Soldiers in a Niger army unit stand in formation while a dignitary visits their outpost during Operation Desert Shield.  The men are armed with M-14 rifles. Courtesy:
20 January 2016

A new fault line in Nigeria

A recent confrontation between the Nigerian army and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria has rekindled the state’s tensions with its Shia citizenry. However, Nigeria should pay heed to its own contemporary history of the armed crackdown on an obscure religion sect that led to the birth of Boko Haram, and exercise caution while dealing with minority groups.

obama Courtesy: Wikipedia
13 January 2016

State of the Union: Obama pats his own back

In his last and final State of the Union address, President Obama reasserted the United States’ global supremacy as a military and political power. He claimed credit for the historic Iran deal while conceding that Congress had maneuvered efforts on many crucial fronts

china Courtesy: Day Donaldson/Flickr
11 January 2016

Tackling overpopulation: China vs. India

China's decision to relax its “One Child Policy” will have a lesser impact on tackling the country's looming demographics crisis than people expect. In contrast, India has seen its population growth rate adjust naturally, helped by non-coercive family planning policies.

Trafficjamdelhi Courtesy: Wikipedia
5 January 2016

Beyond Odd-Even: a plan for Delhi

The odd-even formula has the advantage of having involved leaders as well as common citizens. The Government must now improve air quality by urgent measures across a wide front in Delhi, and then in the entire NCR.

CSR1 (1) Courtesy: Wikipedia
5 January 2016

Linking CSR with business practices

CSR in India has been detached from business practices. A more effective approach to CSR would entail efforts to integrate sustainable business with societal giving, rather than simply requiring companies to donate money and outsource all of its CSR efforts.

Modi Rohani Courtesy: MEA India / Flickr
5 January 2016

India-Iran: a fundamental renewal

India finds itself in the long queue of global economic powerhouses that wish to avail the new opening between Iran and the international community. But India’s proximity and mutual interests of the two countries indicates that the time is ripe for a fundamentally new beginning in Tehran-Delhi relations.

Shahbag_Projonmo_Square_Uprising_Demanding_Death_Penalty_of_the_War_Criminals_of_1971_in_Bangladesh_23 Courtesy: Mehdi Hasan Khan/ Wikipedia
24 December 2015

War crimes: Bangladesh shows the way

At a time when Islamic fundamentalism is threatening the world, Bangladesh as a moderate muslim democracy occupies a unique position in actively confronting this threat under Sheikh Hasina. Instead of the unjustified criticism levied against its war trials, the West must actively support its fight against terror.

horizontal_logo_cop21 Courtesy:
11 December 2015

COP21 battle: from Paris to Nairobi

December 13 will bring curtains down on climate change talks at Paris, but the sharp ideological divides between rich countries and developing nations will continue to play out at World Trade Organisation’s 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, beginning on December 15

COP21: “we mean business”
5 December 2015

COP21: “we mean business”

The first week of Paris climate talks came to an end on Friday 4 December, 2015. The road ahead to reach an agreement seems difficult as multinational companies have aligned themselves more with the agenda of the developed world. Is sense going to prevail in the coming week and 'differentiated nature of responsibility' find acceptance?

Azaz,_Syria Courtesy:
3 December 2015

Is this World War III?

The U.S.-led bombings on ISIS locations have France and the British as its partners. On the other hand is Russia -- targeting the Islamic State but with a primary aim of keeping Assad in power. Is this then World War III?