DHAKA, 24 November 2022, (TON): Bangladesh, the current Indian Ocean Rim Association chair, will host the 22nd IORA Council of Ministers meeting in Dhaka .
The 24th meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials was held here in a Dhaka hotel on November 22-23.
Ministers, State Ministers and Assistant Foreign Ministers of the IORA member states are already in Dhaka to attend the meeting.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said they want “free, inclusive, secure and peaceful” navigation for all without any encumbrance in the region.

By Usman Khan
The agenda of the Conference of Parties (COP) negotiations this year fund and finance aimed at addressing unavoidable climate change catastrophes that developing countries are particularly vulnerable to a move designed to make polluters pay for the damage they caused. Much work still needs to be done in terms of mechanisms and criteria to regulate what qualifies as climate-induced disasters and how much compensation needs to be allotted for developing country like Nepal in south Asia.

However, limited growth and supporting loss and damage seem to be mutually exclusive. One needs to remember that current international finance flowing to the developing countries for adaptation is between five to 10 times less than what is required present forecasts decide they will need around $340 billion per year. Loss and damage will add further pressure to this demand for funding.

The recently United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP27, is the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference and has been held at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt is an good sign for the governments to choose and accept trivial projects to balance emissions such as net zero in the near future.

For Nepal much of these discussions are also pertinent despite the fact that most of them are global in nature, but the rising cost of living, energy security, food security and a progressively degrading environment caused by landslides and floods are crucial for Nepal domestically to deal with it. Some of these glitches have been intensified by prosperity inequality within Nepal’s society. In Nepal too the rich are responsible for a large portion of national emissions. The government should tax them for the carbon dioxide they produce beyond average emitters. Individuals and companies who own fleets of gas-emissions should be charged and taxed for the greenhouse gases they emit.

However, limited growth and supporting loss and damage seem to be mutually exclusive. One needs to remember that current international finance flowing to the developing countries for adaptation is between five to 10 times less than what is required current projections determine. Therefore, they need funding form the developing countries in this regard.

It’s one part of the climate change negotiations at the COP 27 meeting. The other part is more quarrelsome. Therefore, a hard to drastic cuts in emission within a short period of time to attain the 1.5 degrees Celsius aim set by the Paris Agreement. The latest figures released at the summit show global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are soaring and likely to increase by 1 percent in 2022. Consequently, the general consensus seems to be that COP must admit that the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal is dead.

Dozer owners, in collaboration with the private sector, are altering our landscape in the name of land development for housing or connectivity through roads or sand and gravel mining. This destruction of natural habitats and water sources has often led to the drying of springs and subsequently landslides and debris flow, destroying farms and houses. They should be hold accountable for such loss and damage. As global negotiations stall over rich countries' reluctance to even listen to loss and damage arguments,

Nepal can't afford any more delays in pursuing climate justice and an action-oriented approach to addressing the climate crisis. Nepal can continue advocating for climate justice at global fora, but should also pursue it at home by making polluters in Nepal pay part of their profits as reparation for the damage they cause. Nepal has a unique chance to become a pioneer and a paradigm in this regard if Nepal take the necessary steps. With the news elections held here’s hoping that Nepal choose responsible and sensible candidates to make this an actuality.

DWAIPAYAN REGMI, TON, NEPAL
The election which was held on Sunday in Nepal is giving its result. The result of the election is in process of coming out. As expected, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba led Nepali Congress is leading right now in the case of victory along with being ahead of others too. Congress is followed by former Prime Minister K.P. Oli led the party's CPN-UML. Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), who was the mastermind behind 10 years of conflict, has been in a position to lower their power to third position there. CPN- Maoists, who was the first big party right after the end of the monarchy has been decreasing its power, and has been in the third leading position as of now. Rabi Lamichhane's led party independent 'Rastriya Swatantra Party, which took part in the election for the first time with the collaboration of all independent candidates, has been in the fourth position right now.
It can be explained that Congress voters turned out to be reluctant in backing up other coalition candidates and rather voted for other parties - be it Rastriya Swatantra Party or even UML in some places. On not finding their own party's 'Tree' symbol they voted on some other symbol. It was already assumed that the transfer from Nepali Congress to CPN (Maoists Center) had been a tough task. The broken wing of the CPN UML party led by Madhav Kumar Nepal could not make any impactful mark either as it could not make any expected win. The party's senior leader and ex-prime minister Jhalanath Khanal explained that the party will be evaluating things if they could not win enough seats in the election there.
The election this time did not make big faces around. While former ministers like Mahesh Acharya and Minendra Rijal did not get tickets; there seems to be a loss for other popular leaders like Jhalanath Khanal or Upendra Yadav or even Sujata Koirala (daughter of former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala).
The clear defeat of Dr. Baburam Bhattarai's daughter Manushi Yami Bhattarai has made Kathmandu with something entirely new because what Kathmandu saw was Nepali Congress and independent candidates for their future. Generally, capital is a representation of the whole state there.
The primary result indicates that there has been the rise of the newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party which came out of hatred and frustration of existing ones. While the party made its explanation that they were not participating in provincial elections and they currently hold reservations over the current provincial setup there. They have been into the rise and preference of youths too. It has been well-regarded that provinces will exist with a new set of creations through which there could be certain shortcomings.
The primary result makes a clear indication about how political bargaining will be moving ahead in days ahead and the political disturbances will keep on being prevalent there. The number of games of politics and political moves will be prevailing there through different times. The effort of construction of Government under their leadership will be there from both Nepali Congress and even CPN-UML. There has been immense hope for Prachanda to be the next Prime Minister, but it is yet to be seen how the political turns will be shaped here.
Seeing the context of the Provincial state too, it has been identified that Nepali Congress is leading right now and UML is following Congress with tough competition. There are CPN Maoists who are in the battle after them followed by Janata Samajwadi Party. The aspects and considerations there will be kept and designed in such a way that they will all frame certain aspects through which the entire concern will be seen. The results are in the process of coming out, but Nepalese citizens have been making certain frameworks in their minds about the political scenario which would be turned up there. The movement and aspects will be taken with such open space thereafter. As of now, the big leaders are all tense seeing the result; because today's result will shape the future of power in Nepal.
Nepal is currently going through a set of political disturbances, and a financial crisis, there are social imbalances which has been identified, and there then exists some imbalances because of which the whole approach would be classified there. They have been identified with some good positioning and spaces there. The results are stated to be out within a week by the Election Commission of Nepal, and then there will be a struggle for new Government framing.

MOSCOW, 23 November 2022, (TON): The United States opposes any military action that destabilizes the situation in Syria, a State Department spokesperson said, amid an escalation in retaliatory strikes by Turkiye and a Kurdish militia along the Syrian border.

Separately, Russia called on Turkiye to show restraint in its use of “excessive” military force in Syria and to keep tensions from escalating, Russian news agencies cited a Russian envoy to Syria as saying.

The comments came after Turkiye said “the Syrian Kurdish YPG killed two people in mortar attacks from northern Syria on Monday, following Turkish air operations at the weekend and a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul a week earlier.”

SIEM REAP, 23 November 2022, (TON): US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in Cambodia as the two sides move to keep tensions in check.

The meeting on the sidelines of a conference of defense ministers in Siem Reap is the first between Austin and Wei since June, before a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan sparked fury in Beijing.

But China and the United States have since moved to lower the temperature with meetings between top officials.

SEOUL, 23 November 2022, (TON): A new South Korean anti-ballistic missile system conducted its first successful intercept this month, media reports said, the country’s latest step in boosting its defenses against North Korean missiles.

The L-SAM interceptor destroyed a target for the first time in a test, according to the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper and Yonhap news agency, which cited unnamed government and military sources without specifying the date.

The test also involved a version of the L-SAM designed to shoot down aircraft.

South Korea’s Ministry of Defense, Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and Agency for Defense Development, which rarely publicize weapons tests, declined to confirm the report.

ZARQA, 23 November 2022, (TON): Saudi Arabia has opened a health center to serve 300,000 Palestinians at Zarqa refugee camp in Jordan.

The center, operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, was financed by the Saudi Development Fund, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Ambassador in Jordan Naif Al-Sudairy and the Commissioner-General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini jointly opened the Saudi-funded center in an event.

Lazzirini thanked the Kingdom for its continuous support for Palestinian refugees, welcoming the $27 million donation Saudi Arabia made to UNRWA last month.

WASHINGTON, 23 November 2022, (TON): The US expressed “deep concern” over the progress Iran is making on its nuclear program and ballistic missile capability, after Tehran said it has begun enriching uranium to 60 percent at a second facility.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said “we’re going to make sure we have all options available to the president.”

“We certainly have not changed our view that we will not allow Iran to achieve a nuclear weapons capability.”

An atomic bomb requires uranium enriched to 90 percent, so 60 percent is a significant step toward weapons-grade enrichment.

DHAKA, 23 November 2022, (TON): South African Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mashego Dlamini has said pharmaceuticals, textiles and the blue economy are potential areas of cooperation with Bangladesh.

She underscored the need for 2-way visits of business delegations between Bangladesh and South Africa.

Dlamini is on a bilateral visit to Dhaka as well as to join the IORA meeting.

She met State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam at the state guesthouse Padma in Dhaka yesterday with her delegation members comprising high officials of Foreign Ministry and South African High Commission in New Delhi.

ATHENS, 23 November 2022, (TON): A spokeswoman told media “Greece’s coast guard was rescuing a fishing boat with up to 500 migrants onboard in strong winds southwest of Crete.”

A coast guard spokeswoman told media “the distress call said there are 400-500 people on board.”

He added that the operation was hampered by near gale-force winds.

She added “they can see the boat, it’s adrift, there is a large number of people on board.”