, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20201113IPR91596/
EU hits Amazon with anti-trust charges
According to The Washington Examiner, the European Commission has “opened a second antitrust investigation into Amazon’s business practices that might artificially favour its own retail offers and offers of marketplace sellers that use Amazon’s logistics and delivery services (the so-called ‘fulfilment by Amazon or FBA sellers’).”
In terms of the implications, The Wall Street Journal has reported that Amazon allegedly used data from third-party sellers to launch competing products.
Amazon has indicated that it disagrees with the European Commission’s assertions, adding, “no company cares more about small businesses or has done more to support them over the past two decades than Amazon.”
The European Union’s decision comes after Google was hit with anti-trust fines totalling nearly $10 billion. In addition, an investigation has been opened into Apple.
Colin Constable, CTO of data privacy and new internet protocol, The @ Company, has told Digital Journal that “Amazon works as a flywheel, getting more and more powerful by offering independents access to its enormous network.”
This type of growth carries consequences, as Constable explains: “An unfortunate outcome of this and other companies like them that enable access to their network of services is that they start tracking these businesses. ”
In terms of the ramifications, Constable outlines the implication: “While initially, these services enable small businesses, these companies pay a data tax for being too successful. It’s a data fiefdom of sorts. We applaud the European Union for taking a first step toward breaking the flywheel and freeing small businesses from this damaging long-term outcome.”
AIADMK accuses ally BJP of attempting ‘vote bank politics on religion’ in Tamil Nadu
CHENNAI: In a blunt message to its ally BJP, the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Monday said it would not allow the former’s ‘Vel Yatra’ and permit attempts towards what it called ‘politics of vote bank’ based on religion.
Amid remarks by AIADMK ministers defending denial of permission for the yatra in view of COVID-19 and BJP leaders insisting on going ahead with it, the ruling party’s organ ‘Namadhu Puratchithalaivi Amma’ said the state was a cradle of Dravidian ideology and there was no room for bigotry.
The Tamil daily referred to BJP’s Mahila Morcha national president Vanathi Srinivasan’s comment that ‘scuttling’ the yatra would only lead to ‘reactions’ hinting at a kind of cascading effect.
In its first direct response to BJP in over a week, the AIADMK said a tranquil Tamil Nadu would not back processions or yatras that have an ‘ulterior’ motive of ‘dividing’ the people on caste or religious lines.
The Tamil Nadu people have time and again proven that the state was a cradle of Dravidian ideology and there was no room for bigotry as religions were only for nurturing harmony, the AIADMK mouthpiece said in a write-up.
Be it Hinduism, Christianity or Islam, all religions taught love, peace and equality and when this was the case, “the AIADMK, which is beyond caste and religion, will not allow attempts towards vote bank politics based on religion and those who desire to take out the Vel Yatra should realise this,” it said.
The BJP, however, dismissed the allegations as baseless and absolutely devoid of truth.
In Tamil Nadu, Hindu religious beliefs were being “denigrated continuously” over the years and the latest was the “Karuppar Kootam” episode, BJP Tamil Nadu state general secretary K T Raghavan told PTI.
The BJP had said the yatra, led by state unit chief L Murugan, was to expose the DMK, which it alleged, had lent support to Karuppar Kootam, a group of atheists that denigrated ‘Kanda Sashti Kavacham’ a centuries old Tamil spiritual hymn in praise of Lord Muruga, whose spear-like weapon is Vel.
The AIADMK said be it “Karuppar Kootam or those who hold the Saffron flag, they should conduct themselves realising that people in peaceful Tamil Nadu followed unity and integrity.”
Defending the yatra, Raghavan referred to DMK top leader M K Stalin’s reported criticism of Hindu rituals in weddings and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) founder Thol Thirumavalavan’s “denigrating” comments about Hindu temples.
“If they claim that it is their freedom of expression to denigrate Hindu beliefs, if we question them is it wrong ?, if we raise questions, is it fair and just to brand us as communal?” he asked.
The AIADMK organ comparing the Saffron flag, which denotes sacrifice with Karuppar Kootam and was highly condemnable, he said.
Incidentally, the sharp attack on BJP by the ruling party mouthpiece comes days ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s proposed visit on November 21 to take part in official and party events in Tamil Nadu, where assembly elections are due early next year.
Officially, the government had banned the Vel or Vetrivel Yatra citing the coronavirus pandemic and parties like Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi had alleged that the BJP’s campaign would lead to violence.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar had stoutly defended the ban on yatra while Murugan and other leaders, including H Raja, had questioned the rationale behind not allowing it.
Though the government disallowed the yatra, the BJP leaders have attempted to take it out from multiple locations, including Tiruttani and Chennai, since November 6 and had courted arrested.
Originally, the BJP had planned to commence the yatra at Tiruttani in northern Tamil Nadu on November 6 and culminate it at Tiruchendur in the southern region of the state on December 6.
Union Minister for Chemicals, Sadananda Gowda and Minister of State, External Affairs, V Muraleedharan are scheduled to take part in the ‘yatras’ on November 22 and 23 at Coimbatore and Palani respectively.
EU aviation stakeholders urge action to protect the industry and back calls for arrivals duty free
EUROPE. Over 20 associations have joined together to launch a series of proposals for the recovery and relaunch of the European aviation sector, with calls for the European Union (EU) and its Member States to take urgent action and offer financial and other support. Their proposals have been brought together in the European Aviation Round Table Report, published today.
The associations represent airlines, airports, air navigation service providers, aeronautical manufacturing, trade unions, non-governmental organisations for environmental and consumer action, service providers, ground handling services, the duty free & travel retail sector (via the ETRC), airport coordinators, general and business aviation, express carriers, travel agents, tour operators, travel distributors, and the tourism sector.
Key proposals include a European Aviation Relief Programme spanning the EU and its Member States, plus an EU Pact for Sustainable Aviation.
In a chapter on the EU internal market and reinforcing the strength of European aviation on the world stage, a key recommendation reads: “The EU should allow duty free on arrival at EU airports in order to increase airports’ international competitiveness.”
This supports recent calls from the ETRC and ACI Europe to introduce the channel to EU airports to help generate additional business and ‘level the playing field’ with non-EU markets in the post-COVID-era. It also reflects ETRC’s efforts to ensure the duty Free & travel retail sector was considered during the drafting of the report.
The Report notes the importance of “restoring the public’s confidence in aviation” as a priority in ensuring recovery. In addition, the report highlights vital elements such as maintaining connectivity, skills and employment and preserving the European internal market in ensuring aviation’s recovery from COVID-19 and making European aviation more resilient to future shocks.
The travel, tourism, aviation and duty free associations that supported the report; click to enlarge
The associations also announced a joint commitment to working with policy makers to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. This aims to build a greener, socially and economically robust future for aviation, while supporting the European Union’s Green Deal objectives.
EU leaders are urged to support an EU Pact for Sustainable Aviation by the end of 2021 “by contributing the policy and financial framework required to enable European aviation to deliver on its sustainability commitments”.
This will ensure that recovery efforts are compatible with European citizens’ expectations about cleaner transport, with aviation employees’ needs for a socially sustainable and responsible aviation sector balanced with aviation stakeholders’ desire for a robust, safe and coordinated recovery from the crisis, said the report.
To further reduce aviation’s environmental footprint and achieve decarbonisation, the Pact calls for, among others:
- – An EU legislative framework to promote the uptake, production and deployment of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs);
- – Funding and investments to enable the acceleration of low-carbon aircraft innovations, such as electric and hydrogen;
- – An incentive scheme for fleet renewal, coupled with retirement;
- – Increased public co-funding rates for Civil Aviation Research & Innovation (Clean Aviation and SESAR) through EU recovery mechanisms;
- – The revision of the Single European Sky (SES) and continuation of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme/ CORSIA.
European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said: “The aviation sector has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. Since March, we have worked closely with Member States in their efforts to support this industry, which plays an important role in terms of jobs and connectivity. Today’s industry report provides important food for thought both for immediate issues and forward-looking challenges.
“Because environmental sustainability and the role of digitisation is a prerequisite for the modernisation and decarbonisation of the EU aviation system. In this unprecedented situation, we will continue our close cooperation with Member States and the aviation sector, to find workable solutions to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, in line with EU rules.”
European Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said: “I welcome today’s report from the aviation sector and civil society on what is needed to rebuild passengers’ trust, and for the recovery of this hard-hit sector, which remains critical for global supply chains and people’s mobility. It offers a vision of how to make the sector stronger, more sustainable and more forward-looking than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. I applaud the commitment to reach net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, and the proposal to create a pact for social sustainability. This is fully in line with our ambitions for the future growth of the EU.”
The report’s authors note that Europe’s aviation sector supports almost 10 million jobs and €672 billion in European Union economic activity, including 4.2% of all EU jobs and 4.2% of the EU’s GDP.
They highlight the fact that aviation is a key economic sector which has been “hit first and hit hardest” by the COVID-19 crisis, and that requires urgent action to “put it back on a path towards a sustainable recovery and future, operationally, financially, socially and environmentally”.
The report also recognises that the aviation sector “cannot merely wait for a resumption of business as usual and that urgent action is required so that aviation can continue to be a primary enabler of our global economy in the future”.
High-level Inter-parliamentary Conference on Migration and Asylum in Europe | News | European Parliament
, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20201113IPR91599/
World Council of Churches calls for peace in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region – Vatican News
By Lisa Zengarini
Fighting began in Ethiopia on 4 November, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched military operations in response to an attack on federal troops by armed forces loyal to the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), resulting in heavy casualties and thousands of civilians fleeing the region.
In a statement released after a virtual meeting, the executive committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) condemned “the numerous brutally violent attacks against churches and communities especially affecting the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, on the members of any community defined by religion or ethnicity, on churches and holy places, and on civilians by armed groups” and mourned “the deaths of so many people.”
Praying for all
The WCC also expressed concern for the many people displaced by the fighting: “We pray that they may be assured of their security and religious freedom, so that they may return to their homes,” the statement reads.
“We denounce those who seek to foster tensions, division, antagonism and bloodshed among the people of Ethiopia for their own political purposes”, the WCC added, urging all stakeholders to “retreat from the precipice of a new catastrophe and to return to dialogue rather than conflict, to cooperation rather than division.”
The executive committee also conveyed the WCC’s “support and encouragement to all the churches of Ethiopia to raise their prophetic voice for inclusive dialogue, peace, justice and unity against violence and hatred.”
Compounding challenges
Recalling that the current crisis arises against the background of multiple concurrent challenges, including regional tensions associated with the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the worst locust invasion in 25 years, serious impacts on food production, and the Covid-19 pandemic, the statement stressed that “such a constellation of crises underscores the necessity of cooperation at this critical time.”
Finally, the statement reaffirmed “the WCC’s commitment to supporting dialogue and cooperation between the churches and religious communities of Ethiopia and Eritrea in the interests of developing peaceful relations in the region.”
Spreading conflict
Tensions between the Federal Government and Tigray regional State had been growing for several months and are of ethnic nature. Many observers fear that the conflict could spread, involving other regions of Ethiopia but also neighbouring Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia.
Following the decision of the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to start military operations in the Tigray region, the Catholic Bishops of Ethiopia published a statement urging parties to resolve their differences amicably, “in a spirit of respect, understanding” and warning on the risks of a civil war.
After the Angelus prayer of November 8, Pope Francis, too, urged “that the temptation of an armed conflict be rejected” and invited “everyone to prayer and to fraternal respect, to dialogue and to a peaceful resolution to the disagreements”.
The ongoing fight between Ethiopia’s Federal Government and the Tigray forces has also sparked concerns among the bishops of Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA), who published a statement on Friday, 13 November, calling on the people of Ethiopia to have peaceful dialogue to end their disagreements.
Link religion, education for national development – NCC
Prof. Adeolu Akande, Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has called for a linkage between education and religion to speed up Nigeria’s quest for national development.
Akande made the call in a paper titled “Religion, Education and National Development’’, which he presented at the Foundation Day Lecture of the Precious Cornerstone University, Ibadan.
“Nigeria’s national life suggests a disconnect between religion, education and quest for national development.
“ If we are desirous of charting a new developmental path for the nation, we must realise the place of religion in education.
“Religion, if not well managed, can promote conflict and violence which are the very enemies of development as peace and security are the foundation of development,’’ he said.
Akande said that religion was the foundation of the society and could be positively deployed for national development just as its mismanagement could become a hindrance to national development.
“Religion provides believers with guidelines about life and the life-after which serves as the much-needed incentives for indulging in productive activities during one’s life time.
“Religion also promotes growth as it directs adherents towards such virtues as hard work, honesty, truthfulness and avoidance of harmful activities against fellow men and society.
“Such virtues promote the right ethics for economic growth and prosperity,” he pointed out.
On education, which he defined as the process of acquiring physical and social capabilities demanded to function in the society, Akande noted that its fundamental aim was the physical, intellectual, emotional and ethical interaction of the individual as a social instrument for developing human resources and for human capital formation.
He said that education was the most important factor for development as well as for empowering people.
“While religion deals with the moral and spiritual component of education, education remains the driver of development.
“It is also particularly important to note that religion develops the appropriate values and attitude for citizens to live meaningful lives,” he explained.
He defined national development as a process of economic and social transformation that was based on complex cultural and environmental interactions making it imperative that religion and education must be in harmony for the desired change to happen since the major goal was to reduce poverty, inequality and unemployment.
Akande described national development as the ability of a country to improve the economic and social welfare of the people by providing social amenities like quality education and portable water.
He listed other amenities to include transportation infrastructure, medical care, and employment for citizens, among others. (NAN)
– Nov. 16, 2020 @ 16:47 GMT |
Polish Cardinal Gulbinowicz dies at age of 97 – Vatican News
By Vatican News
The Polish Bishops’ Conference announced the death of 97-year-old Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz, Archbishop emeritus of Wrocław, via a tweet on Monday morning.
Hneryk Roman Gulbinowicz was born on 17 October 1923 in Sukikes, in the Archdiocese of Vilnius, and received priestly ordination on 18 June 1950.
On 12 January 1970, he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Vilnius for the territory included in the Polish political borders. On 8 February, he received episcopal ordination. On 3 January 1976, he was appointed Archbishop of Wrocław (Wrocław).
In the consistory of 25 May 1985, he was created and published Cardinal with the title of the Immaculate Conception of Mary at Grottarossa. On 3 April 2004, he resigned the pastoral government of the archdiocese.
Ten days ago the Polish Cardinal was subjected to sanctions issued by the Holy See, after an investigation into charges of harassment, homosexual acts, and collaboration with the then Security Service.
In particular, disciplinary actions against him included being “prohibited from taking part in any public celebration or meeting; prohibited from using the episcopal insignia; and prohibited from the funeral service and burial in the cathedral.”
Ghana: Bishop appeals to politicians to stop dividing people – Vatican News
Angela Ofosu Boateng – Accra, Ghana
Archbishop Naameh, who is the Ordinary of Tamale made the remarks when he addressed politicians, traditional leaders, priests, the religious and the lay faithful gathered at the St. Catherine Senior High School at Akatsi for the opening ceremony of the 2020 Plenary Assembly of the GCBC, recently. The Archbishop referenced recent disturbances that took place in Western Togoland.
There have been disturbances in Ghana’s Western Togoland as separatist groups agitate for secession from Ghana.
Use conciliatory language
The Archbishop reminded Ghanaians that in addressing the disturbances, care must be taken so as not to step on the toes of anyone but ensure a win-win outcome for a united and stable Ghana.
Archbishop Naameh said, “it is for this reason that we call on all, especially those prominent politicians who go out of their way to refer to some Ghanaians as ‘foreigners’ to desist from those unguarded comments.”
He explained that such unfortunate utterances worsened the already existing threat to the unity of the nation, stressing that “all divisive comments must cease if we intend to make any progress in our attempt to address the current threat posed by the secessionists.”
Archbishop Naameh called on the government to do all within its means to find a lasting solution to the problem.
Give the word of God space
Speaking on the theme of the Bishops’ Plenary, The Word of God: Christian Formation for Transformation in Ghana, Archbishop Naameh said Christians must at all times become the source of light to the world by avoiding deceit, corruption, materialism, greed for money, power and fame among others.
“In a society where honest and dedicated hardworking people are scarce commodities; where probity and accountability are acts of witch-hunting; where ritual murderers operate with ease; where the youth practise Sakawa (Internet fraud); where contract killings for various reasons are on the increase and where the young disrespectfully address their leaders -the Word of God must be given space to define, direct and shape the beginning and future of our society. We need more than ever to sow the Word of God, so as to experience the transforming power of His Word,” said the Archbishop.
Apostolic Nuncio: Pay attention to the neglected and downtrodden
In his address, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Archbishop Henryk Mieczysław Jagodziński, explained that human existence could be understood as a dialogue with God, hence, the Church is entrusted with the mission to proclaim the Word of God always and everywhere.
He noted that through His Word, God continues to speak to people as he did with the Prophets and Apostles. The Apostolic Nuncio, however, emphasised that there was need for faith and obedience on the part of human beings.
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