UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to the media at the launch of a report by Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance over the Ukraine crisis, at the UN headquarters in New York, April 13, 2022. (Xinhua/Xie E/IANS)
India has declared that it will not use nuclear weapons first, as has China, but others with atomic weapons have not adopted the policy…reports Asian Lite News
Warning that poverty and hunger are rising around the world, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked the G20 nations led by India to come up with a package offering investments and debt relief to nations of the Global South to help achieve the UN’s development goals.
Unveiling his proposal for a ‘New Agenda for Peace’ during a briefing on his priorities for this year, Guterres told the General Assembly on Monday that by the time of the summit on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September, “I urge the G20 to agree on the global SDG Stimulus that I proposed at last November’s G20 Summit to support the countries of the Global South”.
His New Agenda proposals covered a gamut of issues that included preventing a nuclear holocaust, reforms of the economic infrastructure, new technologies, social media and bigotry.
Guterres projected a gloomy picture of the world “staring down the barrel of a confluence of challenges unlike any other in our lifetimes” with wars, economic inequalities, Aclimate change and “epic geopolitical divisions”.
His most serious warning was about the threat of a nuclear war, pointing out that the “Doomsday Clock” of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists that purports to show the likelihood of a nuclear holocaust was at 90 seconds to midnight.
“We are at the highest risk in decades of a nuclear war that could start by accident or design” from “the 13,000 nuclear weapons held in arsenals around the world,” he said.
“Nuclear-armed countries must renounce the first use of these unconscionable weapons,” he said.
India has declared that it will not use nuclear weapons first, as has China, but others with atomic weapons have not adopted the policy.
Guterres also called attention to “the dangers posed by new technologies”.
He said that the New Agenda should include “international bans on cyberattacks on civilian infrastructure, and internationally agreed limits on lethal autonomous weapons systems”, a reference to robots and drones.
He suggested a new type of counterterrorist operations by regional force under Security Council mandates as he unveiled his proposal for a New Agenda for Peace with a warning that humanity is facing its “darkest hour”.
Glad to meet Speaker of National Assembly of Zambia, Nelly Mutti and her delegation today in Parliament House.
Discussed our economic & development cooperation, as also people to people ties. Assured that India will speak up for the Global South in G20. pic.twitter.com/foV4GpolWW
He said, “The New Agenda for Peace must recognize the need for a new generation of peace enforcement missions and counter-terrorist operations, led by regional forces, with a Security Council mandate under Chapter VII” of the UN Charter that provides for action on threats to peace.
The prospect for peace is diminishing in the Russian invasion of Ukraine while “the chances of further escalation and bloodshed keep growing”, he said
“I fear the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war. I fear it is doing so with its eyes wide open,” Guterres said.
Last year in December, Argentina came out victorious in the intensely fought final in what was the last World Cup for Argentine talisman Lionel Messi…reports Asian Lite News
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was gifted a jersey of the Argentinian football team, featuring World Cup-winning champion Lionel Messi’s name by the president of YPF from Argentina Pablo Gonzalez on the sidelines of the India Energy Week in Bengaluru.
Last year in December, Argentina came out victorious in the intensely fought final in what was the last World Cup for Argentine talisman Lionel Messi.
After finishing all square at the end of the second half of extra time, Argentina won the final 4-2 on penalties.
PM Modi had also congratulated Argentina on winning the FIFA 2022 World Cup, stating that millions of Indians are celebrating the victory of Argentina and Lionel Messi.
“This will be remembered as one of the most thrilling Football matches! Congrats to Argentina on becoming #FIFAWorldCup Champions! They’ve played brilliantly through the tournament. Millions of Indian fans of Argentina and Messi rejoice in the magnificent victory! @alferdez,” PM Modi said in the tweet. (ANI)
S Jaishankar and Daniel Filmus discussed cooperation in atomic energy, space, digital, defence & biotechnology….reports Asian Lite News
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with the science and technology minister of Argentina Daniel Filmus on Monday.
Dignitaries during the meeting discussed bilateral cooperation in atomic energy, space, digital, defence & biotechnology. Jaishankar also stressed upon expanding trade investment and collaboration and serving as an example of South-South cooperation. EAM Jaishankar in a tweet said, “Glad to meet Minister of S&T and Innovation of Argentina @FilmusDaniel. Discussed our cooperation in atomic energy, space, digital, defence & biotechnology. Underlined the potential for expanding trade, investment &collaboration and serving as an example of south-south cooperation”.
Earlier the EAM had met with Argentina President Alberto Fernandez in August last year. During that meeting, both leaders discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation, including making trade levels more sustainable and ambitious.
He also met with the Minister of Economy Sergio Massa and appreciated his positive outlook towards expanding our economic cooperation.
At that time India had also acknowledged Argentina’s interest in the made-in-India Tejas fighter aircraft for the Argentine Air Force. The two sides also explored expanding the scope of their partnership through, inter-alia, and the conclusion of further MOUs/Agreements.
The talks on fighter aircraft come as a number of countries including Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines have shown interest in the Made in India jet. India’s indigenous aircraft in the defence market has caught the eye of several nations for its superior flying ability, manoeuvrability, and ease of handling.
The Indian Air Force had recently equipped the Tejas with the French-origin Hammer air-to-ground stand-off missile along with the indigenous Astra indigenous air-to-air missiles.
Indian armed forces have extensively utilised the delegated financial powers granted to them in different phases by the government to equip themselves with the necessary weaponry to handle any conflict or aggression by enemies on both sides.
The Indian Air Force is strongly supporting the indigenous LCA Tejas fighter aircraft programme by adding more and more capabilities to the aircraft.
The IAF has already operationalised two of its squadrons in the initial operational clearance and final operational clearance versions while a contract has been signed for the 83 Mark1As set to be delivered a couple of years from now. The IAF has also its eyes set on the LCA Mark 2 and the AMCA being developed by the DRDO for it. (ANI)
Indian students in US Univs increased by 19% in 2021-22: Report.
With nearly 65% of its youth in the working age group, India boasts one of the world’s largest young populations, offering the country significant opportunities to channelise this demographic dividend in its industrial revolution 4.0 …. reports Kaliph Anaz
As per the World Bank, “global trends such as the rising role of technology, climate change, demographic shifts, urbanization, and the globalization of value chains are changing the nature of work and skills demands.” Investing in skill development has become the need of the hour as it can lead to significant structural transformation and economic growth by enhancing employability and labour productivity.
In light of this, economists believe that India has the potential to capitalize on a major “demographic dividend” on the back of its large and growing workforce at a time when many other large economies are dealing with ageing populations.
With nearly 65% of its youth in the working age group, India boasts one of the world’s largest young populations, offering the country significant opportunities to channelise this demographic dividend in its industrial revolution 4.0 (IR-4).
IR-4 has integrated new technologies – like Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing & analytics, artificial intelligence & machine learning – into manufacturing production processes and operations, ushering in a new era of ‘smart manufacturing’. With the rapidly evolving digital landscape, new skills are quickly making existing skills obsolete, calling for a drastic evaluation of strategies and policies to ensure a relevant and competitive workforce. Consequently, Indian government’s focus on skill development infrastructure has increased with attention now being given to vocational and practical skills, and plugging the gap between industry needs and education. In 2014, for the first time since the country’s Independence, India set up the Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to co-ordinate all skill development efforts across the country and enhance employability through skill development.
In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to make India the skills capital of the world, the Union government has launched several ambitious projects to train 400 million Indians in different skills by 2022. The flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) aims to recognise and provide skills to youths, such as workers in the vast unorganised sector, who lack formal certification. To date, this scheme has recorded close to over 13 million youths getting skilled. The digital skilling initiative FutureSkills PRIME aims to re-skill and up-skill over 400 thousand professionals in emerging technologies such as AI and IoT, making India the ‘Digital Talent Nation’.
To expand the digital ecosystem for skilling in the country, Union Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman announced the launch of a unified “Skill India Digital platform” in the Union Budget 2023-24, which proposes to train hundreds of thousands of youth in the next three years. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has been allocated over Rs.34 billion in this budget which is 20% higher than the allocations from the previous year. The increased allocation of resources shows the significance attached to skill development.
Another project is the Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) supported by the World Bank. The main objectives of the project include strengthening institutional mechanisms at both the national and state levels, building a pool of quality trainers and assessors, creating convergence among all skill training activities at the state level, establishing a robust monitoring and evaluation system for skill training programs, providing access to skill training opportunities to disadvantaged sections and most importantly support the ‘Make in India’ initiative by catering to the skill requirements in relevant manufacturing sectors.
Further, recognising the drop in women’s participation in the workforce, the National Skill Development Mission, in its policy document, emphasises that women constitute half the demographic dividend and skilling could be the key to increasing their participation in the labour force. To bridge this gap, various provisions have been made for women in skilling programmes – for instance, 30% seats in India’s Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) are reserved for women.
There are 15,042 such ITIs across the country. Nearly 50% of candidates enrolled and trained under the PMKVY are also women. Technological innovation and rapid economic growth are also fuelling demand for skilled workers like never before. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for digital skills has surged, such skills now essential for employees to perform their jobs. India’s present workforce comprises only 12% digitally skilled employees, and the number of employees requiring digital skills in the country will need to increase nine-fold by 2025, according to a report commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS). India is gearing up to seize this great opportunity.
Another important aspect to be considered and worked on is skill development in the unorganized sector. With more than 80% of the workforce in the unorganised sector, this section of the population cannot afford to be ignored in terms of training and skilling. Investing in skilling this group can be a major game changer by diversifying the skills and increasing employment opportunities for them. To address this, the PMKVY scheme has a component called ‘Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)’, a skill certification component that recognises the value of learning acquired outside a formal setting and provides a government certificate for an individual’s skills.
Indian cueist Pankaj Advani wins IBSF Billiards Championships for 25th World title
All said and done, while the government recognizes that the current system requires major changes, it is keen to make the necessary reforms and has been working on implementing forward-looking policies to build a future-ready global workforce. For these reforms to succeed, a collaboration between the public and private sectors is also critical to move forward. Momentum is also being seen with various private enterprises collaborating with sector skills councils and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to set up-skilling ventures focused on employability. For example, the home services platform Urban Company has partnered with the NSDC to train and provide digital certifications to thousands of unskilled workers.
A nation’s growth is dependent on its people, and while India has no shortage of a young population, it is imperative that the youth are provided with ample opportunities to harness their potential. It goes without saying that skill development is a priority, and India has taken lead in integrating skill development into the larger social and economic strategies to reap its demographic dividend. This could be a role model for other countries which try to pick up their developmental model in achieving SDGs.
Blinken needs to read ‘Don Quixote’ to understand the nature of his temporarily halted mission to get Xi to go against CCP’s interests and push Putin to the negotiating table, writes Prof. Madhav Das Nalapat
It took a hot air balloon to stop US Secretary of State Antony Blinken from embarking on a pilgrimage to Beijing that not just countries in Greater Asia but the Democratic Party’s own voters would have disowned. US Senators belonging to the Republican Party have signed on to a letter warning Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the lack of sufficient and substantive action by the Biden White House on a matter of the highest concern to countries in the Indo-Pacific.
This is the kid glove treatment given to the PRC led by CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping. This is despite his masterminding of aggressive actions by units of the PLA directed against India and Taiwan. In the case of India, there has thus far been silence from the Biden administration not just about how much but whether there will be additional US supply of weapons to India during the next kinetic attack by the PLA on Indian territory.
While US President Donald Trump gave a strong official response to the aggression by the PLA at Galwan in 2020, in the Yangtze fracas that took place barely months ago, all that Biden came up with was the same formulation that Xi Jinping has favoured. This is that the PRC aggression against India “should be settled bilaterally”. In other words, that India is on its own where even kinetic aggression by the PRC is concerned.
President Biden has taken credit for the way in which the cooperation in matters of defence between India and the US has been progressing since Ashton Carter was the Defence Secretary during 2015-17, in the previous administration. Since that period, even the Quadrilateral Security Alliance has been downplayed by Biden in favour of localised alliances between the US, Japan and Australia with countries not in Asia but in Europe. Not that this comes as a surprise. From the time he was in the US Senate, Joe Biden has been a committed Europeanist.
The US President shares this trait with his longtime advisor on foreign policy, Antony Blinken. Those knowing this admittedly pleasant Biden favourite say that to the Secretary, US interests must revolve in the same orbit as the interests of its European partners. Asia, South America and Africa are a much more distant priority in the White House since 2021, as is noticeable from the hypercharged way in which Ukraine is being flooded with weaponry and resources gratis at the cost of substantial chunks of voters in the US who had been promised by Biden in his 2020 Presidential campaign that they would be his primary priority.
Are any of the countries in Asia that have endured loss of sovereignty of territory to China been given the same consideration? None at all, not even countries that have faced PLA efforts at land and air encroachment this year itself, India and Taiwan.
It is not easy to keep secrets in Washington, and those in that city who track diplomatic goings on say that the primary purpose of Blinken’s humbling, hopefully not entirely visit to Xi in his court in Beijing was to persuade the CCP General Secretary to put his thumb on the scales and help get Vladimir Putin to pull out of the Russian-speaking parts of that country that have been taken over by Moscow since the 2014 change of regime from a Russophile to a Russophobe Head of State in Kiev.
Common sense would indicate that Xi has no interest in any except token and cosmetic gestures in so fundamentally altering a situation that serves the interests of the PRC and in particular the PLA so completely. Only a desperate man or someone who has no comprehension of the mind of the top tier of the CCP would have undertaken such a mission, but given his Europeanist blinkers, this is what Blinken hoped would be achieved by his visit.
Just as he did not factor in the damage to trust among democracies in Asia at least to his chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, President Biden seems oblivious to the effect that such an obvious kowtow by one of his closest associates to Xi Jinping would have had on US credibility as a reliable partner against the expansionist plans and activities of CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping.
Several countries in the periphery of China have suffered the effects of such a policy by the CCP leadership, including a country that had for the longest time been organically connected to the US, the Philippines. Small wonder that behind the politeness by President Marcos to Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, there was a polite scepticism about US reliability.
It was while Biden was a heartbeat from the White House during the Obama administration that Scarborough Shoals was forcibly taken away from Manila by Beijing, an action that showed that none of President Obama’s tough talk was backed by action where military aggression by China was concerned. At a time when the future of the Indo-Pacific as a location where hegemony by a single power is concerned hangs in the balance, all that a legislator close to Biden, Pramila Jayapal, seems to bother about is buttering up GHQ Rawalpindi by dragging out the so-called Kashmir issue.
Or in other words, get Biden to pressure India to hand over chunks of Kashmir to Pakistan and China. For it has become obvious that GHQ Rawalpindi is as much an auxiliary of the PLA as the LeT or the JeM are auxiliaries of the Pakistan military.
With the consent, sometimes direct and otherwise implicit, of his interlocutors in Beijing, Secretary Blinken would have mouthed the usual homilies about China, which would then have fired back, again in a predictable fashion. As he dusted off this time-worn routine indulged in by US Presidents who cloak their empowerment of the CCP by rhetoric, Blinken’s thoughts would ever have been Ukraine, defined by Europeanist policymakers in Washington as the determinant of the future of Europe.
It is time for those political leaders such as Senator Marco Rubio that are serious about deterring the PRC to ask why thus far, there has not been any trace of Ukraine-style generosity in giving advanced weaponry to either India or Taiwan, the two countries most at risk of a large-scale PLA attack. Or why there has not been any talk by the White House of what (or even whether) sanctions of the kind imposed on Russia would be imposed on China in the event of further PLA aggression into the sea, air and land spaces of Asian countries whose territory Xi publicly covets.
Antony Blinken needs to read “Don Quixote” by Miguel Cervantes, to understand the nature of his temporarily halted mission to get Xi Jinping to go against the CCP’s interests and push Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table to in effect sign a surrender document. On such dreams is present-day US foreign policy based.
Who is responsible for bringing Pakistan to the brink of disaster? None other than its own army that forcibly brought unelected people to the power centre of the country. Thus, politics has become the first causality, followed by the economy, democracy and rule of law in Pakistan…. Writes R C Ganjoo
The Afghan Taliban government had released many TTP and Al-Qaeda terrorists from prisons and they reunified with its breakaway factions as a result of that Pakistan experienced an increase in terrorist attacks inside the country.
Who is responsible for bringing Pakistan to the brink of disaster? None other than its own army that forcibly brought unelected people to the power centre of the country. Thus, politics has become the first causality, followed by the economy, democracy and rule of law in Pakistan.
In 2018, Pakistan was betrayed when it found Imran Khan a new Prime Minister installed against corrupt dynastic political parties. Projecting Imran Khan as a virtuous figure, the power centres were prodded that they (the army) were the masters of the art of politics of manipulation. Sacrificing one popular politician at the altar to establish another for keeping their hegemony alive over the State and society has been the hallmark of such political trickery.
After the removal of Imran Khan from the premiership, the political situation took a deadly turn, so much so that terrorism raised its ugly head suddenly. Obviously, the establishment was engaged in settling political scores while terrorist organizations were waiting to catch the opportunity. The blast in Peshawar by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on 30th Jan in a mosque, leaving over 100 killed and several others injured, comes at a time when Pakistan is facing a big economic crisis as well as political instability. The attack was to avenge the death of a TTP commander Omar Khalid Khorasani, who was killed by the Pakistani army in August 2022.
Pakistan second-worst country in discriminating against women: Which nation is first?
With the exit of America from Afghanistan and the Taliban taking over, the relations between Pakistan and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan went from bad to worse. After the fall of the US-supported Ashraf Ghani government in Afghanistan in 2021, the Afghan Taliban facilitated peace talks between the Pakistan government and the TTP. The negotiations with the banned group began in October 2021 under Imran Khan government, but later the process continued on casual terms when the Shehbaz Sharif government took over. The months-long negotiations ultimately ended in a fiasco in November 2022.
TTP had demanded to roll back the merger of the erstwhile tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and release of hardened terrorists. Moreover, they refused to lay down their arms. These were unacceptable to the Pakistani government. Following the deadlock, the militant group intensified its attacks, particularly targeting the police in KP and areas bordering Afghanistan. Insurgents in Balochistan also stepped up their activities and formalized a nexus with the outlawed TTP. It is widely believed that some political parties also extend helping hands to Afghan terrorists who have taken refuge in Pakistan. There are complaints against these Afghan refugees in most urban areas of Sindh.
Police targeted in Peshawar mosque attack; toll mounts to 47
The banned TTP, which is now operating from Afghanistan, was formed in 2007. They fled to Afghanistan when the Pakistan military successfully eliminated their hideouts and 4,000 square kilometres of the area was cleared from terrorists in KP.
The recent attacks across KP have rung alarm bells in Pakistan and also exposed security loopholes. The Afghan Taliban government had released many TTP and Al-Qaeda terrorists from prisons and they reunified with its breakaway factions as a result of that Pakistan experienced an increase in terrorist attacks inside the country. Meanwhile, the Baloch separatist groups in Afghanistan formed Baloch Raji Ajio Sangar (BRAS), which included the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Baloch Republicans Guard (BRG). The Baloch groups have also established an alliance with some negligible Sindhi groups to create an impact.
Atrocities against Hindus continue to soar unabated in cash-strapped Pakistan
The Afghan population is divided into five different ethnic groups: Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and Turkomans. The strongest among Afghan Taliban is ‘The Haqqanis’ under Sirajuddin, who is the caretaker minister of interior and refugees. The Haqqanis are considered the most organized and trained group in Afghanistan. The Tajiks are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan which constitutes 26 percent of the Afghan population who speak Dari, a variant of Perion with ethnic linkage with Tajikistan. Their leader Ahmad Shah Massoud fought the Russian invasion from 1979 to 1988 and the Taliban from 1996 to 2001 under the banner of Northern Alliance, which consisted of Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras. After the capture of Kabul by the Taliban, a force was raised in Panjshir valley named as National Resistance Front to resist the Taliban. However, Panjshir valley fell to the Taliban.
It is pertinent to mention that British India demarcated the boundary between Afghanistan and Russia. The border agreement was signed in 1893. This agreement led to the creation of the Wakhan Corridor as a buffer. The successive Afghan governments referred to the boundary as the ‘Durand Line’ and refused to recognize it on the pretext that it had divided Pashtuns. Even today, the Afghan Taliban does not recognize the border as legitimate. There are more Pashtuns in Pakistan than in Afghanistan. There are 35 million Pashtuns in Pakistan, whereas in Afghanistan, Pashtuns are about 15 million.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets Chinese President Xi Jinping.(photo:facebook.com/ShehbazSharif)
Neelum Jhelum project suffers as China loses interest in power generation in Pakistan. The Chinese ambassador reportedly acknowledged that the Chinese companies have remained reluctant to progress due to delayed payments
Pakistan’s plans to increase electricity generation to tackle the growing power shortage in the country seem to have derailed due to a lack of Chinese interest. A prime example of this phenomenon is the halt in operation and repair activities at the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) located near Muzaffarabad. The 969-megawatt project started electricity generation in April 2018 but remains stalled since July 2022 due to blockage in its 68 km-long tunnelling system. The Chinese have apparently been reluctant to help its revival.
After the problem surfaced, remedial works were initiated by the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) of Pakistan by awarding the contract to a Chinese construction firm, M/s China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC). A five-member international panel of experts (IPOE) was also engaged. However, the Pak authority has been on the receiving end since then with the Chinese company delaying the repair work on one pretext or another. The CGGC also blame the local protests on the plant and the failure of the Pakistan police to offer credible security. In one instance, the Chinese firm had to stop work and demobilize its workforce after local residents disrupted the work in protest. The protesters’ complaints include an inequitable share of power, royalty, employment and environmental destruction. Nevertheless, the Pakistani authorities counter the allegations by accusing the Chinese of not following security protocols at the site.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, waves to journalists at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Oct. 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei/IANS)
The logjam has led to a marked decline in the level of understanding between Pakistan and China over joint power projects. Meanwhile, the blockage is threatening the structure of the tunnel with experts warning of a possible collapse. According to the chief of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) Tauseef Farooqui, the tunnel might collapse at any time and the consequences could be disastrous. Some experts point out that the real reason behind the lack of Chinese concern is the delay in overdue payments by the Pak authorities.
The issues facing the NJHP project indicate a deeper problem in Pak-China cooperation in the power sector. Pakistan owes around PKR300 billion to the Chinese independent power producers (IPPs) and the liability has become a sore point in the bilateral relations. After undertaking an investigation of its ballooning power sector dues in April 2020, the Pak government pushed for renegotiating tariffs and existing power purchase agreements. The step adversely impacted foreign investors’ confidence and raised concerns about the long-term contract sanctity in the country.
Moreover, as part of its negotiations with the IMF, Pakistan assured the fund that it would try to receive concessions from the CPEC power plants either through a reduction in the profit rates on investment or by rescheduling the loan repayments. Meanwhile, non-clearance of their dues by Pakistan continued to make the Chinese power sector investors nervous and many of them started accusing Islamabad of breaching the provisions of the agreements.
They complain that a huge amount of arrears, coupled with the accelerated depreciation of the PKR has significantly reduced their nominal return on investment. More than ten Chinese investors in power projects have established an Association viz Energy Enterprise Association (EEA) on the pattern of independent Power Producers (lPPs) to raise their issues.
Pakistan’s delayed response to the long-standing Chinese demand of establishing a revolving account has not helped the situation either. The “Pakistan Energy Revolving Account” with Rs 50 billion was finally put in place to confirm the CPEC agreement in December 2022. According to a Pak-based newspaper, Business Recorder, the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, Nong Rong reportedly acknowledged that the Chinese companies have remained reluctant to progress due to delayed payments to IPPs, rising exchange rate and Nepra’s “unhelpful behaviour towards them”.
UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
The current economic crisis is the doing of Pakistan itself, a culmination of decades of its faulty policies. It has become a state at war with itself. By supporting and patronising extremism and militancy in the name of jihad, it has hardly ever focused on long-term economic growth, and instead showcased short-sightedness in waging a war, direct or proxy, with India…. Writes Dr Sakariya Kareem
Pakistan’s economy is facing a deep crisis. Its deflating economy is faced with spiralling inflation, depreciation of the Pakistani Rupee, shrinking forex reserves, and a general downward spiral of other macroeconomic parameters. The situation is so grim that the Pakistani state is almost on the verge of being bankrupt.
The credit rating agency Moody’s made a blistering statement on Pakistan stating that the “country’s ability to afford its own debt is one of the weakest among the sovereigns.” The numbers clearly show this poor state of affairs. With the debt servicing obligations tuning to $15.5 billion in FY23, the interest payments alone now comprise 50 per cent of the government’s revenue this fiscal, which saw a nearly 25 per cent jump from the last year. The condition is such that the external debt rose from $66 billion in FY17 to over $100 billion today. However, with no corresponding growth in the ability to carry this debt burden, Pakistan has no room left to borrow anymore. As per a UNDP report, Pakistan is facing a debt of over $250 billion, much more than the carrying capacity of the Pakistani state, wherein it has to pay back a debt of $33 billion by FY23. The continued slump of the Pakistani Rupee (PKR), reaching a record low of 267.48 per dollar, is further worsening the crisis.
Police targeted in Peshawar mosque attack; toll mounts to 47
The crisis is pushing millions of people into poverty and even starvation with the non-availability of the state to import even basic and essential items. Frequent power outages is now a new normal for Pakistan. The situation can be gauged from the fact that the government had to ask shopping malls, wedding halls, restaurants and markets to close early to conserve electricity, generated mostly from imported oil. Meanwhile, all the government departments have been ordered to reduce their electricity consumption by 30%. The government has even banned the production of electric fans from coming July to reduce the energy crisis pressure.
The crisis is hitting people hard with the food prices and cost of living increasing manifold, and at the same time, salaries and allowances of government employees have been stalled in many places.
With forex reserves plunging at a galloping pace, reaching $3.67 billion, the lowest since 2014, Pakistan has only a few weeks of import cover left. Meanwhile, the government has banned the import of many items that include sanitary pads for women and nappies for babies, amongst other items.
The crisis in Pakistan worsened due to a combination of many factors including its faltering GDP growth, global economic slowdown, rising global inflation owing to the Ukraine war, plunging Pakistani rupee making imports costlier, compounded by a catastrophic flood which caused massive destruction affecting over 33 million people.
However, the present crisis is the doing of Pakistan itself, a culmination of decades of faulty policies. It has become a state at war with itself. By supporting and patronising extremism and militancy in the name of jihad, it has hardly ever focused on long-term economic growth, and instead showcased short-sightedness in waging a war, direct or proxy, with India. The rise of terrorist groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which was backed by Pakistan’s army and intelligence agency ISI, is now waging a war against the Pakistani state itself killing innocent civilians and law enforcers.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif
The current economic crisis is attributed to its myopic policy decision resulting in excessive spending on non-developmental and economically unviable projects. Economic mismanagement and financing of futile infrastructure projects like the Gwadar-Kashgar Railway line project through long-term debt instruments, and relying massively on external borrowing rather than from domestic institutions added to its troubles. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which Pakistan readily joined has now put Pakistan under a Chinese debt of $64 billion.
Pakistan could hardly attract sustainable foreign investments in its infrastructure and industries due to a lack of any long-term economic planning, falling confidence of investors in Pakistan’s political stability and low credit ratings coupled with the greylisting in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) till recent past. As per the State Bank of Pakistan data, the FDI inflows into Pakistan reached a maximum of 1 per cent of its GDP in the last 10 years. The vicious cycle of seeking fresh debts and paying old ones, which Pakistan practised for a long, has pushed Pakistan into a precarious debt trap. Pakistan did not bring structural economic reforms in its fiscal and monetary policies, and its economy reeked of corruption and nepotism. For instance, a recent United Nations report suggests that an elite group of citizens in Pakistan receive economic privileges of around $17.4 billion in the form of tax breaks and preferential access to public capital.
With bankruptcy looming around, Pakistan is seeking a $7 billion bailout package from the IMF to prevent the collapse of the state seeking help in a do-or-die situation. While the IMF delegation is visiting Pakistan, tough times are ahead for Pakistan. To secure this loan, Pakistan will have to undertake very unpopular austerity measures including cutting subsidies drastically and bringing in market reforms. Pakistan has become a textbook lesson in the political economy of how nations that rear extremism, indulge in state-sponsored terrorism, have no growth and development strategy and have utter disregard for the welfare of their common citizens, eventually collapse.
Elections in Jan 2024, vote for AL to save B'desh from BNP-Jamat's militancy: Hasina
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Bangladesh also saw tremendous growth from $71.82 billion in 2006 to $416.26 billion in 2021, a 479.58 per cent increase. The FDI inflows into Bangladesh also saw a sharp increase rising from $466.40 million in 2006 to $2.17 billion in 2021-22. These figures reflect the growth and development trajectory that Bangladesh is on since Sheikh Hasina controlled the reins of governance in the country …. Writes Firoz Abdul Rahman
Bangladesh, which was earlier considered an ‘international basket case’ because of its dependence on foreign aid and donations to survive in the post-liberation war era, is witnessing unprecedented growth under the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.
Within a short span of over 14 years, since Sheikh Hasina has been in power, Bangladesh has upgraded to a lower middle-income country from a low-income country. When the BNP-Jamaat alliance left the government in 2006 after five years of misrule involving corruption, nepotism, plunder and radicalisation of the Bangladeshi society, the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of Bangladesh was a mere $570. As per the World Bank’s 2021 figures, Bangladesh’s GNI per capita stood at $2,570. This reflects an exponential growth of GNI per capita with a 351 per cent increase in a relatively short period of time.
Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Bangladesh also saw tremendous growth from $71.82 billion in 2006 to $416.26 billion in 2021, a 479.58 per cent increase. The FDI inflows into Bangladesh also saw a sharp increase rising from $466.40 million in 2006 to $2.17 billion in 2021-22. These figures reflect the growth and development trajectory that Bangladesh is on since Sheikh Hasina controlled the reins of governance in the country.
With a 6.6 per cent average economic growth rate, Bangladesh has been able to pull millions of poor people out of poverty. As per the International Monetary Fund, Bangladesh is now the 43rd largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP, while it stands at the 32nd position in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). Moreover, it is amongst the 10 fastest-growing economies globally.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) case studies corroborate the developmental measures taken by the Sheikh Hasina government. From a drastic reduction in maternal mortality rate (MMR), children under five years of age mortality rate (U-5MR) and the infant mortality rate (IMR), to ensuring sanitation facilities for all, the government has been registering transformational development success stories. For instance, the MMR has come down to 173 per 100,000 live births and the IMR has reduced to 23.67 per 1,000 live births.
The government has made key policy and strategic interventions in the field of health and nutrition that has helped increase the life expectancy in Bangladesh, reaching 73.57 years in 2023 and being higher than there in other countries in the region. Many community clinics have been established to serve the rural population. Apart from this, primary and secondary education is supported for all, with a special focus on children, resulting in greater retention of students in school, reductions in child marriage, maternal and neonatal mortality, and increased women’s empowerment.
In the field of education, the government is promoting universal and quality education for all. Towards this, the Sheikh Hasina government formulated the National Education Policy 2010 wherein the total allocation for education increased from $1.4 billion to over $6.5 billion.
To further the growth and development agenda, the Awami League government has taken measures such as enacting the Bangladesh Economic Zones Act, 2010, establishing economic zones in areas that can help develop export-orient industries and attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). In the same vein, the government has also introduced a one-stop service to enable ease of doing business as well as establishing the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority to develop a conducive environment for investments.
In terms of domestic industries also, apart from its well-established Ready-made garments (RMG) and textile industries, this government has made tremendous success in pharmaceutical production. The medicines and drugs produced in Bangladesh are now being exported to different countries after meeting 98 per cent of the domestic demand.
The present government has made energy security one of its main priorities. The power and energy sector is therefore receiving concerted efforts on the part of the government with the power generation capacity of Bangladesh increasing from 4,942 MW in 2009 to 22,066 MW of installed electricity generation capacity in FY 2021-22. In the past 10 years, the number of power plants has also increased from a mere 27 to 180 and power generation increased over three-fold. Moreover, A Gas Development Fund has been established to assist Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) to boost oil and gas exploration.
In the communication sector, the rapid development of safe modes of transportation is another significant achievement of the present government. In this regard, the construction of the Padma Bridge is a watershed moment. Padma Bridge, the fifth largest bridge in the world, has been constructed without the support of international donors, demonstrating the country’s economic strength and sustainability of financial and organisational growth. The Padma Bridge will play an important role in the economic and fortune development of the 18 crore people of Bangladesh, especially the 21 districts of the southern region. This bridge will have an additional impact of 1.2 per cent on the country’s GDP and an additional 1.0 per cent growth of Bangladesh due to the rail link on the Padma Bridge.
In the field of telecommunication, the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government has been on a mission mode to build a digital Bangladesh and transform Bangladesh into a technologically advanced nation making full use of ICT developments. With over 50 million people having access to mobile phones, Bangladesh has come a long way in this path.
The Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government is taking Bangladesh to an extraordinary heights in terms of developmental parameters. Owing to its remarkable story of poverty reduction and development under the Awami League government, Bangladesh is on track to graduate from the UN’s Least Developed Countries (LDC) list by 2026. Despite taking over the country in a poor state of affairs from the BNP-Jamaat alliance which had unleashed a reign of corruption, violence, religious extremism and militancy from 2001 to 2006, the Sheikh Hasina government has turned the tide and pushed Bangladesh towards development, economic growth, peace, stability, harmony and prosperity.
Only G20 delegates will be allowed to enter the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, and other buildings on February 12…reports Asian Lite News
The Taj Mahal and Agra Fort will likely remain shut to tourists for four hours due to the arrival of G20 guests in Agra on February 12. Only G20 delegates will be allowed to enter the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, and other buildings, officials said.
However, according to the schedule made known by the Ministry of External Affairs so far, no G20 meeting is scheduled in Agra. But G20 working group meetings will be held in Indore, Bangalore and Lucknow around this time, and the delegates could visit Agra, news agency PTI reported.
Recently, the Supreme Court had modified its December 2019 order and allowed an increase in air traffic in Agra city.
Counsel, representing the Airports Authority of India (AAI), submitted before a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul that the court had allowed it to build an additional terminal and funds have been sanctioned for the project.
Citing an inflow of tourists from all over the world to visit Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and others monuments, counsel contended that increasing the air traffic at the airport is the “need of the hour”.
Advocate A.D.N. Rao, assisting the court as an amicus curiae, said the AAI’s application is for modification of the earlier order of the apex court.
After hearing arguments, the top court noted that the required study has been conducted and also concurrence of the Centre as well as the state has been obtained. It emphasised that permissions, which include environmental clearance, are required to be obtained as it modified its earlier order.
The top court had allowed the AAI to construct an additional terminal at the existing airport in Agra but added a rider that the authority and the Central government would not grant any permission to increase the traffic at the Agra air field until further orders.
In December 2019, Centre’s counsel had informed the apex court that the government would conduct a study to examine the number of tourists who utilise the airport and their increase over the years.
The apex court has been monitoring efforts to protect the Taj Mahal.
