Germany promises ‘storm diversity’
BERLIN (January 7): The German Meteorologist Service has promised to give storms more diverse names after an online initiative called for a better reflection of the multicultural make-up of the country’s society.
A low-pressure system bringing frigid temperatures, dark clouds, and snow to the country has been titled Ahmet, a boy's name of Turkish origin.
Other storms to follow will include traditionally male Arabic, Kurdish and Greek names such as Cemal, Goran, Hakim, and Dimitrios.
Meanwhile, high-pressure systems reaching Germany early this year will be called Bozena, Chana, or Dragica, traditionally female names with Polish, Hebrew, and South Slavic roots.
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Fears for Trump’s last days
WASHINGTON (January 6): Former United States Secretaries of Defence have put their names to an opinion article in the Washington Post expressing concerns that President Donald Trump would impose martial law or invoke the Insurrection Act as a way of extending his term in the White House.
The article, signed by all 10 living Secretaries of Defence, including Mark Esper, who was dismissed by Mr Trump just days after the November election, declared “the time for questioning the results has passed”.
It warned that Pentagon officials who helped Mr Trump could “potentially face criminal penalties for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic”.
The former Secretaries were also concerned about institutional upheaval at the Department of Defence since Mr Esper’s firing, including the troop withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan and the realignment of the Pentagon’s Civilian Bureau overseeing special operations.
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Pandemic wreaks havoc in PS
GIBRALTAR (January 5): Gibraltar’s Chief Secretary, Darren Grech has called on Public Servants to act with “absolute resolve and commitment” in dealing with a surge in cases of COVID-19 in the territory.
Mr Grech said the Public Service must strive to ensure “resilience of functionality” even as a large number of public sector workers were either sick or at home in self-isolation.
He said Public Servants should work from home wherever possible, even if in self-isolation.
This follows a statement from Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo that raised concerns about the continued provision of essential public services.
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State’s workers return to offices
KOTA KINABALU (January 5): The Malaysian State of Sabah has announced that all Public Service offices are now operating as normal.
Minister for Local Government, Masidi Manjun said the Government had given the green light to ensure the State’s Public Service’s delivery system was at an effective level.
Mr Masidi reminded Government workers to heed the rules and the Federal Government’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), in place to stop the spread of the virus.
“The police and local authorities will continue to monitor the people’s compliance with the SOPs at public areas as well as social gatherings over the next two weeks,” Mr Masidi said.
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Secretary confirms teleworking rule
VALETTA (January 5): The head of the Maltese Public Service has told Government Departments to keep teleworking in place after a Member of the European Parliament claimed some staff were being ordered back to their desks despite a rise in COVID-19 cases.
In a tweet, Labour MEP, Alfred Sant said any return to normal working was "incomprehensible", particularly after a more infectious strain of the virus had been found in Malta.
However, Principle Permanent Secretary, Mario Cutajar insisted Government policy had not changed.
"I have no knowledge of any Government Department which has directed its employees to forego teleworking and return to their offices. Any direction which runs contrary to that given by this office would surely be overruled," Mr Cutajar said.
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No money for pandemic subsidies
BRASILIA (January 7): Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro has announced that State subsidies to fight poverty will end as the country is "broke" and he is unable to do anything about it.
Mr Bolsonaro attributed the crisis to "the press-fuelled COVID-19”.
The subsidies, keeping millions of Brazilians from destitution, have ended as the pandemic, which has killed almost 200,000 people in the country, only worsens.
Director of the Centre for Social Policies, Marcelo Neri said Brazil may be "on the edge of a social abyss".
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Top students cool on PS career
NEW DELHI (January 7): A recent survey of the most successful students in the Indian School Board examinations over a 20-year period has shown an almost complete disregard of the Public Service as a career.
Of the 86 men and women who topped their school board examinations between 1995 and 2015, more than half now live abroad and most are working in science and technology, or pursuing advanced degrees in those areas.
The tech sector dominates, followed by medicine and finance. Just one individual is working in the Public Service.
For decades, the Public Service, and especially the elite Indian Administrative Service, has enjoyed an unparalleled social standing. That seems to have changed.
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PS chief rebuffs video criticisms
EDINBURGH (January 11): Scotland’s top Public Servant has rejected claims from the Opposition Conservative Party that an official video, critical of the United Kingdom’s trade deal with the European Union, had broken the Public Service code on political neutrality.
Permanent Secretary, Leslie Evans said it was the job of officials to help the elected Government of the day take forward its policies and programs.
The video stated that the recent trade agreement was “a bad deal for Scotland” and concluded by saying: “We believe Scotland has the right to choose a better future as an independent country.”
Ms Evans said the video did not purport to be on behalf of the Public Service and represented the consistent policy position of Scottish Government Ministers both on the trade deal and independence.
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Many apply — but few are chosen
KATHMANDU (January 5): The Nepalese Public Service Commission (PSC) has reported that a total of 93,012 candidates appeared in examinations for various Public Service posts in the fiscal year 2019-20.
Of the candidates, 35,866 were females and 57,146 were males. Only 14.2 per cent of them made it through to the second phase of the examinations.
From this number the PSC made recommendations to the Government for permanency of 304 candidates on the basis of scores they secured in the exams.
The number of recommendations for permanency dropped during the last fiscal year after the PSC was compelled to suspend examinations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Concern at teacher recruitment plan
JAKARTA (January 7): The Indonesian Government is pressing ahead with a plan to hire one million teachers on contract despite the suspension of Public Service examinations — the normal path of recruitment.
The decision has sparked concern with the National Civil Service Agency (BKN) saying this was the first stage of a Government plan to stop recruiting teachers via the Public Service.
Head of the BKN, Bima Haria Wibisana said the problem was not new, with so-called non-formal teachers recruited by individual schools.
“Many of them are low paid and overworked, and the suspension of examinations means they have lost an opportunity to take test and move into the Public Service,” Mr Bima said.
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Veteran of UN’s early days dies
NEW YORK (January 6): Sir Brian Urquhart, who has died aged 101, served the United Nations in high posts for four decades, beginning in the organisation’s earliest days.
Born in England, he joined the fledgling UN after service in World War II and by the age of 26 was already in high and influential positions.
He was a tenacious player in the game of survival at the top of the UN. While Secretaries-General came and went and other top staff faded away, he continued his grip on the top posts until his retirement in the mid-1980s.
During Sir Brian’s many active years of retirement he wrote widely on the reform of the UN. However, while he did mellow in later years, he never abandoned a basically conservative persona.
The full International PS News service will resume on January 19.
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