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The current phase of disturbances in Tibet began when five monks in the monastery town of Derge in Gansu province on 27 January demanding the independence of Tibet and return of the Dalai Lama demonstrated outside the monastery attracting crowds of villagers

India is all set to begin serious efforts to secure a permanent seat in the UN Security Council (UNSC). Two years of non-permanent membership after 19 long years with rotating Presidency of the Council twice over the next two years will mark India's innings.

As things stand at present, the UPA-II has to get its mandate renewed. The Congress party's alliance with the RLD and the induction of RLD leader Ajit Singh as a Cabinet minister looking after Civil Aviation last year, in fact, may have no meaning if that alliance is not put to optimum use in the post-electoral scene in UP.

Vehicular congestion and insufficient parking facilities are significant emerging challenges for India’s mega and metropolitan cities, severely impairing mobility. Although curtailed by constitutional mandates, many Indian cities are seeking to resolve the issue through parking policies, focusing on regulations, pricing as a management tool, new technologies, and off-street parking provisions. This brief assesses the parking policies of Ahmedab

A country's development is judged by visitors from the general atmosphere and ambience of its big cities and not by the number of five star hotels and their posh lobbies

The limited development of India's maritime capacities is a cause for strategic concern, especially considering the impact on the nation's economy, which is currently dependent on sea-borne trade for its well being.

India needs to improve its border infrastructure in the background of the changing geopolitics of Asia that will increasingly be shaped by Sino-Indian relations, pointed out a panel discussion on "India's Border Infrastructure" at ORF.

Do we need the IAS? This was the subject of an interaction organized by Observer Research Foundation Chennai Chapter on Saturday, 4 September, 2010, in the light of 'IT czar' N R Narayana Murthy's call for abolishing the system of generalised administrators under the Indian Administrative Service (IAS)

There is little doubt that fragile states often need external assistance to survive. In the past decade Pakistan has become one such case. A struggling economy, chronic poverty, poor provisions of public services, internal violence

The US is in a dilemma over the funding of the Diamer-Bhasha dam in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. While China and Saudi Arabia have made big inroads in public perception by taking up developmental projects, the US, despite lots of assistance, is perceived not to be doing enough in this area.

There is no dearth in analyses that sound the alarm on the current United States (US) administration’s policy in the Indo-Pacific. This paper conducts an evaluation of the US’ engagement in the region, and finds it to be contrary to alarmist predictions. President Donald Trump’s administration has reaffirmed commitments towards traditional allies, built on the predecessor president’s courtship of nascent partners, and encouraged partners

It will be a world where neither America nor China can set the terms

In the Asia-Pacific region, the US has made its return in an effective manner and this is likely to continue without any time limit. By marking his attendance at the Bali conference, President Obama became the first US President to attend a summit of East Asian leaders, a region that China sees as its rightful sphere of influence.

Even as Washington expects India to be a net security provider in the Indo-Pacific region, the country is offering itself as a key partner in managing the cyber oceans. The US must now reciprocate.

The United States needs to treat India as an exception given the uniqueness of the US-India relationship, argues Dr. Anit Mukherjee of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore.

America's release of five Taliban leaders recently in exchange for one of its troopers has grave implications for not just Afghan security but also the India-Pakistan détente.

The Trump administration’s attempts to create another West Asia crisis should worry India.

Sanctions, a mechanism to penalise international legal violations, usually prohibit nationals of the “sanctioning country” from engaging in specified activities with the “targeted country.” Secondary or extraterritorial sanctions, on the other hand, penalise third-country individuals and companies for dealing with sanctioned countries. Recent measures adopted by the US—the enactment of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanc

As of now, the Quad’s formal agenda is modest. It remains a platform for leaders of the four countries to meet each other collectively and bilaterally. Meetings have so far taken up the issue of providing vaccines, building supply chains, mitigating climate change and providing humanitarian relief. An unstated aspect of the Quad grouping is supply-chain resilience and the need to have a chain which is not linked to China.

That India-US ties are at the nexus of a new beginning shaping the Indo-Pacific is no surprise. PM Modi's second visit to the US at the beginning of his second year in office only reiterates the importance of this relationship.

Parliamentarians were supposed to meet in the afternoon of December 13 to honour those who died saving them five years ago. Instead, they woke up to the horror stories of their Eleven accepting bribes for agreeing to do something they were in any case elected to do - raise issues in Parliament. It is ironic that the exposé took place on December 13.

Xi has highlighted ‘severe challenges’ arising out of America’s containment policy

The healthcare industry is undergoing an unprecedented change. The affordability and quality of healthcare are being profoundly affected by increased globalization, competition, cost consciousness, regulations and new technologies. The US is expected to spend up to 20% of GDP on healthcare by 2015.

US-Pak relations are like high risk aerobatics. The plane nosedives, loops up, cruises at varying altitudes, takes a few spins and steadies.

Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang's recent visit to Washington crystallised cooperation on non-traditional security matters such as counter-terrorism, and enhancing maritime security, which will not raise red flags in Beijing. Significantly, the meeting avoided the more militaristic features of national security.

यूएसएड का भविष्य अब उलझ गया है. रिपब्लिकन जहां इसे बंद करने पर आमादा हैं, तो वहीं डेमोक्रेट राष्ट्रपति ट्रंप के इस कदम को असांविधानिक बता रहे हैं. 

On September 17, 2001, six days after the terrorist strikes in the US, I had written an article under the above title which was carried the same day by the South Asia Analysis Group. Many of my observations made then remain as valid today as they were on 9/17.

The recent suicide bombings in Uzbekistan that killed more than 40 persons, mostly policemen, reveal an emerging pattern of terrorism in the region.

Possible maritime cooperation with Vietnam and the US - a collaboration unimaginable until very recent times - will strengthen India's current approach to multilateral engagement to secure its strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific.

The India-U.S. Joint Vision and the mention of the South China Sea is India's strategic response to the growing Chinese naval profile in the Indian Ocean Region. In this context, US outreach to Vietnam and India's Act East policy are symbolic of India-U.S. cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

The South China Sea dispute is today at the centre of the emerging geopolitical game in the Asia Pacific region. The growing US-Vietnam friendship will have a strong bearing on the direction of the changing regional security dynamics.

Visit of Pakistan Prime Minister to China - An AssessmentD.S. Rajan

The debate about Iran's quest for nuclear energy is wholly enmeshed in the politics of US-Iran relationship. Iran is a signatory to the NPT and its additional protocol. It has obligations; it has rights. The focus of the west is on obligations, of Iran on rights. The North-South divide is reflected in the board of governors of the IAEA, with Russia and China supportive of the non-aligned who apprehend, as Washington Post put it,

Unlike the BJP, the focus of the AAP's campaign was not on lofty slogans, such as making a Delhi a 'smart city', but on issues that mattered to the public. No wonder it is commonly said that one should never underestimate the power of the common man.

Aircraft carriers for India have been somewhat of a waiting for Godot. By the time the elusive Vikramaditya joins the Indian fleet, India's lone and ageing Viraat would have completed nearly 60 years of service and reached the stage to retire.

In spite of its modest economic weight in the initial years, the New Development Bank (NDB) can change the ethos of development finance irreversibly. Rather than replacing or supplanting existing development finance institutions, the NDB will seek to supplement existing resources.

Lack of dietary diversity--adequate intake of food from all the food groups -- can be more harmful to health than infectious diseases

The 9/11 Commission Report has been made public and has, since then, witnessed intense scrutiny and commentary in the international media. The Indian media and analysts have been exceptionally vocal about its findings on Pakistan¿s possible linkages with the 9/11 attackers and conspirators.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its eighth month in late October and shows no sign of abatement. The war has had massive consequences on Ukraine, and women and girls are bearing the disproportionate burden. The conflict has further exacerbated gender inequities that were already compounded by eight years of armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and, beginning in early 2020, by the COVID-19 pandemic. This report seeks to fill the gaps in litera

If India continues to act rigid, it will result in the failure of the Doha round and bring misfortunes for small countries and tragic outcomes for all the members of WTO. India shouldn't get carried away and link its food security and subsidy issues to the Trade Facilitation deal

The latest U.S. Defense Department report on Chinese military power recounts Beijing’s growing space and counterspace capabilities.