Rodrigo Duterte invite Jose Maria Sison for peace talks
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte says he has invited a self-exiled Communist rebel leader home for “make-or-break” peace talks. Duterte had promised to revive a stuttering peace process to end nearly five decades of conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people. However, the effort has been fraught with problems and he abandoned talks in November, complaining of duplicity and repeated rebel attacks. On Thursday, Duterte said he had invited Jose Maria Sison, founder and leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines, to return after three decades in exile to restart the negotiations, Reuters reports. “He has agreed,” Duterte said, promising to let Sison return to exile in the Netherlands, regardless of the outcome. Sison was once Duterte’s university lecturer and the two are known for hurling insults at each other.
Congress-JD-S alliance wins Karnataka trust vote
Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy wins floor test after 117 MLAs voted in his favour after voice vote.The BJP MLAs are not in the house.
BS Yeddyurappa warns CM Kumaraswamy that the BJP would stage a state-wide bandh on May 28 if farmers’ loan waivers do not take place immediately, the BJP MLAs walk out of the assembly, before the floor test happen.
Indonesia for tougher anti-terror law
Indonesia has passed a new law that will give police more power to take pre-emptive action against terror suspects.
The law was approved by the country’s parliament today, days after suicide bombings claimed by Islamic State killed more than 30 people in the city of Surabaya.
Under the revised law, anyone suspected of planning an attack can be held for up to 21 days for an initial examination, instead of a week, and for up to 200 days for a formal investigation.
Those convicted of smuggling explosives or other chemicals and weapons into or out of the country for terrorism will face a maximum penalty of death.
Apex Courts Micro-Managing Without Expertise, Blundering
May25, 2018 (C) Ravinder Singh progressindia2015@gmail.com
Uncertainty of Projects due to Judicial Interventions, Corruption and Scams are primary reasons for poverty, poor development and polluted environment. Even after 13 years Supreme Court is FUMBLING – Clearly Haryana Government wanted to acquire Large Farm Land at Prime Location On Behalf Of Builders for Commercial Purpose.
‘Residential-Cum Commercial Project could be Worth Rs.50 Cr/Acre But State Government Wanted to Buy Farmland for Just Rs.0.12 Cr/Acre Only’.
I am familiar with the Haryana Government Loot Program in 2005when State wanted to acquire Farm Land on behalf of Builders Like ’10,000 Acres for Reliance*’ and actually sold to Reliance prime land stretching across districts for as low as Rs.2 Lakh/acre when cost of Developed Land in DLF-I was about Rs.2 lakh/Sq.Mt. [Acre = 4000 Sq.Mt.]
*RIL was acquiring 25,000 Acres of Land at just three places, two in Maharashtra & one Haryana for Industrial Townships – even Rs.50 Cr Per Acre was Rs.12,50,000 Cr Projects to be Funded By India – MORE THAN ALL THE CREDIT ADVANCED BY ALL SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL BANKS IN 2005 WHICH WERE Rs,11,52,400 Cr.
Shareholder’s Equity of RIL including Anil Ambani was Rs.1,393 Cr and Dividend Distributed was Rs.1,045 Cr – Just one project was much more than 1000 Times the Equity – 2500 Times Mukesh Ambani Groups promoters holding.
Since 1997-98 India had stable Governments – though RIL Revenue has gone up 45 Times but Dividend growth is barely 3 Times to around Rs.3200 Cr. Why do our Banks fund Company operating at low EARNINGS for Shareholders – 1% or less of turnover?
Apex Court is Familiar with SCAM OF BIG BUILDERS who have taken advances of Rs. Thousands of Crores and Diverted Money to other Projects or Simply Personal Accounts.
Farm Land Acquired for Rs.Lakhs Per Acre, Housing Project Retail Cost is Rs.40 Crores to Rs.150 Crores for Economy Flats to Super Luxury Flats.
In 1974, I worked in Bharat Steel Tube – it was built on 50 Acres of Land, Zenith Steel Tube was built on about 20 Acres but similar Jain Steel Tube Plant in Ghaziabad Industrial was built on just 2 Acres. PSU Steel plants acquired 10 times more Farmland or Forest Land than required.
Obviously SC was expected to Direct States & Banks to FUND MANAGEABLE & REALISTIC PROJECTS – Maximum 5 Acres At A Time than 229 Acres that requires Rs.10,000 Cr Investment in Hissar, a small town.
Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS
Y-77, Hauz Khas, ND -110016, India. Ph: 091- 8826415770, 9871056471, 9650421857
Ravinder Singh* is a WIPO awarded inventor specializing in Power, Transportation,
Smart Cities, Water, Energy Saving, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Technologies and Projects
Hungary tough on “Stop Soros”
Hungary’s government will submit a tougher version of the “Stop Soros” bill to parliament next week, adding criminal penalties for groups accused of financing illegal immigration, according to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff. “The bill has been tightened… to state that the organization and financing of illegal migration should be punished,” Gergely Gulyas said on Thursday after a government meeting. The legislation will empower the interior minister to ban non-government organizations that support migration and are seen as a national security risk, Reuters said.
France invites for to be hub of tech
French President Emmanuel Macron has called on tech leaders to invest in France, saying his innovation policies aim to make the country the gateway to Europe. Speaking in Paris on Thursday, partly in English, in front of leaders of the tech industry, Macron said: “It’s because France is changing like crazy that we can say that France is back and you could choose France,” AP reports. He said his labor changes have boosted investment in the country over the past year. However, the changes, aimed at giving employers more flexibility to hire and fire, have prompted a series of strikes and street protests against what unions see as weakening workers’ rights.
Trump cancel Kim meets,NK willing to talk
Trump on Thursday cancelled his proposed summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore and blamed Pyongyang’s “tremendous anger” and “open hostility” for his decision.
Trump’s announcement came hours after North Korea carried out what it said is the demolition of its nuclear test site on Thursday.
“I was very much looking forward to being there with you. Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,” Trump wrote in a letter to Kim which was released to the press.
North Korea has said that it is still willing to talk to the United States after President Donald Trump cancelled a summit between the two countries.
North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said that the abrupt announcement of the cancellation of the meeting is unexpected and North Korea finds it extremely regrettable.
He said, North Korea is willing to sit face-to-face any time in any form to resolve the problem.
Earlier, the US President had cancelled his proposed summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on 12th June in Singapore.
Mr Trump blamed Pyongyang’s tremendous anger and open hostility for his decision.
The announcement came hours after North Korea carried out what it said is the demolition of its nuclear test site Thursday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today said he was deeply concerned as US President Donald Trump cancelled a widely anticipated nuclear summit next month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
UN Secretary-General said this after he presented a new UN disarmament agenda in Geneva today. Mr. Guterres said that he urged the parties to continue their dialogue to find a path to a peaceful and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
His comments came shortly after US president informed Kim Jong Un that he was cancelling the nuclear summit scheduled on June 12 in Singapore. The decision came as North Korea said it had completely dismantled its nuclear test site.
Mississauga restaurant blast kill 15
Two unidentified men walked into a restaurant on Thursday in the Canadian city of Mississauga and set off a bomb, wounding more than a dozen people, and then fleeing, authorities said.
- 2 suspects attended the scene, detonated an Improvised Explosive Device within the restaurant. Several injured were taken to local hospital and 3 in critical condition were taken to a Toronto Trauma Centre.
The blast went off in the Bombay Bhel restaurant at about 10:30 pm.
Fifteen people were taken to hospital, three of them with critical injuries, the Peel Regional Paramedic Service said in a tweet.
The two male suspects went into the restaurant and detonated their improvised explosive device, Peel Regional Police said in a tweet. The men then fled.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.Police posted a photograph on Twitter showing two people with dark zip-up hoodies walking into an establishment with one of them appearing to be carrying an object.
The attack in Mississauga, Canada’s sixth largest city, comes a month after a driver plowed his white Ryder rental van into a lunch-hour crowd in Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 15. Mississauga is in Lake Ontario about 20 miles west of Toronto.
media agencies
China debt crackdown spree
China is cutting off funds to financial companies and banks tied to regional governments in a crackdown on risky debt, rattling markets as institutions scramble for cash.
On May 11, China Zheshang Bank turned to the country’s interbank market for money to issue 3 billion yuan ($470 million) in certificates of deposit. It came back with just 700 million yuan and change.
Financial regulators “are cutting off financing options to banks that do not listen to what they say,” an executive at a major commercial bank said. China’s massive state-owned banks, with their sterling ratings and massive deposits, are largely responsible for keeping the interbank market flush, giving the state significant leverage over errant financial institutions.
China is targeting institutions tightly linked to regional governments, and the banks that work with them, in a widening campaign against excess leverage in financial markets. China Zheshang is strongly identified with Zhejiang Province, while Tianjin Real Estate is backed by the government of the city of Tianjin.
Chinese regional governments that have hit limits on debt issuance have traditionally founded quasi-private companies to handle infrastructure and public works, borrowing as needed. These local government financing vehicles, as they are known, have raised roughly 10 trillion yuan, often through risky high-yield savings products sold to unsuspecting retail customers. Banks have also helped governments procure off-the-books financing. Regulators are working now to bring these shadowy products to light and to dispose of the riskiest among them.
But as necessary as this campaign is to China’s financial stability, a blow to the broader economy is inevitable. From the beginning of 2018 through last week, financial institutions and companies sold just under 460 billion yuan in securitized products, a drop of 10% from a year earlier. Financial affiliates of e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding have cut issuance 20%. This means less funding is available to smaller businesses and individuals.
The Shanghai Composite Index has remained below its 2017 close over the past few months, suggesting investors are aware of the challenges deleveraging will bring. Not even the prospect of China’s inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, beginning in June, has sparked much buying.
Chinese blue chips such as Alibaba and Baidu are weighing stock market listings in mainland China, which could draw tens of billions of yuan each. But some are concerned that these debuts would throw the market out of balance, and at the same time expose the companies to greater control by China’s government and Communist Party.
Beijing has moved to soften deleveraging’s impact on smaller banks by cutting capital reserve requirements. But this fix, like the crackdown itself, is subject to wide regulatory discretion, keeping markets guessing as to what the next development will be.
Venezuela’s Maduro sworn in President
Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro was sworn in Thursday for a second term as president of the crisis-wracked Latin American country, just days after winning an election boycotted by the opposition and decried abroad.
Maduro swore “to respect and enforce the Constitution and lead all revolutionary changes” in a ceremony before the Constituent Assembly, which he set up himself last year and stacked with his supporters.
In power since 2013, the socialist leader said those changes should lead Venezuela to “the peace, prosperity and happiness of our people.”
Maduro later plans to attend an event at the defense ministry in Caracas to receive a “reaffirmation of loyalty” from the armed forces’ high command.
The 55-year-old former bus driver was re-elected Sunday in a vote boycotted by the main opposition and widely condemned by the international community, including the United States, which denounced it as a “sham.”
His election for a second six-year term maintains him in the presidency until 2025.
Venezuela’s constitution states that the president must be sworn in before parliament, where the opposition holds the majority and which has in practice been replaced by the Constituent Assembly.
The parliament was declared in contempt by the Supreme Court two years ago, and consequently its decisions are now considered null and void.
Under the constitution, the inauguration of Maduro’s new term was to be held next January. Prior to the swearing-in, the Assembly approved by a show of hands a decree clarifying the new mandate would begin on January 10 even if Maduro was to be sworn in immediately.
H.M. Queen Máxima – UNSGSA visiting India
25 May 2018
to Explore Financial Inclusion Advances and Innovations during India Visit, 28-30 May
H.M. Queen Máxima, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA) will visit India 28–30 May 2018 to explore the country’s progress on financial inclusion and the innovations that are driving those advances.
India has been pursuing an active policy to expand access and use of formal financial services, and the most recent figures from the Global Findex database show that 80 per cent of adults now have an account, up from 53 per cent just three years ago. The gender gap has narrowed from 20 to 6 percentage points.
The Special Advocate’s visit, which follows up an earlier visit in 2014, will highlight the example that India’s progress can offer other countries. Its success largely hinges on a combination of ambitious and supportive policies and an interconnected digital public infrastructure known as the India Stack. This includes elements such as a national biometric ID, which makes it much easier for people to open accounts, virtual payments addressing, and digital payments interoperability.
In addition, in 2014 the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan mantri Jan-Dhan Yojan programme, which aims to provide a basic bank account for every household in India. Leveraging the Stack, those accounts are now used to deliver government social benefits directly to the poor.
While in Delhi, Queen Máxima will meet with representatives of NITI Aayog, a government policy think-tank; the Indian Software Products Industry Round Table (iSPIRT), a think-tank behind India Stack’s development; and representatives of the UN, other international development organizations, and financial institutions. She is also expected to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal.
In addition she will visit a cluster of small businesses in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, that collaborate to manufacture different kinds of sports equipment. An initiative called Aye Finance serves micro-entrepreneurs by developing a deep understanding of specific clusters and then using data-driven underwriting to provide credit to customers in those clusters.
In Mumbai, the Special Advocate will meet with the leaders of Indian companies involved with the CEO Partnership for Financial Inclusion. This group, consisting of ten heads of international companies, met for the first time at the World Economic Forum in Davos at the invitation of Queen Máxima in January. She will also convene a roundtable with heads of private financial services providers in India about the development of customer-centric financial products with the aim of expanding usage, which remains relatively low in India.
She will also visit a group of dabbawalas, lunch deliverymen who travel throughout Mumbai to deliver home-cooked meals. Traditionally they are paid in cash, which presents risks and takes time to handle. The Mumbai Dabbawala Associationworked with the mobile-only bank PayTM to offer the dabbawalas a digital bank account so that customers can pay using a QR code instead of cash.
China lends Pakistan $1.6bn
China has given Pakistan a credit line worth $1.6 billion to stave off a balance of payments crisis, two Pakistani central bank sources said on Thursday, with cash earmarked for boosting fast-depleting foreign currency reserves.
Two State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) sources told Reuters the credit facility that accompanies a currency swap agreement between SBP and China’s central bank has been hiked to 20 billion yuan ($3.13 billion) from 10 billion yuan.
“This arrangement has been finalised,” said one SBP source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A second source confirmed the agreement and the figures.
Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Nasser Khan Janjua on Wednesday met with Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) central committee, wherein the two figures agreed to deepen all-round cooperation between the two countries.
Janjua said that Pakistan has always stood by China and is willing to work with the friendly nation to take advantage of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, in order to further cooperation in various fields and promote Pakistan-China relations.
Yang Jiechi, who is also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC central committee, said that since President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan in 2015, the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership has made great progress, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
He further said, “In the new situation, China and Pakistan should maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges, strengthen strategic communication and coordination, deepen all-round cooperation, and advance the construction of the CPEC.”
On Wednesday, Janjua also attended a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation NSAs, which discussed security cooperation between SCO member states.
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