AIFF got suspended by FIFA under alleged undue influence from third parties. FIFA bans the AIFF on 16th August, 2022. The incident has jeopardized the country's bid to host the 2022 the U-17 Women's World Cup, scheduled to be held from October 11-30.According to FIFA the suspension was due to serious violation of the governing body's statutes. AIFF gets suspended by FIFA the first time in its 85-year history. The suspension came after former president Praful Patel stayed in office beyond his term, even when the Supreme Court ruled it invalid. A Committee Of Administrators (COA) was formed and the organization was put under it. There were some differences from the earlier agreed upon roadmap as per FIFA. Principle among them was the decision to include 36 eminent players in the electoral...
Read MoreDr. Kankana Debnath
Thailand Rocked by Series of Blasts : No Insurgent Group Claim Attacks
On Tuesday, southern provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala of Thailand was rocked by a series of blasts and arson attacks. Reportedly the attacks occurred mostly at small shops and gas stations. At least six civilians were reported injured. No insurgent group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.The Police Captain Sarayuth Kotchawong stated that shortly before midnight a suspect had entered a shop at a gas station in Yala’s Yaha district. He placed a black bag inside and warned employees to leave if they do not want to die. The workers left before the bag exploded a few minutes later. There were total 11 attacks at many 24-hour convenience stores and gas stations in the provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala. These provinces have Muslim majority population among whic...
Read MoreEnergy Conservation Amendment Bill : India Steps To Mitigate Climate Change
India has taken a landmark step to mitigate climate change and has reached another milestone on Tuesday, 9th August, 2022. The Lok Sabha, lower house of Parliament passed the Energy Conservation Amendment Bill (ECAB). The bill also promotes lowering carbon prints and more use of clean energy. The Energy Conservation Amendment Bill, 2022, is being lauded as a big step for India towards achieving climate goals. The bill is a major development towards attaining India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which are India's commitments towards climate change action under the Paris Agreement. The ECAB was proposed in the Lok Sabha on 3rd August and passed on 9th August. The bill aimed at ensuring greater use of renewable energy and enforcing penalties on industrial polluters for ca...
Read MoreThe US has hosted the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), named Exercise Fortune Guard 22 from August 8-12, 2022, in Honolulu, Hawaii. This is a part of the PSI’s Asia-Pacific exercise Rotation series. There are 21 countries which have participated in this counter-proliferation activities. What is PSI? PSI is a voluntary multilateral effort initiated by the then U.S. President George W. Bush in May 2003. It was formulated to strengthen the nonproliferation architecture. The PSI is designed to prohibit and increase coordination between states to disrupt trade in weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and related materials. Bush administration recognized in the 2002 National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation, that there was a need to ...
Read MoreChina Shelves Bilateral Talks with the US over Pelosi’s Taiwan Trip
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on 2nd August, 2022. China has declared on Friday, 5th August that it will be stopping all the bilateral dialogues with the US on major issues of climate change and military relations. China shelved bilateral talks with the US over Pelosi's Taiwan trip. Pelosi landed in Taipei on 2nd August. She was received warmly by President Tsai Ing-wen. Pelosi expressed the ‘unconditioned solidarity’ in safeguarding Taiwan’s democracy. She described Taiwan as an example of ‘flourishing democracy’ and an ‘inspiration’ for all freedom loving people around the world. The leaders discussed reaffirmation of each other’s support in promoting shared interests, including advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region. China’s Discontent China is extremely dissat...
Read MoreMaldives President In India: Diplomatic Waves Roughens In Indian Ocean
Maldives President visited India on 1 August, 2022, for four days. President Solih was accompanied by a high-level official delegation and a business delegation. President of Maldives had restricted and delegation level talks with Prime Minister Modi who hosted an official lunch for him. The Maldives President visited India by seeking good neighborhood policy by strengthening bilateral ties. He also met President Droupadi Murmu. Past Relations Indo-Maldives relationship changed with the leadership. India helped Maldives on maintaining security. India was one of the first nations to recognize Maldives‘ independence. Indian Army’s ‘Operation Cactus’ helped subdue a coup in Maldives by a pro-Eelam group in 1988. India has a naval fleet stationed in Maldives since 2009 at the latter’s re...
Read MoreDeath Of Democracy In Myanmar: Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s Failure As A Democratic Icon
Myanmar’s democracy is dying a slow death in the wake of the executions of four pro-democracy activists and political prisoners by the military JUNTA. Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s democratic failure is proved by these incidents which were a beacon of hope for the Burmese public. The JUNTA has further announced the extension of the ‘emergency rule’ till 2023. 1948 Post Colonial Scenario The military has always been in power in Myanmar since its independence from Britain in 1948. Myanmar had parliamentary democracy but there was influenced heavily by the military. There were widespread infringement of dissent, peaceful protest, fundamental rights. There was a military coup led by General Ne Win in 1962. He imposed a harsh authoritarian rule in Myanmar by suspending the constitution. Suu Kyi led d...
Read MoreJaishankar’s Tashkent Visit Ahead Of Shanghai Summit: Opportunities And Challenges For India
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit will be held on September 15-16, 2022 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar visited Tashkent on a two-day pre-SCO summit conclave. PM Modi will attend the summit in September. The foreign ministers will discuss extensively mutual cooperation in the expansion of the organization and exchange ideas on regional and global developments. Shanghai Cooperation Organization and India SCO is the largest regional organization in terms of geographical area, population and GDP. It was created on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China. The initial members were Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism. In the year 2017 SCO meeting in Astana, India and...
Read MoreShinzo Abe: Staunch Advocate For ‘Indo-Pacific’ From ‘Asia-Pacific’
Japan lost its longest-serving PM Shinzo Abe on 8th July 2022. He was assassinated while giving a speech in Nara, Japan. Abe has been a visionary in re-imaging the geopolitical design of the Indo-Pacific. He was the ‘architect’ of the Quad during its initial years and remained its key champion throughout its revival. Abe stressed the importance of joining the Pacific and Indian oceans creating a “broader Asia”, from which the present concept of Indo-Pacific evolved. Advocate for ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’ Shinzo Abe has been hailed as the pioneer of the concept of the “Indo-Pacific”. Before 2007 the area stretching all the way from Australia and US to China was known as Asia-Pacific. Abe feared the threat from China which was at the centre of this geopolitical landscape. He was the...
Read MoreI2U2 Summit: India’s Stance In First-Ever Virtual Meeting For Economic Cooperation
The I2U2 Summit meeting convened for the first time in October 2021 virtually. The member countries are India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. The main aim of the group is to cooperate on areas of joint economic investments and new initiatives in water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security. The group is deemed as the ‘Middle Eastern QUAD’. It has shown great potential as a regional endeavour. The group foundation was initiated by P.M Yair Lapid in 2021 in a meeting in Washington. The attempt was to gain control over the post-pandemic economic situation challenges. To quote him, "In the 21st century, challenges are local, but the solutions are global." The first formal I2U2 Summit meeting was held on 14 July 2022. Focus Areas and Aims Tar...
Read MoreThe G7 summit was held from 26-28th June, 2022 in Schloss Elmau, Bavarian Alps, Germany. Members countries are the leading industrial nations of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. There were special invitee countries from Asia, Africa , Latin America and Europena Union whose geopolitical significance is noteworthy in the preview of today’s global economy, politics, health and war and conflicts. India has been a constant invitee in G7 summits since 2014 which shows the growing importance of India in the global stage as a geopolitical player. G7 was formed in 1973 during the energy crisis when the finance ministers of the now member countries met to discuss a solution convened by the then US Secretary of Treasury George Shultz. The G7 is not based on any treaty an...
Read MoreIndo-Pacific Economic Framework: Dilemma, Doubts For India
US President Joe Biden visited Tokyo on May 23 ahead of the QUAD summit and launched the the Indo-Pacific Economic Partnership Framework (IPEF) along with 13 Indo-Pacific nations including India. The framework is launched to ‘balance’ the growing Chinese market. Biden has stressed on the fact that the future of 21st century will be pivoted on the Indo-Pacific which is a ‘free, open, connected, secured and prosperous’ region where the economic growth is inclusive and sustainable. India’s Perspective India joined the IPEF as it stands for an inclusive, open, secure and well-connected Indo-Pacific region for the purpose of sustainable growth of the region. Also it aims to counter China and its ‘aggressive expansion’ of trade along with, what US and its allies have alleged, to be unfair ...
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