ONE of the prominent issues that dominated the proceedings of the NPT Review Conference held in New York in May was the question of Israel’s so called “nuclear ambiguity”. During the course of the conference, an overwhelming majority of the delegates from NPT member countries had forcefully argued that nuclear armed Israel should be asked to sign the NPT. Reflecting the majority view, the final document adopted at the end of the conference called on Israel to sign the NPT and to “place all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The document also called for the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction, along with chemical and biological weapons from the West Asian region. For the first time, Washington went along with the international consensus and was a signatory to the document.

The Israeli regime has now agreed to lift partially the blockade of Gaza: potato chips, mattresses, washing machines, honey – all of which were banned earlier can now enter Gaza. Predictably, the US and EU Governments have welcomed this Israeli step, without questioning the military significance of the earlier banning potato chips. Nor have these leaders of the “civilized world”, continuously teaching the virtues of human rights and democracy to their more “backward brethren” in the global south, questioned what is the military significance of banning Gaza exports and preventing exit of students to study in the West Bank? How do Gaza’s exports affect Israel’s security? How do preventing Gaza students from studying in the West Bank increase its security?

THE majority of the Indian population is achieving a remarkable feat according to World Bank and many home-grown economists.

They are eating less and less – that is not disputed. In fact, as we will see, the Indian level of consumption has reached that of the least developed countries.  But not only is poverty declining even though Indians are eating less and less, the poor are also shining, according to a recent paper published by two World Bank economists.

AFTER the attack on the “Freedom Flotilla” carrying relief materiel for Gaza by Israeli Navy commandos on May 30, Israel finds itself even more isolated in the international arena. Its traditional friends in Europe have now started openly criticising Israel. The French president Nicholas Sarkozy and the newly elected British prime minister, David Cameron, issued strong statements criticisingIsrael. In the third week of June, Poland arrested a Mossad agent who was on the wanted list for the assassination of a senior Hamas leader in Dubai. In Oakland, California, portworkers refused to unload cargo from an Israeli ship. The Obama administration is exerting behind the scenes pressure on Tel Aviv to get serious about negotiations with the Palestinians. President Barack Obama has said that the blockade on Gaza was “unsustainable”. His secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, one of Israel’s closest allies called the siege “unacceptable”.

THE UN Security Council has adopted a resolution imposing the fourth round of sanctions on Iran. The United States succeeded in getting the four other permanent members to back the resolution. By this step, the US and the Western powers have signalled that rather than engaging with Iran on the nuclear issue confrontation will be their path. The sanctions are targeted at Iran’s military and nuclear industry. It also extends sanctions on individuals and entities.  Around 40 more companies have been blacklisted.

What is surprising is that these sanctions have come immediately after the successful diplomatic initiative by Brazil and Turkey in getting an agreement with Iran whereby the latter agreed to transfer 1200 kilograms of low enriched uranium fuel to Turkey. This would be held in escrow till Iran receives processed nuclear fuel for the Teheran Research Reactor for medical purposes. President Lula of Brazil and Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey visited Teheran to get this agreement through. This agreement was on the lines proposed by the US through the IAEA in October 2008.

ON May 29, around 300,000 people rallied together in Lisbon, in what was termed as the biggest demonstration in the recent decades, against the austerity measures announced by the Portuguese government. They were responding to the call given by the Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP/IN). The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) played an important part in this mobilisation. The participants of this rally expressed their indignation at the efforts of the ruling classes to shift the burdens of the acute economic crisis on to the shoulders of the toiling sections. This historic demonstration should not be looked in isolation but together with what is happening in other countries of Europe.

The Framework is a signature effort of the G20 and a principal tool by which we aim to deliver in the post crisis scenario. We should recall that after St. Andrews, there was some delay in kick-starting the framework exercise. But, with the cooperation of all member countries and international organizations, we have been able to make good progress. The IMF and the World Bank have given their reports with inputs from other organizations as mandated by Leaders at Pittsburgh. The Working Group and finance deputies have considered these and we have to take some important decisions, so that we can submit a set of policy options to the Leaders who will shortly meet in Toronto.

THE India EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks have been on for some time, as have been some other FTA talks — notably  Japanand Israel.

The difference between the FTAs and the earlier trade talks under the WTO regime is that while the multilateral talks under WTO are relatively open with texts in the public domain, the FTA talks are shrouded in secrecy. This is what happened with the FTA India had reached with ASEAN and it was only after the cheap imports of palm oil hit the Indian market, the people learnt the danger of such secret trade negotiations.

THE Gaza Freedom Flotilla of six ships carrying 700 international activists and 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid was attacked byIsrael, killing from 9 to 19 and injuring dozens. The attack was launched on early hours of May 31^st morning and in international waters, 65 miles from Gaza coast. Till date, Israel has not released the names of the dead and injured and allowed only limited access to those it has illegally detained and taken to Israeli port of Ashdod.

Two more ships are making their way to Cyprus with the purpose of running the Israeli blockade.  One of the two ships is named after 23 year old Rachel Corrie, who was killed in West Bank while trying to stop Israeli bulldozers demolishing Palestinian homes. The Israelis have again reiterated that they will use force to stop these two ships.

The ongoing India EU FTA has far reaching consequences for the agricultural sector and its production for both the partners. To better understand the scenario, a brief overview of the background is necessary.

The ongoing India EU FTA has far reaching consequences for the agricultural sector and its production for both the partners. To better understand the scenario, a brief overview of the background is necessary.

IN what was termed as a ‘diplomatic coup’, Brazil and Turkey concluded an agreement with Iran under which Iran agreed to send 1.2 tons of its low-enriched (3.5 per cent) uranium to get 120 kg of enriched (20 per cent) uranium fuel. The swap will be carried out throughout the year on Turkey’s territory. This deal reached at the initiative of Brazil and Turkey was in fact slap on the face of theUnited States, which was always against the diplomatic route to deal with Iran and was arguing for imposing sanctions. The US had moved a draft resolution in the United Nations Security Council for imposing sanctions on Iran and this is at present under discussion from April 19, 2010. The US, of course, was not satisfied with even the present deal and had declared that it would go ahead with its resolution in the UNSC for imposing sanctions on Iran.

Conservative leader David Cameron took over as Britain’s new Prime Minister, ousting the Labour party from power after a 13-year rule, after striking an agreement with the Liberal Democrats who joined the country’s first coalition government in 70 years.

Cameron assumed the top post last night after Queen Elizabeth II invited him to form the new government following  the resignation  of  incumbent Gordon Brown.

The President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, H.E. LuizInácio Lula da Silva, the Prime Minister of the Republic of India, H.E. Dr. Manmohan Singh, had a bilateral meeting in Brazil. They expressed satisfaction at thecontinued expansion of bilateral trade in recent years which reached US$ 5.6 billion in 2009 despite the impact of the international financial crisis. They noted, however, the need for increased efforts to achieve the bilateral trade target of US$ 10 billion by 2010 including the diversification of bilateral trade particularly in value-added sectors. During this bilateral meeting, President Lula and Prime Minister Singh held detailed discussions on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues and renewed their commitment to strengthen the India-Brazil Strategic Partnership.

The United States has a total of 5,113 nuclear warheads in its stockpile as of 30th September 2009, the Pentagon has revealed, a total of 8,748 nuclear warheads were dismantled during the period between 1994 and 2009.

The newly declassified information was released as part of America’s effort to increase the transparency of global nuclear stockpiles — a step which it thinks is important to non-proliferation efforts.

May Day or International Workers’ Day, is observed on 1^st May every year to commemorate the historic struggle of working people throughout the world, and is recognized in most of the countries world over.

The heart of the labour movement was in Chicago, USA.   In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions passed a resolution stating that eight hours should constitute a day’s work legally from May 1, 1886. The resolution called for a general strike to achieve this goal. The workers were being forced to work more than twelve hours a day.  By April 1886, more than 2 lakh workers were involved in the May Day movement.

Spring meetings of World Bank and IMF

The Development Committee of the World Bank, in its meeting held on 25th April, 2010 at Washington DC, took historic decisions relating to increasing the financial capacity of the Bank and enhancing the role of developing countries in its governance. These decisions would be of great benefit to India – both as a borrower from and as a shareholder of the Bank.Changes in the World Bank’s Voting Structure

The nuclear summit of 47 countries that was convened by the United States skirted the real issues of proliferation and disarmament of atomic weapons by the nuclear weapon states. Instead, the hyped up discourse was centred on preventing the transfer of nuclear weapons to non-state actors or “irresponsible” state actors, shifting focus away from the primary problem – that of state terrorism in both its nuclear and non-nuclear forms. The self-serving talk of nuclear terrorism legitimises the possession of these instruments of mass destruction by the nuclear weapon states.

Globalization, or Globalisation, is a modern ongoing process where economies, cultures, and civilizations become intertwined in a global network. This excites the common public and terrifies the scholars. Globalization is a looming threat that threatens countries’ borders which carries terrible consequences.

THE just concluded Nuclear Security Summit in Washington comes after the resumption of the START process between US and Russia and the Nuclear Posture Review of the US. Taken together, it might appear that the US administration under Obama takes the nuclear disarmament agenda more seriously than the earlier Bush administration. However, keeping out Iranand North Korea from what is ostensibly a meet designed for protecting nuclear materials from non-state actors or terrorists, gives the game away. While talking about non-state actors, the US is really using the summit to lobby with the participating countries for enhanced sanctions on Iran.

THE announcement by the Israeli government in late March that it would go ahead with settlement building in the Palestinian dominated parts of Jerusalem was a direct snub to its main patron, the USA. The announcement had come when the US Vice President, Joseph Biden, was on a visit to the country. The Palestinian Authority (PA), already under criticism from other Palestinian groups for its conciliatory attitude, had no other option but to announce that it would not participate even in indirect talks involving Israel. President Obama’s special envoy to the region, George Mitchell had worked overtime to convene the proximity talks between Israel and the PA.