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Swami Vivekananda’s Idea of Service
January 17 , 2019 Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF Commentary View: 111
What is the concept of service? Swami Vivekananda says: “This is the gist of all worship — to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Shiva; and if he sees Shiva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary.” The idea that service of the poor is akin to worshiping the God. The idea is deeply ingrained in Indian spiritual thinking. Quoting Swami Vivekananda: “If you want to find God, serve man. To reach Narayana you must serve the Daridra Narayanas – the starving millions of India…”
Tags : Idea of service , Vivekananda’s ideals , Historical and Civilisational Studies
Research and Development Reforms
January 16 , 2019 Rajesh Singh Commentary View: 95
Iconic slogans evolve with time, reflecting changing aspirations and needs of society in general and the political leadership in particular. Lal Bahadur Shastri’s famous ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ cry had been tweaked to ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan’ by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Now Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given it a further mandate, by adding ‘Jai Anusandhan’.
Tags : India’s R&D , Jai Anusandhan , Governance and Political Studies
Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016-Implications for Assam
January 14 , 2019 C D Sahay, Distinguished Fellow, VIF Commentary View: 408
The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 (CAB) has created a division in Assam along historical fault lines. The differences hark back to the language riots of 1960-61, and then again in 1972, with violent conflicts between the entire Assamese and the Hindu Bengalis and with those killed in the clashes/police firing being raised to the status of ‘martyrs’.
Tags : Assam Accord , Citizenship Amendment Bill , Governance and Political Studies
CAB 2016: Home Minister Assures Assam on Sharing of Burden
January 14 , 2019 Nitin A Gokhale Commentary View: 211
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, while introducing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 (CAB) in Lok Sabha mentioned, and rightly so, that the entire country will share the burden of refugees and it will not be Assam’s responsibility alone to give shelter to the persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who came to India before 2014.
Tags : Citizenship (Amendment) Bill , Opposition to CAB , Governance and Political Studies
Gandhi and the Question of Racism: The Statue Controversy in Ghana
January 11 , 2019 Dr Neha Sinha, Associate Fellow, VIF Article View: 281
With the gaining of Independence from the Britishers in 1957, the Gold Coast of Africa came to be known as Ghana with Accra as its capital. The country lies in the western part of Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea; bordered by Togo, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso. India and Ghana have shared a warm and cordial relation, as the foundation of their association was laid by Jawaharlal Nehru and Kwame Nkrumah.
Tags : Gandhi in Africa , Ghanian misunderstanding of Gandhi , Africa , International Relations and Diplomacy
Bangladesh : Leveraging its Locational Advantage
January 11 , 2019 Dr Sreeradha Datta, Senior Fellow, VIF Commentary View: 365
India and Bangladesh recently made history. After years of discussion and negotiations the first land and air transshipment between them finally took place towards the end of 2018. The first bonded container 4.41 tonne cargo from Bangladesh moved through the Benapole land border into India through the Petrapole border to head towards Kolkata airport for air freight to Europe.
Tags : Bangladesh elections , Indo-Bangladesh transport and economic partnership , Bangladesh , Neighbourhood Studies
Status of India-China Relations: Report from a Field Visit to Chinese Think Tanks
January 11 , 2019 Brig Vinod Anand, Senior Fellow, VIF Article View: 402
A multi-think tank scholars’ delegation from India visited China in the end of November, 2018. During the seven day visit, the delegates extensively interacted with a number of premier Chinese think thanks in Beijing, Haikou, and Guangzhou, discussing and deliberating upon issues ranging from the international trade war, the Indo-Pacific, terrorism in South Asia, to developments in the South China Sea, and people to people relations.
Tags : India-China relations , Indo-China issues , China , Neighbourhood Studies
VIF News Digest
Defense, National Security and Terrorism, VIF Alerts
December 4, 2018
VIF News Digest: National Security, Defence Studies and Terrorism (November 01 – 30, 2018)

Contents DEFENCE: Consultative Committee for Ministry of Defence Reviews Operational Preparedness of Indian Coast Guard...

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International Development
January 3, 2019
VIF News Digest: International Developments (24-30 Dec 2018)

USA Trump, ‘God’s Own Party’ seek to shift blame for shutdown to Pelosi 28 Dec 2018 White House officials and congressional...

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Neighbourhood News
January 16, 2019
VIF Neighbourhood News Digest: 16th January, 2019

US seeks Pakistan’s help for coaxing Taliban back into talks: Dawn January 16, 2019 Senior US official Lisa Curtis on...

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The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) is a New Delhi-based think tank set up with the collaborative efforts of India's leading security experts, diplomats, industrialists and philanthropists under the aegis of the Vivekananda Kendra. The VIF’s objective is to become a centre of excellence to kick start innovative ideas and thoughts that can lead to a stronger, secure and prosperous India playing its destined role in global affairs.

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