The aspirations of Gen-Z are on the walls, calling for a more tolerant and pluralistic society, with a sense of justice. "All political parties have heard that and understand that the newer generation are the most important voting bank at this moment. They don’t believe in the binary we have lived in for such a long time."
Today in Pakistan universities have proliferated and where in 2000 there were about 1 million post secondary students, in 2020 there were nearly 5 million and they have expectations, and they are also more political. But it is also the 30 and 40 year olds, generations of Pakistanis who are frustrated with the lifestyle of the rich and corrupt, and of a military they increasingly see in a similar light.
In the larger South Asia context, air pollution does not follow national boundaries and therefore the solutions for all the airsheds cannot come from any one city or a country. The countries in South Asia – India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan - that share a common airshed are impacted by the transboundary pollution. More than half of the air pollution across major cities in South Asia is not local but transboundary in nature.
Regional bodies like the SAARC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, have the potential to foster cooperation on climate adaptation, disaster preparedness, and trans-border pollution control. However, geopolitical tensions, particularly between India and Pakistan, hinder progress.
With over 4000 weapons in unauthorized hands, the Manipur tinderbox can explode anytime. Firing at each other between the Meities and Kukis using an assortment of small weaponry is going on intermittently with the Manipur Police and security forces unable to effectively control the violence.
Even if the role of women is overlooked or unacknowledged, they should continue to break barriers by fighting the challenges. Only then all gender-blind and biased, often spurious claims of men that they have greater roles and responsibilities in combating ill effects of the climate crisis will be replaced by women who are fighters of climate action, incandescent in their love, ardor and purpose to be changemakers.
It was after India’s second nuclear test in May 1998 that the India-France relationship warmed up. One major catalyst for this was that at a time when many nations were judgemental about India’s test, France’s stand was that it was India’s prerogative to conduct such a test based on the threats it faced.
Wickremesinghe’s visit to New Delhi, and the subsequent visits of the senior Chinese party functionary, the French president, and the Japanese foreign minister signal a renewed thrust by the global and regional powers to reinvigorate their influence in the Indian Ocean Region where Sri Lanka's strategic geographical location makes it a pivotal player.
Strong-arming Bangladesh into toeing its prescribed policy positions is part of the Biden Administration’s wider external agenda of promoting the liberal values of democracy and human rights as the centerpiece of its foreign policy. But the real problem doesn’t lie in policy postures, but rather in the way these policies are being executed.
On matters of foreign policy too, Nasheed is critical of China and favors the ‘India first’ policy, while Yameen has had positive relations with China and his party has recently protested against the Indian military presence in Maldives under the slogan ‘India Out’.
There has been discussion of alternate supply chains being created in India, Indonesia and Vietnam but supply chain issues originating from China are not going to go away in a hurry.
South Asia has no strong trade ties within the region, unlike many parts of Asia, and more particularly the developed parts of Asia, namely Southeast Asia and East Asia. South Asia, therefore, has to formulate its own macroeconomic policies to sustain growth keeping in mind global economic trends.
The Hindus entered cricket due to their long-standing social and business rivalry with the Parsis. The first Hindu club, the Bombay Union, was formed in 1866. Muslim cricket began with the Luxmani and Tyebjee families, who helped establish a Muslim cricket club in 1883.
Wife battering is universal in Bangladesh in almost all homes. However, this increases manifold during and after cyclones. There is a breakdown of social and familial infrastructure and livelihood patterns and violence increases with economic stress and anxiety.
Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) need to have policy responses to ensure checks and balances against generative AIs. The top-down policy approach may focus on banning the use of generative AIs. But participatory and adaptive approaches focus on developing policies that could accept the use of generative AIs in varying degrees, with the realisation that generative AIs are here to stay.
What is painful is the inability of civil society groups in the state to intervene during this critical time since the contending groups are not ready to negotiate with each other. However, one must not lose faith in the civil society which is based in Manipur's immediate neighbouring states like Nagaland, Mizoram, and Assam.
The Muslim Personal Law Board is committing the same mistake by opposing the UCC as it did during the discourse on the abhorrent Muslim practice of instantaneous triple talaq without realising its far-reaching consequences.
Macron and Modi should shun transactional diplomacy that engages in multi-billion dollar agreements for military fighter jets and machinery, nuclear reactors and pharmaceutical products. Instead, they should embrace some transformational diplomacy to make the planet sustainable again.
Russia’s proposal to establish Sri Lanka’s first nuclear power plant comes on the heels of the completion of a similar nuclear power plant in Bangladesh, which has paved the path for Russia to play a larger role in South Asian geopolitics.
