The 21st century is increasingly b eing described as the Indian Ocean Century. As the global economic centre of gravity shifts from the Atlantic to Asia, the vast maritime region stretching from the eastern coast of Africa to the western Pacific has emerged as the world's busiest and most strategically important sea space.
When Home Minister Amit Shah directed the commission formed on “Demographic Change” to study the phenomenon in India’s borderlands, he did not speak in the cautious language of policy briefs.
The reopening of shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz may have calmed oil markets, but it would be a mistake to confuse the return of traffic with the return of certainty.
A file sits on a clerk’s desk. It is complete, stamped, in order ~ and it will not move. The applicant, a farmer or a small contractor or a widow chasing a pension, learns the unwritten tariff: a little cash to the right hand, and the file walks.
Data from the recently published National Family Health Survey 6 (NFHS 6) shows that India is moving away from being a young country.
The word “conservation” is used in our everyday language to mean “proactive prevention of destruction and/or depletion” as in conservation of wildlife, historic buildings, wetlands, etc.
The relationship between the United States and China has always been a delicate dance of power, influence, and mutual dependence.
In the annals of political appointments, surprises are nothing new. Yet, President Vladimir Putin’s selection of Andrei Belousov as Russia’s defence minister still manages to raise eyebrows.
The tree is known by its fruits. Buddhism put reason in place of authority, it discarded metaphysical speculation to make room for the practical realities of life, it raised the self-perfected sage to the position of the gods of theology, it set up a spiritual brotherhood in place of hereditary priesthood, it infused a cosmopolitan spirit against national exclusiveness.
Nearly 300 million people worldwide need urgent humanitarian help this year but all indications are that a majority of them may not be able to get it, or else may get only a small part of what is needed.
