Shortcomings at Jeddah airport blasted

The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has criticized services provided to pilgrims and visitors at King Abdulaziz International Airport’s North Terminal.

A four-man delegation from the society’s Makkah province branch on Wednesday went on a five-hour tour of the terminal, which is used by foreign airlines, and noted at least 20 instances of bad service.

The delegation was assessing the performance of the passport police, Umrah companies and the health control center there.

The visitors added that conditions in the terminal were unsuitable.

NSHR supervisor for Makkah province Dr. Hussein Al-Sharif headed the delegation, which also included Talal Qisti, Maatouq Al-Abdullah and Hussam Malki.

The delegation said it would submit a comprehensive report on their findings to airport authorities.

Al-Sharif told Arab News that the services provided to pilgrims and visitors at the North Terminal were not up to scratch and did not match up to the standards expected in Saudi Arabia.

He said the delegation talked to a number of Chadian and Malaysian pilgrims who complained that they had been sitting inside buses from Makkah and Madinah for more than four hours at the airport, waiting for their passports to be given to them by their tour operators.

Al-Sharif said examples of bad service provided by the airport included taking too long to record passengers’ fingerprints, long delays in giving pilgrims their passports back and a general lack of coordination to avoid congestion in the lounges.

A lack of rest rooms for passport police officers, bad conditions inside the health control center as well as a lack of pharmacists there, insufficient water coolers or bathrooms, non-existence of good restaurants and a lack of seats, especially those for the old and the disabled, were the other shortcomings noted by the delegation.

“We were shocked by what we saw. We call on all concerned parties to make their efforts to act on our observations. We also suggest that the fingerprinting process be done at the Kingdom’s embassies abroad instead of at the airport,” Al-Sharif said.

The delegation also said the Ministry of Haj’s office at the airport was not easily accessible to pilgrims and visitors.

“The office is located in a difficult to reach place without any signs pointing to it,” Al-Sharif added.

Polly Peck tycoon urges Government to intervene in his case

Asil Nadir, the Polly Peck tycoon, has suggested that the new Government might intervene in the battle to clear his name as he returned from 17 years of exile.

Speaking outside his Mayfair home, the 69-year-old said: “I hope that the people ruling this country and the entire population are as interested as I am that justice is practised.

“I hope that the environment is correct for this injustice to be put to bed. Everyone should be treated as innocent until found guilty.”

Mr Nadir insisted there was nothing wrong with donating to a political party and defended giving the Conservatives £400,000 in the past.

“It’s only fair if you approve of the policies of a Government, if you want to extend their power, why not do it? It’s not criminal, it’s allowed.”

Mr Nadir, whose company Polly Peck was worth more than £1 billion by the end of the 1980s, arrived back in Britain on a specially chartered Turkish Onur Air A320 Airbus.

There were just 17 passengers on board the aircraft and during the three hour flight the pilot prefaced each message to the cabin with the words “Mr and Mrs Nadir and guests”.

Accompanied by his 26-year-old wife Nur, he landed under leaden skies at Luton airport where he was greeted by immigration authorities while still on the aircraft.

Within minutes he was escorted into a waiting gun metal grey chauffeur driven Jaguar and driven to London.

Mr Nadir, who has dual British and Turkish nationality, surrendered four passports to the authorities – including an emergency British passport specifically produced for his return.

He must stay at his London residence and guarantee a £250,000 surety before his first court appearance at the Old Bailey on September 3.

At the hearing, a judge will decide whether he must wear an electronic tag and whether he will have to abide by a curfew as the fraud investigation is re-opened.

The tycoon, dressed in a dark suit, crisp white shirt, tie and green silk handkerchief, grinned broadly as he stood on the doorstep of his £20,000 a month home.

He told reporters: “I am delighted to be here. It has been a long time.

“I have missed this country and I hope that this time I am going to live in a country which gives more value to justice and stays away from abusing it.”

As he travelled back to Britain, he said he had returned because he felt it was the “right environment” to challenge the charges levelled against him.

Mr Nadir insisted no deal had been struck before he returned, which entailed leaving behind an opulent lifestyle in northern Cyprus.

He controls the Kibris newspaper and television group and exercises notable political influence.

“I have not done a deal,” he said. “My lawyers have asked for me to be granted bail before I came to England and that was decided.

“There is no deal. There is only one deal and that is, I am hoping I will see for the first time some justice.”

Mr Nadir said he had fled Britain in 1993 because his three year battle against fraud allegations had severely damaged his health.

“My health had deteriorated and at that point I felt that, to save my life, I had to come to recuperate. I have been asking since then for the environment to be as it is today.”

The Serious Fraud Office alleges that Mr Nadir transferred millions out of Polly Peck in the years leading up to its collapse with debts of £1.3bn in 1990.

However he insists that he proved his innocence at the time, but no one would listen.

Mr Nadir said he hoped that the case against him would last no longer than three months and get thrown out due to abuse of process.

“There was an abuse of process by the authorities,” he said. “That is what is going to be addressed in the first place.

“I feel that the abuse that materialised – if I am not mistaken – has not happened in many, many decades.

“I am hoping to get a fair trial, if this matter goes to trial.

The former Tory party donor, who fled the country in 1993 while facing 66 charges of theft relating to a £34 million fraud, also indicated that he was willing to give more money to the Conservatives.

He said he hoped the new Government would be “wise enough and think highly enough of Great Britain to clear this matter”

Is poverty in India linked to shame?

A major international study will be conducted in eight countries, including India, to examine whether shame is a key part of the experience of being poor.

The half-a-million-pound study, led by Professor Robert Walker from Oxford University, will look at whether being poor necessarily results in low self esteem or feelings of shame and whether welfare policies are counterproductive when claimants are stigmatised.

The research, spanning eight countries, aims to improve our understanding of the impact of poverty to establish whether anti-poverty measures could be applied more effectively.

A team of a dozen researchers will conduct-depth interviews with children and their parents about how being poor affects the way they feel about themselves and the way they are regarded by their own community.

They will interview families in UK, Norway, China, India, Pakistan, Uganda, South Korea and Germany.

As well as comparing experiences across countries, the study will include differences between rural areas, cities and towns.

Professor Walker, from the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Oxford, said: “Very little is known about the way people in different countries experience and regard poverty. (It) has been suggested that, in China, for example, it might be more important for adults, even in poor families, to maintain \’face\’ and to uphold their own sense of dignity.

\”In parts of India and Pakistan it is possible that loss of \’family honour\’ adds to any sense of personal shame\”.

\”This is the first time an academic study has been set up to analyse the importance of shame in understanding the experience of poverty in very different cultures,\” Walker added.

The research team will analyse whether there is a link between poverty and shame: through its portrayal in literature and film; in-depth interviews with low-income households; and focus groups with middle-class people on their view of poverty.

The researchers will carry out a statistical analysis of existing data on poverty in the World Values Survey.

They will also explore the language and practices used by the agencies responsible for implementing social assistance and anti poverty programmes to see whether they are more or less likely to make people ashamed of asking for help.

Professor Walker said: \”Language is loaded with all sorts of nuances and subtleties: phrases like \’sink estates\’, \’hand-outs\’, \’deserving\’ and \’undeserving\’, even \’rights and responsibilities\’, make judgements on the poor\”.

\”We hope this study helps to inform policy development, both in the UK and abroad. Our objective is to use this research to work together with policymakers and agencies to deliver policies that tackle poverty effectively while simultaneously recognising the importance of promoting dignity and a sense of self-respect,\” he added.

The renaissance of New Orleans

On the calendar of anniversary events in New Orleans (26 August 2010) five years after Hurricane Katrina, one stands out: a party at the Eiffel Society, a new restaurant and lounge on St Charles Avenue, where guests will be asked to celebrate something good the storm left behind: a burgeoning and highly boisterous arts scene.
It’s an eruption that has provoked – and is sustained by – an influx of mostly young and creative people from across the US, all with the common hope of finding inspiration and purpose in the battered urban landscape of the city, including painters, film-makers, dancers, designers, musicians and architects.
Some will be at the party on St Charles, like the American painter Elliott Coon. This spring, she and friends with the Life is Art Foundation here in New Orleans, spent 30 days barricaded inside the octagon structure of glass and steel (it was once part of the tower in Paris), sleeping, eating, working and playing without leaving it once, though they were occasionally joined in their experiment by other artists.
The result will be on view for all the party’s guests, set to include the city’s new mayor and enthusiast for the arts, Mitch Landrieu, and the economist Jeffrey Sachs. Never mind what’s for dinner; look at the art they have installed, whether it’s the pagan-like labyrinth painted in grey and gold leaf across most of its floor by Coon or the mesmerisingly delicate embroideries of naked figures suspended like cobwebs in the central skylight by the British artist, Louise Riley. (Riley was there for much of the live-in too.)
Other pieces – there are 20 – include a book table from wood salvaged from Katrina-stricken homes by Robert Tennan, a legendary figure among New Orleans art-goers, and, hanging over the kitchen door, a slate-grey photograph of a tug surrounded by oil from the BP spill taken by Edward Burtynsky.
What may not still be there is a very large igloo sculpture by Daphane Park that diners are invited to step into.
Giving a reporter a sneak tour, Coon speaks of her own experience visiting New Orleans two-and-a-half years ago from Virginia where she was living at that time. She expected to be here for a month. “It was like there was this rebirth going on in the city. I just stayed,” she explains with a broad smile, aware that in staying she was becoming part of a club of people in New Orleans that is hardly exclusive.
Michael Martin, 24, who is doing a masters degree on the role of cultural activity in recovering economies, did the same, arriving from New York at the beginning of last year. Today, he has no plans to leave. “Most my friends are either artists or designers or architects,”he says. “We are all here doing creative things, because New Orleans is just this amazing palate that gives you space to do what you like.”
Kristian Hansen, 31, arrived a few months before Katrina from his native California and bought a house. The storm destroyed it and today he rents in the grandly eccentric (and art-stuffed) home of Tennan and his wife, Jeanne Nathan, on Esplanade Avenue. Renting is fine, he says, but best of all is the growth of a film production company he co-founded here with a friend. Called Tungsten Monkey, its newest project is a nearly completed documentary feature about a young New Orleanian from a well-to-do-family who travels to the jungles of Peru in search of salvation from drug addiction.
Hansen explains his own infatuation with the city while celebrating his business partner’s 30th birthday at Bacchanal, a free-wheeling wine bar and restaurant in the Ninth Ward, as a jazz quintet competes with thunder. The restaurant is frequently used a set for David Simon’s new HBO drama series set in New Orleans, Treme, which is itself is another testament to the city’s awakening. The same goes for Spike Lee’s new documentary film about Katrina and its aftermath, If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise which premiered on HBO.
Those projects are a reminder that the soil for creative activity has, of course, always been fertile in New Orleans. The visual arts scene may never have been as rich as it is today in the wake of the storm, but in other ways the city has always claimed its place on this country’s cultural stage, with a traditon for fiesta and carnival driven in the first instance by Catholic holidays, like lent, Easter and Christmas. It is, above all, of course, a city of jazz and of cuisine. And Mardi Gras.
“I didn’t expect to stay, but New Orleans turned out to be like a crazy girlfriend and it’s hard to leave,” Hansen says. “It is a city that has a character that is tangible. On a more pragmatic level, there are just so many options for me here much more than there would be if I stayed out west. There is work and a constant stream of film people coming in right now.”
Delighted but not surprised by the cultural re-blossoming are Tennan and his wife in their rambling Esplanade mansion. “One step up from a storage facility,” is Bob’s wry description of the house which doubles as a chaotic gallery dedicated to his art and the art of friends. They recall coming to New Orleans from New York in the mid-70s and finding that it had only two contemporary art galleries. Before long they had founded the Contemporary Arts Centre of New Orleans to help fill the void. In the wake of Katrina, Jeanne took over an abandoned school and turned it into an ad hoc crucible for new works with at one point as many as 160 artists contributing. The city has taken the school back now, however.
Outside foundations played their part offering grants and funding. Last year, New Orleans native Michale Manjarris organised a city-wide show of public art with sculptures from the likes of the laainds down, the expectation is that the scene will continue to flourish all on its own.

Statesman Print Journalism

It was set up in 2008 by the C.R. Irani Foundation, a not-for-profit body set up in memory of Cushrow Russi Irani, who was Editor-in-Chief of The Statesman from 1991 until his death in July 2005.

The late Cushrow Irani was a distinguished newspaperman, who won the Commonwealth Astor Prize and the Freedom House Medal for his role in safeguarding freedom of the Press in India. He was twice chairman of the International Press Institute, served on the board of Article XIX with distinction, headed several important professional bodies including the Indian Newspaper Society, the Audit Bureau of Circulations and Press Trust of India, and was a member of the National Commission to Review the Constitution. The SPJS has been set up with support from Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

The real shock for savers in Tony Blair’s book

Never mind the tittle tattle about how Tony Blar says he hit the bottle during his final years in Downing Street. Nor his wearily familiar defence of the dodgy dossier and our subsequent invasion of Iraq.

No, what really shocks me about Mr Blair’s autobiography is his account of how millions of ordinary people’s retirement plans were reduced to a mere bargaining chip in what sounds like a game of political strip poker between him and Gordon Brown.

The former Prime Minister describes how he supported pension reforms proposed by Adair Turner but these were opposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer at that time. Lord Turner recommended raising the State pension age and restoring some linkage with earnings – both changes now planned by the Coalition Government – but Mr Brown was thought to be against these reforms. Now we know just how much so.

Mr Blair’s book ‘A Journey’ says: “We had been having a huge set-to about Adair Turner’s pension proposals. John Hutton (the pensions secretary) and I both thought them right but Gordon disagreed.

“He was in a venomous mood and I can truthfully say it was the ugliest meeting we had ever had…the temperature which was already below freezing point went Arctic.”

Mr Blair goes on to relate how Mr Brown threatened to call for an inquiry into allegations that wealthy friends of the Prime Minister had gained seats in the House of Lords after making donations to the Labour Party. Mr Blair claims Mr Brown said he would expose what became known as the ‘cash for honours’ scandal unless Lord Turner’s proposals were dropped.

As I pointed out in this space at the time: “The Chancellor has waited a long time to become Prime Minister and has no wish to go to the polls offering the voters the chance to “work till you drop”. One in five men and one in eight women never reach the age of 67.

“Mr Brown knows there is rising awareness of how public sector employees can still retire at 60 on pensions heavily subsidised by the taxpayer. Worse, the £5billion tax on pensions he imposed in his first Budget as “a reform of advanced corporation tax” is now widely recognised as the biggest stealth tax of all and a major contributor to company pension deficits and closures.”

As it turned out, the demographics of an ageing population eventually proved irresistible and the ‘cash for honours’ story soon seemed small beer compared to the mass fraud of the MPs’ expenses scandal. Even so, I agree with Mike Warburton of accountants Grant Thornton who said: “I find it extraordinary that something as important as pensions planning for our population, indeed I would argue that it is  the single most important financial issue facing us, should be relegated to  little more than a bargaining chip in the  wholly  unrelated matter of political party funding.”

Mr Blair’s revelation of what goes on behind closed doors in Downing Street demonstrates why our pensions have been so badly mishandled by several governments. Saving for retirement requires long term planning but, on the evidence of these memoirs, most politicians seem to struggle to think further ahead than the next publicity stunt or botched back-stabbing.

Aren’t you trespassing, Milord?

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread! That’s an ancient cautionary axiom. Nevertheless this fool cannot help but rush into the hallowed territory of the Supreme Court (SC) to clarify doubts troubling his mind. Last Tuesday, the SC admonished Union food minister Sharad Pawar for daring to state that its order to distribute rotting food grains free of cost to the poor was a suggestion. The court sternly conveyed that its order was a command to be obeyed and not a suggestion to be considered. The minister had opined that the court’s suggestion was not practical to implement. The court’s order was in response to a petition.
The court’s opinion about distributing grain free to the poor instead of allowing it to rot was unexceptionable. It reflected the overwhelming view of politicians and public alike. In justification of its order the court said: “We do not say anything unreasonable.” That is absolutely correct. The court was very reasonable. But was it constitutional? Can the SC encroach, however sensibly, into the domain of the executive? This is the question that the Supreme Court and all the distinguished legal luminaries who frequently grace TV channels with their pontificating need to clarify for ignorant laymen like this scribe.
Article 50 of the Indian Constitution states: “The State shall take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State.”
Citizens have certain fundamental rights. Article 32 (1) gives them “the right to move the Supreme Court by appropriate proceedings for the enforcement of the rights conferred by this Part...” The right to food has not yet been made into an Act. Therefore Article 32 (2) that states, “The Supreme Court shall have the power to issue directions or orders or writs … for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by this Part”, cannot be applicable.
Article 38 (1) of the Constitution states: “The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of the national life.” However Article 37 of the Constitution states: “The provisions contained in this Part shall not be enforceable by any court…”
In the light of the above articles of the Constitution, how could the SC presume to pass an Order equivalent to a command to Sharad Pawar? Any action that violates the Constitution can lead ultimately to very negative results. If indeed the SC overreached its powers, what would have happened if the minister had defied its order to create a constitutional crisis?
One does hope the judges had considered their legal mandate and were not influenced by the earlier example of their predecessors assuming the executive’s powers by overseeing the functioning of the CBI in the Jain hawala case? That left a permanent blot on the SC after it completely botched up an open and shut case. Former Chief Justice JS Verma, who headed the Bench hearing that case, is now demanding that the Jain hawala case should be reopened!
Would you enlighten us Milord, under which constitutional provision you issued your fatwa to the government?

No confrontation intended on foodgrain for poor, Centre to SC

The Centre today told the Supreme Court that it had no intention of having “any confrontation” with it on the issue of distribution of food grain to the country’s poor.
Additional solicitor-general Mr Mohan Parasaran submitted to a Bench comprising Mr Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Mr Justice Deepak Verma that reports appearing in a section of the Press were wrongly implying that the Centre wanted to take on the Supreme Court on the matter. Mr Parasaran also placed on record an affidavit highlighting the various measures taken by the government to distribute food grains at affordable prices to the needy population.
The SC, while taking on record the affidavit, said it was “very happy” at the comprehensive reply filed by the government in pursuance of its earlier direction for supply of food grains at “low cost” or “at no cost”. However, the government affidavit is silent on the SC’s direction for free distribution of food grains to the poor instead of allowing it to rot.
The ASG told the SC that pursuant to its earlier direction, the Centre had decided to allocate 25 lakh additional tonnes of food grain to the states and Union Territories for distribution at BPL prices.
The court’s directive earlier generated a controversy after Union agriculture minister Mr Sharad Pawar insisted that the government was not bound to supply free food grain to the people as the court had only made a suggestion and it was not a directive. The SC, however, clarified on 31 August that what it had issued was an order and not a mere suggestion.
During today’s hearing, the Bench urged the media to report the issue accurately, pointing out that SC orders were regularly posted on the relevant website.

3 billion baht to develop Thailand’s another top mall

Central Pattana Plc (CPN), Thailand’s largest retail developer, is spending 3 billion baht to develop its new shopping mall in Surat Thani, which is scheduled to be completed in April 2012. Significantly, the company’s second biggest retail complex in the South after Central Festival Phuket, it would create 3,000 to 4,000 jobs for local communities, said president and CEO Kobchai Chirathivat.

The shopping mall will be built on a 62-rai site and offer 120,000 square metres of retail space, similar in size to CentralPlaza Chon Buri. It will include Robinson Department Store, Tops Supermarket, PowerBuy, B2S SuperSports, Office Depot, cinemas, 60 restaurants and 350 shops.

“We had been looking for chances to build a shopping project in Surat Thani for around 10 years but we could not find a good location until now. Surat Thani has high potential as it’s a hub for transport and many tourists travel from there,” he said. CPN is looking to attract almost one million people living within a a 90- kilometre radius from the centre as target shoppers. In addition, up to 2.8 million people in neighboring provinces such as Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong, Krabi, Chumphon and Phangnga are expected to visit the complex.

“In the past, shoppers just wanted the convenience of everything under one roof. What they now want is much more,” said Mr Kobchai. “In addition to convenience, they want more rewarding experiences when they visit the centre. The way we are doing that in Surat Thani is to give the whole development a resort-like atmosphere.”

CPN expects 80% of the retail space will be booked by August next year. The mall is expected to attract around 70,000 people daily.

The company also plans to develop a hotel on the land next to CentralPlaza Surat Thani in the future to support visitors of the convention centre in the shopping mall.

CPN shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 24.20 baht, down 80 satang, in trade worth 52.57 million baht.

Indian Chicken feet dining delicacy in China

Guess what is discarded as waste in India and shipped thousands of miles to land up as a delicacy on dining tables in China? Chicken feet!

The feet, claws and all, as a gastronomical delight might sound comical to Indians who relish chicken legs but definitely nothing below. But hatcheries in Mangalore have found a thriving market for it in places like China, Hong Kong and Vietnam. A prominent hatchery in this coastal town in Karnataka exports 25 tonnes of chicken feet to the Far East every month.
Popularly known as phoenix talons in China, chicken feet is sold as street food, often deep fried, in other parts of Asia as well. It is a culinary delicacy in some regions, most notably in China and South Africa where every part of the bird is utilized to its fullest potential.
Lester D’Souza, managing partner of Souza Hatcheries, told TOI that they had started exports last year, though inquiries were made four years back. “Last year, a person came here, looked at the hatchery and gave us the specifications for the product to be exported,” he said. Neatly cut and cleaned without using detergent or chemicals, the chicken feet are shipped out in freezer units used for fish exports, once a month to China, Hong Kong and Vietnam.
Chinese restaurants in India don’t use chicken feet simply because desi palates can’t take claws on the plate. When asked, they said they never used feet for stock and they get their chicken meat without feet.

Small enterprises need more initiatives

Structured initiatives to diversify the economy, more liquidity through the introduction of new financial instruments and clarity on the government’s overall debt obligation could help the country’s economy move forward, officials said.

The UAE economy is presently “at a crossroads”, Daman Investments said in a report issued Tuesday.

The report says there are “tough factors to consider, and tough decisions to be made”. While the “economic miracle” that is the UAE is still viable, the very real economic situation in which the country finds itself has thrust upon it a set of challenges that will require “courage and ingenuity to overcome”.

The report suggests rationalisation of sectoral contribution to GDP that will help the economy balance out and reduce dependency on certain sectors.

Two years into the global economic crisis, one thing is crystal clear: The opinion that the crisis will be over in 24 months and that it will be business as usual after that has proven to be highly optimistic, the report said.

“The reality is that tough economic times are with us for a while and that nations need to factor in a new set of realities in order to have a more realistic view of the environment in which they operate. The UAE is no exception to this new reality,” said Daman managing director Shehab M. Gargash.

“About 70 per cent of all businesses within Dubai are involved in trade and retail industries. More structured initiatives are needed,” the report said.

“Currently, the bulk of commerce is controlled by the private sector but it is heavily skewed towards certain sectors. For example, 70 per cent of all businesses within Dubai are involved in trade and retail industries.”

The report suggested that the government promote the development of small business enterprises in other sectors with the use of major incentives and government assistance.

Shehzad Janab, Head of Asset Management and Advisory at Daman Investments, told Gulf News, “There needs to be a new approach from the government to stimulate the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as they are the pillars of the country’s economy. These could include providing incentives to SMEs in manufacturing and exports as well as providing finances.

The UAE saw the biggest contraction within the GCC of foreign direct investment (FDI) where the value of FDI slumped 72 per cent to $40 billion in 2009, whereas the GCC’s FDI fell 16 per cent to $520 billion in 2009.

Anaemic growth, liquidity concerns, a highly-publicised real estate crash, high borrowing rates and slower government development activities have all contributed to this sharp drop in FDI activity.

“Going forwards we don’t expect an immediate return to active FDI participation in the UAE’s economy until we have a more FDI friendly environment,” the report said.

Apart from these, officials have asked the government to cut back red tape. As noted in a World Bank finding it takes approximately 62 days to start up a business in the UAE, this is reflected in the UAE’s poor ranking in the ease of doing business index published by the World Bank.

Dr Khalid Maniar, managing partner at Horwath MAK, told Gulf News: “The government could now look into reducing procedures that will help fast track business licences and cut unproductive costs incurred due to the delays.”

Debt situation not clear

The government’s debt situation remains unclear, the report says. Citing various estimates, ranging from $90 billion to $160 billion, Daman based its projections of Dubai’s debt on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) estimates at $109 billion.

Dubai has not been able to easily access the market for debt issuance this year. However, government owned entities, such as Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), have been able to tap the debt market as they have strong cash flow generating businesses and good transparency, albeit at a far higher funding rate. For example Dewa’s recently issued (April 2010) five-year $1 billion bond was priced to yield 8.5 per cent, far higher than previous years. The Dubai government has eight bonds outstanding with maturities concentrated in the years of 2013-14. “If you look at the debt maturity profile, the next two to three years are going to be tough,” Janab said. “The lack of clarity in the size of debts is forcing investors to factor in risk premium.”

The report suggested the UAE’s sovereign wealth funds play more active role in the domestic market in injecting liquidity that will help key economic sectors to come back strongly.

“The SWFs could play the role of market makers and help lift the markets,” Janab said.

Leap of faith gives Chinese expats spiritual satisfaction

Chinese laborers working on the Haramain Rail project have spoken of their joy after embracing Islam.

There are 4,600 Chinese nationals working on the scheme, which when completed will link the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah via Jeddah and Rabigh. Among them, 370 are already born Muslims.

Last year, over 600 of them embraced Islam, causing controversy with a section of the international media slamming it as a public relations stunt.

At the time, there were calls from sections of Saudi society to replace the non-Muslim workers, who represent the majority Han community in China, with minority Muslims.

Hamza, 42, said he embraced Islam after he saw the Holy Kaaba for the first time on Saudi television.

“It had an electrifying effect on me. I watched the live transmission of prayers at the Grand Mosque and the circumambulation of the faithful around the holiest shrine in Islam,” he said.

“I asked my Muslim colleague the other day about all these things. He took me to the Call and Guidance Office for Foreigners (Jaliyat) at our company site, where I had the opportunity to learn about the various aspects of Islam.”

Hamza said he feels happier and more relaxed now that he has become a Muslim. Fifty-one-year-old Ibrahim is another Chinese worker who embraced Islam in September last year.

“While we were in China, we did not have any opportunity to learn about Islam. When I reached Makkah, I was very impressed by the behavior of many of its residents. Their equal treatment of Muslims and non-Muslims had a big impact on me,” he said.

Ibrahim, who is working with the maintenance section of the state-owned Chinese Railway Company, says that he, like Hamza, became a Muslim when he saw the Kaaba.

Abdullah Al-Baligh, 51, was inspired to embrace Islam after seeing the positive changes in his colleagues. “Six months after I arrived in Makkah, I noticed that my colleague, who was already a Muslim, had totally changed and his behavior and conduct were exemplary. I realized that Islam was the guiding force behind these changes,” he said.

“When I asked him, he told me that he had known nothing about the religion while in China. Now, he had a proper understanding of Islam and wanted to become more of a role model.”

Younus, another worker, says that he became a practicing Muslim only after his arrival in Makkah.

“Islam in China is lacking. I realized about this only after coming over to the Kingdom. Many of my Muslim colleagues and I only truly learned about Islam in the holy city, thanks to the commendable work of the Call and Guidance Office,” he said.

Zaid Al-Osaimi of the Jaliyat office in Al-Sharaie district in Makkah told Arab News that he sought permission from the Chinese Railway Company to open an office at their site.

“The company officials responded positively to our request. We erected two tents inside the site. Religious classes are being held in one of these tents while the second one is meant for recreational purposes as well as allowing our workers and the laborers to get together,” he said.

“The office holds open meetings on every Thursday. We continue to conduct study classes to teach the fundamental principles of Islam as well as helping workers memorize the Holy Qur’an,” he said.

He added that there has been a tremendous response from the Chinese workers, while the office has also been distributing Chinese translations of the Holy Qur’an as well as Islamic books and booklets free of charge.

Greenland happy as the new oil frontier

The rain was tipping down today on the cluster of multicoloured buildings in the heart of the capital of Greenland but there was no dampening the spirits of Nuuk’s residents following news that hydrocarbons had been found.

The rain was tipping down today on the cluster of multicoloured buildings in the heart of the capital of Greenland but there was no dampening the spirits of Nuuk’s residents following news that hydrocarbons had been found.

“We have always believed there was oil and gas off this island. We been waiting for something like this to happen for decades,” said Kenni Rende, a 44-year-old shop assistant at the town’s only electronics shop. “I hope it will provide income for Greenland so that we can finance our way to becoming a more independent nation,” he added.

The mood of elation was shared at the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum, one block away, where Henrik Stendal was preparing for a presentation in a small room packed with maps and rocks.

“It is exciting. This amounts to an appetiser for all oil companies to come here and do more exploration, seismic and data,” said Stendal, who is the head of the bureau’s geology department.

Greenland’s government had been hopeful that Cairn Energy had found signs of hydrocarbons but the ultra-secretive nature of the business – and its extraordinary importance – meant the British oil company had told no one in advance.

Bill Gammell, Cairn’s chief executive, said there were signs of oil and gas bearing sands, but the hole still needed to be drilled to its target depth. Stendal said it was highly encouraging given the six wells drilled over the last 40 years had been completely “dry”. A one-in-seven hit rate would mark this area out as exceptional; the North Sea equivalent is around one in 30.

It reinforces the views of the US Geological Survey which said last year that it believed there could be 90bn barrels of oil and 50tn cubic metres of gas in the wider Arctic region.

Enormously positive then for a Greenland desperate to move away from dependence on fishing, tourism and handouts from the Danish state which has sovereignty over the world’s largest island. But nervous moments for Greenpeace and other environmentalists keen to keep one of the Earth’s last wilderness areas away from the oil industry.

Whatever the eco-warriors want, Big Oil is coming and the Cairn discovery could not be better timed.

In around two weeks time the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum will announce the winners of a new licensing round.

Stendal would not say who they were but he admitted that most of the leading lights – that means the likes of ExxonMobil and Shell – are queuing up to drill in Baffin Bay off the west of Greenland.

And the find will heat up interest in two new licensing rounds in other parts of the country that are already being lined up to take place in 2011 and 2012.

It is not just Greenland that it keen to explore in an Arctic region whose natural environment is already being eroded by global warming.

Iceland, Norway and Russia are also looking at handing out exploration rights, although BP’s blowout in the Gulf of Mexico has sent a ripple of anxiety through the west’s safety authorities.

Cairn and the Greenland authorities claim the water depths being drilled by the Stena Don and Stena Forth floating rig and drillship are less than one-third of the 1,500 metres of the Gulf.

They also point out that there are 16 vessels working on standby around the Cairn well, T8-1, and six of them are specifically given over to guiding icebergs out of the way.

Stendal says Greenland drilling regulations are tougher than those enforced in the North Sea, and far stricter than the lax rules of the Gulf.

He is confident that all is being done to ensure that there can be no recurrence of the Deepwater Horizon blowout in freezing waters where oil would break down much more slowly than in the warm currents off Louisiana.

But this will not reassure Greenpeace, which has taken its ship Esperanza into the region to highlight its concerns.

The environmental group said the move was wrong, not least because Cairn was a relatively small company with no experience of drilling in harsh conditions and had made its name discovering onshore oil in India.

“We think it is completely irresponsible for Cairn to proceed with these operations when the US, Canada and Norway have imposed tough new restrictions on deepwater drilling until lessons can be learned about what exactly went wrong in the Gulf,” said Mads Flarup Christensen, secretary general of Greenpeace Nordic. “Drilling in these kinds of waters is very sad. It shows the way the oil industry is being forced into the last frontiers by trying to exploit tar sands and deep water.”

Cairn management recently visited the Greenland capital to reassure the public that it would stick to the highest possible safety standards in line with an agreement signed with the government. “Security has always been the most important in everything we do and so we want it to continue,” commercial director Simon Thomson said.

He does not need to convince Stendal who says that Greenpeace is “not welcome” by the people of Greenland, who see the organisation as a threat to their future economic wellbeing. “You cant live on fish alone,” he says dryly.

But at the Nota Bene electronics shop, Rende is not quite so equivocal: “We had heard of the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico but I hope the [Cairn] security makes us safe.”

ATM fraud haunts State Bank of India clients

Chandigarh : said it is yet to make any headway in its investigations into five cases of fraudulent ATM withdrawals here during the last one week, which have created a panic among customers about the safety of their money.

“We are working on it... to find out how this thing (the fraud) has happened only with SBI customers,” a senior SBI official said on condition of anonymity, without divulging further information.

However, he said that the bank asked its customers, who used the ATMs where the fraud took place, to change their Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) in order to prevent a repeat incident.

In the past one week, SBI customers have lost over Rs 3 lakh in a series of frauds involving withdrawal of money using “cloned ATM cards”, even though the customers had the real ATM cards with themselves.

SBI officials admit this is the first time such a fraud has occurred at the bank.

Significantly, SBI has over one lakh customers in the city in 40 branches and it has 40 ATMs located in various parts of the city.

One of the victims, A K Arora, who is a Director at the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), said he was shocked to know that Rs 80,060 was withdrawn from his joint account, though no such money was withdrawn by him or his wife from the account.

“I came to know that a sum of Rs 80,060 was withdrawn at different intervals through ATM of sector 37-D, Sector 30 and Sector 32 on August 18 and August 19,” he said.

Arora, who lodged a complaint with the police, today met SBI bank officials and submitted his complaint to them.

“I asked SBI officials how the money can be withdrawn when ATM card was with his wife. I also told them that the bank’s credibility was at a stake with the withdrawal of money through cloned ATM cards and the bank should do something at the earliest,” he said.

Arora claimed that when he went to SBI’s office, he found a couple of customers getting their ATM cards blocked in the wake of fraudulent withdrawals.

According to police, unscrupulous people insert a card reader device in the ATMs slot and place a micro-camera behind the ATM to record the password entered by the card-holder. On the basis of the stolen information, they make a cloned ATM card and withdraw money.

With a spate of such incidents, SBI customers are worried about the safety of their money. “These incidents have forced me to check my balance in the account on daily basis to find out whether my money is saved or not,” said Renuka, a SBI customer.

Shortcomings at Jeddah airport blasted

JEDDAH: The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has criticized services provided to pilgrims and visitors at King Abdulaziz International Airport’s North Terminal.

A four-man delegation from the society’s Makkah province branch on Wednesday went on a five-hour tour of the terminal, which is used by foreign airlines, and noted at least 20 instances of bad service.

The delegation was assessing the performance of the passport police, Umrah companies and the health control center there.

The visitors added that conditions in the terminal were unsuitable.

NSHR supervisor for Makkah province Dr. Hussein Al-Sharif headed the delegation, which also included Talal Qisti, Maatouq Al-Abdullah and Hussam Malki.

The delegation said it would submit a comprehensive report on their findings to airport authorities.

Al-Sharif told Arab News that the services provided to pilgrims and visitors at the North Terminal were not up to scratch and did not match up to the standards expected in Saudi Arabia.

He said the delegation talked to a number of Chadian and Malaysian pilgrims who complained that they had been sitting inside buses from Makkah and Madinah for more than four hours at the airport, waiting for their passports to be given to them by their tour operators.

Al-Sharif said examples of bad service provided by the airport included taking too long to record passengers’ fingerprints, long delays in giving pilgrims their passports back and a general lack of coordination to avoid congestion in the lounges.

A lack of rest rooms for passport police officers, bad conditions inside the health control center as well as a lack of pharmacists there, insufficient water coolers or bathrooms, non-existence of good restaurants and a lack of seats, especially those for the old and the disabled, were the other shortcomings noted by the delegation.

“We were shocked by what we saw. We call on all concerned parties to make their efforts to act on our observations. We also suggest that the fingerprinting process be done at the Kingdom’s embassies abroad instead of at the airport,” Al-Sharif said.

The delegation also said the Ministry of Haj’s office at the airport was not easily accessible to pilgrims and visitors.

“The office is located in a difficult to reach place without any signs pointing to it,” Al-Sharif added.

Polly Peck tycoon urges Government to intervene in his case

Asil Nadir, the Polly Peck tycoon, has suggested that the new Government might intervene in the battle to clear his name as he returned from 17 years of exile.

Speaking outside his Mayfair home, the 69-year-old said: “I hope that the people ruling this country and the entire population are as interested as I am that justice is practised.

“I hope that the environment is correct for this injustice to be put to bed. Everyone should be treated as innocent until found guilty.”

Mr Nadir insisted there was nothing wrong with donating to a political party and defended giving the Conservatives £400,000 in the past.

“It’s only fair if you approve of the policies of a Government, if you want to extend their power, why not do it? It’s not criminal, it’s allowed.”

Mr Nadir, whose company Polly Peck was worth more than £1 billion by the end of the 1980s, arrived back in Britain on a specially chartered Turkish Onur Air A320 Airbus.

There were just 17 passengers on board the aircraft and during the three hour flight the pilot prefaced each message to the cabin with the words “Mr and Mrs Nadir and guests”.

Accompanied by his 26-year-old wife Nur, he landed under leaden skies at Luton airport where he was greeted by immigration authorities while still on the aircraft.

Within minutes he was escorted into a waiting gun metal grey chauffeur driven Jaguar and driven to London.

Mr Nadir, who has dual British and Turkish nationality, surrendered four passports to the authorities – including an emergency British passport specifically produced for his return.

He must stay at his London residence and guarantee a £250,000 surety before his first court appearance at the Old Bailey on September 3.

At the hearing, a judge will decide whether he must wear an electronic tag and whether he will have to abide by a curfew as the fraud investigation is re-opened.

The tycoon, dressed in a dark suit, crisp white shirt, tie and green silk handkerchief, grinned broadly as he stood on the doorstep of his £20,000 a month home.

He told reporters: “I am delighted to be here. It has been a long time.

“I have missed this country and I hope that this time I am going to live in a country which gives more value to justice and stays away from abusing it.”

As he travelled back to Britain, he said he had returned because he felt it was the “right environment” to challenge the charges levelled against him.

Mr Nadir insisted no deal had been struck before he returned, which entailed leaving behind an opulent lifestyle in northern Cyprus.

He controls the Kibris newspaper and television group and exercises notable political influence.

“I have not done a deal,” he said. “My lawyers have asked for me to be granted bail before I came to England and that was decided.

“There is no deal. There is only one deal and that is, I am hoping I will see for the first time some justice.”

Mr Nadir said he had fled Britain in 1993 because his three year battle against fraud allegations had severely damaged his health.

“My health had deteriorated and at that point I felt that, to save my life, I had to come to recuperate. I have been asking since then for the environment to be as it is today.”

The Serious Fraud Office alleges that Mr Nadir transferred millions out of Polly Peck in the years leading up to its collapse with debts of £1.3bn in 1990.

However he insists that he proved his innocence at the time, but no one would listen.

Mr Nadir said he hoped that the case against him would last no longer than three months and get thrown out due to abuse of process.

“There was an abuse of process by the authorities,” he said. “That is what is going to be addressed in the first place.

“I feel that the abuse that materialised – if I am not mistaken – has not happened in many, many decades.

“I am hoping to get a fair trial, if this matter goes to trial.

The former Tory party donor, who fled the country in 1993 while facing 66 charges of theft relating to a £34 million fraud, also indicated that he was willing to give more money to the Conservatives.

He said he hoped the new Government would be “wise enough and think highly enough of Great Britain to clear this matter”

Is poverty in India linked to shame?

 London :A major international study will be conducted in eight countries, including India, to examine whether shame is a key part of the experience of being poor.

The half-a-million-pound study, led by Professor Robert Walker from Oxford University, will look at whether being poor necessarily results in low self esteem or feelings of shame and whether welfare policies are counterproductive when claimants are stigmatised.

The research, spanning eight countries, aims to improve our understanding of the impact of poverty to establish whether anti-poverty measures could be applied more effectively.

A team of a dozen researchers will conduct-depth interviews with children and their parents about how being poor affects the way they feel about themselves and the way they are regarded by their own community.

They will interview families in UK, Norway, China, India, Pakistan, Uganda, South Korea and Germany.

As well as comparing experiences across countries, the study will include differences between rural areas, cities and towns.

Professor Walker, from the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Oxford, said: “Very little is known about the way people in different countries experience and regard poverty. (It) has been suggested that, in China, for example, it might be more important for adults, even in poor families, to maintain \’face\’ and to uphold their own sense of dignity.

\”In parts of India and Pakistan it is possible that loss of \’family honour\’ adds to any sense of personal shame\”.

\”This is the first time an academic study has been set up to analyse the importance of shame in understanding the experience of poverty in very different cultures,\” Walker added.

The research team will analyse whether there is a link between poverty and shame: through its portrayal in literature and film; in-depth interviews with low-income households; and focus groups with middle-class people on their view of poverty.

The researchers will carry out a statistical analysis of existing data on poverty in the World Values Survey.

They will also explore the language and practices used by the agencies responsible for implementing social assistance and anti poverty programmes to see whether they are more or less likely to make people ashamed of asking for help.

Professor Walker said: \”Language is loaded with all sorts of nuances and subtleties: phrases like \’sink estates\’, \’hand-outs\’, \’deserving\’ and \’undeserving\’, even \’rights and responsibilities\’, make judgements on the poor\”.

\”We hope this study helps to inform policy development, both in the UK and abroad. Our objective is to use this research to work together with policymakers and agencies to deliver policies that tackle poverty effectively while simultaneously recognising the importance of promoting dignity and a sense of self-respect,\” he added.

The renaissance of New Orleans

On the calendar of anniversary events in New Orleans (26 August 2010) five years after Hurricane Katrina, one stands out: a party at the Eiffel Society, a new restaurant and lounge on St Charles Avenue, where guests will be asked to celebrate something good the storm left behind: a burgeoning and highly boisterous arts scene.
It’s an eruption that has provoked – and is sustained by – an influx of mostly young and creative people from across the US, all with the common hope of finding inspiration and purpose in the battered urban landscape of the city, including painters, film-makers, dancers, designers, musicians and architects.
Some will be at the party on St Charles, like the American painter Elliott Coon. This spring, she and friends with the Life is Art Foundation here in New Orleans, spent 30 days barricaded inside the octagon structure of glass and steel (it was once part of the tower in Paris), sleeping, eating, working and playing without leaving it once, though they were occasionally joined in their experiment by other artists.
The result will be on view for all the party’s guests, set to include the city’s new mayor and enthusiast for the arts, Mitch Landrieu, and the economist Jeffrey Sachs. Never mind what’s for dinner; look at the art they have installed, whether it’s the pagan-like labyrinth painted in grey and gold leaf across most of its floor by Coon or the mesmerisingly delicate embroideries of naked figures suspended like cobwebs in the central skylight by the British artist, Louise Riley. (Riley was there for much of the live-in too.)
Other pieces – there are 20 – include a book table from wood salvaged from Katrina-stricken homes by Robert Tennan, a legendary figure among New Orleans art-goers, and, hanging over the kitchen door, a slate-grey photograph of a tug surrounded by oil from the BP spill taken by Edward Burtynsky.
What may not still be there is a very large igloo sculpture by Daphane Park that diners are invited to step into.
Giving a reporter a sneak tour, Coon speaks of her own experience visiting New Orleans two-and-a-half years ago from Virginia where she was living at that time. She expected to be here for a month. “It was like there was this rebirth going on in the city. I just stayed,” she explains with a broad smile, aware that in staying she was becoming part of a club of people in New Orleans that is hardly exclusive.
Michael Martin, 24, who is doing a masters degree on the role of cultural activity in recovering economies, did the same, arriving from New York at the beginning of last year. Today, he has no plans to leave. “Most my friends are either artists or designers or architects,”he says. “We are all here doing creative things, because New Orleans is just this amazing palate that gives you space to do what you like.”
Kristian Hansen, 31, arrived a few months before Katrina from his native California and bought a house. The storm destroyed it and today he rents in the grandly eccentric (and art-stuffed) home of Tennan and his wife, Jeanne Nathan, on Esplanade Avenue. Renting is fine, he says, but best of all is the growth of a film production company he co-founded here with a friend. Called Tungsten Monkey, its newest project is a nearly completed documentary feature about a young New Orleanian from a well-to-do-family who travels to the jungles of Peru in search of salvation from drug addiction.
Hansen explains his own infatuation with the city while celebrating his business partner’s 30th birthday at Bacchanal, a free-wheeling wine bar and restaurant in the Ninth Ward, as a jazz quintet competes with thunder. The restaurant is frequently used a set for David Simon’s new HBO drama series set in New Orleans, Treme, which is itself is another testament to the city’s awakening. The same goes for Spike Lee’s new documentary film about Katrina and its aftermath, If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise which premiered on HBO.
Those projects are a reminder that the soil for creative activity has, of course, always been fertile in New Orleans. The visual arts scene may never have been as rich as it is today in the wake of the storm, but in other ways the city has always claimed its place on this country’s cultural stage, with a traditon for fiesta and carnival driven in the first instance by Catholic holidays, like lent, Easter and Christmas. It is, above all, of course, a city of jazz and of cuisine. And Mardi Gras.
“I didn’t expect to stay, but New Orleans turned out to be like a crazy girlfriend and it’s hard to leave,” Hansen says. “It is a city that has a character that is tangible. On a more pragmatic level, there are just so many options for me here much more than there would be if I stayed out west. There is work and a constant stream of film people coming in right now.”
Delighted but not surprised by the cultural re-blossoming are Tennan and his wife in their rambling Esplanade mansion. “One step up from a storage facility,” is Bob’s wry description of the house which doubles as a chaotic gallery dedicated to his art and the art of friends. They recall coming to New Orleans from New York in the mid-70s and finding that it had only two contemporary art galleries. Before long they had founded the Contemporary Arts Centre of New Orleans to help fill the void. In the wake of Katrina, Jeanne took over an abandoned school and turned it into an ad hoc crucible for new works with at one point as many as 160 artists contributing. The city has taken the school back now, however.
Outside foundations played their part offering grants and funding. Last year, New Orleans native Michale Manjarris organised a city-wide show of public art with sculptures from the likes of the laainds down, the expectation is that the scene will continue to flourish all on its own.

Statesman Print Journalism School

It was set up in 2008 by the C.R. Irani Foundation, a not-for-profit body set up in memory of Cushrow Russi Irani, who was Editor-in-Chief of The Statesman from 1991 until his death in July 2005.

The late Cushrow Irani was a distinguished newspaperman, who won the Commonwealth Astor Prize and the Freedom House Medal for his role in safeguarding freedom of the Press in India. He was twice chairman of the International Press Institute, served on the board of Article XIX with distinction, headed several important professional bodies including the Indian Newspaper Society, the Audit Bureau of Circulations and Press Trust of India, and was a member of the National Commission to Review the Constitution. The SPJS has been set up with support from Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

Factory growth in Asian countries outstrips Europe

Manufacturing in China, India and Russia powered ahead in August while growth slowed in European factories, emphasising a growing divide in the pace of recovery between the rich and emerging worlds.

Between the euro zone’s biggest four economies there was strong evidence of diverging fortunes, with the bloc’s manufacturing sector overall expanding at its slowest pace since February, surveys showed on Wednesday.

Equivalent figures from the United States, due at 1400 GMT, are expected to show an easing of manufacturing growth, adding to investor unease about a stalling recovery there, a concern the Federal Reserve has openly recognized.

The Markit Euro zone Manufacturing PMI for August dropped to 55.1 from 56.7 in July but nudged up from an earlier flash estimate of 55.0 and marked its 11th month above the 50.0 mark that divides growth from contraction.

Manufacturing growth in Germany slowed in August although other recent data show Europe’s biggest economy is expanding fast. Business in France accelerated but Italy and Spain saw their manufacturing indexes slip backwards.

“We are at a delicate juncture of the global business cycle. Globally there is a slowdown in the trade cycle which first affects the economies which are reliant on that,” said Silvio Peruzzo at RBS.

“Just as they were benefitting from the acceleration in Q4 2009 and Q1 2010, they will now be subject to the downturn and this will amplify the divergence we are seeing.”

Britain, a major euro zone trading partner, saw growth in its manufacturing sector slow more than expected last month, led by the weakest expansion in new orders for more than a year.                              

In contrast, a pair of China’s manufacturing surveys showed activity picked up last month after a government-engineered slowdown, and Indian factories stayed in top gear after Asia’s third-largest economy grew at its fastest rate in nearly three years in the last quarter.

Factories in Russia — part of the BRIC quartet of new economic powers alongside China, India and Brazil — also cranked up output, expanding at their fastest rate in 28 months largely thanks to the strong domestic demand.

HSBC’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China rose to a three-month high of 51.9 in August from 49.4 in July, while the official index also rose, to 51.7 from 51.2.

Optimism that Beijing was succeeding in shifting toward more domestic-driven and sustained growth after a credit-fueled spurt early this year helped lift Asian stocks and metals markets largely dependent on demand from China.

“This reconfirms our long-held view that China is moderating rather than melting down,” said Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC.

Its ever-growing influence showed up in Australia which grew 1.2 percent in the second quarter, beating market forecasts largely due to China’s and India’s voracious appetite for Australia’s resource riches from coal to wheat.

But even China, which by some measures has already overtaken Japan as the world’s second-largest economy, is not entirely immune to global economic headwinds with its PMI showing factory activity and new orders growth slowing markedly.

Fears that recovery in the United States was petering out and could stall the global upturn led by export-driven Asian economies as well as Germany have haunted markets, pushing the global stock index down more than 3 percent last month.

A US PMI index due from the Institute for Supply Management is expected to ease to 53 in August from 55.5, still safely above 50 that separates growth from contraction.

Investors, however, will look at new orders data for any signs whether manufacturing growth can be sustained.

With unemployment stuck near 10 percent and the impact of the government’s $862 billion economic stimulus fading, investors worry that even if the US economy avoids a double-dip recession it may face a period of near-stagnation.

The big question then would be whether Asia and Europe’s biggest powers could carry on prospering or would inevitably be dragged down with the world’s largest economy, whose markets they are still heavily reliant on for export demand.

The real shock for savers in Tony Blair’s book

Never mind the tittle tattle about how Tony Blar says he hit the bottle during his final years in Downing Street. Nor his wearily familiar defence of the dodgy dossier and our subsequent invasion of Iraq.

No, what really shocks me about Mr Blair’s autobiography is his account of how millions of ordinary people’s retirement plans were reduced to a mere bargaining chip in what sounds like a game of political strip poker between him and Gordon Brown.

The former Prime Minister describes how he supported pension reforms proposed by Adair Turner but these were opposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer at that time. Lord Turner recommended raising the State pension age and restoring some linkage with earnings – both changes now planned by the Coalition Government – but Mr Brown was thought to be against these reforms. Now we know just how much so.

Mr Blair’s book ‘A Journey’ says: “We had been having a huge set-to about Adair Turner’s pension proposals. John Hutton (the pensions secretary) and I both thought them right but Gordon disagreed.

“He was in a venomous mood and I can truthfully say it was the ugliest meeting we had ever had…the temperature which was already below freezing point went Arctic.”

Mr Blair goes on to relate how Mr Brown threatened to call for an inquiry into allegations that wealthy friends of the Prime Minister had gained seats in the House of Lords after making donations to the Labour Party. Mr Blair claims Mr Brown said he would expose what became known as the ‘cash for honours’ scandal unless Lord Turner’s proposals were dropped.

As I pointed out in this space at the time: “The Chancellor has waited a long time to become Prime Minister and has no wish to go to the polls offering the voters the chance to “work till you drop”. One in five men and one in eight women never reach the age of 67.

“Mr Brown knows there is rising awareness of how public sector employees can still retire at 60 on pensions heavily subsidised by the taxpayer. Worse, the £5billion tax on pensions he imposed in his first Budget as “a reform of advanced corporation tax” is now widely recognised as the biggest stealth tax of all and a major contributor to company pension deficits and closures.”

As it turned out, the demographics of an ageing population eventually proved irresistible and the ‘cash for honours’ story soon seemed small beer compared to the mass fraud of the MPs’ expenses scandal. Even so, I agree with Mike Warburton of accountants Grant Thornton who said: “I find it extraordinary that something as important as pensions planning for our population, indeed I would argue that it is  the single most important financial issue facing us, should be relegated to  little more than a bargaining chip in the  wholly  unrelated matter of political party funding.”

Mr Blair’s revelation of what goes on behind closed doors in Downing Street demonstrates why our pensions have been so badly mishandled by several governments. Saving for retirement requires long term planning but, on the evidence of these memoirs, most politicians seem to struggle to think further ahead than the next publicity stunt or botched back-stabbing.

Loan fraudsters face Cibil crackdown

Cibil Mortgage Check would help banks and financial institutions share and access mortgage information, exercise better due diligence, and thus help reduce fraudulent property transactions. This will also bring in more transparent and a factual mine of information about loan seekers, and more importantly about the property being sought to be mortgaged.

Cibil Mortgage Check, launched jointly by the country\’s largest credit information service provider Cibil (Credit Information Bureau of India) and TransUnion—a global leader in credit and information management services—in consultation with property market regulator National Housing Bank (NHB).

Launching this new tool here today, NHB chairman S Sridhar, who is also the CMD of Central Bank of India, said, \”Cibil Mortgage Check will help contain a lot of fraudulent activities in residential property marketplace that has been growing at a CAGR of 40 per cent since the past five years.\”

Sridhar further said, as the sectoral regulator, NHB has been working with Cibil to create this platform so that the lenders have access to ready and credible information on loan seekers as well as their properties.

Sridhar also informed that NHB is working on bringing out a property price index which will help contain excessive speculation in the marketplace.

On the proposed standards for residential property valuation, he said, NHB has already finalised a draft and sent it the Indian Bank Association for comments.

Launching the tool, Cibil managing director Arun Thukral said here today, \”lenders have been reporting rising cases of fraudulent transactions in housing sector. Realising the urgent requirement of an industry-wide system for fraud control, NHB advised us to develop an exhaustive repository of information on mortgages that will help contain defaults and fraudulent transactions by enabling informed decisions.

\”This solution will serve as a due diligence tool for credit granters before establishing business relationship with new customers,\” Thukral added.

This new service will help all sorts of lenders access ready information from Cibil and thus prevent fraudulent mortgage loan seekers from getting away.

Mortgage Check primarily offer two set of information-the personal information about the applicant, and secondly the complete chain of information about the property being sought to be mortgaged. It will also offer detailed reference database containing information on properties on which owners have already availed loans, and detail of those loans among others.

The second part assumes significance as the latest Reserve Bank report says the number of fraudulent activities such as fake and forged sales deeds, multiple copies of sales deeds, sale deeds of fictitious property and multiple financing in the home loan space, have witnessed a massive 75 per cent spike in the past five years.

Cibil has already got a data base of over 6 million and 25 lenders as members for the Mortgage Check tool. Cibil, which entered the country only in 2009, already sits over a data mine of 160 million and a customer base of 250 lenders.

Aren’t you trespassing, Milord?

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread! That’s an ancient cautionary axiom. Nevertheless this fool cannot help but rush into the hallowed territory of the Supreme Court (SC) to clarify doubts troubling his mind. Last Tuesday, the SC admonished Union food minister Sharad Pawar for daring to state that its order to distribute rotting food grains free of cost to the poor was a suggestion. The court sternly conveyed that its order was a command to be obeyed and not a suggestion to be considered. The minister had opined that the court’s suggestion was not practical to implement. The court’s order was in response to a petition.
The court’s opinion about distributing grain free to the poor instead of allowing it to rot was unexceptionable. It reflected the overwhelming view of politicians and public alike. In justification of its order the court said: “We do not say anything unreasonable.” That is absolutely correct. The court was very reasonable. But was it constitutional? Can the SC encroach, however sensibly, into the domain of the executive? This is the question that the Supreme Court and all the distinguished legal luminaries who frequently grace TV channels with their pontificating need to clarify for ignorant laymen like this scribe.
Article 50 of the Indian Constitution states: “The State shall take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State.”
Citizens have certain fundamental rights. Article 32 (1) gives them “the right to move the Supreme Court by appropriate proceedings for the enforcement of the rights conferred by this Part...” The right to food has not yet been made into an Act. Therefore Article 32 (2) that states, “The Supreme Court shall have the power to issue directions or orders or writs … for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by this Part”, cannot be applicable.
Article 38 (1) of the Constitution states: “The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of the national life.” However Article 37 of the Constitution states: “The provisions contained in this Part shall not be enforceable by any court…”
In the light of the above articles of the Constitution, how could the SC presume to pass an Order equivalent to a command to Sharad Pawar? Any action that violates the Constitution can lead ultimately to very negative results. If indeed the SC overreached its powers, what would have happened if the minister had defied its order to create a constitutional crisis?
One does hope the judges had considered their legal mandate and were not influenced by the earlier example of their predecessors assuming the executive’s powers by overseeing the functioning of the CBI in the Jain hawala case? That left a permanent blot on the SC after it completely botched up an open and shut case. Former Chief Justice JS Verma, who headed the Bench hearing that case, is now demanding that the Jain hawala case should be reopened!
Would you enlighten us Milord, under which constitutional provision you issued your fatwa to the government?

No confrontation intended on foodgrain for poor, Centre to SC

The Centre today told the Supreme Court that it had no intention of having “any confrontation” with it on the issue of distribution of food grain to the country’s poor.
Additional solicitor-general Mr Mohan Parasaran submitted to a Bench comprising Mr Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Mr Justice Deepak Verma that reports appearing in a section of the Press were wrongly implying that the Centre wanted to take on the Supreme Court on the matter. Mr Parasaran also placed on record an affidavit highlighting the various measures taken by the government to distribute food grains at affordable prices to the needy population.
The SC, while taking on record the affidavit, said it was “very happy” at the comprehensive reply filed by the government in pursuance of its earlier direction for supply of food grains at “low cost” or “at no cost”. However, the government affidavit is silent on the SC’s direction for free distribution of food grains to the poor instead of allowing it to rot.
The ASG told the SC that pursuant to its earlier direction, the Centre had decided to allocate 25 lakh additional tonnes of food grain to the states and Union Territories for distribution at BPL prices.
The court’s directive earlier generated a controversy after Union agriculture minister Mr Sharad Pawar insisted that the government was not bound to supply free food grain to the people as the court had only made a suggestion and it was not a directive. The SC, however, clarified on 31 August that what it had issued was an order and not a mere suggestion.
During today’s hearing, the Bench urged the media to report the issue accurately, pointing out that SC orders were regularly posted on the relevant website.

US tough credit card law put in place

The Obama administration has put in place the final provisions for a new financial regulation law, called the CARD Act, which will bring unprecedented controls to bear upon the heretofore lightly regulated credit card industry in the United States.

Speaking after the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act was finalised, United States President Barack Obama said, “Yesterday, the final reform provisions of the CARD Act took effect. As of today, consumers will be protected against unreasonable fees and penalties for late payments, as well as unfair practices involving gift cards.”

Many advantages

Arguing that this law would put a stop to deceptive credit card practices and hold credit card companies accountable to their customers, Mr. Obama noted that it would also make the terms of credit cards more understandable and put a stop to practices designed to trap consumers. Further, the CARD Act would restrict rate increases that apply retroactively to old balances and would prevent companies from increasing rates within the first year an account is opened.

Touching upon the broader context of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that the President signed into law in July, he said a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would be empowered to look out for consumers in the U.S. financial system.

“In the wake of a terrible recession, these reforms and this independent consumer watchdog will not only protect consumers, they’ll strengthen our economy as a whole, levelling the playing field for responsible lenders and ensuring that families and small business owners are better able to make financial decisions that work for them,” he said.

Free food grain for India's poor

Do not get into policy formulation: PM tells SC

6 September 2010

Press Trust of India
NEW DELHI, 6 SEPT: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today gently told the Supreme Court, which recently directed the government to distribute food grains free to the poor, not to get into the “realm of policy formulation”.
”How can food grain be distributed free to an estimated 37 per cent of the population which lives below the poverty line,” Dr Singh wondered during an interaction with editors at his residence here.
He said it was not possible to give food grain free to all of the country’s poor, he said, while answering a question on the order of the SC which had directed agriculture minister Mr Sharad Pawar to distribute food grain to the poor instead of allowing them to rot.
The Prime Minister said he had not seen the final judgment of the court but he respected the “sentiments” behind the decision that required of the government to
meet the needs of the poor at a time when food grains were rotting.
“I do recognise that food should be available to the people below poverty line at concessional prices. We have not allowed any increase in the issue price of food grains to people below poverty line since 2004,” he said.
He said that to the extent possible, the government had taken adequate steps in that direction. At the same time, the Prime Minister said, making food available free would destroy the incentives to farmers to produce more. If there was no food available, there would be nothing to distribute, he said.