Category Centres

Australia’s Adventurous Foreign Engagement and Opportunities for India

Australia is in a hurry to reconfigure the contours of its foreign policy. The government of Anthony Albanese is working for a thaw in Canberra’s ties with China which have deteriorated significantly in recent years. Australia’s trade minister Don Farrell met with his Chinese counterpart virtually last month in an attempt to stabilize bilateral ties that have been strained by China’s aggressive trade and political moves and Australia’s strong pushback.

China’s Role in the Iran-Saudi Arabia Relations

Non-resolution of Palestinian issue is always on the platter to mobilise the Arab street. Hence the Chinese, so very dependent for their energy security on GCC countries and for their strategic BRI labyrinthine calculations, want to maintain at least a semblance of stability by engaging from Tehran to Tel Aviv, writes Amb. Anil Trigunayat, a former Indian Ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta.

budget 23 urban development

Union Budget 2023-24 and Urban Infrastructure and Development Financing: Promising Yet Concerning

Indian cities with their contribution of around two-thirds of the GDP are expected to play an instrumental role as the country’s ‘engines of economic growth'. The union budget 2023-24 has tried give a push to cities by way of capital expenditure.

India- Australia ties: Forging New Relations to Upscale Trade

Indian foreign policy has been geared toward setting up strong partnerships in recent years. From a nation that was diffident about getting together with like minded partners, New Delhi today is demonstrating its commitment in forging ties with those nations with whom it feels politically in sync. Trust based partnerships are re-defining the global landscape today and India is moving ahead with a degree of seriousness not seen in recent history as it configures its global posture as a leading power in the international system. This is particularly true of the Indo-Pacific where old partnerships have been resurrected and new ones have been crafted at a time of significant flux in the regional order. It is India’s engagement with Australia that stands out for the speed with which the two nations have been able to transform their bilateral engagement.

SC directs EC’s autonomous functionaries towards strengthening Democracy

By directing the Election Commission to be appointed by a non-partisan panel, the Supreme Court strengthens democracy. But more needs to be done for institutional independence. EC, as well as all other regulatory bodies made autonomous of the executive, should be made answerable to designated committees of Parliament. This is essential to ensure the democratic accountability of all institutions to the ultimate sovereign, the people.

Water Distress and Indian Cities

Splintering urbanism is a reality that has roots in the neo-liberal paradigm of urbanisation, which started nearly three decades back in India. Cities have suffered from the fragmentation of access, control, and pricing of network infrastructure, including water supply. The fragmentation is due to political-economic processes-neoliberalism-that have changed the ways cities are governed and services provided. 

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