Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet all MPs and provincial lawmakers of Indian origin in Canada during his visit in Toronto for the G-20 summit at the weekend. This is being organised at the prime minister's initiative.
Manmohan Singh's initiative assumes significance in the light of India's concerns to the Canadian government about the activities of anti-India elements.
"The meeting is being organised as the prime minister wants to meet and know the Indian-origin representatives in Canada. This is purely the prime minister's idea. He wants to have a face-to-face meeting these MPs and MLAs,'' informed sources told IANS.
There are nine MPs of Indian origin in the Canadian parliament. Apart from these MPs, there are also six Indo-Canadian MLAs in British Columbia province, five in Alberta province, four in Ontario province and one in Manitoba province.
Some of the Indo-Canadian representatives confirmed that they have been invited to meet the Indian prime minister, without specifying the purpose of the meeting.
"The meeting also assumes significance that the Indian prime minister has invited Indo-Canadian MP Sukh Dhaliwal who recently introduced a motion in the Canadian parliament to urge Canada to declare the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as 'genocide'," the sources said.
Dhaliwal's office confirmed his participation in the meeting. "Yes, Mr Dhaliwal has accepted the invitation and will be attending the meeting with the Indian prime minister," his office told IANS.
Navdeep Bains, another MP who supported the motion, has also been invited for the meeting.
Ruby Dhalla, the MP for Brampton-Springdale on the outskirts of Toronto, also said, "Yes, I have invited and I will be attending the meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh."
Various Sikh groups have also sought a meeting with the Indian prime minister to raise the issue of punishment for the guilty of the 1984 riots, but there has no confirmation whether Manmohan Singh will them.
During his Toronto visit, the prime minister is also likely to visit the Air India memorial to pay respects to the victims of the 1985 tragedy.
Friday, 25 June 2010
Asia Cup Final: India Score 81 Run Victory over Sri Lanka
Asia Cup Final: India Score 81 Run Victory over Sri Lanka
India completed a much needed 81 run win over Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup. The Indian team had been on a losing streak for a while, after a dismal performance in the T20 World Cup followed by a nightmare Tri-Series in Zimbabwe, where they lost twice to Zimbabwe and once to Sri Lanka. India needed this victory to win back the fans and more importantly silence the home media, who had been going to town against the Indian cricket team.
The win can be termed more important considering the fact that their senior most and most informed player in ODIs (before T20 World Cup), Sachin Tendulkar, was not part of the team. Another important absentee was the stylish left hander Yuvraj Singh, and add to that not having their most dangerous opening batsman Virender Sehwag. Indian Captain MS Dhoni really was shorthanded to a great degree.
Dhoni, after winning the toss, chose to bat first, on a pitch that did look batting friendly at first, but as the game went on it slowed down and the ball was difficult to time. Dinesh Karthik, with 66 at the top of the order, was the top scorer. The Indian batting fell apart in the middle period, but Rohit Sharma, with a solid knock of 41, took the score to 268 for the loss of 6 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
In reply, Sri Lanka could not have gotten off to a worse start, as their ace batsman Dilshan, who had been in good form in recent games, was sent back without scoring a single run. He was caught by Harbhajan Singh on the bowling of Praveen Kumar.
Indians smelled blood and started putting more pressure on the hosts with some more close in fielders. The pressure paid off as Tharanga, while going for a big drive, let one through against Zaheer Khan. Tharanga scored 16 from 30 balls with just a single boundary.
Much was depending on the experienced pair of Jayawardene and Sangakkara in the middle order, as both senior men had been performing consistently well in recent games. However, after just putting on 19 runs for the 3rd wicket, Jayawardene was caught by Zaheer Khan on the bowling of Ashish Nehra for 17 from 38 balls. He scored only 2 boundaries.
And just 2 balls later, their talented all rounder Angelo Mathews was also knocked over by Nehra; he was caught behind for naught. The collapse did not stop just there, as pretty much the last hope for Sri Lanka, their captain Sangakkara was picked up by Nehra in his next over for his 3rd wicket in 2 overs. Sangakkara scored 17 runs from 38 balls with 2 boundaries.
Kandamby and Kapugedera, the 2 all rounders, came to rebuild the innings, putting on 53 runs for the 6th wicket. Kandamby was the next to go after scoring 31 from 45 balls (including 2 boundaries). He was the victim of a suicidal run out.
Sri Lanka, at 104 for 6, were all but gone. Kapugedera at the other end though continued to fight on his own. Maharoof came in to join him but was not much help; Maharoof only scored 10 from 14 balls before being caught behind on the bowling of Zaheer Khan.
Fast bowler Kulasekara, though, showed some sensible batting and put together 36 runs alongside Kapugedera, but the target was still some distance away.
Kulasekara became Jadeja’s first victim as he tried to go for a big shot and was left stranded in middle of the wicket while Dhoni whipped off the bails. Kulasekara scored 20 from 16 balls with 4 boundaries. The rest of the 2 wickets were cleaned up in no time, as Sri Lanka folded for only 187, handing India an 81 run win to win their 5th Asian cup. Sri Lanka failed to complete hat tricks of Asia cups. Dinesh Karthik was declared man of the match for his 66 runs. Shahid Afridi was declared the player of the series.
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Gillard becomes Australia's first female PM
Julia Gillard became Australia's first female prime minister Thursday after incumbent Kevin Rudd stood aside in a party vote amid plunging approval ratings and a run-in with the mining industry over a proposed tax.
Treasurer Wayne Swan, who is to represent Australia at this weekend's summit in Canada of the Group of 20 of the world's largest economies, was elected unopposed as deputy party leader and would slot in as deputy prime minister.
The Labor government has only a few months to run before a parliamentary election, and Gillard gave that as the reason she tore down Rudd.
'It was necessary for me to take this step to take control and to ensure that the government got back on track,' she said.
Gillard - a member of Rudd's infamous Gang of Four, the inner cabinet that made the big decisions of his government like dumping a proposed carbon emissions-trading scheme without consulting cabinet colleagues - nevertheless promised a return to collective decision-making.
She also offered a new start in negotiations with mining companies over a proposed 40-percent profits tax they argued would render many projects unviable.
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India asks US to remove ISRO, DRDO from banned list
India has "very firmly" asked the US to ease export controls and remove top Indian agencies like the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from the banned list.
"We have taken up export controls very firmly" Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma. told reporters Wednesday at the end of a three day visit asserting there was no justification for such controls "after elevating our relationship to a strategic partnership" and the signing of the India-US civil nuclear deal.Noting that DAE, ISRO and other institutions involved in high end research were actively involved in partnership or in coordination with US agencies, he said: "India cannot be bracketed with other countries.""Our entities, particularly the government research organisations like ISRO and the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation), must not remain on the list," Sharma said.The US side had been "very receptive and reassuring", he said hoping that the issue would be sorted out soon.Sharma said that in his separate meeting with US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, he had also raised labour related non-tariff barriers, other market access issues and removal of India from the Special 301 watch list of countries engaged in practices impeding US exports.He also raised issues relating to the Totalisation Agreement for avoiding double taxation of income with respect to social security taxes, H-1B visas for Indian skilled labour and Generalised System of Preferences."We are all working on various deliverables" for the forthcoming visit of US President Barack Obama to India, Sharma saidTo this end, he would be back in Washington in September for a meeting of the Trade Policy Forum for facilitating trade and investment flows between the two countries. He had also invited Kirk and US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to Delhi to look at possible deliverables.
Asked about Kirk's call's to India to address "longstanding impediments" like investment caps, agricultural market access barriers, high tariffs and intellectual property rights, Sharma said he had conveyed that India was fully TRIPS compliant.The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international agreement administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation."We are also party to multilateral agreements within WTO and GATTS (General Agreement on Tariffs And Trade)," he said. But tariffs was "a two way process. There are certain tariff and non-tariff barriers, which we feel are important to be raised" and he had done so.Stressing that India is committed to a strong and equitable IPR regime and has put in place legislation and enforcement mechanisms to this effect, Sharma said that the issue of balance cannot be wished away."Be it technology or life saving drugs, there has to be balance and sharing so that the resource poor countries are not denied access to these."On US industry demands for raising investment caps and opening retail trade and defence, he said India has a liberal and transparent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regime in place.But in a few sectors like banking and insurance, defence and retail trade, India favoured calibrated liberalisation on account of domestic sensitivities.On Doha round of world trade talks, Sharma said: "India is committed to put in place a rule based multilateral trade regime, which is fair, balanced and ensures better market access and corrects the historical imbalances."Such a regime would "help in creating an environment where global commerce enhances. And that in itself is the only way to an effective way to global economic recovery," he said. (IANS)
"We have taken up export controls very firmly" Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma. told reporters Wednesday at the end of a three day visit asserting there was no justification for such controls "after elevating our relationship to a strategic partnership" and the signing of the India-US civil nuclear deal.Noting that DAE, ISRO and other institutions involved in high end research were actively involved in partnership or in coordination with US agencies, he said: "India cannot be bracketed with other countries.""Our entities, particularly the government research organisations like ISRO and the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation), must not remain on the list," Sharma said.The US side had been "very receptive and reassuring", he said hoping that the issue would be sorted out soon.Sharma said that in his separate meeting with US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, he had also raised labour related non-tariff barriers, other market access issues and removal of India from the Special 301 watch list of countries engaged in practices impeding US exports.He also raised issues relating to the Totalisation Agreement for avoiding double taxation of income with respect to social security taxes, H-1B visas for Indian skilled labour and Generalised System of Preferences."We are all working on various deliverables" for the forthcoming visit of US President Barack Obama to India, Sharma saidTo this end, he would be back in Washington in September for a meeting of the Trade Policy Forum for facilitating trade and investment flows between the two countries. He had also invited Kirk and US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to Delhi to look at possible deliverables.
Asked about Kirk's call's to India to address "longstanding impediments" like investment caps, agricultural market access barriers, high tariffs and intellectual property rights, Sharma said he had conveyed that India was fully TRIPS compliant.The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international agreement administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation."We are also party to multilateral agreements within WTO and GATTS (General Agreement on Tariffs And Trade)," he said. But tariffs was "a two way process. There are certain tariff and non-tariff barriers, which we feel are important to be raised" and he had done so.Stressing that India is committed to a strong and equitable IPR regime and has put in place legislation and enforcement mechanisms to this effect, Sharma said that the issue of balance cannot be wished away."Be it technology or life saving drugs, there has to be balance and sharing so that the resource poor countries are not denied access to these."On US industry demands for raising investment caps and opening retail trade and defence, he said India has a liberal and transparent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regime in place.But in a few sectors like banking and insurance, defence and retail trade, India favoured calibrated liberalisation on account of domestic sensitivities.On Doha round of world trade talks, Sharma said: "India is committed to put in place a rule based multilateral trade regime, which is fair, balanced and ensures better market access and corrects the historical imbalances."Such a regime would "help in creating an environment where global commerce enhances. And that in itself is the only way to an effective way to global economic recovery," he said. (IANS)
Manmohan, Tendulkar among world's most influential
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen are among nine Indians who figure in Time magazine's annual list of 100 most influential people, while Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan tops its 100 Alumnae list.
Manmohan Singh finds himself in the 19th spot in the Leaders list headed by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with US president Barack Obama in the fourth place.
As India's finance minister from 1991 to 1996, Manmohan Singh 'released India's potential for the benefit of its people. Now, as prime minister, he is guiding India into the ranks of the great powers', wrote PepsiCo's Indian American chairperson Indra Nooyi.
Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar gets the 13th place among 25 'Heroes' headed by former US president Bill Clinton who is recognised for his work as a fund-raiser and anti-poverty activist.
Writing about Tendulkar's double century in a One Day International match, new age guru Deepak Chopra says: 'To millions of Indians and countless fans around the world, this act, which caps a career of record-breaking feats, arouses a sense of awe.'
'The Alchemist' is the favourite book of Time Alumnae Aishwarya, who lists 'certainly my mother and father' as the two people who had the most effect or influence on her.
Sixth placed among heroes, Perumalsamy Namperumalsamy, 70, was recognised for performing cataract surgery at the Aravind Eye Care Hospitals since 1976 and having treated 3.6 million surgeries to date - a new one every 15 minutes.
Indian entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw gets the 16th spot among 'heroes' for donating $2 million to support health insurance coverage for 100,000 Indian villagers and another $10 million for creating the 1,400-bed Mazumdar-Shaw Cancer Centre in Bangalore.
A paramedic from Toronto, Rahul Singh in 22nd place is recognised for his relief work in Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit the poor Caribbean nation Jan 12. In 1998, Singh founded GlobalMedic to provide disaster relief using volunteer professional emergency workers.
Chetan Bhagat, author of bestsellers, 'One Night @ the Call Centre' and 'Five Point Someone' is the lone Indian in the list of artists headed by extravagantly outfitted singer Lady Gaga.
'I've seen the effect Chetan has on his readers,' writes Academy Award winner Indian composer A.R. Rahman. 'He often writes about following your dreams and not bowing to others' expectations. That isn't easy in India, where family opinion matters and some professions are regarded as more serious than others.'
Economist Amartya Sen is 20th on the 'Thinkers' list. 'Occasionally loquacious, often ironic, usually genial, always brilliant,' Sen's notion of measuring human development is now central to the work of the UN and the World Bank, notes Harvard University history professor, Neil Ferguson.
Indian-American doctor and Harvard professor Atul Gwande is fifth on the list of 'thinkers' for his contribution to medicine. 'In this historic time for health policy, the need for smart, creative thinkers is greater than ever. Gawande certainly is one and it is equally certain his influence will grow,' wrote former US State Senator Tom Daschle.
Humanitarian worker, Sanjit Bunker Roy's Barefoot College has trained more than three million people for jobs in the modern world, in buildings so rudimentary they have dirt floors and no chairs, Time said. 'Roy combines humanitarianism, entrepreneurship and education to help people steer their own path out of poverty, fostering dignity and self-determination along the way,' it said.
India creates thousands of jobs in the US: Hillary
The United States has said enhancing economic ties with India will create thousands of jobs for Americans, as against the general impression about the US jobs being outsourced to the South Asian country.
Addressing a luncheon meeting of the Indo-US CEOs' Forum, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton said, "Just last week Congressman Jim McDermott unveiled a report by the India-US World Affairs Institute showing that Indian investment in the US grew by an estimated 60 per cent in 2009, to over $7 billion."
"That same report indicated that trade in goods between our countries tripled between 2004 and 2008, and that since 2004 Indian acquisitions in the US have supported approximately 40,000 jobs here, with manufacturing exports to India linked to another 96,000 jobs.
"That's great progress and it is a solid base on which to build," Clinton said.
According the report, Indian companies created nearly 60,000 jobs in the US between 2004-09 through nearly 500 investment and acquisition deals worth $26.5 billion.
During 2004-2009, 90 Indian companies made 127 greenfield investments worth $5.5 billion, and created 16,576 jobs in the US. Greenfield investments are investments made to start a new venture by constructing new operational facilities from the ground up.
The report comes on the heels of US President Barack Obama ending tax incentives to US companies that move jobs outside the country. Instead, his government would route the incentives to those creating jobs inside the US, he had said last year.
A 2004 Goldman Sachs report had forecast that nearly 6 million US jobs would be shifted overseas to low-wage countries like India.
Clinton, who has shown personal interest in deepening of Indo-US ties, said both President Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have said numerous times in the last 16 months, the increased cooperation between the US and India is the cornerstone of our 21st century strategic partnership.
India a superpower? Here's what the aam aadmi says!
The Indian economy is galloping at a breakneck speed and might even reach double-digit growth by 2013, feel Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma. Many economists agree that the demographic dividend that India enjoys could see the country sustain its high growth rate for a long time to come.
The India growth story is indeed enviable. Despite being plagued by myriad problems, India has emerged stronger and more resilient to any global crises so far.
India is expected to be the world's fastest growing economy by 2018, according to Economist Intelligence Unit, a research arm of the Economist magazine.
But does this so-called growth reach Indians living at the lowest rung of the society, does 8-8.5 per cent rise in gross domestic product indicate better living conditions for the poorest of the poor?
What does aam aadmi feel about this development story so well publicised by the politicians, economists and media alike?
First we need to ask ourselves what do we mean by growth?
Some 'growth' is considered 'good', like growth in gross domestic product, growth in industrial production (notwithstanding the havoc it plays on the environment); but some 'growth' like the 'population growth' is considered 'bad' growth.
So we need to define two things: which growth are we talking about, and who is doing the talking?
What are the parameters of growth?
India has had 'great' industrial growth and 'economic' growth by the economic parameters of gross domestic product, gross national product, et al; but has 'not grown' at all in other sectors like health, education, quality of lives, nutrition, newborn, childhood and infant mortality, infectious disease prevention, etc.
We still have extremely poor health indicators: more than 46 per cent of our children are malnourished -- so, where then is this 'growth'?
I think the viewpoint that 'growth' should only focus on economic growth is deeply problematic. I believe that distribution of that growth, equity and rights equally need to be measured to say that we are 'growing'.
On India growing at the rate of 8-8.5%
I think in terms of economic growth: this is indeed fabulous!
But if we say that to the Uttar Pradesh rural woman whose baby dies because she couldn't reach the Lucknow private hospital. The place she did reach -- a government primary health centre -- did not have the medical officer (who may/may not have been busy getting a piece of that 'growth' at that time).
So how does this 'fabulous' growth affect this UP woman?
Or take the case of a tribal woman in India's heartland -- whose life is going to be changed totally -- because 8 per cent GDP translates to her being evicted out of her ancestral home and her land dug up for bauxite or chromium or hematite ore or coal.
Therefore, growth is only fabulous when its fruits are equitably distributed and all the people get a share.
Has the government been able to cater to the basic needs of our people?
Again, we need to define what we mean by 'basic needs'. If by that we mean livelihood, food, clothing, shelter, education, health (mental and physical), pleasure, dignity, choice, for all people -- we can comfortably say that till now, we have not been able to fulfil these for all the people.
Are the rich in our country getting richer and the poor poorer?
I wouldn't really know that never having been 'rich' myself, but most published indicators seem to point at that. We must take into account the increasing numbers of our dollar billionaires in India.
The names of the top industrial house owners are now part of the global rich list and going by the public display of their spending, it does seem that they are getting richer.
What needs to be done
To be honest, I am not too sure. The old pattern of socialism did not last. Perhaps, we need a new discourse entailing new kinds of social movements.
Sheer militarising populations won't be of much help.When the State usurps power, denies people their rights and redressal formula is thrown out of the window, people suffer and growth takes a backseat.
Will cheques with alteration be dishonoured? RBI clarifies
Clearing the confusion over honouring cheques with corrections, the Reserve Bank of India said this will be applicable only for cheques cleared under the image-based cheque truncation system (CTS).According to a RBI notification, this has been introduced to curtail cheque frauds on account of alterations in cheques and protect customers as well as banks.
"Collecting banks should ensure, that such cheques are not accepted for presentment in CTS," RBI said.
Currently, the cheque truncation project is being run only in the Delhi .
This is not applicable to cheques cleared under other clearing arrangements such as MICR clearing, non-MICR clearing, over the counter collection (for cash payment) or direct collection of cheques outside the Clearing House arrangement .
The RBI had earlier stated that, "No changes or corrections should be carried out on the cheques (other than for date validation purposes, if required). For any change in the payee's name, courtesy amount (amount in figures) or legal amount (amount in words), etc., fresh cheque forms should be used by customers. This would help banks to identify and control fraudulent alterations."
Warren Buffett's 2 most favourite investing principles
Known as the investor with "the Midas Touch", Buffet is the most successful investor alive - the only member among the Forbes' list of the world's richest to have earned his fortune entirely through investing. Every investor can profit from how Buffett invests...
The market and fair value
Of all Buffett's ideas perhaps the simplest and most important for a non-professional individual investor to grasp is just this: value will in time be reflected in market price. (It certainly is not so reflected continuously.)
It's just a question of time, and not always very much time. Most investors don't have the profound feeling professionals acquire that market anomalies are perforce ephemeral.If a bond is selling out of line with other bonds of similar tenor and quality, it will move to its correct value in time.
If a stock that really does represent a dollar's worth of solid assets is selling for 60 cents, it will, sooner or later, not only go back to a dollar but quite likely more than a dollar.
Prices of stocks, and of the market as a whole, in time not only reflect fair value but sooner or later excessive valuation.
Further, it's improbable that from the low point this recognition will take more than a few years, and it's likely that the period will in fact be about three. In studying the records of great investors, I've often been struck by this three-year phenomenon. What's the reason?
Good investment is quantified fussiness: when you buy, you want to hold out for the lowest price you really can buy for, and when you sell, you want to hold out for the highest price you really can receive.
There are dozens of criteria for bargains and for excess prices. If tthey work, you'll find yourself buying around the bottom of the usual four-year market cycle, and selling near the peak about three years later, before the dive in the fourth year.
So by the nature of that cycle, it would be surprising if a really good buy - presumably bought near the lows of the cycle - would not show a good profit later in the same cycle.
(Of course, if you buy before the low, then it could take an extra year, or even two.)
This was not always so. Some years ago, most trading was done by the public, there were relatively few mutual funds, and security analysis was done by hand on accounting spreadsheets, the computer and such not being available.
Under those circumstances it was theoretically possible - although unlikely - for a bargain to go unperceived for years. Not that this was Graham's experience.
Today, however, with analysts constantly combing their database for bargains, like an airport tower searching the skies with radar, a bargain rarely continues unperceived for long, so in the effervescence of a market boom, it is almost certain to have its move.
There are some ways of improving on this procedure. One is to try to wait until the relative performance of a given stock to the whole market shows that it is no longer collapsing but is beginning to find support from courageous buyers. If you are not a large institution, this approach can save you money. If you are an institution, then it's better to buy right into the weakness.
Another, practiced by, among others, Robert Wilson, for years a highly aggressive and successful speculator, consists of taking a large position and then talking about it to all and sundry - preferably Wall Street columnists.
Profiting from disasters
The stock market reacts in a manic-depressive way to news, and when disillusionment strikes, things will probably go too far the other way. That, in turn, may create the very opportunity that the skillful investor waits for.
If a stock, fallen from favor, is now selling at $100 a share, and a piece of very bad news should push it down to $90, the chances are good that it will in fact drop to $80 or $70, thus creating a buying opportunity. Sometimes, it will even go to $60 or $50.
One of Buffett's purchases that people still talk about was when the 1963 Tino de Angelis salad oil scandal hit American Express. Briefly, an American Express subsidiary found itself possibly liable for hundreds of millions of dollars of damage claims arising from the sale of salad oil that did not exist, and the stock dropped sharply in the market.
Buffett was able to establish that the "franchise" value of the company's basic business, notably its credit card and the traveler's checks with their huge "float" were intact.
When you buy an American Express traveler's check, you in essence make the company a free loan in exchange for a piece of printed paper. The total of those free loans - the "float" - amounts to a couple of billion dollars at all times. Anyway, Buffett bought 5 per cent of American Express, and it paid off handsomely. The stock quintupled in five years.
More recent examples of disasters: the Bhopal explosion, which collapsed Union Carbide, giving the Bass Brothers a chance to make an immense profit in a matter of months as the stock rebounded almost to its old price; the Chrysler near-bankruptcy, which Magellan Fund cashed in on; Disney, during the gas lines; and the cigarette companies back in the 1970s, after they were banned from advertising on TV. The succeeding years produced enormous gains in their stock prices.
Most illogical of all, incidentally, is to sell on a war scare. The experienced investor does the opposite. Herbert Allen bought a mining company in the Philippines in 1942. War always means a debauching of the currency, as the country incurs huge deficits to finance the military buildup and then the fighting.
As the currency fades away, investors flee to things, including things represented by stocks. The things themselves are denominated in larger and larger numbers of depreciating currency units. So in fact one should sell bonds and buy stocks on a war scare, particularly if the scare pushes stock prices down, as it usually does.
Reliance to invest $1.36 bn on US shale gas venture
Under the agreement, Pioneer will sell 45 percent stake in its Eagle Ford shale acreage in south Texas to Reliance for $1.15 billion, the US firm said a statement.
Reliance has also entered into an agreement with Pioneers existing partner in the Eagle Ford Shale play for about $210 million. The deal is the second of its kind this year for Reliance, a petrochemicals-to-refining giant with a market value of $75 billion.
In April, Reliance agreed to pay $1.7 billion to Atlas Energy to form a joint venture and own a 40 percent stake in Atlas' Marcellus Shale operations in the eastern United States.
Companies from around the globe are increasingly investing in US shale plays -- underground rock formations that hold reserves of oil and natural gas.
Shale gas accounts for between 15 percent and 20 percent of US gas production but is expected to quadruple in coming years, touching off a scramble among producers large and small for access to resources.
In April, RIL had acquired a 40% stake in Atlas Energy’s Marcellus share acreage in the US, gaining access to approximately 343,000 acres of undeveloped land with estimated gross resources of over 13 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Shale gas is extracted from a common rock formation found in most parts of the world by pumping water and sand. Till recently, it was not considered economically viable to extra gas from shale formations but the emergence of new drilling technologies has changed the game.
The sudden increase in the production of shale gas in the US has changed the dynamics of the US gas industry. Gas prices have dropped with companies such as ExxonMobil and Royal/Dutch Shell joining in the rush.
According to the website of Pioneer, the Eagle Ford gas field has around 310,000 gross acres of prospective gas.
Pioneer has another shale gas field in Barnett, near Fort Worth in Texas.
Bihar MP Digvijay Singh passes away
Digvijay Singh, former Union Minister and a Lok Sabha MP, died on Thursday following a brain haemorrhage. He was 55.
Singh, who was Minister of State for External Affairs in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, had come to London along with the Commonwealth shooting team recently, when he suffered a heart attack. He was admitted to St Thomas hospital here where he suffered a brain haemorrhage.
Singh is survived by his wife and two daughters. His elder daughter and wife were in London as he was under treatment.
A five-time Member of Parliament, Singh was at present representing Banka constituency in the Lok Sabha as an independent. He was earlier elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998 and 1999. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1990 and 2004.
Singh, who was a close associate of former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, had served as Minister of State for Railways and MoS for External Affairs in his government.
He had fought the last Lok Sabha election independently after he being denied ticket by JD(U). Singh, who belonged to Rajput community in Bihar, had fallen out with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar before the last general elections.
JD(U) general secretary and spokesperson Shivanand Tewari said Singh was active in politics since his student days and was also a member of Lohia Vichar Manch. He was one of the founder members of Samta Sangathan formed in Bangalore in 1980.
Singh was also the President of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
Sunil Mittal building 550 schools to educate 1 lakh children
The mother was asked for her thumb impression. That was the normal practice. Most parents of the children studying in the school are illiterate. But then, recalls Singh, this mother did something unexpected. She asked for a pen, and hesitantly wrote out her name in English. Eight-year-old Harpreet had been teaching her mother.
Sunil Mittal, the chief dreamer, architect and financier of this school, and also 236 similar schools across five states, hasn’t heard Harpreet’s story yet. When he reads this, he will be happy to know that his thesis that education can be a multiplier is being proven true. “If you can teach a child, then her family and her future is taken care off,” says Mr Mittal as he warms up to an hour long interview on this project, which is now underway at the Bharti Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Bharti group. These schools are being run at an annual cost of Rs 28 crore.
NATO supports Turkey's anti-terror fight
Azerbaijan, Baku, June 21 / Trend U. Sadikhova /
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has condemned the terrorist attack committed by members of Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey.
He expressed full solidarity with the anti-terrorist struggle of Ankara, NATO's official statement said.
"I strongly condemn the recent terrorist attacks being carried out in Turkey, which have caused the deaths of a number of Turkish soldiers in the past few days, and dozens since March. There is no justification for these terrorist attacks," Secretary General said.
Militants of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) based in Northern Iraq on Saturday night opened fire from automatic weapons and grenade launchers on the positions of Turkish military men in Shemdinli district of Hakkari province.
Eight soldiers died, 14 were injured.
Four military were killed by mines laid by the separatists.
In response to an attack the Turkish army launched a major military operation in the region.
The air force heavily bombed home base of the separatists in northern Iraq.
As a result, according to the preliminary data published by the General Staff, at least 12 militants were destroyed.
Usain Bolt to miss Commonwealth Games while Powell is back on the world record prowl
Despite earlier speculation, Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt's coach Glen Mills confirmed yesterday that the triple-world record holder will not run in the2010 Commonwealth Games slated for Delhi, India, October 3-14. Meanwhile, Bolt's team mate Asafa Powell is back on the prowl this summer to regain his previous 100 meter world record title and will next challenge American record holder Tyson Gay at the Aviva British Grand Prix meet on July 10.
The Commonwealth Games sports festival occurs every four years in India, and its track and field component boasts athletes from around the world and provides competition on par with the Olympics and IAAF World Championships. A report in The Times of India cited an anonymous source saying that meet organizers were willing to offer Bolt as much as a $1 million appearance fee to run at the Games. Bolt will forgo both this supposed appearance fee and also will not compete in the Jamaica National Championships (Trials) this coming weekend.
However, Usain Bolt's coach Glen Mills confirmed yesterday that Bolt will miss the major athletic event, but not due to a recent Achilles tendon injury that sidelined him for the New York Diamond League Adidas Grand Prix meet two weeks ago. Suresh Kalmadi, the chairman of the Commonwealth Games organizing committee, and his set $1.6 billion Commonwealth Games budget will have a hard meet to host without the international sprint powerhouse. Bolt is scheduled to resume training next week.
Usain Bolt missed the 2006 Commonwealth Games as well, but then actually due to injury. In Bolt's place, his team mate Asafa Powell took the 100 meter Commonwealth Games title four years ago. Powell so far serves as the fastest man of 2010 with his three major IAAF Diamond League Meeting wins.
Asafa Powell stormed the track at the Diamond League Meeting in Oslo for the EXXON Mobil Bislett Games on June 4 to win the men's 100 meters in a 2010 best (and tied for a personal best) 9.72 seconds. His Oslo result bested his previous 2010 world best 100 meters of 9.83 seconds set at the Ostrava Diamond League Meeting on May 27. He also won the Doha Diamond League Meetin a wind-aided 9.81 seconds.
Powell has made mention that he is ready to regain his 100 meter world record as soon as possible, and on July 10 he will face Tyson Gay at the Aviva British Grand Prix in Gateshead, England. The Jamaican won this title four years ago in a then world record of 9.77 seconds.
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