PARLIAMENT has scrapped the responsibility allowance for constitutional office holders and drastically reduced the special and utility allowances in the revised emolument bills that were approved yesterday.
This was when the House passed the three amended emolument bills that seek to increase salaries and allowances for the president, ministers, deputy ministers, members of Parliament and other constitutional office holders.
The amended bills, which were subjected to a vote electronically, saw a significant reduction of the utility allowance while the salary still stood at 15 per cent increment.
The three bills, which had earlier passed through the House, were sent back after President Banda wrote a letter to the Speaker on November 7, asking Parliament to reconsider the bills, as they were costly to the Government in their old form.
Presenting the amended bills, Vice-President George Kunda said the treasury had insufficient funds to implement the earlier proposed allowances, hence the need to amend the bills.
Mr Kunda said the Government had spent huge sums of money to conduct the October 30 presidential election and expenses towards the State funeral of late president Mwanawasa.
According to the amended Presidential Emolument Bill number 18 of 2008, the President’s special annual allowance of K157,210,523 had been reduced to K59,194,734 while the annual responsibility allowance of K150 million was scrapped.
Nov. 7, 2008 -- Honda Motor, a pioneer of humanoid robots, on Friday unveiled a new walking assist machine designed to make it easier for the elderly to climb stairs and help factory workers.
The computerized leg device is the latest addition to walking technology developed by the Japanese automaker, which announced the world's first two-legged walking robot, ASIMO, in 2000.
The 6.5 kilogram (14.3-pound) device -- consisting of a saddle, leg-like frames and shoes -- can reduce the load on users' legs while walking or climbing and descending stairs by supporting bodyweight, Honda said.
Honda said the motor-powered machine is still at an experimental stage, but elderly people and people undergoing rehabilitation who need support for their leg muscles and joints are the main target.
The device is also expected to help assembly workers to keep a crouching position, Honda said, adding that it plans to test the device at one of its factories nor... Read more »
Indeed the last 44 years have been momentous ones in which a lot has been achieved. In recognition of the contributions made towards freedom by our founding fathers and mothers providing the foundation for the political and economic independence we enjoy today, one can not fail to remember the role of our first three Presidents and indeed all freedom fighters. We, therefore, pay tribute to them and dedicate ourselves to sustaining their dream for a free, peaceful and prosperous Zambia. In line with the anniversary celebrations, the Moscow community is organizing a party.
Venue: Patrice Lumumba University Date: 1st Nov, 2008 Time: To be announced later Contributions: 400 roubles or more All are welcome!
The organizers wish to apologize for the cancellation of the party to celebrate our 44 years of Independence. This was due to unfavorable conditions/requirements set by the School Administration in hosting the party. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted!
The Zambia Diaspora
E-Conference is an Internet based meeting that will convene every year
around Zambia’s national day to discuss matters collectively affecting
the Zambian Diaspora in relation to their ‘Home’. This year, which is
its inaugural year the e-Conference will carry the theme ‘Visioning
Diaspora involvement in Zambia’s Development’ and will run from the
14th to 24th October 2008. Under this theme global online discussions
by Zambians in the Diaspora will be held to distill into a national
visioning framework, their perspectives of what Zambia's development
involving the Diaspora means. The conference outputs will feed into
government understanding to help manage Diaspora efforts in meeting
Zambia’s National Long Term Vision 2030.
The convener of the
Zambia Diaspora e-conference 2008 is Paul Lupunga a Principal Economist
from the Ministry of Finance who is currently studying at the Australia
National University. Others in the steering committee are Harrison
Muyeba in the US, Musaba Chailunga in Canada, Chola Mukanga in England,
Chasaya Sichilima in Canada, Bright Chinganya in Australia and Jones
Mpakateni in Pakistan all drawn from the Zambian Diaspora Forum. The
Zambian Diaspora Forum is a dialogue platform that carries the
objective of deliberating and executing matters relating to the
advancemen... Read more »
Depending on what side of the fence you are situated, our Universe, and to be specific the Earth we live on, was created either by God or by natural evolution.
For many millennia, the Bible, our most respected and believed scripture, tells us that God created Earth and hence the Universe. This biblical argument has been based on narrated information collated in the Bible and cannot be experimentally proved. Therefore we stick with our spiritual beliefs that comfort us all.
The scientists on the other side of the fence believe otherwise and are ready to prove that our Universe was created after a “Big Bang”. This is a broadly accepted theory for the origin and evolution of our universe. The concept says that the observable universe started roughly 13.7 billion years ago from an extremely dense and incredibly hot initial state. I bet God was around before then.
To prove the “Big Bang” theory, a group of more than a thousand scientists are gathered at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, where a K35 Trillion Large Hadron Collider (LHC) machine is ready to start and prove the theory.
The LHC machine itself is colossal, measuring 27 km long running underground in a tunnel 100 m below the surface and straddles between the Swiss-French border. On... Read more »
Depending on what side of the fence you are situated, our Universe, and to be specific the Earth we live on, was created either by God or by natural evolution.