1 Britain half way to triple-dip recession (Phillip Inman in The Guardian) Britain is now halfway to an unprecedented triple-dip recession due to a stalled recovery in a manufacturing sector that was supposed to kickstart sustained growth in the aftermath of the credit crunch. Industrial production was growing strongly in 2011 but the government's aim of rebalancing the economy away from financial services and towards the manufacturing belt of the Midlands and north England appears to have foundered.
A fall in manufacturing output in the last three months of 2012 countered a small rise in construction between October and December to leave a 0.3% contraction in GDP, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The economy achieved zero growth for the year as a whole as the services sector, which accounts for three-quarters of national output compared with manufacturing's 10%, also struggled to grow.
The decline was blamed on the recession in the eurozone, which has hit exports; bad weather, which hit shops and farmers; and a temporary drop in oil and gas output in the North Sea. However, Chris Williamson, chief economist at the financial data provider Markit, said the figures revealed a "broad-based weakness throughout the economy" and threatened Britain's AAA credit rating.
2 Pentagon laying off 46,000 staff (BBC) The US defence department says it has begun laying off most of its 46,000 temporary employees, as automatic defence budget cuts loom in March. Deputy Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said the Pentagon was acting "because we're running out of time" to absorb potential changes to their budget. $50bn in cuts are due this year under the so-called fiscal cliff.
Mr Carter also said the Pentagon could force its 800,000 civilian employees to lose one day of work per week without pay from April, in a move that would save $5bn. The Pentagon and other parts of the US government face across-the-board cuts on 1 March, with an estimated $500bn decrease in the defence budget over 10 years. The US defence department unveiled a strategy in early 2012 designed to accommodate at least $450bn in Pentagon cuts over the next decade, as the country winds down the Afghanistan war.
3 Delhi: Sprawling and problematic (Neeta Lal in Khaleej Times) Through its sheer design, Delhi discourages people on its streets, leading to greater possibilities of crime. On the contrary, research has proven that when a city designs its roads and public spaces using people (especially children and women pedestrians) as its pivots, crime automatically plummets.
What is required in Delhi therefore is not more development for vehicles but people. “A developed city,” goes a popular expression, “is not one where poor people own cars, but where rich people take public transport to work”. Amsterdam’s example is particularly illuminating here as even the Queen can be seen pedaling her bike on cycle tracks here! What Delhi needs is an ecosystem where more people feel encouraged to come onto the streets. Addressing Delhi’s structural problems is thus a critical component of making it a safe metropolis.
As India shifts from being a poor, mostly agrarian nation to an urban, wealthier and modern one, more and more women are migrating from towns to cities to pursue their academic or professional ambitions. India’s urban population is expected to ratchet up to 285 million in 2001 to 820 million by 2051. To cater to this exponentially growing demographic, Delhi will need a safe and world-class transport infrastructure. Though the Metro functions well, it makes for an expensive ride for the bourgeoisie. Taxis too, are pricey while auto rickshaws remain unreliable.
Such socio-economic dynamics have pushed an average Delhiite to board public buses, a distinctly unsafe option for women, especially at night. The neglect of non-motorized transport and an overt emphasis on high tech, expensive transport projects have thus contributed significantly to sexual crime in the city.
Given Delhi’s primacy, its infrastructure needs to be urgently reoriented to accommodate a robust public transport system and secure public spaces for its citizens. Challenging ossified mindsets, more and more Indian women are claiming the public space as equal citizens. Without facilitating safe mobility and a secure environment for them, Asia’s third largest economy may never to able to realize its true potential.
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