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Pakistan's first transfer of power between elected governments is indeed a milestone, but how strong a precedent it will set is very much dependent on the performance of Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N. Confidence in civilian institutions, high voter turnout aside, remains dreadfully low.

The Defence Minister's annual review of progress in self-reliance in defence efforts will end as a ritual unless a common minimum quantification of self-reliance efforts is arrived at. Else, we will be perpetually confused as to how self-reliant we are in defence production.

J&K is a fractured state estranged from the rest of the nation constitutionally, Article 370 elevates the state in the scheme of Indian federalism,

The 2011 anti-corruption movement in India—characterised by a huge trust deficit in the political class—was the culmination of several such localised movements that marked the birth of a new civil society in contemporary urban India. This paper studies the profusion of middle-class-led associations in Mumbai fighting for good governance, and their increased political mobilisation in the city. It argues that a new civil society bypasses electe

This paper argues that the challenges in the governance of two Himalayan river systems, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, emerge largely from crucial information and knowledge gaps. The dominance of the paradigm of “reductionist hydrology” solely based on structural interventions has resulted in the lack of recognition of the long-run costs incurred through ecosystem damages and water conflicts at various levels. The knowledge gaps—including

Wetlands are important ecosystems that provide benefits such as flood control, water purification, and biodiversity conservation. In India, however, wetlands are threatened by pollution, encroachment, and rampant real estate development. This brief assesses the East Kolkata Wetlands to illustrate the challenges of preserving urban wetlands in India. It also presents recommendations to establish more comprehensive wetlands management and conservat

A lot has been discussed about PM Modi's first year in office. While actions and policies on economy, security, external affairs, 'Make in India' are being deliberated upon extensively, there is little attention on how the government has fared on gender equity.

The government should remain a licensor, regulator and adjudicator where neither capital nor technology are in constraint and should not make in India

An international conference on South Asia's water future, organised by Observer Research Foundation in association with the PHD Chamber of Commerce, has underlined the need for proper management of this largely exploited and poorly utilized natural resource.

When compared to countries like the US, the Indian government is understaffed and it affects the service delivery, says retired revenue secretary M.R. Sivaraman. He says the Indian government has only 257 people serving every 100,000 population against 840 in the US federal government.

Mr S. Jaishankar is reported to have said he was happy to join “the Tata Group… India’s most respected brand globally”.

In the latest despicable act of extreme cruelty, the arm of an Indian maid working in a Saudi Arabian household was chopped off by her employer. Since the royal in question was King Salman's son, there are no prizes for guessing that no member of the ruling family will be punished for this incident.

India's former member of the WTO Arbitration Committee, Dr. A.V. Ganesan, thinks that it would be unsustainable for India to rely on imported food grains, and hence it is imperative that India supports its farmers to augment food production to meet the domestic demand.

The RBI has sensibly shown selective flexibility to soothe angry government voices.

What the zenana was to the Great Mughals, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is to our political leaders at the Centre and in the states.

Those who wish to blindly ape the Donald Trump-era United States' trade policy clearly have never bothered to think hard about the economic consequences of their actions in India

There is a need for a multi-pronged attack on human trafficking involving the government, corporate bodies and the civil society, it was observed at a panel discussion on the "Role 'India Inc' in Combating Human Trafficking" at ORF.

The non-alignment movement has become the first casualty of New Delhi's rise in the rapidly shifting global world order.

A roundtable discussion at Observer Research Foundation was held on January 25 2010 to discuss the internal dynamics of Pakistan

India has been importing from Israel various weapons systems, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles over the last few years, making India one of Israel's largest buyers of military hardware.

The trajectories of India’s neighbours like Bangladesh are driven more by their own agency than their adjacency to India

Has New Delhi forgotten its breast beating against cross-border terrorism in Kashmir atleast since 1989? How will it ever raise that issue again having voted along with the west which stands for cross border terrorism by US, France, UK, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey against Syria?

This year made it clear that the US-China strategic competition is not merely the figment of Donald Trump's imagination

Mitigating the adverse impact of Beijing’s crude ambition while simultaneously absorbing Chinese capital is a tough balancing act. Before making policy choices, India must rapidly improve its ability to monitor the full extent of economic exposure to China.

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

The normalisation of trade between India and Pakistan could lead to preferential trade arrangement under SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement of 1996). This would increase regional trade and stability.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government headed by Mr. A. B. Vajpayee had made India increasingly invisible in its neighbourhood. It was content to play second fiddle to the US in Nepal and Sri Lanka, let Norway, the European Union and Japan play a more active role in Sri Lanka, maintained a silence on the growing confrontation between President Abdul Gayoom of the Maldives and the pro-democracy activists

There was a great scope for expanding economic ties between India and Kazakhstan, said Kazakh Ambassador to India, Kairat Umarov, at an interaction in Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

European policymakers seem to be taking an awfully long time to realize the fact that there cannot be general blanket solutions to the problems in the euro-zone. Every time a member nation is in trouble, the same few steps seem to be repeated.

The coming to power of a Left-leaning Syriza government in Greece is not because people supported their ideology but they wanted to protest against the economic stagnation caused by austerity programme, says Ramon Perez-Maura, Assistant Editor of leading Spanish daily, ABC.

In the face of the Greece crisis, the fundamental problem that needs to addressed is whether the European Union was sustainable, as very soon Spain would also be faced with a financial crisis similar to Greece. A total re-writing of the books and balance sheet of the European economy is required as it was done in 1945, according to Dr. S. Narayan.

Greece's problems, which started in 2009, are casting a deep shadow on world stock markets. India is also feeling the impact. The BSE Sensex took a deep plunge though it has recovered recently. The rupee has been falling in terms of the dollar during the last few weeks.

If the Syriza government in Greece had the foresight to seek technical assistance from the bureaucracy of any Latin American, African or Asian country on how to deal with agitated lenders, they would never have got into the mess they are in now.

Did Russia's quick response of offering the new Greek prime minister with financial aid to sail through the financial crisis help him bargain the new time line for debt rescheduling? Yes or not, the victory of the 'Left' PM in the Greek general elections has given a geo-political twist to Eurozone's troubles.

The ancient idea of ‘Thucydides trap’ points at a ‘war’ between the titans

To successfully combat climate change, there is an urgent need to finance mitigation and adaptation efforts at various levels. Green bonds are a relatively new funding instrument for green projects that have steadily become the first line of defence against climate change. India, in particular, has immense scope to diversify the green bond market beyond renewable energy. This brief analyses the policy structure of countries that have successfully

India spends over 2.6 per cent of its GDP to deal with challenges of climate change. Still, resource scarcity and other priorities make it a challenge to find matching financial resources for mitigating climate change. Green Bonds have the potential to significantly change the climate change landscape of India.