This comprehensive guide encompasses 26 crucial responsibilities and steps to foster a secure and healthy working environment across diverse workplaces
Published Date – 10:55 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
This comprehensive guide encompasses 26 crucial responsibilities and steps to foster a secure and healthy working environment across diverse workplaces
Sharjah: The Sharjah Prevention and Safety Authority (SPSA) has made a significant announcement regarding the release of the “Occupational Safety and Health Officers Guide”.
This comprehensive guide encompasses 26 crucial responsibilities and steps to foster a secure and healthy working environment across diverse workplaces. This initiative underscores the Emirate of Sharjah’s steadfast commitment to occupational safety and health to empower occupational safety and health officers to ensure employees’ and visitors’ safety and well-being.
Sheikh Engineer Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of (SPSA), emphasised that the UAE prioritizes safeguarding the health and safety of its workforce within the workplace. This commitment is evidenced through the issuance of legislation and laws to protect the rights of employees and labourers.
The release of this guide is closely aligned with the roles and responsibilities of occupational safety and health officers, encompassing both governmental and private entities operating within the Emirate of Sharjah. It also encourages the adoption of a robust safety culture to promote synergy between safety measures and productivity.
Dr. Musab Al-Amin, Occupational Health and Safety Advisor at the Authority pointed out that the guide offers a comprehensive perspective on a broad spectrum of responsibilities entrusted to occupational safety and health officers. These duties range from risk identification and assessment to employee training and enhancements to the work environment. The guide comprehensively addresses all aspects of safety and health.
With the launch of the “Occupational Safety and Health Officers Guide,” Sharjah is paving the way towards a prosperous and secure future for labourers and organisations. This aligns with their vision of realising a secure community devoid of hazards.
The Authority has rolled out 50 safety and occupational health guides so far as part of its commitment to enhancing the Sharjah occupational safety and health system. These guides ensure the safety of activities within the Emirate by providing essential information for risk monitoring, analysis, and implementing necessary preventative measures.
Dozens of migrants were rescued from a small boat in difficulty off an eastern Aegean Sea island and a search was underway for one more person
Published Date – 11:14 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
Rescue teams and soldiers in wetsuits search the area and flood waters for a missing person after Bungalow homes were destroyed during heavy rains in the Igneada district of Kirklarel, on September 7, 2023. AFP Photo.
Athens: Dozens of migrants were rescued from a small boat in difficulty off an eastern Aegean Sea island and a search was underway for one more person, Greek authorities said Thursday, as arrivals to the southeastern European country increase.
The coast guard said 43 people were picked up from the small vessel southeast of Lesbos, and three patrol boats were seeking a woman reported by survivors as potentially missing.
Greece was once the main entry point to the European Union for people fleeing strife and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, but it has now been overtaken by Italy and Spain.
Nevertheless, according to United Nations data, about 19,700 people have arrived in Greece since January. That surpasses the total of almost 19,000 for all of 2022. About half arrived in July and August. Most cross to the eastern Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast.
The coast guard said Thursday that, in addition to the people picked up off Lesbos, 50 migrants were rescued from small boats in the eastern Aegean over the previous 24 hours in three separate incidents.
Authorities also arrested one man Thursday off the eastern island of Kos, on suspicion of having smuggled a group of migrants over from Turkey in a speedboat. A coast guard statement said the suspect rammed a patrol boat as he tried to escape to Turkish waters and was detained after his boat sank.
Large numbers of people are arrested every year on charges of smuggling migrants in boats from Turkey. But human rights organizations have accused Greek authorities of unfairly viewing migrants steering the small vessels as members of organized smuggling rings.
On Tuesday, the Legal Center Lesbos group, which provides free legal assistance to migrants, said a court on the island awarded compensation to an Afghan man wrongly jailed for migrant smuggling.
The organization said the migrant it had represented was acquitted on appeal in 2022 after spending nearly three years in prison. It said Monday’s court ruling awarded him nearly 16,000 euros ($17,000) for the time he was imprisoned.
“It should not be forgotten that this case is only one of thousands, as people charged or convicted of smuggling make up the second largest prison population in Greece,” LCL said in a statement. “Most will never be compensated for this time in prison, even if eventually acquitted.”
Experienced caver Mark Dickey, 40, suddenly became ill during an expedition in the Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains
Published Date – 11:20 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
In this screen grab from video, American caver Mark Dickey, 40, talks to camera next to a colleague inside the Morca cave near Anamur, southern Turkey, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. (Turkish Government Directorate of Communications via AP)
Istanbul: Rescue experts from across Europe converged on a cave in Turkey on Thursday, launching an operation to save an American researcher who became trapped around 1,000 meters below the surface after suffering gastrointestinal bleeding.
Experienced caver Mark Dickey, 40, suddenly became ill during an expedition in the Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains, the European Association of Cave Rescuers said.
Dickey, who had been bleeding and losing fluid from his stomach, is doing better, has stopped vomiting and has eaten for the first time in days, according to a New Jersey-based cave rescue group he’s affiliated with. It’s unclear what caused his medical issue.
The New Jersey Initial Response Team said Dickey is “very sick” and is located about 1,000 meters below the surface. The rescue will require many teams and constant medical care, the group said.
Communication with Dickey takes about five to seven hours and is carried out by runners, who go from Dickey to the camp below the surface where wire communications to talk to the surface have been set up.
The New Jersey group says the cave is cold — about 4-6 C (39-42 F).
Dinko Novosel, a Croatian cave rescuer who is head of the European Association of Cave Rescuers, said it will be a challenge to successfully rescue Dickey.
“This is very complex cave rescue operation,” Novosel said. “Until now, there is no case in the world where we had a bigger cave rescue operation.” The operation to bring him up from the depths involves rescue teams from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Turkey.
Dickey experienced the gastrointestinal bleeding during his descent into the cave and he’s unable to hoist himself out on his own, the European Cave Rescue Association said on its website.
The group described Dickey as “a highly trained caver and a cave rescuer himself” who is well known as a cave researcher, or speleologist, from his participation in many international expeditions. He is secretary of the association’s medical committee.
Experts say the rescue operation could take days or even weeks depending on conditions.
Dickey was on an expedition mapping the 1,276-meter deep Morca cave system for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association (ASPEG) when he ran into trouble about 1,000 meters down, according to Yusuf Ogrenecek of the Speleological Federation of Turkey.
Ogrenecek told The Associated Press later Thursday that Dickey’s condition had stabilized and was improving. He said the American was in “good spirits” and doctors would decide if Dickey can leave the cave on a stretcher or under his own power.
Turkish disaster relief agency AFAD and rescue team UMKE are working with Turkish and international cavers on a plan to hoist Dickey out of the cave system, the rescue association said.
The rescue effort currently involves more than 170 people, including doctors, paramedics who are tending to Dickey and experienced cavers, Ogrenecek said, adding that the rescue operation could take up to two to three weeks.
A team of rescuers from Italy’s National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Team will be flying to Turkey on Thursday night. A total of around 50 rescuers will be at the entrance of the cave early Friday ready to participate in the operation directed by Turkish authorities.
Marton Kovacs of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service said that the cave is being prepared for his safe extraction. Narrow passages are being widened to accommodate a stretcher, and the danger of falling rocks is also being addressed.
The rescue teams hope that the extraction can begin on Saturday or Sunday. Kovacs said that lifting Dickey will likely take several days, and that several bivouac points are being prepared along the way so that Dickey and rescue teams can rest.
The cave has been divided into several sections, with each country’s rescue team being responsible for one section.
The Hungarian Cave Rescue Service, made up of volunteer rescuers, was the first to arrive at Dickey’s location and provided emergency blood transfusions to stabilize his condition. An additional Hungarian team of 15-20 rescuers will leave Hungary on Thursday evening on a military plane provided by the government and arrive at the rescue site on Friday morning, Kovacs said.
Six mountain rescuers, including two medics, have left for Antalya to help in the rescue operation, Jerzy Siodlak, the head of Poland’s mountain rescue service, GOPR, said Wednesday on Radio RMF24.
Thirteen other rescuers from southern Poland are also ready to join the rescue operation, GOPR authorities said. Siodlak noted the operation will be a challenging one given the condition of the American and the need to keep him medically fit for the rescue operation in difficult conditions.
Suu Kyi, 78, who was arrested in February 2021 when the army seized power from her elected government, fell ill late last month
Published Date – 11:28 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
Then Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi watches the vaccination of health workers at a hospital in Naypyitaw, Myanmar on Jan. 27, 2021. AP Photo
Bangkok: Myanmar’s imprisoned former leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is suffering from symptoms of low blood pressure including dizziness and loss of appetite, but has been denied treatment at qualified facilities outside the prison system, a medical worker said Thursday.
Suu Kyi, 78, who was arrested in February 2021 when the army seized power from her elected government, fell ill late last month, said the medical worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of being punished by the military authorities.
Separately, a military officer who also insisted on anonymity confirmed a report by the BBC’s Myanmar-language service that Suu Kyi was suffering a severe toothache that left her unable to eat and caused vomiting. However, the ruling military council’s spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, said Suu Kyi was in good health, the report said.
The BBC said Suu Kyi’s son Kim Aris, who lives in Britain, responded to the report with a text saying, “To deny a sick prisoner access to recommended medical care is callous and cruel.” Phone calls by the AP to Myanmar‘s prison department for comment went unanswered.
Suu Kyi is serving a combined 27-year sentence after being convicted of a string of criminal charges that her supporters and independent analysts say were concocted to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power.
She initially received a total sentence of 33 years but Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, granted her clemency in five cases and cut her sentence by six years as part of a broader amnesty for more than 7,000 prisoners to mark a Buddhist religious holiday in August.
Suu Kyi receives full-time medical care from a doctor assigned to the main prison in the capital, Naypyitaw, whose duties included taking her blood pressure at least three times a day when she fell ill last month, the medical worker said.
She also receives a monthly medical checkup from more senior physicians from the military hospital in Naypyitaw.
Not only are details about Suu Kyi’s health unclear, but even her exact whereabouts are not publicly known.
There were reports in late July that Suu Kyi might be transferred from Naypyitaw prison to house arrest as part of the clemency action, but the military authorities have not confirmed that.
Suu Kyi’s lawyers have not been able to meet with her this year, said a legal official who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to release information about her cases. Her lawyers have been forbidden to reveal information about her by a gag order issued in late 2021.
They have applied five times for permission to meet with Suu Kyi since they last saw her in person in December but have not received any response, though they are allowed to deliver food and other essentials for her to the prison, the legal official said.
The official said her legal team filed arguments to the Supreme Court on Tuesday asking it to accept six special appeals filed on Suu Kyi’s behalf to further reduce her sentences. The six cases include allegations of abuse of authority in renting parcels of land and property in Naypyitaw and Yangon, the country’s biggest city, at below-market prices for a foundation named after her mother that she chaired.
Appeals of Suu Kyi’s convictions are still being processed on charges including election fraud, breaching the official secrets acts and six other corruption allegations, legal officials have said.
Pakistan military’s top brass on Thursday resolved to defeat militants and their abettors working for the “hostile forces” to harm the country
Published Date – 11:31 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
Pakistan military’s top brass on Thursday resolved to defeat militants and their abettors working for the “hostile forces” to harm the country
Islamabad:Pakistan military’s top brass on Thursday resolved to defeat militants and their abettors working for the “hostile forces” to harm the country.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir presided over the 259th Corps Commanders’ Conference (CCC) held at GHQ, Rawalpindi, according to a statement by the military.
The commanders were briefed on the prevalent geo-strategic environment, challenges to national security and their own strategy in response to evolving threats.
They “resolved that all terrorists, their facilitators and abettors, working on the behest of hostile forces to destabilise Pakistan will be dealt with the full might of the state.”
The army further stated that the participants reiterated the Pakistan Army’s resolve to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan against all kinds of direct and indirect threats.
They “reaffirmed that inimical propagandists’ desperate attempts to cause a wedge between the state institutions and public are indicative of their mounting desperation and will only result in more humiliation of such elements”.
The meeting reiterated to continue full support of ongoing efforts in uplifting socioeconomic growth under the umbrella of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and wholeheartedly assisting the government in curbing all illegal activities which hamper economic stability, growth and investors’ confidence.
The need for speedy development of the economic potential of Newly Merged Districts (NMDs) and border districts of Balochistan for sustainable peace and growth was also emphasised.
The embassy said that Balwinder will be leaving for India shortly and it is the result of constant efforts of the embassy
Published Date – 11:36 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
The embassy said that Balwinder will be leaving for India shortly and it is the result of constant efforts of the embassy
Riyadh: Balwinder Singh, an Indian national who was stranded in Saudi Arabia, will be leaving for India, the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia informed on Thursday.
The embassy said that Balwinder will be leaving for India shortly and it is the result of constant efforts of the embassy.
It also thanked the Saudi authorities for their constant support.
The Embassy is happy to announce that with constant efforts of the Embassy, Shri Balwinder Singh is leaving for India shortly. The Embassy will extend thanks to Saudi authorities for their constant support. Here Balwinder Singh is with Embassy officials at Riyadh Airport, the embassy said on X (formerly Twitter).
As per reports, Balwinder Singh was stranded in Saudi Arabia, as he was facing a criminal case.
Whitaker’s nomination had been expected for months, and Biden’s announcement was praised by several industry and labor groups
Published Date – 11:36 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 17, 2015. AP Photo.
Washington: President Joe Biden will nominate a former Obama administration official to lead the Federal Aviation Administration after his first choice withdrew March after running into opposition from Republican senators.
The White House said Thursday that Biden will nominate Michael G. Whitaker, a former deputy administrator at the FAA, and currently the chief operating officer of a Hyundai affiliate working to develop an air taxi aircraft.
Whitaker’s nomination had been expected for months, and Biden’s announcement was praised by several industry and labor groups.
The FAA, which regulates airline safety and manages the nation’s airspace, has been run by back-to-back acting administrators since March 2022.
The FAA faces a number of challenges including a shortage of air traffic controllers, aging technology, and alarm over close calls between planes at major airports. In addition, Congress is deliberating over legislation that will direct the agency’s operations for the next five years.
Whitaker worked as a lawyer for TWA, which was absorbed by American Airlines, spent 15 years at United Airlines where he became a senior vice president and oversaw international and regulatory affairs, then moved to InterGlobe, a travel company in India.
Whitaker was deputy FAA administrator – a job that does not require Senate approval – from 2013 to 2016. He is currently the chief commercial officer for Supernal, a Hyundai subsidiary that is working on an electric-powered air taxi — which would need FAA certification to fly in the United States.
The White House said Whitaker holds a private-pilot license.
Last year, Biden nominated Denver International Airport CEO Phillip Washington, but he withdrew in March after his nomination stalled in the Senate Commerce Committee. Republicans and independent Kyrsten Sinema argued that Washington lacked adequate aviation experience — his background is mostly in city transit systems, having held the Denver airport job only since mid-2021.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who led the GOP opposition to Biden’s first pick, gave a noncommittal statement about the second choice.
“We must carefully evaluate Mike Whitaker’s qualifications, experience, and temperament to determine whether he is the right person to lead the agency at this critical juncture,” Cruz said.
The FAA has lacked a Senate-confirmed leader since early last year, when Stephen Dickson, who was chosen by President Donald Trump, quit midway through his five-year term.
Since then, the agency has been run by three successive acting administrators. The first, Billy Nolen, who left FAA in June to join another air taxi company, Archer Aviation, praised Whitaker’s nomination in a recent interview. “I can’t think of a better choice,” he said. “He will do an amazing job.”
Nicholas Calio, president of the trade group Airlines for America, said Whitaker has extensive experience including on modernizing the air traffic system. He said Whitaker appreciates “the collaborative partnership between industry and government” to keep air travel safe.
Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, urged the Senate to confirm Biden’s pick quickly. “Whitaker has the experience to step into the role and immediately lead us forward,” she said.
Vladislav Klyushin was convicted in February of charges including wire fraud and securities fraud after a two-week trial in federal court in Boston
Published Date – 11:42 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
Vladislav Klyushin was convicted in February of charges including wire fraud and securities fraud after a two-week trial in federal court in Boston
Boston: A wealthy Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison for his role in a nearly $100 million stock market cheating scheme that relied on secret earnings information stolen through the hacking of U.S. computer networks.
Vladislav Klyushin, who ran a Moscow-based information technology company that did work for the highest levels of the Russian government, was convicted in February of charges including wire fraud and securities fraud after a two-week trial in federal court in Boston.
Authorities say he personally pocketed more than $33 million in the scheme, which involved breaking into computer systems to steal earnings-related filings for hundreds of companies — including Microsoft and Tesla — and then using that insider information to make lucrative trades.
Klyushin, 42, has been jailed in the U.S. since his extradition in 2021. He was arrested in Switzerland after arriving on a private jet and just before he and his party were about to board a helicopter to whisk them to a nearby ski resort. After he completes his sentence, he’s expected to be deported to Russia.
Klyushin, who walked into the courtroom in handcuffs, sat at a table with his attorneys and listened to an interpreter through headphones as lawyers argued over the sentence. At the advice of his attorney, he declined to address the judge before she sentenced him.
Four alleged co-conspirators — including a Russian military intelligence officer who’s also been charged with meddling in the 2016 presidential election — remain at large, and even though prosecutors allege in a court filing that they’re still “likely sitting at their keyboards,” they acknowledge that they four will likely never be extradited to the U.S. to face charges.
Prosecutors had sought 14 years in prison, saying a stiff punishment was crucial to send a message to overseas cybercriminals. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Seth Kosto told the judge that Klyushin has accepted no responsibility for his crimes and that once he serves his sentence, he’ll return to Russia, where he is a “powerful person” with “powerful friends in the highest echelons of Russian society.” “Hackers will be watching this sentence to decide whether it’s wroth engaging in this kind of conduct,” Kosto said.
Prosecutors say the hackers stole employees’ usernames and passwords for two U.S.-based vendors that publicly traded companies use to make filings through the Securities and Exchange Commission. They then broke into the vendors’ computer systems to get filings before they became public, prosecutors said.
Armed with insider information, they were able to cheat the stock market, buying shares of a company that was about to release positive financial results, and selling shares of a company that was about to post poor financial results, according to prosecutors. Many of the earnings reports were downloaded via a computer server in Boston, prosecutors said.
Klyushin has denied involvement in the scheme. His attorney told jurors that he was financially successful long before he began trading stocks and that he continued trading in many of the same companies even after access to the alleged insider information was shut off because the hacks were discovered.
Defense attorney Maksim Nemtsev called prosecutors’ prison request “draconian,” adding that there is “no reason to think that he would would risk the well-being of his family again by committing crimes.” His lawyers asked the court for leniency, saying Klyushin had no prior criminal history and has already been seriously punished. He spent months in solitary confinement in Switzerland while awaiting extradition to the U.S. and his company has lost multimillion dollar contracts, his attorneys wrote.
Klyushin owned a Moscow-based information technology company that purported to provide services to detect vulnerabilities in computer systems. It counted among its clients the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ministry of Defense, according to prosecutors.
Klyushin’s close friend and an alleged co-conspirator in the case is military officer Ivan Ermakov, who was among 12 Russians charged in 2018 with hacking into key Democratic Party email accounts, including those belonging to Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman, John Podesta, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Ermakov, who worked for Klyushin’s company, remains at large.
Prosecutors have not alleged that Klyushin was involved in the election interference.
Speaking to media, Saran said he believes President Putin’s absence at the G20 Summit has nothing to do with his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi or India
Published Date – 11:52 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
File Photo
New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s absence from the G20 Summit, to be held under India’s Presidency, on September 9-10, is basically a consequence of Moscow’s current tensions with the G7, Former Deputy National Advisor and Ambassador Pankaj Saran said on Thursday.
Speaking to ANI, Saran said he believes President Putin’s absence at the G20 Summit has nothing to do with his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi or India.
The G20 Summit under India’s Presidency is scheduled to take place at the state-of-the-art Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi on September 9-10.
In response to a question regarding the impact of the absence of four Heads of State in the G20 Summit in New Delhi, Pankaj Saran said, “You see, ideally you would like everyone to attend, but sometimes circumstances do not permit every leader to attend.
And sometimes you may not get 100 per cent attendance, which is all right.” Notably, the G7 had suspended Russia’s membership of the group due to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. In the wake of this, the planned G8 summit that was to be held in June 2014 in the Russian city of Sochi was also cancelled.
The Russian Foreign Minister on August 31 had informed that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the G20 Summit in India next week after President Vladimir Putin announced his plan to skip the leaders’ Summit.
Saran further said, “I know, for example, there is some concern here about the absence of Russia and China. But, on the case of Russia, I just want to clarify that I feel my personal opinion is that the Russian decision of the President not to come has nothing to do with their relationship with our Prime Minister or with India. It is basically a consequence of their current tensions with the G7.
And that is why he is not coming.” Earlier in August, PM Narendra Modi held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which the two leaders reviewed progress in bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual concern.
During the telephonic conversation, Putin conveyed his inability to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi and informed that Russia would be represented by the country’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a Prime Minister’s Office release said. Expressing an understanding of Russia’s decision, PM Modi thanked Putin for Russia’s consistent support to all initiatives under India’s G20 Presidency, it said.
According to the statement, released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov is expected to attend two plenary sessions: on September 9, there will be the One Planet session on sustainable development and promoting steady economic growth, and on September 10, the Foreign Minister will speak at the One Future session highlighting key matters of promoting democracy and strengthening the role of the countries belonging to the global majority within global economic governance institutions, as well as achieving digital transformation.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar had stated that the absence of President Vladimir Putin and President Xi Jinping will not cast a shadow on the G20 Summit.
He added that there have been presidents or Prime Ministers who for some reason have chosen not to come for global meetings and that country’s position is reflected by the representative present on the occasion.
Not really. I think at different points of time in G20 there have been some presidents or prime ministers who for whatever reason, have chosen not to come themselves but that country, and that country’s position is obviously reflected by whoever is the representative on that occasion. So, you had some occasions where you had a president or two, sometimes three, who have not themselves come. My sense from talking to the ministers, certainly, and I know the Sherpas are in touch with each other, they are right now trying to hammer out the final document. I think everybody is coming with a great deal of seriousness,†Jaishankar told ANI.
Speaking about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s absence from the G20 Summit, Pankaj Saran said that his absence is going to be his loss. He further expressed hope that China will attend the Summit as “an equal, constructive and a positive participant of G20.”
Pankaj Saran said “In so far as the Chinese case is concerned, the President should have come. I think his absence is going to be his loss, but he is sending his prime minister. So we will see. We hope that China will participate as an equal, constructive and a positive participant of G20 because China’s role in the global economy is important.” He further said, “So, I don’t think we should read too much into the attendance, because on the one hand, you have some people not coming, but on the other hand, you have a lot of other invitees who are coming, the guests of the Indian presidency, such as Mauritius, Bangladesh and a few other countries.
So it’s a balance. And most important is whether we can actually address the problems that we face today in the global economy and whether India can provide the solutions to these problems. That, I think, is the main thing.” Saran said that India’s G20 Presidency from day one has been Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam which he noted wants to soothe and reduce global tensions. He said that India wants to bring together everyone as the world at the current time is badly fractured and called it a “tense world.”
“The Indian presidency from day one, we have said is one world, one earth, one future, or Vasudeva Kudnamakam, which is we want to soothe and reduce global tensions. We want to bring everyone together because the world today is badly fractured. It is a tense world. The current international order is under strain, very severe strain. The global economic outlook is not good. So there are so many challenges. If this presidency and this summit can help to contribute to improving the overall atmosphere then we have done our job,” Pankaj Saran said. On September 4, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maon Ning announced that Premier Li Qiang will lead a delegation to the G20 Summit in India. She said that Li Qiang during the Summit will share China’s views and propositions on G20 cooperation and promote greater solidarity and cooperation among G20 nations.
While addressing a press conference on September 4, Mao Ning said, “As has been announced just now, Premier Li Qiang will lead a delegation to the New Delhi G20 Summit in India. The G20 is an important forum for international economic cooperation. China has all along attached great importance to and taken an active part in G20 events.” She further said, “During this year’s G20 Summit, Premier Li Qiang will share China’s views and propositions on G20 cooperation, and promote greater solidarity and cooperation among G20 countries and joint response to global economic and development challenges.
We are ready to work with all parties to make the G20 Summit a success and contribute to the steady recovery of the global economy and sustainable development.” India is hosting the G20 Summit in New Delhi from September 9-10. India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1 last year and about 200 meetings related to G20 were organized in 60 cities across the country.
Hotels have been booked across Delhi to accommodate world leaders. Preparations and security checks are underway in the national capital for the upcoming G20 summit. World leaders, including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, among others, will be in India to attend the G20 summit.
The 18th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit in New Delhi will be a culmination of all the G20 processes and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials, and civil societies.
A G20 Leaders Declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the Summit in New Delhi, stating Leaders commitment towards the priorities discussed and agreed upon during the respective ministerial and working group meetings. The next G20 presidency is going to be taken over by Brazil in 2024, followed by South Africa in 2025.
Indonesia’s president issued a stark warning after wrapping up a summit of Southeast Asian countries that was joined by China, the United States and Russia
Updated On – 11:52 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo delivers his speech during the closing ceremony of the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Jakarta on September 7, 2023. (Photo by Adek BERRY / AFP)
Jakarta: Indonesia’s president issued a stark warning Thursday after wrapping up a summit of Southeast Asian countries that was joined by China, the United States and Russia, saying “we will be destroyed” unless conflicts are resolved.
The three-day summit by leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with Asian and Western counterparts in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta spotlighted major conflicts in Asia with calls for peaceful resolutions and restraint.
Myanmar’s bloody civil strife and the South China Sea territorial disputes, which have dragged on without any solution in sight, figured high on the agenda.
Concerns were also raised over the U.S.-China rivalry in the region, although no one was specifically called out as Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris were in attendance. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also took part.
“I can guarantee you, if we are not able to manage differences, we will be destroyed,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who led the 10-nation ASEAN this year, told a news conference after the summit talks.
“If we join the currents of rivalry, we will be destroyed,” he added.
Widodo, who turned over the leadership of the regional group to Laos during the Jakarta meetings, characterized ASEAN as a regional peacemaker — or a safe house — that the world sorely needs.
Founded in 1967 in the Cold War era, the ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Though long derided as a toothless talkshop, AESAN has been credited for its ability to convene rival world powers in closed-door meetings that provide a chance for dialogue and manage to extract public commitments for peaceful resolution of disputes.
In an ASEAN leaders’ meeting with China, Japan and South Korea in Jakarta, Li underscored the need to oppose “a new Cold War,” although Beijing has long been condemned for its increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea and against Taiwan.
“To keep differences under control, what is essential now is to oppose picking sides, bloc confrontation and a new Cold War, and ensure that disagreements and disputes among countries are properly handled,” Li said.
The ASEAN leaders renewed their call for the peaceful resolution of long-seething territorial conflicts in the South China Sea in their post-conference communique, which also welcomed progress in long-delayed negotiations by their regional bloc and China to come up with a nonaggression “code of conduct” to avoid occasional spats from degenerating into a major conflict in the disputed waters.
The contested waters have become a delicate fault line in the U.S.-China rivalry. Washington does not lay any claim to the strategic waterway, a key trade global route, but has deployed its Navy ships and fighter jets to challenge China’s expansive claims and uphold what it calls freedom of navigation and overflight in the offshore region.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who also met the ASEAN leaders separately on Thursday, renewed an urgent call to the international community to seek a unified strategy to end the worsening crisis in Myanmar.
Declining financial aid should be boosted to previous levels to enable the world body to respond to an “enormous tragedy,” he said and added that the situation in Myanmar has further deteriorated since he met with ASEAN leaders in a 2022 summit.
Guterres again called on the crisis-wracked country’s military-installed government to immediately free all political prisoners and “open the door to a return to democratic rule.” Myanmar army seized power on Feb. 1, 2021, from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, arresting her and top members of her governing National League for Democracy party, which had won a landslide victory for a new term in a November 2020 general election.
Security forces suppressed widespread opposition to the military takeover with lethal force, killing thousands of civilians and arresting thousands of others who engaged in nonviolent protests. The savage crackdown triggered armed resistance in much of the impoverished country.
Guterres also renewed his alarm over other issues being aggravated by rivalries between and among major powers.
“Our world is stretched to the breaking point by a cascade of crises: from the worsening climate emergency and escalating wars and conflicts, to growing poverty, widening inequalities and rising geopolitical tensions,” Guterres said.
