Search

Growth in demand for LPG is slowing down and supply challenges could add to the pressure on demand for LPG in India.

As we usher in 2022, we unpack the events and trends of 2021 that are likely to dominate East Asian politics in the coming years

The face of poverty changes asymmetrically across the states. Monitoring systems must be flexible enough to map the poor and come up with targeted pla

Attempting to map out key trends emerging from the state intervention to contain the rise of left-wing extremism in India, Observer Research Foundation organised a panel discussion on "State Response to Left-Wing Extremism: A Report Card".

Given the current trends of climate action, millets provide an efficient solution for circumventing the food and water trade-off

The upcoming by-elections in Myanmar on April 1 have generated a lot of hype and justifiable attention. The polls have also generated a lot of expectations, but may not deliver much in real terms. However, in terms of trends and moods, it could be a pointer to the future.

The lack of economic opportunities at home is forcing 1,700 Nepalis to fly abroad every day, including to the Russia-Ukraine War

As the Maldives, Bhutan, and Bangladesh head toward elections, they continue to commit to democracy

The global nuclear framework still faces many challenges. Often, bleak predictions motivate the international community to collectively ensure that su

In short, the principle of subsidiarity demands that India’s national government take some cues from global trends and cede more powers to the city government in capital territory. The current bill by the Centre not only betrays the concept of “cooperative federalism” often espoused by the Union government, but will further complicate governance in India’s fastest growing mega-city.

n July 2018, Pakistanis voted in what was the third consecutive transfer of power from one civilian government to another in the country’s 71-year history. The elections may be called a success in that winners had been declared. However, the months leading up to the elections demonstrated the power of the military, and its ability to influence election outcomes and control sections of the media. As Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan see

The excessive dependence on a single category of RMG exports is bound to hamper the growth trends of the country

This brief assesses the recent trends in India’s defence exports and analyses the institutional and policy frameworks that have enabled a change in the country’s approach towards defence exports, resulting in an upward trajectory. It offers specific policy recommendations to allow India to pursue its target of US$5 billion in defence export revenue. However, a discussion on the types and forms of weapons, platforms, systems, or sub-systems ex

This paper examines the pre-pandemic slowdown, and subsequent contraction, in Indian economy. Utilising an analysis of broad macroeconomic and sectoral fundamentals, the paper argues that a notable lack of consumption and investment demand had already persisted before the pandemic; COVID-19 heightened those trends. Henceforth, India’s economic revival will be crucially dependent on demand generation by direct government fiscal intervention. The

India’s competitiveness in manufacturing and the success of ‘Make in India’ depend on its ability to produce high-quality products and services. Product quality is important for human health and consumer safety, as well as for protecting the climate and the environment. One way of ensuring that products and services meet certain standards is through technical regulations with mandatory compliance. However, technical regulations also have th

Demographic trends in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 have largely been unfavourable. Deaths exceeded births for the first time in 1992, and a period of negative growth followed which continued unabated until 2012 when marginal growth was achieved for the first time in two decades. This paper studies the demographic patterns in Russia since 1991, which are unique for several reasons. While population decline is common amo

Several emerging trends like increasing congestion of global commons, especially in the maritime domain and the rapid development of disruptive techno

Over four billion people do not have access to Internet; that makes a huge two-thirdsof the global population. In India, around four of every five people lack this basic resource. Variousaccess technologies are being developed in different parts of the world to bridge the digital divide.Amongst these technologies, the emergence of small satellites carries immense promise. Thesesatellites are used for applications ranging from remote sensing to co

Politicians have always used the media to communicate with the electorate. What makes social media unique is the scale, speed, and minimal cost at which leaders can do this task. This paper analyses the relationship between political leaders and the microblogging site, Twitter. It provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the use of Twitter by two contemporary Indian political leaders—Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. It describ

South Asia as a whole was struggling with crises of governance, said Professor Sumit Ganguly while broadly outlining some key political, social and economic trends in the region during a presentation at ORF on December 16, 2011.

The tiny nation's economy has become yet another victim of the protracted ethnic conflict between Tamils and Sinhalese. This week, Standard and Poor credit rating agency has downgraded the rating of Sri Lanka from 'stable' to 'negative' reflecting concerns about the weak fiscal consolidation efforts and the unfavourable trends evident in the country's debt profile.

Russia has long depended on migrant labour. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine, and a devaluing Ruble have impacted migrants economically. These developments, coupled with institutional hurdles and rising xenophobia in Russia, have pushed migrant labourers to seek alternate employment destinations. Notably, workers from countries such as Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are swaying away from Russia, even as

India’s defence model faces challenges despite the positive trends generated by ‘Make in India’

India and France, amid intensifying geopolitical trends in the Indo-Pacific region, are likely to build an even closer partnership.

This issue brief looks at the trends of regionalism and multilateralism, their importance and evolution in an age of problems without borders that require regional or global solutions.

Emergency humanitarian aid, which aims to save lives and reduce people’s suffering in times of crises, has grown considerably over the last century to become a central feature of international relations and of the multilateral system. It is estimated that over 400 million people depend on such aid today. The future of these people and of the humanitarian aid they depend on are fraught with risks, in light of five palpable trends: exponentially

In some ways, Joe Biden’s election victory will reverse many of the trends from the past four years, including on multilateralism, democracy promoti

This paper analyses historical trends in women’s participation in Indian democracy as voters, contestants, and legislators, using data on state assembly elections between the first one in 1951, and 2019. The paper finds that India is witnessing a strengthening of its democracy as measured in terms of an unprecedented growth in the political participation of women in these three roles. In these 73 years of Indian democracy, the turnout of women

Like in some other regions of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated external debt accumulation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This could have massive, adverse impacts on growth as governments prioritise debt servicing commitments over key development expenditures such as healthcare and education. For the countries in SSA with relatively lower GDP, this could mean getting caught in a vicious cycle of low output and mounting debt. A pa

This brief analyses the alignment between India’s development partnerships since Independence, and sustainability goals. It conducts the examination using three phases of India’s development partnerships—i.e., Phase 1, 1947-1990; Phase 2, 1991-2008; and Phase 3, post-2008—and finds that the country’s development cooperation agenda has historically incorporated objectives of sustainable growth. This pattern would continue throughout the

Can India jumpstart its economy by expanding bilateral trade relations with the US to reverse negative economic trends?

When the United Kingdom (UK) releases the highly anticipated integrated review of its foreign, defence, security and development policy in March, it will mark the first formal iteration of the UK’s Indo-Pacific strategy. This brief explores the dynamics that are driving the UK’s tilt to the Indo-Pacific. It identifies three key drivers that are prompting the shift: a reappraisal of China, the economic fallout of Brexit, and the UK’s close t

Artificial intelligence is turbocharging individual companies’ stock market valuations but overall economic productivity is sliding. These are not c

Trends in Africa are diverging. While East Africa shows growing signs of authoritarianism and suppression of dissent, in Southern Africa — liberatio

Questions about the utility of globalisation are not new. Could the COVID-19 outbreak be the final nail on the coffin for an idea that drove the world economy in the past three decades?  In theory, countries would produce what they specialised in, leaving it to the market to ensure everyone got a better price for it. As 2020 began, the pandemic spread from one province of China and soon disrupted production across the world. Countries banned the

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.

सूचना में देरी, ध्यान भटकाने और ग़लत जानकारियां फैलाने क�

The US interest in West Asia is declining as domestic economic and political uncertainties make it look more and more inwards. The shale oil and gas boom is transforming energy markets with the US likely to emerge as the world's biggest combined oil and gas producer this year. These trends are reshaping the regional order in West Asia and New Delhi will have to respond pro-actively to preserve and enhance its own interests in a strategically crit

If the 20th CCP meet, which began on Sunday, enhances Xi Jinping’s power, it would reinforce trends associated with his tenure: Assertiveness abroad, no compromises on boundary issues, and a willingness to use the military as an instrument of policy

The current crisis in Pakistan-US relations over the detention of Raymond Davis, the American security contractor charged with the murder of two Pakistanis, confirms many well-known trends, such as increasing anti-Americanism among Pakistanis and the growing importance of 'strategic corporals'.

Continued peace and access to outer space is not a given if current trends of space weaponization continue.

अंतरिम अर्थसंकल्पात, नागरिकांना दर्जेदार आरोग्य सेवा उ�

मोदी सरकार की विदेश नीति से जुड़े बड़े फ़ैसलों जैसे चीन, क

गेल्या दोन दशकांमध्ये विविध ठिकाणी झालेल्या दहशतवादी हल्ल्यांमध्ये तंत्र आणि तंत्रज्ञानाचा मोठा वापर झाल्याचे निदर्शनास आले आहे.

हालांकि ट्रान्स अटलांटिक गठबंधन ने अब तक अपने रूख़ में ल�

ट्रान्सअॅटलांटिक प्रदेशातील ऐक्यात आत्तापर्यंत तरी दखलपात्र लवचिकता दिसून आली आहे, मात्र सद्यस्थितीतले तिथल्या जनमताचे कल, आणि भविष्यात समोर चर्चेत येणारे नवे मुद्दे�

भूतान सरकारने तरुणांचे कौशल्य वाढवण्यासाठी, नोकरीच्या बाजारपेठेतील मागणी-पुरवठ्यातील विसंगती दूर करण्यासाठी आणि देशातील पुढील ब्रेन ड्रेन रोखण्यासाठी सुधारणा केल्य�

नेपाळमध्ये देशांतर्गत आर्थिक संधींच्या अभावामुळे दररो�

मॉड्युलर पॅकेजिंग व वाहतुकीसाठी योग्य आदी वैशिष्ट्यांमुळे तुलनेने स्वच्छ, पर्यायी इंधन म्हणून एलपीजीच्या औद्योगिक वापराला प्रोत्साहन दिले, तर देशाची आर्थिक व पर्यावर�