Utilization of Rice Straw Ash as Fine Aggregate in Mortar Mixes

This research paper highlights the Rice Straw Ash (RSA) which is an agriculture wastage from rice cultivation and milling processes can be utilized in construction work. Compressive strength is increased due to replacement of rice straw ash up to 12.5% and also 10% cement replacing, it also increases the initial and final settlement time of mortar. By replacing of 10% RSA, the compressive strength is step by step increased and also by replacing the cement ratio the property of mortar (Water permeability) is depended and so as age of mortar. We can simply describe it that, by increasing age and compressive strength of mortar the permeability is decreased. Permeability of RSA mortar depends on the cement substitution percentage of RSA and age of mortar. When the permeability decreases, the compressive strength of mortar also increases.

Management of National Judicial System Control Based on Local Laws: A Case Study at the Mediation Center in Lombok, Indonesia

This study aimed to keep the quality of judges' decisions and to reduce the burden of cases that accumulate in the courts. This research was conducted through observation, interviews, and literature study at the mediation center in the Sasak community with a qualitative analysis, using a case and statute approach. It was found that based on the Regional Regulation Number 9 of 2018, the mediation center and the court can be integrated institutionally through several concepts: first, making the mediation center as a filtering instrument of dispute so that the court ultimately only functions as a final settlement; second, making the executive power on the peace agreement produced by the mediation center in a peace deed (vandading deed); third, the Sasak community's control-management procedure based on local laws in the form of the Mediation Center Institution is an alternative to resolve local community disputes.

From green to ripe: Dynamics of peacemaking in Colombia (1998–2016)

Armed conflict in Colombia with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) was only settled after fifty years and several attempts at negotiations. This sequence of events fits the pattern of “conflict ripeness” first proposed by William Zartman. But using a successful settlement as a way to determine ripeness can be tautological. To address this issue, we develop a formal model to identify the level of ripeness at which a conflict is settled. In an overripe conflict both parties end up spending resources in a military build-up that is out of proportion with what they obtain in the final settlement. We show that such overripeness is exacerbated by the access to resources and by the factional heterogeneity within the two sides. We illustrate these dynamics by looking in detail at the attempts at negotiation between Colombia’s government and the FARC-EP. To that end, we combine statistical data, some previously undisclosed, and interviews with some key participants.

Overcoming Identity Crisis: Limits of Consociationalism and Stagnation in Northern Ireland Conflict Regulation

For many decades, Northern Ireland has been characterized by a tense conflict of identities with frequent outbreaks of political and religious violence. At the end of the 20th century, a consensus was reached between the opposing sides on the need for a peaceful settlement of the contradictions, which was reflected in the 1998 Belfast Agreement. The most important part of the agreement was a transition to the consociational model of governance. Consociationalism was assumed to “cure” the Northern Irish region, save it from violence and antagonism, and help to establish a dialogue between the representatives of the region’s key collective identities — unionists and nationalists. However, although 22 years have passed since the introduction of the consociational system, the settlement of the conflict has not seen any obvious progress. The article attempts to trace the reasons for this state of affairs and, in particular, to find out whether consociational model could, in principle, live up to the expectations. Based on the analysis of the fundamental characteristics of this model, as well as the institutional patterns in the Northern Irish politics, P.Maksimova comes to the conclusion that consociational practices not only failed to contribute to the elimination of the antagonistic moods in the society, but also helped to preserve them. According to the author, consociational system is merely an instrument of crisis management, which, if misinterpreted, can only intensify confrontation and block the final settlement of the conflict. This is exactly what happened in Northern Ireland, where the specific features of the consociational system made it almost impossible to abandon group identities.

Sudan-South Sudan conflict in Abyei may remain frozen

Significance The move comes amid heightened attention to the disputed border region after recent clashes in the area, and following calls by Sudan for the withdrawal of Ethiopian peacekeepers amid rising tensions with Addis Ababa. Impacts Local officials in Abyei may intermittently lobby for a final settlement, but residents are unlikely to mobilise strongly behind this. International pressure for progress on the political front could instead aggravate tensions within Abyei and between the two countries. Poor transport infrastructure will remain a constraint on cross-border integration, and wider border demarcation will remain unresolved.

THE ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDING UNDER THE BULGARIAN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE CODE

This paper considers the issues related to the provisional enforcement of administrative acts and the legal remedies against the execution of an administrative act before its entry into force in case of contestation before a higher administrative body or the court. The means of protection of the parties concerned against the provisional enforcement of administrative acts are the subject of special proceedings defined as enforcement proceedings, as they guarantee the ultimate aim of protecting the respective appellant, which is sought by challenging the administrative act, namely not to have the legal consequences of an illegal administrative act realized. The enforcement proceedings under the Administrative Procedure Code provide protection through the suspension of provisional enforcement until the final settlement of the issue of the legality of the administrative act. There detailed consideration of the preconditions of the proceedings, including the controversial issues related to their application in the administration of justice.

15 years of implementation of the Act on property left beyond the Bug River: An attempt to summarize

The Act on the Exercise of the Right to Compensation for Property Left Beyond the Current Borders of the Republic of Poland, adopted on 8 July 2005, was intended to complete the process of compensation for real properties left in the former eastern voivodeships of the interwar Republic of Poland. The implementation of the Act lasts for 15 years now and will probably not end before the year 2030. The article addresses the most important factors that have contributed to the prolongation of the compensation payment process, and thus the final settlement of the obligations resting upon Poland towards people who lived on the former Polish territories beyond the Bug River, known in the Polish language as “Zabużanie”. The analysis is based primarily on the information obtained from voivodes (who are the bodies of primary jurisdiction in the proceedings for confirmation of the right to compensation), the Ministry of the State Treasury and the Ministry of the Interior and Administration. An analysis of statement of reasons for the judgements has proven to be essential as well.

The Ground Settlement and the Existing Pipeline Response Induced by the Nonsynchronous Construction of a Twin-Tunnel

Shielding tunnel construction always has negative impacts on the surrounding buildings. Because of repeated disturbances caused by the construction, more attention should be paid to the impacts of the nonsynchronous construction of a twin-tunnel. In this research, a three-dimensional model was established to simulate the construction process of a twin-tunnel in a section of the Hefei No. 4 metro line, and the calculation results were validated with the measured settlement data. Based on the model, the ground settlement and the existing pipeline responses were studied in detail. The results showed that, after the first tunnel (FT) construction, the settlement curves conformed to a Gaussian distribution. Additionally, after the second tunnel (ST) construction, the final settlement curves were no longer completely symmetrical. The influences of the twin-tunnel space and the pipeline-soil relative stiffness on the settlements were further studied. The results showed that the final settlement curves of the ground surface and the pipeline were mainly W-shaped, U-shaped, and V-shaped. As the twin-tunnel space increased and the pipeline-soil relative stiffness decreased, the settlement curve gradually changed from V-shaped to W-shaped. C was defined as the ratio of two maximum settlements in the W-shaped settlement curve. As the space increased, C started to decrease from 1 and then increased to 1.

Part II UK Securities Markets, 4 Recognized Investment Exchanges (RIEs) and Recognized Clearing Houses (RCHs)

This chapter summarizes and discusses the UK regulatory framework for recognized investment exchanges (RIEs) and recognized clearing houses (RCHs) under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). It considers the framework in light of the current and forthcoming European legislation. It also examines the applicability of the framework to RIEs and RCHs in the context of the recast Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II), European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) and the UK's departure from the European Union (Brexit). This chapter outlines the central role of exchanges and clearing houses in the operation of financial markets. It explains that the exchanges offer marketplaces for the trading of financial instruments, provide market data which facilitates trading, and establish standards for the offering of securities, while clearing houses manage the performance of financial contracts between the point of execution and final settlement and mitigating the risk and consequences of default.

Briefly Noted

On Friday, December 18, 2020, the International Court of Justice issued its decision in Guyana v. Venezuela, on the question of its jurisdiction in the case. Guyana asked the Court “to confirm the legal validity and binding effect of the Award regarding the Boundary between the Colony of British Guiana and the United States of Venezuela, of 3 October 1899).” According to a press release from the Court, Guyana argued that the 1899 award was the final settlement on all questions relating to the boundary line between British Guyana and Venezuela. According to Guyana, the Court's jurisdiction was based on the 1966 Agreement to Resolve the Controversy between Venezuela and the UK over the Frontier between Venezuela and British Guiana (the Geneva agreement), as well as the U.N. Secretary General's decision in 2018 to choose the ICJ as the means to settle the dispute between the two parties. Venezuela opposed the Court's jurisdiction and so the Court separated the question of jurisdiction from the merits of the case. By a judgment of twelve votes to four, the Court found that it has jurisdiction to hear the aspects of the application filed by Guyana that related to the validity of the 1899 award and the question of the definitive nature of the settlement of the land boundary dispute. It ruled that, pursuant to Article IV, paragraph 2, of the Geneva Agreement, the “‘controversy’ that the parties agreed to settle through the mechanism established under the Geneva Agreement concerns the question of the validity of the 1899 Award, as well as its legal implications for the boundary line between Guyana and Venezuela.” Moreover, the Court found that the parties agreed to give the U.N. Secretary General the authority to choose, by a binding legal decision, the means to settle their dispute and that the parties consented to the Secretary General's choice of judicial settlement. This means, ultimately, that the parties consented to the jurisdiction of the ICJ.