9467 results found
The Chinese say that their interests in the East China Sea are what bother them the most because of their proximity to the Chinese heartland. The South China Sea, they insist, is not a problem area of the same dimension. Beijing's unambiguous goal is to isolate Japan, divide the ASEAN and befuddle the United States.
With clearly increasing patterns of inequity, social strife and marginalisation, India's policymakers must understand that they cannot continue to articulate its pro poor agenda shamelessly at the global high table, without first enabling visible socio-economic transformation at home.
Task Force 6: Accelerating SDGs: Exploring New Pathways to the 2030 Agenda.
The presence of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan has been counter-productive and has only led to increase in terrorism, according to Dr. Saeed Jalili, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.
China's assessment of its threat environment has evolved under President Xi Jinping, who underscores the imperative of bolstering traditional and non-traditional security. The Chinese Communist Party believes that inimical forces will attempt to overthrow it by penetrating the ideological sphere. Additionally, following the tumultuous presidential succession in the US in 2021, China has sought to cast doubts on the virtues of democracy, and is le
Pakistan seems ready to expand its counter-terrorism strategy. But such a break from the past needs time, and a sense of ownership. Patience, therefore, will yield greater long-term returns. So, repeated public admonishment by the US will serve to be only counter-productive.
One of the foremost questions around Trump's victory has been in relation to the future of the Iran nuclear deal, one that the President-elect has cri
Philippines is now seen as a key country in India’s Act East policy and its engagement with the ASEAN.
President Medvedev's recent visit to India (December 21-22) has contributed to retrieving some of the ground being lost in India-Russia ties. A perception has been growing that the relevance of Russia to India has declined in the context of the changed international situation,
The potential of the India-Korea partnership has not been fully tapped. The present visit will provide a great opportunity for President Moon and Prim
It seems that the ongoing struggle between the Parliament and the President will continue, paving the way for more uncertainty and instability in Mald
Independent of the Presidential poll results, which seem to be a foregone conclusion at the moment, the run-up to the poll has exposed chinks in the rival alliances, existing and prospective.
After the Boston bombings, the big counter terrorism question for the US will be how to prevent such attacks in the future. The possibility of 'copy cat' attacks cannot be ruled out. It will be difficult to prevent or monitor the sale of pressure cookers or other utensils. Tracking the locally available incendiary materials could be a better and more effective counter action.
Country-wide protests over fuel and food prices have broken out in Ecuador as it descends into an economic crisis.
Advances in technology, the shifting sands of the global nuclear energy market, and the extant standards and practices surrounding the monitoring of radioactive materials raise important questions about the future of nuclear security. Technological advancements have enabled the retrieval of radioactive materials from unconventional sources and made fuel fabrication easier. The emergence of new players in the nuclear energy market also flags conce
The February 2017 order by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) for fixing the price ceiling for cardiac stents—a device that normalises blood supply to the heart—brings to fore the old debate on the influence of business in healthcare in India. In view of the increasing number of catheterisation laboratories in the country, and the rise in the use of cardiac stents, this article discusses, inter alia: (a) the role of price
PM Modi’s visit to the UAE indicates his belief that a stronger alliance could be established between the two countries.
The US has placed India in the category of 'closest partners' for defence cooperation. The official spin was that New Delhi would now be on the same footing as the closest allies of the US such as Britain. That may be the endpoint that New Delhi and Washington have decided upon, but it is far from the current reality. Both sides would need to do an enormous amount of work to attain that goal.
The legal, regulatory and political momentum to take action is there — yet, regulations remain mostly globally uncoordinated.
On 1 January 2020, the Ministry of External Affairs announced the establishment under its wing of the New, Emerging and Strategic Technologies (NEST) division. This marked a welcome addition to the government’s organisational capacities in an era increasingly being characterised by the interplay of technology, trade, security and geopolitics. This brief outlines the global and domestic context that will surround the operations of the NEST divis
Sohini Bose, Ed., “Priorities for Prime Minister Hasina's New Term in Bangladesh,” ORF Special Report No. 225, May 2024, Observer Research Foundation.
The focus on rooftop solar in the Union Budget 2024 has provided a strong impetus for the residential segment. A targeted scheme is also required to e
Digital financial services have benefits but pose privacy risks that harm consumers, merchants, markets, and nations alike. Some payments systems in India suffer from vulnerabilities because they were not prospectively designed on the basis of the ‘privacy by design’ principle. At the back-end, the centralised storage of data is risky. At the front-end, faulty capture devices enable data misuse. Across the middle mile, data is transmitted wit
The G20 meeting in Seoul next month ( November 11 and 12th) for the Finance Ministers of the twenty member countries that include India, China and the US, is likely to be a stormy one judging from the controversies surrounding the state of the world economy.
This paper evaluates the impact of various policy reforms, including the economic reforms of the 1990s, on India’s manufacturing sector. Covering the priority sectors relevant to the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, the paper analyses the productivity of registered manufacturing units from 1974-75 to 2012-13. It offers empirical evidence on the growth of productivity in the organised manufacturing sector through an inter-tem
It is crucial to better understand the aspirations of people and find opportunities for work that create a space for individuals to find meaning as
The Indian Navy must revisit the fundamental question of whether it wants the newest air-independent propulsion architecture or the newest propulsion
The BJP’s electoral fortunes in the ongoing elections will be a pivotal determinant in the implementation of the NRC across the country.
This paper argues in favour of integrating valuation of ecosystem services in development policy planning in India. The paper presents three cases where monetary values of ecosystem services have been estimated to illustrate the significance of the exercise: the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) in Uttarakhand, the Kunigal Wetlands in Karnataka, and the Indian Sundarbans Delta (ISD) in West Bengal. The first two cases highlight the ecosystem-livelihoods
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, there has been a surge in cases of online child sexual abuse and exploitation (OCSAE) in many parts of the world. This brief discusses the cases of India and Australia. It examines their efforts to combat the increased incidence of OCSAE resulting from greater use of the internet as movement was restricted in response to the pandemic. The brief focuses on India and Australia as bo
India is experiencing a surge in power demand owing to an expanding economy. Even as the country has embraced the idea of transitioning to clean renewable energy, its current demand for electricity can only be met by addressing the concerns surrounding coal-fired power plants. The goal of going green might be a medium- to long-term strategy that should be diligently pursued to avoid future crises. In the short term, however, focus should
The workforce participation rate of India’s women is significantly lower than that of the men; and amongst the women, the employment levels of urban women are lower than those of their rural counterparts. Using the findings of the 2018 Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), released in 2019, this brief provides an overview of the current state of female labour force participation in urban India. It analyses data on vocational training and employm
The application of emerging technologies in humanitarian assistance has increased in recent years, and they have proven effective in delivering life-saving interventions to populations in need. In a fast-changing technological landscape, the use of such tools is only expected to increase further. At the same time, however, the use of technologies brings certain challenges, such as misuse of data and the spread of misinformation. This brie
The very nature of this tax needs to be assessed to understand either why it is not paid or why recovery is poor.
India should not fall for hyped up fears of nuclear escalation; Pakistan is a rational actor that understands the limitations of nuclear weapons
A two-tier structure, with elected municipalities for each city district, which share power in a regional government with central representatives, can be a viable model
New avenues — fighting terrorism, nuclear energy for civilian purpose, trade in small arms — presents Ghana and India with opportunities to streng
The Observer Research Foundation hosted an exciting, in-depth interaction with Nepalese Maoist leaders Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai on November 18, 2006. Addressing their first international audience together from the same platform, the Maoist leaders put before the distinguished gathering, which included political leaders, former diplomats and members of the academia and media, their vision about a new Nepal which they would like to bui
As the world is poised to embrace more digital innovations, India has a golden opportunity to showcase its willingness and capacity to contribute towa
Japanese are leaders in global technology dealing with energy efficiency and energy savings. As a result, Japan has lowest energy intensity amongst all countries. This situation was brought about in a dramatic change after the 1974 oil shock.
The recent visit by Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has opened new opportunities to further consolidate India-Sri Lanka ties
The COVID-19 pandemic is taking an enormous toll on health systems across the world. A growing concern is that efforts to manage the pandemic are undermining care for serious non-Covid illnesses such as cancer. In the UK and US, for example, it is estimated that delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment due to COVID-19 will lead to excess cancer deaths in the range of tens of thousands within a year. In India, where health systems are weak, it is
Millions living around the Bay of Bengal need urgent protection from climate change impacts such as sea level rise and more severe cyclones
Australia’s world-leading legislation provides a template for creating cable protection zones that India could emulate to protect its underwater ass
African countries should learn from mistakes that have already been made while pursuing their own path in Internet security.
