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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 findings of Working Group-III (WG-III) of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly highlight the global failure to scale-up mitigation actions to achieve the Paris Climate targets. Immediate and unprecedented action will now be needed to avoid catastrophic global warming in this century. The WG-III report details some of the policy actions needed at the global level to enable a sustai

India and Singapore's efforts and strategic planning have brought the bilateral linkages between them to such a juncture that further opening up and adhering to the '5s plan' of the Indian foreign Minister will enhance their partnership and make them achieve newer heights.

Most observers blame a "trust deficit" for the current state of Indo-US relations. Actually, the idea of a "trust deficit" is merely a cover for the real problem - the lack of political will on either side to take the relationship between the two countries to the stage that the rhetoricians have been promising. Blame must be shared by both sides

With the importance of space access growing, there is a clear recognition that both the public and private sector are critical to advancement.

In the past two years, India has been working not only to Look to its eastern neighbours but to Act with them, too. Indeed, the government's 'Act East Policy' has taken positive steps towards building closer relationships with India's partners. But how different has the policy been from its predecessor, the Look East Policy? This paper examines the motivations for launching the Act East Policy and what it has accomplished so far. It also describe

Relations between India and the Central Asia Republics (CARs) have matured over the past three decades, primarily in the areas of military technology, defence, counterterrorism, and economy, and culture. Following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan and the resultant security, geostrategic, and geoeconomic challenges, India and the CARs must aim to strengthen their ties. This brief assesses the evolving situation in Afghanistan

In his opening remarks Mr. Sunjoy Joshi, ORF Distinguished Fellow, said that pace of adoption & innovation was critical for mainstreaming climate friendly technologies

The new Iran strategy of the Trump Administration is aimed at “neutralising the government of Iran’s destabilising influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants.”

Because of the tacit and overt alliance between the constituents of policymaking institutions and the violent non-state actors in Pakistan, it is imperative to review the current strategies and policies to evolve a more comprehensive set of actions.

Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf is under pressure.For the first time since he seized power on October 12,1999, there are indications that he and some of his Lts.General, who constitute the real source of his power and not the people, are not on the same wavelength.

Investigations into the recent terrorist attacks and the subsequent chain of arrests and seizures in different parts of India, particularly rural Maharashtra, have revealed a growing alliance between jihadi groups operating from Pakistan and Bangladesh with ideologically extreme groups in India.

The number of malnourished children in India has increased significantly between the time of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 (2015-16) and the fifth round (2019-2020), and the progress in the first half of the decade has been reversed. This paper tells the story of the Northeast region of India, where malnutrition is worse than the country average. It examines the policy landscape in the region, evaluates current programmes and initiat

The relationship between Australia and India is poised at an historic moment. Consciously overcoming a challenging period, leaders of the two countries have realised new levels of mutual trust and confidence that are in turn generating policy momentum.

General elections of 2014 could well be the most interesting election they will witness in their lifetime. Several developments suggest that the elections could mark a big shift of the political paradigm and, in that sense, they could well mark the true beginning of 21st century politics in the country.

The border between India and Bangladesh—highly crucial to their bilateral relationship—has always been difficult to manage given, for one, its sheer length. The most important bilateral initiative between Bangladesh and India may yet be the attempt to resolve the longstanding border dispute that arose after the Partition of 1947, by means of the 2015 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) and the exchange of enclaves (chhitmahals) and adverse possessi

In December 2020, the government released the results of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5 for 2019-20, covering 22 states and Union Territories (UTs). Contrary to expectations, NFHS5 found an increase in the percentage of stunted children in 13 states and UTs, compared to the results of NFHS4. This paper analyses such reversal of the three-decadal progress that India had previously made in reducing stunting in children. It analy

The signing of the Accords has helped remove strategic obstacles for New Delhi and aided defence cooperation

Realities are changing in Afghanistan, and New Delhi must be nimble.

This issue brief examines how Afghanistan facilitates India's objectives vis-a-vis Central Asia and explores how engagement with Central Asia, in turn, could play a major role in furthering India's interests in Afghanistan.

The African countries are set to launch the African Continental Free Trade Area or AfCFTA, the biggest free trade agreement in the world since the World Trade Organization was created in the 1990s. When implemented, the AfCFTA is projected to increase intra-African trade by 52.3 percent by 2022, from 2010 levels. In turn, higher trade levels can facilitate economic growth, transform domestic economies, and help the countries achieve the Sustainab

Unlike in other regions of the world, the value of intra-Africa trade has remained low over the years. Moreover, Africa accounts for just 2 percent of global trade. In 2021, African countries launched the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to create a single African market for the free movement of goods, services, labour, and capital, and increase intra-African trade. AfCFTA may be able to provide Indian firms and in

Often referred to as among the most strategically located island chains in the world, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are critical for India’s strategic interests. The islands comprise the sole archipelago in the Bay and they straddle important sea channels. As the long-standing protectionist regime in the islands morphs into a more flexible form of governance that will balance development with conservation, the stage appears set for India to c

Saeed Naqvi, Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, traveled to Bahrain, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Baghdad, Najaf, Amman, Cairo, Jerusalem and Ramallah after the Arab Spring broke out. Earlier, he visited Tunisia, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Western Sahara and Libya. In this paper, he shares his first-hand experiences and discussions with leaders and diplomats, many of whom have requested anonymity. This paper follows

This paper analyses the domestic compulsions in Australia, India, Japan and the US that are influencing their positions on the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). The paper notes that as the four countries are becoming increasingly aware of the risks posed by China’s rise over the last few years, they have sought to converge to the Quad. For Australia, the concerns are over trade dependency on China, and China’s sharp power projection and

Though it will be difficult for the Central Government and the States to agree upon certain foreign policy issues, they should work together on issues of national importance-such as terrorism and foreign policy-in order to enact policies that benefit its citizens.

This brief examines the importance of economic integration between India and Sri Lanka in fostering both nations’ growth as well as regional stability. Their deep cultural, historical, and geographic ties support an evolving economic relationship driven by trade, investment, and connectivity. As Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner and investor, India plays a pivotal role in its economic recovery, particularly following Sri Lanka’s recent ec

China is looking at their problems and working on them and willing to shift established positions if the situation so demands, while India seems to be trapped in the verities of the past and are unable to move beyond tired slogans and nostrums.

Despite concerted efforts to improve urban public transport, the use of personal vehicles has increased across India. City administrations must consider promoting the use of paratransit vehicles, such as bike-taxis, that can provide ridership to more commuters than a private vehicle. While bike-taxis are prevalent in some Indian cities, their use is curtailed elsewhere in the country by state policy and statutes. Amid growing city congest

As India jostles for a greater say on the global stage, platforms like Brics allow New Delhi to amplify its profile and work with other nations on key issues

The problem with imposing sanctions on a country which has the world's third largest proven reserves of oil and second largest conventional natural gas reserves is that the implications are felt globally. The price of oil is highly correlated throughout the world due to market arbitrage.

India’s social structure, with enduring gender inequalities rooted in patriarchal norms, plays a significant role in perpetuating gender-based violence (GBV). Women in India have been victims of infanticide, selective abortions, sex trafficking, stalking, dowry demands, child marriages, acid attacks, and honour killings. This brief explores the social dimension of GBV in India and assesses how gaps in legislation help to perpetuate them. It als

Many countries across the world are harnessing disruptive technology to maintain technological superiority over their adversaries. Research and development (R&D) organisations are key to this task. In the defence sector, focused R&D drives critical innovations and product development. India continues to lag in defence technology and remains dependent on imports. A crucial impediment is long product development cycles. Under the cu

Wargaming can aid in strategic thinking and operational preparedness and help assess potential outcomes in a conflict or a battlefield. In recent years, modern militaries have been moving to technology-based wargaming by developing better modelling and simulations and running AI-generated plausible scenarios to enhance understanding of threat environments and operational realities. This paper analyses the merits of technology-based wargaming and

India’s decision to abolish cantonments after carving out the military areas, announced in April 2023, has been met with scepticism and support. Cantonments, primarily created during the British rule to station and house the military, evolved to include civilians as residents and staff to provide support and logistic services. Over time, cantonment boards, with some civilian members, were created to manage the civil areas, but the rights of civ

This paper dissects the persistent credit crunch that has provoked recent debates on the autonomy of India’s central bank. It tracks the trajectory of the liquidity squeeze, beginning with the wariness of public sector banks to provide credit to high-risk sectors as bad loans mounted. Yet these banks were continuing to provide loans to the NBFCs (non-banking financial companies), which were in turn extending loans to the high-risk sectors (such