Yead Mirza | Global Affairs Observer

This article was originally published on Oped Column Syndication . Yead Mirza International Monetary Fund (IMF) recent data showed that Bangladesh’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate is predicated to become the highest in South Asia and the fourth-highest in the whole of Asia in 2020 compared to that of last year. Its per capita GDP growth would be the sixth highest in the world in the same year. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook (October 2020) Database suggests that India’s per capita GDP for 2020 will be lower than Bangladesh. The report predicts that Bangladesh’s per capita GDP would rise to $1,887.97, while India’s would fall to $1,877 in 2020. Bangladeshis, Indians and people from other South Asian countries were understandably surprised when they learnt about this news. From the time it appeared in the media, the GDP issue had been a prime news for quite a while in Bangladeshi and Indian broadcasting, print and online media outlets. Social media users in...

This article was originally published on  Oped Column Syndication .  Yead Mirza In early-September, the US President Donald Trump called-off the peace negotiations with the Taliban after they had carried-out a suicide car bomb attack that took several lives in Kabul, including a US soldier. The decision to call-off the negotiations came at a time when some sort of agreement was about to be reached between the USA and the Taliban. This decision had also ended the possibility of a meeting among Trump, the Taliban and Afghan president Ashraf Ghani at the Camp David presidential retreat. However, the other stakeholders to the conflict, including the Afghans across community/tribal lines, shouldn’t worry much about the call-off decision. This is because, this was not a policy decision, but a temporary move for Trump’s domestic political gain and for earning leverages at the negotiation table from the other stakeholders to the conflict, including the Taliban. Indeed, US...

Yead Mirza Soviet Union had good military and economic relations with the Asia Pacific’s regional countries. The demise of the Soviet Union had significantly hampered the relations between Russian Federation, which is deemed to be the successor to Soviet Union, and Asia Pacific’s countries. However, Russia’s growing sale of weapons and other advanced military technology to a number of Asia-Pacific countries for the last one decade reflects Moscow’s desperation to re-establish the lost military relations with the Asia Pacific countries. Russia had successfully managed to keep close military relations with China and India, both of which have been engaged in a rivalry since late-1950s. Moreover, Russia is increasingly building good relations with many South Asian and Southeast Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand. Furthermore, Russia is on a spree of building certain infrastructures in several Asia Paci...

Yead Mirza Faced with a wave of criticism from political corners and civil society members for the alleged erroneous and malicious use of the Electronic Voting Machines, India’s Election Commission had introduced the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail. A recent Via News Agency report pointed out a major feature of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). The report suggests that unlike how Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are used in other countries, this VVPAT mechanism produces of a paper slip which bears the name and symbol of the candidate for whom the elector has voted. The officially stated intention of the Election Commission behind introducing the VVPAT mechanism was to boost the transparency of the electronic voting process. In 2004, EVMs were used nation-wide in India. Later, the technology was used in all assembly polls and the general elections in 2009. It is worth noting that the last Indian parliamentary election in 2014 saw the use of around 1.4 million ...