Veracity; The quality of being true.

ū VERACITY A Curtain Raising Pre-Conference Newsletter An Initiative of the International Press

With the Taliban capture over With the return of the Taliban, womens' concern about the imposition of Sharia law has increased. Sharia law is Islam's legal system based on a Afghanistan, where do the rights of broad set of principles derived from the Quran. However, the Afghans, especially women, have been trying to escape the Sharia law and the women and children stand now? personal freedom it limits. The Taliban vowed to protect women's rights by following the teachings of By Sahithi Varanasi Islam. The teachings of Islam, as claimed by the Taliban, restrict women's rights. The Islamic laws regarding women are oppressive and against the freedom Seventeen days after they took over the country and vowed to protect rights and rights of women. With the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, where does within Islamic law. Women disappeared from political, social, and economic the safety of women and children stand now? spaces. Women-led NGOs have been asked to remain shut. Female The Taliban is an Islamist organization that was formed after the withdrawal employees were barred from going to their workplaces. of the Soviet Union in the civil war in 1989. They ruled Afghanistan from Prominent female activists across the country fear their safety. The militant 1996 to 2001 until the US government helped take out the Taliban and group also plans to end co-education. committed to supporting democracy. Over the course of many years, the After the takeover, many people tried to flee the country with their families Taliban fought back and captured various parts of Afghanistan. After the US to protect their children from the everyday violence that the organization withdrew its troops, the Taliban acquired complete control over the country and its principles cause. They declared their only aim was to implement an by capturing Afghanistan's capital, Kabul on 15th August 2021. Islamic government but, analysts say wherever the Taliban goes, Al-Qaeda follows, and as long as this happens, violence follows.

Brainwashed soldiers and Sex slaves By Angel Noah Aruva The rise of the Taliban has shaken the world. All of humanity sympathizes with the citizens living under the Taliban regime. The Taliban has committed many known and under-the-table crimes which perpetuate gruesome violence and atrocities, violating fundamental human rights under the name of Sharia law. The Taliban uses Sharia law as a cover to seize power in Afghanistan and strip its people of their natural rights, grotesquely affecting women and children. The Taliban have turned school grounds into battlegrounds for children. At the age of 6, when they should be taught how to spell are now being indoctrinated and brainwashed to follow the inhumane practices. From the age of 13, they are taught how to use ammunition and kill people. The Taliban has also made them carry out barbaric tasks such as planting IEDs and suicide bombing. According to Nassim Majidi, a researcher and co-director at the Samuel Hall center, women have disappeared from public spaces. The Taliban have closed schools for girls of all ages (HRW 2021). Girls are stripped off of their ambition, goals, dreams, and life under the demonic oppression of the Taliban. In July 2021, as Taliban leaders took control of several provinces, the religious figures in these areas were ordered to provide a list of girls over 15 and widows under 45 to be forcefully married to the fighters. These forced marriages are an act of sexual slavery. A government that sees half of its population as nothing more than sex slaves and the other half nothing more than propective soldiers is in power. To the globally community's fears, the future and death of millions lie in this government's hands today.

The Taliban Effect By Raghav Panjiray Remarking on the situation of women and children, one should understand the status of the demographic before the Taliban had taken over the country. A report of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan dated 26th July 2021 quotes the following statistics; 1659 civilians killed and 3254 wounded; women and children make up 47% of the country's total population; 32% of casualties were children: 468 were killed and 1214 wounded. 14% of deaths were women: 219 killed and 508 wounded. These are the statistics only when the Taliban was on the cusp of authority. To emphasize the mutilation the Taliban has caused to the Afghan society, the leaders of the Islamic fundamentalist group have made statements on women's rights to be within the framework of Islam, but there has been no sustenance to these declarations. No women in the cabinet, no women as Deputy-Ministers and the grand slam: abolishing the Ministry of Women's Affairs. Women protection centers were violently condemned, and activists harassed. That is the immediate upshot of the Taliban on women. According to UNICEF, the increased conflict and insecurity in Afghanistan has made this region dangerous places in the world to live for a child. More than 50% of Afghanistan's population can suffer from acute food insecurity. That is approximately 3.2 million children exposed to probable malnutrition. In this crisis, reports from the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) suggest that 40% of the country's gross Domestic Product comes from foreign aid, while the number should be around 10% in any case. In September, UNWFP declared that only 5% of Afghanistan's families had enough to eat daily. With the prices of essential items skyrocketing, mothers scoured through garbage bins to find food for their children in the capital of Kabul.

Bilderburg and Economic Recovery By Abhinav Poludasu It has been a year and a half since the pandemic has destroyed lives, livelihoods and shattered economies. However, recent trends show us that the global economy is poised to stage its most robust post-recession recovery in 80 years in 2021. Though uneven, there is hope for positive recovery in the new normal. The International Monetary Fund recently increased its prediction of economic growth rate by 2021 to 6%, from 5.5%, and increased 4.4% by 2022, reducing economic damage and global financial issues. Although businesses are the engines of the economy, governments create an environment and structure that allows businesses to thrive. How governments create and shape the resilience of the economy — and the opportunities and challenges they face in doing so — will depend on the decisions they make in their approach. Various nations have diversified when it comes to plans for economic recovery. Nations such as India and Brazil have been seeing rapid progress in recovery while China and Russia are moving at a slow pace, despite efforts. Bilderberg has recognised the need of incorporating Asia to understand the course of global economic recovery. A total of 37 members from all forms of economic forums meet at the Bilderberg Conference to discuss the economic recovery and draft courses of action to stabilise the already deflated global economy.

Economic Development: The Post-Pandemic Panacea By Srija Gudapuri With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing nearly tens of millions of global citizens into extreme poverty, the world must improve healthcare and long-term economic development goals. Finding the right set of solutions can be the tipping point to recovering from the pandemic and setting a course for a sustainable future. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 The closing of borders and increase in trade restrictions limited through the 2030 Agenda, confront over 160 global issues, including economic growth. The international trade and insulated economies, exposing the Sustainable Development Report 2020 shows that economies of countries that carry out SDGs inefficiency of disaster management protocols and the inability well are recovering from the effects of the pandemic at a faster rate than others, proving that of many countries to shift to self-sustaining economies. Poverty, prioritizing sustainable economic development is an effective response to the detrimental results unemployment, drop in wages, and disruptions in the of the pandemic. transportation, service and, manufacturing industries are a few of many post-pandemic results observed. Now more than ever, they must lower trade barriers, so that economies could be allowed to flow freely and thrive, allowing the absorption of foreign technology, improving efficiency through healthy competition, and increasing employment and productivity.

Convalescence of the Bald Eagle: The USA, on top of the world, recovered the lost status??? By Prem Joshua Almost all the countries have been devastated and severely affected by the pandemic for the past two years. The emergence of COVID-19 has dramatically disoriented the economies of all countries in the international order. However, it is clear that not all countries have been able to rebound at the same pace, but U.S. resilience with the rapid rollout of vaccines and $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill has gotten the country back on track in multiple aspects. Among other advanced economies, the U.S. is predicted to surpass its pre-COVID GDP levels while many others will not reach the equivalent until 2022. As reported by the Wallstreet Journal in March, the U.S. is expected to make enormous contribution growth higher than China globally if both continue to grow at roughly the same rate. President Joe Biden alluded to Ronald Reagan’s famous “Morning in America” remark, saying “The sun is coming out.” The economic data support the statement as it is keeping in mind the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well. Although the American Rescue Plan has provided a crucial first step in offering relief to millions of Americans and building up vital public health infrastructures considering, the sustainable development goals, we must extend that momentum into continued economic growth domestically and internationally. The U.S. has provided vaccines worth $1.9 trillion. The economy regained 850,000 jobs in June. And as Sahm said, “Everything about this crisis has been much faster than during the Great Recession. The bottom fell out, then we hit bottom, and then we started moving up,”

P. OBUL REDDY SCHOOL YŪGEN International Press Head Raghav Panjiray ū Editor-in-Chief Abhinav Poludasu Journalists Varanasi Sahithi | Angel Noah Aruva | T Nidhi | Prem Joshua | Parnika | Srija Gudapuri