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The 17th century Dutch philosopher, Hugo Grotius, whose pioneering work on laws of war and peace laid the foundation of the modern international law, likened diplomacy to a long-distance marathon run and war to a 100-yard dash. Patience is key to good diplomacy which Grotius characterized with the creation of a win-win situation for parties involved. Belligerence is the product of impatience, jealousy, rivalry and quest for supremacy. War starts when diplomacy fails.

Perhaps no other country has as great and complex a maze of laws and rules that give arbitrary or unlimited powers to the state as India. And no other state has abused them as comprehensively as has India to censor free expression, manipulate opinion, curb dissent, criminalise protest, and harshly victimise people—in order to impose manifestly harmful decisions on them. The maze includes scores of new laws (200, according to one estimate), in addition to the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Police Act, inherited from the colonial era.

The euphoria of social activism has evaporated. That it lacked staying power was evident early enough when Anna Hazare’s decision to shift his venue of protest from Delhi to Mumbai in December, 2011, exposed the movement’s fragility. In contrast to the surging crowds, which attended Anna’s meetings in the national capital during the summer of that year, large empty spaces were visible in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla complex ground when Anna held his meeting.

Well-wishers of Punjab must have been shocked by the spate of recent worrisome happenings in the state. To mention a few: the promises of ensuring free and fair elections and zero tolerance to corruption and lawlessness have been violated more than kept: a minister -third one- faces allegations of promoting corruption and nepotism; and, the police which is supposed to maintain law and order has itself become law violators by acting at the behest of ruling Akali leaders and their district minions.

In the midst of India’s current slow down in growth, India is said to be the third largest economy in the world. This is what the OECD has put out in its latest review of the global economy. Third largest, mind you, in purchasing power parity terms only.

KOCHI : There is some good news. The official weather forecasting agency, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has confirmed that South West Monsoon has entered Kerala coast in due time on June 1

New Delhi: Padma Shree Dr Avinash Chander took over as Scientific Advisor to Indian Defence Minister and Secretary Defence Research & Development and Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

New delhi: The new Defence Procurement Procedure 2013 released by the Indian Defence Ministry, here on Saturday aims to balance the competing requirements of expediting capital procurement, developing a robust indigenous defence sector and conforming to the highest standards of transparency, probity and public accountability, while laying a strong emphasis on promoting indigenisation and creating a level playing field for the Indian Industry.

There seems to be no end to the theatre of the absurd being enacted by the Congress in the state. In an unedifying spectacle, reputations have been ravaged, dignities dented, and images tarnished. The shenanigans have gone on in utter disregard of the sense of revulsion it has created among the people.

The fear of losing business has gripped Bangladesh. It was interesting to see a New York Times column by Fazle Hasan Abed, one of the most successful long-time fighters against poverty, in the wake of the building collapse which left hundreds dead in several garment factories in the country. It was interesting because he spoke up for local workers, but in exclusion of the fact that they are workers in a global chain of production.