Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh used his Independence Day address yesterday to try to reassure the country his government was taking “the strictest possible action” against corruption after a string of scandals.
Singh, speaking behind a bullet-proof screen in driving monsoon rains, stressed there was no “magic wand” to eradicate the problem of graft, but he promised a multi-pronged approach.
He pledged greater transparency in government, a more effective justice system, a new law on public procurement and a powerful new ombudsman tasked with investigating and prosecuting corrupt officials.
“We are taking the strictest possible action in cases of corruption that have surfaced,” Singh said from the ramparts of New Delhi’s 16th century Red Fort.
Over the last year, a former Indian telecom minister in Singh’s government has been arrested and another has resigned over the flawed sale of telecom licenses in 2008.
Meanwhile, the former head of last year’s Commonwealth Games faces trial for embezzlement, while the chief ministers of two Indian states have resigned over land and mining scandals respectively.
“Today the world recognizes our potential to be one of the major economic powers globally, but the problem of corruption is a big obstacle in such a transformation,” Singh said.
Police and soldiers were out in force across India as security was ramped up on Independence Day, which celebrates the end of British colonial rule. A senior Home Ministry official said security measures were being increased in New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata, as well as Mumbai, where police are probing triple bombings on July 13.
The three coordinated -explosions killed 26 people and injured 130, but no group claimed responsibility and police have struggled to find evidence indicating who was behind the attack.
“Last month’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai warn us that there cannot be any slip up in our vigilance as far as the fight against terrorism is concerned,” Singh said, echoing Indian President Pratibha Patil in her customary address on the eve of Independence Day.
The Red Fort in the crowded center of New Delhi was guarded by heavily-armed commandos, backed by snipers and rapid-action squads.
Security was also raised in insurgency-hit Kashmir and India’s seven restive northeastern states including Manipur, where several separatist groups have called for a boycott of yesterday’s celebrations.
Singh also promised unspecified action on inflation, which is inching back up towards double digits, causing huge hardship to the poor.
“Finding a solution to this problem will be our top-most priority in the coming months,” he said.
He also issued a rallying call for businesses to create jobs for the aspirational young, warning politicians not to stand in the way of factories or development projects for short-term political gain.
“We should all stay away from politics that create suspicion or apprehension amongst those connected with industry, business and investment,” he said.
However, he also acknowledged that government had a duty to ensure that inequalities in wealth did not cause social problems.
“It is not an ordinary achievement for our democracy with a population of 120 crore [1.2 billion] and so many religions, languages and cultures, to march rapidly ahead on the path of development,” he said.
“But we must ensure that inequalities do not increase even as we develop rapidly,” he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing