Category Policy Update

Navigating Careers in Public Policy for Development Studies Students in India

As India continues its journey towards socio-economic development, the demand for skilled professionals in public policy has witnessed a significant surge. For students pursuing developmental studies, a career in public policy presents a unique opportunity to contribute actively to the nation's growth. In this article, we will explore the avenues available in this field and highlight the relevance of online courses, specifically those offered by the Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI).

Captivating Insights into China

In a sign of chinks in President Xi Jinping’s armour, there is, of late, turbulence in China’s political landscape. This is in sharp contrast to the signals of solidarity and unity put out a year ago at the 20th Communist Party Congress. While Xi jettisoned rival political factions in the all-powerful 7-member Politburo Standing Committee and the 24-member Politburo, there is definitely a push back, as can be seen from the fact that Xi has forced two of his close confidants out of office. china

The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Examining Its Disruptive Impact on Diplomacy in the Middle East

There is a line up of visitors to the region with their own agendas. Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz are racing to support Israel but with a subtle caveat as the UNSG cries hoarse for opening up of humanitarian corridors and access of medical and humanitarian supplies to the besieged Gaza residents. While the casualties and crisis is deepening by the minute and humanitarian conscience is provoking introspection and perhaps hardening of attitudes and resolve on both sides, rationality is mostly a casualty, observes Amb. Anil Trigunayat, a former Indian Ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta, and a West Asia expert.

The Evolving Concerns in India’s Relationship with Bhutan

The new phase of cordial diplomatic relations between Bhutan and China call for the establishment of fresh redlines between India and its Himalayan neighbour.

In October, Tandi Dorji became Bhutan’s first foreign minister to visit China. Dr Dorji’s visit has garnered significant attention across the world for two reasons: First, by concluding the 25th round of border negotiations, Bhutan and China are drawing close to ending the decades-old territorial dispute. During this visit, both countries even signed a “cooperation agreement” that outlines the responsibilities and functions of a joint technical team (JTT) tasked with delimiting and demarcating the disputed boundaries.

Empowering Shudra-OBC Communities: Recognizing their Strength in Numbers

“Under the system of Chaturvarnya, the Shudra is not only placed at the bottom of the gradation but he is subjected to innumerable ignominies and disabilities so as to prevent him from rising above the condition fixed for him by law. Indeed until the fifth Varna of the Untouchables came into being, the Shudras were in the eyes of the Hindus the lowest of the low. This shows the nature of what might be called the problem of the Shudras. If people have no idea of the magnitude of the problem it is because they have not cared to know what the population of the Shudras is. Unfortunately, the census does not show their population separately. But there is no doubt that excluding the Untouchables the Shudras form about 75 to 80 per cent of the population of Hindus.” 

Thus writes Dr B.R. Ambedkar in his seminal work, Who Were the Shudras: How They Came to be the Fourth Varna in the Indo-Aryan Society (1946), where he situates the degraded socio-cultural position of the Shudras (almost all the individual caste groups known as Other Backward Classes (OBC) in constitutional parlance today as well as some others belong to this historical-social category mentioned in both historical and literary texts).

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