Wednesday, June 6, 2012
ECB to keep interest rate unchanged
The European Central Bank says it will keep its benchmark interest rate at the current 1 percent, a record low.
The bank's policymakers decided to maintain the rate for a 6th straight month at a board meeting on Wednesday, at its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.
The central bank is faced with growing calls for new steps to counter declines in stock prices and in the euro amid concerns over a new parliamentary election in Greece and the financial strength of Spanish banks.
The bank's policymakers decided to maintain the rate for a 6th straight month at a board meeting on Wednesday, at its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.
The central bank is faced with growing calls for new steps to counter declines in stock prices and in the euro amid concerns over a new parliamentary election in Greece and the financial strength of Spanish banks.
Spain to ask for EU aid
Spain to ask for help from European institutions to shore up its financial system. The country has been trying to recapitalize its banks with limited public funds.Spanish Treasury Minister Cristobal Montoro said on Tuesday that it's difficult for the country to raise funds in the market with interest rates on its bonds now above 6 percent.
Montoro then hinted that Spain may seek help from the bailout funds set up by eurozone members.
He said the key to successful reform of Spain's banks lies in the hands of European institutions.
A flawed model of
development
| ||
|
By Najeeb
Jung
| ||
AS IT completes three years into its second
term, the UPA government is facing a barrage of criticism. It is
blamed for a series of corruption scandals and a virtual paralysis
in decision making.
It is also said that having ridden a wave of
economic growth in its first term, the government has frittered the
opportunity to carry out second generation economic reforms that
would have sustained the previous decades growth.
In so far as corruption is concerned, it is
not as if the government has not reacted to it. Ministers and civil
servants have been jailed, and a plethora of criminal cases and
continued investigations into different scams are indicative of the
intent to contain dishonesty. The flip side, however, is that
government action to fight corruption is a blip on the numerous
types of corruption that engulf Indian society.
Disparities
The purpose of this piece, however, is not to
focus on corruption but to examine the issue of stalled economic
reforms and question todays fashionable development paradigm. People
of my generation have witnessed the growth of the 50s and 60s. We
have also participated in implementing reforms following the
liberalisation phase introduced by then Prime Minister Narasimha
Rao. We have heard praise of the post 90s progress and criticism of
the Nehruvian period as a time that restricted and restrained
growth.
Since the 90s we have also noted the sharp
increase in liquidity in middle class India, the buying and selling
of cars, white goods, houses etc. The very rich have never had it so
good. Luxury hotels, private hospitals, private airlines, luxury
foreign travel have become the norm of the day. The overarching
impression among rich Indians and often among foreigners has been
that India is marching ahead and may soon catch up with the Peoples
Republic of China.
The problem is that the façade continues to
hide the truth. As Amartya Sen has said, the world in which we live
is both remarkably comfortable and thoroughly miserable. And so in
India, on one side we see enormous wealth and its vulgar display,
but on the other side, there is extreme poverty and the gulf between
the rich and the poor seems only to be increasing. As rich India has
progressed, the bulk of urban and rural India has seen distressing
times. Along with the fashionable hotels, malls and residences,
there is the face of the poor and the voiceless.
Their lives see the other side of existence
with fast vanishing infrastructural support.
Government hospitals are run down, the
doctors are hard pressed and harassed under the sheer weight of
patient load and non- availability of basic wherewithal. Mohallas
fight for electricity and drinking water. Sewage systems in
overcrowded colonies are collapsing under pressure and the residents
are faced with poor health, lack of employment opportunity and over-
population.
Young girls, ill clad and ill fed, perform
acrobatics on roads even as BMWs wait in queues to enter five star
hotels.
Villages face the brunt of all that is wrong.
The traditional revenue administration barely delivers, rural health
systems are in a shambles, schools neither have satisfactory
buildings nor good teachers. A posting in the muffassil is true
punishment, a threat constantly held out to public
servants.
Economy
Unfortunately the debate in the public
domain, in fashionable drawing rooms, in the print and TV media
largely focuses on the slackening of economic and financial reforms.
The belief is that economic reforms and the deepening of financial
markets are the elixir of life and the panacea for all our ills. We
were given to believe that there would be a trickle down effect, and
the benefits of economic growth would slowly but surely reach the
poor. Where are the so- called benefits of the trickle down? How
long do we wait for it to impact? Jawaharlal Nehru said that the
forces in a capitalist society, if left unchecked, tend to make the
rich richer and the poor poorest. This indeed is what we see now.
Avarice and greed is the mantra, and the expression corporate social
responsibility is nothing but fashionable words spoken disdainfully
and rarely respected. We should carefully examine how big businesses
have assiduously exploited India’s resources, often wasting and
losing them, and despite this continue to successfully lay the blame
on the Government and the public sector for all that is
wrong.
Paradigm
Governments over the past five decades have
introduced a plethora of schemes that focus on the rural poor.
Despite complaints of corruption, these schemes do provide periods
of employment. But permanent and sustainable assets are not created.
The poor need better quality and sustainable infrastructure, not
periodic employment with inferior and temporary assets to satisfy a
political constituency.
They need heavy investments in health, food,
roads, education and above all governments that realise that India
lives in rural areas and the bulk of India is entitled to
sensitivity and respect.
The collapse of Soviet Russia made economic
liberalisation the Holy Grail for developing economies. Hopefully
with the problems within the so called successful European economies
coming to the fore, we may understand that the path ahead is not
about an either/ or choice but perhaps a mix between laissez faire
and a controlled economy. Therefore the debate must shift from quick
and further liberalisation to a new structure that will be more
inclusive and sensitive. The people of India have a great deal of
patience, and it is indeed being tested to its fullest. Is it
endless?
The writer is Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia
Islamia
|
French Open: Bhupathi, Mirza vs Paes, Vesnina in semifinal
In French Open Tennis, the Indian duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza and the Indo-Russian pair of Leander Paes and Elena Vesnina will play their Mixed Doubles semifinal matches in Paris today.
For a place in the finals, seventh seeded Bhupathi and Sania are scheduled to take on Italy’s Danielle Bracialli and his partner from Kazakhstan Galina Voskoboeva, while fifth seeds Paes and Vesnina will clash with the Mexican-Polish pair of Santiago Gonzalez and Klaudia Jans-Ignacik.
Yesterday, Leander Paes and his Russian partner Elena Vesnina stormed into the Mixed Doubles semi-finals, beating the top seeded Belarusian-American combine of Mix Mirnyi and Liezel Huber, 4-6, 7-5, 10-5.
Earlier, the Indian duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza had also made it to the Mixed Doubles last four, after defeating the American-Czech duo of Mike Bryan and Kveta Peschke, 6-2, 6-3.
In yesterday’s other results, Serbia’s World Number One Novak Djokovic and Swiss Roger Federer booked the Men’s Singles semi-final berths. Today, second seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Briton Andy Murray will slug it out for the remaining two Men’s Singles semi-final slots.
In Women’s Singles, Australia’s Samantha Stosur and Sara Errani of Italy made it to the last four stage. Second seeded Russian Maria Sharapova and Czech Petra Kvitova are slated to play their Women’s Singles quarterfinal matches today.
Rare Transit of Venus unfolds in morning sky
 |
Scientists
and amateur astronomers alike celebrated the arrival of the Transit of
Venus, peering up to the skies to watch a dark black spot slide over the
surface of the Sun.
The awesome spectacle was visible all over the country, including the national capital.
However, a cloudy sky restricted its visibility from Delhi and some other parts of northern India.
"This was the century's last Venus Transit," says N. Rathnasree, Director, Nehru Planetarium.
The event was visible at around 7 am.
Large projectors, pin hole cameras and telescopes were set up to help
people see the celestial event unfold at the Planetarium, where a large
number of people had gathered to see the rare event.
"The
next Venus transit will happen after 105.5 years in 2117, making this a
lifetime's event," says C B Devgun, Director, Science Popularisation
Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE).
From
the Earth, this phenomenon is seen when the Venus passes between the
Sun and the Earth. It occurs in intervals of 8, 121, 8 and 105 years,
Devgun said.
The last Transit of Venus occurred on June 8, 2004 and was visible across India.
Krishna holds talks with Chinese Vice Premier
 |
Welcoming
Krishna at the Great Hall of People, Li said though Krishna's visit was
intended to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organistion summit
(SCO) being held in Beijing, it provided an opportunity to discuss
bilateral ties.
This is an important opportunity to enhance the relations, he said after the meeting that lasted 45 minutes.
Reciprocating the sentiments, Krishna recalled the recent visit of President Hu Jintao to New Delhi to take part in the BRICS summit and the positive momentum it had helped maintain in bilateral ties.
Krishna is scheduled to meet Chinese Foreign Minister, Yang Jeichi on Thursday.
Earlier, Krishna
met the two Indian traders, Shyam Sunder Agrawal and Deepak Raheja, who
have been stranded in Yiwu after being caught in a business dispute.
This is his second meeting with them. Krishna earlier met them during his visit in February this year. The two said the minister assured all help to fight their legal case.
 |
 |
Court allows A. Raja to visit Tamil Nadu
|
 |
Raja
had moved the plea seeking permission to visit Tamil Nadu as the court,
while granting him bail on 15th May, had imposed certain conditions,
including that he would not visit his home state without its prior
permission.
Special
CBI Judge O P Saini allowed the plea in which the DMK MP had said that
he had not visited Tamil Nadu for the last over one-and-a half year.
Raja
had sought court's permission also on the ground that the trial
proceedings would not be undertaken from 9th June to 30th June owing to
summer vacation.
"A
Raja is allowed to visit his home state Tamil Nadu from June 8 to June
30 subject to conditions as were imposed upon him in the bail order
dated May 15," the judge said.
The
DMK MP was granted bail by the court holding that his further detention
would not serve any purpose as all the other 13 co-accused are already
out on bail.
The
court had imposed several conditions on Raja including a ban on his
visit to Tamil Nadu as well as the Department of Telecom (DoT) which he
presided over as minister for over three years.
The
court had directed Raja not to make any inducement, threat or promise,
either directly or indirectly, to any person acquainted with the case.
It
also asked Raja to surrender his passport with it and said he should
remain present before it during the hearing. The court while enlarging
Raja on bail had directed him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 20 lakh
with two sureties of the like amount.
The
court had said that if Raja wants to remain absent during the hearing,
he will have to take its prior permission and in case of "unavoidable
circumstances", he shall immediately give intimation to the court and
the CBI about it.
Arrested
by the CBI on February 2 last year, 49-year-old Raja, the main accused
in the Rs 30,000 crore 2G scam had moved his first bail application only
after all the other co- accused were granted bail in the case.
Raja
had sought bail, saying the Supreme Court, while granting bail to
former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, had not distinguished the
case of public servant from others. He had submitted that he and Behura
were facing similar charges of abatement, conspiracy and criminal breach
of trust.
Air Force version of 'Akash' missile successfully test fired
"The
Air Force version of Akash missile was test-fired from the ITR. The
trial was successful and met all the mission objectives," a senior
defence official said.
The
anti-aircraft missile, with a strike range of 25 km and capable of
carrying warhead of 60 kg, was test fired from a mobile launcher at
launch complex-III of the ITR.
The
trial, which formed part of the country's routine air defence
exercises, was conducted at 0757 hrs, an official of Defence Research
Development Organisation (DRDO) associated with the Akash missile
project said.
To
re-validate the technology and operational efficacy of the missile,
defence forces conducted the trial with logistic support provided by the
ITR, the official said.
The Akash weapon system, which has its Army version too, was inducted into the armed forces in 2008.
Wednesday's test-fire came after similar trials conducted from the same test range on May 24, 26, 28 and June 1.
On June 1, two Air force version of Akash missiles had been test fired successfully in quick succession, the official said.
"During
the trial, the sophisticated missile was aimed at intercepting floating
object supported by a pilotless target aircraft at a definite altitude
over the sea," defence sources said.|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
INVITATIONEBTC Biotechnology Mission 2012Dear Sir/Madam,
It is with great pleasure
that we at the European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) invite you
to participate in an exciting two-part biotechnology mission - the
EBTC Biotechnology Mission 2012. With a focus on various biotech
subsectors, emerging trends, challenges and policy frameworks, the
mission showcase interesting, relevant and ready-to-go opportunities in
the Biotechnology sector in India, and encourage
EU-India collaboration.
Part 1 - ‘EBTC Biotechnology Virtual Matchmaking’ (9th-13th July 2012)
Register online at
http://www.b2match.com/biotechfm2012
and meet virtually
with European counterparts from the sector. The virtual matchmaking will
allow you to explore potential private and public opportunities without
the need
to invest major financial resources for first contacts.
The mission enables you to
virtually interact with European businesses and researchers, and
explore possible collaborations; joint ventures; technology development /
transfer, and
clinical trials covering research organizations, industries and public
or private funding organizations – all in a virtual set up.
Part 2 – ‘EBTC Business & Research Delegation to India’ (5th-9th November 2012, Bengaluru)
With time to develop
relationships and advance agreements virtually, part 2 of the mission
‘will allow you to meet your prospective European counterparts in
person, and will be the
perfect occasion to cement relationships.
This event is open to any
Indian organization / individual interested in growing and flourishing
in the biotech sector. Be it a small medium sized enterprise (SME’s) or
research Institution,
the event ensures a mix of interesting professionals from both the EU
and India.
EBTC looks forward to your participation,
Yours Sincerely,
Your EBTC team
|
|
||
|
Register online:
Event updates:
Contacts for more information:
In Europe:
Ms. Micol Martinelli
EUROCHAMBRES - The Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry
E-mail:
martinelli@eurochambres.eu
Tel: +32 2 282 08 63
Mr. Gianpaolo Sarolli
Milan Chamber of Commerce, Italy
E-mail:
gianpaolo.sarolli@mi.camcom.it
Tel: +39 02 8515 5234
In India:
Dr. Geetha M Swamilingiah
European Business and Technology Centre, Bengaluru
E-mail:
swamilingiah@ebtc.eu
Tel: +91 80 4090 9672
Mob: +91 99 4570 1419
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||||
|
This
e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual to whom
it is addressed. If you have received this email in error please send
it back to the person that sent it to you. Unauthorized publication,
use, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this email and
its associated attachments is strictly prohibited.
| ||||
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Marketing the Beautiful Game
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
| Customer Service Line / 客戶服務專線: (852) 1830 668 | ||||||||
| Terms of Use / 使用條款 | Privacy Statement / 私隱政策聲明 | ||||||||
 |
|
Website:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Competitiveness, climate, security Finn’s priorities Ministry of Finance release Finnish road map of EU presidency. Finland i...
-
Immediate Pension Plan !!! Contact : 9810974027 Reg - Immediate Pension Plan !!! Respected Sir/Madam, Government of Ind...
-
Asean newsline HEADLINES PHOTOS VIDEOS WORLD SPORTS TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS LEISURE POLITICS #NEWS #TECH MORE Fri...
-
BFI & FIBA to Conduct Five (5) FIBA Basketball Coaching Certification Courses 7 08 2014 BFI & FIBA to Conduct Five (5) FIBA Ba...
