1 UK inflation negative, first time since 1960
(Katie Allen in The Guardian) Inflation in Britain has turned negative for the
first time in more than half a century, giving a boost to household finances and
bolstering expectations that interest rates will remain at a record low for the
rest of this year.
The Office for National Statistics said its consumer
price index measure of inflation was down 0.1% in April from a year ago. That
compared with the inflation rate at zero in February and March. Statisticians
said this was the first time the CPI had fallen since official records began in
1996 and the first time since 1960 based on comparable historic estimates.
The fall in living costs will be welcomed by many as
it means workers’ wages go further, after years when pay was falling in real
terms. But for savers it means interest rates will remain low and there are
also warnings negative inflation is a symptom of underlying weakness in
Britain’s economic recovery.
The main downward effect on price changes in April
came from air fares and ferry tickets. The largest upward effect came from motor
fuels, which rose this April but fell between March and April in 2014. The Bank
of England had already forecast inflation would turn negative at some point
this year but predicted it would soon pick up again. Economists agree there is
little reason to fear the UK will fall into outright deflation, as seen between
1921 and 1933, which is regarded as a sustained fall in the cost of living, not
a temporary decline below zero.
2 ‘Only a quarter of workers in permanent jobs’
(BBC) Only one quarter of workers around the world have permanent jobs,
according to a report by the International Labour Organization. The remaining
three quarters of the workforce are employed on temporary or short-term
contracts, along with informal jobs often without a contract. The ILO also
found that many workers not in full-time employment have no pensions or
benefits.
Part-time jobs outpaced full-time ones between 2009
and 2013 in a majority of countries where the data was available. The ILO says
flexibility in employment does have some advantages, but it also adds to the
risk that workers will be exploited.
The study shows an increasingly diversified global
workforce, said director-general Guy Ryder, with some forms of
"non-standard" work helping people get a foothold into the job
market. Women were a big part of the current trend of rising part-time
employment, according to the ILO. They accounted for 24% of people working less
than 30 hours per week across 86 countries - nearly double the percentage of
men at 12.4%.
Meanwhile, the income gap between permanent and
non-permanent workers has also increased. Benefits such as pensions and
unemployment benefits are still mainly available for permanent employees. The
ILO is calling for policies by governments to ensure income security for all
types of workers, not just those on "stable contracts".
3 Plea for euthanasia in India (Khaleej Times) Pleas
for euthanasia were made not only on behalf of nurse Aruna Shanbaug, but kin of
many others in similar vegetative state also had sought end of their lives in a
dignified manner. Most of these pleas were, however, rejected. Shanbaug, a
nurse in Mumbai hospital, lay comatose for 42 years after being sexually
assaulted by a ward boy and her case meandered through courts.
Those fighting difficult and debilitating illnesses
had also pleaded for euthanasia in the absence of proper treatment or the funds
required for the same. Euthanasia is an act of intentionally ending a life to
end pain in the case of terminally ill patients or those in a persistent
vegetative state. Passive euthanasia - withdrawing life support of patients in
a persistent vegetative state - is, however, legal in India.
Some of the instances of euthanasia pleas: 2013,
Dennis Kumar, Tamil Nadu: A porter, Dennis Kumar from Kanyakumari district
sought permission from the district collector to grant euthanasia for his
infant son, who had been suffering since birth from an unknown disorder. Unable
to pay for his treatment or see his son suffer, Kumar felt euthanasia would
relieve both his son and him of their misery. The plea was rejected by a court.
2008, Jeet Narayan,
Uttar Pradesh: Jeet Narayan of Mirzapur had pleaded for euthanasia for his four
sons who were all paralysed below the neck and were confined to bed. He had
written in 2008 to President Pratibha Patil, who rejected his plea.
The Supreme Court on March 7, 2011, ruled out active
euthanasia—the administration of a lethal injection to end lives of terminally
ill patients. The court permitted only passive euthanasia for patients who were
either brain dead, or were in a persistent vegetative state or were supported
entirely through a ventilator or any artificial life support.
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