Canada's unnecessary $600M election - New Delhi Times

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NEW DELHI TIMESR.N.I. No 53449/91 DL-SW-1/4124/20-22 Page 24 Rs. 7.00 27 September - 3 October 2021Vol - 31 No. 35

ESTABLISHED 1991

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

Al-Qaeda’s window of opportunity inPM Modi chairs 13th

BRICS Summit

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All of us are naturally All of us are naturally ignorant and in and in need of tending our garden of need of tending our garden of knowledge

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On September 9, 2021, amidst Corona times, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 13th BRICS Summit through video conferencing. The theme of the Summit was “BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus.”

The theme was chosen by India reflecting the fifteenth anniversary of BRICS, being observed in 2021. This has been the third time that India hosted the BRICS Summit (earlier Presidency was in 2012

and 2016) and the second time Modi has chaired the BRICS Summit after the Goa Summit in 2016. Indian Chairmanship

of BRICS in 2021 coincides with the 15th anniversary of BRICS and that is a pleasure. The BRICS is the

acronym which implies an association of five major emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia,

India, China and South Africa. The Summit saw the participation of all BRICS...

The virtues of the pursuit of knowledge aren’t something that most of us are unaware of. We as individuals in our own capacity know that knowledge empowers us, makes us feel aware and knowledgeable and respected by others but no matter how vigorously we pursue knowledge or no matter how far we get in this pursuit, it is not enough and will never be enough to make a person whole and complete. But still, it remains in life, the pursuit of knowledge is a noble virtue that all of us must pursue. It truly is like a garden and requires the appropriate attention and time for it to enrich our lives. We must look at the pursuit of knowledge...PAGE 4 PAGE 8

Tashkent: A Timeless

Canada’s unnecessary $600M election

Islamic Masterpiece

Afghanistan

Durand Line Dispute and the Pashtun Debate encircling Pakistan and Afghanistan

Pakistan-Harbour ofterrorists & Eden ofradicals, blames Indiaof promoting terrorism;

paradoxical

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NEW DELHI TIMESOpinion

◆ By NDT Special Bureau

@NewDelhiTimes

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◆ By Tarek Fatah Author & Columnist, Canada

@[email protected]

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Canada’s unnecessary $600M election

ustin Trudeau rolled the dice seeking to crown himself with the legitimacy of a

popular Prime Minister, betting $600 million in the gamble. Except for the fact, he didn’t have to and the money was not his to spend.

It was our money that we, the citizens, entrusted our government to spend wisely to weave Canadians into a society made up of the best we inherited from Great Britain, France and the United States and the immigrants who blend in to enrich us with their own cultures, be it Indian, Chinese, Latino or Ethiopian.

When the results of the Sept. 20 elections were counted, the futility of Justin Trudeau’s gamble was there for all to see.

Trudeau’s Liberals lost the popular vote to the Conservatives, failed to win a majority in Parliament and thus will continue to govern as Prime Minister of a government that will need the crutches of the NDP or the Bloc Quebecois to push forward its legislative agenda.

Any other politician who faced such humiliation would have stepped down, accept his tactical failure, and make room for a new leader of the Liberal party. But no, that would not be Justin Trudeau, who will end up

in history as the spoiled son of an illustrious Canadian Prime Minister who spent his youth allegedly groping women, wearing blackface and photobombing bridal ceremonies.

No matter how the 2021 elections are viewed, it was the end of “Much Ado About Nothing” in which the primary loser was Trudeau, who will limp along in the hope that he still has one more chance to depart with dignity, not egocentric adoration of his charm.

Already page after page has been written in the mainstream media depicting Trudeau’s loss as the failure of Erin O’Toole and Jagmeet Singh. But one tweet said it best: “I wonder for $600 million: How many nurses could have been hired? How many hours of support workers could have been provided? How many spaces could have been created at long-term care facilities could?”

How about 200,000 low-cost housing highrise units? Or part of the Eglinton Crosstown? Better still, financial help for casualties of the new economy where billionaires raked in tremendous wealth while retail workers saw jobs evaporated.

Did these points matter to voters in the large swath of the Greater Toronto Area where voting for the Liberals is sacredly woven into the ethnic vote banks who rhyme incessantly, “Liberals are good for us.”

‘Us’ not being Canadians, but rather immigrants from India, China, Pakistan and

the Caribbean who have this propaganda so deeply drummed into their psyche that a sign on the front lawn supporting the NDP of the Conservatives is seen as sacrilegious.

Over the past 30 years, I have talked to numerous members of the ‘immigrant community,’ asking them to elaborate on their views of Canada’s political choices, but like simpleton serfs, they rattle off the same rhetoric that “Liberals opened the doors for immigrants to Canada.”

When I show them facts that Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s Liberals in 1984 allowed only 95,000 plus new immigrants while Mulroney’s Conservatives in 1987 permitted 250,000 new immigrants into Canada, they refer me to community brokers who have drilled the liberal jargon as gospel truth.

Even the Jagmeet Singh-led NDP could not make a dent in the Liberal fortress of Peel and Brampton areas that have a vast South Asian community.Added to this propaganda are the mainstream columnists who echoed each other with headlines such as, ”Trudeau’s rivals emerge weaker from this round” despite the fact the Liberals lost the overall vote count. That did not prevent Chantal Hebert of the Toronto Star from pouring adoration on the Liberal leader with these words: “For his part, Justin Trudeau is widely seen by Liberal insiders and observers alike as having entered the legacy stage of his tenure. That’s usually a time when

leaving one’s mark on the country comes to matter more than electoral machinations.”

Pardon me, but the legacy of Trudeau will forever be that of a ‘Blackface’ drama teacher who allegedly groped a woman and photobombed a bridal party and abandoned our two Michaels in China’s prisons.And whether you like it or not, Trudeau will always be known for wasting $600 million of our money to pamper his ego and flaunt his pretty face spouting fake smiles and faker language. A year or 18 months from now, he will be back in another beauty pageant asking for our votes and the GTA vote bank community leaders will deliver us, if not to him, another fake liberal.

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World Powers accept India as a trustworthy stakeholder British, US & Russian Security Chiefs visit India

n August 15, 2021, Afghan capital Kabul fell dramatically to the terror-

outfit Taliban. The take-over was much faster than the diplomatic community had prepared for. The speed of the event forced foreign security agencies into huddles in India to assess the emerging threats. The international community is worried about implications of Afghanistan development for regional and global security.

The Taliban, supported by terror-sponsor Pakistan, gained control in Kabul. The world apprehends that Afghanistan, now the nursery of world terrorist outfits — Al-Qaida, IS-K, ETIM, IMU, LeT and JeM – could become the epicentre of terrorism. Al-Qaida spoke on Kashmir but conveniently, deliberately and purposefully left out Russia’s Chechnya and China’s Uyghurs. This statement was doctored at the behest of the sinister duo—the Pakistani Army and the ISI—which together form the Pindi Shura.

The Taliban take-over has amplified the role of Pindi Shura. Pakistan brazenly declares nurturing the Taliban over two-decades and even sent a team to govern Afghanistan! The US arms left behind in Afghanistan are openly sold in Pakistan reflecting the deep Taliban-Pakistan Army nexus. DG ISI visited Kabul on September 6, to mid-wife the Taliban government formation. The Taliban has got a country but Pakistan’s Pindi Shura controls the Taliban! Moderate Taliban leaders are subjugated to Pak-puppet hard-core Haqqani Network terrorists.

Spate of visits: Top UK, US and Russian intelligence officials—Richard Moore, Chief of MI6 of UK; William Burns,

Director of CIA; and Russia’s Spy Chief Nikolai Patrushev—made beeline for India in quick succession for talks with the Indian Intelligence. Intelligence chiefs met India’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval to share information in real time for a coordinated strategy. This speaks volumes about New Delhi’s role in the region that both the CIA Chief and Russia’s powerful security czar are in India at the same time. The world powers have accepted India as an important stakeholder.

British: British MI6 Chief Moore visited New Delhi on September 6. The UK blatantly supports Pakistan on Afghanistan. So, we can guess what Moore wanted from India. Moore’s visit was not announced. The British High Commission said, “We do not comment on intelligence matters.”

American: American delegation of intelligence and security officials, led by CIA Chief Burns, visited India on September 7. They met Doval and the National Security Council Secretariat including Dy NSA Rajinder Khanna and Lt Gen (retired) VG Khandare, the Secretariat’s military adviser, for consultations on key security issues.

Burns is a former diplomat who had visited India as the key nuclear deal negotiator, and in recent months have also made many visits. He had visited Kabul on August 23 and met with the Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar.

India and the US share security concerns at regional and global stage. Burns’ visit highlighted the same. Protests broke in Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif and Zaranj when the Taliban announced that Panjshir had fallen. Pakistani jets and drones pounded Panjshir. Burns also discussed about bringing some evacuees to India.

Russian: As Burns visit wrapped up, the Russian Secretary of the Security Council

General Patrushev arrived in India on September 8 at Doval’s invitation for high-level bilateral inter-governmental consultations on Afghanistan. The most important meeting Doval had was with Patrushev—the highest-ranking Russian security official, the former head of Russian intelligence agency FSB, Security Council Secretary since 2008, and now the right-hand of Putin.

Both emphasized bilateral cooperation in security, interaction on the anti-terrorist track, illegal migration, drug trafficking, joint work of special services and military forces, humanitarian migration problem, Russian-Indian joint efforts for peaceful settlement through intra-Afghan dialogue and coordinating multilateral formats on the Afghan settlement.

The Doval-Patrushev meet followed-up on the Modi-Putin tele-conversation on August 24 on the military, political and socio-economic situation in Afghanistan. Will the Taliban adhere to their commitments? India and Russia want to secure Central Asia against the Taliban’s radicalisation. India is wisely silent over the Taliban’s conflicting signals. Regarding recognising the Taliban government, Russian envoy to India said, “Too early”.

Patrushev met Modi and discussed bilateral, special and privileged strategic partnership. He met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. India and Russia are on the same page and seek an inclusive government in Afghanistan. The ‘Taliban do not control the entire Afghanistan’. The two strategic partners resolved to work together, remain in touch and “exchange perspectives” on Afghanistan.

Russia is one of the six countries maintaining embassies in Kabul, and to engage formally with the Taliban government their envoys meet the Taliban leaders. The U.S. and allies

moved embassies to Doha.

There are growing differences between the U.S. and Russia on Afghanistan despite two years of the “Troika-plus” mechanism. Recently, Russia accused U.S.-led western countries of rushing through UN Security Council resolution 2593 presided by India. Enough attention was not paid to Russian concerns on the ISIS and the ETIM threats to Central Asian security. Russia opposes American freezing of Afghan reserves, also evacuation of qualified Afghan nationals leading to a “brain drain.”

Russia wants to recognise the Taliban and work with them to pre-empt perceived security threat from the ISIS and the ETIM. The high-level India-Russia consultations were the first such review after the Taliban’s ascendance.

India’s concerns: India conveyed its concerns over foreign terror groups operating in Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s special responsibility to prevent terrorism spill-over from Afghan soil to neighbours. India also highlighted the links between Pakistan’s ISI and terror groups LeT and JeM active in Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s new Cabinet buzzes with designated global terrorists. The UNSC committee chaired by India will soon decide on the Taliban sanctions. The spike in Pakistan’s infiltrations into India is prime concern for the moment.

Recently, Russian official expressed concerns over terrorism from Afghanistan spreading to Kashmir. Threats of illegal drug trafficking also persist. India complained Pakistan’s backing for the Haqqani Network, and the presence of thousands of Pakistani fighters in Afghanistan. The Taliban relies on Pashtuns for absolute exclusion of other ethnic groups—Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and Turkmens.


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NEW DELHI TIMES Editor’s Desk

◆ Dr. Ankit Srivastava Chief Editor

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PM Modi chairs 13th BRICS Summit

n September 9, 2021, amidst Corona times, Indian Prime Minister Narendra

Modi chaired the 13th BRICS Summit through video conferencing. The theme of the Summit was “BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus.” The theme was chosen by India reflecting the fifteenth anniversary of BRICS, being observed in 2021. This has been the third time that India hosted the BRICS Summit (earlier Presidency was in 2012 and 2016) and the second time Modi has chaired the BRICS Summit after the Goa Summit in 2016. Indian Chairmanship of BRICS in 2021 coincides with the 15th anniversary of BRICS and that is a pleasure.

The BRICS is the acronym which implies an association of five major emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The Summit saw the participation of all BRICS Leaders– President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Xi Jinping of China, and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.

As the President of BRICS in 2021, India highlighted four priority areas for its Chairmanship: Reform of the Multilateral System, Counter-Terrorism cooperation, Using Digital and Technological Tools to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Enhancing People to People e x c h a n g e s . PM Modi affirmed t o

make BRICS more productive in the next 15 years.

Modi expressed appreciation for the cooperation received from BRICS partners during India’s Chairmanship this year. It allowed BRICS to achieve several new initiatives: the first BRICS Digital Health Summit; the first BRICS Ministerial Joint Statement on multilateral reforms; a BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan; an Agreement on cooperation in field of remote-sensing satellites; a virtual BRICS vaccine Research & Development Centre; and BRICS Alliance on Green Tourism. Modi expected BRICS countries to play a leading role in the post-COVID global recovery. He called for enhanced BRICS cooperation under the motto ‘Build-back Resiliently, Innovatively, Credibly and sustainably’.

Modi stressed accelerating ‘build-back’ by enhancing speed and accessibility of vaccination, creating ‘resilience’ by diversifying pharma and vaccine production capacities beyond the developed world, fostering ‘innovation’ by creatively using digital tools for public good, ensuring reform of multilateral institutions to enhance their ‘credibility’, and promoting ‘sustainable’ development by articulating a common BRICS voice on environmental and climate issues.

The leaders also discussed important regional and global issues, including recent developments in Afghanistan, the priority of fighting terrorism, extremism of terror organizations using Afghanistan as a sanctuary, and accelerating implementation of the BRICS Action Plan on Counter-Terrorism. The BRICS leaders said that they

were cognizant of the threats emanating from terrorism, extremism conducive

to terrorism and radicalization. “We commit to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the cross-border movement of terrorists, and terrorism financing networks and safe havens.”

As regards the situation in Afghanistan, BRICS called for refraining from violence and settling the situation by peaceful

means. We stress the need to contribute to fostering an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue so as

to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in the country. The

BRICS also underscore the priority of fighting terrorism, including

preventing attempts by terrorist organisations to use Afghan territory

as terrorist sanctuary and to carry out attacks against

other countries, as well as drug

trade within

Afghanistan. The BRICS also emphasised the need to address the humanitarian situation and to uphold human rights, including those of women, children and minorities.

At the conclusion of the Summit, leaders adopted the “New Delhi Declaration” and pledged to reform the multilateral system to make global governance more responsive and effective. It called for refraining from violence, settling conflicts by peaceful means, and fostering an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue to ensure stability, peace, law and order. The New Delhi Declaration reiterated the commitment of the BRICS countries “to enhancing intra-BRICS cooperation under the three pillars - political and security, economic and financial, and cultural & people-to-people exchanges. The Declaration read, “ Recalling our shared

values of peace, rule of law, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and democracy for all, we pledge to promote a more inclusive, equitable and representative multipolar international system with the United Nations at its centre, based on international law and purposes and principles of the UN Charter, in particular the sovereign equality of all States and respect for their territorial integrity, with the aim to build a brighter shared future for the international community based on mutually beneficial cooperation”. The BRICS nations also called for reforms of the principal organs of the United Nations including instilling new life in the discussions on the reform of

the UN Security Council (UNSC). Modi praised that for the first time, stating

that the BRICS has taken collective position on strengthening and

reforming multilateral systems. It was the first time that BRICS

took a shared position on “Strengthening and Improving Multilateral Systems”.

Modi told that 4 Cs – ‘Cooperation, Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus’- are basic principles of the BRICS partnership. He mentioned how the recently held first “BRICS Digital Health Conference” was an innovative step to increase health access with the help of technology. Water Resources Ministers are meeting in November, 2021, for the first time in BRICS format.

The BRICS Declaration emphasised that the international community has a collective responsibility to work together against the COVID-19 pandemic in the true spirit of partnership within existing international frameworks including the World Health Organisation. The BRICS noted that the cooperation on study of origins of the SARS-COV-2 is an important aspect of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and supported science-based, inclusive of broad expertise, transparent, and timely processes, free from politicization or interference, to strengthen international capabilities to better understand the emergence of novel pathogens and to help prevent future pandemics.

Despite Covid situation this year, over 150 BRICS meetings including over 20 Ministerial-level events were organised. India has expanded the BRICS agenda. The BRICS achieved many firsts this year and made many achievements in the last one and a half decades. Now it is an influential voice for the emerging economies of the world. The BRICS platform has also been useful for focusing on the priorities of developing countries.

India criticised how the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has “helplessly” allowed itself to be held “hostage” by Islamabad by raising the Kashmir issue at the UN Human Rights Commission. The meeting was also attended by India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, President of the New Development Bank Marcos Troyjo, the pro tempore Chair of the BRICS Business Council, Onkar Kanwar and pro tempore Chair of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance, Sangita Reddy for presenting reports on the outcomes pursued this year under their respective tracks to the leaders during the Summit.

India under PM Modi has emerged as a world leader. In the eyes of the world community respect for India has gone up by several notches. The momentum must be maintained for good.

India emerges as a Global Leader

Build-back Resiliently,

Innovatively, Credibly and sustainably

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

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NEW DELHI TIMESOpinion

Ryszard Czarnecki:Former Minister of EU Affairs in Poland, former Vice President and current member of the European Parliament

◆ By Ryszard Czarnecki Member of European Parliament

@r_czarnecki

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◆ By Sujay Dhawan Senior Editor

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Tashkent: A Timeless Islamic Masterpiece

ashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and the largest city in Centra Asia has a rich

historical legacy. The city is situated in the North-Eastern part of Uzbekistan. The city probably dates from the 2nd or 1st Century BCE and was variously known as Dzhadzh, Chachkent, Shashkent, and Binkent. The first mention of ‘Tashkent’ meaning ‘stone village’ in Uzbek can be traced to 11th Century AD.

Tashkent was one of the important trade and handicrafts centre on the caravan routes to Europe and East Asia. The city used to be the strategic centre of scholarship, commerce and trade. The city was captured by the Arabs in the 8th Century AD and then by the Mongols in the early 13th Century. Under the Timurids and the then the Shaybanid dynasty, the city revived its cultural heritage. In 1809, Ta s h k e n t was annexed to the K h a n a t e of Kokand.

The Russian conquest of Turkestan in 1865 spurred t h e growth of the c i t y . Russian a rmies

seized the town from the Kokand Khanate in that year, making it the centre of the Tsarist regime in Central Asia and reorienting the region toward Moscow and thus to European culture, philosophies, and ideologies. The Soviet rule was established by Russian colonists in November 1917. In April 1918, Tashkent became the capital of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkestan ASSR). In the 1930s, a more modern and industrial Tashkent regained its official claim as the political centre of the region.

Today, the city of Tashkent reflects a timeless Islamic masterpiece and is a gateway to the rich medieval culture. Caravanserais, mosques, and mausoleums are the central features of this city and provide a glimpse into the Islamic history of the country. The main square of the old part of the city, Chorsu Square, appeared in the 9th Century. Trade roads led to Chorsu Bazaar from

all gates and gradually transformed into shopping streets.

This square was the traffic and trade centre. The Chorsu Square has a new look now after reconstruction. The Kukildosh Madrassah was built on the square in the 16th Century and was one of the major centres of Islamic learning. Another prominent Islamic structure in the city is the Telyashayakh Mosque (Khast Imam Mosque). The Muyi Mubarak Library in the Mosque holds the oldest Quran in the world. The Uthman Quran on display is stained with the blood of the third Caliph Uthman. Tellya Sheikh Mosque, formerly Tashkent’s main place of worship, stands on the side of the Barak Khan Madrassah. Another major Islamic heritage structure is the Yunus-Khan Mausoleum, built in the end of the 15th Century in honour of a governor of Tashkent – Yunus Khan. Currently the Yunus-Khan Mausoleum is a part of the Islamic University complex. These monuments

constitute a magnificent ensemble of Islamic culture and architecture. The list of the UNESCOs “Memory of the

World” program includes the Koran “Osman Mushafi” kept in the Muslim

Religious Board of Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

Islam has been a major guiding force and has served as a mark

of ethnic and cultural identity of the Uzbeks. However, as c o m p a r e d to the

orthodox version of Islam practiced in the Middle East, Tashkent and the rest of Uzbekistan practice a more liberal version and women are guaranteed more freedom. In 2007, an international Islamic cultural body chose Tashkent as one of its four “Capitals of Islamic culture”. In 2016, as part of his key policy of opening up the country, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev identified tourism promotion as a key component of his reforms and as a result, the Islamic heritage of the city is now accessible to a much wider audience.

As part of Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s vision, the historical and religious monuments of Tashkent and other Uzbek cities have been restored. All this is integral for the development of cultural, educational and religious tourism. Moreover, one of Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s initiative to showcase the Islamic heritage of Tashkent and Uzbekistan is the construction of a Centre of Islamic Civilization (CIC).

According to reports in the Uzbek media, the Museum will house one of the world’s largest original and electronic database of ancient manuscripts, lithographic books, as well as historical acts and documents, modern books and publications on religion and education stored in Uzbekistan and abroad, as well as a library with more than 100 thousand manuscripts.

Uzbekistan under Shavkat Mirziyoyev continues to show to the world how Islamic heritage is consistent with the traits of modernity. This should also be an eye opener to those who use a narrow interpretation of Islam to impose their myopic vision on the society.

Pakistan-Harbour of terrorists & Eden of radicals, blames India of promoting terrorism; paradoxical

akistan has nothing productive to do except ranting & hurling baseless

allegations against India. These days Pakistan is running around like a headless chicken. It is totally disoriented, disorganized and ineffective in terms of eradicating terrorism. US President Joe Biden is not picking Imran Khan’s calls whereas Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is having bon homie with US President. No other country is supporting Taliban, but Pakistan is making rounds in diplomatic alleys as Taliban Spokesperson. Pakistan’s ISI Chief trying to referee between the Mullah Baradar and Haqqani factions instead of taking care of its own country security.

International Cricket Teams turning away from touring Pakistan. World superpowers have turned their backs on Pakistan, not even European Union is any more interested in taking Pakistan’s side on either Taliban issue or terrorism management. Therefore, in such scenarios Pakistan doing what it does best, it blames India. Nowadays, even if a tree leaf falls in Pakistan, it is blamed on India. Islamic clerics have no other work in Pakistan except talking about Ghazwa – e –

Hind, Women to be considered as sex slave and last but not the least, all minorities in Pakistan to be condemned.

In middle of this, India addressed 48th session of United Nations Human Rights Council in UNOG. India never interested in even naming Pakistan in its address whereas Pakistan’s address in any agenda item is only about India. Pakistan has time and again desecrated august platform of United Nations for promoting its false propaganda. With no shame and guilt, Pakistan again blatantly blamed India for promoting

Terrorism in the world as well in Pakistan. I, being an Indian, earlier use to get shocked on hearing such loose statements from Pakistan Mission to United Nations but now I pity while world mocks them.

World has caught Pakistan’s bluff now. No one taking the country seriously. What is more concerning for us is that innocent Pakistan citizen are being the ones who are suffering in middle of this tug of war between Pakistan Army & ISI. Several ethnic communities like Pashtuns, Baloch, Sindhi’s have started demanding right for

self-determination. They are under immense pain and sorrow as Pakistan Administration don’t give them an equal treatment. Enforced Disappearances, Abduction, extra – judicial killings, large number of unmarked graves are terms used in common parlance whenever anything is discussed about Pakistan.

India this time gave a befitting reply to Pakistan at United Nations Human Rights Council. A country which continues to stay in FATF grey list, a country who is known to be state sponsoring terrorism, a country whose Prime Minister calls worlds most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden as a Martyr, a country who aide and abets terrorism in the entire world, a country run by its Army instead its own federal government and a country which has done nothing to reshape and develop but leaved no stone unturned in damaging and maligning image of other countries by spreading false propaganda about others internal matters, Pakistan, is no more a democratic country. It is indeed a failed state and world now knows it.

Our heart goes out for the people of Pakistan. They need to rise above personal interest and protest against corrupt and over-powering Army. Hope they don’t have the same fate as of Afghanistan in near future.

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NEW DELHI TIMES International

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International Political Scenario of the Week


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Will EU’s efforts reap benefit in Libya?

he North African country Libya is a test case in diplomacy. Most of

its southern neighbours have Association Agreement with European Union (EU) but Libya is an exception. With its 1,800-kilometer Mediterranean coastline and 4,000-kilometer land borders with Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan, and Tunisia, Libya represents a huge land mass, hosting many European and American oil and gas operators and business interests.

Libya is split west-east wise. The UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in west is led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli while the Tobruk-based General Khalifa Haftar-led Libyan National Army (LNA) controls eastern Libya. Many countries dabble in Libyan conflict for self-interests. Turkey (with Qatari financial support) has sent substantial military supplies—armed drones, short-range missiles—advisers, and militias to the GNA while the UAE and Egypt arm the LNA. Supporting LNA is Russia’s multipronged strategy to reinforce military footprint in the Mediterranean, invest in energy resources, and establish political presence in EU’s neighbourhood using private military forces Wagner Group and Syrian militias. Russia’s air force assets in Hmeimim base in Syria are a stepping-stone facility for the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, not just Syria. Russia has drawn a line in the sand in Libya’s centre to stop GNA’s advance. Egypt supports Haftar to defend its interests without sending troops. France also exports manned and unmanned aircrafts, bombs, arms and artillery systems through regional

actors the UAE and Egypt to Libya as a foreign policy tool. Italy sells similar weapons to Qatar. Thus, the EU member states are complicit in Libyan civil war.

Turkey’s November 2019 agreement with the GNA was a double deal— a security cooperation agreement which also redefined the Turkish-Libyan maritime borders in the Eastern Mediterranean, giving Turkey the pretext to violate Greek and Cypriot territorial waters! Tensions in the MENA region triggered a chain of Turkey-Libya, Italy-Libya, and Greece-Egypt maritime border agreements and the Greek-Cypriot-Emirati-French ‘3+1 formula’ and Italian-Qatari defence cooperation.

The EU Operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI replaced Operation Sophia which tightened the UN-sanctioned arms embargo and control. IRINI reduced Turkey’s maritime arms exports to GNA and the UAE’s air supply of arms to the LNA. IRINI lacks satellite assets to monitor violations.

The Berlin Conference of January 2020 provided France and Italy an opportunity to correct course. The Council decided

in September 2020 to impose restrictions on three entities based in Turkey, Jordan and Kazakhstan for violating the UN arms embargo. On October 23, 2020, the 5+5 Joint Libyan Military Commission agreed to a “permanent” ceasefire. On November 9, UN-endorsed peace talks brought together 75 Libyan stakeholders. But EU’s CSDP military operations could not check influx of arms into Libyan civil war continuing since 2011.

Libya Is a European Emergency: The European Council decides foreign policy, but some large states act different. Libya still matters most for Europe. Russia and Turkey using air and naval bases in Libya and transferring Syrian jihadists to Libya endanger European and American security interests. Terrorist activities may increase against Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, or the Sahel countries. The EU is marginalized, disunited and lacks joint action on Libya.

EU must wake up: Russia’s annexation of Crimea and military footprint in Syria since 2015 are dangerous templates. Turkey is working on similar trajectory. Russia and Turkey jointly challenge EU interests. EU

must wake up and act in unison otherwise Libya’s future will get delivered to Russia and Turkey. A follow-up conference on Berlin summit is needed for Libyan stakeholders— UN Secretary General, the UK, the United States, NATO, Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

The three-pronged EU institutional leadership—European Council, European Commission, and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy— can use the military, economic, trade, and financial tools of EU toolbox to protect EU interests. Libyan stakeholders will respect EU more than the separate voices from Berlin, Paris, and Rome.

Test for European unity: The Libyan crisis has been a litmus test for European unity. EU Member States made Libya their individual domain. Berlin summit changed that. The conflicting interests of Paris, London, Rome and Berlin hampered the EU’s cohesive action. EU must forge a coherent stance for Libya’s transition to democracy.

The EU is pursuing the October 2020 Ceasefire Agreement and the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) which finalised February 2021 agreement on transitional unified executive authority for Libya. This important milestone of the Berlin Process will lead Libya to national elections on 24 December 2021. As co-chair of the Economic Working Group of the Berlin Process, the EU is prioritising economic reforms and better management of Libya’s oil revenues.

Libyan conflict is a European emergency but the EU foreign policy on this internationally “pariah state” is still traversing the learning curve. A strong EU initiative on Libya will strengthen Europe’s ability to act beyond its borders.

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Algeria

In what marks a new escalation in tensions between Algeria and Morocco, Algeria has announced the closure of all its airspace to all planes from Morocco. The decision was announced by the Algerian High Security Council following a meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and top officials. The council cited Moroccan “provocations and hostile practices” to justify the measure. The Algerian Presidency tweeted on September 23 from its official Twitter account that “the Supreme Security Council, headed by the President of the Republic, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and the Minister of National Defence, decided, in view of the continued Moroccan provocations and hostile practices, to immediately close the airspace of all Moroccan civil and military aircraft, as well as those bearing a Moroccan registration number”.

Last month, Algeria severed diplomatic ties with Morocco. Algeria had cited Morocco’s support for the “supposed right to self-determination” of the Kabyle people, an Indigenous people of Northern Algeria.

Australia

Protests took place in Melbourne, Australia’s

second-largest city to protest against mandatory Coronavirus vaccine rules in the construction industry. On 24 September, the Victoria Police arrested 31 people at a shopping complex in Melbourne’s inner north. Overall, more than 100 people were arrested from various parts of Melbourne. The protests were called largely by the anti-vaccination, anti-lockdown and far-right groups.

The Victoria state government has announced that the construction industry would be shut down for two weeks in metropolitan Melbourne and some regional areas. Officials say all worksites will need to demonstrate compliance with health directions prior to reopening, including that staff have had at least one dose of a vaccine before they return to work October 5. The closure across Metropolitan Melbourne, Geelong, the Surf Coast, Ballarat and Mitchell Shire further angered workers, who marched through the city and clashed with police.

Russia

Political opposition and critics of the government in Russia believes that the elections in the country which witnessed a resounding victory of Kremlin backed candidates were rigged. One of the few Kremlin critics allowed to run for seats in the State Duma, opposition politician Marina Litvinovich, announced the decision to challenge the online election returns. “On Sept. 17-19, millions of citizens of our

country had their votes stolen. That’s why we, candidates for the 8th convocation of the State Duma that represent different political forces, have created a committee for abolishing the online voting,” Litvinovich wrote on Facebook. Litvinovich said the committee of unsuccessful candidates is seeking to invalidate the results of online voting in Moscow and to abolish the use of online voting in future elections, as well as to tackle vote-rigging in general.

The committee plans to organize a nationwide protest against the election’s outcome, file lawsuits to contest the results

and draft legislation banning the use of online voting.

Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has validated the results of the State Duma elections held on September 17-19. According to the CEC, United Russia gained 324 seats in parliament, the CPRF got 57, the A Just Russia - For Truth party received 27, the Liberal Democrartic Party (LDPR) secured 21 and New People won 13 seats. In addition, Rodina, the Party of Growth and the Civic Platform will send one MP each. The eighth State Duma will also include five independent lawmakers.




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Pro-government offensives expected in Ethiopia’s conflict zones

lthough a spokesperson for the TDF-affiliated Government of Tigray (GoT)

denied that the TDF troop movements were the result of any defeats, Ethiopia’s national government claimed on 9 September that it had pushed the insurgent Tigray Defence Forces (TDF) armed group out of the country’s Afar region. The TDF has suffered multiple setbacks and lost ground to pro-government forces since mid-August, particularly along with the B30 and B22 roads in Amhara and zone 4 in Afar.

Following the conclusion of the rainy season, further military offensives, particularly by pro-government forces, are expected by the end of September. Heavy armament, including tanks, artillery, and rockets, will continue to be used by both sides, causing extensive collateral threats. Pro-government troops are projected to make more gains in TDF-controlled sections of the Amhara and Afar regions, but the TDF is likely to retain control of the majority of Tigray by the end of 2021.

If pro-government troops were successful in retaking TDF-controlled territories in the Amhara and Afar regions, this would very certainly be followed by a period of military build-up and blockade of TDF-controlled areas in Tigray lasting at least several months. There would almost certainly be frequent flare-ups of violence along the line of contact between opposing troops, and the government would almost certainly prohibit the movement of nearly all merchandise and people into and out of TDF-controlled areas,

with the exception of humanitarian aid. Pro-government forces would most likely be planning for a fresh offensive aimed at taking Tigray’s key cities and routes, which, if successful, would likely prompt the TDF to revert to insurgent tactics, staging road ambushes and raids into towns from rural bases.

The TDF would most likely publish announcements asking foreign investors to stop operating in government-controlled parts of Tigray, opposing the ‘exploitation’ of Tigray’s resources or the collection of money for Ethiopia’s government while the region remained ‘under occupation.’ Commercial enterprises that disobeyed this order faced an increased risk of ambushes, raids, and extortion attacks, especially as the TDF’s command and control over different groupings of fighters weakened over time.

The Ethiopian government’s growing reliance on regional administration troops will certainly make achieving a negotiated settlement with the TDF more difficult. Due to the Ethiopian National Defence Force’s (ENDF) significant casualties since mid-June, regional administration troops (especially Amhara, Afar, and Oromia) have taken a growing role in combating the TDF. Since mid-August, Amhara and Afar forces have played a critical role in pushing the TDF back.

Due to massive recruitment (including suspected forced recruitment), these forces have increased in size and now have control of heavy weaponry previously used by the ENDF or captured from the TDF. Because the Amhara region claims this land and Amhara forces are now entrenched there, it will be difficult for Ethiopia’s national government to return the Western Tigray

zone to the Tigray region (a crucial GoT demand) in any peaceful solution. Any attempt by Ethiopia’s national government to force the Amhara region to accept this transfer of control would enhance the chances of an Amhara-backed coup. Even beyond the current conflict, stronger and more powerful regional governments will make it more difficult for Ethiopia’s national government to reassert its authority over them in the event of future disagreements over governance and policies, raising the risk of new domestic conflicts between national and regional forces.

Sudan providing a humanitarian corridor into Tigray would certainly make it easier for the TDF to obtain weapons and supplies, raising the chances of additional TDF

offensives into the Amhara and Afar regions, or a protracted hold-out by the TDF in Tigray against pro-government forces.

New TDF offensives in Amhara have resulted in the conquest of the towns of Dessie and Kombolcha, increasing the probability of coordinated armed operations between the TDF and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) in Amhara’s Oromia zone, pushing pro-government security forces out.

The Ethiopian government accepting international mediation in the conflict with the GoT would indicate a likely ceasefire and subsequent negotiations. Eritrean troops entering TDF-controlled Tigray in support of Ethiopia’s government would increase collateral death, destruction, and looting risks in these areas.

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Al-Qaeda’s window of opportunity in Afghanistan

aliban’s victory in Afghanistan has changed many ground realities in

Afghanistan. The most important factor will be the loss of an effective intelligence network tracing terror elements on the ground under Taliban ruled Afghanistan. The interim government announced by the infighting Taliban leadership was a male Pashtun-dominated 33 member group. That puts an end to the inclusive government often quoted by the Taliban’s Doha group since last year. The Doha grouping for peace talks are themselves sidelined from Kabul leadership, replaced by the more radical and old members of the previous Taliban regime that ruled till 2001 and harboured Al-Qaeda.Al-Qaeda, the terrorist group responsible for the attack on the trade centres leading to a NATO response is weak today. Its leadership is disintegrated and the organisation has degraded significantly. Still, it survives. The group may gain from the Taliban’s rule. Some of the objectives of Al-Qaeda and Taliban are similar, like the setting up of an Islamic Emirate and Sharia-based law. While Al-Qaeda had and will still yearn for a global character of the emirate, Taliban has no such ambition. It is focused on securing its hold on Afghanistan and rule on it solely. The ideological similarities between Taliban cadets and Al-Qaeda will be helpful for the terror group to sustain its network in Afghanistan.

The Taliban has merely promised to prevent attacks from Afghanistan on other states. But it has not taken any hard stance against the Al-Qaeda. In effect it still treats the group with ambiguity. Many terrorists of both Al-Qaeda and IS-Khorasan Province were released from Afghan prisons in the run-up to the days before Kabul’s fall. The fighters’ wer e mostly absorbed in the war effort and continues to persist among the Taliban. The release of known al-Qaeda figureheads and their subsequent free movements is significant indication of ideological sympathy.

Al-Qaeda is likely to start regrouping in un-controlled spaces and reorganize its strength. The rise of non-Pashtun resistance in following years will only strengthen the Al-Qaeda which will be sought after by the Taliban to suppress the resistance groups. The resultant instability will only lead to the Al-Qaeda to attract more fighters or Jihadists for its cause. The group is likely to

rework its literature and refine its strategy for the cause of global jihad. However, given the Taliban’s reluctance to counter the west, the group is likely to focus its attention on other areas of conflict such as Central Asia including Xinjiang, South Asia and Africa. Al-Qaeda affiliated groups in African territories like Sahel, Yemen and other areas will also receive greater support.

The Taliban will be hard-pressed to suppress any attacks from the Islamic State. IS has consistently threatened operations against Afghanistan and neighbouring states. The group has previously demonstrated ability to infiltrate capital city of Kabul even during American presence. The devastating Terror attack on Kabul airport that killed 170 Afghans and 13 US soldiers showed the intent of the group to pull-offs attacks post transition of power. The Kabul Airport, in this context, gains primary importance as its functionality is important for Afghanistan. Both Aid and communication with other

countries will be routed through this vital airport.

Turkey was in talks with the previous Afghan government to operate the Kabul airport’s security. Both Qatar and Turkey are still negotiating with Taliban for taking over the security and maintenance of the airport respectively. But an agreement is yet to be reached.

The Taliban is reluctant to allow foreign fighters to control the airport. But it has next to zero experience in handling security of complex urban infrastructure like Airports. The Kabul Airport will be crucial for the Taliban too as it seeks international recognition of its legitimacy over Afghanistan. Islamic State Wilayat Khorasan has displayed significant capabilities to infiltrate and attack strategic assets like Airports. Otherwise, IS-WK can target the airport with indiscriminate rocket fires that can cause significant damage to the hangers and buildings.

The Airport was made partially functional after withdrawal with the help of Qatari and Turkish technical help. But United Arab Emirates is also vying to cut out a deal for themselves to operate the airport given regional rivalry in the gulf.

Strengthening of the Islamic State will increase the chances of attack on the airport. Therefore a crackdown on Al-Qaeda by Taliban is unlikely because it will increase the exodus to Wilayat Khorasan. However, without an agreement with Turkey, the Kabul International Airport is likely to remain under considerable security threats.

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Russian Parliamentary election results confirm Kremlin’s control over the assembly

n the 17th and 19th of September, Russia held a scheduled parliamentary

election, with voting spread over three days, ostensibly to allow for safer voting during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus pandemic; however, the independent opposition claimed that the extension of voting reduced the election’s monitoring transparency. The Russian parliament’s lower chamber is elected using a mixed electoral system, with 225 MPs elected proportionally with a 5% electoral threshold and 225 MPs elected from single-seat constituencies. The voter turnout was 51.68 %, somewhat higher than the previous election in 2016 when 47.88 % voted. Several incidents of alleged voting irregularities were reported by the domestic media and the opposition during the election and ballot counting.

The United Russia party of the Kremlin will keep its parliamentary supermajority, allowing for policy continuity and executive control of the legislature. With 100 percent of the votes counted, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced that five parties have exceeded the proportional voting threshold of 5%.

New People, a freshly formed center-right and nominally opposition pro-business party were among them (Novyye Lyudi) In proportional voting, the ruling United Russia (Edinaya Rossiya, ER) party received 49.82 percent of the vote and 198 seats in single-constituency voting. This will provide ER 324 seats in the State Duma out of 450 total

seats, 19 fewer than the previously held 343. The ER will maintain its constitutional majority with 72 percent of the total number of MPs, allowing for speedy passage of legislation. If the ER party maintains its majority, the executive will retain control of the legislature, with government-proposed laws likely to pass quickly and with minimal opposition or amendment.

New election features are likely to be enhanced, allowing the Kremlin to have greater control over future elections, including the Presidential election in 2024. In numerous regions, including Moscow, voting in the parliamentary election took place over several days and featured the use of internet voting.

These procedures were first put to the test during a vote on parliamentary changes in July 2020. The Golos election monitoring NGO criticized the lack of transparency of online voting in Moscow, calling for the

vote to be annulled. Because the online vote changed the outcome of the election in Moscow, from the ER winning six to all 15 single-seat constituencies, the use of internet voting is expected to spread in future elections. This will include the upcoming Presidential election, which is set for March 2024 and will feature either President Vladimir Putin or his selected successor.

Allegations of voting irregularities are expected to hurt the upcoming Russian parliament’s worldwide recognition. During this year’s election, the Golos NGO documented over 5,000 incidents of voting irregularities, more than double the amount reported in 2016.

According to noted statistician Sergey Shpilkin’s statistical study of election results, approximately 16.5 million non-genuine votes were allegedly added. Furthermore, Russia not only held elections in occupied Crimea (Ukraine), which it sees as its

sovereign territory but also in the breakaway regions of Moldova’s Transdniestria and Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian passport holders in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, who were bussed in their tens of thousands to polling centers in Russia’s Rostov region, were also allowed to vote.

Allegations of electoral irregularities and voting on other countries’ sovereign territory enhance the chances of the new Russian parliament being expelled from the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). If this occurs, Russia is expected to stop paying financial contributions to the Council of Europe, raising issues about Russia’s continuing membership in the CoE and its bodies, such as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The opposition parties are suing the CEC for alleged election irregularities, particularly in Moscow’s online voting. The ER would lose its constitutional majority but keep a simple majority in parliament if the courts invalidate the results of online voting in Moscow, which we believe is very improbable.

If the opposition organizes large-scale protest marches in Moscow and other major cities calling for the vote to be annulled, the CEC is more likely to conduct recounts in some places, most notably in Moscow, potentially changing the election’s ultimate result.

If Ukraine and Western countries refuse to recognize the new Russian parliament’s legality, the country will be cut off from international ties, including suspension from PACE and possibly the ECHR.

The opposition’s inability to organize large-scale protests against suspected election irregularities suggests that the announced result will be finalized in its existing form, allowing the Kremlin to maintain control over the legislature.

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Jordan thwarts Daesh terror plot

n September 7, 2021, Jordan’s General Intelligence Department (GID) said

that it had thwarted a planned terror attack in March 2021 by Daesh terror group which was intended to target the security personnel and buildings in Irbid, a town situated in the northern part of the country. As per media reports, the GID said that the three suspects involved in the alleged scheme had embraced the Daesh deviant ideology and planned terrorist attacks using firearms against its headquarters and personnel in Irbid, some 80 kilometres north of Amman.

The Al Rai Arabic daily reported said that case includes three suspects, according to the indictment issued by the State Security Court (SSC). Two of them will face charges of conspiring to commit a terrorist act, and all three suspects will face charges of promoting the ideology of a terrorist group, according to the indictment. Al Rai further reported that the suspects are Daesh supporters who spread its ideology. They have been previously referred to the SSC for cases involved with promoting the ideology of a terrorist group and attempts to join armed groups and terrorist organisations. The suspects were convicted in these past cases. “Prison did not serve as a deterrent for the three suspects, who continued promoting

the extremist ideology of the Daesh terrorist organization,” according to the indictment.

On September 7, 2021, the Court of Cassation upheld a March 2021 State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to nine years in prison after convicting him of plotting subversive acts against the Jordanian security agencies in Zarqa in early 2020. The defendant, a Zarqa resident, was also convicted of promoting the Daesh ideology through social media to gain more sympathisers and was handed the maximum punishment. “The defendant was convinced that Daesh applied the proper Sharia [Islamic law] and decided to spread its ideology to his friends and relatives using various social media means,” court documents said. In another ruling, the Court of Cassation upheld another March 2021 SSC ruling sentencing a man to four years in prison for spreading terrorist ideology through social media in Jordan in mid-2015.

Court documents said the defendant adopted the takfiri ideology in 2015 after monitoring the Daesh group’s activities on social media. “The defendant was convinced that Daesh applied the proper Sharia [Islamic law] and he decided to spread its ideology using Telegram application until his arrest in January 2020,” court papers said. The defendant decided to purchase a machine gun to attack security patrols guarding vital security and government institutes in Zarqa, the court said. However, the defendant was arrested by security agencies

before being able to carry out any of his plots, court papers added. “It was clear that the defendant confessed willingly to spreading terrorist ideologies through social media, therefore, the authorities’ investigation procedures were correct and within the law,” the Court of Cassation said. This is the second Daesh terror threat

that the General Intelligence Department (GID) has thwarted this year. In July 2021, Al-Rai published a report, according to which in February 2021, GID thwarted plans by an ISIS squad to carry out a shooting attack against Israeli soldiers on the Jordanian-Israeli border and carry out an attack against Jews in Jordan.

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UAV borne IEDs attack Ecuador prison

cuador’s maximum security prison in Guayaquil was attacked on 13th

September with 3 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that were rigged with explosive devices. The Drone-Bomb attacks hit the roof of the prison but fortunately there were no casualties. Although unconfirmed, the prison director blamed the Mexican Jalisco Ne Generation Cartel (CJNG) for targeting rivals who were imprisoned at the facility.

The attack is a significant enhancement in the capabilities of the cartels operation in the region. The use of air-attacks through explosive packed drones seriously undermines the ability of the law-enforcement agencies to detect and prevent such an attack.

The CJNG cartel operational in Mexico is known to use UAVs for attacks on targets. But the group has not claimed responsibility for the prison bombings. The attacks would be the first of its kind for the group in Ecuador.

The greater involvement of the Mexican gangs in Ecuador has given rise to violence between local cartels. The Ecuadorian gangs have a history of infighting. Last month, over 70 prisoners were dead following a riot in a prison. CJNG’s involvement in Ecuador is comparatively very recent, while its opposition Mexican cartel namely Sinaloa has been involved for over a decade. It has formed broad alliances with local gangs to keep its operations clear in Ecuador.

Ecuador is a large trans-shipment hub of Mexican drug cartels. Unlike other hubs of this nature, the region has not witnessed major violence and the Mexican cartels have avoided interference in regional matters of Ecuador.

The entry of a rival Mexican gang trying to replace Sinaloa has led to rise in violence and greater rivalries for the control of the trade routes for re-routing drugs. CJNG’s intent to use IEDs and sophisticated UAVs will significantly raise security concerns for Ecuador. CJNG is trying to challenge the monopoly of Sinaloa cartel to control the profitable hub.

Gang war is set to worsen as street violence among gangs has considerably increased. Not only cartels, rival local gangs are seeing an opportunity to align and seek greater control. There have been credible recruitment by the cartels with both resorting to bribing the police and other security officials; this will lead to a situation where cartels easily conduct their trade and operations without police’s actual opposition. The Mexican cartels are powerful and their increase in influence is already reflected in the already rampant prison-wars.

Ecuador government had introduced reforms in the prisons following uptick in violence

related to gang wars. In July, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso had announced “prison-emergency” and reforms. The reforms are now seen as a failure in preventing prison-violence. The August riot is an example. The sudden eruption of violence among the criminals involved with gangs is due to serious efforts put by the Mexican cartels to control existing and new ways to ship drugs internationally.

The drug cargo operations usually follow the land and the air routes. While the international shipments are through the sea route. The cartels are likely to try and control the ports in Ecuador, esp. Guayaquil. The ports have no special equipment like scanners to detect the drugs embedded in cargo trade.

The UAVs used by the Mexican cartels give them certain advantages like surveillance or inaccurate bombings. There are Ecuadorian radars to detect illegal aircraft on some routes, but there are no anti-drone equipment available with the Ecuadorian Military.

The country needs to take immediate measures to safeguard itself. Foremost, it must ensure that the police and military’s Morales are high. It must increase wages to check against temptation of bribes. The military must re-organize to take on gangs on streets. The Police must start hunting down contract killers and secure the leadership from any backlash.

The infrastructure at ports must be upgraded to scan all the goods and public promotion of the cartels through gang messages must be countered actively. Ecuador must ensure that the war on illicit narco trade is strengthened with international organizations, Interpol, etc.

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Durand Line Dispute and the Pashtun Debate encircling Pakistan and Afghanistan

ince Pakistan’s establishment, the Durand Line problem has contributed

to the volatility of the Pakistani-Afghan relationship. Their overt friendly behaviour of Pakistan is met with covert fear and anxiety by Afghanistan since apprehension and distrust has existed for quite a long time. All the Afghan governments till date, including President Ashraf Ghani’s administration, have never willed to accept the validity of the Durand Line that divides Afghanistan’s borderlands with Pakistan. It would be interesting to see how the Taliban handles the Durand Issue. This would be the biggest concern before Taliban leadership, given the support from Pakistan in helping Taliban to grab power and in retrun, hoping for the consideration of formalisation of Durand border- an emotional issue for the Pashtun tribals located on both sides of the disputed border. The debate around the Durand line and Pashtun question has resurfaced as analysts are discussing whether the Taliban would give concessions to Pakistan and burry the dispute once and for all.

However, The Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid clarified in an interview at a local Pashto channel that Afghans have always opposed constructing a fence along the

Durand Line and maintained that, “The new Afghan government will announce its position on this issue. The fencing has separated people and divided families. We want to create a secure and peaceful environment on the border, so there is no need to create barriers.” Amrullah Saleh had previously maintained a similar position (September 2020) “ No Afghan politician of national stature can overlook the issue of Durand Line. It will condemn him or her in life & the afterlife. It is an issue that needs discussions & resolution. Expecting us to gift it for free is unrealistic. Peshawar used to be the winter capital of Afghanistan.”

Pakistan has had a dysfunctional and antagonistic relationship with Afghanistan for a long time because of the two countries’ divergence over the Pashtun issue. The Pashtuns are a divided community living across the Durand Line, which has been a major source of friction between Afghanistan and Pakistan owing to the British-controlled past in the region. For Afghanistan, the Unification for Pashtun territory has strategic significance. This province would connect Afghanistan to the Arabian Sea and end its landlocked nature.

As part of its manifest but far-fetched dream of an independent Pashtunistan stretching up to the Indus River, Kabul has always claimed that the Pashtun people were subjected to discrimination and marginalisation in Pakistan. Even though the Pashtun people in Pakistan at times have

organised movements for unification with Afghanistan (their ancestral homeland), these movements have been suppressed by military action. Even before Pakistan’s creation, the Afghan ruling establishment supported freedom of Pashtun-dominated area in present day Pakistan, which is now separated from Afghanistan.

Pakistan believed that the Islamist leaders it had supported against the Soviets would take care of the Durand Line following the collapse of the last communist administration. Thus, Pakistan was disappointed when Burhanuddin Rabbani and Ahmad Shah Massoud who were instrumental in establishing the State of Afghanistan through their participation in the 1992 Peshawar Accord refused to recognise the Durand Line as an international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

When Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a Hizbe Islami commander who had refused to sign the Peshawar Accord, Pakistan supported him to take against Rabbani’s government. In the end, however, when it became apparent that Hekmatyar’s troops would be unable to destabilise the Rabbani administration or compel him to acknowledge the Durand Line, Pakistan abandoned Hekmatyar. It switched its backing to the Taliban instead. The previous Taliban never acceded to the demands of Pakistan regarding Durand line, the new Taliban is expected to toe the same line. The current Taliban administration is well aware that recognising the Durand

Line as a permanent boundary would stir up a backlash compromising its public legitimacy. The subject is so contentious that the Taliban government, which Pakistan supported, refused to negotiate on it, even after repeated efforts by Pakistan to gain official recognition in the 1990s.

The Durand Line and its implications for Afghanistan’s ongoing concord process are becoming more popular discussion topics. However, it is essential to emphasise that one of the contested issues in the current transition in Afghanistan is the geopolitical cartography of the two countries. The Durand border dispute is two-fold- one concerns internal stability, regional discord within Pakistan, and the other is to stretch its strategic clout to Afghanistan. However, it is evident that the Taliban would not bow down to the pressures of Pakistan and would not compromise the long historical, ethnic and cultural linkages with the Pashtun region. Therefore, only time will unfold the trajectories of Afgan-Pakistan relations and their impact on the disputed border and the Afghans living across the border.

◆ By Mohmad Saleem Sheikh Phd scholar, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi PC

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Has AUKUS made a dent in Transatlantic security cooperation?

n September 15, 2021, the United States President Joe Biden announced

that the United States was forming an Indo-Pacific alliance with Australia and the United Kingdom. Biden made the announcement alongside British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who joined him by video. Biden said that the Australia and the UK were two of US closest allies and a new phase of trilateral security cooperation was being launched. Biden remarked: “Australia, the UK, and U.S. partnership — AUKUS — it sounds strange with all these acronyms, but it’s a good one, AUKUS — our nations will update and enhance our shared ability to take on the threats of the 21st century just as we did in the 20th century: together”. Commenting upon the need for this trilateral partnership, Biden said: “Today, we’re taking another historic step to deepen and formalize cooperation among all three of our nations because we all recognize the imperative of ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific over the long term. We need to be able to address both the current strategic environment in the region and how it may evolve. Because the future of each of our nations — and indeed the world — depends on a free and open Indo-Pacific enduring and flourishing in the decades ahead — ahead.”. Biden said that AUKUS would bring together sailors, scientists, and industries to maintain and expand our edge in military capabilities and critical technologies, such as cyber, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and undersea domains.

The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the UK was “delighted to join ... new trilateral defence partnership, known as AUKUS, with the aim of working hand in glove to preserve security and stability in the Indo-Pacific”. Johnson stated: We’re opening a new chapter in our friendship, and the first task of this partnership will be to help Australia acquire a fleet of nuclear-

powered submarines, emphasizing, of course, that the submarines in question will be powered by nuclear reactors, not armed with nuclear weapons. And our work will be fully in line with our non-proliferation obligations”.

The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison termed AUKUS as a “a next-generation partnership built on a strong foundation of proven trust”. The Australian Prime Minister announced that the first major initiative of AUKUS will be to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia. “Over the next 18 months, we will work together to seek to determine the best way forward to achieve this. This will include an intense examination of what we need to do to exercise our nuclear stewardship responsibilities here in Australia. We intend to build these submarines in Adelaide, Australia, in close cooperation with the United Kingdom and the United States,” Morrison remarked. Morrison also clarified that this should not be meant to infer that Australia was acquiring nuclear weapons or establish a civil nuclear capability.

France and the European Union have been extremely critical of this new trilateral security alliance – AUKUS. France’s criticism has both commercial as well as strategic underpinnings. France will lose a nearly $100 billion deal to build diesel submarines for Australia under the terms of the initiative, which will see the US and Britain help Canberra construct nuclear-powered ones. At a strategic level, France is critical of AUKUS because France thinks it undermines the joint transatlantic efforts to counter China’s rising influence as well as undermining European defence and security capabilities. Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs called AUKUS a stab in the back. In an interview with Franceinfo, the French Foreign Minister in a strongly worded statement said that France had built a strong relationship with Australia and the French trust was betrayed. Earlier, in a statement, Le Drian and Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said: “This decision is contrary to the letter and spirit of the cooperation that prevailed between France and Australia.” The statement continued:

“The American choice to push aside an ally and European partner like France from a structuring partnership with Australia, at a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges in the Indo-Pacific region ... shows a lack of consistency France can only note and regret”.

The European Union has also been critical of AUKUS and largely supports the stand of France. The EU is of the opinion that AUKUS reflects disloyalty to the transatlantic alliance. European Council President Charles Michel has said that there was a clear lack of transparency and loyalty in the manner in which the trilateral security alliance AUKUS came into existence. “Because with the new Joe Biden administration, America is back. This was the historic message sent by this new administration and now we have questions. What does it mean - America is back? Is America back in America or somewhere else? We don’t know,” Michel remarked.

In a similar vein, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen too has been critical of AUKUS. In an interview to a prominent news network, Ursula von der Leyen said that the treatment of France, one of the EU Member States, was unacceptable. “There are a lot of open questions that have to be answered,” von der Leyen said. “One of our member states has been treated in a way that is not acceptable, so we want to know what happened and why. And therefore, you first clarify that before you keep going with business as usual.”

The EU, which feels both isolation as well as betrayal by AUKUS alliance, has now unveiled its own Indo-Pacific strategy. The Joint Communication on the EU Strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific states that futures of the EU and the Indo-

Pacific are inextricably linked given the interdependence of the economies and the common global challenges. The strategy states that geopolitical dynamics in the Indo-Pacific have given rise to intense competition, including tensions around contested territories and maritime zones. There has been a significant military build-up, including by China, with the Indo-Pacific’s share of global military spending increasing from 20% of the world total in 2009 to 28% in 2019.

The display of force and increasing tensions in regional hotspots such as in the South and East China Sea and in the Taiwan, Strait may have a direct impact on European security and prosperity. The strategy calls on the EU to reinforce cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners, including in bilateral, regional and multilateral contexts, and to promote the rules based international order and access to open markets and ensure a stable trading environment. This will entail a further deepening and diversification of trade and investment ties and collaboration to help accelerate the green and digital transitions.

Commenting upon the new EU strategy, Ursula von der Leyen said: “The economic, demographic, and political weight of the Indo-Pacific region is expanding, from the east coast of Africa to the Pacific Island states. With today’s proposals, and guided by our values, we are offering a strengthened partnership to advance trade, investment and connectivity, while addressing common global challenges and reinforcing the rules-based international order.”

In a similar vein, the EU High Representative/Vice-President, Josep Borrell, said: “The world’s centre of gravity is moving towards the Indo Pacific, both in geo-economic and geo-political terms. The futures of the EU and the Indo-Pacific are interlinked. The EU is already the top investor, the leading development cooperation partner and one of the biggest trading partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Our engagement aims at maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific for all, while building strong and lasting partnerships to cooperate on matters from the green transition, ocean governance or the digital agenda to security and defence.”

The EU Indo-Pacific strategy is being analysed as a response to the snub of Europe in AUKUS.

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Taliban official: Strict punishment, executions will returnne of the founders of the Taliban and the chief enforcer of its harsh interpretation

of Islamic law when they last ruled Afghanistan said the hard-line movement will once again carry out executions and amputations of hands, though perhaps not in public.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi dismissed outrage over the Taliban’s executions in the past, which sometimes took place in front of crowds at a stadium, and he warned the world against interfering with Afghanistan’s new rulers.

“Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” Turabi told The Associated Press, speaking in Kabul. “No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran.”

Since the Taliban overran Kabul on Aug. 15 and seized control of the country, Afghans and the world have been watching to see whether they will re-create their harsh

rule of the late 1990s. Turabi’s comments pointed to how the group’s leaders remain entrenched in a deeply conservative, hard-line worldview, even if they are embracing technological changes, like video and mobile phones.

Turabi, now in his early 60s, was Justice Minister and head of the so-called Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice — effectively, the religious police — during the Taliban’s previous rule.

At that time, the world denounced the Taliban’s punishments, which took place in

Kabul’s sports stadium or on the grounds of the sprawling Eid Gah mosque, often attended by hundreds of Afghan men.

Executions of convicted murderers were usually by a single shot to the head, carried out by the victim’s family, who had the option of accepting “blood money” and allowing the culprit to live. For convicted thieves, the punishment was amputation of a hand. For those convicted of highway robbery, a hand and a foot were amputated.

Trials and convictions were rarely public and the judiciary was weighted in favor of

Islamic clerics, whose knowledge of the law was limited to religious injunctions.

Turabi said that this time, judges — including women — would adjudicate cases, but the foundation of Afghanistan’s laws will be the Quran. He said the same punishments would be revived.

“Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security,” he said, saying it had a deterrent effect. He said the Cabinet was studying whether to do punishments in public and will “develop a policy.”

In recent days in Kabul, Taliban fighters have revived a punishment they commonly used in the past — public shaming of men accused of small-time theft.

On at least two occasions in the last week, Kabul men have been packed into the back of a pickup truck, their hands tied, and were paraded around to humiliate them. In one case, their faces were painted to identify them as thieves. In the other, stale bread was hung from their necks or stuffed in their mouth. It wasn’t immediately clear what their crimes were.

Credit : Associated Press (AP)

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N. Korea offers talks, likely trying to get sanctions relief

he influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said her country is

willing to resume talks with South Korea if conditions are met, indicating it wants Seoul to persuade Washington to relax crippling economic sanctions.

Kim Yo Jong’s statement came days after North Korea performed its first missile tests in six months, which some experts said were intended to show it will keep boosting its weapons arsenal if the U.S.-led sanctions continue while nuclear diplomacy remains stalled.

She offered the talks while mentioning South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s call, issued in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly, for a political declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War as a way to bring peace to the peninsula.

“Smiling a forced smile, reading the declaration of the termination of the war, and having photos taken could be essential for somebody, but I think that they would hold no water and would change nothing, given the existing inequality, serious contradiction therefrom and hostilities,” Kim Yo Jong said in the statement carried by state media.

She said North Korea is willing to hold “constructive” talks with South Korea to discuss how to improve and repair strained ties if the South stops provoking the North with hostile policies, far-fetched assertions and double-dealing standards.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it’s carefully reviewing Kim Yo Jong’s statement. It said South Korea will continue its efforts to restore ties with North Korea.

Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea, said North Korea is putting indirect pressure on Seoul to work to arrange talks on easing the sanctions as it pushes for the declaration of the war’s end.

“It’s like North Korea saying it would welcome talks on the end-of-the war declaration if lifting the sanctions can also be discussed,” Nam said.

The U.S.-led sanctions have been toughened following North Korea’s provocative run of nuclear and missile tests in 2016-17, and Kim Jong Un has said the sanctions, the coronavirus pandemic and natural disasters were causing the “worst-ever” crisis in North Korea.

Earlier this year, he warned he would enlarge the country’s nuclear arsenal if the United States refuses to abandon its “hostile policy”

toward North Korea, an apparent reference to the sanctions.

North Korea and the United States are still technically at war because the Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. North Korea has consistently wanted to sign a peace treaty with the United States to formally end the war as a step toward subsequent improved relations. Some experts say the peace treaty could allow North Korea to demand that the United States withdraw its 28,500 troops in South Korea and ease the sanctions.

Both Koreas had called for an end-of-war declaration and a peace treaty during a period of diplomacy with the United States that began in 2018. There was speculation that former President Donald Trump might announce the war’s end in early 2019

to convince Kim Jong Un to commit to denuclearization.

No such announcement was made as the talks reached a stalemate after Trump rejected Kim Jong Un’s calls for the lifting of toughened sanctions in exchange for limited denuclearization steps. Some experts say North Korea won’t have a reason to denuclearize if those sanctions are withdrawn.

Kim Yo Jong’s offer for talks was a stark contrast to a blunt statement issued by a senior North Korean diplomat that the end-of-war declaration could be a “smokescreen” covering up hostile U.S. policies.

The earlier statement appeared to target the U.S., while the later one by Kim Yo Jong, who is in charge of North Korea’s relations with Seoul, focuses more on South Korea. Both statements suggest Seoul and Washington should act first and drop sanctions if they want to see a resumption of nuclear diplomacy.

Ties between the Koreas remain largely deadlocked amid a stalemate in the broader North Korea-U.S. diplomacy. North Korea earlier called on South Korea not to interfere in its dealings with the United States after Seoul failed to break away from Washington and revive joint economic projects held up by the sanctions.

North Korea also often accuses South Korea of hypocrisy and double standards by buying high-tech weapons and staging military drills with the United States while calling for a dialogue with the North.


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Polish protesters warn that health

care crisis is looming

hen a priest arrives at a hospital in Chorzow to perform the last rites,

nurse Mariusz Strug can see the fear in dying patients’ eyes. “After the sacrament, they knew what was happening,” he said.

But there have been no psychologists available to offer any consolation to the patients. Strug and another nurse would try to offer some kind words, but they were strained to the limit caring for 60 patients in their COVID-19 ward.

“People come to us and they want us nurses to perform a miracle,” said Strug.

Exhausted from working in such an understaffed system, he is among a group of health care workers who have come to Warsaw from across Poland for an around-the-clock protest outside the Prime Minister’s office that has gone on for nearly two weeks.

After a year and a half of the pandemic, and with Poland on the cusp of a fourth surge of COVID-19 infections, nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers and other health care workers have come to urge Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and other authorities to make deep reforms to the health care system, arguing that it is in danger of collapse.

“The pandemic showed us how bad the health care system is,” said Gilbert Kolbe, a nurse and spokesman for the protest movement. “This is the last chance to do something before it will be too late. We won’t be able to avert a crisis coming in five, ten years.”

While health care workers across the 27-nation European Union have been tested by the pandemic, Poland faced that test with fewer doctors and nurses than most. According to OECD statistics, Poland has the lowest number of working doctors in proportion to its population — just 2.4 to 1,000 inhabitants compared with 4.5 in Germany. Poland also has only 5 nurses to 1,000 inhabitants, below the EU average of 8 and far below richer countries like Germany, which has 14.

Poland’s health care sector has been strapped for resources for decades, a situation not rectified by a series of governments on the left, the center or now the right.

The problems have been exacerbated by the thousands of doctors, nurses and others who left Poland for higher paid work in Western Europe after the country joined the EU in 2004.


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Drive for Britain! UK scrambles for

truckers amid supply woe

ritish energy firms are rationing supplies of gasoline and closing some

petrol pumps — the latest in a string of shortages that have seen McDonald’s take milkshakes off the menu, KFC run short of chicken and gaps appear on supermarket shelves.

A big factor behind the problems is a lack of truck drivers. The U.K. is short tens of thousands of hauliers, as factors including Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic converge to create a supply-chain crunch.

Officials urged motorists not to panic-buy petrol after BP and Esso shut a handful of stations because there were not enough trucks to get gas to the pumps.

“The advice would be to carry on as normal,” Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said.

The haulage industry warns that things are anything but normal, and is pressing the government to loosen immigration rules and recruit more drivers from Europe to avert Christmas shortages of turkeys and toys.

The government is resisting that move, and scrambling to lure more British people into truck driving, long viewed as an underpaid and underappreciated job.

“Driving isn’t seen as a 21st-century sexy vocation,” said Laurence Bolton, managing director of the National Driving Centre, a family-owned school for truck drivers in the London suburb of Croydon.

But that is starting to change. Bolton’s school has seen a 20% increase in applicants since the U.K.’s pandemic restrictions eased earlier this year, with bus drivers, laid-off hospitality workers and even former airline pilots seeking to retrain as truckers, a suddenly in-demand and increasingly well-paid occupation.

“It opens up the opportunities,” said 31-year-old Stephen Thrower, who works as a van driver but is training on trucks. “It’s more of a job for life.”

As a trainee trucker practiced reversing a huge rig between orange cones at the school’s asphalt lot, Bolton reeled off the ingredients that have made for a trucking crisis. Britain’s departure from the European Union prompted some European workers to head home. The British government closed a loophole that many drivers used to keep tax payments down. COVID-19 lockdowns halted driver testing for months, stopping the flow of new truckers.


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Naval officer wins praise for Portugal’s vaccine rollouts Portugal closes in on its goal of fully vaccinating 85% of the population

against COVID-19 in nine months, other countries in Europe and beyond want to know how it was accomplished.

A lot of the credit is going to Rear Adm. Henrique Gouveia e Melo. With his team from the three branches of the armed forces, the naval officer took charge of the vaccine rollout in February — perhaps the moment of greatest tension in Portugal over the pandemic.

Now, the county could be just days away from hitting its target. 84% of the total population was fully vaccinated, the highest globally, according to Our World in Data.

Along with the rising number of shots, the COVID-19 infection rate and hospitalizations from the virus have dropped to their lowest levels in nearly 18 months.

The government announced that it would scrap most of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions starting Oct. 1, though the wearing of face masks will still be mandatory on public transit, in hospitals and care homes, and in shopping malls.

Such a move would be a welcome development for many countries still in the grip of the highly infectious delta variant and lagging in their own vaccination rollouts.

Previously unheralded outside the military, Gouveia e Melo is now a household name in Portugal, having made a point of going on television regularly to answer public concerns about the vaccination program.

Easily recognizable even behind a face mask due to his blue eyes, close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair and 1.93-meter (6-foot-3-inch) height, he’s often greeted in the street by

people wanting to thank him.

“People are very nice,” he says. But the 60-year-old officer also is quick to insist he is just “the tip of the iceberg” in the operation and that many others share the credit.

Military involvement in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine is not uncommon elsewhere, but Portugal has given it the leading role.

It turned out to be an inspired choice: Although Gouveia e Melo’s team works hand-in-hand with health authorities, police and town councils, the military’s expertise has proven invaluable.

“People in the military are used to working under stress in uncertain environments,” he said at his office in a NATO building near Lisbon that commands a view of the Atlantic. “They’re organized, have a good logistics set-up ... and are usually very focused on the mission.”

Gouveia e Melo set the tone of the rollout with his no-nonsense approach and

emphasis on discipline. His straight-talking style endeared him to many who worried they might not get vaccinated in time.

In an interview with The Associated Press, he admitted that replacing a political appointee who quit after only three months was “intimidating.”

At the time, Portugal was in the worst phase of the pandemic, when it was among the hardest-hit countries with public hospitals near collapse. Promised vaccine deliveries weren’t arriving. And jockeying for shots was threatening to undermine public trust in the rollout.

“I felt like I had the eyes of 10 million people on me,” Gouveia e Melo said, referring to Portugal’s population.

His 42-year military career helps explain how he handled the pressure.

He was a submarine commander, and at one point was in charge of two of the vessels at the same time -- returning to base with one, eating a meal on shore and then taking

another out to sea.

Gouveia e Melo also captained a frigate, led Euromarfor, the European Union’s Maritime Force, and has logged the most hours at sea of any serving Portuguese naval officer.

He is unapologetic about couching the vaccine rollout as a battle and has worn combat fatigues ever since taking over the effort. He said he wanted to send a message that it was a call to arms.

“This uniform...was symbolic for people to comprehend the need to roll up our sleeves and fight this virus,” he says.

Gouveia e Melo did away with Portugal’s initial efforts to piggyback on established vaccination strategies, such as those used annually for flu shots in usually small, public health centers. The demands of scale and speed to address COVID-19 required a very different approach.

Portugal began using large sports facilities around the country to set up what Gouveia e Melo called a “production line”: a reception and processing area; a waiting room; cubicles where injections are given; and a recovery area. He used soldiers as guinea pigs at the Lisbon military hospital to figure out the fastest flow of people through a building.

A major push came with what he described as a “tsunami” of vaccine deliveries in mid-June, which allowed a shift into a higher gear.

Tiago Correia, an associate professor in international public health at Lisbon’s New University Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, reckons that the public view of Gouveia e Melo as the principal factor in the successful rollout is an “exaggeration” of his role.


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House OKs $1 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system

he House overwhelming passed a bill to provide $1 billion for Israel’s Iron

Dome missile defense system as Democrats moved to quash criticism from Republicans that their party is wavering in support of Israel.

Democrats initially sought to put the Iron Dome funding in legislation this week to fund the government past Sept. 30, but removed it after some members of the caucus objected. Leadership moved quickly to instead provide the aid in a separate, stand-alone bill. It passed by a vote of 420-9.

“This bill demonstrates Congress’s commitment to our friend and ally Israel is bipartisan and ironclad,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the Democratic chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Democrats overwhelming supported the measure, but the need for the parliamentary maneuvering underscored a friction point in Congress over Israel, where a few progressive Democrats have challenged the scope of U.S. assistance to the long-time ally.

The U.S. began financially supporting Israel’s development of the Iron Dome system about a decade ago and has provided about $1.6 billion for its production and maintenance, according to the Congressional Research Service. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets

fired into Israel. “Thank you to the members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans alike, for the sweeping support for Israel and commitment to its security,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement. “Those who try to challenge this support received a timeless answer.”

DeLauro said the U.S. committed in a 2016 memorandum of understanding with Israel to replenish the Iron Dome and that the money provided by the U.S. is “limited to a system that is entirely defensive.”

Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., had accused Democrats when stripping out the $1 billion from the earlier bill of sending a message around the world that they “no longer stand with the people of Israel in their mission to defend themselves from terrorist attacks.”


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Danes side with US against

French criticism of defense deal

enmark is siding with the United States in the dispute with its fellow EU

member France over a major Indo-Pacific defense deal.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a newspaper interview that she wants to warn against turning “concrete challenges, which will always exist between allies, into something they should not be.”

France has reacted strongly to the deal between the U.S., Britain and Australia. As part of it, Australia will cancel a multibillion-dollar contract to buy diesel-electric French submarines and acquire U.S. nuclear-powered vessels instead.

The French government is suggesting it was betrayed by the deal, and, the EU agreed to put the dispute at the top of the bloc’s political agenda.

“In the light of the discussions that are taking place right now in Europe, I think it is important to say that I experience (U.S. President Joe) Biden as very loyal to the trans-Atlantic alliance,” Frederiksen told Danish newspaper Politiken.

In a half-hour telephone call also that the White House described as “friendly,” President Emmanuel Macron of France and President Biden agreed to meet next

month to discuss the way forward. The call suggested a cooling of tempers. France also agreed to send back its ambassador that it had recalled from Washington.

Asked whether she can understand the French criticism, Frederiksen replied: “No, I cannot. I do not understand that at all.”

She stressed that that did not mean Denmark agreed with the U.S. on everything.

“We have said that we would have liked to see another exit from Afghanistan,” she said. “But I have no frustrations at all in relation to the new American administration.”

Denmark, a NATO member, has been a staunch supporter of the U.S. It backed the war in Iraq and maintained some 12,000 soldiers in Afghanistan from 2002 until the U.S. withdrawal this year.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian issued a statement saying he held a bilateral meeting with his American counterpart Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the United Nations summit aimed at “restoring confidence” between their two countries.


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Popular Front of India: Exclusive or Inclusive?

ost liberalised India witnessed the emergence of a new middle class both

amongst Hindus and Muslims. This new middle class either flogged to metropolitan cities or made their way to gulf countries for a better future. Both the phenomenon created the concept of remittance economy which in turn gave rise to many groups which claimed to be working for the betterment of the entire Muslim community. these organisations expanded their base by indulging in social services and aimed at mobilising a new section of Muslim youths away from the influence of clergy and traditional form of Islam.

Consequently, the marginalised section amongst Muslims started believing that organisations like Popular Front of India (PFI) would act their saviour in otherwise challenging world. This myth of “all-inclusiveness” continued for quite a long time, however, with internet boom, information started percolating to the very base of the society and youths began questioning the dominance of a particular geographical location in the top leadership structure of a self-acclaimed all India organisation.

The question of exclusivity starts to make sense once the top leadership of PFI is scrutinized. Chairman of PFI (O M A Salam) hails from Kerala, so does Vice Chairman (E M Abdul Rahiman) and Secretary (Nasarudheen Elamaram). General Secretary (Anis Ahmed) and

Secretary (Mohammad Shakif) are from Karnataka while National Executive member (Mohammed Yusuf) represents Tamil Nadu. This shows that south Indian states are represented overwhelmingly in the top leadership hierarchy of PFI.

This leaves two questions at hand- Either there is a dearth of leadership amongst North Indian Muslims or PFI trusts its South Indian members more. An office bearer of PFI from north India on the condition of anonymity said that the top leadership of PFI doesn’t trust Muslims from north India; they feel that north Indian Muslims can pass the organisation’s secret to law enforcement agencies easily under pressure or allurement.

Although the above statement can never be verified on ground, the overwhelming presence of South Indians in the top hierarchy of PFI substantiates the claim. Taslim Ahmed Rehmani, National Secretary Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI- The political wing of PFI) recently demanded more representation of north Indians in the organisation.

PFI claims to be an organisation representing all the marginalised minorities of India. They collect lakhs of rupees from India and abroad in the name of supporting these marginalised minorities. The dominance of south Indian Muslims at the top has ensured that a majority of amount collected through donation by PFI goes to the parent states of top leaderships.

Absence of leaders from other minority communities and Dalits also punctures a hole into the “all-inclusive” theory of PFI. On ground, PFI appears to be an organisation meant for south Indian Muslims only (especially of Kerala) with token representation of north Indian Muslims.

This again leaves us with another question: what was the need for PFI to shift its headquarters to Delhi? The answer probably lies in the political ambition of the organisation which requires participation of Muslims from all over India to propel PFI into power structure. The ball is in the court of Muslims to decide if they want to be part of politically motivated organisation with sinister motives.

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There is a reason behind poor Muslim kids opting for Madrasa Education

“When the spirit of the eagle becomes unbearable in the shoulders They see their destination in the sky” (Allama Iqbal)

ream for development and advancement perpetually bloom in all kids born with

resources at disposal. This also stands true for those kids who are born in poor families (read Muslims). Although, the dream and desires of these poor kids are often hindered by acute poverty. The desire to get free of the shackles of poverty compounded with lack of resources often force these poor Muslim kids to opt for Madrassas which are often unaided and runs on charity. These Madrassas never ask for fee from its students and acts as the only option to get some basic education along with religious education. These poor kids are happily sent to Madrassas by their poor parents as their kids get education, food, clothes, accommodation, books and other stationary almost freely (sometimes parents pay in cash & kind, if they are able to afford). Some rich Muslims pay Zakat & Sadqa to these Madrassas as an act of charity so that some students may get minimum basic education.

“Read. Read in the name of thy Lord who created; [He] created the human being from blood clot. Read in the name of thy Lord who

taught by the pen: [He] taught the human being what he did not know.” (Quran 96: 1-5)

Aforementioned Quranic verse specifically asks Muslims to read (getting educated), however, their financial condition stops them (majority of Muslims) from accessing modern and technical education that cost high fees today in India and throughout world. Illiteracy has also been perpetuated due to lack of awareness.

Though, access to internet and electricity in each village has helped in spreading awareness about significance of knowledge and literacy among many illiterate Muslims families who were untouched by modernity due to various reasons. Slowly but steadily they have come to realise that education is the only strong weapon that will enable them to move forward in the fast growing world. These backward Muslims are slowly getting sensitized about dozens of initiatives by the government to help poor students. However, this is yet to percolate to the majority of illiterate village dwellers who see Madrassa education system as the only affordable education system.

Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) started free education system in Madina to teach kids Quran and Hadees in Mosques. This tradition continued in the Muslim world and evolved into Maktab (primary schools) system. In these Maktabs cum mosques, Imams act as teachers who impart education to children free of cost.

The Maktab or Makateeb system have been enlarged over the past decades in systematic way and evolved into present day Madrassas. These Madrassas has been divided as primary, middle, secondary, senior secondary and further as conventional school educational system. At Madrassas, poor Muslims students get knowledge of Quran, different Ahadees, Fiqah, Mantiq, Urdu, Arabic literature, Hindi, English, basic Maths, Arabic Grammar, study of different religions, thesis writing and research in Islamic principles. Some prominent Madrasa still have been providing free education and all other facilities to these poor students because these Madarees get Zakat fund which have been annually bestowed by able and concerned Muslims in Islam for educational upliftment and progress of the entire community.

Drop out rate amongst Madrasa students multiplied in recent years as Madarsa passed students often earn less money than an auto driver or sometimes a rickshaw puller. That’s why many poor families prefer to send their children to earn money in tea stall or brick kilns rather than sending them to Madrassa.

The Madrassa education system at large, failed to incorporate modern education system in its syllabus owing to various reasons like absence of finances to hire conventional teachers, segregating mosques

as a place for religious worship only, lack of awareness about need for modern education system etc. There is need to address these shortcomings for overall growth of the Muslim populace of India.

“Are those who have knowledge equal to those who do not have

knowledge?!”(Quran 39:9).

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NEW DELHI TIMES THIS DAY | THAT YEAR |

September 27, 1996

September 29, 1954

October 1, 1949

October 3, 1932

The Islamic fundamentalist group Taliban took over Afghanistan and established the Islamic Emirate of

Afghanistan on this day that year.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, popularly known as CERN, was established by 12 European governments

on this day that year.

Mao Zedong declared the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on this day that year.

Iraq gained independence from the United Kingdom on this day that year.

September 28, 1924

September 30, 1966

October 2, 1958

The first aerial circumnavigation was completed by a team from the US Army on this day that year.

Botswana gained independence from the United Kingdom on this day that year.

Guinea declared its independence from France on this day that year.

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Delhi High Court issues notices to Delhi Government: SDMC and vendors seeking

response to a plea for contempt action

he Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Delhi government, South Delhi

Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and various vendors on a plea seeking contempt action for their alleged deliberate non-compliance to the court’s order and carrying out activities at the Nehru Place area.

A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh sought the response of the authorities and vendors on the contempt petition and listed the matter for further hearing on October 18, when a similar matter is also listed.

The contempt petition was filed by the Federation of Nehru Place Association claiming willful disobedience of court order by some of the vendors and squatters carrying out activities at the Nehru Place area.

Advocate Pranav Proothi, representing the association, said there was a specific direction to the vendors to vacate the premises in the evening by 5:30 PM, but he has photographs to show their presence

in the complex at 11 PM and that they leave their articles behind. He also said that only 95 hawkers were permitted in the premises but the actual number was much higher.

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Delhi LG directs the

Delhi Education Department to

fill up vacancies

nil Baijal. the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi conducted a review of the

state of vacancies in the Delhi Education Department and directed that the vacant posts should be filled up in a timely manner.

“Reviewed the status of vacancies in Department of Education and Department of Training & Technical Education along with Chief Secretary, Chairperson-DSSSB, Secretary (School Education), Secretary (TTE) & other senior officials.

Advised the officials to ensure that the vacant posts, both in the promotion and direct recruitment category, are filled up in a time-bound manner,” the Delhi LG tweeted. “It was emphasised that necessary steps should be taken to amend the recruitment rules of various posts as required to remove anomalies and attract quality talent,” Baijal added.

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Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and

adjoining areas informs about the steps taken to combat air pollution

he Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the National

Capital region and adjoining has informed about steps taken by it to address air pollution.

In a series of tweets, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India stated: “ State Governments of Punjab, NCR States and GNCTD have developed detailed monitorable action plans based on the Framework by the Commission to tackle the problem of Agricultural Stubble Burning: Chairperson, Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & adjoining areas ; With regards to promotion of use of Bio-Decomposer technology developed by IARI under @icarindia , it is conveyed to the commission that PUSA Bio decomposer planned for application in 6 lakh acres in

U.P, 1 Lakh ac. in Haryana, 7413 ac. in Punjab & 4000 ac. in Delhi respectively. Directions have also been issued to NCR state Govts/GNCTD, road owning agencies and municipal bodies for abatement of dust from Roads /open areas through a “Dust Control and Management Cell. With regards to “Control/Prevention of Air Pollution from Construction and Demolition activities” directions have been issued with illustrative dust control/mitigative measures.

Strict monitoring through a dedicated Web-portal and Video fencing of projects will be done. State- wise action plans have been prepared for control of Bio–mass/Municipal Solid Waste Burning and fires in Landfill Sites, focusing on deployment of enforcement teams, quick complaint redressals and corrective actions through IT enabled platforms. A dedicated taskforce has been envisaged in each NCR state to continuously monitor and take steps regularly to ensure smooth traffic management, including developing an “Intelligent Traffic Management System” (ITMS)”

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Yogesh Singh is the new Vice Chancellor of Delhi University

he Ministry of Education officials have announced that Yogesh Singh has

been appointed as the new Vice Chancellor of Delhi University. Yogesh Singh is the Vice Chancellor of the Delhi Technological University.

Singh will be the 23rd Vice-Chancellor of DU and will succeed Yogesh Tyagi who was suspended last October over allegations of irregularities and dereliction of duty. Tyagi was the first VC in the university’s history to face such action.

This is the fifth time he has been appointed to the Vice-Chancellor’’s post. He was reappointed as DTU VC for a second term in April this year. He has served as Vice-Chancellor of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (2011-14) where he was also reappointed for a second term.

“President Ram Nath Kovind who is the Visitor to central universities has approved the appointment of two Vice Chancellors.

“While Yogesh Singh will be the VC of Delhi University, Neelima Gupta has been appointed to the post at Dr Hari Singh Gaur Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar,” a ministry official said.

Interchange to be constructed linking Jewar Airport and

Yamuna Expressway in Noida

he construction of an interchange has been announced that will link connect

Jewar Airport and Yamuna Expressway in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The interchange will be constructed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The estimated cost of the construction of the interchange is Rs 50 crores.

A 750 meters long elevated road will also be built from the ‘interchange’ to the terminal building of the airport. Chief Executive Officer of Yamuna Authority Dr Arun Veer Singh said that all these interchange and elevated roads will be constructed by the NHAI. For this, talks have been held between Yamuna Authority and NHAI.




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Patent fee for educational institutions reduced by 80%

he Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a press release those

benefits related to 80% reduced fee for patent filing & prosecution have been extended to educational institutions as well. This is in line with PM Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

The press release also states that recognizing the importance of nurturing innovation and creativity in a knowledge economy, India is taking great strides in strengthening its intellectual property ecosystem in recent years. In order to create a conducive environment for innovation, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has been working towards promoting greater collaboration between industry and academia. This can be achieved by facilitating commercialization of research undertaken in educational institutions.

These institutions engage in many research activities, where professors/teachers and students generate several new technologies which need to be patented for facilitating commercialization of the same.

High patenting fees present a restrictive element for getting these technologies patented and thus work as a disincentive for development of new technologies.

At the time of applying for patents, the innovators have to apply these patents in the name of the institutions which have to pay fees for large applicants, which are very high and thus work as a disincentive.

In this regard and to encourage greater participation of the educations institutions, who play a pivotal role in country’s innovation, official fees payable by them in respect of various acts under the Patents Rules, 2003, have been reduced by way of the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2021, which came into effect on 21st September, 2021). PC

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Ministry of Defence orders 118 battle tanks for Indian Army

he Indian Ministry of Defence in a press release said that it has placed an

order with Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Avadi, Chennai for supply of 118 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) Arjun Mk-1A for the Indian Army on September 23, 2021.

The order, worth Rs 7,523 crore, will provide further boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative in defence sector and is a big step towards achieving ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The state–of-the-art MBT Mk-1A is a new variant of Arjun Tank designed to enhance fire power, mobility and survivability. Infused with 72 new features and more indigenous content from the Mk-1 variant,

the tank would ensure effortless mobility in all terrains, besides precise target engagement during day and night. It has been designed and developed by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) by incorporating numerous upgrades on Arjun MBT, the in-service main battle tank with the Indian Army.

The MK-1A is equipped with accurate & superior firepower, all-terrain mobility and an invincible multi-layered protection provided by an array of advanced technology systems. It can take on the enemy during day & night conditions and in both static & dynamic modes. By virtue of these capabilities, this indigenous MBT proves to be at par with any contemporary in its class across the globe.

This tank is particularly configured and designed for Indian conditions and hence it is suitable for deployment to protect the frontiers in an effective manner.

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Kovalam and Eden beaches accorded

with the Blue Flag Certification

wo new beaches this year –Kovalam in Tamil Nadu and Eden

in Puducherry – have been accorded the Blue Flag Certification. The iconic Blue Flag is one of the world’s most recognised voluntary awards for beaches, marinas, and sustainable boating tourism operators. In order to qualify for the Blue Flag, a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety, and accessibility criteria must be met and maintained.

Foundation for Environment Education in Denmark (FEE) which accords the globally recognized eco-label - Blue Flag certification, has also given re-certification for 8 nominated beaches Shivrajpur-Gujarat, Ghoghla-Diu, Kasarkod and Padubidri-

Karnataka, Kappad-Kerala, Rushikonda- Andhra Pradesh, Golden-Odisha and Radhanagar- Andaman and Nicobar, which were awarded the Blue Flag certificate last year.

Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav tweeted: Happy to announce India now has 10 International Blue Flag beaches with the addition of Kovalam & Eden beaches this year and recertification for 8 beaches which got the tag in 2020.

Another milestone in our journey towards a clean and green India led by PM Shri @NarendraModi Ji.”.

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WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanks India for resumption

of export of COVID-19 vaccines

edros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director general of the World Health

Organization (WHO) has expressed thanks to India for the decision to resume the export of COVID-19 vaccines

The WHO chief wrote on Twitter, “Thank you Health Minister @mansukhmandviya for announcing #India will resume crucial #COVID19 vaccine shipments to #COVAX in October. This is an important development in support of reaching the 40% vaccination target in all countries by the end of the year. #VaccinEquity.”

“India will resume exports of Covid-19

vaccines in the October quarter, prioritising the global vaccine-sharing platform COVAX and neighbouring countries first as supplies rise”, the India Health Minister had announced.




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Festival season returns to Nepal amid declining

COVID casesens of thousands of devotees packed the old palace courtyard in the heart

of Nepal’s capital to celebrate the feast of Indra Jatra, marking the return of the festival season in the Himalayan nation after it was scaled down because of the pandemic.

The weeklong Indra Jatra precedes months of other festivals in the predominantly Hindu nation.

Kumari, a young girl who is revered by both Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal as the living goddess, left her temple palace for the first time in two years and was driven around the center of Kathmandu in a wooden chariot pulled by devotees.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and the nation’s highest officials also lined up to get her blessing, together with the tens of thousands of others along the short route from her temple palace and around the heart of the city.

The festival season in Nepal falls around September and October. The festivals in 2020 were scaled down after the government imposed restrictions to curb a surge in coronavirus cases.

Security was stepped up and organizers

announced plans to control the number of those attending.

The Indra Jatra festival marks the end of monsoon rains and the beginning of autumn. It also celebrates the end of the rice farming season.

Armed police guarded the alleys and roads leading to the main courtyard while volunteers sprayed sanitizers and distributed masks to the devotees.

Officials, priests, religious leaders and organizers held several meetings before deciding to go ahead with the public festival.

“If we continue to halt the festival every year because of COVID-19, there is a big chance that our tradition and rituals could just fade away. We want to save our tradition and heritage but at the same time keep everyone safe from the virus,” said Gautam Shakya, the priest and main caretaker of Kumari.

Gautam said they have been making public appeals to keep away from the main venues of the festivals as far as possible, fearing the spread of the coronavirus.

“We are asking people to understand that to save the tradition, rituals and heritage, they

should keep away from the venue this year and if you are safe, then you can watch these festivals in the many years to come,” he said.

Kiran Shakya of the government’s Trust Corporation, which is in charge of the festivals, said special security arrangements were made to control the crowds and follow health protocols.

“We want to set an example of how a popular festival can be held safely,” he said.

Bishnu Lal shrestha, who was among the throngs of jubilant devotees waiting along

the narrow streets to receive Kumari’s blessing, said he was thrilled that the festivals are back after two years. “We are praying that the gathering of devotees will not be a reason for another spread of the coronavirus but the gods will protect us,” Shrestha said.

Nepal has imposed several lockdowns and other restrictions since the pandemic hit. According to the Health Ministry, there have been 784,000 confirmed cases with more than 11,000 deaths. Only 19% of the population have been fully vaccinated.Credit : Associated Press (AP)

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Sri Lanka probes prison Minister for alleged prisoner threat

ri Lankan police are investigating an incident in which the government

prisons Minister allegedly threatened to kill two ethnic minority detainees inside a prison, an official said.

Lohan Ratwatte, State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation, resigned last week following a public outcry after he was accused of threatening to kill two Tamil prisoners. He was also accused of forcibly entering another prison with his friends to show them the gallows.

Government spokesman Dullas Alahapperuma said a police investigation is underway.

He said Cabinet Ministers also discussed the allegations at their weekly meeting and Justice Minister Ali Sabri sought approval to launch a separate investigation headed by a retired judge.

Tamil minority lawmaker Gajen Ponnambalam said Ratwatte summoned the Tamil prisoners in the prison in Anuradhapura, about 200 kilometers (125 miles ) north of Colombo. He “got two of them to kneel in front of him and pointed his personal firearm at them and threatened to kill them on the spot,” Ponnambalam tweeted.

Ratwatte is a member of the Sinhalese ethnic majority. Tamil lawmakers asked the government to arrest him.

The London-based human rights group Amnesty International also called for an inquiry, saying “the Minister must be held to account for his actions.”

Separately, local newspapers reported that

a government Minister had forcibly entered Welikada prison in Colombo with his friends to show them the gallows.

The newspapers did not identify the Minister, but the President’s office said Ratwatte acknowledged responsibility for the incidents at both prisons and tendered his resignation to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

There was no immediate comment from Ratwatte on the announced investigation.

Sri Lankan prisons are highly congested, with more than 32,000 inmates crowded into facilities with a capacity of 11,000.

A dozen inmates were killed and 100 others injured last November during a riot by inmates at a prison on the outskirt of Colombo.

Tamil rebels fought to create a separate state during a 26-year civil war but were defeated by government troops in 2009.Credit : Associated Press (AP)

Myanmar judge rules that Suu Kyi’s trial will

continuecourt in Myanmar ruled that prosecutors presented enough

evidence against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and two of her political allies for their trial to continue on charges of incitement.

Suu Kyi and her elected government were ousted by the military in February. A special court in the capital, Naypyitaw, is hearing various charges filed against her and several colleagues by the military, including incitement — spreading false or inflammatory information that could disturb public order.

Her co-defendants in the incitement charge are former Vice President Win Myint and the former mayor of Naypyitaw, Myo Aung. The charge is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.

Under the law, a judge can order an end to a trial after the prosecution has presented its case if it does not have merit. If the judge finds the prosecution case credible, the trial continues into a second phase in which the defense presents its case and a verdict is rendered.

Defense lawyers Kyi Win and Min Min Soe said the court ruled that the trial would continue, formally indicting the defendants.

Kyi Win said the defendants were told to enter a plea, and all three pleaded not

guilty. The defense lawyers asked that two prosecution witnesses be recalled for cross-examination before the defense presents its witnesses.

Suu Kyi is also being tried on two counts of breaking COVID-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign, illegally importing walkie-talkies that were for her bodyguards’ use, and unlicensed use of the radios.

Suu Kyi’s supporters and independent analysts say the charges are politically motivated and are an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power.

The army takeover was met with massive popular resistance, which is continuing despite harsh measures by security forces.

The same court heard from a prosecution witness on the charges that Suu Kyi and Win Myint violated coronavirus restrictions.

Suu Kyi also faces additional charges that have yet to be tried: accepting bribes, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, and violating the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum term of 14 years.


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PTrudeau’s election bet fails, but Tory rival might lose job

rime Minister Justin Trudeau won his third straight election but failed to get

the majority in Parliament he wanted, an outcome that threatened his Conservative rival with loss of his job after moving his party to the center and alienating its base.

Trudeau bet Canadians didn’t want a Conservative government during a pandemic and voiced the concerns of Canadians who are increasingly upset with those who refuse to get vaccinated.

That helped propel Trudeau to victory in the election, and while the gamble to win a majority of Parliament seats didn’t pay off, Trudeau now leads a strong minority government that won’t be toppled by the opposition any time soon.

The results nearly mirrored those of two years ago. The Liberal Party secured or was leading in 158 seats — one more than it won in 2019, and 12 short of the 170 needed for a majority in the House of Commons.

The Conservatives were leading or elected in 119 seats, two less than in 2019. The leftist New Democrats were leading or elected in 25, while the Bloc Québécois were poised to win 34 and the Greens were down to two.

Hours after the results came in, Trudeau greeted commuters and posed for photos at a subway stop in his district in Montreal - a post-election tradition for the Prime Minister.

“I hear you when you say you just want to get back to the things you love and not worry about this pandemic or an election,” Trudeau said in his post-victory speech hours earlier.

At a news conference, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole said he had initiated a post-election review to examine what went wrong for his party.

“We are building towards victory next time,” O’Toole said, adding that an election could occur within 18 months. “We are all disappointed by the results and as leader no one more than me.”

Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, blamed O’Toole’s move toward the center, calling it “a source of contention within the party.”

Conservative campaign co-chair Walied Soliman said before the votes were counted that holding Trudeau to a minority government would be a win. But Jenni Byrne, campaign manager and deputy chief of staff to former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, told The Associated Press she was “stunned” by Soliman’s comments and later said O’Toole gave a tone-deaf concession speech in which he acted as if he’d won.

O’Toole said he was more determined than ever to continue, but his party might dump him as it did his predecessor, who failed to beat Trudeau in 2019.

“People should reflect more on where improvements can be made to the campaign rather than tearing down the leader,” said Rick Roth, a former top Conservative Party staff member in the Harper government. “This trend can’t continue or we’ll be in the wilderness for a decade.”

Whether O’Toole remains Conservative leader has big implications for the conservative movement in Canada. If he’s removed, the party could swing back right.

A politician who narrowly lost the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2017 and who now leads a far-right party that opposes vaccines and lockdowns bled support from O’Toole’s Conservatives and helped the Liberals retain power. Maxime Bernier and the People’s Party of Canada didn’t win any seats in Parliament but support for his party led to some Conservative party losses.

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said the People’s Party of Canada cost the Conservative Party about 10 seats in the election.

O’Toole advertised himself a year ago as a “true-blue Conservative.” He became Conservative Party leader with a pledge to “take back Canada,” but immediately started working to push the party toward the political center.

O’Toole’s strategy, which included disavowing positions held dear by his party’s base on climate change, guns and balanced budgets, was designed to appeal to a broader cross section of voters in a country that tends to be far more liberal than its southern neighbor.

Whether moderate Canadians believed O’Toole is the progressive conservative he claims to be and whether he alienated traditional Conservatives became central questions of the campaign.

O’Toole failed to win more seats in and around vote-rich liberal Toronto, Canada’s largest city.

Trudeau argued that the Conservatives’ approach on the pandemic, which has been more skeptical of lockdowns and vaccine mandates, would be dangerous. And he played up his own party’s successes. Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, and Trudeau’s government spent hundreds of billions of dollars to prop up the economy amid lockdowns.


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Many migrants staying in US

even as expulsion flights rise

hree hours after being freed from a giant migrant camp under an

international bridge, Mackenson Veillard stood outside a gas station and took stock of his sudden good fortune as he and his pregnant wife waited for a Greyhound bus to take them to a cousin in San Antonio.

The couple camped with thousands for a week under the bridge in Del Rio, Texas, sleeping on concrete and getting by on bread and bottled water.

“I felt so stressed,” Veillard, 25, said this week. “But now, I feel better. It’s like I’m starting a new life.”

Many Haitian migrants in Del Rio are being released in the United States, according to two U.S. officials, undercutting the Biden administration’s public statements that the thousands in the camp faced immediate expulsion to Haiti.

Haitians have been freed on a “very, very large scale” in recent days, one official said. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and thus spoke on condition of anonymity, put the figure in the thousands.

Many have been released with notices to appear at an immigration office within 60 days, an outcome that requires less processing time from Border Patrol agents

than ordering an appearance in immigration court and points to the speed at which authorities are moving.

The releases come despite a massive effort to expel Haitians on flights under pandemic-related authority that denies migrants a chance to seek asylum.

A third U.S. official not authorized to discuss operations said there were seven daily flights to Haiti planned.

Ten flights arrived in Haiti in planes designed for 135 passengers, according to Haitian officials, who didn’t provide a complete count but said six of those flights carried 713 migrants combined.

The camp held more than 14,000 people over the weekend, according to some estimates. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, during a visit to Del Rio, said the county’s top official told him the most recent tally was about 8,600 migrants. U.S. authorities have declined to say how many have been released in the U.S. in recent days.


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Deported Haitians try to rush back into plane amid anger

ozens of migrants upset about being deported to Haiti from the U.S.

clashed with authorities while trying to rush back into a plane that landed in Port-au-Prince.

A security guard closed the plane door just in time as some deportees began throwing shoes at the plane, yelling, “This is abuse!” and “How is this possible?!”

The group that included men and women had disembarked from the second of four flights that arrived, with some temporarily losing their belongings in the scuffle as police arrived. Among those trying to get back on the plane was Maxine Orélien, who blamed Haiti’s Prime Minister for the situation.

“What can we provide for our family?” he said. “We can’t do anything for our family here. There is nothing in this country.”

Orélien is among the hundreds of migrants whom the U.S. began deporting to Haiti, with several more flights scheduled in upcoming days. Many of them left their country after the devastating 2010 earthquake and now worry about how they will find jobs and housing and provide for their families in a country of more than 11 million people where about 60% earn less than $2 a day.

Haiti also is struggling to recover from the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti’s southern region in mid-

August, killing more than 2,200 people and destroying or damaging tens of thousands of homes.

Those deported with young children are especially worried about the recent spike in violence in Port-au-Prince, with gangs controlling roughly one-third of the capital. Kidnappings have become increasingly common, with targets ranging from young schoolchildren to nuns to impoverished families.

Partners in Health, a Boston-based nonprofit, said in a statement that it was outraged by what it called the U.S. government’s inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants and asylum seekers. It also called for an immediate halt to all Haiti-bound flights.

“During a challenging and dangerous period for Haiti, it is unthinkably cruel to send men, women and children back to what many of them do not even call ‘home’ anymore,” the group said.


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Key Libya Commander suspends duties ahead of December vote

ibya’s powerful, east-based commander announced he was suspending his role

as leader of a self-styled Libyan army for the next three months — the clearest indication yet that he may be contemplating a run for President in December elections.

If he runs, commander Khalifa Hifter would be one of the frontrunners in the Dec. 24 vote but his candidacy is likely to stir controversy in western Libya and the capital of Tripoli, the stronghold of his opponents, mostly Islamists.

Hifter’s forces had besieged Tripoli in a year-long campaign that tried to capture the city. The campaign ultimately failed last year, leading to U.N.-mediated talks and the formation of a transitional government charged with leading Libya until the parliamentary and Presidential elections.

A statement from Hifter’s office said he was delegating his military duties to his chief of staff, Abdel-Razek al-Nadhouri, for three months.

Libya has been wracked by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The oil-rich nation had for years been split between a government in the east, backed by Hifter, and a U.N.-supported administration in Tripoli, aided by west-based Libyan militias. Each side has also had the support of mercenaries from countries such as Russia and Syria and

different regional powers. Libyan lawmakers passed a Presidential election law earlier this month, requiring possible candidates for President to relinquish whatever office they hold 90 days before the vote. Lawmakers are still debating a bill regulating the parliamentary vote.

However, lawmaker passed a vote of no confidence in the transitional government, impeding efforts to unite the oil-rich North African country and even throwing the long-waited elections into uncertainty.

Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya expert and senior fellow at the Global Initiative, warned that Hifter’s candidacy may lead his opponents to undermine the elections altogether, which could raise the threat of renewed violence. Many armed groups loyal to Islamists in western Libya oppose the December vote, he cautioned.

“If real Presidential elections take place in northwestern Libya, there will be huge tensions ahead of the contest, including potential clashes,” Harchaoui said.

Hifter has modeled his leadership on Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a close ally. Both have declared war on terrorism - applying the term not only to extremist groups but also more moderate Islamists.


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Tunisia’s Saied strengthens Presidential powers in decrees

unisian President Kaïs Saied issued Presidential decrees bolstering the

already near-total power he granted himself two months ago.

The decrees include the continuing suspension of the Parliament’s powers and the suspension of all lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution. But the text published in the official gazette went even further — now freezing lawmakers’ salaries.

They also state Saied’s intention from now on to rule by Presidential decree alone and ignore parts of the constitution. Laws will not go through the parliament, whose powers are frozen, granting him near-unlimited power.

On July 25, Saied sacked Tunisia’s Prime Minister, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority, saying it was because of a national emergency. His critics called it a coup.

For law professor Mouna Kraiem, the new emergency measures amount to “the establishment of a dictatorship in the full

sense of the word.”

Saied has denied wanting to be a dictator, saying that he eventually aims to put his political reforms to the public in the form of a nationwide referendum. But his political critics remain skeptical of this intention.

The July event came after years of economic sluggishness, but were triggered by a day of violent protest and a rise in coronavirus cases.


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Zuma’s trial postponed until

October in South Africa

he corruption trial of former South African President Jacob Zuma was

postponed until Oct. 26 while the judge considers a plea from Zuma’s lawyer that the prosecution team be dismissed from the case for being biased.

Zuma wasn’t present for the two-day hearing that ended after he was released from an unrelated jail sentence this month on medical parole. He has been receiving treatment in a hospital for an undisclosed illness, according to his foundation.

Zuma’s lawyer, Dali Mpofu, asked Judge Piet Koen to throw chief prosecutor Billy Downer and his team off the case, claiming they have a politically-motivated grudge against Zuma. Prosecutors deny that and say there is no evidence of it.

Mpofu also asked the judge to acquit Zuma of all charges against him after the prosecution team is dismissed. Koen said he needed time to consider the plea.

The 79-year-old Zuma, who was President of South Africa from 2009-18, faces charges of corruption, racketeering, money laundering, tax evasion and fraud relating

to a multibillion-dollar arms deal the South African government signed with French company Thales in 1999.

Zuma is accused of taking bribes and accepting favors to protect the deal from scrutiny. The charges relate to the time before Zuma was President but when he was a politician on the rise, and include the time he served as deputy President of South Africa from 1999-2005. Zuma and Thales, which is also charged in the case, deny wrongdoing.

Zuma was jailed in July in an unrelated matter after refusing to testify at a commission of inquiry into allegations of widespread corruption in government and at state-owned companies while he was President.

He served two months of a 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court before being released on medical parole.

His parole is also under scrutiny amid claims it didn’t follow procedure.


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Morocco: 3 parties agree to form new coalition government

M orocco’s Prime Minister-designate announced that a three-party

coalition will form the country’s next government.

King Mohammed VI appointed billionaire Aziz Akhanouch as Prime Minister earlier this month after his party placed first in a legislative election, netting 102 out of the 395 seats in the lower house of parliament.

The coalition includes Akhanouch’s liberal National Rally of Independents Party, or RNI, the Authenticity and Modernity party (PAM) and the conservative Istiqlal (IP).

Formed in 2008 by Fouad Ali El Hima, a personal friend of the king and one of his close advisers, PAM has never before been part of a Moroccan government.

The Istiqlal Party is Morocco’s oldest party and has participated in several governments since the kingdom gained independence from France in 1956.

The three parties together won 270 seats in the House of Representatives, giving the coalition government a comfortable majority to pass laws.

“We will work together to form an effective and coherent majority before presenting the government lineup to King Mohammed VI,” Akhanouch said during a press conference. “We share many historical backgrounds and we intersect in a number of priorities.”

A former Agriculture Minister, Akhanouch is one of Morocco’s richest men.

He replaces Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani, whose Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) suffered a stinging a defeat in the Sept. 8 election. The party, which has been in power since 2011, secured only 13 parliament seats, down from 125 in the 2016 election.

The PJD’s leadership resigned en masse after this month’s elections and said the party would join the opposition ranks.

In a statement, the moderate Islamist party alleged “many violations and imbalances witnessed” during the elections,” adding that “the results do not reflect the reality of the political map and the free will of the voters.”


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Brazil’s Bolsonaro rebuffs criticism on pandemic, Amazonrazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro issued a defense of his administration

at the U.N. General Assembly, rebuffing criticism of its handling of the pandemic and touting recent data indicating less Amazon deforestation.

His presence at the General Assembly itself was something of a provocation, as he flouted the requirement for all attendees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Infected with the virus last year, he has said several times over the last week he remains unvaccinated and that getting a shot is a personal, medical decision.

“By November, everyone who chooses to be vaccinated in Brazil will be attended to,” Bolsonaro said in his speech. “We support vaccination. However, our government has opposed vaccine passports or any obligation to get a vaccine.”

He also doubled-down on “early treatment” drugs such as hydroxychloroquine, without naming the drug. The anti-malarial offered initial promise but scientists have roundly dismissed it as ineffective against COVID-19. Hydroxychloroquine was central to the chaos of the pandemic response in Brazil, presided over by four different Health Ministers, two of whom opposed Bolsonaro’s insistence to recommend it.

“We don’t understand why many countries, along with much of the media, positioned themselves against early treatment. History and science will know how to hold all of them responsible,” Bolsonaro added. He also praised the government’s generous COVID-19 welfare program that provided monthly payments to Brazil’s poor. Its

drawdown, however, fueled poverty.

The right-wing leader is embattled in Brazil as his approval ratings continue tumbling, in large part because the nation has recorded the world’s second-highest COVID-19 death toll, with more than 590,000 dead. That’s equal to the eighth-highest globally on a per capita basis. And Bolsonaro is more isolated internationally than ever following the electoral defeat of his ally, former U.S. President Donald Trump.

As he seeks to rehabilitate his image abroad, his critics had warned he was undertaking a disingenuous shift. It began at the White House-led climate summit in April, when he moved up the timeline for carbon neutrality by a decade and promised to stop illegal Amazon deforestation by 2030 in a nod to U.S. President Joe Biden, who had called out Brazil’s environmental track record on the campaign trail last year. Instead, Bolsonaro adopted a defiant tone, hitting talking points similar to those directed toward his base,

observed Thomas Traumann, a political analyst.

“He could have given that speech in anywhere in Brazil, and not spent the money to go to New York,” Traumann said.

During his debut General Assembly appearance in 2019, he railed against socialism and what he described as media sensationalism regarding Amazon destruction. Last year, in a pre-recorded video, he said Brazil was the victim of an environmental smear and stressed the economic harm caused by pandemic stay-at-home recommendations.

He claimed Brazil had been on the verge of socialism before his election, said governors and mayors were to blame for isolation measures that cost workers’ income and told assembled diplomats to look beyond media reports about Brazil. He heralded progress in development of railways and sanitation, plus recent indications of reduced Amazon

deforestation. The Brazilian President stopped short of saying Indigenous people control too much land given their sparse population, as he has repeatedly in the past, but claimed they increasingly want to use their vast territories for agriculture and other activities. He pledged to foster development of the Amazon on the campaign trail and, after his election, the environmental regulator was defanged and deforestation surged. Biden’s special envoy for climate John Kerry has made clear that the administration wants to see concrete results in reversing such devastation. Recent preliminary data point in the right direction, showing that Amazon deforestation in June was roughly level year-on-year, and dropped in July and August compared to the same two months of 2020.

Bolsonaro said the results stemmed from his administration’s redoubled efforts. Environmentalists say it is too early to know if this is represents a trend and stress that deforestation levels remain elevated.

Before Bolsonaro took office, the Brazilian Amazon hadn’t recorded a single year with more than 10,000 square kilometers (3,861 square miles) of deforestation in over a decade. It surpassed that level in each of Bolsonaro’s first two years, and final data for the reference period between Aug. 2020 and July 2021 may confirm a third year.

While Bolsonaro’s fresh environmental pledges and preliminary progress mean Brazil can avoid consumer boycotts, sanctions and general ostracism, there remains skepticism about his commitment, said Brian Winter, vice President for policy at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas.Credit : Associated Press (AP)

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Spain: Venezuelan spymaster loses court extradition dispute

pain’s Supreme Court refused to suspend a government decision

allowing a former Venezuelan spymaster to be extradited to the United States.

Lawyers for Gen. Hugo Carvajal, who for over a decade was late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez’s eyes and ears in the Venezuelan military, asked the court to put the Spanish government decision — taken 18 months ago — on hold.

But the Supreme Court said in its written decision that Carvajal had presented no new arguments against the government decision, which he had already opposed at the court in May last year.

Carvajal’s extradition procedure is currently on hold at the National Court, after he filed a request for asylum in Spain.

Nicknamed “El Pollo,′ or “The Chicken”, Carvajal was arrested Sept. 9 in a small apartment in Madrid, where he had been holed up for months. His arrest came nearly two years after Carvajal defied a Spanish extradition order and disappeared.

In the United States, he faces federal charges for allegedly working with guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to “flood” the U.S. with cocaine.


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Magnitude 6.4 quake sways buildings in coastal Chile

strong earthquake shook buildings in the Chilean city of Concepcion,

though there were no immediate reports of damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake’s magnitude at 6.4 and said it was centered offshore, 81 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of the city of Arauco.

Witnesses said tall buildings swayed strongly after the quake hit at 10:14 a.m. local time (1314 GMT).


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Peru says body of Shining Path leader

to be crematedhe Peruvian prosecutor’s office ordered the cremation of the body of

Abimael Guzmán, the leader of the brutal Shining Path insurgency who died Sept. 11 in a military jail.

After Guzmán’s death, the Peruvian Congress passed a law requiring the bodies of those convicted of terrorism to be cremated by authorities within 24 hours of their deaths and forbidding the handover of the bodies to their families.

Guzmán’s wife, Elena Iparraguirre, also sentenced to life imprisonment, had asked for the remains of her husband to be given to her, but authorities denied that request.Guzmán, 86, died in a military hospital after an illness. The former philosophy professor launched an insurgency against the state in 1980 and presided over numerous car bombings and assassinations in the years that followed. Guzmán was captured in 1992 and sentenced to life in prison for terrorism and other crimes.Credit : Associated Press (AP)

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Opinion

Latin America: Leaders inclined to left want to give CELAC greater prominence than the OAS

he Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) is an

intergovernmental mechanism for dialogue and political agreement, which includes permanently thirty-three countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The member countries of CELAC are Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago. Uruguay and Venezuela.

The 6th Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) took place in Mexico on September 18, 2021. There was a clear indication at the Summit that leaders of Latin America who are inclined to the left ideologies now want to establish CELAC as an effective alternate organisation to the Organisation of America States (OAS), the latter also including the United States and Canada.

At the Summit, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador gave enough indications that he wanted to accord regional

prominence to CELAC as compared to the OAS. The Mexican President Obrador said in the opening ceremony of the Summit that CELAC can become the principal instrument to consolidate relations between our Latin American and Caribbean nations. “We should build in the American continent something similar to what was the economic community that was the beginning of the current European Union,” the leftist Lopez Obrador remarked. López Obrador said. “It is time to express and explore another option: that of a dialogue with U.S. leaders and to convince and persuade them that a new relationship among the countries of America is possible.

In that spirit, you mustn’t rule out the substitution of the (Organization of American States) with a truly autonomous body, a lackey to no one”. He opposed any kind of sanctions and said questions of human rights and democracy should only be considered if a country accused of violations requests that. “Controversies over democracy and human rights should be worked out in truly neutral forums created by the countries of the Americas, and the last word should be left to the specialized agencies of United Nations,” López Obrador said.

Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard termed the OAS as becoming “out-of-date because the world changed”. “Goodbye OAS, in its interventionist, interfering and hegemonic sense,” Erbard said.

Leader aligned with Leftist ideology in the Latin America and Caribbean region perceive the OAS as a US dominated organisation. The 6th Summit of CELAC witnessed a gathering of prominent regional centre-left leaders, including Bolivian President Luis Arce, Peru’s new President, Pedro Castillo, Cuba’s Miguel Diaz-Canel and Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. Bolivian President Luis Arce called the OAS “an obsolete and ineffective body that does not respond to the principles of multilateralism and the needs of our states. Arce was critical that the OAS “acts against the principles of democracy” and that “its interference does not contribute to the peaceful solution of controversies” He said that the CELAC needed to be strengthened and the Latin American nations must integrate themselves into the “ principle of solidarity”. Arce has previously criticised the OAS for interfering in the Bolivian elections. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called the anti-government demonstrations in his country

as “an opportunistic campaign of slander, financed by U.S. federal funds and which still threatens the stability, integrity and sovereignty”.

One of the unexpected participants at the 6th CELAC Summit was Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro proposed the creation of new institutionalism for CELAC with the aim of reinforcing action on political, economic and social issues. However, his presence sparked a confrontation within CELAC. The President of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez said that he does not consider the Maduro government as truly representative. The President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle, defended the OAS. “You can disagree with how it is managed, but you cannot discount the organization,” said Lacalle, who was specific in his criticism Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua for anti-democratic practices. Maduro challenged Uruguay’s Lacalle to a debate on democracy.

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Iran & IAEA reach critical agreement but JCPOA still stalled

he International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)-the UN atomic

watchdog – reached an agreement with Iran on September 12, 2021. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the Director General of the IAEA signed the deal with Mohammad Eslami, the newly appointed nuclear chief of Iran during Tehran visit. It was Grossi’s first trip to Tehran during the regime of President Ebrahim Raisi, who appointed Eslami on August 29 as Vice-President of the Iranian Atomic Energy Association. The agreement allows the IAEA access to surveillance cameras inside Iran’s atomic facilities.

The “constructive” talks with Eslami allowed installation of new memory cards into cameras monitoring Iran’s nuclear programme. The cameras can be serviced. As a sign of “cooperation and mutual trust,” the existing cards showing Iranian activity at its main nuclear sites will be sealed and kept in Iran in line with a law passed by the hard-line Iranian parliament in December. Grossi would travel to Tehran again soon to replace the agency’s monitoring cameras’ memory cards.

Back in Vienna, Grossi conceded that the agreement was a “stopgap” but the IAEA was nervous and managed to rectify the most urgent issue - the imminent loss of knowledge-confronted with until September 12. Now it is solved.

Formal censure: The IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors met in Vienna on September 13, 2021. The US Britain, France

and Germany had introduced censure motion against Iran for non-cooperation on investigation into traces of uranium found at undeclared nuclear sites. The IAEA-Iran agreement averted such censure but might have risked the prospect of talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal!

In response to Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) and re-imposing punishing sanctions, Iran breached its uranium stockpile limit in July 2019, and continued enriching uranium, aggravating proliferation risk. On 15 February, Iran stopped implementing “voluntary transparency measures” in the JCPOA along with other arrangements in Iran’s Safeguards Agreement.

Compliance issues: Up to 23 February 2021 the agency had monitored Iran which later violated its nuclear-related commitments, including the Additional Protocol. The Agency had lost track of Iran’s nuclear activities but Iran immediately rectified the situation which boosted IAEA’s confidence.

IAEA still remained deeply concerned that nuclear material has been present at undeclared locations in Iran and its current locations were unknown!

Iran continued talks on the side-lines of the Vienna conference and Grossi would visit Tehran soon to change the memory cards of the surveillance cameras. Building mutual trust matters the most. Some high-level meeting may happen. Iran will maintain suspension of nuclear research. After US offer of talks, IAEA urged Iran to suspend nuclear activities. The agreement prevented further crisis looming over restoring JCPOA. Since February, Iran has agreed to hand over the tapes to the agency only after an agreement is reached in Vienna to lift unilateral United States sanctions.

High enrichment: Two new confidential IAEA reports revealed that Iran had not cooperated on the IAEA’s recording equipment. Some equipment might have been destroyed after an incident. Iran had resumed high enrichment of uranium without providing a full explanation on

nuclear materials at several locations. Iran had doubled down after the reports, calling on the IAEA to maintain its independence and refrain from political moves.

Censure avoided: Grossi noticed a “major communication breakdown” with Iran and a risk of “immediate loss of knowledge” which is now resolved. The agreement guarantees immediate replacement of damaged or destroyed cameras and continuity of data recording. The IAEA will pursue the outstanding issues of uranium enrichment and discovery of undisclosed particles at several Iranian sites.

The last-minute meeting on September 12 was facilitated by Russia, which disfavoured any resolution against Iran at Vienna conference for fear of derailing nuclear deal talks. President Raisi had warned in early September that a censure at Vienna could negatively affect Iran and encourage opponents of the nuclear deal, specifically Israel, which has been lobbying against JCPOA’s restoration. Israel’s Defence Minister had called for imposition of more sanctions on Iran to prod it towards an agreement. Iran last attended the sixth round of talks in July 20, 2021.

Five permanent members of the UNSC plus Germany (5+1) had signed JCPOA with Iran in 2015. The US abandoned that in 2018, imposing harsh sanctions. In response to the sanctions, attacks on its nuclear facilities, and the assassination of a top nuclear scientist, Iran retaliated with enhanced nuclear programme, now enriching uranium to 60 percent, its highest-ever level.

Raisi-Iran’s new President since early August-appointed Eslami fresh to steer the nuclear course. Iran’s return to JCPOA will soothe many frayed nerves world-wide.

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NEW DELHI TIMES Sports

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A ◆ By Dr. Pawan Mathur

@PawanMathur

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UEFA has doubled Women’s EURO 2022 prize money but a significant

gender pay gap still exists

n September 22, 2021, the UEFA Executive Committee held its meeting

in Chisinau, Moldova. One of the major decisions taken in the meeting pertained to women’s football. UEFA approved an increase in the amount distributed to the participating teams, along with a new distribution model, ahead of the start of the UEFA Women’s European Championship final tournament in England in summer 2022. According to a UEFA statement, the 16 qualified teams for the 2022 UEFA Women’s European Championship will share a total of €16 million, which is double the amount of the total prize money of €8 million distributed at UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 in the Netherlands. The financial distribution will include increased guaranteed amounts and performance-based bonuses for the group stage.

The UEFA Executive Committee also approved the introduction of a club benefits programme, for the first time, making available a significant total amount of €4.5 million to reward European clubs releasing players for the UEFA Women’s Euro final tournament for their contribution to the success of the event.

These measures are part of UEFA’s Women’s Football Strategy – Time For Action, a dedicated key strategic initiative to promote women’s football in Europe. Time for Action was launched in May 2019 and during its launch, UEFA stated that the objective of the strategy was to focus on building the foundations within UEFA and its member associations to give European women’s football the best possible platform to thrive. UEFA will also invest in programmes and initiatives to support a balanced delivery of this plan from grassroots to elite levels

Time For Action, UEFA women’s football strategy, aims to reach the following goals by 2024: Double the number of women and girls playing football in UEFA’s member associations to 2.5 million; Change the perceptions of women’s football across Europe; Double the reach and value of the UEFA Women’s EURO and the UEFA Women’s Champions League; Improve player standards by reaching standard agreements for national team players and putting safeguarding policies in place in all 55 member associations and Double female representation on all UEFA bodies.

The increase in prize money for Women’s EURO 2020 is also in line with UEFA’s overarching strategy ‘Together for the Future of Football 2019–24’ which identifies secure long-term growth and sustainability of the women’s game through dedicated programmes aimed at strengthening competitions and doubling the number of registered female players as one of its strategic priorities. The strategy identifies policy making with a focus on heightening professionalism and engagement within the women’s game, as well as providing more regular playing opportunities for girls at grassroots level and emphasises the

values and strengths of the women’s game endeavouring to make it commercially self-sustainable.

UEFA also aims to make UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 a major success. UEFA hopes that a record attendance for a UEFA Women’s Euro fixture [currently 41,301 at the 2013 Women’s Euro final] will hopefully be set at the tournament’s opening game at Manchester United’s Old Trafford. It is then the ambition that this record will be broken once again for the final at Wembley, where it is hoped a sell-out crowd will fill the national stadium, surpassing the current European record for a women’s game of 80,203 set at the 2012 Olympics final.

UEFA’s ambition is to deliver the biggest women’s football event in UEFA history, which is used to inspire long-term, sustainable positive change in women’s and girls’ football. Nadine Kessler, UEFA’s Chief of Women’s football remarked a couple of months ago, “We are going to fill stadia, sell out matches, fans are going to come from all over England, the whole UK, Europe and beyond. And when we have achieved this, we will have left the impression that was needed to amplify the efforts that have already gone into leaving a legacy in England and beyond.”

More money needs to be invested in women’s football as it is growing globally and reaching a much wider audience today. This was manifested when the official broadcast of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup held in France was tuned in by a combined 1.12 billion viewers across all platforms. The final between the USA and the Netherlands was the most-watched FIFA Women’s World Cup match ever, with an average live audience of 82.18 million (up by 56 per cent on the 2015 final audience of 52.56 million) and reaching a total of 263.62 million unique viewers (one-minute reach), which accounted for 22.9% of the overall tournament reach.

Although the decision taken by the UEFA Executive Committee meeting to increase the prize money for UEFA Women’s EURO 2020 is a welcome initiative, a significant gender pay gap still exists. The 24 teams at the men’s European Championship shared 371 million euros ($435 million) in UEFA prize money this year, but clubs were also guaranteed at least 200 million euros ($235 million) for the release of players. This means that while at least 571 million euros ($670 million) is allocated in the financial package for the men’s tournament, only 20.5 million euros ($24 million) has been set aside for the women’s showpiece.

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Male tennis players surveyed on

LGBTQ attitudes, environment

bout 60 players on the men’s professional tennis tour have taken part

so far in an anonymous, online survey about LGBTQ issues that ATP CEO Massimo Calvelli calls part of a “broader initiative” to create “an environment for players and staff that is inclusive, that is diverse and that is very safe and welcoming.”

“Statistically, it’s a bit unusual that you don’t have players on the ATP Tour that are openly gay. We thought, in today’s world, this is an area that it’s worth taking a proactive approach — and what better way to do that than trying to get a sense of where we are today,” Calvelli said in a video interview with The Associated Press this week. “Are there hurdles? Is there anything in terms of culture, behaviors, attitudes out there that sort of puts people in a position where they are not comfortable being open?”

A link to more than 30 questions was emailed to about 500 singles players and 250 doubles players in August, and the tour plans to close the survey at the end of September, ATP spokesman Mark Epps said.

The tour also sought volunteers for 1-on-1 interviews.

The survey was created after the ATP reached out to Pride Sports, a U.K.-based group whose website says it works “to challenge homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in sport and improve access to sport for LGBT+ people.”

Pride Sports enlisted researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, to help develop the survey.

“We’ve never had a circumstance where a sport has approached us,” said Erik Denison, a behavioral science researcher at Monash. “It’s always the other way, where either the LGBT community has approached the sport and said, ‘You need to do something about this problem’ and (the sport was) ... dragged along on the journey. Or the sport has a crisis.”

His description of the ATP’s approach: “Hey, we want to do more than just put up rainbows. We actually want to figure out what to do that’s going to be meaningful and drive change.”

“I don’t think anyone’s denying that homophobia is a problem in tennis, just like it is in any sport,” Denison said.

It is rare for male athletes on U.S. pro teams to publicly come out while they are active. In June, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib became the first NFL player to do so. No active NHL player has, although a Nashville Predators prospect did in July.


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UN health agency sets higher, tougher bar for air qualityhe harmful health effects of air pollution kick in at lower levels

than previously thought, the World Health Organization said as it set a new standard for policymakers and the public in the first update of its air quality guidelines in 15 years.

The U.N. health agency released its revised guidance as climate change is a leading topic at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China will no longer fund power plants fired by coal, which generates several of the pollutants covered by the guidelines.

Since the last update of the WHO recommendations, better monitoring and science have cleared up the global picture about the effects of six major air pollutants

on human health. According to the agency, 90% of the world’s people already live in areas with at least one particularly harmful type of pollutant.

“There is nothing more essential for life than air quality,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. “And yet, because of air pollution, the simple act of breathing contributes to 7 million deaths a year. Almost everyone around the world is exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution.”

Air pollution is now comparable to other global health risks like unhealthy diets and smoking tobacco, WHO said. It is recognized “as the single biggest environmental threat to human health,” Dr. Dorota Jarosinska, WHO Europe program manager for living and working environments, said.

The guidelines, which are not legally binding and intended as a reference for policymakers, advocacy groups and academics, change the advised concentrations of six pollutants known to have impacts on health: two types of particulate matter known as PM 2.5 and PM 10, as well as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide.

The guidelines could also send a message to the wider public about lifestyle and business choices –- whether it’s driving cars and trucks, disposing of garbage, working in industrial jobs or farming.

WHO says the main human-generated sources of air pollution can vary geographically but include the energy and transportation sectors, as well as waste dump sites and home cooking and heating. It advised people to do their part by changing their lifestyles — not running car engines

uselessly; avoiding use of plastics that could end up being incinerated; and walking, riding bikes or using public transportation to get to work.

“We hope the tighter standards will draw attention to just how critical clean air is for human and ecosystem health,” Jessica Seddon, global lead for air quality at the World Resources Institute, said. “The difficulty will come in making the WHO guidelines meaningful for the average person going about their day.”

While wealthy countries in Europe, Asia and North America have made strides in improving air quality in recent years, WHO says globally more than 90% of the world population breathes air with PM 2.5 concentrations that exceed the recommended levels in its last guidelines,

published in 2006. Such particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, resulting in both respiratory and cardiovascular impacts. Air pollution has been linked to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and early death, and recent evidence has suggested negative effects on pregnancy, cognitive development in kids, and mental health, experts say.

The new guidelines set or revise downward recommended air pollution levels for nearly all of the six particles both on a daily and annual basis. For example, they slashed the PM 2.5 recommendation on an annual basis to 5 micrograms per cubic meter, down from 10 previously.

“That is just a huge change,” said Susan Anenberg, associate professor of environmental and occupational health and global health at George Washington University. “This annual average for PM 2.5 in the guidelines is going to be extremely difficult to meet....There’s very few people on the planet right now that have exposures that are that low.”

The 2005 guidelines -- which were actually published a year later — prompted many countries to take action even though they are voluntary, WHO insists. Since then, evidence has grown about the negative impacts of air pollution on health based on improved pollution measurement systems and exposure assessments, leading to the update.

The revisions also highlight another environmental concern that parallels widespread worries about global warming and the impact of burning fossil fuels.


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One to charge them all: EU

demands single plug for phones

he European Union announced plans to require the smartphone industry to

adopt a uniform charging cord for mobile devices, a push that could eliminate the all-too-familiar experience of rummaging through a drawer full of tangled cables to find the right one.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, proposed legislation that would mandate USB-C cables for charging, technology that many device makers have already adopted. The main holdout is Apple, which said it was concerned the new rules would limit innovation, and that would end up hurting consumers. iPhones come with the company’s own Lightning charging port, though the newest models come with cables that can be plugged into a USB-C socket.

The push by the EU will certainly be cheered by the millions of people who have searched through a jumble of snarled cables for the one that fits their phone. But the EU also wants to cut down on the 11,000 metric tons of electronic waste thrown out every year by Europeans.

The commission said the typical EU resident owns at least three chargers, and use two regularly, but 38% of people report not being able to charge their phones at least once because they couldn’t find a compatible charger. Some 420 million mobile phones or portable electronic devices were sold in the EU last year.

The draft rules also call for standardizing fast charging technology and giving consumers the right to choose whether to buy new devices with or without a charger, which the EU estimates will save consumers 250 million euros ($293 million) a year.

After attempting for more than a decade to cajole the industry into adopting a common standard - efforts that whittled dozens of different charging plugs down to a handful - the EU’s executive Commission is pushing the issue.

“Chargers power all our most essential electronic devices. With more and more devices, more and more chargers are sold that are not interchangeable or not necessary. We are putting an end to that,” Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said. “With our proposal, European consumers will be able to use a single charger for all their portable electronics – an important step to increase convenience and reduce waste.”


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Researchers detect malaria resistant to key drug in Africa

cientists have found evidence of a resistant form of malaria in Uganda, a

worrying sign that the top drug used against the parasitic disease could ultimately be rendered useless without more action to stop its spread.

Researchers in Uganda analyzed blood samples from patients treated with artemesinin, the primary medicine used for malaria in Africa in combination with other drugs. They found that by 2019, nearly 20% of the samples had genetic mutations suggesting the treatment was ineffective. Lab tests showed it took much longer for those patients to get rid of the parasites that cause malaria.

Drug-resistant forms of malaria were previously detected in Asia, and health officials have been nervously watching for any signs in Africa, which accounts for more than 90% of the world’s malaria cases. Some isolated drug-resistant strains of malaria have previously been seen in Rwanda.

“Our findings suggest a potential risk of cross-border spread across Africa,” the researchers wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine, which published the study.

The drug-resistant strains emerged in Uganda rather than being imported from elsewhere, they reported. They examined 240 blood samples over three years.

Malaria is spread by mosquito bites and kills more than 400,000 people every year, mostly children under 5 and pregnant women.

Dr. Philip Rosenthal, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said that the new findings in Uganda, after past results in Rwanda, “prove that resistance really now has a foothold in Africa.”

Rosenthal, who was not involved in the new study, said it was likely there was undetected drug resistance elsewhere on the continent. He said drug-resistant versions of malaria emerged in Cambodia years ago and have now spread across Asia. He predicted a similar path for the disease in Africa, with deadlier consequences given the burden of malaria on the continent.

Dr. Nicholas White, a professor of tropical medicine at Mahidol University in Bangkok, described the new paper’s conclusions about emerging malaria resistance as “unequivocal.”

“We basically rely on one drug for malaria and now it’s been hobbled,” said White, who also wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal.


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Mahesh Manjrekar’s action thriller “Antim: The Final Truth” starring Salman Khan and Aayush Sharma set to be released on the Big Screen

ahesh Manjrekar, the director of the upcoming Salman Khan film “Antim:

The Final Truth” believes the film was made for the big screen and hopes Maharashtra theatres reopen by October.

Director Manjrekar says that a festival release is in the works. He stated that Antim is a movie that should be seen in theatres. If Maharashtra’s cinemas open by October, they hope to distribute Antim on Diwali, a film that is “targeted” at the Maharashtra market. The film, which stars Salman Khan as a no-nonsense honest cop who clashes with Aayush Sharma’s mobster, can only be appreciated on the big screen.

Mulshi Pattern (2018), a single-screen adaptation of the original Marathi classic, was a smash with the single-screen audience, and Manjrekar believes Antim is targeted for

the public as well, with no plans to release it on OTT platforms at this time. By attending to the movies, the middle-class and lower-middle-class viewers make films super hits, and this picture reflects them, therefore he knows it will do well in theatres.

Despite the fact that movie theatres have reopened in a number of states, the Maharashtra government appears to be skeptical of the move. Manjrekar goes on to say that he feels ridiculous when he sees full trains, buses, and marketplaces but no theatres open. There are a lot of people that rely on cinema for a living, not to mention the people who work in the theatres. If this continues, single-screen cinemas will be forced to close.

Pragya Jaiswal also appears in the film, which marks the director’s debut collaboration with Salman Khan. Salman has become the role, and Aayush has done an excellent job, according to Manjrekar, who is as enthused about the film as he was when he directed Vaastav in 1999.

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Bad Bunny tops Billboard Latin Music Awards

with 10 trophiesad Bunny is the champion of the Billboard Latin Music Awards,

taking home artist of the year honors and a whopping 10 trophies.

Among the awards received by the urban music superstar were Hot Latin Song of the Year for “Dákiti” and album of the year for “YHLQMDLG.”

“Thanks always to all the audience for all the support, for supporting the music we make, thanks to all those who worked on this anthem,” said Bad Bunny after receiving the Hot Latin Song award. “Thank you for always being there for us. You are the ones who give us this award.”

The awards were handed out at a ceremony at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida, that was attended by Latin superstars Marc Anthony, Camila Cabello and more.

The Black Eyed Peas won Latin Pop Song of the Year for “Mamacita,” while Karol G, Maluma and The Weeknd each won two awards apiece.

Performers included Rosalía, Juanes, Daddy Yankee, Karol G and Maná.


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Commander Craig: 007 star made

honorary Royal Navy officer

he name’s Craig, Commander Craig.

Britain’s Royal Navy said that James Bond star Daniel Craig has been made an honorary commander in the service — the same rank held by the fictional secret agent.

In Ian Fleming’s spy thrillers, which spawned the film franchise, Bond is a World War II naval veteran working for Britain’s secret service with a “license to kill.”

Craig was made an honorary naval officer ahead of the release of “No Time to Die,” his fifth and likely final appearance as 007.

Since the series began in the 1960s, the Bond thrillers have brought welcome — though unofficial and fanciful — publicity to Britain’s military and intelligence services. Britain’s armed forces allowed bases and personnel to be used in making “No Time to Die.”

First Sea Lord Adm. Tony Radakin, head of the Royal Navy, said Craig “is well known for being Commander Bond for the last 15 years — a Naval officer who keeps Britain safe through missions across the globe.”

“That’s what the real Royal Navy does every day, using technology and skill the same way as Bond himself,” he said.

Honorary naval officers act as ambassadors for the service.

After 18 months of pandemic delays, “No Time to Die” opens Sept. 30 in Britain and Oct. 8 in the United States.Credit : Associated Press (AP)

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Randeep Hooda to play gangster in new Netflix web series

ctor Randeep Hooda is set to star as a gangster in an upcoming crime-

thriller series, which will release on streamer Netflix. Sources say that the web series will be directed by Balwinder Singh Januja, known for writing the screenplays of films like “Saand Ki Aankh” and “Mubarakan”. The show will be the second collaboration between Hooda and Janjua after their upcoming film “Tera Kya Hoga Lovely”.

Hooda made his Hindi film debut with Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding (2001). A turning point in his career came when Hooda starred in the commercially successful Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010), and was subsequently noted for his performance in Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster (2011), which earned him an IIFA Award for Best

Supporting Actor nomination. His starring roles in thrillers Jannat 2 (2012) and Jism 2 (2012) sustained him success at the box-office as he continued to garner praise for his performances in such films as the road drama Highway (2014) and the biopics Rang Rasiya (2014) and Sarbjit (2016).

Coen premieres a stark ‘Macbeth,’ with Denzel and

McDormandAJ oel Coen, in his first solo outing as

a filmmaker, premiered a strikingly stark, black-and-white adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, at the New York Film Festival.

“I didn’t want to abandon the notion of the play,” Coen told reporters after a screening. “It was taking a play and making a movie of it that was interesting to me, not trying to make a play into a movie. I didn’t want to hide the play.” “A lot of the motivating impulse in terms of design was taking things away,” he said. The film, which a24 will release in theaters Dec. 25 and which will debut in January on Apple TV+, was the most anticipated premiere of the New York Film Festival. The festival is

part of newly revitalized Lincoln Center and runs through Oct. 10. The eagerness for “The Tragedy of Macbeth” was owed in part to it being Coen’s first film without his brother, Ethan, who has recently withdrawn from filmmaking. But it was also due to the star power of its lead actors — Washington as Macbeth and McDormand as Lady Macbeth.

For both performers, the film is a capstone.

“This is a fascinating journey for me. I went to school 1,000 feet from here and played ‘Othello’ at 20 — didn’t know what I was doing,” said the 66-year-old Washington, who starred in the play as a student at Fordham’s Lincoln Center Campus. “It’s a long thousand feet.”


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Think - Tanks

India’s push for green energy

ne of the most important aspects of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

speech on India’s Independence Day on August 15, 2021, was a thrust on pushing for green energy. The Indian PM stated that the aim is to make the country a “green hydrogen” hub which will allow India to make a quantum leap forward. Similar to its renewable energy programme, India’s goal will be to use a scale to promote its ambitious green hydrogen strategy, resulting in the country having the world’s largest clean energy programme.

The government plans to implement the Green Hydrogen Consumption Obligation (GHCO) in fertilizer manufacturing and petroleum refining, similar to the Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO). RPOs compel power distribution firms to buy a certain quantity of renewable energy in order to minimize their reliance on fossil fuels. India’s overall hydrogen demand is expected to rise to 11.7 million tonnes (mt) by 2029-30, up from 6.7 million tonnes (mt) at present. This comes at a time when India’s domestic oil and gas production is falling. Domestic crude and oil and gas output fell 5.22 percent and 8.06 percent, respectively, from April 2020 to March 2021, as compared to the same time the previous financial year.

The current cost of green hydrogen produced through electrolysis is expected to be above 350 dollars per kilogram, but by 2029-30, the goal is to reduce it to around

160 dollars per kilogram. The government also intends to expand the production-linked incentive (PLI) programme for electrolyzer manufacturers interested in producing green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is created by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen in an electrolyzer that is powered by renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

Modi went on to explain that Indian Railways has set a goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2030. He went on to remark that the government was focusing on a circular economy to accomplish its environmental goals, mentioning initiatives such as the new automotive scrappage legislation as examples.

India’s campaign for renewable energy has paid off, with the country surpassing the 100 gigawatts (GW) mark in installed capacity. Given India’s entire installed power-producing capacity of 383.73 GW, this is significant. While India has resisted the push to declare a net-zero emission goal and to call out countries for making carbon-neutral declarations, its green energy trajectory has been improving.

India is now ranked fourth in the world in terms of installed renewable energy capacity, fifth in solar, and fourth in wind. In the face of rising electricity consumption, investors’ interest in India’s green economy continues to expand. India is in charge of the world’s largest clean energy initiative. On July 27, solar and wind generation reached an all-time high of 43.1GW, reaffirming India’s push for renewable energy sources. Despite having one-third of the world’s per capita emissions, India has been increasing its green portfolio. India is on track to reach

its Nationally Determined Contributions targets for non-fossil fuel electricity generation and emission reductions. While 100 GW has been deployed, another 50 GW is being installed, and another 27 GW is being tenderized. India’s goal of installing 450 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 has been raised. When large hydro is factored in, the total installed RE capacity rises to 146 GW.

This comes as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that extreme weather occurrences in India and South Asia will have an impact on people’s lives, livelihoods, and businesses.

The Union government has proposed new laws for the purchase and use of green energy, including waste-to-energy plant energy, titled “Draft Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2021.” The proposed guidelines aim to encourage the faster adoption of renewable energy by resolving a number of issues that have arisen in the green energy sector. On August 16, the Union Power Ministry published the rules online and requested opinions from all parties within 30 days. Green energy is defined in the proposed rules as electrical energy generated from renewable sources for customers, including industries with a load of 100 kW or higher.

The Renewable Acquire Obligation is a mechanism established by the Electricity Act of 2003 that requires large users to purchase a specific percentage of their total electricity

consumption from renewable sources. “Any entity (whether obligated or not) may elect to purchase and consume renewable energy as per their requirements,” according to the draft rules, whether through own generation from renewable energy sources, procuring renewable energy through open access from any developer, purchasing renewable energy certificates, or purchasing green hydrogen. The tariff for green energy will be determined by the appropriate Commission and will include the average pooled power purchase cost of renewable energy, cross-subsidy charges (if any), and service charges that cover all prudent costs of the distribution licensee for providing green energy, according to the draft rules.

The draft guidelines from the electricity ministry are a “welcome move for renewables in the country,” according to Subrahmanyam Pulipaka, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Solar Energy Federation of India, which is India’s umbrella organization for all solar energy stakeholders. If properly implemented, they will give much-needed assistance for the expansion of renewables in order to meet the 2030 target, according to Pulipaka.

All of us are naturally ignorant and in need of tending our garden of knowledge

he virtues of the pursuit of knowledge aren’t something that most of us are

unaware of. We as individuals in our own capacity know that knowledge empowers us, makes us feel aware and knowledgeable and respected by others but no matter how vigorously we pursue knowledge or no matter how far we get in this pursuit, it is not enough and will never be enough to make a person whole and complete. But still, it remains in life, the pursuit of knowledge is a noble virtue that all of us must pursue. It truly is like a garden and requires the appropriate attention and time for it to enrich our lives.

We must look at the pursuit of knowledge as a garden that we have started to grow ever since we have begun to exist in this world. From the very first time, we said our very first words, our first step, the first time we learned to ride the bicycle, the first book we read, our first movie, our first job, our desire to travel, to read, to be outdoors, our love for music and art, all these are adding to our garden of knowledge in this endless expanse of life. All this life and its moments become us and who we are, what we know, what we understand, and how we perceive the world around us.

Knowledge is all around us, in moments, experiences, and opportunities and our pursuit of knowledge begin when we are born and only ends when our life ends, we learn and we understand and then we grow. Our process of growth in our lives involves our constant pursuit of knowledge and therefore we should allow ourselves the time and space to take the time away from our daily rituals and task and take the time to pay the patient attention that is needed for us to look into ourselves, our understanding, and our capacity to be a better human being.

We never know where we’ll come across new knowledge. It can strike at inopportune moments, inopportune places, and inopportune ways. A book, a movie, a journey, or even a simple conversation could be the catalyst. We never know when, where, or how we’ll come across a beneficial piece of knowledge that will linger with you or take us down a new path of exploration.

The finest part is when it prompts us to make new connections. Connecting the dots between old and new knowledge helps us understand topics that were previously perplexing. Knowledge-seeking, on the other hand, maybe a cruel master, continuously pressuring us to gain more. Our desire for, and struggle with, having everything figured out causes a lot of our sorrow. It’s not that we shouldn’t want or seek answers; it’s just that we need to find a place inside ourselves

where we can look for solutions while still being content not to find them.

We often wind up connecting our identity to the things we think we know when we give the pursuit of knowledge a higher significance in our lives than it warrants. We do it in such a way that if anyone, even a loved one, disagrees with us, it feels as if they are attacking our honor and self-worth, and we feel driven to defend our stance as if they are attacking us personally. And if we assume the other person does not have the same knowledge as ourselves, we begin to feel superior. When knowledge is unrestrained by love, it fills us with false pride and prevents us from accessing true insight.

It’s natural to seek knowledge outside of oneself, yet what we typically get is unassimilated information and muddled ideas rather than wisdom. What we really need to know is already inside us. We can connect with it if we can simply quiet our busy minds.

Other people’s insight can be useful, but only if it leads us back to ourselves. It is not true understanding to just accept the beliefs and viewpoints of others as our own. Knowing something is not the same as knowing about it. And to properly understand something, we must first understand it within yourself.

We should always be reminded that the

pursuit of knowledge is a constant, long, and never-ending journey and we should humbly submit to the knowledge that we can never reach the summit of the pursuit of knowledge.

It is not something that can be conquered by our sheer strength and mental capacity but it takes lot of patience, humility, and understanding to understand the true nature of what it takes to be knowledgeable and it certainly does not make us superior but instead should help us understand that what really matters is that every one of us is equal and the same, no matter where we come from, no matter how we look or how strange we seem, all of us are naturally ignorant and in need of tending our garden of knowledge.

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