IV. International (02-15-07)
.
The recent mission of
the USNS Mercy that took the Navy hospital ship and its
staff from the
Philippines to Bangladesh, Indonesia and E. Timor was
much more than a humanitarian effort. It was a way to
project American values across a part of the globe mired
in poverty and susceptible to the incendiary enticements
of terrorist recruiters.
.
At the end of a 3-day dialogue between
China
and Japan, the 2
countries pledged to improve relations ahead of a visit
by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Japan in April.
. Asian
urbanization is a global problem that should be at
the forefront of donors’ agendas, a top official of the
Asian Development Bank told participants of a conference
in Manila.
. Chinese
mega-banks are not banks—at least not the way we
understand them. Carved out of the old Communist banking
system over 10 years ago, the state-owned banks’ role
has been to bankroll the government’s massive
infrastructure projects and to keep otherwise bankrupt
state-owned enterprises (SOEs) afloat.
.
As arms of the Communist
government, Chinese banks have had no incentive to learn
the disciplines of basic banking. Conversely, loan
applicants never have to cobble together a business plan
to get a loan, or suffer the negative consequences of
failure.
. Since the
mid-1990s, China
has aggressively courted foreign investment, crediting
capital from abroad with helping it become a world
economic power. In recent months, however, the Chinese
government said it needs to protect home-grown companies
from unfair competition, and has thrown a multitude of
new regulations at foreign firms seeking to do business
in China.
.
Ever since the
International Whaling Commission banned commercial
whaling in 1986,
Japan
has used a curious rationale for its whaling. It does
not kill a thousand whales for commercial purposes. It
kills them for scientific research.
.
Japan’s health minister
did nothing to endear himself to female voters over the
weekend when he described women as “birth-giving
machines,” and implored them to “do their best” to halt
the country’s declining birthrate.
.
Sony blamed the launching costs of its PlayStation 3
game console for much of the 5% drop in group net
profit for the last 3 months of 2006 to 159.9 billion
yen ($1.3 billion).
. South Korea’s
efforts to hold into account it biggest and most
powerful companies took a major step toward a court’s
decision to send one of the country’s top business
leaders to prison for 3 years following a conviction on
embezzlement and fraud charges.
.
The income gap between rich and poor households widened
to a record level amid lackluster job growth and
sluggish consumer spending, government data showed. The
Gini index, a barometer of income and equality,
also rose to a record high of 0.351 for 2006, the New
Statistics Office noted.
. The
government’s plan to reduce the length of compulsory
military service has triggered concerns among experts
and politicians about possible budget constraints and a
weakening of the nation’s combat capabilities. It will
gradually shorten the period of obligatory military
service by 6 months by 2014 and introduced new forms of
replacement duty.
.
Aviation authorities
have refused to extend an international safety
certificate to
Bangkok’s (Thailand)
new international airport (Suvarnabhumi airport), which
was enmeshed in one corruption scandal after another
during its construction. Since its opening last Sept,
problems have surfaced ranging from an inadequate number
of toilets to cracks to taxiways leading to the runway.
Probes are being carried out into a number of corrupt
deals related to the facility.
. The
Assets Scrutiny Committee has filed criminal charges
against 4 companies and their executives it says
colluded with politicians and officials in the
procurement of Suvarnabhumi’s “overpriced”
baggage-handling system, which included the CTX bomb
scanners.
.
The Muslim student network PNYS
(Pattani-Narathinat-Yala-Songkhalasatun) at Ramkhamhaeng
University is disputing allegations that one of its
members had a hand in the New Year bomb attacks in
Bangkok and Nonthaburi or southern separatism of any
kind.
.
The Philippine
National Police (PNP) has been allocated R1.1
billion to beef up its ranks, modernize equipment and
buy more firearms, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr.
said.
.
Malacanang said it remains unfazed by the failure of the
government to privatize the National Transmission
Corps (TransCo) even as Pres. GMA expressed
confidence that the power company’s 25-year concession
would be sold in the next round of bidding.
.
The National Food Authority (NFA) paid out P700
million to rice farmers last year for the purchase of
1.4 million bags of palay. The NFA purchases about 5% of
total palay production.
. Indonesia
would lose about
2,000 islands by 2030 due to climate changes, the
country’s environment minister said.
. Filthy
flood water has inundated large part of Indonesia’s
capital, sparking fears that killer diseases may spread
among nearly 340,000 people forced out from their homes
by the worst flooding t hit the tropical city in recent
memory.
.
The Greater Jakarta suffered trillions of rupiah
(Rp 4.1 trillion = $45055 million). The figure of
economic losses issued by the government is different
from the one issued by a nongovernmental organization.
Greenomics Indonesia said the losses reached some
Rp 7.3 trillion suffered by industry agricultures,
utilities, telecommunications, transportations, services
and tourism.
.
West Irian Jaya has changed its name to West
Papua as announced by the Provincial Council
Speaker. The new name became official on Feb. 7, 2007.
.
At the 11th
hour,
Malaysia’s 7th
biggest lender offered RM1.80 for each RHB share and
offered RM8.75 billion for the assets of RHB capital.
.
A proposed new company (newco) that will group Proton
dealers nationwide should handle sales in excess of RM5
billion based on a volume of 100,000 cars per year,
promoters of the exercise say.
.
TuneMoney.com, founded by Datuk Tony Fernandes,
will target its financial products at clients that banks
and financial services providers have ignored in the
past.
.
Lured by the booming
Indian economy and fed up with living as outsiders
in a foreign society, many Indian and other South Asian
immigrants in the US are returning to their homeland—and
bringing with them cutting edge American skills.
. India’s
Tata Steel is set to become the world’s
fifth-largest steelmaker after winning a battle for
Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus Group with a 6.2
billion pounds ($14 billion) offer.
.
Car maker Maruti
Udyog Limited (MUL) said it has recorded highest
ever monthly domestic sales for Jan at 62,248 vehicles,
a growth of 28.3% over the corresponding month last
year. The latest figures surpassed the previous high of
61,141 vehicles sold in March 2006.
.
Five years later, little
in Pakistan
has changed. Pres. Musharraf is still promising a
moderate and tolerated regime—but there are still
reports that his army s quietly helping the Taliban.
He’s also promising democracy—but just as in 2006, he’s
preparing to rig Pakistan’s upcoming presidential and
parliamentary elections to ensure that his term is
extended and his power unchallenged.
.
Pakistan’s powerful Inter Services Intelligence
has been secretly training and equipping the Taliban.
Experts say that the agency doesn’t make a move without
Pres. Musharraf’s knowledge and approval.
.
Breaking into the high-security zone of Islamabad
International Airport, an alleged terrorist
apparently blew himself up after a gun battle with
security personnel. Three officials of the Airport
Security Force (ASF) and Elite Force of the
police were wounded critically.
