Manmohan Singh: The Quiet Architect of India’s Strategic Liberation
Manmohan Singh got the nuclear deal through, and opened the door to India’s rise as a major power centre.
Category Special Initiatives
PM Mitra, PLI and FTAs: Saviour for Ailing Indian Textile Industry?
As of 2023, the Indian textile and apparel industry makes significant contributions to various aspects of the economy. It contributes 4% to global trade in textiles and apparel, making it a crucial player in the international market. In terms of GDP, it accounts for approximately 2%, which amounts to around $70 billion. Additionally, the industry's output represents 7% of the total industry value.
Democracy in Question: From Madhya Pradesh to France
Riots spread from a suburb of Paris to over 300 towns across France, after the police shot dead a teenager of North African descent, Nahel Marzouk, in a traffic stop that proved one too many for the alienated, unemployed, ill-educated youth of immigrant stock, subjected to routine racial profiling by the police. The police have had to arrest thousands of people, including minors before a semblance of calm returned to the land of liberty, equality and fraternity.
Agnipath Scheme: Paving Way to Atmanirbhar Bharat
On the 14th of June, 2022, the Defense Minister, Rajanath Singh launched the Agnipath Scheme (Agnipath Yojana) as a tour-of-duty style scheme for the recruitment of youths as soldiers into the three services of the armed forces as Agniveers for four years period. It follows a Pan India merit-based recruitment where the youths are even given an opportunity to apply for enrolment in a regular cadre, wherein up to 25% of the Agniveers can be selected as regular cadre through a central, transparent, and regular system after four years. These youths are subject to attractive monthly emoluments and a handsome “Seva Nidhi” package.
Aspirational Block Programme
Chairing the second National Conference of Chief Secretaries in Delhi on the 6th and 7th of January 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the Aspirational Block Programme throughout India. With a special emphasis on the "India-First Approach", the programme aims at developing the most backward blocks of the country identified based on a variety of factors as recognised by NITI Aayog.
Online Gaming (Regulation) Bill, 2022
The online gaming industry has been growing exponentially in the past few years. The main reason was the emergence of COVID-19, which forced many people to resort to online gaming for relieving stress. Moreover, smartphone affordability, low cost-high speed internet and easy access have further contributed to the spike. Out of all Asian countries, India is growing rapidly to be amongst the major contributors to this industry, providing a source of income to many. However, just like every coin has two sides, the online gaming industry is also not void of its negatives.
India as the only connecting line between US and BRICS
BRICS on a mini-lateral level is focusing and yielding rather significantly on what other major groupings and multilateral organisations are aiming at. It has begun to provide an alternate avenue of cooperation from trade, and finance to resolving regional and global issues to counter-terrorism and capacity building. But, it is not free of issues.