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ORF hosted a panel discussion on "Social Media and Politics", based on Shaili Chopra's book, The Big Connect: Politics in the Age of Social Media.
Hate speech, law and order, and mass panic are realities India's states have been living with for years. It would appear that, in dealing with free expression on the internet, India's politicians seem to err on the side of control. Perhaps the next election is not just about the economy, but equally about the Indian citizens freedom of expression and freedom from control.
Irrespective of whether AAP delivers on all its promises or is somehow muscled out of office in a few months, it has proven something to all Indian media watchers. Social media buzz has helped in shaping the agenda for India's largest and most important city, making a newly formed political party into a serious player in just over a year.
Aceh is a little known Northwest province of Indonesia that shot into world fame on December 26, 2004. It was the closest point of land to the epicenter of the massive 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that triggered a tsunami. The western coastal areas of Aceh, including Banda Aceh, the capital, were among the areas hardest-hit by the tsunami. Approximately 230,000 people were killed and 400,000 left homeless out of its total population of 4.01 milli
As signaled by the Myanmar operations against militants, the policy shift in New Delhi must be taken seriously. One can hope that it does have a salutary effect on the extremist elements within the Pakistani establishment and the jihadi organisations located in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir also.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi waived agricultural loans and provided cash transfers. It won the Assembly election earlier this month by a landslide.
A consignment of over 100 tonnes of explosives, carried in six shipping containers. The ship was bound for Bander Abbas in Iran where the consignment was to be unlaoded and moved overland from Iran to Jaranz in Afghanistan since Pakistan does not permit such cargo to be sent from India over its territory. The consigment was of commercial grade explosives meant for use by Border Road Organization (BRO) for road construction.
India appears to have successfully climbed into the category of a nuclear "have," overcoming the divisions enshrined in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and enforced fervently by its adherents. However, as India prepares to argue its case for entering the export control regimes, it will find that the new "status" will bring contentious new issues, which will demand careful consideration.
This Paper analyses South Africa's position as a member of both BRICS and IBSA, especially the broader strategic implications arising out of its membership of the two organisations.
As the pressure on the new government in Jakarta increases to overtly declare its status against the Chinese in the South China Sea, it also risks falling into the 'extended coercive diplomacy' strategy of the Chinese which focuses on the coercion of an adversary aligned with the US.
China must now worry about its international reputation if it flagrantly refuses to do anything and remains rigid in its approach to the SCS dispute.
The South China Sea is seeing increasing tension amongst the claimants. The Second Thomas Shoal is the latest addition to Beijing's 'Salami Slicing' strategy of slowly acquiring small reefs and islands to consolidate its contested claim.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to South Korea has further strengthened and expanded India-Korea strategic and economic ties. Modi's call to take the bilateral relationship to a higher level was responded positively by the South Korean leadership.
South Korea has to be realistic in its approach to North Korea, according to a Korean scholar. He says South Korea still has time to negotiate as North Korea is still far from possessing "tactically meaningful nuclear devices".
The recent South Korea-EU FTA (or the KOREU FTA) is more of a steal for the Koreans than the Europeans. While it will have a 0.08 per cent impact on the European economy, it will have a 0.84 per cent impact on the Korean economy.
The combination of Indian demography, Korean technology, its value for money aspects, and the government support has made Korean companies in India quite successful, according to the Consul-General of the Republic of Korea in Chennai, Mr. Kim Kyungsoo.
Beyond 2015, South-South cooperation will have to increase and continue to support developing countries, with a special emphasis on poor and low-income countries in Asia and Africa facing sustainable development challenges.
With the Japanese crisis triggering worldwide re-thinking on the feasibility of pursuing nuclear energy to meet growing global energy demands, it is time that India, US and others looked at the option of Space Based Solar Power (SBSP).
As efforts to develop an ICoC accelerate, states need to come up with constructive ways of debating this issue. We cannot let this issue become a stumbling block that impedes progress on the code as a whole, particularly when the immediate impact of the offending language is arguably neutral.
The Japanese perspective on the Space Code is based on its diplomatic and technological concerns, not on its military and security needs. Since MoD is not engaged in the process of decision-making for the Code, it would be difficult to assume that Japan would commit to the Code for security purposes.
Australia has announced that it supports the Space Code of Conduct initiative sponsored by the European Union. A question that might well be asked is why should Australia care about such matters?
Space debris, traffic management and orbital frequency being issues that concern both India and the US, this ideally should be on the agenda in future US-India endeavours. It might be good for both the countries if they can engage in shaping this debate that would give them ownership of the issue.
Precisely because India has an interest in the normative process and institutionalising a space code, it is important for New Delhi to sit on the high table as an active party shaping the debate.
With the U.S. having shut down one of its major Space situational awareness networks, major Spacefaring powers need to make it a priority to contemplate possible solutions to track satellites and orbital debris on a continued basis.
At the launch of the ORF Kalpana Chawla Annual Space Initiative, experts felt that space is unlikely to become an exception to the security-seeking nature of the international system. They felt States should accept space militarisation as a reality and develop institutions to regulate its use for both peaceful and military purposes.
Space, as a true global commons, must be protected for safe, secure and uninterrupted access. India and China, along with other Spacefaring powers, must therefore utilise every opportunity to push for developing norms of responsible behavior, including strengthening measures in the area of active debris removal and on-orbit satellite servicing.
The defence and foreign ministers of Japan and the US, meeting under the bilateral consultative committee, have decided to revise the 1997 Guidelines for US-Japan Defence Cooperation to make sure that the alliance continues to maintain its credibility and effectiveness in deterring conflict in Asia-Pacific.
Prime Minister Manmohan?s Singh's visit to Myanmar helped launch the construction of an enduring economic and political relationship between the two nations.
Instead of amending the AFSPA, putting the military in harm's way and then watching it unravel, the political class must have the willpower to send the military back to the barracks and let the civilian Government do its job.
Election funding is the mother of all corruption in India. Without much needed clarity in regulation of election funding or consideration of state provision of election expenses, driving out corruption in public life would be an impossible dream.
Ever since the start of the insurgency in Kashmir, the Pakistani intelligence agencies have constantly raised, mutated, emasculated and even extirpated the so-called jihadi groups active in Kashmir. The dependence of the Jihadis active in Kashmir on Pakistan for training, logistics, arms and ammunition and most of all sanctuaries, has been exploited to the hilt by the Pakistani establishment.
The Burari session of the Congress, NDA rally, JPC-PAC sparring, onion and scams, are all building up to a lively election season beginning early next year - Tamilnadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Pondicherry, Assam, leading to UP elections in 2012 and the General Elections in 2014.
A spurt in domestic demand can prove to be the most important impetus for growth of the Indian economy in 2015-16. Then India will not have to be reliant entirely on export led growth. China is also following this strategy as its dependence on the global economic forces have gone beyond its control.
