Category: Politics

Vijay Mallya back in UK court for extradition hearing

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

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Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya was back in a UK court on Friday for his final hearing in the extradition case.

During the hearing, the judge accepted the evidence presented by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Mallya.

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyer Mark Summers produced fresh documentation and explanations to press for Mallya’s extradition to India.

Mallya’s counsel Ben Watson requested for a fresh date in July, 2018 for the hearing.

Mallya’s extradition case is heard in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London.

Mallya, who is on trial for the UK court to rule if he can be extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crore.

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

North, South Korea agree to goal of ‘complete denuclearisation’ of Korean peninsula

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

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The leaders of North and South Korea signed a declaration on Friday agreeing to work for the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”.

At their first summit in more than a decade, the two sides announced they would seek an agreement to establish “permanent” and “solid” peace on the peninsula.

The declaration included promises to pursue military arms reduction, cease “hostile acts,” turn their fortified border into a “peace zone,” and seek multilateral talks with other countries, such as the United States.

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

Korean summit starts with a handshake, after years of tension

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

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After a year of tensions, the first North-South Korea summit in more than a decade began Friday with a handshake.

Surrounded by bodyguards and other members of his delegation, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un emerged right on cue from a large building on the northern side of the border in the truce village of Panmunjom, walked down a wide flight of stairs and strolled confidently toward South Korean President Moon Jae-in to begin the historic meeting.

Smiling broadly and exchanging greetings, the two shook hands for a long time, exchanging greetings and looking from outward appearances like old friends.

Moon had awaited Kim’s arrival at “Freedom House,” a building on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone. As soon as he saw Kim come out, he walked to meet him at the border so that their handshake would be at the most symbolic of locations, each leader standing on his side of the military demarcation line that separates North from South.

Their hands still clasped, Moon invited the North Korean leader into the South for the first time ever, just one step over a line marked by a “curb” of concrete.

After he did, Kim, in return, gestured for Moon to step into the North. They both did, and then returned to the South together, hands held.

Kim was then met by South Korean children bearing flowers and a military honor guard before he headed into the summit hall to sign a guestbook, visibly out of breath.

Like everything about Friday’s summit, the handshake and all the atmospherics around it were carefully orchestrated and agreed upon in advance. North and South Korean officials conducted three days of on-site rehearsals to map out virtually every move of the leaders’ initial encounter.

Even so, the moment was a striking contrast to the rising fears of conflict that dominated relations just one year ago, when Kim was test-launching long-range missiles at a record pace and trading crude insults with U.S. President Donald Trump.

It was the second big North-South handshake in as many months — coming after Moon and Kim’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, who accompanied him on Friday, shook hands at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the South in February.

That seemingly impromptu moment came as a joint North-South team marched into the Olympic Stadium, part of an effort to use the Games to try to improve relations.

Moon, elated at the sight, turned and shook the hand of Kim’s sister, who was seated right behind him in the VIP box on the first trip to the South ever by a member of the North’s ruling family. The image of the two beaming with pride stood out all the more because U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, representing the White House, sat stone-faced nearby.

Photos of that handshake were top news the next day in both Koreas.

The Koreas have a host of difficult and often seemingly intractable obstacles ahead of them, but no matter the outcome of the summit, they seemed acutely aware that the photos of Kim and Moon’s handshake will be bound for the history books.

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

India, China ready to re-set ties as Modi meets Xi in Wuhan

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

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India and China will look to re-set their strained ties as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping meet each other at a two-day informal summit in the central Chinese city of Wuhan starting on Friday.

The Asian giants, who fought a brief war in 1962 and have a history of mutual distrust, nearly came to an armed conflict near their border in 2017, taking their ties to a new low.

However, the “one of its kind” rendezvous between Modi and Xi at the heart of China is a sign enough that the two countries were willing for a new start in their tense relationship.

The Xi-Modi meeting will be different from the past ones as the talks will not be choreographed but freewheeling with only one Mandarin-speaking Indian interpreter present.

The meeting is an offshoot of Xi-Modi parleys just after the resolution of the Doklam crisis on the sidelines of BRICS Summit at Xiamen in China.

“The idea germinated at the Xiamen summit,” said an official.

The two leaders will meet not once or twice but “several” times during the two days and will have heart-to-heart conversations, Chinese and Indian officials say.

According to informed sources, Modi and Xi might amble down the East Lake in Wuhan or take a boat ride by the historic villa of Mao Zedong.

Though there is no formal agenda of the meet and both will not issue any joint statement, thorny issues like border dispute will come up during their chat.

“You can imagine the importance Xi provides to India as this is the first time he is having such a meeting with any foreign leader. They will chat on all outstanding issues,” a Chinese government official told IANS.

India and China have a longstanding dispute over their 3,500-km long winding border, which ties them down. Of the 14 neighbours, China is yet to settle its boundary dispute only with India and Bhutan.

New Delhi is against Beijing’s grand Belt and Road project whose artery cuts through Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. India’s stance on the Belt and Road matters to China as the opposition by New Delhi could well hamper the project.

Another sticking point is Beijing’s opposition to New Delhi’s application to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group and its plea at the UN to declare the Pakistan-based Masood Azhar as an international terrorist.

China’s foray into the India Ocean also worries India.

India’s inclination to be the part of Quad — an emerging bloc of the US, Japan and Australia apparently to counter China in the Indo-Pacific — worries Beijing.

As both sides have decided not make public the outcome of the two-day meet, a Chinese top official said both leaders may arrive at some important consensus to resolve their outstanding issues.

The Chinese side has said both the leaders will also talk beyond the bilateral relations. US trade protectionist policy will figure in the talks.

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

Indians feel that the US is no longer immigrant-friendly, says Congressman

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

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Indians now feel that the US is no longer immigrant-friendly country, a top Indian-American Congressman has said, amidst a series of controversial immigration policies by the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump has been pushing for the merit-based immigration system to reduce overall immigration to the US and serve the country’s national interest.

A merit-based immigration system, the Trump administration feels would admit the best and the brightest around the world while making it harder for people to come to the country illegally.

“One issue that certainly came up and is something that we all have to be mindful of is there’s a sense in India that America is no longer immigrant- friendly,” Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi told PTI.

The Democratic lawmaker from Illinois, Krishnamoorthi recently visited India as part of a Congressional delegation.

“Whether you are going to America as a tourist, as a business visitor or whether you’re coming here on an H-1B visa or whether you already are here and are seeking permanent residency, it’s just a different place in the current landscape,” Krishnamoorthi said, adding that this is the general sense about America in India now.

The White House has said the current immigration system jeopardises the US’ national security, reiterating its call to end the chain migration and visa lottery system.

“So, we as lawmakers, have to make sure that we live up to the fundamental principles that made America a special place, namely, we welcome immigrants, we treat them with dignity, and we don’t scapegoat any individual or group of people for any challenges that we may have economically. You have to pull together and grow forward in the same direction,” he said in response to a question.

“I think so. I think that there’s a little bit more of that,” he said when asked if people in India, based on his visit, think that US is now more of an anti-immigrant nation.

“America’s image is largely positive in India. The polling data and other evidence would indicate that. However, we have to be concerned when a young Indian no longer looked at America as the only place where you would go to start a business or pursue your graduate studies and build a more prosperous future for yourself and your family,” he said.

There are other alternatives that have been merged and those places have taken advantage of the changes that have happened in the US. “We have to be concerned because we want the best and the brightest to continue to come to America,” he said.

Krishnamoorthi said there’s more of a competition.

“I would like to think that the US is still a destination and is the most appealing or attractive destination. But on the other hand, if the Trump administration continues to make it more and more difficult for people to come here, whether it’s just a visit or to study or to potentially enter the workforce and helping enrich our economy and help Americans; we are going to push people away,” he 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