Declassified files show the note to former MP John Spellar also said the republican party had ignored the “visceral component of sectarianism” in responding to a new government good relations strategy. Mr Spellar, then a Northern Ireland Office minister, had launched a consultation on the “A Shared Future” document, an attempt to address community divisions, segregation and sectarianism in the region at a time when the devolved powersharing institutions were suspended. A file at the Public Record Office in Belfast shows that OFMDFM official Chris Stewart wrote to the minister in July about a response to the document from Sinn Fein representative Bairbre de Brun. Mr Stewart told Mr Spellar that Ms de Brun’s letter had been critical of the document and was clearly intended to “mark your card”. He said among a number of points raised by de Brun was that “the promotion of equality is the key to improving community relations”. His memo adds: “Sinn Fein is clearly seeking to position or align the issue of community relations within its equality and human rights agenda. “This general Sinn Fein position has resulted in a simplistic analysis of community relations, which is flawed in its description of the causes and necessary policy response. “There is of course, no doubt that a lack of equality has been a contributing factor to poor community relations. “However, Sinn Fein ignores the many other factors, not least the violent conflict that resulted in over 3,000 deaths. “Sinn Fein also portrays poor community relations (for nationalists) as being a purely rational response to the political situation. “This ignores the more visceral component of sectarianism, which is all too prevalent in both communities.” Mr Stewart continues: “To suggest, as Sinn Fein does, that the promotion of equality should be the key component of good relations policy is to ignore the key message in A Shared Future, that indirect approaches alone are insufficient to deal with sectarianism and the abnormal relationship between sections of the Northern Ireland community.” The official recommended the minister invite representatives of Sinn Fein to a meeting to discuss the policy. The file also contains a note about Mr Spellar’s meeting with DUP representatives Maurice Morrow and Peter Weir the following month to discuss the document. The note says: “Morrow said he had no problem with sharing the future and suggested that the first step to that would be an election to decide who spoke for whom – though he was quick to say he didn’t want politics to dominate the meeting.” It adds: “Weir said that the biggest step towards improving community relations would be the creation of a political environment that had the broad support of both unionism and nationalism, and the GFA (Good Friday Agreement) could not create that environment.”Kathmandu, Dec. 22: Until a few years ago, many of us had to stand for hours in long queues on the streets of Kathmandu Valley to apply for an IPO of companies and even to claim the right shares. But with the change in ICT sector and initiatives to upgrade this system to online, the number of people joining the stock market has increased exponentially. According to CDS and Clearing Limited, 6.451 million de-mat (de-materialised) accounts have been opened so far. The banks and financial institutions have a system in place to buy primary market shares from home through the 'e-ASWA' system brought in collaboration with other bodies. Trade Management System (TMS) has also been developed for buying and selling securities in the secondary market. Likewise, it has now become history that you had to be at the Company Registrar Office either to register or to make an annual update of the company's status, carrying a stack of files. The company registration process would only begin after you submitted a heap of documents such as the letter of administration, rules, and details of all company shareholders (in the case of a public company), and proof of citizenship or other documents of all directors. This situation has now ended. The registration process begins after scanning the certified details and uploading them from your own computer. The company is registered after the concerned office verifies it. After registration, everything from company updates to online work is done digitally. However, there is still a provision to go to the office to get the certificate or get an updated certificate. The company registrar’s office has also started the digital signature system since last July. Using it, a government official anywhere in the world can provide his/her authentication by means of digital signature. This system, implemented voluntarily, is being prepared to be made mandatory in case of registration of public companies in the first phase, and gradually be implemented for the registration of private companies, said Assistant Registrar Basanta Bahadur Khatri of the Office of the Company Registrar, Tripureshoar. He said once this system is fully implemented, service recipients don't need to go to the company office for any company-related work. Progress in e-governance Ramesh Sharma Paudyal, Director General for the Department of Information Technology, under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, said, “We have realised that some important works had been done in the IT and e-governance part in the last decade. This has brought about extensive improvements in the areas of public services and payment systems.” This is proven by the fact that Nepal secured 119th position in the E-governemnt Development Index (EGDI) out of all UN member nations securing 0.05781 point for the year 2024. This update is being made in every two years. In 2022, Nepal was in 125th rank. The UN e-government survey highlights a global trend of increased investment in digital government technologies and infrastructure. According to Paudyal, over the past few years, banks and financial institutions licensed by Nepal Rastra Bank have revolutionised mobile banking services. The use of 'QR -based' payment for cashless transactions has increased extensively in recent times. This system has not only reduced cash transactions but also payments made through debit cards and credit cards, he added. Foreign switches had to be used for payments made through debit and credit cards, and money was sent abroad for each transaction and these have also decreased tremendously. However, 'QR revolution' has ended the situation of money flowing out of banks and financial institutions in transactions. There is no need to go to the relevant place to make any kind of payment, from drinking water, electricity, internet, telephone, to tax payment. DG Paudyal said, apart from banks, information technology has brought many changes in public administrative services. Management Information System (MIS) has now been implemented in almost all government offices. This has reduced the time taken for service delivery. Payments by government agencies have also gone to e-payment. However, the hassle of having to submit documents provided by one government agency to another government agency and manually uploading details, or scanning documents and uploading them still exists. “The system of having to upload them repeatedly from office to office and verifying details manually is still in place, he said. We must stop this trend of verifying our citizenship certificates already verified by one specific government office because we must accept and believe the change brought about by IT," said Paudyal. DG Paudyal said the concept of digital governance that has come up lately is to end public hassle that service recipients have to undergo. "Until now, the idea was to use ICT in government service delivery. Now onwards, we will move from ICT to IoT (Internet of Things), which means delivery of government service to the house of service seekers through the use of internet,” he claimed. According to him, lately a concept has developed that citizens should not go to government offices, but the government should provide services to the citizens giving access to their gadgets. "We have started calling this digital governance and transformation from e-governance," he said. According to the same concept, the Digital Nepal Framework is also being revised by the Ministry, said Paudyal. He said that until now government services were operated according to the objective of e-governance. Its objective was to use information technology in government office work. However, people had to reach the office physically to get the services. He said, "The journey ahead is towards digitisation and digitalisation of the public services. The objective is not require people to go to government offices, but to bring government services to the houses of the people." DG Paudyal said the concept of integrating all public services through the 'Nagarik App' launched by the government is exemplary. However, several government services are yet to be enlisted and synchronised in this app. One good example of this app, now, is that every citizen when gets logged in to this app, can easily get their personal PAN number within few hours just by uploading their citizenship certificates and photo after it gets verified by the authorities. Practice of e-governance services According to DG Paudyal, e-governance services have now been applied to different public offices like the Department of Immigration where people can get e-visa processing online and even payment for the service, issuance of smart license although its use is yet to come into use in real sense, embossed number plate with planning to surveil all vehicles plying across the country, company registrar’s office, and even issuance of press accreditation card for journalists online, etc., are few examples of application of e-governance. "But government's dream for digitalisation of all these services may still take some years to have all kinds of government services in the hands and internet of public," said Paudyal. Despite the accessibility and sustainability of technology, it is not possible to assume that any technology has been successful. Stakeholders say that it depends on how efficient such use is in terms of time and cost. For example, there is access to radio and television in every household, but people have shifted to internet technology for information and entertainment. Voice calls are accessible everywhere, but people have started talking through means like WhatsApp and Viber. Experts said that despite accessibility, the sustainability of any technology depends on the efficiency. Bijay Limbu Senihang, CEO of Vairav Tech and cybersecurity expert, said that it is true that the country is in pre-digital transformation era, and it is easy to talk about e-governance and digitalisation, but in real sense the government itself is unknown about which sector should be steered into complete digitalisation phase. "Although many things have already been set up in the IT and communication sectors from the government, the central government still lacks specific prioritisation in the IT sector to make one particular sector as fully digital," said Limbu. For example, tourism, health, agriculture and industry have huge potential in terms of revenue generation, but the government has not prioritised these sectors to make them fully digital so that people from across the country get service anytime and from anywhere in the world. Another problem in IT and e-governance is that government hurries in launching and bringing any new technology in Nepal and testing it in public service sectors like in passport, driving license and industry and company registration office, but the digital system adopted in particular offices lacks sustainability of operation for 24 hours. Let's say if anyone visits such offices, they may not get the service in digital platform, courtesy server down or system down," said Limbu. "It seems that there is a lack of a detailed framework and implementation plan from the government regarding the type of digital transformation required in sectors such as education, healthcare, insurance, transportation, industry, and agriculture in our country," he said. As a result, our government offices providing public services often appear disorganised and chaotic, he said. In Nepal, technologies are being implemented without proper infrastructure, laws, and policies in place. For example, the national identity card has been introduced, but the current constitution does not recognise it as equivalent to citizenship. Therefore, its implementation remains uncertain, said Limbu.best time to play jili fortune gems 。

CBP road project needs deeper review of impacts, environmentalists sayTrimble and Mallon sanctioned DUP ministers over rotation planTo reduce reliance on fossil fuels, Punjab has shifted 6,800 MW to renewable energy, making 1,000 state government buildings energy efficient, said renewable energy minister Aman Arora. He was addressing an event organised by Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) on Saturday to celebrate State Energy Conservation Day, in association with the power ministry’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency. Arora said a project is underway to shift another 6,200 MW to renewable energy. He added that 2.16 lakh four-star rated agriculture pump sets have been installed across the state and over 750 buildings are Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) compliant. He urged the people to support the government in transforming Punjab into an energy efficient state and said the state can only set the ecosystem, and the main responsibility comes to the private players as they have to equip their organisations with the energy-efficient technologies. New and renewable energy sources principal secretary Ajoy Kumar Sinha emphasised the need for energy conservation and efficiency to bridge the gap between the demand and supply.

Trimble and Mallon sanctioned DUP ministers over rotation planNo. 3 Nittany Lions relying on defensive depth in Big Ten title game and postseason run

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck on Saturday announced his plans to enter the NFL draft, five days after having season-ending elbow surgery . Beck, a fifth-year senior, made his NFL plans official on social media. He suffered a right elbow injury in the first half of the Bulldogs’ 22-19 overtime win over Texas in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 7 in Atlanta. Beck had surgery on Monday to repair his ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow. The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. Beck is expected to begin throwing next spring. He could have returned for a sixth season but instead will enter the NFL draft. Beck posted on Instagram: “The past five years at the University of Georgia have been nothing short of a dream come true and I will forever cherish the memories that have been made.” Gunner Stockton, who took over for Beck in the second half against Texas, will make his first start for Georgia on Wednesday in the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Beck has started every game of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He was 24-3 as a starter. Beck passed for 3,941 yards with 24 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 2023 but had more difficulties with turnovers this season as he passed for 28 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. He completed 7 of 13 passes for 56 yards before his injury in the SEC championship game. Georgia coach Kirby Smart stuck with Beck despite a midseason string of eight interceptions in three games. “Obviously, you look at the stats and they aren’t the same stats as the year before,” offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said Saturday when reflecting on Beck's career. “The goal in this league is to win the SEC championship. And he was the quarterback of that team that got us to that game and put us in that position.” Added offensive guard Tate Ratledge: “I think Carson should be remembered as a great player. He’s who got us to this point of the season.” Stockton, a sophomore, completed 12 of 16 passes for 71 yards with one interception against Texas. He signed with Georgia as a highly recruited in-state player from Rabun County High School, where he broke Trevor Lawrence's state high school record for most career touchdown passes and Deshaun Watson's state record for combined rushing and passing touchdowns in a career. “Obviously when he was in high school, he was one of the best to ever do it in Georgia,” Bulldogs linebacker Chaz Chambliss said of Stockton before adding that he “just has that fire in him.” Georgia was preparing to start Stockton before announcing Beck's season-ending injury. Stockton will attempt to join a short list of quarterbacks who have been promoted from backup jobs to win national championships. The list includes Georgia's Stetson Bennett, who began the 2021 season as the backup to JT Daniels before taking over the starting job in October. Lawrence took over for Kelly Bryant during Clemson's 2018 championship season. The best comparison to Stockton's challenge during the CFP era may be Cardale Jones on the 2014 Ohio State national championship team. Jones' first start was the Big Ten championship game following an injury to J.T. Barrett, who began the preseason as the expected backup before Braxton Miller's injury. Stockton led Georgia to a touchdown on his first drive against Texas and has had extra practice time during the Bulldogs' break after receiving a first-round bye in the playoff. “To see his growth since he’s been here, he’s been waiting patiently, he’s been sitting and putting his time in and he’s been working while he was waiting,” Georgia safety Malaki Starks said Friday. “And now he gets a chance to go out there and prove what he can do. And, you know, I believe in him 100%.” Starks, who is from Jefferson, Ga., often faced Stockton's Rabun County teams in high school. “He’s always been, you know, that guy, you know, since I’ve been growing up,” Starks said. “He’s an easy guy to follow. I mean, Gunner is a great guy, you know, very respectful, great parents. I mean, he’s the guy that you want to lead. And a lot of guys have confidence in him. And I think you saw it during games in the SEC (championship game), how much the guys believed in him.” Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballBashir puts up 27, Monmouth knocks off Fairfield 88-74

HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) — Amarri Tice scored 20 points and Paul Otieno added six in the overtime as Quinnipiac defeated Hofstra 75-69 on Sunday. Tice added 11 rebounds and three blocks for the Bobcats (6-7). Otieno scored 17 points and added 14 rebounds. Jaden Zimmerman shot 4 of 8 from the field, including 1 for 4 from 3-point range, and went 1 for 5 from the free-throw line to finish with 10 points. Jean Aranguren led the Pride (8-5) in scoring, finishing with 23 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals. Cruz Davis added 14 points and two steals for Hofstra. Michael Graham had eight points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Quinnipiac entered halftime up 36-32. Tice paced the team in scoring in the first half with 10 points. Quinnipiac was outscored by four points in the second half and the teams finished regulation tied 63-63 after two free throws by Aranguren with 38 seconds remaining. Otieno shot 2 of 3 from the field on the way to their six points in the overtime. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Bloomberry sells shares for patrons