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PM Modi's 'Make in India' is a grand idea to reboot the ailing manufacturing sector. But the success of this programme will largely depend on creating an enabling ecosystem for manufacturing. This would require serious reforms in taxation.

The biggest challenge in dealing with terrorism is the 'double-standard' approach that many nations, including the US, at the policy-level internationally, according to Dr K V S Gopalakrishnan, former Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

BRICS is surely much more than merely catchy acronym. While countries across the globe share a number of common interests, the order of priorities differs. Today, BRICS nations find that their order of priorities on a number of external and internal issues which affect their domestic environments is relatively similar.

President Mohammed Morsi was ousted from power by the military on Wednesday and has now been placed under house arrest along with many members of the presidential team. This announcement was met by cheers from the public.

The relative calm in the major Russian cities was broken last November when a bombing attack derailed the Nevsky Express -- a high-speed train plying between Moscow and St Petersburg

For Mongolia, Russian investments & cooperation between the two nations create a more competitive market in Mongolia & reduce its dependence on Chinese exports

The recent Indian government's decision to equip 800 police stations in 80 cities with radiation monitors is a clear indication of how serious the threats posed by chemical, biological and radioactive (CBR) weapons is being taken.

In agreeing to explore with Pakistan a final settlement of the Kashmir question as part of a normalisation of bilateral relations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has pushed the India-Pakistan dialogue into what could be an exciting, if not decisive, phase.

The India-Japan partnership has matured into an important component of the new security and economic architecture of the Indo-Pacific region. For a long time, the partnership was centered on economic matters. But it has diversified to cover a wide spectrum of interests including security, counter terrorism, sea-lanes, UN reforms, energy security and climate change.

A study undertaken by ORF on the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) found that there is a need to work on the loopholes of the scheme and take corrective measures for its better implementation.

The Indian parliamentary delegation's visit to Sri Lanka was not expected to fast-track a solution to the ethnic issue. Yet, it has facilitated continued Indian engagement on the subject with various stake-holders, the Government, the TNA and the UNP Opposition.

Nepal needs to be proactive in safeguarding the tourism industry centred around Mount Everest

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is popularly known as Bangabandhu or Friend of Bengal. He became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh in 1972. He was a close friend of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Mullah Omar's latest statement shows that despite his amicability to the reconciliation process, the prospects for the new Afghan president to achieve a breakthrough with the Taliban are quite remote.

Instead of dealing with the Mullaperiyar dam controversy as a geo-political conflict, it should be tackled as an institutional, legal and administrative failure in the region. Equitable distribution of the benefits of the shared resource is not an impossible task to achieve.

It makes more sense to enable domestic multi-brand retailers to become strong and see how they develop the village infrastructure and supply chains. It would be risky to usher in oligopolistic global retailers without any strings attached and allowing them to take a big slice of India's huge retail market.

New security challenges confront India today. Newer areas of conflict and contestation are emerging on the horizon. These challenges call for dynamic and autonomous response mechanisms.

As the Pakistani People's Party (PPP) Government struggles to get the Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) passed into legislation, an international team of IMF experts are scheduled to meet with political parties this week to be the mediators for a much-needed consensus.

The future of the internet is by no means simple, and that the deeper the analysis became, the more complicated it would be, according to Vint Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google.

For long we have been fed lies. Mumbai has no scarcity of houses and the key to the truth lies in using digital technology to unlock the city's housing potential.

The coordinated serial bombings in Mumbai on July 13, 2011, have raised serious questions about India's counter-terrorism (CT) policies which rely more on technology enablers and not as much on robust intelligence gathering and analysis at the local as well as national level.

Terrorism follows no rules and is not likely to disappear suddenly. Counter-terrorism can be harsh but is required to follow some rules. We need state-of-the-art intelligence but we need the freedoms. It is always going to be a difficult choice.

The demolition man has been halted. It seems that Mumbai will have to wait for that gleaming, polished look. Its dream to look in the mirror and say Shanghai has been abruptly broken.

Mumbai still continues to enjoy its position as the country's commercial capital thanks largely to the infrastructure advantage it is blessed with, which was progressively built since the days of the British Raj keeping in mind the future expansion of the city as India's trade and business hub.

Municipal governance has once again taken centre stage in Indian polity. There is a current re-shaping of narratives within the national government to make local governance effective. It is realised that deficit in the delivery of urban services results in chaos, which forms the basis for citizens doubting the functioning of the local government.

Mohammad Akhlaq's horrific killing in Dadri, in western Uttar Pradesh, just outside Delhi, is an act of infamy. Whatever the circumstances or the alleged provocation, it ceases to matter when a person is done to death with such barbarism.

The process of reforms in the electoral system to ensure electoral integrity has began, but much remains to be achieved. Ultimately, electoral integrity could be restored only by the will of the people and it is in people's power to do so.

India and Pakistan are currently engaged in a war of attrition through the use of the soft power of the electronic media and skilful psychological warfare in the hope of thereby making each other's traditional position on the Kashmir issue increasingly untenable and thus making possible a forward movement in their bilateral negotiations on the subject.

When Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf speaks, he gets lots of attention in Washington DC and other capitals in the western world. For the past three years, he has been saying that he was determined to root out terrorism from the world. He was quickly dubbed as a staunch ally by the Bush administration.

Not only is former President Pervez Musharraf likely to face trial for treason but also are others who abetted the crime - suspending the Constitution. This could draw in Army chief Kayani himself into the trial, if not as a co-accused but as a prosecution witness.

President Pervez Musharraf¿s recent trans-national tour¿four western nations and three African nations¿has significant implications for him, and Pakistan.

Disappointed at the lack of progress in resolving the Kashmir issue through the Indo-Pak composite dialogue, Gen Pervez Musharraf is reported to have said, ¿Let me give another bombshell, I propose, one way of moving forward.... Take three towns, Srinagar, Kupwara and Baramula. Let all the military move out of the cities to the outskirts. (We) will ensure there is no militancy inside....

The two assassination attempts in quick succession on Gen.Pervez Musharraf, the President of an Islamic state, who is a key ally of the United States in the war in Afghanistan, came at a time when the US-led coalition forces in Iraq were rejoicing over the capture of Saddam Hussein, the enemy number two only after Osama bin Laden.

The October 8 earthquake devastated large parts of Kashmir on both sides of the border, and left thousands dead and millions homeless. It also exposed the Pakistan Army's abysmal lack of experience in handling civilian disasters, a clear absence of higher leadership in coordinating and conducting rescue and relief operations in areas that have been traditionally trodden by the troops.

The internal security situation in southern Thailand, which has seen a recrudescence of long dormant Muslim anger against the Government since the beginning of this year, has again taken a turn for the worse with the death of six Muslims allegedly due to firing by the security forces outside a police station in the Narathiwat province on October 25,2004,

The political weight of the Muslims is undeniable in Uttar Pradesh. With nearly 18% of the population, they potentially constitute one of the largest consolidated vote banks, notwithstanding the larger Hindu community, which is highly fragmented along caste and class lines.

The form of engagement between India and Africa should be defined by the idea of long-term mutual benefit and sustenance, and not merely by development and aid-giving.

Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh is currently visiting Myanmar which is only the second visit by an Indian PM in 20 years. Hopefully political exchanges at that level will be more frequent. It will always be in our interest that we should seek to economically integrate our eastern states with Myanmar.

As immediate neighbours, India and Myanmar have little choice but to engage each other closely. Such engagement needs understanding of each other's social and economic interests, and respect for each other's political and strategic concerns.

The upcoming by-elections in Myanmar on April 1 have generated a lot of hype and justifiable attention. The polls have also generated a lot of expectations, but may not deliver much in real terms. However, in terms of trends and moods, it could be a pointer to the future.

A delegation of Myanmar civil rights groups was of the view that civil society groups could be used as a catalyst for social change in their country. They hoped that the civil society would be able to play a critical role in further transforming the seemingly changing political system of the country.

The opening of Myanmar, which till recently was considered a black hole, has unfolded a new situation, with that country becoming an important bridge for India looking northwards, eastwards and into the Bay of Bengal region.

Whether the Bodh Gaya bombings are found to be linked to Myanmar's sectarian violence or not, the perpetual communal tension in Myanmar is doing no good for the country's future. An early resolution to the issue is in the interest of Myanmar and the region at large. Myanmar needs to take upon itself the responsibility of finding a lasting resolution to the sectarian violence sooner than later.

One needs to be cautious in pronouncing that the recent Myanmar Operation by the Indian army is a new, all-purpose security and counter-insurgency/counter-terrorism doctrine for every eventuality, circumstance and geography. In the case of Pakistan and the Kashmir theatre, for example, things will not be as simple.

The Kokang factor has long been a source of tension in China-Myanmar relations. The recent killing of Chinese farmers in Myanmar bombing has demonstrated that the role of the regional players needs to be brought to the fore, within the larger framework of international support in its peace process.

For most people, Myanmar's Sunday election is about change for the better. But there is much at stake than just winning. What impacts will the election have on the socio-political fabrics of the country at a time when there are growing societal divides on religious and ethnic lines.

Myanmar's military chief General Min Aung Hlaing's recent India visit is another significant step in Myanmar's military diplomacy. Myanmar knows its interest lies in keeping a balanced military engagement with major powers and it would be the last that would want a strategic rivalry of the great powers be played out in its country.