India
700 trucks headed to India stranded in Benapole
As many as 700 trucks carrying goods for the Indian market remain stranded on Bangladesh's side of the border at Benapole land port, due to lack of space apparently on the Indian side at Petrapole.
When contacted, Joint General Secretary of Benapole Import-Export Association A. Latif said, “Everyday around 400 good-laden trucks enter Benapole to export products to the other side. But Petrapole authorities are only allowing upto 200 across, citing inadequate space.”
“This has resulted in a long line of trucks in the Benapole port area waiting to be allowed across to deliver the goods in India. The tailback is increasing with each passing day,” he added.
Businessmen have pressed home their demand to the authorities in this regard to push their Indian counterparts to solve the problem as soon as possible stating that they are incurring great loss due to the status quo.
Benapole Customs House Additional Commissioner Neyamul Islam confirmed to UNB that as of today, as many as 700 trucks remain stranded at what is the busiest land port between India and Bangladesh
“We have contacted the Petrapole authorities. They assured us that the problem will be resolved within a week,” Neyamul added.
US Thanks India, Other Nations For Helping During Evacuation From Afghanistan
The United States has thanked several countries including India for their "generous offers" to help in a variety of ways regarding the relocation efforts for at-risk Afghans during critical evacuation operations from Afghanistan.
The United States forces left Afghanistan on Tuesday morning, marking the end of a chaotic and messy exit from America's longest war, reports NDTV.
In total, the United States and its partners relocated more than 1.24,000 people to safety, including 6,000 US citizens.
"With support from partners and allies, the United States put together a global network - consisting of more than two dozen countries spanning four continents - with total temporary transit capacity of 65,000 people on a rolling basis, including up to 2,000 spaces to accommodate persons that need longer-term processing," the state department said.
The state department said that the US is grateful to the global network of countries that have provided critical assistance for our evacuation efforts.
"Partners and allies - including Bahrain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Kuwait, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Qatar, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom - have helped transit Americans or others to safety," it said.
"Other countries have made generous offers to help in a variety of ways regarding the relocation efforts for at-risk Afghans. These countries include Albania, Bahrain, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, India, Kuwait, Mexico, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Rwanda, Singapore, Uganda, and the United Arab Emirates," it added.
The state department assured that the US is working around the clock to ensure US citizens, at-risk Afghan civilians, and others are able to reach their ultimate destinations safely and efficiently.
India, Australia to boost ties in first 2+2 ministerial talks this week
India and Australia plan to further crank up their bilateral defence ties with more combat exercises, strengthening cooperation on maritime security and intelligence-sharing, even as they also work together with the US and Japan in the ‘Quad’ strategic grouping in face of China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh will meet his Australian counterpart Peter Dutton on Friday in New Delhi to discuss specific measures to further expand the bilateral defence cooperation. This will be followed by the two defence ministers joining foreign minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart Marise Payne for the first ‘two-plus-two’ ministerial dialogue between the two countries on Saturday, reports The Times of India.
“Defence Ties with Australia have gained a lot of momentum after the relationship was upgraded to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ in June 2020. Several new steps and exchanges are being discussed,” an official said on Monday.
With Australia now becoming a permanent member of the quadrilateral ‘Malabar’ naval exercise, the 25th edition of which was conducted off Gaum in the western Pacific late last month, Dutton is very keen on India joining his country’s largest biennial wargames called ‘Talisman Sabre’ in 2023, as was earlier reported by TOI. Australia believes it will further consolidate the Quad, which has declared its firm intent to deter any “coercion” in the Indo-Pacific, since the exercise already features the US and Japan as well as other countries like the UK, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand.
On Monday, India and Australia also kicked off the 4th edition of their naval drills ‘Ausindex’ off Darwin. While India has deployed guided-missile frigate INS Shivalik and anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kadmatt for the exercise, Australia is taking part with frigate HMAS Warramunga and submarine HMAS Rankin as well as F-18A fighter jets and P-8A maritime patrol aircraft.
“Australia and India are comprehensive strategic partners. We share a commitment to increasing the regularity and complexity of our military training so we can be confident in our ability to work effectively to respond to the maritime security needs in our region,” said Australian fleet commander Rear Admiral Mark Hammond.
“Each time our nations come together, we develop further maritime interoperability by exercising more involved warfare serials demonstrating our strong commitment to an open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” he added.
Indian Eastern Fleet commander Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti, in turn, said, “This exercise will further strengthen the partnership and interoperability with the Australian navy in the Indo-Pacific. We’re looking forward to adopting the best practices and building on the warfare training standards achieved in the Malabar drills.”
Afghanistan, terrorism, Indo-Pacific, climate change on Modi's US trip agenda
Cementing bilateral ties, stabilisation of Afghanistan, counterterrorism, Indo-Pacific and climate change are expected to be on the agenda when Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes on a three-day visit to the US this month, reports The Hindustan Times.
While the scheduling of programs and engagements of PM Modi will be worked out by the advance team, which is expected to reach the US on September 9, the visit will begin with a bilateral with US President Joe Biden in Washington on September 23 followed by a physical summit meeting of QUAD partners the next day. PM Modi is expected to address UN General Assembly on September 25 before flying back to India. This is the first international visit of PM Modi after he travelled to Bangladesh in March 2021.
Read:India's August Vaccination Tally Higher Than G7 Nations Combined: Centre
Apart from strengthening bilateral ties, the security and diplomatic ramifications of Taliban controlled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific will be on top of the diplomatic agenda as PM Modi will hold his first physical meeting with Joe Biden after he took over as President this year. This will also be the first QUAD physical summit with Australian and Japanese heads of government even though there is a question mark on the physical availability of Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga as he has decided to step down. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed his availability for the QUAD summit.
Afghanistan and the role of regional players like China, Russia, and Iran will be priority agenda with Pakistan openly playing cards in the formation of the government in Kabul. While countries like UK and Germany are seeking Pakistan Army’s support in engaging the Taliban, Lt General Faiz Hameed, DG, ISI, is parked in Kabul for the past two days to ensure that a pro-Pakistan government is formed and ensuring that resistance in Panjshir is eliminated with the help of Pakistani commandoes in mufti. Amrullah Saleh, the face of Panjshir resistance, is the principal target of ISI as the former first vice president of Afghanistan has always blocked the grandiose plans of the Pakistani intelligence agency. It is a matter of concern that despite Pakistani ISI, which runs the terror factory in the Af-Pak region, running the show in Kabul with a tired international community watching the events silently.
The QUAD summit will not only discuss the regional security of the Af-Pak region but also the Indo-Pacific as China will be a net gainer of the ascent of Taliban in Afghanistan via its client state Pakistan. The bilateral engagement and QUAD summit will pave the way for the decision on the legitimisation of the Taliban regime for the concerned countries individually. Despite the Taliban claiming that it will not allow Afghanistan to be used against a third country, the Sunni Pashtun Islamists refuse to disavow the al Qaeda terrorist group and are virtually run by the pro-Pakistan Haqqani Network terrorist group. The Taliban are a votary of global jihad till the world turns into Dar-ul-Islam.
Read:Kashmir leader’s family charged under India anti-terror law
At the meeting of the QUAD, the architecture of the four-nation grouping could be announced, a sort of rules of engagement that have been worked out by the foreign ministers of the participating countries.
PM Modi will address the UNGA with India a non-permanent member of the UNSC on September 25. While he is expected to address the core issues facing the world, the speech will be forward-looking with a focus on climate change and terrorism. It is another matter, that the UN has been found to be performing below par when it comes to critical issues including Afghanistan or terrorism.
India's August Vaccination Tally Higher Than G7 Nations Combined: Centre
India has administered more COVID-19 vaccine doses in August than all the G7 nations combined, the government said today, reports NDTV.
In a tweet, the centre's official handle MyGovIndia, said the country administered over 180 million vaccine doses in August - more than all the Group of 7 nations combined that includes Canada, the UK, the US, Italy, Germany, France and Japan.
Read:Kashmir leader’s family charged under India anti-terror law
Canada administered three million doses and Japan 40 million doses in the two lowest and highest range, respectively, among G7 nations, according to data tweeted by MyGovIndia.
"Yet another achievement! With more than 180 million vaccine doses administered in the month of August, India leaves a mark on the Global map of leading its way in vaccinating its population on priority," the government tweeted.
The total COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country so far has crossed 68.46 crore.
Read: Indian MedTech sector has potential to reach 50 USD billion by 2025
The country today reported 42,766 new cases of COVID-19.
There are concerns over the Delta Plus variant of coronavirus. In June, the government first warned against the Delta Plus variant, a new mutant version of the Delta strain of Covid first detected in India, and had called it a "variant of concern".
Info Minister for strengthening Dhaka-Delhi people-to-people ties
Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Monday laid emphasis on strengthening people-to-people contact between Bangladesh and India.
While inaugurating the Bangabandhu Media Centre at the Press Club of India (PCI) in New Delhi, he said the Centre will facilitate efforts to boost ties among people of the two countries, especially journalists.
Minister Hasan said the relationship between Bangladesh and India reached a new height under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her counterpart Narendra Modi.
He, however, said they still have to work to strengthen people-to-people relations, and the Centre will definitely strengthen the ties between the two countries.
The Information Minister depicted the short life sketch of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh in his speech.
Bangabandhu guided Bangladesh to the path of Liberation and the country would not have been born if Bangabandhu were not born, he mentioned.
He also expressed his special thanks and gratitude for the contribution of India to our independence.
The Minister mentioned the role of journalists and media is very important for enhancing the bilateral relationship of India and Bangladesh.
A documentary on the life of Bangabandhu was screened at the inauguration programme.
Read: Inauguration of Bangabandhu Media Centre at Press Club of India Monday
Earlier, he inaugurated the “Bangabandhu Media Centre” at the Press Club of India (PCI).
Kashmir leader’s family charged under India anti-terror law
Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir charged family members of late resistance leader Syed Ali Geelani under a harsh anti-terror law for raising anti-India slogans and wrapping his body in the Pakistani flag, officials said Sunday.
Geelani, who died Wednesday at age 91, was the emblem of Kashmir’s defiance against New Delhi and had been under house arrest for years.
Read: Resistance leader’s death deepens Kashmir strife
His son, Naseem, said Indian authorities buried Geelani’s body in a local cemetery without any family members present after police snatched his body from the home. Police denied that and called it “baseless rumors” by “some vested interests.”
A video widely shared on social media purportedly showed Geelani’s relatives, mostly women, frantically trying to prevent armed police from forcing their way into the room where his body, wrapped in a Pakistani flag, was being kept. It showed women wailing and screaming as police took the body and locked his family and relatives inside the room.
Police said unspecified family members and some others were charged Saturday under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. They have not yet been taken into custody.
Read: India unveils new initiative to revive crafts sector in Jammu and Kashmir
The anti-terror law was amended in 2019 to allow the government to designate an individual as a terrorist. Police can detain a person for six months without producing any evidence, and the accused can subsequently be imprisoned for up to seven years. Rights activists have called the law draconian.
Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan, which administer parts of the Himalayan region while claiming it entirely.
Geelani spearheaded Kashmir’s movement for the right to self-determination and was a staunch proponent of merging Kashmir with Pakistan. For many in Kashmir and beyond, he was an enduring icon of defiance against India.
Rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989. The region is one of the most heavily militarized in the world. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the raging conflict.
Read: Health workers vaccinate Kashmir nomads
Meanwhile Sunday, authorities eased some restrictions that had been imposed since Geelani’s death, allowing some private vehicles on roads and vendors to operate in some parts of Srinagar.
Mobile phones were restored late Friday but mobile internet and restrictions on the movement of people continued in many parts of the Kashmir Valley.
When a Bollywood celebrity ad adds to the woes of a unicorn
Building brands is not a child's play these days -- they have to be bold to be heard. But crossing the line can backfire.
An Indian unicorn, for instance, is facing backlash on social media over its decision to promote its brand via an advertisement that many perceive portrays the workplace exploitation of its workers.
The ad featuring Bollywood stars Hritwik Roshan and Katrina Kaif has definitely given leading food delivery giant Zomato an edge over others in the competition for attention, but it has triggered widespread derision.
Read: India's first food delivery unicorn fires up start-up ecosystem
The first ad shows Katrina opening the door for a Zomato delivery professional. After taking the delivery of a cake, she asks the Zomato man to wait for a slice, but he gets another notification for delivery and leaves.
The second ad is almost similar, only that the Zomato delivery executive has to forgo an opportunity to take a selfie with Hritwik after handing him over a food bowl. "For us, every customer is a star," says the tagline.
While the Twitterati has slammed Zomato for glorifying the poor working conditions of the delivery professionals, the unicorn says the ad is aimed at making the delivery men "the hero".
"This ad disturbed me. We don't need to glorify people rushing to deliver food. Or condescend to them and make it out to be heroic. Service providers need to come back to Earth," K Srinivasan tweeted.
"So the message here is what? That @zomato delivery guys work under such pressures and time constraints that one can't even wait 10 seconds for a selfie with a superstar. And that's a work culture they are proud of having?" tweeted Gaurav.
"Zomato spends crores on Hrithik instead of giving raise to deliver personnel," wrote another social media user.
Zomato has also put out its version of the controversy. "We believe that our ads are well-intentioned, but were unfortunately misinterpreted by some people," it said in its statement on Twitter.
Read: Indian economy grows by 20.1%, raising hopes of recovery
The controversy erupts barely a month after Zomato became India's first new-age technology unicorn to list on the bourses, scripting a stellar debut that could lute similar consumer start-ups to go public.
The company, backed by Jack Ma's Ant Group, in fact, rode on the Covid outbreak that has prompted a trend of people moving to order food items online the world over.
Such was the fantabulous listing on July 23 -- true to hype -- that Zomato's market capitalisation breached 12 billion US dollar mark in the first hour itself, making it one of the 50 most valuable traded firms.
7 Bangladeshi women trafficked to India return via Benapole
Indian authorities on Thursday sent back seven Bangladeshi women, who were trafficked to that country two years ago.
The seven were received by the Benapole immigration police at the international land border after India’s Petrapole immigration authorities sent them back on travel permit.
The returnees have been identified as- Shirina Bishwash Kuri from Jashore, Anjuman Sumi from Kuri village, Moushumi Akter from Farispur, Ria Akter from Chattogram, Shohagi akter Mim from Sreepur, Zakia Akter from Khagrachari and Suma Akter from Sunamganj.
Also read: Banned Indian drugs worth Tk 30 lakh seized at Benapole
All of them are aged between 25 and 30 years.
Officer-in-charge of Benapole immigration police Ahsan Habib said that the women were produced in a local court that granted them bail. "The women have been taken to a shelter home by NGO Justice and Care."
The women told cops that they had entered India two years ago illegally through brokers and who promised job opportunities there.
Also read: Govt relaxes conditions for returnees from India through Benapole
Senior program officer of Justice and Care, ABM Muhit Hossain said that Indian police rescued the women after getting to know that they had fallen into the trap of human traffickers.
The returnees will stay in 14-day institutional quarantine in Jashore for now considering the current Covid situation, said the officer. "After that, we will help them get jobs in Bangladesh,” he said.
India unveils new initiative to revive crafts sector in Jammu and Kashmir
The government of India’s newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has unveiled a new scheme to revive the ailing crafts sector in the region. Known as “Karkhandar,” the scheme seeks to upscale the learning techniques of trainees and help the artisans to improve their standard of living.
According to Saudi Gazette, the scheme, which was recently approved by the J&K Administrative Council headed by Lt. Gov. Manoj Sinha, would be implemented in the Union Territory of J&K through respective directorates of Handicrafts and Handloom. After J&K’s transition into a Union Territory, the government has taken many initiatives to empower the craftsmen associated with the traditional arts and crafts in J&K.
The sectors that were neglected by the erstwhile regimes have been worked upon to get the better results and things have started moving. Many initiatives have been taken to improve the wage earnings of the craftsmen and create linkages with producer organizations to inculcate entrepreneurship skill and aptitude to the trainees.
During the past few years traditional industries of Kashmir like: walnut wood carving, silver filigree, carpet, Kani shawl weaving, Khatamband and Papier Machie crafts are facing human resource crunch, but since Aug. 5, 2019 — when the federal government announced its decision to bifurcate J&K into two union territories and abrogated its special status — the lacunas in these industries are being looked into and efforts are being put to ensure that traditional crafts of Kashmir are preserved.
Read: India to roll out DNA-based COVID shots for teens in October
Background
Handicrafts of Jammu and Kashmir are famous for superior craftsmenship, attractive designs, functional utility and quality making. These are popular at national as well as in the international market. After agriculture, handicrafts is a preferred sector in J&K.
In economic terms it helps in generation of aggregate employment and raising per capita income of state and hence contributes to State Gross Domestic Product (SGDP) and National Income. Jammu & Kashmir handicraft industry facilitates technical know-how between state skilled manpower and international market players through foreign exchange.
In J&K there are about 250,000 artisans who are directly dependent upon handicrafts for their livelihood. Besides, there is great potential in this sector for generating more employment opportunities if its markets are expanded and demand is increased.
There are 16 unique crafts in Kashmir with which about 60 percent of households are associated directly or indirectly. As per a research, there are about 400,000-500,000 artisans and 179 major craft clusters associated with the handicraft sector of J&K generating the revenue of more than a thousand crore rupees.
As per an economic analysis of the handicraft industry in Jammu and Kashmir, this number is 300,000. The twin sectors handlooms and handicrafts are the major and the oldest in India with about 4.3 million weavers and 6.9 million artisans. Kashmiri handicrafts involve about 350,000 craftsmen and artisans. According to a study the handicrafts is the second largest Industry of J&K after tourism.
Revival process commenced in 2020
In March 2020, the government directed officials to put in place a robust mechanism for ensuring the revival and propagation of traditional arts and crafts, especially Pashmina weaving. The direction was passed by then Advisor to Lt. Gov. of J&K, K. K. Sharma, while chairing the meetings of the Board of Directors of Jammu and Kashmir Handloom Development Corporation (JKHDC) and Jammu and Kashmir Handicrafts Corporation Limited (JKHC).
"Necessary measures need to be put in place so that the traditional arts and crafts of the region regain its popularity at the national and international level," Sharma had said. He had also called for undertaking requisite steps for incentivizing weavers and artisans to increase their income besides ensuring the revival of traditional arts and crafts.
Read: Vietnam's PM to visit India this year-end
The decision was taken to provide minimum support price for the artisans and craftsmen involved in the making of traditional arts and crafts to increase their profitability and attract youth in these heritage professions.
To attract the youth towards these traditional arts, the corporations were asked to explore the possibilities of tie-ups with Jammu & Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) so that start-ups can be undertaken by young and aspiring entrepreneurs.
The steps were taken to help young entrepreneurs to setup financially viable and revenue-generating units. The branding, quality certificates, marketing of Jammu and Kashmir based products was also undertaken to ensure that products are sold globally.
Opinions of experts from the National Institute of Design and National Institute of Fashion Technology were sought to infuse new life into the ailing industry.
Encouraging craftsmen
On Aug. 17, 2021, Lt. Gov.’s adviser, Baseer Ahmed Khan, conferred state awards to the artisans in handicrafts section. The awards were given in different categories that included Sozni, Paper Machie, Chain Stitch, Crewel and Carpet. Khan asserted that the government led by Lt. Gov. Sinha was committed to promote the crafts, especially the Handicrafts sector of Jammu Kashmir.
The Adviser said that conferring awards on the artisans was an encouragement and the recognition of their efforts to keep alive the skills and trade of Kashmir.
While congratulating the awardees, Khan said that the ceremony is to recognize the artisans who represent their respective crafts as no such example of art can be found anywhere in the world and added that various initiatives have been taken to promote and publicize the Kashmir handicrafts worldwide.
Source to empower local women
On the occasion of International Day for Women in 2020, when Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had announced that he would give away his social media accounts to women whose life and work inspires people to help them ignite motivation in millions, a woman artisan from Kashmir, Arifa, while sharing her journey on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s twitter handle wrote that she always "dreamt of reviving the traditional crafts of Kashmir because this is a means to empower local women."
Arifa stated that she started working on reviving Namda craft after seeing the condition of the women artisans in Kashmir. Arifa termed Prime Minister Modi's #SheInspiresUs campaign an initiative that will motivate her to work harder for the betterment of craft as well as the artisans all over the Valley. Her first business activity was participating in an exhibition of handmade items in New Delhi.
Read: Indian economy grows by 20.1%, raising hopes of recovery
Craft fair at Kashmir Haat
In July this year, J&K Lt. Gen. Sinha inaugurated a15-day long craft fair at Kashmir Haat. It served as a boon for artisans and businesses and a breath of fresh air for locals and tourists. Sinha while inaugurating the fair stated that government’s aim is to empower the handicraft, handloom artisans and improve living standards of present and future generations of Kashmiri artisans.
“With endeavors like revamping the Kashmir Haat, we are strengthening our commitment to providing market support to local artisans and weavers," LG Sinha said. He revealed the plans of the government to provide new markets, create sustainable livelihood for the local artisans, besides preserving rich cultural heritage of J&K.
During the past two years J&K administration has taken various steps to support the artisans in J&K. They have been offered financial aid and support to live a dignified life. The craft fair was an extension of the initiatives that the government has taken to give a major boost to PM Modi's "vocal for local" mantra.