Analyses
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Gandhi dynasty / India / Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act / Manmohan / Narendra Modi / Politics / Politics / Rahul / Focus Article / BRIC / AsiaBy Mayank SinghRahul Gandhi’s façade as a prime ministerial aspirant is disintegrating rapidly. His first public speaking foray in nearly a decade of political life only served to lay bare his inadequacies as a leader. In spite of the bravado exhibited by sycophants, Rahul Gandhi, in his speech at the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) meet, displayed an amazing ignorance regarding the international and domestic issues confronting India. Scion of the Nehru –Gandhi dynasty which has ruled India for a major period since its independence, Rahul is considered a prime minister-in-waiting by loyalists. In 2004, Rahul’s mother and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson,...
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CII / Gandhi dynasty / India / Indira Gandhi / Mumbai / nehru dynasty / Politics / Rahul / Rahul Gandhi / Sonia Gandhi / Focus Article / AsiaBy Saroj ChadhaHas Rahul Gandhi missed an opportunity once again to raise his image and stature as a politician and a leader? Events come and events go. Some events are more talked about before they take place while others give the luxury of discussion in hindsight. Rahul Gandhi’s speech at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) falls in the latter category. Did the speech and Gandhi scion leave a positive impact on industry captains? Did he renew confidence and optimism in an otherwise dull and gloomy industrial environment prevailing in India? Was there some hint of a road map that he visualized for the nation to get the economy back on its feet? There are many such questions that need urgent...
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China / Global Power Shift / India / Finance & Economics / Focus Article / BRIC / AsiaBy Sonia KatyalSonia Katyal argues that free trade, innovation and world power are not the legacy of the West alone. The balance of world power is cyclical, and shifts again — but can China and India reclaim a piece of their history? Some find it irksome if not provocative to hear recently shaken corridors of power in the West ascribe India and China’s now visible and rising economic success to essentially being a ripple effect of the values of free trade that the West claims to have solely evangelised. Yes, these values powered the rise of the current capitalist powers for the last two centuries but to allude that the West has exclusive historic title to the promotion of ‘open...
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Dubai / Sheikh Mohammed Ben Rashid Al-Makhtoum / trade / Finance & Economics / Focus Article / Arts & Culture / Middle EastBy Rajai MasriThe ruler of the Emirate of Dubai has created a model city — a near fantasy land that rightly features many aspects of a global village. Calling Dubai a miracle in its current unique example of an open and modern international city, would not be too far-fetched. The transformation of the small Gulf locality — drenched with the generally inhospitable sweat and dust of the desert — into a coveted international tourist destination in just a few decades is a miracle by all counts. It is an incredible feat for a desert locality to spring to world attractiveness in a mind-boggling short time span. With its countless tourists, Dubai is often comparable to culturally rich...
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At the end of March, with scarcely a ripple in the public consciousness, a new initiative was quietly launched that could profoundly alter the world's international security landscape for decades ahead. Before recessing for the Christian holy days, the United Nations Security Council approved, 15-0, a resolution to attach a combat-ready "Intervention Brigade" to the existing 17,000-troop U.N. peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The brigade has the mission to “carry out targeted offensive operations”—for sixty years a U.N. no-no—"with the responsibility of neutralizing armed groups" that threaten state authority in...
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Farming / Food Production / Green Revolution / Health / Nutrition / Focus Article / Asia / Environment & SustainabilityWhat are the Risks to Human Health if use of Chemical is not Restricted Pesticides target harmful pests along with useful insects. This results in disappearance of useful insect species such as honey bee. Evidence suggests that the number of honey bee colonies dropped in US farmland by 57% from 1985 to 1997. Honeybees provide an essential natural service by pollinating $ 10 billion worth of US crops. Such change was attributed to the large scale use of pesticides in the US. The World Health Organization states, “there is no segment of the general population that is sheltered from exposure to pesticides and from its potentially serious health effects, although a disproportionate...
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Argentina / Iran / Jewish-Argentina Mutual Association / Politics / President Kirchner / Focus Article / Middle East / AmericasArgentina and Iran agreed to establish a “truth commission” aimed at analyzing responsibility for the 1994 attacks on a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. The rapprochement, however, follows a larger rationale, argue Shawn VL and Giorgio Cafiero. Iran’s alleged role in the 1994 attack on the Jewish-Argentina Mutual Association (AMIA) community center in Buenos Aires was followed by eighteen years of tense relations between Argentina and Iran. Earlier this year, however, Argentine and Iranian officials agreed to establish a “truth commission” pertaining to the terrorist attack that killed 85 people, which indicates that Argentine-Iranian relations have...
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Farming / Food Production / Green Revolution / Health / Nutrition / Focus Article / Asia / Environment & SustainabilityThe analysis done in the previous issue points at the opportunity cost of practicing Industrial farming which is equal to the cost of increased amount of nutrition produced through ecologically intensive organic farming. Although stock markets were flooded with excess of a few food commodities, the nutrition produced across the entire nation to feed our population declined drastically leading food inflation; the prices of pulses and oil seeds shot up as India which was once oilseed and pulses independent now has to import the same. As a result of hiked up food prices, food became unaffordable and inaccessible to the poor in India who were forced to harbor the burden of green revolution in...
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Politics / United States / Europe / Focus Article / BRIC / Middle East / Americas / Africa / Asia / OceaniaFair Observer's five best articles of March. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. Perhaps that is why China is moderating its approach to the disputed Diaoyu or Senkaku Islands. Pakistan has just seen an elected government complete its first full term, marking a victory for democracy. Now it will have to confront the more intractable issue of poor governance that its democratic neighbor India is still struggling with. Another woman was tragically gang raped in India; this time a married Swiss tourist who was on a camping trip with her husband. President Obama visited Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. He gave a great speech...