Category Governance and Law

Japan

Strategic Realignment: How China’s Growth is Redefining Japan’s Foreign Policy

A storm is brewing around a race for leadership in Asia, with China rising further as a global force, at the Centre of it. The immediate trigger was Japan’s “iron lady” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent statement in Parliament that China’s military invasion of Taiwan would be an “existential crisis” to Japan. This is possible as any invasion of Taiwan could disturb the Indo-Pacific sea lanes of communications that now converge on Taiwan. Japan, in the 1930s, assiduously protected these trade routes.

Reframing Political Change in Bihar: The role of Women

Reframing Political Change in Bihar: The role of Women

Women’s active participation in Bihar’s electoral process is a crucial indicator of a deepening democracy. This engagement disrupts traditional gender hierarchies by promoting a fairer distribution of political power and symbolising the expansion of substantive citizenship for women.

Labour

The Pro-Business Pivot: How Modern Labour Codes Prioritize Industry Over Protection

That Labour Codes will create a divide between workers and businesses was a given. The former have opposed them since 2019 when the Code on Wages was passed by parliament followed by the other three in 2020 – the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code. Businesses have been pressing for their implementation since then because they know they will benefit from them. The government presents these Codes as beneficial to labour since they are supposed to simplify a very complex and outdated system. 

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From Relief to Reform to Resilience: Assessing PM-SVANidhi’s Policy Trajectory

When we speak of successful government initiatives of the past decade, popular missions like the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) usually dominates the conversation. Yet, quietly, another programme has been impacting the lives of the millions of India’s urban street vendors, who sustain the everyday economy of Indian cities.

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Interpreting the Rupee’s Decline: Trade Strategy and Export Incentives

The government's chief economic advisor, V Anantha Nageswaran, says he is not losing sleep over the falling rupee. We wish him long nights of peaceful rest and restoration. While the government and the RBl rest, the rupee will be hard at work, to give some respite to our exporters hit hard by Trumpian tariffs.

SIM

SIM-Binding: A Tool for Security That Demands a Foundation of Trust

There has been a sharp pushback against the government’s directive to all mobile phone makers and importers to preload, within 90 days, the government app, Sanchar Sathi, on phones freshly sold in the country. In the case of another related security-oriented mandate that seeks all messaging and communications apps to stay bound all the time to a particular SIM issued to the user, the response has been more mixed: while cellular operators think this is a good idea, the Broadband India Forum, which represents the interests of stakeholders in cyber business, has sought more time and consultations.

Tribal

The Decline of Maoism and Its Impact on Tribal Communities

The Maoists might have been looking after their own interests more than those of the tribal people, and hindering State efforts to extend the scope of governance and development to their habitats, but they also raised a voice of protest against acts of injustice against the tribals.

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