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Asif Ali Zardari, who led Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to victory in the February elections, became the 14th President of Pakistan by securing a majority in Senate, the National Assembly and three of the four Provincial Assemblies on Saturday (Sept.6).
The Maoist-led government presented its Policy and Programme document last week, setting out a whole gamut of tasks facing Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' . The key points of the document are: to draft new constitution within given timeframe of two years,
Clock is ticking fast for the LTTE whose chief along with his son and some of his trusted colleagues has taken a refuge among the civilians in a No Fire Zone. Sri Lankan military intelligence has reported that LTTE's Intelligence Chief Pottu Amman has taken over the command of the dying
Former General Sarath Fonseka, who played a major role in decimating the LTTE, has formally announced his presidential candidature for the elections to be held in January 2010. He is all set to take on the current presidential incumbent and his former mentor Mahinda Rajapaksa as a common opposition candidate.
Sri Lanka celebrated Victory Day at Galle Face Green in capital Colombo on June 3 to mark its victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, praised the soldiers for their sustained efforts in wiping out the Tigers.
Sri Lankan Chief Justice Sarath N Silva, who retired recently, ruffled many a feathers when he appreciated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for not dismantling the judicial system in northeastern Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan government is establishing special courts to clear the backlog of cases against former LTTE combatants, who either surrendered or were captured by the Sri Lankan armed forces.
As efforts to develop an ICoC accelerate, states need to come up with constructive ways of debating this issue. We cannot let this issue become a stumbling block that impedes progress on the code as a whole, particularly when the immediate impact of the offending language is arguably neutral.
Sri Lanka's poll results have shown that President-elect Sirisena's victory was made possible by the overwhelming vote of the minorities, particularly the Sri Lankan Tamils. However, the Indian concerns on ethnic issues will be addressed wholly only when the new government and its limited TNA underwriter arrive at a negotiated settlement.
Whether Indians have great expectations from their new Prime Minister Narendra Modi or not, India's neighbours, who see in the emergence of Modi from a grassroots-level politician to become the Prime Minister of the world's largest democracy, seem to have expectations and aspirations unmatched in the recent past.
Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's recent reminder that the Sri Lankan Government of the day alone had invited India to facilitate the peace process in the eighties should clarify a few points for Sri Lankans who harbour other views in the matter.
By declaring fresh intentions to revive GSP-Plus talks with the European Union (EU), and ensuring the withdrawal of anti-UN fast by incumbent Minister Wimal Weerawansa, the Sri Lankan Government seems to be now engaged in damage control on the global diplomatic front, whose results are as yet unpredictable.
Though the Delhi visit of President Rajapaksa was CW Games-centric, it also caused raising of eyebrows in the strategic community in New Delhi, wondering if the re-elected President, who is scheduled to visit China later this month, is seeking to strike a parity in bilateral relations with the two Asian giants.
The end to ¿Karuna rebellion¿ inside the LTTE, as fast as it commenced in early March also marks the beginning of a new, rather revived pace in the Sri Lanka peace process. Within days of telling the world who was the boss in all the Tamil-speaking areas in the North and the East, the LTTE sat across the table with the Government team, facilitated again by the Norway-led Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM),
Two sets of people are upset with the way India is pursuing the peace process with Pakistan. In the first group are those in Kashmir who are, quite abruptly, faced with the reality of being irrelevant in the entire process. The second group is in Islamabad which is not quite sure about the direction the process is taking and is therefore discomfited.
Social media is straddling between saving freedoms at one end, and censoring content by restricting access to extremist groups and those who are poten
Strategic clarity is often a by-product of wars and as nations count their dead, they also recognise their true friends as well as the limits of their liberal illusions about managing relationships with adversaries who see violence as perfectly legitimate instrumentality in pursuit of power and ambition.
Bangladesh would require international support to ramp up its vaccine production to avoid jeopardising its sovereignty in the search for foreign vacci
Succession to the next generation poses a threat to the Saudi Kingdom's stability as it will create "a complex web of rivalry and political competition" among Saudi princes who wish to secure their family lines.
This brief argues that the understanding of city-level air quality could be strengthened if residents who live in spaces where industries are present, are able to access information about industrial emissions in their areas. Indeed, even as there are some 4,000 OCEMS (online continuous emissions/effluents monitoring systems) in place in different pollutive industries across the country, the data they collect—inarguably vital for public health�
In aftermath of China scaling up pressure on countries whom it has relations with, Taiwan has started to be isolated as these nations have started to
Taiwan is facing an existential identity crisis, one whose consequences can go well beyond the region. The island exists between two sovereignties: it has domestic sovereignty and is secure in its identity as a democracy and an economic powerhouse; at the same time, it has an uncertain international sovereignty and is insecure in a larger battle with China about that identity. From a traditional international-relations perspective, Taiwan meets e
Taxing someone who is earning in crores at a much higher rate than 30 per cent is quite justifiable in terms of equity and it is in accordance with the principle of progressive taxation.
CCP’s control over social media continues to expand as it aims to control the global narrative and present a favourable image to the world.
By hijacking the Telangana movement, members of the Congress and other political parties in the region may have left lesser room for Left militants, who were reported to be driving the movement earlier, for manoeuvrability.
Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf is under pressure.For the first time since he seized power on October 12,1999, there are indications that he and some of his Lts.General, who constitute the real source of his power and not the people, are not on the same wavelength.
How big a catch is Abu Faraj al-Libbi, a 40-year-old Libyan married to a Pakistani, fluent in Urdu and Arabic and suffering from lucoderma, whose arrest was announced by the Pakistani authorities at Islamabad on May 4,2005?
Saeed Naqvi, Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, traveled to Bahrain, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Baghdad, Najaf, Amman, Cairo, Jerusalem and Ramallah after the Arab Spring broke out. Earlier, he visited Tunisia, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Western Sahara and Libya. In this paper, he shares his first-hand experiences and discussions with leaders and diplomats, many of whom have requested anonymity. This paper follows
Kunduz has a large ethnic mix of Pashtun, Uzbeks, Tajiks, and others - all of whom wish to hold the province. The recent move to capture Kunduz by the Taliban is significant in many ways. It is the first major engagement by the Taliban after Mullah Akhtar Mansour succeeded Mullah Omar.
The big question is whether Trump’s inert caution would stay intact in the face of well-argued interventionist options from Bolton and Pompeo, who o
It is crucial that we tell our daughters of the countless armies of women who have raised their voices, who have raged, and fought, and sung.
Bhutan has historically maintained a neutral relationship with China, to its north, and a more special relationship with India, whose states border its west, east, and south. Over the past two decades, however, many factors are forcing Bhutan to settle its longstanding territorial disputes with China and diversify its relations. These factors include its own changing economy and transition from an absolute monarchy to a democracy, a gener
Indian designers seem to be gaining in importance both in India and abroad because they are using a lot of embellished textiles in which intricate embroidery, zari, beads and semi precious stones are sown into the fabric. Unlike the western designers who use the cut of the dress or suit as the unique selling point,
Efforts to resume and make up for the setback in mass immunisation for preventable childhood diseases must be ramped up
Inside Big Tech companies whose products have seeped into the lives of billions of customers, the idea of the audience as patterns on a flickering scr
Whoever wins the November election, the structural constraints that affect US foreign policy behaviour will remain. China will remain a key rival, rel
Liberal fundamentalism is now at war with unbridled street anger, whose revisionist purpose and impatience have exhibited a dangerous capacity to self-destruct.
Closer home, the Great Power Game will be played in the unstable fields of Ayatollahs' Iran, a Talibanised Afghanistan, whose leaders have their own world view, and a Sunni radicalised nuclearised Pakistan. The main contestants will be China and the US and our strategic planners may have to start planning for an uncertain future.
Narendra Modi, who is projected by the exit polls done by the media to become the next prime minister, will have to embellish his strong governance image where he has to be fair and seen to be fair in his actions. If winning an election was tough, governance and delivery in India is going to be much tougher.
While the Green Deal underscores the ‘whole of EU’ approach, it remains to be seen how the EU can adapt its external efforts to ensure a just tran
The fallout of this election forefronts the fault lines in the Bengali identity whose syncretic political and cultural climate has now been marred by religious insecurities.
To control diseases in a more sustainable manner, the health of the inhabitants has to become a key factor of urban development.
In the fight against the coronavirus, the equally challenging issue of misinformation needs to addressed as part of the COVID-19 response.
This brief examines the Kashmir conflict from the perspective of the young population who have grown up in tumultuous times in the Valley. It builds on findings of field surveys conducted by the author across the Kashmir Valley over the last two years, covering issues that remain unanswered three decades since the start of the insurgency. These topics include Kashmiriyat, the exodus of pandits, governance and administration, the post-2016 unrest
There is significant research to support the fact that diet and lifestyle have impact on reducing risk for chronic disease.
The interesting thing is that almost all the current crop of leaders who enjoy connect with their people at the regional level are prime ministerial aspirants in 2014. Everyone is positioning himself or herself in subtle ways already.
The Madrid Bombings is a clear indication of how horribly skewed and wrong the War on Terrorism has been. It would be convenient to accuse the United States for the manner in which the War was planned and executed as a personal agenda of an American President whose sole footnote in history has been to sow the seeds of a global religious divide.
