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26.Dubai feels the heat (www.hindu.com)
Expats depart as work dries up and visas are rescinded. Too high, too fast: the party’s over for Dubai.
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27.60.4 lakh houses constructed under Indira Awas Yojna (www.moneycontrol.com)
Social Sector highlights...
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28.Farmers to get interest sops in FY10 (www.moneycontrol.com)
A lot of attention is given to the agriculture sector in Interim Budget 2009, the last before general elections. The plan allocation is up 300% in four-years.
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29.Your 10 minute resource to the Interim Budget (www.moneycontrol.com)
From spelling out the seven economic objectives from the Common Minimum Programme to indicating, albeit mildly, that his government, if re-elected will offer attractive tax sops, the speech was just what Corporate India expected – plain vanilla.
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30.Text of Pranab Mukherjee's Speech (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
For the record.
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31.Finance Ministers Soften Their Tone on China's Currency (www.nytimes.com)
The quick shift in the stance of the Group of 7 toward China underscores how sharply policy positions are changing as the world economy continues to struggle.
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32.Who is the Indian Mujahideen? (www.idsa.in)
In 2008, India faced multiple terror attacks on its cities across several states. These attacks resulted mostly in civilian deaths. The IM’s frequent bomb blasts in Indian cities except perhaps Mumbai where the direct involvement of the LeT is established, begs answers to the question: who is the IM, what are their motives and where do they actually come from?
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33.(Part VI - The Stimulus Series) The Mother of all Stimulus Stories (topics.nytimes.com)
Ok... I seem to have gone over-board in the heading. :-)
But, well ... er... it is true. This link provides you with a comprehensive look at the entire Obama Stimulus package.
It has a very good write-up on the time line of the way Obama negotiated the politics of the issue and it has links to other news stories that take a detailed look at the Package. A good read at any rate. -
34.(Part V - The Stimulus Series) Failure to Rise (www.nytimes.com)
Paul Krugman has his take on the stimulus bill. "The stimulus bill looks helpful but inadequate, especially when combined with a disappointing plan for rescuing the banks."
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35.(Part IV - Stimulus Series) Obama Hails Stimulus (www.nytimes.com)
President Obama on Saturday called the $787 billion stimulus bill passed by Congress a “major milestone” and signaled that he planned to move forward quickly on the next phases of his economic recovery plan.
“This historic step won’t be the end of what we do to turn our economy around, but rather the beginning,” -
36.(Part III - The Stimulus Series)) Congress and Administration Reach Deal on Economic Stimulus Plan (www.brookings.edu)
With yesterday’s agreement between House and Senate negotiators on an economic stimulus bill, the young Obama administration won a hard-fought and much needed victory. The compromise, which cut the overall cost of the legislation to $789 billion, pared back items dear to both liberals and the business community.
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37.(Part II - The Stimulus Series) Stimulus Watch: Government Responses to the Financial & Economic Crisis (www.usbudgetwatch.org)
US Budget Watch has created an interactive “Stimulus Watch” table that provides a detailed description of government actions taken to deal with the recent financial and economic turmoil.
All actions are clickable, sortable, and filterable. They also invite user questions.
This is a site that one could visit over time to figure out how the Stimulus Package is going.
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38.(Part I - The Stimulus Series) From the horse's mouth (www.whitehouse.gov)
The White House outlines what the Obama administration has in mind as far as the stimulus package is concerned.
"The American economy is in the midst of a crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime. The economy lost 2.6 million jobs in 2008, the most of any year since World War II. Manufacturing activity is at its lowest level in twenty-eight years. Consumer spending is declining and confidence is at historic lows. Many experts believe unemployment could reach double digits if no action is taken..."
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39.The deadly mix of short termism, unbridled greed and lax oversight (www.equitymaster.com)
The global financial crisis is really the consequence of an excessively short term outlook, propelled by greed and unstopped by regulation. The short termism is due to several factors, not least of which is the enormous growth, in the past 3 decades, o...
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40.(Part VI - Afghanistan Series) How to help Afghanistan (www.vetvoice.com)
Simply put, gaps have to be closed: The gaps in security, in infrastructure, and in legitimacy. And this process must have an Afghan face. That's why the problem can't be solved by the U.S. military or NATO alone. To be sure, the U.S. military has a major role to play in providing security (along with Afghan forces), but other agencies must lead in helping to build the capacity of the Afghan government. Only then will the legitimacy gap be closed. And only then will the Taliban and their fundamentalist friends and warlords be marginalized to the point of irrelevancy.
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41.India ready for war? Forces grapple with delays, red tape (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
For all its aspirations about becoming a superpower, India continues to fumble in formulating strategic plans to systematically build the country's military "capabilities" in tune with its geopolitical objectives.
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42.Country Briefings: Iran (www.economist.com)
Data about Iran. This article also contains links to
Economic data, History in brief, the Political structure. These links are present on the Left of the article. -
43.The great deception about Dr. Khan (www.indianexpress.com)
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi says Khan is history. What he does not tell the world is: if the present verdict, that the case of proliferation against Khan has not been substantiated, is to be accepted how exactly did Pakistan's illegal nuclear proliferation networks operate?
A look at the Nuclear Proliferation by Pakistan -
44.Time for India to think of carrots too, not just sticks (www.hindu.com)
Now that the Mumbai terror probe has crossed the hurdle of Pakistani denial, India must shed its distrust.
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45.Our citizens did it, Pakistan finally admits (www.hindustantimes.com)
For the first time ever, Pakistan has arrested six people for a terror attack on the basis of information supplied by India. Islamabad has announced that six people — including “mastermind and leader” of the 26/11 terror strikes, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi — were in its custody; the attackers had sailed from Karachi; and part of the Mumbai conspiracy had been hatched in Pakistan.
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46.(Part V - Afghanistan Series) Surging into a perfect storm? (warincontext.org)
Does the US led war in Afghanistan have the potential to make the debacle in Iraq pale in comparison?
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47.(Part IV - Afghanistan Series) Lessons learned for Afghanistan (www.politico.com)
Afghanistan is a honeycomb of ethnic groups and tribes. About half its people are Pashtuns, from more than 30 different tribes; an additional 25 percent are Tajiks; 18 percent, Hazaras; 6 percent, Uzbeks; 3 percent, Turkmen; 1 percent, Qizilbash; and about 7 percent are Aimaq, Arab, Kirghiz, Wakhi, Farsiwan, Nuristani, Baluch, Brahui, Qizilbash, Kabuli or Jat.
Wow. In this context is the Obama troop surge of 30,000 going to be enough. -
48.(Part III - Afghanistan Series) Afghan Views and the Race Against Time (www.vetvoice.com)
This piece takes into account Afghan public attitudes in determining what the real issue is there. A slightly different take to conventional wisdom about Afghanistan.
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49.(Part II - Afghanistan Series) Obama's War - Fearing Another Quagmire in Afghanistan (www.nytimes.com)
When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains
And the women come out to cut up what remains
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An’ go to your Gawd like a soldier.
—Rudyard Kipling, “The Young British Soldier,” 1892Can President Obama succeed in that long-lamented “graveyard of empires” — a place that has crushed foreign occupiers for more than 2,000 years?
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50.(Part I - Afghanistan Series) Obama and Afganistan (www.thenation.com)
I have put together a 5 Part Series on the current situation in Afghanistan. This is so because the Obama administration believes that Afghanistan is where the action should lie. Not Iraq. It has also sent a special envoy Richard Holbrooke to the region. (And it is of quite some interest to us in India as well.)
However a lot people have their concerns about a war in Afghanistan. This set of articles looks at the Afghan issue from in this context.About this article: Obama's advisers say, a military surge is necessary not to "win" the war in Afghanistan but to stabilize the situation and to convince the Islamist insurgent leaders to come to the bargaining table. Is this a dangerously flawed strategy, one that could unravel Obama's presidency?
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