Latest news with #Members
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Asian hornet: Biosecurity alert after sighting in Cork
A biosecurity alert for Ireland has been issued after a confirmed sighting and subsequent capture of an Asian hornet in the Cork monitoring will continue to determine if this is one individual insect, or if there is evidence it is part of a larger population. Yellow-legged Asian hornets are seen as a significant threat to honey bees and other an Asian hornet does not pose a significant public health risk. The Asian hornet is a wasp which is an invasive, non-native species. It is about 2cm long, mostly black and brown with an orange face, orange tail and yellow species is active between April and November, but especially in August and September. What should I do if I spot an Asian hornet? Members of the public have been asked to report any suspected sightings through the National Biodiversity Data Centre's Alien Watch reporting public has been advised not to disturb or capture the Asian hornet, as while they are not generally aggressive they may sting if provoked. The insect was spotted by a member of the public and was reported to the National Biodiversity Data being confirmed by both the National Museum and National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), a rapid response protocol was launched which led to an Asian hornet being trapped on 12 sighting has triggered a government led response with the establishment of a new taskforce called the Asian Hornet Management Group (AHMG).The AHMG is chaired by the NPWS and includes the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, the National Biodiversity Data Centre and the National Museum of group will monitor the situation, gather further information and co-ordinate efforts in the upcoming weeks. 'Threat to native pollinators' In a statement the Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O'Sullivan TD, said: "Asian Hornets are a threat to our native pollinators and our biodiversity. "We must take even a single sighting very seriously. "This incident shows us that members of the public are our eyes on the ground. Early detection is key if we are to prevent the establishment of this invasive species."This is the second verified identification of the Asian hornet in the Republic of first identification was of a single Asian hornet in the Dublin area in 2021, but it was not associated with a wild viable population.
Scroll.in
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Former civil servant and RBI governor YV Reddy revisits his mistakes and interventions in a new book
When a political party sweeps to power, they sometimes abandon the unfinished projects started by the previous regime in order to start their own new projects, which are in alignment with their particular agendas. But abandoning projects close to completion, especially those that were 80 per cent or more complete, had been proving to be highly wasteful. As Secretary, Planning, Government of Andhra Pradesh, I went to Chief Minister NT Rama Rao with a proposal to earmark Rs 1 crore per district (it was a substantial amount in those days), purely on grounds of efficiency, for projects that were 80 per cent completed (last mile projects). This Rs 1 crore would be spent only to complete these last mile projects. These projects were to be identified by a technical committee headed by the district collector and would be outside the normal budgetary allocations to the department concerned. The district collector's office was not subject to short-term political changes and would, I reasoned, ensure a longer-term perspective. I argued that the funds should be sanctioned straightaway as 'crucial balancing investment'. It would, I argued, greatly improve efficiencies. The then Secretary to the Chief Minister and my dear friend, UB Raghavendra Rao, was not convinced. He warned me that it would undermine both the process of expenditure authorisation by the government and the parliamentary system. I disagreed and persisted. NTR approved the crucial balancing investment scheme for each district. For a while, it was a success. After about five years, a weak Collector gave in to pressure from local politicians. The Rs 1 crore was distributed equally among Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) without the need to follow the 80 per cent completion guideline. Over time, this malpractice spread to other districts. Later, even the guideline of 80 per cent completion was officially diluted. Exactly the opposite of what was intended had taken place, and the original problem had worsened. Raghavendra Rao was proved right. Later, a similar scheme called the Members of Parliament (MP) Local Area Development Scheme was adopted by the Government of India with an even greater dilution of guidelines. What seemed at first an obvious solution using a pragmatic, dynamic plan to improve efficiency had had unintended consequences. This happened because I did not pay attention to possible second-order and third-order effects. A costly mistake, indeed. Although it is impossible to accurately envision all possible second and third-order effects, I have found that it is important to at least contemplate them. Over time, one's skill and judgement pertaining to next-order effects get honed, providing a very useful framework. As a government officer, my father would visit the villages in his jurisdiction. Despite his stature, he would sit with farmers and talk about their problems in local gathering places. He showed his deep empathy for the poor. During my vacations, I would accompany him. My father's concern for the common man influenced me greatly. As a student in Anantapur, I shared a hostel with young men from poor families, and this close experience also had a deep influence on me. The Telugu phrase 'samayam, sandarbham' translates to time and context. Samayam, sandarbham are always predominant in my decision-making. Nearly all actions and situations are meaningless when stripped of their time and context. What are considered pillars of virtue in one society (for example, the quality of harmony and collectivism in certain Asian cultures) might be less important in another, or might even be considered inferior (for example, in certain Western cultures, disruption and individualism are valued over harmony and the collective good). Also, developed markets with robust legal systems can support certain policies. These same measures will not work in less developed markets that lack strong and swift legal systems to which citizens can turn in the case of fraud or failure. Formulaic prescriptions should be viewed in context. There is a standard formula for measuring the optimum level of foreign exchange reserves of a country. In India (and elsewhere), forex reserves are the reserves of foreign convertible currencies (mainly US dollars) and gold held by the monetary authority for various reasons, including to provide stability to the system. (The International Monetary Fund's [IMF] Special Drawing Rights form much smaller components of the forex reserves.) The optimal level of forex reserves is calculated in economic terms and exposures. But what of geo-political factors? I maintained that we needed to also take geopolitical risks and security into account. President Bill Clinton was once quoted as saying that the US should help bail out Mexico in a time of need, but not some other country, such as India. (He specifically mentioned India as a country that the US would not help bail out.) In such a situation, Mexico can afford to have fewer reserves than India, which must have more because it does not belong to any bloc and cannot expect a bailout from anyone. India has to take care of at least three potential shocks from the external sector – food, fuel, and finance (external finance). I have also learnt from the sound counsel of Bimal Jalan. The RBI manages the public debt of the Government of India through the Public Debt Office. In 1997, as Deputy Governor, I argued for creating an independent debt office, separate from the RBI. This separation of powers seemed logical, efficient, and consistent with international practice. I made a presentation to Governor Jalan. He listened attentively and complimented me. Then, to my surprise, he asked me to write a note opposing my own recommendation (I later realised this was to help me think through the opposing view). On reflection, I understood his viewpoint. Our context was unique. When the RBI is the public debt manager for the government, it keeps in mind the government's interests. Once that function is taken out of the RBI's purview, the government is exposed to market risk and possible vested interests. Jalan felt we should hold off till our markets were sufficiently well-developed and the government was able to raise money without the RBI's help as a public debt manager. My initial view, while attractive at first, did not give sufficient weight to these realities. The experience of Greece (and several other countries) during the financial crisis of 2008 supported Jalan's wisdom. In summary, it is wise to look at formulae, theory, standard practice, and the experience of others while crafting policy or making decisions. To then evaluate their relevance in the particular samayam and sandarbham of the practitioner's system is even wiser. The RBI viewed certain financial innovations as healthy, but only in small quantities. A proliferation of these innovations often presented systemic risks that could be difficult to undo. Also, unlike Food and Drug Regulation authorities, which can first carry out controlled experiments with a drug before releasing it into the larger population, financial systems do not first test the safety of financial innovations before injecting them into markets. Timing can be crucial. In the 2004 elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), was defeated and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government, under the Congress's Sonia Gandhi, was elected. Although eventually Manmohan Singh was declared the prime minister, there was, for one day, great uncertainty about who would lead the country. During this time, there was an attack on the stock exchange. This resulted in a huge dollar outflow due to demand for the currency. The rupee began falling dramatically. The market sentiment was totally against us and acting in such an environment posed risks and costs. In addition, as RBI Governor, I had to keep the political leadership informed of my actions in a situation where we were politically rudderless. I called the outgoing finance minister, Jaswant Singh. I explained that I was not intervening immediately but would act at the appropriate time. Jaswant Singh was puzzled. He pointed out that he was not the finance minister anymore. I told him that, legally, until the next Cabinet was formed, he still was. Therefore, I reported to him. I assured him that he could convey this information to anyone he wanted if he felt it was appropriate. The rupee continued to fall, but we at the RBI did not act. By late morning, several people were asking the RBI to intervene. The clamour grew louder, as did the support for intervention. A little after lunchtime, we acted. The RBI intervened in a massive way – spending huge amounts to buy dollars, showing our strong determination, and stemming the slide. The markets stabilised. If the timing was wrong, the costs of intervention would have proved prohibitive in an environment of adverse market sentiment. We waited till such time as there was a critical minimum level at which at least some people in the markets started thinking that enough was enough and demanded that the RBI intervene. That was when we considered it appropriate to hit hard and decisively— we turned the anti-rupee sentiment into a pro-rupee sentiment. In all this, timing was key. At the RBI, one of the highlights was the chance to meet and interact with distinguished people. I served under Manmohan Singh and worked with P Chidambaram, Yashwant Sinha, and Jaswant Singh. The RBI board meetings were a delight. The Board of Directors included many eminent people – scientists such as APJ Abdul Kalam and UR Rao; industrialists such as Ashok Ganguly, Ratan Tata, and Narayana Murthy; economists such as A Vaidyanathan and Mihir Rakshit; and social workers such as Amrita Patel and Sashi Rajagopalan. The insights and perspectives gained during our regular meetings, as well as relationships formed during those sessions, still stay with me. I hosted many central bankers from other countries and a G20 summit (which at that time came and went without much fanfare). I also greatly enjoyed my interactions with journalists and looked forward to the friendly banter and repartee I shared with them. My job as RBI Governor was the ultimate in satisfaction, and in many respects, the highlight of my entire working life. Professionally, I had had a dream run and my working life had been intense, eventful, and consequential. In addition, I was immensely fortunate to be recognised for my work internationally and nationally, including with a Padma Vibhushan. YV Reddy was born on August 17, 1941. He is an Indian economist and a former IAS officer of the 1964 batch belonging to the Andhra Pradesh cadre. Reddy served as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from September 2003 to September 2008.
Business Wire
23-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Ron Holifield Honored as Distinguished Member of the Texas City Management Association
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Civic Marketplace and the Alliance for Innovation proudly announce that Ron Holifield, founder and longtime public service leader, has been named a Distinguished Member of the Texas City Management Association (TCMA), a rare and prestigious honor recognizing extraordinary contributions to the council-manager form of government and the profession of city management. 'Ron Holifield has always embodied what public service should be—humble, visionary, and relentlessly focused on people,' said Troy Riggs, Executive Director of the Alliance for Innovation. Share The TCMA Board of Directors unanimously approved the honor. Holifield was formally recognized during the TCMA Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas on June 20, 2025. 'I'm deeply humbled to receive this honor,' Holifield said. 'For me, it's not just recognition of a career—it's a celebration of the incredible people I've had the privilege to serve alongside in strengthening local government leadership across Texas and the country.' A Legacy of Service and Innovation With a career dedicated to public service and innovation spanning over 40 years, Ron Holifield is widely recognized for championing servant leadership in local government. He spent nearly two decades in city management, serving as City Manager in cities including Garland, DeSoto, and Sundown, and ACM in Plano, Texas—experiences that continue to resonate deeply with today's city managers. Ron is the co-founder and President of Civic Marketplace and previously founded Strategic Government Resources (SGR) in 1999. Under his leadership, SGR became a nationally respected executive search and leadership development firm, supporting hundreds of local governments across the country. In 2021, Holifield co-founded Civic Marketplace, a tech company transforming public procurement by making government purchasing more transparent, supporting local economic growth and driving efficiencies and savings. 'Ron has always been ten steps ahead, building not just organizations, but a movement,' said Al Hleileh, CEO of Civic Marketplace. 'His contributions continue to ripple through every city that values ethical leadership, innovation, and local economic growth.' Among the Most Distinguished in TCMA History Ron Holifield joins a remarkably select group. Only ten professionals have been named Distinguished Members in TCMA's nearly 100-year history, making the award one of the most exclusive recognitions in local government. 'Ron is a legend in the profession, not just for what he's built, but for how he's lifted others,' said Darin Atteberry, Chairman of the Alliance for Innovation. 'This honor reflects the heart, integrity, and vision he's brought to every role.' 'Ron Holifield has always embodied what public service should be—humble, visionary, and relentlessly focused on people,' said Troy Riggs, Executive Director of the Alliance for Innovation. 'This recognition from TCMA is certainly well deserved. Ron's legacy is woven into the fabric of modern local government, and we're proud to stand beside him at this moment.' About the Alliance for Innovation AFI is a non-profit association of local governments dedicated to fostering innovation, foresight, and collaboration across the public sector. Originally founded in 1979 as the Innovation Groups, AFI has a 40-year history of helping local governments enhance their ability to anticipate, plan, and adapt. Through actionable insights and a steadfast commitment to preparation, AFI equips government leaders with the tools they need to confront challenges and seize opportunities on behalf of their communities. With a nationwide network, AFI's mission is to build more resilient, proactive, and efficient communities. AFI's collaborative culture - rooted in curiosity, generosity, and rigorous exploration - encourages members to delve into uncharted possibilities and shape the future of public service. Learn more about AFI at About Civic Marketplace Civic Marketplace is a venture-backed technology company transforming public sector procurement through cutting-edge innovation. Our platform streamlines and accelerates procurement processes, offering local governments a user-friendly, fully compliant solution. Designed for simplicity, Civic Marketplace makes procurement straightforward. We are committed to transparency, efficiency, and supporting diverse suppliers, including historically underutilized businesses, to foster local economic growth and drive innovation. By providing access to a network of reliable, pre-approved vendors, the platform ensures legal compliance and quality assurance for every contract. Discover how we are reshaping procurement at
Spectator
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- Spectator
Suburbanites vs the countryside
'Same old boring Sunday morning, old men out, washing their cars.' So begins the punk anthem 'The Sound of the Suburbs' by the Members. There are plenty of cars being washed (and waxed) on my road on any Sunday morning and the strimmers are buzzing, despite this being peak breeding season for insects. But here's the thing. We live in deepest north Norfolk, not the achingly suburban Surrey town of Camberley that so provoked punk angst. When we bolted from south London after the lockdowns, our checklist included no streetlights, motorways (the nearest is 98 miles away), new-builds or nearby neighbours. To secure the rambling farmhouse we wanted, we had to compromise on the last of these. But we were moving to the English equivalent of la France profonde. We'd never encounter the sort of busybodies from Lambeth council who threatened to report my five- and six-year-old sons to the police for 'carrying' in Brockwell Park (they were playing with toy swords) – would we? Au contraire. Not long after we'd arrived and acquired the accoutrements of country life – chickens, an unreliable Aga, a morbidly obese miniature Shetland pony – a friend forwarded me a message from a local Whats-App group. 'Why can't horseback [sic] riders pick up after themselves?' I thought it was a joke until I realised that our daughter's pony had crapped outside the house of the man who'd already had a go at me for sticking the nose of my car in his drive to turn round ('It's disrespectful!') and leaving my trailer hitched up in the lay-by outside our place. He'd also made a passive-aggressive comment about the state of my car. For the record, it's a superannuated Land Rover Discovery, the wing mirror held on with duct tape, and gets its annual power-hosing once the sugar beet lorries have stopped running. We've also been asked when we're going to strim our verge, while the young couple who've taken over the tenant farm next door are constantly fielding complaints about cows mooing and mud on the road. 'They're still lifting beet and it's not even ours,' sighs the farmer's girlfriend – yet he still has to break off from what he's doing and go to get the road sweeper. 'They're shooting again,' says another new resident querulously as I pass her walking her cockapoo. Frankly, moving to a county that is, in effect, one massive shoot and complaining about the shooting is as absurd as going to Amsterdam for the weekend and claiming to be offended by the smell of weed and the sight of sex workers in windows. How can it be that such suburban attitudes are colonising the countryside? One friend, who sadly left the county last year because 'It's no longer the bohemian Norfolk of my childhood', thinks it's to do with high number of people who retire here from the East Midlands, switching their semi-detacheds for the country cottage dream but bringing the 'burbs with them. She runs through her pet hates: 'Security lighting, yellow lines on roads in villages, signs on brand-new ugly benches commemorating someone who loved it there.' I would add outdoor kitchens and pizza ovens. Labour wants to build 1.5 million new homes in England over five years. With new housing estates mushrooming on the fringes of both our local market towns, the suburbanisation of the countryside is only going to get worse. It's heartbreaking to go back to the village where I grew up in Suffolk, East Bergholt, birthplace of John Constable; 100 new houses and a supermarket are being built. These houses, reports one long-term resident, will have no gardens to speak of but three bathrooms. Multiple bathrooms are incredibly suburban, as are en suites, paved gardens, fluffy designer dogs, coloured wellies and leaf blowers. So we can expect more complaints about poo, which always seems problematic for suburban incomers. Friends in the next village had guests at their (dog-friendly) B&B leave 'in disgust' on spotting a dog poo in the courtyard that had been deposited since the morning pick-up. Another had a couple abandon her Airbnb two days early because they could see horse muck and sheep poo in a field from their bedroom window. When I ask friends for other examples of suburban attitudes, I am inundated with examples from the Cotswolds and Oxfordshire, which some time between the opening of Soho Farmhouse and the arrival of the Beckhams became a sanitised theme park. One respondent mutters about 'the couple in my village who are always saying how nice it is to find a Gail's in Witney. Honestly, I think, just bog off back to Barnes'. It's all a long way from the Cotswolds of Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love in which 'the cruel woods crept up to the house', Fanny is woken by 'the screams of a rabbit running in horrified circles round a stoat' and pheasants and owls 'filled every night with wild primeval noise'. We thought we'd gone sufficiently far to find that wilderness. In bed on our first night in Norfolk, we congratulated ourselves on hearing the owl hooting instead of the police helicopter over Brixton. As I write, rutting muntjacs are barking their horrible call. The countryside is primeval, gritty and real – that's why we moved here, not to the gated naffness of Virginia Water.
Business Wire
20-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Brighthouse Financial Recommends Shareholders Reject 'Mini-Tender' Offer by Potemkin Limited
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Brighthouse Financial, Inc. ('Brighthouse Financial' or the 'company') (Nasdaq: BHF) announced today that it has received notice of an unsolicited 'mini-tender' offer made by Potemkin Limited ('Potemkin') to Brighthouse Financial shareholders to purchase up to 100,000 shares of Brighthouse Financial's common stock at a price of $36.00 per share. This means that Brighthouse Financial shareholders who tender their shares in the offer will receive a price significantly below the current market price for the company's common stock and which is an approximate 41.12% discount to the closing price of the company's common stock as of May 19, 2025 ($61.14 per share). Brighthouse Financial does not endorse Potemkin's unsolicited mini-tender offer and is not affiliated or associated in any way with Potemkin, its mini-tender offer or the offer documentation. Brighthouse Financial recommends that shareholders do not tender their shares in response to Potemkin's offer because the offer is at a price that is significantly below the current market value of Brighthouse Financial's common stock. The offer is currently scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 16, 2025, unless extended or earlier revoked by Potemkin. Shareholders who tender their shares may withdraw them in the manner described in Potemkin's offering documents. A mini-tender offer is an offer for less than 5% of a company's shares and is therefore not subject to the disclosure and procedural requirements required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC') for larger tender offers. As a result, mini-tender offers do not provide investors with the same level of protections under U.S. securities laws that are provided for larger tender offers. The SEC has cautioned investors about mini-tender offers, providing guidance to investors at Brighthouse Financial encourages brokers and dealers, as well as other market participants, to review the SEC's letter regarding broker-dealer mini-tender offer dissemination and disclosures at and the NASD Notice to Members 99-53 issued in July 1999 regarding guidance to members forwarding mini-tender offers to their customers, which can be found at Shareholders should obtain current market quotations for their shares of Brighthouse Financial common stock, consult with their broker or financial advisor and exercise caution with respect to Potemkin's mini-tender offer. Brighthouse Financial requests that a copy of this news release be included with all distributions of materials relating to Potemkin's mini-tender offer related to Brighthouse Financial's common stock. About Brighthouse Financial, Inc. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (Brighthouse Financial) (Nasdaq: BHF) is on a mission to help people achieve financial security. As one of the largest providers of annuities and life insurance in the U.S., 1 we specialize in products designed to help people protect what they've earned and ensure it lasts. Learn more at
