spacewarfare Courtesy: US-Navy/Wikimedia Commons
9 May 2014

Securing outer space assets

The UN’s Transparency and Confidence Building Measures for Outer Space Activities to address terrestrial anti-satellite weapons have spawned schismatic instruments such as the EU’s International Code of Conduct and a Sino-Russian treaty. India must weigh its national interests before agreeing to these drafts

The battle for Benaras & Bihar
8 May 2014

The battle for Benaras & Bihar

Be it Benaras which is gearing up for the most crucial battle between BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and the Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal, or Bihar and U.P. where people are yearning for the ‘Gujarat model’, this election is focusing on some of the substantive issues that impact India

ukraine-odessa-fire_210x140 Courtesy: Sergey Gumenyuk/EPA
8 May 2014

Six takes on the Ukraine crisis

It is seven months since the first round of protests began in Ukraine, and the crisis has only escalated further. Russia has rejected calls for another round of talks and parts of eastern Ukraine are seeing violence on a daily basis as pro-government loyalists try and take back cities controlled by the pro-Russians

brts2 Courtesy: IncMan/Wikimedia Commons
6 May 2014

Re-evaluating rapid transport

India’s transport network has failed to keep pace with the ever-expanding cities. This has necessitated the import of alternatives such as the Bus Rapid Transit System. However, unless impediments like the absence of a dedicated corridor and lack of city planning are addressed, the project is destined to fail

raghuram rajan_right Courtesy: Dhiraj Singh/getty
6 May 2014

Decoding RBI’s policy on foreign debt

The RBI’s two-pronged strategy to protect the economy from tapering-led volatility discourages unproductive external borrowings and prods foreign portfolio debt investors to think long-term. There's another vexed issue: the IMF has sounded a cautionary note on the rising number of foreign currency debt laden Indian firms

Spratly Islands_google map Courtesy: Google Maps
2 May 2014

South China Sea: escalating tensions

Braving potential retaliation from China, the Philippines has now challenged Beijing’s sovereign claims over the South China Sea before a UN tribunal, and raised the stakes in a longstanding dispute