Mainstream Weekly

Myanmar Army Rule | Harish Chandola

Harish Chandola — 2021-04-02T18:05:30Z

It is now over a month that the Burmese (Myanmar) army is out on its streets shooting its people who are all on strike, demanding restoration of its civilian rule, which the army had brought to an end in the beginning of last month. Over 300 people have been killed by the Army, called Tatmadaw, so far, after ousting its elected civilian government of Aung San Su Chi. The people have not given up their struggle against military rule. Before that only one community, the Rohingyas, were in (…)

- 2021

Gains in Doha Afghan Talks

Harish Chandola — 2019-08-03T20:53:06Z

Some progress appears to have been made in talks on Afghanistan being held in a posh Qatari hotel sometime ago to solve the 40-year old complex conflict in Afghanistan, where the Taliban at the moment controls much of the countryside. The talks, adjourned briefly, will resume.
The Taliban have assured that their men would not attack schools, hospitals and bazars. The Afghan Government has said it would try to stop killing civilians. The Taliban had recently attacked government buildings in (…)

- 2019

IS Takes Over Sahara

Harish Chandola — 2018-08-16T14:33:10Z

After being almost ousted from Syria and Iraq, the terrorist organisation, Islamic State (IS), has firmly established itself over a large part of Africa, in two broad belts on either side of the Sahara. The northern one stretches from the Mediterranean, from Egypt to Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. The southern one starts in Somalia, stretches to Kenya, Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal.Vast stretches separate its different battlefields.
The conflict is barely reported, though (…)

- 2018

Tensions in the Gulf

Harish Chandola — 2018-03-23T19:20:22Z

Tiny Qatar of 300,000 people is getting into problems with its neighbors of the Gulf Co-operation Council. It has gone into a frenzy of buying warplanes for its Air Force. In December it purchased from France six Mirage fighters, and earlier six cargo planes and a squadron of propeller-driven trainers, to form half of its Air Force,
It is the world's wealthiest country.
Since June it has signed contracts worth $ 20 billion (over Rs 132 crores) to buy military planes from three countries: (…)

- 2018

Iran quiet after Protests

Harish Chandola — 2018-01-27T17:25:34Z

After about 20 deaths in protests in December, Iran appears to have quietened down. The economic stress in its countryside, however, continues. It was the rise in the price of eggs which had sparked violent demonstrations in its second largest city of Mashhad on December 28, which had led to unrest in several other places.
A draft budget presented to Parliament in December had led to a considerable increase in funds of foundations of the Ayatollahs (religious leaders) and expenses of the (…)

- 2018

Iran Elections

Harish Chandola — 2017-05-20T10:47:40Z

Once again the hardliners and moderates are confronting each other in the coming Iranian elections on May 19. There are over 100 candidates in the field. The moderates are led by Ebrahim Raeisi and the religious conser-vatives are likely to be led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a former President. The country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had tried to prevent a contest by asking Ahma-dinejad not to take part in it. In the 2013 elections, a moderate, Rohani, had been elected the (…)

- 2017

Chinese Classes Stopped

Harish Chandola — 2017-04-09T07:47:36Z

The Indian Army suddenly stopped teaching its men the Chinese language at its Joshimath Brigade headquarters last year. It, however, continues to teach the language at some other centres.
Joshimath is in the middle sector of the India-China border, some 20 kilometres below the border, called Bara Hoti, across which China maintains its Army posts, from which its soldiers keep coming on patrols into Indian teritory and then return to their camps across the border, after completing their (…)

- 2017

Trouble over China getting land in Sri Lanka

Harish Chandola — 2017-04-02T03:22:14Z

Trouble has broken out in Sri Lanka over its allocation of land to China for a supermarket and naval facilities. The government in Colombo had moved some shops and business houses from Hambantola to build an industrial zone for Chinese investors.
Last week thousands demonstrated at the inauguration of an industrial zone at Hambantola, as the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Yi Xianliang, the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, came there for the inauguration of the zone. (…)

- 2017

Tension Mounts with the Killing of a Lawyer in Myanmar

Harish Chandola — 2017-02-21T19:23:17Z

The communal tension in our neighbour Myanmar between its majority Buddhist population and its Muslim minority of Rohingyas has of late worsened. It was exacerbated by the recent assassination of a prominent Muslim lawyer and an advisor to the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), Mr Ko Ni, while he was waiting for a taxi in broad daylight outside the busy Yangon international airport, on his return from Indonesia. He was returning from Indonesia where he had gone in a delegation to (…)

- 2017

Burma for New Talks

Harish Chandola — 2016-12-05T05:49:36Z

The Myanmar (Burmese) Army has stopped Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming the President of the country in spite of her party, the National League for Democracy, winning the country's general elections in November last by a landslide. The Army continues to retain control of the country's powerful Ministries of Defence, Border Affairs and Interior. Ms Suu Kyi is described as the State Councillor. The government, which has 36 Ministries, wants to merge them into 21 to create a streamlined (…)

- 2016