Latest news with #flawed
Indian Express
13 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Ram Madhav writes: India and the new world order
Eurasia is in turmoil. Three major conflicts — Russia-Ukraine, Israel's Gaza operations and the Israel-Iran-US conflict — are reshaping the geopolitics of the region. Wars don't just cause physical destruction, they profoundly impact international relations. Beyond Eurasia, US President Donald Trump is causing serious drift and disorder in the Western world. The US and Western Europe, powerhouses of the last century, appear to be decisively moving into a slow afternoon. At the same time, the world is witnessing the unmissable rise of China as a dominant economic and technological superpower. These developments, coupled with a few other important ones, will lead to the emergence of a new global order. Therein lies a major challenge for India. It developed institutions and initiatives based on the premises of the old world. But the emerging order calls for a new way of thinking about its geostrategic priorities. During the ill-fated Cultural Revolution years in China, Chairman Mao Zedong used to call for the abolition of the 'Four Olds' — old ideology, old culture, old habits and old customs. This might be a wrong analogy, but India, too, needs to come out of the mindset of the last century. India has built a strong partnership with Europe over the past few decades. In recent years, the Narendra Modi government has successfully enhanced engagement with Middle Eastern powers like Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Out of those engagements emerged the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) initiative. IMEC is a promising initiative connecting South Asia with the GCC region and Europe. Signed in September 2023 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, IMEC became the flavour of the season for many strategic pundits and fodder for think tanks. However, given the changed geopolitical scenario in Eurasia, India needs to recalibrate IMEC carefully. Although a beneficial project, it faces daunting challenges, the cauldron in Eurasia being the major one. With stability eluding the region, IMEC's future, too, remains ambiguous. At a more fundamental level, the positioning of IMEC itself has been flawed. Most commentaries seek to pit it against China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Confusing the geo-economic with the geo-strategic is one of the old-school traits that many in India fail to overcome. It must be remembered that almost all the member countries of the GCC are partners in the BRI while at least 17 out of 27 EU member countries have closer trade ties with China. Only Italy decided to quit the BRI recently while the rest continue to enjoy Chinese largesse. There is IMEC-related romanticism too, with some scholars overemphasising the millennia-old history when India traded with Europe through ports in the Gulf. It is a fact that India traded in spices and textiles with Europe in return for gold in the good old days — so much so that scholars in Rome used to bitterly complain to their emperor that India was draining all the gold from their kingdom. But today's reality is different. Oman, whose ports were an important part of the route in ancient times, is not even part of IMEC. Then there is the logistics nightmare. In the IMEC scheme, goods from India will reach Middle Eastern ports like Jebel Ali (Dubai) by sea lines. From there, they will be transported through the land route to Haifa in Israel. Beyond Haifa, it will again be a journey through the sea lines to European ports like Marseille in France and Trieste in Italy. Some argue that it bypasses the Suez Canal and thus helps save time and money for the exports. This is contestable. Seventy-five ships pass through the Suez Canal every day in normal times. Each carries a minimum load of 1,00,000 tonnes. If the Suez needs to be bypassed, it requires massive rail infrastructure through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Israel. One has to look at the numbers just to understand the magnitude of the challenge. A single reasonably long freight train can carry 5,500 tonnes of goods. That means for every ship diverting to the Middle East, we need a minimum of 18.5 trains to carry that load to Israel. One can easily calculate the number of trains required and the time this would consume if even a fraction of the ships decide to junk Suez and take this route. Moreover, countries on the land route like Jordan and Egypt are still not part of IMEC. Undoubtedly, beyond these nightmarish challenges lies the opportunity of the $18 trillion economy of the EU that India can explore. But it must also be kept in mind that the EU's GDP growth is sluggish at around 1 per cent, and China is already a big presence in the EU market with a more than 55 per cent share in the manufactured goods sector and a significantly growing share in other key sectors. That leaves less scope for India to penetrate. India has a history of such projects. Long before venturing into the IMEC initiative, in 2000, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government announced the North-South corridor project with much fanfare. It was duly signed by India, Russia and Iran in 2003. Two decades later, while the project remained on paper for India, China quickly entered and built formidable ties with the two countries. Similarly, we talked about a Look East policy in the 1990s, seeking to build strong ties with the roaring Asian Tigers. It became the Act East policy under PM Modi. Yet our engagement with a region that became a free trade partner in 2010, and a comprehensive strategic partner in 2022, remained below par. While India's trade with ASEAN remains at $120 billion, China's trade is touching $1 trillion and growing rapidly. Besides IMEC, Eastern and Central Europe, Russia and ASEAN are important regions for India's geostrategic objectives. It is time India reconfigured its global engagements, going beyond old-world romanticism and Cold War calculations, and followed a multidirectional approach with specific end goals. The writer, president, India Foundation, is with the BJP. Views are personal
Business Recorder
21 hours ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Gohar blames external fuel shocks for ‘boom and bust cycles' in 2018, 2022
ISLAMABAD: The boom and bust cycles in the country was caused by the surge in international fuel prices and not by consumer goods imports driven by low interest rates that triggered the bust, former caretaker federal minister for Commerce and Industries Gohar Ejaz said. In both 2018 and 2022, it was external fuel price shocks—not domestic policy rates—that led to higher trade and current account deficits, he added. 'Pakistan needs to align fiscal, monetary policies' Former minister stated that very interesting data for those who believe that the boom and bust cycles of 2018 and 2022 were caused by low interest rates. In both cases, it was the surge in international fuel prices—not consumer goods imports driven by low interest rates—that triggered the bust. He said that Rs3 trillion is being wasted annually in government expenditure due to high interest rates. Over 50% of the federal budget is allocated to domestic debt servicing, based on the flawed belief that these payments help prevent boom-bust cycles. Yet, in both 2018 and 2022, it was external fuel price shocks—not domestic policy rates—that led to higher trade and current account deficits, former minister added.
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Rs192b supplementary budget passed
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Wednesday approved a supplementary budget of Rs192.74 billion for the current fiscal year (2024-25), clearing 62 funding demands covering additional departmental expenditures. The move sparked a backlash from opposition parties, who staged a fiery protest and a walkout, decrying the move as evidence of the provincial government's flawed planning and faulty economy. Speaker Babar Saleem Swati presided over the session, which quickly turned contentious after he invoked special powers to bulldoze opposition cut motions and fast-track the budget. Opposition members, branding the exercise a matter of "disastrous policy failure", alleged this marked the 14th supplementary budget under PTI's 13-year rule. They lambasted the frequent recourse to such budgets, arguing that when unchecked expenditures balloon year after year and questioning the government's proclaiming of a surplus. Dr Ibadullah, Leader of the Opposition, waded into the debate with figures. "Surplus doesn't fit the bill," he said, pointing to the staggering provincial debt rising from Rs150 billion to Rs800 billion under successive PTI administrations. He questioned the logic of approving patchwork budgets when nearly a third of development funds had gone unspent and alleged Rs200 billion in financial irregularities per the auditor general's findings.
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
‘I raced rock stars to see who could snort longest line of coke before my crash'
QI host and one of the new Celebrity Traitors has had his fair share of ups and downs, but Sir Stephen Fry reveals it was his raging cocaine addiction which triggered a bipolar breakdown National treasure Sir Stephen Fry has shared shocking stories about his rock 'n' roll years – when he indulged in cocaine races with rockstars in late night Soho cafes. Speaking during Pride month, the TV personality – who will soon be joining Celebrity Traitors – has also spoken about an extraordinary friendship with the late author John Le Carre, who once sent him a 'spy letter'. And he has told how his overindulgence triggered a bipolar breakdown that left him feeling like a 'failure' and desperate to escape his car crash of a life. Reflecting on his charmed, but flawed life, QI host, writer and author Stephen, 67 – who is now happily married to Elliot Spencer, 38 – reflects: 'When I was introduced to the Devil's dandruff (cocaine), I found that it made me like parties. 'There was an all night cafe (in Soho)… some unbelievably famous rock stars and actors and things would gather there, and you'd have the longest line (of cocaine) competitions.' Describing his 'coke fiend impulse,' he adds: 'I would stay up late and get up late and felt like I kind of belonged to London's nightlife. But then a crash came.' As his life unravelled, Stephen famously fled the UK to Belgium in the middle of appearing in a West End play in 1995, leaving a suicide note that sparked an international search. Explaining his desperate feelings, he says: 'I had failed at everything that mattered, I had failed in love, I had failed in being a proper person, I had failed in self-control, I had failed to understand myself.' Hitting rockbottom, he left a note, adding: 'It said 'I'm a failure and I'm so sorry and you're to forget all about me' and that sort of thing.'' Luckily, his suicide attempt failed, so he decided to drive as far away from his old life as possible. 'I caught a ferry from Folkestone to Zeebrugge in Belgium, and drove until I reached Germany,' he says. Hoping to eventually 'sit on a rock and write poetry,' be forgotten and reinvent his life, he reached a railway station in Hanover when he realised everyone was looking for him. 'I was on the front page of a whole line of British newspapers,' he says. Tracked down by his dear friend and comedy partner Hugh Laurie - who he met at Cambridge University - he told him to 'come the f*ck home.'' Stephen hadn't realised everyone was so worried, but his anxious dad flew out to meet him and they dodged the world 's media by taking private flight back to the UK. Instead of being greeted by disdain, Stephen says: 'People were unbelievably kind. 'The novelist John Le Carre arranged an escape for me. He wrote me this fabulous letter, like a spy letter, just telling one how to do these secret things. 'He told me how to get to the West Indies, where he knew someone who had a boat, who knew someone who would take me to an island. I didn't take him up on the offer.' But Stephen did take Monty Python legend John Cleese up on his offer of a safe haven of his house in Santa Barbara for six months. And, back in London, he was diagnosed with the psychiatric condition bipolar disorder. 'That set me on a path to at least forgiving myself for the ridiculousness of my behaviour,' he says, acknowledging it is 'an illness, not a moral failing.' A non-sporty, 'completely uncoordinated child,' Stephen says, even as a youngster, he never felt good enough. Expelled from several schools, at 17, he was held on remand for three months for credit card fraud - an astonishing start for someone who, later in life, would befriend King Charles and be knighted. But Stephen's life has been full of twists, turns and surprises. He laughs recalling his role as Lord Melchett in Blackadder and how it was filmed next door to Only Fools and Horses at the BBC. The casts of both hilarious comedies would compete to find out whose live audiences had laughed the least! He says: 'We'd have competitions with David Jason and Nick Lyndhurst and say, 'No, our audience hates us more than your audience.'' After years at the top of his game, Stephen's voice is instantly recognisable. But, with the advent of AI, this has presented a unique set of problems, according to the star, who says it was scraped from the Harry Potter books to make documentaries without his knowledge. 'One of the most frightening things about AI is that nobody knows how it works. They know how to set it up, but they don't know what it is doing,' he says. This is just one of the perils of fame - which Stephen is very glad he didn't achieve overnight. 'When I was a teenager, if I'd ever thought I was going to be famous, I would have wriggled with joy at the idea,' he says. 'I was very lucky in that I slowly leaked into the public consciousness, you know, rather than waking up to find myself famous. I think that can be rather difficult to cope with. 'I always say it's a picnic being well-known, really. You get lovely tables at lovely restaurants and meet your heroes. But like a lot of picnics, you know, there will be wasps.… like social media and paparazzi.' And he says there is no room for being moody in public. If the public see you in a bad mood, he says they will tell people: "I saw that Stephen Fry, what a misery.'' Dating someone famous also be demanding, says Stephen, who married Elliot three years after they met in 2015. He says: 'I always think the worst thing is to be a spouse or partner of a well-known person, because you get elbowed out of the way and that can be rude.' Despite the 30-year-age gap, the couple have recently marked their tenth anniversary. But before meeting Elliott, Stephen spent 16 years celibate. 'From university onwards, I was also completely celibate, afraid of relationships,' he confesses. 'When I left university in 1981 people started talking about this strange gay illness that had arrived from America, which became known as AIDS 'I started going to funerals of friends and seeing their parents devastated.' As well as being scared by AIDS, Stephen felt he was undesirable. 'Friends would say, "Let's go to Heaven (London gat club),' he says. 'And you go through the door, and all you see are eyes raking you up and down, and then turning away. You just feel so rejected. 'I just thought, 'No-one is going to be even vaguely interested in me. I can't dance, and I'm wearing a tweed jacket.'' As well as his openness about his sexuality, his struggles with mental illness and his problems with drugs, Stephen is open about his Jewishness in the face of growing antisemitism because of the conflict in the Middle East. 'My Jewishness is not my religion. It's not anything other than the fact that my grandfather and grandmother were Jewish on my mother's side only,' he says, recalling distressing approaches that were made to him by 'some organisation saying that they had seen my name in a right-wing magazine along with Ben Elton and all kinds of writers, saying this is a list of Jews.' As well as making threats, he says he was asked if he wanted security advice. This has all been a shock for Stephen, whose grandparents considered themselves to be 'assimilated in English.' He says: 'My grandfather used to wear tweed jackets and shoot in the countryside. 'So, for me, being Jewish was just having family with slightly odd accents.' And while Stephen doesn't wear his tweed jacket to gay clubs any more, as a knight of the realm, his grandfather would agree that, not only is he 'assimilated,' but his talent and honesty have made earned him both respect and love.
Straits Times
19-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Families of 737 crash victims urge rejection of Boeing deal
NEW YORK – Family members of people killed in two fatal crashes of Boeing's 737 Max jets urged a federal judge to reject a proposed deal the company reached with US prosecutors that would allow the planemaker to avoid a criminal charge. Lawyers for 15 families argued Boeing should stand trial for criminal conspiracy as the government had originally planned, to hold the company more accountable for the deaths of 346 people, according to a court filing on June 18. Some family members asked the judge to appoint a special prosecutor to oversee the case. 'The conspiracy charge against Boeing has been pending now for more than four years,' the families' lawyers said. 'Boeing has admitted all the facts necessary to prove it is guilty. And yet, the government now moves to dismiss the charge.' They added, 'It is difficult to imagine a case more deserving of a public trial than this one.' The US Justice Department in May asked US District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth to dismiss the case as part of a proposed settlement reached with Boeing. Under the deal, the planemaker agreed to pay more than US$1.1 billion (S$1.41 billion) in fees and fines, while taking steps to strengthen internal quality and safety measures. In return, the company will avoid criminal prosecution. Prosecutors have argued that the deal 'secures meaningful accountability' and ensures Boeing faces penalties and oversight, an outcome they say would not be guaranteed if they took the case to trial. Asked to comment on the relatives' objections, a Boeing representative pointed to a May 29 company statement. 'Boeing is committed to complying with its obligations under this resolution, which include a substantial additional fine and commitments to further institutional improvements and investments,' the company said. In June 18's filing, lawyers for family members who oppose the agreement said it would essentially allow the company to 'buy its way out of a criminal conviction'. The families also claimed language in the deal would obligate the government to not prosecute Boeing even if Mr O'Connor rejects the motion to dismiss the case, which would skirt full judicial review. 'If this court approves the parties' maneuver in this widely publicised case, then this unprecedented approach will likely become the blueprint for all future dismissal motions in federal criminal prosecutions,' they said in the filing. In a separate filing, some family members asked the judge to appoint an independent prosecutor to 'restore integrity to these proceedings and ensure that justice – rather than politics – guides the resolution of this matter.' Relatives of crash victims have spent years fighting for harsher penalties for Boeing following the two fatal crashes of its 737 Max jet in 2018 and 2019. Both crashes were linked to a flawed flight control system on the jets. The families said the fatal Air India crash earlier this month involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner shows that 'the stakes for aviation safety are very high'. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. To be sure, some families support the settlement. But those who want Boeing to go to trial said the company had dangled money 'in front of the families, apparently hoping that it will lead them to back off their efforts to hold Boeing accountable for killing their loved ones. And Boeing's offer appears to have had the desired effect, at least with respect to a few families'. If Mr O'Connor agrees to a dismissal, it would end the long-running criminal case against Boeing over the crashes. But it would also mark a notable reversal in the proceedings. Just in 2024, Boeing had agreed to plead guilty to the pending criminal conspiracy charge under a deal that was ultimately rejected by Mr O'Connor. Under the new settlement Boeing will admit to the underlying accusation of 'conspiracy to obstruct and impede the lawful operation of the Federal Aviation Administration Aircraft Evaluation Group,' but that admission does not constitute a guilty plea. The government said it could refile criminal charges against the company if Boeing is accused of violating the terms of the two-agreement. Some family members dispute that claim, saying the statute of limitations has already expired. The agreement requires Boeing to pay a total of US$1.1 billion in assorted fines and fees. The total includes: US$487.2 million for a criminal penalty, half of which the company already paid to the government during an earlier phase of the case US$444.5 million for a new 'crash-victims beneficiaries fund' that will be divided evenly by crash victim US$455 million in investments to bolster its compliance, safety and quality programs Boeing would be required to retain a so-called independent compliance consultant to oversee its efforts to improve the effectiveness of its anti-fraud compliance and ethics program. The consultant will be expected to make recommendations for improvements and report their findings directly to the government. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
