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Flooding Malaysia forces 40,000 people to flee homes, 10 districts in Johor have been hit by flooding

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Flooding Malaysia forces 40,000 people to flee homes, 10 districts in Johor have been hit by flooding
Flooding Malaysia forces 40,000 people to flee homes, 10 districts in Johor have been hit by flooding

Diplomat Times (Johor Baru)- Non-stop rain has caused flooding in five Malaysian states, with the southern state of Johor the worst hit.

Over 31,000 people have been moved to 232 temporary relief centres nationwide as the weather agency predicted continuous heavy downpours until Saturday.

All 10 districts in Johor have been hit by flooding, with more than 29,000 victims from over 7,800 families seeking shelter at 193 temporary flood relief centers as at 4pm on Thursday.

Johor state secretary Azmi Rohani said this was one of the worst floods to have inundated the state in the past few years, attributing it to continuous heavy rain and the high-tide phenomenon.

According to floodlist.com, the district of Segamat was the worst hit, followed by Kluang, Batu Pahat and Kota Tinggi districts.

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The small town of Chaah, in Segamat, was entirely submerged in water. Residents say this was the worst flood in 20 years, and many people were trapped in their homes amid rising waters for up to 12 hours before being rescued.

Over 40 evacuation centres were set up in the districts of Johor Bahru, Kluang, Kota Tinggi, Kulai, Pontian and Segamat late on 28 February. Malaysia’s disaster management agency said over 5,000 people from 1,542 households had moved to the centres as of 01 March.

Heavy rain began on 28 February. According to figures from the Ministry Of Natural Resources, Environment And Climate Change, the Air Panas weather station in the Segamat district recorded 627 mm of rain from 28 to late 01 March.

More than 200 mm of rain was recorded in 29 locations of Johor state in 19 hours on 01 March. During this period the weather station at Felda Pemanis in the Segamat district recorded 417 mm of rain and Kampung Liang Batu in the Muar district recorded 395 mm. Paloh in Kluang district recorded 298 mm of rain.

Rivers were above the danger mark in at least 16 locations by late (local time) 01 March, including the Skudai River at Kampung Laut in Johor Bahru, which jumped to 5.49 meters on 01 March, well above the danger mark of 3 meters.

Heavy rain was reported in other parts of Peninsular Malaysia, in particular in Pahang where 72mm of rain fell in 1 hour and 431 mm in 19 hours in Pukin in the Rompin district.

Sarawak and Sabah States

Authorities reported evacuations after flooding in Kuching, Sarawak, on 28 February 2023. As of 01 March over 150 people were in evacuation centres.

Flooding also affected the Kota Marudu and Sandakan districts of Sabah State. As of 01 March, a total of 485 people were evacuated.

 

Fire hits crowded Rohingya refugee camp in southern Bangladesh, 2,000 shelters damaged

Dr Mohd Ramzan Ali
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Fire hits crowded Rohingya refugee camp in southern Bangladesh, 2,000 shelters damaged

Fire hits crowded Rohingya refugee camp in southern Bangladesh

Diplomat Times (Bangladesh)- A massive fire raced through a crammed refugee camp for Rohingya Muslims in southern Bangladesh on Sunday, leaving thousands homeless, a fire official and the United Nations said.

No casualties were reported immediately at Balukhali camp in Cox’s Bazar district, said Emdadul Haque, a fire service official.

The UNHCR in Bangladesh said in a tweet that Rohingya refugee volunteers were responding to the fire with the agency and its partners providing support. It provided no further details.

More than 1 million Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar over several decades, including about 740,000 who crossed the border starting in August 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown.

Conditions in Myanmar have worsened since a military takeover in 2021, and attempts to send back the refugees have failed.

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Last year, the United States said the oppression of Rohingya in Myanmar amounts to genocide after U.S. authorities confirmed accounts of mass atrocities against civilians by the military in a systematic campaign against the ethnic minority. Muslim Rohingya face widespread discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where most are denied citizenship and many other rights.

According to UNHCR Rohingya refugee volunteers trained on firefighting & local fire services have controlled the fire.

16 UNHCR funded Mobile Fire Fighting Units helped reach the difficult area. Multiple shelters and facilities destroyed. Government, UNHCR & partners coordinating further.

India-urges-g-20-ministers-to-look-beyond-east-west-crisis

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India-urges-g-20-ministers-to-look-beyond-east-west-crisis

india-urges-g-20-ministers-to-look-beyond-east-west-crisis

Diplomat Times (New Delhi) — Top diplomats from the world’s major industrialized and developing nations on Thursday opened what are expected to be contentious talks dominated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s moves to boost its global influence.

Host India appealed for all members of the fractured Group of 20 to reach consensus on issues of deep concern to poorer countries even if the broader East-West split over Ukraine cannot be resolved.

In a video address to the assembled foreign ministers in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged them not to allow current tensions to destroy agreements that might be reached on food and energy security, climate change and the debt crisis.

“We are meeting at a time of deep global divisions,” Modi told the group, which included U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and their Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, whose discussions would naturally be “affected by the geopolitical tensions of the day.”

G-20 MINISTRES  ARRIVALS UPDATE 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will reaffirm the strength of the US-India bilateral relationship during his visit to India and will have the opportunity to discuss matters of shared interests, officials here have said.

Blinken arrived in New Delhi Wednesday night after his Central Asia trip. He is in New Delhi primarily to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting. On the sidelines of the meeting, he will have a meeting with his counterparts from Quad countries and participate in a panel discussion with them.

“Secretary Blinken will reaffirm the strength of the US-India relationship and express our commitment to continue working together and in groups like the Quad to advance economic growth for our two countries and expand cooperation as we have our shared priorities,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a news conference here on Wednesday.

PRIME MINISTER MODI WELCOMES ALL MEA

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called upon the G20 countries to build consensus on pressing global challenges and not allow differences on geopolitical tensions to affect overall cooperation, in comments that came amid a bitter rift within the grouping on the Ukraine conflict.

In his video message at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, Modi also invoked Mahatma Gandhi and Buddha to urge the delegates to draw inspiration from India’s civilisational ethos and “focus not on what divides us, but on what unites us.” The foreign ministers from the world’s largest industrialised and developing nations held crucial deliberations on key global challenges that took place in the backdrop of an increasingly bitter rift between the US-led West and the Russia-China combine over the Ukraine conflict.

It is learnt that the Indian side has been trying very hard to arrive at a joint communique but several diplomats from the West said the possibility of an agreed text was unlikely due to the fractured East-West relations over the war in Ukraine.

Ex-governor Bola Tinubu closes in on Nigeria presidential election victory

Diplomat Times
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Ex-governor Bola Tinubu closes in on Nigeria presidential election victory

Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC party is leading with about 35 percent or 7.5 million of valid votes counted, while Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition PDP was trailing with 29 percent or nearly 6.2 million valid votes. TRT

Diplomat Times (ABUJA) – Provisional results from Nigeria’s disputed presidential election showed that Bola Tinubu from the ruling party is closing in on victory, according to the latest Reuters tally of votes in 31 of the country’s 36 states and from nation’s capital.

With only 5 states left to declare as of 1300 GMT on Tuesday, Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress party (APC) was ahead with about 35 percent or 7.5 million of valid votes counted, making it highly likely he would be declared winner on Tuesday following Saturday’s election to replace outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, also APC.

Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was trailing with 29 percent or nearly 6.2 million valid votes.

Peter Obi of the smaller Labour Party got 25 percent or about 5.2 million votes. More results were expected to show the winner later on Tuesday.

Known as the “Godfather of Lagos” for his influence, Tinubu served as governor of the country’s most populous state from 1999 to 2007.

Tinubu, however, lost narrowly to Obi in Lagos, garnering 572,000 votes against the latter’s 582,000 votes.

READ MORE : South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomes Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde

As of 1230 GMT, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had posted results from 83,906 polling units out of 176,846.

Opposition parties have rejected the results as the product of a flawed process, which suffered multiple technical difficulties owing to the introduction of new technology by INEC.

FOR MORE  Africa News 

The preliminary results announced in the states will again be presented at INEC’s central office in the capital, Abuja.

But INEC officers in Rivers State, the capital of Africa’s biggest oil industry, said they had suspended the announcement of results after state collation officer Charles Adias had received death threats via text message.

Nigerian electoral law says a candidate can win just by getting more votes than their rivals, provided they get 25 percent of the vote in at least two-thirds of the 36 states.

Saturday’s election was mostly peaceful, but many polling stations opened late, angering voters, and delays or technical failures slowed uploading of results to an official INEC website meant to promote transparency.

PDP and other party officials stormed out of the counting center on Monday night claiming tallies were manipulated.

Whoever replaces Buhari must quickly get to grips with Africa’s largest economy and top oil producer, which is beset by problems including a grinding violence in the northeast and double-digit inflation.

Buhari, a former army general first elected in 2015, will step down after two terms in office. His critics say he failed in his key promises to make Nigeria safer.

WHO IS BOLA TINUBU ? 

Bola Tinubu is a Nigerian politician and one of the most influential political figures in the country today. He was born on March 29, 1952, in Lagos, Nigeria, to a family of modest means. After completing his secondary education at Government College, Ibadan, he went on to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Chicago State University in the United States.

He stated his career as accountant and politician who served as the Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and Senator for Lagos West during the brief Third Republic. In June 2022, he was chosen as the All Progressives Congress nominee in the 2023 Nigerian presidential election.

His political career began in 1992, when he joined the Social Democratic Party where he was a member of the Peoples Front faction led by Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and made up of other politicians such as Umaru Yar’Adua, Atiku Abubakar, Baba Gana Kingibe, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, Magaji Abdullahi, Dapo Sarumi and Yomi Edu. He was elected to the Senate, representing the Lagos West constituency in the short-lived Nigerian Third Republic.

People are eager to know about Bola Tinubu Biography.

UK’s PM Rishi Sunak and EU chief clinch Brexit deal over Northern Ireland trade

Shasi Kumar
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UK’s PM Rishi Sunak and EU chief clinch Brexit deal over Northern Ireland trade
UK’s PM Rishi Sunak and EU chief clinch Brexit deal over Northern Ireland trade

Diplomat Times (London)- Britain and the European Union on Monday agreed a crucial overhaul of trade rules in Northern Ireland, a breakthrough aimed at resetting seriously strained relations since Brexit.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen adopted the deal at talks in Windsor, west of London, both sides said.

Von der Leyen told a news conference it was “historic what we have achieved today.” Sunak said there had been a “decisive breakthrough.”

The agreement, which will allow goods to flow freely to Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K., ends a dispute that has soured U.K.-EU relations, sparked the collapse of the Belfast-based regional government and shaken Northern Ireland’s decades-old peace process.

Fixing it ends a long-running irritant for von der Leyen and is a big victory for Sunak — but not the end of his troubles. Selling the deal to his own Conservative Party and its Northern Irish allies may be a tougher struggle. Now Sunak awaits the judgment of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, which is boycotting the region’s power-sharing government until the trade arrangements are changed to its satisfaction.

The joint solutions, found within the framework of the Withdrawal Agreement, are based on the following starting points:

  • Comprehensive, cross-cutting and definitive solution, addressing practical difficulties in the operation of the Protocol;
  • Balance between flexibilities for the movement of goods for end use in Northern Ireland and effective safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the EU’s Single Market;
  • Clear distinction between goods at risk and goods not at risk of entering the EU’s Single Market.
    New arrangements in the area of customs are based on an expanded trusted trader scheme that will also be open to businesses in Great Britain

Goods moved by trusted traders and not at risk of entering the EU’s Single Market will benefit from dramatically simplified procedures and drastically simplified declarations with reduced data requirements. Substantial facilitations were found for freight and the movement of all types of parcels, i.e., business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and consumer-to-consumer, with consumer-to-consumer parcels being entirely exempt from the main customs requirements.

These new solutions are made possible especially by new data-sharing arrangements allowing for risk assessments, which would constitute the principle basis for controls. Robust authorisation and monitoring of the trusted trader scheme, and increased market surveillance and enforcement by UK authorities also act as safeguards. Full customs procedures will apply to goods at risk of entering the EU’s Single Market.

A permanent solution has also been found to ensure that people in Northern Ireland have access to all medicines, including novel medicines, at the same time and under the same conditions as people in the rest of the UK. This complements the solution the EU adopted in April 2022 for the supply of generic medicines to Northern Ireland.

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These new arrangements are made possible by new safeguards, notably labelling, designed to ensure that the medicines do not enter the EU’s Single Market.

The joint solutions also address implementation difficulties related to tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for the most sensitive categories of steel and clarify the application of State aid rules.

These new arrangements have been carried out within the framework of the Withdrawal Agreement of which the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland is an integral part. Within these pre-established legal parameters, a number of targeted amendments to the Protocol address, in a definitive way, unforeseen circumstances or deficiencies that have emerged since the start of the Protocol.

What is the Protocol Ireland/Northern Ireland ? 

The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, as an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement, was agreed jointly and ratified by both the EU and the UK. It has been in force since 1 February 2020 and has legal effects under international law.

The aim of the Protocol is to protect the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement in all its dimensions, maintaining peace and stability in Northern Ireland, avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland, while preserving the integrity of the EU Single Market.

Migrant boat breaks apart off Italy; 45 dead, 80 survive

Shasi Kumar
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Migrant boat breaks apart off Italy; 45 dead, 80 survive
Migrant boat breaks apart off Italy; 45 dead, 80 survive

Diplomat Times(Rome)- At least 45 migrants died when their wooden boat smashed into rocky reefs and broke apart off southern Italy before dawn Sunday, the Italian coast guard and UN agencies said. Survivors indicated that dozens more could be missing from the boat that had set out from Turkey.

The Italian Coast Guard said at least 80 people were found alive, “some of whom succeeded in reaching the shore after the shipwreck.”

 

The precise numbers were hard to establish. A reporter for Italian RAI state TV, standing next to the wreckage on the beach, quoted local authorities as saying 60 bodies had been recovered. With his foot, he indicated a life preserver bearing the word “Smyrna,” a Turkish port also known as Izmir.

Authorities said the cloth-covered bodies were brought to the sports stadium in the nearest city, Crotone.

More than 170 migrants were estimated to have been aboard the ship, two U.N. agencies, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration, said in a joint statement that cited survivor accounts.

Among those aboard, there were “children and entire families,″ the U.N. statement, with most of the passengers coming from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia.

Reporting from the village of Steccato di Cutro, state TV quoted survivors as saying the boat had set out five days earlier from Turkey.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said the migrants had been crowded into a 20-metre (66-foot) -long boat.

Italian authorities said a rescue operation involving a helicopter and police aircraft, and vessels from state firefighter squads, the coast guard and border police, was underway Sunday. Local fishermen also joined in the search for survivors.

A pair of firefighter water rescuers struggled with wind gusts and waves several meters (yards) high crashing onto the beach as they brought a body ashore.

A local priest said he blessed bodies while they were still lying on the beach.

One survivor was taken into custody for questioning after survivors indicated he was a trafficker, Rai state TV said.

Some of the survivors tried to keep warm, wrapped in blankets and quilts. They were taken by bus to a temporary shelter. State TV said 22 survivors were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Pope Francis told the faithful in St. Peter’s Square he was pained by the news. “I pray for each of them, for the missing and the other migrants who survived.” The pontiff added he also was praying for the rescuers “and for those who give welcome” to the migrants.

 

“It’s an enormous tragedy,” Crotone Mayor Vincenzo Voce told RAI state TV. “In solidarity, the city will find places in the cemetery” for the dead, Voce said.

In 2022, some 105,000 migrants arrived on Italian shores, some 38,000 more than in 2021, according to Interior Ministry figures.

According to UN figures, arrivals from the Turkish route accounted for 15 per cent of the total number, with nearly half of those fleeing from Afghanistan.

In a statement released by the premier’s office Sunday, Meloni expressed “her deep sorrow for the many human lives torn away by human traffickers.”

“It’s inhumane to exchange the lives of men, women and children for the ‘price’ of a ticket paid by them in the false prospect for a safe voyage,” said Meloni, a far-right-wing leader whose governing allies includes the anti-migrant League party.

She vowed to pursue a crackdown on departures arranged by people smugglers and to press fellow European Union leaders to help Italy in her quest.

Opposition parties, however, pointed to Sunday’s tragedy as proof that Italy’s migration policy was badly flawed.

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“Condemning only the smugglers, as the center-right is doing now, is hypocrisy,” Laura Ferrara, a European Parliament lawmaker from the populist 5-Star Movement, said.

“The truth is that the EU today doesn’t offer effective alternatives for those who are forced abandon their country of origin,” Ferrara said in a statement.

As well as the route from Turkey, another route employed traffickers crosses the central Mediterranean Sea from Libya’s coast, where migrants often endure brutal detention conditions for months, before they are allowed to board rubber dinghies or aging wooden fishing boats, toward Italian shores. The route is considered one of the most deadly.

Another heavily plied begins on Tunisia’s shores, with many of those boats reaching the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, or Sardinian beaches, often without need of rescue.

Meloni’s government has concentrated on complicating efforts by humanitarian boats to make multiple rescues in the central Mediterranean by assigning them ports of disembarkation along Italy’s northern coasts, meaning the vessels need more time to return to the sea after bringing those rescued aboard, often hundreds of migrants, safely to shore.

Humanitarian organizations have lamented that the crackdown also includes an order to the charity boats not to remain at sea after the first rescue operation in hopes of performing other rescues, but to head immediately to their assigned port of safety. Violators face stiff fines and confiscation of the rescue vessel.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella called on the European Union to “finally concretely assume the responsibility of managing the migratory phenomenon to remove it from the traffickers of human beings.” He said the EU should support development in countries where young people who see no future decide to risk dangerous sea journeys toward what they hope will be better lives.

Italy has complained bitterly for years that fellow EU countries have balked at taking in some of the arrivals, many of whom are aiming to find family or work in northern Europe.

Source : CTV

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived today in India for two-day visit

Diplomat Times
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived today in India for two-day visit
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived today in India for two-day visit

Diplomat Times (New Delhi)- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz today arrived in New Delhi for a visit to India from February 25-26.

Scholz is accompanied by senior officials and a high-powered business delegation, and his visit to India is the first standalone one by any German Chancellor since the commencement of the Inter-Governmental Consultation (IGC) mechanism between the two nations in 2011, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release.

The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, H.E. Mr Olaf Scholz called on the President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (February 25, 2023).

Welcoming Chancellor Scholz on his first visit to India as German Chancellor, the President said that India and Germany have a long standing relationship, which is underpinned by our common values and shared goals. Our bilateral relationship encompasses a wide range of areas, reflecting the mutual trust that has been nurtured over decades.

The President noted that Germany is India’s largest trade partner in Europe and also among the top investors in India. She said that Germany is also India’s second largest development cooperation partner and has played an important role in India’s developmental journey. In recent years, Germany has emerged as a favoured destination for Indian students and researchers wishing to pursue higher education, especially in Science and Technology. She said that India and Germany also have strong cultural connect, with a long tradition of German Indologists working on India.

The President said that India and Germany have a shared aims in upholding democratic values, the rules-based international order, multilateralism, as well as the reform of multilateral institutions. As two vibrant, pluralistic democracies, India and Germany can play an important role in addressing new and emerging global challenges.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Scholz for a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. He met PM Modi and other ministers during the event.

It is Scholz’s first visit to India after he became the German chancellor in December 2021. The Russia-Ukraine conflict and the situation in the Indo-Pacific region are also expected to figure prominently in the deliberations, news agency PTI reported.

“We already have good relations between Germany and India and I hope that we will strengthen this relationship. I hope we will discuss intensely all the topics relevant to the development of our countries and also peace in the world, ” Scholz was quoted by ANI as saying.

 

 

 

 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Delhi next week, to participate in the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

Shasi Kumar
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Delhi next week, to participate in the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Delhi next week, to participate in the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

Diplomat Times (New Delhi)- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to India next week to attend the meeting of G20 foreign ministers and meet senior Indian officials to reaffirm America’s strong partnership with the country.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and India February 28-March 3, 2023. On February 28, he will visit Astana, Kazakhstan, where he will meet with senior Kazakh officials to deepen our bilateral cooperation.

He then will participate in a C5+1 Ministerial with representatives of each of the five Central Asian states, to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Central Asian countries, and to collaborate with the region on solutions to shared global challenges.

The C5+1 Ministerial will focus on enhancing economic, energy and environmental, and security cooperation among the United States, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Secretary will meet separately on the margins of the C5+1 ministerial with senior government officials from the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan to discuss opportunities for bilateral and multilateral cooperation and advance our shared goal of a prosperous, secure, and democratic region.

He will then travel to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where he will meet with Uzbekistani officials to further advance our partnership on a range of bilateral and regional issues.

On March 1, he will travel to New Delhi to participate in the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which will focus on strengthening multilateralism and deepening cooperation on food and energy security, sustainable development, counter-narcotics, global health, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and gender equality and women’s empowerment.

He will meet with Indian government officials and civil society to reaffirm our strong partnership.

Speaking to a group of civil society leaders at a New Delhi hotel, Blinken said that the relationship between the United States and India was “one of the most important in the world”.

His visit in Delhi 2021 he has spoke to civil societies people “The Indian people and the American people believe in human dignity and equality of opportunity, the rule of law, fundamental freedoms including freedom of religion and belief … these are the fundamental tenets of democracies like ours,” he said.

“And of course, both of our democracies are works in progress. As friends we talk about that.”

Attendees included religious leaders such as Geshe Dorji Damdul of New Delhi’s Tibet House, a cultural centre of the Dalai Lama.

In his New Delhi meetings, Blinken is expected to raise India’s human rights record as well as a recent religion-based citizenship law widely seen as discriminatory towards Muslims.

 

Ajay Banga: US President Biden nominates former MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga to lead World Bank

Marietta Reformado
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Ajay Banga: US President Biden nominates former MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga to lead World Bank
1.US President Biden nominates former MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga to President World Bank

Diplomat Times (WASHINGTON)- Today, President Biden announced that the United States is nominating Ajay Banga, a business leader with extensive experience leading successful organizations in developing countries and forging public-private partnerships to address financial inclusion and climate change, to be President of the World Bank.

The news comes days after Trump appointee David Malpass announced plans to step down in June from his role leading the 189-nation poverty reduction agency. His five-year term was due to expire in April 2024.

President Biden says: “Ajay is uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history. He has spent more than three decades building and managing successful, global companies that create jobs and bring investment to developing economies, and guiding organizations through periods of fundamental change.

He has a proven track record managing people and systems, and partnering with global leaders around the world to deliver results.

He also has critical experience mobilizing public-private resources to tackle the most urgent challenges of our time, including climate change. Raised in India, Ajay has a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing developing countries and how the World Bank can deliver on its ambitious agenda to reduce poverty and expand prosperity.”

Who is Ajay Banga, that US Nominee for President, The World Bank

Ajay Banga currently serves as Vice Chairman at General Atlantic. Previously, he was President and CEO of Mastercard, leading the company through a strategic, technological and cultural transformation.

Over the course of his career, Ajay has become a global leader in technology, data, financial services and innovating for inclusion. He is Honorary Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, serving as Chairman from 2020-2022. He is also Chairman of Exor and Independent Director at Temasek. He became an advisor to General Atlantic’s climate-focused fund, BeyondNetZero, at its inception in 2021. He previously served on the Boards of the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods and Dow Inc.

Ajay has worked closely with Vice President Harris as the Co-Chair of the Partnership for Central America. He is a member of the Trilateral Commission, a founding trustee of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, a former member of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, and Chairman Emeritus of the American India Foundation.

He is a co-founder of The Cyber Readiness Institute, Vice Chair of the Economic Club of New York and served as a member of President Obama’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. He is a past member of the U.S. President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

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Ajay was awarded the Foreign Policy Association Medal in 2012, the Padma Shri Award by the President of India in 2016, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Business Council for International Understanding’s Global Leadership Award in 2019, and the Distinguished Friends of Singapore Public Service Star in 2021.

Vice President Kamala Harris says, Ajay Banga will be a transformative World Bank President as the institution works to deliver on its core development goals and address pressing global challenges, including climate change. Since I was elected Vice President, Ajay and I have worked closely together on a new model of public-private partnership designed to address the root causes of migration in Northern Central America.

Through that partnership, nearly 50 businesses and organizations have mobilized to generate more than $4.2 billion in commitments that will create opportunity and hope for people in the region. Ajay has brought great insight, energy, and persistence to the challenges of promoting economic development and tackling the root causes of migration.

Two days International Conference on Climate Change, Human Rights beings in Doha

Shasi Kumar
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Two days International Conference on Climate Change, Human Rights beings in Doha
Two days International Conference on Climate Change, Human Rights beings in Doha

Diplomat Times (Doha) -Under the patronage of Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, the International Conference on Climate Change and Human Rights kicked off Tuesday in Doha, with the participation of more than 300 experts and stakeholders from different countries around the globe.

The conference is being organized by the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), in cooperation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Development Program (UNDP), League of Arab States, and Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).

The two-day conference aims to emphasize the importance of rights-based climate action, highlight good practices relevant to Qatar and other active partners, including governments, the United Nations (UN), civil society organizations and companies, and develop recommendations for strengthening cooperation to support rights-based climate action around the globe, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa region.

During the opening session, which was attended by several ministers and officials from relevant entities in the country, Chairperson of NHRC HE Maryam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah said the conference provides a valuable opportunity for discussion and exchange of knowledge and experiences, in order to advance and accelerate the pace of dealing with climate change and environmental risks from a human rights perspective.

She also noted that in a few decisions that have been issued by the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), the commission explained the importance of adopting a human rights perspective when discussing climate mitigation and adaptation measures.

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She expressed hope that the conference would result in recommendations that constitute the Doha program on human’s right to dignified living in relation to climate change, especially that it includes all parties, partners, and stakeholders, whose goal is to examine the opportunity provided by human rights standards to save the planet, and to help the international community fulfill its obligations to achieve zero emissions, considering it a step towards creating a safer, more sustainable and more equitable world for us and future generations.

The opening session witnessed interventions from the various organizers of the conference, which in turn emphasized the importance of this international event in facing challenges related to preserving human rights in the light of national and global measures related to climate change.

Mr. Justice Arun Mishra, Chairperson, NHRC, India has said that the human-induced build-up of Green House Gases is causing climate change raising serious concerns about human rights. It is unfair to expect developing countries to follow the same emission standards rigorously. They often need more resources and technology. To meet it, the global fraternity has to prioritize technology transfer capacity-building.

The NHRC Chairperson said that the transportation of hazardous waste by developed countries to under-developed and developing countries for disposal needs to be stopped as it results in environmental degradation and consequent violation of human rights. Plastic dumping in the Ocean is endangering bio-diversity. There is illegal transportation of e-waste to developing countries under the guise of being capable of reuse of which only 9% can be recycled.

Justice Mishra said that an inclusive climate change action entails designing policies that are fair and accessible, and equitable. This requires prioritizing the needs and perspectives of all stakeholders, including those most vulnerable and marginalized.

He said that climate change causes displacement, loss of property, income and access to essential services like healthcare and education due to which the vulnerable groups suffer most. Therefore, it is necessary to include human rights issues into climate policies and programmes along with proper funding of social protection schemes to promote local knowledge and assist community-led adaptation to the effects of climate change.

Qatar NHRC representative highlighted the great success achieved by the State of Qatar in organizing the first global football championship (FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022), which was environmentally friendly and carbon neutral.

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