Category Thematic Areas

India’s Urbanisation Policies: Impact & Challenges

‘Another important aspect of urban infrastructure is linked to urban governance, which is in a shambles in most parts of the country.’

A report by the World Bank, released in November last year, on financing India’s urban infrastructure needs, focuses on private investments ameliorating urban problems. The push to attract private capital, since the 1990s, followed by the urban reforms under the United Progressive Alliance I regime, the Smart City mission, and now this report, continues to plague India’s policy paradigm in the urban sector.

How Technology Access and Climate Gap Impact CO2 Removal?

The global cleavage on climate change is essentially between those that have grown rich enough to be climate-resilient and those that are not. The way to bridge this gap is not to set up any Loss and Damage Fund, but to spend any money that the rich countries have to spare on sucking carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere.

India’s Global Leadership Aspirations through G20 Presidency

The G20 was conceived in 1999 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis as a platform for finance ministers and central bank governors to deliberate on issues pertaining to global finance and economy. In 2008, it was elevated to include the heads of State against the backdrop of global recession. Today, representing more than 80 per cent of the world’s GDP, 75 per cent of global trade, and 60 per cent of the global population amid a crisis of global multilateralism, G20 has emerged as a premier forum for deliberation on global issues.

Trade Unions, Statistics & the Data Lag

As per Section 27 of the Industrial Relations Code passed in August 2020, if the appropriate government (the Union or the state government) is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient that a trade union or federation of trade unions is to be recognized as Central- or state-level trade union, it may do so according to the prescribed procedure. This means that what was a voluntary process arising out of tripartite consultations will become a legal measure once the Code is in force. Thus, it is important to know its history as well as the current controversies over the same.

The Need for IndOS: A Choice for a Fair Competition?

The government wants to create a mobile operating system (OS) to compete with the dominant Android, owned by Google, and Apple’s iOS operating systems that have pretty much divided up the global smartphone market (Chinese tech major Huawei uses its own Harmony operating system on its phones after US President Donald Trump ordered Google to deny Android to companies that violated the sanctions against Iran). The government has even come up with a name for it: IndOS. 

Realizing Strategic Potential of Andaman & Nicobar

An exclusive ₹5,650 crore military infrastructure development plan was finalized in 2019 to strengthen the capacity of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, providing for the stationing of additional military forces, warships, aircraft, missile batteries, and infantry soldiers at the islands. Parallelly, a comprehensive plan for “force accretion” at the Andaman and Nicobar Command by 2027 is also being nurtured, involving a phased increase in Army manpower and assets through an improvement of the existing 108 Mountain Brigade and a new infantry battalion, apart from other upgrades.

Surge in Global Arms Sales: Who is the Prime Gainer?

A significant shift away from the world’s major weapons-producing region is underway, with impressive gains for China and to an extent India. The world witnessed a significant surge in arms sales from countries in the Asia-Oceania region in 2021. Despite supply-related disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, arms sales by the 100 most important weapons manufacturing companies stood at $592 billion, representing an increase of 1.9 percent from 2020.

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