[🇮🇳] India---News & Views

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US issues rare criticism of India in religious freedom report

The United States offered rare criticism of close partner India in a report published Wednesday on religious freedom, while also voicing alarm over rising bigotry worldwide against both Jews and Muslims...

www.newagebd.net

US issues rare criticism of India in religious freedom report
Agence France-Presse . Washington 27 June, 2024, 23:45

The United States offered rare criticism of close partner India in a report published Wednesday on religious freedom, while also voicing alarm over rising bigotry worldwide against both Jews and Muslims.

Secretary of state Antony Blinken unveiled the annual report and said that the United States was also facing its own sharp increase of both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in connection to the Gaza war.

'In India, we see a concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions of homes and places of worship for members of minority faith communities,' Blinken said.

The US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, Rashad Hussain, faulted efforts by Indian police.

In India, 'Christian communities reported that local police aided mobs that disrupted worship services over accusations of conversion activities, or stood by while mobs attacked them and then arrested the victims on conversion charges,' he said.

The United States for decades has sought warmer ties with India, seeing the fellow democracy as a bulwark against China, with president Joe Biden embracing prime minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist who recently secured a third term.

Despite the public criticism in the report, few expect the State Department to take action on India when it drafts its annual blacklist of countries over religious freedom later this year.

The State Department also raised concerns about countries that are on the list, including India's historic rival Pakistan, where Blinken condemned blasphemy laws that 'help foster a climate of intolerance and hatred that can lead to vigilantism and mob violence.'

Blinken noted that in the United States, hate crimes against both Muslims and Jews 'have gone up dramatically.'

He also singled out EU member Hungary, led by nationalist Viktor Orban, saying that 'officials continue to use anti-Semitic tropes and anti-Muslim rhetoric and they penalize members of religious groups who criticise the government.'

He said that nine other European nations 'effectively ban some forms of religious clothing in public spaces.'

He did not name the countries, although France has been at the forefront on restricting full-face veils worn by some Muslim women.​

 

[Saif]

India economic inequality to persist despite roaring GDP growth

The Indian economy is likely to remain the fastest-growing major one in coming years, but a majority of independent economists and policy experts polled by Reuters are not confident it will make any difference in narrowing stark economic inequality. Despite over 8 per cent economic growth last fis

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

India economic inequality to persist despite roaring GDP growth
Published :
Jun 20, 2024 09:38
Updated :
Jun 20, 2024 09:54

A general view of the upcoming coastal road in Mumbai, India Photo : Reuters

The Indian economy is likely to remain the fastest-growing major one in coming years, but a majority of independent economists and policy experts polled by Reuters are not confident it will make any difference in narrowing stark economic inequality.

Despite over 8 per cent economic growth last fiscal year and a roaring stock market in Mumbai that is easily one of the world's most expensive, New Delhi still distributes free food grains to more than 800 million of its 1.4 billion people, as per Reuters reports.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sworn in for a third term with the support of regional parties after a shock election where his Bharatiya Janata Party lost its sizeable majority in parliament, has retained most ministers from his second one.

Yet rising economic inequality - around its highest in decades - and high youth unemployment were widely reported as reasons for the electoral drubbing after securing sweeping victories in 2014 and 2019 on development and economic reform platforms.

A nearly 85 per cent majority of development economists and policy experts, 43 out of 51, in a May 15-June 18 Reuters poll, said they were not confident economic inequality would significantly reduce over the next five years, including 21 who said they had no confidence at all.

Only six said they were confident and two said very confident. These are separate from private economists who regularly forecast economic data and interest rates.

"Acknowledging that it is a problem will be a good first step ... Currently, reduction of economic inequality is not a policy objective of decision-makers," said Reetika Khera, a development economist at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi.

"Inequality is not something that will go away on its own ... it needs proactive government interventions."

Even for a developing economy, income inequality in India is too extreme, according to a March report from the World Inequality Lab.

However, not everyone agrees.

"I don't think the inequality metrics are meaningful for India. The key issue is not inequality but how the bottom of the pyramid fares economically. This is not a function of how the top does," said Nagpurnanand Prabhala, finance professor at Johns Hopkins University.

India has the second-highest number of billionaires in Asia but has tens of millions who depend on the government's 100 days minimum guaranteed wage employment programme, digging wells, building roads, and filling potholes for about $4 a day.

"The present government has created an economic system that shrunk the middle-income group considerably. The poor are on public dole ... the rich are on public cross-subsidy using crony capitalism," said Saibal Kar, professor of industrial economics at the Center for Studies in Social Sciences.

"The economic and social freedoms are low owing to repressive public policies. This has to change. Unless it changes, inequality will rise further."

SKILLS NEEDED, NOT JUST JOBS

Asked to rate the quality of India's economic growth over the past 10 years, a near-80 per cent majority of economists surveyed, 42 of 53, said it was not inclusive, with 17 saying not at all. Eight said fairly inclusive and three said inclusive.

And yet 60 per cent, 32 of 53, said India would maintain or exceed the current solid GDP growth rate over the next five years. The rest said it will fall short.

While the Modi government has set a target of turning India into a developed economy by 2047, several experts in the survey said the government should first improve workers' skills, create more jobs and focus on inclusive growth.

In December, the government's chief economic adviser said the subsidised grain distribution, as well as spending on education and health had helped to distribute income more equally.

During the election campaign, a government document showed Modi wanted to focus on 70 areas of improvement including workforce skills and vocational training.

Over 90 per cent of experts polled, 49 of 54, who answered a separate question said unemployment would be the biggest economic challenge for the government over the next five years.

The unemployment rate was at 7.0 per cent in May, according to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy, a think-tank, up from around 6 per cent before the pandemic.

"Most countries that have experienced more rapid growth did it on the basis of a farm-to-factory structural transformation," said Parikshit Ghosh, professor at the Delhi School of Economics, adding manufacturing as a share of GDP has hovered around 15 per cent for about 30 years.

"Of the multiple factors behind this, perhaps the most important is the failure to invest seriously in education."

India spends around 3 per cent of GDP on public education, half the 6 per cent the government's National Policy on Education recommends.

Other experts pointed out the ongoing challenges presented by a society still mired in caste and class divisions.

"We don't even talk about the cleavage that has been ripping our society apart for thousands of years now in our living rooms - we still live in a world where Dalit families are cleaning toilets in urban and rural areas, generation after generation," said Aditi Bhowmick, a public policy expert, who previously worked as India Director at Development Data Lab.​

 

[Saif]

Modi to visit Russia for talks with Putin on July 8-9

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8 and 9, the Kremlin said yesterday, in his first trip to the country since Moscow launched its military offensive in Ukraine.

www.thedailystar.net

Modi to visit Russia for talks with Putin on July 8-9

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8 and 9, the Kremlin said yesterday, in his first trip to the country since Moscow launched its military offensive in Ukraine.

That campaign has tested relations between Moscow and New Delhi, even though India has ramped up its purchases of Russian oil and not joined Western sanctions.

Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss "prospects for further development of traditionally friendly Russian-Indian relations, as well as relevant issues on the international and regional agenda," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Putin sees Modi as a key potential diplomatic and economy ally, with Russia isolated in the West. But Ukraine has complicated ties.

In a September 2022 meeting between Putin and Modi at a regional summit in Uzbekistan, the Russian president told Modi he understood he had "concerns" about the conflict and that Modi wanted it to end "as soon as possible."

Earlier this year, India said it was pushing Russia to release some of its citizens who had signed up for "support jobs" with the Russian army, following reports some were stranded in Russian border towns and forced to fight in Ukraine.

New Delhi has not been a staunch backer of Kyiv, notably declining to sign a joint statement at a peace summit in Switzerland last month that called for Ukraine's territorial integrity to be respected in any peace agreement.​

 

[Saif]

India, China FMs agree to work on border issues

India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar yesterday met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Kazakhstan where the two agreed to step up talks to resolve issues along their border, New Delhi said in a statement.

www.thedailystar.net

India, China FMs agree to work on border issues

India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar yesterday met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Kazakhstan where the two agreed to step up talks to resolve issues along their border, New Delhi said in a statement.

India and China share a long Himalayan border, much of it poorly demarcated, and relations between the two countries have been sour since a military standoff in July 2020.

India said Jaishankar met Wang on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana where they agreed that "prolongation of the current situation in the border areas is not in the interest of either side."

The two agreed to enhance meetings between their diplomatic and military officials "to resolve the remaining issues at the earliest," the Indian foreign ministry said. China and India should properly handle their differences and ensure relations advance on a stable track, a Chinese foreign ministry statement quoted Wang as saying during the talks.

"We must maintain a positive mindset, properly handle and control the situation in the border areas on the one hand, and actively resume normal exchanges on the other hand," Wang said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in April that the two countries should urgently address the "prolonged situation" on their border.​

 

[Saif]

India races to build power plants: sources

India plans to spend $1 billion to expedite the construction of 12 hydropower stations in the northeastern Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh, two government sources said, a move that could raise tensions with China that lays claims to the region.

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ARUNACHAL PRADESH
India races to build power plants: sources

India plans to spend $1 billion to expedite the construction of 12 hydropower stations in the northeastern Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh, two government sources said, a move that could raise tensions with China that lays claims to the region.

The federal finance ministry under Nirmala Sitharaman recently approved up to 7.5 billion rupees ($89.85 million) in financial assistance to each hydropower project in the northeastern region, the sources said.

Under the scheme, about 90 billion rupees will likely be allotted for the 12 hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh, said the sources, who have direct knowledge of the matter.

The move could raise tensions with China that lays claims to the region.

The scheme is likely to support northeastern states and help them finance equity holdings in the projects they host. Having state governments on board generally helps in expediting regulatory clearances, locals rehabilitation and negotiations on sharing electricity with the host state.

The plans for the hydropower stations are expected to be announced in the 2024/2025 federal budget that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government will unveil on July 23, the sources said, declining to be named as the information remained confidential.

The Indian finance and power ministries and China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Last August, the government awarded contracts to state-run firms NHPC NHPC.NS, SJVNL SJVN.NS and NEEPCO for the construction of the 11.5-gigawatt-capacity plants entailing an estimated investment of $11 billion, as part of a broader project to develop infrastructure in the border region.

None of the companies responded to a request for comments. These power plants were earlier enlisted with private sector firms, but remained non-starters due to various reasons.

India has built less than 15-gigawatt hydropower plants in last 20 years, while installations of new coal and other renewable sources of energy were nearly 10 times of the new hydropower projects.​