Day: December 5, 2022

In a remote corner of the Western Australian outback, work has begun on the world’s largest radio telescope. Astronomers say the Square Kilometre Array will be capable of searching the stars for signals of intelligent life and listening back to the start of the universe.
It is an international scientific collaboration. 130,000 antennas and 200 satellite dishes will make up the Square Kilometre Array project, or SKA. It will comprise two giant and super sensitive telescopes at observatories in Australia and South Africa.
By listening and looking deep into space, scientists hope the project can help answer some fundamental questions: Are we alone in the universe? How did the first stars come to shine? and What exactly is “dark energy” — the mysterious phenomena that appears to be pulling the cosmos apart?
Experts have said the SKA needs to be set up far away from the disturbances of radio frequencies on earth like those from computers, cars and planes.
They have said it will be eight times more sensitive than existing telescopes and will map the sky 135 times faster.
Danny Price, a senior research fellow at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy at Curtin University, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Monday that the SKA has unprecedented astronomical power.
“It is going to be one of the most sensitive instruments that humanity has ever built,” Price said. “To put it into perspective the SKA could detect a mobile phone in the pocket of an astronaut on Mars.”
Australia, South Africa, Canada and Britain are among more than a dozen countries providing funding to the project.
A land agreement between traditional Indigenous owners, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization — the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency and the Western Australian and federal governments has allowed construction of the international Square Kilometre Array telescope to officially start Monday.
The giant radio telescope is expected to be operational by the end of the decade.

Source: Voice of America

“Today, there are more children in need of humanitarian assistance than at any other time in recent history,” according to UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
Monday, UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency, launched an emergency appeal for $10.3 billion, designed to help 173 million people, including 110 million children, that the agency says have been impacted by “humanitarian crises, the enduring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide and the growing threat of climate-impacted severe weather events.”
The agency says climate change “is also worsening the scale and intensity of emergencies,” with the last 10 years being the hottest on record. In the last 30 years, the number of climate-related disasters has tripled, UNICEF says.
“Today, over 400 million children live in areas of high or extremely high-water vulnerability,” according to UNICEF.
Russell said, “The devastating impacts of climate change are an ever-present threat to children” and that is why UNICEF is “prioritizing climate adaptation and resilience building as part of our humanitarian response.”

Source: Voice of America

Briefing the National Assembly’s 4th Ordinary Session about the implementation of the national socio-economic development plan over the past 11 months on Monday’s morning, Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh said that the government is likely to exceed its revenue collection plan for 2022 by 2% for two consecutive years.
Revenue collection in the first 11 months reached 28.4 trillion kip, equivalent to 90.06 % of the annual plan, up by 26% (5.8 trillion kip) year on year with domestic revenues reaching 26.6 trillion kip, or 92.03% of the annual plan, an annual rise of 29% (5.9 trillion kip).
The government has exerted efforts to suppress revenue leakage by focusing on digitalizing revenue collection and issuing sub law regulations, tapping new revenue sources in areas of manufacturing, agricultural export, implementing mining pilot projects and Bitcoin exploitation pilot projects, addressing issues related to vehicle smuggling, improving rail transport system, and opening the country to foreign visitors.
The government has implemented its budget expense plan according to the Decree on Thrifty and Anti Extravagant Lifestyle and the Decree on State Vehicles. Budget expenditure in the first 11 months has reached 25.6 trillion kip, representing 72.56% of the annual target.
Yet budget expenditure is expected to reach 34.5 trillion kip, representing 99.60% of the plan. The government has cut some unnecessary spending. As a result, budget deficit was less severe as compared to the target approved by the National Assembly.
The government has continued to manage and address debts according to the set plan and managed to sustain the its ability to settle debts, saving the country from falling into default.
The government has focused on the management of exchange rate and inflation rate by making sure exchange shops are operated by commercial banks as a result, the number of exchange stores has decreased from 419 in early 2022 to 113 at present.
“In the months to come, we will continue to inspect the quality and the compliance with currency exchange regulations. Any shops fails to comply with or violates the rules, their licenses will be revoked, and all exchange shops will be turned into a service unit operated by commercial banks like in other countries. Mechanisms related to transactions for settling trade must be tightened and transactions for investment purposes must be made through banking systems,” said the premier.
The government will provide some loans in foreign currencies to main fuel importers to ensure their public provision of fuel is on a regular basis.
So far this year, the government has listed state enterprises subject to reform. These include strategic enterprises – Electricite du Lao, State Fuel enterprise, EDL Gens, and Lao Airlines. The reform focused on management effectiveness, debt composition and shares composition to ensure their management is profession-based, transparent and business effectiveness.
Some state enterprises could deliver positive business performance after reform. For instance, some enterprises in the banking sector have recovered from suffering losses to being able to make profit and pay taxes to the government.
Private investment promotion
The government continued to improve mechanisms facilitating and promoting investment environment according to relevant policies and decisions. Some unnecessary consideration procedures of the central and provincial investment promotion and management committees have been removed and more attention attached to major infrastructure investment projects.
Covid—19 fight
The government has implemented Covid-19 prevention and control measures along with raising public awareness of the importance of their self protection, Covid-19 diagnosis and mobilizing vaccine support from international organizations and friendly countries, and ensuring vaccination is achieved as planned. A focus has been also placed on the production of Covid-19 medicines to ensure the treatment of people.
Since May 2022, the country has gradually relaxed Covid-19 restrictions. The government also attached importance to listing and training of workers with over 49,000 people with some required labour skills exported overseas.

Source: Lao News Agency