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eSS Sunday Edit: Do the Liberal Arts Have Any Authority in the Digital Age?

It is likely that the ‘authority’ of the literary text requires a rethinking. The teacher has traditionally been invested with epistemic authority: the legitimate exercise of knowledge and expertise-a...

by Pramod K. Nayar | On 17 Oct 2021

Supporting the creative economy for sustainable development in Southeast Asia

The creative economy has the potential to not only strengthen the expansion of global value chains, increase digital adoption among creative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), fuel the export...

by Pitchaya Sirivunnabood | On 10 Sep 2021

Tribute: Gail Omvedt (1941-2021)

Tribute to Gail Omvedt : feminist scholar, dalit and feminist activist died on August 25, 2021

by Vibhuti Patel | On 09 Sep 2021

Weekend Ruminations: The meaning of 'partly free'

How far the govt will go towards establishing its control depends on the effectiveness of domestic institutional resistance and on how much it wants to risk international censure.

by T.N. Ninan | On 08 Mar 2021

Women challenging stereotypes in the Covid-world

Our industry has an overall 90:10 gender split in leadership positions. The ratio is improving in pre-media, publishing and media. Can we do more to address the gender imbalance in the industry? [Fir...

by | On 08 Mar 2021

Know Your Publishing Space: Predatory Journals: Publish and Perish!

Predatory journals solely exist for monetary profit without any commitment to publishing ethics or quality of research. Not only do they damage the reputation of individual researchers and institution...

by Shubhada Nagarkar | On 03 Mar 2021

Prakriti Karyashala Case Studies: Bringing Balance to the Ecosystem: Restoring Degraded Wildlife Habitats

Restoring wildlife habitat around Shivnagari, Ajmer, Rajasthan has ensured that domestic animals of the village are no longer under threat. This has also meant better pastureland for the cattle with...

by Anjali P Iyer | On 13 Feb 2021

World Wetlands Day: View from Loktak Wetland Complex

Fisher unions and farming communities of Manipur, India, commemorated the 2021 World Wetlands Day (2nd February) at Tonoma Chingjin, Mamang Ching, Pumlen Pat - a wetland devastated by the Ithai Barrag...

by | On 05 Feb 2021

PAISA for Municipalities: A Study of Fund Flows and Public Expenditure in the Geographic Jurisdiction of Tumakuru City Municipal Corporation, Tumakuru District, Karnataka

In 2009, 36 per cent of Karnataka’s population was urban, and 32.7 per cent was poor- higher than the all-India level.This study aims to understand the nature and compute the size of the local public...

by | On 03 Feb 2021

Development Chronicles: COVID-19 - A Year in Review

Contents: Editorial: Safdar Rahman, Tavishi Ahluwalia, Teresa Vanmalsawmi, Urwa Tul Wusqa The Political Economy of Governmental Responses to the Covid-19 Crisis: A Migrant Workers’ Perspective: Kani...

by | On 02 Feb 2021

Creating Udyog Sahayak Enterprises Network (USENET) for Employment Generation and Scale-up in the MSME Sector

There are multiple forces – thirteen of them identified in this report - working against employment growth in India from both supply side and the demand side. It is proven that large enterprises creat...

by | On 02 Feb 2021

Economic Survey 2020: Chapter 10-The Bare Necessities

Access to “the bare necessities” such as housing, water, sanitation, electricity and clean cooking fuel are a sine qua non to live a decent life. This chapter examines the progress made in providing a...

by Ministry of Finance | On 30 Jan 2021

Prakriti Karyashala Case Studies: Shahpura Explores Innovative Ways of Governing the Commons

This case study describes is how a village, Shahpura, collectively saved its common land, developed a plantation and innovated a way to water it regularly wihout adding to women’s burden. It is a part...

by Anjali P Iyer | On 18 Jan 2021

Prakriti Karyashala Case Studies:Reclaiming Commons - Restoring and Protecting Grazing Lands from Illegal Dumping

While tourism may support a town economy, it can also damage the environment and ecology of the surrounding villages and destroy common grazing lands. Here’s how two villages fought to preserve their...

by Anjali P Iyer | On 06 Dec 2020

Weekend Rumniations: Don't bet just yet on Bangladesh as South Asia's economic champion

Bangladesh might overtake India this year by per capita income in nominal dollars, but it is not yet close to becoming South Asia's economic powerhouse anytime soon.

by T.N. Ninan | On 17 Oct 2020

Business Standard Weekend Ruminations: The market as weapon: What China has long exploited India has rarely used

Opening up India's market to neighbouring countries can be as strategic as access denial to others. The game should be played both ways, even if it upsets domestic business lobbies.

by T.N. Ninan | On 16 Aug 2020

Gandhi’s Last March: A Parable for Today

It is difficult not to remember Gandhi in the time of COVID-19. For one, the pandemic brings us back to his critique of the modern industrial civilisation, more particularly his much-maligned and misu...

by | On 07 Jul 2020

eSS Sunday Edit: Are we a society open to learning?

Thailand, Vietnam and Mongolia have taken control of managing the pandemic with great alacrity. There is much to learn from their systematic, people-centred and research-based approach to dealing with...

by | On 06 Jul 2020

The Sunday Edit: Communicating science in pandemic times

The pandemic has inevitably prompted a spike in the coverage of science, in the form of medical research and health sciences. Will this lead to better attention to science in the media? Will it promp...

by Padma Prakash | On 30 Jun 2020

Is India Creating Adequate Jobs Post 2000: Treading Through Employment Elasticity

This paper looks into diverse databases to gauge if economic growth in India creates adequate volume of jobs since the year 2000. In our exercise, we use a popular index called employment elasticity....

by G.D Bino Paul | On 26 Jun 2020

Beyond Alliteration

Anyone can string together alliterative words, but are they a substitute for serious thought and coherent action? Real economics involves choices, or every day would be Christmas.

by T.N. Ninan | On 14 Jun 2020

Book Review of 'Black Baseball's Last Team Standing'

The book is extraordinarily well researched, drawing from newspaper accounts in almost thirty different states, and probably the most comprehensive record of the Black Barons and their significance in...

by David Lee McMullen | On 12 Jun 2020

The Covid-19 Lockdown in India: Gender and Caste Dimensions of the First Job Losses

Based on national-level panel data from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)’s Consumer Pyramids Household Survey (CPHS) database, this paper investigates the first effects of Covid-19 induced...

by Ashwini Deshpande | On 09 Jun 2020

Why Centre is left with little fiscal cushion to deal with Covid pandemic

When emerging from this crisis, the govt must consider a fresh approach to reviving growth, revisiting the Centre-state fiscal balance, and devising a re-imagined GST 2.0.

by T.N. Ninan | On 07 Jun 2020

The Sunday Edit: Challenges of the Pandemic: Confronting Harsh Realities

Measures to control/mitigate the spread of the disease appear to be surprisingly ill informed about the living and working conditions of the urban millions who support the life and work of the city’s...

by Udaya S. Mishra | On 07 Jun 2020

Real is radical: Drop subsidies, offer basic minimum income to farmers

You could run a sensible subsidy and price support system at a fraction of today's cost, and still have enough money left over to offer a more generous income support to all farmers.

by T.N. Ninan | On 02 Jun 2020

Coronabrief: Who Cares? Feminist Responses to the Pandemic

The policy recommendations and demands about inclusion of women and marginalized groups in all aspects of life, including groups particularly vulnerable in many Asian countries such as women migrant a...

by | On 02 Jun 2020

Rapid Policy Briefing: Fair and equitable access to COVID-19 treatments and vaccines

• The development of an effective treatment and vaccine for COVID-19 is key to ending the pandemic and resuming social and economic activity. An international research effort to this end is underway. ...

by | On 02 Jun 2020

Exploring Cash Transfer to Jan Dhan Accounts as COVID-19 Response: Findings from A Rapid Survey (28 April to 12 May 2020) for Assessing the Ground Reality

On March 25 Finance Minister Normal Sitharaman announced that account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) (also known as Jan Dhan account, or JD account) would receive cash transf...

by | On 29 May 2020

COVID-19 in India: An Epidemic in Congested Cities

In our analysis, high urban proportion and population density were significantly correlated with the COVID-19 burden in districts having the highest burden of COVID-19. It seems COVID-19 is spreading...

by | On 29 May 2020

Fahrenheit 32: When books come in from the cold : The Noel D'Cunha Sunday column

Thomas Abraham, managing director of Hachette India, takes a ringside view of Indian publishing during and after Coronavirus and charts a roadmap as to what could be or should be the future.

by Noel D'Cunha | On 26 May 2020

Covid-19 Crisis, Pandemic Resilience and Linkages to Land: An Exposition

For a COVID-19 like pandemic, the Achilles heel is an unsuspecting villain – rapid and global land use changes. The way governments, businesses and communities see, relate to and use land, not only in...

by | On 12 May 2020

Book Review of 'Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta: The Making of Calcutta'.

Review of Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta: The Making of Calcutta by Debjani Bhattacharyya. Studies in Environment and History Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Illustratio...

by | On 07 May 2020

Class Struggle, Environment and the Corona Virus Pandemic

Unless militant actions are undertaken, workers will find more and more of their rights trampled in the name of fighting the Corona virus. Parties, trade unions, and social movement organisations and...

by Kunal Chattopadhyay | On 25 Apr 2020

Tribute: Vidya Bal (January 12, 1937 to January 30, 2020)

Vidya Bal was a veteran feminist journalist, author and editor based in Pune. She was also a well-known social activist in the women’s liberation movement in India who dedicated her life to fighting f...

by Vibhuti Patel | On 24 Apr 2020

Impact of Changes in Fiscal Federalism and Fourteenth Finance Commission Recommendations Scenarios on States Autonomy and Social Sector Priorities

This paper compares the additional gains from higher tax devolution in the post 14th FC period, with the additional burden due to the withdrawal of certain central schemes and the changes in the shar...

by Amarnath H. K. | On 30 Mar 2019

Is Ayushman Bharat the answer to India’s healthcare woes?

Does India’s newest health protection mission do more than create a ‘narrative’ on health care in a pre-election year? More importantly, is health care through insurance the best option for a country...

by | On 28 Feb 2019

Towards India’s New Fiscal Federalism

The paper explored deep analytical issues such as the nature of the objective function to be optimized, planning horizon, choice of the discount rates, etc. No wonder, his book “Capital and Developmen...

by Vijay Kelkar | On 30 Jan 2019

Impact of Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers on Gender Equality in India: An Empirical Analysis

Intergovernmental fiscal transfers (IGFT) are, in theory, neither good nor bad for tackling gender inequalities. Fiscal federalism with asymmetry in revenue and expenditure assignments inevitably lead...

by Janet G. Stotsky | On 14 Jan 2019

Bangladesh Goes to the Polls: A Street-side View

An informal but informed Indian professional on assignment in Dhaka sends this engaging commentary on the general elections in Bangladesh.

by Srikanth S | On 05 Jan 2019

Assessing Opportunities for Solar Lanterns to Improve Educational Outcomes in Rural Off-Grid Regions: Challenges and Lessons from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Solar lanterns are promoted across rural sub-Saharan Africa to improve both lighting in homes and educational outcomes. It undertakes a randomized controlled trial in Zimba District, Zambia, to evalua...

by Ognen Stojanovski | On 03 Jan 2019

Infrastructure Financing in South Asia

This paper discusses public and private sector financing of infrastructure, and examines the factors driving infrastructure investment in this subregion. Using a panel of three large South Asian count...

by Shikha Jha | On 26 Sep 2018

The Changing Network of Financial Market Linkages: The Asian Experience

The paper investigates the changing network of financial markets for six periods from 1995–2016, constructing a network that captures the concepts of the direction of links between markets, the signif...

by Biplob Chowdhury | On 21 Sep 2018

Public–Private Partnership Development in Southeast Asia

Infrastructure development in Southeast Asia has been financed mainly by public funds, which leave wide gaps in majority of countries. Governments have tried to attract the private sector by offering...

by Fauziah Zen | On 16 Aug 2018

Drivers of Student Performance: Evidence from Higher Secondary Public Schools in Delhi

The role of teachers and students in the formation of test scores at the higher secondary level (grade 12) in public schools in Delhi, India is analysed. Using the value added approach, we find subs...

by Deepti Goel | On 01 Aug 2018

Process Evaluation of the CHED K to 12 Adjustment Assistance Program

This paper evaluates the implementation of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) K to 12 Adjustment Assistance Program, established following the full implementation of the Enhanced Basic Educatio...

by Alex Brillantes | On 29 Jun 2018

Financial Globalisation and Economic Growth in South Asia

The paper examines the relationship between financial globalization and growth. While the existing literature suggests divergent conclusions and mostly in the case of developed countries, there is dea...

by N R Bhanumurthy | On 14 Jun 2018

Trade Costs, Time, and Supply Chain Reliability

This paper uses measures of international transport time, in median and standard deviation, based on shipment-level data from the Universal Postal Union, to analyze the effect of time on trade costs....

by Utsav Kumar | On 14 Jun 2018

Does India Need a Caste-based Quota in Cricket? Drawing Parallels from South Africa

In India’s 85-year-long Test history, only four of the 289 male Test cricketers have reportedly been Dalits. While concrete steps have been taken to address a similar under-representation of non-white...

by | On 29 May 2018

Caste-Gender Intersectionalities and the Curious Case of Child Nutrition: A Methodological Exposition

A growing body of research has addressed the issue of intersectionality since the last three decades, mostly adopting qualitative methodologies. Quantitative attempts to capture intersectionality h...

by Simantini Mukhopadhyay | On 28 May 2018

Gender and Intersecting Inequalities in Local Government in South Asia

This paper is an evidence review of how intersecting forms of inequalities influence women’s political participation and representation at the local level in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The r...

by | On 11 May 2018

Book Review: Can India Pull It Off?

Review of Ascending India and Its State Capacity: Extraction, Violence, and Legitimacy by Sumit Ganguly, William R. Thompson. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016. 352 pp. $40.00 (cloth), ISBN...

by | On 18 Apr 2018

Book Review: War, Violence, and the State

Review of Political Violence in Ancient India by Upinder Singh, Harvard University Press, Cambridge,Massachusetts; 2017, pp. xvii, pp. 598.

by Aloka Parasher Sen | On 12 Apr 2018

Trade Facilitation Measures to Enhance Women’s Participation in Cross-border Trade in BBIN

Trade facilitation measures improve the trading environment by reducing transaction costs and thereby increasing the gains from trade. Although the use of trade facilitation measures for tackling tr...

by Sanjana Joshi | On 28 Mar 2018

An Ethnographic Study of the Mathru Poorna Yojana (One Full Meal) Pilot Project for Pregnant and Lactating Mothers in Two Blocks of Two Districts in Karnataka

The present study was undertaken to review the pilot implementation of the programme and its uptake by beneficiaries, in order to provide data to the DWCD, before scaling up the programme to all distr...

by Centre for Budget and Policy Studies CBPS | On 23 Mar 2018

One Hundred Ninth Report on the National Medical Commission Bill, 2017

The Preamble to The National Medical Commission Bill, 2017 lays down its mission statement, which is to provide for a medical education system that ensures availability of adequate and high quality...

by Rajya Sabha Secretariat | On 23 Mar 2018

Sociology of Sport: India

This chapter is a collation and review of literature that can be considered to form the terrain of sports studies in India. It attempts two broad tasks: firstly, to aggregate these studies, and second...

by Veena Mani | On 16 Mar 2018

Continuing Caste inequalities in Rural Uttar Pradesh

A continuous mixed opinion on the relevance of caste based reservations and caste as a factor of socioeconomic disparity in the recent period demands update of evidence on socioeconomic inequalities...

by Srinivas Goli | On 16 Mar 2018

People-to-People Partnership in Asia Africa Growth Corridor: Historical and Cultural Linkages

People-to-People Partnership (PPP) is an important and inevitable mode of interactions in the sphere of international relations. In any kind of developmental, diplomatic and cultural interactions and...

by | On 15 Mar 2018

Women Empowerment and Good Times: Which One Leads to the Other ?

Does substantial women empowerment lead to significant output, or do good times lead to women empowerment? Using a panel VAR study as well as a comprehensive gender gap index and its sub-indices fro...

by | On 12 Mar 2018

Urban refugees in Delhi Refugee networks, faith and well-being

This paper explores the faith context of displacement and settlement for the Sikh and Christian Afghan refugees and Muslim Rohingya refugees in Delhi. It examines the foundation of community faith...

by | On 09 Mar 2018

India: A Fab-less Wonder: Case of SMDP

From IPod to I Pad, millions of electronics goods have rolled out of China, the global manufacturing hub. India’s share of global electronic product market is less than 3%. Taiwan had $72 billion of...

by A S Rao | On 07 Mar 2018

SAARC Food Bank (SFB) Institutional Architecture and Issues of Operationalisation

In view of the need for an appropriate institutional architecture to address the food security concerns in South Asia, issues of proper operationalisation of the SAARC Food Bank (SFB) have assumed cr...

by | On 06 Mar 2018

Kerala’s Development Experience: Its Implications for Finance Commissions

This paper examines critically the awards of the recent Finance Commissions (FCs) in the specific context of the ongoing work of the Thirteenth Finance Commission (13FC).

by K.K. George | On 28 Feb 2018

Regaining the Constitutional Identity of the Finance Commission: A Daunting Task for the Thirteenth Commission

The paper argues that the Thirteenth Finance Commission has got to find its own track if it does not want to remain as a pale shadow of its constitutional self. It should ignore those terms of referen...

by K.K. George | On 28 Feb 2018

Fieldnotes on Caste Practices among Muslims of Nohsa Panchayat

The paper says that the commonly held view is that the caste based stratification is a feature of the Hindu model of social organization.

by Khursheed Akbar | On 22 Feb 2018

Book Review: Revival of Working Class

Review of Southern Insurgency: The Coming of the Global Working Class By Immanuel Ness; Pluto Press, 2016; pp. 240 USD 28.

by Vrijendra | On 21 Feb 2018

Militarisation and Armed Conflict

India's claim that all human rights violations are redressed stands sharply refuted by the report of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which in its report to UPR2 stated that AFSPA remains i...

by Working Group on Human Rights (WGHR) | On 21 Feb 2018

‘Television Was Left On, a Running Tap, from Morning till Night’: The Indian Premier League (IPL)

There is no sport without television. Television has become vital to the existence and sustenance of all sport, including cricket. This paper focuses on the broadcast technologies of television and...

by | On 15 Feb 2018

Divisive Politics in Tamizh Nadu

While the Dravidian movement is surely a necessary counter to historical and even contemporary oppressive politics played by Brahmins and other upper castes, their militant politics and intellectual...

by Shyam Sundar | On 08 Feb 2018

Enhancing Climate Resilience of India’s Coastal Communities

The project aims to enhance the resilience of the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable populations, particularly women, in the coastal areas of India to climate change and extreme events.

by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | On 08 Feb 2018

Agricultural Extension in Cambodia: An Assessment and Options for Reform

Cambodia’s agriculture sector remains the backbone of the country’s economy. Most of Cambodia’s people live in rural areas and rely heavily on agriculture for their livelihoods. In recent decades, th...

by Sam Oeurn Ke | On 06 Feb 2018

Levels and Trends in Child Malnutrition

UNICEF, WHO, World Bank global and regional child malnutrition estimates from 1990 to 2017 reveal that we are still far from a world without malnutrition. The joint estimates, published in May 2017,...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 25 Jan 2018

The India Freedom Report: Media Freedom and Freedom of Expression in 2017

The climate for journalism in India grew steadily adverse in 2017. A host of perpetrators made reporters and photographers, even editors, fair game as there were murders, attacks, threats, and cases...

by The Hoot the hoot.org | On 24 Jan 2018

A Guide to Using Budget Analysis

Budget analysis entails analysis and assessment of budget from the lens of marginalised sections of population with the objective of prioritisation of public expenditures and collection of revenues...

by Happy Pant | On 17 Jan 2018

Nation State Boundaries and Human Rights of People in South Asia

The present study seeks to examine the issue of human rights violations in the border areas of countries in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region. It is in an effort to...

by | On 12 Jan 2018

Property Rights, Intersectionality, and Women’s Empowerment in Nepal

Property is widely recognized as an important resource for empowering women. Many development policies worldwide therefore call for strengthening women’s rights to property, especially to physical a...

by Rajendra Pradhan | On 11 Jan 2018

Book Review: Inappropriate Technology and Markets Kill Cotton Farmers and Weavers: A Passionate Account since Colonial Times

Review of A Frayed History: The Journey of Cotton in India by Meena Menon and Uzramma. Oxford University Press, 2018. USD 685.50.

by | On 07 Jan 2018

Prospects of India–Bangladesh Economic Cooperation: Implications for South Asian Regional Cooperation

In recent years, South Asia has received growing attention as a region that is integrating successfully into the global economy. To maximize the benefits in terms of faster growth and poverty reductio...

by Prabir De | On 19 Dec 2017

Poverty Estimates in India: Some Key Issues

The paper provides an overview of the methodologies used by the Indian Planning Commission in the past 30 years. Using the Planning Commission poverty line, the paper computes poverty and inequality...

by | On 13 Dec 2017

Scheduled Castes, Legitimacy and Local Governance: Continuing Social Exclusion in Panchayats

People of the Scheduled Castes have a long history of being discriminated against, exploited, and placed at the bottom of caste society. The panchayati raj, after the enactment of the 73rd Constitutio...

by | On 07 Dec 2017

India’s Emerging Connectivity with Southeast Asia: Progress and Prospects

Connectivity is the key building block of convergence and cohesion in any regional integration initiative. Development of connectivity across any region—especially of transportation linkages, energy p...

by | On 16 Nov 2017

Stigma or Red Tape? Roadblocks in the Use of Affirmative Action

This paper examines whether and to what extent, additional stigmatization adversely affects the use of reservations for higher education or jobs. The quantitative analysis is based on a primary survey...

by Ashwini Deshpande | On 03 Nov 2017

Marginality, Suffering, Justice: Questions of Dalit Dignity in Cultural Texts

Dalit dignity is organized around caste-determined labour that fits them into hierarchies of social dignity but which, in savage irony, renders them undignified as humans through social death. Second,...

by Pramod K. Nayar | On 31 Oct 2017

Data Ecosystems for Sustainable Development: The Africa Data Revolution Report 2016

This report aims to serve as the foundation upon which the nations can create data eco-systems to serve developmental aims.

by Aritra Chakrabarty | On 26 Oct 2017

Macroeconomic Impact of International Reserves: Empirical Evidence from South Asia

This paper constructs a dynamic macro model with new monetary policy rule to examine the implications of international reserve accumulation for macroeconomic outcomes such as economic growth and infla...

by Prakash Shrestha | On 18 Oct 2017

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness: Activist in Control

In the fleeting moments that the activist takes a backseat, the book is a joy to read.

by Amrit B L S | On 15 Oct 2017

Towards ‘Make in South Asia’: Evolving Regional Values Chains

One of the most important ways in which several of the common developmental challenges in South Asia could be addressed is by focusing on manufacturing. In the new context, manufacturing becomes key...

by Ram Upendra Das | On 04 Oct 2017

Health Experience of Women: A Gender Perspective

This review paper examines the ill-health experience of women, and whether it has been adequately explored in a socio-cultural context from a gender perspective. A deeper understanding of the wide ran...

by Annapuranam Karuppannan | On 14 Sep 2017

The 1857 Indian Uprising and the British Empire

Situating the 1857 Indian uprising within an imperial context, Jill C. Bender traces its ramifications across the four different colonial sites of Ireland, New Zealand, Jamaica, and southern Africa. B...

by Elizabeth Baker | On 11 Sep 2017

Embodied Engagements: Filmmaking and Viewing Practices and the Habitus of Telugu Cinema

Viewers of South Indian devotional films, female viewers in particular, have been known to offer prayers to the gods on screen and even moved to a state of possession while watching a film. Filmmaking...

by Uma Bhrugubanda | On 31 Aug 2017

GPG clauses in collective agreements, including summaries of the discussions in the trade unions

Social partners, sensibilisation, monitor, training, employees’, employment, trade unionists, problem, evaluation, transparency.

by Szilvia Borbély | On 21 Aug 2017

Addressing Intimate Partner Violence in South Asia

The report, Addressing Intimate Partner Violence in South Asia- Evidence for Interventions in the Health Sector, Women’s Collectives and Local Governance Mechanisms, is based on a systemic review of l...

by Rohini Prabha Pande | On 18 Aug 2017

Local government in South Africa: Can the objectives of the developmental state be achieved through the current model of decentralised governance?

This study examines the notions of decentralisation and developmentalism, and shows how they have become two of the most significant defining features of South African local government.

by Andrew Siddle | On 11 Aug 2017

Strengthening Local Governance in Africa: Beyond Donor-Driven Approaches

The paper argues, in line with other recent studies that time has come to rethink concepts and practices used to promote local governance in African countries.

by Göran Hydén | On 10 Aug 2017

India, Climate Change and Security in South Asia

South Asia faces a wide array of social, political, and economic issues that already threaten security in the region. The region has a history of border disputes, sectarian violence, and government co...

by David Antos | On 09 Aug 2017

A Political Economy Analysis of the Southeast Asian Haze and Some Solutions

This paper studies the political economy of the Southeast Asian haze and discusses the obstacles that, unless overcome, could prevent a permanent and effective solution to this transboundary pollution...

by Parkash Chander | On 08 Aug 2017

An Approach to Forest and Conservation Policy in Southeast Asia

Forest and conservation policy in Southeast Asia is now at yet another crossroads. Despite decades of efforts, the challenges ahead remain formidable. These challenges include: (i) continued deforesta...

by Gary Bull | On 08 Aug 2017

Making Women Count for Peace: Gender, Empowerment and Conflict in South Asia

With a focus on Northeast Indian experiences and a comparative look at Nepal, this project addresses the role of women in local governance and politics, particularly within the context of peace and se...

by Calcutta Group | On 04 Aug 2017

Book Review : Other Women, Other Lives

Book Review of We Are All Revolutionaries Here: Militarism, Political Islam and Gender in Pakistan, By Aneela Zeb Babar; Sage Yoda Press, Pp.196, Rs 695.

by Meena Menon | On 12 Jun 2017

The Long Road to Transformation of Agricultural Markets in India: Lessons from Karnataka

This paper examines Karnataka's pioneering agricultural output marketing reforms with the twin goals of assessing the state and challenges of implementation and to glean lessons from Karnataka's expe...

by Nidhi Aggarwal | On 02 May 2017

Household Expenditure on Higher Education in India: What do we know & What do recent data have to say?

The paper analyse data from two recent NSSO surveys to provide estimates of expenditure on higher education and loans availed for higher education. The average share of expenditure on higher educatio...

by S. Chandrasekhar | On 02 May 2017

Role of Gender Gap in Economic Growth: Analysis on Developing Countries versus OECD Countries

This study investigates the effects of the gender gap on economic growth by using a composite gender gap index from the World Economic Forum. The index captures the multidimensional aspect of the gend...

by Sanika Sulochani Ramanayake | On 02 May 2017

Can Conditional Transfers Eradicate Child Marriage?

Conditional cash transfers are increasingly being used by policymakers as a strategy to postpone the marriage of adolescent girls in developing countries. While this approach has met with success in t...

by | On 27 Apr 2017

Security Cooperation in South Asia

South Asia continues to be one of the most important crisis regions in the 21st century. It is characterized by an interlocking web of old and new security risks. There are unresolved territorial disp...

by | On 17 Apr 2017

Unexplored “Bill of Rights” : A Magna Carta for Gender Justice and Budgeting in India

This paper explores the “Bill of Rights” in the Justice Verma Committee Report as an analytical framework for gender budgeting in justice. Gender budgeting in justice, as a public good, needs effectiv...

by Lekha Chakraborty | On 03 Mar 2017

Prostitution and the Ends of Empire: Scale, Governmentalities, and Interwar India. Durham: Duke University Press, Review

The book is an important exploration of late colonial preoccupations with the brothel, a "scandalous" space fueling the archival accretions that sustain contemporary historical inquiry. 2015; xi...

by Tara Suri | On 23 Feb 2017

Caste Connections and Government Transfers: The Mahadalits of Bihar

The category of Scheduled Castes, created for the purpose of affirmative action in India, is large, heterogeneous and unequal. In 2007, the state of Bihar classified the most disadvantaged among thi...

by Hemanshu Kumar | On 16 Feb 2017

Family, Community, and Educational Outcomes in South Asia

In this article, we review research on the economics and sociology of education to assess the relationships between family and community variables and children’s educational outcomes in South Asia. At...

by | On 14 Feb 2017

Collective Action on South Asia's 'Wicked Problems'

The problems of water, energy, climate change, and urbanisation, are all intertwined; they are, also, all 'wicked'. There is little consensus on how to effectively navigate these problems, let alone,...

by | On 02 Feb 2017

Debating the World in the Asian Century

As Asia finds itself in the limelight, whether in terms of major power relations, rising insecurity and potential for conflict, or economic governance, it is worth asking, even before broaching the re...

by | On 02 Feb 2017

Union Budget 2017-18: Social Sector Largesse Does Not Tell the Whole Story

While there has been a a big jump in allocations to health overall, there is no indication that it will be sustained and will mark a trend.

by Ravi Duggal | On 01 Feb 2017

Missing from the Market: Purdah Norm and Women’s Paid Work Participation in Bangladesh

Despite significant improvement in female schooling over the last two decades, only a small proportion of women in South Asia are in wage employment. We revisit this puzzle using a nationally represen...

by | On 24 Jan 2017

Rural - Urban Linkages in South Asia: Contemporary Themes and Policy Directions

The early literature on migrant urban communities emphasized the conditions and employment patterns of squatter residents who have emerged on the urban landscape. Only recently has attention shifted t...

by | On 23 Jan 2017

Children 's Protein Consumption in Southeast Asia: Consideration of Quality as Well as Quantity of Children 's Protein Consumption in Southeast Asia

Inadequate dietary intake and prolonged undernourishment can lead to short term and long term consequences, which can deplete financial, physical, and social capital, further exacerbating the cycle of...

by | On 18 Jan 2017

Non-Communicable Diseases and Risk Factors in Migrants from South Asian Countries

The following document contains a review for a research project on migration and chronic or non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It begins with an overview of the geographical scope; the review focuses s...

by | On 11 Jan 2017

Demographic Transformation in South Asia: Implications for Rice Research and Development

The demographic structure of South Asian countries are rapidly transforming, which can greatly influence future rice production and consumption in the region. Literature on the impact of demographic t...

by | On 11 Jan 2017

Going and Coming and Going Again: Second-Generation Migrants in Dubai

The government of the United Arab Emirates requires all foreign migrant workers to reside on temporary visas. This affects transnational mobility patterns among the one class of residents whom we shou...

by | On 09 Jan 2017

Local Institutional Structure and Clientelistic Access to Employment: The Case of MGNREGS in Three States of India

This work is a contribution, first, toward measuring and characterizing some features of rural clientelistic institutions and then toward exploring its impact on household access to an employment sc...

by Anindya Bhattacharya | On 30 Dec 2016

Demographic Dividend in India

India is passing through the demographic transition and we hardly have 50 to 60 years more to utilise the demographic dividend. By mid of this century, India will have a huge population of 60 and old...

by Priya Sharma | On 23 Dec 2016

Reforms in Higher Education in India: A Review of Recommendations of Commissions and Committees on Education

The discourses on higher education system in India after Independence could be distinguished by four major trends. First trend is the reluctance to expansion and restriction to admission without im...

by A. Mathew | On 19 Dec 2016

The Changing Contours of Inter group Disparities and the Role of Preferential Policies in a Globalizing World: Evidence from India

How persistent are traditional socioeconomic hierarchies in the face of marketization, significant structural shifts in the economy, and increased political representation of lower-ranked groups, and...

by Ashwini Deshpande | On 15 Dec 2016

Religious Denominations of Kerala

This paper discusses the demographic and socio-economic profile of religious communities (Castes among the Hindus, Sects among the Muslims and Denominations among the Christians) in Kerala’s three ...

by K. C. Zachariah | On 06 Dec 2016

Household Income Mobility in India: 1993-2011

Using nationally representative longitudinal survey, the paper examines the income mobility among rural (urban) Indian households over 1993-2004 and 2004-2011 (2004-2011). The paper finds mobility est...

by Mehtabul Azam | On 03 Nov 2016

Mapping the South-Asian Political Landscape in the Context of Migration

Review on , Partha S. Ghosh’s book, ‘Migrants, Refugees and the Stateless in South-Asia’ ; Sage Publications India, 384 pages

by Aashish Khakha | On 03 Nov 2016

Lower in Rank, but Happier: The Complex Relationship between Status and Happiness

Case studies across the social sciences have established a positive relationship between social status and happiness. In observational data, however, identification challenges remain severe. This st...

by Bert Van Landeghem | On 25 Oct 2016

Rehabilitating Children in Conflict with the Law: Opportunities and Challenges

While discussing about the problems and issues faced by children in India, we have overlooked a category of children that are almost always overlooked are the ‘Children in Conflict with the Law’. Man...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 24 Oct 2016

India-Africa Partnership for Food Security: Issues, Initiatives and Policy Directions

The paper argues that there is strong rationale for India-Africa collaboration on food security, given their common challenge of hunger, undernutrition, and low productivity. This paper offers specifi...

by | On 24 Oct 2016

MGNREGS: Political Economy, Local Governance and Asset Creation in South India

MGNREGS, the premier centrally-sponsored national rural livelihood scheme, is one of the most elaborately designed and implemented public workfare programmes in India. While a large number of studi...

by Vinoj Abraham | On 10 Oct 2016

Poor Women in Urban India: Issues and Strategies

It is generally recognised that poverty is experienced differently according to their gender, age, caste, class and ethnicity and within households. Income levels, food security and indeed life choice...

by | On 05 Oct 2016

Identity, Perceptions and Institutions: Caste Differences in Earnings from Self-Employment in India

Using data from two rounds of the Employment-Unemployment Survey of the National Sample Survey for 2004-5 and 2009-10, we investigate the relationship between social identity, specifically caste ident...

by | On 05 Oct 2016

Comparing Apples to Apples: A New Indicator of Research and Development Investment Intensity in Agriculture

It is conventional wisdom in the economic development literature that there is a significant underinvestment in agricultural R&D in developing countries. Evidence supporting this belief is provided,...

by Alejandro Nin Pratt | On 30 Sep 2016

Water and Identity: An Analysis of the Cauvery River Water Dispute

This paper focuses on the dispute over river Cauvery in Southern India. Among the causes of river water disputes are contested property rights, difficulty in enforcing such rights, conflict of uses an...

by | On 20 Sep 2016

Defined by Absence: Women and Research in South Asia

There is a closing of the gender gap in many parts of the world in terms of female access to education and enrolments at various levels of secondary and tertiary level. The World Economic Forum recent...

by | On 09 Sep 2016

Child and Maternal Health and Nutrition in South Asia - Lessons for India

South Asia has been characterized by its minimal progress in the areas of child and maternal health and nutrition in comparison to other regions in the world. The case of India is especially enigmatic...

by | On 09 Sep 2016

Draft National Medical Commission Bill, 2016

A bill to create a world class medical education system that ensures high quality medical education system.

by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare H & FW | On 08 Sep 2016

Health Spending, Macroeconomics and Fiscal Space in Countries of the World Health Organization South-East Asia Region

The paper examines the issues around mobilization of resources for the 11 countries of the South-East Asia Region of the World Health Organization (WHO), by analysing their macroeconomic situation, he...

by | On 07 Sep 2016

Prospects and Challenges of Out-Migration from South Asia and its Neighbouring Countries

This paper analyses the trends, nature and extent of out-migration from South Asia and its neighbouring countries like Afghanistan and Iran and examines the economic implications in both sending and r...

by | On 06 Sep 2016

You Can Silence Me, But You cannot Silence the Truth

Discrimination against dalits and minority communities has only become more brazen and open. Freedoms – of thought and expression, of scientific enquiry and of rational dissent – continue to be stifle...

by Newsclick Newsclick | On 06 Sep 2016

Challenges to Food Security in South Asia

The high levels of under-nutrition and persisting hunger in the region not only calls for an assessment of the situation of food production and consumption but also issues like access to food by the p...

by Arindam Banerjee | On 31 Aug 2016

Re-Shaping Policy and Institutions for Integrating Climate and Disaster Resilience

It is clear that positive policy action is needed to build the resilience of citizens and the state to changing climate and disaster shocks and stresses. What is not so clear is why there is a lag in...

by | On 29 Aug 2016

Environmentally Induced Migration from Bangladesh to India

Environmental crisis in the rural areas of developing countries is increasingly becoming an important cause of cross-border migration of population and South Asia is no exception to this phenomenon. S...

by | On 22 Aug 2016

Macroeconomic Determinants of Remittances in South Asian countries: A Dynamic Panel Study

The study attempts to identify the macroeconomic determinants of remittance inflows in South Asian countries. It uses additively separable utility function as theoretical framework and the Arellano-Bo...

by | On 16 Aug 2016

Brain Drain Versus Brain Gain: The Study of Remittances in Southeast Asia and Promoting Knowledge Exchange Through Diasporas

The study attempts to identify the macroeconomic determinants of remittance inflows in South Asian countries. It uses additively separable utility function as theoretical framework and the Arellano-Bo...

by | On 16 Aug 2016

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016

A Bill to further amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 2016. The 44th session of Indian Labour Conference, has recommended for enhancing maternity leave under Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 from existing twe...

by Ministry of Labour and Employment GoI | On 12 Aug 2016

The National Medical Commission Bill, 2016, Draft

The Preliminary Report and the draft National Medical Commission Bill, 2016 is placed for seeking public opinion. Please send comments/suggestions/feedback on the draft bill latest by 31st August, 201...

by Niti Aayog GOI | On 11 Aug 2016

Union Army Veterans, All Grown Up

This paper overviews the research opportunities made possible by a NIA-funded program project, Early Indicators, Intergenerational Processes, and Aging. Data collection began almost three decades ago...

by Dora Costa | On 09 Aug 2016

GST in India: A Big Leap in the Indirect Taxation System

The replacement of the Central excise duty of the government of India by Central Value Added Tax (CENVAT) and sales tax system of the State governments by the VAT marked a major mile stone in the refo...

by | On 05 Aug 2016

Utilisation and Impact of Referral Transport System on Institutional Deliveries in Delhi

This paper highlights the major hindrances in providing a robust referral transport service in Delhi, under the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram.The study analyses the socio-economic parameters and...

by Suresh Sharma | On 03 Aug 2016

South-South Migration and Remittances

The impact of South-South migration on the income of migrants and natives is smaller than for South-North migration. However, even small increases in income can have substantial welfare implications f...

by | On 27 Jul 2016

The Financial Literacy of Indians

While a lot of experimentation has been done in the realm of financial literacy, it is difficult to point to one standardised method or approach that works best in all scenarios with all kinds of targ...

by | On 20 Jul 2016

The South China Sea Ruling: What Now for China?

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 14 of the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996 (Act 8 of 1996). China has chosen not to take part in the ar...

by | On 20 Jul 2016

Rising China Confronts Maritime Southeast Asia

China’s rejection of the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on its expansive claim to the South China Sea has set itself up for confrontation with maritime states in Southeast Asia. It will also he...

by | On 18 Jul 2016

Reducing Violence in a Time of Global Uncertainty: Insights from the Institute of Development Studies Addressing and Mitigating Violence Programme

This Evidence Report details key insights from the Institute of Development Studies Addressing and Mitigating Violence programme, which involved detailed political analysis of dynamics of violence as...

by | On 15 Jul 2016

Conflicts in the South China Sea and China ASEAN Economic Interdependence: A Challenge to Cooperation

This paper analyzes the absence of correlation between China-ASEAN economic interdependence and dispute settlement in the South China Sea, against liberals’ prediction. It argues that there are a few...

by | On 13 Jul 2016

Keeping the South China Sea in Perspective

The South China Sea disputes involve the interests of the United States, particularly with regard to freedom of navigation, international norms and law, relations with important partners and allies, a...

by | On 13 Jul 2016

Rising Food Prices in South Asia: A Policy Framework to Mitigate Adverse Effects

The recent commodity boom has seriously affected South Asia, particularly due to higher food prices and their impact on the welfare of poor and vulnerable populations. This paper describes the food cr...

by S.Mahendra Dev | On 12 Jul 2016

Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) and Financial Sector Regulation in India

This paper examines the changes in regulation in four G7 countries post the financial sector breakdown of 2008 and suggestions made by the Financial Stability Board with respect to e.g. capital adequa...

by Jaimini Bhagwati | On 07 Jul 2016

Projecting Progress: The SDGs in Asia-Pacific

This paper presents Asia-Pacific’s likely progress across the Sustainable Development Goals agenda, if trends continue on their current trajectories. Some Asian countries have been the world’s top per...

by | On 07 Jul 2016

Vital Stats: Overview of Central Government Employees

The central government periodically constitutes a Pay Commission, to evaluate and recommend revisions of salaries and pensions, for its employees. Recently, the Seventh Central Pay Commission has mad...

by Vatsal Khullar | On 07 Jul 2016

Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Well-Being in Rich Countries

This report builds and expands upon the analyses of Report Card No. 6 which considered relative income poverty affecting children and policies to mitigate it. This report provides a pioneering, compre...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 30 Jun 2016

Best Practices in Regulation of Private Education

Current paper aims to understand how the governments in different parts of the world have leveraged upon the private sector to achieve specific educational goals. The idea here is not to recommend o...

by Centre for Civil Society CCS | On 29 Jun 2016

The Drought and Humanitarian Crisis in Central and Southwest Asia: A Climate Perspective

A persistent multi-year drought in Central and Southwest Asia has affected close to 60 million people as of November 2001. Chronic political instability in many parts of this region and the recent mil...

by | On 24 Jun 2016

Implementing the Right to Education Act 2009: The Real Challenges

This study is based on the fact that the implementation of the Act involves serious financial and governance challenges. Considering that different Indian states are at different stages of development...

by Jyotsna Jha | On 23 Jun 2016

Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) and Financial Sector Regulation in India

The Financial Sector Reforms Commission (FSLRC) which was set up in 2011 by the Ministry of Finance was mandated to study existing legislation and financial sector regulatory practices in India and...

by Jaimini Bhagwati | On 22 Jun 2016

Situation of Women in South Asia: Some Dimensions

South Asian women and their status is being assessed here to highlight the similarities in the conditions faced by women despite the diversities stemming from class, religion, culture and locality. Th...

by Preeti Rustagi | On 20 Jun 2016

Income Mobility among Social Groups in Indian Rural Households: Findings from the Indian Human Development Survey

The paper analyses income mobility across different social groups in India using data from the Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS) collected in 2004–05 and 2011–12. Indices signifying different n...

by Thiagu Ranganathan | On 16 Jun 2016

Migration and Remittances: Recent Developments and Outlook

According to the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016, more than 250 million people, or 3.4 percent of the world population, live outside their countries of birth (Figure 1). The volum...

by | On 14 Jun 2016

The Revival of the Silk Roads (Land Connectivity) in Asia

This paper argues that contrary to popular belief, in the bygone era, there was not one but two Silk Roads in Asia – the Northern and the less well-known South-western Silk Road (SSR). The SSR connect...

by | On 10 Jun 2016

The Contours and Concerns of Drought-Induced Migration

Umi Daniel is currently working as Head Migration Thematic unit at Aide et Action South Asia. His areas of interests are tribal empowerment, people’s right to food, micro level planning, rights and en...

by Umi Daniel | On 03 Jun 2016

Earmarked Tobacco Taxes: Lessons Learnt from Nine Countries

This publication looks at the experience of nine countries that have an experience in earmarking tobacco tax revenues for health purposes. It describes the challenges, setbacks and achievements of tho...

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 31 May 2016

'Steal This Book'

The extent of plagiarism in India is yet to be reckoned. Does rote learning encourage plagiarism? Does the lack of training in proper ways of acknowledging sources lead to inadvertant plagiarism? Thes...

by Shambhu Ghatak | On 30 May 2016

Dalits with Disabilities: The Neglected Dimension of Social Exclusion

This working paper studies broader areas of Dalits and Disability in India and explores in-depth consequences of inter-relation between the two. It draws corollary between the two concepts that is phy...

by Gobinda Pal | On 26 May 2016

Social Protection in East and South East Asia: A Regional Review

The paper starts with a discussion of the general context of growth and poverty across the region, exposure to risk or crisis, and the nature of vulnerability facing individuals, households and commu...

by | On 25 May 2016

The Dragon and the Giraffe: China in African forests

China needs Africa’s forests, and Africa knows it. Chinese investments in African forests and woodlands are growing fast. China is the largest importer of tropical timber in the world — possibly accou...

by | On 25 May 2016

The Role of Forests in a Green Economy transformation in Africa

This report explores the role of forests in a green economy transformation in Africa. Its aim is to present policymakers with a strong rationale for linking forests and REDD+ planning with green econo...

by | On 25 May 2016

Degradation and Loss of Peri-Urban Ecosystems

Rapid degradation of peri-urban ecosystems is resulting in a loss of associated ecosystem services. Water provision, storm- and waste-water regulation, along with protection from natural disasters and...

by Rockeffeller Foundation RF | On 25 May 2016

Stop Stunting in South Asia: A Common Narrative on Maternal and Child Nutrition

Governments in South Asia are progressively acknowledging that child stunting is both a marker and a maker of poor development. UNICEF regional and country offices in South Asia work with regional bo...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 24 May 2016

Institutionalising Civilian Control of the Military in New Democracies: Theory and Evidence from South Korea

This paper aims to answer the question of how and under what circumstances civilian control can be established in newly democratised nations. To do this, the paper proposes a new theoretical argument...

by | On 23 May 2016

Re-inventing the Congress

Congress should have long goals, energy, media strategy, good governance to come back to power.

by T.N. Ninan | On 21 May 2016

For Whom Does the Phone (not) Ring? Discrimination in the Rental Housing Market in Delhi, India

Using an audit experiment carried out on of India’s largest real estate websites, this study documents striking variations between landlords’ treatment of upper-caste Hindus, Other Backward Castes, Sc...

by Saugato Datta | On 18 May 2016

Assessing the Challenges of Climate Change to Biodiversity in Food and Agriculture Production in the Pacific

Ten countries from the Pacific have gathered in Nadi, Fiji, for a regional consultation on the region’s biodiversity for food and agriculture. The consultation, on the State of Biodiversity for Food a...

by Nadi Fiji | On 17 May 2016

Politics, While Young

Attempts to reconstruct a young voters' bloc have been crucial to campaigns around the globe. But caste and class fissures run wide and deep among that demographic, and India's youth might converge mo...

by Anish Nair | On 13 May 2016

Combatting Climate Change: Involving Indigenous Communities

Climate change combat is often in the hands of policy-makers, researchers and governments. However it is the marginalised and indigenous communities that feel the full force of climate change effect...

by Serina Rahman | On 03 May 2016

Payment systems to facilitate South Asian integration

The paper examines the role payment systems can play in greater South Asian integration, including intra regional trade facilitation. As payment systems become more sophisticated and thei...

by | On 02 May 2016

Stitches to Riches? Apparel Employment, Trade, and Economic Development in South Asia

This report is aimed at better informing that debate by demystifying the global and South Asian apparel markets, estimating the potential gains in exports and jobs (including for women), and identify...

by Gladys Lopez Acevedo | On 29 Apr 2016

Land, Labour and Caste Politics in Rural Tamil Nadu in the 20th Century: Iruvelpattu (1916-2008)

The “Slater” villages of Tamil Nadu that were first surveyed by the University of Madras economist, Gilbert Slater, and his students in 1916, were resurveyed in the 1930s, 1960s and the 1980s. This pa...

by John Harriss | On 27 Apr 2016

God’s Own Country – Moving Towards Universal Health Coverage in Kerala – Piloting in the Districts of Malappuram and Palakkad

The report ‘God’s Own Country, Moving Towards Universal Health Coverage in Kerala, Piloting in the Districts of Malappuram and Palakkad’, 2016 provides details and in-depth understanding of the Univer...

by Sunil Nandraj | On 21 Apr 2016

Systematic Voters’ Education & Electoral Participation: India National Document (2009-2014)

This document is a record of pioneering efforts adopted by the Election Commission of India within the scope of voters’ engagement and participation through the vast national programme of ‘Systematic...

by | On 21 Apr 2016

International Food Security Assessment, 2015-2025

Food security in the 76 low- and middle-income countries included in this report is expected to improve between 2014 and 2015. These countries are low- and middle-income countries as classified by the...

by Anthony Murray | On 12 Apr 2016

The Redistributive Effects of Political Reservation for Minorities: Evidence from India

We examine the impact of political reservation for disadvantaged minority groups on poverty. To address the concern that political reservation is endogenous in the relationship between poverty and res...

by Nishith Prakash | On 11 Apr 2016

Youth in India: Challenges of Employment and Employability

Using the NSSO Employment and Unemployment Survey Rounds as the basis, this paper examines questions of unemployment, employment and human capital formation among Indian youth belonging to various s...

by Rajendra P. Mamgain | On 05 Apr 2016

Human Development in Telangana State: District Profiles

Telangana emerged as the 29th state of the Indian Union from undivided Andhra Pradesh after a prolonged struggle for statehood for nearly six decades. The social structure in Telangana is uniquely sk...

by Center for Economic and Social Studies CESS | On 31 Mar 2016

How the Collapse of ‘Chimerica’ Will Affect South Asia

India and Pakistan, the two large countries in South Asia, must work for the region’s collective good rather than moving closer to the United States and China, respectively, and promoting the interest...

by Shahid Javed Burki | On 28 Mar 2016

India-APEC Products Trade: Importance of Trade in Intermediate Products and the Challenges Ahead

India’s principal trade partners are countries/economies in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region, and over the last decade the share of APEC in India’s trade has been growing. Specifica...

by Deeparghya Mukherjee | On 28 Mar 2016

Budget Speech Haryana: 2016-17

Budget Speech of Finance Minister of Haryana.

by Capt. Abhimanyu | On 22 Mar 2016

The Caste Gender System - A Necessary Analytic of Experience?

This paper formulates a conceptual category called the caste-gender system and tends to follow how the institution of caste operates in systematic complicity with discriminatory gender norms. It talks...

by Ritu Sen Chaudhuri | On 21 Mar 2016

The Conceit of Reason the Cunning of History versus - Modernity and Caste in India

This paper addresses the central question as to how and why caste still survives under conditions of democracy and modernity and what do we make of it. I try to explain this phenomenon by viewing it i...

by Sanjeeb Mukherjee | On 21 Mar 2016

Living the ‘Absence’ The Rajbanshis of North Bengal

While often it describe the modern era - framed by the Post-Enlightenment narrative - as one marked by an unprecedented concern for identity and identification, it often lose sight of the parallel pro...

by Samir Kumar Das | On 21 Mar 2016

Post-tsunami Socio-cultural Changes among the Nicobarese: An Ethnography of the Nicobarese of the Southern Nicobar Islands.

The paper traces the impact of welfare and development on the Nicobarese not only in terms of economic and social domination, but in relation to its influence on cultural meanings and practices. The ...

by Ajay Saini | On 21 Mar 2016

A Case for China’s Security Role in South Asia

The paper focuses on the constructive role that China can play in enhancing security in South Asia. The potential contribution that China can make to enhancing non-traditional security in the region i...

by Ramandeep Kaur | On 21 Mar 2016

Institutional Choices in the Shadow of History: Decentralization in Indonesia

This series is a continuation of WRI’s ‘Environmental Accountability in Africa’ working paper series (Working Papers number 1 through 22). The series was renamed to reflect the Equity Poverty and Envi...

by Institue World Resources | On 20 Mar 2016

Investing in Natural Capital for a Sustainable Future in the Greater Mekong Subregion

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is poised to continue developing at a significant pace. The subregion is well placed to benefit from the emerging Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Com...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Implications of MGNREGS on Labour Market, Wages and Consumption Expenditure in Kerala

This paper makes an attempt to evaluate the implications of MGNREGS in labour short economy of Kerala. The analysis of NSSO unit level data revealed inter-state differences in implementation of the sc...

by V. Dhanya | On 14 Mar 2016

Debt Dynamics, Fiscal Deficit, and Stability in Government Borrowing in India: A Dynamic Panel Analysis

Despite the initiatives of the Finance Commission of India, fiscal performance has been deteriorating and increasingly diverging across Indian states. Given that the state governments are endowed with...

by Panchanan Das | On 14 Mar 2016

Srilanka Building on Success

Sri Lanka has emerged in recent years as one of the most dynamic countries in South Asia. With a rich cultural heritage, an increasingly sophisticated work force, and a strategic location that links A...

by Asian Bank | On 14 Mar 2016

Dependence of States on Central Transfers: Aggregate and State-wise Analysis

This paper examines the dependence of states on central fiscal transfers. It particularly focuses on the role of transfers through tax devolution under the recommendation of the Finance Commissions. T...

by D K Srivastava | On 13 Mar 2016

‘China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative Society’

China is unique among developing countries in achieving sustained economic and social success. So, policymakers in South Asia will do well to factor a robust Chinese economic future into their thinkin...

by Shahid Javed Burki | On 11 Mar 2016

Human Rights in North Korea: Pressure and Engagement

Over a year since its report was published, what are the implications and limitations of the UN Commission of Inquiry’s investigation into human rights violations in North Korea, and what is the best...

by | On 10 Mar 2016

Analyzing the Aid Effectiveness on the Living Standard: A Check-up on South East Asian Countries

The present research work aims to analyse the effect that the disaggregated developmental aid has had on the health status and the standard of living in the urban sector after the MDGs were establishe...

by Zareena Begum Irfan | On 10 Mar 2016

Migration and Health Outcomes: The Case of a High Migration District in South Punjab

Given the importance of health in overall living standard of people, the present study has attempted to probe into the role of migration in affecting health status and outcomes of population. The heal...

by Shujaat Farooq | On 10 Mar 2016

Transboundary Pollution as an Issue in Northeast Asian Regional Politics

The paper investigates the political aspects of the coorperation between China, South Korea and Japan to address transboundary pollution in Northeast Asia. Investigating the motivations, modalities an...

by Reinhard Drifte | On 09 Mar 2016

Sexual Harassment at the Workplace: A Continuing Story

The reinstatement at TERI of a man accused of sexual harassment to the post of vice chair even as the case is pending is nothing short of cocking a snook at the law and the norms that came into being...

by Vibhuti Patel | On 05 Mar 2016

Landmark Verdict by The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

On 26 July 2010, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) delivered its first verdict against a former official of the Khmer Rouge regime, KaingGuekEav (also known as ‘Duch’). The E...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 04 Mar 2016

Where and How Are Roads Endangering Mammals in Southeast Asia’s Forests?

Habitat destruction and overhunting are two major drivers of mammal population declines and extinctions in tropical forests. The construction of roads can be a catalyst for these two threats. In South...

by Gopalasamy Reuben Clements | On 03 Mar 2016

The Role of DNA Barcodes in Understanding and Conservation of Mammal Diversity in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is recognized as a region of very high biodiversity, much of which is currently at risk due to habitat loss and other threats. However, many aspects of this diversity, even for relativ...

by | On 03 Mar 2016

Contesting Identities in Bangladesh: A Study of Secular and Religious Frontiers

The birth of Bangladesh in 1971 was an epoch-making event within the post-colonial order of South Asia. Led by the middle classes, a bitter and bloody war of Liberation from Pakistan was fought, based...

by Sanjay Bhardwaj | On 01 Mar 2016

Environment And The Aging Experience Among South Indian Hunter-Gatherers

There has been much discussion on aging and peoples’ concerns for old age. However, few studies have been done on the aging experience from an emic perspective. This geroanthropological paper makes an...

by Seetha Kakkoth | On 01 Mar 2016

Challenges and Developments in the Financial Systems of the Southeast Asian Economies

This paper discusses the economies and financial systems of Southeast Asia (SEA) and focuses on challenges and developments in the region. Despite the diversity of SEA economies and some important exc...

by Toshiyuki Shimada | On 29 Feb 2016

Can the New Intergovernmental Structure Work in Pakistan in the Presence of Governance Challenges? Learning from China

The reform of the tax administration has been recognized as a priority since the early 1980s and the report of the Tax Reforms Commission headed by Qamar-ul Islam, which had called the then Central Bo...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 29 Feb 2016

The Future of Australia's Productivity: Some Insights from Productivity Analysis

The Productivity Commission program of studies on the productivity of different sectors — to date, Mining, Electricity, gas and water, and Manufacturing — provide some insight into what lies behind th...

by Jenny Gordon | On 29 Feb 2016

Assessing the Impact of Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission's Open Access Order for Solar Power Generators in Karnataka

WRI is keen to track its on-ground impact to serve as a feedback mechanism to Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) and as a learning for other state regulators who may be looking for sol...

by Deepak Sriram Krishnan | On 29 Feb 2016

Information for Climate Change Adaptation: Lessons and Needs in South Asia

This paper serves as background for a South Asian regional workshop that will bring together adaptation information users and producers to inform likely new investments in the information base for cli...

by Ayesha Dinshaw | On 29 Feb 2016

Growth Pole Programme For Unorganised Sector Enterprise Development

Government of India constituted the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) in September 2004 as an advisory body and a watchdog for the informal sector to bring about im...

by National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorgan NCEUS | On 29 Feb 2016

Anaemia in Pregnancy - Inter-State Differences

Nutritional anaemia due to iron and folate deficiency is a major global Public Health problem. South Asia ranks among the regions, which have the highest prevalence of anaemia in the world and India p...

by K.N. Agarwal | On 29 Feb 2016

Financing of Urban Local Bodies in India

The rising level of urbanisation in India draws attention to inadequate infrastructure levels in urban areas. While many factors play a role in infrastructure development, this paper examines the fina...

by Charan Singh | On 27 Feb 2016

Political Economy of Multilevel Information Generation and Liability Management

The issue of managing sub-national liabilities is not only an issue in the EU, but is also being a major concern in South Asia, China and Brazil as much of the public investment needed for sustainable...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 26 Feb 2016

Accra Conference on Aid Effectiveness Perspectives from Bangladesh

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), established in 1993, is a civil society initiative to promote an ongoing dialogue between the principal partners in the decision-making and implementing process....

by Dialogue Centre for Policy | On 25 Feb 2016

The End of “Dynamic Korea”? Reflections on South Korea’s Demographic Transition

South Korea is facing rapid ageing. Major repercussions are anticipated. Innovative approaches and a new mindset will help to defuse this impending demographic crisis.

by Lee Sang Ok | On 25 Feb 2016

Biosafety Protocol, International Trade and Agricultural Biotechnology: Policy Inferences for India

The growing development in and possibly greater diffusion of biotechnology products have further accentuated the intensity of trade restrictions on the entry of these goods in countries like EU, Japan...

by Sachin Chaturvedi | On 25 Feb 2016

Prospects of Wheat and Sugar Trade between India and Pakistan: A Simple Welfare Analysis

Due to a long history of strained political relations between India and Pakistan, trade possibilities between the two neighbouring countries have rarely been studied [Nabi and Nasim (2001), Mukherji (...

by Abid Burki | On 24 Feb 2016

Bangladesh Apparels Export to the US Market: An Examination of Her Competitiveness vis-à-vis China

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), established in 1993, is a civil society initiative to promote an ongoing dialogue between the principal partners in the decision-making and implementing process....

by Mustafizur Rahman | On 24 Feb 2016

The Hong Kong Declaration and Agriculture: Implications for Bangladesh

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), established in 1993, is a civil society initiative to promote an ongoing dialogue between the principal partners in the decision-making and implementing process....

by Uttam Kumar Deb | On 24 Feb 2016

Impact of Management Practices on Employee Effectiveness in South Asia

South Asian organizations in countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are trying to professionalize management practices in recent years. Inspite of such efforts, employees indiscipli...

by Zafar Qureshi | On 24 Feb 2016

Growth and CO2 Emissions: How Does India Compare to Other Countries?

The key question therefore is what India, as a member of the global community which is to collectively address the global challenge of climate change, can be expected to do?and what it has been alread...

by World Bank | On 24 Feb 2016

Post-Crisis Investment Performance Of ASEAN Countries: Impact Of FDI

The paper studies the post-Asian crisis investment performance of crisis affected countries in ASEAN. The empirical evidence clearly indicates that the ASEAN and East Asian countries are emerging from...

by Aekapol Chongvilaivan | On 23 Feb 2016

Deepening Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Financial Markets

This paper discusses the financial landscape of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a region engaged in building an economic community (a “single market and production base”) by 2015....

by Choong Lee | On 21 Feb 2016

Preferential Trading In South Asia

This paper examines the economic case for the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Agreement signed on January 6 th, 2004 by India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. It s...

by Tercan Baysan | On 21 Feb 2016

Regional Integration in South Asia: What Role for Trade Facilitation?

The trade performance of countries in South Asia over the past two decades has been poor relative to other regions. Exports from South Asia have doubled over the past 20 years to approximately USD 100...

by John Wilson | On 21 Feb 2016

Infrastructure Gap in South Asia Inequality of Access to Infrastructure Services

The South Asia region is home to the largest pool of individuals living under the poverty line, coupled with a fast-growing population. The importance of access to basic infrastructure services on wel...

by Dan Biller | On 21 Feb 2016

How Much Could South Asia Benefit from Regional Electricity Cooperation and Trade?

The South Asia region is lagging behind many regions in the world in regional electricity cooperation and trading, despite the huge anticipated benefits. This study uses an electricity planning model...

by Govinda Timilsina | On 21 Feb 2016

Improving Education Outcomes in South Asia Findings from a Decade of Impact Evaluations

There have been many initiatives to improve education outcomes in South Asia. Still, outcomes remain stubbornly resistant to improvements, at least when considered across the region. To collect and sy...

by Salman Asim | On 21 Feb 2016

Creating an Association of Southeast Asian Nations Payment System: Policy and Regulatory Issues

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is expected to benefit from the significant growth in the Asia-Pacific payments market. Growth in economic activity would increase the size, scale, a...

by Tanai Khiaonarong | On 21 Feb 2016

Natural Gas Situation and LNG Supply/Demand Trends in Asia-Pacific and Atlantic Markets

This paper is an excerpt from a FY 2008 survey for the promotion of oil and natural development and utilization as commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Since 2008, the global L...

by Yoshikazu Kobayashi | On 21 Feb 2016

Myanmar: Learning from the Philippines’ Democratic Transition

In pursuing democratic reforms, Myanmar may take a leaf from the experience of the Philippines’ difficult transition from authoritarianism to democracy. But as demonstrated by the Philippine case, dem...

by | On 20 Feb 2016

Impact of Services Trade Liberalization on Employment and People Movement in South Asia

Services have been a key driver of overall economic growth in South Asia since the 1990s. This paper examines how the growth of services output, trade and investment have affected service sector emplo...

by Rupa Chanda | On 19 Feb 2016

Discourse on Kashmir: From Territoriality to ‘Enlightened Sovereignty’

The author calls for renewed focus on the idea of ‘soft borders’ between India and Pakistan, with particular reference to Jammu and Kashmir, in the light of a theory of ‘enlightened sovereignty’ that...

by | On 19 Feb 2016

Achieving Skill Mobility in the ASEAN Economic Community Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Implications

Despite clear aspirations by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to create an effective framework to facilitate movements among skilled professionals within the ASEAN Economic Community...

by Demetrios G. Papademetriou | On 16 Feb 2016

National Finance Commission Awards in Pakistan: A Historical Perspective

This study explores the evolution of fiscal resource distribution in Pakistan. Pakistan is a federation comprising four provinces, federally administered areas, and the Islamabad Capital Territory. Be...

by Iftikhar Ahmed | On 16 Feb 2016

The Role of an Explicit Subordinate Debt Policy in the Smooth Transition to Basel II

The major concern for the banking sector of Bangladesh is that implementation of Basel II will cause banks to raise capital appreciably and thus undermine their existing capital position. In such a si...

by Md. Kabir Ahmed | On 15 Feb 2016

Crime-War Battlefields

In her new article, “Crime-War Battlefields,” published in the June-July issue of Survival, Vanda Felbab-Brown discusses the evolution of war since the end of the Cold War and the eventual rise of pol...

by Vanda Felbab-Brown | On 14 Feb 2016

Human Capital vs. Physical Capital: A Cross-Country Analysis of Human Development Strategies

This study estimates a small simultaneous equation model using panel data from sixty-four countries for the years 1996 and 2004. The model is estimated by various techniques—OLS, TSLS, dummy variable...

by Rizwana Siddiqui | On 14 Feb 2016

Segmented Schooling: Inequalities in Primary Education

This paper utilizes a newly collected nationally representative survey data from over 41,550 households to examine social inequality in children’s educational outcomes. The focus is on 8 to11 year old...

by Sonalde Desai | On 13 Feb 2016

Social Capital in India: Networks, Organizations, and Confidence

Using original data from a newly collected nationally representative survey for 40,000 households in India, we examine associations of various dimensions of social capital with each other and with con...

by Reeve Vanneman | On 13 Feb 2016

Social Networks in India: Caste, Tribe and Religious Variation

Using original data from a newly collected nationwide survey for 40,000 households in India, we examine variation in social capital in India across caste, tribe, and religion. Our primary measure uses...

by Reeve Vanneman | On 13 Feb 2016

There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch!

The Union Budget falls on February 29- this being a leap year. An online opinion poll on a leading media website reads: “Should Arun Jaitley prefer growth or fiscal deficit?” As India emerges as the...

by Tulsi Jayakumar | On 11 Feb 2016

India and its Neighbors: Development Scenarios 2009–2029

This report aims to provide an analysis of India’s potential future trajectories during 2009-2029. It will base its arguments on both long-term evolutionary trends, the various strength of the driving...

by | On 09 Feb 2016

Notes on Rohith Vemula and the Movement After

This article offers observations to Gopal Guru’s article which highlights the endemic caste discrimination in places of higher learning in India in the wake of the Rohith Vemula suicide in Hyderabad....

by Anveshi Research Centre for Women's Studies | On 09 Feb 2016

Ensuring Identity and Entitlements of India’s Urban Poor

Can we create awareness among the urban poor and create documents for them? What are the steps to be followed for that?

by K.R. Antony | On 09 Feb 2016

A Tragic Exit from Social Death

In spite of his continuous victimization, Rohith Vemula did live a life of the mind that militated against the caste of the mind.

by Gopal Guru | On 09 Feb 2016

Fiscal Federalism in Pakistan: The 7th National Finance Commission Award and Its Implications

Pakistan is a federal country. Distribution of resources has a profound impact on income, development, backwardness, and poverty. The paper briefly discusses the federation, its needs and importance i...

by Usman Mustafa | On 06 Feb 2016

Non-State Provision of Skills Development in South Asia

Development practitioners increasingly see skills development as a way to improve the employment and incomes of the poor. However, findings on the effectiveness of such trainings are typically mixed....

by Emilie Combaz | On 05 Feb 2016

Reservation in Employment, Education and Legislature — Status and Emerging Issues

This Working paper studies the reservation policy of the Government of India with regard to – employment in government services, admission in educational institutions, and representation in legislativ...

by | On 05 Feb 2016

The Effectiveness of Jobs Reservation: Caste, Religion and Economic Status in India

This article investigates the effect of jobs reservation on improving the economic opportunities of persons belonging to India's Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). Using employment data...

by Sriya Iyer | On 05 Feb 2016

Budget Speech by BMC Municipal Commissioner-2016-17

Statement of Municipal Commissioner.

by Ajoy Mehta | On 05 Feb 2016

BMC Budget at a Glance-2016-17

Budget at a glance as prepared by Municipal Commissioner.

by Municipal Commissioner BMC | On 05 Feb 2016

Does the Rise of the Middle Class Lock in Good Government in the Developing World?

The current size of the income-secure middle class and its likely future growth, suggest that optimism is indeed warranted for many of today’s middle-income countries. But it is not warranted for all...

by Nancy Birdsall | On 03 Feb 2016

Biopiracy: The Patenting of Basmati by Ricetec

The paper discusses the North-South context for biopiracy, explains the process by which RiceTec acquired its patent, ascertains why it amounted to biopiracy and examines its implications for southern...

by Uzma Jamil | On 02 Feb 2016

Deepening India’s Engagement with the LDCs: An in-depth Analysis of India’s Duty-free Tariff Preference Scheme

India’s engagement with Africa through trade, investment, aid and technological collaboration can support growth and structural transformation in African economies. This paper, which is part of a majo...

by Environmental Management & Policy Research Institute | On 02 Feb 2016

Youth and Development: Towards a More Inclusive Future

The report examines the pivotal role of Sri Lankan youth. You and Development: Towards a More inclusive Future considers the opportunities and challenges youth face as the nation progresses through th...

by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | On 01 Feb 2016

A Taste of Success: Examples of the Budget Work of NGOs

This report is a compilation of examples of the budget work undertaken by nongovernmental organizations from around the world. Although many of these organizations are new to budget analysis, they h...

by International Budget Partnership IBP | On 01 Feb 2016

Global Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Women A Human Rights Perspective

A gender analysis of the human rights situation is therefore necessary in order to understand the impact of the crisis on women and their livelihoods. In South Asia, there is an urgent need for engagi...

by Programme on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural PWESCR | On 31 Jan 2016

Savings Behaviour In South Asia

Savings behaviour is important because of the close relation between savings and growth. Further, the direction of causality between savings and growth is of critical importance for development policy...

by Ranjan Kumar Dash | On 30 Jan 2016

Regional Economic Integration in South Asia: Prospects and Challenges

This paper dwells upon some of the conceptual issues pertaining to regional economic cooperation in general and specific to the South Asian region. It also documents the progress made in SAARC, the SA...

by Ram Upendra Das | On 30 Jan 2016

Strategic Gender Interventions and Poverty Reduction: Principles and Practice

This manual has been written as a source book for gender interventions, an analysis of appropriate interventions giving various practical steps, rather than as a set of prescriptions. While the manual...

by Govind Kelkar | On 29 Jan 2016

Making Regional Cooperation Work for South Asia’s Poor

South Asia has attracted global attention because it has experienced rapid GDP growth over the last two decades. What is not so well known is that South Asia is the least integrated region in the worl...

by Ejaz Ghani | On 29 Jan 2016

Spatial Dimensions of Muslim Well-Being in India: A Comparative Study of Indian Districts

The Sachar Commission Report of 2006 on Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India generated widespread awareness of the socioeconomic disparity and exclusion of religiou...

by Riaz Hassan | On 29 Jan 2016

Survey of ICTs for Education in India and South Asia, Extended Summary

The Survey on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Education in India and South Asia was commissioned by infoDev to be undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers, India. The Survey is a third...

by The Survey on Information and Communication Techno ICT | On 28 Jan 2016

Air Pollution Reduction and Control in South Asia

In order to understand the importance of reducing air pollution and its likely trans-boundary effects, it is important to first review the socioeconomic situation of the South Asian member states. Sou...

by Mahmood Khwaja | On 28 Jan 2016

A Legally Binding Agreement (LBA) - Growing Need for Air Pollution Reduction and Control in South Asia

With increasing urbanization and economic growth, air pollution is becoming an urgent concern in South Asian countries. The study upon which this paper is based has been conducted at SDPI, to look int...

by Mahmood Khwaja | On 28 Jan 2016

Role of Gender in Health Disparity: The South Asian Context

South Asia's girls and women do not have the same life advantage as their Western counterparts. A human rights based approach may help to overcome gender related barriers and improve the wellbeing of...

by Omrana Pasha | On 28 Jan 2016

Effect of Maternal Mental Health on Infant Growth in Low Income Countries: New Evidence from South Asia

Impaired infant growth, a major problem in South Asia, may require interventions to improve maternal mental health in addition to current interventions targeting infant nutrition. Unicef estimates tha...

by Marcus Hughes | On 28 Jan 2016

Migration, Health and Dignity in South Asia: Lessons from the EMPHASIS Project on Migration, Women’s Empowerment and HIV in Bangladesh, India and Nepal

The EMPHASIS project (Enhancing Mobile Populations’ Access to HIV and AIDS Services, Information and Support) has provided a diverse range of services to crossborder migrants in India, Nepal and Bang...

by Prabodh Devkota | On 27 Jan 2016

Infrastructure Provision , Trade And Development Prospects: Potential Role And Relevance Of The WTO Agreement On Government Procurement (GPA)

The paper, nonetheless, acknowledges that delivering these benefits would involve significant practical and political challenges. It concludes that if the challenges can be overcome and the mutual ben...

by Kodjo Osei-Lah | On 26 Jan 2016

Addressing the Unequal Burden of Malnutrition

The poor are not uniformly disadvantaged. For the most health indicators, the status of ‘excluded groups’ such as scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, and Muslims is significantly worse than that of...

by Sukhade Thorat | On 26 Jan 2016

The SLR as a Monetary Policy Instrument in Bangladesh

The statutory liquidity requirement (SLR), as a monetary policy instrument, has experienced infrequent changes in Bangladesh. Past evidence shows that reduction in SLR produced positive impact on bank...

by Sayera Younus | On 23 Jan 2016

Climate Change, Food Security and Trade Linkages in South Asia

This Briefing Paper examines the linkages between climate change, food security and trade in South Asia. Studies suggest that in Asia the heat stress due to climate change will reduce crop yields in t...

by Ram Jha | On 23 Jan 2016

Child Marriage In South Asia

The briefing paper primarily focuses on violations of women’s and girls’ reproductive rights and right to be free from sexual violence arising from child marriage in six South Asian countries—Afghanis...

by Center for Reproductive Rights CRR | On 23 Jan 2016

Economic Growth In South Asia: Role Of Infrastructure

The paper examines the output elasticity of infrastructure for four South Asian countries viz., India,Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka using Pedroni’s panel cointegration technique for the period 19...

by Ranjan Kumar Dash | On 23 Jan 2016

Prospects for Regional Cooperation on Cross-Border Electricity Trade in South Asia

Energy remains one of the key inputs to socio-economic progress in developing societies. South Asian nations, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lank...

by Anoop Singh | On 23 Jan 2016

Social Cost-Benefit Analysis of Delhi Metro

The growing demand for public transport in mega cities has serious effects on urban ecosystems, especially due to the increased atmospheric pollution and changes in land use patterns. An ecologically...

by Rashmi Singh | On 23 Jan 2016

Five Fingers or One Hand? The BRICS in Development Cooperation

The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are increasingly prominent in development cooperation activities in low-income countries in Africa and worldwide, presenting a pote...

by Institute of Development Studies IDS | On 23 Jan 2016

BRICS and South-South Cooperation in Medicine: Emerging Trends in Research and Entrepreneurial Collaborations

The research is a collaboration in health biotechnology and shows relatively strong involvement of the emerging economies BRICS, apart from some of the other economies such as Cuba, also actively purs...

by Sachin Chaturvedi | On 21 Jan 2016

Demographic Change, Brain Drain, and Human Capital: Development Potentials in Services-Driven South Asia

This discussion paper seeks to understand the nature of the ongoing demographic transition in South Asia and the challenges faced by the countries of the region to augment their future supply of skill...

by Biswajit Dhar | On 21 Jan 2016

Stunting among Children Facts and Implications

Indian children are very short, on average, compared with children living in other countries. Because height reflects early life health and net nutrition, and because good early life health also helps...

by Alessandro Tarozzi | On 20 Jan 2016

Zinc Status in South Asian Populations—An Update

This article attempts to highlight the prevalence of zinc deficiency and its health and economic consequences in South Asian developing countries and to shed light on possible approaches to combating...

by S Akhtar | On 20 Jan 2016

Linkages between Internal and International Migrations: Policy Implications for Development

This paper is organized in three main sections. The first section provides some definitions of the key terms and describes how both internal and international migration impact on development. An under...

by | On 19 Jan 2016

The Perils Of Peace: Re-Imagining Risk And Reward In South Asia

There are India studies programs around the country in many institutions, but no university has made the commitment to dedicate a graduate level and senior research level focus on contemporary India i...

by Steve Coll | On 19 Jan 2016

Conducting Elections in the World’s Largest Plural Society

The paper discusses the need to have elections completely free of crime, and abuse of money, based on a perfect electoral roll, and with full voter participation.

by S. Y. Quraishi | On 19 Jan 2016

Colonial Origins of Maoist Insurgency in India: Long Term Effects of Indirect Rule

This dissertation tries to answer the puzzle of why the Maoist insurgency in India, which is considered to be the most important internal security threat to the world’s largest democracy, occurs in ce...

by Shivaji Mukherjee | On 19 Jan 2016

Gender Dynamics In A Changing Climate: How Gender and Adaptive Capacity Affect Resilience

This learning brief synthesises lessons drawn from CARE’s Adaptation Learning Programme for Africa (ALP), which has been supporting vulnerable communities in sub-Saharan Africa to adapt to the impacts...

by Webb J. | On 13 Jan 2016

Challenges for Economic Empowerment of Women In South Asia

This paper examines the changing work profiles of women in the South Asian region, with all elements of contradictions, in terms of doubling their burdens or empowering them. Are the newer avenues for...

by Preet Rustagi | On 13 Jan 2016

Measuring Subnational Budget Transparency, Participation, and Accountability: India

India has highly populated states and a highly devolved budget; in fact, over half of all India’s public expenditures are through state budgets, including a large share of development expenditures on...

by International Budget Partnership IBP | On 13 Jan 2016

Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India 2016

Regional integration efforts have intensified at varying levels over the years to implement the regional integration initiatives of ASEAN, ASEAN+3 and ASEAN+6. Current efforts are still not enough to...

by OECD Development Centre | On 13 Jan 2016

From Aid to Global Development Policy

The international community has advanced in reforming the international aid system. Such reform comes at a time when there is a renewed skepticism about aid effectiveness and when the crisis sheds new...

by José Alonso | On 11 Jan 2016

Recipients and Contributors: Middle income countries and the future of development cooperation

The new role that middle-income countries (MICs) play in the global landscape obliges international community to review the configuration of the development cooperation system. On the one hand, MICs s...

by | On 11 Jan 2016

Absorbing Innovative Financial Flows: Looking at Asia

This paper explores the scope for Innovative Development Finance (IDF) to compensate for declining Official Development Assistance (ODA) and/or to enhance the efficiency of ODA. It shows that IDF has...

by | On 11 Jan 2016

Navigating Climate Change: Extenuating Strategies to Combat Climate Migration Threats

This paper aims to test the validity of the hypothesis that climate change in the coming years is likely to induce massive migration to and from South Asia, both within and across the borders. This pa...

by | On 11 Jan 2016

The Perils of Counting Caste

While the unpublished findings of the ‘Caste Census’ in India might not receive serious attention if ever made public, some of the socio-economic data, made available by the same Census, can set the m...

by Ronojoy Sen | On 10 Jan 2016

The Judicial Appointments Debate in India: The Need for Integrity and Transparency

The latest ruling by the Supreme Court of India against the government’s project of the National Judicial Appointments Commission has further stirred a public discourse on the best means to have the b...

by Vinod Rai | On 09 Jan 2016

Caste and Gender: The Social Barriers to Solid Waste Management in India

The paper explains the indignities and deeply-held attitudes that stigmatize those who deal with waste, garbage and human excreta in India. It outlines how such attitudes make the goals of the ‘Swachh...

by | On 09 Jan 2016

Towards ‘Make in South Asia’ Theoretical Basis and Policy Responses for Evolving Regional Values Chains

The paper presents the theoretical canvass emphasising the need to adopt an integrated approach towards trade in goods, trade in services and investment in a regional framework. In this context, rules...

by Ram Upendra Das | On 09 Jan 2016

India-Myanmar Ties: New Hope, Old Despair

India’s current trade negotiations have three agreements as top priorities. Two of these the India ASEAN services agreement and the bilateral trade and investment agreement with the European Union (EU...

by Laldinkima Sailo | On 09 Jan 2016

South Asia’s Economic Changes and Diaspora Groups

The paper looks at the flow of ideas from the South Asian Diaspora groups to their original homelands. This is occurring in the areas of economic management and political change. As a result of the in...

by Shahid Javed Burki | On 09 Jan 2016

Is India Making Waves in South China Sea?

The South China Sea (SCS) disputes are regarded as one of the most difficult regional conflicts in the Asia-Pacific, in an ‘arena of escalating contention. This paper looks at India’s interests and st...

by Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy | On 09 Jan 2016

The Afghanistan Conflict in its Historical Context

Afghanistan has long been used as a battleground for strategic wars by larger external powers. This is in part due to its geographic position between the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. Acco...

by Riaz Hassan | On 09 Jan 2016

Initiative for ‘Southern Silk Route’ Linking Bangladesh, China, India, and Myanmar

This paper looks at the ‘BCIM Regional Cooperation’ and the related proposal to revive the ‘Southern Silk Route’ connecting China and India through Bangladesh and Myanmar. The aim is to understand the...

by | On 09 Jan 2016

India’s Popular Culture in Southeast Asia

This paper will explore India’s influence on Southeast Asia during the 20th century, with a focus on its cultural dimensions. The Indian independence movement in particular played a significant role i...

by Rahul Advani | On 09 Jan 2016

A Tortured History : Federalism and Democracy in Pakistan

The Pakistan Army’s ideological hegemony, especially in the country’s Punjabi-speaking heartland, the continuing focus on the state’s narrative of a religion-based unitary identity which is under a co...

by Aasim Akhtar | On 08 Jan 2016

Temporal and Spatial Changes in the Incidence of Agricultural Labourers

The attempt of the present thesis has been to examine the incidence of agricultural labourers in the state of Maharashtra. It primarily aimed at analysing changes in the size of the labour force in ag...

by Awanish Kumar | On 08 Jan 2016

Patterns and Politics of Migration in South Asia

Migration is an important social and historical reality in South Asia. In the past decade, migration from one country to another and internal migration (i.e. migration within a particular country) hav...

by Sanjay Barbora | On 08 Jan 2016

Street Sweeping as a Livelihood Strategy of Pode Community in KMC: Livelihood Assets and Vulnerabilities

The study of geography of poverty and peoples’ changing livelihood and their relation with globalization are some of the major areas of geographic research in the present context (Subedi, 2005). So, P...

by Basant Adhikari | On 08 Jan 2016

Livelihood Options of Dalit: An Analysis with Reference to Land Resources

Land is regarded as an important source of livelihoods to many people, especially rural people. For those people, access to and control over land resources is the source of livelihoods. Therefore, lan...

by Samana Adhikari | On 08 Jan 2016

World Population Prospects The 2015 Revision

Understanding the demographic changes that are likely to unfold over the coming years, as well as the challenges and opportunities that they present for achieving sustainable development, is important...

by United Nations (UN) | On 08 Jan 2016

Navigating a Changing World Economy: ASEAN, the People's Republic of China, and India

Most projections envision continued rapid growth in the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and India (collectively, ACI) over the next...

by Fan Zhai | On 07 Jan 2016

Production Networks, Profits, and Innovative Activity: Evidence from Malaysia and Thailand

Cross-border production networks have been playing an increasingly important role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries’ trade in recent years, but micro-level studies are ra...

by Ganeshan Wignaraja | On 07 Jan 2016

Innovative Strategies in Higher Education for Accelerated Human Resource Development in South Asia Nepal

The report herein provide in-depth analysis of the state of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education in Nepal.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 07 Jan 2016

The 2030 Architecture of Association of Southeast Asian Nations Free Trade Agreements

This paper investigates and analyzes the present status, potential, and prospects of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade agreements (FTAs). The move towards the ASEAN Economic Co...

by Suthiphand Chirathivat | On 07 Jan 2016

Development Trajectories, Emission Profile, and Policy Actions:Singapore

Singapore is the most industrialized and urbanized country in Southeast Asia and is totally dependent on oil and natural gas imports to satisfy its energy needs. Its national energy policy framework s...

by Tilak Doshi | On 07 Jan 2016

Multilateralizing Asian Regionalism

Motivated by the proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs) in Asia over the last decade, this paper studies the challenges faced by the Asian “noodle bowl” — overlapping, multiple trade rules, reg...

by Richard Baldwin | On 07 Jan 2016

Special Study on Sustainable Fisheries Management and International Trade in the Southeast Asia and Pacific Region

This paper analyzes the current status of fisheries and aquaculture in Southeast Asia and international trade. Analysis concludes that a policy of sustainable management for both capture fisheries and...

by Masayuki Komatsu | On 07 Jan 2016

Internal and International Migration in South East Asia

This chapter examines the key developments and challenges of internal (domestic) and external (international) migration in Southeast Asia by looking at their main features and key drivers. Internal mi...

by | On 07 Jan 2016

Regional Trade Agreements and Enterprises in Southeast Asia

This paper undertakes a comparative and firm-level analysis of the impact of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. It finds that firm-heterogeneity matters in RT...

by Ganeshan Wignaraja | On 07 Jan 2016

ASEAN Economic Integration through Trade and Foreign Direct Investment: Long-Term Challenges

This paper explores the long-term challenges for trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The region has emerged as an important production base...

by Masahiro Kawai | On 06 Jan 2016

Results and Analysis of the Perception Survey: Unemployed Youth of Bhutan

This paper presents results and findings from a survey aimed at understanding perceptions among Bhutan’s unemployed youth. It also provides analysis of the results and concludes with an eight point pl...

by | On 06 Jan 2016

Urbanization as “Development” Versus Constitutional Safeguards for the Tribal People

Following are excerpts from Report of a PUCL Fact Finding Team into unrest and repression in the Sundergarh scheduled district of Odisha.

by People's Union of Civil Liberties PUCL | On 06 Jan 2016

Land Laws, Administration and Forced Displacement in Andhra Pradesh, India

The present study was taken up in this context with the objective of examining the land laws and administration in AP and see how the existing laws are implemented, forced acquisition of lands is ta...

by Ramachandraiah C | On 05 Jan 2016

H Net Review: Leonard on Beverley Hyderabad

Review of Hyderabad, British India, and the World: Muslim Networks and Minor Sovereignty, c.1850–1950 by Eric Beverley. Cambridge University Press, 2015. 364 pp. $99.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-107-09119-1...

by | On 02 Jan 2016

Review Article: Mapping India’s Future A Complementary Perspective

Review of The Turn of the Tortoise: The Challenge and Promise of India’s Future by T.N.Ninan; Allen Lane by Penguin India, 2015; Pp 368, Rs 699.

by Suryanarayana M H | On 02 Jan 2016

Towards 'Make in South Asia' Evolving Regional Values Chains

One of the most important ways in which several of the common developmental challenges in South Asia could be addressed is by focusing on manufacturing. This paper highlights insights from the status...

by Ram Das | On 02 Jan 2016

Partial Minimum Wage Compliance

In many developing countries, a significant portion of the wage distribution is found below the legal minimum wage. In order to fully understand the nature of this non-compliance, we need to compare t...

by Delia Furtado | On 01 Jan 2016

Southeast Asia and the Economics of Global Climate Stabilization

Southeast Asia is vulnerable to climate change, yet is also on a carbon intensive development trajectory.The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has analyzed the potential role the region can play in climate...

by Jindra Samson | On 29 Dec 2015

Connecting South Asia to Southeast Asia: Cross-Border Infrastructure Investments

Most of the trade between South Asia and Southeast Asia is by sea. However, with improved infrastructure and easier border crossing procedures, land traffic could grow to boost trade in goods, service...

by Jean-Francois Gautrin Gautrin | On 29 Dec 2015

The Role of Sri Lanka in Enhancing Connectivity between South Asia and Southeast Asia

Improving physical connectivity between South and Southeast Asia has long been recognized as a key element in promoting greater trade and investment linkages within the region. As an island economy, S...

by Dushni Weerakoon | On 29 Dec 2015

Policies to Enhance Trade Facilitation in South Asia and Southeast Asia

This paper discusses trade facilitation in the context of enhancing trading links between South and Southeast Asia, in a manner understandable to the non-specialist. Presently, these two Asian regions...

by Anthony Bayley | On 29 Dec 2015

Economic Implications of Deeper South Asian–Southeast Asian Integration: A CGE Approach

The paper estimates the potential gains to be large, particularly for South Asia, assuming that the policy- and infrastructure-related variables that increase trade costs are reduced via economic coop...

by Fan Zhai | On 29 Dec 2015

A Connectivity-Driven Development Strategy for Nepal: From a Landlocked to a Land-Linked State

Nepal's lackluster economic performance during the post-conflict period (that is, after November 2006) has been driven by remittances from the export of labor services and the improved performance of...

by Pradumna Rana | On 29 Dec 2015

Connecting South and Southeast Asia: Implementation Challenges and Coordination

With closer regional integration there is increasing interest within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and on the part of ASEAN's dialogue partners in the potential gains of closer co...

by Termsak Chalermpalanupap | On 29 Dec 2015

Why Do SMEs Not Borrow More from Banks? Evidence from the People's Republic of China and Southeast Asia

This study examines the relationship between firm characteristics and borrowing from commercial banks by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and five Sout...

by Ganeshan Wignaraja | On 24 Dec 2015

Assessing the Experience of South Asia–East Asia Integration and India's Role

This paper examines the gains for South Asian economies from integratingwith East Asia and India’s role in this process. Evidence of increased pan-Asian integration exists but the process is uneven. B...

by Ganeshan Wignaraja | On 24 Dec 2015

Financial Inclusion, Regulation, and Education in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has achieved a high level of financial inclusion compared to other South Asian countries. Its financial sector comprises a wide range of financial institutions providing financial services s...

by Saman Kelegama | On 23 Dec 2015

Cricket and Indian National Consciousness

It is recognized that there are close links between sport and politics, and in particular between sport and national consciousness. The Olympic Games and the football, rugby and cricket World Cups hav...

by | On 22 Dec 2015

The Sunday Edit: Lengthening Shadows

The Paris attacks should warn us that the threat from ISIS is real and poses a challenge to the security environment in India.

by Reshmi Kazi | On 20 Dec 2015

Missed Opportunities in Global Health: Identifying New Strategies to Improve Mental Health in LMICs

Countries like South Africa and India are putting new mental health policies in place. There is now a clear agenda of “what to deliver” to make this deplorable reality better, and indeed a nascent adv...

by Victoria Menil | On 19 Dec 2015

Exchange Rate Reform in South Sudan

This paper considers the role of the exchange rate in the economy and its importance as a macroeconomic instrument, and outlines the policy choices that are available to governments in general, and th...

by Keith Jefferis | On 18 Dec 2015

India's Sri Lanka Policy: Towards Economic Engagement

India's Sri Lanka policy has built upon economic engagement to cooperate on initiatives of strategic importance. The lesson one can learn from this is the potential of economic linkages to overcome a...

by | On 18 Dec 2015

Post - Harvest Management of Mushrooms with Special Reference to Himachal Pradesh

The mushrooms of Himachal Pradesh should be established 'As a quality produce of India' in foreign markets to exploit present declining trend of mushroom production in many producing countries. In a...

by Ministry of Agriculture GOI | On 17 Dec 2015

The Brics Development Bank

This policy brief recommends that these include commitments to: ending extreme poverty and inequality, with a special focus on gender equity and women’s rights; aligning with environmental and social...

by Oxfam International | On 17 Dec 2015

Building Tax Capacity in Developing Countries

The agenda for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development suggests there will be less focus on aid, and more on how developing countries can generate their own financial resources...

by Mick Moore | On 16 Dec 2015

The Journey: Essays on the Indian Railways 1853 - 1920 : The Early Enthusiasts

The railways in India would not have been possible without the efforts of a few ambitious and adventurous men, who had dreams, took tremendous risks and had the ability and dexterity to persuade a ran...

by Anuradha Kumar | On 16 Dec 2015

Does the Rise of Middle Class Lock in Good Government in the Developing World?

The current size of the income-secure middle class and its likely future growth, suggest that optimism is indeed warranted for many of today’s middle-income countries. But it is not warranted for all...

by Nancy Birdsall | On 14 Dec 2015

Overview of Central Government Employees

The central government periodically constitutes a Pay Commission, to evaluate and recommend revisions of salaries and pensions, for its employees. Recently, the Seventh Central Pay Commission has mad...

by Vatsal Khullar | On 10 Dec 2015

Climate Change, Migration, and Conflict in South Asia : Rising Tensions and Policy Options across the Subcontinent

This report is the third in a series of papers from the Center for American Progress that examines the implications of the climate change, migration, and security nexus. Our analysis highlights the ov...

by | On 09 Dec 2015

Impact of Labour Migration to the Construction Sector on Poverty: Evidence from India

Seasonal and circular migration is an important livelihood strategy for workers in developing countries and the construction industry is one of the largest recipients of such labour. The impact of lab...

by RPC Migrating out of Poverty | On 08 Dec 2015

Trade Liberalization, Labour Law, and Development: A Contextualization

This paper is a literature review that emphasizes institutional analyses of trade law, and explores some of the linkages with the development literature. The paper contends that the development of tra...

by | On 02 Dec 2015

What do Economists have to say about Climate Impacts on South Asia?

South Asia’s changing climate has had many different impacts including changes in ecosystems, more severe storms, rainfall that is more concentrated in a few days per year leading to more floods and m...

by E. Somanathan | On 01 Dec 2015

Intergenerational Educational Persistence among Daughters: Evidence from India

The paper examines educational transmission between fathers (mothers) and daughters in India for daughters born during 1962-1991. We find that educational persistence, as measured by the regression co...

by Mehtabul Azam | On 01 Dec 2015

Monitoring Mortality in Forced Migrants—Can Bayesian Methods Help Us to Do Better with the (Little) Data We Have?

The global number of forced migrants is currently the highest since the Second World War. This is a major concern to public health: lack of access to safe water, food, sanitation, and inadequate shel...

by Peter Heudtlass | On 30 Nov 2015

The Sunday Edit: Elementals: The Arts of Bhopal, 1984-2015

Bhopal is the world’s most frightening laboratory where all experiments, with chemicals and with truth, have gone wrong.

by Pramod K. Nayar | On 29 Nov 2015

Asian Shipyards Respond to Arctic Opportunities

The Arctic sea ice has refrozen after a relatively longer summer this year compared with 2011. There are encouraging reports for the shipping industry and it is believed that similar navigation condit...

by Vijay Sakhuja | On 24 Nov 2015

Safe Havens: The Emerging Terror Hubs in South Asia

This issue brief reflects on the prevalence of terror networks in South Asia as Al Qaeda is attempting to expand into new territories in South Asia, “suitable” for safe housing themselves and their il...

by Reshmi Kazi | On 23 Nov 2015

Terrorism and Security in Asia: Redefining Regional Order?

While a good deal has been written and said about the threat posed by terrorism in Southeast Asia, there has been little work analyzing the impact of terrorism and the war on terror on Asian regional...

by Amitav Acharya | On 22 Nov 2015

The Journey: Essays on the Indian Railways 1853 - 2015: The Coming of the Railways

Tracking the the Indian Railways is as much an exercise in history as it is an excursion into the political and social debates of the period that determined the fate of a nation. This is the first i...

by Anuradha Kumar | On 21 Nov 2015

How Much is Enough?

Post-7th Pay Commission recommendations, the pay being offered now should not be a disincentive for public-spirited people with ability. Can the government afford this hike?

by T.N. Ninan | On 21 Nov 2015

Farm Outlook: Tractor Sales: What Do They Tell?

Falling tractor sales in the first half of the year may well be pointing to further distress in the agrarian economy.

by Aritra Chakrabarty | On 19 Nov 2015

State and District Boundary Changes in India: 1961-2001

For a large variety of data recorded by the Census of India, such as those on language, age structure, religion, and on individual Scheduled Castes and Tribes, the district is the lowest level of ag...

by Hemanshu Kumar | On 17 Nov 2015

The Sunday Edit: Bringing Back Beef

Beef bans and intolerance of the diversity that abounds in this country are clearly not the way to win elections.

by Ravi Duggal | On 15 Nov 2015

Disability and Forced Migration: Critical Intersectionalities

The vast majority of the world’s displaced people are hosted in the global South, in the poorest countries in the world. This is also a space with the highest numbers of disabled people, many of who l...

by | On 13 Nov 2015

Drivers of Migration

This paper explores the relationship between determinants of migration which are often deeply embedded in the economic, social, political, cultural and environmental context, and more immediate factor...

by | On 06 Nov 2015

Pragmatic Pathways: Critical Perspectives on Research Uptake in the Global South

One of social science’s core roles is to inform evidence-based policy making and policy interventions that produce pro-poor outcomes. This paper explores prominent debates on research uptake and polic...

by | On 05 Nov 2015

A Conference in Harare

India was to hand over NAM Chairmanship to Zimbabwe, which had gained Independence a few years earlier.

by T.N. Ninan | On 03 Nov 2015

Mr Modi and Dr Singh

There must be a way of combining sensible policy, based on a certain worldview and an agenda, with a bias for action.

by T.N. Ninan | On 26 Oct 2015

Post Conflict Face of Poverty and Society: Understanding a Gandhian Initiative against Pauperization and Violence in Mushahari (Muzaffarpur, Bihar)

This is an analytical narrative about post-conflict dynamics of poverty in a block of villages in north Bihar known as ‘the Mushahari Project’. It is related with the socio-economic and political cons...

by Anand Kumar | On 20 Oct 2015

Impact of Migration on Poverty and Development

This paper reviews the literature on migration in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, East Africa and West Africa in order to highlight the complexity of migration patterns and impacts. It is...

by Tasneem Siddiqui | On 19 Oct 2015

The Battle for Bihar

While the politics of caste and personalities do seem to be relevant to the elections to the Legislative Assembly in the eastern Indian State of Bihar, with the multi-phase polls beginning on 12 Octob...

by | On 19 Oct 2015

China’s One Belt One Road Strategy: The New Financial Institutions and India’s Options

This paper attempts to discuss India’s options to collaborate with China at the event of the formation of new financial institutions and how should India engage with China’s new Silk Road strategy.

by Ajay Chhibber | On 16 Oct 2015

Integrating SMEs into Global Value Chains: Challenges and Policy Actions in Asia

Globalized production networks, or global value chains, provide an opportunity for small and medium enterprises to upscale their business models and to grow across borders, though with global opportun...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 16 Oct 2015

The Economic Cost of Out-of-School Children in Southeast Asia

This publication is the result of UNESCO Bangkok’s project in cooperation with Educate A Child (EAC) which seeks to eradicate obstacles, both in policy and practice, that would prevent children in Sou...

by Save Children | On 15 Oct 2015

India’s FTA with East Asia: Impact of India-Malaysia CECA on the Edible Oil Value Chain

This paper formulates an analytical framework to assess the impacts of India's Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) on commodity value chains. This paper views such methodology as reductionist, and instead of...

by | On 15 Oct 2015

South Asian Diaspora: A Changing Landscape

This paper is an attempt to expand the debate on the impact that the South Asian Diaspora groups are having on the countries of their origin. It goes beyond the discussion of the quantum and structure...

by | On 08 Oct 2015

The Interaction Between Social Protection and Agriculture - A Review of Evidence

This study explores the interaction between formal social protection and agriculture by proposing a theory of change and conducting an empirical review that identifies how social protection impacts ag...

by Nyasha Tirivayi | On 07 Oct 2015

Rural Poverty Reduction Strategy for South Asia

Roughly 40 percent of the world’s poor live in South Asia, where poverty is basically a rural problem. Therefore, a significant gain in rural poverty reduction in this sub-region will be crucial to re...

by | On 30 Sep 2015

The Effect of ASEAN on Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia

This paper examines the trafficking of vulnerable populations in Southeast Asia and the effectiveness of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in combating human trafficking in the region. Human...

by | On 29 Sep 2015

Food Security, Productivity, and Gender Inequality

This paper examines the relationship between gender inequality and food security, with a particular focus on women as food producers, consumers, and family food managers. The discussion is set against...

by Bina Agarwal | On 29 Sep 2015

Leveraging Urbanization in South Asia

Urbanization provides South Asian countries with the potential to transform their economies to join the ranks of richer nations in both prosperity and livability, but a new World Bank report finds the...

by World Bank | On 25 Sep 2015

Technology, Development and the Role of the State

South Asian countries like India and Pakistan had in the beginning placed the State at the “commanding heights of the economy”. Later, the State was justifiably displaced from that high pedestal. Howe...

by | On 24 Sep 2015

Contesting Consensus. Disputing Inequality: Agonistic Subjectivities in Rural Bihar

This paper discusses the manner in which the rural poor in one of India’s most impoverished regions engage with and in politics by analyzing the way in which a landless Yadav couple tries to forestall...

by Indrajit Roy | On 24 Sep 2015

The ‘Land of the Vaish’? Caste Structure and Ideology in Mauritius

Mauritius has been an independent nation since 1968. It was founded on the history and structures of a plantation society and is mainly inhabited by descendants of Indian (and Hindu) indentured labour...

by Mathieu Claveyrolas | On 24 Sep 2015

Disadvantage and Discrimination in Self-Employment: Caste Gaps in Earnings in Indian Small Businesses

Using the 2004-05 India Human Development Survey data, The paper aims to estimate and decompose the earnings of household businesses owned by historically marginalized social groups known as Scheduled...

by Ashwini Deshpande | On 24 Sep 2015

The Evolution and Impact of Literacy Campaigns and Programmes 2000–2014

This paper was originally commissioned by the Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report as background information to assist in drafting the 2015 report. This report aims to provide an additiona...

by Ulrike Hanemann | On 22 Sep 2015

Building Tax Capacity in Developing Countries

The agenda for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development suggests there will be less focus on aid, and more on how developing countries can generate their own financial resources...

by | On 22 Sep 2015

The Sunday Edit: A Depressing Malady

The rising incidence of suicides, and mental health problems in India, especially among youth, cannot be wished away. There is a critical need to recognise the malevolent neglect of the state of ment...

by Nikhil Govind | On 20 Sep 2015

BRICS Development Bank an Instrument for Globalization

The establishment of a development bank by the BRICS association of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa is being described by both proponents and opponents of globalization as a rebellion...

by | On 18 Sep 2015

Decentralized Local Governance and Citizen Participation in South Asia

This paper encompasses two major themes - local governance and citizens' participation in five neighbouring countries in South Asia, their trials, achievements and failures. Whether their experiences...

by | On 14 Sep 2015

The Costs and Benefits of Domestic Work as a Livelihood Strategy

Domestic work remains one of the key occupations for many female migrants in Southeast Asia. As a low skilled, low-wage job with often inadequate legal protection, domestic work is an occupation that...

by | On 14 Sep 2015

The Sunday Edit: It's Not the Labour Laws!

The loud clamour for liberalisation of labour laws in recent times quite overlooks the fact that other institutional reforms are far more important for rejuvenating the sector.

by K.R. Shyam Sundar | On 13 Sep 2015

Obituary: Ramaswamy R Iyer, 1929 - 2015

Ramaswamy Iyer, former union secretary of Water Resources for the government of India, and professor at the Center for Policy Research, and well known advocate of alternatives to big dams, passed awa...

by Aravinda P | On 11 Sep 2015

Developing Regional Value Chains in South Asian Leather Clusters: Issues, Options and an Indian Case

The possibility of developing regional production networks in specific sectors between nations of South Asia has been explored in this paper. The case of the leather and leather goods cluster in T...

by Keshab Das | On 11 Sep 2015

The Dismal State of the Social Sciences in Pakistan

The report measures the development of social sciences against several criteria, some of which are listed here: the number of Pakistani social scientists who have made internationally recognised contr...

by S. Akbar Zaidi | On 11 Sep 2015

Youth and Politics in India - II

This paper aims to uncover the features that make India’s youth politics so distinct from other forms of politics within the country, the kinds of politics young people participate in, and the kinds o...

by Rahul Advani | On 10 Sep 2015

Structures of Violence: The Indian State in Jammu and Kashmir

Prepared over two years, this report is a part of the continuing work to understand and analyze the role of the Indian State in Jammu and Kashmir, an occupied territory internationally recognized as a...

by The International Peoples' Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-Administered Ka | On 10 Sep 2015

Book Review: Mapping a Dwindling Community: Kolkata Tales

Review of Christmas in Calcutta: Anglo Indian Stories and Essays by Robyn Andrews; Sage Publications, 2014; pp 208, Rs. 695.

by Nandini Bhattacharya | On 10 Sep 2015

Report of Working Group on Nutrition for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17)

This report details the vision for 12th Five Year Plan on Nutrition which is to move towards Nutrition Security- especially the more vulnerable infants and young children, adolescent, girls and women,...

by Planning Commission | On 10 Sep 2015

Debt-Bondage Slavery in India

There have been numerous investigations in recent years to determine the incidence and prevalence of modern slavery worldwide, and debt bondage in India has been found to be the most extensive form of...

by Sarah Knight | On 10 Sep 2015

Dalit Women and Social Exclusion in Nepal: A Concern for Social Justice

Nepali society is highly stratified with many glaring inequalities among different socioeconomic groups. The worst positioned among them are Dalits. The caste system segregates Dalits from the rest to...

by | On 10 Sep 2015

Socio-Demographic Factors Associated with Domestic Violence in Urban Slums, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Domestic violence is identified as a public health problem. It is associated with adverse maternal health. This study examined the prevalence and determinants of domestic violence among women in urban...

by C.P. Prakasam | On 09 Sep 2015

Driving Across the South Asian Borders: The Motor Vehicle Agreement Between Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal

The benefits of strengthening physical connectivity in a geographically contiguous region are increasingly being recognised. These links are expected to increase economic activity and people-to-people...

by Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury | On 07 Sep 2015

The Permanent People’s Tribunals and Indigenous People’s Struggles in Mexico: Between Coloniality and Epistemic Justice?

On 21 October 2011, hundreds of Mexican civil society organizations formally submitted a petition to the Lelio e Lisli Basso Foundation in Rome to justify the opening of a Mexican Chapter of the Perma...

by Rosalba Icaza | On 02 Sep 2015

Issues in Employment and Poverty

The paper analyses the nexus between growth, employment and poverty and points out situations where high economic growth may fail to bring about a commensurate rate of poverty reduction if simultaneo...

by | On 02 Sep 2015

Lessons for South Asia from the Industrial Cluster Development Experience of the Republic of Korea

This report presents the industrial cluster development policy of the Republic of Korea and draws lessons from that experience for South Asia. It briefly reviews Korean industrial policy since the 196...

by Jong-il Kim | On 31 Aug 2015

Rough Roads To Equality: Women Police in South Asia

This report looks at the situation of women in policing in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, and Pakistan. It is based on the premise that gender equality, besides being a value to be upheld in and of...

by Aideen Gilmore | On 28 Aug 2015

On Reckoning Level Differentials in the Measurement of Progress: An Illustration in the Context of Deliveries Assisted by Skilled Health Personnel

The paper highlights that performance assessments should account for non-linear dynamics of progress, whereby an improvement at a higher level represents greater achievement than an equal improvement...

by William Joe | On 21 Aug 2015

South-South Cooperation: A Challenge to the Aid System?

It is essential to better understand the nature, shortcomings and potential of South-South development cooperation in order to inform and strengthen CSO advocacy for greater development effectiveness...

by The Reality of Aid Network | On 20 Aug 2015

Addressing Long-term Challenges to Food Security and Rural Livelihoods in South Asia

Notwithstanding its impressive economic growth, food insecurity in South Asia continues to be a stark reality for a large number of households. Despite several successful policy interventions by Gover...

by K. S. Kavi Kumar | On 19 Aug 2015

Social and Cultural Development in the Development Triangle (CLV) and the Role of ASEAN in This Area

In a period not longer than 10 years (2002 – to present), 13 provinces at the common border of Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV Development Triangle) have cooperated for common development and achieved a lo...

by Hoang Thi My Nhi | On 19 Aug 2015

Deconstructing Indian Cotton: Weather, Yields, and Suicides

Cotton with coevolving pests has been grown in India more than 5000 years. Hybrid cotton was introduced in the 1970s with increases in fertilizer and in insecticide use against pink bollworm that caus...

by Andrew Gutierrez | On 17 Aug 2015

Social Enterprises and Employment: Mainstreaming SMEs and Employment Creation

This paper argues that mainstreaming SMEs and SE into various international treaties will require the assumption of positive externalities which markets cannot fully evaluate. To show this, the possib...

by Leonardo Lanzona | On 12 Aug 2015

Gender Equality and Social Dialogue in India

This paper forms part of a comparative research project that has the objective of demonstrating that gender equality and social dialogue are mutually beneficial fundamental values and crosscutting iss...

by R Madhav | On 11 Aug 2015

Pathways of Transnational Activism: A Conceptual Framework

This paper presents a novel analytical framework to study transnational activism in the context of today’s international governance architecture. While there is a considerable amount of literature on...

by Sabrina Zajak | On 07 Aug 2015

Ways to Improve Job Training Policies for the Jobless

“In order to ensure that government policies do not produce government failure that impedes the vitality of the market and keeps disadvantaged individuals from becoming self-sufficient, the public ass...

by | On 06 Aug 2015

A Reality Check on Suicides in India

In this paper, we study the data from the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) of India and disaggregate across demographic and leading causes of suicides. We find that mental and physical health are t...

by Shamika Ravi | On 02 Aug 2015

The Environments of the Poor in South Asia: Simultaneously Reducing Poverty, Protecting the Environment, and Adapting to Climate Change

Poverty and environmental factors are interlinked and hold crucial importance for economic development. The poor depend so much on their natural resource base and primary production sources that the d...

by | On 30 Jul 2015

Freedom to Marry: The Constitutional Choice and KHAP Panchayats

This paper talks about the right to marry as an essential freedom of all human beings as it relates to their right to self-expression and their right to associate with a person of their choice. The au...

by | On 27 Jul 2015

When the Dish Knocked Down the Antenna: How Television Digitization is Impacting Low Income Viewers and Public Broadcasting

A technology switch in television affects different income groups differently. In India the digitization of TV signals is putting an end to the free-to-air telecast regime. This study,the first of its...

by Sevanti Ninan | On 26 Jul 2015

Brutal Silencing of Journalists in India

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (Wan-Ifra) and the World Editors Forum have condemned the vicious murders of two journalists in India and have called on the Indian authorities...

by | On 26 Jul 2015

The Sunday Edit: Compulsory Altruism Or, A National Moral Economy?

The Give It Up campaign opens as an appeal to altruism and then proposes a moral economy using a reasoning that aligns altruism with nationalism and a sense of national belonging

by Pramod K. Nayar | On 26 Jul 2015

To Consume or to Conserve: Examining Water Conservation Model for Wheat Cultivation in India

Constitutionally in India, the individual states have responsibility for water, forests, and agriculture. Major canal irrigation accounts for over 80 percent of India's irrigation. This paper observes...

by Zareena Begum Irfan | On 24 Jul 2015

Caught in the ‘Net’: Fish Consumption Patterns of Coastal Regions in India

Fish is an important source of food and livelihood for people. Owing to their proximity to the sea, coastal communities have long depended on this resource to meet their nutritional needs. Does this,...

by Lavanya Ravikanth Anneboina | On 16 Jul 2015

Climate Extremes and Child Rights in South Asia: A Neglected Priority

The links between climate change and disasters in South Asia, such as flooding in Pakistan or cyclones in Bangladesh, are increasingly evident. However, there is little recognition of the potentially...

by | On 14 Jul 2015

Gender, Masculinities & Sexual Health in South Asia

Good health is an objective that is socially determined, and gender relations form a crucial aspect of good sexual health. This study on gender, masculinity and SRH in South Asia sets out to examine ‘...

by | On 14 Jul 2015

Integrating South and Southeast Asia through Services Value Chain: The Case of India and Thailand

The objective of this paper is to understand the prospects of enhancing services trade, investment and co-operation between South and Southeast Asia, taking the example of India and Thailand, by focus...

by | On 13 Jul 2015

Regional Balanced Urbanization for Inclusive Cities Development: Urban–Rural Poverty Linkages in Secondary Cities Development in Southeast Asia

The impact of urbanization on growth and equality, and on urban and rural poverty are well-documented but do not discuss alternative models of urbanization. While the relationship between urbanizat...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 13 Jul 2015

The Sunday Edit: Different Strokes

The processes followed in estimating and adjudicating damage in arriving at the recent settlement in the five-year old BP oil well disaster are an object lesson in what should have happened in the cas...

by Sathinath Sarangi | On 12 Jul 2015

Skill Formation and Employment Assurance in the Unorganised Sector

The issue of skill building has been at the forefront of policy debates in recent years. India can take advantage of its young workforce and hence the demographic dividend, only if the workforce posse...

by National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorgan NCEUS | On 10 Jul 2015

The Challenge of Employment in India An Informal Economy Perspective: Volume I

This is the final report of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, which was set up by the Government of India on 20th September 2004, to "review the status of unorganized/...

by National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorgan NCEUS | On 07 Jul 2015

Waste Pickers in Pune, India

Recent statistics show the majority of workers in developing countries earn their livelihoods in the informal sector. For this paper, a sample of 150 was randomly drawn from the membership database of...

by Poornima Chikarmane | On 06 Jul 2015

Tributes: Praful Bidwai: 1949-2015

Praful Bidwai, eminent journalist, left activist and anti-nuke campaigner passed away recently. Two tributes.

by Anant Phadke | On 04 Jul 2015

Migration and Human Development in India

The paper discusses how gaps in both the data on migration and the understanding of the role of migration in livelihood strategies and economic growth in India, have led to inaccurate policy prescript...

by Priya Deshingkar | On 03 Jul 2015

The Sunday Edit: The House that Constitution Built

The right to acquire/rent property anywhere in the nation is a fantasy fostered by the Constitution and the rhetoric of modernisation and urbanisation.

by Pramod K. Nayar | On 28 Jun 2015

Relaxing Migration Constraints for Rural Households

There are an estimated 750 million internal migrants in the world, yet the effects of access to internal migration for rural households are not well understood. Internal migrants may provide wealth tr...

by Cynthia Kinnan | On 25 Jun 2015

Improving Children’s Lives, Transforming the Future – 25 years of Child Rights in South Asia

Despite rapid economic growth in South Asia, strong inequalities persist and children pay a heavy price. This publication examines latest trends and data on children in the eight countries of the regi...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 24 Jun 2015

Does Migration for Domestic Work Reduce Poverty? A Review of the Literature and an Agenda for Research

This review of the published academic literature on internal and regional migration for domestic work shows a dearth of studies on internal migration for domestic work in South Asia. The existing lite...

by Priya Deshingkar | On 23 Jun 2015

Mining Without Consent: Chromite Mining in Manipur

The recent identification of chromite deposits in two districts of Manipur, Ukhrul and Chandel, has led the government to grant mining clearances disregarding constitutional provisions. While environm...

by Franky Varah | On 21 Jun 2015

Medium-Term Budgetary Framework (MTBF) of Bangladesh Election Commission

The statement aims to stand firmly as an independent institution and to conduct every election honestly, fairly and transparency and in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the country. The st...

by Ministry of Finance Bangladesh | On 18 Jun 2015

Global Peace Index 2015

The 2015 Global Peace Index shows that the world is becoming increasingly divided with some countries enjoying unprecedented levels of peace and prosperity while others spiral further into violence an...

by | On 17 Jun 2015

Religion: A Tool for Discrimination in South Asia?

The challenge of independence for South Asia was to weld diverse communities into composite nation states that recognised pluralism, respected human rights and guaranteed freedom and equality for all....

by South Asians for Human Rights SAHR | On 15 Jun 2015

Minorities and Inclusive Electoral Processes in South Asia

This overview brings together major findings and crosscutting issues in the “country situation reports” from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively, which were commissioned b...

by South Asians for Human Rights SAHR | On 15 Jun 2015

The Sunday Edit: The Maggi Order

Indigestible noodle soup.

by S Srinivasan | On 15 Jun 2015

Implementation of Forest Rights Act: Undoing the Historical Injustices?

This paper is based on a critical literature review and looks into the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in India, with particular reference to the two states of Chhattisgarh and Gujarat....

by Madhusudan Bandi | On 09 Jun 2015

Gender and Migration: Negotiating Rights - A Women's Movement Perspective

This research responds to the growing demand by mass organizations, for better documentation of women’s migration in India amid reports from activists of great increases in and new and more vulnerable...

by Indu Agnihotri | On 08 Jun 2015

India and Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement

Attempts have been made to arrive at a comprehensive settlement of the land boundary between India and Bangladesh (the erstwhile East Pakistan) since 1947. The Nehru-Noon agreement of 1958 and the agr...

by Ministry of External Affairs, GoI MEA | On 07 Jun 2015

The Myth and the Reality - The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column

This Sunday Column remembers the proud past of print in India, with stories that we have condemned to amnesia. These are stories about books, about print education, and about GST

by Noel D'Cunha | On 07 Jun 2015

The Economics of Peace: A Nepalese Perspective

Understanding the importance of peace has been accorded high priority in many religions, such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. In recent years, many economists have realized the monetary va...

by Hari Bansh Jha | On 05 Jun 2015

Renewable Energy: Market and Policy Environment in India

India's significant economic growth over the last decade has led to an inexorable rise in energy demand. Currently, India faces a challenging energy shortage. To grow at 9 per cent over the next 20 ye...

by Vivan Sharan | On 05 Jun 2015

'Look East through Northeast': Challenges and Prospects for India

This paper focuses on the considerable hurdles and limitations encountered in carrying forward India's 'Look East' through Northeast—problems caused by the nature of physical terrain, the history of v...

by Subir Bhaumik | On 04 Jun 2015

Women and Work in South Asia: Changes and Challenges

This paper examines a number of questions that have a bearing on women’s employment in South Asia. The characteristic features of the region such as the predominantly rural, agrarian economy; patriarc...

by | On 04 Jun 2015

Flawed Urban Development Policies in Pakistan

History and civilisation move in cities. All major scientific, social, political, economic and technological innovations have happened in human agglomerations known as cities. Great civilisations and...

by | On 04 Jun 2015

Fourteenth Finance Commission: Continuity, Change and Way Forward

In preparation of its report, the Fourteenth Finance Commission was guided by the terms of reference; the approach of the previous finance commissions; the prevailing macroeconomic situation in the co...

by | On 03 Jun 2015

“They Say We’re Dirty” Denying an Education to India’s Marginalized

In 2009, India enacted the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, which provides for free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 based on principles of equity and non-d...

by Human Rights Watch | On 02 Jun 2015

The Double Burden of Malnutrition: Case Studies from Six Developing Countries

This Food and Agriculture Organization publication assesses the extent of the "double burden" of malnutrition in six developing countries – China, Egypt, India, Mexico, the Philippines and South Afric...

by Food and Nutrition Division FAO | On 01 Jun 2015

Maul in India - What Next?

Direct mail is in danger of being vanished from this country. Mismanagement and lack of interest from the government bodies has made mail’s future precarious, finds out PrintWeek India.

by PrintWeek India PWI | On 28 May 2015

Mail in India - What Next?

Direct mail is in danger of being vanished from this country. Mismanagement and lack of interest from the government bodies has made mail’s future precarious, finds out PrintWeek India

by PrintWeek India PWI | On 28 May 2015

Report of the Steering Committee on Health for the Twelfth Five Year Plan

The report recommends some strategic changes to the existing health programmes and schemes, such that they work in conjunction with each other and collectively contribute to building a comprehensive h...

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 27 May 2015

Report of Planning Commission Working Group on Horticulture and Plantation Crops for Twelfth Plan

This Report of  the Working Group  on Horticulture &  Plantation  Crops will give  renewed  impetus  to  measures  for  sustained  growth  of  India's  Horticulture  &  Plantation  Sector  along with ...

by Planning Commission | On 25 May 2015

Report of the Working Group on Outreach of Institutional Finance, Cooperatives and Risk Management for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17)

The working group is of the opinion that the credit strategy should be aligned to agriculture growth strategy which in turn has to address broader macro economy concerns of supply management and issu...

by Planning Commission | On 21 May 2015

Report of the Sub Group III on Fodder and Pasture Management

Policy prescriptions for strengthening convergence of forestry, agriculture, watershed development programmes with pastures and grazing land management in forests, nonconventional forest areas, villag...

by Planning Commission | On 21 May 2015

Employment, Planning and Policy for the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017)

The Working Group has taken cognisance to the issues of inclusive growth. It lays emphasis on the view that employment generation should be focused on different segments of labour force – organized, u...

by Planning Commission | On 21 May 2015

Report of the Working Group on Drugs & Food Regulations

Strengthening of Drugs Regulatory Mechanisms is one of the major public health interventions. This ensures that safe, efficacious and quality drugs are made available to the people. Keeping in view th...

by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare H & FW | On 21 May 2015

Euthanasia, a Dignified Death: Because Surviving is Not Living

After spending 42 years in a vegetative state, Aruna Shanbaug breathed her last in Mumbai on May 18, 2015. The junior nurse who was brutally assaulted and sodomised by a ward boy in 1973 and whose cas...

by Rituparna Dutta | On 20 May 2015

Socio-economic Impact of Implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in India

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005 which is a rights-based flagship scheme of the Government of India with effect from 2 February, 2006, guarantees at least 100...

by | On 06 May 2015

Twenty-sixth Report on Review of Representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Senior Positions of Government of India

This Report of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes deals with the action taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in their Twenty-sixth Report (Fifte...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 05 May 2015

Obituary: Jyotiben Trivedi

Jyotiben Trivedi, former Vice chancellor of SNDT Women's University: A personal Tribute

by Vibhuti Patel | On 04 May 2015

Southern Thailand: From Conflict to Negotiations?

It has been a decade since the outbreak of one of Asia’s most serious insurgencies, the conflict between Malay Muslims and the Thai state in Southern Thailand. Often ignored and unremarked upon by the...

by Duncan McCargo | On 30 Apr 2015

Thailand: The Evolving Conflict in the South

After a decade of separatist violence in Thailand’s Malay/Muslim-majority southern provinces, insurgent capabilities are outpacing state counter-measures that are mired in complacency and political co...

by International Crisis Group | On 30 Apr 2015

Book Review: Civil Wars in South Asia: State, Sovereignty, Development

Review of Civil Wars in South Asia: State, Sovereignty, Development ed. Aparna Sundar and Nandini Sundar. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2014. pp. 273. Rs. 850/-, ISBN: 9789351500407.

by Pramod K. Nayar | On 28 Apr 2015

Report of the Expert Group to Recommend the Detailed Methodology for Identification of Families Living Below Poverty Line in the Urban Areas

The paper focuses on the objective of putting in place a uniform criteria to identify the BPL households in urban areas so that objectivity and transparency is ensured in delivery of benefits to the t...

by Planning Commission | On 27 Apr 2015

Report of the Committee for Evolving a Composite Development Index of States

This report however, also takes a step forward in trying to draw a balance between “needs” and “performance”. Given that poor administration or weak institutions in a recipient state can fritter away...

by Ministry of Finance | On 23 Apr 2015

Economic Policy Reforms in South Asia: An Overview and the Remaining Agenda

In the past few years, the pace of economic growth in South Asia has slowed considerably for two reasons: unfavourable global economic environment and the slowing pace of economic reforms that once we...

by | On 20 Apr 2015

The Internet and State Intervention in Asia: A Comparative Study of Selected Countries

In context of contemporary debates about censorship, net neutrality and the role of the state in today’s globalising world, it becomes vital to examine the stand taken by various Asian governments tow...

by Nandini Bhattacharya | On 17 Apr 2015

Realizing Sustainable Food Security in the Post-2015 Development Era: South Asia’s Progress, Challenges and Opportunities

This paper reviews South Asia’s progress, challenges and opportunities for realizing sustainable food security in the post-2015 development agenda. The review finds that South Asia’s average dietary e...

by | On 14 Apr 2015

Improving Children’s Lives Transforming the Future

Despite rapid economic growth in South Asia, strong inequalities persist and children pay a heavy price. This publication examines latest trends and data on children in the eight countries of the regi...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 27 Mar 2015

Understanding South Asian Labor Migration

Migration has been a common phenomenon in South Asia for hundreds of years, especially between bordering countries. Apart from intraregional migration, the Gulf oil boom sparked a different type of la...

by | On 25 Mar 2015

Budget (2015-16) Speech of Haryana Finance Minister

Budget speech of Haryana Finance Minister

by Capt. Abhimanyu | On 24 Mar 2015

Japan and ASEAN: Their Changing Security Relations

Southeast Asia has been one of the key components of Japan's foreign policy in the post-Cold War period. It is one region where Japan's diplomacy has accomplished considerable success in coming to ter...

by | On 24 Mar 2015

Progress Towards the WSIS Targets in ESCAP and Regional Perspectives on Measuring ICT Development Objectives

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of regional progress in implementing the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Survey data collected in 2013 from ESCAP co...

by United Nations Economic and Social Commission (UNESCAP) | On 19 Mar 2015

Nutrition in South Asia

Nutrition is key to children’s survival and development. Well-nourished children are healthier and cleverer than their undernourished peers, they grow and develop to their full potential, and they per...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 18 Mar 2015

Women in Indian Labour Market What Are the Emerging Options?

If women in the unpaid domestic employment categories were to be provided even part-time regular work, they would immensely contribute to the GDP. It is important to generate creative partnerships be...

by Bino Paul G.D | On 15 Mar 2015

Kerala Budget 2015-16

Budget speech of Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani.

by K.M. Mani | On 13 Mar 2015

Death Sentences and Executions 2012

This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2012. Amnesty International records figures on the use of the death penalty based on the best available info...

by Amnesty International AI, | On 13 Mar 2015

Finance Commission of India’s Assessments: A Political Economy Contention between Expectations and Outcomes

The objective of this study is to examine the structural basis on which Finance Commissions make their awards rather than examining the predictability of the forecasts. The story of Finance Commission...

by | On 12 Mar 2015

What Holds Back Manufacturing in South Asia

The recent South Asian (other than that of Bangladesh) experience of a growing merchandise trade deficit and the challenge of job creation have forced attention back on the role of manufacturing. Bang...

by | On 09 Mar 2015

Union Budget 2015-16: Shocking Neglect of Health Care

The budget proposals are premised on the assumption that health care is an individual’s responsibiity. The government appears to be rapidly shedding its responsibilities to provide accessible health...

by Ravi Duggal | On 01 Mar 2015

On Rethinking Population Education: Challenging the Gender and Structural Violence of Prevailing Norms

The way population issues are taught in schools, colleges and universities can have a profound impact on the development of students’ worldviews, particularly regarding the root causes of poverty, mal...

by Betsy Hartmann | On 01 Mar 2015

Economic Survey 2014-15: Volume I

A flagship annual document of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Economic Survey 2014–15 reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the previous 12 months, summarizes the performan...

by Ministry of Finance | On 28 Feb 2015

Report of the Fourteenth Finance Commission

The Fourteenth Finance Commission (FC-XIV) was constituted by the President under Article 280 of the Constitution on 2 January 2013 to make recommendations for the period 2015- 20. Dr. Y. V. Reddy w...

by Finance Commission | On 24 Feb 2015

Budget Transparency and Participation: Recommendations to the Fourteenth Finance Commission

This paper explores the need for a Pre-Budget Statement, sub-national transparency and civil society participation to make the budgetary process in India more transparent, accountable and participator...

by Ravi Duggal | On 20 Feb 2015

Social Exclusion in the Context of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Access to water and sanitation are strongly influenced by identities of caste, class and gender. The launch of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan presents an opportunity to address some concerns pertaining to...

by Kanika Kaul | On 19 Feb 2015

Budget Track - Issues before the 14th Finance Commission

This edition of Budget Track focuses on the ‘Issues before the 14th Finance Commission’, which is due to submit its report to the Union Government this year. The Finance Commission of India, a Constit...

by Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability | On 19 Feb 2015

Policy Framework for Finance SEZs

India is a large user of financial services, by virtue of a large and growing GDP and a high rate of investment and savings. At present, India is con- suming financial services produced onshore as wel...

by Ministry of Finance | On 19 Feb 2015

Bangladesh: Polarisation, Political Violence and An Undeclared Civil War

The report states that about 90 people have been killed and more than a thousand were injured in the ongoingviolent anti-government protests by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led 20-party alli...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 19 Feb 2015

Caste, Corruption and Political Competition in India

Voters in India are often perceived as being biased in favor of parties that claim to represent their caste. The caste bias is incorporated into voter preferences and examine its in influence on the...

by Avidit Acharya | On 12 Feb 2015

Indian Public Finance Statistics 2013-14

Indian Public Finance Statistics' is an annual publication prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. This provides a comprehensive overview of the b...

by Ministry of Finance | On 10 Feb 2015

Impending Water Crisis in India and Comparing Clean Water Standards among Developing and Developed Nations

This paper is an overview of the issues surrounding India’s water scarcity, and also comparison of clean water standards between developing and developed nations. Water security is emerging as an incr...

by | On 06 Feb 2015

The Effect of Women’s Decision-Making Power on Reproductive Health Services Uptake - Evidence from Pakistan

A large body of research has attempted to explore the links between women's autonomy and their uptake of reproductive health services in the South Asia region, but the evidence so far is inconclusive...

by Xiaohui Hou | On 04 Feb 2015

New Challenges Before the Indian Nation

What are the new challenges before the Indian nation, its new government and the people's movement? (In Hindi)

by Abhay Kumar Dubey | On 29 Jan 2015

Addressing Inequality in Southeast Asia through Regional Economic Integration

The paper mainly discusses the issues and policies relating to inequality in Southeast Asia. Policies to reduce inequality include more efficient fiscal policies, improve infrastructure and generating...

by Josef Yap | On 29 Jan 2015

Promoting Agricultural Research and Development to Strengthen Food Security in South Asia

This study aims to highlight the status of agricultural R&D in South Asia and contends that creating an effective agricultural research and innovation systems is a vital element to ensure food securit...

by | On 22 Jan 2015

Annual Day Lecture of the Delhi School of Economics, India

The lecture focuses on the continuing relevance of the founding principles of the School, viz., academic freedom, academic excellence, social commitment with technical competence.

by C.H. Hanumantha Rao | On 21 Jan 2015

Tribute: Jasodhara Bagchi

Jashodhara Bagchi was a leading Indian feminist critic and a prodigious professor in her field. She was a scholar who voiced women's cause and worked for their empowerment. She also was chairman of...

by Vibhuti Patel | On 19 Jan 2015

Malnutrition in South-Asia: Poverty, Diet or Lack of Female Empowerment?

Despite economic growth, and a reduction in poverty, malnutrition is still rampant in South-Asia. This indicates that non-economic factors are important, and it used a nation-wide survey from Nepal to...

by | On 13 Jan 2015

Presidential Stakes and Sri Lanka's future

Across the great Eurasian plate these days, one can find leaders dispensing with truly competitive politics. But traverse the Himalayas to South Asia and the climate is different: Democracy is on a w...

by Chandrani Sharma | On 13 Jan 2015

Jasodhara Bagchi : "The Women’s Movement and I"

A short post on PosterWomen that first appeared in July 25, 2011 in which Jasodhara Bagchi, the late feminist scholar and activist talks about her involvement with the women's movement in India.

by Jasodhara Bagchi | On 11 Jan 2015

‘Coin of Blood’: Savarkar’s 'The Indian War of Independence – 1857'

Savarkar’s chief claim from the outset is that the Revolution was the manifestation of deep underlying principles. Indeed this sense of the underlying principles can alone justify such massive loss of...

by Nikhil Govind | On 27 Dec 2014

Human Rights in North Korea: Addressing the Challenges

An international response to North Korea’s egregious human rights record has begun to take shape. Building on the work of NGOs and UN human rights experts, the United Nations Human Rights Council i...

by Roberta Cohen | On 26 Dec 2014

Labour Migration in South Asia: A Review of Issues, Policies and Practices

This paper reviews migration policy frameworks in South Asia and their implications for governance of migration, protection of migrant workers and maximizing development benefits of migration. The pap...

by Piyasiri Wickramasekara | On 19 Dec 2014

Pakistan and Afghanistan: Understanding Islamabad’s Objectives and Strategies

Pakistan plays a vital role in Afghanistan and is its most prominent neighbor given its strategic location, geographical proximity, historical and cultural ties with the exception of political influen...

by | On 18 Dec 2014

Logged On : Smart Government Solutions from South Asia

Mobile technology is helping to fight corruption in Pakistan, improve health delivery in Bangladesh, provide access to government by the ordinary citizen in India, and help monitor elections in Afghan...

by Zubair Bhatti | On 18 Dec 2014

Local Governments and the Inclusion of the Excluded: Towards a Strategic Methodology with Empirical Illustration

This paper tries to argue that local governments constitutionally mandated to ‘plan for economic development and social justice’ at the local level are eminently qualified to take up the task of wor...

by Oommen M A | On 17 Dec 2014

Impediments to Contract Enforcement in Day Labour Markets: A Perspective from India

This paper focuses on one such setting in India's urban informal economy: the 'day labour' market for casual labour. We survey seven such markets in Navi Mumbai (a city on the outskirts of Mumbai),...

by Karthikeya Naraparaju | On 12 Dec 2014

Asia Child Marriage Initiative: Summary of Research in Bangladesh, India and Nepal

Child marriage is one of the most prevalent and serious violations of human rights. The issue needs urgent attention in South Asia, where 46 per cent of children are married formally or in informal u...

by Ravi Verma | On 27 Nov 2014

Socio-Economic Status of the Notified Minority Communities

The report provides a detailed quantitative account of the four notified minority communities – Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Parsis using all available information. The study takes into account th...

by Institute Human Development | On 11 Nov 2014

The Elusive Nature of Educational Incentives

This paper examines the assumptions underlying educational incentive schemes with the help of data collected on the status and implementation of three such schemes for minority communities in Mahara...

by Disha Nawani | On 11 Nov 2014

Socio Economic Profile of Muslims in Maharashtra

Maharashtra’s multicultural milieu is marked by crucial contribution made by Muslims. The Sachar Committee Report, 2006 stated that the condition of Muslim in Maharashtra demands special attention o...

by Vibhuti Patel | On 11 Nov 2014

A Report on Health Inequities in Maharashtra

This study project was undertaken by SATHI and CEHAT to make a small contribution in this emerging field of study of health inequities in India, and with the objective of strengthening advocacy on hea...

by Srijit Mishra | On 11 Nov 2014

Youth Employment in the Philippines

Youth unemployment and the difficulty of transiting from school to work has been a persistent and significant problem not just in the Philippines, but throughout the Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Th...

by Mark Canlas | On 04 Nov 2014

Towards a Food Secure India and South Asia: Making Hunger History

The paper begins with a detailed analysis of the various elements of food security, then it describes the various policy and programme restructurings and interventions to meet the challenges and const...

by R.B. Singh | On 29 Oct 2014

Employment for Youth – A Growing Challenge for the Global Community

Social and economic challenges facing young people today must be understood in terms of the complex interaction between unique demographic trends and specific economic contexts. There has been an...

by Ragui Assaad | On 27 Oct 2014

"I Already Bought You" Abuse and Exploitation of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in the United Arab Emirates

This Human Rights Watch report documents how the UAE’s visa sponsorship system, known as kafala, and the lack of labour law protections leave migrant domestic workers exposed to abuse. Domestic worker...

by Human Rights Watch | On 24 Oct 2014

Global Hunger Index 2014: The Challenge of Hidden Hunger

A staggering 2 billion people get so little essential vitamins and minerals from the foods they eat that they remain undernourished, according to the 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI) being released toda...

by International Food Policy Research Institute | On 14 Oct 2014

Institutional Credit in Rainfed Areas: District Level Analysis in Southern States

Dryland regions of the country, poorly endowed as they are with natural resources including water are likely to be disadvantaged in terms of access to credit. Within the dryland areas too inter-pers...

by Satyasai K J S | On 08 Oct 2014

Human Development Progress in South Asia: Achievements and Challenges

Rapid human development progress in India, Bangladesh and other South Asian nations is helping drive a historic shift in global dynamics, with hundreds of millions of people rising from poverty and bi...

by Rameshwar Jat | On 26 Sep 2014

Reducing Poverty by Closing South Asia’s Infrastructure Gap

“Reducing Poverty by Closing South Asia’s Infrastructure Gap” reveals that the region’s growing demands for infrastructure has enlarged an existing infrastructure gap. According to the report, address...

by Luis Andrés | On 22 Sep 2014

Assessing the Costs of Climate Change and Adaptation in South Asia

With a population of 1.43 billion people, one-third of whom live in poverty, the South Asia developing members of ADB face the challenge of achieving and sustaining rapid economic growth to reduce pov...

by Sanjay Upadhyaya | On 19 Sep 2014

Rising Food Prices in South Asia: A Policy Framework to Mitigate Adverse Effects

The global economic crises that started in 2008 have exposed commodity markets to increasing price volatility and raised concerns for higher inflation, food security and poverty reduction. This seri...

by S.Mahendra Dev | On 12 Sep 2014

Economic Implications of Deeper South Asian–Southeast Asian Integration

South and Southeast Asian economic integration via increased trade flows has been increasing significantly over the past 2 decades, but the level of trade continues to be relatively low. This under pe...

by Ganeshan Wignaraja | On 22 Aug 2014

Doing more than Lip-service to the Backward Sections

The Scheduled Castes form 16 percent of the population yet their issues have largely remained silent. It’s high time to bring into line the discord between election commitments and budgetary allocatio...

by P.S Krishnan | On 19 Aug 2014

Indian Planning Experience: A Statistical Profile

The Planning Commission completed 50 years of its setting up on 15th March, 2000. At the time it was set up the purpose of the Planning Commission was to formulate the five year and the annual plans f...

by Planning Commission | On 18 Aug 2014

Government of India's Resolution setting up the Planning Commission

Problems of planning were reviewed towards the end of 1949 by the Advisory Planning Board which was appointed by the Interim Government of India, an important recommendation of the Board being the app...

by Government of India GOI | On 18 Aug 2014

Gandhi through the Eyes of a Disciple

Review of 'Mahatma Gandhi and Prema Kantak: Exploring a Relationship, Exploring History' Oxford University Press, India 2013; pp 368; Rs 850

by Surendra Bhana | On 13 Aug 2014

Finance and Opportunity in India

One of the greatest dangers to the growth of developing countries is the middle income trap, where crony capitalism creates oligarchies that slow down growth. If the debate during the elections is any...

by Raghuram G. Rajan | On 13 Aug 2014

The Roots of Gender Inequality in Developing Countries

Is the high degree of gender inequality in developing countries in education, personal autonomy, and more explained by underdevelopment itself? Or do the societies that are poor today hold certain cu...

by Seema Jayachandran | On 11 Aug 2014

Tribute: Obaid Siddiqi: Bringing Science to Society

A Tribute to the scientist Obaid Siddiqi who passed away a year ago.

by Jaikishan Advani | On 30 Jul 2014

The Challenges of Constructing a Model for Science Education – Differences in Students’ and Teachers’ Attributes of Six Partner Countries

The Europe Commission (EC) initiated a number of studies to determine the reasons for the decline in the study of science and science literacy among European students. The Science Education for Divers...

by Ng Swee Chin | On 28 Jul 2014

Of Reigning Silences and Quivering Words: Kumher Kaand of 1992

This paper is an attempt to revisit an event that was barely given any space in public memory – the Kumher Dalit Massacre of 1992. The pogrom in question is one of the most brutal instances of choreog...

by Ridhima Sharma | On 24 Jul 2014

Union Budget 2014: New Government, Same Ol'Budget

If the Union Budget 2014 is anything to go by , the fiscal policy of the new government shows no change. In fact, there is an amazing continuity with the previous few Budgets. Significantly however,...

by Ravi Duggal | On 23 Jul 2014

Horizontal Devolution of States in India-Suggestions Before the Fourteenth Finance Commission

The focus of the paper is to suggest an alternate methodology for horizontal devolution from divisible pool of Central taxes and disbursement of grants. Tax devolution criteria suggested are populat...

by R. Mohan | On 16 Jul 2014

Who Goes? Failures of Marital Provisioning and Women's Agency among Less Skilled Emigrant Women Workers from Kerala

This paper draws upon a selection of narratives from interviews with over 150 less skilled emigrant and returnee women workers from Trivandrum district to argue that the conditions that structure i...

by Praveena Kodoth | On 14 Jul 2014

Student Learning in South Asia: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Priorities

This report covers education from primary through upper secondary school. Given its importance for school readiness, this report also reviews early childhood development even though that is outside...

by Halil Dundar | On 11 Jul 2014

Employment Stagnancy in India: Policy Plus Monetary reform

The Indian economy is witnessing a dichotomous trend- an increasing share of employment in industry with decline in Value Added to output. When compared to other Asian economies, we’re adding workers...

by Aritra Chakrabarty | On 10 Jul 2014

Book Review - Indian Culture through a Television Screen

Book Review - Understanding India: Cultural Influences on Indian Television Commercials discusses Indian Television Commercials in the context of marketing interests and visual culture. The author exa...

by Hemali Sanghavi | On 09 Jul 2014

African Union Outlook on Education Report

This Outlook on Education report for the EAC region was produced on behalf of the African Union - Department of Human Resources, Science and Technology - for the 2014 Conference of Ministers of Educat...

by East Community | On 09 Jul 2014

Tribute: Manorama Savur

A tribute to Prof Manorama Savur by a student and admirer.

by Ravi Duggal | On 25 Jun 2014

Obituary: Manorama Savur (1927-2014)

Manorama Savur, professor of sociology, Mumbai University and well-respected academic and activist.

by Vibhuti Patel | On 25 Jun 2014

The Global Labour Standards Controversy: Critical Issues for Developing Countries

This policy study seeks to move the debate on labour standards beyond the present stalemate onto a more constructive plane. While closely examining the economic arguments in this controversy, it is al...

by Ajit Singh | On 09 Jun 2014

Connecting South Asia to Southeast Asia: Cross-Border Infrastructure Investments

Most of the trade between South Asia and Southeast Asia is by sea. However, with improved infrastructure and easier border crossing procedures, land traffic could grow to boost trade in goods, service...

by Jean-Francois Gautrin Gautrin | On 02 Jun 2014

Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013: A Generation at Risk

This issue of Global Employment Trends for Youth provides an update on youth labour markets around the world, focusing both on the continuing labour market crisis and on structural issues in youth lab...

by International Labour Organisation ILO | On 30 May 2014

Marking Progress Against Child Labour

New estimates presented by International Labour Organization (ILO) indicate that 168 million children worldwide are in child labour, accounting for almost 11 per cent of the child population as a whol...

by International Labour Organisation ILO | On 27 May 2014

Water Security in South Asia: Issues and Policy Recommendations

It is estimated that by 2030, only 60 per cent of the world's population will have access to fresh water supplies. This would mean that about 3 billion people would be living without reliable source...

by Wilson John | On 15 May 2014

Sanitizing the Profane

This paper seeks to understand the struggle of the ‘original’ singers/musicians of the theripaatu to retain the form in the face of censorship and commercial compulsions. It explores the complex inter...

by Shweta Radhakrishnan | On 13 May 2014

Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development

The report investigates migration in the context of demographic changes and trends in both growth and inequality. It also presents more detailed and nuanced individual, family and village experiences,...

by Jeni Klugman | On 06 May 2014

The Food Security Policy Context in South Africa

The analysis in this report leads to an overall conclusion that the IFSS is an excellent strategy on paper and a relevant framework for different stakeholders, but in reality it lacks implementing pow...

by Josee Koch | On 29 Apr 2014

Developing Democracies in Southeast Asia:Theorizing the Role of Parties and Elections 1 Forthcoming in Southeast Asia and Political Science: Theory, Region, and Method

Political parties and elections lie at the center of modern democratic politics. Elections function as the chief means of holding leaders accountable for their actions in democratic societies. Politic...

by Erik Kuhonta | On 28 Apr 2014

Human Development in India: Challenges for a Society in Transition

This report highlights the way in which poverty and a?uence intersect with age-old divisions of regional inequalities, gender, caste, and religion that have long structured human development in India....

by Sonalde Desai | On 17 Apr 2014

Indian Youth and Electoral Politics - An Emerging Engagement

Review of the book 'Indian Youth and Electoral Politics - An Emerging Engagement' edited by Sanjay Kumar; Fellow at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS); April 2014; pp 180; Rs 450.

by Nandini Bhattacharya | On 07 Apr 2014

Food Prices and Child Nutrition in Andhra Pradesh

This paper makes an attempt to assess the impact of food price rise on the nutritional status of children of five year old. Young lives panel data provides the nutritional status of the children whe...

by S. Galab | On 27 Mar 2014

Is Self-Employment the Answer to Caste Discrimination? Decomposing the Earnings Gap in Indian Household Nonfarm Businesses

Using the India Human Development Survey data for 2004-05, two methodologies are used to estimate the earnings structure of household nonfarm businesses owned by Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SCSTs)...

by Ashwini Deshpande | On 20 Mar 2014

Debating Poverty

The first of a series of eSSays dossiers on issues of public concern. Guest editor: M.H. Suryanarayana. Contents: Poverty Line: Pursuit of an Elusive Minimum by M.H. Suryanarayana Fixing Poverty...

by eSocialSciences eSS | On 08 Mar 2014

Report of the Steering Committee on Rapid Poverty Reduction And Local Area Development for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012)

The report examines the data on the poor, their characteristics and attempts to profile the poor. It addresses the need to devise a vision for the Eleventh Plan, which derives from the Approach Paper...

by Planning Commission | On 04 Mar 2014

Breaking the Caste Barrier: Intergenerational Mobility in India

The report studies the extent and evolution of this lack of mobility by contrasting the inter-generational mobility rates of the historically disadvantaged scheduled castes and tribes in India with th...

by Viktoria Hnatkovska | On 28 Feb 2014

Social Mobility of Caste and Tribes in India

Explains how the social difference between the caste system and different tribes was contained even through the caste system was officially abolished. Presents a general model of social mobility based...

by Panizza Philipp | On 28 Feb 2014

Public Opposition Halts Violation of Environmental Norms: Case of APSEZ, Gujarat

All too often blinded by the dazzle of development people and planners do not see the trail of destruction that accompanies new initiatives. It need not be that way. As the case of Adani Ports and SEZ...

by Yogi Aggarwal | On 26 Feb 2014

Is Self-Employment the Answer to Caste Discrimination? Decomposing the Earnings Gap in Indian Household NonFarm Business

Using the India Human Development Survey data for 2004-05, two methodologies are employed to estimate the earnings structure of household nonfarm businesses owned by Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SCS...

by Ashwini Deshpande | On 17 Feb 2014

Jewels of the Qila: A Review

Review of Hugh J. M. Johnston's Jewels of the Qila, University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, 2012. 336 pp. $35.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-7748-2217-6.

by Shezan Muhammedi | On 12 Feb 2014

Medico Friend Circle Bulletin, 357-360, July 2013- Feb 2014

Contents? Social Discrimination in Health How to think of Discrimination? Why Casteism Persists Even in the 21st Century? Discrimination, Stigma and a Typology of Violence: Some Conceptual Reflect...

by Medico Friend Circle | On 08 Feb 2014

Public - Private Partnerships in Kolkata: Concepts of Governance in the Changing Political Economy of a Region

In order to conceptualize the transforming political and economic orders of today’s South Asia, the perspective of contemporary history is taken. For this, Public-Private Partnership – which is bei...

by Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee | On 24 Jan 2014

Connecting India To ASEAN: Opportunities and Challenges in India’s Northeast

As ASEAN and India celebrated two decades of friendship late last year, there was much lively discussion on how to bring the two growing regions closer together. Of the many ideas that were deliberate...

by South Asian Studies Institute of | On 23 Jan 2014

Conflicts in South Asia: Causes, Consequences, Prospects

Studying conflicts is a big intellectual enterprise. More than 60 per cent of the top 100 think-tanks listed in the University Pennsylvania survey (2012) study conflicts and issues related to conflict...

by S. D. Muni | On 22 Jan 2014

The Price of Steel-Human Rights and forced evictions in the POSCO-India Steel Project

The POSCO project in India is a story all too familiar. This is a story about attempts to forcibly evict thousands of families from their homes, their fields, and their forests to make way for a massi...

by Smita Narula | On 22 Jan 2014

Bangladesh at a Crossroads: A Political Prognosis

Bangladesh is in the cusp of great changes. At this point in time it is standing at a crossroads. This is when its friends and its responsible citizenry must help point towards the right direction: on...

by Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury | On 22 Jan 2014

Community Resilience and Critical Urban Infrastructure: Where Adaptive Capacities Meet Vulnerabilities

In many of Southeast Asia’s cities, critical infrastructure development is concentrated in affluent areas; and poor communities, lacking access to basic services, often resort to alternatives that may...

by Sofiah Jamil | On 15 Jan 2014

Maritime Territorial Disputes in East Asia: A Comparative Analysis of the South China Sea and the East China Sea

This article systematically compares maritime territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas. It draws on the bargaining model of war and hegemonic stability theory to track the record of confl...

by Andy Yee | On 02 Jan 2014

Hostage to History: Japan-South Korea Relations

With the two leaders of Japan and South Korea having failed to hold an official meeting between them since coming to office, historical issues remain a thorn in the the betterment of Japanese-South K...

by Bert Edström | On 02 Jan 2014

The Return of the Prodigy Son: Do Return Migrants Make Better Leaders?

This paper investigates the impact of political leaders’ migration experience on the quality of their leadership. A database is constructed on the personal background of 932 politicians who were at...

by Marion Mercier | On 20 Dec 2013

Reducing Vulnerability and Exposure to Disasters

The past two years have been challenging ones for the Asia-Pacific region in several respects, but 2011 has been particularly unforgettable for how it has focused the attention of so many people on th...

by ... CEHAT | On 13 Dec 2013

China-ASEAN Relations: Consensus on Principles, Differences on Specifics

ASEAN, for China, is the focal point for Chinese diplomacy with Southeast Asian countries. Beyond ASEAN, China’s overall relations with Russia, Central Asia and most South Asian countries are relative...

by Chaobing Qiu | On 29 Nov 2013

A Review of Internal and Regional Migration Policy in Southeast Asia

This working paper provides an overview of migration policy analysis in academic and policy (‘grey’) literature for Southeast Asia, as well as a brief outline of the current migration policy environme...

by Maureen Hickey | On 27 Nov 2013

Ethical Issues in Community Based Monitoring of Health Programmes: Reflections from India

This paper explores the different sets of power relationships and resultant ethical dilemmas that arise when developing community monitoring systems. Community Based Monitoring and Planning, as part o...

by Renu Khanna | On 22 Nov 2013

The Future of the World Trade Organization

The continued difficulties of the World Trade Organization to achieve further multilateral trade liberalization in the Doha Round negotiations have raised questions about its continued relevance. This...

by Biswajit Dhar | On 19 Nov 2013

Preliminary Census Abstract on Slum Population

Preliminary report on the extent of slum population to the total population in India, 2011. According to the preliminary reports, the share of slum population has increased in the last decade with Mah...

by Planning Commission, India | On 12 Nov 2013

Girl Power in Agricultural Production: How Much Does it Yield? A Case-Study on the Dairy Sector in India

This paper provides empirical evidence of the impact of female intra-household decision-making power on dairy productivity in India, based on evidence from a household-level dataset which was collecte...

by Astrid Sneyers | On 07 Nov 2013

Southeast Asia’s Food Security Challenge: More than ‘Stock’ Solution Needed

Countries in Southeast Asia face a fresh challenge to their food security as food consumption patterns change, and reliance on imports increases to meet such shifts. Consequently, they may be left wit...

by Belinda Chng | On 01 Nov 2013

Global Hunger Index 2013 - The Challenge of Hunger: Building Resilience to Achieve Food and Nutrition Security

The 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI), which reflects data from the period 2008–2012, shows that global hunger has improved since 1990, falling by one-third. Despite the progress made the level of hunger...

by International Food Policy Research Institute | On 16 Oct 2013

Welfare and Poverty Impacts of India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme: Evidence from Andhra Pradesh

India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is one of the largest public works programs globally. Understanding the impacts of NREGS and the pathway through which its impacts are realiz...

by Songqing Jin | On 14 Oct 2013

Model State Affordable Housing Policy for Urban Areas

The aim of this policy is to create an enabling environment for providing “affordable housing for all” with special emphasis on EWS and LIG and other vulnerable sections of society such as Scheduled c...

by Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation MOHUPA | On 09 Oct 2013

Transforming State-Citizen Relations in Food Security Schemes: The Computerized Ration Card Management System in Kerala

In this paper the application of ICTs to the improvement of state-citizen relations in a developing country context. To maximise the responsiveness of the government, ICTs need to target the structura...

by Silvia Masiero | On 07 Oct 2013

Rural Poverty and the Public Distribution System

Presented are estimates of the impact of India’s Public Distribution System on rural poverty, using National Sample Survey data for 2009-10 and official poverty lines. At the all India level, the PD...

by Jean Dreze | On 27 Sep 2013

Caste, Land, and Migration: A Preliminary Analysis of a Village Survey in an Underdeveloped State in India

This paper explores migration from Bihar, one of the most underdeveloped states in India, by paying particular attention to social class (caste) and landholdings. After describing details of individu...

by Yuko Tsujita | On 27 Sep 2013

A Human Tragedy Unfolds As the State Watches: A Preliminary Citizens' Report

n September 17-18, 2013, an 11-member team from five organizations based in Lucknow, Chitrakoot, Muzaffarnagar and Delhi, respectively visited relief camps in two affected districts of Muzaffarnagar a...

by Vanangana Vanangana | On 23 Sep 2013

Fifty Ninth Report on the Functioning of the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation

The Committee is of the firm opinion that most of the ills besetting the system of drugs regulation in India are mainly due to the skewed priorities and perceptions of CDSCO. For decades together it h...

by Parliamentary Standing Committee Health and Family Welfare | On 15 Sep 2013

Report of the Fact Finding Investigation Conducted to Ascertain Facts in the Case of Alleged Rape and Murder of Dalit girl in Jind district of Haryana

On August 24, 2013, a 20 year old Dalit girl was brutally raped and murdered in Jind, Haryana, while she was on her way to write an examination. Her body was found near a canal the next day by the pol...

by Nivedita Menon | On 14 Sep 2013

A Critique: HIV/AIDS and the Legal and Policy Framework in Sri Lanka

This paper discusses and comments on the legal and policy dimension and the obstacles it poses to a sustainable and effective response to HIV/AIDS as many do not come forward to obtain medical servic...

by Bhavani Fonseka | On 14 Sep 2013

How will India Facilitate a Credible and Independent Investigation in Sri Lanka?

At the UN Human Rights Council’s (HRC) 22nd session in Geneva India quietly registered its dismay at the lack of progress made by Sri Lanka since its commitments at the Council in 2009. While urging...

by Raghu Menon | On 14 Sep 2013

Madras Cafe: A Timely Interrogation

The film, MAdras Cafe, offers us an opportunity to revisit memory and ask important questions as to what happened in the early years of the civil war in Sri Lanka. An introspection that is necessary i...

by Aaranya Rajasingam | On 13 Sep 2013

Celebratory Memoirs of the Life of Comrade Sunila Abeysekera

Sri Lanka’s top UN Human Rights award winner Sunila Abeysekara died at a private hospital in Colombo on Monday afternoon after a long battle with cancer. A founder of Sri Lanka’s feminist movement, Ms...

by Lionel Bopage | On 12 Sep 2013

Preliminary Evidence on Internal Migration, Remittances, and Teen Schooling in India

Migration can serve as an outlet for employment, higher earnings, and reduced income risk for households in developing countries. The 2004–2005 Human Development Profile of India survey is used to exa...

by Valerie Mueller | On 06 Sep 2013

Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function

The poor often behave in less capable ways, which can further perpetuate poverty. The authors hypothesize that poverty directly impedes cognitive function and present two studies that test this hypoth...

by Anandi Mani | On 04 Sep 2013

Scientist and Intellectual: Obaid Siddiqi and His Larger Family

Obaid Siddiqi, one of the most outstanding scientists of modern India, died in a freak accident in Bangalore on July 26. While he was out on a walk on July 21, a moped being driven by a young person o...

by Prabhat Patnaik | On 30 Aug 2013

Hungama - Fighting Hunger and Malnutrition

Despite India’s remarkable economic growth over the last decade, many children still struggle to meet their most basic needs, including access to sufficient food and health c are. According to the 2 0...

by Hungama - Citizen's Alliance Against Malnutrition | On 30 Aug 2013

Five Years of Leading the Reserve Bank: Looking Ahead by Looking Back

This Tenth Nani A. Palkhivala Memorial lecture lecture centres around the role and responsibility of a central bank in a democratic structure. Central banks make macroeconomic policy that influences t...

by Duvvuri Subbarao | On 30 Aug 2013

A Comprehensive Approach to Mental Illness

The Draft Mental Health Bill that will hopefully become law soon is indeed a marked improvement on the older Mental Health Law, 1987. Besides taking into account current practices, it also prescribes...

by Sangeeta Rege | On 26 Aug 2013

Obituary: Narendra Dabholkar

An obituary and tribute to the rationalist, social activist and crusader against superstition and black magic who was murdered in broad daylight in Pune, India.

by Anant Phadke | On 24 Aug 2013

FDI in Defence: Wrong Diagnosis, Wrong Remedy

FDI in the defence sector, with lower or higher caps, will not result in the massive inflow of investments as are being touted. Nor will it bring in advanced technologies. These would happen, if at al...

by D.Raghunandan | On 24 Aug 2013

Death of a Rationalist Crusader

The murder of Narendra Dabholkar is emblematic of the deep fear of knowledge and its democratization.

by Amit Sengupta | On 23 Aug 2013

Goa: A Postcolonial Society between Cultures

David Jackson is a Professor of Spanish and Portuguese. His research interests include Portuguese and Brazilian Literatures; Camões, Machado de Assis, Fernando Pessoa; modernist, vanguardist, and inte...

by Yale University | On 14 Aug 2013

Historical Changes in Relations Between China and Neighboring Countries (1949–2012)

In China’s foreign affairs and security studies, the concept of the ‘neighborhood’ (zhoubian) has a special meaning that has changed gradually over time. As China has developed, its leadership has be...

by Zhang Chi | On 12 Aug 2013

Just not cricket?

Ashis Nandy, a reputable Indian sociologist, likes the game so well that he declares Indians were the real inventors of cricket. It is an Indian game, he says, accidentally discovered by the British....

by Stephen Fay | On 10 Aug 2013

The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012

An act to provide for the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and their families and for matters connected there with.

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 08 Aug 2013

The '4 in 1' Training Programme: Capacity Building Initiative for Building Health/Nutrition Workers’ Skills in Infant and Young Child Feeding Counseling

Breastfeeding is the optimal nutrition for infants and reduces the risk of infectious diseases like diarrhoea and pneumonia substantially.4 Breastfeeding may also enhance the effect of some vaccines....

by Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India BPNI | On 06 Aug 2013

Patterns of Migration, Water Scarcity and Caste in Rural Northern Gujarat

Patterns of rural-urban migration and employment shifts in a region that is facing ongoing depletion of groundwater resources in Northern Gujarat, India is discussed. Given that migration typically d...

by Ram Fishman | On 30 Jul 2013

A Good Model for Grievance Redressal? Kerala’s Award-Winning Mass Contact Programme

Kerala’s innovative programme for redressing grievances and rooting out corruption has won the chief minister accolades even as it served to connect people to political leaders directly.

by Amrutha Jose Pampackal | On 22 Jul 2013

As Dear As Salt: The Story of Neglect in a Traditional Occupation in Goa

Salt has been an important produce of the coastal region of Goa on the west coast of India for centuries and has been exported from there to countries in Africa and the rest of Asia. But today, the tr...

by Frederick Noronha | On 22 Jul 2013

Why Is Mobility in India So Low? Social Insurance, Inequality, and Growth

This paper examines the hypothesis that the persistence of low spatial and marital mobility in rural India, despite increased growth rates and rising inequality in recent years, is due to the existenc...

by Kaivan Munshi | On 22 Jul 2013

Innovation, Efficiency, Productivity and Intellectual Property Rights: Evidence from a BRIC Economy

The innovation, efficiency and productivity responses to the stronger protection of intellectual property rights post-TRIPs, with reference to manufacturing industry in India is studied. The fact that...

by Sunil Kanwar | On 12 Jul 2013

The Health Effects of Motorization

The decisions taken by countries will determine the levels of physical activity, vehicular emissions, and crash risks, and thus influence Non-Commucable Diseases (NCD) and injury rates for future gene...

by Kavi Bhalla | On 12 Jul 2013

Access to Higher Education in India: An Exploration of its Antecedents

Using appropriate measures of participation, this paper explores if the role of socio-religious background and other factors has changed over a period of time. This dynamics of participation in High...

by Rakesh Basant | On 05 Jun 2013

Addressing Long - term Challenges to Food Security and Rural Livelihoods in South Asia

Notwithstanding its impressive economic growth, food insecurity in South Asia continues to be a stark reality for a large number of households. Despite several successful policy interventions by Gover...

by K.S. Kavi Kumar | On 23 May 2013

Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 in Rural India

This booklet explains the SECC,2011, as it relates to rural India, and details the entire process in simple language. [Ministry of Rural Development]. URL:[http://rural.nic.in/sites/downloads/general...

by Ministry of Rural Development GOI | On 02 May 2013

Motivating Knowledge Agents: Can Incentive Pay Overcome Social Distance?

This paper studies the interaction of incentive pay and social distance in the dissemination of information. BREAD Working Paper No. 380. URL: [http://ipl.econ.duke.edu/bread/papers/working/380.pdf].

by Erlend Berg | On 16 Apr 2013

Entrepreneurship or Survival? Caste and Gender of Small Business in India

Unit-level data from the registered manufacturing segment of the Third and Fourth rounds of the Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) census data for 2001-2 and 2006-7 is used to understan...

by Ashwini Deshpande | On 08 Apr 2013

Options and Determinants of Rice Residue Management Practices in the South-West Region of Bangladesh

This study examines options for managing rice residue and the factors that determine its management in the south-west region of Bangladesh. Study results indicate that while straw length, low-elevatio...

by Mohammed Ziaul Haider | On 29 Mar 2013

Growth and Deprivation in India: What Does Recent Data Say?

The report investigate the relationship between growth and deprivation in India, an issue of immense interest. Given the continuing controversy in India over poverty lines, they used a framework that...

by Sripad Motiram | On 07 Mar 2013

Connecting the Dots: The Urban Informal Sector and Climate Vulnerabilities in Southeast Asia’s Megacities

In the megacities of developing Southeast Asia, the informal sector plays an important role in supporting economic development. Yet, in discussions of the ramifications of climaterelated natural haz...

by Sofiah Jamil | On 13 Feb 2013

Juvenile Justice in Different Countries: Age of Criminal Responsibility and Treatment of Juvenile Offenders

In the world, there are three models that inspire administration of juvenile justice: • The Welfare Model • The Justice Model or Control model - Retributive • The Restorative Model The age of c...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 06 Feb 2013

New Frontiers, New Struggles: Press Freedom in South Asia 2011-12

Journalism in South Asia is facing many challenges with physical security being a major issue in most of the region. Several countries may have improved relatively due to decisions to reduce the risks...

by International Federation of Journalists IFJ | On 04 Feb 2013

Trade in Health Services in South Asia: An Examination of the Need for Regional Cooperation

This study was conducted in three South Asian countries viz: India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The study examines the opinions of patients, hospitals owners and doctors involved in this service trade. A to...

by Arindam Banik | On 22 Jan 2013

A Gender-Based Theory of the Origin of the Caste System of India

This paper proposes a theory of the origins of India’s caste system by explicitly recognizing the productivity of women in complementing their husbands’ skills. Its interesting to know the emergence...

by Chris Bidner | On 04 Jan 2013

Women Workers from Asia to Gulf: Its Outcomes

Review of the book 'Migration of Women Workers from South Asia to the Gulf' By Rakkee Thimothy, S.K. Sasikumar, UN Women, 2012

by R. S. Reshmi | On 24 Dec 2012

Foreign Investment in Farmland No Low-hanging Fruit

A key driver of foreign investment in land, food security is a challenge mankind has been confronted with in various times and places. Wherever human societies have developed, growing needs have led t...

by Claire Schaffnit Chatterjee | On 15 Nov 2012

How Indian Voters Respond to Candidates with Criminal Charges: Evidence from the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections

What are the response of voters to candidates who have reported that they have criminal charges against them? A analysis within the framework of a simple analytical model which assumes that criminal c...

by Bhaskar Dutta | On 02 Nov 2012

Tackling Urban and Rural Food Wastage in Southeast Asia: Issues and Interventions

Food wastage is prevalent in Southeast Asia and has significant implications for the region’s food, environmental and economic security. It is likely that the region wastes approximately 33 per cent o...

by Paul S Teng | On 08 Oct 2012

Mid Term Appraisal of Eleventh Five Year Plan - 2007 - 2012

The Mid-Term Appraisal (MTA) reviews the experience in the first three years of the Plan and seeks to identify areas where corrective steps may be needed. The chapter presents a broad overview of the...

by Planning Commission | On 05 Oct 2012

NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR YOUTH AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

The scheme titled National Programme for Youth Adolescent Development (NPYAD) has been formulated by merger of four 100% central sector grants-in-aid schemes of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports...

by Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs YAS | On 28 Sep 2012

Notional Contracts: The Moral Economy of Contract Farming Arrangements in India

This study examines the moral economy of firm-farmer contracts in contract farming schemes in India, bringing together data from field surveys, conducted between 2007 and 2010, of 42 agribusinesses a...

by Sudha Narayanan | On 20 Sep 2012

The Heterogeneous Welfare Impacts of Participation in Contract Farming Schemes: Evidence from Southern India

The heterogeneity of welfare impacts of contract farming participation is demonstrated by estimating an endogenous switching model using survey data for 474 farmers in four commodity sectors, gherkin...

by Sudha Narayanan | On 06 Sep 2012

Nationalist Sentiments Run High in Asian Territorial Disputes

Spot fire disputes have sparked across Asia, with the winds of nationalism spurring them on. If one flares up it could ignite a region. Escalating tensions should have mediators vigilant and with pai...

by Elliot Brennan | On 24 Aug 2012

National Commission for Minorities: Communalising Assam Riots?

The Asian Centre for Human Rights has alleged that the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) is communalizing the riots in Assam. [ACHR]. URL:[http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/NCM-2012.pdf].

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 24 Aug 2012

The Group of Twenty: Input and Output Legitimacy, Reforms, and Agenda

The paper examines the debates and makes specific policy recommendations by which regionalism, the engagement of small states (through the role of Singapore and the 3-G coalition), and the expansion o...

by Andrew F Cooper | On 09 Aug 2012

Environmental Changes and Ripples for Water Security in Southern States

Environmental change is regarded by many geopolitical experts as one of the biggest threats to international security in the coming years. In Southern Asia, its impact on rivers, and thus water secur...

by Dhanasree Jayaram | On 07 Aug 2012

Pilot Intervention of Improved Cook Stoves in Rural Areas: Assessment of Effects on Fuel Use, Smoke Emission and Health

This study aims to explore the impact of improved cook stoves (ICS) on fuel expenditure (consumption), smoke emission, and health of women (cook) in rural households of Bangladesh. In the follow-up...

by Nepal C. Dey | On 06 Aug 2012

Examination of Intense Climate-Related Disasters in Asia-Pacific

The frequency of intense floods and storms is increasing globally, particularly in Asia-Pacific, amid the specter of climate change. Associated with these natural disasters are more variable and ext...

by Vinod Thomas | On 26 Jul 2012

Obituary: Mrinal Gore (1928-2012)

Obituary: Mrinal Gore (1928-2012)

by Vibhuti Patel | On 23 Jul 2012

The Salween River Basin: Dam Cascades Threaten Biological and Cultural Diversity

F rom its headwaters in the Tibetan Plateau to its estuary in Burma, the Salween River supports over ten million people. For many decades, it was the longest free-flowing river in Southeast Asia. It...

by International Rivers Network IRN | On 17 Jul 2012

Ensuring Food and Nutrition Security in a Green Economy

What are the implications of a green economy for the poor and hungry? How can the poor benefit from and thrive under a green economy? What role can agriculture play? What are the possible trade-off...

by Shenggen Fan | On 17 Jul 2012

How Close Does the Apple Fall to the Tree? Some Evidence on Intergenerational Occupational Mobility from India

Using data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) 2005, intergenerational occupational mobility in India is examined, an issue on which very few systematic and rigorous studies exist. Individ...

by Sripad Motiram | On 12 Jul 2012

Patients as People

Review of Putting Women First: Women and Health in a Rural Community Rani Bang with Sunanda Khorgade and Rupa Chinai; Stree, Kolkata, India; November 2010; pp 650; Rs 350.

by Anuja Jayaraman | On 11 Jul 2012

Intra- and Inter-national University-Industry Linkage and Innovation in Emerging Economies: Evidence from China

The different role of intra- and inter-national university-industry collaboration in industrial innovation in emerging economies are investigated. Based on a national firm-level survey database from...

by Xiaolan Fu | On 09 Jul 2012

Cultural Proximity and Loan Outcomes

Evidence is presented to show that shared codes, religious beliefs, ethnicity - cultural proximity - between lenders and borrowers improves the efficiency of credit allocation. In-group preferential t...

by Raymond Fisman | On 05 Jul 2012

State Health Insurance and Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditures in Andhra Pradesh, India

In 2007, the state of Andhra Pradesh in southern India began rolling out the Aarogyasri health insurance to reduce catastrophic health expenditures in households “below the poverty line.” The program...

by Victoria Fan | On 05 Jul 2012

Responsibility to Protect in Southeast Asia: Enlarging Space for Civil Society

The concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is relatively new to many Southeast Asians, who have traditionally relied on the state for security and therefore faced a sense of hopelessness when such...

by Pavin Chachavalpongpun | On 27 Jun 2012

Women in Indian Engineering: A Preliminary Analysis of Data from the Graduate Level Engineering Education Field in Kerala and Rajasthan

Are there substantial changes in the relationship between women and engineering in recent times? This is a fascinating question to explore especially since it has been so little studies especially in...

by Sreelekha Nair | On 11 Jun 2012

Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture and Food Security

This paper takes a broader view and explores the multiple effects that global warming and climate change could have on food production and food security. Dealing with climate change would require stre...

by S. Richa | On 24 May 2012

Hate Crimes in India: An Economic Analysis of Violence and Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

Crimes against the historically marginalized Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) by the upper castes in India represent an extreme form of prejudice and discrimination. In this paper, the ef...

by Smriti Sharma | On 16 May 2012

Adolescent Fertility in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Effects and Solutions

Adolescent fertility in low- and middle-income countries presents a severe impediment to development and can lead to school dropout, lost productivity, and the intergenerational transmission of pover...

by Kate McQueston | On 15 May 2012

Where There Is No Health Research: What Can Be Done to Fill the Global Gaps in Health Research?

Efforts to strengthen capacity in health research have, so far, concentrated on countries where there is existing capacity rather than those where it is almost completely lacking. Judged by absolut...

by Martin McKee | On 10 May 2012

The Domestic Workers Convention 2011: Implications for Migrant Domestic Workers in Southeast Asia

The recent International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (Domestic Workers Convention 2011) offers an opportunity to finally address the longstanding...

by Pau Khan Khup Hangzo | On 09 May 2012

Developing Asia’s Pension Systems and Old-Age Income Support

A broad overview of the current state of pension systems in the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam is provided. An anal...

by Donghyun Park | On 30 Apr 2012

NAC Working Group on Gender and the Sex Ratio Draft Recommendations

The NAC Working Group held three national consultations on different aspects of the issue of declining child sex ratio. The Working Group conveners also separately met with Ministry of Women and Child...

by Farah Naqvi | On 25 Apr 2012

Trans-boundary River Basins in South Asia: Options for Conflict Resolution

India's trans-boundary riparian policies affect four countries - Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh - on three river systems - the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra-Mehgna. China's riparian pol...

by Gopal Siwakoti Chintan | On 25 Apr 2012

The Negative Consequences of Overambitious Curricula in Developing Countries

Learning profiles that track changes in student skills per year of schooling often find shockingly low learning gains. Using data from three recent studies in South Asia and Africa, it is shown that ...

by Lant Pritchett | On 23 Apr 2012

Nepal: Elusive Democracy and Uncertain Political System

Persistence and breakdowns of democracy are the dominant features of Nepali politics.Democracy continues to be attractive amidst setbacks and discontinuity. So it remains perennially elusive, desp...

by Lok Raj Baral | On 23 Apr 2012

Research Study on Women’s Empowerment, Good-governance and Decentralisation : Assuring Women’s Participation in Panchayats of Two Backward Districts of Northern Part of West Bengal

The study focused on the factors and forces behind the participation of women in Panchayat Structure specially after the seventy third Constitution Amendment Act. The role performance, role awarenes...

by Dilip Kumar Sarkar | On 20 Apr 2012

The BRICS Report: A Study of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa with Special Focus on Synergies and Complementarities

Th is study, which is supported by the ministries of fi nance and the central banks of the BRICS, focuses on synergies and complementarities between the economies, highlighting their role as growth ...

by Ministry of Finance | On 18 Apr 2012

Madhya Pradesh Budget Speech: 2012-13

Hon’ble Finance Minister Shri Raghavji presented the budget for year 2012-13. The salient features of the budget estimates of 2012-13 are as follows:- • Total expenditure of ` 80030.98 crores for th...

by Madhya Pradesh Government | On 13 Apr 2012

West Bengal Budget Speech: 2012-13

Speech by Amit Mitra, Minister of Finance. [Government of West Bengal]. URL:[http://www.wbfin.nic.in/writereaddata/Budget_Speech/2012_English.pdf].

by West Bengal Government | On 13 Apr 2012

Jayati Ghosh on aid to India

Interviewed at the Guardian's Open Weekend festival, Indian economist Jayati Ghosh says aid from Britain benefits the UK more than it does India, and makes a negligible difference to relieving poverty...

by Jayati Ghosh | On 07 Apr 2012

The State of Juvenile Justice in Karnataka

The situation of juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection across India is precarious. Nothing underlines this more than the situation in Karnataka. While the State Hu...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 05 Apr 2012

Chronicling the Hindutva Threat

Review of The Saffron Condition, Politics of Repression and Exclusion in Neo Liberal India By Subhash Gatade; Three Essays Collective, New Delhi; Pp. 475, Rs 500.

by Ram Puniyani | On 04 Apr 2012

India’s Call on BRICS : Aligning with China without a Deal

China–India association in the BRICS bloc of countries is an example of multilateralism at its height. For China, the BRICS group holds a strategic significance as it is targeted towards the Western...

by Jagannath P Panda | On 04 Apr 2012

State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2011-12

The budgetary data for 2011-12 indicates the commitment of States to carry forward fiscal correction, as evident from the emergence of revenue surplus after a gap of two years and consequent reductio...

by Reserve Bank of India RBI | On 03 Apr 2012

Approaches to the Development of Renewable and Clean Energy in Brazil, China, Egypt, India and South Africa: Lessons of Emerging Countries

The populous, fast growing emerging economies of Brazil, China, Egypt, India and South Africa face daunting challenges on the energy, environment and climate change fronts. These five countries accoun...

by Kirit Parikh | On 02 Apr 2012

Care Seeking for Neonatal Illness in Low- and Middle- Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Despite recent achievements to reduce child mortality, neonatal deaths continue to remain high, accounting for 41% of all deaths in children under five years of age worldwide, of which over 90% occur...

by Hadley K Herbert | On 29 Mar 2012

Causes of Emissions from Agricultural Residue Burning in North-West India: Evaluation of a Technology Policy Response

The burning of agricultural field residue, such as stalks and stubble, during the wheat and rice harvesting seasons in the Indo-Gangetic plains results in substantial emissions of trace gases and pa...

by Ridhima Gupta | On 28 Mar 2012

Myanmar’s Ethnic Insurgents: UWSA, KNU and KIO

Since the elections of 2010, Myanmar’s political landscape has changed significantly; the old military junta has officially been dissolved and a new civilian government, led by President Thein Sein,...

by Christopher O’Hara | On 27 Mar 2012

Janam: Narratives of Urban Theatre

Review of A History of the Jana Natya Manch: Plays for the People By Arjun Ghosh Sage, New Delhi; 2012, pp 328, Rs. 695.

by Nikhil Govind | On 25 Mar 2012

In Search of Food Security: Addressing Opacity and Price Volatility in ASEAN's Rice Sector

The availability of rice has long been considered a key indicator of food security in Southeast Asia. However for largely strategic reasons there is paucity of information in the public domain on rice...

by Sally Trethewie | On 22 Mar 2012

Is Community Forest Management Good for the Environment and the Poor? – A Review

Over the last two decades, community-based forest management has graduated from being an experimental strategy to becoming a much more mainstream approach. In developing countries, an estimated 22 p...

by Priya Shyamsundar | On 19 Mar 2012

Health Care Financing Reforms in India

The transfer system in India is discussed and analyses expenditure needs of States to provide essential health infrastructure. It also analyzes the fiscal space for health care in terms of stimulati...

by M Govinda Rao | On 19 Mar 2012

Prevalence, Distribution, and Impact of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Latin America, China, and India: A 10/66 Population-Based Study

Rapid demographic ageing is a growing public health issue in many low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs). Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a construct frequently used to define groups of people...

by Ana Luisa Sosa | On 19 Mar 2012

The Global Race for Excellence and Skilled Labour: A Status Report

In this context, higher education as well as research and development (R&D) have long since ceased to be purely the domain of the developed Western economies. Numerous regions of the world, some in th...

by Ingo Rollwagen | On 09 Mar 2012

The Age Distribution of Missing Women in India

Relative to developed countries, there are far fewer women than men in India. Estimates suggest that more than 25 million women are "missing". Sex selection at birth and the mistreatment of young g...

by Siwan Anderson | On 09 Mar 2012

The State of the World's Children 2012: Children in an Urban World

The experience of childhood is increasingly urban. Over half the world’s people – including more than a billion children – now live in cities and towns. This report adds to the growing body of eviden...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 01 Mar 2012

Why Does Mental Health Not Get the Attention It Deserves? An Application of the Shiffman and Smith Framework

More than 13% of the global burden of disease for mental disorders is due to neuro psychiatric disorders, and over 70% of this burden lies in low- and middleincome countries. Suicide is one of the...

by Mark Tomlinson | On 01 Mar 2012

Can Institutions be Reformed from Within? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment with the Rajasthan Police

Institutions in developing countries, particularly those inherited from the colonial period, are often thought to be subject to strong inertia. This study presents the results of a unique randomized t...

by Abhijit Banerjee | On 27 Feb 2012

Climate Change and Migration in Southeast Asia: Responding to a New Human Security Challenge

The paper aims at understanding the reasons which influence migration and mobility choices, ways by which vulnerabilities can be managed and the role that local, national and regional policy responses...

by Lorraine Elliot | On 24 Feb 2012

Terms of Trade and Its Implications: Bangladesh Perspective

This paper explores the key reasons behind the movements in the terms of trade and the real net gain and loss from trade in the long run. Like some selected Asian countries (Vietnam, China and South...

by Mohammad Masuduzzaman | On 23 Feb 2012

Presidential Election in South Korea and Inter-Korean Relations

The post-Kim Jong Il situation on the Korean Peninsula remains tense. This year will be a critical year for the peninsula. Will the new North Korean leadership be successfully stabilized or not? The...

by Sangsoo Lee | On 21 Feb 2012

Drawn into Violence: Evidence on 'What Makes a Criminal' from the Vietnam Draft Lotteries

Draft lottery number assignment during the Vietnam Era provides a natural experiment to examine the effects of military service on crime. Using exact dates of birth for inmates in state and federal pr...

by Jason Lindo | On 19 Feb 2012

Foundations of Collective Action in Asia: Theory and Practice of Regional Cooperation

This paper argues that the collective action in Asia by its regional organizations has historically suffered from a “capability–legitimacy gap”: a disjuncture between the capability (in terms of mat...

by Amitav Acharya | On 17 Feb 2012

Formalizing the Informal Economy: Women’s Autonomous Self-Employment in Rural South India

This paper considers the effects of contemporary restructuring of women and men’s employment in rural south India alongside ongoing efforts to recast India’s poor rural women as entrepreneurs. This s...

by Samantha Watson | On 15 Feb 2012

Selling Formal Insurance to the Informally Insured

Unpredictable rainfall is an important risk for agricultural activity, and farmers in developing countries often receive incomplete insurance from informal risk-sharing networks. The demand for, and...

by A. Mushfiq Mobarak | On 10 Feb 2012

Is Caste Destiny? Occupational Diversification among Dalits in Rural India

he caste system – a system of elaborately stratified social hierarchy – distinguishes India from most other societies. Among the most distinctive factors of the caste system is the close link betwee...

by Ira Gang | On 07 Feb 2012

Who is the Identifiable Victim?: Caste Interacts with Sympathy in India

Earlier studies have documented an “identifiable victim effect”: people donate more to help individual people than to groups. Evidence suggests that this is in part due to an emotional reaction to the...

by Ashwini Deshpande | On 03 Feb 2012

Malaysia-Singapore Energy Cooperation: Prospects and Challenges

Singapore and Malaysia are considering sharing electricity. Will this pave the way for an ASEAN-wide electricity grid, or even cooperation in the supply of nuclear energy? [RSIS No. 007/2012]. URL:[ht...

by Alvin Chew | On 01 Feb 2012

Transparency in Parliament: A Review of the Procedures and Practices in South Asia along with Recommended Guidelines for Increasing Openness

This paper examines the functioning of Parliaments in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka1 in order to gauge the extent of openness and access from the point of view of both Members of Parliam...

by South Asians for Human Rights SAHR | On 31 Jan 2012

Child Gender And Parental Investments In India: Are Boys And Girls Treated Differently?

Although previous research has not always found that boys and girls are treated differently in rural India, son-biased stopping rules imply that estimates of the effect of gender on parental investmen...

by Silvia H. Barcellos | On 30 Jan 2012

More and Better Jobs in South Asia

This report investigates how more and better jobs can be created in South Asia. It does so for two reasons. First, this region will contribute nearly 40 percent of the growth in the world’s workin...

by Reema Nayar | On 30 Jan 2012

Findings From the Rapid Survey of Severely Malnourished Children in 11 Districts of Karnataka

A rapid survey was undertaken in Karnataka to understand access of severely malnourished children to health and child care services, understand these families’ experience of seeking care in PHC and an...

by Republic of Hunger RoH | On 30 Jan 2012

India’s Food Security Bill: A Waste or Win for the Hungry?

Home to over 25 per cent of the world’s hungry poor, India faces major food security challenges and the situation has barely improved in two decades. Will the National Food Security Bill that the Indi...

by Sally Trethewie | On 27 Jan 2012

Chinese Commodity Imports in Ghana and Senegal: Demystifying Chinese Business Strength in Urban West Africa

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, independent entrepreneurial migrants from China have been increasingly flocking to Africa in search of “greener pastures.” This paper scrutinizes the...

by Laurence Marfaing | On 25 Jan 2012

Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2011-12

This policy review is set in the context of a highly uncertain global environment and a delicately poised domestic balance between growth and inflation. It should be read and understood together...

by Duvvuri Subbarao | On 25 Jan 2012

Worldwide Incidence of Malaria in 2009: Estimates, Time Trends, and a Critique of Methods

Measuring progress towards Millennium Development Goal 6, including estimates of, and time trends in, the number of malaria cases, has relied on risk maps constructed from surveys of parasite prevale...

by Richard E Cibulskis | On 25 Jan 2012

Diviya Kapur, and An Unusual Bookshop in Goa

Lawyer Diviya Kapur chose to trade her education at the prestigious National Law School of India University (Bangalore) with running a bookshop in Goa, India. Her ideas resulted in Literati, an innova...

by Frederick Noronha | On 25 Jan 2012

Studies in Goan Migration: Dr Stella Mascarenhas Keyes

Prominent researcher in Goan migration, Dr Stella Mascarenhas-Keyes, did some of the first detailed academic research (infact, her PhD) on Goan migration. She was down in Goa recently, and she spoke t...

by Frederick Noronha | On 24 Jan 2012

To Bt or Not to Bt? Risk and Uncertainty Considerations in Technology Assessment

Production costs and crop incomes in drought years are analyzed to test a simplistic theory of risk based on first principles. A mixed-methods framework is employed to draw inferences by combining da...

by Sarthak Gaurav | On 24 Jan 2012

The Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill - 2010

With the enormous advances in medicine and medical technologies, today 85 percent of the cases of infertility can be taken care of through medicines, surgery and/or the new medical technologies such a...

by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare H & FW | On 21 Jan 2012

Antiques and Adat: The Changing Face of Paka’s Mini-museum, Kampung Benuk, Penrissen, Kuching

This paper is an account of recent developments at Paka's mini-museum, which culminated in the production of English text panels for its collection in March 2005. As it turned out, working on these...

by Liana Chua | On 19 Jan 2012

Parental Education as a Criterion for Affirmative Action in Higher Education: A Preliminary Analysis

Affirmative action, especially in the form of reservation policies, to address the issues of inclusion and equity has been in place in India for a long time. Through these policies higher participatio...

by Rakesh Basant | On 09 Jan 2012

The Unseen Skills of the Dalit Population

Review of the book Post-Hindu India: A Discourse on Dalit-Bahujan, Socio-Spiritual and Scientific Revolution, Kancha Ilaiah SAGE India, New Delhi 2009, Rs 295/-, pp 340.

by Vaijayanta Anand | On 03 Jan 2012

Comparison of the Lok Pal Bill, 2011 and Lok Pal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011

Major differences between the Lok Pal Bill 2011 and the Lok Pal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011.URL: [http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Lok%20Pal%20Bill%202011/Major%20differences%20between%20the%20Lok%...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 28 Dec 2011

The Evolving Dynamics of Global Economic Power in the Post-crisis World: Revelations from a New Index of Government Economic Power

This paper develops an index for measuring the economic power of governments viewed as entities in themselves. The basic idea is to encapsulate the economic representative power of a nation’s governme...

by Kaushik Basu | On 27 Dec 2011

Social Implications of Economic Reforms in India

Review of the book 'Economic Reforms and Social Exclusion: Impact of Liberalization on Marginalized Groups in India', by K S Chalam, Sage Publications, New Delhi, India.

by Rajesh Komath | On 26 Dec 2011

Seasonal Migration and Risk Aversion

Pre-harvest lean seasons are widespread in the agrarian areas of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Every year, these seasonal famines force millions of people to succumb to poverty and hunger. An incentive...

by Gharad Bryan | On 20 Dec 2011

Can these Policies Change their Life?

Women who come into the stream of domestic workers are poorly educated and do not know their rights. It is necessary that these women know about their rights. Even after reading the policies some ques...

by Anwesha Sen | On 19 Dec 2011

High Level Expert Group Report on Universal Health Coverage for India

The recommendations that follow take cognizance of the extraordinary opportunities that India offers – and the possibility for India to take a lead in introducing a well-designed UHC system that i...

by Planning Commission | On 15 Dec 2011

Quality of Maternal Health Care: A Call for Papers for a Maternal Health Task Force–PLoS Collection

The MHTF–PLoS Collection in 2011–12 will focus on quality of maternal health care, as it is clear that such a focus is now a global imperative [9]. The quality of maternal health care is highly va...

by Samantha R Lattof | On 02 Dec 2011

Rejigging the Elephant Dance

India's development challenges. The India growth story was thrown off track by the global financial crisis which engulfed virtually every country in the world. We recovered from the crisis sooner than...

by Duvvuri Subbarao | On 30 Nov 2011

Fifth Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series: Moving Towards Universal Access to Health Care- 5

The Fifth Anusandhan Trust’s Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series on Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Sciences was held on January 5, 2011. The speakers were Dr. K. Srinath Reddy (Chairperson o...

by Hansa Thapliyal | On 29 Nov 2011

Fifth Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series: Moving Towards Universal Access to Health Care- 4

The Fifth Anusandhan Trust’s Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series on Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Sciences was held on January 5, 2011. The speakers were Dr. K. Srinath Reddy (Chairperson o...

by Hansa Thapliyal | On 29 Nov 2011

Fifth Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series: Moving Towards Universal Access to Health Care- 3

The Fifth Anusandhan Trust’s Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series on Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Sciences was held on January 5, 2011. The speakers were Dr. K. Srinath Reddy (Chairperson o...

by Hansa Thapliyal | On 29 Nov 2011

Reading Gandhi with Gandhians

Review of: Understanding Gandhi: Gandhians in Conversation with Fred J Blum edited by Usha Thakkar and Jayashree Mehta; Sage Publications India, New Delhi, 2011, Rs. ISBN 9788132105572

by Nikhil Govind | On 26 Nov 2011

Draft of combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of India to CEDAW

This Report covers developments in implementation of the Convention in India from 2006 to 2011. The harmonised guidelines for preparation of Common Core Document and the reporting Guidelines of the...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 25 Nov 2011

Assamese Newspapers—Losing out to Local News Channels?

Two recent IRS quarterly surveys have shown that readership of newspapers is declining in Assam. Why is this happening?

by Nava Thakuria | On 22 Nov 2011

Global South: SEPHIS e-magazine, October 2011: Visual Encounters: Beyond the Written and Toward the Sensory

What is 'visual methodologies? How is it defined? What are the challenges in grappling with the interdisciplinary nature of this multifaceted research approach? This issue of Global South features e...

by SEPHIS | On 22 Nov 2011

Torture in India 2011

Torture in India series have been instrumental for bringing national and international spotlight on torture in india. The Government of India regrettably has been reluctant to address torture. It draf...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 21 Nov 2011

Juveniles of Jammu and Kashmir: Unequal Before the Law and Denied Justice in Custody

While the arrests of dozens of juveniles during the mass uprising in the Kashmir valley from June to September 2010 brought the abuse of the Public Safety Act against the children in conflict with the...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 16 Nov 2011

Consumption and Social Identity: Evidence from India

Spending on consumption items is examined which have signaling value in social interactions across groups with distinctive social identities in India, where social identities are defined by caste an...

by Melanie Khamis | On 10 Nov 2011

The G20: Engine of Asian Regionalism?

The paper scrutinizes the functioning of the G20 and its role in increasing coordination. and cooperation between Asian countries. It highlights divergent agendas amongst the A6 as regards the future...

by Hugo Dobson | On 09 Nov 2011

Institutionalising Democracy

Review of Economy, Democracy and the State: The Indian Experience by Ramashray Roy, Sage Publications, New Delhi;2009, pp. viii + 247, Rs 650.

by Bhanoji Rao | On 07 Nov 2011

Reading Savarkar: Disequilibriums in Hindutva’s Notion of National-Unity-at-all-Costs

Sarvarkar’s case for Unity is at best a cumulative network of agile concepts that are open-ended, and can be used by future sympathetic thinkers. To not grasp this agility is to fundamentally misunder...

by Nikhil Govind | On 03 Nov 2011

Citizens Right to Grievance Redress Bill

Common man faces day-to-day hassles with regard to delivery of public services and corruption in service delivery. Currently inadequate institutionalised mechanism to address these problems. Lok Pal...

by Department of Administrative Reforms Public Grievances | On 03 Nov 2011

"Ramanujan's Essay Depicts Multiplicity of Views Through Many Ramayanas."

The deletion of Three Hundred Ramayanas from B.A. History course of Delhi University. Professor Biswamoy Pati of History Department of D.U. calls this intolerance a dangerous trend. Video interview o...

by Jyotsna Singh | On 02 Nov 2011

Draft National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Policy, 2011 (NPPP 2011)

The Drug Policy, 1994 needed to be revised to  meet  the  challenges  brought  about  by  the  competitive  international  pharmaceutical  industry  in  a  globalised  economic  environment,  as muc...

by Pharmaceuticals Department of | On 02 Nov 2011

Gender, Governance and Women’s Rights in South Asia

This study focuses on gender equality and democratic governance in the five largest states of the South Asian region, namely, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Beginning with a general...

by Seema Kazi | On 20 Oct 2011

Environmental Journalism in South Asia

Book review 'The Green pen: Environmental Journalism in India and South Asia' by Keya Acharya and Frederick Noronha (eds) Sage, 2010, page 312, Rs 395.

by Vrijendra | On 19 Oct 2011

Who Drives Change? Comparing the Evolution of Domestic Climate Governance in India and South Africa

This paper compares and contrasts the nature and scope of change in the domestic climate governance of India and South Africa between 2007 and 2010. It uses an actor-centered approach to analyze the d...

by Babette Never | On 18 Oct 2011

Does Participatory Development Legitimise Collusion Mechanisms? Evidence from Karnataka Watershed Development Agency

While examining participatory development projects, existing contributions have demonstrated how aid resources are often captured by local elites. This paper hypothesises that another possible source...

by G.Ananda Vadivelu | On 18 Oct 2011

Voice and Accountability: The Role of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Committee

The study aims to explore how the MNCH committee encouraged community participation and how its communication activities empowered the community people to ensure the healthcare needs of the poor and...

by Margaret Leppard | On 17 Oct 2011

Evaluation of Value-Added Agricultural Advisory Services: Case Study of Agriclinics in Southern India

The Indian national program of agriclinics and agribusiness centers, started in 2002, aims to provide farmers with a reliable alternative to the private input dealer by subsidizing technically trained...

by Claire J Glendenning | On 14 Oct 2011

Paraiyans’ Self-assertion for Identity

Review of Nandanar’s Children: The Paraiyans’ Tryst with Destiny Tamil Nadu 1850—1956, Raj Sekhar Basu, Sage India, New Delhi, 2011, 492 pp, Rs 895

by Rajesh Komath | On 11 Oct 2011

ASEAN Auto Market Growing in the Shadow of China and India

The automobile industry in the ASEAN countries has expanded rapidly over the last few years. The growth potential of the ASEAN auto market and its now very major absolute importance for the industr...

by Eric Heymann | On 03 Oct 2011

Global Production Networks in Electronics and Intra-Asian Trade

The growth of East Asia’s intra-regional trade is driven largely by increased component trade within global electronics production networks. Data on both electronics trade and production elucidate a...

by Byron Gangnes | On 29 Sep 2011

Rights, Responsibilities and Resources: Examining Community Forestry in South Asia

This paper seeks to understand whether decentralized management of forests can reduce forest loss in developing countries. [SANDEE Working Paper, No 59 - 11]. URL:[http://www.sandeeonline.org/upload...

by Priya Shyamsundar | On 28 Sep 2011

Labour Market in Urban Agglomerations: A case from an Indian Global City

The study explores different aspects of employment and labour market prevalent in large in UAs, in particular global cities. To capture the role of labour market in urban agglomeration, particularly...

by G.D Bino Paul | On 27 Sep 2011

Opening India’s Garments Sector to South Asia

This paper examines the competitiveness of the Indian garments industry vis-à-vis the other South Asian countries Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Under the SAFTA agreement, many of the garment i...

by Saon Ray | On 16 Sep 2011

Agrofuels – A Boost of Energy for the Mekong Region?

This background paper seeks to brief readers on the extent of the development, production and consumption of agrofuels, particularly liquid fuels for transport, in the Mekong region. The area of focu...

by Rebeca Leonard | On 12 Sep 2011

Faster, Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth: An Approach to the 12th Five Year Plan

In preparing the Approach Paper, the Planning Commission has consulted much more widely than ever before recognising the fact that citizens are now much better informed and also keen to engage. Over...

by Planning Commission, India | On 12 Sep 2011

Poverty Estimates in India: Old and New Methods, 2004-05

This paper provides estimates of poverty and inequality across states as also for different sub-groups of population for 2004-05 by using the old and new methods of the Planning Commission. The new m...

by Durgesh C Pathak | On 17 Aug 2011

India-Pakistan Trade

On the basis of a survey conducted in three cities viz., Delhi, Mumbai and Amritsar the paper examines the characteristics of firms engaged in Indo- Pakistan trade. It also estimates the transaction...

by Nisha Taneja | On 11 Aug 2011

Food Quality in Domestic Markets of Developing Economies: A Comparative Study of two Countries

Food quality has become an important determinant of success in global food trade and growers for international markets have to continuously adjust to buyers’ requirements. It is however not clear to w...

by Anneleen Vandeplas | On 03 Aug 2011

Chronic Poverty in South West Madhya Pradesh: A Multidimensional Analysis of its Extent and Causes

The structuralist perspective envisages poverty, especially in rural India, as a long duration phenomenon. Over time, most of the structural features of poverty have remained more or less intact. As a...

by Amita Shah | On 02 Aug 2011

Stepping Stones: Principal Career Paths and School Outcomes

More than one out of every five principals leaves their school each year. In some cases, these career changes are driven by the choices of district leadership. In other cases, principals initiate the...

by Tara Béteille | On 27 Jul 2011

“Indian” Literatures Today: English and Bhasha Literatures in an Uneasy Relationship

Review of Other Tongues: Rethinking the Language Debates in India. Edited byNalini Iyer, Bonnie Zare,Rodopi, Amsterdam. 2009. 248 pp. $71.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-90-420-2519-6.

by KumKum Chatterjee | On 23 Jul 2011

On Researching Organisations

Review of Anthropologists Inside Organisations: South Asian Case Studies Edited by Devi Sridhar, Sage India , New Delhi; 2008, 184 pp., Rs 585.

by Dhanwanti Nayak | On 12 Jul 2011

Understanding the Impact of the Economic Crisis on Child and Maternal Health among the Poor: Opportunities for South Asia

The economic crisis hit many countries in 2007 and the effects are still being felt, especially in poorer developing nations. Much of the debate surrounding the economic crisis and its impacts has foc...

by Azra Abdul Cader | On 11 Jul 2011

Kiranas 'Kicked' by Malls

The unorganized retail sector in India compriises small stores located in every nook and corner. People bought their day to day requirements and hoarded monthly stock from the kirana (mom-and-pop) sto...

by Sakshi Bhatnagar | On 11 Jul 2011

How has the Opening of Malls/ Big Marts Affected Consumers?

Malls and Big Marts are rapidly coming up in Mumbai as they are in most cities. This research study was aimed at finding out the effect of these on consumers. The study was conducted in Inorbit Mall...

by Preeti Rohra | On 10 Jul 2011

Media and Much Else

Review of Political Economy of Communications in India: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Pradip Ninan Thomas; Sage, India; 2010, Rs 650.

by Vrijendra | On 07 Jul 2011

Unemployment in Kerala at the Turn of the Century: Insights from CDS Gulf Migration Studies

This Working Paper is about the unemployment situation in Kerala. It is based on the findings of the two Gulf Migration Studies, Kerala Migration Study (KMS) and South Asia Migration Study (SMS), c...

by K. C. Zachariah | On 27 Jun 2011

Media Under Fire: Press Freedom Lockdown in Sri Lanka

In October 2008, a delegation from the International Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression Mission undertook a solidarity and advocacy mission to Sri Lanka to assess the current media situation...

by Int Press Freedom & Freedom of Expression Mission IPF&FE | On 13 Jun 2011

Polarization, Inequality and Growth: The Indian Experience

Polarization in India is analysed roughly in the past two and half decades using consumption expenditure data. It is seen that polarization has increased sharply since the 1990s, reversing the earlie...

by Sripad Motiram | On 13 Jun 2011

Estimating Output Gap for Pakistan Economy: Structural and Statistical Approaches

The objective of this study is to estimate potential output vis-à-vis output gap for Pakistan’s economy. This paper reviews six commonly used techniques to estimate potential output and from that the...

by S. Adnan H. A. S. Bukhari | On 09 Jun 2011

Macroeconomics of Poverty Reduction: India Case Study

India, located in South Asia is a large country that ranks second in the world in terms of population and seventh in terms of geographical area. Its civilization is very old dating back to at least...

by Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research | On 09 Jun 2011

India Pakistan Trade Possibilities and Non-tariff Barriers

This paper aims to identify the bilateral trade possibilities and non-tariff barriers between India and Pakistan. The study shows that there is a large untapped trade potential between the two coun...

by Nisha Taneja | On 31 May 2011

History Revisited: Narratives on Political and Constitutional Changes in Kashmir (1947-1990)

One of the main conflicts prevailing in South Asia today is that of the row over Kashmir. The long history of the conflict, the states involved in the conflict and its geo-political position has...

by Khalid Wasim Hassan | On 26 May 2011

The HPV Vaccine ‘Demonstration Projects’: A Media Note

The HPV Vaccine ‘demonstration project’ in Andhra Pradesh was suspended by the central government when people’s health organization raised questions about its conduct. The Enquiry Committee set up ha...

by Resource Group for Women's Health SAMA | On 18 May 2011

Book Review: Kale on Menon 'Women of the Hindu Right'

Everyday Nationalism: Women of the Hindu Right in India Kalyani Devaki Menon; University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia; 224 pp. $49.95(cloth). [H-Net Reviews.https://www.h-net.org/reviews/s...

by Sunila S. Kale | On 17 May 2011

Towards Open and Equitable Access to Research and Knowledge for Development

Unequal access to and distribution of public knowledge is governed by Northern standards and is increasingly inappropriate in the age of the networked “Invisible College”. Academic journals remain the...

by Leslie Chan | On 14 May 2011

Bengal Diary: On the Eve of Change: SMS Updates of a West Bengal Tour, April 2011

A tour of West Bengal on the eve of the elections and the results, April 19 – 27, 2011, recorded by a young journalist-in-the-making in a collection of SMS messages.

by Kranti S. Bhatewara | On 13 May 2011

What Constrains Business? The Role of the ‘Single Window’ in Gujarat, India

The investment climate of a region reflects the location specific factors that provide opportunities and incentives for firms to invest, create jobs, and expand. A good investment cl...

by Errol D'souza | On 11 May 2011

REalisation of 'Self'n Vijay Tendulkar's 'Kamala'

In India, today too, majority of educated women are unaware of their true self and still stuck in the process of self realisation. Moreover, there are some women who are aware of their self, their rig...

by Sachin S. Bhumbe | On 09 May 2011

History in Bengali Literature: A Study of Selected Bengali Novels

Great novelists through their writings placed the history of the Indian national and social awakening movement in literature.The context of this article is great three novels of three great littérat...

by Sarmistha Ghoshal | On 09 May 2011

South Asians for Human Rights' Minority Right Reports (India 2009)

This paper presents the condition of minority in India in the year 2009. URL: [http://www.southasianrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Minority-Right-Situation-in-India.pdf]

by South Asians for Human Rights | On 09 May 2011

Federalism and Fiscal Reform in India

This paper attempts to analyse the experience of incentivising economic reforms at the state level through central transfers to states. It reviews the experiences of the central government introdu...

by M. Govinda Rao | On 09 May 2011

India: Kal, Aaj Aur Kal

All across the board growth forecasts for this year are being revised downwards. What has changed in the last few months? http://www.indicus.net

by Sumita Kale | On 08 May 2011

New media: problems and prospects

The author advocates liberal and secular ideas in a country, Pakistan, too-often torn by religious extremism and strives for the defence and promotion of press freedom under difficult circumstances an...

by Najam Sethi | On 08 May 2011

An Irreversible Gain in Freedom of Expression

In this World Press Freedom Day editorial, the authors explore the events taking place in the Middle East and North Africa and the positive outcomes for freedom of expression the peoples' revolutions...

by Martti Ahtisaari Ahtisaari | On 04 May 2011

Targeting and Distribution of Post-Tsunami Aid in Sri Lanka : A Critical Appraisal

In this study, two types of aid transfers - boats and houses are examined- that were made to rehabilitate tsunami-affected fishery households in Sri Lanka. The goal is to investigate the distributio...

by Asha Gunawardena | On 20 Apr 2011

Assam: Alienating the Natives

The issue of Bengali speaking Muslims has been brought up in Assam time and over again and this point has also been used at the time of elections to polarize the communities along religious lines.

by Ram Puniyani | On 05 Apr 2011

Deficit Fundamentalism vs Fiscal Federalism: Implications of 13th Finance Commission’s Recommendations

The important recommendations of the Thirteenth Finance Commission (THFC) can be categorised under the following heads: • Enhanced vertical devolution from 30.5 to 32 per cent of divisible pool of ...

by Pinaki Chakraborty | On 31 Mar 2011

Conference on Psychosocial Care and Mental Health Services in Disasters: Summary and Recommendations

Psychosocial care has been incorporated into the disaster management program only recently. Now, emphasis is being placed on long-term care, disaster preparedness and strengthening of community harmon...

by National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciencn NIMHANS | On 30 Mar 2011

Rural Development & Energy Policy: Lessons from Agricultural Mechanisation in South Asia

The purpose of this paper is to reopen policy debates on the role of agricultural mechanisation in rural development. The paper examines very different and diverse patterns of agricultural mechani...

by Stephen Biggs | On 29 Mar 2011

Was Tsunami Aid Well Targeted? An Examination of Disaster Assistance in Sri Lanka

As countries in South Asia ready themselves for climate change and the possibility of increased frequency in natural disasters, it is useful to understand how well post disaster operations work to...

by South Asian Network for Development SANDEE | On 28 Mar 2011

How to Boost Environmental Literacy – A Case Study from Bangladesh

South Asia, faces a range of environmental problems. Environmental education and increased awareness play an important role in addressing these challenges. [Policy Brief No. 45 -10] URL: [http://ww...

by M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury | On 25 Mar 2011

Iron and Steal: The POSCO India Story

This  report  presents  a  comprehensive  analysis  of  the  claims  advanced  by  the  State  and  Central  governments  and  the  POSCO  company  itself,  of  the  various  benefits  that  would  ac...

by Anu Mandavilli | On 25 Mar 2011

Reforming Indirect Taxes in India : Role of Environmental Taxes

Extensive reforms of India's indirect taxes at the central and the state levels has prepared the necessary ground for the implementation of a comprehensive goods and services tax (GST). The Empowere...

by D K Srivastava | On 23 Mar 2011

It’s Here, the Privatisation of Higher Education in India

Apart from the sweeping change in the nature of academics itself, the university system is being remoulded in the image of the private sector – with silent, atomised workers, bitchy and competitive to...

by Sunalini Kumar | On 22 Mar 2011

IDA at 65: Heading Toward Retirement or a Fragile Lease on Life?

Even under conservative assumptions, IDA will likely face a wave of country graduations by 2025. We project that it will lose more than half of its client countries and that the total population l...

by Todd Moss | On 22 Mar 2011

Book Review: Power, Identity, and Moral Order in the Indian Railway

Lines of the Nation: Indian Railway Workers, Bureaucracy, and the Intimate Historical Self by Laura Bear. The Culture of History Series, Columbia University Press, New York 2007. 360 pp. $49.00 (cloth...

by David A. Campion | On 22 Mar 2011

A ‘Lawless Law’: Detentions under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act

Hundreds of people are locked up on spurious grounds under the Public Safety Act in Jammu and Kashmir every year. This report exposes a catalogue of human rights violations associated with the use of...

by Amnesty International AI, | On 21 Mar 2011

Issues Before the Eleventh Finance Commission: Presented and Discussed at the Seminar on The Issues Before the Eleventh Finance Commission

In their tasks to fulfill their constitutional obligations, the Eleventh Finance Commission have to face and solve two broad group of issues. The first relates to the basic principles that ought to go...

by Chelliah Raja J | On 21 Mar 2011

Was Tsunami Aid Well Targeted? An Examination of Disaster Assistance in Sri Lanka

The Tsunami in 2004 devastated Sri Lanka. In its aftermath, followed aid and support from multiple sources. As countries in South Asia ready themselves for climate change and the possibility of in...

by Asha Gunawardena | On 18 Mar 2011

A Green Venture Fund to Finance Clean Technology for Developing Countries

A structure for the green venture fund (GVF) and explain the design rationale, operating principles and key parameters for two funds of funds for technology innovation and deployment is proposed. Some...

by Darius Nassiry | On 16 Mar 2011

Counting the Costs of Vehicular Pollution in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dhaka, like so many other cities in South Asia, is struggling to cope with traffic congestion and air pollution. This policy brief examines the economic costs associated with illness caused by traf...

by Tanzir Ahmed Chowdhury | On 15 Mar 2011

Ethnic Fertility Differentials in Vietnam and their Proximate Determinants

Southeast Asia‘s rapid economic growth and demographic change have brought divergent fertility behaviors, particularly those of socially excluded groups, into sharper focus. In Vietnam, while the ma...

by Sajeda Amin | On 15 Mar 2011

The Global Impact of the Southern Engines of Growth: China, India, Brazil and South Africa

This Policy Brief focuses on links between the developing countries of Brazil, India, China and South Africa and the global economy, with a special emphasis on the implications of China’s spectacular...

by Amelia U. Santos Paulino | On 11 Mar 2011

Support by Migrants to their Elderly Parents in Rural Cambodia and Thailand: A Comparative Study

Internal migration in Southeast Asia raises questions about strains upon traditional systems of support for older adults. While remittances to parents’ households play a role in rural household econ...

by Zachary Zimmer | On 08 Mar 2011

Union Budget 2011-12: High Growth Not Reflected in Public Spending

With shrinking public spending, State’s health care concerns are specious. The rise in allocations on the health sector will only have limited impact on its efficiency and availability.

by Ravi Duggal | On 06 Mar 2011

Budget 2011-12 High Growth Not Reflected in Public Spending

With shrinking public spending, State’s health care concerns are specious. The rise in allocations on the health sector will only have limited impact on its efficiency and availability.

by Ravi Duggal | On 06 Mar 2011

Draft Food Security Bill, 2010

While the Government of India has several schemes for augmenting agricultural production and ensuring adequate availability of food for different segments, a Bill to provide a statutory framework to e...

by Government of India GOI | On 04 Mar 2011

Feedback received until 28th February, 2011 on the Framework note on NFSB

Based on the recommendations the National Advisory Council had already communicated to the Government, as a first step towards preparing the draft National Food Security Bill, a detailed Framework Not...

by National Advisory Council NAC | On 04 Mar 2011

Draft National Food Security Bill: Explanatory Note

This Explanatory Note highlights the rationale and major considerations that form the basis of the NAC proposals on food security. It supplements (i) the NAC recommendations on food security relea...

by National Advisory Council NAC | On 04 Mar 2011

Note on the Draft National Food Security Bill

As agreed by the NAC at its meeting on July 14th, 2010, a Working Group of Members of the NAC was constituted on the National Food Security Bill. After due deliberations and wide ranging consultations...

by Harsh Mander | On 04 Mar 2011

Conversation and a Democratic Classroom

Conversation  has  always  been  one  of  the  essential  tools  of  teaching  and  the  best  teacher  uses  it  with  flair  and  precision.  However,  conversation  is  much  more  than  an  aid  t...

by Jitendra Kumar | On 04 Mar 2011

Of Education, Politics and Ideology

This interview-based article elaborates on the evolving education and political scenario in a small town of Madhya Pradesh and reflects on issues that have influenced it over at least three generation...

by Rinchin Rinchin | On 04 Mar 2011

An Ethnobiography of Teyyam Performance from a Practitioner’s Perspective

Rajesh Komath gives a description the conflicts between his socio-material position as a Teyyam performer, and persona/personality as a student of economics.

by Smriti Vohra | On 26 Feb 2011

Sri Lanka: Budget Speech, 2011

In the aftermath of the long war in the north, the prime minister anf finance minister launched Mahinda Chintana - Vision for the Future” that targets a per capita income in excess of US$ 4,000 by 201...

by Mahinda Rajapaksa | On 26 Feb 2011

Teacher Absence as a Factor in Gender Inequalities in Access to Primary Schooling in Rural Pakistan

Public-sector education in many countries in western and southern Asia, including Pakistan, is characterized by separate schools for boys and girls at the primary and secondary levels. In this paper...

by Sharon Ghuman | On 25 Feb 2011

Measuring Accuracy of Projections of Central Taxes by the Finance Commission

This paper looks at the quality of forecasts/assessments made by some of the recent Finance Commissions for the shareable central taxes and own tax revenues of selected states. The Commissions cover...

by D K Srivastava | On 22 Feb 2011

South Asian Integration Prospects and Lessons from East Asia

In the context of the low levels of regional cooperation among South Asian countries when compared with the successful results from cooperation in East Asia (consisting of South East and East Asian...

by Ramesh Chandra | On 18 Feb 2011

Punishing the Poor? A Look at Evidence and Action Regarding User Fees in Health Care

This policy brief aims to summarise evidence and discuss various concerns about charging user fees from a low-income perspective.

by ... CEHAT | On 16 Feb 2011

Capitalizing on the Demographic Transition: Tackling Noncommunicable Diseases in South Asia

Increasing life expectancy in South Asia is resulting in a demographic transition that can, under the right circumstances, yield dividends through more favorable dependency ratios for a time. With ag...

by Michael Maurice Engelgau | On 10 Feb 2011

Games the State Plays: A Follow-up Report on the Violations of Workers’ Rights in Commonwealth Games Related Construction Sites

The Commonwealth Games have been an eye opener in several ways. Behind the glitz of fancy stadiums, hotels, and apartments, lies the murky and sensitive death knell of a large majority of people whose...

by People's Union for Democratic Rights PUDR | On 10 Feb 2011

India and the Civil War in Sri Lanka:   On the Failures of   Regional Conflict Management in South Asia 

The  paper  provides  an  assessment  of  India’s  role  in  the  final  years  of  the  civil  war  in  Sri  Lanka  (2003‐2009).  In  particular,  it  looks  for  explanations  for  India’s  in...

by Sandra Destradi | On 10 Feb 2011

Book Review: Last Man First

The late LC Jain’s new book titled Civil Disobedience: Two Freedom Struggles, One Life (The Book Review Literary Trust, Delhi, 2011, Rs. 375) illustrates how corruption has become the norm and ‘India...

by Nandana Reddy | On 10 Feb 2011

Revitalizing the Planning Commission: Some Recommendations

This paper considers the key problems confronting the Pakistan Planning Commission; briefly examines the essentials of planning for a mixed economy; draws lessons from the experience of countrie...

by Khalid Ikram | On 09 Feb 2011

Valuing the Environment in Developing Countries: Modeling the Impact of Distrust in Public Authorities’ Ability to Deliver on the Citizens’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Environmental Quality

This paper employs the choice experiment method to estimate local  citizens’ valuation of a public intervention which proposes to improve the  quality of an important environmental resource, namel...

by Ekin Birol | On 09 Feb 2011

Proceedings and Resolutions of the Sixth Session of the First Parliament of Bhutan

The 6th Session of the First Parliament commenced on the auspicious 13th Day of 10th Month of Iron Male Tiger Year corresponding to November 19, 2010 with Zhugdrel Phuensum Tshogpai ceremony where His...

by Jigme Tshultim | On 08 Feb 2011

Resolutions of the Sixth Session of the First Parliament of Bhutan

The following bills were resolved to be passed with corrections: The Child Care and Protection Bill; Penal Code Amendment Bill; Anti Corruption Act 2010; and others

by Jigme Tshultim | On 08 Feb 2011

Address of President Zillur Rahman to the First Session of 2011 of the Ninth Jatiya Sangsad

The Presidential address to parliament at its first session of the year pays tribute to the heroes and martyrs of the nation, elaborates on Bangaldesh's achievement in industry, agriculture, education...

by Zillur Rahman | On 08 Feb 2011

Global South, Sephis e-magazine, Vollume 7:1, 2011

List of Contents Articles Arindam Samaddar, Prabir Kr. Das and Stephen R. Morin, 'Technology Adoption and its Constraints: The Cascading Effects in Two West Bengal Villages' Erick Tejada Sanchez, '...

by SEPHIS | On 07 Feb 2011

Ageing, Socio-economic Disparities and Health Outcomes: Some Evidence from Rural India

Employing data from Census 2001and the NSS 52nd and 60th rounds, this study examines the following: (i) inter-state variations in the distribution of rural aged by three broad social groups and a host...

by Moneer Alam | On 02 Feb 2011

Central-Bank Government Relationship in the Context of Emerging Economic Environment

This is a analysis of relationship between the Central Bank of Sir Lanka and the Sri lankan Government. It views the relationship in context of emerging economic environment and global economy.

by P. B. Jauasundera | On 30 Jan 2011

Report of the Sub-Committee of the Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank of India to Study Issues and Concerns in the MFI Sector

While this growth is impressive, a number of studies both in India and abroad have questioned whether growth alone is effective in addressing poverty and what the adverse consequences of a too rapid g...

by Reserve Bank of India | On 30 Jan 2011

On the Economics of Regional Powers: Comparing China, India, Brazil, and South Africa

As the conception of and debates on regional powers have been led by political science, this paper aims to contribute to the discussion from an economics perspective. Based on the discussion of differ...

by Robert KAppel | On 28 Jan 2011

Higher Education in India: Strategies and Schemes during Eleventh Plan Period (2007-2012) for Universities and Colleges

The UGC has contributed in a number of ways in developing policies and to devise the schemes and to transform them into an action plan for implementation. The UGC also took several new initiatives for...

by University Grants Commission UGC | On 27 Jan 2011

The Financial Crisis in the Gulf and its Impact on South Asian Migrant Workers

The impact of the global crisis on the (Gulf Corporation Council) GCC economies is first analyzed in terms of the sectors of the economy affected, the changes in GDP growth and employment of expatr...

by S. Irudaya Rajan | On 08 Jan 2011

The Report of the Thirteenth Finance Commission Conundrum in Conditionalities

The focus of this paper is to examine the approach of the Commission in regard to its Terms of Reference (ToR) and analyse the recommendations relating to its main task, namely tax devolution and gr...

by M Govinda Rao | On 07 Jan 2011

Globalization, Production and Poverty

The impact of globalization on poverty is a matter of keen debate but empirical work in this area has been dominated by cross-country regressions. This paper attempts to link the more macro impact...

by Rhys Jenkins | On 23 Dec 2010

The Withdrawal of OHCHR-Nepal: Agreeing an Alibi for Violation?

On 9th June 2010 the mandate of the UN human rights field mission to Nepal, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal), expires. The Prime Minister MK Nepal has said t...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 22 Dec 2010

Mid Term Appraisal for Eleventh Plan 2007-2012

The Mid Term Appraisal (MTA) reviews the experience in the first three years of the Eleventh Plan and seeks to identify areas where corrective steps may be needed. The Planning Commission has deci...

by Planning Commission, India | On 14 Dec 2010

The Future of Financial Liberalization in South Asia

The paper defines financial liberalization, distinguishing between liberalization of domestic financial markets and capital account convertibility. It then examines the stages and the strategy of Ind...

by Ashima Goyal | On 14 Dec 2010

The Asian Currency Crisis: Origins, Lessons and Future Outlook

This paper has three objectives. First, to explain what led to the crisis in the East and the South East Asia in the 1990s and how did this spread throughout the region; second, to analyse the lessons...

by Abdur R. Chowdhury | On 13 Dec 2010

More than Money: Impact Investing for Development

Much of development policy is geared toward increasing investment and creating the conditions that allow private capital flows to take the place of development assistance. The renowned development s...

by John Simon | On 10 Dec 2010

Census of Castes

The present system of making Census has many advantages such as, taking stock of Indian situation with detailed data regarding the wide diversity of our people and the finding of conditions of life ha...

by Rajesh Komath | On 01 Dec 2010

From Conflict to Reconstruction

Governments frequently compartmentalize issues of reform and reconstruction into separate strategies and separate ministries (the fate of poverty reduction as well). Donors do likewise, for each has i...

by Tony Addison | On 19 Nov 2010

Fiscal Effects of Aid

It is clear from the implications of growth theory that the impact of aid depends on how it affects savings, investment and government behaviour. In respect of low-income countries, which are the pr...

by Mark McGillivray | On 19 Nov 2010

India's Twelfth Finance Commission:A View from Kerala

The focus of the paper is to review the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the Twelfth Finance Commission with special reference to Kerala. It also critically examines the emphasis on fiscal deficit reduct...

by K. P. Kannan | On 18 Nov 2010

China in Africa: A Macroeconomic Perspective

In recent years, China has dramatically expanded its financing and foreign direct investment to Africa. This expansion has served the political and economic interests of China while providing Africa...

by Benedicte Vibe Christensen | On 15 Nov 2010

Southern Engines of Global Growth: Very Long Cycles or Short Spurts?

This article views the four economies of the South in a long run historical perspective of 1500-2000. It contrasts the history and the initial endowments of the two Northern hemisphere economies C...

by Meghnad Desai | On 15 Nov 2010

Fiscal Policy Design in Low-Income Countries

For many low-income countries, there has been an extended period in which fiscal policy was not a choice, or was a choice made by authorities external to the country. For a number of them, this situ...

by Christopher S. Adam | On 12 Nov 2010

Regional Heterogeneity and Fertility Behaviour in India

This paper examines regional heterogeneity both from statistical and cartographic perspectives, using factor analysis of non-demographic data, models of fertility determinants and district-wise mapp...

by Christophe Z. Guilmoto | On 11 Nov 2010

Age Structural Transition and Economic Growth: Evidence from South and Southeast Asia

Age structural transition is a process and a consequence of shifting age structure from a young aged population to old aged population. It is well known that economic growth in the East Asian countr...

by K. Navaneetham | On 04 Nov 2010

Incarnating into Cross-Cultural Values: An Effective way to Deliver Experiences

The present paper examines the cultural orientation of foreign students who secured admission in Osmania University (Andhra Pradesh, India) in terms of time orientation and event orientation, dichot...

by S. V. Satyanarayana | On 03 Nov 2010

Socioeconomic Impacts of Cross-Border Transport Infrastructure Development in South Asia

Although the overall economic performance of economies in South Asia in recent years has been impressive, there is concern that an aging and increasingly inadequate infrastructure may limit the potent...

by John Gilbert | On 01 Nov 2010

ASEAN Open Skies and the Implications for Airport Development Strategy in Malaysia

“Open Skies,” in general, refers to the liberalization of aviation markets that can be pursued on a bilateral, regional, or multilateral basis. At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)...

by Siew Yean Tham | On 29 Oct 2010

“Gaining Public Acceptance (GPA)” for Large Dams on International Rivers: The Case of Tipaimukh Dam in India and Concerns in Lower Riparian Bangladesh

The construction of Tipaimukh dam by India on the international Barak river has raises a number of questions in relation to successful implementation of World Commission on Dams (WCD) recommendation o...

by Zakir Kibria | On 19 Oct 2010

Tapioca Production and Utilization in India: (An Analysis of Past Trends and Projections for 2000)

Tapioca in grown in India for a number of years and its origin is traced back to either Brazil from where it was introduced by Portuguese during the 17th Century or brought from South America in 1840....

by P.S. George | On 18 Oct 2010

China, India, Brazil and South Africa in the World Economy: Engines of Growth?

This paper attempts to analyse the economic implications of the rise of China, India, Brazil and South Africa, for developing countries situated in the wider context of the world economy. It exami...

by Deepak Nayyar | On 15 Oct 2010

Special and Differential Treatment in Agricultural Negotiations

Over the past four decades or so, the issues that have dominated WTO/GATT negotiations have generally fallen in the prototype of either a transatlantic conflict or a North-South divide. The latter has...

by Anwarul Hoda | On 07 Oct 2010

Resettlement in Action

This report studies the ongoing resettlement for the middle route of the South-North Water Transfer Project at Danjiangkou in Hubei Province, China. The Water Transfer Project is China’s biggest wat...

by International Rivers Network IRN | On 30 Sep 2010

Wage Determination in a Casual Labour Market: The Case of Paddy Field Labour in Kerela

The wage rate in s casual labour market, paddy field labour, is estimated from a reduced form version of a supply and demand model after incorporating literacy, caste and the degree of m...

by K. Pushpangadan | On 27 Sep 2010

Social Protection is Centuries-Old!

In spite of continued growth, millions of Ugandans remain in long-term, extreme poverty. They are also likely to continue being by-passed by the opportunities that economic growth offers, mostly to th...

by John De Coninck | On 24 Sep 2010

An Ethnography of Associational Life: Caste and Politics in India

In 1956 Susanne Rudolph and I arrived in India for the first of many research years there. We were among the second batch of Ford Foundation Foreign Area Training Fellows. As area scholars we were com...

by Lloyd I. Rudolf | On 15 Sep 2010

On Backwardness and Fair Access to Higher Education in India: Some Results from NSS 55th Round Surveys 1999-2000

Against the backdrop of policy of reservation of seats in Higher Education for the Other Backward Castes in India, this paper examines two inter-related yet distinct issues: (i) the use of economi...

by K. Sundaram | On 14 Sep 2010

Book Review: Promoting Economic Cooperation in South Asia

Review of 'Promoting Economic Cooperation in South Asia'; S. Ahmed, S. Kalegama and E. Ghani (Editors). Published by Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2010

by Sandhya S . Iyer | On 17 Aug 2010

Do Labor Intensive Industries Generate Employment? Evidence from firm level survey in India

This study attempts to address the issue of declining labour intensity in India’s organized manufacturing in order to understand the constraints on employment generation in the labour intensive sect...

by Deb Kusum Das | On 13 Aug 2010

Informal Trade in the SAARC region

This paper explores issues relating to informal trade in the SAARC region. It spells out the reasons underpinning illegal trade in the South Asian region. Further it focuses on the estimated size an...

by Nisha Taneja | On 10 Aug 2010

Regional Economic Integration and FDI in South Asia : Prospects and Problems

The slow progress and modest achievements of regional integration in South Asia have generated a huge amount of skepticism about its role as an effective strategy of growth. The present study, howev...

by Aradhna Aggarwal | On 22 Jul 2010

Regional Responses To The Southeast Asian Economic Crisis: A Case Of Self-Help Or No Help?

The currency crises of the 1990s, particularly the one that hit Southeast Asia since the devaluation of the Thai baht on July 2, 1997, are suggestive of the relevance and pervasiveness of contagion...

by Chang Li Lin | On 21 Jul 2010

Who Participates in Higher Education in India? Rethinking the Role of Affirmative Action

This paper explores how socio-economic, especially socio-religious affiliations, and demographic characteristics of individuals influence participation in higher education (HE). It argues that ap...

by Rakesh Basant | On 16 Jul 2010

Collective Action in Diverse Sierra Leone Communities

Scholars have pointed to ethnic and other social divisions as a leading cause of economic underdevelopment, due in part to their adverse effects on public good provision and collective action. We inve...

by Rachel Glennerster | On 13 Jul 2010

Assessing Well-being Using Hierarchical Needs

Determining whether well-being has improved is an important multidisciplinary task. It is important therefore to develop a multidimensional measure of well-being that reflects a wide spectrum of h...

by Matthew Clarke | On 28 Jun 2010

Africa and India: What do we have to learn from each other?

There is a great deal that can be learnt from the respective successes andsuccesses of Africa and India in different fields and this is what is presented in this paper.[Working Paper 19]

by Amartya Sen | On 25 Jun 2010

Aid, Debt Relief and New Sources of Finance for Meeting the Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have lofty expectations regarding the impact of official development aid. Are these expectations valid? This paper surveys the literature on aid and growth...

by Tony Addison | On 21 Jun 2010

How Long Can The G20 old Itself Together?A Power Analysis

Since its emergence before the Cancun Ministerial in September 2003, the Group of 20 developing countries (which includes South Africa, India, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Pakistan) has become an im...

by Prabhash Ranjan | On 21 Jun 2010

NAMA Tariff Negotiations: What Are South Asia's Best Options?

This paper looks at the possible impact of ongoing tariff negotiations on South Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, at an aggregate level or at the Multilateral T...

by Prabhash Ranjan | On 21 Jun 2010

Parking Space for the Poor: Restrictions Imposed on Marketing and Movement of Agricultural Goods in India

Agricultural markets in India have been regulated since 1928 with the inception of the "Royal Commission of Agriculture." Policy intervention in agriculture was virtually absent till the Bengal Fam...

by Mayank Wadhwa | On 16 Jun 2010

Exchange Rate Regimes and Macroeconomic Performance in South Asia

Stylized facts for South Asia show the dominance of supply shocks, amplified by macroeconomic policies and procyclical current accounts. Interest and exchange rate volatility rose initially on libera...

by Ashima Goyal | On 09 Jun 2010

Measuring Discrimination in Education

In this paper, a methodology to measure discrimination in educational contexts is illustrated. In India, exam competition is run through which children compete for a large financial prize and teachers...

by Rema Hanna | On 08 Jun 2010

The Current Trade Framework and Gender Linkages in Developing Economies: An Introductory Survey of Issues with Special Reference to India

This background paper discusses the conceptual and empirical linkages between trade liberalization and gender equality in the context of development; and the impact of the WTO and PTA/FTAs on gender....

by Ranja Sengupta | On 07 Jun 2010

Institutionalizing Shared Sovereignty: South Tyrol as a Model for India’s North East?

South Tyrol in Italy has been showcased as a model of shared sovereignty with the potential of being ‘exported’ to other parts of the world. The model essentially consists in (a) a realization that th...

by Samir Kumar Das | On 05 Jun 2010

Do Reservation Policies Affect Productivity In The Indian Railways?

The objective in this paper is to shed some empirical light on a claim often made by critics of affirmative action policies: that increasing the representation of members of marginalized communities i...

by Ashwini Deshpande | On 26 May 2010

The Size of Informal Economy in Pakistan

This paper estimates the size of informal economy in Pakistan by using monetary approach with some modifications, electricity consumption approach and MIMIC model. Under monetary approach, we take car...

by Muhammad Farooq Arby | On 20 May 2010

Improving Newborn Survival in Low-Income Countries: Community-Based Approaches and Lessons from South Asia

Obstacles to improving survival include: many newborn infants are invisible to health services; care-seeking for maternal and newborn ailments is limited; health workers are often not skilled and co...

by Nirmala Nair | On 03 May 2010

The Flight from Defence to Civilian Space: Evolution of the Sectoral System of Innovation of India’s Aerospace Industry

India is one among the few developing countries that have sought to establish an aerospace industry. The industry has two components, namely aeronautical and astronautic. The sectoral system of inn...

by Sunil Mani | On 30 Apr 2010

What Determines the Success and Failure of ‘100 Days Work’ at the Panchayat Level? A Study of Birbhum District in West Bengal

West Bengal is not among the best performing states with regard to NREGA. The performance of all districts in the state is not equally discouraging. Some districts, in fact, have done well in gener...

by Subrata Mukherjee | On 19 Feb 2010

Many Worlds of Dak Vachan: Proverbial Knowledge and the History of Rain and Weather

This paper is about deconstructing the middle class perception of the domain of the ‘folk’ in this region. With these questions, the paper sets out an agenda for writing the history of rain and weat...

by Sadan Jha | On 16 Feb 2010

Tax Devolution and Grant Distribution to States in India Analysis and Roadmap for Alternatives

The paper attempts to analyse the impact of devolution of taxes and distribution grants by the Centre to the States in India by taking fourteen major States for the time period 1980-81 to 2006-07. T...

by R Mohan | On 15 Feb 2010

Understanding Untouchability: A Comrehensive Study of Practices and conditions in 1589 villages

To date, the tools used to assessthe status of untouchability have been divided by discipline—human rights, legal and social science. Although significant contributions toward understanding untouchabi...

by David Armstrong | On 05 Feb 2010

Identity Formation, Nationhood and Women An Overview of Issues

The essay is begun with a reference to a television programme on one of the Hindi news channels - titled Burqe me Atankvad which was telecast sometime in mid-2005. The complex and turmoil-ridden and ...

by Vasanthi Raman | On 21 Jan 2010

Social Security Nets for Marine Fisheries

This paper attempts to explain the provision of social security in the fisheries sector of Kerala State in south India. It enumerates the salient achievements and the problems faced by the state in pr...

by John Kurien | On 14 Jan 2010

Women’s Experience in New Panchayats: The Emerging Leadership of Rural Women

This paper presents some of the findings of our recent study on women’s representation and participation in panchayats. Some of the findings of the study (Buch; 1999) of women in panchayats after the...

by Nirmala Buch | On 04 Dec 2009

Post-Conflict Recovery: Does the Global Economy Work for Peace?

This paper mainly addresses the economic dimensions, concentrating on the importance of international trade to state-building and the need for global public goods in a global market economy. The focu...

by Tony Addison | On 23 Nov 2009

Gendering Human Development Indices: Recasting the Gender Development Index and Gender Empowerment Measure of India

Gender-related Development Index (GDI) and Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) developed by UNDP need to be recast to realistically capture the gender gaps in development and empowerment in the Third Wo...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 10 Nov 2009

The Chinese Aid System

Questions about Chinese aid—how large it is and how fast it is growing; how decisions are made on how much aid is provided each year; which countries receive it and how much they get; how the aid is m...

by Carol Lancaster | On 10 Nov 2009

Horizontal Equity and the Thirteenth Finance Commission: Issues and Ponderables

An attempt has been made in this paper to critically analyse the parameters/ criteria on which basis awards are finalized. With special reference to poorer states, the following aspects have been di...

by Keshab Das | On 03 Nov 2009

Drug Regulation and Incentives for Innovation: The Case of ASEAN

The focus of this paper is to examine the ways in which regulatory framework affect the pharmaeutical innovations in developing countries using member countries of the Association of South-east Asian...

by Sauwakon Ratanawijitrasin | On 16 Oct 2009

Financing the Panchayati Raj Institutions: Flagging Some Issues For The 13th CFC

The Finances of the PRIs are looked into. The role of 13th Finance Commission is explained. Some ‘learnings’ from International experience is given.

by Abhay Pethe | On 15 Oct 2009

Coping with Rising Food Prices: Policy Dilemmas in the Developing World

Rising food prices cause considerable policy dilemmas for developing country governments. Letting domestic prices adjust to reflect the full change in international prices generates inflationary pres...

by Nora Lustig | On 09 Oct 2009

Kerala Fights Clock in ASEAN Free-Trade Deal

The paper discusses the impacts of free-trade policy on the agricultural exports of Kerala.

by Ranjit Devraj | On 08 Oct 2009

Are Gender Differentials in Educational Capabilities Mediated through Institutions of Caste and Religion in India?

In this paper, with empirical data, the Capabilities Approach to identify 'conversion factors' that are not typically addressed in the utility approach is used. The two approaches are juxtaposed to...

by Jeemol Unni | On 01 Oct 2009

Situational Analysis of Reporting and Recording of Maternal Deaths in Gandhinagar District, Gujarat State

A situational analysis of recording and reporting maternal deaths in Gandhinagar district, Gujarat, India and to suggest improvements in the system for reporting and recording maternal deaths based o...

by Tapasvi I Puwar | On 23 Sep 2009

Global Warming and Agriculture: New Country Estimates Show Developing Countries Face Declines in Agricultural Productivity

There is a growing recognition that global warming is a problem, but little attention has been paid to the likely impact at the country level, especially in the developing world. The stakes for worl...

by William R Cline | On 23 Sep 2009

Food Security in South Asia: Issues and Opportunities

The study aims to identify issues relating to food security, the policy initiatives taken to tackle these issues, evaluate these policies and suggest measures to overcome identified constraints in ord...

by Surabhi Mittal | On 11 Sep 2009

Definitional and Statistical Issues Relating to Workers in Informal Employment

This paper based on Indian and international documents assesses existing definition, criteria and methodologies for estimating employment and income generated in the informal economy in India. [NCEUS...

by Sheila Bhalla | On 02 Sep 2009

Can ‘Beautiful’ Be ‘Backward’? India’s Tribes in a Long-Term Demographic Perspective

The paper examines the present condition of tribals in India with a demographic perspective. Construction of a long-term demographic perspective on India’s tribal population rests on the premise...

by Arup Maharatna | On 28 Aug 2009

Rough Guide to Impact Evaluation of Environmental and Development Programs

This paper is a “rough guide” for evaluation of programs, projects and policies in the environment and development arena. First, a general overview of the what, how, and why of program evaluation, wit...

by Subhrendu K Pattanayak | On 19 Aug 2009

Strengthening Decentralization - Augmenting The Consolidated Fund of the States by the Thirteenth Finance Commission: A Normative Approach

The present study examines issues related to fiscal federalism at the third tier in general and grants to local bodies in particular. The study presents a normative framework to estimate the requireme...

by Abhay Pethe | On 14 Aug 2009

Swine Flu Casts its Spell across the Globe

The swine flu has come to India also. What measures have been taken by the government to fight against the pandemic?

by Rajeev Mavani | On 12 Aug 2009

Restoring the Asian Silk Route: Toward an Integrated Asia

Lack of full regional connectivity is one of the major constraints hindering regional growth and integration in Asia, as well as with the rest of the world. One of the conclusions of this paper is tha...

by Biswa N Bhattacharyay | On 11 Aug 2009

Technical Change, International Competitiveness, and Role of the State: Indian Machine Tool Industry's Experience

The production of machine tools has long been associated with industrialisation besides a formidable factor of technical change and international competitiveness. This potent role of machine tool in...

by Vinish Kathuria | On 06 Aug 2009

Marry for What? Caste and Mate Selection in Modern India

This paper studies the role played by caste, education and other social and economic attributes in arranged marriages among middle-class Indians. A unique data set on individuals who placed matrimon...

by Abhijit Banerjee | On 28 Jul 2009

South-South FDI vs North-South FDI: A Comparative Analysis in the Context of India

This paper attempts to compare the characteristics of South-South FDI versus North-South FDI in the context of India. The analysis is carried at two levels. First t the overall trends of FDI flows (bo...

by Subhasis Bera | On 28 Jul 2009

Book Review: Handicraft History in India

Politics of Patronage and Protest: The State, Society, and Artisans in Early Modern Rajasthan by Nandita Prasad Sahai, Oxford University Press, 2006; 304 pp, $35.00 (cloth), ISBN978-0-19-567896...

by Tirthankar Roy | On 23 Jul 2009

Clean Water Should Be Recognized as a Human Right

Access to clean water should be declared a basic human right for three reasons. First, access to clean water can substantially reduce the global burden of disease caused by water-borne infections. Sec...

by PLoS Medicine | On 09 Jul 2009

Preliminary Note on Financial Crisis and Trade and Investment Treaties

North-South free trade agreements (FTAs), bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments often contain a number of provisions that can increase the likelihood of a...

by Third World Network | On 28 Jun 2009

Regulatory Structure Under EC Competition Laws: Lessons for India

Competition law is different from other branches of law. It is not about the fairness or morality to be instilled in the actions which mark societal behaviour. Instead the rules of competition reflect...

by Tarun Jain | On 14 Jun 2009

Educating Women and Non-Brahmins as 'Loss of Nationality' : Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the Nationalist Agenda in Maharashtra

This paper deals with the nationalist discourse in Maharashtra spanning over forty years. This discourse argued that educating women and non-Brahmins would amount to a loss of nationality. The nationa...

by Parimala V Rao | On 11 Jun 2009

Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas

Widespread discontent among the people has plagued the Indian polity for sometime now. It has often led to unrest, sometimes of a violent nature. Over the years, statutory enactments and institutional...

by Expert Group Planning Commission | On 06 Jun 2009

Archiving the Nation –State in Feminist Praxis: A South Asian Perspective

This essay mainly examines the relationship between feminism and nationalism as a point from which it looks at South Asian feminist scholarship. The historical circumstances in their respective countr...

by Uma Chakravarti | On 03 Jun 2009

Liberalization with Endogenous Institutions: A Comparative Analysis of Agricultural Reform in Africa, Asia and Europe

Thirty years ago, a vast share of the poor and the middle income countries were heavily state-controlled. The effects of the liberalizations in the 1980s and 1990s differed strongly between regions in...

by Johan F.M. Swinnen | On 02 Jun 2009

ALBA Venezuela’s answer to “free trade”: the Bolivarian alternative for the Americas

The paper provides a detailed scan of the position of each of the major ALBA countries in turn, plus Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. While Argentina and Brazil are beginning to get involved in ALBA acti...

by David Harris | On 31 May 2009

Social Group Disparities and Poverty in India

This paper seeks to provide a profile of social group disparities and poverty in India,where social groups are classified as scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and other social groups, and examine the f...

by Rohit Mutatkar | On 26 May 2009

Straddling Faultlines : India's Foreign Policy Toward The Great Middle East

India’s foreign policy has had an anomalous quality since the time Jawaharlal Nehru resolutely attempted to steer clear of Cold War alliances. This continues to be so given India’s unique situation of...

by Sushil J Aaron | On 21 May 2009

Himalayan Journal of Development and Democracy Vol 3:1, 2008

Papers and Proceedings of The Third Annual Himalayan Policy Research ConferenceSession Chairs and Discussants Session 1A: Conflict Resolution and Democratic Transitions Chair: Christopher Can...

by Vijaya R. Sharma | On 19 May 2009

Assessing Policy Choices For Managing SO2 Emisions From Indian Power Sector

The production, transportation and consumption of energy resources, especially of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, generate negative environmental externalities including air pollution....

by Deepa Menon Choudhary | On 18 May 2009

Macroeconometric Policy Modeling for India: A Review of Some Analytical Issues

Macroeconomic modelling is generally motivated by two objectives: forecasting and more significantly, policy analysis. In pursuit of both these objectives, every model must ideally satisfy four crite...

by V. Pandit | On 16 May 2009

Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2008: Addresing Triple Threats to Development

In 2008, three global crises converged to threaten development in the Asia-Pacific region, bringing to the fore particularly testing challenges for policymakers – a Great Recession in developed coun...

by Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific ESCAP | On 16 May 2009

Measurement of Employment And Unemployment in India : Some Issues

This paper offers a review of the concepts and definitions used in the NSS Employment-Unemployment Surveys (EUS, for short) which have remained virtually unchanged since they were introduced in the NS...

by K. Sundaram | On 15 May 2009

Environmental Toxicology: The Legacy of Silent Spring

The authors draws the reader’s attention to the twin toxic hazards that is radiation and chemicals linger , the author effectively fused the pre-existent pollution concerns of urban and industrial ref...

by D. A Christie | On 06 May 2009

Gender and Innovation in South Asia

To understand how gender, women’s rights and citizenship intersect with innovation in SouthAsia, one must begin by considering some of the main features of life for South Asian women, about a half of...

by Sujata Byravan | On 06 May 2009

Reporting The Olympic Year

This paper discusses if the Olymipic Games presented a change- not change along the lines of South Koreas leap towards democracy after the Seol Olympics, but some small shift- and how the nature of it...

by Jane Macartney | On 05 May 2009

Promoting Sustainable Agriculture: Experiences from India and Canada

Agriculture sector, world over, has experienced a phenomenal growth since the mid-twentieth century. The growth, driven by Green Revolution technology, has made a significant dent on aggregate supply...

by Amita Shah | On 02 May 2009

Agricultural Impact of Climate Change: A General Equilibrium Analysis with Special Reference to Southeast Asia

Capitalizing on the most recent worldwide estimates of the impacts of climate change on agriculture production, this paper assesses the economic effects of climate change for Southeast Asian countries...

by Fan Zhai | On 01 May 2009

Social Protection for Informal Workers: Insecurities, Instruments and Institutional Mechanisms

This paper presents a broad definition of social protection to include basic securities, such as income, food, health and shelter, and economic securities including having income generating productive...

by Jeemol Unni | On 01 May 2009

Making the Politician and the Bureaucrat Deliver: Employment Guarantee in India

The paper examines the division of tasks required between politicians and bureaucrats to run an effective rural employment guarantee scheme (EGS) in India, in the context of Indian history and habits.

by Ashima Goyal | On 21 Apr 2009

FEER, April 2009

FEER, April 2009 Table of Contents

by FEER | On 06 Apr 2009

Asia Enters an Era of Strife

The author argues that deep-seated religious conflicts will mar the region's prospects unless nations truly embrace secularism.

by Michael Wesley | On 06 Apr 2009

EC Controversy: What are the Issues? EC Controversy: What Are the Issues

A comprehensive and logically rigorous analysis of the issues raised by the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner N.Gopalaswami for the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, the...

by Ramaswamy R. Iyer | On 03 Apr 2009

Budget 2009-10, Orissa

Budget speech of finance minister

by Orissa Government | On 13 Mar 2009

The State of the World's Children 2009

The State of the World’s Children 2009 focuses on maternal and neonatal health and identifies the interventions and actions that must be scaled up to save lives.

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 13 Feb 2009

Science Commons: Towards Free and Open Knowledge Systems

The free/open source software movement is an economic, social and political movement that has triggered a new recognition of the importance of open knowledge systems, especially in developing countrie...

by Shambhu Ghatak | On 06 Feb 2009

Mullaitivu Vs Gaza: The Tokyo Co-Chairs fail on the responsibility to protect

The Mullaitivu district where the Sri Lankan Army have started cluster-boming today i.e. 4 February 2009 would look exactly what Gaza strip was about a few weeks ago. The Hamas whom Israel sought to c...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 06 Feb 2009

States Reorganisation: Contemporary Concerns

Language alone can no longer be the basis for division of states. Issues such as size, governance, economic viability and recognition of new identities are equally important to consider the demands f...

by Asha Sarangi | On 14 Jan 2009

Exploring the Relationship Between Military Spending and Human Rights Performance in South Asia

The relationship between military spending and human rights is one of the most prominent issues in political economy. Yet, the linkage between the two is empirically underdeveloped. Seeking to fulfi...

by Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati | On 08 Jan 2009

Mountains of Concrete: Dam Building in the Himalayas

The report discusses for the first time the linkages between climate change and dam-building in the Himalayas, and comprehensively analyzes the impacts of the dam building spree on the region's people...

by Shripad Dharmadhikary | On 26 Dec 2008

Educational Reforms in India: Universalisation of Primary Education in Kerala

The history and evolution and the factors underlying the success of primary education in Kerala. [CDS WP 189].

by P R Gopinathan Nair | On 10 Dec 2008

Costs of Resource Degradation Externalities: A Study of Groundwater Depletion in Andhra Pradesh

This paper looks in to the process of environmental degradation and the resultant externalities in the context of groundwater depletion in drought prone regions. The main objective here is to estima...

by V. Ratna Reddy | On 08 Dec 2008

World Development Report 2007 Development and the Next Generation

The Report examines five pivotal phases of life that can help unleash the development of young people’s potential with the right government policies: learning, working, staying healthy, forming famili...

by World Bank | On 11 Nov 2008

A Chance to Build on Taiwan's Progress

Taiwan is an incredible success story and it is time that the US, and the new President elect Barak Obama, take a lead in renewing relations with the country.

by Paul Wolfowitz | On 10 Nov 2008

Poverty, Private Property and Common Pool Resource Management: The Case of Irrigation Tanks in South India

This study tries to understand the main causes of tank degradation and the complex interrelationships among poverty, private coping mechanisms and community coping mechanisms that affect tank performa...

by Balasubramanian R | On 17 Oct 2008

Hobbes, Coase and Baliraja: Equity and Equality in Surface Water Distribution

It is attempted to understand the implications of equality in water distribution on social welfare with a simple abstract analysis using Leontief-type fixed production function.

by Sashi Sivramakrishna | On 16 Oct 2008

Issues Before the Thirteenth Finance Commission

The paper argues that irrespective of the wording of the Terms of Reference (ToR), the Commission would do well to focus on its primary task of recommending transfers to serve the objective of equit...

by M.Govinda Rao | On 06 Oct 2008

Consultation Paper on Media Ownership

The objective of the paperis to obtain the inputs of stakeholders and to generate a discussion on the appropriate policy relating to cross media and ownership restrictions in India. The comments of al...

by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI | On 03 Oct 2008

Women in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation: A Study in the Context of the Debate on the Women's Reservation Bill

This article presents the findings of a survey conducted in 2000 in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), where quotas – 33 per cent of seats - for women have been implemented since 1995. [CSH Oc...

by Stephanie Tawa Lema-Rewal | On 30 Sep 2008

The Action Plan on Climate Change, G8 Declaration and the Accra Climate Change Meet: Points to Ponder

India, the largest economy of South Asia, has recently announced its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). This is of special significance given the mounting pressure on fast growing economi...

by Centre for Trade and Development CENTAD | On 22 Sep 2008

Civil Liberties, an African perspective

The approach of the PUCL to civil liberties issues underlines a crucial understanding: an understanding which has as its base the recognition of the fundamental truth that civil liberties is not a mat...

by Z.M. Yacoob | On 18 Sep 2008

Reforming Higher Education: Issues before the Fifty Pay Commission

Higher education in the ountry is ripe for radical reforms. The Sixth Pay Review Committee for colleges and universities is set to make widenranging recommendations going beyond pay revisions. But h...

by B.Venkatesh Kumar | On 09 Sep 2008

Industrial Tariffs and South Asia: Interpreting for Development

This paper suggests a new tariff reduction formula using the declaration adopted at the Honk Kong ministerial conference.

by Prabash Ranjan | On 08 Sep 2008

No Gross National Happiness for Bhutanese Refugees

One sixth of the population of Bhutan is displaced in Nepal and India. The prolonged exile of Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal and India is a major human rights deficit in the South Asian region, a...

by South Asians for Human Rights SAHR | On 12 Aug 2008

Proportion of Births Attended by a Skilled Health Worker 2008 Updates

In our analysis, attempts have been made to quantify the proportion of births attended by health workers other than doctors, nurses and midwives in order to show the proportion of births conducted by...

by World Health Organisation WHO | On 08 Aug 2008

Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007–2012) Volume II Social Sector

Eleventh Five Year Plan 2007-12

by Planning Commission, India | On 06 Aug 2008

Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007–2012) Volume I Inclusive Growth

The Eleventh Plan addresses itself to the challenge of making growth both faster and more inclusive. The rapid growth achieved in the past several years demonstrates that we have learnt how to bring a...

by Planning Commission, India | On 29 Jul 2008

Women's Reservation Bill

Women's Reservation Bill

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 24 Jul 2008

Are Fair Trade Labels Effective Against Child Labor?

In this paper, a model of North-South trade is developed to analyze the impact of a label certifying the absence of child labour in the export production of the South. [WP no 144].

by Jean Marie Baland | On 19 Jul 2008

Constitutionalising Panchayats: The Response of State Legislatures

This article is an attempt to look at debates in the light of the Assemblies' tryst with panchayats. It should be noted that it is not an evaluation of what transpired in the state Assemblies. In view...

by Girish Kumar | On 03 Jul 2008

Book Review: Tales of the Displaced in India’s North-East

Review of: Internal Displacement in South Asia: The Relevance of the UN’s Guiding Principles Edited by Paula Banerjee, Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, Samir Kumar Das, Sage Publicatons, New Delhi;...

by Ratna Bharali Talukdar | On 22 Jun 2008

Gujjar protest and Reservation Politics

Successive governmental commissions have held that Gujjars do not meet the criteria for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes. The Gujjar protest has ramifications beyond the States where they live. If th...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 28 May 2008

Asserting The Rights of The Toiling Peasantry For Water Use: Movement of the Dam Oustees and the Drought Affected Toilers In South Maharashtra

This paper describes in some detail, an important, innovative movement in recent years, of the dam-oustees and the drought affected people in south Maharashtra, to assert their right to influence the...

by Anant Phadke | On 21 May 2008

In the Balance: Press Freedom in South Asia 2007-2008

The challenges for journalists and the media community in South Asia encompass a range of factors that indicate the level of press freedom in any country: Physical attacks, threats and questionable le...

by Sukumar Muralidharan | On 04 May 2008

Liberation, May 2008

New Mineral Policy 2008 Quota Verdict CPI(M) Coimbatore Congress SPECIAL FEATURE Democracy in S Asia: Nepal Mandate Post-Poll Pakistan Bhutan Polls and Other features.

by Liberation | On 24 Apr 2008

Report on SAHR Fact Finding Mission to the North and East of Sri Lanka to Assess the State of Displaced Persons

This report on the state of displaced persons in the North and East of Sri Lanka analyses the security condition and concerns of those who live in makeshifts and camps in conflict affected areas. It p...

by South Asians for Human Rights SAHR | On 11 Apr 2008

India, Democracy and the Press

The impressive growth of the Indian media is largely taking place outside of the voting classes, ensuring that the media are not playing a significant public service role. Ultimately, the author sugge...

by James Mutti | On 11 Apr 2008

Newsletter on Regional Economy: A bi-monthly four state update from IRIS India

A monthly compilation by IRIS.

by IRIS India IRIS | On 09 Apr 2008

Tamil Nadu Budget 2008-09

Speech of Prof. K. Anbazhagan, Minister for Finance, Government of Tamil Nadu, presenting the Budget for 2008-2009 to the Legislative Assembly on 20th March, 2008.

by Tamil Nadu Government | On 25 Mar 2008

Budget 2008-09 and Children A First Glance

Budget for Children (BfC) is not a separate budget. It is merely an attempt to disaggregate from the overall budget, the allocations made specifically for programmes that benefit children. From 2000-0...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 04 Mar 2008

Islam at the Ballot Box

So far, no Islamist party has managed to win a majority of the popular vote in any of the Muslim countries where reasonably clean elections are held. If anything, the Islamist share of the vote has be...

by Amir Taheri | On 24 Feb 2008

Pakistan’s Historic Opportunity for Change

Opinion polls show less than 20 per cent of Pakistanis now approve of President Musharraf, who has been described as an indispensable ally in the war against terrorism by some members of the Bush admi...

by Husain Haqqani | On 24 Feb 2008

Acceptance Speech for the Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

The work of the IPCC has helped the world to learn more on all aspects of climate change, and the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has acknowledged this fact. [Speech delivered in Oslo]

by Pachauri R K | On 04 Feb 2008

An Analysis of Fertility Differentials among Caste Groups in Andhra Pradesh

The fertility differentials among caste groups in Andhra Pradesh are examined in the context of characteristics and interaction hypotheses, using the second National Family Health Survey data. Multiva...

by P Ramesh | On 21 Jan 2008

Public Notice for Terms of Reference by 13th Finance Commission

The 13th finance commission invites suggestions on issues related to its terms of reference from the members of general public, instituitions, and organizations.

by Finance Commission | On 16 Jan 2008

Book Review: Public Memory and Cultural Politics in Sri Lanka

Militarizing Sri Lanka: Popular Culture, Memory and Narrative in the Armed Conflict by Neloufer de Mel; Sage, New Delhi, 2007; pp. 329, Rs. 475.

by Pramod K. Nayar | On 14 Jan 2008

Russian Roulette

About different games to see whether the affected player or team to appeal against the wrong decision to a higher authority.

by T.N. Ninan | On 09 Jan 2008

Fair Access To Higher Education Re-Visited:Some Results For Social And Religious Groups from NSS 61st Round Employment Unemployment Survey, 2004-05

Results from the NSS 61st Round Employment – Unemployment Survey, 2004-05 on the issue of fair access to social groups and religion-based population categories. [WP no. 163].

by Sundaram K | On 04 Jan 2008

Optimal Patent Length in a North-South Framework

Under certain conditions it is optimal for the noninnovating south to give patent protection for a longer time period than the innovating north. A cooperative patent agreement involves a larger protec...

by Swapnendu Banerjee | On 03 Jan 2008

Equitable Society : A New Concern For Social Work

Trained Social Workers must be very well aware of Equitable Society philosophy and implementation programmes. They must find opportunity of working with extremely marginalized people.

by Manish Dwivedi | On 27 Dec 2007

Adaptation for India's cities

The impact of climate changes will become key economic and political questions in South Asia. Indian cities will be affected the most by these. Policies will have to be adopted in such a way that the...

by Aromar Revi | On 27 Dec 2007

Girls, Educational Equity and Mother Tongue-based Teaching

One of the principal mechanisms through which inequality is reproduced is language, specifically the language used as the medium of instruction. The learner’s mother tongue holds the key to making sc...

by Carol Benson | On 21 Dec 2007

Child Marriage: Social and Economic Linkages and Opportunities for Intervention

The presentation shows the consequences of child marriage, how to prevent child marriage. [Power Point Presentation].

by Geeta Rao Gupta | On 19 Dec 2007

The Growing Importance of Emerging Economies in the Globalised World and its Implications for the International Financial Architecture

The growing importance of India and other emerging economies in the globalized world are given in this lecture. This group of economies is not easy to define. However, some reflections on the implicat...

by Jean-Claude Trichet | On 30 Nov 2007

Trade Possibilities and Non-Tariff Barriers to Indo-Pak Trade

There is a large untapped trade potential between the two countries. Using the potential trade approach, the study finds that the export potential from India to Pakistan is to the tune of US$ 9.5 bill...

by Nisha Taneja | On 29 Nov 2007

National Human Development Report 2001

The process of development, in any society, should ideally be viewed and assessed in terms of what it does for an average individual.For any approach or development framework to be meaningful and effe...

by Planning Commission, India | On 28 Nov 2007

Pakistan’s Last Bid for Democracy

This Essay examines the factors retarding democracy in Pakistan and asserts that now, more than ever, the country’s political forces must work together to fight common foes.

by Colum Murphy | On 27 Nov 2007

Decentralisation and Issues in Self Governance in Tribal Areas of South Gujarat

To examine the functioning of Gram Sabha and participation of tribal communities therein to asses the status of self governance under the “Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) A...

by Ratnawali Sinha | On 14 Nov 2007

Fasten Your Seatbelts! Monetary Policy Challenges in Turbulent Times

One of the burning issues at the moment relates to increasing the “voice” or representation of emerging-market economies in international financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank. There a...

by Mboweni T.T. | On 13 Nov 2007

The beast in us all

The tragedies and discrimination that happen in our country in the name of caste shows that there is a beast in all of us.

by T.N. Ninan | On 06 Nov 2007

Book Review: Managing Natural Resources: Civil Society Initiatives

Review of Community-based Natural Resource Management Issues and Cases from South Asia by Ajith Menon, Praveen Singh, Esha Shah, Sharachchandra Lele, Suhas Paranjape, K.J. Joy Sage Publications, New D...

by Santhakumar V | On 05 Nov 2007

Enhancing Rural Livelihoods

The Overseas Development Institute in the UK recently carried out a study on ICT for rural livelihoods, commissioned by InfoDev. The study included a literature and donor review in collaboration with...

by Paul Matthews | On 26 Oct 2007

Groundwater Users, Wake up: Danger Ahead! Message from the Experts

The Expert Group constituted by the Planning commission to examine issues related to groundwater management and ownership has made extensive recommendations tha need to be taken seriously. Most impor...

by K.V. Raju | On 04 Oct 2007

Broadcast Bill: Content Code

The Ministry expects that putting such a code in place will have the following important positive impact, among others. • The public will be provided with a mechanism through which they can voice t...

by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting MIB | On 16 Sep 2007

Corporate Social Responsibility and Children's Rights in South Asia

Examples of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives within the context of children's issues in India, Nepal and Bangladesh are given. The mapping highlights that children's issues often do n...

by Girish Godbole | On 05 Sep 2007

Essays: Monetary Policy: Satisfy China’s Demand for Money

A talk with Nobel economics laureate Robert Mundell on how Beijing can keep the yuan’s value fixed and still avoid inflation. China’s high balance of payments surplus and pressure on the yuan could be...

by Hugo Restall | On 04 Aug 2007

FEER: The June 2007 issue

Satisfuy China's Demand for Money by Hugo Restall Monetary Policy: China’s Last Option: Let the Yuan Soar by Michael Pettis Stop the Specter of a Rising Rupee by Vivek Moorthy Hong Kong’s Arreste...

by FEER | On 04 Aug 2007

Women and Food Security in South Asia: Current Issues and Emerging Concerns

The educated and socially empowered Asian Woman is the key to improving the nutrition and mental acuity of young children and that improvement sets in motion lifelong prospects for heightened learning...

by Nira Ramachandran | On 24 Jul 2007

Social Affiliation and the Demand for Health Services: Caste and Child Health in South India

The roles of social affiliation, measured by caste, in shaping investments in child health are assessed. The special setting that is chosen for the analysis – tea estates in the South Indian High Rang...

by Nancy Luke | On 23 Jul 2007

Economic and Social Dynamics of Migration in Kerala, 1999-2004 Analysis of Panel Data

Panel studies based on the same set of sample households or individuals at two points of time 5 or 10 years apart are time consuming and are relatively rare in social science research. Such a method,...

by Zachariah KC | On 23 Jul 2007

Climate Change and Sectors: Some Like it Hot!

Despite the major uncertainties mentioned at the beginning that afflict both dimensions of climate change, this analysis has demonstrated a clear trend: the regulatory-market economy dimension of clim...

by Eric Heymann | On 13 Jul 2007

Trade and Economic Arrangements Between India and South Asia in the Context of Regional Construction and Globalisation

The different arrangements and groupings involved between India and South- East Asia are presented. The multi-faceted relations between them is asked in institutional terms, but also in normative term...

by Laurence Henry | On 06 Jul 2007

Understanding Chronic Poverty in South Asia

South Asia has the largest number of chronically poor people in the world –an estimated 135 to 190 million people. Chronic poverty in the region is most renounced in areas that have significant minori...

by Chronic Poverty Research Centre CPRC | On 02 Jul 2007

Book Review: The Intersection of Race and Class in the Segregated South

Review of Thomas J. Ward Jr.'s Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South. University of Arkansas Press, 2003.

by James Seymour | On 29 Jun 2007

SAARC Summit: Social sector development as cementing factor

It is a pleasant surprise that the 14th SAARC Summit should come up with decisive noises on the urgent need to accelerate progress in South Asia towards the Millennium Development Goals.

by Lakshmi Priya | On 18 Apr 2007

Declaration Of The Fourteenth SAARC Summit

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established when its Charter was formally adopted on December 8, 1985 by the Heads of State or Government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,...

by SAARC Secretariat | On 16 Apr 2007

Declaration of SAARC Summits 1985-1998

The Summit declarations of the Heads of State/Government of the Member Countries of SAARC at the conclusion of all the ten SAARC summits that have taken place since the inception of SAARC have been co...

by SAARC Secretariat | On 10 Apr 2007

Utilization Of Maternal Health Care In South India

This study examines the patterns and determinants of maternal health care use across different social setting in south India: in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Data source for...

by Navaneetham K | On 10 Apr 2007

Livelihood Concerns of Women and Men in Small Mines and Quarries of South Asia

The global trend of informalisation of women’s work is also evident in what is commonly known as artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) practices. Women constitute a large segment of workers in the in...

by Kunthala Lahiri-Datta | On 08 Apr 2007

Commission of Inquiry

On 1st September 2003, the Government had appointed the Commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, to inquire into the allegations of corrupt paractices and maladministration inot certain...

by Maharashtra Government | On 27 Mar 2007

Can Singapore Sustain its Current Globalisation Strategy? Singapore's 2007 Budget

Singapore’s 2007 budget reaffirms government’s determination to continue with the current globalization strategy of high growth, high net in-migration and minimal social risk pooling in financing old...

by Mukul Asher | On 05 Mar 2007

Grounding the Spirit: Revival of Irula Art as a Form of Narrative Tradition

Kriebish had, for a long time, cherished a dream of setting up a learning and documentation centre dedicated to the study of oral literature, village religion and customs, music and dance, traditional...

by Leena Pascal | On 12 Feb 2007

Dynamics of Caste-based Deprivation in Child Under-Nutrition in India

This paper makes an attempt at illustrating the dynamics of caste-based deprivation considering the case of child under-nutrition. It essentially demonstrates the patterns of differentials in nutrit...

by Rudra Narayan Mishra | On 26 Jan 2007

Creating Development Friendly Rules of Origin in the EU

The EU Commission argues that radical changes to he origin rules will both simplify processes and make them more development friendly. Will they? There are different opinions on what Rules of Origin s...

by Christopher Stevens | On 06 Jan 2007

Social Cleavages, Multiculturalism and Emerging Space for State in India under Globalisation Regime

This paper focuses on social cleavages based on class , caste,religion and ethnicity in India. It examines the political salience of caste and class conflicts and addresses the translation of social c...

by Sarojini Mishra | On 29 Dec 2006

Pro-Poor Targeting and Accountability of Local Governments in West Bengal

A commonly alleged pitfall of decentralization is that poverty, socio-economic inequality and lack of political competition allow local elites to capture local governments. This hypothesis is empirica...

by Pranab Bardhan | On 27 Dec 2006

Textile and Clothing Trade with European Union: Impact of year-old EU Generalised System of Preferences

Taking into account the latest data of exports of textiles and clothing to the European Union from South Asia and China, a year-end assessment of the impact of the Generalised System of Preferences (...

by C. Satapathy | On 14 Dec 2006

India’s Rising Role in Asia

This paper strongly suggests that India has been far more intricately integrated with the rest of Asia than has commonly been perceived or acknowledged. This is particularly the case if overall value...

by Mukul Asher | On 12 Dec 2006

Decrypting E-Governance: Narratives, Power play and Participation in the Gyandoot Intranet

The mapping of the social and political constraints that marginalized communities and individuals encounter in their interface with e-governance projects, perhaps, has implications for the optimistic...

by T.T. Sreekumar | On 27 Nov 2006

Report on a Strategic Approach to Research Publishing in South Africa

The effect of globalization on knowledge exchange, which is mediated very largely through scientific journals being published in English, and having their origins in Europe and North America, has resu...

by Academy of South Africa | On 27 Nov 2006

Gender Disaggregated Analysis of South Gujarat Tribals: Role of Social Capital in Human Development

This paper, based on ‘capabilities’ approach, analyses the ‘development outcomes’ forf ‘tribals’ of rural south Gujarat and examines the relative roles of physical, human and social capital within a...

by Arti Nanavati | On 26 Nov 2006

Financial Center Pipedreams

Are Singapore’s efforts to become a leading regional financial center gaining as much traction as the recent buzz over hedge funds would lead one to believe?

by Hugo Restall | On 03 Nov 2006

The Charade of Meritocracy

The article investigates Singapore’s claims to meritocracy in its education system and reveals systematic discrimination against the city-state’s non-Chinese population. [FEER Essay]

by Michael D. Barr | On 03 Nov 2006

Singapore’s Founding Myths vs. Freedom

The article analyzes the Singapore government’s determination to protect the founding myths of the PAP despite new challenges from technology and globalization.

by Garry Rodan | On 03 Nov 2006

FEER: The October Issue

Singapore’s Founding Myths vs. Freedomby Garry Rodan The Charade of Meritocracyby Michael D. Barr Financial Center Pipedreamsby Hugo Restall Thailand:Bangkok’s Elitist Coupby Michael H. Nelson Put...

by FEER | On 03 Nov 2006

Malaysia's Hazy Future

Malaysia is finding it difficult to translate current favourable macro-economic environment, and the commodity boom into sustainable competitive advantage in manufacturing and services and to cope wit...

by Mukul Asher | On 03 Nov 2006

Malaysia’s Hazy Future

Malaysia is finding it difficult to translate current favourable macro-economic environment, and the commodity boom into sustainable competitive advantage in manufacturing and services and to cope wit...

by Mukul Asher | On 03 Nov 2006

Do Television and Radio Destroy Social Capital? Evidence from Indonesian Villages

In "Bowling Alone," Putnam (1995) famously argued that the rise of television may be responsible for social capital's decline. I investigate this hypothesis in the context of Indonesian villages. To i...

by Benjamin A. Olken | On 13 Oct 2006

Understanding South Africa's Economic Puzzles

South Africa has undergone a remarkable transformation since its democratic transition in 1994, but economic growth and employment generation have been disappointing. Most worryingly, unemployment is...

by Dani Rodrik | On 13 Oct 2006

Introduction to 'Managing Globalisation': Lessons from China and India

While talk of a 'China-India axis complete with 2.4 billion people' is no doubt fanciful, the progress in relations over the seven years following the nuclear crisis of 1998 is claiming the close atte...

by David A. Kelly | On 03 Oct 2006

Indigenous Identity As ‘Subaltern’

The objective of this research paper is to approach the debates on indigenous/tribal identity in international law deploying the framework of subaltern studies in South Asia with a view to, first, c...

by Rajat Rana | On 29 Aug 2006

Rethinking the Political Core of an Emancipatory Project in Africa

This paper will begin by reviewing the political assumptions of the nature of citizenship underlying T.H. Marshall’s argument for ‘social rights’; it will provide a critique of human rights discours...

by Michael Neocosmos | On 29 Aug 2006

Are we there yet? The deferral of justice and the promise of human rights

Utilizing the critical theory of Drucilla Cornell and Costas Douzinas, and looking back to the utopianism of Ernst Bloch, the paperI offers an argument that acknowledges the limits of the law and th...

by Narnia Bohler-Muller | On 28 Jul 2006

A Draft Approach Paper to the 11th Plan: A Preliminary Critique from Women’s Organizations

preliminary critique of the Draft Approach Paper to the Eleventh Five Year Plan released recently by the Planning Commission was submitted by the representatives of six women’s organizations on the 11...

by Sudha Sundararaman | On 19 Jul 2006

Why Are We Opposed to Reservations?

When an Ambani becomes a CEO, when a Gandhi becomes a minister, we do not say it is against merit, when a professor whose son is not able to qualify JEE, is still able to send her child abroad for hig...

by Rahul Varman | On 30 May 2006

WCD Thematic Review I.1:Contributing Paper-- Social Impacts of an African Dam: Equity and Distributional Issues in the Senegal River Valley

The story of Manantali Dam begins fifteen years before the dam itself became operational. The story to be told here is that of the social impacts of the Senegal River Development Organisation (OMVS) p...

by Adrian Adams | On 11 May 2006

Affirmative Action: Diverging Perspectives

The debate, on affirmative action seems to be focusing on the meaning and relevance of merit and efficiency. It is being conveniently forgotten that merit is a cognitive ability, the power to perceive...

by Prashant Negi | On 05 May 2006

And Now a Car Story

It does look as though automobile manufacture will be a new arrow in the country’s quiver. This may be hard to believe, when one looks at the strengths of the automobile industries in the US and Japa...

by T.N. Ninan | On 03 May 2006

Weekend Ruminations: Casting for jobs

The reality of caste representation in the corporate sector may not be out of line with what the government would like.

by T.N. Ninan | On 23 Apr 2006

Public health, Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights: Report of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights,Innovation and Public Health

On April 3, 2006, an independent commission on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), innovation and public health presented its report to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The report was commissioned...

by | On 14 Apr 2006

Legislative Brief: The Food Safety and Standards Bill, 2005

The main objectives of the Bill are: (a) to introduce a single statute relating to food, and (b) to provide for scientific development of the food processing industry. The Bill aims to establish a sin...

by M. R. Madhavan | On 14 Apr 2006

Democracy and People’s Rights in the Neo-Liberal Era: Role of Judiciary

The recent judgments and orders from various levels of higher judiciary indicate a drastic shift in their outlook and approach. A close look reveals two trends developing within the judiciary. Firstly...

by M.B.Rajesh | On 31 Mar 2006

Constituting Development: Encountering the deprivation of the ‘poor’ under the ‘reform’ apparatus in India

The paper addresses three main issues: The nature of economic reforms and how growth is segregated within the sectors; secondly, limitations of the poverty line approach to estimate the development of...

by Saji M. | On 31 Mar 2006

An Emerging Knowledge Economy and a Stagnating Agrarian Economy: Contradictions in Andhra Pradesh under Globalization

This paper presents some features of the contradictions in Andhra Pradesh’s economy today: the fast growth of IT and other technology-intensive industries in Hyderabad, and the alarming levels of dist...

by Jayan Jose Thomas | On 30 Mar 2006

Sri Lanka: Budget Speech by Finance Minister in Parliament

'Mahinda Chintana' : Towards a New Sri Lanka

by Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka | On 05 Mar 2006

Sri Lanka: Budget Brief, 2006: Towards a New Sri Lanka

Tax Proposals and Administration Summary of Budget 2006

by Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka | On 05 Mar 2006

Sri Lanka: Recent Economic Developments: Highlights of 2005 and Prospects for 2006

Economic Review of Developments in 2005 and Prospects for 2006. Presented before the Budget for 2006.

by Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka | On 05 Mar 2006

Decentralisation on Fallow and Fertile Ground: Preparing the Population for Democratic Self-Governance

Decentralizing authority to democratically elected local government is advised for reasons of efficiency and good governance, but equity may suffer if elites capture decision making at the local level...

by Anirudh Krishna | On 16 Feb 2006

Financial Integration in East Asia: How Far? How Much Further to Go?

Despite numerous empirical studies examining various facets of the topic, the degree of intraregional financial integration in East Asia remains a matter of vigorous debate. This paper offers a select...

by Tony Cavoli | On 07 Feb 2006

SEPHIS e-journal, volume 2:2, January 2006

A number of contributions on cinema in the South. Articles on the making of a historical documentary by Gairoonisa Palekar, a student in South Africa, and on an important aspect of the movie industry...

by SEPHIS | On 02 Feb 2006

Gender, Work and Organizational Culture: A Southeast Asian Experience

Organizations operate in the social milieu and therefore the socio-cultural factors greatly influence the organizational culture. The Asian societies are patriarchal in nature that gives superior posi...

by Sunita Singh-Sengupta | On 13 Jan 2006

The Economic Impact of AIDS Treatment: Labor Supply in Western Kenya

Using longitudinal survey data collected in collaboration with a treatment program, this paper is the first to estimate the economic impacts of antiretroviral treatment in Africa. The responses in two...

by Harsha Thirumurthy | On 30 Dec 2005

The Economic Impact of EPAs in SADC Countries

The Cotonou Agreement introduces new fundamental principles with respect to trade between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries relative to the Lomé Convention: in particula...

by Alexander Keck | On 19 Dec 2005

Tariff Negotiations in NAMA and South Asia: July Agreement and Beyond

As developing countries including those from South Asia, rally forces and evaluate options ahead of the Hong Kong Ministerial meeting in December 2005, Non Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) assumes im...

by Prabash Ranjan | On 29 Nov 2005

Hepatitis B and the Case of the Missing Women

In many Asian countries the ratio of male to female population is higher than in the West -- as high as 1.07 in China and India, and even higher in Pakistan. A number of authors (most notably Sen, 19...

by Emily Oster | On 27 Nov 2005

Political Selection and the Quality of Evidence: Evidence form South India

This paper uses household data from India to examine the economic and social status of village politicians, and how individual and village characteristics a®ect politician behavior while in o±ce. Ed...

by Timothy Besley | On 22 Nov 2005

B.S.Minhas: 'Prescribing Rationality'

In his early years, B S Minhas, who passed away recently, enriched economics with his valued theoretical contributions that are today an integral part of economic literature. These were both acknowled...

by Deena Khatkhate | On 21 Nov 2005

Peasant Movement in South Maharashtra: Not only 'Issue based' Anymore

The February agitation of farmers and the drought affected of rural South Maharashtra, in the form of a two-day ‘sit in’ last in Mumbai led to ministerial-level negotiations and several important deci...

by Anant Phadke | On 04 Oct 2005

Review of Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie's 'Gandhi's Prisoner?: The Life of Gandhi's Son Manilal'

The book opens new debates relevant to post-apartheid South Africa, in particular the relationship of Indians and Africans. Contemporary discussion of this sensitive issue is always framed with refere...

by Goolam Vahed | On 22 Sep 2005

SEPHIS, September 2005, Volume 2, no.1

Pravit Rojanaphruk:Thainess and its History: Reflection on the Problematic Nature of Nationalism with Emphasis on the Case of Recent Violence in Pattani and other Southern-most Provinces of Thailand. ...

by SEPHIS | On 17 Sep 2005

September 2005

Minimum Employment at less than Minimum Wages Indo-US Nuclear Deal: Dancing with the US Devil Nanavati Report: Getting Away with Murder Bihar: EC order on NBWs Bombay Floods West Bengal Land Refo...

by CPI (ML) | On 16 Sep 2005

LIBERATION September 2005

Editorial:Minimum Employment at Less than Minimum Wages commentary: Dancing with the US Devil. Nanavati Commission Report: Getting Away With Murder EC Must Deter Criminals, and not Disenfranchise...

by CPI (ML) | On 03 Sep 2005

SAARC and India: Policy Issues hinge on Security and Democracy

The entire project of SAARC is dependent on India’s capacity to bind the neighbouring states in multiple networks of ties to promote regional cooperation. India not only shares frontiers with all the...

by Rajen Harshe | On 13 Aug 2005

Gender, Caste, Class, and Health Care Access

The research discussed in the report revisits the notion of access to health care in Koppal, an economically disadvantaged district in northern Karnataka. This issue is important to households experie...

by Aditi Iyer | On 08 Aug 2005

European Slave Routes in the Indian Ocean

This paper attempts to discuss the implications of the European slave trade in the Indian Ocean from 15th century onwards; duplicity of the European policy of slave trade; the conflict of interests am...

by Aparajita Biswas | On 08 Aug 2005

A Fair Plan Approach For Devolution Under The Twelfth Central Finance Commission: Some Suggestions

This study has made some suggestions for the consideration of the Twelfth Finance Commission. We have provided a conceptual framework comprising eight cardinal principles abbreviated as FAIR PLAN. We...

by Abhay Pethe | On 05 Aug 2005