21st Century
Postcard from Mumbai
After a long, hot site visit in Panoli, a small industrial town in Gujarat, the traffic on the main Ahmedabad to Mumbai highway was even more hideous than usual. It was the last day of [more…]
India
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Three Hundred And Thirty-Six
Monday Good morning, my happy readers, and welcome to another week of “stuff” from your intrepid cat reporter. The sun was back to being rather warm again this morning, and I hear another heatwave is [more…]
Politics
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor — IMEC (Part 3)
Gazan reconstruction occurs only in areas where Hamas has fully demilitarised or where Israeli military control has been established. A newly formed technocratic committee — Kushner described it explicitly as ‘a technocratic administration’ — oversees [more…]
Politics
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor — IMEC (Part 2)
The sequence began in 2017, when Kushner was appointed as Trump’s special adviser for the Middle East. His method was geo-economics: financial incentives and commercial integration as a substitute for political solutions. He called forty [more…]
Politics
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor — IMEC (Part 1)
It is being called one of the largest and most ambitious infrastructure projects in modern history. The Donald called it ‘one of the greatest trade routes in all of history.’ But IMEC is not just [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary, week Three Hundred And Sixteen
Monday Good morning, my friends. When I retired to my cat basket last night it was raining, but this morning it has stopped and I even saw a bit of sunshine when I popped out. [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Three Hundred And Twelve
Monday Good morning, my friends, I am beginning to get back into the diary routine after my enforced break. I hear my scribe has got four cruises booked for June and Christmas this year and [more…]
20th Century
Troublesome Afghanistan – 1895 to the Third Afghan War
Drawing the line From 1895 until the Third Afghan War of 1919, Afghanistan experienced a period of relative political stability marked by attempts to consolidate internal control, manage external pressures, and maintain independence amid the [more…]
19th Century
Troublesome Afghanistan
My great-grandfather on my father’s mother’s side served in Afghanistan. Being hill, mountain and lake types, our local regiment, The Border Regiment, deployed to the disputed territory between that country and British India in the [more…]