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The Delhi government is facing numerous challenges in managing water demand and supply in the capital, primary of which are water shortages and declining groundwater levels. One of the strategies that are being employed to address these issues is the promotion of rainwater harvesting (RWH). This report provides an account of the growth and development of Delhi’s RWH sector. The analysis shows that while the programme has met with some success,
The Delhi government is facing numerous challenges in managing water demand and supply in the capital, primary of which are water shortages and declining groundwater levels. One of the strategies that are being employed to address these issues is the promotion of rainwater harvesting (RWH). This report provides an account of the growth and development of Delhi’s RWH sector. The analysis shows that while the programme has met with some success,
The 2nd session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) was held in Beijing from Mar 5-13, 2009, the first session after the onset of the global economic crisis
Climate change defined officially as 'a change in the state of the climate that can be identified among other things by changes in the mean and / or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer' is among major challenges facing countries.
The NBSA process needs to keep pace with the fists of fury that politicians are unleashing on each other. Particularly so as the level of unsubtantiated allegations is getting worse as we're getting closer to the General Elections 2014.
Mayawati has apparently decided that she should retain her core constituency hoping that everything else would fall in place
Spillovers from unconventional monetary policy in the AEs pose a systemic risk for emerging market economies (EMEs). Unconventional monetary policies to ensure cheap liquidity and easy credit conditions have been used not only in the US but in Europe as well as Japan.
Budget 2004, despite the change of regime in New Delhi, maintains the much required continuity for critical power sector reforms to achieve the country¿'s "Power for All" objective by 2012 and double installed capacity to over 200,000 MW .The salient features in the budget vis-a-vis the power sector are:
The macro-economic situation at this point of time is indisputably negative and the Budget for 2013-14 should set realistic spending allocations with the aim to reduce the fiscal deficit to sustainable levels.
The focus on delivery of various schemes is missing in this budget. Each year, public money is being poured into them, but things remain the same unless there are dynamic state ministers monitoring everything. Some provision for effective monitoring should have made in budget 2013-14.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seemed to be the chief protagonist of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of India becoming a $5 trillion econo
The Union Budget provides a boost to the energy transition but fails to address the critical need to synergise climate adaptation with India’s devel
The budget has prioritised capital expenditure for addressing the needs of public infrastructure along with some focussed welfare initiatives in cruci
The Finance Minister announced allocations for various sectors in the Budget. But these are a regular feature of every Budget. What was different in this Budget? Almost nothing except that there has been fiscal consolidation. Obviously, it is not going to satisfy the common man, farmers, industry or foreign investors.
The Modi Government's first real annual Budget is perhaps its most important test after flunking the Delhi Assembly examination. While businessmen will be watching it to gauge the intentions and determination of the Government to create a pro-business atmosphere, it will be equally eagerly watched by the armed forces community for its modernisation targets.
Though the Budget has increased financial incentives to the RE industry, it does not reflect an unambiguous focus on the energy transition of the coun
The Finance Minister has chosen to walk the conservative path, hoping to stimulate investment and growth through small half-measures. Expect high rates of inflation in FY 13 and greater pressure on the fiscal deficit despite white paper on black money.
This was a budget without many surprises. Maybe we have evolved to being an economy, in which the budget is a mundane, technical exercise, of interest to economists and accountants, but of little immediate consequence for those who live in the real world.
While the coverage of Budgets in the media and research reports are mainly limited to high interest items like income-tax, sales tax, excise, inflation etc., the "Part A" of the budget, which is an indicator of government intention and priority, remains relatively under explored.
The accompanying politico-administrative changes apart, Elections-2004 has caused the mid-course review of the economic reforms, seeking to introduce the missing "human face", about which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had begun talking about while in the Opposition.
The challenge is not ‘to build back better’ but ‘to build forward better’ where the nature and climate nexus lies within the development parad
Visiting Pakistani journalists informed a select gathering at Observer Research Foundation that the ongoing turmoil in their country was the result of a transition from military dictatorship to coalition politics in the democratic setup.
Most participants at an ORF conference on urban development and creation of 100 smart cities in India felt that creation of smart cities is an extremely challenging exercise and for this, careful planning and effective project implementation are required.
After years of conceiving the idea of Strategic Oil Reserve, the Indian government seems to be moving in the right direction in a resolute manner. Recent statements by both the Prime Minister and the Petroleum Minister about building strategic storage facilities to gear up the country to meet oil emergencies
New Delhi must take full advantage of the geopolitical opportunity that the Japanese connection offers us. As democracies, both India and Japan are open societies and committed to a liberal world order. Through visits and agreements, the two sides have now laid the infrastructure for their strategic partnership.
Both India and Africa strongly acknowledge that peace and security is intrinsically linked to development, and that terrorism poses the biggest threat
In terms of the existing institutional mechanisms, South Korea somewhat lags behind Japan, but one should remember that India-South Korea partnership is only about 40 years old and during this rather short period, what the two countries have achieved is quite remarkable.
When technology becomes important for a country’s development, governments should balance the advance of technology with openness and autonomy.
The ORF-hosted BRICS Academic Forum's recommendations to the 4th BRICS Leaders Summit, to be held in New Delhi on March 29, seek to set the agendas for global governance reforms and sustainable development and map out a new geography of cooperation.
Despite the importance of capacity building in India’s development cooperation programme with African countries, a comprehensive assessment of India
A major problem in developing connectivity projects has been the lack of higher direction. By virtue of being strategic, these tasks ought to be done in special quick time. But, more often than not, they end up mired in all kinds of problems. At the best of times inter-ministerial and centre-state coordination is poor.
India’s G20 presidency can play a huge role in building inclusive and women-friendly cities
With interests of Australia and India "converging" in the evolving geostrategic environment of Asia, both countries have the capacity to develop into a "real" strategic partnership, according to the Australian High Commissioner, Mr Peter Varghese.
India and the United States (US) galvanised their defence relationship with the signing of the 'New Framework for India-US Defence Relations' in June 2005. Subsequent years saw further developments, among them the US Congress decision to accord India the status of ‘Major Defence Partner’ (MDP) in 2016. In recent years, the four ‘foundational agreements’ signed between the two countries have expanded their spectrum of defence coope
India’s power sector requires sustained efforts to achieve the power generating capacity target of approximately 1.2 terawatts by 2047. It needs such capacity to meet the demands of economic growth and achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 7 of providing universal electricity access. At the same time, the country also needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to meet commitments to global climate action agreements. This paper revi
The G20 can steward inclusive approaches to digital transformation, directing international development cooperation, and strengthening multilateralism
Both during times of normalcy and crises, governments depend on increasingly digitised identity systems. Such systems, however, have been considered controversial since the use of IBM machines to facilitate the Holocaust. Since then, more contemporary identity systems have tried to ensure that they do not violate citizens’ essential rights. This requires multi-stakeholder coordination, a network paradigm, a focus on open standards rather than s
Eventually, it has to be a mutual settlement with full understanding between the two parties. They need to come to a compromise, in the highest traditions of the country. There is ample land available land at the site which could accommodate both the construction of a new temple as well as a new masjid.
Both India and Australia can work together and be partners in development to create solutions for the world. Communication, collaboration and consiste
A four-member Chiang Mai-based delegation from the Burmese Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) visited ORF on 26 November, 2007. The delegation consisted of Dr. Lian H. Sakhong (General Secretary); Harn Yawnghwe (Director - National Reconciliation Programme); Saw David Taw (Joint General-Secretary); and Dr. Sui-Khar (Team Leader - Foreign Affairs Committee).
America is different: different in its impulses, in its terms of debate, in its responses. A young country, struggling to acquire an identity, moving away from a melting pot approach to a multicultural one¿in theory if not always in practice; religious in traditional terms despite trappings of post-modernity,
