Updated 10:00 India has not decided yet whether it will attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony 10 December, according to the Times of India. Some Indian press reports 8 December indicate that the Indian ambassador in Oslo, Norway had confirmed to the Nobel Committee that he would attend, despite strong pressure from China. China has suggested that India’s participation could undermine a visit to India by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao 15 December.
Norway has said that 19 countries have confirmed they will not attend the ceremony this Friday, 10 December, while 44 have confirmed. The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay has also turned down an invitation to attend because she is hosting a human rights event in Geneva Friday, but she will also not be sending a more junior representative, according to Foreign Policy magazine. The Chinese government reacted angrily to news that the prize is being given to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who is in prison for “endangering state security”. Many of Liu’s friends have been prevented from leaving China in recent weeks and his wife has been put under house arrest to prevent her from receiving the prize in his stead.
Links to other sites: Boston Globe, Hindustan Times
Number of deaths in highrise fire in China put at 53; four arrested
A 15-year-old building in a poor neighbourhood in New Delhi, India, collapsed late Monday 15 November, killing 66 people and injuring at least 70 (Times of India reports 80 injured) of the 200 who are believed to have been living there. Authorities are blaming water damage to the foundation, caused by unusually heavy monsoons earlier this year, reports CNN. The building owner, Amrit Singh, has fled with his family and is being sought by police, say Indian media.
A highrise fire that killed 53 in China Monday has resulted in the arrests of four people on charges related to using unlicensed welders, according to Xinhua. Scores more were injured, of the 440 people who lived in the building, which was being renovated.
China welcomes reform of the UN Security Council as “necessary”, two days after US President Barack Obama said the US would support an Indian bid to gain permanent member status of the body. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Hong Lei, told a news conference in Beijing 1o November that “China values the role India plays in international affairs, and China understands and supports India’s willingness to play a bigger role at the UN”, according to Xinhua. He said that the Chinese government hoped that all parties could “negotiate patientlyto reach a consensus on the UNSC reform-related issues.”
Links to other sites: Christian Science Monitor, Economic Times
© WHO 2010
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - India’s mortality rate due to malaria may be 13 times higher than reported, according to a study published in The Lancet 21 October, casting doubts on the validity of malaria deaths figures world-wide. The study estimates that 205,000 people may in fact be dying of malaria every year in India, due to incorrect diagnoses, especially in poor rural areas and at a distance from health centres.
The World Health Organization (WHO) statistics count 15,000 people who die of malaria in India each year. The Geneva-based WHO disputes the numbers, according to the BBC, saying they are far too high and that some criteria for inclusion, such as high fever, are not necessarily accurate.
India will jointly produce 250-300 advanced stealth fighter planes for the Indian air force with Russia’s Sukhoi Company in a deal worth up to $30 billion, the Indian Defense Minister, A.K. Antony announced 7 October. The Russian government will also supply 45 multi-role transport planes. India is set to spend $80bn on modernizing its defense capabilities over the next five years.
Links to other sites: Asia Times Online, Nasdaq, Times Of India
A hitherto unknown language called Koro, spoken by people in NE India has been discovered by researchers investigating languages in danger of extinction it was reported 5 October. The researchers, part of a National Geographic project in Arunachal Pradesh, were surprised to hear a language that they had not heard before.
Koro is part of the family of Tibeto-Burman languages, is spoken by about 1,000 people and is itself in danger of extinction.
Links to other sites: BBC, USA Today
Source: National Geographic
Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh, has purchased 10 tons of gold worth $403 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The sale 9 September is part of the IMF’s plan to sell 403.3 metric tons of gold, approved of by the Fund’s board late 2009. The Fund has sold 212tn to the Reserve Bank of India, the Bank of Mauritius and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka so far this year.
The IMF held 3005tn of the yellow metal in January 2010, worth $105bn at today’s prices. The IMF’s balance sheet has exploded since the onset of the global financial crisis, from $2bn in 2007 to more than $195bn today.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, IMF, New York Times
Sabotage not ruled out but accident appears more likely
A high-speed train crashed into another train waiting in a station in West Bengal early Monday 19 July, killing 60 people. But with more than 100 injured the death toll is likely to climb higher, say Indian officials. This is the second crash in two months, with the first blamed on Maoist terrorists, a charge the Maoists deny. It appears less likely that this crash was the result of terrorists, but officials say it cannot be ruled out.
Links to other sites: Reuters, Times of India
Canada is expected to release a report on the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight, en route to India, which crashed into the Atlantic killing all 329 people on board.
The four-year investigation lead by a Canadian commission is to be released in Ottawa on 17 June.
Canadian authorities say independentist Sikh militants are to blame and in 2005 two Canadians were tried and found not guilty.
The report is expected to put the spotlight on Canada’s failure to bring to justice those responsible for the deadliest bombing of an airliner in history. The Canadian Broadcasting Company, CBC, says it has learned that the report shows national security continues to be badly organized between the Mounties and Canada’s spy agency.
Link to CBC
On the second day of the Asia Cup India defeated Bangladesh during a hard-fought opener. The 16 June game was won by 6 wickets by India and with 19.2 overs to spare.
Score: Bangladesh 167 in 34.5 overs.
Links to: Hindustan Times, Asia Cup Cricket 2010
Sixty-five dead and 200 injured after train derails, hits goods train
An overnight passenger train traveling from Calcutta to Mumbai went off its rails and crashed into an oncoming goods train, killing at least 65 people and injuring more than 200 as 13 cars were flung into the path of the other train. Government officials say it is too early to know, but they suspect sabotage, given that a section of track had been removed, the accident occurred in an area in West Bengal known for Maoist activities, and the Maoists had earlier declared a “black week” of violent acts.
Five states on high alert
India will rethink its strategy for countering terrorism attacks, officials have said, following the second major Maoist attack in two months, where 50 people (figure: Times of India) were killed in Chhattisgarh when a landmine was exploded under the bus in which they were traveling. The state, in the centre of the country, is rich in minerals. Five Indian states are on high alert, with Maoists declaring two days of attacks.
Links to other sites: Reuters, Times, India, Wall St Journal
Michael Punke, US ambassador to the WTO, 2010
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - “We’re not negotiating with a gun to anyone’s head – that’s not the way the WTO works,” says Michael Punke, the new US ambassador to the World Trade Organization. “What we’re hoping is they will step up and take up their leadership role,” he says, referring to India, China and Brazil. “At the end of day: we have to ask, are the advanced developing economies ready to accept the responsibility and leadership” that goes with their new roles?
The ambassador lost no time Monday morning, during a media breakfast for the new man in Geneva, making it clear that he is keen to start negotiating and to see the Doha Round of trade talks get back on track.
Punke insists there is strong support in the US “to negotiate a Doha outcome that is balanced and ambitious.”
Balanced, in the sense of advanced developing economies taking stronger roles.
Ambitious, in the sense of the Doha Round succeeding without the “arbitrary deadlines or big bang events [that] haven’t worked” in the past, the kind of events where top-level ministers show up and work intensely and everyone hopes the outcome will be a great leap forward.
He believes Geneva has focused too much on these. He is adament that “there aren’t any shortcuts but sitting down, day in and day out” to get through the issues that remain. “The only way to improve that balance is to engage in negotiation.” The US, he says “wants to focus on key sectors in priority markets – the advanced developing economies.”
International sports, cricket
Kensington Oval, Barbados (GenevaLunch) - Chris Gayle smashed away India’s hopes of Twenty20 World Cup glory with a magnificent 98 in 66 balls, including seven sixes, 9 May. The West Indies ended with 169 for six. India never really got going and lost by 14 runs.
Australia thrashed Sri Lanka by 81 runs.
Links to other sites: Times of India, BBC, Guardian
International sports, cricket
Bridgetown, Barbados (GenevaLunch) - Australia humiliated the Indian stars in a one-sided game at Bridgetown, 7 May. The Australian opening batsmen rushed to a century in the first 10 overs of their Twenty20 match. Ajay Jadeja was hit for six successive sixes, the first three by Shane Watson and the others a few overs later by David Warner. The Australian assault slowed down after Watson was caught for 72 but the total still reached 186. India’s batsmen failed spectacularly against the opening fast bowlers, reaching 23 for four before Rohit Sharma, with 79 not out, added a bit of respectability to the final score of 135 which left them 49 runs short.
In the other game the home team was also undone by an awesome display of power batting, this time by Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene.
Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia (GenevaLunch) – India beat newcomers Afghanistan by seven wickets in their first match of the Twenty20 World Cup. In the next game, against South Africa, they set up a huge total of 186 for five with a century by Suresh Raina. The South Africans could never keep up with the run rate with a slow outfield, and they eventually lost by 14 runs. New Zealand beat Sri Lanka with Jesse Ryder scoring 42 from 27 balls for the Black Caps.
Australia did even better when they batted against Pakistan, scoring 191 thanks to 81 by opening batsman Shane Watson. Pakistan could only manage 157 all out in reply.
Links to other sites: Cricket Twenty20, Guardian, Yahoo Cricket
The Australian, British, Canadian and US governments are warning tourists of an increased risk of militant attacks in public areas of New Delhi, India.
The US said 21 April that it had information of “specific” threats to New Delhi’s shopping areas. The warning is similar to the one given by the Canadian government which also cites the Chandni Chowk area in Old Delhi as a possible target for terrorists. The Australian government in India has also advised its citizens to stay clear of market areas in the city.
Sources: Canadian department of foreign affairs, US Department of State, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Australian department of foreign affairs,
India, Algeria, China, Venezuela, Malaysia and Syria are the main customers for the Russian arms industry, which expects to see a 12 percent increase in international sales in 2010, to $9.5 billion. Vietnam also recently became a client, ordering submarines, aircraft and “other military hardware”, reports Russian news agency Ria Novosti. Russia’s main competitors are China, Germany and the US.
Fifty soldiers have died and several were seriously injured in a series of attacks on security forces in central India. The Indian government, which in recent weeks has begun to step up its fight against Maoist rebels, says clashes between the Naxalite Maoist groups and troops are continuing. The Maoists have been fighting for Communist rule for more than 20 years.
Links to other sites: BBC, Times of India
A team of 2.5 million census-takers is starting work on the once-a-decade census to register, count and, for the first time, give an identity card to India’s population of about 1 billion persons. The 2011 census will take year to complete has a new twist: everyone will be photographed and fingerprinted, as the government adds biometric data to its population register.
Links to other sites: Business Week, Census India, Radio Australia
India and Pakistan are holding talks for the first time since the Mumbai attacks in November 2008. India blamed Pakistan for harbouring the terrorists who killed 166 people and it cut diplomatic relations. Expectations for substantive agreements are not high for this week’s talks, but they are widely considered a significant step towards improved relations between the two countries which both have nuclear arms and which are vying for influence in Afghanistan. Disputes over Kashmir remains one of the tough issues and India is wary of the US role in supporting Pakistan.
Links to other sites: Reuters UK, Tehran Times, Times of India, Xinhua
Gwalior, India (GenevaLunch) – Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to score a double century in a one-day international (ODI) when he hit 200 not out against South Africa. He took 147 balls to reach his total, hitting 25 fours and three sixes in a faultless display of finesse and power. India posted a massive 401 for 3 in their fifty overs, with captain MS Dhoni hitting 68 not out in just 35 balls and Dinesh Karthik getting 79. Tendulkar, commonly known as “the litttle master,” also holds the records for the most runs and centuries scored in both Test and one-day internationals.
South Africa replied with 248 all out, with AB de Villiers unbeaten on 114.
Links to other sites: cricket.yahoo, Times of India
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Sugar stocks may increase in the 2010-11 season if the sugar harvest in Brazil is not spoiled by rains in April, Jonathan Kingsman told the Dubai Sugar Conference 9 February. It is nevertheless unlikely to meet demand. The conference is organized by Lausanne-based Kingsman SA, an international sugar consultancy and brokerage.
World stocks have been depleted by two years of shortages. World sugar demand significantly outstripped supply in fiscal 2009, which ends in March 2010, pushing up the price of the white crystal and eating into world stocks. The price of white sugar rose 9 February for a second day in London trading on speculation that shortages will continue, reports Bloomberg. The price reached almost $724 for a metric ton (mt).
China and India are committed to communicating their emissions reduction targets to the UN by the deadline imposed by the Copenhagen Conference in December, following talks in New Delhi 24 January. The four countries seen as key to any climate deal, Brazil, South Africa, China and India, have indicated that they will submit mitigation goals. But India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, confirmed in a letter to the president of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that the four continued to be bound only by the Kyoto Protocoll and not the Copenhagen meeting’s accord, which was not formally adopted by participants.
Links to other sites: Business Week, The Hindu, Times of India
Durban, South Africa (GenevaLunch) - The England captain showed a previously unseen side to his game when he scored 50 runs in only 49 balls in reply to South Africa’s score of 343 all out in the second test at Durban. The home team made that many largely thanks to the late assault on Graeme Swann’s bowling by Dale Steyn. England ended the second day on 103 for one.
The main interest of the day was focused on the system of referring umpiring decisions to television replay: this led to Mark Boucher being given out lbw to Swann after the umpire’s “not out” was reversed.
Zurich to San Francisco non-stop, from June 2010
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss International Airlines will fly non-stop six days a week from Zurich to San Francisco starting in June 2010, the airline announced 1 December. San Francisco is already the USA’s third biggest air travel market, and the regional headquarters of several major Swiss corporations.
Swiss says that it will use existing airplane capacity to cover the new routes. It is also increasing the frequency of flights to India, Brazil and Canada.
Timetable details:
Zurich – San Francisco LX 38 dep 13:15 arr 16:30
San Francisco – Zurich LX 39 dep 19:25 arr 15:40 + the following day
India’s economy outperformed expectations in the third quarter of 2009, with 7.9 percent growth, its strongest in six quarters. The Bank of India has already begun to shift away from measures to boost the economy as its concern over inflation grows. The $1.2 trillion economy is expected to have year-end (31 March 2010) growth of 7 percent. India is one of the leaders in the rebound of its region’s economies as the “Asia Pacific region leads the world out of the worst recession since the 1930s”, writes Bloomberg.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, The Economic Times, India
India has announced it will withdraw about 15,000 troops from Jammu and Kashmir, in the country’s far north, in a bid to defuse tensions with Pakistan. The Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has just concluded a two-day visit to the region, where the Indian army has been battling a separatist insurgency since 1989. Singh told a regional summit in New Delhi Friday 30 October that the countries of the region had “to overcome the burden of history” to achieve peace.
Indian authorities said the region’s security situation had improved to the extent that responsibility could increasingly be left to the police. The Indian army played down the move, saying it had more to do with sending a message to the main separatist group in Jammu and Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, than relations with Pakistan. They pointed out that the redeployment was from the Jammu region, rather than the more conflictive Kashmir area.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars over the region since independence and division in 1947. Pakistan has been criticized for keeping most of its army on the border with India, and ignoring the threat posed to Pakistan itself by Taliban insurgents within its own frontiers. India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of arming and training militants to fight in Kashmir. Singh said 29 October that India was not satisfied with the investigation Pakistan had conducted into last November’s deadly attack on Mumbai, India which was launched from Pakistani territory. Daily Times, New York Times, Times of India
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland will lead efforts to backup a major conference that opens 29 November in Colombia, the Cartagena summit on a mine-free world. The conference marks the 10th anniversary of the Ottawa Treaty entering into force and provides the opportunity for its second review conference to assess progress and how well the convention is being respected.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The worst floods in decades in southern India have killed at least 250 people and left some 2.5 million people homeless. Aid workers from around the globe have “fanned out” across the region, reports the Press Association, to meet the urgent needs of people who only weeks earlier were suffering from severe drought. The torrential rains appear to have been caused by a low pressure zone over the Bay of Bengal and more rain is expected in the next 24 hours, say weather forecasters.
