Tuesday, April 04, 2023

Possibly Expanding BRICS To A G17

Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa.
Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan, the Philippines.
Mexico, Turkey, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia.
Saudi Arabia, Iran.

के साउदी अरबको यो निर्णय पूर्ण परिवर्तनको सङ्केत हो ?
भारतसँग सीमा विवाद भएका ११ स्थानको नाम परिवर्तन गर्ने चीनको निर्णय, भारतले फर्कायो जवाफ



Ryan Hass on Taiwan: Has US-China rivalry passed a tipping point? .



The American dollar has long enjoyed a prominent position in the world, one that has allowed the United States to retain its superpower status and to elevate the quality of life for her people. ........ Unfortunately, all of this preeminence and prosperity may be coming to a disturbingly unpleasant end. .......... The BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is a group of nations that has assembled together. A newly emerging goal of the alliance is to move away from the U.S. dollar and move toward the creation of a new global currency........ Speaking at a recent economic event in New Delhi, India, Russian Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Alexander Babakov urged India and Russia to form a financial relationship that would include the establishment of a new common currency. ........ “New Delhi, Moscow should institute a new economic association with a new shared currency, which could be a digital ruble or the Indian rupee,” Babakov said. ......... "New Delhi, Beijing and Moscow are the nations that now institute a multipolar world that is endorsed by the majority of governments” ........ Jim O’Neill, a British economist and a former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, is recognized for having coined the acronym BRIC, which initially stood for Brazil, Russia, India, and China. He used the term to describe rapidly growing economies that he felt would eventually dominate the global economy....... When South Africa was added in 2010, the set of initials was altered to read as BRICS.......... The five BRICS nations have a combined area of 15,346,100 sq. miles (about 27% of the world's land surface), and an estimated total population of about 3.2 billion (approximately 42% of the global population). ......... In a paper that was published in the Global Policy journal in late March of 2023, O’Neill, urged the BRICS bloc to challenge the U.S; dollar’s dominance. He stated that “the U.S. dollar plays a far too dominant role in global finance.” ......... it is clear that the current BRICS nations are attempting to position themselves as an alternative model to the G7. ........ BRICS nations have refused to take part in any of the sanctions against Russia....... In 2014, with $50 billion in seed money, the BRICS nations launched the New Development Bank as an alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. They additionally created a liquidity mechanism called the “Contingent Reserve Arrangement” to assist member states with payments. .......... The BRICS bank has brought in new member nations. In 2021, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, and Bangladesh became shareholders. ....... Worldwide interest from other nations in joining the BRICS group is on the rise. ........ the list of potential new BRICS members includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Algeria, Argentina, Mexico, and Nigeria. By brokering a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, China paved the way for both nations to join BRICS. ........ A multipolar economic order seems to be advancing quickly, which is expected to have serious implications for America. ........ A new global currency could make it even more difficult for the U.S. to enforce sanctions, which it uses regularly as an alternative to military action. ........ A global shift away from the U.S. dollar may lead to far less geopolitical power for the United States.



O’Neill Urges BRICS Bloc to Expand, Challenge Dollar’s Dominance Strict admission criteria needed: Ex-Goldman chief economist ..... Group should focus on climate finance, boosting trade, health ......... Jim O’Neill, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief economist who coined the acronym BRIC, said the bloc of nations that later adopted the name should expand and work to counter the dollar’s dominance. .......... called on the group to apply strict criteria to ensure the addition of any new members to its ranks helps further its aims and urged it to focus on climate finance, improving healthcare and boosting trade. ......... “The US dollar plays a far too dominant role in global finance,” he wrote. “Whenever the Federal Reserve Board has embarked on periods of monetary tightening, or the opposite, loosening, the consequences on the value of the dollar and the knock-on effects have been dramatic.” ............ If it expands to include other “emerging nations with persistent surpluses,” a globally fairer, multi-currency global system could emerge, O’Neill said. ....... the dollar’s dominance means the burden of dollar-denominated debt for other nations rises and falls with the exchange rate, destabilizing their own monetary policy, with the greenback’s movements ultimately playing a larger role than domestic decisions. ......... the economist cautions that the group should only admit countries that meet the original criteria of having large populations and sizable economies with significant potential. He disagrees with its decision to include South Africa, by far the smallest BRICS country. ......... “If the main goal of BRICS as a group is symbolism, which it often seems to be, then attracting other, especially large-population emerging countries is understandable,” he said. But if there is an economic purpose “the criterion for including new members needs to be focused” ......... The group’s aims should include gaining a stronger voice in global institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, O’Neill said. While BRICS accounts for 42% of the world’s population, its members have less than 15% of the voting rights in the two lenders ........ O’Neill said new members should have a population of at least 100 million, with Asian nations such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan and the Philippines among the potential candidates. Mexico, Turkey, Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia could also be considered, he said. It would only make sense to admit Saudi Arabia and Iran if the group aims to develop a counterweight to the dollar as they are among the world’s biggest oil producers ........ China and India, the biggest members of BRICS, have shown little commitment to developing strong trade relations. The NDB should have, and still could be given, a strong mandate to finance alternative energy to fight climate change. The five BRICS countries are all among the world’s top 14 greenhouse gases emitters, with China the biggest single source. ........ If clear goals could be met “BRICS expansion would not only be sensible but should be welcomed by all, including the traditional powers”



The future of the BRICS and the New Development Bank It is now over 21 years since I first created the BRIC acronym, to show the potential for four large emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India and China – to achieve the growth that their populations could achieve ‘conceptually’......... the ‘MINT’ (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey), and the ‘Next 11’ (N11, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam). ....... the impacts of geopolitical tensions within the group and the question of the expansion of the membership of the BRICS grouping

Full Article

Monday, April 03, 2023

स्वर्णिम वाग्ले

'तिमी पेन्सन पकाएर आएको, म छातीमा ढुंगा खाएर लडेको'
‘कांग्रेस नेतृत्वले देश निकालाको शैलीमा राखेपछि विकल्प खोजें’ [भिडियो] धैर्यले क्षमताको क्षयीकरण होला भनेर कांग्रेस छाडें .... कांग्रेसका असन्तुष्टलाई राष्ट्रिय स्वतन्त्र पार्टी विकल्प हो ..... मन मिल्ने नेतृत्व भयो भने काग्रेससँग सहकार्य हुने ठाउँ छ



शरतसिंह भण्डारी : पञ्चायतदेखि गणतन्त्रसम्म मन्त्रीको यात्रा. २०४३ मा मरिचमान सिंह प्रधानमन्त्री भएको बेलादेखि मन्त्री हुँदै आएका लोकतान्त्रिक समाजवादी पार्टीका वरिष्ठ नेता १९ औं पटक मन्त्री भएका छन् । ...... २०६२/२०६३ को आन्दोलनपछि बनेको अन्तरिम संसदमा कांग्रेसबाट सांसद रहेकै बेला उनी कांग्रेस छाडेर उपेन्द्र यादव नेतृत्वको मधेशी जनअधिकार फोरममा प्रवेश गरेका थिए । भण्डारीले मधेश आन्दोलनपछि भएको पहिलो संविधानसभा चुनावमा महोत्तरीबाट चुनाव जितेका थिए । ...... उनले त्यतिबेला भनेका थिए–‘राजतन्त्र समाप्त गर्न सकिन्छ भनेर कुन संविधान, कानुनमा लेखिएको थियो ? तर जनताले रुचाएनन् र फालिदिए । तराईका २२ जिल्लाका जनताले छुट्टिने निर्णय गरे संविधान, कानुनले रोक्न सक्दैन । मधेसका जनताको भावना राष्ट्रले बुझ्न नसके नेपालबाट २२ जिल्ला टुक्रिन पुग्छन् । २२ जिल्लाका मधेसीलाई हेपेर, पेलेर पन्छाउनुभन्दा सम्मान दिएर भावनात्मक रूपमा एकता कायम गरि राष्ट्रिय एकता र अखण्डता बलियो पार्नुपर्छ ।’ ....... २०७० को चुनावमा दुईवटा क्षेत्रबाट चुनाव लडेका उनले दुवै ठाउँबाट चुनाव हारे । चुनावको केही समयपछि विभिन्न ६ वटा दलहरु मिलेर राजपा नेपाल निर्माण भयो । राजपामा भण्डारी नेतृत्वको दल पनि समावेश भयो । ...... एमालेका अध्यक्ष केपी शर्मा ओली नेतृत्वको सरकारमा उनी १८ दिनका लागि उर्जा मन्त्री भएका थिए ।



सीके राउतले भने–जनमत पार्टी मन्त्री पदको भोको होइन



मालदार मन्त्रालय १० औँ करोडका डिल हुन्छन् : वाग्ले
स्वर्णिम वाग्ले : अब जनतालाई ‘डेलीभरी’ दिने राजनीतिमा अघि बढ्नुपर्ने बेला आएको छ



New Weapons Aren’t Enough: The Challenges of Ukraine’s Coming Assault With powerful Western weapons, newly formed assault units and even a reconstituted Azov battalion, Ukraine is poised for a critical spring counteroffensive. But overcoming casualties and keeping war-weary troops motivated will be stern tests. .......... Now, it is Ukraine’s turn to go on the attack. ......... Signs are everywhere that it is coming in the next month or so. ........ New Western weapons that could prove critical in assaults, like German Leopard 2 tanks and American mine-clearing vehicles, are arriving in Ukraine. Thousands of recruits are training in newly constituted units tailored for offensives. And the military command is holding back elite soldiers from the worst of the fighting in the east, in and around the city of Bakhmut, to throw them instead into the coming campaign. ......... After more than a year of war, Ukraine is battle hardened. “We are covered in three centimeters of stone,” one fighter, Lt. Ilya Samoilenko, said in a recent interview. .......... maintaining the motivation and maneuvering skills that gave it an edge in three previous counteroffensives. .......... Western support has been solid so far but is not guaranteed. ....... In the south, Russian units have been building defensive positions since they were pushed out of the Kherson region in November. Sophisticated Western tanks, with better survivability and firepower, will be critical in uprooting those positions. ......... Ukraine had a standing army of about 260,000 soldiers before Russia invaded last year, and it quickly swelled to about a million people bearing arms in various branches of the security services and military. Over the past year, about 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded ....... Ukraine is seen as planning to drive a wedge through Russian occupied territory along the southern coasts of the Black and Azov Seas, near Crimea, or to seek a humiliating turnabout in the fighting in the eastern Donbas region — or both. ......... a once-unthinkable outcome: that Ukraine could render Russia a weakened military power in Eastern Europe with little leverage in negotiations to end the war. ........ Last week, Ukrainian crews for Patriot air defense missiles wrapped up training in the United States, the Pentagon said.......... In the counteroffensive, Ukraine is likely to launch intensive artillery bombardments along a narrow stretch of frontline, military analysts say, followed by demining teams and tank assaults. ............. Ukraine is widely expected to strike in the south, where the terrain ranges from wide-open farm fields, with only sparse tree lines for cover, to towns and villages. A thrust of about 50 miles over the steppe from the current front lines to the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol would split Russian-held territory into two zones, sever supply lines and put Ukrainian artillery within range of Russian bases on the Crimean Peninsula......... Tens of thousands of new recruits have undergone training in Europe and inside Ukraine, including in newly formed Offensive Guard units. About 35,000 Ukrainians have signed up for the assault units. .......... But morale, an area in which Ukrainian fighters held an edge for much of the war, is becoming more of a challenge. In a dozen or so recent interviews, soldiers at positions near Bakhmut or emerging from the crucible of street fighting for short breaks expressed dismay at the scale of violence and death. .