Archives for August 2021

UNITED NATIONS: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that India has a historical relationship with the Afghan people and that will continue to guide its thoughts and outlook as he spoke on the volatile situation in the war-torn country at the UN Security Council.

“We have a historical relationship with the Afghan people and I think that relationship will continue to guide our thoughts and outlook,” he said.

On another question, he said: “we’re working with international partners in this regard, especially the US, as it controls the airport”.

He emphasised that repatriation of Indian nationals from Afghanistan remained its top priority.

He said this while addressing reporters at the UN Security Council stake-out after chairing the Security Council briefing on the ‘Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts’, held under India’s current Presidency of the Council.

In response to a question, he said on the issue of “where we go on from now” with the Taliban in control in Afghanistan, he said: “the immediate issue that we are looking at is really the repatriation of our nationals.”

“In India’s case, India’s nationals, other countries have their concerns”.

In response to a question by PTI on the situation in Afghanistan and that Pakistan-based terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed can take advantage of the situation to increase cross-border terrorism, he said India has unfortunately had a long experience with cross-border terrorism.

“I think I made it very clear that we have had unfortunately a long experience with cross border terrorism. We are not the only country which has had it, there are other countries. I mentioned Afghanistan,” Jaishankar said.

“I specifically, in fact, mentioned some of the groups that you did – Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. I think this is a continuing issue and we made the point very strongly that it’s important therefore that there are no double standards, that there are no distinctions in the fight against terrorism,” he added.

India on Tuesday rushed back home its ambassador Rudrendra Tandon and staff from the embassy in Kabul in a military transport aircraft following escalating tension, fear and uncertainty gripping the Afghan capital after the Taliban insurgents seized the Afghan capital on Sunday.

The C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the Indian Air Force carrying around 150 people, including diplomats, officials, security personnel and some stranded Indians, landed at the Hindon airbase near the national capital at around 5 PM after a brief halt at Jamnagar in Gujarat, in the wake of escalating tension, fear and uncertainty gripping the Afghan capital after its take over by the Taliban two days back.

It was the second evacuation flight as another C-17 aircraft brought back around 40 people from the Hamid Karzai International (HKI) Airport in Kabul on Monday as part of India’s emergency evacuation mission that was carried out following coordination with relevant authorities including US officials handling security at the airport in the Afghan capital.

He also said that events unfolding in Afghanistan have naturally enhanced global concerns about their implications for both regional and international security as the Taliban seized power in the war-torn country, forcing President Ashraf Ghani to flee the country.

Jaishankar, chairing a high-level United Nations Security Council briefing on “Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts’ held under India’s current presidency of the UNSC, voiced concern over the situation in Afghanistan where India has made investments in the past two decades.”

Jaishankar said that in India’s own immediate neighbourhood, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Khorasan (ISIL-K) has become more energetic and is constantly seeking to expand its footprint.

“Events unfolding in Afghanistan have naturally enhanced global concerns about their implications for both regional and international security,” he said, adding that the heightened activities of the proscribed Haqqani Network justify this growing anxiety.

Jaishankar said whether it is in Afghanistan or against India, groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) continue to operate with both impunity and encouragement.

“It is, therefore, vital that this Council does not take a selective, tactical or complacent view of the problems we face. We must never countenance sanctuaries for terrorists or overlook their raising of resources,” he said.

Jaishankar thanked Dr Davood Moradian, Director General of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, for joining the briefing remotely and for sharing his valuable insights on the issue.

India on Tuesday rushed back home its ambassador Rudrendra Tandon and staff from the embassy in Kabul in a military transport aircraft following escalating tension, fear and uncertainty gripping the Afghan capital after the Taliban insurgents seized the Afghan capital on Sunday.

The ISIL-K is a blacklisted faction of the Islamic State terror group.

The UN Security Council’s 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee in 2019 blacklisted ISIL-K, which is also known as ISIL’s South Asia Branch, ISIL Khorasan, Islamic State’s Khorasan Province and South Asian Chapter of ISIL.

BEIJING: China’s national legislature on Friday formally endorsed the three-child policy mooted by the ruling Communist Party, in a major policy shift aimed to prevent a steep decline in birth rates in the world’s most populous country.

In an apparent attempt to address the reluctance of the Chinese couples to have more children due to mounting costs, the amended law has also passed more social and economic support measures to address the concerns.

The new law stipulates that the country will take supportive measures, including those in finances, taxes, insurance, education, housing and employment, to reduce families’ burdens as well as the cost of raising and educating children, state-run China Daily reported.

The NPC has revised the law to implement the central leadership’s decision to cope with new circumstances in social and economic development and promote balanced long-term population growth, the report said.

In May this year, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) approved a relaxation of its strict two-child policy to allow all couples to have up to three children.

China permitted all couples to have two children in 2016, scrapping the draconian decades-old one-child policy which policymakers blame for the demographic crisis in the country.

Chinese officials claim the one-child policy implemented for over three decades has prevented over 400 million births.

The decision to permit the third child came after this month’s once-in-a-decade census showed that China’s population grew at the slowest pace to 1.412 billion amid official projections that the decline may begin as early as next year.

The new census figures revealed that the demographic crisis China faced was expected to deepen as the population of people above 60 years grew to 264 million, up by 18.7 per cent last year.

As the calls for the government to do away with the family planning restrictions grew louder due to the concerns that the declining population in the country could result in serious labour shortages and negatively impact the world’s second-largest economy, the CPC decided to permit a third child while declining to completely scrap the family planning policy.

“Data shows the ageing of the Chinese population has further deepened, and we will continue to face the pressure to achieve a long-term balanced population development,” Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said while releasing the census figures on May 11.

The two-child policy failed to enthuse couples to have a second child as fewer opted for the second child, citing heavy expenditure in raising the children.

The poor response made Liang Jianzhang, professor at Peking University’s School of Economics, to suggest the government offer parents one million yuan (USD 156,000) for each newborn child to shore up the country’s declining birth rate.

Dan Wang, the chief economist at Hang Seng Bank (China), said the three-child policy would have a positive impact on China‘s birth rate, but not as much as the authorities hoped for.

“The high costs of housing and education, as well as a lack of job protection for women, are strong economic constraints on having children,” she said, adding that the cost of having a third child would be too high for most middle-class families.

The declining trend prompted Chinese demographers to predict that India’s population may overtake China’s earlier than the UN projection of 2027 to take the top spot as the most populous country in the world.

Projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country around 2027, India is expected to add nearly 273 million people between now and 2050 and will remain the most populated country through the end of the current century, a UN report said in 2019.

The UN report stated that in 2019, India had an estimated population of 1.37 billion and China 1.43 billion and by 2027 India’s population is projected to surpass China’s.

Lu Jiehua, professor of sociology at Peking University, said that China’s population may peak by 2027 before it starts to decline.

Some demographers believe the peak may come as soon as 2022.

China is also facing the risk of falling into the trap of low fertility, as it recorded 12 million births in 2020, marking a drop for the fourth consecutive year.

China’s total fertility rate of women of childbearing age was 1.3, a relatively low level.

A report this year by China’s central bank – the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) – said demographics of China is set to change as its population growth enters negative growth after 2025, which will result in a shortage of consumer demand.

“When the total population enters negative growth [after 2025], there will be a shortage of demand.

We need to pay attention to the impact of demographics on future consumption,” said Cai Fang, a member of the monetary policy committee of the PBOC.

The PBOC study said China should immediately liberalise its birth policies or face a scenario in which it has a lower share of workers and a higher burden of elderly care than the US by 2050.

It said the country should not interfere with people’s ability to have children or it will be too late to reverse the economic impact of a declining population.

China is also eyeing a progressive, flexible and differentiated path to raising the retirement age.

NEW DELHI: A virtual meeting of top opposition leaders to finalise a ‘common Strategy against Modi government’ and to raise several issues related to the public, including price rise, Pegasus snooping, COVID-19 mismanagement, unemployment and economic slowdown is scheduled for Friday. The meeting would be chaired by Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi.

“We will discuss and finalise the strategy to raise the problems faced by the general public and the issues that the government did not allow to discuss in the monsoon session of the Parliament that concluded recently,” Yechury said.

“We have to take up the issues related to the common man. The questions are about COVID-19 mismanagement, shortage of vaccine, economic slowdown, unemployment, hunger, price hike of essential commodities, the farmers issue, government privatisation policy and Pegasus snooping row. All these questions were to be discussed in the Parliament and the government did not allow the discussion so, we will go to the public regarding all these issues,” Yechury elaborated.

The CPI(M) General Secretary further told ANI that in the opposition meeting, scheduled for today, the leaders will discuss and finalise a common strategy to go in public with and to expose the Modi government’s “real face”.

Today, opposition leaders will be meeting virtually under the leadership of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and top leaders, including three Chief Ministers, including Mamata Banerjee CM of West Bengal, Uddhav Thackeray CM of Maharashtra, and M K Stalin CM of Tamil Nadu. NCP President Sharad Pawar, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI General Secretary D Raja, among others are expected to join the meeting.

The meeting is a part of the Congress party’s efforts to unite various opposition parties on key issues to set the platform to defeat BJP in the upcoming assembly elections in 5 states.

In the recently concluded monsoon session of the Parliament, opposition parties displayed unity, leading to disruption of both Houses. The opposition leaders had given several Suspension of Business notices, Adjournment Motion Notice and had sought a discussion on the Pegasus snooping row, along with the farm laws and other issues.

Today’s meeting is being held in the backdrop of the government demanding strict action against those who indulged in unruly behaviour in the Upper House during the passing of the Insurance Amendment Bill. 

AGRA: After remaining closed for over a year for night viewing, the Taj Mahal will open from August 21 for visitors who want to explore the marble monument under moonlight, officials said on Friday.

Night viewing of the monument had closed on March 17, 2020 during the first lockdown due to COVID-19.

ASI Superintending Archaeologist (Agra Circle) Vasant Kumar Swarnkar told PTI that night viewing will be allowed on August 21, 23, and 24 as the monument is closed every week on Friday and the lockdown is in effect on Sunday.

He said there are three time slots for visitors.

From 8:30-9 pm, 9-9:30 pm and from 9:30-10 pm.

“In every slot, 50 tourists would be allowed as per guidelines of the Supreme Court,” he added.

“The tickets can be booked a day in advance from ASI office’s counter on 22 Mall Road in Agra,” Kumar said.

Rajeev Saxena, vice-president of the Tourism Guild of Agra, said it was a good step, but it would not attract weekend travellers until the restriction of lockdown on Sunday and curfew after 10 pm was not lifted.

“Tourists want to enjoy nightlife of the city, they don’t want to be packed in their hotels after 10 pm,” he said.

A government approved tour guide, Monika Sharma, appreciated the move and said it was a ray of hope for the revival of Agra’s tourism sector.

HYDERABAD: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi said Taliban takeover of Afghanistan would benefit Pakistan the most as the country’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) controls the terrorist outfit.

Speaking at an event here on Thursday, Owaisi said: “Pakistan has gained the most from the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Experts are saying that Al Qaeda and Daesh have reached some areas in Afghanistan.”

“Jaish-e-Muhammad, which indulges in the acts of terrorism including the attack on Parliament, they are now in Afghanistan’s Helmand. One must remember that ISI controls the Taliban. ISI is an enemy of India, and uses Taliban as a puppet,” he added.

Owaisi also stated that China would also benefit from the Taliban takeover.

Earlier on Monday, the AIMIM chief had said India should have opened dialogue with the Taliban before it had full control of Afghanistan.

“Now that Afghanistan is in complete control of Taliban, we have no communication, no dialogue with them. All international and security experts have said talks should have been done. But, for last seven years Central government has failed to read what is happening,” he said. 

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday agrees to set up a 10-member ‘Strategic Policy Group’ for better coordination between the ruling party and the state government. 

In a move that struck a reconciliatory chord ahead of the crucial assembly elections, the two also ruled that all cabinet ministers must be be available at Punjab Congress Bhawan on rotation every day to address the public grievances.

One minister each will be available at the Congress Bhawan from Monday for three hours (11 am to  2 pm). In case, a minister is unable to make it, he or she will have to arrange a substitute. The arrangement will be in place five days in a week, from Monday to Friday, said Amarinder, adding that this will help in better coordination between his government and party functionaries in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections. 

Sidhu along with working president Kuljit Singh Nagra and newly appointed General Secretary (Organization) Pargat Singh called on Amarinder to discuss related issues and steps to strengthen party-government coordination. It was his second visit after becoming the party president.

In the Friday meeting, it was also decided to expeite the implementation of various government programmes and reform initiatives.

Headed by the chief minister, the Group will have Local Government Minister Brahm Mohindra, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Social Security Minister Aruna Chaudhary as members, along with Sidhu, the four party working presidents; Kuljit Singh Nagra, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Sangat Singh Gilzian and Pawan Goel, besides Pargat Singh.

The group will hold weekly meetings, in consultation with other ministers, experts as may be required. It will discuss and review the progress of the various state government initiatives already under implementation, and will also suggest measures to expedite the same.

AICC general secretary and in-charge of Punjab Affairs Harish Rawat is also expected to reach here next week.