By Pieter J. Friedrich* GREENWOOD, Canada (IDN-INPS) – Terror grips the most militarized zone in the world after India’s Central Government terminated Jammu and Kashmir’s 70-year-old “special status” as the first step towards stripping the disputed region of statehood entirely. Internationally infamous as the world’s hottest potential nuclear flashpoint, J&K originally acceded to India in […]
Stunting a Hurdle to Sustainable Development in India
By Sudha Ramachandran BANGALORE (IDN) – India’s needs to redouble its efforts to reduce stunting among its children not only because this would improve their mental and physical development, learning capacity and life chances but also, to meet the 2022 deadline set by its National Nutrition Mission and enable the world to achieve the Sustainable […]
Troubled Prospects for Gulf Security Architecture
Viewpoint by James M. Dorsey James M. Dorsey – a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture – offered this viewpoint to IDN. SINGAPORE (IDN) […]
Australia Urged to Sign & Ratify the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty
By Neena Bhandari SYDNEY (IDN) – Australia must sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), says a new report released here by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the Australian-founded initiative which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. The report comes amidst growing international tension with […]
China Holds Firm on No First Use of Nuclear Weapons, Misses U.S. Assurances
Viewpoint by Gregory Kulacki The writer researches the cross-cultural aspects of nuclear arms control negotiations between the United States, China and Japan. He is China project manager and senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The following was first published at UCS’s blog on July 24, 2019. CLAREMONT, CA, USA (IDN | UCS) […]
Tea the Invigorating and Sustaining Wine of Life
Dr. K. Mulaffer Chairman, Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (1990-1992); Chairman, Building Materials Manufacturing Corporation (1992-1994) & Project Director & Coordinator, National Equipment & Machinery Organization (1994-1995) COLOMBO (IDN) – My American friends must understand that choosing tea is like choosing wine. And here is why? The natural flavors of teas are quintessentially different from […]
Forest and Farm Producers Help Boost Viet Nam’s Economy
By Ronald Joshua ROME (IDN) – Forestry and agriculture provide livelihoods for nearly 80 percent of the population in the northern regions of Viet Nam. However, nearly half of all households own less than one hectare of land, which often prevents farmers from earning the income they need. To help smallholder farmers find ways to […]
Scepticism About President Duterte’s New Unit to Protect Overseas Filipinos
By Kalinga Seneviratne MANILA (IDN) – With his approval ratings at an all-time high for a Filipino leader, President Rodrigo Duterte has thrown his weight behind a proposal by his former aide and newly-elected Senator Christopher “Bong’ Go to create a new government department for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) who are the major foreign exchange […]
An Aborted University and Squandered Opportunity in Sri Lanka
Viewpoint by Dr. Ameer Ali A modern Muslim university is an absolute need of our time, and it will be a sound first step to reform even the madrasas eventually, writes Dr. Ameer Ali, a lecturer in economics at the School of Business and Governance, Murdoch University, Western Australia. The aborted university project in Punanai, […]
Outrage After German Ambassador to India Visits Paramilitary RSS Headquarters
By OFMI* This article is the eighth in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. NAGPUR, India (IDN) — Controversy is raging after Germany’s Ambassador to India, Walter Lindner, visited the Nagpur, Maharashtra headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on July 17 despite the […]