Rural Azerbaijanis to receive boost from UN loan agreement
28 June 2011The United Nations agency tasked with helping efforts to overcome rural poverty announced today that it will give a loan of almost $20 million to Azerbaijan to fund a project aimed at generating income for farmers and boosting the country’s food security. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which signed an agreement at its Rome headquarters for the $19.35-million loan, said it was part of a total investment of $87 million by the UN agency in Azerbaijan.The project is designed to assist more than 50,000 households in four districts in the country’s northern and central regions – Agdash, Yevlakh, Sheki and Oguz – to increase their agricultural productivity and raise their incomes.The lowland areas of the districts are expected to particularly benefit from the project through improved irrigation water delivery, IFAD said in a press statement.Under the project, farmer support teams will be set up to encourage farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchanges, rural producers will have better access to credit, and the rural poor will gain a chance to improve their skills in crop production and livestock husbandry.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS brought forward plans to incentivise home improvement work with homeowners who are planning to renovate their homes able to claim up to €4,050 in tax relief from tomorrow.The measure is contained in the Finance Bill 2013, published today, which gives effect to many of the measures announced in the Budget last week by Finance Minister Michael Noonan.The measure, the Home Renovation Incentive scheme, was due to come into effect from January 2014 for two years. But extensive lobbying and fears that it may see a decline in construction work between now and Christmas has led to its immediate introduction.Work costing a minimum of €5,000 could qualify for a minimum tax credit of €675 with up to €4,050 in tax relief being available if the work exceeds €30,000 in cost.The measure will continue to apply in the first three months of 2016 where planning permission has been granted before 31 December 2015.Homeowners and construction workers will be expected to be tax compliant in order to qualify for the reliefs, the latter an attempt to crackdown on ‘rogue builders’.Other changes included in the bill will see the pension levy raised to 0.75 per cent (from 0.6 per cent) next year, before it is reduced to 0.15 per cent in 2015.Stateless companiesMeasures are also being introduced to tighten “mismatches” that exist between tax treaty partners .This will mean that companies can no longer be considered ‘stateless’ when it comes to tax residency, which is widely seen a response to the controversy surrounding Apple’s tax status in Ireland.Measures aimed at boosting entrepreneurship and employment include income tax exemptions of up to €40,000 for the long-term unemployed who start their own business.The bill also maintains the 9 per cent VAT rate for the tourism and hospitality industry while DIRT tax on savings interest is being increased to 41 per cent.The bill also confirms the changes already implemented to tax reliefs on medical insurance premiums which will be restricted to €1,000 per adult and the first €500 per child, a measure that has been much-criticised.Other measures in the bill, that were not announced in the Budget last week, include an exemption from income tax of the annual €100 allowance paid to volunteer members of the garda reserve.The bill will be debated in the Dáil on Wednesday, 6 November.Read: Minister says welfare bill protects against poverty, TDs say it’s ‘mean and cruel’Read: Cigarettes and lots of debt: 7 things in Budget 2014 that you may have missed
Alpha Media employees have received word that the company will lay off at least 50 to 60 people and relocate most of its central service operations to the Nashville, Tennessee, area by early next year, according to the New York Post.Finance, manufacturing and distribution, offices services and digital technology will move to the town of Franklin, Tennessee, while editorial and publishing jobs will remain in New York. These changes follow CEO Kent Brownridge’s sudden departure from Alpha Media Group in August.Brownridge was replaced by current co-CEOs Stephen Duggan and Glenn Rosenbloom. Maxim and Blender publisher Alpha Media Group has filed a lawsuit against EMI Resorts contending that the company breached the terms of the parties’ licensing agreement that entitled EMI Resorts to use the Maxim brand name in connection with its resorts. The complaint seeks an injunction against EMI Resorts, which operates the Sun Village Resorts in the Dominican Republic, to stop using the Maxim mark. Alpha Media has also filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York a request for a preliminary injunction seeking to enjoin EMI Resorts from any further use of the Maxim mark pending the lawsuit.The complaint also alleges that Alpha Media Group Inc. has been seeking to terminate the licensing agreement with EMI Resorts since June 19, 2008, and that continued use of the Maxim name by EMI Resorts is without consent.Fifty or More to Be Cut, Back-End Offices to Relocate in ‘09
Now playing: Watch this: Best Buy See It Aug 19 • iOS 13 and iPadOS: How to join the beta, use the best new features on your iPhone and iPad Apple iMac Pro Comments $4,999 CNET may get a commission from retail offers. $4,999 Mac Pro: Everything you need to know $4,689 See It Preview • iMac Pro puts the soul of a Mac Pro in an iMac body Who moved my cheeseThe most immediate reaction to the new Mac Pro design is that it looks like a… cheese grater. Twitter was immediately filled with comparison images of the front panel of the Mac Pro and various cheese-shredding implements. The lattice-like panels on the front and back of the system are more than just visual. The carved openings keep the weight of the shell down, and more importantly help air move through the system. The lack of thermal headroom is what kept the cylinder Mac Pro from being able to evolve, and the new model’s combination of massive fans, giant heat sinks and open-ended front and rear panels are a key engineering feature. The lattice idea actually predated this new Mac Pro design, a design innovation waiting for just the right product to come along. It’s also found in the new Pro Display XDR, which allows that $5,000 and up 32-inch monitor to maintain a 1,000-nit brightness indefinitely without overheating. 
Tiger ShroffInstagramAs we sit for the interview at the Dharma Productions office, Tiger Shroff notices the food on the table. He instructs the staff, “Yeh samose le jaao!” (Take away these samosas), to laughter around him. After all, this actor is admired by fans for his high fitness levels and dance routines, so how he can give in to temptation?This sets the tone of the interview with International Business Times, India on a cheerful note. Cheat days are only on Sundays for Tiger Shroff, who mostly has chocolate and desserts on the day with Disha Patani, his reported girlfriend. On other days, the 29-year-old actor only smells the forbidden food and satiates himself, he tells us.Read excerpts from a chat with Tiger Shroff about his fitness, his film Student of the Year 2 and his co-stars Ananya Panday and Tara Sutaria, his crushes in school, his rumoured girlfriend Disha Patani, of handling success after Baaghi 2, his goal in life of becoming a truly global movie star, and his forthcoming films Hrithik vs Tiger and Rambo.How are you able to be so dedicated to fitness? Do you enjoy your cheat days?It’s a part of my work. Everybody nowadays is so health conscious. The film heroes are meant to look a certain way and have a six-pack. I workout, including dancing, for six hours a day. Sundays are my cheat days. You guys must’ve seen my paparazzi pictures with Disha (Patani). That is one of the highlights of my life. I love cheating…(pauses and laughs), cheating as in, with food! I have a sweet tooth, so I have chocolates. But sometimes I have vada pav, samosas, fried food…everything and anything that tastes good, ‘cos what I eat (for a diet) doesn’t taste good.So, any comments on the reports on your relationship with Disha Patani?It’s a part and parcel of the game. It’s fine. She makes me look good; she’s such a good-looking girl! Disha Patani and Tiger Shroff.InstagramDoes the craze to be fit put too much pressure on you? In your father Jackie Shroff (Jaggu Dada)’s time, there was no such pressure on heroes.Jaggu Dada was natural. He just used to stand in a frame, and people would start going crazy. We, in turn, have to struggle a lot. That’s the difference. You don’t find heroes like that these days. That was the golden era in Hindi cinema. Now, the trend has changed and everybody has to look a certain way. For me, luckily, I’ve always been into sports. So, it wasn’t that difficult.Was it easy to do Student of the Year 2, because it’s a sports film with kabaddi, and you’re into sports?It was easy. It was a breeze. It’s not a Baaghi, it’s not a Hrithik vs Tiger or a Baaghi 3. SOTY 2 mein thoda aaram mila mujhe (I could relax a bit). I’m playing somebody who is a young character, closer to my age. I never got a chance to go to college, so I lived that dream also through the film. SOTY 2 is like a romantic film, which has got sports and a little bit of action. This film is for my young fans.Does SOTY 2 encourage sport in schools and colleges? SOTY 2 stillYouTube ScreenshotThe film will definitely encourage people to play some sport and have healthy competition. Especially in schools, I feel not just studies but also sports should be encouraged, so that a child goes through a more holistic experience. Nowadays, in a tech-savvy world, to get out for an hour and play some sport, get some Vitamin D in some outdoor activity should be good.How was the experience shooting for the film, since you didn’t go to college in real life?Bahot mazedaar experience raha (it was fun), kyunki isme toh padhai hain nahin (since the college in the film does not show students studying. The focus is just on girls and guys, and music and dance. It’s just a fun film. It’s not a preachy film. Just come, have fun and be entertained and I promise you’ll go home with a smile.Did you play kabaddi before SOTY 2?I’ve never played kabaddi in my life, so I had to really work hard to learn the game, to learn the body language and make it look correct. Also, I had to bring in a little bit of ‘Tigerism’ into it to make it look spectacular for my audience. It was great fun.How has life changed for you post the success of Baaghi 2 (2018)? Tiger Shroff in Baaghi 2PR HandoutI was very lucky. I didn’t expect Baaghi 2 to do what it did. Suddenly, it had a Rs 25 crore opening at the box office! For a kid like me, it was a big thing. I was like, ‘Is this really happening?’ Then I reflected that for the film to have made Rs 165 crore, it couldn’t have been just the last 15 minutes of action that I did. There must’ve been the story, the characters and the layers that caught on. So, it’s so important to get a good combination of the emotion along with the action. The question is: Hero ka maqsad kya hai? What is the hero fighting for and why is he fighting for it? The script, I realised, is the most important in a film. The action is just a decoration.But have the expectations from you really gone up after Baaghi 2?Yes. Even the expectations that I have from myself. Because I have seen how my life changed after getting those box office numbers for Baaghi 2. People started looking at me in a different light, as a bankable star, giving a lot of respect. I walked on to the set of SOTY 2 and there was so much respect and love. People older than me were calling me ‘Sir’. It felt really nice that people were appreciating me. Earlier also, they gave me respect. But that was probably because I was a kid and Jackie Shroff’s son.I remember we were shooting in Dehradun at FRI (Forest Research Institute), and people heard that I was coming. There were around 3,000 people screaming ‘Ronnie, Ronnie!’, which is my character’s name in Baaghi 2 – and that was the best feeling. When somebody screams your character’s name, that’s the biggest high for you.How do you handle success so well?It’s not at all going to my head, because I have grown up seeing my father’s journey, from where he came and where he went, again he came down and again, up. I have too much insecurity in my head to let that success go to my head. I still feel that I have a lot more to do. I wanna prove so much! SOTY 2 posterPR HandoutIn SOTY 2 you are romancing two girls. Were you ever in a similar situation in real life?Kaash, yaar! (Oh, I wish.) Dekho main Shraddha (Kapoor) ke peecche paagal tha school mein (I was crazy about Shraddha Kapoor in school), as everybody knows. We went to the same school (American School of Bombay. But I was very shy, so I couldn’t really approach anybody. I used to think she should come and talk to me. I was the hero in sports in school, so girls used to be impressed. The opposite school was Dhirubhai Ambani International School, so the girls there used to like me. I used to love the attention! I used to act all cool, but andar se matlab jo Diwali ho rahi thi… (but I was nervous as hell).What did you learn working with newcomers Ananya Panday and Tara Sutaria in SOTY 2?I learnt how to enjoy life’s moments from them and not to take life too seriously.How was it dancing with Hollywood star Will Smith in SOTY 2?Oh man! So cool. Will used to ask me to tell him the dance steps. I used to show him but couldn’t believe it that I was teaching the steps to Will Smith! I have watched his Men in Black when I was a kid. So, it was a huge high to shoot with him, although we didn’t get to interact much. But it’s something that I’ll treasure forever. SOTY 2 stars in Brides Today magazine.InstagramPeople perceive you as an action hero mostly. How do you take to that?I’m not versatile at all as an actor. I look at the bright side that I have an identity already. When people think of action heroes, then one of the names could be a Tiger Shroff. That makes me feel good. In a world where there is so much competition and so many new actors being launched every second, how does one stand out and have an identity? It’s so important. Just being typecast or termed gives me an identity. I’m very happy.The action heroes in Hollywood or in India are the aspirational heroes. You wanna be them, you admire them… you have their posters at home. Similarly, my goal in life is to have some sort of meaning. I want to inspire through my work. Not preach, but inspire. That’s something I’m crazy about doing. My idols are Michael Jackson, Bruce Lee, Sylvester Stallone – all these guys are extremists in their fields. They speak through their actions, apne kaam se jawab dete hain. Similarly, I want to touch every person and every country. That’s my goal. I just don’t wanna think of serving just one part of the globe, but the entire world.But as an actor, you’re good at both action and dance? What do you prefer performing?I have to say dance, because in action (while performing) you might get hurt sometimes. Tiger Shroff in Baaghi 2InstagramTell us something about the faceoff in your film with your idol Hrithik Roshan (working title Hrithik vs Tiger).(Reminiscing the faceoff with his idol) Arre, yaad mat dilaon yaar! We’ve almost finished the film, including the action sequences. We won’t be shooting in the summers, so the dance sequences remain to be shot. It’s been an amazing experience! Many a time, shooting with Hrithik Sir I used to forget my dialogues because I’m looking at my hero. I used to just go blank! He would say, ‘Darr gaye ho?’ I used to say, ‘Sorry! I can’t believe I’m looking at you’.Who wins in the end in Hrithik vs Tiger?What is that? (Chooses to ignore the question.) The idea is to have Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt from Mission: Impossible versus James Bond, and put them together in a film.You say you have global goals. Have you planned to try in Hollywood? What about your upcoming film Rambo?I’ve gotten offers; I haven’t signed anything yet. I’m just very lucky that people have noticed my work. Maybe there is a void of young action heroes in the West. As for Rambo (the official remake of Sylvester Stallone’s Hollywood movie), it’s in a different terrain altogether. It’s something which people won’t expect.With that, we bid adieu to Tiger Shroff and wished him all the best. After some selfies, of course.
By Sean Yoes, AFRO Baltimore Editor, syoes@afro.comIn the midst of the third year in a row of more than 300 homicides in the city, the Baltimore Ceasefire Movement emerged organically in August 2017.Once again as Baltimore faces more prolific violence, as well as a racist attack by Donald Trump, Baltimore Ceasefire calls for a cessation of violence and for Baltimoreans to rally around our collective resilience that helps make this city great. This coming Ceasefire weekend celebrates the second year of celebrating life over homicide four times a year for at least 72 hours.The Baltimore Ceasefire crew during the original Ceasefire Weekend in August 2017. The movement celebrates its second anniversary this weekend. (Photo courtesy Erricka Bridgeford)The Baltimore Ceasefire Weekend officially begins at midnight on Aug. 2 and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 4. Dozens of scheduled events celebrating life and promoting unity are planned for the second anniversary of Ceasefire, as well as spontaneous events all over the city.For more information on Baltimore Ceasefire Weekend go to: baltimoreceasefire.com
The project was an investment including both state and federal funding in the municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas. The new facility is located in front of the access to the Chiquilá quay where ferries connect to the island of Holbox. 
Photo: la Secretaría estatal de Turismo It is outfitted with an interpretation and tourist services center, health facility and craft services among others, and was constructed through a coordinated agreement from the Sustainable Tourism Regional Development Program and Magic Towns (Prodermágico) of the Tourism Secretariat. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) The inauguration was held Thursday by la Secretaría estatal de Turismo (Sedetur) Marisol Vanegas Pérez, who reports that the new facility, named Yum Balam Tourist Parador, will help support tourism. 
The project was developed so that “with the development of the Yum Balam Tourist Parador, it is intended that it will support tourism activities and the development and comprehensive urban image in tourist destinations and communities that make up the tourist circuits.” Chiquilá, Q.R. — A new tourist facility has been inaugurated for the port city of Chiquilá with an investment of 17.5 million peso. 
Yesterday, Apple Inc. announced the acquisition of Akonia Holographics, a startup focused on making lenses for augmented reality glasses, which may launch sometime in the year 2020. Akonia Holographics was founded in 2012 by a group of holography scientists and had originally focused on holographic data storage before shifting its efforts to creating displays for augmented reality glasses. Why did Apple acquire Akonia Holographics? With this acquisition, Apple aims to create a wearable device that has the potential to superimpose digital information in the real world via a thin lens. Akonia’s display technology allows for thin, transparent smart glass lenses that display vibrant, full-color, wide field-of-view images. This can help Apple in reaching its ambition of superimposing digital information. Akonia has a portfolio of more than 200 patents related to holographic systems and materials, according to its website. As reported by Reuters, The Akonia acquisition is a clear indication of how Apple might handle one of the most daunting challenges in augmented reality hardware, which is producing crystal clear optical displays that are thin and light enough to fit into glasses similar to everyday frames with images bright enough for outdoor use and suited to mass manufacturing at a relatively low price. In 2013, Apple acquired a small Israeli firm called PrimeSense that made three-dimensional sensors. The iPhone X, launched last year, uses a similar sensor to power facial recognition features. Similarly, Akonia’s acquisition might also result in a new AR lens update in one of its upcoming releases in its devices. Ming-Chi Kuo, a former Apple Inc. analyst said that the Apple Car will launch sometime in 2023-2025. The iCar project is codenamed as ‘Titan’, according to The Wall Street Journal. Kuo said, “Apple’s leading technology advantages (e.g. AR) would redefine cars and differentiate Apple Car from peers’ products”. Apple acquiring Akino could also be part of including the latest AR tech within the iCar initiative and scale forward the timelines. Read Next Apple bans Facebook’s VPN app from the App Store for violating its data collection rules Stack skills, not degrees: Industry-leading companies, Google, IBM, Apple no longer require degrees 16 year old hacked into Apple’s servers, accessed ‘extremely secure’ customer accounts for over a year undetected
A homemade bamboo bike may just be the perfect tool for combating climate change if Dr. Kate Rawles has her way.The British full-time writer and former university lecturer has planned a yearlong journey along the Andes Mountain range from Cartagena, Colombia to Chilean Patagonia, to raise environmental awareness about climate change and pen a second book.Rawles and her partner, Chris Loynes, recently came to Costa Rica to begin research on the project while partaking in ecotourism in Arenal and the Osa Peninsula. The environmentalist said she sees Costa Rica as a model for environmental-friendly planning with its ample national parks and high levels of renewable energy use.“I look at what’s happening in Costa Rica as a win-win situation,” Rawles told The Tico Times over lunch recently in San José. “People can look to a country where they’re protecting the environment and seeing real benefits from it with ecotourism and renewable energy.”Her broader plan for her ride along the Andes includes collaborating with local people and institutions in each country to gain first-hand anecdotes on global climate issues. With cursory plans to travel through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina, Rawles expects to ride her bamboo bike through South America at a slow pace in her concerted effort to get to know the various regions and peoples. Taking the bamboo bike out for a test ride. (Courtesy of Bill Rawles, Outdoor Philosophy Blog)The whole time, the bike, made largely of bamboo and hemp, will serve as a medium through which climate change can be discussed with people Rawles meets along her route, she said.“These adventurous bike rides are a way to use bikes as communication to draw attention to bigger environmental issues,” Rawles said.Rawles is so committed to her message of leaving behind low carbon footprint that she and Loynes took a cargo ship across the Atlantic to reach Costa Rica. She is planning on taking a bus to Panama and then getting on another boat to start her biking trek in Colombia.A decade ago, Rawles said she became frustrated with how little it seemed people knew about climate change. So in 2006, she rode from Texas to Alaska in three months and wrote her first book, “The Carbon Cycle,” to chronicle her journey.On her trek through the United States, she said she met indigenous people in Alaska who were reporting record highs in temperatures and the appearances of species in abnormal zones coming in search of food.She said this time she’ll travel at a more methodical pace in order to meet more characters and hear more stories of people impacted by adverse changes in their environments. Part of that slowed-down pace included the recent detour to Costa Rica, where Rawles and Loynes got the chance to talk to tour guides in the ecotourism sector.For Rawles, it’s just the beginning of a long adventure to come.“I wanted to start this journey with a positive story and Costa Rica seems just that,” Rawles said.Follow Rawles’ journey on Twitter or on her blog. Facebook Comments Related posts:Costa Rica to host third International Sustainable Building Congress Crocodile that attacked U.S. surfer captured in Tamarindo Sea lions found at Costa Rica’s central Pacific beaches Environment Ministry officials report increased damage of wildfires inside protected areas