A very interesting and optimistic talk from TED.com by Kevin Rudd, past PM of Australia – http://kevinrudd.com/biography
05/09/2014
Australia to sign uranium export deal with India – Businessweek
Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott met with his Indian counterpart Friday on a two-day state visit during which they are expected to sign a deal to allow the export of Australian uranium to India for use in power generation.
The agreement is expected to be signed Friday evening. Australia, which has almost a third of the world’s known uranium reserves, imposes strict conditions on uranium exports and India’s failure to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty had long been a barrier to a trade deal.
Australia and India have been negotiating a nuclear safeguards agreement with verification mechanisms since 2012, when a former Australian government agreed on civil nuclear energy cooperation with India that would eventually allow the export of Australian uranium to the energy-starved South Asian nation.
India faces chronic shortages of electricity and about 65 percent of its installed power generation capacity comes from burning fossil fuels including oil, coal and natural gas. India is eager to expand its nuclear power capacity.
Australia’s decision to sell uranium to India follows a civil nuclear agreement with the United States. The deal with the U.S. was signed in 2008 and allowed Washington to sell nuclear fuel and technology to India without it giving up its military nuclear program.
India is seeking a similar agreement with Japan. The two sides have claimed “significant progress” but failed to reach a last-minute agreement on safeguards sought by Tokyo when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Japan earlier this month.
via Australia to sign uranium export deal with India – Businessweek.
28/10/2012
* Australia PM Julia Gillard outlines Asia manifesto
Australia faces the reality of the 21st Century. Others are bound to follow.
BBC: “Australian PM Julia Gillard has outlined a major foreign policy plan aimed at improving Asian ties.
A government white paper sets out 25 national objectives to be met by 2025, with targets ranging from improving trade links to teaching more Mandarin.
Mrs Gillard said she wanted to refocus Australia away from Europe’s “old countries” towards its near neighbours – particularly China and India.
The plan is detailed in a 312-page paper, Australia in the Asian Century.
With Asia on track to become home to most of the world’s middle class in the next 20 years, this was a moment in history to grasp, said Mrs Gillard during the release of the white paper at Sydney’s Lowy Institute.
“The scale and pace of Asia’s rise is staggering, and there are significant opportunities and challenges for all Australians,” she said.
“It is not enough to rely on luck – our future will be determined by the choices we make and how we engage with the region we live in.””
via BBC News – Australia PM Julia Gillard outlines Asia manifesto.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 