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Welfare spending has been getting a regular pruning Fizza Suhel is a Research Associate at the Center for research on the Economics of Climate, Food, Energy and Environment (CECFEE) Indian Statistical Institute This year’s Union Budget was criticised by experts over a decline in allocations for welfare schemes in real terms, at a time of post-COVID-19 recovery when welfare spending should have been a priority. Similarly, last year’s Budget too ignored social spending in favour of capital expenditure. The analysis below, based on Budget papers, shows that the trend of declining central government spending on critical social schemes is not…

The problem with India’s multi-alignment stand Vinay Kaura is Assistant Professor, Department of International Affairs and Security Studies, Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Jodhpur, and a Non-resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute, Washington DC China’s recent mediation efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis have once again spotlighted India’s approach to conflict resolution. By holding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s eastward expansion responsible for instigating the war; by painting America as the biggest obstacle to ceasefire; by exploiting the differences among western countries regarding the extent of support to Ukraine; by further cementing the Beijing-Moscow relationship,…

A ground view of the Indian Space Policy 2023 Rakesh Sood is a former diplomat who has worked and negotiated on the interface of technology, security and strategy Though the forward-looking document is qualitatively different from previous efforts, it needs to be followed up with suitable legislation, backed by clear rules and regulations On April 20 this year, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) released the Indian Space Policy 2023 that had been in the works for some years. The document has been received positively by industry. However, it needs to be followed up with suitable legislation, accompanied by clear…

Salvaging the idea and reality of Manipur Kham Khan Suan Hausing is Professor and Head, Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad The stability and territorial integrity of a society such as Manipur can be secured only by genuine recognition and substantive accommodation of territorial rights and identities. The communal riots which erupted in Manipur since the evening of May 3, between the Meiteis and Kuki-Hmar-Zomi communities, have unleashed unprecedented human displacement, a tragic loss of lives and destruction of property, and show no signs of closure. As the nature and character of the riots transform from one of ethnic…

Buddhism, India’s soft power projection tool Abhishek Srivastava is Assistant Professor of Diplomacy and Disarmament, CIPOD, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi With its strong historical and cultural ties to Buddhism, India can play a lead role in shaping the discourse around Buddhist issues. There is much significance to India having hosted a two-day global Buddhist summit in New Delhi (April 20-21), which was organised by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation. The summit saw the participation of key figures from the global Buddhist community, including the Dalai Lama. It was at this summit that the…

Improve technology to detect IEDs IEDs are among the most potent tools deployed by the Maoists R.K. VIJ STATE OF PLAY Ten jawans and a civilian driver, who were returning in a van following an anti-Maoist operation, were killed in a blast caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada on April 26. The IED was planted beneath a metalled road. The was so forceful, it created a huge crater on the road. Though this attack, which according to the State police had been carried out by the proscribed Communist Party of India (Maoist), is under investigation, the…

The horizon for India beyond the G-20, SCO summits M.K. Narayanan is a former Director, Intelligence Bureau, a former National Security Adviser, and a former Governor of West Bengal India’s year-long presidency of the G-20, and leadership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), should not blind us to the persisting challenges the nation faces, due to a concatenation of circumstances. It must, hence, tone down the high expectations that are being generated of reaping a rich dividend from helming the two summits. Global peace, on which India’s Prime Minister had waxed eloquent at the last G-20 summit in Indonesia, is…

Valour and prestige — the world of special operations Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur VM (retired) is former Additional Director General, Centre for Air Power Studies Operation Kaveri, the Sudan rescue mission, is an example of why the ethos and the training that goes into the special operations of the Indian Air Force crew should not be diluted. The evacuation of 121 Indians from Wadi Seidna, north of Khartoum in Sudan, in the dead of night, using an Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130J Super Hercules, has been lauded all round. The IAF’s press release is an understatement of the stupendous…

Contents Why are Blinkit workers protesting?The LAC crisis and the danger of losing without fightingOutlawing India’s tech tariffsDe-dollarisation: the race to attain the status of global reserve currencyA good divorceChina, Russia, Pak. Ministers to attend SCO meet in GoaWhy are Blinkit workers protesting? At risk: A Blinket delivery agent on his way to deliver groceries in New Delhi in 2022. File Photo How did the strikes start? What is ‘platform work’? Do the new Labour Codes protect the rights of gig workers? Does the Code on Social Security, 2020 differentiate between employee and gig worker? Have there been petitions in courts to…