Jaya's remarks aimed at damaging conc...

Jaya's remarks aimed at damaging concern of Tamils: Karunanidhi
17 Oct 2008, 1838 hrs IST, PTI

CHENNAI: Condemning the remarks by AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa that the October 14 all-party resolutions seemed supportive of the LTTE, Tamil Nadu Chi
ef Minister Karunanidhi said they were only aimed at "damaging" the concern of the people here for their brethren in Sri Lanka.

Writing in the DMK's mouthpiece 'Murasoli', Karunanidhi said Jayalalithaa's remarks would only damage the concern of the people in the state for the Tamils in the island nation.

He was surprised to note that MDMK chief Vaiko, who has been "shedding tears for Sri Lankan Tamils", had not expressed any opinion on his ally Jayalalithaa's remarks.

"Vaiko had not gone in for a war of words with Jayalalithaa as he wanted to fully concentrate on pressing the Centre to take steps to stop the Sri Lankan army offensive in the northern parts of the island nation," he said.

Referring to the human chain protest here on October 21 to remind the Centre of the resolutions passed at the all-party meet, he said it was only an effort to press the Centre to take action.

"People should participate in the rally in large numbers to express solidarity with the resolutions adopted at the all-party meeting, he added.

India summons Lankan envoy, raises concern over violence
17 Oct 2008, 1850 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: As DMK continued to mount pressure on the Sri Lanka Tamil issue, government on Friday summoned Lankan High Commissioner to India C R Jayas
inghe and told him that Colombo should address New Delhi's concerns over the humanitarian situation in the island nation and stop harassing and killing Indian fishermen.

Jayasinghe was called by foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon who said that Sri Lanka should ensure that the rights of its civilians are respected and they are protected from attacks, sources said.

Menon told Jayasinghe that India was gravely worried over the situation arising out the conflict in Sri Lanka and wanted Colombo to address these concerns, the sources said.

The foreign secretary specifically said India wanted Sri Lanka to stop harassing and killing of its fishermen in the common waters between the two countries, they said.

Menon also told the Sri Lankan envoy that Colombo should find a negotiated political solution to the ethnic problem rather than look for a military victory.

Earlier in the day, three more DMK Rajya Sabha members put in their papers to party president M Karunanidhi saying they have resigned from the Upper House in protest against the Sri Lankan army offensive against ethnic Tamils in the island nation.

Tiruchi N Siva, A A Jinnah and Vasanthi Stanley submitted their resignation letters dated October 29 to Karunanidhi for forwarding the same to Rajya Sabha Chairman at an appropriate time, party sources said.

The move comes in the wake of the October 14 all-party meeting which asked the Centre to take steps to halt the Sri Lankan Army offensive in the north of the island.

With their resignation, all four Rajya Sabha members of DMK had given their resignation papers to Karunanidhi. Kanimozhi, daughter of Karunanidhi, handed over her post-dated resignation letter to Karunanidhi on Wednesday.

The all-party meeting gave an ultimatum to the Centre to take steps to stop Lankan army's offensive within a fortnight, failing which all MPs from Tamil Nadu would resign en masse.

The state Congress unit, which also took part in the all-party meeting, appears to be in a quandary over the resolution as it could take a decision on resignation of its MPs only with the permission of the party high command.

Highly placed Congress sources said that TNCC President K V Thangabalu had said at the all-party meeting that his party high command alone could decide on the resignation of the MPs.

Four Congress MPs -- P Chidambaram, Mani Shankar Aiyar, EVKS Elangovan (all from Lok Sabha) and G K Vasan (Rajya Sabha) -- are members in the Manmohan Singh Ministry.

Thangabalu, who is in New Delhi to attend the Lok Sabha session, is expected to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi to apprise her of the situation here, the sources added.

How Raj Thackeray got involved in the Jet drama
17 Oct 2008, 1943 hrs IST, Vasundhara Sanger , TIMESOFINDIA.COM

MUMBAI: Raj Thackeray is an expert cartoonist. But his talent with the sketch pen was somehow camouflaged by his political activities and his party, 
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS), north Indian bashing in Mumbai. However, with one stroke, he turned himself into a hero of the masses when he firmly stood by 1900 sacked employees of Jet Airways who rushed to him for help.

Explaining how it happened, Nitin Sardesai, the party's general secretary informed that Raj was actually in Pune when the sacked jet employees approached MNS for help. "As soon as they were sacked some of the employees contacted me. They personally knew me and I immediately called them to my office," said Nitin who met more than 200 retrenched Jet employees in his office on Wednesday, the day they were sacked. He spoke to Raj on the phone who, was on his way back from Pune to Mumbai.

After he reached Mumbai, Raj was apprised of the situation and he decided to support the sacked staff saying that it was ridiculous to throw out so many young people on the road, overnight.

"There was no politics involved in this and we did not even consult experts in this matter. It was a spontaneous situation and Raj told the press on Wednesday evening that he would not allow any Jet airways flights to take off or land in Mumbai if the sacked employees were not reinstated. It seemingly worked because on Thursday evening all the employees got back their jobs, though the Jet chairman maintained that it was his "conscience" and not any political pressure that worked in the sacked employees' favour.

"To tell you the truth it was Raj saheb's charisma that drew these young employees to him. They know that he is a man of words and would not tolerate any injustice," said Nitin, elaborating why the sacked employees' first recall was Raj in this situation and not any other political party or union.

"In fact Jet airways has a Shiv Sena union but they didn't go to them," said Nitin who himself is a first time politician and admits to have been drawn to Raj's party not because of their close friendship but due to the fact that he (Nitin) was convinced of the MNS chief's leadership qualities.

On Friday Raj Thackeray at a press conference in Mumbai thanked Jet chairman Naresh Goyal for reinstating the sacked staff, adding that he didn't want to make this a political issue nor did he intend to form any union. He stated that he just didn't want to see youths on the street.

Not many know Raj's party has in its fold doctors, legal experts and few other professionals who advise MNS on issues of labour, medicine, law and other social issues. They have no interest in politics but are the well wishers of the party and are on its panel of experts. In fact, insiders say Raj has always insisted on having such crème de la crème on his party's panel because they are rich, highly educated and have no interests in politics and so they would do real (social) work.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/How_Raj_got_involved_in_Jet_drama/articleshow/3609710.cms
  

Nurturing democracy
17 Oct, 2008, 0053 hrs IST,Gurpreet Mahajan,
 
 People, territory and a government which acts as a sovereign body are said to constitute a state. But what transforms these people, living together o
n a given piece of land, into a political community? How does one instil a sense of mutual obligation among them? This is a question that confronts all democracies today. More importantly, the answer to this question determines whether one can claim to be a democracy.

The capacity of a state to function as a collective body, the willingness of the people to share goods and resources, to contribute taxes that may provide valuable services to others, rests crucially upon the people seeing themselves as a community of citizens. So fostering a sense of collective solidarity and mutual obligation is necessary for the existence of the state during periods of peace as much as it is during moments of war.

Democracies, however, face the challenge of constructing this political community in a manner that protects the basic rights of all its citizens.

The political leadership involved in the drafting of the Indian Constitution was mindful of this requirement. From Nehru to Patel, all agreed that independent India could not be a Hindu-stan. Religion could not be the basis of welding the different groups together into a single community because people sharing a religious identity could be divided on grounds of language and/or caste.

Besides, the experience of Europe had shown that fostering unity through a common religion entailed restricting the civil and political rights of those who did not adhere to the official state religion. A shared religion made the state exclusionary and partisan — ideals that a democracy could not, or should not, endorse.

What then could bind the people together, particularly when they belonged to different religions, spoke different languages and had different historical pasts and experiences? The struggle against British colonial rule had created a sense of collective being in certain areas but India after independence included hundred of small principalities, with different political experiences and past practices.

Under the circumstances, the political leaders set aside the popular answers to this question. Instead of banking on a shared religion or language, they put their faith in, what may be called, constitutional patriotism.
Having observed the possibility of people coming together and nurturing collective bonds through the process of participation in the national movement for independence, they believed that a Constitution that promises all its citizens (people of different religions and marginalised groups) fair and equal treatment and guarantees their political rights would generate a sense of fraternity among the citizens.

This sense of fellowship would translate into a feeling of belonging and pride — elements that would be further reinforced through active participation in the political process and the benefits that were to accrue from the process of development.

For its time this was a radically new way of thinking about citizenship and democracy. Unfortunately, today when more and more countries are recognising the merit and necessity of endorsing this framework, where commitment is required only for the political principles enshrined in the Constitution, rather than a religious or cultural identity, India is moving in the opposite direction.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Nurturing_democracy/articleshow/3605641.cms

N-deal a reason to switch to Republican camp for Indians
16 Oct, 2008, 0000 hrs IST,Ishani Duttagupta, ET Bureau
 
Deven Verma and his son Vishal Verma - both partners at Silicon Valley based venture capital firm Edgewood Ventures - have recently turned Republican
supporters. “The Indo-American nuclear deal has highlighted the fact that a Republican government is good for India.

Even for Indian Americans the McCain campaign is putting much more on the table in terms of a pro-business attitude and tax breaks. Besides, the Republicans have a far more liberal attitude towards the outsourcing debate than the Democrats,” says Deven Verma who was till recently a Democratic fund raiser and supporter.

“The Democrats have a good PR with India and I was a part of President Clinton’s business delegation to India,” adds Mr Verma who was a part of the Indian American Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee during the last US elections. And now he’s the chair of Indo-Americans for McCain, and says he backs the Republican nominee because he offered a better platform for New Delhi and Indian Americans on issues like tax and energy policies besides consistent support for the Indian nuclear deal.

“The charter of the Indo-Americans for McCain is to galvanise the Indian community in the US. We hope to create a strong network of Indian Americans and raise issues that affect our community with the government,” Mr Vishal Verma said. He is a partner at Edgewood Ventures, which assists IT start-up companies in business development, strategy and brand creation. He is on the board of Bay Area Technologies, Edgewood Real Estate India, HSMC, Hyde Park Angels and Legal Remedies.

Mr Deven Verma had a big fund-raiser for the Democrats too and had raised over $250,000 for Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry’s campaign. As the founding general partner of Edgewood and earlier Redwood Ventures, he has invested in over 80 companies.

“I was a trustee for the Kerry campaign and had supported the Clintons on various issues. I was also a strong Democratic fund-raiser. But some of the policy statements by the Obama campaign have set me thinking. Now I feel that the Republicans will be much better for both India and Indian American businesses. As a result, I am now focused on fund raising for Senator McCain,” he says. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/N-deal_a_reason_to_switch_to_Republican_camp_for_Indians/articleshow/3600884.cms

Kerala govt holds anti-Centre stir in Delhi
 
Friday, 17 October , 2008, 18:53 
 
New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Friday led his cabinet colleagues and ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) legislators to an agitation near Parliament against the alleged negligence meted out towards state by the Central Government.

Sixteen ministers, 70 legislators and the Left MPs from Kerala participated in the protest march and sit-in inaugurated by Achuthanandan and addressed by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat, Communist Party of India deputy general secretary Sudhakar Reddy and other senior Left leaders.

Inaugurating the sit-in at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Achuthanandan urged the Central Government to restore the rice quota for the people belonging to the Above Poverty Line (APL) category in the state, set up railway zone for Kerala, set up an Indian Institute of Technology in the state and restore the share of electricity from Central pool.

“The strong statutory rationing system prevalent in the state is now at stake due to reduction of central quota,” he said.

Left gives breach of privilege notice against PM

“There was an allocation of 113,420 tones of rice per month for distribution to APL card holders up to March 2007. This was reduced to 21,334 tones from April 2007 to 17,056 tonnes in April 2008 and has completely stopped since September this year,” Achuthanandan said.

The Chief Minister said the share of electricity from the Central pool had been reduced considerably.

"Putting the state into a severe power crisis, the share of electricity from the Central pool has gone down to 667 MW in August this year. The state is to get 1,188 MW electricity per month from the central pool,” he said.

Rejecting the claim by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi that he and Defence Minister A K Antony as Union ministers helped Kerala get sanction for Vizhinjam port, Achuthanandan said: “It is purely the LDF (Left Democratic government's project and the effort to get sanction was made the state government only.”

"Now they are pasting posters on walls in the state claiming that the project was sanctioned due to their efforts... Let them do so… We don't have any problem," he told the media after concluding the agitation.

Offering his full support to Kerala's cause, Prakash Karat urged the Union government to re-write centre-state relations.

“A joint platform of more states would be formed to check the excess intervention of the Centre in the affairs of states,” he said.

CPI-M Politburo member Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader Sudhakar Reddy said the Left party MPs would raise the Kerala government's genuine concern in both Houses of Parliament in the ongoing session.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in state assembly Oommen Chandy led a similar protest in front of the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram against the "poor governance" of the state government.

Chandy said while inaugurating the sit in that what Achuthanandan was doing in Delhi "will show Kerala and its citizens in poor light."

The Congress alleged that close to Rs 3 crore has been spent by Achuthanandan to stage the protest in Delhi.

Heroes wanted: A Sify campaign
 http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14779558

Editorial: Fiscal aggravations

Business Standard / New Delhi October 17, 2008, 0:30 IST
 

When oil prices began surging late last year, it was widely believed that it was a temporary spike. Many countries, including India, did not believe it was necessary to pass on higher prices to consumers, preferring to absorb the impact by subsidising prices. As it turns out, the pattern did not sustain for very long. As a result of sharp declines in global demand, crude prices are now a half of what they were three months back, and indeed back to where they were a year ago. But even now, the government is not recovering the full cost of petroleum products from the consumer, and the cumulative subsidy bill has risen beyond all expectations, putting enormous pressure on government finances. In India, the subsidy bill has been further enlarged by the need to keep the issue prices of fertilisers low in the face of surging international prices, driven of course by rising energy prices. This double whammy, reinforced by other measures like the loan waiver, will take the effective fiscal deficit of the central government to more than double the budget estimate. While this has been known for some time, its significance has increased in the context of the liquidity crisis that the Indian financial system is dealing with today.

In order to cover the losses of the oil and fertiliser companies, the government issued them bonds. These bonds could, theoretically, have been traded in the market to raise cash. However, there were really no takers and the bonds could only be sold at a steep discount. This left the oil companies, in particular, with inadequate cash with which to finance their crude oil imports. They had to borrow from banks, which very soon took the system up to its upper limit for sectoral exposure. In response, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) did two things. It raised the exposure limit for the petroleum sector and it initiated a Special Market Operation, in which oil companies could swap oil bonds for dollars, which would be used to finance imports. This measure accomplished two goals. It eased the pressure on the liquidity in the banking system as oil companies reduced their borrowing. And, it took the oil companies away from the spot foreign exchange market, since they could now buy dollars directly from the RBI. The rupee, which had been steadily depreciating until then, stabilised immediately.

However, those gains were short-lived. The oil companies exhausted their supply of bonds in a few weeks! No new bonds have been issued during 2008, a problem that has still not been rectified. Oil companies, therefore, went back to borrowing from banks and buying dollars in the spot market. With all the other pressures on liquidity, this was one the system could clearly have done without. With Parliament about to reconvene, the backlog of bonds should be issued soon. The RBI has also declared its intention to resume the dollars-for-bonds swap as soon as feasible.

These developments should contribute to the further easing of liquidity pressures, but they highlight a fundamental concern. Bad fiscal management, apart from all its other consequences, also affects the functioning of financial markets by putting unnecessary pressure on the demand for funds. Fortunately, the pressure from oil prices is abating, which will reduce the subsidy bill; more importantly, it gives the government a chance to correct prices and to eliminate the subsidy entirely, thereby stopping the distortion of the liquidity situation.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=337590

 Mainstream, Vol XLVI No 43

Indo-US N-Deal: US Power Elite Gains All, India Loses Every Way
by Sailendra Nath Ghosh, 17 October 2008

       

The following article was written before the passage of the bill for the nuclear deal in the US Senate. —Editor`
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his latest and possibly last meeting with the outgoing US President, has expressed the hope that the nuclear deal would be approved by the US Congress in a manner which will be “satisfactory” from both countries’ viewpoints. One wonders if his delusion is limitless. If he had any sense of dignity which a sovereign nation’s chief executive ought to have, he would have roundly condemned the bill introduced in the US House of Represen-tatives with harsh amendments against India—and recoiled from the deal.

So long he was duping our people by saying that the 123 Agreement was not bound by the Hyde Act. Evidently, this was his pretence. He is not so dull-witted as not to know that this was an India-specific Act. Its very name was Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Energy Cooperation Act of 2006. Hence this Act’s mandate on the US Administration for enforcing certain measures on India after it signs the 123 Agreement cannot remain inoperative. His pretence was, and even now is, that because these were not explicitly written in the 123 Agreement, India could afford to take no cognizance of the Hyde Act’s provisions.

To prevent such a pretence in any future lawsuit, the bill, as introduced in the House of Representatives, made it explicit that the 123 Agreement with India would be subject to the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the Hyde Act of 2006, and any other applicable United States law “as if the Agreement had been approved pursuant to the provisions” (of the aforesaid Acts) “for cooperation, in section 123 (b) and (d) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

A look at the major provisions of the Hyde Act is necessary to grasp its sinister significance. It laid down
(i) that in the event of nuclear testing by India, the co-operation would be terminated (of course , the US would consider if the testing was done under exceptional international circumstances);

(ii) that the termination would be accompanied by measures for getting back the equipment, the nuclear fuels, and other materials supplied by the USA;

(iii) that the US would make sure that India does not try to build fuel reserves beyond the minimum needed for operational purposes;

(iv) that the US would ensure that India does not generate plutonium, even from plants excluded from IAEA safeguards (inspection);

(v) that the US President would have to certify to the US Congress every year that India is behaving in a manner “conducive to the US interests”.

Notably, the provision mentioned in (iv) above is meant to cap India’s nuclear weapon making capacity. Effectively, it also shuts the chances of research for making thorium fissile (that is, capable for power generation). The provision mentioned in (v) above is meant to rob India not only of nuclear sovereignty but also of independence in foreign policy making, which is far more damaging. In the name of ending India’s nuclear isolation, it was meant to isolate India from most nations—particularly from the emerging alliances of peoples in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East.

As if the these were not enough, the bill, introduced in the USA’s House of Representatives (incorporating amendments), laid down:

(i) that the US Government shall urge India to sign an Additional protocol with IAEA, consistent with IAEA principles, practices, and policies at the earliest date;

(ii) that in the case of any proposal from India for a subsequent arrangement for reprocessing or any alteration (of the spent fuel), the President shall keep the appropriate congressional committees fully and currently informed of any discussion or negotiation related to the subject and brief the committees each month;

(iii) that the US President would be required to certify that it would pursue efforts to ensure that any other nation that supplies reactor fuel or equipment or nuclear or non-nuclear material, subjects India to similar arrangements;

(iv) that the President shall certify that the US is pursuing a policy with the Nuclear Supplies Group, individually and collectively, to agree to further restrict the transfer of equipment and technology related to the enrichment of uranium and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel to India, and that the issuance of this certificate will have to be done before exchanging any diplomatic exchanges;

(v) that the President shall seek to achieve, by the earliest possible date, either within NSG or with relevant participating governments, the adoption of principles, reporting exchanges of information ….. to assure peaceful use and accounting of by product material to ensure that nothing is being diverted by India to non-peaceful purposes;

and

(vi) that not later than six months after the enactment of the Act, and every six months thereafter, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committee a report on efforts by the United States pursuant to subsections (a) and (b).

Every one of these amendments is an insult to India’s impeccable record and her efforts not to step out of the “minimum arsenal build-up for nuclear deterrence”. India has the right to ask: has the USA, which has the dirtiest record in building its nuclear arsenal breaching its own pledge to progressively reduce the arsenal, any right to challenge India, the only nuclear capable state which has stuck rigidly to the objective of non-proliferation?

WORLD COMMISSION’S INDICTMENT OF THE USA

THE world needed to expose this US hypocrisy and fling to its face the report of the independent International Commission on the Weapons of Mass Destruction, chaired by Hans Blix (the former chief of IAEA and also of the team which investigated Iran’s alleged preparations for WMDs)—among whose members was a former US Defence Secretary, William Perry. The Commission held the United States largely responsible for the current situation, wherein the urge for proliferation of nuclear weapons is spreading to more and more countries and the chances of possible terrorist acquisitions, too, are increasing. The report pointed out that the NPT treaty of 1968 obligated the US to end the arms race ‘at an early date’, and negotiate ‘in good faith’, the elimination of its nuclear arsenal. But, although the treaty was extended indefinitely in 1995, President Bill Clinton threatened “first-use of nuclear weapons as the cornerstone of US national security” in a 1997 directive. The greatest culprit is the USA.

Notably, President George Bush, too, is now threatening other nations to nuke them into submission, thus reaffirming the Commission’s conclusions. This is the direst and most direct provocation for nuclear proliferation in today’s world.

Manmohan Singh has not uttered a word of protest against the amendments introduced in the House of Representatives bill. Indications are that even if something more obnoxious emerges from the US Senate, he will find it “satisfactory” and sign the deal. Servility hath no bounds for a man deluded.

It would appear intriguing that while the US Congress is dead earnest about tying India tightly to non-proliferation, the US Administration wears a double face. In its communications to the Congressional committees it fully shares the die-hards’ hegemonic views. In its dealings with Government of India, it shows excessive zeal for strategic partnership with India.

In spite of its initial promise of full civil nuclear cooperation, it is now withholding almost everything from the Indian Establishment, ostensibly on the plea that this, too, has dual (civil and non-civil) uses. What exactly are the USA’s motives? Why did it so promptly pass the bill in the House? Why, even the die-hards who want to impose non-proliferation on others, are rushing to get the bill for 123 Agreement with India passed in the Senate, too? Why this haste? Divergence in Democratic Behaviour

BEFORE delving into the US motivations, we need to see how valid is the claim about “engagement of the world’s two “largest democracies”. One is “super-moneybag democracy”, ruled by what Eisenhower had termed as “industrial-military complex” but which still has such rich democratic traditions as can haul up even the most powerful persons without fear, and subjects everything of importance to scrutiny by the House of Representatives and the Senate. A democracy at home, it is prone to supporting dictatorial regimes in other countries if they are amenable to US influence.

The other democracy, namely, India, bypasses Parliament on the most crucial international issues. It bypassed Parliament while entering into the WTO, a most potent instrument for pro-TNC globalization. There, too, it was Manmohan Singh who led Prime Minister Narasimha Rao—and India—up the garden path in hastily joining the WTO instead of doggedly resisting the Dunkel proposal. Possibly, Manmohan Singh Government will sign the n-deal, too, with the US in early October bypassing Parliament, breaking his earlier promise to come back to this august body to discuss the form of bill approved by the US Congress. If he does this, will the Parliament outlaw the deal? Will the Supreme Court of India suo moto declare it unconstitutional? US Motives behind the Deal

The US Government’s motives are several-fold.

1. After having invaded Iraq on a false excuse, this government is now deep in a quagmire. After spending one trillion dollars—this is Barack Obama’s estimate, which is less than half of some non-official estimate—and losing four thousand American lives, the US does not as yet know how to wriggle out of this situation. Not only is resentment growing in the USA but some European allies also are distancing themselves from US moves. If India, once the leader of the global non-aligned movement, could be pulled away from the G-77 countries (and also from its friendly ties with Russia) and drawn into the US orbit, it would be a great gain for the US. Administration, overshadowing all losses. For the last six decades the US Power Elite had been longing for this. The US has a habit of propping up certain forces in other countries to gain some advantage and creating conflict situations. It hopes to use naïve Indian personnel to pull the chestnut out of the fire for the US.

2. Export of armaments on a huge scale to India and becoming its arms supplier number one has been the USA’s objective. Now its soaring external debts have greatly whetted this appetite. The US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has openly said that commerce with India in military hardware is priority number one in the Pentagon’s thinking.

3. For the last thirty years, the US nuclear reactor industry has remained starved of orders. After the Three-Mile Island’s nuclear mishap, the American people have not allowed any reactor to be set up. As many as 37 earlier orders had also to be cancelled due to people’s resistance. The Chernobyl meltdown in Ukraine in 1986 has accentuated this sprit of resistance. But a State which wants to keep piling its nuclear arsenal needs to maintain the nuclear reactor industry. The burden has become unbearable even for the richest nation’s public treasury. Since India’s political class, led by the country’s nuclear mandarins, are desperately seeking to import uranium to improve the load factor of existing atomic power plants and is also planning to set up new nuclear reactors despite the disappointing results at home and abroad, it appeared as an excellent business opportunity to the US for bailing out its own reactor making industry at India’s cost. According to news reports, in response to the Bush Administration’s demand for preferential rights, the Government of India has assured the US Secretary of State in advance that India would purchase 10 reactors from the USA and has reserved two sites for their placement. Reportedly, some “strong letters of intent” to some commercial firms in the USA have also been given. When some American commentators, challenging presidential candidate McCain’s idea of setting up some nuclear plants are saying that nuclear energy is too extravagant even for an economy as rich as America’s, the Manamohan Singh Government, which faces a resource crunch to fight poverty, has largesses to set up twenty new nuclear reactors! None can blame America’s cupidity when there are Timons of Athens in India wishing to make India a nation of destitutes.

4. The USA is strong in its determination to disallow any but the five “nuclear-have” countries to develop nuclear muscle. Yet, India, Israel and Pakistan have developed nuclear weapons. Several others, too, are striving to possess similar capacities. Despite the American opposition, India conducted nuclear tests twice—in 1974 and 1998. Now, when India’s vainglorious nuclear overlords are going a-begging for uranium fuel, this is the opportunity to squeeze India and pin it down to actually observing NPT rules and procedures even without India becoming a formal NPT signatory.

The US Power Elite has succeeded in achieving all these four major objectives through this deal. The US is already pushing the sale of multi-purpose combat aircraft to India for Rs 45,000 crores. Besides, the USA expects India to buy at least 100 billion dollars (Rs four-and-a-half lakh crores) worth of military hardware (missiles, radars and other items) over the next ten years. The import of ten nuclear reactors with 10,000 MW power generation capacity from the USA alone will cost anything between Rs 50,000 crores and Rs 80,000 crores. Then, there will be costs of imports of other nuclear reactors from France and Russia. The setting up of a reprocessing plant will cost more than Rs 10,000 crores. Since the resulting rise in demand for uranium will raise its per-ton price in the international market, this will mean heavy bleeding of India continually. Thus, it is an unprecedented programme of depriving India’s starving millions further to bail out the richest nation’s armaments and nuclear reactor industries.

The losses to India from the deal are:

(i) the inevitable withering of rapport with the non-aligned countries of the world and isolation from the emerging alliances of nations in South Asia, Central Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East;

(ii) the lessening of warmth in its relationship with Russia due to India’s obvious “US fixation”,

(iii) the surrender of the doctrine of minimum nuclear deterrence build-up in a world dominated by powers piling up nuclear arsenals;

(iv) obeisance to the discriminatory NPT regime’s rules, even without being a formal NPT signatory;

(v) mute acceptance of the ban on nuclear tests imposed by a power that is armed to the teeth by nuclear weapons. (Theoretically, India can still terminate the agreement and conduct nuclear tests. But this will attract severe punitive measures emanating from the provisions of the agreement signed by it.)

(vi) launching India on further impoverishment and environmental destruction path on a scale never experienced earlier.

This author himself is opposed to nuclear testing and to nuclear build-up even as a deterrence. He gives credit to Benazir Bhutto for the realisation in her twilight years that atom bombs dropped on a neighbouring country cannot but take a heavy toll of one’s own countrymen’s lives and natural resources. Even so, he cannot bear the idea that a foreign power which itself keeps building nuclear arsenal, seeks to impose non-proliferation on others. From the viewpoint of India’s hitherto followed policy, the Government of India’s prostration is complete.

Manmohan Singh’s charmed drumbeaters can mask this unprecedented sell-out as a “great success” story. But truth has a weird way of coming out, as it certainly will.

Questions about the UPA Government’s Calculations

THE question now is: what are the motivations of the government that is now ruling India?

The Bush Administration proposed and the Manmohan Singh Government agreed to a “multi-dimensional strategic relation” but its contents or directions were never spelt out. As things are unfolding—the US side making more and more strident demands and the Indian side yielding all along—it is becoming clear that the Indian side is agreeable to abjuring its nuclear sovereignty and its foreign-policy making independence to become the USA’s de facto junior partner in a global coalition. For a country that is known for its independence of thinking and for its leading role in the world’s freedom struggles, it is a huge reversal. Then, how is this tilt, this unending stream of submissions, this tacit acceptance of primacy of military hardware over sound policies, and this “strong letter of intent” to foreign firms for nuclear reactors despite its inevitable effect of making India the poorest among the poor nations, be explained? An explanation can be that the Prime Minister is living in a dream that by becoming a junior partner of the world’s lone superpower, India can be secure from external attacks and foreign-inspired terror and may even acquire a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. He might have taken Condoleezza Rice’s idea of shoring up India’s prowess as a counterweight to China too seriously, forgetting that she is a temporary holder of power. If this dream theory is ruled out, then the only other plausible explanation is that he is being led by India’s nuclear overlords. How harmful their narrow “tunnel view” is, will be explained in detail in another article. (The author’s article “Why the Nuclear Energy Path is Suicidal”, published in this year’s Republic Day Number of Mainstream, has given a part of the explanation.)

Of course, the nuclear overlords got the support of India’s big business who feel that aligning with the USA will open up a huge export market for their products. This may turn out to be a pipedream for various reasons.

THE ONLY WAY OUT

THERE is only one way to redemption. India will have to make conscious efforts to correct the tilt and put international relations on an even keel. At the same time, it will have to unleash a powerful international movement for Universal Nuclear Disarmament.

As its logical corollary, expansion of nuclear power generation has to be stopped, because it is well-nigh impossible to separate atomic power generation from nuclear weapon making and nuclear terrorism. It is pretty certain that nobody will talk of nuclear power generation two decades hence. Its potential for causing financial and energy bankruptcy and environmental disaster will increasingly come to the fore. (It causes energy bankruptcy by pre-empting the funds, which could otherwise be spent for harnessing renewable forms of energy capable of yielding hundred times as much output.)

Rajiv Gandhi had addressed the UN General Assembly, stressing the importance of Universal Nuclear Disarmament. It did not gather momentum then. Now it will, and compel all powers to dismantle nuclear weapons in the interest of their own security and survival. Maybe, it will take a couple of decades to reach the crescendo. (September 30, 2008)

The author, who in the fifties was the Secretary of the Economic Unit attached to the Central Committee of the undivided Communist Party of India, is one of the country’s earliest environmentalists and a social philosopher.

http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article983.html

West urged not to ignore Sri Lanka 
By Ethirajan Anbarasan
BBC News 

 

The 200,000 Tamils displaced in the north are increasingly hemmed in

A senior western diplomat has warned that living conditions are deteriorating for tens of thousands of civilians displaced inside Tamil Tiger rebel-held areas in northern Sri Lanka. It is a humanitarian disaster waiting to happen, he says.

"We have one of the biggest humanitarian problems emerging in the north at the moment. Unfortunately it's not attracting enough international attention," the diplomat, who's familiar with the Sri Lankan situation, told the BBC.

Sri Lankan security forces are carrying out a multi-pronged offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels in the north and some army units are reported to be very close to the town of Kilinochchi, where the Tamil Tigers have their administrative headquarters.

The United Nations says more than 200,000 people have been displaced in the latest round of fighting and they have been moving from place to place inside Tamil Tiger-controlled areas.

With the army capturing more and more territory from the rebels, the civilians have now been confined to a smaller region. Sooner or later hostilities are expected to break out in areas not very far from them. Some fear that they might get caught in the crossfire.

The diplomat, who didn't want to be identified, said Western governments had lost interest in Sri Lanka because "they think that there is little value of going back to the peace process because they are not sure whether the rebels will negotiate in good faith".

Political threat

With the international community showing little interest in the Sri Lankan conflict, the Tamil Tigers now appear to have turned towards their supporters and political parties in neighbouring India to bring about a ceasefire in the island nation.

Pro-rebel political parties and some fringe groups in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu have been holding protest rallies against the Sri Lankan army offensive claiming many Tamil civilians are being killed in the conflict.

Sri Lankan officials deny the charges, saying they are only targeting the rebel fighters.

Tamil Nadu is home to more than 60 million Tamils, who share close linguistic and cultural ties with the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Most of the major political parties from Tamil Nadu have warned that their lawmakers will quit the Indian parliament if Delhi fails to broker a ceasefire in Sri Lanka. If the threats were carried out they could trigger a political crisis in Delhi.

But these protests are viewed by some as an attempt by the pro-rebel groups to try to protect the Tamil Tigers, who appear to have been cornered by the Sri Lankan security forces in recent months.

India has been pursuing a hands-off policy in Sri Lanka since the assassination of the former Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, allegedly by a female Tamil rebel suicide bomber in 1991. However, it actively backed the Norwegian-led peace process, which was officially called off early this year.

Officially, India wants a negotiated settlement within a united Sri Lanka, knowing that any fragmentation of Sri Lanka could have serious ramifications for its own security. If Delhi attempts to exert any pressure on Colombo it is bound to trigger an angry reaction from hard line political parties in Sri Lanka.

So the protests in Tamil Nadu may not result in a major shift in India's Sri Lanka policy as Delhi's options appear to be limited.

"The rebels seemed to have made a miscalculation on when and how India will intervene. I don't see any chance of the conflict ending in the next few weeks," the western diplomat said.

'Better strategy'

The Sri Lankan military would also stoutly oppose any move to stop the offensive which seems to be going in their favour.

The military says it is closing in on Kilinochchi

Analysts say the military's numerical superiority, stronger firepower and better military strategy have helped them to push rapidly deep inside rebel-held territory in recent months. But their progress has been slow in recent weeks due to stiff resistance from the Tigers.

Many military observers agree that if the present trend continues then the army will capture Kilinochchi sooner or later.

The fall of Kilinochchi would deal a significant blow to the Tamil Tigers. Militarily, Kilinochchi will also open the gates to strategically important areas like Paranthan and Elephant Pass, the strategic land bridge leading to the Jaffna Peninsula.

If the army achieves its objectives, then the rebels would be confined mostly to the Mullaitivu region.

Now the fear among the Tamils is if the rebels are weakened then the government may not show interest in devolving powers to Tamil areas.

"There is a danger that there will be little pressure on the Sri Lankan government to devolve powers to Tamil regions if the rebels lose the war," says Sri Lankan analyst DBS Jeyaraj.

However, he argues that the fall of Kilinochchi may not be the end of the rebels as most of their weapons and cadres are still intact and they may be gearing up for a long, drawn-out guerrilla war.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7676839.stm

India sees women as agents of socio-economic growth
By   IANS
Thursday, October 16, 2008Comment(2)PrintForward
New York: India has shifted focus from mere empowerment of women to recognising them as agents of sustained socio-economic growth and change, a member of an Indian delegation told the UN during a discussion on Advancement of Women.

"Gender has been made a cross-cutting theme in India's 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12), not confined to a single chapter on Women and Children," Arjun Charan Sethi, an MP, said Tuesday while taking part in the debate on the implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 and the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly in 2000.

The five-year plan aims to guarantee the rights and entitlements of all women, and has recognised that their requirements differ based on their location within various castes, communities, religions, geographic and development zones, he said.

Detailing other efforts made by India for gender equality, Sethi said the department dealing with women's affairs since 1985 was made into a full-fledged Ministry in 2005.

Now, one-third of urban and local self-government seats have been reserved for women, thereby giving more than one million women social and political empowerment at the grassroots level. A similar reservation at the parliament level is being pursued by the government, he said.

For socio-economic development of women, the National Rural Employment Guarantee programme was launched in 2006 to provide 100 days in a year assured wage employment to every rural household with at least one-third women beneficiaries.

The scheme has "comfortably achieved its target. In fact, more than 49 percent of the beneficiaries happened to be women", Sethi said.

To monitor whether women are able to benefit from the policies and programmes instituted for them, he referred to the new system of Gender Budgeting and creation of a database of gender disaggregated information.

Sethi reiterated India's commitment to attaining the goal of equal rights of men and women everywhere and said, "India will continue to contribute positively to UN efforts to reach out to vulnerable sections, particularly women and children, in conflict and post-conflict societies."

'I can't be running after every record ' - Tendulkar

Cricinfo staff

October 17, 2008

Sachin speak
 
On the journey:
Success is a process and during that journey sometimes there are stones thrown at you and you convert them into milestones. It's a great feeling.
On how long he thinks he can keep the record:
I don't what is going to happen in future. I started as a 16-year-old, without any such targets. There might be another 16-year-old, who might not be having any targets and who knows where he is going to go.
On the pressure:
"To be honest, I was not under any pressure for this record. I knew that I have to go out and play my game. It will come at some stage. There was no burden as such. Today I decided just to watch the ball as closely as possibly."
On the sparse crowd to witness the record-breaking run:
"I did not feel anything about the poor crowd attendance. It's about quality not quantity. I got a fantastic reception in a pleasing moment. I appreciate it every applaud whichever came in my way I take it wholeheartedly."
On the missing World Cup:
"That is something I would like to have. We were close to it in 2003. It was so close yet so far. I'm not looking that far ahead [2011]. I just want go out and enjoy myself and my game and not think of any targets. If it there is in the vicinity I will focus on it. Right now I want to enjoy myself."
On getting there in Mohali:
"I always wanted to do it in front of the home crowd and I'm quite happy that an Indian has achieved that record. It is not my record, it is India's record. I'm happy it has been done here."
On his family not being there at the ground:
"It is not my family style to go over at the top. I know they will be extremely happy."
 
 
 

We were about 15 minutes into Sachin Tendulkar's press conference. He had answered wide-ranging questions, not all of then pertaining to the match or his record. Before the next question came Tendulkar's way, the media coordinator asked him if he would like to continue. Tendulkar moved away from the mic, and although he could not be heard, it seemed he said something to the effect of "Why not?" The press conference continued for the next 11 minutes, way longer than the ones at the end of a day's play.

Tendulkar was in that kind of mood. He looked animated, spoke in three languages - English, Hindi and Marathi - and was relieved, subtly funny, and happy. He started off by admitting that although the record was not a big distraction, the anticipation around it did mean something. "During all the talk about the record, I concentrated on how to score runs for the team, but everybody I used to meet would talk about only one thing. Now that it is done, I know I wouldn't be asked the same question again and again."

On a personal level, he doesn't have a "what next" now? "I started as a 16-year-old, and there was no targets then," he said. "I just wanted to go enjoy every moment. That is what I like to continue with - not to think of too many things and complicate my game in the process. "I have not played for records. I can't be running after every record [answering a query about breaking Brian Lara's 400]. I would be looking after what the team needs. The team obviously needs it. If it comes my way, I will take it. If it doesn't come, there will be no regrets."

Despite that attitude there must have been moments when he would have realised he could end up the leading run-getter in both Tests and ODIs. "As the career progresses, there is sub-consciousness mind starts thinking about it," he said. "You know that people start talking about it the records. That is how you are aware of all these things.

"There have been occasions that I didn't know how many runs I needed [to get to the record]. A couple of team-mates did not believe. I was willing to swear on anyone that I don't know. That is when they believed. The beauty is just to go out and play, and while doing that the records were meant to be broken and various milestones achieved."

What was he thinking when it happened? The steer towards the third-man boundary that got him past Brian Lara? "When I looked up, obviously I had two thoughts in my mind," he said. "One was I thanked the almighty and the second, I thanked my father. Today I miss him. He would definitely be a proud man, and I just thought of him."

Sourav Ganguly was a special partner to have when the record happened. He reminded Tendulkar of the fact that he was his partner when Tendulkar got his 35th century. "If you can remember that in the middle of all that ..."

He also dedicated the record to Ramakant Achrekar, his childhood coach, his family who have been by his side "whether or not he did well", and especially "my mother".

Almost in paternal manner, he subtly put his critics in their place. "I don't need to prove anything to anyone," he said. "I have been around for 19 years, and those 19 years I did not play cricket to prove anything to anyone, whether it was first year of my cricket or 10th, or 15th, or 19th.

"I'm not here to answer to what x, y and z is writing or saying about me. It is their opinions, and I don't take all those opinions seriously ... But sometimes I don't know how they can figure out what's going on in my mind when sometimes I myself can't figure that out."

That was the only time he sounded mildly sour, but only mildly. The talk eventually went back to the celebration when he got the record. "The duration [of the fireworks] was bit worrying." When a journalist informed him they had planned 11,954 crackers, he said, "Eventually I figured out it was 11,954 crackers or something like that."

© Cricinfo
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/indvaus2008/content/story/374396.html
 
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE
Obama works for the working-class vote
By Matt Bai Published: October 17, 2008

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For a guy who just four years ago was running his first statewide campaign, Barack Obama has made startlingly few missteps as a presidential candidate. But the moment Obama would most like to take back now, if he could, was the one last April when, speaking to a small gathering of Bay Area contributors, he said that small-town voters in Pennsylvania and other states had grown "bitter" over lost jobs, which caused them to "cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them."

That comment, subsequently posted by a blogger for the Huffington Post, undercut one of the central premises of Obama's campaign - that he could somehow erode the tired distinctions between red states and blue ones and appeal to disaffected white men who had written off national Democrats as hopelessly elitist.

"That was my biggest boneheaded move," Obama told me recently. We were sitting across from each other on his plane, the one with the big red, white and blue "O" on the tail, flying some 35,000 feet above Nebraska. "How it was interpreted in the press was Obama talking to a bunch of wine-sipping San Francisco liberals with an anthropological view toward white working-class voters. And I was actually making the reverse point, clumsily, which is that these voters have a right to be frustrated because they've been ignored. And because Democrats haven't met them halfway on cultural issues, we've not been able to communicate to them effectively an economic agenda that would help broaden our coalition."

"I mean, part of what I was trying to say to that group in San Francisco was, 'You guys need to stop thinking that issues like religion or guns are somehow wrong,"' he continued. "Because, in fact, if you've grown up and your dad went out and took you hunting, and that is part of your self-identity and provides you a sense of continuity and stability that is unavailable in your economic life, then that's going to be pretty important, and rightfully so. And if you're watching your community lose population and collapse but your church is still strong and the life of the community is centered around that, well then, you know, we'd better be paying attention to that."

In a few minutes, Obama would arrive in Colorado for a campaign stop, followed by another in Nevada - two critical states that neither of the previous two Democratic presidential nominees, Al Gore and John Kerry, came all that close to winning, largely because of their abject failure to connect with white men, especially lower- and middle-class men in rural and exurban counties. I asked Obama how he thought he could convey to these voters that he was not, in fact, an anthropological observer of the culture.

Today in Americas
Debates over, candidates begin final sprintCandidates' visions differ on unleashing innovationObama works for the working-class vote"First," Obama said, "you have to show up. I've been to Elko, Nevada, now three times."

"Elko?" I asked twice, straining to hear him over the engine noise.

"E-L-K-O." He sounded vaguely annoyed, as if I had just confirmed something about the media he had long suspected. "That, by the way, is the reason we got more delegates out of Nevada, even though we lost the popular vote there during the primary. We lost Las Vegas and Clark County, but we won handily in rural Nevada. And a lot of it just had to do with the fact that folks thought: Man, the guy is showing up. He's set up an office. He's doing real organizing. He's talking to people."

At that very moment, Republicans in Washington were scuttling a $700 billion emergency plan for Wall Street, causing the markets to hemorrhage more value in a single day, in terms of sheer dollar amounts, than at any time in American history and dragging the economy back into the center of the campaign - precisely where John McCain and the Republicans did not want it.

It now appeared that the only thing that could still threaten Obama's march to the presidency was the same resistance from the voters that had, at the last moment, dashed the dreams of his Democratic predecessors. According to exit polls in 2004, Kerry lost white men by a crushing 25-point margin. While voters overall give Obama the advantage over John McCain when asked which candidate is better equipped to navigate these tumultuous economic times, Gallup polls throughout the summer and into the fall consistently showed McCain with a double-digit lead among white men who have not been to college.

And yet Obama has persevered, devoting far more time and money than either of the last two Democratic nominees on an effort to persuade working-class and rural white guys that he is not the elitist, alien figure they may be inclined to think he is. The Obama campaign has more than 50 state offices throughout Virginia, a state no Democrat has seriously contested since Obama was a teenager. In Indiana, there are 42 offices; in North Carolina, another 45.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/17/america/rural.php

Zardari fails to get China's commitment on nuke deal
17 Oct 2008, 1717 hrs IST, Saibal Dasgupta, TNN

BEIJING: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has failed to obtain a clear commitment from Chinese leaders on his proposal for broadening the nuclear 
relationship between the two countries, informed sources said.

Zardari is believed to have spent the past two days during his first presidential visit to Beijing persuading Chinese leaders to sign a Sino-Pakistan nuclear deal on the lines of the India-US deal, among other things.

But Beijing has indicated it will seriously consider Zardari's request after examining the changing situation concerning India-US nuclear relationship and Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Zardari is believed to have told Chinese leaders that a Sino-Pakistan deal on nuclear energy would help Beijing counter the effects of the India-US deal. But Chinese leaders are reluctant to go ahead with the idea as they regard Pakistan to be politically unstable, sources said.

At the same time, Chinese president Hu Jintao left no one in doubt that China values its four-decade long friendship with Pakistan by receiving Zardari with a 21-gun military salute at the Tiananmen Square, festooned with the national flags of the two countries. "Your entire family are old friends of the Chinese people. We will never forget the outstanding contribution Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had made to boosting ties with China," he told Zardari.

China has agreed to launch a telecommunication satellite, dubbed PakSat-1R, for Pakistan in 2011. The state-run Great Wall Industry Corporation has said that a Long March 3B rocket will be used to put the satellite into orbit.

Plans involve launching the satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern Sichuan Province. The satellite with a life span of 15 years will be used by Pakistan for domestic telecommunication and broadcast services.

China, which earlier delivered two satellites were sent to Nigeria last year, has recently agreed to launch a satellite for Venezuela.
China is also believed to be blocking US efforts to impose greater sanctions on Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions. Beijing is unhappy over recent US decisions to export arms to Taiwan, which it regards as part of Chinese territory.

An important factor shaping China's policies concerning India. Pakistan, Iran and Venezuela is its desire to put the US at a disadvantage in the international political scene. This is what explains its desire to give Iran a helping hand and back Venezuela, which is seriously opposed to US policies, sources said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Zardari_fails_to_get_Chinas_commitment_on_nuke_deal/articleshow/3609066.cms

Chinese workers protest at closed toy factory
17 Oct 2008, 0820 hrs IST, AP

DONGGUAN: Hundreds of workers protested on Friday for a third straight day outside a large toy factory that closed in southern China amid a global sl
owdown that has begun hurting Chinese manufacturers.

About 500 workers were milling around outside the factory in the city of Dongguan as police looked on. The laborers are demanding unpaid wages from the factory's Hong Kong owner, Smart Union Group (Holdings) Ltd., which had three factories in Dongguan in Guangdong province.

The factory closed on Wednesday, the same day the company issued a notice to Hong Kong's stock market saying it was suspending trading of its shares pending the release of an announcement. Calls made to the company's Hong Kong main office were not answered.

The Southern Metropolis Daily, one of the most popular mass-market dailies in Guangdong, reported on its Web site Thursday that workers were shocked that the factory had closed. Unidentified laborers were quoted as saying the plant was operating as normal on Tuesday and there were no apparent signs it was about to close.

About 1,000 laborers protested outside the factory's main gate, where the local government posted a notice saying the plant was closed because of ``unfavorable business conditions,'' the paper said.

This week, the official Xinhua News Agency reported that a total of 3,631 toy exporters, 52.7 percent of the industry's enterprises, went out of business in 2008. They shut down because of higher production costs, wage increases for workers, and the rising value of the yuan. The report said most of the failures involved small factories.

Xinhua also said the General Administration of Customs was blaming the US financial turmoil for a 5.2 percent drop in exports to America in the first seven months of 2008.

Oil price rises to $71 on fears of OPEC output cut
17 Oct, 2008, 2154 hrs IST, AGENCIES
LONDON: The benchmark oil price rebounded to $71.01 on Friday on speculation that the OPEC crude producers' cartel could cut production at an emerge
ncy meeting next week, traders said.

Crude futures had tumbled yesterday and have plunged by more than six per cent over the week as fears of a global recession raised expectations of a prolonged slowdown to energy demand.

The week that was: Jet-K'fisher ally
(01:25) Report
Oct. 17 - Here is a wrap of this week's news and entertainment stories, including:

RBI takes steps to ease the credit crisis effect in India.
Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines in an alliance to cut costs.
Muslim leaders ask government for protection.
Amitabh Bachchan discharged from hospital.
Greg Beitchman reports.

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CPI-M condemn anti-Christian attacks
(01:26) Report
Oct. 15 - The Communist Party of India CPI (M) asked the government to take strong action against those behind a string of attacks on Christians in three Indian states.

An ANI report.
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