Although both had large page networks, anti-vaccine content producers more effectively coordinated content delivery across pages, groups, and users’ news feeds…reports Asian Lite News
The Covid-19 vaccine misinformation policies of Facebook, the world’s largest social media platform, were not effective in combating misinformation and its overall design is more to blame for this rather than just algorithms, a new study has revealed.
The study, led by researchers at the George Washington University in the US and published in the journal Science Advances, found that Facebook’s efforts were undermined by the core design features of the platform itself.
“To effectively tackle misinformation and other online harms, we need to move beyond content and algorithms to also focus on design and architecture,” said David Broniatowski, lead study author and an associate professor of engineering management and systems engineering.
The results show that removing content or changing algorithms can be ineffective if it doesn’t change what the platform is designed to do — enabling community members to connect over common interests — in this case, vaccine hesitancy — and find information that they are motivated to seek out, he explained.
The researchers found that while Facebook expended significant effort to remove a lot of anti-vaccine content during the Covid-19 pandemic, overall engagement with anti-vaccine content did not decrease beyond prior trends — and, in some cases, even increased.
“This finding… is incredibly concerning. It shows the difficulty that we face as a society in removing health misinformation from public spaces,” said Lorien Abroms, study author and a professor of public health.
In the content that was not removed, there was an increase in links to off-platform, low credibility sites and links to misinformation on “alternative” social media platforms like Gab and Rumble, especially in anti-vaccine groups.
In addition, remaining anti-vaccine content on Facebook became more — not less — misinformative, containing sensationalist false claims about vaccine side effects that were often too new to be fact-checked in real time.
There was also “collateral damage,” say the researchers, as pro-vaccine content may have also been removed as a result of the platform’s policies and, overall, vaccine-related content became more politically polarised.
Furthermore, anti-vaccine content producers used the platform more effectively than pro-vaccine content producers, the authors wrote.
Although both had large page networks, anti-vaccine content producers more effectively coordinated content delivery across pages, groups, and users’ news feeds.
Even when Facebook tweaked its algorithms and removed content and accounts to combat vaccine misinformation, the researchers say the architecture of the platform pushed back.
The social media platform designers could promote public health and safety by working collaboratively to develop a set of “building codes” for their platforms that are informed by scientific evidence to reduce online harms, the study suggested.
The meeting was held as a precursor to the ASEAN and East Asia summits, which are scheduled to take place in Jakarta next month, ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi…reports Asian Lite News
India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) registered a bilateral trade of $131.5 billion in 2022-23, while trade with the grouping accounted for 11.3 per cent of India’s global trade in 2022-23.
This was reviewed during the 20th ASEAN-India economic ministers’ meeting held on Monday at Semarang, Indonesia.
Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, Rajesh Agrawal, represented India at the meeting as a co-chair along with Zulkifli Hasan, Minister of Trade, Indonesia.
The economic ministers or their representatives from all the 10 ASEAN countries — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — participated in the meeting.
Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr Kao Kim Hourn attended the 26th AEM-Plus Three Consultation today. The meeting acknowledged the significance of enhancing the ASEAN Plus Three countries’ capacity in trade and investment promotion, supply chain resilience, among others. pic.twitter.com/9JEamACFBQ
The meeting was held as a precursor to the ASEAN and East Asia summits, which are scheduled to take place in Jakarta next month, ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the ASEAN and East Asia summits in Jakarta.
Meanwhile, at Semarang, the ministers also interacted with the ASEAN-India Business Council (AIBC) and took note of the activities undertaken by AIBC in 2023, including the 5th ASEAN-India Business Summit held in March this year in Kuala Lumpur.
The ministers noted the non-tariff barriers (NTBs) flagged by the businesses and appreciated the growing exchanges between the stakeholders from both sides.
They exchanged views on the regional and global challenges, such as the multidimensional impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, heightened volatility in the global financial market, inflationary pressures, and geopolitical tensions.
Both sides identified resilient supply chains, food security, energy security, health and financial stability as the priority areas of cooperation.
The main agenda of this year’s meeting was the timely review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), which was signed in 2009.
The economic ministers’ meeting was preceded by the AITIGA joint committee meeting, which deliberated on the roadmap for the review and finalised the term of reference and work plan of the AITIGA review negotiations.
After constructive discussions, the ministers endorsed the review documents, which would pave way for the formal commencement of negotiations with defined modalities.
Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr Kao Kim Hourn attended the 29th AEM-METI Consultation held earlier today. The meeting endorsed the Future Design and Action Plan of Innovative and Sustainable ASEAN-Japan Economic Co-Creation 2023-2033. pic.twitter.com/PUrKOURWuZ
The review of the AITIGA was a long-standing demand of Indian businesses and the early commencement of the review would help in making the FTA trade facilitative and mutually beneficial. The ministers agreed to follow a quarterly schedule of negotiations and conclude the review in 2025.
The review of AITIGA is expected to enhance and diversify trade while addressing the current asymmetry in the bilateral trade.
The decision for review of AITIGA will now be placed in the forthcoming India-ASEAN Leaders’ summit scheduled in early September for further guidance.
Who further stated that it needed more data to understand this COVID19 variant and the extent of its spread, but the number of mutations warrants attention…reports Asian Lite News
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Friday the first case of Covid-19 variant BA.2.86 had been detected in the country in an individual with no recent travel history.
On Thursday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was tracking the new, highly mutated variant of the virus that causes COVID.
The variant has also been identified in Israel, Denmark and the United States.
Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) has designated variant BA.2.86 as a ‘variant under monitoring’ due to the large number of mutations it carries. The WHO said on Friday that they are tracking 3 variants of interest and 7 variants under monitoring at the moment.
“WHO continues to call for better surveillance, sequencing, and reporting of #COVID19 as this virus continues to circulate and evolve,” the WHO said in a tweet.
Who further stated that it needed more data to understand this COVID19 variant and the extent of its spread, but the number of mutations warrants attention.
Pic credits ANI
Recently, the latest variant, EG.5 (also known as Eris), has grabbed the attention of public health experts around the world and is becoming a dominant strain in countries including the United States and Britain.
The variant is causing about 17 per cent of the new Covid-19 cases in the country compared to 16 per cent for the next most common lineage, XBB.1.16, according to the latest estimates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CNN reported.
The new variant is a spinoff of the XBB recombinant strain of the Omicron family. According to the WHO, all viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, change over time. Most changes have little to no impact on the virus’s properties. However, some changes may affect the virus’s properties, such as how easily it spreads, the associated disease severity, or the performance of vaccines, therapeutic medicines, diagnostic tools, or other public health and social measures.
In June 2020, the WHO Virus Evolution Working Group was established with a specific focus on SARS-CoV-2 variants, their phenotype and their impact on countermeasures. This later became the Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution. In late 2020, the emergence of variants that posed an increased risk to global public health prompted WHO to characterize some as variants of interest (VOIs) and variants of concern (VOCs) to prioritize global monitoring and research and to inform and adjust the COVID-19 response. From May 2021 onwards, WHO began assigning simple, easy-to-say labels for key variants.
Considerable progress has been made in establishing and strengthening a global system to detect signals of potential VOIs or VOCs and rapidly assess the risk posed by SARS-CoV-2 variants to public health. It remains critical that these systems are maintained, and data are shared, according to good principles and in a timely fashion, as SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate at high levels around the world. While monitoring the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 globally, it also remains essential to monitor their spread in animal populations and chronically infected individuals, which are crucial aspects of the global strategy to reduce the occurrence of mutations that have negative public health implications.
In March 2023, WHO updated its tracking system and working definitions for variants of concern, variants of interest and variants under monitoring, as per WHO.
Eris was classified as a variant on July 31 after its prevalence was recorded in the country due to increasing cases internationally, particularly in Asia…reports Asian Lite News
Covid is back in the news again. A new variant, EG.5.1, which has descended from the rapidly spreading Omicron, has put health officers in the UK on their toes. The variant EG.5.1, nicknamed Eris, was first flagged in the UK last month and is now spreading quickly in the country.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said EG.5.1, which has been nicknamed Eris, makes up one in seven new COVID cases, the report said. The latest data suggests it now accounts for 14.6% of cases – the second most prevalent in the UK, Sky News reported.
“COVID-19 case rates continued to increase this week compared to our previous report. 5.4% of 4,396 respiratory specimens reported through the Respiratory DataMart System were identified as COVID-19. This is compared to 3.7% of 4,403 from the previous report,” the UKHSA said in a report.
Eris was classified as a variant on July 31 after its prevalence was recorded in the country due to increasing cases internationally, particularly in Asia.
“EG.5.1 was first raised as a signal in monitoring on July 3, 2023, as part of horizon scanning due to increasing reports internationally, particularly in Asia,” the UKHSA said.
“It was subsequently raised from a signal in monitoring to a variant V-23JUL-01 on July 31, 2023, due to the increasing number of genomes in UK data, and continued growth internationally. Declaring this lineage as a variant will allow further detailed characterisation and analysis,” it said.
“We continue to see a rise in COVID-19 cases in this week’s report. We have also seen a small rise in hospital admission rates in most age groups, particularly among the elderly. Overall levels of admission still remain extremely low and we are not currently seeing a similar increase in ICU admissions. We will continue to monitor these rates closely,” said Dr Mary Ramsay, UKHSA’s Head of Immunisation.
“Regular and thorough hand washing helps protect you from COVID-19 and other bugs and viruses. If you have symptoms of a respiratory illness, we recommend staying away from others where possible,” she said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) started tracking the EG.5.1 variant just over two weeks ago when WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said though people are better protected by vaccines and prior infection, countries should not let down their guard.
As the UK grapples with the rapid spread of the Eris variant, health authorities, and experts are closely monitoring the situation and advising the public to take necessary precautions to limit its transmission.
India is championing the 54-member AU to emphasize that the G20 must remain cognizant of Global South’s concerns, particularly those from Africa…reports Asian Lite News
There are evident signs that there has been a marked revival in India’s Africa policy after the hiatus of the pandemic. Taken together, these factors manifest an emerging framework, which builds on the past but modernises the relationship to deal with current realities. This could well be the precursor to holding the India Africa Forum Summit IV (IAFS IV) this year itself, perhaps soon after the G-20 Summit.
As the G20 President, India has voiced the aspirations and priorities of the Global South. In this, Africa plays a major role. The Voice of Global south virtual Summit held in January had many African countries participating. At one stroke this brought several African LDCs, landlocked countries, SIDS and debt stressed countries into a forum where, for the first time, they were heard directly by a G20 Presidency.
India’s list of guest countries shows a preference for the Global South. Invitees from Africa include Egypt, Nigeria, Mauritius, and Comoros as the Chair of the African Union. The Chair of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is also invited. South Africa is the only African country in the G20.
Secondly, continuing with its tradition of providing avenues for Africa to have its voice heard in the international order, India took the initiative of promoting the African Union for a full G 20 membership. PM Modi proposed this to the other leaders and discussed the issue with US President Joe Biden as well. This put an end to the whispers that India was holding up the elevation of the AU, which many countries had bilaterally supported.
Now every G20 member must take an open position on African aspirations. India is championing the 54-member AU to emphasize that the G20 must remain cognizant of Global South’s concerns, particularly those from Africa. The AU ambition approved at its last summit in February, is likely to be met through this Indian initiative. This will be the most visible sign of AU being included in a global forum since Africa, like India still awaits a reform of the UN and its Security Council.
Thirdly, during the G20 presidency, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has accelerated his visits to Africa. In the last few months, he visited seven African countries. Recently, he was in Tanzania on a stand-alone basis. In April he visited Uganda, stopped over in Addis Ababa, and went on to Mozambique. In June he went to South Africa for the BRICS foreign ministers meeting at which he met several invited African foreign ministers and then visited Namibia. He accompanied the Prime Minister to Egypt in June, too. This is a rapid pace indeed, during a busy diplomatic calendar of the G- 20 presidency.
Fourthly, India has shown greater openness to expanding BRICS. India would welcome new African members but that is contingent on what South Africa feels. South Africa is likely to invite all African leaders to a BRICS outreach program but will it agree to more African countries becoming members of BRICS? Here, India could nudge for admission of Egypt or Nigeria. These countries are friends of China, but less likely to be overrun by Chinese preferences within BRICS and help restore its balance.
It is evident now that the system of lines of credit has dried up, due to debt stress, the costs of borrowing and changed preferences of countries particularly in Africa. It was a good system for 15 years and gave India benefits. It spread the Indian private sector backed by lines of credit (LOCs) into nearly 44 African countries and empowered them to become competent to bid for projects in those countries backed by other financial institutions. Several of the companies who benefited from the LOCs have undertaken transmission line projects, railway development, port construction, logistics terminals, water, and solar energy projects. These are funded by either private conglomerates or by multilateral financial institutions. Would we have ever imagined that Indian companies would thrive in CAR, DRC, and Benin on their own? Or ports like San Pedro in Ivory Coast, Owen do in Gabon and Nouakchott in Mauritania would have an Indian EPC contractor?
During bilateral visits now, no lines of credit are announced. There is greater recognition that African countries prefer FDI. Indian companies investing in Africa are now better recognized. The government is diplomatically supporting them. More can be done. India’s trade has jumped to $ 98 billion and FDI to $ 75 billion in Africa.
The human resource development-based Africa policy that India pursued for some time, has been tweaked. and pushed forward, The ITEC programme is the best-known Indian brand in Africa as per a survey in the book, The Harambee Factor on India-Africa Economic and Development Cooperation. It performed well during the pandemic when it converted itself into an e-ITEC programme holding programmes on sites in African countries and thus not losing its momentum. It introduced several programmes dealing with what is relevant in dealing with the pandemic and its consequences.
Indians miss the human story, emotions, humour and music. Something closer to their heart, what they can identify with. The viewers want normal fun and entertainment in their films…writes Vinod Mirani
Looking at the first half of the year, January to June 2023, one would believe that the film industry has yet to come out of the Covid-19 lockdown effect. The films just don’t seem to work. Nor do the top-billing stars.
Were it for the Covid-19 hangover, how does one explain the blockbuster success of ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘The Kerala Story’? How does one account for the success of ‘Pathaan’, ‘Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar’, ‘Zara Hatkke Zara Bachke’, and the last year’s release ‘Drishyam 2’?
As against these successes, what explains the failure of such massively budgeted vehicles such as ‘Adipurush’, to cite the very recent example? Looks like the Hindi audience is not lured by films that are mainly made on computers with VFX!
Indians miss the human story, emotions, humour and music. Something closer to their heart, what they can identify with. The viewers want normal fun and entertainment in their films.
Of course, Ramayana is closest to most people but not the way it was presented in ‘Adipurush’. Just don’t take your audience for granted. People are lured by their favourite stars initially, then by the film and its content.
So, it may be wise not to make your hero fly, kick 10 people in one go. Hollywood films are doing it and so are some of the South Indian films. Only, the South Indian films make sure they include family emotions and give the hero a cause for his flying kicks.
The operative word in the film industry is ‘trend’. And the trend seems to be changing, veering towards stories that appeal to all, or what was referred to as a film with universal appeal. That is, a film that appeals to masses as well as classes, frontbenchers as well as the gentry and Hindi belt as well as the other assorted linguistic states of the country.
The 1950s, 60s and 70s had numerous hits every year. And all those films catered to audiences of all kinds all over the country. There are too many to list here. Of course, they also made action films and they were rated as B-grade cinema, made for a specific audience. More than the film and its action, what excited the viewer was the background sound of dhishoom … dhishoom in the yesteryear action films!
I think it was post ‘Zanjeer’ and ‘Deewaar’, both Amitabh Bachchan films, that the barrier between action and family films was finally demolished.
The top-billing stars did not indulge in doing such films. Their films saved action for the climax, where the hero dealt with the villain. By the time the action scene would take place, the viewer would have started detesting the villain so much that he would be cheering the hero as he beat up the bad guys. Today, it is kosher for every big actor to do action movies.
‘Zanjeer’ and ‘Deewaar’ paved the way for all actors to do action films. Still, the fact remains that even the tough guys, he men and the ones labelled as action heroes (such as Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna and Salman Khan) have had a better record with love stories or family films and not action films.
There came a phase when the so-called corporate houses came and turned the multi-lakh film production business into a multi-crore enterprise. And the multiplexes turned the film-viewing experience from a Rs 2 to Rs 5 outing to one priced from Rs 200 to Rs 2,200! The era of creative individual filmmakers was over. Films were now being made for the multiplexes; audience taste was incidental.
The fun lasted for a few years as some films worked and many did not. The economics of filmmaking had gone haywire! Every actor wanted to make an action film. Even the romantic hero as he was branded, Shah Rukh Khan, came up with his personal version of ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ with ‘Pathaan’!
The problem was the ‘Baahubali’ effect on the Hindi filmmakers. Each one of them wanted a ‘Baahubali’-like blockbuster of his own. Though dubbed from Telugu films, the franchise shattered all box-office records. The idea was to make visually grand films, preferably with top stars.
There, however, came the catch: The film had to have a huge budget to afford the extravaganza. Top stars and top budgets were expected do the trick along with spectacular visuals and special effects.
So we had the first project, ‘Thugs Of Hindustan’ (2018) followed by ‘Padmavat’, ‘Vikram Vedha’, ‘Sooryavanshi’, ‘Samrat Prithviraj’, ‘War’, ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’, ‘Bajirao Mastani’, ‘Kalank’, ‘Samshera’, ‘Brahmastra: Part 1’ and the recent ‘Adipurush’. Some makers preferred to make films based on a chapter from history or mythology; at least that would provide a semblance of a story.
As it turned out, the bigger the budget, the louder the thud with which they fell. Ironically, while many top-billing Hindi films failed, the intermittent dubbed versions from the South, such as ‘Pushpa: The Rise’, ‘RRR’ and ‘KGF’ grossed in multiples of crores.
You may want your multi crore grosser and invest high. But, with high budgets, such projects also entail high risk. You make a big film for the sake of it, Thugs Of Hindustan or Brahmastra, but if the viewer does not identify with the subject, a disaster is guaranteed.
That makes one think. Why are films such as ‘Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’ or ‘Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar’ are scoring big at the box office? If one takes films from the time ‘Baahubali’ released in 2015 and some filmmakers tried to match it, there have been a number of smaller films that have proved to be hits.
These films are: ‘Tanu Weds Manu’, ‘Drishyam’ and ‘Drishyam 2’, ‘Aye Dil Hai Mushkil’, ‘Hindi Medium’, ‘Toilet Ek Prem Katha’, ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya’, ‘Sanju’, ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’, ‘Golmaal’, ‘Chhichhore’, ‘Badhaai Ho’, ‘Padman, Good Newwz’, ‘Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ and ‘Jugjugg Jeeyo’.
‘Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’ is a nice mix of the old and the contemporary. The problem a newly-wed couple face in a small accommodation was seen in Rajshri Production’s ‘Piya Ka Ghar’, which has been very well done in this film, and blended with the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to give it a contemporary touch.
These films are acceptable to all, family and youth, middle class and upper class. The advantage with these kind of films is that it limits the risk factor, and quickly recovers the investment. What is more, it need not be viewed on the big screen. They are as much fun to watch on an OTT platform, where they can be enjoyed with family and kids.
It is time to go back to your roots — to films like ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Jab We Met’, ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’.
People walk along the Westminster Bridge in London, Britain, on Jan. 1, 2021. (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua/ians)
The request for the material has prompted a legal challenge from the government of his successor Rishi Sunak…reports Asian Lite News
The government’s focus on Brexit seriously hampered pandemic planning, an inquiry examining the country’s handing of the Covid-19 health emergency was told on Tuesday.
Hugo Keith, lead lawyer to the Covid-19 inquiry which is holding its first public session, said the country’s departure from the European Union had “required an enormous amount of planning and preparation”.
“It is clear that such planning, from 2018 onwards, crowded out and prevented some or perhaps a majority of the improvements that central government itself understood were required to be made to resilience planning and preparedness.”
The UK suffered one of the worst Covid-19 death tolls in Europe with more than 128,500 fatalities recorded by mid-July 2021. The current total number of deaths with Covid-19 on the death certificate stands at just over 227,000, according to the latest government figures.
Chaired by retired senior judge Heather Hallett, the first phase of the inquiry is focusing on the UK’s resilience and preparedness.
But relatives of people who died have already condemned the inquiry for failing to include them and say it will be a “farce” if they are not able to testify.
Members of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign lined up outside the inquiry in central London holding pictures of their loved ones.
“Without learning from the experiences of our members, how can the inquiry properly evaluate the decisions made by those in charge?” group member Barbara Herbert, who lost her husband Paul to Covid, said earlier this week.
“We are people that will be able to put reality to the theory that Hallett is testing, that has got to happen, otherwise it’s just a farce,” added Saleyha Ahsan, a doctor whose father Ahsan-ul-Haq Chaudry also died.
Launching proceedings, Hallett pledged that those who suffered during the pandemic would “always be at the heart of the inquiry”.
She paid tribute to the relatives’ “dignified vigil”, adding that she hoped they would “understand when they see the results of the work we are doing that I am listening to them”.
“Their loss will be recognised,” added Hallett, who previously oversaw the coroner’s inquests into the 52 people killed in the July 7, 2005 London bombings.
The inquiry is also facing controversy over its request for the unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks of pandemic era prime minister Boris Johnson who established the probe in 2021.
The request for the material has prompted a legal challenge from the government of his successor Rishi Sunak.
Sunak, who was finance minister during the pandemic, has denied trying to block the material, while Johnson is said to be in favour of it being shared.
The Prime MinisterBoris Johnson is joined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak as they make their way up the staircase of No10 Downing Street to give a press conference on the Coronavirus. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
Hallett, however, has refused to back down over her request for the unredacted communications, likely to include exchanges at the heart of government relating to the ordering of lockdowns in 2020, when Sunak was in charge of the country’s purse strings.
A High Court judge is due to rule on the request at the end of June, with the material expected to be central to the inquiry’s second phase later in 2023 on government decision-making.
The first witnesses to give evidence in person to the inquiry will be leading epidemiologists Jimmy Whitworth and Charlotte Hammer on Wednesday.
Public inquiries in the UK are government-funded but have an independent chair. They investigate matters of public concern, establishing facts about what happened, why and what lessons can be learned. They do not rule on civil or criminal liability, and any recommendations are not legally binding.
Opposition parties have accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government of trying to obstruct the Covid inquiry and urged him to comply with its requests…reports Asian Lite News
The government is to launch an unprecedented legal challenge over the Covid inquiry’s demand for WhatsApp messages and documents.
The government missed a 16:00 deadline to share Boris Johnson’s messages and notebooks from during the pandemic.
It is thought to be the first time a government has taken legal action against its own public inquiry.
Johnson said he would be “more than happy” to give the unredacted material directly to the inquiry’s chair.
The Cabinet Office – the department that supports the prime minister in running the government – had until 16:00 on Thursday to hand over all documents requested by the Covid inquiry.
But the government refused to disclose some of the material by arguing it was not relevant to the inquiry, it would compromise ministers’ right to privacy, and would set a precedent that could prevent ministers discussing policy matters in future.
Crossbench peer and retired judge Baroness Hallett, who is the inquiry’s chair, says it is up to her to decide what material is relevant.
Johnson has not disclosed any WhatsApp messages sent before April 2021 because his mobile phone was involved in a security breach and has not been turned on since, his spokesman said.
The former prime minister has written to the Cabinet Office asking whether security and technical support can be given so that content can be retrieved without compromising security, the spokesman added.
In a highly unusual move announced after the 16:00 deadline had passed, the Cabinet Office said it would seek a judicial review of Baroness Hallett’s order to release the documents.
This means a judge will have to decide whether the inquiry has overreached its legal powers – setting up a potential legal showdown in court just weeks before the inquiry is due to hold its first public hearings.
Elkan Abrahamson, the lawyer representing the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, said: “The Cabinet Office is showing utter disregard for the inquiry in maintaining their belief that they are the higher power and arbiter of what is relevant material and what is not.
“It raises questions about the integrity of the inquiry and how open and transparent it will be if the chair is unable to see all of the material.”
Opposition parties have accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government of trying to obstruct the Covid inquiry and urged him to comply with its requests.
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, branded the legal challenge a “desperate attempt to withhold evidence” and said “these latest smoke-and-mirror tactics serve only to undermine the Covid Inquiry”.
The Liberal Democrats said the legal challenge was “a kick in the teeth for bereaved families who’ve already waited far too long for answers”.
Some senior Conservative MPs had urged the government to back down to avoid a lengthy legal battle with the Covid inquiry.
Science minister George Freeman defended the decision to take legal action, while conceding he personally thought a defeat in the courts was likely.
India is seen to be in the sweetest geopolitical spot since 1947- to be a third, independent pole. However, it would be expected to paradoxically play that role not through the traditional non-aligned way but by being multi aligned – through crucial, multiple strategic – political alliances and economic partnerships, Minilateral, plurilateral groupings – sub regional, regional, inter-regional – by Laxmi Puri
India as a nation must seize upon what is universally recognized as a special moment for India and the world to create and sedulously build a narrative on and delve into the substance of India’s march to be a leading/great power in the coming decade and beyond. Many books are now scoping the challenges and opportunities of India reaching the greatness destination from currently being a rising, emerging, major, bridging, balancing power using established parameters, both intrinsic and relative to other countries.
Why Now
India matters more to the world and the world matters more to India at this turnpike moment in history and the emerging world order than any other time since its independence. The most populous 1.4 billion and youth rich country -60 percent – is primed for reaping a huge demographic and talent dividend. Fastest growing and dynamic economy 5th largest now – is on its way to be 3rd soon. It is playing and poised to play an ever expanding and even indispensable role in regional and global security and in global governance institutions.
Tectonic shifts in the world order
We are seeing one of the greatest tectonic shifts in the emerging world order – the global yugantar moment – the end of an epoch and beginning of another. For India, Yugantar symbolizes Lord Vishnu’s energy and confidence, which PM Modi’s India exudes, making it a positive, nurturing force to reckon with.
Major inflection points
The World War III type health crisis, social and economic meltdown and technological acceleration caused by the calamitous COVID pandemic had a decisive influence on geopolitics and geo-economics.
It unleashed a sharpening US – China “great power strategic competition” and systemic rivalry, a Cold War 2.0 mentality referred to by Chinese FM Wang Yi, adding to the growing US Russia one. It put India as another rising power in Asia and a democracy in a pole position. It signalled the moving away from a unipolar world order into a bipolar one but even perhaps an inexorable shift to a genuinely multipolar, multi-civilizational one creating opportunities for India to be a mover and shaker.
China has assumed hegemonic Middle Kingdom postures, as its aggressive, expansionist actions in the South China Seas, Sino Indian border, Hong Kong and Taiwan indicate. The COViD 18 crisis also exposed the world’s over dependence and vulnerability on the Chinese economic behemoth and China led hyper globalization. This induced Western and other countries’ rethink on putting all FDI, trade and technology eggs in the Chinese basket. India could benefit from this De-globalization and shift to friend shoring and secure and resilient global value chain creation.
On the other hand, the United States and China – one established great power and one just arrived one, emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic having taken significant damage to their prestige and soft power. Neither country distinguished itself or aided the international community significantly in responding. India on the other hand proved its mettle with its vaccine success story and effective management of COViD given its population scale, size, scope and resources and helped 96 countries. As President Biden said, India demonstrated that democracy delivers.
China as the ground zero country of the pandemic was less than transparent and cooperative with the international community and institutions on the origin of the virus determination, extent of deaths , efficacy of its vaccine and overall response.
The Russia – Ukraine war shook the world order in multiple ways. The first war directly being fought by one of the World War II victors and nuclear power in the heart of Europe since 1945, Russia justified it as a war of necessity .But the way the US, EU and NATO have responded to it- Jeffrey Sachs calls it the US- Russia proxy war”- it seems like their war of choice is intended as a reprise of Francis Fukuyama’ s end of history project. All out support to Ukraine short of directly entering the war, is projected as the defence of the free world and securing of liberal hegemony.
Given the hardening of positions in the NATO / US/ West, which seems to brook no peace negotiations short of Russian surrender including Crimea return , regime change, ICC arrest warrant for President Putin etc. the prospects for direct negotiations remain bleak. China is trying to work with Russia to find a way out. It would be interesting to see where Russia ends up in the major power calculus – reclaiming its “ natural borders” or losing all that it had recouped since the end of 1989, retaining its umbilical cord with West Europe or becoming more an Eurasian ally and aide to China’s great power game. PM Modi’s India which has urged that this is not an era of war has managed to maintain its longstanding relationship with Russia and while being seen by the US and West as having “tremendous moral clarity” could play a peace-making role should the parties be so inclined.
The war has also shaken the Europe Union further since Europe will have to pick up the pieces of Ukraine’s eventual absorption and reconstruction and its attempts to decouple from energy and other raw material dependence on Russia even as it seeks to enhance its NATO and EU/Germany/France defence capabilities while keeping some room for manoeuvre vis a vis the USA.
Reform of multilateralism
The multilateral institutions and rules for global governance they embody – UN, MFIs, WTO etc. were meanwhile tested like never before and found to be inadequate in many respects . Whether it is in dealing with the COVID crisis, preventing the Russia – Ukraine war or brokering peace or mobilizing the world to cope with the 3-F crisis or monitoring any possible nuclear/biosecurity fallout/accident etc. These institutions lack mandate, scale, ambition and teeth but also need reform to make them representative of and relevant to the new power realities, with greater technical expertise and independence of action, free from great power pressures – something India has been demanding. Institutions are also being pulled in different directions/paralyzed with a division along the Cold War 2.0, P2 vs P3 lines across the spectrum of organisations.
Significance of India
Specifically for India, with its extant and potential assets to play a consequential regional and global role, this shakeup and polycrisis — simultaneous and overlapping – bring some perils but also create new vistas of opportunity. Future gazers are seeing this as India’s decade and the 21 st century as India’s century. A Morgan Stanley report claims that the four global trends of de-globalization away from China, demographics of a burgeoning young India in an aging world; digitization and Tech 4.0 as an economic and political game-changer, and the de-carbonization, green development imperative hugely favour India.
India is also seen to be in the sweetest geopolitical spot since 1947- to be a third, independent pole. However, it would be expected to paradoxically play that role not through the traditional non-aligned way but by being multi aligned – through crucial, multiple strategic – political alliances and economic partnerships, Minilateral, plurilateral groupings – sub regional, regional, inter-regional.
PM Modi has been sensing this, trying to influence it, and working to leverage it. He knows that being a great power is a function of capabilities, interests and recognition. His leadership is therefore aimed at giving India a Will to Power whilst building the sinews of a critical mass of economic, military, nuclear, space, R and D, technological and intellectual power. He has enhanced and projected the attributes of its immense capital of soft power- civilizational Vishwa Guru rule, culture, yoga, Ayurveda, Bollywood/TV creative industry, media and digital capabilities. Equally in a paradigmatic shift in our strategic culture, he has developed and used ‘Machtpolitik’ – hard, competitive and coercive power complementarily.
(Special address by ambassador Lakshmi Puri at the Maharana Pratap Annual Geopolitics Dialogue organised by the Usanas Foundation at Udaipur)
Jaishankar’s Colombia visit marks the first Foreign Ministerial level visit from India to the Latin American country…reports Asian Lite News
During the COVID pandemic, India truly established that it was the pharmacy of the world and it did so by supplying almost 100 countries with vaccines and at least 150 countries, including some from the developed world, with increased supply of relevant medicines, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday in Colombia.
Recalling the struggles during the COVID pandemic period, he said that it has made everyone more health conscious. “The fact is that COVID has made us all much more health conscious, but also aware of supply chain vulnerabilities. Cost is also a relevant factor if we are looking at more sources, regionalized production and competitive pricing. I would suggest to our Colombian friends that the Indian industry is your natural partner,” Jaishankar said while addressing the India-Colombia Business Forum.
India also has a traditional medicine and wellness practice that could have strong business implications. Certainly. Therefore, these are areas worth exploring, he said further.
Speaking on Trade between India and Colombia, Jaishankar said the nations naturally seek to expand their volumes, the decision before us is when, where and how much to invest, and that the pharmaceutical sector is particularly seized of this challenge.
“Our endeavour is naturally to assess the comparative ease of doing business, among the countries of this region. We focus on market access issues, regulatory complexities and non-tariff barriers. The predictability of the business environment is also an important factor. To be honest, even the ease of getting business visas is a consideration. And not least, we assess how much the partner governments in question are invested in growing their relationship with India,” the EAM said during his address.
He added by saying that from the Colombian perspective, it is necessary that one is conversant with domains where India has made particular advances in recent years.
“I would like our Colombian friends to also note that India’s trade with Brazil currently, is around USD 17 billion and with Mexico around USD 8.5 billion. If nothing else, I hope it is a motivating factor. As Indian business approaches the region with a stronger desire to trade, invest, collaborate and execute projects, business events such as this one and visits like mine along with a business delegation, are helpful in taking decisions,” he said.
The External Affairs Minister, at present, is on a 4-nation trip to Latin American countries. Before his visit to Colombia, he went to Guyana and Panama.
The EAM’s visit to these four countries; his bilateral engagements and interactions with counterparts of important regional groups: CARICOM and SICA, adds to the momentum of the India-Latin American countries’ engagements.
Jaishankar’s Colombia visit marks the first Foreign Ministerial level visit from India to the Latin American country.
Earlier today, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Leyva Duran, on Thursday. Both leaders discussed several bilateral issues and signed the Cultural Exchange Program for 2023-26.
The two leaders also discussed the issue of Reformed Multilateralism and exchanged views on expanding bilateral cooperation in health, agriculture and digital domains. Global issues, including the Indo-Pacific, also figured in the discussions.
“Met Foreign Minister @AlvaroLeyva of Colombia this morning. Exchanged views on expanding our bilateral cooperation, especially in health, agriculture and digital domains. Proposed greater exchanges and stronger collaboration, especially in capacity building. Also spoke about global issues, including the Indo-Pacific. Addressed the issue of Reformed Multilateralism. Signed the Cultural Exchange Program for 2023-26,” Jaishankar tweeted.
Jaishankar also met the second Vice President of the Senate of Colombia, Honorio Henriquez, and had conversations focused on health collaboration, energy and technology. (ANI)
