1 Japan growth data revised up (BBC) Japan has
revised up its growth figures for the January-to-March period, due to stronger
growth in business investment. The Cabinet Office said the economy grew 1.6%
during the period, up from its initial estimate of 1.5%. That translates into
an annualised growth rate of 6.7% - up from the initial figure of 5.9%. Many
analysts had expected a downward revision.
Japanese consumers and businesses increased their
spending during the period ahead of April's sales tax rise. Japan raised the
sales tax, also known as consumption tax, from 5% to 8% on 1 April - the first
hike in 17 years. But analysts have warned that spending may taper off in the
current quarter, in part due to the tax rise and the spending surge before the
hike.
2 As India’s Modi goes to Washington (Sadanand Dhume
in The Wall Street Journal) Like a suitor who realizes that he may have waited
too long to pop the question, the Obama administration is wooing new Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with sudden ardor.
At stake is a budding US-India relationship
cultivated by three successive US presidents who have (to varying degrees) seen
the South Asian nation as a democratic hedge against China, a bulwark against
radical Islam, and one of Asia's principal engines of economic growth. It
doesn't hurt that Mr. Modi's priorities in office—reviving the economy,
modernizing the military, restoring India's reputation as a rising
power—dovetail neatly with the US preference for a democratic, prosperous and
pluralistic Asia dominated by no single country.
Yet the US is playing catch-up in cultivating Mr.
Modi. In 2005, Washington effectively spearheaded a Western boycott of Mr.
Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, by denying him a US visa over allegations
of "severe violations of religious freedom" linked to Hindu-Muslim
riots in the state three years earlier that claimed some 1,000 lives, about
three-fourths of them Muslim. Today the Obama administration seems to pretend
that there was never any problem.
To get the US-India relationship to thrive doesn't
require dwelling on this awkward backstory, but it does require acknowledging
it. The simplest way is to ensure that Mr. Modi gets a welcome in Washington
that not even his fiercest supporters can characterize as cold. Traditionally,
BJP supporters don't carry the baggage of anti-Americanism that marked India's
foreign policy during the Cold War.
Enough sensible people in Washington and New Delhi
know that the US-India relationship matters more than any messy backstory
concerning one man. But when that man is the most powerful person in India,
with a legion of followers otherwise hardly predisposed toward America-bashing,
then it makes sense for Washington to ensure that its outreach to Mr. Modi is
given as much importance as the substance of bilateral relations. It's time to
roll out the red carpet for Prime Minister Modi.
3 Mobile app for men in distress (Khaleej Times) Over
64,000 married men commit suicide annually which means one husband takes his
own life every 8.3 minutes. But help is at hand for the distressed males facing
domestic violence—they can now seek instant help courtesy a mobile phone app.
Christened “SIF One”, the Android application
available on Google Playstore for free, has been launched by Save India Family
Foundation (SIFF), a platform of 50 men’s and family rights organisations
spanning India. “The app offers details of 50 NGOs in 50 cities spread across
25 states where people can personally reach out for legal counselling and
support. It also offers access to library of important judgments and case
studies to fight back misuse of laws,” SIFF convener Amit Kumar Gupta said.
The organisation, which earlier launched a toll-free
helpline, aims to reach out to at least eight crore smart phone users through
the app launched last week. It has already registered over 12,000 downloads. The
SIFF has been demanding the formation of a “Ministry of Men’s Welfare” and a
“Men’s Commission” to address issues concerning the country’s male population.
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