Author: Amar Thacker

Fighting is raging near Bakhmut and Zaporizhia, but Russia’s airstrikes are also aimed at Kiev and Lviv. Ukraine’s air defenses are apparently continuing to intercept many Russian drones. Russia continues to attack Ukraine, mainly from the air – in addition to shelling the front in the east of the country, Lviv in the west on the border with Poland was also attacked. There were also drone and rocket attacks on Kiev and Zaporizhia, with Ukrainian forces saying their air defenses shot down almost all – 32 out of 38 – Russian drones. Musician and TV sound engineer Ivan Shulga, who died…

Who does a textbook really belong to? That’s the question being asked in India, where a controversy has been raging for weeks over what children are taught in school after reports about the deletion of some topics in their textbooks. The textbooks are not new – they were published earlier this year by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and are already being used in more than 20,000 schools. The NCERT, an autonomous organisation under the federal education ministry, oversees syllabus changes and textbook content for children taking exams under the government-run Central Board of Secondary Education.…

On a scorching June night, Bhagwan Ghukse woke up with a jolt and decided to run for his life. For the past month, Mr Ghukse had been kept captive in a squalid shanty in the western state of Maharashtra along with six other daily-wage workers. The workers were hired by some contractors in the state’s Osmanabad district to dig wells, but were later forced into bonded labour which is illegal in India. Mr Ghukse described the dehumanising living conditions, of being beaten, drugged and forced into long hours of manual labour with little food or water. At night, the workers…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of making India the world’s factory risks being held back by the country’s inability to attract bigger container ships due to inadequate port infrastructure. Most harbors along India’s coast aren’t deep enough to handle vessels like the Ever Alot, the world’s largest boxship at 400 meters long and with a capacity of more than 24,000 twenty-foot equivalent units. Neighboring Sri Lanka as well as Malaysia have in recent months received visits from the Ever Alot,which can rival the Empire State Building in length. India’s biggest state-run container handling facility, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, lacks the 17-meter draft needed for…

When I was Australia’s ambassador to the United States, I visited General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, one of two yards constructing the Virginia-class submarines. A Virginia was the backdrop in San Diego last month for the three AUKUS leaders’ announcement of Australia’s path to acquiring nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs). Electric Boat plans increase its workforce by some 6,000, doubling the number of shifts. Hundreds of Australians will join them. Their training will be invaluable to the creation of a sovereign workforce to build and sustain our SSN AUKUS fleet and sustain our Virginias as we receive three to five of them…

New Zealand is committed to defending an international rules-based order and nuclear non-proliferation. As the strategic rivalry between the United States and China intensifies, the invitation to discuss participation in the AUKUS security agreement presents New Zealand with a potentially momentous decision: how best to secure its own strategic interests and values in the Indo-Pacific region. AUKUS is the 2021 agreement among Australia, the UK and the US for the “exchange of naval nuclear propulsion information.” It has been presented as the foundation for an enhanced security partnership linked to a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and a rules-based international order. While it does not…

Himanta Biswa Sarma’s proactive and consistent role in resolving inter-state border disputes is being appreciated, but critics say it may be too early to celebrate Another festering inter-state border dispute in the Northeast was declared “resolved”, with the Chief Ministers of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. Shah called the moment “historic” and a “huge achievement”. “By accepting the report, the two states have ended the dispute over the 800-km boundary,” the Union Home Minister declared. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the…

The selection was made by the All India Women’s Selection Committee. The camp will take place from May 15 to June 8. Assam cricketers Jintimani Kalita and Uma Chetry have been shortlisted to attend the high-performance camp (Under-23) at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. The selection was made by the All India Women’s Selection Committee. The camp will take place from May 15 to June 8. “Congratulations to Jintimani Kalita and Uma Chetry for being selected by the All India Women’s Selection Committee to attend the High-Performance Camp (Under-23) at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore,” read a…

Pulwama terror attack and Balakot airstrikes have also been a point of contestation between political parties, both in India and its neighbour Pakistan. Though the majority of the people see Pulwama as a terror attack and the Balakot airstrike as a responsive measure to this attack, there are still a handful of voices that have conflicting views on both. Due to these views, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack always found itself in a political quagmire.  In the latest political contention, the former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Satya Pal Malik allegedly claimed that the Indian government had the option…

Impressed by India’s culture and the talent in the country, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple will continue to invest in local communities, and work together to build a better future with innovations. Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged his enthusiasm for India’s culture and spirit ahead of the launch of the first two Apple retail locations in Mumbai and Delhi this week. “India has such a beautiful culture and incredible energy,” Cook said, adding that “we’re excited to build on our long-standing history — supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future…