Category: Politics

On Tuesday, Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Britain’s youngest Prime Minister in recent memory became the first non-white Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

He is of Indian descent and was born in Britain to parents who emigrated from East Africa. It is going to be a difficult task for the former investment banker and hedge fund manager to restore the British economy while attempting to unite a Conservative Party that has produced three prime ministers in two months.

However, Mr Sunak pledged to bring stability to a country beleaguered by a cost of living crisis and a lack of stable leadership shortly after being appointed by King Charles III on Tuesday afternoon.

“I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda,” he said, adding that his government would be run with “integrity, professionalism, and accountability”. 

A vote by Conservative Party members led to Ms Truss replacing former Prime Minister Boris Johnson after his scandal-ridden government collapsed in July. 

As she walked out of Downing Street on Tuesday morning, Ms Truss defended her policy decisions. In his remarks, the new Prime Minister praised Ms Truss’ “restlessness” and her “noble” goal of creating economic growth.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in her first address to parliament, firmly established her government’s support for the European Union, NATO, and Ukraine on Tuesday. A month back, her far-right party had won a historic election victory.

The 45-year-old, who was sworn in as Italy’s first woman prime minister on Saturday, also refuted any connection with her country’s fascist past, saying she had “never felt sympathy or closeness to undemocratic regimes… including fascism”.

The possibility of a Eurosceptic, populist government leading the Eurozone’s third-largest economy has caused concern among Italy’s allies, more so in the European Union.

“Italy is fully part of Europe and the Western world,” Ms. Meloni told the lower house of parliament, adding that it would “continue to be a reliable partner of NATO in supporting Ukraine.”

The previous government under Mario Draghi strongly supported the EU sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and also sent weapons to Kyiv.

Despite being in opposition, Ms. Meloni supported that policy even with the fact that Italy heavily depended on Russian gas at the time.

Like most of Europe, Italy is struggling with rising inflation, driven by increasing energy bills, which puts the country at a high risk of entering a recession next year.

On Thursday, Rajnath Singh said that India cannot remain dependent on arms imports forever; the government is aiming to achieve $22 billion in defence production by 2025.

He said, “Sharing the government’s future plans for the defence sector, he asserted that the target is to increase defence production in India from USD 12 billion to USD 22 billion by 2025.”

As a result, there are unprecedented opportunities for growth in the coming years for the industry. Rajnath Singh commented on the enthusiastic participation of the domestic industry and businesses in the defence sector, saying it demonstrates their faith in the sector. The Indian defence industry is experiencing a golden era in the coming years, and he expects it to be a booming sector.

As Singh pointed out, economic development and security are complementary, not antagonistic. During the past few years, this approach has changed, and now these two concepts are integrated and strengthen each other. The development of science and technology, health, agriculture, and trade and commerce is dependent on economic and strategic capabilities.

Furthermore, as part of the government’s efforts to encourage private players in the defence industry, Rajnath Singh said one-fourth of the defence R & D budget has been dedicated to the industry.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said he “very strongly” hopes that India’s G20 presidency will allow for the building of effective systems of debt restructuring, cautioning that the developing countries are facing a “perfect storm” amid the impact of the pandemic and the escalating food and fuel prices due to the Ukraine conflict.

India will assume the Presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023.

Ahead of his three-day India visit starting Tuesday, Guterres also said that he has been strongly supporting the need for reforms in “our international economic and financial system that was to a large extent built by the rich for the rich”.

“I very strongly hope that the presidency of India of the G20 will allow for the creation of effective systems of debt restructuring and debt relief for the possibility of multilateral development banks to be able to do concessional funding to middle-income countries that are particularly vulnerable…to make sure that multilateral development banks assume a multiplying effect, which means mobilize through guarantees, accepting to be the first risk-takers,” Guterres said.

Guterres highlighted that during the COVID pandemic, vaccines were not equally distributed, and the supply for recovery was very different in developed countries that have the potential to print huge amounts of money.

The foundation stone of a new IAF base was laid at the inaugural ceremony of the Defence Expo 2022 in Gujarat’s Deesa by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event’s theme is “Path to Pride”, and this will be the 12th edition.

PM Modi is expected to launch several other developmental projects during his two-day trip to the poll-bound state. PM Modi described the Defence Expo as a symbol of a new beginning. The PM was speaking at the inauguration ceremony when he said that Defence Expo displays the grand picture of the new India, which is a picture of youth power, young dreams, and young courage.

The resolution for the Defence Expo 2022 was taken during Amrit Kaal. “Defence Expo 2022 presents a grand vision of the New India.” PM Modi quoted a news agency saying that it consists of the development of the nation, the involvement of the states, the power of youths, their dreams, their courage, and their abilities.

As part of the programme, the Prime Minister also launched Mission DefSpace, which aims to develop innovative solutions for the Defence Forces in the space domain. A foundation stone was also laid at the inauguration ceremony by PM Modi for the 52nd Wing Air Force Station Deesa.

A three-day visit by United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres to India will begin on Tuesday. Having just begun his second term, this will be his first appearance

As per the ministry of external affairs, UN chief will first pay a tribute at the Taj Mahal Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai in honour of the victims of the 26/11 attacks. Post which he will speak at the Indian Institute of Technology on ‘India @75: UN-India Partnership: Strengthening Southern Cooperation’.

In addition, Guterres will meet bilaterally with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to discuss ‘issues of global concern, including India’s upcoming G20 presidency and reformed multilateralism.

Next on his agenda will be to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kevadiya on his final day of the visit for the launch of the Mission LiFE booklet, logo, and tagline (Lifestyle for Environment).

As part of his visit to Kevadiya, Guterres will also visit the first solar-powered village in Modhera and pay floral tribute at the Statue of Unity. According to the ministry, the UNSG will also visit the Sun Temple in Modhera before leaving for his next destination.

On October 28 and 29, India is hosting two meetings of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee – one in Delhi and one in Mumbai.

The Swedish parliament on Monday elected Ulf Kristersson — the leader of the conservative Moderate Party, as the Prime Minister. His coalition is being supported by a once radical far-right party.

 Mr. Kristersson, 59, was elected by 176-173 votes. His government will be presented on Tuesday. His three-party coalition lacks a majority, but in Sweden, prime Ministers can preside over as long as there is no parliamentary majority against them.

After a month of discussions with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, Mr. Kristersson lay before an agreement that gave them an unprecedentedly influential position in Swedish politics. They became dominant by taking over 20% of the vote at the September 11 election.

Mr. Kristersson’s center-right coalition government consists of his party, the Liberals, and the Christian Democrats, but he has declared it will remain in “close collaboration” with the Sweden Democrats as he relies on their support to win a majority in Parliament.

The Sweden Democrats originated in the 1980s by far-right extremists. They openly threw out racist members under Jimmie Akesson, who assumed control of the party in 2005.

Akesson, who doesn’t regard his party as far-right, expressed his preference for having Cabinet seats for the Sweden Democrats, but he supported the deal that would give his party control over government policy, including immigration and criminal justice.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met academics and business leaders in Sydney as part of his three-day visit to Australia from Oct 16 to 18. PM Lee and Mrs Lee were received by Australian Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman and Singapore Deputy High Commissioner to Australia Harold Lee. This is PM Lee’s first trip to Australia since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong and government officials. The business luncheon was organised by the Asia Society Australia, and the roundtable discussion was with senior representatives and research fellows from the Lowy Institute. During his lunch with business leaders, he welcomed Australian businesses in using the strong bilateral trade and economic links to build more partnerships with Singapore, particularly in the digital and green economies.

Besides the other closed-door engagements, PM Lee is scheduled to attend the 7th Singapore-Australia Leaders’ Meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra. The the Singapore-Australia Green Economy agreement is described as a first-of-its-kind in the world combining trade, economic and environmental objectives, and is expected to be among the key issues at the upcoming annual leaders’ meeting.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the 90th Interpol General Assembly on 18 October at around 1:45 PM in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Since 1949, India has been a member of Interpol.

The General Assembly of Interpol is the highest governing body of the organization, which was founded in 1923 to promote international law enforcement cooperation. The organization has 195 members as of today. Interpol’s role is to create a safe world by enabling police around the globe to work together. Ninety million records are spread across 17 databases.

As per the Prime Minister’s Office, the 90th General Assembly of Interpol will be held from 18 to 21 October. Approximately 2,000 overseas dignitaries will attend, including ministers, police chiefs, police officers, and support staff from 195 Interpol member countries, as well as representatives from Interpol’s head office, Indian officials, and the media. In this event, India’s law and order system will be showcased to the world for the first time.

In celebration of India’s 75th Independence Day, the General Assembly will be held in India after 25 years – it was last held in 1997. Amit Shah proposed the move to Interpol secretary general Jurgen Stock during Stock’s August 2019 visit to New Delhi. Since 1949, India has been a member of Interpol.

India will assume the Presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1, 2022, stated a press release. Under its leadership, India is expected to host more than 200 meetings of the G20 across the country. The G20 Leaders’ Summit at the level of Heads of State/Government is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on 9 and 10 September 2023, as per the Ministry of External Affairs.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday, “India is headed to lead the G20 countries from the position of “strength” and will leave a mark on the world for years to come during its next year’s presidency.” She added, “India deserves to be called a bright spot on this otherwise darker horizon because it has been a fast-growing economy, even during these difficult times, but most importantly, this growth is underpinned by structural reforms.”. Georgieva owed India’s success to the remarkable digitalization in India, from digital ID to providing all services and support based on digital access.