Election Commissioner Arun Goel is leading a three-member delegation to Maldives to observe the conduct of ongoing Presidential Election
Published Date – 02:40 PM, Mon – 11 September 23
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New Delhi: At the invitation of the Election Commission of Maldives, Election Commissioner Arun Goel is leading a three-member delegation to Maldives to observe the conduct of ongoing Presidential Election, said a statement from Election Commission of India.
The first round of the election was conducted on 9th September 2023 while the a second round of elections will be conducted on September 30 this year. There are eight candidates in the fray. The election was held as per the Constitution of Maldives, 2008, Election (General) Act, 2008, Presidential Elections Act, 2008 and Presidential Elections Rules and Regulations, 2008.
The counting of the votes was done on the same day i.e., 9 th September 2023 and as per the result none of the candidates could get over 50% of votes, said the statement further. The delegation led by Election Commissioner Arun Goel included Ajay Bhadoo, Deputy Election Commissioner and Pramod Kumar Sharma, Principal Secretary, visited 22 polling booths located in Male and Hulhumale and observed the polling process, the system and procedure of voter registration and identification, the arrangements of booths for polling and noted many initiatives taken by the EC of Maldives, added the statement further. International observers from other countries and organizations also participated in the election observation programme.
According to their election laws, there will be a second round of elections on September 30 this year to be contested only by the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes in the first election.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has expressed the Islamic Republic’s readiness to negotiate last year’s draft agreement aimed at salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and removing illegal US sanctions.
Amir-Abdollahian made the remark at a meeting of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s senior officials with a group of university professors of political science and international relations in the capital Tehran on Tuesday.
Amir-Abdollahian underscored the current administration’s efforts to neutralize Western-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic while keeping the window open for negotiations to remove the illegal US bans.
“Today, we are not at the point of reaching a temporary agreement, and what took place was the dignified reclamation of the Iranian nation’s assets in two phases from the United Kingdom and South Korea,” the top Iranian diplomat said, referring to the recent release of the Islamic Republic’s frozen funds in the two countries.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to negotiate the September [draft] document for the realization of the rights of the Iranian nation and the removal of sanctions, while maintaining its red lines,” he added.
But Iran has not stopped there and at the same time, it has seriously put the “neutralization of sanctions” on the agenda, he added.
Amir-Abdollahian also pointed to Iran’s growing cooperation with regional and international organizations, saying, “The membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS is a big step that bespeaks the high status and capacities of the Islamic Republic among the world’s emerging economies.”
The United States, under former president Donald Trump, abandoned the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated crippling sanctions that the agreement had lifted.
The talks to revive the 2015 deal kicked off in the Austrian capital city of Vienna in April 2021, with the intention of removing anti-Iran sanctions and examining the US seriousness in rejoining the JCPOA.
The discussions, however, have been at a standstill since August 2022 due to Washington’s insistence on its hard-nosed position of not removing all the sanctions that were slapped on Tehran by the previous US administration.
The European Union, which acts as the coordinator of the talks, forwarded at the time a fresh proposal to the Islamic Republic in order to break the impasse that had affected the negotiations due to American procrastination.
Iran submitted its response to the EU draft proposal on August 15, 2022, a week after the latest round of talks wrapped up in Vienna.
After submitting its response to the EU proposal, Tehran urged Washington to show “realism and flexibility” in order to reach an agreement. However, it took almost ten days for the Biden administration to submit its response to Iran’s comments on the EU draft.
Iran blamed the failure of JCPOA’s revival on the procrastination of the American side in providing an answer and said moving to the next stage would have been possible had the US government shown serious willpower and acted responsibly in its promises.
“Forty-one unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed near the settlements of Kodema, Lipovoye, and Klenovoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Nikolayevka in the Kherson Region, and Ocheretovatoye in the Zaporizhzhia Region,” it said, according to TASS news agency.
Apart from that, according to the ministry, air defense systems intercepted four HIMARS rockets.
According to the ministry, as many as 467 planes, 248 helicopters, 6,669 unmanned aerial vehicles, 437 air defense systems, 11,793 tanks and other armored vehicles, 1,150 multiple rocket launch systems, 6,346 artillery systems and mortars, and 12,927 special military cars have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation.
French President Emmanuel Macron has committed to stand by Bangladesh. Macron recalled France’s support for Bangladesh in the past, including the Liberation War of Bangladesh
Published Date – 03:00 PM, Mon – 11 September 23
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Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron has committed to stand by Bangladesh. Macron recalled France’s support for Bangladesh in the past, including the Liberation War of Bangladesh, Bangladesh-based The Daily Star reported.
He further said, “France will be again on your side.” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called Macron a “breath of fresh air in international politics,” according to The Daily Star report.
Sheikh Hasina said, “Your push for strategic autonomy largely aligns with our own foreign policy dictum Friendship to all, malice towards none given to us by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.”
The two leaders made the address at a banquet hosted by Sheikh Hasina in honour of Emmanuel Macron in Dhaka on Sunday. Emmanuel Macron and Sheikh Hasina enjoyed a cultural show by performers featured by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and Bangladesh Academy of Fine Arts and dances by Chakma, Marma and Tripura communities.
Both leaders recalled the contribution of French intellectual Andre Malraux during the Liberation War in 1971. French President Macron said, “This history binds us together despite adversaries.” He hailed Bangladesh’s “tremendous success” over the years on the basis of democratic principles and the rule of law at the core of the country’s identity. Macron stated that Bangladesh is progressively gaining its place on the world stage with science, trade and culture.
“You can count our full support in order to convince the countries mainly responsible for the emission of greenhouse gases. But also to help you, France will be again on your side,” French President Emmanuel Macron said as per The Daily Star report. Sheikh Hasina said it was her great pleasure and honour to host Macron. She recalled the warm hospitality she received during her visit to France in November 2021.
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina said, “Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib’s call for freedom echoed with global intellectuals like Andre Marlaux who mobilised a number of young people to fight for our cause.” “France holds a special place in our hearts and imagination,” she added. She expressed confidence that the ties between the two nations can move to strategic engagements as Bangladesh and France are opening up new areas of cooperation in strategic assets and advanced technologies.
“Our partnership can be a meaningful force to address the multiple crises of wars, climate change and cost-of-living that our world is facing,” Sheikh Hasina said. She further said, “Both of our nations are extremely proud of our cuisines, culture and linguistic heritage. It is time to promote further interface and fusion between our two cultures to bring our two peoples closer to each other.” Macron visited Dhanmondi Lake and interacted with the popular folk band Joler Gaan.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Bangladesh for a bilateral visit. He received a warm welcome upon his arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh-based Dhaka Tribune reported. It is the first time a French President has visited Bangladesh since 1990 when French President Francois Mitterrand’s Dhaka visit in 1990.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina personally greeted Macron at the airport. A 19-gun salute was accorded to Macron after his warm reception at the VVIP terminal.
Macron was accorded a guard of honour and the national anthems of Bangladesh and France were played during this ceremony, Dhaka Tribune report. Subsequently, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina introduced her cabinet and other dignitaries to the French President. Meanwhile, Macron introduced his delegation to the Bangladesh PM.
From storms to wildfires, it’s already been a record catastrophic year for weather and climate disasters across the nation, and we’ve still got nearly four months to go, USA Today reports.
As of Monday, the US has endured a whopping 23 separate weather and climate disasters that have each led to at least $1 billion in damage, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday.
That breaks the record of 22 set in 2020.
“These record-breaking numbers, during a year that is on track to be one of the hottest ever, are sobering and the latest confirmation of a worsening trend in costly disasters, many of which bear the undeniable fingerprints of climate change,” said Rachel Cletus of the Union of Concerned Scientists, which was not involved in the NOAA report, in a statement.
More than 250 people have been killed in the disasters, NOAA said. The total cost of these events exceeds $57.6 billion.
From 1980 to 2022, the annual number of billion-dollar disasters, adjusted for inflation, averaged 8.1. Over the past five years, the U.S. has averaged 18 billion-dollar disasters a year.
Overall, NOAA said the U.S. has sustained 371 separate weather and climate disasters since 1980 where overall damage/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (including consumer price index adjustment to 2023). The total cost of these 371 events exceeds $2.615 trillion.
With female lawyers and judges excluded from working or practicing law, women and girls have less ability to obtain legal representation and access to justice, the report stated.
Updated On – 04:53 PM, Tue – 12 September 23
Islamabad: The Taliban have waged a systematic assault on the freedom of Afghanistan‘s people, including women and girls experiencing “immeasurably cruel” oppression, the UN’s human rights chief said Tuesday.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that human rights are in a state of collapse in Afghanistan more than two years after the Taliban returned to power and stripped back institutional protections at all levels. He urged UN member states to help fill the void.
“The shocking level of oppression of Afghan women and girls is immeasurably cruel,” Turk said during a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Afghanistan has set a devastating precedent as the only country in the world where women and girls are denied access to secondary and higher education. The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, as US and NATO forces withdrew from the country after more than two decades of war. They initially promised a more moderate approach than during they during their previous rule from 1996 to 2001 but gradually reimposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.
Along with excluding girls and women from education beyond sixth grade, most forms of employment and many public spaces, the Taliban have harassed or beaten women at checkpoints for failing to wear a hijab, or Islamic headscarf, according to a report Turk presented to the Human Rights Council.
They have ordered women to return home from markets for shopping without a male guardian.
With female lawyers and judges excluded from working or practicing law, women and girls have less ability to obtain legal representation and access to justice, the report stated.
The Taliban edicts have prompted an international outcry. But officials, including the supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, have told other countries to stop interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.
Nobody from the Taliban was immediately available for comment on the UN report.
In an interview in Tehran with the US TV channel NBC NEWS, President Ebrahim Raeisi suggested that the Americans held in Iran would be released soon, saying that the US-Iran prisoner exchange deal would be completed in “due time” and that the American detainees were in “very healthy” condition.
As part of the recent agreement between Iran and the United States to exchange prisoners, Tehran will be granted access to the roughly $6 billion in Iranian oil revenues that were blocked in South Korean banks because of US sanctions.
According to the American TV channel website, Raeisi said that Iran would have “authority” over how the funds would be spent.
“This money belongs to the Iranian people, the Iranian government, so the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide what to do with this money,” he said.
Asked if the money would be used for other purposes apart from humanitarian needs, Raeisi said, “Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people need, so this money will be budgeted for those needs…”
Iran has said that it has done the prisoner swap to release its own prisoners illegally held in the United States. As per the prisoner swap, Washington will release five Iranian citizens held illegally in the US.
The crypto space saw a shocking $20.6 billion worth of illicit transactions last year, the highest figure in the market’s history.
Published Date – 06:58 PM, Tue – 12 September 23
New Delhi: The cryptocurrency market witnessed nearly $70 billion worth of illicit transactions in the last five years, a new report said on Tuesday.
According to data presented by AltIndex.com, illicit crypto transactions increased by 308 per cent since 2017. The crypto space saw a shocking $20.6 billion worth of illicit transactions last year, the highest figure in the market’s history.
The illicit crypto activity includes transactions tied to stolen funds, scams, ransomware, human trafficking, terrorism financing, and dark net markets. In 2017, the crypto space saw $4.9 billion worth of illicit transactions. After falling to $4.6 billion a year later, this figure nearly tripled and hit $12.3 billion in 2019.
Statistics showed that 2020 saw another downturn, with roughly 30 per cent fewer illegal transactions in the market. But it was downhill from there, with 2021 and 2022 seeing a surge in illicit crypto activity, according to the report. Moreover, between 2020 and 2021, the total transfer volume of illicit transactions in the crypto space more than doubled to $18.1 billion.
The illegal activity continued growing in 2022, with the total value of transactions rising to $20.6 billion and showing a massive 308 per cent increase in five years.
However, the proportion of illicit transactions in total crypto volume has decreased during this time. They accounted for 0.86 per cent of all cryptocurrency transactions five years ago. Last year, this share fell to 0.24 per cent, the report showed. Although the illicit activities in the crypto space surged in the past five years, so did the number of sanctioned entities and addresses.
According to Chainalysis data, 2018 saw the first crypto-related sanctions of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury when it designated two Iranian nationals associated with the SamSam ransomware.
Over the next two years, most of the addresses included as sanctions identifiers were personal wallet addresses owned by individuals, with an average of two addresses per crypto-related designation in 2018, four in 2019, and nine in 2020.
“President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that we are not walking away from negotiations, but those [in Ukraine] who dodge talks should understand that the longer they procrastinate, the more difficult it will be to reach an agreement later,” Lavrov said.
“This is our official position. I will say once again, against the background of the ban on the negotiations, which was signed by [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky, this position should not raise any questions,” TASS quoted him as saying.
He added that the first step for talks between Russia and Ukraine should be the cancellation of Zelensky’s decree banning dialogue with Moscow. When asked to comment on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement that if Russian-Ukrainian talks begin, the US will be drawn to them, the top diplomat said that he had read the statement.
“I read the statement. Strange, indeed,” Lavrov noted. “At least a year ago, or even earlier, I can’t remember, Zelensky signed a decree prohibiting any negotiations with the government of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin. The whole world knows about it. And if those who run this regime have decided that Ukrainians should be ready to negotiate, then perhaps the first step should be a wish or an order to cancel this decree, which, I repeat, prohibits negotiations,” he said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
The rights body noted that while the economic crisis has significantly affected the rights of large segments of the population in Sri Lanka, it has impacted the poor and marginalised communities the most
Published Date – 06:08 PM, Tue – 12 September 23
The rights body noted that while the economic crisis has significantly affected the rights of large segments of the population in Sri Lanka, it has impacted the poor and marginalised communities the most
Colombo: Sri Lanka has failed to address the long-standing challenges of political and democratic reforms, the UN human rights body has said, an assessment rejected by Colombo as “incorrect” and based on “unsubstantiated sources”.
Addressing the 54th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, Nada Al-Nashif, the UN Deputy High Commissioner, said, “Sri Lanka continues to deal with the aftermath of the deep economic crisis of 2022 and the current stresses in the global economy.” One year after the protest movement demanding deep political and democratic reforms, the transformation that was hoped for to address the long-standing challenges has still not materialised, she told the forum while reading the latest update on Sri Lanka.
“Delays in holding local government elections and reconstituting Provincial Councils under the 13th Amendment have limited people’s right to political participation and the free expression of voters,” Nada said.
The rights body noted that while the economic crisis has significantly affected the rights of large segments of the population in Sri Lanka, it has impacted the poor and marginalised communities the most.
“As the country’s poverty rate has doubled from 13% in 2021 to 25% in 2022, another 2.5 million people have been driven into poverty and an estimated 37% of households face acute food insecurity,” Nada said.
Fourteen years since the civil war ended, tens of thousands of victims and their families continue to suffer in agony and grief as they wait for truth, justice, and remedy, she said.
Himalee Subhashini Arunatilaka, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office in Geneva, rejected the accusations.
“Sri Lanka rejects all conclusions and recommendations, including references to targeted sanctions, as they are based on incorrect and unsubstantiated sources, contravening the principles of natural justice and the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity,” she said.
“It is regrettable that the OHCHR has also chosen to ignore the democratic resilience of the country and its institutions demonstrated in the past year,” Arunatilaka noted.
In her statement, the deputy UN rights chief, Nada, also said that accountability is central to securing Sri Lanka’s present and future.
“While it remains the obligation of the Sri Lankan authorities to acknowledge past violations and undertake credible accountability measures, this Council and member states can play an important and complementary role in advancing accountability,” she said.
The rights body recognises the initiatives the government has initiated to advance reconciliation, including its proposal for a new truth-seeking mechanism. However, it said the country should do more on governance, transparency, and accountability.
Nada said, “The accountability project established by our office to collect, consolidate, analyse, and preserve relevant information and evidence and provide support to relevant judicial and other proceedings, including those in member states, with competent jurisdiction. The project is receiving a steady increase in requests from competent state authorities, including in relation to 10 named (Sri Lankan) individuals to date.” Sri Lanka has been consistently rejecting all the allegations of its past human rights violations in the final stage of a 26-year war that ended in 2009.
The UN rights body since 2013 has adopted several resolutions calling for rights accountability for war crimes blamed both on the Sri Lankan government troops and the LTTE group that ran a violent campaign to create a separate state for the Tamil minority in the north and east regions.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the ousted former president, at that time ruthlessly ended Sri Lanka’s nearly 30-year civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) with the killing of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the former defence secretary, who stands accused of violating human rights, vehemently denies the charge.
Then-president Mahinda Rajapaksa, the elder brother of Gotabaya, on May 18, 2009, declared the end of the 26-year war in which over 1,00,000 people were killed and millions of Sri Lankans, mainly minority Tamils, displaced as refugees inside the country and abroad.
