Latest news with #ParliamentaryCommittee
Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
'By That Logic...': Cong MP Shashi Tharoor Reacts On PM Modi's Canada Visit For G7 Summit
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, after a Parliamentary Committee meeting on External Affairs, said members held an in-depth discussion on India's Indian Ocean Strategy, covering key defence and foreign policy aspects. The Defence Secretary, Navy officials, and MEA representatives were present, and topics like Blue Water Navy capabilities were thoroughly examined. On PM Modi's G7 visit to Canada, Tharoor highlighted its importance despite India not being a member. Regarding the Israel-Iran conflict, he noted that while it wasn't on the agenda, some MPs raised concerns about Indian citizens' safety and that MEA has promised a detailed response.#shashitharoor #indianoceanstrategy #parliamentarycommittee #indiaforeignpolicy #indiadefence #bluewaternavy #pmmodi #g7summit #israeliran #indiacitizens #mea #diplomacy #globalindia #securitycooperation #regionalstability #indiannavy #internationalrelations #parliament #geopolitics #indiadiplomacy #foreignaffairs #defencepolicy #maritimestrategy #canadaindia #middleeastconflict #toi #toibharat Read More
Perth Now
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Big new electric scooter review underway
The WA government will launch a statewide investigation into the safety of electric bikes and scooters in response to growing community concern. The government will set up a bipartisan Parliamentary Committee to find ways to strengthen the safety and regulation of the 'e-rideables'. The state has had four fatalities involving e-rideables since the start of the year, including that of Perth dad Thahn Phan, who was allegedly hit by a British tourist last week on a rented e-scooter. The rules around hired e-bikes will be examined. Newswire /Gaye Gerard Credit: News Corp Australia Following that incident the state government said that it needed to do more. 'We have very strict regulations about the speed of e-scooters,' said Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti. 'But it's obvious we need to do more on compliance.' she said. The committee is set to investigate the expansion of penalties, how the vehicles are rented, how they are used in congested areas and how technology like speed limiting can be used to make them safer. Announcing the new committee, Police and Road Safety Minister Reece Whitby said the government wanted to do 'as much as possible' to keep everyone safe from e-rideables. 'I've become increasingly concerned about safety issues around e-rideables and e-scooters and I'm particularly concerned about the safety and the vulnerability of pedestrians as well as those people who ride these devices,' Mr Whitby said. 'And I think there's a growing community concern also.' Police and Road Safety Minister Reece Whitby announced the Parliamentary Committee. Supplied Credit: Supplied Other measures to be considered by the committee are night-time curfews and the use of e-bikes and e-scooters in entertainment districts. Asked by reporters on Saturday morning, Mr Whitby said a ban of the vehicles on footpaths would 'absolutely' be considered. Mr Whitby said it was important that the state had a bipartisan approach to the reforms, acknowledging that he wanted the community to work together. The committee will deliver its report in September and Mr Whitby said in the meantime the police would need to maintain 'vigilance' in their enforcement. E-bikes have come under fire nationally in recent months as fatalities continue to mount.
Daily Maverick
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Crisis in Madikwe: Too many elephants or just an excuse to hunt them?
Elephants face a grim future in the Madikwe Game Reserve amid claims that there are too many. The North West Parks and Tourism Board has proposed the imminent culling of 500 elephants and up to 1,200 out of a population of about 1,600 elephants over the next decade. However, this is a plan that is opaque, onerous and lacking scientific basis. The 'crisis' erupted in late 2024 when there published claims of ecological collapse in Madikwe, alleging starvation among elephants and unsustainable degradation of habitat. Madikwe experienced a spike in elephant mortalities due to a drought. A total of 75 elephants died during a dry spell, primarily juveniles and older animals. Killing paradox And this is where the paradox lies. Despite the deaths of 75 elephants, the tourism board's solution is to kill more of them… a lot more. At a recent Parliamentary Committee hearing the board claimed that the population is growing at an average rate of 7.8% per year. The current density is estimated at 2.7 elephants/km², the highest in enclosed areas in South Africa, they say. Overpopulation threatens biodiversity and leads to habitat degradation. And yet, there is no published scientific data on whether that translates as 'too many' or whether there is indeed a negative impact on Madikwe's biodiversity. In February 2025, the EMS Foundation, sent a Promotion of Access to Information Act request to the North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism, which oversees the North West Parks and Tourism Board, to provide all scientific and census data for the elephant population in Madikwe, as well as a detailed elephant management plan and which elephant experts they consulted for it. The department never responded. My own on-site investigation in early 2025 found no evidence of ecological degradation or any lasting impact on other herbivore populations. During the Parliamentary Committee session on Wednesday last week, tourism board officials were unable to answer whether other herbivore populations were also affected by last year's drought. The rains have since arrived and my observations showed healthy populations of all herbivores, including elephants, white and black rhino, zebras, wildebeest and other ungulates. Predator populations also looked healthy. There was an abundance of cheetahs, lions and wild dogs. My guide was adamant that the elephants had a minimal impact on Madikwe's landscape. The tourism board's Acting Chief Executive, Jonathan Denga, admitted as such, stating: 'The situation improved with the onset of rainfall,' but then hastened to add that 'the need for sustainable management remains critical'. Non-lethal solutions long ignored Let's assume there are, in fact, too many elephants. Then why has the North West Parks and Tourism Board not explored other, non-lethal, options for managing the population? 'This is not a sudden crisis,' said Doug Wolhuter, manager of the Wildlife Protection Unit at the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) at the Parliamentary Committee. 'It is the result of decades of inaction. The elephant population did not explode overnight — these animals breed slowly. Every warning sign was ignored.' Parliamentarians questioned why long-term preventive measures like contraception were denied by the North West Parks and Tourism Board even though they were offered repeatedly for free by Humane World for Animals — in 1998, 2020 and 2023. Also, a decades-old vision for a regional conservation corridor — connecting Madikwe to Pilanesberg National Park — was mooted but remains stalled due to mining and bureaucratic delays, dashing hopes of restoring ancient elephant migratory routes. Dr Marion Garai of the IUCN Elephant Specialist Advisory Group, has said that the only way to go for smaller reserves like Madikwe is to open corridors that follow ancient elephant migratory routes. 'Corridors have huge benefits because wildlife can move to different vegetation areas. They can open summer/winter areas and relieve overgrazed vegetation and allow it to recover. It's the most natural pattern for elephants.' The heart of the matter This then begs the question, is the tourism board genuinely trying to manage elephant numbers or is there something else at stake? The tourism board regularly sells hunting packages in at least five nature reserves (Molopo, Bloemhof Dam, SA Lombard, Boskop Dam and Botsalano nature reserves) and also sells culling lots, which can be purchased by professional culling operators. In 2024, the board auctioned the hunting of 873 animals (747 biltong/recreational hunts and 126 trophy hunts) and the culling of a further 2,550 animals. For Madikwe, which does not normally conduct hunts or culls, a tender was issued in May 2025 by the tourism board that proposes the trophy hunting of 25 elephants, two black rhinos and 10 buffalo. In January this year, a delegation from North West province, led by Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism MEC Bitsa Lenkopane, attended the annual Dallas Safari Club Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. Lenkopane participated in discussions with counterparts from Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia 'addressing shared challenges such as the management of burgeoning elephant populations in the region'. She also emphasised that 'the primary objective of attending the Dallas Safari Club Convention is to attract foreign investment in order to revitalise North West province's protected areas network and enhance contribution to South Africa's biodiversity economy'. This is the heart of the matter. The North West provincial government is looking to boost its revenue from overseas hunters. It is also in line with the national outlook. In South Africa, the scale of hunting operations and the volume of meat and live animals supplied from provincial reserves is significant. Thousands of animals are hunted annually in provincial reserves, or the large quantities of meat derived from culling. Additionally, some provinces are actively selling live game from these reserves to private wildlife farms. Notably, recent policy documents — the Draft National Biodiversity Strategy (2024) and the Game Meat Strategy (2023) — underline the national government's intent to expand hunting and wild animal use on state land. Tourism sidelined The next question is: how does the proposed cull affect photographic tourism? It's unlikely that tourists from the two dozen or so lodges in Madikwe will be thrilled that elephants and other game will be shot right under their noses. Hunting activities are not publicly advertised alongside tourism; instead, they're marketed through specialised hunting platforms. The hidden nature of hunting in publicly funded reserves is likely to undermine trust and could damage South Africa's conservation and ecotourism brand. Madikwe Game Reserve is one of South Africa's most successful conservation and community-development models. Established in the early 1990s, it transformed degraded farmland into a thriving ecosystem unique in its tripartite model — combining government oversight, private tourism investment, and community partnership. Madikwe promotes high-end, low-impact tourism that directly supports local development. Madikwe stands out for its emphasis on community ownership and inclusion. Several lodges are community run, and the reserve has served as a benchmark for land restitution, job creation and biodiversity recovery. During the hunting season (in those reserves that offer hunting) the entire reserve gets closed to tourists for obvious reasons. Imagine the revenue loss to those lodges and the communities in and around Madikwe if the reserve is closed for four or five months? It is well known that photographic tourism (photo safaris) generates vastly more revenue than trophy hunting across Africa. In South Africa alone, tourism revenue was $9.5-billion with trophy hunting contributing just $112- million — about 1.2%. It would be a misguided policy if hunting took precedence over photographic tourism. The situation unfolding in Madikwe is not simply a matter of elephant numbers — it is a test of South Africa's commitment to ethical conservation, scientific integrity, and inclusive governance. As the debate continues, the reserve stands at a crossroads: either deepen its legacy as a model of progressive conservation or allow commercial interests and opaque policy to erode its foundations.
Shafaq News
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraq's Election Law amendments face challenges after parliamentary recess
Shafaq News/ Efforts to amend Iraq's election law are encountering significant obstacles following the end of the legislative recess, according to Jawad Al-Yassari, Deputy Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Regions and Governorates not organized in region. Speaking to Shafaq News on Tuesday, Al-Yassari said that while political consultations continued during the recess, making changes to the law at this stage remains difficult. He acknowledged that there are clear shortcomings in the current legislation and a recognized need for reform, yet the momentum required to enact such changes has yet to materialize. A key driver behind the proposed amendments is the formal recognition of Halabja as Iraq's 19th governorate. This milestone, reached on April 14, 2025, and ratified by the presidency on April 29, alters the existing electoral map, which was previously based on 18 provinces. Al-Yassari emphasized that this change necessitates a revision of the electoral framework to ensure representation is aligned with Iraq's updated administrative divisions. Meanwhile, a political source recently told Shafaq News that parties within the Coordination Framework —one of Iraq's most influential political blocs—had reached an understanding to push for amendments to the election law after the Eid al-Adha holiday, which fell on June 9. These changes are expected to focus primarily on the method by which votes secured by the head of an electoral list are redistributed among the list's candidates. Despite these discussions, no formal draft proposals have been submitted to Parliament. As of February 9, the Legal Committee confirmed it had not received any official amendment bills from any political or parliamentary body. The next legislative elections are scheduled for November 11, 2025, as set by the Iraqi Council of Ministers. In preparation, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has completed the registration of political entities and continues to update voter data across the country. The State of Law Coalition, led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, has long advocated for changes to the election law. Although their calls were initially met with resistance from several political factions—both within and outside the Coordination Framework—support for reform appears to be growing. Earlier, MP Raed al-Maliki submitted a separate proposal to amend the election law, suggesting that each province should constitute a single electoral district. The exceptions, under his plan, would be Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul, which would each be divided into two districts due to their population size.
LBCI
27-05-2025
- Business
- LBCI
Interrogation of former Lebanese Economy Minister Amin Salam postponed until next Thursday
Lebanon's top public prosecutor, Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar, has postponed until next Thursday the continuation of the interrogation of former Economy Minister Amin Salam, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA). The postponement comes after Salam's lawyer, Samer Al-Hajj, submitted documents intended to refute allegations made in a formal complaint filed by the Parliamentary Committee on Economy. The complaint alleges that the former minister committed forgery, embezzled public funds, and engaged in blackmailing insurance companies.
