Category: FOREIGN

Foreign Blogs is a network of global affairs blogs and a supplement to the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions program.

  • ‘What nonsense are you doing here?’: Professor dodging wife’s kiss on Zoom goes viral

    ‘What nonsense are you doing here?’: Professor dodging wife’s kiss on Zoom goes viral

    Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and love sure is in the air…

    The video of an Indian professor dodging his wife’s kiss while on a Zoom conference has gone viral over the internet.

    The man, who was seen talking about GDP in the video, then calls his partner’s romantic move as “foolish and nonsense”.

    The wife in the clip seems unaware that the husband is in the middle of a conference.

    Visibly in distress, and with the striking response, the professor quickly pulls himself away. “What nonsense you’re doing here?” he can be heard as asking his wife.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    While the video has gone viral with netizens widely sharing it over the internet, it comes weeks after a prominent Indian doctor was caught getting scolded by his wife during a live session, for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine without his family.

    The said video had also gone viral.

  • Greta Thunberg’s tweets part of ‘larger conspiracy’: Delhi police file case against Swedish activist

    Greta Thunberg’s tweets part of ‘larger conspiracy’: Delhi police file case against Swedish activist

    A day after Greta Thunberg, a teenage climate change activist hailing from Sweden, came out in support of the Indian farmers along with other celebrities, the New Delhi police have registered an FIR against her for “conspiring against the state of India”.

    According to reports in the Indian media, the global activist was accused of conspiracy for her tweets in support of the farmers who have been protesting against the new agri reforms for the past two months. The government has refused to pay heed to their demands, resulting in an impasse.

    “Greta has been accused of creating disharmony and for being a part of a larger conspiracy. The agenda was exposed after she accidentally shared the propaganda tool kit which included campaign strategy for holding protests across the world over India’s farm laws,” a TimesNow reported claimed.

    Thunberg, and US singer Rihanna created a flutter in India by wading into months-long farmer protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agricultural reforms. Tens of thousands of young and old farmers have blocked roads leading into New Delhi for more than two months, sheltering in tractors from the cold.

    A tractor rally by farmers last week in New Delhi turned violent. Police responded by shutting down the internet, digging ditches, driving nails into roads and topping barricades with razor wire to prevent farmers from entering the capital again.

    “Why aren’t we talking about this?!” Rihanna said in a Twitter post, sharing a CNN article on the demonstrations with her 100.9 million followers on the platform, using the hashtag #FarmersProtest.

    Separately, India has also announced that it would jail Twitter employees for letting journalists tweet about the protesting farmers in India.

    INDIA INCENSED BY TWEETS:

    The international celebrity tweets triggered an online storm in India, where the farmers’ protests have become one of the biggest challenges to Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he took power in 2014. Modi has asserted the laws are necessary to modernise India’s agriculture sector, but farmers fear they would be placed at the mercy of big corporations.

    India’s government has bristled at international remarks on the protests, calling them an “internal matter”.

    In an official statement, the foreign ministry said that the celebrities needed “a proper understanding of the issues”.

    “The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible,” read the statement, with the hashtags #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda.”

  • All you need to know about Indian farmers’ protests as world shames Modi govt

    With international celebrities, including Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, voicing concerns over the law and order situation in India as farmers continue to give the Narendra Modi-government a tough time while seeking fulfillment of their demands, ‘#FarmersProtest’ has become the top trend on Twitter even beyond Indian borders — in Pakistan.

    But what do the protesters, who have now been on roads for two months, really want?

    The ongoing demonstrations caught most attention when Indian law enforcement resorted to violence against the farmers who had converged on New Delhi on the country’s Republic Day.

    According to Associated Press (AP), farmers hailing from northern Punjab and Haryana states, the two biggest agricultural producers, are demanding the repeal of laws passed by the parliament in September that they say will favor large corporate farms, devastate the earnings of many farmers and leave those who hold small plots behind as big corporations win out.

    Modi has billed the laws as necessary to modernise Indian farming.

    In recent weeks, people who are not farmers have also joined in, and the protests gained momentum in November when the farmers tried to march into New Delhi but were stopped by police. Since then, they have promised to hunker down at the edge of the city until the laws are repealed.

    At the heart of these protests are Indian farmers’ fears that the government’s moves to introduce market reforms to the farming sector will leave them poorer — at a time when they are already frustrated over their declining clout as the government aims to turn India into a hub for global corporations.

    The new legislation is not clear on whether the government will continue to guarantee prices for certain essential crops — a system that was introduced in the 1960s to help India shore up its food reserves and prevent shortages.

    While the government has said it is willing to pledge the guaranteed prices will continue, the farmers are skeptical and want new legislation that says such prices are their legal right.

    Farmers also fear that the legislation signals the government is moving away from a system in which an overwhelming majority of farmers sell only to government-sanctioned marketplaces. They worry this will leave them at the mercy of corporations that will have no legal obligation to pay them the guaranteed price anymore.

    The Modi government argues that this is designed to give farmers more choice in who to sell their produce to. It also says the legislation will benefit farmers by boosting production through private investment.

    The government has offered to amend the laws and suspend their implementation for 18 months — but that has not satisfied farmers who want a full repeal.

    Clauses in the legislation also prevent farmers from taking contract disputes to courts, leaving them with no independent means of redress apart from government-appointed bureaucrats.

    These perceived threats to their income terrify India’s farmers, who are mostly smallholders as around 70% of them own less than 1 hectare of land.

  • Republic Day: Thousands of protesting farmers converge on Indian capital in convoy of tractors

    In a high-profile protest against controversial agricultural reforms, tens of thousands of farmers drove a convoy of tractors festooned with brightly-coloured flags through the outskirts of India’s capital of New Delhi on the country’s Republic Day.

    Growers, angry at what they see as laws that help large, private buyers at the expense of producers, have been camped outside Delhi for almost two months.

    Thousands more, steering tractors bearing the flags of India and farm unions, had streamed in from neighbouring states for several days ahead of the rally, planned to coincide with celebrations of Republic Day.

    “Our word should travel around the world, that we are fighting for our living,” said Devinder Singh, a 36-year-old farmer from Punjab, seated on his tractor. “If we lose our farmland, how will we survive?” he asked.

    Some took to Twitter to dispel rumours of the Indian flag being removed from Delhi’s Red Fort.

    The protests have so far been peaceful, and farm leaders have urged rally participants to refrain from violence. 

    Authorities used trucks to barricade the main route to the site, where hundreds of police, some armed with assault rifles, tear gas, and a water cannon, stood guard.

    Although some protesters breached police barricades at Singh and Tikri, another site, early on Tuesday, there were no immediate reports of violence.

    https://twitter.com/swatijaihind/status/1353941486673379328?s=21

    Agriculture employs about half of India’s population of 1.3 billion, and unrest among an estimated 150 million landowning farmers presents one of the biggest challenges to the authority of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came to power in 2014.

    Nine rounds of talks between the government and the farmers’ unions have failed to end the protests, with farm leaders rejecting the government’s offer to delay the laws for 18 months, as they push for repeal.

    “The farm organisations have a very stronghold,” said Ambar Kumar Ghosh, an analyst at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think-tank.

    “They have the resources to mobilise support and to continue the protest for a long time. They have also been very successful in keeping the protest really focused.”

    Police have allowed farmers to rally along approved routes on the outskirts of Delhi. But the tractor march threatens to overshadow the annual Republic Day military parade in the centre of the capital on the anniversary of India’s 1950 adoption of its constitution.

    “They could have chosen any other day instead of January 26 but they have announced now,” Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told media on Monday. “Conducting the rally peacefully without any accident would be the concern for farmers as well as police administration.”

  • What’s the story behind ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans in New Delhi?

    What’s the story behind ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans in New Delhi?

    After an 11-hour long investigation, the Indian police have finally cracked the case of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans in New Delhi.

    Police had detained two men and three women following the reports that they were heard chanting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans. However, after investigations, it was revealed that the slogans were raised in a “lighter vein” as a part of a cycling game near Delhi’s Khan Market metro station on late Saturday night.

    The police said that they have not registered a case against them following the investigation.

    “Ahead of Republic Day, police said, they were on high alert when they received a call around 1 am about a group shouting slogans, praising Pakistan,” Indian Express reported.

    “Two families…had rented Yulu bikes they were racing, and they had named each other after countries like India, Pakistan, Japan and Australia. They were cheering each other on by shouting these names when some locals heard them shout, ‘Pakistan zindabad’,” the report quoted the police officials as saying.

    During interrogation, police found the family had named the 14-year-old boy ‘Pakistan’ during the game, the newspaper reported.

    “When the boy was slow, others, which included his parents, shouted ‘Pakistan haar gaya… peechhe reh gaya,’ and when the boy started speeding, they cheered him with ‘Pakistan Zindabad’,” said the officer.

    However, following the questioning, all of them were allowed to leave.

  • Indian pilot dead after helicopter crashes in occupied Kashmir

    Indian pilot dead after helicopter crashes in occupied Kashmir

    An Indian pilot was killed while another received critical injuries after an army helicopter crashed in the occupied Kashmir’s Kathua district on Monday, reported Indian media.

    Both pilots were rushed to a hospital after the crash that occurred due to a technical error. According to media reports, the chopper was coming from Pathankot when it was forced to make a crash-landing in an army area in the Lakhanpur belt of the district.

    Two pilots of the helicopter were injured in the incident, he said, adding that they were rushed to a military base hospital. “Tragic news coming in. We have one pilot fatal casualty,” a defence spokesperson was quoted by the media as saying.

    In October 2019 a Dhruv helicopter of the Indian Army carrying the then chief of the force’s Northern Command Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh and other officers had made an emergency landing following a technical glitch in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

  • Larry King passes away at 87

    Larry King passes away at 87

    Iconic TV and radio broadcaster Larry King, who interviewed anyone worth interviewing over a career spanning six decades, passed away on Saturday at the age of 87.

    The company he co-founded, Ora Media, did not state a cause of death but media reports said King had been battling COVID-19 for weeks and had suffered several health problems in recent years.

    King, with his trademark suspenders and black rim glasses, was best known for a 25-year run as a talk show host on CNN’s Larry King Live. He retired in 2010 after recording more than 6,000 episodes of the show. He also conducted an estimated 50,000 interviews in his six-decade career.

    “For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry’s many thousands of interviews, awards, and global acclaim stand as a testament to his unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster,” Ora Media said in a statement posted on Twitter.

    King is survived by three sons. Last year, two of his adult children died within weeks of each other: Andy King, 65, suffered a heart attack and daughter Chaia King, 52, died after being diagnosed with lung cancer. King is survived by three sons.

    Meanwhile, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry expressed his grief and condolences over King’s death.

  • Trash on Everest to be turned into art to highlight mountain’s garbage problem

    Trash on Everest to be turned into art to highlight mountain’s garbage problem

    Trash collected from Mount Everest is set to be transformed into art and displayed in a nearby gallery, to highlight the need to save the world’s tallest mountain from turning into a dumping site.

    Used oxygen bottles, torn tents, ropes, broken ladders, cans, and plastic wrappers discarded by climbers and trekkers litter the 8,848.86 metre (29,032 feet) tall peak and the surrounding areas.

    Tommy Gustafsson, project director and a co-founder of the Sagarmatha Next Centre – a visitors’ information centre and waste up-cycling facility – said foreign and local artists will be engaged in creating artwork from waste materials and train locals to turn trash into treasures.

    “We want to showcase how you can transform solid waste to precious pieces of art … and generate employment and income,” Gustafsson told Reuters. “We hope to change the people’s perceptions about the garbage and manage it.”

    The Centre is located at an altitude of 3,780 metres at Syangboche on the main trail to Everest base camp, two days’ walk from Lukla, the gateway to the mountain.

    It is due for “soft opening” to locals in the spring as the number of visitors could be limited this year due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions, Gustafsson said.

    Products and artwork will be displayed to raise environmental awareness, or sold as souvenirs with the proceeds going to conservation of the region, he said.

    Trash brought down from the mountain or collected from households and tea houses along the trail is handled and segregated by a local environmental group, the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, but the task in a remote region that has no roads is a huge challenge.

    Garbage is dumped or burned in open pits, causing air and water pollution as well as contamination of soil.

    IN PICTURES: Nepali mountaineers first to summit K2 in winter

    Phinjo Sherpa, of the Eco Himal group involved in the scheme, said under a “carry me back” initiative, each returning tourist and guide will be requested to take a bag containing one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of garbage back to Lukla airport, from where the trash will be airlifted to Kathmandu.

  • ‘Retro Bernie’: Bernie Sanders memes flood internet after Biden inauguration

    ‘Retro Bernie’: Bernie Sanders memes flood internet after Biden inauguration

    The oath-taking ceremony of President Joe Biden, though a low-key affair due to the coronavirus and security concerns, was still a star-studded and historic event.

    Donald Trump finally out of the White House; the US getting its first Black-South Asian, woman vice president; and Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga mesmerising the crowds: the US citizens had more than one reason to celebrate. But this wasn’t the headline of the event, at least on the internet.

    Shortly after the ceremony, tons of memes featuring Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders — who was spotted sitting alone and bored (at least that’s how we see it) started flooding the internet. And we don’t want you to miss them!

    Bernie is friends with Deadpool?

    https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1352116679816454145

    He’s least bothered by what’s happening at The Capitol

    When you like work from home too much

    Simba won’t be happy

    Bernie will be there for you…

    https://twitter.com/BernieMemes2021/status/1352184130910482433

    Bernie giving moral support to Raj and Simran

    Retro Bernie

  • Biden rolls back Trump policies on Muslims, climate, health

    Biden rolls back Trump policies on Muslims, climate, health

     US President Joe Biden signed 15 executive actions shortly after being sworn on Wednesday, undoing policies put in place by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, and making his first moves on the pandemic and climate change.

    Signing several actions in front of reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, Biden said there was “no time to waste” in issuing the executive orders, memorandums and directives.

    “Some of the executive actions I’m going to be signing today are going to help change the course of the COVID crisis, we’re going to combat climate change in a way that we haven’t done so far and advance racial equity and support other underserved communities” said Biden. “These are just all starting points”

    Aides said the actions the Democratic president signed included a mask mandate on federal property and for federal employees, an order to establish a new White House office coordinating the response to the coronavirus, and halting the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization.

    Biden signed a document to begin the process of re-entering the Paris climate accord and issued a sweeping order tackling climate change, including revoking the presidential permit granted to the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline.

    Among a raft of orders addressing immigration, Biden revoked Trump’s emergency declaration that helped fund the construction of a border wall and ended a travel ban on some majority-Muslim countries.

    The Day One plans were just the start of a flurry of executive actions Biden would take soon after entering office, said his press secretary, Jen Psaki.

    “In the coming days and weeks, we will be announcing additional executive actions that confront these challenges and deliver on the president-elect’s promises to the American people,” Psaki said.

    Further actions would include revoking the ban on military service by transgender Americans, and reversing a policy that blocks U.S. funding for programs overseas linked to abortion.

    On the economic front, Biden asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend a moratorium on evictions until the end of March, and the Department of Education to suspend student loan payments until the end of September.