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US Congress passes 4 crucial bills; govt keenly aware of geopolitics in Indo-Pacific.
Once a niche term, Blue Economy (BE) has matured into a popular concept in marine governance discussions in the Indo-Pacific region. As land resources reach their limits, governments in the region are keen to harness the ocean’s wealth for economic projects. Policymakers widely believe the blue paradigm allows marine activities to be earth-friendly and sustainable, and thereby guaranteeing a more equitable future. Recent developments, however,
The January 20, 2012 attacks in Nigeria's northern city of Kano, which left at least 185 police and residents dead, was the biggest attack carried out by Boko Haram, a Sunni extremist group which owed allegiance to al Qaida and called for an Islamist rule.
An era of Taliban rule, followed by the 18-year-long war between the United States and the Taliban, has left Afghanistan in massive disorder: the country’s infrastructure is dilapidated, the quality of life is poor, and basic amenities such as healthcare are absent. While the post-Taliban Government of Afghanistan has tried to rebuild the healthcare system, it remains largely dependent on foreign aid. Over the years, India has tried to help reb
India has achieved better Covid-19 vaccine coverage than most other countries in its income class, aided mainly by domestic production capacity and the government’s decision to offer the vaccines to the adult population for free. There are stark sub-national differences, however, in the pace and coverage of the vaccine rollout. This special report tells the story of the district of Raigarh in Chhattisgarh—one of the low-income, Empowered Acti
The British government is expected to complete its review of the issues relating to 5G over the next month or so and its spokespersons have said that
New Delhi must take full advantage of the geopolitical opportunity that the Japanese connection offers us. As democracies, both India and Japan are open societies and committed to a liberal world order. Through visits and agreements, the two sides have now laid the infrastructure for their strategic partnership.
Rather than relying on a single nation to handle the majority of HADR engagements in the Bay of Bengal region, a unified regional approach should be e
‘Us vs. Them’ narratives fuel conflicts and make them thrive. This brief examines the role of such narratives in impeding the path to peace and stability in Kashmir, especially in the current era of so-called ‘new militancy’ that is aided by social media. This brief explores how India should build a broad, collective identity in Kashmir—one that will supersede radicalism and a desire for secession. It outlines a history of past and curr
Immediate political attention needs to be paid to the economic woes of Argentina that have been exacerbated by the lingering effects of the pandemic a
Open Digital Telehealth Initiative will not only aid the pace of growth of healthcare services across India but will also help deliver a wide set of p
Accusing the US and the EU of practising double-standards, Russian Consul General in Chennai, Dr Nikolay A Listopadov, has said the interests of the EU and the US would be accepted as long as they did not come in the way of Russia's.
Since France has said that it will not be continually involved in African intervention, the solution to security problems in Africa must come from the Africans themselves. The establishment of a pan-African force to react to crisis with support from Europe has been suggested by France.
The electoral system of India has flaws and there is an 'anti-democratic conspiracy of silence' to hide it, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Mr. Salman Khurshid said during a talk on 'Has the Indian Electoral System Failed?' organized by the ORF Mumbai chapter of Observer Research Foundation on January 24,
India will likely struggle to achieve the SDGs for financial reasons. At present, a shocking 2-3 per cent of Indians pay taxes. Mobilising domestic finance ? including optimal tax collection reform ? can help supplement the traditional sources of aid.
Since the early 2000s, China's debt profile in Sri Lanka has increased rapidly, with estimates indicating that over 20% of the overall debt stock is owed to China. Beijing's lending has been opaque on high-interest loans and has often contributed to several white elephant projects. Much of this lending comes from Chinese policy banks, such as China Exim Bank and China Development Bank that is entrusted to further Beijing's economic and commercial
China, a late entrant in Latin America, has now emerged as the region’s major economic partner. Bilateral trade between the two stands today at more than USD 200 billion. By augmenting investments and trade in Latin America, Beijing has managed to project itself as an alternative to the United States, which had previously enjoyed overarching influence in the region. The US’ inability to lead Latin America into a path of sustainable econ
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said ideological work in colleges should be integrated into entire education process and other roundups from across China
Both Beijing and the Taliban hope to secure their interests by engaging bilaterally, with both sides increasing repression in their respective countri
Mr. Arun Shourie, former Union minister and author, thinks that it was time for the India to develop and project itself in consonance with how it wants to be perceived by the world. He said this while delivering lecture on 'Sino-India Relations: The Changing Landscape' at ORF Kolkata.
While China may aid West Asian countries to hedge their interests against the US, the lack of Chinese diplomacy on ground shows that there is still a
Bilateral relations between China and Bangladesh will strengthen further once the road and rail links are established between the two countries through Myanmar. The prospects for the road-rail links have brightened after Myanmar cleared the transit facility, the Chinese envoy for Bangladesh has said.
In China, the regime's vision and capacity to transform the society and state has made a lot of difference, said Mr Harish Khare, Senior Associate Editor and Chief of the Delhi Bureau of The Hindu. Contemporary Chinese elite, cohesive as they are, have played a vital role in shaping-up the country.
New Delhi’s Indian Ocean woes aren’t confined to Sri Lanka. Across the Indian Ocean’s littorals, the Chinese navy has been preparing to establish a stronger security presence. On Pakistan’s Makran coast, the PLAN has deployed regularly, including at Gwadar, also constructed by CMPorts. Earlier this year, the PLA is said to have initiated talks with the Pakistan military for another outpost at Jiwani.
Although Bangladesh has been able to seek favourable terms from China, will it manage to leverage economic aid while not allowing China strategic inro
China’s communist party has survived where others have failed — a testament to its capacity to adapt and reinvent itself with the times. Mao’s successors put ideology aside and focused instead on economic growth. Yet today, under Xi Jinping’s leadership, there is much lip-service paid to the ideology of the communist past, even while key communist principles like collectivism are actively undermined. With a slowing down economy, communi
India paid a high price for failing to anticipate the Sino-Pak nuclear nexus in the 1970s and 1980s. It is erring again by neglecting the potential for a maritime alliance between China and Pakistan that could severely constrain India's freedom of action in the Indian Ocean.
This paper highlights the increasing importance of Community Driven Development (CDD) in the delivery of public services to the poorest sections and enhancing access, voice and accountability in developing countries. Community participation in the delivery of ‘public services’ to the poorest sections of the population in developing countries has often been regarded as an effective mechanism to enhance access, voice and accountability.
The foreign minister said the boundary issue between the two countries has not prevented mutually beneficial and functional cooperation in a number of areas
The motivation behind deploying aid is often spurred by geopolitical and diplomatic considerations rather than purely developmental goals
THE United Nations Security Council (UNSC) achieved the almost impossible recently by adopting a unanimous resolution on providing access to humanitarian aid to Syria, breaking a deadlock that pitted Russia and China against the Western powers.
Following an expansion of Congressional role in foreign policy decision-making under Trump, the influence of progressive Democrats over Biden’s agen
In addition to the fears of surviving this pandemic, citizens of West Bengal have to unfortunately cater to an additional anxiety resulting from — t
India stands a good chance to benefit from the shift in global trade triggered by the pandemic, and could fill in the vacuum by supplying West Asian c
Islamabad’s inability to control elements in both Afghanistan and Pakistan is proving to be a major hurdle in the execution of the CPEC project.
The coronavirus pandemic coupled with this devastating cyclone will continue to wreck havoc on the West Bengal economy.
To arrest the spread of brutal Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the US must go in with a limited military mission, thus aiding the process of bringing stability in Iraq and the region at large. However, it should not look at staying in Iraq for a long haul.
The US Treasury Department's decision to designate the gangster based in Pakistan, Dawood Ibrahim, as a terrorist on October 16, 2003, was undoubtedly belated but could still prove to be a milestone in the War on Terrorism if Washington could arm-twist President General Pervez Musharraf to hand over the criminal to the interrogators for questioning about his links with al Qaida and other terrorist groups.
The blasphemy law under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code is a prime example of savagery a modern nation could impose on its citizenry with leg
Some voices in India had advocated a tough response to the Chinese. This would be untimely and irresponsible. In retrospect, the handling of the situation which involved a symmetrical non-threatening military response by Indian forces, along with patient diplomacy has paid off.
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.
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.
This brief seeks to understand the importance of Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiatives in the Bay of Bengal undertaken by the BIMSTEC countries individually, and the dynamics of their collaboration as a subregional forum. It opens with an analysis of the turbulent nature of the Bay of Bengal, because of which disaster management gains paramount importance for the littoral states. The aim is to understand the BIMSTEC countries’
Neither the drone attacks - a significant technological innovation in air power - nor direct cross-border military raids address the ultimate source of terror, the Pakistan army. They merely target the manifestation of the problem.
India is at a precarious juncture. Our democratic structures might be strong, but can the same be said for our democratic values?
Although strides have been made in women's empowerment, unpaid care work still tends to be undervalued and overlooked in mainstream economics
Fourteen years ago, in 1996, Dr Vijay Kelkar, one of my distinguished predecessors in the long list of luminaries who have delivered this Lecture, said, "What petroleum was to the 20th century, natural gas will be to the 21st."
London is the most unequal city in the developed world, with its richest 10 percent more than 100 times better off than the poorest ten. London's wealth inequalities are said to be approaching those that "have not been seen since the days of the slave-owning elite."
Time and again, Europe has reiterated that it would support Ukraine for “as long as it takes”, but recent months have shown war fatigue amongst Uk
