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Feminist movements have historically lacked inclusivity, often growing within a limited Western upper-class psyche, based on their own challenges and needs. The digital revolution has paved the way for a new iteration of feminism. The digital space can bolster feminist activist movements by encouraging inclusion and improving accessibility in organising collective action. It also helps weave local stories with global narratives to highlight commo

The Modi-led government is placing a strong accent on the use of soft power in India’s foreign policy. One of the more novel manifestations of these initiatives has been engagement in Buddhist diplomacy. The Buddhist faith, due to its emphasis on peaceful co-existence and its wide pan-Asian presence, lends itself well to soft-power diplomacy. This brief will examine India’s attempts at leveraging its historical and present-day associations wi

Gender inequality is a major cause and effect of hunger and poverty, with women and girls comprising 60 percent of the global hungry. Women face multiple challenges (such as limited access to education and employment opportunities) that curtail their economic autonomy and weaken their bargaining position within the family, consequently impacting household food security. The pandemic has worsened this situation. It is crucial to apply a ge

India may well find itself being dragged into a confrontation that is not of its own making, especially if the Chinese perceive our closeness to the A

The private sector can best fill the skilling gap. The information technology industry did this to grow and continues to do. Old economy companies in steel, cement, chemicals, engineering and construction are less willing to fund this public good. They complain that trained employees leave for better opportunities and skilling becomes a never-ending drain on company resources.

Equipping women with employable skills is a far greater challenge than skilling men, as most women in India work low-skill and low-paying jobs in the informal economy. It is a gap that needs to be addressed urgently, as skilling can expand work opportunities for women and increase their participation in the workforce. This brief analyses the participation of women in skills training programmes, underlining the biases that lead to women being trai

An attempt is being made to draw Damascus back into mainstream politics; however, the influence of foreign actors over the war-torn country will make

The state of Manipur has been steeped in violent conflicts between ethnic groups for decades. The latest, ongoing strife between the Kukis and the Meiteis that erupted in early May has exposed the failure of state forces to contain the violence, even as it reflects the deep-rooted hostility between the two ethnic groups. This brief attempts to engage with the multifaceted, historical ethnic conflict between the Kukis and the Meiteis of Manipur. I

Despite the desperate attempts made by President Gotabaya to retain power, the country managed to oust him and take nascent steps towards re-democrati

This brief discusses the status of Gorkhas who have joined the Russian Army and the Wagner Group as civilians, combatants, and mercenaries. Would Gorkhas, who otherwise constitute part of the regular armed forces in the United Kingdom and India, enjoy the same status if they join an ongoing conflict without entering into any bilateral agreement between the states? If not, what will the Gorkhas' status be under the prevailing international law reg

The technology revolution of the 20th century minimised the importance of geographical, economic, social and political barriers and reduced transaction and information costs thus boosting productivity and growth, making governance more transparent and empowering the citizen. It propelled not only democracy, but also the market economy. Its impact on social relations, especially on gender relations, was significant, with the commodification of lab

Does the newly announced Agnipath scheme hold water or are the protests justified?

New Delhi must guard its interests as Washington attempts to rein in Ankara

Even though governments have attempted to address issue related to cyber governance by creating national-level mechanisms, the very transnational nature of cyberspace has forced the international community to debate and form norms or rules that should promote good behaviour in cyberspace.

India and the United States are natural allies because of structural and systemic convergences that the two countries experience in contemporary globa

Questions emerge as GOI dismisses the recently-released report by WHO: Are the COVID-19 death toll numbers fudged or is the WHO’s methodology flawed

The ‘crown jewel’ of the World Trade Organization (WTO) — the dispute resolution mechanism — is facing a crisis. The US obstruction to new appointments in the WTO’s Appellate Body (AB) has frozen the appeals process and brought the mechanism to a halt. Until such crisis is resolved, New Delhi will need to explore other means for resolving its current and future trade disputes. This paper outlines interim solutions that India can emplo

The recent Wuhan summit between India and China has been called many things: from a “game changer” to a much needed “reset” in Indian-China relations. It has generated expectations in the two countries that they will avoid any clash due to miscalculation and error. This has strengthened the tradition that India and China have maintained since the Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement of 1993, of resolving problems bilaterally through dia

While post-retirement employment is not illegal, there are serious questions of propriety and conflict of interest that crop up, especially when the g

The Indo-Pacific region is confronting emerging challenges that go beyond the traditional definition of “security.” Among the most crucial are threats to the environment, including natural hazards such as cyclones and tsunamis; illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing and overfishing; and marine pollution. This report underlines the strategic implications of these environmental issues in the Indo-Pacific. It outlines the measures tha

A gradual development has tasked think tanks with the responsibility of shaping contemporary narratives around economics, security, politics, nuclear arrangements, among others.

If India strikes the right balance between innovation and oversight leadership, India could help set a global template for DeFi regulation

The new NSS survey clearly shows that 8 per cent GDP growth of the last five years has not translated into a higher level of job creation. There was a dramatic deceleration in total employment growth. And this means that India has been experiencing jobless growth during the last five years.

The attempt being made to show that the Project-75I submarine project does not suit the Indian Navy is misinformation aimed at influencing the defence decision-making process

There is an urgent need to deploy radical and concerted efforts to address the deeper cultural stereotypes that women face in accessing, using and par

At least 4 billion people around the world are yet to be covered by any form of social security, and therefore vulnerable to economic, social, and environmental shocks. This paper examines the state of social security in the Group of Twenty (G20) economies—home to 63 percent of the global population. It finds gaps in social security financing in these countries: between universal coverage and actual coverage, and between countries of the Global

In 2019, the Indian Railways (IR) recorded zero fatalities from accidents caused by operational errors. However, many people continue to meet with train-related mishaps that are beyond the IR’s control; many of these accidents result in death. The IR’s experience in preventing deaths in accidents caused by operational errors (technically called “consequential accidents”) offers lessons on minimising all railways-related fatalities. This p

The 2014 general elections are all about the economy, jobs, good governance and rising aspirations. Survey after survey conclusively agree that for most voters what matters is stable employment, steady income, corruption free governance and a decisive leadership.

The legislators allege that the chief secretary (CS) used intemperate language in the shouting match between them.

The move paves way for a Turkish ‘invasion’ of northern Syria, which has a smorgasbord of rebels, Islamists, foreign powers, Iran backed rebels, U

The US President’s invocation of executive powers to continue unemployment benefits, is simply a smokescreen for his election-year politicking

A year since the announcement of the new South Asia strategy, an attempt to break from the recurrent continuum has been evident. At least on two of the three accounts — with respect to Pakistan and India, the Trump administration has spurred a break from the past.

US President Donald Trump’s new Afghanistan strategy for America’s longest war has potential to drastically alter existing regional relations. The policy, announced after an exhaustive eight-month-long review process, attempts to give a new direction for future US involvement in Afghanistan. Becoming president at a time when old alignments are undergoing transition, Trump’s task has not been easy. Given the constraints, however, Trump’s A

A month has elapsed since the aborted coup attempt in Turkey on the night of July 15.

In the past few years, Twitter has served as a versatile form of political public square for domestic and world affairs. The use of Twitter, largely propelled by the prominence of social media in the current environment for the discharge of diplomatic functions, has become an integral part of contemporary international relations. Indeed, Twitter has created its own form of diplomacy by incorporating itself to augment traditional diplomatic functi

बीते दो साल से यूएई सरकार की महामारी के खिलाफ़ बेहतरीन प्�

Since cities have little control over automobile policy, they must accommodate more automobiles within their geographical limits by employing better p

A pandemic of the viral disease COVID-19 has reached millions of people around the world with significant rates of mortality. With no specific treatments or vaccines in the immediate horizon, limiting contact with infected persons, the use of masks, and hand hygiene offer the only mitigation for now. This has led most countries to adopt severe isolation measures, which have in turn caused disruption of economic activity and increased unemployment

The popular uprising against the Assad regime in 2011, which gradually evolved into a civil conflict, has been one of contemporary history’s greatest tragedies. The conflict has claimed more than 400,000 lives; over six million Syrians have been internally displaced. India has not joined the call for an end to the Assad-led Baath Party rule over Syria. While this position may not hold much weight on its own, it strengthens with the consolidated

Observer Research Foundation and the Experimental Creativity Centre (ECC), Moscow, completed the second leg of their collaborative research project on the theme "Understanding the Emerging Contours of Power and Hegemony - Contemporary Geo-political Narratives" in New Delhi on March 15-16, 2010.

Among the estimated 1.3 billion people across the world who have no access to electricity, 70 percent are women. This brief discusses the impact of energy poverty on India’s rural women. As women are primarily responsible for securing food and energy for their family, they are the ones who are worst affected by the lack of access to clean and modern energy. The brief calls for a more holistic approach in research and policymaking on energ

This brief analyses the impacts of the withdrawal of the United States’ Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme on India’s exports, domestic production and employment.[1]  Until 5 June 2019, when the GSP withdrawal came into effect, India was the largest beneficiary of the GSP of which it had been part since 1974. A decline in exports to the US was anticipated as items under zero-tariff rate were subjected to a higher rate after wi

Various explanations have been proffered for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s renewed emphasis on ideology. The popular narratives attribute it to either Xi’s power ambitions, or a reaction rooted in his personal trauma during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. Meanwhile, an alternative discourse projects the rise of ideology politics as a response to a possible legitimacy crisis facing the Communist Party of China (CPC). This paper weighs i

The two House Resolutions on Kashmir reflect moderate to extreme conceptions on the role of values in US foreign policy, but both emphasise the centra

With its emphasis on decreasing India’s ICT import duties across the board, the US is in a way batting with China against India, not realising that

While Trump attempts to expand his base from blue-collar whites to suburban white voters, Biden’s courtship of that crucial voting block stands ecli

If the government is serious about the empowering aspects of the Uniform Civil Code, it is imperative that the minority scepticism is assuaged. Clubbed together with contentious issues like Ram Mandir and abrogation of Article 370, and in the absence of a draft, the UCC becomes nightmare for the minorities.

This year’s budget has laid out the framework for a digitally-led India, with special emphasis placed upon digitalising finance

What the people want of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and indeed expect, is an economic revolution that will change their lives and those of their children. To this end, Modi's actions, so far, add up to several IOUs, and a number of promises in the form of temporary measures pushed through in the form of ordinances.