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COVID-19, Blue Economy, and the Climate Change Agenda: The case of Seychelles
International Affairs | Healthcare | Climate Change May 18, 2020

COVID-19, Blue Economy, and the Climate Change Agenda: The case of Seychelles

The human toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating. At the same time, measures to tackle the crisis have affected national economies and grounded global trade to a halt. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as the Seychelles are amongst the countries that have ...

The unfinished business of decentralised urban governance in India
Domestic Politics and Governance | Urbanisation in India | Urbanisation Feb 10, 2020

The unfinished business of decentralised urban governance in India

Until the early 1990s, India’s urban local bodies (ULBs) were under the complete control of the states, having little functional, financial and administrative autonomy. The 74th Amendment Act of 1992 sought to make ULBs self-governing institutions. Many salutary provisions were made in the Act and there ...

Understanding India–US trade tensions beyond trade imbalances
Indian Foreign Policy | US Foreign Policy | Economic Diplomacy Feb 05, 2020

Understanding India–US trade tensions beyond trade imbalances

The United States (US) has revoked India’s benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and imposed Section 232 tariffs on Indian steel and aluminium. In response, India announced retaliatory tariffs. This brief probes the ongoing trade tensions between India and the US, despite a ...

Understanding India–US trade tensions beyond trade imbalances
International Affairs | Indian Foreign Policy | US Foreign Policy | Economic Diplomacy Feb 05, 2020

Understanding India–US trade tensions beyond trade imbalances

The United States (US) has revoked India’s benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and imposed Section 232 tariffs on Indian steel and aluminium. In response, India announced retaliatory tariffs. This brief probes the ongoing trade tensions between India and the US, despite a ...

India’s triangular cooperation with the US, UK and Japan in Africa: A comparative analysis
International Affairs | Great Power Dynamics | Sustainable Development Jan 23, 2020

India’s triangular cooperation with the US, UK and Japan in Africa: A comparative analysis

Triangular cooperation aims to forge global partnerships and foster sustainable global development. In such a system, traditional donors provide financial and technical support to facilitate development activities between two developing countries in the South, i.e. one emerging donor country and a beneficiary. Triangular cooperation allows ...

India-Bangladesh Trans-Boundary River Management: Understanding the Tipaimukh Dam Controversy
Neighbourhood | Domestic Politics and Governance | Water Jan 18, 2020

India-Bangladesh Trans-Boundary River Management: Understanding the Tipaimukh Dam Controversy

This brief offers a way to rethink the ongoing dispute between India and Bangladesh over the former’s plan to build a high dam on River Barak (known as Surma-Kushiyara and Meghna in Bangladesh) at Tipaimukh in the state of Manipur. It identifies the origins of ...

An assessment of the bulk data sharing policy of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
Media and Internet | Cyber Security | Urbanisation | Cyber and Technology Dec 16, 2019

An assessment of the bulk data sharing policy of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

In March 2019, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) rolled out the Bulk Data Sharing Policy for its databases. The policy states that organisations must pay an annual fee of INR 3 crore, and research and education 1 institutions INR 5 lakh, to ...

India’s import diversification strategy for natural gas: An analysis of geopolitical implications
Indian Foreign Policy | Great Power Dynamics | Oil, Gas and Renewables Dec 06, 2019

India’s import diversification strategy for natural gas: An analysis of geopolitical implications

India’s domestic production of natural gas can only partially fulfil the expected increase in demand in the coming years, and the country will have to increase its imports to fill the gap. Such dependence on external sources makes the country’s energy security vulnerable to regional ...

Sankhya Philosophy and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya
Domestic Politics and Governance Dec 05, 2019

Sankhya Philosophy and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya

In his writings in the closing decades of the 19th century, the novelist, nationalist and patriot, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya placed the blame for India’s subjugation by foreign powers on what he called the “individualistic, other-worldly” philosophy of Sankhya,  a philosophy  based  on reasoning, reckoning and enumeration.[1] This ...