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In the past decade, Japan made certain critical changes in its defence and security policy. These include enhancing the country’s defence capabilities, introducing the right to collective self-defence, abandoning the ban on arms exports, strengthening its alliance with the United States, and promoting its vision of a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’. Japan has introduced these changes incrementally, as a response to changing strategic circumsta

Mumbai's public healthcare sector is approaching exhaustion. The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), despite its untiring efforts to provide affordable healthcare through its general hospitals and peripheral centres.

The manner in which to determine the relationship between India and Africa is two-fold: micro analysis and macro analysis. This includes focusing on economic and energy diplomacy, political and security engagement and pan-African projects and strategies, says Dr. Arndt Michael of the University of Freiburg, Germany.

This paper explores the status and the need for the United States (US) to have a port-led strategy in place. Further, it argues that a strong port-led strategy straddling economic concerns with security imperatives on the back of its vast coastline and unmatched global network of overseas bases for the US could strongly support its Indo-Pacific strategy. A close examination of existing port-focused strategies by the US, particularly its Navy, and

Nepal's former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has stressed on the need to develop "a joint approach" with India to exploit the huge hydro power potential of the country. He said Nepal has the potential of generating over one lakh megawatts of power.

In Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd v. Antrix Corporation Ltd, the Supreme Court of India has upheld the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order winding up Devas Multimedia Ltd on the grounds of fraud. Antrix is the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and Devas is a multimedia services company. The decision comes at a crucial time, as foreign investors of Devas are endeavouring to attach Indian assets

The use of drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), both for military and civilian purposes, has increased in India in the past decade. At the same time, counter-drone systems are also being developed to address the threats posed by UAVs. How effective are these counter-drone mechanisms? This brief explores this question, and offers suggestions for India to reduce the growing threat from drones. Any evaluation of the efficacy of anti-drone syst

The story of the Maotai town in the Guizhou province in South China is an interesting case study of developmental economics - how a relatively underdeveloped region was turned into a rich town.

Along with proposing new measures and initiatives, the Narendra Modi government should focus on completing the already proposed projects that would benefit the region like the implementation of the Kaladan Multimodal transit project with Myanmar.

Constructing a border of cooperation with Bangladesh should liberate India from one of major geopolitical constraints imposed on it by the Partition of Bengal. When he travels to Dhaka in the near future, Modi is in a position to unveil a genuine strategic partnership with Bangladesh.

Whatever be the academic arguments, the die has been cast in Dhaka for a definitive contest between the forces of progress and regression. The outcomes are likely to have a lasting impact on the subcontinent's political future and India's regional security environment. It is time Delhi's political classes paid some serious attention to the developments in Bangladesh.

There is a strong feeling that the signing of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Japan and India has not led to the full utilisation of the potential that exists for larger trade and investment. Further efforts should therefore be undertaken to realise those ends.

The reported ban on two television news channels in Uttar Pradesh has exposed the lack of rules when in face-offs between politicians (or perhaps, ruling politicians) and the media. There were earlier reports that the Central government had requested Google to take down posts that criticised it.

The US's war in Iraq is over but it has ended in a fiasco. Iraq is unstable and Iran is emerging as the strongest force in the region.

Elections will not be won or lost because of events in Sri Lanka, but Sri Lanka could be lost because of our electoral politics. Our PM's absence in Colombo at this juncture is akin to a public snub to Sri Lanka and the vacuum that we create and show little intention or urgency to fill, can only be filled by one country - China.

Terrorism in Chechnya has three major trajectories ' first, the terrorist campaign of the Chechens and others who are a part of the international terrorist network and who derive legitimacy from Islamic fundamentalism and whose fight is not just against the alleged oppression of the Russian state, but also to establish Islamic rule in Chechnya and to facilitate its integration with the pan-Islamic world.

China's decision to sell two additional nuclear power reactors to Pakistan has dimensions that need to be better understood. China is persisting with its internationally destabilizing proliferation activity.

India, like much of the rest of the world, is faced with the twin but opposing conditions of economic potential and social concerns that need to be negotiated to realise the digital dividends from artificial intelligence (AI) and achieve sustainable and balanced growth. AI systems involve layers of technological dependencies that necessitate and enable social and institutional interdependency between stakeholders, enabling conditions, and resourc

India will become a digital society. It is also deploying all the right pieces and infrastructure for a digital economy. The foundation for both will be the cloud ecosystem, which, however, needs to be protected through a robust policy and legal framework.

Social media’s impact on mainstream media, and the way people communicate with one another and disseminate information, has become a subject of serious study for journalists, academics and policymakers alike. While it has been a significant equaliser as a vehicle by which the fundamental right to freedom of expression is guaranteed everyone irrespective of class, creed or geography, these very same platforms are also becoming spaces where—in

People in smaller cities of India were more hopeful about the prospects of Digital India than the people in big cities which are traditionally thought of as 'tech savvy', according to a survey conducted by Observer Research Foundation.

The Gulf states are investing heavily in sovereign, sustainable, and secure data infrastructure, recasting data centres as engines of economic transformation, security resilience, and geopolitical influence.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, released the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (DPDP Rules) in early January this year and invited feedback by 5 March 2025. On 18 February 2025, MeitY organised a consultative session on the draft DPDP Rules; the event, held in New Delhi, was attended by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). Based on the consultative session and discussions wi

The Kashmir floods have exposed our communication faultlines. Why is there no disaster management plan in the case of a communication blackout? This is perhaps even more pertinent given that the remote corners of India, be they coastal, mountainous or otherwise, are not well connected to modern telecom networks.

E-commerce has made massive inroads in India’s retail sector: 220 million people are expected to shop online by 2025, and the industry is predicted to grow to INR 13,97,800 crore (US$200 billion) by 2027. Yet, about 90 percent of grocery retail trade in India are still driven by small-format traders and neighbourhood kirana (grocery) stores. The evolving retail scenario and changing consumer demands mean that these kirana stores must swiftly em

China’s “wolf warriors” are just responding to pressures that envoys everywhere are feeling in the age of social media.

Managing China is becoming a weightier challenge for the world, as the country’s economic, military and technological power grows. The challenge is more immense for India, given its border dispute with China and their geopolitical rivalry, overall. The relationship between the two Asian giants, also neighbours, went through a particularly troubled period in the last five years following the as-yet-unexplained Chinese incursions across the Line

The normalisation of extremist groups staking control of major States has had no clear policy response from most countries.

When Lang Lang, a resident of New York, was invited by the White House for a piano recital at the banquet for Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington DC on January 19, no one really bothered to check the music he would play.

Despite the Chinese government's repeated stress on disaster reduction and regards it as an important factor to realise the overall goal of sustainable development, more needs to be done on disaster management and prevention.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given enough reasons for President Pervez Musharraf to feel at ease. His unambiguous expression of not letting the peace process between the two countries flag should lay to rest speculations and allegations in Pakistan about India's commitment to peace in the region.

With the idea to dispel doubts about the India story abroad, Observer Research Foundation brought together the spokespersons of the two rival parties, the ruling Congress Party and the Opposition BJP, at a platform arranged by the US India Business Council (USIBC) in Washington on 18 September.

As Pakistan struggles to prod the Taliban to act on militant groups, its dual policy of supporting extremist groups has come back to haunt it

The US-India strategic partnership is rooted in the Indo-Pacific region. Nonetheless, developments in Europe, such as the war in Ukraine, have implications for US-India cooperation. The Ukraine conflict could distract the US, diverting its attention to Europe, and impeding its efforts to build Indian strategic capacity. Differing responses to the war can also create tensions between the two countries, as the US seeks to punish Russia, and

The contest between China and Japan over tiny islands, Senkaku in Tokyo and Diaoyu in Beijing, has brought the militaries of the two nations face to face on a routine basis. Japan and South Korea and Japan and Russia are also squabbling over small islets in the Sea of Japan.

Following the defeat of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in the House of Councillors' election, Prime Minister Naoto Kan's position has become much weaker and looks very much similar to that of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007.

At the Annenberg summit, Xi Jinping, quite apparently, was signalling China's rise and preparing for a bigger role but are the US and the world ready for a lesser US role? Also is there a meaningful Annenberg Declaration that might be Asia's Yalta? Can Russia be ignored in this calculus?