IV. International (09-01-06)
.
The history problem in
Asia is not just
Japan’s
problem. China
and Korea
have biased nationalist histories to address as well.
.
While apologies and conciliatory behavior from Tokyo may
show the most immediate obstacles to cooperation with
China and Korea, this is a long way from these countries
accepting Japanese leadership.
. An
estimated 250 million people are infected with malaria
each year and some 1 million people die annually,
according to researchers. Health ministers from 11 South
and SE Asian nations have pledged to step up the fight
against the spread of malaria in the region.
.
Pentagon officials tell
us
China is
engaged in massive electronic eavesdropping through a
series of ground stations, many in western China. They
collect hundreds of thousands of emails that transit
cyberspace through satellites.
.
China has forged an alliance with Iran and can be
counted on to block truly meaningful measures against
the mullahocracy at the UN Security Council. This
deepening alliance with
Iran
is inexcusable.
. The US
basically funds China’s economic expansion. Should
Americans stop buying cheap Chinese products, the
expansion would stop. Should US
investment bankers suddenly turn away from
China, instead of
continuing to invest in its ascent, Beijing’s schemes
and dreams of world domination would end up on the trash
heap of history, like so much China-made Wal-Mart junk.
.
Lawmakers from the
ruling party in
Taiwan
claimed to have uncovered evidence that the leader of a
campaign to oust the president was controlled by a
corrupt businessman on the nation’s list of 10 most
wanted fugitives. Chen Yu-hao fled to China for
allegedly embezzling more than $1.8 billion from
Tuntex Group.
.
A pathogenic analysis
report made public by the Center for Disease Control
(CDC) dispelled rumors that a human bird flu case
had recently been reported in Taiwan.
.
The central govt does not have the authority to ask
Taipei City Govt to revoke the permission it gave
for a 15-day anti-Chen Shui-bian sit-in, even though it
considers such a round-the-clock protest inappropriate.
.
A Japanese tanker
spilled about 1.4 million gallons of crude oil in the
eastern Indian Ocean following a collision with a cargo
ship, said
Japan’s Kyodo News Service. About 4500 tons may
have been the largest involving a Japanese tanker.
.
Number of births registered with local government
offices between Jan & June increased for the first time
in six years, according to a new health ministry report.
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In a nationwide first,
all 5 hospitals run by
Fukuoka Prefecture
will be privatized by April as the institutions struggle
with financial difficulties. Three were already
privatized in 2005; they are looking for buyers for the
other two.
. Many
regional electric utilities are reducing their purchases
of clean wind-generated electricity because of concern
over fluctuations in their electric power grids.
. South Korea
is considering offering relief goods to flood-hit
North Korea
amidst soured relations between the two Koreas over
Pyongyang’s missile launches last month. Nearly 300
people died after 3 major storms.
.
Torrential rains in
North Korea
destroyed 3,000 hectares of arable land and submerged
20,000 hectares, said the Food & Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the UN.
.
A group of 35-member
governing Uri Party lawmakers called on Pres.
Bush to include products from an inter-Korean industrial
park in a free trade agreement.
.
Korean Air will ask Boeing to reimburse at
least 12 billion won (or $12 million) it spent
making its aircraft compatible with in-flight wireless
Internet service Commission by Boeing (CBA).
.
South Korea’s national
debt is expected to reach a record 280 trillion this
year as the government has issued more state bonds to
finance, expanding social welfare programs.
. Philippine
congressmen are divided over Pres. GMA’s decision to
create an independent commission to probe the killings
of members of various leftist organizations and members
of the media.
.
The 15-member Board of Equitable-PCI Bank has
decided to place in auction block the controversial
10.8% shares of the bank, otherwise known as treasury
shares currently held by its wholly-owned subsidiary,
EBCI Investment Inc.
.
RP needs to create a Developing Country Urban Fund
so as to bundle small scale carbon emission reduction
(CER) projects and enable them to earn carbon credits
and access world markets now estimated at a minimum of a
billion.
.
USAID
has earmarked $41 million as development grants for
Mindanao out of
the total allocation of $70 million for 2006.
. Thailand’s
political pundits have indicated that beleaguered PM
Thaksin Shinawatra will most likely not accept the
premiership seat in the coming general election.
.
The Ministry of Finance has conceded that excess
liquidity in the Thai banking system remains high
resulting in a lack of efficiency in the management of
local interest rate.
.
The Thai economy remains engulfed with many risk
factors, including political uncertainties and stronger
baht which would slow the country’s export
growth, said a leading economist.
.
Many of the
international aid team that arrived in June in
Indonesia after the quake have left, but locals have
asked a medical team from Cuba to stay on for
another 6 months.
. Health
Ministry officials distributed Tamiflu to
some 2100 people in Cikelet, a group of villages
in Garret District,
West Java,
where 3 people have been infected with the avian
influenza virus.
.
Despite planned adjustments in inter-connection rates
for telecom operators to take effect in Jan next year,
the govt will not raise charges on fixed-line phones due
to concerns about low consumer purchasing power.
.
With terrorists
resorting to high tech methods, corporations—especially
the high tech industry—have become a crucial poaching
ground for terrorist factories across the world.
India
is no different!
.
The recent statements of government officials, that the
rise in food prices has been checked, may provide cold
comfort for consumers, especially in rural areas.
.
Private equity and venture capital investments are
expected to rise to $6.3 billion for the current year,
up from $2.2 billion last year, as per report by
Evalueserver.
. College
quotas drew protest in New Delhi against a government
proposal to reserve more places in professional colleges
for lower-caste candidates.
.
The Pakistani
government has offered the automobile industry an 8-year
pre-announced tariff policy, including establishment of
a fund worth Rs 6 billion for competitiveness,
technology acquisition, research & development and 2
auto clusters in its plan to develop the sector on
sustainable footing, sources told Business Recorder.
.
The government has decided to quash two major conditions
of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 to encourage the
amalgamation of non-resident corporate companies with
the resident entities as per new market developments.
. A
large-scale exercise has been started to identify tax
evaders through cross-matching the capital value tax
(CVT) data on income tax statements which contain
information about purchase of vehicles and transfer of
property with the income tax returns.
.
The government of
Sri Lanka
will take all steps necessary to take services centered
in the cities to remote areas of the country, said
President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
. The Sri
Lankan government has defied growing condemnation of its
actions and declared that it considered children and
young people killed in an air strike to be combatants
and legitimate targets.
. The
government has launched a program to document and
prepare an inventory of assets belonging to state
institutions and government ministries with the view to
manage them and put them to good use.
.
In deployment of
Bangladeshi troops to
Lebanon for peacekeeping
under the UN Security Council Resolution 1701
has become uncertain as Dhaka is not yet clear
about terms of engagement and Israel opposed the
deployment of peacekeepers from countries it has no
diplomatic relations with.
.
The High Court stayed for 3 months the process of
divestment of government shares in Rupai Bank
Ltd. Two members of the court also issued a rule to
the government to explain within 3 weeks why the process
of selling off the bank should not be declared illegal.
.
Finance & Planning Minister (M. Srifur Rahman)
said there would be no dearth of money for the
development of children in the country. He promised to
make female education free up to the university level,
if the BNP is elected to power again.
. Malaysia’s
ruling which requires 30% Bumiputera’s equity in some
businesses has not affected the inflow of foreign
investments into the country.
.
Low used car value and tighter loan procedures have
caused domestic car sales to drop, says Malaysian
Automotive Association.
.
VEM World posts net profit of RM42 million for Q2
due mainly to a profitable quarter for the cement
division sale of 362.8ha of land by its property unit
and its share of positive results from foreign
associates.
.
The Malaysian market should become more competitive for
the rest of the year, but profits will see a boost from
its Indian operations, say company officials.
