N-deal prize for US firms? Over $100 billion

[sunny_aus]

N-deal prize for US firms? Over $100 billion

For the past three years, eager executives from US-based producers of nuclear power plants have been making a beeline for New Delhi, meeting with Indian government officials and coming back to America to lobby for the passage of a controversial nuclear deal between the US and India.

The agreement, first announced in June 2005 but still awaiting approval by Indian lawmakers, would allow India -- which has been subject to sanctions since testing a nuclear weapon 10 years ago -- to buy and sell nuclear technology in the international marketplace in exchange for opening up its civilian reactors for inspections.

The prize for the American companies? More than $100 billion in new reactor construction contracts in just the next 10 years, in a market that has always been closed off to American companies such as GE Energy, USEC and Westinghouse Electric.

"Everyone knows that this is big," says GE's India CEO, Tejpreet Chopra. "At this point, we're just waiting to see how much capacity the government is willing to add and where."

The deal has been on hold for months, thanks to opposition from members of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition government. Singh's decision to continue with the deal plunged the country into a parliamentary crisis two weeks ago, as his communist allies withdrew their support, decrying the deal as American imperialism.

The Congress-led coalition faces a confidence vote in Parliament on July 22. If the government survives -- and it's expected to, having replaced the left parties with smaller regional allies -- it will take the deal to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, which must approve it before the US Congress can vote on it.

Waiting for India to sign the CSC

The delays have taken their toll, though. For the US executives who have been impatiently awaiting the deal's passage, it's becoming clear that when the Indian government finally hands out contracts for up to 30 new nuclear reactors of up to 1,200 megawatts each, US companies might not be at the front of the line.

Instead, French and Russian companies like Areva NP SAS, Atomenergoproekt, and ZAO Atomstroyexport are already taking advantage of their long-standing ties with India's nuclear community, and the fact that India has yet to sign the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC).

That's an international treaty that created a global pool of money to pay victims of nuclear disasters, and since India's not a party to it, any American-built reactors would have to shoulder their own civil liabilities -- a cost that would likely prove prohibitive.

High oil prices hit India's airlines
Russian and French state-owned competitors wouldn't have that problem, since those companies could claim sovereign immunity in case of an accident.

"GE may never sell a reactor to India if they don't get the civil-liabilities issues taken care of," says George Perkovich at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the author of India's Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation.

Companies have had difficulty penetrating India thanks to sanctions that date back a decade. In 1998, India tested a nuclear bomb near the border with Pakistan.

The resulting international trade sanctions, led by the US, starved India's nuclear reactors of uranium and its elite scientific institutes of superfast computers and other equipment that Washington deemed sensitive, or dual-use technology.

The current deal, nicknamed the 123 Agreement, was championed by President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a way to bring theUS and India closer, and also for India to do business with the cliquish club of international nuclear suppliers. India is supposed to open up its 14 civilian reactors to international inspectors, and in return will be allowed to buy and trade nuclear fuel, reactors, and spares with the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group. Its military reactors will stay off-limits.

For American companies, this sounded like a blessing. Governments in the US have not approved a nuclear reactor for construction since 1979's Three-Mile Island accident, even though American companies have been involved in about 60 reactors in Japan, South Korea, Finland, and elsewhere.

India's energy needs are vast -- as its economy booms, the country plans to quintuple its nuclear energy production to as much as 40,000 megawatts by 2020. At an estimated $2.5 billion per 1,000 megawatts, the nearly 30 new reactors India will commission could signal the beginning of a "nuclear renaissance" that American nuclear companies have been waiting for, says the US-India Business Council's Ron Sumers.


N-deal prize for US firms? Over $100 billion!

 

[sunny_aus]

US firms are set to win Big Prizes on the success of US-Indo nuke deal. Now days closer relationship between countries is defined by better economical relationship between them. On one hand if India will be on a better stage to fulfil its energy requirements then on the other hand $100bn investment in US over next 10-12 years will not only support the weakening US economy but also it will generate 1000s of new jobs in US. Also, because of growing Indian economy, reduced dependence of India on the oil and gas will result in a little less oil and gas prices. A closer relationship between these two largest democratic countries will finally result in a more confident world.

 

[sunny_aus]

N-deal prize for US firms? Over $100 billion

'Indian stocks only positive performer among BRIC in Aug'

NEW DELHI: With crude oil prices softening, global investors are again gradually turning their attention towards emerging economies, including India, the only market among the three other BRIC nations to give positive returns so far this month.

According to an analysis of MSCI Barra indices, a measure of returns from various stock markets across the world for foreign investors, Indian stocks are the only ones to give positive returns among the four BRIC countries till August 15.

Indian stocks have provided a positive return of nearly 2 per cent so far in August, while China, Russian and Brazilian markets have given losses of 10.67 per cent, 7.32 per cent and 13.74 per cent, respectively, according to an analysis of performances of MSCI Indices for various nations.

Besides, MSCI Barra's emerging market index, which includes all the developing world markets, has also given negative returns to foreign investors to the tune of 6.72 per cent so far this month.

Interestingly, investors across the world have put in funds into Asia, ex-Japan Equity Funds, which reflected investor's preference for targeted exposure. New money was absorbed by India, China and Korea-dedicated equity funds in the second week of August, as per to data complied by international fund tracking firm EPFR Global.

'Indian stocks only positive performer among BRIC in Aug'- Market News-Stocks-Markets-The Economic Times

 

[sunny_aus]

N-deal prize for US firms? Over $100 billion

India won't accept conditions on U.S. nuclear deal-report

NEW DELHI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - India will not agree to any conditions to get approval from an atomic trade cartel necessary for a civilian nuclear deal with the United States, a report quoted India's foreign minister as saying on Saturday.

A 45-nation meeting on whether to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India ended inconclusively on Friday after many raised conditions, leaving the future of the controversial bilateral nuclear deal unclear.

The countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) will meet again on Sept. 4-5 when the United States is expected to rework the draft taking account of their concerns and re-submit it, according to diplomats who attended Friday's meeting.

"We have to see what kind of amendments come," Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Press Trust of India news agency.

The nuclear cartel must agree to allow nuclear fuel and technology exports to India for its civilian atomic energy programme to help seal the 2005 U.S.-Indian trade accord.

Diplomats said conditions tabled at the NSG included intrusive U.N. inspections of Indian civilian nuclear sites; cancellation of any waiver if India tests bombs again; and periodic reviews of Indian compliance with the exemption.

New Delhi, sensitive to domestic leftist charges that closer ties with the United States will undo its strategic autonomy, has insisted on a "clean and unconditional" waiver from the NSG.

That demand has disturbed pro-disarmament nations and campaigners since India is outside the global Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and developed nuclear bombs in the 1970s with Western technology imported ostensibly for peaceful ends.

Time is running out on the bilateral deal which still has to reach U.S. Congress latest by early September for ratification, before the house breaks for the November American elections. (Reporting by Krittivas Mukherjee; Editing by David Fox)

India won't accept conditions on U.S. nuclear deal-report | Markets | Reuters

Failure of common consensus in the first round of NSG meeting has made a question on the future of N-deal between US and India. Investments show multiplier effect on economy. Every single dollar investment cause returns of atleast 66 cents though the direct and indirect taxes. $100bn worth “foreign investment” over next 10 years could not only help to generate 5000 to 15,000 new jobs in US but also it will help to open new economic and strategic ties between these two nations which could result in many other similar types of investments in United States from India. Now energy hunger India will be left with no choice other than to invest its money on the other sources of energy.

Here it is worth saying that United States won’t talk about any deal with other countries like India if US doesn’t have strength to make it applicable. Loosing growing economic and strategic ties with a country like India will not only result in increase in the numbers of hungry and homeless people of United States but also US will emerge as a weaker side on the war fronts in Afghan and Iraq. Failure of N-deal will make the life of US tougher which has entered in a slow pace of recession. Failure of N deal will take one time food of those 10s of 1000s of those US citizens who are under poverty line and investments from India could generate jobs for them

Human Rights Record of United States in 2007


The deserved economic, social and cultural rights of American citizens have not been properly protected.

Poor population in the United States is constantly increasing. According to statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau in August 2007, the official poverty rate in 2006 was 12.3 percent. There were 36.5 million people, or 7.7 million families living in poverty in 2006. In another word, almost one out of eight American citizens lives in poverty. The poverty rate in Mississippi was as high as 21.1 percent (Poverty Drops as Nation's Income Hits 5-years High, USA Today, August 29, 2007). The poverty rate of major American cities was 16.1 percent. The rate was 15.2 percent in suburban areas and 13.8 percent in the South. The poverty rate in the Washington D.C. was 19.8 percent, which meant nearly one-fifths of its citizens were living in poverty (DC's "Two Economies" Headed in Different Directions, Report Finds, DC Fiscal Policy Institute, October 24, 2007).

The wealth of the richest group in the United States has rapidly expanded in recent year, widening the earning gap between the rich and the poor. The earnings of the highest one percent of the population accounted for 21.2 percent of American total national income in 2005, compared with 19 percent in 2004. The earnings of the lowest 50 percent of the population accounted for 12.8 percent of the total national income in 2005, down from 13.4 percent in 2004 (Reuters, October 12, 2007). The number of "ultra-high-net worth" U.S. households, that is, those with a net worth of 5 million U.S. Dollars or more, excluding the value of their primary homes, reached 1.14 million in 2006, a 23 percent rise from 930,000 in 2005 (Richest Households Pass 1 Million Mark, CNNmoney.com, April 17, 2007). The number of billionaires increased from 13 in 1985 to more than 1,000 in 2006 (The Observer, July 24, 2007). Top executives of major U.S. businesses made an average of more than 10 million U.S. Dollars in 2006, 364 times over that of ordinary workers. They earn as much money in one day of work as ordinary workers make over the entire year (AFP, January 4, 2008).

The past five years have witnessed relatively strong growth in the U.S. economy, but the fortunes of millions of Americans just get worse. The ratio of American wage expenditure to gross domestic product (GDP) has dropped to the lowest since records began in 1947. The average income of households consisted of members at working age has seen a continuous decline in the past five years, and is 17 percent less than five years ago (U.S. News & World Report, January 1, 2007). According to a national survey on the state of stress in America conducted in September 2007, money and work were the biggest stressors for almost three-quarters of Americans. Of the 1,848 adults polled, 51 percent worried about housing costs. Housing was a "very significant or somewhat significant" source of pressure for 61 percent of the residents in the West and 55 percent those in the East (USA Today, October 24, 2007). According to a latest report by the U.S. government, suicide rate among Americans aged 45-54 rose by about 20 percent from 1999 to 2004, the highest since records began 25 years ago (The Associated Press, December 14, 2007).

Hungry and homeless people have increased significantly in American cities. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report released on November 14, 2007 that 35.52 million Americans, including 12.63 million children, went hungry in 2006, an increase of 390,000 from 2005. About 11 million people lived in "very low food security" (Over 30 Million Americans Faced Hunger in 2006, Reuters, November 15, 2007). Results of the 2007 Hunger and Homelessness Survey released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors showed that 16 of the 23 polled cities reported increased requests for emergency food assistance. Among 15 cities that provided data, the average increase was 12 percent. Detroit reported an increase of 35 percent. In 13 survey cities, 15 percent of households with children were not receiving emergency food assistance they requested. In 20 survey cities, 193,183 people applied for emergency shelter or transitional housing. The number of residents applying for government rent subsidies surged by 30 percent in Baltimore County in 2007 (More Seeking U.S. Rent Subsidy, The Baltimore Sun, December 17, 2007). It is estimated that 750,000 people are homeless on any given day in the United States (Care Critical for Homeless, The Washington Post, October 22, 2007). Los Angeles County has more than 73,000 homeless people (Dying Without Dignity: Homeless Deaths in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, December 27, 2007). Phoenix has 7,000 to 10,000 homeless people and another 3,000 who were not sheltered by the government (Rebellion, Spain, January 2, 2008). New Orleans has 12,000 homeless people (Katrina's Wrath Lingers for New Orleans Poor, USA Today, December 13, 2007). California has about 50,000 veterans living in streets (Sing Tao Daily San Francisco Edition, November 8, 2007). Health conditions of the homeless are worrying. Research shows one-third to half of the homeless have a chronic illness. The life expectancy for a homeless person ranges between 42 and 52 years (Care Critical for Homeless, The Washington Post, October 22, 2007). Among sexual offenders in many American cities, the homeless account for a high proportion. In Boston, nearly two-thirds of 136 high-risk sex offenders lack permanent addresses. In New York City, more than 100 sex offenders are registered at two homeless shelters (Many Sex Offenders Are Often Homeless, USA Today, November 19, 2007).

People without health insurance have been increasing in the United States. A Reuters report on September 20, 2007 quoted the U.S. Census Bureau as saying that 47 million people in the United States were not covered by health insurance. A U.S. family organization said nearly 90 million people below the age of 65 were not covered by health insurance at one point or throughout the period from 2006 to 2007. The number accounted for 34.7 percent of the population falling in that age (Reuters, September 20, 2007). More than 10 million young people age 19-29 were not covered either (Reuters, August 8, 2007). In Texas, the rate of uninsured people is 23.8 percent. In Arizona it is 20.6 percent. Florida 19.7 percent and Georgia 19 percent (Ming Pao San Francisco Edition, June 26, 2007). In 2006, health insurance premiums rose 7.7 percent from a year ago, hitting 11,480 U.S. dollars for a typical U.S. family plan offered by employers. The percentage of people covered by job-based health insurance fell 0.3 percentage points to 59.7 percent (Census: Health Benefits Scarcer, USA Today, August 28, 2007). Meanwhile, the number of people whose household incomes were above the poverty line but were unable to afford medical services rose from 4.2 percent of the total population in 1998 to 5.8 percent in 2006 (Ming Pao San Francisco Edition, June 26, 2007).

Human Rights Record of United States in 2007 (full text)

 

[sunny_aus]

'G-8 lacks influence without India'


NEW YORK: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said G8, the group comprising eight biggest industrial nations of the world, does not carry enough weight and influence without the presence of emerging economies like India and China.

Without involving India and China and without consulting them in major decisions, development of the world economy is impossible, Putin told reporters.

"In the present form, G-8 already does not carry enough weight," he told in response to a query regarding a US threat of seeking Russia's expulsion from the G8, following the rent stand-off between the two cold-was rivals over the Georgian crisis.

"We are not afraid, not at all. What's needed is a realistic analysis of the situation, looking to future so as to develop a normal relationship with due regard to each other's interests," Putin added.

Currently G-8 members include the United States, Russia, Japan, France, Canada, Germany, Britain and Italy.


'G-8 lacks influence without India'-India-The Times of India

 

[Spring Onion]

For India, US is always the world

But anyway

Russia was always there it was only that she was silent and only recently reacted to US missile shield program.

China is not doubt fast emerging more than a superpower but intrestingly in its own peaceful way.
Although US is in its bid to contain China has started a new found love with India but still China remains peaceful and playing her cards wisely.

Now coming towards India well US is shooting herslef in the foot by making India powerful through nukes.

Indeed US failed to calculate the consequences in the long run.

 

[EagleEyes]

I agree the U.S. doesn't realizes the consequences of powerful India. Ultimately, like before and today Pakistan will end up cleaning the U.S. mess.

 

[Spring Onion]

I agree the U.S. doesn't realizes the consequences of powerful India. Ultimately, like before and today Pakistan will end up cleaning the U.S. mess.

I wish webby this time we should go and join another block with China, Russia, Iran in.

US is making a big mistake by giving free hand to India with regrad to Nukes.

 

[shrivatsa]

we r in very intersting times lets see how it unfolds

 

[Spring Onion]

we r in very intersting times lets see how it unfolds

Yes that is. Time will tell who is going to be benifted by this deal.

But clearly US as its history is witnessed to its foolishness is going to have another failed policy another blunder.

But if you goes by the simple understanding of a layman too .

The deal gives India much room ranging from using the energy for nuclear purposes to purchase of weapons from countries other than US.

 

[sunny_aus]

I agree the U.S. doesn't realizes the consequences of powerful India. Ultimately, like before and today Pakistan will end up cleaning the U.S. mess.

India can be categorised as a friend of US but still much to do to make a better friendship between these two countries.

The way US is engaged in different wars and the emergence of China and Russia has made a question on the superpower status of United States, US doesn’t really has to worry about a friend India. It’s hardly gonna make any difference on the current status of US by a powerful and neutral India.

Pakistan has to first worry about the mess of Pakistan inside its own country. By committing suicide, you may only get a feel good that you could also make a little harm on India, you can’t achieve any progress for Pakistan .

 

[sunny_aus]

I agree the U.S. doesn't realizes the consequences of powerful India. Ultimately, like before and today Pakistan will end up cleaning the U.S. mess.

I would like to give my clarification on my last message. I have already favoured a similar type of nuclear deal, of little more or less benefits, between US and Pakistan also as I believe the three countries who are outside NPT would all come under a world structure. As we all, including US and other countries, have to walk together. we just have to be little flexible.

I think India and Pakistan both would find out what they really want from each other. Like Afghan issue, Pakistan would be clear of what Pakistan is really looking from India. And about Kashmir, the peace process would continue as the time we will reach a stage, people of both India and Pakistan will come at a stage when they may finalise what would be the Kashmir solution.

Any type of conflicts between India and Pakistan would be avoided. It will cause loss of lives and money to only these two countries, not to those who are not living there. Regards