lanka to strengthen coordination between themselves and engage constructively with Sri Lanka for a swift resolution of the public debt situation.
He urged the country’s official bilateral creditors and the Paris Club creditors, to foster the coordination required for the much-delayed IMF supported programme.
The Sri Lanka President thanked India and other creditors including Japan, China and the Paris Club bilateral partners for enabling the cooperation required to arrive at this point and explicitly delivering IMF-compatible financing assurances.
“We commit to communicating transparently with all of you on any debt treatment terms that are agreed with any creditor or group of creditors, before being formalised. In the same vein, we commit to reporting regularly on our indebtedness, ensuring no financial liabilities incurred by the country are undisclosed,” President Wickremesinghe said.
Wickremsinghe, who took over from Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled the country amidst public outrage over mismanagement and leading it to a severe economic crisis last year, assured that Sri Lanka is committed not to resume debt service to any creditor unless that creditor agrees on a comprehensive debt treatment in line with IMF-supported programme parameters and the comparability of treatment principle.
“We will not conclude debt treatment agreements with any official bilateral creditor or any commercial creditor or any group of such creditors on terms more favourable than those agreed under any multilateral platform put forward by our official bilateral creditors,” he said.
With over $50 billion external debts, Sri Lanka, last May, defaulted on its debt for the first time in its history. Suffering the 2019 Easter Sunday attack followed by Covid-19 pandemic and world economic crisis, the Indian Ocean island faced a severe financial crisis with inflation and dollar crunch since the beginning of 2022.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 16, 2023
Macron on the brink: How French pensions revolt could wreck his presidency

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PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron will face a moment of reckoning Thursday as lawmakers gear up for a final vote on the government’s deeply unpopular pension reform.
The controversial bill, a centerpiece of Macron’s second term, has sparked weeks of nationwide protests led by trade unions and faced intense criticism from both the far left and the far right in the National Assembly.
The French president wants to increase the legal age of retirement to 64 from 62 and extend contributions for a full pension in an effort to balance the accounts of France’s state pensions system — among the most generous in the world. According to projections from France’s Council of Pensions Planning, the finances of the pensions system are balanced in the short term but will go into deficit in the long term.

Despite government concessions on various aspects of the bill in recent weeks, opposition to the reform remains very high, with polls saying two-thirds of French citizens oppose it.
Speculation is running high that Macron might not have enough support in the National Assembly, and may choose a constitutional maneuver to bypass parliament — in a move that could unleash a political storm in France.
On Thursday, the French Senate and the National Assembly are expected to cast a crucial vote on the second reading of the bill, after the Senate voted in favor last week. The outcome will determine the shape of Macron’s second term and stands to bear heavily on his legacy.
The worst case: Macron loses the vote in parliament
Losing the parliamentary vote would be a stunning defeat for the French president, who pinned his bid for a second term on his promises to reform France’s pensions system. But political commentators have been speculating in recent days that Macron’s Renaissance party doesn’t have enough votes to pass the bill.
The French president lost its absolute majority in the National Assembly in parliamentary elections last June. He has since been forced into making ad-hoc deals with MPs from France’s conservative party Les Républicains. But the once-mighty conservatives appear split on the reform, despite assurances this week from their leader Olivier Marleix that there was “a clear majority” backing the bill.
A defeat in parliament would have seismic and long-term repercussions for Macron’s second term and it is likely that the president’s trusted lieutenant Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne would have to resign in such a scenario. Party heavyweights however say they will not shy away from seeking a vote.
“There will be a vote, we want a vote, everyone must take its responsibilities,” said Aurore Bergé, leader of the Renaissance group in the National Assembly.
“There can be an accident … we’ll manage it as we can,” admitted Jean-Paul Mattei, a centrist MP who belongs to Macron’s coalition, with reference to a defeat in parliament.
However, this is the most unlikely scenario as expectations are that the government will bypass a vote if they sense that they are short on votes.
Protestors hold an effigy of French President Emmanuel Macron, during a demonstration on the 8th day of strikes and protests across the country against the government’s proposed pensions overhaul in Paris on March 15, 2023 | Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images
Pretty bad: Macron bypasses parliament and loses credibility
In the face of a potential defeat in the National Assembly, Macron has a nuclear option: invoke article 49.3 of the French constitution. This mechanism allows the government to force through legislation without submitting it to a vote.
While the constitutional maneuver may seem like an easy way out, it’s a highly risky move as it allows lawmakers to table a motion of no confidence within 24 hours. Macron’s government has faced down motions of no confidence in the past but the stakes are much higher this time around.
Beyond surviving a motion of no-confidence, Macron and Borne will also come under fire for refusing to submit to the democratic process.
According to Frédéric Dabi, general director of the IFOP polling institute, the impact on public opinion if the government uses the 49.3 article as opposed to passing a tight vote in parliament would be “radically different.”
“Public opinions on the 49.3 article have changed … it is regarded as a tool to brutalize the National Assembly: it’s now seen as authoritarian instead of merely authoritative. People want more transparency, more democracy today,” he said.
France’s hardline unions would no doubt use this to stoke unrest and call for further strike action.
Trade union leader Laurent Berger has warned the government against using the 49.3 article, saying that it would be “incredible and dangerous.”
“Nobody can predict what will happen, the protest movement seems to be running out of steam, but if the government invokes article 49.3 it could be read as forcing the issue and may relaunch the protest movement,” said Dabi.
Still not great: Macron wins vote but faces mass protests
If the French president wins the vote in parliament, it’ll be seen as a victory but one that may completely drain his political capital, and whip up protests on the streets.
“It’ll be a victory for Macron, but it’ll only bear its fruit in the long term. In the short term, he’ll face a tense country where relations have become very strained,” said Chloé Morin, a writer and political analyst.
Trade union leader Berger has said that he would “take on board” the result of Thursday’s vote in parliament. But protests, which have been almost weekly since January, may continue nonetheless across the country in an effort to force the government into backing down and withdrawing the text.
Morin thinks it is unlikely there will be “an explosion of protests” after the vote as people are resigned to seeing it pass.
French police officers intervene during a protest by local council employees against the government’s retirement reform in front on the prefecture in Seine Saint-Denis, in Bobigny, a surburb of Paris on March 14, 2023 | Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images
“However, the protest movement might become more radical with lightning protests or sabotages, led by a minority in the citizens’ movement,” said Morin.
In October last year, industrial action in France’s refineries led to nationwide shortages at petrol stations, forcing the government to intervene in what was seen as Macron’s biggest challenge since his re-election last year.
There are dangerous precedents for Macron too. In December 2019, the government was forced to abandon a new green tax when faced with the explosive Yellow Vests protests that shook the political establishment.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 15, 2023
Transparency Our Top Priority, Deferred Exams Will Be Conducted Soon: LG Sinha

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SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said the computer based examinations that were deferred yesterday will be conducted once Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board will be fully satisfied and that exams will be held soon.
Talking to reporters, LG Sinha said transparency is a top priority for them and if there is any iota of doubt that will be addressed.
He said recruitments will be done based on merit and transparency is the top priority for them and there will be no compromise on it.
LG Sinha said that so for 47 employees have been dismissed from their services as they were having militancy links.
“The statement I made a day ago about jobs being given to militants was based on facts and action has already been taken against many people in this regard,” he said.

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#Transparency #Top #Priority #Deferred #Exams #Conducted #Sinha
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

March 15, 2023
Transparency our top priority, deferred exams will be conducted soon: LG Manoj Sinha

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Srinagar, Mar 15: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said the computer based examinations that were deferred yesterday will be conducted once Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board will be fully satisfied and that exams will be held soon.
Talking to reporters, as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), transparency is a top priority for them and if there is any iota of doubt that will be addressed.
He said recruitments will be done based on merit and transparency is the top priority for them and there will be no compromise on it.
Reply to a question, Sinha said so for 47 employees have been dismissed from their services as they were having militancy links.
“The statement I made a day ago about jobs were given to militants was based on facts as action has already been taken against many people,” he said—(KNO)
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#Transparency #top #priority #deferred #exams #conducted #Manoj #Sinha
( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

March 15, 2023