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Pentagon warns India of Chinese build-up
NEW DELHI: The Red Dragon is spreading its wings and sharpening its claws at a rapid clip. From deadly long-range nuclear missiles and an expanding blue-water Navy to potent space and cyber warfare abilities, China will have a “modern” military capable of prolonged high-intensity combat operations by the end of this decade.
Pentagon’s latest assessment of the expanding military might of China, released on Thursday, paints a scary picture of the frenetic pace at which the 2.25-million People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is being modernized, in the backdrop of uncertainty over its long-term intentions.
Though the US report holds that thwarting any American intervention in Taiwan remains PLA’s “main strategic direction”, New Delhi can ill-afford to ignore China’s increasing trans-border military capabilities, its assiduous strategic encircling of India and hardening posture in the border talks.
The report itself notes PLA has replaced its Read more…
The Central Banks and Gold
By Doug Hornig
If the mantra of the wise investor is “Buy low, sell high,” then those who run most of the Western world’s central banks must suffer from dyslexia.
These banks sold off their gold reserves for years, right into the teeth of a generation-long bear market. The last year before the sales began – i.e., during which central banks were net buyers of gold – was 1988, when the price of the metal fell from $485/oz. in early January to $410 at year’s end.
From then and right through the end of the century, they continued to sell as gold dropped steadily to its modern low of $250. The banks were in such haste to divest themselves of this disrespected relic – their single tangible asset – that it was deemed necessary to Read more…
World Gold Council Say Demand to Rise
The World Gold Council reports that demand in Asia remains high for Gold. This was seen in Q-2 where total Global Gold demand measured 919.8 tons, almost a record demand at US$44.5-B.
The Top markets were India and China, accounting for 52% of the total Bar and Coin investment and 55% of Global jewellery demand.
The Gold council is also calling for demand to be high 2-H of Y 2011.
Indian and Chinese demand grew 38% and 25% respectively during Q-2 of Y 2011 compared to the same period in Y 2010, the growth is due to increasing levels of economic prosperity, high levels of inflation and Read more…
Russian T-50 fighter debuts at air show
The T-50 resembles Russia’s best-selling Su-30 fighter jet but will have all its weapons hidden inside its body and wings to avoid radar detection and will fly at supersonic cruising speeds. The aircraft will also boast ultra manoeuvrability and high-technology avionics.
The Russian Air Force will begin testing the Perspective Frontline Aviation Complex, as the plane is called in Russia, in 2013 and will start inducting its mass-produced version from 2014, said the Russian Air Read more…
Religious violence, abuse growing: world study
WASHINGTON — Religious-linked violence and abuse rose around the world between 2006 and 2009, with Christians and Muslims the most common targets, according to a private US study released Tuesday.
“Over the three-year period studied, incidents of either government or social harassment were reported against Christians in 130 countries (66 percent) and against Muslims in 117 countries (59 percent),” said the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life study.
In 2009, governments in 101 nations, more than half the globe, used at least some measure of force against religious groups. A year earlier only 91 nations had done so, the report said.
As of 2009, more than 2.2 billion people, or nearly a third of the world’s population of 6.9 billion, lived in countries where religious restrictions had risen substantially since Read more…
Hackers target 72 organisations in ‘biggest cyber attack in history’
Security experts have discovered the biggest series of cyber attacks to date, involving the infiltration of the networks of 72 organisations including the United Nations, governments and companies around the world.
Security company McAfee, which uncovered the intrusions, said it believed there was one “state actor” behind the attacks but declined to name it, though one security expert who has been briefed on the hacking said the evidence points to China.
The long list of victims in the five-year campaign include the governments of the United States, Taiwan, India, South Korea, Vietnam and Canada; the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); the International Olympic Committee (IOC); the World Anti-Doping Agency; and an array of companies, from defence contractors to high-tech enterprises.
In the case of the United Nations, the hackers broke into the computer system of the UN Secretariat in Geneva in 2008, hid there unnoticed for nearly two years, and quietly combed through reams of secret data, according to McAfee.
“Even we were surprised by the enormous diversity of the victim organizations and were taken aback by the audacity of the perpetrators,” McAfee’s vice president of threat research, Dmitri Alperovitch, wrote in a 14-page report.
“What is happening to all this data Read more…
Gold Prices Spike on Safe-Haven Appeal, South Korea Buy to $1660.10
NEW YORK (TheStreet ) — Gold prices hit record highs Tuesday as the Bank of Korea bought more gold and as the Senate passed the debt ceiling deal.
Gold for December delivery popped $22.80 to close at $1,644.50 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price has traded as high as $1,646.80 and as low as $1,618.80 while the spot gold price was skyrocketing almost $30, according to Kitco’s gold index.
Silver prices added 78 cents to close at $40.09 an ounce. The U.S. dollar index was up 0.22% at $74.48 while the euro was down 0.36% vs. the dollar.
With the debt-ceiling issue basically behind U.S. markets, investors are now looking at the health of the economy and the picture isn’t bright. Worries of slowing global growth were the main factors boosting gold prices.
Not only have quarterly growth numbers been anemic and July’s manufacturing index was barely above the critical 50 growth-mark, but the debt plan aims to Read more…
Defence cuts will leave China as the world’s policeman, warns Nato chief
DEFENCE cuts across Europe will diminish Nato’s global role and leave China as the world’s policemen, the alliance chief warned yesterday.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen praised Britain and France for taking the lead on the Libya conflict but said they could not have done it without US help.
And he claimed the slashing of troops by European leaders will hit military transport and intelligence.
Mr Fogh Rasmussen spoke out just days after Defence Secretary Liam Fox unveiled plans to cut the Army by 17,000.
The director general said: “For the first time in the history of Nato we have seen an operation not led by the Americans.
“The Europeans couldn’t do this on their own and in that respect it is of course a matter of concern that we have seen substantial defence cuts in nearly all Nato allied nations. If the current development continues, the influence of Europe on the international scene will decline because of lack of critical transport capabilities, critical intelligence gathering capabilities and Read more…
The Global Physical Gold & Silver Reserves Race is the New Nuclear Arms Race
The old Cold War USA-USSR nuclear arms race has been replaced by the new East-West Central Bank battle to accumulate physical gold and physical silver reserves. While Western Central Banks and their puppet bullion banks have distracted and goaded private citizens with the invention of fraudulent bogus paper gold and paper silver derivative products, including ETFs more recently, and paper futures contracts for a much longer period of time, they themselves have been making sure to avoid the very fraudulent paper products they have invented and have been diving headfirst into real physical precious metals.
As Central Banks continue to significantly devalue all major global currencies through excessive creation of new supply out of thin air in a digital world where “new money” is never even printed into paper/cotton form but only is created as digital bytes that are sent across international borders, the private families that are the majority shareholders in the world’s most powerful Central Banks have engaged in heavy buying of Read more…
Biometrics for Indian cabs
Officials at India’s New Delhi International Airport will soon begin using biometrics to monitor taxi drivers; the move comes after a Saudi businessman was abducted and murdered by two cab drivers in 2008
Officials at India’s New Delhi International Airport will soon begin using biometrics to monitor taxi drivers. The drivers of prepaid taxis will soon have their biometric data recorded on to cards that will be scanned every time they leave the airport with a passenger.
The move comes after a Saudi businessman was abducted and murdered by two cab drivers in 2008. Prior to that, an Australian Read more…
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