India-EU News & Analysis

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 17 May 2013 01:29

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/eco ... e#comments

India-EU trade negotiators prepare for crucial meet in Brussels
Amiti Sen

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A number of contentious issues still need to be sorted out before the two sides are ready to sign the pact.

New Delhi, May 14:

Chief negotiators from India and the EU will meet in Brussels on Wednesday to assess the progress in the proposed India-EU free trade agreement talks and try and narrow gaps in contentious areas such as professional visas, market access for cars, grant of data exclusivity status and commitments in retail and financial services.

The negotiators will take a call on the next ministerial meet based on what they achieve in the meeting.

Both India and the EU have expressed hopes to wrap up the over six years old negotiations for a Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) this year, but a deadline for it has remained elusive.

“While some movement has happened on some of the contentious issues since the chief negotiators last met in March, hard positions adopted by some EU members on certain matters have to be relaxed if overall progress is to be achieved,” a Commerce Department official told Business Line.

Germany, for instance, is insisting on including an indefinite tariff rate quota on import of cars from Europe and an eventual zero duty on all cars despite generous offers of tariff cuts made by India.

“The EU can’t push us continuously and beyond reason as we have to protect the sensitivities of our industry as well,” the official said. India has already agreed to bring down import duties from 60 per cent to 10 per cent on about 2,50,000 cars from Europe over a period of five years. It may more than halve the duties on all cars imported from Europe.

The EU also wants more access for its dairy industry, while India’s dairy industry, dominated by small farmers, is putting up a stiff resistance.

Another problem area is that the EU wants India to take on binding commitments for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail and insurance. India is finding it difficult to meet this demand as taking a binding commitment would mean that it cannot change the rules in the future if the situation so demands.

EU is also frustrated because Indian Parliament has not yet passed the Bill increasing FDI limit in insurance from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.

India, too, has some interests that have not yet been agreed to by the EU. It wants the EU to mark it as a data secure country that would increase flow of sophisticated outsourcing business to it. It also wants the EU to do away with safeguard clauses for the increased professional visa that it has agreed to grant to India under the FTA.

“Then there is the issue of intellectual property that has been creating problems for some time. While India does not want to take on additional commitments on intellectual property, the EU is insisting on at least some concessions,” the official said.

krithivas · Post by **krithivas** » 04 Jun 2013 01:26

Alert to Indians/Indian diaspora travelling to Italy besides the social unrest and poverty that Italy is now facing:

Deadly MERS-CoV virus spreads to Italy
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/02/health/wo ... ?hpt=hp_t3

Anindya · Post by **Anindya** » 29 Jun 2013 00:06

EU Accession: Turkish Talks to Continue Despite Berlin Tiff

At first glance, it sounds like a typical European compromise. European Union ministers agreed on Tuesday to resume accession negotiations with Turkey, though they opted to delay the talks until October. And Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu welcomed the decision, telling reporters that "a hurdle standing in the way of relations between the EU and Turkey has been overcome."

In reality, however, the decision reached on Tuesday represents only a temporary resolution to a growing conflict between Ankara and Berlin that has threatened to significantly damage Turkey's relations with both the European Union and Germany.
...

Earlier this week, after Merkel had said that she found police reaction to the demonstrations in Istanbul "too harsh," Bagis replied by saying: "If Ms. Merkel takes a closer look, she will see that those who mess about with Turkey do not find an auspicious end." He also urged Merkel to consider not only the thousands of German companies that do business in Turkey but also the "3.5 million blood brothers" who live and vote in Germany.

'Strong Reaction'

Bagis allegedly also told European politicians that Turks in Germany could launch mass demonstrations against Merkel and that he couldn't guarantee stability in Germany were that to happen. Merkel reportedly was furious and interpreted Bagis' comments as a direct threat. Ankara had also said that there would be a "strong reaction" were talks cancelled altogether.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 01 Jul 2013 23:47

X-post from Islamism & Islamophobia thread:

The Economist -
European Union enlargement: Keeping up with the Croats

After Croatia’s accession, Europe should be ready to admit more new members
...on July 1st the club will admit its 28th member, Croatia (see Charlemagne).

To many this marks the beginning of the end of a process. Most people accept that the western Balkans must eventually join the club, so membership talks continue with Montenegro and will open next year with Serbia. But further negotiations with Turkey, already almost frozen, have at German insistence been put off until October, because of the Turks’ crackdown on protesters (see article). And nobody even raises the possible accession of Moldova, Ukraine or the Caucasus.

This is a mistake. Enlargement has been the EU’s most successful policy bar none. The hope of membership was crucial in fostering and smoothing the transition to democracy, first in Greece, Spain and Portugal and later across large parts of eastern Europe. The lure of joining the rich democrats’ club led countries into social and constitutional reform and persuaded them to free statist economies. The results benefited not just new members, but existing ones, too.

Those who oppose further enlargement offer several arguments. The EU club is already too large to function well, they say, and is anyway in too big a mess to afford new distractions. Some countries were let in before their institutions were sufficiently developed (Romania and Bulgaria in 2007), or with unresolved territorial disputes (Cyprus, 2004). Hungary (also 2004) has regressed in its democracy. Others, like Turkey, are not really European at all. Public opinion is against more expansion, partly because of rising resistance to large-scale immigration. Potential candidates from the east are too big (Ukraine), too poor (Moldova), too Muslim (Turkey again), too autocratic (Azerbaijan)—or some combination of the above.

vinod · Post by **vinod** » 05 Jul 2013 17:19

http://newindianexpress.com/opinion/EU- ... 664241.ece

EU threat to Indian farmers
By K P Prabhakaran Nair

03rd July 2013 07:23 AM

There is now a looming threat to Indian agriculture from the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union. The smoke signals have already started blowing from Brussels. The 27-nation block of the EU, which has a notorious record of extravagant subsidies dished out to the Union’s farmers, set aside a big chunk of its new 7-year budget to support its agriculture, precisely, Euro 363 billion, that works out to approximately to ` 26 lakh crore, of the total Euro 900 billion (approximately ` 69 lakh crore), a whopping sum at that, for the Union’s farmers, giving in to strong political pressure from France, the Union’s major agricultural partner.

The sum is approximately 38 per cent of the EU spending for the agriculture sector of the 2014-2020 budget. This decision was not in consonance with the views of other EU nations, which wanted more money from the budget to be diverted to spur the growth of the EU and create new jobs.

What does this mean to Indian farmers?

Simply put, Indian farmers will face new threats to their livelihood, once India signs on the dotted line on the FTA with EU in the coming weeks. Ironically, while Brussels was finalising its contentious budget, in India, our commerce and industry minister went on record to say that the FTA with EU was India’s “most ambitious trade and investment agreement”. This article examines the implications of this far-reaching assessment.

The EU FTA, known officially as the “Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement”, is shrouded in secrecy. In addition to agriculture, production of generic medicines in India will be most hard hit.

The FTA provision of bringing down India’s import tariff level to zero or near-zero will dramatically increase India’s agricultural trade deficit. Are farmers being unnecessarily alarmist? An analysis done by Misereor and Heinrich Boll Stiftung of Germany and four other international institutions confirms that Indian farmers are bound to heavily lose once EU FTA comes into force. This will oblige India to eliminate more than 90 per cent of all (agricultural and non-agricultural) applied tariffs towards EU within seven years. Besides, a “standstill clause” might cap the tariffs even for the remaining sensitive products at the level currently applied, and, more worryingly, the goods chapter could impose discipline on export tariffs that are currently used by India to contain price volatility.

A UNDP 2005 report warns the main issue affecting agricultural trade is the massive subsidies applied by developed countries to their production and export. India will have no other option except to drastically slash duties on more than 92 per cent of its agricultural goods export. It is important here to note that the EU tariffs are already much lower and cannot offer India additional market access. Export of Indian products like the famous Malabar pepper, Basmati rice, Darjeeling tea, Banares silk, whose production and export are not subsidised, will most severely be affected.

Most worryingly, the EU FTA trade pact has the “conflict of interests” scenario where EU wants India to do away with its export measures, which would imply that India has to give up export bans on food (wheat and rice), which the country uses strategically to ensure its food security. Ironically, at WTO-level meetings, India fought hard to safeguard its right to use export measures and tariffs on agricultural products!

Of all the Indian sectors, the dairy sector will be most adversely affected. Dairy co-operatives like the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, the producer of the famous Amul, generate employment for about 15 million dairy farmers in rural India, spread across 140,000 villages. Amul, studiously built by late Verghese Kurien, India’s “milkman”, is possibly the most valuable and well-known brand in the dairy sector, and, expects a turnover of more than ` 14,500 crore this financial year, which is a huge jump from the `11,668 crore recorded last year.

The protective cover given to the EU products under the Geographical Indication (GI) tag , with over 3,000 registered GIs, of which 130 are for dairy products, will make things worse for Indian dairy products. A 2010 study conducted by the European Commission revealed that 2,768 GIs had yielded revenue amounting to more than Euro 20 billion, a colossal sum of money and a great advantage which it is pursuing to preserve in its trade agreements. EU is also seeking “extra extensive protection” of its GIs.

There are 3.2 million dairy farmers in Gujarat whose livelihood would be directly impacted. India’s dairy sector is not subsidised as the European. Non-tariff barriers like the stringent sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) will make things worse for Indian dairy products export. Opening up of the dairy sector to European corporate will make India’s dairy farmers extremely vulnerable to dumping of dairy products on Indian soil.

Under WTO rules, India can impose high bound duties (the maximum tariff) of 113 per cent on a number of food items, although its applied duties or actual tariffs stand at an average of 31.4 per cent. Bound rates give India the flexibility to increase duties if a spike in imports is found to be damaging its domestic sector through the special safeguard mechanism. The FTA will erode these protective measures. The case with imported cheese is a classical example on this count.

Additionally, Amul’s two manufacturing units in Europe which sell its cheese using the European tag (Gouda and Emmantel) will be obliged to cease production and marketing using these brand names.

Trade asymmetries show India has but little to gain in agricultural trade in absolute terms. While EU will gain US $ 321 million in agro food products, India will get US $ 83 million. Similarly, India’s cereals market will earn EU US $ 133 million, while India gains only US $ 7 million. The disparity is most marked in primary products in which EU gains US $ 5,128 million, while India can hope to get a business of just about US $ 39 million. In short, the EU FTA will be a “no win” pact for India. While this happens, our agricultural minister, trade and commerce minister, and even the prime minister have preferred silence to action.

The author is an international agricultural scientist and can be reached at drkppnair@gmail.com

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 27 Jul 2013 22:41

Meanwhile in Europe:
Bananas thrown at Italy's first black minister

Some of Italy's top politicians on Saturday rallied behind the country's first black minister, a target of racist slurs since her appointment in April, after a spectator threw bananas at her while she was making a speech.

Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge, who is originally from Democratic Republic of Congo, was appearing at a political rally in Cervia in central Italy on Friday, when someone in the audience threw bananas towards the stage, narrowly missing it.

Kyenge has faced almost daily racial slurs and threats since joining the government. Earlier this month a senator from the anti-immigration Northern League party likened her to an orangutan and only apologized after a storm of criticism.

Last month, a local Northern League councilor said Kyenge should be raped so she understands how victims of crimes committed by immigrants feel. The councilor has received a suspended jail sentence and a temporary ban from public office.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 28 Jul 2013 03:51

Bananas! Come, come Italians you can do better than that.

When Italy lost the battle of ADWA to
Ethiopia on March 3, 1896 Italy vowed
revenge; thirty-nine years later, on
October 3, 1935, Mussolini launched
his act of revege by launching a
systematic mass- extermination
campaign in Ethiopia with poison gas
sprayed from airplaines. On June
30,1936, Emperor Haile Selassie I
made a "prophetic appeal" to the 52
member of the League of Nations in
Geneva, Switzerlan to halt genocide of
the Ethiopian people: history records
how "His plea fell upon deaf ears". As
a result, 1,000,000 Ethiopian men,
women and children perished.

http://www.rootsinternational.net/ethio ... caust.html

Wait, they are.

The Global Alliance for Justice – The Ethiopian Cause condemns in the strongest terms the Italian government’s construction of an official memorial to the convicted war criminal Field Marshal Rodolfo Graziani. During the Italian war on Ethiopia 1936-1941, Italy carried out a systematic mass extermination campaign in Ethiopia with poison gas sprayed from airplanes and other horrific atrocities that claimed the lives of no less than 1,000,000 Ethiopian men, women and children, including 30,000 massacred in only three days in Addis Ababa as well as the reprisal killings of the entire monastic community at the historic Debre Libanos Monastery. In addition, 2,000 churches and 525,000 homes were destroyed by the Italian Fascists. These atrocities were carried out under the direct command of Graziani known as the Butcher of Ethiopia.

http://ecadforum.com/blog1/condemnation ... -criminal/

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 28 Jul 2013 04:00

But....Italians....were treated like the blacks of America once upon a time.

After their increased immigration to the US in the late 19th century, Italian Americans also became lynching targets, chiefly in the South, where they were recruited for laboring jobs. On March 14, 1891, eleven Italian Americans were lynched in New Orleans after a jury acquitted them in the murder of David Hennessy, an ethnic Irish New Orleans police chief.[18] The eleven were falsely accused of being associated with the Mafia. This incident was one of the largest mass lynchings in U.S. history.[19] A total of twenty Italians were lynched in the 1890s. Although most lynchings of Italian Americans occurred in the South, Italians had not immigrated there in great numbers. Isolated lynchings of Italians also occurred in New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_i ... ted_States

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 28 Jul 2013 06:14

In the United States, Italian immigrants were subject to extreme prejudice, racism, and, in many cases, violence. During the 1800s and early 20th Century, Italian Americans, being seen as non-Anglo and non-white, were the second most likely ethnic group to be lynched.

The largest mass lynching in American history involved the lynching of eleven Italians in the city of New Orleans. The Italians, who were thought to have assassinated police chief David Hennessey, were arrested and placed in a jail cell before being brutally murdered by a lynch mob that stormed the jailhouse, with witnesses claiming that the cheers "were nearly deafening". Cries of "hang the s" were heard throughout the riot. Reporting on the incident, one newspaper reported "The little jail was crowded with Sicilians, whose low, receding foreheads, dark skin, repulsive countenances and slovenly attire proclaimed their brutal nature". Afterwards, hundreds of Italian immigrants, most of whom were not criminals, were arrested by law enforcement. Decades after, an anti-Italian phrase, "Who kill-a the chief?" remained popular in the New Orleans area.

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/modla ... IANISM.htm

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 28 Jul 2013 06:21

But of course the Northern League calls southern Italians 'half-breeds'...well whatever...carry on.

member_24540 · Post by **member_24540** » 25 Sep 2013 20:04

Hi BRFites,

I have been a long-time lurker and this is my first post.

I was talking to a few students from Lund University in Sweden who are all from MENA region. They were ALL studying a specific course, officially called ‘social innovation in a digital context’ or as they termed it ‘using digital media to bring about social change’.
http://eng.si.se/areas-of-operation/lea ... l-context/

Sounds innocuous and laudable but it turns out that the entry for the program is restricted to only the following countries, and the odd man out being India.
- A permanent resident or citizen of Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, West Bank—Gaza, or Yemen

One of the 4 modules talk about issues which have generally been used to justify interference in the internal issues of other countries. The module contains this: “Human rights, international relations, democracy and governance. An introduction and contextualisation of human rights, international relations, democracy and governance.”

Some observations/questions which raise are:
1. We have seen how the whole Arab Spring experiment was foisted using seemingly local and spontaneous forces and which used technology to a wide extent.
2. If the course was truly about spreading democratic values and valued human rights, why isn’t it also open for citizens of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and UAE? Or the elephant in the room… China?
3. I heard that the sponsorship is mainly through the Swedish Institute, which is an arm of the Swedish government.
4. Without having access to complete course material, this does seem like an attempt to either seed ‘Manchurian candidates’ who can then unwittingly/subconsciously be used to bring about internal discord. A course which talks about ‘contextualization’ of something critical like ‘human rights’ brings this to the fore. We all remember when the EU had observers watching the trial of Binayak Sen even though they had no locus standi on the matter.
5. Also most of the countries listed above, have a large and easily inflammable Islamic community.
6. The course requirement which states that ‘applicants should have solid experience in Human Rights, Social and Political Justice’ means that the candidates they will have would already have a ready social base when they return back to India.

In conclusion, we witness a ‘bracketing’ of India with countries which have been witnessing mass ‘unrest’ lately. The list of countries and the official sponsorship of the government might be giveaways about this course being part of a wider concerted effort in backstage/below-the-radar machinations to influence our internal affairs and create social unrest.

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 22 Oct 2013 04:13

(Humor) Europe in the eyes of their cousin across the pond...(courtesy of ZeroHedge)

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 22 Oct 2013 07:07

Fascinating lecture on Romani Origins and Identity by Ian Hancock, a distinguished scholar of Romani studies and a Romani himself.

svenkat · Post by **svenkat** » 05 Nov 2013 18:56

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-eu-flexes-its-muscles-on-caste/article5314576.ece

On October 10, the 766 members of the European Parliament, who represent just over half-a-billion people in 28-member-states, passed a historic resolution recognising caste-based discrimination and discrimination based on work and descent as a violation of human rights and an obstacle to development. The resolution, which was approved by an overwhelming majority, condemns all such forms of discrimination, and notes that they affect over 260 million people in several countries.

The practices concerned are most widespread in South Asia and in South Asian diasporas; the EU resolution also notes that the “overwhelming majority” of bonded labourers in South Asia are from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It states, further, that those most affected by caste discrimination are victims of multiple forms of discrimination in employment, in access to education and health care, to land, and to protection by the police and the judicial system. Nevertheless, the term preferred by the United Nations, namely discrimination based on work and descent, is wider than that of caste, which specifically relies on ideas of purity and pollution as well as a graded hierarchy with procedures for exclusion and untouchability.

By what may amount to a cruel irony, the European Parliament passed the resolution the day after the High Court in Patna acquitted all 26 convicted defendants in the case of the Laxmanpur-Bathe atrocity, in which 58 Dalits had been murdered by a 100-strong mob in 1997, in what seemed to be revenge for seeking an increase in the amount of grain they were paid monthly as wages in kind.

The case tragically exemplifies the problems. The victims knew their attackers and the survivors named them, but the police did not record the names, and then took three days to deliver the first information reports to the Chief Judicial Magistrate concerned. The investigating officer, despite substantial evidence of blood at the scene and on a boat on the Sone river, as well as 100-150 sets of footprints along the river bank, did not cross the Sone to investigate further. It took 11 years for the trial even to start, but the sessions court sentenced 16 of the accused to death and 10 to life imprisonment, only for the High Court to issue a blanket acquittal — in 2013.

Pat for Indian public sector
In the light of such episodes, the European Parliament calls on the European Commission, the administrative arm of the EU (which also drafts EU secondary legislation), to recognise caste as a distinct form of discrimination which is “rooted in the social and/or religious context” and needs to be tackled together with other forms of discrimination. The Parliament also calls on EU bodies to monitor the effect of EU programmes on victims of caste discrimination, to assess the impact of trade and investment agreements on the groups concerned, and to address those matters with the public and private sector as well as civil society bodies in the relevant countries. The resolution notes that the Indian public sector, for example, has made more headway — with its mandatory affirmative action procedures — than the private sector has done. The lack of such measures in the private sector worsens existing inequalities, but the European Parliament calls for EU bodies to include a clause on caste discrimination in all trade and association agreements, and to promote affirmative action for Dalits and others similarly affected in the labour market and the private sector. Forced and bonded labour are practices particularly prevalent in agriculture, mining and garment manufacture; the garment industry supplies to many multinational and EU-based companies. The EU is the world’s largest trading bloc.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 05 Nov 2013 20:32

This should pave way for protection of Roma by all trading blocks in the world for EU governments so that European individuals don't indulge in inhuman anti-Roma behaviour. Any government or individuals who show tendency to not behave in such civilized fashion must be removed from trading bodies.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 05 Nov 2013 20:42

Muscle flexing, intrusiveness, arrogance, political.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 15 Jan 2014 11:25

x-posted from Indo US thread

EU Asks India to Find Urgent Solution to Italian Marines' Case

The European Union Monday said it is following the case of two Italian marines in India "very closely" and noted that any decision on this case would be "very carefully assessed" even as an EU commissioner has called on the EU to stop free trade negotiations with India .

"We continue to follow the situation very closely as we have been from the very beginning that any decision on this case would be very carefully assessed from our side," an EU spokesperson for foreign affairs, Maja Kocijancic, told a news conference here.

According to media reports, the two Italian marines, Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre, may face trial under charges that provide for capital punishment if they are found guilty. The two were detained in India after shooting dead two Indian fishermen while guarding an Italian oil tanker off the southern state of Kerala in February 2012.

"We the European Union encourage India to find as a matter of urgency a mutually satisfactory solution to this long standing case in accordance with international law and UN conventions on the law of the sea," said Kocijancic who is the spokeswoman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton.

"This issue also has a bearing on the issue of global fight against piracy to which the EU is strongly committed. We will continue to follow the case," she added.

Meanwhile, the EU Commissioner responsible for industry and entrepreneurship, Antonio Tijani, who is from Italy , tweeted "Can we keep negotiating FTA India when death penalty is considered against EU citizens fighting sea piracy?I think not."

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 15 Jan 2014 11:28

Virupaksha wrote:and why is that posted here? I am reporting all these three posts, including mine as OT.

That is to illustrate the point regarding response from Indian Law enforcement system and views of other countries which becomes relevant in the current context. EU is also flexing muscles even when there is no immunity involved. Italy on its own could not move GOI despite waitresses working in India.

Now see the response of NIA and MHA and contrast this with USDA Preet Bharara and what US citizens talked of and wonder why legal system of India is not much respected by other countries.

However you are right that it should also be in EU Thread so cross posting.

Decision Soon on NIA's Move to Prosecute Marines

The Home Ministry is likely to decide in the next few days on NIA's move seeking sanction to prosecute two Italian marines accused of killing two Kerala fishermen under a law which provides only death penalty.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought the Home Ministry's nod to prosecute them under the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act (SUA) for killing the fishermen off Kerala coast on February 15, 2012.

Sources said the Ministry is in a fix over the NIA move as under SUA, if anyone causes death, he or she will be awarded with only death penalty but India has already assured Italy that the offence would not warrant death under established jurisprudence.

Faced with the peculiar situation, the Home Ministry is examining various provisions of law but is yet to take a

The NIA completed its probe after questioning four Italian marines, who were witness to the incident, through video conferencing after their refusal to come to India.

The Supreme Court had shifted the case to Delhi, saying Kerala Police has no jurisdiction over it and backed the government's decision to hand over the case to NIA.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 15 Jan 2014 19:26

Firstpost ‏@firstpostin 22m

Home Ministry may deny sanction to prosecute Italian marines under SUA http://dlvr.it/4jJxBF
-------------------------------->>
dna ‏@dna 1h

Invoking 'Suppression of Unlawful Acts' law amounts to terming Italy a terrorist state: Italian govt to Supreme Court http://dnai.in/c27E

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 15 Jan 2014 19:49

And under which rule they need sanction of MHA to prosecute these marines? Are they Govt Servants? Even when they are criminally charges no sanction is needed so where is the question of sanction for marines. This is a tango dance move by various agencies to fool the public and keep up appearance of law enforcement. Wasn't NIA was scolded for trying to frame some persons in terror acts and Court acquitted them. No wonder unkil has so low opinion of Criminal Justice system.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 15 Jan 2014 22:53

EconomicTimes ‏@EconomicTimes 7m

EU falling behind India, China: British FM George Osborne http://ow.ly/sBNQB

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 16 Jan 2014 05:06

Yeah I heard that on BBC in the AM news.

....The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledged the need for change
as over the last six years, the European economy has "stalled" and in the same
time, India has grown by a third and China by half and over the next 15 years
Europe's share of the global economy will halve, he warned.

So what exactly does he mean.

If EU is X
India is 1.33X
China is 1.5X

over last six years?

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 24 Jan 2014 23:13

Incredible image from Ukraine of Orthodox priests standing between pro-European Union activists and police

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 25 Jan 2014 12:31

Developed cancer drug for 'western patients' who could afford, not 'for Indians': Bayer's CEO

NEW DELHI: Global medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres slammed on Friday a statement by Bayer's chief executive that the giant German firm only developed its cancer drug Nexavar for people who could afford the medicine, not "for Indians".

..
"We did not develop this medicine (Nexavar) for Indians," Marijn Dekkers said at a little reported pharmaceutical forum last month, according to the January 21st edition of Businessweek.

"We developed it for western patients who can afford it," Dekkers said, and called the Indian regulator's action "essentially theft".{Why don't they take it up with WTO for remedial action? .. perhaps because WTO will throw such complain out because compulsory licensing is valid}

..
But Dekkers added in the written comments he had been "particularly frustrated" by the Indian regulator's decision, which marked the first time a so-called compulsory licence of a patented drug had been awarded in India.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Friday that the Bayer chief's remarks summed up "everything that is wrong" with the multinational pharmaceutical industry.

"Bayer is effectively admitting the drugs they develop are deliberately going to be rationed to the wealthiest patients," Manica Balasegaram, executive director of MSF's Access Campaign, said.

The medical charity said big pharmaceutical companies believe "research and development (R&D) can only be rewarded by a patent and through high prices to recoup the R&D costs.

"Those who can't afford to pay are basically cut out of the system," Balasegaram said.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 30 Jan 2014 19:19

Not a word on the attack on India!!

Italian marines' case may impact ties with India: EU

The president of the European Commission has said the issue of the Italian marines in India may have an "impact" on the European Union-India relations and "will be assessed carefully".

Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, met Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta in Brussels Wednesday and discussed the case of the two Italian marines who are being held in India.

"A point that Prime Minister Letta has raised with me and on which we have been in close contact with the Italian authorities is the issue of the Italian marines in India. The European Union (EU) continues to follow the situation very closely," Barroso told a joint press conference with Letta afer the meeting.

"Any decision on the case may have an impact on the overall European Union-India relations and will be assessed carefully. The European Union encourages India to find, as a matter of urgency, a mutually satisfactory solution to the longstanding case of the Italian marines arrested in February 2012, in accordance with international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," he said.

Barroso said "this issue has also a bearing on the global fight against piracy, to which the European Union is strongly committed".

He said "the European Union is opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases and under any circumstances". The European Commission is the executive body of the 28-member European Union.

The two Italian marines - Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre - are facing trial for murder in India. The two were detained in February 2012 when they shot dead two Indian fishermen while guarding an Italian oil tanker off Kerala, mistaking the fishermen for pirates.

The Italian prime minister had sought European states' help to find a positive solution to the case.

"We want the marines case to finish soon, as soon as possible," Xinhua quoted Letta as saying following talks with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and Barroso.

Italian government's envoy Staffan De Mistura is set to head for New Delhi Thursday, while reports said a representative of the Italian government could meet the new Russian ambassador to Rome next week, asking him to intercede with Indian authorities in the case.

Earlier, a 16-member Italian parliamentary delegation arrived in India on a two-day visit (Jan 27-28) to express support and solidarity with the two marines.

"The death penalty would be an attack on Italy," Fabrizio Cicchitto, a delegate member and chairman of the parliament's lower house foreign affairs committee, said.

Skanda · Post by **Skanda** » 31 Jan 2014 20:42

When the shoe is in the other foot. Similar to the case of Italian Marines, here is a case of Amanda who after convicted for killing a women, flew to US and now clearly indicates she will not come back.

Amanda Knox will not return to Italy to serve sentence, say parents

Amanda Knox's parents said there was "no way" that their daughter would return to Italy to serve her sentence for the 2007 murder of the British student Meredith Kercher, adding that they were stunned by the verdict that upheld their daughter's conviction.

On Thursday night, after almost 12 hours of deliberations, the Florence appeals court announced it was reinstating the murder convictions handed down in 2009 against the 26-year-old American and her Italian former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.

He was given a 25-year jail sentence, and ordered to surrender travel documents and not leave the country. She was given 28 and a half years in absentia.

Asked about the possibility of Knox being extradited, Kercher's brother Lyle said on Friday morning that if Italy's highest appeals court confirmed the verdict he would expect Rome to make the request.

Amanda Knox: 'They'll have to pull me back kicking and screaming to prison'

"It would feel like a train wreck," Amanda Knox told the Guardian, shortly before being found guilty of the murder of Meredith Kercher for the second time.

In a series of exclusive interviews in the days building up to the latest verdict, Knox said that in such a situation she hoped the US government would refuse to extradite her: "I'm definitely not going back to Italy willingly. They'll have to catch me and pull me back kicking and screaming into a prison that I don't deserve to be in. I will fight for my innocence."

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 01 Feb 2014 08:31

^^^ There is a difference. Amanda motoma was convicted with a lot of circumstantial evidence. We cannot with 100% certainty say that she committed that act of murder.

Italian marines have a mountain of evidence of their killing of Indian fishermen. We can with 100% certainty say that they are murderers and IMHO deserve to be hung as an example.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 03 Feb 2014 17:34

India, Germany may sign €1 bn pact for greenfield projects

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/new ... 648770.ece

India and Germany could sign an agreement for €1 billion for greenfield projects during the visit of the German President.

Addressing a press conference, the German Ambasador says the agreement is being finalised. The President arrives here on February 4 for a state visit.

member_22872 · Post by **member_22872** » 10 Feb 2014 21:48

Italy tells India handling of marines case could hurt EU ties

Why are these mofos living in Italian embassy?

Neela · Post by **Neela** » 10 Feb 2014 21:54

Italian marines: With credibility low, the buck will be passed to the next govt .

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 19 Feb 2014 01:13

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/02/18 ... cision-on/
Italy recalls ambassador to India after Supreme Court delays decision on detained marines

ROME – Italy has recalled its ambassador to India after the country's supreme court delayed a decision on trying two Italian marines held since 2012.
Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said in a statement Tuesday the "latest unacceptable" delay proved that India was "incapable of handling this situation."The marines have been held since 2012 in the deaths of two Indian fishermen. They were part of a military security team on an Italian cargo ship and fired at the fishermen, saying they mistook them for pirates. They are on bail pending trial, and are living and working at the Italian Embassy in New Delhi.India's supreme court was to hear arguments from both sides on whether to try the marines under India's severe anti-piracy statute Tuesday but delayed the hearing until Monday.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 22 Feb 2014 03:13

X-post from Islamism & Islamophobia thread:

Muslims Demand "Right of Return" to Spain

Observers say that by granting citizenship to all descendants of expelled Muslims, Spain, virtually overnight, would end up with the largest Muslim population in the European Union.

"Is Spain aware of what might be assumed when it makes peace with some but not with others? Is Spain aware of what this decision [not to include Muslims in the return] could cost?... Does Spain have alternatives to the foreign investment from Muslims?" — Ahmed Bensalh, Morisco-Moroccan journalist.

"Persecution of Jews was just that, while what happened with the Arabs was part of a conflict. There is no basis for comparison." — Jose Ribeiro e Castro, Portuguese lawmaker who drafted Portuguese law of return.

Muslim groups are demanding Spanish citizenship for potentially millions of descendants of Muslims who were expelled from Spain during the Middle Ages.

The growing clamor for "historical justice" comes after the recent approval of a law that would grant Spanish citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492.

Mukesh.Kumar · Post by **Mukesh.Kumar** » 24 Feb 2014 16:52

And in other news: Italian Marines case update- GOI has informed Supreme Court that the two marines will not be charged under anti-piracy laws.
BBC Reportson first page as India drops Italian marines charge only going on in details in main report that it's only the anti-piracy case that has been dropped.

Reutersseems more balanced-"India says drops anti-piracy charges against Italian marines", going into more details.

And this against the backdrop of GoIconfirming that there will not be any compromises made here just a day ago.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 24 Feb 2014 22:01

It must be special for EU to gang up for murderous trigger happy Italians and show India in poor light even after murder. Even when Indians are following national/international laws, it is the trigger happy Italians who have been projected as heroes in Italy, besides throwing diplomatic tantrums.

rajithn · Post by **rajithn** » 24 Feb 2014 22:22

vishvak wrote:It must be special for EU to gang up for murderous trigger happy Italians and show India in poor light even after murder. Even when Indians are following national/international laws, it is the trigger happy Italians who have been projected as heroes in Italy, besides throwing diplomatic tantrums.

Way of the world. Just the way of the world. Unless we can stand up for ourselves and fight our battles ourselves, no one else is going to do it for us.

And coming to the EU: Even if the Italians are convicted and sentenced to serve time in prison (I expect them to be sent back to Italy before May 2014), the EU will quickly reconcile and continue to do business with us. All this noise is just optics.

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 27 Feb 2014 11:02

teetar

fruits of italian firmness very clearly evident.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 07 Mar 2014 07:58

What was that about India being unsafe for women?

One in three EU women report sexual violence

Violence against women is “an extensive human rights abuse” across Europe with one in three women reporting some form of physical or sexual abuse since the age of 15 and eight per cent suffering abuse in the last 12 months, according to the largest survey of its kind on the issue, published on Wednesday.

The survey, based on interviews with 42,000 women across 28 EU member states, found extensive abuse across the continent, which typically goes unreported and undetected by the authorities.

Morten Kjaerum, director of FRA, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, which was responsible for the survey, said: “Violence against women, and specifically gender-based violence that disproportionately affects women, is an extensive human rights abuse that the EU cannot afford to overlook.” The FRA study provides ample evidence of the size of the problem, as well as suggestions on how to fix it. In a foreword to the report, Ms. Kjaerum calls for all member states to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Istanbul convention, which demands more protection for women, as well as action from private and public organisations.

The report ranks countries in order depending on the responses to the survey. In three countries often praised for their gender equality, for example, high numbers of women report suffering violence since the age of 15: in Denmark 52 per cent, Finland 47 per cent, and Sweden 46 per cent of women say they have suffered physical or sexual violence.

The U.K. reports the joint fifth highest incidence of physical and sexual violence (44 per cent), whereas women in Poland report the lowest — 19 per cent. However, campaigners to end violence against women advised caution in reporting country-wide differences, given different levels of awareness of what constitutes abuse.

Among the findings, to be unveiled in Brussels on Wednesday, were:

— One in 10 women has experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of 15, while one in 20 has been raped.

— Most violence is carried out by a current or former partner, with 22 per cent of women in relationships reporting partner abuse.

— About one third (31 per cent) who report being raped by a partner have been repeatedly raped, which the report defines as six or more times.

— Violence against women is one of the least reported crimes.

— Just over one in 10 women experienced some form of sexual violence by an adult before they were 15.

The report echoes a smaller study carried out last year by the World Health Organisation, which found that physical or sexual violence is a public health problem that affects more than one third of all women globally.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 05 Apr 2014 18:08

Surge to the right in French elections.

Frenchwomen have been famous for their pithy statements.Marie Antionette's alleged famous advice during the revolution,"let them eat cake" ,when told that the people were starving and had no bread to eat, is a classic.Now Marine Le Pen,ultra right wing leader plays true to Frenchwoman form by standing firm against mollycoddling religious minorities over the menus for school kids saying ,"let them eat Pork!"

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 6#p1622056
French National Front to stop Muslim and Jewish pupils having pork-free school dinners

France’s far-right National Front party will prevent schools from offering Muslim and Jewish pupils pork-free lunches in the towns where it won in recent local elections, its leader Marine Le Pen announced on Friday.

She said that arrangements catering to Muslim and Jewish, pupils who cannot eat pork according to religious restrictions, contradict the country’s secular values.

“We will not accept any religious demands in school menus,” Le Pen told RTL radio. “There is no reason for religion to enter the public sphere, that's the law.”

France has seen periodic controversies over schools that substitute pork on menus to cater to Muslim and Jewish children, while some of the FN's new mayors complain there are too many halal shops in their towns.

But Muslims view France, which is officially a secular republic despite being overwhelmingly Catholic, as imposing its values on them and other religious minorities. In 2011, a controversial law was introduced banning full-face veils in public.

Earlier this month, the party harnessed anti-immigration and anti-EU sentiment in France to win control of 11 towns and more than 1,400 municipal seats nationwide in local elections - more than double its record from the 1990s.

Le Pen hailed the victory as showing the party had finally established itself as France's third political force behind ruling Socialists and mainstream conservatives, and predicts a strong showing in May's European Parliament elections.

The French separation of religion and state must be compared with other nations such as India,where at the drop of a dhoti,the state bends over backwards to assuage the feelings of minorities over and above constitutional rights.In fact,tailoring state policy towards religious vote banks has been the bane of India for decades under Congress rule.The French example may be a tad insensitive,as it impinges upon religious taboos,but it underscores the need to have in general one common rule for all communities so that none may gain at the expense of others.

Editorial

Monday 24 March 2014
The National Front’s handful of wins in French local elections cannot be dismissed as a protest vote

Ms Le Pen has worked hard to distance herself from the aggressive nastiness of the party created by her father, Jean-Marie, and has taken great care to cultivate target seats

France’s municipal elections at the weekend were a calamity for President François Hollande. Not only did his Socialist party lose ground to its traditional foe, the centre-right UMP; the far-right National Front also made unprecedented gains, winning one mayoralty outright – its first for 20 years – and securing pole position in a number of next Sunday’s run-offs. Cue trumpeting about the “end of two-party domination” from Marine Le Pen, the FN’s charismatic leader.

With the economy sluggish, unemployment soaring and presidential approval at a record low, something of a drubbing for the incumbents was to be expected. But low turn-out and a number of nasty surprises – not least the Socialists pushed into third place behind the FN in Marseilles – suggest more than usually piquant voter disaffection.

There is not much to celebrate at UMP headquarters, either. Even with Mr Hollande’s travails, the outcome was far from a landslide and the majority of major cities look set to be held by the left. With Nicolas Sarkozy mired in financial scandal, and his ambitions with regards to the Élysée Palace unclear, the party’s leadership vacuum is taking its toll.

Thus, the National Front was the big winner, with more than 400 local council seats already secure and the prospect of control of a smattering of town halls for the first time since the mid-1990s. True, none are major cities. But the impact is still significant. Ms Le Pen has worked hard to distance herself from the aggressive nastiness of the party created by her father, Jean-Marie, and has taken great care to cultivate target seats. Last weekend’s results, particularly the first-round win in Hénin-Beaumont, suggest that the strategy is paying off.

It is as well to retain some perspective. Across the country, the National Front won only 6 per cent of the vote and even the successes are not assured. For all its leader’s public-relations efforts, the majority of the party is as shambolic and unprofessional as ever. The FN’s last local gains, in 1995, were swiftly lost again thanks to administrative incompetence. A repeat performance is all too possible.

Even so, Ms Le Pen’s progress cannot easily be dismissed. Not only is she a more credible and respectable face for the National Front than her father was, the rise of the far right in France is paralleled in many countries across Europe – with Ukip in Britain, for example – as economic inequalities and concerns at a perceived loss of identity leave voters tempted by extremes.

Nor are Mr Hollande’s electoral nightmares over. In two months, the French will vote in EU polls which the FN is now in a good position to top – hence next week’s reshuffle now not being expected until May. But a new Prime Minister to replace Jean-Marc Ayrault will not turn the tide. Mr Hollande needs, more than anything, economic good news. But although he is now – finally – committed to addressing France’s structural problems, such measures will cause more pain than gain in the short term.

The risk, then, is that the next national elections, in 2017, take place with the Socialists wounded, the centre right rudderless and the FN not yet exposed for the amateurs that they are. Last weekend’s calamity is Mr Hollande’s alone. But it may yet become France’s.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 28 Apr 2014 19:47

EU bans Indian Alphonso mangoes, four vegetables from May 1

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/busi ... 331741.cms

The recent decision by the grouping's standing committee on plant health came after 207 consignments of fruits and vegetables from India imported into the EU in 2013 were found to be contaminated by pests such as fruit flies and other quarantine pests.

The temporary ban, proposed by the European Commission, includes mangoes, eggplant, the taro plant, bitter gourd and snake gourd, and prohibits the import to tackle the "significant shortcomings in the phytosanitary certification system of such products exported to the EU".

Though the prohibited commodities represent less than 5 per cent of the total fresh fruits and vegetables imported into the EU from India, the potential introduction of new pests could pose a threat to EU agriculture and production, the committee noted.

UK's Defra (the department for environment, food and rural affairs) that is backing the ban said it was necessary due to pests which could threaten the country's £321 million salad crop industry of tomato and cucumber.

The UK imports nearly 16 million mangoes from India and the market for the fruit is worth nearly 6 million pounds a year.

A revision of the ban will take place before December 31, 2015.

Businesses claimed they will lose hundreds of thousands of pounds due to the ban.

Wholesalers and retailers in Indian-dominated regions of the UK have opposed the ban, which comes into effect on May 1, saying it will hit them hard.

"This is Euro-nonsense and bureaucracy gone mad. Indian mangoes have been imported to Britain for centuries. I am furious with the lack of consultation with those who will be affected by the ban," said Indian-origin MP Keith Vaz, who has written to the European Commission president after his constituents in the city of Leicester made a plea.

He has also written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ascertain if the Indian government was consulted on the matter.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 26 May 2014 05:35

A massive political earthquake has hit the EU.Huge wins for the Right all over has upset the applecart,with massive gains for the UKIP party in the UK,now leading the pack and Marie Le Pen's party in France.The shift is tectonic.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 34042.html

European elections results 2014: Nigel Farage's Ukip on course to top poll as Europe takes a swing to the right

Ukip likely to beat Labour to first place, with Tories dropping to third for first time ever in a national election
Andrew Grice , Nigel Morris

Sunday 25 May 2014
Nigel Farage inflicted another body blow on the three main political parties on Sunday night as Ukip scored a stunning victory in the European Parliament elections.

The anti-EU party dramatically built on its success in the local elections in England last Thursday when the results of the Euro poll on the same day were announced. A jubilant Mr Farage hailed the outcome as “an earthquake because never before in the history of British politics has a party seen to be an insurgent party ever topped the polls in a national election.”

The Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats conceded that Ukip would come first. It looked on course to double the 13 seats it won in the last Euro elections in 2009. The Tories, who came first last time with 25 seats, faced the humiliation of dropping to third place for the first time ever in a national election. The Liberal Democrats suffered a disastrous result, conceding that they could lose all 12 of their MEPs, which would increase the grassroots pressure on Nick Clegg to stand down as party leader. Early results suggested the Lib Dems could come an embarrassing fifth behind the Green Party.

Lib Dem fears of a total wipeout were confirmed when they lost their seat in their one-time stronghold of the South West. Sir Graham Watson, president of the Liberal group in the European Parliament, was ousted by the Greens.

After results in six of the 12 regions, Ukip had won 29.2 per cent of the votes (up 12.1 points since the last Euro elections); Labour 24.5 per cent (up 8.8 points); the Tories 23.5 per cent (down 3.5 points); the Greens 7.6 per cent (down 0.5 points) and the Lib Dems 6.8 per cent (down 6.9 points).

Across the EU, nationalist and Eurosceptic parties made big gains amid predictions that they would double their strength in the European Parliament. In France, Marine Le Pen's Front National topped a nationwide poll for the first time in its history, with the anti-immigrant party predicted to take 25 per cent of the vote and win as many as 24 seats in the European Parliament.

Ms Le Pen said France had “shouted loud and clear” that it wanted to be run “by the French, for the French and with the French” and not by “foreign commissioners” in Brussels. Manuel Valls, France’s Socialist Prime Minister, said the victory was “more than a shock, it's an earthquake”.

Turnout across the EU was estimated at 43.1 per cent, in line with the previous Euro elections five years ago.

In Belgium, the separatist New Flemish Alliance was tipped to receive nearly a third of votes cast in the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders. In Austria, the far right Freedom Party was forecast to win a fifth of the votes.

In Britain, the last nationwide test of public opinion before next year’s general election confirmed that the country has entered an era of “four-party politics.” The turnout was 36 per cent, up from 34.7 per cent in 2009.

Ukip topped the poll in the East of England, winning three of the region’s seven seats. Three went to the Conservatives and one to Labour. The Lib Dems lost their seat.

Both the Tories and Liberal Democrats lost seats in the North East of England to Labour and Ukip. The result meant the Conservative leader in the Parliament, Martin Callanan, narrowly lost his place in it.

In the East Midlands, Ukip scooped the most votes, winning two seats, capturing one from the Lib Dems once held by Mr Clegg. In Wales, Mr Farage’s party came close to securing first place but Labour just saw off its challenge. In Yorkshire and the Humber, Ukip again outscored its rivals, and saw its number of MEPs triple to three.

Labour, which secured only 13 MEPs in 2009, insisted that Euro elections are “a poor guide” to general elections, pointing out that right-wing parties across Europe normally do better in them than the centre-left . “It is unprecedented for the Conservatives to come third,” said one Labour source. “David Cameron is the first Tory leader to lose a Euro election for 20 years.”

Patrick O’Flynn, Ukip’s campaign director, who was elected an MEP in the East of England, said: “This is the latest proof that Ukip is in tune with the aspirations and fears of the British public. These results will be perfect launch-pad for our campaign to win seats at the general election. A huge swathe of the public is demanding a referendum on membership of the EU and are desperate for Britain to get back control of its borders and become a self-governing country again.”

Suzanne Evans, Ukip’s communities spokeswoman, said the party would reject the Front National’s overtures to join the same group in the European Parliament. “The Front National is an extreme party; Ukip is not,” she told the BBC. “We are the common sense centre.”

An e-petition calling on Mr Clegg to quit was signed by 250 Lib Dem members in 36 hours –i ncluding 43 councillors, three parliamentary candidates and six local party chairs.More are expected to put their names to it on Monday.

Three Lib Dem MPs said Mr Clegg’s position as leader should be considered during the party’s post-mortem. But Lord (Paddy) Ashdown, the party’s former leader, dismissed the call as “ridiculous” and “not serious politics.”

In Thursday’s local elections, the Lib Dems lost 307 seats and control of two councils. The Tories lost 231 seats and were ousted in 11 authorities. Labour gained 338 seats and took control in six councils. Ukip gained 161 seats but runs no authorities. Despite Labour’s gains, some of the party’s MPs fear its performance was not good enough and claim Ed Miliband underestimated the Ukip threat.