I see the goal,
I see no obstacles.
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Police in Ivano-Frankovsk (Western Ukraine) oversees the work of representatives of the Ukrainian military enlistment office. Everything is fine.

Translated from Kedmi

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Uday Kotak news: Uday Kotak, the MD and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, on Friday, made a huge statement against the US Dollar. Speaking at a panel discussion at the ET Awards for Corporate Excellence 2023, he called the greenback "the biggest financial terrorist in the world." He also he highlighted a once-in-a-hundred-years opportunity for India to make the Indian Rupee the reserve currency for the world.

Substantiating the comment, he said, "all our money is in nostro accounts and somebody in the US can say — you cannot withdraw it from tomorrow morning — and you are stuck. That is the power of the reserve currency."
Juxtaposing this grim situation in the present context, where the world is desperately looking for an alternative reserve currency, he highlighted a big, once-in-a-hundred-years opportunity for India to make the Indian Rupee the reserve currency for the world.

"I don't think Europe can [make their currency the reserve], because it is the disunited states of Europe. I don't think UK or Japan have the heft to be taking that position, though both the British Pound and the Yen are free currencies. China, I think, has a major issue of trust with many many countries around the world," he said.
Kotak went on to list out the requirements India must fulfil to build the rupee as a reserve currency. It is a long, sustained walk and run, he said, adding that the country "has to build strong institutions. It has to build a strong framework that is not dependent on the whims and fancies of anyone. India has to be trusted."

On Sunday Uday Kotak clarified his remarks wherein he had referred to the dollar as the biggest 'financial terrorist' in the world. In a tweet, Kotak said that what he meant was that 'a reserve currency has disproportionate power, whether it is nostro account, 500 bps rate increase', or emerging countries holding dollars for liquidity.
"In a recent discussion on US$, I inadvertently used the words “financial terrorist” which I would like to correct. What I meant was that a reserve currency has disproportionate power, whether it is nostro account, 500 bps rate increase, or emerging countries holding $ for liquidity," he said in the tweet.

#India
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India and Russia agree to boost longstanding defence ties

At a meeting with his colleague, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi, Sergei Shoigu said that all Russian-Indian projects in the field of military-technical cooperation (MTC) are being successfully implemented, none of them has been curtailed. Rajnath Singh himself wrote on his social networks that the negotiations with Shoigu "were excellent." Against the background of the rapidly developing political and economic cooperation between Russia and China, which is in the centre of the painfully hysterical attention of the West, the Russia-India axis in the global media space is not so noticeable, although in fact Russia is systematically and actively moving both east and south, expanding its own room for manoeuvre and strategic expansion.

India has refused to publicly blame Russia for the military operation in Ukraine and has increased its trade with Moscow to a record high, driven largely by the import of Russian oil.

Several Western leaders have criticised India's proximity to Russia as they try to isolate Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. New Delhi says it defending its interests in buying Russian oil and has pushed for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
#India
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London wants long-range rockets for Ukraine. And not only

The United Kingdom wants to buy modern weapons for Ukraine as part of a special fund. The equipment sought includes long-range rockets and equipment ensuring mobility of troops, including bridges and mine lanes.

The UK Ministry of Defence has published a request for information on military equipment intended for use by the Ukrainian army, financed under the Ukraine Support Fund. This fund is a UK-led initiative with contributions from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Lithuania to rapidly purchase military equipment for Ukraine. Entities from other countries may also participate in projects under this initiative . Companies from over 40 countries applied for the first — already completed — edition of the fund.

The total value of the fund is currently over 520 million pounds, or about 2.7 billion PLN. Of this amount, already 200 million pounds has been allocated, among others to unmanned aerial vehicles and reconnaissance systems as well as air defence capabilities, as well as spare parts for existing vehicles of the Ukrainian army.

The second round of recruitment for the fund is currently underway (Urgent Bidding Round 2). At the moment, offers can be made in two areas: long-range impact systems and military mobility support, until May 4 and 9, respectively.

Of course, the first one raises the most interest. The British accept quite open formula of requirements because the "key requirements" apply to: a missile or rocket launched from land, land, sea, with a load of 20 to 490 kg and a range of 100 to 300 km. In practice, therefore, it can be offered almost any rocket system with a range of at least 100 km. Of course, in addition to the "key" requirements, "desired" were also included, including interference resistance, mission planning ability or low probability of being intercepted by air defence, as well as the level of technological readiness (Technical Readiness Level) minimum 8.
...

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President Biden is preparing for the eventuality that Ukraine’s “spring counteroffensive” is not the victory they’ve sold to the American people. This was the plan to re-take land that is now part of Russia, namely Crimea and the Donbass region. The President has been telling the American people that continued financial support in Ukraine is necessary for Ukraine to “win” but recently leaked documents show that the administration knows that this is all smoke. They are lying about the extent of U.S. involvement and they are selling us a failed storybook ending.
Will this help or hurt his re-election ambitions? We look at how Libya was not the quick win that Hillary Clinton had hoped it would be for her 2016 election.

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Biden’s team fears the aftermath of a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive
Behind closed doors, the administration worries about what Ukraine can accomplish.

The Biden administration is quietly preparing for the possibility that if Ukraine’s spring counteroffensive falls short of expectations, critics at home and allies abroad will argue that America has come up short, too.

Ukraine’s ever-imminent counteroffensive will attempt to retake Russian-seized territory most likely in the east and south, though for operational reasons no senior officials from Kyiv have detailed specifics.

Publicly, President Joe Biden’s team has offered unwavering support for Ukraine, pledging to load it up with weapons and economic aid for “as long as it takes.” But, if the impending fighting season yields limited gains, administration officials have expressed privately they fear being faced with a two-headed monster attacking it from the hawkish and dovish ends of the spectrum.

One side will say that Ukraine’s advances would’ve worked had the administration given Kyiv everything it asked for, namely longer-range missiles, fighter jets and more air defenses. The other side, administration officials worry, will claim Ukraine’s shortcoming proves it can’t force Russia out of its territory completely.

That doesn’t even account for the reaction of America’s allies, mainly in Europe, who may see a peace negotiation between Ukraine and Russia as a more attractive option if Kyiv can’t prove victory is around the corner.

Inside the administration, officials stress they’re doing everything possible to make the spring offensive succeed.

“We’ve nearly completed the requests of what [Ukraine] said they needed for the counteroffensive as we have surged weapons and equipment to Ukraine over the past few months,” said one administration official who, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal considerations.

But belief in the strategic cause is one thing. Belief in the tactics is another — and behind closed doors the administration is worried about what Ukraine can accomplish.

Those concerns recently spilled out into the open during a leak of classified information onto social media. A top secret assessment from early February stated that Ukraine would fall “well short” of its counteroffensive goals. More current American assessments are that Ukraine may make some progress in the south and east, but won’t be able to repeat last year’s success.

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Mobilization in Ukraine continues.

Footage from APwagner

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A chance to rebuild the world.
ILO chief calls for equality and stability on May 1

Promises to reduce social stratification, raise wages, reduce poverty, which have been made many times in various countries of the world during the years of the coronavirus pandemic, have remained unfulfilled, says Gilbert Houngbo, Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO). On May 1, which is known throughout the world as Labour Day, the head of the ILO called for making social justice the cornerstone of global recovery, a priority for political decisions and actions at the national, regional and global levels. As a result of such a global coalition for social responsibility, it will be possible to build a future where people with all their interests and needs will be in the centre of attention.

“Globally, we are seeing a decline in real wages, an increase in poverty, inequality that looks more entrenched than ever,” Ungbo lists. “Enterprises, especially small and micro-enterprises, have been hit hard, many of which have gone out of business. People who have sacrificed a lot to overcome COVID-19 feel like their efforts have not been recognized, let alone rewarded. Combined with a sense of lack of opportunity, this has led to an alarming level of mistrust in society. It shouldn't be like that."

The head of the ILO urged in making decisions and in all actions to be guided by the interests of people, to ensure that they are provided with the opportunity to build their material well-being and spiritual development in conditions of freedom, dignity, economic security and equality of opportunity. In addition, he called for a review and restructuring of economic and social systems so that they meet the interests of a new course of social justice, and not policies that lead to the continuation of a vicious circle of inequality and instability.

“We must breathe new life into the institutions and organizations of the world of work so that they can carry out social dialogue effectively and vigorously,” Ungbo added. “We need to rethink laws and regulations relating to the world of work, make them relevant, modern, capable of serving the interests of workers and supporting sustainable enterprises.”

We have a chance to rebuild the world in which we live, in all senses - economic, social, environmental, the ILO Director General assured and urged to use this opportunity to move towards the creation of a society of equality and stability, which will serve as the basis for lasting peace and social justice.

Translated from AIF
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Even despite the May 1 holiday, the hard work of the Russian military continues in the special military operation zone. At night, they delivered regular strikes on the objects of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In Pavlograd, this led to a huge fire, the glow from which was visible for many kilometres.

Vengeance strikes
Russian troops struck at the infrastructure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at night. Explosions sounded in Kyiv, Dnepropetrovsk, Pavlograd, Kharkiv, Sumy and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.

A huge fire in Pavlograd showed that this time the strikes were on ammunition depots and railway echelons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The transport hub was used to supply and transfer resources. It is noted that there was a detonation of ammunition. At the same time, there was no information about the losses of enemy personnel. Ukrainian sources also wrote about the defeat of a certain industrial facility in Pavlograd.

According to military commander Alexander Kots, Pavlograd is an extremely important transport hub for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Motor roads run from it to Pokrovsk, Kurakhovo and Marinka, as well as towards the Kramatorsk-Slavic agglomeration. The railway, which has already been attacked by the RF Armed Forces before, leads in the direction of Avdiivka. This is not the first time the city has become a target for Russian troops. In autumn, the workshops of the defence enterprise for the production of fuel and rocket engines were destroyed there. In addition, this is a hub for the transfer of Polish mercenaries to the line of contact.

Translated from AIF

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Goddess Kali meme: Ukraine defence ministry’s outrageous tweet proves its ‘cool’ to denigrate gods and beliefs of Hindus

Ukraine accepts humanitarian aid from India yet takes dramatic, performative moral positions in an attempt to force New Delhi into formulating its foreign policy based on morality, not self-interest.

On Sunday, Ukraine’s defence ministry, which represents the Volodymyr Zelensky regime, shared a meme via its official Twitter handle that mocked, denigrated, and ridiculed the faith of billions of Hindus around the world. Not only was the morphed image obscene and explicitly Hinduphobic, but also the fact that it was posted by an arm of the Ukrainian government should raise serious questions over Ukraine’s attitude towards India.

The now-deleted tweet juxtaposed an image of plumes of smoke emerging from a Russian fuel storage facility in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, which was allegedly hit by a Ukrainian drone on Saturday, alongside the purported image of Ma Kali in a risqué pose imitating Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe’s ‘flying skirt’ photo from 1954. It carried the caption, ‘work of art’.

It is not clear what the Zelensky regime in Kyiv, which has been at the receiving end of frequent accusations of Nazism even from friendly Western media was hoping to achieve through an image that demeaned a Hindu article of faith, stigmatized Hindus and sought to normalise Hindu hatred.

Despite its history of condemning India and voting against the country at the United Nations — not to speak of supplying weapons worth $1.6 billion to Pakistan — the Ukrainians have been demanding India’s support for Western sanctions against Russia and at the UN, and heaping moral opprobrium on New Delhi for its decision to keep purchasing Russian oil. A senior Ukrainian lawmaker had even urged the United States to impose secondary sanctions on India.

Dmytro Kuleba, a former Ukrainian ambassador to India who is now the country’s foreign minister, had accused India of profiting from “Ukrainian blood” and tying it to Kyiv’s assistance in the evacuation of Indian students.

Ukraine accepts humanitarian aid from India yet takes dramatic, performative moral positions in an attempt to force New Delhi into formulating its foreign policy based on morality, not self-interest. From that moral perch, for Kyiv to not know what causes hurt to the sentiments of billions of Indians who call themselves Hindu, and in effect, mock one of their most revered goddesses with a burlesque caricature that runs a Leopard tank over their faith is shocking, hypocritical and tragic.

Till the time of writing, no apology has come from Kiev except the deletion of the tweet. Ukraine recently sent its deputy foreign minister Emine Dzhaparova to New Delhi ostensibly to stop moralizing, take a more pragmatic view of India’s compulsions and build better ties with India. Sharing such a blatantly Hinduphobic image won’t help.

The image also raises a larger question. Is mocking Hindu gods and goddesses, and making fun of their cultural beliefs acceptable and not morally onerous because Hindus don’t impose costs on those doing it? The fact is that Ukrainians won’t dare to pull off such a stunt against, for instance, followers of Islam because steep costs are involved, including the possibility of violence, sanctions or both. Denigration of Hindu beliefs, and taking liberties with their gods is safer.

This duality, which has now been normalized in societies across the world, inadvertently incentivizes violence and encourages fundamentalism. It sends a message to Hindus that their pacifism makes it easier for others to play with their sentiments.

#India
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Kadyrov announced his desire to create an army to protect the oppressed peoples from the West

GROZNY, April 30 — RIA Novosti. The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, spoke about the desire to create an army to protect the oppressed peoples from the so-called democratic countries, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports.
"Recently, I've been thinking more about creating a good army so that they can move to different states and protect peoples who infringe on those countries that call themselves the most democratic," Kadyrov told reporters.
Kadyrov added that he wants a "specifically trained" team of people from all over the world, according to him, these should be patriots who are ready to give their lives not "for the sake of a penny, but for the sake of order."

"This is a very difficult path, but we are striving for this and moving forward," he added.
In February, Kadyrov spoke of plans to set up a private military company after completing his civil service job. Then he expressed confidence in the successful implementation of this project.

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Liz Truss 'will pay for anything missing' from Chevening estate after being sent a £12,000 bill that included bathrobes, slippers and wining and dining guests — but ex-PM insists she is not liable for vast majority of tab
Daily Mail
The former Prime Minister will pay £12,000 bill for her time in Chevening House

Read more: Liz Truss refuses to pay £12,000 in missing bathrobes row

Liz Truss was last night at the centre of an extraordinary row after the Government demanded she pay more than £12,000 following the disappearance of items including bathrobes and slippers from her grace-and-favour country home.

The former Prime Minister was sent the bill by the Cabinet Office to cover the period last summer when she was using the Chevening estate to prepare for her short-lived administration.

A source said officials have told Ms Truss she needs to pay for items which went missing during her tenure at the home – and for food and wine she and her aides consumed there – as the costs were incurred for party political reasons rather than on state business.

But last night, a spokesman for Ms Truss told The Mail on Sunday she was contesting the bill and had requested ‘an accurate invoice’ before she agreed to settle it.

Ms Truss was still Foreign Secretary when she gathered with close aides at the 17th Century house in August, but felt that she was far enough ahead of Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership contest to start planning for victory.

Chevening, a 115-room house set in 3,500 acres near Sevenoaks in Kent, was left to the nation in 1967 by the 7th Earl Stanhope and since 1981 has usually been placed at the disposal of the Foreign Secretary.

After winning the Tory leadership race in September, Ms Truss lasted just 45 days in office after the tax-cutting mini-Budget presented by her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, sent the markets into freefall.

A source said: ‘Liz used Chevening as a mini No 10, holding meetings with her inner circle which often turned into parties in the evening.

The Cabinet Office was told by staff at the house that items such as towelling robes and even slippers vanished during that period, and have asked her to cover the cost.

‘They have also objected to the idea that the taxpayer should foot the bill for what were basically a series of summer parties, and say she owes more than £12,000 for it.’

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EU schemes up sweeteners to woo countries away from Russia and China
A confidential briefing shows the EU’s individualized plans to win back — or not lose — four ‘priority countries’ on the Western alliance’s edges.

The EU is plotting how to win friends and influence people — in other countries.

Earlier this week, EU officials circulated a confidential briefing, obtained by POLITICO, that details several individualized plans to win back — or not lose — four key “priority countries” that sit on the edge of the Western-led alliance trying to isolate Russia, arm Ukraine and constrain China.

The countries: Brazil, Chile, Nigeria and Kazakhstan.

The document indicates where — and how — the EU thinks it can make progress in each one. There is the expected invocation of possible trade agreements, but the document goes well beyond that, suggesting tailored offers the EU can make on energy, migration, economic development or security coordination. The focus is distinctly on carrots, not sticks.

The unstated goal: To get more friends and build a next-generation economy without cozying up to autocrats. Indeed, Russia and China loom over the entire document, with several anxious mentions of the countries’ global influence or destabilizing behavior.

“We find ourselves in a competitive geopolitical environment: not only a battle of narratives but also a battle of offers,” the document argues. “We need to improve our offer and enhance our relationship with them.”

EU foreign affairs ministers are set to discuss the strategy at a meeting Monday in Luxembourg.

It is, said one senior EU official, “a huge reorientation … of the way we do foreign policy — not of our foreign policy, of course, but the way we do it.”

The memo shows how, fourteen months into the Ukraine war, the EU is still grappling with how to expand its influence. While the West’s core coalition has remained remarkably solid on the war, officials have struggled to make broader inroads in Latin America, Africa and Asia — especially in the face of the billions China is spreading around.

“It is not rocket science, but it’s good that it’s now being brought together into a somewhat coherent strategy,” one diplomat said. The “ultimate aim,” the diplomat added, “would be to somehow propose an alternative that could be more attractive than what China offers.”
...
#TransFormatorBuzzes : 💤
There is nothing new in that kind of policy — trying to influence the potential allies of your competitor. Maybe for now it is even a softer approach, than it used to be. I remember well the sensation in the 90s when it was obvious that the direction of the American aggression is pin-pointing those countries, which used to be in friendly relationships with the USSR: Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria. It was an American revenge for their former policy and pro-socialist orientation. USA were purposedly destroying those states and impoverishing their people... However, they did not touch Cuba and Vietnam — two places where they have been rebuffed previously. So it was not just mean, but also a cowardly policy.

Just want to clarify, that we very well distinguish between American people and American political and financial elites...

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Pawn shops and bread queues: poverty grips Ukraine as war drags on
People turn to handouts and pawning goods as Kyiv’s bustling bars belie reality of life in wartime for many

In the Treasure pawn shop in Kyiv, Oleksandra, 40, a well turned out woman in a hooded wool coat and Nike trainers, has come to redeem her sewing machines. Like all those visiting the store, she does not want to give her family name.

She says that when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, she was working as an accountant for a firm that employed 14 people, who were all laid off because of the conflict. Since then she has struggled to find regular work. With savings running out, like many others in Kyiv, she turned to pawning her possessions to get by, only finding a job a year later that allowed her to claim back her machines.

As Oleksandra leaves clutching her belongings, save for a mobile phone she has decided not to redeem, the cashier, Oleksandr Stepanov, remarks from behind his hardened glass window that on a busy day the shop can get 50 people coming in to surrender mobile phones and household appliances.

Those who can afford it, he says, will come back to get their goods within two weeks. Almost half, he adds, will not, leaving Treasure to sell on the items from a back room with displays of phones and watches. “People are struggling because of the war. They don’t have money.” Many have lost their jobs, he says, while prices have skyrocketed even for those who have jobs.

The scene in the pawn shop illustrates the crisis of growing poverty in Ukraine, the reality of which stands in contrast to the surface bustle of Kyiv’s busy restaurants and bars where it is often hard to get a table, with many living a precarious existence.

Poverty increased from 5.5% to 24.2% in Ukraine in 2022, pushing 7.1 million more people into poverty with the worst impact out of sight in rural villages, according to a recent report by the World Bank. With unemployment unofficially at 36% and inflation hitting 26.6% at the end of 2022, the institution’s regional country director for eastern Europe, Arup Banerji, had warned that poverty could soar.

Behind his window in Treasure, Stepanov describes the hardships experienced even by those who have work. “The price of everything has gone up. Food is the most expensive and then it is fuel for the car. Some things have gone up by 40-50%. Before the war my wife would go to the supermarket to shop and it would cost 200 hryvnia, now the same shop costs 400-500.”
...
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People may change their believes not because of arguments and discussion, but only if their usual comfortable routine would crash... Then, eventually, a thought would come: "maybe we were thinking and doing something wrong..." That is what at last starts happening in Ukraine. God help them to come to a right conclusion and not just as usual to blame "the muscovites" for everything.

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Happy first of May!

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