There are currently three main obstacles in the way of an Israel-Palestine roadmap to peace �€“ A factional split within the Palestinian administration, the instability currently plaguing Israeli politics and the uncertainty of the future U.S. administration�€™s stance on what many consider to be the central tenet of Mid-East peace. The last few weeks have witnessed some disappointing developments in all three of these areas, leading to a rather moribund picture of future peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian entity.

India's education system is like a naturally talented, malnourished child�€”capable of great things if given the proper support. India's natural advantage is its pool of manpower. But with masses of children crammed into classrooms where unmotivated and under-trained teachers greet them, if any teacher at all, the potential of this manpower is stunted. Especially at the primary and secondary school levels, India�€™s education system is plagued with teacher absenteeism, extremely high student-teacher ratios, and an over-emphasis on rote learning. India needs both more teachers and a different approach to learning.

After the dust has settled from what seems to be overwhelming joy at the victory of the Senator from Illinois, The United States, and probably other countries too, will sit down to take a long hard look at what exactly made Senator Barack Obama into President-elect Barack Obama. 

As the United States financial crisis looms large over international markets and threatens to engulf global economies into a downward spiral of recession and uncertainty, there is a stark reminder of how globalization and inter-dependence between nations exposes the frailties and vulnerabilities of the international system. 

As of October 3rd 2008 the 123 civilian nuclear cooperation between India and the United States had completed its 3 year long journey across the globe and been ratified by not only the parliament in both countries, but also been given its blessings by the international community. On October 10th External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed the agreement at a ceremony in the State Department, operationalising the deal which is now legally binding on both sides.

For many of us the term �€œpirate�€ conjures up images of 17th century buccaneers, coursing through the waters of the Caribbean, in search of lost treasure �€“ it holds within it, an element of make believe; of unscrupulous bearded men with eye patches, wooden legs and talking parrots.

Much has been written about the 12th President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari; people have been confused over what to make of him. He�€™s been described as a wily politician, �€˜Mr. 10 percent�€™, �€˜a Nelson Mandela in the making�€™; people have also talked about his meteoric rise in Pakistani politics since the death of his wife Benazir Bhutto last December. 

In Sri Lanka, the majority Buddhists have backed a consensus to militarily defeat the minority Tamil's twenty-five year old insurgency. This time the Sri Lankan state may have finally amassed enough military strength and political will to flush the insurgents out of their northern Sri Lankan jungle hide-outs. A quarter century long insurgency may end very soon