The word ‘democracy’ a Greek word in origin’ is composed of Demo or the people and ‘Cracy’ rule, or rule of people, it started in city states of Greece. A lame tradition of Democracy was practiced in Rome where it got mixed up with Emperorship and had a zigzag course. Otherwise in Europe, worst authoritarian rule remained entrenched till the …

Beirut, Lebanon , Cape Town, South Africa , Chennai, India , Chicago, US, Dublin, Ireland, Istanbul, Turkey, Jakarta, Indonesia, Lagos, Nigeria, Melbourne, Australia, Panama City, Panama 1.    Beirut, Lebanon Despite its turbulent history, Beirut stands out as being an ideal place for adventurous real estate investors. There has been some recent spill-over from the ongoing Syrian conflict. But the Mediterranean …

Target the 90 companies who pollute the most. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released its third of four planned reports. This one is on mitigation, or the ‘human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases.’ There have been many such reports before by the IPCC and others; and many more reports …

The 1000 Electricity Transmission and Trade Project for Central Asia and South Asia (CASA), or CASA-1000, project is a groundbreaking initiative in terms of cooperation in the fields of energy. It is believed that the project will set new levels of economic and regional cooperation in this region that is abundant in natural resources to produce huge amounts of electricity. …

Discussion about water in South Asia, in particular the shared rivers of the region, is vociferous, antagonistic and increasingly associated with national security. Renewable water resources in the region have fallen dramatically on a per capita basis since the 1960s. India hit the ‘water stress’ mark around a decade ago, Pakistan slightly earlier. Groundwater is fast depleting in India, Pakistan …

The EU citizens, in recent elections to the European Parliament (EP), sent a strong and clear message to the European leaders to take a lesson from their low turnout and their choices to move to the extreme sides of the political spectrum. The EP election results reflected political and social trends of recent years in the EU. Although the general …

The current chaos in Iraq is largely attributed to the ill-conceived US invasion of Iraq, the dismantling of the Ba’athist state apparatus and the hasty withdrawal of American troops. But, Iraq was not ready enough to assume control of its own security situation when the US decided to withdraw forces in December 2011. The wisdom of that decision will long …

The world is going through a period of turmoil and uprisings. Armed troops have taken over territory in Eastern Europe. First-world navies are jockeying for territorial waters in the South China Sea. Barbarous rebel forces are overrunning regime troops in Iraq and Syria. Afghanistan has been ruined by the US. South America is also not immune to it. Iran-Saudi rivalry …

Boko Haram is among the most vicious terrorist groups operating in North Africa. It has caused havoc in Nigeria’ Africa’s most populous country’ through a wave of bombings, assassinations and abductions. The region is home to some of the worst extremists in the world. This militant group wants to institute sharia system in Nigeria. Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which …

A Vicious Step!, Climate Pangs , Headway in Islamic Finance, Surge of the Rightwing , Things Fall Apart, A Pure Feat, Gaza Bleeds Again , Something is Fishy, Another Feather in CM’s Cap, The Real Joga Bonito!, A Vicious Step! On June 20, Sindh sealed its borders to stop the influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) after the military operation …