Author: Seema

The financier-philanthropist has predicted the Adani Group’s woes would loosen the Hindu nationalist leader’s grip on power. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party has accused billionaire financier-philanthropist George Soros of trying to undermine India’s democracy by predicting that the Adani Group’s woes would loosen the Hindu nationalist leader’s grip on power. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Thursday, 92-year-old Soros said “Modi and business tycoon Adani are close allies; their fate is intertwined” and the conglomerate’s troubles would “significantly weaken Modi’s stranglehold on India’s federal government” and “open the door to push for much needed institutional reforms”, the Financial Times reported. The…

Kazakhstan’s Finance Ministry has unveiled a new social welfare project geared towards funding housing and education expenses for the next generation of Kazakhstan’s citizens. The Kazakh news outlet Tengri News writes that, starting in 2024, each new citizen born in Kazakhstan will be given a savings account to be funded in regular installments from the National Fund (which is itself funded by the country’s natural resources). By the time the beneficiary reaches the age of 18, they should have around $3,500 to use towards education (anywhere in the world) or buying a home in Kazakhstan. The Russian publication RBC points…

Paris, February 14, 2023 — Belarusian authorities should disclose the reason for the recent detention of journalist Vyacheslau Lazarau or free him immediately, and ensure that no members of the press are jailed for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On February 9, law enforcement in the northeastern city of Vitebsk detained Lazarau after searching his home as part of an unspecified criminal investigation, according to media reports and the Belarusian Association of Journalists, an advocacy and trade group operating from exile. Authorities did not disclose the reason for the journalist’s detention. Lazarau is a freelance camera…

Today, on February 17, the First May District Court considered Gulnara Jurabayeva and Klara Sooronkulova, who were arrested in the Kempir-Abad case and placed in pretrial detention, and kept them in custody until April 20. Perizat Suranova, who was admitted to the hospital a few days ago due to her health, reviewed the restraining order from the outside and put her under house arrest. According to the court decision, Suranova will be under house arrest until April 20.Klara Sooronkulova stated in court that she needs a medical operation due to her health. Lawyer Chinara Zhakupbekova told journalists who visited the court…

As certain as his re-election may be, Kazakhstan’s leader faces a pressing array of domestic and international challenges. This month, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is almost certain to be re-elected for a second term in office. The snap presidential election on November 20 will see him stand against a parade of largely unknown candidates – none of them a source of genuine opposition. When elected, he will be able to serve a seven-year term, up to 2029. The election occurs after a momentous year in Kazakhstan. In early January, Tokayev’s presidency faced an existential threat from a dangerous combination of…

2022 was a turbulent year for Kazakhstan. In early January, anti-government protests erupted across the country. The resulting clashes between police and demonstrators led to thousands of arrests and left more than 200 people dead. In response, President Kassym-Jomart Tokaev promised political reforms. Tokaev also quickly began distancing himself (in public, at least) from his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kazakhstan has faced further challenges in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since September, thousands of Russians fleeing military mobilisation have arrived in Kazakhstan and a wave of inflation is spelling uncertainty for the economic future of the country. In this…

Pakistan appears poised to launch a major ground and air offensive against Tehreek-i Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants that could target hideouts in neighbouring Afghanistan, experts say, as a surge in attacks on security forces threaten to plunge the country back into a cycle of violence.Dozens of Pakistani soldiers and policemen have been killed and wounded in recent months in near-daily armed assaults, assassinations, roadside bombings and suicide attacks by the TTP, or the Pakistani Taliban, in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the two western provinces bordering Afghanistan.Pakistan’s civil and military leadership issued a warning late on Monday that “the…