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This paper explores the impact of India’s federal architecture, particularly its tax-sharing structure and system of fiscal transfers, on the state of the country’s healthcare. It examines the existing system of intergovernmental transfers and pays particular attention to the Fourteenth Finance Commission’s new devolution framework that has enhanced the previously constrained fiscal spaces of states. This, in turn, will likely have implicat

The Modi government should recognise the advantages of a defence diplomacy that mobilises external partnerships to accelerate India's defence modernisation, shapes its regional strategic environment and helps Delhi emerge as an indispensable element of a new balance of power system in the Indo-Pacific.

Former NDA prime minister Vajpayee kept the professional hawks in the national security establishment and the conservatives in his own party BJP at bay in the making of India's foreign policy. It is not clear if Narendra Modi can sustain a similar freedom of action for his government.

Unlike elections in many parts of the world, Bhutan experienced a seamless transfer of power during its most recent elections

The measures adopted by the Nepalese government are not enough to bring the ailing economy back on track

The Andhra crisis illustrates the inability of the UPA government to arrive at a decision in respect of the Telangana problem. This attitude of drift has been noticed for well over 50 years. And the Centre has shown little understanding while handling with socio-political issues of Telugu speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras Presidency.

The events after the presentation of the 'Jan Lok Pal Bill' draft by 'Team Anna' has unfolded on expected lines. The Government's softened Bill, defending its politico-constitutional position on the inclusion of Prime Minister.

For the first time in last four years, the Modi government has expressed a willingness to hold talks with the Hurriyat. The acknowledgment of separati

Bipin Rawat’s recent comment on CAA-NRC protests is not an aberration. Throughout his tenure, the Army chief’s political and moral attitudes reflect those of the government.

Article 370 is a burden on the people of Jammu and Kashmir which has been misused by successive State governments to stall the delivery of several public welfare initiatives of the Central Government, according to dean of Jammu Central University.

In the last five years, Xi has established unprecedented control over the party and the government. But this also means his mistakes and missteps have been magnified.

This brief examines the role of West Bengal as a leverage for India to enhance its relations with its eastern and southeastern neighbours. It identifies the domestic and geo-economic aspirations of the state, and outlines the impact of certain misplaced policies and the state’s conflictual relationship with the union government on West Bengal’s development goals. The brief calls on India to nurture a pragmatic, cooperative brand of federalism

Given the Indian government's taste for pushing unilateral mechanisms for governing the internet at an international level, and Indian civil society, which for the most part seems to vocally support a multistakeholder approach, the Indian elections might bring about a new opportunity for both sides to find clarity.

Regulatory overreach needs to be balanced with regulatory reforms; India’s presidency of G20 provides the inter-governmental platform to do so

In the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the picture remains unclear, with no party or no combination of parties being assured of forming the next government in March.

The Bhutanese government has brought about reforms to upskill the youth, bridge the demand-supply mismatch in the job market and prevent further brain

Cyber-sanctions have emerged as a preferred tool for Western governments to deter cyberattacks emanating from their adversaries’ territories. As they implement such sanctions, however, these states face various challenges one of which is the difficulty in attribution. Moreover, the sanctions have only partially curbed the malicious cyber activities. Yet, the regime continues to expand, and many allies of the United States are emulating its prac

Will the government’s ambitious mission, ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India)’ eventually prove to be a missed opportunity? Earmarking funds worth 10 percent of India’s GDP, the mission not only aims to respond to the devastating blow caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to serve as a long-term roadmap to growth. It is largely hinged on business-as-usual practices, including providing a push to the coal sector, which may be under

If the government wants to reduce poverty through FDI, then some fine-tuning in policies will have to be undertaken. FDI will have to be directed to labour-intensive sectors, especially from the unorganised sector. In Bangladesh, much of the FDI has gone to the garment sector which has enriched workers and reduced poverty.

Australia wants to solidify its bilateral architecture — government, business and people-to-people led — with India through improved business and

In order to safeguard against function creep, governments and platforms must be transparent about how and where automated tools are used.

Guarding against the temptation of statist developmental efforts in the space sector will be a key test for the government — and for ISRO’s scient

It is time to pause to remind Prime Minister Modi of his campaign promise "minimum government, maximum governance". It is sad this is one promise being heard less and less of each passing day.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, in his five years as the martial law administrator, has never faced challenges of the magnitude he is grappling with now. Internally, Pakistan is faced with a crisis on many fronts. Despite a stable Government for over five years, and scores of promises, there is no sign of democracy.

As already pointed out in our earlier articles on this subject, the unrest is, inter alia, due to anger over the suppression of the nationalist aspirations of the Balochs by the Government in Islamabad,

A delegation of visiting Members of Parliament from Bangladesh, taking part in an interaction with academics, media-persons and ORF faculty, hoped that the new government in India would take the relations between the two countries to a different level.

Rather than rushing to deport people, the new Modi government needs to carefully weigh a solution that will benefit all stakeholders. After all, friendly relations with its neighbors is in India's interests.

Bangladesh needs to be commended for its efforts in fighting the rightwing militancy. The anti-militancy drive initiated by the Awami League Government in 2009 was further intensified in 2010

Though the Hasina Government is pursuing an active counter-terrorism programme and has succeeded in controlling the activities of various radical organisations in the real world, it has failed to curb their activities in the virtual world.

After a year of comparative stability in 2014, politics of hartal (street agitation) is back in Bangladesh. The country is almost paralysed for almost a month following strings of hartal staged by opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for its campaign to oust Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government.

In a rare move, the Bangladesh government has taken up the task of correcting the history by trying the 'war criminals' of the 1971 Independence War. In the nine-month-long freedom movement, 2.5-3 million people had died.

The political situation in Bangladesh is reverting to the bad old days of hartals and blockades. Major countries which could influence the Sheikh Hasina government, including India, seem reluctant to pressurise her. India has been clearly backing her for the time being, knowing that the alternative could be worse.

Politics in Bangladesh got a new twist this week following the formation of a new poll time government. The main purpose behind the formation of this government was to ease up the political crisis regarding the nature of government to supervise the general elections.

The Central government, Delhi government and MCD have come together to ramp-up the healthcare delivery capacity for COVID-19 infection control.

The current Indian government has given clear indicators that it is likely to place regional integration high on its economic diplomacy agenda, be it SAARC, ASEAN or BCIM. The last two are especially important to India's Act East Policy.

A second Green Revolution is in the offing given the recent announcements by the central government. The highlight of Finance minister Mr Jaswant Singh¿s January 9 pre-poll sops was the setting up of a Rs. 50,000 crore Agriculture Infrastructure and Credit Fund, to be operational in four weeks and providing end use credit at 200 base points below PLR.

Twenty-five uninterrupted years of mostly weak coalition governments at the Centre may have closed political options in Jammu and Kashmir, but now that we have a majority government in New Delhi, decisions may be easier.

In the prevailing era of strategic uncertainty, Special Forces (SF) provide the most reliable means to a government for the application of military force to achieve national security objectives. The SF components of a nation¿s military and other security forces are force multipliers in times of both war and peace.

The Modi government must now attempt to transition India's economic engagements towards a more deliberate, durable and definitional framework. Well-administered LoCs offer a great avenue to do this -- and therefore must be given commensurate strategic priority and attention.

The Chinese have been putting serious money into key areas which they aim to become world leaders in the next decade or so. One of these is AI where the government and Chinese corporates are moving in a big way.

Despite the Delhi government’s efforts to improve the air quality, a thick layer of smog continues to shroud Delhi

Even as Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) promise to revolutionise the battlefield, very little analysis moves beyond the great powers to examine the interests that middle powers may have in these systems. Shaped by their own geostrategic contexts, demographic issues and geography challenges, countries like India, South Korea, Indonesia or the Philippines may find utility in LAWS for improving the efficiency of their forces, reducing both

A parliamentary delegation from the tiny Himalayan kingdom witnessed the log-jam in Indian Parliament on 10 August. The combined Opposition's Rajya Sabha tirade against the government over allegations of corruption involving ruling BJP's ministers was the main reason for the log-jam in the Indian Parliament.

The launching of the Nu. 1.2 billion CSI and startup flagship has been a major initiative undertaken by the present government that has professed the motto of “Narrowing the Gap.”

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck's address to the nation on the 106th National Day function held on 17 December 2013 came as a ready-reckoner for the new government at the helm of the Bhutan's affairs, when the king heavily criticised the poor implementation of policies.

As far as India’s domestic affairs go, the Modi government will not get the free ride it has got so far even if the Biden administration will not allow its activist impulses to override US strategic interests.

The US has chosen to install a terror group as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and as a departing gift, offered them an estimated $212 million worth of military aircraft, vehicles and ammunition.

The government’s promises on jobs and farmers’ incomes have fallen flat, so it may look to fill the gap with ‘sound and fury’.

This brief examines India’s defence allocations for 2022-23. It outlines the conceptual and definitional aspects of the defence budget, examines defence allocations from the prism of state of the economy and public finance, and explores the potential impacts of the budget announcements on the defence production sector of the government’s self-reliance mission, Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. The analysis also utilises a comparison of India’s mi

Former Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Mr. M Ganapathi, has emphasised the importance of the Indian Ocean in global developments in the 21st Century and the importance now given to the region by the government.