Malaysia to-day [July 10] tightened its immigration regulations and called on all non-citizens above 12 years of age to call at the Immigration Office before September 15 to furnish fresh particulars about themselves. There are an estimated 700,000 non-citizens among Malaysia’s 10 million population, nearly a quarter million of them …
Read More »Daily Archives: July 11, 2019
Grecian churn
Greece under Mr. Mitsotakis is set fora period of stability and continuity The verdict in Sunday’s Greek elections affords a rare comfort for Europe’s centrists, who, arguably with the exception of Spain in April, have of late ceded ground to populist forces. The conservative centre-right New Democracy party of Prime …
Read More »Caution needed
Supreme Court decision on the Rohingya’s status must protect those fleeing persecution The Supreme Court’s decision to examine the question whether illegal immigrants are entitled to refugee status needs to be welcomed, but with caution. It is debatable whether the Centre is right in claiming that this has emerged as …
Read More »A case for nutrition counselling
It is a low-cost measure that offers lifelong benefits The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme is one of the world’s largest programmes for early childhood care and development. Now, a new study suggests that nutrition and health counselling delivered under the programme’s auspices is one of the best possible …
Read More »Deepening #MeToo
A year after an actor inspired women to speak up against harassment, it’s critical to assess the gains and challenges In the mid and late-1800s, social movements in Europe for equal rights for women threw up the word ‘feminism’, which traces its origins to French. The suffrage movement in Britain …
Read More »Turning down the heat
There is enormous potential in mitigating climate change through forest restoration During the run-up to the Paris climate change meeting in 2015 (COP-21) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, each country decided the level and kind of effort it would undertake to solve the global problem of …
Read More »Nehru and the Kashmir quandary
The former PM erred in having too much confidence in the sense of justice of his successors Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this month held India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, responsible for the country being deprived of one-third of Kashmir. Except for those who deify Nehru, most others …
Read More »A demographic window of opportunity
In India, investing in the laggard States will ensure their role as being the greatest contributors of the future Last month, the United Nations released the 26th revision of World Population Prospects and forecast that India will overtake China as the most populous country by 2027. The only surprise associated …
Read More »‘Doctor’ Alexa to the aid of Britons
NHA teams up with Amazon to provide medical advice for common ailments Britain’s state-run health service is teaming up with Amazon to provide medical advice for common ailments such as migraines and flu via the tech giant’s voice assistant Alexa, aiming to help more patients at home and cut down …
Read More »Outward FDI drops to $820 million
India Inc.’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in June fell by over two times from a year ago to $820.36 million, data from the Reserve Bank of India showed Wednesday. The outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by the Indian firms stood at $2.29 billion in the same month the previous year, …
Read More »‘CSO must rethink informal sector estimates’
Current method no longer accurate due to greater automation: Pronab Sen The Central Statistics Office (CSO) needs to rethink how it estimates the growth of the informal sector as the current method is no longer accurate, former Chief Statistician of India Pronab Sen said on Wednesday. “Using the corporate sector …
Read More »RBI panel moots change in timings for foreign exchange market
Mixed views on extension of timings, says draft report An internal committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which was set up to review timings of different financial markets, suggested that the foreign exchange market could function from 9 am to 9 pm At present, the currency market works …
Read More »GDP growth rates in Economic Survey, Budget consistent with each other: FM
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday clarified that the Economic Survey and the Union Budget project different rates of nominal GDP growth for 2019-20 because they use different base figures. However, she added that the two rates were consistent with each other. While the Union Budget presented on July 5 …
Read More »Coffee growers’ meet may bring a cuppa cheer for India
Some important topics for discussion include how to replicate Brazil’s success of domestic coffee consumption The World Coffee Producers’ Forum (WCPF) is scheduled to discuss a range of issues critical to the economic sustainability of coffee farmers round the globe at its two-day conference that commenced on Wednesday. WCPF is …
Read More »Industry jittery as auto sales’ slide continues
SIAM seeks measures to save jobs in a sector that employs close to 37 million people With domestic automobile sales continuing on a downward spiral, the industry on Wednesday cautioned that if immediate concrete measures are not taken by the government to help arrest the fall, job cuts may soon …
Read More »Markets set for damp quarter
‘Top-line growth likely to be lowest in a decade’; global concerns to hit IT sector With companies all set to releaseresults for the first quarter of the current financial year, market participants appear to be unanimous in predicting a subdued quarter for most sectors. According to most brokerages, the overall …
Read More »Now is the time for peace, says Ghani
Now is the “right moment” for peace in Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday as he once more called on the Taliban to negotiate with his government. The Taliban have steadfastly refused to discuss peace with Mr. Ghani, whom they consider a U.S. stooge heading an illegitimate regime. But …
Read More »Sri Lanka government faces no-confidence vote
Sri Lanka’s Parliament on Wednesday began debating a no-confidence motion against the government for failing to prevent Easter suicide bombings that killed more than 250 people. The Opposition Marxist Peoples’ Liberation Front submitted a motion accusing the ruling coalition of failing to prevent the April 21 attacks despite the “fact …
Read More »Iran warns U.K. of ‘consequences’
President Rouhani terms seizure of tanker ‘a foolish act’ Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani warned Britain on Wednesday of “consequences” over the detention of an Iranian oil tanker off the coast of Gibraltar. “I point out to the British that you initiated insecurity (on the seas) and you shall grasp the …
Read More »Food park plan on Assam elephant corridor shelved
Food park plan on Assam jumbo corridor shelved The plan for a mega food park in Assam’s Soniptur district has been shelved after a team of wildlife experts found 50% of its area encroaching a major elephant corridor and setting it up would severely disturb their movement. The survey and …
Read More »