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संयुक्त राष्ट्रांच्या अजेंडा-२०३०मध्ये शहरे सुरक्षित, शाश्वत व सक्षम करणे हे ध्येय आहे. त्यासाठी जी-२० राष्ट्रगटाच्या धर्तीवर सिटी-२० गट बनणे आवश्यक आहे.

As China continues to expand its presence in international waters, it is developing capabilities to counter foreign submarines which, otherwise, may pose challenge to its ambitions. This is where the recently launched Gaoxin-6 becomes important for Beijing.

This Issue Brief looks at the world of digital spaces and analyses issues such as the politics of silencing women; propriety; and health and gender-specific vulnerabilities.

Historically, the values of gender-caste-based minorities have been systematically kept aside from being even counted, and this bias leads the prior data to be gender-biased or rather gender-invisible.

This paper assesses the gendered division of labour for household-level domestic service activities, of which water management remains a primary component, across Indian states and the various dimensions of gender that are relevant in this context. Women have traditionally played an essential role in water management at the household level, devoting a significant share of their day to related unpaid domestic service activities. Such engagements o

Gender disparities in Kenya’s entrepreneurship cycle are a manifestation of both the historical marginalisation of women and the structural barriers limiting equal participation in the economy. Recent progress in the legal framework has been suboptimal in closing the gender gaps, as seen in the persistent inequalities in formal employment and the high concentration of unlicensed women-owned enterprises in the informal sector. The inequalities a

India introduced Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in financial year 2005-06 to design public spending in a way that ensures that the benefits accrue as much to the country’s women as they do to the men. India’s effort has influenced both the government’s expenditures and its revenue policies—such as additional tax rebates on properties owned by women, for instance—at the levels of both central and state governments. However, 18

Rapid advancements in medicine and falling fertility rates have contributed to the rise in the population of India’s older adults in recent decades. This demographic and epidemiological shift has a gendered impact: A higher proportion of women over the age of 60, compared to their male counterparts, suffer from Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension, heart and bone diseases, cancers, cognitive decline, and depression. T

Women make up a majority of the four billion people excluded from the digital economy. Policy narratives assert that the digital economy has the potential to transform the world of work. Conversely, there are concerns that the existing ‘digital divide’ within and across nations will simply exacerbate existing social inequalities and reinforce gender hierarchies. G20 member states have repeatedly committed to bridging pervasive gender gaps in

There are developments taking place in the quake affected Pakistan occupied Kashmir that need to be closely watched by both the Indian authorities and the Western world. The first is the failure of the Pakistan army and its associated institutions to provide relief to the millions of quake affected people in Kashmir under its occupation.

An autonomous Judicial Commission can effectively nudge the judicial system towards its intended Constitutional mandate; apolitical, enlightened and efficient application of the rule of law and protection of the fundamental rights of private entities, against encroachment by the executive or the legislature.

Emissions from fossil fuel-powered motor vehicles adversely affect air quality and contribute to global warming. The manufacture and use of electric vehicles (EVs) is among the ways by which this challenge can be mitigated. This brief evaluates the best practices adopted by countries in the forefront of EV adoption, and outlines the lessons India can draw from them to inform its own EVs strategy. It finds that in addition to strengthening

PM Narendra Modi's interest in the diaspora is about recognising India's possibilities as a "global nation" that is not defined in narrow territorial terms. Delhi, of course, is not yet ready to give dual citizenship of the kind that some countries do. But short of political rights for the diaspora, Modi has begun to offer much.

Growing urbanisation and its resultant problems and issues have drawn the attention of international organisations, national governments and the civil society. The United Nations (2012) has reported that while "unprecedented increase in urban population will provide new opportunities to improve education and public services in Africa and Asia,...

There was a great scope for expanding economic ties between India and Kazakhstan, said Kazakh Ambassador to India, Kairat Umarov, at an interaction in Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

India spends over 2.6 per cent of its GDP to deal with challenges of climate change. Still, resource scarcity and other priorities make it a challenge to find matching financial resources for mitigating climate change. Green Bonds have the potential to significantly change the climate change landscape of India.

Although India and Africa have long shared close ties, engagement between the two regions is yet to reach its full potential. However, amid the global green transition and attempts to enhance energy security, green hydrogen—increasingly seen as the ‘fuel of the future’—could provide a new avenue for cooperation between the regions. Such a partnership, focused on building a global value chain for the large-scale adoption of green h

Ways to attain growth, create jobs, and meet developmental targets with minimal carbon emissions are priorities for both India and the EU.

The hypothesis of “jobless growth” has been central to recent debates around India’s economic development trajectory. This brief undertakes an evaluation of secondary data to test whether India is indeed experiencing jobless growth. The authors find that the characterisation of “jobless growth” is both reductive and empirically unsound, and India’s employment landscape has experienced notable expansion alongside robust Gross Domestic

The author, who was part of the ORF delegation which took part in discussions with Chinese party and government officials, says that the possibilities for India and China to collaborate must transcend boundary disputes and other age-old issues.

Agriculture remains the world’s biggest employer and the most important source of food and raw material for various economic activities. The fulfillment of a number of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is anchored on the performance of the sector. This brief examines the most crucial negative consequences of how modern agriculture is practiced, and how these will make it difficult for the world to realise the SDGs. Drawing on examples fr

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to “leave no one behind’’ and directed all countries to work together to end poverty and other deprivations. Achieving the SDGs requires collaborative strategies aimed at improving technologies of the Least Developing Countries (LDCs) in the productive sectors such as agriculture. Understandably, in most developing countries, the agriculture sector is characterised by informality, small scale,

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented stress on India’s urban public health infrastructure, underscoring the need for urban planning to account for increased demand for health amenities during crises. This paper evaluates the city of Mumbai’s 1991 and 2034 development plans and finds inherent infrastructural inadequacies. It calls on urban-policymakers to complement development plans with robust dynamic health strategies that conside

The BIMSTEC and East Africa, which together account for 25 percent of the world’s population, are low-resource regions.[1] While their share in the global disease burden is disproportionately high, their combined healthcare expenditure is a minuscule share of the global healthcare spend. Their health systems are underfunded, understaffed and ill-equipped to deal with the monumental challenge of disease burden. This paper aims to compare the he

If internecine clashes in the eastern Afghan city of Herat are a sign of the things to come, peaceful political evolution of the country seems to be a messy affair. Around 50 people had been killed in those clashes that continued for eight hours in one of the more stable cities of Afghanistan.

Household savings have merely moved from financial to physical assets, with an increase over time

States are no longer insulated from distant geopolitical realities. As India has witnessed, trade and supply chain linkages can extend conflicts to uninvolved states

China's new maritime law – in which foreign vessels will have to submit details to Chinese authorities when transiting through its 'territorial waters' – has now come into force.

During a discussion on "Urban Middle Classes and the Ascent of New Politics in India" at ORF, it was noted that success should not be measured in terms of the ability to ensure successful electoral outcomes but as an attempt to make better societies.

India’s geographical landscape is vast, cultural differences can be sharp, and income disparities are stark in certain regions. Access to healthcare, therefore, is varied and the on-ground gaps and challenges are complex. The NITI Aayog Health Index is an attempt by the current government to formulate a mechanism to monitor at the sub-national level the country’s performance in improving healthcare. This paper uses the findings of the Health

Across India’s burgeoning cities, the supply of affordable homes is highly inadequate to keep pace with the growing need; as a result, slums and other informally built areas, where living conditions are extremely poor, have grown. In 2015 the Indian government implemented a national housing programme, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (urban) or PMAY (U) to bridge the gap in affordable housing. This report evaluates the progress of PMAY (U), and finds

Before the elections in the beginning of this year, the authorities of the Iraqi Government had announced warrants for the arrest of 29 Iraqis and foreigners, who, according to them, are either former members of the Saddam Hussein Government or part of the Abu Mus¿ab al-Zarqawi terrorist network of the Al Qaeda.

Despite the power differential, India successfully raised the cost of China’s land grab activities at Doklam, a feat that even the U.S. has struggled to accomplish in East Asia. While China was relentless in the pursuit of its goals, and had the resources to spend, India managed to call its bluff, and simultaneously allayed Bhutan’s concerns.

The global pandemic has hit amid the 70th anniversary mark for relations and affected perceptions and realities in ties.

While the Arabs tend to blame the West for their troubles with some reason, much of the blame they have to shoulder themselves. The Arab world is in turmoil mainly because of undemocratic regimes, lack of institutions, the absence of a spirit of scientific enquiry and societies that have yet to adjust to the 21st century.

Call for public discussions over how certain types of behavior associated with dominance and power create inequalities within and between man and woman

The loopholes and technicalities of the Women's Reservation Bill should be open to scrutiny, but the Bill and its purpose must not be forgotten. Perhaps the revival of the debate over the bill could be an opportunity for PM Modi to demonstrate his party's focus on gender equality.

It would perhaps be wiser for the government to focus on how to stop the outflow of black money instead of just chasing money already stashed abroad. One method is to enter into agreements and treaties with countries to share information, like the way the US is doing now.

Intelligence agencies are prone to exaggerate an adversary’s capabilities. Indian intelligence in the mid-1970s, meanwhile, severely underestimated Pakistan’s nuclear cunning. For a crucial part of those years, India could not identify AQ Khan’s clandestine nuclear activities to acquire Uranium enrichment technology. This brief names three reasons: hubris, biases, and overlearning from one’s experiences. For New Delhi, this is as much a p

The emergence of this new grouping is clearly an outcome of the Abraham Accords of Aug 2020 and the possibilities that they have created for Israel and the UAE to be on the same platform with India and the US. As President Biden moves to Saudi Arabia for the second leg of his visit to West Asia, we are likely to see a push towards integrating Israel through trade, technology, direct flights and people-to-people contact even with countries where f

The EU's proposed International Code of Conduct (ICoC) for space activities would not be successful if major space actors stay out of the ICoC, according to Indian PM's Special Envoy for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, Amb. Rakesh Sood. He says the ICoC was welcomed simply due to the lack of alternate initiatives.

Half a century after the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the current debates are focused on new sets of challenges such as space mining, which used to belong only to the realm of science fiction.  This paper analyses the rationale for extraterrestrial mining, as well as the efforts and responses of various countries—i.e, USA, Luxembourg, Russia, China and India. In examining the legal and go

New Delhi will have to keep a close watch on global debates on economic security and the impetus building to restructure the world’s trading system

Both President Obama and Prime Minister Modi have seized the moment to reinvigourate the bilateral ties. If Modi has put America at the very centre of his dynamic foreign policy strategy, Obama appears eager to work with what is undoubtedly a more vigorous and action-oriented government in Delhi.

With there being a strong connection between smart cities and a nation's pride, it is important to connect universities and research institutions with smart city initiatives, says Dr. Meric Gertler, President of the University of Toronto.

India’s agrarian crisis has deepened in the past several years, contributing to the slowdown of the economy. Amongst the most crucial factors affecting the country’s agricultural sector is financial inclusion. Over the years, India has attempted various measures to narrow the gap in financial inclusion for its farmers, yet the goal continues to elude the country. This paper presents a discussion of these measures, outlining the current state

The financial health of the Indian Railways, the single largest employer in the Government of India, has been in a dismal state for some time now. With the recent merging of the railways budget with the general budget, it has become a daunting exercise to conduct an analysis of railway finances. Yet, it is no doubt in the national interest to not only locate the shortcomings in the system but also explore solutions to improve performance. This pa

The multiple crises besetting India’s justice delivery system are related to a large extent to what the Chief Justice calls “dilapidated” infrastructure. Indeed, it is empirically known that there is a positive correlation between adequacy of infrastructure—whether courtrooms, chambers, sanitation facilities, or digital connectivity—and productivity in the delivery of justice. This brief highlights the stark gaps in infrastructu

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have had a long history globally and in India. While the Indian government supports this partnership model, PPPs have experienced little success in delivering municipal infrastructure and services. This is despite the demands of a rapidly growing urban population for local services, which the municipal bodies are often unequipped to deliver. Indeed, in many cities across the world, there is an emerging push for