Dr M Khalid's global village blog

Despite Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that the Narmada Project waters have reached every nook and corner of the State, as many as 17 districts of Gujarat’s perennially drought-prone regions of Saurashtra, Kutch and north Gujarat are in the throes of severe water crisis. As crucial summer months about to set in, several cities and urban areas of Saurashtra and Kutch regions are already facing acute water shortage. They get alternate days supply to only about two to three days supply in a week. This scenario persisted even when the ambitious Sardar Sarovar Narmada Project was still being conceived. A number of traditional dams in Saurashtra and Kutch regions have either dried up or have water to last only a few days. These regions are completely dependent on the Narmada dam supply but the State government failed to complete the canal network of the dam to be able to feed these areas, according to official sources. Even cities and districts like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bharu...

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has met his match in the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar - or should we say he has been beaten in the economic growth stories of their respective states. In the face of sluggish domestic demand and global economic slowdown, Bihar has recorded a staggering growth rate of 11.95 per cent rate annually at constant prices during 11th Five Year Plan, the highest among states. This is better than what Narendra Modi's state has been clocking. Per capita income (NSDP at current price) of Bihar is Rs 25,653 as against Rs 60,972 for All India in 2011-12, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who also holds Finance portfolio, told reporters after tabling the economic survey 2012-13 in the state Assembly today. "The ratio of per capita income in Bihar and India now stands at 42.1 per cent compared to 32.4 per cent in 2007-08," Modi said. Modi said the economic survey narrates the impressive trajectory Bihar's economy and the...

Wal-Mart Stores ( WMT )   has been cutting staff since the recession—and pallets of merchandise are piling up in its stockrooms as shelves go unfilled. In the past five years the world’s largest retailer added 455 U.S. Walmart stores, a 13 percent increase, according to company filings in late January. In the same period its total U.S. workforce, which includes employees at its Sam’s Club warehouse stores, dropped by about 20,000, or 1.4 percent. A thinly spread workforce has other consequences: longer checkout lines, less help throughout the store, and disorganization. Last month, Walmart placed last among department and discount stores in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, the sixth year in a row the company has either tied or taken the last spot. The dwindling level of customer service comes as Walmart has touted its in-store experience to lure financially strained shoppers and to counter the threat from online rivals such as   Amazon.com ( AMZN ) . Averag...

  Since Lee took control of Samsung in 1987, sales have surged to $179 billion last year, making it the world’s largest electronics company by revenue. That makes Samsung Electronics the world’s largest electronics company by revenue. For all its global reach, though, the company remains opaque. We all know the story of Steve Jobs and   Apple ( AAPL ) , Akio Morita and   Sony ( SNE ) . But Samsung and Lee Kun Hee? People may bring up the South Korean government’s support of local champions and access to easy capital, but within the company it all goes back to Chairman Lee and the Frankfurt Room. It doesn’t look like much: early 1990s vintage décor and a large table with a fake flower centerpiece. But the Frankfurt Room is to Changjo Kwan as the Clementine Chapel is to St. Peter’s Basilica: an extra-special place inside an already special place. Photography is forbidden; people whisper when inside. It’s a meticulous recreation of the drab conference room in the Germ...

============ http://rt.com/usa/monsanto-congress-silently-slips-830/ The US House of Representatives quietly passed a last-minute addition to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for 2013 last week - including a provision protecting genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks. The rider, which is officially known as the Farmer Assurance Provision, has been derided by opponents of biotech lobbying as the “ Monsanto Protection Act ,” as it would strip federal courts of the authority to immediately halt the planting and sale of genetically modified (GMO) seed crop regardless of any consumer health concerns. ============== The United States Supreme Court justices heard arguments on Tuesday involving the case of a 75-year-old soybean farmer who is being sued for patent infringement by biotech giant Monsanto. Monsanto, a billion-dollar biotechnology corporation perhaps best known for marketing cutting-edge agricultural products, says Mr. Bowman infr...

Only logical evidence of what we have to face soon: See  this important video important statistics showing that we are very near to the world economic severe problems: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYkl3XlEneA See at time location 20:10 In 2000, 20% of all jobs were manufacturing industry jobs but now there are only 5% of jobs which are manufacturing jobs. See at time location 29:20: US share of GDP has dropped from 31.6% in 2001 to 21.8%in 2011 See at time location 33:20 -48% of Americans believe there is great depression coming in an year. 40% of all Americans have $500 or less in savings. See at time location 39:30- 66% of income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to 1% of the wealthy. See at time location 55:30 -48% of Americans believe there is great depression coming in an year.

RBI and the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Finance Ministry have failed in their jobs. The online magazine Cobrapost.com on Saturday took “strong exception” to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) downplaying charges of money-laundering against three private sector banks and alleged that it was trying to mask “miserable failure” of its regulatory mechanism. Criticising RBI Deputy Governor K.C. Chakrabarty’s statement in which he had said that there was no scam behind the alleged Cobrapost expose, the online portal’s Editor, Aniruddha Bahal, said it was a “brazen attempt” by the senior RBI official to give a clean chit to these banks – ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank – even before probe into the matter was over. “The manner in which the RBI Deputy Governor has rushed to issue the statement, even before the Central Bank could complete the inquest it has initiated into money laundering practices by the three banks, even before these banks could complete their own investigation...

Ahmedabad :  Unhappy over the delay in getting clearances for his projects, the world's largest steelmaker, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, today said India was not his top priority for investment. Speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of the convocation of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad(IIM-A), where he was the chief guest, Mr Mittal said, "I do not want to give you any timeline about my Indian projects... experienced so much of delay." "... India is not my top priority for investment, it is top priority as a country but not a top priority for investment," Mr Mittal said.

Leading  US fund-The US TCW Emerging Markets Income Fund has increased investment to Russia http://rt.com/business/us-fund-increases-investment-to-russia-536/ About TCW fund: http://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/emerging-markets-bond/tcw-emerging-markets-income-fund/tgeix Almost maxed out": Britain on the brink of running out of gas with just TWO days left in reserve http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britain-gas-reserves-running-low-1777897 China to become Russia's biggest oil client http://rt.com/business/china-become-russia-biggest-oil-client-667/  

HUL executives get 70-100% bonuses of annual pay as co outperforms in tough economy MUMBAI: Hindustan   Unilever managers this year have taken home bonus payouts about three times the normal, as the company met its internal targets and outperformed the market in a tough economy. Some executives at the country's top consumer goods maker have been paid over 70% and even 100% of their regular annual remuneration package as performance bonus after its Anglo-Dutch parent Unilever allocated a disproportionately high percentage of variable pay for 2012-13 to South Asia, three senior HUL officials told ET.   The payout in a normal year averages 15-20%, they said, adding that internally it is seen as the best in 15-20 years. The payout is different at various levels in the organisation, with the top level getting the best deal. Bonuses at level 5, which includes HUL MD Nitin Paranjpe, were estimated at 7-10 crore this year while those at work level 4, or those in manag...

ARGENTINES are buying more gold than ever to protect their savings from the Western Hemisphere's fastest inflation as the country's bonds suffer the worst returns in developing nations. While Goldman Sachs Group called for gold prices to peak last month and billionaire George Soros cut his stake by more than half, Banco de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina's only gold trader, is talking with mining companies to buy the metal directly as surging demand exhausts its supply of scrap. The bank began marketing gold to individuals after the nation tightened currency controls in October 2011. Argentines are turning to the precious metal to preserve the value of their savings as economists forecast the peso will lose more value than any currency in the world and President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner bans most dollar purchases. The nation's estimated inflation rate of 26pc is also eroding the value of fixed-income securities, causing Argentina's peso-denomin...

  Sayan Chowdhury, a 34-year-old MNC employee, was found dead in his bedroom Nov 6, where he had dozed off while working on his laptop. The laptop and the charging cord were found partially burnt. According to the autopsy report, he lost his life either because of overheating of the battery which caused a fire, or electrocution or carbon monoxide poisoning. This incident bears an uncanny similarity with the case of 25-year-old Arun Gopalratnam, an MBA graduate, who died June 4, 2010 in a tragic fire in Wisconsin, US. The blaze was reportedly caused by his laptop when it overheated on his bed while he slept, because it had not been logged off. Investigators found that the laptop's positioning on the bed had cut off air from its cooling fan, overheating the set, which sparked the fire and produced carbon monoxide, killing Gopalratnam in his sleep. Similarly, an overheated laptop also killed a 56-year-old man in Vancouver, Canada. The unnamed man fell asleep with the c...

There is "no room" for negotiation over the proposed EU-wide bankers' bonus cap, one of its supporters has said. Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts spearheaded the campaign to limit bonuses and told the BBC's Nigel Cassidy that the incentive of doubling a salary should be enough to reward performance. The EU is proposing to cap bonuses to 100% of a banker's annual salary, or to 200% if shareholders approve.   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21832018

The European Debt Crisis - Punk Economics 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAR0VRLRGHE Punk Economics 2: Cash For Trash: how greece crashed, Germany shivered and italy feared and how banks are being unfare to us http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5z0rQRdsiE    

Cyprus bailout: fury as banks closed to avert run Eurozone finance ministers hold emergency talks as vote on aid package in Cyprus parliament is delayed for second day Cypriots protest against the bailout outside the parliament in Nicosia. Photograph: Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters Cyprus   took the unprecedented step on Monday of closing its banks until Thursday as officials scrambled to renegotiate the terms of a controversial bailout that threatens to force savers to take a €5.8bn (£5bn) hit to their deposits. Finance ministers from the 17-country eurozone held an emergency video conference call and concluded that small depositors should not be hit as hard as others. They said the Cypriot authorities could stagger the deposit seizures, but remained firm in demanding that the overall sum of money raised remained the same. Cyprus state media said accounts with less than €20,000 may be spared. The announcement came amid recriminations over the aid package, particularly ...

Researchers are launching a major study that will marshal the power of smartphones and other personal technologies in an effort to develop new strategies for preventing and managing heart disease. The project, called the Health eHeart Study, will use tools such as smartphone apps, sensors and other devices to gather data on a wide variety of measures associated with cardiovascular health—including blood pressure, physical activity, diet and sleep habits—all in real time. The study aims to enroll up to one million participants. Researchers will sift through the huge, accumulating banks of data, looking for patterns that might give advance warning of a heart attack or predict the onset of a dangerous irregular heart beat. The initiative amounts to "a large-scale digital version of the Framingham Heart Study," said Jeffrey Olgin, chief of cardiology at University of California, San Francisco and co-principal investigator of the effort. The continuing 65-year-old Framingh...