Why Americans should care about Egypt ?

Washington -- As political turmoil engulfs Egypt, Americans are watching closely -- and they should be: What happens in Egypt will directly affect Americans in many ways.

1. Travel: See the pyramids along the Nile -- NOT

Egypt, with its 5,000-year history, the pyramids and pharaohs, was always a luxury travel destination for Americans but the political and social violence that has wracked the country for 2½ years has virtually destroyed Egypt's U.S. tourist business.

Post-coup violence erupts in Egypt

Now, the State Department is warning citizens not to travel to Egypt and U.S. citizens living in Egypt to leave. It also ordered non-emergency personnel and families of Americans working at the U.S. Embassy and consulate to leave.

2. Money

Egypt is America's closest ally in the Arab world and it gets $1.5 billion a year in U.S. taxpayer money for military and civilian programs. In fact, in the last 30 years, the United States has sent more foreign aid to Egypt than to any country except Israel.

Now, that money hangs in the balance as the Obama administration decides whether to call the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsy a "coup."

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tells CNN: "If this were to be seen as a coup then it would limit our ability to have the kind of relationship we think we need with the Egyptian armed forces."

3. Mideast peace

The United States helps Egypt because it's one of only two Arab countries -- along with Jordan -- that made peace with Israel. If Washington pulls its aid, it could affect prospects for peace in the Middle East.

ElBaradei: Morsy's ouster was needed so Egypt cannot 'fail'

"All of these things are tied together," says CNN's Fareed Zakaria. "The aid is tied to Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, so if our aid gets cut off what happens to the peace treaty with Israel? It's a hornets' nest and that's why the administration is trying not to stir it too much."

4. Gas prices

Egypt controls the Suez Canal, a crucial sea route for more than 4% of the world's oil supply and 8% of seaborne trade. So far, the canal is running smoothly -- but increased violence could end up hitting Americans in the pocketbook.

5. The linchpin

With 83 million people, Egypt is a cultural heavyweight in the Arab world.

"The great trends that have affected the United States have come out of Egypt," says Zakaria: everything from pan-Arab nationalism of the 1950s, Islamic fundamentalism which began in Egypt in the 1970s -- even al Qaeda has its roots in Egypt and Islamic Jihad.

"Egypt is the source of all the pop music, the soap operas, the movies of the Arab world," he added, "so what happens in Egypt tends to have a much wider resonance throughout the Arab world."

Until the Egyptian military ousted Morsy, Egypt also had a claim to fame politically: a democratically elected president and his Muslim Brotherhood party. It was a message to the Islamic world that democracy just might work. Now, there's a danger the military could violently repress the Muslim Brotherhood and it, in turn, could resort to violence.

That would make the whole Mideast region more unstable -- a worrisome development for the United States.

Courtesy & Thanks: CNN

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"Yet An Opportunity Lost, Rape law changes welcome" : UN. Special Rapporteur

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Again Women, Rashida Manjoo, on Wednesday regretted that the amendments made to the rape laws in India did not fully reflect the recommendations of the Justice J.S. Verma Committee, set up in the aftermath of the December 16 gang rape that led to the death of a young girl in the national capital.

Addressing reporters at the conclusion of her visit to India, Ms. Manjoo welcomed the Centre’s speedy response after the rape and the legislative reforms based on the Verma Committee recommendations but said it was “an opportunity lost. The Verma Committee was a golden moment to examine whether legislative measures in India were sufficient.” India had an amazing Constitution that granted equality to all but the challenge was to enforce the provisions.

Hoping that India would bring in further legislative measures to address issues such as marital rape, age of consent and rights of transgender people and vulnerable groups, Ms. Manjoo said it was “unfortunate that the opportunity to establish a substantive and specific equality and non-discrimination rights legislative framework for women, to address de facto inequality and discrimination, and to prevent all forms of violence against women, was lost.’’

“Death penalty not a deterrent”

She said the speedy developments and also the adoption of a law and order approach to sexual wrongs, now included the death penalty for certain crimes against women. “This development foreclosed the opportunity to establish a holistic and remedial framework. The new approach fails to address the structural and root causes and consequences of violence against women, she added.

The Special Rapporteur said there was no proof that death penalty was a deterrent. “One needs to look at what purpose it [death penalty] would serve. The need is transformation of society and empowerment of women.’’

Despite the numerous positive developments, the unfortunate reality was that the rights of many women in India continued to be violated with impunity. Ms. Manjoo said she had received numerous submissions to suggest this, and also testimonies to say that mediation and compensation measures were often used as redress mechanisms to address cases of violence against women, thus “eroding accountability imperatives, and further fostering norms of impunity.”

Sexual violence and harassment in India were widespread, and perpetuated in public spaces, in the family and in the workplace.

ARMED FORCES ACT

On the issue of conflict-related sexual violence, Ms. Manjoo said it was crucial to acknowledge that these violations occurred at the hands of both state and non-state actors.

The Special Rapporteur’s report would be officially submitted to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council in June 2014.

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Verdict reserved on entrance test for medical admissions

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved verdict on validity of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS/postgraduate/dental and postgraduate courses.

Earlier, a Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices Vikramajit Sen and Anil R. Dave heard arguments, spread over four months, from counsel for several private medical colleges/associations and certain State governments.

In December 2012, the court permitted private medical colleges and associations to conduct their own entrance tests but made it clear that they should not declare the results.

Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, several associations of private medical colleges, Christian Medical College, Vellore; DD Medical College and DD Hospital, Tamil Nadu; and individual colleges had filed petitions in the respective High Courts and obtained an interim stay against NEET applicability to them.

Aggrieved by these orders, the Medical Council of India filed petitions seeking transfer of these cases to the Supreme Court to avoid multiplicity of proceedings. The court, while staying all further proceedings, issued notice to the respondent colleges/States/associations seeking their response.

In this batch of cases, the MCI said the NEET would avoid multiple entrance tests and minimise corruption and irregularities in admissions.

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US approves Dreamliner battery fix

US aircraft regulators have approved a revamped battery design for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, paving the way for the fleet to return to the skies, after problems grounded it for months.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said airlines needed to replace the batteries to return to service.

It said it will publish a final directive next week.

Other international regulators are likely to follow but it will still be a couple of weeks before flights resume.

Boeing's chairman and chief executive Jim McNerney said: "FAA approval clears the way for us and the airlines to begin the process of returning the 787 to flight with continued confidence in the safety and reliability of this game-changing new airplane."

'High bar'

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said: "Safety of the travelling public is our number one priority. These changes to the 787 battery will ensure the safety of the aircraft and its passengers."

The FAA said it would "closely monitor" modifications of the aircraft and teams of inspectors would be sent.

Boeing said the regulator had set a "high bar for our team and our solution".

Planes now need to be fitted with a "containment and venting" system for both the lithium-ion batteries. That includes a stainless-steel enclosure to prevent heat, fumes or fire from spreading if a battery overheats in flight, said the FAA.

"This is a comprehensive and permanent solution with multiple layers of protection," said Boeing's head of commercial aircraft Ray Conner.

"The ultimate layer of protection is the new enclosure, which will ensure that even if a battery fails, there is no impact to the airplane and no possibility of fire.

"We have the right solution in hand, and we are ready to go," he added.

All of the 50 Boeing 787 planes in service were grounded in mid-January after their lithium-ion batteries emitted smoke on several separate occasions.

The problems sparked a battery fire on a parked Japan Airlines 787 at Boston's Logan International Airport and another incident in which battery smoke forced an emergency landing of an All Nippon Airways (ANA) 787 in Japan.

The 787 is said to be one of the most fuel-efficient in the industry, and Boeing delivered 46 Dreamliners to customers in 2012.

The plane is the first in the world to use the lithium-ion batteries, which are lighter, hold more power and recharge more quickly.

But the grounding has cost Boeing an estimated $600m (£393m). Japanese carrier ANA lost some 1.4bn yen ($15m; £9.5m) in revenue through January's disruption alone.

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G20 to consider cutting debt to well below 90 pct/GDP - document

Financial leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies will consider next week in Washington a proposal to cut their public debt over the longer term to well below 90 percent of gross domestic product, a document prepared for the meeting showed.

The proposal, prepared by the co-chairs of the G20 Working Group on the Framework for Growth, follows agreement of the leaders of G20 countries in June last year to set ambitious debt reduction targets beyond 2016, when, under an earlier agreement from Toronto in 2010, debt was to stop growing.

"The co-chairs proposed that: 'over the longer-term, G20 members should gear their fiscal policy towards achieving a debt level that is well below 90 percent of GDP,'" a document prepared for European Union delegates for the meeting said.

"We take note of the proposal made by the co-chairs on fiscal objectives as a good basis for discussion," said the document, endorsed by EU finance ministers on Saturday and seen by Reuters.

The European Union itself, however, has a more ambitious debt ceiling of 60 percent of GDP for its 27 members and will suggest a lower target for the G20 would be better, too.

"Our experience with...the 60 percent of GDP reference value shows the importance of a more ambitious debt anchor. Such a debt anchor is needed with a consolidation path that is carefully calibrated to sustain the recovery," it said.

"Advanced G20 economies should commit to a common debt reduction anchor including fiscal adjustment plans which point to a clear and credible downward path of general government debt levels," the document said.

Such targets would be easy for the European Union where the debt ratio is now 90 percent, or even for the United States with a debt of around 105 percent. But they could prove impossible for countries like Japan, where debt is well above 200 percent.

To beat deflation and help stagnant growth, the Bank of Japan has launched the world's most intense burst of monetary stimulus ever, pledging to inject about $1.4 trillion into the economy in less than two years.

The G20 is expected to discuss the spillover effects on emerging market economies from monetary easing in Japan and other advanced economies, Japan's Finance Minister Mitsuhiro Furusawa said on Friday.

The massive scale of the BOJ's stimulus pushed the yen to a four-year low against the dollar this week and has jolted Japanese bond prices, with the 10-year bond yield rebounding to 0.635 percent on Friday from a record low of 0.315 percent hit last week after the BOJ announced its policy moves.

The European Union will warn the G20 next week that such Japanese policies are not without risks.

"We welcome Japan's efforts to revive domestic growth. However, longer-term concerns remain as current economic policies risk increasing Japan's dependence on fiscal and monetary stimulus while bold structural reforms are needed to tackle underlying challenges," the document said.

"In view of its elevated gross public debt level, we support Japan's forthcoming fiscal consolidation measures, including the consumption tax hikes foreseen for 2014 and 2015," it said.

The EU will also call on China to accelerate the liberalisation of the country's financial sector and to strengthen its social safety net and move quickly towards a market determined exchange rate system.

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Rahul’s ideas brilliant: Adi Godrej

India Inc today was impressed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s maiden interaction with corporate leaders saying he came across as a sincere leader and this can form the basis for future engagement with the industry.

“It was a very good speech. His ideas are brilliant.

Industry has to see how it can work with the government. We should work in unison for greater progress,” said Adi Godrej, president of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which hosted the conference.

In his speech at the CII annual conference, Mr Gandhi spoke about his vision of empowering women and giving voice to the people of billion-strong nation. During his interaction, he said that questions of his becoming Prime Minister and getting married were just irrelevant.

According to CII president-designate S Gopalakrishnan:

“This is his first engagement with the business community and he met the industry’s expectation. It was a very good interaction. It sets the tone for future interaction. He spoke very broadly about various issues. I see this as a better collaboration between industry and government.”

Veteran industrialist and a Congress critic, Rahul Bajaj said, “People say he doesn’t have any experience and he has not spoken to people. I’m impressed on his frankness and his frankness of ideas. He talked about the work of MPs and MLAs.

He rightly said that a team needs a good leader for doing things right.”

Watch Video:

On Mr Gandhi becoming Prime Minister, Bajaj said, “I support the one who will be good democratic leader rather than someone who is very dictatorial.”

Mr Gandhi’s comments, however, did not cut ice with some business leaders who said the Congress leader talked about the problems without coming out with any solution.

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