Yangon | Reuters TWO Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar after they were convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act walked free from a prison on the outskirts of Yangon on Tuesday after spending more than 500 days behind bars. The two reporters, Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, had been convicted in September…
Read moreLOOKEAST REPORT | THE Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has urged the Supreme Court not to rush the NRC updating process and avoid a situation in which people are pushed back at gunpoint. “As concerned citizens, we look to the Supreme Court to reaffirm India’s constitutional and international obligations to rights on sensitive issues. That is why we…
Read moreMOHAMMAD ZIAUDDIN | REPORTS out of the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh usually focus on the massive humanitarian efforts carried out by host country and its international partners. Together, they have supplied food, education, housing and medicine for hundreds of thousands of people with no other place to go. Even more remarkable is what has not happened….
Read moreTAHSEEN ALI | IT has become accepted wisdom that if a political party in a far–flung country wins an election overwhelmingly, the election must have been stolen. A healthy democracy should have competitive elections and governments that lack competition must be dictatorships. But what if the opposition party craters and offers little or nothing in…
Read moreLOOKEAST REPORT | THE annual meet of the West Bengal chapter of IIMC Alumni Association (IIMCAA), Connections, was held recently in Kolkata. Chapter president Subir Bhaumik presided over the meeting that was attended by Prof. Subir Ghosh, Ashish Chakrabarti, Pramod Kumar, Rajasthan Chapter President Amrita Maurya, National Organisation Secretary Ritesh Verma, Central Committee member Atul Gupta,…
Read moreSUBIR BHAUMIK | Naypyidaw and Shillong THE Indian army has completed a brief counter–insurgency drive against the Arakan Army (AA), now the strongest rebel group fighting for autonomy in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine province. At least three AA camps in Chhimtuipui district of India’s northeastern state of Mizoram have been demolished, Indian army sources said. But details…
Read moreLOOKEAST REPORT | FORMER Indian ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale on Saturday pitched for a determined push to boost Indian software and pharmaceutical exports to China. “If the Chinese open up to these exports from India, they can get quality products at very competitive costs and India can cut down its adverse balance of payments,”…
Read moreLOOKEAST REPORT | BIMAN Bangladesh Airlines flight BG–147 this afternoon evaded what it primarily appeared a hijack attempt of a Dubai–bound aircraft through its emergency landing at Chattogram Airport while the passengers and pilots came out of the aircraft. Witnesses said 15 minutes after the Boeing 777–800 ER flew from Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport…
Read moreSUBINDRA BOGATI & JULIA STRASHEIM | SECURITY Sector Reform (SSR) programs that transform the structure and agency of security institutions in war–torn states have become a building block of post–war peacebuilding processes worldwide. SSR is commonly designed, financed, and implemented by a myriad of domestic and international actors. International know–how was long driven by Western…
Read moreLOOKEAST REPORT | BANGLADESH Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj concludes their 5th meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission between both the nations, in New Delhi. Indian External Affairs Minister warmly received the Bangladesh Minister at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan. She congratulated Momen on his appointment as the Foreign Minister of…
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