Page 36 - Observer Research News Today

Market participants’ plea for removal of Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT) ever since it came into existence in July 2013 on non-agricultural commodity derivatives trading in India has gone unheeded so

Text Size: A+ No political pundit believed that the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) that was formed after the merger of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), headed by K.P. Sharma Oli, and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre), led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, on the eve of the elections in 2018 would split within three years. But it turned into reality after President Bidya Devi Bhandari — at the recommendation of the federal government headed by PM K.P....

A stress test for American democracy Updated: Updated: January 19, 2021 23:20 IST Donald Trump is out of the White House but Trumpism will be a tougher challenge to deal with Share Article AAA Donald Trump is out of the White House but Trumpism will be a tougher challenge to deal with The oldest democracy has been subjected to its most severe stress test; it came to the brink, stared at the abyss and just managed to clear it. The U.S. may have survived the test but considerable damage has bee...

DAP) 2020 has increased the indigenous content requirement in all categories of defence procurement. 10 The DAP 2020 has also proposed other measures to increase indigenisation such as increase in indigenous availability of high-end military materials, the use of indigenous software in equipment/systems and a boost to innovation by start-ups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ( MSMEs). For a discussion on the changes introduced in the DAP 2020, please see our previous article, here.  Cha...

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented stress on India’s urban public health infrastructure, underscoring the need for urban planning to account for increased demand for health amenities during crises. This paper evaluates the city of Mumbai’s 1991 and 2034 development plans and finds inherent infrastructural inadequacies. It calls on urban-policymakers to complement development plans with robust dynamic health strategies that consider technological advances and epidemiological chan...

Sky High: How the Asia-Pacific Sees Space David Burbach, Namrata Goswami, and Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan discuss the future of space competition and cooperation in Asia. January 13, 2021 Advertisement After a long lull, great power competition in outer space is back. The last two administrations in the United States have left deep imprints on the U.S. space program in their own ways. While the Obama administration recognized the importance of private commercial actor...

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted two features of the Nepal-India economic relationship: Nepal’s ballooning trade deficit, and unrestricted cross-border movement of people of both countries. Attributing the trade deficit entirely to supply-side constraints is neither accurate nor conducive to the overall health of the relationship. This brief suggests ways towards more sustainable trade relations between India and Nepal, among them, India relaxing the non-tariff measures it imposes on Nep...

Various vaccine trials across the world are showing highly promising efficacy, and multiple vaccines are getting approved across continents. The global vaccine race has now entered its second phase, where countries try and procure as many doses of Covid-19 vaccines as possible. India has put its faith primarily in the vaccines of Oxford-AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech-ICMR. It has also secured future stockpiles of Gamaleya and Novavax vaccines through Advance Market Commitments (AMC). However, I...

The Taliban today undoubtedly has a stronger hold over how the US militarily plans to withdraw from the conflict in Afghanistan. This raises questions about the continuing challenges to security in South Asia—in particular, the influence of IS Khorasan (IS-K), the group’s Afghanistan avatar, and its rise both as an ISIS-aligned entity and a big-tent brand for various jihadist groups in the country. As the ‘Khorasan’ project of ISIS gets more attention, and the US and the Taliban stand a...

English By Anjana Pasricha Share on Facebook Print this page NEW DELHI - In India, the world’s largest democracy, which has long looked to the United States as a model to be emulated, the overrunning of the U.S. Capitol by President Donald Trump’s supporters evoked shock and disbelief, even as political analysts cautioned that there are important lessons to be learned.     Others expressed concern that the domestic turmoil highligh...