IMF asks
India to speed up reforms to
attain 6-6.5 pc growth
WASHINGTON,
Mar 30:
The International Monetary Fund has asked
India to speed up reforms, including removal of
trade barriers, liberalisation of FDI regime and
easing of labour laws, to attain over 6-6.5 per
cent GDP growth.
"The
acceleration of structural reforms is key to
raising growth and employment. Medium term
outlook hinges crucially on the ability of
Government to implement the agenda of
maroeconomic policy and reforms," the IMF
said in a 61-page country report released
yesterday.
The resilience of
the Indian economy in the face of high world oil
prices and a weak monsoon is testimony to
benefits of the reforms undertaken since the
early 1990s. "India recorded growth above 8
per cent last year, one of the fastest in the
world, and growth remains robust this year,"
it said.
In the base-line
scenario, the IMF said "growth of 6-6.5 per
cent would be achieved — somewhat above last
decade’s average, as economic reforms
continue and the nascent recovery in investment
takes hold."
Asserting that
trade could be "powerful engine of
growth" for Asia’s fourth largest
economy, the IMF said "India’s trade
regime remains restrictive... Trade
liberalisation should also be accelerated by
lowering tariffs, introducing a more uniform duty
structure and eliminating administrative
barriers."
While the
potential to make India a better place to do
business was enormous, "what is holding it
up is lack of infrastructure, regulatory burden,
lack of labour market flexibility, need to
improve bankruptcy and loan recovery frameworks,
tax reform and eliminating protections and
investment ceilings on small industry," the
IMF said.
The IMF expressed
doubts over India’s attempts to reduce
fiscal deficit of both the Centre and States in
absence of fiscal adjustment carried by the
states.
The debt-GDP ratio
could remain high at about 82 per cent by 2009-10
and the combined deficit of the Centre and States
would remain high at 7 per cent of GDP, it said.
Looking beyond
2004-04, the IMF said "there was agreement
that the bulk of the fiscal adjustment should be
achieved through a front-loaded tax reform. The
Kelkar Report provides a roadmap."
The IMF also said
that agriculture reforms was crucial for
India’s economic growth and poverty
reduction.
On the external
sector, the IMF said "the continued strength
in the balance of payments is a good opportunity
to liberalise further external
transactions."
It said
considerable progress has been made in
strengthening financial sector performance but
challenges remain. "Much remains to be done
to build a strong, well-supervised and globally
competitive financial system in India."
Cooperative banks
have come under increased pressure, raising
concerns about their governance and oversight, it
said. Also, the authorities’ strategies for
the future of dfis needs to be clarified.
To avoid the
build-up of contingent claims on Government
resources, the IMF said the new institutions
should be allowed to base their investment
decisions on commercial principles.
"More
generally, further liberalisation and opening up
to private and foreign investors would be
desirable, together with commensurate
strengthening of risk-based supervision," it
said referring to hike in FDI in private banks.
(PTI)
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Pak Govt
revives contact with PPP
ISLAMABAD,
Mar 30:
The Pakistan Government has revived its
contacts with former Prime Minister Benazir
Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
after a short impasse, a newspaper today said.
The news quoted
senior party vice-chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim as
saying that the Government had contacted the
party and "we have reiterated our demand for
fresh elections this year under an independent
election commission."
He, however, said
all decisions with regard to dialogue with the
Government would be taken from the platform of
the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD).
"The PPP does
not believe in secret deals but doors of dialogue
always remain open in politics," he added.
Mr Fahim strongly
criticised President Pervez Musharraf for
addressing public rallies in uniform, adding that
the General was campaigning for the PML-Q in
uniform, which was a violation of the
Constitution. "When a General is campaigning
for the ruling party, how could he organise
elections in a free, fair and transparent
manner," he added.
He said the PPP
demanded that fresh elections be held under an
independent election commission in which all
political parties should repose confidence.
On the
party’s decision to support the strike call
of the six party Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Alliance
(MMA), he said the party would "never
support the religious alliance".
"The PPP has
serious reservations over MMA’s support to
the Government in the passage of the 17th
constitutional amendment," which granted
sweeping powers to the President including those
of dissolving the national Assembly and
dismissing elected Government, he said.
On the prospects
of launching a joint struggle under the banner of
grand opposition alliance, the newspaper quoted
Mr Fahim as saying that the MMA had still not
removed their reservations on many issues.
"However, both the alliances have set up a
committee to explore the possibility of future
cooperation."(UNI)
Indian
prisoners in Mauritius resort to hunger strike
PORT
LOUIS, Mar 30: Indian prisoners in
Mauritius who want to be transferred home began a
hunger strike today, to draw attention to their
case as the Indian Prime Minister was to arrive
on the island nation.
Twenty-two
inmates, serving sentences ranging from 12 to 30
years for drug or smuggling offenses, said Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s first visit to
Mauritius since taking office in May was a prime
opportunity.
"The sole
reason is to call the visiting Prime
Minister’s attention to our plight and the
need to be transferred to an Indian prison to
continue our sentences there, where we would be
closer to our families," the prisoners said
in a statement through their lawyer.
Singh was due to
arrive at the Indian ocean island today for a
four-day visit to bolster economic and political
ties, with the two countries expected to sign a
free-trade agreement and other pacts.
About 68 percent
of Mauritius’ population is of Indian
origin.
The long-standing
demands of the Indians to be sent home have been
ignored, lawyers for the inmates say.
"While other
foreign prisoners have been transferred back
home, Indian prisoners remain languishing in the
jails of Mauritius, despite the close ties
between India and Mauritius," Elias
Oozeerally, a lawyer representing the inmates,
told reporters.
Both India and
Mauritius have passed laws allowing for
international prisoner transfers.
The Indian High
Commissioner to Mauritius, Pripuran Singh Haer,
said both countries were close to resolving the
matter, pending Cabinet approval in India.
"We are very
sensitive to the situation of the Indian
prisoners and India and Mauritius have actually
agreed on the text of an agreement on the
transfer of prisoners," Haer said.
Oozeerally said
each prisoner costs Mauritius 150,000 rupees
(5188.50 dollars) a year, and sending them home
would ease overcrowding and Mauritius’
prison budget.
There are
currently 32 Indians imprisoned in
Mauritius.(AGENCIES)
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Jesse
Jackson prays with family,
supporters
of Terri Schiavo
PINELLAS PARK (FLORIDA),
Mar 30: As Terri Schiavo
entered her 12th full day without food or
water, a prominent civil rights leader
prayed with her parents and joined
conservatives in calling for state
lawmakers to order her feeding tube
reinserted.
The Rev
Jesse Jackson, a former democratic
Presidential candidate, was invited by
Schiavo’s parents to meet with
activists yesterday outside
Schiavo’s Hospice. His arrival was
greeted by some applause and cries of
"this is about civil rights!"
"I
feel so passionate about this injustice
being done, how unnecessary it is to deny
her a feeding tube, water, not even ice
to be used for her parched lips," he
said. "This is a moral issue and it
transcends politics and family
disputes."
Jackson’s
visit provided an emotional boost to
Schiavo’s parents and siblings, who
have maintained that Schiavo would want
to be kept alive. Her husband, Michael
Schiavo, insists he is carrying out her
wishes by having the feeding tube pulled.
Mary
Schindler, Terri Schiavo’s mother,
later made a terse but emotional appeal
to Michael Schiavo: "Michael and
Jodi, you have your own children. Please,
please give my child back to me."
Michael Schiavo and Fiancee Jodi Centonze
have two children, born long after Terri
Schiavo fell into paralysis.
Although
supporters of the Schindlers have claimed
the dehydrated woman is being denied
comfort measures such as ice chips for
her dry mouth or balm for chapped lips,
George Felos, the husband’s
attorney, defended how Schiavo is being
cared for. (AP)
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Johnnie
Cochran Jr Dies
LOS ANGELES, Mar 30: Johnnie L
Cochran Jr, who became a legal superstar
after helping clear O J Simpson during a
sensational murder trial in which he
uttered the famous quote "if it
doesn’t fit, you must acquit,"
died. He was 67.
Cochran
died yesterday of an inoperable brain
tumor at his home in Los Angeles, his
family said. Cochran, who was diagnosed
with the tumor in December 2003, was
surrounded by his wife, Dale, and two
sisters when he died.
"Certainly,
Johnnie’s career will be noted as
one marked by `celebrity’ cases and
Clientele," his family said in a
statement. "But he and his family
were most proud of the work he did on
behalf of those in the community."
With his
colorful suits and ties, his gift for
courtroom Oratory and a knack for coining
memorable phrases, Cochran was a vivid
addition to the Pantheon of
America’s best-known lawyers.
The
"if it doesn’t fit" phrase
would be quoted and parodied for years
afterward. It derived from a dramatic
moment during which Simpson tried on a
pair of bloodstained "murder
gloves’’ to show jurors they
did not fit. Some legal expertscalled it
the turning point in the trial.
Soon
after, Jurors found the hall of fame
footall star turned actor not guilty of
the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole
Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald
Goldman.
"Johnnie
is what’s good about the law,"
Simpson said in a telephone interview
from Florida. "I don’t think
I’d be home today without
Johnnie."(AP)
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Bush
briefed on WMD intelligence report
WASHINGTON, Mar 30: President
George W Bush was briefed on a
Presidential Commission’s report on
US intelligence failures and will
carefully consider its recommendations,
the White House said.
People who
have seen the report say it will warn
that major obstacles remain to
intelligence sharing among spy agencies,
despite calls for change after the Sept
11, 2001 attacks. The report calls for
major changes in sharing information
among intelligence agencies.
An
unclassified version of the report is to
be released tomorrow and the Commission
chairs — Lawrence Silberman, an
appeals court judge, and Charles Robb, a
former senator and VIrginia Governor
—are to hand Bush an official copy
then.
Bush was
given a preliminary briefing yesterday on
the report by White House and National
Security Council Staff, officials said.
"We
will carefully consider the
recommendations and act quickly on the
recommendations as well. They build upon
the steps we’ve already taken to
improve our intelligence sharing and
gathering," said White House
Spokesman Scott Mcclellan.
Bush will
meet the full nine-member Commission and
talk with members from relevant cabinet
departments who would be affected by some
of the report’s recommendations.
The
Commission was set up to investigate
flaws in the intelligence cited in
launching the Iraq war. No Weapons of
Mass Destruction were ever found after
Bush built a case for war on claims that
Saddam Hussein possessed chemical and
biological weapons and was pursuing a
nuclear bomb.
Commissioners
also looked at weapons proliferation
globally. They are expected to cite
shortcomings in US intelligence on weapon
programs in Iran and North Korea.
(AGENCIES)
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First
cubs of endangered Iberian Lynx born in zoo
MADRID,
Mar 30:
Three Iberian Lynx have been born in Spain,
the first cubs of the world’s most
endangered feline to be born in captivity, the
Environment Ministry said.
There are only 100
Iberian Lynx left in the wild, according to
Portuguese activists Sos Lynx, and Spain launched
an emergency breeding programme to prevent them
becoming extinct.
The mother of the
cubs — which the Environment Ministry said
yesterday were born on Monday and are in
"excellent state" — was captured
in 2002 for the programme at the Donana National
Park in southern Spain.
Half the size of
its Eurasian cousin, the Nocturnal Iberian Lynx
feeds almost exclusively on rabbits and the
decimation of the rabbit population by the
Myxomatosis disease left many to starve.
Only two
reproducing communities remain of the Lynx, which
can live to 15 years and grow to about 13 kg.
There are now 13
Iberian Lynx in captivity. (AGENCIES)
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Half of
US kids face parent substance abuse :Study
WASHINGTON,
Mar 30:
Half of all US children live in a house where
a parent or other adult uses tobacco, drinks
heavily or uses illegal drugs, according to a
report released.
These adults are
three times more likely to abuse their children
and four times more likely to neglect them than
parents who do not abuse alcohol or drugs or use
tobacco, said the report from Columbia
University’s National Center on addiction
and substance abuse.
"Children of
alcohol and drug abusers are at increased risk of
accidents, injuries and academic failure. Such
children are more likely to suffer conduct
disorders, depression or anxiety, conditions that
increase the risk children will smoke, drink and
use drugs," the center said in a statement
yesterday.
The report is an
analysis of the center’s own research as
well as dozens of reports from groups ranging
from alcoholics anonymous, US Government surveys
on families and health behavior and the
children’s defense fund, a nonprofit social
welfare organization.
It found that 35.6
million US children, about half of all children
in the country, live in a home where a parent or
other adult uses tobacco, drinks heavily or uses
illicit drugs.
More than 37
percent of US children live with an adult who
uses tobacco, nearly 24 percent live with a binge
or heavy drinker and 12.7 percent live in a
household where a parent or other adult uses
illicit drugs, the report found.
Several studies
show that children exposed to household cigarette
smoke have a higher risk of sudden infant death
syndrome, asthma and ear infections. They are
more likely to have their tonsils or adenoids
surgically removed and recent studies show they
have a bigger risk of cancer and heart disease.
"If substance
abusing parents are not concerned about what
drugs, alcohol and tobacco are doing to
themselves, they should be concerned about the
ill effects they have on their children,"
center chairman Joseph Califano said.
"Children of
substance abusing parents are much likelier to
become substance abusers themselves," he
added.
"A child who
gets through age 21 without smoking, using
illegal drugs or abusing alcohol is virtually
certain never to do so." (AGENCIES)
Brazil
police name killer of women tourists
SAO
PAULO, BRAZIL, Mar 30: Police believe an escaped
prison inmate may be responsible for the slayings
of at least two foreign women in northeastern
Brazil, the State Public Security Secretariat
said.
"Police have
matched evidence, testimony and a description of
the suspect to the name Jose Vicente Matias, 38,
who escaped from prison in Goias," said Jose
Raymundo De Souza yesterday, the head of
communications at the public security secretariat
in the state of Maranhao.
Matias had been in
custody awaiting trial in cases of rape and
battery.
Spanish tourist
Nuria Fernandez Collada, 27, who was seen with a
man resembling Matias, was found buried on an
island off the coast of Maranhao last week. The
Coroner’s report said she died of a blow to
the head but had several broken bones.
German tourist
Marianne Kern, 49, was found on March 16
half-buried on Atins beach, also in Maranhao.
Police in Goias,
who are collaborating in the case, said a third
woman tourist, from Israel, has been missing
since February when she left there for Maranhao
in the company of a man fitting Matias’
description.
Brazilian tourist
Valeria Augusto Veloso, who was considered
missing and thought to be another victim, turned
up alive recently in Goiania, the capital of
Goias.
"She
confirmed that she was involved romantically with
Matias but escaped after he became extremely
violent with her," Souza said.
Matias, an
artisan, had been seen selling his wares around
coastal hotels on the state’s world class
beaches, which attract tens of thousands of
Brazilian and European tourists every year.
Souza said police
in Santarem and Belem in the Amazonian state of
Para have been alerted to be on the lookout for
Matias as he was believed to have headed in that
direction after leaving Maranhao. (AGENCIES)
Group of
43 elderly found safe in Japan mountains
TOKYO,
Mar 30:
A group of 43 elderly people who had been
missing in mountains in northern Japan have been
located and are safe, Kyodo news agency reported
today.
The group, members
of a mountaineering club for pensioners, had gone
climbing yesterday from a hot-spring resort in
Akita prefecture but had not returned by
nightfall after a snow storm and there had been
fears they had been involved in an accident.
Police received a
phone call from the group around daybreak today
to say they were safe and unhurt.
The region, known
for its ski resorts and hot springs, was hit by a
storm after the climbers left the resort in the
town of Tazawako, about 450 km northwest of
Tokyo. (AGENCIES)
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