Radio Brisvaani
On 15 July, the speaker of the parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana announced that President Rajapaksa had officially resigned. He said: “I have accepted the resignation,” “I hope to complete the process of electing a new President within seven days,” After the President’s resignation, Ranil Wickremesinghe, former Prime Minister was sworn in as the Acting Prime Minister. According to the BBC, Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives in a military airplane and then reached Singapore. On 14 July, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been allowed entry into Singapore. It said that he is on a private visit and has not asked for asylum and has not been granted asylum.
India: I2U2 Summit
On 14 July, I2U2 members the US, UAE, India, and Israel held a summit. India agreed to provide land for food parks across the country that will be jointly developed by the US, UAE, and Israel. The members agreed to bring in private investments in different sectors including water, energy, transportation, health, space, and food security. A joint statement issued said: “U.S. and Israeli private sectors will be invited to lend their expertise and offer innovative solutions that contribute to the overall sustainability of the project. These investments will help maximise crop yields which, in turn, will help tackle food insecurity in South Asia and the Middle East.”
United Nations: Global population expected to reach eight billion in November 2022
On 11 July, the United Nations released the World Population Prospect report which predicts that world population would reach eight billion on 15 November 2022, 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and peak at 10.4 billion in the 2080s. The report noted that the population growth rate had been the slowest since the 1950s, after dropping to less than one per cent in 2020. According to the report, eight countries namely, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania would lead the increase in global population until 2050.
About the Authors
Lavanya R is a Postgraduate scholar at Christ (Deemed to be University). Akriti Sharma, Harini Madhusudan, Rashmi Ramesh and Ankit Singh are PhD Scholars in the School of Conflict and Security Studies at the National Institute of Advanced Studies. Avishka Ashok, Abigail Miriam Fernandes, Apoorva Sudhakar, Padmashree Anandhan, Rishma Banerjee and Emmanuel are Research Associates at NIAS. Arshiya Banu is a research intern at NIAS
