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Experts say mere compliance with an international cyber security standard does not ensure that a product being used in a CII is protected from invasion. Threat analysis, mitigation systems and assessment practices need to be adopted to attain total protection of CII.

Though GDP growth in India may be less than China's, there are not so many problems that the government is facing except perhaps the latest problem of accelerated insurgency by the Maoists. Like China, India should also be worried about reducing the glaring inequality of incomes and balanced development between the rural and urban areas.

Even if GDP growth rises in India, there will be growing inequalities unless there are strong policies aimed at the uplift of the vulnerable sections and the rich are taxed in an efficient and judicious manner. There should be some insurance against unemployment and sickness which will enable low income families to live with dignity.

It's heartening to note that the two rounds of talks between the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Government on finding a political solution to the vexatious ethnic issue have gone off well over the past weeks.

With the Supreme Court directing the Centre and the State Governments to create a National Police Commission and State Security Commissions to improve and monitor the functioning of the police system, and seeking a time-bound compliance scheme, time is ticking away for the Executive branch. The Supreme Court 'directives' of September 22, 2006 were contained in the judgement in the case of 'Prakash Singh vs Union of India and Others'.

The Centre's much touted 'Sarva Shiksha Abhyan' Programme has failed to meet its initial ideals because of many reasons, mainly "low teacher-to-pupil ratio in several States and "Minorityism" and "irregular monitoring of the facilities", according to former Vice-Chancellor of Bharatidasan University, Dr S Muthukumaran.

The Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, managed to present a fairly balanced Union Budget. There were no big unforeseen surprises and it was relatively measured given that we are in a pre-election year. It is hard to ignore that the global economy continues to be in turmoil.

Big ticket reforms promised by Mr. Narendra Modi are likely to resume stalled projects and revive business climate. However, if India is to return to its erstwhile double digit growth, the importance of banking sector reforms cannot be overstated.

Terror attacks cannot be avoided, whatever be the security grid. But repeated major attacks send a signal about our preparedness and abilities. Capabilities must be enhanced and sharpened to make the adversary pay a price. The army and security forces must introspect how such attacks take place.

The National electronic Governance Plan (NeGP) has more or less got all the right ingredients. It just needs to be mixed in the right proportions.

India¿s neighbourhood is on the boil. Pakistan is struggling to resolve its self-imposed dilemma of balancing politically aroused religious extremism and calls for domestic stability and international civility. Bangladesh seems all set to follow the Pakistani model if the series of bomb blasts all over the country last month were any indication.

Agriculture is one area in which the US wants a level-playing field. As the world is recovering from the financial crisis, new rules are being set for the benefit of those who have not done well. India and China have to watch out against the neo-protectionist policies of the West.

Regular communication with India and other host countries should be re-evaluated by Nepal, which is economically viable for the country in the long run, as it has to survive a major chunk of its economy on remittances.

Among the many areas of cooperation and assistance between India and Nepal, a very important one is that of power. Nepal has a huge potential for generating hydropower but is constrained due to the lack of supporting infrastructure as well as its geography.

Political parties in Nepal should preserve at any cost the newly-found consensus. All other contentious issues must be handed over to an independent body to deal with. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Disappearances Commission should be formed without delay to address the issues of grievances.

This paper analyses the debate surrounding federal restructuring in Nepal and the position taken by various political stakeholders. It argues that an early political consensus on federalism is imperative; otherwise, the country may slip into greater ethnic conflict. Nepal is currently experiencing perhaps one of the most turbulent phases in its contemporary political history. In 2008, Nthe 240-year-old institution of monarchy—for long seen a

India's flagship economic diplomacy programme, the grant of Lines of Credit (LOC), has had immense success in expanding the country's development cooperation around the world. In the African region, for instance, countries have found LOCs to be appropriate alternatives to traditional development assistance. LOCs are a popular tool among countries looking to fund their development goals. Closer to home, Nepal has received more than $1 billion in d

By most indications, India has arrived at a principled affirmation of net neutrality; the country must now turn its attention to its regulatory aspects. This essay examines whether the Competition Commission of India (CCI) can assume the primary role in enforcing net neutrality. It will trace the Commission?s short history to determine whether it has adequate jurisdiction and the strength of precedent to regulate the internet.

It may not mean much in terms of substance. Symbolic as it may seem, the more recent Spanish re-identification with the Franco-German European combine in the post-Iraq War era still has a message for the world. It has sent out fresh signals that multi-polarity is still alive and kicking, and a 'New World Order' may be yet to emerge years after the 'Cold War' ended - and is still going through the inevitable processes.

The visit has been mutually beneficial, especially with the signing/renewal of MoUs, adapting the Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership vision, and India’s offer of financial assistance.

The onus of striking a balance between price affordability and environmental sustainability with regard to the fashion industry lies on the shoulder of the global community.

Kashmir is not new to ISIS flags being waved in the valley; however, the number of instances of this is negligible.

The Vietnamese are carefully balancing their ties. At one level they maintain healthy party-to-party ties with China and seek to boost trade and investment from China. On the other, they want to build better ties with the US, Japan and India to offset the Chinese.

India is giving peace a chance from a position of strength, after showing it can adequately defend its interests when challenged

Since the end of the Cold War, the world order has been in a state of dynamic transition. With unprecedented military, economic and technological preponderance, the US dominates the scene. Europe is reunited, at peace and engaged in consolidating its political unity and economic integration.

For the young and aspiring India, Narendra Modi signifies hope.

Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has not taken too long to affirm his strong desire to restore the balance of power in Asia amidst the rise of China and Beijing's political assertiveness.

Once the northern sea route from Europe to China becomes active, the strategic balance between the Indian and Arctic Oceans could change. Would this change be enough to mean easier or cheaper availability of oil and gas from West Asia to Europe, China and India? Would it reduce the strategic relevance of the Ocean to the West and mean a direct confrontation there between India and China?

Donald Trump’s idea of machine politics has not just conditioned his view of domestic politics, but also of international relations and US foreign policy

Emerging technologies have the potential to reshape our world. These innovations, also called disruptive technologies, have started to seep into the area of finding solutions for mobility. Is existing infrastructure prepared for such technological advancements? These and related themes were discussed in a roundtable organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) on 8 February 2016. The roundtable, Urban Transportation and Disruptive Technologies

India's challenges in negotiating a new framework for internet governance do not lend themselves to the old clichés of Indian diplomacy. Instead, India must strive to find the appropriate balance between the multiple antinomies that define the debate.

As the NDA government recalibrates India's Kashmir and Pakistan policies, Delhi must do a much better job explaining the logic behind the cancellation of the foreign secretary talks, widely seen as abrupt.It must let the international community, especially Pakistan's friends, including the US, China and Saudi Arabia, know India is not abandoning the peace process with Islamabad.

The concept of non-alignment originated during the Cold War as a ‘third way’ for nations wanting to remain neutral between the capitalist liberalism of the United States (US) and the communism of the Soviet Union. Officially founded during the Bandung Conference in Indonesia in April 1955, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) today has 120 member nations, all of them from the Global South. Every African country, except for South Sudan, is a member

The advancements that North Korea has made in terms of miniaturization of the nuclear device may be significant, particularly in the backdrop of long-range delivery vehicles. Having tested the longer-range missiles in recent months, threat to even the US has increased.

North Korea is among the states that stand out for their often defiant behaviour, divergent from typical diplomatic niceties and non-compliant with widely accepted international liberal norms and rules. This ‘uniqueness’ is seen, for instance, in the country’s nuclear weapons development programme, which has been the object of global attention since the early 1990s. North Korea has now extended this behaviour to the cyber domain, marked by

Tamil Nadu's river water cases may have relevance elsewhere in the country, now or later. Given the increasingly fragile nature of the federal structure as evidenced in this 'coalition era', effective measures need to be put in place lest the unity of the Union should be at stake.

Around 300 million people in India’s villages are still without power.

A nuclear expert has said Article IV of the NPT, which allows signatory countries to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, offers nations enough leeway to engage in weapon development in the absence of a comprehensive inspection mechanism and enforceable sanctions.

Since the early 1990's the nuclear non-proliferation regime, the centerpiece of which is the NPT, has grappled with an increasing number of threshold nuclear weapons states. The most recent case is of Iran which is believed to be pursuing a program for weapons of mass destruction. This is complicated by the fact that the US has a troubled relationship with Iran. This Issue recommends that the US and other western powers adopt a cooperative approa

Nuclear development in Iran has been an issue of great concern, not only to its neighbours in West Asia, but also for the global powers, in the interests of regional and global stability. At present, efforts are being made to find a solution to the crisis. The interim nuclear deal signed between Iran and P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany) on 24 November 2013, and the complementary Framework for Coopera

While the regulatory and safety structures of India's civilian nuclear programme have served the country well, they are in need of an upgrade. This paper examines the paths that lie ahead.

A closer reading of the joint statement issued by Chinese President Xi Jinping after a meeting with the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych last month, suggested China was merely offering boiler plate assurances to Ukraine.

India’s young women, now more educated and healthier than ever, are entering a phase of significant socio-economic progress. Many of these women also aspire to become social innovators. With gender parity in education and an increasing number of women in STEM fields, they have increased potential for social innovation. However, barriers such as gendered social norms, domestic and care responsibilities, the digital divide, safety concerns, limit

The world is experiencing a crucial shift; a new industrial revolution. This time, the colour is green, and the aim is a cleaner, more livable world for future generations. This industrial revolution will require unprecedented access to critical minerals like graphite, cobalt, lithium, and copper, used for some of the most advanced technologies of our time. Many of these minerals are scattered around the globe, and states that do not have the nat

India may be the world’s second largest producer of food, but it has its second largest undernourished population. Further, more than half of women in India suffer from anaemia, which is one of the reasons for the high rate of low-birth weight babies. An unbalanced diet and lack of food is directly linked to high rates of stunting, excessive weight, and death in children under five years of age. The Government of India has implemented programme

At the Obama- Xi talks, there has been some movement forward on the so-far intractable issue of Hydroflurocarbon (HFCs) emissions. Washington and Beijing have agreed to work together to eliminate the use of HFCs and persuade countries like India to join this effort. This could mean trouble for the tenuous alliance of BASIC.

Though the Japanese financial aid to Myanmar was used for purposes other than serving the interests of the people, the debt should be considered odious, and waived off to free the people from the woes of the debt incurred to aid their repression.

Like the US, India, too, is grappling with its own version of the fiscal cliff, the biggest challenge before Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. The UPA has exhausted its fiscal space even as growth has fallen to a 10-year low. The challenge is to effect a sharp reduction in the fiscal while not adversely affecting quality public investment, which can in turn give a fillip to private investment.