South Asia

E-government has become an inherent aspect of the modernization of public administration all over the world. Increased use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has created a new channel of the interaction and communication between government and citizens, which is supposed to increase transparency, responsiveness and the utilization of local potential in governance and policy processes. How this potential translates into practice depends on context. The key question is whether ICT itself is able to change the way government interacts with citizens through overall informatization of society, or would it be more proper to understand the new technologies only as a tool that can be manipulated by governments and even used to maintain the power of the elite of society in an increasingly complex environment. In this article we approach this issue by analyzing the communicational aspect of e-government in Bangladesh. We will analyze the e-government strategy and strategy-making process of the government, paying special attention to how it addresses the use of ICTs in facilitating interaction and communication between government and citizens. As a special instance of such a communication we focus on the national Web portal of Bangladesh. Our analysis will reveal how general theories and technological opportunities translate into realities in a developing country context.

During the second half of the eighteenth century, the first Muslim rulers of Mysore—Haidar ‘Ali (c. 1720-82) and his son Tipu Sultan (c. 1750-99)—were amongst the first South and West Asian rulers to unleash a process of administrative, socio-economic and military proto-modernisation. Haidar, a rather cautious and pragmatic autocrat who could neither read nor write, ruled within the framework of the traditional Mughal system of governance. Highly skilled in administrative, military and diplomatic realms, he initiated the proto-modernisation of the army and took some important measures towards the establishment of a central state. In turn, Tipu was an educated autocrat, fond of administrative, socio-economic, military, and technological inventions and innovations which he intended to use in the struggle against the British occupying forces in South India. In the extant literature, Tipu is either being idealised as an “enlightened” ruler or described as a pre-modern despot. Few scholars have given a balanced account of his rule by depicting both his autocratic style of leadership, as well as the pragmatic features and proto-modernising aspects of his rule. This article is concerned with the biographic and historical background of Haidar ‘Ali and Tipu Sultan and aims to furnish a concerted account of their rule by consulting fresh printed and unprinted primary sources in English, French and German.

The Bhagavad Gita, perhaps the most famous of all Indian scriptures, is universally regarded as one of the world’s spiritual and literary masterpieces. Richard Davis tells the story of this venerable and enduring book, from its origins in ancient India to its reception today as a spiritual classic that has been translated into more than seventy-five languages. The Gita opens on the eve of a mighty battle, when the warrior Arjuna is overwhelmed by despair and refuses to fight. He turns to his charioteer, Krishna, who counsels him on why he must. In the dialogue that follows, Arjuna comes to realize that the true battle is for his own soul.

Davis highlights the place of this legendary dialogue in classical Indian culture, and then examines how it has lived on in diverse settings and contexts. He looks at the medieval devotional traditions surrounding the divine character of Krishna and traces how the Gita traveled from India to the West, where it found admirers in such figures as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Aldous Huxley. Davis explores how Indian nationalists like Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda used the Gita in their fight against colonial rule, and how contemporary interpreters reanimate and perform this classical work for audiences today.

An essential biography of a timeless masterpiece, this book is an ideal introduction to the Gita and its insights into the struggle for self-mastery that we all must wage.

Using a case study approach, this paper examines how the architecture of the Kandalama Hotel choreographs a collective tourist gaze of the monumental, cultural heritage site of Sigiriya and its wider landscape. The hotel was designed by Geoffrey Bawa and built between 1991 and 1994. The paper discusses how the design of the hotel encourages tourists to re-enact visual practices founded on 19th century European traditions of landscape viewing. It also assesses the structuring of views in relation to concepts of the picturesque, the relationship between place and the image of place; in addition, it considers tourist consumption of the tropical landscape and contemporary Sri Lankan architecture and design at the present time.
The citadel rock of Sigiriya, according to the Sri Lankan Tourism Board, is one of the oldest tourist attractions in the world, and has been depicted by the west from the early 19th century. In the British colonial period, photography was used to record the archaeological sites at the centre of the island, including Sigiriya. Apparently objective, these images showing ruined and jungle-infested ancient sites were framed within a European picturesque discourse. They were part of an enormous visual economy and primed western audiences, producing ‘imaginative geographies’ by structuring and re-presenting a complex and historical landscape for tourist consumption.
Presently, the appropriating gaze encompassing the landscape of Sigiriya is one of a number of different gazes authorised by different discourses. The promotional material on the Sri Lanka Tourism website and that of Aitken Spence, the owners of Kandalama, suggests a number of divergent tourist gazes. In addition to the persistence of a Romantic/picturesque gaze, an environmental gaze appraising the jungle landscape and fauna and an architectural/design gaze, that consumes the spaces and objects within the hotel, can also be detected. Bawa wanted the hotel to disappear into the jungle, to be simply a viewing platform for the contemplation of structured views of Sigiriya and its landscape. However, the hotel has now also become an object of the tourist gaze and the spaces and objects that the architect designed in a ‘critical regionalist’, local vernacular idiom are also appropriated and consumed by the visitor.

With closer regional integration there is increasing interest within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and on the part of ASEAN's dialogue partners in the potential gains of closer connections between Southeast Asia and South Asia. The strategic positions of India, Myanmar, and Thailand provide the basis and scope for implementing multi-modal connectivity projects, for building upon and improving existing infrastructure and processes for cross-border connectivity in trade. With outward-looking policies in the various subregions that seek to link their economies closer than ever, the ASEAN and South Asian countries are presented with a wide array of options at the bilateral, subregional, and regional levels that can be pursued in partnership under the different frameworks for cooperation. The role of regional entities such as the Asian Development Bank is also important to consider. This paper assesses the political economy and other implications of cross-border connectivity between South and Southeast Asia, and suggests practicable options for moving forward.

Climate modeling is a significant tool to reproduce the observed features of present climate changes and can
provide reliable estimations for future climate changes at global and regional levels. In the present study we use
latest version of International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) regional climate model (RegCM4.3) to examine
its ability by analyzing the European Community-Hamburg atmospheric model (ECHAM5) and the European Centre
for  Medium-Range  Weather  Forecast  (ECMWF)  40  years  reanalysis  data  (ERA-40)  over  South  Asia.  Seasonal
mean  climatology  and  annual  cycle  are  compared  with  different  observation  based  data  sets  and  also  with  the
reanalysis  and  driving  GCM.  Two  experiments  are  conducted  for  present  day  simulation  (1971-2000)  by  using
ERA-40  reanalysis  and  ECHAM5  GCM  to  provide  the  initial  and  lateral  boundary  conditions.  In  spite  of  complex
topography of the domain RegCM4.3 shows an improved performance in various aspects as compared to the earlier
applications of this model over South Asia. Near surface air temperature are reproduced well over the most part of
the  domain.  Indian  monsoon  precipitation  patterns  are  better  captured  by  RegCM4.3  as  compared  to  the  driving
data set of ECHAM5 and ERA40. Simulation results show that RegCM4.3 has cold bias in winter and summer over
the  foothills  of  the  Hindu-Kush-Himalaya  (HKH)  region.  Simulation  with  ERA40  and  ECHAM5  overestimated  the
seasonal  mean  precipitation  over  some  part  of  the  domain  which  requires  further  improvement  in  the  physical
parameterization scheme of RegCM4.3.

The research investigates the changing face of state-non state conflict in the post accord era Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh. The research aims to refocus the discussion of the Chittagong Hill Tracts from one of state-insurgent relations to one of ethnic competition and division in Bangladesh's contested eastern periphery.

The paper is trying to make a post-realist approach (by using the complex interdependencies/inter-polarity paradigm and also, the paradigm of multi-polarity), in order to explain better the essence of Chinese foreign policy main strategic trends of thoughts, and its perception about the complex contemporary world. Daoist and confucianist roots within the content of some key-concepts of Chinese strategic contemporary trends are also, identified, as an effort to better understand the Chinese strategic culture and the way it shapes the future of international relations. Accommodating interests of main actors (called ”daguo”) is not a kind of ”idealistic objective”, rather it reveals a new foundation for realizing a ”harmonious global society”, by connecting different perceptions of main civilizations about the ”global governance” and about mankind as ”community of common destiny”. Far from expressing ”some utopian views”, we consider that analyzing some of main Chinese key-concepts as ”harmonious world”, ”New Security Concept” or ”New Type of Relations between Great Powers” can represent the beginning of a new stage in implementing ”global governance” paradigm. 
Key-words: international system, Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, complex interdependences, daguo, post-realist paradigm, Harmonious Global World, Harmonious International World, New Security Concept, Peaceful Rise, Peaceful Development, Global Governance, New Relation between Great Powers, soft power, cooperation, dialogue, mutual trust, mutual benefit

This article fills a gap in existing research on the Maoist ‘People’s War’ (1996-2006) in Nepal by considering the implications of the establishment of a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) cantonment for those living close by. This article complements the growing literature on the ’People’s War’ and the implications of the war for everyday lives in Nepal (Hutt 2004, Karki 2003, Lawoti and Pahari 2010, Manandhar and Seddon 2010, Pettigrew 2012 and 2013, Pettigrew and Adhikari 2009, Thapa 2003). Furthermore, while there has been limited research undertaken in and on the PLA cantonments (cf. Ogura 2010), none to date has specifically focused on the implications of living next to one.