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News briefs compiled by Suresh Jaura*
TORONTO | NEW DELHI (IDN) – The focus of news in Indian media in the second half of June was on the start of human trials by India's 'first' indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, a nod to Indian start-ups to participate in space activities, emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975, persecution of 'dissenters', restrictions against Chinese goods, and Russian assurances to stand-off with India against China.
Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
The writer, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).
BANGKOK (IDN) – Developing countries of Asia and the Pacific are experiencing unbalanced tolls of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grim milestones in infections and deaths have left countless devastated. Yet, we must look at the economic and social impacts in small island developing States (SIDS), where setbacks are likely to undo years of development gains and push many people back into poverty.
Viewpoint by Lord Rami Ranger
The writer, Lord Rami Ranger, CBE of Mayfair is a Member of the British House of Lords.
LONDON (IDN) – There is a mischievous campaign against the statues of Mahatma Gandhi in the UK and other countries including the US launched by misguided and ill-informed few.
These statues were erected by a great public demand to recognise the immense contribution of Gandhi Ji to the free world. As a result, this protest is unwarranted, uncalled for, unnecessary and above all, counterproductive. [Ji is a gender-neutral honorific used as a suffix in many languages of the Indian subcontinent]
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA (IDN) – Governor Denny Tamaki of Okinawa district has rejected the U.S. plans to base on the island missiles capable of threatening China – apparently as part of President Donald Trump's move to challenge Beijing and upgrade the importance of Taiwan, 500 kilometres away from the island. If a plan for Okinawa to host such missiles were to develop, Tamaki said: "I can easily imagine fierce opposition from Okinawa residents."
Viewpoint by L. S. Herdenia
This article is the 11th in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.
NEW DELHI (IDN) – During the Chinese revolution, progressive forces of the world lent every possible support to it. At that time, it was widely believed that most of the Chinese people consumed opium and were always in a stupor. Additionally, the country’s economy lay totally shattered. It was said that the people in China went to the market with a bag full of currency note and returned with a pocketful of goods. It was the Communist party and its dynamic leader Mao Zedong who were trying to give a new life to the Chinese people.
News briefs compiled by Suresh Jaura*
TORONTO | NEW DELHI (IDN) – Environmental degradation and climate change, US report on religious freedom, sex scandal, Covid-19, and cyber harassment in Pakistan are some issues the Indian news media has been highlighting in the first two weeks of June. These and many more are linked to India. The subcontinent's ties with Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka also draw the focus.
Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn *
NEW DELHI (IDN) – Thomas Friedman first put forward the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention in 1996 which claimed that no two countries that both had McDonald's had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald's.
However, life has its own logic and cannot be interpreted in binaries. The Western logic is rooted in the Greek traditions and is binary, whereas the logic in the Eastern traditions can be multi-dimensional such as the four valued Chatushkoti logic of the Vedas or Buddhism used by scholars like Patanjali and Panini, or seven valued Saptabhangi of the Jainas. It helps one get a bigger, better and richer picture of life.
By UN Women
NEW YORK (IDN) – Although the Pacific has largely been spared by the spread of the disease relative to other regions around the world – with Fiji hardest hit of the six countries the UN Women’s Ending Violence Against Women and Girls programme works in, at 18 confirmed cases – all of which have since been cleared, and several countries without a recorded a case so far – the economic and social consequences have been deep.
By Pattama Vilailert *
BANGKOK (IDN) – On New Year's Eve of 2020 when the Chinese authorities alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) of strange pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, Thailand's tourism industry, the country's primary gross domestic product (GDP) driver, was facing an unprecedented boom. But, six months later, the industry is on its knees with knowledgeable sources predicting a lengthy recovery period.
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY (IDN) – A battle is brewing up between Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Victorian State Premier Daniel Andrews over an agreement the latter has signed with China to link his state with the joint infrastructure development to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added fuel to the conflict on May 24 in an interview with Rupert Murdoch owned Sky News when he said if Victoria joined the BRI, the US could "simply disconnect" from Australia.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.