February | 2014 | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

11/02/2014

Kejriwal orders probe into gas price hike issue, names Moily, Deora – The Hindu

The Delhi Government on Tuesday ordered the filing of criminal cases against Union minister Veerappa Moily, former minister Murli Deora, Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani and others following complaints of irregularities in pricing of natural gas in the KG basin.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said the move to hike the price of natural gas will have a cascading effect on the economy. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi Government has been asked to probe the matter based on a complaint filed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subrmanian, Admiral Tahiliani, former Navy Chief and eminent lawyer Kamini Jaiswal besides a former Expenditure Secretary.

“Today we have asked the ACB to probe the case. We are filing a criminal case against Murli Deora. FIRs are being filed against Moily, Mukesh Ambani former DG of Hydrocarbons V K Sibal, Reliance Industries Ltd and others,” he said addressing a press conference here.

Without explaining whether the Delhi Government has jurisdiction to probe the case, Mr Kejriwal alleged that Reliance Industries Ltd was benefited as Oil Ministry decided to hike the natural gas price to USD 8 per million British thermal unit as against current USD 4.2 from April 1.

He alleged that RIL did not produce adequate gas from eastern offshore KG basin block so as to put pressure on the government to hike the price. Reliance did not offer any immediate comments on the issue.

Union Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily however, rejected Mr Kejriwal’s allegations, saying price of petroleum products was fixed according to expert advice.

via Kejriwal orders probe into gas price hike issue, names Moily, Deora – The Hindu.

Posted in corruption, Economics, India alert, Politics | 1 Comment »

Tags: Arvind Kejriwal, British thermal unit, Delhi Government, Krishna Godavari Basin, Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, Mukesh Ambani, Murli Deora, Natural gas, Reliance Industries, Union minister Veerappa Moily, Veerappa Moily

11/02/2014

India to Fight U.S. Solar Protectionism Charge as Ties Fray (1) – Businessweek

India will dispute a U.S. complaint at the World Trade Organization that it unlawfully restricts imports of solar equipment, saying American panel makers such as First Solar Inc. (FSLR:US) have access to most of its market.

“We will give a reply,” Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, said in a phone interview. “Most solar projects in India are allowed to import. We have sufficient quantities open for competition.”

India required about 10 percent of new photovoltaic projects permitted in the past year to use domestically made solar cells and modules. The rule violates international trade law and raises the cost of solar energy, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said yesterday in a statement.

via India to Fight U.S. Solar Protectionism Charge as Ties Fray (1) – Businessweek.

Posted in Economics, India alert, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: First Solar, First Solar Inc., India, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (India), Office of the United States Trade Representative, projects in India, Solar cell, solar equipment, Tarun Kapoor, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, U.S., United States, World Trade Organization

11/02/2014

Boeing to Raise India Plane Demand Forecast Amid Surge in Travel – Businessweek

Boeing Co. (BA:US) is set to raise its India market forecast as the planemaker expects surging travel demand in the world’s second-most populous nation to withstand a slowdown in economic growth and a fall in rupee.

Jet Airways Boeing 737

Boeing will increase its prediction for India plane demand in the next couple of months, Dinesh Keskar, a senior vice president at the Chicago-based company, said in an interview to Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin in Singapore today.

The planemaker in 2012 raised its 20-year India market forecast by 9.8 percent, at least the third increase in a row. Carriers in the Asian nation will need 1,450 new aircraft, worth $175 billion over the next two decades, it said last year.

via Boeing to Raise India Plane Demand Forecast Amid Surge in Travel – Businessweek.

Posted in aviation, Economics, Good news, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: $175 billion, Boeing, Boeing Co., Chicago, Dinesh Keskar, Economic growth, Haslinda Amin, India, India market, populous nation, senior vice president, Singapore

11/02/2014

Indian Election Not a ‘Game Changer’ – India Real Time – WSJ

A new Moody’s report argues that the biggest event on India’s political calendar this year will be neutral at best for the country’s creditworthiness—although, at worst, it could heighten existing risks.

India’s national election, due before the end of May, is dominating the country’s newsstands, and has put a freeze on many major policy and investment decisions. Perceptions that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s popular prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, is pro-business have buoyed Indian stock markets even as corporate earnings have disappointed.

But the New York-based credit-ratings agency says the contest between the governing Congress party and the BJP will hardly be decisive for India’s economic prospects.

A strong showing by either of the two major parties “would not be a near-term game changer,” it says in the report. The correlation between economic performance and the party in power is historically quite weak, it notes. What could be a bigger influence is the state of the global economy. Factors such as the budding recovery in the U.S. and Europe, the shaky economic outlook in China, and the Federal Reserve’s withdrawal of monetary stimulus will continue to buffet India and many other big emerging markets.

via Indian Election Not a ‘Game Changer’ – India Real Time – WSJ.

Posted in Elections, India alert, Internal politics, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bharatiya Janata Party, China, Credit risk, Federal Reserve System, India, Indian National Congress, Moody's Investors Service, Narendra Modi

11/02/2014

UPDATE 4-Olympics-India returns to the Games as IOC lifts ban | Reuters

India has returned to the Olympic fold after the IOC lifted a ban on the country’s Olympic association on Tuesday, and its athletes will now be able to march behind the Indian flag at the closing ceremony of the Sochi Winter Games.

The country’s athletes have been competing in Russia under the Olympic flag due to the suspension, imposed after it held a 2012 Indian Olympic Association (IOA) election in which a corruption-tainted official was voted in as secretary general.

“It is the first time in Olympic history that a suspension of a National Olympic Committee has been lifted during the Games,” International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told reporters.

He said the IOC had discussed the matter early on Tuesday and ruled that elections held on Sunday had fulfilled all criteria for the country’s immediate reinstatement.

“We observed the general assembly (on Sunday). We are happy with the changes,” Adams said, adding the IOC’s prerequisite to ban any tainted officials from elections had been fully met.

On Sunday, the IOA voted in a new set of officials with World Squash Federation chief N. Ramachandran elected president, paving the way for the Olympic reinstatement of the world’s second most populous nation.

All India Tennis Association chief Anil Khanna became treasurer in polls which marked the exit of corruption-tainted Abhay Singh Chautala and Lalit Bhanot from the IOA.

via UPDATE 4-Olympics-India returns to the Games as IOC lifts ban | Reuters.

Posted in Good news, India alert, sports | Leave a Comment »

Tags: All India Tennis Association, India, Indian Olympic Association, International Olympic Committee, Olympic, Olympic Games, Sochi, World Squash Federation

11/02/2014

UPDATE 1-India IT sector exports seen picking up pace in FY15-Nasscom | Reuters

IT services exports in 2014-15 are forecast to rise to as much $99 billion, according to the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).

NASSCOM 2010 (Photo credit: markhillary)

The increase in growth rate compares with an estimated 13 percent rise in fiscal 2014, the lobby added.

“Clearly compared to what we saw in the industry 12 months ago to now, we are seeing a far more positive momentum in our major markets,” Nasscom Chairman Krishnakumar Natarajan, also chief executive of IT firm Mindtree Ltd, told reporters.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund raised its global economic growth forecast for the first time in nearly two years.

India’s biggest IT services outsourcing firms, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, have forecast stronger growth for IT spending in the next fiscal year by their main customers in Europe and the United States.

via UPDATE 1-India IT sector exports seen picking up pace in FY15-Nasscom | Reuters.

Posted in Economics, India alert, IT, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Fiscal year, India, Infosys, International Monetary Fund, Krishnakumar Natarajan, Mindtree, Mindtree Ltd, Nasscom, National Association of Software and Services Companies, Tata Consultancy Services, United States

11/02/2014

UPDATE 1-U.S. ambassador to meet India’s Modi, ending isolation | Reuters

Modi‘s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is considered the favourite to form a government after a general election due by May. He is also the chief minister of Gujarat state, where in 2002, Hindu mobs killed at least 1,000 people, most of them Muslims.

Narendra Modi at a BJP rally (Photo credit: Al Jazeera English)

“We can confirm the appointment,” a U.S. embassy spokesman said. “This is part of our concentrated outreach to senior political and business leaders which began in November to highlight the U.S.-India relationship.”

via UPDATE 1-U.S. ambassador to meet India’s Modi, ending isolation | Reuters.

Posted in Diplomacy, GeoPolitics, India alert, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Al Jazeera English, Bharatiya Janata, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Gujarat, Hindu, India, List of Chief Ministers of Gujarat, Modi, Narendra Modi, United States

11/02/2014

China says gets tough on polluters, nixes projects worth $19.5 billion | Reuters

China’s environmental watchdog vetoed as many as 32 projects with a total investment of 118.4 billion yuan ($19.5 billion) last year as it stepped up efforts to get tough on industrial polluters, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Buildings are pictured amid the heavy haze at night in Beijing's central business district, January 30, 2014. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Zhai Qing, the vice-environment minister, told reporters his ministry was working to improve its environmental assessment capabilities and strengthen its powers to monitor and punish polluters.

“I think our ability to enforce and monitor is extremely important… and since last year, we have been constantly trying to strengthen our abilities,” he added.

Beijing is under intense pressure to clean up its heavily polluted air, water and soil in the face of mounting public anger, but enforcement has been identified as one its biggest challenges, with the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) struggling to find the clout to take on powerful industrial interests and growth-obsessed local authorities.

Officials have acknowledged that the ministry’s punitive powers are limited. Fines are far lower than the cost of compliance and many big companies are willing to pay up and continue breaking the law.

The ministry is now hoping to extend its authority as China’s new leadership promises to abandon the crude pursuit of economic growth. A new environmental law is likely to raise the fines imposed on polluters, and sources say the ministry’s powers could be expanded further in a government shake-up expected to take place in March.

via China says gets tough on polluters, nixes projects worth $19.5 billion | Reuters.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Environmental law, industrial polluters, Member of the European Parliament, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China, pollution

11/02/2014

BBC News – China and Taiwan in first government talks

China and Taiwan have held their first high-level talks since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

Wang Yu-chi and Zhang Zhijun, the top cross-strait officials from each side, attended the four-day talks in Nanjing.

No official agenda was released for the talks, which are widely seen as a confidence-building exercise.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory. In the past, all talks have gone via quasi-official organisations.

The fact that talks are taking place in Nanjing is a nod to history – the city, at times, served as the capital when the Nationalists were in power more than 60 years ago.

Neither side is talking of any breakthrough during this week’s talks – their differences remain stark.

Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory, insisting that it must be reunited with the mainland – by force, if necessary.

But since the election of Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou in 2008, relations between the sides have warmed considerably.

For Taiwan, there is no ignoring China – the world’s second largest economy.

And China perhaps sees these talks as a useful opportunity to forge closer ties with Taiwan while a relatively pro-Beijing president remains in power on the island.

Mr Zhang, head of mainland China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said: “It’s impossible to imagine in the past that we could sit here and meet.”

“We must have some imagination if [we want to] resolve some difficulties, not just for such a meeting, we should also have a bigger imagination for cross-strait future development,” he added.

Mr Wang, head of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, described the meeting as “a new chapter for cross-strait relations”.

“For us to simply sit at the same table, sit down to discuss issues, is already not an easy thing.”

via BBC News – China and Taiwan in first government talks.

Posted in China alert, Economics, GeoPolitics, Good news, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Ma Ying-jeou, Mainland Affairs Council, Nanjing, Taiwan, Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun

11/02/2014

Spanish judge issues arrest warrants for China’s former President, PM – CNN.com

A Spanish judge issued international arrest warrants Monday for China’s former President Jiang Zemin and former Prime Minister Li Peng for alleged genocide against the people of Tibet, Spain’s National Court in Madrid said.

[File photo] Former President of China Jiang Zemin (left) and former PM Li Peng in Beijing on 17 March (year unknown).

The warrants against them and three other senior Chinese officials are the latest chapter in a long-running lawsuit by pro-Tibetan groups and a dual Tibetan-Spanish citizen who seek international legal action against some Chinese officials.

Judge Ismael Moreno issued the arrest warrants for alleged “genocide, torture and crimes against humanity,” and ordered them to be sent to Interpol, the international police agency, according to a copy of the order viewed by CNN.

The former officials will surely not be arrested in China, but there’s a “medium chance” of them being arrested if they go abroad, “depending on the country and its ethics,” said Alan Cantos, president of the Barcelona-based Tibet Support Committee.

Cantos expressed satisfaction with the judge’s order, which his group has been pushing with its co-plaintiffs: the House of Tibet Foundation and Thubten Wangchen Sherpa Sherpa, a Tibetan who has lived in Spain for about 20 years and has Spanish citizenship.

“It shows that justice after all works, against all odds. If you let justice work, victims can have retribution,” Cantos said.

via Spanish judge issues arrest warrants for China’s former President, PM – CNN.com.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2013/10/23/spain-probes-hu-jintao-genocide-in-tibet-court-case-bbc-news/

Posted in China alert, Dissident, Ethnic clash, GeoPolitics, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: arrest warrants, China, Chinese officials, Interpol, Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, president jiang zemin, Prime Minister Li Peng, Spain, Spain's National Court, Spanish nationality law, Tibet

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

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Kejriwal orders probe into gas price hike issue, names Moily, Deora – The Hindu

India to Fight U.S. Solar Protectionism Charge as Ties Fray (1) – Businessweek

Boeing to Raise India Plane Demand Forecast Amid Surge in Travel – Businessweek

Indian Election Not a ‘Game Changer’ – India Real Time – WSJ

UPDATE 4-Olympics-India returns to the Games as IOC lifts ban | Reuters

UPDATE 1-India IT sector exports seen picking up pace in FY15-Nasscom | Reuters

China says gets tough on polluters, nixes projects worth $19.5 billion | Reuters

BBC News – China and Taiwan in first government talks

Spanish judge issues arrest warrants for China’s former President, PM – CNN.com

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