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Top News

Carmichael coal will add pressure for power tariff hikes in Bangladesh, not reduce poverty

The Adani Godda coal-fired power plant, due to start generation later this week (on 16 December) and fuelled by coal shipped from Adani’s Carmichael mine in Australia, will supply very expensive power to Bangladesh that it simply can’t afford, finds a new report by the Institute of Energy and Economic Financial Analysis (IEEFA). Author Simon Nicholas says it was known years ago that power from Adani’s Godda plant fuelled by Carmichael coal would be expensive....

SOUTH ASIAN BRIEF

BJP sees historic win, narrow loss

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party sees mixed results in state elections, the Islamic State claims an attack against a Pakistani diplomat in Kabul, and Apple explores relocating some production from China to India.

BJP Sees Historic Win, Narrow Loss

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Reports

India-Israel ties deeper than Modi and Netanyahu...

Jerusalem, Israel: The relationship between India and Israel goes deeper than the bonhomie between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who sealed his return to power last week, said Roey Gilad, an Israeli career diplomat and the current charge d’affaires to Turkey, while...

For poor manufacturing practices, Indian pharma...

New Delhi: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent a warning letter to the Indian pharmaceutical company Lupin Limited after deeming its efforts to address violations of various good manufacturing practices at its facility in Tarapur, Maharashtra “inadequate”. The FDA sends a ‘warning letter’ to a...

Attempt on Imran Khan’s life shocks nation

PTI supporter killed, 14 others, including lawmakers, injured as shots fired at container carrying party leadership• Asad conveys Imran’s message blaming govt, military officials for attack• Alleged assassin thwarted by activists, in custody; claims ‘sole responsibility’• Fawad calls it attack on Pakistan, its people; asks...

Myanmar’s NUG going for broke before its time

Less than two years since the military coup that triggered a new era of civil war, Myanmar’s democratic resistance is pushing for a swift conclusion to a still escalating conflict. In a high-risk move that effectively defines the dry season of early 2023 as decisive...

SAM Special

Modi, the mask, ideology

One more round of elections is over and we can future-gaze. Let’s begin with a question we raised in a National Interest exactly three months after Narendra Modi had been sworn in as prime minister in 2014: Have you ever seen a political leader who resembles his mask as much as Mr Modi does? It wasn’t just a rhetorical question. On the other hand, it made a substantive argument about his politics and ideology: That the man...

Issues

Is the Taliban a new problem for Pakistan?

On November 30, a suicide bomber associated with Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacked a police vehicle in Quetta, killing four, underscoring the resurgent threat of the group. On November 28, the TTP formally declared an end to the ceasefire with Islamabad amid an already ongoing cycle of violence...

Growing unemployment: Battle of two parallel rea...

Last week, a 20-year-old man from Kapkot in Uttarakhand's Bageshwar district consumed poison after failing the Agniveer entrance test. In the video recorded before his suicide, Kamlesh Goswami explained the reasons for his drastic decision. Despite an NCC certificate, scoring 100 per cent in physical...

As Nepal heads to polls, Here’s what major parti...

Kathmandu/New Delhi: In two weeks, over 17 million Nepali voters choose their representatives in the federal and provincial assemblies. It marks a momentous milestone in Nepal’s parliamentary democracy, as these will be the first polls to be held after the entire five-year tenure. While foreign affairs...

Cities under strain: India’s predicted urban boo...

India is projected to see an explosion in its urban population in the coming decades, but its cities already cannot cope and climate change will make living conditions harsher still. The metropolis of Mumbai, one of India’s biggest, grew by some eight million people in...

Editor`s Choice

‘15 minutes to save the world’: a terrifying VR journey into the nuclear bunker

‘15 minutes to save the world’: a terrifying...

It became clear that things had gone terribly awry on this particular day when I saw that the most moderate option on the desk in...
3 things I learnt from a 'wasted' two pandemic years

3 things I learnt from a 'wasted' two pandemi...

If you have had contact with people over the past few months, and I don't mean to rub it in if you haven't, then there...
Living with Covid-19: Coming to grips with our anger and angst

Living with Covid-19: Coming to grips with ou...

They call it ennui. You know, that lingering mix of feelings of listlessness and tedium, of being adrift, bereft of neither a sense of anticipation,...

Focus

India

How will live-streaming court hearings change the way the Indian justice system works?

In December 2017, Swapnil Tripathi, a fourth-year law student, filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the rule that disallowed interns from entering the apex court on Mondays and Fridays – when fresh matters are heard. Tripathi, who could not observe proceedings in cases on which he assisted as an intern because of this rule, asked the court to create a live-streaming room in the court where interns could watch the cases. In September 2018, the court, after...
It is going to get worse before it gets better. It is going to be a painful few years ahead.
Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry on his country’s economy