China’s growing involvement in Pakistan’s security, especially with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), represents a significant strategic shift that deserves a closer look. This shift occurs as Islamabad grapples with internal unrest, particularly in Balochistan, while Beijing focuses on safeguarding its economic interests. As regional stability and sovereignty issues become increasingly crucial, understanding this evolving dynamic is essential for academics and policymakers. CPEC, launched as a key component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is valued at roughly $62 billion (Caskey, 2024).
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India’s Gay Brain Drain: The Cost of Discrimination
‘Gay Brain Drain’ consequently plaguing India is an intricate interaction among the forces of societal norms, legal frameworks, and individual introspection. This article scrutinises the different complications that people from the LGBTQ+ community come across on a daily basis and delves into various factors that force them to migrate, leaving an impactful debate about the economy’s pool of talents, socio-cultural repercussions, and ultimately the gay brain drain.
Bangladesh on the Brink: Ripple Effects on India’s Strategic Horizon
The resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has thrown Bangladesh into a political turmoil, casting a long shadow over the future of Indo-Bangladesh relations. With Hasina currently in India, seeking asylum in countries like the UAE and Finland after her request to the UK was rejected, the future trajectory of Bangladesh—and its impact on India—has come sharply into focus. The ongoing crisis, marked by unprecedented instability, carries significant implications for India’s strategic landscape, particularly in terms of security, economic ties, and geopolitical alliances. India must assess these challenges and develop strategic responses to safeguard its interests.
ESG: A Corporate Facade or a True Commitment?
Let me begin by asking you a question. How many of these boxes have you checked? A donation box right next to the billing counter, asking you to chip in for an NGO every time you visit the supermarket. Coffee cups with bold, eco-friendly labels declaring they’re made of recycled material, justifying those extra cents in charges. Every clothing brand telling you they’ve used “sustainable” cotton, while you pay a premium for it. Does this sound familiar?
Women’s Safety: Enough is Enough
The gruesome incident of rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata has left the nation shocked. I was dismayed and horrified when I came to hear of it. What is more depressing is the fact that it was not the only incident of its kind; it is part of series of crimes against women. Even as students, doctors and citizens were protesting in Kolkata, criminals remained on the prowl elsewhere. The victims include even kindergarten girls. No civilised society can allow daughters and sisters to be subjected to such atrocities. The nation is bound to be outraged, and so am I.
The Best Books to Read at India’s 78th Independence Day
As the clock struck midnight on August 15, 1947, a new dawn broke across the Indian subcontinent. For the millions of people who had fought for decades under the colonial rule, that moment marked the culmination of a dream – a promise to self – determination, unity, and hope. The birth of a free India, announced with Jawaharlal Nehru’s stirring words, “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom,” signified not just political independence, but the reclamation of a long-suppressed identity. Yet, as the jubilant celebrations of that day echoed across a land still trembling from the trauma of partition, India found itself poised between freedom and fracture, between euphoria and an uncertain future.
This is what Sheikh Hasina’s Bangladesh Looks Like
Bangladesh’s complex history, marked by its struggle for independence from Pakistan in 1971, provides a backdrop to the current turmoil. While the United States played a role during that period, the recent protests are driven by domestic issues such as the quota system, police brutality, and economic challenges. The recent turmoil in the country has been multifaceted, with several factors contributing to the ongoing crisis.
Epidemic of Exam Leaks: South Asia’s Education Under Siege
In a shocking turn of events, an investigation done by a team of journalists for six years has shown that more than 30 government jobs and academic board exams in Bangladesh including question papers of the nation’s most competitive exams like Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) have been leaked for over “a decade”. These incidents of paper leaks are spreading like a contagious epidemic in South Asia’s education system. Paper leaks where exam question papers are disclosed before the scheduled date have become a common phenomenon that disrupts the integrity of individual academic assessments.
Mossad’s Strategic Gambles in the Middle East
Two years after the US struck the Al-Qaeda chief in Afghanistan, Israel has allegedly carried out an offensive covert operation in Iran, killing its most wanted Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in a mysterious, sophisticated bomb blast, one of the critical successes in the global terror landscape after the US. However, Intelligence work in complicated situations has always led to playing a zero-sum game where conflict can go in two ways: either all hell breaks loose, or it can be strategically controlled and minimise escalation.
Emergence of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and Beyond
There was a time in the year 1979, when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, at that moment both Pakistan and the US considered Afghanistan as a region to safeguard their interest. When Afghanistan was having wars with Pakistan it didn’t bother Pakistan much as it was aware of US funding to Pakistan but today the scenario has changed, post US withdrawal from the region Pakistan is left to deal with terror outfits in Afghanistan all alone. Pakistan has a long-shared bond with TTP as TTP is Pakistani militants from Pakistan, TTP experienced a strong comeback in 2020 after the Afghan peace deal with the US. Afghan Taliban and TTP share deep ideological roots.