After the record-breaking rains that led to extreme floods in May and June 2022, Assam is reeling under drought. In this article, we analyse various human-induced and geological factors contributing to this calamity. While the government is pushing for more connectivity through roads and railways coupled with flood control through dams and embankments over the fragile ecology, these measures may have turned against the people and ecology of the region.

This article provides an overview of how Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine is being viewed and assessed in various regions and countries in Asia, and how the governments there are positioning themselves and reacting: in the Southeast Asian ASEAN countries, in Northeast Asia, and in India, China, and Myanmar.

Geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific is defined today largely by an escalating polarisation between the China-Russia camp and the US-led Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) and AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States). The war in Ukraine is a temporary diversion; interstate tensions in maritime Asia are here to stay and may increase. The European Union (EU) attempts to chart a ‘third way’ that strengthens the hand of the region’s democracies – but without seeking a confrontation with China. Germany has a pivotal role in shaping and implementing this inclusive approach and ensuring that it delivers satisfactory results.

Dr. Rima Ghosh speaks to Shalini Yog Shah about transgender people’s ordeals during the pandemic and what needs to be done.

Women in India’s Northeastern state of Assam wield a great degree of influence in the local politics. But their participation in the frontline has been time and again taken for granted. This was evident in the recent assembly elections in the state. The BJP-led Mitrajot (alliance of friends) came back to power with the votes of more than a half of women voters. Women were also in the frontline of the anti-government protests against the new citizenship law. But both the protests and the polls have left them shortchanged.

Millions of workers in the informal economy in Delhi were adversely affected due to COVID-19 pandemic and the national lockdown implemented in a short notice of few hours in March 2020. There were horrific tales of workers losing large percentages of their income, incurring massive debts to meet their basic needs and running the risk of exposure to the deadly virus while trying to earn a living. This article highlights how informal workers, especially women, have been among the worst sufferers of the pandemic facing sudden shrink in livelihoods without any support system and how they are finding it difficult to recover even after the gradual reopening of the economy following the easing of the lockdown. The article suggests some medium and long term measures that can contribute to a more just and equitable post-pandemic situation.

Distress migration of youth from rural India to cities due to lack of livelihood opportunities and rising climate impacts is deeply worrying for Indian economy. Although the present government announced several measures such as rural housing, toilets and better road network for rural development, they have failed to yield overall progress in rural sector. Besides, impetus to budget allocations for rural livelihood mission and employment guarantee schemes has not shown promising results. Constant downslide in the rate of economic growth, business investments and employment indicate an inherent flaw in the country’s development framework. The rural infrastructure calls for a redesign so that it boosts rural economy through integrated planning of fostering small businesses, job creation, expanding irrigation network, agriculture and allied sectors. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic further exposes the dangers of lopsided development where a major part of the country lives under the shadow of shining urban India that has taken an unsustainable path to prosper. India needs a deeper analysis of what is going wrong and where.

The current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has led thousands of youth, mostly migrant workers from the Northeast region, to return home facing uncertainties regarding their future in terms of jobs and careers, and their livelihood. Hence, there is a need to engage with them and explore some strategic paths to address this issue and find some directions. For this article, information from 20 returnees from the eight states of the region has been gathered through digital communication. The returnees include those who were working in hotel industry, restaurants, food courts, retails, malls and business processing outsourcing (BPO) firms. This article looks at the challenges faced by these returnees and comes up with some concrete observations and recommendations regarding their possible livelihood activities for the government, including the state governments of the respective Northeast states, for the general public and for non-governmental organisations.

India’s Northeast, a land of volatile identities having an uneasy experience with migration, is held to-gether by a fragile consensus forged in the larger interest of peace and co-existence. The seams of these fault-lines pass by people’s lived realities, always at the risk of being burst open with an act of insensitivity. The enactment of the CAA is considered by many as one such act.