1 Apocalypse fear for China economy (The New York Times) Talk of an economic slowdown in China has become so loud and persistent that it now has its own slang: ghost cities, ghost fleets, rocket eggs, naked officials. The downturn has even led to the invention of a new financial algorithm, something called the China Stress Index — and the index remains high. Housing construction has nearly stopped. Work sites that had recently been going round the clock seven days a week are now down to one shift — and just on weekdays.Analysts and government planners are now resigned to the fact that the growth rate in 2012 will slip under the once-magic figure of 8%.
2 Skipping the architect (The New York Times) In recent years, a spate of computer software programs has made it possible for homeowners to skip the architect altogether and do the design work themselves. While some people use software like Floorplanner to create a plan they can take to an architect or builder, or to daydream, others are using it to be their own architect. Owen Kennerly, a San Francisco architect, said he doesn’t think design programs can replace an architect, but he has found them "useful in conveying a client’s intent," he said. "And also giving them an appreciation for the challenges of space planning, thereby aiding their design savviness."
is proposing projects worth $130m to rid India of open defecation and clean up a rail system he describes as the world's "largest open toilet". He told a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday that India, where 130 million households are without a latrine, accounted for 60% of the global volume of open defecation. "This is a matter of great shame, anguish, sorrow, and actually anger," Ramesh, who is also responsible for the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
3 Ebbing fortunes for India banks (The Financial Times) Some months ago, Temasek, Singapore’s state investment agency, sold down its stake in Indian bank ICICI. Privately, Temasek officials concede they have turned bearish on financial groups in the country. They are not the only ones. One of the big consensus trades among credit hedge funds in Asia is to buy protection in the credit default swap market on Indian banks. The thesis isn’t that banks such as State Bank of India or ICICI will default or go under but that the spreads at which their own debt trades will widen as credit concerns in India generally mount.
It is increasingly hard to be optimistic about India’s prospects. The banks’ growing weakness is one more reason for pessimism. Vulnerable banks mean a vulnerable economy and poorer growth prospects. In the past, banks in emerging markets were considered the best option on economic growth. No longer. Today, as Temasek’s shift out of banks shows, the tide is turning. Inflation, a falling rupee, a current account in deficit (thanks in part to that imported gold) and a fiscal deficit all mean that the cost of borrowed money is rising, putting corporate India’s ability to service its debt at risk. Foreign banks also have less appetite for India. Last year, for example, India was the only geography where Standard Chartered failed to see positive income growth.
4 Worst US drought in 50 years (Sydney Morning Herald) The worst drought in the US in a half-century has spread, and 76 counties in six Midwestern states have been declared disaster areas as the Obama administration added them to the more than 1,300 counties already on the list. At least two-thirds of the area of the mainland US is experiencing moderate to exceptional drought, says the US Department of Agriculture's Drought Monitor. Corn and soybean crop ratings have worsened for seven weeks in a row, and are the lowest recorded since 1988, it said. Fifty-five per cent of the nation's pastures and rangeland areas are rated poor or very poor. More than half of corn traded worldwide is usually exported from the US, but this year, livestock farmers, squeezed by drought, are turning to other nations for corn.
5 India's presidency today (AG Noorani in Dawn) On the death of former India president Dr Zakir Hussain in 1969 the Congress party split. Indira Gandhi would take no chances. One rubber-stamp president was elected after another. Article 74(1) was amended in 1976 to make it clear that the president "shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with" the advice of his ministers. In 1978 this was qualified by a proviso which enabled him to ask the council of ministers to "reconsider" its advice, but "the president shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration."
Elected in 1992, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma accepted the curbs as proper but wielded the limited discretionary power which belongs to the British crown — to advise, to encourage and to warn. He asserted his independence on Dec 6, 1992, the day the Babri mosque at Ayodhya was demolished, by a statement which raised the president’s stature: "The president, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, has strongly deplored vandalism that has caused damage to the masjid in Ayodhya … has requested the prime minister to initiate appropriate expeditious steps to uphold the rule of law."
He rendered high service in restoring the balance. In 2012, the president is neither a rubber stamp nor a power centre; he is a monitor, a custodian of constitutional values. It only remains to be added that since 1955 the Supreme Court of India has repeatedly cited British conventions and laid down beyond dispute that it is a proper parliamentary system which the constitution of India establishes.
6 'India railway is world's largest open toilet' (Johannesburg Times) India Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh
In making its case for apocalypse now, or soon, an article in Foreign Policy says, "Businesses are taking fewer loans. Manufacturing output has tanked. Interest rates have unexpectedly been cut. Imports are flat. GDP growth projections are down, with some arguing that China might already be in recession."
Sales of luxury goods in China are slowing. Wealthy mainlanders, including government and party officials, are feverishly offshoring their cash by buying properties abroad. Hedging against possible political or economic upheavals, they are keeping so few (seizable) assets in China that they’re being called luo guan — "naked officials."
2 Skipping the architect (The New York Times) In recent years, a spate of computer software programs has made it possible for homeowners to skip the architect altogether and do the design work themselves. While some people use software like Floorplanner to create a plan they can take to an architect or builder, or to daydream, others are using it to be their own architect. Owen Kennerly, a San Francisco architect, said he doesn’t think design programs can replace an architect, but he has found them "useful in conveying a client’s intent," he said. "And also giving them an appreciation for the challenges of space planning, thereby aiding their design savviness."
is proposing projects worth $130m to rid India of open defecation and clean up a rail system he describes as the world's "largest open toilet". He told a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday that India, where 130 million households are without a latrine, accounted for 60% of the global volume of open defecation. "This is a matter of great shame, anguish, sorrow, and actually anger," Ramesh, who is also responsible for the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
3 Ebbing fortunes for India banks (The Financial Times) Some months ago, Temasek, Singapore’s state investment agency, sold down its stake in Indian bank ICICI. Privately, Temasek officials concede they have turned bearish on financial groups in the country. They are not the only ones. One of the big consensus trades among credit hedge funds in Asia is to buy protection in the credit default swap market on Indian banks. The thesis isn’t that banks such as State Bank of India or ICICI will default or go under but that the spreads at which their own debt trades will widen as credit concerns in India generally mount.
It is increasingly hard to be optimistic about India’s prospects. The banks’ growing weakness is one more reason for pessimism. Vulnerable banks mean a vulnerable economy and poorer growth prospects. In the past, banks in emerging markets were considered the best option on economic growth. No longer. Today, as Temasek’s shift out of banks shows, the tide is turning. Inflation, a falling rupee, a current account in deficit (thanks in part to that imported gold) and a fiscal deficit all mean that the cost of borrowed money is rising, putting corporate India’s ability to service its debt at risk. Foreign banks also have less appetite for India. Last year, for example, India was the only geography where Standard Chartered failed to see positive income growth.
4 Worst US drought in 50 years (Sydney Morning Herald) The worst drought in the US in a half-century has spread, and 76 counties in six Midwestern states have been declared disaster areas as the Obama administration added them to the more than 1,300 counties already on the list. At least two-thirds of the area of the mainland US is experiencing moderate to exceptional drought, says the US Department of Agriculture's Drought Monitor. Corn and soybean crop ratings have worsened for seven weeks in a row, and are the lowest recorded since 1988, it said. Fifty-five per cent of the nation's pastures and rangeland areas are rated poor or very poor. More than half of corn traded worldwide is usually exported from the US, but this year, livestock farmers, squeezed by drought, are turning to other nations for corn.
5 India's presidency today (AG Noorani in Dawn) On the death of former India president Dr Zakir Hussain in 1969 the Congress party split. Indira Gandhi would take no chances. One rubber-stamp president was elected after another. Article 74(1) was amended in 1976 to make it clear that the president "shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with" the advice of his ministers. In 1978 this was qualified by a proviso which enabled him to ask the council of ministers to "reconsider" its advice, but "the president shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration."
Elected in 1992, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma accepted the curbs as proper but wielded the limited discretionary power which belongs to the British crown — to advise, to encourage and to warn. He asserted his independence on Dec 6, 1992, the day the Babri mosque at Ayodhya was demolished, by a statement which raised the president’s stature: "The president, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, has strongly deplored vandalism that has caused damage to the masjid in Ayodhya … has requested the prime minister to initiate appropriate expeditious steps to uphold the rule of law."
He rendered high service in restoring the balance. In 2012, the president is neither a rubber stamp nor a power centre; he is a monitor, a custodian of constitutional values. It only remains to be added that since 1955 the Supreme Court of India has repeatedly cited British conventions and laid down beyond dispute that it is a proper parliamentary system which the constitution of India establishes.
6 'India railway is world's largest open toilet' (Johannesburg Times) India Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh
In making its case for apocalypse now, or soon, an article in Foreign Policy says, "Businesses are taking fewer loans. Manufacturing output has tanked. Interest rates have unexpectedly been cut. Imports are flat. GDP growth projections are down, with some arguing that China might already be in recession."
Sales of luxury goods in China are slowing. Wealthy mainlanders, including government and party officials, are feverishly offshoring their cash by buying properties abroad. Hedging against possible political or economic upheavals, they are keeping so few (seizable) assets in China that they’re being called luo guan — "naked officials."
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