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Will data localisation — or a diluted mirroring requirement — serve India’s strategic interests as outlined in the Srikrishna Committee’s report? Moving forward, how can India build data ecosystems that not only feed back into domestic innovation but also protect user privacy at scale keeping in mind the interests of the private sector?

In May 2016, the Health Secretaries of the States and Union Territories of India gathered in the capital and issued “The Delhi Commitment on Sustainable Development Goals for Health”. Among others, the document acknowledged the need to invest in health data collection, analysis and research so that these can properly inform government policies and strategies necessary to address the various challenges facing India’s healthcare. Such commitm

Kazim Rizvi and Shravishtha Ajaykumar, Eds., Privacy in Practice: Strategies for Data Management in India, January 2025, Observer Research Foundation.

India's new GDP data speaks of robust growth (6.9%) rather than of policy paralysis and industrial decline in 2013-14. But even Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian is not convinced by the new data. Because, other indicators do not seem to corroborate the high rate of growth, especially when imports actually declined last year.

The Aadhar project remains complex - a herculean task. The UK government shelved its identity card project because it was untested and the technology not secure, and because of the risks to the safety and security of citizens. With India in the midst of an election, it remains to be seen what will happen when a new government is formed,

Indian companies, however, have different compliance protocols, answerable as they are to the Indian state.

Indian authorities may now have the opportunity to directly access data stored on U.S. servers

Global data governance is at a crossroads—intensely contested by nations and industry players seeking to shape rules of the road to benefit their strategic interests. India has placed itself at the heart of the battle, its foreign policy vision fuelled by the principle of ‘data sovereignty’—a broad notion that supports the assertion of sovereign writ over data generated by citizens within a country’s physical boundaries. While this visi

This brief argues that the understanding of city-level air quality could be strengthened if residents who live in spaces where industries are present, are able to access information about industrial emissions in their areas. Indeed, even as there are some 4,000 OCEMS (online continuous emissions/effluents monitoring systems) in place in different pollutive industries across the country, the data they collect—inarguably vital for public health�

The new Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) is market-friendly but is lacking in attention to privacy requirements for sensitive personal data. This report highlights three types of sensitive personal data—i.e., biometric, financial, and health—and emphasises the need for transparent consent mechanisms that will safeguard an individual’s data. It underscores the role of data fiduciaries, urging the formulation of clear operational

The recommendations are based on a stakeholder consultation organised by ORF on 1 December 2022. Although the authors have made the best efforts to give voice to the concerns of various stakeholder groups, this is not a consensus document and does not attribute comments to, or claim to represent, the positions of any individual or organisation. All statements, assertions or factual errors are attributable only to ORF.

Participants at a panel discussion on "The Changing Face of National Security Work - The Threat and Opportunity of Data" reiterated the importance of striking a balance: between civil liberties and national security, between sovereignty and international cooperation and between individual convenience and protection.

The Cobrapost Paytm story highlights, perhaps more importantly, the inadequacy of the legal system in place when requesting data from online companies that collect vast quantities of information about their users.

In the context of private data protection versus the State, the committee’s recommendations are fairly status quoist.

States and UTs’ governance and information sub-domain scores and rankings differ considerably from their scores and rankings on the overall health index.

Timely nutritional interventions of breastfeeding, age-appropriate complementary feeding, full immunisation and Vitamin A supplementation have proven effective in improving outcomes in children.

Privacy and democracy have always had an uneasy relationship in India. However, now India has a unique opportunity to evolve a progressive and expansive legislation on privacy and protection of personal data. The report of the experts group chaired by Justice Ajit Prakash Shah is a good starting point.

Under a bilateral agreement water data on the Brahmaputra is shared by China with India on the Brahmaputra, but a weak understanding of hydrology means that the data is coming from the wrong places

Health policy is becoming a prominent poll issue perhaps for the first time in India.

The indecision of the AAP since the announcement of the Delhi poll results has the potential for the national voter to prefer national parties or alliances, rendering regional parties minimal players with maximalist muscle-flexing.

The motor vehicles agreement between BBIN nations is a welcome development and marks a good beginning. But now what is needed is a sustainable approach to infrastructure development in the region.

The solution is simple in concept but difficult to implement. Judicial administration will have to be separated from the administration of justice. A separate class of court administrators, reporting to the presiding officer but not having to take orders from him, may have to be formed.

An 'Agreed Line of Administrative Control' in the place of the existing Line of Actual Control (LAC) could free India and China from some of current problems at the bilateral border talks, feels Mr R Swaminathan, former Secretary and Director-General (Security), Government of India.

Experts at a conference on "Internet Governance and India: The Way Forward" have unanimously agreed that "anonymity" in cyber world is important for protection of dissenting voices. They also accepted that internet stands on three basic tenets of openness, freedom, universality.

Experts at a discussion on Indus Water unanimously agreed that a 'blue revolution' must follow the 'green revolution' so that the human possibilities for development are not compromised in the basin.

Reported jihadi threats forcing the down-grading of a New Year Eve entertainment programme and those regarding seven more Maldivians joining the civil war in Syria have revived the on-again-off-again national discourse on religious radicalism in Maldives.

By ratcheting up tension, China is causing alarm in other countries that use the busy South China Sea as the shortest and most convenient link between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The Chinese could well end up the losers as the countries affected could band together to offset Chinese aggressiveness. Worse, it could well trigger off Japanese nationalism and rearmament.

What was not acceptable to Karnataka have been made acceptable to Sikkim now. Naturally, advocates in Sikkim too would not want to have a judge, allegedly tainted by misdemeanour, to be their Chief Justice.

The attack on Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar at a function in New Delhi, where a kirpan-wielding individual popped up to hit him, should be viewed not as a stand-alone case.

There is a lot to feel hopeful about the maiden meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff in distant New York. If the two nations needed to move ahead with the peace process, set in motion by predecessor Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh needed the personal chemistry working with Musharaff. At the end of the day, both said it did work.

At this rate, the TNA can become 'untouchable' in national politics, as they were earlier. It does not serve the Tamil cause - and certainly not the moderates' cause. It is the hardliners alone, many of whom are outside the country forever that will be happy.

Encrypting communications enhances privacy and the security of information services. This, in turn, incentivises innovation in the ICT sector and contributes significantly to the growth of the internet economy. India’s (now withdrawn) Draft National Encryption Policy was single-minded in its approach. It sought only to prescribe standards that would enable law enforcement agencies to access encrypted data. There are, however, multifarious conc

Is green tax an answer for a cleaner India? The author contemplates if taxation is an answer

In Bangladesh, the municipal elections held last month (January 2011) provided an opportunity to assess the trends in the country's politics. The results showed that the ruling Awami League is on a declining graph as far as its popularity is concerned.

Chinese foreign policy statements may seem sloganistic, ritualistic and without content but one has to realise it need not be articulated in the Euro-American way, says Prof. Geremie Barme of Australian National University College of Asia and Pacific.

Tehran has responded in a carefully structured, calibrated fashion to the resolution passed by the IAEA Board of Governors last Saturday regarding Iran's nuclear programme. We may not have heard the last word yet, but are quite close to it.