Saturday, November 05, 2011
Obama nod for Occupy Wall Street
He could not resist drawing the obvious parallel. When United States President Barack Obama spoke at the unveiling of a towering, 30-foot sculpture of civil rights leader Martin Luther King on Washington's National Mall, he came as close as he could to endorsing Occupy Wall Street, the modern-day equivalent of the 1960s social movement.
Reflecting on Dr. King's Mahatma Gandhi-inspired belief in non-violent civil disobedience as a means of protest, Mr. Obama said if Dr. King were still alive, “I believe he would remind us that the unemployed worker can rightly challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonising all who work there.”
He also struck a blow for workers; unions which have watched helplessly as numerous Republican-controlled U.S. states such as Wisconsin have whittled away their collective bargaining rights, for example to set wages. The President said Dr. King would have believed “that the businessman can enter tough negotiations with his company's union without vilifying the right to collectively bargain”.
The ultimate blow Mr. Obama delivered was of course to his Republican and Tea Party opponents in Congress who have been single-mindedly fixated on the goal of cutting public expenditures even in the worst of the recession.
Gauntlet
He threw the gauntlet at those parties saying, “He would want us to know we can argue fiercely about the proper size and role of government without questioning each other's love for this country... with the knowledge that in this democracy, government is no distant object but is rather an expression of our common commitments to one another.”
But it was the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the challenges it poses to a worsening rich-poor divide in the U.S. that seemed to catch Mr. Obama's imagination the most. Evoking the harsh reality that Dr. King and other leaders of the civil rights movement faced, Mr. Obama reflected on how little things had changed in 43 years. He said, “As was true 50 years ago, as has been true throughout human history, those with power and privilege will often decry any call for change as ‘divisive.'”
Labels: Barack Obama administration, Occupy Wall Street protest
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Clinton calls for Indian sanctions on Syrian o
From The Hindu
Indian government officials can expect heavy diplomatic pressure from their United States counterparts in the coming days on the question of imposing sanctions on the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
In an interview with CBS News, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lashed out against Indian and Chinese involvement in the oil and gas industry in Syria, a key source of revenue for the country. “We want to see India [take steps towards imposing sanctions alongside the U.S.], because India and China have large energy investments inside of Syria,” Ms. Clinton said.
The U.S. has upped the ante on Syria following a brutal crackdown by Mr. Assad's forces on pro-democracy protestors. According to some sources approximately 1,700 demonstrators have died with “tens of thousands” reportedly arrested. On Friday there were reports of a fresh crackdown with troops opening fire on “thousands of protesters” in the north and east of the country.
When asked about the U.S. role in the Syrian oil and gas sector, Ms. Clinton said: “We have such a small stake in what they produce and what they market. The real trick is to convince the Europeans and the Arabs and the Chinese and the Indians and others... We have been upping the sanctions... but we want others to follow, because Syria was not one of our major economic partners.”
While the U.S. has relatively few economic links with Syria and hence lacks any real leverage, this week it tightened its economic noose around Syria slapping the Commercial Bank of Syria, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank and Syriatel, the largest mobile phone operator in Syria, with sanctions.
Indian government officials can expect heavy diplomatic pressure from their United States counterparts in the coming days on the question of imposing sanctions on the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
In an interview with CBS News, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lashed out against Indian and Chinese involvement in the oil and gas industry in Syria, a key source of revenue for the country. “We want to see India [take steps towards imposing sanctions alongside the U.S.], because India and China have large energy investments inside of Syria,” Ms. Clinton said.
The U.S. has upped the ante on Syria following a brutal crackdown by Mr. Assad's forces on pro-democracy protestors. According to some sources approximately 1,700 demonstrators have died with “tens of thousands” reportedly arrested. On Friday there were reports of a fresh crackdown with troops opening fire on “thousands of protesters” in the north and east of the country.
When asked about the U.S. role in the Syrian oil and gas sector, Ms. Clinton said: “We have such a small stake in what they produce and what they market. The real trick is to convince the Europeans and the Arabs and the Chinese and the Indians and others... We have been upping the sanctions... but we want others to follow, because Syria was not one of our major economic partners.”
While the U.S. has relatively few economic links with Syria and hence lacks any real leverage, this week it tightened its economic noose around Syria slapping the Commercial Bank of Syria, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank and Syriatel, the largest mobile phone operator in Syria, with sanctions.
Labels: Barack Obama administration, China, India, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Syria unrest, U.S.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Panetta to be Defence Secretary, Petraeus to head CIA
There is to be a reshuffle at the highest levels of the Obama administration with CIA chief Leon Panetta flagged as the successor to Defence Secretary Robert Gates and commander of the coalition forces in Afghanistan General David Petraeus identified as the man to fill Mr. Panetta's shoes at the United States' spy agency.
Mr. Panetta will be taking over a challenging role at a time of unprecedented belt-tightening by the U.S. military. General Petraeus' departure is also striking in terms of its timing, as the Obama administration is poised to wind down military operations in Afghanistan starting this July.
Media quoting unnamed sources also said Deputy Commander of U.S. Central Command Lieutenant-General John Allen would replace General Petraeus in Afghanistan and veteran diplomat Ryan Crocker was likely to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan.
Mr. Gates, who was an appointee of the former President, George W. Bush, has held the Pentagon's top job since late 2006. He helped lead two major military engagements of the U.S. — in Afghanistan and Iraq.
President Barack Obama appointed General Petraeus to lead International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan last year after Stanley McChrystal quit following controversial critical comments on civilian leadership of the war effort.
If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Panetta will take over from Mr. Gates on June 30.
Labels: Barack Obama administration, Gen Petraeus, Leon Panetta, President Barack Obama, reshuffle, U.S.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Samalkot on Obama’s strategic map
From The Hindu
United States President Barack Obama had gained some notoriety for his administration’s sometimes strident views on jobs moving from “Buffalo to Bangalore.” Now the President’s oratory has given birth to a new and more positive sound bite in the realm of strategic geography: “Samalkot to Schenectady”
At a speech in Schenectady, New York, this week Mr. Obama mentioned the small Andhra Pradesh town and industrial complex venue no fewer than five times.
And unlike the references to American jobs getting “Bangalored,” a regular feature of the Obama speeches of 2010, the President struck an optimistic note on the role of U.S.-India commercial relations in spurring domestic job creation.
Speaking about his November 2010 visit to India at a plant of electric goods major General Electric Mr. Obama said, “Part of the reason I wanted to come to this plant is because this plant is what that trip was all about.”
He went on to explain that during that visit U.S. businesses were able to reach agreements on exporting over $10 billion in goods and services to India, and that was, according to him, expected to lead to 50,000 jobs created in the U.S.
Mr. Obama supplied some details of the Samalkot-GE deal in particular, noting that “As part of the deal we struck in India, GE is going sell advanced turbines -- the ones you guys make -- to generate power at a plant in Samalkot, India.”
He quipped, “Most of you hadn’t heard of Samalkot but now you need to know about it, because you’re going to be selling to Samalkot, India.”
“That new business halfway around the world is going to help support more than 1,200 manufacturing jobs and more than 400 engineering jobs right here in this community -- because of that sale,” he added, to loud applause.
More broadly this and other recent speeches by Obama administration officials appear to point to a renewed emphasis on U.S. exports and job creation, said to be a top policy priority for 2011. This was a point that Mr. Obama further underscored in his Schenectady speech, when he said, the Samalkot agreement was a “perfect example of why promoting exports is so important.”
“That is why I have set a goal of doubling American exports within five years. And we are on track to do it. We are already up 18 per cent and we are just going to keep on going, because we are going to sell more and more stuff all around the world,” Mr. Obama said.
Commenting further on the GE deal he added, “The deal in Samalkot means jobs in Schenectady. That’s how we accelerate growth. That’s how we create opportunities for our people.”
Yet competing internationally to sell goods, especially in countries such as China, was equally a major theme of the speech, and the President said, “The Chinese were selling a lot to us. Folks were selling a lot to us from all over the world. We have got to reverse that.”
He further said that in an ever-shrinking world, the U.S.’ success would be determined not only by what it built build in Schenectady, but also what it could sell in Shanghai. “For America to compete around the world, we need to export more goods around the world. That is where the customers are. It's that simple,” he said.
United States President Barack Obama had gained some notoriety for his administration’s sometimes strident views on jobs moving from “Buffalo to Bangalore.” Now the President’s oratory has given birth to a new and more positive sound bite in the realm of strategic geography: “Samalkot to Schenectady”
At a speech in Schenectady, New York, this week Mr. Obama mentioned the small Andhra Pradesh town and industrial complex venue no fewer than five times.
And unlike the references to American jobs getting “Bangalored,” a regular feature of the Obama speeches of 2010, the President struck an optimistic note on the role of U.S.-India commercial relations in spurring domestic job creation.
Speaking about his November 2010 visit to India at a plant of electric goods major General Electric Mr. Obama said, “Part of the reason I wanted to come to this plant is because this plant is what that trip was all about.”
He went on to explain that during that visit U.S. businesses were able to reach agreements on exporting over $10 billion in goods and services to India, and that was, according to him, expected to lead to 50,000 jobs created in the U.S.
Mr. Obama supplied some details of the Samalkot-GE deal in particular, noting that “As part of the deal we struck in India, GE is going sell advanced turbines -- the ones you guys make -- to generate power at a plant in Samalkot, India.”
He quipped, “Most of you hadn’t heard of Samalkot but now you need to know about it, because you’re going to be selling to Samalkot, India.”
“That new business halfway around the world is going to help support more than 1,200 manufacturing jobs and more than 400 engineering jobs right here in this community -- because of that sale,” he added, to loud applause.
More broadly this and other recent speeches by Obama administration officials appear to point to a renewed emphasis on U.S. exports and job creation, said to be a top policy priority for 2011. This was a point that Mr. Obama further underscored in his Schenectady speech, when he said, the Samalkot agreement was a “perfect example of why promoting exports is so important.”
“That is why I have set a goal of doubling American exports within five years. And we are on track to do it. We are already up 18 per cent and we are just going to keep on going, because we are going to sell more and more stuff all around the world,” Mr. Obama said.
Commenting further on the GE deal he added, “The deal in Samalkot means jobs in Schenectady. That’s how we accelerate growth. That’s how we create opportunities for our people.”
Yet competing internationally to sell goods, especially in countries such as China, was equally a major theme of the speech, and the President said, “The Chinese were selling a lot to us. Folks were selling a lot to us from all over the world. We have got to reverse that.”
He further said that in an ever-shrinking world, the U.S.’ success would be determined not only by what it built build in Schenectady, but also what it could sell in Shanghai. “For America to compete around the world, we need to export more goods around the world. That is where the customers are. It's that simple,” he said.
Labels: Barack Obama administration, India-U.S. business ties, outsourcing, U.S. economy
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Senate Bill delivers overdue justice to minorities
From The Hindu
Even in the face of partisan bickering in the United States over the approval of an arms reduction treaty, Democrats and Republicans came together last week to address a long-standing claim of underpayment and resource mismanagement brought by the African-American and American-Indian communities here.
On Friday the U.S. Senate passed a Bill that sought to provide $4.55 billion in compensation to the two minority communities. Its passage marks the culmination of an effort by the Obama administration and the 111th Congress to finally settle a backlog of claims relating to allegations of racism and unfair practice in land purchased from African-American farmers and “historical injustice” meted out to the American-Indian community in the management of their funds.
Of the funds earmarked, $1.15 billion has been set aside by the Senate for claimants from the African-American farming community. The money will specifically address the needs of “late petitioners” or farmers who missed the filing deadline in a long-standing class-action suit that was settled back in 1999.
Commenting on the Bill’s passage the Network of Black Farm Groups and Advocates said, “Two years after the provision in the 2008 Farm Bill that provided the opportunity for late petitioners in the Black farmer lawsuit to file their claims against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Senate has finally passed an appropriations bill that will fund the lawsuit. It was a vote of unanimous consent... [and] a momentous occasion.”
An NBFGA official also said that at a time when people had decried the divisiveness that prevailed in Congress the Bill showcased an impressive collaboration between the Republicans, Democrats and the Obama Administration.
In addition to the African-American farmers’ cause the Bill set aside $3.4 billion for the American-Indian community under another long-standing case, Cobell versus Salazar.
According to the Bill’s mandate the funds would be disaggregated as $1.4 billion for settlement of accounting and mismanagement claims and another “$2 billion for addressing fractionation of individual Indian land” the National Congress of American-Indians said in a statement.
The tribes that would benefit from this settlement included the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona, the Crow Tribe in Montana, the Aamodt in New Mexico, and Pueblo of Taos in New Mexico.
Speaking after the Bill passed in the Senate Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said, “With the Senate’s approval of the Cobell settlement and... four Indian water rights settlements, this is a day that will be etched in our memories and our history books.”
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk added that the water settlements in particular were nothing short of historic for Indian nations as they would meet the needs of tribes as well as neighbouring communities through provisions for sharing shortages and investing in critical infrastructure needs.
The Bill is still awaiting ratification by the House of Representatives and a Presidential signature. President Barack Obama has already indicated his intention to sign the Bill into law and in an earlier press conference described the settlement as “fair” and “just” and said his administration would “continue to make it a priority.”
Even in the face of partisan bickering in the United States over the approval of an arms reduction treaty, Democrats and Republicans came together last week to address a long-standing claim of underpayment and resource mismanagement brought by the African-American and American-Indian communities here.
On Friday the U.S. Senate passed a Bill that sought to provide $4.55 billion in compensation to the two minority communities. Its passage marks the culmination of an effort by the Obama administration and the 111th Congress to finally settle a backlog of claims relating to allegations of racism and unfair practice in land purchased from African-American farmers and “historical injustice” meted out to the American-Indian community in the management of their funds.
Of the funds earmarked, $1.15 billion has been set aside by the Senate for claimants from the African-American farming community. The money will specifically address the needs of “late petitioners” or farmers who missed the filing deadline in a long-standing class-action suit that was settled back in 1999.
Commenting on the Bill’s passage the Network of Black Farm Groups and Advocates said, “Two years after the provision in the 2008 Farm Bill that provided the opportunity for late petitioners in the Black farmer lawsuit to file their claims against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Senate has finally passed an appropriations bill that will fund the lawsuit. It was a vote of unanimous consent... [and] a momentous occasion.”
An NBFGA official also said that at a time when people had decried the divisiveness that prevailed in Congress the Bill showcased an impressive collaboration between the Republicans, Democrats and the Obama Administration.
In addition to the African-American farmers’ cause the Bill set aside $3.4 billion for the American-Indian community under another long-standing case, Cobell versus Salazar.
According to the Bill’s mandate the funds would be disaggregated as $1.4 billion for settlement of accounting and mismanagement claims and another “$2 billion for addressing fractionation of individual Indian land” the National Congress of American-Indians said in a statement.
The tribes that would benefit from this settlement included the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona, the Crow Tribe in Montana, the Aamodt in New Mexico, and Pueblo of Taos in New Mexico.
Speaking after the Bill passed in the Senate Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said, “With the Senate’s approval of the Cobell settlement and... four Indian water rights settlements, this is a day that will be etched in our memories and our history books.”
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk added that the water settlements in particular were nothing short of historic for Indian nations as they would meet the needs of tribes as well as neighbouring communities through provisions for sharing shortages and investing in critical infrastructure needs.
The Bill is still awaiting ratification by the House of Representatives and a Presidential signature. President Barack Obama has already indicated his intention to sign the Bill into law and in an earlier press conference described the settlement as “fair” and “just” and said his administration would “continue to make it a priority.”
Labels: African-Americans, American-Indians, Barack Obama administration
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Nirupama, Burns discuss preparation for Obama visit
From The Hindu
India's Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Thursday met her U.S. counterpart, Under-Secretary William Burns, according to the State Department.
A senior official on the Indian side told The Hindu that the Foreign Secretary-level dialogue was close to President Barack Obama's visit to India — slated for early November.
He said the talks were thus “preparatory to the summit,” and they also focussed on reviewing the issues that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna discussed a couple of months ago, as part of the Indo-U.S. Strategic Dialogue of June.
Industry Minister Anand Sharma and senior Indian officials will be in Washington for a slew of meetings over the coming week.
India's Ambassador Meera Shankar told at the Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs this week, “We hope that President Obama's upcoming visit would prove to be a major step forward in not only consolidating what our two democracies have jointly achieved but also for working together in areas where we are yet to see concrete progress, including genuine reform of international institutions with India given its due place.”
In a defining speech made on the sidelines of the Strategic Dialogue, Mr. Burns had specifically reiterated the U.S.' support for India holding a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Ms. Shankar touched upon that theme again in her speech, saying “The growing support for a permanent seat for India in the U.N. Security Council would no doubt go a long way in enabling India to play its role to its full potential and in realising the idea of India-U.S. relations being a key strategic partnership of the 21st century.”
She added that India keenly looked forward to the visit of the President. The state visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington last year had “focussed on going beyond just the bilateral dimensions of this relationship to forge a global partnership.”
Labels: Barack Obama administration, Indo-U.S. talks, Nirupama Rao
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