Emerging Market Decides the Fate Of Asia

Emerging Market Decides the Fate Of Asia

Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: alashbiswaskl@gmail.com">palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Emerging-market CEOs used to play it quiet. Now some are embracing capitalist celebrity, flaunting their winnings in the public eye.
By Joseph Contreras
Newsweek International
Oct. 8, 2007 issue - Most CEOs favor pinstripes and French cuffs. Not Yevgeny Chichvarkin. Last year, when the brash Muscovite cell-phone magnate gave a keynote address at a London conference on the Russian economy, he wore ripped jeans and a red leather biker jacket. Marketing campaigns for his Evroset chain of cell-phone and electronics stores leave little to the imagination—"When our competitors see our prices, they'll know they're screwed." But behind his swagger and expensive sports cars is a dead-serious businessman. Evroset, now the third largest retailer in Russia, had $4.62 billion in sales last year at 5,200 branches in a dozen countries. And unlike oligarchs who made their money slicing and dicing companies once owned by the Soviet state, Chichvarkin did it on his own—and he isn't modest about his achievements. "This country has never seen a company like ours," he boasts. "I have 37,000 employees, and I don't want to run them the way Russian companies used to manage people. I have a simple logic—make money and teach the person next to you how to make money."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21047402/site/newsweek/
ULFA-BLAST
ULFA attacks police outpost
Guwahati: The outlawed ULFA today attacked
a police outpost in Assam's Nagaon district exploding a
grenade and damaging a couple of vehicles parked there but
there were no injuries.
The grenade thrown at the Itachali police outpost,
situated in the heart of Nagaon town, exploded in the open
field next to it, police said. A car and a motorcycle were
damaged. No one was injured in the blast.
In order to expedite the process for formulation of the 11th plan, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked the Planning Commission to do away with the regional consultations with the state chief ministers. The PMO, in a communication to the Planning Commission, has said that the approach paper to the plan was prepared in consultation with states and hence further deliberations with the state governments may be dispensed with. In the usual course, the plan document is finalised after regional consultations, which take place at six centres with the chief ministers of that particular region and the deputy chairman and members of the Planning Commission.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that he will resign as army chief before November 15 and hoped by then Pakistan's political situation has settled "for the better".
Burma’s military rulers have restricted the movement of food during the ongoing political unrest, hampering UN efforts to feed some 500,000 people in the impoverished country, the World Food Program said. After days of delays, Myanmar's reclusive junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, finally granted an audience Tuesday to a U.N. envoy hoping to broker an end to Myanmar's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. The government later permitted a second encounter between the diplomat and Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained Nobel laureate who has come to symbolize the yearning for democracy in Myanmar.
Ibrahim Gambari, the U.N.'s special envoy, met Than Shwe in the junta's remote new capital, Naypyitaw, a U.N. statement said. It said he then flew to Yangon and talked to Suu Kyi.

"We appeal to the authorities for access to all parts of the country," WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a statement on Friday. She said the hungry are primarily young children, as well as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis patients who desperately need assistance. The WFP’s operations "rely on the government to facilitate the movement of food and personnel," she said.The junta’s forces opened fire on two days to crush demonstrations by Buddhist monks and civilians, who have been demanding an end to military rule and the restoration of democracy.
Two separate demonstrations were held in Indonesia on Wednesday outside the Myanmar embassy to urge the military junta there to stop using violence after a deadly crackdown on mass protests.
In United Anations,Pakistan raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, including the alleged human rights violations, and also the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal at the United Nations on Wednesday.Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan also took a stand opposite of India on the issue of Security Council reforms. In his speech at the UN General Assembly, Khan said India and Pak must now seize the opportunity provided by conducive international and regional environment to address the problems ''especially the Jammu and Kashmir that has been at the heart of conflict and tension'' in South Asia.Khan is leading Pakistan's delegation to the 62nd Session of the UN General Assembly in the absence of the President, Prime Minister or the Foreign Minister.Terming Kashmir as a dispute in South Asia, which is ''yet to be resolved'', Khan said both the countries will have to ''demonstrate political will courage and flexibility.''
Seoul: Leaders of the two Koreas began formal talks on Wednesday at the first summit between the divided countries in seven years and North Korea's Kim Jong Il appeared to warm to his South Korean visitor after an initial chilly reception.According to South Korean pool reports, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun told Kim he was concerned about flooding in the North, where this year's summer rains left some 600 people dead or missing and tens of thousands homeless.North Korea delayed the summit from its original late August date due to the disaster.Before talks began at a state guesthouse in Pyongyang, Roh presented gifts to the North Korean leader that included a bookcase full of South Korean DVDs, featuring popular soap operas and productions starring Lee Young-ae, believed to be Kim's favorite starlet.North Korea has endorsed an agreement to dismantle all of its nuclear facilities by the end of the year, according to a joint six-nation statement released by China in Beijing today, the state-run Xinhua News Agency ...
New delhi: The looming threat of a snap poll have made the government go in for an image makeover. The exercise includes an almost Rs 100 crore multimedia publicity blitz.A Mumbai-based publicity firm, Percept, will conduct the campaign to advertise the government's policies for the common man. So how's this different from the NDA's 'India Shining' campaign which backfired in the 2004 election?Well, for one, the government campaign will be low-key. In fact the government's not even calling it an ad-campaign.Reports NDTV.com
''We are not planning a blitz but we need to tell the people about the schemes. So we are working at a strategy. It's not like 'India Shining'. It's low profile,'' said Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Minister, I&B.And secondly, they will focus on the small and medium newspapers to reach rural India.
''From our own experience we know overkill does not work,'' said Ravi Shankar Prasad, Former I&B Minister.
The UPA decided that the blitz was the right thing after the Left went against it on the nuke deal. But when are the elections, no one really knows. Still the UPA's decision to charm the common man is perhaps an indicator that elections are round the bend.
As directed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Planning Commission is required to finalise the 11th plan document for consideration by the cabinet and full plan panel during first week of November. The government is proposing to hold National Development Council (NDC) meeting on December 9 to approve the 11th plan, which seeks to accelerate economic growth to 9% from 7.2% achieved in the previous plan. As decided at the NDC meeting on agriculture in May, the strategy under the 11th plan would be to bridge the yield gaps in major crops by adopting region specific measures. The plan would also focus on the education sector with the overall objective of substantially increasing the enrolment ratio during the plan period - 2007-12. Last month, the full Planning Commission on education sector had decided to set up 8 IITs, 7 IIMs and 5 Indian Institutes of Science, Education and Research.

Mehbooba meets Antony on troop cut in J and K
As new Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor ruled out reduction of troops in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP President Mehbooba Mufti met Defence Minister A K Antony seeking immediate pull out of some troops but failed to get any assurance.
Mehbooba met Antony yesterday but the Defence Minister did not give any assuarance to her and told her any decision to this effect would be taken in accordance with the professional advice. According to a press release issued by PDP here today, Mehbooba reasoned that troop reduction could pave way for an enabling atmosphere for the peace process which would lead to a lasting solution of the Kashmir issue. She also enquired about the decision taken on the report submitted by the Defence Secretary, the release said.
Gen Kapoor had said there cannot be any curtailment of army's role in combating terrorism keeping in view the geo-political situation vis-a-vis the threat from terrorists.
The army chief also made it clear that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir does not warrant any withdrawal of forces. "As and when things improve, we can take a fresh look at troop positions," he had said.

Nine militants and two Army majors killed in fierce gunbattle
Srinagar: Two Army Majors and nine militants
were killed in a marathon gun battle that ended today in a
forested area in Baramulla district in one of the fiercest
encounters in recent months in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rashtriya Rifles majors - Dinesh Raghuraman and K P
Vinay - succumbed to the bullet injuries sustained while
leading the operations against the terrorists who had
infiltrated from across the Line of Control in the Gulmarg
sector, an army spokesman said. Three jawans and a soldier
were also injured in the encounter that lasted 38 hours.
Fighting broke out late Monday in the forested Tangmarg
area after Army personnel surrounded a house at Ringiwalla
Khall village in Baramulla district where the militants,
including Bilal Afghani, district commander of Al Badar, had
taken refuge.
The army, after recovering the bodies of nine militants,
were still conducting search operations in the area for arms
and ammunition.
Major Vinay, who hails from Hyderabad, was leading the
army onslaught and was hit at the start of the operation,
while his colleague Major Raghuraman braving heavy gun fire
was shot while going to rescue the former.
Vinay died hours after receiving bullet injuries while
Raghuraman succumbed to his injuries at the base hospital at
Srinagar in the wee hours of today.
A police spokesman said five houses and two mud houses
were damaged in the prolonged exchange of fire between the two
sides.
A huge cache of arms and ammunition, including nine AK
assault rifles, 35 magazines and six wireless sets, were
recovered from the slain militants, the spokesman said.
UN envoy meets Myanmar Chief
UN envoy completed his mission to Myanmar but emerged with no immediate solution to the military junta's absolute refusal to address their people's insistent demands for democracy.After days of delays, Ibrahim Gambari and Myanmar's reclusive junta leader Senior General Than Shwe sat in the same room together for more than an hour on Tuesday in the remote capital of Naypyitaw.But neither side issued any comment that could satisfy the world's hopes for a halt to the junta's harsh crackdown on protesters.Gambari then flew to Yangon to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained Nobel laureate who has come to symbolise the yearning for democracy in Myanmar. It was his second meeting in three days with Suu Kyi, who has spent 12 of the last 18 years under house arrest.The meeting with Than Shwe was expected but the one with Suu Kyi came as a surprise. As the envoy flew out of the country, the United Nations released photos of a grim-faced Gambari and equally somber Suu Kyi shaking hands at Myanmar's State Guest house.Re[ports NDTV.com
Brief Ban Ki Moon
Gambari is expected to brief UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and the UN Security Council on Friday on the outcome of his trip, diplomats said.
Dissident groups say up to 200 protesters were slain and 6,000 detained in the junta's crackdown last week, while the regime has only admitted to 10 deaths.
Foreign governments have urged the junta to free Suu Kyi as well as the detainees, including thousands of Buddhist monks who led the protests.
In Geneva on Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Council condemned the military's crackdown on opposition protests and urged an immediate investigation of the situation.
The 47-nation council said it ''strongly deplores continued violent repression of peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar, including through beatings, killings, arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances.''
In Yangon, the country's main city, the curfew was scaled back to six hours and security forces lightened their presence.
Many residents launched a new form of protest, switching off their lights and television sets from 8 pm to 8:15 pm, during the government's night newscast.
Silent protest
The ''silent protest'' began on Monday and continued on Tuesday, even though state television showed pictures of the Gambari-Than Shwe meeting, which also included No 2 leader Deputy Senior General Maung Aye and two other top generals.
Simmering anger against the junta exploded in mid-August after it hiked fuel prices by as much as 500 percent, a crushing burden in this impoverished nation.
The marches soon ballooned into mass pro-democracy demonstrations led by the nation's revered Buddhist monks.
Thousands of monks were still in detention, reportedly held in makeshift prisons around Yangon. It was clear, however, that people were still looking to them to lead the democracy protests.
In the town of Bago, residents refused to donate food to the 1,020 monks at the Kha Khat Waing monastery because the abbot blocked his charges from joining the democracy protests.
Residents in Mandalay were equally angry with the abbot of the Masoe Yeain monastery.
''People have come to believe that the junta has sort of bought off the abbots of major monasteries to prevent junior monks from protesting,'' a local resident told The Associated Press over phone.
But at a shrine in downtown Yangon, Buddhist faithful prayed and touched their foreheads on the ground on Tuesday.
Two-dozen soldiers patrolled outside but there were no barricades along the street and stores were open even in the late afternoon.
Story Finder 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
From: no matters
To: frameup@yahoogroups .com
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Subject: Halliburton Mercenaries in Burma while Cheney CEO
Related : White security in Burma - Israeli linked?
(YouTube blew off the video. If someone finds another copy please let me know in comments of any posting. Thanks.)
---
Oil companies look to exploit Burma Sydney Morning Herald
The Real Butchers of Baghdad: G. W. Bush and His Corporate Mercenaries
In fact, many of the same crimes being committed in Iraq were committed by Halliburton mercenaries in Burma while Cheney was CEO. The Institute for Public Accuracy reports, "Cheney's Halliburton also profited enormously from projects around the world that have been widely condemned for horrendous human rights abuses and massive environmental destruction.
The Companies They Keep in Burma
The Unocal Corporation figured earlier in internationally backed Burmese campaigns against forced labor, land appropriation and similar other gross human-rights violations in the gas and oil projects initiated by the junta behind the people's backs. The affected villagers came together in 1996 and sued Unocal and France 's Total for complicity in the abuses. The villagers charged that the companies knew about and benefited from the Burmese army's use of torture, rape and unlawful land seizures to uproot people from areas slated for "development. " The lawsuits were settled after the companies agreed to make due compensation only eight years later, in 2004.
--Doug Bracewell/ mparent
http://mparent7777- 2.blogspot. com/2007/ 10/halliburton- mercenaries- in-

LD AMBUSH
Militants ambush CRPF personnel in Manipur, four killed
Imphal, Oct 3 (PTI) Two CRPF convoys were ambushed at two
places by militants in Manipur, killing four CRPF jawans and
injuring nine others seriously today, official sources said.
The militants, who were hiding by the roadside, hurled
grenades and fired at the convoy of 143rd battalion of CRPF
headed from Imphal to None area in Tamenglong district at
Khoklong, about 20 km from here, they said.
The CRPF retaliated and the exchange of fire lasted more
than two hours, which left four jawans dead and nine others
wounded, sources said.
The militants, however, managed to escape.
The dead were identified as H Kunjamohon, A B Reddy,
Javen Khan and H C Shivkumar. The condition of some of the
injured was stated to be critical.
CRPF personnel from Langjing headquarters, near here,
rushed to Khoklong, but were ambushed at Patsoi area on the
way, sources said adding, there was no casualty in the second
attack.
The CRPF and police launched a massive manhunt at Patsoi,
but no arrest was reported so far.
The banned People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak
(Prepak) has claimed responsibility for the two ambushes.
On Sunday, Prepak had ambushed an Assam Rifles patrol
killing one personnel and injuring another at Umathel area in
interior Thoubal district.
Prepak is one of the major insurgent groups which has
been fighting for 'an independent Manipur' for three decades
now.
US-EXCERCISE
US to begin terror exercise as last one's results lays pending
Washington, Oct 3 (AP) America is preparing for its
biggest terrorism exercise ever next week when three fictional
"dirty bombs" go off and cripple transportation arteries in
two major US cities and Guam, according to a document obtained
by The Associated Press.
Yet even as this drill begins, details from the
previous national exercise held in 2005 have yet to be
publicly released -- information that is supposed to help
officials prepare for the next real attack.
Today House lawmakers were expected to demand answers,
including why the "after-action" report from 2005 hasn't been
made public. Congress has required the exercise since 2000,
but has done little in the way of oversight beyond attending
the actual events.
Next week will be the fourth Top Officials exercise,
dubbed TOPOFF. The program costs about USD 25 million a year
and involves the federal government's highest officials, such
as top people from the Defense and Homeland Security
departments.
"The challenge with TOPOFF is not the exercise itself.
It's to move as quickly as possible to remedy what perceives
to be the problems that are uncovered," former Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge said in an interview with AP this
week.
Ridge, who launched his own security consulting
company on Monday, said he's a big fan of the TOPOFF
exercises. But he said "it's not acceptable" that the review
from the 2005 exercise is still not released publicly.
The House Homeland Security emergency communications,
preparedness and response subcommittee was holding a hearing
today on the terrorism exercise program.
MYANMAR-GENERALS
Myanmar generals not ready for talks: mediator
Bangkok, Oct 3 (AFP) Myanmar's crisis is far from over
because its ruling junta is not ready for real talk despite
fierce international pressure to do so, says a former mediator
who helped broker landmark contacts with the opposition.
Leon de Riedmatten, who as an informal mediator for
the United Nations was involved in contacts in 2003 between
the junta an democracy icon Aung San Suu Ki, warned that the
military government still faced major discontent.
De Riedmatten said he hoped something positive would
come from UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari's mission to the
country following the bloody crackdown on mass protests.
"But we must also be very realistic about the
situation," said the Swiss, who represents the Centre for
Humanitarian Dialogue, a Geneva-based foundation that works
to reduce conflict through negotiation.
Myanmar's generals have "never negotiated anything,
they always impose their position and their will, and I do
not believe that has changed today," he told AFP in an
interview.
Gambari spent four days in Myanmar, leaving yesterday,
during which he had talks with junta supremo Senior General
Than Shwe and twice with Aung San Suu Kyi.
De Riedmatten, 55, said Gambari's shuttle diplomacy
between the generals' headquarters in the remote capital of
Naypyidaw, and the main city of Yangon where she is under
house arrest, possibly allowed an "exchange of views."
"But it is difficult at this stage to believe that it
can be the beginning of a new dialogue," said the
Myanmar-watcher who has had more contact with the opposition
leader than any other foreigner in recent years.
MYANMAR-MILITARY
Junta uses scare tactics to cow residents
Yangon, Oct 3 (AP) Myanmar' junta broadcast warning
from trucks that soldiers were searching for protesters, while
a UN envoy remained tight lipped today about his mission to
convince the military ruler to end heir crackdown on democracy
advocates.
Military vehicles patrolled the streets of Yangon
overnight and blared from loudspeakers that soldiers were
searching for protesters, "We have photographs. We are going
to make arrests!"
After day broke, an eerie quiet prevailed in Yangon,
as some semblance of normality returned to Myanmar's biggest
city, with some shops opening and light traffic plying on
roads.
However, "people are terrified and the underlying
forces of discontent have not been addressed," Shari
Villarosa, the acting US ambassador in Myanmar, said in
telephone interview.
"People have been unhappy for a long time," she told
The Associate Press in Bangkok, Thailand. "Since the events of
last week, there's now the unhappiness combined with anger,
and fear."
Simmering hatred for the military's 45-year rule
exploded in mid-August after it hiked fuel prices by as much
as 500 per cent, a crushing burden in this impoverished
nation.
The marches soon ballooned into mass pro-democracy
demonstrations led by the nation's revered Buddhist monks.
The military crushed the protests on September 26 and
27 with live ammunition, tear gas and by beating up
demonstrators. Hundreds of people were carted off to detention
camps. The government says 10 people were killed in the
violence. But dissident groups put the death toll at up to
200. They say 6,000 people were detained.
CHINA-INDIA
Sino-Indian border becoming "more amicable": China
Anil K Joseph
Beijing, Oct 3 (PTI) China's southwest border area
with India is growing "more amicable" with the militaries of
both sides ready to resolve problems, including incursions,
through polite negotiations, the state media reported today.
"From busy passes to lonely sentry posts high in the
Himalayas, Chinese personnel are warming to the uniformed
guards on the other side," the official Xinhua news agency
reported in a commentary on the current state of China's
22,000 km-long land borders with countries like Russia, India
and Vietnam.
Jin Guangyong, a People's Liberation Army (PLA)
soldier at a sentry post along China's southwestern border
with India, says Indian soldiers often shout "Hello" to greet
Chinese soldiers.
Isolated by snow for eight months a year, the two
sentry posts, separated by a canyon, are the only signs of
human habitation, clinging to the black and bare mountain.
"I can feel their loneliness, since we suffer it
ourselves. We respond to their greetings," Jin says.
But Major Ai Huaichun remembers skirmishes when troops
from the two sides confronted each other on patrol just a
decade ago.
"In the 1990s, meetings usually ended in squabbles
that solved nothing. The two parties could argue for hours
about whether a soldier had trespassed or not," says Ai, who
used to serve as interpreter at joint meetings for 11 years.
China and India fought over the border in 1962 and
hostility afflicted bilateral relations for decades until the
end of the 20th century, the report noted.
CHINA-INDIA 2
The year 2000 marked the 50th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic ties between China and India,
which helped warm relations between the troops.
In June 2006, the Nathu La Pass, a century-old trading
post that sits 4,545 meters above sea level between Tibet and
Sikkim, was reopened after being closed 40 years ago.
"Border meetings have become more friendly. The two
sides tend to reflect on progress in Sino-Indian relations and
constructively plan for further exchanges," Ai said.
"Now, if problems like trespassing come to the meeting
table, both sides politely agree to further investigate and
then settle it through negotiations."
The regular meetings have resulted in the successful
repatriation of soldiers who became lost and strayed over the
border in 2003 and 2006.
"The meetings have enabled both sides to exchange
information promptly and resolve problems conveniently, which
has better maintained peace and stability," Colonel Zhang
Weiguo, head of the Chinese delegation at a meeting with
Indian border troops in May this year, was quoted as saying.
The unresolved Sino-Indian boundary has issue has
hampered the normal development of bilateral ties, analysts
say.
Unable to find a negotiated settlement through the
diplomatic channels, India and China appointed Special
Representatives in June 2003 to address the border issue from
a political perspective of the overall bilateral relations.
The Special Representatives of the two nations have
held 11 rounds of negotiations so far. The latest round was
held in Beijing from September 24-26.
CHINA-INDIA 3LST
India says China is illegally occupying 43,180 sq kms
of Jammu and Kashmir including 5,180 sq km illegally ceded to
Beijing by Islamabad under the Sino-Pakistan boundary
agreement in 1963. China accuses India of possessing some
90,000 sq km of Chinese territory, mostly in Arunachal
Pradesh.
According to China's white paper on National Defence
in 2006, China has signed land border treaties or agreements
with 12 of its 14 neighbours, with most of the demarcation
disputes settled. It is currently negotiating with India and
Bhutan to resolve boundary issues.
"China now shares the most peaceful borders with its
neighbours since the republic was established in 1949," deputy
secretary-general of the China Arms Control and Disarmament
Association, Teng Jianqun said.
China saw three major military conflicts along its
borders from the 1950s to the 1970s. "Since the 1980s, no
major border clashes have occurred and border troops have
gradually expanded exchanges with each other," Teng said.
He considers changes in the international environment,
particularly the demise of the Cold War mentality, as a key
factor in better border relations.
"There did exist territory disputes along the borders,
but the prevailing ideological bias during the Cold War period
served as a catalyst and worsened conflict," Teng says.
"The whole international climate has changed since the
end of the Cold War, as a country is no longer judged as a
friend or an enemy according to its political pattern, which
has helped China to rebuild relations with its neighbours," he
says.

US-INDIA
US programme to increase secure high-tech trade with India
Sridhar Krishnaswami
Washington, Oct 3 (PTI) The US Commerce Department has
announced a new programme to facilitate and increase
high-technology trade with India while maintaining a secure
American export control system.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez has established the
Validated End-User (VEU) programme for India, which will make
transactions "easier, faster and more reliable with customers
that meet the security requirements of an inter-agency review
process," the Department of Commerce said in a statement.
It will help US exporters to "remain competitive in one
of the fastest-growing markets for American companies," the
statement said.
"As the world's largest democracy and a strategic
partner, India's growth has created new opportunities for US
businesses and workers. VEU will enable US companies to
capitalise on those opportunities by eliminating individual
licence requirements on exports of US-controlled items to
certain customers in India with a track record of responsible
use of such items," it said.
"American exporters benefit from access to India's
market, and the Validated End-User builds upon the enormous
progress made over the last six years in facilitating secure
high-technology trade and investment while strengthening our
cooperation on export controls," Gutierrez said.
The "common-sense approach" will make it easier for US
companies to sell American products to pre-screened customers
in India, while maintaining vigilance over US technologies, he
added.
US-INDIA 2
The VEU programme which was first announced by President
George W Bush in March 2006 and previewed by Gutierrez at the
US-India CEO Forum Last week, will increase US high-tech
exports to India and further align the economic and commercial
ties between the world's oldest and largest democracies.
"US exports to India have increased by 66 per cent since
2004. The VEU programme could facilitate millions of dollars
in additional US high-tech exports to India in such sectors as
electronics, avionics, aerospace, and life sciences," the
Commerce Department said.
"As India has taken significant steps to strengthen its
non-proliferation regime -- including the passage of the
landmark Weapons of Mass Destruction Bill creating an export
control system -- the US has updated its policies towards
India to reflect this progress.
"The percentage of total US exports to India requiring a
Commerce Department licence has plummeted to less than one per
cent from 24 per cent in 1999," it is pointed out.
The VEU programme is a result of India's progress in
developing an effective export control system, and will ensure
US companies are able to compete while giving companies in
India enhanced access to US products, the Commerce Secretary
said.
VEU for India was implemented through an update to the
Export Administration Regulations in the Federal Register.
India's eligibility for this programme was facilitated through
consultations with the Government of India at such fora as
the US-India High Technology Cooperation Group.
While US controls on exports to India have been eased
over the past several years through such bilateral
cooperation, VEU goes further by enabling licence-free exports
to authorised companies in India with a record of responsibly
using sensitive US technology, the Commerce Department said.
US-INDIA 3 LAST
(Reopen FGN24)
"Companies in India will apply for VEU status through the
Commerce Department. Commerce will continue to work with the
Government of India and private-sector groups to effectively
implement the VEU programme for maximum benefit to both
countries," the Department said.
It is being emphasised that while US export controls on
many items have been removed in recent years, certain
technologies such as advanced electronics still require an
individual export licence for sale to India.
Under the VEU programme, such technologies would not
require an individual licence if exported to a company
approved as a "Validated End-User."
Any end-user in India is eligible to apply for this
programme. In addition, US exporters may propose end-users for
VEU status.
BHUTTO-TALKS
Bhutto says talks with Musharraf "totally stalled"
London, Oct 3 (PTI) Former Pakistan Premier Benazir
Bhutto today said her talks with President Pervez Musharraf on
a possible power-sharing deal were "totally stalled" and
dismissed as a "disinformation campaign" reports of amnesty to
her over corruption cases.
Bhutto, who plans to return home from self-imposed exile
on October 18, said the understanding with Musharraf, which
was being reached, was "very near" at the end of last month.
"But since then it's been totally stalled."
"The present regime cannot salvage the situation...I'm
afraid we are heading for a situation that co