The Chinese leadership's exhortation to the PLA to improve its capability sufficiently to win local wars must be a wake-up call to India's military strategists and operations planners.
A Mature Democracy Must be Confident Enough to Hear Youth Anger: Domestic Unrest can Become Global Politics in Hours
Democracies need dissent. Young Indians have every right to demand credible examinations, transparent recruitment, accountable institutions and a responsive government. To delegitimise all youth anger as foreign manipulation would be intellectually lazy and politically dangerous. But it is equally naive to pretend that geopolitics ends at the border of domestic protest.
Making Workplaces Safer in South Asia: Prevention Less Costly than Catastrophe
Workplace accidents impose costs far beyond the immediate loss of life and injury. Families lose breadwinners, enterprises suffer productivity losses, projects face delays and governments incur healthcare and compensation costs. The social consequences can be particularly severe for migrant and informal workers
Is Delimitation Becoming a Penalty for Good Governance for India's Southern States?
For decades, these states invested heavily in women’s education, public health, industrialisation, literacy and population control. Fertility rates in many southern states have already fallen below replacement levels. In contrast, several northern states lagged behind for years on precisely these indicators. If parliamentary representation now shifts overwhelmingly toward states with higher population growth, the message becomes deeply perverse: governance discipline weakens political power.
Denial of Voting Rights to Undertrials: Blinds Spots in India's Democracy
At its heart, the challenge to Section 62(5) is a test of constitutional sincerity, of whether the Indian Republic truly believes that citizenship endures even behind bars. Enacted in the infancy of the republic, the provision has long outlived its moral logic. It collapses the distinction between confinement and culpability
More on Public Policy and Governance
Biden’s putdown of Pakistan: More to it than meets the eye
The fact that the bulk of whatever aid goes to Pakistan is grabbed by the military and used for terrorism is of little consequence to the US, as is the fact that it was Pakistan that engineered the humiliating withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
Canada on a suicidal course: Giving a free run to South Asian separatists and terrorists could boomerang
The Canadian government is doing a very big mistake by thinking that such separatists and terrorist groups operating in Canada will not harm Canada but only other countries.
The population myth, prejudice and dangers of a misguided policy
It is possible to use the numbers to argue in many ways but what should be reasonable to note is that there is no conspiracy among a certain set of people to grow their numbers. Demographics tells us that as the level of education (particularly of the woman) and the standard of living of the family moves up, the number of children per woman generally comes down.
How the battle against insurgency was won in Tripura
A mere look at the map of Tripura showed that the insurgents were operating from the hills where there was no police presence as all the police stations and posts were on the main roads. I was convinced that we should move into the hills.
He crossed boundaries for India's freedom: Musings at the feet of Gandhi in London
The statue has cost substantial money but is fully funded by the public through a charitable trust managed by a number of Indians residing in the UK. The chair of an advisory group that oversaw the project was former Pakistani-origin mayor and minister Sajid Javed.
Right to free food: India will need to carefully do the cost-benefit analysis
An increase in support of free food means cutting back on maybe health, education, infrastructure, military or pension benefits. The government cannot escape these difficult fiscal tradeoffs.
Gandhi remains as relevant today as in his time
Thus the mantra of development should be spirituality with high technology. Both these things allow us to reduce our greed for resources and live in harmony with nature – something that Gandhi preached intuitively all his life.
A paean to Mahatma Gandhi and his inclusive philosophy
But for Gandhi, India's political destiny would have been vastly different and her moral stature vastly inferior.
The long road to the ‘Right to Health’ in India
Clearer commitments and standards on access and quality, making oversight and redressal mechanisms more participatory, and allocating adequate financial resources alone would make the right to healthcare to all citizens a reality.
How India won the race to Siachen
The book is a must-read for all policymakers, diplomats, academics and civil and military personnel who have an interest in Siachen.
India needs to be more open to free trade
In a world slowing down due to a recession, even if our share of trade goes up from 3 to 4 per cent, that would be a huge boost for the Indian economy. And that is eminently feasible only if we are less afraid of open and free trade.
Recalling a 'black chapter' in Punjab's history: Flawed decision-making that proved costly for India
The book, in many ways, is the last word on the tragic and defining years of Punjab’s turmoil that took a large number of lives.
Unique military-industry cooperation boosting Indian Navy’s warship production
There are currently 41 ships and submarines under construction, 39 are being built in Indian shipyards, while in-principle approval is there from the Defence Ministry for 47 ships to be built in India.
Is war an inevitability? How prepared should India be?
The author’s prognosis of a major contestation in the not-so-distant future is situated in the South China Sea. The compelling logic portends China’s proclivity to fight one or possibly two major wars before 2035, either with Taiwan or India before the major US-China war.
