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Inside Scoop
INSIDE SCOOPSCOOP: (NOUN) EXCLUSIVE, EXPOSE, COUP, RELEVATION, SENSATION, INSIDE STORY
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 BP, Bangkok Pundit |
Politics |
Minister for hunting down ThaksinThe Bangkok Post: The European Union has been asked by Foreign Ministry to clarify its position on Montenegro's decision to give convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra citizenship, giving him a political haven for his political campaign against the Thai government. Montenengro has applied for membership of the EU.Foreign MInister Kasit Piromya has ordered officials to ask the EU office in Bangkok about the state of play of the EU enlargement discussions with Montenegro, ministry sources said.Mr Thaksin was reportedly in Montenegro's coastal medieval port of Budva.Mr Thaksin entered Montenegro legally on March 13 as a Montenegro citizenThe source said the EU has promised to reply on Friday whether there are EU provisions barring Mr Thaksin from entering the EU. BP: We very likely to have elections in Burma later this year for the first time in two decades and the first two parts of the electoral law have been issued banning Suu Kyi from con... |
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| Posted at 07:33 PM, Mar 19, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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 Amnesty UK, Amnesty International |
All of Asia |
Human rights abuse in UK Vedanta's Indian bauxite minePressure is increasing on UK-based FTSE 100 company Vedanta to stop abusing human rights in their bauxite mining and alumina refinery projects in India, said Amnesty International today, after India's Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) published the findings of an official investigatory team. Amnesty is calling on the Indian authorities to act on the team’s findings and ensure that there is no expansion of the refinery and that mining does not go ahead, until the existing problems are resolved. The findings of the official three-member team, released on 12 March 2010, document various human rights violations of adivasi (indigenous) communities and violations of forest laws in relation to Vedanta’s refinery and planned mining project in Orissa. Describing the findings as a “welcome first step”, Amnesty International said these echoed the conclusions of the organisation’s report, Don’t Mine us out of Existence: Bauxite Mine and Refine... |
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| Posted at 07:32 PM, Mar 19, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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 Bala Murali Krishna, Indian Century |
Politics |
She's all MayaWhat does one make of Mayawati's ways? Over the past week, much of the nation has been seized by the BSP's leader's currency garlands, and tried, with little success, to make sense of it. The first, which triggered a veritable outrage, may have been worth Rs. 50 million, and was hand-crafted by artists drawn from Karnataka in the deep south. The second was worth an estimated Rs. 1.8 million, according to Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party officials. Now, the value didn't matter at all. What did was the deliberate defiance of sensibilities in public life, and the defiance of rival politicians. Many were repelled by such shameless displays. But displays of what? It might be worthwhile to ask outselves what is it that offended so many of us so much? Was it the display of wealth? One politician accused her of having become “daulat ki beti,” (daughter of wealth), rather than the “Dalit ki beti” (daughter of Dalits). But then, we may have not seen Rs. 5 crore in a garland... |
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| Posted at 07:13 PM, Mar 19, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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 Tonyo Cruz, Bullet Points |
All of Asia |
Students protest 2,000-percent tuition fee hike in Philippines' biggest state universityMANILA - Students mostly from low- and middle-income families are protesting the Polytechnic University of the Philippines' plan to raise tuition fees by 2,000 percent effective this coming school year 2010-2011. Protests erupted yesterday and went on today at PUP's main campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila. Irate students threw out chairs from the university's buildings, staged a walkout from their classes and staged a protest march to the presidential palace nearby. PUP officials are planning to raise tuition from the current P12.00 ($0.26) to P200.00 ($4.39) per unit, said Donna Pascual, the student representative in the university's governing Board of Regents. The low tuition fees have earned the PUP the monicker "people's university". Only a small fraction of the students receive a full academic scholarship to include living and other educational expenses. (The country's daily minimum wage ranges from P210.00 [$4.60] in portions of Mindanao to P382.00 [$8.38].) ... |
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| Posted at 05:22 PM, Mar 19, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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BP, Bangkok Pundit |
Politics |
M79 grenades and the red shirtsThere have been some recent attacks, mostly by M79 grenades and a factory in a province 2 hours north of Bangkok was raided by police last week and M79 grenade launcher parts were found. Kom Chad Luek, in an editorial translated by TAN: The hard-core pro-Thaksin group was said to be one of his ace cards, whose recent works were the M-79 attacks on the compound of the First Infantry Regiment, a house next to the home of Administrative Court President Ackratorn Chularat on Lad Prao Soi 25, and a construction company in Chiang Mai, which is owned by the father-in-law of Bhum Jai Thai’s de facto leader, Nevin Chidchob. Nirmal Ghosh in his Straits Times blog on March 15: Democrat Party spokesman Dr Buranaj Smutharaks told me about an hour ago House dissolution was not on the table. Weapons siezed from workshop recently (M79 grenade launchers etc) were "scary" and showed "there are violent elements" among the reds. He said today would be crucial, and government's positio... |
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| Posted at 04:00 PM, Mar 19, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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 , CQUniversity Australia |
All of Asia, Education |
Cost of living affordable for Australian studentsAustralia as an international student destination is quite affordable compared with other large western countries. To study and live in Australia is more economical than UK, USA, Japan and Europe especially in terms of housing, travel, healthcare, entertainment and food, even in the major capital cities. And if you choose a university in one of the many regional universities on offer, it is even more affordable and very friendly. You can, of course, also save by being able to cook most of your own meals, use concession travel for students and share accommodation. Even so you should plan to allow $17,000 per year to cover all your rent, food and drinks, transport, power utilities, local and international calls, study materials, clothes and entertainment. You can also supplement this with appropriate paid employment up to 20 hours per week – but I will talk more about this in next week’s blog topic – Study and Work. So practice up on those favourite recipes for when ... |
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| Posted at 12:05 PM, Mar 19, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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 Jo Lane, Visited Planet |
Travel & Lifestyle |
Obama not coming downunderWe turned on our radios, televisions, computers and iphones this morning in Australia to discover US President Barack Obama won't be making the trip downunder next week, either here or to Indonesia.Not that there was any real Obama-mania going on here, although many Australians are very open to the newish President, but it was still disappointing. And as Ben Bland of The Asia File pointed out earlier in the week, the little kids at his old school in Jakarta will be disappointed.Obama was due to address the Australian Parliament in Canberra on March 26 on a rather rushed 24-hour visit that had already been scaled down from his original plans for a longer family trip. But thanks to America's woeful healthcare system, neither we Aussies or the Indonesians, will be privvy to his presence in our nations.This was to be only the fifth visit of a US President to our shores. But perhaps the postponement of the visit bodes well for a longer visit sometime later in the year - I heard June being b... |
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| Posted at 11:07 AM, Mar 19, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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BP, Bangkok Pundit |
Politics |
Red shirts losing?Well, if you were to read The Nation or the Bangkok Post, that would certainly be the perspective that you will get. Not everyone is of the same opinion. AP: "Their image last year was very negative in people's views. They were defeated then, but this year they have improved in terms of the nonviolent movement," said Prinya Thewanaruemitkul of the Law Faculty at Bangkok's Thammasat University. "We have to give them some credit for not using violent means.""The blood-pouring stunt might not get them points," he said, but added: "If they are looking at a long-term fight, they're not losing. It's more like they're gaining." BP: Prinya was a PAD supporter back in 2006, but now leads the white shirt, no violence campaign. Reuters: "The size of the protest, the show of emotion and discipline, has been impressive, and Thai people will have got the message quite strongly," said Chris Baker, who has written several books about Thaksin."The tendency to dismiss the 'red shirts' will di... |
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| Posted at 08:00 AM, Mar 19, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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 JF Beck, RWDB - JF Beck |
Politics |
Tony Abbott 'too fit' to be Prime MinisterIn a typically petty anti-Liberal piece at the ABC's "analysis and views" site The Drum, former Crikey editor and current The Drum editor Jonathan Green questions Tony Abbott's "fitness" to be Prime Minister: Sunday March 28 will be a big day for Tony Abbott.On that day Abbott will compete in the Ironman Triathlon in Port Macquarie.Lets just spell that out, then pause for a quick breath. This is no ordinary race. The ironman triathlon is a 3.8 kilometre swim. Followed by a 180 km bike leg. And then a 42.2 km run. That last bit is more usually referred to as a marathon. Except a marathon is not normally preceded by a 3.8 km swim and a 180 km bike ride. You have no more than 17 hours to complete the three. ~ Tony Abbott, now presumably tapering his training, must be feeling as good or better than he ever has in his life. He must be chockablock with a robust sense of self worth. Totally absorbed in his sense of achievement. Rippling with a finely tuned utterly physical sense of self.... |
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| Posted at 06:05 PM, Mar 18, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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 Ben Bland, The Asia File |
Politics |
Change afoot in Myanmar?While the first wave of commentary about the new election laws in Myanmar largely condemn them as a blatant attempt by the generals to rig the upcoming polls, a more subtle critique has emerged over the last few days. There's no doubt that the exclusion of Aung San Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other political prisoners from participating in the polls means they will be about as far from "free and fair" as you can get. But it was always obvious that the generals would hold sham elections. What's interesting is that journalists and other commentators are arguing that the elections will still presage a transition of sorts, with power slowly dissipating from the tight grip of senior general Than Shwe and his immediate cabal. As The Economist noted, scores of state-owned assets including telecoms firms and part of the national airline are being sold off, albeit to cronies: This is hardly a gesture to economic reform—the sales are cooked-up deals benefiting junta cronies. But nor... |
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| Posted at 04:45 PM, Mar 18, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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BP, Bangkok Pundit |
Politics |
Khan continues his crusadeAkbar Khan, one of the members of the lese majeste team who filed the lese majeste complaint against Jakrapob for a speech he gave at the FCCT, is back again. This time filing a complaint against Frank G. Anderson as Prachatai reports: Frank G Anderson, an American expat in Nakhon Ratchasima and the editor of the Korat Post, has been sued for what he wrote on his website in Dec 2008 about Pol Lt Col Watthanasak's legal actions against people who he deemed guilty of the crime of lèse majesté.Anderson, also a regular contributor to the UPI Asia news website, received the first summons from police on or around 15 Feb. Akbar Khan, a British citizen, had filed a defamation case against him with the Crime Suppression Division for what he wrote on the Korat Post website at 10:00 pm on 18 December 2008.‘In support of his claim, according to police, Khan introduced himself as a translator and provided police with a Thai language excerpt of the original English that appear... |
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| Posted at 02:00 PM, Mar 18, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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 Andrew Batt, The Bangkok Bugle |
Economics |
No copies of The Economist for ThailandAn industry source has confirmed to me that The Economist will not be distributing copies of its next issue in Thailand. The publishers are already contacting distributors and agents to inform them of their decision to suspend distribution of the issue which will be printed later today (Thursday) and would have arrived with subscribers and on the shelves throughout the kingdom over the weekend. Read more:... |
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| Posted at 01:22 PM, Mar 18, 2010 | READ MORE> | ||||||||
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