As the Indian government strives to elevate people out of poverty, it should realize that good athletes can serve as more than a way to equal China’s Olympic might.
As the Indian government strives to elevate people out of poverty, it should realize that good athletes can serve as more than a way to equal China’s Olympic might.
Straight on the heels on charges of election fraud, the BNP leadership has announced that it will commence its country-wide protest plan to challenge and, perhaps overthrow Awami League rule on Wednesday. Claiming that the Bhola-3 by-election was riven with fraud, Begum Khaleda Zia has decided to operationalize her plans to try to bring about […]
The Awami League candidate has won the by-election in the (thern) district of Bhola by an overwhelming margin. The BNP has challenged the outcome. Even with such a strong, ringing public endorsement, the proceedings were not marked with civility and respect. Widely shared anecdotal evidence of voter intimidation and physical violence besmirched the election. Specific, […]
South African President Jacob Zuma recently lambasted his country’s civil service sector. Zuma argues that South African civil servants are the worst in the world. He rejects the argument that the legacy of apartheid is to blame. And he believes that accountability — or a lack of it — is at the route of the […]
Teeming with bright veggies, fruits and clothes, the Martinez de la Torre market is a hallowed institution in Mexico City. But many vendors are suffering from drooping sales. Why? Across the street is a new Bodega Aurrera, a mini-supermarket owned by Wal-Mart. Unlike stands at the market, Bodega Aurrera accepts credit cards, and the quality […]
Monday April 19, 2010 – President Zardari made history by signing the landmark constitutional reforms amendment bill into law. Zardari – after taking office 18 months ago – pledged to reform the constitution. He promised that all the anomalies that were created by the dictators to protect their powers will be removed from the constitution. After this amendment the […]
The White House is hosting a summit on Global entrepreneurship in Washington D.C. next week. In a conference call earlier today, white house spokes people stated that the initiative is a result of certain promises made during the President’s Cairo speech. The conference will focus on areas of education, science and technology, economic opportunities, health […]
The NASA Earth Observatory Image of the Day is of the Arctic Sea Ice Extent from 2009 to 2010. The image on the left is from September, when the sea ice usually reaches its minimum. On the right is the sea ice maximum for the year, which usually occurs during the month of March. Sea […]
Two day SAARC Summit to begin on April 28 in Bhutan. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s (SAARC) 16th Summit will be held in Thimphu, Bhutan on April 28-29. The theme of this year’s summit is ‘Conservation of Environment and Climate.’ Leaders from the eight member countries in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, […]
Manasi Kulkarni (Kakatkar) has a very informative piece on FPA’s India blog about India’s growing role in Afghanistan. Here is a piece: The meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Obama on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit last week, seems to have produced positive results for India. The US ambassador to India, […]
Nigeria’s domestic political situation might be perilous, but the country just received a foreign policy coup. Interim President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent visit to the United States resulted in his country being removed from the US’s Terrorist Watch List. Color me impressed by Jonathan’s tenure thus far, even if I am skeptical as to whether the […]
We have passed the fifty day countdown point for the World Cup. There are certainly still concerns. Crime, of course, including worries about human trafficking being exacerbated by the presence of thousands of foreign tourists, remains a major concern, though general violence is far more of a worry than any other sort of crime. All […]
In theory, the 30th anniversary of Zimbabwe’s independence ought to be a time for celebration. But really, is anyone feeling particularly joyous about what has befallen the country? Plenty of crises still loom, the power-sharing agreement seems no closer to bearing fruit now than it did when it was first implemented, and Robert Mugabe calling […]
The government of Bangladesh has nearly completed prosecuting members of the Bangladesh Rifles for February 2009 mutiny that led to the death of 74 people, among them high ranking officers of the military and workaday civilians. The Times published an edited Associated Press write up that provides just the fact ma’am: “A court in southwestern Bangladesh […]
Howard W. French, a long-time observer of African affairs and the author of the fine book A Continent for the Taking, has an important piece in The Atlantic Monthly on China’s attempt to establish a de facto neo-colonial empire in Africa. And while you’re looking at long-form reportage on African affairs, you may as well […]