Left routed in West Bengal.Congress wins all three seats in Kerala.BSP triumphs at seven seats in UP, dents SP stronghold.Raj Babbar wins from Firozabad, blow to Mulayam.Sensex snaps four day rally to end lower 58 pts.Stimulus exit hinges on global recovery - Mukherjee
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Tue, Nov 10 06:15 PM
Kolkata, Nov. 10 -- The anti-CPI(M) wave kept up its sweep in Bengal with the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) losing all five seats it had contested in the Assembly by polls. On the other hand, Trinamool Congress made a clean sweep in all the seven seats it had contested. Trinamool Supremo Mamata Banerjee appeared on television and termed the performance as a victory of 'Maa Mati Manush'. Congress and Trinamool Congress went to the polls with an alliance. The Opposition hopes of a perfect 10 was dashed when the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha-backed independent candidate won the Kalchini seat in Jalpaiguri in North Bengal. Congress also suffered a blow in Goalpokhor, earlier held by Deepa Dasmunshi, wife of former minster Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi. The seat went to Forward Bloc, which prevented the Left Front being cleaned out of the bypolls. TMC made a debut in North Bengal by snatching Rajganj in Jalpaiguri district, a traditional CPI(M) seat. CPI(M) also lost East Belgachia, a seat held for years by late Subhas Chakravarty, the former CPI(M) heavyweight minister.
The distribution earlier was TMC 5, Congress 2, CPI(M) 3.
Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today blamed "irresponsible comments" made by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for the death of four jawans of the Eastern Frontier Rifles, who were shot dead by Maoists yesterday at Gidhni near Jhargram.While political circles and legal experts are critical of the government's decision to grant a two-month parole to Manu Sharma — convicted for life for the murder of model Jessica Lall — the government defended its call on Monday saying 'parole is the right of any convict'. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said parole was granted under the provisions of law.Bangalore lawyers, who had called a day-long boycott of the courts in protest against Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, today locked up two senior judges of the High Court in a court hall for over an hour.
Indonesia-based hawala dealer Anil Vastawade and chartered accountant S K Naredi have emerged as key in the alleged money laundering case against Madhu Koda with investigators saying they were the "main facilitators" for money transfers and property acquisitions by the former Jharkhand Chief Minister and his associates.On the other hand, the Congress and the NCP may have clinched a power-sharing deal after 17 days of wrangling, but the portfolio distribution reveals that the UPA partners are poised for an uneasy third term in Maharashtra as they clearly seem to want to undercut each other over the next five years to boost their own vote banks.After biting the dust in the Lok Sabha elections, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K Chandrasekhara Rao went into oblivion only to emerge threatening to "chase away Andhraites who have settled in Telangana and encroached lands that rightfully belong to people of Telangana".
It exposes the Human face of Indian Politics and ruling Hegemony which Coopts SC, ST and OBC and Minority leaders and CORRUPTS them killing our representation at any level.
India will focus on driving domestic demand until key developed markets recover and will not exit fiscal stimulus measures until necessary, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday.
"There is a need of generating strong domestic demand until the robust recovery all over the world, particularly the developed world takes place," he told a World Economic Forum event in New Delhi.
Mukherjee repeated his pledge for massive investments in agriculture sector and infrastructure, and acknowledged that it would not be easy for Asia's third largest economy to compensate for the loss in exports through domestic demand.
"It is not easy for us to diversify the market overnight and make up the loss so we shall have to wait for some time," he said.
The finance minister was hopeful of economic growth of more than 7 percent in the fiscal year ending March, 2011.
"Maybe in 2012 we will be able to reach the magic figure (of 9-10 percent growth)," he said.
Policymakers including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have pressed the case for keeping easy fiscal and monetary policies in place to nurture growth.
"This cannot continue for a long period of time," Mukherjee said, referring to the exit from easy fiscal policy.
"I have stated a number of times ... that in due course we shall have to take the corrective measures."
Mukherjee also said he was not worried about the availability of food grains and the government would continue to import food items to meet any supply shortfall.
India's economic growth slowed to 6.7 percent in the fiscal year through March after three straight years of at least 9 percent, and government officials have said growth in the current year is on track for roughly 6.5 percent.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 16.70 points at 4,881. 70.
Marketmen said sentiment for profit-selling was so strong that even Finance Minster Pranab Mukherjee''s positive remarks on stimulus measures did not boost the sentiment, "There is need of generating strong domestic demand till robust recovery takes place all over the world, particularly the developed economies", Mukherjee said. A higher trend in Asian and European stock markets also failed in support the market, they added.
In the 30-BSE Sensex-linked stocks, 8 shares, including Reliance Industries, closed higher while 22 ended in negative zone led by Infosys Technologies. Sensex heaviest RIL gained 1.39 per cent to Rs 2,052.60 while the second heaviest Infosys Technologies lost 0.71 per cent to Rs 2,218.20.
Realty, teck, IT, capital goods, power consumer durable, auto and FMCG sector stocks declined.
In Kannur, former CPI-M Lok Sabha member A.P. Abdulla Kutty defeated M.V. Jayarajan of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) by over 12,000 votes.
In Ernakulam, Dominic Presentation defeated CPI-M's P.N. Seenulal by more than 8,000 votes.
In Alappuzha, A.A. Shukur defeated G. Krishnaprasad of the Communist Party of India (CPI) by over 5,000 votes.
As the votes were counted, the Left Front, which had won three of the 10 seats in 2006, led only in Goalpokhar, with the Forward Bloc's Ali Imran Ramoz ahead of his closest rival by about 4,000 votes.
Congress candidate Deepa Dasmunsi was the legislator from this North Dinajpur district seat of north Bengal till her election to the Lok Sabha this year.
The Trinamool Congress bagged four seats - Bongaon, Serampore, Alipore and Rajganj - while the Congress won from its traditional stronghold, Sujapur in Malda district.
The victor in Sujapur was Congress leader A.B. Gani Khan Chowdhury's brother Abu Nasser Khan Chowdhury. He won by a margin of 29,479 votes.
In a startling result, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha-backed independent Wilson Champamari won from Kalichini in north Bengal's Jalpaiguri district. The Adivasi Vikas Parishad nominee finished second, leaving the more established political parties far behind.
Left Front partner Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) finished third and the Congress fourth in the seat, which comprises a large number of tea gardens in the foothills of the Darjeeling Himalayas known as the Dooars.
In Alipore, Trinamool Congress candidate Bobby Hakim trounced his nearest rival Kuastav Chatterjee of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) by over 27,000 votes.
The seat, a Trinamool stronghold, falls under its chief Mamata Banerjee's Kolkata South parliamentary constituency.
Trinamool Congress nominees were ahead in Belgachia (East), Contai South and Egra.
The Trinamool's lead in Belgachia (East) on Kolkata's outskirts was significant as the constituency had elected popular CPI-M leader Subhas Chakraborty seven times. Chakraborty died earlier this year.
To cash in on a perceived sympathy wave, the CPI-M nominated Chakraborty's widow Ramala against Trinamool leader Sujit Bose.
The CPI-M and Trinamool Congress are contesting in five and seven seats respectively. The others have been left for the Left Front allies and the Congress.
With the Left losing its grip over the state under the assault of the Trinamool-led opposition, the by-elections are considered a trailer to the 2011 assembly elections.
However, Saturday's by-elections were mainly held in areas considered opposition citadels. Despite contesting separately, the Congress and the Trinamool won seven of the 10 constituencies in the 2006 elections.
The ruling BSP has won bypolls to Seven of the 11 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, including Etawah, the home district of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. In Etawah, BSP candidate Mahendra Singh Rajput defeated SP candidate Vimal Bhadauria by a margin of over 32000 votes.Rajput bagged 76,131 votes while Bhadauria managed 43,318. Rajput had won the seat in 2007 elections on an SP ticket but later defected to the BSP. BSP also won Hainsar Bazar (reserved) and Isauli assembly seats.
In Hainsar Bazar, BSP candidate Dashrath Singh Chauhan defeated his nearest rival Neelmani of Congress by a margin of over 8,000 votes. While Chauhan secured 47,815 votes, Neelmani got 39,018 votes.
SP and BJP were placed on third and fourth place respectively. BSP candidate Chandra Bhadra Singh alias Sonu Singh defeated his nearest rival Jain Narain Tiwari of Congress by a margin of over 49,000 votes in Isauli.
While Sonu Singh secured 82,063 votes, Tiwari got 32,686 votes. SP, which won the seat in last assembly elections, was placed third and its candidate Mani Bhadra Singh to forfeit his security deposit.
In the last elections, Sonu Singh contested on SP ticket, but later defected to BSP after resigning from the assembly
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party won by-polls to seven of the 11 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, including Etawah, the home district of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. In Etawah, BSP candidate Mahendra Singh Rajput defeated SP candidate Vimal Bhadauria by a margin of over 32,000 votes.Rajput bagged 76,131 votes, while Bhadauria managed 43,318 votes. The victor had won the seat in 2007 elections on an SP ticket, but later defected to the BSP. In Hainsar Bazar, BSP candidate Dashrath Singh Chauhan trounced his nearest rival Neelmani of Congress by over 8,000 votes.
While Chauhan secured 47,815 votes, Neelmani got 39,018 votes. SP and BJP were placed on third and fourth place respectively.
BSP''s Chandra Bhadra Singh alias Sonu Singh defeated his nearest rival Jain Narain Tiwari of the Congress by a margin of over 49,000 votes in Isauli. Singh got 82,063 votes as compared to Tiwari, who could get 32,686 votes.
Samajwadi Party, which won the seat in last assembly elections, was placed third and its candidate Mani Bhadra Singh had to forfeit his security deposit. In last elections, Sonu Singh contested on SP ticket, but later defected to BSP after resigning from the assembly.
Congress candidate and actor Raj Babbar was Tuesday elected to the Lok Sabha from Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, defeating Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Dimple by over 85,000 votes.Celebrations erupted on the streets of Firozabad, which adjoins the Taj Mahal district of Agra, as officials announced that Raj Babbar had beaten Dimple Yadav by 85,343 votes.
The outcome was a huge blow to Mualayam Singh Yadav, who wanted his daughter-in-law to overcome the challenge of Raj Babbar, a former Samajwadi Party MP who later quit the party to join the Congress.
Raj Babbar's victory takes the Congress strength in the 545-seat Lok Sabha to 207.
The Nov 3 by-election was called after Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh Yadav gave up the Firozabad seat after being elected to the Lok Sabha from two seats this year.
An engineer by training who later acted in over 150 films, Raj Babbar was elected to the Lok Sabha both in 1999 and in 2004 from Agra.
There was no loss of life in the incident, he said. Maoists blew up the structure to prevent the security forces from using it as a make-shift camp during the ensuing five-phase assembly elections starting on November 25.
A team of police personnel has reached the spot and launched raids against the Maoist guerrillas, Diwedi said.
Tue, Nov 10 06:15 PM
Jammu, Nov. 10 -- While a majority of the Valley leadership is happy to have got an unconditional talks offer from the Centre , for the first time a sense of involvement has been extended to the regions of Jammu and Ladakh as well .
The November 4 visit of the Home Minister P Chidambaram to Jammu has brought about this transformation. The visit stirred confidence among the people of Jammu and Ladakh and non-separatist and semi-separatist groups , that they were in the reckoning in an equal measure as that of the leadership of the Valley.
As the divisions within the separatist camp and the multiple versions of cooperation between the Kashmir valley centric parties- National Conference and PDP have started becoming visible , the people in Jammu and Ladakh regions feel that a big opening has come to them for the first time in the 62-year-old history of conflict , which manifested violently for the past 20 years, leaving more than 40,000 dead . Home Minister's two points - categorical assertion that the Kashmiri Hindu migrants would have to be rehabilitated in full in their homes in the Valley , and that no group would be left out - have rejuvenated the non-separatist camp in Jammu and Kashmir.
Even the Kashmiri Hindu leaders who did not meet Home Minister and are known for their particular point of view , sensed something beyond the Valley syndrome . " I think there was a message in it that that something larger than one point of view was on the agenda of the government, said Ajay Charngoo, Chairman of Panun Kashmir, a leading organization of Kashmiri Hindus, agitating for " a separate homeland for the Kashmiri Pandits within the Valley.
" The political leaders of the state, always tagging all the three- region mantra, never went beyond words, the Home Minister, it was felt, had done what the state leadership restricted to words only First of all, Chidambaram sent a clear message to the separatist that if the talks are to be held with them, that didn't mean that they would be given the entire ownership of the dialogue process leading to the resolution. It was explicit that there are other players too.
The home of these other players was in Ladakh and Jammu, a snub to those who were trying to put up a unilateral viewpoint , whether in the separatist or mainstream camp or both joining hands to scuttle the involvement of the players beyond a community and a region , Charngoo felt.
The separatists have, time and again , insisted that the problem was in the Valley and that too with those challenging the Indian rule over Kashmir and not the mainstream parties, and in the process to sought to keep Jammu and Ladakh out of it. That was also a prime reason for them to boycott the three-round table conferences on Kashmir between February 2006 and April 2007.
Chidambaram's visit to Jammu took place within a week after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's two day Kashmir visit ( October 28 and 29) , when he offered a welcome card to all those saying shunning the path of violence. By landing in Jagti, where 2060 flats are coming up for the Kashmiri Pandit migrants, to house them till such time they return to the Valley, he tagged an important note with the dialogue process- Kashmiri Hindus who had fled the Valley under the era of threat and violence in the Valley in 1990 , were important stake holders and the community as a whole would have to be resettled in the Valley.
He threw a test for the Kashnmiri separatists and others in Kashmir who have been making tall claims of their return to their homes. They will have to pass this test before asking for concessions.
It clearly implied that the concessions or.
Tue, Nov 10 06:13 PM
Gwalior, Nov 10 (PTI) India is keen to conduct joint exercise with China, Air Chief Marshal P V Naik today said amid growing tensions between the two neighbours over the visit of the Dalai Lama to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. "We are keen to do joint exercise with China and also with other nations.
We have already done with the US, UK, France and few other nations," Naik told reporters here at the Maharajpur Air Force Base when asked whether India is ready to do joint exercise with China. When asked about reports of China restarting its closed airports situated close to the border, he merely said "we have a long-term plan and we do things according to our needs.
" Beijing has strongly objected to the Dalai Lama''s visit and in recent days it has stepped up rhetoric claiming Tawang and whole of Arunachal as part of China. On the issue of President Pratibha Patil''s proposed sortie in the Sukhoi fighter plane, he said that it would help in motivating and preparing lady fighter pilots in the country.
Tue, Nov 10 06:13 PM
Srinagar, Nov 10 (PTI) Assuring all possible help to migrant Kashmiri Pandits willing to return to the valley, Jammu and Kashmir government today said the residential colony for them at Sheikhpora in Budgam district was nearing completion. "Out of the proposed 200 flats for the Pandits, 31 have been completed and alloted to the migrant families through Department of Relief, while 60 more flats will also be handed over to the department shortly," an official spokesman said.
The spokesman said Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Naseem Lanker visited the migrant colony, 12 kms from here, yesterday and took stock of the facilities available. An amount of Rs 7.50 lakh would be provided to those migrants who desire to reconstruct their houses in the valley while Rs two lakh would be provided for renovation of the houses in poor condition, the spokesman said.
In addition, government would also provide relief package to those migrants who have sold their property before 1997 and are ready to return to valley. However, they have to purchase land on their own, the spokesman said.
Reliance finds oil in Cambay basin; shares up
Tue, Nov 10 04:05 PM
Energy major Reliance Industries has made its first oil find in a Gujarat block, boosting hopes the firm's oil and gas exploration business will help offset some of the weakness in the refining sector.
Reliance, India's biggest conglomerate, with interests in petrochemicals, refining, oil and gas exploration and retail, said it made the discovery in its onland exploratory block in the Cambay basin in Gujarat.
Five wells had been drilled in the area, and the fifth well flowed at a rate of 500 barrels of oil per day (bopd), the company said on Tuesday.
"This discovery is expected to open future potential within the block," Reliance said in a statement.
The news boosted shares in Reliance, which has a market value of $71 billion, as much as 3.7 percent. By 0956 GMT, Reliance was trading up 1.7 percent at 2,058 rupees, in a weak Mumbai market that had slid 0.3 percent.
The discovery also helps allay some of the worries over uncertainty surrounding a gas-pricing dispute.
Reliance, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is embroiled in a high-profile legal battle over a deal to sell gas to Reliance Natural Resources, led by Ambani's estranged younger brother Anil, at below the price set by the government.
Media reports of a recent meeting between the brothers to settle the dispute are baseless, and the matter will be decided by India's Supreme Court, which is hearing the case, Reliance Industries said in a statement.
"The result of this battle will be a key factor determining the oil industry's future," said R.K. Gupta, managing director of Taurus Mutual Fund. "The issue of the pricing of oil and gas needs to be cleared."
HIGH STRIKE RATE
Reliance holds a 100 percent participating interest in the Cambay basin block, which covers an area of 635 square kilometres.
"Overall, the company has had a very high strike rate," said Maulik Patel, an oil and gas analyst at K.R. Choksey Shares and Securities who has a "hold" rating on Reliance's stock. "Much more than some competitors."
In April Reliance started pumping gas from its block in the vast Krishna Godavari (KG) basin off India's east coast, where it made the country's largest gas find. This is expected to nearly double India's gas output when production peaks at 80 million standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd).
Gas production has helped partly offset weakness in the company's refining business, where margins have been slashed by a sluggish global economy and which led to a fourth straight fall in quarterly profit.
Analysts say Reliance, which owns the world's largest refining complex, might look to concentrate more on its oil and gas exploration and production businesses as it seeks to mitigate weak demand for its refining products.
Reliance also produces oil from its D6 block in the KG basin, and holds a stake in the Panna, Mukta and Tapti oil and gas fields off India's west coast.
Cairn India, unit of UK-based explorer Cairn Energy, in late August began pumping crude from its field in Rajasthan, the first major crude oil discovery in the energy-hungry nation in two decades.
News of Reliance's find could also brighten the outlook for investment in the oil and gas sector in India, as Asia's third-largest economy chases energy security and fuel expansion.
(Additional reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Janaki Krishnan; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)
Dalai Lama has the right to go wherever he wants: US
Tue, Nov 10 09:59 AM
Washington, Nov 10 (IANS) In the face of Chinese protests over the Dalai Lama's visit to a region near India's border with Tibet, the US has backed the Tibetan spiritual leader's right to free movement.
'I don't think we have a position necessarily on his decision to travel to this area,' State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters Monday, when asked to comment on the Dalai Lama's visit to the remote Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh state, which China claims as its own.
But the Dalai Lama 'is primarily an internationally respected religious figure', he said. 'He of course has the right to go wherever he wants and talk to people that he chooses to talk to. And we just don't see it in any other way than that,' Kelly said.
The region has close ties with Tibet. The Dalai Lama took refuge in the monastery 50 years ago as he fled Lhasa amid an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.
The Dalai Lama said his visit was 'non-political' but China accused him of trying to stir up tensions between Beijing and New Delhi.
Tue, Nov 10 04:25 PM
New York, Nov.10 (ANI): Dismantled nuclear bombs, including Russian ones, provide about 10 percent of electricity in the United States.
By comparison, hydropower generates about six percent and solar, biomass, wind and geothermal together account for three percent.
Today, former bomb material from Russia accounts for 45 percent of the fuel in American nuclear reactors, while another five percent comes from American bombs, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry trade association in Washington.
"It's a great, easy source" of fuel, claimed Marina V. Alekseyenkova, an analyst at Renaissance Bank and an expert in the Russian nuclear industry that has profited from the arrangement since the end of the Cold War.
But if more diluted weapons-grade uranium isn't secured soon, the pipeline could run dry, with ramifications for consumers, as well as some American utilities and their Russian suppliers.
Already nervous about a supply gap, utilities operating America's 104 nuclear reactors are paying as much attention to President Obama's efforts to conclude a new arms treaty as the Nobel Peace Prize committee did.
Utilities have been loath to publicize the Russian bomb supply line for fear of spooking consumers, but at times, recycled Soviet bomb cores have made up the majority of the American market for low-enriched uranium fuel.
In the United States, the agreements are portrayed as nonproliferation treaties - intended to prevent loose nukes in Russia.
In Russia, the arms agreements are portrayed as a way to make it harder for the United States to reverse disarmament.
Finding a substitute is a concern for utilities today because nuclear plants buy fuel three to five years in advance.
One potential new source is warheads that would become superfluous if the United States and Russia agree to new cuts under negotiations to renew the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires on December 5.
Such negotiations revolve around the number of deployed weapons and delivery vehicles. There is no requirement in the treaty that bomb cores be destroyed. That is negotiated separately.
For the industry, that means that now, as in the past, there will be no direct correlation between the number of warheads decommissioned and the quantity of highly enriched uranium or plutonium, also used in weapons, that the two countries declare surplus. (ANI)
ANALYSIS - Will Japan PM use his political capital?
Tue, Nov 10 03:25 PM
With Japan's public debt set to bulge to more than double GDP this year, new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has little to spend -- except the political capital that is keeping his support rates above 60 percent.
Some pundits say that now is the time for Hatoyama to make some tough decisions about delaying costly spending programmes -- but with another election less than a year away and the economy at risk of slipping back into recession, many wonder if he will.
Support for Hatoyama's cabinet slipped eight points to 63 percent in a Yomiuri newspaper poll published on Tuesday, while 85 percent of the 1,074 respondents said they would rather see some campaign pledges broken than a rise in Japan's already huge debt.
"In terms of spending priorities, it might be possible to prepare public opinion for changes in details in the run-up to the upper house election," said Sophia University's Koichi Nakano. "But it would be risky.
"Even if the majority agree some policies are not needed and are worried about public finances more than manifesto commitments, there is not necessarily agreement on what is not necessary," he said.
Hatoyama's Democratic Party swept to a huge election victory in August pledging to cut wasteful spending and put more cash in the hands of consumers and workers to stimulate growth at home.
But falling tax revenues due to the fragile economy, and a public debt seen topping 200 percent of gross domestic product this year are making it hard to find funds.
The yield curve for government bonds has steepened over the past month on renewed concerns about possible increases in debt issuance later this fiscal year and worries about the size of JGB issuance in fiscal 2010/2011 from next April, prompting increasing concern from the finance minister.
NO GOOD CHOICES
Hatoyama's high support could give him a window to put off keeping some expensive promises, such as an unpopular plan to make highways toll-free or ending a decades-old surcharge on gasoline that will cost the government 2.5 trillion yen ($27.8 billion) in lost tax revenues annually.
But analysts say taking voters at their word could backfire ahead of the election for parliament's upper house set for mid-2010. "Whatever policy is targeted, someone will say 'That's not what I meant'," Sophia University's Nakano said.
Forty-three percent of voters in the Yomiuri survey said they supported the Democrats, more than double the figure for the LDP. But the backing could prove fragile, some experts warn.
"The Democrats' support is broad, but not strong ... and Hatoyama's personal popularity is weak," said Shusei Tanaka, a former economic planning minister who left the then-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in 1993 with Hatoyama and others.
"There is a feeling that voters will allow them some missteps, but if they make a mistake in fundamental policies, their support could fall suddenly," he told Reuters.
A poor showing in the upper house election could revive a parliamentary deadlock and stall policy implementation and a failure by the Democrats to win an outright majority would leave them beholden to two small but vocal coalition partners.
Holding down spending could also risk sending the economy back into recession, given the fragility of its recovery from Japan's worst downturn since World War Two.
And focusing on the market-friendly reforms some economists say are needed could be a tough sell given Hatoyama's promises to voters to pursue a kinder, gentler capitalism.
Hatoyama has also pledged not to raise Japan's 5 percent sales tax for the next five years, although most economists say an increase will be needed to cope with the rising social security costs of the world's fastest-ageing population.
"There are no good choices here," said Robert Feldman, chief economist at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo.
Showing commitment to fixing tattered state finances could help reassure voters and investors, if the plan were credible.
National Strategy Minister Naoto Kan said last week that the government would aim to come up with a medium-term fiscal reform plan around May or June next year and on Tuesday said he wanted to craft a growth strategy by the end of the year.
"We need more granularity," Feldman said. "I don't think investors will be convinced unless they show where demand will come from, what deregulation will be done to generate demand, what components will be cut ... and how they will win the election as a referendum on their proposals." (Editing by Ron Popeski)
Tue, Nov 10 03:15 PM
Washington, Nov. 10 (ANI): Even though President Barack Obama is not expected to make any announcement on sending more troops to Afghanistan before returning from his Asian trip, the White House is leaning towards a request made by the top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, officials sources said.
The Obama administration is considering a middle ground option made by General McChrystal.
McChrystal had put forward a "high risk" request for only 10,000-15,000 troops, and a "medium risk" request of 40,000-45,000, Fox News reports.
The plan under consideration would call for sending the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Ky.; the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y.; and a Marine brigade for a total of 23,000 troops, sources said.
An additional 7,000 troops would staff a new division in Kandahar, they added.
Obama has deliberated over McChrystal's request for more troops for months.
He's weighed calls to dramatically escalate the U.S. presence in the region as part of a full-scale counterinsurgency effort against calls to strategise the U.S. mission around taking out top Al Qaeda targets. The latter would not require as many troops, the paper said. (ANI)
Tue, Nov 10 03:15 PM
Lahore, Nov. 10 (ANI): A French doctor is taking a 6,000-mile trip from Pakistan to Paris in order to promote tourism in the terrorism-torn country.
"We want to show the world the country is not just about terrorism," The Guardian quoted Vincent Loos, as saying.
The spree of recent suicide bombings have filled Islamabad with check posts, blast walls and a queasy air of anxiety, but undeterred by all this, Loos's car rolled through the streets last week.
"My dream was to return by road," says the 39-year-old Frenchman, who had just finished three years' work at a local hospital.
His ride had been a dust-smeared wreck six months ago, collapsed at the bottom of an Islamabad street waiting for a final trip to the scrap yard.
Loos restored the car to full health, then hired an artist to paint in the local style known as "truck art".
Now - a 25-year-old Volkswagen Beetle, painted in an explosion of trippy colours - is the most distinctive car from Lahore to Lyons.
"The body is covered in a psychedelic array of flowers, waterfalls and the faces of famous Pakistanis. The idea behind the 6,000-mile trip is to promote the soft side of Pakistan," Loos said.
The French doctor's car should reach Paris in about two weeks. (ANI)
Tue, Nov 10 03:15 PM
London, Nov. 10 (ANI): The world is running out of oil quicker than it was being claimed by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which has been underplaying an alarming shortage due the fear of panic buying, an IEA official has claimed.
"The IEA in 2005 was predicting oil supplies could rise as high as 120m barrels a day by 2030 although it was forced to reduce this gradually to 116m and then 105m last year," The Guardian quoted the whistleblower at the IEA, as saying.
"The 120m figure always was nonsense but even today's number is much higher than can be justified and the IEA knows this," he added.
The whistleblower at the IEA also said that the US has played a key role in making the IEA underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields.
"Many inside the organisation believe that maintaining oil supplies at even 90m to 95m barrels a day would be impossible but there are fears that panic could spread on the financial markets if the figures were brought down further. And the Americans fear the end of oil supremacy because it would threaten their power over access to oil resources," he said.
A second senior IEA source said a key rule at the organisation was that it was "imperative not to anger the Americans" but the fact was that there was not as much oil in the world as had been admitted.
"We have [already] entered the 'peak oil' zone. I think that the situation is really bad," he added.
The allegations raise serious questions about the accountability of the organisation's latest 'World Energy Outlook', which is used by many governments to help guide their wider energy and climate change policies.
"Reliance on IEA reports has been used to justify claims that oil and gas supplies will not peak before 2030. It is clear now that this will not be the case and the IEA figures cannot be relied on," British MP John Hemming said.
The IEA acknowledges the importance of its own figures, boasting on its website: "The IEA governments and industry from all across the globe have come to rely on the World Energy Outlook to provide a consistent basis on which they can formulate policies and design business plans." (ANI)
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