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Russia

Putin Gets New Powers Over Top Bosses At State Corporations

KOMMERSANT (Russia)

Worldcrunch

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin made official his control of state-controlled corportations and information outlets, including major telecommunications companies. Although Putin has informally had the power to control the top management at these companies, the companies will now formally have to answer to him and his administration, Kommersant reported.

The change came about when Putin went from being Prime Minister to President. Officially, the state-owned corporations are controlled by Parliament, with the Prime Minister the head of the legislative body. That arrangement worked perfectly well for Putin when he was Prime Minister, but when he relinquished the post prior to his reelection as president, he found that he no longer had the veto power for top management appointments that he had grown accustomed to. He appears to have found that unacceptable.

In general, the change in law will not mean any changes for the state-owned corporations. In fact, it is a sort of protection against change. Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev’s government didn’t have time to use its short-lived opportunity to change any of the managers at these major companies - and now it has lost the opportunity to do so in the future, Kommersant reports.

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Society

An Ode To Gratitude — The First Step To A Better Life

Learning to actively be more grateful to those in our lives, even when it's hard, can change everything.

Photo of two wooden mannequins in an embrace

Time to appreciate the value of generosity?

Ricardo Iacub

-Essay-

BUENOS AIRES — A medic and friend of mine recently told me he was trying to help a woman with medical tests. She had cared for him as a child and youngster, and now she needed surgery. I was struck by his sense of gratitude, but also by the fact that a friend of his had advised him against helping. What's his problem, really? he had asked.

The conversation reminded me of the elderly people who feel their grown-up children don't appreciate the efforts they'd made in the past as much as they should. Despite the inherent difficulties of close relations and some further, "Oedipal" complications, such parents feel a little left behind, and may even see their affection and past service become a source of resentment.

I am not interested so much in the Manichean tale of long-suffering parents "who did everything" for their ungrateful children, as I am in observing how some entire societies can forge ties that include a lifetime of caregiving and support.

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