IDN-InDepthNews

Asia-Pacific2016-09-042023-07-10

Railways May Build the New ASEAN Community

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

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

BANGKOK (IDN | Lotus News Features) – The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will gather in the Laotian capital Vientiane from September 6-8 for their first summit meeting since the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) came into being at the beginning of this year. However, one item which is crucial to such community building, the construction of new rail lines linking most of the 10 member nations may not be a major agenda item.

OPINION2016-09-042023-07-10

Siddharth Chatterjee: Ban’s Son-in-Law is a Man of Honour

Viewpoint by Major General Dalvir Singh*

JODHPUR, India (IDN-INPS) – Major Siddharth Chatterjee, Sena Medal (Retd), who served under my command in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990, has recently been appointed as the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya.

Major Chatterjee was a decorated and highly valued member of my team, who served with honour, distinction and epitomized the credo of the Indian Army, “service before self”.

Recently a blogger, who runs a blog out of the UN in New York, has hurled scurrilous, unfounded and mendacious accusations of human rights violations against Chatterjee. Major Chatterjee was a star member of my battalion, the 10th Para Special Forces, and at no time was my battalion or any member of my unit ever involved in any form of human rights violation.

Poverty2016-09-032023-07-10

UN Gears Up to Help Lesotho End Poverty

By Majara Molupe

MASERU (IDN) – The United Nations in Lesotho is set to help the Mountain Kingdom implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in particular Goal One: End Poverty in all its manifestations, including extreme poverty, over the next 15 years in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda, comprising 17 Goals approved by UN member states on September 25, 2015.

Sylvia Tiisetso Khabele, the UN Volunteer on UN Communications told IDN that the key priorities of the world body’s work on SDGs in 2016 include strengthening national capacities and those of the UN system for implementation of the Agenda 2030.

OPINION2016-09-032023-07-10

Next 25 Years Will be Complicated in China-ASEAN Relations

By Kavi Chongkittavorn* | Reproduced courtesy of The Nation

BANGKOK (IDN-INPS) – After China’s Premier Li Keqiang outlined his new policy approach in front of ASEAN members in Bandar Seri Begawan in October 2013 – known as the “two plus seven” cooperative framework – nobody predicted it would then be shelved.

Only in recent months have China’s comprehensive initiatives been revisited by ASEAN members. In Vientiane, senior officials from China and ASEAN are currently taking stock of developments and achievements since China attended the first ASEAN meeting in Kuala Lumpur in 1991. They have another week or so to prepare for a joint statement to commemorate the 25th anniversary of relations.

Africa2016-09-022023-07-10

Zimbabweans Become Weapons Against Climate Change

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – Carrying a gigantic sack full of plastics debris picked up from rubbish pits, 33-year-old Herbert Mbedzi trudges around downtown Harare, the Zimbabwean capital rummaging dustbins for some more plastic waste for resale to recyclers.

Mbedzi claims that he has never been employed in his life and has now found a reliable source of income in dumped plastic junk, which has become “like gold” to him. “I have realised that my earnings each week from selling the plastics that I collect come to around 80 dollars because I have found reliable and constant customers like local firms involved in recycling plastics products,” Mbedzi told IDN.

UN INSIDER2016-09-022023-07-10

‘Culture of Peace’ and SDGs Two Sides of the Same Coin

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – In the face of violence and terrorism affecting many parts of the world, the United Nations and its members are faced with a challenge, the challenge of building a culture of peace and non-violence, outgoing General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft told a high-level forum on the ‘Culture of Peace’ at UN Headquarters on September 1.

“The UN is both a reflection of the world as it is and as we want it to be,” he said, calling on stakeholders to discuss and identify concrete ways to strengthen intercultural and interreligious dialogue and the role that the UN can play to that effect.

Asia-Pacific2016-09-012023-07-10

Buddhists Concerned About Mindfulness ‘Marketing’

By Kalinga Seneviratne*

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

BANGKOK (IDN | Lotus News Features) – Mindfulness, the meditative practice, which has its roots in Buddhism as Vipassana Bhavana, encourages people to focus on the present, rather than on the anxieties of the past or future.

In the previous decade, however, it has become somewhat of a fad around the world. Particularly in the U.S., it is now everywhere: in schools, law firms, banks, governments, and even in the U.S. military. They are all offering mindfulness sessions to staff.

ARMAMENTS2016-08-312023-07-10

The UN and the Test Ban

Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball | Reproduced courtesy of Arms Control Association

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – Twenty years ago this month, in a major nonproliferation breakthrough, more than 158 nations came together to adopt a resolution at the United Nations in support of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Since then, the treaty has been signed by 183 states and has established a powerful taboo against nuclear test explosions, which for decades were used to perfect new and more deadly warhead designs and fueled the global nuclear arms race. Only one country – North Korea – has conducted nuclear test explosions in this century.

UN INSIDER2016-08-302023-07-10

Kazakh Contribution to Building a Nuke Free World: A Tribute

Viewpoint by Jayantha Dhanapala*

This is a slightly modified text of Jayantha Dhanapala’s address to the Astana Conference on August 28-29 to mark the 25th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.

ASTANA (IDN-INPS) – As the 550th anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate is celebrated we are fortunate, as invited participants of this important conference, to have the pleasure and privilege of being visitors in this ancient land – the Land of the Wanderers – heir to a centuries old traditional culture; a land which is at the same time a vibrant modern nation. It is a nation which since 1991 has been a trailblazer in international relations and in the specific area of building a nuclear-weapon world – the theme of our conference.

OPINION2016-08-302023-07-10

The Story of Peace in Colombia sans US-NATO Invasion

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – After 52 years of fighting between the Colombian government and FARC, the left wing, drug-dealing, Marxist, guerrilla grouping, there is a peace agreement.

I’ve always wondered why the U.S. and NATO never intervened militarily. They should have if they were to be consistent. Colombia has long been exhibit A for those who say, “Look what happens when the outside world doesn’t intervene – the local fires just burn brighter and fiercer”. (And it has been said likewise for Sri Lanka during its civil war.)