Business school unveils Facebook MBA
Lectures and course materials made available free on social network site.
A business school is opening its MBA course to the masses by making its lectures and course materials freely available on Facebook.
HM Treasury
The Prime Minister Speaking at a CBI conference in London, today announced the publication of the UK’s first ever infrastructure plan, identifying the scale of the infrastructure challenge and the major economic investment that is needed to underpin sustainable growth in the UK over the coming decades. he said: I can announce today the UK’s first ever national infrastructure plan setting out the infrastructure Britain needs and how we will unlock some £200 billion worth of public and private sector investment over the next five years to deliver it.
“This is incredibly exciting, and it shows how, together, we can help create the right framework for growth in which British business can thrive and compete with the rest of the world.â€
The immediate challenge is to rebuild the economy, creating the conditions for enterprise to flourish based on an expansion of the private sector. The economy has been too reliant on growth from a limited number of sectors and regions. The infrastructure investment programme will help rebalance the economy and give industries the right conditions in which to grow.
Last year, Britain’s deficit was the largest in peacetime history. The state is borrowing one pound in every four that it spends, and every day it costs almost £120 million just to pay the interest on the nation’s debts. The consequences of not acting now are serious: all regions across England would be faced with higher interest rates, business failures, rising unemployment and even potentially the end of the recovery.
It is imperative that this debt is set on a sustainable downward path.
This Spending Review promotes long-term economic growth, as well as wider reforms to enable a private sector led recovery, it improves fairness by supporting the most vulnerable, and gives people the freedom to better themselves and their families in the future.
The Government is committed to rebalancing the economy. In particular, it is determined to remove barriers and provide focused support to ensure that all places can realise their growth potential by:
Oil firm changes performance-related pay measures for fourth quarter to make the progress of safety improvements the most important determinant
Bob Dudley, chief executive at the oil giant, has told staff in a company-wide email that the sole criterion for judging performance in the last quarter of this year would be “each business’s progress in reducing operational risks and achieving excellent safety and compliance standardsâ€.
Do you see a bright ’star’ in the eastern sky after sunset in October 2010? You are really seeing a planet, Jupiter.
Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system, it’s central to its own system of 63 orbiting moons. October 2010 is one of the best months this year for seeing this giant planet. It is in the sky at a convenient time for evening viewing – and, since Earth recently passed between Jupiter and the sun, the planet is nearly at its brightest. Many people on Earth will happen to glance eastward this month and notice a bold starlike object. If you were there, you could tell them it’s Jupiter.
So look for Jupiter in the night sky, and expect it to be big and bright!
Health and safety ‘red tape’ for employers could soon be relaxed as the Prime Minister pledged support for reforms recommended by Lord Young.
Lord Young’s review of health and safety at work, commissioned by the government, criticised the growing compensation culture that has left businesses operating in a “climate of fear†over legal action.
He said that despite the success of the 1974 Health and Safety Act in reducing accidents at work, it had now been hijacked by the advent of ‘no win, no fee’ claims.
Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude has today summarised plans to substantially reform a large number of Public Bodies across government.
The review is part of the Government’s commitment to radically increase the transparency and accountability of all public services.
The Government intends to introduce a Public Bodies Bill that will enable many of these plans to be implemented.
The reform process, which covered all of HM Government’s Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs), as well as other bodies, such as some non-ministerial departments and some public corporations, will help to reinvigorate the public’s trust in democracy and also ensure that the Government operates in a more efficient and business-like way.
The Government proposes to reform 481 bodies. Of these, 192 will cease to be public bodies and their functions will either be brought back into Government, devolved to local government, moved out of Government or abolished altogether. Examples include:
In addition, as part of the planned reforms, if it is clear that a public body has accomplished its mission and no longer needs to exist, it will be abolished.
Minister vows investment in training to rebalance economy
David Willetts -Universities and Science Minister – told the Conservative party conference that apprentices in key sectors would be known as technicians after completing their rigorous training.
After you have been to university you are a graduate, yet too often there is nothing to mark the completion of an apprenticeship, Willetts told delegates.
Apprentices in key sectors will be officially awarded the title technician a badge of honour, just like graduating from university.