Towards Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Global Nuclear Disarmament

23/02/2023 0 Comments read Features, Nuclear Disarmament

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 23.02.2023 (IDN – InDepthNews): Australia and Indonesia have committed to strengthening the global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime and cooperating in building practical nuclear safeguard capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region, even as concerns remain over Australia’s push to acquire the nuclear-powered submarines.

An enhanced trilateral security pact, AUKUS, between Australia, the UK and the US signed in September 2021 will enable Australia to become the first non-nuclear country to have nuclear-powered submarines.

“These submarines set a terrible precedent, enabling transfer and/or acquisition of weapons grade highly enriched uranium by non-nuclear weapons states,” says Dr Margaret Beavis, Co-Chair of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Australia. “Safeguards are almost impossible to enforce on a stealth platform such as a submarine”.

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On the syllabus: Landlocked Down Under

17/10/2021 0 Comments read Education

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 17.10.2021 (Khaleej Times): Home has not been a flight away for international students in Australia. In mid-March 2020, the country took the unprecedented measure of slamming shut its international borders in response to the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus. Since then, these students haven’t been able to visit their loved ones.

“Australia will be ready for take-off, very soon” once the country reaches 80 percent full immunisation – possibly by early November – announced Prime Minister Scott Morrison on 1^st October. But travel restrictions are set to ease only for Australian citizens and permanent residents.

Australia has been an attractive destination for international students, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its international education sector has been huge. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that for the year to June 2021, export revenue from international education was down by 28 per cent on the previous year.

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Climate plans lag as Asia tops temperature-linked deaths

13/07/2021 0 Comments read Climate Change, Environment & Development, Health & Science

Low-lying and crowded coastal cities in East and South Asia most impacted by temperature related mortality. Photo Credit: ©Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 12.07.2021 (SciDev.Net): Asia accounts for more than half of the over five million global deaths attributed to ambient cold and hot temperatures, according to an international study. But many governments are failing to prioritise health in their climate change strategies, experts warn.

The study, published 1 July in The Lancet Planetary Health, found that mortality rates in low-lying and crowded coastal cities in East and South Asia were particularly affected by temperature.

Researchers found that 9.4 per cent of global deaths from 2000 to 2019 could be attributed to non-optimal temperatures, with most of those caused by exposure to cold. However, this is predicted to change as global warming increases heat-related deaths. Continue reading →