United States By the time Ashraf Ghani took office, the security situation had become complex and a firm date for withdrawal of American troops was no longer a priority; indeed, one of his first acts was to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the US and the multilateral security … Read More
China, Pakistan and India In a bid to expand its influence in Asia, and pursue its Silk Road project, China took a seat at the Afghan high table by inviting the Taliban to Beijing (November 2014) and urging them to negotiate with the elected government; it appointed a special … Read More
A 21st century version of the Great Game is unfolding in Afghanistan, even as its internally fractured regime strives to stabilise a land ravaged by 14 years of war that has not yet ended. Once the arena of intense rivalry between the British Indian Empire, Tsarist Russia and the Chinese … Read More
An ugly controversy has been created over an alleged plan to rewrite school textbooks by the new government. The insinuation is that teaching aspects of ancient (read Hindu) culture, or episodes embedded in majority consciousness, would shatter the social fabric. By a strange quirk, these polemics coincide with a fresh … Read More
The way out of the mess Lalit Modi has raked up is to make sitting MPS and MLAs resign from sports bodies. Professional sportspersons should take up the task of purging active politicians from sports bodies in toto. When the dazzling sun of a universe peopled by cricketers, politicians, film … Read More
Thousands of people in 428 cities across 38 countries joined the March Against Monsanto on May 23, to support the right to naturally grown food amidst rising concerns about the safety of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) on the health of humans, animals, and the environment. Earlier, on March 15, the … Read More
There is disappointment that jobs have not materialised. But the groundwork is being laid at a furious pace. Meanwhile, the Modi Government has taken several initiatives, especially in the social welfare sector. From the moment he unveiled an enticing vision of growth before ambitious students at the capital’s prestigious Sri … Read More
Continuing tensions over Ukraine notwithstanding, including a US-led boycott of the Victory Day Parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of Germany’s surrender in World War II, Russia under President Vladimir Putin has retrieved much of its eminence as a great power and even managed a handsome recovery of its sanction-hit rouble. … Read More
It took a gentle but artful communicator to nail the lies and distortions about the predominantly Hindu history of India, its faith, culture, indeed the entire gamut of this ancient civilisation, by the academic discourse of the Western world. That the West’s Christian ethos (including its Catholic, Protestant and Secular … Read More
The dramatic death (suicide /accident /conspiracy) of Gajendra Singh Kalyanwat, a farmer from Rajasthan, at the Aam Aadmi Party’s rally in Delhi on April 22, has important lessons for the ruling parties at the Centre and the State. The AAP ostensibly turned to populism to shift attention from the infighting … Read More
