20843 results found
As South Asia faces an increasingly complex and expanding disaster risk landscape, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the systemic gaps in risk management. There is a need for a paradigm shift in disaster risk reduction—from a single-hazard, single-sector perspective to a multi-hazard, multi-sectoral, and systemic risk perspective supported by parallel risk financing measures. This brief examines the current gaps in the efficient operatio
Beyond the basic building blocks, for a hub to work effectively, its ‘ecosystem’ needs to function as an integrated system with feedback loops and
Considering that films and books, creator's freedom and that of the Press are not existential questions for which ready answers could still be found, whether enforceable or not, the answers too have to be in the realm of pragmatism.
The fault lies not with the game or its practitioners. It is a delightful sport, capable of arousing emotions even in the most die-hard cynic of the game. It has spawned legends, created folk tales out of ordinary mortals. And unlike football, it has never been a cause of war between two nations. This time it could.
Dr. Manmohan Singh's invitation to Pakistani President and the Prime Minister has a special relevance for a number of reasons. And Dr. Singh definitely deserves kudos for pushing the envelope for Indo-Pak peace, in spite of not being on the strongest political wicket himself.
There was space in Pakistan for open discourse upto the Zia period. It is from Zia's Pakistan that poets like Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Ahmad Faraz began to leave for other countries. From London, Farigh Bukhari wailed: "God, forgive me: these days it seems that Islam was only for tyrants and murderers like Yazid"
Immersive technology is a key part of the emerging Web 3.0. A prominent aspect of this evolution of the World Wide Web is the Metaverse, which aims to build a fully immersive and self-sustaining virtual shared space for humans to use as they would the physical world in all aspects of life. Existing concerns and debates on privacy, user protection, and the ethics of monetising platforms also extend to the Metaverse. This brief discusses the three
Obama's warning to Putin that there would be costs for the invasion of Crimea was not only empty, but the real cost in all this was to American credibility, once again. One can, therefore, expect both the US and Russia to assert their rights regardless of international law.
China is facing crises on multiple fronts. However, when it comes to the upcoming Party Congress, the show must go on.
The Observer Research Foundation, in partnership with the Center for Contemporary Conflict (CCC), Naval Post-graduate School, California, USA, and the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Pakistan undertook a project, Crisis and Escalation in South Asia: The 2002 India-Pakistan Military Standoff....
A quiet crisis is brewing in Europe, triggered by the BREXIT vote with its very cohesion is being threatened in the aftermath of the vote
The collapse of peace talks in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the latest blow for the mineral-rich east border zone with Rwanda and Uganda. The stalemate could re-ignite tensions not only with the rebels but also with Uganda which was trying to mediate an end to the conflict.
With Maldives again in the midst of political chaos, its former Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem says India can play a crucial role in taking the country out of the crisis by keeping a close watch on it and helping reform the judiciary to ensure that the Yameen administration does not kill off democracy.
The Mali crisis has attained added significance in view of the fact that many other African countries like Nigeria and Somalia are also facing the problem of terrorism. The weakness of the armed forces in most African nations encourages such rebel forces. This re-emphasises the urgent need for an efficient African Rapid Deployment Force.
Niger is quickly becoming a new flashpoint in great power competition as ECOWAS mulls military intervention in the wake of the coup in Niger
The unprecedented scale of the Hamas attack has shaken Israel and the consequences are likely to shake the Middle East.
The issue of migrant workers was one of the important topics for discussion when the Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha visited Myanmar on his first official visit on 9-10 October.
Speaking at an interaction with visiting former diplomats from Pakistan, at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, on April 7, 2005, Vice Admiral (Retired) K.K. Nayyar called for a complete "U-turn" in the policies of both India and Pakistan for normalising relations between the two neighbours.
The Teesta issue poses unique challenges to both India and Bangladesh. The growing involvement of China adds a geopolitical dimension to this problem
This paper offers a comparative study of India and China in higher-education reforms for the development of talent in artificial intelligence (AI), and in AI research. It analyses the AI development plans and strategies of the two countries, their automation readiness index, talent retention, and research output. The analysis is based on both primary and secondary sources including interviews, government and industry reports, and recognised ranki
Population can be an asset or a liability, depending on how India deals with it
As the digital finance sector is advancing at a breakneck speed, proper regulations need to be put in place.
जब ख़तरनाक रफ़्तार से डिजिटल वित्त सेक्टर आगे बढ़ रहा है,
Regulators around the world must address the faultlines in newer technology-led concepts like crypto that can reshape the global economy
While there is no explicit definition of cryptocurrencies under India’s regulatory framework, the focus is on investor protection, anti-money launde
The rise of China across a broad spectrum of power parameters is indisputable but the international community is concerned as to what kind of Beijing they will see in future. For one, given China's political culture and economic model, it is hard to see it emerging as the next US.
ICCR Director General Dr Suresh Goel says cultural diplomacy creates an additional space which softens the sharp edges of foreign policy, which is interest driven, thus fostering a favourable public opinion impacting foreign policy.
It has become fashionable to categorise Pakistan as a 'failed' state and paint a grim picture. The picture is far more complicated than this and there is more to the story than what we often hear.
Much of the internal conflict in Pakistan has centered on the question of national identity - what does it mean to be a Pakistani? This was the underlying theme of the round-table discussion on Current Events in Pakistan: Impact on Sindh and Balochistan organised by Observer Research Foundation on January 29 in New Delhi.
There is a consensus among intelligence officials, current and erstwhile, that the future challenges cannot be foreseen as they will emanate from the cyber world, space, the ocean, failed states and fundamentalism. The current intelligence system is woefully inadequate to meet these threats.
The nation-state will remain the fundamental unit of reckoning in the international system, but it will have to reckon, almost Brownian-motion-like, with other units and stakeholders in a fluid medium where disorder may have both permanence and legitimacy.
Unless strategic measures are undertaken to address Assam’s climate and disaster risks, the losses to the state will only continue to mount in the y
The history of the Planning Commission suggests that it was always an extension of the government's attitude towards the economy. This is not in itself a bad thing, but has been twisted an unfair criticism of the PC. Therefore, plans for the Niti Aayog and its working should be gauged very carefully.
The mass arrival of refugees could well cause the international community to contemplate a model where European troops take care of different sectors to keep the peace in the Mediterranean. But since European intervention will smack of re-colonisation, the ball will be tossed upto the UN Secretary General to devise a muscular UN Force.
One of the questions that neither the Bush administration nor the Musharraf government has so far investigated is the involvement of Pakistan's military in the proliferation activities of nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Experts warn that while governments are getting better at managing cyber and internet threats, adversaries may go after private sector systems, in the absence of active public-private cooperation.
Indias reliance on outer space has become critical in its social and economic growthstories in addition to its transformative impact in the national security context. With growingreliance comes vulnerability to adversarial attempts to harm Indias capabilities, particularlyfrom the new threat of cyber warfare. Even as countries including India have debated the need todevelop certain counter-space capabilities, such as demonstration of an ASAT capa
Cyber attacks are not a security challenge that can easily be eliminated. No kind of infrastructure is absolutely impregnable and the adverse impacts can at best be minimised by emphasising on risk containments, according to experts.
India needs to effectively counter the menace of China-Pakistan cyber collaboration as it has not just national security implications, but indeed implications for India’s democracy as a whole
The India Conference on Cyber Governance and Cyber Security, organised recently by ORF and FICCI, is the beginning of a strong forum that can debate India's policies, help mould its strategy and simultaneously address global challenges.
The Ministry of External Affairs, backed by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, will have to further streamline the efforts to address India's cyber concerns and also factor in India's impending interests in the global ICT trade.
The increased reliance on digital platforms have heightened the risk of cybercrime in the MSME sector. Cyber insurance can serve as a support system f
A generalist attitude towards terrorist propaganda on social media will not work. A strategic narrative communicating the other side of the story need
This paper investigates, in the context of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad, the burgeoning threats posed by cyber mercenaries acting as proxies for revisionist states bent on destabilising the institutions and societies of adversary nations. The paper offers essential definitions of what comprises cybersecurity threats, including cyber mercenaries, and delineates current trends. Drawing on open-source intelligence and insights from cy
Digital adoption, hastened globally by the COVID-19 epidemic, brought along with it both benefits and threats, including concerns of safety and security of the cyberspace. Current geopolitical dynamics, ongoing strategic and economic disputes, as well as attempts by authoritarian regimes to preserve power have allowed companies with malicious intent—known as ‘cyber mercenaries’—to develop and deploy offensive cyber capabilities. The tools
इंटरनेट को ‘वाइल्ड वेस्ट’ मान लेना गलती है. अब वक्त आ गया �
While the initiatives taken at the UN, including the draft code, could be viewed as a step forward, the clear differences in what the American and Russian sides seek to address through such a mechanism will remain a stumbling block.
