A politician has gone on record labelling the regime to which he belongs as a ‘People’s Dynasty’. He has said: “It is a dynasty, but by people’s choice. A people’s dynasty.” The context was in that of a regime of centralised decision making which would further speed up in economic development.
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Mobile money services are fast becoming big business in developing countries. Especially those in which the population is considered to be ‘under banked,’ that is where the traditional banking system does not have sufficient outreach to provide financial services to the vast majority of the poor and marginalised population, especially in remote areas.
A study released by Visa Incorporated, the credit card company, some time ago, reveals that consumers in six developing countries were already highly aware of mobile money services – the ability to make payments or send funds simply by accessing an account on their mobile phones. 90% of the consumers surveyed by the Visa funded...
Prophecy on unpredictable tsunamis in the Budget speech 2013The presentation of the 2013 Budget in Parliament ended on a poignant note. A prophetic reference was made to the potential for many a ‘tsunami’ on the path to development, including the eradication of inequality and poverty. “There will be more political, economic and natural tsunamis. They will remain unpredictable.”
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Endemic among Asian political class and their acolytes?An ogre is a monster in a fairy tale or popular legend, usually represented as a hideous monster who feeds on human flesh. Recently in a number of Asian countries, the ogre of corruption has manifested itself, among the political class and their acolytes.
Normally it is the political class which alleges corruption and related misbehaviour among bureaucrats, public officers and business persons who do not tow their political line and carry out their illegal or unethical orders.
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Rampant is defined as: ‘something that is spreading everywhere, in a way that cannot be controlled’. China is spreading its influence in a planned and structured manner to all parts of the globe. It is using its fast-developing economic power, to expand its influence in both economic and political terms far beyond the Asian region.
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Extractive institutions and the abuse of power
What is the role of the state in the economy and society? The debate in this context revolves around what can be described as the ‘Night-Watchman State,’ which is understood to be entrusted with the minimal enforcement of law and order, so that the citizens could lead their lives in peace and harmony, the interventionist ‘Nanny State,’ which tries to regulate and provide incentives to improve the allocation of resources and influence social behaviour, and the new concept of a ‘Servant State’.
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The Union of Burma became an independent nation in 1948. It was a former British colony, which joined the Commonwealth of Nations.
The British had administered Burma as separate units, Lower Burma, Upper Burma and the Frontier Areas. The Panglong Agreement, which was negotiated by national hero General Aung San, who fought in World War II and negotiated Burma’s freedom from Britain, combined these areas into one nation. General Aung San was later assassinated by political rivals.
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From Zimbabwe, not the safest of places by all accounts, especially for women, we hear of an interesting and unusual story of a private security firm headed by a woman.
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When the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics were awarded to London, opinion on the probable success was divided. The pessimists expressed concerns that London’s worldly cynics, sophisticates and marginalised urban poor, will not be moved by the international sporting event and that the city will end up in gridlock due to the huge numbers of visitors expected.
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The Doctrine of the Separation of Powers
Harvey and Bather in their seminal publication on the British Constitution, begin the Chapter on the Separation of Powers (19) with an extract from a poem by the Nobel Laureate poet, Rudyard Kipling, who lived for decades in India and understood the South Asian temperament intimately. The poem is ‘My Father’s Chair’:
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