"Since Islam was introduced in the Maldives in the 12th century, religious practices in the country have been moderate. Yet in the past decade, the country has grown increasingly religiously conservative. This became especially evident following the implementation of political reforms and the transition to multiparty democracy in 2008, which gave a greater voice to religious conservatives and those calling for the rigid implementation of Shari`a (Islamic law) in the Maldives.[8]

Since the beginning of the New Year, fears of a dangerous border conflict have returned to haunt India and Pakistan as a spate of ceasefire violations and terrorist incursions continue to take place at the Line of Control (LoC) border between Indian and Pakistani-held Kashmir.

The BioWeapons Monitor 2012 contains country reports on BWC-relevant activities in eight states: Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In-country authors collected and analysed relevant information that is distributed through this publication. The authors used open sources and actively sought information from government departments, research institutions, industry, scientific societies and other entities.

The problems facing the troubled province of Balochistan are complex and diverse. The author (Animesh Roul) examines the challenges, including the conflict between the province's nationalists and the state, that illustrate Pakistan's struggle for control of the region.

The security situation in the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) state of India has reached a new low in the past few months as militant organizations backed by Islamabad have stepped up a campaign of politically-motivated violence by targeting vital infrastructure in the region and attacking civil society members. The region’s status remains disputed by Pakistan, which refers to J&K as “Indian-occupied Kashmir.” In what seems to be a shift in terrorist tactics, the militants have begun focusing on soft targets such as workers, engineers and village-level political representatives.

Animesh Roul, a counterterrorism analyst and executive director, Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, New Delhi says that in the aftermath of the US declaring the Haqqani network as a terrorist organisation there could be retributive strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan, even though Haqqani's firepower is dwindling.

In this interview with rediff.com Vicky Nanjappa, Roul discusses the Haqqani network and the growing threat of the Indian Mujahideen. The question, however, is whether the network poses a threat to India or not?

It is no secret that the face of terror - the master mind - is the educated, sophisticated guy from your privileged neighbourhood. But there is a trend that increasingly portends a strong wave of political Islam in India: Even the cannon fodder is elite or middle class.

Ahmed Siddibaba, also known as Yasin Bhatkal, notorious for his various aliases such as ‘Saharukh Khan’, ‘Sivanand’, and ‘Dr. Imran’, is believed to be in charge of the IM terror group since the top leaders of the homegrown terror group have fled to Pakistan and to the Gulf region following countrywide crackdowns. For the first time, Yasin, the IM’s explosive expert, who facilitated terror acts but typically remained in the background, stepped into the limelight during investigations into a series of blasts that hit major urban centers such as Delhi, Bangalore, and Ahmadabad in 2008.

Nasiruddin Haqqani (a.k.a. Dr Khan), was born in Nika district of Paktika Province, Afghanistan sometime in the year 1972. Unlike his illustrious warlord father and notorious brothers and relatives, Nasiruddin Haqqani maintains a relatively low public profile. Yet, he has maintained a responsible position in the hierarchy.