By Naimul Haq DHAKA, Bangladesh (IDN) – Despite a well-coordinated effort to address the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar, a coastal town bordering Myanmar, some major challenges still need attention. The local administration admits that with over one million forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens arriving in such a short time, it is indeed difficult to […]
U.S. Foolish To Start Another Cold War, Says Jack Ma
By Kalinga Seneviratne KUALA LUMPUR (IDN) – U.S. will suffer more from the current trade war with China, warned Alibaba founder Jack Ma addressing over 1000 business leaders, government officials and economic experts from Malaysia and across the region attending the China Conference here on October 10-11. He added that America has been growing and […]
More Transparency Could Ricochet ‘Debt Trap’ Accusations against China
By Kalinga Seneviratne KUALA LUMPUR (IDN) – One of the major discussions at the ‘China Conference’ organized by the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post (SCMP) on October 10-11, was China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the perception created in the region, by the western media in particular, that it is a ‘debt […]
An Indian Woman Rises from the Downtrodden to a Socially Aware Multimillionaire
By Sudha Ramachandran BANGALORE (IDN) – In 2013, Kalpana Saroj, Chairperson of the Mumbai-based Kamani Tubes Ltd. (KTL), was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest honour for civilians, for her achievements in the fields of Trade and Industry. Saroj was successful in turning around the fortunes of KTL, a manufacturing company producing quality copper […]
What is Buddhist in a Buddhist Film Festival?
By Kalinga Seneviratne This article is the 25th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. SINGAPORE (IDN) – The just concluded 5th edition of ‘Thus I Have Seen Buddhist Film Festival (THISBFF)’ in Singapore attracted a large non-Buddhist audience according to its organisers, but still […]
China-Japan Rivalry Intensifies in Asia’s New Growth Region
By Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE (IDN) – While China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been in the news for a while – thanks mainly to negative reporting by the western media – Japan is slowly funding the building of supplementary trade corridors in the Mekong region projecting itself as not only interested in building infrastructure, […]
Right to Information a Mixed Success in the Asia-Pacific Region
By Sean Buchanan LONDON (IDN) – Freedom of information is not only a human right, but also an essential tool to engage and empower citizens to demand accountability from governments and fight corruption. Worldwide, around 120 countries have a right to information (RTI) act, indicating that most countries consider it important to spell out in […]
Japan Considers Ways of Shedding the Straitjacket and Go the Whole Hog for Nuclear Abolition
The following is a revised version of the article posted on September 30, 2018. By Katsuhiro Asagiri TOKYO (IDN) – Japan’s profound interest in the international community’s efforts to help usher in a world free of nuclear weapons was underlined in the run-up to the commemoration of the International Day for the Total Elimination of […]
India Hosts UN Chief on International Day of Non-Violence
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – In the run-up to UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ four-day visit to India beginning October 1, a senior official of the world body has expressed “a special thank you” to the Government of India, which is contributing US$1 million to install solar panels and a green roof on […]
Afrophobia and Racism Keep India Trailing Behind China
By Shastri Ramachandaran The author is an independent journalist writing on political and foreign affairs. This article first appeared in NewsClick that claims to be an alternative to the corporate media in India on July 27, 2018, and is being reproduced by the permission of the author who give editorial support to IDN-INPS editor. – […]