Energy Efficient Embedded Systems using MSP430

Abstract:?

The One day Hands-On Workshop covers the architecture and applications of Energy Efficient Ultra Low Power 16 bit RISC Mixed Signal Microcontroller MSP430 from Texas Instruments . The data, program memory, peripheral organization and its special features are covered.? The peripherals include I/O Ports, Timers, PWM, A/D Converters, Universal Serial Interfaces and Comparators.

The course is structured and tailored to meet the need of the engineering students to get a very good exposure of Mixed Signal Controllers which can be very well extrapolated to any other platform.

Typical applications could be battery powered sensor signal acquisition, processing and serial transmission to a host system.

Source: http://e2e.ti.com/group/universityprogram/c/e/38.aspx

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Syria: Internet shut down by government

Syria's Internet shutdown is unprecedented in the conflict, though Damascus has partially cut off access several times over the past 20 months.

By Associated Press / November 29, 2012

An Ottoman-era building damaged by an air strike at a besieged area in Homs, Syria, yesterday. The Syrian government cut off Internet access across the country today.

Yazan Homsy/Reuters

Enlarge

Two US-based Internet-monitoring companies say Syria has shut off the Internet nationwide.

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Activists in Syria reached Thursday by satellite telephone confirmed the unprecedented blackout, which comes amid intense fighting in the capital, Damascus.

Renesys, a US-based network security firm that studies Internet disruptions, says Syria effectively disappeared from the Internet at 12:26 p.m. local time.

Akamai Technologies Inc., another US-based company that distributes content on the Internet, also confirmed a complete outage for Syria.

Syria has partially cut Internet connections during the 20-month uprising against President Bashar Assad but a nationwide shutdown is unprecedented.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/yWWQBTEe--M/Syria-Internet-shut-down-by-government

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Oops! Facebook admits to adding users to groups they left

Featured

2 days

NBC News

If you're confused over a recent email from Facebook regarding its data use policy, you're not alone.? The email ? with the subject line "Up... Read more

7 hrs.

A software glitch caused many Facebook users to find themselves members of old groups, ones they may have left a long time ago. More uncomfortably, some people were suddenly members of groups they'd even?been kicked out of. Facebook issued a statement confirming the details.

"A bug surfaced last night that caused some users to be re-added to groups that they previously belonged to," a Facebook spokesperson told NBC News. "We are working to resolve the issue now. In the meantime, we are rolling out a short-term fix for all closed groups that will make the content of those groups inaccessible to the re-added members."

At first, this bug may seem like an annoyance, leading to little more than?a pile of unwanted?notifications?? that's what we saw firsthand. However,?there could be some pretty nasty side-effects. Before Facebook issued that short-term fix, individuals who were added to closed (or "secret") groups were able to view all the non-public content in those groups as well as the current membership rosters. This could leave some sensitive posts vulnerable (though you really shouldn't be posting anything of that nature on Facebook in the first place, whether publicly or privately).

Even public groups (or closed groups which have been turned public since a user left them) can cause issues, as their membership rosters are now visible to everyone.

"I guess you now know that I belonged to a 'Flava of Love' group," Alberto Lima, a blogger for Noisecast,?wrote in a Facebook message alerting me of the glitch. "I swear I never watched the show!" Sure, Alberto. Sure.

Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/oops-facebook-admits-adding-users-groups-they-left-or-were-1C7312098

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Blue whales use ballet to trick their prey

Like behemoth ballerinas, blue whales pirouette before lunging at their prey, a strategy that may help the giants ambush krill from below.

"This behavior probably improves the whales' chances to engulf the most krill possible," said study co-author Ari Friedlaender, a marine biologist at Duke University.

The new findings, detailed on Tuesday in the journal Biology Letters, may shed light on how the enigmatic creatures hunt and devour their shrimplike prey.

Hungry giants
The blue whale, the world's largest living creature, can span up to 98 feet (30 meters) in length and weigh up to 200 tons (180 metric tons). This creature the size of a submarine uses its bristly, comblike teeth, or baleen, to filter tiny crustaceans called krill from the water. Antarctic whalers who opened up the massive bellies of blue whales often found up to 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) of krill, though the sea giants probably don't eat that much every day, Friedlaender told LiveScience.

Because krill cluster in massive swarms, "they're perfect food for something like a baleen whale that wants to engulf a big amount of something at one time," Friedlaender told LiveScience.

While the marine mammals' diet is well-known, how they find their prey remains a mystery.

To understand these foraging behaviors, Friedlaender and his colleagues attached motion sensors to the backs of 22 blue whales using suction cups. They also attached a critter cam to one individual, which showed the ocean and part of the whale's head from the animal's point of view. [See Video as a Blue Whale Dives for Krill]

Underwater ballet
When Friedlaender's team analyzed the data, they found something completely unexpected.

The sensors, which captured several hours of data from each whale, revealed half of the whales doing full, 360-degree turns. Many of these underwater twirls occurred as whales dove for prey.

A blue whale typically spots a dense krill swarm by the dark patch it leaves on the water's surface as seen from below. Once the swarm is spotted, the whale surges upward toward the dark spot and opens its mouth to engulf the krill in one big gulp. But sometimes, it also whirls around as it performs this lunge.

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"As it opens its mouth it begins to roll over. It's a very energetically costly thing to do ? it's like a parachute opening and the whale slows down considerably," Friedlaender said.

The stealthy strategy may allow whales to anticipate the krills' escape route and adjust before the krill have a chance to cluster together out of reach, he added.

Because one dense krill patch could provide a day's worth of food, it makes sense to perfect their hunting strategies, even if it takes a lot of energy, the researchers write in the journal article.

Whales also turned just before and between dives, suggesting the rotations help the cetaceans scope out the location of prey.

"As in all cetaceans, the eyes are positioned laterally, and thus rolling the body should enhance panoramic vision in multiple dimensions," the researchers write.

This report has been updated to correct the name of the journal in which the study appears: It is Biology Letters, not Current Biology.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49987245/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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GOOD GOVERNANCE: WHY GOD PERMITS OPPOSITION POLITICS

The crises of government today, across sub-Saharan Africa must be honesty identified and faced. For instance: the lack of transparency and persistence corruption characterized government in many parts of Africa and strong, stable government have increasingly become pressured by powerful economic special interests, from within and beyond their borders; these governments struggle to maintain the social contracts they have honored in the past. Throughout the world, government continues to be important players, expected to protect and further the common good. Yet their ability to do so has waned significantly due to policies of economy globalization, such as privatization, deregulation and debt restructuring. Government face multiple, conflicting obligations. They have a responsibility to protect and further the well-being and security of their people and natural resources. They are also under increased pressure to adhere to the requirement of international financial investors and trading partners.

The concept of good governance surfaced in 1989 in the World Bank report on sub-Saharan Africa, which characterized the crisis in the region as a ?crisis of governance? (World Bank, 1989). Since then, governance whether good or bad has become a major conditionality for donor funds. The Bible does not definitively mention good governance, but Genesis 1:28 and 2:15-17 describe the situation where God instructed MAN to take care of creation which involves decision making (stewardship). World Bank defines good governance as the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country?s economic and social resources for development. According to Prof. John Wimberley, Governance means the setting and maintaining of law and order; this may apply at family level but is usually in the contest of civil society. Good governance is comprehensive as to issues it affect and considers but not intrusive in seeking to control people?s lives in details, as in totalitarian state found both in the extreme left-wing case of communism and the extreme right-wing case of dictatorships; indeed communism in practice and socialism in some cases amount to dictatorship and ?control freakily? by a small oligarchy and this can even reduce to one dominant leader.

Governance can either be ?Good? or ?Bad?. Good Governance briefly refers to the effectiveness of government. In considering good governance, democracy which refers to the legitimacy of government is seriously considered. No wonder the quality of government is ultimate attributable to its democratic content. Neither democracy nor good governance is sustainable without the order; there is need for the convergence of both conceptually and practically. A good governance system puts further requirement on the process of decision-making and public policy formation. It extends beyond the capacity of public sector to the rules that create a legitimate, effective and efficient framework for the conduct of public policy. Bad governance: refers to the breakdown in the effectiveness of governance structures and systems. The government of developing countries, especially Africa, is often accused of bad governance to the point that donor?s funds meant for them are often re-directed to civil society organizations. Bad governance has negative attributes of the main thrust of good governance related activities such as public sector management, modernization of public administration and privatization of state owned enterprises in a transparent, accountable, participatory and equitable manner. Governance exists at family, community, church, and institution, regional, local, national and global levels. The actors of governance depend on the levels of operation.

The dimension of good governance includes: spiritual, political, economic, environmental, cultural and social. The Church must ensure that the secular institution recognize the spiritual dimension of governance as without it, we labour in vain. For palatable governance, the following ingredients should be considered. Participation, rules of law, selection (democracy), independence of the judiciary, accountability, transparency, effectiveness and efficiency, delegation, capacity building-effective reforms required building the capacity to pursue it, responsiveness, consensus oriented, effective communication and succession plan.

There are various definitions of politics all bordering around the art and science of governing a state or its many would like to associate it with wheeling and dealing of tactical maneuvering and scheming to outwit one another in contest for taking control of government. The Christian should view politics as ?the management of the affairs of men?. Christian perspective of politics is the protection of life and property, enhancing the quality of life of the individual, justice and fairplay, respect for fundamental human rights, right to acquire knowledge and enhancement of personal development freedom and liberty based on equity. The constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria 1999 states as fellows: ?to provide a constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country on the principles of freedom, equality and justice and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people?.

Why God permits opposition politics? The Bible, God?s word revealed that there was political maneuvering in heaven during which Satan mobilized one third of angels to unseat and take over the control of God?s leadership of heaven (see Rev. 12:1-11 cp. Ezekiel 28:11-19). God is sovereign and in control of all that He has created and determines what will be. However, He never force His will on His subjects rather allows everyone to exercise their freewill to choose and to live their lives. He can make and unmake yet exhibit virtues of democracy and good governance in leadership. Hence He was not arbitrary in excluding Satan (means opponent) and other angels that wanted His throne. God allowed Satan to freely have his place to operate, mobilize, and seek supports of other angels to unseat God.

God never intimidate nor suppress alternate view. God allowed everyone to choose, never manipulates, coerce, bribe or give money to buy up opponents? supporters, seal up opponents? offices, kidnap or assassinate opponent, use thugs or praise singers to consolidate His leadership. He allowed opponents ? opposition politicking. Hence, God allowed Satan thrown out of heaven to freely move and scheme Adam and Eve politically speaking to accept his views, programs against the programs that God had earlier offered to them. This led to the fall (see Gen. 3). God allowed Satan, His opponent access to His presence and allowed Satan to undermine God?s programs to protect, secure and provide for the wellbeing of His subjects especially the case of Job and his family (see Job 1:6-2:13). At the end, God restored, protected and secured His subject Job and make life more meaningful and better inspite of His opponents attempts to rubbish His integrity and leadership (see Job 42:10-12). God is in control and Governor of the whole earth (see Ps. 22:28, 33:4-19).

It is in permitting the opposition of Satan and his angles by God that God has the chance to exercise His authority of leadership that He is in control and by so doing offered fallen humanity a second chance by providing for mankind?s redemption through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ (Gen. 3:15 cp Rom.5). If God has not allowed His opponent free political space to maneuver and enabling environment to canvass for votes ? supports of other angles, there wouldn?t have been the creation of earth and delegation of authority to man to rule the earth. God never force man to obey His will. He never intimidates nor bribe man to get his support (vote). He gave man free will to choose (Dec. 30:19-20) God offered man His plan of salvation, provision of better life and abundant eternal life by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (Jn. 3:16-18, 1:11-13, 14:6, 10:10). Neither gimmick, nor does God exclude anyone that does not support His view. He allows every one of us, good or bad to see and experience free air and live today. Ungodly politics excludes and undermines opponents. Ungodly politicians and rulers never cares even if their opponents or those who never sycophantically sing their praise to receive democracy?s dividends. Government that only provide for those who buy into their programs or view is ungodly and anti-God in nature and practice.

In allowing opposition politics equal opportunity to politick, Government will be acting like God and right to exercise authority to lead and take care of the needs of the people without bias to any. Government in allowing opposition politics like God will gain legitimacy in governance and grace to govern well. When you rule arbitrary, suppress opposition, you loss legitimacy and authority to rule spiritually. You overcome evil with good and not to get even with your opponent (see Rom. 12: 9-21). Effective governance is determined by your ability to carry everyone along including consulting and accommodating your opponents for the betterment of offering services to the downtrodden.

God consult others in creation (see Gen. 1:26-28) and permits Satan, his opponent to undermine His programs for Job and his family as quoted earlier. Writing under the title: Leadership, Legacy and Opposition Politics in Newswatch Magazine of July 21, 2008 Ebere Onwudiwe said, ?Competitive politics permits new ideas and new ideas are good for political and economic advancement. It is, therefore, my considered opinion that unless the country finds a way, to implement a balanced two-party system, our experiment with democracy will come crashing down. What Nigeria needs is a second strong political party, a Colossus to balance the PDP Goliath, one that can check the power of the PDP and vice versa. We do not need many little parties like little David chasing Goliath, the giant, with sling or catapult and hoping to prevail by the grace of God.

My friends, this is Nigeria we are talking about, not ancient Israel. Let me be clear, the problem with the development of opposition politics in Nigeria is not a monopoly of the People?s Democratic Party. It will be unfair and even dishonest to blame the PDP alone for the inability of this country to entrench real multiparty political system. The political class and the intellectual as a whole are equally as guilty.? God allows His opponent so Government and those who bear rule should allow opposition politics, without which they lose legitimacy and authority to rule or be re-elected into office.

Written By Dr. Lewis Akpogena
akpogena@yahoo.com


Source: http://www.thenigerianvoice.com/nvnews/102142/1/good-governance-why-god-permits-opposition-politic.html

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From Canada, a tough economist for Bank of England

TORONTO (AP) ? Naming the first foreigner to serve as governor of the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694 might have been expected to cause a fuss. Yet the appointment of Canadian Mark Carney has won bipartisan praise in Britain.

That's because few people in the world have Carney's qualifications.

The Bank of Canada governor is a highly-educated economist with Wall Street experience who is widely credited with helping Canada dodge the worst of the global economic crisis. He gained a reputation along the way as a tough regulator who stood up to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.

Moving to the top job at Canada's central bank just before the global financial crisis hit in 2008, Carney slashed interest rates to historic lows and was the first central banker to commit to keeping them at a historic-low level for a definite time, a step the U.S. Federal Reserve would follow.

Canada was spared a mortgage meltdown or subprime lending crisis, and its banks, more regulated and less leveraged than Europe's, are rated among the world's soundest. Britain, however, has endured a decade of economic turbulence, and seemed ready for a foreigner to shake up its central bank.

Besides his job as a central banker, Carney, 47, also heads the G-20's Financial Stability Board, a global supervisor of regulatory changes in the financial system. Carney's championing of stiffer regulation was highlighted in a run-in last year with Dimon. The Bank of Canada chief stood his ground in a closed-door meeting in Washington when Dimon directed a diatribe toward Carney over what the JPMorgan Chase chief called "anti-American" global reforms against banks.

"When there was pushback on the regulatory front he dug in his heels and made his case that, no, we shouldn't slow down, we should be pushing forward," said Craig Alexander, a Toronto-Dominion Bank economist.

"This is the sort of thing that makes him qualified to take on the challenge of the Bank of England because he's going to be materially involved in shaping regulatory reform of the financial system in London," he added. "So the fact that he would stand up for the regulatory regime is exactly the characteristic one would be looking for."

The transnational appointment is a mark of today's globalized world, while also echoing a past in which Canada was a part of the British Empire.

Like other central bankers, Carney is a former Goldman Sachs executive. He worked for 13 years in London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto, before being appointed deputy governor of the Bank of Canada in 2003. He has both financial industry and government regulatory credentials.

"He looks and sounds the part," CIBC World Markets economist Avery Shenfeld said. "He has the academic background, the gravitas and the experience to withstand the fray of central banking in a city like London."

Carney, from the remote northern town of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, gained a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University in 1988, and master's and doctoral degrees in economics from Oxford University. Like many Canadians, he played ice hockey, serving as a backup goalie for Harvard.

He lived in London for a decade and his wife and children are dual nationals. British Treasury chief George Osborne, announcing the surprise choice to the House of Commons on Monday, said Carney will apply for British citizenship. He takes up the new position July 1, succeeding Mervyn King, who has headed the bank since 2003.

Before Monday's announcement the frontrunner for the job was widely seen to be Paul Tucker, the bank's deputy governor. But Tucker was likely bypassed because of his embroilment in the Libor-fixing scandal. In July, he was forced to testify to lawmakers after emails emerged showing he had communicated with Bob Diamond, the ex-chief of Barclays, over the setting of the inter-bank interest rate.

Carney's appointment won bipartisan praise in Britain. Ed Balls, the opposition Labour Party's economics spokesman, called it "a good choice," while Osborne said Carney was "quite simply the best, most experienced and most qualified person in the world to do the job."

Although Osborne said it was the first time the Treasury advertised the governor's job, Carney said he hadn't applied. "I didn't apply as part of the formal process to the position. These discussions really only intensified in the last two weeks," Carney said at a news conference in Ottawa.

Carney said he initially turned down the job but British officials kept after him. He said he changed his mind because his term as governor of the Bank of Canada was ending soon, the London job was a big opportunity and the fate of the British economy was critical.

"It's very important for the global economy that the U.K. does well, that it succeeds in this rebalancing of their economy, that the reform of the British financial system is completed, " he said.

Carney said he would take the job for five years instead of the usual eight, and many Canadians are speculating that Carney may return to Canada to run for prime minister. The opposition Liberal Party of Canada had eagerly courted him, but Carney said this month he would remain a central banker for some time.

___

Associated Press writer Sylvia Hui contributed from London.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/canada-tough-economist-bank-england-211805197--finance.html

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Outgoing Mexican President Calderon to become Harvard fellow

CAMBRIDGE, Mass (Reuters) - Outgoing Mexican President Felipe Calderon will become a fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government starting in January after his six-year term ends, the school said on Wednesday.

During the year-long fellowship, Calderon, an alumnus of the school, will meet with students, collaborate with scholars and researchers and help develop case studies on policy challenges he encountered while serving as Mexico's president, the school said in a statement.

"This fellowship will be a tremendous opportunity for me to reflect upon my six years in office, to connect with scholars and students at Harvard, and to begin work on the important papers that will document the many challenges that we faced," Calderon said in a statement.

Harvard's Kennedy School draws political leaders from around the world who serve as fellows or instructors after they leave power. Notable names serving as fellow include former World Bank chief Robert Zoellick and former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.

Former students include Bo Guagua - the son of Bo Xilai, a one-time star of Chinese politics who this year was ousted as leader of the city of Chongqing amid a scandal stemming from the murder of a British businessman - and Paula Broadwell, the author of a book on former Central Intelligence Agency chief General David Petraeus, who resigned his post at the CIA after an affair with Broadwell.

Calderon earned a master's degree at the school in 2000 and went on to stake his presidency on fighting Mexico's drug cartels. He hands the country's reins to President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto on December 1.

(Reporting By Daniel Lovering; editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/outgoing-mexican-president-calderon-become-harvard-fellow-222736604.html

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Cao Cao in Chinese literature & history books

In one of the four famous masterpieces of classical Chinese literature The Romance of Three Kingdoms, ruler Cao Cao is also?portrayed as a tyrannical?character. But, according to?more factual accounts, such as Shan Guo Zhi ('Records of The Three Kingdoms'),?Cao Cao was more a statesman with literary and military skills as well as 'a?strategic mind. The Romance of Three Kingdoms, whose author is?believed to be Luo Guanzhong, has always been classified as a?historical fiction or?novel.

Source: http://jameswongwingon-online.blogspot.com/2012/11/caocao.html

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New behavioral strategies may help patients learn to better control chronic diseases

ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2012) ? One of the most important health problems in the United States is the failure of patients with chronic diseases to take their medications and do all that is necessary to control their illnesses.

In a study published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, UCLA researchers and their colleagues suggest that physicians take a serious look at tools and strategies used in behavioral economics and social psychology to help motivate their patients to assert better control over chronic diseases. Breaking large goals into smaller, more manageable parts, for example, may help patients better manage diseases such as diabetes, the researchers say.

Diagnosing diseases and discovering effective treatments aren't the only challenges facing health care professionals in the United States, said Braden Mogler, the paper's lead author and a third-year medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.

"One of the big challenges is simply finding ways to help the many patients with chronic diseases understand why treatment is important and how to follow it," Mogler said. "Many doctors often lack effective tools to encourage patients in these ways. There is a lot of research from the social sciences on human behavior and encouraging individual change, and this paper shows how that research can potentially be applied to doctor-patient interactions."

In the study, the researchers highlight the shortcomings of some approaches frequently used to try to get individuals to control their diseases, such as scaring patients, overwhelming them with technical information, and focusing on consequences that are far in the future.

They then identify several tools used by psychologists and behavioral economists that can change behavior but which have not been employed often in medical care, and suggest that research on such alternative approaches is an urgent need. These approaches include:

  • Helping patients form very specific plans to achieve their health goals -- for example, identifying the time when they will take their medicines, having them determine what they will do if their prescriptions run out and they don't have a doctor's appointment, and giving them a place to record whether they took the medicines.
  • Breaking big goals into smaller tasks that get patients to their ultimate goal step-by-step -- useful for goals like extreme weight loss, adhering to medication regimens and checking blood sugar every day, or exercising several times a week.
  • Using cash payments to patients as a motivator to get them on track but supplementing that with strategies that will increase their desire to stay healthy and live longer.

If studies show these techniques make a difference, they might improve health and decrease health care costs, said co-author Dr. Martin Shapiro, chief of the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

"Helping patients get their chronic diseases under control sometimes requires changing medications but mostly comes down to helping patients understand why treatment is important and how they can follow it in their busy lives," Shapiro said. "There is a lot of exciting research on how we can help people change to achieve their goals in other fields, and we believe translating those ideas to health care is an important next step in medical research."

The study's authors found that some of these techniques are being used to a limited degree in health care settings -- helping patients quit smoking by settling on an exact quit date, for instance, has proven more effective than speaking in general terms about quitting soon. Still, many other potentially effective techniques have not been studied in medical settings, and the authors stress the need for clinical trials to evaluate their effectiveness.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/ZquQMOoOR3w/121127094317.htm

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New electricity tariff killing small businesses ? NASME

By PROVIDENCE OBUH

The new electricity tariff, known as, Multi-Year-Tariff Order (MYTO) II is killing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector, says National Association? of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME).

This was one of the findings of a survey initiated by the Association to assess the impact of the new electricity tariff on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. ?SMEs in the manufacturing sector have been the hardest hit by the MYTO II tariff.

They have experienced increases ranging from 70 per cent to 440 per cent in their monthly electricity tariff. On average, manufacturing SMEs across the country have experienced an increase of 188.6 per cent in electricity tariff since the introduction of MYTO II?, the Association said.

The findings of the survey were presented by Executive Secretary, NASME, Mr Eke Ubiji during a one-day Policy Dialogue with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on the effect of the MYTO II policy on MSMEs in Nigeria.

He said the survey was initiated by NAMSE following several complaints received from members about the high cost implication of the new tariff.

He said the survey, which was conducted by NOI, took place from November 6th to 12th 2012 in the six geo-political zones in the country with field work conducted in Cross-River, Bauchi, Imo, Kaduna, Lagos states and Abuja.

A total of 138 businesses were interviewed and 127 interviews were completed, 45 per cent of the completed interviews were NASME members, while 55 per cent were non- NASME members but SMEs as well as being members of other business membership organisations (BMOs) such as Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and State Chambers of Commerce and Industries.

Ubiji noted that the importance of MSMEs cannot be over emphasized, saying that findings from the survey shows that BMO members have a very negative perception about the MYTO II tariff and its introduction.

?Also more businesses have increased their average spend on electricity from between 10 per cent to 20 per cent of total operating costs before June 2012 and from 20 per cent to 30 per cent of total operating costs after June 2012. There has also been an increase from 11 per cent to 18 per cent on the average spend on electricity as a percentage of their operating cost since June 2012.

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/11/new-electricity-tariff-killing-small-businesses-nasme/

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