Author: Arif ArifArman

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Entrepreneur Tage Rita from Arunachal Pradesh recently won a deal worth Rs 75 lakh on Shark Tank India (Season 2) for her winery NaaraAaba. With a long history of helping businesses succeed, Shark Tank India is well known for its assistance to business owners. With its fund, the program is stepping up its commitment to entrepreneurs by offering them immediate financial assistance. Entrepreneur Tage Rita had the opportunity to present her line of Kiwi wines under the brand name Naara-Aaba this year during season 2 of Shark Tank India. The Naara-Aaba winery is one of the first businesses…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is considering recalling Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ameer Khurram Rathore, The News International reported. The development comes a year after he was posted there by former Pakistan PM Imran Khan who did that through the premature removal of Lt-Gen (R) Bilal Akbar. The process of recalling Pakistan’s envoy has started but has not been finalised yet, The News International reported citing a foreign office source. Earlier, Rathore was posted as Pakistan’s High Commission in Canada. Hardly a month after his posting in Canada, he was asked to get ready for his posting…

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said her government considers power as a scope to serve the people, reiterating her steadfast commitment to build developed, prosperous and Smart Bangladesh by 2041. “We see the power as a scope to serve the people. It has been possible to make development as the democratic process continues by now since Awami League assumed office after winning 2008 general elections confronting many hurdles,” she said. The premier was handing over “Swadhinata Purashkar-2023” (Independence Award-2023), the highest national civil award, to nine distinguished persons and one organisation in recognition of outstanding contribution to their…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China has been playing a long game to establish its hegemony in the South Asia region. Inflicted by the ‘Middle Kingdom’ complex, it views the world as an arrangement of concentric circles of power with itself being at the centre. It is increasingly becoming a revisionist power which wants to topple the existing global order, negate the international rules-based order, assert its Great Power status on other countries, and is trying to displace the USA as the world leader. To give effect to its vicious ambitions, the major instrument it is using is ensnaring weaker countries in a…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Seems like the competition is only getting tougher as Google on Wednesday announced that it is finally opening up access to its ChatGPT competitor ‘Bard’. This release will be an early experiment for users to collaborate with generative AI. Google is granting early access to ‘Bard’, which has been first rolled out in the US and UK. Google will be expanding the access to ‘Bard’ over time to more countries and languages. “You can use ‘Bard’ to boost your productivity, accelerate your ideas and fuel your curiosity. You might ask ‘Bard’ to give you tips to reach your…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Almost 30 million Pakistanis have no access to clean water, 80 per cent of people living in 24 major cities do not have access to clean water, and 16 million slum dwellers of Karachi do not have access to running water, Asian Lite reported. Pakistan has experienced several issues since its independence, but the most critical problem in the country is that of water shortage. According to one estimate by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan will be fully dry and barren by 2025 if the necessary steps are not taken to preserve water. For Pakistan, several factors…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: A Pashtun political activist during the 52nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, exposed Pakistan for its close ties with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In his intervention, Fazal-ur-Rehman Afridi said, “We would like to turn the council’s attention towards a deteriorating security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Pakistan having grave implications for the basic fundamental rights and lives of the Pashtun ethnic minority.” “We express our concerns about the unannounced deal between the state of Pakistan and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to hand over Ex-FATA to TTP to be ruled under Sharia Laws,” he said. He informed…

INTERNATIOANL DESK: Highlighting the country’s stride in technology and innovation Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday asserted that India should lead the world in 6G technology. Vaishnaw attended the Communication Ministers’ Conclave held in New Delhi, with the theme of ‘Enabling Innovation in Telecommunications to Ensure Digital Transformation of the Society’. Sometime back our Prime Minister gave us a target that in 5G we must stand shoulder to shoulder with the world and in 6G we must take the lead. On the basis of the target, all of us…the country has worked, the academia, and the entrepreneurs have worked and…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Saudi Arabia is no longer willing to bail out Islamabad and refused to provide ‘easy money’ to Pakistan, demanding economic reforms, reported Middle East Eye. Pakistan is in dire need of sustained US dollar inflows to avoid defaulting on nearly USD 80 billion of international loan repayments over the next three and a half years. The country is currently sitting on just USD 3 billion in foreign exchange reserves. Saudi Arabia’s decision to refuse to provide any further bailouts or interest-free loans to Pakistan has left the government in Islamabad in shock and has prompted the finance minister…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Taiwan on Tuesday tracked 10 Chinese military aircraft and 2 naval ships around the country, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), reported Taiwan News. The military aircraft and naval vessels were tracked around Taiwan between 6 am on Monday (March 20) and 6 am on Tuesday. Taiwan sent aircraft, and naval ships, and used land-based missiles to monitor PLA aircraft and vessels, reported Taiwan News. Of the 10 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, three were tracked in Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND. One Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane and one Harbin…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Political activists from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir lambasted Pakistan for curbing the freedom of expression and giving free hand to terror outfits in the region during an event at the 52nd Session of Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday. The event titled “Freedom of Expression” was organised by the United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP) to focus on the importance of protecting the right to freedom of expression, especially in today’s world where censorship and suppression of speech are becoming increasingly common. Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, Chairman of UKPNP told ANI, “When any state curtails or compromises the freedom…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: In celebration of World Forest Day, more than 80 volunteers on Tuesday came together to clean the Yagamso river at Indira Gandhi Park here, scooping up nearly four trucks of garbage. The cleaning drive was initiated by NGOs – Abralow Memorial Multipurpose Society and Youth Mission for Clean River – in association with Arunachal Dogs & Cats Rescue and Arunachal Yuva Shakti, and supported by the Itanagar Smart City Development Corporation Limited. The waste collected during the drive included diapers and sanitary disposables, meat, household mixed waste, construction waste, thermocol, broken crockery, dead animals, and electronic items. Mission…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India needs to develop “both offensive and defensive space capabilities to safeguard our assets”, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said on Tuesday, in the backdrop of China furiously building and deploying anti-satellite weapons from direct ascent missiles and co-orbital killers to directed-energy laser weapons and electronic jammers. “The race to weaponize space has already started and the day is not far when our next war would spread across all domains of land, sea, air, cyber and space. We need to capitalize on our initial successes in space and prepare ourselves for the future,” the IAF chief said.…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the US has in some cases, significant concerns about China’s behaviour, particularly its coercive and aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea. “In some cases, we have significant concerns about China’s behaviour, particularly their coercive and aggressive behaviour for instance in the South China Sea in pursuing false maritime claims, concerns about intellectual theft and some trade practices,” Kirby said in response to a question by Fox News reporter Peter Doocy on US’ relationship with China. Doocy had asked if President Biden thinks China is abiding by the…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The government is expected to spend ₹4.46 lakh crore more on infrastructure projects than the original estimates, a report released by the infrastructure and project monitoring division of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Tuesday said. The original cost of 1,423 projects being monitored by the ministry was estimated at ₹ 20.38 lakh crore, but anticipated cost has risen to ₹24.85 lakh crore, the report said. Until February, the government had already incurred ₹13.63 lakh crore on these projects, which is more than half of the anticipated cost. The ministry monitors projects with a value…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: US Secretary of Air Force Frank Kendall on Tuesday said America is interested in peace and stability in the Indo-pacific region and added that India is the major defence partner. In an interview with ANI, Kendall, weighing in on the Chinese activities in the Indo-Pacific, said, “We’re looking at ways to cooperate because of our shared values and our shared interests. We’re all interested in peace and stability in the region and a clear and open and free Indo-pacific. Those are things that we shared and we shared with a number of other nations. So that’s our goal.”…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Ongoing China’s mega development projects in the South Asia region are impacting the climate and environment, experts raised concerns. In the 52nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday, organised by the Organisation for Poverty Alleviation and Development and European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS), experts highlighted the construction of highways, buildings and dams in Gilgit Baltistan by China under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project. Talking about the impact, Myra MacDonald, a former journalist and an author said, “My focus is, yeah, ultimately China is spending billions of dollars, you…

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam today said the US’s 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in Bangladesh contains some “fundamental shortcomings and mistakes” and Dhaka will raise those to Washington. “We will raise these shortcomings with the US side so that such things do not exist in the next year’s report,” he told reporters at the foreign ministry here. The state minister said there will be high-level bilateral meetings at various levels between Bangladesh and US where Dhaka will discuss the issue. Alam said the report use open sources like “controversial” rights group Odhikar…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The recent norms of China’s Ministry of Natural Resources for displaying content in open maps has once again come in the news. It is a new irritant causing discontent for the neighbouring countries. Many see this as a practice that would further complicate China’s already existing border disputes. Chinese new norms require displaying places in bordering areas in maps published in foreign language with explanatory designations in brackets with phonetic transcription of the same in Chinese language. China has unresolved border disputes with most of the neighbouring countries including Central Asia, Russia and Japan. This new norm of…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China’s “state-sponsored” hackers, who were conducting contract work in service of government espionage, and data theft have become the main concern for Norway and Netherlands, according to an article on Portal Plus authored by Valerio Fabbri. The hackers employ a sophisticated mix of social engineering techniques, including the use of dating sites, employment sites and massaging platforms to gain victims’ trust. Concerned over China’s government espionage, the Norwegian Intelligence Service (PST) and the National Security Agency (NSM) in this year’s threat assessments have highlighted that China was targeting individuals through social media. Security intelligence has also expressed concerns…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China’s “state-sponsored” hackers, who were conducting contract work in service of government espionage, and data theft have become the main concern for Norway and Netherlands, according to an article on Portal Plus authored by Valerio Fabbri. The hackers employ a sophisticated mix of social engineering techniques, including the use of dating sites, employment sites and massaging platforms to gain victims’ trust. Concerned over China’s government espionage, the Norwegian Intelligence Service (PST) and the National Security Agency (NSM) in this year’s threat assessments have highlighted that China was targeting individuals through social media. Security intelligence has also expressed concerns…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: INS Sujata, a patrol vessel of the Indian Navy visited Port Maputo in Mozambique during its overseas deployment from March 19 to March 21. The ship was received by Captain Nitin Kapoor, DA Pretoria, Commandant NRN Siva Babu, Coast Guard Afloat Support Team and Captain Florentino Jose’ Narciso from Mozambican Navy amidst the fanfare of Mozambican Navy Band and traditional dance performances at the jetty, the Ministry of Defense said in an official press release on Tuesday. As the ship visited Mozambique, the Commanding Officer, INS Sujata called on Rear Admiral Eugenio Dias Da Silva Muatuca, the Commander…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Exports to the United States from China’s far west Xinjiang region tumbled to below US$1 million for the first time on record in February, eight months after a law effectively banning American imports over forced labour concerns came into effect. Companies from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region exported US$497,440 worth of goods to the US last month, representing a drop of almost 90 per cent compared with the same month last year, according to Chinese customs data. The reading was the lowest since 2017 – the earliest available data from China’s customs portal. Apparel, which was once the…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: For audiences in China, Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia this week was a show of strength and a testament to Beijing’s bid for global leadership. On the second day of Xi’s trip to Moscow, Chinese media was awash with coverage of the visit as evidence of China’s mettle when it comes to standing up to Washington. Xi on Tuesday continued talks with senior Russian officials and invited his counterpart Vladimir Putin to visit China, even as the Russian leader comes under mounting criticism, including an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to…