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Setting up of a national mission on river Brahmaputra would play a pivotal role in formulating and implementing key action plans on disaster management, hydrological data monitoring as well as infrastructure development.

Is the digital economy about digitising the real economy, society and governance - or is it simply a valuation game? The question is particularly valid as a series of digital and e-commerce companies have totted up impressive funding without knowing how to build a sustainable business model.

From America to Bangladesh and Australia to Europe, those who bet on big breakthroughs with India in the last few years can't hide their disappointment at its seeming inability to seize the opportunities at hand. It is up to Delhi to prove that the concerns of its friends and partners around the world are misplaced.

Recent announcements detailing the probability of an early NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan are not realistic, given the ground realities in the country. Lt-Col Daniel Davis in his article 'Truth lies and Afghanistan' speaks of a misleading picture presented by US leaders.

World renowned management professor and author, Dr. Jagdish Sheth, delivered a lecture on "The Tectonic Shift: The New Geoeconomic Reality" at Observer Research Foundation. Dr. Sheth, Professor of Marketing in the Goizueta Business School, Atlanta, USA, and the author of 'Chindia Rising: How China and India will benefit your business' forecast a new geo-economic reality in the world driven by markets of emerging nations.

The 'Elavarasan episode' in Tamil Nadu is a product of an electoral malady for which the political class would only offer words, not pro-active solutions. With greater educational opportunities and industrialisation nearer home rewriting the face of caste equations, the problem has worsened.

There are unlimited possibilities for strengthening maritime cooperation with Bangladesh and Myanmar - ranging from joint scientific research to environmental monitoring and from major trans-border projects to trilateral naval exercises. If Delhi decides to play for small stakes in the Bay of Bengal, it will deal itself out of the emerging great game in the east.

Given the enormity of challenges, there is a need for all the space-faring powers to unite in this exercise. It is important for India and others to debate and decide on what it thinks the norms should be and what sort of future it wants to achieve in space.

Difficult basins with poor prospects like the kind in India will never be explored or developed under fair-returns-cost-plus regimes. Successes such as those of Lundin in Norway or Cairn in Barmer do not come to the faint-hearted.

The Delhi police proposal to use drones for day-to-day law and order activities is bound to fail unless it is accompanied by a regulatory and manufacturing ecosystem for unmanned aerial vehicles

Neither the drone attacks - a significant technological innovation in air power - nor direct cross-border military raids address the ultimate source of terror, the Pakistan army. They merely target the manifestation of the problem.

Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with the Delhi University conducted the third summer workshop for undergraduate students of Delhi University from 17 May to 2 June. The theme of this year's workshop was "Contemporary Challenges and the Making of Public Policies".

A comprehensive strategy that includes a mix of crisis response and impact mitigation, while also taking into account urban and rural planning, livelihood issues and health perspective, is needed to mitigate the Northeastern State’s agony.

Mark Lynas is right. Completely divorced from research and data Indian activism today is a cesspool of myths and misconceptions

The unsolicited US$ 18.5 billion bid for acquisition of the petroleum major Unocal by China National Offshore Oil Company (Cnooc), the Honk-Kong based subsidiary of China's third largest oil company, has sent the business, and political, world into a tizzy.

Anyone driving to the hills on the mandatory pilgrimage trail cannot but notice the ubiquitous drum or two in front of roadside stalls - its presence advertising fuels in a way that no pure-for-sure campaign can match.

India's ranking in the World Bank's ease of doing business index is 134. Ease of doing business has ease of settling commercial disputes at its centre. With the Arbitration and Conciliation (amendment) Bill coming in place, India could play a greater role in shaping the way forward.

The recent developments in East China Sea carry a high risk of confrontation and miscalculation in the already volatile region. Beijing's unilateral move to extend its authority and control in the region runs against its policy to change its image amongst its neighbours.

Indians may be suspicious of China and the Chinese of India. But it is the West which does not want to accept the strategic consequences of a rising Asia.

As political stalemate characterises present-day Nepal, analysts are worried over the impending economic fallout of the same in the erstwhile Himalayan kingdom. Already struggling with eight-hour power shortage which at times stretches up to 16 hours a day, the country is faced with a severe economic crisis.

The Indian diaspora in the US has been instrumental in deepening and strengthening India-US relations and will continue to do so in the future, says State Senator Ellen Roberts from Colorado Legislature and Minnesota State Representative Paul Thissen.

South Asia is one of the most populous region in the world, representing about 24 per cent of the world's population. Most countries in the region are in various stages of economic development, and aspire for regional economic integration.

India's agricultural growth had not been at the targeted level of 4 per cent in the past few years, but it was 4.6 per cent in the last quarter. Due to a good monsoon, the agricultural growth rate is likely to be higher at around 4.9 per cent. It will lead to higher demand for goods and is likely to give a fillip to industry this year.

After a successful launch in January this year in Berlin, the Economic Policy Forum, a new alliance of think tanks from emerging economies and selected developed economies, met at a conference on 'Resources Policy: Energy and Environment.' The meeting also facilitated an initial conversation on 'The Prospects for Regional Integration.'

The main culprit for the sharp rise in the current account deficit is the increase in gold imports and the hefty payment for oil imports. People are buying gold because they are apprehensive about the outlook on inflation. They think of gold as a reliable asset whose value has appreciated the most in the past few years.

It is interesting to note the accommodations that China made in its educational system to inspire its exponential growth in economic and defence capability. Its educational reforms aimed at transitioning China from a manufacturing hub to a leader in innovation. Today China has the largest network of primary education in the world.

Saying that there is a proven link between the two types of terrorists - sectarian and Taliban -- Maj. Gen. Mahmud Durrani stresses the need for carrying out educational reforms and popularising a counter-narrative to Taliban's interpretation of Islam.

The combination of high food inflation, general inflation and lack of sufficient job opportunities due to slow growth in the manufacturing sector can spell disaster for a highly populated country like India.

These are not cheerful times for South Block in its dealings with neighbours or nations as distant as Italy. But there is a whole range of countries, in the Arab world which have traditionally been warm to New Delhi and who have been sending senior envoys to plead their respective cases and seek Indian support bilaterally and in multilateral forums.

Egypt and India have long had good relations with each other. Over the last few years, however, both nations have tended to be preoccupied elsewhere and their bilateral relationship has been left untended.

Even though the Egyptian army has refrained from taking over governance in the interim period, analysts say the fear of repeating the same mistakes are legitimate. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether or not this political transition will have a long-lasting impact on Egypt's nascent democracy.

What are Catherine Ashton and William Burns up to in Cairo? How can they convince a legally elected President overthrown by a discredited Army to share power and work together?

On New Year's Day, 2015, just before Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad and a week before the killings at the Paris-based Charlie Hebdo magazine office,

During a discussion on the critical phase of the post-revolutionary period in the Egyptian political system and society, a major part was focused on the nature of demands the discontented Egyptians had when they took to the streets in 2011.

Recognising the critical nature of the situation in Egypt, and the role that a successful free and fair elections will have as a stabilizing factor in the establishment of a 'new' Egypt, Observer Research Foundation invited Justice Hatem Bagato,

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been engaged in significant diplomatic activism since he took office. He has met with regional leaders from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE and has emerged as a key pillar in Riyadh's attempts to consolidate a Sunni bloc in the region.

The BRICS Academic Forum community agreed that the existing global governance architecture did not reflect the realities of the 21st century.

India’s 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, which empowered local self-governments (Panchayati Raj Institutions) and reserved one-third of electoral seats in these bodies for women, has elevated women’s participation in rural governance. India is among the foremost countries for women’s participation in local governments, with over 1.45 million women shaping local decision-making. Women leaders are a critical link between local governance, s

A day after the Myanmar elections, conflict started between the army and a faction of the Karen ethnic armed group, pushing thousands of Karen villagers into Thailand. This incident does not suggest smooth beginning for the country's political transition and the possibility of more such conflicts cannot be ruled out

The strategy of the 16-party United Iraqi Alliance is to institutionalise Shia majority and defer confrontation with the U.S. to a later stage.

While Elections-2007, which returned the ruling BJP and Chief Minister Narendra Modi to power against the expectations of the English language media in the country, it only helped focus on what has now come to be termed as the 'Gujarat model of development'.

At the heart of the debate on electoral reforms lies the vexed issue of campaign finance reform. There are four fundamental questions that need to be answered to understand this conundrum. A related but standalone issue is that of state funding of elections.

With electronic snooping here to stay, the larger question is not of ethics or privacy, but of regulation, protection and the provision of strong legal remedies