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$ 20-30 bn may have WASHINGTON, Apr 27: Despite controls on capital account, 20-30 billion dollars may have leaked out of India during 1971-86, International Monetary........more 3rd
world debt WASHINGTON, Apr 27: Most of the debt held by poor countries cannot be repaid, a public policy research group said only days after international........more Cong
demands NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Congress today demanded a white paper on the threats to and safeguards for the indigenous industry following the removal of....more HC
rejects Hindujas’ NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Delhi High Court today rejected the petitions of three Hinduja brothers seeking permission to leave India after they had....more |
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‘India "important
source WASHINGTON, Apr 26: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has termed India and China as "an important source of stability" for the global economy marred by slowdown in the United States and Japan. Although the US economy which had slowed down...more NASA
scientists all VISAKHAPATNAM, Apr 26: Top astro-biologists of the National Aero Space Administration (NASA), USA, are now on a mission to explore the undersea eco-system of the Indian Ocean, in a bid to unravel the mystery of hydro-thermal vents, considered one of the "unofficial wonders of the natural world".......more Systemic
changes NEW DELHI, Apr 26: A number of systemic changes are needed to be introduced and institutionalised to check mounting.......more |
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3rd world debt unpayable says research group WASHINGTON, Apr 27: Most of the debt held by poor countries cannot be repaid, a public policy research group said only days after international lenders said they could not afford to completely cancel these debts. Of the 422 billion dollar worth of debt held by 47 of the most impoverished nations in the world, only 130 billion dollars can effectively be reimbursed, David Roodman of the Worldwatch Institute said. In a report which the institute released on Thursday on the debt crisis in the third world, Roodman said unpayable debt must be canceled, if only for accounting reasons, and that repayable debt should be canceled on a case to case basis to reward and advance reform. "In the ideal I think the debt should be completely canceled for countries that show a strong commitment to overall economic responsibility, controlling their budget deficit and inflation," Roodman told Reuters. But as the IMF and the World Bank hold their annual spring meetings in Washington this week, more and more voices are coming together for the complete cancellation of poor countries’ debt. "We want deeper debt cancellation, the money is there," said Jamie Drummond, global strategist for the London-based nongovernmental organization drop the debt. "We want (the fund and bank) to be more responsive to the needs of these countries. I don’t think that’s too much to ask," he said, adding the fund and bank should surpass their "unambitious targets." During a panel discussion at the worldwatch institute, a World Bank official responded that canceling all the debt held by impoverished nations would only force the IMF and the bank to shut down. "If you cancel all debt vis-a-vis poor countries you will be closing all the multilateral agencies," said Axel Van Trotsenburg, the Director of the bank’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Implementation Unit (HIPCS). "We don’t believe that that is the way forward," he said, adding that more development assistance is badly needed from donor nations such as the United States and Japan in order to ease the situation. Van Trotsenburg echoed similar statements made earlier this week by the IMF. The HPIC initiative plans to cut 205 billion debt held by 41 of the world’s most impoverished nations by 45 percent over the next five years. The countries are asked in return to spend on social programs such as education and health and structural reforms designed to boost the economy. Support from capital hill Calls for debt cancellation also came from capital hill, where congresswoman maxine waters of California and Congressman Spencer Bachus of Alabama introduced a bill yesterday that would commit the United States to support 100 percent debt cancellation for poor countries by the fund and the bank. "Millions of children are in school today, millions of children have been vaccinated who are alive today because of debt relief," Bachus said. "But that is all in jeopardy. We are asking (the fund and the bank) to get behind our efforts and be a positive support for fighting poverty, not a stumbling block." On Wednesday Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas also threw her weight behind the cause of debt elimination by stating her support of the debt cancellation for HIV/AIDS act of 2001. By pushing for debt cancellation, the bill would free debt monies that African nations could instead invest in fighting the virus, which killed 2.4 million africans last year and has 25 million people infected. Hundreds of other supporters of debt cancellation are expected to demonstrate in the streets of washington on sunday, according to Neil Watkins of the World Bank bonds boycott campaign. (REUTERS) |
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Cong demands white paper on threats to industry NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Congress today demanded a white paper on the threats to and safeguards for the indigenous industry following the removal of quantitative restrictions under the World Trade Organisation agreement. Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Madhav Rao Scindia desired during the question hour that the Government should come out with a list of safeguards taken before lifting QR on 715 items. He said it seems that the Government was not taking adequate measures to safeguard the interest of its industry. In primary agricultural commodities, import duty raised in the post-QR regime was inadequate in comparison to prevailing tariff in may other countries of the world, he said. Mr Scindia said mere a monitoring committee would not be able to protect the indigenous industry from the onslaught of foreign goods. He demanded proper action on the issue in view of representations from farmers,industry associations and State Governments. As the question hour came to close, the Speaker directed Commerce Minister Omar Abdullah to send written reply to Mr Scindia. (UNI) |
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HC rejects Hindujas’ plea to leave India NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Delhi High Court today rejected the petitions of three Hinduja brothers seeking permission to leave India after they had appeared before a special court here in the Rs 64 crore Bofors payoff case. Rejecting the appeals of London-based S P Hinduja and G P Hinduja and Geneva-based P P Hinduja against the trial court order denying them permission to leave the country, Justice S K Agrawal said after considering the contentions of the petitioners that "I am not inclined to allow" the petitions. Justice Aggarwal said the trial court had imposed this condition on the petitioners while granting them bail. Taking into consideration the nature and gravity of the offence, the conduct of the Hinduja brothers and the fact that they had no movable or immovable assets in India, the apprehension of the prosecution that they might not be available for trial before the court if they feel that proceedings were not in their favour could not be said to be unfounded. The petitioners conduct with the CBI was not satisfactory the court said while directing the prosecuting agency to move application before the trial court for separate trial of the Hinduja brothers along with some other accused. The court also said the money lying with the Hinduja brothers which was the matter of dispute "is the case property". In case the respondent (CBI) failed to complete their evidence within six months from the date first fixed by the trial court for the same, the Hinduja brothers could move applications before the trial court for permission to go out of the country, the High Court said. In that eventuality, the trial court would consider such applications of the petitioners (Hinduja brothers) inter alia on the condition requiring them to deposit an amount of US dollars 1,18,40,370 along with interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum from January one, 1990 till the date of payment in a nationalised bank in fixed deposit in Delhi, the court said. However, the amount so deposited could be released as per the order of the trial court on conclusion of the trial on such other terms as might be deemed fit by the trial court, Justice Aggrawal said. The court said under the facts and circumstances of the case, CBI is directed to move the trial court or split the trail of Hinduja brothers and other accused persons who have already appeared before it. During arguments on Hindujas’ petition CBI had given an undertaking to the High Court that it was ready to separate their trail from that of Kuala Lumpur-based Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi and former bofors chief Martin Ardbo whose extradition might take some time. (PTI) |
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‘India "important source of stability" for global economy’ WASHINGTON, Apr 26: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has termed India and China as "an important source of stability" for the global economy marred by slowdown in the United States and Japan. Although the US economy which had slowed down may be headed for "a deeper and more prolonged downturn" and Japan’s growth is projected to fall to 0.6 per cent, "activity in China and India is expected to remain relatively well sustained, providing an important source of stability," it said. About the Indian budget, the IMF said it "included welcome signs that the commitment to structural reform has been reinvigorated, and proposed fiscal responsibility legislation also signals an encouraging willingness to take the steps necessary to achieve medium term fiscal consolidation." GDP in India slowed to 6.4 percent in 2000 against 6.6 the previous year, it said, owing to a second consecutive year of below average monsoons and a weakening of industrial output. Overall activity is expected to slow further to about 5.6 percent in 2001, as a rebound in agricultural production is offset by continued sluggishness in manufacturing and the effect of the devastating earthquake in gujarat, it said. Inflation too increased sharply in 2000 and early 2001 but "this appears to have mainly reflected the effects of adjustments in administered fuel prices, and price pressures have recently begun to ease." The central challenge to India’s policymakers, says the IMF, "remains to sustain-and improve upon-the economy’s strong growth during the 1990s to support meaningful poverty reduction. This will require major structural reforms that improve the environment for private investment and a substantial reduction in the overall public sector deficit which-at 10-11 percent of GDP-consumed one-half of overall gross domestic saving in 2000 /01." Despite India’s heavy reliance on imported oil, says the IMF, the impact of higher world prices on the current account deficit has been largely offset by buoyant exports and sluggish non-oil imports. The weakness of the rupee and the downward pressure on international reserves that emerged in 2000 have eased, aided by higher remittances from expatriate Indians, and the Reserve Bank of India was able to lower its bank rate in February and March 2001. The Government’s 2001/02 budget, says IMF, suggests that the fiscal deficit may remain high, especially once privatization receipts are excluded from the calculations and taking into account the possibility that activity may be slower than expected. China’s growth meanwhile, is expected to slow down from 8 percent in 2000 to 7 percent in 2001 and pick up to 7.1 percent in 2002, and India’s from 6.4 percent in 2000 to 5.6 percent in 2001 but pick up to 6.1 in 2002. The US plunge is drastic-from 5 percent in 2000 to 1.5 in 2001, picking up to 2.4 in 2002, according to current projections, it added. (PTI) |
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NASA scientists all set to unravel Indian Ocean mystery VISAKHAPATNAM, Apr 26: Top astro-biologists of the National Aero Space Administration (NASA), USA, are now on a mission to explore the undersea eco-system of the Indian Ocean, in a bid to unravel the mystery of hydro-thermal vents, considered one of the "unofficial wonders of the natural world". The scientists on board the research vessel "Knorr", would spend several weeks to study one of the new deep-sea hydrothermal vents, discovered by a Japanese team, along a ridge in the ocean, where they spent four days in August last year. Located towards the south of the southern tip of India and east of the African island-nation of Madagascar, the enigmatic hydro-thermal vent was expected to spring up some surprising facts for the NASA team, such as the evolution of species that did not need sunlight to flourish. NASA sources said the vents occur at oceanic (spreading centres) mountainous ridges, where magma from deep within earth’s crust forced its way up to the ocean floor, creating a new ocean crust pushing the old crust out of the way. They work as engines that drive apart earth’s tectonic plates, moving continents about and causing volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, the sources added. Another significant fact was that active vents were inhabited by a complex ecosystem of organisms comprising microbial and more complex animal life including tube worms, shrimps and clams. Scientists believe that the Indian Ocean vents may provide a "missing link" between the Atlantic and the pacific vent ecosystems. The study undertaken by the scientists, includes an analysis of the vent animals and bacteria, using DNA-based tools. The recently-developed tools are used to determine the similarities and the slight mutational changes between the genes in organisms found at different vent sites, which would throw light on how the life cycle of an organism interacts with the changing topography of the sea floor, to affect both the geographic dispersal and evolution of the organisms. While much remains unexplored in the Indian Ocean and the Southern Atlantic, considerable researches had been done in the atlantic and the pacific, ever since the discovery of such vents, two decades ago. The Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography had deployed a vessel ‘Sagarkanya’ to undertake a geo physical and bio-organism study at a vent, near the Andaman islands. (UNI) |
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Systemic changes needed to check SEBs losses: Prabhu NEW DELHI, Apr 26: A number of systemic changes are needed to be introduced and institutionalised to check mounting losses of State Electricity Boards (SEBs), Power Minister Suresh Prabhu said in Lok Sabha today. The minister, responding to a supplementary by Madhavrao Scindia (Cong) during question hour, said the Centre had constituted an expert group to recommend measures for one time settlement of outstanding dues of SEBs towards Central Public Sector Undertakings. The expert group, he said, would also suggest strategy for capital restructuring of SEBs including provision of structural adjustment loans to enable them to tide over the financial crisis to make them operationally viable and improve their credit ratings. He said SEBs should ensure that they do not incur losses after implementation of one time settlement offered by the centre. This, the minister said, would call for introduction of systemic changes to reforms SEBs. Replying to a question that scrapping of agreement with Enron would cost the Central Government Rs 2,840 crore, the minister said the center’s liability in the Dabhol power project agreement was limited. (PTI) |
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