Human beings as inventors and creators have reached a tipping point.  We are transitioning from dependence on oil to reliance on renewable resources and the paradigm-shifting potential of nanotechnology.  Unfortunately, USA and China are fueling their technological growth, in an increasing desperation, to maintain their superpower standing or to gain political negotiation power in the world. 

On a recent visit to Ukraine, I landed in Kiev on the first day of the pre-trial hearing of a case against Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko; a woman who was one of the main leaders of the Orange Revolution of 2004. A member of the current opposition party, she was under investigation for abuse of power and corruption, though to many it seemed that the motivations of the trial were purely political. The charges brought against her are from the camp of current President Yanukovych; interestingly, the very man against whom the revolution of 2004 was against. The main boulevard leading to the Independence Square, home of the revolution in Ukraine, was filled with protestors hoping that this would not mark the end and failure of the famous Orange movement. The judge at the hearing subsequently ruled in favour of a trial, and now (early July 2011) Tymoshenko stands on trial; marking the death of Ukraine�€™s freedom movement for many. 

In today's day and age, charity is no longer just the immediate kindness we extend to one another. As the scope and scale of the problems in the world have grown, so too has the organized response to tackling them. The word philanthropy has come to denote an entire machinery, a whole infrastructure, comprised of donors, NGOs, corporate houses and more. 

A spate of attacks on Pakistan's navy has uncovered a possible infiltration of terrorism into the rank and file of the country's defence forces. Although not discussed much in the media, the attack on PNS Mehran was the third of a series of attacks on the Pakistani navy stationed in Karachi. Before Mehran there were two other attacks on naval buses - one on April 28th and the second two days later on the 30th. Why and how was the navy being attacked repeatedly within Karachi? According to Saleem Shahzad, Pakistan's Bureau Chief for Hong Kong-based Asia Times, the first two attacks were traced back to Al Qaeda. Shahzad claimed that certain naval officers were detained for their links to the terrorist organization and the bombings of three navy buses were �€œwarning shots�€ to force the navy into a negotiation process. Shahzad claims that the extent of infiltration became concerning when AQ was able to track the whereabouts of these officers once they were brought in for questioning. When the negotiation process fell through and AQ chief Osama Bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad the last retaliatory shot on PNS Mehran was of a much larger scale.

After years of experts talking about the environmental impacts of big dams, the Chinese government has finally admitted that there have been mistakes in the planning of the Three Gorges Dam. In May this year, the Chinese State Council acknowledged serious flaws in the dam. This may come a little too late and may prove to be hardly a consolation since the construction of other similar projects continues unabated. It is clear that for a lot of Chinese projects, geared to tackle the problem of severe water shortage facing China, the risk-benefit analysis has not been conducted comprehensively. As a result, in the next few years, instead of serving their purpose, these gigantic projects may actually end up worsening the situation.

With the per capita energy consumption at 439kgoe, India�€™s energy needs are expected to rapidly expand in the coming years. Based on the growing energy market, there is huge a potential for wider penetration of solar energy in India. 

Recent events in the Middle East and North Africa have put a spotlight on the role and status of Arab women, who stand to either lose or gain from the winds of change sweeping the region. 

The Arab revolution contagion reached the shores of the Persian Gulf, when protests took place against authoritarian rule, rising inflation and high unemployment in Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries did not experience the scale of protests seen in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. However in the future, if the large and young expatriate population demands citizenship rights and benefits, the GCC region may not be able to preserve the status quo that it has been able to maintain even in this volatile situation.