In The News

World’s Biggest Coal Company Turns to Solar Energy to Lower Utility Bill

Ryan Koronowski June 7, 2013
In a triumph for alternative energy, the world’s largest coal company, Coal India, is installing solar photovoltaic panels at its facilities to reduce energy bills, reports Ryan Koronowski for Climate Progress. “Coal India produces 90 percent of India’s coal, and not only is it turning to solar as an efficient business practice, it understands India cannot power itself by coal,” he writes. “In...

Asia’s New Triangle

Harsh V. Pant June 4, 2013
With China’s relations with Japan and its Southeast Asian neighbors worsening over territorial disputes, Beijing is ramping up its efforts to mend fences with India. The task is not easy, explains security expert Harsh V. Pant. Just before Li Keqiang visited India, his first foreign trip as China’s premier, Chinese troops entered Indian territory in the Ladakh area, provoking a three-week...

Afghans Nervous as Nawaz Sharif Returns

Hafizullah Gardesh, Mina Habib May 29, 2013
Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League will take his third turn at prime minister, and Afghans are wary about relations between the two countries, considering that Sharif backed mujahedin resistance against the Soviet-backed government in the 1980s and recognized the Taliban government in 1997, report Hafizullah Gardesh and Mina Habib for the Institute for War & Peace Reporting. “Kabul...

EU Considers Emissions Fines on Chinese, Indian Airlines

James Kanter, John M. Broder, Neha Thirani Bagri May 22, 2013
Ten airlines from China and India face fines over their refusal to comply with legislation that regulates carbon emitted into European air. According to the New York Times, Chinese carriers may be hit with fines of up to €2.4 million; Indian carriers are facing fines of €30,000. While the fines apply to flights within European airspace, there are plans to expand the coverage to international...

India-China Love-Hate on the Silver Screen

Coonoor Kripalani May 21, 2013
In April Chinese troops moved inside the temporary line of actual control along the disputed border with India. Indian troops countered by setting up camp nearby in a standoff that ended 20 days later, before the official visit of China’s Premier Li Keqiang to New Delhi. For Indian cinema buffs, the recent events along the frozen heights of Ladakh, may seem like life imitating art, or the 1964...

Pope Condemns Bangladesh “Slave Labor”

May 9, 2013
Pope Frances, an advocate for the poor, has stepped up on May Day to denounce workers conditions in Bangladesh and compare their condition to “slave labor.” He linked work with dignity and argued that providing extra work for others is a higher purpose than making profits, reported BBC news and Vatican Radio. More than 700 people died in a building collapse near Dhaka, the country’s worst...

Myanmar Morphs to US-China Battlefield

Bertil Lintner May 3, 2013
The international community is encouraged about fledgling democracy in Burma, or Myanmar as renamed by its leaders. Once isolated, denounced for human rights violations, the Myanmar government depended heavily on China. Hoping to reduce dependence on China, the Myanmar government eased repression, and the US responded swiftly. But this development adds to new US-Chinese tensions. “Rather than...