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Helen Elizabeth Clark the 63 year old former Prime Minister of New Zealand and current Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has published an article on the IPS News Service titled ‘The BRICS and the Rising South’. Clark states “…Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, known as the BRICS …will examine proposals to create their own BRICS development bank. The readiness of the BRICS countries to offer their own new international development initiatives and policy ideas is a clear manifestation of the changing global development landscape examined in UNDP’s newly released 2013 Human Development Report, “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World”. This dramatic change in global dynamics, however, goes well beyond the BRICS. More than forty developing countries are estimated to have made unusually rapid human development strides in recent decades, according to the Report. Together, they represent most of the world’s population and a growing proportion of its trade and economic output. The progress of these fast mover countries measured in human development terms has accelerated markedly in the past decade. These geographically, culturally, and politically varied countries share a keen sense of pragmatism and a commitment to people, as seen through investments in education, health care, and social protection, and their engagement with the global economy. Neither rigid command economies nor laissez-faire free marketeers, they are guided by what works in their own national circumstances. …A greater voice for the South also means greater responsibility, with shared accountability for solving problems and sustaining progress. A more engaged, successful South, meanwhile, helps the North, through its economic dynamism and collaboration on global challenges. As the 2013 Human Development Report says, the South still needs the North, but, increasingly, the North also needs the South.” Inspired by Helen Clark, IPS News ow.ly/k4oC7 Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/k4ok2 Proposals to create BRICS development bank (May 6 2013)

 

Helen Elizabeth Clark the 63 year old former Prime Minister of New Zealand and current Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has published an article on the IPS News Service titled ‘The BRICS and the Rising South’. Clark states “…Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, known as the BRICS …will examine proposals to create their own BRICS development bank. The readiness of the BRICS countries to offer their own new international development initiatives and policy ideas is a clear manifestation of the changing global development landscape examined in UNDP’s newly released 2013 Human Development Report, “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World”. This dramatic change in global dynamics, however, goes well beyond the BRICS. More than forty developing countries are estimated to have made unusually rapid human development strides in recent decades, according to the Report. Together, they represent most of the world’s population and a growing proportion of its trade and economic output. The progress of these fast mover countries measured in human development terms has accelerated markedly in the past decade. These geographically, culturally, and politically varied countries share a keen sense of pragmatism and a commitment to people, as seen through investments in education, health care, and social protection, and their engagement with the global economy. Neither rigid command economies nor laissez-faire free marketeers, they are guided by what works in their own national circumstances. …A greater voice for the South also means greater responsibility, with shared accountability for solving problems and sustaining progress. A more engaged, successful South, meanwhile, helps the North, through its economic dynamism and collaboration on global challenges. As the 2013 Human Development Report says, the South still needs the North, but, increasingly, the North also needs the South.”

 

Inspired by Helen Clark, IPS News ow.ly/k4oC7 Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/k4ok2

Henry Blodget the 46 year old American former equity research analyst and  senior Internet analyst, now CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Business Insider, has published an article titled ‘Apple's Cheap iPhone Is A Great Move For The Company’. Blodget states “At the end of this year, when Apple's cheap iPhone comes out, it is going to be amusing to listen to all the Apple fans who consoled themselves about Apple's loss of market share by dismissing competitors' phones as "cheap plastic crap." Because the new cheap iPhone is supposed to have a cheap plastic back. …But more importantly... Apple's decision to finally launch a cheap iPhone is a great move by the company. It's a move that is at least a year late, unfortunately, which has helped Apple lose a lot of global market share to competitors like Samsung.…Because the explosive growth in the smartphone market has now shifted to emerging markets like China and India, where there are few carrier subsidies and most people can't afford phones that cost $600. By insisting on maintaining the premium prices of its phones, Apple has missed out on this growth in the past couple of years. …Apple's decision to offer a $99-$149 phone will reduce the amount of profit that Apple makes per phone. And, relatedly, it will likely reduce Apple's profit margin. But that's okay. Apple's profit margin is still extraordinarily high--the highest in the industry, by a mile. Apple's profit margin, even after accruing for taxes that the company mostly doesn't pay, is an astounding 26%. …No other hardware companies have margins that are anywhere close to that high. …Apple has sacrificed revenue growth and platform growth by deciding to confine itself to the "premium" market.  And, meanwhile, Apple has raked in such an astounding amount of profit that Apple has no idea what to do with the cash piling up on its balance sheet.”  Inspired by Henry Blodget, Business Insider ow.ly/gQZtW Image source Financial Times photos ow.ly/gQYZu Apple’s cheap iPhone is a great move (January 21 2013)

Henry Blodget the 46 year old American former equity research analyst and  senior Internet analyst, now CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Business Insider, has published an article titled ‘Apple’s Cheap iPhone Is A Great Move For The Company’. Blodget states “At the end of this year, when Apple’s cheap iPhone comes out, it is going to be amusing to listen to all the Apple fans who consoled themselves about Apple’s loss of market share by dismissing competitors’ phones as “cheap plastic crap.” Because the new cheap iPhone is supposed to have a cheap plastic back. …But more importantly… Apple’s decision to finally launch a cheap iPhone is a great move by the company. It’s a move that is at least a year late, unfortunately, which has helped Apple lose a lot of global market share to competitors like Samsung.…Because the explosive growth in the smartphone market has now shifted to emerging markets like China and India, where there are few carrier subsidies and most people can’t afford phones that cost $600. By insisting on maintaining the premium prices of its phones, Apple has missed out on this growth in the past couple of years. …Apple’s decision to offer a $99-$149 phone will reduce the amount of profit that Apple makes per phone. And, relatedly, it will likely reduce Apple’s profit margin. But that’s okay. Apple’s profit margin is still extraordinarily high–the highest in the industry, by a mile. Apple’s profit margin, even after accruing for taxes that the company mostly doesn’t pay, is an astounding 26%. …No other hardware companies have margins that are anywhere close to that high. …Apple has sacrificed revenue growth and platform growth by deciding to confine itself to the “premium” market.  And, meanwhile, Apple has raked in such an astounding amount of profit that Apple has no idea what to do with the cash piling up on its balance sheet.”

 

Inspired by Henry Blodget, Business Insider ow.ly/gQZtW Image source Financial Times photos ow.ly/gQYZu

Daniel Connell the Australian visual artist who draws heavily on India for inspiration has had a large charcoal mural defaced at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale - India’s first biennale based out of Kerala. The mural was attacked by unknown vandals rubbing it with a burnt coconut husk and water. Nicholas Forrest in a Boulin Artinfo article states “Titled LOOKHERE, Connell’s project consists of two 6.5 by 6.5-foot portraits as well as a series of paste-ups with images of local residents. The damaged work is a portrait of a man named Achu, who is a local tea vendor. “It seems that it was premeditated to a certain extent in that a tool was sourced rather than just using the hand,” Connell says. “The charcoal was simply smudged and wiped. If they had been really angry they could easily have removed the whitewash with little effort.” The reasons for the defacement are unclear, although Connell has run through multiple possibilities. His first suspicion was that it was a faith-based act - Achu, the vendor, is Muslim, and the biennale is also being held near the site of India’s first mosque - but locals were quick to dismiss this. Instead, Connell now suspects that it might be the work of local artistic intelligentia, angered at having been excluded from the event. Also possible culprits are extreme leftist groups active in the area, who, opposed to Western influence, have launched poster campaigns accusing the Biennale of corruption and elitism. The defacement might also be an act of jealousy from local business rivals of Achu’s tea shop, envious of his success.” Inspired by Nicholas Forrest ow.ly/gwAIm image source Blogspot ow.ly/gwAE8 Charcoal was simply smudged and wiped (January 7 2013)

Daniel Connell the Australian visual artist who draws heavily on India for inspiration has had a large charcoal mural defaced at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale – India’s first biennale based out of Kerala. The mural was attacked by unknown vandals rubbing it with a burnt coconut husk and water. Nicholas Forrest in a Boulin Artinfo article states “Titled LOOKHERE, Connell’s project consists of two 6.5 by 6.5-foot portraits as well as a series of paste-ups with images of local residents. The damaged work is a portrait of a man named Achu, who is a local tea vendor.   “It seems that it was premeditated to a certain extent in that a tool was sourced rather than just using the hand,” Connell says. “The charcoal was simply smudged and wiped. If they had been really angry they could easily have removed the whitewash with little effort.” The reasons for the defacement are unclear, although Connell has run through multiple possibilities. His first suspicion was that it was a faith-based act – Achu, the vendor, is Muslim, and the biennale is also being held near the site of India’s first mosque – but locals were quick to dismiss this. Instead, Connell now suspects that it might be the work of local artistic intelligentia, angered at having been excluded from the event. Also possible culprits are extreme leftist groups active in the area, who, opposed to Western influence, have launched poster campaigns accusing the Biennale of corruption and elitism. The defacement might also be an act of jealousy from local business rivals of Achu’s tea shop, envious of his success.”

 

Inspired by Nicholas Forrest ow.ly/gwAIm image source Blogspot ow.ly/gwAE8

Figures I make always resist all classifications (December 8 2012) Figures I make always resist all classifications (December 8 2012)

Bharti Kher the 43 year old British Indian contemporary artist whose work encompasses painting, sculpture and installation has been profiled by Carla Raffinetti in an article published on Artlyst titled ‘Bharti Kher’s Surreal World Of Cyborgs Bindis And White Elephants’. Raffinetti states “Bharti Kher’s is one of India’s best-known contemporary artists. …Although the artist was born and bred in England, she settled in India permanently in 1992 after meeting her future husband there, the Indian artist Subodh Gupta.  As the daughter of first generation Indian immigrants to the UK, Kher’s work explores themes of identity and belonging, of being of Indian descent but of not quite being Indian, of being raised in Great Britain but not being quite British either. Kher’s world is a place where all metanarratives have broken down.  Her work collages an uneasy mix of socio-cultural memes together.  As an Indian insider-outsider, Bharti Kher questions cultural and social rules through her art.  Taking her own disjointed identity as a starting point, Kher’s work walks the tightrope between ancient Indian customs juxtaposed with modern Western values.  Outside of the narrow frame of Asian art, her work serves more broadly as a metaphor of the multiple meanings that can be ascribed to an object or a situation, depending on its context. … whilst Kher delves into her ethnicity for imagery, she does not do so exclusively, preferring an approaching that is more culturally ambiguous.  Says the artist, “The figures I make always resist all classifications of class, race, time – they could be anybody at any time.”

 

Inspired by Carla Raffinetti ow.ly/fKfP6 image source Arken ow.ly/fKfKN

150 million people went missing in India (August 26 2012) 150 million people went missing in India (August 26 2012)

Johnny West the British journalist and founder of OpenOil a Berlin-based consultancy in oil and other extractive industries has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘How 150 million people went missing in India’, in which he discusses how the media coverage of the country’s blackouts paid little attention to the millions of Indians who were not on the grid to begin with. West states “Reports [media] spoke of the 600 million people affected by the blackout across India’s north and east as cities plunged into darkness for two nights in a row – and the high priests of capitalism worried about the effect on what is euphemistically termed “global economic growth”. In fact, the real figure was more likely to be 450 million people – but that’s actually bad news. …A mere reporting glitch, of course, nothing intentional. But one that speaks volumes for the state of the global discussion about energy, how stuck it is in the 20th century, how riddled with ancient ideological canards. Those 150 million people who literally didn’t count belong to a global underclass of up to two billion people across Africa and Asia, mainly, who are off-grid. Who yesterday, today and every day, often go to sleep when it gets dark and live and work through summers of up to 50 degrees or winters of minus 20, without any means to cool or warm themselves other than keeping to the shadows or burying themselves in a mountain of blankets. In order to include them in the global energy debate, it is time for socially progressive thinking to revisit the issue of energy subsidies.”

 

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/d0OcS image source Johnnywest.net ow.ly/d0O5C

Pieter Wezeman the 42 year old Dutch Senior researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfer Programme with expertise in Arms flows and procurements claims the Asian states are the largest of the arms buyers of the world. In an article published on the Press Service News Agency, Thalif Deen following his interview with Wezeman states “China, India and South Korea – three of the most vibrant economies in Asia – are also beefing up their military arsenals with new weapons systems from the United States, Russia, Germany, France and the UK… beating out the traditional frontrunners – the rich, oil-blessed Middle Eastern countries. India was the world’s single largest recipient of arms, accounting for 10 per cent of global arms imports, followed by South Korea (six per cent of arms transfers), Pakistan (five per cent), China (five per cent) and Singapore (four per cent). The five biggest arms suppliers in 2007-2011 were the United States, Russia, Germany, France and the UK. With the exception of Germany, the four other suppliers are veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council. The top five suppliers accounted for 75 per cent of all international arms transfers.”

 

Inspired by Thalif Deen http://ow.ly/a6WSs image source Thella Johnson http://ow.ly/a6Xiy

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