Author: Pulastya Kanetkar

Jakarta, Surakarta, Berlin (7/12 – 11) Amid a generally declining period for Germany’s national football team, the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia has been a shining light for them. Germany is one of the most successful national teams ever in international competition. They have won four World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014), three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996), and a Confederations Cup (2017). Nevertheless, in recent years, Germany is suffering a horrid fate. In 2018, Germany suffered their first-ever first-round exit from the World Cup, since 1938. Germany became the fifth defending champions to be eliminated in the…

Croatians and Serbs at odds after name of airport changed to 18th-century polymath Ruđer Bošković The renaming of Dubrovnik’s airport has ignited a new ethnic row between Croatians and Serbs, this time over the lineage of one of the ancient port city’s most illustrious sons. After a rebrand this month, flights to the Adriatic walled city now land at Ruđer Bošković airport, named in tribute to an 18th-century astronomer, mathematician and polymath. Also known as Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich to the Italians, or by the English transposition of his name, Roger Joseph Boscovich, he outlined a single law governing natural forces, a…

India is ready for the future of digital transformation. See how IMC 2023 is exploring the possibilities of 5G and beyond. The 7th edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2023, which started Friday, has attracted many participants and visitors who are eager to witness the future of digital transformation. A mega event, the IMC showcases trends and innovations in the telecom, media, and technology sectors. In this article, we will 9 highlights of IMC 2023 that you should not miss, from new products and services to breakthrough technologies and solutions. These are some of the new announcements made at…

The Palestinians’ longstanding and legitimate grievances have been irrevocably subverted by Hamas’ brazen attack against Israel on Oct 7. Unlike previous rounds of conflicts and clashes between Israel and the Palestinians on the one hand and neighbouring Arab states on the other, Thailand has become a direct casualty like never before, as 30 Thai workers have been killed to date, with at least 16 injured and 17 taken hostage. As a militant political movement motivated by Islamic fundamentalism using methods of terrorism to achieve its objectives, Hamas has made a bad name for the Palestinian cause, eliciting condemnation and opposition…

Frankfurt (11/09 – 20) Two international human rights organizations have called on the Tajikistan government to immediately release jailed lawyer and human rights activist Manuchehr Kholiknazarov, as well as other activists and journalists. The International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) and the international non-profit organization CIVICUS, which bills itself as “a global alliance aimed at strengthening the action of citizens and civil society around the world,” in their message published specially on the eve of Independence Day, September 8, focus on the fact that Tajik human rights activist and civil society activist Manuchehr Kholiknazarov was falsely sentenced to a long…

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday presented his government’s 2024 budget, emphasising the need for tough reforms until the full recovery of the cash-strapped island nation’s economy. Although Sri Lanka has managed to control its hyperinflation in the ongoing economic crisis, its economy is far from being fully recovered. “We have been able to put back on the rails the derailed economy. Still, people undergo suffering,” Wickremesinghe, who is also the Finance Minister, said. “The inflation which was 70 per cent in September 2022 has been reduced to 1.5 per cent in October this year,” the minister said. He…

The interim government of Afghanistan, formed by the Taliban movement (an organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation), decided to install a 1520 mm gauge on the projected Trans-Afghan Railway, which is unofficially called “Russian”. “We would very much like for both Kazakhstan and Russia to become more active and join this project… And most importantly, the Afghan government has already decided to install a 1520 mm gauge on this route, so that Russian cars do not need to change the platform on this section and there is a straight line transit without changing platforms,” Bakht-ur-Rahman Sharafat, director of the…

On October 26, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov made a speech at the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the CIS countries in Bishkek, Azernews reports, citing Kun.uz News Agency. In his speech, he proposed to create conditions for the unified operation of the energy systems of the CIS countries. He added that for such work, it is necessary to take into account the energy production and consumption capabilities of each of the Commonwealth countries. Abdulla Aripov also called the concept of development of industrial cooperation in the CIS adopted in June at the initiative of Uzbekistan and…

London, Dublin (1/11 – 66) Hamas is sheltered in a sea of civilians. Ostensibly a Palestinian political and military organization established in 1987, Hamas “governs” on the basis of having won a majority in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections – defeating Fatah, another Islamist terror combine – before forming a government in the Gaza Strip, described as “…the world’s largest open-air prison” for its Palestinian inhabitants. So why don’t the Palestinians, having been robbed of their ancient lands, simply up and move somewhere else? It is telling that none of the Islamic nations surrounding Israel care to admit any more…

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will visit China in the upcoming week as the crisis-hit country makes progress on debt restructuring talks with its biggest lender. Wickremesinghe took office in July last year, after a popular uprising, brought on by an economic meltdown, had forced his predecessor out of power. His Oct. 15-19 visit to Beijing will be his first to China since then. Wickremesinghe, who is also finance minister, has been leading Sri Lanka’s push to manage its heavy debt and keep funds flowing from a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. He will attend a Belt and Road Forum in Beijing that would mark the…