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Having grown up in the vicinity of Vrindavan, I've observed that one day to "highlight the cause of widows" is simply inadequate for those who live and breathe stigma, abuse and neglect for the rest of the year.

After Brexit, UK-India trade ties can improve; Theresa May feting British Indians with an eye on polls.

China has been aggressively promoting its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) through massive investments in participating countries, as a means to further its strategic, economic and political goals. Such a strategy bears striking similarities to its policies in the Xinjiang province. This paper attempts a comparative study between Xinjiang and BRI countries in South and Central Asia to highlight the issues these states will likely face in the coming

The Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT) was imposed on non-agricultural commodity derivatives trading in India from 1 July 2013. This paper investigates the impact of the CTT on some of the efficiency parameters of the commodity derivative markets in India. The authors analysed daily trading data from January 2006 to December 2019 of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) of India for five non-agricultural commodities: aluminium, copper, crude oil, gold, and

Iran and the major powers have reached a very preliminary and extremely vague agreement on principles for an agreement, released in the form of a brief joint statement of less than 500 words. Whether this 'agreement about an agreement' would lead to an actual deal is anybody's guess, but it's not going to be easy.

Iran recently organised the first international conference on 'World against Violence and Extremism (WAVE)' as per the proposal made by President Hassan Rouhani at the UN General Assembly in September. Most significantly, the conference brought together the Foreign Ministers of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen - four of the most troubled states in the region.

The unilateral tariff imposition by the United States on various countries has started a trade war that threatens to adversely affect the world’s major economies. This paper finds that no country, including the US itself, is likely to benefit from a tariff war. In India, some analysts had expected that the country’s export penetration in the US and elsewhere will increase, as China loses out. An analysis of trade data, however, shows that whi

Policy reforms in the field of taxation in the commodity futures market is of critical significance as various taxes and levies are a significant component in the overall cost of transaction.

Despite growing strategic convergence, New Delhi should also be mindful of some of the limitations in the relationship.

This report discusses India's economic resilience, investment opportunities, and growth amidst global turmoil, highlighting foreign investment, sectoral reforms, and geopolitical factors influencing India's status as a top emerging market.

Who used chemical weapons against whom? Is Assad regime guilty? We may never know. What is certain is that one more country in the Middle East will be reduced to an ungovernable territory. Welcome home Al-Qaeda!

The usual shady politicking ensures that it doesn’t take a psephologist to figure out who will win the Pakistan elections.

Israeli president Reuven Rivlin has offered his country's expertise to India to make the world safe.

Almost 150 countries have joined China’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—a project central to Beijing’s global prestige as well as President Xi Jinping’s persona and legacy. Italy, which joined in 2019, was the only G7 and major European Union country to join the BRI. Less than five years later, in December 2023, Italy formally exited the BRI, making it the first country to do so. This paper contextualises the drivers behind Italy

Although the mystery of the firing incident at Jama Masjid on September 19 and the discovery of an abandoned car with ammonium nitrate nearby a few hours later remain unresolved,

The four-point agreement that was worked out by State Councillor Yang Jichei and Japanese National Security Adviser Shotaro Yachi to enable the meeting between President Xi Jinping of China and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan indicates that Tokyo has walked the extra mile to assuage the Chinese.

At the recent seventh Japan-Mekong Summit in Tokyo in the first week of July, both Japan and the Mekong countries reiterated their resolve to implement an ambitious cooperation programme called New Tokyo Strategy 2015 for Mekong-Japan Cooperation for the three years covering 2016-18.

One can see two major reasons for PM Shinzo Abe's decision to change the policy on arms exports. First, Abe is keen to remove many of the self-imposed taboos that have stood in the way of Japan becoming a 'normal country'. At a time when the security environment in East Asia has become so tense, Japan cannot afford to neglect the modernisation of its defence industry.

The nuclear debate in Japan has given scope for fresh anxieties within the region and beyond about the country's nuclear programme, particularly its recycling programme of extracted plutonium from spent nuclear fuel.

While New Delhi’s desire to cultivate closer defense ties with Tokyo is clear, its overall strategic approach is much less so.

From the beginning of the 21st century, India's foreign policy got a strategic orientation. Until then, it lacked coherence due to the absence of an overall plan or document stating the foreign policy objectives, says Professor Takenori Horimoto of The Open University of Japan.

In addition to India-Japan exercises, there have been several other naval exercises in the region in recent months involving a growing roster of countries.

As the Biden administration would take time to settle down, the first half of 2021 will be crucial for Beijing to lay down new terms of engagement. It is shaping the battleground before Biden can come up with his own strategic response.

The visit of America’s Defence Secretary earlier in June has prepared the ground for the the Indian Prime Minister’s U.S. visit next week, which could see some big ticket announcements

The BJP has made a mess of Jammu and Kashmir and India’s policy on Pakistan.

Located between France and Spain in southwestern Europe is a place called Andorra; 468 kilometres in all, 2.5 times the size of Washington DC with a population of 69,150, predominantly Roman Catholics, 43 per cent of whom are Spanish and rest either Andorrans, French or Portuguese.

The three-year extension given to Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani by the civilian government recently serves short-term objectives of a few vested interests and compromises long term interests of the region and its people.

Even if there is contention about the scope and prospective size of Beijing’s capabilities, India needs to be watchful

Emmanuel Macron’s objective is to expand the centrist turf as a uniting force and secure the pro-Europe platform.

India should be watching Mr John Kerry's trip to Asia with interest considering that the US and China have just held a dialogue on South Asia, even as the US has refused to hold a bilateral dialogue with India on East Asia in the last year.

India neither has a well-defined bankruptcy legislation for businesses to close down systematically or special courts to take care of such issues; and, as a result the process becomes slower, says former Revenue Secretary M.R. Sivaraman.

India handled Cyclone Phailin very well. Now, it is better for the system to learn a few lessons and not just prepare for the next big one, but also figure out ways of dealing with the smaller and completely needless tragedies that occur across the country because crowds have not been properly managed at a festival, or buses and ferries.

Left-wing extremists, popularly known as Maoists worldwide and as Naxalites1 in India--have been gaining in strength and influence since some time. Today, the menace of Left-wing extremism is the single internal security threat that affects the largest number of States in India.

France and India have shared a common belief in the importance of multilateralism and have a common respect for international rules and regulations. These shared beliefs can form the basis for a cooperation agenda.