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Union Budget has to deliver on reforms
Feb 05, 2015

Union Budget has to deliver on reforms

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.

Union Budget inflationary, says former Revenue Secretary
May 03, 2011

Union Budget inflationary, says former Revenue Secretary

If the dreams of this Union Budget have to become a reality, two important aspects need to be addressed -- transparency and efficiency, says former Revenue Secretary Sivaraman.

United States and the world
Jan 25, 2005

United States and the world

Continuity rather than change may well be the mark of the second Bush administration's foreign policy.It was billed as `the liberty speech.' George W. Bush, beginning his second term as President, said: ""It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.""

Unjust economic system, mal-governance behind Dhaka Rana Plaza disaster
Mar 18, 2014

Unjust economic system, mal-governance behind Dhaka Rana Plaza disaster

The Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, which had killed 1133 workers and injured more than 1800, was symbolic of a much deeper crisis, not limited to Bangladesh, according to Prof. Rehman Sobhan, chairman of the Centre of Policy Dialogue, Dhaka.

Unleashing the CBI, the BJP style
Oct 16, 2015

Unleashing the CBI, the BJP style

From 'being the Congress's most trusted alliance partner' during the UPA years, the CBI has now morphed into the BJP's instrumentality of 'fixing' political opponents. Prima facie it appears to be the case and analysts think one will see more empirical evidence of an aggressive CBI in the coming weeks as the BJP feels the pressure on rising intolerance in the country.

Unlocking the Potential of Marine Natural Gas Hydrate Energy in India
Jul 04, 2023

Unlocking the Potential of Marine Natural Gas Hydrate Energy in India

Natural gas is an efficient bridge fuel between high-emission fuels and renewable energy systems. Due to limited conventional natural gas reserves, India imports more than half of its natural gas requirements. Increased production of natural gas from domestically available resources could help India reduce gas imports, achieve national emission intensity targets, and honour international climate commitments. Marine gas hydrates ar

Unquiet on the front
Aug 12, 2013

Unquiet on the front

After the Ladakh intrusion, Delhi has sensibly stepped up the conversation on LAC management with Beijing. The recent violence on the LoC demands the same with Islamabad. When he meets Nawaz Sharif in New York next month, Manmohan Singh must seek Pakistan's renewed political support for the LoC ceasefire and an agreement to translate that commitment into a military reality.

UNSC Reforms and India
Feb 18, 2011

UNSC Reforms and India

India is all set to begin serious efforts to secure a permanent seat in the UN Security Council (UNSC). Two years of non-permanent membership after 19 long years with rotating Presidency of the Council twice over the next two years will mark India's innings.

UNSC seat: Is there a short-cut on the long road ahead?
Nov 15, 2010

UNSC seat: Is there a short-cut on the long road ahead?

India will repent at leisure if it gives up the race for the UNSC seat now only to find, after some years, that countries with lesser weight but greater perseverance have left us irretrievably a rung lower in the international hierarchy.

UNSC ची पुनर्रचना
Aug 07, 2023

UNSC ची पुनर्रचना

UNSC 21 व्या शतकातील भू-राजकीय वास्तविकता प्रतिबिंबित करते याची खात्री करण्यासाठी ग्लोबल साउथमधील देशांचे मोठे प्रतिनिधित्व आवश्यक आहे.

Untying the Gordian knot: Catalysing green energy investments in emerging and developing economies
Dec 15, 2017

Untying the Gordian knot: Catalysing green energy investments in emerging and developing economies

This report is part of the Observer Research Foundation’s “Financing Green Transitions” series which aims to find potential linkages between private capital, in all its forms, and climate action projects. The series will primarily examine domestic and international barriers to private capital entry for mitigation oriented climate projects, while also examining potential avenues for private capital flow entry towards adaptation and resilienc

UP is home to people with dangerously wide gaps in skills, income and caste
Nov 18, 2011

UP is home to people with dangerously wide gaps in skills, income and caste

If Uttar Pradesh was to be declared a separate country, it would be the sixth-largest nation. With a population at par with Brazil and per-capita income similar to Kenya's,

UP: Emerging scenario gets confusing
Feb 15, 2012

UP: Emerging scenario gets confusing

As things stand at present, the UPA-II has to get its mandate renewed. The Congress party's alliance with the RLD and the induction of RLD leader Ajit Singh as a Cabinet minister looking after Civil Aviation last year, in fact, may have no meaning if that alliance is not put to optimum use in the post-electoral scene in UP.

Updating India's nuclear posture
Apr 09, 2014

Updating India's nuclear posture

India's nuclear doctrine and strategy still continues to harp on the mantra of "minimum credible deterrent", even though Pakistan has now overtaken India in the number of nuclear warheads it possesses. Some analysts say that there are no signs that the Pakistani buildup is slowing down.

Urban and Regional Development Initiatives in India
Aug 05, 2008

Urban and Regional Development Initiatives in India

The Observer Research Foundation (ORF) India-China Centre (Kolkata) in association with the University of Calcutta, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (Kolkata), and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, supported a seminar on Urban Experiences: India, China and the Chinese Indians. The seminar was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Kolkata on August 5, 2008 at the Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities, Calc

Urban densities and the Covid-19 pandemic: Upending the sustainability myth of global megacities
May 04, 2020

Urban densities and the Covid-19 pandemic: Upending the sustainability myth of global megacities

High-density urban agglomerations may be sustainable in terms of the economies of scale their populations provide. Yet, as proven by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, these same urban spaces are nearly defenceless in times of unprecedented disease outbreaks. A pandemic poses many risks to the millions who live in dense megacities, whether in wealthy countries or developing ones. The sheer density of the population of these cities provides an ideal e

Urban development needs more attention, says Jagmohan
May 15, 2009

Urban development needs more attention, says Jagmohan

Jagmohan's address to the ORF faculty included a discussion on six important topics, namely slums and illegal constructions, human settlement patterns, culturally significant towns, cities and climate change, pattern of governance after the enactment of the Constitution (seventy-fourth amendment) Act, and resource mobilisation for city development

Urban India’s Parking Woes: An Overview
Mar 14, 2024

Urban India’s Parking Woes: An Overview

Vehicular congestion and insufficient parking facilities are significant emerging challenges for India’s mega and metropolitan cities, severely impairing mobility. Although curtailed by constitutional mandates, many Indian cities are seeking to resolve the issue through parking policies, focusing on regulations, pricing as a management tool, new technologies, and off-street parking provisions. This brief assesses the parking policies of Ahmedab

Urban infrastructure is under siege
Apr 14, 2010

Urban infrastructure is under siege

A country's development is judged by visitors from the general atmosphere and ambience of its big cities and not by the number of five star hotels and their posh lobbies

Urban population: Challenges before policy-makers
Mar 15, 2013

Urban population: Challenges before policy-makers

ORF and GIZ, Germany, have jointly initiated an Urban Workshop Series 2013 to facilitate interaction among key national and international stakeholders and offer and discuss critical inputs that are urgently needed for effective policy-making in India and other emerging economies.

Urbanisation and the need for new settlements
May 07, 2013

Urbanisation and the need for new settlements

A striking feature of India's urbanisation is the phenomenal size of population of some urban centres. As per Census 2011, there are 53 cities/urban agglomerations in the country that have recorded a population of more than a million. In some of these centres, the population is as high as 18.4 million.

Urbanisation in China in the Light of the Latest Census
Jun 06, 2011

Urbanisation in China in the Light of the Latest Census

With its transition from a middle income to a developed country, China is facing several challenges. Inconsistent and changing categories of administrative divisions create problems in the governance of urban centres.

Urbanisation in China: Challenges and the Way Ahead
Aug 23, 2023

Urbanisation in China: Challenges and the Way Ahead

Urbanisation in China is taking place at an unprecedented level and is set to continue over the next decade. This is likely to present many challenges not just for policy makers but for the economy and society as well. This Paper tries and understands the ongoing process of urbanization, the impacts produced and the way that lies ahead.

Urbanisation in India’s Hills: Persistent Challenges and Plausible Pathways
Oct 29, 2024

Urbanisation in India’s Hills: Persistent Challenges and Plausible Pathways

India’s development trajectory is closely tied to urbanisation. This brief critiques the existing urban planning framework in the country, examining the gaps and unique challenges posed by urbanisation and the impacts of climate change in hilly cities. The brief focuses on India’s ecologically sensitive Himalayan ecosystem, which have historically received little attention in urbanisation discourse. The region’s hilly urban areas have uniqu

Urgent need to enhance India's maritime capacity
Aug 08, 2012

Urgent need to enhance India's maritime capacity

The limited development of India's maritime capacities is a cause for strategic concern, especially considering the impact on the nation's economy, which is currently dependent on sea-borne trade for its well being.

Urgent need to improve India's border infrastructure
Sep 06, 2010

Urgent need to improve India's border infrastructure

India needs to improve its border infrastructure in the background of the changing geopolitics of Asia that will increasingly be shaped by Sino-Indian relations, pointed out a panel discussion on "India's Border Infrastructure" at ORF.

Urgent need to introduce drastic reforms in the IAS
Apr 09, 2010

Urgent need to introduce drastic reforms in the IAS

Do we need the IAS? This was the subject of an interaction organized by Observer Research Foundation Chennai Chapter on Saturday, 4 September, 2010, in the light of 'IT czar' N R Narayana Murthy's call for abolishing the system of generalised administrators under the Indian Administrative Service (IAS)

Urgent steps must for Delhi Metro security
Aug 21, 2010

Urgent steps must for Delhi Metro security

Exceptional and urgent measures must be put in place to ensure the security of the Delhi Metro rail network in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games scheduled for October this year.

US -Russia Relations at a Crossroads
Aug 02, 2013

US -Russia Relations at a Crossroads

Láffaire Snowden, the Moscow CIA station chief's name being published by Russia; tit-for-tat lists of alleged human rights violators released by the two countries; Syria, Iran, Ballistic Missile Defence, nuclear arms reductions—these are the issues concerning US-Russia relations that have dominated the headlines in the last few weeks. It would appear that the Cold War is upon us again! However, seen from another perspective, there are some sig

US aid to Pakistan: the broader debate
Nov 02, 2010

US aid to Pakistan: the broader debate

There is little doubt that fragile states often need external assistance to survive. In the past decade Pakistan has become one such case. A struggling economy, chronic poverty, poor provisions of public services, internal violence

US Ambassador releases America in the Asian Century
Aug 13, 2013

US Ambassador releases America in the Asian Century

The Ambassador of the United States to India, Ms Nancy J Powell, on Tuesday released ORF's new publication, America in the Asian Century. The book consists of papers by ORF scholars on US's policy and relations with all important Asian countries.

US and the Diamer-Bhasha dam in PoK
Sep 07, 2011

US and the Diamer-Bhasha dam in PoK

The US is in a dilemma over the funding of the Diamer-Bhasha dam in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. While China and Saudi Arabia have made big inroads in public perception by taking up developmental projects, the US, despite lots of assistance, is perceived not to be doing enough in this area.

US apology?
Jul 04, 2012

US apology?

Reports say US and Pakistan have found the formulation that will satisfy Pakistan's political establishment without embarrassing the White House. The language is likely to be flexible enough for Pakistan and the US to interpret it in their own way.

US contemplating reversal of its Pakistan policy
Jun 04, 2012

US contemplating reversal of its Pakistan policy

The United States is contemplating a total reversal of its highly ineffective Pakistan policy. This was stated by Prof Christine Fair, Assistant Professor at Georgetown University's Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service while delivering a talk on "The situation in the Af-Pak region" at Observer Research Foundation on June 4, 2012.

US Debt Crisis: Viable Recovery Plan Still Missing
Aug 04, 2011

US Debt Crisis: Viable Recovery Plan Still Missing

The negotiations leading to the compromise legislation in the US Congress revealed two interesting trends. One, the increasing influence of the Tea Party Caucus in Republican politics and by extension in the American political system. Second, the absence of effective Presidential leadership in the debt-ceiling debate.

US dilemma over Nawaz Sharif's astute moves
May 20, 2011

US dilemma over Nawaz Sharif's astute moves

In Pakistan, there is a sense of disillusionment with the government, and forme Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, an astute politician, obviously sees an opportunity in it for his party PML(N) in the 2013 election. But it is not likely to be an easy road.

US election and the debate war: How consequential?
Oct 26, 2012

US election and the debate war: How consequential?

Even as the Republican camp resurges and stands a chance of putting their man in the White House, they are aware that some of Obam's strengths remain formidable and that the Democratic camp will leave no stone unturned to guard those safe zones.