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Category: India

  • NZ universities eye new tie-ups with Indian institutions to attract international students

    By Blessen Tom, RNZ News journalist

    A third New Zealand university is close to signing with Mumbai’s Bombay Stock Exchange Institute, opening up opportunities for Indian students to study in Aotearoa.

    The Bombay Stock Exchange Institute is a subsidiary of Bombay Stock Exchange, which at 148 years old, is the oldest stock exchange in Asia.

    Managing director and CEO of the Bombay Stock Exchange Institute Ambarish Datta said it was a privilege to partner with universities in New Zealand.

    “New Zealand education is recognised worldwide, and students are offered a fantastic opportunity to learn in a great country,” he said.

    The University of Canterbury signed a memorandum of understanding in late 2018, allowing students to study in New Zealand for two of its master’s programmes.

    It allows students to start their course in India and then travel to New Zealand to graduate while still qualifying for a Post Study Work Visa.

    University of Canterbury Business Taught Masters programme director Stephen Hickinson said the agreement was beneficial to universities because they get students in different levels of study.

    Cheaper for students
    “It is also cheaper for students because they spend the first half of their study in India.”

    The University of Otago reached agreements with five Indian institutions in 2017.

    International director Jason Cushen said staff were also looking to develop further partnerships across India, particularly in the southern region and in the state of Maharashtra.

    He said these programmes offer more opportunities for international students that may not be accessible in their home country

    RNZ understands that another New Zealand university is in the final stages of signing an agreement with the Bombay Stock Exchange Institute.

    A spokesperson for the institute said they are currently finalising the curriculum and planning to start the programme by February next year.

    Covid-19 impact
    According to a recent Education New Zealand study, international students contributed $3.7 billion to New Zealand’s economy in 2019, with a sizeable portion going to universities.

    But the pandemic changed everything.

    “We started the course in 2019 and then covid hit, so we have only had a few students so far,” Hickinson said.

    “At the moment, it’s a little unknown how things will turn out.”

    Education Minister Jan Tinetti and Finance Minister Grant Robertson recently announced extra funding for struggling universities and tertiary institutions.

    An additional $128 million will be invested to increase tuition subsidies at degree-level and above by a further 4 percent in 2024 and 2025. This is in addition to the 5 percent funding increase that was included in the 2023 Budget, which the government described as the most significant funding increase in 20 years.

    “The government has heard the concerns of the sector,” Tinetti said.

    “When we began our Budget process, universities and other degree providers were forecasting enrolment increases. The opposite has occurred, and it is clear that there is a need for additional support.”

    A new approach
    However, Quality NZ Education chief executive Sandeep Sharma believed the pandemic offered a fresh perspective.

    The organisation was formed during covid-19 and played a major role in creating the pathway programmes that connect Indian students with New Zealand universities.

    “The pandemic was a good time for us because all our shareholders were in New Zealand, and they found that the pandemic [changed] a lot of things in the education industry, especially the traditional way of recruiting students,” he said.

    Quality NZ Education's CEO Sandeep Sharma
    Quality NZ Education head Sandeep Sharma . . . “the pandemic [changed] a lot of things in the education industry, especially the traditional way of recruiting students.” Image: RNZ News

    He mentioned that there was considerable interest among Kiwis to go to India to learn about “wellbeing, Ayurveda and yoga”.

    Sharma believed that it was time for universities to introduce programmes that were not dependent on border control.

    He also highlighted the importance of Indian contributions to New Zealand’s education sector in the coming years.

    “India is going to be the largest pool of international students, overtaking China by 2027,” Sharma said.

    “It’s vital to have these pathway programmes and I think New Zealand should capitalise on these opportunities.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • Education is at the centre of India-Australia relationship

    It is a truly exciting time in Australia and India’s relationship, a golden era in which ties are only getting bigger and stronger. Our governments are promoting and supporting this. As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Sydney last month, we are taking it to the next level. And education is at the centre,…

    The post Education is at the centre of India-Australia relationship appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.

  • “G. N.” Saibaba in India continues from his cell

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    A wheel-chair using, human rights activist and former university lecturer of English, G. N. Saibaba has endured years of cruel, inhumane solitary confinement ©DR

    I still stubbornly refuse to die
    The sad thing is that
    They don’t know how to kill me
    because I love so much
    The sound of growing grass

    OMCT published this impressive story in calling for the immediate release of G. N. Saibaba:

    These are the defiant words of Gokarakonda Naga “G. N.” Saibaba, written from his cell in Nagpur Central Jail in the Indian state of Maharashtra. A wheel-chair using, human rights activist and former university lecturer of English, Sai has endured years of cruel, inhumane solitary confinement. Still, his irrepressible resilience shines through. And Sai’s poetry fills a recently published anthology. But he did not write it in verse. In order to evade the prison’s punishing censors, and to disguise his messages of equality, positivity and love, Sai penned letters to friends and his partner of 30 years. These were transcribed, and became his book entitled, Why Do You Fear My Way So Much?

    Prison conditions

    Now, G. N. Saibaba is much less able to write. Since his erroneous conviction for terrorism-related crimes in 2017, and a sentence of life imprisonment, Sai’s health has progressively deteriorated. Suffering from a heart condition, a brain cyst, a lump in the abdomen and breathing difficulties, his multiple medical conditions require specialised treatment only available in New Delhi. And his disability as a result of childhood polio has been compounded by untreated nerve damage in his left arm, that has spread to his right, leaving him with no strength in his upper limbs. Sai needs support to perform any simple human function like sitting up, eating, drinking or using the toilet, a task which has been assigned to two fellow detainees. His dependency has been underlined by the constant monitoring of his cell. It was only recently – after Sai went on another hunger strike – that the prison authorities agreed to change the direction of CCTV cameras, giving him some semblance of privacy. Before that, his bed and toilet were recorded 24/7. This was a small victory. Despite repeated advocacy by the UN and human rights groups on G. N. Saibaba’s behalf, he is forced to inhabit a small, egg-shaped cell exposed to extreme weather conditions and with little space to move, particularly for someone in a wheelchair as Sai. Given his disability, some commentators believe the conditions of his detention may amount to torture.

    Arrest in Delhi

    It was 9th May 2014, and G. N. Saibaba was returning home for lunch from his lecturing duties at Delhi University. Without warning, a van jack-knifed in front of the car he was travelling in, forcing it to stop. Sai’s driver was pulled roughly from the vehicle, and replaced by a man in civilian clothing. Two others flanked their captive in the back. G N Saibaba was driven directly to the airport. He was never shown an arrest warrant, and nobody informed Sai’s relatives about his arrest. He was put on a plane to Nagpur, Maharashtra. On arrival, he was transported in an anti-landmine vehicle, in a convoy of commandos armed with automatic weapons. The military clearly wanted to send a message they had detained a hard-core terrorist – not a committed campaigner who has fought most of his life against discrimination and caste-based oppression, and for the rights of women and indigenous Indians.

    Activism

    G. N. Saibaba grew up in a small, rural community in southern India. Disabled by polio as a young child, he understood early on how unfairness and prejudice are perpetrated. Excelling in school, Sai went on to university where he became involved in student politics. His appointment as a professor of English did not dilute his outspoken criticisms of injustice.

    In particular, he became a leading detractor of what became known as ‘Operation Green Hunt’ – a military campaign in central India, home to a large population of several indigenous communities (known as Adivasis), to eliminate Maoists, also called Naxals. Central India has witnessed numerous people’s movements opposing forceful occupation of indigenous land, and the exploitation of ancient forests and rich mineral resources. This military campaign against Naxals was used to quash such movements, leading to numerous human rights violations against civilians.

    Conflict in this region dates back to the 1960s. ‘Operation Green Hunt’ began in 2009 – an all-out, on-going offensive by the Indian armed forces to rid the area of Naxals. G. N. Saibaba led the Forum Against War on the People – a solidarity organisation, and an attempt to shine a light on human rights abuses in the region. These atrocities – committed for the most part by the military and paramilitaries – have been well documented. They include extrajudicial killings, multiple rapes, and the deeply disturbing desecration of civilian corpses. It has been estimated more than 2,000 people have lost their lives since 2009.

    Conviction

    G. N. Saibaba’s advocacy certainly gave pause for thought to national and transnational mining corporations thinking about investing in the region. So, it was inevitable perhaps he would become a target. His persecution began under the Congress government – his Delhi home was raided more than once – and then continued under the BJP, and the prime ministership of Narendra Modi.

    At G. N. Saibaba’s trial in 2017, with the courthouse fortified by hundreds of police officers to reinforce the impression of a dangerous extremist, he was tried under India’s anti-terror legislation – the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. With five others, Sai was convicted of alleged links to the banned Maoist organisation.

    Judicial rollercoaster

    In October this year, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court ruled G. N. Saibaba’s initial trial had been flawed. The case against him was discharged. The elation he, his family and supporters felt quickly turned to disbelief. The government – infuriated, no doubt by the court’s decision to release an ‘urban Naxal’, a term regularly used to stigmatise human rights defenders – applied for a special sitting of the Supreme Court. The very next day, on a non-working day the special bench of the Supreme Court suspended the decision of the Bombay High Court. This leaves G N Saibaba still in that heavily monitored isolation cell, struggling to negotiate its curved walls in his wheelchair.

    Above all, love

    G. N. Saibaba’s hope of liberty has once more been dashed. Even so, his spirit is strong. The untreated infections in his hands, and the pain he experiences, means Sai cannot write more than two or three pages a month. But letters from home, especially from his partner, help sustain him.

    I defeat the purpose
    of the solitary confinement
    by drowning myself
    in your letters of love.

    https://www.omct.org/en/resources/news/an-academic-is-caged-his-thoughts-are-still-free-resilient-and-undefeated

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • Dalai Lama celebrates 88th birthday at residence in northern India

    The Dalai Lama celebrated his 88th birthday at his residence in Dharamsala, India, on Thursday, feted by song-and-dance performances and declaring he was in good health and expected to live to be 100.

    “Today, you are celebrating my 88th birthday, but when I look in the mirror, I feel I look as if I’m still in my 50s,” the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism said to those gathered for the celebration. “My face doesn’t look old, it isn’t wrinkled with age. What’s more I still have all my teeth so there’s nothing I can’t eat or chew.”

    “According to indications in my own dreams and other predictions, I expect to live to be more than 100 years old,” said the Dalai Lama, whose real name is Lhamo Thondup and is also known as Tenzin Gyatso. “I’ve served others until now, and I’m determined to continue to do so. Please pray for my long life on that basis.”

    Attending the celebration in the temple courtyard adjacent to the Dalai Lama’s residence were his relatives, members of the Tibetan government-in-exile, and later Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, chief minister of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, where Dharamsala is located. 

    His birthday comes amid ongoing controversy about who should determine his successor. 

    Tibetans say they have the right to do so according to their Buddhist belief in the principle of rebirth. They believe the Dalai Lama chooses the body into which he is reincarnated, a process that has occurred 13 times since 1391, when the first Dalai Lama was born. 

    But China, which annexed Tibet in 1951 and maintains a tight rein on the western autonomous region, says only Beijing can select the next spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, as stated in Chinese law. 

    The Chinese government intends to appoint a pro-Beijing puppet leader in place of the Dalai Lama after he dies, giving it an opportunity to firm up its control of the region, according to a report issued in 2022 by the International Tibet Network, a global coalition of Tibet-related groups.

    Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of supporting terrorism and trying to split Tibet from China, though the spiritual leader is pursuing a policy approach called the Middle Way, which accepts Tibet’s status as a part of China but urges greater cultural and religious freedoms, including strengthened language rights, guaranteed for ethnic minorities under the provisions of China’s own constitution.

    The Dalai Lama cuts a birthday cake presented to him during the celebration of his 88th birthday at his residence in Dharamsala, India, on Thursday, July 6, 2023. Credit: Tenzin Choejor
    The Dalai Lama cuts a birthday cake presented to him during the celebration of his 88th birthday at his residence in Dharamsala, India, on Thursday, July 6, 2023. Credit: Tenzin Choejor

    “I was born in Tibet and I bear this name Dalai Lama, but in addition to working for the cause of Tibet, I’ve been working for the welfare of all sentient beings,” he also said in remarks to the crowd in Dharamsala. 

    “I’ve done whatever I could without losing hope or allowing my determination to flag. I’m angry with no one, not even those Chinese leaders who have adopted a harsh attitude towards Tibet. Indeed, China has historically been a Buddhist country as witnessed by the many temples and monasteries I saw when I visited that land.”

    Subtle celebrations

    China has sought to erase the Dalai Lama and his likeness from the Tibet Autonomous Region, so Tibetans there celebrated his birthday in subtle ways.

    They shared poems and odes to the Dalai Lama online and circulated in various online messaging groups an image of a hat he wore as a child in a popular photograph, with the number “88” appearing below it. 

    “Tibetans are engaging in creative ways as well as performing religious activities to celebrate his holiness’s birthday,” said a Tibetan who lives in the region, referring to reciting prayers and hoisting prayer flags. 

    The exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, who is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, also expressed gratitude for the support he has received from his friends. 

    In a four-minute recorded video message marking his birthday, the Dalai Lama said, “On the occasion of my birthday, if you, my friends, can guard your minds and lead good-natured lives, you will be joyful at heart, and as a result be able, directly and indirectly, to help everyone around you.”

    High-level government officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, issued birthday greetings to the Dalai Lama on what Blinken said was an auspicious day for the Tibetan community. 

    “His Holiness’s kindness and humility serve as an inspiration to many around the world, and I have deep admiration for his ongoing commitment to peace and nonviolence,” Blinken said. “Today, may we reflect on his messages of compassion and tolerance as we reaffirm our commitment to upholding the human rights of all people, including those of the Tibetan community.”

    “The United States is unwavering in our commitment to support the linguistic, cultural, and religious identity of Tibetans, including the ability to freely choose and venerate their religious leaders without interference,” he said.

    India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Spoke to His Holiness @DalaiLama and conveyed heartfelt greetings to him on his 88th birthday. Wishing him a long and healthy life.”

    Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Tibetan.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Opinion: Universal basic income is a good idea for India’s workforce

    By The Editorial Board

    See original post here.

    India’s single most vexatious economic problem is the lack of adequate employment and earning opportunities for its large and growing labour force. The nation is one of the youngest countries of the world in terms of its demographic profile. This ‘demographic dividend’ is considered to be a blessing. It could, it is argued, help India become the world’s labour force. However, for the dividend to yield returns, it would require, firstly, a well-educated and well-trained workfor­ce. The demographic dividend’s fruition is also predicated upon the availability of enough job opportunities across the world. Neither possibility seems obvious today. Although India has a large constituency of graduates, an overwhelming num­ber of them are considered unemployable. There is also a very large number that is unskilled and functionally literate. Employment opportunities abroad are limited to a few low-skilled jobs, openings in the technology sector, and some in academia. Moreover, low-skilled labour migrating to other parts of the world is subject to scrutiny since few countries look at migration favourably. Moreover, the scale and the speed of emerging Artificial Intelligence-based technologies do not augur well for the traditional job market, save for workers who are highly educated and skilled in cutting-edge technologies. On joining the dots, the future of jobs across all levels of skill is not bright.

    Given this context, the remark made by the chief economic advisor, that India does not need a universal basic income because economic growth would suffice to meet aspirations, must be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt. India’s economic structure hides unemployment behind part-time, informal, job-sharing livelihoods. These ‘workers’ are surplus in the sense that total production would not decline even if they were to be removed from their activity. Therefore, the wisdom of depending solely on economic growth to guarantee basic amenities for all is unwarranted. Some alternative strategy has to be thought of to ensure a decent living for all. The concept of a universal basic income, or some variant of it, cannot thus be ruled out. The idea is to be able to provide for collective survival and sustenance. A template of UBI has two principal challenges: the identification of beneficiaries and the avoidance of fiscal stress. The digital enumeration of personal information can solve the first problem. Additional taxes on the super-rich can resolve the latter. Reality demands that the possibility of UBI be debated and kept alive notwithstanding its political unpalatability.

    The post Opinion: Universal basic income is a good idea for India’s workforce appeared first on Basic Income Today.

    This post was originally published on Basic Income Today.

  • Eqbal Ahmad’s Internationalist Vision

    For peace advocates in South Asia, Ahmad’s grammar of cooperation provides a much-needed alternative to hypernationalist politics.

  • JFD launches its Fourth Generation Submarine Rescue System ‘Agile’

    The first system fully transportable in commercial aircraft. System design enables the fastest possible response within the 72 hours’ Time to First Rescue (TTFR) window. Built on 40 years’ proven submarine rescue expertise working with navies across the world. JFD is proud to unveil its ‘Agile’ Submarine Rescue System (SRS), based on 40 years’ experience, […]

    The post JFD launches its Fourth Generation Submarine Rescue System ‘Agile’ appeared first on Asian Military Review.

  • India sells arms to junta while claiming concern over crisis in Myanmar

    Companies in India are supplying weapons to Myanmar’s junta while Prime Minister Narendra Modi expresses concern about the political crisis in Myanmar on the international stage, observers said Monday, highlighting the two-faced nature of the strategy.

    Indian arms manufacturer Bharat Electronics Limited, or BEL, transferred military equipment worth more than US$5.1 million to Myanmar’s army or known Myanmar arms brokers Alliance Engineering Consultancy and Mega Hill General Trading over a period of six months from November 2022 to April 2023, the rights group Justice for Myanmar reported in June.

    The military equipment included metallic sonar domes; transducers and gaskets for the domes to be used on frigates, warships or submarines; directing gear systems; technical documents; various items for radio transmission or radar equipment; and manpack radios for battlefield communication.

    Justice for Myanmar called the shipments “part of a pattern of Indian support for the Myanmar military and its domestic arms industry” and called on India’s allies to use their leverage to “pressure India to stop the supply of arms and dual use goods and technology” to the regime, including during Modi’s state visits to the U.S. and France this year.

    The weapons sales come even as Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden issued a joint statement following their meeting at the White House on June 22 expressing concern about the worsening rights situation in Myanmar and calling for the release of the country’s political prisoners.

    A Hexacopter drone used in unmanned aerial surveillance manufactured by Bharat Electronics is displayed during a defense exhibition in Bangalore, Dec. 2021. Indian arms manufacturer Bharat Electronics Limited transferred military equipment worth more than US$5.1 million to Myanmar’s army over a period of six months from November 2022 to April 2023, the rights group Justice for Myanmar reported in June. Credit: Manjunath Kiran/AFP
    A Hexacopter drone used in unmanned aerial surveillance manufactured by Bharat Electronics is displayed during a defense exhibition in Bangalore, Dec. 2021. Indian arms manufacturer Bharat Electronics Limited transferred military equipment worth more than US$5.1 million to Myanmar’s army over a period of six months from November 2022 to April 2023, the rights group Justice for Myanmar reported in June. Credit: Manjunath Kiran/AFP

    Than Soe Naing, a political analyst, pointed out the hypocrisy of India selling weapons to the junta with one hand while saying it is concerned with the situation in Myanmar on the other.

    He noted that India has stayed neutral amid the ongoing conflict in Myanmar and neglected or even arrested refugees who have fled fighting across its border.

    “But on the international arena, when making a statement as a democratic country, it uses the terms ‘democracy and human rights,’” he told RFA. “It doesn’t make any sense. It is a government that is indirectly supporting the crimes committed by the Myanmar military by willfully ignoring them.”

    Justice for Myanmar’s report came on the heels of one released in May by U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews, who said the junta had imported at least US$1 billion in arms and raw materials to manufacture weapons between the Feb. 1, 2021, military coup d’etat and December 2022.

    Rights groups say the junta is using such weapons against the people of Myanmar, including to attack the armed resistance and civilians who oppose its rule.

    While Russia, China and Singapore were the major sources by far, the U.N. report found that Indian entities, including state-owned entities, had transferred US$51 million in arms and related materials to the junta over the same period. That followed Russia’s US$406 million, China’s US$267 million, and Singapore’s US$254 million.

    Selling weapons for war crimes

    Ko Mike, a spokesman for the Blood Money Campaign, a collective of Myanmar activists campaigning to stop revenues reaching the junta, said that Indian companies selling weapons to Myanmar are abetting war crimes.

    “They are supporting killings by a terrorist group [the junta] that is committing the worst crimes in the world,” he said. “Sometime in the future, it will be necessary to do something internationally about accountability [for such entities].”

    Ye Tun, a political analyst, said that Modi appears to believe the junta is responsible for maintaining stability in Myanmar.

    “So if you [maintain stability] by using weapons, India will sell weapons to Myanmar’s military [to support such alleged efforts].”  

    Prior to the sales detailed in Justice for Myanmar’s latest report, the group noted that Indian state-owned arms producer Yantra India Limited shipped multiple 122mm howitzer barrels to the junta in October 2022 in an apparent breach of international law.

    A model of 'Akash' surface to air missile developed by Bharat Electronics is displayed during a defense exhibition in Bangalore, Dec. 2021. Credit: Manjunath Kiran/AFP
    A model of ‘Akash’ surface to air missile developed by Bharat Electronics is displayed during a defense exhibition in Bangalore, Dec. 2021. Credit: Manjunath Kiran/AFP

    The Indian government has so far ignored calls by civil society organizations and the people of Myanmar, including the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, and failed to comply with U.N. resolutions and its responsibilities under international law, said Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadana Maung.

    Radio Free Asia attempted to contact the Indian Embassy in Myanmar by email for comment but received no response. Calls to junta Deputy Information Minister Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun, seeking comment on the claims, went unanswered Monday.

    Regional stability at risk

    Thein Tun Oo, the executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, which is made up of former military officers, called it “normal” for India to assist its neighbor.

    “India can stand on its own two feet and cooperate with anyone it wants to,” he said. “India has taken Myanmar as a partner … [because] Myanmar is the best country for India to cooperate with on the security of the Indian Ocean. So, it is normal for India to cooperate with Myanmar.”

    Myanmar junta’s soldiers participate in a parade to mark Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw in 2021.Indian arms sales to Myanmar are supporting the military regime’s war crimes and the international community must act to stop them, rights activists and analysts said Monday, in response to a new report detailing weapons shipments to the junta in recent months. Credit: Reuters
    Myanmar junta’s soldiers participate in a parade to mark Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw in 2021.Indian arms sales to Myanmar are supporting the military regime’s war crimes and the international community must act to stop them, rights activists and analysts said Monday, in response to a new report detailing weapons shipments to the junta in recent months. Credit: Reuters

    But NUG spokesman Kyaw Zaw said that as the world’s largest democracy, India is expected to embrace democratic values and not prop up regimes that oppress their own people.

    “We hope that India will try to understand the will of the people of Myanmar and help them to fulfill that will,” he said.

    If India instead continues to support the junta, he said, there will be no resolution to the conflict in Myanmar and the stability of the region will be at risk.

    Translated by Htin Aung Kyaw. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • First-ever recipients of ‘outstanding’ Asian music funding unveiled

    By Blessen Tom, RNZ News journalist

    Fifteen artists have been selected as the inaugural beneficiaries of NZ On Air’s New Music Pan-Asian funding.

    The initiative, the first of its kind, aims to support the Asian music community in New Zealand.

    The fund was established due to a lack of equitable representation of Asian musicians in the country’s music sector, says Teresa Patterson, head of music at NZ On Air.

    “Our Music Diversity Report clearly showed the under-representation of Pan-Asian New Zealand musicians in the Aotearoa music sector,” she said.

    “This is reflected in the number of funding applications we received for this focus round.”

    The funding provides musicians with up to $10,000 for recording, mixing and mastering a single, some of which can be set aside for the promotion and creation of visual content to accompany the song’s release.

    “We received 107 applications for 15 grants, which is outstanding,” Patterson said.

    ‘Wonderful range’
    “The range of genre, gender and ethnicity among the applicants was wonderful. We received applications from artists who identify as Chinese, Indian, Filipino, South Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, Sri Lankan, Malaysian, Thai and Iraqi.

    “The genres varied from alternative/indie and pop to hip-hop/RnB, dance/electro and folk/country.”

    Phoebe Rings members Crystal Choi, Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent, Benjamin Locke and Alex Freer.
    Phoebe Rings members Crystal Choi, Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent, Benjamin Locke and Alex Freer. Image: Phoebe Rings/RNZ News

    Six of the 15 songs that secured funding are bilingual, featuring Asian languages such as Cantonese, Korean, Japanese, Malay and Punjabi.

    Patterson believed this variety would “really help to reflect the many voices of Aotearoa New Zealand” and add to the vibrant cultural music mix experienced by local audiences.

    Swap Gomez, a drummer, visual director and academic lecturer, was one of the panel members responsible for selecting the musicians for the funding. He emphasised the challenges faced by Asian musicians in New Zealand.

    “What was awesome to see was so many Pan-Asian artists applying; artists we had never heard of coming out of the woodwork now that a space has been created to celebrate their work,” Gomez said.

    “This is the time we can celebrate those Pan-Asian artists who have previously felt overlooked by the wider industry.

    “Now there is an environment and sector where they can feel appreciated for their success in music. As a multicultural industry, developing initiatives such as this one is more crucial than ever.”

    NZ On Air has announced that funding opportunities for Asian musicians will continue in the next financial year.

    “The response we have had to this inaugural NZ On Air New Music Pan-Asian focus funding round has been phenomenal,” Patterson said.

    “It tells us that there is a real need, so NZ On Air is excited to confirm that it will return in the new financial year.”

    The full NZ On Air’s Pan-Asian New Music recipient list:

    • Amol; cool asf
    • Charlotte Avery; just before you go
    • Crystal Chen; love letter
    • hanbee; deeper
    • Hans.; Porcelain
    • Hugo Chan; bite
    • Julius Black; After You
    • LA FELIX; Waiting
    • Lauren Gin; Don’t Stop
    • Memory Foam; Moon Power
    • Phoebe Rings; 아스라이
    • RESHMA; Kuih Lapis (Layer Cake)
    • tei.; sabre
    • Terrible Sons; Thank You, Thank You
    • Valere; Lily’s March

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • ‘Resistance is possible’: Ravish Kumar, the broadcaster risking his life to tell the truth about India​ today​

    The eminent journalist’s fearless reporting on India under Narendra Modi cost him his job and freedom. Now broadcasting to millions on YouTube, he is the subject of a new documentary

    Ravish Kumar was born near the same Indian city – Motihari in Bihar – as George Orwell. In his early years as a TV journalist and nightly news anchor, Kumar did not imagine that he would live to be part of a modern-day Nineteen Eighty-Four nightmare. But that changed almost a decade ago with the election of Narendra Modi’s government in India. In the years since then, Kumar has become an increasingly lone voice of truth-telling in an Indian media landscape in thrall to the Hindu nationalist politics of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP). Kumar’s one-man campaign to maintain journalistic integrity, as mainstream news organisations became promoters of politicised fake news, earned him the “Nobel prize of Asia,” the Ramon Magsaysay award, in 2019. It also led to an unending campaign of harassment and death threats from government supporters.

    Kumar, the Indian equivalent of, say, Jeremy Paxman in his prime, finally resigned from his post at NDTV in New Delhi last November, after the station was taken over by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, a close friend of Modi. He now lives in virtual hiding with his family and broadcasts through a personal YouTube channel. His story, one of repression in modern India and of the existential crisis in truth-telling worldwide, is the subject of an urgently compelling documentary, While We Watched.

    Continue reading…

  • GE Aerospace partners with HAL for Indian LCA engines

    US company GE Aerospace has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to jointly produce its F414 turbofan engine in India, the company announced on 22 June. The agreement was signed on the occasion of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state visit to the United States and is seen as […]

    The post GE Aerospace partners with HAL for Indian LCA engines appeared first on Asian Military Review.

    This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

  • 220 Crore people got free Covid vaccine in India? False, illogical claim by BJP

    In a recent tweet, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s official handle claimed that 220 crore people in India had been inoculated against coronavirus for free. Alongside a graphic, the BJP’s official Twitter handle wrote, “Did you ever think it was possible that 220 crore people would get vaccinated for free?”. The tweet was later deleted. (Archive)

    Shortly afterwards, Union minister Kailash Choudhary, Rajsamand BJP MP Diya Kumari, former Uttarakhand chief minister and BJP leader Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Ballia BJP MP Virendra Singh, Darbhanga BJP MP Gopal Jee Thakur, former Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP MLA from Katihar Tarkishore Prasad, among others, promoted the same claim on Facebook.

    Click to view slideshow.

    The following screen recording of Meta’s social monitoring tool CrowdTangle also shows that several BJP leaders, MLAs and ministers posted this claim on Facebook.

    Fact Check

    Upon first glance, the claim made by the BJP seems misleading. The first thing worth noting is that the population of India is not 220 crore. As per an Indian Express report dated April 20 quoting data from the UNFPA State of World Population Report 2023, India is set to become the most populous country in the world leaving China behind. According to the report, by the middle of this year, India’s population is estimated to reach 142.86 crore, which is slightly higher than China’s 142.57 crore population.

    Where did the figure of 220 crore come from? 

    On checking the Indian government’s CoWin portal related to Covid vaccinations, Alt News found that the total number of vaccination doses is 220 crore. In other words, a total of 1,02,74,10,872 people have taken the first dose so far. Similarly, 95,19,77,979 people have taken the second dose, and 22,73,16,908 people have taken the booster/precaution dose. The figure comes from the sum total of these three figures, i.e. 2,20,67,05,759.

    With some simple addition and subtraction, we can figure out how many people took the first Covid vaccine jab. It is obvious that those who took the second dose would have taken the first one. Furthermore, those who took the booster/precaution dose would have likely taken the second dose. Therefore, a sum total across these three categories hardly makes any sense. In this case those who have taken the booster/precaution dose are separated across three figures and those who have taken the second one are counted in two figures.

    If we talk about the reach of the Covid vaccine, then according to these figures, it reached 102,74,10,872 people out of which 95,19,77,979 people took the second dose. Finally, this would mean the booster/precaution dose reached only 22,73,16,908 people.

    False claim of free vaccine to all

    The fifth page of the Guidance doc for COWIN 2.0 issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare clearly mentions that the vaccine would be provided free of charge at the government health facilities and will be on payment basis in private health facilities, at a rate as may be decided by the Indian government from time to time. 

    On February 27, 2021, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a press release which clearly stated, “Private hospitals functioning as CVCs may recover a charge subject to a ceiling of Rs 250 per person per dose. This nationwide vaccination program is now to be exponentially expanded to the following age-groups from March 1, 2021:

    1. i) all citizens above 60 years of age and,
    2. ii) those within the age bracket of 45 to 59 years with specific co-morbodities

    The office memorandum issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India to all the states and union territories on June 8, 2021, is available on the Kerala and Assam state governments’ websites. It is mentioned here that under the new guidelines of the National Covid Vaccination Program released on June 8, 2021, the cost of the vaccine dose for private hospitals would be declared by each vaccine manufacturer. Private hospitals would be able to charge a maximum of Rs 150 per dose as service charge. According to the memorandum, a maximum of Rs 780 could be charged by a private CVC (Covid Vaccination Centre) for the Covishield vaccine including GST and service charge, Rs 1410 for Covaxin, and Rs 1145 for the Sputnik V vaccine.

    Changes have been introduced in these policies from time to time. On April 9, 2022, Adar Poonawala, CEO of the Serum Institute of India and Suchitra Ella, founder of Bharat Biotech, tweeted that the cost of the Covishield vaccine for a private hospital would be Rs 225 per dose, down from Rs 600 earlier, and the price of Covaxin had been reduced from Rs 1200 to Rs 225 per dose. The Union health ministry had announced that from April 10, 2022, booster/precaution doses of the Covid-19 vaccine would be available for everyone above 18 years of age at private vaccination centres. Since people still had to pay a fee for the vaccine at private vaccination centres, the BJP’s claim about the government providing free Covid vaccines to all is false.

    To sum it up, the first dose of the Covid vaccine reached the highest number of people, around 103 crore, yet the BJP and its leaders misleadingly claimed that 220 crore people were given the Covid-19 vaccination. In reality, this figure of 220 crore is not the number of people inoculated, but of the number of total doses of the vaccine that were administered. This number includes people who were given the first dose, second dose as well as the booster/precaution dose. At the same time, the BJP made a false claim of providing free vaccines to all, even as vaccination policies were revised from time to time and private hospitals charged for administering vaccines.

    The post 220 Crore people got free Covid vaccine in India? False, illogical claim by BJP appeared first on Alt News.

    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Abhishek Kumar.

  • The Geopolitics of Industrial Policy

    A discussion featuring Yakov Feygin, Daniela Gabor, Ho-fung Hung, Thea Riofrancos, and Quinn Slobodian.

  • France knife-attack: Suspect a Syrian Christian; False ‘Jihad Watch’ report calling him a Muslim viral in India

    A few weeks back, a video surfaced on social media, which showed a knife-wielding man stabbing people, including toddlers and an elderly man, in a playground in Annecy, France. The man was identified as Abdelmasih Hanoun (31), a Christian Syrian refugee. In the video, Abdelmasih Hanoun is reportedly heard yelling “In the name of Jesus Christ!” while he carries out the act. BBC reported that the suspect himself mentioned that he is a Syrian Christian. The suspect was later arrested by French police for attempted murder, and the prosecution said that his actions did not seem to be linked to terrorism. But a section of media and social media users have claimed that the man is actually a Muslim whose real name is Selwan Majd.

    Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, an American far-Right anti-Muslim conspiracy blog, tweeted an image of the suspect with the caption, “An Atrocity in Annecy” and added the link to an article of the same title on June 12. The report mostly revolves around the assumption that there is a possibility that the alleged attacker is originally Muslim and the media is deliberately portraying him as a Christian. (Archive)

    On June 13, Jihad Watch published another article titled: “France: ‘Christian’ who stabbed children on playground turns out to be a Muslim named Selwan Majd” which was basically an English translation of a report from a French website called Resistance Républicaine, a far-Right site known for sharing Islamophobic content. Robert Spencer tweeted the link to the article. The tweet has received over 4 million views and has been retweeted over 24,000 times. (Archive)

    The report says, “From the beginning we said that it cannot be a Christian… and that it has the signs of being done by a Muslim…” It also mentions that Abdelmasih Hanoun is actually Selwan Majd and he travelled to Turkey with false papers that would show him as a Christian and got married in Sweden with a false Christian name. The report, however, does not cite any source for the information.

    Click to view slideshow.

    Indian Twitter handles such as @JIX5A, @MeghUpdates, @RituRathaur, @AmitLeliSlayer also shared the link/screenshot to Jihad Watch’s report. Some other prominent international Twitter handles also shared the same including Britain First, a far-right British political party, @AzzatAlsaalem, @EvaVlaar, @ElijahSchaffer.

    Click to view slideshow.

    Elish Yako, the national general secretary of an NGO called Association d’Entraide aux Minorités d’Orient, shared a series of tweets in this regard claiming that the alleged Annecy stabber was indeed a Muslim. — According to its website, the NGO provides aid to eastern minorities, mostly to Christians. (Archive 1, 2, 3)

    To support his claim, Yako mentions that they could not retrieve the man’s baptism or celibacy certificate from Syria and that in his marriage certificate, he had left the boxes for the date and place of birth and identity of his parents empty.

    Click to view slideshow.

    Fact Check

    The Resistance Républicaine report mentioned that Abdelmasih H. met and married his now ex-spouse in Sweden under a false Christian name and that he was not granted Swedish citizenship because the country’s officials doubted him. To check this claim we ran a relevant keyword search that led us to several news reports with details of the matter.

    As per a news report by Le Monde, a French daily afternoon newspaper, according to the information provided by the suspect’s mother, he was born in Syria in 1991 and served in the Syrian army. In 2011, he left the country when the civil war broke out and moved to Turkey where he met his future wife who was also a Syrian. The couple moved to Sweden together in 2013, got married and had a child, who is presently three-year-old. Later, the couple got divorced when Abdelmasih H. couldn’t get Swedish citizenship. He later moved to France and applied for citizenship there for the first time in November 2022.

    In another report, Le Monde mentioned that Abdelmasih’s former wife herself obtained Swedish nationality in June 2021, six years after being granted a permanent residence permit. In November 2013, Abdelmasih H. received a permanent residence permit in Sweden. His first application for nationality was submitted in October 2017 and quickly rejected as one needs to have lived in Sweden for at least five years to be naturalized. He tried again in August 2018 but did not receive any response. He appealed again in 2021. Finally, on February 11, 2022, the Swedish Migration Agency rejected his application.

    Le Monde accessed the ruling by the Swedish Migration Agency where the Swedish authorities justified their refusal on the basis that Abdelmasih mentioned in his application that he had served in the Syrian Military in 2011 and 2012. After a 2004 government decision, any applicant for naturalization “who has been active in, or had a decisive influence on, an organization whose activities are believed to have included systematic, widespread and flagrant abuses such as torture, murder and extrajudicial executions cannot be granted Swedish citizenship unless a specified period of time has elapsed”. This period has been set at 25 years. Several Human Rights organisations find the Syrian army guilty of committing war crimes and of human rights violations.

    Click to view slideshow.

     

    Therefore, the claim that the Swedish authorities doubted that he pretended to be a Christian and hence rejected his citizenship application or that he first met his now ex-spouse in Sweden is false. The couple met in Turkey and moved to Sweden together.

    We further came across a report by a French fact-checking organisation called Liberation which also refuted the claim that the assailant was a Muslim whose real name was Selwan Majd. In their article, Resistance Républicaine also mentions that their claim will soon also be confirmed by relatives of Father Boulad in Alexandria. The fact-check report highlighted that the mentioned priest passed away recently and was known for his Islamophobia.

    We also found a tweet from BFM TV, a French news channel, from June 8. When they reached out to Abdelmasih’s ex-wife, she told the interviewer that she had met her ex-husband in Turkey and that he was a Christian. She also said that he was from the city of Al Hasakah in Syria. When asked if Abdelmasih H. was ever such a violent person, she said that he was never like that and that he was a good father to their child.

    As per our findings so far there is no evidence that would suggest that the Annecy stabbing suspect is a Muslim person called Selwan Majd. The suspect who was arrested by the French officials is Abdelmasih Hanoun who is a Syrian Christian.

    In the past as well, Jihad Watch had shared misleading reports targeting the Muslim community. One of Robert Spencer’s tweets, in which he shared a misleading report relating a crime of attempted murder to ‘Jihad’ or terrorism, received a comment from Twitter owner Elon Musk. Musk’s one-character comment (just an exclamation mark) was enough to give the misleading tweet a boost in terms of its reach. The tweet has received 3.2 million views and has been retweeted over 10,000 times. At present, it comes with a ‘community note‘ that contradicts Spencer’s claim. (Archive)

    The post France knife-attack: Suspect a Syrian Christian; False ‘Jihad Watch’ report calling him a Muslim viral in India appeared first on Alt News.

    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Oishani Bhattacharya.

  • Modi and Biden‘s silence is felt by people in #India and the #US whose rights are being abused.


    This content originally appeared on Amnesty International and was authored by Amnesty International.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Protests continue in Washington as Indian PM visits US

    WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the US, as people staged protest demonstrations in the US capital Washington against grave human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

    A protest was organized by World Kashmir Awareness Forum and ICNA Council for Social Justice at Monument Ground on Constitution Avenue while All Sikh Gurdwara and Sikh Sanghat, Sikh Coordination Committee, Khalistan Affairs Centre, Sikhs for Justice, Shermanal Akali Dal Amritsar, World Sikh Parliament also held protests outside the White House.

    During a unique protest organized by Sikh Youth of America, a poem was presented while beating drum. In which Narendra Modi was severely criticized while portraits of US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were also made.

    Officials of ICNA Council for Social Justice and Kashmiri while strongly condemning the genocide of Muslims in India said that the violation of human rights in India should be stopped immediately.

    America had refused to give visa to Narendra Modi for the massacre in Gujarat, but today the same butcher has come as his special guest. America’s double standard is beyond comprehension.

    The participants of the demonstration organized under the Khalistan movement shouted slogans against Modi.

    Sikh leaders participating in the protest said that Manipur is burning, churches are being burnt.

    The Christian community is being forcibly displaced. There is a need to be united against Hindutva terrorism in India. Democracy has been trampled underfoot in India. The worst violations of human rights are being done.

    When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the White House, India’s evil face was exposed through videos installed on trucks on the streets of Washington.

    The post Protests continue in Washington as Indian PM visits US first appeared on VOSA.

    This post was originally published on VOSA.

  • AOC Is Boycotting Modi’s Address Over “Deeply Troubling” Human Rights Record

    Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and a number of other progressives in the House have announced that they’re boycotting far right Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to Congress on Thursday, citing Modi’s abysmal human rights record and erosion of free press and religion rights in India. Modi is slated to speak before Congress as part of a trip to the U.S. on an invite from…

    Source

  • Indian PM attends World Yoga Day event in UN, amid strong protests in NYC against HR violations in IOK

    New York: Indian Prime Minister Modi participated in the International Day of Yoga in United Nations, Sikhs, Pakistanis, and Kashmiri communities living in the United States staged a protest demonstration in New York, condemning the grave human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

    The protesters blamed that there are serious violations of human rights and restrictions on freedom of expression, as the Modi government has made the lives of Sikhs, Muslims and other minorities miserable through extremist organizations in IOK.

    The participants of the protest demonstration in front of the United Nations headquarters continued to raise loud slogans against the Indian government and Narendra Modi. According to the protesters, the Modi government has made India a country of only Hindus under the Hindutva ideology, so the Sikhs want independence from India and demand a separate country, Khalistan. Demonstrators carried the flags of the Khalistan movement.

    On this occasion, a Kashmiri leader who attended the the protest said that Modi is violating human rights in India. Atrocities are being rampant in India. Genocide of minorities must stop. Kashmiris should be given the right to vote according to the resolutions of the United Nations.

    The protesters said: “Tomorrow we will also hold demonstrate in Washington against the ongoing atrocities in India. The United Nations has failed to give Kashmiris their right to self-determination since 1947.

    Another leader who participated in the protest said that Muslims are being massacred in India. So far millions of Kashmiris have been martyred. The voice of minorities in India cannot be suppressed at any cost.

    When the Indian Prime Minister was addressing a yoga ceremony under the cover of the United Nations, videos on the screens installed on the trucks highlighted Indian atrocities on the streets of New York.

    The post Indian PM attends World Yoga Day event in UN, amid strong protests in NYC against HR violations in IOK first appeared on VOSA.

  • Three Uyghur brothers who fled into India a decade ago aim to seek asylum in Canada

    Three Uyghur brothers who escaped from China’s far western Xinjiang province a decade ago – and have been detained in India ever since – are aiming to seek asylum in Canada, their lawyer said.

    After 10 years of being detained in India and unsuccessfully seeking asylum there, they face the growing prospect of being deported to China, said their lawyer, Muhammed Shafi Lassu. 

    “This (Indian) government feels threatened by China, which is why they are hesitant to release these individuals and grant them political asylum, which they are actively avoiding,” Lassu told Radio Free Asia in an interview last week. “In a way, they prefer to keep them detained.”

    Since their arrest in 2013 in the northern India-administered region of Jammu & Kashmir, the brothers – Adil, Abduhaliq and Abdusalam Tursun – have been moved around to various detention centers in Kashmir. They are now being held in a prison in Jammu city, Lassu said.

    Lassu said that if any country were to offer the three Tursun brothers political asylum, he would petition the Supreme Court of India to seek their release. 

    In February, Canada offered to resettle 10,000 Uyghur refugees, giving them new hope.

    To help people apply for asylum, a humanitarian group called the Canadian Uyghur Rights Advocate Project has set up an online application that Lassu said he plans to use on the brothers’ behalf. 

    Hopefully that will bring better results than his previous attempts to write the Canadian government to request asylum, which have not elicited any response, he said.

    Lassu said he also wrote to several Arab countries on behalf of the brothers, but said officials there “showed no concern for the violation of human rights.” 

    The United States and the United Nations have urged against the repatriation of Uyghur refugees to China, where there is a growing body of evidence documenting the detention of up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and others in “re-education” camps, torture, sexual abuse and forced labor. 

    Crossing mountains

    Facing persecution from the Chinese government in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the three Tursun brothers in 2013 – aged 16, 18 and 20 at the time – trekked through the rugged Karakoram Mountain Range and crossed into India in the Ladakh region of Kashmir. 

    They were apprehended by the Indo-Tibetan Armed Police Force, a division of the local Indian Border Guard Forces, and detained for about two months.

    The brothers admitted to crossing the border and were transferred to a police station in Leh in Jammu, Kashmir, Lassu said. In July 2014, they were charged with illegal entry and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

    But Indian authorities later re-indicted the brothers under a special security law in Kashmir and have extended their detention every six months for the last 10 years, Lassu said. 

    “This law is exceptionally stringent, allowing the government to detain individuals without trial,” he said.

    The brothers have managed to maintain their religious worship and have learned Urdu, Hindi and English during their time in captivity, Lassu said.

    “They pray five times a day in prison and read the Quran,” he said. “They fast during Ramadan. They have always maintained their religious dedication.” 

    Risk of deportation

    They are in danger of being sent back to China, according to Akash Hassan, an independent Kashmiri journalist who has written several articles about their case.

    Hassan said the Indian government has instructed “relevant authorities to initiate the repatriation process. Therefore, there is a possibility that these individuals will be sent back to China at any moment.”

    Lassu said he has also reached out to the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR, for help with the asylum request.

    “They emphasized that if the government officially recognizes these individuals as refugees, the UNHCR will provide them with all kinds of support and assistance,” he told RFA.

    But UNHCR doesn’t have those same requirements for other refugees in India, including Rohingya refugees who began fleeing Myanmar in 2012. 

    RFA sent a list of questions to Rama Dwivedi of UNHCR’s office in India about the brothers’ case on June 13 but has not received a response.

    Even if Lassu or another lawyer is able to bring the brothers’ case to the Supreme Court of India, it is very unlikely that the court will rule in their favor, said Hassan, the journalist.

    Double standard?

    India has a double standard when it comes to treatment of Uyghur and Tibetan refugees, he said.

    “On one hand, India welcomes thousands of Tibetan refugees who have fled from the Chinese-controlled Tibet region, and a significant number of Tibetan refugees reside in India,” he said. 

    “However, the treatment of Uyghurs differs. I believe this discriminatory and disparate treatment is associated with the Muslim identity of the Uyghurs,” he said. “It appears that India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, is increasingly embracing right-wing Hindu nationalism.”

    The Indian government should cease returning Uyghur individuals to China and refrain from treating them as criminals, Meenakshi Ganguly, the South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said to RFA in a June 13 interview.

    Even though India hasn’t signed the U.N. Refugee Convention, it still has an obligation to abide by international law in cases concerning Uyghurs, she said.

    Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Jilil Kashgary for RFA Uyghur.

  • India is a tech superpower that Australia must follow

    Recent visits by the Australian and Indian Prime Ministers to each other’s country gives expression to Australia’s newfound relationship with India – a major power in the Indo-Pacific, the world’s fifth-largest economy and the largest democracy on the planet. For the past decade, successive Australian governments and diplomats have been attempting to court India, seeking…

    The post India is a tech superpower that Australia must follow appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.

  • The Emergence of a New Non-Alignment

    Sahej Rahal (India), Juggernaut, 2019.

    A new mood of defiance in the Global South has generated bewilderment in the capitals of the Triad (the United States, Europe, and Japan), where officials are struggling to answer why governments in the Global South have not accepted the Western view of the conflict in Ukraine or universally supported the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in its efforts to ‘weaken Russia’. Governments that had long been pliant to the Triad’s wishes, such as the administrations of Narendra Modi in India and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Türkiye (despite the toxicity of their own regimes), are no longer as reliable.

    Since the start of the war in Ukraine, India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has been vocal in defending his government’s refusal to accede to Washington’s pressure. In April 2022, at a joint press conference in Washington, DC with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Jaishankar was asked to explain India’s continued purchase of oil from Russia. His answer was blunt: ‘I noticed you refer to oil purchases. If you are looking at energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest that your attention should be focused on Europe… We do buy some energy which is necessary for our energy security. But I suspect, looking at the figures, probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon’.

    Kandi Narsimlu (India), Waiting at the Bus Stand, 2023.

    However, such comments have not deterred Washington’s efforts to win India over to its agenda. On 24 May, the US Congress’s Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party released a policy statement on Taiwan which asserted that ‘[t]he United States should strengthen the NATO Plus arrangement to include India’. This policy statement was released shortly after the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, where India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the various G7 leaders, including US President Joe Biden, as well as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

    The Indian government’s response to this ‘NATO Plus’ formulation echoed the sentiment of its earlier remarks about purchasing Russian oil. ‘A lot of Americans still have that NATO treaty construct in their heads’, Jaishankar said in a press conference on 9 June. ‘It seems almost like that is the only template or viewpoint with which they look at the world… That is not a template that applies to India’. India, he said, is not interested in being part of NATO Plus, wishing to maintain a greater degree of geopolitical flexibility. ‘One of the challenges of a changing world’, Jaishankar said, ‘is how do you get people to accept and adjust to those changes’.

    Katsura Yuki (Japan), An Ass in a Lion’s Skin, 1956.

    There are two significant takeaways from Jaishankar’s statements. First, the Indian government – which does not oppose the United States, either in terms of its programme or temperament – is uninterested in being drawn into a US-led bloc system (the ‘NATO treaty construct’, as Jaishankar put it). Second, like many governments in the Global South, it recognises that we live in ‘changing world’ and that the traditional major powers – especially the United States – need to ‘adjust to those changes’.

    In its Investment Outlook 2023 report, Credit Suisse pointed to the ‘deep and persistent fractures’ that have opened up in the international order – another way of referring to what Jaishankar called the ‘changing world’. Credit Suisse describes these ‘fractures’ accurately: ‘The global West (Western developed countries and allies) has drifted away from the global East (China, Russia, and allies) in terms of core strategic interests, while the Global South (Brazil, Russia, India, and China and most developing countries) is reorganising to pursue its own interests’. These final words bear repeating: ‘the Global South… is reorganising to pursue its own interests’.

    In mid-April, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released its Diplomatic Bluebook 2023, in which it noted that we are now at the ‘end of the post-Cold War era’. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the United States asserted its primacy over the international order and, along with its Triad vassals, established what it called the ‘rules-based international order’. This thirty-year-old US-led project is now floundering, partly due to the internal weaknesses of the Triad countries (including their weakened position in the global economy) and partly due to the rise of the ‘locomotives of the South’ (led by China, but including Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Nigeria). Our calculations, based on the IMF datamapper, show that for the first time in centuries, the Gross Domestic Product of the Global South countries surpassed that of the Global North countries this year. The rise of these developing countries – despite the great social inequality that exists within them – has produced a new attitude amongst their middle classes which is reflected in the increased confidence of their governments: they no longer accept the parochial views of the Triad countries as universal truths, and they have a greater wish to exert their own national and regional interests.

    Nelson Makamo (South Africa), The Announcement, 2016.

    It is this re-assertion of national and regional interests within the Global South that has revived a set of regional processes, including the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) process. On 1 June, the BRICS foreign ministers met in Cape Town (South Africa) ahead of the summit between their heads of states that is set to take place this August in Johannesburg. The joint statement they issued is instructive: twice, they warned about the negative impact of ‘unilateral economic coercive measures, such as sanctions, boycotts, embargoes, and blockades’ which have ‘produced negative effects, notably in the developing world’. The language in this statement represents a feeling that is shared across the entirety of the Global South. From Bolivia to Sri Lanka, these countries, which make up the majority of the world, are fed up with the IMF-driven debt-austerity cycle and the Triad’s bullying. They are beginning to assert their own sovereign agendas.

    Interestingly, this revival of sovereign politics is not being driven by inward-looking nationalism, but by a non-aligned internationalism. The BRICS ministers’ statement focuses on ‘strengthening multilateralism and upholding international law, including the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations as its indispensable cornerstone’ (incidentally, both China and Russia are part of the twenty-member Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter). The implicit argument being made here is that the US-led Triad states have unilaterally imposed their narrow worldview, based on the interests of their elites, on the countries of the South under the guise of the ‘rules-based international order’. Now, the states of the Global South argue, it is time to return to the source – the UN Charter – and build a genuinely democratic international order.

    Leaders of the Third World at the first conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade, 1961.
    Credit: Museum of Yugoslavia, Belgrade.

    The word ‘non-aligned’ has increasingly been used to refer to this new trend in international politics. The term has its origins in the Non-Aligned Conference held in Belgrade (Yugoslavia) in 1961, which was built upon the foundations laid at the Asian-African Conference held in Bandung (Indonesia) in 1955. In those days, non-alignment referred to countries led by movements rooted in the deeply anti-colonial Third World Project, which sought to establish the sovereignty of the new states and the dignity of their people. That moment of non-alignment was killed off by the debt crisis of the 1980s, which began with Mexico’s default in 1982. What we have now is not a return of the old non-alignment, but the emergence of a new political atmosphere and a new political constellation that requires careful study. For now, we can say that this new non-alignment is being demanded by the larger states of the Global South that are uninterested in being subordinated by the Triad’s agenda, but which have not yet established a project of their own – a Global South Project, for instance.

    As part of our efforts to understand this emerging dynamic, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research will be joining with the No Cold War campaign, ALBA Movimientos, Pan-Africanism Today, the International Strategy Center (South Korea), and the International Peoples’ Assembly to host the webinar ‘The New Non-Alignment and the New Cold War’ on 17 June. Speakers will include Ronnie Kasrils (former minister of intelligence, South Africa), Sevim Dagdelen (deputy party leader for Die Linke in the German Bundestag), Stephanie Weatherbee (International Peoples’ Assembly), and Srujana Bodapati (Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research).

    In 1931, the Jamaican poet and journalist Una Marson (1905–1965) wrote ‘There Will Come a Time’, a poem of hopefulness for a future ‘where love and brotherhood should have full sway’. People in the colonised world, she wrote, would have to pursue a sustained battle to attain their freedom. We are nowhere near the end of that fight, yet we are not in the position of almost total subordination that we were in during the height of the Triad’s primacy, which ran from 1991 to now. It is worthwhile to go back to Marson, who knew with certainty that a more just world would come, even if she would not be alive to witness it:

    What matter that we be as cagèd birds
    Who beat their breasts against the iron bars
    Till blood-drops fall, and in heartbreaking songs
    Our souls pass out to God? These very words,
    In anguish sung, will mightily prevail.
    We will not be among the happy heirs
    Of this grand heritage – but unto us
    Will come their gratitude and praise,
    And children yet unborn will reap in joy
    What we have sown in tears.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • India and China in tit-for-tat row over journalists

    In a slow-motion blow-up that has been underway since March, a diplomatic row between China and India over journalist visas has prompted each side to minimize the other’s media presence in their territories.

    China claims to have just one journalist left in India due to bureaucratic obstacles. This month, it instructed the Press Trust of India’s Beijing-based reporter to leave the country, Bloomberg reported earlier this week.

    The situation means that the world’s two most populous nations, each with 1.3 billion people and sharing a more than 3,440-kilometer border, have hardly any of their own journalists in the other country.

    “The Indian side has refused to review and approve Chinese journalists’ applications for stationing in India and limited the period of validity of visas held by Chinese journalists in India to only three months or even one month,” Wang Weibin, a foreign ministry spokesman, said in a regular press conference on Monday.

    “As a result, the number of Chinese journalists stationed in India has plummeted from 14 to just one,” he said. “As we speak, the Indian side still has not agreed to renew the visa of the last Chinese journalist in the country.

    “For Indian media outlets, four have been stationed in China in recent years and one is still working and living normally in China,” he said.

    Points to strained ties

    The Times of India reported that New Delhi had rejected two visa renewals from journalists with Xinhua and China Central Television

    “This will be the first time ever that India has no journalists based in Beijing,” Aadil Brar, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Taiwan Fellow and a columnist on China for The Print India, told RFA’s Tibetan service.

    “We’ve never seen a scenario quite like this and this tells you how difficult relations between India and China are right now,” he added.  

    ENG-ChinaIndiaRow_02.jpg
    A settlement near Sela pass in Tawang district of India’s Arunachal Pradesh in April 2, 2023. Freshly laid roads, bridges, upgraded military camps, and new civilian infrastructure dot the Himalayan route to the Indian frontier village of Zemithang, which China renamed last month to press its claim to the area in the far northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, almost all of which Beijing insists falls under its sovereignty as “South Tibet.” Credit: Arun Sankar/AFP

    Writing in The Print, Aadil Brar said, “The issue of access to journalists was always tipped in favor of Beijing. Chinese state-backed and semi-independent news outlets such as CGTN and Phoenix TV continue to operate from India with locally hired staff.”

    “With this, China will not have a single Indian journalist reporting from the country, down from four,” Brar said. “The other three journalists – from Hindustan Times, The Hindu, and Prasar Bharati – were either asked to leave the country or their visa renewal applications were denied.

    No precedent

    Brar noted that even during the Sino-Indian war of 1962, when the two countries clashed violently in two remote Himalayan border regions, Indian journalists were able to operate in Beijing.

    Kanwal Sibal, former foreign secretary of India, told RFA’s Tibetan service that he did not expect any imminent breakthrough in relations that have been steadily eroding since renewed border clashes in 2020 in the Galwan Valley – a disputed section of their shared Himalayan border.

    “I’m not sure what will happen at the G20 summit,” held in New Delhi on Sept. 9-10, he said.

    “Let’s see if Xi Jinping comes,” Sibal said. “If there’s no dialogue between the two sides then it will be a disaster for both sides, [but] there can’t be a dialogue unless Xi Jinping comes.”

    “The journalists that have been forced to leave won’t be going back anytime soon so that makes it difficult for Indians to learn about what’s going on in Beijing and similarly for Beijing to find out what’s going on in Delhi,” said Brar.

    In a sign that China is not going to budge, on May 31 foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning warned, “As we speak, the Indian side still has not renewed the visa of the last Chinese journalist in the country.

    “The number of Chinese journalists stationed in India is about to drop to zero.”

     

    Edited by Malcolm Foster.

    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Chris Taylor and RFA Tibetan and Mandarin.

  • CPJ calls on Biden administration to press India prime minister on media freedom during visit

    New York, June 14, 2023—­­Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. from June 21 to 24 and meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, the Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday issued the following statement calling on the U.S. government to urge India to end its media crackdown and release the six journalists arbitrarily detained in retaliation for their work:

    “Since Prime Minister Modi came to power in 2014, there has been an increasing crackdown on India’s media,” said CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg. “Journalists critical of the government and the BJP party have been jailed, harassed, and surveilled in retaliation for their work. India is the world’s largest democracy, and it needs to live up to that by ensuring a free and independent media–and we expect the United States to make this a core element of discussions.”

    On Wednesday, June 14, CPJ convened an online panel, “India’s Press Freedom Crisis,” with opening remarks and moderation by Ginsberg alongside panelists Geeta Seshu, founding editor of the Free Speech Collective watchdog group; Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of the Kashmir Times newspaper; and Shahina K.K., senior editor for Outlook magazine.

    The panelists discussed the deterioration of press freedom over the last decade, with Seshu detailing the rise in censorship and “vicious” attacks on the media, while Shahina shared her ongoing battle to fight terrorism charges filed nearly 13 years ago by the Karnataka state government, then led by Modi’s BJP party, in retaliation for her investigative reporting.

    Bhasin spoke about the “effective silence” that Kashmiri journalists have dealt with since the Modi government unilaterally revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special autonomy status in 2019, with multiple cases of reporters being detained and interrogated.

    CPJ calls on the U.S. government to urge India to act on the following press freedom violations:

    • The harassment of the domestic and foreign media, including routine raids and retaliatory income tax investigations launched into critical news outlets. In February, income tax authorities raided the BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai after the government censored a critical documentary on Modi by the broadcaster. Foreign correspondents say they have faced increasing visa uncertainties, restricted access to several areas of the country, including Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, and even threats of deportation in retaliation for critical reporting in recent years.
    • Ongoing impunity in cases of killed journalists. At least 62 journalists have been killed in India in connection with their work since 1992. India ranked 11th on CPJ’s 2022 impunity index, with unsolved cases of at least 20 journalists killed in retaliation for their work from September 1, 2012, to August 31, 2022.
    • Digital media restrictions, including using the IT Rules, 2021, to censor critical journalism, including the BBC documentary on Modi. India led the world in internet shutdowns for the fifth year in 2022, impeding press freedom and the ability of journalists to work freely.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Cyclone ‘BIPARJOY’ likely to make landfall near Kutch in India and move towards Pakistan

    KARACHI: The coastal regions of India and Pakistan are on high alert with tens of thousands being evacuated a day before Cyclone Biparjoy is expected to make landfall.

    Pakistan’s Met office said the Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) “ BIPARJOY” over northeast Arabian Sea has moved north-northeastward and now lies at a distance of about 370km south- southwest of Karachi, 355km south- southwest Thatta and 290km south- southwest of Keti Bandar.

    Reuters reported that four boys drowned in rough seas off the western Indian financial hub of Mumbai on Tuesday as India and Pakistan began evacuating people from coastal areas, Reuters reported.

    Al Jazeera reported that classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, Biparjoy, currently packing maximum sustained winds of up to 145 kilometres an hour (90mph), was situated about 280km (174 miles) from Jakhau port in western India’s Gujarat state and was expected to make landfall sometime on Thursday evening.

    “It will touch Kutch-Saurashtra coast (in Gujarat) adjoining the Pakistan coast between Mandvi and Karachi and near Jakhau port on June 15 from 4pm to 8pm in India (10:30-14:30 GMT),” Manorama Mohanty, the Gujarat director of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), told reporters.

    Residents living within 5km (3 miles) of the coast in Gujarat were evacuated, and those living within 10km (6.2 miles) may also have to move out, officials said. The Press Trust of India news agency said nearly 40,000 people have been evacuated to relief camps in Gujarat.

    The Sindh government has evolved an emergency plan to cope with the possible situation. All civic departments

    The powerful cyclone is most likely to hit the area between Keti Bandar and Indian Gujarat coast on 15 June afternoon.

    According to Business Recorder: “Considering the severity of issue, the Sindh government departments including KW&SB, Karachi Police, Local government department, Sindh Solid Waste Management, KDA, DMCs, KMC and private power company K-Electric (KE) have enforced emergency to deal with the grim situation. In this regard, Provincial Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that emergency has been imposed in the local government in view of the cyclone. The officers and staff of SSWMB, KDA, DMCs and KMC have been put on emergency duty.”

    The removal of billboards from the city is in progress. The removal of billboards is also in progress from the areas under the administration of DHA and Cantonment Boards. Instructions have also been given to remove panels on pedestrian bridges and flyovers. However, Sindh Chief Minister visited different areas and reviewed the removal of billboards, it said.

    Met office said “BIPARJOY” started to recurve North-northeastward and likely cross between Keti Bandar (Southeast Sindh) and Indian Gujarat coast on 15 June evening as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) with packing winds of 100-120 Km/hour gusting 140 km/hour. PMD’s cyclone warning center, Karachi is continuously monitoring the system and will issue update accordingly.

    Fishermen are advised not to venture in open sea till the system is over by 17 June.

    The post Cyclone ‘BIPARJOY’ likely to make landfall near Kutch in India and move towards Pakistan first appeared on VOSA.

    This post was originally published on VOSA.

  • thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited express their intention to build submarines for and in India

    Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in the presence of the German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius thyssenkrupp Marine Systems responsible for engineering, design and consultancy support, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited for construction and delivery Construction of submarines in India – significant local content expected thyssenkrupp Marine Systems supplied boats to India in the past and now […]

    The post thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited express their intention to build submarines for and in India appeared first on Asian Military Review.

    This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

  • ALS-50 loitering munitions induction to enhance precision strike capability of Indian Air Force, says GlobalData

    The ALS-50 loitering munition is an advanced weapon system with a unique vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability, versatility, and adaptability, which allow it to engage air defense systems, and ground and naval targets. The ALS-50’s induction demonstrates the ability of India’s domestic defense industry to integrate sophisticated indigenous technologies into the country’s armed forces. The […]

    The post ALS-50 loitering munitions induction to enhance precision strike capability of Indian Air Force, says GlobalData appeared first on Asian Military Review.

    This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

  • India: Modi govt’s criminal neglect of railway safety

    By all indications, Balasore will be remembered as one of India’s worst rail disasters in years with the scale of trauma and devastation still unfolding, writes CPIML (Liberation).

    This post was originally published on Green Left.

  • CPJ concerned by India Law Commission’s recommendation to expand sedition law

    New Delhi, June 8, 2023–The Indian government must repeal the country’s sedition law and reject recommendations from the Law Commission to retain and expand the legislation, as it would impinge on press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. 

    On May 24, the commission, which advises the Indian government on legal reforms, recommended retaining the country’s sedition law, expanding the definition of sedition, and increasing the punishment for violating the law, citing the need for national security.

    India’s Supreme Court suspended the law in May 2022. The Indian government had promised to “re-consider” and “re-examine” the British colonial-era law after its constitutional validity was challenged in the Supreme Court by journalists and human rights organizations.

    “We are deeply concerned by the Indian Law Commission’s recommendation to retain the country’s colonial-era sedition law–which has been repeatedly abused to stifle freedom of the press and expression–and to enhance its punishment and implement an overbroad definition for sedition,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The Indian government must formulate a timeline to repeal the sedition law and ensure it is never again used against any journalist for doing their job.”

    Under the current Indian statute, sedition is described as attempts to create “hatred or contempt” or excite “disaffection” towards the government by spoken or written words, signs, or “visible representation.” 

    The commission recommended adding to the definition “with a tendency to incite violence or cause public disorder,” according to independent news website The Print. The interpretation of “tendency” would mean “mere inclination to incite violence or cause public disorder rather than proof of actual violence or imminent threat to violence.”

    The commission also proposed increasing the punishment of sedition from up to three years’ imprisonment to seven years and keeping the potential penalties of life imprisonment or a fine.

    India Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the recommendations were not binding, and a final decision will be made after consulting all stakeholders.

    CPJ’s emails to Meghwal and Ritu Raj Awasthi, chair of the Law Commission, did not receive any replies.

    The sedition law has often been used in India to target journalists. In 2012, CPJ wrote to the then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding its repeal.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • What causes the increasing cardiac cases among South Asians in US? NYU begins extensive research

    New York: What are the causes of increasing cardiac cases among South Asians, including Pakistanis and Bengalis over forty years of age, living in the United States? NYU has started extensive research to find out the fact behind this alarming situation.

    One hundred dollars cash will be given to each person who is examined in this research.

    The increasing number of deaths from heart attacks among Pakistani and Bangladeshi populace over the age of 40 living in the United States has worried everyone.

    NYU, University of California and Northwestern University have launched extensive research to find out the causes of heart disease in young people.

    To raise awareness about this research, the American Council of Minority Women organized a seminar that began with a recitation of the Holy Quran, followed by Nat-e-Rasool (PBUH).

    A large number of men and women participated in the seminar.

    Haroon Zafar, Assistant Research Scientist at NYU School of Medicine, drew the attention of the participants that Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian communities account for 60% of deaths from heart diseases worldwide. We all should take care of our health, he said.

    Haroon Zafar further said that men and women between the ages of 40 and 84 can participate in this research, no personal information will be taken from any patient except his name, date of birth and residential address, but participation in the research.

    Participants in the seminar asked questions related to the causes, precautions and treatment of heart diseases, to which they were given detailed and satisfactory answers and literature was also provided to the attendees.

    This research is being done in New York, California and Chicago, which will be completed in five years.

    The post What causes the increasing cardiac cases among South Asians in US? NYU begins extensive research first appeared on VOSA.

    This post was originally published on VOSA.

  • Emerging Issues and Concerns in Providing Education to Migrant Children in India

    The Education-Migration Nexus

    Humans have always been on the move. The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) conceptualises a migrant as a person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons. Some people migrate in search of work, economic opportunities, to join family, or to study. Others migrate to escape conflict, persecution, terrorism and/or human rights violations. Migration can also occur in response to the harmful effects of climate change, natural disasters and/or other environmental factors. Children migrate accompanied or unaccompanied, according to UNESCO’s 2013 Report on Social Inclusion of Internal Migrants, which estimated that there were 15 million seasonal migrant children in India who encounter many obstacles, including a limited access to education, amongst many others. Although education is undeniably one of the foundations of children’s well-being, child migrants often suffer from the lack of it.

    India, being a diverse nation, has witnessed successive waves of migration, resulting in an increasing number of children and adolescents. Internal migration in this country has significantly surged due to population pressure and scarcity of resources. As per the latest Census conducted in 2011, the count of domestic migrants in India stood at 450 million. Across India, 20% of internal migrants were children in 2011, i.e., 92.95 million, according to UNICEF. Hence, the exodus of child migrants was notably higher than the growth of the children population during the same period, i.e., 18.5% between 1991-2001 and 6.3% between 2001-2011. Since then, there is a lack of current information regarding migrant children. In 2021, the Supreme Court urged India’s governments to furnish details about migrant children. Nevertheless, there has been negligible advancement since then, and the issue remains unresolved. Based on the Economic and Political Weekly (2022), migration discussions often overlook children from migrant families in India with low income. The lives of children were under greater vulnerability of missing out on the most developmental aspect, i.e., education. Studies indicate that migrant children in India between the age group of 6-18-years-old are more exposed to child labour, child trafficking and ceased educational opportunities. Around 22.1% of migrant children in this age were not enrolled in any educational institution in 2011.

    Addressing Unequal Access to Education for Migrant Children in India

    In 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) is aimed at addressing the global education crisis, which affects millions of children and young people around the world who do not have access to quality education. SDG 4 has several targets, including the following: (1) ensuring that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education; (2) ensuring that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education (3) increasing the number of adults who have relevant skills for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship and (4) securing equal access to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education. SDG 4 also aims to eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access for all, including people with disabilities, indigenous peoples and refugees. Achieving SDG 4 is critical for migrant children’s access to education, as it is a fundamental human right and a key driver of economic growth, social development and environmental sustainability.

    In the past five years, India has provided an array of solutions for migrant children. The enactment of the Right to Education Act of 2009 (RTE), passed by the Indian Parliament in 2009 and came into force on April 1, 2010, provides for free and compulsory education for all children between the ages of 6 and 14-years-old. The RTE Act mandates that every child in this age group has the right to education in a neighbourhood school and prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender, caste, religion and disability. The RTE Act has been instrumental in expanding access to education in India and improving the quality of education in government schools. However, there are still several challenges in its implementation, including inadequate infrastructure, shortage of teachers and a lack of monitoring and accountability. Moreover, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) are two major government initiatives in India that promote education and child development, particularly for marginalised and vulnerable populations, including migrant children. Under Poshan 2.0, the government is currently prioritizing the provision of Anganwadi services to all, including migrant families, meaning the arrangement of a network of centers for the holistic development of children. For instance, SSA has developed special modules on migration and education, providing training to teachers and education administrators on addressing the needs of migrant children in the country. Overall, SSA and ICDS are crucial in ensuring that migrant children have access to education and development opportunities, significantly contributing to improving the education outcomes of migrant children in India.

    Challenges in Delivering Education to Migrant Children in India

    Despite the attention conveyed to the issue, the education of migrant children in India remains a very difficult issue of paramount importance to India’s development. It is compromised due to several reasons, such as the frequent mobilities, socio-economic backgrounds and several exclusionary school experiences of these children. Indeed, children are subjected to hazardous travel between villages and work sites. India Today writes that the villages of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi, which are mostly migration hubs, migrant children are not accepted in schools or the larger community, and are constantly viewed as outsiders. Consequently, according to the Global Monitoring Report, 80% of children of seasonal workers in India do not have access to education. Furthermore, because of the nature of their parents’ labour patterns, these children are difficult to trace and are, therefore, easily left out of the standard systemic interventions of the education system. Children often end up dropping out of school or struggle with learning gaps due to prolonged absence, which ultimately affects children’s psychosocial and cognitive abilities, depriving them from having a correct exposure to socialisation. Migrant children lose the protection of their social networks back home and their well-being is often sidelined as they migrate. As a matter of fact, rooted away from their homes and villages, the first thing that migrants lose is their identity as citizens and all of their basic entitlements, including access to schooling facilities, free services in public health centres. They are also prevented from participating in panchayat (village council) activities, and are sometimes unable to cast their vote or participate in the census, as these usually take place during the first half of the year and coincide with the migration period.

    Cultural differences and language barriers become a disadvantage for migrant children, hindering their educational attainment. Ernst Georg Ravenstein’s laws on migration (1885) deals with the impact of rural-urban labour migration on the education of children. As migration has wide-ranging impacts on children whether they are left behind by one or both migrating parents, move with their parents, are born abroad, or migrate alone, the educational performance of children is highly compromised when migrating. Due to this process, many children suffer from depression, abandonment, low self-esteem and several behavioural disorders due to the unavailability of education (Virupaksha et al., 2014). There is a dire need to focus on and develop a mixed-methods research agenda, referring to the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods for child migration to understand their plight in a better way and provide solutions. Hence, there is a need to make a regular assessment of the number of child migrants in India in order for them to be protected from any form of vulnerability, such as kidnapping, trafficking, etc. Eventually, we would think that research, policy and advocacy efforts undertaken on behalf of migrant children in India would help in raising awareness on the issue concerning their access to education.

    Nevertheless, these have commonly focused on those living in situations that are dangerous, abusive and/or exploitative, either inherently or because of their young age. They are often represented as passive victims of these crimes, perpetuating this idea of the innocent and at-risk child who can be easily instrumentalized. In consequence, they start to reflect dominant notions of trauma and victimhood. It would be a matter of investigating the issue with children rather than on them.

    Conclusion 

    Migrant children are deprived of education, which is a major threat to their social well-being. The conditions under which mobility takes place are often unsafe and risky,  putting migrant children, especially unaccompanied and separated children, at an exponential risk of economic or sexual exploitation, abuse, neglect and/or violence as well as being prevented from education. Policy responses to protect and support migrant children are often limited. While children on the move have become a recognised part of today’s global and mixed migration flows, they are still largely discreet in debates on migration, child protection and empowerment. It is necessary to identify mechanisms on how to enhance migrant childrens’ capabilities by providing a better quality of education and preventing them from every form of exploitation, inequalities, discrimination and/or marginalisation.

    The effects of migration on children are diverse, and there are numerous concerns that require attention. It’s crucial to support the families of migrant workers who live and work in precarious conditions. To ensure the well-being of their children, policy perspectives must be re-evaluated and a greater emphasis must be placed on policy implementation. Despite the availability of educational opportunities, many migrant children do not pursue formal education, making it necessary to consider the overall social well-being of these families, including their living conditions, in order to empower their children. Policies aimed at improving educational conditions of migrant children migrants must be tailored to their special needs. Unfortunately, migrant children are somehow ignored in the educational attainment process, for sometimes migration is inevitable and an important process to develop India.

    References

    Crépeau, F. (2013). Children on the Move. Switzerland: International Organization for Migration (IOM)

    Desk, I. T. W. (2018, December 11). How seasonal migration of Indians is destroying educational opportunities for children. India Today. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/featurephilia/story/how-seasonal-migration-of-i ndians-is-destroying-educational-opportunities-for-children-1406369-2018-12-11

    Ensor, Marisa & Gozdziak, Elzbieta. (2010). Migrant Children: At the Crossroads of Vulnerability and Resiliency. Palgrave MacMillan

    Pandey, P. (2022). Always on the move: The troubling landscape of the right to education for migrant children in India. [Online] Times of India Blog. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/always-on-the-move-the-troubling-lands cape-of-the-right-to-education-for-migrant-children-in-india/

    Peddie, F. and Liu, J. (2021) Education and Migration in an Asian Context. Germany: Springer Singapore

    Tumbe, C. (2018). India Moving: A History of Migration. India: Penguin Random House India Private Limited

    United Nations. (n.d.). Migration. United Nations. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/migration

    Virupaksha, H. G., Kumar, A., & Nirmala, B. P. (2014, July). Migration and Mental Health: An Interface. Journal of natural science, biology, and medicine. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4121889/

    Understanding child migration in India – unicef.org. (2020). Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.unicef.org/india/media/3416/file

    What is right to education act (RTE act)? Times of India Blog. (2021, May 15). Retrieved March 18, 2023, from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/igoravsharma/what-is-right-to-education-a ct-rte-act-32034/

    Internal migration in India grows, but inter-state movements remain low. World Bank Blogs. (2019). Retrieved March 18, 2023, from https://blogs.worldbank.org/peoplemove/internal-migration-india-grows-inter-state-movements-remain-low#%3A~%3Atext%3DThe%20number%20of%20internal%20migrants%2C2001%20to%2037%25%20in%25 

    The laws of migration – Ravenstein – 1885 – Journal of the statistical (1885). Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://rss.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2307/2979181

    Vikaspedia domains. Vikaspedia. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://vikaspedia.in/social-welfare/women-and-child-development/child-development-1/in tegrated-child-development-scheme

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    Roy, E. (2022, June 19). Centre focuses on access to Anganwadi services for migrants. The Indian Express.   Retrieved March  20,  2023, fromhttps://indianexpress.com/article/india/centre-focuses-on-access-to-anganwadi-services-for-migrants-7977880/

    Always on the move: The troubling landscape of the right to education for migrant children in India. Times of India Blog. (2021, April 19). Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/always-on-the-move-the-troubling-landsc ape-of-the-right-to-education-for-migrant-children-in-india/

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    Bashir, S. (2023, February 11). How education remains out of reach for India’s Invisible Migrant Children. Scroll.in. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://scroll.in/article/1041923/how-education-remains-out-of-reach-for-indias-invisible-mi grant-children

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    This post was originally published on LSE Human Rights.