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According to the 2020/21 Global Education Monitoring Report, India has the weakest public perception of the government as the primary provider of school education. This issue brief analyses what such low public support for government education provision indicates and discusses the implications in terms of educational equity. It highlights how the hierarchical Indian education system, in which a family’s ability to pay decides the course

Over the last thirty years, Kashmir has become a conflict economy, in which conflict entrepreneurs thrive. An entire ecosystem has developed that feeds into and upon this conflict economy. And the Jamaat has been one of the primary drivers and beneficiaries of this ecosystem.

As part of this effort, the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) launched a report, Health Equity and Inclusion in Action, which seeks to examine the ways different health initiatives in six countries across Asia and Africa are exploring to address this complex problem. The report, created by the ORF in collaboration with Gilead Sciences who commissioned it, examines case studies from Bangladesh, India, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa and Vietnam to

Participants at a conference on "Reassessing India's Juvenile Justice System" emphasised on the need to fully implement the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 and the need for the State to provide enough manpower and infrastructure to take care of the aftercare programmes.

As the conversations around internet governance become trapped in confrontational language, it is time to move the emphasis back to decision making that works for all

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly proliferating the healthcare landscape and has immense promise for improving health outcomes in a resource-constrained setting like India. With emerging technology still finding its footing in the healthcare industry in the country, there are systemic roadblocks to hurdle before AI can be made transformative up to the last mile of public health. AI also carries immense challenges for India’s mostly t

The development is the latest indicator that the bilateral relationship is getting stronger.

Visuals of the strike, reportedly conducted via drones and/or missiles, appear to show the plant on fire and the attack is reported to have led to a 5% drop in global oil production.

A recent report of the 2017-2018 Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence (PSCOD) has revealed that India’s defence services are facing a severe resource crunch. Given the enormous amount of money that the country is already spending on defence, the chances are slim that the government will come up with the significantly higher amounts of funds needed for modernisation. Meanwhile, the armed forces are facing obsolescence in equipment. The wa

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

The current education system in the schools run or funded/aided by the state government requires change.

Globally, healthcare has made great strides in making vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics available to more people. Yet, infectious diseases continue to pose a significant threat in many parts of the world, and the SARS, Ebola, and Zika crises are only a few of the recent outbreaks that draw attention to the weaknesses of public health systems. In India, the recent epidemics of Nipah virus and acute encephalitis syndrome call attention to the

Thinking about the future of global food systems has now become more critical than ever. Climate change impacts—among them, shifts in soil quality, precipitation, pest regimes, seasonal growth patterns, along with land degradation and reduction in biodiversity—have impacted agricultural and aquatic food production systems across the world. Indeed, the causal links between climate change and food security are manifesting more clearly, particul

The International Financial Architecture has come under much scrutiny following the 2008 global financial crisis. There have been demands for major reforms to the IFA; but despite the steps taken so far, much more needs to be done to ensure global financial stability.

In recent years, startups have been receiving increased attention in many parts of the world. In India, the number of startups has increased fast and more support has become available in all dimensions. This paper analyses the current state of the Indian startup ecosystem and has three goals: to provide an understanding of the growth drivers and motivations of Indian startup founders; identify challenges facing these startups; and outline the pil

The US National Security Strategy of March 2006 is an upgraded version of the 2002 version, which had come about after the September 11, 2001, attacks. The present one seems to be a slight rethink of its predecessor, but the essentials are the same. Introducing the new doctrine, President Bush had declared rather grimly, ¿America is at war.¿

Education in India is compulsory and free for primary and middle school, yet about 20 percent of children aged 6-14 remain absent. Analysts offer various explanations for India’s continued challenges in ensuring universal basic education, including lack of access to schools and poor educational environment. In this context, an index measuring the health of the early education system can be a valuable tool. This paper devises a Performance, Infr

In order to achieve the SDGs, it is time to re-evaluate the global patents regime. India and other developing countries need to explore policies and practices for creating a culture and system that encourages innovation.

Established in 1995, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Dispute Settlement System (DSS) is used to resolve trade-related disputes between WTO member states. It has received over 500 complaints since its inception, and utilises both political negotiation and adjudication for dispute resolution. Today the DSS faces an unprecedented crisis due to US obstruction, which may render the system effectively dysfunctional by late 2019. It is likely tha

Public transportation (PT) planning in Indian cities has historically focused on private vehicles and rail-based systems while neglecting bus-based transit. Such planning has led to fragmented urban mobility solutions. This study evaluates the effectiveness of PT systems planning in India by assessing the present state of these systems and analysing planning practices. It summarises the characteristics of various PT modes and the expert guideline

In an effort to facilitate the digitisation of the country’s healthcare systems, India released a National Digital Health Blueprint in January 2020, which provides a detailed framework for a “Federated National Health Information System.” This brief makes a case for expanding the scope of the blueprint to include digital therapeutics, digital diagnostics, and telemedicine. It proposes a “National Digital Health Blueprint 2.0,” with dive

Grasslands that provide a variety of ecosystem services for humans—including carbon storage, which is important to mitigating climate change—are among the world’s most threatened habitats. In India, grassy ecosystems are not accorded any legal protection. Vast acres of these grasslands are converted for revenue-generating use, altering their ecological dynamics and threatening the livelihoods and cultures of pastoral and agrarian communitie

The management of fish stocks along the Bengal coast has traditionally relied on the formula of dictating where, when, and how much to catch of one particular kind of fish to mitigate the risk of stock depletion. This paper argues that this conventional approach is inadequate in dealing with the multitude of threats, both local and global, posed by anthropogenic interventions in the natural systems and processes. It builds a case for an Ecosystem

Policy clarity is needed to deal with the idea of a weapons system that surrenders life-and-death decisions to machines. ICRC is an independent humanitarian organisation set up in 1863, that has been playing an active part in discussions around the subject of AWS

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.

There is hardly any doubt that failing health systems result in poor health outcomes and hamper progress towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC). In Africa, health systems are hobbled by leadership and governance challenges, extreme shortages of health workers, corruption in procurement systems for medical products and technologies, poor information systems, and health financing const

In January 2019 employees of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) in Mumbai held an eight-day strike to demand, among others, higher wages. The strike affected nearly three million daily commuters in India’s financial capital. It also highlighted the crises that have crippled Mumbai’s municipal public transport service for years: after the cross-subsidies from the electric supply division of BEST to its public transport ar

The US is currently training various African economies on how to meet common value systems standards, and India along with other economies, needs to press for a more inclusive system where countries "pressurise on how to manage concerns and reach viable solutions."

The distinction between individual aspirations and a national dream is clear to the Chinese government where there are contradictions between the political system and the consumerism-driven economy, according to US university professor Dr. Tansen Sen.

This Issue Brief gives an assessment of the gaps and shortages in climate financing flows, available monies in the global system and suggestions to mobilise resources towards mitigation and adaptation needs of developing countries.

An increasing number of businessmen in BRICS' countries favour arbitration over overburdened litigation systems in resolving domestic disputes.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has underlined the emerging realities of states’ air defence needs, including those for medium- and long-range air defence missile systems. The most important facet in the domain of air defence relates to terminal air defence—or the defence of a single object or a limited area like a ship, building or an airfield, now usually against air attacks and guided missiles. This report underscores the need for India to

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has underlined the emerging realities of states’ air defence needs, including those for medium- and long-range air defence missile systems. The most important facet in the domain of air defence relates to terminal air defence—or the defence of a single object or a limited area like a ship, building or an airfield, now usually against air attacks and guided missiles. This report underscores the need for India to

The Visegrad Four (V4) countries—Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary—are examples of communist states that have transitioned to liberal and democratic governance systems. In recent years, their visibility in the European Union (EU) has surged due to their contrarian positions on certain critical issues facing the Union, such as mass migration and, since 2022, the conflict in Ukraine. This paper analyses the impact of these trend

Advances in disruptive technologies have enabled scientists to engineer biological systems and create more efficient and sustainable products for a range of purposes. The convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) with biotechnology has contributed to the development of therapeutics and vaccines, helped address food security, aided in generating innovative processes to mitigate the effects of climate change, and expanded the bioeconomy. However,

When two top American diplomats speak out in quick succession about the international system, the world will take note. The op-ed by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in the Washington Post titled "The Promise of Democratic Peace," and the policy speech four days later by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns at the European Institute titled "A Renewed Partnership for Global Engagement" fall into this category.

The rapid pace of digitalisation poses new national security risks for countries like India, a country with over 700 million internet users. The multilayered digital ecosystem comprising of infrastructure, devices and applications is complex, and security threats evolve at a breakneck pace. This makes it difficult for states to develop an effective response to individual or organisational security threats. India therefore has often had to resort

Global powers like the United States and China have spared little effort in attempting to shape the digital age in their image. At the same time, other powers like Japan and France, and emerging ones like India aim to play a part in building the global digital ecosystem. These latter three share similar values: democracy, freedom of speech, open access to digital resources, and sovereignty. They all desire to keep the digital commons intact and n

The system is configured to the military’s advantage, but Thaksin Shinawatra may hold the key

Public angst against Aadhaar is not because of the technical effectiveness of the system, but the manner in which it is proposed to be used.