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The 2011 anti-corruption movement in India—characterised by a huge trust deficit in the political class—was the culmination of several such localised movements that marked the birth of a new civil society in contemporary urban India. This paper studies the profusion of middle-class-led associations in Mumbai fighting for good governance, and their increased political mobilisation in the city. It argues that a new civil society bypasses electe

This paper argues that the challenges in the governance of two Himalayan river systems, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, emerge largely from crucial information and knowledge gaps. The dominance of the paradigm of “reductionist hydrology” solely based on structural interventions has resulted in the lack of recognition of the long-run costs incurred through ecosystem damages and water conflicts at various levels. The knowledge gaps—including

Wetlands are important ecosystems that provide benefits such as flood control, water purification, and biodiversity conservation. In India, however, wetlands are threatened by pollution, encroachment, and rampant real estate development. This brief assesses the East Kolkata Wetlands to illustrate the challenges of preserving urban wetlands in India. It also presents recommendations to establish more comprehensive wetlands management and conservat

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.

The government should remain a licensor, regulator and adjudicator where neither capital nor technology are in constraint and should not make in India

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.

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.

The RBI has sensibly shown selective flexibility to soothe angry government voices.

What the zenana was to the Great Mughals, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is to our political leaders at the Centre and in the states.

Those who wish to blindly ape the Donald Trump-era United States' trade policy clearly have never bothered to think hard about the economic consequences of their actions in India

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

The trajectories of India’s neighbours like Bangladesh are driven more by their own agency than their adjacency to India

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

Mitigating the adverse impact of Beijing’s crude ambition while simultaneously absorbing Chinese capital is a tough balancing act. Before making policy choices, India must rapidly improve its ability to monitor the full extent of economic exposure to China.

This report is part of the Observer Research Foundation’s “Financing Green Transitions” series which aims to find potential linkages between private capital, in all its forms, and climate action projects. The series will primarily examine domestic and international barriers to private capital entry for mitigation oriented climate projects, while also examining potential avenues for private capital flow entry towards adaptation and resilienc

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.

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.

To successfully combat climate change, there is an urgent need to finance mitigation and adaptation efforts at various levels. Green bonds are a relatively new funding instrument for green projects that have steadily become the first line of defence against climate change. India, in particular, has immense scope to diversify the green bond market beyond renewable energy. This brief analyses the policy structure of countries that have successfully

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.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive economic and social fallout for India, as it has across the globe. In India, large numbers of people lost their jobs, and supply chains across industries and agriculture have been disrupted. At the same time, environmental indicators—notably air and freshwater quality—showed improvements following the long period of a nationwide lockdown. This brief outlines why India must make a focused decision to mov

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

It is important to differentiate between physical capital as produced means of production in contrast to natural capital which is naturally endowed. The latter facilitates a host of ecosystem services[i] that flow through human processes, both societal and economic. Unlike physical capital, natural capital cannot be substituted easily. Therefore, this stock of natural capital processing into the flow of ecosystem functions need to be valued and

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.

The country has been grappling with low consumption demand for quite some time and the loss of livelihoods for the migrant workers would undoubtedly aggravate the problem

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.

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.

By some accounts, the economy is doing spectacularly well. At the same time, infrastructure has been deteriorating.

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.