India stands by Russia on Ukraine

On Feb 23, 2023, the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution calling upon Russia to end the war and withdraw from Ukraine immediately.

Among other things, the UN resolution:

“Reaffirms its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters,” and

“Reiterates its demand that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, and calls for a cessation of hostilities.”

The resolution also:

“Emphasizes the need to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law committed on the territory of Ukraine…”

How did the member states vote? Results below from un.org:

India, the world’s most populous democracy, chose to abstain, along with most of its South Asian neighbors, Iran and China. A number of African countries, including South Africa, also abstained.

The vote, though garnering an overwhelming majority, is largely symbolic. It does not change anything on the ground. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues apace. But it serves to highlight the fact that a large number of countries in the world condemn Russia’s aggression one year after the war began.

Education and the classes

Annie Besant, a British socialist and women’s rights activist, worked in support of India’s struggle for independence from colonial rule, even getting elected president of the Indian National Congress, the primary body leading the campaign for democracy in the first half of the twentieth century. She was also a champion of education, setting up colleges in India.

But her views on the “submerged tenth” — the notion that in every society there must be a class of people who engage in the most menial and undesirable of tasks, who are ignorant and unclean, and who are despised by the very society they serve — lent support to the caste system, and in particular the presence of the class of “untouchables” (or Dalits), in Indian society.

Besant was sympathetic to the Dalits — she said “cruel wrongs … have been inflicted” on them. Nevertheless, she sought to implement the British model of a segregated education in India. Suggesting that Dalit children should not go to the same schools as other Indian children, she wrote (‘The Uplift of the Depressed Classes’, Indian Review, February 1909):

“In England, it has never been regarded as desirable to educate boys or girls of all classes side by side, and such grotesque equalising of the unequal would be scouted. Eton and Harrow are admittedly the schools for the higher classes ; Rubgy and Winchester are also schools for gentlemen’s sons, though somewhat less aristocratic.

Then come a number of schools, frequented chiefly by sons of the provincial middle class. Then the Board Schools, where the sons of artisans and the general manual labour classes are taught ; and below all these, for the waifs and strays, are the ‘ragged schools,’ the name of which indicates the type of their scholars, and the numerous charitable institutions.”

First Brexit, now Polexit?

July 15, 2021

Is Polexit a thing?

Poland joined EU in 2004. It is now finding it hard to stick to the membership rules of the club. The country’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has recently decried the “the lawless interference and aggression of the law coming from European bodies.” (AP News)

The brouhaha deals with the Polish government’s decision to set up a new chamber to punish judges and prosecutors for unfavorable rulings. The European Court of Justice has ruled that this mechanism is incompatible with EU law. Poland’s reaction suggests that the government is not inclined to accept the decision of EU’s top court, and in some quarters, is being seen as a prelude to an exit from the EU.

Leaving the EU will hurt. In 2018, Poland received € 16.4 billion (3.4% of GDP) from the EU, while contributing € 4 billion to the EU budget– a net receipt of € 12.4 billion. (Europa)

The government may bluster. But a voluntary Polexit is probably not in the cards.

Where do old browsers go?

Old browsers never die. They just make their way into trade deals. The newly-crafted UK-EU trade agreement includes a reference to Netscape Communicator 4. None of my students will probably recognize the name, but there was a time in the 1990s when Netscape Navigator was the way to browse the Internet. So why is this included in the post-Brexit agreement that will come into effect in January 2021? Because treaties build on precedents.

Guardian

Carrie Lam has a cash dilemma

Carrie Lam, chief executive of Hong Kong, has been hit with financial sanctions by the U.S. for imposing a security law that infringes on Hong Kong residents’ civil liberties. As a result, Ms Lam is unable to maintain a bank account, and she notes that her salary is being paid in cash, with the stuff piling up at home. Those piles must be pretty large, since Lam’s salary is an astonishing US$672,000 per year, making her one of the highest-paid leaders of any country. Those numbers might be enough to make the current American president turn green–with envy.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/hk-leader-doesnt-have-bank-account-because-of-us-sanctions-2020-11

Op-ed: Breaking up is hard to do: the U.S. retreat from the international stage

August 17, 2020 | Pennlive

Pakistan gains territory with new map

dawn.com

Countries have figured out how to acquire territory without having to go through messy things like wars. Perhaps this is a good thing.

Pakistan issued a map recently showing Indian-administered Kashmir as disputed territory, essentially asserting its claim to the entire region (minus Ladakh). It also took over Junagadh, a landlocked district in Gujarat that is nowhere close to the border with Pakistan.

Little-known Junagadh, at the time of independence, was ruled by a Muslim nawab who sought to join Pakistan. But the princely state had an overwhelming Hindu majority, and under pressure from the Indian government, soon joined India.

A similar story unfolded in Hyderabad, where the Nizam ruled over a Hindu-majority state. After waiting for several months for the Nizam to confirm his allegiance, Nehru lost patience and sent in troops, annexing the state in 1948.

Kashmir, of course, was a different story–it had a Hindu ruler but a Muslim majority. Maharaja Hari Singh vacillated, Pakistan tried to force the issue by sending in tribesmen, Singh sought Nehru’s help, and Kashmir became part of India.

And now here we are: Pakistan with its new map. It did leave out Hyderabad and Bangladesh, the latter having become independent of Pakistan in 1971.

Maybe there is Map 2.0 in the works.

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1572590

Certifying the world’s first covid-19 vaccine

sciencemag.org

Old Russian saying: “The strictness of Russian laws is compensated by the fact that it’s not necessary to follow them.”

The adage might apply to the lax regulations under which “Sputnik V” received a registration certificate from the Ministry of Health after a mere 76 people were tested. The certificate states “that the vaccine cannot be used widely until 1 January 2021, presumably after larger clinical trials have been completed.”

A troubling question: Will the FDA be pressured by the Trump administration into approving a vaccine under emergency use authorization (which is similar to the Russian registration certificate)?

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/russia-s-approval-covid-19-vaccine-less-meets-press-release

Op-ed: US wins WTO case

A win at the WTO, but at what cost?

October 17, 2019 | Pennlive

Op-ed: Democracy in Britain and India

Is democracy in peril in the land of Magna Carta and the land of Gandhi?

Sept. 6, 2019 | Pennlive