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NEW DELHI TIMESR.N.I. No 53449/91 DL-SW-1/4124/21-23 Page 24 Rs. 7.00 20 - 26 June 2022Vol - 32 No. 21

ESTABLISHED 1991

(Monday/Tuesday same week) (Published Every Monday) ISSN -2349-1221 New Delhi Founder : Dr. Govind Narain Srivastava

The new leadership A Far Sighted Vision for The UAE

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Self-control and its impact on people

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Self-control refers to our ability to manage our behaviour in order to achieve goals, improve positive outcomes, and avoid negative consequences. Self-control is an important skill that allows us to regulate behaviour in order to achieve our long-term goals. It is the ability to regulate and alter our responses in order to avoid undesirable behaviours and increase desirable ones. Research has shown that possessing self-

control can be important for health and well-being. Common goals such as exercising regularly, eating healthy, not procrastinating, giving up bad habits, and saving money are just a few worthwhile ambitions that people believe require self-control. People use a variety of terms for self-control, including discipline, determination, grit, willpower...PAGE 4

First-ever Security and Defence Consultation between EU & India

India-ASEAN celebrate 30 years of consequential

friendship

Vietnam-India build stronger

defence ties

Here’s why a movie made by Muslims is causing protests from Muslims

Great leaders are visionary, far-sighted and ambitious. They take fragmented societies and lay strong foundations for the future of their nations.

Great leaders never die. They live in our collective memory and, more importantly, feed people’s aspirations to become better citizens who

are eager to go above and beyond and serve their countries. The United Arab Emirates welcomed His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the third President of The United Arab Emirates (UAE). Well, mere advancement in technology can’t be the only parameter for development and progress in this fast moving, ever-evolving world.

It is imperative and the same time inspiring to note that the core value of progressive thought is manifested by The United Arab Emirates as it keeps tradition intact with progress and development. The UAE has been blessed with commendable leadership from the very start and the successive leaders of the country have kept the values and teachings of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and other Founding Fathers very close to their heart. We are sure that the new...

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20 - 26 June 20222

India’s only International Newspaper

NEW DELHI TIMESOpinion

◆ By NDT Special Bureau

@NewDelhiTimes

[email protected]

◆ By Tarek Fatah Author & Columnist, Canada

@[email protected]

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D

Here’s why a movie made by Muslims is causing protests from Muslims

ome Muslims, especially those who claim to be our community leaders,

seem to take offence at anything and everything they disagree with. Whether it is asking for the beheading of an Indian woman, Nupur Sharma, who merely read verbatim from the Islamic scriptures, or demanding a ban on the U.K. movie The Lady of Heaven, that depicts the life of Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad, they seem incapable at times of civilized and rational debate.

We Muslims now appear to behave like dormant volcanoes that erupt without warning. But what was intriguing about the controversy in Britain was that the movie was produced and written by observant Muslims who follow the Shia branch of Islam and have been historically ostracized and persecuted by Sunni Muslims all over the Islamic world.

Though it is said the Prophet himself had anointed his son-in-law Ali as his successor after his last pilgrimage, he and his daughter Fatima were left outside the power structure of the emerging Islamic state of Madina. The property inherited by Fatima – the gardens

of Fadak– was usurped and the Prophet’s own family was left deprived of sustenance.

But Sunni Islamists for centuries have denied this claim and under the Ummayyad Caliphate of Damascus, the entire family of the Prophet was massacred in Karbala, Iraq, and the few who survived took refuge in India under the rule of the Hindu ruler Raja Dahir in Sindh (today’s Pakistan).

Back to the movie: Written by Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Yasser al-Habib,

The Lady of Heaven executive producer Malik Shlibak told Sky News that the film tells the story of Lady Fatima’s “life, her struggles, the journey she went through,” referring to her as the “the first victim of terrorism.”

He continued: “We believe she is the best figure in history for us (Muslims) today to learn from, to know how to tackle things such as extremism, radicalism and corruption. And we felt it’s important to share this story with the world.”

Not so easy, as Shlibak would find out. After scores of Islamists demonstrated outside movie theatres and branded it as blasphemous, Cineworld in the U.K. city of Sheffield cancelled a screening of the film. while radical МцsIims picketed outside the theatre and branded it as ‘blasphemous.’ There were even reported chants of allahu akbar in front of the theatre.

Malik Shlibak told the BBC, “Islam is a complex religion with various interpretations. Hundreds of millions of Muslims believe in what’s in the film.” On the issue of the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, Shlibak rightly pointed out that not all Muslims believe he cannot be depicted.

He is right, and I have seen paintings of the Prophet.

As a Sunni Muslim married to a Shia, I can testify that the schism within Islam is extremely lopsided with clear evidence from across the Islamic world that Shias are persecuted, be it in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia; Egypt (where they’ve been practically wiped out) or Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

Banning a film depicting the sad story of Lady Fatima is yet another example of the threat we face from the medieval world of Islamists who have contempt for the “kafirs” (non-believers) as well as the Muslims they consider as non-Muslim — including the Shia.

The question for us in Canada is this: Will our cinemas show The Lady of Heaven or will they bow to the bullying of Islamists as other Canadian institutions have?

Shri Ram - Sita & Lord BuddhaPermanent Anchors of India - Nepal Ties

uring his visit to Lumbini, Nepal, on May 16, 2022, which also coincided

with the auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that common heritage, common culture, common faith and common love are the greatest asset in the relations between India and Nepal. From Sarnath, Bodh Gaya and Kushinagar in India to Lumbini in Nepal, the holy places symbolize the shared heritage and shared values between India and Nepal.

The Indian PM stated that India and its people have looked at Nepal as a region with shared vision and faith for thousands of years. The PM said that the teachings of Lord Buddha and the boundless reverence for him united both the countries in one thread. PM Modi also mentioned during his speech at Lumbini, “Our Ram is also incomplete without Nepal. The Indian Prime Minister thus stressed upon the contours of relations between India and Nepal from not just political or economic perspective but from the perspective of civilization history.”

In successive visits to Nepal, the Indian Prime Minister has reiterated the historical civilisation ties and the people to people contact between India and Nepal. On May 11, 2018, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking at the civic reception in the

Barahbiga ground in Janakpur, Nepal, remarked, “India and Nepal are two countries, but our friendship is not of recent times, we are friends since Treta Yug (since ages). King Janak and King Dashrath tied not only Janakpur and Ayodhya but India and Nepal also in the bonds of friendship and partnership. This is the bond of Ram-Sita and of Buddha and also of Mahavir. This is the bond which pulls the people of Rameshwaram to Pashupatinath. This is the bond which pulls the people of Lumbini to Bodh Gaya”. The Indian PM further stated, “India-Nepal relations are not linked to any definition, but they are attached to a language and this is the language of faith, this is the language of affection, this is the language of bread and this is the language of relationships forged through marriage of daughters. This is the place of Mother Janaki, without whom Ayodhya is incomplete. Our mother and our faith, both are the same; our nature and our culture, both are also the same; our way and our prayers are also the same.

There is this fragrance of our hard work and also the echo of our valour. Our hopes and aspirations are also the same, so are our desires and our ways. Our desires, our objective and our destination are also the same.

This is the land of those hard workers whose contribution provides further impetus to the developmental journey of India. India’s belief system is incomplete without Nepal. India’s faith and history

is incomplete without Nepal. Our pilgrim centres are incomplete without Nepal. And even our Ram is also incomplete without Nepal”. It may be noted that Lord Ram and Mata Sita, two revered religious icons in Hinduism have an association with both India and Nepal. Lord Ram was born in Ayodhya while Sita was born in Nepal’s Janakpur.

The collaboration between India and Nepal in the cultural domain reinforces this historical bond between the two neighbours. Cooperation to enhance religious tourism has gathered pace with the efforts to construct a Ramayana circuit and a Buddhist circuit. As part of the Ramayana circuit, the Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train will also visit destinations associated with Lord Ram in Nepal which includes Dhanusha Pahar, Baawan Bigha Kshetra, Ma Janki Janmasthali Mandir and Shri Ram Vivah Sthal.

The construction of a Buddhist circuit has received overwhelming support from the government of Nepal. The Buddhist circuit is a route that links the significant historical places associated with Buddha from Lumbini in Nepal where he was born, through Bihar in India where he attained enlightenment, to Sarnath and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh in India, where he gave his first sermon and died respectively.

The proposed Lumbini-Kushinagar rail link is another significant initiative in this regard. This will also bolster growth in the tourism sector, which forms one of

the mainstays of the economy of Nepal. The construction of the Lumbini Museum in Nepal is also an example of joint cooperation between the two countries.

India and Nepal have also signed a number of MoUs/Agreements that reinforce cultural cooperation between the two. These include MoU between Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Lumbini Buddhist University on the establishment of Dr. Ambedkar Chair for Buddhist Studies, MoU between ICCR and CNAS, Tribhuvan University on the establishment of ICCR Chair of Indian Studies and MoU between ICCR and Kathmandu University (KU) on the establishment of the ICCR Chair of Indian Studies.

Relations between India and Nepal are formed by the bedrock of age-old connection of history, culture, tradition and religion, these relations are close, comprehensive and multidimensional and are pronounced more in political, social, cultural, religious and economic engagements with each other.

These relations are not a creation of recent times but have been shaped by a shared cultural past as well as geographical continuity and socio-cultural identities. The ties of spiritual and cultural bonds that have tied together Nepal and India for ages have played a significant role and any co-operation between the two countries in this direction will add to the unity of purpose and identity of views of the two people.


20 - 26 June 2022 3


NEW DELHI TIMES Editor’s Desk

◆ Dr. Ankit Srivastava Chief Editor

@[email protected]

G

The new leadership A Far Sighted Vision for The UAE

Good leaders walk alongside their people to make things right;

Great leaders go an extra mile to do what is right.

reat leaders are visionary, far-sighted and ambitious. They take fragmented

societies and lay strong foundations for the future of their nations. Great leaders never die. They live in our collective memory and, more importantly, feed people’s aspirations to become better citizens who are eager to go above and beyond and serve their countries.

The United Arab Emirates welcomed His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the third President of The United Arab Emirates (UAE).

W e l l , mere advancement in technology can’t

be the only parameter for development and progress in this fast moving, ever-evolving world. It is imperative and the same time inspiring to note that the core value of progressive thought is manifested by The United Arab Emirates as it keeps tradition intact with progress and development. The UAE has been blessed with commendable leadership from the very start and the successive leaders of the country have kept the values and teachings of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and other Founding Fathers very close to their heart. We are sure that the new President of the UAE will govern the country with utmost valour and his leadership will set precedence for many to follow.

One of the key visions of the President is the implementation of the five-decade government plan – “The UAE Centennial 2071”. The UAE Centennial is based on the following four pillars that encompasses almost all the aspects of socio-economic development and also reflect the values of cultural pluralism and respect for diversity as reflected in the UAE society:

1.) Establishing the government of the UAE as the best government in the world, with a long-term vision and inspirational

leadership that anticipates and prepares for the future and on a related note, achieving happiness in society and spreading positive messages internally

and to the world and developing mechanisms for monitoring long-

term variables in various sectors.

2.) Laying thrust on quality education with a special

focus on advanced science and technology, space science,

engineering, innovation & health sciences and make educational institutions as incubators of entrepreneurship and innovation and to be international research centres.

3.) Making the UAE a diversified knowledge economy by laying thrust on increasing productivity of national economy, support of national companies, investment in scientific research and promising sectors, focus on innovation, entrepreneurship and advanced industries,

development of a national strategy to shape the

future of the UAE’s economy and

industry, and place the UAE among

the internationally important economies.

4.) Community development, which entails making the UAE a happy

and cohesive society. Some objectives in this regard i n c l u d e establishing

a secure, tolerant, cohesive

and ethical society that embraces happiness and a

positive lifestyle and a high quality of life. The pillar also focuses on developing

programmes to prepare

fu ture

generations to serve as the UAE’s goodwill ambassadors, as well as promoting women’s participation in all sectors, making the UAE one of the best places to live in.

At the launch of the UAE Centennial 2071, His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had tweeted then that the vision is based on the lecture of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the then Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for future generations, and the goal is for future generations to live a happier life in a better environment, with bigger opportunities and stronger communication with the world.

The pillars of the UAE Centennial 2071 are construed around a historic speech given by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in 2017, when he was the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, in which he called for developing a long-term vision for the next 50 years; a vision that ensures future generations enjoy the same level of satisfaction and security as the population does now.

A key economic vision of the new UAE President is decreasing the reliance on oil and seeking diversified sources of economic growth. In a landmark speech given by the current UAE President at the World Government Summit in 2015, this vision was explained in the following words,

“We think and plan for the next 50 years and for the benefit of next generations, by building a

diversified, solid and sustainable economy that does not depend only on traditional resources and opens promising prospects that contribute

to strengthening the foundations and capabilities of the nation.”

“The question is, 50 years from now after we have loaded this last barrel of oil, are we going to feel sad? If

our investment today is right, I think – dear brothers and sisters – we will

celebrate that moment.”

The vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has played a pivotal role in diversifying the UAE economy and looking beyond the oil revenues.

In his speech, H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan also highlighted the importance of education and said that “The UAE’s best bet at this period of time where we have wealth is to invest all our

resources in education

because there will be a time,

50 years from now, when we

load the last barrel of oil aboard the ship.” He had also

earlier laid thrust on the importance of education as a driver of development during his speech delivered on the UAE’s 39th National Day in 2010 where he stated that “our reliance upon knowledge and scientific thinking to achieve total development is the only way to bring our nation ahead to the stage of non-oil production, a lesson learnt from nations with little or no natural resources”.

In the domain of international politics, H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has time and again reiterated the commitment of the UAE to preserve the values of multilateralism, international cooperation and establishing a peaceful international order. He was a key figure in the signing of the Abraham Accords that defined a new era in normalising the ties of the UAE with Israel & remarked, I quote,

“When we decided on this step, we were looking forward to a level of co-operation that goes beyond just peace itself. The UAE aspires to a greater peace, one that is for the

benefit of all.”

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has also established himself as one of the global leaders who have a clearly defined vision for environmental protection. He has been a key figure behind the launch of the UAE’s ‘Net Zero 2050 Strategic Initiative’. The plan will mean 600 AED billion being invested in clean and renewable energy sources in the next three decades. Announcing the launch of the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 Strategic Initiative he remarked that it was “consistent with the long-standing vision of the UAE and its people to make a significant contribution to global sustainability efforts, while supporting economic and human development both at home and around the world.”

All in all, the new UAE President is committed in ensuring that not only does the UAE continue on the path of economic development, but serves as an ideal model of social growth and tolerance. H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s vision, patience, outstanding ideas and stern leadership will take the UAE to new heights, and the country will serve as a shooting star in the darkness of adversities of the modern era.

We hope to see that the UAE reaches to new heights in the Presidency of H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.


20 - 26 June 20224


NEW DELHI TIMESOpinion

◆ By Ryszard Czarnecki Member of European Parliament

@r_czarnecki

◆ By Sujay Dhawan Senior Editor

@[email protected]

T

T

First-ever Security and Defence Consultation between EU & IndiaStrengthens Defence Cooperation

he European Union regards India as a key security player in the emerging

global multipolar order and has consistently sought regular exchanges and coordination with India on major foreign policy issues. This has also entailed enhancing cooperation on security and defence policies. The 2018 Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the European Council on Elements for an EU Strategy of India states that the EU and India have significant stakes in the stability and security of their extended neighbourhood which overlaps in Central Asia, the Middle East/West Asia, Africa and the Indian Ocean. Their shared values and principles point at a general convergence of interests in these regions, in terms of ensuring their development, prosperity and security. The EU should enhance engagement with India on these areas from a practical perspective, striving for joint assessments, analysis and action.

Enhancing cooperation in security and defence is thus one of the key pillars of the India-European Union (EU) strategic partnership. The “India-EU Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025” endorsed during the 15th India-European Union

Summit held on July 15, 2020, called for strengthening and expanding India-EU dialogue mechanisms on foreign policy and security issues of common interest and to strengthen cooperation and work towards tangible outcomes on shared objectives of non-proliferation and disarmament, maritime security, counter-terrorism (including counter-radicalisation, anti-money-laundering and countering terrorism financing) and cyber security.

The EU’s engagement with India on defence and security cooperation was elevated to a new height with the holding of the first ever India-EU Security and Defence Consultations held on June 10, 2022, in Brussels. The consultations noted a number of positive developments in the domain of security and defence cooperation between the two sides in recent years including cooperation in the maritime security. The EU sees India as the most important partner in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as is manifested by the increasing maritime cooperation between the two sides.

One of these developments is the establishment of a regular maritime security dialogue between India and the EU. The second such dialogue held in February 2022, reiterated the commitment of both sides to a free, open, inclusive and rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific region, underpinned by respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, democracy, rule of

law, freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce, and peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, notably the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Another important aspect of India-EU defence cooperation discussed on the consultations was implementation of the European code of conduct on arms export to India’s neighbourhood, cooperation in co-development and co-production of defence equipment, India’s participation in the Permanent Structured Cooperation on Security and defence (PESCO). The PESCO was launched in 2017 to strengthen Europe’s security and defence and to help reach the level of ambition of the EU expressed in the EU Global Strategy published in 2016. In

October 2020, the EU Member States agreed on conditions to allow countries outside the EU to participate in joint defence projects, and to allow access to PESCO. Encouraging India’s participation in the PESCO and enhancing convergence has the potential to be an effective bulwark against an assertive China in the IOR.

The inaugural Security and Defence Consultation between EU and India constitutes a milestone towards a closer partnership in the security domain. Such dialogues need to be continued in the future. India-EU defence and security cooperation is an important pillar of the bilateral strategic relations. It would also be beneficial if India chalks out a well-defined strategy on increasing defence cooperation with the EU.

India-ASEAN celebrate 30 years of consequential friendship

he year 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the relations between India and

the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), political and economic union of 10 member states in South - East Asia. The year 2022 has been designated at the ASEAN-India Friendship Year. From sectoral partner in 1992 to dialogue partner in 1996 and afterwards summit-level partnership in 2002 and the up gradation of this partnership to Strategic Partnership during the celebration of 20th anniversary Commemorative Summit at New Delhi in 2012, India and ASEAN celebrated 25 years of their partnership in 2018, a milestone of India’s constructive engagement with the regional group.

ASEAN is an important trading partner of India. India- ASEAN trade and investment relations have been growing steadily, with ASEAN being India’s fourth largest trading partner. India’s trade with ASEAN stands at US$ 81.33 billion, which is approx. 10.6% of India’s overall trade. India’s export to ASEAN stands at 11.28% of its total exports.

With the upgradation of Look East Policy to Act Easy Policy in 2014, India’s relationship with ASEAN was elevated to a new level. ASEAN has now become one of the cornerstones of India’s foreign policy. India views ASEAN as a main pillar of its Act East Policy. Delhi Declaration of the 2018 ASEAN–India Commemorative Summit reiterated India’s support for ASEAN centrality in the evolving region security architecture and reaffirmed the ASEAN–India “commitment to work closely together on common regional and international security issues of mutual concern and ensure

an open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based architecture.”

Indian Prime Minister speaking at ASEAN-India summit in Manila in 2018, said: “India’s Act East Policy is shaped around ASEAN, and its centrality in the regional security architecture of the Indo-Pacific is self-evident. Our wide-ranging agenda of cooperation under the 3rd ASEAN-India Plan of Action has progressed well covering the three crucial pillars of politico-security, economic and cultural partnership.”

In 2020, India and ASEAN adopted the plan of action for 2021-25 through the implementation of which both sides will towards supporting the ASEAN Community building and integration process, including the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together, for a politically cohesive, economically integrated, socially responsible and a truly people-oriented, people-centred and rules-based ASEAN, narrowing the development gap and enhancing ASEAN Connectivity and will also further promote cooperation in addressing common and emerging challenges and enhance coordination in other international fora on issues of common concern to contribute to overall peace, stability and prosperity. India also actively supports the ASEAN Outlook of the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) as both AOIP and India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) share relevant fundamental principles in promoting peace and cooperation. Both sides are committed to deepen the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership by exploring potential cooperation between the AOIP and the IPOI – including in the four areas outlined in the AOIP, namely, maritime cooperation, connectivity, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and economic and other possible areas of cooperation.

During the 22nd ASEAN-India Joint Cooperation Committee Meeting held at the

ASEAN Secretariat on 23 March, 2022, India and ASEAN reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen their strategic partnership and effectively continue the implementation of the Plan of Action to ensure the depth and breadth of the engagement between ASEAN and India benefit the peoples of both sides. The two sides also underscored the importance of the implementation of the ASEAN-India Joint Statement on Cooperation on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific for Peace, Stability, and Prosperity in the Region, which was adopted by the Leaders at the 18th ASEAN-India Summit in October 2021.

On June 16 and 17, 2022, Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (SAIFMM) took place to commemorate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations. Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore, and Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of the Republic of India, co-chaired the meeting. The two sides stressed upon the importance of strengthening of ties in the context of the current global scenario marked by two important events – the ongoing Russia Ukraine War and the US-China rivalry. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan remarked’ “These developments, if unchecked, can threaten the sole system of peace and stability which we have depended on for the basis of our growth and development and prosperity over many decades”. The Indian Foreign Minister stated that India fully supported a strong, unified, prosperous ASEAN whose centrality in the Indo-Pacific is fully recognized.

According to a statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the discussions included key focus areas of Covid-19 & Health, Trade & Commerce, Connectivity – physical and digital, Education & Capacity Building, as well as implementation of ASEAN-India Joint

Statement on Cooperation on the AOIP. India and ASEAN committed to carry forward the political, security, economic, socio-cultural and development cooperation by utilizing relevant existing ASEAN-led mechanisms. The meeting agreed on implementing the decisions contained in the ASEAN-India Joint Statement on Cooperation on the AOIP for Peace, Stability, and Prosperity in the Region, adopted at the 18th ASEAN-India Summit in October 2021, and to explore potential cooperation between the AOIP and IPOI initiated by India, in areas such as maritime cooperation, including maritime security, maritime connectivity, the Blue Economy, Disaster Risk Management, Search and Rescue (SAR) cooperation, marine environmental protection, and maritime safety.

Enhancing Connectivity has also been an important dimension of India-ASEAN relations. As such, the SAIFMM committed to strengthen regional connectivity, including both physical and digital, and explore synergies between the MPAC 2025 and India’s connectivity initiatives under India’s Act East Policy.

Both India and ASEAN share common challenges of security and non-traditional security. Both sides view each other as a significant regional player. A strengthening India-ASEAN friendship will not only boost the security architecture in the Indo-Pacific region but will also lead to a better world order.

PC :

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20 - 26 June 2022 5


NEW DELHI TIMES International

International Political Scenario of the Week ◆ By NDT Bureau

@NewDelhiTimes

[email protected]

Denmark

The Defence Command of the Danish armed forces has said that Russian warshiphas violated the country’s territorial waters. In a statement on June 17, Forsvarskommando ,the Defence Command of the Danish armed force said: “ Last night, a Russian corvette sailed into Danish territorial waters north of Christiansø. Later that night, the same corvette again crossed the territorial sea boundary also north of Christiansø. After a call on civilian VHF radio from the Navy’s maritime task force, the Russian ship immediately left Danish territorial waters”

Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said Denmark summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the incident. “It has been communicated in very clear terms to the Russian ambassador that this type of action is completely inadmissible,” Kofod said in a statement. “We will not accept this type of Russian provocations.”

Haiti

The United Nations has expressed concern at the increasing rate of crime and violence in Haiti and has called for greater assistance to the Haitian authorities. The UN Special Representative Helen La Lime, who also

heads the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), in a briefing to the Security Council called for greater support for the Caribbean nation as protracted insecurity and prolonged political uncertainty, together with the dire economic situation and growing humanitarian needs, are severely hampering development and undermining peacebuilding efforts.

“It is essential that Haiti remain at the forefront of the international community’s agenda, and that national authorities receive the assistance they need to address these inter-connected challenges. Nonetheless, only Haitians hold the key to unlocking sustainable solutions to the country’s protracted crisis,” she said.

Lime reported on growing gang control of large areas of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Kidnappings and homicides also are on the rise. Last month alone, 201 people were killed, and 198 abducted, representing an average for each of almost seven cases per day. The violence has kept people trapped in their homes or neighbourhoods, and forced the closure of dozens of schools, medical centres, businesses, and markets. Some 17,000 people have been displaced. The country has been without a functioning parliament for more than two years, the justice sector is almost completely paralyzed, and it has been a year since the assassination of its President, Jovenel Moïse. “It is highly unlikely that elections which would usher a return to democratic governance will take place this year,” Lime said, adding that the creation of a new Provisional Electoral Council is “frustratingly still a distant prospect.”

Tunisia

The deteriorating economic crisis is Tunisia amidst rising prices, high unemployment and widespread poverty, is leading to protests in the county. Wheat and grain prices have surged on global markets due to rampant speculation, and now the NATO-Russia war in Ukraine that has prevented Russia and Ukraine from exporting their wheat.

Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) organised a strike of public workers demanding wage increases and protesting the government’s planned economic

reforms. President Kais Saied’s government unveiled plans to cut its massive public wage bill and said it would progressively reduce energy and food subsidies starting next year. The government said it would replace subsidies with cash handouts for low-income families.

The response to the call for strike was overwhelming. Airports, mass transit, post offices, energy companies, ports, wheat, fuel and phosphate monopolies and other workplaces shut down on June 16. Fully 96.2 percent of UGTT members participated in the strike.

◆ By Himanshu Sharma Editor

@[email protected]

I

Vietnam-India build stronger defence ties

ndia’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh paid a three-day visit to Vietnam

during June 7-9. He met with Vietnam’s Minister of National Defence, General Pham Van Giang in Hanoi. On June 8, both the Defence Ministers signed the ‘Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030’, to “significantly enhance the scope and scale of existing defence cooperation,” between the two traditional allies.

Logistics Agreement: In their presence, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed as a major step towards simplifying procedures for mutually beneficial logistic support—the first such major agreement Vietnam has signed with any country.

Logistics agreements are administrative arrangements facilitating access to military facilities for exchange of fuel and provisions on mutual agreement simplifying logistical support and increasing operational turnaround of the military when operating away from mainland. India’s first Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement was with the U.S. in 2016 and many followed thereafter with Quad countries (Japan and Australia), France, Singapore and South Korea. One with Russia is pending.

Both countries agreed on the early finalization of the $500 million Defence Line of Credit extended to Vietnam. Singh also announced gifting two simulators and a monetary grant for setting up of Language and IT Lab at Air Force Officers Training School for capacity building of Vietnamese

armed forces. Singh visited the training institutions of Vietnam at Nha Trang, including the Telecommunication University where an Army Software Park is being set up with $5 million grant from India.

Implementation of the projects will add substantially to Vietnam’s Defence capabilities and also push PM Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India, Make for the World’. They held “wide-ranging discussions on effective and practical initiatives to further expand bilateral defence engagements and regional and global issues.”

Comprehensive Strategic Partnership: India and Vietnam are marking 50 years of bilateral diplomatic relations. Strategic Partnership commenced in 2007 during Vietnamese Premier’s India visit. That upgraded to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016. Defence cooperation remains a key pillar of this partnership.

Bilateral defence engagements now include wide-ranging contacts including defence policy dialogues, military to military exchanges, high-level visits, capacity building and training programs, cooperation in U.N. Peace Keeping, ship visits and bilateral exercises.

India-Vietnam Defence cooperation: India-Vietnam signed the MoU on Defence Cooperation in November 2009 to kick-start defence partnership. Indian ships regularly make friendly port calls to Vietnam. For the first time, a Vietnamese Ship participated in the International Fleet Review at Vishakhapatnam, in 2016. Singh handed over 12 high-speed guard boats built by L&T under India’s $100 million defence Line of credit, calling it ‘glowing example of Make in India-Make for World mission’.

Salience of Vietnam for India: India has maintained relations since Vietnam’s anti-

colonial struggle. The logistics agreement now takes their strategic cooperation one notch higher. India needs Vietnam to counter China and upset latter’s geostrategic calculations in the South China Sea.

Under Act East Policy, India is developing relations with neighbours including Vietnam; China objects to that. China also threatens Vietnam over oil prospecting in the South China Sea which makes their interests similar. Countries in the region fear China’s policy on the SCS, so avoid maritime cooperation with Vietnam. Only India has remained oblivious to Beijing’s warnings. Indian interests in the maritime region include commercial linkages, freedom of navigation, and a rules-based regional order.

Common Chinese challenge: India-China border disputes are well known. China also poses similar challenges to Vietnam which fought the most modern war from 1979 through 1990, over border and the influences in Khmer Rouge and Cambodia. The South China Sea disputes continue to torment countries sharing maritime or land borders with China.

Vietnam had been building islands in the region for decades. China started late in 2014 but proceeded at unprecedented scale militarizing artificial islands for the first time in history. China’s policy of salami slicing provokes Vietnam in the South China Sea and has yoked India-Vietnam together as reliable partners in the area.

Vietnam has numerous oil and gas projects in the South China Sea. In 2017, Chinese threats forced Vietnam to stop drilling by Spain’s Repsol—one of many such instances of China threatening Vietnam.

India-Vietnam maritime defence ties: India’s long-term presence in the SCS and the large Indo-Pacific region would help

Vietnam’s interests. India supports the Vietnamese stand on upholding maritime security in the SCS and resolving disputes as per international laws, mainly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Maritime defence ties with Vietnam serves India’s policy of “maritime multilateralism” for overcoming transnational challenges and promoting economic activities in the South China Sea. The logistics agreement will add endurance to warships and aircrafts and will open the airbases and ports for the assistance of fuel, rest, ration and basic maintenance. India’s utilitarian interests in the SCS and strategic weight of the Indo-Pacific region, conflicts with the Chinese rise in the area. Vietnam “is an important partner in India’s Act East policy and the Indo-Pacific vision” and the two countries “share a rich history of civilizational and cultural linkages spanning over 2,000 years.”

Vietnam’s position and approach to regional security also aligns with India’s goals and wider perspective of other partners in the region to check China’s influence in the South China Sea. India-Vietnam defence and security cooperation is an important factor of stability in the Indo-Pacific region. India-Vietnam close Defence and Security cooperation is an important factor of stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Imperialist rival China has forced India and Vietnam into each other’s embrace.

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20 - 26 June 20226


NEW DELHI TIMES

◆ By NDT Bureau@NewDelhiTimes

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International

HForeigners pay more for gas in Hungary. It risks an EU fight

ungary has discounted the price of gasoline at the pump. But not if you

have a foreign license plate.

It’s also taxing what it calls “extra profits” of industries including airlines, with carriers like Ryanair and EasyJet increasing ticket prices to cope.

The nationalist government argues that it’s trying to ease an economic downturn and the highest inflation in nearly 25 years amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, but the unusual moves by the central European country are alienating companies and threatening a renewed standoff with the European Union.

With these interventionist measures, which also include price caps on some food items, right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban is jettisoning the conservative financial model of deregulation and free market capitalism.

The policies have helped lower some prices for Hungarians, but some multinational and domestic companies say they are damaging their bottom lines and competitiveness. Meanwhile, the EU has raised questions of whether the policies comply with its rules, following clashes between the 27-nation bloc and Hungary over rule-of-law concerns and corruption.

The EU takes issue with a requirement introduced in May that drivers with foreign license plates pay market prices for fuel at Hungarian gas stations, blocking them from purchasing gas and diesel that has been capped at 480 forints ($1.25) per liter since November.

Representing a price hike of as much as 60% for drivers with vehicles registered in other countries, the EU asked Hungary to scrap the requirement until it could determine if it complies with the bloc’s rules or face legal action, calling it “discriminatory.”

The fuel price cap gave Hungary among the lowest fuel prices in the EU, leading to fuel tourism and increased demand that caused lagging supply and shortages.

“The government had to act, but instead of opting for a more market-friendly solution, they have opted for something which goes straight against the values of the European Union,” Gyorgy Suranyi, an economist and former governor of Hungary’s central bank told The Associated Press.

In a radio interview last week, Orban blamed the war in neighboring Ukraine and EU sanctions against Russia for Hungary’s economic woes: its currency has weakened

to record levels and core inflation soared to 12.2% in May. In comparison, consumer prices rose 8.1% in the 19 countries using the euro.

“We’re now in a wartime situation, and this must be resolved,” Orban said. “(Companies) will have to shoulder more of the burden than they normally do because Hungarian families cannot pay the price for this.”

His government, also facing a spiraling budget deficit after spending billions on handouts ahead of elections in April, said industries from banking to insurance to airlines that have enjoyed “extra profits” arising from soaring demand after the pandemic should contribute to the economic recovery.

It’s imposing a windfall profits tax July 1 that lasts through next year, hoping to raise 815 billion forints ($2.1 billion) to maintain a flagship program that reduces people’s

utility bills and bolster Hungary’s military.

Some targeted industries like fossil fuels and banking are making higher-than-usual profits, but most are not, Suranyi said.

“This is not a windfall tax, this is a confiscation of the capital of these companies, which goes against the rule of law,” he said. “The airlines have definitely no windfall revenue.”

Several commercial airlines agree. The CEO of Ireland-based budget carrier Ryanair called the tax “highway robbery.”

“We call on (Hungary’s government) to reverse this idiotic ‘excess profits’ tax, or at least confine it to industries like oil or gas who are making windfall profits, and not airlines who are reporting record losses,” CEO Michael O’Leary said in a statement.

Ryanair, along with British low-cost airline EasyJet and Hungary-based budget carrier Wizz Air, said they would add around 10 euros (dollars) to each ticket to cover the costs of the new tax.

Hungarian commercial bank K&H Bank said it too would raise its fees.

A government statement said companies should not pass along the costs to customers because “Hungarian families should not have to pay the price of the war.”

“The government has already indicated that it will carry out a thorough investigation of each suspected case and will take firm action against harmful practices,” the statement reads.

Credit : Associated Press (AP)

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Tête-à-tête with Miss Global 2021 ‘Jessica Da Silva’

essica da Silva, a model and beauty queen and currently based in the United

Arab Emirates created history when she was retroactively crowned Miss Global 2021 in the finale held on 11th June 2022 at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center in Bali, Indonesia. She became the first middle eastern woman to win

Miss Global and also the first mother to bag the title. She proved the fact that life isn’t over after having children and still one can pursue one’s dream.

Jessica is an Architect and has also has degree in Sustainability. Currently she is doing post graduate studies at the Rhode

Island School of Design. She also studied at MIT and was a Silver Medalist Swimmer in Brazil and is champion chess player.

Over the last decade Jessica lived in India, Thailand, Bangladesh and Canada and now in the UAE. Since she was 16 years old, Jessica has been modelling around the world for many leading brands and retailers.

Excerpts from the interview with Jessica:

Q. Jessica first let us know how are you

feeling after becoming Miss Global 2021?

- I am feeling happy as anyone would be but moreover I have a feeling of content. I feel calm and relaxed now as I have achieved something I was eyeing from long.

Q. Being a mother or shall we say being

a first mother to bag this title, how is that feeling sinking in?

- Honestly speaking, I am feel that I am blessed that I am a mother and still able to achieve such a feat. It was tough but my family stood by me and it is because of them I am able to walk through such a journey.

Q: What would you want people to know about you that they can’t see?

- I want people to know, that to me external beauty is important, but beauty truly is in the eyes of the beholder. Most important is the beauty we possess inside each of us. I have a warm heart, I am truly an empathetic person, I love to help those less fortunate, I love my family and friends, I love not only giving but inspiring. I prefer to have less but be able to give more. I prefer to live a simple, happy and meaningful life where I feel that I have served a purpose, made someone’s or some family’s life better. As I have come from little and appreciate how challenging the journey is. Despite all the challenges I simply refused to accept that my destiny was created by the lottery of birth. I am spiritual and truly believe we can be whatever aspire to be what is we dream of no matter how big the mountains are to climb we rise above them and create our own destiny.

Q. Is the world of modelling as competitive as we perceive from the outside or it is different?

- Yes indeed its fierce. Competition is cut throat and we have to work very hard. Maintaining proper diet, exercising and that too between hectic modelling assignments. From us models a lot is expected and the pressure to perform best is mounting always.

But somehow one manages and trends along.

Q: What advice would give to other women aspiring to be the Miss Global

- I believe strongly that you don’t just go through life…you Grow through life. Aspire to grow each day, help others, inspire others and be the best you can be with your heart and your mind.

Q: How do you see yourself?

- How I see myself as confident, smart, worthy, deserving, beautiful inside and out, empathetic and respectful and a loving person who loves every living creature and believes that we are all blessed to be here alive, healthy and with bright futures ahead of us. I cherish every day and look forward to growing and learning and becoming better.

Q. What would you say about woman empowerment?

- It is not enough to simply talk about about empowerment and equality, we we need to believe in it, work at it and ensure that others recognize the importance of empowerment, for without it, there is no justice nor equality.Jessica Da Silva Miss Global 2021 : @jessicalayanex

Savoring a special moment, of a young girl’s dream coming true as a young woman


20 - 26 June 2022 7



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Egypt, Israel to boost gas supply to EU amid Ukraine wargypt, Israel and the European Union signed a deal to increase liquified

natural gas sales to EU countries, who aim to reduce their dependence on supplies from Russia as the war in Ukraine drags on.

The deal, stamped in an upscale Cairo hotel, will see Israel send more gas via Egypt, which has facilities to liquify it for export by sea, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said.

“What a special moment,” she said in a joint news conference alongside the Egyptian and Israel Energy Ministers. “I very warmly welcome the signing of this historic agreement.”

Von der Leyen, who visited Israel earlier this week, said the agreement was part of Europe’s efforts to diversify energy sources away from Russia and import hydrocarbons from “other trustworthy suppliers.” She named Israel and Egypt who have emerged as gas exporters in recent years following major offshore discoveries.

Under the deal, the EU will help Egypt and Israel increase their gas production and exploration in their territorial waters. It was not immediately clear how much gas the EU will import from either country.

“It is known that the Russian war against Ukraine has exposed our European dependency on Russian fossil fuels and we want to get rid of this dependency,” von der Leyen said later in a joint news conference with Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

Last year, the European Union imported

roughly 40% of its gas from Russia and has had difficulty imposing sanctions on Russia over its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Israeli Energy Minister Karin Elharrar said the deal was a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused a European energy crisis. She said it also highlights increasing cooperation between Egypt and Israel, two former foes.

“This is a statement to those who see in our region only negative forces such as division and conflict,” Elharrar said. “This (memorandum of understanding) shows us that we are paving a new path of partnership, solidarity and sustainability.”

Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla described the deal as “an important milestone” for cooperation between Egypt, Israel and the EU. He said it will lead to further cooperation between members of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, which

includes Jordan, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, France and Italy.

In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to make peace with Israel. But economic agreements have been controversial in the Arab world’s most populous country, where popular support for the Palestinians runs high. Relations between the two countries have been steadily warming in recent years.

According to the deal, the Israeli gas will be brought via pipeline to Egypt’s LNG terminal in the Mediterranean Sea before being transported by tanker to European shores, Israel’s Energy Ministry said.

Israel has two operational gas fields off its Mediterranean coast containing an estimated 690 billion cubic meters of natural gas combined and a third offshore rig is in the works. It has already signed gas export

agreements with neighboring Egypt and Jordan.

Egypt’s extensive natural gas facilities in the Mediterranean have stood largely inactive since the country’s 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt, with recent major discoveries, exported 8.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2021 and 4.7 billion cubic meters until May this year, according to Refinitiv Eikon, a global provider of financial and market data. Most of the exports, however, go to Asian markets.

In recent years, el-Sissi’s government has rehabilitated and modernized the facilities. In 2018, Egypt signed a $15 billion deal with Israeli company Delek Drilling and its U.S. partner, Noble Energy, to transport natural gas to Israel. Egypt aims to create a regional energy hub, a goal von der Leyen said the deal will help achieve.

El-Sissi and von der Leyen meanwhile held talks that focused on the food crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Egypt, the region’s most populous nation, has been impacted badly by the war in Europe, which has shaken the global economy.

The European official said the EU will provide 100 million euros (around $105 million) for “immediate relief” to help Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer, address food insecurity in the short term.

“This will hopefully help to increase the grain storage capacity and will provide finances for rural businesses and farmers” in Egypt, she said.


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Iran says rocket launch coming after photos show preparationran acknowledged it plans two tests for its new solid-fueled rocket after

satellite photos showed preparations at a desert launch pad previously used in the program, even as tensions remain high over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

The Islamic Republic will launch its satellite-carrying Zuljanah rocket twice more after conducting a previous launch, the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Defense Ministry spokesman Ahmad Hosseini as saying. He did not elaborate on a timeframe for the tests, nor said when the previous launch occurred.

Each of the Zuljanah’s three stages will be evaluated during the tests, Hosseini said.

Satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies showed preparations at a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit.

One set of images showed a rocket on a transporter, preparing to be lifted and put on a launch tower. A later image showed the rocket apparently on the tower.

Though it isn’t clear when the launch will take place, erecting a rocket typically means a launch is imminent. NASA fire satellites, which detect flashes of light from space, did not immediately see any activity over the site.

Asked about the preparations, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington that the U.S. urges

Iran to de-escalate the situation.

“Iran has consistently chosen to escalate tensions. It is Iran that has consistently chosen to take provocative actions,” Price said.

A Pentagon spokesman, U.S. Army Maj. Rob Lodewick, said the American military “will continue to closely monitor Iran’s pursuit of viable space launch technology and how it may relate to advancements in its overall ballistic missile program.”

“Iranian aggression, to include the demonstrated threat posed by its various missile programs, continues to be a top concern for our forces in the region,” Lodewick said.

Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. The program has seen recent troubles, however. There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, a type of satellite-carrying rocket. A fire at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in February 2019 also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time.

The launch pad used in the preparations remains scarred from an explosion in August 2019 that even drew the attention of then-President Donald Trump. He later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure.

Satellite images from February suggested a failed Zuljanah launch earlier this year, though Iran did not acknowledge it.

The successive failures raised suspicion of outside interference in Iran’s program, something Trump himself hinted at by tweeting at the time that the U.S. “was not involved in the catastrophic accident.” There’s been no evidence offered, however, to show foul play in any of the failures, and space launches remain challenging even for the world’s most successful programs.

Meanwhile, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in April 2020 revealed its own secret space program by successfully launching a satellite into orbit. The Guard launched another satellite this March at another site in Semnan province, just east of the Iranian capital of Tehran.

John Krzyzaniak, a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, had predicted that Iran would test another Zuljanah. Krzyzaniak earlier this week suggested a launch was imminent based on activity at the site.

The rocket’s name, Zuljanah, comes from

the horse of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Iranian state television aired footage of a successful Zuljanah launch in February 2021.

The launch preparations also come as the Guard reportedly saw one of its soldiers “martyred” in Semnan province under unclear circumstances over the weekend. Iran’s Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Ministry, however, later claimed the man worked for it. The Zuljanah was designed by that ministry.

The United States has alleged that Iran’s satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution and has called on Tehran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The U.S. intelligence community’s 2022 threat assessment, published in March, claims such a satellite launch vehicle “shortens the timeline” to an intercontinental ballistic missile for Iran as it uses “similar technologies.”


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20 - 26 June 20228


NEW DELHI TIMESNEW DELHI TIMES20 - 26 June 2022 #NDTWomenoftheWorld

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Europe wants more women on its company boards

omen in the European Union (EU) account for around 60% of new

university graduates, yet they are heavily under-represented in economic decision-making, especially at the top.

Since 2012, the EU has been seeking to achieve more balanced representation of men and women on the boards of listed companies. While progress towards more equality in this area has been made, it remains slow and uneven across the member states. The European Council and Parliament have now reached a provisional political deal on a new EU law promoting a more balanced gender representation on the boards of listed companies.

Evidence has shown that more balanced boards make better decisions. Having more women in economic decision-making positions is also expected to boost gender equality within companies and society more generally. Allowing both women and men to fulfil their potential is crucial for economic growth and competitiveness in Europe. Yet, despite the evidence of the positive impact of gender balance and the existence of EU legislation prohibiting sex discrimination, women are still vastly outnumbered by men in the highest decision-making bodies of companies throughout the EU. This gender imbalance is particularly significant and acute in the private sector, especially in listed companies. The EU recognises that increasing

women’s labour market participation is essential to boost economic growth in Europe, improve the competitiveness of European companies, and tackle demographic challenges in Europe. Enhancing women’s participation in economic decision-making, on company boards in particular, is expected to have a positive spill-over effect on women’s employment in the companies concerned and throughout the whole economy. Only a measure at EU level can ensure a competitive level playing field throughout the EU and avoid practical complications in business life. Member states are encouraged to share information about the measures taken and policies adopted at national level, and to exchange best practice, in order to support progress across the EU.

In October 2021, on average, only 30.6% of board members and a mere 8.5% of board chairs were women (up from 10.3% and 3% in 2011). The Council and European Parliament therefore agreed that listed companies should aim to have at least 40% of their non-executive director positions held by members of the under-represented sex by 2026. If member states choose to

apply the new rules to both executive and non-executive directors, the target would be 33% of all director positions by 2026.In the case of member states that do not reach these targets, listed companies will have to put in place transparent procedures for the selection and appointment of board members designed to rectify the situation – such as a comparative assessment of the different candidates on the basis of clear and neutrally formulated criteria.A country which, before the entry into force of the directive, has either achieved progress coming close to the objectives or put in place equally effective legislation, can suspend the directive’s requirements related to the appointment or selection process.The laws will apply to companies with their registered office in a member state and whose shares are admitted to trading on a regulated market in one or more member states. Listed companies would have to aim to have at least 40% of their non-executive director positions held by members of the under-represented sex by 2026. The target would be 33% by 2026 for member states that choose to include both executive and non-executive directors.The member state competent to regulate the listed company would be the member state in which the company has its registered office, rather than the member state on whose regulated market the company trades its shares. The applicable law would be the law of the member state in which the listed company has its registered office. Listed companies which

have not yet reached the target would have to work towards it by introducing procedural rules for the selection and appointment of non-executive board members; and continue to apply the procedural rules and explain what measures they have taken and intend to take in order to reach the target.

Qualification and merit would remain the key criteria. Under the proposed directive there would be a minimum level of harmonisation of corporate governance requirements, as appointment decisions would have to be based on objective criteria; inbuilt safeguards would make sure that there is no unconditional, automatic promotion of the under-represented sex; and preference would be given to equally qualified candidates of the under-represented sex, unless an objective assessment tilts the balance in favour of a candidate of the other sex.

Member states that already have an effective system in place would be able to keep it, provided it is as efficient as the proposed system in attaining the objective of 40% of non-executive directors of the under-represented sex by 2026. Member states are also free to introduce measures that go beyond the proposed system.

Outstanding Women Scientists

n June 23rd, the Fondation L’Oréal and UNESCO will be celebrating 45

eminent women scientists from over 35 countries and all regions of the world at an unprecedented For Women in Science International Awards Ceremony being held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

The past three years have been some of the most challenging for science in recent history. Women have been on the frontlines, addressing unparalleled issues related to climate change, disease, and health crises like the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite being essential to tackle today’s emergencies, female scientists are not yet sufficiently visible and numerous.

Starting on June 20th, the entire week will be dedicated to making Paris a rallying point for some of the world’s top scientific minds. A series of events will create interactions between these outstanding women scientists, including an Extraordinary Lecture at the Academy of Sciences and networking events, leading up to the Awards Ceremony at UNESCO on June 23rd.

In this special Ceremony gathering the laureates from the past three editions, 15 exceptional researchers will receive the

L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards in recognition of their outstanding scientific achievements in recent years, along with 30 young female scientists, selected in 2020 and 2022, who will earn the title of International Rising Talents.

According to UNESCO recent data, the number of women pursuing scientific careers is increasing slightly, only one in three researchers is a woman globally. In the research world, the glass ceiling persists: just 14% of senior academic positions in Europe are held by women and just 4% of the Nobel prizes in science have been awarded to women.

Alexandra Palt, L’Oréal Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer, and CEO of the Fondation L’Oréal, said: “During the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen how women scientists are essential to respond to existential threats to our health, to society, to the planet. But still, they are invisibilized and often face tremendous obstacles during their careers and research studies. This situation is the result of systemic barriers, unconscious bias, self-censorship but also discrimination. This is not just a problem for women: this is a problem for research. To be relevant, research must be inclusive and needs all its talents to be mobilized.”

According to Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences of UNESCO: “Many of the rising female talents being celebrated this year are excelling in fields that will be vital to decarbonizing our future, such as energy storage systems, hydrogen fuel systems and quantum optics, a field of study which is paving the way for more energy-efficient computers. Yet many of their peers working in similarly strategic fields are not getting the recognition that they deserve. UNESCO, as the UN agency in charge of science, which has made gender equality a priority,

is determined to act to put an end to these inequalities. The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science partnership is a relevant example of positive action in this field, giving a voice and visibility to women scientists and to their achievements to meet the challenges of our century”.

Since 1998, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science program has worked to empower more women scientists to overcome barriers to progression and participate in solving the great challenges of our time, for the benefit of all. For 24 years, it has supported more than 3,900 women researchers from over 110 countries, rewarding scientific excellence and inspiring younger generations of women to pursue science as a career. It continues to lobby for these women to receive the recognition that they deserve. These brilliant female researchers have contributed significantly to their respective scientific fields and to finding effective solutions to some of the most pressing and urgent challenges that we face as a global society. This year’s celebration will be a way to acclaim them for their life’s work and the many obstacles they have overcome.

The Fondation L’Oréal supports and empowers women to shape their future and make a difference in society, focusing

on three major areas: scientific research and inclusive beauty and climate action. Convinced that beauty contributes to the process of rebuilding lives, the Fondation L’Oréal helps vulnerable women to improve their self-esteem through free beauty and wellness treatments. It also enables underprivileged women to gain access to employment with dedicated vocational beauty training. On average, around 21,000 people have access to these free treatments every year and more than 27,000 people have taken part in professional beauty training, since the beginning of the program. Finally, women are affected by persistent gender-based discrimination and inequalities, exacerbated by climate change. While they are on the frontline of the crisis, they remain under-represented in climate decision-making. The Women and Climate program of the Fondation L’Oréal supports women who are developing climate action projects addressing the urgent climate crisis and raises awareness of the importance of gender-sensitive climate solutions.

Since its creation in 1945, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has worked to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures, and peoples, based on respect for common values. UNESCO’s mission is to use its unique expertise in education, science, culture, communication, and information to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development, and intercultural dialogue. The Organization has two global priorities: Africa and gender equality. UNESCO is the only UN specialized agency with a specific mandate in the sciences, symbolized by the “S” in its acronym. Through its science-related programs, UNESCO contributes to the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, helps developing countries build their scientific and technological capacities, and supports Member States in their efforts to develop science policies and programs.


20 - 26 June 2022 9



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IIn Yemen, child soldiering continues despite Houthi promise

n the video, a man stands in front of a blackboard in a full classroom,

teaching the parts of an AK-47 rifle. He then hands it over to a boy, showing him how to cock it.

Other children crowd around, many who appear to be no older than 10, asking for their turn. The video, leaked online this month, provides a rare window into child soldier indoctrination by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Local residents confirmed to The Associated Press that it was filmed in recent weeks in Yemen’s rebel-held province of Amran, northwest of the capital, Sanaa.

Despite an agreement with the U.N. in April to halt the practice, the Houthis continue to recruit children into the military ranks to fight in the country’s grinding civil war, Houthi officials, aid workers and residents told the AP.

Two Houthi officials said the rebels recruited several hundred children including as young as 10 over the past two months. Those children have been deployed to front lines, as part of a buildup of forces taking place during a U.N.-brokered truce, which has held for more than two months, one official said.

The officials, both hardliners within the Houthi movement, said they see nothing wrong with the practice, arguing that boys from 10 or 12 are considered men.

“Those are not children. They are true men, who should defend their nation against the Saudi, American aggression, and defend the Islamic nation,” one of them said. The two spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid frictions with others among the Houthis.

The Houthis have used what they call “summer camps” to disseminate their religious ideology and to recruit boys to fight. Such camps take place in schools and mosques around the Houthi-held part of Yemen, which encompasses the north and center of the country and Sanaa.

Yemen’s conflict erupted in 2014 when the Houthis descended from their northern enclave and took over Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee to the south. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to try to restore the government to power, waging a destructive air campaign and arming anti-Houthi forces.

The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including more than 14,500 civilians and has plunged the country into near famine, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Child soldiers have been involved for years.

Nearly 2,000 Houthi-recruited children were killed on the battlefield between January 2020 and May 2021, according to U.N. experts. Pro-government forces have also used child fighters but to a much lesser degree and have taken greater measures to halt the practice, according to U.N and aid officials.

Overall, the U.N. says over 10,200 children have been killed or maimed in the war, though it is unclear how many may have been combatants.

In April, the rebels signed what the U.N. children’s agency described as an “action plan” to end and prevent the practice. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the rebels committed to identifying children in their ranks and releasing them within six months.

UNICEF and the Houthis did not respond to requests for comment on the continued recruitment since.

Four aid workers with three international organizations operating in rebel-held areas said they observed intensified Houthi efforts to recruit children in recent weeks. The Houthis’ ranks have been thinned because of battlefield losses, especially during a nearly two-year battle for the crucial city of Marib.

The aid workers spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of their safety and that their groups could be barred from working in Houthi-held territory.

They said the rebels have pressured families to send their children to camps where they learn how to handle weapons and plant mines, in return for services including food rations from international organizations.

One aid worker who operates in remote northern areas described watching children as young as 10 manning checkpoints along the road, with AK-47s hanging on their shoulders. Others are sent to the front line. He said children have returned wounded from fighting at Marib.

Thousands of fighters were killed in the battle for government-held Marib. The Houthis’ long attempt to capture it was finally stopped in late 2021 when government forces were bolstered by better-equipped fighters backed by the United Arab Emirates.

Abdel-Bari Taher, a Yemeni commentator and former head of the country’s Journalists’ Union, said that the Houthis are exploiting local customs to the children’s and society’s detriment. Having or carrying a weapon is a tradition deeply rooted in Yemen, especially in rural and mountainous communities, he said.


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Malta activists protest, seek to decriminalize abortionbortion rights activists filed a legal protest in Malta’s courts demanding the

legalization of abortion in the only European Union member where the procedure is criminalized.

Toting banners reading “I decide,” “Abortion is a woman’s right” and “Abortion is health care, not a crime,” the activists protested on the steps of Valletta’s legal courts after filing the complaint.

The petition by the Women’s Rights Foundation names the Maltese Health Minister, parliament’s secretary for equality and reforms and the state advocate in asserting that the country’s absolute ban on abortion violates the fundamental human rights of Maltese women of child-bearing age.

The filing doesn’t automatically lead to a court case, but the Women’s Rights Foundation filed a judicial protest six years ago as part of an ultimately successful campaign to legalize emergency contraception in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country.

The activists said that if there is no response to their initial judicial protest, they would launch a court case and would be prepared to take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights. Their case has been bolstered since the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner recently found that Malta’s blanket abortion ban puts the rights of its women “at significant risk.”

“We hope we will have a response from the respective ministries and the state,” said

Lara Dimitrijevic, founder and director of the Women’s Rights Foundation, during the protest.

The Mediterranean island nation of Malta is one of the few Western states that has a total ban on abortion, after the republic of San Marino decriminalized the procedure last year and other overwhelmingly Catholic countries such as Ireland and Italy have legalized it. Poland recently introduced a near-total ban on abortions, but it doesn’t foresee criminal charges against the woman, although they can be filed against the doctor who performs one and others who assist her.

The issue has grown more visible in Malta given reports that the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn the landmark decision that legalized abortions nationwide.

Activists in Malta filed the petition on behalf of 188 people who support abortion rights, including women who have had abortions abroad, been forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term or could get pregnant in the future and want the right to be able to terminate a pregnancy.

At the protest, activists said the prohibition has had a direct impact on the quality of their lives. They said they are being discriminated against, forced to live in fear if they have had the procedure and deprived of their fundamental right to medical care if they are denied it.

“Among us there are persons who were raped or sexually abused, and were terrified that a pregnancy would result from that abuse, knowing full well that instead of finding support they would find condemnation if

they had an abortion,” activists said in a statement read aloud at the protest.

Malta was criticized by the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatović, over its abortion policy. In a February report, Mijatović said that “unimpeded access to sexual and reproductive health care” is critical to preserving a woman’s right to health and her right to be free from discrimination.

“Malta’s blanket ban on abortions puts these rights at significant risk,” she said.

She “strongly urged” Maltese authorities to repeal provisions criminalizing abortion and to develop women’s access to legal and safe abortion.


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NEW DELHI TIMESInternational

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EU sues UK over move to rewrite post-Brexit trade ruleshe European Union sued Britain over its move to rewrite the trade rules

agreed to when the country left the EU two years ago, ratcheting up tensions between the major economic partners.

Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government proposed legislation that would remove customs checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. Those checks were imposed as part of a hard-fought compromise when Britain left the EU and its borderless free-trade zone — but have caused both economic and political problems in Northern Ireland, where some say they undermine the region’s place in the United Kingdom.

The EU has decried Britain’s effort to rip up part of the deal.

“Let’s call a spade a spade: This is illegal,” European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič told a news conference in Brussels.

The EU’s decision to pursue legal action raises the possibility that either or both sides could impose punishing tariffs on the other. Šefčovič refused to rule out such a move. But the prospect of trade war still seemed a distant possibility since both would suffer and have said they want to find a solution outside of the courts.

According to the latest EU figures, the 27-nation bloc is the U.K.’s biggest trading partner, while the U.K. is the EU’s third-biggest trading after the U.S. and China.

At the heart of the dispute — and the whole reason a compromise was needed in the first place — are concerns about stability

in Northern Ireland, which is the only part of the U.K. that shares a border with an EU country, namely Ireland. The checks were imposed in order to keep that border open because that is a key pillar of the peace process that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland.

But British unionists in Northern Ireland say the new checks have put a burden on businesses and frayed the bonds between the region and the rest of the U.K.

The rules have also led to a political crisis in Northern Ireland, where the main unionist party blocked the formation of a new power-sharing government in Belfast, saying it won’t take part until the Brexit trade rules are scrapped.

Šefčovič, the EU commission official, said he’s willing to keep talks going with the U.K. — but insisted solutions should be found within the original agreement, called the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The British government called the EU’s move “disappointing.”

“The U.K.’s preference remains for a negotiated solution but the proposals set out by the EU today are the same proposals we have been discussing for months,” it said.

It added that it had to act because the protocol was undermining Northern Ireland’s peace accord by “disrupting trade and leading to people in Northern Ireland being treated differently to the rest of the U.K.”

While there are serious disagreements between the two sides, the events of this week also reflect maneuvering as each tries to wrangle the best deal from the other.

The legislation the British government proposed will take months to wind its way through Parliament, and officials appear to be hoping they will get a new deal with the EU in the meantime.

That seems unlikely. Officials in the EU and member country governments are incensed at what they see as the U.K.’s intention to break international law. Johnson’s government insists its unilateral move is lawful, but many lawyers and lawmakers — including

some in his governing Conservative Party — disagree.

The so-called infringement procedure that the EU renewed likewise will take months to unfold. The action was originally launched against the U.K. government last year but was put on hold in as both parties tried to find a solution.

The EU says it reopened the case out of frustration with those talks. The EU Commission added that if the British government does not reply within two months, it will consider taking the U.K. to the European Court of Justice.

“There have been only new and new demands coming from the U.K. government,” Šefčovič said.

The EU also opened two other legal actions that accuse the U.K. of ignoring two other parts of the post-Brexit agreement.

The U.K. government said its proposed measures ease the burden on businesses and customers, including by reducing paperwork for goods coming from Britain into Northern Ireland and that are staying there. Goods continuing on to Ireland or elsewhere in the EU would continue to be checked at Northern Ireland ports.

Šefčovič said the EU would flesh out proposals made previously for facilitating the movement of goods from Britain to Northern Ireland while drastically reducing paperwork. But the EU worries lax border checks are letting smuggled goods enter Ireland, a threat to the bloc’s borderless single market.


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Air Force: Crew not at fault for Afghan deaths in evacuationhe Air Force has concluded that air crew members acted appropriately and were

not at fault for some tragic deaths during the chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan last year, when desperate Afghans clung to a military plane as it was taking off and fell to their deaths or were caught in the wheels.

In a statement, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said investigations into the deaths found that the crew “exercised sound judgment in their decision to get airborne as quickly as possible when faced with an unprecedented and rapidly deteriorating security situation.”

Video and other reports from that day vividly show Afghans mobbing the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, frantic to get out of the country when the Taliban seized control and U.S. forces were withdrawing. The C-17 transport plane was surrounded as it landed on the tarmac, and military officials have said the crew feared the plane would be overwhelmed, so they decided to take off.

As the plane lifted off, mobile phone video captured two tiny dots dropping from the aircraft. It later became clear that the dots were Afghans who had tried to hide in the wheel well. As the wheels folded into the body of the plane, the stowaways faced the choice of being crushed to death or letting go and plunging to the ground.

Human remains were found in the wheel well when the plane landed at al-Udeid

Air Base in Qatar. “This was a tragic event and our hearts go out to the families of the deceased,” said Stefanek. She said the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations looked into the incident and then turned the scene over to Qatar authorities, who declined to investigate further.

“The aircrew’s airmanship and quick thinking ensured the safety of the crew and their aircraft,” said Stefanek. “After seeking appropriate care and services to help cope with any trauma from this unprecedented experience, the crew returned to flight status.”

It is still unclear how many were killed. Videos show the two dots falling from the airborne plane, several seconds apart. But two bodies landed on the same rooftop at the same time, suggesting they fell together, so the other figure seen falling in the videos could be at least one other person.


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Cambodian ruling party sues

politician for criticizing vote

rime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party has sued the vice

President of the opposition Candlelight Party for $1 million in compensation for comments he made in an online interview alleging that this month’s local elections were unfair, a spokesman for the governing party said.

A lawyer for the Cambodian People’s Party filed the lawsuit against Son Chhay for saying that the nationwide commune elections were unfree as well as unfair, according to documents filed with the Phnom Penh municipal court.

Son Chhay charged that the National Election Committee was biased in favor of the governing party and that there had been vote-buying and intimidation of voters. His allegations have been denied by the government.

“Son Chhay’s comments spread false information with malicious intent and were slanderous, which was seriously damaging to the reputation of the Cambodian People’s Party, which won the election,” said the complaint filed by the lawyer, Ky Tech.

For several years, long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government has aggressively pursued legal action against its

opponents, hindering their ability to operate freely, and sometimes hounding them into exile or jailing them.

In 2017, the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party was dissolved by the Supreme Court on a charge of treason that was widely seen as politically motivated to ensure a victory for the Cambodian People’s Party in the 2018 general election. Before its dissolution, the opposition party had been expected to mount a strong challenge, but with it off the ballot, Hun Sen’s party won all the seats in the National Assembly.

Sok Eysan, a spokesperson for the governing party, said in social media posts that Son Chhay’s allegations contradicted the will of the voters and insulted state institutions.

Son Chhay said in an email to The Associated Press that the governing party was seeking to weaken his Candlelight Party so they would not need to dissolve it. Son Chhay holds dual Cambodian and Australian citizenship, and another party official, Thach Setha, said he left Cambodia for Australia, before the lawsuit.


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Satellite spots huge burst of methane from Russian coal mine

private company that uses satellites to spot sources of methane emissions

around the globe said that it detected one of the largest artificial releases of the potent greenhouse gas ever seen, coming from a coal mine in Russia earlier this year.

Montreal-based GHGSat said one of its satellites, known as ‘Hugo,’ observed 13 methane plumes at the Raspadskaya mine in Siberia on Jan. 14. The incident likely resulted in about 90 metric tons of methane being belched into the atmosphere in the space of an hour, the company calculated.

“This was a really, really dramatic emission,” Brody Wight, GHGSat’s director of energy, landfills and mines told The Associated Press.

Cutting down methane emissions caused by fossil fuel facilities has become a priority for governments seeking to take quick, effective steps against climate change. That’s because methane is powerful heat-trapping gas second only to carbon dioxide, which stays in the atmosphere for longer.

GHGSat said the plumes detected at Raspadskaya may have been released intentionally, as a safety measure, since the gas can seep out of mines and ignite with potentially deadly outcomes. Two methane explosions and a fire killed 91 people at this mine in 2010, one of the worst such disasters in post-Soviet times.

Companies can prevent the uncontrolled release of methane through best practices. Captured gas can be burned as fuel, lessening its global-warming impact.

GHGSat said it measured further plumes over the mine during subsequent flyovers the following weeks, though these didn’t reach the same “ultra emission” scale seen on Jan. 14.

“Even if it’s only for a short period of time it doesn’t take long for this to be a significant emission,” said Wight.

Manfredi Caltagirone, who heads the International Methane Emissions Observatory at the U.N. Environment Program, said he was not aware of any bigger release of methane from a coal mine.

“If this event is the result of an accumulation of methane that has been then released all at once instead of over several days, the environmental impact would be the same as if a smaller plume was to be released constantly over several days,” said Caltagirone, who wasn’t involved in the GHGSat observation.

“But from a safety perspective it is worrisome,” he said, citing recent mine explosions in Poland that killed 13 people.

Still, the release was likely a very rare event or else other methane-measuring satellites would have picked them up too, said Caltagirone.

GHGSat said it alerted the Raspadskaya mine operator to its findings, but received no response. The operator also didn’t respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Several private and government satellites have been launched into orbit in recent years to help pinpoint methane leaks and raise awareness of the risks they pose to the climate and people’s health.

In one of the most publicized methane leaks in the United States, a 2015 blowout at a natural gas storage in California sickened residents of the San Fernando Valley and led to evacuations of 8,000 homes.


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China’s Xi reasserts support

for Russia on security issues

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hinese President Xi Jinping reasserted his country’s support for Russia on

issues of sovereignty and security in a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, state media said.

Xi told Putin that “all parties should responsibly push for a proper settlement of the Ukraine crisis,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

The Kremlin said in its account of the call that Putin “outlined his fundamental assessments of the situation in Ukraine.” Xi “noted the legitimacy of the actions taken by Russia to protect the fundamental national interests in the face of challenges to its security

created by external forces,” according to Moscow’s official readout.

China has refused to criticize Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or even to refer to it in such terms, while accusing NATO and the West of provoking Moscow into attacking.

Weeks before the Russian attack, Putin and Xi met in Beijing in February and oversaw the signing of an agreement pledging that relations between the sides would have “no limits.” It remains unclear whether Xi knew at the time of Russia’s plan to invade Ukraine.

In that meeting, the two leaders pushed back against U.S. pressure, declaring their opposition to any expansion of NATO and affirming that the island of Taiwan is a part of China, as they met hours before the Winter Olympics kicked off in Beijing.


Philippine officials designate 11 insurgents `terrorists’

he Philippine government has designated a former peace negotiator and five

other suspected communist rebel leaders as “terrorists” in a move that allowed the freezing of their financial assets, which officials said could be used to finance attacks.

The Anti-Terrorism Council separately designated as terrorists five commanders of the Abu Sayyaf, a small but violent Muslim militant group in the country’s south. They have been linked to the Islamic State group in an announcement made public.

Long-running communist and Muslim insurgencies are among key security problems President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stands to inherit when he takes office on June 30. Although considerably weakened by decades of offensives, infighting and factionalism, the communist and Muslim insurgents remain national security threats.

The six rebel leaders accused of membership in the Communist Party of the Philippines, its armed wing the New People’s Army and related organizations were led by Luis Jalandoni, a former Roman Catholic priest who joined the communist rebellion, one of the longest-raging in Asia.

He gained national prominence as the chief rebel negotiator for decades in peace talks with the Philippine government brokered by Norway until he retired years ago. His whereabouts are unknown.

The Anti-Terrorism Council said Jalandoni and the five other high-ranking communist rebels were designated terrorists under Philippine law due to their alleged involvement in the rebel movement and past and future acts of terrorism. It did not elaborate or cite any evidence.

The rebels condemned the government’s

terrorist labeling of the 87-year-old Jalando and the others as a “gross perversion of the truth.”

“It was made without basis and cites no specific judicable facts. It aims to slander them and restrict their democratic rights,” the Communist Party of the Philippines said in a statement.

The Anti-Terrorism Council also did not cite specific evidence against the five Abu Sayyaf commanders. But a military counterterrorism officer said on condition of anonymity that they were based in the southern provinces of Sulu and Basilan and linked to ransom kidnappings and other terrorist attacks.

The government has previously designated the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army along with the Abu Sayyaf as terrorist organizations.

Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte took steps early in his Presidency to foster peace talks with communist guerrillas, who the military estimates at 2,700 fighters. But both sides accused the other of pressing on with attacks and the negotiations eventually collapsed.


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Indonesian leader reshuffles Cabinet amid rising food prices

ndonesian President Joko Widodo announced a Cabinet reshuffle,

replacing key Economic Ministers amid a national cooking oil shortage and rising food prices.

Widodo selected Zulkifli Hasan, the chairman of a political party that joined the ruling coalition last year, as Indonesia’s new Trade Minister, replacing Muhammad Lutfi, who had been criticized for his handling of the cooking oil situation. Hasan held Ministerial positions in previous governments and vowed to quickly tackle the shortage, making cooking oil available “anywhere at an affordable price,” he told a news conference after his inauguration.

A cooking oil crisis that was initially triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war shook up both domestic Indonesian politics and the global supply chain after the government in April banned all exports of crude palm oil, a key ingredient in cooking oils, amid a series of student protests against skyrocketing food prices.

Indonesia resumed exports of crude palm oil a month later.

Indonesia and Malaysia are the world’s largest exporters of palm oil, accounting for 85% of global production.

Pressure on the global supply of cooking oil has increased due to the war in Ukraine, which accounts for nearly half of the world’s sunflower oil. Russia accounts for another 25%.

Palm oil prices went up 200% or higher after Indonesia banned the export of cooking oil and its raw materials to reduce local shortages and hold down rising prices.

Widodo picked Indonesia’s former military chief Hadi Tjahjanto to replace Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil, and also appointed three new Vice Ministers.


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Japan PM’s cautious course sets up potential long-term rule

apanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida did not look like he’d last long when he

took office eight months ago.

He was seen as nice, but indecisive and subservient to party heavyweights. Many believed that, like his short-lived predecessor, he was not up to the task of winning over a public battered by months of pandemic restrictions and economic worries.

A recent surge in popularity, however, likely portends a victory in July elections that could set up a long stretch of uninterrupted power. That’s saying something in a country where many past Prime Ministers had only relatively brief periods in office.

The secret to his surprising success?

By mostly playing it safe, and for the time being holding back on contentious policy goals, he has avoided the mistakes that doomed his predecessors, such as appearing autocratic and not paying attention to public opinion.

He has also been helped by an easing of public worries about the pandemic as well as growing concerns about global conflicts. The confluence of good fortune, experts say, created a public image of a steady, sensible leader with a shot at lifting Japan from decades of economic and security woes.

With his support ratings now over 60%, well above the 40% when he first took over, a strong victory for his Liberal Democratic Party in elections next month seems certain, helped by the continuing weakness of Japan’s opposition. That, in turn, likely means up to three years without another election that could drive him from power.

“Because there weren’t high expectations for Mr. Kishida when he launched his administration, he can be seen as stable just by doing things normally at a safe cruising speed,” said Yu Uchiyama, a politics professor at the University of Tokyo. “But he cannot stay popular just by looking stable, and his success depends on whether Mr. Kishida responds flexibly to changing situations.”

Several years in power would allow Kishida to focus on long-term issues such as Japan’s fast-aging, fast-shrinking population, the economy, and a contentious revision of the constitution, a long-cherished goal of his conservative party that is opposed by those worried that its war-renouncing Article 9 will be watered down.

Kishida’s continued success depends on delivering concrete accomplishments,

analysts say. Until now, his actions have mostly been responses to the pandemic and global conflicts, and he has remained vague about his policy goals.

When Kishida came to power, public support for the governing coalition had been badly hurt by his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, who struggled with a worsening pandemic and insisted on pushing through with hosting the Tokyo Olympics despite a worried public, and was out of power after only about a year.

Kishida’s current high support ratings are partly a result of his tough response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his careful COVID-19 measures, including strict border controls that foreign critics have described as xenophobia. A decline in new cases has further boosted his support, as has his announcement of a gradual reopening to foreign tourists.

As Japanese worry about growing Chinese and North Korean assertiveness in the region,

he has called for a stronger alliance with Washington and for the repair of ties with South Korea, long marred by bitter tensions over historical issues such as Japan’s past colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased Japanese fears that a Chinese attack on Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own, could embroil Japan in a war. That has prompted a surge in support for Kishida’s plan to bolster Japan’s military spending and defense power.

“Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow,” Kishida said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an Asian security forum in Singapore.

Last week, Japan’s Cabinet approved an annual policy plan calling for a drastic strengthening of defense capabilities and spending. Officials cited growing tensions over Taiwan and a commitment by NATO members to spend 2% of their gross domestic product on defense, twice as much as Japan’s current military spending of just over 1% of GDP.

It calls for pre-emptive strike capabilities as well as the development and strengthening of space, cyber and electromagnetic defense and of unmanned weapons. That’s a major shift that critics say goes beyond Japan’s self-defense-only policy under its war-renouncing constitution.


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Australia commits to reducing greenhouse

emissions by 43%

ustralia’s new government formally committed to a more ambitious

greenhouse gas reduction target of 43% by the end of the decade in fulfillment of a key election pledge.

The previous conservative government was dumped by voters at the May 21 election after it stuck to a seven-year-old pledge to reduce Australia’s emissions by only 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had written to U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change executive secretary Patricia Espinosa Cantellano to inform her of Australia’s new 2030 target.

Albanese said legislation to enshrine the new target in law would be introduced to the new Parliament which will sit for the first time on July 26. However the target did not depend on Parliament’s approval.

Investment in Australia’s energy sector had been held up during the previous government’s nine years in power due to the administration’s failure to agree on a climate policy, Albanese said.

“What businesses have been crying out for is investment certainty,” Albanese said. “The certainty that they need to invest over a longer time frame than the political cycle of three years.”

Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of coal and liquified natural gas which makes reducing dependence on fossil fuels a politically vexed issue. The previous government was widely considered a laggard among wealthy countries in combating climate change.

The United States has committed to reductions of between 50% and 52% below 2005 levels by 2030. Britain has pledged to cut emissions by 68% below 1990 levels.

Albanese’s government could face pressure in a new, greener Parliament to adopt an even more ambitious target.

Several seats have yet to be declared as counting continues following the election.

The center-left Labor Party administration will likely hold a narrow majority of 77 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives where a majority of lawmakers is needed to form government.

A record 16 lawmakers in the House will not be aligned with either the government or opposition.


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Australian Minister visits New Zealand during Pacific trip

ustralia’s new Foreign Minister made New Zealand the first stop on her third

Pacific trip in a month as Canberra steps up efforts to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong is promoting her administration’s stronger ambition on curbing greenhouse gas emissions as evidence that Australia shares the South Pacific’s primary security concern: climate change.

Australia formally committed to reducing emissions by 43% by the end of the decade. The previous government, which lost power in elections last month, had pledged to reduce emissions by only 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030.

“Many countries in the region have been concerned about Australia’s previous position on climate,” Wong said at a joint press conference with her New Zealand counterpart, Nanaia Mahuta, in the New Zealand capital, Wellington.

“We do have some ground to make up and we want to demonstrate we bring ... stronger and more ambitious commitments on climate because we actually think it matters and more resources and more energy,” Wong added.

Mahuta said she agreed with Wong that the “Pacific is a contested space.”

“So by working together, it will be important to ensure that we work alongside the Pacific as they define their priorities, but also the way in which we partner with the Pacific on their biggest issues like climate change, like economic resilience,” Mahuta said.

Wong will become the first Australian Minister to visit the Solomon Islands since its government signed a security pact with China that many fear could lead to a Chinese naval base being established less than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) off Australia’s northeast coast.

When asked what she hoped to achieve from her meeting with Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, Wong did not mention the pact.

Wong said she aimed to “listen to people’s perspectives and learn from that.”

She also plans to discuss climate change, labor mobility and development.

Australia is the Solomons’ main security partner and Australian police have been in the capital, Honiara, maintaining peace since riots in November last year.


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NEW DELHI TIMES THIS DAY | THAT YEAR |

June 20, 1789

June 22, 1990

June 24, 2010

June 26, 1995

Deputies of the French Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath on this day that year.

Checkpoint Charlie was dismantled in Berlin on this day that year.

Julia Gillard assumed office as the first female Prime Minister of Australia on this day that year.

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani deposed his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in a bloodless

coup d’état on this day that year.

June 21, 2004

June 23, 2016

June 25, 1991

TEXT SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight on this day that year.

The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union, by 52% to 48%.

The breakup of Yugoslavia began when Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence from Yugoslavia

on this day that year.


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IIT - D and Delhi police sign MoU

he Delhi Police signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian

Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT -D)for modernisation of the force to better manage crime, law and order, traffic, and the delivery of services to people.

The MoU was signed by S B K Singh, Special Commissioner of Police (Technology and Project Implementation Division) and Professor Rangan Banerjee, Director IIT, in the presence of Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana.

“This process will carve out solutions for new communication systems, drone forensics, integration of CCTV feeds on a single platform, infusion of technologies to solve parking problems, technical specifications for bullet resistance jackets and vests,” a senior police official said.

In a statement, Asthana said the MoU will assist Delhi Police to adopt innovative technologies and develop indigenous digital

trunking communication system, and CCTV integration platforms in consonance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

“Maintenance of order, inculcating safety in minds of citizens, prevention of misuse of mobile phones and voice over internet protocol (VOIP) in the given limited resources is a humongous challenge, which can be handled with the infusion of new technologies in the area of digital communication, prevention of terrorist activities and maintenance of order,” he said.

“IIT Delhi can assist Delhi Police in these areas and in future areas of technology like use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, drone technologies, traffic management and maintenance of law and order,” Asthana added

On its Twitter handle, the Delhi Police wrote: “ An MoU was signed , between #DelhiPolice & @iitdelhi at Police Headquarters. This will pave the way for new tech, evaluation of existing tech, finding solutions to future challenges, CCTV integration platforms, use of AI & more, all in line with the ‘Atmanirbhar’ vision”.

Delhi Minister calls directs officials to enable digitalisation

of documents at earliest

elhi’s Women and Child Development Minister Kailash Gahlot while paying a

surprise visit to the New Delhi district office of the Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) and directed officials to enable digitisation of documents at the earliest.

The Minister interacted with the staff at the office to understand the administrative issues

faced by them. He also inspected various reports and pension tracking mechanisms to understand the reason for pendency.

He asked senior officials to ensure that all WCD offices have proper waiting spaces and signages so that people do not face any difficulty.

“Any scheme dealing with women in distress is extremely sensitive and we as a government understand that the right behavioural approach and a kind heart go a long way in reinforcing the trust a citizen has in their government,” Gahlot said.

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DTL to set up substation for uninterrupted power supply to Delhi-Meerut RRTS,

Delhi-Varanasi rail corridor

elhi government’s transmission company Delhi Transco Limited (DTL)

will set up a separate substation at Maharani Bagh to provide uninterrupted power supply to the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) and semi high-speed Delhi-Varanasi Rail Corridor, officials said.

The tender for a 620 MVA dedicated substation is expected to be soon floated by Delhi Transco Limited (DTL), they said.

The sophisticated facility will meet the combined power load of around 50 MW of the two mega rail projects in the country, said a senior power department official.

The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is establishing India’s first rapid rail transit system between between Delhi and Meerut having

83-km-long corridor and is expected to be completed by 2025.

It will be a “rail-based, high-speed, high-frequency regional commuter transit system”.

Delhi government extends last date for EWS admissions in

entry-level classes till June 24

he Delhi government has once again extended the last date for EWS

admissions in entry-level classes up to June 24. The deadline was earlier extended up to June 14.

“The last date for reporting by successful candidates of EWS and DG category in entry-level classes is once again been extended up to June 24,” Yogesh Pal Singh, Deputy Director of Education, said.

The admission to entry-level classes in private schools in the city under Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Disadvantaged Group (DG) and Children with Special Needs (CWSN) categories began on March 29.

According to provisions of the Right to Education Act, 25 per cent of seats in entry-level classes — nursery, KG or class 1 — in private schools are reserved for students from EWS, DG and CWSN categories.

While EWS refers to children whose annual family income is less than Rs 1 lakh, the DG category includes SC, ST, OBC, non-creamy layer, orphans, transgender and children living with or affected by HIV.

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Delhi University to organise 12-day online orientation programme for CUET

elhi University will organise a 12-day online orientation-cum-guidance

programme for Common University Entrance Test (CUET) 2022, especially for SC/ST students.

The programme will help the candidates make them familiar with the pattern of CUET, consequently promoting inclusivity, the varsity said in a statement.

The virtual event is being organised under the aegis of Dean Students’ Welfare (DSW) in collaboration with the Institute of Lifelong Learning (ILLL) from June 27–July 8, 2022.

The varsity said that the programme would

be conducted online through 11 sessions spread over six discrete days.

“The sessions include guidance on a general test, languages and 19 domain-specific subjects. The domain-specific subjects have been organised into eight broad groups to facilitate three choices of the groups,” the statement read.

The aspiring candidates have been requested to register online (https:hortest.link/CUET2022).

The first 100 registered candidates in each session will get an opportunity to interact with subject experts, the varsity said.

“For the benefit of the larger student community, the programme will also be available live on YouTube Channels of DSW & ILLL,” the varsity said.


20 - 26 June 2022 15


NEW DELHI TIMES National

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‘AGNIPATH’ scheme for recruitment of youth in the Armed Forces cleared by the Cabinet

he Union Cabinet has approved an attractive recruitment scheme for Indian

youth to serve in the Armed Forces. The scheme is called AGNIPATH and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers. AGNIPATH allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the Armed Forces for a period of four years.

The AGNIPATH Scheme has been designed to enable a youthful profile of the Armed Forces. It will provide an opportunity to the youth who may be keen to don the uniform by attracting young talent from the society who are more in tune with contemporary technological trends and plough back skilled, disciplined and motivated manpower into the society. As for the Armed Forces, it will enhance the youthful profile of the Armed Forces and provide a fresh lease of ‘Josh’ and ‘Jazba’ whilst at the same time bring about a transformational shift towards a more tech savvy Armed Forces – which is indeed the need of the hour. It is envisaged that average age profile of Indian Armed forces would come down by about 4-5 years by implementation of this scheme. The national stands to immensely benefit by infusion of highly inspired youth with deeper understanding of self-discipline, diligence and focus who would be adequately skilled and will be able to contribute in other sectors. The dividends of a short military service to the nation, society and the youth of the nation are immense. This includes inculcation of patriotism, team work, enhancement of physical fitness, ingrained loyalty for the country and availability of trained personnel to boost national security in times of external threats, internal threats and natural disasters.

This is a major defence policy reform

introduced by the Government to usher in a new era in the Human Resource policy of the three Services. The policy, which comes into immediate effect, will hereafter govern the enrolment for the three services.

Agniveers will be given an attractive customised monthly package along with Risk and Hardship allowances as applicable in the three services. On completion of the engagement period of four years, Agniveers will be paid one time ‘Seva Nidhi’ package which shall comprise their contribution including accrued interest thereon and matching contribution from the Government equal to the accumulated amount of their contribution including interest

The ‘Seva Nidhi’ will be exempt from Income Tax. There shall be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits. Agniveers will be provided non-contributory Life Insurance Cover of Rs 48 lakhs for the duration of their engagement period in the Indian Armed Forces.

During this period of service to the nation, the Agniveers will be imparted with various military skills and experience, discipline, physical fitness, leadership qualities, courage and patriotism. Post this stint of four years, the Agniveers will be infused into the civil society where they can contribute immensely towards the nation building process. The skills gained by each Agniveer will be recognised in a certificate to form part of his unique resume. Agniveers, on completion of the four-year tenure in the prime of their youth, will be mature and self-disciplined with the realization to become better version of himself/herself both professionally as also personally. The avenues and opportunities that will open up for their progress in the civil world after Agniveer tenure would certainly be a big plus towards nation building. Moreover, the Seva Nidhi of approximately Rs 11.71 lakhs would aid the Agniveer to pursue his/her

future dreams without the financial pressure, which is normally the case for young people from the financially deprived strata of society.

The individuals, selected for enrolment in the Armed Forces as regular cadre, would be required to serve for a further engagement period of minimum 15 years and would be governed by the existing terms and conditions of service of Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks in Indian Army and their

equivalent in Indian Navy and Indian Air Force and that of Non-Combatant enrolled in the Indian Air Force, as amended from time to time.

The Union Home Ministry also announced that Agniveers’, soldiers recruited in the Army, Navy and the Air Force on short-term contract under a special ‘Agnipath’ scheme, will get priority in recruitment to the central armed police forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles.

Cabinet approves Agreement between India and United Nations on a ‘Way Finding Application’ to be used in the

Palais des Nations, United Nations Office at Geneva

he Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has

approved the proposal for signing of an agreement between the Government of India and the United Nations on a ‘Way Finding Application’ to be used in the Palais des Nations, United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).

The project of development of ‘Way Finding Application’ has been conceptualized as donation from the Government of India to UN on the occasion of its 75th anniversary in 2020. The estimated financial implication for development deployment and maintenance of the App is $ 2 Million.

The project consists of development deployment and maintenance of a software-based ‘Way Finding Application’ to facilitate navigation in the Palais des Nations premises of UNLG. The application will enable users to find their way from point to point within the 21 floors spread across five buildings of UNOG. The App will work on Android and iOS devices with an internet connection. The

development of the App has been entrusted to Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT), an autonomous telecom Research & Development centre of Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India.

The project will be significant contribution from the Government of India to UN. The project will not only highlight the technical capabilities of India but also enhance the prestige of country at the UN level platform. The App will make India’s presence felt in the UN and showcase its soft power in the form of strong software technology expertise – a ‘Made in India’ App in the mobiles of who come from across the globe.

Recruitment of 10 lakh people to be done by the Government in

mission mode in next 1.5 years: PM

ccording to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reviewed the status of Human Resources in all departments and ministries. He also instructed that recruitment of 10 lakh people be done by the Government in mission mode in next 1.5 years.

The Prime Minister Office tweeted; “PM @narendramodi reviewed the status of Human Resources in all departments and ministries and instructed that recruitment of 10 lakh people be done by the Government in mission mode in next 1.5 years.”

Taking to Twitter, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “The basis of New India is its youth power, to empower them Shri Modi is working continuously. Shri Modi’s directive to make 10 lakh recruitment in mission mode in all government departments and ministries

in 1.5 years will bring new hope and confidence among the youth.”


20 - 26 June 202216


NEW DELHI TIMESNeighbourhood


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Bhutan’ National Council supports Bhutan joining

the International Solar Alliance

he National Council (NC) of Bhutan has supported the decision by the

National Assembly for Bhutan to become a member of the international solar alliance (ISA).

The Social and Culture Affairs Committee of NC accepted most of the amendments by National Assembly and amended some of the sections. The House accepted all the committee’s amendment.

Introducing the agreement to the house, Economic Affairs Minister Loknath Sharma said there are advantages of joining the agreement as solar energy is viable and feasible in the country.

“We will get technical and financial funding assistance since we don’t have technical experts in the country,” he said.

Lyonpo Loknath Sharma said that Bhutan was considered as a prospective member of ISA after the amendment of the Article VII of the Framework Agreement establishing ISA expands the scope of membership to all the members of the United Nations.

In November 2021, National Assembly members agreed to become a member of the International Solar Alliance.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an action-oriented, member-driven, collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies as a means for bringing energy access, ensuring energy security, and driving energy transition in its member countries. The ISA strives to develop and deploy cost-effective and transformational energy solutions powered by the sun to help member countries develop low-carbon growth trajectories, with particular focus on delivering impact in countries categorized as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Being a global platform, ISA’s partnerships with multilateral development banks (MDBs), development financial institutions (DFIs), private and public sector organisations, civil society and other international institutions is key to delivering the change it seeks to see in the world going ahead.

Pakistan Province Introduces Work From Home on Fridays to Save Energy

akistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has decided

to allow public sector employees to work from home on Fridays in a bid to conserve fuel and electricity amid a deepening energy crisis facing the country.

“The work-from-home policy was inspired by the rising prices of electricity and oil,” Taimur Khan Jhagra, the provincial Finance Minister, told VOA. He spoke a day after presenting the budget to the regional legislature in Peshawar, the provincial capital.

He argued that various private sectors across the world are incorporating work-from-home in their own respective ways, and his government has taken the initiative to introduce the policy in the public sector to deal with growing financial and energy challenges.

“In a government of 600,000 people, if half of them can actually work from home, the fuel savings and the electricity savings we believe will amount to between 2 and 5 billion rupees ($1=205 rupees) a year, which for a government like ours is a huge savings,” Jhagra noted.

The provincial Minister explained government departments will identify staff that actually do need to work on Friday, but crucial services such as the police, schools and hospitals will continue to run beyond four days a week.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, is Pakistan’s third most populous province. It is being governed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The energy conservation measure follows a similar decision by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s fiscally constrained government earlier this month to eliminate Saturday as a workday and cut the volume of fuel allocated to its employees by about 40%, while considering the option of work-from-home on Fridays.

Pakistan is facing a shortfall of 7,000 megawatts in its electricity generation. The country has an installed capacity of 35,000 megawatts, and demand during summer season peaks at 27,000 megawatts.

But officials said only about 20,000 megawatts of electricity is currently being produced because independently operated power plants that rely on imported fuel have sharply reduced production as a result of rising oil prices amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. They noted that hydropower generation also has been far below capacity because of a lack of rain in Pakistan.

The power crisis has led to hours of daily planned blackouts across Pakistan, undermining business activities and life routines. Parts of the country experience temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) in summer.

Officials cautioned that the supply-and-demand crisis will persist throughout the summer season until imported fuel prices drop. The energy crisis has drawn strong criticism from Sharif’s unity government, which came to office in April.

Cash-strapped Pakistan urgently needs the International Monetary Fund to restart a

bailout package amid rising global oil prices. Islamabad’s foreign exchange reserves are also rapidly depleting and stood at about $9 billion, barely enough to subsidize several weeks of imports.

The delay in securing the IMF deal has worsened Pakistan’s energy crisis. The government unveiled a $47 billion budget Friday for 2022-23, which is aimed at tight fiscal consolidation in a bid to convince the IMF to restart much-needed bailout payments.

The international lender wants Islamabad to bring its budget for the new fiscal year starting next month in line with the objectives of the $6 billion bailout program.

“Our preliminary estimate is that additional measures will be needed to strengthen the budget and bring it in line with key program objectives,” said Esther Perez Ruiz, the IMF country representative.

Pakistan’s Finance Minister said that the IMF had expressed concerns about the budget numbers, including fuel subsidies, a widening current account deficit, and the need to raise more direct taxes.

Credit : Voice of America (VOA)

Cholera vaccination in Bangladesh to start on June 26

angladesh Minister of Health Zahid Maleque said that work is underway to inaugurate

the cholera vaccination program on June 26. Local media cited Maleque saying that “Outbreaks appear to be less where cholera vaccination is done. Rohingyas have been vaccinated and the same results were found there as well. The Health Minister made the announcement after a function at iccdr,b ((formerly known as the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh ) in the capital’s Mohakhali.

Prof Dr Abul Bashar Mohammed Khurshid Alam, director general of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), mentioned that the vaccination program will start in the South of Dhaka. “The vaccination centres will have a spot registration system. After vaccination, everyone will get a vaccination card,” he observed.

Dr Firdausi Qadri, acting senior director of iccdr,b, said that the vaccines were taken from Gavi, an international organization.

Pakistan to stay on terror financing

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n international watchdog said that it will keep Pakistan on a so-called

“gray list” of countries that do not take full measures to combat money laundering and terror financing but raised hopes that its removal would follow an upcoming visit to Islamabad to determine its progress.

The announcement by Marcus Pleyer, the President of the Financial Action Task Force, was a blow to Pakistan’s newly elected government, which believes that it has mostly complied with the tasks set by the organization.

Expectations had been high in Pakistan that the FATF would announce its removal from the list at the meeting in Berlin.

Instead, Pleyer said an inspection by the FATF in Pakistan would take place before October, and that a formal announcement on the country’s removal would follow. He praised Islamabad for implementing the organization’s action plans — a clear indication that Pakistan is moving closer to getting off the “gray list.” “Pakistan is not being removed from the gray list list today. The country will be removed from the list if it successfully passes the onsite visit,” he said. “Pakistan’s continued

political commitment to combating both terrorist financing and money laundering has led to significant progress,” the FATF said in a statement, adding that Pakistan’s “necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation and improvement in the future.”

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the FATF reviewed Pakistan’s progress in countering terror financing during a four-day meeting this week and “acknowledged the completion” of its action plans. It said a visit to Pakistan was authorized as a final step toward exiting from the “gray list.”

Pakistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who attended the meeting in Berlin, said she was convinced that the process for Pakistan’s removal from the list would begin later this year since Islamabad had fully complied with tasks set by the FATF in recent years.Credit : Associated Press (AP)


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TMexican government prodding its farmers to grow more food

he corn has begun to sprout on the hillsides south of Mexico’s capital,

though it’s unclear whether these shoots will have enough water to grow or whether the farmer will be able to afford the increasingly expensive fertilizer.

What is known is that the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wants Mexicans to produce more of their own food in order to move toward self-sufficiency in key products and to control prices for basic foodstuffs.

The President’s idea, which involves giving rural families cash payments to grow crops and technical advice, isn’t new, but the ravages of the pandemic, climate change and market turmoil created by the war in Ukraine have given it new urgency. The government wants to head off food insecurity in a country where 44% of the population lives in poverty and where 27.5 million tons of corn are produced, but more than 40 million tons are consumed, according to government data.

Some farmers hope for additional state financial help and subsidized fertilizer. Others are suspicious of government plans. But all hope that this year’s harvest produces enough to feed their families and with luck a bit more to sell in their communities.

While G-7 countries look for global solutions and the United States and development banks prepare a multibillion-dollar plan to ease food insecurity, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has welcomed Mexico’s efforts toward self-sufficiency in basic foods, but does not expect quick results.

“We do not see food prices going down, at least this year,” said Lina Pohl, the organization’s representative in Mexico.

The government said it hopes that those

participating in the program will increase their production of corn and beans by about two thirds.

Brothers Arturo, Benjamín and Víctor Corella, three teachers who in their retirement are farming family plots in Milpa Alta in southermost Mexico City, know everyone is having a rough time, but they are optimistic because after only one year in “Sowing Life,” or “Sembrando Vida” — one of López Obrador’s signature programs — they harvested 1½ tons of corn where they had previously only gotten one.

“The most important reason for planting is that (the whole family) has self-sufficiency in corn, not having to go buy tortillas, but rather try to do it ourselves,” said Benjamín. Now, he said, a government technician coaches them through their planting strategies, improving their yield.

“Sowing Life” was publicized as an ambitious reforestation program that aimed to plant a million hectares of trees producing fruit and lumber. It was also hoped that giving rural families a sustainable source of revenue and a monthly cash payment would keep more of them on their land

rather than migrating north. But the program also included a lesser-known option that López Obrador now hopes to amplify. Some enrollees could choose to receive monthly payments to grow what in Mexico is known as the “milpa,” corn, beans and squash grown together as has been done for centuries.

The “Sowing Life” program counts with an investment of nearly $4 billion and some 450,000 participating growers, each of whom receives a monthly $225 payment from the government. The real number of people involved is far larger though, because to qualify each grower needs to farm 2.5 hectares — more land than many farmers have — and often entire families or even communities pool their land like the Corellas.

Despite the government’s use of the program to counter its less-than-stellar environmental record and doubts about its scientific underpinnings, few have questioned its social impact.

Housed in Mexico’s social welfare — not agriculture — ministry it generates work and food by supporting farmers with technical advice and monitoring.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization sees it as a “fundamental program” helping small farmers to improve their quality of life and produce in healthier ways.

Ariadna Montiel, secretary of the welfare ministry, said the goal is to expand the program and offer new support to those already enrolled so they can farm more land, add new crops or start to produce and use organic fertilizers.

That’s precisely what the Corella brothers have in mind.

Montiel said the effort’s results will be seen in four or five months when corn is harvested, but only the growers’ communities are likely to see the prices of those basic foods drop. “If we think about these families, which are the poorest, having this (food self-sufficiency) guaranteed, we remove a concern,” she said.

If they have more than they can eat themselves, they can sell it locally or to the government for a fair price to supply its food programs for the most marginalized.

Strong economies including the United States, Japan and European nations have opted for self-sufficiency as well subsidizing certain products, even though buying from its producers is more expensive than importing.

In the late 1990s, with the North American Free Trade Agreement, many Mexicans began buying cheaper U.S. corn and stopped farming their land.

While the FAO defends self-sufficiency efforts in food production, it emphasizes that international trade is crucial for all economies.


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Cubans adapt a month after devastating hotel explosion

he worshippers pray beneath a torrid sun, taking shelter beneath umbrellas

or some of the few trees that border the Amphitheater of Old Havana, just a strip of highway from the channel into the city’s harbor.

Hundreds of Baptists have been meeting on open-air bleachers set atop stone tiers for services on recent Sundays because their sanctuary, the 19th century Calvary Church, was severely damaged by an explosion at the neighboring Hotel Saratoga just over a month ago.

The May 6 blast, apparently caused by a gas leak, killed 46 people, including hotel workers, residents of neighboring houses and passersby — though those in the church itself were spared. Officials say two people remain hospitalized.

The Rev. David González said the government had offered use of the amphitheater, about 10 blocks from the damaged church, for the time being.

“All signs are hopeful” that the church can be restored,” González said. “A significant part will have to be demolished, perhaps the affected columns, the homes (next door), but in general it seems like the structure can be saved. ... It will be a long process.”

The church was just one of the architectural

casualties of the blast that occurred little more than a block from Cuba’s Capitol building: A school, a theater and at least three apartment buildings were damaged.

The five-star hotel itself, one of the jewels of Havana’s tourism industry, was left in ruins. Officials have not yet said whether they will try to save the structure, which is now largely covered by sheets of metal.

Most of the recovery effort so far has been to remove debris and restore traffic in a key part of the city center.

Nightmares still haunt those who survived.


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US sanctions 93 Nicaraguan

officials for crackdownhe U.S. State Department imposed visa restrictions on 93 more Nicaraguan

officials for their role in supporting the regime of President Daniel Ortega.

Ortega jailed dozens of opposition figures in order to win a fourth consecutive term in Nov. 7 elections that were broadly criticized as a farce. He has also outlawed dozens of nongovernmental organizations.

Since then, dozens of opponents have been tried or convicted in brief trials on vague charges equivalent to treason.

The State Department announced it had pulled the visas of judges who convicted the opposition leaders, as well as legislators who had cooperated in banning NGOs and civic groups.

The department said in a statement that legislators and Interior Ministry officials helped “the regime to tighten its authoritarian grip over Nicaraguan citizens and institutions by using repressive laws to strip more than 400 NGOs and a dozen universities of their legal status.”

It added “the regime holds over 180 political

prisoners, with many suffering from a lack of adequate food, proper medical care, and even sunlight. One political prisoner has died, and others remain in solitary confinement.”

The State Department had previously imposed visa restrictions on 116 individuals linked to the Ortega regime, “including mayors, prosecutors, university administrators, as well as police, prison, and military officials.”

In recent months, the Treasury Department has frozen the U.S. assets of the Defense Minister and other officials in the army, telecom and mining sectors. As with dozens of Nicaraguan officials already under sanctions, U.S. citizens were prohibited from having dealings with them.

With all government institutions firmly within Ortega’s grasp and the opposition exiled, jailed or in hiding, the 75-year-old leader eroded what hope remained the country could soon return to a democratic path.


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Jihadi attacks mount in Burkina Faso despite junta’s efforts

he mutinous soldiers who ousted Burkina Faso’s democratically elected

President early this year vowed they would do a better job at stopping the jihadi violence rocking the country. Five months later, however, attacks are increasing and patience with the junta appears to be waning.

Many in Burkina Faso supported the military takeover in January, frustrated with the previous government’s inability to stem Islamic extremist violence that has killed thousands and displaced at least 2 million. Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who led the coup and was later installed as interim President, vowed to restore security.

But violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State increased nearly 7% during the junta’s first three months of rule compared with the three months prior, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

“Beyond the immeasurable suffering, the effects of the violence and conflict — which show no signs of abating — are likely to lead to renewed popular discontent,” said Heni Nsaibia, senior researcher at ACLED.

The latest attack happened in northern Burkina Faso over the weekend when suspected extremists killed at least 55 people, authorities said.

Nearly 5,000 people have died in the last two years in Burkina Faso and conflict experts say there will be far-reaching consequences if the violence continues to worsen.

“The decline in Burkina Faso will absolutely fuel the spread of jihadist activity in the Gulf of Guinea states — Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo — where there already is jihadist recruitment and violence,” said Michael Shurkin, director of global programs at 14 North Strategies, a consultancy based in Dakar, Senegal.

Damiba has asked citizens to give him until September to see improvement. He’s promoted younger officers with field experience and created a central coordination unit for military operations. His government also has supported local dialogues with jihadis to try to convince the fighters to put down their arms and return to their homes.

Yet violence is intensifying. Since April at least 30 security forces have been killed and two foreigners kidnapped: an American nun and a Polish citizen. Last week, 11 gendarmes were killed by jihadis in Seno province in the Sahel, said the army in a statement.

The government is losing control of swaths

of land, particularly in the Center North and Sahel regions, as jihadis have increased their use of roadside bombs and use more sophisticated weapons.

Government soldiers say they lack equipment and must resort to stealing guns and ammunition from jihadis they kill. Seeing so many of their colleagues die also has taken its toll, the soldiers say.

“Our situation is very difficult. Sometimes the enemy kills us because we’re regularly exhausted,” said a soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to speak to journalists.

Jihadis are changing strategy. They are targeting water sources, destroying 32 facilities this year which has reduced access to nearly 300,000 people, said a group of aid organizations operating in the country.

“The conflict is now putting at risk the very thing no one can live without: clean water,” said Rebecca Bouchet-Petersen, country director for Solidarity International in Burkina Faso.

Most of the destruction of water sources has been around Djibo in the arid Sahel region, which hosts the largest number of displaced people in the country and has been under siege for months. Last month local leaders in Djibo tried to negotiate an end to the blockade with the top jihadi in the country, Jafar Dicko, according to government officials.

It was the first time the government gave logistical support for local dialogues, which have been ongoing for years. While the talks partially succeeded in allowing freer movement in and out of Djibo, community leaders say it’s a small improvement.

”I think it’s when the government negotiates that we’ll see more significant results,” said Boubacari Dicko, the Emir of Djibo who led the talks.

But it’s unclear if Damiba’s government is prepared to take that step. The previous government was publicly against such negotiations, although it did hold some in secret around the November 2020 Presidential election.

There’s also growing discontent about Damiba’s crackdown on civic freedoms. The junta has restricted political demonstrations that could “disturb public order or mobilize security forces who will be more useful for combat.”


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Ethiopia PM Says Committee Created to Negotiate With

Tigray Forcesthiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has announced the formation of a

committee to begin peace talks with the leadership in the northern Tigray region after 18 months of war.

Abiy spoke to parliament about the conflict in comments broadcast on state television.

“We need to repeat the victory that we made on the battlefield in peace talks,” he said, adding that the war is hindering the country’s development. “Every bullet that is shot is like a dollar lost.”

Abiy said that the committee would be led by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen and would be given 10 to 15 days to decide what will be up for negotiation.

Although the talks may have the potential to bring an end to Ethiopia’s civil war, William Davison, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, a Belgium-based non-profit research group, told VOA that important details are yet to emerge.

“We don’t have a clear idea of the participants,” Davison said. “To achieve a sustainable peace that would need the representation from other actors in the conflict.”

The return of forces allied with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to the disputed region of Western Tigray, which was occupied by Amhara regional forces, Amhara militia known as “Fano” and Ethiopia’s federal forces in the recent conflict, is likely to be a major sticking point in peace talks.

Last week TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda denied claims that the TPLF has “abandoned claims to Western Tigray.”

The regional leadership later issued a statement on June 11 saying that “the depiction of Western Tigray as a contested land is ... unacceptable and inimical to any peace-making efforts. The expansionist Amhara elite has seized it by force and that is simply unacceptable.”

The next day, Yilikal Kefale, chief administrator of the Amhara region, issued a statement on June 12, saying negotiations regarding Western Tigray or the area which is referred to as Welkait by the Amhara region is “our red line,” he said.

In April, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released a joint report saying forces from Ethiopia’s Amhara region may have committed war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Western Tigray.

Speaking to VOA after the report was issued, Amnesty International’s Horn of Africa researcher Fisseha Tekle said that forces from the Amhara region, aided by government troops, seized control of Western Tigray and began a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

The conflict in Tigray between the Ethiopian federal government and the TPLF began in November 2020. Neighboring Eritrea joined the fight against TPLF, deploying its forces to Tigray where they are accused of committing war crimes.

The conflict quickly exploded into a civil war which, along with famine, has killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of people and forced 2.2 million to flee from their homes, according to the U.N.Credit : Voice of America (VOA)

UN cuts food aid to 1.7 million hungry people in South Sudan

t least 1.7 million hungry people in South Sudan are losing humanitarian

food aid “at the worst possible time” as the United Nations World Food Program suspends the help, blaming critical funding shortages.

South Sudan faces unprecedented hunger amid climate shocks, soaring food prices linked to the war in Ukraine and recovery from civil war. Over 60% of the population of more than 11 million people faces severe food insecurity, according to WFP, which said it had to halve food rations last year.

Among those now losing food aid in the middle of South Sudan’s lean season are

178,000 children who will no longer receive school meals, WFP said.

Food security experts have warned that 1.4 million children will be acutely malnourished during the lean season between June and August.

“Humanitarian needs are far exceeding the funding we have received this year. If this continues, we will face bigger and more costly problems in the future, including increased mortality, malnutrition, stunting, and disease,” WFP acting country director Adeyinka Badejo said in a statement.



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Venezuelan opposition to file

complaint for attack on leader

he Venezuelan opposition group backed by the United States will file

a complaint with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for the physical attack its leader suffered over the weekend during a visit to a rural community as part of a tour meant to unite his party and allies.

Juan Guaidó blamed the altercation on President Nicolas Maduro, presenting photos from that attack that he said showed associates of Venezuela’s ruling party.

“What those of us who are here are not going to do is get used to that language of hate, to the violence perpetrated by the dictatorship,” Guaidó said at a news conference. “We are not only going to denounce (the attack) in institutions today hijacked by the dictatorship, but in the corresponding international institutions.”

Venezuela’s judicial system has effectively become a branch of the executive, playing a decisive role in Venezuelan politics with a host of unfavorable sentences against critics of the socialist government.

A photo released after the attack showed Guaidó being held back as people gather around him and someone rips his shirt off. He said at least two people were injured;

one has a wrist injury and another has a concussion.

The altercation happened at a plant nursery in San Carlos, a community about 168 miles (270 kilometers) southwest of Caracas, the capital, during a gathering of opposition leaders. Guaidó is touring the country as his party and allies organize for a planned 2023 primary election.

Maduro, who arrived in Qatar as part of a multi-stop trip in Europe and Asia, has made no comments on the attack. Diosdado Cabello, leader of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, suggested the attack involved members of Voluntad Popular, Guaidó’s party.

“Do not blame us. Where they pass through, they generate violence,” Cabello said referring to the opposition party. “They themselves are the ones who generate their

acts of violence, their fights, and then, they want to blame the rest of Venezuela.”

The incident took place a week after Guaidó’s supporters were met by a barrage of flying plastic chairs and fisticuffs from Maduro allies in the western city of Maracaibo.

The U.S. and other nations recognize Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim President. They withdrew recognition of Maduro after accusing him of rigging his 2018 re-election as President.

At the time, Guaidó drew enormous crowds of backers into the streets, but much of the momentum has evaporated.

The officials in the U.S. and other countries that back Guaidó have demanded that the attack on the opposition leader be investigated.

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Brazil police: Remains found those of British

journalist

Ecuador: Indigenous leader

is arrested over violent protests

uthorities in Ecuador arrested the leader of a national Indigenous group, alleging

that he was responsible for violence during anti-government protests.

Leónidas Iza, President of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, was arrested in Pastocalle, in the Andean center of the country, according to police.

The confederation had called for protests to demand a reduction in the price of gasoline, the setting of a minimum price for agricultural products and a moratorium on the extension of mining and oil projects.

Suspected protesters recently destroyed police vehicles, attacked and damaged private vehicles, broke into private flower farms in the center of the country, and destroyed public property in the center of the capital, authorities said.

Iza had also called on followers to topple the government of President Guillermo Lasso.

“The arrests of the masterminds and perpetrators of these violent acts have begun,” Lasso said. “Now it’s up to the prosecution and the judiciary to act, because no one is above the law.”Credit : Associated Press (AP)

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Israel praises Argentina grounding plane with Iranian crew

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ederal police said that human remains found in Brazil’s remote Amazon

have been identified as belonging to British journalist Dom Phillips, who went missing almost two weeks ago along with a Brazilian Indigenous expert in a case that drew world attention.

Additional remains found at the site near the city of Atalaia do Norte have not yet been identified but are expected to belong to Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, 41. The pair were last seen June 5 on their boat on the Itaquai river, near the entrance of the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory, which borders Peru and Colombia. “The confirmation (of Phillips’ remains) was made based on dental

examinations and anthropological forensics,” Federal Police said in a statement. “Work is ongoing for a complete identification of the remains so we can determine the cause of death, and also the dynamics of the crime and the hiding of the bodies.”

The remains were found after fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, nicknamed Pelado, confessed he killed Phillips, 57, and Pereira, and led police to the site were the remains were found. He told officers he used a firearm to commit the crime.

Police also arrested Pelado’s brother, fisherman Oseney da Costa de Oliveira.

The remains had arrived in the capital city of Brasilia for forensics to work.

The area where Phillips and Pereira went missing has seen violent conflicts between fishermen, poachers, and government agents.

Federal police said others may have participated in the crime but that organized criminal groups did not appear to be involved.

UNIVAJA, the local Indigenous association for whom Pereira was working, criticized that conclusion. It said in a statement the investigation had not considered the existence of a criminal organization financing illegal fishing and poaching in the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory.

“That was why Bruno Pereira became one of the main targets of this criminal group, as well as other UNIVAJA members who received death threats,” the statement said.

President Jair Bolsonaro, a frequent critic of journalists and Indigenous experts, has drawn criticism that the government didn’t get involved fast enough. Earlier, he criticized Phillips in an interview, saying without evidence that locals in the area where he went missing didn’t like him and that he should have been more careful in the region.


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srael praised Argentina for holding a Venezuelan plane that included

Iranian crew, saying the flight shows Tehran is trying to expand its influence in South America.

Washington also made clear it is keeping close tabs on the investigation into the Boeing 747, which was loaded with automotive parts and raised questions because its 19 crewmembers is an unusually large number for a cargo plane.

In a statement, the Israeli Embassy commended the “fast action” by Argentine authorities who “identified in real time the potential threat” posed by the aircraft, which has been grounded at Argentina’s main airport outside Buenos Aires since June 8.

Israel “is particularly worried” about Iranian airlines “that are dedicated to arms trafficking and the transfer of people and equipment for the Quds Force, which are under sanctions by the United States for being involved in terrorist activities,” the embassy said.

“The recent events provide evidence of the repeated attempts by the Islamic Republic of Iran, through the Revolutionary Guard and the Quds Force, to continue consolidating its influence throughout the world, including South America, as a base for terrorist acctions in the continent,” the embassy added.

The top U.S. diplomat in Argentina also commented on the case.

“We are following with great interest the judicial and law enforcement investigations into the crew and the plane and thank the investigative efforts of Argentine authorities

to clear up the situation,” U.S Ambassador Marc Stanley said in a statement shared with local media.

Argentine authorities have seized the passports of the five Iranians and 14 Venezuelan crewmembers on the plane, which is operated by Venezuela’s state-owned Emtrasur line, a subsidiary of Conviasa, which is under U.S. sanctions.

Expanding the international reverberations in the case, Venezuela harshly criticized Uruguay for failing to allow the plane to land in Montevideo to refuel.

The plane’s crew sought to fly to Montevideo on June 8 but had to return to Buenos Aires after Uruguayan authorities refused entry into its airspace, according to a report by Argentina’s Transportation Ministry. It was then that the plane was grounded by Argentine authorities.

Uruguay’s “regretable action” could have “caused a tragedy, human lives and damage to both nations,” Venezuela said in a statement, adding that it “demands explanations about this terrible event from the Uruguayan government.”



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NEW DELHI TIMES


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Gilgit-Baltistan is an inalienable part of India

akistan in October 1947 occupied a large chunk of territories of the then

Jammu & Kashmir – known as the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). It comprises of Gilgit-Baltistan and has since remained under the administrative control of the Pakistan government. In the 1960s, Pakistan sold a part of GB—Aksai Chin— to China.

Pakistan immorally occupied and illegally gobbled up Gilgit-Baltistan but could not digest as its political destiny got linked to the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. The final settlement of the dispute still eludes the subcontinent but successive Pakistani governments feign granting maximum possible administrative autonomy to GB whose people seek to end the deadlock for clarity on their citizenship.

India has off-and-on showed desire to get back the territories forcibly occupied by Pakistan. Indian parliament passed a resolution in 1994 declaring that the entire state of Jammu including the territory of Gilgit-Baltistan constitutes an inalienable part of India. But subsequent governments have failed to cough up the requisite political to get back the territory. China is holding on to Aksai Chin for life saying it won’t compromise its sovereignty. China’s entanglement has complicated the settlement.

During last five years Pakistan has taken three highly-controversial steps to

“misappropriate” the territory of PoK. In March 2017, the GB committee set up by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recommended to accord GB a status akin to a Pakistani province but such provincial status was to be provisional. Pakistan feared that its stand on the Kashmir dispute would otherwise be undermined. The Supreme Court of Pakistan, in its judgment of January 2019, ordered conferral of constitutional status and rights to GB residents at par with other citizens of Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in 2020 to grant provisional provincial status to GB to arouse expectations of the people of GB for full statehood. But that would have violated India’s due rights over PoK, hence the status quo remained. Pakistan relapsed into the ‘wait and see’ approach towards GB.

Both India and Pakistan regard the Kashmir dispute as an unfinished agenda of the partition of British India. As per the provisions of the Independence Act, the ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir had the option to cede to any country. However, Pakistan forcibly occupied the state. To save Kashmir from Pakistani invasion, Raja immediately

signed the instrument of accession with India. The dispute was referred to the United Nations (UN). The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions provided that (i) Pakistan should vacate the occupied territory, (ii) India should reduce its forces to the minimum and (iii) a plebiscite be administered under UN auspices to ascertain the wish of the Kashmiris. Regrettably, Pakistan should have started with the first step—vacating its forces from occupied region— but regrettably refused to stall the three-step process ab initio. So, the third step—conducting plebiscite to accord the people of Kashmir their right to self-determination as per the UNSC resolutions—could not materialize.

Pakistan falsely claims GB as its part; that has kept its constitutional status in limbo. It settled Muslims from Pakistan in GB to change the demographics of its inhabitants, further spoiling the prospects of implementing the UNSC resolutions. Pakistan is doing all it can—leveraging its nuclear bomb, membership of Islamic ummah, military muscle, and employing terror—persistently to threaten international

community to put pressures on India. India had to abrogate Article 370 to reduce the pernicious influence of Pakistan which also embarked on demographic engineering to completely Islamise Kashmir. India won’t allow GB to remain a victim of Pakistan’s seventy-five-year long sinister design ‘Gazwa-e-Hind,’ nor its intransigence to disobey international law to vacate PoK.

The suzerainty of the maharaja of Kashmir over the territories of GB was recognized by the British. The people of these territories were the subject of Dogra rule. During Pakistan’s heinous invasion of Kashmir in October, 1947, local Kashmiris pointed out all the hiding invaders one by one to the Indian army.

Integrating GB will have serious implications for Pakistan’s legal standing on Kashmir dispute. That’s why Pakistan has not dared to integrate GB and kept the issue provisional and subject to final settlement. Unfortunately, Pakistan has kept GB under its occupation for over seven decades but treats people as second-class citizens. Hydro-power projects in GB produce electricity but people stay in dark as electricity gets transmitted to Punjab province. Agitations everywhere—Balochistan, Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Khyber Pakhtunwa – prove emphatically that Pakistan can neither keep its people happy nor its provinces together.

In the evolving regional geopolitics, GB provides the vital geographical link to China and is also central to the implementation of CPEC. India has told China clearly that Gilgit-Baltistan belongs to India hence constructing CPEC through the territory will have legal consequences.

Iran Nuclear deal runs into trouble again

he world powers signed with Iran in 2015 the landmark Joint

Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), most popularly known Iran nuclear deal. Former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the historic agreement in 2018 and re-imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran. The European signatories in general and Iran, in particular, look to the new Biden administration to revive the deal to reduce the spectre of nuclear catastrophe.

European Initiative: Europeans supported President Obama’s diplomatic efforts on JCPOA, protested Trump’s withdrawal therefrom, and are now again at the forefront of diplomatic efforts to end the nuclear crisis with Iran. During election campaign, Biden promised to return to the nuclear deal and said “America is back,” but now slow-walking diplomacy and “playing it safe” before the upcoming midterms. European officials persist with their efforts to save the JCPOA. The revival efforts, if successful, would be a big hit for Biden and the Democrats before the 2024 elections.

The revival talks started in Vienna, Austria on June 20, 2021 by European External Action Service (EEAS) Deputy Secretary-General Enrique Mora— European Union’s coordinator for Iran nuclear deal negotiations—and Iranian Deputy at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi. After more than a year of negotiations, the

possibility of revival still remains unclear. Mora visited Iran and spoke with its top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani on May 11, 2022 to facilitate negotiations and salvage the deal but the May 22 assassination of an Iranian colonel in Tehran, blamed on Israel, further hyped tensions.

Bottleneck in talks: Major portions of the negotiations covering the essence of the deal are effectively concluded. However, talks got stalled when America designated Iran’s elite military force— the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — a foreign terrorist organization in a largely symbolic measure totally unrelated to the nuclear dispute. Both America and Iran concede to domestic ideological positions to sabotage the deal that managed to survive even Trump’s Presidency but Europeans are at it to break the deadlock.

American stand: The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Biden administration supports revival as “the best way to put Iran’s program back in the box,” after American unilateral withdrawal in 2018. But the U.S. Senate, including Biden’s Democratic Party, passed a resolution in early May that any deal with Iran should also cover non-nuclear-related issues. This is an almost-certain deal-breaker.

Israel’s interests: Israeli leaders—current Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu— denounce the JCPOA deal and mull military action if diplomacy collapses. However, Israeli intelligence and defence establishment view that no deal is much worse and poses a far greater risk than “even a bad deal” because

Iran could jump to 90% weaponized uranium in weeks and adding up all the different levels of enrichment accumulated so far, could break out to four nuclear bombs. Israel and America seek to prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon and absence of an Iran nuclear deal spells more imminent nuclear danger for them.

Iran’s stand: Iran denies allegations of planning to produce nuclear arms, that no weapons program is currently operational, and insists on working on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Tehran’s in intransigence poses problems. Iran’s eagerness for JCPOA is dwindling. The hard-liner President Ebrahim Raisi is bragging about doubling oil exports. The unjust imprisonment of Europeans is another affront to Europe. Iran’s regional position continues to undermine Western security interests. All these problems will be unmanageable if the world deals with an Iran not bound by the restraints of a nuclear deal.

Iran might not have yet mastered many weaponization issues like detonation and delivery of a nuclear bomb but has so far put it off to avoid the risk of an Israeli or US attack.

The new emerging nuclear deal would not delay Iran’s nuclear weapons program by 15 years as it did in 2015, but maximum by two and a half years. However, it seems wise to buy that time to delay Iran from jumping forward. Western officials naively believe that the Ayatollahs would never actually use a nuclear weapon but want it for regional hegemony.

Focus on the Ukraine war has diverted international attention from the flash point of Iran’s expanding nuclear program. President Biden and European leaders have acted swiftly and decisively on Ukraine and need to show similar urgency to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear threshold state.

An alternative narrative suggests that Iran is a bad actor but a mix of positive and negative incentives can encourage to indefinitely delay crossing the nuclear threshold. This formula has kept Tehran at bay for around 25 years. This is not naive pacifism as hits against a senior IRGC official has proved. Some temporary benefits can be reached from US diplomacy. And if diplomacy fails, much darker times are predicted.

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20 - 26 June 2022 21


NEW DELHI TIMES Sports

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International Olympic Committee strengthens support to refugees

he Olympic Movement has made a conscious effort to highlight the

plight of refugees before the international community. One of the key priorities of of the Olympic Agenda 2020+5, a strategic roadmap for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is to strengthen the support to refugees and populations affected by displacement. The IOC has taken a number of initiatives recently to foster the integration of the refugees. A landmark initiative was the creation of Olympic Refugee team that competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Another significant initiative by the IOC is the launch of the Olympic Refugee Foundation.

Launched in September 2017, the Olympic Refuge Foundation aims to support the protection, development and empowerment

of children and youth in vulnerable situations through sport. The objectives of the Olympic Refuge Foundation are to create safe, basic and accessible sports facilities in areas where there are refugees, a displaced migrant population or internally displaced people, where all children and young people can play sport and take advantage of sport’s multiple benefits and develop sporting activities that can be successfully implemented within these safe environments.

The Olympic Refugee Foundation aims to provide access to safe sport for one million young people affected by displacement by 2024. Currently, up to 200,000 young people already benefit from sports programmes designed to improve their well-being and social inclusion.

As part of its continuing support to the Olympic Refugees Team, the IOC has released the initial list of 44 athletes who have been awarded Olympic Scholarships for Refugee Athletes to help them train towards the goal of being selected for the

IOC Refugee Olympic Team Paris 2024. As of June 2022, 44 athletes have been awarded a Refugee Athletes or Transition Scholarship. They are from 12 countries and live in 16 host countries. They represent 12 sports. The IOC mentioned that of this initial group, 23 are Olympians who competed as part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Rio 2016 and/or Tokyo 2020, and three are individual athletes who are new to the scholarship programme. The IOC Olympic Refugee team will participate not only at the 2024 Paris Olympics but also at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to be held in 2026 in Dakar. Both these teams will be managed by the Olympic Refugee Foundation.The IOC and the Olympic Movement are built on the belief that sport can contribute to peace and the harmonious development of humankind. In accordance with this ideal, IOC and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have been working together since 1994. The UNHCR has also been working closely with the ORF since it was created in 2017. Another landmark in this cooperation was

achieved with the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the IOC and UNHCR on June 1, 2022. The MoU aims at deepening UNHCR’s cooperation with the Olympic Movement in providing opportunities for refugees and other forcibly displaced people to take part in sport at all levels. The IOC President Thomas Bach remarked during the signing of the MoU that “ sport is about so much more than physical activity. Sport is empowerment. Sport is inclusion. Sport is respect. Sport is health. Sport is building confidence. Sport is a positive mindset. This is what the mission of the ORF is all about – giving hope through sport to those uprooted by conflict, persecution or disaster”.

The signing comes days after the Olympic Refugee Foundation and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team were awarded the prestigious 2022 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports. The jury for the award acknowledged that the IOC Refugee Olympic Team exemplifies the values of sport, which are integration, education, solidarity and humanity, and represents a message of hope for the world.

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IPL fetches staggering media rights for over $6 billion

S. media giant Walt Disney and India’s Reliance Industries have won the

broadcasting rights for the Indian Premier League for more than $6 billion, making the Twenty20 cricket competition one of the most lucrative sports leagues in the world in terms of cost per game.

An IPL match is billed in rights value ahead of English Premier League soccer’s $11.8 million per game, Indian media reported. The combined value of the rights was estimated to be almost double the 2018-22 deal.

Disney-owned Star India retained the IPL television broadcast rights to the annual two-month tournament for the 2023-27 period for 235.75 billion Indian rupees ($3.02 billion), said Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, at the end of the auction process.

Viacom18, a broadcasting joint venture run by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries won digital streaming rights for 237.58 billion rupees ($3.04 billion).

“IPL is an important component of our portfolio of television channels in India, providing an incredible opportunity for us to showcase The Walt Disney Company’s powerful global brands and iconic storytelling, as well as Disney Star’s impressive collection of local original content, to millions of viewers in India,” Rebecca Campbell, Chairperson of the International Content and Operations, The Walt Disney Company, said in a statement.

Cricket stars from all over the world participate in the IPL, which the BCCI started in 2008 as a way of retaining its top talent while attracting new fans to the fastest format of the international game.

The Gujarat Titans won the 2022 edition, beating Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in the final on May 29. India’s national team is already back in action, hosting South Africa in a limited-overs series.

The Walt Disney Company will also be exploring other multiplatform cricket rights, including future rights for the International Cricket Council and the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which it currently holds through the 2023 and 2024 seasons, respectively, Campbell said.

In 2023 and 2024, the IPL will stage 74 matches per season and it will grow to 84 matches per season in 2025 and 2026.


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Haaland set for EPL debut for Manchester City at West Ham

rling Haaland’s English Premier League debut is set to come in an

away match at West Ham when Manchester City opens its title defense at the Olympic Stadium.

The schedule for the league’s 2022-23 season was released, with Liverpool — the team widely expected to vie for the title with City again — starting away to promoted team Fulham. City plays its first game a day later.

The first meeting between City and Liverpool is scheduled for the middle of October at Anfield, two weeks after City hosts Manchester United.

Haaland is the headline signing to the league so far this offseason after joining from Borussia Dortmund. The 21-year-old striker’s first competitive home game for City should be at home to Bournemouth in the second round.

Nottingham Forest was promoted via the Championship playoffs and its first match in the league since 1999 is at Newcastle.

The opening game of the season on Aug. 5 sees Arsenal travel to Crystal Palace.

The league will take a break after the weekend of Nov. 12-13 until Dec. 26 because of the World Cup.


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20 - 26 June 202222


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FDA advisers back Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for older kids

government advisory panel endorsed a second brand of COVID-19 vaccine

for school-age children and teens.

The Food and Drug Administration’s outside experts voted unanimously that Moderna’s vaccine is safe and effective enough to give kids ages 6 to 17. If the FDA agrees, it would become the second option for those children, joining Pfizer’s vaccine.

The same FDA expert panel will meet to consider tot-sized shots from Moderna and Pfizer for the littlest kids, those under 5.

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine has long been available for adults in the U.S. and elsewhere and more than three dozen countries offer it to older children, too. If the FDA authorizes Moderna’s vaccine for teens and younger children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will next decide whether to formally recommend the shots.

The Massachusetts company is seeking clearance for two doses, and plans to later offer a booster. The vote was only for two doses — full-strength for 12-17 and half-sized doses for those 6-11.

“The data do support that the benefits outweigh the risks for both of these doses, in both of these age groups,” said the CDC’s Dr. Melinda Wharton, a member of the panel.

“I believe that this will provide families an important option” and may be particularly important for families who live in areas where coronavirus spread is increasing, said another panel member, Dr. Ofer Levy of Boston Children’s Hospital.

The FDA held up Moderna’s teen vaccine for months while it investigated a rare side effect, heart inflammation. That’s mostly a risk for teen boys and young men, and also can occur with the Pfizer vaccine. Moderna got extra scrutiny because its shots are a far higher dose.

In their review, FDA scientists said there were no confirmed cases of the heart inflammation in Moderna’s kid studies. But experts say the studies may have had too few participants for a rare side effect like that to appear.

“That clearly needs to be watched closely going forward as we expand the use of the vaccine,” said Dr. Mark Sawyer, a panel member from the University of California, San Diego’s medical school.

As for other side effects, FDA officials said nothing worrisome was reported — mainly sore arms, headache and fatigue.

The FDA analysis concluded that two doses of Moderna are effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 illness in teens and younger kids, with the levels of virus-fighting antibodies comparable to those

developed in young adults.

Vaccine effectiveness was estimated at 93% for the teens, and 77% for the younger children, according to the FDA analysis. However, the research was done when earlier versions of the coronavirus were causing most U.S. infections, before more contagious versions emerged. It’s also based on a limited number of COVID-19 cases, making the estimates a bit rough.

A booster shot was added to the studies, and data is expected in about the next month, Moderna officials said. Booster shots are now recommended for children vaccinated with Pfizer’s shots, as well as for all adults.

One panel member, Dr. Paul Offit, noted that vaccine effectiveness has declined against newer variants of the coronavirus. Offit, of

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said he supported Moderna’s proposals only because he expects a third dose will be offered, which he says is needed before someone should be considered fully vaccinated.

How much demand there will be for even two Moderna shots isn’t clear. Teens became eligible a year ago for Pfizer’s vaccine, which uses the same technology, and only 60% have gotten two doses. Shots for younger kids started in November; about 29% have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

If the FDA authorizes Moderna shots for teens and schoolchildren, a CDC spokesperson said the agency is not expected to review the vaccine until later this month.


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Fires, heat waves cause ‘climate anxiety’ in youth

regon health officials say the impacts of climate change, including more

devastating wildfires, heat waves, drought and poor air quality, are fueling “climate anxiety” among young people.

Their findings have been published in a report that highlights youth feelings of distress, anger and frustration about perceived adult and government inaction.

In a briefing hosted by the Oregon Health Authority, three young people spoke about how climate change has affected their mental health.

High school student Mira Saturen expressed the terror she felt when the Almeda Fire swept through the area near her hometown of Ashland in southwestern Oregon in September of 2020. The blaze destroyed more than 2,500 homes.

“It was a terrible and stressful couple of days as details about the fire trickled in,” said the 16-year-old. Her fears were heightened by the fact that her father works for the fire department. “He was out fighting the fire for over 36 hours, which was super scary for me.”

Gov. Kate Brown in March 2020 directed OHA to study the effects of climate change on youth mental health. In its report, the agency says its research was “designed to center the voices of youth, especially tribal youth and youth of color in Oregon.”

The report underlines that marginalized communities are more likely to experience adverse health effects from climate change, and notes that “emerging research is showing similar disproportionate burdens in terms of

mental health.” Te Maia Wiki, another high school student in Ashland, touched on this.

“For me, it’s important to mention that I’m Indigenous,” she said. The 16-year-old’s mother is Yurok, an Indigenous people from Northern California along the Pacific coast and the Klamath River.

“In my mother’s generation, when she was growing up, she would go to traditional ceremonies and have smoked salmon that was fished traditionally by our people on our river which we have fished at since time immemorial,” Wiki said. “In my lifetime, eating that fish, seeing that smoked salmon in our ceremonies, is scarce. This is a full spiritual, emotional and physical embodiment of how I am stressed out by this and how this impacts me.”

OHA partnered with the University of Oregon Suicide Prevention Lab to review literature, conduct focus groups with young people, and interview professionals from the public health, mental health and educational sectors. The interviews were conducted shortly after the extreme heat wave that slammed parts of Oregon in the summer of 2021.


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European star survey reveals celestial treasure trove

he European Space Agency released a trove of data on almost 2 billion

stars in the Milky Way, collected by its Gaia space observatory in an effort to create the most accurate and complete map of our galaxy.

Astronomers hope to use the data to understand better how stars are born and die, and how the Milky Way evolved over billions of years.

The new data includes new information such as the age, mass, temperature and chemical composition of stars. This can be used, for example, to determine which stars were born in another galaxy and then migrated to the Milky Way.

“This is an incredible gold mine for astronomy,” said Antonella Vallenari, who helped lead a consortium of 450 scientists and engineers who spent years turning the measurements collected by the space probe into usable data.

Gaia was also able to detect more than 100,000 starquakes, which the ESA likened to large tsunamis that ripple across stars. They appear to make the stars blink and allow scientists to deduce their density, interior rotation and inside temperature, astrophysicist Conny Aerts said.Credit : Associated Press (AP)

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UN chief: Governments’ inaction on climate is

‘dangerous’N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned of a “dangerous disconnect”

between what scientists and citizens are demanding to curb climate change, and what governments are actually doing about it.

Guterres said global greenhouse gas emissions need to drop by 45% this decade, but are currently forecast to increase by 14%.

“We are witnessing a historic and dangerous disconnect: science and citizens are demanding ambitious and transformative climate action,” he said at a climate conference in Austria. “Meanwhile many governments are dragging their feet. This inaction has grave consequences.”

Guterres said Russia’s war in Ukraine risked worsening the crisis, because major economies were “doubling down on fossil fuels” that are to blame for much of the emissions stoking global warming.

“New funding for fossil fuel exploration and production infrastructure is delusional,” he said in a video message to the Austrian World Summit, initiated by former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “It will only further feed the scourge of war, pollution and climate catastrophe.”


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NEW DELHI TIMES

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Season 3 of ‘Mirzapur’ confirmed, lead actress announces ‘Rehearsals has begun’

ctor Rasika Dugal said she has started rehearsals for the much awaited third

season of the popular crime drama series “Mirzapur”. Dugal took to Instagram and shared a reel, showing several trunks with the name tags of the show’s primary characters. On the show, the 37-year-old actor features as the deviant Beena Tripathi. “Prep #Mirzapur3,” she wrote.

Produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar under Excel Entertainment, the first season of the Prime Video series premiered in 2018 garnering acclaim and becoming a pop culture phenomenon. Its second season, which was released in 2020, was one of the most watched shows in India. The show is headlined by Ali Fazal, who features as the gun-toting gangster Guddu Pandit, and Pankaj Tripathi as don Kaleen Bhaiyaa.

“Mirzapur” also stars Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Vijay Varma and Isha Talwar, among others.

‘Squid Game’ adapted as non-fatal reality series for Netflix

reality show inspired by Netflix’s hit series “Squid Game” is coming to

the streaming service, but with far less dire consequences promised for contestants.

In the South Korean-produced drama, players’ lives were at stake. With “Squid Game: The Challenge,” the “worst fate is going home empty-handed,” Netflix said that in announcing the reality show.

The 10-episode competition will include 456 players vying for a “life-changing reward of $4.56 million,” Netflix said in a release. They’ll compete in games inspired by the drama series along with new challenges aimed at whittling down the field.

“For this round, the Front Man is in search of English-language speakers from any part of the world,” the release said, a

reference to the overseer of the drama’s deadly game. The game show, which will be filmed in Britain, is recruiting contestants online.

A release date for the new show was not announced.

The original series pitted hundreds of players with financial woes against each other in a violent contest for a potential multimillion-dollar prize. Losers were killed throughout the contest.

The drama is deemed by Netflix as its most popular, with more than 1.65 billion hours viewed in the first 28 days after its September 2021 premiere. It’s been renewed for season two with series creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk aboard, Netflix said.


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K-pop supergroup BTS says it’s making time for solo projects

lobal superstars BTS said they are taking time to focus on solo projects,

but the company behind the groundbreaking K-pop group said they are not taking a hiatus.

The seven-member group with hits like “Butter” and “Dynamite” talked about their future in a video posted celebrating the nine year anniversary of their debut release. They just released a three-disc anthology album, “Proof,” last week.

Band member Suga asked the group if they should talk about why they were going into a hiatus as they sat down for a group dinner. They discussed having to deal with COVID-19 interrupting their touring plans and music releases, as well as what each one thought about their individual artistic goals.

The group spoke in Korean, and the word “hiatus” was used on English subtitles included on the video.

But a statement from Hybe, the South Korean entertainment company behind BTS, said they’ll still be working on projects as a group, as well as individually. “BTS are not taking a hiatus. Members will be focusing more on solo projects at this time,” the statement said.

No details about future BTS collaborations

or the solo projects were announced. BTS has a global fanbase that follows the group and members online and in recent years the group’s profile has rose overseas. The group recently address the UN General Assembly and went to the White House to discuss with President Joe Biden ways to curb violence against Asian Americans.

The band members — J-Hope, RM, Suga, Jungkook, V, Jin and Jimin — opened up about the struggle to develop as individual artists within the K-pop genre.

“The problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that don’t give you time to mature,” said RM. Some of the group members appeared to be crying during the conversation.

Band member V recalled a conversation he had with J-Hope in which they discussed how working on solo projects would improve their “synergy” as a band. Suga described an interest in trying out new genres.

“We’re each going to take some time to have fun and experience a lot of things,” said Jung Kook to their fans. “We promise we will return someday even more mature than we are now.”


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Amber Heard says she stands by ‘every word’ of her testimonymber Heard says she stands by the testimony she gave during a

contentious six-week libel trial against former husband Johnny Depp, saying she has “always told the truth.”

“That’s all I spoke. And I spoke it to power. And I paid the price,” Heard said in her first post-verdict interview, two weeks after a jury awarded Depp more than $10 million and vindicated his allegations that Heard lied about Depp abusing her.

Depp sued Heard for libel in Virginia over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”

His lawyers said he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name. Though the jury sided with Depp, Heard was also awarded $2 million over her claim that one of Depp’s attorneys defamed her.

”To my dying day, I’ll stand by every word of my testimony,” Heard told NBC’s “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, in an interview airing. “I made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve always told the truth.”

Depp, who has not yet done a formal interview about the case, has said the verdict “gave me my life back.”

When referring to Depp’s legal team, Heard said, “His lawyer did a better job at distracting the jury from the real issues.”

The verdicts brought an end to a televised trial that offered a window into a volatile marriage and both actors emerged with unclear prospects for their careers.

On TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, the vast majority of comments criticized Heard. She called the social media frenzy that surrounded her case “unfair.”


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20 - 26 June 202224


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From The Diary of Dr. Pramila Srivastava

Founder Emeritus & Patron

elf-control refers to our ability to manage our behaviour in order to

achieve goals, improve positive outcomes, and avoid negative consequences. Self-control is an important skill that allows us to regulate behaviour in order to achieve our long-term goals. It is the ability to regulate and alter our responses in order to avoid undesirable behaviours and increase desirable ones. Research has shown that possessing self-control can be important for health and well-being. Common goals such as exercising

regularly, eating healthy, not procrastinating, giving up bad habits, and saving money are just a few worthwhile ambitions that people believe require self-control.

People use a variety of terms for self-control, including discipline, determination, grit, willpower, and fortitude. Psychologists typically define self-control as the ability to control behaviours in order to avoid temptations and to achieve goals, as the

ability to delay gratification and resist unwanted behaviours or urges and it is

often recognised as a limited resource that can be depleted. Some researchers believe that self-control is partly determined by genetics, with some just born b e t t e r

at it than others.

In one i n f l u e n t i a l e x p e r i m e n t , students who e x h i b i t e d greater self-discipline had better grades, higher test scores, and were more likely to be admitted to a competitive academic program. The study also found that when it came to academic success, self-control was a more important factor than IQ scores. The benefits of self-control are not limited to academic performance. One long-term health study found that high levels of self-control during childhood predicted greater cardiovascular,

respiratory, and dental health in adulthood.

The ability to delay gratification, or to wait to get what we want, is an important part of self-control. People are often able to control their behaviour by delaying the gratification of their urges. Delaying gratification involves putting off short-term desires in favour of long-term rewards. Researchers have found that the ability to delay gratification is important not only for attaining goals but also for well-being and overall success in life.

Research has found that self-control is a limited resource. In the long-term, exercising self-control tends to strengthen it. Practicing

s e l f - c o n t r o l allows us to improve it over time. However, s e l f - c o n t r o l in the short-term is limited. Focusing all our self-control on one goal makes it more difficult to exercise our s e l f - c o n t r o l

on subsequent tasks throughout our day. Psychologists refer to this tendency as ego depletion. This happens when people use up their reservoir of willpower on one task, making them unable to muster any self-control to complete the next task.

Self-control is also important for maintaining healthy behaviours. What we eat for breakfast,

how often we work out, and whether we have a consistent sleep schedule are all decisions that can be impacted by our levels of self-control and have the potential to affect our health. Researchers have found that self-control can have several potential influences on health and well-being. While it is clear that self-control is critical for maintaining healthy behaviors, some experts believe that overemphasizing the importance of willpower can be damaging.

While research suggests self-control has its limitations, psychologists have also found that it can be strengthened with certain strategies like avoiding temptation, planning ahead, practicing self-control, focusing on one goal at a time, meditating and reminding ourselves of the consequences of our actions.

People who think about “why” they do something are able to exert greater self-control and persist longer at a task than those who think about “how” to do something. When we know the goal we seek, rather than the means of getting there, we’re more likely to put down the slice of pie and build up will power. Self-control is a capacity to bring one’s actions into line with one’s self as it is embodied in what one takes oneself to have most reason to do.

Global Dialogue on Drug Demand Reduction launched by the African Union

he African Union has launched the Global Dialogue on Drug Demand Reduction

between Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. It was launched on the side-lines of the International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP) conference “Uniting the Global Community to Face the Challenge of Addiction” which took place from May 12-16 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The launch of the Dialogue reaffirms the commitment of the African Union to addressing the problems of drug demand reduction and enhancing multilateral cooperation to tackle this pressing issue.

The Director of Social Development, Culture and Sports of the African Union Commission (AUC), Cisse Mariama Mohamed, presided over the ceremony on behalf of Cessouma Minata Samate, the African Union Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, in the presence of representatives of partner organisations in the area of drug control: Adam Namm, Executive Secretary, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD); Dr. Benjamin Reyes, Secretary-General, The Colombo Plan; and Brian Morales, Branch Chief, Counternarcotics, Office of Global Programs and Policy, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, US State Department, as well as Experts on drug use

epidemiology from AU Member States. In her opening statement, Director Cisse underscored the need to explore and collaborate in sharing tangible ideas to improve drug dependency prevention, treatment and care. “We are aware of unprecedented and mounting common challenges and this Global Dialogue is an opportunity to strengthen our collaboration and partnership for purpose – A partnership for a common future, for solidarity, for peace, sustainable development and prosperity of our citizens and future generations, bringing together our people, regions and organisations“. She further added that “The Global Dialogue is, therefore, a space for us to explore and interrogate thoughts on how Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean can find mutual working opportunities that benefit our people both today and in the future. A joint, multilateral approach that can only work if we come together and align our efforts”.

The launch of the Dialogue is an important initiative in line with the African Union Commission’s fundamental role to coordinate, monitor and evaluate implementation of the African Union Plan of Action on Drug Control and Crime Prevention (2019-2023), the overall objective of which is to improve the health, security and socio-economic well-being of the people of Africa by addressing drug trafficking and problematic drug use in all its forms and manifestations and preventing the onset of drug use.

The Action Plan is based on the following nine pillars that entail its various objectives as well as outline the activities/measures by the

AU in the domain of reducing drug demand: 1) Measures to tackle drug demand reduction and health issues associated with drug use, focusing on prevention and treatment of drug use with provisions for training of workers and professionals in these fields, parental skills training, life skills training for children and young people, reducing harm associated with drug use and implementing alternatives to punishment for drug use; 2) Availability and access to controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes while preventing their diversion, with emphasis on erasing barriers that suppress accessibility to medicines, including for the relief of pain and suffering, as well as reducing non-medical use of medicines and availability of counterfeit medicines; 3) Measures to address drug supply reduction along with countering enablers of drug trafficking: firearms, corruption and money laundering which addresses illicit trafficking in drugs, drug law enforcement and intelligence sharing and ratification of AU instruments on combating corruption, money laundering, terrorism and trafficking in small arms; 4) Measures to address crime prevention and criminal justice reform, with emphasis on international cooperation on combating transnational organized crime, fighting emerging organized crime such as cybercrime, rise in gangs, extortion, violence and criminal

governance; 5) Cross cutting issues on drugs and human rights pertaining to all vulnerable groups, especially youth, women, children and communities, and this pillar provides; 6) focusses on countering the availability and use of sale of drugs through the internet, and the importance of interregional forensic drug testing cooperation; 7) Alternative development and alternative means of livelihood, also targeting grower communities in the agricultural sector with a specific focus on Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for youth and women employment; 8) International and regional cooperation based on the principle of common and shared responsibility which makes provision for engagement with international partners for technical and financial support, for participation in regional, continental and international fora and for fast-tracking of extradition and mutual legal assistance arrangements; and 9) Continental, regional and national management, oversight, reporting, monitoring and evaluation of the AU Plan of Action which entails action by the African Union Commission to account to the AU Policy Organs.

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