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RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed into law a new measure that requires non-governmental groups receiving funding from abroad and engaging in political activity to register as foreign agents.
Some NGOs have vowed to ignore or circumvent the law, while its critics note that the vague definition of political activity could be applied against a wide range of initiatives. Putin, meanwhile, has alleged that recent protests against him were instigated and funded by the United States.
The law also requires NGOs identified as foreign agents to submit detailed annual financial reports, which critics say would be a time-consuming and costly burden on organisations with small staffs and meager funding.
The law comes as authorities show increasing unease with a newly emboldened political opposition, which conducted the unprecedented wave of massive public protests in the winter and spring.
Unauthorised demonstrations
Putin last month signed a law vastly increasing fines for taking part in unauthorised demonstrations to a maximum 300,000 rubles ($9,000).
Some of the country’s most prominent human rights groups are vowing to ignore or do what they must to sidestep the law on NGOs.
Lev Ponomarev, head of For Human Rights, one of Russia’s oldest NGOs, told the Interfax news agency that his group will ignore the regulation and challenge it in court.
“We will never be agents and won’t submit to this law. We’re agents of the Russian citizens,” said Ponomarev, adding that his group will continue to accept foreign funding.
But Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group and a veteran human rights activist, said her group will refuse foreign funding in order to get around the law, and that she’s even preparing to auction off her collection of china and art to raise money.
“We will learn to live on very little money, in order to at least keep our office,” she said on Echo Moskvy radio.
Good luck to her. Hopefully some of the other finalists get a chance to launch their ideas as well
It must be awkward carrying that big phone.
People tend to use the same GP because patient history is one of the most important diagnostic elements. Will this be a problem for her model?
It maybe I’ve just been watching too much House…
Ignoreland…..perhaps the patients history could be put into a database and be accessed by the patient using a P.I.N?
For a country the size of Ireland, it should be possible to network the whole system. If I have an injury in donegal then it should be possible for them to access my records even though I’m based in the Midlands.
Email should be a given instead of slow mail when gp’s are writing a referral. Plus text message reminders for out patient appointments.
It’s more complicated than you would imagine to have digital health records.
Way to go girl, good on you great idea
Well done to her. I hope she focuses on Ireland though, not just Dublin.
Best idea I’ve heard of since Google! Go girl!
Who gives out these awards? No website, no App, only an idea. This idea will die in the crib. Taxi drivers in UK are trying to make Uber and Halo illegal. Trying to do the same thing in the medical industry (a hugely regulated industry with powerful unions) is stupid. This lady will be eaten for breakfast. Might work in medical areas that are not regulated, like Chinese medicine. Saying “you go girl” without thinking critically about the idea is really patronising to her.
Don’t get me wrong, I wish we lived in a world where this app would be successful. I am no lover of unions and government regulations, but a business has to work in the real world
i think the idea of the compeition is to win funds to develop,test, launch so those end user products will come. never put the cart before the horse. having an app and a website before having a solid idea with promise never really works, your app and website just sits there doing nothing. i’m sure she has a rough visual prototype, presentation etc of how it works to pitch with.
having said that, i do see problems with the idea itself. GPs as we all know are expensive, “more business for GPs” – cry me a river, canceled appointments is of no loss to GPs, patients reschedule and in many cases theres a cancel fee. Would it mean triple travel expenses for call out fees? A travel expense in GPs terms could be a taxi fare x 3. There are approx 2million medical and GP-visit cards in use here as well. How does it cater for them, and with regarding travel fees. I don’t think the HSE will pay for it no more than old age free travel covers taxi fares. So, back to private customers. If they can afford it then great then thats her target market. I think the fees involved, how many ‘private users’ will sign up for it and of course access to medical records, data security and release of said data would ideas for the app to overcome.
@Alan From an acorn can grow a mighty oak. Ideas are everything.
@patrick, ideas and nothing, implementation is everything. Google didn’t come up with the idea of a search engine, Microsoft didn’t come up with the idea of a computer operating system. Implementation is everything
We need the same for Doctors. I couldn’t even find a reliable site by googling. Doctor app please together with consultancy fee. Thank you.
Good luck to her. I hope that this proposed alternative delivery of healthcare is not a platform for inexperienced professionals (who can’t work in the health system due to recruitment embargo of past few years) to get work. My issue with this is that for some patients who are vulnerable – they may be paying for a service that isn’t top quality. Finally, I look forward to the other 23 applicants proposals to be reported by the journal.
This young lady and her ingenious click clinic app has possibly doubled or trebled the market for the medical professionals offering those services.
Disruptive technology at its most effective!
Well done to her!
Good on ye lass hope it gets taken on.
Is disruptive the new “in-word”?
Have seen this of Twitter and as a fellow physio I see flaws in the business model!! Already websites like what clinic and generally find its more cost effective to invest in google Seo on our own website! But u know what folks fair play to her she is pushing an idea she has into reality!! How many of us have had ideas and never done anything about them!!! My wee bit of advice if the young lady does read this is under promise and over deliver!!
I always worry when I see words like ‘entrepreneur’ and ‘health’ used in the same sentence. That immediately puts me off. But good luck to her and the others too with their inventions.
Unfortunately it’s a zero sum game. There will always be people waiting as long as the health service is understaffed. In fact, it seems unfair that the young tech-savvy people with the app are going to get treatment faster than, and possibly at the expense of, the older people
Well done and best of luck with the idea!
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