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Overcoming Mistrust in Public-Sector Digitalisation
Privacy & Data Protection | Cyber and Technology | Artificial Intelligence May 06, 2025

Overcoming Mistrust in Public-Sector Digitalisation

Digitalisation has the potential to boost local economies and people’s quality of life. However, citizens’ mistrust can prevent large-scale adoption and slow the public innovation curve. This brief categorises public mistrust into three groups and highlights examples. It proposes a cultural framework comprising a number ...

From ‘Look East’ to ‘Act East’: Mapping India’s Southeast Asian Engagement
International Affairs May 05, 2025

From ‘Look East’ to ‘Act East’: Mapping India’s Southeast Asian Engagement

India’s engagement with Southeast Asia entered a new phase following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third consecutive electoral victory in June 2024. With the ‘Act East’ policy too, marking its 10th anniversary in 2024, New Delhi has intensified its regional outreach through an unprecedented series of ...

Pakistan and the IMF: A Cycle of Dependency and the Need for Genuine Reform
Neighbourhood | Economic Reforms May 01, 2025

Pakistan and the IMF: A Cycle of Dependency and the Need for Genuine Reform

Pakistan, over the past six decades, has been the recipient of repeated bailout packages from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The 2024 IMF programme is the country’s 24th. While the loan provided temporary financial relief, Pakistan failed to use the opportunity to implement structural reforms, ...

The Potential Impact of Proposed Gavi Funding Cuts on Global Health Security
Healthcare Apr 29, 2025

The Potential Impact of Proposed Gavi Funding Cuts on Global Health Security

The global health landscape is undergoing dramatic shifts, none of which are conducive to mitigating urgent health issues that affect large populations across the globe. In particular, the United States (US) will likely slash its multibillion-dollar contribution to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the international public-private ...

Rethinking Waste-to-Energy: The Indispensable Role of Sustainable Waste Management
Energy | Sustainable Development Apr 28, 2025

Rethinking Waste-to-Energy: The Indispensable Role of Sustainable Waste Management

Waste-to-energy (WtE) projects are often promoted as sustainable solutions for both renewable energy generation and GHG emissions reduction. However, their effectiveness is contingent on the fundamentals of sustainable waste management—including segregation, collection, and transportation—without which WtE plants risk exacerbating environmental and health risks by processing ...

China and Afghanistan’s Jousting Over the Wakhan Corridor
International Affairs Apr 21, 2025

China and Afghanistan’s Jousting Over the Wakhan Corridor

After years of calculated relationship between China and the Taliban, the strategic Wakhan Corridor has become a focal point of tension between them. Beijing would like to use the corridor to expand its political and economic influence over Afghanistan, while the Taliban seeks to control ...

Addressing the IAF’s Fighter Engine Conundrum
Defence and Security Apr 18, 2025

Addressing the IAF’s Fighter Engine Conundrum

The Indian Air Force (IAF) plays a critical role in securing India amidst a world in flux. For this massive task, India must possess indigenously produced fighter aircraft engines to power its fighter aircraft variants over the next 50 years without falling into undue dependency ...

Advancing India’s Maritime Interests Through Naval Diplomacy
Defence and Security | Maritime Security Apr 17, 2025

Advancing India’s Maritime Interests Through Naval Diplomacy

Naval diplomacy has emerged as a pillar of India’s external engagements. While conventionally regarded as a military arm, the navy is increasingly assuming a greater role as a diplomatic actor. This brief underlines three trends in India’s naval diplomacy in the Indian Ocean, shaped by ...

The MCC Debate and U.S.-Nepal Ties in Flux
International Affairs Apr 14, 2025

The MCC Debate and U.S.-Nepal Ties in Flux

On 14 February 2025, Kathmandu was informed of the freeze on all payments related to the US$500-million Nepal Compact of the US government's Millennium Challenge Corporation. This followed the executive order passed by the Trump 2.0 administration in January, putting a 90-day pause on all ...

Growth in India: Jobless or Job-Full? Observations from Empirical Data
Developing and Emerging Economies Apr 11, 2025

Growth in India: Jobless or Job-Full? Observations from Empirical Data

The hypothesis of “jobless growth” has been central to recent debates around India’s economic development trajectory. This brief undertakes an evaluation of secondary data to test whether India is indeed experiencing jobless growth. The authors find that the characterisation of “jobless growth” is both reductive ...

Contributors

Amrita Narlikar

Amrita Narlikar

Dr. Amrita Narlikar’s research expertise lies in the areas of international negotiation, World Trade Organization, multilateralism, and India’s foreign policy & strategic thought. Amrita is Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. She is also Honorary Fellow of Darwin College, University ...

Read More + Sanjay Pattanshetty

Sanjay Pattanshetty

Dr. Sanjay M Pattanshetty is Head of theDepartment of Global Health Governance Prasanna School of Public Health Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) Manipal Karnataka India. Additionally he has an affiliation with theDepartment of International Health Care and Public Health ...

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