THE government is in the process of developing an online product, a platform that will offer home stays and eateries for international tourists to choose from when visiting Zimbabwe.
Speaking to NewsDay on the sidelines of a media cocktail last week, Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister, Prisca Mupfumira, said the ministry had been on a drive to register small lodges, households, restaurants and other eateries to an online product they were developing.
“We are in the process of registering online all these small accommodation facilities, the SMEs and ensure that at a punch of a button, that in Highfield or Mbare (for example) there is such a home away from the hotel,” she said.
“We are working on that concept; we are registering each and every one. The lodges, in particular, we know that there are a lot of them. We are even going on SMS campaign to find out where there is a lodge, we will register them and facilitate a revolving fund to help them so that they come up with a quality product, where the tourists coming to Zimbabwe do not necessarily depend on the hotels and get to a homely situation. It’s a work in progress.”
The concept is similar to American company Airbnb, an online marketplace and hospitality service, which people use to lease or rent short-term lodging while Airbnb earns revenue by charging commission.
The Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) already has 50 homestays on its RTG Gateway application and targets 500 home owners by year end.
Registration began two months ago with the government expected to have completed the online product by July. The product is meant to develop cheaper accommodation for tourists.
Currently, the types of accommodation offered in the country include hotels, backpackers, lodges, homestays, vacation rentals, caravanning and camping, and bed and breakfast establishments. They are expected to feature on the online product being done by government.
Traditional accommodation in the country’s key tourist destinations Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park, Kariba, Gonarezhou National Park, Eastern Highlands, the Great Zimbabwe Monument, and Nyanga is expensive compared locally and regionally.
Zimbabwe Council for Tourism president, Tich Hwingwiri said the local product was a bit high due to high rates and tariffs.
“… the issue of rates and how pricey they are is an issue which requires some serious dialogue because it is an input cost issue, so I think at the end of the day there are a lot of other costs that come into it which hoteliers also put as the point of argument. That is why it is an input cost and we need everyone to play their part to ensure the end product becomes affordable,” Hwingwiri said.
Energo Labs, a Shanghai-based start-up, is bringing a decentralized solar microgrid to communities in Southeast Asia that goes a step beyond the peer-to-peer microgrid by incorporating energy storage and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. In March, Energo Labs launched a one-campus microgrid project in the Philippines. But whether Energo Labs is going to bring real changes in its home country, China, is still unknown. To understand the opportunities and barriers confronting microgrids and their implications for China’s electricity sector, we talked with Kaikai Yang, Energo Lab’s Chief Operating Officer.
Kaikai Yang (KY): Our biggest success so far is our proof of concept project in the Philippines, located at De La Salle University-Dasmariñas. It is the first campus microgrid in Asia that integrates blockchain for energy trading, saving almost 1.2 million Philippine pesos in electricity costs over its 20-year life. Embedded with a decentralized energy billing and ledger system for energy users, this microgrid connects buildings with installed solar to other non-solar buildings, so that they share access to the energy produced. It is our first proof-of-concept project to demonstrate the technical abilities and benefits of blockchain in the energy sector.
KY: Globally, more than one billion people lack access to electricity, most of whom are located in developing countries in Asia and Africa. The cost of infrastructure to connect these people to the main grid is very expensive, which is why governments and organizations often have little incentive to invest in extending a public grid. The main reason we chose the Philippines for our proof-of-concept project is that it has many off-grid areas, and the country’s three main centralized grids are often prone to damage and therefore unstable. This makes the Philippines a great location for Energo Labs to implement our technology and prove the benefits of blockchain for energy access, security, and sustainability. Currently, most countries lack clear policy or financial support for energy trading projects, but we are beginning to see a rise in the number of experts, organizations, and committees getting involved in the push towards a freer and cleaner energy sector. Companies are increasingly working together to support new business models focusing on microgrids and energy trading, boosting the support we receive in several countries.
CEF: How is your project different than Brooklyn’s blockchain-based distributed solar energy microgrid?
KY: Several microgrid projects around the world that implement blockchain focus on applications like renewable energy certificate (REC) trading and virtual transactions. Blockchain is also often used solely for energy accounting purposes that still require the grid to function as an infrastructure-based middle man to provide renewable energy. Energo’s project is the first to focuses on energy storage sharing. By creating a network of energy storage systems, we want to meet different consumers’ demands, from houses to EVs, using locally produced energy. We aim for a transparent and open energy network that uses data for description, detection, and evaluation of energy trends and policies.
KY: Energo is the first blockchain and energy project built on top of the Qtum blockchain. Qtum is much more energy efficient compared to other platforms, which fits our theme and industry perfectly.
Given how new blockchain is, the technology has several challenges, leaving room for improvement. To this end, Energo Labs is also collaborating with universities around Asia on blockchain research and development, focusing on improving transaction fees and time, the security of the Internet of Things, user experience, scalability, and overall implementation.
KY: From a policy perspective, it is often difficult to have innovation in the energy sector because of the traditional energy structure, in which only a few stakeholders are involved in generation, transmission, distribution, and retail. Lobbying governments is a challenge for many energy start-ups. Our strategy is to partner with government representatives to both help them understand the value of blockchain in the energy sector and help us grow.
Apart from policy obstacles, China and several other Asian countries also face economic and infrastructure barriers that hinder the growth of the microgrid market. China’s electricity is very cheap; at less than 0.01 USD per kWh, it is very hard to convince users to invest in solar and storage hardware for energy trading. Moreover, big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou are dominated by skyscrapers, limiting consumers’ ability to own solar panels.
KY: All of our target markets have different characteristics, so our solution must be modified to fit the country and project. While we are currently focusing on Southeast Asia, we would like to apply these lessons to push energy decentralization in China.
Even though we are not directly targeting the Chinese energy market at this stage, we are working with government representatives and companies to explain the problems we are solving. Renewable energy surplus is a serious problem confronting Northern China, and we hope to eventually provide a model encouraging residents to consume locally produced renewable energy, rather than transport it to China’s eastern cities and incur high transmission fees.
Our current focus in China is machine-to-machine energy transactions through renewable energy powered EVs. Given the country’s lead in the EV market, we believe that this will be the future of mobility, and there is a need to align EV charging with renewable energy. We aim to have a unified energy sharing system prioritizing clean and green charging for vehicles.
Qinqi Dai is a research assistant with China Environment Forum. This interview blog is part of her final graduate group capstone project at Carnegie Mellon University, “Blockchain for International Development.”
Photo Credit: Solar project at Fort Hunter Liggett, courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Manila PoC Project Buildings, courtesy of Energo Labs.
Topics: Asia, China, China Environment Forum, climate change, development, energy, environment, environmental security, Europe, featured, Infrastructure, international environmental governance, natural resources, Philippines, security
Fox News says it has fired an associate producer after learning he was the "Fox Mole" hired by the news blog Gawker.
The associate producer of "The O'Reilly Factor" made his debut as an anonymous columnist on Gawker on Tuesday. He was hired to provide regular posts from inside the network.
Fox said in a statement Muto was fired after it determined he "was the main culprit in less than 24 hours."
The network said it "was continuing to explore legal recourse against Mr. Muto and possibly others."
Muto's inaugural post included a previously unseen video of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney chatting with Sean Hannity, discussing his family's horses, among other things.
SSC CGL Tier I Answer Keys 2017 published at ssc.nic.in, last date to raise objections is September 12| News Nation
SSC CGL Tier I Answer Keys 2017 published at ssc.nic.in, last date to raise objections is September 12
The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has released the answer keys of the Combined Graduate Level (CGL) Tier 1 examination, 2017 on the official website at ssc.nic.in. Also, candidates can raise objections against the answer keys till 5 pm on September 12 by paying Rs 100 for every answer.
According to reports, a total of 15, 43,962 candidates appeared in the examination, it conducted in 43 batches across the country.Meanwhile, the commission will declare the results of Combined Graduate Level (CGL) Tier 1 examination, 2017 on October 31.
Those candidates who will successfully clear SSC CGL Tier I exam 2017 shall be eligible for the Tier II exam which is scheduled to be held on November 10 and November 11. Further, the SSC CGL Tier-III Exam 2017 will be conducted on January 2, 2018.Cheating case:
Moreover, the commission had registered criminal cases against three candidates indulging in exam related malpractices viz. two cases of impersonation and one case of cheating. The SSC also notified that strict action will be taken against these candidates as per the rules of the Commission.
The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) was established in November 4, 1975. The organisation works under the Government of India and recruits staff for several posts in the various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India and in Subordinate Offices.It is headquartered at New Delhi. Presently, there are seven regional offices at Allahabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Bangalore and two Sub-Regional Offices at Raipur and Chandigarh. Each regional office is headed by a Regional Director and each sub-regional office is headed by a Deputy-Director.
Keith Acree, a state correction spokesman, said typically an inmate serving an active sentence can receive a medical release if he is terminally ill. The release request is first reviewed by the state corrections medical staff and then reviewed a second time by the state parole commission, who then vote on the matter.
But Acree said Henry McEachern’s case presented “something new,” because he is serving a sentence for a probation violation, which is viewed differently under the Justice Reinvestment Act passed by the General Assembly in 2011 that changed the state’s sentencing laws.
McEachern’s mother, Stephanie McEachern of Fayetteville, said doctors at the prison hospital have taken her son off chemotherapy and are now giving him morphine to help manage his pain. But she has not yet given up hope.
“I just want to get him out,” she said Friday. “I have been researching places where they are doing trial testing. I don’t think it’s fair for him not to have a fighting chance because he’s so young.”
A Cumberland County judge last year sentenced McEachern to 30 months’ probation after he was convicted of a series of felony breaking and entering and larcenies in Fayetteville in 2012, according to the state Department of Correction.
In late February, Fayetteville police again charged McEachern with breaking into a home, larceny after breaking and entering and possession of stolen goods.
The convictions violated the terms of his probation, and a judge sentenced him to 90 days in jail. McEachern began his sentence in May at the Cumberland County jail, before he was transferred to Central Prison, where he could be treated.
Stephanie McEachern said her son was doing well before he began his sentence. Things took a turn for the worse while he was in jail when he ran out of the chemotherapy pills he was taking for the illness. His mother said that she could have refilled her son’s prescription if Cumberland County jail officials had taken him back to the doctor.
But they did not, Stephanie McEachern said, and he was later transported to Central Prison with a fever and admitted into the hospital as a seriously ill patient.
“I think they didn’t take him to the doctor because they didn’t want to pay for his medicine,” Stephanie McEachern said about her son’s stay at the Cumberland County jail. “A 30-day dosage costs about $40,000. My son has Medicaid and has a co-pay of $3 per pill. All they had to do was take him to the doctor, and I could have got his prescription filled.”
In an email Friday to The News & Observer, Lan Tran-Phu, medical director of the Cumberland County Department of Health, said the jail has a health program that is “designed to provide medical care, both acute and chronic, to all inmates who need medical attention while they are incarcerated.”
Tran-Phu said inmates can be transported for medical care if they are referred by the detention center’s physician. He declined to comment when asked what conditions would have prevented the jail staff from transporting a very sick person to the doctor in order to receive medication.
Stephanie McEachern said she visited her son at Central Prison on Friday. He is conscious but has lost weight. His body is wracked with pain, and he is unable to walk.
“Ma, keep looking,” Henry McEachern told his mother after hearing about her search for experimental treatments for his illness. “Just keep looking.”