Asia-Pacific

Photo: Nava Nalanda Mahavihara. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS

Nalanda Grapples With Making Pali Relevant 2500 Years Later

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 27th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous series.

NALANDA, India (IDN) – It is believed that more than 2500 years ago Gauthama Buddha chose to preach in Pali rather than Sanskrit because the latter was the language of the elite while Pali was spoken by the masses. Today nobody speaks Pali in India, but, the Buddhist scriptures that were originally written in Pali are still used to educate monks as well as in Buddhist chantings.

: Lotus News Features; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 10 February 2019

Oxfam India Highlights 'Morally Outrageous' Inequality

This article is the second in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. This article first appeared on NDTV on 21 January 2019. – The Editor

By Press Trust of India

DAVOS (IDN-INPS) – Indian billionaires saw their fortunes swell by Rs. 2,200 crore (about $309.86 millions) a day last year, with the top 1 per cent of the country’s richest getting richer by 39 per cent as against just 3 per cent increase in wealth for the bottom-half of the population, according to an Oxfam study.

: Suresh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 26 January 2019

Photo credit: India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

India To Host UN Conference On Land Degradation

By Jutta Wolf

BONN (IDN) – India will host the global Conference on desertification, land degradation and drought from October 7 to 18, 2019 in New Delhi. Participants from 197 Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will have access, for the first time, to a wealth of vital new scientific data, says the Convention secretariat.

Desertification, along with climate change and the loss of biodiversity were identified as the greatest challenges to sustainable development during the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, which also endorsed the climate change (UNFCCC) and biodiversity (CBD) conventions.

: Jutta Wolf; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 23 January 2019

Photo: ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F11) successfully launched the communication satellite GSAT-7A on December 19, 2018. Credit: ISRO

UN Lauds India For Training Foreign Diplomats On Disarmament

By Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI (IDN) – India is the first member country of the United Nations to have launched a fellowship programme on disarmament and international security for foreign diplomats. “This is a demonstration of India’s commitment to nuclear issues and disarmament,” a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

With its focus on junior diplomats from a geographically diverse range of countries, the programme has a close parallel with the UN Programme of Fellowships on Disarmament, which was established in 1978 by the first special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament.

: Devinder Kumar; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 21 January 2019

Photo: Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi (left) receives U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad at the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad on January 18. Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

A Crumbling 'Pax Americana' in Afghanistan

Viewpoint by Chayanika Saxena

This article is the first in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. The writer is President's Graduate Fellow & PhD Candidate (Political Geography), Dep. of Geography, National University of Singapore. This article first appeared on the New Delhi based South Asia Terrorism Portal on 19 January 2019. – The Editor

SINGAPORE (IDN-INPS) – Amongst the diverse on-going negotiations on Afghanistan, the one led by the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, has been making the most noise. Reflecting both the urgency and the desperation with which the United States, if not the entire coalition, wants its 'boys back home', the intensity and extensity of talks that are being conducted are telling in their own ways.

: Suresh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 20 January 2019

China Leads Upsurge In Global Creative Economy

By Ronald Joshua

GENEVA (IDN) – The remarkable story of China's dominance in the trade of creative goods and services is the golden thread of a new creative economy outlook by UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

The creative economy is recognized as a significant sector and a meaningful contributor to national gross domestic product. It has spurred innovation and knowledge transfer across all sectors of the economy and is a critical sector to foster inclusive development.

With export growth rates of over 7 percent over 13 years, global trade in creative goods is an expanding and resilient sector buoyed by Asia in general and China in particular, according to a new UNCTAD report.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 19 January 2019

Photo: The Joint Security Area (JSA) in the DMZ, looking toward South Korea from the North. Conference Row seen from the northern side of the JSA. CC BY-SA 3.0

Pyongyang And Washington Do Not Speak The Same Language

Viewpoint by Kelsey Davenport

The writer is the Director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association, where she provides research and analysis on the nuclear and missile programs in Iran, North Korea, India, and Pakistan and on nuclear security issues. This article was posted on January 8 on the Association's website as part of the current issue of 'Arms Control Today'.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – North Korea reiterated that denuclearization of the Korean peninsula must include removal of U.S. nuclear weapons in the region, a statement that underscores that diplomatic advances in 2019 will require addressing simultaneously North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and its security concerns.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 11 January 2019

Photo: The Sule Pagoda and Bengali Sunni Central Mosque located side by side in Central Yangon. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS

Myanmar Buddhists Say International Media Is 'Unfair'

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 26th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

YANGON, Myanmar (IDN) – When I checked into a hotel at 10.00 pm in Central Yangon near the iconic Sule Pagoda, seeing a lot of South Asian Muslims around the place, I asked the hotel reception if it was safe to walk up the road to get some dinner. The receptionist laughed and said: "It is very safe here, sir."

For the next eight days in December, I lived in the heart of a Muslim Bengali/Indian community. I walked around the place late at night and early mornings and found that it is a very peaceful community where the Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Christians interact well.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 09 January 2019

Photo: Flags of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China. CC BY-SA 4.0

Most Taiwanese Would Not Support A Hong Kong Style Arrangement With Beijing

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Those, like some highly placed people in the U.S. government and Congress, who say it is inevitable that Taiwan with its population of 24 million will one day return as part of mainland China rather as Hong Kong did, have really missed a beat. There is simply no likelihood that an overwhelming majority of Taiwanese will ever agree to that.

The leader of the traditionally independence-minded Democratic Progressive party, President Tsai Ing-wen, now plays down independence and argues for the status quo. President Xi Jinping’s recent speech reiterated China’s long held view that it would use force if necessary to prevent Taiwan's formal independence. He is shooting down a bird that will never fly.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 08 January 2019

Strengthening The Evidence Base To Deliver On The 2030 Agenda

Viewpoint by Gemma Van Halderen

The writer is Director, Statistics Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). This article appeared as blog on the UNESCAP website on January 2, 2019.

BANGKOK (IDN) – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has set an ambitious agenda of 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 169 global targets and 232 global indicators. But wait, there is more. The indicators are to be disaggregated not by one or two but at least eight different characteristics: income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and geographic location, or "other". And all "in accordance with the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics" which recognize appropriate and reliable data needs to adhere to certain professional and scientific standards.