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Two Senate rules affect the authority of conferees to include in their report matter that was not passed by the House or Senate before the conference committee was appointed. Colloquially, such provisions are sometimes said to have been "airdropped" into the conference report. First, Rule XXVIII precludes conference agreements from including policy provisions that were not sufficiently related to either the House or the Senate version of the legislation sent to conference. Such provisions are considered to be "out of scope" under long-standing Senate rules and precedents. Second, Paragraph 8 of Rule XLIV establishes a point of order that can be raised against "new directed spending provisions," or provisions in a conference report that provide specific items of appropriations or direct spending that were not committed to the conference committee in either the House or Senate versions of the legislation. The process for disposing of either a Rule XXVIII or a Rule XLIV point of order allows the Senate to strike "out of scope matter" or "new directed spending provisions" from the conference report but agree to the rest of the terms of the compromise. It is not in order, however, for either chamber to alter the text of a conference report, and therefore the process converts the text of the conference compromise minus the "new matter" or "new directed spending provisions" into an amendment. If the Senate agrees to this amendment, it is then sent to the House for consideration in that chamber. The points of order under Rule XXVIII and Paragraph 8 of Rule XLIV can be waived with the support of three-fifths of all Senators duly chosen and sworn (60 Senators if there is no more than one vacancy). A figure at the end of the report outlines the procedural steps for disposing of these points of order when they are raised against conference reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ruchira Papers has informed about transcript of Conference Call held on Tuesday, 20th August 2019.The above information is a part of company's filings submitted to BSE. [Extracted from the article]

The above information is a part of company's filings submitted to BSE. West Coast Paper Mills has informed that, Chairman and Managing Director of the Company on June 18, 2021 has participated in "Emerging India MIDCAP Virtual Conference-4th IDEATION SERIES", invited and organized by PhillipCapital India. [Extracted from the article]

The above information is a part of company's filings submitted to BSE. Pursuant to Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, Andhra Paper has informed that the Company will be participating in an investor conference and interacting with institutional investors on June 18, 2021. [Extracted from the article]

Since the collapse of negotiations around a protocol to the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) in 2001, states parties have begun to discuss several novel issues linked to the broader implementation of the BWC as part of a series of intersessional meetings. While initially fruitful, this approach has generated diminishing returns in the last five years. Moreover, in addressing these broader issues of implementation, biological disarmament diplomacy has largely neglected the thorny issue of compliance. Compliance with the BWC is more than a simple binary choice to sign a commitment not to develop or produce biological weapons. It requires the adherence to all the obligations, both negative and positive, undertaken by BWC states parties in signing and ratifying the convention. In the BWC context, this is complicated by the ambiguity surrounding certain obligations, changes in science and security, and the limited resource capacity of some states to fulfill their obligations. Under such circumstances, without episodically revisiting compliance, there remains the risk that BWC will become ever more fragmented, outmoded and poorly implemented. Although many states insist strengthening the convention can only be achieved through a multilaterally negotiated, legally binding verification protocol, this is not politically feasible for the foreseeable future. Nor is this necessarily true; an incremental approach to strengthening the convention could be pursued, dealing with mutually reinforcing components of the regime in a balanced manner and laying the foundations for future work, if and when it becomes politically expedient to proceed. This Occasional Paper proposes a number of activities that could be pursued as part of an incremental approach to revisiting compliance with the BWC. These activities are summarized below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gene editing techniques are a major advance that could have major benefits across the domains of human health, sustainability and the economy that go beyond incremental advances of past biotechnologies. In the context of agriculture and aquaculture, the potential benefits include opportunities for improved efficiency, greater productivity, broader varietal repertoires. In human medicine, gene editing technologies might lead to new cures and therapies for genetic diseases, controls for vector-borne diseases, and improved vaccines. Environmental applications of gene editing technologies could enable novel approaches to conservation, bioremediation, the control of invasive species, and the protection of biodiversity. These issues were addressed at a Workshop held in Ottawa, Canada, on September 29-30, 2016. There are significant policy challenges at the national and international level related to the governance of gene editing. Some of these issues do not differ significantly from those arising from older genetic modification techniques/technologies. But it was agreed among workshop participants that some issues are unique to gene editing given the wide range of potential applications across sectors and the increasing precision, efficiency and accessibility of gene editing technologies. General points about governance include the need to earn and foster public trust in regulatory institutions, to cure high regulatory uncertainty, and to set regulatory measures at a reasonable level. At least in some of the areas of application, existing regulatory frameworks are under fresh scrutiny. Experts attending the BNCT workshop were concerned that existing approaches might be too restrictive. There is also some agreement, but not across all application areas, that conventional risk analysis frameworks may need to be adjusted or enlarged, in order to face challenges and new questions presented by gene editing technologies and to alleviate public concerns. Within any framework, potential benefits should not be neglected in the analysis; furthermore, given that negative results cannot be proven, improbable theoretical risks should be balanced against quantifiable risks of inaction. Governments and policy makers were urged by workshop participants to consider the applications and their consequences on a case-by-case basis, if necessary, in order to facilitate timely decision-making. The issues surrounding the intellectual property protection of gene editing technologies are manifold. First, a growing number of patents and patent applications cover or involve gene editing technologies. This development deserves further observation, in order to identify any adverse effects on innovation in the future. Second, the settlement of ongoing litigation on key patents would increase certainty for the already large and fast growing number of licensees and laboratories employing gene editing technologies. Third, IP rights involving gene editing technologies can contribute to a legal framework that provides for access to such widely applicable technologies, on one hand, while promoting responsible use on the other. Some of the questions raised and discussed at the workshop may have wide-ranging ethical implications. The underlying perception was that some applications of gene editing may be a catalyst to ask fundamental questions, such as where the human species is heading. Most workshop participants agreed that engaging publics early about gene editing and its potential uses would be crucial for shaping and promoting technological diffusion. Although gene editing technologies are still in their infancy, the scientific community has already made efforts to engage various publics through diverse media vehicles; such efforts should be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about several papers discussed at a symposium held from June 11 to 16, 2016 in Pisa, Italy sponsored by Chemistry of OrganoMetallic Compounds S.S. CNR di Pisa on the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is presented. Topics include analytical spectroscopy, nanomaterials in complex matrices and genetically modified organisms through mass spectometry. The symposium features several chemistry academics including Magdalena Matczuk, Julita Malejko and Javier Laserna.

UT AgResearch has formalized a PLF initiative to positively impact livestock and poultry production in Tennessee, the United States and beyond; and UT PLF Program Coordinator Robert Burns, distinguished professor of biosystems engineering is serving as the conference chair, and Yang Zhao, assistant professor of animal science is conference proceedings chair. The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture will host the 2023 U.S. Precision Livestock Farming Conference. [Extracted from the article]

Information about several papers discussed at Education Parliamentary Monitor Weekly Committee held during September 12-16, 2016, and sponsored by the British House of Commons and the House of Lords is presented. Topics of the papers include Higher Education and Research Bill, Report on Sexual Harassment in Schools, and Female Genital Mutilation. Various committee members attended the meeting Public Bill Committee, Women and Equalities Committee and Education Committee.

Information about several papers discussed at the XIVth European Society for Isotope Research Workshop ESIR 2017 on June 25–29, 2017 at Bãile Govora, Romania is presented. Topics include the understanding of the fate of metals in the environment, bringing together the isotopes and speciation, bicarbonates and its isotopic imaging, etc.

The article presents report of the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) regional conference. Topics of discussion were state of Food and Agriculture in Asia and the Pacific Region, including Future Prospects and Emerging Issues; Accelerating Action on Food Security and Nutrition in Pacific Small Island Developing States; and Addressing Food Safety Challenges of the Asia-Pacific Region.