The new Congress-led government faced a tough test on Sunday when a key communist party ally opposed its proposal to raise the cap on foreign investment in the telecommunications, aviation and insurance sectors.
In a move aimed at showing foreign investors that India's new government is committed to market-opening policies, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram announced in his first annual budget speech last Thursday that the government planned to raise the cap on foreign equity in telecommunications to 74 percent from 49 percent.
The limit on the aviation and insurance industries would jump to 49 percent, from 40 percent and 26 percent, respectively, he said.
`against privatization'
The Congress party apparently didn't consult the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) before announcing the proposal.
"To give full control to a foreign party in the telecommunication sector is anti-national. We will never support it,'' Communist Party leader M.K. Pandhe told reporters on Sunday.
"We are against privatization and we will oppose it in Parliament,'' Pandhe said.
"The government must listen to us," Pandhe said.
The proposed investment cap increase must be approved by parliament before it becomes law. The CPI-M, which controls 43 seats in parliament, is not part of the Congress-led coalition government -- the United Progress Alliance -- but nominally supports it.
The communists' support is crucial for the survival of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's fledgling government, which does not command a majority in Parliament. Congress said on Sunday it was willing to discuss its ally's concerns.
"If there are different perceptions on certain measures announced in the budget, we don't see a major hurdle," Congress party spokesman Anand Sharma said. "[Both sides] can sit down together."
On Sunday, Pandhe urged the government to reconsider its decision, but he didn't say whether his party would withdraw its support if the United Progress Alliance pushes ahead with the proposal.
India's budget is expected to be voted on by legislators later this month.
jittery investors
Investors have been jittery since Congress assumed power in May, fearing its leftist allies would force the government to slow the opening of India's economy to foreign competition.
Increased foreign investment is the key to sustaining the economy's growth at a rate of 7 to 8 percent in the coming years, Chidambaram said in his remarks last Thursday.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique