14418 results found
Waste-to-energy (WtE) projects are often promoted as sustainable solutions for both renewable energy generation and GHG emissions reduction. However, their effectiveness is contingent on the fundamentals of sustainable waste management—including segregation, collection, and transportation—without which WtE plants risk exacerbating environmental and health risks by processing mixed waste, leading to toxic emissions and inefficient energy recov
Two broad principles outlined by Jawaharlal Nehru must guide Delhi's current approach to the Asian power rivalry. One is to seek good relations with both China and Japan; and other is Nehru's insistence that postwar Japan should not be isolated or punished because of its imperial past.
The legitimacy of its institutions, including the unity government and the security forces, must be enhanced
The June 5 hartal, or shut down, brought back fears of the return of hartal politics which had been a bane of Bangladesh politics in the recent. Such shut downs often followed or preceded bouts of violence across the country, bringing the economy, and every thing else, to a grinding halt.
The full-fledged effort to resettle began last September which got stuck mainly because of the suspicions raised by the security forces regarding the presence of the LTTE sympathisers among the IDPs
The Donors conference this week attended by 60 Foreign Ministers and other leaders, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon was, among other things, a demonstration by NATO and US led forces that they have the military muscle to host such a meet in Kabul.
The subject of nuclear weapons remains off-grid in India. There’s no public information on who constitutes the executive and political councils under the Nuclear Command Authority besides their chairmen
Over the past six decades, China has had an inconsistent policy on Kashmir, changing its position depending on its own interests. While maintaining a fine balance between its rapprochement with both Pakistan and India, China has also used the issue to make inroads to India via Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Indeed, China’s Kashmir policy has allowed it to steadily find its way to India’s western and northern borders and into the region’s
India's old formulaic discourse is no longer capable of dealing with the multiple tragedies and manifold transformations playing out in the Middle East. India will have to approach the Middle East on the basis of its own internal dynamics rather than preconceived ideas and preferences.
Enron Corp's Dabhol Power Station project, worth over-$3 billion, has, arguably, been India's most talked about project since the beginning of the "economic reforms" in the early 1990s. The 2,184 MW power project was acclaimed as the flagship project of the LPG regime that was ushered-in in 1991,
The revival of South Western Silk Road would promote connectivity as well as enhance economic ties between India, Nepal and China, according to experts who participated in a discussion at ORF.
The mantra of Net Neutrality would require the user to pay for new capacity since telcos then become mere managers of "dumb pipes" conveying data as it comes and recovering costs from users. No one, least of all Netizens, can stomach an increase in Net usage charges.
There has to be an increase in government expenditure in labour-intensive industries and it cannot just rely on the monetary policy through interest rate cuts to stimulate demand.
With elections in progress we find that our choices are extremely limited.
Given the increasing investment climate in post-war Sri Lanka and the growing Indian economy, the mood and climate are now just right for India-Sri Lanka relations to move forward even more, according to the outgoing Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka.
Army's decision to acknowledge a mistake in the killing of two young men in Budgam earlier this month, and the sentence to the Rajput regiment personnel, are an important first step. The people know that we cannot turn back time or get back their loved ones, but an acknowledgement of the truth of what happened helps in the healing process.
The Observer Research Foundation and the ROSA Luxemburg Foundation, Germany organized a two day International Conference in Delhi on Nov 23-24, 2006. The Conference was on Rise of China: Asian and European Perspective.
“The more the number of people, the stronger we are” Mao Zedong In recent years microblogs have emerged as a serious challenge for the Chinese government as they have become an effective means for common citizens to voice their opinions. With more and more citizens joining this new and still emerging media, the Chinese State is doing all it can to curtail freedom of expression. Although the government is trying to have absolute control over
India and China are mired in their longest border confrontation since the war of 1962.
While the world remains engrossed in the debates triggered by Western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine and the countersanctions, a serious humanitarian crisis is building up in Ukraine which needs international attention and help.
Since August 2021 when the US withdrew from Afghanistan, ceasefire violations at the India-Pakistan Line of Control (LoC) and killings of minorities in J&K have been reported. Indeed, the fall of Kabul to the Taliban has bolstered the anti-India establishment and the terrorist groups in Pakistan—putting the February 2021 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan under stress. India's conventional military response of the type of the 'S
To supplement the still lagging Afghan and ISAF security capabilities, alternative structures have been used or created, especially in rural or hard-to-reach areas. Two important groups among these are private security contractors (PSCs) and 'community defence' organisations or local militias. This paper assesses the impact of these entities on Afghan stability. Beginning March 19, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq, drawing both material an
India, the world's most populous nation could also be its new industrial hub
Reiterating that China should not be contained, Mr. Yukio Okamoto, adviser to former prime ministers, has underlined the need to foster cooperation between Japan and India, including in their efforts to be represented in the United Nation Security Council, with or without the veto powers.
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar underlined the need to make the Iran-India pipeline through Pakistan a reality as early as possible to enhance India¿s energy security. He was speaking at the release function of an Observer Research Foundation book ¿India¿s Energy Security Prospects--which deals with the issue of India¿s energy security and the prospects for cooperation with its extended neighbourhood
Donald Trump's defiant performance in the tawdry second debate on Sunday has turned it into a rollercoaster
Land use on floodplains needs better regulation so that rivers have space to flood and contribute ecosystem services
In many ways, Bangladesh seems an excellent place for al-Qaeda to find sanctuary in the decisive years ahead. It is an impoverished Islamic nation, politically weak and backward in its economic development. Its ports have been active hubs for transnational crime, including weapons running.
Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Berlin organised a conference on "Fragmentation in a Democracy: The Role of Social Movements and the Media". Here is a report.
The Rules-Based Order (RBO) underpins the global maritime trading and security system. A subject of growing discussion and debate in strategic studies circles, it is seen by many as a prerequisite for seaborne trade and commerce, and a crucial factor in formulating national security policy. While many Asian powers have a shared understanding of the principles of maritime conduct, regional states have tended to situate the RBO within the framework
The purpose of this paper is to reopen policy debates on the role of agricultural mechanisation in rural development. The paper examines very different and diverse patterns of agricultural mechanisation in some South Asian countries over the last 30 years
Russia is widely regarded as one of the major revisionist powers in the world, determined to upend the global liberal order. To be a global power, Russia must become a maritime power as well. Thus, it seeks to gain control in Eurasia and the region between the Black Sea and the Baltic region. The North European Plain and the river Danube hold strategic significance for Russia, the former being a gateway to Europe and the latter the economic lynch
Moscow’s relevance to Delhi’s strategic calculus irks Washington
Russia has been dealing with extremism within its borders for several years. So it is not exactly unprepared for whatever threat ISIL currently poses. However, there is a degree of complacency that has set in.
The end of the Cold War in 1991 presented Russia and the European Union (EU) with an opportunity to reorganise their bilateral relationship. For more than a decade, they did manage to nurture close ties. Beginning in the mid-2000s, however, the relationship steadily declined, reaching its lowest in 2014 in the aftermath of the Ukrainian crisis. As mutual grievances have accumulated since then, there has been an absence of a forward-looking agenda
At a time when it is facing Western sanctions and a proxy war on oil prices, Russia sprang a huge surprise early this month by signing a gas deal with Turkey. The deal will enable Russia to pump natural gas into a Turkish hub, near the Turkey-Greece border and from there into the southern EU market.
While Russia has been very careful of not antagonising China, which has emerged as Moscow's second largest trading partner in the Asia-Pacific, Beijing is uncomfortable by the nature of Moscow's involvement in Hanoi.
Even as the war of words continues, there will need to be practical measures to deal with the increasing threats to space.
New sanctions target Russia's top oil firms, Rosneft and Lukoil. The US and EU aim to isolate Russia economically and force negotiations on Ukraine. This move impacts China, India, and Turkiye, key energy buyers. India faces a balancing act with its energy imports. The sanctions signal a shift in global energy dynamics and US influence.
Given its vast coastline, Delhi should devote its attention for now to importing hydrocarbons by sea, investing in equity oil in Russia and other energy-rich countries, and concluding swap arrangements rather than grandiose transregional pipelines.
Demographic trends in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 have largely been unfavourable. Deaths exceeded births for the first time in 1992, and a period of negative growth followed which continued unabated until 2012 when marginal growth was achieved for the first time in two decades. This paper studies the demographic patterns in Russia since 1991, which are unique for several reasons. While population decline is common amo
Africa has become essential to Russia’s geostrategic posture as Moscow seeks to overcome the backlash to its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, in the face of isolation and a contracting economy, Russia has realised that cultivating an entry point in Africa through conventional means such as foreign direct investment (FDI), trade, development assistance, or cultural and educational exchanges may not be its best option. Instead, Mosc
Russia has always been actively involved with European politics. Its genesis in Kiev—close to the European borders—allowed it to participate in the affairs of the continent. Although Russia’s geographic expanse has been more in Asia, Russian political elites have traditionally identified the country as a European entity. However, following attempts at integrating with the transatlantic economic and political system during the first decade o
