Category Center for Human Dignity and Development

Platform Accountability, Not Prohibition: Rethinking Social Media Regulation

Protecting young users and democratic discourse requires platform accountability, not age bans that are hard to enforce and easy to evade. T.K. Arun The plans to ban social media access for young people are misguided. There is no disputing the harm that…

Peace Without Palestine? The Critical Gap in Trump’s Gaza Strategy

Anil Trigunayat Even before US President Donald Trump took over the White House for the second time, he had ensured a ceasefire in the two-year-old Israel-Hamas war. Since, for the incoming president, it was tactical to please both his friend,…

India’s Health Budget and the Urgent Need for Stronger Lung Cancer Policies

Urvashi Prasad  India’s Union Health Budget 2026-27 and the release of the country’s first evidence based lung cancer guidelines have sparked important conversations about whether our health system is keeping pace with global standards. These announcements are not just policy…

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Empowerment Beyond Caste: India’s GYAN Framework

The Strauss-Howe generational theory suggests that every 80 years or so, civilisations undergo an archetypal generational shift. This theory aligns with the cyclical approach of Indic traditions, which are unlike the linear Western traditions. As we enter the 80th year of Independence in 2026, our nation stands at the cusp of a new social, political, and economic climate.

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Selective Regulation: Why Power Escapes but Gig Workers Don’t

What do you call someone who comes down like a tonne of bricks on ambitious youngsters with career aspirations but crumbles like a cookie in the face of a market-leading company flexing its dominance? The rest of the world terms them bullies. In India, we call them regulators.

Health Budget

Health Budget 2026–27: Signals of Progress, Limits of Reform

Public policy scholar Thomas Dye defined public policy as what governments choose to do and choose not to do. Annual budgets make this definition tangible. They are not merely fiscal documents. They are political and economic statements that reveal priorities, constraints, and institutional intent. Equally important, they reveal what remains deferred. In health financing, omissions often matter as much as allocations.

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