Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrived in Beijing Tuesday evening, beginning his four-day visit to China. Choosing China as the first country outside the ASEAN since taking office in June, Duterte makes the visit amid a backdrop of deteriorating China-Philippines ties, due to the unilateral filing of the South China Sea arbitration case initiated by his predecessor Benigno…
Read moreIt’s been about 100 days into the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. Since he took power, the Philippine president has overseen the killing of more than 3,500 people in his war on drugs, offended world leaders and strained relations with the US. In an interview since he was sworn in, we talk to Duterte about his…
Read moreLOOKEAST REPORT Myanmar says a Pakistani Taliban-trained militant leader masterminded the deadly attacks in its Rakhine state recently. A statement from the office of Myanmar’s president Htin Kyaw on Friday said a rebel group called Aqa Mul Mujahideen was behind the raids on three outposts on Myanmar-Bangladesh border, in which 9 policemen were killed. It…
Read moreSAW YAN NAING / LAWI WENG | UNDER former President Thein Sein’s government, over US$100 million poured into Burma’s peace programs by foreign governments and institutions. As the military-backed administration has given way to a National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government, questions linger about the transparency and influence of international funds on the peace process—critics argue that…
Read moreEDMUND DOWNIE Evidence points to Chinese involvement in rebel movements in India’s northeast, but this should not be a major roadblock in India-China relations. On June 4th of this year, rebels from northeast India killed at least 20 Indian soldiers and injured 11 in an ambush in the Indian state of Manipur, near the India-Myanmar…
Read moreThailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, has died after 70 years on the throne, the palace says. The king, 88, was widely revered in Thailand. He was seen as a stabilising figure in a country hit by cycles of political turmoil and multiple coups. He had been in poor health in recent years…
Read moreSUBIR BHAUMIK Chetan Bhagat in a recent article on Kashmir has missed a few major points. Clarity on these issues are not just crucial to understanding the Kashmir question but also to evolve a future for Kashmir that is at the hear of an unending India-Pakistan conflict. Bhagat’s analysis that the Indian army messed it up and provoked Kashmiris to…
Read moreLOOKEAST REPORT Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan have joined India in boycotting the forthcoming SAARC Summit scheduled at Islamabad in November. The Summit has been postponed, said a top source in Nepal’s foreign ministry after all three of India’s neighbours conveyed their inability to attend the summit to Nepal, the current chairperson of SAARC. It is…
Read moreSUBIR BHAUMIK Politicians often play to the gallery and talk much more than they should. When they speak on subjects they know little about, they make a fool of themselves. Flattery makes them believe they know all they survey but that is not true. The result often is huge faux pas and unseemly controversy. Tripura…
Read morePhilippine senators ousted a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte from the leadership of a panel investigating an explosion of drug-related killings, squashing a rare domestic challenge to the bloody crackdown. Duterte’s war on drugs, the key plank of a poll campaign likened to that of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, has claimed more than…
Read more‘Gold’ In The Andaman & Nicobar Basin
Prasanta Paul | OIL India Limited (OIL) has stepped up exploration and supportive logistic work in the wake of striking… Read more…
Human Language Is 135,000 Years Old ?
Prasanta Paul | WHEN did homo sapiens start using words or to be specific – a language – for communication… Read more…
Aravalli | An Uncertain Road Ahead
Dr Manas Das | THERE seems to be a temporary lull among environmental activists and civil society as the Supreme… Read more…
Election Commission of India has decided to deploy at least 480 companies of Central Forces in various troubled parts of West Bengal from March 1
