The India-Bangladesh 37th ministerial-level Joint River Commission meeting was held in March 2010. A major breakthrough achieved during the meeting was the decision to sign an agreement within a year on the Teesta River water sharing, which provides key support to agricultural production in the northwest region of Bangladesh. During the meeting, India and Bangladesh exchanged draft accords on Teesta water sharing however, no information was disclosed on the percentage of river water likely to be shared between the countries. 

Democratic societies across the world pride themselves on the existence of a free press, with Pakistan being no different. The country's civil society has historically looked towards the media as an institution or symbol, representative of their democratic values and ideals. Yet the relationship has not been so simple. 

One of the pivotal factors driving global politics in the post 9/11 world has been the growing rift between the West and Islamic countries. This new wave of geo-political conflict, coined by Samuel Huntington as the ‘Clash of Civilizations’, has gripped the minds and interest of political analysts and aficionados around the world and has made topics like Iraq and Islamic fundamentalism part of common discourse. What are some of the main issues that stand at the center of West-Islam relations today?

India''s historic ties with Afghanistan are now under a scanner as a whole litany of pressures, some old and some new, some external and some internal, have come into play in the politics of the region. India's involvement in the country has begun to be moulded by aspects other than its own interests in the country, and the interests of the Afghan people. In the near future, due to the increasing attacks in Indian targets in Afghanistan, India will, in essence, be forced to shape its policy in the country more as a reaction to external events, rather than as a way to achieve its own ends. 

The first quarter of 2010 has already seen the situation in Pakistan take several turns.  The recent Pakistani Delegation visit to the US which saw COAS General Kayani lead the delegation, the statements by Pakistan with regards to Afghanistan and its call for an ‘active’ role in the country and the recent U-turn by PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif with regards to the 18TH Amendment have been a few highlights over the past three months. Other developments over the same period have now effectively highlighted the major players in the struggle for power, those who will determine the overall future of the country.

Sundeep Waslekar comments on engineers and scientists, such as the founders of Internet, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and E-Bay, driving progress in the 21st century. 

We live in two worlds. One is the world of hope. The other is the world in despair....

In the last few months I visited a number of places along the Great Rift Valley- the geographical system of faults and valleys that stretches from Lebanon in the North to Mozambique in the South across almost 5000km crossing over 20 national borders.