Latest news with #SocialJustice
The Hindu
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Karnataka Chief Minister to attend programmes in Delhi on August 1, 2
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be in New Delhi on August 1 and 2 to participate in two different programmes. On August 1, he will attend 'Bridge to Bengaluru', a dialogue with diplomats on global innovation alliance for technology as a prelude to India's flagship technology forum, Bengaluru Tech Summit 2025. The event will be held at Hotel ITC Maurya. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge too will attend the programme. On August 2, he will attend a seminar on 'Social Justice and the Constitution: Ideas of Equality and fraternity', organised by the AICC in Delhi. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi will also attend, according to an official press release.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
CM Fadnavis directs formation of committee to explore use of solar power in textiles sector
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday directed the establishment of a committee comprising the textiles and energy departments to explore the use of solar power in the textiles sector to solve the power supply-related problems. Further, he instructed that a uniform criterion should be set for providing financial assistance to new cooperative spinning mills under the Social Justice, Tribal Development and Other Backward Classes Welfare Departments, saying that each department should make additional provision for the spinning mills under their jurisdiction. He chaired the review meeting of the textiles department, which was attended by Textiles Minister Sanjay Savkare, Legislative Council member Amrish Patel and senior officers from various departments. CM Fadnavis said that while extending the interest subsidy scheme on loans to cooperative spinning mills, they should be modernised and graded. A report should be prepared on the reopening of closed mills under the National Textile Corporation in the state. On that basis, action should be taken to submit a proposal to the Central Government for the reopening of closed mills. "Necessary amendments should be made in the Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy 2023-28. Along with this, a policy should be prepared regarding the recovery of government dues from cooperative spinning mills and cooperative power loom institutions. Further, the process of registering all power looms in the state should be completed. The process of obtaining a no-objection certificate from the Maharashtra State Khadi Village Industries Board for the repair of the building used by the Silk Directorate in Pune and the creation of other facilities should be completed immediately," instructed CM Fadnavis. He also reviewed various issues relating to the creation of a new Maharashtra State Textiles Development Corporation, merger of Textiles Commissionerate and Silk Directorate to form Textiles and Silk Commissionerate, plan to allow sale of additional land from cooperative spinning mills, preparation of a new scheme for providing rehabilitation loans to spinning mills and a scheme for leasing spinning mills, action to revise the project report value of cooperative spinning mills from Rs 80.90 crore to Rs 118 crore and permanent acquisition of leased land from the Red Cross Society at Wai in Satara district for the District Silk Office. --IANS sj/uk
Hans India
4 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
CM Fadnavis directs formation of committee to explore use of solar power in textiles sector
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday directed the establishment of a committee comprising the textiles and energy departments to explore the use of solar power in the textiles sector to solve the power supply-related problems. Further, he instructed that a uniform criterion should be set for providing financial assistance to new cooperative spinning mills under the Social Justice, Tribal Development and Other Backward Classes Welfare Departments, saying that each department should make additional provision for the spinning mills under their jurisdiction. He chaired the review meeting of the textiles department, which was attended by Textiles Minister Sanjay Savkare, Legislative Council member Amrish Patel and senior officers from various departments. CM Fadnavis said that while extending the interest subsidy scheme on loans to cooperative spinning mills, they should be modernised and graded. A report should be prepared on the reopening of closed mills under the National Textile Corporation in the state. On that basis, action should be taken to submit a proposal to the Central Government for the reopening of closed mills. 'Necessary amendments should be made in the Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy 2023-28. Along with this, a policy should be prepared regarding the recovery of government dues from cooperative spinning mills and cooperative power loom institutions. Further, the process of registering all power looms in the state should be completed. The process of obtaining a no-objection certificate from the Maharashtra State Khadi Village Industries Board for the repair of the building used by the Silk Directorate in Pune and the creation of other facilities should be completed immediately,' instructed CM Fadnavis. He also reviewed various issues relating to the creation of a new Maharashtra State Textiles Development Corporation, merger of Textiles Commissionerate and Silk Directorate to form Textiles and Silk Commissionerate, plan to allow sale of additional land from cooperative spinning mills, preparation of a new scheme for providing rehabilitation loans to spinning mills and a scheme for leasing spinning mills, action to revise the project report value of cooperative spinning mills from Rs 80.90 crore to Rs 118 crore and permanent acquisition of leased land from the Red Cross Society at Wai in Satara district for the District Silk Office.
Business News Wales
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Business News Wales
Neath Port Talbot Reports Strong Progress in Promoting Welsh Language
Neath Port Talbot Council's Cabinet members have heard of good progress being made in promoting the use of Welsh across the county borough. This comes just weeks after Margam Country Park played host to the Eisteddfod yr Urdd Dur a Môr, which saw a record-breaking number of registrations to compete. Both the Welsh Language Standards Annual Report and the Welsh Language Promotion Strategy Annual Report for 2024-2025 were presented to Cabinet. The reports detail how the council has complied with the Standards, and the activities and initiatives that took place during the year to promote the Welsh language and facilitate its use in the area. Cllr Simon Knoyle, Neath Port Talbot Council's Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Social Justice, said: 'This council remains committed to promoting the Welsh language as a living, vibrant part of everyday life. I hope the reports demonstrate that our approach to implementing the Welsh language Standards and delivering on our Welsh Language Promotion Strategy is not just a legal requirement, but a genuine commitment. 'These reports highlight some significant progress during a busy and exciting year when we were preparing to welcome the Urdd Eisteddfod in May 2025. The Urdd was a huge success, and we anticipate that one if its legacies will be a significant boost for the Welsh language in our area. We look forward to continuing to work with our partners to make the most of this.' Cabinet members were given annual updates on notable areas of progress during 2024/2025 which included: The launch of the council's new online, fully bilingual resident account platform, myNPT; The production and launch of 6 promotional videos to support the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan. These promote the benefits of bilingualism and all aspects of Welsh-medium education for non-Welsh speaking parents. A decrease of 18 seconds in the average time taken to answer Welsh language telephone calls to the council compared to 2023-24. Support for national campaigns 'Diwrnod Shwmae Su'mae' and 'Defnyddia dy Gymraeg' to promote the Welsh language; Promotion of the 'Welsh Language in NPT' eLearning course to council employees, as a result, 2,859 had completed the course by 31st March 2025, an increase of 1,179 since the end of the previous year. Strengthening of the Welsh Language Standards content of the council's corporate induction training session for new employees which moved to a fully bilingual slide deck and expanding the Welsh Language content.
Globe and Mail
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
A party to celebrate a mistake
This week a breathless announcement arrived in my inbox. 'Toronto is set to celebrate a historic cultural milestone,' it said. On Aug. 23, the city would hold its very first official 'Sankofa Day.' What's that, you say? You may well ask. Sankofa Square is the obscure new name for Yonge-Dundas Square, the one-acre public space at the corner of Yonge and Dundas streets, right across from the Eaton Centre. Sankofa Day, its organizers tell us, is another name for the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. In 2021, the city government decided to erase the name Dundas from the square bearing his name. It was a time when statues were being toppled and historical figures cancelled in the name of social justice. Henry Dundas was a leading British statesman of the Georgian era. His critics say he was responsible for delaying the end of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. His defenders say he was a sincere opponent of slavery who orchestrated a tactical delay in parliament to pave the way for eventual abolition. City councillors brushed aside these complexities and voted to rename the square, though not the street (which would be too expensive). Various new names were kicked around. One suggestion was Lightfoot Square, after the iconic singer who played many times at Massey Hall around the corner. But, no, that would have been too easy. Instead, the city struck a committee: the Recognition Review Community Advisory Committee, in fact. After what the group that runs the square calls 'two years of careful work,' it announced its choice. Yonge-Dundas Square would become Sankofa Square. Toronto's shameful renaming debacles Torontonians were understandably bewildered. They still are. What or who is Sankofa? The square's website explains that 'Sankofa (SAHN-koh-fah) is a Twi word from the Akan Tribe of Ghana that loosely translates to, 'go back and get it.'' The phrase 'encourages learning from the past to inform the future.' A-ha. Not surprisingly, the name has failed to catch on. Does anybody ever say, 'Meet you at Sankofa Square?' The name has no connection to Toronto or its history. Worse, after the name came out, critics pointed out that the Akan people themselves once kept and traded slaves. Awkward. Unembarrassed and undeterred, the folks who run the square are throwing a big party to get Torontonians onside. If you don't like (or for that matter even know) the name, well, they are going to make you like it. The website invites visitors to come 'experience Canada's first major public Sankofa Day celebration!' – a free, all-day event featuring Caribbean film screenings, music performances, public-art installations, Indigenous and African ancestral ceremonies, DJ sets and a community run. The event will also include a 'brand reveal' of the square's new visual identity. If all this is a bit too much for you, sorry, there is more. Toronto is not finished with its renaming follies. Dundas subway station, just below the square, is to be renamed TMU station. Nearby Toronto Metropolitan University is paying the Toronto Transit Commission for the rights, shelling out a reported $1.6-million. So now the downtown stations on the Yonge Street line will be called Bloor, Wellesley, College, TMU, Queen and King – all but one named after the corresponding cross street. What is 'downtown,' anyway TMU itself has been part of the rename game. It used to be Ryerson University, after the 19th-century Methodist minister who helped establish a system of free, mandatory schooling in what is now the province of Ontario. It dropped his name after campaigners claimed his writings helped pave the way for the establishment of the residential schools where many Indigenous children suffered and died. But there is another side of his story, as there was with that of Henry Dundas. Ryerson's defenders say he was a liberal educator who lived among the Ojibwa people and learned to speak their language. None of that counted for much in the feverish atmosphere of recent times. Ryerson's statue was decapitated and his name expunged. TMU, at least, has the merit of being a logical name. It is, in fact, a Toronto metropolitan university, with its campus in the heart of downtown. Sankofa? Well, that is something else. Inviting the whole city to a party won't persuade anyone this was a good idea.
