Author: Okyanus Barelvi

Budapest (5/7 – 11.11) Former European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker defended U.S. President Joe Biden after his disastrous debate performance last week and warned of his rival Donald Trump’s “incomplete mind and flawed reasoning,” in an interview with Brussels Playbook. Juncker, who was Commission president from 2014 to 2019 during much of Trump’s presidency, said he had yet to watch last week’s debate, which triggered calls for Biden to step aside and make room for someone else to run as the Democratic presidential candidate. Still, Juncker insisted that “one can be of a certain age … and do a good job.” But Juncker…

The country’s most important archaeological find has been compared to Machu Picchu. Here’s how to see it At first glance, it doesn’t look like much, just a rectangular meadow in the Pamir foothills of central Tajikistan. But there was a time when this ground reverberated with the thunder of hooves. Occupying a broad saddle, high above the mighty Panj River, this meadow is believed to be an ancient arena for the Central Asian sport of buzkashi, or dead goat polo. The playing field was a centerpiece of a once sprawling settlement, a political and religious capital inhabited for centuries but since lost to…

Dubai (27/2) Tajikistan’s existential project to build the colossal 335-meter-high Roghun hydropower dam is proceeding apace, but costs are spiralling, and to a level that is making it hard to see where the government is going to find the funds needed to finish the work. To complicate matters for Dushanbe, this is happening against the backdrop of calls from environmental watchdogs for international development lenders to pause the allocation of any future funds to Tajikistan pending a fresh assessment of the project. The extent of the budget overshoot is striking In a press conference on February 16, Finance Minister Faiziddin…

AHMEDABAD, India – India wants to make its financial hub in the western state of Gujarat a centre for global sustainable finance to help fund the $10 trillion investment needed to achieve its 2070 net zero emissions goal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. “GIFT IFSC is an efficient channel to make India a low-carbon economy and get the required green capital flow. Issuance of financial instruments such as green bonds, sustainable bonds, sustainability-linked bonds will help the world,” Modi said in a speech. He said India wants to expand the role of GIFT City to make it a new…

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani officials said Tuesday that the United States did not object to Islamabad’s deportation of Afghan nationals who are illegally residing in the country but requested the process be slowed down during winter. The crackdown on undocumented foreigners, including 1.7 million Afghans, came under discussion at a meeting with a visiting U.S. delegation led by Julieta Valls Noyes, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. A Pakistani official privy to the talks said that the U.S. side sought to prevent the deportation of around 25,000 “vulnerable” individuals who fled the Taliban’s August…

The coming election to choose the World Health Organization’s next chief of the South-East Asia Regional Office, or SEARO, has become contentious as the person who takes up that post could influence the health of billions of people. The daughter of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is one of two candidates for the SEARO position. Saima Wazed’s nomination has sparked controversy with many health experts calling it “nepotism,” and expressing concern over the election process to fill senior roles at the U.N. health body. A candidate for the SEARO post should have a “strong technical and public health background and…

If there was an award for the most popular snack, not chef, the samosa would emerge a worthy winner. Its Indian popularity aside, it is one of the most globalised snacks existing in not just South Africa and the Arab world, where it originated, but in Africa and South America too. Different fillings, different shapes, different coverings, and even different techniques of cooking (fried or baked, you take a pick) and yet it is a dish that is instantly recognisable and instantly loved. The samosa is a tea time snack in northern India, but even in the subcontinent, its variations…

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said the United States does not want to influence the outcome of the upcoming Bangladesh election through its visa policy. “I’ll just say the United States does not support any particular party and does not want to influence the outcome of the election, only to ensure that the people of Bangladesh may freely choose their leaders,” he said while replying to a question at a regular press briefing on Monday. He was particularly asked about a statement by Ambassador Peter Haas in Bangladesh on possible visa curbs on media personnel, which opposition leaders…

NEW DELHI: AIFF President Mr Kalyan Chaubey and Secretary General Dr Shaji Prabhakaran’s meeting with legendary coach and FIFA Chief of Global Football Development, Mr Arsène Wenger, in Australia last month to finalise the setting-up of a central academy in India was the beginning of what is set to be a significant association between FIFA and the AIFF. Mr Wenger, who is expected to visit India in October, opened up on the inspiration for working with the AIFF on such a talent development project. “I would say that football is the most popular sport in the world and it looks logical…

Coming off what has been considered a successful G20 summit, India is building on its position as a neutral partner to countries with competing interests. At the G20 summit in New Delhi last week, India persuaded the US and Europe to soften wording of the joint communique on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine so that the summit could provide consensus on addressing the concerns of poorer countries, including global debt, food security and financing for climate issues. Without a dissenting note, the world’s 20 biggest economies formally adopted a joint declaration. The language used in the Delhi document was markedly softer on Russia than the wording in the Bali…