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Photo: 2019 Nobel Prize Winner for Economic Sciences Abhijit Banerjee. Source: Sroll.in

Nobel Laureate Banerjee’s Prescription for Indian Economy

By Rohan Venkataramakrishnan, Scroll.in

This article first appeared on Scroll.in on 14 October 2019.

MUMBAI (IDN-INPS) – Abhijit Banerjee, the renowned economist who was one of three awarded the Nobel prize for economics on October 14, put together some prescriptions for what the Indian economy needs right now. The last item on the list? “Pray.” On the next list, for the longer run? “Pray more.” Banerjee was speaking in response to Raghuram Rajan, another renowned economist and former Chief Economic Adviser to the Indian prime minister, as part of the OP Jindal Lectures at Brown University in the United States.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 18 October 2019

Ribbon-cutting ceremony opens ‘Everything You Treasure…’ exhibition (from left to right): Sapar Akhmetov, member of the Mazhilis (lower house) of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, Amerkhan Rakhimzhanov, Director of the Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbassy, Kuanysh Sultanov, Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Kazakhstan under the First President of Kazakhstan, Tatsuhiko Kasai, Ambassador of Japan to Kazakhstan, Bizhanova Gulnara Kadyrzhankyzy, member of the Mazhilis of Parliament of Kazakhstan, Hirotsugu Terasaki, Director General of Peace and Global Issues of the SGI. Photo credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | IDN-INPS.

Nuclear Abolition Exhibition Boosts Japan-Kazakh Relations

By Katsuhiro Asagiri

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (IDN) – 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the end of nuclear weapons testing in Semipalatinsk, the primary testing venue for the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons, the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia, and the ratification by Kazakhstan as the 26th country to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Kazakhstan is known for its commitment to ridding the world of nuclear weapons. An estimated 1.5 million of its people suffered the effects of the testing of 456 nuclear weapons at Semipalatinsk over four decades.

: Katsuhiro Asagiri; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 17 October 2019

Photo credit: Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia

Timing of Nobel Peace Prize for Ethiopian Leader Questioned

Viewpoint by Makeda Saba

BRUSSELS (IDN) – On October 11, 2019, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace prize to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Dr Abiy Ahmed. He is the fourth African leader to be bestowed that honour after President Anwar Sadat in 1978; President FW de Klerk in 1993); and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2011.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 16 October 2019

Uganda Outlaws Opposition Leader’s Trademark - The Red Beret

By Lisa Vives

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Uganda government is taking action against the popular red beret, calling it official military clothing that could earn the wearer imprisonment for life.

According to the new rule, the sale or wearing of any attire which resembles the army uniform is also banned. Prohibited items include side caps, bush hats, ceremonial forage caps and camouflaged baseball caps.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 16 October 2019

Photo: German, French, and Spanish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria call for people to join the Kurdish-Turkish conflict in Turkey. CC BY 3.0

The EU Pulled the Rug from Under the Kurds

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Insurgencies may not die, but at least, like old soldiers, they usually fade away. Well, that seemed to be the case with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK. For the best part of five years between 2000 and 2005 there was a truce in Turkey’s bitter and savage civil war. But it did not last.

The Kurdish “problem” goes back to the Ottoman Empire. The rugged mountains where Turkey, Iraq and Iran meet have been called Kurdistan since the early 13th century, and the Kurds’ roots can be traced back at least 2,000 years. Most of the world’s 20m Kurds live in the region, although well over a million have emigrated to Istanbul, Baghdad, Tehran and Beirut, often assimilating well with the local people.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 15 October 2019

Photo: Air pollution from a coking oven. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Breaking New Ground in the Fight Against Air Pollution

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – Air pollution is by far the world’s largest single environmental health risk and a leading cause of death by cancer. It kills 7 million people every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Closely linked to climate change, air pollution is a major cause of environmental degradation. It is also threatening almost two-thirds of Europe’s ecosystems. This makes air pollution a critical barrier for sustainable development.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 15 October 2019

Photo: U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told reporters in May, he has delivered a letter to Saudi officials demanding they agree to refrain from enriching uranium or separating plutonium in exchange for peaceful U.S. nuclear technology. Credit: energy.gov

Saudi Arabia Seeks to Enrich Uranium

By Shannon Bugos

The writer is a Research Assistant at the Arms Control Association, where she contributes research and analysis, reports for Arms Control Today.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – Saudi Arabia intends to enrich uranium to fuel its planned nuclear power program, the country’s new energy minister said on September 9. The Saudi position could run afoul of a recently disclosed Trump administration policy to seek a Saudi commitment to refrain from such activities in exchange for U.S. nuclear technology.

: Arms Control Association; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 14 October 2019

Photo: Katya Dyachenko, FOUNDER & CEO of B2B-Export.com

Ekaterina Dyachenko Assesses Russia-Africa Trade

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – For decades, Russia has been looking for effective ways to promote multifaceted ties and new strategies for cooperation in economic areas in Africa. Now, Kremlin will hold the first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi on October 23-24 with high hopes of enhancing multifaceted ties, trying to reshape the existing relationship and significantly roll out ways to increase effectiveness of cooperation between Russia and Africa.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 14 October 2019

Photo: A woman dressed in blue rides a white donkey through open vast terrain surrounded by mountains. Credit: UN.

UN Focuses on Rural Women’s Role in Ensuring Food Security

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – Since the first International Day of Rural Women was observed on October 15, 2008, there is agreement that rural women and girls, including indigenous women, play a critical role in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.

In fact when the UN General Assembly established the new international day in its resolution 62/136 of December 18, 2007, it called for “attaching greater importance to the improvement of the situation of rural women, including indigenous women, in their national, regional and global development strategies”.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 13 October 2019

UN Concerned that the World Is Off-Track to End Hunger and Poverty by 2030

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Ahead of the World Food Day on October 16 and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17, the United Nations Is warning that the world is not on track to end hunger and poverty by 2030 – and hence missing the deadline for achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in September 2015.