1334 results found
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the formal schooling system in India, as it has across the globe, causing massive pressure on the online education sector. This paper analyses the state of digitalised education in India. It outlines current government guidelines on digital-mode schooling, and uses the case of Maharashtra’s five-year-old efforts at digitalising government schools to gauge preparedness for implementing the guidelines. It highl
Allowing AI to be trained on datasets like Aadhaar raises evident concerns. To address AI benefits and privacy concerns, the government must examine A
July 7, 2004, Wednesday, witnessed the first suicide attack in Sri Lanka since the signing of the Cease Fire Accord (CFA) between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Indian climate policy-making should 'mainstream' adaptation strategies into development planning to better address climate change. The Indian Government had formulated the National Action Plan on Climate Change in 2008.
A landmark judgment by the Supreme Court on Thursday is what the doctor ordered to galvanise India's moribund steel frame. Between the lines, the apex court tells a distraught citizenry, running from pillar to post even for basic delivery of services, that babus (government servants) needn't cower before the political master -- they can shape up.
No matter whether the stunning performance of AAP brings new politics or not, it has already impacted the old-style politics. With the union government indicating its willingness to pass the Ombudsman (Lokpal) bill in the current session of the Parliament, it would be too early to write the party off.
What has emerged out of the consultations on the Surrogacy Bill is disappointing. The government has chosen to play an authoritarian, moralistic role.
A move towards universal business sustainability will need a multi-stakeholder approach, legal enforcement, and government policies
Even before the hype over US President Barack Obama's visit to Delhi has died down, the Modi government is on the move to enhance its ties with China. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's ongoing China visit is an important part of this effort.
Many countries imposed stringent lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sweden, however, adopted a ‘soft’ approach of self-imposed social precautions without state regulation. This evoked extensive criticism within and outside the country, especially in view of its high death rates in comparison to its Nordic neighbours. The Swedish government, however, has been steadfast with its strategy. As countries emerge from lockdowns and begi
The decision of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Government to involve the representatives of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) as part of the dialogue process on Kashmir is strategic in principle. Though it may not be entirely wrong to question the extent of public support the Hurriyat leaders enjoy in Kashmir, it would be equally short-sighted to exclude them from any dialogue concerning Kashmir.
The findings of Working Group-III (WG-III) of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly highlight the global failure to scale-up mitigation actions to achieve the Paris Climate targets. Immediate and unprecedented action will now be needed to avoid catastrophic global warming in this century. The WG-III report details some of the policy actions needed at the global level to enable a sustai
By declaring that his talks with Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri would produce nothing dramatic or drastic, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh might have robbed the event of the avoidable media hype, the like of which had attended on the ¿Agra summit¿ earlier. At the end of it, the two-day ministerial meeting in New Delhi was a cup that was not half-full. Nor was it half-empty. In turn, this indicated that the two Gover
Turkey, which had invested heavily in the success of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, was obviously agitated by the circumstances in which the Egyptian President had to go. The Turkish government had given them aid, advise and even garbage cans as a step towards improving the quality of governance.
The Nawaz Sharif government's offer of the olive branch to TTP seems more like an act of desperation than a serious attempt to bring about stability in the country. As the previous deals with militants have shown, the outcomes have favoured militants more than the governments.
The current education system in the schools run or funded/aided by the state government requires change.
Although, plentiful has been written about China’s inaction during the early days of the outbreak of this pandemic, there is scant mention of WHO be
Most of the Maoist leaders had migrated from Telangana, particularly after the Andhra Pradesh Government began combining developmental plans with combing operations. So, it remains to be seen how the creation of a Telangana State would impact on the morale and methods of the Maoists.
Chinese government’s mouthpiece, warned New Delhi that its seemingly inimical posture on the South China Sea was potentially damaging for bilateral
The new Iran strategy of the Trump Administration is aimed at “neutralising the government of Iran’s destabilising influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants.”
The Ukraine crisis may have effectively ended the rapprochement between the USand Russia, and in turn affecting relations such as those of Japan and Russia. Prior to this crisis,and the subsequent Western sanctions on Russia, Tokyo and Moscow had been reaching out toeach other, and hope flickered for a resolution to the territorial dispute over the NorthernTerritories or Southern Kurils. This paper argues that with nationalist governments in powe
The Thai authorities continue to face difficulties in their efforts to bring the activities of the jihadi terrorist elements under control in Southern Thailand. The current wave of jihadi terrorist violence in the three Muslim majority southern provinces, which started in January last year, has already cost over 800 lives of Government servants, innocent civilians and suspected Muslim militants.
That is the latest position of the Government of Begum Khaleda Zia, the Bangladesh Prime Minister, in the face of growing international pressure spearheaded by the member-countries of the European Union (EU) to act against terrorist groups operating from Bangladeshi territory.
Inaugurating a workshop on 'Role of Universities in Public Policy-Making', hosted by Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, University Grants Commission Vice-Chairman Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, on April 19, 2005, urged Vice-Chancellors and educationists to recreate linkages between universities and Government, research organizations, administrators and society, in order to render universities more relevant and help in enacting effecti
While a new reformative government is set to take power in Thailand, the complexities of international relations and domestic aspirations will shape T
The recent testimony by Frances Haugen placed Facebook under scrutiny after flagging its harmful algorithms, thus raising the question should governme
India can proposition an Aadhaar-based alternative — one that is seen to be a ‘privacy first’ solution that lets governments retain jurisdiction over their data, while allowing indigenous enterprises to flourish.
By overcoming the multiple challenges posed against the MCC, the Nepalese government was finally able to ratify the long-delayed agreement.
The violent uprising of the people of Andijan in Uzbekistan on May 13,2005, seems to have been crushed for the time being by the Uzbek authorities with heavy force, resulting in the death of at least 20 civilians. The anti-Government elements, which organised the uprising, claim to have captured 30 Uzbek soldiers and to be keeping them in their custody.
Though it will be difficult for the Central Government and the States to agree upon certain foreign policy issues, they should work together on issues of national importance-such as terrorism and foreign policy-in order to enact policies that benefit its citizens.
President Biden has been left in charge of responsibly withdrawing from Afghanistan, while holding the Taliban accountable and not leaving the Afghan
The cabinet government has its own character and style of decision-making given India’s evolving party system and the emerging nature of political l
With growing water scarcity across many parts of the world, competition over access to this vital resource has been known to spark conflict. Following the September 2016 Uri attack in India, the government made plans to retaliate against its neighbour by exercising its right to use water of the western rivers—allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty—by building dams, canals and reservoirs. This paper aims to address the legal, econ
The Union Cabinet announced in June this year the Agnipath scheme, designed to recruit youths into the Other Ranks (ORs) of the Indian armed forces. The scheme, which came into effect immediately, will enable new recruits, or Agniveers, to serve in the military for four years. While the stated aim is to turn the Indian military into a younger and more tech-savvy force, this brief argues that there is also a strong financial imperative beh
A combined push from government, investors, corporations, and entrepreneurs will provide opportunity for R&D climate tech start-ups to scale up their
On June 22, 2004, over 200 well-armed persons simultaneously raided three towns in the Ingushetia Republic of Russia, adjoining Chechnya, and attacked police stations, government buildings and checkpoints with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. The Russian and the local security forces were totally taken by surprise. Ninety-five persons were killed, the majority of them members of the security forces and other Government officials,
India’s decision to abolish cantonments after carving out the military areas, announced in April 2023, has been met with scepticism and support. Cantonments, primarily created during the British rule to station and house the military, evolved to include civilians as residents and staff to provide support and logistic services. Over time, cantonment boards, with some civilian members, were created to manage the civil areas, but the rights of civ
‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ has made a noisy return, especially after the government’s action on Article 370 and Pakistan’s isolation in the international theatre.
By racing to roll-out 5G networks for the sake of being cutting-edge, governments and telecom players are giving little to no consideration to its con
The Indian government’s “Smart Cities Mission” aims to drive economic growth and improve quality of life through “smart” solutions for the delivery of infrastructure and services. This is expected to transform living spaces, enhance quality of life, and provide employment opportunities, in turn helping reduce crime rates and promoting law and order. Among the challenges to the “Smart Cities” programme is terrorism—especially in ur
In different parts of the world, the federal system of government is facing some of its biggest trials yet, from the COVID-19 pandemic. Federalism—which believes in shared sovereignty and territoriality between multiple constituent units of governance—was anticipated to fail against a massive pandemic that needed swift, and presumably centralised, response. This paper examines federal India’s own experience in the past 18 months. The aim is
They shouldn’t have been nationalized 50 years ago. So why is today’s government perpetuating the problem?
The façade of federalism is apparent as none of the government levels want to part with their authority
Myanmar's path to a disciplined democratic government is paved with obstacles set by the 2008 Constitution.
This brief sketches the growing interest of the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the Indian diaspora. Over the last three years, the prime minister has repeatedly called attention to the role that the diaspora will play in India’s development process and in the promotion of its foreign policy goals. The brief gives an overview of the policies that the present government has rolled out and examines the benefits from, and pitf
The new Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) is market-friendly but is lacking in attention to privacy requirements for sensitive personal data. This report highlights three types of sensitive personal data—i.e., biometric, financial, and health—and emphasises the need for transparent consent mechanisms that will safeguard an individual’s data. It underscores the role of data fiduciaries, urging the formulation of clear operational
With 23.5 per cent proposed salary hikes, everyone expects that the government will work more efficiently. But the hard performance criteria of the pr
The Indian municipal financial pie is woefully narrow, and a large unfunded mandate is the city’s sad fate.
