By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, October 18: Though with a population of only 523, 787 and depending heavily on Western tourist arrivals for its income, Maldives has been bravely taking up the cause of the people of Gaza in the teeth of...
Remaining hurdles in the path to revive Pali in India
By P.K.Balachandran
On October 17, Earlier this month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Buddhist language Pali is being officially designated as one of India’s “classical languages.” With...
By P.K Balachandran
Colombo, October 16: In the recent past, strains have developed in India’s relations with Canada and the US over allegations by the latter that India has eliminated, or is trying to eliminate, Sikh terrorists and separatists operating...
By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, October 15: Efforts to control small arms have completely failed. Countries around the world, irrespective of their wealth, whether they are rich or poor, are awash with Small Arms and Light Weapons or SA/LW) for short.
There were...
By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, October 14: Has the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that has been in existence since 2001, ever played a role in finding solutions to the members’ problems? Does it have anything to show for itself in all these...
By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, October 11: With the Maldives badly needing foreign exchange to meet its basic needs, President Mohamed Muizzu is bending over backwards to woo Indian tourists whose numbers have fallen due to the diplomatic standoff early this year.
In...
By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, October 9: Thousands of people assemble at Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur in the Western Indian State of Maharashtra on October 14 every year to pay homage to Dr.B.R.Ambedkar (1891-1956), the iconic leader of the Dalits, India’s most depressed caste.
The Dalits...
By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, October 8: There were two major outcomes of the official visit of the Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu to India: New Delhi has brought Male under its security umbrella and has backed it up with a financial bonanza to help...
By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, October 5: The Indian External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar’s parleys with Sri Lanka’s new left-nationalist leaders on October 4 were cordial. But India-Lanka relations will still be troubled by the looming Sino-Indian conflict.
Jaishankar had a single-point agenda in...
By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, October 2: Bangladesh’s police need urgent reform. The post-Hasina Muhammad Yunus government has to rid the police of unbridled politicisation, corruption and lawlessness imbibed under Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year autocratic rule.
When Bangladesh’s student movement suddenly forced the powerful...
By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, October 1:
In Buddha’s time (Sixth-Fifth Century BC) flexibility marked the Hindu caste order and it was much later that the Vedic rigidities associated with caste gained currency, says Dr. Thomas William Rhys Davids in his book Buddhist India (T.Fisher...
By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, September 30: The post-Sheikh Hasina interim government in Bangladesh headed by Nobel Laureate Dr.Muhammad Yunus (84) has clearly won hearts in the West led by the United States. Yunus’ recent visit to the US to attend the...
