Right To A Healthy Environment: Citizen's Right Vs State's Obligation

Do we have the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment? One of the most obvious questions, even the cycle of heat waves engulfing India this summer, has been missing during the largest democratic practices as 834 million Indians are voting in the 2024 General Elections. Ironically, the election manifestos of both national and regional political parties have failed to commit to ensuring the right to a healthy environment for all Indians if they are elected to power on June 4, 2024. At best, environmental well-being is a non-issue in this General Election.

AVILASH ROUL

Abdul Mateen Taha: Islamic State Fugitive Figurehead in India

April 26, 2024

On October 23, 2022, a suicide car bomb exploded outside the Kottai Eswaran Hindu Temple of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu State, India. The perpetrator, Jameesha Mubeen, died in the explosion. A month later, on November 19, 2022, a homemade improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in an auto-rickshaw in the city of Mangaluru in Karnataka State. The driver, Mohammed Shariq, was burned in the attempt.

ANIMESH ROUL

What Would Modi’s Third Term Mean for India-China Relations?

April 17, 2024

India will hold its 18th general election on April 18, 2024, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are poised to win a third term. Similar to his first and second terms, a significant amount of historical and contemporary political and economic baggage will burden Modi’s third term and his relations with China.

ISRO Tests Reusable Launch Vehicle For Sustainable Space Exploration

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out its second Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Landing Experiment, named RLV-LEX-02, at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka on March 22, 2024. This follows the trailblazing success of the first landing test, RLV-LEX-01, on April 2, 2023. The vehicle showcased in these tests is expected to be pivotal in a ground-breaking reusable two-stage orbital launch system by 2030.

AJEY LELE

India's Moment for Global Health Leadership: India is well positioned to shape the future of global health

March 16, 2024

A core Hindu philosophical tenet from sacred Sanskrit scriptures, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, articulates the concept of the world as one family and informs India's global outlook. The theme of India's Group of Twenty (G20) presidency in 2023—One Earth, One Family, One Future—encapsulates Hindu philosophy's emphasis on the importance of every form of life on earth. That approach influences the country's approach to global health in the aftermath of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.  

TM: NIA Dismantles Remaining Islamic State Cells in India

March 04, 2024
  • Executive Summary: India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested over 180 people in 2023 for involvement in jihadist terror cases, 65 of which were associated specifically with IS, as part of a broader strategy to disrupt IS’s influence in India. 
  • In December 2023 alone, the NIA conducted widespread raids across the country, arresting dozens of individuals linked to Islamic State (IS) networks and seizing weapons, explosives, and propaganda materials.
ANIMESH ROUL

'India Out' vs 'Boycott Maldives': Tourism as an Instrument of Power

No one would have wildly imagined that a few stunning pictures of a coastal island could trigger cascading diplomatic short-fuse between two asymmetrical neighbouring countries. The truth is that both governments and social media of India and Maldives have been engaged in a severe tug of words and diplomatic row respectively for whose coastlines are better after the Indian Prime Minister visited the Indian archipelago Lakshadweep and shared a series of scenic pictures on January 4. Was it a calculated strategic move by India to expose the months-old pro-China government in Maldives?

AVILASH ROUL

TM: New Hizb ut-Tahirir Networks Uncovered in Southern India

December 16, 2023

The transnational Islamist political movement Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) has increased its India-centric propaganda. HT is often described as a non-violent extremist group seeking to unite the global Muslim community under one Islamic caliphate. The arrests of several HT operatives from Central and South Indian states, including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, confirmed HT’s shadowy presence in the country. HT is attempting to revive the group’s past pro-Islamic state and anti-India discourses through its preaching campaigns.

ANIMESH ROUL