FRIENDS of Latin America – India (FOLA - India) organised a seminar titled “Human Rights and Democracy in Latin America” on May 13, 2016, at Prof. Anita Banerjee Memorial Hall, Jadavpur University, jointly with School of Media, Communication and Culture, Jadavpur University.

THE NDA government has decided in principle to be a full fledged military partner of the United States. After the visit of the US secretary of defense, Ashton Carter to Delhi in the second week of April, it was announced that India would be signing a Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) under a slightly different name. The new agreement would in theory allow the US army to access Indian military bases. Carter and his Indian counterpart, Manohar Parrikar, jointly announced the decision on signing the important military agreement at a press conference in New Delhi.

THE coordinated terror attacks in Brussels, the capital of Belgium is yet another sign that committed jihadists holding European citizenship can strike almost at will on the continent. The headquarters of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic treaty Organisation (NATO) are located in Brussels. In the attacks on the busy Zavantem international airport terminal and the Maelbeek Metro station located in the city center on March 22, more than 31 people were killed and 300 wounded.

THE slaughter of more than 70 innocents on Easter Sunday in the “Gulshan-e-Iqbal” children's park in Lahore has once again brought to the fore the serious threat posed by terrorist outfits to the security of the Pakistani State. The attack carried out by a suicide bomber was ostensibly targeted against the minority Christians who were celebrating Easter. But more non-Christians were killed in the attack and a large number were children.

SINCE the beginning of the year, Brazil has been lurching from crisis to crisis with the elected government now under the threat of being overthrown by a cabal of right wing politicians, businessmen and judges, acting in an extra-constitutional way. The current political crisis has its roots in the economic downturn the country has been facing since the re-election of President Dilma Rousseff for a successive second five year in office. Her victory coincided with the collapse of the commodity boom.