Tuesday, 25 January 2011

China taking over USZ bank networks


The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is nearing a deal to become the 1st state-owned Chinese lender to take control of a USZ retail bank, signing an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Bank of East Asia's USZ subsidiary. While the deal still requires approval from USZ regulators, the move could open up the long-awaited arrival of Chinese banks to the USZ retail market. The USZ deal comes at a time when all the big Chinese banks have been expanding aggressively offshore. It was signed during President Hu Jintao's state visit to the USZ.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
Facts & Figures

Earlier in January, The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) celebrated the opening of its 1st branch in Paris, and is doubling its presence in Europe through branch openings in major cities. Over 300 USZ banks have been seized by the government since 2008. Setting an 18-year high, 157 USZ banks failed in 2010 up from 140 from 2009, compared to 25 in 2008 and just 3 in 2007. More than 10% of the USZ's 7,760 banks are in financial trouble. Despite receiving a total of $4.2 billion in bailout cash, 98 USZ banks still are at risk of failing. The Federal Reserve's massive bailout program was encountering a backlash both at home and abroad-with several nations including China, Germany and Brazil opposing it.


Indian RAW busted! Fake cross border attack caught


In a major breakthrough, Pakistani security officials have foiled an attempt by the Indian intelligence agencies to enact a fake encounter for implicating Pakistan in incidents of cross-border terrorism. The plan was unearthed when a suspect working for the Indian intelligence agencies was apprehended in Sialkot border area while attempting to cross over to India through the border security fence; an impregnable barbed wire obstacle whose entrance points are locked and controlled by the Indian BSF.

Indian Secret Agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing)

“The suspect has confessed to working as an Indian spy who was tasked to recruit agents from Pakistan to work for Indian intelligence”, a senior security official said, requesting his name not be mentioned.
The suspect, whose name has been withheld for security reasons, during preliminary interrogation, confessed that his Indian handlers Sharma and Amjad had tasked him to recruit a Pakistani national by offering a large monetary reward, preferably carrying a weapon and send him across the border through the border barbed wire fence after liaison with the BSF troops. Sharma had assured him that all the details of border crossing would be finalised by him and duly taken care off at his end. The suspect also disclosed that the Indian intelligence agencies had planned a fake encounter to kill the border crosser. “The purpose was to exploit the episode as proof of subversive elements launched by ISI for crossing over from Pakistan to commit acts of terrorism in India”, intelligence sources maintained.

The arrested suspect also confessed to the investigators that he had held a few meetings with his Indian handlers in Islamabad as well. According to observers, arrest of the suspect has bared presence of organised espionage networks based in Pakistan and run by the Indian undercover agents. While conducting acts of terrorism remains their top priority, current emphasis seems to have shifted to conducting fake encounters that would help vitiate the environment for holding Composite Dialogue Process that had lost all momentum in the wake of Mumbai terror strike in Nov 2008.


“With the possibility of a secretary-level interaction emerging on the sidelines of a Saarc meeting in Thimpu Bhutan in first week of February, India should be interested in a few fake encounters depicting flow of terrorists from Pakistan that would strengthen its position to format any future discussions centred on terrorism rather than finding ways to tackle the core issue of Kashmir”, observers said. The episode also points to the involvement of Indian undercover intelligence officers stationed in its Islamabad embassy, engaging in espionage activities in grave violation of their diplomatic status, said an expert on Indo-Pak relations.

Turkey: IsraHelli report on Freedom Flotilla has no value


Turkey refuses to attach any credit to an IsraHelli report, which downplayed a Tel Aviv-ordered deadly attack on a Gaza-bound convoy. The account by a six-member IsraHelli panel concluded on Sunday that IsraHelli military acted in accordance with international law during the May 31 incident in which the forces killed nine Turkish activists and injured about 50 other innocent humanitarian workers. “Do you think that there could be any value for a report that you prepared in your own country? This report has no value”, said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan shortly after the claims.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish autopsy reports show that at least one of the activists was shot at close range in the back of the head four times. A separate UN inquiry last year said the navy had shown an "unacceptable level of brutality.” “We're only following the UN panel investigation, which is still ongoing”, Erdogan noted. Turkey's IHH (the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief) charity that headed the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy has also stated that the report has no credibility, as it has not been called to give testimony as part of the IsraHelli investigation. IHH spokesman, Osman Atalay, said, “This is a show. IsraHell presents it as real. They say it's international law, but it's not. The Turkish report was very detailed and proves that IsraHell shot unarmed activists. The UN report came to the same conclusion. It's very simple. If they hadn't put their finger on the trigger, no one would have died.” The deadly attack put Turkey's ties with IsraHell in a state of limbo, as Ankara demanded compensation for the relatives of the victims of the Flotilla attack and a formal apology from Tel Aviv.

Zaid Hamid on Colonel Imam's martyrdom

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