1296 results found
आने वाले वर्षों में जलवायु परिवर्तन के चलते होने वाली विनाशकारी घटनाओं से व्यापक रूप से बड़े पैमाने पर जनसंख्या का विस्थापन होगा. इस समस्या का विस्तार देशों की सरहदों के �
Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) is a targeted fiscal instrument that several developing countries have cemented into their growth plans. GRB is used to ensure that policy prescriptions to alleviate gender inequality translate into outputs by linking them to budgetary allocations. Although the concept was introduced in India, Bangladesh and Rwanda at around the same time (the early 2000s), the three countries have followed different routes and a
India introduced Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in financial year 2005-06 to design public spending in a way that ensures that the benefits accrue as much to the country’s women as they do to the men. India’s effort has influenced both the government’s expenditures and its revenue policies—such as additional tax rebates on properties owned by women, for instance—at the levels of both central and state governments. However, 18
Gender equality is a fundamental human right. This principle is also found in the SDG 2030 Agenda where its signatories, including India, reaffirmed their commitment to mainstreaming gender development and ensuring equal representation of women in political and economic decision-making. This paper outlines gender-budgeting norms for resource allocations as an essential prerequisite for India to achieve progress towards the SDG-5 on gender equalit
Women make up a majority of the four billion people excluded from the digital economy. Policy narratives assert that the digital economy has the potential to transform the world of work. Conversely, there are concerns that the existing ‘digital divide’ within and across nations will simply exacerbate existing social inequalities and reinforce gender hierarchies. G20 member states have repeatedly committed to bridging pervasive gender gaps in
Emissions from fossil fuel-powered motor vehicles adversely affect air quality and contribute to global warming. The manufacture and use of electric vehicles (EVs) is among the ways by which this challenge can be mitigated. This brief evaluates the best practices adopted by countries in the forefront of EV adoption, and outlines the lessons India can draw from them to inform its own EVs strategy. It finds that in addition to strengthening
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The IMF estimates that State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) assets totalled US$45 trillion in 2018, close to 50% of the global GDP, and calculated the debt of the largest SOEs to be US$7.4 trillion. Clearly, SOEs have a direct bearing on the global economy. The most systemically important SOEs are the State-Owned Multinational Enterprises (SOMNEs) since they are focused on cross-border financing and business. A global framework for regula
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
Although India and Africa have long shared close ties, engagement between the two regions is yet to reach its full potential. However, amid the global green transition and attempts to enhance energy security, green hydrogen—increasingly seen as the ‘fuel of the future’—could provide a new avenue for cooperation between the regions. Such a partnership, focused on building a global value chain for the large-scale adoption of green h
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
Of all the reasons, there is one reason why the world must pay immediate attention to what is happening in Balochistan. Here, a military dictator ruling without any political legitimacy for more than five years has now launched an ethnic cleansing which, to say the least, is colossally retrogressive and inhuman.
Even if there’s a ground invasion by Israel into Gaza and an extended conflict, the impact on energy prices and the resultant OPEC response would depend on the scale and reach that the conflict takes. If it remains localised without affecting major oil producers or transit routes, prices may see limited immediate change, prompting OPEC to maintain current production levels
Overall, the infrastructure sector is the winner in this year's budget. The allocation to the sector will go up by 700 bn rupees in 2015/16 over last year. But this sector needs consolidation in policy framework starting from approval to implementation and an institutional mechanism for fair pricing and competition.
The BIMSTEC and East Africa, which together account for 25 percent of the world’s population, are low-resource regions.[1] While their share in the global disease burden is disproportionately high, their combined healthcare expenditure is a minuscule share of the global healthcare spend. Their health systems are underfunded, understaffed and ill-equipped to deal with the monumental challenge of disease burden. This paper aims to compare the he
This brief examines India’s defence budget for 2023-24. It outlines the economic context for India’s latest defence allocations, and examines the drivers of growth, the broad distribution of resources among the defence forces, and the impact of such distribution on modernisation and the domestic defence industry. The brief posits that the new defence budget, coming on the back of a hefty mid-year upward revision of the previous alloca
Could the new Defence Planning Committee headed by Ajit Doval be a creative answer to the gridlock that has prevented real reform in the higher defence management system?
In the last two years, Imran Khan has proved to be a miserable failure who has in many ways turned the clock back for Pakistan.
New Delhi must be hopeful that this successful visit will undo the damage done by the “unofficial blockade” of 2016.
A new “more equal” world has to replace the old unequal world with a paradigm propagating equality from spatial and temporal dimensions.
Trade relations between Europe and India require new eclectic and dynamic ways of thinking. This brief examines hurdles in mainstream policy thinking that block the way for imagining and doing trade differently.
It is gratifying to note that women's safety did figure in the Annual Budget 2014-15 with an outlay of Rs 200 crore. Good enough for the lowered expectations but not sufficient given the exponential rise in violence against women across the country. Same allocation for the Patel statue has made the matters worse by pitting living and breathing population against a memorial.
It is gratifying to note that women's safety did figure in the Annual Budget 2014-15 with an outlay of Rs 200 crore. Good enough for the lowered expectations but not sufficient given the exponential rise in violence against women across the country. Same allocation for the Patel statue has made the matters worse by pitting living and breathing population against a memorial.
India’s efforts to bring world-class education to Africa can have far-reaching impacts. It will boost local economy, attract investments and foster a culture of innovation.
The financial health of the Indian Railways, the single largest employer in the Government of India, has been in a dismal state for some time now. With the recent merging of the railways budget with the general budget, it has become a daunting exercise to conduct an analysis of railway finances. Yet, it is no doubt in the national interest to not only locate the shortcomings in the system but also explore solutions to improve performance. This pa
The multiple crises besetting India’s justice delivery system are related to a large extent to what the Chief Justice calls “dilapidated” infrastructure. Indeed, it is empirically known that there is a positive correlation between adequacy of infrastructure—whether courtrooms, chambers, sanitation facilities, or digital connectivity—and productivity in the delivery of justice. This brief highlights the stark gaps in infrastructu
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have had a long history globally and in India. While the Indian government supports this partnership model, PPPs have experienced little success in delivering municipal infrastructure and services. This is despite the demands of a rapidly growing urban population for local services, which the municipal bodies are often unequipped to deliver. Indeed, in many cities across the world, there is an emerging push for
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea are traditionally viewed through the standpoint of China’s military expansionism, where the threats are more visible. The environmental impacts of China’s activities, which will be long-lasting, remain underexplored. China’s island construction, drilling activities, and overfishing have pushed the marine ecosystem of the region to the brink of collapse, and the destruction of coral reefs a
This brief examines the evolution of the ‘Indo-Pacific’ concept in the context of the dynamic role of “regions” in international relations. It argues that the conception of these theatres is a consequence of power relations; that as power dynamics change, so does the conceptualisation of regions. This would also explain why the boundaries of regions can be arbitrary—why, for instance, the Asia-Pacific stops at Myanmar and does not inclu
The year 2022 saw the global economic outlook deteriorate amidst high inflation, fiscal tightening, and supply chain uncertainties arising from both the Russia-Ukraine war and the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), after expanding by some 5 percent in 2021, contracted in the first half of 2022. This brief makes a case for gender lens investing (GLI) as a means to boost women’s participation in economic act
Is the United States in the process of creating a brand new Muslim bloc? If that be the case, it would know that the execution of the plan necessarily involves the cessation of Kosovo from Serbia in the name of "Self-Determination". This, Russia will not allow at any cost. Belgrade is Moscow's Slav ally. And, in a complex way, the Albanian-Serb and the Washington-Moscow stand-off links up with the global scramble for energy source
Disputes with Pakistan and China limit India’s sea projection. But the country has a growing need to protect vital sea routes and this changes its approach. Ties with America and Russia influence New Delhi’s posture
Ties between India and Australia are wide-ranging: from geostrategic cooperation and trade, to soft power mechanisms such as cricket and tourism. This paper makes a case for improving bilateral relations between New Delhi and Canberra. While there are substantial opportunities for trade and investment flows between the two countries, the engagements have been largely underdeveloped over the years. The immense scope of complementarities between th
India and the United States (US) have been cooperating in the health sector since the late 1960s. The cooperation has intensified in the past decade, riding on institutional structures established following the launch of the US-India Health Initiative in 2010. It has seen further expansion since the COVID-19 pandemic, and today covers a wide range of areas including disease prevention and combating infectious diseases, maternal and child
India is on its way to becoming “the Saudi Arabia of data”. This brief argues that India enjoys unmatched advantages of demography, economy, and geography and could be a hub of the submarine cable network that would facilitate the transport of data across the Indian Ocean. India’s public and private sectors should leverage these advantages to push the country to the centrestage of connectivity across the region and beyond. India’s
Instead of just emulating established successful models, India needs to build on innovative and creative ‘India model’ that harnesses the skills at the national, state and local levels.
India must play a leadership role in the development of global Internet policy. The government needs to respond to the demands of its citizens and reset its position on international Internet governance issues, in line with the progressive developments that have occurred at home. In essence, India should be doing a better job at linking the local to the global.
The global shortage in semiconductors that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, resulted in heavy losses for many economic sectors. The fragility of the supply chain and the innate dependencies within, have made semiconductor collaboration essential to maintain the industry’s efficiency. This brief examines how semiconductors have become a fulcrum for building potential technology alliances. It outlines ongoing diplomatic initiatives
This report builds on the discussions during the 5th ORF Kalpana Chawla Space Policy Dialogue 2019 organised by ORF. The report has three sections: the first covers questions of strategy in space; the second discusses policy dimensions; and the final one explores the role of private enterprises in the space domain. While some sections may include global perspectives, the report views the various challenges in space primarily from an Indian standp
The Modi government can choose to be part of a massive Indo-Pacific trading bloc, or succumb to isolationism. China complicates the choice.
India is faced with choices of being part of two regional blocs: BBIN and BCIM. In both blocs, India has Bangladesh as a common partner. The prime motives for being a member of the regional blocs are essentially economic, and strategically political.
India's economic cooperation with many of the African countries is booming but some parliamentarians from Africa think that to make the cooperation more constructive, India should try to make the local population also stake holders.
Indian growth over the last three decades has been largely consumption driven, but consumption has been hit by lockdown.
After the initial fire and fury at the LoC, there is now a belief that the situation is relatively under control. This assumption may be misleading, unless the dynamics of the LoC and its violations are fully comprehended.
As a country committed to social objectives, Indian policy makers consider the allocation of commercial forms of energy too important to be left entirely to the market. India¿s mistrust of the market arises from social and commercial concerns that are entirely justifiable, but the multitude of administrative mechanisms introduced to replace the market mechanism often work at cross-purposes.
Billions of dollars in FDI have been assured to India thanks to Prime Minister Modi's successful foreign tours. However, there also has to be real technology transfer that spills over to the local economy. Only then, Modi's dream of FDI as 'First Development India' can be fulfilled.
MoEF, on the one hand, abruptly enforces the 'no-go' rule on 203 coal blocks with a potential output of 660 million tonne of coal per annum, jeopardising power generation, while on the other, it talks about developmental needs taking precedence over environmental and safety concerns when it comes to nuclear power plants.
While India is preparing to give up one of the blocks it has been drilling in, it has no intention of abandoning its search for oil and natural gas in the South China Sea.
Though India is yet to demonstrate anti-satellite test capability, as China did in January 2007, the scientific establishment has made it amply clear that they have the technological blocks ready should there be a political decision to do so.
