China forges 'strategic' ties with Djibouti after opening base, grants aid

China on Thursday offered loans to Djibouti, the site of its first overseas military base, as the Horn of Africa state's leader told President Xi Jinping he considered himself a great friend of the Asian giant.

With a population of less than one million, Djibouti has long punched above its weight, thanks to a strategic location on the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping routes linking Europe to Asia and the Middle East.

China formally opened the base, which it calls a logistics facility, on August 1, the 90th birthday of the People's Liberation Army. Djibouti also hosts large US and French bases.

Djibouti was politically stable, Xi told its president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, at a meeting in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

"China sets great store by its relations with Djibouti," he added.

Guelleh, who has been in power since 1999, said he considered himself a "great friend of China's" and could not count the number of times he had visited.

"Djibouti is known for being a country of peace, exchanges and meetings," Guelleh said.

"I would like to recall the geostrategic position of Djibouti and its importance in this part of the world as an island of stability for Asia, Africa and the Middle East."
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Nepal, China sign three pacts to boost energy, economic, technological ties

Nepal and China on Tuesday signed three pacts to further boost their ties in power and energy sectors and undertake a feasibility study to excavate natural gas and petroleum in the Himalayan country, including in the southern Terai plains.

The pacts were signed after visiting Chinese vice premier Wang Yang held discussions with Nepal's deputy prime ministers Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and Krishna Bahadur Mahara.

The agreements cover three different domains - economic and technological cooperation, China-aid oil and gas resources survey project and framework agreement on promotion of investment and economic cooperation, Nepal's state-run National News Agency reported.

They include a feasibility study for excavating natural gas and petroleum in mountain areas and plains of the Terai region.

The two countries agreed to establish hydropower projects and transmission lines and take steps for economic and technological development in Nepal, which suffers from acute shortage of electricity.

Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi told the agency the pacts would make significant contributions in Nepal's socio- economic transformation.

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120 homes destroyed: London fire tragedy reveals ugly flaws of regeneration

I grew up in social housing. It provided a stable and secure (albeit overcrowded and cold) home for my family, for life. As fire tore through Grenfell Tower, just 500 metres from where I was staying in London, I witnessed the complete and terrible destruction of 120 homes just like the one I grew up in. In the morning, I passed the police cordon and saw dozens of fire fighters standing in complete, abject shock. At least 12 lives were lost, and many more are still feared for.

Yet as the ashes settle, it is clear that the threat of ruin extends well beyond Grenfell Tower. Indeed, the policies which I argue have contributed to this disaster have been rolled out across social housing projects both in the UK, and across Europe. Earlier this year, not far from Grenfell, local residents in Westminster voted against any form of refit to their notoriously poorly-maintained Brunel Estate. And many residents across London fear the prospect of “urban regeneration”, seeing it as a type of social cleansing, shorthand for a modern form of slum clearance.

Residents worry that any improvements will set them on a slippery slope to gentrification and eventual displacement. Over the years, I have watched with dismay as successive governments – both Labour and Conservative – have depleted the available housing stock through schemes such as right-to-buy, while also running down the standard of the remaining housing stock with constant budget cuts. Faced with this gradual depletion and dilapidation, many family homes languish in a state of disrepair, while tenants’ fears that they could lose their homes go unassuaged.

This is not just a British problem. During my academic research in France I have seen deplorable incidences of housing stock that are not fit for human habitation, and where repairs are routinely neglected. Where regeneration does take place, I fear it is often done with little consultation and even less accountability.

A warning

As Londoners get to grips with the tragic losses at Grenfell Tower, reports have emerged about a recent refit that the tower underwent. Only last year, the site was given a £8.7m refit, during which a new central heating system was installed, more homes fitted in the lower levels and new cladding added to the outside of the building, among other things.
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Tap property tax potential at city level, suggests Economic Survey

Latest News - With rapid urbanisation posing tremendous challenges in delivery of services, the Economic Survey on Tuesday suggested that municipalities should tap the potential of "property tax" to generate additional revenues at the city level.

The survey found through a study that bengaluru and Jaipur are currently collecting no more than 5-20 per cent of their respective potential for property tax. It suggested that "satellite imagery" should be used for improving urban governance by facilitating better property tax compliance.

"Urbanisation will pose considerable challenges for municipalities over the (Read More)

Budget 2017 wishlist: Five expectations from infrastructure sector

Latest News - The Union Budget 2017 is expected to give an impetus to infrastructure sector in order to boost industrial growth amid global slowdown and lower corporate spending at home. 

A Business Standard report said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley might announce a third straight year of record capital spending, which could be 12-14% higher than the 2016-17 Budget Estimates of Rs 2.47 lakh crore. That would put(Read More)