The Rise of Asia's Universities
Richard C. Levin

The rapid economic development of Asia since World War II has forever altered the global balance of power. These countries recognize the importance of an educated work force to economic growth, and they understand that investing in research makes their economies more innovative and competitive.

Pakistan's Shrewd Shift in Dialogue
Daniel Markey

Pakistan's delegation, led by army chief General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani, cleverly changed the subject. He came armed with a fifty-six page book on ways the United States should do more to help Pakistan. Kayani also left his chief spymaster at home, practically eliminating potential for in-depth counterterrorism debates.

India's Rise, America's Interest
Evan A. Feigenbaum

Until the late 1990s, the United States often ignored India. India's weak and protected economy gave it little influence in global markets, and its nonaligned foreign policy caused periodic tension with Washington. When the United States did concentrate on India, it too often fixated on India's military rivalry with Pakistan. Today, however, India is dynamic and transforming.

The Progress of Man
Robert C. Koehler

It's time, I think, to resacralize progress. One way to start is to recognize the rights of native peoples around the world not to be displaced, to see in their determination to remain in reverent connection to a piece of the earth not something quaint and primitive and of value to them alone, but the heart and center of humanity's struggle with itself.

Who Will Be the New Global King of the Hill
William Pfaff

China and India stopped being part of what was called the third world when the Communist world disappeared in a shattering of global illusions in 1989. Since then there has been a search to find a new King of the Global Hill. The United States rejoiced for a few years in being the sole superpower, considering it an opportunity to remake the world according to its own advantage.

Interview with India's Environment Minister
Jayshree Bajoria

India and China have long maintained their economic growth will suffer if they accept binding emission targets under an international agreement on climate change. Instead, they have called for mitigation commitments by the developed world and financial support from rich countries to help developing countries adapt to climate change.

Working Together, Brazil, Russia, China and India Increase Leverage
Ian Bremmer

In 2003, a report authored by Goldman Sachs economists popularized the term BRICs -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- to describe a whole new category of emerging-market powerhouse. The report argued that with sound political leadership and relative international stability, the BRIC economies would together outpace the original G6 industrialized nations in dollar terms by 2040 -- a fundamental shift in the global balance of power. Since then, these four countries have assumed ever-greater importance in the international investment community's collective imagination.

Elections Give India's Congress Party Clout to Push Agenda
by Ian Bremmer

For nearly a year, an unmanageable coalition government in India has obstructed the ruling Congress Party's policy agenda and brought the country's economic reform process to a grinding halt. Now that an impressive electoral triumph in national parliamentary elections held in April and May has allowed the party to shed unreliable allies, can its leaders move the country in a more market-friendly direction. There are grounds for both caution and optimism

India's Fortune: Prospects of a Country on the Rise
by Edward Luce

Nandan Nilekani's book, Imagining India, charts how India arrived at the potentially transformative moment it has reached today and describes the gargantuan challenges the country will have to overcome if it is to fulfill that potential

Indian Ocean: Center Stage for 21st Century Struggles Between India & China
by Robert D. Kaplan

Competition between India and China suggests that the Indian Ocean is where global struggles will play out in the twenty-first century. The old borders of the Cold War map are crumbling fast, and Asia is becoming a more integrated unit, from the Middle East to the Pacific.

Brazil, China & India Can Mitigate Global Crisis
Global Economic Viewpoint

Brazil, India and even China will not be able, by themselves, to correct the dysfunctions that produced the global crisis. But it is true that the economic power of these three countries can mitigate its negative consequences. ...

Cameron makes free trade appeal to India
David Cameron, the UK prime minister, has appealed for New Delhi's support to defeat forces of economic nationalism that threatened to close down the world trading system at a time of economic weakness

Illness stops Gandhi-Cameron meeting
People associated with Mr Cameron's visit said it was suspected that she had been taken ill and was travelling

India warns on slowdown in capital flows
Growing risk aversion among investors is slowing foreign capital flows to emerging markets such as India, potentially choking inflows needed to fund the nation's widening current account deficit, India's central bank said

Osborne urges India to break EU trade logjam
The UK finance minister tells Indian bankers in Mumbai it is imperative to reduce the costs of trade between Europe and a 'linchpin power' in the world economy

Activists heckle Vedanta over bauxite mine
Vedanta's board defended the company's practices against several human rights groups who packed its annual meeting where activists jeered chairman Anil Agarwal

India storage woes add to strain on wheat
Mountains of food at risk of rotting – equal to a sixth of India's stocks – have erupted as a hot political issue, particularly as wheat prices soar

India plans tough stress tests of banks
The Reserve Bank of India announces an abrupt tightening of monetary policy and says it will undertake more tests in the future to build confidence in the banking system

TCS to increase staff in expansion drive
Indian outsourcer company plans to expand its workforce by a quarter to help drive expansion into fast-growing emerging markets

IT outsourcing drives India's economic ascent
The stellar growth of the IT industry remains the most exciting business story in modern India

PM carries 'spirit of humility' to New Delhi
David Cameron has promised to carry a 'spirit of humility' to India as he lands on a 'jobs mission' to the subcontinent that will reassure New Delhi that Britain's immigration cap will be enforced 'liberally'

Opposition protests disrupt India parliament
India's parliament has been repeatedly disrupted by opposition protests at food price inflation, raising concerns about further stalling of the Congress party-led government's backlogged reform agenda

Burma's reclusive leader makes trip to India
One of India's sacred pilgrimage spots will receive one of the world's most controversial Buddhists: Burma's Senior General Than Shwe, whose five-day state visit to India is more about New Delhi's embrace of realpolitik than Gen. Than Shwe's spiritual inclinations

India's Apollo tackles MS frontiers
Apollo Hospitals is offering 'Liberation Therapy' – an unorthodox treatment aimed at improving blood supply to the brain of people suffering from multiple sclerosis

Cameron leads delegation to court India
David Cameron will lead a heavyweight cabinet and business delegation to India on Tuesday in what diplomats admit could be a delicate mission to build a 'new special relationship' between London and New Delhi

UK flag follows trade to India
The two-day visit to India is one of the best opportunities for Mr Cameron to put into practice his new Conservative government's desire to declare the UK 'open for business'

FT.com - India
FT.com - India

 

Sonia cancels appointments with Cameron, Than Shwe

India, U.K. to give fillip to trade, security ties

‘Pakistan's successes against terror cannot be belittled'

Chawla demits office; Quraishi to take over

Omar, Mirwaiz assure Sikhs of security

Many Maoists want to surrender: Buddhadeb

Maoist problem will be overcome in three years: Chidambaram

‘Accused absconding is not admission of guilt'

Mala fide bid to favour tobacco industry: plea in court

Truckers urged to withdraw strike call

Krishna Iyer condoles victims

4 accused in Kachroo case surrender

‘Reintegration of ex-Maoists in Nepal conditional'

A new innings

One more swine flu death in Kolkata

Two rescued from flash floods in Kashmir

Malaria alert

Jagan ‘running out' of patience

Paper submitted on draft Model Real Estate Bill

One killed, two injured in police firing in Uttar Dinajpur

All-round Internet connectivity by mid-2011

Suspected Maoists kill CPI(M) leader

Ministry approves higher allocation for RTE Act

Uproar in Assembly over Buddhadeb's absence

West Bengal Assembly passes Bill to ensure patients' right to treatment

Panel on nuclear liability Bill to meet for final round

Left, allies hold dharna outside Parliament

19.2 lakh tonnes of sugar made available for August

RJD derecognised as national party

U.N. chief voices concern

RIM will address concerns over BlackBerry

5-year-old raped: bandh in Mumbai Dalit colony

Now, Aamir to teach civic sense

No tears?

British teenager's mother arrives in Goa

Aarushi case: Court to hear Talwar's plea on August 9

The Hindu - National
The Internet edition of The Hindu, India's national newspaper

 

2 killed, 50 injured in fresh Kashmir clashes
Security forces opened fire to quell stone-pelting protesters as fresh violence erupted in the Kashmir Valley today after days of relative calm, leaving two persons dead and 50 others injured.

'Bikini killer' Charles Sobhraj held guilty in US woman's murder
'Bikini killer' Charles Sobhraj has been convicted for the 1975 murder of Connie Jo Bronzich. Nepal's Supreme Court today rejected Sobhraj's appeal against his conviction for the murder of the American woman.

I can't be frightened, says Narendra Modi
In the backdrop of CBI's reported move to interrogate him in Sohrabuddin encounter case, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today said he cannot be frightened and would fight against 'falsehood' 100 times.

Rahul Mahajan's wife Dimpy alleges he beat her
Rahul Mahajan's second wife, model Dimpy Ganguly, left his Worli house early today after what she described as a night of violent abuse. There were bruises on her shin, hands and there was a lump on her head.

CWG: CVC asks CBI to register corruption case
The Central Vigilance Commission has asked the CBI to register a corruption case against certain MCD officials in connection with irregularities in a tender issued for a Commonwealth Games project worth several crores.

Obama to address joint session of Parliament
The US president, who will undertake his first State visit to India in November, is expected to address a joint session of Parliament, an honour that his predecessor George W Bush could not have.

Saina Nehwal to get Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
Ace Indian shuttler and world number two Saina Nehwal has been chosen for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by the panel headed by sprinter PT Usha.

FREE: File income tax returns - last date July 31
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Domestic violence: DiCaprio drops Gibson's film
Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has walked out of Mel Gibson's new historical epic as the actor and filmmaker continues to battle a prolific domestic abuse scandal.

How hackers break into 'secure' websites
Researchers have uncovered new ways that criminals can spy on Internet users even if they're using secure connections to banks, online retailers or other sensitive Web sites.

The world's first robot with a conscience
Spain has designed the world's first robot with its own "conscience" and "life", which will "entertain, teach and be a companion" to humans who purchase it.

Rules of office friendship

Mush ado about nothing

Ranbir, Katrina caught in London

CBI wants Sohrabuddin encounter case shifted out of Gujarat
According to reports, CBI in its status report to the Supreme Court today has asked for the case to be shifted out of Gujarat as it feels that investigation cannot be carried out in an impartial manner in the state.

Majority of Pakistanis call India a threat: Poll
According to the prestigious Pew Research Centre opinion poll carried out inside Pak, people are far more worried about US and India than about Taliban and al-Qaida. Most Pakistanis want better ties with India.

No. of Indian students going to US falls, rises for UK
More than twice the number of Indian students who applied to fly abroad for entry into colleges this year chose the UK over the US.

Seven laws of attraction
Surprising factors come into play when you are looking for a mate, we find out

The Times of India
Times of India brings the Latest & Top Breaking News on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Cricket, Sports, Business, Bollywood News and Entertainment, Science, Technology, Health & Fitness news & opinions from leading columnists.

 

Jharkhand withdraws facilities to ex-chief ministers
Jharkhand today withdrew many facilities, including free housing for lifetime, provided to former chief ministers as it spent millions of rupees on them every year, a senior official said.

CVC finds serious lapses, asks Govt to act against errant officers
In a scathing indictment of organisations involved in executing works relating to the Commonwealth Games, the Central Vigilance Commission has said that besides awarding the works to ineligible agencies, several organisations considered inadmissible factors to jack-up project costs citing urgent circumstances.

BCCI Working Committee to meet on tommorow
A decision on the television broadcasting rights and the request of the Delhi Commonwealth Games organisers for financial help are likely to be taken up for discussion when the Cricket Board's Working Committee meets in Mumbai tomorrow.

Amit Shah's interrogation concludes
CBI today concluded its three-day grilling of Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case during which the former Gujarat minister did not give satisfactory replies to questions put to him despite an assurance by his lawyer that he would cooperate in the probe.

HindustanTimes.com - Top India News Headlines
Latest news updates from HindustanTimes.com for India. For more updates hop on to HindustanTimes.com.

 

2 killed, 50 injured in fresh Kashmir clashes
Security forces opened fire to quell stone-pelting protesters as fresh violence erupted in the Kashmir Valley today after days of relative calm, leaving two persons dead and 50 others injured.

Obama to address joint session of Parliament
The US president, who will undertake his first State visit to India in November, is expected to address a joint session of Parliament, an honour that his predecessor George W Bush could not have.

Controversial Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran shifted to Sikkim HC
Consequently, Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Kheher will take over as Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court on or before August 13.

I can't be frightened: Narendra Modi
In the backdrop of CBI's reported move to interrogate him in Sohrabuddin encounter case, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today said he cannot be frightened and would fight against 'falsehood' 100 times.

Anticipatory bail provision back in UP after 34 years
Uttar Pradesh government on Friday approved reintroduction of the provision of anticipatory bail as provided in Indian Penal Code (IPC), a legal measure which was abolished 34 years ago.

J&K situation not yet normal, says Chidambaram
Acknowledging that situation in Jammu and Kashmir is "not yet" normal, the Centre on Friday made it clear that it was committed to holding quiet dialogue with all shades of opinion in the state.

CWG row: Dikshit, Gill refuse to comment on CVC report
A day after the Central Vigilance Commission reported major irregularities in 16 Commonwealth Games projects, sports minister M S Gill and Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit on Friday refused to comment on the issue.

IPS officer, 6 other cops charged in Tulsi encounter case
Vipul Agarwal is among seven policemen charged today with criminal conspiracy, murder and kidnapping in the encounter killing case involving Tulsiram Prajapati, a key witness in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter.

Sohrab case: CBI files status report in SC
The CBI on Friday filed a status report on the progress of the probe in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case in which former Gujarat minister and Narendra Modi's close aide Amit Shah has been arrested.

CBI wants Sohrabuddin case shifted out of Gujarat
According to reports, CBI in its status report to the Supreme Court today has asked for the case to be shifted out of Gujarat as it feels that investigation cannot be carried out in an impartial manner in the state.

J&K govt bans two TV channels
Jammu and Kashmir government has banned the transmission of two local television channels as they were telecasting "provocative programmes".

Price issue rocks Parliament, both Houses adjourned till Monday
The issue of price rise rocked Parliament for the fourth day with an angry opposition seeking to censure the govt in both the Houses which saw washout of most of the official agenda for the first week of the Monsoon Session.

Assam chief minister Gogoi to undergo heart surgeries in Mumbai
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi left for Mumbai from New Delhi on Friday for undergoing two emergency heart surgeries following blood vessel blockages detected by doctors.

2 more swine flu deaths in Kolhapur
Two more persons succumbed to the deadly HINI virus in Kolhapur, taking the disease death toll in this district to 6, health officials said on Friday.

Cabinet okays Bill to raise retirement age of HC judges to 65
A proposed legislation paving the way for increasing the retirement age of High Court judges from 62 to 65 years was approved by the Union Cabinet on Friday.

India News, Latest News in India, Live News India, India Breaking News - Times of India
Get the latest breaking news from India on politics and current affairs.

 

Torrential Rains, Floods Kill More Than 300 in Pakistan
Death toll rises as monsoon rains wash out homes, roads and bridges in northwest

Poll: Majority of Pakistanis View US as Enemy
The survey shows deep skepticism of Washington despite billions of dollars in aid and new diplomatic efforts

3 NATO Troops Killed in Afghanistan
NATO statement says all 3 soldiers died as result of improvised explosive device attacks in southern part of country

Bangladesh Garment Workers Protest Recent Wage Hike
Workers angry because 80 percent raise is less than nearly three-fold hike they had demanded

Growing World Population Stresses Governments, Environment
Rich nations aging as developing countries remain young and growing

Philippine President Creates Anti-Corruption 'Truth Commission'
Truth commission to investigate possible corruption by administration of former President Gloria Arroyo

China Conducts Military Exercise in South China Sea
'Largest' exercise in China's history coincided with drills in Sea of Japan by United States, South Korea

North Korea, UN Command Meet Again on Cheonan Incident
Talks expected to focus on possible joint effort to re-examine sunken South Korean warship

China Renews Criticism of US Over China Sea Dispute
Territorial issue involves Spratly and Paracel chains, which are claimed by China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan

Grenade Explodes in Bangkok; Red Shirt Leader Freed on Bail
Man gravely injured in explosion renewing tensions 2 months after security forces ended wave of violent political protests

Australian Opposition Calls For Reopening of Controversial Refugee Camp
Reopening camp on tiny South Pacific island of Nauru meant to deter a steady flow of asylum seekers arriving by boat

Pakistan Mourns Air Crash Victims
152 killed in worst aviation accident in country's history, rescuers still looking for flight data recorder

British PM Defends Remarks on Pakistan and Terrorism
David Cameron says Britain wants a strong, stable Pakistan that does not 'promote the export of terror' to India or anywhere else

America's Asian Community Joins Debate Over Arizona's Immigration Law
Some are share fears of Latin American community over impact of law

Obama Meets with Advisers on Afghanistan, Pakistan
Taking part in meeting in White House Situation Room, either in person or by video link, were some 22 civilian and military officials

VOA News: Asia
Asia Voice of America

 

America, Afghanistan and Pakistan: Kayani's gambit

America is furious about WikiLeaks’ revelations on the war in Afghanistan. But Pakistan also has much to worry about

GENERAL ASHFAQ KAYANI’S moment of pleasure was fleeting. Last week the Pakistani government granted him a second three-year term as army chief—something that no elected government in Pakistan had done before. But within days, thanks to a treasure-trove of 75,000 leaked American military reports, the Pakistani army was once again in the international spotlight for its suspected role in helping the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The files released by WikiLeaks, a whistle-blowing website, are mostly sparse field reports and intelligence assessments from 2004 to 2009. They detail the grim reality of the war: the hunt to kill insurgent leaders, the death of Afghan civilians by error or callousness, bomb and shooting attacks by insurgents, the unreliability of Afghan forces, the corruption of political leaders and much more. ...

Australia's election: Abbott's angst

The opposition faces a hard slog

IN HIS campaign for the general election on August 21st, Tony Abbott, the opposition leader, has run into a problem with women. Julia Gillard, the prime minister, easily outpolls him as a leader. One recent survey showed female voters favour Labor by a mighty 16 points, double the lead for all voters. And now Mr Abbott’s frustrated colleagues seem to be trying the “gender card”: highlighting Ms Gillard’s status as an unmarried, childless woman (and an atheist, to boot). The idea is to appeal to conservatives in the populous states of New South Wales and Queensland, but it will inevitably drive yet more women away.

A year ago, few would have given Mr Abbott much hope of leading the Liberal Party, the main partner in the conservative-coalition opposition. As an ambitious health minister under John Howard, Mr Abbott antagonised some women when he tried (and failed) to ban access to a drug allowing abortion without surgery. Critics pointed to his past as a Catholic seminarian. As an anglophile, fond of the British monarchy, some senior Liberals worried that he was too close to Mr Howard and advised him not to seek the leadership. ...

Floods in China: Gushing

The Three Gorges Dam is tested, but not to breaking point

HUNDREDS killed, hundreds of thousands of homes damaged or destroyed, tens of millions of people suffering. Many parts of China have been enduring the worst floods in years, but it is the flood-prone Yangzi river that is causing most concern. With the downpours has come an unusual sprinkling of doubts about the ability of the colossal Three Gorges Dam to keep the river in check.

The dam, completed in 2006, has been praised by officials for limiting the impact of the floodwaters that have rushed from the Yangzi’s upper reaches. Officials say that well before the first flood crest reached the dam on July 11th, the water level in the more than 600-km (370-mile) reservoir behind it had been reduced to accommodate a surge. By July 28th the level in the dam was 158 metres above the sea, well within a 175-metre limit. But the flood season still has several weeks to run. ...

Film-makers and Cambodia: Enemies of the People

How a low-budget film helped to catch a Khmer Rouge leader

THE Khmer Rouge “Brother Number 2”, Nuon Chea, plays with his grandchildren, watches a broadcast of Saddam Hussein’s execution and dreams of Democratic Kampuchea. For years Pol Pot’s right-hand man has had visits from Thet Sambat, a journalist whose parents and brother died in the genocide. The writer wants to learn why, but does not tell his story, hoping that the taciturn ex-leader will volunteer an explanation. He also tracks down Khuon and Suon, low-level cadres who executed villagers, slit stomachs to eat their gall bladders and buried victims in ditches.

The edgy and often surreal conversations of these men are shown in “Enemies of the People”, a prize-winning documentary made on a shoestring. It has drawn interest from the tribunal that will try Mr Nuon Chea and three other regime leaders next year, and which has tried to subpoena the footage. ...

Cambodia's war-crimes trial: Scarred, not healed

The first war-crimes conviction in Cambodia was long overdue

SLIGHT, well-kempt in grey trousers and a powder-blue shirt, the man in the dock cut the image of an ageing schoolteacher. In fact he had taught maths in the years before the Khmers Rouges seized power in Cambodia. Then he assumed a far more terrifying role: as commandant of the S-21 detention centre, overseeing the torture of some 14,000 adults and children, before they were carted off to the “killing fields”. On July 26th the ex-teacher, Kaing Guek Eav, became the first Khmer Rouge official to pay for his part in the genocide of 1975-79, when some 2m people died: a UN-backed tribunal convicted him of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and jailed him for 35 years.

Comrade Duch, as he is better known, will serve only another 19 years because of time he has already spent behind bars and as compensation for a spell of illegal detention before he got to the tribunal. One of the five judges called his offences “shocking and heinous”, but also noted how the defendant had followed orders in a coercive climate, and had since co-operated with the tribunal and shown remorse. ...

Strategic jousting between China and America: Testing the waters

Tensions rise over efforts to create a new Chinese lake

ON THE face of things, North Korea was supposed to quiver at the presence of a powerful American aircraft-carrier, the USS George Washington, at the head of a fleet of American and South Korean warships off the south-east coast of the Korean peninsula this week. The vessels fired artillery shells and lobbed anti-submarine bombs into the wine-dark sea. This was no idle show of force, but an act of intimidation aimed at deterring North Korea, which South Korea and the United States blame for the sinking in March of a South Korean corvette, the Cheonan.

But more subtly, it was also a shot across China’s bows. China refuses to condemn North Korea over the Cheonan sinking, to the irritation of America and others, while describing the exercises as unwarranted warmongering. America and China have shown growing signs of friction over their competing security presence around the trade-clogged shores of Asia. ...

Thailand's state of emergency: Politics as unusual

A vote in the capital, despite a state of emergency

A PARLIAMENTARY by-election in Bangkok on July 25th was the first test of public opinion since May, when the army put down street protests in which 89 people died. The opposition Pua Thai party made the most of it, picking a jailed “red shirt” leader, Korkaew Pikulthong, as its candidate, and calling for justice for victims of the crackdown. Campaigning from behind bars, he drew a substantial 43% of the votes. And although he was beaten by the candidate of the ruling Democrat Party, the jailbird’s performance shows that the red shirts are not squashed yet.

Voting went smoothly but, as the ballots were being counted, a bomb exploded at a bus stop in a central shopping district. Eight people were injured and one died. The explosion was near the site of May’s bloody showdown between security forces and the red shirts. Security officials blamed the attack on “ill-intentioned people”, code for red-shirt militants, who were accused of a series of explosions in March and April. ...

Scandal in Gujarat: Murder most common

An accusation sheds light on some dirty aspects of Indian politics

IMPUNITY and power are old friends in India’s western state of Gujarat, which is home to over 50m people. In 2002 some 2,000 Muslims were murdered there, in a pogrom carried out with the collusion of police and senior members of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). No high-level convictions followed. But the BJP’s knack of eluding justice in the state, which it still rules, may be fading. On July 25th a minister of state, Amit Shah, was arrested in connection with the alleged murder of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, a suspected extortioner. The case, though unrelated to the events of 2002, may prove damaging for Gujarat’s chief minister, Narendra Modi, a talented politician with ambitions to lead his party and country.

When Mr Sheikh, a Muslim, and his wife were arrested in 2005 the police claimed that he belonged to a banned terrorist group and had been plotting to kill Mr Modi. Two years on, the state government admitted that Mr Sheikh had been killed in a “fake encounter”, a term that describes Indian security forces’ practice of shooting suspects rather than prosecuting them. After the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI, the country’s answer to America’s FBI) called Mr Shah for questioning, he resigned and went into hiding. When he surfaced to deny the charges, he was promptly arrested. ...

Banyan: Leaving Asia's shade

Asia does exist. And this columnist greatly regrets his going from it

FIFTEEN months after we launched our column on Asia, the current Banyan is moving on. At the launch, readers and colleagues chipped in with a dire prediction. Banyan would find Asia had little in common with itself, a mere congeries of nations and occasional failed states. However defined, Asia was a geographical accident, a Western construct. Banyan himself, readers charged, entertained the fantasies of a fevered colonial mind.

Yet after plenty of roaming, the prediction has failed to come true. The case for treating Asia as a shared space, falling under a columnist’s purview, is only reinforced. But let’s be blunt: no serious project for integration is close to existing. It is inconceivable that South Korea or the Philippines would have cheered, say, Bangladesh in the World Cup, as most of Africa roared for Ghana. ...

Corruption in Taiwan: Confirming the worst suspicions

The arrest of three senior judges sparks renewed debate over corruption

RUMOURS of corruption among the judiciary have long flourished in Taiwan. Yet the news on July 14th that three high-court judges and a prosecutor had been detained amid allegations that they took bribes to fix the outcome of a high-profile case, has brought public outrage to boiling point. On July 18th Taiwan’s highest-level judicial official, Lai In-jaw, who is in charge of the island’s supreme and lower courts chose to resign because of the outcry over the case. The government is hastily promising reforms.

The case is Taiwan’s biggest judicial-corruption scandal in over a decade. It involves Ho Chih-hui, an ex-lawmaker with the ruling Kuomintang (now expelled from the party), who was convicted in 2006 by a lower court for taking kickbacks over the building of a science park. He was given a 19-year sentence. Following that, according to Taipei District Court documents, contacts of Mr Ho tried to bribe judges sitting in a higher court, in an attempt to buy his freedom. In May this year the judges did hand down a not-guilty verdict to Mr Ho, but on July 13th members of an anti-corruption task force stormed the homes and offices of the judges and prosecutor involved. The judicial officials could now each face a spell of ten years behind bars, if found guilty. Mr Ho is on the run. ...

Maoist insurgents in India: More bloody and defiant

To overcome Naxalite rebels, India’s government needs to be more adept at both using force and spreading development

AS INDIA’S Maoist rebellion deepens and grows, so too do divisions in the government over how it should be confronted. Nearly 800 people have been killed in the insurgency so far this year, close to the total for the whole of 2009–a record year for bloodshed in this conflict. The lack of a unified government response suggests this grim trajectory will continue.

On July 17th Digvijay Singh, general secretary of the ruling Congress Party, used a television interview to defend criticisms he had made earlier in print, accusing the home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, of mishandling the rebellion. He had written that it is wrong to treat the insurgency “purely as a law and order problem”; instead the government must “take into consideration the people living in the affected area who ultimately matter”. ...

Academic fraud in China: Replicating success

Widespread academic fraud may hamper a drive for innovation

CHINA’S president, Hu Jintao, speaks often and forcefully of the need to foster innovation. He makes a strong case: sustaining economic growth and competitiveness requires China to get beyond mere labour-driven manufacturing and into the knowledge-based business of discoveries, inventions and other advances.

Yet doing so will be hard, not least because of the country’s well-earned reputation for pervasive academic and scientific misconduct. Scholars, both Chinese and Western, say that fraud remains rampant and misconduct ranges from falsified data to fibs about degrees, cheating on tests and extensive plagiarism. ...

India's currency: Whoopee for the rupee

A new symbol for the Indian rupee

A new symbol for the Indian rupee, announced on July 15th, moved some to flights of fancy. A business newspaper suggested that it would “catapult the rupee into the company of four ‘elite’ currencies” which also have symbols. A minister claimed that it would somehow “further highlight the strength and robustness of the Indian economy”. The IMF expects the economy to grow by over 9% this year, although double-digit inflation means that the rupee is losing purchasing power at an unusually rapid pace. Indians chatting on socialnetworking sites seem largely impressed with the new currency sign. The creator, a research student, D Udaya Kumar, has earned R250,000 ($5,300) for his pains. ...

Afghanistan's prospects: The great endgame

As the bigwigs hold forth in Kabul, Afghanistan’s future still looks uncertain

THE themes discussed at this week’s international conference on Afghanistan were grimly familiar. Those attending could be forgiven for pinching themselves to remember whether they had heard all this before in London in January, or in Tokyo, or Paris, or in any of the nine cities where, over the past decade, foreign ministers have met to chew over Afghanistan’s precarious fate.

Sitting around a huge table in the Afghan foreign ministry, the 68 delegates were each allotted five minutes to say what mattered to them. Some wanted progress on tackling corruption or on spending foreign aid more effectively; others sought stronger government or more training for the Afghan National Army. But with the exception of the Iranian foreign minister, who went amusingly (and at length) off message with a rant about international forces as the cause of rising insecurity, the delegates said little to set the pulse racing. ...

North and South Korea: Sabre-rattled

Sanctions, war-games and diplomatic pressure raise the stakes

FOR James Clapper, the man named to lead America’s vast intelligence system, North Korea’s sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean corvette, may mark the start of a “dangerous new period” in which the North seeks to mount “direct attacks” on the South. As military intelligence chief in South Korea and the Pacific region in the 1980s, he told senators in a letter, it was reminiscent of the 1987 bombing of Korean Airlines Flight 858 that killed 115 people. The threat from North Korean military forces, moreover, “cannot be taken lightly”.

Much of the world does not share this grim view, or at least seems reluctant to do much about the killing of 46 South Korean sailors. A recent UN Security Council statement was underwhelming; it decried the attack but, mainly due to China’s objections, did not name North Korea as the culprit. Having adopted a firm but measured stance against North Korea, the lack of international solidarity is a disappointment for President Lee Myung-bak, so much so that some countrymen have taken to speculating about his political future. ...

Obituary: Keith Colquhoun

Farewell to an old Asia hand and The Economist’s previous Obituaries editor

IN THE 20-odd years he worked for The Economist, from 1981 to 2004, Keith Colquhoun never raised his voice. He did not need to. His soft, courteous, slightly smiling delivery encouraged people to listen, as to a favourite uncle. But steel lay behind it. “I’ve just taken one or two liberties with your copy,” he would say, meaning that it had been completely rewritten into the best simple, accurate, sparely punctuated Colquhoun prose. “I would like to do X,” he would say gently, announcing the week’s Obituary candidate, who was often a complete unknown; and neither wild horses, nor the deaths of great celebrities, could persuade him to change his mind.

Keith came into journalism the old-fashioned way, through provincial papers and Fleet Street, but got as far as Hong Kong, where he worked for the Far Eastern Economic Review. He loved Asia, though his view of it was really that of a 19th-century colonial administrator. He had a soft spot for geishas. Of one correspondent, non-productive though enjoying a lavish retainer, he once remarked: “I think perhaps if we do not hear from him next year, we should send him a note.” Though no stripling, he would hunger to get to Siam, Sinkiang or Tartary. He developed a fondness for the Pacific islands, and actually found stories there. ...

Banyan: Splittism on the roof of the world

Geneticists say Chinese and Tibetans were once one. The news appears to be welcome to neither side

TO DREAMERS in the West, Tibet is a Shangri-La despoiled by Chinese ruthlessness and rapacity. To China’s rulers it is a backward kind of place whose former serfs, “liberated” by the Communist army, have repaid the favour with ingratitude and even outright “splittism”. But to excited scientists, Tibet is the site of possibly the fastest case of human evolution through natural selection in the history of mankind.

The Tibetan plateau has an altitude of 4,000 metres (13,000 feet or two-and-a-half miles), where the air has two-fifths less oxygen than at sea level. When China’s dominant Han come to Tibet, they succumb to altitude sickness and suffer lower birth rates and higher child mortality than locals. ...

Correction: Tibet

Tibet’s history. In “Marking time at the fringes” (July 10th) we marked two dates incorrectly. We should have said that China’s government considers May 23rd 1951 to be the day of Tibet’s “liberation” and March 28th 1959 to be “Serf Emancipation Day”. These have been corrected online.

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Sri Lanka and the UN: Fast foes

A nasty row over a UN investigation panel

NEITHER Sri Lanka’s government, nor the United Nations seems ready to back down over an increasingly bitter dispute. This week a spokesman for Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, confirmed that a panel of three experts will be convened as planned to advise him on “accountability” for war crimes that were allegedly committed as Sri Lanka brought its civil war to a bloody end early in 2009.

This is despite a fierce demonstration in front of the UN compound in Colombo, the capital, spearheaded by Sri Lanka’s housing minister, Wimal Weerawansa. He had called for a protest against Mr Ban’s experts. The government had earlier dismissed the panel as an interference in its internal affairs, but it also promised that such a siege would be avoided. ...

The Economist: Asia
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