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India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal sets out the new Foreign Trade Policy. It moves away from giving incentives to exporters to remission of taxes and lower costs for smaller medium sized enterprises. The new export target is for goods and services exports to reach 2 trillion dollars by 2030 from $760 billion in 2023. The new policy will go into effect in April 2023. India's exports have grown 75% from $435 billion in 2015 to $760  billion in 2023. Under the new policy Indian exporters can source goods in one country and send them to a third country without touching Indian shores. Wider engagement will take place with States and Districts to promote exports at grassroots level. DGFT, Director General of Foreign Trade offices of DGFT will interact with district collectors to push exports. India's Commerce Ministry will also conduct a massive global outreach sectorally and country wise in tandem with the External Affiars Ministry  over the next 4-5 months. E commerce hubs will be established to generate $200-$400 billion in e-commerce exports. India's share of world trade is very low and needs to be pushed up to 7-10% says Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal. ...

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In this part of northern Burgundy, France, small towns and rural area are feeling the neglect that is happening. Neglect that Macron has done little about. Doctors offices close, transport services are reduced, other public services are being cut, the cost of living remains a problem for families struggling to make a living. This report in NYT looks at the situation that makes people turn to the RN party. Yet as shown in other reports where RN party is already governing solutions have not been found to these problems. In one report on July 5 from another rural part of France near the Pyrenees the RN city government was mainly about the looks and television not solutions, providing clean neighborhoods,  saying crime was down when this was not serious to begin with. The RN is not about investing in the rural areas of France, in small and midsized towns. Only the United Front Populaire socialist parties are planning to invest $140 billion to provide solutions and yet both Macron and the RN of Le Pen say derogatory things about the socialist parties alliance painting them as extreme and not being honest that rural France needs investment, just as rural America needs investment, for a better life. ...

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The new cabinet of ministers of prime minister Modi following the second wave of the pandemic brings in 36 new faces to the Ministries, many in important new roles such as Health, Education, IT, Information and Broadcasting, Social Empowerment, Law. Railways. The Council of Ministers goes up to 78, three short of a statutory limit of 81. By bringing in new and younger faces as well as some experienced IAS and other persons in certain states, this new group. An experienced IAS officer was put in charge of the important Railways ministry, as the railways take on modernization and technological progress. Where ministers were lacking in performance the prime minister has made the needed changes. 

The large number of new faces gives the government an opportunity to train new people before the next parliamentary elections three years from now.

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Moritz Schuller of Tassspiegel writes a moving story in BBC News about Helmut Kohl, former chancellor of Germany, who died at the age of 87. Kohl helped bring chancellor Merkel to prominence by appointing her to positions in his government, first as Minister of Women and Youth in 1991, and then as Minister for the Environment in 1994. The two developed a bond that lasted. Merkel said on Kohl's 85th birthday -"Germany has much to thank him for."  Schuller presents a different side of Kohl in this article. There is this Kohl who had this tactical grasp of events as the Berlin Wall fell and German reunification was within reach. Who had this warm touch with other leaders, including a special relationship with French president Mitterand that advanced relations between the two countries. Yet he also describes the Kohl who was forgotten after being pushed out of office in a donations scandal. The rush to setup the eurozone currency and expanding it without the needed financial arrangements were seen by Germans as a weakness coming from the Kohl years in office. By 2008 Kohl had a debilitating fall and by this time was forgotten by Germans. Close to the end in 2014 at the Frankfurt Book Fair to present a book on his own view of the events of 1989-90, Kohl was seen as a frail figure, in a wheelchair and unable to speak much. ...

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Japan's governing LDP party wins over two thirds of the seats in parliament in a snap election called one year before the end of the term in office. Prime minister Abe's popularity by summer 2017 dropped to about 30%, and yet with a divided opposition he managed to win the election with a large majority. The opposition led by the Democratic Party and Tokyo Governor Mrs Koike fragmented with the formation of new parties, Yuriko Koike's Party of Hope, and the Consitutional Democratic Party. Mrs. Koike failed to keep the opposition united with some missteps including asking for a loyalty pledge from candidates. This election win makes it possible for Abe to get a third term as leader of the LDP and eventually becoming the prime minister with the longest term in office. Abe had a poor start during his first effort as prime minister when he resigned in less than a year. This is a comeback for Shinzo Abe from that difficult period. Yet the constitutional changes to support Japan's Self Defense Forces with the growing threat from North Korea are not getting the same level of support. Opinion remains divided on that issue.  One aspect of this election is that very few women candidates are running for parliament. In contrast to the election in Britain with more women running for office and getting elected, in Japan's 2017 snap election less than 10% of candidates elected are women. ...

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India has done well with low cost, scalable, low tech solutions in the past. This is also being done now to tackle the coronavirus. This is being used to support what may be the largest lockdown in history. Everyone is expected to remain at home. Only shops selling essential items such as food and pharmaceuticals are allowed to remain open. All but essential offices are closed, with workers told to stay home. Indelible ink that takes two weeks to wash away was widely available following the election. It is being widely used with high numbers of infections having the back of their hand stamped "Home Quarantined." After India announced a nationwide lockdown all wireless carriers were asked by the government to  insert a taped coronavirus health advisory that comes on after callers dial and before the call connects.Th recorded message talks about how to protect against the coronavirus. Prime time news shows are interrupted three times a day for back to back news conferences from the prime minister, and local officials.   ...

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After a career of 30-40 years in business, medicine or other profession, starting when one graduates from school, the first year after retirement can be difficult. As shown here in the story of Sherry Mendelson, a psychiatrist who says she faced a tectonic shift. How she coped in her own words by rethinking roles and old habits. Finding new passions for activities alone, and together with her husband.

Simple things like hearing aids that can make a difference, adapting to bad knees and not being able to ski. But finding a new passion in writing helped her regain her longtime passion for psychiatry and her home office sanctuary. In the process making awkward adjustments to one another and one's spouse, discovering new wisdom, moments of shared appreciation. 

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Compare this fine of $100,000 for an interview with Tories Rishi Sunak by GB News Program, a British broadcaster, days before the election by British Broadcasting Regulatory Authority Ofcom, with the unregulated and free for all ways of PACS throwing their weight around days before the US election. The US democratic framework owes much for its origins in the British parliamentary democracy and its institutions and concepts, yet in the framework for parties vying for support there is a glaring missing element of restraint and rules, regulatory principle so that anyone can run for office. Under the current system which is not a given and which was written by human beings and can be corrected most people are not keen on raising huge amounts of money are excluded from public service, a great loss to the nation.

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China bans smoking in public places in June 2015. The authorites say unlike previous bans before the Olympics this one will be enforced. The damage to public health is immense, with about one third of smokers in the world in China. Public spaces include restaurants, offices, bars, nightclubs, airports and trains. Included also are areas around schools and hospitals. There are 301 million smokers in China, according to the World Health Organization. About 53% of men and 2.4% of women smoke regularly, and this contributes to 1 million deaths from heart disease, cancer and other diseases. WHO estimates about 100,000 deaths from second hand smoke. About 28.1% of the population are smokers, based on the 2010 survey. The survey was organized by the WHO and China's Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The figure of 2.4% shows women are less affected than men by the damage done to public health. Women also are leading the way to fight smoking and effects of second hand smoke. People in Beijing already have to deal with the effects of pollution in the air they breathe, and are keen on eliminating the additional harmful effects of secondhand smoke added to this....

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The German Statistical Office reported that GDP growth in Germany was 0.1% in the second quarter of 2011. This compares with GDP growth of 1.3% in the first quarter. This is slower than Italy which came in at 0.3% for the second quarter. France had no growth in the second quarter. The German Statistical Office said the causes were: lower household consumption and construction investment, imports rising faster than exports and a buildup of inventories. Analysts at Commerzbank say the warm spring resulted in construction activity starting earlier and taking out some of the growth in the second quarter, in its absence the growth would be 0.4% for the second quarter. The statistics office said an additional 553,000 persons were added to employment compared to the prior year, with a total of 41 million employed.

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The Pakistan Supreme Court decides not to impose a prison term on prime minister Gilani for not pursuing a corruption investigation of President Zardari, opening the way for the present government to complete its five years in office. This has placed severe strains on the government in Pakistan. The next step appears to be early elections, probably in October-December 2012, ahead of the end of this government's term in office in March 2013.

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J.P. Morgan Chase announces $2 billion in trading losses in May 2012. The Chief Investment Office unit made a bet with a trading strategy that CEO Jamie Dimon said had grown very complex. These losses could grow or shrink during the rest of the year.

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Poor performance by UK Tories leader Kemi Badenoch at PMQ Prime Ministers Questions in the British parliament, broadcast on C-SPAN every Sunday at 9.00 pm US EST, is leading to speculation among Tories that she may not be around after local elections. Robert Jenrick who contested the leadership election is around says skeptics. Tories have changed leaders from  Cameron to May, May to Johnson, to Truss, to Sunak, to Badenoch, and now Jenrick? That would be the seventh new Tory leader since David Cameron assumed office in 2010. Then followed Brexit and Covid pandemic, and Labour taking office with the British now favoring being part of the European Union, all coming in full circle through 7 prime ministers in 15 years. 

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Civil charges to be filed by securities regulators against Anthony Piszel, Freddie Mac's chief financial officer from 2006 to 2008.

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The weakness of South Korean political parties and political institutions is apparent in the way Yoon handled the presidency and his opponents try to remove him from office. South Korea needs to mature as a democratic country with less divisive politics.

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Mr Iksil, a trader in Chase's CIO London office made such massive bullish bets on CDX-IG-9 index of 121 companies by selling credit default swaps, to the point where it cost less for protection on the index than for the individual components of the index. This worked in Jan-Feb 2012 with hedge funds on the other side having paper losses. In subsequent months hedge funds realized that Iksil would have to unwind some of these bets to avoid large losses. As a trader at Bank of America put it in a memo, at that point "Fast money smelled blood." The result is that hedge funds accelerated their bets against Mr Iksil's bullish positions, leading to the large $2 billion losses at CIO unit of Chase- losses on depositors money from aggressive bets in a volatile market. Mr Iksil is a French born trader, who has worked for Chase since March 2007. He has earned $100 million each year for Chase. He travels to London from his Paris home each week, and works from home Fridays. Two junior traders work with Iksil, primarily placing bets for complex trades in credit markets....

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Three members of Angela Merkel's political bloc, the CDU and CSU, were made to step down after taking hundreds of thousands of euros from mask manufacturing companies with business before the government. New rules for CDU and CSU for ethics are drafted in a paper, "Strengthen Trust, Follow Rules, Sanction Infractions." Members of parliament are expected to act as role models in society. The mask scandal has angered Germans frustrated with poor performance in the vaccination drive. It hurt the CDU in 2 state elections with its vote dropping to 24-28%. Now the CDU will ask all candidates to swear to uphold the ethics rules before running for office.

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A draft decree in the prime minister's office shows a plan to place quarantine covering the Lombardy region of Italy and nearby provinces, including the cities of Milan, Venice and Modena. The population in this region of 10 million people will face restrictions on mobility. The draft decree says transit in and out of the quarantine zones will be granted only in the event of "grave situations." It urges people to stay inside their homes and not travel. A similar quarantine in China around the Wuhan region helped limit the spread of coronavirus and bring it under control. Today the worst hit and not yet under control are Iran and Italy.

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The new low cost Abbott test is about the size of a credit card and can be adminstered in a doctor's or school nurse's office. Test results are given in 15 minutes. Abbott says 97% of positive cases are detected. Plans are to increase production to 50 million in October from tens of millions shipped in September. It sees this test as the kind of test that can help schools and offices reopen. It is called the Binax Ag Card. 

It searches for virus proteins and is intended for use within 7 days of coronavirus symptoms. It involves a nasal swab given by a health care worker or nurse.

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Frenchman Christophe Weber, 47, is head of Glaxo's vaccine business. He is the next CEO of Japanese pharmaceutical manufacturer Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. He will succeed President Yasuchika Hasegawa. Weber will join Takeda in April as chief operating officer and become president in June 2014. Hasegawa will continue as interim CEO for one year and Weber is expected to succeed Hasegawa, 67, at that point. Hasegawa has run the company for 10 years. During this period Takeda has expanded internationally. Takeda acquired Swiss drug company Nycomed in 2011. Executives were hired from western companies. Francois-Xavier Roger, of Luxembourg's Millicom International Cellular SA was made the chief financial officer, and Phillip Duncan of Novartis joined as chief procurement officer. Hasegawa sees new talent from western companies as useful in penetrating emerging markets. Weber also headed Glaxo's Asia/Pacific operations. Hasegawa told a news confernece: "We're no longer in an age where decisions are based on whether a person is Japanese or foreign." ...

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For a decade America's leaders remained silent on taking action on all fronts including trade on countries that were sources of fentanyl. The largest and most advanced economy in the world did not take action to protect its people when countries acted with impunity on fentanyl flows. That action is being taken now. A 25% tariff will be imposed on imports from Mexico and Canada, an extra 10% tariff on China, till the illegal flow of fentanyl and smuggled migrants from these countries stops. The new president DJT said on Truth Social media- He will impose by executive order on the first day in office tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, “on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous open borders”, which would not be lifted “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country."   ...

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The trial of Turkey's military officers, politicians and journalists, for an attempted military coup in Turkey under the elected Erdogan government.

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SIGTARP agency has prosecuted cases for criminal charges against 107 senior bank officers and most of them have received prison sentences.

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Women made large gains in the 2018 Mexico elections. WOmen won 49.2% of Mexico's 128 member Senate for a 50% increase. WOmen also won 47.8% of the lower house of Congress. In Mexico City, a city of 8.9 million people, the first female mayor was elected. In a country with macho politics this is a stunning change. A UN study shows only Belgium has a larger representation in the upper legislative chamber, and only Rwanda, Bolivia and Cuba have ahigher representation in the lower house of parliament. Not all the momentum for women comes from the election of Lopez Obrador. In 2014 the constitution of Mexico was changed requiring poltical parties to have male and female candidates in equal numbers at the federal, state and local levels. In fact of the more than 83,000 candidates seeking office nationwide, 50.4% were women. More than 89 million people registered to vote and female voters were 51.9% of the total. Mr. Lopez Obrador's encouragement added to the fervour for women to vote and women to fight for political office. It also helped Claudia Sheinbaum , a 56 year ol environmental engineer win the election for Mayor of Mexico City by a landslide. Sheinbaum was environmental chief under Mr. Obrador when he was Mayor 2000-2005. Her platform was to improve drinking water supplies and transportation services, expand free child care.  Some of Mr. Obrador's supporters say the agenda for reducing inequality by tackkling corruption, reducing government waste, increasing social spending on the poor helped rally women as candidates and voters. Obrador's conviction that women have a greater capacity for hard work also played a part. Sheinbaum was encouraged to run for office in 2015 and won as governor of Tlalpan, one of Mexico City's 16 boroughs. After the 2006 election loss of Obrador for the presidency she had returned to research work at the National Autonomous University. The entry of women is also seen as a way to bring new approaches to tackle the problems of inequality and corruption after the male dominated established parties from the Calderon-Pena era failed to address these problems. ...