Bangladesh press freedom

Two Years After the July Uprising, Bangladesh's Press Freedom Remains Under Question

Another defining feature of Bangladesh's current media environment is the emergence of "mob culture." The attack on The Daily Star and Prothom Alo offices is a serious example of mob attack. Media owners often hesitate to invite commentators associated with the previous government or opposing political viewpoints because they fear public backlash, protests, or attacks 

India Loves Political Scandals, But Don't Care How They End Up

For decades, Bofors was treated as a national scandal of almost Biblical proportions, with international ramifications. All guns ablaze. Yet when its judicial afterlife finally reaches a dead end, the story seems to have lost its political ammunition. Not even a recall that the much-maligned gun, which was accused of backfiring at those who fired, not at the target, had vindicated its purchase during the 1999 Kargil conflict.  

From Hashtags to Handcuffs: When Digital Democracy Becomes Digital Surveillance

India therefore needs a serious conversation on algorithmic accountability. If AI increasingly informs policing, citizens deserve clarity on its legal basis, safeguards against misuse, limits on data retention, independent oversight and effective judicial remedies. 

Changing Architecture of the Indian State: Public Trust can Neither be Legislated nor Certified

The recurring examination scandals were failures of governance. Likewise, concerns regarding foreign influence should not preclude critical examination of how regulatory institutions themselves function.

More on Public Policy and Governance

Containing Covid: Need for global vaccination effort

Even as the Covid  pandemic numbers  are declining in India, there is growing concern that new mutations of the virus – particularly the Delta variant,  with its super-spreader qualities, could soon pose a global challenge later in the year

'Hidden agenda' behind low Christian and miniority numbers in Pakistan?

Pakistan’s Christian community leaders have voiced their doubt about the results of the sixth population and housing census-2017 about the population of minorities in the country

Lockdown woes: Child marriage, sexual violence on rise in Nepal

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of humans in unprecedented ways

An environmental disaster off Colombo: Possible lapses in shipping protocols need investigation

The  slow sinking  of the  fire-stricken  Singapore-registered container ship X-Press Pearl off Colombo port, almost on the eve of World Environment Day June 5, has the potential to turn into a major  environmental disaster for Sri Lanka and neighbouring India

Children had quarrel with neighbors; Christian parents in Pakistan spend eight years in prison for blasphemy

Having spent eight years in prison for a crime they never committed, for this Pakistani Christian couple justice has finally was served, but after a long, grueling wait, and at a heavy cost