Loud Thinking

Archive for January, 2014

If the Indian proposal to restructure the ICC is accepted then Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will lose the Test status.

What is the definition of a fifth columnist..?

Geo News reports that Ramiz Raja has advised that don’t bring in PAKISTANIAT into the Indian plan of taking over the ICC and be happy with their offer of playing a series with Pakistan.

In other words, Ramiz is advising to sell our equal status and in the ICC board and honour to India for few bucks and accept Indian hegemony in the ICC.

“Be impeccable with your word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.”

— Miguel Angel Ruiz

Shame on World Bank.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, USA and the UN Security Council must stop WB which plans to invest $2 billion in Myanmar where worlds worst genocide of Muslims is continuously taking place for the last about 2 years.

We must remember that a recent UN report has stated that “Muslims in Myanmar are the worlds most persecuted minority.”

Power to People: World Bank Group to invest US $2 billion in Myanmar to support reforms, reduce poverty, increase energy and health access

January 26, 2014

Yangon, January 26, 2014 – On his first visit to Myanmar, World Bank’s President Jim Yong Kim today announced World Bank Group plans for a US$2 billion multi-year development program. It will include projects that dramatically improve access to energy and health care for poor people and support other key government development priorities.

He announced the major increase in new financial support at a community health clinic in Yangon where he was joined by the Myanmar Minister of Health, Dr. Pe Thet Khin. They met doctors, local residents, and members of the international donor community and Kim pledged the funding will help improve the lives of the poorest people and support ongoing reforms in Myanmar.

“We are increasing our support for the huge reform effort underway in Myanmar because we want to help the government bring benefits to poor people even more quickly,” said President Kim. “Our US$2 billion dollar multi-year program will support the government’s plans to deliver universal health care to citizens and to help everyone in the country gain access to electricity by 2030.”

The World Bank Group will harness expertise and resources from IDA, IFC and MIGA to support the government’s multi-year investment program. This will include US$1 billion in Bank Group financial support to expand electricity generation, transmission and distribution. Over 70 percent of Myanmar’s people do not have access to reliable electricity.

The energy investment will also support development of a National Electrification Plan, enhance institutional capacity, and promote regulatory reforms that are critical for sustainable private sector participation. It will include support for private sector investments in power generation and distribution, as well as the scale-up of renewable energy for rural and off-grid electrification.

“Expanding access to electricity in a country like Myanmar can help transform a society – children will be able to study at night, shops will stay open, and health clinics will have lights and energy to power life-saving technology. Electricity helps brings an end to poverty,” said Kim.

IFC is partnering with the Government of Myanmar to increase efficiency in the electricity distribution sector and extend service to a greater number of end users. The World Bank Group will also pursue investments to support transparent, cost-effective private investments, and public-private joint ventures for large new power stations.

Kim said the investment will include US$200 million in IDA funding to help Myanmar achieve universal health coverage by 2030. Together with financing previously committed by other international development partners, the IDA financing will help Myanmar scale up access to quality, essential health services for women and children through results-based financing, and remove out-of-pocket payments as a barrier to health care for the poorest people.

“Everyone should have access to affordable, quality health services, and no one should be forced into poverty trying to pay for the health care they need,” he said. “The Myanmar government’s ambitious plan for universal coverage by 2030 will help ensure that every Myanmar citizen has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life.”

An estimated 75 percent of Myanmar’s mostly rural population lacks access to quality health care, and high costs place most essential services out of reach for many Myanmar families who live below the poverty line.

President Kim will attend the Second Annual Myanmar Development Forum, on Monday, January 27th, in Nay Pyi Taw where he will meet with President Thein Sein, members of the government and opposition and business leaders.

Additional Information:

· The World Bank Group’s commitment to supporting health care in Myanmar is part of a global effort to achieve universal health coverage with two global targets for universal coverage by 2030. The financial protection target is that no one will be forced into poverty due to out-of-pocket expenses for health care. The service delivery target is to double the proportion of the poorest people with access to essential health services, including maternal and child health services, communicable diseases, treatment for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, mental health and injuries, from 40 percent to at least 80 percent coverage.

· Increasing efficiency and capacity of existing power generation is the fastest way to improve electricity supply in a sustainable manner. The first investment credit after Bank re-engagement in Myanmar financed a $140 million electric power project to double the capacity and efficiency of gas-fired power plant in Mon State.

· Development of the country’s National Electrification Plan is also being supported by the World Bank under the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative, a jointly chaired World Bank-United Nations effort that aims to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030.

Wake up ICC before it’s too late..!

ICC’s revamp

Speed, Gray join Mani’s protest

Daniel Brettig

January 26, 2014

Malcolm Speed has remained linked to Cricket Australia even after leaving his post as ICC chief’s executive in 2008

News : Mani slams ‘Big Three’ proposal

News : Full coverage of the ICC’s proposed revamp

Malcolm Speed and Malcolm Gray, both former senior administrators with Cricket Australia and the ICC, have broken away from their national board’s position by undersigning a formal letter to the ICC and member nations requesting that the “big three” proposal be immediately withdrawn.

The letter, composed by the former ICC president Ehsan Mani in the wake of his damning 13-page assessment of the draft finance and governance proposal that is due to be voted on by the ICC’s executive board this week, is also undersigned by the former West Indian captain Clive Lloyd and former PCB presidents Shahrayar Khan and Lt Gen. (retd) Tauqir Zia.

But it is the presence of Speed and Gray on the letter that is most significant, for each have remained linked to the workings and decisions of CA in the years since they left formal administrative posts. Speed still retains a close working relationship with the CA chief executive James Sutherland under the banner of the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports (COMPPS). He was also a member of the Argus review panel that charted a new path for the Australian team in 2011.

All signatories agreed that the ICC needed to re-examine the conclusions of the 2012 Woolf Report into ICC governance, which recommended, among other things, an improvement in governance standards, the appointment of independent board directors and greater transparency. The text of the letter reads:

“We are writing to ask you, the custodians of world cricket: 1. That the Paper by the ICC F&CA Committee should be withdrawn. 2. That the ICC directors and management, its members and other stakeholders are, as a matter of urgency, invited to review and comment on the Governance Report by Lord Woolf and PWC, published in 2012, with a view to implementing its recommendations and improving ICC’s Governance structure, in keeping with contemporary best practice.”

Following a long period in senior roles with CA when it was known as the Australian Cricket Board, Gray served as president of the ICC from 2000 to 2003, when he was succeeded by Mani. Speed was the chief executive of the ACB/CA from 1997 until 2001, then served the same role with the ICC from 2001 to 2008.

The letter was accompanied by Mani’s analysis of the proposal, which raised many and varied concerns about the conflicted interests of its authors – the BCCI, CA, and the ECB – and the revenue modelling they are suggesting. Among his reservations was the fact that under the new plan, the game’s developing nations stood to lose an enormous percentage of projected revenue, relative to their current allocation.

Mani estimated that under the proposal, Associate and Affiliate Members would lose more than US $312 million in projected revenue, an amount that would instead be redistributed largely to the boards of India, Australia and England.

“The biggest gainers are BCCI, ECB and CA. In addition, ICC events for the period 2015-2023 will be held only in India, England and Australia. These Boards will receive hosting fees for the events in addition to the ICC Distributions they propose,” Mani wrote. “A point that also needs to be addressed is; why does BCCI need more money at the expense of other countries? The domestic and international media fees that BCCI receives from playing with other members are massive and underpin BCCI’s financial position. It is the richest cricket board in the world.

“If cricket is to grow and develop around the world more investment is required in the Associate & Affiliate countries, not less. The Associate & Affiliate countries represent some of the biggest economies in the world. If cricket could be established properly in the United States of America and China and become an Olympic sport, the ICC could double its revenues in real terms over the next 10-15 years. This requires vision and a less parochial approach.”

Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here

Feeds: Daniel Brettig
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Why the most respected former cricketer in the world, Mr. Imran Khan Niazi is silent and not raising his voice against the Indian plan to split the ICC into a two-tier system?

Mr. Imran Khan, time is running out very fast..!

As such, please do take some immediate concrete steps, to unite all the worlds legendary players, against the Indian plan to hijack the ICC, in collusion with the ECB and the ACB.

And don’t forget that the FICA and the South African cricket board, has already rejected this BCCI led plan, to destroy ICC.

BCB is proving to be the biggest traitor of the country..!

The entire Bangladesh nation must know in advance that it was Pakistan whose crucial vote gave it Test status, enabling BD to be a Cricket Test playing nation.

Now, India is hell bent to make BD a non Test playing nation, with its “3 big nations” planned change of the ICC constitution.

Surprisingly, BCB (very shamefully) is ready to accept this Indian plan, in lieu of some extra money.

“Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.”

— Pema Chodron

“I want to live life in such a way that if a photograph were taken at random, it would be a cool photograph.”

— David Nicholls

Respect is to show polite regard and consideration.