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President Joe Biden announced that the US is nominating Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank, saying the Indian-American business leader is uniquely equipped to lead the global institution at “this critical moment in history”.
If confirmed by the World Bank board of directors, Banga would be the first Indian-American to head either of the two top international financial institutions: International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Banga, 63, currently serves as vice chairman at General Atlantic. Previously, he was president and CEO of Mastercard, leading the company through a strategic, technological and cultural transformation. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2016.
Ajay is uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history,” Biden said in a statement. “He has spent more than three decades building and managing successful, global companies that create jobs and bring investment to developing economies, and guiding organisations through periods of fundamental change.”
Banga has a proven track record managing people and systems, and partnering with global leaders around the world to deliver results, he said.
He also has critical experience mobilising public-private resources “to tackle the most urgent challenges of our time, including climate change”, the US President said.
Raised in India, Banga has a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing developing countries and how the World Bank can deliver on its ambitious agenda to reduce poverty and expand prosperity.
Vice President Kamala Harris said Banga will be a “transformative” World Bank president as the institution works to deliver on its core development goals and address pressing global challenges, including climate change.
Banga has worked closely with Harris as co-chair of the Partnership for Central America. “Since I was elected Vice President, Ajay and I have worked closely together on a new model of public-private partnership designed to address the root causes of migration in Northern Central America,” Harris said in a statement.
Editorial
The Putin pursuit (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
A year on, the Russia-Ukraine war has become a bonfire of ambitions. Russia is too weak to win and Ukraine too strong to lose. Battles fought with 21st century weapons are stalling battlefronts resembling those from the last century.
American sanctions cut Europe off from Russian energy but hardly dented its war aims. The war has morphed — from a Russia-Ukraine war to a proxy war of the US against Russia. Global security has been strained like never before.
At the onset of war, I had laid out its main drivers (‘The Putin Pushback’, IE, February 24, 2022) — Russian pushback against aggressive NATO encroachment, Ukraine’s high price in the war, the return of American dominance over European security and energy policies, and the expected US incapacity to pursue dual containment against both Russia and China simultaneously. A year on, these points remain largely valid.
With the aim of breaking the current stalemate during the military offensive season in late spring, NATO is feverishly rearming Ukraine with modern tanks, aircraft, and long-range missiles.
Russian paramilitaries are grinding away at Ukrainian defences. A refitted Russian army bolstered by new conscripts is preparing for the summer offensive. Its defence industry is in full production mode.
Convergence on kyiv (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
One year ago, the Russian army invaded Ukraine, a sovereign, democratic country. One year ago, Russia thought its army would crush Ukraine in a few days, that Europe would be weakened and divided, and that the rest of the world would stay silent in the face of a naked war of annexation.
Instead, the brave Ukrainian nation has pushed back the invasion, the Russian armed forces and military equipment have revealed serious weaknesses, Europe has come together as never before, whereas an isolated Russia has been condemned by 143 countries at the United Nations and falls ever more deeply under China’s dependence.
In short, one year ago Russia made a terrible strategic mistake. This mistake is costing the entire world dearly. The first to suffer are the Ukrainian people, who are facing Russia’s war crimes and continuous bombardments against civilian targets.
The rest of the world feels the pain, too, as Russia weaponises energy and food, throwing the global economy into disarray and hurting poorer and developing countries the most.
And finally, Russia’s imperialist war also undermines the core principles that make international order possible, those enshrined in the UN Charter.
That is why France supports Ukraine. What is at stake is not only the survival of the Ukrainian people but also the survival of the basic rules of international life.
In his speech at the UN General Assembly in September 2022, President Macron praised Prime Minister Modi’s statement that this is not the era of war. Indeed, like India, France rejects a world where might makes right. Where some countries can choose to redraw borders by force.
Explained
One year of the war in Ukraine (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Russia’s war against Ukraine is exactly a year old today. Calculations on both sides that this would be a short, swift war have proved wrong.
Russian President Vladimir Putin believed he would be done with the Ukraine operation in days, and after his stated objective of “de-Nazifying” the country, perhaps install a Moscow-friendly regime.
Instead, after early territorial gains in four eastern provinces – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – Ukraine’s fight-back under President Vlodymyr Zelensky, with weapons, intelligence, and military advice from the US and the West, bogged down the Russian advance, especially in the north.
Ukraine managed to push back the invading army from Kyiv. It also reversed some other territorial losses, including at Kherson in November, the only regional capital Russia had seized.
In September, Russia annexed the areas it had walked into in the four provinces in eastern Donbas, and began to “Russify” them. Unable to take more territory, Russia bombarded Ukraine with artillery and missiles, targeting cities, destroying infrastructure and causing thousands of civilian casualties. A long and destructive siege of Mariupol in Donetsk ended with Ukrainian forces surrendering.
Though the fighting slowed down over the winter, both sides have spent considerable firepower recently on a small town called Bakhmut.
The Russians believe it could serve as a staging post to take control of other cities in Donbas – after losing Kherson, Russia controls no cities in Ukraine. The Ukrainians believe preventing Russia from taking the city would be a show of national resolve and strength.
Economy
Can deepen ties with India in green energy: Spain V-P (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Bilateral trade and investments between India and Spain have been growing at a significant pace and there is a potential for both nations to deepen their cooperation in areas such as green energy and digital transformation.
In 2022, Spanish exports to India were almost €1.7 billion and Indian exports to Spain touched €5.4 billion, the latest data showed.
Spain is India’s sixth largest trading partner within the European Union. In terms of exports, India is the fourth largest destination country in Asia for Spain.
“The trade (between India and Spain) has increased very significantly and investments have also been growing,” Calviño, who is also Spain’s minister of Economy and Digitisation.
She is visiting India to participate in the first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting held in Bengaluru during February 24-25. Spain is a permanent invited member to the G20.
Calviño said the two countries should reinforce their cooperation in areas such as IT, artificial intelligence, audiovisual, aerospace, green energy, energy storage, sustainable mobility, railways and electric cars. These are the sectors where there is potential to increase investments between the two countries, she said.
PM Modi seeks green energy investment: Potential ‘no less than gold mine’ (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged energy sector stakeholders to invest in India’s green energy space, saying that the Budget for 2023-24 will play a key role in establishing the country as a lead player in the global green energy market.
Modi said that the potential of segments like solar, wind energy, and biogas in India “is no less than any gold mine or oil field for our private sector”.
Apart from these three segments, Modi also highlighted investment opportunities in areas like the green hydrogen ecosystem, which includes fuel cells, electrolysers, and green steel, waste-to-energy projects, battery storage, and vehicle scrapping, among others.
Addressing a post-Budget webinar on ‘green growth’, which is one of the seven top priority areas listed in the Budget, Modi said that India’s commanding position in the renewable energy space will ensure a commensurate change in the world.
This was the first in a series of webinars that are scheduled till March 11. The webinars will be focussed on synergising efforts of ministries and stakeholders for preparing action plans with quarterly targets so that implementation of budget proposals is “front ended and smooth with timely achievement of intended outcomes”.
Referring to the global efforts for diversification of the energy supply chain, PM Modi said that the Budget has given a great opportunity to every green energy investor to invest in India, and it will also be beneficial to startups in the sector.
India has been the fastest when it comes to renewable energy capacity addition among major economies since 2014, Modi said, adding that the country’s track record proves its ability to achieve objectives in the green energy space well ahead of schedule.