Author: Alisha Singh

Antonio Guterres (UN Secretary-General) has warned of an “alarming” expansion of affiliates of the so-called ‘Islamic states’ throughout the African region, on the back of the present situation in Afghanistan. Winning support to the Islamic movement Many are Islamist militant groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda, an organization the United Nations (UN) has said shares connections with the Taliban in Afghanistan. As in Afghanistan, the spread of Islamic movements have shown a similar trend. It has flourished majorly in countries where they have been able to capitalize on weak state institutions, lacking essential services like healthcare, education, hunger, and poverty. Many are…

“Beauty provokes harassment, the law says, but it looks through men’s eyes when deciding what provokes it” – Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth It begins with how harassment in today’s world is more complex and widespread than we would like to admit. The definition of harassment is not always easy to crack and can often be nuanced and coded from different angles and perspectives. It can be ambiguous and indirect, taking the form of ‘harmless’ insinuations and sometimes it can be subtly inappropriate. So how can we know- what’s appropriate and what’s not, and where do we need…

As the war raged country faces widespread hunger and fears of an economic collapse, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the group supports China’s ‘one belt, one road’ initiative. He describes China as its most important partner who will help in rebuilding Afghanistan. Pointers from the interview Mujahid said that China has been making some positive statement towards the Taliban and have expressed some hopes. They have asked the Taliban to follow a moderate foreign policy, combat all the prevalent terrorist forces, negotiate with countries peacefully, and live up to the international community’s aspirations. “There are rich copper mines across the…

According to the latest report released by Ormax Media, media analytics and consulting firm, there are around 97 million active paid OTT subscriptions, out of which 66 per cent of subscriptions are with the male audience.Outbound links Lockdown and movies March 2020, I guess it was the last month when we went out freely without any masks on, enjoyed our outing, social interaction and whatnot. It feels like ages since the lockdown struck, and everything got limited within the four walls of our houses. But our generation is all about “always being ready to adapt to new things, ” which…

Beijing-based group Hong Dandan is committed to assisting visually impaired people in enjoying films. The company has successfully managed to covert visual elements of movies to spoken language so that blind people can understand the storyline in a much better way. The group was formed in 2004 and held one event every Sunday in Beijing. And now, more than 30 cities in China follow a similar service pattern for the visually impaired. Limited opportunities for the visually impaired According to the China Association for the blind, China currently has more than 17 million visually impaired people, and eight million are…

The Taliban have said that they have been considering several models of governance. They have frequently held negotiations with all the stakeholders, from religious scholars to politicians. All the efforts were aimed at knowing the plans of others and getting inputs from all segments of the society to bring in an inclusive form of governance that will be acceptable to every Afghan national. What was the Taliban like in the 2000s? The Taliban first emerged in 1994, during the anarchy and civil war that followed the collapse of the pro-Soviet government. After controlling Kabul, the group attracted international headlines for…

Satyajit ray’s debut film “Pather Panchali” (1955), which changed the perception of Bengali films in the international arena, completed 66 years on 26 Aug 2021. Pather Panchali saw the light when the Indian Cinema Industry followed up the Hollywood approach in making films. The era of the 50s was way different from the one we see today. Shooting an entire full-length movie outdoor with the pieces of equipment available was something out of the box. Yet Ray dared to shoot his first film out in rural Bengal, which turned out to be something that the industry never saw before. About…

On Tuesday morning, international relations and cooperation minister Naledi Pandor hosted Bangladesh’s foreign minister Abul Kalam Abdul Momen. Both the ministers agreed to forge closer cooperation in business development, information exchange, skill development and women’s economic empowerment. The meeting noted Bangladesh’s golden jubilee anniversary of independence and the centenary birth anniversary of its father of the Nation- Bangabandhu Sheik Mujibur Rahman. Both the ministers reflected on Bangladesh’s achievements since independence and paid tribute to the life of Bangabandhu Sheik Mujibur Rahman for his dynamic leadership and sacrifice. Background Bangladesh never had a bilateral relation with South Africa before the end…

A new attempt at purifying New Delhi’s air pollution will see 40 giant fans push out filtered air in the heart of the Indian capital. As chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the country’s first smog tower at Connaught place and termed it a path-breaking milestone. The tower is located behind the Shivaji Stadium Metro station in Connaught place and stands at the height of 24.2 meters. The total costing of the project is around Rs20 crores, with NBCC as the project management consultancy and the TATA project limited as the executing agency. Mr Kejriwal termed the tower as experimental, as…

Coming right after the embarrassing fiasco in Afghanistan, US vice president, Kamala Harris’s visit, is a part of a diplomatic charm offensive by the Biden administration in Southeast Asia. Kamala Harris Diplomatic Visit Biden administration is the third one after Mr Obama’s and Mr Trump’s, to pivot US’s diplomacy away from the Middle East towards the Asia-Pacific region. This region is crucial to the prosperity and security of the United States. And the vice president has some convincing hope for the host countries. Shifting Ties There were concerns about the Biden administration’s lack of interest in the region when he…