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The Pakistani establishment is trying to muzzle dissent within Pakistan — and without.
Pakistan's persistent anti-India stance and unreliable dialogue offers from the civilian leadership in Islamabad have rendered the relationship insign
Not only do there exist practical difficulties in pursuing a common BRICS currency, but the other constituents of the bloc may consequently end up inc
If hydro power potential of 150,000 MW is to be realised by the end of 2030 as assumed in the Integrated Energy Policy 2006, the government must ensure that policies address the crucial stumbling block of regulatory, social and environmental instability.
Where did the States go wrong? Is it not the responsibility of the Central and State government to protect the rights of the migrant workers as enshri
The explosion in the midst of a Shia congregation at a shrine in Islamabad on May 27,2005, which resulted in the death of 25 Shias and injuries to about 80 others has been attributed by the local police to an unidentified suicide bomber. No organisation has so far claimed responsibility for the blast,
With the first-ever local council elections concluding without incidents, Maldives has completed the first phase of multi-party democracy introduced with the presidential polls of October-November 2011.
The recent killings of minorities, migrant workers, and local police officers in the Kashmir Valley have led to an impression that the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir is once again becoming uncontrollable. On ground, however, the situation is said to be firmly under the control of the Indian State. This does not mean that terrorism has been eliminated; small terrorist groups continue to operate and attack soft targets, heightening the sen
Whilst Jeb Bush, belonging to a family with two former US Presidents, still hasn't won the primaries, he has managed to conjure a lot of enthusiasm around his candidacy. Even though he has not emerged as the favourite of the GOP's large block of more moderate supporters, junior Bush is often been called the front-runner.
If the Modi government can restore the ceasefire as part of the resumption of talks with Pakistan, strengthen the existing CBMs across the LoC and unveil new ones, the external dimension to J&K could change for the better and create a conducive environment for the ambitious internal agenda for development articulated by the BJP and PDP.
Located between France and Spain in southwestern Europe is a place called Andorra; 468 kilometres in all, 2.5 times the size of Washington DC with a population of 69,150, predominantly Roman Catholics, 43 per cent of whom are Spanish and rest either Andorrans, French or Portuguese.
The results of the Urban Local Body polls show that the BJP and the Congress, piggybacking on the boycott of the two main parties of Kashmir valley, m
Despite the official narrative of a peaceful Jammu and Kashmir, the ground realities depict a rather different story.
It is important to examine how female peacekeepers themselves experience gender and other relations while on duty where the power differential in relation to locals is in their favour, but remains different in relation to their male colleagues.
India’s increasing economic and political clout has prompted a spurt in the volume and complexity of its overseas development assistance. Looking ahead, the largest incremental capital for global development and infrastructure beyond what exists today will also come from India as the value of its economy grows from $2 trillion to roughly $7 trillion by 2030. However, the DPA – India’s development cooperation agency – is yet to assume an a
Lebanon, the smallest nation in continental Asia, is also one of the most populous. A relatively stable, secure and democratic state, its geographical location and the growing regional crisis are leading to pressing internal and external threats that Beirut must face. This issue brief examines these contemporary threats to Lebanese security: the Syrian Civil War, the rise of the Islamic State, domestic terrorism and sectarianism, and the nation's
While the coronavirus lockdown has certainly exacerbated the economic collapse and the protests that engulfed the country in October caused panic —
We can only speculate on the causes of their present westward shift in the Daulat Beg Oldi area. But one thing is clear: the central locomotive of Chinese policy remains Tibet. Despite massive investments in the region, large numbers of Tibetans remain disaffected.
Women representatives have played a critical role in redefining local priorities, but proper measures need to be adopted to address the existing chall
It is apparent that local government bodies played a big role in controlling the pandemic, therefore they should be further empowered
Religious terrorism isn’t about poverty, local issues, schools one studies in or the religious milieu in which someone grows up.
The Chinese government is misusing the data collected under the pretext of public health interventions to suppress all forms of dissent.
Lack of strategic vision in the NDA has caused it to fail at economic management
Can the delineation between sovereignty and sovereign rights facilitate the adoption of measures to de-escalate tensions in the South China Sea?
Balanced urbanisation and rural development is an urgent requirement in China, if it has to fulfill its goals of sustainable development. For this purpose, budgetary allocations and farmers' support have to be tweaked, along with agricultural modernisation.
The French President has rightly said that the bloc needs to assert sovereignty over its political and security decisions
How is Maharashtra faring as compared to other states — and what is the status of the spread of COVID-19 within the state?
The seventh of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. This challenge is acute in the African continent, home to large populations without access to electricity and clean cooking fuel. This brief explores the scope for cooperation between India and Africa in not only achieving SDG 7, but while doing so, also considering the targets set by SDG 5 to
A sustained higher budgetary allocation to education sector has largely been devoted to meet the needs of core segments mainly the strengthening of ai
Three weeks well into the constitutional deadlock that has stalled governmental functioning an parliamentary proceedings alike, there is no end in sight still to the political crisis overwhelming the Maldivian archipelago. The infant democracy, which otherwise used to be inward-looking until the politico-constitutional changes of 2008, cannot allow to fail itself - and its political leaders cannot try to have it both ways, either.
A legislative deadlock involving the Executive and Parliament on the one hand, and the Executive and the Judiciary on the other, both leading to a serious and a series of constitutional crisis kept Maldivian politics and politicians on their toes for most of 2010.
Having kicked off the constitutional deadlock in Maldives, by getting the whole Cabinet resigned, President Nasheed needs to find a wayout of the imbroglio. A snap poll, either for the President or Parliament, or both, are the possibilities.
Addressing the 42nd annual celebrations of the bilateral relations organised by the Friendship Association of India and Maldives (FAIM) in Male on Friday, local media reported outgoing President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik as saying as much:
The current political situation in Maldives seems to have descended into further chaos as the Parliament and the EC face a deadlock
It is anybody's guess why Maldives' Election Commission did not choose to move the Supreme Court, particularly when legal cases of the current nature has the potential to reset the poll-clock, for which there is no provision in the Constitution.
In Maldives, the development following former President Nasheed seeking refuge in Indian Embassy after an arrest warrant from a local court has raised a number of issues -- legal, political and diplomatic. Presidential polls are due in the country in September this year.
Now that the nation has regained some semblance of order and some of its lost direction, it is time that the divided polity in Maldives sat down and discussed pending issues for a political solution aimed at breaking what is increasingly becoming a passive deadlock.
The immediate task on hand is for the MDP to stay united and face the 10 April local council elections and ensure a sweep well ahead of the presidenti
The rapid uptake of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military in the past couple decades has been accompanied by a slow but gradual build-up in attempts to understand how these AI systems work to achieve better results in military operations. The idea behind what is called ‘eXplainable AI’ (XAI), and the technologies driving it, are a manifestation of this trend. The question, however, is if XAI in its current form is the solution
This brief analyses the manifestos of the Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party in the past four Lok Sabha elections. It introduces the concept of “falsifiability” to evaluate whether promises made in manifestos can be verified, to begin with; it then outlines the poll promises that are falsifiable across various sectors. The authors examine whether or not the promises were fulfilled, and if not, if they were carried aga
India’s geography lends itself favourably to the cultivation and expansion of maritime ties. Yet, for much of the country’s contemporary history, the country has overlooked these opportunities. As the world reengages with its vast ocean spaces, India too, has become more willing and capable of participating in the maritime domain. This paper outlines the evolution of the country’s maritime outlook as it shifts its largely continental-orient
In recent years, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO) region have emerged as vital security and developmental partners in the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)—thereby gaining prominence in India’s foreign policy priorities. This paper examines India’s bilateral and multilateral engagement with the SIDS of the SWIO region, and argues that India should consider the concerns of the
At the current rate of urbanisation, India would have taken two and a half centuries to urbanise to the current US levels, as against two centuries fo
While the three main contending parties have proposed diverse solutions to address the problems of Delhi, the residents seem low on enthusiasm
Living conditions in fast-growing rural areas across India are deteriorating due not only to the impact of urbanisation but the lack of capacity of the local governments to manage such transitions. This brief makes the case for changing the administration status of such areas from “rural” to “urban”, establishing urban governance mechanisms therein, and making them resilient. For identification of such areas, the state government’s opin
On May 25, four terrorists (initial reports suggested almost a dozen armed men) scaled the perimeter walls of PNS Mehran, Pakistan's only naval air base, located in Karachi. Guided by their commander through hi-tech wireless systems,
The growing concern for mental health has only heightened in the past two years, amidst the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. This brief tells the story of Africa where, in many communities, the subject of mental health can often be a taboo. It discusses the role of the internet in helping individuals manage their mental health issues, while at the same time, posing its own challenges, especially those related to extensive use of social media.
After 70 years of being constrained, following its defeat in two world wars and being partitioned into East and West Germany, a unified Germany is today poised to be a great power again, having overcome its historical legacy of militarism, and the Holocaust. And German Chancellor Merkel's visit underlines the changed dynamics of the relationship between India and Germany.
From initiating schemes to aid migrant workers to deciding on budget allocations, information is integral to the development of effective state respon
