- EU leaders agree on new fiscal agreement
Agencies, Brussels Tuesday, January 31, 2012 European Union leaders reached agreement at a summit on Monday on a new fiscal treaty designed to strengthen budget deficit and debt rules in all EU members except Britain, two diplomats said.
Leaders had agreed at a summit on Dec 9 to endorse this new "fiscal compact", which limits their primary deficits to a maximum of 0.5 per cent of their output over the course of an economic cycle and foresees automatic sanctions for states with a deficit above 3 per cent of their gross domestic product.
"A deal has been reached on the fiscal compact," one of the diplomats said.
He explained that the last political hurdle - the question of who would be allowed to participate in summits of euro zone heads of state and government - had been cleared after Polish objections to being excluded were resolved.
"There will be at least two summits a year reserved for euro zone members, where they will discuss issues of economic convergence and strategies linked to their common currencies.
"On top of that, there will be one summit a year opened to contracting parties (to the treaty) not part of the euro, where they will discuss the architecture of the euro as well as competitiveness issues," the diplomat said.
The treaty will come into force on Jan 1, 2013 provided 12 countries have ratified it by then.
Go to Top - Hillary Clinton urges UNSC to act 'fast' on Syria
Agencies, United Nations Tuesday, January 31, 2012 The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has urged the UN Security Council to act 'fast' on Syria, and make it clear to its regime that the international community views its actions as a 'threat' to peace and security.
"The Security Council must act and make clear to the Syrian regime that the world community views its actions as a threat to peace and security.
"The violence must end, so that a new period of democratic transition can begin," Clinton said in a statement yesterday.
Clinton said she would be attending the UN Security Council meeting on Syria today. "Tomorrow, I will attend a United Nations Security Council meeting on Syria where the international community should send a clear message of support to the Syrian people: we stand with you," she said.
In fact, Clinton would be joined by the French foreign minister at the UN headquarters in New York as the 15-member powerful body including India and Pakistan to discuss a Arab League resolution on this issues, which was presented to the body yesterday.
Several Arab ministers and ministers from Security Council member countries are expected to participate in the meeting.
The Arab League is backing a resolution that calls on the international community to support its ongoing efforts, because the status quo is unsustainable, she said.
"The longer the Assad regime continues its attacks on the Syrian people and stands in the way of a peaceful transition, the greater the concern that instability will escalate and spill over throughout the region," Clinton said.
Go to Top - France to revise budget within days, amid slump
Agencies, Paris Monday, January 30, 2012 France's finance minister says the government will revise this year's budget in the coming days to take into account lower-than-expected growth.
Finance Minister Francois Baroin says "there's a slowdown that's been observed for the last three or four months'' and the budget will be adjusted accordingly.
France is the eurozone's second-largest economy after Germany and its lagging economy could weigh on efforts to bail out weaker eurozone countries.
Baroin said on France-Info radio the Cabinet would take up a revised budget within the next 10 days. The current 2012 budget foresees growth at 1 percent.
The updated budget is also expected to include higher consumption taxes and other measures announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy to cut debts and boost growth.
Go to Top - 'Normalisation Indo-Pak compelling necessity'
Agencies, Davos Monday, January 30, 2012 Hopeful of normalisation of Indo-Pak ties, Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has described it as a "compelling necessity" and said his Interior Secretary will soon visit India to take forward the talks on outstanding issues between the two countries.
During a meeting with Minister of State for Planning, Science and Technology and Earth Science, Ashwani Kumar, here on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Gilani expressed hope for normalisation of bilateral ties.
Kumar, who was here to attend the WEF as an Indian government representative, told PTI that Gilani also asked him to convey his greetings to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and expressed the view that normalisation of relations between the two countries was a "compelling necessity".
Kumar said he told Gilani that the people of the two countries have for long yearned for peace and that the recent policy announcements on both sides to facilitate cross-border trade will strengthen the process of normalisation of ties.
During their meeting, Gilani said his Interior Secretary will soon visit India to carry forward the official negotiations on outstanding issues.
The Minister also met Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who too are here to attend the summit.
Besides, Kumar participated in a debate on the challenges before the global economy, which was attended by Gilani, as also Prime Ministers of Thailand, Denmark and Finland, IMF chief Christine Lagarde, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, World Bank President Robert Zoellick and OECD Secretary General Angel Gurrea, among others.
Intervening during the discussions, Kumar expressed the view that the foremost challenge before all democratic governments was to ensure the accountability of political power in terms of satisfying the aspirations of the people and the basic needs of the vulnerable sections of the society.
He said the new media leaves little time for responding to popular movements and governments will need to proactively engage with the people at all stages so as to assess the popular perception in relation to key policy initiatives.
The Minister further said the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements testify to the resilience of democratic movements on the one hand and the fragmentation of power of the governments and capital on the other, which was a defining development of the decade.
He appealed for an inclusive agenda of growth with social justice and ensuring inter-generational equities at the core of governance.
Kumar also had a bilateral meeting here with the Swiss Federal Minister of Home Affairs, who was in-charge of Science and Technology, to explore ways and means to further expand the science and technology cooperation between the two countries.
Kumar said that Switzerland was looking for strong ties with India in the high technology and further areas of science, including bio and life sciences.
Reciprocating the Swiss views, Kumar said, he has invited the Swiss minister to visit India at an early date and the invitation has been accepted.
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