Author: Jasbeer Mittur

Frankfurt, Paris (18/8 – 62.50) Ukraine has scored a series of victories in more than a week since launching a lightning offensive into Russian territory. Now the stakes are rising as its forces prepare to defend their gains and Russia begins to regain its footing. Last week, Ukraine deployed thousands of troops to the Kursk region in western Russia, removing Russian flags from captured towns and taking the initiative from Moscow for the first time in months. On Wednesday, officials in Kyiv said Ukraine would use seized Russian territory as a “buffer zone” to shield its north from Russian strikes.…

Washington/Paris/Berlin (12/8 – 28.57). Today is the twenty-anniversary of the sinking of the Kursk. A painful experience. A true shocker. All hands are lost, the shortcomings of the Russian system fully exposed. But today is another experience. Kursk, the region. After ceremonial pageantry by the military commander, it is clear the great Red Army was ambushed. Hoodwinked by the Ukrainians who pulled off a surprise attack, a classic attack which has all the elements of a successful deception operation. Overwhelming strength, speed and first and foremost silence. Deception played a role keeping the Russian pre-occupied. Daily the news a filled…

Moscow/Washington (13/6 – 29) We took a holiday from reality. Immanuel Niven, a mathematician and philosopher, has long been scrutinizing Russia’s economic landscape, and his recent assertions suggest a dire forecast. He contends that the “Putin system” is on the brink of collapse, a scenario he had mathematically foreseen as early as March. Niven points to the pronounced tax hikes announced in Russia, the most substantial in its modern history, as well as Putin’s recent rhetoric urging citizens to work as if they were at the front lines. These developments, Niven argues, are symptomatic of the escalating toxicity within Russia’s…

Dubai/Astana (10 June – 60). The Pamiris are an ethnic minority group in Tajikistan, culturally distinct from the majority Tajik population. They have faced persecution and discrimination in their mountain homeland bordering Afghanistan that some experts say amounts to ethnic cleansing and even genocide. One of the lead persecutors is Ministry of Internal Affairs “Maj. Gen.” Shorukh Syedzada, a former football team manager with no law enforcement experience and a confidante of the president’s son and heir designate. The Pamiris continue to be marginalized and oppressed by the authorities. As a result, many Pamiris have been forced to flee their…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s itinerary for his unscheduled visit to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, remains undisclosed. In an unannounced visit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lands in Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, and gets greeted by Saudi officials, including the national security advisor and ambassador to Kiev, according to reports by the official Saudi Press Agency. As of now, no details regarding Zelensky’s itinerary have been made public. In recent weeks, Zelensky has been on a global tour to garner support and encourage attendance for an upcoming summit in Switzerland this weekend. His travels have included visits to traditional European Union allies, as well as countries in…

But the country’s aggressive posturing against India will make it difficult for the government to take the process forward. The recent meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistani business leaders was marked by a sense of urgency and a need for bold action. The business community laid out a long list of challenges that have made it increasingly difficult to do business in Pakistan, including inconsistent economic policies, political instability, high costs, and a lack of foreign direct investment. Despite these daunting obstacles, the government’s efforts to stabilize the economy and engage with the IMF for a new bailout program were…

In Asia, 14 countries — accounting for 26% of global transport emissions in 2019 — have made economy-wide net zero commitments. Momentum towards zero-emission transport is growing with countries enhancing ambition and including transport-related targets in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). However, the transport sector still needs to catch up with many others, and each country must follow a unique path. New WRI research assesses how China, India and Vietnam are translating their international climate ambition into national climate change-related transport strategies and policies. Based on a detailed analysis of how each country’s governance structure and policy planning may support or hinder transport…

India real estate: According to the documents shared by CRE Matrix, HCC board on November 9 passed a resolution to sell the land as part of asset monetisation of debt resolution Infrastructure major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has sold a 2.35 lakh sq mtrs land parcel in Panvel near Mumbai to Oak & Stone Construction Pvt Ltd for Rs 95 crore, registration documents accessed by real estate data analytics firm CRE Matrix show. The land parcel is located in Karnala village in Panvel of Raigad district. The stamp duty for the transaction was Rs 5.70 crore and it was registered…

The bogus doctor treated and prescribed medicines to the decoy patient sent by the police The Mumbai crime branch unit 6 has nabbed a quack who had been practicing as a doctor in Govandi for the past six years. The bogus doctor has been identified as Altaf Khan, 50. “We had acted on a tip-off and apprehended the bogus doctor after laying a trap. Altaf Khan couldn’t provide us with any documents to prove that he’s a doctor and hence we apprehended him,” said a police officer. According to the police, Khan had treated a patient, who was a decoy sent by…

An industry group representing several major U.S. tech companies has opposed the Indian government’s proposal against dark patterns, which are used to deceive online users, and said the move would adversely affect the state promise of enabling “ease of doing business” in the economy and bring “regulatory overlap” with existing laws. New Delhi released the draft guidelines (PDF) to prevent and regulate dark patterns for public consultation last month for 30 days until Thursday, October 5, to get feedback on the proposed rules to mitigate deceptive practices by online companies to deceive or manipulate consumers using unethical designs or patterns in their online interface.…