A few weeks ago Sunday Express reported that the Madhya Pradesh Hunger Index at 30.9 was worse than that of Ethiopia. Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, its two neighbours, were only marginally better at 28.7 and 26.6 respectively. BBC had also brought out a similar report in October 2008. According to the report, the statistics came from the country’s Planning Commission and not from a local NGO and that the authorities were extremely alarmed. The state was ranked 11 in 1994 but has fallen to 17 in 2008.

• Ramesh Phadke |
• September 04, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

The month of May 2009 was the most violent month in Pakistan in the last five years. As the security forces launched a concerted operation against the Taliban in Malakand Division, the casualties shot up almost five times. The month recorded 504 violent incidents against 332 in April, which resulted in the loss of 2,585 lives. Most of the casualties were due to Operation Rah-e-Rast launched by the security forces in Swat and adjacent districts.

• T. Khurshchev Singh , Alok Bansal |
• September 02, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), an ensemble of liberals and conservatives, has unseated the Liberal Democratic party (LDP) in the general elections held on August 30, ending the LDP’s almost half a century of uninterrupted rule over the country. Though the DPJ has been elected primarily because of people’s dissatisfaction with the LDP’s domestic and economic policies, it is likely to alter Japan’s foreign and defence policies.

• Shamshad A. Khan |
• August 31, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

Though tensions between India and Nepal over a few disputed pockets along the border have persisted for more than three decades, the first half of 2009 witnessed an increase in the frequency of border disputes. An obvious fallout of the disputes was the drumming up of anti-India feelings in Nepal and tension in bilateral relations.

• Pushpita Das |
• August 31, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

With the killing of three women and a nine-year old girl, absurdly described as a police informer, the Naxals have lost any moral justification that they may have had to wage war against India. This heinous crime proves that their acts are much worse than the so-called police atrocities against which the Naxals claim they protect the people. This may be the last straw on an already overloaded government camel reeling under the burden of procrastination, confusion, weak governance and plain indecision.

• Ramesh Phadke |
• August 31, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

Japan seems set to overhaul its pacifist security policy with the ongoing formulation of a new National Defense Programme Guidelines (NDPG) for fiscal 2010-2014. The NDPG lays out Japan’s basic policy on its defence strength. The current NDPG expires at the end of this year.

• Shamshad A. Khan |
• August 27, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

“There is credible information of ongoing plans of terrorist groups in Pakistan to carry out fresh attacks. The area of operation of these terrorists today extends far beyond the confines of Jammu & Kashmir and covers all parts of our country…In dealing with the terrorist challenge we need to be prepared for encountering more sophisticated technologies and enhanced capabilities.”

- PM’s speech at CM’s conference on internal security, 17 August 2009

• Ali Ahmed |
• August 26, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

Iran has unfortunately witnessed a deep political upheaval in the wake of recent Presidential elections leading to vertical polarization among its ruling elite between two major factions, one led by President Ahmadinejad and supported by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and the other by opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi backed by big personalities and former Presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hashemi Rafsanjani. The conflict between the two elite factions is internally driven and one that is difficult to discern fully.

• P. Stobdan |
• August 25, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

Incidents of racial profiling of Indian citizens at American airports have been reported time and again. The latest incident of ‘secondary questioning’ of a film star whom the United States embassy in New Delhi considers a ‘global icon’ and a welcome guest in the US, has once again brought to the fore the contentious practice of racial profiling in the name of effective counter-terrorism.

• Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay |
• August 24, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

Nepal Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who heads a twenty-two party coalition government, chose India for his first official foreign visit after assuming office two months back. This ‘goodwill’ visit was undertaken against the background of Nepal’s increasingly fragile peace process. The bilateral agenda was just a pretext. What brought him to New Delhi were several domestic factors. While this is not to say that there are no urgent bilateral issues between the two countries, the most crucial factor today is India’s support for Nepal’s coalition government.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik |
• August 24, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments