| Title: | 218 : Government and Garbage: Local Administration, Public Sanitation and the ‘Clean India’ Campaign |
| Author/s: | Robin Jeffrey |
| Abstract: | The paper examines a crucial component of public sanitation and waste management – the role of local government. It concludes that improvement of public sanitation in India, which is the goal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government’s ‘Clean India’ campaign launched in 2014, hinges on the capacities of local government; but these capacities are limited, for reasons that the paper seeks to make clear. The paper examines Indian local government under the following headings: history, jurisdictions, technology and people. |
| Date: | 28 December 2015 |
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| Title: | 217 : Partnership without Alliance? The Contained Volatility of Indo-US Relations, and a Prognosis |
| Author/s: | Subrata Kumar Mitra,Director and Visiting Research Professor at ISAS |
| Abstract: | In a wide-ranging perspective on India's improving relationship with the United States, which is of strategic importance to the global order at this time, the paper explores the convergences and divergences in this bilateral engagement. |
| Date: | 3 December 2015 |
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| Title: | 216 : A Tortured History : Federalism and Democracy in Pakistan |
| Author/s: | Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) |
| Abstract: | 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 constant external threat, and the failures of the political parties to rein in the military and address ethno-nationalist sentiments impede the growth of democracy and federalism in this key South Asian nation-state. |
| Date: | 19 November 2015 |
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| Title: | 215 : Memory, Identity and the Politics of Appropriation. ‘Saffronisation’ among the Dalits of North India |
| Author/s: | Badri Narayan,Professor, Centre for the Study of Discrimination and Exclusion, School of Social Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (India) |
| Abstract: | In a comprehensive study of the politicisation of the Dalits in North India (those regarded in some quarters as “untouchables” in the past), the author discovers how the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an ideological patron of India’s current ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has re-defined and appropriated, for its own political purposes, the memories and identities of these communities. In explaining this, the paper delves into the formation and current crystallisation of these memories and identities. |
| Date: | 19 November 2015 |
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| Title: | 214 : Pakistan’s Past, Present and Future – III : Placing Pakistan’s Future in a Broader Context |
| Author/s: | Shahid Javed Burki, Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) |
| Abstract: | Islamic extremism may find it difficult to establish itself in Pakistan. The reason why the country may not spread a welcoming mat for radical ideologies, such as those espoused by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is that Pakistan is making progress in creating political and economic orders that will accommodate the aspirations of the youth. |
| Date: | 6 October 2015 |
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| Title: | 213 : Pakistan’s Past, Present and Future – II : Pakistan’s Major Challenges |
| Author/s: | Shahid Javed Burki, Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) |
| Abstract: | Pakistan's education crisis apart, its economic managers have not succeeded in reducing dependence on external capital flows. While the country will continue to receive significant amounts of capital from the multilateral banks, and while it will possibly continue to get help from the IMF, it is unlikely that it will receive much financial assistance from the United States, its largest benefactor in the past. Nations seldom forge relations for sentimental reasons. They do so for strategic interests. Notwithstanding the hyperbolic pronouncements of the leaders of China and Pakistan about the nature of their relations, the two countries have strictly followed their national interests. |
| Date: | 6 October 2015 |
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| Title: | 212 : Pakistan’s Past, Present and Future – I : To Understand Pakistan’s Present, Study the Past |
| Author/s: | Shahid Javed Burki, Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) |
| Abstract: | Pakistan's Constitution had been cleansed of the military-crafted changes by the time Mr Nawaz Sharif became Prime Minister, for the third time, in 2013. However, the main toolkit for addressing the country's challenges is a proper grasp of its history of crises and crises-management. |
| Date: | 6 October 2015 |
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| Title: | 211 : Institutional Changes Favouring FDI Inflows to India : Gradual Transformation Since 1969 |
| Author/s: | Sojin Shin, Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) |
| Abstract: | How did India respond to globalization in the realm of inward foreign direct investment (FDI)? This paper presents the economic institutional change favouring FDI inflows at the union level of India by tracing political and economic history from the Indira Gandhi government in the late- 1960s to the current Narendra Modi government. From a historical institutionalist perspective, it highlights the significant correlation of institutional evolution with socio-political factors such as ideas of key policy makers and various interests in society. The paper argues that the institutional changes favouring FDI inflows to India can be defined as ‘gradual transformation’. This argument is based on the ideational tipping point model that underlines the role of endogenously-driven ideas that favoured foreign capital and finally won over various interest groups that were opposed to FDI inflows. It stresses that the dynamics of ideas and interests contributed to an incremental institutional change over a period of time. By demarcating three different periods based on the policy regime change toward foreign capital and foreign investments—anti-FDI (1969-1975), selective FDI (1975-1991), and pro-FDI (after 1991), the paper presents empirical evidence which backs the gradual transformation mode of institutional change, discussed in scholarly literature on historical institutionalism. |
| Date: | 21 September 2015 |
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| Title: | 210 : India in the International Trade of Intermediates & Final Products – A Sector Level Study |
| Author/s: | Deeparghya Mukherjee, Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) |
| Abstract: | International trade is redefined today in terms of trade in value added and global value chains. Most countries trade both in finished goods as well as intermediates. India, a less talked about country in the context of trade through value chains cannot remain insulated from the new trend. This paper investigates key factors associated with India’s international trade of both intermediates and finished products at a sectoral level. The significance of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements is specifically analysed in furthering each type of trade. Finally industry specific effects of trade in intermediates and final products are also brought to light. |
| Date: | 21 September 2015 |
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| Title: | 209 : Why the India-Pakistan Dialogue needs to be reconceptualised on the lines of ‘Principled Negotiations’ |
| Author/s: | Subrata Kumar Mitra, Director and Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) |
| Abstract: | The cancelled trip of Mr Sartaz Aziz – the National Security Advisor of Pakistan – to meet his counterpart Mr Ajit Doval of India in Delhi, and the circumstances leading to it, should not be considered as isolated events. Seen in juxtaposition with an earlier cancellation of the scheduled meeting of the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan, the disappointment arising from the failed ‘Ufa initiative’ points towards a pattern. Underneath the roller-coaster ride that Indo-Pak relations routinely assume, there are some hard structural issues that must be tackled in order for specific initiatives like Ufa to succeed. The article suggests ‘principled negotiations’ – a method which identifies all the relevant stakeholders and their preferences, and encourages the actors to move beyond ‘positions’ to concrete ‘interests’ - in order to seek win-win solutions. The essay ends with some preliminary steps that might lead to the beginning of a serious and sustainable India-Pakistan dialogue. |
| Date: | 17 September 2015 |
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| Title: | 208 : Pakistan, Power-Play and a New South Asian Paradigm |
| Author/s: | Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury , Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian studies (ISAS) |
| Abstract: | The total gamut of Pakistan's external policy - aimed at making up the difference in power with India, accessing external resources and expanding manoeuvrability - can be said to be resting on four pillars. These are: one, relations with the US and the West; two, ties with China; three, linkages with the Islamic countries; and four, interactions with multilateral bodies, in particular the United Nations. |
| Date: | 2 September 2015 |
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| Title: | 207 : Skills Development in India: Prospects of Partnership with Singapore and Japan |
| Author/s: | Rahul Advani , Research Assistant at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) |
| Abstract: | Every year, India produces 2.5 million college graduates. Out of these, the country has 100,000 more specialising in the sciences and 60,000 more in engineering than the United States.2 On the strength of this one can assume that India contains the foundations for a strong manufacturing core. To add to this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for India could signal a change of pace for the country’s flagging industrial growth given his impressive track record in Gujarat, where the annual growth rate of the manufacturing sector was 10.89 per cent between the years 2004/2005 and 2011/2012 - far higher than the national average of 8.96 per cent during this same period. Speaking on 25 September 2014 in Delhi to a group of diplomats, businessmen, journalists and politicians, Modi emphasized the “urgent need for skills development as far too many of India's youngsters are poorly prepared for globally competitive work”.3 The strengthening of ties with both Singapore and Japan under the Modi government presents several opportunities for India to improve both the economic and employment growth rates of its manufacturing sector through seeking much needed expertise on the delivery of technical education and skill development |
| Date: | 22 July 2015 |
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| Title: | 206 : India’s Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme |
| Author/s: | Kala Seetharam Sridhar, Professor, Centre for Research in Urban Affairs at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru (India), A Venugopala Reddy ,Centre for Symbiosis of Technology, Environment and Management at Bengaluru (India). |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we evaluate India's flagship rural employment guarantee programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), by answering questions such as whether the MGNREGS wages have been above their reservation wages. Furthermore, we estimate the reservation wages as a function of individual and labour market characteristics, being the first study to do this in the Indian context and compute net benefits from MGNREGS jobs. Next, we understand what demand-side (individual) and supply-side (programme) characteristics determine enrolment in the programme and determine MGNREGS wages. |
| Date: | 22 July 2015 |
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| Title: | 205: Youth, Social Change and Politics in India Today: An Introduction to the Delhi Studies |
| Author/s: | John Harriss, Visiting Research Professor, ISAS and Mr Rahul Advani, Research Assistant, ISAS |
| Abstract: | Events in many parts of the world over the last decade - starting with protests in Greece in December 2008, following the death of a young student at the hands of the police, and continuing through the Arab Spring, the movement of Los Indignados in Spain, the Occupy Wall Street Movement, then widespread demonstrations in Brazil and Turkey in 2013, and other protest events - have thrown into sharp relief the significance of young people in contemporary politics. In India, similarly, young people were generally recognised as having played a vital role in the India Against Corruption movement (IAC), associated with Anna Hazare in 2011-12, then in the wave of protests over the Delhi rape case of December 2012, and in the meteoric rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2013. Observers have noted some commonalities amongst these events: the central, though not exclusive role played by young people; the extensive use in them of social media; that they have mostly been characterised by spontaneity and the absence of hierarchical leadership (though this is not true in the case of IAC). |
| Date: | 11 April 2015 |
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| Title: | 204: Modi’s Foreign Policy: Focus on the Diaspora |
| Author/s: | Chilamkuri Raja Mohan |
| Abstract: | Engagement with overseas communities has become a major element of India’s dynamic foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although the problems and opportunities presented by the diaspora have gained traction in India’s post-Cold War foreign policy, they have drawn particular attention from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- led governments. If Atal Behari Vajpayee’s tenure (1998-2004) saw Delhi attach greater importance to the overseas Indian communities, Modi has injected a new vigour in the few months that he has been the Prime Minister. Modi sees the diaspora as central to India’s development journey and as a strategic asset in promoting India’s foreign policy interests abroad. At the same time the Modi government has had to spend considerable time and energy dealing with the problems arising from India’s expanding global footprint. The paper reviews the evolution of India’s diaspora policy and examines the possibilities and pitfalls that could arise from Delhi’s new political enthusiasm for overseas Indian communities. |
| Date: | 11 April 2015 |
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| Title: | 203: Modi’s American Engagement: Discarding the Defensive Mindset |
| Author/s: | Chilamkuri Raja Mohan |
| Abstract: | In two quick summits with the US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken big steps to resolve the lingering nuclear dispute, revive defence cooperation, go past trade disputes, explore common ground on climate change and renew the engagement on regional security cooperation. For years now, progress on these issues has been held up principally by Delhi’s reluctance to negotiate purposefully and find practical solutions. By combining strong political will with a clear focus on practical outcomes, Modi has altered the bilateral narrative on India-US relations and created the basis for deepening India’s strategic partnership with America. |
| Date: | 1 April 2015 |
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| Title: | 202: Identity, Interests and Indian Foreign Policy |
| Author/s: | Rahul Mukherji, Honorary Senior Fellow and Head (Research), ISAS |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that India's foreign economic policies were shaped to a substantial extent by developmental ideas within the Indian state and by the international context of the Cold War. Individuals mattered, but the preferences of leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh were filtered through Indian politics and political economy. This involved engagements between the Indian state and economic actors. It was the interaction of the Indian state navigating state-society relations between domestic social constraints and international political constraints that generated different types of economic policies and external engagement for India.3 I lay out the major conceptual issues in this section. This will help to run an analytic narrative in the next one. |
| Date: | 22 March 2015 |
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| Title: | 201: TRIPS and the Balance between Private Rights and Public Welfare: The Case of Pharmaceutical Sector |
| Author/s: | Deeparghya Mukherjee, Visiting Research Fellow, ISAS |
| Abstract: | Adherence to the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) have had varied impacts across the world, and concerns of adverse effects on public welfare, especially in the context of the pharmaceutical sector, are largely debated. In this paper, we try to analyse the effects of TRIPS on public welfare in the context of the pharmaceutical sector. We take a closer look at the policies of some developing countries and their usage of the flexibilities that TRIPS allows. The cases of China, India and Brazil (three major players in the global pharmaceutical industry) are studied. China, which has not used the TRIPS flexibilities, has benefited from appropriate technology transfer and Foreign Direct Investment in Research &Development. The need for FDI in R&D in India and Brazil as potential destinations of research on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is brought out. We conclude that the effects of TRIPS on public welfare are critical for countries which do not have the ability to use the flexibilities. At a time when trade and investment treaties are mostly aimed at stricter commitments on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) than the TRIPS, such countries need to negotiate appropriate investment and knowledge-sharing commitments from their developed counterparts so as not to be adversely affected by agreeing to demands on bending IPR laws. |
| Date: | 27 February 2015 |
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| Title: | 200: India’s Mars Mission: Multidimensional View |
| Author/s: | Ajey Lele, Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi (India) |
| Abstract: | Over the years, Mars has been the centre of attraction for science fiction writers, Hollywood movie makers, astrologers, astronomers and the scientific community. For scientists and technologists, Mars continues to be an enigma. This is essentially because even tough humans have dreamt for long about human colonisation of Mars. Still, in reality humans are nowhere near to realising such a dream. During the last five decades, more than fifty percent of human efforts to send an unmanned spacecraft to hover in the vicinity of Mars or to land on the Martian surface have failed. Interestingly, in September 2014 India, a developing state, succeeded in placing its own satellite in the Martian orbit in its first attempt, an achievement unequalled by any other country. India's success has won significant international acclaim and has significantly raised expectations about its overall space programme. This paper attempts to understand the rationale behind India's Mars agenda and its implications and discusses its progress towards success. |
| Date: | 15 January 2015 |
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