Category Centres

Xi Jinping’s Europe Visit Bolsters India’s Strategic Position

The context of Xi's visit is burgeoning European desire to consolidate a European geopolitical salience

When China’s supreme leader Xi Jinping recently toured Europe, he concluded assorted agreements with France, the more refined of the European Union’s twin hearts, Serbia, a candidate member of the EU, and Hungary, the EU’s perpetual bad boy, often friendlier with Moscow than with Brussels. It was seen as a triumph of Chinese diplomacy, designed to reinforce Europe’s resistance to American pressure to choke off the burgeoning Chinese lead in high-tech and otherwise isolate Beijing.

Understanding the Smart Cities Mission: An In-Depth Explanation

How are smart cities defined by the government? What are the two major aspects of the Smart Cities Mission? Why is the mission considered to be exclusionary to many? Did the SCM override the 74th Constitutional Amendment?

The story so far: The Smart Cities Mission (SCM), a flagship programme of the NDA-1 government, has taken a back seat in this year’s list of poll promises and achievements.

What are smart cities?

The term ‘Smart City’ has been used widely ever since 2009, after the great financial crash. Smart cities were defined by urban practitioners as new Silicon Valleys built with a strong integration of a network of airports, highways, and other types of communications, a so-called intellectual city with advanced ICT.

Professor Asher’s insights into Aspirational and Data-Driven Policy

Professor Mukul Asher delivered a compelling concluding address for the course
"Fundamentals of Public Policy" hosted by the Impact and Policy Research Institute. He
emphasized the critical importance of sound judgment in public policy, citing Elon Musk's insight on the destructive potential of teaching people to hate themselves and their history, making them susceptible to manipulation. This underlined the need for a strong civilizational
understanding, particularly in India, where history spans thousands of years. Professor Asher
stressed that preserving and appreciating this rich history is vital for informed public policy.

An Introduction to Health Economics and Management

In the ninth session of the Fundamentals of Public Policy one-month certificate course, Professor Mukul Asher presented an introduction to Health Economics and Management. Prof Asher began his presentation by introducing healthcare as an important economic concept that examines and finds system based-solutions to make healthcare more accessible, equitable and affordable to all. He highlighted that healthcare is not a welfare scheme and that the government has to provide healthcare services to all using limited resources, thus making it a complex economic problem. He explained how healthcare is a managerial problem as well, since people, systems and resources have to be managed in an optimal way to maximize utility. 

Science, Technology and Public Policy

On the 9th day of the one-month certificate course on Fundamentals of Public Policy, Former Ambassador, Dr.Bhaskar Balakrishnan presented a lecture on “Science, Technology and Public Policy”. Dr Balakrishnan began his lecture by introducing the idea of science as a basis of knowledge of nature.  He touched upon the importance of science and technology in the present world, its impact on society and economy, and the disruptive power it wields. He discussed how S&T is crucial for the development of several developing nations, by lowering the cost of development through the use of appropriate and efficient scientific interventions. He highlighted the role of S&T ecosystems in governmental offices, regulatory agencies, civil societies, business communities etc. 

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