US, China to hold trade talks in Chicago in December

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Trade Representative Michael Froman will host a high-level Chinese delegation for the talks during the 25th session of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) from December 16 to 18, officials said.

US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will also take part in the dialogue to address key agricultural trade issues between the two countries. "Expanding the US-China bilateral trade relationship is critical to strengthening our nation's economy and supporting job creation in communities from Maine to Hawaii," Pritzker said. Noting that JCCT has played a vital role in their efforts to bolster mutually beneficial relationship for more than two decades, the Commerce Secretary said the upcoming high-level discussions will culminate a year of continuous work to address important issues facing the two nations.

"This dialogue comes at an important time for the two largest economies in the world who share an enormous stake in the global trade and investment system," Froman said. The JCCT continues to be a place where the bilateral ties that link the US and China are reinforced through cooperation and constructive face-to-face discussions focused on making concrete progress to address the challenges, he said.
  
Established in 1983, the JCCT is the primary forum for addressing bilateral trade and investment issues and promoting commercial opportunities between the United States and China. High-level plenary meetings are held annually and are co-chaired by the US Secretary of Commerce, the United States Trade Representative, and the Chinese Vice Premier in charge of trade and investment issues.

Sixteen JCCT Working Groups meet throughout the year to address topics such as intellectual property rights, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, information technology and travel and tourism. The 24th Annual JCCT meeting was held in Beijing in 2013. In the last year's meeting, significant progress was made on several important issues, including protection and enforcement against theft of trade secrets, government procurement and market access for US testing and certification companies.

China was the third-largest market for US exports in 2013 (after Canada and Mexico). US goods exports to China were USD 122 billion in 2013, up 652 per cent since 2000. Trade in services with China (exports and imports) totaled USD 52.1 billion in 2013.

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India ranks 114 out of 142 nations on WEF's Gender Gap Report

India's slipped 13 spots from its last year's ranking of 101 on the Gender Gap Index by the World Economic Forum. India is part of the 20 worst-performing countries on the labour force participation, estimated earned income, literacy rate and sex ratio at birth indicators.

On the other hand, India is among the top 20 best-performing countries on the political empowerment subindex.

The index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. The index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education and health criteria.

On the criteria of economic participation and opportunity, India was ranked 134. Its female to male ratio in labour force participation was 0.36. The disparity in estimated earned income was high with females earning USD 1980 compared to USD 8087 earned by their male counterparts.

On educational attainment, India ranked 126 with female to male ratio in literacy rate at 0.68. India was the second-lowest performing country on health and survival, ranking 141 just ahead of Armenia.

However on political empowerment subindex, India ranked an impressive 15. It is the highest-ranked country on the years with female head of state (over the past 50 years) indicator.

There is also some evidence from India to suggest that women in local government roles make decisions with better outcomes for communities than men do when charged with budget decisions.

They also appear to be more competent representatives than men, obtaining more resources for their constituencies despite having significantly lower education and relevant labour market experience.

The report said that India has the highest difference between women and men on the average minutes spent per day on unpaid work—a difference of 300 minutes.

It is also among the countries with the highest difference in the female and male percentage of total R&D personnel. India has one of the lowest percentages of firms with female participation in ownership.

India had experienced improvement of its overall score since 2010, when it had ranked 112. It had ranked 105 in 2012 and 101 last year but saw a decrease in 2014 due to a drop in scores on the economic participation and opportunity and educational attainment subindexes.

India performed better than countries like UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Jordan.

Iceland, which has had a female head of state in 20 of the past 50 years, ranked number 1 on WEF's index. Iceland has taken the top spot on the index consecutively since 2009. The country was followed by its Nordic neighbours: Finland ranked 2, Norway (3), Sweden (4) and Denmark (5). US is ranked 20, putting it behind countries like Canada, South Africa and France, but ahead of other developed countries like the United Kingdom and Australia.

The report said that no country in the world has fully closed the gender gap, but all five of the Nordic countries have closed more than 80 percent of it. Yemen, the lowest ranking country has closed just over 50 percent of the gender gap.

At 141, Pakistan was the second lowest ranking country, scoring poorly on all the four parametres.

In 2014, 25 countries fully closed the gap in Educational Attainment (same as last year). Angola, Ethiopia, Yemen, Guinea and Chad hold the last five spots on this subindex, with Yemen and Chad having closed less than 70 percent of their education gender gap. In total, there are 22 countries where women still have less than 90 percent of the education outcomes that men have.

While eight countries—Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, France, Guyana, Latvia, Namibia, and the Philippines have fully closed the gap on both the health and education subindexes, no country has closed either the economic participation gap or the political empowerment gap.

On the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, 14 countries have closed more than 80 percent of gap, including from from Sub-Saharan Africa and five from Europe and Central Asia.

Burundi, Norway, Malawi, the United States and the Bahamas occupy the top five spots on the subindex.

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Travellers with Ebola should not be stigmatised: UN Chief

UN Secretary General said that the restrictions put particular pressure on health care workers and those who have been on the frontline of the Ebola response.

"The Secretary-General is concerned by the recent restrictions put in place in several countries and localities applying to people who have travelled to the main Ebola-affected countries," a statement issued by Ban's spokesman said here.

"Returning health workers are exceptional people who are giving of themselves for humanity. They should not be subjected to restrictions that are not based on science," he said in the statement.

"Those who develop infections should be supported, not stigmatised," he added.

Ban reiterated that the best way for any country to protect itself from Ebola is to stop the outbreak at its source in West Africa.

"This requires considerable international health care worker support and in return for this support, we have an obligation to look after them," he said.

According to UN World Health Organisation's latest situation report, there have been 9,936 cases of Ebola and 4,877 deaths so far.

In New York, after a doctor who treated Ebola patients returned from Guinea and tested positive for the virus, state government had put in place a mandatory 21-day quarantine for travellers returning from the most-affected West African countries.
  
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo came in for sharp criticism from health experts and had to loosen restrictions, allowing asymptomatic medical workers who had contact with Ebola patients in West Africa to remain at home during the quarantine period.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also faced backlash after a nurse who arrived from Sierra Leone last week was swiftly quarantined in a tent set up inside a Newark hospital, with a portable toilet but with no shower.

Ban is currently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the start of a joint trip uniting the capacities of the United Nations, World Bank, European Union, Islamic Development Bank, and African Development Bank and targeting a swathe of countries in the Horn of Africa, spanning Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

Ban announced a new USD 8 billion development initiative aimed at boosting economic growth, reducing poverty and spurring business activity across the African region's eight countries.

As aid workers and medical personnel return to their countries after working to provide treatment to Ebola patients in West Africa, several restrictions have been put on their movement by governments as they aim to prevent the spread of the virus.

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India should refrain from complicating boundary issue: China

"China's position on China-India boundary question is consistent and clear. We are committed to finding a solution to the boundary question with the Indian side through friendly negotiation as soon as possible and working together to safeguard peace and tranquillity along the border," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
  
"Pending the final settlement of the boundary question, we hope that the Indian side could refrain from taking any action that may complicate or exaggerate the question," Hua said in an e-mail response to a query about 54 new Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force border outposts to be built along the Arunachal Pradesh border.
  
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as southern Tibet.
  
China's reaction is a trifle different from its reaction on October 15 to the plans announced by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju to build new roads along the boundary from Mago-Thingbu in Tawang to Vijaynagar in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh to match China's infrastructure development.
  
"There is a dispute about the east part of the China- India border. Before final settlement is reached we hope that India will not take any action that may further complicate the situation," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said earlier while reacting to the road proposal.
  
"We should jointly safeguard the peace and tranquillity of the border area and create favourable conditions for the final settlement of the border issue," he had said.
  
Subsequently, officials from India and China held the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) meeting in New Delhi during which the two sides discussed a host of issues relating to the management of the boundary and maintaining of peace and tranquillity along the borders.

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Centre hopeful of UP sugar mills falling in line & start operations

Few months back, private sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh the country's second biggest producer threated not to open their mills in the current 2014-15 season (October-September) till the state government links cane prices with sugar rates.

Mills were forced to issue suspension notice as they suffered huge losses during last season on account of high cane prices fixed by the state and lower realisation from sugar sales.

"There is no way that UP sugar mills will remain shut for long. My reading is that all mills will run. But they may start 10-15 days late," Food Secretary Sudhir Kumar said.

Kumar said that mills do not have any option but to run their mills as they cannot shift to other business, while farmers can easily shift to some other crops.

However, the Secretary clarified that this is the matter between the state government and UP millers, and the Centre does not have much role to play.

On likely impact on the country's sugar production due to delay in crushing operation in UP, he said, "It is too early to say. Let the crushing begin. We will assess it at the end of the season."

Meanwhile, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) Director General Avinash Verma said: "UP sugar mills have taken one step forward and have agreed to start maintenance activity which should take 40-45 days."

"However, they would wait for a mechanism or a policy that determines sugarcane price in relation to revenue generation before start of the crushing operations, so that they are in a position to pay cane price on time," he said.

The UP sugar industry has shown confidence in the state government that a rational cane price formula would be announced and the industry would pray that the state should not fix the cane price, he added.

Crushing operation in western UP normally begins from October 15 and five days later in other parts the state.

According to industry estimates, sugarcane arrears in Uttar Pradesh have come down to Rs 2,400 crore now from Rs 7,500 crore at the end of March this year.

Sugar production for this season is pegged at 25-25.5 million tonnes, against 24.3 million tonnes last year.

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Governor outlines NY policy for Ebola quarantine

Cuomo detailed the state's protocols at a nighttime news conference with New York City's mayor last night after the Obama administration said it expressed concerns to Cuomo and Christie about their states' mandatory Ebola quarantines. The announcement also comes amid sharp criticism of the treatment of a nurse returning from Sierrra Leone who was forcibly quarantined in a New Jersey hospital isolation unit even though she said had no symptoms and tested negative for Ebola.
  
Under the outlined New York guidelines, medical professionals who have had contact with Ebola patients will be quarantined at home and receive twice-daily monitoring if they have no symptoms. Family members will be allowed to stay, and friends may visit with the approval of health officials. The state will also pay for any lost compensation, if they are not paid by a volunteer organization.

Cuomo had criticized Dr. Craig Spencer, who tested positive for Ebola on Thursday, for not obeying a 21-day voluntary quarantine. But on Sunday, he called the health care workers "heroes" and said his administration would encourage more medical workers to volunteer to fight Ebola. Meanwhile, Kaci Hickox, the first nurse forcibly quarantined in New Jersey under the state's new policy, said in a telephone interview with CNN that her isolation at a hospital was "inhumane," adding: "We have to be very careful about letting politicians make health decisions."

Saying the federal health guidelines are inadequate, Cuomo and Christie announced a mandatory quarantine program Friday for medical workers and other arriving airline passengers who have had contact with Ebola victims in West Africa, either in their homes or in medical facilities, and Illinois soon followed suit. Twenty-one days is the incubation period for Ebola.

Christie also stressed that home confinement would be used for New Jersey residents and others when possible. "The protocol is clear that a New Jersey resident with no symptoms, but who has come into contact with someone with Ebola, such as a health care provider, would be subject to a mandatory quarantine order and quarantined at home. Non-residents would be transported to their homes if feasible and, if not, quarantined in New Jersey," said a statement from Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts.

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Hospital: Teen wounded in school shooting dies

Officials at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett confirmed 14-year-old Gia Soriano died. Another girl was killed during the shooting Friday by a popular first-year student at Marysville-Pilchuck High School north of Seattle. The shooter, Jaylen Fryberg, died of a self-inflicted wound. Three other students remain hospitalized, two in critical condition and one in serious condition.

At a news conference, Dr. Joanne Roberts read a statement from Soriano's family. "We are devastated by this senseless tragedy. Gia is our beautiful daughter, and words cannot express how much we will miss her," the statement said. Roberts said Soriano's family was donating her organs for transplant. Parents and students gathered in a gymnasium at the school for a community meeting, with speakers urging support and prayers and tribal members playing drums and singing songs. Fryberg was from a prominent Tulalip Indian tribes family. Young people hugged each other and cried and speakers urged people to come together during the gathering Sunday.

"Our legs are still wobbly," said Tony Hatch, a cousin of one of the injured students. "We're really damaged right now." Of the wounded students, only 14-year-old Nate Hatch showed improvement, though he remained in serious condition in intensive. Fifteen-year-old Andrew Fryberg also remained in critical condition in intensive care. Both are cousins of Jaylen Fryberg.

Meanwhile, 14-year-old Shaylee Chuckulnaskit remained in critical condition in intensive care.Fryberg died in the attack after a first-year teacher intervened. It's unclear if he intentionally killed himself or if the gun went off in a struggle with a teacher. The makeshift memorial on a chain link fence by the school, which will be closed this week, kept growing Sunday.

Balloons honoring the victims and the shooter adorn the fence along with flowers, stuffed toys and signs. The close-knit community, meanwhile, on the nearby Tulalip Indian reservation struggled with the news that the shooter was a popular teenager from one of their more well-known families. A tribal guidance counsellor said no one knows what motivated Fryberg.

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