Cathing up from the holdays, we begin today’s coverage of things economic, politcal, and environmental with a warning from CNBC:
Forget the currency war, now it’s a deflation war
Despite all the liquidity sloshing around the financial system courtesy of quantitative easing, inflation remains worryingly low – and it may be because central banks are exporting deflation, HSBC said.
“It’s a monetary version of currency wars,” the bank said in a note. “Rather than removing deflationary trends, monetary stimulus merely allows central banks to export deflation to other parts of the world.”
Sizeable exchange rate declines have followed the initial forays into quantitative easing from various global central banks, temporarily lifting inflation in “host” countries, the bank noted.
Heading to the U.S. with USA TODAY and a new low:
Mortgage applications tumble to a 13-year low
The number of Americans applying for mortgages has fallen 63% since a May peak, reflecting a cooling housing market and higher borrowing rates.
The Mortgage Bankers Association says applications fell a seasonally adjusted 6.3% last week from a week earlier. Applications are now at a 13-year low.
The drop-off follows a 1 percentage point increase in mortgage rates from historic lows last spring. The average for a 30-year mortgage is 4.47%, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.
McClatchy Washington Bureau gives good news for shareholders, bad news for workers:
‘Lean’ manufacturing bringing industry back from depths
“The general economy fell only 4 percentage points in the recession, but manufacturing fell (almost) 20 percent,” said Daniel Meckstroth, chief economist for the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, an industry research group. “Obviously it’s going to grow faster because it went into a deeper hole, but it’s got more to make up.”
The long slog back is also reflected in the hiring numbers.
The sector lost more than 2 million jobs, or 15 percent of the manufacturing workforce, from December 2007 to June 2009_ a period spanning the Great Recession. The job losses continued beyond the official end of the recession, and at the end of 2009 the sector had its lowest employment level since 1941.
The sector has gained a little more than half a million new jobs since February 2010. That would be good in normal times. These aren’t normal times. A key reason is that manufacturers are rebounding in part thanks to greater productivity, getting more output from fewer workers.
The Guardian hungers:
Demand for food stamps soars as cuts sink in and shelves empty
More working Americans are lining up at emergency food banks and going hungry, as cuts to those programmes take effect
An expansion of the programme, put in place when the recession was biting deepest, was allowed to expire in November, cutting benefits for an estimated 48 million people, including 22 million children, by an average of 7%.
As these cuts begin to bite, even harsher reductions are in prospect. Republicans in the House of Representatives have proposed $38bn cuts over 10 years, in their latest version of a long-delayed farm bill that would also require new work requirements and drug tests for food stamp recipients.
The cuts have forced poor families to make tough choices. The Guardian spoke to beneficiaries of the food stamps scheme, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (Snap), in San Antonio, Texas. As the second most populous US state after California, Texas suffered the second-biggest cut to its Snap programme, affecting 4 million recipients.
From CNBC, a reprieve:
California judge bars voter-approved pension cuts for city workers
A state court judge has barred the city of San Jose, California, from imposing voter-approved pension cuts on current municipal workers in a ruling with implications for cash-strapped local governments across the United States.
As public employee unions and many U.S. cities lock horns over cuts in retirement costs blamed for municipal budget crises, Superior Court Judge Patricia Lucas ruled that a ballot initiative forcing workers to contribute more to their pensions was invalid.
In her “tentative” ruling, dated from last week but publicly released on Monday, Lucas said the city was entitled under the ballot measure to cut workers’ pay to save money, but she held that vested pension benefits were protected by state law and thus off limits.
The Verge covers a proposed divorce:
Six Californias’ ballot initative would make Silicon Valley a state
Silicon Valley leaders have been dreaming of a place where technology could advance unencumbered by the law. Google CEO Larry Page wants to set aside a part of the world for such experimentation, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel thinks a floating island of entrepreneurs might do the job. By those standards, venture capitalist Tim Draper actually has a slightly more down-to-earth plan. The startup mogul is now proposing to split California into six new states, each of which could craft laws that reflect their local interests.
While the state of Silicon Valley hires more overseas engineers, Draper imagines, a new “South California” could simultaneously crack down on immigration. “West California” could cater laws to Hollywood and defense contractors, and “Central California” could focus on farming and water rights without city slickers getting in the way.
People’s Daily fracks Uncle Sam:
Chinese company punts $90 million on U.S. shale gas market
According to a Dec 23 statement on its website, China Shenhua plans to move 90 million US dollars to its wholly-owned overseas subsidiary to set up a US branch (temporarily named Shenhua US energy companies) as the main body investing in a US shale gas project with Energy Corporation of America(ECA).
China Shenhua, a world-leading coal-based integrated energy company, is the largest coal supplier and vendor in China. The company announced plans to commence Chinese shale gas development together with Statoil in March last year. On this occasion China Shenhua is showing its wider ambitions by expanding its diversified business scope into the U.S. Shale gas market.
On to Canada with smoke and mirrors from the Toronto Globe and Mail:
Police, media misled British Columbians on marijuana, new book claims
As it turns out, Nov. 6, 2012, was a big day for marijuana laws.
Voters in Colorado and Washington state approved initiatives to legalize pot, setting the stage for the regulated production and sale of the drug. Several other jurisdictions in the U.S. have since followed suit.
In Canada on that same day, provisions of a new federal law came into effect that imposed strict mandatory minimums for drug-related crimes, including marijuana production.
Across the Pacific next, with New Europe:
The former head of ECB said that the Member States under stress fixed their account deficits
Trichet confident about the recovery in Eurozone
The former head of the European Central Bank (ECB), Jean-Claude Trichet gave an interview in CNBC saying that recovery in Eurozone is on track.
Mr. Trichet said, “i think Europe has done [a lot of hard work] in its adjustment.” The former ECB President said that the five Member States that were under stress from the international markets Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy “have recovered and they are now more or less balanced when it comes to current account, when they were highly in deficit in 2008 and 2009.”
Off to Britain, where the London Telegraph buoys:
Mortgage lending up 37pc in a year
Gross mortgage lending reached £10.3bn in November, up 37pc from November 2012
The British Bankers’ Association’s latest lending statistics show the number of approvals for house purchase was 39pc higher in November than a year earlier and the number of remortgaging loan approvals was up 20pc.
The increased activity in the market is largely due to record low interest rates and an improved availability of mortgages, including loans for borrowers with a modest deposit.
The doctor’s not in, with The Independent:
27 million to wait more than a week for GP appointment in 2014
Doctors expect waiting times to continue to rise over coming years as proportion of NHS funding for general practice falls to a record low
27 million patients in England will have to wait at least a week for an appointment with their GP next year because of a shortage of family doctors, the Royal College of General Practitioners has warned.
The numbers of GPs in England are declining sharply compared with a rise in the the amount of hospital doctors – a gap which the RCGP predicts is set to widen. 71 per cent of family doctors expect waiting times to increase further over the next two years due to fewer resources for general practice, the RCGP said.
Ireland next, with a prime ministerial push from Independent.ie. Note the last sentenc:
Taoiseach pressures Noonan to cut taxes for middle-income families
TAOISEACH Enda Kenny and Jobs Minister Richard Bruton are piling the pressure on Finance Minister Michael Noonan to deliver tax cuts for middle-income earners in next year’s Budget.
But Mr Bruton is also warning that income taxes for high earners will have to be cut in the future to attract business people who create jobs.
Holloand next, with hopes from DutchNews.nl:
Economy grows 0.2% in third quarter, confirming end of recession
The Dutch economy grew by an estimated 0.2% in the third quarter of 2013, the national statistics office CBS said on Tuesday.
The figure is higher than the forecast of 0.1% made last month and confirms the Netherlands is moving out of recession. Compared to the third quarter of 2012, the Dutch economy shrank by 0.4%, the CBS said.
Compared with the third quarter of 2012, the number of jobs in the Dutch economy was down 2%. This is in line with the earlier forecast.
France next, with optimism from BBC News:
France ‘to avoid double-dip recession’
France will avoid a recession this year, according to the country’s statistics body.
INSEE said the economy will grow 0.4% in the last three months of the year, after contracting 0.1% in the third quarter.
The government forecasts economic growth of 0.9% in 2014, lowered from a previous 1.2% forecast, with just 0.1% in growth forecast for this year.
On to Spain, staring with a headline from TheLocal.es:
Femen bare breasts at church in abortion demo
Feminist activists mounted a bare-breasted protest outside a Madrid church on Monday to decry Spain’s plan to ban women from freely opting for abortion.
A member of the protest group Femen kneeled on the pavement baring her breasts with the slogans “Christmas is Cancelled” and “Free Abortion” daubed on her chest.
El País opposes:
Rubalcaba: “PM has swapped women’s liberty for a handful of far-right votes”
French minister expresses “profound concern” at the Popular Party’s draft law saying Spain “has taken a backward step”
Clinics offering abortions in Spain have calculated that the new reforms to the law passed by Cabinet last Friday represent an “obstacle course” that could prolong the time required for authorization by “three to four weeks.” This could in turn lead to an increase in late terminations, which are significantly more dangerous, said Diego Fernández, director of Madrid’s Dator clinic.
At a meeting of doctors, jurists and women’s associations, Socialist Party leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba launched a scathing attack on the government: “Mariano Rajoy has swapped the liberty of women for a handful of far-right votes; this law is designed to prevent abortions in Spain.”
Next, Italy and misery from TheLocal.it:
MP charts ‘awful’ migrant centre conditions
An Italian politician has moved into one of Italy’s most notorious immigration centres in the island of Lampedusa, charting “awful” conditions and meeting migrants on hunger strike.
Khalid Chaouki, a Democratic Party (PD) politician, arrived at the southern island’s immigration reception centre over the weekend and vowed to stay “as long as it takes to reinstate the law”.
“I came to check the conditions the people in the Lampedusa reception centre experience,” Chaouki said in a message on his Facebook page on Sunday. The 30-year-old MP said he he had encountered “awful conditions in terms of hygiene”.
“Not all the bathrooms work, the water supply is leaking into the rooms where people sleep. They’re completely flooded and there are filthy mattresses stacked up.”
After the jump, the Greek debacle deepens, Cypriot bailout, Turkish troubles, Ukrainian woes and bans, Mexican privatization, Uruguayan pot legalization, Indo-American anxiety, Thai pleas, Chinese neoliberalism, Japanese economic contradictions, and the latest chapter of Fukushimaspocalypse Now!. . .
For our first Greek item, ANSAmed declines:
Crisis: Greece’s imports and exports drop in January-October
Greek imports and exports up to October 2013 were reduced, with the trade deficit dropping by 5.7%, while the trade balance deficit dropped by 13.1% between January and October, as GreekReporter website write quoting updated figures from Greek statistics authority ELSTAT.
According to ELSTAT’s data, the total value of imports and arrivals was estimated to be 4,171.3 million euros in October 2013, compared to 4,530.3 million euros in October 2012. This 7.9% drop does not include oil products, which were reduced by 8.5% (241 million euros). The total value of exports and deliveries in October 2013 were found to be 2,324.6 million euros, compared to 2,572.4 million euros in October 2012, reflecting a 9.6% reduction
The Christian Science Monitor warns:
Greece to Syrian refugees: Don’t get too comfortable
Syrian refugees are arriving in Greece, the closest access point to western Europe, by the thousands. But obstacles to getting there – and surviving there – are enormous.
As Syria’s refugee crisis mounts, host countries in Europe and the Middle East have grown uneasy over new arrivals. But even by these standards, candid comments by Greece’s top police official reveal a particularly hostile welcome for thousands of refugees on Europe’s southern border.
Last week, the Chief of the Greek Police suggested that irregular immigrants’ lives should “be made unbearable,” according to a leaked audio recording from a meeting of police officials publicized by the Greek magazine, Hot Doc.
The Guardian worries:
Fears over disappearance of 150 Syrian refugees from Greek village
Activists say group was probably forced back into Turkey by police as part of campaign of enforced deportation
In a recent report released by Amnesty International, Greece was strongly criticised for its “deplorable treatment” of would-be refugees, especially Syrians desperate to escape their nation’s descent civil war.
Enforced deportations – highlighted by an alarming rise of migrant deaths – have spurred the criticism.
From To Vima, confidence:
Tsipras certain of elections in 2014, rather than 2016
Opposition leader disputes the coalition government’s claims and looks forward to a brighter future
SYRIZA and opposition leader Alexis Tsipras visited the Agios Andreas children’s charity, where he went to listen to traditional Christmas carols and took the opportunity to express his certainty that elections would take place in 2014, rather than in 2016.
Kathimerini English hauls out the handcuffs:
Head of Athens children’s hospital arrested for accepting bribe
The president of Aglaia Kyriakou children’s hospital in Athens and one other suspect have been arrested on suspicion of demanding a bribe from a supplier.
Police officers arrested Haris Tombouloglou, a New Democracy member, on Tuesday. He had 25,000 euros in marked banknotes in his possession.
According to authorities, Tombouloglou had demanded the money from a private firm that had won at the beginning of 2013 a tender for a 200,000-euro program to run a program combating obesity among children.
From To Vima, another bribery scandal rocks the nation:
Kantas revelations are shaking the political system to its core
Former secretary of armaments implicated a former political leader in the under-the-table armament deals
The former secretary of armaments Antonis Kantas has made serious allegations regarding the extent of corruption in the Ministry of National Defense and the armament deals for the Armed Forces, implicating political figures and shaking the political system to its core.
Kantas revealed that he had 10 bank accounts in Switzerland to receive bribes, while a prominent arms dealer set up two different off-shores at a well-known law firm in Monaco, in order to pay out brines. Mr. Kantas also specified a number of accounts in Dresdner Bank, UBS, Bank Hoffmann, BNP Paribas and other banks which were used in the shady deals.
The 71-year-old former secretary revealed that the supply deals were more or less set-up to serve specific interests, but in order to make sure that the deal went though, the former director of armaments Yannis Sbokos would take bribes to appoint specific people on the evaluation committees.
ANSAmed sheds wheels:
Crisis: thousand more Greeks unregister their cars
Thousands more Greeks have unregistered their cars as the New Year draws near, GreekReporter website writes, because they could no longer afford to pay a motor vehicle tax with their earnings having shrunk tangibly amid austerity.
Long lines of people were forming on Monday in front of local tax offices across Greece as many car owners in the debt-stricken eurozone nation wanted to unregister their vehicles to avoid paying a motor vehicle tax in 2014. Greek television showed people handing in their vehicle plates to officials, saying they could no longer afford the tax amounting to several hundred euros for smaller cars, to over 1,000 euros for luxury vehicles.
“We’ve logged some 70,000 people so far who’ve handed in their number plates this year alone,” Finance Ministry official Charis Theocharis told reporters.
To Vima prolongs action in the healthcare system:
EOPYY doctors extend strike to 3rd of January
Doctors condemn Ministry for including health amendment in controversial primary residence auction bill
The union of doctors working at EOPYY has announced its decision to extend its ongoing strike until the 3rd of January 2014, accusing the Ministry of subverting the discussions.
The decision to extend the ongoing strike came in response to the Ministry of Health’s unexpected choice to include a relevant amendment in the controversial primary residence auction bill, only a day after resuming discussions.
And ANSAmed lures the baron of Vegas:
Greece: Las Vegas Sands eyeing to create a casino in Athens
Israeli-American billionaire also considering Rome, Madrid, Paris
The planet’s biggest casino company is eyeing the creation of a casino in Athens, following its decision to scrap plans for the creation of a 30-billion-euro mega-resort in Spain as Kathimerini reports.
Sheldon Adelson, the head of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, told Bloomberg that he will be examining options in various European cities such as Athens, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan and Paris for the creation of casino resorts.
Off to Cyprus, first with the London Telegraph:
IMF says Cyprus support for Troika austerity ‘sputtering’ as slump drags on
A continuing dispute between the Cypriot government and the central bank is sapping confidence, the IMF has warned
Cyprus faces a decade of near slump conditions and debt deleveraging with no guarantee of success at the end as it tries to claw back competitiveness within Europe’s monetary union, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
The unemployment rate will jump to 19.8pc next year amid a mounting risk to the country’s bail-out deal with the EU-IMF Troika, agreed under traumatic cicumstances in March after a collapse of the Cypriot banking system – a crisis caused by contagion from Greece’s default.
ANSAmed counts jobs lost:
Crisis: Cyprus, 38.5% of 15 to 24 year-olds unemployed
Unemployment among the labour force stood at 16.2% in Cyprus for the third quarter of 2013, up by 0.7% in relation to the corresponding quarter of 2012, CNA reports quoting new data from the Cyprus Statistical Service. At the same time youth unemployment between people aged 15 to 24 was recorded at 38.5%, reduced by 1.8% compared to the previous quarter but marking a significant increase of 12.1% compared to the same quarter of last year.
In particular, 374.800 people were in employment at the 3rd quarter of 2013 (196.200 men and 178.600 women) while 72.700 people were unemployed (38.700 men and 34.000 women). The percentage of employment in people between the ages of 20 and 64 was 66.9% (72.7% men and 61.7% women) recording a drop compared to the previous quarter (67.3%) and the corresponding quarter of 2012 (70.0%). Unemployment came to 16.2% of the labour force (men 16.5% and women 16.0%) up in relation to the previous quarter (15.5%) and the same quarter of 2012 (12.1%).
On to Turkey and turmoil from the New York Times:
Turkish Corruption Scandal Moves Closer to Erdogan
A corruption investigation that has encircled the Turkish government moved an ominous step closer to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, as three top ministers whose sons have been implicated abruptly resigned — and one of them, on his way out the door, said Mr. Erdogan should step down as well.
The triple resignation, coming only hours after the ministers welcomed Mr. Erdogan at the airport as he returned from Pakistan late Tuesday, was enough in itself to inspire new talk of a deepening crisis, which Mr. Erdogan has repeatedly denounced as a foreign plot.
But the seemingly spiteful utterance from one of the departing ministers was considered stunning, coming from a political party known for silencing dissent. That instantly raised the significance of the entire inquiry and left members of the Turkish public wondering if they are witnessing the collapse of their Islamist-rooted government of the last decade.
Moire from BBC News:
Defiant Turkish PM Erdogan in major reshuffle
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced a major cabinet reshuffle after three ministerial resignations over a corruption inquiry.
Mr Erdogan named 10 new ministers – almost half of his total roster – after talks with President Abdullah Gul.
One of those who quit, Environment Minister Erdogan Bayraktar, had urged Mr Erdogan to step down himself.
On to Kiev with Reuters:
Ukraine receives first tranche of Russian bailout
Russia told Ukraine on Tuesday it had transferred the first $3 billion tranche of a $15 billion bailout, part of plans to keep Kiev firmly within Moscow’s orbit and out of the European Union’s embrace.
President Vladimir Putin offered Ukraine the lifeline last week, along with a big cut in the price Kiev pays for vital Russian gas supplies, as he tries to persuade Russia’s Slavic neighbor to join a customs union of ex-Soviet republics.
The Independent covers assaults:
Activist and journalist who organised pro-EU protests in Ukraine assaulted and hospitalised in separate incidents
Dmitry Pylypets stabbed at least four times and left him bleeding on the street
A journalist and an activist who organised mass pro-EU protests in Ukraine were assaulted and hospitalised in separate incidents on Tuesday night.
Activist Dmitry Pylypets told The Independent he was approached by two men outside his apartment in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine. They stabbed him at least four times, told him to stop organising protests, and left him bleeding on the street. Mr Pylyets believes the attack could have been much worse if his assailants had not been interrupted by a passing driver.
Journalist Tetyana Chornovil was driving home from Kiev when she noticed she was being followed by an SUV. The pursuers rammed her car, forcing her to flee on foot. She told reporters that two men leapt out of the SUV, chased her down, and beat her unconscious. Doctors say she needs surgery to reconstruct her face.
RT covers the prohibited:
Ukraine bans foreigners for ‘security reasons’ as protests continue
Ukraine has temporarily banned a number of foreign citizens from entering its territory over “national security” concerns. The move comes amid ongoing mass rallies, with thousands of pro-EU demonstrators demanding the government’s resignation.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that in November-December 2013, in accordance with the law and “in the interests of ensuring Ukraine’s national security,” it made the decision to “temporarily ban” a number of foreign nationals from entering the country.
The decision to close the country’s door to each of those persons was made individually, rather than under a so-called “blacklist,” the SBU said in a Wednesday statement, as quoted by Interfax Ukraine news agency.
More on the bannings from EUbusiness:
Ukraine bans 36 foreigners including Saakashvili: report
Ukraine has banned entry to former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili and 35 other foreigners suspected of working with the opposition “to destabilise” the country amid mass pro-EU protests, a report said Tuesday.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry and the security service have declared Saakashvili, 29 other Georgians, five US citizens and one Serb as persona non grata, the Kommersant Ukraine daily reported.
The banned Georgians are mostly businessmen while the US citizens blacklisted are NGO members and academics.
Off to Latin America with BBC News and a fait accompli:
Mexican president signs controversial oil and gas law
Pena Nieto signs energy law Mr Pena Nieto’s six-year term began in December 2012
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has signed a controversial law that allows foreign companies to drill for oil for the first time since the sector was nationalised in 1938.
The legislation was passed by Congress on 13 December and ratified by a majority of Mexican states.
New Europe acquits:
Former Argentine President De la Rua found innocent of bribing senators to weaken labor laws
Former Argentine President Fernando de la Rua has been found innocent of bribing senators to pass a law weakening worker protections as the country’s economy neared collapse 13 years ago.
De la Rua, 76, would have faced six years in prison if found guilty.
Also absolved were de la Rua’s labor minister, intelligence chief, four former senators and a former congressional worker who testified that he personally carried $5 million in bribes from the spy chief to the lawmakers.
The Argentina Independent fires up:
Bolivia Enters Space Age with Launch of First Satellite
Bolivia’s first satellite, Tupac Katari, has launched successfully from space station Xichang in the western Chinese province of Sichuan, marking Bolivia’s entry into the space age. Bolivian President Evo Morales flew to China to oversee the launch.
The satellite, currently rising, will orbit 36,000km above earth and will be operated from two control centres. It was launched at 12.42pm, Bolivian time, with the technical assistance of Bolivian and Chinese scientists. It is predicted to take two weeks to reach its position.
From RT, the smoking lamp is lit:
Uruguayan president signs bill legalizing marijuana trade
Uruguayan President Jose Mujica has signed a bill legalizing the sale and production of the drug despite global criticism. The UN has condemned the bill as a violation of international law, while Mujica claims it will undercut the illegal drugs trade.
Mujica’s secretary, Diego Canepa, told the Associated Press that the President had signed the bill into law on Monday night. Now the Uruguayan government has until April 9 – when the law comes into full effect – to finalize the regulations that will govern the sale and cultivation of marijuana.
As of today, the cultivation of up to six cannabis plants per family is now legal in Uruguay. As well as growing the drug, Uruguayans will also be able to purchase marijuana in pharmacies once they have registered in a nationwide database. There will be a cap on the amount of marijuana that can be bought every month which will initially be set at 40 grams.
Off to Asia, start with a story with a Latin twist from the Times of India:
Indian IT companies queue up for Costa Rica
Costa Rica, a small South American nation of 4.8 million people, is at the centre of the future expansion of many Indian IT firms who are looking at alternative ways to serve their primary market — the US. IT firms like Infosys, Cognizant and CSS Corp set up delivery centres in Costa Rica in 2013 and are expanding their workforce there.
Costa Rica ranks among top five global services locations in the Americas, according to a report by A T Kearney, a consultancy firm. Such is the growth story that 80% of new delivery centres set up in Latin America in 2012 were in Costa Rica.
Traditionally an agrarian economy, Costa Rica has gone through rapid changes in the last decade to attract investments from some of the biggest corporate names like Intel, Procter & Gamble (P&G) and GlaxoSmithKline. Service providers follow their clients. For example, Infosys went to Costa Rica to serve P&G and has more than 100 employees.
That’s the smaller part of the reason. The larger reason is cost saving while serving the US market — the single largest market for most IT service firms.
Press Trust of India enacts another reprisal in a diplomatic feud:
India limits immunity for US diplomats, withdraws it for kin
In a tough reciprocal action, India today downgraded the immunity of certain category of US diplomats and withdrew the immunity enjoyed by their family members, in a fallout of the arrest of a senior Indian diplomat in New York.
US consular officials in four consulates in India are being issued new ID cards specifying the limited immunity which will not protect them from serious offences.
While the Financial Express ponders a lack:
No toilet facility for 60 pct rural population, says NSSO
As many as 60 per cent rural households do not have access to toilet facility even after 66 years of independence, findings of the latest government survey revealed today.
The situation is however far better in urban India as only a less than 9 per cent of the population lack the facility.
“59.4 per cent and 8.8 per cent households in rural and urban India respectively had no latrine facilities,” National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) said.
Off to Thailand for an update from the Bangkok Post:
PM proposes reform panel to end unrest
Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra detailed a proposed panel to work on comprehensive reforms on Wednesday, with a commitment that the next government formed after the elections would translate its proposals into actions.
“It is now time to develop a mechanism to push forward and mobilise national reform. I, therefore, would like to propose the establishment of a forum, a National Reform Council,” the prime minister said in a nationally televised address.
“If parties agree, the government will establish the council by an order of the Prime Minister’s Office and it will be acknowledged by the cabinet, to ensure that the process can begin immediately,” she said.
Ms Yingluck said the forum would be a “genuine council” representing all groups and the government would not pull the strings behind it.
On to Beijing with China Daily:
GDP growth to hit 7.6% this year
China’s GDP growth will be 7.6 percent this year, enabling the economy to maintain momentum into 2014, the head of the country’s top economic planning authority said on Wednesday.
This compares with 7.7 percent growth in 2012 and 9.3 percent in 2011, but it is higher than the yearly target of 7.5 percent, set at the start of 2013.
But Xu Shaoshi, minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, also said that downward pressure on the economy is not to be taken lightly when China’s “traditional growth model” faces challenges from a different market environment.
Want China Times covers another neoliberal advance:
Guangdong submits FTZ plan for approval
Authorities in south China’s Guangdong province have submitted their Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau free trade zone (FTZ) proposal to the State Council, which is expected to approve the plan soon. The new zone plans to be more open to foreign investment than the Shanghai FTZ, reports the Shanghai Securities News, citing unnamed sources.
Reports on the Guangdong FTZ first emerged in May and the proposal has since been revised repeatedly and become more open. Officials from the province have been in contact with relevant authorities to discuss the proposal, and the State Council is likely to approve the plan soon, the sources said.
The Guangdong FTZ will position itself to actively open its service industry to Hong Kong and Macau, develop new types of international trade, explore building a modern financial service and innovation zone, and build up an upgraded version for Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), China’s free-trade agreement with Hong Kong.
While Global Times spots a sign of success:
Most employers to raise bonuses
About 64 percent of employers in China plan to raise annual bonuses for their employees in 2013, while another 23 percent mull cuts, according to a report released by Career International Consulting on Tuesday.
The overall increase will be slight, as 47 percent of respondents said the bonus increase will be less than 10 percent, and only 3 percent plan to offer raises of more than 20 percent, according to the report, based on a survey of 847 companies in China conducted in late November.
“The slight rise in this year’s bonus is mainly due to the global economic slowdown and China’s tightening of public expenses,” Feng Lijuan, chief consultant at human resources service provider 51job.com, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The Guardian readies the romper room:
China’s relaxation of one-child policy to begin rolling out early next year
Most radical relaxation of strict one-child policy for nearly 30 years is expected to come into force in first quarter of 2014
Beijing said last month it would allow millions of families to have two children, the most radical relaxation of its strict one-child policy in nearly three decades. The move is part of a plan to raise fertility rates and ease the financial burden on China’s rapidly ageing population.
Xinhua assists:
China guarantees subsistence to the poor
Chinese government on Wednesday vowed to improve its subsistence allowance policies so that they reach the disadvantaged.
Improving the social security system will not only boost social justice, but encourage more people to make changes and start their own careers, said a statement issued after an executive meeting of the State Council, the country’s Cabinet, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.
Inspections to check the implementation of the policy this year found that although the allowances have benefited as many as 74 million people, there are problems, including insufficient funds, sluggish management and lack of follow-up.
China Daily diverts:
Ministry eyes risk of foreign property investment
The Ministry of Commerce will step up precautions against risks from foreign investment involvement in China’s property development, and guide more of it into emerging property formats, such as care services for the elderly, tourism and education, a spokesperson for the ministry said on Monday.
At a news conference addressing recent hot economic topics, Shen Danyang, the ministry spokesman, said the share of foreign investment in China’s property market has not changed significantly.
The urge to merge, from China Daily:
Chinese M&A activity surges
Merger-and-acquisition activity in China surged to an all-time high in 2013, with US companies a prime target. China’s M&A surge contrasted with a 2 percent drop in global deals, which observers attributed to a rise in activist campaigns, economic uncertainty and regulatory interventions.
But 2014 promises to be a better year. Analysts project an increase in 2014 global M&A of 10 to 15 percent.
“It would appear that corporate leaders’ reticence toward megamerger deals in 2013 will not persist during 2014,” Mike Bastin, a visiting professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, wrote in China Daily on Tuesday. Corporate leaders, he wrote, are “far more comfortable toward debt financing of takeover deals”.
Want China Times measures red ink:
Debt of China Railway Corp reaches RMB3tn and counting
The total debt of national railway operator China Railway Corporation (CR), has topped the staggering 3 trillion yuan (US$504 billion) mark and counting as it continues to execute major railway projects, reports the Chinese-language Economic Information Daily.
The company’s debt hit 3.06 billion yuan (US$504billion) as of Sept. 30, compared with its total assets of 4.8 trillion yuan (US$797.3 billion), with net loss reaching 1.7 billion yuan (US$280 million) in the first nine months.
Despite the huge debt, CR has not let up its aggressive expansion pace as the planned fixed railway investment still reaches 660 billion yuan (US$108.7 billion) this year, including 530 billion yuan (US$87.3 billion) for infrastructural projects. While CR has no problem completing railway infrastructural projects this year, each investment will entail an addition to its enormous debt, said an industry insider. The operator now has ongoing projects totaling 1.5 trillion yuan (US$255.3 billion) in scale.
Los Angeles Times takes a deep breath:
Lung cancer: A cloud on China’s polluted horizon
China’s doctors are beginning to speak of a link between air pollution and lung cancer. Children as young as 8 have been treated.
From 2002 to 2011, the incidence of lung cancer in Beijing rose to 63 cases per 100,000, from 39.6, according to municipal health authorities. Nationwide in the last three decades, an era in which China opened up its economy and industrialized, deaths from lung cancer have risen 465%.
China Daily prepares a report card:
Top universities face exams for corruption
Three years ago, Renmin University of China made national headlines when it became the first college in the country to offer a master’s degree in anti-corruption studies.
Last month, the university was in the news again, but for less welcome reasons. Cai Rong-sheng, head of student admissions at Renmin – one of China’s most prestigious educational establishments – was detained as he attempted to flee the country.
While the investigation into Cai continues, two weeks ago another high-profile figure, An Xiaoyu, vice-president of Sichuan University, the most respected college in southwestern China, was reported to be under investigation following allegations of corruption related to the construction of a new campus.
Global Times exports:
Steel firms should go abroad: ministry
China will encourage Chinese steel enterprises suffering from overcapacity to transfer their businesses to overseas markets where the steel market is still very big, a top official was quoted in a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Land and Resources Tuesday.
“The global steel industry is developing unevenly with some regions like Southeast Asia and Africa still having a big space to develop, and some nations such as China confronting overcapacity,” said Miao Changxing, deputy director of the industrial policy division of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
Miao suggested that the Chinese enterprises push forward development of the steel industry in Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa through ways such as supporting these regions’ infrastructure construction, setting up joint venture enterprises and distribution centers overseas.
The Japan Daily Press gives us a litigious bridge. . .
Japanese ruling party wants to take China’s gas field drilling to international courts
Around the middle of 2013, it was discovered that China had been building a drilling rig in the East China Sea that was in an area considered by both Tokyo and Beijing as part of their Exclusive Economic Zone. The issue is creating major concerns for Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who wants to take the matter of China deciding to drill potential natural gas fields in contested waters to international tribunals. The party, led by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has recommended that the government take the issue to the International Court of Justice or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Since July this year, it has been discovered that China has attempted to set up drilling facilities on its side of what Japan claims is the border of its exclusive economic zone, but Tokyo’s concern is that the undersea gas fields in the area could very well extend to Japan’s side. An LDP task force has then submitted a proposal to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga to bring the issue to international courts.
To Japan and plunging polls from the Mainichi:
Approval rating for Abe Cabinet falls below 50% for 1st time since inauguration: Mainichi poll
The approval rating for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has fallen below 50 percent for the first time since its inauguration a year ago, an opinion poll conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun over the weekend has shown.
The approval rating for the Abe Cabinet came to 49 percent, down 5 points from the previous poll conducted in November. The latest approval rating is more than 20 points lower than its peak of 70 percent in March this year. In contrast, the disapproval rating for the Abe administration rose 8 points from the last survey to 34 percent.
Kyodo News performs semantic prestidigitation:
Gov’t report drops word “deflation,” stops short of declaring its end
The government dropped the word “deflation” in its monthly economic report Tuesday for the first time in more than four years amid signs of growth in consumer spending, but it stopped short of announcing the end of deflation as it has yet to confirm that prices are unlikely to fall back.
In its December report, the Cabinet Office said consumer spending — comprising about 60 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product — is “picking up,” raising its assessment of the category for the first time in eight months.
JapanToday lands in the black:
Japanese automakers’ sales in China surge in November
Leading Japanese automakers saw their best November sales ever last month, in stark contrast to a year ago when shipments plunged amid a deep territorial row between Tokyo and Beijing.
Industry leader Toyota said its sales in China for the month reached 90,000 units, up 40.7 percent from a year ago, driven by popularity of its flagship models, including Camry, Corolla and Rav4.
Rival Nissan said sales in China nearly doubled to 131,778 vehicles, thanks to motorists’ appetite for the Sylphy series and Qashqai. Honda Motor said its Chinese sales more than doubled to 83,029 units in November.
NewsOnJapan covers a more dubious distinction:
Japan ranks high in child poverty rate among 31 nations surveyed
Japan ranked sixth in children’s overall happiness, but 21st in the category of material well-being, reflecting a high poverty rate, according to a survey of 31 economically advanced countries.
The United Nations Children’s Fund and Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research released their child well-being study on Dec. 25.
Using 20 indicators to create five categories, their assessment examined material well-being, health and safety, education, behaviors and risks and housing and environment. The key reason behind Japan’s low rating in the material well-being category was the high percentage of children up to age 17, some 14.9 percent, who live below the poverty line.
And on to Fukshimapocalypse Now!
The Japan Times has the latest leaks:
More water leaks detected at Fukushima No. 1
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday it has detected leaks of radioactive water from two more storage tank areas at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Water levels have dropped inside walled areas in which storage tanks for radioactive water are located, indicating that up to 225 tons of tainted water may have seeped into the ground, Tepco officials said.
The two areas are located to the west of the No. 4 reactor building.
More from NHK WORLD:
Falling water levels within barriers hint at leaks
The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says water levels have dropped sharply inside another 2 barriers surrounding contaminated water tanks.
Tokyo Electric Power Company says its workers discovered the phenomenon on Tuesday at 2 barriers near the number 4 reactor building. The water levels in question were last checked on Friday.
TEPCO officials say the water levels dropped 11 centimeters from Friday inside one barrier, and 7 centimeters in the other.
NHK WORLD follows up:
TEPCO taking watertight measures for barriers
The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is coating the surface of all barriers around contaminated water tanks at the plant to prevent further radioactive water leaks.
TEPCO officials found radioactive water seeping out of the barriers at 4 locations over the weekend.
They say that at two locations degraded resin that seals concrete seams caused the leak. They made sure the leaks had stopped after repairing the seals.
At 2 other locations, they say water was leaking from cracks in the concrete, which they suspect was caused by cold weather. They plan to fill the gaps. The utility plans to coat the surface of all of the barriers, about 20, as similar problems could appear in other locations.
Jiji Press diminishes:
Air Radiation Doses around TEPCO N-Plant Halve over 2 Yrs
Near-surface air radiation doses within 80 kilometers of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s crippled Fukushima No. 1 power station have halved over the last two years, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said Wednesday.
The radiation doses one meter above the ground as of Sept. 28 this year were 47 pct below levels in November 2011 on average, the regulatory body said. The NRA calculated the doses based on data from its seventh aerial survey since the March 2011 meltdowns carried out at an altitude of 300 meters around the site of the disaster.
The radiation levels dropped 37 pct over the two years through radioactive decay of substances with relatively short half-life periods such as cesium 137, while the rest of the decline resulted from removal of surface radioactive materials due to rain and wind, according to the NRA.
More declines from NHK WORLD:
Radiation levels drop after trial decontamination
A government survey shows that radiation levels dropped by more than half after trial decontamination in residential areas severely affected by the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
The Environment Ministry started trial decontamination in October in areas designated as unsuitable for living due to radiation levels of more than 50 millisieverts per year. Officials had not begun full-scale decontamination because they estimated that residents would face difficulties in returning home for a long time.
The trial decontamination was conducted to check its effectiveness. NHK was able to access the preliminary data.
JapanToday goes home for the holidays:
Fukushima evacuees go home for holiday season
Some Fukushima residents who fled their homes near the crippled Japanese nuclear plant are temporarily returning home during the New Year season, officials said Wednesday.
But fewer than 10% of more than 27,000 people eligible for the temporary repatriation program are taking part, amid fears of high radiation.
The government is allowing former residents of selected areas around the plant with relatively low radiation contamination to stay at their homes from Christmas Eve through Jan 7.
Jiji Press bails:
TEPCO to Receive 500 B. Yen in Loans Thurs.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. will receive 500 billion yen in loans, including 200 billion yen for refinancing, from 11 banks on Thursday, informed sources said Tuesday.
The 11 banks, including the government-held Development Bank of Japan and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., welcome the government’s decision to increase its support for the struggling power firm, the sources said.
The creditor banks will remain involved in TEPCO’s rehabilitation, with outstanding loans expected to reach 4.5 trillion yen by the end of the month, the sources added.
The Japan Times has more:
Tepco to get added support; state to shoulder 30-year interim waste storage
In its fiscal 2014 budget plan revealed Tuesday, the government will provide additional support to Tokyo Electric Power Co. in line with recently adopted guidelines to accelerate Tepco’s sluggish recovery from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant catastrophe that started in 2011.
Projects to support Tepco include the construction of interim storage facilities for waste generated by radiation cleanup activities outside the damaged complex, for which the government plans to earmark ¥101.2 billion for fiscal 2014.
The government has estimated that construction and management of interim waste storage facilities will total ¥1.1 trillion. Tepco was originally to shoulder these costs, but the state in the new guidelines opted to fund the 30-year project.
Still more from Kyodo News:
State-backed fund agrees on new business rehabilitation plan for TEPCO
A state-backed bailout fund said Wednesday it has agreed in principle on a new business turnaround plan for Tokyo Electric Power Co. that features more financial support from the state to the ailing operator of the accident-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex.
The Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund and TEPCO declined to comment on the details of the plan, which needs to be approved by the government to become official, but sources close to the matter said it has been worked out on the assumption that TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant will resume operation from July.
NHK WORLD hauls it off:
Govt. to draw up plan to transport toxic waste
Japan’s Environment Ministry has convened a panel of experts to discuss how to transport radioactive waste in Fukushima Prefecture. The ministry plans to draw up a basic plan by next summer to move waste to intermediate storage sites.
The waste is being stored in around 460 initial storage sites.
The government plans to build intermediate facilities in 3 towns near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Officials asked communities earlier this month to host facilities to store soil and other waste from the decontamination work.
The Mainichi struggles:
Fukushima local gov’ts