1 The San Francisco Chronicle of Saudi prince Alwaleed picking up a $300m stake in Twitter. Twitter received a $300 million investment from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal as it pushes through a redesign of its site to attract advertisers. Alwaleed, who leads the 2011 Arab Rich List, and his investment company agreed to buy a "strategic stake" in Twitter. A strategic holding means more than 3%, Ahmed Halawani, a Kingdom Holding director, said. That would give the San Francisco microblogging company a valuation exceeding $10 billion. "The company believes that social networking will change the fundamentals of the media industry," Halawani said. Alwaleed, whose other investments include holdings in Apple and General Motors, was ranked the richest Arab businessman this year by Arabian Business magazine, with assets valued at $21.3 billion. Kingdom Holding, 95% owned by the prince, is building the tallest tower in the world in Jeddah at a cost of $1.2 billion.
2 The Guardian on salvery in Rio. Locals in Rio de Janeiro called it the "cemetery of the new blacks", but in truth it wasn't much of a cemetery. Devoid of headstones, wreaths or tearful mourners, this squalid harbourside burial ground was the final resting place for thousands of Africans shipped into slavery. For decades the cemetery and those buried there between 1760 and 1830 were forgotten, hidden under layer after layer of urban development. But 15 years after the cemetery’s fortuitous discovery – during the renovation of Petrucio and Ana del la Merced Guimaraes’ family home when builders unearthed a series of muddy skeletons – academics now believe they have evidence of the true reach of the slave trade. Archaeologists and anthropologists studying bone and tooth fragments are shedding light on the horrors of a trade that saw at least 3 million slaves shipped from Africa to Brazil between 1550 and 1888, when the practice was officially abolished.
"It was ugly: a dump into which bodies were thrown and burned," said Sheila Mendonça de Souza, a bio-archaeologist studying the cemetery in Rio de Janeiro, once one of the busiest slave ports in the Americas. "People weren't buried in tombs, they were tossed away into mass graves." Archaeologists believe as many as 20,000 slaves may have been buried at the cemetery, mostly men aged 18-25 who died during the gruelling journey to Brazil or shortly after arriving. The dire conditions of the slave market and port, close to the cemetery, were captured by British writer Maria Graham, following a visit in the early 1820s. "Almost every house in this very long street is a depot for slaves … In some places the poor creatures were lying on mats, evidently too sick to sit up," she wrote.
3 Johannesburg Times on how South Africans are stressed during Christmas owing to “seasonal expenses”. Eight out of 10 South Africans get stressed out by the Christmas holidays. An online poll of 500 men and women conducted by Pharma Dynamics found that 92% were stressed out by "seasonal expenses". The study reported that women were more likely than men to worry about the extra costs associated with the festive season. Hosting relatives was a burden for 46% of those interviewed, while 42% said buying Christmas presents added to their stress levels. Not surprisingly, having sex was the least stressful activity.
4 The BBC on China’s place in the world economy. Whether we are on the verge of an "Asian Century" or not, one thing is clear: there has already been a dramatic shift in the geographic centre of the global economy. China is now front and centre, and its role as a leading dragon can be beneficial for growth prospects for the world economy. The world desperately needs engines of growth right now, and fortunately - with continued strong and pragmatic economic policy making - China can provide that impetus. China is now the world's second biggest economy and the largest exporter of goods, with 9.6% of the global share, followed by Germany, the US and Japan. China has an income per capita of $4,400 in current dollars and is well established as a high-middle income country. China's foreign reserves, which now exceed $3 trillion, are the largest in the world.
China has the potential to grow dynamically for another 20 years. This is in part because, as of 2008, the country still had a capita income that was just 21% of US per capita income - measured in purchasing power parity terms. This US-China income gap is evidence that a big technological gap still exists between China and the industrialised countries. China can continue to enjoy the advantage of backwardness before closing the gap.
However, China must tackle what amounts to a triple imbalance.Engineering a shift towards domestic demand and moving from an over-reliance on export-led growth represents the first rebalancing. The second rebalancing entails a structural transformation to reduce income disparities. In spite of the general improvement of living standards, China has shifted from a relatively egalitarian society in 1979 to a country with alarming income inequality. The Gini index [a common measure of social inequality] reached 41.5 in 2005, approaching the level of Latin American countries. The widening of disparity may threaten social stability and hinder economic growth. The third imbalance relates to environmental costs that have accompanied rapid growth. The future structure of production must shift towards cleaner technologies.
5 The BBC on China being a bigger lender to poor countries, than the World Bank. European officials may have flown to Beijing with their begging bowl underarm, but for developing countries, China's cheque book comes to you. Over the past few years, delegations from China's big banks have been criss-crossing the globe signing a plethora of billion dollar deals with some of the world's poorest nations. "Last year China provided more loans to the developing world than even the World Bank," says Jamie Metzl from the US-based Asia Society. "The role of China is large, it's growing and it's critically important." In 2010, the World Bank agreed $11.4bn worth of loans to some 36 African countries. China also agreed a host of loans to African governments. One of them, a loan facility to Ghana, reportedly is worth almost $13bn. As Dr Zhao Changhui from China's Export Import Bank happily points out, his country has $3tn waiting to be spent. The nation's politics may be red, but the balance sheet is most definitely black.
6 The Dawn on a third Kim in power in North Korea. An enigmatic personality who drew attention to himself and his country in ways that often defied geopolitical logic, North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il leaves behind him as successor a son who faces immense challenges and opportunities. That Mr Jong-Il’s death on Saturday was announced on Monday shows that the totalitarian and dynastic system he inherited continues to maintain its chokehold on the country. Kim Jong-Un, the new leader, is in his 20s and has no political experience, but is a general in the army and a member of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. More importantly, he was educated in Switzerland and belongs to that generation of young reformers who, despite opposition from the old guard, gave North Korea the Internet and mobile phones (though to a very limited elite). As the youngest of the third Kim generation to rule North Korea, Mr Jong-Un has to decide where he stands vis-a-vis some of its immediate problems, including nuclear disarmament. He is saddled with enough plutonium to build six to seven nuclear bombs and a stockpile of 1,000 missiles and 3,000 chemical weapons built at the cost of the country’s economic development, with perpetual food shortages a hard reality.
7 The Straits Times quoting IMF chief Christine Lagarde about the “dangeours juncture” that the world economy is at. The world economy is at a 'very dangerous juncture', IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on Tuesday referring to the potential impact on poorer nations during her first visit to Africa as head of the fund. 'Currently, the world economy stands at a very dangerous juncture,' she told a roundtable on Africa's economic future in the Nigerian city of Lagos. The International Monetary Fund managing director spoke of a crisis of confidence with high unemployment and slowing global growth.
8 The Straits Times on the imminent arrival of mind-reading machines. Century-old technology colossus IBM has depicted a near future in which machines read minds and recognise who they are dealing with. The 'IBM 5 in 5' predictions were based on societal trends and research which the New York State-based company expected to begin bearing fruit by the year 2017. 'From Houdini to Skywalker to X-Men, mind reading has merely been wishful thinking for science fiction fans for decades, but their wish may soon come true,' IBM said in its annual assessment of innovations on the horizon. 'IBM scientists are among those researching how to link your brain to your devices, such as a computer or a smartphone,' it continued.
9 The Straits Times on clashes in China as villagers oppose a coal-fired power plant. Police fired tear-gas and beat demonstrators who stormed government buildings in southern China on Tuesday to protest a power plant, witnesses said, in the latest violent unrest to hit the country. Residents of Haimen, a town in the province of Guangdong, are demanding the coal-fired plant be moved, saying it is damaging their health, demonstrators told AFP by telephone. They said a 15-year-old boy had been killed and more than 100 others badly beaten by riot police, although this could not be independently confirmed.
10 The Wall Street Journal on Indian government’s new tussle with Anna Hazare. The Indian government may once again be on a collision course with Gandhian activist and anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare after reports that the Cabinet had approved its own version of a historic anti-graft bill. Earlier in the day, the government also announced that it would extend the winter session of Parliament by three days in an effort to pass the landmark anti-corruption law that was the subject of nationwide protests in August led by Mr. Hazare. Parliamentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal said Parliament would meet for an extra three days from Dec. 27 to Dec. 29. The session had been scheduled to end Dec. 22. The Lokpal, or ombudsman, Bill envisages setting up an independent agency to investigate and prosecute senior politicians and civil servants suspected of graft.
With the tabling of the Lokpal legislation and the extension of the winter session, the government hopes to show that it is responsive to concerns about corruption. But Mr. Hazare was quick to dismiss the government's version of the bill after saying repeatedly in recent weeks that he would restart his protests if the government's version didn't satisfy his key demands. He announced his plans to go on a three-day hunger protest from Dec. 27 and to campaign against the government in the assembly elections in five states to be held next year. "The government is blind and deaf, it cannot see or hear the concerns of the people. Let the government go its way. I'll go mine," Mr. Hazare said at a television press conference.
11 The Economic Times on the likelihood of India’s mining crisis adversely affecting the country’s GDP by 5%. An unprecedented crackdown on corruption in India's mining industry, led by the Supreme Court and state-level agencies such as Karnataka's Lokayukta, coupled with rigorous enforcement of environmental norms is resulting in collateral damage to the economy, with plunging mining output leading to a fall in industrial production and GDP growth. Mining and quarrying activities account for 14% share of the index of industrial production while industry contributes around a quarter of the aggregate GDP. Analysts say stepped-up scrutiny of the mining sector, which accounts for 5% of the $1.4 trillion economy, is evolving into an economy-wide crisis as the increased uncertainty is discouraging investment in sectors such as steel and power.
12 Jim Walker warning in The Economic Times that fiscal deficit can worsen in India in 2012. Wholesale price inflation may well start easing off but we are always focused on money and credit growth. Here, we have a dilemma. Money supply growth has dropped off sharply but bank credit growth has been resilient and is now running at around 22% year-on-year. Part of this might be foreign loans being forced back onto Indian banks' books as European banks exit non-core markets. Nevertheless, it tells us that the Reserve Bank of India policy needs to be tighter for longer than perhaps the markets might expect. The fiscal deficit is, of course, the biggest problem. It is likely to worsen in 2012 rather than get better.
13 Financial Chronicle report on the likelihood of big time PE exits from India’s realty sector in 2012. Most private equity real estate fund managers have either hit the exit phase already or are readying themselves to exit investments to repay investors in their funds. In 2012, such funds are expected to sell assets worth around $2.5 billion, said real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle. The real estate consultancy forecasts that realised returns for these funds will continue to be low given the negative market sentiment and weak economy. As a result fresh investments by real estate PEs are expected to be under $1 billion in 2012. “In calendar year 2010 and 2011 a total $3 billion of real estate private equity exits took place with an average return of only 1.2 times, much lower than the expectation of the investors,” said Anuj Puri, country head at Jones Lang LaSalle. The report titled ‘Reaping the Returns’ said real estate PEs invested approximately $13 billion in Indian real estate, so far, while exits have been worth around $3 billion.
14 Mint feature on the supply of hangmen dwindling as capital punishment becomes rarer in India. Ahmadulah, a hangman in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in northern India, was in his teens when he began his apprenticeship with his father. Together, they would walk the men in their final journey to death. He would cover their faces with black masks. His father would have already knotted the noose. He would steady their nervous legs before strapping them with rope. They were a team. After his father died, he went solo. In 1965, he was about 16, he reckons, when he carried out the first job alone. He spent the night over at prison, waking up at an ungodly hour between midnight and dawn, the time when most executions are carried out in the country. By his count, he has presided over 38 hangings to date.
Hunger drove him to become a hangman, he says as we move across the street to a small office still maintained by the erstwhile prison, and order a breakfast of buns, pakoras and sweets. The VIP prison was where he and his father would head for free food. They ate whatever was served to the cellmates. Often it would be their first and last meal of the day. On lucky days, they’d even get a supply of dry ration—white gram—to carry back home. “When you are very hungry, like when you want to sleep desperately, you will do anything to get it,” he says. Now, he has enough to eat. As a state retainer, he earns Rs 3,000 a month, a raise that kept up with inflation from Rs 15 in 1965. Greed holds him back from giving it up now, he says. It’s easy money. He hasn’t killed anyone in 20 years.
As capital punishment has become rarer, so has the supply of hangmen. The last hanging was carried out in 2004. But there are hundreds of convicts awaiting the death penalty, as cases remain pending in courts or lie on the table of the country’s President, who has the power to suspend and commute sentences. Some legal activists have been pushing for the abolition of the death penalty, saying it has not served as a deterrent. Judges, too, are ambivalent on whether a single judge or an entire bench could approve a death sentence.
No comments:
Post a Comment