GEOPOLITICS OF WEST ASIA & CLIMATE CHANGE AS COMPELLING DRIVERS OF INDIA’S SHIFT TO RENEWABLE RESOURCES OF ENERGY This article is an integral part of the series of major research-studies on the maritime facets of India’s energy security, being undertaken at the National Maritime Foundation. This portion of the research-study, which advocates the adoption of […]
This is the second in an ongoing series of articles by the author on issues relevant to the strategic storage of crude oil. Part 1 had focussed the reader’s attention upon the prevailing state of India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This one dwells upon the USA, which was, like India, one of the top importers […]
Abstract Excess crude oil in the global market, coupled with the drastic reduction of consumption in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant curtailment of seaborne transport, have led to a phenomenon hitherto unseen in the 160 years since the beginning of the mass production of crude oil. The resulting historically […]
Introduction Artificial Intelligence (AI) — and its attendant term, ‘Machine Learning’ (ML) — is described as the capability of a computer system to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition and decision-making. Almost all AI/ML examples in commercial as well as military use today rely on data stores that […]
Attaining food security for India continues to remain a daunting task. Since the Green revolution of the 1960s, the country’s agricultural policies have led to an increase in agricultural productivity and overall food-production. However, with a rapidly increasing population, the demand for food grains is projected to be even higher in the future. Mittal (2008) […]
Introduction The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) is a regional forum in the Southwest Indian Ocean, comprising five nations – Comoros, France (Reunion), Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles. It is the only African organisation that comprises island States. China and the European Union (EU) have been Observers in the IOC since 2016 and 2017, respectively. India acceded […]
The Republic of the Maldives, which is located in the Indian Ocean, is an archipelago comprising approximately 1,200 islands with a geographical spread of over 90,000 sq.km. Incorporating some 26 atolls, the Maldives is one of the world’s most geographically dispersed countries, and is a 99 per cent water-nation.[1] However, with a total land mass […]
This article addresses some of the more prominent environmental challenges faced by the Maldives, which exemplifies those faced by low-lying island-states due to rising sea-levels as a consequence of climate-change, irrespective of whether such change is attributed to anthropogenic factors or geophysical ones. It touches upon the impact that this has on India’s own maritime security. […]
Introduction On 12 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak was a pandemic[1]. Two significant concerns were — and remain — first, the speed and scale of transmission, and second, the evidence-based belief that some countries were not handling the threat with the desired level of political commitment.[2] With reports […]