Archive for ‘Politics’

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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

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.

Posted in Chindia Alert, corruption, Economics, Politics, Social & cultural | Leave a 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.

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04/12/2013

Urgent deal reached in Africa to cut down illegal ivory trade | Fox News

Key states where the illegal ivory trade flourishes have pledged to take urgent measures to try to halt the illicit trade and secure elephant populations across Africa, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, said Wednesday.

elephant.jpg

The agreement was reached at the African Elephant Summit convened by the government of Botswana and the IUCN held in Gaborone over the past few days.

The measures were agreed upon by key African elephant range states including Gabon, Kenya, Niger and Zambia and ivory transit states Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia, and ivory destination states, including China and Thailand, said the IUCN in a statement.

\”Our window of opportunity to tackle the growing illegal ivory trade is closing and if we do not stem the tide, future generations will condemn our unwillingness to act,\” Botswana President Ian Khama told the summit.

\”Now is the time for Africa and Asia to join forces to protect this universally valued and much needed species,\” he said.

via Urgent deal reached in Africa to cut down illegal ivory trade | Fox News.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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