County Geneva Financial News

Amnesty International announced on Wednesday that Pakistan is set for its second review by the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva on October 17 and 18, emphasizing that "human rights violations and abuses are still widespread." This review falls under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Pakistan is a signatory, according to the rights organization's statement. The organization highlighted several concerning issues reported in the past month, including two extrajudicial killings of blasphemy suspects by police, crackdowns on protests, the enactment of the restrictive Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act 2024, arbitrary detention and mass arrests of opposition workers and leaders, a ban on the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), and harassment of human rights defenders like Mahrang Baloch.

border talks with China, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that 75 per cent of disengagement problems with Beijing are sorted out; however, the two nations «still have some things to do.» Jaishankar also underlined how India and China never had an easy relationship in the past. «We did not have an easy relationship in the past. What happened in 2020 was in violation of multiple agreements, the Chinese moved a large number of troops to the Line of Actual Control. We, in response, moved our troops up… Some progress on border talks with China. 75 per cent of disengagement problems are sorted out. We still have some things to do,» Jaishankar said during his conversation with Ambassador Jean-David Levitte at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy on Thursday.

The Palestinian economy is “in free fall,” with production in Gaza plunging to one-sixth of its level before Israeli forces began a blistering military response to the Oct. 7 attacks in the territory, the United Nations says

United Nations in the 1970s, a young Shashi Tharoor reached out to the chief of personnel seeking a "licence to write" like the famous fictional spy James Bond's «licence to kill». Tharoor, known as a «wordsmith» among netizens and literati for his vocabulary that more often than not leaves people looking for a dictionary, started writing before he turned a teenager. The Congress MP published his first story at the age of 10 in an Indian English magazine. One of his early novels about an Anglo-Indian fighter pilot in World War II was serialised in a newspaper before he turned 11. Speaking at the launch of his latest book, "The Wonderland of Words", on Friday, Tharoor shared his love for the written word and how he managed to continue writing at the UN, which has a «strict code of conduct for its staff».

19-year-old Chinese-American pilot who is on a worldwide mission to raise funds for childhood cancer research is preparing to land at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi next week in pursuit of a world record of flying solo to all seven continents. Ethan Guo, born in Tianjin and resident in Florida, developed a passion for aviation at the age of 13 and has since amassed over 700 flight hours. His 'Flight Against Cancer' Guinness World Record attempt mission began in Geneva, Switzerland, to cover over 50,000 miles with more than 75 take-offs and landings across 60 countries — with India scheduled for next week. «The trip has been challenging, but when you care about something, you give it your all and fight for it,» Guo told PTI in a statement from Saudi Arabia.

Tata Motors to Maruti Suzuki, Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) and China's BYD set to take the covers off a slew of vehicles, many in the electric vehicle segment, at the Bharat Mobility Show to be held in January next year. The number of vehicle makers who have confirmed attendance for the upcoming edition of the show is four times that seen in 2023, and highest-ever since the auto expo started in 1986. The participation is also significantly higher than that seen at the 'Big Five' — the five major auto shows held globally in Geneva, Munich, Detroit, Paris and Tokyo — where participation has been dwindling amid high costs and lower footfalls. While 13 carmakers participated at the Munich Auto Show in its latest edition, 20 showed up for the Geneva Motor Show held between Feb 26 and March 3 this year. The mobility shows in Paris and Tokyo saw participation from 11 and 22 vehicle makers, respectively. Around 13 automakers showcased 35 vehicle brands at the Detroit Auto Show last year.

An octogenarian heir to the Hermès luxury fortune, who sparked controversy last year over a plan to leave his money to his gardener, may not have much to give away after all.  

WTO's dispute settlement body has accepted a request from India and Chinese Taipei not to adopt the ruling against New Delhi's import duties on certain information and technology products till October-end, as both sides are engaged in resolving the matter mutually, an official said. The issue came up during a meeting of the dispute settlement body (DSB) in Geneva on July 26.

Human Rights Committee on Thursday voiced concern about alleged discrimination and violence against minority groups in India as well as over application of counter-terrorism legislation for decades in some districts of the country.

Hindujas, have said they are «appalled» by a Swiss court's ruling of jail terms for some members and have filed an appeal in a higher court challenging the verdict finding them guilty of exploiting vulnerable domestic workers from India employed at their villa in Geneva. A spokesperson for the affected family members, Kamal and Prakash Hinduja and their son Ajay and his wife Namrata — who are all Swiss nationals, pointed out on Saturday that neither of them have been subjected to any «imprisonment, conviction, sentence or detention.» «Per Swiss law procedures, the lower court's judgement is rendered ineffective and inoperative as the presumption of innocence is paramount until and unless a final judgment by the highest adjudicating authority is enforced,» the family's spokesperson said. «It may be noted that the case has no complainants left anymore and they had declared in the court that they were led into signing statements that they didn't even understand. They had neither intended to nor initiated such proceedings. All of them further testified that the four Hinduja Family Members treated them with 'respect, dignity and like family',» the spokesperson added.

Hinduja family were convicted on Friday for exploiting underpaid servants at their luxurious villa in Geneva, Switzerland. The elder family members, Prakash Hinduja (78) and Kamal Hinduja (75), who were absent from the trial due to health issues, received sentences of 4 1/2 years each. Ajay Hinduja and his wife Namrata, who were also not present in the courtroom, were sentenced to 4 years, as reported by Bloomberg. The Hinduja family's business manager, Najib Ziazi, received an 18-month suspended sentence. The Hindujas expressed their dismay at the court's decision and announced an appeal has been filed to a higher court. They hope to overturn the verdict, which found them guilty of exploiting vulnerable domestic workers, as reported by PTI.

India has rejected a comment by the UN's top human rights official on foreign influence laws, saying principles of «transparency and accountability cannot be applied selectively.» India's Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva Ambassador Arindam Bagchi, said he «humbly disagrees» with the brief reference to India made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in his Global Update 56th session of the Human Rights Council this week. Turk had said in his global update that a «worrying trend in terms of civic space is the consideration or adoption of so-called „transparency“ or „foreign influence“ laws in over 50 countries, including in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, India, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Slovakia and Turkiye. These laws risk having serious chilling effects on the work of civil society, freedom of expression and of association.»

H5N2 bird flu, the first confirmed human infection with the strain, died from multiple factors, the WHO said Friday, adding that investigations were continuing.

The world is too distracted with ongoing wars and high-stakes election campaigns to pay attention to a remarkable proposal from China. At the United Nations Conference on Disarmament held in Geneva this February, one of Beijing’s senior officials dealing with nuclear weapons policy declared that “nuclear-weapon states should negotiate and conclude a treaty on no-first-use of nuclear weapons against each other or make a political statement in this regard." There had been some indications towards the end of 2023 that China was planning to engage the United States in a new phase of discussions on nuclear security, but the proposal in Geneva is as breathtaking as it is promising. The world—and India — must approach it constructively.

India, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), intends to further strengthen the drug regulatory system to ensure quick access to high-quality medical products for all, Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra said on Wednesday. Chandra, who is leading the Indian delegation, addressed the Plenary Session of the 77th World Health Assembly of WHO in Geneva. The health secretary started his address by highlighting the similarities of this year's theme, «All for Health, Health for All» with the age-old Indian tradition of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' which means «world is one family», a health ministry statement said. He stated that under this theme, «India launched the 'Ayushman Bharat' meaning Live Long India to promote Universal Health Coverage by operationalizing more than 1,60,000 health and wellness centres (Ayushman Aarogya Mandir)».

health cooperation, India and Japan have agreed to advance their collaborative efforts during a meeting on the sidelines of the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, officials on Monday said. The two nations emphasised their commitment to building on the Memorandum of Cooperation signed in 2018, they said. The key areas of focus included expanding cooperation into new domains such as digital health, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, elderly care, and tackling non-communicable diseases. This initiative aims to leverage technological advancements to improve health outcomes and address the growing challenges posed by an ageing population and lifestyle-related diseases, the officials said.

WTO member countries, including Brazil, Canada and the European Union, have urged India to submit timely notifications on sugar subsidies in the World Trade Organisation, an official said. The issue came up for discussion during the meeting of the WTO's agriculture committee on May 23-24 in Geneva.

Either you adapt or you die - that’s the sentiment across the globe when it comes to the adoption of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, by traditional banks.

China has won a nearly three-year-long dispute with Australia at the World Trade Organization over tariffs on steel products that began during a low point of bilateral relations between the countries

U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths is stepping down for health reasons after nearly three years of trying to tackle mounting humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Gaza and Africa, the United Nations announced Monday. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised Griffiths «for his tremendous leadership and service to the United Nations and the humanitarian community in advocating for people affected by crises and mobilizing resources to address their needs,» U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.