BRICS news and updates .... January 6

While the NATO warlords and witches dream of enriching the armaments makers and themselves by dropping missiles and bombs which cost anywhere between $70,000 to $1 M+ a pop .... on every nook and corner of the world they take a dislike to,  the BRICS have been hard at work improving the lot of their own countrymen and the lot of their neighbouring nations as well.

From BRICSpost:
China neighbours laud $3.09 bn aid from Beijing  
China’s neighbours, including Cambodia, have lauded the $3.09 billion Chinese aid announced during a regional summit in Thailand on Friday.
“China plays a very important role in assisting GMS countries to boost economy and reduce poverty,” said Kao Kim Hourn, Cambodian Minister and aide to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

“China’s financial support is vital to expediting the development of physical infrastructure in the GMS member countries. All countries in the GMS highly appreciate China’s active contributions to the development of their respective countries,” he added.
China has offered infrastructure funds and production aid to five neighboring countries which sharing the Mekong River.
The offer includes $1 billion for infrastructure inter-connectivity, $490 million in grant for poverty alleviation and $1.6 billion in special loans for China’s production capacity export.

China also promised to invest $16.4 million to dredge waterways along the Mekong River and prevent natural disasters, said Li.
The five beneficiary countries are Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar which, along with China, form the GMS bloc.......

From Itar-tass:
 Russia boosts oil reserves by 550 million tons in 2014.
Russia boosted its hydrocarbon reserves by 550 million tons of oil, 900 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 100 million tons of gas condensate in 2014, Natural Resources Minister Sergey Donskoy said on Tuesday, citing specified data.........

From CelebrityYahoo:
South African woman wins Miss World  beauty pageant in London
A 22-year-old South African woman, Rolene Strauss, won the Miss World 2014 beauty pageant in London on Sunday, the organizers said in a statement....


From ChinaBriefing:
China Announces Location of New Free Trade Zones, Expands Shanghai FTZ - 
At a bi-monthly meeting on December 28, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress mapped out the specific locations of the three new Free Trade Zones (FTZ) announced earlier. The meeting also announced the expansion of the Shanghai FTZ, as well as the simplification of a number of investment procedures in these zones.

It was announced that the Guangdong FTZ will include the Nansha New Area in Guangzhou, Shenzhen Qianhai and Zhuhai Hengqin New Area, covering a total of 116.2 square kilometers. The Tianjin FTZ, with a total area of 119.9 square kilometers, will be comprised of Tianjin Port, Tianjin Airport and the Binhai New Area industrial park. Lastly, the 118.04-square-meter Fujian FTZ will include industrial areas in the provincial capital of Fuzhou, the whole of Xiamen and Pingtan, a new industrial park targeting investment from Taiwan. ......

From BRICSpost:
India manufacturing sector output hits 2-yr high in Dec: HSBC
In encouraging signs that the Indian Prime Minister’s “Make In India” campaign may gain momentum in the coming months, HSBC says India’s manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace in two years in December.
The sector ended 2014 on a high note on strong orders flows, including from abroad, according to an HSBC survey released on Friday.
The headline HSBC India Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) — a composite gauge designed to give a single-figure snapshot of manufacturing business conditions — stood at 54.5 in December, up from 53.3 in November.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pushing the “Make in India” campaign, designed to attract foreign investment by highlighting ongoing changes.........

From Bloomberg:
Defying the rout in oil prices, the coffee and sugar markets are rallying because of supply concerns in Brazil, the world’s top producer and exporter of the so-called soft commodities.
Those raw materials helped prevent the Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 energy, agriculture and metal prices from slumping to a 12-year low amid a collapse in crude and fuel. The broad gauge has tumbled to the lowest since March 2009, and a drop of an additional 1.4 percent will send the measure to a level last seen in November 2002. In 2014, arabica coffee soared 50 percent, the most among index components, amid the most-severe drought in decades...........

From BRICSpost:
Chinese locomotives reach Thailand, to replace GE  
As China attempts to establish itself as a credible rival to sector leaders such as Germany’s Siemens, Canada’s Bombardier and Japan’s Kawasaki, the first batch of Chinese locomotives were delivered on Sunday to Thailand.
China’s CSR locomotives will replace the General Electric locomotives which have hauled Thai cargo trains since 1995. Thailand has never used any other locomotive since.
Officials of the State Railway of Thailand on Monday said two China-made locomotives, shipped from southwest China to Laem Chabang port in Chonburi province, were the first consignment of a fleet of 20 locomotives, the rest of which will be gradually shipped to the Thai railway firm..........

Russia to build nuclear plants for India


Below is link to a Reuters article on "doubts" about the canal being built by a Chinese billionaire businessman in Nicaragua.  Instead of focusing on how the project will create  thousands of jobs in one of the poorest countries in South America, the journalist prefer to shower doubts on the completion of the project and wonders if  Washington had been consulted.  Why would a sovereign country consult Washington for permission to build a canal in its own land and waterways which would primarily benefit its own citizens? 
From Reuters: 
 .... "The aim is the canal," said Cruz, the ex-ambassador. "But even if they only build a Caribbean port, this country will have achieved something it hasn't managed in 500 years.".....

From TheEconomist:
ON DECEMBER 22nd an odd couple  —Nicaragua’s left-wing government and a Chinese-born telecoms magnate—say they will begin the realisation of a dream that has captivated Nicaraguans for generations: the construction of an inter-oceanic canal to rival Panama’s. According to Manuel Coronel, an octogenarian who runs the canal authority, their intentions are now beyond dispute. “When the bride and groom set a date, you know it’s serious,” he says......

From Reuters via MailOnline;
U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua voices concerns  over Chinese-led canal
The U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua said on Tuesday it was concerned by a lack of information surrounding the planned $50 billion, Chinese-led canal that would bisect the poor Central American nation.
Work began in late December on the 172-mile (278-km) waterway, which its Hong Kong-based developer HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co Ltd (HKND Group) says will be operational by 2020, but so far it has been met with widespread skepticism......

From Bloomberg:
Brazil Iron-Ore Exports Surge   as Vale Boosts Production
Brazil, the world’s second-largest iron-ore exporter, said shipments of the steelmaking raw material jumped to the highest in at least nine years as Vale SA (VALE5) boosted output.
Exports gained 18 percent last month to 37.4 million metric tons compared with 31.8 million tons a year earlier, the country’s ministry of Development, Industry and Trade said on its website today. That’s the highest monthly iron-ore volume since at least April 2005 when Bloomberg started compiling data.....