J&K environmental protection fails to get required attention unlike Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh

By Bharat Dogra In areas which experience more political tensions including those relating to conflicts, environmental problems tend to be sidelined and neglected. This can lead to less remedial actions than in other comparable areas, while problems continue to increase. This can be seen in Jammu and Kashmir. While environmental problems have been widely discussed …

CIC Annual Report: Decline in rejections during the pandemic year: A case of missing trees for woods

By Venkatesh Nayak* A few days ago, I circulated the first set of findings from a preliminary analysis of the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) Annual Report (AR) for the year 2020-21. Readers will recall, this AR contains a wealth of data regarding the use and implementation of The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) during the first year of the …

Solidarity for peace and ecology: Condemnation of violence and destruction

By Dr. Mansee Bal Bhargava[1] When the world is recovering from COVID but still looming with Climate Change and Capitalism impacts, violence and destruction are the last things people on this planet should resort to. The existence of war demands for thinking differently. The existence of climate change demands for thinking differently. The existence of …

Ranking 85th of 180 countries, corruption remains one of the key challenges for India

 AGAM: An Initiative for Good Governance, a non-political, independent, non-governmental organizationm which has been working in the field of anti-corruption, transparency and good governance since 2014, has worked out Corruption Perception (CPI) Index-2021. The Index has been released by the Transparency International: An AGAM note: For 2021, Transparency International (TI)’s Corruption Perception Index is released on 25th …

Why the Taliban’s biggest headache is the political elite of Pakistan

By MK Bhadrakumar* Reports of the recent period are indicative of tensions between the Taliban forces and the Pakistani military deployed on their border. On December 22, the Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman disclosed that the Taliban forces had stopped the Pakistani military from erecting an “illegal” border fence along the eastern Nangarhar province. A video …

How plans to develop a Japan-US ‘Island Chain’ will provoke backlash from China and Russia

Preparations for Japan-U.S. joint training at the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Hachinohe air base By MK Bhadrakumar* A Kyodo News agency report has cited Japanese government sources to the effect that Tokyo and Washington have drawn up a draft joint operation plan that would enable the setup of an attack base along the Nansei island chain …

The state of the Peri-Urban: Lucrative spaces for real estate developers

By Rumi Aijaz The state of the Peri-Urban is evolving by the day in India. Multiple large cities in the country are experiencing a gradual or sudden influx of migrants into their cities or state. This increases the demand for more land to create accommodation for the new inhabitants of the city. In such a …