Sen, Obama: In support of Barack
New York, Nov. 5: Amartya Sen today told The Telegraph he was delighted with Barack Obama’s victory and that it had important consequences for India.
“It was a big night. I went to bed late. It’s an excellent result. I obviously don’t have a vote in America — I am an exclusively Indian citizen — but I have been a supporter of Barack Obama’s candidature right from the beginning,” the Nobel laureate, who teaches at Harvard, said from his home in Boston.
“He (Obama) brings three very important things for America. First, a kind of democratisation by the inclusion of African Americans now in the highest political positions of this country. This is a wonderful change since there were racist laws excluding blacks from their rightful place in society even a few decades ago,” Sen said.
“Second, the alienation of the world from the US was based on an American policy that had been extraordinarily unilateral. For example, world opinion was quite contrary to the intervention in Iraq. Obama had been critical of this unilateralism and it is quite clear that in his vision of a good world, multilateralism plays a big part and that is very important for the world given the fact that the US is still the strongest country.
“Third, the unilateral policies chosen by the government have often been peculiarly daft. Often they were not well thought out, for example, attacking Iraq was not only a unilateral decision, it was also a stupid decision. Iraq had no involvement with 9/11 since it did not allow al Qaida to function in the country; and the running of Iraq essentially by an American administration was bound to be deeply problematic and resented.
“Similarly, it is not smart to do nothing about the deteriorating environment and just watch the calamity develop. It is also not very astute to let all the regulations of financial markets go away, allowing people to make huge amounts of unaccounted profits and then complain about the greed of the money-makers.
“Greed is not a new phenomenon but what it needs is decent regulations which make people responsible for their decisions.
“So, in all these respects, by making America more democratic (and) American policy more multilateral, we can expect major advances from an Obama administration. The most distinguishing feature of Obama has not been the fact that he is black or that he has a liberal voting record but that he brings a reasoned approach to taking decisions. And this America needs today. And so does the world.
“Since I have been involved in the civil rights movement in America for a long time — I visited this country many times and I was very much present at Berkeley in 1964-65 when the free speech movement occurred and at Harvard during 1968-69 when there were also participatory movements on the campuses — it is a moment of particular joy to see what is ultimately a success of the fruits of the civil rights movement.
“I can’t say like some of my friends that I wept, I didn’t, but I am delighted and extremely happy.
“I think this victory has implications for India. The Bush administration has not been particularly hostile to India at all. And therefore it is not so much that the last administration was more anti-Indian than the Obama administration would be. But it is in the interests of all countries, including India, that American policy be based on reasoning.
“We all have much to benefit from intelligent decisions taken by each country and it is the likelihood of a more reasoned approach to world problems on which world peace, including suppression of terrorism in an intelligent and effective way, depends. And India has a huge stake in that.”
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081106/jsp/nation/story_10069737.jsp
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081106/jsp/nation/story_10069737.jsp
Karat drives the knife in ‘deep’
JAYANTH JACOB
Singh, Karat: American battle
New Delhi, Nov. 5: As compliments go, this one was as left-handed as it gets.
JAYANTH JACOB
Singh, Karat: American battle
New Delhi, Nov. 5: As compliments go, this one was as left-handed as it gets.
CPM general secretary Prakash Karat chose the momentous events of the American stage to extend his favourite sub-plot today and battle on with his pet villains. He got Barack Obama’s historic victory quickly out of the way with a clipped “significant event” label and dwelt with relish on its implications for George Bush and Manmohan Singh.
“I wonder where this will leave our Prime Minister because he has expressed his profound love for George Bush… this election has shown how deeply unpopular George Bush is after eight years….”
Karat appeared to have chosen his words to drive the knife deep — “deeply unpopular” was, after all, a play on Prime Minister Singh telling President Bush that the people of India “deeply” loved him.
While many in the foreign policy establishment and in the hall of experts have hailed Bush for taking Indo-US relations to a new high, the Left has been deeply critical not only of his presidency but also of the Bush-Manmohan compact.
The CPM boss kept his judgement on Obama suspended — “what the Obama presidency will do, what policy directions it will take, we will have to wait, watch and see. Changes have been promised but we will have to see what kind of change” — but he may actually be ruing the prospect of Bush exiting the scene.
Bush in the White House afforded the Left a daily turkey shoot. Alas, he’s turned lame duck now. And Obama will take time and effort to paint into a villain symbolic of the evil empire. The President-elect has, after all, been “accused” of being a socialist and a capital re-distributionist.
Karat’s party colleague and Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee appeared happy enough though. “For the first time, a black President with his black family members will enter the White House,” he said as soon as he came on stage at the opening of an exhibition in Calcutta.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081106/jsp/nation/story_10069437.jsp
MNS stir: All of us are Indians says Supreme Court
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081106/jsp/nation/story_10069437.jsp
MNS stir: All of us are Indians says Supreme Court
6 Nov, 2008, 2014 hrs IST, AGENCIES
NEW DELHI: In the wake of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's hate campaign against north Indians and non-Marathis, the Supreme Court
on Thursday struck a patriotic note by saying that "all of us are Indians" and there is no difference between people coming from various regions.
on Thursday struck a patriotic note by saying that "all of us are Indians" and there is no difference between people coming from various regions.
"What's the difference between north Indians and Indians? All of us are Indians," a bench of Justices B N Aggrawal and G S Singhvi quipped, while posting for Monday a PIL seeking judicial inquiry into the killing of a Bihari youth, Rahul Raj, in a police encounter and the murder of another north Indian in Mumbai last month.
On Tuesday the apex court had observed that if there was a "political will" such hate campaign would not occur in the country. It had also cited Article 355 to drive home the point that the Union government had adequate powers to give necessary directions to the State to prevent such incidents.
The bench of Justices Aggrawal and Singhvi said it would hear the matter along with another related PIL which had earlier sought appropriate directions to the government to ensure that the country's unity was not threatened by vested interests fomenting regional chauvinism.
Incidentally, the apex court had directed the petitioners in both cases to suitably amend their petition and come before it when the matter is taken up for further hearing.
During the brief arguments on Thursday, the petitioner, Sanjeev Kumar Singh, submitted that he was compelled to approach the Supreme Court as the authorities in Maharashtra had failed to respond to his request for providing adequate protection to north Indians in the state.
"When I made representation to all senior officials including the Mumbai police commissioner, I was threatened that I would meet the same fate if I do not get out of the place," Singh told the bench after being asked as to why he did not approach the authorities concerned with his plea.
Singh asserted that he had every right to approach the apex court as a number of his relatives staying in Maharashtra were under constant fear due to the ongoing hate campaign.
The apex court queried Singh as to whether he was aware that Article 355 of the Constitution to which the latter replied in the affirmative and read out the portion in the court on the advice of the bench.
According to Article 355, 'It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every state against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the government of every state is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.'
Rahul Raj, 23-year-old resident of Patna was killed in a shootout in a BEST bus on October 27 and a day later Dharam Dev Rai (25), a resident of Faizabad in UP, was beaten to death on a local train in Mumbai.
On Tuesday, the apex court had observed that the issue was political in nature and "political will" was required to curb it.
"Can it be done through an order of this court? It is a political question, not a court issue. If there is a political will it can be tackled," a bench of Justices B N Aggrawal and G S Singhvi observed.
US business productivity growth slowed in Q3
6 Nov, 2008, 1917 hrs IST, REUTERS
WASHINGTON: US non-farm business productivity grew at the slowest pace this year during the third quarter as output fell at the sharpest rate in seve
n years, a Labor Department report on Thursday showed.
Productivity increased at an annual rate of 1.1 percent, less than a third of the second quarter's 3.6 percent rate and down from 2.6 percent in the first quarter. That was still ahead of forecasts by Wall Street economists who had expected only a 0.8 percent annual rate of productivity growth for the third quarter.
Output fell at a 1.7 percent rate in the third quarter, the biggest decline since a 2.9 percent fall in the third quarter of 2001.
Productivity is a measure of hourly output per worker. Rising productivity helps to keep inflation in check.
Unit labor costs, a gauge of inflation and profit pressures that the Federal Reserve monitors closely, jumped at a 3.6 percent annual rate in the third quarter after declining 0.1 percent in the second quarter. That was well ahead of forecasts for a 2.8 percent annual rate of increase.
BoE, ECB slash key rates as EU economy slows
6 Nov, 2008, 1828 hrs IST, REUTERS
FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank cut its main lending rate by 50 basis points on Thursday as the euro zone economy slows. UK bailout
The move takes the ECB's benchmark rate to 3.25 percent and is the second cut in just under a month following an emergency 50 basis points reduction made on Oct. 8 in tandem with a host of other central banks.
The Bank of England earlier cut rates by 150 basis points and the Swiss National Bank by 50 basis points.
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet will explain the Governing Council's decision at a news conference at 1330 GMT.
He is expected to say the move is in response to falling economic growth and justified by the fact that inflation worries have eased sharply.
The euro zone's economy, which had grown every year since the bloc's creation in 1999, contracted by 0.2 percent in the second quarter this year. Most economists expect further shrinkage in third quarter GDP figures when they are released on Nov. 14.
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Annual inflation is now at 3.2 percent, well above the ECB's target of just under 2 percent, but economists expect it to drop rapidly in the coming months.
SWIFT ACTION
Obama's landslide win on Tuesday along with the Democrats' tighter grip on Congress, raised hopes of a speedier injection of billions of dollars to shore up the struggling economy.
The first black US president has to wait until Jan. 20 to move into the White House. In the meantime, though, he must decide on a successor for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, one of the architects of a $700 billion state rescue package inconceivable before the crisis broke.
Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker are among those mooted for the Treasury post. Obama may announce his pick on Thursday.
The ECB, staring at the first euro zone-wide recession since its inception in 1999, is seen certain to cut its benchmark rate by half a point to a two-year low of 3.25 percent. But interest rate traders are pricing in a 75 basis point cut.
A half-point reduction would match the Oct. 8 emergency cut made in unison with the Fed and other major central banks. A larger reduction would be the ECB's biggest ever.
The slump is already encroaching on Main Street. World number two sporting goods maker Adidas stood by its 2008 forecasts, but retracted targets for next year, declaring that conditions were too difficult to predict.
A Swedish central bank official said the shape of a Nordic aid package to crisis-hit Iceland had been decided. Norway said earlier this week it would provide Iceland with a 500 million euro ($643 million) loan to help the country rebuild an economy in tatters following the collapse of its biggest banks.
The International Monetary Fund also approved a hefty $16.5 billion loan for Ukraine.
Inflation spooks market; Nifty ends below 2900
6 Nov, 2008, 1820 hrs IST,Mohammed Sabir, ECONOMICTIMES.COM
MUMBAI: Equities retraced intraday gains and ended sharply lower for the second straight session Thursday as a higher-than-expected inflation rate weighed on investor sentiments. Metals and oil & gas stocks took a hit while realty and healthcare ended flat.
Domestic inflation rate for the week ended Oct 25 was 10.72 per cent against 10.68 per cent a week ago. The figure disappointed traders who expected it to come in single digit.
Stocks opened gap-down following correction in global markets on fears of recession, which came to the fore after the US elections were over.
Shares of Tata group companies Tata Steel and Tata Motors were under tremendous pressure. Investors also continued to exit Reliance Industries.
Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share Sensex closed the day at 9,734.22, down 385.79 points or 3.81 per cent from the previous close. The Index touched a high of 10,109.45 and low of 9,635.22.
National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 2,892.65, down 102.30 points or 3.42 per cent. The 50-share index touched an intra-day low of 2,860.25 and high of 3,007.80.
BSE Midcap Index was down 2.24 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index closed 2.13 per cent down.
“We are in normal correction after a phenomenal rise and may retrace below today’s low to 2746 and 2560, which forms a strong support base for the Nifty. For a higher bottom formation, Nifty has to turn from any of these above levels and should close above 3240 for two consecutive days, which would raise possibility of a 700-800 points rally on the Nifty. If market doesn’t breach low of 2860 on Friday then the levels of 3008, 3051 and 3122 will act as sell area. Close above 3122 will be positive for the market. Short term averages are trending flat and long term 200 DMA and 30 DMA are downwards,” said Bharat Gala, head technical analyst, Ventura Securities.
European shares down after huge British rate cut
6 Nov, 2008, 1818 hrs IST, REUTERS
LONDON: European shares traded lower at midday on Thursday, having pared losses after a surprisingly large Bank of England rate cut, and investors sw
itched their sights to a European Central Bank rate decision due at 1245 GMT.
itched their sights to a European Central Bank rate decision due at 1245 GMT.
By 1219 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 1.7 percent at 937.03 points, off a earlier low of 911.3 points.
The Bank of England slashed rates by 1.5 percentage points to 3 percent. Most economists polled by Reuters had forecast a half-point BoE cut although several had changed their forecasts following a series of gloomy data.
Analysts said the move suggested that the European Central Bank would cut by more than the 0.5 percentage points most expected before the BoE move.
"The amazing decision by the BoE to slash rates by 150 basis points leads us to believe that the ECB will be cutting by 100 basis points today. That is now our expectation," Royal Bank of Scotland said in a note.
Britain's central bank has never cut interest rates by more than half a point since it was made independent in 1997. The last time rates were slashed by a percentage point was in 1993, when the country was struggling to emerge from a recession.
"It looks like the Bank of England monetary policy committee has completed abandoned its policy of incremental changes. This is good decisive action. This decision is unprecedented and the market is going to be confused for a time by it," said Jim Wood-Smith, head of research at Williams de Broe.
"On the one hand it is good news; on the other hand it is confirmation that we are up a gum tree."
Banks were the biggest losers on the index. HSBC, BNP Paribas, UBS and Banco Santander were down 2.8-8.2 percent.
Elsewhere in financials, the world's biggest listed hedge fund firm Man Group lost 29.7 percent after it said its pre-tax profit fell 24 percent to $622 million in the six months to end-September.
"Financials are under pressure especially in this environment. But, would have thought a hedge fund company like Man Group would have done well in these type of circumstances. The group has not lived up to the expectations everyone had for them and now there is a question of huge redemptions," said Mike Lenhoff, strategist at Brewin Dolphin.
AXA, Europe's biggest insurer by market capitalisation, dropped 4.9 percent after it reported lower 9-month sales.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 2.7 percent, Germany's DAX was 2.75 percent and France's CAC 40 was 2.55 percent lower.
Energy stocks also contributed to heavy losses on the index as crude fell 2.45 percent as the dollar strengthened and dismal economic data pointed to a deeper U.S recession than feared.
BG Group, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total were down 2.5-3.3 percent. A retreat in metal prices also weighed on mining shares with with copper down 3.2 percent. Vedanta Resources slipped 9.5 percent after the group posted a 24.7 percent drop in first half profit.
Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Xstrata were between 6.3-8.4 percent lower. On the upside, brewer InBev gained 0.07 percent as it insisted its $52 billion takeover of Anheuser-Busch was on track after third-quarter results slightly exceeded expectations despite rocketing costs.
Investors also turned to defensive stocks considered a safe bet in times of economic turmoil, with the pharmaceutical sector regaining some of the ground which it lost on Wednesday. Roche and Novartis were up between 0.8-0.95 percent.
US stocks future briefly cut losses on UK rate cut
6 Nov, 2008, 1816 hrs IST, AGENCIES
NEW YORK: US stock index futures briefly trimmed losses on Thursday after the Bank of England slashed interest rates, a move expected to be followed
by a cut by the European Central Bank as authorities try to ease the impact of a global recession.
The Bank of England cut borrowing costs by a more than expected 150 basis points to 3.0 percent. The boost from the rate cut, however, was offset by disappointing outlooks from companies including technology bellwether Cisco Systems pointing to a deepening global economic downturn.
S&P 500 futures fell 13 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures declined 102 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 25.25 points.
Grim reality hits global stocks
6 Nov, 2008, 1642 hrs IST, REUTERS
LONDON: European stocks followed Asia into sharp declines on Thursday and oil extended losses as weak U.S. data intensified fears about the impact of recession in major economies hit by the worst financial crisis in 80 years.
The euro and sterling fell against the dollar as investors braced for the European Central Bank and the Bank of England to cut interest rates by at least half a percentage point.
Euphoria after a landmark victory of Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential vote evaporated as Wednesday's data showed cuts in employment by private employers and a sharp contraction in the service sector, revealing the scale of a slowdown in the world's biggest economy.
"We're back to the grim reality of economic data showing recessionary conditions and lower earnings guidance," said Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers.
"The counterbalance is interest rate cuts. We're no longer in a situation where big cuts would cause panic." MSCI world equity index fell 2.4 percent while emerging stocks lost more than 5 percent. Asian stocks fell 7 percent.
Russia's largest stock exchange MICEX halted trading of stocks for one hour after stock prices fell sharply.
BIG CUTS?
The euro fell half a percent to $1.2898 while sterling ticked down to $1.5933. The dollar rose slightly against a basket of major currencies.
Some analysts are looking for a UK interest rate cut of as much as 100 basis points and a euro zone rate cut of 75 basis points. Many say drastic action from central banks is key in restoring investor confidence.
"The more significant the banks cut rates and the more dovish related statements the better the chance of seeing equity markets stabilising and currencies rallying thereafter," BNP Paribas said in a note to clients.
"A more conservative approach could lead to substantial equity losses taking currencies with it."
U.S. crude oil lost 2 percent to $63.96 a barrel, having fallen all the way from its record high above $147 set in July.
The December bund futures fell 20 ticks ahead of the ECB rate decision.
Entrepreneurs should go slow to overcome financial crisis: Experts
6 Nov, 2008, 1955 hrs IST, PTI
KOLKATA: The entrepreneurs should adopt a wait-and-watch policy to recover from the ongoing global financial meltdown and think beyond their short-te
rm interests, analysts said on Thursday.
rm interests, analysts said on Thursday.
"The small and medium entrepreneurs should take a long-term view at this particular juncture. So, when the good time comes, they will be able to utilise that. If they look at short-term compulsion of their companies they will lose focus. Now it's just time to watch," US-based executive and service firm Tatum's chairman Douglass M. Tatum said at a programme here.
Speaking at the Fortune High Growth Series organised by the the women's arm of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Tatum said India was innovating everywhere and people should look at innovation in a broad sense.
Fortune High Growth Series was targeted at providing a clear view to the company chief executives and senior executives on how to turn growth crisis into competitive advantage. The session was addressed by global business magazine Fortune's contributing editor John Elliott, Robert Bierman who was the vice-president of Live Media, Fortune magazine and many other noted dignitaries.
"At least 100 companies from all over eastern region participated in the series. It was designed for company executives from small to medium-sized growth firms to get a first hand view about the successful global high-growth companies," said FICCI women's body (Kolkata chapter) chairperson Rajkumari Saharia.
Obama victory and Indo-US relations
6 Nov, 2008, 0025 hrs IST,C Uday Bhaskar,
LONDON: European shares traded lower at midday on Thursday, having pared losses after a surprisingly large Bank of England rate cut, and investors sw
itched their sights to a European Central Bank rate decision due at 1245 GMT.
By 1219 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 1.7 percent at 937.03 points, off a earlier low of 911.3 points.
The Bank of England slashed rates by 1.5 percentage points to 3 percent. Most economists polled by Reuters had forecast a half-point BoE cut although several had changed their forecasts following a series of gloomy data.
Analysts said the move suggested that the European Central Bank would cut by more than the 0.5 percentage points most expected before the BoE move.
"The amazing decision by the BoE to slash rates by 150 basis points leads us to believe that the ECB will be cutting by 100 basis points today. That is now our expectation," Royal Bank of Scotland said in a note.
Britain's central bank has never cut interest rates by more than half a point since it was made independent in 1997. The last time rates were slashed by a percentage point was in 1993, when the country was struggling to emerge from a recession.
"It looks like the Bank of England monetary policy committee has completed abandoned its policy of incremental changes. This is good decisive action. This decision is unprecedented and the market is going to be confused for a time by it," said Jim Wood-Smith, head of research at Williams de Broe.
"On the one hand it is good news; on the other hand it is confirmation that we are up a gum tree."
Banks were the biggest losers on the index. HSBC, BNP Paribas, UBS and Banco Santander were down 2.8-8.2 percent.
Elsewhere in financials, the world's biggest listed hedge fund firm Man Group lost 29.7 percent after it said its pre-tax profit fell 24 percent to $622 million in the six months to end-September.
"Financials are under pressure especially in this environment. But, would have thought a hedge fund company like Man Group would have done well in these type of circumstances. The group has not lived up to the expectations everyone had for them and now there is a question of huge redemptions," said Mike Lenhoff, strategist at Brewin Dolphin.
AXA, Europe's biggest insurer by market capitalisation, dropped 4.9 percent after it reported lower 9-month sales.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 2.7 percent, Germany's DAX was 2.75 percent and France's CAC 40 was 2.55 percent lower.
Energy stocks also contributed to heavy losses on the index as crude fell 2.45 percent as the dollar strengthened and dismal economic data pointed to a deeper U.S recession than feared.
BG Group, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total were down 2.5-3.3 percent. A retreat in metal prices also weighed on mining shares with with copper down 3.2 percent. Vedanta Resources slipped 9.5 percent after the group posted a 24.7 percent drop in first half profit.
Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Xstrata were between 6.3-8.4 percent lower. On the upside, brewer InBev gained 0.07 percent as it insisted its $52 billion takeover of Anheuser-Busch was on track after third-quarter results slightly exceeded expectations despite rocketing costs.
Investors also turned to defensive stocks considered a safe bet in times of economic turmoil, with the pharmaceutical sector regaining some of the ground which it lost on Wednesday. Roche and Novartis were up between 0.8-0.95 percent.
US stocks future briefly cut losses on UK rate cut
6 Nov, 2008, 1816 hrs IST, AGENCIES
NEW YORK: US stock index futures briefly trimmed losses on Thursday after the Bank of England slashed interest rates, a move expected to be followed
by a cut by the European Central Bank as authorities try to ease the impact of a global recession.
The Bank of England cut borrowing costs by a more than expected 150 basis points to 3.0 percent. The boost from the rate cut, however, was offset by disappointing outlooks from companies including technology bellwether Cisco Systems pointing to a deepening global economic downturn.
S&P 500 futures fell 13 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures declined 102 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 25.25 points.
Grim reality hits global stocks
6 Nov, 2008, 1642 hrs IST, REUTERS
LONDON: European stocks followed Asia into sharp declines on Thursday and oil extended losses as weak U.S. data intensified fears about the impact of recession in major economies hit by the worst financial crisis in 80 years.
The euro and sterling fell against the dollar as investors braced for the European Central Bank and the Bank of England to cut interest rates by at least half a percentage point.
Euphoria after a landmark victory of Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential vote evaporated as Wednesday's data showed cuts in employment by private employers and a sharp contraction in the service sector, revealing the scale of a slowdown in the world's biggest economy.
"We're back to the grim reality of economic data showing recessionary conditions and lower earnings guidance," said Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers.
"The counterbalance is interest rate cuts. We're no longer in a situation where big cuts would cause panic." MSCI world equity index fell 2.4 percent while emerging stocks lost more than 5 percent. Asian stocks fell 7 percent.
Russia's largest stock exchange MICEX halted trading of stocks for one hour after stock prices fell sharply.
BIG CUTS?
The euro fell half a percent to $1.2898 while sterling ticked down to $1.5933. The dollar rose slightly against a basket of major currencies.
Some analysts are looking for a UK interest rate cut of as much as 100 basis points and a euro zone rate cut of 75 basis points. Many say drastic action from central banks is key in restoring investor confidence.
"The more significant the banks cut rates and the more dovish related statements the better the chance of seeing equity markets stabilising and currencies rallying thereafter," BNP Paribas said in a note to clients.
"A more conservative approach could lead to substantial equity losses taking currencies with it."
U.S. crude oil lost 2 percent to $63.96 a barrel, having fallen all the way from its record high above $147 set in July.
The December bund futures fell 20 ticks ahead of the ECB rate decision.
Entrepreneurs should go slow to overcome financial crisis: Experts
6 Nov, 2008, 1955 hrs IST, PTI
KOLKATA: The entrepreneurs should adopt a wait-and-watch policy to recover from the ongoing global financial meltdown and think beyond their short-te
rm interests, analysts said on Thursday.
rm interests, analysts said on Thursday.
"The small and medium entrepreneurs should take a long-term view at this particular juncture. So, when the good time comes, they will be able to utilise that. If they look at short-term compulsion of their companies they will lose focus. Now it's just time to watch," US-based executive and service firm Tatum's chairman Douglass M. Tatum said at a programme here.
Speaking at the Fortune High Growth Series organised by the the women's arm of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Tatum said India was innovating everywhere and people should look at innovation in a broad sense.
Fortune High Growth Series was targeted at providing a clear view to the company chief executives and senior executives on how to turn growth crisis into competitive advantage. The session was addressed by global business magazine Fortune's contributing editor John Elliott, Robert Bierman who was the vice-president of Live Media, Fortune magazine and many other noted dignitaries.
"At least 100 companies from all over eastern region participated in the series. It was designed for company executives from small to medium-sized growth firms to get a first hand view about the successful global high-growth companies," said FICCI women's body (Kolkata chapter) chairperson Rajkumari Saharia.
Obama victory and Indo-US relations
6 Nov, 2008, 0025 hrs IST,C Uday Bhaskar,
Audacity of Hope — the title of Barack Obama’s biography published in 2006 captured the collective mood on Tuesday, November 4, when the US elected i
ts first black President. The much-awaited ‘change’ that the American voter was seeking became real. The anxiety and unease that persisted till the very end that the US was not yet ready to put its shameful racial and colour prejudices behind it, has finally been put to rest. The world’s oldest democracy has now regained the moral high ground as far as the treatment of its minorities is concerned and this has an embedded message for the largest democracy — though hopefully this breakthrough in India will not take as many decades to be realised.
ts first black President. The much-awaited ‘change’ that the American voter was seeking became real. The anxiety and unease that persisted till the very end that the US was not yet ready to put its shameful racial and colour prejudices behind it, has finally been put to rest. The world’s oldest democracy has now regained the moral high ground as far as the treatment of its minorities is concerned and this has an embedded message for the largest democracy — though hopefully this breakthrough in India will not take as many decades to be realised.
The sub-text of the Obama biography is ‘Thoughts on reclaiming the American dream’ and the current mood in the US is one of hope, born out of weariness and despondency after eight years of the Bush presidency and the many excesses associated with the current White House. When he assumes office, Mr Obama, the Democrat President-elect will have his hands full with urgent domestic issues and none more stark than a bankrupt economy with a trillion dollar deficit and the steady erosion of the prevailing global financial turmoil.
Capitals the world over are making their individual assessments about what an Obama victory will mean for their bilateral relations with the US and on balance, it would be fair to aver that there is no indication of any major or radical changes in US external policies. The perceived US national interest will be the lodestar for any incumbent in the White House and it will be no different for Mr Obama who will inherit many crosses from his predecessors.
As regards the Indo-US bilateral, there has been some anxiety expressed about the implications of the Obama victory. Reference has been made to his campaign statements regarding the India-Pakistan relationship and the desirability of both countries working “towards resolving their dispute over Kashmir.” In like fashion, the Obama amendment during the US Congressional debate over the Hyde Act that was once described as ‘killer’ has also come up on the radar screen to add to the disquiet. However linear extrapolations that are over-interpreted may not be valid at this stage in the Indo-US bilateral relationship. The Obama victory needs to be contextualised against the larger backdrop of the 60-year-old tumultuous New Delhi-Washington DC relationship to better comprehend the texture of the potential implications.
Yes, it is true that India and the US had a very estranged relationship for almost 40 years and much of this was derived from the ontological divergences over the nuclear nettle. To his everlasting credit, President Bush in his second tenure was able to innovatively recast the template of the bilateral and after the NSG waiver of September this year and the signing of the 123 agreement, Indo-US relations have been qualitatively transformed. They have moved from long estrangement to preliminary engagement. This basic orientation will not be altered by the Obama victory. Thus the Black and White reduction, that Democrat Presidents have been less favourable to India, would be a simplistic conclusion. The global architecture, US strategic interests, and India’s own profile have changed irrevocably.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Obama_victory_and_Indo-US_relations/articleshow/3678885.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Obama_victory_and_Indo-US_relations/articleshow/3678885.cms
Beyond Obama's triumph
6 Nov, 2008, 0003 hrs IST, ET Bureau
If the discourse of race, which so dominates American polity, is only about minority, particularly Black, access to state institutions and their repr
esentation within, the issue has been spectacularly resolved with Barack Obama’s landslide victory.
Yet, the question remains as to how far this epochally symbolic moment represents a genuinely transformative event for both American politics as a whole and for the disadvantaged minorities, and what the future now portends for the issue of race within the US. To be sure, a Black man becoming the President of the US, hitherto a probability confined to sci-fi narratives, is an event that has enraptured the entire world and even raised expectations of heralding a fundamental change within the US and its relationship with the rest of the world.
But such expectations also have to do with the justifiable euphoria of the moment. Any genuinely transformative change within the US, in the inequities within its classes and social orders, can only occur if this euphoria is harnessed by American civil society to transform the electoral mandate into one for essential socio-economic change. Institutional representation, while significant, cannot by itself deliver this transformation. Barack Obama is, in effect, the consequence of the hard-fought, decades-old civil rights movement. And, it would be the task of such movements to consolidate and deepen the undeniably symbolic nature of Obama’s victory.
The new President’s most immediate task is undoubtedly the financial crisis. He has inherited an economy that is certainly in recession, and which could get worse by the time he takes office. Indeed, the desire to do away with the disastrous economic legacy of the Bush era seems to have been a primary reason for the sweeping verdict in Obama’s favour. And despite his plans, among other measures, for another stimulus package, a national insurance programme to remedy the disastrous state of healthcare, and promise of tax benefits for the middle class, it is a huge challenge.
Beyond the ramifications of the state of the US economy for the rest of the world, it is weariness with the results of the foreign policy of the Bush administration that has rendered Obama a hopeful prospect for the world. The Bush era has seen the lowering of the prestige and image of the US abroad in its bellicose and unilateral pursuit of the ‘war on terror’. Along the way, significant damage has been done to international institutions like the UN.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/Beyond_Obamas_triumph/articleshow/3678836.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/Beyond_Obamas_triumph/articleshow/3678836.cms
Obama's potent symbolism
5 Nov, 2008, 0056 hrs IST, ET Bureau
The fact of Democrat Barack Obama being the clear favourite in the US presidential race has been the source of a range of progressive expectations. B
ut beyond the immense symbolic import of the moment, it is debatable whether an Obama win will radically alter US paradigms, more so abroad than at home.
ut beyond the immense symbolic import of the moment, it is debatable whether an Obama win will radically alter US paradigms, more so abroad than at home.
That said, even the purely symbolic significance of the event is truly momentous. In a country where racial segregation is still within living memory, and deprivation for ethnic minorities still a reality, having the first black President would still send out a clear signal of change within the US.
Indeed, the Democratic Party, on the face of it, seemed to represent sweeping change in this election, what with Obama’s intense fight for the nomination being with the first-ever female candidate, Hilary Clinton.
There will certainly be a welcome move away from the George Bush legacy, with many Americans seeing it has having endangered their constitutional rights and battering the image and prestige of the US abroad.
Obama has been able to project a transformative aura, giving rise to hopes of a break with the neocon tradition of trampling over international institutions and increasing global strife.
However, even as an Obama presidency might rethink some foreign policy issues like Iraq and relations with Latin American nations, there is unlikely to be any structural readjustment in Washington’s policies. India can hardly get a President as keen as George Bush was on cementing strategic partnerships.
And there is hardly any variation between the Democrat and Republican positions on critical, and deeply divisive, issues like the larger West Asian policy. Indeed, Obama has had to singularly disavow any possibility of change here.
It is also indicative of the more disturbing aspects of the public consensus in the US that Obama had to repeatedly insist that he was, indeed, not a Muslim. Breaking away from the lobbyism that so deeply shapes US politics, as well as from the hold of the military-industrial complex, would need much more than Democratic symbolism.
Oil prices would soar to $200 by 2030: IEA
6 Nov, 2008, 1852 hrs IST, AGENCIES
PARIS: The International Energy Agency predicted Thursday that oil prices would swing wildly until 2015 at an average of more than 100 dollars beforWorld's top 10 oil producers
e soaring above the 200-dollar mark by 2030.
e soaring above the 200-dollar mark by 2030.
The Paris-based energy policy advisor said there would be enough oil for decades to come but warned that global prosperity and the state of the planet hang on radical change in energy production and usage.
"The world's energy system is at a crossroads. Current global trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable -- environmentally, economically, socially," it warned in a summary of its annual World Energy Outlook report.
"But that can -- and must -- be altered: there's still time to change the road we're on."
"The future of human prosperity depends on how successfully we tackle the two central energy challenges facing us today: securing the supply of reliable and affordable energy; and effecting a rapid transformation to a low-carbon, efficient and environmentally benign system of energy supply."
It declared: "Preventing catastrophic and irreversible damage to the global climate ultimately requires a major decarbonisation of the world energy sources."
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It pointed to huge strides being made in electricity production, and projected that "modern renewable technologies grow most rapidly, overtaking gas to become the second-largest source of electricity, behind coal, soon after 2010."
The IEA, the energy monitoring and policy arm of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, also forecast in an executive summary of a full annual report to be published on Wednesday, that:
- The world will continue to be massively dependent on oil and gas for a long time but there are enough resources to meet rising demand for many years to come;
- Most of the growth in production will come from the Middle East, Africa and Russia and most of the growth in demand and carbon emissions from China, India and the Middle East;
- Inaction on environmental problems would result in a doubling of greenhouse gases by the end of the century and an eventual average temperature increase of up to six degrees centigrade;
- Huge investment is required in oil and gas production, and in other energies urgently needed to diminish "shocking" threats to the planet, but national companies may not be able to invest fast enough in oil and gas.
- The cumulative investment effort needed to 2030 exceeds 26 trillion dollars (20 trillion euros) (in 2007 money values), or 4.0 trillion dollars than estimated 12 months ago;
- International oil groups will be increasingly squeezed by national factors;
Indian exporters to bear burns of US bankruptcies: D&B
6 Nov, 2008, 1548 hrs IST, ECONOMICTIMES.COM
MUMBAI: Indian exporters will have to bear the burns of bankruptcies with the worsening financial crisis in US, heading towards recession.
In this scenario, it comes as no surprise that the number of companies filing for Chapter 11 and Chapter 7, under Federal bankruptcy laws, has gone up considerably.
According to a Dun & Bradstreet research report, the Chapter 11 filings for commercial businesses has increased from 3,600 in 2006 to an estimated 6,700 in 2008, registering a 84 per cent rise. Chapter 7 filings have increased from 11,400 to an estimated 25,000 during the same period, a rise of 116 per cent.
US is the single largest export destination for Indian exporters that accounts for about 13 per cent of the total Indian exports in FY 2008.
Considering the magnitude of trade transactions and the current economic environment in the US, it has become even more imperative for Indian businesses especially exporters to exercise abundant caution in all cross-border transactions, says D&B.
Potential Obama appointments draw keen speculation
By DAVID ESPO – 3 hours ago
By DAVID ESPO – 3 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — While President-elect Barack Obama enjoyed a few days with his family after a hard-fought election, speculation swirled in the nation's capital around potential administration appointees.
Obama pivoted quickly to begin filling out his team on Wednesday, selecting hard-charging Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff while aides stepped up the pace of transition work that had been cloaked in pre-election secrecy.
Several Democrats confirmed that Emanuel had been offered the job. While it was not clear he had accepted, a rejection would amount to an unlikely public snub of the president-elect within hours of an Electoral College landslide.
Obama has promised to hold a news conference later in the week. As president-elect, he begins receiving highly classified briefings from top intelligence officials Thursday.
In offering the post of White House chief of staff to Emanuel, Obama turned to a fellow Chicago politician with a far different style from his own, a man known for his bluntness as well as his single-minded determination.
Emanuel was a political and policy aide in Bill Clinton's White House. Leaving that, he turned to investment banking, then won a Chicago-area House seat six years ago. In Congress, he moved quickly into the leadership. As chairman of the Democratic campaign committee in 2006, he played an instrumental role in restoring his party to power after 12 years in the minority.
Emanuel maintained neutrality during the long primary battle between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, not surprising given his long-standing ties to the former first lady and his Illinois connections with Obama.
The day after the election there already was jockeying for Cabinet appointments.
Several Democrats said Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who won a new six-year term on Tuesday, was angling for secretary of state. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss any private conversations.
Kerry's spokeswoman, Brigid O'Rourke, disputed the reports. "It's not true. It's ridiculous," she said.
Announcement of the transition team came in a written statement from the Obama camp.
The group is headed by John Podesta, who served as chief of staff under President Clinton; Pete Rouse, who has been Obama's chief of staff in the Senate; and Valerie Jarrett, a friend of the president-elect and campaign adviser.
Several Democrats described a sprawling operation well under way. Officials had kept deliberations under wraps to avoid the appearance of overconfidence in the weeks leading to Tuesday's election.
president-elect Barack Obama down to businessArticle from: Font size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print article: Print Submit comment: Submit comment Stephanie Balogh
November 07, 2008 12:00am
BARACK Obama picked up his suitcase yesterday and got on with the job of building a new team to lead America.
BARACK Obama picked up his suitcase yesterday and got on with the job of building a new team to lead America.
As the world rejoiced over the first black US president, the Democrat leader started on the "Obama Revolution".
He called on former Clinton White House aide Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff, a vital post that helps set the tempo of the administration.
Top intelligence officials gave him highly classified briefings as he prepared battle plans for the daunting problems he will face.
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Hours after Senator Obama claimed victory, Russia threatened to put missiles alongside US ally Poland unless President George W. Bush repealed a US plan for a missile defence shield in Europe.
In an immediate reminder of the grave economic crisis he will inherit, Wall St plunged again on fears of a deep recession.
As well as the worries of America and the world, the president-elect also has a personal to-do list before he moves into the White House in January.
It includes finding a school for his daughters in Washington, getting the puppy he promised they could take to the White House, and arranging his grandmother's funeral.
While Senator Obama confronted the enormity of his new role, the knives came out for failed Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
The former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, was accused of spending tens of thousands of dollars on clothes for herself and her husband in out-of-control shopping sprees during the campaign.
It was like "Wasilla hillbillies looting (department store) Neiman Marcus from coast to coast", a source said.
Senator Obama began his first full day as president-elect by having breakfast with his wife and daughters. He left his Chicago home and hit the gym before heading to his campaign office.
Asked how much sleep he had on the night of his historic victory, he said: "Not as much as I'd like."
Senator Obama and his incoming vice-president, Senator Joe Biden, must work quickly to douse the economic blaze while winding down the war in Iraq and renewing the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
He is promising to renew bruised ties with US allies, and to engage some of the nation's fiercest foes such as Iran and North Korea.
He has vowed to tackle climate change, cut taxes for 95 per cent of working Americans, and guarantee near-universal health care at a time when many thousands are losing their insurance as their jobs disappear.
With hundreds of jobs to fill before his inauguration, the jockeying for appointments has already started.
Chief-of-staff nominee Ralph Emanuel is known as a master of the back corridors of power in Washington. He was said to be mulling over the offer.
Congratulations for Senator Obama poured in from world leaders.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is yet to be allocated a time to personally congratulate the president-elect.
But it's not a case of the cold shoulder -- he appears to be in the same boat as every other world leader.
China pledged "constructive" dialogue with the new government.
Iran said his victory showed Americans wanted basic changes in policy.
Praise came even from communist Cuba, whose government said it hoped for an eventual easing in the decades-old US trade embargo.
Officials: Emanuel Offered Chief of Staff Job
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U.S. Again Hailed as 'Country of Dreams'
Around the World, Obama's Victory Is Seen as a Renewal of American Ideals and Aspirations
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People around the world spilled into the streets to celebrate the victory of U.S. president-elect Barack Obama, many saying the win was an inspiration for minorities and a powerful signal that the United States intended to change direction.
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World Celebrates New U.S. President
People around the world spilled into the streets to celebrate the victory of U.S. president-elect Barack Obama, many saying the win was an inspiration for minorities and a powerful signal that the United States intended to change direction.
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By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, November 6, 2008; Page A26
By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, November 6, 2008; Page A26
LONDON, Nov. 5 -- Through tears and whoops of joy, in celebrations that spilled onto the streets, people around the globe called Barack Obama's election Tuesday a victory for the world and a renewal of America's ability to inspire.
This Story
Obama Makes History
World Reacts to Obama's Historic Win
U.S. Again Hailed as 'Country of Dreams'
Half a World Away, Kenya Exults at U.S. Outcome
U.S. Troops Too Busy for Vote Returns
A Vote Decided by Big Turnout And Big Discontent With GOP
With Obama Win, Elation and a Lingering Divide
Reality Suspended, Until It Prevailed
On a Day Like No Other, Obama Is Typically Serene
PHOTOS: Election Day 2008
VIDEOS: Campaign 2008
Excerpts: McCain Speech
HOW HE WON: Measured Response To Financial Crisis Sealed the Election
Sporadic High-Tech High Jinks Don't Cast Outcome in Doubt
Early Transition Decisions to Shape Obama Presidency
The Bellwethers
Biden Sees Vice President's Role as 'Adviser in Chief,' Aides Say
McCain Asks His Backers to Get Behind Obama
View All Items in This Story
View Only Top Items in This StoryThis Story
U.S. Again Hailed as 'Country of Dreams'
Half a World Away, Kenya Exults at U.S. Outcome
Thursday, Nov. 6 at 2:30 p.m. ET: PostGlobal: World Reactions to the U.S. Election
Thursday, Nov. 6 at 1:30 p.m. ET: Books: 'Memo to the President'
World Celebrates New U.S. President
World Reacts to Obama's Historic Win
Russia Gives Obama Brisk Warning
U.S. Troops Too Busy for Vote Returns
End Civilian Deaths, Karzai Tells Obama
View All Items in This Story
View Only Top Items in This Story
From Paris to New Delhi to the beaches of Brazil, revelers said that his victory made them feel more connected to America and that America seemed suddenly more connected to the rest of the world.
Obama Makes History
World Reacts to Obama's Historic Win
U.S. Again Hailed as 'Country of Dreams'
Half a World Away, Kenya Exults at U.S. Outcome
U.S. Troops Too Busy for Vote Returns
A Vote Decided by Big Turnout And Big Discontent With GOP
With Obama Win, Elation and a Lingering Divide
Reality Suspended, Until It Prevailed
On a Day Like No Other, Obama Is Typically Serene
PHOTOS: Election Day 2008
VIDEOS: Campaign 2008
Excerpts: McCain Speech
HOW HE WON: Measured Response To Financial Crisis Sealed the Election
Sporadic High-Tech High Jinks Don't Cast Outcome in Doubt
Early Transition Decisions to Shape Obama Presidency
The Bellwethers
Biden Sees Vice President's Role as 'Adviser in Chief,' Aides Say
McCain Asks His Backers to Get Behind Obama
View All Items in This Story
View Only Top Items in This StoryThis Story
U.S. Again Hailed as 'Country of Dreams'
Half a World Away, Kenya Exults at U.S. Outcome
Thursday, Nov. 6 at 2:30 p.m. ET: PostGlobal: World Reactions to the U.S. Election
Thursday, Nov. 6 at 1:30 p.m. ET: Books: 'Memo to the President'
World Celebrates New U.S. President
World Reacts to Obama's Historic Win
Russia Gives Obama Brisk Warning
U.S. Troops Too Busy for Vote Returns
End Civilian Deaths, Karzai Tells Obama
View All Items in This Story
View Only Top Items in This Story
From Paris to New Delhi to the beaches of Brazil, revelers said that his victory made them feel more connected to America and that America seemed suddenly more connected to the rest of the world.
"As a black British woman, I can't believe that America has voted in a black president," said Jackie Humphries, 49, a librarian who was among 1,500 people partying at the U.S. Embassy in London on Tuesday night.
"It makes me feel like there is a future that includes all of us," she said, wrapping her arm around a life-size cardboard likeness of the new U.S. president-elect.
"Americans overcame the racial divide and elected Obama because they wanted the real thing: a candidate who spoke from the bottom of his heart," said Terumi Hino, a photographer and painter in Tokyo. "I think this means the United States can go back to being admired as the country of dreams."
Kenya, where Obama's father was raised as a goatherd, declared Thursday a national holiday, and in Obama's ancestral village of Kogelo, people danced in the streets wrapped in the American flag.
In South Africa, Nelson Mandela, the civil rights icon who helped bring down his country's apartheid regime, released a letter to Obama in which he said, "Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place."
Desmond Tutu, another iconic anti-apartheid leader and the retired Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, said Obama's victory tells "people of color that for them, the sky is the limit."
"We have a new spring in our walk and our shoulders are straighter," Tutu said, echoing a sentiment heard across Africa.
The world sees Obama as more than a racial standard-bearer, of course. Many people praised his policies on matters ranging from Iraq to health care, which they appeared to know in remarkable detail.
Others expressed concerns. In China, some people worried about Obama's positions on the delicate issues of Tibet and Taiwan. Some Indians and Egyptians said they had questions about his views on Pakistan and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/11/06/ST2008110600708.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/11/06/ST2008110600708.html
Prop. 8 Appears Headed For Passage
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Of Gandhi, spirituality and sexuality!
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Posted: Nov 06, 2008 at 1816 hrs IST
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New Delhi, November 6: To Mahatma Gandhi the greatest obstacle in his spiritual striving was the promptings of his sexuality, says psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar.
"The manner in which he conceived the struggle and the weapons he chose to employ in a lifelong conflict with the god of desire have earned him the derision of many, especially in the West, who have discerned crankishness, if not worse, in his ideas that relate to sexuality," writes Kakar in ‘Mad And Divine: Spirit And Psyche In The Modern World’.
"The manner in which he conceived the struggle and the weapons he chose to employ in a lifelong conflict with the god of desire have earned him the derision of many, especially in the West, who have discerned crankishness, if not worse, in his ideas that relate to sexuality," writes Kakar in ‘Mad And Divine: Spirit And Psyche In The Modern World’.
"For an explanation of his failure to influence people and the course of events, Gandhi would characteristically probe for shortcomings in his sexual abstinence, seeking to determine whether Kama, the god of desire, has perhaps triumphed in some obscure recess of his mind, depriving him of his spiritual powers," the book, published by Penguin, says.
According to the author, in the midst of widespread political turmoil and religious frenzy, Gandhi wrote a series of five articles on celibacy in his weekly newspaper.
"But more striking than his public evidence of his preoccupation were his private experiments wherein the aged Mahatma sought to reassure himself on the strength of his celibacy by having close women associates (his 19-year-old granddaughter among them) share his bed and try to ascertain in the morning whether any trace of sexual feeling had been evoked, either in himself or in his companions.”
"In spite of criticism by his co-workers, Gandhi stubbornly defended these experiments which he regarded as exercises in self-purification and tests of his celibacy and insisted that they be public even if they met general condemnation from his close associates."
Besides the contemplative and ecstatic spiritual traditions, Gandhi was a pioneer of a new spirituality, Kakar writes.
Strains Between McCain and Palin Aides Go Public
Report: Palin's Wardrobe Is to Be Audited by GOP
By KATE SNOW
Nov. 6, 2008
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RSS Now that the defeated team of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have gone their separate ways, the knives are out and Palin is the one who is getting filleted.
Report: Palin's Wardrobe Is to Be Audited by GOP
By KATE SNOW
Nov. 6, 2008
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RSS Now that the defeated team of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have gone their separate ways, the knives are out and Palin is the one who is getting filleted.
U.S Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) speaks to the crowd during his election night rally in Phoenix, on Tuesday. Joining McCain is U.S. Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
(Mike Blake/Reuters)
More PhotosRevelations from anonymous critics from within the McCain-Palin campaign suggest a number of complaints about the Alaskan governor:
(Mike Blake/Reuters)
More PhotosRevelations from anonymous critics from within the McCain-Palin campaign suggest a number of complaints about the Alaskan governor:
Fox News reports that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent and did not know the member nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the United States, Mexico and Canada -- when she was picked for vice president.
The New York Times reports that McCain aides were outraged when Palin staffers scheduled her to speak with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, a conversation that turned out to be a radio station prank.
Newsweek reports that Palin spent far more than the previously reported $150,000 on clothes for herself and her family.
Several publications say she irked the McCain campaign by asking to make her own concession speech on election night.
The tension is likely to continue or get worse. Lawyers for the Republican National Committee are heading to Alaska to try to account for all the money that was spent on clothing, jewelry and luggage, according to The New York Times.
Related
Obama Offers Chief of Staff to Rahm EmanuelFor Dems, Does Majority Always Rule? WATCH: George on the GOP's FutureReports of agitation between the two camps bubbled up in the final weeks of the campaign as Barack Obama began pulling away and the GOP duo was unable to regain the momentum.
Obama Offers Chief of Staff to Rahm EmanuelFor Dems, Does Majority Always Rule? WATCH: George on the GOP's FutureReports of agitation between the two camps bubbled up in the final weeks of the campaign as Barack Obama began pulling away and the GOP duo was unable to regain the momentum.
But those reports are no longer in the rumor stage as McCain loyalists are now blasting away at the Alaska governor, who was a favorite of the Republican right during the campaign, but was cited in numerous polls as a reason why many Americans wouldn't vote for the Arizona Republican.
Perhaps the most dangerous allegation for Palin are reports in The New York Times and Newsweek that when she was urged by McCain adviser Nicole Wallace to buy three suits for the Republican convention and three suits for the campaign trail, she went on the now-infamous shopping spree at swank stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.
A Republican donor who agreed to foot a majority of the expenses was stunned when he received the bill, Newsweek reported. Both the Times and Newsweek report that the budget for the clothing was expected to be between $20,000 and $25,000. Instead, the amount reported by the Republican National Committee was $150,000.
That wasn't the whole tab, however, according to Newsweek. The magazine claims that Palin leaned on some low-level staffers to put thousands of dollars of additional purchases on their credit cards. The national committee and McCain became aware of the extra expenditures, including clothes for husband Todd Palin, when the staffers sought reimbursement, Newsweek reported.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=6196407&page=1
Extra! Extra! Barack Obama's election win sends newspaper sales soaring
Email Picture
Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times
Kimberly Huie of Echo Park buys the Los Angeles Times at a newsstand in Hollywood. Readers across the nation snapped up copies of newspapers documenting a watershed moment in U.S. history a day after the presidential election, and press runs were extended to meet the demand.
News racks run out of copies as readers scoop up the 'physical record of history being made.'
By James Rainey
November 6, 2008
Apparently looking for something old to go with something new (Barack Obama) and something blue (a more Democratic Congress), the American people bought newspapers in huge numbers Wednesday, a day after the historic election of the nation's first black president.
From the nation's largest daily, USA Today, to its more modest broadsheets, newspapers expanded press runs to accommodate enormous sales. Some papers even sold special gift editions and framed front pages.
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But news racks -- even if they were replenished with copies -- became barren in the blink of an eye as people scrambled to snag mementos for their memory books and mantelpieces. In Los Angeles, Miami and all points in between, people lined up to buy copies of their daily paper.
The Chicago Tribune sold framed front pages for as much as $99. A single copy of the New York Times is said to have sold on EBay for $249.99, and another copy of that paper drew more than 20 bids before the auction closed -- for $400.
One man bought 100 copies of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution at 75 cents apiece and immediately began selling them at a 25-cent markup.
"I think what this really says, at a huge moment in history, is that people want something to keep and to remember," said Julia Wallace, editor of the Journal-Constitution and the newspaper's online editorial operations. "A newspaper has a very historic, commemorative feel to it. More than anything, it's about having this to pass on to their children and grandchildren."
The Atlanta paper initially printed an additional 55,000 copies to supplement its weekday press run of 375,000. But heavy sales forced the paper to print 150,000 more copies to meet demand.
USA Today boosted by 500,000 its weekday press run of roughly 2 million. The Washington Post, the fourth-largest paper by circulation, planned to print 350,000 papers and then sell them for $1.50, triple the regular newsstand price.
The Los Angeles Times printed 107,000 papers in addition to its weekday press run of 750,000, and sold some at retail outlets because copies were being pilfered from newsstands. Meanwhile, a steady stream of customers came to the Times' headquarters in downtown L.A. to buy copies of the paper.
"For the past two years, our campaign team provided outstanding and insightful coverage," said Times Editor Russ Stanton, "and we are grateful that readers want to savor this moment in our nation's history."
Newspaper executives and employees enjoyed the surge of interest in their Wednesday print editions. The industry has been suffering as earnings from print readership and ad sales plummet, and online ad sales (which generate much slimmer profits) and readership soar.
"I think there is an authority and finality, a sort of last word that comes from the printed edition of the newspaper," said Steve Hills, president and general manager of Washington Post Media.
Those among the parade of customers who bought copies of the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday agreed.
"This is a physical record of history being made," said Robert de la Madrid, who had tried five different locations before finally landing copies of The Times at the paper's headquarters. "As soon as you close the computer screen, that image is gone. And you can't frame the Internet."
Chris Garcia, 28, who purchased five copies of The Times, said he tried to keep papers marking history.
"You can hold it in your hand," he said. "It's real."
Some readers of The Times and other papers bought dozens of copies for friends and relatives. A black woman near San Francisco City Hall held up a copy of the Chronicle, posing for a picture in front of a statue of Abraham Lincoln.
Even as interest in print editions soared, newspaper executives said their websites remained the key outlet for the majority of readers. Several papers reported their online editions were drawing record traffic, including the Washington Post, which topped its previous high of 15.2 million daily page views.
The Times recorded 8.3 million page views, slightly above the high reached during the Southern California wildfires last year, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recorded 5 million page views.
Said the Journal-Constitution's Wallace: "There's an understanding that people want information in all sorts of ways."
Rainey is a Times staff writer.
james.rainey@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-newspapers6-2008nov06,0,3206942.story
Medvedev`s address to nation
From: RussiaToday
Added: November 05, 2008
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Today we will talk about the state of the nation address by the Russian President. In his first address to the Federal Assembly, Dmitry Medvedev proposed a set of political reforms aimed at widenin...
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=8tXUc9_JAfI
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Michelle Obama sparks fashion debate with red and black victory dress
2 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Barack Obama's victory speech may have electrified the nation, but the dress worn by his wife, Michelle, has attracted almost as much feedback in Internet chatrooms and among fashion aficionados.
Michelle Obama appeared onstage at a huge Chicago rally late Tuesday wearing a black cardigan over a scoop-neck black sheath with splashes of red in the upper and lower half separated by a band of black at the hips.
The outfit was a slightly modified version of a dress presented by designer Narciso Rodriguez in September for the 2009 Spring season.
"I voted for Obama, but I didn't vote for that dress," homemaker and mother of three Jessica Bettencourt from Wisconsin told The New York Times.
"I don't know what was worse," Chicago lawyer Karla Wright told the paper, "that stupid criss-cross band around the middle or that black sort of border coming up from the hem."
Not all comments were negative.
"That dress was unpretentious," Julie Gilhart, fashion director of New York's top-price Barneys clothing store, told the Times. "It said, Be who you are -- don't let someone else tell you how to be.'"
The Italian daily La Stampa dubbed the dress "the look of victory" and said the black symbolised mourning for Obama's grandmother, who died on the eve of the election, while the red was for passion.
A contributor to the website of the German newsweekly Focus also suggested there was hidden meaning in the colours, perhaps red for the political left and black for the first African-American to win the US presidency.
"It is more about the symbolic effect of the colour combination red/black. Because the daughters were also in red or black. Very unusual and surely no accident," the reader said.
Others were dismissive, describing the subject as superficial besides the historic importance of Barack Obama's election win.
"The USA must be doing pretty well if it is worrying about the First Lady's dress!" one typical Focus posting said.
One fashion expert described the interest attracted by the frock as "depressingly trivial... and yet fascinating" because of what it told us all about Obama.
"You may like or dislike Michelle Obama's dress, but that's not as interesting as the agenda behind it, because you can be sure there was one," wrote fashion editor of the London Times Lisa Armstrong.
"This was one of the most choreographed First Family Elect Appearances in history," she said, adding that "even seven-year-old Sasha Obama had been dragooned into that monochromatic colour scheme."
Carola Long of the London-based Independent said Michelle Obama's fashion sense was a far cry from the traditional first lady look "reminiscent of the uptight Bree from Desperate Housewives," a reference to a popular television series.
"The presidential race may only just have come to an end, but the battle for fashion supremacy was sewn up months ago," she wrote.
Whatever the significance of the dress, one thing is certain -- the world is going to hear much more on the subject over the next four years.
"At the least, it promises four lively years of fashion-watching at the White House," added the New York Times.
Stocks Continue to Tumble
TheStreet.com - ? 56 minutes ago ?
CTV.caStocks on Wall Street were trading in the red Thursday, as traders took in reminders that the credit crisis was still hurting major financial firms and economic data that did little to bolster confidence. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 205 ...
Wall Street contains losses amid global rout The Standard
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BBC NewsBy John Fraher Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The Bank of England led European central banks in reducing borrowing costs to counter the worst financial crisis in almost a century, cutting its key rate by 1.5 percentage points to the lowest level since 1955. ...
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Bush clearing path for successor to take command
By BEN FELLER – 52 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration is providing security clearances, working space and policy briefings to President-elect Barack Obama's team as the transformation of the White House gets fully under way. World leaders are calling for Obama, and the White House is helping to get them connected.
"All of us here at the White House have a special responsibility to ensure that the next president and his team hit the ground running," White House press secretary Dana Perino said Thursday.
Preparation for the complex transition process has quietly been unfolding for about a year, but only accelerated with the nation's election on Tuesday of Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois. He will be sworn in as the country's 44th president in 75 days.
President Bush was scheduled to address about 1,000 employees from his executive office — a combination of a thank-you and an admonition to ensure a smooth transfer of power. He and his wife, Laura, also have invited Obama and his family to visit the White House as soon as they can.
Obama on Thursday was receiving the first of what will become regular briefings on highly classified information from top intelligence officials. The process of getting White House security clearances for staff members of Obama and McCain, depending upon who won, already had begun long before the election took place.
Perino said world leaders are reaching out to the White House, the State Department and other federal agencies to get in touch with Obama.
"People are very excited about our next president," she said. "They're interested in getting to meet him and putting their ideas and their agenda in front of him to make sure that they continue to have a good, seamless relationship with the United States of America. And we're going to help facilitate that."
Meanwhile, officials at the Department of Homeland Security warn that the U.S. is in a heightened state of alert against terrorism. The fear is that enemies could exploit the transition period to test the country's defenses.
"That is something that we're very concerned about," Perino said in underscoring the seriousness of a smooth transition.
During the campaign, Obama relentlessly blistered the Bush administration for what he called failed, tired policies that have harmed the country. The White House has sought to make clear that politics will not affect the transition in any way.
The transition involves a delicate dance, in which the White House keeps the president-elect in the loop, and even solicits his input, while decisions still remain solely Bush's to make.
"He doesn't change his principles nor his policies," Perino said. "But what we have pledged to do and we are doing is to work and consult with the Obama team on issues as we move forward."
And even as Bush offers advice, he is mindful he can't go too far.
"I don't think that President Bush will be presumptuous in tying to talk to Barack Obama about how he makes his decisions or how Barack Obama should make decisions," Perino said. "The American people decided that this is the man that they want to be president of the United States and that he'll be the one that they trust to make decisions."
Record TV ratings for Obama's victory
BY RICHARD HUFF
DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR
Thursday, November 6th 2008, 2:47 AM
An estimated 71.47 million viewers - a record number - watched President-elect Barack Obama's historic White House victory, the Nielsen Co. said Wednesday.
That's up dramatically from the 59.17 million who tuned into the broadcast, cable and Spanish-language networks when President Bush faced Sen. John Kerry in 2004.
Tuesday's audience was also up from the 61.57 million who watched the prime-time portion of the trouble-plagued 2000 election.
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Some 38.11 million watched the four broadcast networks - ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox - which turned the night over to election coverage, with ABC leading the way with 13.1 million viewers. NBC averaged 12 million, CBS 7.82 and Fox 5.13. Nielsen did not release a figure for PBS.
ABC News President David Westin said Wednesday the large audience could be attributed to a wide-open race, a bevy of critical issues facing the country and compelling candidates.
"It's always about the story," Westin said. "It's not nearly as much about the presentation."
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CNN averaged 12.29 million viewers in prime time Tuesday, the highest ever in the network's 28-year history. The Fox News Channel averaged 9.02 million and MSNBC 5.88.
Even fake news generated big ratings.
Comedy Central's "Indecision 2008: America's Choice," was the most-watched election special in the history of the network's political-comedy franchise, drawing 3.1 million viewers.
AN INSIDER'S GUIDE: WHO'S WHO IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION-IN-WAITING
The massive election night audience came during an election season in which ratings for virtually everything went up, in some cases to record levels.
Interest in the political conventions hit all-time highs, and the vice presidential debate was the most-viewed in decades.
NBC's "Saturday Night Live," which poked fun at each of the presidential candidates and had a field day with GOP veep nominee Sarah Palin, hit its highest ratings in 14 years.
The question facing the industry now is how to capitalize on those high audience levels - and whether the audience will stick around.
"It's hard to predict what interest will be around the corner," ABC's Westin said. "There will be plenty of interest in the economy as long as 401(k)s are going down. When things effect people in their own lives, the interest is very high."
CNN's John King said before the election that keeping viewers watching was going to be an issue for all TV news operations.
"As a business, we have a huge challenge and a responsibility," King said. "More people are watching, and they're interested, and they're asking smart questions."
"Our challenge is trying to find a way to keep them tuned in during a transition [phase] that's less sexy than when you have a candidate before a crowd of 100,000 people," he added.
Twitter - Barack Obama
Brief reports from the presidential candidate on what he's doing and thinking.
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Barack Obama | Change We Need | Welcome to Obama for America
Official Website of Barack Obama 2008 Presidential Campaign. ... PAID FOR BY OBAMA FOR AMERICA Skip Signup, Go to the Website.
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Barack Obama : Pictures, Videos, Breaking News
Barack Obama seems to have an almost perfect ear for the American ... Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for President and a senator from Illinois. ...
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Op-Ed Columnist - The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama - NYTimes.com
Some voters told reporters that they didn’t want Obama to run, let alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have stalked America from ...
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CNN - Election Center 2008: Barack Obama
Provides candidate profile, video highlights, transcripts and speeches, advisors , issue positions, campaign finance, supporters and polls of the US Senator ...
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SurveyUSA » Blog Archive » Electoral Math as of 03/06/08: Obama ...
If John McCain faces Barack Obama, Obama wins 280 to 256. McCain carries 26 states. Obama carries 24 states plus the District of Columbia … and then there ...
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Barack Obama lines up a cabinet of stars as John McCain struggles ...
19 Oct 2008 ... With the economy on the brink of recession and the country in the midst of two foreign wars, Barack Obama is considering appointing a ...
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snopes.com: Obama's 50 Lies / Obama Not Exactly
E-mail lists fifty lies told by Barack Obama. ... There is a Cuban Flag with Che Guevara Displayed at Barack Obama Campaign Office which you allow to be ...
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Stop-Obama
If Obama really wants to stand out on his foreign policy, and prove that he is the independent man of judgment that he claims, now is his last and only ...
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Project Vote Smart - Senator Barack H. Obama, Jr. - Biography
Provides his biography, committee assignments, campaign finances, voting record, issue positions, interest group ratings, speeches and public statements.
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 NDTV.com | Obama can't overlook Indian outsourcing industry Economic Times, India - MUMBAI: Can US president elect, Barack Hussein Obama, afford to lose billion of dollars they get from Indian outsourcing industry in the current financial ... Barack Obama — it seems he’s India’s choice too Obama win: Do Indian techies need to worry? Techies unperturbed by Obama's win |
 ABC News | Obama Transition Trail Mix Washington Post, United States - With rumors constantly flying about the newest faces in President-elect Barack Obama's Administration, we at The Fix are launching a feature -- at least ... 'Special Report' Panelists Discuss President-Elect Obama's ... US president-elect Barack Obama gets down to business Barack Obama's White House team sends out mixed messages |
 National Post | “Obama: A New Generation leader” BusinessWorld Online, Philippines - By Sonny Coloma Barack Obama’s ascendancy to the threshold of what is arguably the most powerful leadership position in the world — President of the United ... A serious Obama campaign also produced odd moments Obama wins as democracy revives Brian Kalt: Trivia Tidbits about Barack Obama's Election Victory |
 Voice of America | Bush seeks seamless transition to Obama The Associated Press - WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush says he'll meet with President-elect Barack Obama next week as his administration works to achieve a seamless transition of ... Obama begins assembling team Obama assembles transition team after quick break Emanuel likely to accept Obama job |
 BBC News | World media warns triumphant Obama of hard work ahead AFP - PARIS (AFP) — The global media on Thursday saluted Barack Obama's triumph in the US election but stressed that the first black American president will have ... World reaction to President-elect Barack Obama's win From Obama To Malaysia Obama Had A Message — And A Dream |
Obama's election redraws America's electoral divide CNN International - CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Barack Obama did more than thump John McCain in the Electoral College tally; he also handily won the popular vote and redrew the ... They’ve got Obama firmly in their websites America Looks Ahead to Obama Administration Obama sweeps to presidency |
 Oneindia | Obama On Appointing Bill Clinton As Special Envoy On Kashmir Oneindia, India - Obama stated that Clinton had had an experience of dealing with the problems of the Indian sub continent. Obama reportedly said this in an interview with ... Editorial: After America has spoken for Obama Valley hails Obama victory, sees ‘hope’ Obama presidency to pose challenges for Indian diplomacy |
 Times Online | Medvedev to Deploy Missiles in Obama's `First Test' (Update2) Bloomberg - 6 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wasted little time in laying down his first challenge to Barack Obama. Hours after Obama won the US ... Moscow's Challenge to Obama Medvedev Challenges US, Hopes Obama Means Change Obama Gets Telegram, No Spot in Speech |
 Washington Post | Can Obama truly deliver in tough economic times? Toronto Star, Canada - So, Obama wins the US presidential election, and now all of a sudden we're in the midst of a "new world order" and everything's going to change overnight. ... Obama Wins Election; McCain Loses as Bush Legacy Is Rejected The World Celebrates Obama -- But A Few Countries Already Have Demands The new era of Obama |
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Global recession in 2009, forecasts IMF
6 Nov, 2008, 2154 hrs IST, AGENCIES
WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its global economic forecast Thursday in the face of a growing credit crisis and predicted
a recession in the US and the world in 2009.
In an update of its World Economic Outlook from October, the IMF said global growth would slow to 2.2 percent in 2009, down from the 3-percent forecast made last month. Growth of under 3 percent is considered a global recession.
The US, the world's largest economy, will contract by 0.7 percent and the euro area by 0.5 percent in 2009. Advanced economies as a whole will contract 0.3 percent, compared to 1.4-percent growth this year, it said.
All figures represent a downward revision of more than 0.7 percent from the IMF's October forecast. Developing and emerging economies by contrast will continue to lead growth in the world, increasing 5.1 percent in 2009. But that is still down from a forecast of 6.1 percent made in October. Growth in the developing world was forecast at 6.6 percent this year.
A global financial crisis has severely impacted the availability of credit around the world, curbing spending in wealthy nations and restricting poorer nations' access to foreign investment.
"There has been a sharp worsening of credit conditions to emerging countries," said chief IMF economist Olivier Blanchard.
The IMF expects sharp slowdowns in Eastern Europe as well as Russia and its neighbours. China's economy will continue to grow at 8.5 percent in 2009, down from 9.7 percent this year and 11.9 percent in 2007.
In an update of its World Economic Outlook from October, the IMF said global growth would slow to 2.2 percent in 2009, down from the 3-percent forecast made last month. Growth of under 3 percent is considered a global recession.
The US, the world's largest economy, will contract by 0.7 percent and the euro area by 0.5 percent in 2009. Advanced economies as a whole will contract 0.3 percent, compared to 1.4-percent growth this year, it said.
All figures represent a downward revision of more than 0.7 percent from the IMF's October forecast. Developing and emerging economies by contrast will continue to lead growth in the world, increasing 5.1 percent in 2009. But that is still down from a forecast of 6.1 percent made in October. Growth in the developing world was forecast at 6.6 percent this year.
A global financial crisis has severely impacted the availability of credit around the world, curbing spending in wealthy nations and restricting poorer nations' access to foreign investment.
"There has been a sharp worsening of credit conditions to emerging countries," said chief IMF economist Olivier Blanchard.
The IMF expects sharp slowdowns in Eastern Europe as well as Russia and its neighbours. China's economy will continue to grow at 8.5 percent in 2009, down from 9.7 percent this year and 11.9 percent in 2007.
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