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Eighty-eight innocent civilians, about 60 of them Egyptians, and the remaining believed to be foreign tourists, were killed in three well-synchronised explosions by unidentified terrorist elements at the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt on July 23,2005.The city is a popular tourist resort on the Red Sea at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula.

Nomenclature notwithstanding, the evolution of an Indian National Security Industrial Complex (NSIC) must be watched with interest and caution.

Tantalising tit-bits of information relating to the links between jihadi terrorists in Pakistan and Egypt and in Egypt and the UK have been given in an editorial on the Sharm el-Sheikh blasts carried by the "Daily Times", the prestigious daily of Lahore, on July 25,2005. The editorial titled "Terrorist Link Between Egypt and Pakistan " makes the following salient points:

Floods are a recurrent phenomenon in many parts of India, and human and economic losses are consistently rising with increased exposure to the hazard. These losses can be significantly reduced by eliminating the encroachment on floodplains and regulating the land use within it through floodplain zoning, a widely accepted and effective non-structural policy measure. Despite its benefits, floodplain zoning has not been widely adopted in India, main

The 2023 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report highlights a surge in drug production in Myanmar, posing serious security challenges. The cultivation of poppy, key for heroin production, increased by 33 percent in 2022, reversing a downward trend seen since 2014. Experts attribute the rise largely to livelihood challenges: Myanmar’s economy contracted by 18 percent in 2021, with only a modest rebound in 2022, and there are the compound

This paper analyses India’s participation in more than two decades of global climate politics. India has transitioned from a protest voice on the fringes of global climate policy to one that is actively shaping international efforts to combat climate change. Analysis of the drivers behind India’s negotiating positions on climate change thus far has focused on the competing motives of equity and co-benefits, which has however been insufficient

Climate adaptation has been at the forefront of UN climate negotiations over the past decade, given the increasing frequency of extreme weather events at the global, national, and sub-national levels. Climate vulnerability and risk assessments (VRA) are essential for adaptation planning, as they help identify areas, populations, and systems that are most at-risk from the impacts of climate change. They can also be used as a tool to develop adapta

The design to host Modi had a bit of everything that was required off Jerusalem to make sure there is no scope of a 'step back' on the Indo–Israeli front, curating a programme that was as much Bollywood as diplomacy.

Starting this week, ORF brings you the main events that have taken place in the week gone by in India's neighbourhood, from Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka

As global food production faces the negative consequences of climate change, best practices in climate-smart agriculture (CSA) must be promoted to achieve food security. This requires adequate financial and human resources to be channeled to the upscaling of CSA activities in high-impact, priority areas. Considering India and Africa’s complementary sectoral priorities and their similar roles in evolving global food markets, various opportunitie

Angola is rich in natural wealth, with massive petroleum and diamond deposits across its territory. Most of its people, however, continue to live in poverty. Since its independence in 1975, Angola has had a tumultuous journey: from being a war zone, to becoming a poster child for Chinese engagement in the continent, and since 2015, declining to its current state where the challenges are so massive—negative growth rates, high external debt, risi

India’s engagement with Southeast Asia entered a new phase following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third consecutive electoral victory in June 2024. With the ‘Act East’ policy too, marking its 10th anniversary in 2024, New Delhi has intensified its regional outreach through an unprecedented series of high-level diplomatic exchanges, security partnerships, and strategic dialogues. This brief examines how this surge in engagement is both a

The countries of BIMSTEC, or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, are working to translate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into action plans to ensure access to adequate and nutritious food. They are transforming their food systems based on their priorities and capacities to fulfill, in particular, the 2030 SDG Goal 2 that aims to “end hunger, achieve food security, and promote sustainable

To ensure that the role of "big money" in influencing elections and policies is banished from the Indian polity, state funding, small donations, public subsidies, membership fees along with strict disclosure and reporting requirements must be encouraged and assiduously pursued.

There is an increasing realisation amongst the media community in Pakistan that their State had been actively involved in training India-centric terrorist groups within Pakistani borders, said a delegation of Urdu journalists from Pakistan who visited ORF.

Amb. Hiroshi Hirabayashi, former Japan's Ambassador to India and currently President, The Japan-India Association, was in ORF for an interactive session

This Issue Brief seeks to provide inputs for further discussion to gain from potential windfall opportunities that might arise for India's natural gas industry as well as lay the requisite foundation for a future plan.

Mr L V Krishnan, a Nuclear Scientist who had worked with the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, gave a presentation on the 'Future of Nuclear Weapons', at an Interaction in the ORF Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation on 29 December 2007.

International jihadi terrorism of the Al Qaeda model will continue to pose the most serious challenge to the intelligence and counter-terrorism agencies and the police forces of the world in the short and medium terms, that is, for another five to 10 years. It shows no signs of any dilution of motivation and determination.

For India, which is also experiencing declining growth rates in the last couple of years, the priority at the forthcoming G-20 summit at St Petersberg would be issues including the spillover of the global slowdown on emerging economies as well as quota reforms of the International Monetary Fund.

The alignment of G20 policies with the Sustainable Development Goals, and emphasis on energy security, is high on India’s climate agenda.

As part of the G20 Presidency, India will drive positive change for the world

सहयोगी प्रयत्नांद्वारे अजेंडा, कृती-केंद्रित योजना आणि निर्णय विकसित करून, भारत एका अनोख्या पद्धतीने G20 अजेंडाचे नेतृत्व करू शकतो.

भारत G20 चा अध्यक्ष या नात्याने अधिक न्याय आणि समावेशक अशा G20 साठी प्रयत्नशील राहणार आहे. त्यामुळेच भारताने AU च्या समावेशावर भर दिला आहे.

जिन मुद्दों पर बात हुई, वे काफी हद तक वही थे जिन्हें भारत ने अपनी लीडरशिप में आगे बढ़ाया था. चाहे ग्लोबल गवर्नेंस रिफॉर्म्स की बात हो, जलवायु परिवर्तन की बात हो या टिकाऊ विका�

समावेशी स्वास्थ्य के लिए सार्वभौम (universal) डिजिटल पहुंच सतत विकास लक्ष्य- 3 (बेहतर स्वास्थ्य और सलामती) हासिल करने से जुड़े G20 के दृष्टिकोण का हिस्सा है. हालांकि इन उद्देश्यों तक

New Delhi must work with the Rouhani government to ensure that bilateral irritants in fostering economic ties between the two nations are resolved soon.

Gaiko Forum, Japan's prominent think tank sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, has published a detailed report on the symposium on "Security and Strategic Challenges in Asia: Prospects of Japan-India Cooperation" organised by Observer Research Foundation in association with the Gaiko Forum and the Embassy of Japan in New Delhi, on March 18, 2008.

As China continues to expand its presence in international waters, it is developing capabilities to counter foreign submarines which, otherwise, may pose challenge to its ambitions. This is where the recently launched Gaoxin-6 becomes important for Beijing.

Gas in its varied avatars is going to become the most important bridge fuel for the next decades at least, with the world probably going to see very different gas markets dictating the geo-politics of the future.

The May 2007 summit at Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan between Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan has once again brought the Central Asian Republics (CARs), especially Turkmenistan, in the limelight of international energy politics.

Various issues and problems impacting the availability and accessibility of natural gas, the fuel of the future, came up for detailed discussions at the recent two-day 7th Petro India 2008, organised jointly by Observer Research Foundation and Indian Energy Forum in Delhi.

The hyper-globalisation processes that built China’s industrial might also caused enormous political churn.

Is former Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom reviewing his political options for the future in the light of the inevitable mid-term crises facing the MDP Government of his successor, Mohammed Nasheed?

During the US visit, PM Narendra Modi reiterated that India is the fastest growing economy among large countries in the world. Showcasing India's high GDP growth when others are faltering is a good strategy which the government has adopted which pushes India in the limelight.

The GDP growth does not mean much to the average voter. But prices do that matter as inflation cut into the budget for healthcare and education for children. Thus what will ultimately decide the outcome of the elections will be inflation and the government's inability to control it.

ये पॉलिसी ब्रीफ a बिना वेतन वाले घरेलू और देखरेख से जुड़े कामों को सकल घरेलू उत्पाद यानी GDP में जोड़ने की अहमियत को रेखांकित करता है. साथ ही GDP मापने के लिए लैंगिक रूप से ज़्या�

Not since the era of Indira Gandhi and Deng Xiaoping, perhaps even since that of Nehru and Mao, have India and China been led by such dynamic and forceful politicians as Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping. These leaders are due to meet later this month in Xi's first official visit to India.

Despite the unprecedented growth of India’s gig economy and possible benefits to women service providers, little attention has been paid to the hurdles faced by women in pursuing gig work. Indeed, gig work has witnessed similar gendered division as has been evident in traditional work, and has not led to a direct increase in Female Labour Force Participation (FLPR) in India. This brief examines the existing literature on the problems faced by w

Gender-sensitive disaster management can be best aided by gender inclusive efforts. There is a lot that women could do to aid the process of relief and rehabilitation. For instance, traditional knowledge and skills of women can be used to manage natural resources, aid the injured and sick, prepare community meals.