the globalised dawoodi bohras of mumbai Courtesy: SBUT
25 March 2021

The globalised Dawoodi Bohras of Bombay

The Mumbai-headquartered Dawoodi Bohra community has a rich legacy of business, overseas maritime trade, and, today, a strong global community network that connects its 1 million faithful, wherever they are, in real time. The community's strength is its network, even 1,000 years ago, even without technology.

shutterstock_1091235845 Courtesy: Shutterstock
15 October 2020

UN: Necessary but reformed

The UN turned 75 this year but instead of grand celebrations, the world witnessed an empty UNGA with world leaders addressing it via video screening because of the pandemic. The UN is under unprecedented stress and being shown up for its inability to tackle the challenges of today like the pandemics, climate change, terrorism or global peace and security. The institution's key governing structures, especially the UN Security Council, are inadequate and demand reform. India must now use gritty resolve to ensure its place in these governing structures.

shutterstock_1062335495 Courtesy: Shutterstock
5 March 2020

Shadow of debt over Mombasa port

Kenya’s Mombasa port, the gateway to East and Central Africa, has enabled the Chinese to gain better access to resources in the region and export destinations within Africa through the Belt and Road Initiative. A recent visit offered insights into some of the shortcomings of increasing Chinese investments in the region – and the scope for other countries to step in

shutterstock_1420700369 Courtesy: Shutterstock
24 October 2019

Global protests: leaderless, youthful, persistent

There has been a wave of civil protests across the globe since early 2019 which have taken governments by surprise by their sheer intensity and resilience. The common impelling factor has been discontent with government. Other factors for the current wave, beginning with the Arab Uprising in 2011, have been corruption and regressive constitutional changes. This infographic charts the arc of the outcry

48645255438_77e7265a4b_c Courtesy: TICAD7/Flickr
3 October 2019

TICAD 7’s agenda: engaging private enterprise

The Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development was a departure from earlier editions of it. Japan, which is changing tack as a competitor to China in Africa, held back from publicising the number of heads of state present to prevent any comparisons with other such forums and made no further commitments on Overseas Development Assistance. The accent, instead, was on increasing Japanese private sector engagement

shutterstock_703229845 Courtesy: Shutterstock
8 August 2019

Africa’s ambitious path to trade growth

The African Continental Free Trade Area, launched in July, is a landmark achievement, aiming to eliminate tariffs on 90% of products covered by intra-Africa trade and thereby spur entrepreneurial initiative and job creation. It envisages many other gains as well, but the hurdles in their realisation cannot be wished away. An analysis

100614-global-uhuru-kenyatta-kenya Courtesy: Presidency, Kenya
27 June 2019

Kenyatta, Kenya’s ‘development president’

Kenya, the jewel of East Africa in many respects, has not made optimal progress due to a range of factors. But Uhuru Kenyatta, who is serving his second term as the country’s fourth president, has dedicated himself to a path of unity and more inclusive economic development. An analysis of Kenya’s ‘African destiny’

Image processed by CodeCarvings Piczard ### FREE Community Edition ### on 2019-05-29 10:09:17Z | http://piczard.com | http://codecarvings.com Courtesy: Egypt Today
11 June 2019

Russia returns to Africa

The inaugural Russia-Africa summit in Sochi in October is President Putin’s way of proclaiming a new phase in Russia’s relationship with the continent while increasing its relevance among countries with an established presence. The aim is to strengthen cooperation in the nuclear power, mining and security sectors