BRIC
BRIC
Fair Observer provides analysis of important issues, events and trends in the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
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360° Analysis / Asia-Pacific / China / Japan / United States / Finance & Economics / BRIC / Global Security / AsiaBy Online MBATensions have been brewing in Asia. This video looks at the potential of a war between China and Japan, and what the economic impact could be. Global economists are keeping their eyes glued to the Asia-Pacific region, where a bitter feud is brewing between two of the world’s most powerful nations over a small collectivity of islands in the East China Sea. The Chinese government argues that a treaty signed during the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) conferred ownership of the islands to China. Japan has long disputed these claims, and today argues that the islands are integral to its national identity. The argument came to a head last September, when a boycott of Japanese products...
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China / India / McMahon Line / Politics / Relations / trade / War / 360° Context / BRIC / AsiaBy Atul SinghIt is time for the two Asian giants to improve their relationship. Background China and India are home to two of the world’s oldest civilisations. They share a long land border but remain separated by the Himalayas. Yet, they have managed to interact with each other across the snowy ranges that separate them. Buddhism spread from India to China and merchants established trading posts in each other’s countries. Scholars like Xuanzang travelled from China to Indian universities such as Nalanda and much of Indian history has recently been rediscovered by using Chinese texts. For nearly the entirety of their history, India and China have lived in peace with each other. There...
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1962 / 360° Analysis / China / Diaspora / India / India-China War / Relations / BRIC / Global Security / AsiaThe Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies, presents an overview of their recent conference on the 50th anniversary of the India-China war of 1962. Founded in 2011, the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) is an Indo-American think tank devoted to providing an Indian perspective on political, socio-cultural and economic foreign policy matters, and matters related to India and the Indian diaspora worldwide. On the 50th anniversary of the India-China war in 1962, FIIDS hosted the conference “Indo China Relations: From Conflict to Collaboration 50 Years after the 1962 War.” As an inaugural keynote speaker, India’s Deputy Chief of Mission in the...
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architecture / brazil / drug trafficking / Rio de Janeiro / Rocinha / Focus Article / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AmericasAn insight about some of the elements peculiar to the realities of favelas in Brazil. The vast majority of women who live in Rocinha, a slum in Rio de Janeiro, have their toenails painted. Different colors, shades and designs. Usually, they wear flip-flops, casual and simple clothes, and their hair tied. Almost no make-up. But the toenails are there, showing themselves to everyone. That’s a fact that only those can perceive who actually go to Rocinha, one of the most famous favelas in Brazil. This is the kind of news that media doesn’t talk about; there are no articles on papers either. It’s a detail about the community that lives there, nowadays reaching a number of...
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360° Analysis / clash of civilisation / India / Politics / Rape / society / turning point / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaThe traditional feudal society behind the façade of a modern liberal democracy has been revealed after the Delhi rape. It has also highlighted the increasingly bitter clash of civilisations within a civilisation. Although column inches, candles and slogans have been liberally expended over yet another tragic case, it is far from a turning point in India’s inexorable slide towards medievalism. The deteriorating statistics on reported rape cases (Graph) (which themselves represent only about 10% of actual rapes) is only one facet of India’s regression. Increasing corruption, institutional decay and wanton use of state power are all visible symptoms of this trend. Perhaps...
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360° Analysis / Democracy / government / India / New Delhi / Politics / Rape / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaBy Karan KharbThe gang rape case in New Delhi unveils the government's incapability to impose law and order. The gang rape of a hapless girl in a bus on busy roads of India’s capital city New Delhi on December 16 is just another slap on the face of Indian democracy. Crime in the city has become a way of life leaving citizens to fend for themselves. Before we are able to recover from one sad occurrence, a new menace is lurking to pounce. Anti-corruption crusaders had squarely accused as many as fifteen ministers of the Manmohan Singh government for corruption. Not one of them has dared to sue the accusers for false allegation or defamation. Nearly a third of the Lok Sabha members are...
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360° Analysis / Diaspora / future / India / Migration / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaBy Ashok RaoAshok Rao, a serial entrepreneur, discusses the Indian Diaspora and its past, present, and future in this three part series. To read part two, click here. III. Success and Future So what is the future for our diaspora? Well, the answer is not that simple and could most accurately be answered by, “It depends.” It depends on a variety of factors, some within our control, but most not. While ethnic Indians are a small but wealthy minority in the US, UK, and the countries of the New Diaspora, they constitute 40 percent of the populations in Fiji, Trinidad, Guyana, Reunion and Suriname, and 70 percent of Mauritius – all Old Diaspora countries. The New Indian Diaspora,...
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Diaspora / future / India / Migration / Focus Article / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaBy Ashok RaoAshok Rao, a serial entrepreneur, discusses the Indian Diaspora and its past, present, and future in this three part series. To read part one, click here. II. History of the Indian Diaspora Let us a take a quick look at the Historical Evolution of the Indian Diaspora, which numbers around 30 million. It is worthwhile and most instructive. The history of migration from India dates back at least two thousand years. The first migration from modern-day India took place at around the time of the reign of Emperor Kanishka (around the 1st century AD). This group of migrators was the Romani people, now known all around the world as "gypsies", from what today is the Indian state of...
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360° Analysis / Diaspora / future / India / Migration / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaBy Ashok RaoAshok Rao, a serial entrepreneur, discusses the Indian Diaspora and its past, present, and future in this three part series. When I was asked to write this article on the topic “The Indian Diaspora – Past, Present and Future,” I wondered what could I write that you, the reader, didn't know already. After all, in the US particularly, our Indian diaspora tends to be well-read, well-educated, and well-informed. But I channeled Sir Richard Branson and his motto, and decided, “Screw it! Let’s do it,” and dived into researching this fascinating phenomenon. Our diaspora’s past and present has been thoroughly documented and analyzed, but...