In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

It has been a month since the fatal rape of a 23-year-old woman by a gang of six men on a moving bus in South Delhi captured headlines in India and around the world. In Delhi, where I live and work, the incident continues to pervade both the media and private conversations as people of all walks of life struggle to come to terms…

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Climate change combined with rapid population growth and urbanization is placing intense pressure on South Asia’s most precious resource: water. Per capita water availability in the region has decreased by 70 percent since 1950, according to the Asian Development Bank.

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Rapid economic growth in Asia and other developing regions of the world is triggering a sea change in international aid. Countries that were once beneficiaries of assistance are now emerging as donors themselves, while traditional donors are reassessing their objectives and modalities in order to stay relevant. Nowhere is this more evident than in India. India is widely viewed as an economic success story, which is certainly true on one level. Growth for the current year is projected around 7 percent, and was averaging 9 percent before the last global economic downturn.

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When Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ascends the ramparts of Old Delhi’s Red Fort on Monday to address the nation on the 64th anniversary of its independence, it will be as a political leader whose government, party, and personal reputation are seriously bruised.

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Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s attendance as chief guest at India’s 62nd Republic Day on January 26 harkened back to an earlier time. At the same occasion in 1950 when India first commemorated the adoption of its new constitution, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru invited his close ally in the Non-Aligned Movement, Indonesian President Sukarno, to attend the festivities.

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After months of controversy and nervous anticipation, on October 3 Indian President Pratibha Patil was joined by Prince Charles in New Delhi to open the XIX Commonwealth Games at a gala ceremony at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Widespread concern that mismanagement and unusually severe monsoon rains would leave Delhi unready for the games proved wrong in [...]

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It was after 1:00 on Monday morning when I made my way out of the airport in Male, the capitol of Maldives. There was a cool tropical breeze and the smell of salt water in the air. Across a stretch of sea from the airport, Male’s skyline had grown noticeably since my last visit in [...]

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On Wednesday, May 28, I was at the Constituent Assembly (CA) until just before midnight when Nepal was declared a federal republic and the king was given 15 days to vacate the palace. The CA was initially supposed to convene at 10:30am, then 3:15 pm. It wasn’t until after 9:00 p.m. that proceedings finally got [...]

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Nepalis go to the polls on April 10th for the most important election in their nation’s history, one that will choose a 601 member Constituent Assembly to rewrite Nepal’s constitution. The election has been a long time coming, and its success is crucial to Nepal’s immediate peace and democratic future. Beginning as an unfulfilled promise [...]

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The people’s movement that dislodged King Gyanendra and led to the reinstatement of Parliament in April 2006, followed by the signing of a peace agreement between the government and Maoists, dramatically changed Nepal’s political landscape. As part of a fragile peace process in the wake of a protracted and brutal civil war, Nepal is now [...]

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