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The Power sector reforms in the country have presented the next strategic challenge that could redefine global interest in India. The country has set an ambitious target of producing 20,000 MW of Nuclear power by 2020 i.e. around 1000 MW of additional nuclear capacity per year for the next 17 years.

In the current and preceding years, the government has been trying everything to limit gold imports to control the current account deficit. Yet this commodity has one of the largest share in terms of exemption given. In 2012-13, the estimated amount of custom duty foregone for diamond and gold would be Rs 61,035 crore or 20.5% of the total revenue foregone.

The New Telecom Policy if implemented in letter and spirit has the potential to fundamentally transform governance.

Pakistan's first transfer of power between elected governments is indeed a milestone, but how strong a precedent it will set is very much dependent on the performance of Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N. Confidence in civilian institutions, high voter turnout aside, remains dreadfully low.

Radical transformation in governance can only begin when we are pushed to the wall and have no other option but to take the monster head on

The Defence Minister's annual review of progress in self-reliance in defence efforts will end as a ritual unless a common minimum quantification of self-reliance efforts is arrived at. Else, we will be perpetually confused as to how self-reliant we are in defence production.

A lot has been discussed about PM Modi's first year in office. While actions and policies on economy, security, external affairs, 'Make in India' are being deliberated upon extensively, there is little attention on how the government has fared on gender equity.

An international conference on South Asia's water future, organised by Observer Research Foundation in association with the PHD Chamber of Commerce, has underlined the need for proper management of this largely exploited and poorly utilized natural resource.

When compared to countries like the US, the Indian government is understaffed and it affects the service delivery, says retired revenue secretary M.R. Sivaraman. He says the Indian government has only 257 people serving every 100,000 population against 840 in the US federal government.

Mr S. Jaishankar is reported to have said he was happy to join “the Tata Group… India’s most respected brand globally”.

In the latest despicable act of extreme cruelty, the arm of an Indian maid working in a Saudi Arabian household was chopped off by her employer. Since the royal in question was King Salman's son, there are no prizes for guessing that no member of the ruling family will be punished for this incident.

India's former member of the WTO Arbitration Committee, Dr. A.V. Ganesan, thinks that it would be unsustainable for India to rely on imported food grains, and hence it is imperative that India supports its farmers to augment food production to meet the domestic demand.

There is a need for a multi-pronged attack on human trafficking involving the government, corporate bodies and the civil society, it was observed at a panel discussion on the "Role 'India Inc' in Combating Human Trafficking" at ORF.

A roundtable discussion at Observer Research Foundation was held on January 25 2010 to discuss the internal dynamics of Pakistan

Has New Delhi forgotten its breast beating against cross-border terrorism in Kashmir atleast since 1989? How will it ever raise that issue again having voted along with the west which stands for cross border terrorism by US, France, UK, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey against Syria?

This year made it clear that the US-China strategic competition is not merely the figment of Donald Trump's imagination

The normalisation of trade between India and Pakistan could lead to preferential trade arrangement under SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement of 1996). This would increase regional trade and stability.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government headed by Mr. A. B. Vajpayee had made India increasingly invisible in its neighbourhood. It was content to play second fiddle to the US in Nepal and Sri Lanka, let Norway, the European Union and Japan play a more active role in Sri Lanka, maintained a silence on the growing confrontation between President Abdul Gayoom of the Maldives and the pro-democracy activists

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.

European policymakers seem to be taking an awfully long time to realize the fact that there cannot be general blanket solutions to the problems in the euro-zone. Every time a member nation is in trouble, the same few steps seem to be repeated.

The coming to power of a Left-leaning Syriza government in Greece is not because people supported their ideology but they wanted to protest against the economic stagnation caused by austerity programme, says Ramon Perez-Maura, Assistant Editor of leading Spanish daily, ABC.

In the face of the Greece crisis, the fundamental problem that needs to addressed is whether the European Union was sustainable, as very soon Spain would also be faced with a financial crisis similar to Greece. A total re-writing of the books and balance sheet of the European economy is required as it was done in 1945, according to Dr. S. Narayan.

Greece's problems, which started in 2009, are casting a deep shadow on world stock markets. India is also feeling the impact. The BSE Sensex took a deep plunge though it has recovered recently. The rupee has been falling in terms of the dollar during the last few weeks.

If the Syriza government in Greece had the foresight to seek technical assistance from the bureaucracy of any Latin American, African or Asian country on how to deal with agitated lenders, they would never have got into the mess they are in now.

Did Russia's quick response of offering the new Greek prime minister with financial aid to sail through the financial crisis help him bargain the new time line for debt rescheduling? Yes or not, the victory of the 'Left' PM in the Greek general elections has given a geo-political twist to Eurozone's troubles.

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.

Greece may be far away from India but the lessons to be drawn are many. Bringing down fiscal deficit through harsh austerity measures has brought Greece to the brink. India should also not cut the important social sector spending in order to bridge the fiscal deficit.

Why was Devyani Khobragade allowed to employ Sangeeta Richards in her home in the first place despite the fact that her father is employed with the US embassy in New Delhi? It is worrying that as of now Indian diplomats and consuls can take just about anybody they want with them for their posting overseas. There is no detailed dive on the assistant's threat perception nor periodic review of the likely vulnerability.

By 2040, the proportion of the population below 34.5 years will fall to 50 per cent from 65 per cent today.

A lot of thinking should be done about how to reinvigorate agriculture because rural demand is important for reviving manufacturing sector. Agriculture is important also because 52 per cent of the population is still occupied in agriculture and it has a share of 17 per cent in the GDP.

As the debate on restarting two nuclear reactors in Oi is hotting up in Japan, the Noda government needs to both give the newly announced nuclear regulatory body time to create the promised new regulations while also ensuring the people and industry do not suffer due to power shortage.

ON the economic front, there is much to cheer about with the GDP growing at 8.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2010-2011. There is now hope that the annual growth rate this fiscal year will be 9 per cent which means that India will be catching up with China soon

Everyday fears of violence against women have sharpened in the recent past. However they are increasingly being addressed by new prescriptive do and don't lists of precautionary measures for women. This is happening even while we consistently assert that the onus need not be on the women to keep themselves safe.

Growth is too weak in Europe today to support the necessary fiscal consolidation of the Member States. And without growth, there will be no budgetary and fiscal consolidation, says Pierre Sellal underlining the need for a growth pact.

While the common man or woman has to save for hard times and cut corners on everything, the same is not happening to the budgets of the Central and state governments.

The 2625 kg GSAT-7, developed at a cost of INR 185 crores, will be India's first dedicated satellite for maritime communications, providing UHF, S-band, C-band, and Ku band relay capacity over the Indian landmass and surrounding seas.

From a strategic perspective, the successful launch of the GSLV means India is self-reliant in the area of satellite launching, including heavier satellites. This also means that India will not have to depend on foreign agencies to carry their heavier payloads.

Discussions between the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC) and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) also saw a general agreement that the Taliban victory in Afghanistan will lead to a civil war with disastrous consequences for Pakistan

If it is any yardstick for a vibrant democracy, India today has six former Prime Ministers around. Only two of them, namely, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and P V Narasimha Rao completed a full term, and thus became mascots of political stability in their time. Yet, subsequent elections proved that stability was not the only concern of the Indian voter. To him, political stability is a vehicle for his deliverance and in ways he understands.

Gujarat has the required natural resources, human potential and entrepreneurial spirit to become the engine of India¿s economic growth and achieve a growth rate of 20%.

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 7, 2008: Mr. Inder Kumar Gujral, former Prime Minister of India, on Thursday released a book on "Small States Security Dilemma: A Maldivian Perception" at Observer Research Foundation.

While India's economic presence in the Gulf region has transformed from merely an exchanges between merchants and human capital, as a geopolitical player, India's role has remained subdued.

Will President Obama's passionate call for stricter gun laws from the pulpit bring any change, or will he go towards the sunset in 2016 with having done practically nothing on this issue?