Archive for December, 2013

04/12/2013

Indian Army recruitment done on caste, region, religion lines, SC told – The Hindu

Grouping of people from a particular region in an Army regiment is unconstitutional and amounts to discrimination on caste, region and religion basis, a petitioner challenging the recruitment policy told the Supreme Court.

In an affidavit filed in the apex court countering the assertion of the Army which had justified the policy for administrative convenience and operational requirements, the petitioner pleaded that such policy should be dismantled as it is also not followed by Indian Navy and Air Force.

Earlier, the Army told the Supreme Court that it does not recruit on the basis of caste, region and religion but justified grouping of people coming from a region in a regiment for administrative convenience and operational requirements.

Countering the stand taken by the Army, the petitioner, I.S. Yadav, a doctor from Rewari in Haryana, said, “The respondent (Army) has justified the recruitment in Indian Navy and Air Force which is not based on caste/region and religion basis because of the operational requirements of these forces. But in the same breath, it justifies the caste/region/religion-based recruitment giving the same excuse of operational and administrative requirements.

via Army recruitment done on caste, region, religion lines, SC told – The Hindu.

04/12/2013

Connecting borrowers and lenders: Indians try peer-to-peer model | India Insight

Srinivas Porika tried for months to get a loan of 250,000 rupees ($4,000) to pay for his sister’s wedding, but every bank he tried turned him down. The problem: Porika’s employer, a tech start-up company, was not on the banks’ lists of pre-approved companies.

“They were ready to give me a credit card, but were not ready to give me a loan,” said the 28-year-old from Hyderabad, who met several bank managers and officials to plead his case.

The wedding went ahead in 2012, but only after Porika dipped into his savings and borrowed from friends. With an insufficient bonus at work and pressure mounting to pay off his debts this year, Porika turned to a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending website.

Entrepreneurs in India are now experimenting with the P2P business model, helping people like Porika, with websites such as i-lend.in and faircent.com providing a meeting ground for borrowers and lenders.

Such portals charge an upfront fee from both groups and get the borrower’s documents and employment details verified by a third party. A contract with terms and conditions is signed within a week, with a recovery process in place for those who default on payments.

Lenders can choose from a list of verified borrowers on the website. They are also advised to spread their investment among borrowers to lessen the risk of default.

via Connecting borrowers and lenders: Indians try peer-to-peer model | India Insight.

03/12/2013

Confusion over Indian election symbols used for millions of illiterate voters | The Times

A curious contest is heating up among India’s political parties as the country prepares for the biggest democratic exercise in history when 714 million voters go to the polls in the spring.

Parties are fighting to secure the right to symbols they hope will appeal to hundreds of millions of India’s illiterate voters.

For decades, when Indians have entered the polling booth they have been presented not just with a list of parties and candidates, but also a variety of household items sketched on the ballot paper to help the 1 in 4 voters who cannot read.

For the ruling Congress Party it is an open palm. For India’s main opposition party, the BJP, it is a blossoming lotus flower.

Whistles, coconuts, walking sticks, nail clippers, cauliflowers and toothbrushes have all been used as political symbols upon which illiterate voters can press a thumb print to mark their choice of party.

The Rashtriya Ulama Council uses a kettle, while the Republican Party of India uses a refrigerator. The Aadarshwadi Congress Party uses a batsman at the crease.

However, in India’s vibrant and chaotic democracy, some popular symbols such as the elephant or clock are often claimed by several parties, leading to squabbles over which one has the right to use them.

A foretaste of the turmoil ahead was offered this week, when two parties in the Delhi assembly elections, due to be held tomorrow, clashed over the right to use the bicycle, a perennial favourite.

Only after intervention by election officials did the parties grudgingly agree to a compromise deal under which the Samajwadi Party (SP) will fight under the banner of the glass tumbler, while the Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party (JKPP) will plump for the instant camera.

Adding to potential confusion among voters, in another nearby constituency, Ballimaran, the SP is fighting under the symbol of the cup-and-saucer while the JKPP is running under the ceiling fan.

via Confusion over Indian election symbols used for millions of illiterate voters | The Times.

03/12/2013

The banquet that wasn’t — and then a gift horse | The Times

If I had been asked before this visit, I would have predicted that PM Cameron would have been feted with the traditional 10-12 course Chinese banquet that foreign dignitaries have been used to. To my shock and surprise, China‘s leaders are “walking the talk”, at least regarding frugality and austerity at banquets.  This is almost on the boundary of ‘losing face’; such is their determination to re-educate the CCP cadres in the right behaviour wrt to the people’s money.

Incidentally, I wonder if Mr Cameron or his protocol advisors realise the signal honour he was accorded to be hosted not only by his counterpart PM Li (as is appropriate) but also by President Xi (whose presence is only required when meeting a foreign head of state (which, of course is the Queen and not Mr Cameron).

“From a humble bowl of creamy mushroom soup to a political biography of Margaret Thatcher, yesterday’s gifts and meals were freighted with meaning.

David Cameron and Li Keqiang

Within hours of landing in Beijing and meeting Li Keqiang, his Chinese counterpart, David Cameron was entertained at a lunch with “banquet” in the title — but austerity very plainly on the menu.

Behind the grandeur of the setting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the lunch held in Mr Cameron’s honour — a frugal repast that included bamboo fungus and boiled sea bass — was a reflection of a Chinese government campaign against sumptuous official banqueting and ostentatious expenditure from the public purse.

In the earliest days of his leadership of the Chinese Communist Party this year, Xi Jinping held a meeting of the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and said that officials should “conduct all their undertakings industriously and thriftily and stand fast against lavishness, hedonism and extravagance”.

Officials scrambled to swap their Rolexes and Hèrmes belts for dowdier accessories that would not be noticed by eagle-eyed citizens, and their lunches and dinners were downsized. Mr Xi made a mantra of the term “si cai yi tang” — the “four dishes and a soup” that qualify as China’s most basic meal.

As a People’s Liberation Army band played to accompany their lunch, Mr Cameron was served a meal that came acceptably close to four dishes and a soup. The soup was creamy mushroom and a “beef steak of Chinese style” provided the mainstay of four dishes that followed. In a culinary flourish that may have reminded the Prime Minister of school lunches in his youth, he was served sago pudding for dessert.

Mr Xi’s campaign against luxury has had a chilling effect on many restaurants in Beijing and on the producers of the high-end liquor that is now largely absent from the dinner tables of Chinese officials and military officers.”

via The banquet that wasn’t — and then a gift horse | The Times.

03/12/2013

Prithvi-II missile successfully test-fired – The Times of India

India on Tuesday successfully test-fired indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350 km from a test range at Chandipur in Odisha as part of a user trial by defence forces.

Test flight of the Prithvi SS-150

Test flight of the Prithvi SS-150 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The surface-to-surface missile was test-fired at around 10:05am from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range, about 15 km from here, defence sources said.

Describing the launch of the sophisticated missile as a complete success, ITR Director MVKV Prasad said all the mission parameters were met during the trial.

\”The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the launch activities were carried out by the specially formed Strategic Force Command (SFC) and monitored by scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of training exercise,\” the sources said.

via Prithvi-II missile successfully test-fired – The Times of India.

03/12/2013

China’s yuan surpasses euro as 2nd most-used currency in trade finance: SWIFT | Reuters

China\’s yuan currency overtook the euro in October, becoming the second-most used currency in trade finance, global transaction services organization SWIFT said on Tuesday.

100 Yuan notes are seen in this illustration picture in Beijing November 5, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee

The market share of yuan usage in trade finance, or Letters of Credit and Collection, grew to 8.66 percent in October 2013. That improved from 1.89 percent in January 2012.

The yuan, also known as the renminbi, now ranks behind the U.S. dollar, which remains the leading currency with a share of 81.08 percent.

The top five countries using the yuan for trade finance in October were China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany and Australia, SWIFT said in a statement.

\”The RMB is clearly a top currency for trade finance globally and even more so in Asia,\” Franck de Praetere, SWIFT\’s Asia Pacific head of payments and trade markets said.

The RMB remained the 12th payments currency of the world, with a slightly decreased share of 0.84 percent compared with 0.86 percent in September.

RMB payments increased in value by 1.5 percent in October, while growth for all payments currencies was at 4.6 percent.

The world\’s second-largest economy is accelerating the pace of financial reform to promote its currency to international players beyond Hong Kong. China aims to lift the yuan\’s global clout and reduce its reliance on the U.S. dollar.

via China’s yuan surpasses euro as 2nd most-used currency in trade finance: SWIFT | Reuters.

03/12/2013

BBC News – Pisa tests: UK stagnates as Shanghai tops league table

Far be it for me to defend the UK‘s scholastic standards.  But comparing a country’s average against three single cities is a bit unfair!

“The UK is falling behind global rivals in international tests taken by 15-year-olds, failing to make the top 20 in maths, reading and science.

Maths scores

England\’s Education Secretary Michael Gove said since the 1990s, test performances had been \”at best stagnant, at worst declining\”.

Shanghai in China is the top education system in the OECD\’s Pisa tests.

Within the UK, Scotland outperformed England at maths and reading, but Wales is below average in all subjects.

Mr Gove told MPs that his reforms, such as changing the curriculum, school autonomy and directing financial support towards poorer pupils, were designed to prevent schools in England from \”falling further behind\”.

He highlighted the rapid improvements that had been made in countries such as Poland, Germany and Vietnam.

Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt called on Mr Gove to take some responsibility for the lack of progress and said the results showed that collaboration between schools and teachers was more effective than market forces.”

via BBC News – Pisa tests: UK stagnates as Shanghai tops league table.

03/12/2013

With Glut of Lonely Men, China Has an Approved Outlet for Unrequited Lust – NYTimes.com

Slack-jawed and perspiring, Chen Weizhou gazed at a pair of life-size female dolls clad, just barely, in lingerie and lace stockings. Above these silicone vixens, an instructional video graphically depicted just how realistic they felt once undressed.

The one-child rule is a factor in China’s gender imbalance.

A 46-year-old tour bus driver, Mr. Chen had come earlier this month to the Guangzhou National Sex Culture Festival “for fun,” which was not how he described intimacy with his wife, who did not attend. “When you’re young sex is so mysterious, but once you’re married it gets really bland,” he said, barely taking his eyes off the screen.

With an official theme of “healthy sex, happy families,” the 11th annual exposition sought to remedy the plight of Chinese men like Mr. Chen — and their wives, if they are married.

The overwhelming presence of men at the festival mirrored a demographic imbalance in China, where decades of the one-child rule and a cultural preference for sons combined with illegal sex-selective abortions have distorted the country’s gender ratio to 118 newborn boys for every 100 girls in 2012, rather than the normal 103 boys. In Guangdong Province, home to a migrant worker population of 30 million — China’s largest — the scarcity of women leaves bachelors with limited options.

Filling an exhibition center here in the capital of Guangdong in southern China, the festival was a three-day mating ritual between capitalism and hedonism, all diligently observed by that most prudish of chaperones: the Chinese government. Erotic possibilities abounded, including a transgender fashion show, sliced deer antler marketed as an aphrodisiac, naughty nurse costumes and some flesh-color objects disconcertingly called “Captain Stabbing.”

via With Glut of Lonely Men, China Has an Approved Outlet for Unrequited Lust – NYTimes.com.

02/12/2013

India’s Mars mission enters second stage; outpaces space rival China | Reuters

India\’s first mission to Mars left Earth\’s orbit early on Sunday, clearing a critical hurdle in its journey to the red planet and overtaking the efforts in space of rival Asian giant China.

India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25), carrying the Mars orbiter, lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, about 100 km (62 miles) north of the southern Indian city of Chennai November 5, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Babu

The success of the spacecraft, scheduled to orbit Mars by next September, would carry India into a small club, which includes the United States, Europe and Russia, whose probes have orbited or landed on Mars.

India\’s venture, called Mangalyaan, faces more hurdles on its journey to Mars. Fewer than half of missions to the planet are successful.

\”While Mangalyaan takes 1.2 billion dreams to Mars, we wish you sweet dreams!\” India\’s space agency said in a tweet soon after the event, referring to the citizens of the world\’s second-most populous country.

China, a keen competitor in the space race, has considered the possibility of putting a man on the moon sometime after 2020 and aims to land its first probe on the moon on Monday.

via India’s Mars mission enters second stage; outpaces space rival China | Reuters.

02/12/2013

China launches lunar probe carrying ‘Jade Rabbit’ buggy | Reuters

China launched its first ever extraterrestrial landing craft into orbit en route for the moon in the small hours of Monday, in a major milestone for its space program.

The Long March-3B rocket carrying the Chang'e-3 lunar probe blasts off from the launch pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province December 2, 2013. REUTERS/China Daily

The Chang\’e-3 lunar probe, which includes the Yutu or Jade Rabbit buggy, blasted off on board an enhanced Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China\’s southwestern Sichuan province at 1:30 a.m. (12.30 p.m. EDT).

President Xi Jinping has said he wants China to establish itself as a space superpower, and the mission has inspired pride in China\’s growing technological prowess. State television showed a live broadcast of the rocket lifting off.

If all goes smoothly, the rover will conduct geological surveys and search for natural resources after the probe touches down on the moon in mid-December as China\’s first spacecraft to make a soft landing beyond Earth.

\”The probe has already entered the designated orbit,\” the official Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang Zhenzhong, director of the launch center, as saying.

\”I now announce the launch was successful.\”

\”We will strive for our space dream as part of the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation,\” he added.

In 2007, China launched its first moon orbiter, the Chang\’e-1 – named after a lunar goddess – which took images of the surface and analyzed the distribution of elements.

The lunar buggy was named the Jade Rabbit in a public vote, a folkloric reference to the goddess\’s pet.

Chinese scientists have discussed the possibility of sending a human to the moon some time after 2020.

In China\’s latest manned space mission in June, three astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with an experimental space laboratory, part of Beijing\’s quest to build a working space station by 2020.

If the lunar mission is successful, China will become the third country, after the United States and the former Soviet Union, to soft-land on the moon.

But it is still far from catching up with the established space superpowers, whose moon landings date back more than four decades.

China is looking to land a probe on the moon, release a moon rover and return the probe to the Earth in 2017, Xinhua said.

via China launches lunar probe carrying ‘Jade Rabbit’ buggy | Reuters.

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