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08/12/2013

BJP takes massive lead in Rajasthan – The Hindu

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was heading for a landslide victory in Rajasthan on Sunday with the trends showing it in a comfortable position to form the next government after five years of Congress rule. The party was leading in 83 out of the 199 seats which went to polls, while its candidates won in 73 constituencies in the results declared by Sunday afternoon.

BJP workers celebrating party's victory in Rajasthan Assembly polls, in Jaipur on Sunday. Photo: Rohit Jain Paras

State BJP president Vasundhara Raje was declared winner in Jhalrapatan, while Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria registered a decisive victory in Udaipur.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was leading in his home constituency Sardarpura in Jodhpur, even as his government was decimated.

The BJP’s strong return in the State and the defeat of Congress was beyond the expectation of political observers and defied all political calculations. Congress was ahead in 15 constituencies and had won nine seats in the results available by the afternoon.

Prominent among the Congress leaders who were trounced in the polls were Ministers Shanti Dhariwal (Kota North), Hemaram Chaudhary (Gudhamalani), Aimduddin Ahmed Khan (Tijara), Bina Kak (Sumerpur) and Naseem Akhtar Insaaf (Pushkar), while Finance Commission Chairman B. D. Kalla lost the Bikaner seat.

The National People’s Party brought to the State by Dausa MP Kirorilal Meena also depicted a lead in five constituencies, which included Lalsot, where Mr. Meena himself is contesting, and Mahuwa, where her wife and former Minister in the Ashok Gehlot government Golma Devi is the party candidate.

Bahujan Samaj Party was leading at three seats.

With the results in the party’s favour coming in, BJP activists started celebrations at the State headquarters and burst firecrackers. The Pradesh Congress Committee headquarter, on the other hand, wore a forlorn look.

via BJP takes massive lead in Rajasthan – The Hindu.

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08/12/2013

South Korea expands air defense zone to partially overlap China’s | Reuters

China two weeks ago that has sharply raised regional tensions.

Beijing\’s declaration of an air defense identification zone in an area that includes islands at the heart of a territorial dispute with Japan has triggered protests from the United States and its close allies Japan and South Korea.

Announcing the expansion of its own zone to include two territorial islands to the south and a submerged rock also claimed by China, South Korea\’s Defence Ministry said the move would not infringe on neighboring countries\’ sovereignty.

\”We believe this will not significantly impact our relationships with China and with Japan as we try to work for peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia,\” defence ministry head of policy Jang Hyuk told a briefing.

\”We have explained our position to related countries and overall they are in agreement that this move complies with international regulations and is not an excessive measure,\” he said, adding the ministry\’s top priority was to work with neighboring countries to prevent military confrontation.

via South Korea expands air defense zone to partially overlap China’s | Reuters.

Posted in China alert, Defence, GeoPolitics, Military, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | 1 Comment »

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07/12/2013

Commentary: China must find unique way to build ecological civilization – Xinhua | English.news.cn

China must find a way different from the industrialization in the West to build ecological civilization and realize sustainable development, which concerns the future of both the nation and the world.

After solving the food and clothing problems of its 1.3 billion people, the world\’s second-largest economy has encountered a bottleneck as its fast growth has led to adverse side effects for the ecological environment.

How to curb environmental pollution is a totally new issue for China, as it has no precedents to follow.

China cannot copy the industrialization in Western countries, who did not turn to environment management until they became rich and transferred their highly polluting sectors to developing countries.

The environmental problems faced by China happened over a short period of 30 years, while it took industrialized countries more than two centuries to resolve the issue.

\”China cannot be like developed countries, whose peak carbon emissions appeared when gross domestic product (GDP) per capita hit 40,000 U.S. dollars,\” said Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of China\’s National Development and Reform Commission.

He said China started to adopt measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions when its GDP per capita reached 3,000 dollars.

Besides, factors such as the international division of labor led to China receiving many polluting industries from developed countries. Few chances remain for China to transfer these sectors abroad.

With the coexistence of insufficient development and accompanying side effects, tackling pollution in China and many other developing countries requires more determination and courage than required of developed countries.

In China, building ecological civilization has been elevated to a high level of state will and strategy.

At the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2007, then Chinese President Hu Jintao advocated ecological progress for the first time in his report.

The 18th CPC National Congress in 2012 incorporated building ecological civilization into the overall development plan, while the just-concluded Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee made clear arrangements for deepening the institutional reform of ecological civilization.

via Commentary: China must find unique way to build ecological civilization – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Climate change, Ecology, Economics, Environment, Green, greenhouse gas, Politics, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

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06/12/2013

China cheats on international education rankings.

The release of the 2012 scores from the Program of International Student Assessment, an exam given every three years that tests students around the world, on reading math and science, is going to provoke a lot of hand-wringing in the United States, and for good reason. U.S. students are sliding down the rankings in all three categories and perform lower than the OECD average in math.

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The second wave of coverage is going to be about how East Asian countries are now dominating the rankings. There’s some truth to this narrative too, but also some problems with it.

The three “countries” at the top of the PISA rankings are in fact cities—Shanghai, Singapore, and Hong Kong—as is No. 6, Macau. These are all big cities with great schools by any standards, but comparing them against large, geographically dispersed countries is a little misleading.

Shanghai’s No. 1 spot on the rankings is particularly problematic. Singapore is an independent country, obviously, and Hong Kong and Macau are autonomous regions, but why just Shanghai and not the rest of China?

As Tom Loveless for the Brookings Institution wrote earlier this year, “China has an unusual arrangement with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the organization responsible for PISA.  Other provinces took the 2009 PISA test, but the Chinese government only allowed the release of Shanghai’s scores.”

As you might imagine, conditions in a global financial capital are somewhat different from the rest of China, a country where 66 percent of children still live in rural areas

via China cheats on international education rankings..

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06/12/2013

Narendra Modi, a challenge to Cong: Manmohan – The Hindu

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday acknowledged that BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi did pose a challenge to the Congress and declared that “there is no room for complacency”.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the media persons at the Parliament, in New Delhi. File photo

Taking questions from the audience during the Hindustan Time Leadership Summit here, Dr. Singh while responding to a query on which Mr. Modi was indeed a challenge that Congress party should take very seriously said: “As an organised political party we can not underestimate the power of opposition to unsettle the ship of the State. Therefore I am one of those who take very seriously our opposition, there is no room for complacency.”

The Congress, he said, “is going into the elections with a spirit of self confidence and that should not be mistaken whatever the may be the outcome of the Assembly elections.”

via Narendra Modi, a challenge to Cong: Manmohan – The Hindu.

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06/12/2013

China-Taiwan Relations Thaw Even as Beijing Alienates Most of Asia – Businessweek

China’s tense relationships with its neighbors have recently grown even worse. Ties with Japan, already frosty over an island dispute, soured further after Beijing announced a new air defense zone in the East China Sea that overlaps with Japan’s. The expanded China zone also covers territory claimed by South Korea, but Korean air force planes are ignoring it. In the South China Sea, site of another island quarrel with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia, the Chinese were late and stingy in sending relief to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan: First they offered $100,000 in aid, then a still-puny $1.6 million. Out west, the Chinese foreign ministry cautioned India not to complicate the Sino-Indian relationship after President Pranab Mukherjee visited a Himalayan region that China considers part of Tibet.

Chen with Yen Cho-yun, the wife of the late chairman of Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation, on Dec. 2. During his eight-day visit, Chen was feted by a host of high-level dignitaries

But when it comes to China’s ties with Taiwan, traditionally its most fraught relationship, Beijing’s leaders couldn’t be friendlier. Consider the schedule of Chen Deming. As head of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, Chen is the official responsible for negotiating with the island, even though he’d never been there until last month. In late November he arrived for an eight-day visit to meet with the mayor of Taipei, the governor of the central bank, and the honorary chairman of the ruling Kuomintang, or Chinese Nationalist party.

Taiwanese officials marked the occasion by making it easier to do business with China. Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou raised the daily quota of visitors from the mainland by 50 percent, to 3,000, while the two sides increased the number of direct flights across the Strait by almost 25 percent, to 828 per week.

via China-Taiwan Relations Thaw Even as Beijing Alienates Most of Asia – Businessweek.

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06/12/2013

One Silver Lining of China’s Lopsided Labor Market: Shrinking Income Inequality – Businessweek

In the same week that international educators are debating the comparative merits of global school systems—and whether China’s PISA scores are overhyped—a new report from China Economic Quarterly sheds light on an unintended consequence of China’s recent push to expand higher education.

The annual supply of fresh college graduates far exceeds the number of white-collar positions available in China. Meanwhile a dwindling pool of young people willing to work in Chinese factories has driven up assembly-line wages. The result, conclude GK Dragonomics analysts Andrew Batson and Thomas Gatley, is an unexpected narrowing of China’s worryingly high level of income inequality.

Over the past decade, China has rapidly expanded access to higher education. University enrollment tripled from 2000 to 2010, from 2.2 million to 6.6 million students. Unfortunately, job creation didn’t keep pace. According to survey results from China’s labor ministry obtained by China Economic Quarterly, there were 100 job applicants in mid-2013 for every 80 white-collar jobs in China. For blue-collar positions, however, the scenario was reversed: There were 100 applicants for every 125 slots in China.

via One Silver Lining of China’s Lopsided Labor Market: Shrinking Income Inequality – Businessweek.

Posted in China alert, Economics, income-wealth gap, Labour | Leave a Comment »

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06/12/2013

Afghanistan, North Korea, and Somalia Are the World’s Most Corrupt Countries, With China in the Middle – Businessweek

So which countries are the most graft-ridden? According to Berlin-based Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index for 2013, Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia are tied for that dubious distinction.

The global corruption-fighting organization notes that more than two-thirds of the 177 countries surveyed scored below 50. That’s on a scale from zero, or perceived to be highly corrupt, to 100, or perceived to be very clean. (The three worst countries all got an 8, and Ukraine, now racked by protests, got a measly 25). “The abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world,” says Transparency’s Dec. 3 press release for the index.

Denmark and New Zealand tied for first place, each with a squeaky clean rating of 91. Both countries topped of the rankings last year, too, each with 90; Finland, which last year also got a 90, slipped by one point, tying with Sweden for a close second place this year.

via Afghanistan, North Korea, and Somalia Are the World’s Most Corrupt Countries, With China in the Middle – Businessweek.

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06/12/2013

No end to suffering for Bhopal gas victims | India Insight

Twenty-nine years have passed since a poison gas leak from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal killed thousands of people. For the estimated 100,000  survivors and their children who cope with birth defects, illness and a variety of other health problems, it might as well still be the 1980s.

English: Wall painting outside Union Carbide s...

English: Wall painting outside Union Carbide site, Bhopal, India. Français : Grafitti sur le site de Union Carbide, Bhopal, Inde. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It was 12 a.m. on Dec. 3, 1984 when 40 tons of toxic methyl isocyanate leaked from the plant. In the J.P. Nagar neighbourhood that was worst affected, many people died instantly. The death toll is more than 5,295, according to the Indian government though projections based on an Indian Council of Medical Research study put the figure as high as 25,000. An estimated 574,372 people have been affected in some way by the gas; health activists say more than 150,000 have been seriously affected.

Lung and eye complications are common among people in this area. Many also suffer from loss of limb function along with severe palpitations and recurring chest pain.

“I do not have the strength left to do anything now,” said Mazid Khan, 52, who was employed as a security guard at the Union Carbide Corporation factory. Mazid was exposed to the gas, and now suffers from weak eyesight and swelling in his limbs.

Most victims have received 25,000 to 50,000 rupees ($400 to $800 at today’s conversion rates) in compensation, an amount that is far too small for effective medical treatment or as restitution, said Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA), an organization that works with victims of the disaster.

This is because the process of medical categorization was an extremely flawed process. Less than 6 percent of survivors underwent the crucial tests of urine thiocyanate, exercise tolerance test and lung function test. The other 94 percent received the small payment.

via No end to suffering for Bhopal gas victims | India Insight.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Environment, Pollution | 1 Comment »

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06/12/2013

India state elections: Exit polls give BJP the upper hand: India Insight

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to win in four of the five states that went to polls over the past month, exit poll surveys conducted by Cvoter and the India Today-ORG group showed. Such a victory will be a boost for the party and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of the 2014 general elections.

The results for all the states, except Mizoram, will be announced on Sunday. Here’s what the exit polls forecast:

MADHYA PRADESH: The BJP has been ruling the state for 10 years, and exit polls indicate the party will retain power in the 230-member assembly. The Congress party’s campaign, led by Jyotiraditya Scindia, helped it improve its tally as compared to 2008, but the BJP still has the upper hand, polls showed.

The Cvoter exit poll said the BJP will win 128 seats this year, as compared to 143 seats in 2008. The Congress is likely to win 92 seats, up from 71 in the last elections. The India Today-ORG survey predicted more success for the BJP, with the party likely to win 138 of 230 seats.

DELHI: Exit polls are indicating that the BJP will make a comeback after 15 years in the national capital. Delhi registered a record voter turnout of 67 percent this year in the Dec. 4 elections, which were seen as a three-party battle between the BJP, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

via India Insight.

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

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