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

29/03/2012

* BRICS flexing muscle – to set up joint bank, call for dialogue on Iran & Syria

Times of India: “Seeking to reinforce their growing economic heft with diplomatic clout, the BRICS grouping Thursday pitched for a bigger say in global governance institutions, including the UN and the IMF, and told the West that dialogue was the only way to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue and the Syria crisis.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which comprise nearly half the world’s population and a growing share of global GDP, signed two pacts to spur trade in their local currencies. They also agreed to set up a working group for a joint development bank to promote mutual investment in infrastructure.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India and Presidents Hu Jintao China, Dmitry Medvedev Russia, Dilma Rousseff Brazil and Jacob Zuma South Africa ended the fourth BRICS summit by renewing the pitch for reforming global governance institutions and closer coordination on global issues.The five leaders stressed on the restructuring of the world order to accommodate emerging economies and developing countries and for promoting sustained and balanced global economic growth.”

via BRICS to set up joint bank, call for dialogue on Iran & Syria – The Times of India.

BRICS agree to local currency credits to ease dollar dependency (alethonews.wordpress.com)
Medvedev says BRICS opposes any intervention in Syria (laaska.wordpress.com)
BRICS summit in India to focus on boosting trade (seattlepi.com)

Posted in China alert, Economics, GeoPolitics, India alert, Reform | 6 Comments »

Tags: BRIC, Chindia, Chindiapedia, Dmitry Medvedev, governance institutions, Hu Jintao, India, jacob zuma, manmohan singh, prime minister manmohan singh, South Africa, Syria

26/03/2012

* Indian Govt orders probe into allegation of bribe by Army chief

Times of India: “The government on Monday ordered a CBI inquiry into the allegation made by Army chief Gen V K Singh that he was offered a Rs 14 crore bribe by a lobbyist. A CBI probe was ordered by defence minister A K Antony in the wake of the Army

chiefs allegation, defence ministry officials said.

Earlier, both houses of Parliament were adjourned till 2pm after the opposition MPs created a ruckus over the disclosures made by the Army chief. Terming Gen Singhs allegations as “serious”, Antony told reporters outside Parliament, “We have to handle it…I have taken action.” When asked if the Army chief had informed him about the bribe offer, he said, “Parliament is in session.”

In an interview to a newspaper, the Army chief alleged that an equipment lobbyist offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore, which he had reported to the Defence Minister. He said the lobbyist offered him the bribe in order to have a tranche of 600 sub-standard vehicles of a particular make cleared for purchase. “Just imagine, one of these men had the gumption to walk up to me and tell me that if I cleared the tranche, he would give me Rs 14 crore. He was offering a bribe to me, to the Army chief. He told me that people had taken money before me and they will take money after me,” Gen Singh said.”

via Govt orders CBI probe into allegation of bribe by Army chief – The Times of India.

Wow, bribery at the highest levels!

Posted in corruption, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bribery, Central Bureau of Investigation, Chindia, Chindiapedia, defence minister, India

24/03/2012

* Indian govt mediators suspend talks after Maoists kidnap BJD MLA

Times of India: “The Odisha government and Maoist-named interlocutors suspended their talks on Saturday after the extremists abducted Laxmipur legislator Jhina Hikaka late Friday night. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik also sent revenue minister Surya Narayan Patro and SC and ST development minister Lal Bihari Himirika to Koraput from where Hikaka, a 37-year-old tribal MLA of the ruling BJD, was abducted while returning home along with his driver Ugrasen Jambeka and personal security officer PSO Gokula Kandhapan. The ministers will explore back channel possibilities to release Hikaka, official sources said.”

via Govt, mediators suspend talks after Maoists kidnap BJD MLA – The Times of India.

* India kidnapping: Maoist rebels extend deadline (chindia-alert.org)
https://chindia-alert.org/china-2011-roundup/india-2011-roundup/

Posted in India alert, Insurgency | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Chindia, Chindiapedia, India, Maoism, Maoist

23/03/2012

* Indian government committed to an effective Lokpal: Manmohan Singh

Times of India: “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said that the United Progressive Alliance UPA government is committed to an effective Lokpal to check corruption. “Our government stands committed to an effective Lokpal legislation,” Manmohan Singh said at an all-party meeting on the Lokpal bill with Rajya Sabha members. “We look forward to benefiting from the wisdom and guidance of all leaders present here in the task that we have set for ourselves,” he said.

The Lokpal bill could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha during the winter session last year due to opposition moving a number of amendments and the government insisting that it needed time to study them. The bill could not be put to vote even after hours of debate on the last day of the winter session.

The opposition had charged the government with shying away from a vote.”

via Government committed to an effective Lokpal: Manmohan Singh – The Times of India.

The Lokpal (People’s Ombudsman) is the embodiment of the efforts of anti-corruption activist Shri Anna. Its protracted delay is causing not only the opposition but the person in the street to doubt the sincerity of the government in enacting the bill.

Posted in corruption, India alert | 1 Comment »

Tags: Chindia, Chindiapedia, India, india prime minister, Jan Lokpal Bill, Lok Sabha, Lokpal, manmohan singh, Rajya Sabha

22/03/2012

* Outrage over report that India lost $210bn in coal scam

BBC News: “There was outrage in India’s parliament after a draft report by government auditors estimated India lost $210bn by selling coalfields too cheaply. Opposition politicians accused the government of “looting the country” by selling coalfields to companies without competitive bidding. Private and state companies benefited from the allocations between 2004 and 2010, says a Times of India report. …

… the Times of India, quoting the CAG draft, says the $210bn (£133bn) figure is a “conservative estimate, since it takes into account prices for the lowest grade of coal and not the median grade”.

India is one of the largest producers of coal in the world.

This is just the latest in a series of financial scandals to hit the Congress-led government and the revelations caused such anger among opposition politicians that both houses of parliament had to be temporarily adjourned.”

via BBC News – Outrage over report that India lost $210bn in coal scam.

Nation full of scams: Why it is possible to loot Rs10.67 lakh crore worth of coal? (requestingtruth.wordpress.com)

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

Tags: Business, Chindia, Chindiapedia, Coal, economy, Government, India, politics, Procurement

21/03/2012

* US exempts 11 states from Iran sanctions; China, India excluded

Reuters: “The United States exempted Japan and 10 EU nations from financial sanctions because they have significantly cut purchases of Iranian oil, but left Iran’s top customers China and India exposed to the possibility of such steps.

The decision means banks in these countries have been given a six-month reprieve from the threat of being cut off from the U.S. financial system under new sanctions designed to pressure Iran over its nuclear program.

The list did not include China and India, Iran’s top two crude oil importers, nor U.S. allies South Korea and Turkey, which are among the top-10 consumers of Iranian oil.

Japan, China and India combined buy close to half of Iran’s crude exports of 2.6 million barrels a day, providing crucial foreign exchange for the OPEC member.”

via U.S. exempts 11 states from Iran sanctions; China, India exposed | Reuters.

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Economics, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Chindia, Chindiapedia, European Union, financial sanctions, India, iran, iran sanctions, Japan, OPEC, South Korea, United States

21/03/2012

* India kidnapping: Maoist rebels extend deadline

BBC News: “Maoist rebels in eastern India have extended a deadline for their demands to met in exchange for returning two Italian men they kidnapped last week to late Wednesday. The rebels have demanded an end to military operations against them and the release of jailed Maoists. A deadline of Sunday for their list of 13 demands was earlier extended to late Tuesday.

The rebels say the two Italians are safe and in good condition. Paulo Bosusco, 54, and Claudio Colangelo, 61, were seized while trekking in a tribal area of Orissa state, one of several regions of India where Maoist rebels are active.

Talks over the Italians release are stalled because of differences between the government and rebels over mediators. On Tuesday, the rebels named three mediators, including one Maoist leader who is in prison.The government rejected two of the names and announced its list of three mediators. The rebels responded with fresh names as replacements, but one of the replacements has refused to negotiate for the rebels.”

via BBC News – India kidnapping: Maoist rebels extend deadline.

Related articles:

Posted in India alert, Insurgency | 1 Comment »

Tags: Bosusco, Chindia, Chindiapedia, Claudio Colangelo, India, Kandhamal district, Maoism, maoist rebels, Orissa

19/03/2012

* India displaces China as world’s largest arms importer

Times of India: “India has become the worlds biggest importer of arms, displacing China by accounting for 10 per cent of global arms sales volumes. Over the past five years, Indias imports of major weapons increased by 38 per cent between 2007-11, a Swedish security think tank said with Asia topping other regions in arms imports.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI in its new report said that India was closely followed by China and Pakistan whose weapons imports constituted 5 per cent each of global sales. Pakistan took delivery of “significant numbers of combat aircrafts during this period : 50 JF-17s from China and 30 F-16s from US,” SIPRI said. The Swedish think tank said China which had been world’s top arms importer in 2006-2007 has now dropped to fourth place, attributing this to improvements in the country’s arms industry and its rising arms exports.

SIPRI said China is now world’s sixth largest world exporter of weapons behind the US, Russia, Germany, France and UK.But “while the volume of Chinas arms export is increasing, this is largely a result of Pakistan importing more arms from China. “Beijing has not achieved a major breakthrough in any other significant market,” the report said. According to SIPRI estimates India is likely to spend more than USD 100 billion on weapons and systems in the next 15 years.”

via India displaces China as worlds largest arms importer – The Times of India.

Related articles

Arms sales: who are the world’s 100 top arms producers? (guardian.co.uk)
https://chindia-alert.org/political-factors/

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Defence, GeoPolitics, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Arms industry, China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

15/03/2012

* Indian census: Half of homes have phones but no toilets

extracted from BBC News: “Nearly half of India’s 1.2 billion people have no toilet at home, but more people own a mobile phone, according to the latest census data. Only 46.9% of the 246.6 million households have lavatories while 49.8% defecate in the open. The remaining 3.2% use public toilets.

Census 2011 data on houses, household amenities and assets reveal that 63.2% of homes have a telephone.

Analysts say the data show the complex contradictions of the Indian system. They say the census reveals a country where millions have access to cutting-edge technology and consumer goods but a larger number of poor who lack access to even basic facilities. …

“Cultural and traditional reasons and a lack of education are the prime reasons for this unhygienic practice. We have to do a lot in these fronts,” Registrar General and Census Commissioner C Chandramouli said while releasing the latest data.

The data also reveal that Indians now largely live in nuclear families with 70% of homes consisting of only one couple – a dramatic change in a country where joint families were always the norm.

The census figures also show changes in how people access information and entertainment. More than half the population – 53.2% – have a mobile phone. There has been a 16% rise in the number of homes with television sets, while the use of radios has declined by 15%. The data show that 47.2% of households have a television while only 19.9% have a radio.

And the reach of computers with internet access is still minuscule, with only 3.1% of the population connected.”

via BBC News – India census: Half of homes have phones but no toilets.

India has made some progress in 10 years. But nothing like China in the same period.

Related page: Indian economic & social tensions?

Posted in India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Census, Demographics of India, India, india census, Mobile phone, Toilet

13/03/2012

* China’s Q1 foreign trade with other BRICS nations surges

Image via Wikipedia

Xinhua: “China’s top customs authority announced Friday that the country’s foreign trade with the other four BRICS nations surged by 45.8 percent to reach 59.9 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year.

The first-quarter foreign trade growth between China and the other four nations of BRICS (an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), was 16.3 percentage points higher than China’s average foreign trade growth during the period, China’s General Administration of Customs said in a statement on its website.

During the first three months, China’s imports from the other BRICS countries reached 33.05 billion U.S. dollars, up 57.2 percent year on year. Exports to those countries hit 26.85 billion yuan, up 33.8 percent. …

Q1 bilateral trade between China and India rose 25.2 percent to 17.63 billion U.S. dollars. Trade with Brazil surged 58.9 percent to 16.11 billion U.S dollars, while that with Russia rose 33.5 percent to 15.99 billion U.S. dollars. Bilateral trade between China and South Africa increased more than one fold to 10.16 billion U.S. dollars.”

via China’s Q1 foreign trade with other BRICS nations surges.

It used to be BRIC, since 2010 it has become BRICS to include South Africa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRICS

Posted in China alert, Economics, GeoPolitics | 1 Comment »

Tags: Brazil, BRIC, India, International trade, South Africa

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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* BRICS flexing muscle – to set up joint bank, call for dialogue on Iran & Syria

* Indian Govt orders probe into allegation of bribe by Army chief

* Indian govt mediators suspend talks after Maoists kidnap BJD MLA

Related articles

* Indian government committed to an effective Lokpal: Manmohan Singh

* Outrage over report that India lost $210bn in coal scam

* US exempts 11 states from Iran sanctions; China, India excluded

* India kidnapping: Maoist rebels extend deadline

* India displaces China as world’s largest arms importer

* Indian census: Half of homes have phones but no toilets

* China’s Q1 foreign trade with other BRICS nations surges

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