An Arctic holiday on a Russian research ship
The Sunday Times, 24th February 2014
We were at breakfast when John, our rugged Australian expedition leader, told us over the ship’s public address system that a bear had been sighted on land, as we were crossing the mouth of one of Svalbard’s westerly fjords.
“Get your life jackets on,” he urged. “Gangway, 9am.”
John’s words were music to my ears. Over the past several decades, I have travelled all over the world observing and writing about wild animals, particularly endangered species. But I have never seen a polar bear in the wild. It was the third day of an Arctic adventure. I desperately wanted to see that bear. We all did.
Our Zodiacs, each carrying 10 passengers, cruised parallel to the rocky coast. We looked at the bear and the bear looked right back at us. Once or twice, he lifted his head, half raising his torso, before lying down again.
Our guide and Zodiac driver that morning was Cecilia, a young Norwegian policewoman who had taken temporary leave to join the team on board the Russian polar research ship the Akademik Sergey Vavilov. “This bear’s doing what a bear is meant to do,” she said. “He’s lying down, conserving energy. If you see polar bears walking around, that means they’re hungry and looking for food.”
We must have made a dozen passes that morning, right in front of the bear, at a distance of less than 100yd. The sea was calm. There wasn’t much ice in the water to impede our passage — the absence of ice around the archipelago was distinctly worrying.
About 3,000 polar bears live in Svalbard, out of an estimated worldwide total of 20,000. They need ice to survive — it’s where they find the seals that constitute their main food source. For the past couple of years, though, the ice, which in winter used to cover most of the sea around Svalbard, hasn’t arrived.
“You can’t be sure it’s down to global warming,” Cecilia said. “But the reality is that there are some very hungry bears around.”
Little wonder, then, that you don’t go ashore when you know bears are there — and that every guide carries a gun.
The polar-bear sightings were the high point of the trip. Not far behind was the afternoon when we found ourselves, miles from shore, surrounded by a pod of fin whales. After centuries of being hunted in the Arctic, fin-whale populations are just beginning to recover. That afternoon, we must have seen 20 of them, feeding, spouting and diving.
The Sergey Vavilov is a quiet vessel, but the appropriately named Captain Beluga had turned the engines off, using the electric bow thruster to manoeuvre his ship as we followed the pod for more than an hour.
One sunny afternoon, we cruised in our Zodiacs along the vast blue-white cliff face of the Monaco glacier, in the Spitsbergen part of Svalbard. Seals had hauled themselves out of the water onto the mini icebergs that had been caused by the calving of the glacier. We saw part of the cliff collapse into the sea with a boom. Seconds later, we felt the wave surge. If rule number one in the Arctic is to keep your distance from polar bears, number two is to give glaciers a wide berth.
In total, we saw five bears during the trip, and I like to think one of them at least was “mine”. I was on the Sergey Vavilov’s observation deck early one morning. I won’t say that day had just dawned, because in summer, in these high latitudes, the sun never sets. But the breakfast gong was a long way off. I had my binoculars trained on the shore when I noticed a tiny butter-coloured blob.
One of the expedition guides, Sunni, was standing next to me. (Twenty-one years ago, she walked to the South Pole, dragging her own sledge, part of the first all-woman team to have done so.) I handed her the binoculars. “Can that possibly be a bear?” I asked.
She took a long look, then shook me warmly by the hand and made for the bridge. Moments later, I heard John’s announcement: “Good morning, everybody. If you want a bear before breakfast, come up on deck and take a look.”


More than 65,000 people died of Covid in March in Brazil – double previous high
Brazil has suffered by far its heaviest month of Covid-19 losses after the deaths of nearly 67,000 people were confirmed in March.
The figure – more than double the previous high, when 32,912 deaths were recorded last July – underscored how the South American country has been plunged into the most devastating chapter of its epidemic.
A record 3,950 deaths were recorded on Wednesday, with experts warning the number of daily fatalities is likely to rise to about 5,000 as the situation deteriorates further in April.
Earlier in the day opposition politicians demanded the impeachment of Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has been accused of catastrophically mismanaging an epidemic that has killed more than 322,000 of his citizens.
Only the US has a higher official death toll. Bolsonaro continues to resist containment measures such as lockdown.
“He will go down in history as the governor ... who most inflicted tragedy on the Brazilian people,” said Randolfe Rodrigues, one of the senators behind the impeachment attempt.
Polls show support for Brazil’s far-right leader is slipping as a result of his reaction to Covid, although he retains the support of about a third of voters.
German president receives AstraZeneca jab
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier became the first high-profile German official to receive a dose of the AstraZeneca jab on Thursday, as politicians in the country joined an effort to shore up confidence in the troubled Anglo-Swedish vaccine.
Steinmeier, who is 65, received his shot at Berlin’s military hospital under new guidelines that restrict the vaccine’s use for those below 60 but relaxes prioritisation rules for those above.
Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the decision on Tuesday this week after Germany’s vaccine regulator reported 31 cases where people who had received the AstraZeneca jab developed cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, a rare blood-clotting disorder.
Gregor Gysi, an influential figure in the leftwing party Die Linke and the former leader of the opposition in the Bundestag, also shared a picture of himself receiving the Oxford-developed vaccine.
The health minister, Jens Spahn, had appealed to politicians over 60 to show their faith in AstraZeneca’s product.
General practitioners are being integrated in the vaccination roll-out from today, administering the BioNTech vaccine and, from 18 April, the AstraZeneca jab too.
Sicilian health chief investigated over 'altered' Covid data to avoid red zone
Sicily’s health chief resigned on Tuesday after being targeted in an investigation over the alleged falsifying of Covid-19 figures to avoid a strict lockdown.
According to prosecutors, who put a number of people under house arrest and the Sicilian health chief, Ruggero Razza, under investigation, health authorities in Sicily allegedly altered the number of new Covid cases and the number of Covid tests as part of a “grievous political design” to avoid the region being classed as a high-risk red zone and put on hard lockdown.
Early in October, Italy introduced a three-tiered, coloured system to combat the spread of the virus. Regions are divided into three zones: red for the highest risk, then orange and yellow. In the red zones, residents can only leave home for work, health reasons, essential shopping, or emergencies.
In the orange and yellow zones, slightly less severe restrictions have been introduced. Italy’s regional governments send daily data to Rome on infection rates and deaths, which is used to decide the intensity of the restrictions.
According to investigators, reports of deaths and new cases in the region were spread out over time to paint a rosier picture than was actually the case.
Razza, who has denied wrongdoing but decided to step down to avoid further controversy, was caught on wiretap discussing numbers of deaths with a local health official, and said: “Let’s spread them around a bit”, AFP has reported.
“I would like to reiterate that in Sicily, the epidemic has always been carefully monitored,” Razza said. “We did not need to hide the number of infected people or lower the epidemiological impact because we have ourselves often anticipated the decisions of Rome and adopted stricter measures.”
Last November, Italy’s national health inspectors were dispatched to investigate whether there was a concerted attempt in Sicily to avoid going into the high-contagion-risk red zone by inflating the availability of ICU beds.
Palermo’s mayor, Leoluca Orlando, said in a statement that the Sicilian capital would join as a civil plaintiff in any legal action, given the impact coronavirus measures have had in the city.
President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement of new Covid restrictions across France are part of a strategy of “freiner sans fermer” – stopping the virus without shutting down the country, according to Elysée advisors.
There had been fears the French leader would announce a repeat of the strict three-month lockdown imposed this time last year as a third wave of infections hit the country putting pressure on hospitals and frontline health staff.
Instead, Macron urged the country to make one last effort over the coming month. Schools are to be closed for three weeks, non-essential shops shut and people restricted to travelling within 10km of their homes.
In an unexpected concession, Macron announced that travel over the Easter weekend would be tolerated for those seeking to escape to second homes or rental properties, but he said once there, they would be expected to stay and inter-regional travel would be clamped down on after Monday’s bank holiday. Family gatherings over the Easter holidays were discouraged, he said.
The Elysée said the measures were necessary in the face of virus variants, including the English variant, that were “more contagious and spreading more rapidly causing more serious infections”.
“The idea was to avoid a strict lockdown and let the vaccine take the relay. We are following this logic of putting the brakes on 9the virus) without closing down (the country),” an official said.
Libération reported: “It’s a tightening up with the closure of schools, but without a new lockdown.”
In the Assemblée nationale, the opposition Les Républicains described the health situation as a “catastrophic stalemate”.
Damien Abad, president of the centre right party’s parliamentary group, said its MPs would not be voting for the new measures accusing the government of “impotence” faced with the third wave.
He acknowledged the “economic management of the crisis is satisfactory and generally effective, but attacked what he described as the “calamitous, ponderous and chaotic” management of the health crisis.
Health workers and pharmacists in Italy are now obliged to take the Covid-19 vaccine, or risk being suspended without pay.
Mario Draghi’s government approved the mandatory vaccinations “to protect as much as possible medical and paramedical staff as well as those who are in environments that may be more exposed to the risk of infection”.
The move comes after recent Covid-19 outbreaks in some Italian hospitals are believed to have been linked to health staff who refused to take the jab.
The law obliges public and private health staff, as well as pharmacists, to have the vaccination or risk being demoted or assigned to non-public facing roles, or being suspended for eight months without pay.
In March, a judge in the Veneto city of Belluno rejected an appeal from 10 healthcare workers, who were suspended without pay by two care homes in February after refusing the vaccine.
In her ruling, Anna Travia said:
The effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing the negative evolution of disease caused by the virus is widely known, as evidenced by the drastic drop in deaths among the categories that can take advantage of it, such as health workers and care home residents.
Italy has also introduced a law protecting health staff who administer the Covid-19 vaccine from legal action if a patient dies after receiving one. The measure was introduced in response to a manslaughter investigation launched after a Sicilian man died after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.
The health minister, Roberto Speranza, said Italy’s vaccination programme has produced “visible results” in areas where the administration had been highest, such as within hospitals and care homes.
As of Thursday, more than 10 million people in Italy had received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, of whom 3.1 million have had both doses.


We are in the business of leather for more than five decades.We have a well established and very well reputed company named ” KING LEATHER ” in Karachi Pakistan.KING LEATHER is a manufacturer, Importer and Exporter of leather and leather products. We are importing raw hides and skins from all over the World (etc.Middle East, Africa, Europe, America and Australia).
We also purchase our local hides and skins in big quantities. All the hides and skins are being manufactured on top quality standards to fulfill the latest demand of the modern leather Industry around the Globe. We have a very experienced team of skilled and professional workers to maintain the top quality of our leather production, every step of our production (etc.purchase, production and sale) is very well and carefully handled by one of our directors, who is a specialist in that particular field. So, every valuable customer of King Leather is being treated magnificently on top priority basis because the satisfaction of the customer is our strength. We have two units of tanneries to produce around one million square feet hides and skins per month. We are exporting our top quality leather and leather products to Europe, Middle East and Asia.


text:
The League of Nations headquartered in Geneva Switzerland, was an international organization formed after the first world war on January 10, 1920. Its genesis can be traced to the Paris Peace Conference, which ended the first world war. It was created to provide a forum for resolving international disputes.
The League was the brainchild of the then US President Woodrow Wilson, who, in his famous Fourteen Points, stated to come up with a ‘general association of nations. . . formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike’.
As per the covenant, the League would guarantee territorial integrity and political independence of member states. It was also authorized to take ‘any action . . . to safeguard the peace, establish procedures for arbitration , and create the mechanisms for economic and military sanctions’. Its prime focus was on preventing wars through collective security and disarmament, and, came up with the procedures of negotiation and arbitration to settle international disputes.
But, all of these proved futile when the world plunged again into another, yet more devastative world war within just two decades. Some historians, however, are of the view that US’s never acquiescence of the League diluted and weakened its core concepts and led to failure of its mandate.
Reasons for Formation
The first world war i.e., ‘ war to end all wars’, gave a severe blow, affecting the social, political, and economic systems, to Europe and its colonies. It inflicted psychological and physical damage to the people and led to rising up of anti war sentiments. The world got terrorized by the slaughter that had taken place in what was meant to be a civilized part of the world.
The obvious next step, visible to the leaders, was to create an international organization so as to do away with any possibility of war, and, if any war occurred, to come up with a speedy solution. This led to creation of the League of Nations in January 1920.
In its Preamble, it was stated that ‘the High Contracting Parties in order to promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security; by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war … agree to this covenant of the League of Nations’ . It was, hence, mandated to circumvent war through disarmament, open diplomacy, international cooperation, restrictions on the right to wage war, and penalties making war ill-favoured.
Objectives of League of Nations
According to the covenant of the League: The High Contracting Parties , in order to promote international cooperation and to achieve international peace and security agree to:
Accept obligations not to resort to war,
Adhere to open, just and honourable relations between nations,
Establish understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among Governments, and,
Maintain justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organized peoples with one another,
From the above covenant, the aims and objectives of the League of Nations could be summed up as under:
stop war (s),
establish, and further maintain, world peace and security,
establish friendly and cooperative relations between nations,
solve International issues with peace, avoiding the wars,
obey the International Law,
improving people’s living and working conditions,
encourage international cooperation in trade aspects.
Successes of League of Nations
The concept of League, and, its establishment, was, in itself, a success. Apart from the existing differences among the nations, 42 states came together to form the League of Nations. The objective underlying inter alia was to ensure a peaceful world and settling disputes through means of mediation and arbitration. Although its successes were undermined by multiple failures, some of them are worth mentioning.
The first world war rendered innumerable people homeless and engendered the refugee problem. Lakhs of POWs (Prisoners of war) were there. The League, taking note of this, set up a Refugee Commission. It took half-a-million POWs home and within not more than two years the question of refugee issue was settled.
A Slavery Commission was set up in order to check the inhumane practice of slavery especially in Africa. Approximately 2,00,000 slaves were liberated in Sierra Leone. Although it couldn ’t effectively tackle the issue.
To improve working conditions, pensions and minimum wage schemes and to encourage formation of trade unions, the International Labour Organization(ILO) was founded in 1919.
A Health Organization was also formed to tackle epidemics especially leprosy, malaria, yellow fever, etc.
A Disarmament Commission was set up to pursue disarmament across Europe.
It was also quite successful in avoiding small wars by settling border and territorial disputes. Few instances were :
It successfully arbitrated the dispute between, Czechoslovakia and Polandover coal rich Teschen in 1920.
Settled the controversy between Sweden and France in their contest over Aaland Islands in 1921.
Fixed the friction between Germany and Poland over Silesia in 1921.
Supported Iraq’s demand of Mosul, as against Turkey, and successfully resolved the discord.
Ordered and successfully accomplished withdrawal of Greece from Bulgaria in 1925.
Failures of League of Nations
The League of Nations, banking upon the idea of Collective Security, was created in order to do away with any tussle which may lead to war, to maintain peace, etc. It was clearly elucidated in Article 11 of the League’s Covenant that ‘any war or threat of war is a matter of concern to the whole League and the League shall take action that may safeguard peace’.
In that sense, the most evident failure of the League was that the globe once again plummeted into another war in just two decades (1939). The interwar period (1919-39) was also contentious which again sabotaged League’s another, yet important, mandate of maintaining world peace. The specific failures could be pointed as:
Capture of Fiume (1919)
Angered by the settlements made under the Treaty of Versailles, Italian nationalists, in 1919, captured port Fiume (now in Croatia), which was given to Yugoslavia by the Treaty. League did nothing and after some 15 months , Italian government solved the issue.
Capture of Vilna (1920)
In 1920, the Poles captured Vilna (capital of Lithuania), where, after the post – war settlements, 30% of the population were Polish and 2% were Lithuanians. League could do nothing even after help was sought by Lithuania, and, Vilna remained under Polish control till the second world war.
Meanwhile, other events took place where the League was mere a spectator and did nothing. Some of them were: scuffle between Turkey and Greece in Smyrna, 1922; French invasion of Ruhr in 1923, over the failure of Germany to pay war reparations on time; etc.
Manchurian Crisis (1931)
Japan occupied Manchuria in 1931 and established a puppet government, Manchukuo. Although the League refused to recognize Manchukuo, it did not ask Japan to restore status quo ante and end expansionist policy and aggression. Following this, Japan left the League and continued its aggressive and expansionist acts (invaded China later on).
Abyssinian Crisis (1935)
In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia which was a member of the League. This led the League to impose economic, yet limited, sanctions against Italy. In mid-1936, Italy annexed Ethiopia. Two months later, those sanctions were also withdrawn.
Spanish Civil War (1936-39)
In July 1936, armed conflict broke out between the Spanish Nationalists and Republicans. The Nationalists were supported by Mussolini and Hitler. Even after Spanish foreign minister’s request to the League for ensuring political independence and territorial integrity of Spain, League could do nothing.
Apart from these annexation and military scuffle issues, several other areas also witnessed League’s futility:
The 48-hour week provision for workers, proposed by the International Labour Organization (ILO), could not be realized in practice.
A Disarmament Conference, 1923, failed because of Britain’ s stand against it.
Reasons for Failure of League of Nations
US’s Reluctance in Joining League
According to some historians, the very discernible weakness of the League was US not joining it despite Woodrow Wilson behind the concept of the League. It impaired the legitimacy of the League.
After this move of the United States, which was the only world power not affected (as compared to those in Europe) by the First World War, the onus got transferred to Britain and France. Britain and France were already war – ravaged and their situations were not well so as to sustain that position of world leadership without US. In addition, there were confrontations between Britain and France on various issues. Both, France and Britain, had different priorities also. France saw League as its guard against Germany, while, Britain wanted League to protect its imperialist interests .
Dependence on Great Powers for Manoeuvrability
The League lacked an armed force of its own. It was dependent on the Great Powers for enforcement of its resolutions which they were reluctant to do. At most League can impose economic sanctions. It also had no substantial impact on the target country, because they could simply trade with non-members of the League.
Sometimes, even this available power of imposing economic sanctions was not used in proper sense. During the Abyssinian crisis, 1935, the League imposed only limited sanctions on Italy and after few months even that limited economic sanctions were withdrawn.
As per the League’s covenant, all decisions of the League would be taken with unanimity. That provision of unanimous adoption of any decision was the biggest structural hindrance in the seamless working of the League. There was hardly any decision which had fluently came out of the League. This also obstructed the League to take any swift action.
Policy of Appeasement
The irrational policy of Appeasement followed by Britain and France, who could, instead, have stopped the growth of the fascist power(s), added fuel to the pyre of world peace. They covertly supported, by not taking any substantial action, the fascists in a view that the rising fascism would cover them against any possible communist revolution. And because the command of the League was in the hands of these two states, League did nothing.
USSR Not being a Member of the League
The United States came out of the League following its policy of isolationism and Britain and France pursued appeasement. Then the Soviet Union was only great power which took stand against rising fascism and their barbarities. But USSR was not a member of the League and this was also one of the facts which led to League’s failure.
The League faced paucity of funds which was also one of the reasons for its failure. The members were unwilling to fund the organization.
Suspicion among Members and Withdrawal of Membership
The League was dominated by the victors of the first world war. Hence, League failed to check any aggressive step taken by them. Therefore, other members, gradually, began to lose their confidence on the organization, which further led to several withdrawals from the League. Some members, like Japan, also withdrew either because of their personal interests or League’s stand against them. For instance, Japan came out of it after League refused to recognize the Manchukuo government.
League of Nations: A Critical Analysis
The League of Nations was but an association of number of nations, based upon the notion of Collective Security. As a concept, the League, in itself, which was an unprecedented step towards ensuring world peace , security, etc., was a success. The covenant specifically illustrated all such principles. But the failure of member nations, esp., the victors, in realizing the rationale behind the League culminated to the defeat of the mandate of League in broader sense.
It was rather the defeat of the then great powers viz. US, Britain, etc., which raised its head in the form of the failure of the League. Although, it achieved successes on various issues (discussed earlier ), it failed in its prime motive of maintaining world peace and avoiding another war. It is evident how much disrupted was the world peace during the interwar period. The world witnessed another, yet more devastating , war within two decades. The members were together at that international platform only formally, but they were far separated in reality. All of them had their own interests and took no lessons from the first world war. The notion of Collective Security was only on papers, in reality, they were suspicious about each other, and were very wary of taking any action which may have avoided the war.
Their appeasement policy, only in light of their ideological differences with socialism (hence, communism), disrupted the League. So, in a nutshell, if the failures and successes of the League are juxtaposed, the League, in reality, was indeed a debacle of the world and humanity on the whole.
Demise of League of Nations
In 1946, the League of Nations was officially dissolved with the establishment of the United Nations. The United Nations was modeled after the former but with increased international support and extensive machinery to help the new body avoid repeating the League’s failures.
Many League bodies, such as the International Labor Organization, continued to function and eventually became affiliated with the UN. The League’s assets of $22 ,000,000 were then assigned to the U.N.
The structure of the United Nations was intended to make it more effective than the League. The principal Allies in World War II ( UK, USSR, France, U. S., and China) became permanent members of the UN Security Council, giving the new “Great Powers” significant international influence, mirroring the League Council.
Decisions of the UN Security Council are binding on all members of the UN; however, unanimous decisions are not required, unlike the League Council. Permanent members of the UN Security Council were given a shield to protect their vital interests, which has prevented the UN acting decisively in many cases.
Similarly, the UN does not have its own standing armed forces, but the UN has been more successful than the League in calling for its members to contribute to armed interventions, such as the Korean War, and peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia. However, the UN has in some cases been forced to rely on economic sanctions. The UN has also been more successful than the League in attracting members from the nations of the world, making it more representative.

domain: history


text:
Saudi Arabia (nation)
Found in 6 Collections and/or Records:
An album of photographs, mostly stuck in but with 15 loose. Very few are captioned.
1-114, 122-140 show Egypt and the Sudan, 115-121 are of Jeddah and Abu Shaib 1948-49. 122-123 show Khor Arbaat in 1958.
A series of sheets apparently torn from a photograph album, with most stuck on the pages and 8 loose prints, chiefly enlargements of those preceding. Not all are captioned.
1-16 and 92 relate to Egypt and the Sudan, 17-47 to Uganda, including the Owen Falls Dam, built 1949-1952, and the remainder probably of Saudi Arabia.
An album of photographs, mostly stuck in but with 19 loose, many duplicating items already listed.
1-40 are photographs of Cyprus, 41-82, dated between 1948 and 1954, are probably all of Saudi Arabia.

domain: geography


text:
It's not too late to get ready for the holiday.
Read Whole Story
The five best sources for crafts, decorations and table ideas for your holiday.
This holiday, go beyond the typical pastels.
You'll never want to go back to dyeing again.
And don't worry about making mistakes.
You'll be glad you started early.
Get top stories and blogs posts emailed to you each day.

domain: hobby


text:
Back in Chicago
August 27, 2013
Great couple of days done of the Tour. Met some great peeps in Chicago, Racine and Dubuque. I’m now back in Chicago with a couple of days off. Managed to get along to Lingers Martini bar in the south side where I had my mind blown with Bassist Sharay Reed. Such a nice guy too! To top it all off another great Bassist turned up, Mr Rodney Jones Jr. Was so inspiring to see these guys play. Every musician in the band played it like it was there last gig.
Such a great night and to top it all off Rodney gave me a lift back to my hotel. He let me hear some tracks he’d been working on and his gig with Fred Hammond. Gobsmacked, these guys are the real deal! Aside from being great musicians, these guys are the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
Please be sure to check em out.
Sharay Reed Here
Rodney Jones Jr Here

domain: artistic


text:
Don’t have a job – these are the health insurance you can buy
Sougato (32-years-old) lives in Nagpur with his wife (28-years-old). He was associated with a private company and both Sougato and his wife were covered by the employer’s health insurance plans. But during the second wave of the COVID-19, Sougato lost his job as well as his employer’s health insurance as he was laid off by the company. Though Sougato lost his job, he still doesn’t want to compromise his and his wife’s health. Sougato wants to purchase a robust health insurance policy for both of them that will give them adequate protection against various diseases including the COVID-19. But Sougato is not sure whether he can purchase a health policy or not as he is unemployed now.
So, here we are going to discuss how to get health insurance without a job.
Nearly, 12.2 crore people in India have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has increased the country’s unemployment rate. Along with jobs, many people have lost their employer’s health insurance coverage. Do they have any other option to cover themselves as well as their families?
Whether you are unemployed, self-employed, or have lost your job, you have various options to purchase health insurance policies that will give you sufficient coverage and financial protection against healthcare emergencies. Let’s take a look at some companies that offer medical insurance for employed people.
Insurance Companies offered Insurance for Employed Peoples
|Health Insurance Company||The Claim Settlement Ratio|
|IFFCO Tokio General Insurance||96.33%|
|Care Health Insurance||95.47%|
|Magma HDI Health Insurance||95.17%|
|The Oriental Insurance Company||93.96%|
|Bajaj Allianz General Insurance||92.24%|
|Max Bupa Health Insurance||89.46%|
|HDFC ERGO General Insurance||86.52%|
|Manipal Cigna Health Insurance||85.72%|
|Edelweiss General Insurance||85.57%|
|Future Generali General Insurance||82.96%|
How to purchase a health insurance plan without a job?
If you want to purchase a health insurance plan without any job, you must consider the below-mentioned points.
- How much cover do you want?
- What is your budget?
- What are the benefits of the plan?
- For whom do you want to purchase a health insurance plan (only you or your family too)?
- Have you gone through the features and inclusions of the health insurance policy?
- Have you compared various health insurance plans online?
- Have you gone through customer reviews?
- What are the add-on riders provided by the insurance company?
- Have you checked the grace period and renewal options?
Types of health insurance policies for unemployed people
Individual health policy: An individual health plan offers coverage to a single person. This plan doesn’t cover your family members, rather it covers individuals separately. This plan is apt for those who are looking for individual coverage. An individual whose age is 18-70 years can purchase this type of policy. Some benefits of this plan are,
- Tax Benefits: You can enjoy tax benefits against all your health insurance premiums under section 80D of the Income Tax Act.
- No Claim Bonus: You will get a “no claim bonus” from your insurance company for every claim-free year. So, always stay healthy and wholesome to enjoy the benefits of your health insurance policy.
- Wide range of coverage: An individual health insurance plan welcomes you with adequate coverage against various ailments/diseases.
Family floater health insurance: A family floater health insurance policy covers every member of your family under a single plan. There is only one sum insured for this type of plan and the amount is shared between every insured family member. For a family floater plan, the sum insured floats between family members.
For example, you purchase a floater policy of Rs. 15 lakh for your four family members. If anyone of the family uses the policy up to Rs. 5 lakh, then the remaining Rs. 10 lakh can be claimed by the rest of the members.
These days, many Indian families prefer a floater policy over an individual health policy. A family floater plan is ideal for large families where everyone needs adequate health insurance coverage for their healthcare requirements. The premium of a family floater plan will never burn your pocket as you are paying the premium amount at a time for all members. But don’t include your senior parents under your floater policy. Rather you can cover them with senior citizen health insurance plans. Because these people are more susceptible to various diseases, thus, it will affect your premium.
Senior Citizen Health Insurance: This type of plan is specially designed for senior citizens who are above 60 years. A senior citizen health policy offers coverage for medication expenses, hospitalization due to an accident or illness, pre-and post-hospitalization, and treatment. Some plans also bear the costs of psychiatric and domiciliary hospitalization treatments.
Before purchasing this type of policy, a customer needs to undergo a complete body pre-policy check-up. The maximum entry age limit is 70 years and lifetime renewability.
Critical Illness Insurance: A critical illness policy will offer you coverage against various life-threatening diseases. A critical illness policy is applicable for the below-mentioned diseases.
- Cancer, Stroke, Kidney Failure
- Paralysis, Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery
- First heart attack, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
- Multiple Sclerosis, Aorta Graft Surgery
A critical illness policy is beneficial for middle-class families. This type of plan offers policyholders a pre-decided lump sum amount irrespective of the costs of the treatment once you are diagnosed with the disease. Thus, this policy saves your hard-earned money.
- This policy plan comes with lifetime renewability
- To initiate a claim, you need to survive for 30 days after diagnosis of the disease
- If you have a family history of critical diseases, then you must purchase this type of policy
- The policy terminates once the sum insured is released
If you have lost your job during this deadly COVID-19 pandemic or some other reason, you can still purchase a health insurance policy for yourself and your family members. Don’t get disheartened if you have lost your employer’s health insurance, because there are multiple options of health insurance policy to choose from and secure your and your family’s health.

domain: medical


text:
- VIP Gloves (VIP) will begin marketing its nitrile glove products in the US, after receiving approval from the Food and Drug Administration
- The gloves supplier says it received confirmation in recent days that it’s successfully registered on the FDA Industry Systems
- VIP will now begin marketing its gloves in the “lucrative” US market, with plans in motion to begin selling the gloves in Australia as well
- Currently the business is awaiting a response from Australia’s drug watchdog about its application to market the gloves
- VIP Gloves are trading up 10.3 per cent at 4.3 cents each
VIP Gloves (VIP) will begin marketing its nitrile glove products in the US, after receiving approval from the food and drug administration.
The gloves supplier said it received confirmation in recent days that it has been successfully registered on the FDA Industry Systems.
Now the registration is official, VIP will begin marketing its nitrile gloves in the “lucrative” North American market.
In a statement, the company said significant efforts were underway to make inroads into the new market and expand its geographical reach.
VIP also has plans in motion to begin selling its nitrile gloves in Australia, having made an application to the country’s drug watchdog.
The Therapeutic Goods Association was still reviewing VIP’s application, but the company said both new markets would provide it a platform to launch its own glove brand.
VIP said the US and Australian markets would also support the additional production capacity coming online.
The supplier’s nitrile gloves are already being sold into the UK and European markets, under VIP’s CE EU Examination Certificate.
Shares in VIP Gloves were trading up 10.3 per cent at 4.3 cents per share at 2:02 pm AEST.

domain: news


text:
DIY Yarn Ball Garland
One of the best feelings for me is spotting something ridiculously overpriced while shopping and thinking "I can make that!", which is exactly how this project began. Along Moose's walk route a very fancy-pants store had filled their windows with Christmas decorations made of yarn. There were little felted animal ornaments, gigantic wreaths made of yarn pom-pom balls in 70's shag carpet colors and adorably colorful garlands strung around a naked tree branch. I'm not supporting all of these ideas. Seriously, I held my breath in fear imagining the dust collected in the wreath, and the "Christmas tree" would have been more at home in the fireplace but the garland was very cute.
So off to Pinterest I went, searching every combination of 'yarn', 'ball' and 'garland' I could think of. Making the yarn balls was the bulk of the work and though they're really easy to make, it took me a few hours, three episodes of Seinfeld, a third of Forest Gump, and a little help to finish them all.
My eleven year old helper Olivia had so much fun we made a trip to Michael's right then to get her more yarn. She went home and made enough garland to reach all the way across her dad's living room! I just kept making balls until I ran out of yarn and ended up with two garlands to string over the windows in my apartment.
They turned out so cute I'm already thinking of excuses to leave them up after the holidays. I love the random mix of colors and the slight scraggliness of the yarn balls. While taking pictures for this post, everything got jostled around so none of the balls are the same distance apart anymore but I just left it that way. It added character.
That's my favorite thing about this project -- you can't really mess it up. Choose whatever colors, use what yarn you have on hand, eye-ball the measurements, and trim the yarn balls. Or don't trim them at all! I bet that no matter what you do it will look fantastic.
How to Make Your Own
I made two garlands, both about 19 feet long using the following supplies:
- Lots of yarn - I used 5 colors, 1 ball/skein of yarn in each color. I really liked the way mixing different weights/thicknesses of yarn looked so I used a bunch of leftovers from my stash. WOOHOO for closet space!
- Recycled Sari twine from Anthropologie to string the balls together but yarn, twine, string, cord, anything would do the job.
- Yarn-ball-making-tool (I'm sure there's a better name for it) from Michael's to make my balls was more efficient but you can definitely do without. The balls turned out more even using the tool, which saved me time trimming them.
- heavy-duty scissors.
Here is the tutorial on how to make and string the yarn balls. I left the pieces of yarn used to tie the balls on the twine intentionally long so I could tie big bows, but you can use a knot or smaller bows if you prefer.


text:
Instructor: Mellissa Redman
Flex your artistic muscles to create original beasts. We will utilize a variety of techniques and materials in this camp, combining painting, drawing, and sculpture to give life to one of a kind whimsical creatures. Whether it is a kindly dragon or fearsome giant, fun will be had!
Mornings will consist of the main art activities, creating within the theme of the week. Instruction is by art educators assisted by studio staff.
Afternoons will consist of open and structured art activities with a variety of related projects, facilitated by studio staff.
*In-person social distancing limited to 12-18 artists per session per current guidelines*
1/2 day (9am-12pm) $175
Full/day (9am-3pm) $250
Extended Day (8am-5:30pm) $360


text:
Tinsel town's favourite couple, Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma's second wedding reception in Mumbai took place last evening. After their grand Delhi reception, the much-in-love couple hosted the second party at St. Regis Hotel in Lower Parel. The lavish bash was attended by who's who of Bollywood and cricket.
While Virat wore an indigo velvet bandhgala and jodhpuri trouser, Anushka was in a golden lehenga which had hand-beaten silver thread, textured sequins and cut organza flowers. She paired it with Sabyasachi's necklace and earrings which had rose cut diamonds.
The entire Bollywood and Indian cricket team members were at Mumbai to bless the couple. Cricketers such as Ravindra Jadeja, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar to Sandip Patil and Sunil Gavaskar, all came to be part of Virushka's happiness.
Check out these pictures of MS Dhoni's daughter Ziva waving at media. Isn't it just too cute? The former Indian captain arrived with his wife Sakshi Dhoni.
Virushka's reception saw all Bollywood celebrities under one roof. Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan along with Shweta Nanda Bachchan came to wish the newlyweds. Also her Jab Tak Hai Jaan co-stars Katrina Kaif and Shah Rukh Khan were spotted at the reception. Check out pictures Karan Johar and Siddharth Malhotra.
Newbie Sara Ali Khan, music mastero A R Rahman, actor Aditya Roy Kapur and producer Siddharth Roy Kapur were also spotted.
Anushka's PK hitmakers Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkummar Hirani came with their family members
Just like their Delhi reception, this time too, Virat and Anushka were clad in Sabyasachi ensembles. At the first reception, Anushka wore a Sabyasachi red and gold saree with heavy jewellery, sindoor, chuda and bun encircled in a gajra. Whereas, Virat looked dapper in a black achkan, white churidaar and a shawl with black mojris
The lovebirds who tied the knot on 11 December at a heritage resort in Tuscany hosted their first reception in Delhi for family and close friends. The party was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the one in Mumbai is for their industry friends. The function will be held in Astor Ballroom which can accommodate up to 300 guests and is at the ninth level of the hotel. The dreamy venue has 23 foot-high ceilings and crystal chandeliers. Moreover, the venue also has a skyline in the background.
Virushka, the moniker by which their fans call them entered the venue almost two hour before the party. While Virat was sporting black T-shirt, Anushka was looking an uber-cool newlywed in blue jumpsuit and chuda. Even their invitation card was as classy as the couple. The invites for reception were based on pastel floral theme. Director Kunal Kohli gave us a glimpse of the invitation card through his Twitter.
If you have been living under a rock, then let us tell you that Anushka and Virat got hitched in a hush-hush wedding ceremony and later announced it on their respective Twitter accounts with a lovely picture. Soon after the announcement, the duo started trending on Twitter and snaps and videos of their engagement, haldi, wedding flooded the web. After their D-day, Virushka spent some time in Finland before returning India on 19 December. A lavish 5BHK sea-facing apartment is the newlyweds's pad.
For all latest updates, keep checking our Facebook page

domain: celebrity


text:
G20 leaders pledged that their countries would cover the costs of equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccines, medicines, and tests around the world, so that the poorest countries were not excluded.
The G20 said in a draft statement for its meeting held today: “We will spare no effort to ensure that vaccines arrive at reasonable and equitable prices to all people, in line with members’ commitments to stimulate innovation.”
She stressed that it remains determined to support developing countries in their challenges, noting that they are committed to meeting remaining global financing needs, and encouraging multilateral development banks to make more efforts to enhance financial support to countries.
She pointed out that she will work to ensure that the Corona epidemic does not lead to wide disparities between the sexes, and undermine the progress achieved in recent years, calling for a significant increase in investment in agriculture and food systems, to meet the challenge of food crises in the world.
She called on the World Bank to expand its work and help mobilize private financing for low-income developing countries, stressing that it is committed to improving global epidemiological preparedness, prevention, detection and response.


text:
PUBG PS4 update 1.74 (v13.1) is now available to download for players. According to the official PUBG 1.74 patch notes, the latest update brings lots of changes and improvements to Taego. Apart from this, PUBG version 1.74 also includes general stability fixes.
Previously, a big update added the newest 8×8 map: Taego, self-aid, new weapons, and much more. Recently, a hotfix was also released.
Unfortunately, since the last major update, players are experiencing a number of issues while playing the game. Today’s PUBG update 1.73 will fix a few of these issues.
Table of Contents
PUBG 1.74 Patch Notes – (v13.1) August 12, 2021
MULTI CARE PACKAGES
We have received a lot of player feedback asking for an increase in the amount of Care Package air drops available in each match. Let’s fix that!
Previously, it was generally only one player who’d get all the loot from each drop, with not much left to go around. With this update, we’ve dramatically increased the number of Care Packages, through additional small air drops, allowing more players the chance to hunt them down and loot them up.
When the situation is right, additional Care Packages can be used as hard cover to engage or retreat from your opponent.
Increased the number of Care Packages
Standard Care Packages: One
Small Care Packages: 5 – 15
Multi-drop Care Package Contents
Ammo, healing items, throwables. Standard Care Package spawn items can also be found inside, with low probability.
The Taego Secret Room can change the course of your match and help you win that chicken dinner. Top-tier gear, including items not found elsewhere on the Battlegrounds can be looted inside the secret room.
Hidden keys are scattered across Taego and can looted, then used to access the Taego Secret Room.
How to enter the Secret Room
After obtaining the key, you can open the secret room door and enter to loot items.
Low chance of Care Package items
Large number of healing items and throwables
A simple leisurely plane ride to the Battlegrounds? Maybe not so much.. stay alert and pay attention to the flight crew’s instructions, as not every flight is a smooth one. Engine failure can cause your plane to catch fire and come hurtling towards the ground while attempting to make an emergency landing.
The emergency landing plane moves faster than the standard starting plane, but the fall height varies greatly, resulting in a varied falling duration.
The farther you jump at the beginning of the flight, the farther you can travel. The later you jump off, the shorter you can travel, as the plane altitute decreases.
If you decide not to jump off the plane, you’ll take 50% damage at the end of its journey.
ITEM SPAWN CHANGES
Based on player feedback, we’re making the following Taego item spawn changes:
Spawn Rate Changes
Self AED: 37% increase
Stocks: 1% decrease
Stun Grenade: 14% decrease
Molotov Cocktail: 3% decrease
New Items Added
Sanhok was originally released in 2018 and remastered in 2020. We haven’t stopped there and continue to make additional changes and improvements across the map. Based on the feedback received after the remaster, we’re improving movement flow in specific areas and adding additional cover to encourage more diverse and reactive gameplay.
NORTHWEST ISLAND GEOGRAPHICAL IMPROVEMENTS
When moving to the northwest island, players often had no choice but to cross the water without going over the bridge and instead traverse the island’s outskirts, with no choice but to cross the water and engage enemies from a difficult position.
We have added cover to the previously open west to north coast areas near South Ruins and its connecting area.
Added small cliffs and rocks to be used as cover on the south beach of the northwest island.
NORTHWEST ISLAND TEMPLE AT THE SUMMIT IMPROVEMENTS
Some buildings usable as cover did not spawn items, so we felt the need to improve those areas. Additionally, there wasn’t very much cover for those game enough to make the journey from Camp Alpha and climb towards the temple.
Relocated the Temple.
Removed the buildings which did not have item spawns and replaced them with new buildings containing item spawns.
Removed cliffs and added cover.
Adjusted the angles of the rocks.
MATCHMAKING – MAP ROTATION
Paramo has been removed and Karakin has been added to Normal Matches
Maps available in Normal Matches:
WEAPON BALANCE UPDATE
As a battle royale game where every match presents different situations, we believe each weapon category should have its purpose in certain types of encounters. When checking our data, we found DMRs to be overperforming at long to very long ranges. However, at very long distances you would expect SRs to have an advantage. These balance changes should make SRs more viable than before – especially for engagements at very long distances.
Alongside buffs to SRs, including improved bolting animation and transition speeds, certain ARs and the PP-Bizon receive recoil reductions or an increase in damage.
Read below for full details.
The ballistics of the following Sniper Rifles have been adjusted:
Increased muzzle velocity (+20-25m/s)
Slightly flatter bullet trajectory
Increased damage coefficient at long range (0.9 → 0.95)
Some mechanics of the following Sniper Rifles have been adjusted:
Kar98k( +Julie’s Kar98k)
Decreased bolt-action delay (~10%)
Increased bolt-action speed
Faster transition to scoping after bolting.
Increased rate of fire (~20%)
The following balance changes have been applied to DMRs:
Increased bullet drop and reduced damage coefficient at long range for the Mini 14, QBU, SKS and SLR.
Decreased damage coefficient at long range for the Mk12. (~5-10%)
Increased damage (41 → 42)
Slightly reduced horizontal recoil
Slightly reduced horizontal recoil
Increased damage (51 → 52)
Reduced horizontal recoil during extended sprays
Increased damage (35 → 36)
NEW FEATURE: SPRAYS
Introducing the new Spray feature! You can spray on the ground, building walls during the match. Express your emotions through various sprays!
Sprays can be applied to most surfaces, excluding water, windows, vehicles, and players.
You can apply Sprays at close-range only and in most situations, including while moving or standing still.
Sprays cannot be used in the lobby.
Sprays can be equipped under Customize – Emotes & Sprays tab.
Each player can only have one spray displayed in the world at a time, with new sprays replacing previous ones.
MATCH RESULTS SCREEN IMPROVEMENT – IN-GAME
Introducing the new Winner Winner Chicken Dinner celebration to make those wins just that bit more special! Alongside this new end-of-match celebration, the results screen has also been improved.
The celebration begins for winners at match-end and can be canceled, with the match result screen displayed once the celebration is complete.
If your team wins but you have been killed during the match in Duos and Squads, you will be able to watch your teammates celebrate.
The celebration isn’t shown if players remain on the death screen, instead showing the match results immediately.
MATCH RESULTS PAGE IMPROVEMENT – LOBBY
You can now quickly and easily add friends and check your teammates’ stats without having to open the match report. Show off some personal flair in the lobby by showcasing your avatar and nameplate.
Easily view solo or team match stats, including kills, assists and damage.
Supported in Normal and Ranked Matches.
Not supported in Custom, Arcade and Labs.
Ranked Match results page has been added.
KILL MESSAGE IMPROVEMENTS
The center-screen combat feed has been updated to improve visibility and ease of use while engaging in combat. Instead of only the most recent feed entry displaying center screen, the feed will now show up to four messages simultaneously, making it much easier to keep track of multiple combat events happening in quick succession.
Up to four actions can be displayed at a time, with different colors and effects to easily identify them.
Kills and Assist counts now have animated effects.
If multiple actions happen at once, up to four messages are displayed.
The Quick Marker distance has been increased, allowing the marker to be used in more situations.
Increased the distance from 300m to 1000m.
Now available in Solo Mode.
Vending Machine locations can be shared with your squad using Radio Messages.
Increased the number of maximum Waypoints from 4 to 6.
AUTO EQUIP ATTACHMENTS
We have made a significant quality of life improvement to both Auto Equip Attachment options, with attachments now equipping automatically even with a full inventory. Previously, a full inventory would prevent this function from working as expected.
Ensure either “Auto Equip Attachments with Interaction Key” or “Auto Equip Attachments from Inventory” options are enabled.
Acquired items must be an attachment which is compatible with an empty weapon attachment slot.
Upon purchase, single purchase items are now marked as purchased and moved to the end of the store page.
Updated the message displayed with G-Coin purchases and removed the “Move” button.
Added quantity option to $99.99 G-Coin option (Maximum of five).
Spray items are available.
The “Emotes” tab name has changed to “Emotes & Sprays”.
Improved backend prepass system logic to slightly improve performance.
ITEMS & SKINS
Sales period is subject to change.
Addressed a bug where specific flora could cause collision damage.
Fixed a flickering issue on the wooden windows of a particular Taego building.
Addressed a bug where the final Blue Zone wouldn’t function correctly in Custom Matches when setting the final Blue Zone location slider to 100%.
Addressed a bug where the MP5K reload animation was canceled when using a boost item.
Fixed some locations where items couldn’t be looted due to being obstructed by other objects.
Fixed a visual issue on Miramar where lines would appear on building walls when scoped.
Addressed a bug where Steam and Discord Rich Presence wouldn’t display the correct status in Normal, Ranked, and Arcade Mode lobbies.
Download free PUBG version 1.74 for PS4 and Xbox One.

domain: game


text:
Major indices are down in the pre-market Friday. The Chinese government said it would initiate additional stimulus plans aimed to boost the country’s economy to counter new tariffs from the U.S. China’s state-run media indicated that there is little interest in resuming trade negotiations with the U.S. ahead of the G-20 summit in Japan next month after the Trump Administration deemed Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE a threat to national security, preventing them from selling to U.S. markets or buying American components. Chinese leaders said the country will protect its corporate interests and take appropriate measures if additional tariffs are applied to Chinese goods. British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed to set a timeline for her departure as leader. Under the terms, she will have one more opportunity to get her Brexit deal passed. When Parliament votes for a fourth time on May’s deal, regardless of the outcome, May will step down as leader. The S&P 500 is down -0.71%, the S&P 500 is down -0.71%, the Nasdaq is down -0.88%.
Today's market outlook is Neutral
The ship of democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those on board.
Stocks on the Move
Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT), Under Armour Inc Class A (UAA) and AES Corp (AES) are moving higher this morning, while Deere & Company (DE), FedEx Corporation (FDX) and QUALCOMM, Inc. (QCOM) are headed lower. Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT), Under Armour Inc Class A (UAA) and Walmart Inc (WMT) were upgraded by analysts this morning, while Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (WWW), NeoPhotonics Corp (NPTN) and Camping World Holdings Inc (CWH) were downgraded.
Stocks in Asia are mixed. The Mumbai Sensex is up 1.44%, the Nikkei 225 is up 0.89%, the Australia ASX All Ordinaries is up 0.67% the Hang Seng is down -1.16% and the Shanghai SE Composite Index is down -2.48%. Stocks in Europe are down. The DAX is down -1.17%, the Euro Stoxx 50 is down -0.94%, the CAC 40 is down -0.74% and the FTSE 100 is down -0.54%.
Futures and Currencies
Energy futures are up today. The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil is up 0.46 at 63.33 per barrel. Brent crude is up 0.22 at 72.48 per barrel. Natural Gas is up 0.01 at 2.65. Precious metals are down this morning. Gold is down -0.29 at 1286.43 per ounce. Platinum is down -9.64 at 824.68 while silver is down -0.05 at 14.49. The dollar is mixed compared to the major currencies today. The greenback is up against the euro, down against the Yen and up against the Pound.
Yesterday, 1,114,336 call contracts traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) compared to 730,249 put contracts. The single-session put/call was 0.66 while the 20-day moving average is now at 0.65.
Day's Range:$300.68 - $302.11
52-week Range:$302.46 - $233.76
Day's Range:$272.19 - $273.26
52-week Range:$273.99 - $216.97
Day's Range:$192.29 - $193.40
52-week Range:$195.55 - $143.46
Today's Economic Calendar
|What's Happening||Period||Release Time|
|Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment - Prelim.||May||10:00|

domain: politics


text:
ADD A CATEGORY
FEB 07, 2013 - Financial Times
A Must Read - Share
European Central Bank president also issued a veiled rebuke to François Hollande who this week called for a ‘managed exchange rate’
Hey you have no friends!!! Get to work and start inviting friends to help build your Comunitee. Click Here to invite friends.
© 2011 Comunitee, Inc.

domain: finance


Price includes STD equipment (approx value 20.000€), according to the model boat specification 2020.
- 5" VesselView display. Ultra 12kg, stainless steel anchor, 30m stainless steel chain incl. anchor bow roller
- Anchor windlass, electric. Pop up fender hooks.Shower system in bathroom
- Green comfort package (4 x additional service batteries 12V/120Ah. 12V battery charger upgrade 100A. Battery monitor display. Inverter 12V/5000W. Inverter remote control panel).
- SOLAR PACKAGE (4 x 0,3kW photovoltaic panels integrated in the top of the coachroof (totalling 1,2kW))
- Solar battery charge management system
The price is net, excludes 22% VAT and does not include transport.
Ask for presentation and viewing, specification of optional equipment and benefits when ordering a new boat.
Commission sale and purchase of used boats.


text:
Social media campaign
We've been lucky enough to work with HughBaird College for a number of years now. The came to us with an idea to create an overall video for their further education courses. This was their biggest video project they had commissioned.
Client: HughBaird College
Deliverables: 1 x 30 second main TV Ad
5 x 10 second socials
What we did
Hughbaird had a list of subjects they wanted to incorporate into the video. The amount of subjects they provide to students was far too many to include in the video. We sat down with them and came up with a list of 14 subjects to include in the video. Once we nailed down the subjects we then casted the students for each role and developed shot ideas for each subject.
With five shoot days and 14 subjects to capture we had our work cut out for us. The pre production stage was super important for planning activities before hand. Some of the activities were quite risky to film soo it was important we carried out correct risk assesments for each subject area.
Editing this project was completed in around 7 days. In those 7 days the team created a main ad and a number of short socials for the college to share on their social media platforms. Once the edit was picture locked the team then applied a final colour grade.


People attending the Shelby County mayoral debate at the National Civil Rights Museum got a clear difference of the candidates’ philosophies when it comes to tackling pressure as the next mayor.
Democrat Lee Harris and Republican David Lenoir shared different opinions on the issues of education, crime and growth in a debate sponsored by the NAACP.
Lenoir touted his tenure as the trustee, the county banker that helped to generate money for programs.
Harris reminded voters of his experience as both city councilman and state senator.
The NAACP sponsored the event and selected questions of importance to county voters such as education.
Lenoir proposed a new position in the mayor’s office to work with the school department.
“I want to have this education liaison in the mayor’s office that reports directly to me, the mayor that says we need great education,” Lenoir said.
- Memphis victim's family says killer is taunting them on social media
- Murder suspect laughed as he left Memphis club after fatally shooting woman, witnesses say
- Memphis mother charged in baby's death, tried to kill herself before police arrived
- PHOTOS: Mid-South’s Most Wanted Fugitives
Harris advocated for more vocational programs in schools.
“Right now we have 20,000 students taking career and job skills classes, but very few are graduating with a job certificate,” said Harris.
The divide between the two candidates became quite obvious on the issue of crime.
Lenoir made claims that Harris was soft on crime and used his voting record in Nashville as proof.
“My opponent is soft on crime,” Lenoir said. “He voted against a bill in Nashville that would toughen the sentencing for criminals with guns.”
Harris fought back, claiming Lenoir didn’t understand his vote or the issue.
“He is talking about a bill that says you should get ten years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm that targets nonviolent offenders,” Harris said. “I would use those resources to target the rapists, the murders.”
© 2019 Cox Media Group.


text:
We are a group of artists, producers, and storytellers who give life to your vision using motions graphics and video production.
We improve our clients brand awareness using content creation with a focus to expand their current fan base into the new areas while establishing a group of loyal followers.
Developing an art style that fits your brand, your vision, and your audience is a huge challenge. Our industry experts will push your brand forward
Increase Brand Awareness
Better Pulse on the Industry
How Can We Help You
Trusted by big brands and startups
The most epic internet show you've ever seen!
A huge prank breached security around Putin and the World Championship in Moscow.
Fight yourself with the water element. Take a bicycle from a steep hill. Wave in the rhythm of music festivals. Or just enjoy the glass in the shade of the vineyard, climb the pedals along the muddy river or take the culture in the winding streets of the historic city. We'll do everything in the summer. It only depends on what you want with us.
Launch Your Success With Us
Marketing Manager at Supernova Studio
Filip’s organizational skills and fervour translated into met deadlines and exceeded expectations. Filip’s value extends far beyond videography — his calm and optimistic demeanor contributes to a positive work environment, his ability to empathize is crucial to keeping users at the center of every project, and his ability to kill even an artificial houseplant always keeps things interesting
Marketing manager at Jaguar Land Rover
The video has been a great success both here and in Austria and has been shown as an example of how cars and events should be presented.
CEO of Effective Fitness Training
We contacted Trewiomedia with a request to create a new training program for our clients.
Guys, they did all the work for us from designing, filming, producing and putting everything together. They did extraordinary work.


text:
Ad blocker interference detected!
Wikia is a free-to-use site that makes money from advertising. We have a modified experience for viewers using ad blockers
Wikia is not accessible if you’ve made further modifications. Remove the custom ad blocker rule(s) and the page will load as expected.
Watched via Watch Disney Channel Asia App. LYRICS BELOW!
Even though this episode ("It's No Picnic") has not aired anywhere in English, WATCH Disney Channel App premieres this as a additional episode. Enjoy :)
Lyrics: Candace: Here is where I'll make my final stand I'm gonna bust my brothers down in Picnicland In Picnicland...
It'll be a Pic A Nic A Nic A Nic Bust! A Pic A Nic A Nic A Nic Bust! (x3) I can bust them on the grills Or the hotdog on the hill A Pic A Nic A Nic A Nic Bust! I can take them on the waffle tram With a side of devil ham A Pic A Nic A Nic A Nic Bust!
This is gonna be my finest hour Cause now I'm gonna bust the boys with Picnic Power! And it'll be a Pic A Nic A Nic A Nic Bust! A Pic A Nic A Nic A Nic Bust! (x2) A Pic A Nic A Nic...

domain: entertainment


Tree Hugger Pullover Sweatshirt
New factory deadstock pullover sweatshirt with a raw textured outside and soft inner lining. Long, slim fit with a rounded bottom.
Ecoprinted with eucalyptus bark on the top and dipped in a bath of acorns and eucalyptus bark.
1. Wash with natural soap in cold water up to 30 C. Machine wash on delicate or hand wash.
2. Dry out of the sun and never in the drier.
3. Iron inside out.
Botanical dyes are often referred to as living colors because the shades can evolve with time. Fabrics are treated with mineral salts before dyeing to permanently fix the color to the fabric. Following the tips above will preserve the tones best. For more information visit the Care Instructions page.


text:
Sho me your moves.
Fighting game fans and SNK have a Shodown.
There is much more to the character than just his iconic hat.
Terry is way more than Ken in a hat.
But wait, there’s more. Free DLC, and a new game reveal as well.
August is a hotter month than you may think.
Embrace death Kyoshiro.
We’ll make getting the Platinum easy.
Director believes Samurai Shodown will sell “millions” of copies without exclusivity.
The goodest of boys kicks samurai butt.
Date some of the world’s strongest fighters in this upcoming otome game.
Embrace death early and get free DLC.
Available exclusively on SNK’s online store.
Right out of the park.
Time to take a swing at this collection.


N. Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Again
Seoul, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)--North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan on Tuesday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the South Korean military said.
The missile, which is assumed to be a short-range submarine-launched ballistic missile, was fired from around the city of Sinpho in South Hamgyong Province in eastern North Korea, according to the South Korean military. North Korea is constructing a submarine at a shipyard in Sinpho.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said North Korea launched two ballistic missiles the same day.
“It’s regrettable that North Korea has successively fired missiles since last month,” Kishida told reporters in the northeastern Japan city of Fukushima, where he delivered his first stump speech since the official campaign period for the Oct. 31 general election started earlier on Tuesday.
The Japanese government has lodged a strong protest to North Korea over the latest missile firing.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]


text:
Opposition has no cadre in Station Ghanpur
TRS senior leader K.T. Rama Rao has instructed party leaders and cadre to bury their differences and work unitedly to ensure party’s victory in the ensuing Assembly elections.
Amid controversy and dissidence in Station Ghanpur constituency, Mr. Rao came ere after holding a series of meetings with feuding party leadersand later on Tuesday, he addressed a well-attended public meeting .
Mr. Rajaiah, who is the official candidate, Deputy Chief Minister K. Srihari and their followers attended the meeting. Party in-charge Palle Rajeswar Reddy, MPs — Banda Prakash, P. Dayakar — and several others were present. Mr. Rao said as many people from opposition parties joined the TRS in Station Ghanpur, the party should register a massive victory here.
Source: Read Full Article


By Abubakar Mohammed
Wife of the Adamawa State Governor Her Excellency, Haj. Maryam Umar Jibirilla has restated her commitment to safe delivery and good Maternal and Child Care. Speaking when she commissioned projects related to Primary Health Care Service Delivery, the Governor's wife said “As a woman, a wife and mother I must say I know where it pinches the most when it comes to Maternal and Child Health, therefore every step towards the improvement of Maternal and Child Services is worth celebrating to me and to millions of other mothers across the State, this will surely transform the Health status of our teeming rural / urban populace”
She then thanked the Executive Chairman Adamawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency Dr. Abdullahi Dauda Belel and his team for bringing Primary Health Care family under one roof in the state and assures that the Governor Mohammad Umar Jibirilla – led administration in the State will continue to do everything possible to take Primary Health Care in the State to the next level.
In her remarks at a brief ceremony to mark the commencement of the distribution of "Free Maternity Kits" by the Governor's wife, the Hon. Commissioner, Adamawa State Ministry of Health Dr. Fatima Atiku Abubakar says “I am happy to note that Adamawa State is among the few States in the country that brought Primary Health Care under one roof; and with this my stewardship as the Commissioner I will partner with all stakeholders to scale – up services of both the Primary and Secondary Health Facilities across the State."
According to the Hon Commissioner, "The Ministry of Health as the lead stakeholder in the Health sector will also re-examine the vexing issues that have been clogging service delivery with the view of addressing them and proffering lasting solutions”
In his closing remarks the Executive Chairman Adamawa state primary health care development agency Dr. Abdullahi Dauda Belel expressed his appreciation to His Excellency Governor Muhammad Umar Jibrilla for the support given to PHC services in the state within the his short period in office and called on the PHC staff to work 24/7 in their clinics, because “when much is given, much is also expected.”he said


- If you need clarification, ask it in the comment box above.
- Better answers use proper spelling and grammar.
- Provide details, support with references or personal experience.
Tell us some more! Your answer needs to include more details to help people.You can't post answers that contain an email address.Please enter a valid email address.The email address entered is already associated to an account.Login to postPlease use English characters only.
Tip: The max point reward for answering a question is 15.
The Stihl FS45 has a particular way of getting started as do all the stihl products. We sell Stihl equipment in our store and service and repair them also. The normal starting procedure is to: Be sure the switch is turned to the ON position which is the negitive sign (-). The (O) is the off position. Press the primer bulb 3 times. Move the choke lever to on. Pull the starter cord three times only. If the engine fires, turn the choke to the off position and pull till it starts. If the engine did not try to start during the first three pulls with the choke on, you must turn the choke off and pull till it starts. Remember:Pulling more than three times with the choke switch on will flood the carburator on every stihl product thats on the market. However, if the units still refuses to start, being its new and still under warrenty, return it to the repair shop that services Stihl products and they will repair it according to warrenty. All parts and labor should be honored at no cost to you. Please provide your receipt and serial number located on a silver tag located on the unit or the mechanic will get it off the unit when he works on it. Either way, it will most likely have to have a new carburator put on it. I hope this helps. Please comment back if this was helpful. Thanks; George
You answered your own question. The source of the wobble may also be a worn bearing or bushing supporting the shaft the pulley is mounted on. Be certain that you are installing the belt over the proper path of pulley's I know that My personal Mower WEEDEATER 42" can have the belt installed wrong it works but will fall off in heavy grass.
its a 40:1 ratio. remember to never tap the tap-n-go too hard or it will bend the shaft, and make the head hot to the touch, and eventually will melt the inside. And always keep fuel stabilizer in the gas, because if you dont, especially in winter and fall, it will clog the carb so you have to keep pumping the throttle to keep it running and you have to run it on half choke all the time


text:
The development could open the door to a new class of ceramic-body or ceramic-engine jets, said Tobias Schaedler, senior scientist at HRL Laboratories in Malibu, California.
"If you go very fast, about 10 times speed of sound within the atmosphere, then any vehicle will heat up tremendously because of air friction," Schaedler told space.com. "People want to build hypersonic vehicles and you need ceramics for the whole shell of the vehicle."
The team created a resin formulation that can be 3-D printed into parts of virtually any shape and size. That part is then fired in a high-temperature kiln overnight, resulting in a fully-dense ceramic that is 10 times stronger than similar materials and can withstand temperatures in excess of 3,092 Fahrenheit (1,700 degrees Celsius).
The method could help rocket and satellite designers who have to make lots of special small parts that are capable of resisting the heating that occurs during high velocity air friction, as well as high temperatures generated by the exhaust during takeoff, space.com reported.
A form of ceramic called alumina is being used in new ion propulsion drive, which uses electricity to heat gas and generate ions, according to Charlie Spahr, executive director of the American Ceramics Council.
"Ceramics are really good where you want to reduce wear and tear," Spahr said.
The Pentagon's research branch has been funding various projects to discover new ways to build lighter, stronger and more heat-resistant materials for aerospace and military applications.
"The new method brings us closer to the goal of being able to 'engineer in' desired material properties that generally are not found together, such as strength and low density or low weight, and to craft these materials into complex shapes," said Stefanie Tompkins, of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

domain: chemistry


Balloons will soar into the sky across the North East later this month to carry a message of hope for Jonny Kennedy's dream.
They will be released from a number of locations on September 25, exactly two years after Jonny died.
The 36-year-old died from skin cancer related to Epidermolysis Bullosa, a painful and disabling genetic condition that causes skin to blister at the slightest touch.
He won millions of admirers when he was the subject of Channel Four documentary The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off.
He wanted to raise as much money as possible for the charity DebRA, which helps people with EB.
The release of purple and green balloons at 3pm will be part of a series of events across the region.
More information is available from John Everson, regional fundraising manager, on (01609) 761 056 or e-mail john.everson@ debra.org.uk


text:
UPDATE (12/3/2019): Though his astrology-themed chapbook of poetry Sagittarius A* was initially cancelled by an unnamed publisher, Ben Kline has announced that the project has been picked up by Sibling Rivalry Press.
"It's official: [Sibling Rivalry Press] is publishing my chapbook Sagittarius A*, bring poems about spacetime and singularities to you in summer 2020," he wrote to Twitter. "Thank you to [Bryan Borland] and the SRP team for giving this weird collection a home."
ORIGINAL (11/15/2019): In a blog post yesterday, poet Ben Kline said he was excited that his astrology-themed chapbook Sagittarius A* was going to be published by a "very well-known press." But then he received an email saying his book was canceled because of pictures he posted on Instagram.
The Cincinnati, Ohio native was shocked to see the details of why his book was canceled. Kline posted a screenshot of an email, where the press told the poet that they found his personal social media accounts, and after looking through them in the office, one woman became "very, very upset and confused about all the nudity."
They also said that one person's seven-year-old daughter found her mom's phone and was looking at the pictures and crying. The email claims that the press asked several other of their authors if they felt comfortable being on the same publisher as Kline, and that some, "especially the women, feel a bit creeped out." They continued to say that Kline posting nudes and semi-nude photos "with no obvious reward other than personal satisfaction is something that makes us all feel uncomfortable."
Ok, where to even begin?
Kline posted his own list of grievances on his own website, beginning with asking why female poets were specifically asked if they were annoyed. "Would anyone ask their male poets that about a female poet?" he asked. Furthermore, Kline wrote that he is offended that the situation stemmed from a child seeing something their mom didn't want them to.
To be clear, Kline's photos did not pose "no obvious reward other than personal satisfaction" -- although, if they did, that shouldn't be a problem. Many of the photos came in concert with the writer's earlier work which included writing about his queerness, relationships, and hookups among other things. This can be seen most clearly in his first book Going Fast in Loose Directions. His revealing of himself through his writing is also represented visually. As such, each thirst trap was generally posted alongside poetry. He also did this in a now-defunct Tumblr blog called Original Content Required. Anyone who did a casual Google search of Kline would see this.
Kline is currently resubmitting his chapbook to other presses and trying to move on with his life. He's locked and disabled his social media accounts to prevent further smears from the unnamed press.
RELATED |25 Queer Poets to Read Now and Forever

domain: literature


text:
Evans Seven: Programs with big official visits this weekend
The first major official visit weekend of the year begins, and this week we highlight the most important visits. Much is on the line at Louisville, Michigan, NC State and Pitt, among others, as those programs take center stage in this week’s Evans Seven.
2021 Rankings: Rivals150
The Cardinals enter the month of September without a commitment from a member of the 2020 class, but they will hope to change that this weekend. They ended August by hosting top junior college standout and local product Jayden Scrubb for another unofficial visit and will bring one of the best sophomores in America, Chris Livingston, and highly regarded Midwesterner, Bryce Hopkins, to campus on Saturday. The fireworks then begin on Sunday. Josh Hall, a five-star small forward, will take his first official visit with NC State on the docket the next week. His commitment is not expected to be made until the fall. Zach Loveday will also be on campus, and he is one of the top available centers. Devin Askew caps things off, and while he has been adamant about remaining in his current 2021 class, the elite playmaker could still take the leap into the 2020 class if the right opportunity is presented. Arizona, Kentucky, Oregon and Villanova sit among the group chasing after the Cardinals, who are in a great spot.
Juwan Howard didn’t wait long before bringing in some top hitters. Michigan will host not one, but two, five-star prospects this weekend. Jaden Springer, one of the most talented and also one of the younger members of the 2020 class, will head to Ann Arbor as he kicks off his official visit tour. He also has visits scheduled for Florida, Memphis, North Carolina and Tennessee, and is expected to sign in the fall. The Wolverines are not looked upon as a favorite, but they do have an in, thanks to assistant coach Phil Martelli, who coached Springer's older cousin, DeAndre Bembry, at St. Joe’s. The Wolverines will also host top-tier center Walker Kessler. Auburn has gained most of the talk of late, but Duke, Gonzaga and North Carolina also remain in the hunt. Kessler is the likeliest of the two to commit to the Wolverines, but they are playing catch-up with both. Each would be key staples to Howard’s takeover of the Big Ten program.
3. NC STATE
NC State will bring to campus two of its commits and is attempting to turn two official visitors into Wolfpack pledges, as well. Nick Farrar committed to the program earlier this month, while junior guard Terquavion Smith did the same earlier this year. Top in-state products, Dontrez Styles, JaDun Michael, Zaharee Maddox and Carter Whitt will be on campus, as will top-25 junior Quincy Allen. Those players will be taking unofficial visits to the ACC program. However, most of the attention will be focused on John Hugley and Deivon Smith. NC State received their first official visits, but are in the best spot for Smith. He will visit Louisville next weekend and the prevailing thought is that the Wolfpack and Cardinals will vie for his signature, which will likely come in November. For Hugley, Miami and Pitt are two to keep an eye on, though NC State has picked up ground in recent weeks.
4. OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes already have two commitments in the 2021 class, but they remain with a goose egg in the 2020 class. They will hope to change that this weekend, though they are playing catch-up with Lance Ware, who will begin his official visit tour. The Buckeyes have an uphill battle to climb against Kentucky and Michigan, but Ware would answer a lot of their frontcourt concerns if they did manage to pull off the surprise. Expect Ware to move on to his following his visits without committing as the Buckeyes attempt to get a leg up this weekend. Another solid four-star prospect, Moses Moody, will visit Ohio State. Florida, Kansas, Michigan and Oregon are a few others to watch with the shot-making wing, but OSU is in a good spot. The Buckeyes have two primary needs this fall: a versatile forward and a giant wing. Ware and Moody would be the ideal two-man class for Chris Holtmann.
Jeff Capel is hoping this fall will be different than last year, when the Panthers came up short with a number of their top targets. They did find a way to finish the year out strong, but it came with great anxiety. That anxiety could be erased this time around with pledges from players on campus this weekend. Cliff Omoruyi, a top 60 prospect, will take an unofficial visit to Oakland. Pitt has been connected with Omoruyi often, but the Panthers remain in catch-up mode. Earl Timberlake will be on an official visit. No one has a great feel with where he's leaning, but the Panthers have developed a great rapport with the versatile wing. Visits will likely be taken to Alabama, Miami, North Carolina and Seton Hall, and Providence and South Carolina also remain involved. The likeliest visitor to commit is Noah Collier, who is down to a final three and would be the ideal, run-and-jump 4-man for Capel and his staff. Cal and Clemson are also in the mix take to land his services.
Shaka Smart has begun most of his recruiting classes in Austin earlier than others, which puts him in a peculiar situation, since he holds zero commitments. That could change soon, as Osa Ighodaro will be making an official visit, and he's expected to announce his college decision shortly after his trip to UT. The Longhorns have some ground to make up, and Marquette and Stanford are the two to beat. Bryce Thompson is making a surprise visit to the Big 12 program. The Longhorns were rarely connected with the five-star before he announced his final seven, and they have a lot of work to do if they want to notch his commitment. Kansas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are the three to beat. Lastly, Rondel Walker, the travel teammate of top forward target Greg Brown, will be making an unofficial visit. Texas will be trying to make up ground with all three on campus.
7. WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia already sits with the commitment of four-star big man Isaiah Cottrell, and it will attempt to add another to its frontcourt this weekend. The top in-state prospect that will take a prep year this fall, Jalen Bridges, begins his official visit tour. The Fairmont native will make the short drive to Morgantown and get an even better feel for what the Big 12 program has to offer. Miami and Xavier are the two to beat for Bridges, who has four other official visits scheduled for the fall before a signing is made in November. Bridges could definitely warm up to the in-state program, but Tajj Thweatt is the more likely player to commit. The three-star forward out of New Jersey is down to a final four that also includes Florida, Penn State and Temple. Could the Mountaineers be on commitment watch this weekend? They are in a very good spot with the athletic and tough-nosed forward, and will be doing their best to double their 2020 class before Monday arrives.


text:
Hotels in Ohepalu
Search Ohepalu Hotels
Get Secret Prices on selected hotels
These prices aren’t available to everyone.
Best Ohepalu Hotels
Ohepalu overviewWhile you're here, stop by Viitna Nature Trail and Palmse Savikoda. Whatever you're into, Ohepalu has something for you.
Where to stay in OhepaluWhether you're planning to stay for a night or for the week, the area around Ohepalu has accommodations to fit every need. Search for hotels in Ohepalu with Hotels.com by checking our online map. Our maps display the areas and neighborhoods around all Ohepalu hotels so you can see how close you are from landmarks and attractions, and then refine your search within the larger area. The best Ohepalu hotel deals are here with our lowest price guarantee.
What to see around OhepaluRecommended places to see include:
- • Viitna Nature Trail
- • Palmse Savikoda
- • Palmse Manor
- • Janeda Manor
- • President’s Hiking Trail

domain: travel


text:
MHA 616 Week 2 DQ 2 Adopting Health Information
Many health care leaders struggle with identifying the advantages and/or disadvantages when adopting a new or improving a current health information system. Many organizations are opting out of acquiring a new health information system due to the high monetary cost. Meanwhile, other health care organizations face resistance from their employees and other stakeholders when there is new system implementation. Overall, system acquisition is a challenge for most health care leaders.
Review each of the following articles:
• Managing the data explosion
• Catholic health partners to acquire Kaiser Permanente Ohio
• Mergers and acquisitions may be hazardous to health IT
In a minimum of 300 words, refer to these articles (above) as you answer the following questions in your initial post:
• Discuss at least three of the barriers faced by health care leaders in adopting health information systems. Can these barriers be prevented? Explain your answer.
• Discuss some options that are available for health information system acquisition.
• Discuss systems of checks and balances could be used to eliminate or reduce resistance.
• Discuss how culture and/or behavioral factors influence acquisition.
Guided Response: Review your peers’ posts and provide a substantive response to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.
Questions & Answers
Have a Question?
Be the first to ask a question about this.


Starting with the fun stuff. Partner organisations Save the Children, UNICEF and the National Childbirth Trust have produced an internet cartoon about protecting Little Jack from the Formula Man. You can watch the cartoon, play a game and send a message to the Minister of Health.
It doesn't matter where you are in the world. Infants and mothers need your help!
Go to this page to view the cartoon and take action:
Here's a screenshot:
Then we have the response from the Government to a question about strengthening the UK law. In the consultation launched by the UK Government there are two options: leave the law like it is or make minimal changes in response to a European Union Directive.
Dr. Lynne Jones MP wanted to know if a third option would be considered: implementing the World Health Assmebly marketing requirements, adopted in 1981 with the support of the UK Government as minimum requirements for all countries. This is from Hansard:
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to extend the consultation on the partial regulatory impact assessment on the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula (England) Regulations 2007 to obtain views on a third option of fully implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions on the health, social and environmental aspects of marketing breastmilk substitutes, giving these precedence over trade considerations; and if he will make a statement.
Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency launched, on 2 July, a 12-week public consultation on draft domestic regulations which will lay down rules about the composition, labelling and advertising of formulae requesting views from stakeholders on a range of issues. Any responses received, including those that suggest alternative options, will be considered as part of the consultation exercise. The agency will consider all responses to the consultation before finalising the regulations.
---quote endsSo the new Minister for Public Health, Dawn Primarolo, is basically saying implementation of the International Code will be considered if someone suggests it.
Well, we might just do that.
In 2002 the Committee on the Rights of the Child called on the Government to implement the Code. Next year the Government has to report back. Could be embarassing unless we can save the Government from itself.
Members of Parliament have been signing a petition calling for Trading Standards to take action formula companies that continue to make claims on formula that are not permitted by the law. Unfortunately Parliament has broken up for a few months, just as this was getting started, but all the same, we hope Trading Standards to take note. See:
The welcome news that comes my way today is that one of the major supermarket chains is up in court tomorrow, being prosecuted for allegedly marketing infant formula illegally.
I'll say more about this soon. Until then, why not check out the illegal marketing practices by UK supermarkets reported to the monitoring project we run for the Baby Feeding Law Group. They do all deserve to be hauled up before a judge of course.