1 US jobs growth points to rate rise (Ben Morris on
BBC) The case for a rise in US interest rates has been bolstered by strong jobs
data for October. The economy created 161,000 posts last month and job creation
for the months of August and September was revised up.
The unemployment rate edged lower to 4.9%, according
to the latest report from the US Department of Labor. The healthy labour market
will support the view held by many analysts that the US Federal Reserve will raise
interest rates next month.
On Wednesday, policy makers at the US Federal
Reserve decided to keep interest rates on hold, which means rates have not
moved in almost a year. The Fed last raised rates, to a range between 0.25% and
0.5%, last December -- its first move in almost a decade following the
financial crisis.
The body which sets US interest rates, the Federal
Open Market Committee, next meets on 13 December for two days. Data released
last month showed that the US economy grew at the fastest pace in two years in
the three months to the end of September. The world's largest economy grew at
an annual rate of 2.9%, according to the Commerce Department.
2 Pollution emergency in Delhi (Michael Safi in The
Guardian) The Indian government has declared severe levels of toxic air
pollution in Delhi an “emergency situation” as administrators announce a plan
to temporarily shut construction sites and a coal-fired power station to bring
the situation under control.
Schools in the capital will be closed for three days
and traffic may be rationed, following six days of heavy smog and
concentrations of harmful particles so high they cannot be measured by most air
quality instruments.
The level of PM2.5 pollutants, which are the most
harmful because they can reach deep into the lungs and breach the blood-brain
barrier, have reached at least 999 in parts of the city this week, more than 16
times the safe limit of 60.
On Sunday, Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal,
announced emergency measures aimed at protecting residents, including a
five-day ban on construction and demolition, thought to be a major contributor
to pollution levels. Bulldozers are to be used to put out fires at the Bhalswa
landfill, which constantly smoulders.
A coal-fired power station in Badarpur, south-east
Delhi, will stop operating for 10 days, along with diesel generators in the
city. Kejriwal has called on neighbouring states to enforce laws against
burning agricultural waste. Around this time each year, hundreds of thousands
of farmers in Haryana and Punjab set their fields on fire to dispose of crop
remnants, sending smoke billowing across India’s northern plains.
The Centre for Science and Environment, a
Delhi-based NGO, has said the air quality is the worst the Indian capital had
seen in 17 years. Hospitals in the city have reported increased admissions of
people suffering respiratory diseases – of which India has the highest rate in
the world, with 159 deaths per 100,000 people in 2012, according to the World
Health Organisation.
3 For Richard Branson, key to success is intention (Rose
Leadem in San Francisco Chronicle) The key to success, according to Richard
Branson, is not only productivity and motivation -- but intention.
“A day without intention is a day wasted,” the
Virgin Group CEO writes in a recent blog post. "Without intention, there
can be no productivity, and in turn no success." Whether you’re simply
going on a morning jog or starting a business, Branson writes that intention is
the driving force.
Branson has some tips on how you can get started: A.
Start every day fresh. Meditation, reading, a quick crossword puzzle -- there
are plenty of ways to get your mind ready for the day. B. Write your intentions
down. C. Use your time wisely.
D. Think ahead. "We cannot change the past, so
there's no point of dwelling on it. The key to being productive is thinking
ahead.” 5. Have fun. "As the saying goes, time flies when you're having
fun," Branson writes. "Just don't get side-tracked by having too much
fun. Wait. Is too much fun even possible?"
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