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Photo: Migrant workers in Kerala. Courtesy of firstpost.com

The South Indian State of Kerala Shows the Way By Embracing Migrant Workers

By Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI (IDN) – By any yardstick of human and social development, Kerala in South India is ahead of most Indian states. It provides social security to all sections of employees and workers through schemes that are superior to what obtains in most other states. Its labour policies are progressive. Minimum wages, especially, for unorganised, and even unskilled workers are higher – perhaps the highest, than in any other state.

Healthcare and education are good, and there is no dearth of opportunities, especially, for low-end work, which pays well and is a sustainable long-term proposition. Yet, the cost of living is not high.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 24 June 2018

EU and 79 ACP Countries Aim at New Partnership to Address Global Challenges

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The heads of state or government of the 28 EU member states, constituting the European Council, have authorized the European Commission to open negotiations for a new partnership agreement with 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). The Group's Secretary-General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes has greeted the decision.

The European Commission announced the Council decision on June 22, two days after the conclusion of the June 18-20 ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, where representatives of the European Commission stressed that future partnership should be "a genuine, open and constructive dialogue, and not just going through the motions".

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 23 June 2018

Photo: Whether adding a constant background din or sudden bursts of explosive noise, this pervasive form of pollution is taking its toll on marine animals. Source: CMS.

Underwater Noise – The Not-so-Silent Killer

By Bradnee Chambers

Marine experts gathered at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from June 18-22, 2018 to discuss anthropogenic underwater noise. Dr. Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), describes the impacts of this type of pollution on marine wildlife and sets out some of the solutions.

BONN (IDN) – Humanity's achievements are incredible – the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, literature, music, telecommunications, medicine and a few decades after the first powered flight, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

: Dr. Bradnee Chambers; OPINION; 22 June 2018

Photo: The expanded bilateral meeting between both the United States and North Korean delegations on June 12 in Sentosa. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Revolutionary Change Bringing in DPRK From the Cold

By Jayantha Dhanapala*

KANDY (IDN) – Sentosa, the Singapore venue of the historic June 12 summit meeting between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un, is today an ultra modern pleasure island with a name derived from the Sanskrit ‘Santosa’, but with its old Malay name Pulao Blakang Mati (Island of Death Behind) clinging to it as a reminder of a murky past as a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp and a disease ridden swamp.

The Janus faced island history represents a future of peace and prosperity and a past of conflict and tension confronting the two leaders trying to reverse hostile relations spanning over seven decades.

: Jayantha Dhanapala; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 22 June 2018

Parliamentarians Agree on Concrete Goals of Future ACP-EU Partnership

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and their counterparts from 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries have adopted a series of far-reaching resolutions during the 35th session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) from June 18 to 20 in Brussels.

The resolutions relate to strengthening of the parliamentary dimension, llegal trade in plant protection products and seeds, social and environmental cnsequences of urbanisaton, fighting international terrorism, and humanitarian crisis in Southern Sudan.

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 21 June 2018

Photo: Jacek Czaputowicz (left), Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland and President of the Security Council for the month of May, chairs the Security Council meeting on 29 May 2018. At right is Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

Kazakhstan Pleads for Resolving Ukraine Conflict Through Peaceful Means

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Kazakhstan has expressed concern for "the unpredictable and volatile situation" in eastern Ukraine and the frequent ceasefire violations, which have a direct impact on the civilian population. "These violations result indeaths and injuries, along with many humanitarian consequences," said Ambassador Kairat Umarov, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations headquarters in New York.

He was addressing the Security Council meeting on May 29, 2018 which discussed the situation in Ukraine in the face of civilians bearing the brunt of four-year-old conflict in Ukraine, bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively.

: J Nastranis; CENTRAL ASIA; 21 June 2018

Photo: On June 20, 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs China.

SPECIAL REPORT: Ten Years After the Abolition of Monarchy, Communists Blaze a New Trail in Nepal

By Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI (IDN) – The coming together of Nepal’s two communist parties – Unified Marxist-Leninist and Maoist Centre – which are already in office as the Left Alliance is a landmark development signifying a decisive political turn in the Himalayan country. The unified Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is South Asia’s largest communist party and one of the three ruling in Asia – the other two being bigger ones in China and Vietnam.

Unlike the ruling parties of China and Vietnam, the NCP has the unique distinction of rising to office through the parliamentary process by proving its superior credentials as people’s representatives in a free and fair election, which saw discredited mainstream liberal democratic parties bite the dust.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 21 June 2018

Photo: Joseph Owona Kono. Credit: La Tribune Afrique

Playing A Decisive Role In Shaping Global Governance

By Joseph Owona Kono

The author is Co-President of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement opening the 35th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 19 June 2018 in Brussels. – The Editor

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – I have been associated with the Joint Parliamentary Assembly for a while. I have found this assembly to be a great opportunity for parliamentary exchanges on development and democratic processes. As representatives of our various peoples and as policy and decision makers overseeing government functions, we are in a unique position to engage with policy makers in ACP and EU institutions.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 21 June 2018

Photo: Neven Mimica. Credit: EU Commission

ACP and the EU Should Stand United, Shoulder-to-Shoulder

By Neven Mimica

The author is EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement opening the 35th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 18 June 2018 in Brussels. – The Editor

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – First and foremost, 2018 is a defining year as we get ready to discuss together the shape and direction of the partnership between the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and the European Union beyond 2020.

Uniting over a hundred countries and around one and a half billion people, our longstanding partnership is unique one not only in terms of its cultural richness and diversity, but also in terms of its geographical scope and potential.

: Jaya Ramachandran; OPINION; 20 June 2018

Striving For Modernized Partnership

By Yuri Sterk

The author is Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement opening the 35th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 18 June 2018 in Brussels. He represented the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. – The Editor

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The 35th session of the Joint ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly is of particular importance. The opening of negotiations on our future ACP-EU relations, after the expiry of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, is fast approaching and negotiations are due to start by September 1, 2018. The outcome of parliamentarians' deliberations will feed into the shaping of our future ACP-EU relations.