The fortress sri lanka

A crowd at an election rally in Uttar Pradesh. (Image Source: AP/File photo) The prime minister has set the cat among the pigeons, with his fusillade against election freebies while inaugurating the Bundelkhand expressway. He said the culture of garnering votes by promising freebies harms the country’s economic development and warned the youth, ‘Your present will be lost and your future pushed into darkness.’ Those who believe in distributing freebies, he said, would never build infrastructure, sorely needed for securing the country’s future. That little speech succinctly lays out the rationale against populism---it promises instant gratification, at the cost of future penury. Predictably, the speech drew the ire of AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who defended his trademark policy of giving away free power. His promise of giving 300 units of free power to each household if his party wins the Gujarat elections is estimated to cost the state Rs 8700 crore a year. It is policies such as … [Read more...] about The hidden cost of free lunches

Supporters await a convoy carrying US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi outside the Grand Hyatt hotel in Taipei, Taiwan, on Tuesday, Aug 2, 2022. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan on Aug 2 evening, in defiance of Chinese threats, a trip that would make her the highest-ranking American politician to visit the island in 25 years. - A + A (Aug 9): House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s swing through Asia aimed to convey the US’s “strong and unshakable” support for the region. It ended up leaving many countries in stunned silence, as China conducted unprecedented military drills around Taiwan. The shockwaves from the highest-level US visit to Taiwan in a quarter century are still reverberating around the region days after she flew back to Washington. China’s military has extended exercises designed to show an ability to encircle the island and cut off the Taiwan Strait, one of the world’s busiest trade routes, days after launching missiles that likely flew over Taipei … [Read more...] about Pelosi trip hinders Biden effort to galvanize Asia against China

Supporters await a convoy carrying US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi outside the Grand Hyatt hotel in Taipei, Taiwan, on Tuesday, Aug 2, 2022. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan on Aug 2 evening, in defiance of Chinese threats, a trip that would make her the highest-ranking American politician to visit the island in 25 years. - A + A (Aug 9): House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s swing through Asia aimed to convey the US’s “strong and unshakable” support for the region. It ended up leaving many countries in stunned silence, as China conducted unprecedented military drills around Taiwan. The shockwaves from the highest-level US visit to Taiwan in a quarter century are still reverberating around the region days after she flew back to Washington. China’s military has extended exercises designed to show an ability to encircle the island and cut off the Taiwan Strait, one of the world’s busiest trade routes, days after launching missiles that likely flew over Taipei … [Read more...] about Pelosi trip hinders Biden effort to galvanise Asia against China