Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Zone 1- Asia Summary 108

TURKEY
Political Front: The ruling regime held various conferences to brief about the ‘democratic initiative’ in order to make it successful. PM Erdogan has also asked artists to support his efforts to resolve Kurdish issue.
Turkish President has emphasized the need for judicial reforms in its bid for the EU. Meanwhile on the issue of the coup plot; eleven retired Generals and many other colonels have been detained for their suspected involvement in anti regime coups. Also Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ has been at the center of fierce criticism over his stance regarding recently exposed military plots to overthrow the AK Party government. Though various actors have called on the government to remove Chief of General Staff from office, AK Party seems reluctant to make such a move for a number of reasons, including a lack of government confidence in the democratic line of candidates who would replace the military chief.
Geo-strategic Front: Various diplomatic visits have been in order to enhance ties with different countries. Turkey has strongly condemned terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Meanwhile Al-Qaeda criticized Turkey for its involvement in Afghanistan.
Turkish parliaments’ failure to ratify various agreements being signed by Armenia and Turkey has irked Armenian government. Turkey meanwhile stands by its offer to play a potent role in resolving the Iranian nuclear issue. Also Turkey has called on Israel to refrain from taking a “unilateral and provocative” step with its plan to renovate two contested West Bank holy sites.
Regarding EU, Turkish PM has expressed positive hopes while claiming that Spain would understand Turkish issues and concerns.
Social Front: Two earthquakes rocked eastern Turkey this week. However no damage has been reported. Meanwhile Turkish police seized 124 kg of hashish and 37 kg of heroin in five operations across the country.
Economic Front: Turkish growing economic ties with Russia, Syria, Kazakhstan, EU and Tanzania remained significant. Meanwhile a negative impact of coup plans has been observed in Turkish Stock Exchange. Meanwhile Turkish visa removal policy with various countries has helped attract a large number of tourists.

CENTRAL ASIA
Political Front: A military court in Kazakhstan sentenced an Israeli businessman and a local defense official to 11 years in jail on corruption charges.
Meanwhile two Kyrgyz opposition parties have declared their support for calls to release former Defense Minister Ismail Isakov from prison.
Upcoming elections in Tajikistan have increased political activities in the country. Five out of 153 candidates for lower house of Parliament have withdrawn from their candidacies for Parliamentary elections. Meanwhile Election observers from China have reached Tajikistan to monitor elections. Above all 36 polling stations have been set up in the CIS and various other countries to allow Tajik citizens residing abroad to vote.
In the meanwhile leader of Turkmenistan has expressed his readiness to create an opposition party.
Geo-strategic Front: The US has expressed great desire to boost ties with Azerbaijan. Meanwhile Armenian military officials in Nagorno-Karabakh have denied Azeri reports regarding violation of cease-fire. Azerbaijan has also held talks with Turkey to further enhance military ties.
Kazakh Foreign Minister paid an official visit to China.
Kyrgyzstan too enjoys cordial ties with Russia. Meanwhile Kyrgyzstan has confirmed that Iran forced one of its planes to land and arrested two of the passengers.
U.S. envoy Richard Holbrook has declared Tajikistan an important country in the Afghanistan war. Also the US has claimed that it has no intention to reopen its base in Uzbekistan.
Meanwhile Turkmenistan hosted the second consultative meeting on preparation of the International Conference on Disarmament in Central Asia and the Caspian basin.
Economic Front: Iran has expressed readiness to buy 10bn cubic meters gas from Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile Japanese investors have offered to build a nuclear power plant in eastern Kazakhstan.
Some 600 people in the central Kyrgyz city of Naryn protested against a price increase for electricity.
Meanwhile Turkmenistan has discovered a new oil deposit with flow rate of 300 tons per day. Also South Korean firms are making efforts to explore oil and gas market in Uzbekistan.
Social Front: Dozens of Kazakh journalists and human rights activists have urged senior government officials to allow unimpeded publication of the opposition weekly “Republika”.
Meanwhile an increase in the number of suicides of Uzbek women has been observed.

GCC
Political Front: The Yemeni army has been redeployed at the borders with Saudi Arabia where Al Houthi rebels were positioning before the war stopped earlier this month.
Geo-strategic Front: Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has expressed doubts about the usefulness of more sanctions against Iran claiming that the threat posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions demands a more immediate solution. In the meantime Saudi Arabia and Qatar have signed several agreements on the sidelines of the second meeting of the Saudi-Qatari Joint Coordination Council in Doha, further boosting bilateral ties in various fields.
The United Arab Emirates has reiterated its support to the international and regional efforts aimed at resuming the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
Economic Front: Turkey and GCC have agreed to sign a free trade agreement by the end of this year.
Social Front: GCC states have been successful in their efforts to curb trafficking of children for employment as camel jockeys.
The National Society for Human Rights has claimed that an existing "ban" on Saudi women to vote or run in elections is a blatant violation of international conventions signed by Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile a primary court in the southern region of Saudi Arabia sentenced a Saudi religious policeman for keeping six wives at the same time.
Saudi religious figure Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al Barrak has said that the mixing of genders at the workplace or in educational institutions was religiously prohibited while demanding that those who refuse to abide by strict segregation should be put to death. In response to this leading religious scholars in Kuwait have rejected a fatwa or religious edict seeking such harsh punishment. Kuwait has also expressed its determination to end discrimination against women in the workplace.
At the environmental front, heavy rainfalls over Makah submerged some districts and streets in the city. Meanwhile in UAE, thirty small-scale solar-powered desalination plants would be operational in the next 15 months to provide animals with watering holes in Abu Dhabi's desert environment. Two of the plants are already in use desalting brackish water from underground aquifers into fresh potable water.

EAST ASIA
Political Front: Indonesian Government allies Golkar and the Prosperous Justice Party have joined the opposition in calling for a probe into the finance minister and vice president over the rescue of PT Bank Century.
Malaysian PM has been emphasizing greatly the 1 Malaysia concept.
Negotiators of the Philippines government and a separatist group have intensified their respective campaigns in the country's south.
Geo-strategic Front: The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed keen interest in close Indonesian cooperation against terrorism. Also the US embassy in Manila has praised Philippine authorities for their arrest of a Filipino Muslim militant wanted for the kidnapping and murder of American tourists.
Economic Front: Thailand’s industrial production rose for a fifth straight month in January as the global economic recovery helped boost demand for the nation’s automotive parts and electronics. Also the Singapore government has outlined two key focus areas to help grow capabilities for companies and boost the nation’s status as a global business hub.
Social Front: UNESCO’s statistics for 2009 placed Malaysia at 11th out of 137 nations that allocated a huge budget for education.
Meanwhile hundreds of Muslims staged a protest calling for closure of a 600-member church in West Java.
Malaria has been regarded as a potential challenge being faced by Cambodia.

SOUTH ASIA
Political Front
: A massive government crackdown on activists and supporters of the opposition Islamic parties has fueled unrest in Bangladesh. Meanwhile one of the Bangladeshi ministers has assured to restore secularism as a state principle in the constitution.
Ministry of Finance and Treasury has submitted a case to Maldives Police Service, accusing the Civil Service Commission (CSC) of attempting to overthrow the government, by indirectly influencing and preventing the government from implementing its financial policies.
People’s life in Nepal’s capital was affected by general strike and shutdown that was called by Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPP- N) as part of its agitation demanding timely promulgation of constitution and referendum on some key issues like republicanism, secularism and federalism. Nepal’s three major parties have agreed to resolve the present political impasse through a joint resolution. They have also discussed ways to include Maoists in the government.
Meanwhile nomination period for April’s parliamentary votes has ended in Srilanka.
Geo-strategic Front: India and Bangladesh have decided to set up a joint-venture 1,320-megawatt power plant as a mark of co-operation. Meanwhile China has decided to resume suspended bus service between Tibet and Nepal.
Economic Front: The Dhaka Stock Exchange suffered its biggest fall in a decade after regulators placed restrictions on trading in the shares of a local mobile phone group.
Meanwhile Maldives has opened up its economy and invited Indian investment in sectors like infrastructure projects, airports, ports, renewable energy, healthcare, tourism and education.
Political instability badly affected stock markets in Nepal. While inflation in Sri Lanka hit a one-year high in February as low interest rates spurred consumer demand for goods and commodity prices rose.
The latest data provided by the Tea Board of Kenya indicates that the country has usurped the throne of Sri Lanka for the first time as the biggest tea exporter in the world.
Social Front: Bangladesh deployed its army at another southeastern hill town after 100 houses were burnt in fresh clashes between Buddhist tribal and Bengali Muslim settlers. Later on a curfew was imposed in the area as violence prevailed.
Bangladeshi Prime minister has urged the global Internet body to allow millions of Bengali-speaking people around the world to browse the Internet in their own language.
Maldives has expressed serious concerns regarding Environmental challenges. Meanwhile Nepal’s education minister has been sacked over corruption charges.

INDIA
Political Front: The Indian Union Cabinet has cleared the women's reservation bill after a long wait of 14 years, according to which 33% of all seats in Parliament and state assemblies are being reserved for women. All the while the Bharatiya Janata Party has opposed reservation for Scheduled Caste Muslims and Christians recommended in the Ranganath Mishra Commission. They justified their stance by saying that the Christian and Islamic faiths do not recognize the existence of caste in their communities. They further condemned such suggestion by declaring it as a move to divide the country. In the meantime Sushma Swaraj formally took over as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, replacing senior BJP leader L K Advani.
The Shiv Sena has criticized new BJP chief Nitin Gadkari for asking Muslims to give the disputed plot of land for the Ram temple and promising to help build a mosque elsewhere. According to Sena seeking permission from Muslims is an insult to the hundreds of karsevaks who laid down their lives during the Ram Mandir agitation”.
In order to deal with Maoist issue Union Home Minister has given a proposal of 72 days ceasefire to negotiate with insurgents’ demands. Responding to Chidambaram’s proposal the Maoists offered a conditional ceasefire, asking the government to halt its offensive for 72 days and involve mediators for talks.
Geo-strategic Front:
Army Chief General has denied media reports regarding occupation of Indian Territory by Chinese troops. Meanwhile Air Chief Marshal claimed that India and China would conduct their first-ever joint Air Force exercise in 2012. He added that initial planning for the war game has started but the venue for the exercise as well as its scope has yet to be decided.
All the while Indo-Pak foreign secretaries’ talks proved a failure as both countries did not show any leniency on their respective stands. India wanted to focus on terrorism while Pakistan was willing to bring Kashmir and water dispute on the table.
Economic Front: The pre-budget Economic Survey (2009-10), presented by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament predicted that India would be able to attain a high nine per cent growth in 2011-12 on the way to becoming world's fastest growing economy in four years. Meanwhile the document, which assesses the state of the economy, warned that high food prices would rise further over next few months.
Social Front: The Indian Election Commission informed the Supreme Court that wearing a burqa by a Muslim woman was a mere religious custom, and not an integral part of Islam. In its response to a special leave petition to restrain it from publishing photographs of veil clad Muslim women in the electoral rolls, the Commission said: “Article 25 of the Constitution does not confer unfettered rights to religious practice, but merely protects the essential or integral practice of any religion.”
The United Nations narcotics watchdog, International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), has blamed India for the rising drug abuse in its neighborhood, particularly in Bangladesh and Bhutan.
Punjab farmers seem quite enthusiastic to explore the vast barren tracts of land in Africa for agriculture prospects as some African countries opening up farming activities to Indian farmers. Meanwhile five deaths due to swine flu have been reported in Gujarat.

CHINA
Political Front: China’s top Legislature has started amending Administrative Laws in order to enhance supervision of the country’s civil servants.
Geo-strategic Front: While commenting on a U.S. report on the weakness of Taiwan's air force, a Chinese mainland spokesperson stressed peaceful development across the Taiwan Strait. The report was speculated as a move of Pentagon to provide justification for Washington to grant the sale of relatively advanced F-16 jet fighters to Taiwan.
Chinese newspaper has strongly condemned America for launching an on-line warfare to create unrest in Iran after elections. Meanwhile Chinese growing ties with South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Cambodia, Japan, Pakistan and Slovakia also grabbed attention.
The Danish Prime Minister has expressed his appreciation for Chinese Premier's important and constructive role in the Copenhagen conference.
Economic Front: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China rose for the sixth consecutive month in January, up 7.79 percent year on year to 8.13 billion U.S. dollars. In the meantime China's tourism revenue rose 26.9 percent to 64.62 billion Yuan (9.46 billion U.S. dollars) during the Spring Festival.
The flow of oil from Saudi Arabia to China rose to more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) last year, just as demand in the United States fell below that level for the first time in more than two decades. All the while Chinese Premier has urged the United States to open the exports of hi-tech products to China and acknowledge its market economy status.
Many scholars and economists claimed that the Chinese government's insight and the adjustment of the economic pattern were the two major factors helping China ride out the global economic downturn.
Social Front: American authorities have reportedly identified a Chinese computer hacker believed to be behind attacks on Google last year. The Chinese government however denied these reports. Meanwhile a senior Chinese military officer has called for a new national body to enforce Internet controls.
China's National Bureau of Corruption Prevention has announced to explore ways to fight corruption in non-public commercial entities and "new social organizations" in 2010.
Some 64.15 million people reportedly traveled on China's roads on the 22nd day of the Spring Festival traffic rush.
Hong Kong & Macao: A Legislative Council by-election would be held on May 16 to fill one vacant office in each of the five geographical constituencies in Hong Kong.
Macao's foreign exchange reserves amounted to 18.43 billion U.S. dollars at the end of January 2010.



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Business and Politics in the Muslim World (BPM)refers to the project entitled, "Globalized Business and Politics: A View from the Muslim World.' The blog development project has been undertaken and developed jointly by the Gilani Research Foundation and BPM as a free resource and social discussion tool.
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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Zone 1- Asia Summary 107

Week 107, Dated 13 to 19 February 2010
TURKEY
Political Front: In Turkey strong opposition by various political groups has stalled the implementation of the Kurdish democratic initiative beyond certain cultural aspects. Meanwhile a group of 500 PKK members demonstrated in Istanbul last week to mark the 11th year of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's capture.
Main Opposition Republican People’s Party plans to submit a censure motion against PM and Interior Minister alleging that the government pressured judges not to arrest a group of terrorist.
Geo-strategic Front: Turkish high officials paid diplomatic visits to Dhaka and India in a bid to enhance cooperation. Meanwhile Turkey and Bahrain signed an agreement for inter-parliamentary cooperation.
Turkey has reiterated its intention to normalize ties with its Armenian neighbor. Meanwhile Kazakhstan has voiced its support for Turkey’s efforts towards stability in the region.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has assured his nation’s support towards speeding up Turkey's EU accession. Spain is the current EU presidency holder.
Economic Front: Turkey has signed agreements with Bahrain and Tanzania to enhance economic cooperation.
Social Front: Mehmet Erdoğan, the Turkish PM’s nephew has been convicted on charges of drug trafficking and sentenced to prison. Meanwhile Twenty-six people, including a high-level police officer, have been arrested in operations targeting human trafficking in Istanbul, Ankara and the southern province of Malatya.
A number of nongovernmental organizations in Diyarbakir protested a decision by the 8th Chamber of the Council of State to retain a university admission system that uses a lower coefficient to calculate the university admission examination score. In the meantime storms and rainy weather have paralyzed life for nearly two weeks in Turkey's northwestern provinces.

CENTRAL ASIA
Political Front: Trial of 31 alleged members of an Islamic insurgent group accused of terrorist activities in the North Caucasus and Azerbaijan commenced last week.
The younger brother of Kyrgyz President has created an elite military unit on the basis of President's recommendations for amending the constitution. Meanwhile Tajikistan's ruling National Democratic Party has nominated the president's eldest son, to be a candidate for Dushanbe's city council.
Geo-strategic Front: Three Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire with Armenian armed forces near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Meanwhile Armenian Foreign Minister has warned Azerbaijan against disregarding the principle of self-determination in negotiations to resolve the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Meanwhile Kazakhstan's President has presented a package of measures to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to his Azeri counterpart.
Azerbaijani President received former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week where both exchanged views on issues of mutual concern. Meanwhile Kazakh PM held a meeting with Turkish FM focusing on Kazakh-Turkish trade and economic relations in the framework of the Treaty on Strategic Partnership, signed by the presidents of the two countries. Also the Kazak PM held telephonic talk with his Russian counterpart and discussed a bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
Uzbek officials have introduced new regulations that limit the number of visits Kyrgyz citizens can make to Uzbekistan. Also Uzbekistan’s President recently paid a visit to Korea.
Economic Front: The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has expressed its intention to build a new pipeline to export gas to Iran. Meanwhile as part of its new medium-term cooperation strategy for 2011-2014 financial years, the World Bank has made a plan to provide USD 1 billion in loans to Azerbaijan. All the while Azerbaijani Tax Ministry has announced revenue of 4.114 billion manats in 2009.
Global economic crisis also affected Kazakhstan's economy as its gross domestic product grew 1.2 percent last year, i.e. down from 3.2 percent in 2008. Meanwhile the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appreciated efforts of the Government of Tajikistan to build hydropower plants on its territory that will allow tackling many problems resulting from electricity shortages. Also the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has completed its first power rehabilitation project in the country.
Turkmen geologists have found new evidence of huge gas reserves in the country.
Social Front: The attorney for arrested Azerbaijani blogger Adnan Hajizade has requested that new judges be named to preside over his client's appeal in a Baku court. Meanwhile the jailed Kazakh human rights defender Yevgeny Zhovtis has begun publishing a blog on the Internet.
Kyrgyzstan has reinforced environment protection measures within oil and gas facilities exploitation. Meanwhile Oxfam has released its report on climate changes and poverty in Tajikistan claiming that frequent droughts and heightened extreme weather conditions are hitting poor communities, eroding their resilience. Meanwhile the country’s glaciers are melting raising fears of future water shortages and potential disputes in the wider region.

EAST ASIA
Political Front: While talking to Chinese community at the commemoration of their New Year, Indonesian President promised to protect their civil rights. Meanwhile effecting a smooth transition of power through a stable political process is a major challenge facing the Philippine president.
Thousands of pro-Thaksin protesters forced Thailand's biggest bank to close its headquarters under accusations of having links with the Thai royal family.
Economic Front: Indonesian economy fueled by exports and investment grew at the rate of 5.4% in the last quarter of 2009 with overall growth at 4.5%. Likewise, positive growth was also observed in the fourth quarter in Singapore.
Cyclones and droughts have badly affected Philippines’ crops further deteriorating its economy. Meanwhile projections regarding the Thai economy remain divided amidst an uncertain political environment.
Malaysia is making efforts to join the group of high income economies in the region. Meanwhile the biggest garment industry in Cambodia discarded 3,000 jobs amidst the economic crisis, while 106 factories were closed leaving 45,500 people out of work. The Government of Vietnam is also taking measures to avoid an economic slump this year.
Social Front: Islamic police in the Indonesian province of Aceh patrol daily to arrest people involved in anti-religious activities. Meanwhile three women in Malaysia were canned for engaging in illicit sex. The issue of caning the women has ignited a fierce debate in various circles of the country.
Last month a group of Philippine politicians called on the country’s government to ban domestic workers from going to the Middle East and Gulf states. According to a recent survey 44% of the population approved the proposal. 23% however claimed that government should avoid involvement in such affairs. According to a recent study an alarming number of government servants in Brunei, around 55 per cent, are struggling with obesity and another 60 per cent suffer from high blood sugar and high blood pressure.

INDIA
Political Front-National Front: BJP’s President has declared the ruling regime to be the main cause of rising inflation in the country. BJP has also opposed an open-ended dialogue with Pakistan and has strongly criticized Home Minister’s recent statement regarding Kashmiri youth. Meanwhile President of VHP has asked political parties to avoid interference in religious matters such as the reconstruction of Ram Temple at the place of Babri Masjid.
As far as Maoist insurgency is concerned at least 20 Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) personnel were killed in the biggest attack yet launched in West Bengal. Meanwhile in Bihar Maoists assassinated 12 civilians.
Regional Front: Muslim leadership of Andhra Pradesh has announced to protest against a court decision on reservation of 10% quota for Muslims denouncing the government’s inept handling of the issue. Meanwhile nearly a week after setting up a five-member committee on the Telangana issue, the Union government has announced the panel’s seven-point terms of reference seeking to examine the situation in Andhra Pradesh with reference to the demand for a Telangana State against demands for a united Andhra Pradesh. The committee is to submit its report by December 31, 2010.
Fourteen MLAs from the Telangana region handed over their resignation letters to Speaker on a call by the all-party Joint Action Committee (JAC) to protest against the terms of reference of the Srikrishna committee.
Geo-strategic Front: Indo-Pak talks are currently a hot issue, where India wants to stick to the issue of dealing with terrorism while Pakistan wants resumption of dialogue process that was halted after 26/11. Congress government has expressed determination to resume talks even after the Pune blasts while BJP has strongly criticized this initiative.
Meanwhile India and Nepal have decided to sign an agreement to provide railway connectivity and expand existing lines between the two countries. Apart from this Russia and India have decided to firm up two major pacts on nuclear energy and a fifth generation fighter plane; they have also resolved to step up trade ties and develop closer cooperation in the energy sector.
Economic Front: India has started putting efforts to conclude comprehensive trade opening pact or the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union by the end of this year. Meanwhile inflation has marked another 120 basis points (1.2 percentage points) and surged to 8.6 per cent in January setting a record high in the last 13 months.
Social Front: At least nine people died and over 50 were injured in a blast in a German Bakery in Pune. Some analysts and politicians doubted the involvement of extremist Hindu outfits in the tragedy. Meanwhile violence erupted in some parts of the Darjeeling Hills where life came to a halt due to a 24-hour strike by the students’ wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). The strike was called to protest against the refusal of the authorities to allow its supporters to hold a pro-Gorkhaland rally in Siliguri and other parts of the Dooars earlier this month.

CHINA
Political Front: Communist Party of China (CPC) has called for better law enforcement of law to ensure national security, social harmony and the country's sound economic growth.
Geo-strategic Front: China remained active in enhancing collaboration with various countries of the globe including; Tanzania, Syria and Singapore.
The US President went forward with a controversial meeting with the Dalai Lama despite warnings from China. In the case of cyber attacks against Google it is suspected that Chinese students and military were involved in the incident. The Military however has denied these allegations.
Economic Front: Despite the fact that China's natural gas output rose by 7.7 percent last year, it fell short of ever rising domestic demand. The country produced 83 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year, while consumed 87.45 billion cubic meters, up 11.5 percent year on year. Taiwan has expressed positive hopes regarding economic cooperation with China. China, Japan and South Korea have also launched a joint study on trilateral Free trade deal. Meanwhile stock exchange of Hong Kong remained fluctuating.
Social Front: China's operational high-speed railways have exceeded 3,300 kilometers, leading the world in both length and technologies. Police and other authorities in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region detained 1,795 people suspected of dealing drugs in 2009. Meanwhile Chinese Premier visited Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region over the weekend, spending the Spring Festival, or Chinese lunar New Year, with local villagers.
________________________________________________________
Business and Politics in the Muslim World (BPM)refers to the project entitled, "Globalized Business and Politics: A View from the Muslim World.' The blog development project has been undertaken and developed jointly by the Gilani Research Foundation and BPM as a free resource and social discussion tool.
Please Preview your comments before posting.

Zone 1- Asia Summary- Week # 106

Week # 106, Dated 6 to 12 February 2010
GCC
Political Front: Yemeni President has issued a directive on cessation of hostilities against the Shiite Houthi rebels in the northwestern part of the country.
Geo-strategic Front: GCC and EU officials held a meeting to discuss ways of activating cooperation. Meanwhile GCC Secretary General has categorically rejected the International Criminal Court's (ICC) charges of genocide against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir.
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has denied apologizing to a senior Saudi diplomat before a rare public handshake between officials of the two states. Meanwhile UAE’s police Chief has expressed the intention of seeking arrest of Israeli PM if evidence of Mossad's involvement in the killing of a senior Hamas official is found.
Social Front: Human Rights Watch has accused Bahrain of torturing detainees saying that prisoners in three cases mostly linked to protests in 2007 and 2008 in Shi’ite Muslim villages had been beaten and abused during interrogations. In response Bahrain has promised to investigate the situation.
Kuwait has reiterated its commitment to international Human Rights Legislation. All the while Bangladeshi PM during her visit to Kuwait stressed greatly on the need to strengthen ties between the two countries.
Economic Front: Bad managers, lack of adequate investment in scientific and technological research initiatives, near-absence of technical and vocational training for local manpower and the private sector ignoring manufacturing ventures have been identified as major challenges in steering the Gulf economies away from their dependence on hydrocarbon resources. In addition to this Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry would for the first time allow local firms to bid to supply basic materials excluding arms, with the long-term goal of encouraging a domestic military industry.
Massive renewable energy projects undertaken by the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries are expected to turn them into solar energy exporters along with their large hydrocarbon exports. Meanwhile Saudi Armco has concluded supply deals to purchase up to 7.14 million barrels of gas oil for delivery in 2010 from private trading firms and international oil companies.
Oman and Iran signed the minutes of the consultative meeting of the Joint Technical Committee regarding implementation of memorandum of understanding on tourism.

FERTILE CRESCENT
Political Front: Amnesty International has condemned Egyptian government for launching a crack down against its main opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Lebanese Cabinet approved the adoption of pre-printed ballots in the upcoming municipal elections scheduled for June but ministers have failed to reach an agreement over other disputed reforms. Meanwhile a discussion is to start over a bill presented in Israeli legislature by Yisrael Party allowing expatriates to vote in elections. Likud Party however opposes the bill.
The campaign for Iraq's parliamentary elections has officially started amid a continuing controversy over a ban on scores of candidates. Many of those on the blacklist were banned for links to the Ba'ath party of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The ban has raised tensions between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims.
Social Front: Egypt has offered soft loans and other incentives to encourage polluters to clean up. Meanwhile the Lebanese government is making plans to cope with natural disasters that have plagued the nation this past year.
Economic Front: Egypt’s economy recorded its fastest growth in more than a year in the fourth quarter, boosted by tourism, construction and manufacturing, Economic Development. Meanwhile an agreement changing the price of Egyptian natural gas exports to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) signifying a 45 percent rise has come into force.
The Institute of International Finance (IIF) revised its estimate for economic growth in Lebanon to 8.7 percent in 2009. Lebanon has enjoyed a surprisingly countercyclical growth pattern, as its economy grew faster than China and India last year.
Iraq has urged Iran to implement a memorandum of understanding under which Iranian firms are required to implement big housing and construction projects in the country.

CENTRAL ASIA
Political Front: About 1,000 protesters gathered in a southern Kyrgyz village to demand the release of former Defense Minister Ismail Isakov. Meanwhile registration for Tajikistan's parliamentary elections has ended, with 150 candidates officially allowed to run.
Geo-strategic Front: Azeri President, during his visit to Germany, held meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister. Turkish Foreign Minister also paid visit to Kazakhstan. Meanwhile the Israeli Foreign Minister started a three day visit to Azerbaijan. Turkmen President too paid visit to France despite strong criticism from Rights groups.
Korea has announced to provide US$12 million in aid to Uzbekistan this year in line with its effort to boost the two countries’ strategic partnership.
Kazakh government has been struggling to get its airlines removed from the EU Blacklist. Meanwhile about 150 Afghans imprisoned in Tajikistan have been transferred to Afghan officials.
Social Front: An Azerbaijani parliamentary committee has started working on a draft law on the de-Russification of Azeri last names. Meanwhile a Kazakh court has struck down a ruling blocking the press from printing potentially damaging material about the president's son-in-law.
A group of women engaged in recruitment for Hizb ut-Tahrir have been arrested in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Meanwhile Tajikistan's Supreme Court has sentenced a suspected Al-Qaeda member to eight years in jail. Also the activities of a Baptist Church in Tajikistan were suspended following failure to register with the government.
An Uzbek photographer and film director was found guilty by a Tashkent court of portraying her country as "backward" in a collection of photographs and a documentary depicting the daily struggles of people in rural Uzbekistan. Some 20 supporters of the photographer held a rally outside the Uzbek Embassy in Moscow.
Economic Front: The SOCAR, Azerbaijan's state-run oil firm, has built a gas pipeline to the Lanchkhuti region of Georgia. Having become one of the largest (16.81%) shareholders in the North-Caspian project, Kazakhstan has started taking greater interest in its development and costs.
Uzbekistan has cut off natural gas import to the south region of Kyrgyzstan. Also only Uzbekistan has a higher index due to a 28.3% increase of investments inflow in 2009. Meanwhile the volume of investments in fixed capital in Kyrgyzstan has grown up by 19.7% in 2009.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has completed its microfinance systems development program in Tajikistan, facilitating the development of a vibrant and growing microfinance industry in the country. Meanwhile Turkmenistan and UAE have signed an agreement to enhance cooperation. Also last year’s trade turnover between Turkmenistan and Russia amounted to US $ 1,247 billion (excluding deliveries of natural gas), including exports to Russia totaling U.S. $ 51 million, and imports to Turkmenistan totaling US $ 196 million.

INDIA
Political Front: Rahul Gandhi has appealed for public mobilization against extremist policies of Shiv Sena. Meanwhile BJP has welcomed the judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court invalidating State legislation on reservation for minorities.
The Left Front government in West Bengal has announced the implementation of the Ranganath Mishra Commission’s recommendations by deciding to reserve 10 per cent of government jobs for the economically, educationally and socially backward sections among Muslims.
Maoists blasted railway tracks and a train in Orissa and Bihar. Meanwhile the Maoists government of Jharkhand has demanded an end to deprivation to deal with insurgencies.
Geo-strategic Front: India has successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-III ballistic missile, with a range of more than 3,000 km. Meanwhile Pakistan has accepted India’s proposal for negotiations without any preconditions.
Social Front: According to UNESCO India figures among the four countries that have seen a marked increase in systematic attacks on schools, students and teachers between 2006 and 2009. In India, nearly 300 schools were reportedly blown up by Maoists in this span.
Economic Front: Despite claims of having survived the economic crisis unscratched, some reports clearly indicate that poverty has increased in India. Job losses in India were primarily in export-oriented industries.
The Orissa government has refused to accept any financial assistance from the European Union for rehabilitation of victims of Kandhamal riot.

CHINA
Political Front: Senior Chinese leader He Guoqiang has stressed the country's determination and efforts in fighting corruption in a lengthy report published recently.
Geo-strategic Front: Chinese PM has urged enhanced mutual trust and cooperation with Japan. Meanwhile China intends to strengthen ties with India, South Korea, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Australia, Costa Rica and the US.
China has called for increased diplomatic efforts and an early agreement for an internationally-backed nuclear fuel proposal for Tehran following its higher-grade uranium enrichment program.
Despite strong opposition from China the US President has announced his plan to meet the Dalai Lama.
Social Front: China has published Chairman Mao Ze dong's manuscripts on military theory and strategies and national defense, parts of which were made public for the first time. Meanwhile the country’s drive to curb overseas trips by officials using public money has produced significant results.
China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin has urged religious groups in the country to pool the wisdom and strength of believers to explore ways of helping promote economic and social development.
China's central government has earmarked 3.17 billion Yuan (463.9 million U.S. dollars) to cover tuition fees of city-born children in primary and junior high schools nationwide. Meanwhile central government has allocated 37.2 billion Yuan (5.45 billion U.S. dollars) to subsidize nationwide medical reforms.
The Islamic Party of Turkestan (IPT), and Uighur jihadist organization, released a video on February 10, 2010 claiming responsibility for a number of attacks in China last year.
Economic Front: A top Chinese think tank forecasted the nation's economy would experience a mild rebound this year, with gross domestic product expanding around 10 percent year on year. Meanwhile production of 68 Chinese large and medium steel and iron industries has observed sharp decline. All the while its auto sales doubled in January.
Taiwan's January exports to the Chinese mainland reached 9.54 billion U.S. dollars, the highest figure in 17 months. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia, Iran and Angola remained the top three oil suppliers to China. Last week the Stock exchange of China as well as Hong Kong witnessed a remarkable boost.

EAST ASIA
Political Front: Indonesians have started looking for mature democracy in their country amidst various reforms being introduced by the government.
Thai opposition’s inability to avoid political crisis in their controlled states has clearly evinced weakness. Meanwhile an anti-government group in the country has started mobilizing masses to launch demonstrations later this month.
Geo-strategic Front: Cambodia has hit out at Google over what it called a “radically misleading” map of the disputed Thai-Cambodia border, accusing the world’s biggest search engine of being “professionally irresponsible”.
Economic Front: Indonesia remained at the top in terms of its economic growth in the region in the last quarter of the year 2009. Meanwhile inflation in Philippines has increased remarkably.
Officials from Cambodia and Laos have expressed positive hopes regarding improvement of bilateral trade. §

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Business and Politics in the Muslim World (BPM)refers to the project entitled, "Globalized Business and Politics: A View from the Muslim World.' The blog development project has been undertaken and developed jointly by the Gilani Research Foundation and BPM as a free resource and social discussion tool.
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