In The News

India Measures Itself Against a China That Doesn’t Notice

Vikas Bajaj September 6, 2011
India is in a race, comparing the pace of its economic development not with Western economic powers but with its neighbor, China, writes Vikas Bajaj for the New York Times. Comparisons on infrastructure, universities and armed forces are a constant feature in India's newspapers. But China does not share the same obsession, instead setting sights on surpassing the largest economy, that of the...

India’s Anti-Corruption Movement Wins – For Now

Ashok Malik September 1, 2011
Anna Hazare organized his public fast in New Delhi to strengthen anti-corruption legislation that was already winding its way through India’s parliament. Widespread public support, in particular among the middle class and youth, attracted immediate global attention and stunned India’s political establishment. After 12 days, the government capitulated, and Hazare ended the fast. But India’s...

Pakistan to Ban Encryption Software

Josh Halliday, Saeed Shah September 1, 2011
Protecting privacy is good for business. Yet the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has ordered internet providers in the world’s sixth largest nation to report any customers using virtual private networks to browse the web. The directive could disrupt the work of investors, entrepreneurs and researchers who routinely rely on virtual private networks, including encrypted emails, for secure...

The Real Foreign Hand Backing Anna

Rajiv Kumar August 25, 2011
One man’s protest against corruption has caught India’s attention, ignited by trends of mass protests abroad, argues Rajiv Kumar in an opinion essay for the Hindu BusinessLine: With fewer opportunities in the West, investors flock toward emerging economies like India, bringing along new demands for transparency and accountability; fewer escape routes exist for India’s elite to flee corruption;...

Anna Hazare's Fight for Change Has Inspired Millions of Indians

Chetan Bhagat August 19, 2011
Millions of Indians are questioning power’s corrupting influence, after Anna Hazare, 74, launched a hunger strike this week. His demand: parliamentary consideration of a bill to establish an ombudsman’s office for investigating and punishing corrupt politicians and government employees. “Archaic laws, designed for autocratic, colonial rulers with no accountability (yes, blame the British for...

Sorry, Pakistan: China Is No Sugar Daddy

Urmila Venugopalan July 22, 2011
China may be in no hurry to replace $800 million in suspended US aid to the Pakistani military. After the decision from the US president, Pakistani generals anticipated that China, an ally and the country’s largest defense supplier, would be willing to counter US influence and step in with funding. In exchange, Pakistani generals could help combat Islamic militant activity along China’s border...

Why My Father Hated India

Aatish Taseer July 19, 2011
Resentment lingers since Pakistan’s 1947 birth and partition from India, with an ongoing rivalry that embroils the closest of personal relationships and endangers international security. “In the absence of a true national identity, Pakistan defined itself by its opposition to India,” explains novelist Aatish Taseer, son of a Pakistani father, recently killed by militants, and an Indian Sikh...