Good Decision from N. Korea..

As the North Korean Leader Kim Jong II has explained the stand of his country that it will not conduct nuclear tests further, it becomes a sign of peace and settlement of the unrest. Earlier, the country had a plan to conduct one more test This is a good move from the counrty, because a small country cannot stand itself for long without the help of many nations. Mainly the raw materials and oil supply to N. Korea is from outside, it has to think twice before it takes any decision. Now, China has confirmed that it will not supply crude and other petro products anymore if it still goes on with the test.

The incident.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the official name of North Korea governed by Socialist republic Govt, which has a population of just 23 million and an area of i.20 lakh sq. Km conducted a nuclear test by detonating a nuclear device on October 9, 2006. N. Korea started its work on nuclear materials long back since early 1990s when they constructed plutonium reactors. but they were planning to use the same for peaceful and scientific work. in 1994 US and N.Korea came to "AGREED FRAMEWORK" where by N.Korea agreed to freeze its nuclear programs in exchange of fuel and economic cooperation. In 2002, there were rumours that N.Korea has defied the agreed framework and the country ejected the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectorsin 2003.

North Korea, however declared on October 3, 2006 that they would soon conduct a nuclear test and on october 9, 2006, they claim that a nuclear test was conducted safely and successfully.

This has led to unrest among the nations. United States cofirmed the test on October 16. North Korea said that any sanctions imposed on them would be considered as a call for war and will strike back. anyway the country stated that it will stick on to no-first-strike -policy.

Economic situation in N. Korea

A highly famine striken country suffering from drought and serious mismanagement spending about 92% of its GDP on defense and military purposes. Te country maintains the fifth largest military in the world. North Korea is continuously assisted by China for its food and oil supplies and South Korea is major donators of food to North Korea. There was always a higher negative value in the balance of trade.

The foreign Relations of North Korea were always tensed and unpredictable. There had been serious disturbances on this regard many times in the past with Countries like US, Japan and South Korea. But the country maintained close relations with China and Russia due to need of continued and substantial assistance.

I think that the test conducted by the country is little premature and could have been avoided. a country suffering from famine and drought can never afford to spend more than 90 5 of its GDP for military purposes. The word from the North Korean leader to stop its nuclear test is welcomed but the reasons for this can be cited as the pressures from all sides of the world despite of the huge support of the Koreans. China had declared that it will stop its supply of food and oil, if N. Korea goes on with its test policy. China has asked the country to return to disarmament talks. UN and NATO also has expressed their stands that all the supports would be withdrawn unless the country refrains from further tests and continue with negotiation talks. As a nation or a state rather, North Korea cannot stand on its own and it need the support of many countries to even stand up to the mark.

VOLVO EYES ON INDIAN AUTO GIANT

Volvo, The ultimate name for safety in vehicles, Volvo Buses is today the market leader in India for luxury, air-conditioned express coaches.

Ashok Leyland, an Indian manufacturer of commercial vehicles headquartered in Chennai. Ashok Leyland is a $ 1.348 billion company established in 1948, has markets in India and exports mainly concentrating on Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and the Middle East. Ashok Leyland started as Ashok Motors, which assembled Austin cars.

The news Volvo is interested in Ashok Leyland is a superb one. It is about to bring a vast changes in the automotive sector of India. The main point in the agenda of Volvo is to try the untapped developing markets, for which they need an excellent partnership with a local major. Ashok Leyland had been the name for trucks in India since its launch. Can this be compared to the joint venture that earlier existed between the Mercedes and Tata motors? Will this be equally beneficial to both the parties? Just analysing the situation, we get the following answers.

The advantages for Ashok Leyland are,
v It will get the new technology from the truck giant
v The safety superiority for Volvo can be brought in to play by Ashok Leyland
v The foreign market can be tracked by Ashok Leyland
v This can be a stepping stone for the global operations of Ashok Leyland

The advantages for Volvo are,
v It can access the distribution and infrastructure of Ashok Leyland
v It can also expand its operations, which is a basic gain
v The Volvo can do its operations much efficiently using the bulk production capability and low cost of production of Ashok Leyland

Anyway, if this venture is going to happen it will be a great advantage for the automobile sector in India and can attract many such major MNCs coming to Indian soil. The talks are going on and we cannot have a conclusion before the project is happening.