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After complete washouts of several sessions of Parliament, including the previous budget session, the ongoing Monsoon session has surprised many.

When the Budget session of Parliament began on February 21, people in general and industry in particular were hoping that the political class would ensure that the two Houses conducted the necessary parliamentary business to bring back the national economy and governance on to the rails.

Much of PP&R's engagement with civil society remains limited to event-oriented modes. There is a fundamental problem in the extant approach.

Budget woes are unlikely to ease. The Chief of Defence Staff and the Army leadership are likely come under pressure to seriously think about downsizing the Army.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has launched many reforms under the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives to strengthen India’s moribund defence industry. These reforms have led to some visible improvements, as evidenced by increased defence production and exports, and a large bank of in-principle government approvals for future domestic production. However, several challenges persist that require urgent attenti

Political parties have put up strong resistance to electoral reforms, notwithstanding appointing committees and commissions from time to time.

Without timely replenishment, India could end up with a submarine fleet similar to that of Pakistan.

The government will need to take strides over the next few months to pass the auxiliary reforms necessary to actualise its renewed vision for a truly digital India.

One is still not sure whether Prime Minister Abe will be inclined to let the defence budget cross the self-imposed limit of 1 per cent of the GNP. Only once in the 1980s Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone crossed the Rubicon. But considering the 'extraordinarily grave' security situation in East Asia, Abe may feel impelled to do so.

That China is now preparing to extend its railway into Pakistan Occupied Kashmir should stir PM Modi to recognise the significance of the railways for India's national security and factor it into the rail budget to be presented to Parliament next week.

Now that the fate of the Lokpal Bill is hanging in balance, it may be a good time for the polity and the nation as a whole to take a fresh look at the legislation between now and the Budget session of Parliament.

Balanced urbanisation and rural development is an urgent requirement in China, if it has to fulfill its goals of sustainable development. For this purpose, budgetary allocations and farmers' support have to be tweaked, along with agricultural modernisation.

The defence budget had grown by 17% in 2011-12 and 12% in 2012-13. A mere 1.79% of the GDP, it is a far cry from the stated goal of spending 3% of GDP on defence backed by the Parliamentary Committee on Defence.

All the major powers in the Asia Pacific region are ramping up their defence budgets and modernising their militaries. They are also building coalitions with each other through defence partnerships agreements and ports calls.

Since Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2013, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has witnessed an accelerated modernisation drive. Following the 2015-16 organisational reforms, the CPC further standardised its service-level force structure and upgraded its military doctrine, combat capabilities, and weapons systems. This report analyses recent improvements with the development and integration of new we

Indian decision makers face two hard choices: either reduce the size of the Indian Army or significantly expand the defence budget.

India faces a medium-term challenge from the Chinese PLA Navy, which has been active in terms of sending vessels on regular patrols in the Indian Ocean.

The opposition is right to demand information on the pricing. Providing information on the cost of an aircraft, its engine, missiles, radar warning receivers, radars, does not undermine the country’s security.

India needs to better integrate electronic and cyber warfare into its future defense planning.

The Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, managed to present a fairly balanced Union Budget. There were no big unforeseen surprises and it was relatively measured given that we are in a pre-election year. It is hard to ignore that the global economy continues to be in turmoil.

The government has been firefighting since FY 2019 using mostly Band-Aids of the cheapest kinds.

Thinking India can induce enough private investment just because of the size of its market is a big mistake

Pakistan's PPP-led government failed to end the domination of the military over the government, much less bring the military machine, particularly the army, under the government's control. A huge percentage of the country's budget is allocated to the military.

For a person who knows his business economics well, the Railway Minister obviously realises that he will need money to make that happen. That is why his speech contained so many references to the need for budgetary support from the government.

Infrastructure investments are required to enable economic growth and provide the services required by a growing population. The infrastructure already available is threatened by climate change, damaging existing assets and reducing future productivity. Investment in new infrastructure has to increase to fill the gap; as this occurs, the operation and maintenance cost of infrastructure are also expected to rise. Furthermore, as resources are scar

The commitment of states towards achieving gender equality as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development received a renewed boost during the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023, with a marked shift in the discourse from women’s development to ‘women-led’ development. This article uses the Public Financial Management (PFM) lens to emphasise the role of governments in achieving gender-related outcomes. While proposing an outcom

As the Modi Govt presents the rail budget this week, it is worth reflecting on the growing gap between the Indian railway system and that of China. If the British Raj understood the strategic significance of the railways, the rulers of independent India squandered the advantage and have wrecked the system rather than build on it.

One hopes that fiscal 2019 is devoid of breaking news, dull as ditchwater but fulsome in terms of outcomes.

The early years, particularly the first 1,000 days, are a critical period in a child’s development, with lifelong impacts. Evidence shows that one of the most effective strategies for economic growth is investing in the developmental growth of at-risk young children. However, early childhood development (ECD) programmes are severely challenged by the sheer scale of need in the face of early childhood care and education losses due to COVID-19 me

With elections in progress we find that our choices are extremely limited.

To supplement the still lagging Afghan and ISAF security capabilities, alternative structures have been used or created, especially in rural or hard-to-reach areas. Two important groups among these are private security contractors (PSCs) and 'community defence' organisations or local militias. This paper assesses the impact of these entities on Afghan stability. Beginning March 19, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq, drawing both material an

Russia's troubles are unlikely to vanish soon. With the Central Bank forecasting a 4.5 per cent drop in GDP in 2015, a downgrade is a certainty. The budget deficit, forecast to be larger than 0.6 per cent of GDP in 2015, will prove to be another cause of misery.

Despite a long speech there were no magic bullets presented to kickstart a virtuous cycle of investment, growth and jobs.

Social protection is crucial in tackling extreme poverty and ensuring equitable development, thus catalysing the transition to a more stable and robust economy. About 50 percent of India’s economy hinges on its informal workers, who comprise 90 percent of the country’s total workforce. Yet, these informal workers continue to be excluded from current social-protection schemes, leaving them with no social or financial safety net and trapping th

Sri Lankan President unveiled the biggest ever war budget in the history of the country in view of the ongoing war with the Tamil Tigers. The budget has seen the massive rise of 7% in the war expenditure to a record 1.6 billion dollars in the year 2009.

Examining ‘Dollar Bonds’ in the Indian budget, drug trafficking in Myanmar — and other news from South Asia.

Readers will recall the short history of corporate tax reductions under Modi 1.0.

In March, a "matrix" between the two Sudans set conditionalities and dates both countries must respect. It was an insurance against political vagaries and deep deficit budgets. But with oil revenues falling into Machar's hands, the entire ambit of monies and transit fee from Juba could come unstuck one more time!

The political funding reforms are an embarrassment to India’s claims of heralding a transparency revolution

The recent bailout underscores how the international system continues to accommodate a geopolitically pivotal yet structurally fragile state

The post-GST Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) Budget of 2018–19 was the first to contend with the abolition of octroi, which was previously its largest and most robust source of revenue. One year after the introduction of the General Services Tax (GST) by the central government, the MCGM has been forced to find new financing sources. While the state government of Maharashtra has assured that the loss of octroi will be compensated,

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh concerned about the looming energy crisis, is determined to expand the contribution of civilian nuclear power to India¿s energy budget. For this it is necessary to remove the shackles imposed by the United States and its friends on international nuclear transactions.

The top-down, rushed approach of the government in reaching out to farmers is likely to end in failure

Much of the Indian budget is focused on the army, with the air force being a distant second and the navy a poor third.

Global geopolitics is in a state of intense flux. China’s rise has led to greater competition in the international system, with the United States and the post-War global order coming under increasing challenge. China’s high economic growth rate in the past several decades has meant bigger military budgets. In turn, its military rise threatens security in the Indo-Pacific region where China seeks to dominate, from the Himalayas to South China

The defence budget is shrinking. The CDS can play a key role in ensuring the most efficient use of resources

India is now extending 'visa on arrival' to tourists from 180 countries to encourage tourism. But budget tourists, who aim at staying in small hotels/guest houses and not five-star hotels, face problems in finding clean and safe accommodation.