Bio terrorism is emerging more as possibility in the 21st century not only because of the changing nature of terrorism but also because of rapid growth in life sciences. These developments have been a concern for the BWC regime. In this backdrop the paper discusses the 7th Review Conference which was concluded in December 2011.
For the last five decades artificial satellites are being used to perform diverse roles in astronomy, atmospheric studies and education. They have been found useful for reconnaissance, meteorology, navigation, communication and search & rescue.
The reformist and open policy which Beijing adopted in late 1978 has transformed the overall structure of Chinese economy, society as well as its military. It is because of the success of this that China moved from an agrarian under-developed country to become the world’s factory. Its growth has made China the second largest global economy. The economic transformation has entailed significant investments in military modernisation and pursuit of advanced defence technology.
Xi Jinping became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China in November 2012 and the President of the People’s Republic of China in March 2013. Ever since, under his leadership as the Chinese President, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been progressively tightening its control over the media. In a Communist structure, the media is perceived to be the ‘mouthpiece’ of the Party and is supposed to be used for propaganda. Media is a very essential tool in spreading the government agenda and controlling the public discourse.
In the last three decades, the Chinese economy and society have witnessed unprecedented change and development. Since the introduction of the economic reforms in 1978 under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, China has transformed itself from an agrarian, underdeveloped economy to become the second-largest economy in the world, also uplifting its large population out of poverty; 600 million have undergone this transformation.1 Economic reforms have had a very strong impact on many aspects of Chinese society. One sector which has faced massive change is the Chinese media.
By extending the notion of national security to the domains of space and the earth’s poles, the Chinese government has expressed its determination to undertake every measure to safeguard interests even in areas beyond the national border.
East and Southeast Asia are known to get affected by various diseases routinely. Particularly, various waterborne and other diseases likely malaria and dengue fever commonly affect the regions. There is a concern that global warming may translate into explosive growth of mosquito-borne diseases. In addition to this, growing number of natural disasters are found escalating the health related challenges. All this eventually poses a threat to health, economic and human security.
China and India are the emerging economies in Asia and are in close geographical proximity to each other. What makes this relationship complicated is the fact that India and China have a disputed boundary and even though the relationship can be regarded as smooth historically, post-1962 the situation took a turn for worse.
China is India’s largest and most developed neighbour. Following the reform and opening-up policy adopted by the Chinese leadership in 1978, the country has developed at breath-taking speed. Today, the Chinese economy is the second largest in the world (in terms of Gross Domestic Product [GDP]), with a large amount of American treasury bonds in its possession. This economic growth has also extended to the Chinese military and security aspects.
