India monthly review: Nuclear accord marks September

The nuclear agreement with the United States, low growth expectations and two terrorist attacks in New Delhi were three of the events that marked September in the second most populous nation in the world, India.

Indian politics were dominated by the nuclear issue during September, because after three years of discussions in parliament, Prime Minister Singh won approval for the nuclear agreement with the United States. Now the government in Delhi has to wait until the commitment is ratified by the US Congress.

Just a few days after the signing, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) approved the proposal of the United States to lift the bans imposed in the area to India.

The agreement must pass a series of steps before the US Congress approves it. The law has been filed with the Senate yet and its discussion was scheduled after the much-discussed financial rescue plan.

However, India is not been idle and launched a major lobbying for the acceleration of the process. The Indian Prime Minister traveled to New York where he attended the UN General Assembly, and met with Asif Ali Zardari, the newly elected president of Pakistan.

The other stumbling block for the nuclear issue is the fact that the Bush administration needs the support of the Democrats, who control Congress, if they are to ignore a rule that stipulates that they must wait 30 days before ratifying such laws.

In other sectors, terrorism dominated the world's attention after two attacks in India during the month of September, left 21 dead in New Delhi. A total of six bombs exploded in the two incidents, which also left 105 wounded. The police have not yet handed over information about possible culprits.

In the geopolitical sphere, the theme of the wealthy region of Kashmir became news once again. The problem arose after a donation of land by the government to a Hindu procession. The dispute over the pilgrimage began in May, and since then, due to the riots, a curfew has been in effect for the Muslim population that lives in the Indian part of Kashmir. Despite the crackdown, protests have continued.

Fortunately, and despite skirmishes, the governments of India and Pakistan agreed to resume peace talks on September 25. Talks were stalled in recent months, but the topic that was discussed at the meeting of two presidents at their meeting in New York.

The American crisis arrives to the Indian coast

September did not leave the burgeoning Indian economy unscathed, as it was affected by the slowing US economy and the announcements of crisis which shook stock markets around the world. The result was that growth projections for the second most populous nation in the world were adjusted down to 8%, or 1% less than 2007.

Another factor that was felt was inflation, which has caused the scarcity of a number of commodities such as food and some services in urban areas. It is currently reaching 11.9%. This led to the Reserve Bank of India raising interest rates to curb consumption resulting in rates of 9% so far this year.

Notwithstanding the above situations, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Duvvuri Subba, said that the factors underpinning the boom in Indian economic growth (private consumption, private investment and export growth) are still solid.

On September 24, all state banks in the country were affected by a general strike of more than 900,000 employees. The unions involved protested low wages, and plans to merge some of the 28 State-run banks.

On June 25, the Indian government approved the creation of 250 Special Economic Zones around the country, inspired by the Chinese model. Duty-free enclaves will be established in those geographical areas as a way to promote trade. However, some farmers and landowners oppose the measure because their lands were expropriated at prices which they consider unjust.

Finally, the population of India received good news from their government as it will take further measures to prevent and combat violence with acid, which mostly affects thousands of women from lower classes who have been disfigured for life, because it is common that when these refuse to their lovers, husbands or employers, they are attacked with the cheap, easy accessible chemical.

Therefore, the Government decided to introduce special legislation on the subject, which in addition to stiffening the penalties for such crimes, includes better compensation for the high cost of surgical reconstruction for the victims, and physical and psychological rehabilitation.