The Indian Panorama

Tag: China

  • Brahmaputra Dams : Ensure India’s Interests Are Not Hit, China Told

    Brahmaputra Dams : Ensure India’s Interests Are Not Hit, China Told

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Alarmed over reports suggestingthat China proposed to construct three more dams onriver Brahmaputra in Tibet, India today asked Beijing toensure that the interests of downstream states were notharmed by any activities in upstream areas.Talking to reporters here, MEA spokesman SyedAkbaruddin said India continued to carefully monitorall developments on the Brahmaputra and has conveyedits “views and concerns” to the Chinese authorities,including at the highest levels.

    “As a lower riparian state with considerableestablished user rights to the waters of the river, Indiahas conveyed its views and concerns to the Chineseauthorities, including at the highest levels of theGovernment of the People’s Republic of China. Indiaurges China to ensure that the interests of downstreamstates are not harmed by any activities in upstreamareas,” he said.He was responding to a query regarding Chinaapproving construction of three more dams onBrahmaputra river in Tibet in addition to the one beingbuilt.

    A document approved by the Chinese Cabinet recentlymentioned three dams to be built at Dagu, Jiacha andJiexu on Brahmaputra, according to Indian officials inBeijing. The document listing projects to be completedin China’s 12th five year plan made a passing referenceto the three dams without any details, they said. Indiahas not been informed about the move so far.

  • Twitter Hacked, Data Of 250,000 Users Exposed

    Twitter Hacked, Data Of 250,000 Users Exposed

    SAN FRANCISCO (TIP): Twitter said Friday thathackers, in the latest online attack, may have gainedaccess to information on a quarter of a million of itsmore than 200 million active users.The social media giant said in a blog posting thatearlier this week it detected attempts to gain access toits user data. It shut down one attack moments after itwas detected.But it discovered that the attackers may have gainedaccess to usernames, email addresses and encryptedpasswords belonging to 250,000 users.

    Twitter has resetthe pilfered passwords and sent emails advising usersthat they’ll have to create a new one.”This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we donot believe it was an isolated incident. The attackerswere extremely sophisticated, and we believe othercompanies and organizations have also been recentlysimilarly attacked,” the blog said.

    “For that reason wefelt that it was important to publicize this attack whilewe still gather information, and we are helpinggovernment and federal law enforcement in their effortto find and prosecute these attackers to make theInternet safer for all users.”The hack is the latest highprofilecyber-attack on US media and technologycompanies recently. The New York Times and The WallStreet Journal reported this week that their computersystems had been infiltrated by China-based hackers.One expert said that the Twitter hack probablyhappened after an employee’s home or work computerwas compromised through a vulnerability in Java, acommonly-used computing language whose weaknesseshave been well publicized.

  • India The Growth Story

    India The Growth Story

    Economy
    The economy of India is the tenthlargest in the world by nominal GDP and the third largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). The country is one of the G-20 major economies and a member of BRICS. On a per capita income basis, India ranked 140th by nominal GDP and 129th by GDP (PPP) in 2011, according to the IMF. India is the nineteenth largest exporter and tenth largest importer in the world. Economic growth rate stood at around 6.5% for the 2011-12 fiscal year. The independence-era Indian economy (from 1947 to 1991) was based on a mixed economy combining features of capitalism and socialism, resulting in an inwardlooking, interventionist policies and import-substituting economy that failed to take advantage of the postwar expansion of trade. This model contributed to widespread inefficiencies and corruption, and the failings of this system were due largely to its poor implementation. In 1991, India adopted liberal and free-market oriented principles and liberalized its economy to international trade under the guidance of Manmohan Singh, who then was the Finance Minister of India under the leadership of P.V. Narasimha Rao the then Prime Minister who eliminated License Raj a pre- and post-British Era mechanism of strict government control on setting up new industry. Following these strong economic reforms, and a strong focus on developing national infrastructure such as the Golden Quadrilateral project by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister, the country’s economic growth progressed at a rapid pace with very high rates of growth and large increases in the incomes of people.

    Pre-liberalization period (1947-1991)
    Indian economic policy after independence was influenced by the colonial experience, which was seen by Indian leaders as exploitative, and by those leaders’ exposure to British social democracy as well as the progress achieved by the planned economy of the Soviet Union. Domestic policy tended towards protectionism, with a strong emphasis on import substitution industrialization, economic interventionism, a large public sector, business regulation, and central planning, while trade and foreign investment policies were relatively liberal. Five-Year Plans of India resembled central planning in the Soviet Union. Steel, mining, machine tools, telecommunications, insurance, and power plants, among other industries, were effectively nationalized in the mid-1950s. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, along with the statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, formulated and oversaw economic policy during the initial years of the country’s existence. They expected favorable outcomes from their strategy, involving the rapid development of heavy industry by both public and private sectors, and based on direct and indirect state intervention, rather than the more extreme Sovietstyle central command system. The policy of concentrating simultaneously on capital- and technology-intensive heavy industry and subsidizing manual, low-skill cottage industries was criticized by economist Milton Friedman, who thought it would waste capital and labor, and retard the development of small manufacturers.[61] The rate of growth of the Indian economy in the first three decades after independence was derisively referred to as the Hindu rate of growth by economists, because of the unfavorable comparison with growth rates in other Asian countries. Since 1965, the use of high-yielding varieties of seeds, increased fertilizers and improved irrigation facilities collectively contributed to the Green Revolution in India, which improved the condition of agriculture by increasing crop productivity, improving crop patterns and strengthening forward and backward linkages between agriculture and industry.[64] However, it has also been criticized as an unsustainable effort, resulting in the growth of capitalistic farming, ignoring institutional reforms and widening income disparities. Subsequently the Emergency and Garibi Hatao concept by which the income tax levels at one point raised to a maximum of 97.5%, a record in the world for non-communist economies, started diluting the earlier efforts.

    Post-liberalization period (since 1991)
    In the late 1970s, the government led by Morarji Desai eased restrictions on capacity expansion for incumbent companies, removed price controls, reduced corporate taxes and promoted the creation of small scale industries in large numbers. However, the subsequent government policy of Fabian socialism hampered the benefits of the economy, leading to high fiscal deficits and a worsening current account. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which was India’s major trading partner, and the Gulf War, which caused a spike in oil prices, resulted in a major balance-ofpayments crisis for India, which found itself facing the prospect of defaulting on its loans.[66] India asked for a $1.8 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which in return demanded reforms.[67] In response, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, along with his finance minister Manmohan Singh, initiated the economic liberalization of 1991. The reforms did away with the License Raj, reduced tariffs and interest rates and ended many public monopolies, allowing automatic approval of foreign direct investment in many sectors. Since then, the overall thrust of liberalization has remained the same, although no government has tried to take on powerful lobbies such as trade unions and farmers, on contentious issues such as reforming labor laws and reducing agricultural subsidies. By the turn of the 20th century, India had progressed towards a freemarket economy, with a substantial reduction in state control of the economy and increased financial liberalization. This has been accompanied by increases in life expectancy, literacy rates and food security, although urban residents have benefited more than agricultural residents. While the credit rating of India was hit by its nuclear weapons tests in 1998, it has since been raised to investment level in 2003 by S&P and Moody’s. In 2003, Goldman Sachs predicted that India’s GDP in current prices would overtake France and Italy by 2020, Germany, UK and Russia by 2025 and Japan by 2035, making it the third largest economy of the world, behind the US and China. India is often seen by most economists as a rising economic superpower and is believed to play a major role in the global economy in the 21st century.

  • The Republic Of India

    The Republic Of India

    The Republic of India is a large South Asian country rich in ethnic diversity,with over one billion people speaking hundreds of languages. Politically it is the world’s largest liberal democracy. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and is the world’s second-fastest growing economy. India is also the second most populated country in the world. India has grown significantly, in terms of both population and strategic importance, in the last twenty years attributed to economic reforms. Strategically located in Asia,constituting most of the Indian subcontinent,India straddles many busy trade routes. It shares its borders with Pakistan,the People’s Republic of China,Myanmar,Bangladesh,Nepal,Bhutan and Afghanistan.Sri Lanka,the Maldives and Indonesia are the nearby island nations in the Indian Ocean. Home to some of the most ancient civilisations in the world, India was formally ruled by the British for almost ninety years before gaining independence in 1947.

    Origin of India’s name:
    The official name India is derived from Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the river Indus and is the most internationally recognisable of the country. The Constitution of India and general usage also recognises Bharat as the other official name of equal status. Bharat comes from the name of an ancient Hindu king and means seeker of knowledge. The third name is Hindustan, meaning land of the Hindus (where Hindu refers to those who dwell to the right of the Indus/Sindhu river) used from the Mughal times onwards. India,a sub-continent with 5000 year old History. A civilization united by its diversity,richness of culture,the glory of past,the turbulences and triumphs. The landmarks of each era,the achievements of a change,the legacy of a regime.

    As we walk through the history,India is an amazing discovery and its history is a unique tale of the past. With the arrival of the Portuguese, French and English traders, advantage was taken of the fractured, debilitate kingdoms to colonise India. In 1857, an insurrection amongst the army sepoys ensued in the popular Revolt of 1857 against the powerful British East India Company; this mobilised resistance, though short-lasting, was caused by the widespread resentment against discriminatory policies of the British. After the revolt, the Indian independence movements started demanding complete independence. On August 15th, 1947, India was finally granted independence from British rule and became a secular republic.

    January 26 (Republic Day of India): Republic Day is one of the greatest national celebrations observed throughout the country on January 26 every year. India became Republic on the 26th Jan, 1950. The country became a sovereign democratic republic with a written constitution and an elected parliament. At the time of independence, although India was under British rule, there were 565 Princely States, big and small, ruled by powerful sovereigns who were protected by treaties of alliance with the British Crown.

    Without bringing them together, the fundamental unity of the country was not possible. This unification was accomplished by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, whose statesmanship helped to integrate the country into one nation. In a little less than 2 years, all the princely States became a part of the Republic of India. It was on this date in 1927 that the Indian National Congress, then fighting its nonviolent war for freedom, voted for complete independence as against ‘dominion status’. When members of the INC took the pledge to work towards a ‘sovereign democratic republic’ of India.

  • Narasimha Rao had asked Kalam to be ready for nuclear test

    Narasimha Rao had asked Kalam to be ready for nuclear test

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Just two days before announcement of results of the 1996 general election, then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao had directed A P J Abdul Kalam, scientific adviser to the defence minister at the time, to keep his team ready for a nuclear test. However, with the poll outcome throwing up a change in government, Rao ensured his impending successor Atal Behari Vajpaee was briefed in his presence on the nuke test plans and so enabled a smooth takeover of the nuclear programme. This was revealed by Kalam himself while delivering the 7th R N Kao Memorial Lecture, organized by the Research and Analyses wing of the Cabinet Secretariat, here on Thursday. “I still remember a scene during May 1996. It was 9 ‘o’ clock. I got a call ….that I should meet Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao immediately,” Kalam said. According to the father of India’s missile programme, who later went on to become the President of India, Rao told him, “Kalam, be ready with the department of atomic energy and your team for the N-test and I am going to Tirupati. You wait for my authorization to go ahead with the test. DRDO-DAE teams must be ready for action”. Recounting Rao’s plans were not meant to be as “the election result was quite different from what he anticipated”, Kalam said he received yet another call from the then PM asking him to meet him along with Prime Minister-designate Vajpayee.

    This was “so that the smooth takeover of such a very important programme can take place,” he elaborated. However, the nuke test plans could not be carried out as the Vajpayee government lasted barely 13 days. Noting that Rao’s act of ensuring continuity of the nuclear programme “reveals the maturity and professional excellence of a patriotic statesman who believed that the nation is bigger than the political system,” Kalam revealed that the first task he was assigned after Vajpayee embarked on his second stint as the PM in 1998 was to conduct the nuclear test at the earliest.

    The Pokhran tests were finally carried out in May, 1998. Placing the focus of his lecture on cyber terrorism and counter measures, Kalam on Thursday suggested an empowered coordinating agency be set up to receive information about all cyber attacks. Apart from calling for continuous upgrade of technical capabilities by the intelligence agencies, the former President insisted that hacking skills be imparted by scientists, computer software and hardware experts, on the lines of China where virus writing is taught in its military schools. Kalam suggested human intelligence and electronic intelligence be used as a tool to penetrate terrorist groups, besides building offensive and defensive cyber capabilities on the lines of nuclear capabilities. “Technology-driven covert operations are becoming the order of the day and inflicting collateral damages through critical information infrastructure is threatening to change the conventional wisdom in warfare,” he said and sought crippling of the ability of terrorists to use technology for communication.

    Kalam also recommended creation of an intelligence cadre, like the Indian Intelligence Service, by recruiting specifically for intelligence agencies. All these recruits, he said, must be made to pass a strict personality test based on evolved and dynamic physiological and psychological aptitude tests.

  • Japanese PM holds out olive branch to China

    Japanese PM holds out olive branch to China

    TOKYO (TIP): Hawkish Japanese premier Shinzo Abe held out an olive branch to China on Tuesday, sending a letter to Beijing’s leader-in-waiting to be hand delivered by a coalition ally.

    The move comes after months of diplomatic tussles between China and Japan over the sovereignty of a disputed island chain in the East China Sea that have seen repeated maritime encounters. Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of the New Komeito party, was expected to stay in Beijing for four days, during which time he would meet China’s incoming president, Xi Jinping, and hand over a letter from Abe, local media reported. “Japan-China relations have been faced with various kinds of friction, and political dialogue has not been held for a long time,” Yamaguchi told reporters ahead of his departure. “I would like to make a step toward opening the door to normalising our relations,” he said. But Yamaguchi, who has no official government role, said Tokyo has no plan to compromise over the island row. “Our stance is that no territorial problem exists. That’s a shared recognition among the government and coalition.” China has repeatedly sent ships to waters near the disputed islands since Japan nationalised some of the chain in September, a move that triggered a diplomatic dispute and huge anti-Japan demonstrations across China.

    Beijing has also sent air patrols near the Tokyocontrolled islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan, but claimed by Beijing as the Diaoyus. On Sunday, Beijing rebuked the United States after secretary of state Hillary Clinton issued a veiled warning to China not to challenge Tokyo’s control over the chain, which is believed to sit atop vast mineral reserves.

  • Islands row: Japan fires water cannon at Taiwanese boat

    Islands row: Japan fires water cannon at Taiwanese boat

    TAIPEI (TIP): A boat with Taiwanese activists headed for disputed Japanesecontrolled islands turned back Thursday after coast guard vessels from the two sides converged and duelled with water cannon. The boat, carrying seven people including four Taiwanese activists, gave up a plan to land on the East China Sea islands after being blocked by Japanese coast guard vessels as it sailed within 17 nautical miles of the archipelago. “We fired water cannon at each other,” Taiwanese coast guard spokesman Shih Yiche said of the confrontation. The disputed islands, in an area where the seabed is believed to harbour valuable mineral reserves, are known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. Both China and Taiwan claim them. As the standoff unfolded, three Chinese surveillance vessels were positioned a few nautical miles off, the Taiwanese coast guard said. It added that it was the first time ships from China had been spotted near a Taiwanese-Japanese incident, and that it had sent a radio message to the three boats to keep their distance in order not to complicate matters. The incident came at a time of growing regional concern over the intensified friction over the islands between China and Japan, with both Beijing and Tokyo recently scrambling fighter jets to assert their claims to the area. The Japanese coast guard confirmed that it took action after encountering the Taiwanese vessel. “Our patrol boat carried out restrictions on the vessel such as blocking its path and discharging water,” it said in a statement. “The vessel left our country’s contiguous zone at around 1:30 pm (0430 GMT) and continued sailing west-southwest away from the Senkakus.” The activists, who set off in the early hours and were expected to return to Taiwan at about 7pm (1100 GMT), had hoped to place a statue of the Goddess of the Sea on the islands, to protect Taiwanese fishermen in the area. They had also intended to “maintain sovereignty” in defiance of Japan’s control, said Hsieh Mang-lin, the Taiwanese chairman of the Chinese Association for Protecting the Diaoyutais (Diaoyu Islands).

    Taiwan’s coast guard said four of its vessels on routine patrols in the area had protected the activists’ boat. “The coast guard will protect our people’s voluntary actions to defend the Diaoyu islands. coast guard vessels will go wherever the fishing boat is… to defend our sovereignty and protect our fishing rights,” it said in a statement. A Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said officials at the nation’s de facto embassy in Taipei, established in the absence of formal relations, had been in touch with the Taiwanese government about the incident. “We have repeatedly called on the Taiwan side to take proper action in order to prevent an unfavourable situation from arising in the favourable Japan-Taiwan relations,” he said. coast guard vessels from Japan and Taiwan also exchanged water cannon barrages in September after dozens of Taiwanese boats were escorted by patrol ships into the islands’ waters.

    Previous activist landings have resulted in the arrest and deportation of those setting foot on what Japan says has been its indisputable territory for more than a century. The rocky island outposts have been the scene of a diplomatic tussle between Japan and China for months. Japan’s government nationalised three of them in September by taking them out of private Japanese ownership

  • John Kerry vows to strengthen ‘critical’ China ties

    John Kerry vows to strengthen ‘critical’ China ties

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Senator John Kerry, on track to be America’s next secretary of state, told US lawmakers on Thursday that he would work to boost ties with China, but warned of a “long slog” ahead. Kerry told his Senate confirmation hearing that he wanted to “grow the rebalance” towards Beijing “because it is critical to us to strengthen our relationship in China.” Washington would continue the so-called pivot — begun during the first term of President Barack Obama — towards Asia and in particular China, Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations committee, though he added that America was not “turning away from anywhere else.” Kerry said that while the United States and China would remain economic “competitors,” the two nations “shouldn’t be viewed as adversaries in some way that diminishes our ability to cooperate on a number of things.” “China is, you know, the other sort of significant economy in the world and obviously has a voracious appetite for resources around the world, and we need to establish rules of the road that work for everybody,” Kerry said.

    He acknowledged the difficulty of issues such as intellectual property rights, and China’s propping up of its currency, the yuan. But he stressed there were areas where the two economic superpowers could work together. “China is cooperating with us now on Iran.

    I think there might be more we could perhaps do with respect to North Korea,” the veteran senator said. It could be more we could do in other parts of the Far East. And hopefully we can build those relationships that will further that transformation.

    We make progress. It’s incremental… It’s a tough slog.” Another area where the two nations could perhaps come together might be on climate change, Kerry added. Earlier in the hearing he had vowed to be “a passionate advocate” on the subject of working to battle global warming. “China is soon going to have double the emissions of the United States of America.

    So we’ve got to get these folks as part of this unified effort, and I intend to work very, very hard at trying to do that,” Kerry said.

    But he appeared to rule out any move towards increasing again the US military force in the Asia-Pacific region. “I’m not convinced that increased military rampup is critical yet,” Kerry said, adding that if confirmed he wanted to “dig into this a little deeper” and try a thoughtful approach. “We have a lot more bases out there than any other nation in the world, including China today,” he argued, saying the Chinese must be wondering “What’s the United States doing? They trying to circle us? What’s going on?”

  • In Mutual Interest: India And Iran

    In Mutual Interest: India And Iran

    Inits first major diplomatic engagement of the New Year, India hosted Iran’s supreme national Security Council secretary and chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, last week. Jalili was in Delhi at the invitation of the national security advisor, Shiv Shankar Menon, and met not only Menon but also the finance minister, P. Chidambaram, and the foreign minister, Salman Khurshid. In spite of bilateral ties between Delhi and Teheran losing their past sheen, Jalili underscored that “there are very good relations between the two countries” and that the two nations remain “friends”.

    The visit was also significant because Jalili is considered as a potential successor to the present Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who completes his two terms in office this year. The economic situation in Iran has deteriorated rapidly over the last few months.

    Because the Central Bank of Iran has been having trouble maintaining its currency peg of 12,260 rials to the dollar, more and more Iranians are trying to trade their rials for foreign currency. This has led to a free fall in the value of the rial.

    The Western sanctions have blocked Iran international bank networks, making it difficult for Iranian businesses to borrow money at a time when the CBI is having difficulty meeting demands for dollars. As a consequence, Iran is facing its worst financial crisis since the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. It has therefore become urgent for Iran to reach out to non-Western nations to seek help. Russia, China and India are natural players in this context and so Jalili’s high-profile visit to Delhi is important. Jalili tried to project Iran as a destination where countries like India can fill the vacuum by suggesting that international economic sanctions on Iran were not a “threat”, but an “opportunity”. Even the Iranian healthcare system is close to collapse under the weight of sanctions and Teheran has reached out to India for help with life-saving drugs. India is now exporting one of its largest consignments of medicines ever to Iran.

    Iran is also trying to make a case to Delhi that it could be a reliable provider of energy security to India even though the past experience of India has been rather problematic. But Jalili argued that “Iran’s capability is not just supplying oil and gas. Providing security of energy is one of the principles of Iran’s policy in this respect. We have the best capability [among all neighboring countries] in providing energy security for the region”. Jalili made a case for the extension of the gas pipeline with Pakistan to India underlining that Iran “has the capacity to provide security”.

    But India has been trying to reduce its dependence on Iranian oil for some time now and it is not entirely clear if there will be a change of heart in New Delhi because of Jalili’s visit, although India recognizes the benefits of using Iranian territory as a transit route into Afghanistan and Central Asia. In terms of energy security, actions by the United States of America and the European Union considerably impede India’s pursuit of resources in Iran, where India is the third-largest recipient of exported oil. This is well-illustrated by recent EU sanctions banning European companies from insuring tankers that carry Iranian energy resources anywhere in the world. With nearly all tanker insurance based in Western nations, Indian shipping companies are reportedly forced to rely on state insurance, which only covers tankers for $50 million as opposed to the estimated $1 billion in coverage typically offered by European agencies. Shippers therefore face great risk in transportation. Western efforts to undermine financial institutions in Iran have also complicated payments for Iranian oil exports. An executive order issued by the White House in November 2011 authorizes the US secretary of state to impose financial sanctions on any entity failing to satisfactorily curb support of the Iranian market according to US terms, thus pressuring countries such as India to reduce imports supporting the Iranian economy.

    China, like India, has a massive demand for energy security. China is present in nearly every geographic area of importance to India’s energy security and Chinese State-owned companies have proved more willing and able to secure deals at any cost than Indian companies. This intricate challenge of remaining competitive with China and close to the US is manifest in Iran. While New Delhi faces pressure from the West to curb its ties with Iran, Beijing continues to pursue close bilateral relations with Teheran under a firm policy of non-interference to ensure the security of its energy and strategic interests. Beijing was a highly significant factor in Iran’s acquisition of capabilities throughout the 1980s and early 1990s that helped initiate its nuclear program. Although China curbed official support of Iran’s nuclear program in 1997 under heavy US pressure, American officials suspect the continuation of informal support under the auspices of non-governmental entities. China continues to supply arms to Iran as well, and although the value of these transfers declined in the first decade of the 2000s, Chinese arms are still presumed to be supporting proxy militant groups in the Middle East via Iran, much to the dismay of Washington. China also functions as a diplomatic ally that can offer leverage to Iran within the International Atomic Energy Agency and United Nations Security Council.

    Beijing is vocal in its support for diplomacy rather than force in dealing with Teheran and is adamant in denouncing unilateral or bilateral sanctions that prohibit economic interactions to isolate Iran. China thus retains significant value for Iran in a manner that would be difficult for India to emulate, particularly given its greater dependency on good relations with the US and basic objections to Iran’s nuclear program. Teheran and the P-5+1 (the five permanent UN security council members plus Germany) are set to resume talks later this month, although the place and date for the negotiations have not been finalized. The talks would be the first highlevel negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program since the negotiations in Moscow in June, offering at least the prospect of a thaw in a standoff that has grown increasingly tense in recent months. A Washington-Teheran rapprochement will allow India greater strategic space to pursue its diplomatic interests and, as the situation in Afghanistan continues to unravel, this will be useful in shaping the regional environment to India’s advantage.

  • ‘New Chapter’ In China’s Ties With India, Says CPC

    ‘New Chapter’ In China’s Ties With India, Says CPC

    BEIJING (TIP): Describing the last year as among the least problematic in the history of India-China relations, the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) official newspaper has said in an editorial that ties with India had now turned the corner with “new features” emerging in the relationship, marked by a shift in focus from the boundary question to trade. The unsigned editorial in the People’s Daily, which reflects the views of the top leadership, called for both countries to “grasp each other’s strategic intent” to ensure that their “growing international influence” was mutually “reinforcing,” rather than a source of rivalry. Unsigned editorials in the newspaper are widely seen as being endorsed by the CPC’s top leadership and as the most authoritative reflections of the party’s views.

    The editorial, the first prominent commentary in the paper on relations with India following last year’s leadership transition in the CPC, closely echoed the message conveyed by new General Secretary Xi Jinping in a letter delivered to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week. “Some new features of the relationship are now emerging,” the editorial, published on Tuesday, said. “The border issue has been controlled effectively. Technical frictions and some worries about the trade imbalance are emerging … while both countries’ international influences are growing.” “But the problems in trade cooperation are fundamentally different from the border dispute,” the editorial noted.

    “The former one shows that the relationship is deepening and developing, and becoming more normal … The smooth development of trade relations will increase mutual trust and is conducive to the successful negotiation of the border issue.” Mr. Xi, who took over following November’s Party Congress and will succeed Hu Jintao as President in March, said in the letter to Dr. Singh that China “will, as it has been doing, pay great importance to developing relations with India and expects to carry out close cooperation with India to create a brighter future of their bilateral relations.” With the new focus of ties evolving away from bilateral issues, the editorial said both countries now needed to focus on “grasping each other’s strategic intent” to avoid a regional rivalry.

    “Both China and India are big powers in this region, and have their own geopolitical interests when promoting relationships with surrounding countries. But as long as such consideration is aimed at the lasting peace of the Asian region, not taking other regional powers as rivals … it will definitely have a positive spillover effect,” the newspaper said. “The reinforcement of both countries’ regional and international influences,” it added, “doesn’t mean the increase of frictions between the two countries.”

    Curiously, the government-run China Daily, a less influential Englishlanguage daily, published a similar editorial a day later, on Wednesday, suggesting the new leadership was looking to convey a signal on its positions with regard to India in the wake of the transition. The editorial said the recently concluded defence dialogue and the visit of State Councillor Dai Bingguo to New Delhi last week were “positive signals” in the New Year.

  • China’s economy rebounds in fourth quarter, 2012 weakest since 1999

    China’s economy rebounds in fourth quarter, 2012 weakest since 1999

    BEIJING (TIP): Chinese economy grew at its slowest pace in 13 years posting 7.8 per cent year-on-year growth in 2012 amid external jitters and domestic woes. Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the growth rate, the weakest expansion in 13 years, was down from 9.3 per cent in 2011 and 10.4 per cent in 2010. The economy’s fourth-quarter growth quickened to 7.9 per cent on government pro-growth measures.

    The rate ended a seven-straightquarter slowdown, according to the data. In 2012, the gross domestic product reached 51. 93 trillion yuan (USD 8.28 trillion). The growth rate, however, is still marginally higher than the 7.5 per cent target fixed by the government.

    The Chinese economy mainly driven by the exports has missed its double-digit growth posting 9.3 per cent, the data showed. The GDP for 2011 stood at 47.29 trillion yuan (USD 7.45 trillion). There were apprehensions whether the GDP would miss the official target when it posted 7. 4 per cent growth in the third quarter this year, but it picked up in the last three months mainly driven by Christmas and New Year sales in the last three months of the year. Analysts said stimulus measures introduced by the Chinese government has averted further slowdown.

    Government stimulus measures introduced since early 2012 have produced results, a state run Xinhua news agency report said. “They have helped reverse the slowdown and stabilise the growth,” Wang Jun, an economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, one elite think-tank in Beijing said. GDP figures headed a string of other encouraging economic data on Friday. Retail sales, a key indicator of consumer spending, rose 15.2 per cent from a year earlier in December, up from 14.9 per cent in November, the report said.

    The growth of industrial production accelerated to 10.3 per cent year-on-year in December from November’s 10.1 per cent pace. Fixed-asset investment, a measure of government spending on infrastructure, also increased 1.53 per cent from November to December. China’s exports, a key driver of the economy, also trumped market forecasts to grow 14.1 per cent year-onyear in December, up from November’s 2.9 per cent, customs data showed last week. “I think the economy’s growth has been stabilised, but whether the rebound will continue remains unclear,” said Zhang Liqun, an analyst with the Development Research Center of the State Council said.

    China’s major economic risks in 2013 still lie in uncertainties in its external markets and domestic property sector, Zhang said. The government pared the full-year growth target for 2012 to 7.5 per cent from 8 per cent in early 2012. Many economists are expecting the target to remain unchanged for this year. The slow growth rate, compared to be blistering double digit GDP rates which China used to for the past three decades is a new phenomena, the new Chinese leadership, headed by Xi Jinping is expected to address. Xi along with a host of new leaders at various levels were elected in the once-in-a-decade leadership change conference of the ruling Communist Party of China in November last. He is scheduled to take over as the President succeeding Hu Jintao in March this year.

    The number two leader, Li Keqiang, who is an economist is set to succeed, Premier Wen Jiabao. Economic stability was stated to be the focus of the new leadership reorienting China’s expert driven economy, in view global economic crisis to that of one based on domestic consumption, which officials say would take sometime.

    Besides rapid urbanisation, which now crossed 52.57 per cent in 2012, drastically changing the complexion of China’s agrarian economy, China is also faced with demographic crisis as a result of its over three decades old one child policy impacting its cheap labour availability.

    China has about 185 million people above the age of 60, or 13.7 per cent of the population at present. The figure is expected to surge to 221 million in 2015 and about 30 per cent by 2030. Chalking out its plans to speed up the growth rate, China has announced plans to allocate USD 103.56 billion for massive railway expansion this year.

    Plush with USD 3.31 trillion foreign reserves, China was expected to step up its investments to further develop its infrastructure to spur growth and roll out limited stimulus packages. China is also reorienting its exports strategy moving away from European Union, which in the past was its biggest trade partner to developing and emerging markets.

    The government has taken measures to cool the property market to avert the chances of a bubble which analysts say has slowed the economy further.

  • Government Makes Many Commitments To NRIs

    Government Makes Many Commitments To NRIs

    KOCHI (TIP): Better air connectivity to Kerala, Voting rights in local bodies, Liberal baggage & gold allowance to NRIs in Gulf
    The Government of India and the Government of Kerala assured NRIs in the Gulf, particularly, Malayalis, that their demands for better air connectivity to Kerala, grant of voting rights in local bodies, and liberal baggage and gold allowance, would be addressed on priority. Inaugurating a pre-PBD seminar on NRIs in the Gulf organized on the occasion of the 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) here on Monday, January 7, Mr. Vayalar Ravi, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, said, “I am deeply aware of the problems faced by Malayalis settled in the Gulf and I assure you that I will take up your suggestions with the Prime Minister and my Cabinet colleagues for expeditious redressal of your problems.”

    Alluding to the problems and the alleged opposition by Air India to the State Government’s proposal to launch ‘Air Kerala’, a state airline to improve connectivity between the Gulf region and India, Mr. Ravi said that the Union Government would try to sort out the issue on priority. In his keynote address Mr. Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister, Kerala, expressed gratitude to non-resident Keralites in the Gulf who annually remit foreign exchange worth Rs. 60,000 crore, a fifth of the State’s Domestic Product. He assured the delegates that the issue of voting rights in local bodies raised by Malayalis, would be addressed in the next session of State Assembly as the Government had decided to amend the Representation of Peoples’ Act and the Kerala Panchayath Act.

    Voting rights in Parliamentary and Assembly Elections have already been granted to NRIs. Earlier,Mr. Ravi and Mr. Chandy inaugurated the exhibition and released, two reports at the seminar — ‘Connecting with Indian Diaspora’ and ‘India Migration Report 2013’. Mr. K C Joseph, Minister of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department (NORKA) & Culture, Government of Kerala, urged the Central Government to allow NRI women and men to bring in 100 gms and 50 gms of gold, respectively, into the country from the present allowance of Rs. 10,000 worth of gold for women and Rs. 20,000 for men. He suggested to the Ministry of External Affairs that to address the problems faced by NRIs, the staff strength of Indian embassies should be substantially strengthened and called for the appointment of a senior Malayali-speaking officer in the embassy so that their problems are better understood and corrective actions taken expeditiously.

    Mr. E Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs, Government of India, pointed out that according to the World Bank report, India has received remittances of $70 billion in 2012, the highest in the world followed by China. The sharp increase in remittances to India has come from Gulf countries where mostly the unskilled and semi-skilled workers are remitters. He assured the delegates that the Central Government was alive to the problems faced by overseas Indians and offered all help in finding solutions to these issues.

    Other speakers who addressed the delegates were Mr. K Babu,Minister for Excise & Ports, Government; Mr.M I Shanavas, Member of Parliament; Mr.M K Raghavan, Member of Parliament and Mr. Yusuffali M A, Vice Chairman, NORKA ROOTS. In the panel discussion with NRIs,Mr. Hibi Eden, Member of Legislative Assembly, Kerala; Mr. Issac Thomas, President, Kerala Pradesh Pravasi Congress; Mr. A R Ghanashyam, Joint Secretary (Gulf), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India; Mr. V Vumlunmang, Joint Secretary (Foreigners), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and India’s Ambassadors from the GCC countries, shared their perspectives and sought to allay the apprehensions of the NRIs.

  • Obama Nominates Jack Lew as Treasury Secretary

    Obama Nominates Jack Lew as Treasury Secretary

    WASHINGTON (TIP): US President Barack Obama, in an effort to rejuvenate the battered US economy, on Thursday, January 10th, nominated his Chief-of-Staff and budget specialist Jack Lew to succeed Timothy Geithner as the next Treasury Secretary. Obama announced his nomination in the ornate White House East Room, flanked by Lew and outgoing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The two men and their backgrounds illustrate the nation’s changing economic landscape – Geithner a long time banking specialist with the Treasury and the Federal Reserve took office in 2009 at the height of the nation’s financial crisis and Lew, the budget expert as the government struggles with its debt and deficit challenges. Obama heaped praise on Geithner for addressing the Wall Street meltdown and shepherding an overhaul of financial regulations through Congress.

    “When the history books are written, Tim Geithner is going to go down as one of our finest secretaries of the Treasury.” Obama highlighted Lew’s past work on economic policy, from his days in the 1980s as an aide to then House Speaker Tip O’Neill to his work on the budget with President Bill Clinton. Obama said he felts “bittersweet” about losing Lew as his White House chief of staff but says “my loss will be the nation’s gain.”

    “I cannot think of a better person to continue Tim’s work at Treasury than Jack Lew,” Obama said, in a White House event announcing his nominations for the top cabinet jobs in his second term beginning January 20. “Jack knows that every number on a page, every dollar we budget, every decision we make, has to be an expression of who we wish to be as a nation,” Obama said. “So, I hope the Senate will confirm him as quickly as possible,” Obama said. “Jack Lew will bring an impressive record of service in both the public and private sectors for over three decades and economic expertise to this important role, and his deep knowledge of domestic and international economic issues will enable him to take on the challenges facing our economy at home and abroad on day one,” a White House official said, explaining the reasons behind Lew’s selection. “Throughout his career, Jack Lew has proven a successful and effective advocate for middle class families who can build bipartisan consensus to implement proven economic policies,” the official said.

    “As White House Chief of Staff, Jack Lew led the President’s team in tackling some of the toughest domestic and international economic challenges facing our nation in decades,” the official said, adding that that the challenges included strengthening nation’s recovery from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression to dealing with serious fiscal matters and challenges in the global economy.” “He also led the Office of Management and Budget under President Clinton and President Obama, negotiating a historic agreement with Congress during the Clinton administration to balance the federal budget and leading the negotiations of the bipartisan Budget Control Act in 2011, which brought discretionary spending to historically low levels,” the White House official said.

    As Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, in addition to managing the day-today operations of the Department, Lew managed the State Department’s international economic policy portfolio and travelled the world to advance our nation’s interest, said the official. “He also has a distinguished record leading private and public sector institutions and will bring strong relationships in the business community to his new role,” the official said.

    “At Citi, he was part of the senior internal management team of this global financial institution, serving as managing director and COO of Citi Global Wealth Management and then as managing director and COO of Citi Alternative Investments,” he said. A series of economic topics, including how to raise the USD 16.4 trillion federal borrowing limit to avert a first-ever default by the government and how to respond to China’s growing economic might, would await Lew at the Treasury Department, experts said.

  • President Urges Overseas Indians To Invest In India

    President Urges Overseas Indians To Invest In India

    KOCHI (TIP): President of India, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee expressed confidence that the Indian economy would bounce back to an 8-9% GDP growth due to its strong economic fundamentals and the reforms driven policy initiatives of government of India.

    Addressing the valedictory session of the 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here on January 9, Mr. Mukherjee said, “To achieve this order of growth over a sustained period of time, would need large doses of investment. The overseas Indians could help by investing in Indian companies and in the capital market and earn higher dividends as the yield of the equity markets in India was much higher than elsewhere.”

    India, he said, was a “land of immense opportunity; the second fastest growing economy after China. But for a brief period of economic deceleration, six of the nine years that have gone by witnessed a GDP growth of around 8%.”

    The President said that he wished to see the Indian Diaspora as a strong partner in India’s development, not just in economic growth but in the knowledge economy. “Knowledge and experience you have gained can ply decisive role in the growth story of India”, he said. “Together, we will keep our tryst with destiny,” he said, amid huge applause an added “we are proud of your services to India”. Earlier, the President gave away the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards to 15 eminent persons of Indian origin for their outstanding contribution for enhancing India’s prestige in a tangible way.

    The award winners for 2013 included Mr. Rajkeswur Purryag President of Mauritius, who was “recognized for his outstanding contributions in public service and fostering friendly relations between India and Mauritius; Australia-India Society of Victoria (award received by Mr. Gurdip Singh Arora) “recognized for its role in protecting the rights of Indian migrants and establishing a network of welfare activities”;

    Mr. Ashok Shambhomal Vaswani, Guinea “recognized for his efforts in building strong bridges between India and the people of the Republic of Guinea”; Indian Doctors Forum, Kuwait (award received by Dr. Narayan Namboori) “recognized for its contribution to the field of healthcare facilities for Indians and Kuwaitis”; Tan Sri Ravindran Menon, Malaysia “honored for his contribution in fostering better understanding of Indian community in Malaysia, and for his philanthropic works”; Dr. Rasik Vihari Joshi, Mexico “honored for eminence in his field of work, for enhancing India’s image and for promoting better understanding of India abroad”;

    Dr. Satendra Kumar Singh, Fiji “honored for his immense contribution to promotion of Indian culture and heritage in New Zealand, Fiji and South Pacific”; Mr. Gilbert Canabady Moutien, Reunion Islands “recognized for his immense contribution to strengthening and fostering business ties between India and Reunion Island and his efforts in promoting Indian culture and heritage”;

    Mr.Mohammed Rabeeh Karuvanthodi, Saudi Arabia “honored for his efforts and contribution in promoting healthcare facilities in GCC countries and his philanthropic activities”; Mr. Ismail Ebrahim Ebrahim, South Africa “recognized for his commitment to the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity, his outstanding contribution to public service and fostering closer ties between India and South Africa”; Mr. Bava Pandalingal, Abu Dhabi, UAE “honored for his efforts and dedication in the service of Indian communities in UAE”; Ms. Patricia Maria Rozario, UK “recognized for her outstanding contribution to the Western Classical Music and her eminence in skills which have enhanced India’s prestige abroad”; Dr. Narendra Ramkrishna Kumar, USA “honored for his contribution in the healthcare sector and promoting India and Indians abroad”; Mr. Subash Razdan, Chairman and Co- Founder of Gandhi Peace Foundation, USA “recognized for enhancing the prestige of India through his contribution to public and the Indian community”; and Prof. Dr. Gurcharan Singh Chatwal, Germany, “honored for fostering closer scientific relations between India and Germany, and for enhancing India’s prestige abroad”. Dr. Chatwal, however, could not arrive to receive the award due to “unavoidable reasons”.

  • India, China Rise Set To Shake Global Order: US Think Tank

    India, China Rise Set To Shake Global Order: US Think Tank

    WASHINGTON (TIP): The rise of China and India as major world powers and how they view their relationship with the West promises to test the established global order, according to a US think tank. In the coming decades, “as the two powers grow, they are bound to change the current international system-with profound implications for themselves, the US, and the world,” says a new publication of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “And whether they agree on the changes to be made, especially when it comes to their relationship with the West, will influence the system’s future character,” says the publication, “Crux of Asia: China, India, and the Emerging Global Order”.

    A close examination of Chinese and Indian perspectives on the fundamentals of the emerging international order reveals that India-China differences on many issues of both bilateral and global significance are stark, it says. “China and India’s sustained economic growth fuels their increasing geopolitical and military influence,” says the publication edited by Ashley J. Tellis, a senior associate, and Sean Mirski, a junior fellow respectively in the Carnegie South Asia Programme. Despite their developmental similarities, China and India’s bilateral strategic rivalry means that they have competing priorities on most major global issues, the publication says. Sino-Indian differences are considerable on issues relating to the nonproliferation system, Asian security, regional stability in Southern Asia, and security in the maritime commons, space, and cyberspace, it says. But the two rising powers broadly agree on matters relating to the international economic system, energy security, and the environment.

    “Because of its ongoing shift to the Asia-Pacific and status as the only global superpower, the US must manage a complex set of relationships with China and India, which are at times working at crosspurposes,” the publication says. Both China and India want a stable Asia-Pacific that will allow them to sustain their economic prosperity, but they perceive threats very differently and have divergent priorities. “Importantly, India seeks a resolute American presence in the region to hedge against possible Chinese excesses, while China sees the US as significantly complicating its pursuit of its regional goals and worries about American containment attempts,” the publication says.

  • China Paper Hits Newsstands, But Protests Still On

    China Paper Hits Newsstands, But Protests Still On

    GUANGZHOU (TIP): A weekly Chinese newspaper at the centre of anti-censorship protests appeared on newsstands on Thursday as a newsroom strike ended amid fresh calls for the Communist Party leadership to loosen its grip on the media. The strike at the Southern Weekly in the affluent Guangdong province came after censors watered down a page-two editorial in the New Year edition. Calls for China to enshrine constitutional rights were replaced with comments praising oneparty rule. The rare newsroom revolt at one of China’s most respected and liberal papers hit a raw nerve nationwide, with calls for freedom of expression led by bloggers with millions of followers such as actress Yao Chen and writer Han Han.

    How the party responds to those calls will be a key indicator of new party leader Xi Jinping’s reformist inclinations. About six protesters were forcibly cleared from the gates of the paper by plainclothes officials on Thursday, shouting as they were bundled into vehicles as dozens of uniformed police officers looked on. The problem of reconciling the conflict between conservatives and liberals was illustrated in scuffles and heated arguments outside the Southern Weekly’s gates all week. Leftists carrying Mao Zedong posters and red China flags repeatedly abused scores of Southern Weekly supporters for undermining China’s socialist system and one-party rule.

  • Saina Nehwal lone Indian to make quarters at Korean Open

    Saina Nehwal lone Indian to make quarters at Korean Open

    HYDERABAD (TIP): With the second round exit of Parupalli Kashyap and PV Sindhu, it was left to Saina Nehwal to carry the Indian hopes at the Korea Open Super Series Premier in Seoul on Thursday. The Olympic bronze medalist made short work ((21- 16, 21-9) of Singapore’s Mingtian Fu to set up a quarterfinal clash against upcoming Chinese shuttler Han Li on Friday. Saina defeated Li twice last year. With the withdrawal of top seed Li Xuerui and second seed Wang Yihan, Saina, who is seeded third, has emerged as the title favourite.

    However, with the presence of few other players like former All England champion Shixian Wang of China and youngster Minatsu Mitani of Japan, the field is quite strong at Seoul. Sindhu lost to Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 19-21, 13-21, her first loss against the Thai girl in three meetings. Men’s singles shuttler Kashyap went down fighting against Hu Yun of Hong Kong 21-16, 13-21, 17-21. Kashyap started on a strong note winning the first game before Yun began to trouble him at the net. Kashyap is world No. 11 Kashyap rose to a careerbest ranking of world number 11 in the latest rankings. P V Sindhu, also jumped two places to reach career-best ranking of number 17, while Saina retained her third rank.

  • An Overhaul Man Gobind Munjal

    An Overhaul Man Gobind Munjal

    Gobind Munjal, a successful Chartered Accountant and CPA by profession has worked as a Senior Vice President of Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions and served on the Board of Directors of the International Division of Tata Group of Hotels in the USA, totaling 30 years of professional services with the renowned Tata Group in various senior leadership positions. During his services with the Tata Group he saved millions of dollars for the company by way of efficient tax structuring of the deals and was recognized for his excellence in the Hospitality Merger & Acquisition field. In 2006 he started his own advisory and consultancy services. His involvement in community affairs and activities started since more than a decade ago when he joined what was then one of the fastest and largest growing not for profit Organizations on Long Island representing Indians in America, known as the India Association of Long Island (IALI).

    This Organization was about 20 years old then with a growing membership of Suffolk and Nassau County residents, which today numbers 1,600 strong. The aim of the Organization was primarily to promote the culture and heritage of India so that bridges may be crossed between Indians living in America and the local Americans to promote a better understanding of the two cultures. Mr. Munjal served on the Executive Board of IALI for seven of the fifteen years of his continuing membership, in various capacities climbing steadily to the very top :- 2006 – Member-at-Large; 2007 – Membership Chair; 2008-2009 – Secretary; 2010 – Treasurer; 2011 – President. He worked very hard in each of the positions that he held taking each position very seriously and elevating its standards to a much higher level. He brought ethics, professionalism and transparency in producing Minutes of Meetings and raised the standards of Financial Reporting and its presentation to a level that almost everybody in the Executive Council and Past Presidents expressed their overwhelming praise for his work and dedication.

    As President he did much to improve and raise the standards of IALI by bringing transparency, accountability and professionalism to the Association. As President of IALI Mr. Gobind Munjal’s goal and objectives was to bring back Unity, Harmony and Team Work within the Organization; bring back “INDIAFEST” IALI’s hallmark event which truly promotes and showcases India’s culture and traditions in mainstream America; build “INDIA CENTER” for the Indian community, a long cherished dream come true for the India Association of Long Island; encourage stronger participation of the youth and Seniors Group; involve more with the local American community; provide educational support to needy Indian students; build closer ties with local Senior Groups and National Indo-American Association for Senior Citizens (NIAASC); and increase participation and support for the Annual Food Drive to take it to a higher level.

    Growth of membership of IALI during Mr. Munjal’s presidency of one year has been exponential, with around a hundred new members added. A remarkable feat. Many of these objectives were remarkably achieved with the IALI having all successful, well attended month to month women, seniors and youth programs and major events for the year 2011. INDIAFEST turned out to be a BLOCKBUSTER of an event well received and well attended by many dignitaries, community leaders and scores of Americans who thoroughly enjoyed the high end Floor Shows with its sophisticated Fashion Show, a page out of Broadway, a wealth of scintillating performances and dances, mindblowing variety of delicious Indian cuisine and showcasing of the wide variety of arts and crafts and ethnic designer ware of India. Not giving up on the dream of having the INDIA CENTER a place India Association of Long Island has long wanted to call their very own Mr. Munjal has still persisted and today chairs the Ad Hoc Special Committee in IALI with a committed team set up for 2012 so that this dream become a reality.

    Mr. Gobind Munjal’s vision for the future of the Indian community is to see realize INDIA COMMUNITY CENTER and at the same time he also holds true his dream of some form of Housing and Assisted Living Facility for the Seniors. His involvement with India Home providing services for seniors of Indian origin, is testament to his commitment towards improving lives of seniors. He is relentlessly working towards achieving his goal of providing medical, social, and spiritual services for the aging Indian Seniors in Queens and Long Island. When his term as President of IALI concluded at the close of the year 2011, in spite of his tremendous popularity he did not seek reelection, rather made himself available upon invitation to give his services for others. His dedication and passion for community service did not diminish. This has resulted in his joining Indian American Forum (IAF) as Co-Chair of Indian American Night and Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Long Island Chapter as Secretary. He has been invited to join the National Federation of Indian Americans (NFIA) and has twice participated in the Congressional Hearings and White House briefings in Washington DC.

    He is also a life member of Association of Indians in America (AIA) and Nargis Dutt Memorial Foundation (NDMF) and participates in their activities. He has received numerous Citations and Awards in his year as President of IALI, among them being the Certificate of Recognition from Hon. Kate Murray, Supervisor, Town of Hempstead and has been honored with a Citation by Nassau County Executive Hon. Ed. Mangano and NYS Comptroller Thomas Di Napoli together with Indian Consul General at New York Hon. Prabhu Dayal. During his professional career, he received Outstanding Professional Award from the America’s Registry of Outstanding Professionals. IALI events gained not only popularity but commanded a certain amount of respect among the community and administration. As a result, whereas community loved to associate itself with IALI events, lawmakers and administration officials looked upon these events as opportunities to gain support of the community. Mr. Munjal assiduously built bridges of understanding and cooperation between the Indian American community and the mainstream Americans.

    He took the IALI to the next stage of growth which is getting recognition for the community at the political level, a step in the right direction of empowering the community. The dignitaries that graced various IALI events included Ambassador Prabhu Dayal, Congresswoman Goosby, New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, New York State Senator Tony Avella, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray and Mayor of Laurel Hollow Harry Anand and many more. Mr. Munjal’s work for the community is far from complete. On August 11th, 2012 he stood tall and proud with 5 other founder conveners of India Day Parade USA who put together Long Island’s First India Day Parade for Long Islanders in Hicksville, an event never before attempted, but successfully concluded. His involvement in India Day Parade USA started with bringing together of all Indian Organizations onto a single platform to participate in the first ever Parade in Hicksville, Long Island. This was concluded as more than 100 Indian Organizations came together as one for the very first time to participate and march in the India Day Parade USA in Hicksville Long Island.

    However, it is not just work all the time for Gobind. He and wife Suman who is in to Real Estate business and is often busy make it a point to take time off their work to travel and enjoy their vacation. The family has been to Europe, Far East, UAE, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and seen much of North America. The latest has been a visit to China which has impressed Munjals much. They are all praise for China. They said they were impressed with the infrastructure there. The cleanliness that they witnessed was in total contrast with what they had been made to believe about China. And, above the human effort to give an impressive look to the country is the power of Nature which one sees in her abundant beauty and glory in the most populated country of the world. . Gobind Munjal lives happily in the Whitestone/Malba area with his wife Suman who is a professional in real estate with Prudential Douglas Elliman. He has two sons Gaurav and Kevin and daughter in law Iona with two cute grand-sons Sajin and Neilan, 4 years and 2 years respectively.

  • Global Flooding

    Global Flooding

    In July at least 37 people were killed by flood waters inand around the city of Beijing, China. In the rural andsuburban areas outside Beijing, many more people died inas a result of flooding, which was said to be the region’sworst in 60 years.Floods occurred in southwest Russia inearly July, mainly in Krasnodar Krai, near the coast of theBlack Sea. Five months‚Äô worth of rain fell overnight insome southern parts of the country, leaving 144 people deadand damaging the homes of nearly 13,000 people. Othermassive flooding events occurred in Asia’s BrahmaputraRiver, Great Britain, Ireland, Loreto, Nigeria, North Korea,the Philippines, Romania, Fiji, Nepal, and Pakistan.

  • India’s Olympic Dreams Quashed

    India’s Olympic Dreams Quashed

    Indian sports received a huge setback and a major embarrassment when the International Olympic Association decided to suspend the Indian Olympic Association due to Government interference. This decision was on the cards after IOA decided to go ahead with the elections under the government`s Sports Code, defying the IOC`s order to hold the polls under the Olympic Charter. The suspension means that the IOA will not receive IOC funding and its officials will be banned from attending Olympic meetings and events. India`s athletes will also be barred from competing in Olympic events under their national flag, but they can participate under the IOC banner. Sports Minister Jitendra Singh said that The Indian Olympic Association is to blame for the current crisis as the ministry had told the IOA many times to amend its constitution and be compliant with the international rules.

    INDIA AT LONDON OLYMPICS:
    LOWS Despite the fact that India put up a much improved performance in the London Olympics there were also a few major disappointments.
    HOCKEY DEBACLE
    The biggest disappointment came in hockey, a sport that has brought glories to the country in the quadrennial extravaganza like no other event. Led by Bharat Chettri and under the guidance of coach Michael Nobbs, India succumbed to one defeat after another, losing all of their matches at the Olympics. They finished 12th – last among the participating teams, which also happened to be their worst ever performance at the event.

    ARCHERS MISS THE MARK
    On the hallowed turf of Lord’s, Indian archers were expected to script history. The presence of world No. 1 archer Deepika Kumari among the contingent was reason enough to harbour hopes of a rich medal haul. Despite the hype, in stark contrast, both the men and women’s team disappointed us. The story was repeated in the individual events too as they returned empty handed with the biggest casualty being 18-year-old Deepika. She was stunned by Amy Oliver 2-6 in the opening round. She was the last of the six archers to bow out, and with her ended India’s unsuccessful campaign in archery.

    BINDRA FAILS TO DEFEND HIS TITLE
    To say a medal was expected from Abhinav Bindra would be an understatement. In fact, he was the favourite to don the yellow metal again in the 10m Air Rifle event after his historic gold medal in Beijing. As luck would have it, Bindra failed to even qualify for the finals. His score of 594 out of 600 wasn’t enough to merit him a final SAINA NEHWAL Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal added another feather to her cap by winning a bronze medal in the women’s singles category to create history. Nehwal didn’t face any stiff competition on her way to the semi-final. It was there where she met the No. 1 seed Yihan Wang of China. She lost the match 13-21, 13-21. However, she still had a chance to fight for the bronze with Xin Wang of China. Luck was on her side as her opponent withdrew from the contest owing to a knee injury. Saina was trailing by a game and 0-1 in the contest but the injury meant that she would bring home the first medal for India in Olympic badminton.

    MARY KOM
    Women boxing made its debut in the 2012 London Olympics and Indian hopes were resting on MC Mary Kom to bring home a medal. The 23-year-old was a favourite to win gold on the back of her five world championship titles. The Manipuri began her quest in style defeating Karolina Michalczuk of Poland 14-19 and then outclassed Maroua Rahali of Tunisia 15-6 to seal a medal. She made it to the semifinal where she lost to the eventual gold medallist Nicola Adams. However, her semi-final appearance meant that she had already clinched a historic bronze medal. SUSHIL KUMAR AND YOGESHWAR DUTT Within 45 minutes, Yogeshwar Dutt fought three bouts that won him a bronze medal in the Men`s wrestling 60kg freestyle category. The 30-year-old wrestler from Haryana was making his third Olympic appearance and had lost his second round bout to Besik Kudukhov of Russia. He then defeated Franklin, Masoud and Jong Myong Ri to clinch the bronze. On the final day of the Games, Sushil Kumar created history by becoming the first ever Indian to win two individual Olympic medals. He had won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Games and he bettered it by clinching a silver after losing the final to Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu of Japan. berth and he finished a dismal 16th out of the 47 competitors in the qualifying round.

    BOXERS KNOCKED OUT
    The Indian boxing team failed to win any medal save for Mary Kom who secured a historic bronze in the women’s category. Several decisions were marred by controversy with the highlight being Vikas Krishan’s bout. Krishan had won his match against Errol Spence of USA; the referee later overturned the decision to announce the latter as the winner. The poster boy of Indian boxing, Vijender Kumar’s run came to an end in the quarterfinal as he too returned home without a medal.

    INDIA AT OLYMPICS: HIGHS
    The Indian Olympic contingent returned home with its best ever performance at the quadrennial event with six medals. GAGAN NARANG Gagan Narang opened the medal account for India with a bronze medal in the 10m air rifle event on the second day. The ace marksman was one of the contenders for the medal and he did not disappoint his fans. He shot 103.1 in the final to take his tally to 701.1 ahead of Chinese rival Wang Tao finishing third.

    VIJAY KUMAR
    Army man Vijay Kumar made his country proud after clinching a silver medal in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event at the London Olympics. The unknown shooter from Himachal Pradesh shot 32/40 finishing ahead of Chinese rival Feng Ding while Leuris Pupo from Cuba took the gold with 34/40. His was the second medal for India at the event.

  • AS I See It:Restricting Guns: Now It Is Between Lawmakers And National Rifle Association

    AS I See It:Restricting Guns: Now It Is Between Lawmakers And National Rifle Association

    Adam Lanza, clad in ‘black battle fatigues and a military vest’ picked up the deadliest arms as if to wage a battle against his enemies and thus become a ‘martyr’ to the memory of his countrymen. The monstrosity and evil attached to his crime didn’t deter him the least from raising one of the fiercest guns on the weakest, meekest, and the most defenseless offspring of our society. He killed the very womb that engendered him and destroyed the very school that taught him to live his life. He inflicted unbearable pain on parents of twenty first graders, and family members of six adult women. The hurt that refuses to heal prompted American citizens to indulge in dillydallying debate over banning guns which many believe should not have been in hands of the civilians at all. The momentum of discussion fizzled out within a week after the tragedy. The menacing gun enthusiasts and their National Rifle Association lobbied for more guns both in hands of the bad guy and in hands of the good guy.The sheer apathy and cruelty of Lanza’s action stirred the emotions of the nation and choked the president who so far remained very careful and restrained in exhibiting his feelings in public. ‘The Slaughter of Innocence,’ however, has hardly prompted the lawmakers to stand for the weak and defenseless citizens. When the National Rifle Association commented on massacre of children, it appeared a reasonable solution could be found to the gross abuse of ‘the right to bear Arms,’ as provided in the American constitution. But the much awaited press conference of the NRA, proved a damp squib as nothing afresh could come out of its perception of the tragedy in Newtown. . Their wellknown recipe, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” is nothing less than a sadistic understanding of the rising violence in public life. It is testing time for American legislature, the executive and the judiciary to frame suitable laws so that Americans never live under the reign of fear unleashed by some deranged lot of the society. At this time there are very few options. Mental health, guns, culture of violence in entertainment, and the media representation are some of the factors that have been blamed for the rising violence. The correlation of all these factors in so many tragedies can’t be wholly denied. But what are the possible solutions? It is true that had Adam Lanza not had access to the most dangerous weapons, he could not have killed 20 children and six adults. The case of a deranged man attacking 22 children with a knife on the same day in China provides a clear contrast. Had he access to AR-15, he would have killed hundreds of them. But fortunately, no children died in the attack. There is no doubt that worsening mental health of Americans is at an alarming point, but so is of many other industrialized countries. What can government do in the personal relations of husband and wife, their alleged paramours, children, stepchildren? Mental problems are most difficult to diagnose when 70% of the patients and their families remain in the denial mode. Many of the mentally unhealthy people show no signs of concern and even don’t have anything objectionable in their backgrounds. The point that mental situation can take U-turn in a flash of seconds is hard to tackle in the given circumstances. But what can be done during such a mental situation? Let’s keep guns like AR-15 out of the way of people who suffer occasionally from hallucinations and panic attacks. Culture of violence in entertainment industry and the media representation of it in actual life are said to cause tragic incidences of violence. But there are no immediate and foreseeable solutions to these problems. Even if we try to work on reducing violence in the entertainment industry, its real effect won’t be seen for years to come. The problem of gun violence in the meanwhile may become more intractable and cause more hurt on our psyche as a nation. Media representation of violence, indeed, is one of the problems that make gun violence representative in most news briefings, psychodramas, documentaries, and movies. But that alone isn’t the cause of rising gun violence. The problem of violence in media is undoubtedly worldwide, but why are Americans alone more affected than anybody else in the world? According to Washington Post columnist, Fareed Zakaria, the solution to gun violence isn’t complex at all, if there is a political will to solve it. The problem that stares in our faces is that we are 5 percent of world population, but we own 50 percent of world’s guns. Gun violence in America is thirty times that of Australia and France and twelve times higher that of other countries. The interesting thing is that American Bill of Rights by which second amendment ‘right to bear Arms’ was provided, is based on British Bill of Rights of 1689. In order to fully understand the intent of Second Amendment in our constitution, we should go back to all debates and views of the founding fathers. Their main concern was safety, security and freedom of speech so that organized government may not trample individual rights provided in the Bill of Rights. But such privileges were never unrestricted if some antisocial, instead of government, start threatening the very safety, security and freedom of speech. The Second Amendment should have occasioned some laws that would have checked any transgression to safety, security and freedom of speech. But in the absence of declared laws for more than two hundred years, frequent mass shootings are considered unrelated and isolated incidences. How can they be unrelated when access to the very automatic guns used in the crime has been made possible due to the Second Amendment? It is pertinent to dwell here on the British Bill of Rights, 1689 which founding fathers consulted to draft American Bill of Rights. John Lilburne (1614-1657), who was the background inspiration for philosopher John Locke, the key influence in ensuring individual liberties of common people states: For where there is no law declared, there can be no transgression.

    Therefore it is very requisite that the parliament would declare their privileges to the whole commons of England, that so no man may through ignorance (by the parliament’s default) run causelessly into the hazard of the loss of their lives, liberties, or estates.

    For here it is acknowledged by themselves that their power is limited by those that betrust them, and that they are not to do what they list but what they ought, namely, to provide for the people’s weal and not for their woe: so that unknown privileges are as dangerous as unlimited prerogatives being both of them secret snares, especially for the best-affected people. – John Lilburne, The 150th Page [1645] In the above statement made 367 years ago, Lilburne warns that Parliament’s failure to declare law and privileges to the whole commons of England may lead some men ‘through ignorance run ceaselessly into the hazard of the loss of their lives, liberties or estates. The English Bill of Rights that was adopted in 1689 reflects Lilburne’s viewpoints.

    In England, the Catholic King was replaced with a Protestant one. The rights of all protestants were preserved in the Bill of Rights adopted in 1689. The following text of clauses 7, 9, and 13 throws sufficient light on the intents and purposes of American Bill of Rights:
    7. That the subjects which are protestants, may have arms for their defense suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law.
    9. That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of parliament.
    13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parliaments ought to be held frequently.It is right time for Congress and the Senate to take up defining the Bill of Rights so that it becomes quite evident that the Second Amendment was designed for ‘people’s weal not for their woe.’

  • Number of Indian students in US drops again

    Number of Indian students in US drops again

    WASHINGTON (TIP): The number of Indian students studying in the United States has dropped continuously for the second consecutive year while the count of international students in the country has now reached a record high with the maximum enrollments from China. In the year 2011-12, the Chinese student enrollments have increased by 23 per cent in total and by 31 per cent at the undergraduate level, according to the 2012 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange released November 14.

    The report finds that the number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States has increased by six per cent to a record high of 7,64,495 in the 2011-12 academic year, while the US students studying abroad increased by one per cent. This year, international exchanges in all 50 states contributed USD 22.7 billion to the US economy.

    Overall, China sends the maximum number of 1,94,029 students in the year 2011-12 as against 1,57,558 in the previous year. While China registered an increase in enrollment in American universities, it dropped for those coming from India by 3.5 per cent to 1,00,270 students. “The number of Indian students in the US in 2011-12 dropped 3.5 per cent compared to the previous year, marking two consecutive years of decline.

    India had been the leading place of origin for international students in the US from 2001-02 through 2008-09,” the report said. In 2000-01 there was a surge in enrollments from India, with an increase of 30 per cent, followed by two more years of strong growth (12 per cent in 2002-03 and seven per cent in 2003-04), the report said

    However, the increases tapered off in 2004-05 and then decrease slightly in 2005-06, before resuming much larger increases in 2006-07 and for the next two years. “In 2009-10, the increases leveled off, and China became the top sender and remains in that position. Students from India make up approximately 13.1 per cent of the total foreign student population in the United States,” the report said. In 2011-12 only 13 per cent of the Indian students were enrolled for undergraduate studies, whereas a majority of them (58.9 per cent) are graduate students and 26.7 per cent on OPT (optional practical training).

    According to Open Doors, nearly three-fifths of the total Indian students are enrolled in science, engineering or mathematics courses, while in China the focus is on business management. Higher education is among the United States’ top service sector exports, as international students provide revenue to the US economy and individual host states for living expenses, including room and board, books and supplies, transportation, health insurance, support for accompanying family members, and other miscellaneous items.

  • Pak Strategy in Afghanistan Time for hard decisions

    Pak Strategy in Afghanistan Time for hard decisions

    On December 6, Asadullah Khalid, Head of Afghanistan’s intelligence set-up, the National Directorate of Security, was seriously injured in a bomb attack by a Taliban suicide bomber posing as a peace envoy. President Karzai announced the next day that the suicide bomber had come from Pakistan. While not directly naming the ISI, President Karzai described the suicide bombing as a “very sophisticated and complicated act by a professional intelligence service”. Asadullah Khalid is one of President Karzai’s closest aides and has held crucial gubernatorial appointments in Ghazni and Kandahar.

    He had escaped Taliban assassination attempts in 2007 and 2011. He was playing a crucial role in attempts to wean away Pashtun tribal support from the Taliban, as the American “end game” in Afghanistan picks up momentum. Asadullah Khalid is seen as a dangerous adversary in Pakistan. Unlike his Tajik predecessor, Amrollah Saleh, against whom the ISI could whip up Pashtun nationalistic sentiments, he is a blue-blooded Pashtun, who can better deal with Pakistani machinations, which seek to unite Pashtuns under the tutelage of the Mullah Omar-led Quetta Shura and their protégés in the North Waziristanbased Haqqani network.

    In its quest for “strategic depth,” the Pakistan military establishment has based its entire political strategy on pretending to champion the cause of Pashtuns, who constitute 40 per cent of Afghanistan’s population, with the Tajiks constituting 33 per cent of the population and the Shia Hazaras and Uzbeks comprising 11 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively. Interestingly, the language which unites Afghanistan is not Pashtu, which is spoken by 35 per cent of the population and almost exclusively by Pashtuns, but Dari, spoken by 50 per cent of the country’s people.Within the Pashtuns, the ruling class has predominantly been drawn from the landowning Durrani clan. Apart from Nur Mohammed Tarraki and his Soviet-backed successors, the only non-Durrani leader of Afghanistan from the influential Ghilzai clan was Mullah Omar.

    Two-thirds of all Pashtuns belong to the Durrani-Ghilzai confederacy. The Taliban, though led by a Ghilzai, have drawn in a large number of Durrani fighters. In addition, they enjoy the backing of the Haqqani network, led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, operating out of the tribal belt of Pakistan in North Waziristan. The Haqqani network also exercises predominant control over the bordering Afghan provinces Khost – Paktia and Paktika. Pakistan’s strategy is to pretend that it supports an “Afghan-led” process of national reconciliation while ensuring that the Quetta Shura and the Haqqani network, which has strong ties with Al- Qaeda and international Islamist causes, negotiate from a position of strength, so that Southern Afghanistan initially, and thereafter the entire Pashtun belt, come under the control of its “strategic assets”.

    This would be a prelude to the Taliban obtaining a dominant role across the entire country. It is primarily in pursuit of this objective that the senior-most Taliban leader from the Durrani tribe,Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, has been incarcerated and kept incommunicado in Pakistan. Mullah Baradar, like Karzai, hails from the Popalzai tribe of Durrani Pashtuns and was known to be close to and in touch with President Karzai. While championing the cause of Pashtuns, Pakistan will not permit any Pashtun leader to undermine its larger ambitions. Pakistan has its own Achilles’ heel. Firstly, no Pashtun worth his salt recognizes the Durand Line.

    Moreover, after the Pakistan army’s assault on the Lal Masjid in 2007, the Tehriq-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has made common cause with other jihadi outfits in Pakistan to challenge the writ of the Pakistan army and the Pakistan state. Unable to directly take on the TTP, the Pakistan army is fomenting tribal animosities between the Mehsud and Waziri tribes in South Waziristan. It is also clear that should a government led by either Imran Khan’s Tehriq-e-Insaf or Nawaz Sharif’s PML (N) assume office after the 2013 elections in Pakistan, one can write off any prospect of the Pakistan army taking action whatsoever against the Haqqani network or other Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, as the American drawdown in Afghanistan proceeds.

    Chinese officials were among the only non-Muslims to meet Mullah Omar in Kandahar in the 1990s, promising him diplomatic recognition and telecom projects. China has maintained contacts with the Quetta Shura in the aftermath of Operation Enduring Freedom. These contacts, with Pakistani facilitation, have reportedly been increasing. Thus, while the Chinese may have misgivings and concerns about a possible return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, they appear to believe that their interests in Afghanistan would be protected by Pakistan. In these circumstances, there are now concerns that if not properly equipped, motivated and backed, the Afghan National Army (ANA) could well lose control of the entire Pashtun belt in the country.

    This could have serious consequences for the very unity of Afghanistan. It is significant that influential Afghan leaders like Mohammed Atta and Ismail Khan are preparing the ground to be able to defend areas they control, in the event of the ANA being unable to effectively deal with the Taliban challenge. There should also be no doubt that the primary objective of the Taliban would be to seize control of Kandahar because of its importance in Pashtun minds as the traditional and spiritual capital of the country. There would also be efforts by the Taliban to block the line of communications from Khyber to Jalalabad. India would have to work closely with foreign partners, including the US, its NATO allies, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia to ensure that the international community remains on course to back the elected government in Afghanistan, economically and militarily.

    While India has already provided Afghanistan with substantial economic assistance and is preparing the ground for large-scale investments in areas like iron ore, coal, steel, copper and gold, the military cooperation envisaged in its strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan remains relatively modest. Indian military analysts, with expertise on Afghanistan’s armed forces, note that in order to ensure that the ANA can stand up to challenges from across the Durand Line, India should readily supply 105 mm Mountain Artillery, armored personnel carriers, Vijayanta Tanks, apart from transportation, demining and communications equipment.

    It remains to be seen whether an establishment wedded to its “Aman Ki Asha” illusions will act decisively on major security challenges emerging in our neighborhood. Equally importantly, India and its partner-states need to recognize that given Pashtun sentiments and historic realities, we should agree that the Durand Line is a “disputed boundary” between Pakistan and Afghanistan, while expressing the hope that the dispute will be resolved peacefully, keeping in view the Pashtun sentiments.

  • Over 15 US Firms Spent Millions In 2012 To Lobby In India

    Over 15 US Firms Spent Millions In 2012 To Lobby In India

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Large US firms have spent millions of dollars in 2012 itself to lobby for their Indian business interests along with other issues. Global retail giant WalMart, whose lobbying with US lawmakers for access to India has generated much political heat in New Delhi, has got company of at least 15 other large American companies and entities that have spent millions of dollars in 2012 itself to lobby for their Indian business interests along with other issues. These include pharma giant Pfizer, computer makers Dell and HP, telecom players like Qualcomm and Alcatel- Lucent, financial services majors like Morgan Stanley and Prudential Financial, as also Alliance of Automobile Manufactures and the Aerospace Industries Association of America, as per the Congressional records of lobbying disclosure reports.

    There are also lobby groups like Financial Executives International, Business Roundtable, Business Software Alliance and Financial Services Forum as well as consumer goods makers like Cargill Inc and Colgate Palmolive that have indulged in lobbying with US lawmakers so far in 2012. Giants like Boeing, AT&T, Starbucks, Lockheed Martin, Eli Lilly and GE have also lobbied earlier with US lawmakers on “specific lobbying issues” related to India, which include discussions on market opening initiatives and support for their sales and business opportunities in the country. As per the quarterly lobbying disclosure reports filed with the US Senate and the House of Representatives, at least three organizations – Financial Services Forum, Business Roundtable and Financial Executives International – have lobbied on issues related to taxation and other proposals of the Finance Bill presented in the Parliament early this year.

    Besides, Qualcomm has lobbied on issues related to spectrum licenses, Alcatel-Lucent on preferential market access regulations and Pfizer on “issues related to a Supreme Court decision on generic medicine pricing” and certain patent cancellation matter in India. One of the most active entities with India-related lobbying issues this year has been the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers with its opposition to the regulation of carbon dioxide emissions in the US until India along with China and Russia implement similar reductions. Besides, insurance major Prudential Financial has been lobbying for “Indian financial market access and equity ownership issues”. Like the government decision to open FDI in retail, a proposal to increase FDI cap in insurance sector is also being vehemently opposed by various political parties.

    So far in 2012, Prudential Financial has spent more than $6 million on various lobbying issues in the US, including those related to India, while the lobbying bill for Morgan Stanley has crossed $ two million. Among others, Business Roundtable has spent $6.6 million, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers about $8 million, Dell close to $2 million, HP about $1.5 million, Cargill $1 million and Aerospace Industries Association of America about $2 million. The disclosure about Wal-Mart having spent $25 million on its lobbying activities in the US since 2008 on various issues including those related to opening of retail FDI in India generated a high-decibel political debate last week and the government finally agreed for an enquiry into the matter. Lobbying is a legal activity in the US, but the lobby firms hired by the corporate entities need to make quarterly disclosures about their activities and payments. However, there are no specific regulations about lobbying in India.

  • India-Asean Trade to Reach $100 Billion Mark by 2015, Says Anand Sharma

    India-Asean Trade to Reach $100 Billion Mark by 2015, Says Anand Sharma

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Inaugurating the 2nd India- ASEAN Business Fair- 2012 in New Delhi today, the Union Minister for Commerce, Industry & Textiles Shri Anand Sharma expressed confidence that the two-way trade between India and the ASEAN countries “will be able to reach USD 100 billion mark by 2015”. He also added that the early operationalisation of the Services and Investment Agreement would provide greater impetus to the trade and investment flows. Welcoming the Trade Minister from the ASEAN countries, Shri Sharma urged the Trade Ministers that they should diversify the trade basket and that the economic gains on both sides would be substantial only if we develop supply chains with a focus on intra-industry trade.

    He also said that in order to realise the true potential of the economies, we should give a concerted push to strengthen the regional connectivity with ASEAN. Shri Sharma said that India views its partnership with ASEAN as a crucial block in sustaining the growth momentum. “We would like to benefit from ASEAN experience in key sectors of economy such as infrastructure, agro-processing, retail and value added manufacturing. Equally, Indian companies can be invaluable partners for ASEAN economies in augmenting their productivity,” said Shri Sharma.

    Speaking on Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Shri Sharma said that the negotiations would be a momentous step. “The fruition of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership which will have in its embrace ASEAN and the six countries including India, China, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Japan and Australia, will truly have a defining influence on the global economic architecture,” Shri Sharma further added. Later addressing media persons, Shri Sharma said that the FTA negotiations on Services and Investment would be concluded by tomorrow when ASEAN Ministerial will take place after the formal negotiations. “The senior officers have been meeting and we the Ministers have given them a very clear message and mandate at the recent ASEAN-India summit at Phnom Penh in Cambodia and senior officials and negotiators thereafter met in Jakarta… So the final round of negotiations is taking place between the senior officers of India, the Chief negotiator and his team and the ASEAN officials, and they will be formally reporting to the Ministerial meeting tomorrow. And the Ministers are committed. I can say for all of us to bring this negotiations to closure and carry on with our journey of partnership, added Shri Sharma.