ViewsWeek Views from around the world
With the realization that corruption is undermining development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), experts are lobbying the UN to adopt goals and targets on good governance and transparency in the post-2015 development agenda. A high-level anti-corruption panel, co-chaired by UNDP, Transparency International and UNODC, gathered at the UN in New York in late September to highlight …
October, 2013
-
8 October
RSS’ Control of India’s BJP Party Violation of 1949 Promise
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s constitution explicitly states that it will stay clear of politics. The constitution itself was written, in 1949, because Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel would have it no other way. (RSS is a right-wing paramilitary Hindu nationalist group in India) The events of 2013 have comprehensively erased that part of India’s history. The RSS has taken full control of …
-
8 October
Pakistan’s Struggle Against Hepatitis
Each year, on July 28 the World Health Organization (WHO) and other health organizations mark World Hepatitis Day. This year’s theme “This is Hepatitis. . .Know it. . .Confront it” sends a strong message to the world to recognize hepatitis as a forefront runner in communicable diseases. We must now move from acknowledging the disease to confronting it with actionable …
-
8 October
A New Burst of Energy in Africa’s Industrial Activity
Carlos Lopes, the executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), often talks about Toblerone, the famous chocolate bar manufactured in Switzerland by Kraft Foods, an $18 billion company. Cocoa for Toblerone bars is imported, probably from Africa, where 70% of the world’s cocoa is harvested. Mr. Lopes once pointed this out to Côte d’Ivoire’s president, Alassane …
-
8 October
Shale Gas in The European Region: A Game Changer?
The US energy market has changed drastically since the rise of shale gas in the country. The US is now the world’s largest gas producer and is expected to become a net exporter. Will shale gas be a similar game changer in the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) region? This article argues that the impact of shale gas in …
-
7 October
Asia Gets on With it While America’s Out of Play
Of course President Obama had no choice but to stay at home. It is certainly not his fault that the interests of the United States and its friends have been so seriously damaged by the lack of respect that has emerged in American politics for the core institutions and principles of its great democratic state. The culpability for this latest …
-
6 October
Democratic Republic of Congo at a Crossroads
GDP growth is soaring, inflation is low, and the resource potential is huge. Can the Democratic Republic of Congo achieve its potential or will vested interests trip it up? On the 53rd anniversary of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) independence from Belgium on 30 June, President Joseph Kabila said the country has “all of the advantages necessary to join …
-
6 October
Scoops About Spooks And ‘Embedded’ Indian Media
Come to think of it, retired General V. K. Singh’s recent disclosure about the Indian Army paying politicians in Kashmir had all the ingredients for a career-defining story reporters on the intelligence beat would have loved to scoop. Yet, despite all the cups of coffee they have gulped with spooks in plush restaurants, they had little idea about what …
-
6 October
Why Deadlock in US-Afghan Security Pact Talks?
Negotiations between Afghanistan and the United States over a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) have reached a crucial stage as the two sides are wrangling over key terms of the pact that would allow presence of US forces in Afghanistan beyond 2014. American officials have renewed warnings that the delay in reaching a timely agreement on the future status of the …
-
6 October
Pakistani Militants’ Media Front
Militancy poses a serious threat to the security and stability of Pakistan. While the government and various state institutions are trying to respond in their own way and according to their own capacity, persistent ideological, political and operational ambiguities about the nature and level of militancy not only compound the problem but also add to its intensity. One critical …
