Tag: G20 nations

Goa to host three-day meet involving audit institutions of G20 nations

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A three-day meet of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) of G20 countries will be held in Dona Paula in Goa from Monday, June 12, an official said. The SAI20 Summit 2023, which will have a main meet and four side events, will hold discussions to form a consensus document, or communique, a state government spokesperson said.

The SAI20 Engagement Group of G20 was established during 2022 during Indonesia’s presidency of the G20, he added. The engagement group’s website informed that the constitution of SAI20 stems from a recognition of the role of SAIs in promoting efficiency, accountability and transparency of public administration as well as supporting Sustainable Development Goals.

“This mandate is achieved through engaging actively and effectively with the entire spectrum of stakeholders, from audited entities and governments to media and the civil society. Such effective engagement shall serve as a barometer of the expectations of the society,” as per the website.

This engagement group is expected to strengthen and empower audit engagements of SAIs through policy dialogue and identification of best practices.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

G20 to discuss uneven recovery from COVID crisis, officials say

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The world’s financial leaders will discuss on Wednesday how to coordinate policies to prevent their virus-battered economies emerging from recession at highly different speeds, officials said ahead of the virtual meeting. When finance ministers and central bank governors of the world’s top 20 economies hold their video-conference the patchy response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis will be high on their agenda, officials from the Italian presidency said.

Italy, which chairs the G20 this year, held a briefing ahead of Wednesday’s meeting and officials said the group would reaffirm the need not to ease stimulus measures too soon and discuss how to help debt-laden poor countries.

In contrast to the first meeting of Italy’s presidency in February, this one will be followed by an official communique.

”The first signals are uneven, some economies are picking up well and others are being left behind, this is something that is clouding the global economic outlook,” said one official.

COVID inoculation rates vary widely, with Britain and the United States far outstripping most European Union, Asian and especially African countries.

”At the moment the main instrument of economic policy is vaccinations,” the official said, noting that the United States is also adopting massive fiscal stimulus, which analysts expect will lead to a faster recovery.

”We’re aware that it’s not possible for some countries to get out of this crisis and others not to … so the G20 is the best venue to discuss these aspects and find solutions,” he added.

The G20 will maintain a commitment to reach a deal on minimum corporate taxation levels and taxation of internet giants by mid-year, and will also focus on debt relief for poor countries, the officials said.

For these nations, one option under consideration is to extend a suspension of debt servicing costs that is currently in place until June.

However, there are no proposals at the G20 level to broaden the policy framework for debt restructuring with any new initiatives to forgive debt for countries struggling to pay, the officials said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

PM at G20 calls for reform in multilateral organisations to ensure better global governance

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit on Sunday reiterated the importance of reforms in multilateral organisations to ensure better global governance for faster post-COVID recovery.

In his address on the second and final day of the summit, hosted by Saudi Arabia in the virtual format, Modi also highlighted India’s efforts for inclusive development through a participatory approach. “Was honoured to address G20 partners again on the 2nd day of the Virtual Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia,” he tweeted.

“Reiterated the importance of reforms in multilateral organizations to ensure better global governance for faster post-COVID recovery,” Modi said in a series of tweets on his address at the summit of the world’s leading 20 economies.

At the summit, he also emphasised that an Aatmanirbhar Bharat will be a strong pillar of a resilient post-COVID world economy and global value chains.

“Underlined India’s civilizational commitment to harmony between humanity and nature, and our success in increasing renewable energy and biodiversity,” the prime minister said in another tweet.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

UN chief to renew call to India, G20 nations to invest in sustainable transition post-COVID

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will renew his call to India and other G20 countries to invest in a clean, sustainable transition as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, during his virtual address to The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Guterres will deliver the 19th Darbari Seth Memorial lecture on August 28 organised by TERI, a global think-tank focusing on a broad range of sustainable development and climate-related issues, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday.

In his lecture titled ‘The rise of renewables: shining a light on a sustainable future’, Guterres will renew “his call on G20 countries, including India, to invest in a clean, sustainable transition as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic”.

G20 consists of 19 individual countries — including the US, Russia, China, Japan, Australia, Saudi — plus the European Union. Dujarric said Guterres is expected to say that as governments mobilise trillions of dollars to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, their decisions will have climate consequences for decades.

While Guterres will deliver the memorial lecture, India’s Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar will preside and deliver the presidential address. The annual lecture was initiated by TERI in 2002 in memory of the institute’s founder Darbari Seth.

Also, catch all the latest updates and trends on the novel coronavirus with CNBCTV18’s blog.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

EU sends WTO reform proposals to break US deadlock

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The European Union published proposals on Monday for reform of dispute settlement at the World Trade Organization that it has agreed with China, India and other countries, hoping to overcome US objections that have thrown the WTO into crisis.

There was no immediate reaction from the United States, which has previously dismissed the EU’s ideas on the subject.

The WTO is scrambling to develop a plan for the biggest reform in its almost 24-year history after President Donald Trump brought the world’s top trade court to the brink of collapse by blocking appointments of its judges and threatening a US withdrawal.

Trade diplomats see Trump’s tough line on the WTO as part of a pattern of demanding a “fair deal” for the United States and they take his threats seriously because the US has withdrawn from a series of international agreements.

“Now, together with a broad coalition of WTO members, we are presenting our most concrete proposals yet for WTO reform. I hope that this will contribute to breaking the current deadlock,” European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement.

The proposals, building on an EU document published in September and focusing narrowly on the dispute settlement issue, follow months of meetings in Geneva, Beijing, Ottawa and elsewhere.

The EU published two proposals, one issued jointly with India and China, and another which also included Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, Australia, South Korea, Iceland, Singapore and Mexico.

US Ambassador to the WTO Dennis Shea has repeatedly criticised the WTO’s Appellate Body, effectively the supreme court of world trade, saying it overstepped its authority and broke its own rules, potentially invalidating its judgments.

He has demanded the Appellate Body abide by the rules and has blocked the appointment process, slowly cutting down the number of judges. There are now the bare minimum of three, but from December 2019 there will be only one, making it impossible for the WTO to issue final appeal rulings.

Shea said in October he could not support the EU’s ideas on reforming the Appellate Body.

But an EU official said there was no official US position on the earlier EU paper and the EU had not been seeking US input until now.

The new proposals aimed to comprehensively address all the US concerns, although the focus was on the procedural issues rather than questions about judicial over-reach, which would require US input.

“We now expect the United States to do their part, to engage with these formal proposals that are aimed at squarely addressing their concerns. This must then lead to unblocking the Appellate Body appointments,” the EU official said.

The proposals will be presented on Dec. 12 to the WTO’s General Council, its highest-level format outside of a ministerial meeting. It has the power to adopt the suggestions as amendments to the WTO’s dispute settlement rules.

Trade is also expected to be high on the agenda of the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires later this week.

US officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

WTO sees signs of trade tensions starting to affect global economy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Trade barriers being erected by major economies could jeopardise the global economic recovery and their effects are already starting to show, the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday in a report on trade restrictions among G20 nations.

“This continued escalation poses a serious threat to growth and recovery in all countries, and we are beginning to see this reflected in some forward-looking indicators,” WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said in a statement.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow