I find it interesting that in Pakistan the army chief is more influential than the Prime Minister. I think it is especially crucial that Raheel Sharif was able to execute a peaceful transfer of power because Pakistan has lots of pressing issues, for example the dispute with India over Kashmir. I also think
Last week I received a very unusual invitation indeed. It was to a 50th birthday party in a swanky Delhi hotel, but the party was for a plant: a strain of rice known only by its initials, IR8. A celebration for an angry rice variety; who could refuse? The Indian Agriculture Minister, Shri Sudarshan Bhagat, opened the event, describing the… Read more »
Images have been released showing the sheer size of a new solar power plant in southern India. The facility in Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu, has a capacity of 648 MW and covers an area of 10 sq km. This makes it the largest solar power plant at a single location, taking the title from the Topaz Solar Farm in California, which… Read more »
The appointment of Pakistan’s new army chief, announced on Saturday night by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, had been awaited with extraordinary interest and nervousness by politicians and the public alike. The army is the most powerful institution in the country and its chief is the most influential figure in the country.
Days before he hangs up his spurs and retires on 29 November, Pakistan’s army chief General Raheel Sharif stands at the height of his popularity. His massive portraits adorn the backs of lorries, posters depict him as saviour of the nation and he continues to inspire devotional social media hashtags.
This attack shows that the Kashmir region continues to be an unresolved source of conflict. The fact that it was the “Pakistani military’s biggest single loss of life in Kashmir since a 2003 truce” illustrates that the conflict is escalating and indicates there could be higher casualties in the future. I think this is especially alarming considering the fact both… Read more »
Surging pollution levels are driving panicked residents of the Indian capital, Delhi, to queue up for face masks, leading to shortages across the city, as the BBC’s Vikas Pandey reports. “I am ready to wait for an entire day, but I am not going without buying masks today,” an angry customer shouts at a shop assistant in Delhi’s Khan Market… Read more »
India is in the middle of an extraordinary economic experiment. On 8 November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave only four hours’ notice that virtually all the cash in the world’s seventh-largest economy would be effectively worthless. The Indian government likes to use the technical term “demonetisation” to describe the move, which makes it sound rather dull. It isn’t. This is… Read more »
Seven Pakistani soldiers have been killed by Indian shelling in disputed Kashmir, the Pakistani military says. The troops died in “unprovoked” firing overnight in the Bhimber sector on the Line of Control (LoC). India blamed Pakistan for starting the clash.
Long queues continue outside banks and several ATMs have run out of cash in India, three days after 500 ($7) and 1,000 rupee notes were withdrawn as part of anti-corruption measures. The BBC visited many ATMs of big banks in Delhi and Mumbai but found them either shut or not dispensing cash. ATMs opened at midnight after being shut for… Read more »