By Usman Khan
On Thursday, the European Commission continued its ban on Nepali airlines for not meeting international safety standards. Nepal Airlines remain on the updated EU Air Safety List which means they are still barred from EU skies even after nearly 10 years. On September 14, 2022, the European Commission representatives as part of its incessant checking activities met with the representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).
On that instance, the CAAN provided the commission with evidence regarding the safety oversight in Nepal and notably their reviewed concerns about the functional parting of the regulatory and service supplier roles which is an enduring issue recognized during the commission discussions with Nepal, as well as by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme. This means the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has connected it will not be split into regulator and service provider. Though the civil aviation body has offered no robust reason why it doesn’t want this functional departure.
The European Commission added in its report, “as a follow-up to that meeting, on November 10, 2022, the CAAN submitted to the commission the information and documentary evidence about the adoption of a new CAAN regulation, which in CAAN’s view safeguards the functional separation of CAAN’s regulatory and service provider roles, namely by preventing the transfer of staff between regulatory and service provider sections of the CAAN.”
The report identified, “that the application of this new regulation and progress in aligning the CAAN’s safety oversight with the relevant international safety standards would allow the commission to consider whether a European Union on-site assessment visit to Nepal should be prepared in 2023. On the basis of evidence gathered during such a visit, the commission could assess if a removal of air carriers certified in Nepal would be reasonable. Following the September 2012 crash of Sita Air Flight 601 at the Manohara River which killed 19 people, including seven British citizens, the European Commission imposed a blanket ban on Nepali airlines from flying into the 27-nation bloc in December 2013.
The European Commission has said at this time there are no grounds for modifying the list of air carriers which are focus to an operating ban within the Union with respect to air carriers from Nepal. Member states should continue verifying the effective obedience of air carriers certified in Nepal with the relevant international safety standards through prioritization of inspections of those air carriers.
It is being alleged that the civil aviation body has been misusing its authority but no one wants to speak against it. The chief of the civil aviation body has been repeatedly saying to Nepali media that they will work from two offices in its place of splitting the organization. There is larger politics to avert the organization from being parted. It is also being alleged that once it is broken up, some top position holders will lose the dual benefits they have been enjoying.
The existing system permits the director general of the Civil Aviation Authority to issue tenders for multi-billion-dollar projects. The same person also has the plum job of overseeing compliance with the project and the aviation regulations governing the issuance of licenses to airlines and crews.
No one wants to lose this influence. That’s why, despite intense pressure, it has become hard to detached the civil aviation body for a long time. It’s highly disappointing that Nepal is still on the air safety list even after nearly 10 years. It is impacting Nepal’s tourism industry and the economy in the long run.
The Civil Aviation Authority has been repeatedly issuing reassurances that the European Commission will remove Nepal from the air safety list, citing ICAO's audit report which shows that the country's safety standard has improved some. However, ICAO’s final audit report shows that Nepal’s performance on organization, which defines the organizational structure required to meet safety standards, remains poor. The effective implementation score on organization, one of the eight critical elements, has been abridged to 45.45 percent from the earlier 50 percent. The global average is 71.1 percent.
In its final audit report, United Nations aviation watchdog ICAO formally asked Nepal to split the civil aviation body into two entities—service provider and regulator. The request has come in written form after Nepal showed no readiness to separate the organization.
Splitting the organization is a crucial organizational reform agenda which has been a work in progress for the last one and a half decades. The reluctance to listen to the aviation watchdogs will cost Nepal in the long run. Although Nepali airlines don’t fly directly to the EU, tourists, particularly in the high-end segment, are disinclined to visit to countries that have been marked by the aviation watchdog. Nepal remains red-flagged in international aviation because of its poor safety record. Passing legislation to split the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal into two entities will achieve a main condition of the European Commission. This will hasten Nepal’s elimination from its air safety list, allowing Nepali airlines to fly to Europe and bring more travelers.
However, the government is unwilling to break up the aviation agency which can loosen its grip on it. Nepal’s tourism and aviation sectors lamented that Parliament’s five-year term ended on September 18 without passing long-pending civil aviation bills to separate the civil aviation body, which could harshly hinder their growth and do long-term harm.The hospitality industry has been pouring billions into new properties amid post-Covid optimism that tourist arrivals would take off. Nonetheless, failure to pass the bills is stopping recovery on sound its tracks.

By Ali Husnain
fifty years ago, a weak, resource-constrained nation with a major portion of the population uneducated and unskilled was seen by many as an impossible situation. Since Bangladesh was filled with political unrest and the involvement of other parties, some of them even made the dire prediction that it would not exist as an independent and sovereign nation in the long term. Although it appears that these individuals were of assistance to Bangladesh, they actually forced it into a more difficult situation where it halted its advancements and growth after having just undergone dissolution 23 years prior. Bangladesh was referred to be a "global basket case," which denoted that it was an unreliable or decaying nation.
The early natural and man-made disasters in Bangladesh also gave proponents of the "basket case" some instruments with which to spread their propaganda. The country's economy experienced a number of internal and foreign shocks from 1972 to 1975, or three years and eight months, to be precise. These include escalating inflation, the global oil shock, a loss in trade, the need for foreign assistance and food aid, a rise in smuggling, an outbreak of hunger, cyclones, floods, and growing inflation. Then there was ineffectiveness, corruption, and poor administrative management. The "basket case" propagandists failed to take the shocks into account.
Bangladesh has advanced steadily by periodically altering and updating economic policies as well as by adopting new policies, regardless of the projections and predictions made by experts and economists in the early years of the country. Policy creation and execution did not always result in the best or most favorable results. However, even though it occasionally slowed down, economic growth never came to a standstill.
Political progress and adjustments to political agreements go hand in hand with Bangladesh's economic growth. Despite the nation's move toward a market-oriented strategy, state-sponsored capitalism created the door for rent-seeking, which has persisted in various forms over the years. Additionally, it strengthened cronyism—more specifically, crony capitalism. As a result, there was a tighter link between politics and business. The growing income is the outcome, although socioeconomic inequality is also present. The biggest issue currently facing Bangladesh is finding a way to overcome the failures while maintaining the five decades of success. By the conclusion of the sixth decade of its existence, Bangladesh's economy is likely to reach the "drive to maturity" or the next stage in Rostow's growth model. The high optimism is subject to properly addressing inequality, ensuring social justice, and establishing good governance,
However, many people view Bangladesh as a country with many opportunities, and many commitments have been made to take advantage of this potential for the nation and its citizens. Despite making progress and development albeit sluggish, the nation's development has been and still is constrained by issues brought about by those in power, regardless of their political affiliations. It was felt that political liabilities are more important than nation-building. As corruption continues to eat away at the country's foundation, it gives all power brokers a clear path to instant wealth. Democracy has been unable to alter qualitatively due to the existing two-party domination, their struggle for power, and social decay. As long as inadequate governance-related unhappiness persists, exploitation by powerful groups has not lessened.
Moreover, the external entities got a full chance to interfere in the domestic politics of Bangladesh because of its poor conduct in politics and political unrest within the state by the politicians who either have governed Bangladesh or are in power in Bangladesh.
The current political atmosphere in Bangladesh posed to take the country into a devastating phase where it could meet the economic imbalance, lack of resources available for the individuals, and involvement of external entities very closely where they could monitor the administration of Bangladesh very closely and furthermore the sovereignty of the state could be threatened.
However, to save the state from any upcoming calamity, political harmony in the state is very much crucial and important. Bangladesh, following the four principles of Bangabandhu’s policy, should step ahead and the next forthcoming elections must be held under a caretaker government which could be claimed as fair and free to decide the future of Bangladesh. Moreover, state-centric policies should be adopted by the political leader and relations with the other state should be established for the betterment of the state collectively. This is how Bangladesh could progress and restore democracy by applying democratic values and policies which are meant to reconstruct the damages which have been done to the state.

By Afshain Afzal
India is playing a great game by instigating Kashmiris for a very bright future. The plight of the people of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir is before our eyes that how miserable life they are spending due to fear and uncertainty. Despite all this, the Indian military has come up with a new scheme for the Kashmiris that they would be able to win people of Jammu and Kashmir on Pakistan’s side of Line of Control (LoC) to their side. As per their claim, “The country has over 50 per cent of people below the age of 25. If we take them in as Agniveers, teach them and send them back, we will absorb some, others by paramilitary, and police forces and the remaining can be self-employed." However, there are reports that non-Kashmiris from Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir are being sent to Pakistan as Kashmiris to merge in civilian population in Pakistan to carryout subversion and sabotage.
The General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Indian Northern Command, Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi has threatened Pakistan, “the Indian Army is ready to execute orders like taking back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir”. Reacting over the statement the Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations issued a statement on 24 November 2022, “The unwarranted statement of a high-ranking Indian Army Officer concerning Azad Jammu and Kashmir is an apt manifestation of Indian Armed Forces’ delusional mindset and showcases the vivid imprint of domestic political showboating on Indian military thought.”
New Delhi is standing tall as the Government of India has mounted on the shoulders of countries including the United States and France and perceives if it is India’s actual height. We should never forget that when Indian Prime Minister Indra Gandhi ordered her Chief of Army Staff General S.H.F.J. Manekshaw to swiftly conduct a surgical strike on East Pakistan, followed by the installation of an interim Indian government and the subsequent return of refugees, General Manekshaw replied, “Indian Army need six to seven months preparing for combat.” The Prime Minister was shocked and told Manekshaw to leave the idea and Indian Border Security Force (BSF) was tasked to arm and train Hindus Mukti Bahini guerrillas who had already been living in India as refugees from East Pakistan since long.
As usual New Delhi, instead of mending fences with Pakistan has started propagating baseless allegations that Pakistan is using its soil for operations inside disputed Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir. General Upendra Dwivedi in his recent statement claimed, “There are nearly 300 terrorists active in Jammu and Kashmir. Out of them, 82 are from Pakistan, 53 local residents and around 170 are unidentified. Beside this, 160 terrorists are present at the launch-pads in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir along the LoC who are waiting to infiltrate.” It is interesting to note that such statements are usual pattern of Indian Army and the Internal Affairs ministry as long leaves are being granted to Indian Army personnel due to winters and almost all forward posts are being vacated or strength there have been reduced to minimum.
It is shocking to observe that as per reports Indian intelligence agencies are planning a self-engineered terrorist attack in mid-December 2022. As per the available details revealed by Indian D Company, a major show of force leading to killings, however, the target and location were not revealed. In a hoax incident, which was revealed by Senior Superintendent of Police, Ramban Mohita Sharma claimed. “A private bus was intercepted at Nashri checkpoint on 25 November 2022, IED kept in a container in the back seat was found by the bomb disposal squad”. With mere objective to malign Pakistan, India carryout self-engineered terrorist activities but often forgets that such strategies lead to loss of life and injuries of innocent human beings. It is high time that India should resist from using threatening tone and shun self-engineered terrorist activities to pave way for dialogues and confidence building measure for peace and harmony in the region.

BERLIN, 26 November 2022, (TON): according to a draft text seen by AFP "German MPs are set to approve a resolution declaring as genocide the 1930s starvation of millions in Ukraine under Joseph Stalin, adopting language used by Kyiv."
The joint text by deputies from Germany’s centre-left-led coalition and the opposition conservatives is intended as a warning to Russia as Ukraine faces a potential hunger crisis this winter due to Moscow’s invasion.
Lawmakers plan to vote on the resolution next week, following Ukraine’s memorial day for the famine, which falls each year on the last Saturday in November.

WASHINGTON, 26 November 2022, (TON): The US military said "two rockets targeted a US patrol base in northeastern Syria but did not result in any injuries or damage to the base."
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces visited the origin site of the rockets and found a third unfired rocket, the US military said in a statement.
The base was located in Al-Shaddadi, Syria.

KYIV, 26 November 2022, (TON): Millions of Ukrainians were still without heat or power on Friday after the most devastating Russian air strikes on its energy grid so far.
Residents have been warned to brace for further attacks and stock up on water, food and warm clothing.
Moscow says the attacks on Ukraine’s basic infrastructure are militarily legitimate, and that Kyiv can end the suffering of its people if it yields to Russian demands.
Ukraine says attacks intended to cause civilian misery are a war crime.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said “together we endured nine months of full-scale war and Russia has not found a way to break us, and will not find one."

TUNIS, 26 November 2022, (TON): Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Tunisia Abdulaziz bin Ali Al-Saqr received a delegation comprising senior representatives of the Saudi ministries of justice, sport, and media.
The delegation is taking part in meetings of the Arab Administrative Development Organization, an affiliate of the Arab League, currently taking place in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia.
Saudi Arabia aims to foster relations among the world. Earlier this month, the Arab League summit in Algiers concluded with a pledge of continued Arab support for Palestine, and condemnation of Israel’s use of violence and its blockade of Gaza.

KUALA LUMPUR, 26 November 2022, (TON): Malaysia’s newly appointed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said "his primary focus would be on the cost of living as he takes office with a slowing economy and a country deeply split after a close election."
Anwar, 75, was sworn in as premier, capping a three-decade political journey from a protege of veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad to protest leader, a prisoner convicted of sodomy and opposition figurehead.
Anwar, who was appointed by Malaysia’s king following an inconclusive election, said his primary concern was the economy and he would have a smaller Cabinet than those of previous administrations.

DHAKA, 26 November 2022, (TON): The Boston Consulting Group has said that Bangladesh is on course to become a $1 trillion economy by 2040, driven by consumer optimism, innovation in emerging economic sectors and a young engaged workforce.
The BCG said in a report released "with average annual growth of 6.4% between 2016 and 2021, the South Asian nation has outpaced peers such as India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand."
The report said "Bangladesh's domestic consumer market was set to become the ninth-largest in the world."

DHAKA, 26 November 2022, (TON): State Minister of United Arab Emirates for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh on Friday sought more cooperation from Bangladesh to expand the air connectivity between Bangladesh and the UAE.
The UAE State Minister said this while paying a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganabhaban, according to a press release of the Prime Minister's Press Wing.
He thanked the Prime Minister for her government's warm hospitality extended to his delegation during the IORA Ministerial meeting held in Dhaka on 23-24 November 2022.