History offers a consistent lesson: the difficulty is rarely in beginning a conflict; it lies in defining its limits. Sovereignty can be defended. Regimes can be challenged. Alliances can be activated. Yet none of these guarantee clarity about the end state. Without a defined objective and a disciplined exit, events gather their own momentum.
A prominent feature of this election is the massive influx of youth participation. Approximately 800,000 first-time voters are preparing to cast their ballots, and over 1,000 candidates under the age of 40 are contesting, signaling a profound generational shift. The political landscape is witnessing fierce competition between established traditional parties and emerging youth-centric forces. A key contest is unfolding in the Jhapa 5 constituency, a traditional stronghold where 35-year-old former Kathmandu mayor Balendra "Balen" Shah, representing the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), is challenging former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML).
Escalation around Iran narrows diplomatic manoeuvring room across South Asia. India has cultivated strong defence ties with Israel, expanded strategic cooperation with Washington and maintained pragmatic engagement with Tehran, particularly in connectivity and energy sectors. A widening US–Iran confrontation complicates this balancing act.
There is a darker side to AI, it is now seen. Firms have established that AI can manipulate, blackmail and threaten. Findings by Anthropic have revealed that advanced AI systems can resort to blackmailing and threatening human users to achieve assigned goals or ensure their survival. As AI writes better versions of itself and big business powers it to seek new frontiers to occupy, will India re-skill and re-arm to keep its independence or run the risk of becoming a digitised colony?
With the spectacular achievements of the Indian Navy in the 1971 war under the daring and decisive leadership of Admiral Nanda, he could well have been considered for being made Admiral of the Fleet. As this involves rectifying past oversights, there are already precedents.
The absence of a strong opposition can potentially pave the way for the ascendancy of authoritarian, dictatorial, or undemocratic forces within the country's political sphere.
Both DPI and AI are data-driven and integral to future human development. In 2024, India and the EU are looking to formulate a unified approach towards these two cutting-edge aspects of technology.
The large number of independent candidates winning in this election has shown new thinking in Bangladesh's politics. And the time may have come for political parties to rethink their candidate selection process.
The judiciary, media, human rights activists and Baloch nationalist parties have almost exhausted their efforts in trying to persuade international institutions to intervene and end the sustained atrocities against the people of Balochistan.
India’s mainland is endowed with a long coastline of over 5500 km. All the areas situated near this coastline can get clean drinking water through dew condensation.
State-sponsored terrorism is often employed by smaller or weaker states to weaken bigger or stronger nations as it is more cost effective than traditional war. One of the most prominent examples of this could be the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan
The drone attacks in the Arabian Sea recently are an indication of the high-tech means available to the non-state actors and it won’t take much time for them to acquire deadly underwater drones with explosives to carry out unimaginable attacks in a politically volatile IOR
The South Asian region has much to learn from the ASEAN experience in integrating investment, trade and movement of labour which includes a skilled workforce
The word ‘just transition’ is not just about the historic climate injustice done to developing countries, but it also secures the rights and livelihood of workers working on old energy systems that would change to new systems
Bangladesh and other low-income industrialised nations shouldn't be forced to transition to a non-carbon (net zero) economy on the same timelines. The international community should give Bangladesh, the country most affected by climate change, a high priority in receiving financial resources for both adaptation and mitigation.
Even today the situation is no different. Most of the manufacturers make the rickshaw bodies here and fit them with imported motors, etc. from China. This is how e-rickshaw manufacturing has proliferated in India.
There is an interesting development of note in the US, which casts a shadow on free speech and political asylum in the Western world, with a direct bearing on the alleged covert intelligence operations by India in the North American continent.
The upcoming election will also define Bangladesh’s relations with great powers, namely the USA, India, and China
No other country in the world comes close to the hydro-hegemony that China has established. From Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to Myanmar’s troubled Kachin and Shan states, China has widened its dam building to disputed or insurgency-torn areas despite local opposition.
