New Delhi. October 3, 2018 Officials from UN High Commissioner for Refugees based in India have said that seven Rohingya men being deported from the Silchar central jail in Assam to their home village in Central Rakhine in Myanmar should be given a chance to make an “informed decision” about their return in the current… Continue reading UNHCR, OCHCR Urge India not to Deport Rohingya
Tag: India
More Counter Speech needed to combat Hate on Facebook in India
Efforts at Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) online have become an important focus for social networks. CVE targets extremist ideologies, tackling them through alternate narratives that focus on peace-building. It is an invaluable tool to supplement counterterrorism strategies worldwide. To identify effective counter-speech on Facebook, ORF conducted a study analysing posts and comments on prominent public… Continue reading More Counter Speech needed to combat Hate on Facebook in India
For New Delhi, the relationship with Tel Aviv is an exercise in balance
The still-damaged corner wall of the blue-and-white building and a police van permanently parked outside the Chabad House that was attacked during the worst terror strike in Indian history in Mumbai on 26.11.2008 (where the now 11-year old 'baby' Moshe lost his parents), is both a testament to a strengthening relationship between India and Israel,… Continue reading For New Delhi, the relationship with Tel Aviv is an exercise in balance
Breaking the Silence: 5 Years after Nirbhaya
Watch here: Five years ago a country wept when a young Delhi girl battled for and lost her life after being brutally gang raped in the heart of the city. The Nirbhaya Act strengthening punishment for sexual predators and expanding the definition of abuse was the outcome of that anger and grief. Today, women -… Continue reading Breaking the Silence: 5 Years after Nirbhaya
Celebrating Buddhist principles in a confrontational world: A high stakes visit to Lanka for PM Modi
This week, Sri Lanka is "Dhammadvipa", the island of Buddhist philosophy, as it celebrates United Nations Vesak Day to mark the birth, enlightenment and death of Lord Buddha on Friday. There have been fourteen international celebrations, but this is Sri Lanka's first time as host, even though it was instrumental in the UN's declaration of… Continue reading Celebrating Buddhist principles in a confrontational world: A high stakes visit to Lanka for PM Modi
What Geography and Economics Could Mean for India’s China Problem
In his book The Revenge of Geography, American scholar Robert Kaplan says the fact that China is blessed by geography is so basic that it is often overlooked in conversations about China’s growing economic and geo-strategic assertiveness. Quoting the British geographer Halford Mackinder, Kaplan writes, “who controls Eurasia, controls the world.” Today, as the world sits… Continue reading What Geography and Economics Could Mean for India’s China Problem
Teesta Resolution Critical but Likely to Elude India and Bangladesh This Time
During an India-Bangladesh dialogue exactly one year ago, Bangladesh foreign minister A.H. Mahmood Ali said the settlement of the land boundary dispute between the two countries in 2015 proved that anything is possible with political will. Now, as Bangladeshi Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina arrives on her first state visit to Delhi in seven years… Continue reading Teesta Resolution Critical but Likely to Elude India and Bangladesh This Time
India Warily Watches Trump
Americans may still be coming to terms with Donald Trump’s election victory, but more than 7,000 miles away, the wheels of India’s diplomatic machinery began turning soon after the November results. Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval both visited the United States within a month of the elections with the… Continue reading India Warily Watches Trump
The Teesta River Dispute: Geopolitics, Myth and Economics.
For all interested in rivers, legends, water and food security & South Asia- my paper for the Observer Research Foundation on the Teesta river dispute. I travelled down the river from Sikkim to the Bangladesh border at the end 2011 after the agreement between India and Bangladesh on water sharing fell by the wayside of… Continue reading The Teesta River Dispute: Geopolitics, Myth and Economics.
Kashmir: Behind the Rage
Over a month after Burhan Wani’s killing in an encounter by security forces, the question of whether the ongoing protests are about glorifying a terrorist or whether his death was simply a trigger for simmering rage to boil over is moot. As ‘Azadi’ protests pierce the silence of curfew, and the stillness of strikes brings… Continue reading Kashmir: Behind the Rage
maya mirchandani 