"Dad time" is essential to a child's overall development—it's not just a luxury. Good father-child interactions have a lasting effect on a child, influencing not just their early years but also their future relationships, careers, and general well-being. Fathers play an enormously important role in a child's life, helping them develop emotionally, socially, and cognitively. "Dad time" is more than just being there; it's about having meaningful conversations and doing things together that have a long-lasting effect on a child's development.   Reasons why it's important to spend time with a father: 1. ​​Improved academic achievement​ Academic achievement is favorably correlated with parental involvement in a child's schooling. Cooperative reading, helping with schoolwork, and stimulating conversations all support the development of cognition. 2. ​​Exemplary role modeling​ Fathers act as role models for their children, influencing their attitudes, actions, and morals. Fathers who spend meaningful time with their children can model moral values and important life skills for their children. 3. Connection on an emotional level​ A strong emotional tie is fostered by father-child bonding. Playing together gives the youngster a sense of safety and acceptance, which strengthens their emotional fortitude.   4. ​Increasing self-assurance​ Children can safely explore their powers in the company of their fathers. Children's confidence and self-esteem are bolstered by positive reinforcement, constructive criticism, and the sharing of accomplishments.   5. ​​Developing social skills​ Children acquire vital social skills like cooperation, communication, and dispute resolution through shared activities. Social connections between father and kid support social behavior that is in line with social norms.   6. ​​Promoting self-reliance​ Spending quality time with fathers requires striking a balance between promoting independence and offering assistance. When it comes to giving their kids a feeling of accountability and independence, fathers are extremely important. Source: Times of India  

Japan has approved record levels of defense spending in a major shift from its postwar approach to military spending. Japan will also loosened arms export controls for the first time in nearly a decade. Japan's defense spending will increase by more than 16% next year under a record military budget. With Japan facing a regional threat in the shape of North Korea, the cash injection is intended to accelerate the deployment of long-range cruise missiles. The budget adopted by the Cabinet also will further fortify the military with F-35 stealth combat jets and other American weapons as Japanese troops increasingly work with allies and take on more offensive roles. The 7.95 trillion-yen (roughly $56 billion or €50 billion) defense budget for the 2024 fiscal year that begins in March, marks the second year of a five-year military buildup program under a new security strategy that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government adopted a year ago. Japan move echoes Germany's military shift The announcement signals a major break from Japan's postwar principle of limiting the country's use of force to self-defense. The defense budget is part of a 112.7 trillion-yen national budget plan and still needs parliament's approval. Germany, another major defeated power in World War II, has also been looking to expand its military spending and activities for the modern era in recent decades. The most recent and major catalyst to this process, which began with deployments in places like Kosovo and Afghanistan, was  Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, after which Germany has increased its defense budget, reaching a total spend of just over €60 billion (if including supplementary funds not in the government's main budget) in 2023.    Japan plans to spend 43 trillion yen by 2027 to bolster its military power and to nearly double its annual spending to around 10 trillion yen. The budget would boost Japan's arms spending for a 12th year. Last year, the government budgeted 6.8 trillion yen.   The move is the first major revision of the arms export ban since it was initially eased in 2014. The Japanese Foreign Ministry said the change would contribute to reinforce the bilateral security cooperation and the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific, but opponents said it would let Japanese-made weapons help in escalating conflicts.   Japan also loosens weapon export controls Japan also relaxed arms export controls on Friday, for the first time in nearly a decade, after lifting an outright ban on all military exports in 2014. With the new rule, Japan "will be able to export arms which were domestically produced under licence of a foreign company to the licensing country," a national security official in the prime minister's cabinet told news agency AFP prior to the cabinet approval. It is a move that would enable the US ally to sell missiles it manufactures indepently for the US Patriot missile defense system to Washington. This in turn could help the US with dwindling stocks amid large-scale donations to Ukraine. However, Japan is expected to stipulate that the missiles it sells to Washington must be stationed in the Indo-Pacific region. This could still allow Washington to relocate munitions it has in Asia at present. "The appropriate transfer of defence equipment overseas will contribute to ... international peace and security, and will also strengthen cooperation with allies and the US in security fields," a government document said after the rule was approved by the cabinet on Friday.  

Pakistan’s frontiers have been breached by their own defenders. The ruthless Pakistan military-operated business conglomerate that runs everything from politics to factories and bakeries has run the country to ground.  In the second week of September 2022, the economic situation continues to be insecure with foreign exchange reserves depleting to below USO 15 Billion. This is barely sufficient to veil two months of imports. The financiers are losing faith in the Pakistan economy due to downward spiraling of the Rupee. The USO rate now stands at Rs 239.65 which is just short of an all time low by 0.23. The oil and food import have been increasing at the rate of 11 % in July and August month. But export remained muted at 4% during the same months. The country needs external financing of USO 38 Billion to fulfill the domestic requirements and repayments of foreign debts. On the other hand, the inflation rate has skyrocketed to 27.3% which is highest since May, 1975. The recent floods of Pakistan increase the woes of affected people. Outbreak of dengue also makes the situation worst.  Business is common in the Pakistan military. For the powerful Pakistan military, the dire economic situation appears to have had no visible impact as is apparent from the sustained increased budgetary allocations to all the three services. A look at the Pakistan’s Defense budget over the years is a proof of its continued dominance over the economy. It is vital to stress that the most relevant and widely used criteria for measuring military spending is its level compared to the size of its economy or its GOP. Depend on this measure; Pakistan’s rank is the tenth globally (SIPRI Data). India, which is the perceived existential threat to Pakistan, has corresponding defense charge ratio ranging between 2.5 to 3 per cent of the GDP for the last twenty years. The Armed Forces have been consistently overshooting the budget estimates at the end of the fiscal year. In Pakistan’s case, the lack of transparency makes it difficult to comment on the appropriate level of defense spending as even the basic data is hidden under different heads, not to mention the prominent role played by the military in the overall political economy. Pakistan’s defense budget during 2021-22 was almost Rs 2.3 trillion and not the commonly reported figure of Rs. 1.37 trillion. The Rs 2.3 trillion is based on the official budget documents. (https://www.thefridaytimes.com/2022/06/06/demystifying¬pakistans-military-spending-why-is-there-no-transparency/). In overall terms, the defense sector constituted 21.2% of the total budget. In the fiscal year of 2022-23 the allocation has increased to approximately 14% with the Pakistan Army getting the lion’s share of Rs 724 billion (USO 3.06 billion). The different heads of budgets mention that the actual defense expenditure is much higher at Rs 2.3 trillion (USO 9. 7 billion) rather than the claimed Rs 1.8 trillion. This amounts to 24% of the total budget as against the claimed 14-16%. The defense and debt servicing make up about 58% of the budget for 2022-23, which is an increase of 24.3% over the last year. For products like petroleum and electricity the development expenditure funds has been cut and subsidies withdrawn. The defense sector continues to enjoy grants, subsidies and loan write offs to the tune of Rs 116 million in the year 2022-23. This accounts for nearly quarter of the total defense sector expenditure.  Armed Forces also generate additional sources of income through their public sector effort and their business welfare models. These have been traditionally freed from excise and taxation. In 2021-22 alone, Rs 26 billion (USO 110 million) worth of tax exemptions were given to the military managed business entities. These exemptions are a stark display of the elitist position that the Armed Forces of Pakistan enjoy. Apart from these direct costs, a large number of military related requirements are cross subsidized and met through funds allocated to other ministries. For a nation like Pakistan which has been continuously plunging from one economic crisis to another, the deliberate opaqueness built into the defense expenditure needs to be addressed holistically to ensure economic security. The unabashed proclivity displayed by the defense sector in enriching itself comes at the cost of the common Pakistani citizen and the nation. Failure to address this core issue would only result in repetition of this cycle of corruption and debt crisis. Source: IFFRAS

Taiwan is set to boost spending on defense, including the purchase of advanced new fighter jets. The increase comes as China stages large-scale war games around the island. The Taiwanese government on Thursday proposed an increase of $19.4 billion in defense spending. The ramping up of funding for the military comes after China carried out its largest-ever military exercises around the country. What is Taipei saying? A spokesman for Taiwan’s cabinet said the increase to protect national security a year-on-year boost of 19% represented a record high. Yearly growth has been below 4% since 2017. Some of the funding will be used for new equipment, including high-tech fighter jets. Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Minister Chu Tzer-ming said the increase would mainly go to operational costs. We always give safety and national security the top priority. ... That’s why (the budget for) operational costs rise greatly, Chu said, pointing to costs such as fuel and maintenance for aircraft and ships that are deployed to counter Chinese military activity in the island’s vicinity. The plans have been approved by ministers but must now go to parliament to be approved. Why is Taiwan afraid of invasion? The Chinese military staged maneuvers around Taiwan earlier this month in response to a visit to the democratically governed island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The visit outraged Beijing, which called it an attempt by Washington to tinker with China’s internal affairs. China considers the island which has been independently governed since 1949 to be part of its territory. It opposes any form of official contacts between Taiwan and other countries, and has not ruled out military action to take back the territory. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has vowed to strengthen the country’s capability to conduct asymmetric warfare to deter China’s People’s Liberation Army. In 2021, China significantly increased the frequency of warplane sorties entering the Air Defense Identification Zone of Taiwan.

US President Joe Biden has arrived in Europe for two international summits, leaving his $2.75tn (£2tn) domestic agenda in limbo back in Washington. Mr Biden had hoped to trumpet a bumper environmental package to other world leaders at a UK climate conference. But his fellow Democrats abandoned plans for a vote on Thursday, leaving his whole platform up in the air. Mr Biden, whose approval rating has been falling, said his presidency itself was hanging in the balance. He landed in Rome early on Friday for a G20 summit where plans for a global minimum tax will be on the agenda. America's second Catholic president will also meet Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday. He will then head to Scotland on Sunday night for the United Nations climate conference, COP26, in Glasgow. Mr Biden will seek to project the message that the US is back in the fight against global warming after his predecessor, Donald Trump, withdrew from the Paris climate accord. Before leaving the White House for Rome, Mr Biden unveiled a scaled-down spending plan which was the product of months of haggling. He implored fellow Democrats during a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill to support his legislative plans, saying he wanted to prove during the two summits that US democracy still works. "The rest of the world wonders whether we can function," he was quoted as saying by US media. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on rank-and-file Democrats not to embarrass Mr Biden by revolting. But the more liberal members of the party refused to go along with the plans without a guarantee that both spending packages would be voted on in tandem. Mr Biden is firstly trying to rally Democrats around a $1tn infrastructure package, which has already passed the Senate. He is also trying to pass a pared-down bill costing at least $1.75tn, which the White House calls Build Back Better. The green spending would seek to dramatically slash US greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, provide new tax breaks for electric vehicles and roll out installation of solar panels on American homes. It also includes $100bn for unspecified reforms to the nation's immigration system, according to US media. The president has argued that the spending will be fully paid for by tax hikes on corporations and multimillionaires. Left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders said it was "probably the most consequential bill since the 1960s", but added that there were some major gaps in it. Progressives are unhappy because the plan does not include paid family leave, free community college, a large healthcare expansion, a tax on billionaires, or lower prescription drug prices. Those sceptical of the bill also demanded to see the text of the legislation, leading the House of Representatives to release 1,684 pages on Thursday. The original price tag for the proposal was $3.5tn, but it has been cut in half at the insistence of two moderate Democratic senators who could doom the bill in the evenly split Senate. The objections by Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have infuriated the liberal wing of the party. On Thursday Mr Manchin and Ms Sinema issued lukewarm statements that still declined to back the president's stripped-down bill. The House will not vote on the infrastructure bill until next week at the earliest. Mr Biden is due back in Washington on Wednesday. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Mr Biden can still try legislative arm-twisting by phone from Rome. The president's job approval rating, meanwhile, has slumped to 42.5% in the RealClearPolitics polling average. Source: BBC

The home ministry has claimed that in the press conference Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said nothing about spending money to prepare the list of Razakars. The information was delivered through a press release of home ministry on Thursday. The notice said, nearly 100 journalists from electronic, print and online media were present in the press conference which was held at the home ministry on December 18 over the issue of Razakars’ list. The government has preserved the press conference. There the Home Minister said nothing about expense to formulate the list of Razakars. But some media with their ill motives circulated the matter of expense which is unexpected. The home ministry is not informed about the matter. The home ministry also requested all to refrain from publishing or circulating such type of false news. Mentionable, some news were published in the mass media titled ‘60 crore taka spent for preparing the list of Razakars’ mentioning the press conference of home minister as the source. AH

BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed has said that Awami League is seeking vote for boat by spending government money. He said, you (Awami League) would seek vote for boat under government expense by keeping our leader Khaleda Zia in jail, that won’t be. He said these at a discussion organized by Bangladesh Labor Party demanding release of BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia at National Press Club on Saturday. Moudud Ahmed said, according to the electoral law any political party and person cannot make any promise after declaring election schedule. So the Prime Minister is making pledges by holding public gathering. This is nothing but cheating with people. He said, there will be no existence of Awami League if people of the country got the chance for casting vote again. Allow public to exercise their voting rights. The BNP leader said, the country could be taken to further stage if Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would be restrained a little. The democracy would be integrated. Criticizing the education system he said, there is no question paper that was not leaked under this government. Government backed people are associated with scandal. If the incident occurred in other country then not only the education minister, the government would step down from power. The Education Minister was asked in the parliament to resign. Moudud Ahmed said, the education system was weakened in the last ten years. We will not be able to face the challenge of coming days through this education system. We know education is the backbone of the nation but this government has broken the backbone. After taking power this government replaced meritorious persons with their own party people. The discussion was presided over by Labor Party president Dr. Mostafizur Rahman Iran where BNP vice chairman Mir Nasir, Barkat Ullah Bulu and Babu Nitai Roy Chowdhury also spoke. AH