Friday 14 February 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Karachi: 6 including MQM worker shot dead

Posted:

KARACHI (Dunya News) – Six people including an MQM party worker were gunned down here on Friday. Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has given a three-day ultimatum to the government for arrest of culprits.Terrorist activities across the city continue despite the targeted operation. MQM worker Salamat Ali was shot dead at Soldier Bazar.The funeral of the slain party worker was offered at Nishtar Road following which, Doctor Saghir Ahmed said while addressing the media that MQM will consider observing a strike if culprits are not caught in three days.In a separate incident, a man was gunned down at Bhains Colony. Another body was found near super highway.In another incident, man succumbed to injuries. Two men were injured in cracker blast thrown by unidentified men at Dhobhi Ghaat Garden Town area.In an incident of firing exchange between two groups at Lyari, a man was killed.Another man was gunned down at Manghu Pir area.It merits mentioning here that several people including party workers have become victims of recent wave of terrorist attacks in Karachi despite the ongoing targeted operation.Earlier this week, MQM had announced to hold countrywide protests following the government’s failure to meet previous ultimatum.

Car bomb outside Syrian mosque kills 32

Posted:

BEIRUT (AFP) - A car bomb attack outside a mosque in southern Syria killed dozens Friday and rebels detonated mines under a hotel used by the army in the north killing five, a monitor said.At least 32 people, including a child and 10 rebel fighters, were killed when the car blew up in front of the mosque in the rebel-held village of Yaduda in the southern Daraa province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.Activists accused regime forces of responsibility for the attack, said the Britain-based monitor, adding that it expected the death toll to rise because many people were also wounded in the explosion.Meanwhile at least five soldiers were killed when Islamist rebels detonated mines under the Carlton hotel used by the in the northern city of Aleppo, said the Observatory.It said the rebels had dug tunnels under and around the Carlton and on Friday morning they set off mines to detonate them.At least five troops were killed and 18 others wounded in the attack, which also damaged parts of the hotel, said the Observatory.Fierce battles broke out after the attack, killing an unknown number of rebels, it added.Insurgents fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad's regime have used this tactic before, both in Aleppo, Syria's onetime commercial capital, and in Damascus province.On another front, fresh fighting broke out between rebels and the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).Though rebels once welcomed ISIL in the fight against Assad, horrific abuses in areas under their domination have turned much of the opposition against them.On Friday, the rebels drove out ISIL from their positions in five Aleppo provincial towns, including Hreitan, said the Observatory. But just before their withdrawal from Hreitan, ISIL's fighters executed 17 civilian relatives of rival Islamist rebel battalions.In Azaz, also in Aleppo province, clashes raged between rebels and ISIL, as the jihadists beheaded at least four rival opposition fighters, said the group.Islamist and mainstream rebels opened a front against ISIL on January 3. The jihadists were expelled from the oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor last week.More than 136,000 people have been killed in Syria's brutal war since March 2011, and millions more have fled their homes.

Govt, Taliban demand to shun violence

Posted:

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani government and Taliban negotiators Friday expressed concern over a wave of deadly attacks in the country, agreeing that both militants and security forces should refrain from actions which undermine ongoing peace efforts.The Pakistani Taliban claimed credit for a bomb blast that killed 12 policemen on a bus in the port city of Karachi on Thursday, the latest in a series of near-daily attacks since the government called for peace talks with militants to end their seven-year insurgency.Both the committees expressed deep grief and regret over anti-peace activities and declared that such incidents would have a negative impact on the peace efforts, a joint statement said after government and Taliban committees met on Friday.Referring to the recent incident in Karachi, the government committee adopted the stance that it would become difficult to continue the peace talks when anti-peace activities continue, it said.Therefore the Taliban must be asked to make an announcement that they are stopping all kinds of anti-peace activities and implementation of this announcement should be ensured, the statement quoted the government side as saying.It said that the Taliban committee agreed to the demand and asked the government to also make an announcement that it will not take any action which would create unrest.For lasting peace no side should use force, the statement quoted the Taliban side as saying.The chief of the Taliban committee, Maulana Samiul Haq, has called for a session of religious leaders on Saturday to take the clerics into confidence regarding the peace negotiations.Pakistani troops have been fighting for years against homegrown insurgents in the tribal belt, which Washington considers the main hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in the TTP insurgency since it began in 2007, according to an AFP tally.The start of 2014 has seen a surge in militant violence with more than 130 people killed.An air force bombardment of TTP hideouts in North Waziristan led many to believe a major military offensive was imminent until Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the peace talks.Stability in nuclear-armed Pakistan is seen as important to neighbouring Afghanistan, where US-led NATO troops are pulling out after more than a decade of war.Washington has said it is watching the talks with the Taliban closely. It has long been pushing Pakistan to take action against militants using Pakistans tribal areas as a base to attack NATO forces across the border.

Delhi CM Kejriwal announces resignation

Posted:

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced his resignation Friday to protest the blocking of an anti-corruption bill, fewer than 50 days after taking power in the Indian capital.My cabinet has decided that we are quitting. Here is my resignation letter, Kejriwal told supporters of his fledgling Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party in the capital, brandishing a white sheet of paper.Straight after this, I am going to the Lieutenant Governor's office to hand in my resignation, he added, as his followers cheered.Kejriwal, who had been the head of a minority administration since taking power on December 28, said he would ask Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung to immediately dissolve the Delhi assembly and organise fresh elections.Kejriwal's announcement came shortly after local legislators effectively shot down his efforts to bring in anti-corruption legislation -- the key plank of his manifesto in December's state elections.Kejriwal's party won 28 seats in Delhi's 70 member assembly and came to power with the help of the Congress party, which governs at national level.But Congress decided not to back Kejriwal in Friday's vote, claiming the measure was unconstitutional.While his elevation to one of the most important political posts in India was initially widely welcomed as a much-needed shock to the system, the former tax inspector has since come in for criticism over a series of stand-offs with the authorities.The self-styled anarchist staged a sit-in on the pavement close to the national parliament last month, triggering chaos in the city centre, as part of a push to be given greater powers of control over the police.

Cricket: Irfan to miss Asia Cup, World T20

Posted:

RAWALPINDI (AFP) - Lanky Pakistan paceman Mohammad Irfan was left out of Pakistans 15-man squads for this months Asia Cup and next months World Twenty20 after a recurrence of a hip injury, selectors said.Irfan -- the tallest ever man to play international cricket at 7 feet one inch -- fractured his hip in Pakistans Twenty20 series against South Africa in United Arab Emirates in November last year.However, his recovery proved short lived when the injury recurred in a domestic tournament this week, prompting chief selector Azhar Khan to say Irfan had to be left out of the squads.Irfan was left out as he fell injured again and he needs some time for recovery, Khan told reporters while announcing the squads.The Asia Cup will be held in Dhaka, from February 25 to March 8. Besides Pakistan - the defending champions - India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and hosts Bangladesh will also take part in the event.The fifth edition of the World Twenty20 with 16 teams in competition will also be held in Bangladesh from March 16 to April 6.Misbah-ul Haq will lead the one-day team while Mohammad Hafeez will be Twenty20 captain.There were recalls for left-handed batsman Fawad Alam and paceman Mohammad Talha in the one-day squads while wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal got one more chance in the Twenty20 team.Alam, 28, played last of his 27 one-day internationals in September 2010.Shoaib Malik was also included in the Twenty20 squad after being withdrawn from the tour of South Africa in November last year due to injury.Kamran and Malik will give experience to the team for the important event, said Khan.Kamran played last of his 50 Twenty20 matches in South Africa in March last year.Batsmen Asad Shafiq and Haris Sohail lost their one-day places after being part of the squads for the series against Sri Lanka last year.Squad (Asia Cup): Misbah-ul Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Sharjeel Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Anwar Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Talha.World Twenty20: Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Kamran Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Sharjeel Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Junaid Khan, Bilawal Bhatti, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Talha.

Irfan to miss Asia Cup, World T20

Posted:

RAWALPINDI (AFP) - Lanky Pakistan paceman Mohammad Irfan was left out of Pakistans 15-man squads for this months Asia Cup and next months World Twenty20 after a recurrence of a hip injury, selectors said.Irfan -- the tallest ever man to play international cricket at 7 feet one inch -- fractured his hip in Pakistans Twenty20 series against South Africa in United Arab Emirates in November last year.However, his recovery proved short lived when the injury recurred in a domestic tournament this week, prompting chief selector Azhar Khan to say Irfan had to be left out of the squads.Irfan was left out as he fell injured again and he needs some time for recovery, Khan told reporters while announcing the squads.The Asia Cup will be held in Dhaka, from February 25 to March 8. Besides Pakistan - the defending champions - India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and hosts Bangladesh will also take part in the event.The fifth edition of the World Twenty20 with 16 teams in competition will also be held in Bangladesh from March 16 to April 6.Misbah-ul Haq will lead the one-day team while Mohammad Hafeez will be Twenty20 captain.There were recalls for left-handed batsman Fawad Alam and paceman Mohammad Talha in the one-day squads while wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal got one more chance in the Twenty20 team.Alam, 28, played last of his 27 one-day internationals in September 2010.Shoaib Malik was also included in the Twenty20 squad after being withdrawn from the tour of South Africa in November last year due to injury.Kamran and Malik will give experience to the team for the important event, said Khan.Kamran played last of his 50 Twenty20 matches in South Africa in March last year.Batsmen Asad Shafiq and Haris Sohail lost their one-day places after being part of the squads for the series against Sri Lanka last year.Squad (Asia Cup): Misbah-ul Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Sharjeel Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Anwar Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Talha.World Twenty20: Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Kamran Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Sharjeel Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Junaid Khan, Bilawal Bhatti, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Talha.

62-year-old retired railway staffer dies in search of pension

Posted:

LAHORE (Dunya News) - After continuously traveling to Lahore from his hometown Pakpattan for over six months to unsuccessfully get his pension case through to the bureaucratic process, 62-year-old railway staffer Rab Nawas died after a cardiac arrest.Railway authorities scapegoated four employees by suspending them, Dunya News reported.62-year-old Rab Nawaz worked as ‘Points man’ for the Railways and the railway authorities reportedly made the man come to Lahore several times in a span of six months to go through the bureaucratic pension case registration process. What seemed like a never-ending process resulted in cardiac arrest and subsequent death of the man.Railway authorities said that the pension paperwork definitely takes ‘some time’ under normal circumstances and claimed that no negligence was made in Rab Nawaz’s case.The 62-year-old deceased couldn’t get the due pension in his life, but authorities vow to pay all the dues to his family by Monday.Railway authorities have suspended four employees over alleged negligence; none of them is an officer.

Quitting smoking makes you happier: study

Posted:

PARIS (AFP) - Moderate or heavy smokers who quit tobacco get a boost in mental wellbeing that, for people who are anxious or stressed, is equivalent to taking anti-depressants, a study said.British researchers examined 26 published investigations into the mental health of smokers.They looked at standardised scorecards for symptoms of anxiety, depression, stress and quality of life, derived from questionnaires completed by volunteers.The smokers were 44 years old on average and smoked between 10 and 40 cigarettes a day. They were questioned before they tried to give up smoking and again after their attempt -- an average of six months later.Those who succeeded in quitting reported reduced depression, anxiety and stress and had a more positive outlook on life compared with those who continued smoking.The effect sizes are equal or larger than those of anti-depressant treatment for mood and anxiety disorders, said the study.Quitters who had been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders enjoyed a similar improvement.Lead investigator Gemma Taylor of the University of Birminghams School of Health and Population Sciences said she hoped the findings would dispel a widespread misconception about smoking.Its a common myth that smoking actually is good for your mental health -- smoking relieves stress, smoking helps you relax, smoking helps you enjoy things -- and that common myth is really hard to overcome, Taylor said.But actually, the study showed that when you stop smoking and you break the nicotine withdrawal cycle, your mental health improves.Taylor pointed to a mainstream theory in tobacco addiction research: that a smokers psychological state fluctuates throughout the day as a result of exposure to nicotine.The sense of calm or wellbeing from a cigarette is followed immediately afterwards by classic withdrawal signs of a depressed mood, anxiety or agitation.Smokers, though, tend to misattribute these symptoms and blame them on stress or other factors.And because nicotine has a calming effect, they perceive that cigarettes improve their mental health.Smoking is already blamed for a wide range of physical diseases and disorders, ranging from cancer, blindness and cardiac problems to diabetes, gum disease and impotence.The UNs World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated last July that tobacco kills almost six million people each year, a toll that will rise to eight million annually in 2030.About four out of every five deaths will occur in low- and middle-income nations, it said.Despite a decline in smoking prevalence in some nations, in overall terms the number of people smoking today is greater than in 1980, due to population growth, according to a paper published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Not just baby talk, chatting spurs brain development: study

Posted:

CHICAGO (AFP) - Baby talk is more than just bonding: chatting with your infant spurs important brain development that sets the stage for lifelong learning, researchers said.And while high-pitched, sing-song tones may capture your babys attention, the best way for them to learn is to be spoken to like adults. At least when it comes to vocabulary and sentence structure.Its not just how much speech you get, but the kind of speech you get, said Erika Hoff, a psychologist at Florida Atlantic University.Speech needs to be rich and complex.Talking to babies is so important that researchers say it is a major reason why children from disadvantaged backgrounds perform poorly in school.By the time they reach the age of five, the children of low-income, poorly educated parents typically score two years behind their privileged peers on standardized language tests.These differences can also be measured in the brain, said Columbia University neurologist and pediatrician Kimberly Noble.The human brain experiences incredible growth in its early years.By the age of three, it has formed 1,000 trillion neural connections -- the links between cells that help the brain do everything from picking up a stick to remembering song lyrics.A childs experiences really come into play to determine whether those connections strengthen or are dropped or pruned, Noble told reporters at the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences annual meeting.Noble and her colleagues compared the brains of children with low socioeconomic status to those whose parents are highly educated and paid well.While they found differences in the core cognitive systems that support social skills and memory, the largest disparities were in the brain structures for language development.With increasing age, children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds devoted more neural real estate to those regions, she said.- Rich, varied language early -Stanford University psychologist Anne Fernald has found that the language gap can be measured as early as 18 months. By a childs second birthday that gap is already six months wide.Fernald and her colleagues made recordings of what a group of low-income, Spanish-speaking children heard all day.They found that infants didnt gain much from simply overhearing their parents and caregivers talk -- the real learning came from being spoken to directly.It is crucial to develop culturally sensitive interventions to teach low-income parents to talk to their children, Fernald told reporters.Theres a wide range of views about whether its even appropriate to talk to a child -- in some cultures it is not, Fernald said.A pilot project she is running in San Jose to teach Latina mothers to engage verbally with their children has shown promising results.By 24 months, the children of more engaged moms are developing bigger vocabularies and processing spoken language more efficiently, Fernald said.While parents might want to help their children prepare for school by speaking to them in English, Hoff said they are usually better off sticking to their native tongue.A study she was set to present on Friday showed that when parents dont have a firm grasp of a second language, they arent able to teach it to their children.Instead, they end up limiting their childrens overall language development by failing to expose them to more complex speech.We want to do whatever it takes to give children access to rich, varied language input at an early age, Hoff said.Parents wanting to enrich their children with a bilingual education also have to weigh the cost.Learning two languages is a great thing. What we have to recognize is that learning two languages does not happen for free, Hoff said. You dont learn two languages as quickly as you learn one.

Kitty litter parasite infects Arctic beluga whales

Posted:

CHICAGO (AFP) - A parasite that is found in cats and can cause brain disease, blindness and miscarriage in people has been found for the first time in Arctic beluga whales, scientists said.Its emergence in western Arctic beluga has raised concerns about the indigenous Inuit people who eat whale meat as part of their traditional diet and may be exposed to new health risks.This common parasite in the lower 48 (US states) is now emerging in the Arctic and we found it for the first time in a population of western Arctic beluga, said Michael Grigg, a molecular parasitologist with the US National Institutes of Health.This is a parasite that is secreted by cats so what is it doing in the Arctic and why now is it in the beluga? And that is what we are starting to investigate. How did it get there?Grigg told reporters at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago that the rise in the number of cats worldwide is likely increasing the risks of the parasites transmission.The beluga are apparently suffering only mild inflammation from the infection, but scientists can only judge that based on what they see, and there are concerns that if the parasite is causing deadly infections, the toll on marine mammals may go unseen in the vast Arctic.The regular travels of the belugas, from Canadian waters in the summer and back to Russian waters in the winter, mean that the parasites could get picked up anywhere along the route, said researcher Stephen Raverty, a veterinary pathologist with the British Columbia Agriculture Ministry.Some experts are concerned that global warming could be causing the spread of new diseases in the worlds oceans, and that the thawing of ice in the Arctic has removed a key barrier, allowing pathogens to move into new areas and infect vulnerable creatures.The animals themselves are telling us what is going on in the ecosystem, they are sending that message, said Sue Moore, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.We have to get better at interpreting it and bringing together the science of marine mammal health and marine mammal ecology.

Mega-merger would unite Comcast, Time Warner Cable

Posted:

NEW YORK (AFP) - Comcast unveiled plans Thursday to swallow rival Time Warner Cable in a mega-deal that triggered debate on the creation of a cable-Internet behemoth.News of the $45.2 billion deal uniting the largest two US cable firms raised regulatory concerns about the reach of Comcast, which owns NBC Universals film and television assets and is one of the largest providers of cable Internet.Comcast chairman and chief executive Brian Roberts said the plan would allow Comcast to deploy new technologies for delivering streaming content and use the Internet cloud, with greater efficiency.By combining, the companies said they could save $1.5 billion in operating costs while providing new services and products.The mutually agreed merger is a triumph for Comcast over its rival Charter Communications, the nations fourth largest cable operator, and Liberty Media Corp, its biggest shareholder.The deal represents an offer of $158.82 per share, about $23 above where TWC has been trading and comfortably above Charters offer of $132.50 a share, which was rejected as too low.Comcast is already a dominant force in cable with nearly 22 million video subscribers.Time Warner Cable, which was spun off as an independent company in 2009 from the Time Warner media-entertainment conglomerate, has 12 million.The companies said their merger agreement is subject to shareholder approval and regulatory review.But the news immediately raised concerns about the creation of a dominant force that spans cable, Internet and the content flowing over the networks.Trefis analysts warned the combined company would command about 30 percent market share for cable.Delara Derakhshani at Consumers Union said the merger has the potential to be a very bad deal for consumers.This industry is notoriously unpopular with consumers due to poor customer service, not to mention ever-increasing bills, and a deal this size doesnt exactly convince us that things will get better, she said.John Bergmayer at the consumer activist group Public Knowledge urged antitrust authorities and the Federal Communications Commission to block the deal.He said an enlarged Comcast would be the bully in the schoolyard, able to dictate terms to content creators, Internet companies, other communications networks... and distributors.Craig Aaron at the advocacy group Free Press said the deal would give Comcast a dominant share of the US pay-TV market and triple-play market for video, voice and Internet service.Americans already hate dealing with the cable guy... But this deal would be the cable guy on steroids -- pumped up, unstoppable and grasping for your wallet, Aaron said.John Simpson at the activist group Consumer Watchdog said the deal may be good for Time Warners shareholders and Wall Street fat cats, but there is no way creating this media juggernaut can be considered in the public interest.Comcast said that in order to address competition concerns, it is prepared to divest systems serving about three million subscribers, leaving a net gain of approximately eight million.That would bring Comcasts managed subscriber total to roughly 30 million.Analysts said regulators may approve the deal but impose conditions.While we see no fundamental barrier to deal approval, conditions may be placed on the combined company to amplify and extend the types of conditions that were placed on the Comcast-NBCU deal in 2010 aimed at fostering online and video competition, said RBC Capital Markets analyst Jonathan Atkin.The 2010 merger required Comcast and NBCU to sell content to other video providers at non-discriminatory prices, not discriminate against rivals through its set-top boxes and not take steps to restrict the distribution of its programs and films.Geoffrey Manne, senior fellow at the technology think tank TechFreedom said competition concerns should be minimal because Comcast has already agreed to conditions in these areas for its NBCU acquisition.If anything, the merger will effectively provide consumers with more bargaining power to rein in overall programming costs and lower their bills, Manne said.Comcast shares fell 4.1 percent to $52.97 and TWC rose seven percent to $144.81.

Tea boy slur brews a backlash for Indias ruling party

Posted:

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indias tea makers are an industrious bunch whose road-side stalls are places of clanking kitchenware, gossip, and scalding hot brews.Many vendors like Jaiveer Jasiwal, whose grimy family-run stand can be found in the old part of Delhi, dream of bigger things. But few ever thought one of their own might one day rise to be prime minister.That prospect, in a country still riven by caste and ruled for most of its post-independence history by a single dynasty, looks increasingly likely with the rise of opposition leader Narendra Modi.And thanks to an ill-advised political barb from a ruling party MP who mocked Modis time as a chai wallah (tea boy), tea stands have been thrust centre stage in a bitter campaign for the national elections due by May.On Wednesday night, Modi began Chai pe Charcha (Discussion over Tea), which saw him slurp a glass in his home state and take questions about governance.The event was broadcast to tea stands and their working class clients across the country in 300 cities, including Jasiwals, a stones throw from the citys landmark Red Fort.He (Modi) represents people like us who have small means, but big dreams, said Jasiwal, 28, who also runs what he describes as a one-man business consultancy firm on the side.And if he can do it and I can sort of do it, then anyone can do anything. PM, doctor, teacher, actor, anything, he said.Modi, a hardline Hindu nationalist whose links to religious riots in 2002 make him a divisive figure, is pitching a message of jobs, development, aspiration and social mobility.One of his perceived assets is his background as a lower caste former tea boy from western Gujarat who raised through the ranks of grassroots Hindu organizations to become PM candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).In his public addresses, often delivered in coarse Hindi and dripping with sarcasm, Modi routinely derides his main opponent, Rahul Gandhi, as a shahzada or prince.Gandhi, a Harvard-educated son, grandson and great-grandson of Indian prime ministers, still appears to struggle with his famous name and new role leading the ruling Congress party into elections.Faced with a backlash against the English-speaking political establishment, epitomised by the surge of the new Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party, the recent mockery of Modis background appears to have spectacularly backfired.Speaking at a meeting of the Congress party in January, upper house MP Mani Shankar Aiyar told reporters of Modi: There is no way he can be prime minister in the 21st century... But if he wants to come and serve tea here we can make some room for him.Gandhi reportedly later condemned the remark in private -- although he praised Aiyar publicly at the meeting -- and commentators quickly seized on a slur seen as both casteist and patronising.It was also at odds with the mood of the country at a time of immense economic change that has seen aspirations rise and the shackles of the ancient caste system loosen further.That remark can be very damaging, said Christophe Jaffrelot, from Sciences Po University in Paris, one of the leading international experts on India.I do think now that times have changed and you cant claim that the lineage is an asset. Its a liability, he told AFP.If true, in a country where business and politics have long been dominated by a handful of well-connected families, this would represent a radical change.See their mentality, Modi said recently at a campaign stop in northern Uttar Pradesh, referring to Congress, which has been in power nationally since 2004.They do not like if a chai wallah, a son of a poor mother walks with his head held high, he added. The Congress has insulted the poor, mocked my origins as a tea seller.Jaffrelot says only once has India had a prime minister whose background is comparable with Modis: H.D Deve Gowda, whose agricultural heritage and rustic Hindi set him apart from colleagues during his brief 1996-97 rule.And in a country where up to 90 percent of the working population have jobs in the informal sector -- like tea stalls -- Modi can sell his personal story to a formidable constituency.The problem with most politicians, be it Congress or BJP or whoever, is their arrogance, said tea seller Rameez, 33, who works in the Delhi suburb of Noida.As rickshaw drivers and factory workers waited for a drink he added: They feel only the rich and educated become prime ministers. At least Modi knows how to make tea, has Aiyar ever made anything himself? Doubtful.Rameez plans to open a restaurant.I dont think Ill become prime minister or the president, he said. But I definitely know that I can do something big.

Asian carriers lift Singapore Air show deals to new high

Posted:

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Singapore Air show organizers on Friday announced a record high of more than $32 billion in deals as Asian carriers ordered more aircraft to meet explosive demand for cheap, short-range travel.European manufacturer Airbus accounted for nearly half of the total, with almost $15 billion worth of orders for its popular A320 single-aisle plane and flagship A380 superjumbo.The total figure beats the previous record of $31 billion set during the 2012 edition of the biennial event, and was more than triple the $10 billion spent in 2010.It is Asias largest combined aviation and defense show, with more than 1,000 exhibitors from 47 countries participating.Trade days ended Friday and the exhibition will be open to the public over the weekend.Emerging Asian carriers were the stars of the air show, forging deals that underscored the regions importance as the growth driver of global aviation.Jimmy Lau, managing director of Experia Events which organized the air show, predicted an upward trend for smaller aircraft plying domestic routes.The people who will be likely making good inroads are (firms such as) Embracer and Bombardier who will be selling their regional jets to countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, Lau said during a press conference.Airbus received its first order of the year for the double-decker A380, the worlds biggest passenger plane, when British-based leasing firm Amedeo signed an $8.3 billion deal for 20 of the aircraft.The purchase agreement put Airbus on track to meet its target of 30 orders for the A380 in 2014.Airbus had suffered some setbacks last year with the discovery of cracks on some of the giant jetliners wings.Airbus also won an order for 63 A320 jets worth $6.4 billion from fledgling Vietnamese budget carrier VietJetAir.Apart from the firm orders, the deal covered rights for VietJetAir to acquire or lease 38 more A320s, potentially boosting its current fleet of 11 tenfold.Airbus also used the event to showcase the new generation A350-XWB wide-body aircraft to Asian buyers. It is on track to come into service at the end of the year.US rival Boeing secured a commitment from Thai budget carrier Nok Air to buy 15 single-aisle B737s worth $1.45 billion.Myanmars national carrier Myanma Airways signed a deal to lease 10 Boeing 737s that will ply international routes as the once-reclusive country opens up further to the outside world.Brazilian manufacturer Embraer sprang a surprise when it announced a firm order for 50 of its E-Jets E2 aircraft worth $2.94 billion from Indian carrier Air Costa, which began operations only in October last year.The deal with Air Costa also includes purchase rights for 50 more of the aircraft, which can seat between 70 and 130 passengers.Airline executives say many smaller cities in Asia remain underserved despite the rapid growth in budget air travel, and they will use the new planes to connect such destinations to metropolitan centers.Economists said Asias expanding middle class is driving demand following years of steady economic growth in the region.The United States, which was this years featured country and showcased both defense and commercial products, said it was satisfied with the results.The visitors here are serious about seeking American technology, quality -- and potential partners. These are the customers that change business for our exhibitors and the reason why so many American businesses of all sizes come to this show, said Tom Kallman, who managed the US pavilion at the event.

Indian inflation falls to eight-month low

Posted:

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indias inflation fell to an eight-month low in December due to easing food prices, data showed Friday, providing some good news for the government ahead of national elections.The scandal-hit Congress-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is desperate to tame inflation and revive the economy as it seeks a third term in office at national elections due by May.The Wholesale Price Index -- the most widely watched price barometer -- eased to 5.05 percent in January from a year earlier, down sharply from 6.16 percent the previous month.The decline was on par with analysts forecasts of just under six percent.The latest figures come after the government announced this week that retail inflation -- compiled using a narrower basket of goods -- plunged to a two-year low of 8.79 percent in January.With industrial output shrinking by 0.6 percent in December in the third straight monthly contraction, business has been clamoring for a cut in lending rates to help boost slumping growth.But the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised its benchmark policy rate to 8.0 percent last month in a bid to wrestle down inflation, which it has signaled is its top priority.In its mid-year review on the economy presented to parliament this week, the government also said prices need to be curbed.The outlook on growth is also threatened by certain downside risks, the biggest being the high rate of inflation, which further dents the ability of the RBI to extend monetary policy support to growth revival, it said.Ministry of Commerce and Industry figures showed Friday food prices, a main driver of inflation, rose 8.80 percent year-on-year, but were down from a rise of 13.68 percent in the previous month.The cost of all vegetables rose 16.60 percent year-on-year, down from 57.33 percent last month, while onions, regarded as a cooking essential in India, rose 6.59 percent, down from a 40 percent rise in December.

French economy grows 0.3% in 2013, flags at year end

Posted:

PARIS (AFP) - The French economy turned in slightly firmer growth than expected last year, expanding by 0.3 percent, but disappointed in the final quarter in a mixed message for the beleaguered government.This was a stride ahead of the governments own estimate that the economy would limp into growth of just 0.1 percent in 2013, and will come as a small relief in the run-up to municipal elections.Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said in remarks on France 2 television that the latest official figures, although better than expected, meant that more has to be done to get unemployment down.The latest official figure for the year was just ahead of the national statistic institutes forecast in December of 0.2-percent growth.But since then the INSEE institute had already slightly upgraded its estimates for growth in the first and third quarters, from shrinkage of 0.1 percent to zero.However, in the last three months of the year, the economy showed growth of 0.3 percent, INSEE said in its first estimates.That fell short of its forecast in December for expansion of 0.4 percent.The government, faced with weak and unsteady recovery from recession, will be thankful for every extra drop of growth, as it struggles to engineer a change of policy to cut charges on businesses and to make deep cuts in public spending.Growth raises the prospects of job creation, although these figures are far too low to begin to dent record unemployment in the country, one reason why Francois Hollande, a socialist, is suffering from the lowest approval ratings on recent record for a French president.Growth also raises revenue from taxes which the Socialist-Green government urgently needs to help meet European Union rules for reducing the public deficit, along with fraught negotiations under way to cut deeply into public spending.France has the euro zone’s second-biggest economy.The state of its finances is closely watched by its partners, in particular economic powerhouse Germany which reported growth of 0.4 percent for the last quarter on Friday, after 0.3 percent in the previous quarter.Hollande has turned his sights on the economy in the hope of avoiding a heavy defeat in local elections next month.A critical factor in French growth is household consumption, and this rose by 0.4 percent last year having fallen by the same amount in 2012.However, a vital factor in recovery is investment, and in the fourth quarter this showed signs of getting going, rising by 0.6 percent after seven quarters of retreat.In remarks to AFP, INSEE explained: There is really a coincidence of three factors: investment has risen after two years of falls, consumption was robust at the end of the year, and exports rose in the fourth quarter.Moscovici said: I am not satisfied, and I say lets do more.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)