Latest news with #SPI
Al Etihad
21 hours ago
- Health
- Al Etihad
UAE scores high on Social Progress Index with top marks in housing, healthcare
20 June 2025 02:32 KHALED AL KHAWALDEH (ABU DHABI) The UAE has once again demonstrated its commitment to social development as it secured impressive scores on the recently released Social Progress Index (SPI) Global Report 2025. It stood out in several categories including housing and healthcare. With an overall score of 74.04 out of 100, the UAE ranked second in the Arab world, and 49th out of 170 nations across the globe. This marks a significant improvement for the country, which has climbed seven places since 2011. The annual index measures how well countries meet the social and environmental needs of their people, beyond just economic factors like GDP. It assesses nations across three key areas: basic human needs, foundations of wellbeing, and opportunity, covering indicators such as health, education, safety, rights, and environmental UAE achieved top-tier performances in housing and healthcare, scoring 96.35 in housing, securing some of the highest global marks in this category. It boasted 100% access to electricity, universal use of clean fuels and technology for cooking, and zero household air pollution, factors SPI said were critical indicators of quality living standards. The UAE also ranked an impressive 7th globally for the affordability of housing, underscoring its efforts to ensure residents can access safe and affordable the country scored highly in water and sanitation, achieving an overall score of 96.54 and placing 12th globally. The country was found to deliver 100% of its population with basic water service and excelled in providing basic sanitation services. Healthcare was another bright spot where the UAE attained a score of 73.32, with notable strengths in areas such as equal access to essential health services and low prevalence of non-communicable diseases. The country's life expectancy at 65 and its ranking of 14th for equal access to quality healthcare signalled a well-developed healthcare system that serves both nationals and residents housing and healthcare, the UAE performed well in other pillars of social progress. It ranked 14th globally in basic education, with high primary school enrolment and high scores in gender parity in secondary attainment. Its information and communications infrastructure were graded as robust, with full marks for internet users and mobile telephone users, while access to online governance services ranked 37th worldwide. On the safety front, the UAE recorded a score of 78.22, with relatively low levels of interpersonal violence and good perceptions of personal safety, indicated by its 7th rank globally for feelings of safety when walking alone.
Time of India
3 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Services Preparatory Institute to get full-time director soon
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Services Preparatory Institute (SPI) is expected to get a new full-time director soon. The post was vacant since Nov 2022. SPI authorities said on Tuesday that Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) has finalised the name of a Pune-based retired colonel as the new director. "MPSC recommended the name of a new director after following the laid down procedure. The general administration department is expected to make the formal appointment in the next one or two weeks," officials said. SPI, under whose aegis Girls SPI at Nashik also functions, has shown stellar performance by placing a relatively higher number of cadets in govt defence institutions compared to many other Sainik schools. SPI also witnessed the formation of a revamped governing council, with the appointment of retired senior officials from the Army, Navy, and Air Force along with the divisional commissioner of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Lieutenant General (retd) Rajendra Ramrao Nimbhorkar is now the chairman of the governing council, whereas the divisional commissioner will be the ex-officio vice-chairman. Brigadier (retd) Hemant Mahajan, Rear Admiral (retd) Ashish Kulkarni, and Air Vice Marshal (retd) Nitin Vaidya are the members of the council, which will also have the director of Sainik Welfare, Pune, and SPI director as designated members. Set up in 1977, SPI provides personalised coaching for UPSC (NDA) written entrance examination and interviews of the SSB, besides building physical and mental abilities of cadets. The girls' SPI at Nashik came up in 2023 and emerged as one of the most sought-after military schools.
Express Tribune
7 days ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Chicken, garlic prices dip as weekly SPI falls 0.11%
Listen to article The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ending June 12, 2025, recorded a slight decline of 0.11%, mainly due to lower prices of key food items like chicken and garlic, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Chicken prices dropped sharply by 11.32%, while garlic declined by 5.69%. Other decreases were seen in pulse mash (1.14%), pulse masoor (0.43%), pulse gram (0.21%), cooking oil (5 litres), and vegetable ghee (2.5 kg), both down 0.20%. Wheat flour dropped by 0.05%, and LPG by 0.02%. However, prices of several vegetables surged. Tomatoes increased by 19.73%, potatoes by 9.11%, onions by 3.23%, and bananas by 2.25%. Increases were also recorded in powdered milk (0.73%), eggs (0.67%), gur (0.52%), curd and basmati broken rice (0.25% each), vegetable ghee (1 kg) (0.20%), sugar (0.18%), and pulse moong (0.15%). Of the 51 essential items monitored, prices of 15 items (29.41%) rose, 9 items (17.65%) declined, and 27 items (52.94%) remained unchanged. On a year-on-year basis, the SPI registered a 1.41% decrease. Major declines were recorded in onions (61.86%), Q1 electricity charges (41.63%), garlic (30.99%), tomatoes (22.87%), pulse mash (19.18%), and branded tea (17.93%). Other notable drops included potatoes (16.49%), wheat flour (14.10%), chicken (8.04%), pulse masoor (6.13%), diesel (5.68%), and petrol (5.41%). In contrast, significant annual increases were seen in ladies' sandals (55.62%), eggs (31.41%), pulse moong (30.53%), powdered milk (24.73%), and sugar (23.76%). Prices also rose for bananas (16.18%), beef (15.75%), various types of vegetable ghee, firewood (10.81%), lawn fabric (10.45%), and cooked daal (9.90%). The SPI is compiled weekly to track short-term price movements of essential items across 50 markets in 17 cities nationwide.
Irish Independent
09-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Irish TV tax break gets green light from Europe
RTÉ could be a major beneficiary of the €211m scheme, with The Late Late Show among the programmes that should qualify. The commission examined the plan, announced by minister Jack Chambers in last year's Budget, under EU state-aid rules. The aim is to promote the production of unscripted audiovisual programmes with either Irish or European cultural content. The measure will be introduced for a four-year period, backdated to last December and running until December 31, 2028. The aid is in the form of a tax credit of up to 20pc of the production expenditure that happens in Ireland. The maximum support cannot cover more than 16pc of the total cost of production. To be eligible, a programme must have a minimum cost of €250,000, with half of that being spent in Ireland. A 'cultural test', which will be designed by the Government, will be used to ensure that the unscripted productions 'contribute meaningfully to the promotion and expression of Irish or European culture'. Anthony Muldoon, director of strategic policy at Screen Producers Ireland (SPI), said the tax incentive is a 'transformative' investment for Ireland's creative industry. 'It will empower our producers and creators to develop and produce high-quality programmes that resonate with both domestic and international audiences,' he said. Members of SPI had joined together to campaign for the tax credit, forming an Unscripted Working Group, and had co-operated with the Department of Finance and Revenue, as well as with the Department of Arts and Media. Stuart Switzer, chair of the Unscripted Working Group, said he was thrilled that the European Commission had decided to approve the aid package. 'This is a first in Europe, and a recognition that the creative unscripted sector in Ireland has the potential to emulate the success of our scripted colleagues,' he said. 'The challenge will be to ensure the benefits of the incentive are retained within the independent production sector to build companies of scale.' According to an analysis included in the Tax Strategy Group papers last year, spending on unscripted TV productions could increase from about €90m a year to €300m if a tax credit was introduced. It referred to two similar schemes in Europe, operated by Malta and Cyprus. "If introduced, such a relief could have the potential to support additional employment in the sector and increase demand for studio space,' the report said.
Business Recorder
06-06-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Weekly SPI up by 0.02pc
ISLAMABAD: The SPI for the current week ended on June 04, 2025 increased by 0.02 percent. An increase is observed in the prices of tomatoes (16.94 percent), potatoes (11.52 percent), onions (5.21 percent), bananas (1.57 percent), eggs (1.34 percent), sugar (1.24 percent), rice basmati broken (1.02 percent), gur (0.81 percent), masoor (0.65 percent), milk fresh (0.47 percent), maash (0.46 percent), pulse gram (0.44 percent) and petrol (0.41 percent), says Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The Year-on-Year trend depicts decrease of 0.02 percent. The major increase is observed in ladies sandal (55.62 percent), eggs (35.36 percent), moong (31.74 percent), powdered milk (23.82 percent), sugar (23.51 percent), beef (17.51 percent), bananas (17.29 percent), pulse gram (15.91 percent), chicken (15.88 percent), LPG (15.31 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (13.56 percent) and vegetable ghee 1kg (12.49 percent), while major decrease is observed in the prices of onions (64.90 percent), electricity charges for q1 (36.54 percent), garlic (27.79 percent), potatoes (23.15 percent), tomatoes (18.10 percent), maash (17.99 percent), tea Lipton (17.93 percent), wheat flour (14.10 percent), chilies powder (5.74 percent), diesel (5.68 percent), rice Irri (5.56 percent), masoor(5.47 percent) and petrol (5.41 percent). During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 18 (35.29 percent) items increased, six (11.77 percent) items decreased and 27 (52.94 percent) items remained stable. The SPI for the consumption group up to Rs17,732, Rs17,732-Rs22,888, Rs22,889-Rs29,517, Rs29,518-Rs44,175 and above Rs44,175 increased by 0.28 percent, 0.18 percent, 0.10 percent, 0.04 percent and 0.05 percent respectively. The items prices of which increased during the period under review include, tomatoes 1kg (18.10 percent), potatoes 1kg (23.15 percent), onions 1kg (64.90 percent, bananas (kela) local 1 dozen (17.29 percent), eggs hen (farm) 1 dozen (1.34 percent), sugar refined 1kg (1.24 percent), rice basmati broken (average quality) 1kg (1.02 percent), gur (average quality) 1kg (0.81 percent), masoor (washed) 1kg (0.65 percent), milk fresh (un-boiled) 1 litre (0.47 percent), maash (washed) 1kg (0.46 percent), pulse gram 1kg (0.44 percent), petrol super per litre (0.41 percent), wheat flour bag 20kg (0.41 percent), moong (washed) 1kg (0.21 percent), shirting (average quality) 1 mtr (0.15 percent), rice IRRI-6/9 (Sindh/Punjab) 1kg (0.13 percent), and mustard oil (average quality)1kg (0.05 percent). Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
