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A Repressive state, a disgruntled population, and a superpower trying to colonize are the factors that lead to many civil wars. Recently such scenes have been witnessed in the Gwadar region of Pakistan. In November 2021 people on the Gwadar began the protest known as “Gwadar ka hakk do'' which translates to give Gwadar its rights. The protests were organized to fight back against the operation of the Government and the Chinese attempt to take over their land. Makran coastal highway which connects Karachi with Gwadar was blocked during the protest. All shops but also shut down. The protestors are demanding basic amenities like job schools, hospitals, and electricity from the government. It is important to note that Gwadar is located in Baluchistan which is one of the most mineral-rich provinces of Pakistan. Some estimates believe that the number of resources in the province could be worth as much as one trillion dollars. But still, citizens have to fight for necessities because ...

  Visa is unhappy with the Government of India. Visa claims that the Indian government backs RuPay over Visa. Even MasterCard has raised similar concerns. In August Visa CEO Alfred Kelly met with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. The company feels that a level playing field is absent in India. MasterCard in 2018 logged similar protests against the Indian card network RuPay. Soon after that Mastercard was banned by the RBI. The reason for the same was the absence of an arrangement to store payment data in India. The rule which every company has to follow in India Americans also show their unhappiness with the decision.  One US trade representative even called the Ban “Draconian”. Till now this has not influenced Indian regulators. RuPay has the largest share in the new cars which are being issued. But Overall Visa still holds the most share in the overall market. The following are the market shares  44% Visa 36% MasterCard  20% RuPay and other So ...

  "Either you fall in line or you're dead" this phrase can summarise the whole legal system of North Korea. On one side, in a country struggling with extreme poverty, people scrambled to get to 2 square meals a day. On the other side, the lavish lifestyle of the supreme leader, big military parade, and testing of high-level missiles. These are opposite scenes unfolding in the same nation. North Korea is one of the closest countries in the world. The country's citizens are not allowed to travel abroad. North Korea only has business relations with a few Nations. You must be wondering then how North Korea can get money for the lavish lifestyle of the supreme leader and big missile tests? Kim Kuk Song, a former high-level North Korean official revealed in an interview with the BBC that most of the money comes from various illegal sources. To understand the whole story let's go back to 1994, one of the deadliest famines that struck North Korea. The famine was n...

  Oil prices are skyrocketing, not only in India but around the globe. The price of one barrel of crude oil is hovering around $80. Which is roughly around 4 times its price at the starting of the pandemic. You could be wondering who decides the price of oil in the market and what are the factors that affect the price? Well, the answer to your first question is the OPEC organization of petroleum exporting countries, it is a group of 23 countries. They dictate the price in the market by affecting the production and supply chain. OPEC decides how much oil is going to supply to the market. When OPEC wants the price to go up it cuts back on the supply creating a false shortage in the market, which in turn increases the price of the oil. OPEC countries rely on oil exports for a major part of their economy. Keeping the price high works in their interest. Six countries have joined hands and come together to counter this price rise created by OPEC. These countries are the US, UK, India, Ja...

  Civilian rule dissolved and a nationwide emergency was declared, this is the condition of Sudan. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is reportedly in house arrest with his cabinet. Army has also captured state broadcasters. Susan has a history of military dictatorship but this time civilians are pushing back with protests. This time Sudanese people have tested freedom. Democracy was just around the corner Sudanese people are unwilling to give that up. Military brutally cracks down on protests by firing live rounds in the protests. All roads to the capital city were shut. Sudanese people have experienced a brutal dictatorship for 30 years. Sharia law imposed in its most brutal form and Sudan being the black list of every major financial institution. The wounds of Sudanese people are still fresh. They don't want history to repeat itself. The military on the other hand is defending its power grab by blaming politicians and their actions. The military has promised democratic elections in 2...

  Protesters burning down the parliament building and police station, people demanding the resignation of the prime minister. Scenes like this are unfolding In the Island nation of Solomon Islands. It is located south of Australia. Protestors of the Solomon Islands are asking Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to design from his post. China has a major role to play in this. To understand how a peaceful oceanic nation has spiraled down to this chaos, let's go back to 1971. 7 July 1971 Solomon Islands got its independence from Britain. 1971 was also the year when China was recognized by the UN instead of Taiwan. Many countries also followed the suit in recognizing China. But Island nations of the Pacific didn't give China recognition. One such nation was Solomon Island which recognized Taiwan in 1983. Taiwan and the island nation shared good relations for 36 years. In 2019 new prime minister Manasseh Sogavare switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China. Malaita, one o...

  (pic courtesy: CNBC) 15th August 2021 the day the Taliban captured Kabul. Taliban has been capturing different parts of Afghanistan since American troops started to leave the country after twenty years of war. Despite much criticism, president Joe Biden is firm on his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. He stressed the fact that this war was endless. Afghanistan is known as the "Graveyard of Kingdoms". No superpower whether Britain, the Soviet Union, or the United States was able to capture the whole of Afghanistan. But today let's focus on one call that changed the destiny of a whole country. The story begins on 1st May 1978, Noor Mohammad Taraki became head of state after overthrowing the Government of Mohammed Dawood. He was influenced a lot by communist ideology. He was instrumental in bringing reforms to Afghan society. One of the major reforms was to open the doors of the school for girls. This decision led to discontent among conservative sects of...

  Barbados has formally become a republic on 29 August 2021 with the swearing-in of its new President Sandra Mason. This was a historic moment for the Caribbean nation. Let's look back at the history to understand British- Barbados relations   14 May 1625 was the day when English sailor John Powell stepped on the deserted Island of Barbados. He thought that since no one there had claimed the land he would do so and he raised the British flag.   But he was not the first European to reach the Island. Portuguese were the first ones and named the island Los Barbados.    A British colony was established in Barbados with 80 settlers and 10 slaves by Jones’s brother Henry. Before them, the island was inhabited by the Arawak tribe. The British deliberately erased the whole tribe from the island. The land of Barbados was used by the British to grow sugarcane for producing sugar which at that time was known as “white gold'' in Europe. All of this led to a lot of p...

  (Pic courtesy: Al Jazeera) Tensions are rising between Ukraine and Russia on Ukraine’s eastern border. US is also leading talks in the NATO forum on the Ukraine situation.   There is an increase in ceasefire violations and a massive military buildup in border areas is also a cause of concern. The western powers are worried and urged Russia to pull back its troops as well. With this conflict making recent headlines many of you are wondering what is the cause of this confrontation. To understand that we have to go back to 1991, the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union. Since the collapse of the relations between Russia and Ukraine were never friendly. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula after the oustering of Viktor Yanukovych who was Russian friendly. The ouster was a result of the popular uprising in Ukraine the capital Kyiv. This was followed by separatist conflict in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland, of Donetsk B...