SYNDICATION

It's Not Just About Demonetisation of 500 and 1000 Bank Notes

By Satya Sagar*

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) - The abrupt demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes by the Narendra Modi regime is a drastic move that is staggering in its scale, ambition and repercussions. The only other figures in modern history one can think of, devious or stupid enough to attempt something similar, are the likes of Marcos, Suharto, Idi Amin and Pol Pot.

For all its audacity however, the decision could go down also as the grandest of blunders made by anyone in Indian political history. Poorly planned and implemented it is likely to prove disastrous not only for the country’s economy but – ironically enough – for the BJP’s own electoral fortunes.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 27 November 2016

Photo: Merengue musicians in the Dominican Republic. Credit: Ministry of Culture

Beer Drinking and Rumba among Choices for Heritage List

By A.D. McKenzie

PARIS (IDN | SWAN) – Many people know of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, which include structures such as China’s Great Wall and Tanzania’s Stone Town of Zanzibar – “places on earth that are of outstanding universal value to humanity” – but fewer perhaps know of the UN agency’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

This is an international register of cultural practices that are important for communities, in both traditional and modern ways, and 171 UNESCO member states have ratified a convention to safeguard these types of customs.

: A.D. McKenzie; ARTS & CULTURE; 24 November 2016

Disaster Relief ICTs SDG Enabler

Note: This article is moved in association with ITU’s media unit

BANGKOK (IDN-INPS) - Participants of an expert panel representing governments, private sector and NGOs at the ITU World Telecom 2016 event here argued that ‘disaster relief’ ICTs could be a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) enabler.

Disasters (earthquakes, floods, cyclones, hurricanes, epidemics etc.) continue to undermine economic development, social development, and environmental protection. Thus existing and emerging ICTs can mitigate the impact of these disasters increasing the chance for countries to attain the SDGs by 2030.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 21 November 2016

Looking Back at UNIDO, Moving Forward

By LI Yong, Director General of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

VIENNA (IDN-INPS) - UNIDO is turning fifty years old. The anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on the past. It is also an opportunity to chart a new path for a sustainable future.

Looking back at what UNIDO has achieved throughout all these years, I am amazed by the success of its technical cooperation activities, its normative function and its policy advice, and its contribution to the global discussion of industrial development.

The history of the Organization started on November 17, 1966, when UNIDO was established as a special organ of the United Nations General Assembly to assist, promote and accelerate the industrialization of developing countries, with a particular emphasis on manufacturing. After moving its headquarters to Vienna in 1979, it became a specialized agency in 1985.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 17 November 2016

Photo: Adelie penguins in Antarctica. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Peace in Antarctica Exemplary for International Relations

By Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - In 1772, sailing to the far south, Captain James Cook deflated the prevailing myth of Antarctica, that it was a temperate land, fertile and populated. Although he never landed on the continent he saw the vast icebergs, the frozen sea and the “worst weather anywhere in the world”. He wrote that “it is a continent doomed by nature” and doubted that man would ever find a use for it.

The words had not been long out of his mouth before governments started to make tentative grabs. The British were the first to make a move, claiming sovereignty on the grounds that the government needed to regulate commercial whaling.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 15 November 2016

Photo: Industry looks to new markets for growth analysis.windenergyupdate.com

Developing Africa Through Green Industrialization

By Kingsley Ighobor*

NEW YORK (IDN | Africa Renewal) - For environmentalists and development experts, green is not just a colour; it also refers to activities that benefit the environment – the careful use of the earth’s finite resources.

Africa’s policy wonks are already on the green bandwagon, having identified “green industrialization” as the Holy Grail of the continent’s socioeconomic transformation. They believe infusing green initiatives into value-chain activities – during the sourcing and processing of raw materials, and the marketing and selling of finished products to customers – can cure economic stagnation.

: Africa Renewal; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 November 2016

Photo: Official portrait by Pete Souza of the Obama family in the Oval Office in 2011. (From L-R): Michelle Obama, Malia Obama, Barack Obama, and Sasha Obama.

What If Obama Were President for the Third Term

By Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - An interesting question is what would happen to American foreign policy if President Barack Obama were allowed to have another four year term in office?

It would be a less interventionist presidency than what is about to become. This is not to say that I think the way Obama has handled the war in Afghanistan has been successful. Nor do I believe the attack on Libya was a sensible idea. Nor do I think the way he dealt with Russia and Ukraine in the last four years has been anything but counterproductive.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 08 November 2016

Photo: An overview of the UNGA First Committee. Credit: ICAN

NATO Shores Up Hegemonial Power Through Nuke Deterrence

By Xanthe Hall, IPPNW and ICAN Germany

Note: This article first appeared in the IPPNW Peace and Health Blog on November 3, 2016.

BERLIN (IDN-INPS) - For once, the United States, France and the United Kingdom are in agreement with Russia: plans to negotiate a nuclear weapons ban need to be stopped. Before the vote on October 27 in the UN First Committee, they pulled out all the stops to pressurise other states to vote against or abstain on a draft resolution co-sponsored by 57 states for a conference to be convened in 2017 to negotiate a nuclear ban.

: Xanthe Hall; ARMAMENTS; 07 November 2016

SAARC Falling Prey to Bilateral Disputes

Viewpoint by Sugeeswara Senadhira*

COLOMBO (IDN) - The Indian way of sabotaging the fragile regional cooperation in order to express hostility towards a neighbour due to a bilateral issue is causing concern to the friends of South Asian regional cooperation.

India, not for the first time, ensured that the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit in Islamabad would become a non-event. In the early 1990s India took similar actions to sabotage Dhaka and Colombo SAARC Summits.

On those two occasions what New Delhi did was to get a dependable South Asian friend – Bhutan – to announce its inability to attend the Summit, thus leading to the cancellation of the event as the SAARC Charter is specific on consensus of all seven, now eight, Member States.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 19 October 2016

A special "Kasab class" is part of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)'s training module for its new recruits during which they are told about the mistakes committed by Ajmal Kasab during the deadly Mumbai terror attack. Source: IndiaTVNews

India and Pakistan Must Negotiate a Permanent Peace

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - In the middle of September Pakistani militants moved across the “line of control” that separates Pakistan-controlled Kashmir from the Indian-controlled part. The two countries have been at loggerheads about the title to this gorgeously beautiful state, now bereft of tourism and much income, since independence.

In recent years guerrilla activity has died away and most observers thought that the Pakistani army was seriously clamping down on its own sponsored guerrillas. The indications were that the government truly wanted rapprochement with India. And India too with Pakistan.