After 8 years, India and European Union to resume free trade pact talks

After eight years, India and the European Union are set to resume negotiations for an ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreement. An announcement on the formal resumption is expected to be made at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top leadership of the 27-nation grouping on Saturday.

Official sources in the EU also said the free trade agreement package will include an investment protection pact as well as a framework on geographical indication.

Launched in June 2007, the FTA talks between India and the EU hit a roadblock in May 2013 when the two sides failed to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues, including tariff, data security status for the IT sector and market access.

India and the EU will agree to resume the negotiations at the virtual summit between Prime Minister Modi and top leadership of the bloc, sources said Thursday.

The two sides are also likely to announce a connectivity partnership at the summit that is aimed at boosting cooperation in sectors like railway, maritime and aviation as well as in the digital domain to bring people of the two sides closer to each other, sources said.

Prime Minister Modi was scheduled to visit Portugal for the India-EU summit but it was called off because of the coronavirus crisis. Both sides then decided to hold the deliberations virtually.

A strategically important grouping for India, the EU as a whole was country’s largest trading partner in 2018. India’s bilateral trade with the EU in 2018-19 stood at $15.6 billion with exports valued at $57.17 billion and imports worth $58.42 billion.

Madrid Popular Party doubles strenght and wins elections

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a complete unknown without much trajectory only two years ago, is consolidating her position as a political phenomenon. The Madrid president and PP candidate is the big winner of the elections in the Community of Madrid, where she has swept to the point of winning more seats than the three left-wing parties combined, which will allow her to govern comfortably and without needing Vox for every law. The right-wing bloc has clearly strengthened and won 78 seats (65 for the PP and 13 for Vox) compared to 58 for the left (24 for Más Madrid, 24 for the PSOE and 10 for Podemos). Just two years ago, the difference between the two blocs was four MPs. Madrid thus swings even further to the right, but thanks to the spectacular increase of the PP, because Vox is left with a result very similar to that of two years ago.

The hard blow to the left has an immediate consequence: Pablo Iglesias leaves all his positions in Podemos and will not stay in the regional Assembly: “I will not be a stopper for a new leadership. I don’t know what destiny is, walking I was what I was”, he said as a farewell quoting Silvio Rodríguez after pointing to Yolanda Díaz as his successor.

A historic turnout, 11 points higher than in 2019, has not only not lifted the left, but has sunk it much further, especially due to the collapse of the PSOE, which has just won the elections in Catalonia, but has hit a bump in Madrid with a fall of more than 10 points that lead it to have the worst result in its history, and to tie in seats with a formation with hardly any means such as Más Madrid, which at the last moment of the count achieved a historic first place on the left by just over 4,000 votes.

Díaz Ayuso has not achieved an absolute majority – she is just four seats short – but the abstention of Vox would be enough for her to be invested. It now remains to be seen whether or not this group will want to enter the Madrid government, although the results make that possibility unlikely.

The left has failed in its attempt to seek a turnaround by mobilising the southern vote. The key to this fiasco is the PSOE’s collapse, which in less than two years has lost a good part of its support, despite having the same candidate who in 2019 amply won the elections in the community, Ángel Gabilondo, although he was unable to govern because the right-wing bloc had more seats than the left-wing bloc.

Young people key to transforming world’s food systems

The online discussions, which centred around topics such as agriculture, education and climate change, will serve as direct input to a landmark UN Food Systems Summit, due to be held in September. 

More than a plateful 

Transforming food systems is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said in a video message for the event. 

She highlighted how “food is much bigger than what is on your plate”, noting key connections with health, environment and culture.   

“This is a complex challenge, but only together will we transform our food systems to be more equitable, inclusive and sustainable and deliver the SDGs by 2030”, she said.  

Profit over purpose 

Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, explained why food systems much change on a planet where half of all children do not have access to healthy diets, amid a “worrying increase” in overweight and obesity. 

“Too often, food systems put profit over purpose. This places the most nutritious foods often out of reach for many households”, she said. 

“Families are forced to turn to heavily marketed and unhealthy alternatives. These may be cheaper and more available. But they also lead to poor nutritional outcomes, threatening children’s development and growth and — in the worst cases — survival itself.” 

COVID-19 and rising hunger 

The UN Food Systems Summit is organized around five “Action Tracks” to foster initiatives on issues such as boosting “nature-positive” food production and shifting to sustainable consumption patterns. 

Janya Green from the United States is a youth co-chair on Action Track 1, which covers ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all.  She has been working on community food gardens since she was 12. 

“As you all know, hunger worldwide is a huge problem. The number of undernourished people continued to increase in 2019.  Even before taking COVID-19 into account, hunger was predicted to rise.  If we do not reverse these current trends, the SDG zero-hunger target will not be met,” she warned. 

Unsplash/Zoe Schaeffer

A woman tends to plants on a small-scale, sustainable farm in Pennsylvania, USA.

‘The future is youth’ 

The pandemic has exposed deep-rooted inequities, including in food systems, the UN Deputy Secretary-General observed. While young people are among those hit hard by the aftershocks, Ms. Mohammed said they have also been resilient, converting challenges into opportunities. 

Agnes Kalibata, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to the Food Systems Summit, stressed that it would be impossible to hold the event without engaging with youth. 

Ms. Kalibata, who is from Rwanda, recalled that young people make up 77 per cent of the total population in Africa, and around 50 per cent of the global population. 

 “This is about the future”, she said.  “The future is youth. The future of our world is our youth.”

UN forum examines how to make science and technology work better for all

The Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) aims to identify gaps and promote partnerships in efforts to achieve a greener world by 2030. 

In remarks to the forum, the UN Secretary-General emphasized how the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the importance of science, technology and innovation for human well-being and survival, as well as the need for greater global cooperation. 

His statement was delivered by Maria Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 

Pandemic sparks innovations 

Addressing the pandemic, the UN chief said not only was a vaccine developed in record time, but the crisis has also increased innovation in medicines and digital communications technologies.   

At the same time, scientific discovery and collaborations have accelerated and new ways of delivering services have proliferated.   

The Secretary-General said these advances hold promise for collective challenges beyond the pandemic, including in limiting climate disruption, reducing inequalities and “ending our war on nature”.  

© UNICEF/Chansereypich Seng

In March, representatives from UNICEF and WHO visited hospitals in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia to monitor the progress of COVID-19 vaccination through COVAX.

Billions still excluded 

However, he noted that billions of people worldwide still remain largely excluded from the benefits of the information and technology revolution, and the pandemic has only exacerbated existing technology divides. 

“It is essential that we work together — across borders, sectors and disciplines — to make science and technology work for everyone”, his statement said. 

“Multi-stakeholder cooperation will continue to be the key, helping us to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, address climate change, end the biodiversity and pollution crises and rise to our other common challenges.” 

Technology for development 

The STI Forum, now in its sixth year, is part of the UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism, an online platform which supports countries in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by their 2030 deadline.   

Through the platform, UN entities, Member States, civil society, the private sector, the scientific community and other stakeholders share information, experiences, best practices and policy advice. 

Last June, the Secretary-General also launched a Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.  Its eight objectives include achieving universal connectivity by 2030 as roughly half the world’s population, or three billion people, most of them women, do not have access to the Internet. 

László Pesty reports on the campaign "EU Minority Lives Matter"

Friday 30 of April, the Press Club Brussels Europe will be hosting in their premises, a press conference organized by László Pesty, who is the head of the campaign for the European Citizens Initiative SIGNITEUROPE.COM., also known as “EU Minority Lives Matter”.

According to their statements, “In the European Union, there are about 50 million people who belong to a national minority. Their lands are the national regions we, the civil organizers of the initiative stand for“.

The campaign has collected so far more than 1.150.000 online signatures, reaching the needed thresholds in 10 member states, making it “one of the most successful of its kind, ten days before the deadline of May 7th”.

The EU has seen 76 such citizens’ initiatives but only 6 of them have successfully met the conditions: one million signatures and 7 countries, and SIGNITEUROPE.COM, making it the 3rd most succesful of this type of initiatives.

László Pesty, a well known Hungarian filmmaker, is head of campaign, and he will be present in the Brussels Press Club. It will be a report on the current status of the petition, and to answer all questions. László Pesty takes the floor in Brussels deliberately at the same moment the plenary session of the European Parliament is taking place in Brussels.

Moreover, just a few days before the deadline of the petition,  he also wants to be present himself in the heart of Europe, for a final effort in collecting the required threshold of signatures in Belgium.

Where will the conference be?

The press conference will take place at 11:00 at the premises of the Press Club Brussels Europe, and can be followed from their conference room where Pesty will answer questions, or via the Press Club TV youtube channel.
Join the press conference on line via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFWBDOElTrmVotVrnlsI5fw
For more informarion: Yvonne Mester +36 306990938

www.signiteurope.com

Yet another legal win for Scientology in Germany

State of Baden-Württemberg loses in court against a Scientologist

EUToday has just reported about this new legal defeat of a German state when discriminating a Scientologist at the workplace for his beliefs. The EuToday newsportal published that “The State Administrative Court of Appeal for Baden-Württemberg dismissed the State´s appeal against a positive judgement won by a Scientologist before the Stuttgart Administrative Court”.

As reported, the statements in the headlines follow from two court decisions in Baden-Württemberg: “a judgement by the Administrative Court Stuttgart of 02.06.2020 (file no. 3 K 6690/19) and a recent decision of the State Administrative Court of Appeal for Baden-Württemberg of 04.03.2021 (file no. VGH 8 S 1886/20) which had dismissed the application of the state to grant their motion for leave to appeal”.

The state, represented by the State Air Traffic Security Agency, had been tipped off by the State Office for Protection of the Constitution about the Scientology membership of the plaintiff. The agency subsequently adjudicated the Scientologist “unreliable” basing this solely on his long-term religious membership, insinuating that he would thereby pursue illegitimate purposes. Consequently, despite his impeccable conduct, the Scientologist was prohibited from entering the security areas of any German airport. The exercise of his profession in his specialist airport related activities as an electrical engineer had factually become impossible, even though because of his professional skills, he had contributed to the security of airports across Germany and Europe in a very responsible fashion for decades.

SCIENTOLOGY MEMBERSHIP DOES NOT FORWARD ANTI-CONSTITUTIONAL ENDEAVOURS – SCIENTOLOGISTS FOLLOW THE LAW.

Pointing to the Supreme Administrative Court case law on the security of air traffic, the first instance Administrative Court in Stuttgart had already confirmed the following to be factual with regards to the Scientologist: “That the individual conduct of the plaintiff was directed in any way towards the use of violence or that the result of his conduct was directed … to materially damage the protection of the free and democratic basic order, the existence and the security of the Federation and the States, is not evident.”

The Stuttgart Admin, in a crushing blow to what the German OPC offten infers, stated that, “no factual indicators are evident that the plaintiff pursues or supports or has pursued or supported any anti-constitutional endeavours in the meaning of … the Federal Law on the Office for Protection of the Constitution during the last ten years.”

EUToday continues to report that “That the Church of Scientology and their members respect the fundamental principles of the liberal-democracy as protected in the above law, not only follows from the legal obligations in the corporate statutes of the Church but also, inter alia, from the Church´s and its members´ worldwide commitment to human rights as has been evident throughout the past decades”.

The State Administrative Court of Appeal has now confirmed the above judgement as final. The blanket insinuation in the agency´s appeal that the plaintiff, by reason of his Scientology membership, would “not constantly be willing to respect the legal order” was rightfully rejected by the Appeal Court with the words: “That this can generally be presumed for members of Scientology, is not evident.” As required by the Church of Scientology from all its members, the plaintiff had always respected the law as evident from his impeccable conduct. The Appeal Court also came to the same conclusion as the first instance court with regards to the agency´s second absurd insinuation against the plaintiff and the Church alleging there was “willingness to use violence”. The Appeal Court also set the record straight on this point stating there is “nothing evident” to that effect, “neither for the plaintiff himself nor for the Scientology Organisation.”

Eric Roux, Vice President of the European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights, commented: “The above court findings have rightfully confirmed that the Church and its members are law abiding. They show that the past discriminatory pillorying against the Church and its membership in Germany by certain state security agencies are nothing but blatant human rights violations. The time is well past that such agencies must be subject to international human rights law standards as provided for in guarantees of international treaties of the UN, the OSCE and the EU Human Rights Convention so that they act to protect what they were established for and not to make a Swiss cheese out of the human rights principles that they were meant to protect in the first place.”

Source of the information: https://eutoday.net/news/security-defence/2021/state-of-baden-wurttemberg-loses-in-court-against-a-scientologist

Seven in 10 Italians positive on EU recovery plan, EP survey

                                (ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, FEB 12 - The Covid-19 pandemic has

strengthened the belief that the European Union is the right
place to develop effective solutions to fight Covid-19 and its
effects. A new survey, commissioned by the European Parliament
and conducted between November and December 2020 by Kantar,
noted that seven in 10 Italians are optimistic about the EU
recovery plan.At a European level – according to the survey – nearly three
in four of those interviewed (72%) believe that the recovery
plan of the European Union would allow the economy of their
country to recover more quickly from the negative effect of the
coronavirus pandemic. Italy, with 69%, is in line with the
European average. A reported 43% of the Italians interviewed
have a positive or very positive image, up 11 percentage points
compared to the fall of 2019.

In general, according to the survey, Europeans who express a
positive opinion about the EU have increased by 10 percentage
points, compared to the fall of 2019, reaching a total of 50%.

“The message of this survey is clear: European citizens
support the European Union and believe the EU is the right place
to find solutions to the crisis. But the reform of the European
Union is clearly something that citizens want to see and for
this reason we have to launch the Conference on the future of
Europe as soon as possible”, said the president of the European
Parliament, David Sassoli. (ANSAmed).

The Great Chick Corea last words to continue joy of creating

His last words

“I want to thank all of those along my journey who have helped keep the music fires burning bright. It is my hope that those who have an inkling to play, write, perform or otherwise, do so. If not for yourself then for the rest of us. It’s not only that the world needs more artists, it’s also just a lot of fun.” wrote the legendary Chick Corea before his departure on 9 february 2021, due to a rare cancer that abruptly interrupted his genius.

Spanish connection

With the “Concierto de Aranjuez” as his base, the percussion and vocal caress of Brazil and the flamenco guitar of Paco de Lucía as his ally, Chick Corea was one of the great pioneers who knew how to successfully incorporate his Latin heritage into international jazz.

23 Grammys

He has the fourth highest number of Grammy nominations, 65, of which he received 23, as well as four Latin Grammys, three of them in the “instrumental album” category, more than any other artist, specifically for the albums “The Enchantment” (2006), “Forever” (2010) and “Further explorations” (2011).

In addition to these, “The Vigil” (2013) was awarded “Best Latin Jazz Album”, but before arriving there, in the last part of his life, the road he had travelled had been prolific and extensive when it came to gathering his family heritage and projecting it to the world.

A personal side…

Born Armando Anthony Corea (Chelsea/USA, 1941) into a family of Italian descent, he learned the fundamentals of the genre as the son of a trumpeter named Armando J. Corea and took his first professional steps alongside figures such as Dizzie Gillespie and Miles Davis. One of his drive was since the 70ies the “Joy of Creating“, an article written by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology religion, which Corea embraced since the 70s after reading the book Dianetics. In fact he directed and participated what was announced as the “Stay Well Concert“, organized and broadcasted at the Scientology Network, where he wanted to transmit a sense of positivity in times of COVID-19.

From Miles Davis to Flamenco

Back to his historic and background, the influence of Miles Davis’ “Sketches of Spain” must have been strongly engraved in his ear, since twelve years after the release of that emblematic album, he also took Joaquín Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez” as a musical idea around which to orbit to create a historical piece, “Spain”.

He had previously released the no less referential “Return To Forever” (1972) with the group of the same name, which included another emblematic song of his production, “La fiesta”, with which he had opened the way to an encounter with flamenco.

He continued to investigate in the same direction, both on the band’s next album, “Light As A Feather” (1973), which included the aforementioned “Spain”, and on “My Spanish Heart” (1976), a very personal project that once again combined Hispanic tradition and electronic modernity.

Warm and wild at the same time

Warm and wild at the same time, between soft “pianissimos” and abrupt tempo changes, it contained pieces like the ambitious suites “Spanish Fantasy” and “El Bozo” or the amusing “Armando’s Rhumba”, with his hand-clapping in the background.

Some of these themes became anthological pieces of his production and it was not unusual to see him reinterpret them hand in hand with other icons, as was the case with Herbie Hancock in the albums they released together at the end of that decade.

As for the influence of flamenco in her music, this was even more evident in “Touchstone” (1982), in which she had the guest guitar of Paco de Lucía in the middle of a repertoire full of songs with Spanish names, see “Duende“.

Compadres

Among a large list of collaborators from the Latin music scene, such as Carles Benavent, Don Alias and Álex Acuña, that album also allowed her to return with some of her former colleagues from Return To Forever, such as Stanley Clarke, to produce the song “Compadres“.

He never strayed completely from the path he himself had set out and it was not unusual to see him return to it, as with the aforementioned “The Vigil” (2013), or when he released another of his most acclaimed albums, “Corea.Concerto: Spain For Sextet & Orchestra / Piano Concerto No. 1” (1999), which featured Avishai Ochen and once again turned his gaze to “Spain”, considered by many to be the best composition of his career.

You can watch the 1 hour video documentary “Chick Corea: In the mind of the Master” here, where he presents his latest album Antidote.

Compendium of Resources to respond to the global problem of trafficking in human beings

Compendium of relevant reference materials and resources on ethical sourcing and prevention of trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation in supply chains

The objective of the Compendium of Resources is to take stock of the existing legislation, policies, guidelines, recommendations, reports, studies, and other types of initiatives developed to better understand and respond to the global problem of trafficking in human beings through its prevention in supply chains. The resources included in the Compendium do not represent by any means an exhaustive list and are only intended to illustrate the initiatives identified by the OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings during the development of this project. The Compendium is intended for the use by government officials involved in policy making, as well as businesses and other stakeholders interested to learn from current practices in order to further enhance their own measures on ethical sourcing and the prevention of human trafficking in supply chains.

 

Compendium of Relevant Reference Materials and Resources on Ethical Sourcing and Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings for Labour Exploitation in Supply Chains

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New WHO report reveals urgency of confronting tobacco use among women

A new report by WHO/Europe about women and the tobacco epidemic has been launched. The report, “Through a gender lens: women and tobacco in the WHO European Region”, has revealed that, although tobacco use among women is decreasing overall, the rate is going down at a much slower pace than in men, and in some countries it is increasing.

The global noncommunicable diseases action plan includes a target to reduce global prevalence of tobacco use by 30% by 2025 relative to 2010. However, estimates project the Region will miss this target entirely and will be the only WHO region in the world expected to fall short, by as much as 3.8%, of the 30% relative reduction target among women.

In light of these figures, it is important to refocus tobacco control efforts across the Region to actively confront tobacco industry attempts to hook women and girls on tobacco products and to promote gender-transformative policies as a high priority.

The tobacco industry is finding innovative ways to promote its deadly products to women, such as via social media influencers and the funding of women’s groups. Old tactics of gendered product design and packaging remain a challenge for tobacco control. Substantive action on this element of tobacco marketing is critical to tackle the high smoking rates among women and girls.

There is a pressing need for interventions that prevent the uptake of smoking among girls. The tobacco industry is actively aiming at young women and girls in a number of ways to encourage addiction to tobacco products, so early prevention is crucial. The situation is challenging: WHO estimates that 12% of girls aged 13–15 are current tobacco users in the Region – 1.5 times the global average of 8%.

Women advocates have been at the frontline of the struggle against tobacco for generations, pushing to prioritize the empowerment of women and girls in the face of the public health crisis. Margaretha Haglund has been working tirelessly for action on women and tobacco throughout her career. She was President of the International Network of Women Against Tobacco (INWAT) from 1997–2006 and has worked as an expert for thinktanks and governments, implementing women-tailored policies for tobacco prevention and cessation.

“This publication can be an important tool to inspire countries to implement gender-sensitive strategies in tobacco control,” she says. “So far, not enough countries have taken action, so inspiration is hugely important. Sharing examples of the tobacco industry’s marketing towards women and girls and information on novel products are particularly welcome.”

Significant obstacles – the tobacco industry and lack of political will

Mrs Haglund identifies 2 significant obstacles for women-focused tobacco control that she has encountered in her career: the tobacco industry itself and lack of political support for tobacco control action. “The tobacco industry uses the lack of political will to stop, delay and weaken tobacco control legislation,” she says, “The industry is gradually becoming aware that the conventional cigarette will no longer be accepted by society due to its dramatic effects on health, environment and economy. Therefore, we’re also seeing an increase in ‘pure’ nicotine products, flavoured to entice new generations into nicotine addiction.”

Mrs Haglund emphasizes a central strategy for fighting against the tobacco industry: the importance of countries ratifying and observing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a treaty adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2003, in full. “There is no magic bullet to reduce smoking prevalence in women,” she says. “But all countries need the same thing: the implementation of the FCTC at its highest level.”

The WHO FCTC is a strong policy framework that covers every angle of tobacco control. One of the most significant elements of the treaty is Article 13, which advocates a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS). This is an important policy plank for countries to consider, which would close the loopholes that allow the continued promotion of tobacco products to women and girls. Nonetheless, as of 2019, only 7 countries in the Region had a comprehensive ban on all forms of direct and indirect tobacco advertising.

Protecting women from the harms of tobacco is enshrined in the WHO FCTC as a guiding principle which declares “the need to take measures to address gender-specific risks when developing tobacco control strategies” (Article 4.2.d). To support this, countries should ensure tobacco control data is gender-disaggregated, and that questions of gender are mainstreamed throughout all policy, planning and decision-making.

“Through a gender lens: women and tobacco in the WHO European Region” also highlights the need to tailor interventions to different groups of women. This means using an intersectional lens that understands that “women” is not one homogeneous group, but that women’s experiences overlap with a great number of social determinants of health and identities. Successful strategies to reduce women’s smoking prevalence are sensitive to these contexts. They are also gender-transformative and challenge – rather than reproduce – harmful gender stereotyping in their campaigns and messages.

The health situation for women and tobacco in the Region is deeply concerning: many countries are behind the curve in challenging the deadly strategies of the tobacco industry. But examples of best practice in tobacco control are readily available, and concrete steps forward can be taken to turn the tide on tobacco. With strong political will, it is possible to ensure the health and well-being of women and girls across the Region.

European churches express concern over French draft law related to Islamic radicalism

CEC Sends Letter To French PM Concerned About Draft Law

In a letter to the French government, the Conference of European Churches (CEC) expressed deep concern over the draft law introduced to fight Islamic radicalism in the country. CEC, together with its Member Churches in France, pointed out the damaging effect the law can inflict on religious communities, stressing the need for the government to engage further with religious leaders.

The letter addressed to Prime Minister Jean Castex and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was issued on 4 February from CEC office in Brussels, addressing the draft law from the perspective of European integration, an ecclesial vision from the churches and the foundation of human rights.

In the letter, a detailed analysis was shared on topics related to bills presented in European countries that could risk fundamental rights as enshrined in the EU Lisbon Treaty and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as administrative and financial constrains the French draft law can cause, resulting in restricting freedom of expression and religion.

The European churches also warned against the suspicion towards religious communities that could be caused by such a law, urging instead to enhance democratic values, social integration, nurturing a culture of hospitality, solidarity and a constructive public debate.

You can read teh complete letter here