Op-Ed – Page 63 – NICKELED AND DIMED

Obama’s Visit to India: Political Bonhomie and More

Will Obama’s visit on January 26 lend any substance to India-US relations? Dr. Monish Tourangbam and Mr. Manish Vaid examine the possibilities. The upcoming visit of US President Barack Obama as the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day Celebrations is highly symbolic to the trajectory of India-US relations. With this visit, Obama will also be the…
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Time to End Old Rivalries? The Case of the Latest India vs. Pakistan ‘Border match’

In light of the latest Kashmir border clashes, Deepanshu Mohan asks whether India’s growing preference for economic diplomacy and a pragmatic foreign policy can beapplied to Indo-Pakistan relations. This would require a decisive break from India’s mindset to date, which defines national security and trade policy in separate and narrow terms when it comes to Pakistan. For generations, the begging…
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From Kunming to Kolkata through the BCIM Route

Kunming to Kolkata connectivity is sought via China-backed BCIM economic corridor. What implications does it hold for India? Manish Vaid explains. In order to find new ground for Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC), all the countries concerned have done their part to push hard for this project. But it was during 2013, when…
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Oil Slump, Challenges and Reward: Who Benefits?

In this article, Shashwat Tiwari looks at the dynamics of the slump in global oil prices and its impact on two major nations- Russia and China. Global oil prices have come down considerably. Brent Crude a pricing benchmark for more than half of the world’s oil has dropped 45 per cent this year and…
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Corporate Governance Practices in Ghana and Kenya: Lessons for other African countries

Good corporate governance reduces emerging markets’ vulnerability to financial crises, reinforces property rights, reduces transaction cost and leads to capital market development. P. Samuel Goweh explores the trends being followed in Ghana and Kenya. 1.0 The need for good corporate governance practice in developing countries cannot be over emphasized. Good corporate governance practice contributes…
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Don’t Understand Statistics? Wanna Bet?

Statistical testing is not that difficult! Let Dr. Stephen P. Holden guide you through the murky territory of statistics, only to discover that it isn’t murky at all! So You start by calculating a statistic which is simply a measure of how far the observed is from what we might have expected. I think we…
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A Lethal Dose: A Bungled Death

The United States has implemented lethal injection as a method of execution from the year 1982 onwards. Since then, it has been surrounded by controversies on botched up executions. Carthik Venkat explores the various instances where lethal injection has been administered under ambiguous circumstances. …
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CHABAHAR: India’s Gateway to Central Asia

For India, the Chabahar port project is expected to serve a number of purposes, including expansion of trade, investments and transit facilitation for the Central Asian Republics. Shashwat Tiwari provides an insight into the various aspects of this crucial project. The recent decision by the Indian government to invest further in the Iranian port city…
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Process of Nationalism and Identity Transformation in Kashmir and its Implications

Abstract: The paper discusses the mechanism and processes of nationalism and religion at work in Kashmir and the consequent evolution and assimilation of the Kashmiri identity into the pan-national identities determining the birth of India and Pakistan. This process was not one-sided and was in fact mutually reinforcing. The genesis of the Kashmir imbroglio was in…
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‘Indian Ocean’- The 21st Century ‘Security Dilemma’ between China and India

The Indian Ocean is where global struggles will play out in the twenty-first century. It is a “new great game” in the making, says Amrita Jash… Indian Ocean is the new theatre of ‘Great Power’ politics of the twenty-first century. With a tactical geopolitical landscape, the Indian Ocean – third largest waterway in the…
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From Waste to Fuel

“No single technology will be the answer; what is needed is an array of technologies aimed at different markets and different ends of the supply/demand equation.”—Dr. Joseph A. Stanislaw The global thirst and man’s sudden urge for the need to find alternative sources of energy has been on a constant rise. The governments of various countries…
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The Great Energy Game In The East Mediterranean Sea

Shashwat Tiwari explores the race for energy resources which is heating up in the East Mediterranean Sea. In recent times, the discovery of natural gas off the Israeli coast in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (the Levant basin) has added a new dimension to the Israel-Palestine conflict zone. Significantly this has transformed the region into a…
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