Headlines at a Glance – 18th November 2021
India stands at 82 in global bribery risk rankings
India has slipped to 82nd position in 2021, five places down from 77th rank last year, in a global list that measures business bribery risks. The list by TRACE, an anti-bribery standard setting organisation, measures business bribery risk in 194 countries, territories, and autonomous and semi-autonomous regions. According to this year’s data, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Eritrea pose the highest commercial bribery risk, while Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand present the lowest. In 2020, India ranked 77 with a score of 45 while this year, the country stood at 82nd position with a score of 44, the data showed.
SOURCE: Business Standard
India received $87 bn in remittances in 2021
India received USD 87 billion in remittances in 2021, and the United State was the biggest source, accounting for over 20 percent of these funds, the World Bank said in its latest report on Wednesday. India is followed by China, Mexico, the Philippines, and Egypt, the report said. In India, remittances are projected to grow three per cent in 2022 to USD 89.6 billion, reflecting a drop in overall migrant stock, as a large proportion of returnees from the Arab countries await return, it said. Remittances to low and middle income countries are projected to have grown a strong 7.3 per cent to reach USD 589 billion in 2021, the bank said. This return to growth is more robust than earlier estimates and follows the resilience of flows in 2020 when remittances declined by only 1.7 per cent despite a severe global recession due to COVID-19, according to estimates from the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief.
SOURCE: Business Standard
India at UNSC meet calls for inclusive dispensation in Afghanistan
Urging the international community and countries in the region to come together, rising above partisan interests for assistance in Afghanistan, India at the UN Security Council meeting has called for inclusive dispensation in Afghanistan which represents all sections of Afghan society. “India is willing to coordinate with other stakeholders to work towards enabling the expeditious provision of much-needed assistance to the people of Afghanistan,” India’s Ambassador to the UN TS Tirumurti said on Wednesday (local time) during the UNSC meeting on Afghanistan. Stressing that Afghanistan has already seen much bloodshed and violence in recent years, he said that over half of Afghanistan’s population is facing a crisis on emergency levels of acute food insecurity, and urgent humanitarian assistance is required to meet the basic food needs of the people.
SOURCE: The Indian Express
PM Modi urges democratic nations to work together on cryptocurrency
All democratic nations must work together to ensure cryptocurrency “does not end up in the wrong hands, which can spoil our youth,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on November 18, 2021, in his first public comments on the subjects. The remarks came in a speech at the Sydney Dialogue as the Centre is still considering a regulatory framework required to manage and oversee investments made by millions of Indians in the digital currency. Last week Mr. Modi chaired a meeting to discuss the future of cryptocurrencies amid concerns that unregulated crypto markets could become avenues for money laundering and terror financing, sources had told Reuters. While admitting that the digital age is changing everything around us and redefining politics, economy and society, Mr. Modi said it also raises new questions on sovereignty, governance, ethics, law, rights and security.
SOURCE: The Hindu
PM Narendra Modi pitches for ‘one nation, one legislative platform’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked lawmakers and legislatures to follow Indian values and send a message to citizens through their conduct about giving primacy to one’s duties, terming it as the mantra to speed up India’s development.
Addressing the inaugural session of the 82nd All India Presiding Officers’ Conference virtually, he also pitched for ‘One Nation-One Legislative Platform’, saying such a portal can not only give the necessary technological boost to the parliamentary system but also work to connect all the democratic units of the country. A similar view was echoed by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in his speech calling for one set of rules and procedures for all legislative bodies in the country.
SOURCE: The Indian Express
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