§ World closely watching US presidential elections TODAY §

[dhilipkumar]

When Sri Murtiningsi asked her third grade class what they wanted to be when they grew up, the answers ranged from doctors to a pilot. One curly haired boy raised his hand: Barack Obama said his dream was to be president of the United States.Forty years later Murtiningsi — like the rest of the world — is watching closely as Americans prepare to head to the polls Tuesday. Many believe Obama's international experience would go a long way in helping repair damage caused by the unpopular U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with recent opinion polls from more than 70 nations favoring him a resounding three-to-one over Republican John McCain. "Obama the best hope for U.S. revival," an editorial in The Australian Financial Review said Monday, arguing that "the world craves American leadership and never more so than now." The Gulf News, an English-language paper in the United Arab Emirates, had a similar take, saying only he could "undo the great damage done by the Bush administration to America's image," especially the Middle East.

Few if any in the sleepy Japanese coastal town of Obama — which translates as 'little beach' — would disagree. Images of the Democratic candidate adorn banners along a main shopping street and preparations for an election day victory party were in full swing Monday. Koichi Inoue, who makes traditional Japanese sweet bean cakes, said his factory was working at double normal production because he had promised free handouts for every customer if Obama won. "It looks like he is going to win from the polls so I've got to be ready," he said. Interest in the U.S. election is high in Vietnam as well, in part because many people know McCain was shot down in Hanoi while flying an A-4 Skyhawk during a 1967 bombing run and then held prisoner of war for more than five years. As a U.S. senator in the 1990s he played a key role in helping normalize relations between the two countries.

"McCain is someone who understands Vietnam," said Phan Manh Tien, 54, a retired soldier and truck driver. However, he said he prefers Obama because he considers the Democrat, who opposed the Iraq war from the outset, less hawkish.Not everyone agreed, however.Le Lan Anh, a Hanoi real estate tycoon and novelist, recently wrote a book about a U.S. fighter pilot inspired by McCain, calling him "a great man," in part because he passed up the opportunity to leave prison early, ahead of other U.S. inmates. "He's patriotic," she said. "As a soldier, he came here to destroy my country, but I admire his dignity."

Many in Pakistan, a close ally in the U.S. war on terror, say they will be glued to television sets and the Internet on election day. The results, they say, will have broad implications for their own country and neighboring Afghanistan, where American forces have been battling the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies. Violence has spread in recent months from tradition border regions to the capital, Islamabad, where a suicide bombing at the Marriott Hotel recently left more than 50 dead. The last eight years have "affected our economy and our peace," said Mohammad Zubair, a 33-year-old lawyer in Lahore, who like others was widely anticipating an Obama win. "I hope the election will bring change to Pakistan as well." The mood at the Indonesian elementary school where Obama studied for two years, meanwhile, was especially upbeat Monday with a crowd of 500 offering prayers for their former student at an early morning flag-raising ceremony. Former teachers, classmates and friends fondly remember the then-chubby 8-year-old as a hardworking, good-natured and, to their amusement, sometimes naughty child. "I taught him a few bad words in Indonesian," said childhood friend Rully Dassad, who still lives near the school in an upscale neighborhood in the capital. He described how students would burst into laughter when young Barack mimicked him. "But he was a very good sport about it."

Though she is now 69, Murtiningsi's memories of Obama are still strong. She describes standing in front of her class of third graders one Monday morning telling students that when she was young, her dream was to be a teacher.
"You too should follow your dreams," she said, asking the children what they wanted to be. "Barry was the only one who said he wanted to be president. ... I hope his dream comes true."

[dwarakesh]

Indians express support for Obama victory

Recent poll results indicate that a majority of Indians support Barack Obama's candidacy for the US presidential elections.

"Obama has strong reservations on outsourcing and has made many statements during his election speeches that he would discourage this when he comes into power. This is definitely not good news for the burgeoning Indian IT and ITeS sector. However, the research results still show very high support for Obama amongst the Indian respondents, which clearly indicates that common people are thinking of other aspects," Sujay Sen Gupta, president at Tecnova India, told the Economic Times.

According to the Tecnova poll, a startling 54 per cent of Indian respondents felt that world peace would improve if Obama won the election. An additional 43 per cent believed that global financial stability would increase during an Obama administration. However, a mere 24 per cent of participants expressed similiar sentiments about Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

A recent GlobalNR poll querying 10,392 individuals concluded that an average of 73 per cent were in favor of an Obama victory.

Source: Economic Times

[dwarakesh]

Entire town in south India praying for Obama win

If politics makes strange bedfellows, economics can make even stranger. Even as Barack Obama
and John McCain slug it out in the US presidential election, the people of an entire town in southern India are desperately praying for an Obama win.

The economy of the knitwear garment exporting town of Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, almost 400 km from state capital Chennai, is driven almost entirely by exports to more than 35 countries around the world. But, as is to be expected, the exporters' biggest market is the US.

The slowdown in the US and European markets since the early part of this year, a fluctuating rupee vis-a-vis the dollar and several local problems saw the town's exports in fiscal 2007-08 dip for the first time since the early 1980s.

Export revenues of the town came down to Rs.99.5 bn ($2 bn) in 2007-08 from Rs.110 bn in the previous year. Now with the global financial meltdown drying up US and European orders further, the chances of growth this year too have disappeared, exporters say.

"We expected growth this year but going by current trends that will not happen as new orders are not coming in," A. Sakthivel, president of the Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA), told IANS, adding: "We will probably close this year with 10 percent negative growth over last year."

"If the present trend continues then Tirupur knitwear units may have to lay off some 10,000 workers," he warned. But Tirupur's exporters, ancillaries and workers believe an Obama win will change all that.

"There is a general perception here that a Democrat-led US government is better for Indian business," Azhill M.S. Mani, president of the Tirupur Industrial Federation, told IANS.

"Obama is certainly a better bet if we go by his pre-election speeches and announcements," echoed S.K. Vivekananda, managing director of knitwear exporter Shakthi Knitting Ltd.

Thus, the 7,000-odd knitwear and ancillary units of the town employing some 600,000 people are chanting Om Obama after Om Labhum, said a local wag. As Labhum is the local word for profit and Om is a Hindu word for veneration, most units in Tirupur have Om Labhum written on their sign boards.

Source: Economic Times