Financial timess

Kindly Share This Story: …As lawyers hold nationwide protests By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Henry Ojelu, Festus Ahon, Chinonso Alozie, Chimaobi Nwaiwu THE Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, yesterday assured that issues surrounding the implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary and legislature at the state level will be completed by May. The assurance by the governors came just as lawyers in various states across the country staged peaceful protests yesterday to demand autonomy for the judiciary. Chairman of the NGF, and governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who led other governors and representatives of both the judiciary and legislature to a harmonisation meeting in the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said all parties had reached an agreement on the way forward. The Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, had embarked on nationwide strike over inability of state … [Read more...] about JUSUN strike: Legislature/Judiciary financial autonomy starts May — GOVS

Boatmen at the Ooty Lake and Boat House staged a protest outside the popular tourist attraction on Tuesday, stating that the COVID-19 restrictions announced by the government had put their livelihoods at risk. The boatmen said that many of them had been working at the Boat House for many years, but they were not permanent staff. Thulasi Das, a boatman who has been working at the Boat House for more than two decades, said that the boatmen were suddenly told that the Boat House would be closed from Tuesday onwards. “Our livelihoods were already affected by the lockdown last year for around nine months with no income. A similar situation this year will mean financial ruin for all the temporary staff and the families dependent on them,” said Mr. Das, who added that each boatman received ₹50 per boat ride. “The Tourism Department charges ₹680 for a boat ride with eight passengers, but they only give us ₹50 per ride, while even for a 15-seat boat, for which each ride is charged at … [Read more...] about Boatmen in Ooty stage protest, demand financial support following restrictions

If it’s really a “scholarship,” the academic standards for Louisiana’s TOPS program are way too low. If it’s “merit-based financial aid,” better-off families will continue to reap the vast share of the popular and generous checks given to college students who make the grades. What the Taylor Opportunity Program for Scholars is: a middle- or upper-middle-class entitlement program, because families with higher incomes are typically providing the opportunity for students to learn better in elementary and high school, for which the state then writes a college check. It is the long-existing quandary of TOPS. A couple of legislators viewed the data during the budget discussion and questioned why TOPS checks go most often to families making $70,000 a year or higher. State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, said TOPS was initially launched to aid students who could not afford college. "How did we get from the intent to what we have here, that it is just the opposite?" Marcelle … [Read more...] about Our Views: TOPS program has flaws, but it’s not easy to fix it, politically

Business groups are gaining a stronger foothold and demonstrating intensified influence in the Louisiana Legislature, after term limits wiped out many former lawmakers and industry-backed candidates won many of those vacant seats. In the regular session that ended June 1 and the ongoing special session, the majority-Republican House and Senate are working to enact a long-sought business goal. The sweeping set of changes to the state's civil litigation system would lessen the damages that can be awarded against insurance companies in car wreck lawsuits. Lawmakers also have passed measures to shield businesses from most lawsuits related to coronavirus injuries and deaths unless someone can prove the high legal standard of “gross negligence or willful misconduct.” And legislators are advancing a package of business-backed tax breaks, including some measures that would reverse hard-fought efforts across the last two legislative terms to scale back tax credits and exemptions that … [Read more...] about Louisiana Spotlight: Business rules the roost in State Capitol halls

India's main opposition party leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a jibe at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government over a lockdown-driven exodus of internal migrant workers to their home states and suggested the government should support them financially. "Migrants workers are fleeing to their native villages. In such a situation, it is the responsibility of the central government to deposit money in their bank accounts to help them. But will a government that blames the public for spreading corona take such a helpful step?" he tweeted in Hindi. प्रवासी एक बार फिर पलायन कर रहे हैं। ऐसे में केंद्र सरकार की ज़िम्मेदारी है कि उनके बैंक खातों में रुपय डाले। #Lockdown — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 20, 2021 Gandhi’s remark comes at a time when thousands of migrant labourers in the country are flocking to railway stations and bus stops; several states have implemented a partial lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19, leaving them out of work for the duration … [Read more...] about Rahul Gandhi Calls on Indian Gov’t to Give Money to Migrants Leaving for Home Villages Amid Lockdown