Pakistan�s Initiative against Terrorism
Pakistan
has been the victim of international terrorism in the past few months. As a
result of this, a top US official recently said that Islamabad should begin to
crack down on terrorists and terrorist groups operational within the country
immediately. Barrack Obama, President of the United States of America has also
agreed to this statement and feels that Pakistan has been one of the major
victims of international terrorism lately. President Obama also said that
Pakistan needs to take strong and immediate steps against all terrorist groups
operating on Pakistani soil. Furthermore, Assistant Secretary of State for South
and Central Asia Robert Blake said that a number of terrorist groups are
operating in a syndicate and working together against American interests, not
just in the US but in other nations such as Afghanistan and India as well. Mr.
Blake also stated that the US has welcomed every step take by Pakistan so far
and that it is in full support of Pakistan as always.
UN�s terrorism sanctions list
In a
recent and sudden move, a US committee took down several names of al-Qaida and
Taliban terrorists off its terrorism sanction lists. The committee said that the
reason for such an action was that several of the names on the sanctions list
were probably dead. The committee Chairman Thomas Mayr Harting said that
following this step, the committee had started investigations into how many
terrorists put on the list were actually dead. This committee was set up in
1999.
New Government in Iraq
Prolonged
warring and quarrels between rival political factions in Iraq had caused over an
eight month deadlock over the issue of forming the next government. Recently,
the Iraqi Prime Minister appealed to these political factions to work together
and unite following his acceptance of the President�s request to form the next
government. Senior officials admitted that a Herculean task now lay before them,
that of forming a government comprising of members of all possible political
factions. The task has been made harder by the month long deadline to form the
government which will preside over the country�s affair as US troops move out
and power is handed back to the Iraqi people. The new government is expected to
have members from all the political factions such as the Kurds, Shiites and
Sunnis. Prime Minister Designate al-Maliki called upon al Iraqi citizens and
politicians to help him in this difficult task.
Friendly neighbor China
Rising
concerns over China�s assertive and aggressive attitude in the Asian continent
has prompted China�s President Hu Jintao to assure all nations that China is
committed to being a friendly and helpful neighbor. China has been in the news
recently over its spats with neighboring nations over international borders and
territories. The reason for this has been said to be China�s interests in a
group of potentially resource rich islands in the Asian Pacific. Speaking to
leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Japan, President Hu
said that China was committed to the regional policy of building good
neighborliness and friendship.
Rolls Royce sued by Qantas
Australian flight safety officials have recently warned that manufacturing
defects have been found in the Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines. Officials further
urged airlines using these engines to carry extensive checks before using them
because defects present in them could lead to catastrophic failures. In the
meanwhile, Qantas began court proceedings against Rolls Royce and was granted an
injunction by the federal court of Australia which ensured that the airline
could pursue legal action against the engine manufacturing giants.
Myanmar polls called fake
The first
democratic polls in Myanmar after several years of military rule were held among
complaints of threats, intimidation and accusations of the polls being a
charade. In most constituencies, the poll was a competition between the Union
Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the National Unity Party (NUS).
Several accusations were made by opposition parties against the USDP, claiming
that they illegally collected advanced ballots. USA and UK officials also voiced
their concerns about the transparency and fairness of these polls.
China�s slowest growth
China had
its slowest rate of economic growth in a year during the September quarter. In
addition to this, a World Bank report hinted at a further decrease in its
economic growth. One of the reasons for this has been the long term inflation
that China has faced for almost two years. China�s industrial growth has also
fallen considerably in recent times. This slow growth in China�s economy has
gotten many people to believe that India might be the next economic superpower
to rise because of its high levels of industrial and economic growth in recent
times. Though not immediately, but experts predicted India�s rate of growth to
exceed that of China�s by a considerable margin in the next five years.
Obama wins 50,000 jobs in 20 deals worth over $10 b
US President Barack Obama has
announced $10 billion in new trade deals with India. He was speaking in Mumbai
at the start of a 10-day Asian tour designed to boost US exports and create
jobs.
Mr Obama, who arrived here
on a three-day tour of the country, also announced that the US will lift export
controls on high technology products to India, to facilitate two-way trade
between both the countries.
Some of
the deals expected to contribute to this included:
� The sale by Boeing of 30 new 737 aircraft to private Indian airline SpiceJet.
The White House says this will help support over 12,000 US jobs.
� Preliminary agreement had been reached on the Indian purchase of 10 Boeing
C-17s military transport planes.
� The sale by GE of fighter 107 F414 jet engines to the Indian military.
� A separate deal with GE worth $500m (�309m) for the sale of six heavy duty gas
turbines and three steam turbines to India�s Reliance Energy Ltd.
� Harley-Davidson plans a new plant in India to assemble American-made
motorcycle kits.
� The White House said India had identified GE subsidiary GE Transportation,
based in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Electro-Motive Diesel, of LaGrange, Illinois, a
unit of Caterpillar Inc, as bidders to supply Indian railways with over 1,000
diesel locomotives over 10 years
India
orders may create 7 lakh jobs in US in 10 years
Industry body CII on 7th November,
2010 said sourcing of infrastructure equipment, nuclear hardware and military
aircraft from the US by India could create over seven lakh jobs in America in
the next ten years.
A CII survey of member
firms with operations in the US clearly shows that Indian business is now
engaged across a wide spectrum of sectors in America, and not just IT and ITeS.
The Report, �India � A
Growth Partner in the Indian Economy�, estimates that, �India sourcing of US
military and nuclear hardware and civilian aircraft could create over 700,000
jobs in the US over the next ten years.
Indira
Gandhi 9th most powerful woman of the century
Indira Gandhi, world�s
longest serving woman Prime Minister, has been ranked
by the Time magazine as the 9th most powerful woman of
the past century, a list that also includes Mother Teresa.
The list of �25 Most
Powerful Women of the Past Century� is topped by Jane Addams, an outspoken
advocate for women�s suffrage, who was the first American woman to win the Nobel
Peace Prize.
Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton is ranked sixth on the list.
Besides Gandhi and Mother
Teresa, who is ranked 22nd, no other woman from the sub-continent figures in the
Time magazine list released on 20th November 2010.
When Gandhi was elected
Prime Minister in 1966, a TIME cover line had read, �Troubled India in a Woman�s
Hands�.
She served three
consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and was in the middle of her fourth term
from 1980 when she was assassinated in 1984.
By the time she was
assassinated, Gandhi was the world�s longest-serving woman Prime Minister, a
distinction she holds to this day, the magazine said.
The list of 25 also
includes Marie Curie, Madonna, Golda Meir, Angela Merkel, Eleanor Roosevelt,
Margaret Thatcher, Oprah Winfrey and Virginia Woolf.
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