Month: April 2022

The US on Wednesday (local time) threatened China with sanctions if it supports Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman at a hearing on “Restoring American Leadership in the Indo-Pacific”, told the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee that sanctions imposed on Russia over its war in Ukraine should give China a “good understanding” of the consequences it could face if it provides material support to Moscow and that Beijing eyeing Taiwan should “take away the right lessons” from the sanctions imposed on Russia.

Introducing the proceedings, Congressman Gregory Meeks, the Chairman lambasted China for using military aggression in the Indo-Pacific region and for failing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He said, “Russia’s pre-meditated and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine demonstrates its disdain for the rules-based international order, and China has woefully abdicated its self-proclaimed role as a responsible stakeholder by failing to condemn Russia’s illegal war and in the Indo-pacific, China routinely coarse our friends and allies, uses military aggression to gain upper hand in broader maritime and territorial disputes. It steals technology and bends the rules to protect its domestic industries. It commits human rights abuses on a grand scale through genocide in Xinjiang, destruction of Hong Kong’s autonomy or its surveillance and repression of citizens throughout the mainland.”

He urged US partners and allies to counter Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) aggression and preserve a free, open Indo-Pacific.

Deputy Secretary of State Sherman further said that the US is deeply concerned about the growing strategic alignment between Russia and PRC as represented in their February 4 statement.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin before the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony issued a joint statement that voiced Russia’s support for China’s stance that democratically-governed Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and opposition to any form of independence for the island.

“We have expressed those concerns directly to PRC as have our allies and partners. A strong and coordinated response from the international community, including nations in the Indo-Pacific to Russia’s flagrant violation of international law and principles like sovereignty and territorial integrity, sends a strong signal that such actions will not go ignored,” said Sherman.

Answering Meeks’s question regarding the Biden administration’s assessment on whether China actively supported Russia and its invasion of Ukraine and US earlier warned President Xi of the consequences if China is found to be materially supporting Russia’s war effort, Sherman said that the sanctions imposed on Russia imply that what sort of action will come for Xi if help extended to Russia.

“President Biden has been very direct with President Xi. One only has to look at the range of sanctions to be announced today against Putin, against the Russian economy, against individuals who are enablers, against elites, oligarchs, export controls, designations, sanctions, that are not only from the US. But, in unprecedented fashion coordination with our allies and partners, not just in Europe but throughout the world gives President Xi, I think a pretty good understanding of what might come his way should he in fact support Putin in any material fashion. This is a very serious matter,” said Sherman.

She also said that the US was quite concerned over the joint manifesto of Russia and China that was signed before the Beijing Olympics.

“It increased the concern about what this partnership was about. PRC had said publicly that this is a partnership and not an alliance as part of Xi Jinping trying to distance himself some way from what President Putin had done with his premediated, unjust and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” said Sherman.

The hearing chaired by Meeks was attended by the full committee parity in person and virtually. (ANI)

Reacting to the video statement released by Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri on the hijab row, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said Al-Qaeda will never understand the importance of wearing uniforms in educational institutions.

Supporting the stand of the Indian judiciary on banning wearing hijabs in schools and colleges, Sarma said that they will become a platform for the display of religious clothes.

“Karnataka High Court gave a clear verdict that it’s not expected of a student to wear something else except hijab,” he told media persons when asked about the Al-Qaeda video.

“If you wear hijab, I will wear something else (it will become an idealogy), then school and college will become a platform for the display of religious clothes and religious behaviour. So, how can then school and college continue (with permitting hijab)? That is why the term uniform came so that there’s no difference between Hindus and Muslims. There is no difference between poor and rich,” the Chief Minister added.

Sarma also said that the Indian Muslims are with the judiciary.

“Al-Qaeda will never understand but I am sure that Indian Muslims will understand that we have to wear uniforms. Once you finish your school and college, you come back to your home and whatever you want to wear, you wear. I am sure that Indian Muslims are with the judiciary,” he said.

Zawahiri in a video praised student Muskaan Khan for standing in defence of the headscarf. (ANI)

The Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill that seeks to make the investigation of crime more expeditious and increase the conviction rate.

The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, bill was passed by Rajya Sabha on Wednesday after a reply by Home Minister Amit Shah. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on April 4.

Amit Shah said the purpose of the bill is to decrease the crime rate, increase the rate of conviction of criminals and boost the security of the country.

The Minister said the bill will not compromise the privacy of any individual and that the rules of the Act will be notified after proper scrutiny.

“Our law is ‘bachha’ (nothing) in terms of strictness as compared to other nations. There are more stringent laws in countries like South Africa, UK, Australia, Canada and the US, which is why their conviction rate is better,” he said.

Shah said the Bill is about safeguarding the “human rights of the victims of crimes, and not just criminals.”

“We do not have the intention of misusing the provisions of the Bill. It is meant to keep our police ahead of criminals. Next-generation crimes cannot be tackled with old techniques; we have to try to take the criminal justice system to the next era,” he said.

He sought to allay apprehensions voiced by the opposition about the possible misuse of the new legislation.

“Best technology will be used for safeguarding data and there will be the training of manpower,” Shah said.

The bill provides for legal sanction for taking appropriate body measurements (finger impressions, palm-print and foot-print impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, and biological samples) of persons who are required to give such measurements to “make the investigation of crime more efficient and expeditious”.

It also seeks to empower the National Crime Records Bureau to collect, store and preserve the record of measurements and for sharing, dissemination, destruction and disposal of records. It also empowers a magistrate to direct any person to give measurements and empowers police or prison officers to take measurements of any person who resists or refuses to give measurements.

A total of 17 members participated in the debate on the Bill. Some opposition members termed the bill “unconstitutional” and that it should be sent to the select committee. (ANI)

The majority of Pakistani citizens do not believe that the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan is a foreign conspiracy according to a survey.

A Gallup Pakistan survey has found that 64 per cent of Pakistanis reject the government’s narrative of a US conspiracy behind the opposition’s no-trust move and feel that the government’s failure to redress inflation is the main trigger for it, News International reported. The Survey solicited the opinion of 800 households from April 3-4, 2022.

Among the people surveyed, 74 per cent from Sindh, 62 per cent from Punjab and 59 per cent from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa felt that the stagflation and the government’s failure to address it was the Opposition’s motivation for launching the no-trust motion.

Imran Khan has been referring to the Opposition’s move to bring a no-confidence motion against his government, as a ‘foreign conspiracy’, particularly naming the US in his address on the eve of the vote on the no-confidence motion. Khan claims that a ‘threat letter’ was sent by the US to the Pakistan government, calling for his ouster.

Another survey found that 54 per cent of the people were disappointed with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s performance over the last three and a half years.

Notably, the pollster found strong reactions over its question of the US being a friend or an enemy to Pakistan with a predominant 72 per cent terming the US as the country’s enemy, while only 28 per cent described the transatlantic country as a friend.

On Imran Khan’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly and call for fresh polls, 68 per cent of respondents approved of Khan’s decision, while 32 per cent disapproved of it. (ANI)

The evidence doesn’t suggest the presence of COVID ‘XE’ mutant in India, government sources said on Wednesday and denied media reports that claimed the first case of the variant had been detected in the country.

The government sources said that FastQ files of the sample, being said to be ‘XE’ variant, was analysed by INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) which inferred that the genomic constitution of this variant doesn’t correlate with the genomic picture of ‘XE’.

“Present evidence does not suggest that it is ‘XE’ variant of COVID-19,” a source said.

The Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation had earlier in the day said that “one patient is affected by ‘Kappa’ variant and another by ‘XE’ variant” based on regular testing of samples.

The World Health Organisation had recently said that a new COVID mutant ‘XE’ has been found in the UK and noted that it may be more transmissible than the BA.2 sublineage of COVID-19. However, the virologists in India have said that it is not clear that the variant is strong enough to cause another COVID wave in the country even as they advised to exercise caution and follow COVID-appropriate behaviour.

XE is recombinant of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 sublineages of COVID-19.

“The XE recombinant (BA.1-BA.2), was first detected in the United Kingdom on January 19 and >600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since,” the WHO had said. (ANI)

Former Sri Lanka cricketer and Minister Arjuna Ranatunga on Wednesday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for helping Sri Lanka amid its ongoing economic crisis.

Sri Lanka is battling a severe economic crisis with food and fuel scarcity affecting a large number of the people in the island nation. The economy has been in a free-fall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“PM Modi was very generous to give the grant to start Jaffna International Airport. India has been an elder brother to us. I am glad that they are monitoring the situation rather than giving money to Sri Lanka. They are looking at our needs like petrol and medicines and I am sure that these are things we will be lacking in a couple of months. India has been helping us in a big way,” Arjuna Ranatunga told the media.

“My major worry is that I don’t want a blood bath. I am very scared and don’t want people to start another war, which we suffered for years. Some of the politicians in the government are trying to show that the disease was created by Tamils and Muslims and by doing this they are trying to divide the country,” he added.

Regarding the ongoing protests in the country, Ranatunga justified the actions of the general public and said that the government did not handle the COVID-19 pandemic properly.

“The general public came out to ask for very basic things such as rice, petrol, food, etc. I don’t agree with the violence that is happening, it should not happen. But the country has gone into a major mess in the last two years. The government can give the excuse that it is COVID but other countries also went through that. These people did not handle things properly and were overconfident that they can get away with anything they do. They even got rid of their court cases and that’s the reason why people came on the road,” said the former cricketer.

Sri Lanka is also facing a foreign exchange shortage, which has, incidentally, affected its capacity to import food and fuel, leading to the power cuts in the country. The shortage of essential goods forced Sri Lanka to seek assistance from friendly countries.

On Sunday, 26 Sri Lankan Cabinet Ministers resigned en masse from their positions amid rising public anger against the government over the economic crisis. All 26 of them signed a general letter, Daily Mirror reported. (ANI)

‘Dil Hai Gray’, featuring Vineet Kumar Singh, Akshay Oberoi, and Urvashi Rautela in pivotal roles, is all set to hit the theatres in July 2022.

The film’s director Susi Ganeshan shared the announcement on his Instagram handle. The upcoming crime-based film is produced by M Ramesh Reddy.

The movie traces the journey of a police inspector (Vineet), investigating a guy (Akshay) who is out trapping innocent women on social media.

The movie draws its title from how every human has two sides to themselves when exposed to certain situations, and while some stand the test of time, some don’t. Through its plot, the film’s narrative touches upon the fact that not everything is black and white, and how when the time comes, even the best of people might have a change of heart.

Talking about the film, producer Ramesh Reddy of Suraj Productions said, ”The association has been wonderful and much like all other work I associate with, the story is the true hero of ‘Dil Hai Gray’ too. Films that have a strong and impactful subject line are the ones that best resonate with me, and thanks to Susi and team, this is one such movie.”

Director Susi talked about the cyber crime aspect of the film.

He said, ”At a time where there’s so much happening online, the movie will most definitely be a tool to not just narrate the story, but also spread awareness on cyber crime that is a major threat to humanity and reflects a flaw in our system as a society.”

The movie is slated for a theatrical release in July 2022. (ANI)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday met a delegation of Congress leaders from Nagaland to discuss strengthening the party and organisation in the state.

All India Congress Committee Nagaland Incharge Ajoy Kumar and State Congress chief K Therie were present in the meeting.

“Today, met Rahul Gandhi along with a delegation of INC Nagaland leaders and had a positive discussion on strengthening the party and organisation in the state,” twitted Ajoy Kumar.

The meeting of Congress leaders comes days after the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from certain parts of the state.

It has been removed from 15 police stations in seven districts in Nagaland with effect from Friday (April 1).

The Central Government reduced disturbed areas under Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the states of Nagaland, Assam, and Manipur.

The AFSPA empowers security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without any prior warrant. In 2005, the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee had recommended the repeal of AFSPA and suggested an amendment to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967 by inserting a new Chapter with respect to the North-Eastern states.

The fresh demand to review AFSPA had stirred last year after 14 civilians were killed in a botched-up operation by the Indian Army on December 4 in the Mon district of Nagaland.

AFSPA is one of the key political issues in the North-East state which is scheduled to go to the polls early next year. (ANI)

Pakistan’s public debt has soared by over 18 trillion Pakistani Rupees (PKR) in the last three and a half years of the outgoing Imran Khan’s government, which is more than the liabilities accumulated by any government in the country’s history, a central bank statement said.

The federal government debt jumped to PKR 42.8 trillion by February 2022, an addition of PKR 18.1 trillion in three and a half years, according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) monthly debt bulletin released on Tuesday.

The previous governments of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had added nearly PKR 18 trillion to the public debt in 10 years, a mark that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government crossed in just three and a half years, Express Tribune reported.

From September 1, 2018, to the end of February 2022, the PTI government on average added PKR 14.2 billion per day to the public debt, which was more than double the PML-N period’s average increase of PKR 5.6 billion a day.

The total public debt increased by a whopping 73 per cent from September 2018 to February 2022, an unsustainable 20.3% average increase each year, the report further said.

The finance ministry has also been left at the mercy of commercial banks that are taking loans from the central bank at around 9.8 per cent but are giving funds to the government at 12.7 per cent for up to one year.

The accumulation of debt is a direct result of the gap between expenditures and revenues, which is widening due to debt servicing obligations and defence needs, and the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) failure to enhance revenue collection to a sustainable level, the report said.

Notably, the external debt of the federal government increased at an alarming pace of 90 per cent to PKR 15.1 trillion in the last three and a half years.

There was a net increase of PKR 7.1 trillion in the external debt, largely due to currency depreciation and building foreign currency reserves through borrowing, the report said.

The ongoing constitutional crisis in Pakistan amid the dissolution of the National Assembly by Imran Khan is expected to even further affect the fragile economy of the country, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) effectively suspending its programme in the country till a new government is formed. (ANI)