Author: Amrit Ashtekar

The leaders of the Quad group – Australia, India, Japan and the United States – delivered a thinly veiled swipe at Beijing’s behaviour on Saturday at a summit in Hiroshima. The US president, Joe Biden, and his three partners in the group did not mention China by name but the communist superpower was clearly the target of language in a joint statement calling for “peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific maritime domain”. “We strongly oppose destabilising or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion,” the statement said, using diplomatic language that appeared to refer to China’s economic…

Another novelty of the season has become available in the supermarkets of the capital of Uzbekistan – super-early apples – apples of a very small caliber which are commonly called “May” apples. Despite their name, they can be sold in retail in the second half or at the end of April, EastFruit experts note. This season, super-early apples became available on the shelves of supermarkets in the capital of Uzbekistan a few days earlier than last year, but at an average price of 7 times cheaper than in April 2022! On April 17, 2023, the Korzinka supermarket chain announced the start of…

The AUKUS agreement between the US, UK and Australia has received little opposition in the region. This is an ominous warning to China. Australia’s plan to buy submarines is just one part of the country’s deepening security cooperation with Britain and the United States to counter China. Next steps could include cooperation in other areas such as hypersonic missiles, cyber operations, quantum computing… All of these could make AUKUS even more important to the workforce. regional military balance against any other group such as the Quad; or the Five Power Defense Agreement (FPDA) between Australia, Great Britain, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. Immediately,…

Australia’s foreign minister urged Pacific island countries on Thursday to stay united in the face of great power competition as she visited New Caledonia, where the president raised concerns about Australia’s AUKUS nuclear submarine programme. Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s visit to the French territory coincides with a push by a China-backed group for several Pacific island nations, including New Caledonia, to sign a splinter security pact. The region’s main diplomatic bloc, the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum, which includes Australia, last year rejected a push by China for 10 nations to sign a security and trade deal amid concerns by the United States…

In a Japanese proverb, deru kugi wa utareru means that a nail that sticks out needs to be immediately hammered down. This might be truer for Japanese concern over Chinese involvement in South Asia, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. Japan’s development assistance to Bangladesh, Myanmar, and India has turned into a strategic priority to wane down Chinese footholds in the region. Now, Japan is willing to invest more in North-East India to connect both Bangladesh and India, a possible step that may emerge as an alternative regional trade bloc to China’s BRI. However, one should take Japan’s warm-hearted engagement in India cautiously, and its…

The protest rally was carried out from Amdo Golai to Gangtok District Administrative Centre in Gangtok. The day after the arrest of the accused Pritam Sharma, Sikkim expressed solidarity with the 11-year-old minor girl victim through a protest rally on Tuesday afternoon. In the evening, a candlelight vigil was also held in Gangtok to show support for the victim. Concerned citizens of Sikkim, including various organizations from the state, organized a protest rally from Amdo Golai to Gangtok District Administrative Centre on Indira by-pass road in Gangtok. The rally aimed to show solidarity with the minor girl victim. Later in the evening,…

Here’s a roundup of education briefs around Southwest and Southside: Virginia Tech delegation visits India A delegation of senior administrators and faculty members from Virginia Tech recently embarked upon a visit to India to inaugurate the university’s newest office in Chennai, cultivate partnerships with industry leaders from Mahindra, and meet a cohort of business students in Mumbai coming to Blacksburg this fall. “As a land-grant university, we are absolutely committed to not only education, but also to high-quality, highly productive research, and then the transfer of that research for the betterment of the communities that we serve through our scholarship.…

China implemented a third-child policy in May of 2021 and rolled out a series of stimulus measures to boost population growth China on Wednesday sought to downplay India overtaking it as the world’s most populous nation with 142.86 crore people, saying that it still has a “quality” workforce of close to 900 million people to provide a strong impetus for development. According to the latest United Nations Population Fund data, India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous nation with 142.86 crore people. China which has a population of 142.57 crore has now become the second most populous country,…

Developing a love of learning — that is the mindset of Ascot International School in Kobe, Japan. “We want students taking their learning one step further, where students look for answers in everything they see and do,” says Darrick Mosser, the Headmaster. Take one look at this school, and you’ll know what sets them apart. They are the only certified Cambridge International school in the west of Tokyo – allowing students from Nursery to Secondary School pursue the Cambridge International curriculum that provides them with a clear pathway to GCSE and A Levels exams. It is an education that develops a…

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday he is considering expressing his solidarity with Korean residents in the Utoro district in Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, which became a target of hate crime in 2021. “I want to look into when would be the appropriate time to express my solidarity with people in the Utoro district and other related communities,” Kishida told a Diet committee in response to a question by a member of the Komeito party, the junior partner in Kishida’s coalition government. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a House of Councillors Budget Committee session in Tokyo on March…